Mission Festival/Bethany Sunday – Prof. Mark DeGarmeaux sermon
Text: Psalm 118:15-17

“Dear Christians, one and all—Rejoice!” That hymn was written by Martin Luther 500 years ago and printed in the first Lutheran hymnbook, along with 7 others. It is based on the text of Psalm 118. Luther also wrote a little musical piece based on these verses: “I shall not die but live and declare the works of the Lord.”

The last part of that verse really tells us the purpose and mission of the church: to proclaim the wonderful works of God. The most wonderful work of God is forgiveness and salvation, purchased through the blood of Jesus, God’s Son, shed on the cross. The crowds of Pentecost heard the Apostles preaching in many languages. They said: “We hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” John wrote in his Gospel: “These are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

Our text is from Psalm 118. The Jewish people sang this psalm as they travelled up to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. Think of what that means. The first Passover happened when the people of Israel were slaves in Egypt. God was sending the Tenth Plague upon Egypt, killing every firstborn. — Imagine if we lost every firstborn animal in Iowa. It would be devastating. If we lost every firstborn human, it would be unthinkable. — Through faith, the Israelites were spared, when they sacrificed the Passover Lamb and painted its blood on the doorposts of their house.

This commemoration continued through the centuries. When Jesus was 12 years old, His family travelled to Jerusalem for this festival of Passover. Young Jesus stayed behind and discussed the Scriptures with the teachers of the synagogue. They were “astonished at His understanding and answers.” When Mary and Joseph found Him, three days later, He said: “Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?” Jesus’ business is the business of the Temple; it is the Word of God. Mary and Joseph taught Jesus the Word of God as He was growing up. Jesus knew these words of Scripture were about Him and His work of salvation. He is true God and has all knowledge and all authority in heaven and on earth, but as a child, He submits to His earthly parents to obey them and learn from them.

Each time they travelled to Jerusalem, they sang these words, and Jesus sang with them: “Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar.” He knew that one day, He would be that Passover lamb slaughtered to redeem not only the firstborn of Israel, but the whole world. He would carry all our sins.

Some 20 years later, Jesus entered Jerusalem again on Palm Sunday. He heard the people singing these words from Psalm 118: “Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

The Psalm also includes these joyful words: “The voice of rejoicing and salvation Is in the tents of the righteous; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted; The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.”

Dear Christians—one and all—rejoice! We come to church to rejoice in the work of God and to thank Him for His victory over sin, death, and Satan. “The right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” That’s why we can rejoice. Jesus does the work of His Father. He lives a sinless and perfect life—because we cannot. He offers Himself as the sacrifice—to pay for our sins. This is “the work of the Lord, the wondrous work of God” which we hear in this Psalm, and at Pentecost, and whenever we gather together in church.

We sing: Lord have mercy — in thanks and adoration to God who is merciful. With the angels we sing “All glory be to God on high who hath our race befriended.” We praise the newborn Christ as our Savior. We say: I believe in God the Father, in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord, and in the Holy Spirit. This Holy Triune God is our Maker, Redeemer, and Comforter. Without Him we cannot live or move or have our being.

What wondrous works He does! He created the whole world. We teach this to our children. We continue to learn it and confess it throughout our life. God is our Maker. We marvel at His creation, at seedtime and harvest.

What wondrous works God does! He washes away our sins in Holy Baptism. Each day we can remember that we are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Our children must learn that they too are redeemed children of God. Their sins are washed away. — But how easy for us to continue in our sin. We fail each day, every one of us. But God’s mercies are abundant and new every morning. He casts our sins into the depths of the sea so they can never come back to accuse us. He rebukes and restrains Satan so He cannot really attack and accuse us. God allows temptations, but only so far. Through these trials we are strengthened in our faith, our trust, and our reliance on God.

As we sing through Luther’s hymn, we sense with him our powerlessness: “My good works so imperfect were … To hell I fast was sinking.” The Catechism teaches us: “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ.” Faith itself is a gift from God. Salvation is by God’s free grace, “without any merit or worthiness in me.”

The hymn also directs us to the remedy of our sinfulness: “Then God beheld my wretched state, Sin brooded darkly o’er me.” “He spoke to His beloved Son: ’Tis time to have compassion … Bring to man salvation.”

It is because of these truths of Scripture that Luther chose words from this Psalm as a kind of motto for his life: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” As children we learn to pray: “Into your hands I commend myself, my body and soul and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me that the wicked foe may have no power over me.”

When we hear these wondrous works of God in Holy Scripture, God the Holy Spirit Himself comes with them to create and strengthen faith in our hearts. This happens in preaching, in Baptism, in the Lord’s Supper, in the Absolution, and whenever the powerful and saving Word of God comes to us. That Word always points us to Christ our Savior. We cannot separate Christ from the Scriptures, or the Scriptures from Christ. They are one. Jesus Himself is the Word of God, as St John tells us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us.”

The Word of God is taught among us in our Sunday services, Bible classes, Catechism classes, and whenever we gather for devotions at church or at home. This also happens in our Lutheran schools and Lutheran home schools, wherever they may be. It also happens at our Bethany Lutheran College. The Word of God is the foundation of Bethany. Classes are taught with the understanding that God’s Word is true, that God created the world, that God gives us His commands for living, and God redeems us from our sin. The Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for our sins is the One Thing Needful that is the core of what Bethany Lutheran College stands for.

In science classes we learn about evolution, but we are taught the truth that God created the world in six days. In history classes we learn about many different worldviews, but we know that God is in control of the world. In theatre and music and art we learn about various styles of art, but we learn to value what is good, noble, true, and virtuous. In psychology and sociology we learn many theories of human behavior, but we know foundationally the Scriptural truth that all people are born sinful and corrupt, and also that God established traditional marriage and family as the foundation of human society. We learn to care about other people, as God cares for us. We learn forgive each other as God forgives us.

In the world, we hear so many different voices. The world declares its own works, its own ideas, its own powers. Today people think they can choose their own version of truth and reality. But in the church, it is God’s work and God’s power that is central to our faith and our salvation.

So we teach our children, and we teach each other, what the Word of God says. “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.” It is also what our Lord Jesus says in His words to the disciples before His Ascension: “Go therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you.”

We do this also in our seminary, in our mission fields, and with sister churches around the world. Some of our pastors are helping a seminary in Kenya to train pastors to serve our brothers and sisters there. We have sent missionaries and seminary graduates to Peru, Chile, Latvia, Czech Republic, Norway, Korea, and Australia. Their work is our work together: to declare the works of the Lord, to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the Old Testament the people were instructed to teach their children the truths of God’s Word: “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”

Jesus Himself said: “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it.” The Word of God is a treasure in our life. We use the Word of God when we pray, when we have devotions and Bible reading at home, when we come to church and Bible class and Catechism class. It is a treasure because by God’s power and authority it forgives our sins. This saving Gospel of Jesus Christ who lived a holy life for us, died an innocent death for us, and rose from the dead for us—this Gospel is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes.

This is the work and mission of the church and of all Christian schools: to declare the works of God, to proclaim forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Savior. In this we have joy, as the Psalmist says: “The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous.” And this is because “the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.” And so we say with the Psalmist and with Martin Luther: “I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.”

Dear Christians, one and all, rejoice! Proclaim the wonders God hath done. Rejoice in God’s promise of salvation and eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Savior. 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 “Entry of Christ into Jerusalem” by Pietro Lorenzetti, 1320)