Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Joseph had quite a life. His brothers hated him when he was younger because their aged father loved him more noticeably than he loved them. Joseph was the first-born son of Jacob’s wife Rachel. And it was Rachel whom he loved more than his other wives, including Rachel’s sister Leah. Grudges, revenge and spite were common threads in this family—it’s clear that this story is not included in Scripture to make it a moral example for us to follow, in the slightest!

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

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

They knew well the language of our sinful flesh, which does not allow for love and forgiveness. It just doesn’t make sense to the world. The guilt these brothers had inside made them afraid of Governor Joseph, much like Adam all of a sudden became afraid of God walking in Eden’s garden, once in his sinful act he became aware of good and evil. Joseph’s brothers thought they were protected by the life of their father, and now that shield was gone. What they had done against their little brother was quite an injustice, and they knew that he had every right to pay them back—that was what they feared.

We often fail to realize that God Himself had undergone the grossest injustice, and that’s from us! He created us in His image and gave us the ability to love Him and each other. Along with that great privilege comes the responsibility to obey Him, to live in harmony together as His creatures. He requires us to have no other gods, to obey and give honor to our parents, he requires us to love our neighbors as ourselves. Have you lived up to those requirements? The words in our liturgy that we pray, “…I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment,” put it about as nicely and truthfully as it can be said. You are guilty, as am I, guilty of committing great injustice, not against any particular person, but against God Himself! This guilt we may want to forget and we might succeed at burying it for a while, but sometimes it may linger around a long time in our hearts, much like it did for Joseph’s brothers.

Then what’s this we keep hearing about a loving God? We would like to think that since God has promised to love us and forgive us, then our sins would no longer be a problem. But what do you see around you every day? It sounds good in theory, you may say, but in reality, my household can sound a lot like Joseph’s brothers, with threads of grudges, revenge and spite. If God is so forgiving and so loving, then why does this still happen to me? Why do I feel I have to keep looking over my shoulder to see if God is punishing me for my sins against Him? We also ask with Peter, How many times do I have to keep on forgiving my brother who sins against me?

Sin is real, utter treachery against God, not some petty mishap that you can forget about later. The guilt that comes from sin is also real—the Bible has a name for it—it’s iniquity. We’re not talking about just an uncomfortable feeling in the gut. It rules over our very being. The truth is that each one of us is completely enslaved by sin from birth. Standing before God on our own merits, we are like the servant who owed the king 10,000 talents, approximately 350 tons of silver, due immediately. Yet we still think we can get by. “Be patient,” the servant in Jesus’ parable said, “and I will pay back EVERYTHING.” Does that sound like you? Do you think that you can “strike a deal” with God?

Sin must be paid for. Its guilt must be quenched. It cannot be set aside and forgotten. As Joseph’s brothers could tell you, this kind of guilt is persistent. Your conscience may remind you about something you did, even if that sin was already forgiven. Something as real as sin needs a real solution to address it. Our huge debt that we owe to God can be forgiven only by an act of His marvelous grace.

And that is exactly what He has done! When Jesus told the parable of the merciful king, He was speaking of Himself. Our debt was taken off our shoulders and put on His. He took care of our sin once and for all by shedding His blood on the cross. His resurrection proved to all creation that the bill has been PAID IN FULL by our merciful King of Kings. God did something very surprising. He did not take revenge on us, like we deserved, but He punished Jesus instead. It wasn’t fair to our Lord at all, but out of that gross injustice came the saving of many lives.

Peter preached a sermon in Jerusalem that sounded a lot like Joseph’s reassuring words to his brothers. This is what he said in Acts chapter 3: You killed [Jesus] the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. And here the similarity was implied: What you intended for evil, God intended for good, for the saving of many, many lives- your life and mine included this time! Our loving Father has this way of turning evil on its head, of reversing the grim reality of death we have to face, and instead bringing forth life—life that is offered to you today. As Jesus breathed His last on the cross, He pronounced total victory over sin and death. You, as one crucified and buried together with Christ, also died to sin, and you are raised each day with Him, through your baptism, to new life.

Because Jesus died for you and was raised from the dead, God now speaks words of forgiveness to Your hearts and cancels your massive spiritual debt. The righteous demand of full payment for sin has been met; as real as sin is, it has been overcome by the greater and fuller reality of God’s forgiveness. We become the creatures He had made in the beginning, taking on Christ, the image of God. We stand confidently before His presence without blame or spot.

Jesus says to us: Do not be afraid. All has been forgiven. I have taken your sins to the grave with Me and they have no power over you any longer. Rejoice in the new life you now share with Me because I have won the victory over sin and death forever.

It’s true that an assurance like that cannot come from inside you. No amount of self-encouragement can improve your eternal standing. Peace within your heart can only come from God. To know that peace, the peace that comes from God’s forgiveness, acknowledge your utter debt and poverty, that you don’t come before God on your own terms but at His invitation. Confess your sins before God. Plea your case for the sake of His mercy, and you will be assured.

You see, Joseph’s older brothers first tried to approach him on their terms. They turned their guilty conscience’s confession into an indirect order to Joseph. They invoked their sainted father, Jacob, putting into his mouth a last dying wish, as it were, that Joseph would forgive them. You may have given an apology like this: “I’m sorry, BUT this is why you OUGHT to forgive me, it’s only the Christian thing to do…” Human pride can have no part in any confession of sin.

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

Joseph forgave them. He told them repeatedly: Do not be afraid. He wasn’t going to take revenge; he wasn’t even going to take them up on their offer to make them his slaves. He assured them by saying God turned this evil that they had done into something good. He didn’t say it as though they were right to sell him into slavery 35 years before. He did say that God is in control, as He always is. He spoke tenderly to their hearts; what was broken has now been made right.

God speaks to your heart today, and to your brothers and sisters in Christ. He is here today forgiving you, feeding you with His Body and Blood, that you may have full assurance despite any doubts that might return to you later. You don’t even have to come up with your own apology—He gives you the perfect words to say! Meditate on the words from Psalm 51 that are in the liturgy: Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with your free spirit.

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

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

God has come today to give you His forgiveness, and He follows it up with the love that binds us to each other in Christ as His Holy Church. Do not be afraid; confess your sin to God and to each other. Trust in Jesus and He will provide for you and your family, even making good come sometimes out of bad. Do not be afraid.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

How do you build a kingdom? In this world, kingdoms are built by power. Kingdoms in this world are built by coercion, force, and leverage; by strength, battle and bloodshed. Exploit weaknesses as you climb to the top of the heap. You will often have to tear down one kingdom to make room for another. If people don’t agree and don’t want to do things your way, crush them. This is how you build a kingdom: By power, force, assertion, by an act of will. Look at the Roman Empire that was in control at the time of Jesus: It wasn’t built by kindness, moderation, and sensitivity. It was built by violence, control, and this was their message of cooperation: “Do things our way or be destroyed.”

Every time this year, we remember that we saw an evil sort of worldly kingdom-building on September 11 of 2001. A group of men examined American society and found that it did not agree with their ideals for a religious kingdom. To further their version of a kingdom, they worked to destroy the one they hated. They divided into teams, exploited our nation’s freedoms, hijacked four airplanes, and murdered thousands of civilians-invoking the name of their god in the process. While these attacks could not destroy so great a nation, they were meant as a warning, a strategy to silence and shame…and open the door for more.

It is simply a law of this world. Even defense against threatening evil requires power and force. Our rulers-our elected officials- had the solemn duty to investigate the attacks and identify the guilty for punishment and to defend ourselves from here on out. Throughout the centuries, some have proposed that Christians have no part in such a kingdom where power and violence are necessary to keep the people secure. However, our epistle for this day (Romans 13:1-10) makes clear that using earthly power is necessary while we are still in this world. It is God who appoints rulers, and He gives them the responsibility to bear the sword in defense of what is good. A ruler is “God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil” (Rom. 13:4). Rulers of all kinds are obligated by the Lord to rule justly, to punish the evildoer, and to wage war to protect their citizens from unjust attack.

Christians must support their rulers, provided their rulers are using their power righteously. It is among the duties of the Christian as a citizen to pray for his leaders and nation, pray for the enemy as well, serve his neighbor, and even lay down his life in service to his country. You are a citizen of a nation which relies on power to endure. This is not a bad thing: As long as there is evil in the world, evil must be curbed by law and force. This is how the Lord has established things to be.

Yet for you, as a Christian, this is only half of the story. You are also a citizen of another kingdom, because the Lord Jesus Christ has brought you into His kingdom, made you His citizen. You are part of His kingdom, but it is built on a different foundation. It is not built upon money or power. In fact, when Jesus first sends out His disciples to proclaim the kingdom, He does not instruct them to amass a war chest and armory first; instead, He instructs them to take no money, no extra supplies, not even a staff.

It’s a kingdom of grace. In other words, Jesus does not add you to His kingdom by saying, “As long as you prove your worth and your loyalty by your efforts, I will make you Mine.” He does not declare, “When you stop aiding and abetting the enemy by your sinning, then you are worthy to be My citizen.” And He most certainly does not say, “As soon as you go out and kill My enemies with the sword, then you belong in My paradise.” The god that says these things is a false god. Instead, your Lord Jesus, the true God, says things like, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made in perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9).

The Lord makes you His by taking away your sins. He declares forgiveness because of what He has done; and rather than a show of strength, He calls upon you humbly to confess your sins. He gathers a kingdom made up of the weak, the humble, the lowly, the penitent. These are not usually the qualities that one desires in the citizens of a nation. And this is how His citizens are to act:

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector. (Matt. 18:15-17)

Remember, building a kingdom of power involves exploiting weakness and using it as a weapon. But when a Christian sins against you, those options are not open to you. In the case of a private sin between him and you, go and show him his sin privately; do it again if you have to. If he doesn’t repent, take a witness or two along, only to urge him to confess his sin; do this several times if need be. If the matter continues, it may be necessary to tell it to the church, so that believers might pray for him and call him to repent. What is the purpose of all of this-to shame the offender and exploit his sin? Not at all-the goal is to bring him to repentance, so that he will be forgiven. Only as a last resort is a stubbornly unrepentant sinner asked to leave the church. It is far easier to confront an offender in a red-faced rage, or alternatively, to act like a victim, and gossip about how someone hurt you, maybe to get some kind of power over them. You figure, if they feel worse, then I have to feel better. That’s the deceptive guarantee that power offers.

But in the kingdom of grace, the Lord Jesus gathers the lowly, weak ones who confess their sin. He forgives them, and then calls for them to forgive and serve each other. It’s a Church built on forgiveness, not force; it’s a kingdom of grace, not power. And it will never work. At least, that’s what the world claims. In fact, it’s a mystery to the world that the Church has survived this long, and no surprise that the world expects the demise of the Church to come soon. This is for two reasons: The world is blinded by sin and thus cannot comprehend forgiveness, and the world is so accustomed to kingdoms of power that a kingdom of grace sounds like sheer nonsense.

Of course, the fellow-Christian who has sinned is also guilty of going for power instead of grace. When one Christian or a whole Church calls upon him to repent so that he might be forgiven, he may obstinately refuse. Instead of confession, he may seek to hurt those who confront him. He might go on the offensive and bring up past-forgiven-sins of others, or he might twist facts and slander those who seek his repentance. This too is not the way of grace. This is trying to use power to get one’s way, to create one’s own little kingdom of authority. If the sinner so persists, the Church is eventually to dismiss him from among the faithful. This is not an act of vengeance: It is a recognition that the sinner has chosen his sin and his private kingdom over against forgiveness and the kingdom of grace. He has made himself an ex-member of the communion of saints; that is why the sad recognition of this fact is called ex-communication.

In the Church, it is far too common to see people in a quest for personal power instead of humble service to God and neighbor. We must agree with the world: It’s a wonder that the Church has survived this long. In fact, it’s nothing short of a miracle. Remember, kingdoms remain only because battles are fought and blood is shed. And yet, the Church in fact has been guaranteed its survival precisely because blood has been shed! The Battle has already been fought and won! But this was not a battle of earthly power, but of the suffering and death of Jesus Christ our Lord. It didn’t look like much of a battle-it looked like one side had all the power. A group of soldiers beat a defenseless man and forced Him through an angry mob to a hilltop outside Jerusalem. They crucified Him and watched Him die. Some battle that was. But this was no ordinary man: This was the Son of God become flesh, and His battle was not against the soldiers and the hecklers. He was fighting against sin, death and the devil. By His death, He destroyed sin’s power, because He has died for all the sins of the world. By His resurrection, He has destroyed the power of death, ripping open the tomb; death can no longer hold His people in the grave. By defeating sin and death, He robbed the devil of his weapons of terror; and thus Christ became victorious forever.

So this kingdom of grace was also built by battle and bloodshed. The Savior shed His blood, and that’s how He has defeated His enemies and built His kingdom. His kingdom stands forever, even though there will still be attacks upon Christians before their entry into paradise. And the Lord Jesus Christ visits His people, gathers them in to His Church and continues to strengthen His kingdom. He promises, “Where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Matt. 18:20). Christians are gathered in the name of Jesus when they gather according to His Word, are baptized in His Name. They are gathered to His holy Supper, where the Lord Jesus gives them His body and blood “for the forgiveness of sins.” Do you see? Your King of grace is not far away: He is present with you, in His Word and in His Sacraments. And by these means of grace, He forgives you your sin. He shares His victory with you and makes you part of His kingdom. He gives you eternal life.

He is there when only a few, even two or three, are gathered. That doesn’t look like much of a power cell to the world; but the number of believers isn’t what matters. What matters is that the Lord is present, forgiving sins and giving salvation. You find yourself in two kingdoms-a kingdom of power and a kingdom of grace. As citizens of this nation, we pray for our rulers and serve our nation, that peace may be established for the good of all. As citizens of Christ’s kingdom of grace, we give thanks for His enduring victory, His forgiveness, and the freedom He gives us to serve and forgive one another. When we fail, we confess those sins and trust in His grace once again. Long ago, the Lord declared, “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit” (Zech. 4:6). You are not His people by your strength or power, but by the work of His Holy Spirit. By His doing, you are gathered here. By the faith He gives, you believe and rejoice in Christ’s death on the cross, as well as His presence with you now. By this work of the Spirit who brings you into the kingdom of grace, you are forgiven of all of your sins.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Is it really that easy to come under the power and control of the devil? Could all your Bible knowledge and praying and coming to church, could all of that just be discarded at a moment’s notice and you would be eternally lost anyway? Could faithful, well-meaning Christians all of a sudden oppose God? Think of Peter, how close he was to Jesus up to this time in the Gospel story. He was among the first of the disciples that our Lord called to follow Him. Peter walked on water because the powerful Word of Christ enabled Him (at least for a brief moment). It was Simon, son of John who spoke up when Jesus asked, “Who do you say that I am?” He said clearly and plainly, “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” The Son of God even said this man was blessed. Of course, Peter was blessed not because he was an exceptional person but because divine grace made it possible for this former fisherman to believe the way he so confidently spoke.

But all that is rendered meaningless in one split-second. You could hear the words ringing out like a shot: “Get thee behind me, Satan!” You would wonder when the next disciple would say anything in the midst of that silence, to break the ice or ease the tension. There was no getting around it. Peter must have had good intentions to save Jesus from going to His death, but the devil was using those good intentions to keep Jesus away from the cross, and that means the Evil One wanted to keep your salvation away from you.

If such an unfortunate thing could happen to the most well-known of Jesus’ apostles, then how do you think you are going to fight off Satan? Just how easy is it for the devil to take control, and use your best intentions against you and drag you down with him into eternal judgment? Peter himself wrote, “Be sober and watchful, your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.” Not only is this the Word of the Lord, this is also Peter speaking from his own personal experience! Why else do you think that Jesus would command you to pray in the Lord’s Prayer: Deliver us from evil? Surely whenever you pray those words, it’s your plea to God to save you from the same Satanic attacks that overtook Peter.

Then a real problem comes up. If it’s really enough to pray for God’s protection, then why don’t you feel totally relieved after you’ve just finished the Lord’s Prayer? Why then isn’t that weight fully lifted from your shoulders? Why do the problems remain in your life? Does that mean that you are at risk of losing your faith because you find yourself worrying about what will happen to you next? Maybe the devil is already working, so you might think. My family is ripping apart. All I ever know in my life these days is pain and anger and contention. Could Satan be winning after all? With all these horrible thoughts and questions swirling around your head, then the reasoning seems to be one or the other for you. Either God doesn’t care, or there’s something wrong with what I’m doing: I’m not good enough, or sincere enough; I’m not doing the right things in order to deserve an answer from God.

But that’s not quite right. Yes, the problem lies with you and not with God your heavenly Father. It is not His fault that you are so open to Satan’s attacks. But it is most certainly not something that you’re doing or not doing. It’s just not that simple. For one thing, being more sincere won’t do it. Lord knows that the devil let Peter be as sincere as he could be, when he yanked Jesus away and told Him off. Sincerity is not the problem. There’s plenty of that to go around. And I’m not here to give you a prescription of practical advice to “devil-proof” your life and take the blues away, even if I were to try to take such principles straight out of the Bible, because there are simply no directions that you could follow so that you could bring joy into your life and healing to your wounds. Sure, you’ll hear plenty of preachers try to do just that, but the problem is still going to be there. The good feelings will fade sooner than you’d like. Satan is still poised to attack. He turned Peter against Jesus Himself, and today his sights are pointed right at you.

The issue deep-down is not what you’re doing or neglecting to do. It’s really about who you are. And what you are is a born sinner. Satan claims you as his willing accomplice, not only when he tempts you to hurt others or act in a selfish and evil way, but also when you worry and when you feel helpless and overwhelmed. It’s true that when such thoughts go through your head, you seem more like a victim than a sinner. Your friends and family try to comfort you, saying that all things work together for the good, and so on, but really the whole time you are hanging on to a false god. Without saying a word, you are actually proclaiming loudly by your actions every day that God your heavenly Father must not be powerful enough to take care of you. You tell yourself you just need to turn everything over to the Lord, yet the sinner that you are inside secretly pulls it all back again because you want to stay in control of it. You hear constantly in our world, “Be yourself, stay true to who you are.” But you see, the problem really is yourself and your lack of faith reveals what your sinful nature is all about.

But just because you feel helpless, it doesn’t mean that you are. For Jesus already knows who you are in and of yourself. He knows that the devil has declared open season on your soul and that you have painted the target on yourself. Peter was so harshly rebuked that none of those disciples could break that tense silence. They were hushed and embarrassed, helpless to go on. But Jesus Himself added the next word to that halted conversation, and He wasn’t going to remark about the weather. Your Savior solves the problem of human nature by going to the source. He says to you today, “Deny yourself.” That means, give up on who you are as a sinner. Kill off that devil’s accomplice that lives inside you. Do not stand in the way of Jesus while He is offering up His life for you. It’s the only way that He can be Lord and Savior of your life.

OK, so how do you do that? Wrong question. Instead, God the Holy Spirit does it all, working in you. It isn’t anything that you decide to choose or resolve to improve in your behavior. Jesus simply says, “Deny yourself.” That is nothing else but repentance. When you deny yourself, you admit that you are the problem. You are the poor, miserable sinner who lets the devil have his way with your heart. Don’t fear. Jesus never leaves you helpless. He has done all the work that you couldn’t do on your own. He’s the one who took up that cross that you could not carry. He bore that cross alone, He suffered a terrible death and the condemnation of God combined, all in order to protect you from Satan’s assaults. One thing’s for sure; Jesus didn’t come to give you more rules and helpful hints for you to follow in your life. He could have stayed up in heaven to do that. Rather, He walked around on this earth so that He could be punished in your place, then rise from the dead and raise you up with Him.

That’s why the devil so desperately wanted Jesus not to go to that cross. The Evil One even went to the extreme of turning the Lord’s most outspoken and devoted disciple against Him. The last word Satan ever wanted to hear was “It is finished.” But it happened. Your adversary was soundly defeated on that Good Friday. His fate of eternal punishment was sealed from that very moment onward. And on that first Easter day, even before Mary or the disciples got to see Him, the risen victorious Lord descended into hell to parade in triumph and to rub the devil’s nose in his defeat. He has nothing on you anymore, even though he still tries to scare you and works to bring fear and worry back into your life.

Now, words of encouragement and the strength of a support group are certainly fine things, but here during this holy hour you receive what surpasses mere therapy- it’s a real solution sent straight from heaven. Your baptism is something real that takes away your sin; it kills you as a sinner and destroys you as an ally of the devil, and instead raises you up as a child of God. There’s no program that you could follow that would be able to do that. Confession and absolution, which your pastor is obligated to provide for you in private as well as in public, is not just a vague assurance, but again, it’s something real given to you. Consider it your baptism reapplied. It’s the cross and all its blessings handed to you once again. It’s a new, fresh start that God gives you, and not merely the feeling of a new beginning. And Holy Communion is not just a reminder of something in the past, but something real. It’s something here and now that is put right into your body that joins you as one with your crucified Savior, and also joins you in one faith with others who publicly confess the same truth. From all these precious gifts you have the forgiveness of sins, and as the catechism teaches, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

The attacks of the devil are real, and they are powerful, and you are still his target. But you have with you a much stronger Savior who was not turned away from His journey to the cross. As you may recall, Peter was won back after this incident, and then he learned the rest of his life to deny himself and bear the cross. The same applies to you. You are not left to yourself for strength to make it every day, you have been given God’s grace to deny yourself instead. And each day as you repent and endure suffering, you have handed to you the forgiveness He won for you, and the divine motivation to take that forgiveness along with you into your daily calling in life. And when your Redeemer returns with His angels, you can be certain that you will experience all the eternal life and endless joy that He has in store for you.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Every time before the sermon I kneel and pray- end of Psalm 19: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Then my opening words are from the Epistles: Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ- to which you may respond Amen! This is true and I believe it! The words of the apostles are the Word of God, my words are different of course, but as long as they proclaim to you the very same word that the Scriptures teach, then I am also giving you God’s true and perfect Word. Not that I am perfect, I am mere “flesh and blood” as we heard in today’s reading, but it’s the Word that is perfect. It’s why when I serve God’s gifts I put on a white vestment that reminds you that Christ’s perfection clothes you and God no longer looks upon your sin.

This is what you listen for when you hear a sermon proclaimed in a confessional Lutheran Church. God’s voice heard through me is doing three things:
1- Condemns you with His Law that correctly labels you a sinner, and you have no help except in one place, Jesus.
2- He offers the refreshing Word of life in the Gospel message, God loved you and sent Jesus Christ to suffer and die for you. He is also risen from the dead to assure you everlasting life.
3- The sermon is also intended to prepare you to pick up a particular theme from the selected readings out of God’s Word, and relate that theme to the gifts you receive, especially forgiveness which we can easily see in today’s readings, but also the Body and Blood of our Lord, that is, Holy Communion, and I will speak more of that momentarily.

The Gospel is our clearest statement of the Divine Service’s theme. The prayer normally at the beginning of the service called the Collect of the Day tends to repeat that theme so you can focus your mind on what particular gift it is that your Lord has in mind to give you today.

We’ll pray it later in the Matins service today, but here it is for you to hear now: Almighty God, whom to know is everlasting life, grant us to know Your Son, Jesus, to be the way, the truth, and the life that we may boldly confess Him to be the Christ and steadfastly walk in the way that leads to life eternal, through the same, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

How does this prayer relate to the Gospel? It’s the record of Peter confessing Jesus to be the Christ! Normally you hear “confess” and that means confess your sins. You agree with God’s commandments and what they say about you and admit you have broken those rules. That’s the usual understanding of “confess.”

To confess Jesus is to agree with what the Bible says about Him, that God the Father sent Him to live in our human flesh, to take our sins from us and suffer punishment in our place, to die on the cross to save us, and to rise from the dead on the third day to win the victory for us and all believers. I, a poor miserable sinner, need to believe that this is all true, but even more, that Jesus did all these things for me. Same for you, just as it was true for Peter.

We can’t believe this on our own. Flesh and blood did not reveal this wonderful truth of Jesus to any of His disciples, nor do we know this by ourselves. God the Father has given this great gift to you, that the Word you hear today is the Word of your forgiveness, the Word of your salvation. We’ll hear many different options in our world today, and many of our loved ones have fallen for these nonbiblical ideas, but God has called us to confess this one true faith in one and only Savior, Jesus.

When you say in public with your solemn promise that you believe what God’s Word says, that you believe what is taught here is in full and correct alignment with God’s Word, and that you desire to take part in the pastoral, spiritual care that is offered here in this church, then you are part of our communion fellowship where you declare publicly to one another, This is My faith!

That is what our new members joining our church will say today. We welcome you to Good Shepherd and to the confession of Jesus Christ that we all share with one another! If those of you visiting would like to know more about what we teach from God’s Word, feel free to pick up a catechism booklet—they’re free, and you may get in touch with me here at the church anytime. I would love to talk to you more!

Notice then in our Gospel reading, after Jesus notes that Peter gave the one, true and proper confession of You are the Christ, son of the living God, then our Lord declares that this confession is a rock, a foundation, an immovable base, on which He will build His Church. Buildings, budgets, and activities all have their place, but what really makes the Church is
the bold statement—Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior.

We have come for the forgiveness of sins that He has promised. If forgiveness is given to you here, then it’s valid in heaven also, where it really counts. If someone says no to forgiveness, or I don’t believe God’s Word, then the Church has to warn them that they need to stop resisting, or else they will lose their faith permanently. Once they repent, then the Church is right there to give the forgiveness Jesus has already earned.

That’s really why we are a Church, and why we do what we do; we are His Church, even if all the other stuff goes away. We are not only a Lutheran Church, since lots of churches go by that name, but we are a confessional Lutheran Church, which means we confess the truth about Jesus, and we have not changed what the Bible says about the Christian faith. We made a promise as a Church to stay true to our confession of faith– it’s even in our congregation’s constitution– and you can read what we believe in a book called the Lutheran Confessions.

Jesus promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. Gates are meant for protection, so that means Jesus and His Church are on the attack against hell, Satan and evil. How do we attack? When we proclaim forgiveness, when we stand by God’s Word and confess who Jesus is to our sinful and evil world. When we say there is no room in the Christian faith for bigotry or racism, like the world loves to point out even in places where really, it’s not, just so they can keep the truth subdued and quiet.

And what an effective attack we have! Those spiritual enemies of ours don’t have a chance against the Church. Sure, they may sue churches and win some cheap-shot attacks, but Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God– He will win the final battle for us His Church, and hell will not prevail against it. You’re on the winning team!

You are part of that winning team when you confess Jesus is your Lord, that He has gone to the cross for you, and when you are confident that it’s not because of what you have done, but always and only because of what Jesus has done for you, that you have the certainty of forgiveness and everlasting life. You will also have the ability to share that faith with others, and they will receive the benefit of your good works that you do for them. That’s what the prayer is talking about when we ask our Almighty God to grant that we “steadfastly walk in the way that leads to life eternal.”

We will constantly need God’s help in this, for the confession that Peter spoke of Jesus was not his, but a gift from God. Peter had times of wavering faith, as we will see in the very next reading that comes up next Sunday. You will have the same problems in your Christian walk.

When you make your public confession of faith and full agreement with what the confessional Lutheran Church teaches, then you come forward with your fellow confessors of the faith to eat and drink Christ’s Body and Blood. Once again, as you do in so many and various ways, you receive forgiveness, as well as the strength and power of the Holy Spirit.

When you’ve been to church, then you know you’ve been forgiven, and you’re ready for heaven whenever God calls you home, but until that day comes, you’re ready also for what the coming week will bring!

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

You have heard Jesus often say the phrase, “O ye of little faith,” in the Gospel records. Seldom does He speak of someone having great faith, but that’s exactly what he does when He finally answers this Canaanite woman, a Gentile who clearly belongs outside of God’s holy nation of Israel. Or does she?

This conversation that the woman has with Jesus is an excellent description of prayer as our Lord Himself has directed for us to pray. We approach our Lord on our knees as it were, begging for His undeserved mercy. We sinners can claim no right to the full portions of His love, however even the table scraps from His holy Table are more than enough to feed us for eternal life. When all our life and our experience seems to be telling us that Jesus is avoiding us or even punishing us by turning His face away, we can still confidently lay claim to His definite promises in His Word, and we can know for certain that He will always hear our prayer and answer as He wills for our own good. Martin Luther wrote in the Catechism, “We are neither worthy of the things for which we pray, nor have we deserved them, but we ask that He would give them all to us by grace.” (Lord’s Prayer, Fifth Petition) That’s what this foreign woman did, and Jesus responded, “O woman! Great is your faith! Be it done as you desire,” and the demon left her daughter at that very hour.

How come she can have it so easy, though? Doesn’t God know that my prayers don’t get answered like that in real life? Is this Bible story meant to tell me that I don’t have great enough faith, because I still have these unresolved problems? You may have friends like Job had, that is, those who surround you, sometimes comforting you, sometimes lending you a listening ear, but at other times they’re trying to diagnose your ordeals as something that’s wrong with you; something you need to do better in your life so that God can bring you the peace that you desire. Then this story of the Canaanite woman is thrown in—see, you need to keep asking God in prayer and never give up. You need to commit your life to Him more earnestly as a disciple, and not just a casual believer. Your faith needs to be great. You need to believe in the power of prayer from the bottom of your heart. You need to be like Peter and get out of that boat walking on the water! But such encouragement, however well-meaning it might be, often has the opposite effect, and you could feel driven away from God, despairing of His answer, or any answer at all. You even sing the words, “We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer,” but all you see in your mind is that disapproving little finger wagging, no, no; you’re not trusting in Him.

At those moments, you certainly are feeling the full effect of God’s condemning law. You can tell quite clearly that you haven’t measured up to His commandments, that you haven’t fulfilled your daily calling in life, family and society the way He wants you to. Your prayers may have dried up. We may feel anger inside that the Lord has taken His sweet time in getting back to us, but even deeper down we can find a possible reason why we shouldn’t expect anything but trouble, hardship and punishment for our sin. It is that impossible perfect standard of righteousness that puts out the forbidding hand, and calls us what we really are, a miserable dog. Nothing more to do than to get shoved out of God’s presence, head down, tail in between your legs. How spiritually uplifting is that? Who would ever wish for that kind of Christian life?

But it is precisely in those kinds of depths, when you’ve totally given up on anything you’ve got with you, when you’re so tapped out spiritually that you’re too ashamed to talk to any other Christian about it. That’s when the Lord is near, when He’s ready and eager to hear your prayer, ready to bestow great faith in your heart. For that’s when you acknowledge that of yourself you are weak, and in that very weakness, Christ shows you He is strong. This is the proper lesson to learn from the Canaanite widow who dared to approach Jesus. Her persistence with the disciples, and later with Jesus Himself, bore witness not to any self-confidence that she had inside. Rather, her motivation came both from a loved one’s need, namely that of her daughter, and the Word of God that she had heard concerning Christ the Lord, the Son of David. By God-given faith worked within her by the Holy Spirit, she trusted that Word, even more than when she experienced that initial rejection from the Savior’s own mouth.

Jesus immediately recognized His own handiwork when He commented on the Canaanite woman’s great faith. He noted the power of His own death and resurrection that energizes all Christian faith and prayer. In a strange twist that only God can do, it was Jesus within that woman praying unceasingly to Jesus to have mercy on herself and requested healing for her daughter. You can see why Jesus responded with such amazement, because in the midst of her weakness, this woman wielded the very power that He already gave to her!

You should take note of this, too, that is, your confidence in the Lord comes not within yourself, it comes from Christ, who is pleased to dwell within you and pray with you, even when you don’t feel the strength to pray yourself. When you pray, remember it’s Jesus doing the praying, which is obvious when you think about the Lord’s Prayer: it’s not your prayer to keep to yourself, it’s His prayer for you to pray with Him and with one another, and even at those times when you’re praying alone. That’s the way you acquire great faith and live a vibrant life of prayer. If you keep trusting in yourself, and insist it’s your own positive-thinking that will get you through your struggles, then you’ll remain disappointed, because you will still struggle against your sinful flesh with its impure desires. But Christ and His prayer are perfect; it uses God’s own powerful Word, so it accomplishes whatever He says.

When you offer your requests both for yourself and for others, recall Jesus and all His prayer as He made His way closer to the cross. In your weakness and suffering, remember He has gone through it too, and He is with you to bear your burden for you on His shoulders. Admit your sins, confessing them to the Lord, and they’re gone. Be comforted that as a baptized child of God, you have bathed in the cleansing Blood of Christ, and you appear in God’s sight as clean and clothed in white as snow. Whenever you think of Jesus on the Cross, His bitter death and His glorious resurrection, be reminded that all of this and more is your heavenly Father’s gift to you without any condition, except He has commanded you in faith to ask for it, and ask in abundance!

And though your chastened heart, who along with the Canaanite woman sees yourself as no higher in the Lord’s house than a dog, and after considering your own sin, you would be content with only table scraps, you have been promised much more. Yours is instead a lavish feast of God’s forgiveness. You were once an outcast, even worse than a Canaanite, but by Christ’s sacrificial blood you have been brought near to His holy presence as His blessed child and heir of His guaranteed promises. May His unfathomable grace give you great faith, so that you ask for yourself and for your loved ones not the temporary things that your sinful nature wants, but the Holy Spirit and His gifts, which your Father in Heaven knows you need.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Personal preference should never play a prominent role in eternal matters. It will always get you into trouble. Preference belongs to the sinful, fallen world. It is what drove Adam and Eve to rebel against God. It is also what drives advertisers to work around the clock and invest unbelievable sums to figure out what you want, and then sell it to you. When you rely on your own choice, you are in control. Your dreams and goals and desires appear front-and-center, and everything else fades to the background. Why is it understood that the customer is always right? Because personal preference and choice rules the day in this world. But if choice and decision enters the realm of the church, then disaster is poised to strike, and the venom is nearly impossible to remove.

For Choice is an idol, it is a false god that threatens to push you away from the one true God who offers you His gifts through Jesus Christ His only Son. Choice is powerful. It can cover up the death of a person who some doctor says is too young, too old or too sick to live, and so that human being is OK to kill or to assist in suicide, because Choice demanded it. I guess it seems better to people of the world to lose a few million lives, whether infant, elderly or in between, than to give up the right to choose according to your preference. The perversion of marrying someone of the same sex is defended these days based on someone asserting their right of personal Choice. The idol of choice is not just out there in the cruel world. It has already infected the church, too. You can see it when you come across a preacher or a Christian songwriter who emphasizes how important it is for you to make your decision for Jesus. Being a Christian, as it is often portrayed, should be your preference, and no one can make that decision for you. And many are led astray from what the Bible clearly teaches on salvation because when you are worshiping the idol of choice, you are really worshiping yourself.

As it is with every idol and false god, you become enticed by what looks good. You follow your preference because you know it will give good results for you. Some of the most ancient idols known to archaeology are gods that were thought to provide fertility for people and crops. Eve chose to eat the fruit from the forbidden tree because of what she saw. Genesis 3 says Eve saw that the fruit was pleasing to the eye and she desired to gain wisdom. Another way to put it is that she was afraid that God was keeping away from her a wisdom that she needed. Either way, she and her negligent husband Adam exercised their preference based on what they saw, and they did not obey the Word of God that they heard. If you’ve ever read the book of Judges, you would have seen a refrain that is said repetitively about the multiple rises and falls of the nation of Israel before the time of King David. Whenever the people disobeyed God and fell away, the historical record says: everyone did that which was right in his own eyes.

The false god of choice and preference takes what you see or experience and makes it drown out the Word of God that you hear. Because of that, it quickly attacks the very foundation that keeps the Church standing and causes Christians to sink into doubt and despair. Preference converts faithful hearers, and receivers of God’s gifts into demanding stockholders. It changes preachers of the Word into chief executives who must meet the bottom line or else they’re out on their ear. People don’t come, or they stay away, so the reasoning goes, because the church doesn’t meet their preferences. They can find something else that they would rather do. Sadly, churches change today not because they want to be true to the Gospel, but rather they want to compete for the choice of an untapped market of warm bodies. Try us out, world! We’ll make it worth your while!

In no place does the Bible ever encourage you to follow your personal preference. But there might be no better biblical story that destroys that idea completely than the story of Peter walking on the water to Jesus, then sinking, and then getting rescued by His outstretched hand. I cannot say for sure because the Bible doesn’t address it, but I’m pretty confident to assume that before this particular night, Peter never did have the inner desire to walk on water. I’d be surprised if the thought had ever before crossed his mind. Peter simply would not be waiting with bated breath for the opportunity to try doing it. The decision to walk on water did not appear to be the better choice by what Peter saw. It would seem silly for him to walk on water toward a ghost if all he wanted to do was prove how brave he was and earn the bragging rights and brownie points from his peers. The thing that makes the difference here in this biblical account is the Word that Jesus spoke.

Peter and the other disciples were being deceived by what their eyes saw. Because of the huge storm, a boat trip that usually only took a few hours was lasting long into the night, so long that the Roman guards changed shifts four times at their posts, which is what the “fourth watch” means. What those in the boat saw were the waves and wind pushing them back. They saw that they didn’t have Jesus to calm this storm for them. They saw that they were alone. But then as if it couldn’t get any worse, something was coming closer to them, something that brought them even more fear. Sure, you know now that it was Jesus, but the way those disciples saw Him, based only on what their eyes were telling them, it was a ghost, that is, an evil spirit perhaps impersonating someone else. It required hearing the Word of God to calm down the fear that was produced by what they saw. “Take courage. It is I. (Literally, He said, “I AM,” which is the Holy Name of God.) Don’t be afraid.” That was a powerful Word. That is what turned the tide for these frightened disciples. What they heard immediately changed for them what they saw. Those words from the lips of Jesus were what inspired courageous faith in the heart of Peter. Based on what Jesus said, and not on his natural, sinful, personal choice, Peter then requested to hear yet one more powerful Word from the Lord: he wanted to hear the word, “Come.” And that Word, not the determination of Peter, was all that was needed to enable his feet for a brief moment to stand on top of the water just like Jesus. What he heard with his ears was taking the proper precedence over what he saw with his eyes.

But not for long. Because his eyes were going to take over again. He would be deceived by what he saw. He would be quickly distracted from the Word of Jesus. His preference was to doubt the Lord, and that choice got him into trouble. As Jesus said, Peter had little faith, but that little faith cried out to the only one who could save his life. As this disciple found himself in the depths of death, he had nowhere to hold, except the outstretched hand of the Son of God. When He who formed the heavens and the earth in six days has you in His firm grasp, I’d imagine you would feel safe and secure, too. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that now, with what you might be going through?

Well, that’s what you’re receiving here right now. You have heard the powerful Word of God. You have His real, true Body and Blood standing here before you on this altar. For Jesus is not just simply a powerful weather man or water-walker. He has wiped out your sin as well. Though you have sunk into the depths of rebellion against God, your Savior is right there to pull you up. He has taken away your idolatry to choice, and He made that sin nail Him to the cross to die for you. As He is risen from the dead, just as surely are you forgiven from following your preference. As you are moved by the gift of the Holy Spirit, you now make the new choice to give up on your sinful self. You are empowered by what you hear, and not by what you see. By the way, reading sign language and the written Word of Scripture is also considered “hearing.” And what do you hear? “Take courage! He who is the I AM is here for you! Don’t be afraid anymore. Your sins and poor choices will not drown you.”

Be glad that you worship the Lord simply by hearing this powerful Word, and not by your doing something different that might momentarily please your personal preference. Come to this place as a refuge for your soul, as a fountain of rich and lavish gifts that you could never choose for yourself, and not as you would go to a concert or video arcade or theme park. Hear with your ears what your eyes cannot yet see, that is, the true heavenly picture of worship as you are joining angels, archangels and all the company of heaven including the blessed saints who have passed away before you.

By the time you leave this place, you will probably have been distracted from the Word of Christ by something else that seems better right now to your eye. But let your little faith rest assured that Jesus is right there walking upon Baptismal water combined with the Word to rescue you just as He did sinking Peter. Though you may fear from time to time for your family to stay together, or for the boat of the Church that seems to be on the verge of sinking, take courage; don’t be afraid. He who is the I AM still speaks through His powerful Word. Miracles still happen, and if you aren’t walking on water, then you’ll be assured to know that, even better, your merciful Lord Jesus is already with you in the boat.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

The multitudes were “going without” – specifically “going without” food. The people were hungry. They were needful – even as you often see yourself in the same desperate way. The money always dries up toward the end of the month. Your health or physical condition is not at the level you would like. Your emotions or those of your family irritate you to the point of insanity. You are going without, and so you face a problem where it looks more and more likely that there isn’t a solution. You find yourself in a condition that seems beyond help. And isn’t it that very condition which then prompts you to ask the question, “Why?” “Why do I have to endure suffering and lack such as this?” “Why must I simply ‘make do’ with it?” “Why can’t the Lord send down a miracle like multiplying the bread and fish?” “All I’m asking for is for just enough to live peaceably and comfortably – just enough so that I don’t have to be in constant pain, persistent anxiety, or scrimp from week to week.” Is that asking too much?

And there it is, right there. Wondering if you’ve asked too much. There’s where you are in danger of losing or damaging your precious faith. Because it’s not a case of asking too much, but actually of not asking for enough. What do I mean? Why stop with asking just for material gain, or for the greater ease of your mental and physical anguish? Why not just go all the way and ask for an absolutely perfect life? After all, wasn’t it Jesus Himself who once said: “Ask for anything in My name … and you shall receive it?” You and I, you see, we seem to have this tendency to view everything backwards – or at the very least, with a severely limited and often self-centered point of view. While God constantly provides for you in His Holy Word a glimpse of transcendent, everlasting life, you tend to be too busy fretting about this miserable and temporary life. While God wants us all to look at suffering and lack of things with a heavenly perspective, we insist on starting with the bad and letting that influence the way we look at the good.

Among the most important lessons to be learned from a familiar miracle story like this is that you must recognize that, on your own – at least apart from Christ – you have nothing of value to offer God. Look again at the first part of the Gospel. I want you to note something about this multitude which followed Jesus. They had nothing – and that’s not simply in terms of food. What I mean is that these people had nothing about them which would cause God to love them. Do you see that they were just like you?

Now Jesus had just received news that John the Baptist had been beheaded by King Herod. It was just described in the verses immediately before the feeding of the 5000 was recorded in Matthew. That event was terrible news for Jesus to hear. A boastful, power-drunk king would rather save face than kill an innocent man. But before you get too offended, you must remember that according to God’s Law you too are also murderers. For Jesus Himself has said that even hating someone in your heart is the same as murder in God’s sight – as is failing to help and befriend our neighbor in every bodily need, as the Catechism explains. So, no less than King Herod, each of us sinners are murderers too. And as such, there’s nothing that you can find within you—whether it is years as a church member, or family pedigree, or amount of “sweat equity” you’ve built up—none of that would invoke God’s love – nor would it dissuade Him from punishing you.

And yet there’s still good news for you, for even though the crowd that pursued Jesus out in the countryside had no redeeming qualities – we’re told that Christ’s heart went out to them. He was moved with compassion for them and healed their sick ones. And so, without reason, without logic, and without any just cause, our Lord Jesus fed them. Think about the congregations in Texas and other border states that were sending food and necessities to the illegal immigrant youths because they were moved with compassion for them. Is that wise? They see them as their neighbor, as the Bible describes one. Do they risk catching the diseases that the children may be bringing with them across the border? Are they putting their very lives on the line, or potentially encouraging more lawbreaking and violence to happen? Could they be publicized as mere political pawns and fodder for sound bites on the news? Quite possibly. Perhaps they found a way both to support the proper enforcement of the law and show mercy to those in need. Jesus feeding the multitudes didn’t make human sense, either. Then He went beyond that loving gesture to sacrifice His own life on the cross for miserable, sinful creatures – even for you.

Isn’t it amazing, that here we are, a people who are so caught up with amassing the table-scraps of temporal things for ourselves, while God’s desire is to bless us with so much more, with the ultimate banquet. Here we are so busy trying to get our hands on the mere five loaves of bread and two fish. Yet at the very same time Christ has already secured for us that heavenly food which will satisfy our greatest need – that food which will bestow upon us everlasting life. Most specifically, that meal is His very own body and blood given and shed for us sinners to eat and drink for the forgiveness of our sins and to strengthen our faith and declare to one another our unity in confessing the one, true Christian faith.

The clues are in today’s Gospel. Did you notice them? If you didn’t, look again at the miracle of feeding the five thousand. It’s really quite significant. First, the people reclined. Then, Jesus took the bread, gave thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. Does it sound familiar? It ought to. It can’t be an accident that this was the very same action Jesus used when He instituted the Lord’s Supper on the night He was betrayed. And notice also what happened when the meal was concluded. There were twelve full baskets left over. It can’t be a coincidence that there are also twelve Disciples – twelve who would carry on the office of Christ and distribute His gifts to the Church. In just the same way, the Pastors of Christ’s Church have continued to do right up to the present day in the stead and by the command of their Lord, and not to fulfill the whims of whoever controls their livelihood.

In Christ, dear friends, you’ve already been given everything you need. You have as your possession the forgiveness of sins, the sanctified life, salvation, and the promise of an eternal home in heaven. Nothing you might think is lacking in your life can ever supersede or replace what God’s already given you in Christ Jesus through His Word, through His Spirit, and through His Church. You may have recalled a reading last week that said throughout your tribulation, distress and persecution, you remain more than conquerors through Him Who loved you! It’s all yours. Just ask for it. But now if that’s so, why do you still have to go through tribulations? Why do you have to put up with heartache? Why doesn’t God simply give you deliverance like you request; or freedom from the pain of this world? Well, that is precisely because you are God’s elect, the ones chosen for eternal life, and so therefore He allows these things to happen.

That’s what explains that whole part about how all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Well, the fact is that you have been baptized and called to faith so that you might partake of eternal salvation. And the “things which work together for good,” are described plain as day: “tribulation, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, and sword.” God allows those who are His elect to experience such things. Why? Because in the midst of it all you have no other choice but to place your faith in God alone for all things. In your own limited wisdom and understanding you could never fathom how any of this could possibly be for your benefit. And so you simply have to take God at His Word.

You have to accept things in your life the way they are because He says so? Does that make God indifferent or uncompassionate toward you? Not at all – but rather it reveals He has such great love and mercy that He was willing to give up His own Son for the guilt of our sin – and all so that He might then grant you the full assurance, that already in this life – through the Gospel-word-and-sacrament ministry of His Church, which you sing and speak in the liturgy, that nothing – “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Can you see yourself among those spiritually hungry crowds following Jesus? Are you faced with the struggles that come with being a faithful Christian in our world today? If so, then you can see your life in the life of Jesus Christ. By faith, His life belongs to you just as much as you belong to Him. In Him you live, and move, and have your being. And if your life is in Jesus, what are you lacking? Nothing. What do you have to be anxious or worry about? Absolutely nothing. And what do you have to look forward to? Absolutely everything – everything in Jesus – both now and forevermore – for His sake – and in His name.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

What makes something a treasure? Usually we think of something that’s treasured because perhaps it is old or scarce. Who says that those dollar bills, they’re just pieces of linen/cotton paper that are or are not in your wallet or purse, depending on the day, who said those had the value that’s printed on them—and maybe we shouldn’t venture to answer that touchy question today! How about this: It’s well known that one person’s trash can be another person’s treasure, so where is there a standard that you can find that will tell you for certain, this is valuable? What lunatic would just decide one day to hold up some random thing in his hand and start saying to everyone, this is the most precious thing in the whole world! What other lunatics would actually believe him?

When Jesus told His parables, sometimes they were stories that seemed pretty self-explanatory. A few of them He explained Himself. Other parables take some time to read, mark, learn and inwardly digest. The three in our Gospel today go fairly quickly compared to the other stories He’s told, then our Lord concludes with a final comparison that emphasizes what Jesus’ words do for us today.

In fact, that’s where I want to start: Jesus said, “Every scribe who has been made a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who tosses out of his treasure new things and old.” This should tell us that we can never be here in this space, listening from this pulpit, just so we will have more information in our heads. There’s more going on here than my telling you something to do, or passing on mere Bible knowledge, as good as that certainly is. Instead we are here for a true interaction with our Lord and Savior.

You are here to meet the source of your forgiveness and everlasting life Himself. From Jesus, the true Master of this house, you are to obtain not mere knowledge, but true wisdom with a goal, a point- you are witnessing God’s kingdom coming here among you. Treasures both new and old are being dished out to you, since the old promises have come eternally true in Jesus Christ and you are His beneficiaries. You belong to Him, and He belongs to you, forever.

That is the best answer to what can be a very confusing question: the kingdom of God, or the kingdom of heaven as we read the title in this Gospel reading—is it something we seek out, like a man who found a treasure, sold everything and bought the field just to have the treasure? Or is it something Jesus did to seek us out, give up His life, His everything, sold out His utter perfection into the shame and suffering of the cross just to redeem us, to buy you back from your sin and make you His treasured possession? And the predictable answer to many potentially confusing either-or questions that we come up with is, it’s both!

First, it is true that Jesus did everything in order to secure you as His precious treasure. It was for your sake that He came down from heaven and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. He willingly put Himself under the law that He made in the beginning, and brought it to ultimate fulfillment. He not only kept every rule perfectly, like you or I could never do, He also allowed the law’s punishment to land only on Him, even though it had been meant for you and all the human race.

Jesus your Lord sold all He had, as His own parable describes, He emptied Himself to gain you as His treasure, even though it was hidden in the dirt of your sins and failures, He went through all the effort that was necessary to claim you. It was this great effort that made you a treasure when nothing else about you would have said you deserved to be called that at all. It wasn’t because you had the traits or qualities of a treasured possession, nothing of value existed in your heart. But Jesus made sure that nothing, neither height nor depth, death nor life, would separate you from Him.

He cast the net that caught you like a fish, you didn’t have to make the effort to swim and jump into His boat! Coming into His kingdom by your own power was impossible. He hauled you in, that’s what He gave the Holy Spirit to do in your heart, that is, to give you the faith that trusted in all that Jesus did for your sake. Aware of it or not, believe it! You are God’s precious, chosen treasure, cleansed and forgiven in the Blood of Jesus Christ.

Remember the answer I suggested to you, whether the treasure of the kingdom of heaven was something we seek out, or it is Jesus who sought us? Well, now here’s the other side of that both-and answer. Once it is clear in your mind and heart that you belong to Jesus, no matter what, that He has washed and redeemed you, given you the pure faith in your heart to believe in Him, claimed you as His own, then it is important to let you know that He has also changed you. The ugly sinner in you has died, was crucified with Christ, and now what the Catechism calls a new man shall daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. That means that with the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you are different, your love for the Lord has been kindled, your desire to serve Him and your neighbor totally selflessly is renewed like it has never been before. Your sins still try to tempt you and plague you, but you have been given mastery over them, thanks to Christ, who has promised to forgive you.

This is what happens to you when you find out what a massive spiritual treasure lies hidden together with the free forgiveness that you know you have already received. There is so much more than forgiveness, which is a wonderful gift in itself, you have been set free. But then God wants to increase your awareness of His love, He wants to bring you closer and closer to Him so that you are one with Him, joined inseparably. He makes no demands in the sense that He threatens taking away your gift if you don’t act right, He simply calls you to follow Him because of the love that He has placed in your heart.

Since Jesus went willingly to do all that He did to purchase you as His treasure, you respond in a similar way. You now willingly go and put your life on the line, making it your total goal and aim to serve others just as selflessly as Jesus served you. Along with Saint Paul, you also see nothing in this world that is better than this treasure. “Whatsoever gain I had I counted as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.” You know what is the highest priority in your life- it’s Jesus. You then go out of your way looking for opportunities to share His love that resides in you.

Yes, you do commit to your Lord your whole life and all you have as your offering to Him, not only because He commanded you to do this, but because now it is your heartfelt desire to sacrifice yourself for the sake of others. Long ago the wise words of God were recorded in Proverbs: “My Son, … if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” It would bring you no greater joy in your life than to keep on seeking out this treasure, this Savior Jesus, whom you already have as your own.

Bad things and twists and turns will still be there in your life, you’re not going to get rid of that until Christ comes again in glory, but you now know for yourself what Paul wrote about: “All things work together for good for those who love God, that is the same as, those who are called according to His purpose.” Without Jesus going first and purchasing you, making you His treasure, you would have no reason to believe that whatever you’re going through was ever going to work out for good. It seemed to be some random thing that made a believer and a treasure out of plain, old, you. Now that you know and believe that God had in mind to make you His own right from the very beginning of time, well, every moment you have when you listen to God’s Word, when you attend this Divine Service, when you remember you have been baptized and declared a child of the Heavenly Father, that’s when you know you are receiving precious treasures being tossed to you from Jesus’ storehouse, His treasure chest. I your local scribe and steward of the gifts of God, am happy to dispense these precious things, new and old, to you, for Christ has declared by His permanent command, they are yours.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Jesus does not tell you the parable about the wheat and the weeds in order for you to worry about the weeds. And yet, according to human nature, we tend to focus on the weeds. We are right along with those twelve disciples, disturbed about false believers whom the devil has planted all around us in this world and what is going to happen to them. We cry out to our Master in desperation along with the workers in the story, saying, “If You, Lord, sowed good seed in the field, then why are there weeds?” We even plead with Him to take them away, just so we don’t have to deal with such people, whom we see every day. Even if there’s a risk of so-called “collateral damage,” at least those nasty hypocrites are gone.

Now, if you walk around in a beautiful garden, you could feast your eyes on many colorful and well-arranged flowers, shrubs and trees. But it’s that big, prickly, ugly old milkweed stuck right in the middle that’s going to command your total attention. Or do you notice how the neighborhood seems to change about-face when you drive by that perfectly manicured lawn, then see next door to that an overgrown forest of tumbleweeds?

In Jesus’ story, those weeds sure were a nuisance to the workers in the field. The kind of weed he mentioned in this parable sprouts and comes to a head looking just like the wheat for most of its life cycle. And then when harvest time comes, those “hypocrite” weeds prove themselves to be worthless, even poisonous, and their only purpose is to be in the way. That is why the workers ask the Master if they should uproot those weeds now. It would only make good sense and save the trouble of sifting through them during the busy harvest time. However, the Master wouldn’t hear of it. He goes against what appears to be good sense in order that He might save the wheat from being uprooted. He is so concerned for his precious wheat that He is unwilling to sacrifice even a few of them so that the field would finally be weed-free.

There is hardly any person more despised and hated than a hypocrite. You can probably all think of someone who had at one time acted as though he were your friend, played the part beautifully, only to double-cross you when all was said and done. The same could be true of an unbeliever in the midst of Christians. This false Christian may do all the things true believers do, including praying, reading the Bible, leading a morally upstanding life, going to church and so on. In fact, they may do these things even better and more regularly than genuine Christians do! That’s why some people who have not been coming to church try to justify their decision by saying, “I’ve run into too many hypocrites going there, I don’t want anything to do with them.”

Wouldn’t you just love for God to find out such people, root them out and give them the punishment they deserve? Wouldn’t the Church and our Synod be more effective and holy if people who say one thing and do the opposite were kicked out permanently? Getting back to the parable, wouldn’t the work of harvesting wheat in the kingdom of God be much easier if all the weeds were bundled up and thrown into the fiery furnace? Doesn’t God our Father know what the consequences will be for us His children when He says, “Let both wheat and weeds grow together until the harvest?” Isn’t he aware that may be a big reason why from time to time we run into problems in our church in the first place?

Dear Christian friends, do not focus all your attention on the weeds. It is actually for your benefit that God has allowed both wheat and weeds to grow together in the field of this world. For you, too, have said one thing and done the very opposite. You, too, have acted as though Christ were not your Lord and Savior. Instead, you have trusted in how good you looked before others, what good things you’ve done and how you’ve put those people around you to shame. I have fallen to temptations like these as well. What you and I deserve is to be rolled up right now and bound together with all the other law-breakers like ourselves and cast out of His kingdom forever. The mere breath from His mouth is all that is needed to make us sinners wither away. But the Lord Almighty has waited in his divine judgment so that you could be spared. God has let the wheat and the weeds grow together until the harvest so that you would not be thrown into the fiery furnace, but would instead escape untouched by those flames, just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who walked miraculously out of the furnace of persecution in Babylon.

For the one who endured the flames of God’s furnace of wrath was Jesus Christ, God’s own Son. For your sake God the Father addressed Him as though He were the cause of all sin and put all the blame on that holy, innocent Man who was nailed to the cross. It was at great cost to the Son of Man that He planted His good seed in the field. In fact, it was watered with the very blood that He shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins and for the remission of your own hypocrisy.

Though you may have acted at times as though you had forgotten Him, He did not forget you, thanks be to God! By His unbelievable grace, you are not weeds, but rather His precious wheat, and He assures you that He will never let you be uprooted or cast away. Your destination is the barn of heaven, the storehouse of our merciful Lord, far from the scorching flames of the fiery furnace. For He Himself on that great harvest day will send His angels to gather you, not with the weeds, but with the wheat, meaning the believers whom God has planted with His Word, watered and brought to maturity in Jesus Christ.

Listen to the Almighty Master’s promise to you, His wheat, given through the Apostle Paul: “We ourselves, [even though we have] the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” And next week you will hear the very comforting words:

Dear friends in Christ, that is why our Lord Jesus does not want you to focus your attention on the weeds. False Christians and believers falling from the faith will always be in our midst, because God in His infinite wisdom will not pluck them out of the field before the proper time. Martin Luther said in one of his sermons on this parable that wherever God builds for Himself a church, the devil sets up his own base of operations also, in order to taunt and hassle those who are not his. But that should not be a cause for you to despair, for Christ has promised to be with you in any time of trial or persecution. In fact, He says you will conquer through it all especially during those trying times. And even as you groan with a curse- burdened creation and fight against the weed-like nature of your own sinful flesh, the Old Adam that still fights against God, you will still be given the victory most decidedly.

Because of the amazing love of our Lord, among all those weeds there still is wheat! Believe it: The Son of Man has sown good seed. He’s guaranteed that. Children of God are still born into His kingdom, despite the discouraging things we often see. The Father’s will continues to be done among us, even in spite of us. We have Christ’s own pledge right here in His Word that this is so. He says, “All things work together for good for those who love God.” His very Body and Blood, given for the sake of His precious wheat, is here for us and for our salvation as well. With such assurance as this, we look forward to the coming of the end of the age, without fear, because that will be the day when we break forth like the sunrise along with our Risen Lord and Savior, and we will rejoice forever in the kingdom of our Father in heaven. He who has ears, let him hear, and you shall believe, and be saved, for Jesus’ sake.

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

Rev’d Mark B. Stirdivant, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, Yucaipa, California
✝ sdg ✝

What can you do about your dirt? Let me explain what I mean by that question… Here we have one of the few parables where Jesus Himself explains exactly what the story means, both for His disciples and for you, who are His people of this day and age. As Matthew informs us, our Lord begins His teaching session by getting into a boat, a very common thing to do in a fishing village on the Sea of Galilee, then He pulls out away from shore a little bit, and lets the natural reflective properties of the lake’s water surface magnify His Words to the crowds who had gathered to hear Him. Just imagine a congregation assembled on the shore of a mountain or hillside lake, and you’ve got one of nature’s ready-made amphitheaters, complete with amplification, and this parable in all of its details is the feature of the program. There’s the Sower, who is Jesus, of course. The seed is the Word of God, the hot sun and rocky soil is persecution and shallow growth of the Word in a person’s heart, the hungry birds are the devil’s efforts to mislead our understanding, the thorns are the choking deceitfulness of riches and the anxieties we face in this world. If you have heard or studied this parable before, you probably have made yourself quite familiar with as much of its meaning as I’ve mentioned so far.

But then we get to the soil—notice how Jesus’ careful explanation of His own parable makes no distinction about what happens in the good soil! Why is it that one patch of otherwise fertile dirt yields thirty fold, and another area brings forth as much as a hundred times the harvest? His disciples questioned Him about all the other details in the parable; why would they not press Him also about what this part means? It makes you wonder as you apply this parable to your life as a Christian—what can you do about your dirt? That is, not only are you careful to watch for the big stuff—the persecution, the devil, the worldly cares—so that you take root in fertile soil, but it seems like you should also take note of the fruits that your life bears: be it thirty, sixty or a hundred fold. Wouldn’t you want to be as productive as possible? Isn’t that what God would want for you?

And that is where frustration can enter in. You measure up the difference with other Christians and you start wondering about your soil. You may not have seen anxiety make total shipwreck of your faith, you may not be embroiled in the fires of persecution, and you may not even be tempted to fall into sin on a regular basis. But even so, even if you don’t find yourself planted in rocky soil, you’re not plucked up by the bird’s beak, and the sun hasn’t scorched you, still you find something that’s not quite right. You may not get this feeling all of the time, but it’s more often than you would like. You ask, why can’t I be a bit more diligent in Bible reading and prayer? Why am I complacent about making just a minimum effort at the Christian life? I have my chances to tell a neighbor about the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, but I too often avoid them and walk the other way. I already know that it is very important to hold to God’s true and pure Word, but there are days when that true and pure Word doesn’t seem to have a hold on me. What’s going wrong?

Many Christian denominations claim to have the answer to that frustration. Commit to the Lord! Make Him your number one priority! Be a disciple, and not merely a member! And it sounds like they have a point. The Law that they are using is in fact the Law that tells you your Christian life has fallen short, has lost its luster, and you are squarely to blame. You have potential, so they say, to yield a hundred fold, that is, be totally on fire for the Lord, be constant in prayer, and outdo one another in showing honor, as Paul says in Romans, but instead you bring forth a fraction of your fruits of faith. Churches should be doing more. Pastors should be more energetic about getting the Word out. Children should be paying more attention to the worship service and the sermon. And as far as the Law of God says these accusatory things, it is most certainly justified in doing so. It’s all true.

There’s one thing missing, though. There is a reason why Jesus does not explain the differences between the yield of thirty, sixty and a hundred fold in the parable of the Sower. The answer lies in the Gospel of forgiveness. With the Gospel, there is no how-to, no formula or recipe for you to follow to get the results you’re after. When it comes to forgiveness, there’s nothing to do, because it has all been done. The Sower Himself grants the yield. The differences between you and other Christians are His matter, not yours. He has spread His costly seed indiscriminately, casting it all over the place. He is superabundant in His grace, freely and willingly paying the high cost of your salvation. He endured the pain of the cross, because it was the eternal punishment that was meant for you because of your sins.

But your sins are remembered no more. Your frustrations are removed, because you fix your eyes of faith not on yourself and your performance, as it were, but you fix your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith. Through the waters of your Baptism, you have already been brought out from death to life. Your Savior has shut the roaring mouths of the Law’s accusations. You are not going to be saved through trying harder. Your dirt is not going to improve its yield because of anything you do. Instead, it will be Christ and His Word of forgiveness to you, His Body and Blood in the Lord’s Supper that will strengthen you, the buried treasure of Scripture that will fertilize your soil for the yield of the fruits of faith that your heavenly Father has had in mind for you from the beginning of time.

When you think of it, there’s nothing for you to do, really, except take yourself out of it all. You are planted as a seedling in your particular area of dirt, remember, so the true work belongs to Jesus working in you. When the Law’s accusations come your way, instead of assuming you can meet them and put a bigger effort into your Christian life, I’d suggest that you admit instead that the Law is right, say that you are a sinner, and bring that confession of repentance to the cross, talk to your pastor for personal absolution and counsel from God’s Word. Leave the results, that is, the yield, whether it’s thirty, sixty, or a hundred fold, as a matter of Christ’s concern and not yours. He has your dirt under His control. Now that you are forgiven and purified by His cleansing blood, He will join Himself to you so that it becomes Jesus who tells others about Himself through you. Jesus and His Words will lead you to pray and work for God’s kingdom in your particular vocation. As Saint Paul wrote, it is not I but Christ who lives in me. All I need to do is get my sinful self out of the way through repentance. This is not an excuse for me to sin more and work against the Lord—that’s what weeds do, and since Christ is the Sower, He did not plant you as a weed. His Word has taken hold of you, and your Lord will not lose His grip, no matter what happens in your life. With His good seed doing the work, He will produce your crop, and at harvest time, He has promised to gather you to Himself in heaven forever more.

The next few weeks in this portion of the Pentecost season, our Divine Service’s Gospel reading will proceed through the rest of the parables that are collected in Matthew, chapter 13. Our Lord Jesus Christ has more of His Word of the kingdom and of the salvation that was meant for you. He is not going to give you mere words of instruction, or demands to serve Him, or a complex of guilt because you have failed Him. He is going to plant the seed of His Word into you, and to make of you the disciple that He has already called you to be. He urges you to get into the boat of the Christian church. In fact, you are right now sitting in what is called the nave of the church building—so you are in the boat with Jesus! And just as the water’s surface magnified His voice at one time on the Sea of Galilee, so today let the remembrance of the water of your Baptism magnify the Word you hear, reminding you that Christ came to be your Lord too, the one who has redeemed you by His Blood. With Him working in you through the Holy Spirit, your frustrations are removed, your sins forgiven, your reconciliation complete. The Lord has sowed the seed. He will also bring you and your works to full completion when you behold God’s face, shining in all glory and blessing upon you.

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