What Is Our Place in the Great Drama of Life? - Sermon for the Second Sunday in Advent

Second Sunday in Advent, December 8th, A+D 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
What Is Our Place in the Great Drama of Life?  - Luke 3:1 - 20

Audio of the sermon is available HERE. 

   In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene, during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John the son of Zechariah in the wilderness.

    It feels like we’ve witnessed something consequential these last few months.  I’m not actually convinced this is true.  But recent events do seem almost cinematic:  Like the end of the Lord of the Rings, we’ve witnessed the return of the king, or at least of the Donald.  After so much drama, indictments and convictions, assassination attempts and the defenestration of a presidential nominee, podcasts and pollster fails and pardons, we look forward to calmer days…  Well, probably not.    

    The whole world watches our politics, and that’s saying something, since there are no shortage of dumpster fires to attract the concern of our global neighbors.  Did you hear the president of South Korea briefly declared martial law last week?  The war in Ukraine slogs through its third year, unless you’re counting from 2014.  The Middle East is a tinderbox, which isn’t helpful when there are four or more conflicts kicking out sparks, in the north and the south of Israel, civil war in Syria, the Houthi’s attacking whoever they want from Yemen.  The French government has fallen, and China threatens Taiwan.  Important people are doing important things, all over the world. 

   And who are we?  What importance do our efforts have in the grand scheme of things?  We’ve been blessed with some new members over the last few years, (God be praised!).  And as the ears with the best listening post in the Nave, I can attest that your song to the Lord is consistently lovely.  But Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer are just a couple of small congregations in a thinly populated corner of flyover country.  Do we really matter?  Great things seem to be happening all the time, or at least our phones tell us it is so.  What is our place in the Great Drama of Life? 

   At least our obscurity is not so severe as John’s.  The Baptist was set aside by God, before his conception.  Big things were coming, through him; John was to prepare the way for the Messiah, the Christ, God’s anointed Savior.  How did John prepare for this important role?  What was his resume, as he embarked on his life’s work?  He was a strange ascetic recluse, living out by himself in the desert, dressed in clothing made of camel hair, eating locusts and wild honey.  Zechariah and Elizabeth must have been so proud.  

   Then the Word of God came to John.  It’s time.  Time to start preaching, time to start preparing the people for the coming of the Messiah.  So go, preach repentance from sin, that’s always a crowd pleaser.  Tell it like it is, which is to say, call them a brood of vipers, the offspring of snakes, children of Satan is the point.  Tell them to live rightly, but do it in a way that will especially offend the Jews.  First, insult the children of Abraham.  Bear fruit, live rightly, warns John, or God’s axe will chop you down.  And don’t think: 'We have Abraham as our father, so we’re good with God!” For I tell you, God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones.  Many interpreters think John’s words about the Lord raising up children of Abraham from the stones is a reference to the Gentiles, the nations of non-Jews, whom the children of Israel generally despised, and slurred as worthless as dead stones.  If this is the background, then John is hinting that souls whom many Jews thought unredeemable would become objects of divine love, to the shock of many. 

   Whether or not the crowds caught the reference, nobody likes being told their proud Abrahamic family heritage is worthless.  And John’s not done.  He goes on to tell everyone who has enough clothing and food to share with those who do not.  That’s pretty standard stuff, maybe not that frequently seen, but a normal divine expectation.  But then John tells two enemies of God’s people how to rightly do their assigned work, which was to subjugate the people, for the good of Rome. 

   Tax collectors came to John.  These were Jews hired by the Romans to work for the good of the emperor, Tiberius Caesar, squeezing revenue out of God’s people.  These were very unpopular folks.  But, John did not tell them to quit their jobs and find honest work.  He only told them not to over do it.  Only tax as much as Rome says you can tax, no more. 

   Soldiers, Roman warriors who occupied Israel and had the power to abuse the Jews, were not told to lay down their swords and desert from the Legion.  That is what the people would have preferred to hear.  But, no.  John tells them to keep doing their job, keep ruling over the Jews.  Just don’t abuse your power by extorting money from the people.    

   And John baptized them.  For all who came, confessing their sins and seeking God’s mercy, the Baptist washed away their sins in the muddy Jordan River. 

   Now, I think even Kamala’s campaign manager could tell you that John’s approach seems unlikely to succeed.  Most influencers try to build a following by telling the people what they want to hear.  But not John the Baptist.  And yet, John did attract quite a following, people bothered by their sinfulness and seeking something better.  John’s approach produced results, exactly the results that the Lord had promised in His Word.  For it is the Word that makes all the difference.  Whatever Tiberius or Herod or Pilate thought, whatever their plans were, the Word of God had come to John, and so his strange ministry flourished, in just the way that the Lord intended.       

   It’s quite an approach to ministry and life with God.  Preach God’s Word, especially including the unpopular parts.  Proclaim the coming of the Christ, the Savior.  Condemn sin, so that the people be led to confess their sins and seek to live differently.  Then set our minds on producing fruit that is in keeping with the repentance God’s Word has worked in our souls.  Look to share your bounty with those who have less.  And seek to live in your legitimate earthly vocations, whatever they may be, as a child of the heavenly Father. 

   The same Word of the Lord that came to John has also come to us.  John baptized, and we baptize.  Even more, we are the Baptized.  We have been baptized, and not only with water, as John did.  We have received Christ’s baptism, water combined with the Triune God’s Holy Name.  Baptism has now been transformed and empowered, because the Messiah passed through His baptism by fire on the Cross.   John’s baptism made people ready to receive the Savior.  Now, Christ’s baptism regenerates repentant sinners, giving them new birth as living stones in the new Temple of God.  Baptism has brought us into the New Testament Church, each forgiven sinner made a member of Christ, made truly alive and useful, by the Word of God, who took on flesh and came to John, to be baptized in the Jordan.   

   What God is doing in our midst is the most important thing in the world.  Roman emperors and American presidents come and go.  Campaigns and great political and social movements sweep across history.  But all these things, as important as they are for a time, are passing away.  What God is doing in our midst is the most important thing happening in the world, because the Word of the Lord endures forever.  Jesus’ sin-confronting and life-giving Word will never pass away. 

   Now, it is not that we are more important than any other faithful Christian congregation.  There is nothing particularly special about you and me.  In fact, I suspect we all have room to bear more fruit in keeping with repentance.  We all have more than enough, so we could all share more with others.  We could stop abusing others.  We do not wield taxation power or a sword to enforce the authority of Rome.  But we do sometimes wield sharp tongues that cut and injure.  As forgiven sinners, blessed by the Word of God, we should always use our words to bless, not to injure. 

   We are not more important than any other faithful Christian congregation.  But we are not less important, either, because the Word of the Lord has come to us, is heard among us, goes out from us.  The same Holy Spirit, who alone works true repentance and faith, is working in our midst.  Since He is at work in our midst, then our ministry is important, the most important thing there is.  Even though our churches may not look impressive from the outside, and even less if one looks inside at us, still, glory and power belong to the Christ of God.   And the Christ is with us, in our midst, as we the Baptized gather in His Name and around His Word and around His Meal.  What may seem routine to our eyes and foolish to the world is, in the eyes of God, the grandest activity in all the earth.  

   What is our place in the great Drama of Life?  Our place, our significance, is precisely the place and importance that God intends for us.  We may be small, but that doesn’t detract from what God is doing.  We all would like to see more souls gathered, and we should work to grow.  But we shouldn’t worry about the top-line numbers.  Remember that Jesus, having completed His three-year ministry on earth, still at the time of His Ascension only seems to have had about 120 followers.  Just 120 believers in the entire world.  But the Word of God was with them, so they were infinite, the root of a mighty tree of faith that continues to grow toward heaven today. 

    We shouldn’t worry about numbers, or the survival of institutions.  No, we should worry about souls.  We should worry about getting the Word of God into peoples’ ears.  Numbers will come and institutions will continue, as God provides.  But we have been given to worry about human souls, every one of which needs to hear of Jesus and His forgiving love.  Following the Lord’s lead, it is enough even to worry about just one person.  Like Jesus did with the woman at the well.  The Lord God Almighty, Savior of the world, for a good long while, focused His entire attention on one sinful woman.  We can dare to follow our Savior’s lead, and worry about just one soul, if that is who God puts in front of us.  And then, we can expect great things, because the Holy Spirit will do what He does. 

    One woman at the well, estranged from God, living in a foolish series of broken relationships, is brought to faith and used to draw others to Jesus.  Her whole village came out, to hear and believe the Word of the Lord, from the mouth of God’s Son.  We can check the details when we get to heaven, but it seems this narrowly focused effort by Jesus might have set up the subsequent mission of Philip the deacon, who some four or five years later was driven out of Jerusalem by violence, and so carried the Gospel to the Samaritans, some of whom had already heard Good News from the mouth of Jesus.   

 

   We have a calling as God’s living stones in this place, to extend His Word farther.  We do not have a guarantee that we will get to see the fruit of our efforts.  But, we do have a rock solid guarantee that Jesus desires for all people to hear His Word and be brought to repentance and faith.  And so we are free to pray for the mission, free to be bold, to speak God’s life-giving Truth into a dying world.  We are free to invite, to encourage, to share what we have been given, in our day to day lives.  And we are free, we are privileged, to gather together again, to receive the Word of the Lord, again, to bring Him our struggles and failures and concerns, and exchange them for His strength and mercy and forgiveness.  Jesus being present to serve His Body, the Church, is what makes all the difference for us, and for our neighbors, day by day, and forever.

    What is our place in the Drama of Life?  No matter what is happening in the great halls of power on this earth, our place is the place of undeserved blessing, today, and forever.  God’s desire to save has come to us.  Our sins, your sins, and my sins, are forgiven, washed away by the blood of the Lamb.  The Word of God is with us.  The Lord, who does not change, has committed Himself to you.  Therefore, O children of the New Israel, you are not consumed.  Safe in the love of God, you are free, strong, and beloved, in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.   

The Lord Has Need of It - Sermon for the First Sunday in Advent

First Sunday in Advent, December 1^st, A+D 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
The Lord Has Need of It – Luke 19:28 – 40

Audio of the Sermon is available HERE.

   I often wonder about the owner of the donkey.  All four Gospels describe this borrowing. Jesus sends two of His disciples to get a donkey, two donkeys, actually, according to St. Matthew, a colt, the foal of a donkey, and its mother.  Their task was to bear the rightful King, as He entered the holy city, to offer Himself in place of His people.    "Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. ³¹ If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say this: 'The Lord has need of it.' "

   So many questions come to mind:  Why?  Why did the Lord do this?  Who?  Who was the donkey’s owner?  Luke says ‘the owners’ plural, protested the commandeering.  Were the owners a husband and wife?  Was Jesus borrowing a well-to-do lady’s ride?  Maybe it was a father with his sons, merchants, or maybe burro-breeders?  Motion picture productions of the story of Jesus have some fun with such questions, filling in these types of details.  And that can be fine.  As long as nobody mistakes their creative license for the Truth, and assuming they don’t butcher the main point of the author’s message, filling in some details to engage folks in the story of Jesus can be helpful.  It could perhaps even be a thing that the Holy Spirit uses for His good purposes. 

   Which is an important point for us to take away from the line that Jesus gives the two disciples.  If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying [the donkey]?' you shall say this: 'The Lord has need of it.  The Creator of the Universe, the eternal Son of God, is about to launch the climactic acts of His great plan of salvation.  He is the protagonist.  Your rescue from the eternal suffering and condemnation you have earned with your sin is about to be accomplished, and it is entirely the work of God, a mysterious and awful exchange transacted between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  All this, done for you, by God.  Done for you, and for all your fellow sinners of the human race.  Salvation belongs to our God, and to the Lamb.  It is a Divine project; we do not add anything to it.  We can’t. 

   And yet, again and again, the Lord involves us in His great work.  Men and women and children are passive bystanders, observing and receiving the benefit of the divine drama of redemption.  But still, at the same time, mankind is not entirely out of the action, and not just in a negative sense.  To be sure, the great majority of the bit parts that people play in Jesus’ Passion are negative: betraying, abandoning, denying.  Falsely accusing.  Humiliating, torturing, crucifying. 

   But others, mostly unnamed extras, are honored to offer some useful things.  Going and getting the donkeys.  Loaning the donkeys.  Laying cloaks on the animals and on the road to honor the Son of David, the true King of Israel, coming to be raised up on His throne.  Shouting hosanna to God and to His King, riding into Jerusalem to redeem God’s people from their captivity.  The multitude’s song is a sacrifice of confession and praise that angers the Pharisees and leads to their decision: Jesus of Nazareth must die, as soon as possible. 

   None of these contributions by the friends and followers of Jesus had any redemptive power.  The owners of the donkeys were not saved by their willingness to let Jesus borrow their beasts.  But God used their offering, and all the other faith-inspired responses of service, praise and thanksgiving to the God-Man, Jesus, the Christ.  God used their things and their actions, their offerings and their voices, to tell the story, to move the plot along, to help us understand what Jesus did. 

   In the same way He worked through their actions and offerings on that first Palm Sunday, God continues to work in the lives of His people of every time and place, right down to this day.  The Lord honors faithful stewardship, cheerful offerings.  The Lord, to Whom belong the universe and everything in it, still rejoices to receive and praise and bless the very limited service, the imperfect gifts and praise and confession of His people.  And so we sing:

     “We give Thee but Thine own, whate’er the gift may be, All that we have is Thine alone, A trust, O Lord, from Thee.

      May we Thy bounties thus, As stewards true receive, And gladly, as Thou blessest us, To Thee our first-fruits give!

   It’s a little bonkers, depending on how you think about the opportunity for stewardship. It’s easy to fall into thinking our service and offerings are like bargaining chips with God, or that they are a requirement for our salvation.  But, this could never be.  Salvation is a free gift, given for Jesus’ sake, to all who believe, to all who trust in His forgiving sacrifice.  God, who loves to give, naturally loves a cheerful giver.  But He does not receive as a good work any giving that proceeds from a grudging or fearful or bargaining heart. 

   The call to give our time, talents and treasure to the Lord is even a bit mysterious.  From the perspective of true ownership, or if we should think about what God lacks, what He needs from us, which is nothing, well, then we kind of hit a wall.  God is so great, and we are so dependent on Him.  The whole idea of there being in our gifts some blessing or merit or reason for joy, on God’s part or ours, makes little sense.  As the Psalms teach us, the cattle of a thousand hills belong to God, and if He were to feel hunger, He would have no need to ask us to make Him dinner. 

   And yet, He does ask us.  The Lord God Almighty rejoices to receive what we have to give, however meager it may be.  Jesus accepted the humble service of friends and followers, who fed and financed and cared for Him.  He certainly could have cared for Himself, with ease.  But He chose to welcome the imperfect gifts of the people He loved.       

   It’s a bit like the mom who is a great cook, the queen of the kitchen, who nevertheless invites her little children to help make Thanksgiving dinner.  The stuffing or the pastry or whatever menu item she invites her kids to help with will not be, objectively speaking, as good as she could make on her own.  But in terms of relationship, the lumpy mashed potatoes that the 8-year-old makes for the family are the very best.  Gifts that, in earthly terms, are very imperfect, are in heavenly reality the best part of the family gathering. 

   Thanksgiving dinner is not going to happen if mom or dad aren’t truly driving the action.  But true joy, for parent and child, for all the family, is found in the imperfect but cheerfully given efforts of even the least of the gathered guests.  Involving everyone in the ways that are possible, even just setting the table with napkins and utensils, helps bind the family together. 

   God does something similar for all of us, with His call for our service, for our offerings, for our stewardship.  God honors us, by inviting us to serve Him.  We do not know whether Jesus set up the borrowing of the donkeys in an unreported conversation with their owners, or whether this borrowing was their first exposure to the Man from Nazareth. 

   Either way, what an honor!  We will have to wait for the new heavens and the new earth to find out exactly how it went down.  But what greater honor could forgiven sinners receive than to have Jesus ride their donkey into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday?   Or how many times did the little children who sang “Hosanna to the King”  re-tell that day to their children and grandchildren, as they passed on the faith around the family altar?

   If anyone asks you, 'Why are you untying it?' you shall say this: 'The Lord has need of it.' The Savior knows we struggle with giving.  We struggle with having.  There is a selfish, scared-to-lose-my-stuff streak in all of us.  You can tell me all day long that if I hang on to my things at all cost, I am not really the owner of my stuff.  If I can’t bear to let them go, then I am being owned by my things.  I might be able to quote this truth back to you on demand.  But that doesn’t mean that when the opportunity to share arises, selfishness and a fearful grasping don’t rise up in my heart. 

   A heart that gives cheerfully to God, a sharing spirit that looks for opportunities to help other people, this true Christian stewardship is a miracle.  And miracles only come from God.  And so, even as Jesus accepted the gift of the donkeys, the cloaks on the road, the song of the children, still, our Lord kept the main thing as the main thing.  You may have never before heard the Triumphal Entry Gospel used to preach about stewardship.  And that’s o.k., because it’s mostly not about stewardship.  What you and I do in response to and in service of the Gospel is never the Main Thing. 

   As interesting and important as stewardship is in the Christian Church, the main point of Jesus riding into Jerusalem is not the contributions of the followers of Jesus.  The main point is Jesus, and what He was doing, not just for His followers, but even for His enemies.  

   The Prophet Zechariah, some 550 years before, had predicted that the Messiah, God’s Anointed Savior, would ride the colt of a donkey into Jerusalem, signaling the beginning of His saving reign.  Lurking behind Zechariah’s words was another royal entry into Israel’s capital, 4-½  centuries earlier, when a dying King David faced an insurrection by one of his other sons, Adonijah, who had declared himself the new king of Israel. 

    When the plot was revealed to him, David, who intended to put his son Solomon on the throne, called for a procession.  He put Solomon on his own mule, and had him ride into Jerusalem.  The crowds hailed him as the true King of Israel, and Zadok the High Priest anointed Solomon the new king.  Royal family strife and intrigue would follow, but after a time of trial, Solomon, God’s man of peace, would consolidate control and rule in place of his father, King David.  (1^st Kings 1 – 2)

   On Palm Sunday, the true Prince of Peace made the final coronation ride into Jerusalem, fulfilling the unrealized promise of Solomon.  Solomon’s name means ‘man of peace,’ but, while his reign was impressive, it ended in strife.  Soon after Solomon’s death, civil war tore Israel apart.  Solomon’s peace could not endure.  Thank the Lord, Jesus is the true Man of Peace, not merely resolving petty conflicts between men, but rather making eternal peace between God and all mankind, by the blood of His Cross. 

   Indeed, as the followers of Jesus made Jerusalem ring with their praises, you might think they got the song wrong.  The angels announced the birth of Mary’s Son to the shepherds by declaring: Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth, peace, good will toward men.  But on Palm Sunday, the place of peace is lifted up: "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!"  There is peace in heaven, along with glory, because Jesus rode the donkey into Jerusalem.  The rebellion of humanity is ended, not by the destruction of the rebels, but by the sacrifice of the One Good Man, the true King of Israel.  Jesus swallowed the sinful insurrection of His own subjects, in His own body.  Jesus washed away the sin of the world and extinguished the flames of hell, with His holy and precious blood, and His innocent suffering death. 

   All the mighty works that His disciples had seen were brought to perfection in Christ’s final and greatest work.  Selfish, stingy hearts are made to love, filled with generosity, by the ever-surprising completion of Jesus’ story, the story of God loving the world to death, for eternal life. 

   Because of the sin that clings to our nature, anything we do that does not flow from true faith in Christ is still stained with sin.  Trust in the victory of Jesus is what gives value to our feeble efforts to love and serve God.  Faith in Jesus makes our stewardship a pleasing gift to the Father.  The honor of supporting the work of Christ with our time, talents and treasure, the privilege of serving Christ by serving people in need whom He brings into our lives, these are the fruit of faith, and the joy of God’s family, from the least to the greatest. 

    And so, we pray to the Holy Spirit to grant us a clear focus on the Father’s perfect gift to us, the life, death, resurrection and ascension of Jesus, for our forgiveness and salvation.  And from that greatest gift will flow the stewardship that makes the Lord happy,

in Jesus’ Name,  Amen.  

 

Am I Falling Away? - Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year

Last Sunday of the Church Year
November 24^th, Year of Our + Lord 2024
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Am I Falling Away?  Matthew 25:1-13

Audio of the Sermon available HERE 

   Am I falling away?  Will I be ready, when Jesus comes for me? 

    Like the first four stanzas of the hymn we just sang, the Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins can be uncomfortable for Christians to think about.  It poses a frightening question: Am I falling away?  I’m a member of a church.  I claim to be a Christian.  But am I foolishly drifting away from the salvation that Christ has won for me?  Much like another End Times parable, the Wheat and the Weeds, the Virgins raise the very real problem that not everyone who looks like they are a member of Christ’s Church is truly a member.  In the Wheat and the Weeds, an enemy sows weeds amongst the good seed.  The field is a mess, and the servants want to get rid of the weeds.  But the Owner declines to have His servants try to pull them out, lest the wheat be torn out too.  Instead, He instructs them to wait for the harvest, that is, the Last Day, when the wheat will be harvested and stored safely away, while the weeds will be burned. 

   With the Virgins, the situation is similar, but maybe even more difficult.  Outwardly, almost nothing distinguishes the Foolish from the Wise, except that the Wise brought flasks of oil to replenish their lamps.  But the are all together in the same group.  They all have oil lamps.  They are all waiting for the arrival of the Bridegroom.  And they all fall asleep.   

     The image on our bulletin is of the five wise virgins, alert, standing with their burning lamps in their hands, ready for the arrival of Christ.  One virgin looks directly at us.  She seems to be asking:  What about you?  Are you wise, or foolish?   

   Jesus and His Apostles, not to mention the Old Testament Prophets, teach a lot about the need for endurance in the faith, unto the End.  Jesus explains that the seed that falls on the rocks or among thorns are people who believe, but then for lack of root or because of the cares and pleasures of this world, fall away.  (Matt. 13)  Paul exhorts the Corinthians, and you:  I remind you brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.” And to the Ephesians he says, “take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.”  (Ephesians 5).  Finally, in Revelation Jesus declares: “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10)

   Because the question of Christian endurance is so important, and so worrisome, we are prone to bad reactions.  We might twist our understanding of Christ’s teaching into knots, trying to make sense of it in a way we can keep straight.  Other times we may be tempted to ignore it, to refuse to even think about it, as if that makes the problem go away. 

   Both reactions are foolish, and bad for our conscience day by day, robbing us of peace and joy.  They are also bad for the Church and her Mission to proclaim the Good News of Jesus to the world, to our family, friends and neighbors.  If we’re full of doubt, or apathy, about Christ and His promises, how will we ever share the Word of Christ with others?  Why would we invite someone to come and see Jesus, come hear His voice, unless we are confident He speaks Good News to us? 

   We should take a few minutes to deal with some of these questions, because the Lord doesn’t want us to be frightened of the End.  He wants us to rejoice and eagerly look forward to His return in glory.  For ourselves, for the sake of encouraging one another, and for confessing the faith to unbelievers, the Lord wants us to have a clear understanding of His salvation.   

   The problem is not that God is fickle, nor that His Word is unclear.  Jesus Christ is our salvation.  He is our righteousness, our holiness, our redemption, our all in all.  He is the Father’s primary gift to us sinners, that we might be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, in everlasting innocence, righteousness and blessedness.  Today, and forever and ever, Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life, for you. 

   We are the problem.  Our struggle to be confident about our salvation stems from the sin that still plagues us all.  We are prone to distraction.  Our reason and will and emotions are all still corrupted by our sinful condition.  And so, in too many ways to count in one sermon, we tend to misunderstand or reject or neglect God’s Word. 

   One of the mistaken ways Christians sometimes try to avoid the difficulty of endurance in the faith is to proclaim: “Once Saved Always Saved.”  This teaching tries to claim that  falling away is impossible, if you were truly saved.  But it does not solve the problem.  Rather, it simply moves the question of assurance to a different, mistaken arena. 

   “Once saved, always saved” teachers consistently put all their emphasis on the moment of conversion.  Then, and this is the critical error, they misrepresent how conversion works, putting the critical difference in your hands. 

   Jesus in John 15 teaches, “You did not choose me, I chose you.”  Again in chapter 6, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”  St. Paul unpacks this truth by declaring: “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, but God made you alive together in Christ; by grace you have been saved.” (Eph. 2)  God has done it all.  He saves us.  Wonderful good news for us sinners! 

   Sadly, “Once saved, Always Saved” teachers falsely and consistently say conversion finally depends on you, on the individual sinner.  They often say you must choose Jesus, to finish the deal.  Supposedly, they say, once you have made your decision for Jesus, or once you have made Him Lord of your life, or once you have done whatever they imagine you can and must do, then and only then are you saved.  After that, they say, nothing can change.  Once saved, always saved, they say. 

   The problem is, the Bible doesn’t teach “Once saved, always saved.”  And so, the individual’s conscience is not relieved, not for long, because it is not trusting the Word, but rather they are hoping in the work of a sinner.  All the doubt and worry get internalized:  “Did I really choose Christ?  Did I truly surrender my heart to Jesus?  Have I really done enough good to merit God’s forgiveness?”  The Devil licks his wicked lips, in anticipation of torturing that poor soul who has been taught to hope in his own work, his own choice, rather than trusting in the gracious, undeserved choice of God.    

   Now, there is a truth about your endurance in the faith, which “Once Saved, Always Saved” teachers are trying to draw upon, however badly they mess it up.  This is the truth of “election.”  It is true, those whom God chose from the foundation of the world will be saved. (Eph 1)  Last week we heard Jesus warn of “false Christs,” who would deceive, if it were possible, even the elect, the chosen of God.  (Matt. 24:24)  But this can’t happen, for God has promised to save every soul whom He has chosen, elected, before time began.  He will drag each of His elect across the finish line of eternal salvation, come what may.  Jesus teaches us of eternal election to comfort us, to strengthen our confidence.  His choice is sure.  Indeed, God chose you before He created time.  Nothing can snatch the elect out of the hand of the Father.  Nothing can snatch you out of the hands of Jesus. 

   But, we find ourselves asking, how do we know if we are elect?  What God meant as a comfort for believers, part of His Good News, our feeble souls want to turn into a question of the Law.  In our flesh, we cannot help but ask this question, because the mystery of God’s will, the mystery of His plan of salvation, is bigger and deeper and wider than our limited and fallen minds can grasp.  We simply cannot peer back before time and fully understand election.  But, thanks be to God, we do not have to.   

   God in His Bible teaches the good news of His election, but this is not where He points us for understanding how salvation works in the life of a sinner.  Election is good news, but it is not where we are to run when sin and doubt assail us.  Do not try to ponder unseen events in the mind of God before time began, because you cannot.  But God is not cruel, He does not leave us hanging.  No, in His wisdom and mercy, the Lord gives us things we can see and hear and taste, concrete events in our time and place, through which He delivers the forgiveness and salvation that He has won for us.  These visible Gospel sources are what we need, in order to endure. 

   This is the point of the Parable of the Virgins.  The burning lamps of the wise are what we need to endure, to be ready.  And how we keep our lamps burning is not a secret; it is not beyond our comprehension.  When the cry rings out, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him,’ and the foolish virgins have no oil, the wise know right where to send them.  I think the fools know too.  “We’re sorry,” say the wise, “we cannot give you our oil.  Go to the dealers and get oil for yourselves.” 

    Faith in Jesus Christ, trust in who He is, God’s eternal Son made man, and what He has done, winning forgiveness and eternal salvation for sinners through His death and resurrection, this message is what makes us ready for the Last Day.  The oil we need is the Word of Christ, the message of sin and grace.  We need God’s good law, which must convict us because we are sinners, and we need God’s marvelous Gospel, the Good News that Jesus has fulfilled the Law, paying the full debt of human sin, thus opening heaven to all who believe in Him.  This oil is the fuel the Holy Spirit uses to light the fire of faith. 

   “Once Saved, Always Saved” treats faith as a one time, check the box event, a get out of jail free card that qualifies us to enter God’s Kingdom.  This is shallow, and untrue.  God is the source of all life and being, and we were made to live by being connected to Him, showered by His blessings, each day, and forever and ever.   We are His favorites.  As hard as it is to believe when we see the sinful depths to which men, women and children can fall, nevertheless, we human beings are the crown of God’s creation.  The Lord wants to live in close communion with us, now, and always.  We were not created for independent, autonomous lives.  We were created to live with God, in His blessing and glory.    

   Sin, the sin of our first parents, and our own sin, shatters the connection, the communion, that God made us to enjoy with Him.  Sin twists our desire and understanding, making us think there is life and joy in perverse, evil things.  We are prone to pursue lies, false promises of fulfillment and pleasure in selfish, ungodly things.  These only end in sadness and death. 

   But, our relentless God is always coming to us with the only solution, the forgiving message of Jesus.  And we know where to go to get it.  We know who the dealers are.  I am your called and ordained public oil dealer, placed into the privileged vocation of selling God’s Gospel oil, for free.  As unworthy as I am, it is my particular calling and privilege to be a public oil dealer, to freely administer God’s Gospel, proclaimed out loud, and also joined to physical means.  The Spirit uses the preached Word, including when it is combined with Water in Holy Baptism, and with Bread and Wine in the Supper, to light and maintain the flame of faith.   

   Am I falling away?  From my perspective, because I am still a sinner, I am always in danger of falling away, always in need of God’s forgiving rescue.  When sinful pursuits lead us into shame, we need God’s oil.  When doubts attack us, as they do to every believer still struggling with sin, we are not taught to peer into the hidden things of God before time to be sure of our election.  Neither are we taught to cling to our own feeble declarations of loyalty to God.  No, we are pointed by Christ to the present realities of His Word, and His Sacraments, delivered daily, for you. 

   Whether we think of the last day of our physical life on this earth, or of the Last Day, when Jesus will return visibly and usher in the new heavens and the new earth, the Holy Spirit’s way of keeping us ready, alert, prepared for the End, is to provide the proclaimed Word of Christ, in and through His Church, day by day.  To be wise, then, is to fill the lamp of faith we have been given with God’s good oil, and to keep an extra flask filled and on hand, just in case.  It isn’t complicated.  It’s right in front of us.  Through these means, God makes and keeps us ready.

   And wait, there’s more.  In our daily lives, every Christian is given opportunity to give away the oil, to our children, to each other, to a neighbor struggling with their sin, who is prompted by the Holy Spirit to ask us what is the reason for the hope that we enjoy.      

 

 Powering earthly life takes energy.  Burning oil and other fuels, whether olive oil in the first century, or petroleum products and natural gas in the 21^st, has long been a primary source of light and heat.  Today, many say we should only get our energy from the sun, or the wind, or maybe the energy of water, pooled up to then fall over a turbine in a hydroelectric dam. 

   Others, including the current nominee to head the Department of Energy in 2025, promote an ‘all of the above’ strategy, calling for the development of solar, wind, nuclear and hydroelectric power.  And of course, to also drill, baby drill, for gas and oil. 

   I’m not an expert in energy policy.  But, I am struck by how God in His Word uses all of these earthly energy sources to teach us about lighting the flame of faith in the hearts of sinners.  The Bible talks about life with God like basking in the warmth of the rising sun.  Indeed, Jesus is the Light of the World, a shining the light of hope for people living in darkness.  Falling water, combined with God’s Word, is the washing of regeneration and renewal in the Holy Spirit.  Like the wind, the Spirit blows where He wills, delivering new birth to sinners, who otherwise are born to die.  The smoldering wick is precious to the Lord; He will not snuff it out.  Wise virgins have ample oil to light their lamps when the Bridegroom comes-a-calling.   

 

   And so, the wise in Christ will “drill baby drill.”  What I mean is, we have been given free access to the oil of life, the truth of Christ, the correction and guidance of His Law, and the sweet relief of the Gospel of forgiveness, won by the shed blood of Jesus.  Let us daily fill our flasks with God’s Good Word, that our lamps be always burning.  The more we drill into God’s Word, the more the Holy Spirit will shape and change us, will give purpose and peace to our daily lives, forgiveness for our sins, and forgiveness to share with others.  Through the oil of His Word, the Spirit will keep us ready for whenever Christ comes, to take us home to the Father. 

Let us pray:  Heavenly Father, we thank you for your plan of salvation, for the work of Your Son, for the gift of Your Spirit.  By Your Word, by our Baptisms, by Your Holy Supper, keep the flame of our faith burning brightly.  Work through all Your people, that with our light shining before the world, many would come to know You, and give You praise for delivering the oil of salvation to them, as well as to us.  We pray this through our Savior, Jesus Christ, Amen.