The Festival of All Saints – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Revelation 7:2-12
In Christ Jesus, through whom we are sealed with righteousness and salvation, so that we are prepared to join the great company of saints in His eternal kingdom, dear fellow redeemed:
You can tell a lot about people by looking at their eyes. You can tell if they are happy or sad, angry or frustrated, surprised or scared. Eyes can indicate if people are telling the truth or lying, or if they have personalities that are more extroverted or more introverted. Eyes can also reveal health problems like stress, sleeplessness, allergies, even liver issues. The expressiveness of eyes is why they are often referred to as “windows to the soul”—windows to the innermost parts of who we are. But of course, what our brains are thinking behind our eyes is far more complex than what our eyes reveal.
Today’s reading from the Book of Revelation talks about a “seal” on the foreheads of believers that only God and the angels can see. Imagine if that seal were also visible to our eyes. You would know who was a believer in Jesus and who wasn’t, not by what they say but by what you see. Maybe the forehead would glow somehow. And what if the forehead would be brighter when a Christian’s faith is strong and dimmer when a Christian’s faith is weak? I think we would all be more focused on the means that God has given to make faith stronger!
I’m sure we would also be surprised to learn who is truly a Christian and who is not. Some who we thought were Christians would be exposed as hypocrites, and some would be shown to have faith who we would not expect. How would you feel about having a very visible seal of God on your forehead for everyone around you to see? Would it make you more aware of the things you say and do? Are there times you would rather keep your faith more hidden, so that you could fit in easier in the world?
It is clear from our reading that although the seal of God is not visible to our eyes, it does set us apart from the world. The seal on our foreheads marks us as “servants of God.” Just as God chose His people Israel to be separate from the nations around them, He calls us to be separate as well. We are part of the 144,000 who are sealed “from every tribe of the sons of Israel.” This is a symbolic number, as the numbers generally are in the Book of Revelation. For example, seven is the number for perfection, and twelve is the number for completeness.
The number 144,000 is gotten by multiplying the twelve tribes of Israel with 12,000 from each tribe. This number expresses the completeness of God’s elect, the holy members of Christ’s Church. You might have heard that the Jehovah’s Witnesses teach something different about this. They teach that 144,000 is the literal number of people chosen by God to be in heaven. Jehovah’s Witnesses who are not part of that select group are told that they will not be in heaven in eternity, but they will reign on a new earth. To improve their chances of a higher status after this life, they are urged to be more active witnesses to their church’s teachings. It is a man-made, works-based religion.
But the sealing spoken of in Revelation is clearly not the work of man. A number of passages speak about how God seals us to protect us from the attacks of the devil. Jesus says that “God the Father has set his seal” on believers (Joh. 6:27). Through the work that Jesus accomplished, the Father “has anointed us” and “has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee” (2Co. 1:21,22).
The Holy Spirit works through the Word to bring about this sealing. St. Paul writes that “when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, [you] were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” (Eph. 1:13). And in another place, “God’s firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are his’” (2Ti. 2:19). You are sealed by the Holy Spirit with the righteousness of Jesus that He worked for you (Rom. 4:11). You are sealed with the forgiveness He obtained for you on the cross. You are sealed in faith as you eagerly wait “for the day of redemption” (Eph. 4:30).
God first applied this seal to many of you at your Baptism when you were called “out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1Pe. 1:29). At your Baptism, water was applied to your forehead, and the sign of the cross was made over your head and over your heart. The opening hymn referred to Baptism when we sang, “Each newborn soldier”—born again by water and the Word—“Each newborn soldier of the Crucified / Bears on his brow the seal of Him who died” (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #194, v. 2).
Thinking about this connection to Baptism, could it be that the seal of God on our foreheads is in the shape of a cross? Two passages in Revelation speak about the seal in a different way. In chapters 14 and 22, what the 144,000 are said to have written on their foreheads is the name of the Lamb and the Father’s name (14:1, 22:4).
Through Baptism, God claimed you as His own. He put His name on you, sealed it to you, so that you are identified both as His child and His heir. You might have doubts about yourself, such as how strong your faith is or how God could love a sinner like you. But God says that nothing has changed from His view. The commitment He made to you when He brought you to faith still stands.
It was no mistake that He set His seal on you. He wants to keep you in the faith until He brings you to the great celebration of heaven. This is why He continues to send the Holy Spirit through the Word and Sacraments to strengthen you. As the Holy Spirit works through the Word, we are reminded again who we are. Yes, we are sinners who continue to struggle and break God’s Commandments. For that, we repent, and we need to keep repenting. But the Holy Spirit also assures us that we are saints, sealed with righteousness, forgiveness, and life.
We did nothing to earn this; Jesus earned it for us. This is what the great uncountable multitude in heaven cries out in thanksgiving and praise: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” The saints in heaven give glory where glory is due, and we do the same here on earth. In our liturgy, we join the angels in their Christmas song, “Glory be to God in the highest / And on earth peace, good will toward men” (ELH p. 44). We join them later in the service in their heavenly song of praise, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; / Heav’n and earth are full of Your glory” (ELH pp. 51-52).
That is the beauty of the historic liturgy. It recounts God’s gifts and teaches us how to give thanks for them. It joins our voices spiritually with the saints and angels around God’s throne, even while this fellowship is hidden from our eyes. And it prepares us to join the heavenly liturgy with the saints, angels, elders, and living creatures around the throne of God.
As you sing the liturgy and hymns in our worship here in church, you might sometimes think about where members used to sit whose souls are now in heaven. Today we especially think of Nadine, Swede, and Derwin from Redeemer and Don from Jerico who were called out of this life within the last year. Those of you who are older have seen many saints of our congregations go on ahead of you. Perhaps you think more and more about how you will join them soon, and what it will be like when you do.
Today’s reading gives us a glimpse of what is coming. The elect who were sealed by the Holy Spirit in this life through Word and Sacrament now enjoy the bliss of heaven. They stand “before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” Their focus, the object of all their love and praise, is the Triune God. They are glad to be with their fellow saints, but their attention is on God.
They are clothed in white robes. An angel explained to John what made their robes so white: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 7:14). In heaven, we won’t remember any sins, not the ones we have done or the ones others have done to us. We won’t remember any of the things that caused us grief or pain. Jesus’ blood washes all that away. We will stand in the presence of the holy God, and we will be holy. By faith, we are holy now—we are saints now—but the glory is hidden from our eyes. In heaven, we will be perfect saints in body and soul.
This is what you have to look forward to. This is what you are sealed for. You Are Sealed for Eternal Salvation. This is not something to try to hide, so that you can fit in better with the world. Both the troubles and the triumphs of this life are short-lived. Your merciful Lord has something much better and more glorious planned for you. He had it planned for you before you were even born. In fact, He chose you in Christ “before the foundation of the world, that [you] should be holy and blameless before him” (Eph. 1:4).
This is how we stand by faith in Him, and this is how we will stand before Him in heaven. As St. John writes: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure” (1Jo. 3:2-3)—saints forevermore.
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”
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(picture from “Seventh Seal and 144,000 Sealed” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)
St. Barnabas, Apostle – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3
In Christ Jesus, whose name is above every name, who shares His saving name with us, and who guides and protects us as members of His holy family, dear fellow redeemed:
On Pentecost Sunday, three thousand Jews heard the preaching of the apostles and were baptized. As the apostles continued boldly to proclaim the truth about Jesus, that number grew to five thousand souls. It was a time of beautiful peace and unity. These new Christians shared what they had with one another. Some of them even sold their land and brought the proceeds to the apostles to distribute to the needy.
One of them in particular is mentioned in the fourth chapter of Acts, a man named Joseph. We are told that he “sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet” (Act. 4:37). This man was a Levite descended from the line of priests, and he was a native of the island of Cyprus in the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea. He was known for more than his generosity. We learn this by the name the apostles gave him, the name “Barnabas (which means son of encouragement)” (v. 36).
Barnabas was an encourager, a consoler. He was a tremendous supporter of the apostles and a dedicated worker in the church. In today’s reading, he is described in glowing terms as “a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.” Barnabas was the one who brought Saul to meet the apostles after Saul was converted. Everyone was afraid of Saul, since he had severely persecuted the church. But Barnabas encouraged them to welcome him, and testified to them about Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus, and how ‘he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus” (9:27).
We can see how highly Barnabas was regarded by the fact that the apostles sent him to Antioch after the Gospel had taken root there. When Barnabas “came and saw the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all—encouraged them all—to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” The people liked Barnabas. They respected him. Maybe you have a relative like that—someone who was always supportive, or a teacher who motivated you to work harder, or a coach who inspired you to give your best.
You especially appreciate the people who gave you good encouragement along the way. But not all encouragement is good encouragement. The people who encourage you to put yourself first, who encourage you to ignore your conscience, who encourage you to join them in doing what is wrong—these people are giving bad encouragement, bad guidance.
But it isn’t always easy to recognize what encouragement is good and what is bad. Bad encouragement conflicts with the Word of God, but it agrees with our sinful inclinations, our sinful nature. We like hearing the encouragement to do whatever our passions and desires lead us to do. We like hearing the encouragement to follow our own heart, focus on our own plans, and determine our own future.
The encouragement to follow God’s Word, focus on His plan for us, and trust Him to guide us into the future—even if it isn’t the plan and future we wanted—this encouragement is not always welcome. I know as a pastor, I have often thought how much easier it would be if I just encouraged the people I serve to do whatever seems best to them. I wouldn’t have to challenge anyone to change the way they are thinking or to repent of the wrongs they have done. I could just “go with the flow,” and say, “I’m just here to support you being you!”
That would be easier. You know how much easier it is to be the parent or grandparent who says “yes” all the time, instead of being the parent or grandparent who says “no.” But what would the world be like without any “no”?
Barnabas was not just an encourager. He was an encourager of what is good. He encouraged the Christians in Antioch “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose,” to love the Lord their God with all their heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luk. 10:27) and to cling to His saving Word of grace. He encouraged them in this way because “he was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.”
This good encouragement to remain with the Lord in faith comes from the Holy Spirit. It is the encouragement you receive whenever you hear the Word of God. Those who stop listening to the Word of God open their ears to other things. That’s when bad encouragement starts to sound reasonable, and right is exchanged for wrong. Then ears will no longer hear the good encouragement, and God’s truth sounds strange and even offensive.
The very things that God warns us away from because they cause injury and pain, are the things the world tells us to celebrate and take pride in. And if we challenge those things out of love for our neighbor’s soul, we are accused of being hateful and bigoted. That is discouraging. It is easy to feel discouraged when you know that what you believe and confess is right, but so many around you say it is wrong.
That’s why you and I need the continued encouragement of the Holy Spirit. The name “Barnabas” means “son of encouragement,” and the Greek word for “encouragement” sounds like para’klesis. Jesus used a very similar word to describe the work of the Holy Spirit. He called the Holy Spirit the para’kletos, which means the Helper/ Counselor/ Encourager (Joh. 15:26). The Holy Spirit encourages you by taking what belongs to Jesus Christ and declaring it to you (Joh. 16:14-15).
Today’s reading tells us something very interesting about the disciples in Antioch. It says that because of the teaching of Barnabas and Saul, “the disciples were first called Christians.” What were they called before? When Saul went on his rampage against the Church, he was looking to arrest anyone who belonged to “the Way” (Act. 9:2). That was how believers identified themselves, probably based on Jesus words, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (Joh. 14:6).
Now they became known as “Christians”—followers of Christ, those who were baptized into His death and resurrection, who listened to His Word of truth, who partook of the holy food and drink of His body and blood. By the powerful work of the Holy Spirit through the Word, you also are one of those Christians.
You are baptized into Christ, clothed in His righteousness. You are cleansed of all your sins by His holy blood. You are an heir of eternal life by faith in Him. You are a holy one, a saint, one who is set apart by the grace of God. There is nothing more encouraging than to know that your Savior smiles upon you. He forgives you all your sins. He is present through His Word and Sacraments to strengthen you and guide you. He fights for you against the powers of darkness and the temptations of this fallen world. He calls you by His name, which means your future is tied to His future. What an honor to be called a Christian!
But it is not an honor in the world, and it is getting more and more unpopular to be called by the name of Christ. When Barnabas and Saul went on their missionary journey, preaching the good news of Jesus’ saving work, they faced constant opposition and persecution. They wanted to share the greatest, most encouraging message there is, and many did not want to hear anything about it.
Jesus had warned His disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mat. 16:24). He told them that they would have to suffer for His name. He did not say this to discourage them, but to prepare them. He was encouraging them to stay the course and keep their eyes on the finish line. Again He said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you…. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me” (Joh. 15:18,21).
We Need Good Encouragement, the encouragement of God’s Word of grace. We need to be reminded that all the things of this world will pass away, but the everlasting treasures stored up for us by God will never pass away. Kingdoms rise and fall, rulers come and go. Christian congregations in various locations flourish and diminish, pastors and church leaders come and go, “but the word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).
The Holy Spirit called Barnabas to preach and toil and suffer in the name of Christ and then called him to his eternal rest. Tradition indicates that he died a martyr’s death by being stoned in his home country of Cyprus. But through his work, many were encouraged by him, and we still find encouragement from his life of faithfulness. He did not trust in his own work, his own abilities. He trusted in his Savior Jesus. He found his encouragement and strength through the unchanging promises of Christ.
This encouragement he shared with others is the encouragement we share with one another, the encouragement “to remain faithful to the Lord with steadfast purpose.” We do not face the challenges, temptations, and persecutions of the world alone. We face them together in the body of Christ, over which He reigns as our Head.
These persecutions can also be a source of encouragement, because they show we are not of the world; we are of Christ. The apostle Peter writes, “If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you,” and “if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name” (1Pe. 4:14,16).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture of “Barnabas curing the sick” by Paolo Veronese, c. 1566)
St. Joseph, Guardian of Jesus – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 13:54-58
In Christ Jesus, whose coming was prophesied for thousands of years, but whose arrival still caught everyone by surprise, dear fellow redeemed:
Sometimes we wonder how our life would be different if we had chosen a different path. What if we had taken risks instead of playing it safe, or the other way around? What if we had followed the advice of this person instead of that person, turned right instead of left? Maybe we would have been more successful, more respected, more happy. Maybe we could have reached our full potential. Maybe we would feel today like we had really done something significant. Unsettling thoughts, and we’ve all had them at one point or another.
There is encouragement for us in the example of St. Joseph. Joseph was a descendant of the great King David, but it had been hundreds of years since a member of the family had occupied the throne. Joseph lived a ways north of the capital, up in the territory of Galilee in the town of Nazareth. We get a sense of the town when Philip told Nathanael about “Jesus of Nazareth,” and Nathanael asked, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” (Joh. 1:46).
Today’s reading tells us that Joseph was a carpenter of some sort, working his trade in the community, working with his hands. He was neither wealthy nor well-known—not a person expected to make an impact on history. But God had other plans for him. He brought a faithful woman into his life—Mary—and they made plans to be married. They were “betrothed” to each other, which was a legally binding arrangement that came before the public marriage ceremony. Until the public ceremony, they stayed in separate homes and did not share a bed.
Then the shocker! Mary informed Joseph that she was pregnant. He obviously was not the father, and Mary’s story about a visit from an angel, and the Holy Spirit conceiving a holy Child in her womb, was difficult to accept. The evangelist Matthew writes that “Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly” (1:19). That tells you a lot about Joseph. Even in his heartbroken state, he did not want to make an example out of Mary or bring the Law down on her. He resolved to move on and go back to his work.
But before he took that step, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and verified Mary’s story. He referred to Joseph by his royal lineage, showing that God was laying out this path for Joseph. The angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins” (1:20-21). Joseph listened. He set aside his reason. He ignored any doubts. He trusted the Word of God. He married Mary, and when her Son was born, he called His name “Jesus,” which means, “the LORD is salvation” (1:25).
We hear only a little more about Joseph. He had Jesus circumcised at eight days old and then brought Him to the temple at forty days old to present Him there as the Law of God required (Luk. 2:21-22). He rushed Jesus and Mary to safety in Egypt when King Herod wanted the Child dead (Mat. 2:13-15). He moved the family back to Nazareth after some time had passed (Mat. 2:19-23). And each year after that, he brought his family to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover (Luk. 2:41). All of these things show Joseph’s character. He was a man of faith committed both to the Word of God and to his family.
Jesus learned from him, which is surprising to think about. The evangelist Luke writes that as a youth, “Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature” (Luk. 2:52). In His state of humiliation, Jesus did not make full use of His divine power. He was able to learn and mature. And Joseph was right there to model a life of faithful adherence to the Scriptures and faithful attendance at the synagogue each week—a good model for Christian fathers today. He also taught Jesus how to build with His hands—a carpenter just like him (Mar. 6:3).
What we learn in today’s Gospel reading is that the people of Nazareth couldn’t get past the image of little Jesus working with quiet Joseph. They had heard about the miracles Jesus had done in the surrounding territory, and now they were listening to Him teach with authority in the synagogue. But instead of seeing Him in a different light and opening their ears to Him, they closed their minds. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?” they wondered. They thought about His humble parents and their simple way of life. “What makes Jesus think He can teach us? Does He think He’s something special?”
They were wrong, of course. But we’ve been wrong like that too, judging people by our perception of them instead of by what they actually are. This is especially tempting in small communities like ours. We can judge people by the way we thought about them in elementary school or junior high. Or we can put them in certain categories and tell ourselves that they are all the same as before, and they aren’t worth our time.
But God tells us to love our neighbors, no matter how far back our history with them goes, or what we have perceived them to be. There is always a chance that we have gotten them wrong. There is always a chance that they have grown just as we’d like to think we have. Clearly the people of Nazareth got Jesus wrong. They had gotten His parents wrong too. Joseph was not just a carpenter; he was the legal guardian of the Christ-Child, whose coming had been prophesied for thousands of years. And Mary was not just a mother; she was the bearer of the Son of God, who came to destroy the work of the devil by His innocent suffering and death.
Neither Mary nor Joseph had chosen this for themselves. God chose them for these things. Who would ever feel qualified to raise the Christ-Child? They must have felt like failures, and not only when they lost track of the twelve-year-old Jesus in Jerusalem. They knew that the best they could do was not good enough. But they still carried out their calling from God. They trusted that since He had chosen this for them, He would bless their efforts—imperfect though they were.
This is your encouragement as you carry out your callings from God. Looking back on your life, you may feel that your life has been one long string of bad choices, failures, and missed opportunities. But that isn’t how God sees it at all. He sees you as His dear child, washed clean by the blood of Jesus and covered in His righteousness. He sees your light of faith shining in your home, your workplace, and your community. He sees you surrounded by neighbors who need your love and service—a life full of purpose.
It is the devil who wants to discourage you and make you discontent. He wants you to question if you married the right the person, if you can really give your children what they need, if your job is right for you, or if anyone actually cares about you. He wants you to think that maybe everything would get better if you just walked away, if you just started over. Then you could do what you were meant to do. Then you could reach your full potential.
But while giving way to selfishness may feel like a sort of freedom, it will only drive you more deeply into sin and its darkness. You are not here to serve yourself. You are here to serve the Lord by serving the people He has placed in your life. Jesus told His disciples, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit” (Joh. 15:16). It is the Lord who has planned the good that you would do. He is the one who has set the course for your life.
You haven’t missed out on some higher purpose, some greater thing you were supposed to do, by being where you are today. The Lord has big plans for you and important work for you to do right where you are. You are no failure to Him. God sent His Son to prove the value of your life by giving His perfect life for yours. He cleansed you of your sin and sanctified your life for His work at your Baptism. And He invites you continuously to feast on Him, the Bread of Life—to receive again and again His forgiveness and to be strengthened for your callings by His grace.
Joseph and Mary needed this too. Even while they were raising and providing for Jesus, He was living a perfect life on their behalf. He was keeping the holy commands of God for them and all people, and He would keep these commands all the way to His death on the cross to pay for sin—for His parents’ sins and for yours. His cross is where you take your selfish behavior, your discontentment about your station in life, your thoughts about leaving it all behind. You confess these sins to your merciful Lord, and He declares you forgiven, washed clean by His holy blood.
He chose you for the work you do for the neighbors around you, starting with the neighbors in your own home. Like Joseph, you will not carry out these callings perfectly. But your worth, your success, and your salvation do not depend on how perfect you are. They depend on how perfect your Savior is, and the work He perfectly completed to save you.
What He has done frees you to give with generosity and serve with gladness. Because the work the Lord has given you to do for others is His work. And if it comes from Him, then it is a gift, a gift for which He deserves all the glory.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “The Holy Family with a Little Bird” by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, c. 1650)
Festival of All Saints (Trinity 24) – Vicar Cody Anderson sermon
Text: St. Matthew 9:18-26
In Christ Jesus, who with touch and His Words can bring people back to life, who rose from the dead destroying death, and with a great shout on the last day will raise your bodies from the grave, dear fellow redeemed:
The funeral has been set. The casket has been walked into the church by the pallbearers. It is shut and sitting long ways across the front of the church. I don’t even have to ask you to imagine this scenario because everyone has probably witnessed this exact scene. Funeral’s make people uncomfortable and that is understandable because death, is not natural. With the Fall into sin, this became the outcome. The LORD told Adam and by association all of Adam’s descendants, “By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:19) There it is as plain as day in Genesis from God. He gave us breath and he can and will take it away. The question is how do we face what is to come of this? What can we do when our casket is the next one in front of the church?
The Holy Gospel for today shows us the comfort that we have when we are facing death. Matthew dives right into specifics, the synagogue ruler’s daughter is dead. He has faith that Jesus can heal her, that she will live. We don’t know what happened to this girl. She could have been sick; she could have been injured in an accident or had a sudden health crisis. What we do know is that the gospel records that her health turned to the point that she was dying and that she died. Her time of grace was up. On their way to synagogue ruler’s home, a woman who has suffered for twelve years with chronic bleeding has faith that Jesus can heal her. The other gospels record how she had gone to doctors and suffered under them, trying to find a cure. She had run out of options and she knew in her heart that there was only one option left. Now her disease is chronic. If she isn’t healed this bleeding condition will stay with her until she dies.
The girl and the woman have the same problem happening to them. Problems in this life can arise that hurt the body, in the woman’s case, the bleeding that she had would have stayed with her. We have many illnesses and various types of cancers that we face. The doctors will do all that they can, but it can be hard to hear the words that there are so many months left. The girl experienced the problem that will happen to all earthly bodies. A sickness or aging, or even a perfectly healthy body can and will die. There is no getting around it. Unless the end of the world comes now, our fate will be a casket in front of the church that all of your loved ones will see. A fate that we do deserve. As Jesus provides assurances, he shows that the world mocks the assurance that he brings.
He told the mourners that the girl was only sleeping. He brings out comfort, but the world doesn’t see it that way. How can death be a sleep? It most certainly doesn’t look like a sleep. You have been to funerals; you have seen the lifeless body lay in the casket. It’s sometimes hard to disagree with the world when they say that’s all we get for an ending from this world. A lifeless body in a box, dead in utter darkness never to wake up again.
In the woman and the girl, we see the physical outcome of sin and we see the spiritual outcome. We can have our physical ailments that can stick to our bodies, our sins stick to our bodies as well. It’s not the harshest of sins that sticks to us. It is every single sin that we have committed. All of them, every bad thought, word and deed against God. They cover us and we cling to them, then God tells us what happens to us because of our sins. It is stated clearly in in the first half of Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sins is death!” There is only one outcome for us when we stay in them and let them cover us. Our sins put us at God’s wrath. We have done what is wrong and because of our sins, we deserve the most severe punishment. The world has a hard time dealing with death, the world wants to live forever. It does its best. Many medicines, hygiene products, lifestyles, etcetera. The world has come up with many things to try and beat death. Our text for today shows us that death isn’t looking for a ripe old age. The other gospel writers record the girl was 12. The wages of sins is death.
We know how hard death can be. Our text shows us. What it boils down to is that we deem death as being unfair. Why did that little girl die, that’s not fair? Why did my mother or father die, that’s not fair? Why did my brother, or sister die, that’s not fair? We easily find ourselves saying this. Usually when we say this then we come back at God and say, “You’re not being fair God. Why do you get to determine who lives and dies? Why do you get to decide when my child, when my mother, my father’s time of grace is over? As we try to tell God what to do because of what we think, God comes back and tells us how just and fair he is. He asks you and I, is it fair that you have broken my laws and commands? Is it fair that you have done what I have commanded you not to do? What punishment should be handed down for your sins? This was the command since the beginning of the world. The wages of sins is death.
Verse 25 reads, “But when the crowd had been put outside, he went in and took her by the hand, and the girl arose.” Jesus is the conqueror of sin and death! Jesus tells us exactly who he is, that He is true God. The woman had faith that if she even just touched His cloak, she would be cured. Jesus tells her it is her faith that made her well. The faith that she had in him. This wasn’t a superstitious thought. This was putting all hope on something outside of herself. She put her weight on His shoulders. Just as Jesus takes the woman’s disease away from her, he takes our sins away from us. Romans 6:23 Fully reads, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”. Nothing that we could earn. Only Jesus could live a perfect life—a perfect life lived for us. Then Jesus conquered our death.
He showed His power over death by going into the house where the girl had died. Jesus steps into the presence of death and shows that death is just a sleep. He ignored the mourners. He ignored the reports that she was truly gone. Jesus took the dead little girl by the hand and she came back to life. Death is conquered by Christ who with his Word can bring anyone back to life. We see how he is the master over death. He faced death for us. He took our punishment. After Jesus died on the cross, he rose three days later! Death is just a sleep. Where oh death is your victory? Where oh death is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:55) Jesus raised the girl with His Word so he will also raise us too with His Word. Because of Jesus resurrection we know that our death is only a sleep, we will rise from our sleep when our Savior calls us out of the grave by the power of His Word.
Jesus calls us to trust in Him like the woman and the synagogue ruler did. They did not get what they asked for because of some power in them, but because they knew they could not make their situation better. Only Jesus could. Faith always looks to Jesus. Jesus does not waver, but faith can. The trials of this life can cause our faith to dwindle. Just looking at our Scriptural account and there is no way that I could hold it together, to hear that my little daughter has died. The faith that we have is a passive faith not of ourselves but a faith that is found in Jesus alone. We receive this gift from Christ as it all works in one motion. The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts, that we put solely in our Savior because He has never lied to us. Jesus has told us that he has conquered death. He tells us that he will raise you from your sleep.
For believers, Jesus tells us that death is only sleeping. As sad as it is when we see a casket of our loved ones whom God has called home, what comfort we have because of our Savior Jesus Christ. He said, “Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” (v24) We do not need to fear what is to come like the world does. The world sees death as final. They are worried about what they think is unknown. They can have that sadness lead them into despair. It can be hard to live with no hope in what is to come. Therefore, we celebrate All Saints Day and it brings comfort to believers! Jesus teaches how death is only a sleep because of what he has done. Jesus has destroyed death and because of this the bodies of the saints are only sleeping as our souls are in heaven. Death has no hold on us. It is a peaceful sleep. Just as Jesus raised the girl by taking her hand and telling her to rise, He will tell us to rise with a shout on the last day. This glorious shout will raise all the dead, just as Christ raised himself from the grave. We will be with Christ in paradise.
The fear of the casket has been overcome and it wasn’t by our doing. Death tries to crush us. Death wants us to fall into despair because of the sins that we have committed. Death is the law laid out in front of you. It stares you down because this is the wages for your sins. Again, death has been overcome. Jesus has destroyed death. The world will laugh at us. We know that it is only a sleep. Death cannot hurt us.
Unless Christ comes bringing the last day with him, we will eventually find our bodies lying in the casket. We will continue to see our loved ones in them. We know that they are sleeping. We know that this is not the end. Our sins do not hold us down in the grave. Death has no sting. Christ has put an end to death. In the third article we confess our faith knowing that our bodies will rise. We have comfort as we confess, “I believe… in the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come.” This means that when Jesus comes with a shout on the last day, the Holy Spirit “will raise up me and all the dead, and will grant me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.” (3rd Article Meaning) Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from painting by Gabriel von Max, 1878)
St. James of Jerusalem, Brother of Our Lord – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: James 1:1-12
In Christ Jesus, the Savior of both those who were near to Him such as His relatives and those who were far away such as you and me, dear fellow redeemed:
Imagine growing up in the town of Nazareth at the same time as Jesus, maybe even living next door to Him, both of you about the same age. What would you think of Him? Would you admire Him for His honesty, for being so kind to others, for His respectfulness toward His parents and superiors? Or would you tease Him and criticize Him for always doing the right thing? “Oh, You think You’re so good, Jesus, so much better than the rest of us! Why don’t You loosen up? Live a little?”
We don’t know what these years were like except for the account of Jesus staying behind at the temple when He was twelve. Other than that, we have this summary statement from the evangelist Luke, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man” (2:52).
One person who knew what it was like to live near Jesus was James, whom we remember today. James is referred to as a brother of Jesus, as were Joseph, Judas, and Simon—different people than the apostles (Mar. 6:3). We don’t know that these sons were born from the union of Joseph and Mary. In fact, the church has a long tradition of regarding Jesus as the only biological child of Mary. It is suggested that these “brothers” of Jesus could have been sons from Joseph and a previous wife who had died. Or they could have been close relatives who had joined the household or lived nearby.
Whatever James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon thought about Jesus in their younger years, we know that they did not believe He was the promised Messiah. After Jesus began teaching and performing miracles, and crowds started to gather around Him, His family did not like it. “He is out of his mind!” they said, and they tried to get Him away from the crowds (Mar. 3:21). When they couldn’t get Him to stop, they eventually seemed to grow tired of what looked to them like an act. The evangelist John reports that “not even his brothers believed in him” (7:5).
It is possible that their doubts remained all the way through Jesus’ earthly ministry. We are not told that they traveled with Him to Jerusalem when He entered the city on Palm Sunday. They were not in the upper room where Jesus instituted His Supper. And only Mary is mentioned as standing at the cross when Jesus gave her to the care of His disciple John—not to the care of the brothers James, Joseph, Judas, or Simon.
So why are we taking time today to talk about James? We are talking about James because of what happened after Jesus died and rose again. Paul writes that after His resurrection on the third day, Jesus “appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James” (1Co. 15:5-7). That made a believer out of James! Just as the eleven disciples did, now James understood how wrong he had been. He thought he had seen everything clearly, but he was totally blind. He did not see who Jesus was until then.
Jesus’ resurrection changed everything. After His ascension forty days later, we are told that Mary, James, and his brothers now devoted themselves to prayer with the apostles (Act. 1:14). Fast forward still more, and we find James as the recognized Christian leader in Jerusalem. Paul visited with him before setting off on his missionary journeys (Gal. 1:19). Peter acknowledged him as a leader in the church (Act. 12:17). And when a dispute arose about whether Gentiles should have to follow the Old Testament laws, James had the final say as we heard in today’s first lesson (Act. 15:12-22).
We see how much James’ view of Jesus had changed by the time he wrote his epistle. His opening words were, “James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ.” He didn’t really know Jesus before as they grew up together, but now he knew. Jesus was the Christ, the anointed One, the Son of God. Jesus was his Lord and his Savior. James was just a humble servant in Christ’s church.
When James wrote in his epistle about faith, he must have thought about the way he had doubted Jesus years before. James thought his own thinking was so wise. He thought Jesus was so misguided. He learned that it was exactly the opposite. He saw how merciful God had been toward him, how the Holy Spirit had worked faith in his heart, so that he now understood who Jesus was. Now he knew that his former plans and pursuits were all empty. Now he knew that there was no better service to enter into than the Lord’s service.
That doesn’t mean James’ life was easy. Being the leader in Jerusalem was very difficult since the Christian Church continued to face persecution there. As James wrote to the Christians who had been scattered from there throughout Asia and Europe, he said, “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”
A faith never tested would remain a weak faith. Your faith is being tested all the time as you live in this fallen world that is under the spell of the devil. But if your faith is not regularly fed and strengthened through God’s Word and Sacraments, you will not notice the conflict between your faith and the world, or you will notice it less and less.
It is common for Christians who no longer go to church to say, “I have faith; I don’t need the church.” But there are some things that should be true of a person who has faith. That person should be able to explain what he believes, and it should match what the Bible teaches. He should recognize that Jesus calls him to stay connected to His saving Word and Sacraments. And he should live a life that reflects the faith he says he has.
That last point is a major concern in the epistle of James. James makes bold statements about the necessity of works in the Christian’s life. He writes: “be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (1:22). And, “faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (2:17). And another one that really makes the eyebrows go up, “You see that a person is justified by works and not by faith alone” (2:24). How does that square with the letter to the Romans which says, “For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law” (Rom. 3:28)?
What James emphasizes in his Spirit-inspired epistle, is that faith is more than knowledge. It is not just knowing the basic facts about Jesus. Faith is firmly believing and trusting that if Jesus had not perfectly kept the Law for us and died for our sins, we would be damned to hell. A person who has faith, who knows how gracious God has been to him, will not live like a pagan. He will not behave, speak, and act in such a way that no one could guess he is a Christian.
A faith that has no love for God and His Word and no love for his neighbor is a dead faith. A dead faith is no faith at all. That’s why James writes that a person who has faith will produce fruits of faith. Faith will be active in love. But what about the times that love is the last thing on our minds? What about when we are unkind to someone, when we say harsh and regrettable things, when we behave selfishly? Does that mean we no longer have faith, that we have lost it?
Your faith certainly can be lost. But if you are worried about having lost your faith, you haven’t lost it. A person who has lost faith won’t care about the truth anymore. If you are troubled by your sins, if you desire forgiveness in the name of Jesus, you have not lost your faith. In fact, your faith may be stronger at that moment than it usually is, because you realize how weak you are and how impossible it is to save yourself. On the other hand, when you feel like you have a strong faith, it may be very weak, because you are trusting in your own strength.
It is not possible to measure your faith, and measuring your faith isn’t necessary anyway. Our focus is not on our faith; it is on Jesus and His Word. We do not trust in our faith or lean on our faith. We trust in Jesus and lean on Jesus. Jesus is the only person who ever had perfect faith. He perfectly obeyed the will of His Father which resulted in your salvation.
Jesus lived a life of perfect works on your behalf. He did not become impatient or angry, even when His own family members and friends rejected Him. He willingly suffered and died for their sins and for everybody’s sins. He died for your sins of not taking Him at His Word, of doubting that He is who He says and that He does what He promises. He paid the penalty for your sinful compromises, for setting your faith aside in order to indulge in what the world has to offer.
You and I are so often the doubters, the double-minded, unstable people tossed around like a wave of the sea that James writes about, just as he was too. But Jesus gave Himself for us. He redeemed us and washed us clean. He covers us in His holiness. He calls us not just “friends” but even “brothers and sisters.” We are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17). We must suffer in this world as He did, but God works it for our good.
“[T]he testing of your faith produces steadfastness,” wrote James. He learned that firsthand as he humbly served the church and was later martyred for his faithful confession. The Holy Spirit granted him a saving faith in Jesus just as He has done for you. Your faith may not always be so strong, but even a little faith is a saving faith, because Faith Is Focused on Jesus, and He is not weak.
Jesus will see you through the trials and storms of this life. And when your time here comes to an end, He will bestow on you “the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.”
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from 16 c. Russian painting of “James the Just”)
St. Philip & St. James, Apostles – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. John 14:1-14
In Christ Jesus, whom we did not choose, but who chose us, and appointed us to go and bear fruit in His name (Joh. 15:16), dear fellow redeemed:
What do you want to be remembered for? Being a hard worker and achieving success in your job? Winning at the highest level of competition? Making a better life for yourself and your family? Being a pillar in the community? A good neighbor? A nice person? All of those are proper goals. But in all likelihood, most of what we do will not be remembered—at least not a few decades from now and certainly not 100 or 200 years from now.
The only reason we remember anything about the apostles Philip and James is because of their connection to Jesus. If He did not call them to follow Him, they would have been completely lost to history. As it is, we still know very little about them.
We know a little more about Philip. After Jesus was revealed as the Messiah at His Baptism and was tempted for forty days in the wilderness, He then went north to Galilee. He entered the town of Bethsaida where Andrew and Peter lived, and He found Philip. “Follow me,” He said (Joh. 1:43). Philip in turn found Nathanael, and from then on, both of them followed Jesus.
The other times that Philip is specifically mentioned in the Gospels, he seems most closely connected with Andrew. When Jesus put the question to Philip about feeding the crowd of 5,000, Philip replied that the need was too great (Joh. 6:7). Then Andrew chimed in that a boy had “five barley loaves and two fish” (v. 9). But what good could they do for such a large crowd? Another time, some Greeks approached Philip and said, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus” (Joh. 12:21). Instead of going right to Jesus, Philip told Andrew, and both of them went to Jesus. And then we heard the exchange between Jesus and Philip about seeing the Father.
James was there too at all those occasions, but we have no record of his words like we do for Philip. There were two Jameses among the apostles. This one is not the fisherman brother of John, who was part of Jesus’ inner circle. The Gospels identify this James as “James the son of Alphaeus.” Matthew’s father was also named Alphaeus (Mar. 2:14), so it is possible that James and Matthew were brothers.
James’ mother was one of the Marys who followed Jesus from Galilee, who stood at His cross, watched His burial, and was greeted by the angel at the empty tomb on Easter morning. So his mother witnessed the most important events in Jesus’ life, which James missed because he was afraid and had gone into hiding along with most of the other disciples. James is referred to as “the younger” or “the less” to distinguish him from the other apostle of the same name (Mar. 15:40).
The reason Philip and James are remembered together on May 1st is because their supposed remains were transported to Rome at the same time in the sixth century. So then they began to be commemorated in the church on the same day. That’s about all we know of these two apostles.
While we might want to know more about them, there is something good about knowing so little. It makes it easier for us to imagine ourselves in their place. We see how Philip failed the test that Jesus gave him at the feeding of the 5,000. We see how he failed to understand Jesus’ words in today’s text. In both cases, Philip was concerned about having “enough.” “Two hundred denarii would not buy enough bread for each of them to get a little” (Joh. 6:7), he said. And in today’s Gospel, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Philip worried about having enough for physical needs and enough for spiritual needs.
We can certainly relate to that. We often worry about having enough money, enough strength, enough patience, enough support. “What are we going to do? How will we make it?” Jesus gave us a prayer for times like these, a very simple petition: “Give us this day our daily bread.” But how can we be certain that our Father in heaven hears us? And why should we have to pray for what He already knows we need? And if He already knows we need it, why hasn’t He given it?
So our concerns about physical things quickly turn into spiritual concerns. We always want more from God—more assurance of His love, more proof of His power, more evidence that He really is in charge and will provide for all our needs. If only God would give us a glimpse of His glory. If only we had more to go on than Jesus’ Word. “Lord, show us the Father,” we say, “and it is enough for us.”
We can relate to James too, James who didn’t say or do anything that needed to be recorded in the inspired pages of the Bible. Maybe he was quiet and introverted, hardly noticed. Maybe he felt ashamed that he didn’t have the courage of Thomas who was ready to die with Jesus (Joh. 11:16), or of Peter who drew his sword in the Garden of Gethsemane. Maybe he wondered what caused Jesus to choose a person like him in the first place.
But Jesus did not choose the disciples for what they could do for Him; He chose them for what He could do for them. When Jesus asked Philip about feeding the 5,000 in the wilderness, He did it to strengthen Philip’s faith. “He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do” (Joh. 6:6). And when Philip wanted more evidence of Jesus’ connection to the Father, Jesus taught the disciples that they already had everything they needed.
He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also…. Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own authority, but the Father who dwells in Me does His works.” Everything Jesus said and did, He received from His Father. God the Father and God the Son worked perfectly together. One was not before or after the other; one was not greater or less than the other (Athanasian Creed).
This is the God who loves you. His love for you is seen most clearly in the cross. When Jesus told His disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled,” He said it because of what He was about to accomplish. He was going to the cross to pay for their sins. He was going to pay for their sins of doubt and fear, and for their sins of wanting more when they already had everything in Him.
In the disciples, we see ourselves. We see our own weaknesses and fears. We see our own doubt and discontentment. We feel like we need more from God than what He has given us, even though we already have more than we can comprehend. It sounds foolish to hear Philip say, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus is God incarnate! The disciples had seen Him heal the sick, cast out demons, raise the dead! What more did they need to see?
But we are no better. We have the living Word of God breathed out by the Holy Spirit—a Word that has brought us out of death to life, that has given us tremendous comfort and hope and strength, that has given us clear purpose and confidence for living out our life in the world. We know everything that Jesus did for our salvation. We have the clear eyewitness accounts of those who saw what He did.
And yet we think the Word is not enough. We are quick to become impatient when God does not answer our prayers as fast as we want or the way we want. We don’t trust Him to give us our daily bread as He has promised, and we put more stock in our work, our efforts. God’s Word is life, but we would rather pursue the things of this world that will all be forgotten, that will all pass away.
That’s why we needed Jesus to go to the cross in obedience to His Father. We needed Him to take the scourging and mockery and death that we deserved. We couldn’t pay the price for our sins, but He could. He did. And then He rose again to assure us that we have a place in heaven. We have a place there not because we earned it, not because we have proved ourselves worthy. We have a place in heaven because God is merciful. Jesus made our sin His own and has given His righteousness to us.
He is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” He is the Way to the Father because of His death and resurrection. He is the Truth because He spoke by the authority of His Father and carried out all things that His Father gave Him to do. He is the Life because death could not hold Him; He was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. “No one comes to the Father except through [Him],” which is to say that all who trust in Jesus are children of God the Father.
You are a child of God. He cares for you and provides for you like a shepherd tends his sheep. Your sinful weakness and stubbornness have not caused Him to reject you. As He patiently guided and instructed the twelve disciples, so He guides and instructs you. As He strengthened and comforted them through His Word, so He strengthens and comforts you. As He fed them with His holy Sacraments, so He feeds you.
Do You Have Enough in Jesus? Yes, and more than enough. He prepares a table before you in the presence of your enemies; He anoints your head with oil; your cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life, and you will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psa. 23:5-6).
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture of Philip and James from painting by Duccio di Buoninsegna, 1311)
St. Stephen, Deacon & Martyr – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 23:34-39
In Christ Jesus, through whom the lost are the found, the suffering are the blest, and the dead are the victors, dear fellow redeemed:
Jesus’ most pointed criticisms were not directed against the criminals in the community or the pagan Roman rulers. They were directed against the religious leaders of the Jews. This is because they had the Scriptures. They studied them. They should have known who Jesus was by what He did and what He said. But they rejected Him, just as their fathers had rejected God’s prophets before Him.
Stephen clearly identified this pattern of rejection by the people of Israel. He stood boldly before the Jewish council and said, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit. As your fathers did, so do you. Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered” (Act. 7:51-52). And because he said that, they stoned Stephen to death.
Why of all the times in the year, are we talking about this on the day after Christmas? Christmas is a time of joy and peace, the time that we remember a sweet Baby lying in a manger and cradled in His mother’s arms. We have just sung “Silent Night” and “Joy to the World.” Why did we suddenly shift to such a troubling topic and such a horrific death?
You might be surprised to hear that the commemoration of St. Stephen has been observed on December 26 for a very long time, perhaps even as far back as the third or fourth century. It was paired with the celebration of the birth of Jesus on purpose. So what were the early church fathers trying to teach by pairing Christmas with the death of Stephen?
They wanted to teach what Christ’s coming into the world meant. It is a lesson that we need to learn and learn again. We don’t get a clear sense from the culture around us how we should view Christmas. Our culture says that “Christmas is about giving”; “Christmas is about family”; “Christmas is about everyone setting aside their differences and coming together”; “Christmas is about cookies and nice feelings and warm traditions.”
Those are all wonderful aspects of our Christmas celebration, but none of them gets to the heart of Christmas. Christmas is the entrance of the perfect God into the world of sinners. Christmas is God making good on His promise not to let the devil prevail over all mankind. Christmas is the incarnate Son of God stepping down into the devil’s dark kingdom and saying, “Here I Am. Take your best shot.”
It’s no surprise that the devil got worked up about this. Adam and Eve didn’t have to listen to him, but they did, so in his mind they were his now. Their kingdoms were his kingdoms; their world was his world. He wasn’t about to give them up without a fight. The fight is what we see playing out in the account of Stephen, and it is exactly what Jesus describes in today’s Gospel reading. Jesus said that the truth would be opposed in the future just as it had always been opposed in the past. Some who spoke the truth would be crucified, some would be flogged, and as we learn on this day, some of God’s faithful confessors would be stoned to death.
Why does Jesus let these things happen? If He has won the victory over the devil through His death and resurrection—and He has—, why do His people suffer like this? His people suffer because they are still in the world. They are not in heaven yet. Here there is trouble, pain, sickness, sorrow, injustice, death. Here the wicked are often rewarded while the good are punished.
What we experience here seems so different than what the angels proclaimed on the night of Jesus’ birth: “Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord!” And then in a great chorus, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”
Where Is the “Peace on Earth”? Where is the “goodwill toward men”? This is another place where we shouldn’t take our cue from the world. Many love the idea of peace, but they have in mind a different peace than the angels sang about. They want peace among all countries and peoples. They want to put an end to all war and cultivate a society in which all people live in a state of equal opportunity and mutual respect.
Those are all fine goals. But they don’t acknowledge the reality of our sinful condition. If people were basically good, world peace might be attainable. But we’re not. By nature, all of us are prideful and selfish. We don’t want to give way to anyone else. We’re all for peace, we say, but only if it happens on our terms.
The angels proclaimed a different peace. The peace they sang about was Peace wrapped up in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The peace they sang about was not a vague ideal. It was a Person. Peace had come to earth because Christ had come to earth. He was Peace. Isaiah called Him the “Prince of Peace,” and said, “Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end” (9:6-7).
Jesus’ government is not an earthly government, and His peace is not an earthly peace. Jesus Himself said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law” (Mat. 10:34-35). Those are hard words. We don’t want to be at odds with those who are closest to us. But if it comes down to sticking with family or sticking with Jesus, family can’t save you. Family can’t overcome the devil. Family can’t atone for your sins. Family can’t raise you back to life when you die.
Only Jesus can do those things. That is the peace He came to bring. He came to make peace between us sinners and the holy God. He Himself had to endure great violence in order to obtain this peace. He was mocked and beaten and flogged and crowned with thorns and nailed to a cross to die a painful death. Not peaceful at all. And yet by His sacrifice, peace was made on our behalf. God’s perfect justice was satisfied. Our debt of sin was paid. Eternal life in heaven was secured for us.
This is why God sent His Son to be conceived and born of a virgin. That little Baby came for no other purpose than to shed His blood for our salvation, to suffer our hell, to die a horrible death in our place. Stephen believed this wholeheartedly. The evangelist Luke described him as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” and “full of grace and power” (Act. 6:5,8). By the working of God, he was able to do “great wonders and signs among the people” (v. 8).
And when some opposed him and tried to discredit him, “they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking” (v. 10). So they decided to tell lies about him, which led to his arrest and his trial before the council. When given the opportunity to defend himself, Stephen did not soft peddle the truth. Like John the Baptizer before him, he did not worry about the effect his words would have on those who heard. He commended himself, his body and soul, and all things into the hands of his merciful Lord.
As the stones reigned down upon him, he called out after the manner of his Savior, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit,” and, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Act. 7:59,60). How could he have such peace at a time like that? How could he think so peacefully about his persecutors? It was because he knew “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding” (Phi. 4:7). And so do you.
There is a popular Christmas song that says, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.” But you know that peace does not begin with you or with anyone else on earth. Peace came down from heaven to Bethlehem all those years ago. And that Peace, your incarnate Lord and Savior, still comes to you today.
You don’t find Him now in a manger. You find Him in His Word of Absolution, in Holy Baptism, and in His Sacred Supper. He is here for you wrapped up in words and water and bread and wine. He brings His peace to you, peace for your troubled conscience, peace for your anxious heart and mind. He is your calm in the storm. He is your shield in battle. He comforts you and strengthens you all through your life, so that like Stephen, you are ready to depart in peace.
Stephen was the first Christian to die for the name of Jesus after the founding of the New Testament Church at Pentecost. He willingly gave up peace in the world for peace with God. He was blessed in life, blessed in death, and is now blessed in life eternal. So it is for all who trust in Jesus Christ, the Prince and the Provider of Peace.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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(picture from “The Stoning of Stephen” by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)