In the second book of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings Trilogy, he introduces a fantasy character named Treebeard. Treebeard looks like a tree with the exception that he can walk, talk, and feel emotions. He is a member of a race that loves and cares for trees. As Treebeard explains who he is to some of the other characters in the book, one of the things that he says is, “If something is worth saying, it is worth taking a long time to say.” I think Treebeard would like the Athanasian Creed. It does take a long time to read. But there is another reason why Treebeard would like this Creed. He also said something about names. He said: “Real Names tell you the story of the things they belong to.”

Now, if you are one of those who thinks this old and honorable creed is just a little on the long side, you should be very thankful for the theologians who came up with the words “Trinity and Triune”. If it weren’t for these words, you would have to haul out the Athanasian Creed every time you wanted to talk about the community of three persons who are one God. The words “Trinity and Triune” save a lot of time in theological discussions whenever we want to talk about the true God who is a community of three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

There are those who try to tell us that because the word “Trinity” is not in the Bible, that God is not a three person community in one God. They would argue that because the word “Triune” does not exist in the Bible, the idea of the Triune God is wrong. That is a little bit like saying that before Isaac Newton described the operation of gravity and gave us words and mathematics so that we could talk about it, gravity didn’t apply and things went flying off into space.

Things do not come into existence because we have words for them. In fact, the opposite is true. We humans come up with words for things because they already exist and we use those words to identify what is real. So it is that theologians came up with the words “Trinity” and “Triune” so that we can talk about the importance of God, as we examine the story, as it were, or even better “explain” the definition of the reality of each person within the unity of the godhead. So we can shorten the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to the word “Trinity” for discussion, but by using these terms we must also mean that the Triune God is three persons who are coequal, coeternal, uncreated and so on as we say in the creeds. But by shortening the name and describing God as Triune, we able refer to God without having to recite each of the Historic creeds every time we want to discuss the things of God.

The reality of the Trinity is true just the same. In fact, it is only because of the reality of the Trinity and their workings that we can even understand Scripture and God at all.

It is the Father who created all things perfectly, though mankind caused sin and imperfection, the Son then obeyed His Father and fulfilled the Law in the flesh and made a perfect sacrifice on the cross to pay for the sins of the world in order to restore mankind to perfection by faith and hope of life eternal, and it is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that the minds of humanity can begin to understand the realities of God through faith. It is only by the gift of faith from God that we can understand the meanings of Holy Scripture as God speaking to us and revealing His love and will for us, which is: repentance and salvation in His name. Through God’s revealed Word and the sacraments, the Holy Spirit overcomes the hardness of our hearts and ignorance of our sin, so that we may believe who and what God is, even if we don’t fully understand by reason or know the Athanasian Creed by heart. We can understand the reality of God’s love and give Him glory for it and then appreciate the mystery of God, study it, ponder it, and take the time to say it, confess Him, even it takes a long time to say it, because it is worth saying: for He who is timeless, created time, shaped, formed, and entered time in order to love and bring salvation for such small, mortal, and oftentimes rebellious creatures such as you and I. All so that we can in Jesus Christ be brought into eternity, brought into God’s perfection and rest by the forgiveness of our sins.

If we did not have this unique and special revelation from God so that we may believe rightly, we would be left with only a “so-called” natural knowledge of God which does not save. I am referring to how we are born sinful without a right knowledge of God, but rather born with an enmity, a separation from Him, a fear and almost mistrustful hatred of a being far above us.

Throughout the ages, people of every tribe and tongue have tried to use nature to understand the meaning of life and who God is. Based on that ignorant natural knowledge of God, people will look to the forces of nature and may see Him as an all-powerful God, but also One who is angry, and has mood swings, a God who needs to be appeased. Some people have thought, maybe there are many different gods controlling many different aspects of creation. They end up envisioning and creating a god after their own image and experience. If they are a war-like people, they make for themselves a war-like god. If people are thinkers, they may think that he is a thinking god. Whatever it is, people make God into their own image, as they combine nature with their own self-awareness and experience. If you base God on one’s own imagination and natural revelation and experience, you will get a religion that is always a variation on “salvation through works” with some accompanying image of an impersonal God.

This is why the Trinitarian message of Christianity is unique to all of the world’s religions. We are not the same. This message was revealed by God, Himself. Christianity is the only religion who confesses a loving, just God who comes to His creation in their sin, who provides salvation not because we deserve it but because He desires it: because His nature is one of love. He is a God who grants grace and salvation outside of our goodness, or proving our worthiness to be saved. This is different than all other religions, that difference is proof of its truth. Man’s interpretation of God sees God only through the lens of pride, and what mankind wishes he himself was, that is why in the end a religion devised by man, gives glory to one’s self or to the knowledge and greatness of man.
In Christianity, it is the opposite, because God sees us just as we are: sinners, rebels who are now helpless, lost and destined to eternal death, and so, the Father sends His Son to the rescue, so that He would accomplish the works of the law and the punishment of the Law for us through His death on the cross. Through His resurrection, we have the promise of eternal life as our sins are forgiven through faith in Him and His merits. The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to believe, He gives us the gift of faith. It is that faith in God and the forgiveness of sins worked by Christ, that gives life, and through it we are changed, comforted and we are given direction and purpose in this life. We are pointed away from ourselves to give glory to God rather than ourselves.

That is why Jesus gives the command in today’s Gospel text. It is important that the name of the Lord God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit be proclaimed, explained, confessed, and carried forth into the world. This message, this confession, and the description of who God is, is the only way that people can come to faith and be saved from their sins and their ignorant idolatry of various kinds. This witness can start simply as summarized in Christ’s commission or the preaching of St. Peter in our Acts reading, but it is only a starting point. Coming to faith, becoming stronger in that faith, explaining that faith, over coming unbelief and misbelief is the work of the Holy Spirit who works through words. And those words are worth pondering, studying, and saying and repeating even it takes many words or seems to take a long time to do it. It is based on God’s Word and therefore it has power and meaning, even it seems to be taking a long time to be said or for somebody to be turned and converted. The Lord will do it in His time and in the meantime, as we study, as we confess, as we receive His communication in His Word, returning to God’s promise to us in Baptism, receiving Christ’s body and blood in the bread and the wine, confessing the creeds, the liturgy, the hymns of the Church, praying and serving in our vocations, we become changed, stronger in faith and understanding and confidence in knowing God’s Love and sharing it with others.

And know that God comes to you and me as He gathers us at the cross through the waters of Baptism and renews us in the celebration of Christ’s Body and Blood. It is though these that He prepares us for eternity, where we shall forever give glory to our Triune God. Let us ever give thanks unto Him, who continues to take care of our physical and spiritual needs on this side of heaven. He comforts, forgives, and gives us knowledge, wisdom, and strength unto life everlasting in the name and to the glory of our Triune and loving God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Have you ever taken a drink of water from a glass that has been sitting out for hours and hours, maybe even a day or two? How did it taste? Most likely stale and weird, because stagnant water tastes nasty. The reason for that is because still water loses the natural gases and oxygen that is in the water when it is first poured and after time you are left with a flatness, perhaps making the taste of chemicals and minerals in the water stand out more. It is this presence of gas that makes any kind of water taste good and taste alive, you might say. In order for there to be this aliveness or oxygenation in the water, there needs to be pressure or movement and mixing with air. In our water systems at home, this is often replicated as the water gets flushed and poured out in our different plumbing systems. This process of moving the water and causing oxygen and air to get into the water replicates the natural motion and movement of water that occurs when water bubbles up from an artesian well or water that is being tossed about over rocks in a stream, brook, or river. This is part of why we as humans enjoy fountains so much, why the movement of water gives us joy. If we went for a drink in a pond or bog where the water doesn’t move, it would not be pleasant and would only quench our thirst in the most desperate of times, and it may even be dangerous as bacteria and other microorganisms love still water. So the key for tasty, living water is the freshness that comes from moving, oxygenated, naturally purified water.

In the Gospel text for today, Jesus said, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'” If we wonder “what does this mean?” we don’t have long to wait, because John the evangelist immediately tells us what it means. He writes, “Now this He said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

In other words, Jesus was prophesying about the gift of the Holy Spirit that would be given at Pentecost. As we heard in the book of Acts, there were the visible manifestations or proofs to His presence. First was the rush of wind with its sound, then came the divided tongues of fire upon each person, then the speaking in tongues which when translated properly refers to dialects or actual languages. The disciples actually spoke in different languages so that when they left the house all those from different lands with different languages could hear the message of Jesus Christ in their own native tongue.

Notice how this is described in Acts as a direct quote from the prophet Joel: “And in the last days, it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit and there will be all kinds of signs.” There are two things in that quote to emphasize: one is that it says in the “last days” He shall accomplish this. That means, my friends, contrary to those who expect the last days to be coming, they are wrong. The last days are already here! The Last Days refers to all the time that is left after the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus into heaven. The Last Days refers to the New Testament era. The last days have been going on for almost 2,000 years!

What is the working of the Holy Spirit though? Is it merely in the working of signs and miracles? Does the Holy Spirit come so that people may have a great emotional uplifting and feel good about themselves as so many of the Pentecostal Christians today believe. No, the Holy Spirit comes with a purpose, the purpose of the Holy Spirit’s coming on Pentecost was greater than the visible signs apparent that day. What the church of the apostles and of the early Christians experienced as the reality of the Holy Spirit was not first of all the spectacular gifts of the Spirit which occurred at that time, the gifts of healing, prophecy, speaking in tongues, and whatever else has in the church’s history been regarded as extraordinarily miraculous manifestations of the Spirit. Far more important were the great and lasting workings of faith, hope, and love in the calling, converting and gathering of believers. This is what the Holy Spirit came to bring: faith, hope and love.

How does the Holy Spirit come to humans? The other part of the passage in Joel and Acts that gives us the key to understanding is: “I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh”. There is the river of living water. There it is in the working of the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you recall that I have mentioned in the past that the Spirit is pictured as the breath of God, the Holy breath and air from God. Air is required for speaking. Air is what makes water “living water”.

We are told that on that Pentecost day, there was a sound of rushing wind. Now it is true that the Apostles themselves were first filled with the living breath of the Spirit when Jesus breathed upon them, but now again they were filled by the rushing of the breath of God on Pentecost, so that through their vocalized breath in public proclamation, the message of Law and Gospel would bring faith, hope and love to all others. This is to the glory of God’s grace and love, not to the credit of the Apostles in the signs that were present.

In Acts, after verse 21 where our reading ends, Peter doesn’t say “Yeah, we have the gift of the Holy Spirit and you don’t because we are better;” no, he points to the glory of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ. Peter by the power of the Holy Spirit does exactly for the crowd what Jesus did for the disciples. He opened the Scriptures to the people to see Jesus as the fulfillment of all prophecy, that He was the Messiah, that He died and rose again. That is the totality of the message and purpose of the Holy Spirit.

The whole mission and purpose of the Holy Spirit was to convict people of sin to repentance by the law, so that the Good News of salvation and forgiveness of sins in the name of Jesus Christ could be preached and proclaimed. The power of the Holy Spirit is that of changing hearts of stone to hearts of love, hearts and minds that have been crushed by sin and built back up again in the love that God has shown them in Jesus Christ.

The people asked Peter and the rest of the Apostles, “Brothers, what must we do? Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Just imagine this witness by Peter and the other disciples, the very same who only 50 days earlier were huddled together in the upper room afraid and ignorant, with no understanding at all. This is the power of the Holy Spirit. He works through the Word of God, through Holy Baptism to make a change, to replace unbelief with belief, to replace ignorance with wisdom. To make those who didn’t know what to say, to declare the great works of God’s Grace in Jesus Christ. It is a life lived out in faith in Jesus Christ that is meant when Jesus said “out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. This river of living water has as its source not our hearts, not any signs worked by the Holy Spirit, but the one to whom the Holy Spirit bears witness, Jesus Christ Himself. When Jesus paid the price for sin on the cross with His own innocent suffering and death, He was pierced through with a spear, and from His side came pouring forth the living waters of His sacrifice, His own blood and water from His body. This river flows from the cross, from the One who died but also rose again, so that the water and blood shed in His death would now give life. That is the importance of Holy Baptism, why Peter said “be baptized”. If regular air infused with regular water makes it taste more alive and delicious, how much more does the living breath of God in His active spoken preached Word make water more than plain water in Holy Baptism? How much more does it quench the thirst for righteousness as it delivers the righteousness of Christ? How much more does this water infused with the Word of God purify and cleanse these human bodies made mostly of water and transforms them to be vessels to pour forth His Word in breathing and speaking forth His Word to our neighbors, coworkers, classmates, and family after having received it here in faithful preaching and teaching by the Office of the Holy Ministry.

The Holy Spirit continues to manifest the works of God to work faith in the hearts of men and women today which is a miracle of salvation by the changing of hearts and minds.

We have been given the gifts or fruits of the Spirit which are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Though we may fail in living out this and allow our own sinful selves to stop the flowing of the living water by our own sin, we are called to repent and return to the cross, to be reminded of our Baptism. Be absolved and forgiven again in Jesus name. Then we receive the living water of the Word made flesh in the Lord’s Supper where Jesus Christ comes to us with the Holy Spirit and the Love of the Father by His body and blood to drink and eat and be satisfied in the blessings of His cross and resurrection. Through Him we are filled, renewed, and refreshed by this pouring forth of the Grace of God. We rejoice in receiving this living water and may we ever thirst for it. As now we go out from here with hearts flowing with His living water may our neighbors be blessed and God be glorified through Jesus Christ our Redeemer, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

This past week much has happened in the political realm. Donald Trump travelled to China to meet with President Xi Jinping and returns home to rising inflation due to the ongoing conflict with Iran. States both blue and red continue to form and reform congressional districts in order to control the federal legislative branch this fall and into the future.

As interesting as politics are, and indeed we are called to be active and aware of things in the public sphere, and of course, we are called to pray for all those in authority, we Christians, have a different perspective on world politics and events from the rest of the world around us. Especially on this day when we observe the Feast Day of Christ’s Ascension.

The Epistle lesson speaks of the end result of the Ascension this way: “He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places”.

When you hear that the Father seated Jesus at His right hand or when we confess in the Nicene Creed that Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father what do you think of? Do you picture Jesus sitting up in heaven, static, unable to leave, twiddling his thumbs, and waiting patiently for His Father to give Him the signal that the time has come for Him to return again in glory? What is He up to as He sits at the right hand of the Father?

First thing we need to clear up is this “right hand” business. The sacred writer is not giving you hints about heavenly throne room organization, so that when you get to heaven you’ll know on which side of the Father to look to see the Lord Jesus. The right hand of God is bigger than that!

Recall the words of the Psalmist: “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted.” Ps. 118:16
The right hand of the Lord in scripture is not a place, but an almighty power: a source of authority and rule!. And so to say that Jesus is seated at the right hand of God is merely to say that He has all power, that He rules and governs all things! Listen again to how Paul said it in Ephesians: “He raised Christ from the dead and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in the age to come. And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the Church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.” Eph 1:20-23

So, when we confess in the Creed that Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father, we confess that the human nature which Jesus assumed from the womb of the Blessed Virgin in which He offered to God the sufficient ransom to release all people from the debt of sin and the power of death; this same human nature has now been exalted and raised above every other height, glory, and power imaginable. He has been given the exercise of all Divine power in heaven and on earth. The One who bears in His hands the scars of the crucifixion nails now rules over all! He is in charge of everything!

So, when You or I complain about the way things go in our lives, when we gripe about the troubles and events of the world, politics, or of the Church, we are actually complaining about the way the Crucified and Risen One sees fit to govern, aren’t we? We are actually grumbling against our Lord. Puts a different perspective on life, doesn’t it? Us pitting our puny wisdom and ideas against the omnipotence and wisdom of Christ and what He allows and through which He works His will.

In the early days of the Church, the active rule and authority of Jesus Christ in this world was not forgotten. Even as the persecutions raged and people died for the faith, they never forgot the One in charge. There’s a writing called the Martyrdom of St. Polycarp that was written in the earliest days of the Church, in the early 2nd century. It’s a fascinating document retelling some of the persecutions performed against the early church, but where it really soars is when it talks about the circumstances surrounding the time, place, and under whose authority St. Polycarp’s death occurred. It reads thusly: “It was the second day of the first fortnight of Xanthicus, seven days before the calends of March, when our blessed Polycarp died his martyr’s death two hours after midday on the Greater Sabbath (referring to a Sunday). The official responsible for his arrest was Herod; the High Priest was Philip of Tralles; and the proconsul was Statius Quadratus – BUT THE RULING MONARCH WAS JESUS CHRIST, WHO REIGNS FOREVER AND EVER. TO HIM BE ASCRIBED ALL GLORY, HONOR, MAJESTY, AND AN ETERNAL THRONE FROM GENERATION TO GENERATION.” (Martyrdom of Polycarp, par. 21)
What confidence and peace those early Christians had as they remembered and confessed who it is who sits upon the throne of this universe and gives ultimate deliverance even at the time of death. The one who allows even evils such as persecution to accomplish His will: for the spread of the Gospel! This truth can also give the same confidence and peace to us today.

There is even more to being seated at the right hand of God. Our Lord Jesus not only rules all events for the well-being of His holy Church; He also constantly intercedes for each one of His people before the Father for their benefit and salvation. The writer to Hebrews put it this way: “Therefore He is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them!” (Hebrews 7:25) For you, He prays. When you and I sin, when we stumble and grumble He says to His Father, “Father, forgive them. Look not upon the sin, but upon these scars from the cross that testify that I have answered for all their sin.” In this way He is our Mediator, our ongoing priest, the one who stands in the breach between us and God. His being Mediator did not cease when the work of the cross was done. He continues to be our Mediator by His unceasing intercession through His crucified body and blood for us and by hearing our prayers in His name.

And yet there’s even more. Since the “right hand of God” is not to be thought of as a place, but as a power, the Ascension of our Lord does not remove Him from us, but actually brings Him closer to us. Oh, yes, His visible physical human presence as during His earthly ministry is removed. But His presence is not removed from us. In fact, His presence with His Church is even greater now than in His temporary earthly ministry. His promise stands forever: “Lo, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Now He fills all things and gives the gift and promise of His special sacramental presence of His body and blood in the bread and the wine for the forgiveness of sins. St. Leo the Great preached to his parish in Rome hundreds of years ago: “The visible presence of Christ has passed into His sacraments.”

When you come to the altar today, you not only receive the Body and Blood that were offered in your place on Calvary’s tree for the forgiveness of your sin! You receive the Body and Blood of Him who sits at the right hand of the Father, ruling over all things. Thus, Paul could rejoice that “He has raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” (Eph 2) The Sacrament lifts you that high! Lifting you from your sins, the threat of your death, to the place of Christ’s resurrection, to His authority reconciled to our Father and creator.

How great then are the treasures contained in the words: “He seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places.” He is ruling our every circumstance, drawing us to Himself throughout this life by His Word and Sacraments unto eternal life. With this truth, peace through faith displaces our complaining, Jesus is interceding constantly for us, therefore joy drives out our anxieties. Because of His Ascension He is able to continually descend to us, to His body, the Church. He is constantly with us in His sacraments, and so we are never alone, but together with the Church are gathered with Him who sits at the right hand of God. Jesus, your Mediator. Jesus, your King. Jesus, your Risen, Ascended, and Glorified Lord now fills all things for you. And in the same way that He ascended this same Jesus will come again to bring us and all believers to Himself once and for all time. This is the hope to which you have been called. This is your glorious inheritance through Jesus Christ to whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be all glory and honor now and unto the ages of ages. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Are you ready? Are you ready to speak and give a defense about the hope that is in you as a Christian? A good defense lawyer will make himself prepared. He will do research, conduct interviews, review the data, check with the prosecution to see what information they have, they will be familiar with their clients’ version of the story, but they will also be familiar with everyone else’s version as well. They study, and study, and practice and study some more. Why? All so that when they get to the trial, they can present and defend their case with no surprises, or at least with as few surprises as possible. They are ready and able to anticipate every objection, every cross-examination question and answer. Simply put, they are ready to give their defense and win their case.

Now should the time come that someone cross-examines you about your beliefs, are you that ready to give a defense of the hope that is in you in Jesus Christ? Not only that, but do you hold those beliefs so dearly, that you would be willing to die for that hope? When Peter wrote the epistle text from today’s reading, he was writing to Christians who were being pressured and persecuted for the Christian faith. There was a good possibility that they might be brought in for questioning by the government officials because they belonged to this odd religion called Christianity; this religion which didn’t really fit in with the rest of the culture. This “Jesus religion” made people feel uncomfortable. They didn’t understand it. They didn’t like it. The Romans felt it was anti-Caesar and could destroy the fabric of Roman society, and the Jews believed Christianity was a blasphemous anti-God, anti-Mosaic Law troublesome sect. Therefore the Christians were under scrutiny. The people would have their eye on them, watching their conduct, waiting for the Christians to mess up. If they did slip up, it would have given people a reason to dismiss Christianity or to justify persecuting the Christians. So Peter tells Christians living in this sort of a situation to watch their conduct and to be ready to speak up for the Christian faith. He writes: “Now who is there to harm you if you are zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil.”

Even though we Christians in America are not yet facing violent persecution or imprisonment for our faith, things are not that different from Peter’s day to our own. In fact, culturally speaking, in many ways, our country is regressing back to a pagan, anti-Christian 1st century world view. Increasingly, practicing Christians are looked upon by people in our culture as being a little weird, strange, or evil. The world does not understand true Christianity as we Lutherans teach it. They don’t get it. They don’t like it. We make them feel uncomfortable. We remind them that there is a God in the heavens who is looking down on all of us and seeing how we’re doing. People want to get out from under that. Their conscience nags at them. They’d rather not think about things like God and guilt, a right or wrong that goes against fleshly impulses. They don’t want to think about sin and death and what happens after that. And we Christians by our existence and by our witness remind them of all those uncomfortable realities. Don’t be surprised when the people of this world look for opportunities to make fun of us Christians, or focus on our personal flaws and foibles, in order to dismiss our faith. “Oh, those Christians, they’re just a bunch of phonies and hypocrites. Who needs their stupid religion? Who needs their church?” That’s the attitude of the world around us. It is especially hard to defend against this when we act and talk like we are one with the world. Jesus said in today’s Gospel text, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments…” How can the world even mark us as Christians and ask us about the hope that is in us if we live just like them, living as ones who have hope only for this world, serving ourselves and pursuing the things of this world and our flesh? If we do not even act like those who have been redeemed or who are “zealous for what is good”, why should anyone believe us? St. John wrote in His first epistle: “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

Lord have mercy! We are truly unworthy to be called His people according to our sins. We do not deserve His mercy, love, and forgiveness. We deserve to be blotted out and condemned with all the unbelieving evil-doers. Let us repent and confess our sins, pleading for forgiveness and the power to truly love and serve Him, to restore in us a hope of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. Thanks be to God, there is hope anew in Jesus Christ who has died for those sins. As St. John also says in His first epistle: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” St. Peter wrote: “Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit.”

We were the unrighteous, but now through faith we are accounted as those declared and being made righteous for the sake of the righteous One, Jesus Christ. As St. Peter wrote, the Holy Spirit now declares: Baptism now saves you, as an appeal to God for a good conscience through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You have been washed, you have been sanctified (that is, made holy), and you have been justified (that is, declared righteous) in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. You have been forgiven in Jesus Christ. You have been washed, examined, and absolved. You have had that hope of salvation and forgiveness renewed within you by His Holy Spirit. So I ask you are you prepared? Are you ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you? Yes you are. You are being made ready, and being prepared every time that you remember the benefits of your baptism. Every time that you are led to confess your sins and hear the words of Absolution, you are being trained, changed, and renewed. Every time that you come to Bible Study, sing the liturgy, sing the hymns, hear the Word preached, the Holy Spirit is coming to you, filling you up, dwelling with you and in you. You are not orphans, you are God’s children. Jesus, your brother and Savior comes to you by His Spirit in these gifts which He has given to the Church to strengthen you through faith, to be protected as you live in Him in this world. By His Spirit, you have a clean heart recreated in you, you have restored in you the joy of His salvation. This joy propels you to be zealous for good works: to love and serve God by serving your neighbor, even those cannot or will not reciprocate your service and love.

How can we love and serve the unlovable? Those who might or even do hate us? In the same way that God has mercy and loved us, who have been unlovable. In our previous sin and rebellion. Then when you have lived the life of a loving Christian, people will ask why you love them, why are you kind, why do you seem to have hope even in the midst of suffering, why does earthly success not go to your head, why are you so grounded? You may answer: I am a sinner, but I have been forgiven, my Savior has loved me, so how can I not love you? He has given me eternity, so how can I misuse this time on earth? If I have suffered, it is nothing compared to the suffering of my Savior, Jesus Christ on my behalf. If I have had success in the eyes of the world, it is to God’s glory, for where I have failed, God has made me a success. I am grounded because I have been planted by the tree of life in the cross of Jesus Christ, and by His blood and through His Word, I am fed and led to drink His living water.

Yes, dear friends, Jesus comes to you here in His Word and there in His body and blood, so that you may be blessed with forgiveness, and blessed to forgive and live in love by His Holy Spirit. You have learned to give a defense and explanation of your hope because Jesus Christ is your defense and sure hope. He has died for you, risen, and prepares a place for you now and hereafter in eternity because He loves you.

Are you ready to give a defense for the hope that is in you? Through Christ Jesus, yes, yes, you are. Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas

Most of you know that if you have a “smart phone”, whether it be an Apple phone or Android, you can train it to activate by voice commands. Rather than typing, swiping, or some other action, you can activate the phone by voice to look up information, call someone, open up an application, all without hands. However, as many of you know, to use this function, you have to train the cell phone to recognize your voice by repeating a line over and over again. The idea is that by calling out the magic words with your unique voice, the phone assistant will awaken and then you can proceed to command it. Yet it doesn’t always recognize your voice. It only recognizes your voice if you use the same tone, the same volume, the same pitch with the same rhythm as when it was trained, otherwise it may just ignore you.

In today’s Gospel text Jesus, names Himself as the Shepherd of the sheep. His sheep know Him by His voice. When He calls to them by name they follow Him. A stranger they will not follow, but “they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of a stranger.” The sheep hear and know His voice. They recognize Him by His voice. To hear and recognize the voice of the Shepherd implies that there is familiarity with the shepherd beyond what a cell phone can recognize. In the ancient Middle East, the shepherd would be with the sheep for many, many hours at a time, speaking to them, calling to them, singing to them, perhaps even playing an instrument to them to lead them, guide them, and calm them down. The sheep learn to know the different tones of the Shepherd’s voice. They know when the Shepherd’s voice takes on the tone of warning. They know the sound of rebuking, leading, guiding and loving. They know the Shepherd’s voice inside and out. This kind of recognition can only come from constant exposure to His voice. It is much like a baby which recognizes its mother’s voice after being born because it had heard her voice all the time while still in her womb.

This passage from John along with the entire 10th chapter describes the ongoing life of the Church which is represented as the flock of sheep who have Jesus as its Shepherd and Overseer. Jesus continues to call, gather, and enlighten His sheep from every generation through the voice of His Word in Scripture and His Sacraments as they are faithfully administered by His under shepherds. If these “pastors” are not faithful, if they are false teachers and preachers, then they are as thieves and robbers. The sheep should be prepared and able to recognize these charlatans and rogues because as sheep of the Shepherd, they would have been students of His voice having studied the scriptures, deeply and often at home and Divine Service. The sheep would understand the dynamic that when the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd they don’t just shrug their shoulders and pay Him no mind, but they hear His voice and follow Him. There is walking; journeying; following; obeying. They also are to be faithful to the Scriptures not just in thought but in action, as St. James writes: “Lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves”(James 1:21-22).

James sounds like he is speaking today by what he says next. “For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of a man he was” Sadly, this is happening among many who claim to be members of the church today. Many have forgotten who they are and whose they are: they have forgotten the voice of the Shepherd.

The Christian culture in America is marked by one of plurality. It has been influenced by American consumerism and the thought that anyone is free to do what is right in their own eyes. It is perplexing…and very difficult to combat. They follow the voice they have come to know. There are churches that do not emphasize the voice of the Good Shepherd in historic truth of God’s Word and His sacraments. Instead, they emphasize the whims and wants of the modern individual. In such a case, the subjective desires or interpretations of the individual become the driving force on how one worships and what one believes. The voice that is heard and followed is no longer that of the Shepherd but voice of the “sheep who liked to stray”. The problem with throwing out the voice of the Shepherd to appease the itching ears is that people end up not having a shepherd in this world. They walk alone, searching and fighting to survive the spiritual onslaughts of the devil with very little protection. An individual who might claim to believe in Jesus, who may claim to pray to Jesus, but if he does not attend a faithful congregation, thereby avoiding a deeper contemplation of the Scriptures with brother and sister sheep to hear and be fed by their Shepherd’s voice in truth and purity, how can they stand against the evil wolf and dread satanic lion? Perhaps they attend a church that checks the boxes of programming, sports teams, favorite music, but if the Word of God is not there or diminished, then the voice of the Good Shepherd is not there or muted. Everything is trite and superficial. The true teachings of the scriptures sound foreign to those sheep and so the voice of the thief sounds completely reasonable. This is one reason why so many people today are leaving Christianity. They were misguided to begin with. They did not know, or they forgot, or they covered their ears from the voice of the Good Shepherd by placing a greater emphasis on voices other that the Good Shepherd.

All too often, we also forget the voice of the Shepherd or we ignore Him when we choose to skip Bible Class or Divine Service, when we conveniently ignore parts of Scripture that make us uncomfortable or tells us that what we are doing is wrong or tells us to do something we don’t want to do. Then we are not being sheep of the Good Shepherd, we are disowning Him by our sin and unbelief wanting to follow the voice of our flesh or the world. This is exactly what the Great thief, the devil wants. He wants the sheep to jump the fence, to avoid the Shepherd who is also the door, and then wander into the hands of those who mean us harm, who will bring us again under judgment and destruction.

Let us repent of our sin and our stubbornness.

Thankfully, the Shepherd has mercy on His sheep and Jesus is truly the Good Shepherd. He does not give up on sinful stubborn sheep, but He continues to call to you, to me, to unbelievers, to repent, to come back and enter again the sheepfold, the Church, through the only door that saves and protects from the evil one, and his band of thieves. This door is Jesus Christ. He is the Good Shepherd. Why? Because as He said in the verses following this morning’s reading in John 10: “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep… I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.” (John 10:11, 18)

Jesus has laid down His life so that the sheep may have life. This He did at the cross. He has suffered for you bearing your sins in His body on the tree, that the righteous wrath of God for your sin would be taken by Jesus Christ. By His wounds you have been healed. He has risen from the dead and taken His life back up again, so that we may have that resurrection life as our inheritance by faith in Him.

The voice of the Shepherd is the voice of life. His voice called your name to that inheritance and life with a loving yet thunderous tone in Holy Baptism. He continues to call you through His Word, to hear again His voice in all its tones. Tones of admonishment, to which we confess our sins and then receive forgiveness in the absolution spoken in tones of love and reconciliation by His undershepherds. This voice is His voice. The Word of God in the liturgy is that which familiarizes us again to His voice which leads us through the valley of the shadow of death to the still water, as we are invited by our Good Shepherd to drink and eat heavily and healthfully on the preaching of His Word and the eating and drinking of His precious body and blood given and shed for you in this bread and wine. Your Good Shepherd here continues to come to you and call you and lead you to the cross, and to the empty tomb: to the place where He now leads His sheep to have life and have it in eternal abundance. As we follow Him by faith, He leads us forth through this life to the life in heaven which He has prepared. Through suffering and persecution, through joys and triumphs, He leads us forth. We hear His voice and He hears us pray. He comes to us and picks us up and carries us when we are weak. Through Him we have salvation, hope, and eternal life.

May we be drawn to Him and His Word ever and always, so that by faith we may recognize His Voice, His Love, His direction and guidance throughout this life until the day, when His voice will once more call us by name to come forth from the tomb or from this life to eternal life in resurrected victory through Jesus Christ, Amen.

Pr. Aaron Kangas