Jesus Has Come, to Show Us True Reality - Sermon for February 16th

Sixth Sunday after Epiphany
February 16^th, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
Jesus Has Come, to Show Us True Reality
Luke 6:17 - 26

 Sermon Audio Available HERE

LSB 533, Stanza 1:  
Jesus has come and brings pleasure eternal,
Alpha, Omega, Beginning and End.
Godhead, humanity, union supernal,
O great Redeemer you come as our friend!
Heaven and earth now proclaim this great wonder,
Jesus has come and brings pleasure eternal. 

   Gospel means Good News.  It doesn't get much more "Gospel-y" than that first stanza of this hymn.  Our hymnwriter,  Johann Ludwig Conrad Allendorf sings of the pure joy found in Jesus Christ, who is the beginning and end of all things.  God become a Man to be our friend.  Eternal pleasure.  Pure Good News. 

   Which is how our reading from Luke starts.  Pure joy, pure Good News, as all the sick and diseased were hurrying to Jesus.  All you had to do was touch Him and be healed, because power was just coming out from Him.  Can you imagine how excited the people were?  Power is flowing from Jesus, diseases are instantly gone, demons are chased away.  Good News.  Pure Gospel. 

   Which of course makes the words Jesus then preaches difficult to take.  Strangely, to us who are used to a world in which every advantage must be taken, every interesting thing must be leveraged for maximum influence and profit, Jesus doesn’t build on His miraculous power.  As He begins to preach, He doesn't celebrate the healing miracles He had performed.  Instead Jesus lifts His eyes to His disciples and paints a much darker picture.  Jesus speaks of joy, found in persecution.  Laughter, in the midst of weeping.  A rich kingdom in the midst of poverty. 

   Which is it going to be, Jesus?  Pure joy, as you bless and heal?  Or pure struggle, as we suffer and face problems?  His actions suggest pure joy, but Jesus' words describe struggle.  In stanza one of our hymn, Johann Ludwig has so far only extolled Jesus for who He is, which is all good.  Is our hymnwriter missing a necessary part of the story?  If he has it wrong, we will have to leave his hymn behind.  We better hear more of the song. 

Stanza 2
Jesus has come!  Now see bonds rent asunder!
Fetters of death now dissolve, disappear.
See him burst through with a voice as of thunder!
He sets us free from our guilt and our fear,
Lifts us from shame to the place of his honor.
Jesus has come!  Hear the roll of God's thunder!

    Still joyful.  But now the hymnwriter introduces conflict.  Victory is clear in this stanza, but it's a victory that entails defeating some truly negative things.  Chains of bondage, rent asunder.  Fetters, or cords, ropes of death, are suddenly dissolved.   Guilt.  Fear.  Shame.  All removed.   Still triumphant, but our hymnwriter introduces our earthly reality.  To be removed, guilt, fear and shame first have to be present in our lives.  Which they are. 

   If all we ever sang was the first stanza of this hymn, we would end up rejecting Jesus, because He is too perfect for us.  His glory and greatness are very different from what we see in our lives.  Sometimes life is great, but too often we face doubt, sorrow and pain. 

   If all we ever heard was how perfect Jesus is, our imperfection would drive us away from Him.  But our hymnwriter doesn't stop at one stanza.  He knows of human troubles.  In stanza two he speaks of our struggles, that are completely overcome by Jesus.  Even as his victory chant continues, Johann Ludwig does acknowledge the reality of our lives, that we are not always conquerors, going from success to success. 

     Jesus speaks of our earthly reality even more soberly.  Life for the disciples, for the Christian, says Jesus, will be difficult.  Poverty, hatred, tears and persecution are all to be expected.  Worse yet, the world appears to fare much better.  The world, suggests our Lord, will have riches, plentiful food, laughter. 

     Yet, says Jesus, to be a poor, hungry weeping disciple is to be blessed.  To be a rich, well-fed, laughing unbeliever is to be cursed.  Jesus turns everything upside down.  All the natural desires we have for our lives here on earth He declares to be curses, if they are apart from discipleship.  The things we naturally fear He declares to be blessings, if they are endured by a believer.  How can this be?  How can we possibly accept what He says?  Jesus is seeing something, is focused on something different than we see.  There's something hidden, a reality we can't easily discern. 

Stanza 3
Jesus has come as the mighty Redeemer. 
See now the threatening strong one disarmed!
Jesus breaks down all the walls of death's fortress,
Brings forth the pris'ners triumphant, unharmed. 
Satan you wicked one, own now your master!
Jesus has come! He the mighty Redeemer!

     Our hymnwriter writes his victory song, because he knows the whole story, the story of how Jesus won the victory.  Johann Ludwig celebrates this victory, and he understands over whom the victory has been won.  We see disease, discrimination, hatred, fear and suffering in the world, and sometimes in our lives.  These are bad, of course, but they are only symptoms of a bigger problem. 

   The true adversary we face is Satan.  His power over us is the reality that Jesus saw with great clarity as he spoke His blessings and woes.  Satan is real, and is our adversary, the strong one who seeks to hold us captive in chains of bondage and fetters of death.  Our accuser who points his finger at our sin and declares our guilt.  The one who raises our fear, and makes us ashamed.  The sin that infects our world, the sin that is also inside each one of us, all of this sin is what gives Satan power, power too great for us to overcome.  This contest is the backdrop to Jesus’ sermon.  To resist Satan in this life is to face sorrow.  To go along with Satan seems to make life easier.  That's the reality of the here and now.   

    Quite naturally, we tend to be most concerned with the here and now.  If we miss a meal, our hunger makes food our #1 priority.  If we get caught outside in sub-zero temperatures, we quickly become concerned, above all else, with finding warmth.  Our minds are typically occupied with our immediate situation.  Yesterday's bills.  Tomorrow's test, at school, or at the clinic.  Next week's work.  Maybe our longest term thinking has to do with next summer's vacation. 

   Some of you, the more farsighted among us, may be able to pat yourselves on the back because you have planned for your future, for retirement, for life as a seasoned citizen.  Your investment counselor applauds you for being farsighted. 

    Well, Jesus does care about your here and now, but His main focus is longer range, much longer.  Jesus looks a lot farther out; His sights are set on forever.  Forever and ever.  Eternity.  As Jesus describes the Christian life in terms of struggle, He speaks soberly of the here and now, of life as a battle between good and evil.  Jesus speaks this way because He knows that eternity will not be spent in a struggle between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan.  In eternity it's either one or the other. 

   In eternity God will separate Himself from all evil, from Satan and from all who are under his control.  Those with God will have pure joy, pure Gospel, pure victory, the first stanza of our hymn.  Those with Satan will have pure misery, total condemnation, eternal defeat.  The struggle over eternity happens now; the side you are on in this life determines the side you'll be on forever.   

   The reality Jesus sees and describes is sobering.  But Satan doesn't want you to catch on.  One of Satan's greatest weapons in our 21^st century world is the false but popular idea that he doesn't exist, that evil and sin and punishment are ideas dreamed up by the Church to control people.  Which goes right along with the false teaching that God, if He is good, would never really hold people accountable for the evil they do. 

   Jesus speaks as He does to shatter our illusions about this life, and the next one.  God is good, and heaven will be glorious.  But Satan, sin and death are also real.  God's goodness means that in the end He will not tolerate evil; He will not postpone His judgment forever.  Dealing with the reality that Jesus describes is not easy.  Jesus says it may bring hatred and scorn, it may bring weeping and poverty.  Reality is hard to live with, but living in a false reality is to die.  And not just physically.  Missing the reality Jesus is trying to teach us about will lead us to die spiritually, to be counted in the kingdom of Satan, to be in bondage to the evil one.    

   It's necessary to recognize reality, that’s the starting point.  But our recognition does not change reality.  Knowing that you are a sinner, and cannot free yourself from your sinful condition is true and necessary.  But this knowledge, this confession, does not set you free. 

   Thankfully, Jesus did more than just teach about the reality of sin.  He improved the reality of the here and now for many people, by healing diseases, feeding the hungry and casting out demons.  But that wasn't enough.  We need more.  We can learn to see the reality of our world, but we can't break free from our bondage.  We can be cured of a disease, but the fetters of death are still coming.  We want to reject evil, but we can't even stop ourselves from falling back into sin.  We continually give Satan new ammunition to use to accuse us. 

   Jesus has come. Since this was our condition, Jesus has come and has attacked the real problem.  He disarmed the threatening strong one, our enemy, the Devil.  Jesus broke down the walls of Satan's fortress.  Not with an army, not with any weapons of war.  Jesus defeated death with death, a unique and dreadful death, His own death on a Roman cross.  Jesus freed us from Satan's power by offering Himself in exchange.  A ransom.  Jesus' death in exchange for the death we deserve.  Jesus' suffering in exchange for the suffering we have earned.  

    And Satan took the deal.  He couldn't resist the chance to lash out at God, to inflict pain on the only begotten Son of the Father, to see the Father's judgment fall on Jesus.  Which is how Satan's lost His power.  Jesus is stronger than all the punishment Satan could offer. He received and quenched all the fire of God’s judgment against every sinful man, woman and child of all time.  There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  Because Jesus suffered and died, in our place.

   And, thanks be to God, death could not hold Him.  The fetters of death dissolved, disappeared, on the Third Day.  Jesus rose, forever the victor over death and Satan. 

Stanza 4
Jesus has come as the King of all glory!
Heaven and earth, oh, declare his great pow'r,
Capturing hearts with the heavenly story.
Welcome him now in this fast-fleeting hour!
Ponder his love! Take the crown he has for you!
Jesus has come! He, the King of all glory!

    Jesus came, and brought the truth about reality.  The reality we can't overcome, the reality that sin and misery are naturally part of this world, part of our lives.  We could not escape, we could not overcome.  So Jesus overcame it all, for us.  He conquered sin and death, and brought victory by rising to new life. 

   And now He comes to bring us into His new reality.  As the King of glory, Jesus has the authority to grant a share in His new life to sinners like you and me.  And so He does. Jesus gives forgiveness and new life to anyone who hears and believes that Jesus did it all, for us.  Jesus continues to capture hearts with the heavenly story, creating faith with the power of the Gospel.  Ponder His love, revealed in the story of His life; love and power, splashed over you in Baptismal waters, hidden for you under plain bread and wine. 

   Being a follower of Jesus makes this life better, in many ways.  Knowing the truth about Jesus and His love gives you peace, and teaches you wisdom, for living today without fear.  Receiving the forgiving love of Jesus empowers you and me to forgive and love others.  Life as a Christian is not without problems, indeed sometimes it seems that Christians suffer the most.  But Christians suffer with Jesus, in Jesus, because Jesus has suffered for them, and He never abandons His own.   

   Life is better as a follower of Jesus.  Ponder His love, and Jesus will not only rescue you,   He will also make you a part of His ongoing work.  Jesus captures hearts through the telling of His story, the heavenly story which He tells through His Church.  Jesus works through you, His people, His disciples, to reach the next person on His list.  Ponder His love, focus more closely on what God has done for you in Jesus, and you will get a front row seat to the ongoing adventure of His rescue mission.  Ponder His love, take the gifts He has for you, and Jesus will change you and shape you and move you, to be a voice for Him in this here and now world. 

   Jesus has come, and He has a crown for you, laid up in heaven, perfectly sized for your head.  Knowing this promise, focusing on this bright future that Jesus gives to us today, now we have joy even when we have sorrow.  Now we can laugh, even when we must cry.  Now we have honor, even when the world despises us.  We have honor, because we have Jesus.  Blessed are you when these things happen to you on account of Jesus, for great is your reward, in heaven with Jesus, who reigns with the Father and the Spirit, one God, your God, who has loved and continues to love you, perfectly, forever and ever,  Amen.    

God Comes to a Sinner - Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany

God Comes to a Sinner                         
Luke 5:1-11, Isaiah 6:1 - 13
5^th Sunday after Epiphany
February 9^th, A+D 2025
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer 
Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD

Audio of the Sermon available HERE

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

     We gather in the Holy, Holy, Holy Name of God.  The Father, Son and Holy Spirit gathers us together as He also comes to us.  We are gathered by Almighty God, in His Holy Name, gathered to be blessed by Him. 

     There are a number of necessary steps in the process, but in His essence, this is the Mission of God: to come and to dwell with His beloved, to be present with His people, and to bless them.  Luke provides us with many individual examples of this Mission of God, both in his Gospel and in the Book of Acts.  Today in our readings from Luke and Isaiah we have two foundational examples of God’s Mission, Peter’s call, and Isaiah’s call. 

   We are not all the same, and certainly we are not Peter or Isaiah.  Helpfully, Luke and the rest of Scripture give examples of God’s Mission to many different kinds of people.  We can all find ourselves in these stories.  So, as we gather, as God comes to us, as God continues His mission to our fallen world, it is good for us to ask:  “Who am I in God’s Mission, today?” 

     When Isaiah is taken into the presence of God, the prophet confesses that he is lost, a man undone.  A man of unclean lips, from a people of unclean lips.  A man unworthy to see the LORD.                   

     Peter realizes through the miraculous catch of fish that the man standing in his boat, this Jesus from Nazareth, is God.  Finding himself standing before the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, now present in human flesh, Peter falls down before Jesus, and confesses that he is a sinner.  He begs Jesus to go away from him, because Peter also knows that he is unworthy to be with God. 

     The pattern is the same in each:  God and a sinner come face to face.  The sinner is confronted with God’s holiness, His absolute perfection, glory and purity.  The sinner realizes that he, because of his sin, cannot safely be in the presence of God. The sinner is desperate, confessing his sinfulness and the justice of God’s condemnation. “Woe is me,” cries Isaiah.  “Depart from me, Lord!” pleads Peter.  

    Then comes the wonderful surprise.  God speaks and enacts His mercy.  Mercy for the sinner, instead of judgment and destruction.  God sends an angel to take a burning coal with tongs, (this part always gets me, the flaming angel needs tongs to take the coal from the heavenly altar), and then he touches it to Isaiah’s unclean lips.  The Seraphim speaks words from the heart of God: Your guilt is taken away, your sins are atoned for.        

     Jesus likewise enacts the gracious love of God: Do not be afraid  Peter, from now on, you will catch men.  Then the Lord sends these forgiven sinners, Isaiah and Peter, each to his place, into a new calling, a new life of service, according to God’s gracious will.

     Newly forgiven, absolved of their sins, Isaiah and Peter were both called to preach, both called into the vocation of public ministry, of being an official spokesman for the Almighty.  Not every sinner confronted by the presence of God is called into this particular vocation.  But every time God comes to a sinner, every time the Lord reveals His Holiness and enacts His mercy, the call is, in its essence, the same. 

     God comes to a sinner.  Consider another example from Luke, chapter 8, one of my favorites.  Do you remember the story of the man from Gerasene who was possessed by demons, so many demons that their name was Legion?  This call is different, but still the same.  The man from Gerasene is possessed.  He is beyond rational conversation.  Sin and evil have completely taken over this man’s life.  But still God comes to a sinner.  Sin is confronted, in this case the demons called Legion are confronted.  Mercy is enacted for the man through Jesus’ word to the demons, His command to go out of the man. 

   Then Jesus sends the forgiven one, the healed man, to his place.  The Gerasene begs to follow Jesus, to perhaps enter into the public ministry.  But Jesus has other plans.  He does not call the man from Gerasene to be a public preacher like Peter.  No, rather Jesus sends him home to tell everyone he knows all that God has done for him. 

   By God’s grace, you are like the man from Gerasene. 

     What, you don’t want to be compared to an exorcised demoniac, a formerly demon possessed person?  As strange as it sounds, it is good to be compared to the man from Gerasene, once possessed by demons, but now set free by Jesus.  Rejoice in this comparison, for Luke offers other examples, examples which you do not want to imitate. 

     Consider Luke, chapter 18, and the story of the rich ruler.  The pattern begins the same:  God comes to a sinner.  But this sinner doesn’t recognize God.  This rich ruler calls Jesus “good,” without realizing Jesus is God.  Jesus points this out when He responds: “Why do you call Me good?  No one is good except God alone.”  This sinner thinks Jesus has wisdom, but he doesn’t recognize that God has come to him, and even worse, he doesn’t recognize his own sin.  For the rich ruler asks, “What shall I do to inherit eternal life?"   This man thinks in terms of what he must do to earn heaven.

     Jesus does not speak or enact His mercy for this man, a man so sure of his ability to earn eternal life.  Instead, Jesus gives him an even more specific law, impossible for the man to keep.  “One thing you still lack; sell all that you possess, and distribute it to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and then come, follow Me. But when (the ruler)  had heard these things, he became very sad; for he was extremely rich.”

     Who are you today, as we gather, and God comes to us?  Now, you made it through Confession and Absolution, so you probably aren’t like the rich ruler?  Or maybe you did come here today to learn what you must do to inherit eternal life?  

    Or perhaps, like a Pharisee, you come here to thank God that you are not like others, not a tax collector, not an adulterer, not a thief?  Perhaps you come here today to remind God that you come to church, and lead a decent life, and are a good citizen.  

     Have you forgotten that the Almighty, the Holy, Holy, Holy LORD, is present to meet you here today?  If you miss or ignore the presence of God, if you deny your sin and your need for mercy, Jesus will not be your Savior.  If you think you have done what it takes to meet God’s standard, then you don’t need a savior.  If you do think this way, then there is nothing for you here, except the chance to sing your own praises.  If you come here today because you want to do what is necessary to inherit eternal life, then go, be perfect.  Go, and never sin again.  Not at all.  If you really think you can do what it takes, then go.  Go, and sin no more. 

     When you realize that you can’t, come back.  For God will come to you with mercy when you realize that you will never be able to accomplish what God requires.  Jesus will speak and enact His mercy for you when you confess that God alone is good.   

     Well, since no one has gotten up and left, I will assume that you know you are a sinner, and that you cannot free yourself from your sinful condition.  You confess your need for a savior.  Good. 

     Who are you today, as God comes to you, a sinner?  Are you like Peter, a fisherman who smelled bad because of his work?  Do you or did you make a living in a tough business, one which tempts you to cut corners, cheat your customers, or your boss?  Are you making a living in a world shot full of sin, and you know that the you are not untouched by the foul smell of the world in which you work?  Or maybe you make an honest living, more or less, but your family, your other responsibilities, perhaps they suffer because the alluring smell of money takes you away from them, more and more?   

     Are you like Isaiah, living among a people who claim to believe in the true God, but who continually worship other gods as well?  Sounds a lot like America, no?  Do you give in to the temptation to serve other gods, gods of pleasure, and comfort, gods of money and popularity?  Does daily idolatry make your lips unclean?   

     Or maybe you are like the man from Gerasene, if not possessed, at least oppressed by demons.  What, you don’t see any demons in the world?  What about alcohol and drug abuse, which kill young and old, and destroy families, and make grown men and women, and also children, into slaves, slaves to chemicals?  What about gambling addiction, when people neglect the needs of their family, community and church, and instead give up their hard earned money for the thrill of winning big, if not this time, then the next.  What are all the evils which enslave people in this world, if not demonic projects?  Demons may not reveal themselves very often today, but who do we think is ultimately behind the evil of our world?   

     Who are you?  Don’t try to hide, God sees all things.  The Lord is here, your sin cannot stand.  Repent, for your sin is an abomination in God’s presence.  Turn from your sin, and hear again this good news: 

     Jesus has taken your sin to His cross, to His personal altar of self-sacrifice, where He atoned for the sins of the whole world, once for all.  You cannot do what it takes to inherit eternal life, but Jesus has won this inheritance, for you.  By His blood, it is yours.  Isaiah’s unclean lips, and yours, were made clean as Jesus said from the cross: “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they do.”  Peter’s constant striving to have things his way, his unwillingness to sacrifice for others, the stink of his pride and selfishness, and yours, is covered in the blood of Jesus.  For He gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God, a fragrant aroma of mercy and peace.  The demons of the Gerasene man, and the demons of your life, are powerless over you in Christ, for on His cross Jesus crushed Satan’s head, destroying his power forever. 

     Know the sin in your life for what it is.  Sin is an abomination which threatens your life with God.  Flee from it, run away, do not sit in your sins.  Through whatever sins plague you, Satan with his legion of demons is trying to steal you from God.  Satan is trying to make you love your sins, and so forget about Christ.  Or, when that fails, Satan will try to make you believe your sins are too big for God to forgive. 

      Flee from your sin, and from these lies of Satan.  Flee to the only place of refuge.  And here we find the best surprise for believing sinners, a joyful surprise for you, and for me.  We sinners who have been joined to Christ by Baptismal faith can always flee into the presence of God.  We always have access to the Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, through the blood of Christ.  Flee to Jesus, and hear him declare again:  “Your sins are forgiven.”  As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed your transgressions from you.  

     Your sins are forgiven, and now the Father, Son and Holy Spirit will use you, as He continues His mission.  The words Jesus spoke to the man from Gerasene apply to all of us:  Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you.   We all have a place where we can speak, a home, a church, a job, a community, places where we are privileged through word and deed to proclaim what Jesus has done for us.  This too, is the Mission of God. 

     God calls some people to serve directly and primarily in the church, as a pastor, or as a musician, a missionary, or a teacher.  Every Christian is also called to contribute in various ways, large and small, to the life and ministry of their congregation.  The Lord also calls all His children to be a Christian in the world, an aroma of mercy and peace in your daily life. 

   What is God calling you to do?  Do not be afraid, what God calls you to do He will also equip you to do.  And you know how He equips you: through His Word.  In your Bible, you have the Source of peace and confidence for Christian living, the living Word of God, which will keep you in hard times, and make your joys ever sweeter.  However much of God’s Word you and I receive in our daily lives, we can all almost certainly use more. 

     How do we know where and how we are to serve?  Well, service starts in vocation, in the callings, the relationships into which God has placed you: spouse, family, congregation, neighborhood, and beyond.  It also takes time to discern, time spent growing in God’s Word and looking around with the eyes of Christ.  The question of whether God may be calling you to serve in a particular way may receive a ‘yes’ or a ‘no’, or a ‘not yet’ answer.  It is God’s mission, after all, and He will conduct it as He wills. 

   But the starting place, and the ending place, of God’s Mission to our fallen world is not in doubt.  God, who baptized you into His Name, will continue to come to you, to confront you and forgive you in His presence.  Through His Word, read, sung, and preached, and remembered when you are at home all alone, God is with you.  Through His Body and Blood, these holiest of holy things, which you take into your own body, God is with you.  You receive Christ by mouth, and through your ears, and so you are always in His presence, for He is always with you. 

     Entering into the presence of God will continue to be difficult for us, as long as we are sinners, living in this fallen world.  Each and every time our sin must be dealt with, and that hurts.  But do not be afraid, because your sin is dealt with.  Your sin, and my sin, all sin, has been dealt with, already, at Calvary.  In Christ we can with complete confidence enter the presence of the Holy, Holy, Holy LORD, to receive all His blessings. 

     Who are you?  In Jesus the answer is sure.  In Christ you are a forgiven sinner, a beloved child, an inheritor of all the blessings of heaven,

     in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

 

The Day of the Preacher - Sermon for January 26th, A+D 2025, the 3rd Sunday after Epiphany

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 26^th, A+D 2025
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
The Day of the Preacher

Sermon Audio available HERE

In the Name of Jesus, the Preacher.

⁴ And Ezra the scribe stood on a wooden platform that they had made for the purpose, and beside him stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Uriah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah on his right hand, and Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbaddanah, Zechariah, and Meshullam on his left hand.

⁷  Also Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, the Levites, helped the people to understand the Law, while the people remained in their places. 

   You may have noticed that a bit of our Old Testament reading was left out today.  The lectionary committee left out the names of the men listed with Ezra, God’s priest and scribe.  Men who stood by and who assisted him as he read God’s Word and preached to His people.  And it’s understandable why they left them out.  Twenty-six Hebrew names, many of them hard to pronounce, would we be able to read them clearly, or would we stumble and your understanding of the reading be interrupted?  These 26, 13 leading men of the community, standing by Ezra, visibly lending their support to his work.  And the Levites, men from the tribe of Levi, not priests in the Temple, but Temple workers, responsible for the upkeep and maintenance of God’s house, now called to a new task, a teaching task, again, in support of Ezra. 

   I can understand why the lectionary committee chose to leave them out, but it’s really too bad, because they were included by the Holy Spirit in the Holy Text, He apparently wanted them to be remembered.  And especially today, for today is really a special Preacher’s Day.  Throughout our readings, the preaching office, and the men called into it, are highlighted and celebrated.   

   Our Old Testament reading is the first recorded instance of preaching, as we understand preaching today.  There was lots of proclamation of God’s Word prior, from the beginning when God said: “Let there be light” God’s Word has been proclaimed and preached.  God’s people and God’s special representatives, priests and prophets and judges and kings, spoke the Lord’s Word, for the good of His people.  But the format of public preaching as we understand it is first recorded here, in Nehemiah chapter eight.  The date is around 445 B.C., and the exiles of Judah have returned to Jerusalem, rebuilding the Temple and the city under the direction of Nehemiah, more or less the governor, and of Ezra, a priest, who was also a Scribe, a student, an expert, in God’s Word, especially in the Five books of Moses, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. 

   Today we heard about something we readily recognize:  God’s people gathering together, and then a minister, a man called and ordained to the task, read’s a portion of God’s Word.   Then, after the reading comes the explaining, teaching the congregation what God’s Word means, and how it applies to their lives. 

   What happened is not exactly like what we do on Sunday mornings, but it is recognizable in many ways.  Ezra was on a raised platform, to create a line of sight and sound from his mouth to the maximum number of ears possible.  The Word was read clearly, and then, the ministers explained it, they “:gave the sense” in order that the people would come to understand it. 

   What they did, almost 2,500 years ago, is quite similar to our Service of the Word, the order of service we follow on Sunday mornings, from the Introit through the Readings, the Sermon, and the Prayers.  God’s people have been wise to gather for such reading and preaching for 2-1/2 millennia, and with the Lord’s help, we will keep doing it, until the Last Day, and Christ returns on the clouds to take us home. 

   In our Epistle reading this morning, Paul teaches us about the Body of Christ, the wonderful reality of our intimate connection to Jesus Christ, a unity created in Baptism and maintained by faith.  The importance and God given dignity of every member, whether by our standards each one is impressive or maybe a little embarrassing, the call to love and support one another in keeping with the way that the Head of the Body, our Savior Jesus Christ, loves and supports each one of us.  A mystery we get to live every day, the mystery of God’s grace overcoming our human limitations and sins, day by day, to create a body in which we are both served, and given opportunity to serve

   And then, after explaining the Body, then Paul details the offices, the different roles of service that God has ordained and assigned with the Body, for our collective good.  And Paul start’s his list with preachers:  First Apostles, then Prophets and Teachers. 

   The calendar makes this even more a preachers’ day, because today, January 26^th, is the day we celebrate St. Titus, Pastor and Confessor.  Titus was an associate of the Apostle Paul, his disciple and then colleague in Gospel ministry.  Titus was appointed by Paul to be Archbishop of Crete, appointing ministers, pastors and bishops in every city, so that God’s Word would be preached and His gifts distributed.  And Paul wrote a letter to Titus which helps us understand the Pastoral Office.  Particularly important is this passage, when Paul told Titus:  But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. … ¹¹ For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, ¹² training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, ¹³ waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, ¹⁴ who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.  ¹⁵ Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

   This really is a Preacher Sunday, a day to recognize how the Lord has been working through His pastors and teachers and other ministers.  From the 26 assistants that accompanied Ezra, to Titus, down to all the men who have been rightly called and ordained, put under orders, to preach the whole counsel of God.  We rightly celebrate, not the men, not for themselves, but for the office of public proclamation, the institution of God by which He calls, gathers and enlightens His Church.  The glory of the Office of the Public Ministry is that it is established by Jesus, it is empower by Jesus, it is ultimately all about Jesus.  He is the one who connect Ezra to Titus to me, the one who ties it all who ties it all together.  Christ Jesus is both the source of preaching, and the goal of preaching.  He is the authority and power behind every faithful Christian sermon ever preached. 

   And this we see in our Gospel reading today, Jesus’ first recorded preaching in Luke’s version of events, when Jesus came back to His hometown, Nazareth.  The local boy has now become famous, by preaching and by healing.  Then He comes home, and gives a masterclass in preaching at the Nazareth synagogue, the local word house, where God’s people gathered to hear Moses and the Prophets, to chant Psalms, and listen to the Rabbi’s interpretation of the texts. 

   The synagogue developed among the exiled Judahites, while they were in Babylon, and had no way to get to the Temple in Jerusalem, first because of distance and servitude, and second because the Temple was in ruins, destroyed by the Babylonians.   

    Jesus message in the Nazareth synagogue is startling: Effectively He declares: I AM the One, the promised Messiah, the Savior, come to heal and rescue and free all God’s suffering people.  This Scripture, so full of promise, is now fulfilled, in your hearing, literally, in your ears.  And so we also see how God works, through His Word.  The Almighty chooses to enact His will by speaking, creating, correcting, promising, sustaining, and finally, in the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, fulfilling His promises, through His spoken Word.  The Old Testament Word is fulfilled in Jesus.  The merciful will of God is fulfilled and delivered to us, through the spoken Word.     

    From Jesus’ sermon in Nazareth, we also see that the preacher needs to know his audience, and confront their sin, even if it’s risky.  If the preacher’s hearers are ignoring or contradicting God’s truth, they must be rebuked, for the good of the body, and for the salvation of the contradicter.  It must be done, come what may.  Sin and evil must be rejected, so that Jesus’ cleansing sacrifice can be applied.  Law and Gospel, we need them both. 

   All faithful, all useful preaching, flowed toward or flows from the Man who sat down after He read promises of Good News from Isaiah, and then said:  Today this Scripture this Scripture is fulfilled, in your ears.   This is what preaching is all about.  Anything else, anything less, any different goal will necessarily fall short of what God intends.  And certainly, there are lots of ways to mess up preaching, lots of ways the sinners whom God calls to preach for Him can fail.   

   The wolves are the worst, of course.  Self-serving, unfaithful, murderous preachers, who take the powerful Word of God, and try to use it to enrich and serve themselves and their appetites.  Such wolf preachers commit eternal homicide, instead of delivering the gifts of forgiveness and eternal salvation that Jesus died to win for all mankind, they use God’s Word to enrich themselves, and drag souls away from Christ.   

   Another failed preacher category would be lazy sheepdogs.  Not really shepherds, they just pretend to be God’s mouthpieces.  They serve, but not so much to get sinners into heaven.  Rather, their goal is to keep the flock moving together is some direction, doesn’t really matter so much what direction, because we are really a religious social club, not a congregation of Christ.  …

   Finally, we should mention, as Jesus does in John 10, the hired hands who run away.  They know the threats the Devil breathes out against God’s people, and they know the Word of Christ that they should declare, to protect the flock.  But they are too afraid, and they shut their mouths, running away from the struggle God has called them to. 

   I can understand running away, I can understand failing, in the critical moment, failing to speak the plain truth that God has given us.  Instructing in sound doctrine means stepping on the assumptions and sacred cows that the world has taught us to cherish.  Thou shalt not, and all that.  Instructing is hard, and then comes rebuking, opposing those who contradict God’s truth by their words or their actions.  Rebuking sinners is scary.  After all, who am I to say such things, to rebuke you? 

   I am nobody, really and truly.  I, in and of myself, am nobody, not better nor less sinful than any of you.  But.  But God, through His Church, through you, has put me in this office of preaching. It’s not a mystery what I’m supposed to do.  It’s just hard.  And so, it is only by God’s grace that I instruct and rebuke.   

    Sometimes rebuke in preaching happens unintentionally.  I’m just trying to give the sense of God’s Word, to faithfully explain what Peter or Paul or Jesus says.  But God takes my feeble words and cuts you to the heart.  Which is why the Gospel must prevail, must always be clearly proclaimed, every sermon, because God’s Law cuts deep, even if the preacher doesn’t intend it so.  God’s law cuts deep, and only the Good News of Christ and His forgiving sacrificial love can heal such wounds.   

    Sometimes I rebuke intentionally, because I know what needs to be said.  I was born at night, but not last night, and so sometimes it falls to me to say the obvious, to correct, rebuke, and point Christians in a better direction, that is, to repentance, and faith in Christ.  Often this happens in private, I am not into public shaming.  But not always.  Sometimes we all, together, collectively need rebuke.   

    Preaching is not always so dramatic, thankfully.  The work of the Holy Spirit through the words I preach are often unknown to me.  But God knows, because He is the one doing the real work. 

    An important note: Rebuke should only and ever be for the goal of forgiveness, for repentance and reconciliation with God.  Our goal, my goal, is that always, through the Good News of Jesus’ shed blood, sinners would be separated from their sin by forgiveness, and renewed by the power of Jesus’ glorious resurrection.   

    The men placed into the public office work at this central task of the Church as their principal vocation.  This is Jesus’ first and central way of caring for and growing His Church.  And yet, Lord willing, proclamation doesn’t end there.  Public preaching also informs and enables private proclamation, by you.  The extension of Christian preaching into the world comes also through the mouths of all God’s people. 

    To be sure, the call to authoritatively speak God’s Word should never be self-assumed, not by me, and not by you.  I am called to preach here.  And sometimes you are called to preach as well.  If you are a parent, for sure, you are a preacher to your children.  And, at different times and places, God brings people into your lives with spiritual questions, and you then have a call, perhaps time bound and limited, but a call to proclaim God’s truth, as best you can.  And the Holy Spirit does work through His Word, whenever it is faithfully spoken.   

    You’re going to mess it up.  I certainly do.  We don’t want to, and we should deepen our knowledge to minimize it, but we will speak God’s truth imperfectly.  However, our perfection in speaking God’s Truth is not the crucial thing.  Try to get it right, don’t settle for error.  But also remember, it is not our perfection, but rather God’s perfection that achieves His goals.  This is the mystery of preaching, that the Holy Spirit overcomes what is lacking in us, and achieves His good goals, sometimes despite us.   

    So, because of this mystery, in relation to God’s Word, we are free, free to read, free to hear, free to inquire, free to speak, to share, free to seek the greater gifts, as the Lord allows. 

 Most of all, we are free, free from fear, from sin, free from the power of death and the devil.  Because the Good News of God’s rescue which has been completed by Jesus, there is indeed, sight for blind, freedom for prisoners, forgiveness for sinners, life from death.  This Scripture is fulfilled in your ears, today, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

God Does His Will Through Holy Marriage - Sermon for the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany

Second Sunday after Epiphany, January 19^th,  Year of Our + Lord 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches, Custer and Hill City, SD
God Does His Will Through Holy Marriage – John 2:1-11

Sermon Audio available HERE 

“Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”     What does this mean? The good and gracious will of God is done even without our prayer, but we pray in this petition that it may be done among us also.

       How is God’s will done?                        God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose, of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when he strengthens us and keeps us firm in his Word and faith until we death do us part from this veil of tears. This is His good and gracious will.

   God’s will for us is that we have good lives here on earth, in this age, and in the age to come, to enjoy a life of perfection and glory, living with Him in heaven, in everlasting righteousness, innocence and blessedness.  And so, since there was a wedding in Cana, Jesus was there, doing God’s will.  Because Holy Marriage is at the very center of God’s way of giving human beings good lives, both now, and forever and ever. 

   Which of course why God’s Way of Holy Marriage is so violently opposed by Satan, by the world, and, sadly, by our own sinful nature.  Bad ideas and flat out lies about marriage dominate our culture, and also have their malignant influence on Christians…way too much influence on us Christians.  Which is bad for this life.  And bad for the Church militant, the Church still fighting the good fight here in this sinful world.  A healthy Church depends on healthy families, and healthy families depend on a right understanding and a living out of healthy marriages.  Our life together as God’s family and our mission to proclaim Christ to the world are both injured when Holy Marriage is faring badly. 

   So it is good for us to once again journey to Cana, to consider what Jesus does and says, and how that fits with the whole Biblical depiction and use of marriage.  For this will help God’s will to be done, in our own lives, and the lives of our neighbors.   

   Every marriage in this broken world has problems.  Would that we only had the problems of the unnamed couple in Cana.  The wine for their wedding reception has run out.  That’s not great.  But our marriages today have much bigger problems, don’t they?  I know this can be painful to talk about.  We have such a range of experiences.  A couple of truths to establish right away.  First, every marriage has real problems, even the ones that appear excellent.  Whether you are solid in your marriage, or used to be married, have never been married, would like to be married and aren’t, don’t think marriage is for you, or you are married and are struggling, all of us are impacted by the myriad problems facing Holy Marriage today. 

   And, regardless of your current, past or future status in relationship to God’s institution of marriage, Jesus cares about you, and your relationship to Holy Marriage.  Whether you are married, want to be married, or want to be single, Jesus wants to help you.  The Bridegroom of the Church doesn’t abandon you because you are single, or because your marriage has problems, or has been broken, by your spouse, or by you.  He doesn’t abandon you because your parents’ marriage had or has problems.  Indeed, fixing marriages and healing people injured in marriage are exactly the reasons He came.  As we see in Cana today, Jesus came to help marriages, especially one particular marriage. 

   Am I saying too much, going overboard on the importance of marriage?  Well, consider this.  The Creation reached its completion with a marriage.  The Lord created the heavens and the earth, filled them and ordered them, for the benefit of Adam, the man from the dirt.  Everything was good, except that it was not good for the Man to be alone.  And so, after teaching Adam that none of the animals was a suitable partner for him, God performed the first surgery, and took Adam’s rib, in order to make the woman, the perfectly matched, complementary other.  Male and female together, God created them in His image.  Only then, after God brought the Woman to the Man, only after they were placed into their one-flesh relationship, only then was the work of Creation complete.  Only then did God see that it was “very good.” 

   The Bible starts with a marriage, and it ends with a marriage, the wedding of the Bride to the Lamb, the celestial nuptials that usher in Paradise.  As the Wedding Banquet that has no end is described in John’s Revelation, we rejoice to hear that finally, after so many ages of longing, in that great Wedding Day there will be no more tears, no more illness, no more suffering, no more sin, no more strife, no more death.  There will be only joy and celebration, forever and ever, for all who are invited to the Feast.  God’s Son, Jesus Christ, came into this world, came to Cana, went to Golgotha, did all that He did, in order to plan and prepare that eternal Marriage Feast, and to invite you.  Regardless of how wonderful or how troubled your relationship to Holy Marriage is today, Jesus has prepared the Way for you to have a seat at the wedding banquet that has no end.  

   It is the most glorious fact that Jesus by His Cross and Resurrection has qualified us for seats at the heavenly banquet.   Does this mean that Holy Marriage is not such a big deal anymore?  Can we kind of not worry so much about marriage on earth today, since we know that God has accomplished the final solution for us?  Not at all.  It’s just the opposite.  The Good News of eternal salvation means we can and we should fight for Holy Marriage, today, for a whole bunch of reasons.

   First, marriage and family was the original Church Growth method.  If sin had not ruined mankind, adding to the congregation of believers would have been naturally accomplished simply through bearing children and raising them up.  No need for sin to be conquered, no struggle to instill faith in sinners, if sin had never entered the world.  And even still today, marriage and procreation, men and women finding each other, and having babies as God allows, is still critical for the growth of Christ’s Church.  Being in a committed Biblical marriage is good for the faith, of the husband and the wife.  A cord of three strands, like a believing husband, a believing wife, and Christ as their binding cord, such a strand is not easily broken.  And such couples seek to raise believing children.   

    Speaking of having babies, it is true that the Holy Spirit can and does teach the faith and join souls of every age to Christ, through the forgiveness of sins.  But making Christians is so much easier with children, when you can start putting the Word in their ears, before they are born, before they become so corrupted, so jaded, not so misled as we adults are prone to be.  The first calling of Adam and Eve, to be married and to grow a family, is still the highest and best earthly calling.  Both for men, and for women. 

   Careers and accomplishments and doing great things in life are fine.  Marveling at the beauty of the creation and enjoying the fruits of the earth are real blessings.  But they are not as good as family.  I have never sat with a dying person who wished that their retirement fund or their college degree or their career accomplishments would come see them, one more time, before they die. 

   Whether God has granted you to be married and to be a parent, or whether He has not, a good and loving family is God’s greatest earthly gift.  All our families have their problems, but they are still precious.  And good and loving families come from Holy Marriage.    

    Satan attacked and badly damaged marriage when he corrupted Adam and Eve.  The serpent slithered in to put a wedge between the man and the woman, and a wedge between them and God.  Ever since, every marriage has faced struggles.  Humanity is so prone to neglect, betray and pervert marriage, because Adam and Eve’s corruption is our corruption. 

    But, despite the damage, God never abandoned Marriage.  The Father still wants to see His children give themselves to each other in Holy Matrimony, and to continue filling the earth.  Marriage does require work by both the husband and the wife.  It is also true that in this fallen world, not everyone will be married, and not every couple will become parents, and that does not change one’s value to God.  But good marriages and families are still the greatest source of earthly blessing, the biggest key to a good life in this world.  And, good marriages greatly support the creation and sustaining of faith, faith in Christ, which receives the blessings of eternal life, a seat at the Heavenly Wedding feast.  May God’s good and gracious will for marriage be done among us, also.    

   Another reason to teach and support God’s gift of marriage is that saving faith is created by the Word of God, and God in His Word talks about marriage, a lot.  The Bible begins and ends with weddings, and the story of salvation is filled with marriages as well.  Noah and his three sons were saved with their wives, so they could start again to fill the earth.  Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebekah, Jacob and his four wives, the chain of marriages goes on and on, right down to Joseph and Mary, a husband and wife who epitomize selfless commitment to Holy Marriage, so that God’s will be done, not just for themselves, but for the whole world. 

   And while getting us to Christmas morning and the birth of the Savior is the main purpose of all these Biblical marriages, they offer more to us.   From good examples and from bad examples, we find wisdom and hope for our marriages and families.  Abraham and Sarah teach us the folly of not trusting God and coming up with our own plans to fulfill His plan.  Sarah decided God could not give her a child, so she gave Abraham her Egyptian maid, Hagar, in hopes of getting a child through her.  This plan brought jealousy and bitterness to the family.  Joyous laughter would only come when the Lord, in His timing, gave them Isaac, through Sarah’s womb. Nothing will be impossible for God; His good and gracious will is done.   

   The Godly wisdom of maintaining Holy Marriage to be the lifelong union of one man and one woman is taught from the negative example of the patriarch Jacob.  Tricked into marrying Leah, his beloved Rachel’s sister, Jacob ended up with four wives, and an angry family, constantly fighting.  God still blessed the world through the 12 sons of Jacob, growing them into the 12 Tribes of Israel.   But God’s original plan of a lifelong marriage between one man and one woman is clearly best. 

   The marriage of Ruth and Boaz offers us an example of how faithfulness to family and to God leads to marital happiness, and a line of promise that ran through King David down to the Son of David, our Savior.  God’s will was done, through Holy Marriage.    

   Against God’s design and plan for marriage come the lies and false ideas of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature.  Marriage as God intends is all about mutual self-giving, of service to another, different from yourself and complementary, a new whole that is greater than the sum of the parts.  Marriage is rightly all about selflessness and service to the other within the structure of marriage that God has given.   It requires commitment and perseverance, and trust that God can bring a couple through hard times, together.   

   The devil and the world say no, that marriage is about you getting what you want, and if that doesn’t happen, then you are free to abandon the commitment.  Men and women are taught today to come to marriage primarily to fulfill themselves, to find pleasure, to be made happy.  Some men pervert their role as leaders, and use their strength to dominate and abuse their wives, instead of to love, protect and serve them.  Some women reject the leadership God has called their husbands to provide, and seek to manipulate and dominate. 

   The heart of the world’s lie about marriage is the false idea that my marriage is good only as long as it serves my selfish desires.  If not, it can and should be discarded, says the world, repeating Satan’s lies.     

   Wise men and wise women seek to serve the other, and fight against the natural selfishness that we all bring to every relationship.  Holy marriages seek to fulfill God’s will, trusting that this is the place on earth where true joys are found.  Again and again, Biblical examples of Holy Marriage teach us that a shared faithfulness to the LORD and His promises leads to blessing.  Understanding and seeking to fulfill the different roles that God has given to man and woman in marriage creates the best opportunity for success.  Honesty, communication and mutual selfless care are vital to overcoming the problems, the sin, that is present in every marriage and family.  And of course, forgiveness, confessing sins to one another and forgiving one another, for Jesus’ sake, is just as important for the life of a marriage as it is for the life of the Church.  

   The importance of forgiveness in marriage and family points us to the Lord’s greatest use of Holy Marriage, and the final reason to support Biblical marriage that we will consider today.  The Holy Spirit loves to use marriage as a frame for proclaiming the Gospel.  It is a favorite metaphor for His saving love for mankind.  The LORD was a faithful husband to His faithless bride, the people of Israel.  Unfaithfulness toward God, the worship of idols, these are called adultery.  The LORD again and again seeks out His faithless bride, and woos her back to Himself.  Ultimately, this lopsided courtship was fulfilled in the life, ministry, suffering, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  A rib was taken from the side of Adam, to create his wife, Eve.  A sword was thrust between the ribs of Jesus, and out flowed water and blood, God’s means for creating His Bride, the Church. 

   And so, while Jesus was giving an earthly blessing to the newlyweds at Cana, He was also hinting at His coming plan to use water and wine to cleanse and recreate sinners, through Holy Baptism and Holy Communion.  Christ Jesus used water turned to wine to give joy to the newlyweds, blessing them with the very best cup.  God creates heavenly joy by using water and wine to be fruitful and multiply His new holy people, delivering His glorious forgiveness, and binding His Bride ever closer to Himself.  And so, God’s will is done for us through Holy Marriage, on earth, today, and also in heaven, forever and ever, Amen.