The First Sunday after Michaelmas (Trinity 19) – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Jeremiah 1:1-10
In Christ Jesus, who has given authority to men to proclaim His powerful Law and Gospel to lead sinners to repentance and faith, dear fellow redeemed:
Imagine that someone offers you a job, and the primary requirement for the job is that you tell the truth. But if you tell the truth, your colleagues will hate you, the authorities will hate you, and the people you most want to help will think you are crazy. A number of people will threaten you with death. You will be thrown into prison for a while. You will warn everyone about what will happen if they don’t change course. But no one will listen, and everything you predict will come true. Would you take that job?
What I described is similar to what happened to Jeremiah, a prophet of the LORD. But the LORD did not exactly offer him his job; He told him what he would do. The LORD had prepared Jeremiah’s work for him even before he existed. The LORD said, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah immediately questioned his qualifications: “I do not know how to speak,” he said, “for I am only a youth.” To assure Jeremiah of His presence and power, the LORD engaged several of Jeremiah’s senses. The Word of the LORD came to him, so we assume he was able to hear the voice of God. Then “the LORD put out His hand,” which Jeremiah was presumably able to see. And then the LORD “touched [his] mouth,” which he was able to feel. All of it was to assure Jeremiah that he would not have to come up with the words to speak; the LORD would give him the words.
“Behold, I have put My words in your mouth,” He said. He also told Jeremiah what those words would accomplish. Jeremiah would be placed “over nations and over kingdoms.” But the words he spoke would not be welcome. These words from God would have power “to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Four of the effects in the list are destructive—pluck up, break down, destroy, overthrow, and only two are constructive—build and plant.
The task for Jeremiah would certainly be difficult. The consequences for his faithful work were outcomes he would want to avoid. He grieved for his people who had gone after foreign gods (Jer. 8:18-21). And he grieved that he was attacked for telling the truth. He cried out bitterly: “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me” (15:10).
So why did the LORD put him through such trials and troubles? It seems unfair that Jeremiah would have to experience these things. But let’s look at it from a different perspective. The people of Israel had forsaken the LORD. They worshiped false gods from the king down to the common people. The prophets and priests told everyone what they wanted to hear and were especially greedy for goods and money. The people were doing everything God said they should not do and what He warned would lead to their destruction.
But instead of sending enemies to smash down their gates and destroy the people of Israel, the merciful LORD sent them prophets. He sent the prophets to expose their sins through His Law and call them to repent of their wrongs. He also delivered a message of promise through the prophets, that if the people turned back to the LORD, He would bless them and give them peace and prosperity.
So the work was difficult for Jeremiah, but it was done out of God’s love for His people. He did not take pleasure in Jeremiah’s suffering. He took pleasure in seeking and saving His lost sheep. Jeremiah was right—he did not have the strength inside himself to do this work. But the LORD promised, “I am with you to deliver you.”
We do not face the same intense trials that Jeremiah did, where it is basically us against the whole world. But we certainly experience challenges to our faith and the pressure to go along with what we know is wrong. It is always difficult to tell the truth when we know the truth is not welcome.
And there have certainly been times that we kept our mouths shut when we should have spoken up and confessed the name of Jesus. We took the easy path that did not risk our popularity or our position instead of standing for what is right. Like Jeremiah, we have hidden behind our weaknesses and essentially told the Almighty God to find someone else who is more qualified.
But the task to speak God’s Word faithfully is given to each one of us. 1 Peter 3 says, “Have no fear of [those who oppose you], nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect” (vv. 14-15). But how can we stay prepared to do this? How can we make sure we are ready to speak when challenges and questions come our way?
We are prepared in the same way that Jeremiah was—through the powerful Word of God. The LORD has not visibly reached out and touched our mouth, but He did call us to the waters of Holy Baptism, where a pastor touched us with the sign of the cross and with water joined to His Word. That Baptism showed that before He formed us in the womb He knew us. He chose us to be saved and brought us the salvation Jesus won by baptizing us into His death and resurrection (Rom. 6:4).
In our Lord’s institution of the Sacraments and His calling of men to be pastors, it is clear that He wants to fill all our senses with His Word. Besides the touch of the Sacraments, He wants us to see those visible Sacraments in the Divine Service and read the Word of God in worship and through regular devotions at home. He wants us to hear the Word preached and join in confessing and singing His truth. He wants us to taste the gifts of His Supper as He gives His true body and blood along with the bread and wine for the remission of our sins.
Our sense of smell is perhaps the least engaged of our senses in the Divine Service, though some Christians are used to the smell of incense lifting heavenward with their prayers. We might smell the candles or fresh flowers, but we might especially think of breathing in the Word like we do oxygen and then breathing out our prayers and praises to God.
The Word of God does not dull our senses like a drug or some kind of anesthetic. The Word of God wakes us up; it keeps us alert. The world sees it the opposite way. It says that the teaching of the Bible holds us back from true happiness, from reaching our full potential, from being who we were meant to be. The world agrees with the people of Israel who at times ignored Jeremiah and at times hoped for and worked toward his death.
Though Jeremiah often felt despair and wondered if his preaching was doing any good, the Word of God never returns to Him empty. It accomplishes His purpose and succeeds in the thing for which He sent it (Isa. 55:11). His Word is living and active (Heb. 4:12), and it produces a living and active faith in His people.
The Lord still calls men like Jeremiah—pastors who also struggle with doubts and weaknesses—to preach His holy Word. He calls you to gladly hear and learn this Word. The Lord speaks it for your life and salvation. He wants you to turn from your sin in repentance and to believe that all your sins are forgiven through the blood of Jesus.
By your inherited sinful nature, you were like the paralyzed man brought before Jesus—unable to do anything to help yourself. But Jesus looked with compassion on you and said, “Take heart, My child; your sins are forgiven” (Mat. 9:1-8). That is a delightful Word. It is like music to the ears, like light for the eyes, like honey to the taste, like a sweet-smelling aroma, like a gentle and comforting touch. No matter how often you have ignored the Word of God, taken the easy path, or hidden behind your weaknesses, Jesus says to you: “Your sins are forgiven!”
This is a message for the whole world, for all sinners. This is what the LORD calls pastors to preach publicly in the congregation. This is the message the LORD calls every Christian to proclaim privately in their day-to-day lives, announcing the forgiveness of sins to your family members, friends, co-workers, and other neighbors. This Word of God’s grace is not always met with joy. Some take offense at the suggestion that they have sins that need forgiving. Others question whether sinners like you and me have any business speaking forgiveness to others.
But despite the criticisms, we know that it is not our Word we speak, but the LORD’s. He has put His Word in our mouths, and not just in our mouths—in our ears and eyes and noses and hands. The Lord Fills Our Senses with His Word, so that we are ready to speak His Word faithfully.
This is no job to run away from, and we do not need to be afraid to do it, “for I am with you to deliver you, declares the LORD.” Through His Word that we speak, our gracious Lord will continue to carry out His soul-saving work for others just as He has for us—the work of plucking up and breaking down, destroying and overthrowing, building and planting.
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 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)
The Twenty-First Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Ephesians 6:10-17
In Christ Jesus, who rallies His soldiers around a manger, a cross, and an empty tomb and sends the terrible army of darkness scurrying away from His piercing light, dear fellow redeemed:
“It’s time to take a stand!” “Seize the moment!” “Stand up and be counted!” “Your future and your children’s future are at stake!” We have been hearing these messages a lot lately. They are attached to appeals for the citizens of this country to get active and go vote. People from both sides of the political aisle are calling this the most important presidential election in our lifetime. Each side says that if the other candidate wins, it will be the end of democracy as we know it.
It is not my job to tell you who to vote for. It is not even my job to tell you to vote. That is a right and privilege you have that you can choose to exercise or not. But it is my job to tell you not to get too caught up with the candidates you support or the candidates you oppose. God can use bad rulers as well as good rulers for His purposes. After this November 5th, our almighty Lord will still reign over all things in heaven and on earth just as He does now.
We are reminded of this in today’s reading, where our chief enemy is identified along with the battle plan for his defeat. Paul writes that we must take our stand “against the schemes of the devil.” Jesus described the devil as “a murderer from the beginning, [who] has nothing to do with the truth, because there is no truth in him…. he is a liar and the father of lies” (Joh. 8:44). The devil’s goal is that we join him in the eternal torments of hell. He is pure evil. He does not play fair. He will do whatever it takes to separate us from the forgiveness and salvation we have in Christ.
The devil is our number one opponent. We can never forget that he is on the march against us. Bad people—including bad politicians and government officials—come and go (Psa. 146:3-4). The devil has been carrying out his destructive work since the beginning (1Jo. 3:8). Our reading says, “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” When people pursue bad things and do bad things, we have to remember who is behind it—the great tempter and deceiver and his fellow demons.
He has his sights set on you, too, especially you. You confess Jesus to be your Savior and Lord, which puts you at odds with the devil. He hates you. He wants to destroy you. The unbelievers can go their merry way, but not you. You have to pay for your devotion to Jesus. He will attack wherever he thinks you are vulnerable, wherever he thinks he can cause the most pain and do the most damage to your faith. In Job’s case, he attacked his possessions and his family and then Job’s own health. But he did not prevail against Job, and it is not a foregone conclusion that he will prevail against you.
So how can you withstand his attacks? What is your battle strategy? If you knew someone was going to try to break into your home, you would stay awake and alert. Or if someone was going to physically attack you or take shots at you, you would wear protective body armor and carry weapons to defend yourself. But physical defenses and weapons don’t work against the devil. You need spiritual protection for this spiritual battle.
That is why Paul says, “Put on” and “take up the whole armor of God.” Only God’s armor can protect you against the devil. God knows the dark and imminent threats to your faith. He sees the dangers and pitfalls that are hidden from your eyes. He knows how to equip you, so that you “stand firm.”
The first piece of God’s armor is “the belt of truth.” This is not your truth or anyone else’s truth; this is God’s truth. His is the only truth that matters. His is the only truth that is most certainly true. We know the truth because He has delivered it to us in the Holy Scriptures. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free” (Joh. 8:31-32). And He said in prayer to His Father, “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth” (Joh. 17:17). We learn the truth by listening to and studying God’s Word, and in this way we also learn to identify the devil’s lies.
The next piece of God’s armor is “the breastplate of righteousness.” A breastplate protects your vital organs. What is it that covers your heart, so you are safe from the devil’s attacks? Some think that their heart is protected by their own good works and good intentions. Their heart is pure because they work hard to keep it pure. But this kind of self-righteousness is not a strength; it is a terrible weakness. The only righteousness that can cover and protect your heart is Jesus’ righteousness. The devil cannot pierce through the armor of His righteousness because He has perfectly kept the holy Law, and He kept it on your behalf.
The next part of God’s armor is sturdy shoes that help you to stand firm. You are ready for battle when you stand on “the Gospel of peace.” Now that doesn’t sound very strong. What about “the Gospel of power” or “the Gospel of victory”? The Gospel is those things too. But “peace” is where you stand with God. Paul wrote about this to the Christians in Rome, “since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 5:1). And, “Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand” (v. 2). As long as you have peace with God and remain in His grace by faith, you have firm footing against the devil.
God also supplies you with “the shield of faith.” This part of His armor provides some insight into how active the devil is. Paul speaks about “all the flaming darts of the evil one.” Picture thousands after thousands of burning arrows flying at you through the darkness. Or if that isn’t scary enough, picture thousands upon thousands of missiles screaming your way. God provides a shield to protect you—the shield of faith. The devil’s unending accusations cannot land on you as long as your trust is in Jesus. Those flaming darts are quenched like matches flicked toward a waterfall.
By faith you wear “the helmet of salvation.” You put this on when the water was poured on your head while Jesus’ words were spoken at your Baptism. The sign of the cross was made over your forehead and heart that day, and the sign of the cross still starts at your forehead and ends over your heart. God does not let the devil hang your sins over your head or bury you under them. You are protected by the salvation Jesus secured through His death and resurrection.
So you have the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, shoes standing on the Gospel of peace, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation. Finally you take in your hand “the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.” There is no more powerful defense than the Word. The Second Letter to Timothy says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work” (3:16-17). Everything you need in your battle against the devil is supplied by the Word. You also learn through God’s Word how to pray, speaking back to God in petitions and praises for what He has promised you (Eph. 6:18).
The inspired words of today’s reading make it very clear where we should stand and where our strength is found. We stand “in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” The parts of the armor of God that we have reviewed today are all gifts from Him. None of them depend on our own strength or our own abilities. In other words, the only way to stand firm against the devil’s attacks is to recognize our own weakness. The only way to win is to admit how poor and unprepared we are by ourselves.
Our powerful Lord must fight for us. This is exactly what Martin Luther wrote in “the Battle Hymn of the Reformation”:
Stood we alone in our own might,
Our striving would be losing;
For us the one true Man doth fight,
The Man of God’s own choosing.
Who is this chosen One?
’Tis Jesus Christ, the Son,
The Lord of hosts ’tis He
Who wins the victory
In ev’ry field of battle. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #251, v. 2)
Jesus fights for us in every field of battle. We stand with Him. Or better yet, He stands with us. He comes to strengthen and keep us in the faith through His Word and Sacraments. This is how He keeps us ready for the cosmic conflict against the devil. This is how He picks us up when are staggered by the devil’s blows and have fallen into sin. This is how He fortifies and tightens our armor, so there are no gaps and weak spots for the devil to exploit.
Today and every day is the Time to Take a Stand. Not on the shaky ground of a politician’s promises or an important person’s power because they will disappoint us. Not on the mushy ground of our own strength or our good intentions because they will fail us. We take our stand on the solid rock of Jesus Christ and His Word. Even the gates of hell cannot prevail against His Word (Mat. 16:18). “The word of our God will stand forever” (Isa. 40:8).
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 Temptation of Christ by the Devil” by Félix Joseph Barrias, 1822-1907)
The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Ephesians 5:15-21
In Christ Jesus, our Bridegroom, who serenades His bride with sweet words of His love and forgiveness, and whose bride responds with songs of praise from her smitten heart, dear fellow redeemed:
In the year 231 while Christians were under persecution in the Roman Empire, a baby named Agatha was born to a wealthy Christian couple. When Agatha was in her early 20s, a government official pursued her both for her beauty and for her family’s wealth. Agatha refused him; she had made a vow to remain unmarried out of devotion to Christ. The government official resolved to break her will. He ordered her to be sent to a brothel where she was abused for a month. But when she returned, Agatha still refused him.
So the official gave her the option: sacrifice to idols or receive torture and death. As they led her to her prison cell that night, she went with rejoicing as though she was preparing for her wedding. The next day after boldly confessing her faith in Christ, she was convicted, brutally tortured, and killed. And her soul was ushered into the bright kingdom of her Bridegroom and Savior Jesus (summarized from And Take They Our Life by Bryan Wolfmueller, pp. 36-41).
This account is a clear illustration of what St. Paul writes in today’s reading. Agatha was careful about how she walked. She made the best use of her time in those evil days. She did not join the foolish official and his friends who rejected the Lord. She was filled with the Spirit and made melody to the Lord with her heart, even while enduring intense and terrible suffering. She was a faithful Christian who has received the crown of eternal life.
We do not face the same trials and torments as Agatha did, but the days are still evil. The days are evil because we live in a fallen world. We see all around us how people prioritize money and power over the Word of God and prayer. We see how they violate the Ten Commandments openly and boastfully. We see how people lie and cheat and manipulate to get what they want. We see how pride, hatred, and selfishness are encouraged. In his Letter to the Philippians, Paul wrote, “For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things” (3:18-19).
We must look carefully how we walk in the world because it is easy for us to fall into these same traps. It is easy to go along with the ungodly—to speak as they speak, to do as they do, to think as they think. Our sinful flesh wants the riches and glories and pleasures that the world offers. We don’t want to miss out on things that could satisfy us. We don’t want to be singled out like Agatha was or suffer like she did.
But if we go the way of our sinful flesh, we will be walking away from Jesus. His way is not the way of personal comfort or worldly success. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” (Mat. 16:24). We must “deny ourselves”—deny our natural impulses, deny our own plans, deny the temptations and promises of the devil and the world.
That is very difficult to do. Because it is so difficult, God has given us fellow Christians to help and encourage us along the way. This is how God has designed His Church. He has called us to support one another and serve one another. He has called us to join together in His worship. So many Christians today talk about their “personal faith,” and how they don’t need to be connected to any religious institution or group. They can worship and pray to God on their own, they say. But God doesn’t want them to be on their own.
Without the community of fellow Christians, we are at greater danger of temptations and attacks on our faith. Hebrews 10:24 says, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works.” How should we do this? The next verse tells us: “not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” Jesus promises that when we join with one another to hear His Word, He is present with His blessings. He says, “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them” (Mat. 18:20).
We need to help keep each other alert and watchful, ready for the devil’s attacks. Today’s reading specifically mentions drinking too much alcohol—“do not get drunk with wine.” Paul warned about sexual immorality earlier in the same chapter—“sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you” (Eph. 5:3). Christians are not to do these things, no matter how widely accepted they may be, or how uncomfortable it might be to say “no.” We do not serve the accepted norms in society. We do not serve ourselves. We serve the living God who made us and who has rescued us from the works of darkness.
This is the whole point. What Paul is emphasizing is that we should live like the Son of God actually took on our flesh to die for our sins. We should live like He rose from the dead in victory over our death. If He had to die for all my sins, why would I want to keep sinning? If He triumphed over my death, why should I have any concern about the promises or the threats of the world? Those promises and threats are empty as long as our King, Jesus Christ, reigns. And He reigns forever.
This message of Christ’s victory over sin and death for us is what brings us together and keeps us together. That is what you have called me to preach and teach every week and to distribute to you through Jesus’ Word of absolution and His holy Supper. This is the message we sing to one another in the words of the liturgy and in our great Lutheran hymns. This good news is sprinkled in our conversations and in the consolation and comfort we extend to each other.
We remind one another that Jesus has redeemed us from “the present evil age” (Gal. 1:4). He freed us from the devil who would have dragged us with him into hell. He freed us from the vain pursuits of this world which will all crumble and fall. He freed us from our own sinful flesh, so that we are destined not for death but for eternal life.
Jesus did all this freely, for you. He is the Son for whom the Father gave a wedding feast, and you are one of the honored guests who is invited to attend (Mat. 22:1-14). In fact, as a member of Christ’s holy Church, you and all believers are His bride. You join the wedding celebration by faith in Him, wearing the beautiful wedding garment of your Bridegroom’s righteousness. He cleansed you of your sin in Holy Baptism, “so that he might present the church—so that he might present you—to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that [you] might be holy and without blemish” (Eph. 5:27).
This message of cleansing and forgiveness in Christ is what causes us to rejoice. We breathe in the promise of God’s grace, and we breathe out His praise. Romans 10 says, “For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (v. 10). Or as we sing in Matins and Vespers, “O Lord, open my lips. And my mouth shall show forth Your praise” (Psa. 51:15). Through the Word, the Holy Spirit prepares us to confess God’s grace and mercy even in evil days.
This is what the apostles did after they were beaten for proclaiming the death and resurrection of Jesus. They rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for [his] name” (Act. 5:41). Paul and Silas did the same after they had been beaten up and unlawfully thrown in prison. At the dark of midnight with their feet in the stocks, they were “praying and singing hymns to God.”
In the same way, we also who are “filled with the Spirit, [address] one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” We sing in good days and evil days. We sing when we are happy and when we are hurting. We sing in our gladness and in our grief. We sing the promises of Jesus to one another. We remind each other that He loves us, that He gave His life for us, and that He will not leave or forsake us no matter what trials we must face.
We sing of our trouble, “The world is very evil, / The times are waxing late” (ELH 534), and we sing of our strength, “A mighty Fortress is our God” (ELH 250). We confess, “I pass through trials all the way, / With sin and ills contending,” and we sing of our comfort, “I walk with Jesus all the way; / His guidance never fails me” (ELH 252). Like Agatha rejoicing on the way to her torment and death, we press on with joy for the glories that await us.
The devil cannot stop our Lord from bringing us this cheer through His Word and Sacraments. And he cannot stop the Bridegroom from returning for His bride on the last day. This is why we sing, and why we will keep on singing. We will sing to encourage each other, to strengthen one another, and to give thanks “always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
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 “Parable of the Great Banquet” by the Brunswick Monogrammist, 16th century)
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: Ephesians 4:22-28
In Christ Jesus, who gives us a purpose bigger than ourselves, who has a plan and a glorious future for us that stretches from this life to eternity, dear fellow redeemed:
“Stick to this diet plan and watch the pounds melt away!”
“Use this face cream, and your wrinkles will disappear!”
“Do these exercises and get the body you always wanted!”
“Follow these easy steps, and you will be rich!”
The promises made by advertisements like these are often exaggerations. But we don’t really care. We want to believe there are solutions out there to make us healthier, stronger, and better than we are right now. But even if these products delivered on their promises, how much would we have actually changed? Would the changes be significant and impactful long-term, or would they be surface-level changes, only temporary, only skin-deep?
Looking around us, we can’t help but see that many people are discontent. They complain about how they look, their aches and pains, their lack of time and money, their inability to maintain a good diet and a good exercise regimen. They see the people who seem so beautiful and handsome, so strong and fit, so rich and famous, and they envy them. “If only we could look like they look and have what they have,” they say, “then we would be happy.”
Others are working on ways to further integrate technology with humanity, so that they can figure out how to mitigate or even reverse the effects of aging. They are asking questions like these: “How can we live longer? Suffer less? Function better? Have a higher quality of life?” For some called “transhumanists,” the answer is somehow to plug a computer-enhanced brain into a technological environment, so that our consciousness and cognitive ability are not limited by our weak bodies.
But as much as we would like to have better health, more agility and strength, better cognitive function, and more wealth—and as good as these things can be—there is an important question we should be asking. That question is: Who is this for? Who is my physical health, my mental ability, and my individual talents for? The answer that our society typically gives to this question is: “These things are for me.” Is it any wonder that people are so discontent? As long as their personal improvement is only for themselves, they will find that they will never get as far or have as much as they want.
Today’s reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians helps us aim higher. The focus of this reading is not first of all on our physical health or on our earthly success. It is primarily about our spiritual health and how that affects the people around us. Just as physical health is about avoiding what is bad while also pursuing what is good, the same is true for our spiritual health. Paul writes that we were taught in Christ both to put off our old self and to put on our new self.
Our old self is our sinful nature, the nature we inherited from Adam. His sinful likeness, his image, is imprinted on us (Gen. 5:3). It is clear that we have come from him because we are sinners like he was. Sin is the common family trait that we can see in every human being that has ever lived (except for One). This corruption inside us is what causes us to do and say things that are harmful to ourselves and others.
These are the things that we are to put off or lay aside. Paul gives a few examples. He writes that we should “put away falsehood.” We should “not let the sun go down on [our] anger.” We should “no longer steal.” These are things that come from the old self. These are things that invite the devil in to attack our faith. If we want to be spiritually healthy, we will avoid these things. And if we have fallen into these sins, we must be ready to repent of them.
While avoiding what is harmful to our faith, we also want to pursue what is good. If we must “put away falsehood,” we should also “speak the truth” with one another. If we must “not let the sun go down on [our] anger,” we should seek to be kind, tenderhearted, and forgiving toward others (Eph. 4:32). If we must “no longer steal,” we should be ready to do “honest work with [our] own hands, so that [we] may have something to share with anyone in need.”
But like the paralyzed man in today’s Gospel account (Mat. 9:1-8), we don’t have the power to get up and do this on our own. That power must come from God. We see this power in Jesus’ words to the paralytic, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” It didn’t initially look like these words had done anything. The paralytic kept on lying there on his bed. What good were those words if he couldn’t walk?
But we have no indication that the man was disappointed. What if he had been blaming himself for his paralysis? What if he thought God was punishing him for past wrongs? What if he was terrified of dying apart from God’s grace? Then he heard those sweet words from Jesus, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” If that was the gift the man wanted most, then being able to walk again was just icing on the cake.
In the same way, no one can see the power of God at work in Baptism. When water is applied while Jesus’ words are spoken, nothing seems to happen. A sleeping baby might keep on sleeping. A crying baby might keep on crying, or even cry harder! But God’s power is at work in Baptism because He promises it is. Baptism is where your old Adam was drowned and where your new life of faith began.
At your Baptism, the Triune God claimed you as His own. He cleansed your heart of its old corruption and renewed your mind for better pursuits, for a higher purpose. He created you after His likeness and applied His “true righteousness and holiness” to you. This is your new self, your life of faith in the living God. There is no room here for pride or selfishness or discontent or despair. With the new self, there is only love, only good, only opportunities to serve God and neighbor.
But bad habits are hard to break. We know that with our lack of exercise, our preference for unhealthy foods, and our pursuit of unhealthy behaviors. Our sinful flesh wants to be indulged. It wants to be fed more and more. It wants us to pursue what feels right in the moment. It wants us to fill up on anything our eyes can see, our ears can hear, or our hands can take hold of. We don’t know what has prevailed more often—our old self or new self—but we do know we are not where we want to be.
This is why our struggle against our sinful flesh is and must be a daily struggle. We know what the devil, the unbelieving world, and our sinful flesh want. They want our faith to be snuffed out. They want us to forget what Jesus has done for us. They want us to choose and pursue and do whatever seems best for ourselves.
And what does Jesus want for us? He wants us to know that He has not rejected us for our past indiscretions, for our failures toward others, for our lies, our anger, our dishonesty, or our greed. He wants us to know that each and every one of our sins is forgiven, that our guilty conscience has been washed clean in His precious blood. He still has important work for us to do.
No matter how much you fell short yesterday, God has given you the gift of today. Your works of yesterday, both bad and good, are cleansed and sanctified in Christ. Today is a fresh start, a day for truth, for kindness, and for charity. The same will be true for tomorrow. You might only see your weaknesses. You might feel incapable of doing anything that really matters. You might feel like a failure.
God sees His own beloved child. He sees a light shining in this world of darkness. He sees a saint bathed in His righteousness and holiness. He sees someone capable of great things, great things like a gentle word that turns away wrath, like a hand ready to help a person in need, like a patient ear that listens to the anguish and pain of another. God sees those great things in you because that is what He made you for.
He created you and cleansed you and called you for His holy service. He rescued you from the futility of life in this world and the unbelief that leads to hell. He calls you to be more and do more, and He gives you the power to do it. The faith you have is His gift planted in your heart. The love you show and give flows from Him to you. He is the One who moves you to keep putting off your old self in repentance and to keep putting on the new self in faith.
You are one of the blessed ones whom Jesus has called to be His disciple. As His disciple, you follow Him and continuously learn from Him. You get to carry out the work He has prepared for you to do each day, for the benefit of others and for His glory alone. “This is the day the LORD has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it” (Psa. 118:24).
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 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)
The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 22:1-14
In Christ Jesus, who looks with compassion on the outcasts, the ugly, and the soiled, so they might become beautiful and pure in Him, dear fellow redeemed:
The wedding day is a few weeks away. Who do you suppose is most anxious about the details, things like the guest list, flowers, food, decorations, clothing? I’ll give you three choices: the bride, the mother of the bride, or the mother of the groom. It’s the women! And that’s okay—that’s why wedding celebrations are beautiful!
But these wedding planners and detail doers are not leading the way in Jesus’ parable about a wedding feast. In fact, no reference is made specifically to a bride or the mothers. This is about “a king who gave a wedding feast for his son.” And through this parable, Jesus wants to teach us something about the “kingdom of heaven.”
It is obvious that if you were a member of an earthly kingdom, and the king invited you to celebrate the wedding of his son, you would go. You would go either because you felt honored to be invited, or because you were afraid of what might happen to you if you refused. It is shocking to hear how the invited guests in the parable refused the king’s summons. Some of them even killed the servants who brought the message from the king!
This is nothing short of treason, a total rebellion against the king’s authority. They wouldn’t do this unless they thought he was powerless to do anything about it. Well they made a severe miscalculation. “The king was angry, and he sent his troops and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.”
Jesus spoke these words during Holy Week. He was talking about the Old Testament people of Israel, who through their history often rejected the faithful prophets of God and even killed many of them. For their rebellion against Him, God gave them up to their enemies. The people in the northern kingdom of Israel were either killed or enslaved by the Assyrians. And the people in the southern kingdom of Judah were later conquered by the Babylonians.
After seventy years in exile, God sent some of the Jews from Babylon to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. The descendants of these returned exiles should have remembered what the Lord did for them, and learned to humbly trust and follow God’s Word. But now the chief priests, scribes, and Pharisees were plotting how they might arrest Jesus and have Him killed. They were just as guilty as their forefathers, and even guiltier for rejecting the King’s Son in the flesh.
So the King extended His invitation beyond the original guest list. He sent His servants out to “the main roads” to gather “all whom they found, both bad and good.” This refers to the Gentiles, who were not part of God’s chosen people Israel. Now they were welcome at the wedding feast too.
But before we go any further, we have to be clear about what this wedding feast is. We see that it is entered by invitation only, that wedding garments are required for all the guests, and that the food is the best there is. This wedding feast for the King’s Son is the feast of salvation, the celebration of Christ’s victory over our greatest enemies—sin, death, and the devil. It is a feast that no one partakes of on his own terms or makes himself worthy to receive. Notice that the attendees included both those who were considered bad and those who were considered good. No one earned an invitation and a place at the feast; the King granted it.
But why is this feast of salvation likened to a wedding feast? If the King is God the Father, and the feast is for His only-begotten Son, who is the bride? The inspired Letter to the Ephesians, chapter 5, answers that question for us. The last section of the chapter speaks of the husband as the head of his wife “even as Christ is the head of the church, his body” (v. 23). Then it says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (vv. 25-27).
These are some profound words. They describe Christ as Bridegroom and the Church as His bride. We often joke about husbands that they “married up” in relation to their wives. But that is not the case here. Jesus chose a bride that was not virtuous, not wise, not beautiful, and He joined Himself to her. Through this sacrifice of Himself, He gave His bride all that was His. His virtue became her virtue. His wisdom became her wisdom. His beauty and holiness became her beauty and holiness. His glory became her glory. If anyone has “married up,” it was certainly the Church in relation to Christ.
And who exactly is “the Church”? It is all those who are cleansed “by the washing of water with the word.” It is those who submit themselves and their eternal future to the safe-keeping of Jesus their Savior. Or to use the words of today’s reading, “the Church” is the ones who were invited by the King to His Son’s wedding feast. They came when the King’s servants called. They entered wearing the wedding garments supplied by the King. They have a seat at the King’s table where they enjoy His delicious food.
So you see that a bride actually does make an appearance in Jesus’ parable. The guests in glorious attire at the wedding feast, they are the bride! The guests are the Church of all believers, presented to Jesus “in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing… holy and without blemish.”
That is a description of you, dear friends in Christ. You were cleansed of your sins in the waters of Baptism and were clothed in the garments of Jesus’ righteousness. “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal. 3:27). This is when you were called to the King’s feast, the feast of salvation. All that Jesus accomplished for you by His death and resurrection became yours. You were joined to Him at those waters. You became a member of His holy Church which is His bride.
And that means He has reserved a seat for you at His table in the eternal feast above. You participate in this feast now by receiving Jesus’ body and blood in Holy Communion—the holy “joining together.” You don’t see Him in all His glory, but He meets you here to strengthen you for this life and to prepare you for the life to come. Your partaking of the Lord’s Supper here is a dress rehearsal for the wedding feast in heaven.
But as you know very well, even though all are invited to the King’s wedding feast—even though Jesus died on the cross for all people—not all are found worthy to attend. Jesus said this about the unbelieving Jews who killed the prophets sent to them by God. They “were not worthy” because of their unbelief.
So the invitation was extended to outsiders to come. But when they came, one of them decided to attend the feast without a wedding garment. This was an insult to the King who was glad to provide these garments. Essentially the man was saying, “I don’t need the King’s garments. I’m just fine the way I am.”
That describes people who call themselves Christians, but who do not trust in Jesus alone for their salvation. They want to go to heaven on their own terms. Some of them place their confidence in the works they do. Others knowingly reject certain teachings of God but still expect to have God’s favor.
This is why we don’t automatically invite all Christians to our Communion table. We want to make sure we are in agreement about what we believe before we take Communion together. After all, we aren’t the ones in charge of this wedding feast. It is the King and His Son who are.
Jesus’ parable should be a huge eye-opener for us. Many decide that the feast of salvation is not worth their time. They ignore or they get angry at God’s servants sent to call them to come. And of those who do come, some want the King to submit Himself to them. Jesus sums up these warnings with the words, “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
But you, dear members of the Church, are here today. You want to hear God’s Word of truth. You want the comfort of His absolution. You want to receive His body and blood for the remission of your sins. You don’t have something better to do than this. This is where you want to be. This is where Jesus meets you with His saving gifts.
He comes here through His Word and Sacraments to reaffirm His love for you. He comes to fight for you against the temptations and trials you face. He comes to provide all that you need to enter the marriage hall—His forgiveness, His righteousness, His life. Even though His bride—each one of us—may forget Him from time to time and pursue other things that seem more important, He does not forget us. He is perfectly committed to His Church; He is perfectly committed to you.
And you know it. You know that you are not invited to the feast because you are so important or so worthy to receive the King’s gifts. You are invited to the feast because The Gracious King Wants You at His Table. He does not look down on you for the rags of sin you have worn; He clothes you in the righteousness of His Son. He does not judge you for your many failures; He welcomes you to the marriage hall based on the perfect merit of His Son.
This is not a wedding you have to plan. You don’t have to worry about all the details that make everything just right. You are the honored guest. Everything has been prepared for you, and your merciful Lord is thrilled to serve you, His bride, both now and forevermore.
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 “Parable of the Great Banquet” by the Brunswick Monogrammist, 16th century)
The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 9:1-8
In Christ Jesus, whose grace abundantly covers all our sins, even the secret ones of our mind and heart, dear fellow redeemed:
How would you like to have the super power, the special ability, to know what the people around you are thinking? You could know if they liked you or didn’t like you, if they were lying to you or telling the truth, if they were looking to help you or harm you. That could be a very useful tool to have. But it could also be very depressing. Just imagine all the dark thoughts, plans, and desires you would become aware of. If you had this power, I think you would find it difficult to look anyone in the eye!
It is clear from today’s reading that Jesus had this power. First of all, the evangelist Matthew writes that Jesus “saw the faith” of the paralytic and the men who carried him. How could He see faith? He could see faith in action as the men brought their friend to Jesus. But kind actions alone do not prove that people have faith, since unbelievers sometimes do nice things too. Jesus could see their hearts. He knew they had saving faith. They believed that Jesus had come from God to do gracious work among them.
Seeing their faith, Jesus offered the paralytic an unexpected gift. The expected gift was healing. That is what Jesus had been doing throughout Judea and Galilee. But He wanted to give the paralyzed man something better than physical healing, something more. Jesus looked with compassion at the man and said, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus knew what the man needed most—He could see what the man needed most—and He gave it to him: forgiveness, no strings attached.
The scribes and Pharisees didn’t like this, but they didn’t say so out loud. They judged Jesus in their hearts. “He is blaspheming!” they thought to themselves. “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mar. 2:7). Just as Jesus had seen the faith of the paralytic and his friends, so He knew the thoughts of the scribes and Pharisees. Nothing was hidden from Him. “Why do you think evil in your hearts?” He asked.
Jesus knew their evil, even though it wasn’t expressed in words or actions. This knowledge of their thoughts had to mean that Jesus was God, because who besides God can know a person’s hidden thoughts? David acknowledged this about the LORD in Psalm 139: “You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar…. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether” (vv. 2, 4).
God knows everything we do, say, and think. And yet this doesn’t seem to trouble us as much as if the people around us knew all our deep, dark secrets. Why is that the case? Why are we more concerned about how others see us than how God sees us? Perhaps we think the consequences would be worse if our neighbors knew our sins. We think about how it could affect our reputation, our job, our family, our opportunities.
Having God know our sins doesn’t seem quite as bad. He has put up with us so far, so He will probably keep putting up with us. When we get comfortable in our sin, it shows that we have no real fear of God. We act like He is far distant from us, too busy to bother with our little sins. Or we justify our sins in our own minds, so that they don’t seem like such a big deal. We might have thoughts like these:
- “I’m not the one who started the rumor, and that person probably needs to be taken down a few notches anyway.”
- “Well everyone looks at porn, and it’s not like I’m hurting anyone by looking.”
- “What does it matter if I bend the truth a little? They don’t want to hear the truth anyhow.”
- “Why can’t I give myself to someone else as long as we both love each other? We’re planning to get married someday anyway.”
It could be that the people around us approve of all these things. They might do them too, and if everyone is okay with them, how wrong can they be? Or if we do avoid these sins, we might get made fun of or judged. So we try to do what is right and be nice to others, but it isn’t making life any easier. And then we come to church each week, and we have to hear how we have fallen short. Isn’t it enough that we have tried to do and say the right things? Why do we have to worry about our thoughts? Why does the church have to be so focused on pointing out and uncovering sins?
Here’s another question: why did Jesus think that what the paralyzed man needed most was forgiveness? If we had been in the crowd that day, we would have been eager to see Jesus heal the man of his paralysis. That would have been the foremost thing on our minds. But Jesus sees deeper. “[M]an looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1Sa. 16:7). The man’s most pressing problem was not his paralysis; it was his sin.
And so it is for you and me. Sin separates us from God. The apostle Paul writes that “the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 3:23)—what we deserve and earn by our sin is death. Trying to justify the wrong things we do or think does not enhance our life; it is sin that delivers us over to death. The eyes and ears and mouth and body I use to do whatever I want, they are not actually mine. They are God’s eyes and ears and mouth and body. They are gifts from Him. He formed them before we knew anything about life in this world.
How well have we used these gifts of God? How have we used our eyes, ears, and mouth, our brain and our heart, our hands and our feet? Have they been animated by the Holy Spirit and used in love toward God and neighbor? Or have these parts and members of our body often been inactive or paralyzed by sin?
So we find ourselves lowered down from the place of our pride and set right here in Jesus’ presence. What will He do? In fact, He has already done. Remember how we said how hard it would be to look anyone in the eye if we could read all their thoughts? The Son of God came down among us, and He not only looked us in the eye, He said, “Give me what is yours, and I will give you what is Mine.”
What He took from you is your sin. He took the big sins and the little sins, the open sins that everyone knows about and the secret sins that no one knows about. He took the sins of your eyes and ears and mouth and hands and feet. He even took the sins of your mind and heart, the sins that only He knew about. He put all those sins on Himself and went to the cross to make the payment for them. What we can’t bear the thought of—everyone seeing our sins—He became that for you on the cross. He wore your sins and let everyone mock Him, laugh at Him, reject Him. He did that for you.
And in exchange for your sins, He gives you His righteousness. He credits you with the perfect use of His eyes, ears, and mouth, the perfect use of His hands and feet, the perfect use of His mind and heart. All His holy works, all His holy words, all His holy thoughts—all of them yours. Who can measure this gift!
This is why we apply the magnifying glass of the Law to our body and mind and heart. We need to see how deep our sin goes, if that is even possible. We need to see what Jesus had to carry. We need to see why He had to die. We need to see our sin and know it—every one of us—so that we clearly see and know the great love of the Father in sending His only Son to save us.
The many ways we have sinned against God seem unforgivable. And yet here is Jesus looking down on a poor sinner and saying, “Take heart, My son; your sins are forgiven.” He says the same thing to you. You hear it in the absolution at the beginning of the service. You hear it in the Lord’s Supper, His body and blood “given and shed for you for the remission of sins.” And you hear it in the sermon when your pastor proclaims the Gospel, the good news, to you.
The crowds were right that God had given men the authority to forgive sins. They saw the Man Jesus forgive the sins of the paralytic and prove it by healing his body. Then after Jesus’ death and resurrection which won the victory over sin and death, He gave the authority to forgive sins to His Church. He said to His disciples, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (Joh. 20:22-23, NKJV).
This is what you have called me to declare on your behalf. You have told me to preach the Law, so that you are reminded how you have fallen short of the glory of God. You don’t want to become secure in your sin and lose sight of your Savior. Once the Law has done its work, you eagerly listen for the Gospel which cleanses your heart and frees your conscience. No words could ever sound sweeter in your ears than these.
So now, as Jesus has commanded and as you have called me to proclaim—by the authority of God and of my holy office, I declare to you the gracious forgiveness of all your sins, in the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit. 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 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)
The Third Sunday after Michaelmas/Trinity 21 – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. John 4:46-54
In Christ Jesus, our Refuge, our Strength, our very present Help in trouble, our Lord and our Savior, dear fellow redeemed:
Between the church and the government, which one needs the other more? The church relies on the government for keeping order in our society, carrying out justice, and maintaining the infrastructure that allows us to travel freely. The church shows its respect for government officials by speaking well of them and praying for them. The government relies on the church to promote responsible citizenship, show kindness and charity to people in need, and provide hope to the hurting. The government shows its respect for the church by upholding the free exercise of religion and waiving certain taxes that would otherwise apply.
We don’t want a government that runs the church or a church that runs the government. One is focused on this life and operates especially by the Law. The other is focused on the life to come and operates especially by the Gospel. We need them both. The problems happen when the government tries to act like the savior, and when the church thinks its highest calling is social work or social activism.
Both the church on earth and the government are flawed, because both are made up of sinners. What church officials and government officials often forget is that they answer to a higher power. The first chapter of Ephesians reminds us that God the Father raised His Son Jesus Christ “from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body” (1:20-23).
Today’s Gospel reading features a government official who came to Jesus for help. But he didn’t really understand who Jesus was. He didn’t come to Him for the right reasons. The official’s son was sick, even to the point of death. No doubt every remedy, every treatment, had been tried. They were running out of options, running out of time. It breaks our hearts to see any child suffering with a severe illness or disease, and the anguish would be so much greater if it were our own child.
At this time, Jesus was returning to Galilee after traveling through Samaria from Jerusalem. He came to the town of Cana where He had performed His first major sign—turning water into wine at a wedding. The Galileans were excited to see Him, because some of them had been in Jerusalem with Jesus and had seen Him perform miracles (Joh. 4:45).
The official also heard about Jesus’ arrival, and he hurried from Capernaum to Cana, a distance of about twenty miles. He went looking for Jesus because he heard that Jesus could do miracles. Maybe He could heal his son! But it wasn’t that Jesus was his only hope; it was more like a last resort. He went to Him only when all other options had failed.
Jesus, who knows all things and sees what is in the heart, replied to the official’s plea for help with words that sound a little harsh, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” These are words of Law, and the Law is always harsh. Jesus was telling the government official that he was focusing on the wrong thing. He was focused on signs and wonders and not on the Savior who performs them.
But Jesus wasn’t speaking just to the official. He was speaking to everyone. He used the plural in His response: “Unless you [people, you all] see signs and wonders you will not believe.” It is the same message He told Thomas after He rose from the dead, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (Joh. 20:29). While everyone on earth is looking for signs, Jesus is looking for faith.
“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Faith is not, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Faith is, “I see when I believe.” But what exactly does faith “see”? What should it look for? Some preachers say that if your faith is pure enough, if you believe hard enough, you can obtain whatever blessings from God that you want. You can believe yourself into better health, better relationships, better jobs. And you know what that is? That is focusing on the signs and wonders.
As much as you might want your situation to improve, as much as you might believe that things will get better, things might not get better. Your health or the health of someone you love might continue to decline. Those who have wronged you might not apologize, and those you have wronged might not forgive you. If your faith is tied up too much in the result that you want God to bring about, you might be on the way to losing your faith.
We cannot expect God to do for us what He has not promised to do. Faith does not rely on what might be. Faith relies on what is. The only foundation for faith is the unchanging Word of God. “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). We gain strength in our suffering and confidence for the future by “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb. 12:2).
Why Jesus? Because Jesus is not just another prophet like the prophets of old. He is not just a miracle worker. His concern is not just for helping the sick, the poor, and the needy in this life. Jesus is God, God incarnate. God became man for a higher purpose than signs and wonders. He came to save souls. He came to save your soul. Whether you are healthy or unhealthy, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are powerful or weak in the world, you are a sinner. And sinners deserve to go to hell.
You don’t deserve happy days or great successes. You don’t have the right to expect any good thing from God. But God loved you. He “so loved the world, that he gave his only Son” (Joh. 3:16). Jesus came willingly to be everything before God that you have failed to be and could not be. He came to be a perfect keeper of God’s Law for you, perfectly obeying God’s will and loving His neighbors. He came to be a perfect sacrifice for your sins, perfectly atoning for every wrong you have done.
Jesus made atonement with His blood for the times you grew impatient in trials or angry in suffering, when you looked everywhere else for help instead of to Him, when you pinned your hopes to the fleeting and failing things of this world instead of to God’s unchanging Word. “I forgive all these sins,” says Jesus. “The price has been paid in full. It is finished.”
If Jesus could solve a problem as awful as your sin and as terrible as your death, then He can handle the smaller problems you have in your day-to-day life. Jesus is not your last resort. He is not even just your starting point. Jesus is your everything. He is your medicine when you are sick. He is your comfort when you suffer. He is your peace in distress. He is your certain hope whenever death comes.
The lesson Jesus taught the government official—and us too—is not to put our trust in a sign, but to put our trust in His Word. Jesus said to the official, “Go; your son will live.” How could the official know that this would happen? How could he be sure that his son would live if Jesus was not there to lay His hands on him? He knew it because the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart through the Word of Jesus. “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” And his son was healed the very moment that Jesus spoke.
You don’t need Jesus to come to you visibly to know that He is real. You don’t need Him to lay His hands on you to receive His blessing. You have His Word, His powerful Word, the same Word that healed the sick, expelled demons, and raised the dead back to life. His Word is at work in you by the power of the Holy Spirit to increase and strengthen your faith and to bring you all the eternal blessings of God.
No matter what you are going through—mental turmoil, physical pain, emotional distress—Jesus is present in His Word and Sacraments. He is not far away somewhere in the sky. He is not twenty miles away. He is right here with all His power and glory for you. He is here with forgiveness. He is here with healing. He is here with life. He is here to continue the good work in you that He will bring to completion when He returns visibly on the last day (Phi. 1:6).
Jesus reigns over all things—church, government, the world, the universe—and yet you are not too small to receive His attention. He looks upon you with eyes of mercy. He sees you, which is far more comforting than you being able to see Him. Why Jesus? You can trust Him because He sacrificed Himself to redeem you from sin and death. When Jesus? You can trust Him today and every day, knowing that no problem, no trial, and no wicked scheme of the devil is bigger or more powerful than 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 “The Healing of the Officer’s Son” by James Tissot, 1836-1902)
The Second Sunday after Michaelmas/Trinity 20 – Pr. Faugstad sermon
Text: St. Matthew 22:1-14
In Christ Jesus, who graciously calls you to the feast of His salvation and clothes you in the garments of His righteousness, dear fellow redeemed:
Black SUVs pull up to your house, and professional-looking folks step out, walk up to your door, and ring the bell. So you brush the crumbs off your shirt, check your hair, and go to open the door. It turns out that these people have been sent by the governor. They hand you an invitation and tell you that you are personally invited to be the honored guest at a banquet one week from now.
Once the shock wears off, you realize you have some preparations to make. You can’t show up in blue jeans, so you’ll have to go shopping for formal attire. And it’s about time for a haircut. When the day comes, you leave your house and head for the car. You feel a little awkward being dressed up so much, and you kind of hope the neighbors don’t see you. But when you get to the banquet, you are glad you made the preparations you did. You look like you belong. It’s going to be a great evening.
But let’s back up. Maybe you don’t think much of the governor. When the personal invitation arrives, and you are told you will be the honored guest, you let it be known that you are not interested in going. You would rather do just about anything else, and they can tell their boss you said so. Then you shut the door with a little extra force and go back to your couch and your crumbs.
That’s how the invited guests reacted to the king’s invitation when the wedding feast for his son was ready. Some of them did even worse. Not only did they reject the invitation, but they also killed the servants of the king! When Jesus told this part of His parable, He was referring to His people, the Israelites. They were the people of God’s promise. They were the ones from whom the Savior would come.
But so often, they lost sight of this promise. They chased after the gods of the world. Out of love for His people, God sent prophets to call them back to repentance and faith (ex. 2Ch. 24:19). They didn’t have to lose their place at the wedding feast. But the people did not want to listen. They “seized [the Lord’s] servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.” This happened to more than a few prophets. So eventually God sent the Babylonians to “[destroy] those murderers and [burn] their city.”
Jesus’ words are a sobering message for all of us. There are severe consequences for ignoring the Lord’s invitation and for mistreating His servants. St. Paul writes, “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Gal. 6:7). The people of the world think their work and their possessions are far more important than the Word of God. They don’t need the Church! They don’t need someone pushing religion on them. If there is a god, they figure they will come out better with Him than all the hypocritical Christians. But God will judge them for ignoring His Word when it was right there for them. He wanted to save them, but they rejected Him.
We see how generous God is with His invitations by the king sending his servants to gather up as many as they could find out on the road, whether bad or good. The people whom God invites to His feast of salvation are not just the outwardly good, not just the nice ones and the generous ones. He invites sinners of all kinds to come to His table. If we could interview the saints in heaven about their past—which more than likely they will not remember in that place of blessedness and perfection—we might be shocked that they are even there.
How could God let people like them in? Because none of us gets to heaven by our own personal goodness. We get to heaven by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith. Jesus told the religious leaders, “the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you” (Mat. 21:31). Shocking! Why is that the case? Because “the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed [God],” while the religious leaders did not (v. 32). The religious leaders thought their personal goodness was good enough.
Jesus shows us how empty our own righteousness is by the guest in the wedding hall who came without a wedding garment on. This wasn’t a matter of poverty. The king would have gladly provided a change of clothes to this guest. What happened was that the guest refused it. He wanted to attend the wedding feast on his own terms. He thought he was better than the king. He thought he deserved to be there. And what happened to him? He was bound hand and foot and cast into the outer darkness.
This is a picture for us of why our practice of Closed Communion is so important. We insist that all who commune here are properly prepared for what they receive. Each one of you knows how to prepare. You come with humble and repentant hearts, knowing that you have sinned and wanting to do better. You trust that Jesus’ promise of forgiveness is true, and that He actually forgives your sins through the Supper of His body and blood. You come to this feast wearing the righteousness He provides you by faith.
You are also aware that you could receive Communion to your harm. If you are not truly sorry for your sins, if you do not want to stop sinning, if you do not believe that Jesus gives you what He says He does in Communion, then Jesus comes to you as Judge rather than as Savior. Our King does not invite us to Holy Communion on our own terms. It is not our Supper; it is His Supper—the Lord’s Supper. If we do not talk with non-members about what they believe, and if we don’t strive for real unity on the basis of God’s Word, we will be guilty of confirming them in their errors and sins. We will make them think they can come before God whether they are dressed in the proper attire or not.
But isn’t it enough that a person says he or she is a Christian or a Lutheran? Can’t we leave it up to them to decide if they should come forward? Let’s think of it this way: Suppose your favorite football team is having a special event for its fans. Everyone comes wearing the same colors. They share the same confidence in their team, the same loyalty. They know everything about the team’s history, the team’s failures and victories, the team’s traditions. It’s like a family.
But then a group of fans shows up wearing another team’s colors, maybe the colors of the rival team. They have very different traditions. They have different chants and cheers; they sing different songs. And they expect to be let right in to this special event. Of course they meet some resistance at the door. “Why can’t we come in?” they ask. “Don’t we love the same sport? Aren’t we all football fans? Isn’t one team just as good as another?”
We do not believe that one church is just as good as another. The different churches around us do not teach the same thing. They do not look at the Bible in the same way, and that’s even true of other Lutherans. Out of love for God and His Word, we insist that all who commune at our altar be willing to learn what the Bible teaches and express their full agreement with it. Then we have true unity, and that is a great blessing! You know that the people to the left of you and to the right of you at the Communion rail share the same faith. They are fellow believers—members with you in the family of God.
We are called together to partake of the King’s feast. The King, our heavenly Father, sent the invitation to us who were far away from Him, lost in the darkness of our own sin and unbelief. He called us to attend the wedding feast, to enter the kingdom of His Son, to receive the gifts of His righteousness and salvation.
Many are invited to the feast of God’s Son, “many are called, but few are chosen.” This should be very humbling for us. We do not deserve to receive the rich blessings of God. By nature, we were opposed to His rule, but He changed our minds and hearts by His grace. We were dressed in the filthy rags of our sin, and He made us fit to stand before Him by washing away our sin and clothing us in the perfection of Jesus.
Not one of us is worthy to receive the body and blood of our Savior in Holy Communion here on earth or to join Him at His eternal feast in heaven. But He warmly invites us and welcomes us. He knows our hearts, our struggles, our sins, and He calls us to be cleansed again by His blood, covered again in His righteousness.
“Come to the wedding feast,” He says. “The table is set for you and for all who hear the invitation with repentance and faith. Come and delight yourself with rich food! Come and be filled! Be strengthened and satisfied!” And we humbly reply:
Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray Thee,
Let me gladly here obey Thee.
By Thy love I am invited;
Be Thy love with love requited.
From this Supper let me measure,
Lord, how vast and deep love’s treasure.
Through the gifts Thou here dost give me
As Thy guest in heav’n receive me.
(Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #328, v. 9)
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 “Parable of the Great Banquet” by the Brunswick Monogrammist, 16th century)
The First Sunday after Michaelmas (Trinity 19) – Vicar Cody Anderson sermon
Text: St. Matthew 9:1-8
In Christ Jesus, who knows your heart and is the cure for your soul, forgiving your sins, dear fellow redeemed:
Jesus is early on in his ministry. After giving the sermon on the Mount, he has been performing many miracles. He healed 10 lepers, he healed a Centurion’s servant and the Centurion showed great faith. He continues to heal many and with his disciples he calmed a storm out at sea. There is so much for Jesus to do in his ministry, he continues to work. After healing two men who were possessed by many demons, Jesus is now on his way home.
Jesus upon going home is met with a crowd. As Jesus fame begins to spread, the crowds don’t just disperse once Jesus helps them, they travel. What a time for them to be alive. The world has not witnessed anything like this since the prophets of the Old Testament were prophesying for the Lord. The last prophet was roughly 400 years before the birth of Christ. Now this man is doing those same signs and wonders but in abundance. This is exciting so the people want to see. Jesus entered a house, and the people crowded inside around him. Some men came along carrying their paralyzed friend on a bed, but they could not get through to Jesus. So they looked for another way. For them this is so important. They cut a hole in the roof for him to be lowered down to Jesus.
What we expect is for Jesus to say to the paralyzed man, “Get up and walk!” But that is not what He says, not at first. He said, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” The Pharisees and scribes did not like this. “Blasphemy!” they thought. “Only God can forgive sins, not this man Jesus.” The Pharisees make a great charge against Jesus. They have had a problem with him ever since he came on to the scene. They were the religious leaders. They were in charge of the people’s spiritual needs. Now Jesus is stepping into the mix and stealing their thunder. They believe that Jesus is not the Son of God and that he doesn’t have a direct line of communication with God. The Pharisees think they know the Scriptures better than the people. Yet, they fail to see what is being said by the prophets. The Pharisees have failed their job in being the religious leaders of the people.
The Pharisees have failed their jobs as the religious leaders because they are looking at the works that they do. They think that they are living lives perfectly obeying the laws that they have put in place. They have created these laws that are not found in Scripture. They then take a step back and look down on the people. They are much higher than they. Their religious lives are so much better. So now they wonder how can Jesus say what he said. How can he say that the man’s sins are forgiven?
Like the Pharisees, we can get worked up when we hear Jesus say these words. As we try to hide our own sins, we can start to do the same thing, looking down on others with that evil in our hearts. We think forgiveness shouldn’t come so easily. We think people should have to prove that they are worthy of God’s love by living good lives like we do. If it were up to us, there are certain sins that we would not forgive. If people are let off too easily, won’t it just encourage them to sin even more?
The Pharisees call out Jesus as a blasphemer. Only God can forgive sins. They are right about this. However now we see where they struggle with Jesus. They are watching a man do miracles, helping the people, things that they weren’t doing and Jesus gives them the question of which is easier, to forgive the man his sins, or to tell him to get up and walk? Jesus proves he is God. He tells them that he knows what is in their hearts. Then he shows them his power, that he is God guaranteeing that the man’s sins are forgiven he tells the man to rise and walk!
Jesus sees the root of the problem. He sees the sin in people’s hearts. The sins that they hold on to. Jesus sees the faith that the men had when they lowered their friend down to him. Jesus then addresses the man’s problem. A problem that only he could see. The man had guilt for his sins. Even though the man was coming to be healed physically, Jesus gave the man assurance that the sins that he had committed, that weighed him down, they were forgiven.
The man who is paralyzed has the same problem we all share. You and I are sinners. There will be many times where we will not want to acknowledge it. We will want to call others out for our troubles, we will want to play the blame game. We will try to hide our sins. We will bury them deep within us. Like that man we can be brought in front of Jesus and wonder can he really forgive my sins. Are you and I worthy to even have them forgiven? We have our faith that Jesus will do it, yet more often than not we doubt him. We would rather stay in our sins instead of confess them and then we end up at the point where they fester so much that we wonder if Jesus will even love us for what we have done.
It sounds so simple to hear the words “Your sins are forgiven.” But how can we be sure?
The Son of Man shows that he has the power to forgive sinners. He sees the problem at play. It isn’t the earthly problem of paralysis. It is the spiritual problem. Jesus addresses this problem by removing the sins. Jesus puts our sins away for good. There is no reason to wonder on if they can be forgiven. Jesus words are final. Your slate, like the paralytic, has been washed clean by Jesus’ blood shed for you on the cross. Jesus paid for all of our sins. The ones that you committed a long time ago, the ones committed last week, the ones that will be committed today, and the ones that will be committed in the future. All of these sins have been washed away by Jesus who paid for them with his perfect life and innocent death.
The paralytic man had a deeper problem than his paralysis. Jesus addressed it. Jesus answers the question of what is easier. He shows his power, he shows that he is God when he tells the man to rise and walk. The miracle happens showing that he is the Son of Man, that he is God. Because of what Jesus has done you do not need to ever question if your sins are forgiven. Jesus has paid for them with his death on the cross.
The Means of Grace bring you this forgiveness. This forgiveness is not something you have to look ahead for or try to earn. This forgiveness comes to you, right now. Every divine service in the absolution, you hear the words of Jesus, “I forgive you all your sins.” Confession and Absolution ties into your Baptism. Holy Communion gives forgiveness of sins right at the altar. A beautiful treasure receiving Christ’s body and blood, having your sins taken away. The sermon shows you your sin and shows how those sins are forgiven, the Law and the Gospel. The Benediction is spoken to give you peace, assuring that your sins have been taken away. There is no waiting, forgiveness is yours here and now. This is the assurance that you have because of what Jesus has done for you with his death on the cross. This is what you can be sure of, Jesus has died and risen, for you.
The physical and spiritual ailments of this life will only stay in this life. The troubles that plague us might look like they will never leave, and maybe some of them will stick with us until the day we die. Jesus has taken care of the spiritual problems for us so that God sees us through rose-colored lenses. We could be condemned because of the sin that we do, the sin that we do each day. God’s vision does not see what we have done because of what Christ has done for us. Our sins have been washed away in the blood of the lamb which is the greatest gift that you or I could receive. Just as the man was healed of his illness, so too when we die, we will be healed when our bodies are glorified. All of the pain, trials, and temptations will not come with us. We will have a home with Jesus forever.
The Son of Man does forgive sins. Jesus proves the sins of the paralytic are forgiven by healing him. This is our comfort as well. You know you are forgiven here and now. It is not something earned. It has been given to you. Your sins are not too big to be taken away. All of your sins have been washed away. The burden is lifted. You do not need to think that you have done something so evil that Jesus would turn his back. He has taken the punishment that you deserved. As he said to the paralyzed man, so he also says to you, “take heart, your sins are forgiven!” 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 woodcut by Julius Schnorr von Carolsfeld, 1794-1872)