Branches, and the Branch - Sermon for the First Sunday of Advent

First Sunday of Advent (Ad Te Levavi)
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Branches, (and the Branch)    
Jeremiah 23:5-8, Matthew 21:1-9, Romans 13:8-14

 Audio of the sermon is available HERE.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.”  Jermiah 23:5

   God Almighty, ineffable, uncreated, holy and eternal, is kind to us flesh and blood, material creatures.  He knows who we are, and our limitations.  He knows we live in a world of growing things, and of water, stone and soil, of objects moving in the sky above.  So, He uses numerous things of the Creation we live in to communicate His will, and His love, for us, and for all people. 

   This material reality, along with our understanding and use of created things, these are common to all human cultures.  All people are connected by light and dark, soil and water, gravity and decay, bounty and hunger, and a thousand other features of life in this Creation.  When the Holy Spirit uses tangible, earthly metaphors in His Holy Word, we fallible creatures are better able to grasp the Lord’s intention.  By such tangible teaching, we are also well prepared to share the Good News of God’s Word with other flesh and blood people.    

   Take branches, for one example.  Trees and bushes and vines all have cylindrical offshoots, which teach about the connective nature of life.  Everything in this world comes from something else, something before, something that gives life to its offspring.  And the Source of everything is God!  Including the trees and branches.    

   Mankind takes these woody life forms and makes all manner of useful things.  Need some support as you scramble over a rocky trail?  Look for a sturdy branch to use as a walking stick.  Later, when you need protection from the wind or the sun or the rain, you can use branches to form a structure over which to lay smaller, leafier branches, forming a shelter for yourself and your loved ones.  Just outside the opening, branches burn and crackle, providing warmth and light.  If you find yourself stuck in the wilderness for a long time, a straight, stiff branch might be your spear for fishing, or, if you dare, for hunting. 

   Back in civilization, trees provide the skeleton of our homes.  Our understanding of branches facilitates the organization and connection that allows our standard of living to rise.  A successful business puts out branches, extending the reach of their products and services, enriching the owners, the employees, and the communities that purchase their goods.  Just as a tree shows life by extending new branches, so also with our human endeavors. 

   And of course, the flowering of human enterprises, from root to branch to extended networks, is in many ways a reflection and extension of the root and branch reality of human families.  In fact, all the structures of human endeavor should be serving the family that God created.  When we remember this truth, our life together goes better. 

  When we forget or deny that the family as ordained by God is the essential foundation of human existence, chaos reigns.  Our 21^st Century culture insists on making this defiant choice again and again, rejecting the Biblical family and promoting a radical individualism.  All of us, but especially the children suffer.  The result is insecurity, loneliness, and stress, which bring an increase of emotional, physical and mental illness, leading to decay, desperation and destruction. 

   As Christians then, we pursue, speak for and promote this root and branch Biblical understanding of family and culture.  We are pro-family, even as we acknowledge that our efforts to fix the family, while worthwhile, will never completely fix our problem.  Even the best Christian families face failure and disintegration.  Even the best earthly fathers eventually leave their children, for death comes for us all.  To find the true and eternal solution we all need, we turn to God’s Word, which very helpfully continues to use branches to reveal God’s solution to us. 

   Biblically, one of the first theologically helpful uses of branches is to make a shepherd’s staff.  From Abraham through King David, from the Good Shepherd to the Apostle Peter, called three-times to tend God’s sheep, and continuing on through the Ephesian elders, right down to this day, the shepherd’s loving use of a sturdy branch to guide and protect the flock became both a staple of ancient agriculture, and a primary Christian metaphor. 

   Sadly, the misuse of branches is constantly encouraged by the Serpent who, in our collective imagination, hung from a tree branch in the Garden as He hissed lies to our first mother.  We don’t know what Cain used when he rose up to kill his brother Abel; I tend to think he grabbed a rock.  But a sturdy branch, maybe even the stolen shepherd’s staff of Abel, would have served the first murderer just as well.  Whatever Cain used to kill Abel, whether a branch or a rock or just his own hands, death was inflicted by an object from the Creation, an object that God had originally made and given us for our good. 

   Stout branches turned into sturdy staffs quickly became a symbol and tool of leadership in ancient culture.  But, following the example of Cain, the branch or staff, that should be used by a leader to protect and serve, can also be abused.  Servant leaders of God’s people, ancient and modern, are called by God to use the staff of their office for the good of the people.  The scepter of a king, whether of wood or iron, is the exaltation of the same symbolic object, intended by God to serve the whole nation. 

   Shepherd staffs should be used by leaders to help their followers.  But every leader also faces the temptation to serve himself by turning his staff against the people, to beat and threaten the flock in order to stroke his own ego, or to feed his belly.  The branch turned into a spear can defend against a bear or bring down a deer to feed the family.  It can also be turned against human beings, including within the family or nation, evilly used to coerce, or even to kill.

   We see that the reality and the metaphor of branches, and the staffs and structures we make from them, can reveal much about this life we live together, both the good and the bad, the godly and the cruel.  So, it is no surprise that the Holy Spirit also uses branches, poles and staffs to teach us about our salvation, about our Savior.  For the promised Messiah, the Son of David who would come to rescue God’s people once and for all, is the Righteous Branch, the offshoot of Jesse’s stump, who will execute justice and righteousness in the land.                

   The fact that God uses physical objects from our daily lives to identify and reveal His Chosen Messiah flows from an even deeper truth, the unexpected but necessary fact that the Savior is the ineffable God Himself.  The Christ is the eternal Son, who comes to His people to rescue them.  This is what the season of Advent is all about.  Advent means “the coming,” so during Advent we are reminded how the Savior comes to us, to redeem us from sin, death and the Devil. 

   The texts for the First Sunday of Advent traditionally start in the middle, with Jesus coming into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, six days before Good Friday, hailed as a king, the people waving the victor’s palm branches in the air as they sang His praise.  Hosanna to the Son of David.  Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord. 

   During Advent we will also reflect on Jesus’ Final Coming, on the Last Day, the Good Shepherd Judge who will once and forever use His staff to separate the righteous sheep and the wicked goats.  We will also see His coming foretold in the Old Testament through earthly metaphors, particularly in our midweek Advent services. 

   We will of course celebrate and rejoice in Jesus coming to us daily, through His chosen means, the instruments of His Word, His Washing and His Meal.  All this in preparation to celebrate with exceedingly great joy His coming in the flesh, the Incarnation, Jesus’ miraculous conception and birth from the Virgin Mary.  At Christmas, God took humanity into Himself, in order to fulfill His calling to be our Brother and Savior. 

    As we once again decorate the branches of our Christmas trees, we will be reminded of the sobering yet merciful truth that another tree, shorn of its branches and transformed into a tool of cruelty, became the ultimate earthly instrument of God’s plan of salvation.  The horror and shame of that tree is transformed into the revelation of new life, for as death once flowed from the fruit of the forbidden tree in the Garden, so also life has arisen from the tree of the Cross. 

   We who by faith have been grafted into God’s Righteous Branch now have the sap of eternal life flowing through us.  Jesus is the true Vine, and we are His branches, not dead, fruitless branches to be cut out and thrown into the fire, but living branches who bear good fruit, acts of love, voices of praise, and proclamations of Good News.  These are the Spirit’s work, in and through us.   

   Our calling to be fruitful branches is for us comfort and wisdom, the freedom of knowing that all we are to do as Christians flows from the mercy and power of Christ, who works in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  At the same time, because the decay of sin still rots within our core, there is also a warning.  We are warned not to fall into the dry death of unbelief, outwardly appearing to be grafted into the Vine, but in reality, living like every other dry branch in this fallen world.       

    Ever aware of our need, Jesus our Vine, our Righteous Branch, does not leave us to wonder how we stay planted in Him.  In John, chapter 15, He is very clear about how we came to faith, and how we remain faithful:  "I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ^[2] Every branch of mine that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes clean, that it may bear more fruit. ^[3] Already you are pruned clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. ^[4] Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. …

   If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ^[8] By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:1-4, 7-8 

   Faith comes, and abides, by the Word.  So, today is a good day, a righteous day, for God the Righteous One has gathered you here, to listen to His voice.  Today, and every day in which you hear, read, recite and pray the Bible, you are walking wisely, casting off the darkness and putting on the armor of light.  Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, by letting His Word dwell in you richly.  This is how you dwell in Christ, and how He dwells in you.     

   So then, we can see that the Israelites who waved palm branches and sang the praises of Jesus as He rode the donkey into Jerusalem were well steeped in God’s Word.  They sang from memory the ancient Psalms that prophesied the Messiah.  They would be surprised later that week, to see that Jesus’ Way of Salvation ran through a Roman cross.  But the Holy Spirit by His Word would sustain all the faithful palm wavers, until they could see and rejoice in the Resurrection. 

   What the Spirit did for them He continues to do for us.  Teaching us through things we know, like branches and vines and seed for sowing and bread for eating, through Water, Wheat and Wine, through stones and buildings and the members of the body, the Spirit continues to make us wise unto salvation through earthly things.  Through this earthy Word, we are kept grounded in the faith, trusting in the God who entered His own Creation to save it.

  Just in case we don’t grasp it, the Lord gives us one last use of branches to teach us the Truth of Salvation.  In Revelation chapter seven the Apostle John, caught up into heaven,  looks and sees “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and tribe and people and tongue, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; ¹⁰ and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb… These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  

   And so we, who like them trust in Jesus Christ, wave our palm branches in praise of our Coming King, and with the saints in heaven we sing out: “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

 

  

Today - Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Last Sunday of the Church Year, November 23^rd, anno + Domini 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches, Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Today - Luke 23:27 – 43

 Audio of the sermon available HERE.

    Today.  Today we close out another journey with Jesus through the Church Year.  Today we come to the End, and the Beginning. 

     Last Tuesday I listened to Pastor Goldammer’s sermon recorded last Sunday.  He was working with another set of readings focused on the End, and did a fine job connecting the dots, from the drama in Jerusalem 2,000 years ago during the first Holy Week, to the struggle of Christians in Nigeria, who face death today for their confession of Christ Jesus, to our comparatively minor but still real struggles in the Christian lives we lead here in the Black Hills.  Gordon did a wonderful job exploring the reality of our lives, of the Last Day, and our future lives in heaven.  He showed how they are all connected together and redeemed by Jesus, who has won for us a future that will be wonderful, perfect, life forever with God and all the host of heaven. 

     Today we close out the Church Year with the remarkable conversations Jesus held in the last hours before His death, conversations with wailing women, with His Father, and with a fellow subject of crucifixion, who, by God’s grace and the power of the Word, had the very best moment of his life, even as he hung dying on a Roman cross. 

   Today we are privileged to focus on that Day, the pivotal day in the history of fallen humanity.  For it was that Day which makes today, and every other day, a day for rejoicing, a day made by the Lord, for our blessing.  Our calling today and always is to live from that Day, which is still determining our today, and our tomorrow, one-thousand nine-hundred and ninety-some Novembers later.  So today, let’s listen closely to Jesus’ conversations, listen to His words of wisdom, truth and mercy, that He spoke as He made His way up the hill to Golgotha, and even from the Cross. 

     Today is not the day for mourning.  Jesus turns to the women who were following His crucifixion procession, beating their breasts and wailing, and He says:  "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children.

Who were these women? 

   The text doesn’t tell us precisely, but many think that they are “professional” mourners, like the crowds outside Jairus’s house, weeping and mourning over his daughter, who had just died.  Jesus also told them to stop wailing, and sent them away, just before entering the house and raising the little girl from the dead. 

     Such mourners were customary in Jewish culture, and it’s easy to see how this practice would be extended to Jews condemned to death by the Romans, a natural addition to the morbid spectacle.  This possibility is reinforced by the title Jesus gives them: “Daughters of Jerusalem.”  Most of Jesus’ followers were from Galilee, not Jerusalem.  The sophisticated, upper-crust citizens of the capital were the least likely to believe in Jesus.  If this is correct, then we may question the sincerity of these wailing women.  Regardless, Jesus tells them to stop, because His future, while horrifying in the next hours, is eternally bright and joyful.  But for these women, and all who lived in Jerusalem, destruction is coming, their future is very grim, the end of Israel as they understand it.  In last week’s Gospel, Jesus prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, which would happen almost four decades later, in the A+D 70.,  He is referencing it again, today. 

   For behold, Jesus continues, the days are coming when they will say, 'Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' ^[30] Then they will begin to say to the mountains, 'Fall on us,' and to the hills, 'Cover us.' ^[31] For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?"  The reason the tree of the Hebrews was still green that Day was Israel’s primary purpose for being, which was to provide the human lineage of the Messiah, the anointed Savior of God.  No matter how faithless most Israelites were over the centuries, God had made a promise.  Faithful to His promises, the Lord always preserved a remnant, kept a bit of faithful sap flowing.  God always prevented the total destruction of the nation of Israel, so that, from the house and line of David, Mary could be chosen to give birth to God’s Son, the Savior, Jesus. 

   But now that their most important purpose was fulfilled, now that the sap of salvation would be flowing to all nations, what would happen to unfaithful sons and daughters of Abraham?  Jesus predicts a bitter fate was approaching the Jews in Jerusalem.  And He proclaims throughout all the Gospels an even worse fate for all men, women and children, unless they come to understand what is really happening “today,” that Day, almost 2,000 years ago.  For that Day was, and still is today, the Day of Salvation for all who trust in the Crucified One, whether they are biological descendants of Abraham, or not. 

   Today, as you contemplate the Cross, weep not.  Not too much, at least.  The death of Jesus is truly hard to contemplate, and the part each of us sinners has played in making the Cross necessary is a heavy thought, which may bring you some tears. 

   But you do not need to beat your breast and wail for Jesus.  Rather, rejoice in His steadfast commitment to you and all sinners.  For today is the day for Divine Mercy.  Two others, convicted criminals, were led away to be put to death with [Jesus].  And when they arrived at the execution grounds, the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified [the Christ], and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. ^[34] And [just then, as spikes are driven through His flesh and He is lifted up from the earth] Jesus says, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."  Father, forgive them.  There was never love like this, love for enemies, love for torturers, love for all people. 

   Today and every day is a day for God’s mercy, because Jesus has won the Father’s forgiveness, for you.  Mercy, along with justice, is essential to God’s character, and so the plan of forgiveness was a completed reality in the mind of God from before the foundation of the world.  And on that Day, that dark but very good Friday, the miracle of forgiveness shone like never before, a miracle of salvation, not for good people, but for God’s enemies, for sinners, for you, and me, and all people.  

   Today is the true King’s Day.  Recently our American Republic observed a bit of mass political theater as concerned citizens held “No Kings Day” rallies.  As far as I heard, none of those rally goers repeated the American Revolutionary chant of “We have no king but Jesus!”  That would have been interesting! 

   Monarchies and republics come and go.  But there is one True King, yesterday, today and forever, Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews, the King of Heaven, the potentate of the Universe.  The Man Jesus, also the eternal Son of the Father, sits at God’s right hand, ruling over all things, precisely because the Father accepted His self-sacrifice on behalf of His enemies.  Father, forgive them.  And He does!  For Jesus’ sake. 

   Today is the Day for Mission, for outreach to dying sinners, for effective Gospel proclamation.  Today and every day, God’s living and active word does not return to Him empty, but always achieves the purpose for which the Lord sent it forth from His mouth.  Like it did on Golgotha, for one of the two thieves, dying alongside Jesus.  What Word did the Holy Spirit use to convert the penitent thief?  The last thing Jesus had said, I would think.  Father, forgive them. 

   Insults were hurled at Jesus by the soldiers and the rulers of the people, the Pharisees, priests and elders.  These slurs also happened to lay out Jesus’ claims about Himself, with one eternally significant error.  The rulers scoffed at [Jesus], saying, "He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ of God, his Chosen One!" ^[36] The soldiers also mocked him, coming up and offering him sour wine ^[37] and saying, "If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself!"  

   One of the two criminals joined in the abuse, and it seems from the other Gospel accounts of Good Friday that the second one started to insult Jesus as well.  But something changed him.  By God’s grace he came to believe that this One, a dying man capable of praying to God for the forgiveness of His executioners, this man is the Christ of God, the Chosen One, come, not to save Himself, but to save others.  Confessing the justice of his own crucifixion, confessing his own sinfulness and Jesus’ innocence, the penitent thief cries out in faith: Jesus, remember me, when You come into Your Kingdom.  And Jesus confirms his faith, confirms that he is accepted by God: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

   Today.  For you.  Today is the Day for rejoicing for you, because your place in paradise has also been guaranteed.  What Jesus promised and delivered to the repentant thief that Day on Calvary, the blood-bought forgiveness that transforms enemies of God into beloved children, that victory is also for you.  By the Resurrection God the Father confirmed and announced to  world the reality that was already perfected on Golgotha.  So, today we rejoice, for this same Jesus comes to us to deliver to us the same promise, the same forgiveness. 

   Today you are not yet in paradise, and you are unlikely to be crucified.  But sin and its consequences surely plague your today, just as they did those thieves hanging on either side of Jesus.  Thanks be to God, your problems with sin don’t seem so dramatic, but sin is still as dangerous as ever.  And the solution for sin today remains the same as it was on that original Good Friday. 

   When God, through consequences, through earthly authorities, and through His Word, makes it clear to you what you deserve for your sin, the only solution is to turn to Jesus in faith and ask for His rescue.  Yes, sinner, you are forgiven.  Convicted, corrected, absolved, restored and reconciled again to the Father, you go forth, filled with God’s mercy and love, ready to walk in the Lord’s Way.    

   Today you are not yet in paradise.  That Day, outside Jerusalem, the penitent thief’s earthly journey with Jesus was complete.  He would not gather week after week with the infant Church, he would not support and participate in the Mission of Christ that the Holy Spirit worked through His Church.  And yet, he has played a tremendous role in Christian Mission, thanks to the pen of St. Luke. 

   Today, and millions of times more, the forgiven thief’s story has been used by the Holy Spirit to draw yet more sinners to Jesus.  The forgiven thief has played his part in heavenly absentia.  You, on the other hand, have the privilege of playing in-person your part in extending Christ’s Kingdom of grace to more souls. 

   And you can participate in this great work of God without worry, without concern that you must do it just perfectly.  You can relax and rest in the promises that Jesus has made to you, and then simply share His love and His Word in your daily life.  It’s just that simple.  The Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. 

   There are lots of other Bible passages that teach us about the Last Day.  But today it is appropriate and edifying to close out the Church Year with the Crucifixion.  Even though the Cross happened long ago, and the End of the Age is yet to come, still the Crucifixion is a good End Times text to study, the best, really.  For, as we prepare for the Last Day, only the Cross makes us ready for the End.  The judgment, the disturbances in the earth and sky, the fear and trembling that the Bible describes as part of the Last Day are already complete, finished, fulfilled for us by Jesus, on that Good Friday.  The Cross was Jesus’ goal, His End, and it is our salvation.  All of the Bible points to or flows from that cursed tree, which Jesus has turned into a tree of blessing, the Tree of Life. 

   One Bible passage that is all about that Day has been turned into a favorite Bible song, often sung by children: “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.”  Taken from Psalm 118, and written around the time the Temple was built by Solomon, this favorite verse is rightly beloved, a good and true confession of faith in the Lord’s daily providence, which should create a joyful and grateful spirit in us.  “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.” 

   But wait! There’s more.  Because the Psalmist is doing more than telling God’s people to rejoice in His daily blessings.  He actually speaks about a particular Day.  In fact, the believing thief might well have been singing Psalm 118 as he breathed his last and his soul passed into paradise.  All of this psalm is remarkable.  Let’s just hear a bit.  As you listen to verses 20 – 26, picture in your mind the thoughts of that thief, after Jesus’ proclaimed His promise:

This is the gate of the Lord, Through which the righteous shall enter.

²¹ I will praise You, For You have answered me, And have become my salvation.
²² The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the chief cornerstone.
²³ This was the Lord’s doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.
²⁴ This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.
²⁵ Save now, I pray, O Lord; O Lord, I pray, send now prosperity.
²⁶ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!

    The Day of Psalm 118 is Good Friday, because Jesus is the cornerstone of salvation sent from God, but rejected by the leaders who had been charged with building up Israel.  But, in the cruciform rejection of those builders, Jesus became the cornerstone of His Church, through His death.  This was the Lord’s doing, marvelous in the eyes of the believing thief, for on that Day Jesus created a New Day, a day for saving, a day for never-ending prosperity. 

    Blessed indeed is Jesus Christ, the One who comes in the Name of the Lord, speaking words of mercy and grace.  Today you hear His voice.  Rejoice in His mercy for you, and pray: Lord, remember me when You come into Your Kingdom. 

    He has, and He will, today, and forever and ever, Amen. 

The Man of Lawlessness and His Conqueror - Sermon for the 22nd Sunday after Pentecost

 Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
November 9^th, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
The Man of Lawlessness, and the His Conqueror
2 Thessalonians 2:1-17, Luke 20:27-40, Genesis 3:1-15

 Audio of the sermon is available HERE.

 

    Our texts this morning provide us with a remarkable array of meaty topics: mystery and promise and power and mercy.  We heard the Malach Yahweh, the Angel of the Lord, who, from within the mysteriously burning-but-not-consumed bush, speaks to Moses as God.  Now, ‘angel’ means, most basically, ‘messenger,’ so if the Angel of the Lord who speaks as God makes you think of the Word made flesh, the eternal Son, God’s very best Messenger, then you are in good company.  That God from the burning bush goes on to identify Himself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, not two, nor four, but three patriarchs, offers us a foreshadowing of the Holy Trinity, the Three-in-One, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the glorious mystery which Jesus would later fully reveal. 

     As Moses tries to avoid God’s call to service, complaining that he doesn’t even know how to identify God to the Israelites, the Lord reveals that the essence of being is God; I AM who I AM, the One from whom all things exist, Yahweh Almighty.  And yet, this Almighty Existing Source of all things is also loving and merciful.  He is the God who hears the cries of His people, hears the cries of the Israelites, enslaved in Egypt.  And the Lord acts.  Good news!  The Creator, the all-powerful and all-knowing Source of all stuff, and life, and order, is also merciful and caring. 

     From Luke 20 we get a ringside seat to a political and religious debate, a bunch of inside baseball info on first century Jewish life.  We also hear the blasphemy of sarcasm from unbelieving priests.  We are shocked to hear from time to time of pastors in Christian churches today who admit they do not believe in the Christian God, but here we see this problem is ancient.  These priests, called Sadducees, had been taken in by Greek philosophies, which hate the material, created world, and so reject any physical resurrection.  These wise fools challenge the Lord of Life and Bridegroom of the Church, by mocking both the notion of eternal life, and levirate marriage as taught by Moses, in the Torah, the Law.  Levirate marriage meant that Israelite brothers were committed to marry their childless, widowed sister-in-law, in order to raise up offspring for their deceased brother.  The lawless Sadducees ignore Moses, and treat both Heaven and Holy Marriage like foolish fables, smugly thinking they can confound Jesus, who is the Wisdom of God made flesh, through Whom all things were created and ordered.   

     Jesus responds to the Sadducees with the proclamation of the resurrection of the dead, the promise that the Lord of Life will not leave His children moldering in the grave.  Those who believe in Christ Jesus have life, now, and forever and ever, Amen. 

    Lots of great stuff.  But I want to talk about the “man of lawlessness.”  Paul in his second letter to Thessalonica talks about the man of lawlessness, the “anthropos anomía,” in Greek, which sounds like a character from a science fiction novel.  But it’s way worse than that.  The man of lawlessness is the one who will take his seat in the temple of God, and exalt himself, to the point of claiming to be God himself.  

   Since for today’s sermon, I wanted us to reflect on the man of lawlessness and the end of this age, I added back in four verses that our appointed readings left out.  The suggestion for our Epistle today is 2^nd Thessalonians 2:1-8 and 13-17, skipping over verses 9 – 12.  The lectionary committee for the LSB hymnal, the group of pastors who picked our assigned readings for this morning, for reasons I do not know, thought we should skip over some of the most detailed explanation that Paul gives concerning the dynamics of these End Times, the struggle for souls between God and Satan.  According to their suggestion, we get to hear of the man of lawlessness, but not the details of the deeper reality unfolding in the spiritual realm.  For the lawless one, while frightening, is just a pawn in a much larger battle.  

   There are important truths in verses 9 – 12, so I added them back in.  The mystery of lawlessness is already at work, warns Paul, and in 9-12 he lays out how Satan works through lawlessness, and what the stakes are for souls.  This is uncomfortable teaching, but also important, for all people.  So, with the Spirit’s help, this morning we will grow in our understanding of these End Times. 

    And that is an important place to start: the reality that the End Times are not some future event.  Already in St. Peter’s sermon at Pentecost, and throughout the Book of Acts and rest of the New Testament, the Last Days or the End Times are not a future event, but a current reality.  To be sure, from Matthew to Revelation, the Holy Spirit teaches us that just before the Last Day there will be a heightening of conflict, a greater persecution of the true Church by the forces of Satan.  Paul in today’s epistle calls that the rebellion, and the revelation of the man of lawlessness seated in the Temple of God.  That is to say, the lawless one will be a church leader, who openly rejects Christ and His teaching, who denies God, and in the end sets himself up as God. 

    The reformers of the sixteenth century saw that the Pope, ruling over Church, but denying the Gospel, was displaying this spirit of lawlessness.  But just before the End, a worse man of lawlessness will be revealed.  And then Jesus will come visibly, one last time. 

      The End Times began at the bodily Ascension of Jesus to the right hand of God the Father, and they will end, the Last Day will come, when Jesus returns bodily, riding on the clouds, to slay the lawless one with the breath of His mouth, that is, with His mighty Word.  At that time the new heavens and the new earth will be revealed, and then all of God’s chosen, all those who have believed the truth of our utter sinfulness, but also trust in Jesus’ blood-bought forgiveness, all of them will be transformed and gathered into God’s eternal glory, forever and ever, Amen. 

     In the meantime, until that blessed Day, the dynamics that will be concluded on the Last Day, the struggle between dark and light, the battle for human souls, continues.  No one knows when the Last Day will be; stop listening, right away, to anyone who claims to know, for they are directly contradicting Jesus Himself, and are not on the side of God.  We don’t know when, but we do know how things will turn out.  Jesus wins, completely, and so do all who are joined to Him, all who long for and love His appearing, all who trust in Christ alone for forgiveness, life and salvation. 

      We have reason to rejoice about the End Times, because we know the final result.  But this does not mean they are not frightening.  Verses 9-12 also describe some activity by God during these End Times that we would prefer not to wrestle with.  This could be one reason they were left out of our appointed reading.  But Paul knows better what we need to hear. 

     Paul declares that Jesus, when He returns visibly, will slay and bring to nothing the lawless one.  In the end, God and His people win.  But in the meantime, the coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, ^[10] and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

    As Jesus taught in the Gospels, false-christs will come, working great signs and wonders, so as to deceive, if it were possible, even the elect, even God’s chosen children.  The Apostle John in his letters coins the term antichrist.  The beasts of Revelation, the man of lawlessness, various antichrists already at lose in the world, and the Antichrist, these are all part of the same satanic effort to separate sinners from God, forever.  The spirit of lawlessness already at work in the world and the lawless one who will be revealed right before the end reflect this same reality, worked by Satan. 

   And, the Lord Almighty allows the toothless dragon to continue spewing lies to deceive sinners.  That’s hard to swallow.  Why does God allow this? 

     We don’t know.  It is part of His overall good and gracious plan of salvation, we know that.  But the Holy Spirit in His Word never explains ‘why’ about a number of hard things, including this one.  I suspect our still-fallen minds would not be able to understand.  In any case, faith doesn’t demand an explanation to something God has left a mystery for now.  Faith instead clings to the clear promises of God in Christ Jesus, for in these we have life. 

     But Paul is not done saying hard things.  In verses 11 and 12 he writes that to the unbelievers, (those who refuse to love the truth) God sends a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, ^[12] in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.  How can a loving God send a delusion to unbelievers, when He desires that all people turn from their sins and live?  Well, certainly one key point for us to remember is that God’s truth and His love cannot be separated.  Those who, for love of unrighteousness, for love of their favorite sins, refuse the truth are also cutting themselves off from God’s love.  Apart from the work of Christ Jesus, this would be everyone, all people, including you, and you, and me. 

    Paul is not teaching that God before time chose against some souls, that before the Creation He predestined some to damnation.  The Bible does not teach that.  Paul here is speaking of God’s actions in these End Times, in this sinful world, where every sinner, based on their own works and merit, deserves God’s present and eternal punishment.  God did not predestine anyone to damnation, and He continues to work to rescue more sinners from eternal death.  But tragically, many refuse.    

   To be sure, there is a strong warning in Paul’s words:  In this world where God has made known His existence and power, and has caused His Gospel of free forgiveness to be widely proclaimed, those who reject Him must beware.  Eventually, God will give the soul that continually rejects the His Word exactly what they are asking for, a delusion to firmly believe what is false.

     Do we see such a delusion, such a spirit of lawlessness at work in our world today?  Very much, and in many ways.  Remember that part of God’s Law is simply His ordering of the Creation, the way He has made things to be.  Sinful men and women have always been rebelling against God’s design for marriage, family, and sexuality.  Whether that is by treating Holy Marriage as a joke, like the Sadducees, or redefining it down to meet our basest desires, like no-fault divorce, under Satan’s influence, we humans have rejected God’s way, His ordering, His law, again and again. 

     In the Church, a lie called “Gospel reductionism” has gutted the proclamation of many formerly faithful churches, and led to the mass exodus of many souls.  Gospel reductionists pretend to be so Christ focused, they have discovered that the Law of God is no longer necessary, nor even helpful.  All we need to do, they say, is speak of Jesus and His love; there is no need to accuse people of sin. 

    But Jesus’ love is forgiving love.  The eternal Son dying on a Cross to pay for our sins makes no sense if God’s Law is not true and applicable and eternal.  And our sinful nature loves to hear that sin is not such a big deal anymore.  Gospel reductionist churches quickly evolve to sin-denying churches.  Blending your faith with pagan religions?  That’s o.k.  Choosing to end innocent lives in the womb, for the sake of the convenience of adults?  Who are we to judge?  Endorsing any and every possible lifestyle, regardless of God’s Word?  I mean, Jesus loves us, so how can our feelings be wrong?  That these and other lies have gained prominence within Christian churches makes it no surprise that in our broader culture, chaos and darkness and the celebration of depravity reign.  

     So, what are Christians to do?  First of all, give thanks to God, who has graciously chosen us as firstfruits to be saved, through the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, giving us faith, belief in the truth of Jesus, faith worked in us by the Word, including through the washing of water with the Word. 

     Give thanks to God for saving you, and also be wise to recognize that He did this through His Law and Gospel.  Christians are not lawless, but rather we uphold God’s Law and His ordering of creation and life, both for ourselves, and for others.  For we know that coming to believe in Jesus requires a recognition of our sins and sinfulness, which brings us to repent, and makes us ready to hear the Good News of the Savior. 

     Paul exhorts us to hold fast to the traditions, the Gospel truths handed down by Jesus through His Apostles: the tradition of proclaiming the whole counsel of God’s Word, the Creation, the Fall, Redemption in Christ, and the coming age.  Both God’s Law, to reveal the truth of our sin, and His Gospel, His Good News that in Christ there is free forgiveness for all who believe.  The super-abundant grace and wisdom of connecting this Gospel to physical means, water, wheat and wine, so that we fleshly, tangible creatures can also know God’s love through tangible, earthly things.  Though veiled in human voices, and hidden under water, bread and wine, Christ Jesus truly brings His Last Day victory to us, whenever we gather around His traditions.  So, of course we hold fast to these traditions of Jesus, which create new hearts in us, and lead us to also love others, as Jesus has loved us. 

     As we cling to Christ’s traditions by celebrating them, day by day and Sunday by Sunday, we are also proclaiming them to the unbelievers around us.  We do not know who God will convert through our holding fast to the traditions of Christ.  We do know that the blood of Jesus covers the sins of the whole world, of every man, woman and child ever conceived.  So, we are free to speak the truth, and we look forward to the perfect harvest.  For we know that in heaven, all the mysteries that trouble us now will be made clear, and nothing will disturb our joy and peace, ever again. 

     That the struggle of the End Times and the condemnation of sinners bother us is good and right.  God the Father takes no pleasure in condemning sinners, and gave His eternal Son into death in order to win forgiveness and new life for all.  And so, when we are troubled, let us pray to the Holy Spirit to move us to redouble our prayer and proclamation, knowing that God’s mission to save the lost is not over until the Last Trumpet sounds, and Christ appears, riding the clouds in glory. 

     We know that our Redeemer lives!  Our God is the God of life, the God of the living.  He is God of the living souls of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and of all those who depart this life sharing the same faith they had, faith in God’s Promised Savior.  God grant that in the midst of trouble and struggle and death, which continue to define this visible, fallen world, our eyes be fixed where true joys are found, in the Crucified, Resurrected and Ascended Savior, Jesus Christ, who has opened the Way to Father for us, through His own Body, that Body into which we have been joined, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.      

For All the Saints - Sermon for All Saints Day 2025

All Saints Day, (Observed)
November 2^nd, A+D 2025
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
For All the Saints

 Audio of the Sermon can be accessed HERE.  

LSB 677, For All the Saints, Public Domain

1 For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

For all the saints who from their labors rest…, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.

     Life forevermore.  Psalm 133 ends with a triumphant declaration, that, on the mountains of Zion, … there the Lord commanded the blessing— Life forevermore.  Eternal life, with God, this is the Lord’s goal for humanity, this is the hope we all press toward.  On All Saints Day we celebrate the victory of all those Christians who fought the good fight to the end, who finished the course, and so now their souls rest with Christ, awaiting the Last Day, and the revelation of the New Heavens and New Earth, the resurrection of their bodies, and the consummation of God’s plan to bless His chosen people.  Christians are pro-life, and, I have come to realize, not only because the Lord desires to give His faithful a good earthly life.  Rather, He intends to have His children living with Him forever, in perfect joy and health and community, gathered around the glorious throne of God, living the blessed life, forever and ever.

     I was seven years old when the Supreme Court discovered a new right in the U.S. Constitution, the right for babies to be killed in the womb, in the infamous Roe-vs-Wade court decision.  As this woeful miscarriage of justice rippled across our nation, I remember a family conversation at lunch, when the subject of abortion came up.  My older siblings and mother were discussing the topic.  I remember quite clearly how my dad broke-in to state, very matter-of-factly, that babies in the womb should be protected, that killing them was wrong.  Over the years I would learn much more about the finer details of the Christian pro-life argument.  But my dad’s plain statement was all I needed to be convinced that a baby is a human person, deserving of our protection. 

     Twenty-two years later, when I left the Marine Corps and took a job in central Pennsylvania, Shelee soon began volunteering at the Capitol Area Pregnancy Center in Harrisburg.  Her growing involvement led us to leave the wishy-washy Lutheran church we were attending, because Shelee sensed, and soon verified, that the pastors were “Pro-Choice.”  This means they supported the murder of babies in the womb when people find them inconvenient.  Shelee became more deeply involved in the pregnancy center, and so did I.  Eventually, we worked together to open a satellite of the Harrisburg center in Carlisle, the town we lived in. 

    Working to support life, along with a year of church shopping, were a big part of why I started considering attending seminary and sought to become a pastor. 

     All of this, and later pro-life experience, meant that my focus in life issues has always been mostly about protecting babies.  Later I learned how the merchants of death in our society were also coming for the elderly, for the disabled, and even for those who are healthy, except for struggling with depression.  Loving life, from womb to tomb, from conception to natural death, became my perspective, and I thank God for teaching me this. 

     But as I was preparing my thoughts for this sermon, it dawned on me that my time perspective is still limited, not nearly as expansive as God’s. 

     Explaining to John the great multitude of saints in white robes that he saw around God’s throne, the elder instructing John explained that their robes were washed white in the blood of the Lamb, and so “they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. ¹⁶ They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.  ¹⁷ For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

     Perfect, painless, joyful, tearless, in-the-flesh LIFE, forevermore.  From Womb to Tomb to Eternity.  The pro-life character of the Almighty began before time, in the mind of God, who thought of each one of us, and all the men, women, boys and girls that have ever lived, and will ever live.  And God’s pro-human life character endures.   

     God, from whom comes all life, has a love for human life that will never end.  We begin to understand better what Jesus meant when He declared to His disciples that “I AM the Way, and the Truty, and the LIFE.”  Forever and ever, Amen. 

    Urging the elderly or the disabled to commit suicide, along with aborting infants, these are all horrible.  And so is telling lies about God and His plan of salvation.  Whether they are outright pagan, or supposedly Christian, preachers and teachers who deny or pervert the Gospel are guilty of a much worse sin.  For they are, intentionally or not, working for the Devil, who seeks to cut off souls from God, forever.  An essential part of the pro-life message is the Reformation proclamation that salvation is a free gift, not based on our works, but rather given to sinners who trust in Christ and His sacrifice on Calvary.  By this faith, their sins are washed away and their hearts are transformed.  This is Good News for those facing challenging life situations, and the Gospel even offers forgiveness to those who come to repent their pro-death actions. 

    And so we sing: Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest, by all the saints, those in heaven, and those still fighting the good fight, here in this broken world.  Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; Thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Oh, may Thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold, Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old
And win with them the victor's crown of gold! Alleluia! Alleluia!

     Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ… 

     This first sentence of the Collect of the Day for All Saints Day is also the beginning of the first petition of the Prayer of the Church in our funeral service.  This makes sense, because today we celebrate the holy ones of God who now rest from their labors, all the faithful Baptized Christians of every time and place whose souls are now with God, awaiting the Last Day.  Likewise, at a Christian’s funeral we celebrate God’s completion of another Baptism. 

     The Lord’s work of salvation, conceived in His mind before time for each of His elect, is announced publicly as a reality for a particular soul when he or she is baptized, washed with water and the Word of Christ.  Then the harder work begins, for the Baptismal life is a long battle, God fighting in and through us to bring us to the finish line in faith.  At a Christian funeral we celebrate not just the good days and fun times of this worldly life, but even more, in the midst of tears, we celebrate the perseverance that has resulted in eternal life, which God has won and delivered for our dear brother or sister. 

   This is the essence of that holy communion, the community of saints into which God knits us.  A mystery of divine grace and love joins Christians together with each other, through our connection to God through Christ.  This is the one true and everlasting life, found in Christ, and worked by God.  It is also our daily pursuit to reflect the truth of the Gospel that has saved us in our words and deeds. 

     Part of this mystical communion, this mystery of Christian life, is the double sense of both passively receiving, and vigorously doing.  As we sang, God is our rock, our fortress and might; Jesus is our Captain in the well-fought fight.  And yet, in Him, and by His presence in us, we too fight, faithful, true and bold, just as the saints nobly fought of old.    

     There are two examples of this double meaning in our reading from John’s first letter this morning, of our passive justification, God coming to us and declaring us righteous, not for anything we are or have done, but for the sake of Jesus alone, and also of our active efforts in sanctification, holy living, as we strive in our daily lives to be the saint whom God has made us to be. 

     John writes: See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.  Does John mean to focus on the high honor and calling of being a Christian, a child of God, of the responsibility of each Christian to live up to the Name that has been placed upon us?  Or does John mean to marvel at the wonder and mystery of God’s effective Word?  That is, what He desires to see and enjoy, the Lord calls into existence, and so, we are Christians because God’s call, through His proclaimed Word of Law and Gospel.  Which is it, a focus on our call to live up to our name, or a focus on God’s act of saving us, through His Word?  Well, it’s both, no?  Both are true, opposite sides of the same coin of saving faith. 

     John then finishes our passage this way:  And everyone who thus hopes in God purifies himself as God is pure.  Does the Apostle mean to say that the soul who hopes in God seeks to keep his or her life pure, free from sin and faithful to God?  Or, does John mean that by hoping in Christ crucified we are purified?  Again, both are true.  We are saved because God does 100% of the work of salvation, (justification by faith, that is, hoping firmly in Christ alone), and we are called to dedicate ourselves to living out the new identity He has given us in Jesus, (the sanctified life of good works and fleeing from sin.)  It’s both/and, not either/or. 

     Now, there is a priority, there is a Source, and an effect.  God’s work in and for us must come first.  Our ability to live as Christians always depends on the Holy Spirit working in us both to will and to do for His good pleasure.  We receive the gift of salvation, and the privilege to seek to live holy lives.  Sanctification always depends on justification, on the free gift.  As my propane furnace must stay connected to the tank to keep producing heat, so also the saints of God must stay connected to the Gospel, the Good News of free forgiveness, both in order to remain in the faith, and to produce the works of love God has prepared for us to walk in.  We receive the gift, and the privilege of living as God’s holy ones in this world.  God receives all the glory.   

4 Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia!

     One of the many blessings of the Reformation is the way that the close study of God’s Word enables us to clear up the terrible misunderstanding of what a saint is, a misunderstanding that was entrenched in the 16^th Century Church, and still plagues many Christians today. 

     Sinful human beings are always looking to puff themselves up, and put others down.  A saint in 1500 was understood to be a Christian who had done so many good works that he had elevated himself to a special, higher status. 

     In fact, saints, (and also implicitly monks and nuns praying away in the monasteries), were understood as so much superior to the average Christian that they produced a surplus of good works, a treasury of merits, which the Church, specifically the Pope, managed for God.  These merits won by super-Christians could be credited to mere run-of-the-mill believers, and maybe get them into heaven as well.  Eventually.  For a price. 

   There are many problems with this teaching.  First, it is not supported by the Bible.  God never said that.  Second, it is the most obvious perversions of the Gospel: instead of salvation being Christ’s work, which the Spirit graciously delivers to sinners through the preached Word, salvation is taught as explicitly depending on works done by mere humans.  Christ, the once for all Savior of Sinners, is robbed of the honor He is due.  Souls for whom Christ died are robbed of the comfort of free forgiveness and the promise of God’s eternal favor.  Even the privilege of Christian prayer, offered in the Holy Spirit, directly to God the Father, through Christ Jesus His Son, was taken from the people, as they were instead taught to pray to the Saints, especially to Mary, who would then carry their petitions to God, maybe.     

    From the Bible, Luther and his friends rediscovered a simple truth.  Saint simply means “holy one,” and sinners do not earn holiness by their feeble works.  No, God calls holy all who trust in His Son, who has won forgiveness for all sins.  Saints are believers in Christ, the faithful baptized, those who are invited to dine at Christ’s holy meal. 

     Now, to be sure, on All Saints Day we focus on the dearly departed saints.  We are celebrating the completion of their life of faith, of the fact they now rest in the nearer presence of Christ.  The reality is that you and I, believers who are still in this world, are also sadly still sinners.  This makes it natural not to focus on ourselves, but on the victors, on the dearly departed in heaven, whose souls are now free from sin.

     It is also natural and good to focus special attention on Biblical saints, and also on outstanding Christians through history.  That is, it is good and right to celebrate the forgiven souls through whom God worked great things, as He achieved our salvation.  Like St. Joseph and St. Mary, the guardian and the mother of the Christ Child, and Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, St. Paul, St. Peter.  God has taught us to study their lives, emulate their dependence on Jesus, and learn from their example.  Always in accordance with Scripture of course.  We don’t need to make up stories about what Biblical saints or any other Christian in history has done.  The true story, most especially the story recorded for us in the Bible, is better than all the saintly fables ever imagined.  And it is part of God’s Holy Word, His means for bringing us to faith, and keeping us there. 

     As God’s saints, we are called to live out the beatitudes, to be meek and humble, to make peace, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, even to suffer persecution for Jesus’ sake.  Clearly, we can only begin to do such things because God is with us.  Jesus has perfectly fulfilled this list of strange blessings; read it again thinking of Jesus and His life, and you will see.  So, when we are joined to Him, the Beatitudes begin to make sense in our lives.  We can be meek, humble, peaceful, we can endure suffering for Christ, because we know that we have already won the victory.  We know because Jesus our Captain has risen from the dead.     

     All those who trust in Christ crucified for the forgiveness of their sins are saints, holy ones of God.  That means you, dear baptized believer.  We feebly struggle, other saints in glory shine.  And yet in God, all are one, for all are His.  Alleluia, Alleluia, indeed. 

6 The golden evening brightens in the west; Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

7 But lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way. Alleluia! Alleluia!

8 From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, Singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost: Alleluia! Alleluia!