Below is the link to the April Immanuel and St. John's Newsletter.
Included this month:
- What is the Triduum?
- Phyllis' Funeral Hotdish
- Herbert Mueller Information
- Ice Cube Recipe? - What? :-)
Thursday, March 31, 2011
April 2011 News and Views from the Pews
Included this month:
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Lent Midweek 3 - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Redeemed Me a Lost and Condemned Person
This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE.
“Peter! What are you doing? Tell the truth! You are the Lord’s disciple! Don’t deny it. If there ever was the time to ‘man up’ and confess Jesus as Lord, then now is the time! Look, Peter! It’s all a set up. They’ve brought in false witnesses! They’re spitting in His face. Pounding Him with haymakers. Mocking Him. Peter! Do something! Speak up man! Stand up for Jesus!”
Instead, he is offended and ashamed. Doesn’t want to be caught dead as one of Jesus’ friends. While he warms himself by the fire of wood and charcoal his inner fire of love for Jesus grows very cold! Three times when asked, “You’re one of Jesus’ disciples?” he denies it!
Outright! Bold! Daring! Audacious! Shouting! In denying Jesus! Peter the denier! With oaths and curses! “I swear to God I don’t Him!” “I’ll be damned if I ever knew that accursed man who’s going to His death! I don’t have anything to do with Him!”
And then the rooster crows a second time. A thousand roosters could have screamed themselves to death and yet Peter remains defiantly un-offended by his words and actions. Doesn’t even know his great fall into sin.
And that’s when Jesus looks at Peter. Finally, his sin hits him like a ton of bricks. He’s a lost and condemned sinner on his own. Yes, that’s right, Peter – lost and condemned sinner! He breaks down. Runs away. And weeps uncontrollably.
We too are lost and condemned sinners. Do not begin to believe that we are any better than Peter. We are Christ’s disciples. His Christians. And yet how often do we in our words and lives deny that we are Christ’s? How often are we offended by this poor, beaten, and mocked Jesus?
“Aren’t you a Christian? I thought you are baptized?” And you say: “I swear to God I’m not! I’ll be damned if you think I’m a Christian! I don’t know that Jesus! I’ve never had anything to do with Him!”
Lost and condemned sinners we are. No better than Peter. Just like with Peter the Lord Jesus gives us loads and loads of rooster-crowings as we are stuck in the mud of sin. To show us our sin. To reveal how far we have fallen. And then to lead us to repentance. He breaks our hearts. Shatters them. Tears us away from trusting in ourselves to clinging to Him.
And when He looks on He has pity -- mercy. “Poor Peter. Poor Kuhlman. Poor Reggie. Poor Alice. How they have fallen into the deep slime of sin. And they can’t get out. I’ll get them out. I’ll save them.”
Jesus, you remember, told Peter that He would pray for His disciple. So that Peter’s faith in Jesus would not cease. Even in the midst of such naked, ugly, self-absorbing sin! Peter ran away and then after the resurrection (John 21) he confessed Jesus three times just as he denied Jesus three times:
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Feed my lambs.”
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Take care of my sheep.”
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter: [hurt] “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Feed my sheep.”
Unlike Peter, there was Judas. He despaired of such a Jesus. Oh, he too was very sorry. The betrayal was wrong. Very wrong. He betrayed an innocent man! The God-man Jesus! He confesses his sin – but not to Jesus. And so he receives no mercy. He is thrown back on and to himself by the religious experts of the day: “That’s none of our business!” they clamor. “Take care of your problem by yourself!” Bad advice. Deadly advice. Judas did just that. Hung himself. Without Jesus and His mercy Judas remained a lost and condemned person.
Not so for Peter or for you. Oh, yes, lost and condemned persons we are. But Jesus has not abandoned us. All is forgiven. You are died for by Jesus! Good Fridayed and washed in the blood of the Lamb that takes away all sin. The world’s and yours! Redeemed. Bought back. Restored. Living in God’s favor. Forgiven sinners. All for Christ’s sake. He will never turn away from you. He will never deny you.
You are His! He’s marked you and branded you with His Name at the font. Buried you with Him into His death for all your sin. And He extends the benefits of His atoning death that counts for you when He says: “Eat this bread. It’s my Body. Drink from that cup. That wine is my body. And I promise you that your sin is forgiven.” So, as often as you come to the Supper to eat that bread and drink that wine you proclaim His death – that it truly counts for you – until He comes in glory on the last day!
And at the Sacrament of the Altar the Lord Jesus gives you the opportunity to confess. Confess what? This: “Yes, I know that Jesus! He’s the Savior! He died for me a lost and condemned person. And for you too! He’s everything! I’m nothing!”
In the Name of Jesus.
“Peter! What are you doing? Tell the truth! You are the Lord’s disciple! Don’t deny it. If there ever was the time to ‘man up’ and confess Jesus as Lord, then now is the time! Look, Peter! It’s all a set up. They’ve brought in false witnesses! They’re spitting in His face. Pounding Him with haymakers. Mocking Him. Peter! Do something! Speak up man! Stand up for Jesus!”
Instead, he is offended and ashamed. Doesn’t want to be caught dead as one of Jesus’ friends. While he warms himself by the fire of wood and charcoal his inner fire of love for Jesus grows very cold! Three times when asked, “You’re one of Jesus’ disciples?” he denies it!
Outright! Bold! Daring! Audacious! Shouting! In denying Jesus! Peter the denier! With oaths and curses! “I swear to God I don’t Him!” “I’ll be damned if I ever knew that accursed man who’s going to His death! I don’t have anything to do with Him!”
And then the rooster crows a second time. A thousand roosters could have screamed themselves to death and yet Peter remains defiantly un-offended by his words and actions. Doesn’t even know his great fall into sin.
And that’s when Jesus looks at Peter. Finally, his sin hits him like a ton of bricks. He’s a lost and condemned sinner on his own. Yes, that’s right, Peter – lost and condemned sinner! He breaks down. Runs away. And weeps uncontrollably.
We too are lost and condemned sinners. Do not begin to believe that we are any better than Peter. We are Christ’s disciples. His Christians. And yet how often do we in our words and lives deny that we are Christ’s? How often are we offended by this poor, beaten, and mocked Jesus?
“Aren’t you a Christian? I thought you are baptized?” And you say: “I swear to God I’m not! I’ll be damned if you think I’m a Christian! I don’t know that Jesus! I’ve never had anything to do with Him!”
Lost and condemned sinners we are. No better than Peter. Just like with Peter the Lord Jesus gives us loads and loads of rooster-crowings as we are stuck in the mud of sin. To show us our sin. To reveal how far we have fallen. And then to lead us to repentance. He breaks our hearts. Shatters them. Tears us away from trusting in ourselves to clinging to Him.
And when He looks on He has pity -- mercy. “Poor Peter. Poor Kuhlman. Poor Reggie. Poor Alice. How they have fallen into the deep slime of sin. And they can’t get out. I’ll get them out. I’ll save them.”
Jesus, you remember, told Peter that He would pray for His disciple. So that Peter’s faith in Jesus would not cease. Even in the midst of such naked, ugly, self-absorbing sin! Peter ran away and then after the resurrection (John 21) he confessed Jesus three times just as he denied Jesus three times:
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Feed my lambs.”
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me?”
Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Take care of my sheep.”
Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you love me?”
Peter: [hurt] “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”
Jesus: “Feed my sheep.”
Unlike Peter, there was Judas. He despaired of such a Jesus. Oh, he too was very sorry. The betrayal was wrong. Very wrong. He betrayed an innocent man! The God-man Jesus! He confesses his sin – but not to Jesus. And so he receives no mercy. He is thrown back on and to himself by the religious experts of the day: “That’s none of our business!” they clamor. “Take care of your problem by yourself!” Bad advice. Deadly advice. Judas did just that. Hung himself. Without Jesus and His mercy Judas remained a lost and condemned person.
Not so for Peter or for you. Oh, yes, lost and condemned persons we are. But Jesus has not abandoned us. All is forgiven. You are died for by Jesus! Good Fridayed and washed in the blood of the Lamb that takes away all sin. The world’s and yours! Redeemed. Bought back. Restored. Living in God’s favor. Forgiven sinners. All for Christ’s sake. He will never turn away from you. He will never deny you.
You are His! He’s marked you and branded you with His Name at the font. Buried you with Him into His death for all your sin. And He extends the benefits of His atoning death that counts for you when He says: “Eat this bread. It’s my Body. Drink from that cup. That wine is my body. And I promise you that your sin is forgiven.” So, as often as you come to the Supper to eat that bread and drink that wine you proclaim His death – that it truly counts for you – until He comes in glory on the last day!
And at the Sacrament of the Altar the Lord Jesus gives you the opportunity to confess. Confess what? This: “Yes, I know that Jesus! He’s the Savior! He died for me a lost and condemned person. And for you too! He’s everything! I’m nothing!”
In the Name of Jesus.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Lent 3 - 2011 - G - Jesus KnowsYour Secret Sins and Still Loves You
John 4
5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. [1]
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. [2] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson read, especially this verse, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, Secrets. Every single one of us have secrets. Things that we don’t want those around us to know about. Things that we are afraid to bring up, or to even hint at. We will do anything in our power to keep them secret, to lock them up and hide them away. In fact often with our secrets, we even try to hide them from ourselves.
That is what the woman in our text today is dealing with. She has gone out to fetch water from the local well, just like she had probably hundreds of times before. She waits to go out until the hottest part of the day, to avoid meeting other people, to avoid people who might know her secret. You see, she has a secret that she tries to keep buried away, where no one can see it. Her secret? That she has been married 5 times before, and that each of those marriages has ended for one reason or another. Finally she has given up on marriage all together, and is now in a relationship outside of that sacred bond, living with a man that is not her husband at all.
As she goes out something is different. As she arrives at the well, there is a man there, a man weary from travel. The man asks her for a drink. The woman is caught off guard. She doesn’t like speaking to people, she doesn’t want to open up her life to anyone, let alone this man. “How can you a Jew talk to me a Samaritan woman? Don’t you know that you Jews don’t get along with us Samaritans?” In other words, leave me and my secrets alone. Don’t pry where I feel you have no business.
But this man is not a regular polite man. This man is the Way the Truth and the Life incarnate. He is God’s living Son hidden in human flesh. This is Jesus. Jesus doesn’t allow secrets to separate Him from His people, be they Jew, or Samaritan, or even you.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life”
This response catches the woman off guard. She isn’t sure what to think, or how to respond. The words of Jesus, the words of God have caught her off guard. Suddenly she is interested. No more thirst? That means she won’t have to sneak to the well, that means she won’t have to avoid other people on her way, it means she would be able to keep her secret. “Give me this water, Sir, that I may drink and not have to come to this well every day.”
But now Jesus’ word calls out her secret. Now Jesus pulls out her secret and its fullness. “Go and get your husband first, and I will give you this water.” Jesus’ question hits close to her secret. “I have no husband she replies,” trying again to avoid her shameful secret. But Jesus already knows her secret. Jesus already knows her sin. He already knows about five husbands. He already knows she is in a relationship outside of marriage. There is no point for the woman to play any more games with Jesus. He knows and won’t look the other way.
Friends, what secrets do you try to keep from Jesus? What things to you hide away in your heart hoping that no one will ever find out about? What secrets do you have? Are they related to sex and marriage, just as the woman in our text? Have you been in an extra marital affair that you know was wrong, and are now hiding it? Have you lived with someone who was not your spouse or have you condoned this behavior for friends or family? Or are your secrets a little more subtle than that? Have you stolen, have you lied, have you hurt someone? Have you gossiped, judged, desired revenge? Do you feel shame about some terrible action that you have done? Do you lock up those sins out of fear and shame and hide them away? Do you try not to even think about them?
Friends each person here, each and every person, has sinful secrets that they do not want to be known. Each of us has these secrets because each of us is a sinner. Each of us has turned against God in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. We know we have done them, and we know that we are often embarrassed and ashamed of how we have done them. We don’t want to confess that sin. We don’t want to tell anyone about it, we hide it and keep it secret hoping beyond hope that it will go away.
But friends, just like in our text today, Jesus knows your sin. Jesus knows your sin, you can’t keep it hidden from him. You can’t lock it away from him, because just like the sin of the woman in our text, Jesus knows. Jesus knows what you are ashamed and embarrassed of. Jesus knows what wrong things you hide away. Jesus knows, and Jesus does not condemn you, just as he does not condemn the woman at the well.
Jesus does not condemn you, because he has taken your sin upon himself in the “living waters” of Holy Baptism. In those waters He knows your sin because He has taken your sin upon himself and borne it to a bloody cross where he killed it. In those waters of baptism, those sins, even those secret ones, are drowned and destroyed in water, as you are raised into eternal life. You receive forgiveness, life and salvation as your sin dies with Jesus in the living water of Holy Baptism. And as you rise again you will never thirst again, because in Jesus you receive everything that you need to support this life and body.
What is more, as you come to church, you know that you may freely confess those sins that bother and burden you, all of them, without fear. Jesus already knows them, and he still loves you. Jesus knows them and He freely gives you forgiveness for them. This doesn’t mean you may go on living in them. It doesn’t mean they are ok. It means you may leave them completely and totally behind you, as he bears them for you. It means you no longer need have shame or fear of them, because now they belong to Christ.
What is more, we are also the body of Christ. We come together and confess our sins side by side, with no one less sinful than any other, no person being less guilty. And then together we hear that “Jesus has had mercy upon us,” just as on the woman at the well. And as we come here next week to receive the Lord’s Supper, we also share each other’s burdens. As we come and kneel, we share in the pains and the joys of each person here. As Jesus has carried your sins, we also help to carry our brothers and sisters in the faith as they deal with their sinful lives. Jesus has served us, and we now serve each other.
Friends, in Jesus, you have received living water. Jesus knows all that you have ever done, or will ever do, and has still loved and forgiven you. What a miracle! What a blessing! Forgiveness even for you and I, the worst of sinners in the living waters of Holy Baptism. Jesus, for you. Jesus for your sin. As the text says, “we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world,” and of you.
5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. [1]
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. [2] The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”
16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?” 28 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, 29 “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” 30 They went out of the town and were coming to him.
39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 And many more believed because of his word. 42 They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson read, especially this verse, “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, Secrets. Every single one of us have secrets. Things that we don’t want those around us to know about. Things that we are afraid to bring up, or to even hint at. We will do anything in our power to keep them secret, to lock them up and hide them away. In fact often with our secrets, we even try to hide them from ourselves.
That is what the woman in our text today is dealing with. She has gone out to fetch water from the local well, just like she had probably hundreds of times before. She waits to go out until the hottest part of the day, to avoid meeting other people, to avoid people who might know her secret. You see, she has a secret that she tries to keep buried away, where no one can see it. Her secret? That she has been married 5 times before, and that each of those marriages has ended for one reason or another. Finally she has given up on marriage all together, and is now in a relationship outside of that sacred bond, living with a man that is not her husband at all.
As she goes out something is different. As she arrives at the well, there is a man there, a man weary from travel. The man asks her for a drink. The woman is caught off guard. She doesn’t like speaking to people, she doesn’t want to open up her life to anyone, let alone this man. “How can you a Jew talk to me a Samaritan woman? Don’t you know that you Jews don’t get along with us Samaritans?” In other words, leave me and my secrets alone. Don’t pry where I feel you have no business.
But this man is not a regular polite man. This man is the Way the Truth and the Life incarnate. He is God’s living Son hidden in human flesh. This is Jesus. Jesus doesn’t allow secrets to separate Him from His people, be they Jew, or Samaritan, or even you.
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water. Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life”
This response catches the woman off guard. She isn’t sure what to think, or how to respond. The words of Jesus, the words of God have caught her off guard. Suddenly she is interested. No more thirst? That means she won’t have to sneak to the well, that means she won’t have to avoid other people on her way, it means she would be able to keep her secret. “Give me this water, Sir, that I may drink and not have to come to this well every day.”
But now Jesus’ word calls out her secret. Now Jesus pulls out her secret and its fullness. “Go and get your husband first, and I will give you this water.” Jesus’ question hits close to her secret. “I have no husband she replies,” trying again to avoid her shameful secret. But Jesus already knows her secret. Jesus already knows her sin. He already knows about five husbands. He already knows she is in a relationship outside of marriage. There is no point for the woman to play any more games with Jesus. He knows and won’t look the other way.
Friends, what secrets do you try to keep from Jesus? What things to you hide away in your heart hoping that no one will ever find out about? What secrets do you have? Are they related to sex and marriage, just as the woman in our text? Have you been in an extra marital affair that you know was wrong, and are now hiding it? Have you lived with someone who was not your spouse or have you condoned this behavior for friends or family? Or are your secrets a little more subtle than that? Have you stolen, have you lied, have you hurt someone? Have you gossiped, judged, desired revenge? Do you feel shame about some terrible action that you have done? Do you lock up those sins out of fear and shame and hide them away? Do you try not to even think about them?
Friends each person here, each and every person, has sinful secrets that they do not want to be known. Each of us has these secrets because each of us is a sinner. Each of us has turned against God in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. We know we have done them, and we know that we are often embarrassed and ashamed of how we have done them. We don’t want to confess that sin. We don’t want to tell anyone about it, we hide it and keep it secret hoping beyond hope that it will go away.
But friends, just like in our text today, Jesus knows your sin. Jesus knows your sin, you can’t keep it hidden from him. You can’t lock it away from him, because just like the sin of the woman in our text, Jesus knows. Jesus knows what you are ashamed and embarrassed of. Jesus knows what wrong things you hide away. Jesus knows, and Jesus does not condemn you, just as he does not condemn the woman at the well.
Jesus does not condemn you, because he has taken your sin upon himself in the “living waters” of Holy Baptism. In those waters He knows your sin because He has taken your sin upon himself and borne it to a bloody cross where he killed it. In those waters of baptism, those sins, even those secret ones, are drowned and destroyed in water, as you are raised into eternal life. You receive forgiveness, life and salvation as your sin dies with Jesus in the living water of Holy Baptism. And as you rise again you will never thirst again, because in Jesus you receive everything that you need to support this life and body.
What is more, as you come to church, you know that you may freely confess those sins that bother and burden you, all of them, without fear. Jesus already knows them, and he still loves you. Jesus knows them and He freely gives you forgiveness for them. This doesn’t mean you may go on living in them. It doesn’t mean they are ok. It means you may leave them completely and totally behind you, as he bears them for you. It means you no longer need have shame or fear of them, because now they belong to Christ.
What is more, we are also the body of Christ. We come together and confess our sins side by side, with no one less sinful than any other, no person being less guilty. And then together we hear that “Jesus has had mercy upon us,” just as on the woman at the well. And as we come here next week to receive the Lord’s Supper, we also share each other’s burdens. As we come and kneel, we share in the pains and the joys of each person here. As Jesus has carried your sins, we also help to carry our brothers and sisters in the faith as they deal with their sinful lives. Jesus has served us, and we now serve each other.
Friends, in Jesus, you have received living water. Jesus knows all that you have ever done, or will ever do, and has still loved and forgiven you. What a miracle! What a blessing! Forgiveness even for you and I, the worst of sinners in the living waters of Holy Baptism. Jesus, for you. Jesus for your sin. As the text says, “we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world,” and of you.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Lent Midweek 2 - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Jesus Christ - Who Is My Lord
This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE.
Passion Reading: Gethsemane
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – Who Is My Lord!
Dear Friends in Christ, Jesus is Lord. There’s no getting around that fact. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. You remember Thomas’ reaction to the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” St. Paul writes to the Philippians: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”
And when we confess that Jesus is Lord – Lord means SAVIOR! Yes, that’s right, Lord means SAVIOR!
Newsflash everyone! “Lord” does not mean tyrant! “Lord” does not mean master. Jesus has not brought you a new and improved Law to follow. He’s not a new and improved late night cable TV motivational Moses who teaches you what you have to do in order to reach your potential, become self-fulfilled, and self-reliant!
“Lord” means that Jesus is Redeemer / Savior! Savior of sinners. You. Me. The world.
Jesus is Lord means that He lives not for Himself. He gives Himself completely to you. He withholds nothing of Himself as He goes to the Cross in order to atone for the sin of the world, your sin, and mine.
And note the enormity of His being our Lord! He’s in a garden. Gethsemane. To begin to undo the carnage and catastrophe that Adam and Eve brought to all through their selfish sin in the Garden of Eden. The promise that the Savior would crush Satan’s head was made in Eden. And so now Jesus, in Gethsemane’s Garden, undergoes to restore what was lost, do battle with Satan, and endure the damnation that all sinners deserve.
This is a gargantuan task He undergoes. The task to accomplish and win the salvation of the world. To turn away God’s eternal ire against your sin. Against the world’s sin. And to turn it to Him. By taking in His Body all sin. Yours. Mine. Like a huge roaring flood! And it will crush Him! Kill Him! Damn Him! He will drink the “cup” or “chalice” of God’s wrath against every sinner and against every sin. And there He will cry out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
No wonder He shivers to the bone. No wonder He’s in anguish and agony. No wonder He sweats great drops of blood. After all, He will carry all sin and be punished for it all. Jesus on the cross will be counted as the greatest of all sinners because the iniquity of us all is put on Him. That means suffering the wrath of God, death, and the damnation of hell.
Would the Father save the world and you in some other way? Perhaps not Him. Perhaps not the cross. And so the Lord Jesus prays: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me. But I don’t want my will to be done. Let yours be done.”
Peter, James, and John, all who proclaimed they’d never be offended by Jesus -- who pledged their loyalty to Him until death, do not see the absolute seriousness of what Jesus will endure. For them. And for every sinner. And so they sleep. They snore. They can’t even offer a word of encouragement. They can’t even offer a small prayer for Jesus.
And so Jesus must go it alone. “Abba, Father, is there another way? Do I really have to do this? Your will be done, not mine.” Jesus received no answer. And yet He did. The silence indicated that it could be no other way. If you, the world, and me are to be saved, then all this must overtake Him!
Do you now see how serious this is? What it cost Jesus to save you? Your sin will do this to Him! You put Him on the cross! You are responsible! Look at the Lord Jesus as He is stapled and suspended! Behold, what God does to the sinner and all sin there!
And yet Jesus does this all for you. For your salvation. You are rescued from the eternal damnation of hell because of Him! Because of Jesus all your sin is answered for in that Body that hangs on the tree.
And it all begins in this garden named Gethsemane. Jesus will do it. He must. For He is the Lord. In other words, He is the Savior.
He suffers Himself to treachery. The unleashing of hell’s dark hour of fury. Judas betrays Him with a kiss. He suffers Himself to be manhandled. The soldiers grab Him. They bind Him. He will not fight. Neither with Peter’s swinging sword or twelve legions of angels. And soon He will suffer the disgraceful kangaroo court of the high priest, the governor, the cruel death sentence by crucifixion, and then finally His bloody, excruciating death.
In all this Jesus is Lord. That is to say: Savior! Lord the most for you. He gives Himself entirely for you. For your salvation. What a Lord! What a Savior!
In the name of Jesus.
Passion Reading: Gethsemane
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – Who Is My Lord!
Dear Friends in Christ, Jesus is Lord. There’s no getting around that fact. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. You remember Thomas’ reaction to the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” St. Paul writes to the Philippians: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”
And when we confess that Jesus is Lord – Lord means SAVIOR! Yes, that’s right, Lord means SAVIOR!
Newsflash everyone! “Lord” does not mean tyrant! “Lord” does not mean master. Jesus has not brought you a new and improved Law to follow. He’s not a new and improved late night cable TV motivational Moses who teaches you what you have to do in order to reach your potential, become self-fulfilled, and self-reliant!
“Lord” means that Jesus is Redeemer / Savior! Savior of sinners. You. Me. The world.
Jesus is Lord means that He lives not for Himself. He gives Himself completely to you. He withholds nothing of Himself as He goes to the Cross in order to atone for the sin of the world, your sin, and mine.
And note the enormity of His being our Lord! He’s in a garden. Gethsemane. To begin to undo the carnage and catastrophe that Adam and Eve brought to all through their selfish sin in the Garden of Eden. The promise that the Savior would crush Satan’s head was made in Eden. And so now Jesus, in Gethsemane’s Garden, undergoes to restore what was lost, do battle with Satan, and endure the damnation that all sinners deserve.
This is a gargantuan task He undergoes. The task to accomplish and win the salvation of the world. To turn away God’s eternal ire against your sin. Against the world’s sin. And to turn it to Him. By taking in His Body all sin. Yours. Mine. Like a huge roaring flood! And it will crush Him! Kill Him! Damn Him! He will drink the “cup” or “chalice” of God’s wrath against every sinner and against every sin. And there He will cry out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”
No wonder He shivers to the bone. No wonder He’s in anguish and agony. No wonder He sweats great drops of blood. After all, He will carry all sin and be punished for it all. Jesus on the cross will be counted as the greatest of all sinners because the iniquity of us all is put on Him. That means suffering the wrath of God, death, and the damnation of hell.
Would the Father save the world and you in some other way? Perhaps not Him. Perhaps not the cross. And so the Lord Jesus prays: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me. But I don’t want my will to be done. Let yours be done.”
Peter, James, and John, all who proclaimed they’d never be offended by Jesus -- who pledged their loyalty to Him until death, do not see the absolute seriousness of what Jesus will endure. For them. And for every sinner. And so they sleep. They snore. They can’t even offer a word of encouragement. They can’t even offer a small prayer for Jesus.
And so Jesus must go it alone. “Abba, Father, is there another way? Do I really have to do this? Your will be done, not mine.” Jesus received no answer. And yet He did. The silence indicated that it could be no other way. If you, the world, and me are to be saved, then all this must overtake Him!
Do you now see how serious this is? What it cost Jesus to save you? Your sin will do this to Him! You put Him on the cross! You are responsible! Look at the Lord Jesus as He is stapled and suspended! Behold, what God does to the sinner and all sin there!
And yet Jesus does this all for you. For your salvation. You are rescued from the eternal damnation of hell because of Him! Because of Jesus all your sin is answered for in that Body that hangs on the tree.
And it all begins in this garden named Gethsemane. Jesus will do it. He must. For He is the Lord. In other words, He is the Savior.
He suffers Himself to treachery. The unleashing of hell’s dark hour of fury. Judas betrays Him with a kiss. He suffers Himself to be manhandled. The soldiers grab Him. They bind Him. He will not fight. Neither with Peter’s swinging sword or twelve legions of angels. And soon He will suffer the disgraceful kangaroo court of the high priest, the governor, the cruel death sentence by crucifixion, and then finally His bloody, excruciating death.
In all this Jesus is Lord. That is to say: Savior! Lord the most for you. He gives Himself entirely for you. For your salvation. What a Lord! What a Savior!
In the name of Jesus.
Lenten Midweek Service Moved
Tonights Lenten Midweek Service will be Moved to Immanuel Lutheran Church tonight because of weather. We will still meet at 7:15 for all who are able to get out.
God's Blessings!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Preliminary Plans for the Handicap Accessible Addition at St. John's
Below is a link to the presentation on the Handicap Addition from the Special Voter's Meeting at St. John's Sunday.
Lent 2 - 2011 - G - Jesus Lifted Up For You
John Chapter 3 "1 Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. 2 This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” 4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” 5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind [5] blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, [9] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these verses, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the son of man be lifted up.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, the people of Israel had been on quite the journey. They had gone from being slaves to Egypt’s pharaoh, to being the free chosen people of God. Moses had been sent to be the instrument that God used to rescue the people and to bring them into the Promised Land. The people had been brought through the waters of the dead sea safe on dry land. They had been led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They were fed with manna and quail. They had seen God’s holy mountain, covered with smoke and fire. And God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.
But it wasn’t enough. Even having seen these miracles that you and I struggle so often to believe, these stubborn people still doubted. “Are we really going to a promised land? Or are we being led out to starve in the wilderness. Is God really speaking through this Moses fellow, or are we being taken advantage of?” Even despite all the amazing things that they had seen with their own eyes, despite tasting the heavenly manna that appeared with their own tongues, they doubted that God was doing what He said He was. They still were uncertain. They still lacked faith.
So, in their uncertainty, God sent poisonous snakes in their midst- snakes that slithered right into the midst of their camp and their tents. Snakes that bit them causing them to suffer and die. We all know what happens when you are bitten by a snake, the poison surges through your body, slowly killing the victim. These Israelites suffered because they had turned away from the Lord their God. Now there was a problem. What were these people to do? Where were they to turn? They came to Moses and said, “We have sinned against God by complaining about being in this desert. Talk to God for us, so that we might be saved.”
Moses did speak to God, and God gave the people of Israel a way out. God created a way that they might be saved. Moses was to make a bronze serpent, and nail it to the top of a pole so that all who were bitten by a serpent might gaze upon it, and be saved from the poison coursing through their bodies. Even in the midst of the Israelites sin, God provided a way out.
Dear friends, Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the Son of man be lifted up. I know that this bible story seems far away from you and your life. You may feel like you have nothing in common with the people of Israel, or even of Nicodemus in our Gospel lesson. But the fact of the matter is, you are closer than you might think.
You see, you and I have also, just like the Israelites, been given tremendous gifts. You and I have received Life from our creator. He has given us our body and souls, our eyes and ears, our reason and all our senses, as well as our homes and families and more. God has given these gifts to you before you were even able to ask for them. God has provided so much for you.
And yet, we too deal with doubt, we too deal with sin and grumbling against God. And because of our doubt, we too have a serpent who attacks us. That first serpent, Satan, the very one we heard about last week attacking Adam and Eve, also bites at you in your doubt. He bites you and fills you with the poison of self-trust, the poison denial, and more. And that poison that enters your body is nothing other than the very sin that affects your life.
That poison is the sin that divides your family. It is the sin that makes you so badly want to sleep in on a Sunday morning. The poison of Satan is that which says, “Why can’t I decided for myself? Why can’t I be my own master?” That poison of Satan’s attack is the very poison that will one day kill you through cancer, through old age, or through some other ailment. Satan’s attack is strong, and there is nothing you or I can do about it.
Lord have mercy on me. Lord, forgive me and rescue me, for I have no where to turn. And the Lord does. God does for you just what he did for the people of Israel so long ago. He hangs a sacrifice on a pole so that you might look upon it and know that you are forgiven. Only this sacrifice is not bronze, and it is not a snake. This sacrifice is the very living God hidden within human flesh. That baby whose birth we celebrated not that long ago is the one who will be nailed up upon a wooded pole, a cross, for all the world to see.
Dear friends, look upon you God, your salvation, as he suffers for you. Look upon him bleeding and dying for you. Look upon him as he cries out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and know, he is speaking on your behalf. For you see, Jesus dies for you. Jesus gives up his life so you can live. God so loves the world, yes even you in your sin, that he gave his only son, that all who believe in him, all who see him suffering on the cross in their place, might have eternal life. In that you have rescue. In that you see what love is and what love does.
Dear friends, your faith look to Jesus. Your faith, itself a wonderful gift of God, keeps your eyes firmly fixed upon your salvation, so that even as that old serpent the devil attacks you through out your life, you still might live and one day enter the paradise prepared for you. What a gift. What a blessing. God saves you, just in the exact same way that he saved the Israelites.
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man, so must Jesus, be lifted up so that you make look upon him and live. Amen.
9 Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” 10 Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13 No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. 14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 15 that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
16 “For God so loved the world, [9] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him."
Grace mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Gospel lesson, especially these verses, “Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the son of man be lifted up.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ, the people of Israel had been on quite the journey. They had gone from being slaves to Egypt’s pharaoh, to being the free chosen people of God. Moses had been sent to be the instrument that God used to rescue the people and to bring them into the Promised Land. The people had been brought through the waters of the dead sea safe on dry land. They had been led by a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. They were fed with manna and quail. They had seen God’s holy mountain, covered with smoke and fire. And God had promised them a land flowing with milk and honey.
But it wasn’t enough. Even having seen these miracles that you and I struggle so often to believe, these stubborn people still doubted. “Are we really going to a promised land? Or are we being led out to starve in the wilderness. Is God really speaking through this Moses fellow, or are we being taken advantage of?” Even despite all the amazing things that they had seen with their own eyes, despite tasting the heavenly manna that appeared with their own tongues, they doubted that God was doing what He said He was. They still were uncertain. They still lacked faith.
So, in their uncertainty, God sent poisonous snakes in their midst- snakes that slithered right into the midst of their camp and their tents. Snakes that bit them causing them to suffer and die. We all know what happens when you are bitten by a snake, the poison surges through your body, slowly killing the victim. These Israelites suffered because they had turned away from the Lord their God. Now there was a problem. What were these people to do? Where were they to turn? They came to Moses and said, “We have sinned against God by complaining about being in this desert. Talk to God for us, so that we might be saved.”
Moses did speak to God, and God gave the people of Israel a way out. God created a way that they might be saved. Moses was to make a bronze serpent, and nail it to the top of a pole so that all who were bitten by a serpent might gaze upon it, and be saved from the poison coursing through their bodies. Even in the midst of the Israelites sin, God provided a way out.
Dear friends, Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so too must the Son of man be lifted up. I know that this bible story seems far away from you and your life. You may feel like you have nothing in common with the people of Israel, or even of Nicodemus in our Gospel lesson. But the fact of the matter is, you are closer than you might think.
You see, you and I have also, just like the Israelites, been given tremendous gifts. You and I have received Life from our creator. He has given us our body and souls, our eyes and ears, our reason and all our senses, as well as our homes and families and more. God has given these gifts to you before you were even able to ask for them. God has provided so much for you.
And yet, we too deal with doubt, we too deal with sin and grumbling against God. And because of our doubt, we too have a serpent who attacks us. That first serpent, Satan, the very one we heard about last week attacking Adam and Eve, also bites at you in your doubt. He bites you and fills you with the poison of self-trust, the poison denial, and more. And that poison that enters your body is nothing other than the very sin that affects your life.
That poison is the sin that divides your family. It is the sin that makes you so badly want to sleep in on a Sunday morning. The poison of Satan is that which says, “Why can’t I decided for myself? Why can’t I be my own master?” That poison of Satan’s attack is the very poison that will one day kill you through cancer, through old age, or through some other ailment. Satan’s attack is strong, and there is nothing you or I can do about it.
Lord have mercy on me. Lord, forgive me and rescue me, for I have no where to turn. And the Lord does. God does for you just what he did for the people of Israel so long ago. He hangs a sacrifice on a pole so that you might look upon it and know that you are forgiven. Only this sacrifice is not bronze, and it is not a snake. This sacrifice is the very living God hidden within human flesh. That baby whose birth we celebrated not that long ago is the one who will be nailed up upon a wooded pole, a cross, for all the world to see.
Dear friends, look upon you God, your salvation, as he suffers for you. Look upon him bleeding and dying for you. Look upon him as he cries out, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” and know, he is speaking on your behalf. For you see, Jesus dies for you. Jesus gives up his life so you can live. God so loves the world, yes even you in your sin, that he gave his only son, that all who believe in him, all who see him suffering on the cross in their place, might have eternal life. In that you have rescue. In that you see what love is and what love does.
Dear friends, your faith look to Jesus. Your faith, itself a wonderful gift of God, keeps your eyes firmly fixed upon your salvation, so that even as that old serpent the devil attacks you through out your life, you still might live and one day enter the paradise prepared for you. What a gift. What a blessing. God saves you, just in the exact same way that he saved the Israelites.
Just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man, so must Jesus, be lifted up so that you make look upon him and live. Amen.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Lent Midweek - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Jesus the God/Man
This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE.
Passion Reading: The Lord’s Supper
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – True God & True Man!
Who is this Jesus? The Small Catechism answers the question this way: Jesus is true God. And He is true man. Begotten of the Father from eternity. Born of the Virgin Mary.
Strange God – this man Jesus. Inconceivable to speak of God this way, isn’t it? After all, shouldn’t a God be a God only when He stays put way up in heaven. When He doesn’t concern Himself with all the messy stuff down here in the rough and tumble of this broken world. God is God when He stays in eternity – speaks to Himself – gazes at Himself – thinks only about Himself – THAT’S A GOD! He wouldn’t be God if He gets involved in the rot, filth, and gunk of our lives and planet.
And yet the Small Catechism confesses that this man Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary is God - begotten of the Father from eternity! Yes, this man Jesus –flesh and bones – arms and legs –eyes and ears Jesus IS GOD. God in the flesh. Who came down from heaven. Who was incarnate – enfleshed by the Holy Spirit-filled Word spoken into Mary’s ears by the angel Gabriel.
Dr. Luther in one of his Christmas sermons hammers home this point: Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is “with us in the muck and work of our lives so much that his skin smokes” (WA 4:608,32-609,1). In other words, the body of Jesus is just chuck full of God! So much so that His skin smokes with divinity!
And yet look how it goes with the God-man Jesus whose skin smokes with divinity! During the meal the Twelve have a scrum. Peter says he’s the greatest among them. After all, didn’t Jesus give him the keys of the kingdom? Matthew objects. He’s able to keep all the kingdom’s finances in order. James and John lose their tempers with all kinds of talk of calling down fire from heaven. And then Simon the Zealot ready to throw a few punches. And if that isn’t enough, Satan has taken advantage of all this chaos. Devilishly, he infiltrates one of their hearts. Judas Iscariot who held the moneybag.
Imagine that! An apostle’s heart possessed by Satan! In order to be the red dragon’s instrument! To betray God-man Jesus into death!
Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me.” And even though the prospect of this betrayal pains Him immensely, He doesn’t seem too concerned to put a stop to it! He will let himself be handed over and killed. Is that how God should act?
Can you really have a God like that? What God would allow such fighting among His followers? What God would suffer like this? To die? What God speaks of such deceit and demise in this strange way: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in Him God is glorified”?
Not a God we would picture! It doesn’t makes sense. Such a God repulses many in this world. People are disgusted by the picture of a crucifix, and the understanding that our God came specifically to die for you and for your sins. The world hates that Jesus could be found in a wretched, sweaty human body that is susceptible to sores and colic, has to stuff itself with porridge and go to the bathroom like we do. It is blasphemy.”
Would you have a God like that? A God that is born of a woman? Who coughs, hungers, and defecates? A God who is betrayed? You don’t have a choice. He is who He is -- this man – this God-man Jesus. He makes the choice. He interrupts our lives. The time and space in which we live in order to redeem it. To recreate it.
And look at how all-the-fullness-of-the-Godhead-dwelling-bodily-in-Jesus does it! He takes off his clothes. Wraps Himself in a towel. And then does the unthinkable! He washes and dries each one of the apostles’ grimy, filthy, feet! He hosts the Passover like a Servant. God Jesus – the Servant! Not for Himself. But for sinners!
God Jesus lives not for Himself – but for you! He’s all about your wellbeing – not His! His concern is for you! He sees you. His heart goes out to you. To save you. From sin’s pollution, from death’s icy grip, from hell’s forevermore damnation!
And so He goes deep into our world, taking on our flesh. True God begotten of the Father from eternity is also true man born of the Virgin Mary. In Jesus, God is a man and that man Jesus is God! For you!
Friends, that’s Calvary. There, God-man Jesus does the unthinkable! He dies. He dies because He carries all your sin and all its condemnation. Yes, that right, God-man Jesus endures the damnation that all sinners deserve. And by doing so He rescues you from God’s eternal wrath. In short, you are saved, in the Good Friday dying of that God who is a man and that man who is God!
And even today, he is among us as one who serves. Servant God-man Jesus! He put His name on you at the font. He cleansed you with the water and Word of Holy Baptism. In that washing Jesus purified the whole lot of you: body and soul. In baptism, you’re now part of Him. One with Him. Behold how far He comes to save you! Calvary.
So that as Jesus lived for others, you too do the same. Wrapping yourself in a towel, if you will, and washing the feet of others as a servant. The fruit of the Lord’s Supper’s forgiveness is that you live as little, servant “christs.” Having hearts that love the neighbor in need. Not shying away from those that are hurt, unloved, or despised. But going deep -- deep down in service for such people.
That is His good use for you now as you trust His promise that He died for you.
What a God! What a Savior! That’s Jesus!
In the Name of Jesus.
Passion Reading: The Lord’s Supper
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – True God & True Man!
Who is this Jesus? The Small Catechism answers the question this way: Jesus is true God. And He is true man. Begotten of the Father from eternity. Born of the Virgin Mary.
Strange God – this man Jesus. Inconceivable to speak of God this way, isn’t it? After all, shouldn’t a God be a God only when He stays put way up in heaven. When He doesn’t concern Himself with all the messy stuff down here in the rough and tumble of this broken world. God is God when He stays in eternity – speaks to Himself – gazes at Himself – thinks only about Himself – THAT’S A GOD! He wouldn’t be God if He gets involved in the rot, filth, and gunk of our lives and planet.
And yet the Small Catechism confesses that this man Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary is God - begotten of the Father from eternity! Yes, this man Jesus –flesh and bones – arms and legs –eyes and ears Jesus IS GOD. God in the flesh. Who came down from heaven. Who was incarnate – enfleshed by the Holy Spirit-filled Word spoken into Mary’s ears by the angel Gabriel.
Dr. Luther in one of his Christmas sermons hammers home this point: Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is “with us in the muck and work of our lives so much that his skin smokes” (WA 4:608,32-609,1). In other words, the body of Jesus is just chuck full of God! So much so that His skin smokes with divinity!
And yet look how it goes with the God-man Jesus whose skin smokes with divinity! During the meal the Twelve have a scrum. Peter says he’s the greatest among them. After all, didn’t Jesus give him the keys of the kingdom? Matthew objects. He’s able to keep all the kingdom’s finances in order. James and John lose their tempers with all kinds of talk of calling down fire from heaven. And then Simon the Zealot ready to throw a few punches. And if that isn’t enough, Satan has taken advantage of all this chaos. Devilishly, he infiltrates one of their hearts. Judas Iscariot who held the moneybag.
Imagine that! An apostle’s heart possessed by Satan! In order to be the red dragon’s instrument! To betray God-man Jesus into death!
Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me.” And even though the prospect of this betrayal pains Him immensely, He doesn’t seem too concerned to put a stop to it! He will let himself be handed over and killed. Is that how God should act?
Can you really have a God like that? What God would allow such fighting among His followers? What God would suffer like this? To die? What God speaks of such deceit and demise in this strange way: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in Him God is glorified”?
Not a God we would picture! It doesn’t makes sense. Such a God repulses many in this world. People are disgusted by the picture of a crucifix, and the understanding that our God came specifically to die for you and for your sins. The world hates that Jesus could be found in a wretched, sweaty human body that is susceptible to sores and colic, has to stuff itself with porridge and go to the bathroom like we do. It is blasphemy.”
Would you have a God like that? A God that is born of a woman? Who coughs, hungers, and defecates? A God who is betrayed? You don’t have a choice. He is who He is -- this man – this God-man Jesus. He makes the choice. He interrupts our lives. The time and space in which we live in order to redeem it. To recreate it.
And look at how all-the-fullness-of-the-Godhead-dwelling-bodily-in-Jesus does it! He takes off his clothes. Wraps Himself in a towel. And then does the unthinkable! He washes and dries each one of the apostles’ grimy, filthy, feet! He hosts the Passover like a Servant. God Jesus – the Servant! Not for Himself. But for sinners!
God Jesus lives not for Himself – but for you! He’s all about your wellbeing – not His! His concern is for you! He sees you. His heart goes out to you. To save you. From sin’s pollution, from death’s icy grip, from hell’s forevermore damnation!
And so He goes deep into our world, taking on our flesh. True God begotten of the Father from eternity is also true man born of the Virgin Mary. In Jesus, God is a man and that man Jesus is God! For you!
Friends, that’s Calvary. There, God-man Jesus does the unthinkable! He dies. He dies because He carries all your sin and all its condemnation. Yes, that right, God-man Jesus endures the damnation that all sinners deserve. And by doing so He rescues you from God’s eternal wrath. In short, you are saved, in the Good Friday dying of that God who is a man and that man who is God!
And even today, he is among us as one who serves. Servant God-man Jesus! He put His name on you at the font. He cleansed you with the water and Word of Holy Baptism. In that washing Jesus purified the whole lot of you: body and soul. In baptism, you’re now part of Him. One with Him. Behold how far He comes to save you! Calvary.
So that as Jesus lived for others, you too do the same. Wrapping yourself in a towel, if you will, and washing the feet of others as a servant. The fruit of the Lord’s Supper’s forgiveness is that you live as little, servant “christs.” Having hearts that love the neighbor in need. Not shying away from those that are hurt, unloved, or despised. But going deep -- deep down in service for such people.
That is His good use for you now as you trust His promise that He died for you.
What a God! What a Savior! That’s Jesus!
In the Name of Jesus.
Sunday, March 13, 2011
Lent 1 - 2011 - Through One (God)Man We Are Saved
Death in Adam, Life in Christ
Romans 5
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Epistle lesson, especially this verse, “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends, we all know the story of creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth – a miracle - and when he was done, he declared that it was very good. And as the pinnacle of His creation, God created man and woman, and put them in the garden. And thus the history of humanity began. Man and wife living together in harmony. Humankind living in the Garden of Eden with little to worry about. Everything was very good. As that seventh day of existence came to a close, one wondered what could possibly go wrong.
But things didn’t last that perfectly for very long. In our Old Testament lesson we see how a good and wonderful gift could be so easily be destroyed by sin and selfishness. Adam and Eve, given so many good gifts from God’s loving hand wanted more. They didn’t just want to receive God’s gifts, they wanted to be like God Himself, to give gifts. They wanted to judge right from wrong themselves, and to make their own decisions. And so, they disobeyed God, and through one man and his disobedience, sin entered the world. Through one man condemnation entered the world.
That sin entered through Adam and Eve, and because of it death began. Each person now faced the knowledge that because they had disobeyed God, that one day their heart would stop beating and their lungs would stop breathing. One day they would die, and until that day, their world would be one of suffering and death, pain and sorrow.
And this sin didn’t affect them only. It also affected their children and grandchildren. You see when Adam and Eve disobeyed, we disobeyed right along with them. We are just as guilty as they are. We only need read a few paragraphs further in Genesis and we learn that that sin we committed with Adam has caused Cain to stab to death Abel. That one seemingly innocent bite of fruit has now caused blood to be shed in their own family, and in ours. Sin now reigns in a world that once was very good. Death and the devil are now the ruler of God’s holy creation. And this evil will continue until the world is brought to its end some day in the future.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. And Death reigned from Adam until Moses and yes even unto today. That same sin is still in your life. That same sin affects the way that you live, and the way that those around you live. Adam’s sin infects us down to our very core. It makes us selfish, wanting to keep for ourselves countless blessings which God still gives to us in our sin. We store up for ourselves treasures of gold and silver here where moth and rust can destroy. Adam’s sin makes us hate and fight and murder as we interact with our brothers and sisters in the faith, killing them in our thoughts words and deeds. Yes friends, Adam’s sin still has a firm grip in our world.
And because that very first sin has a grip on us, so too does death. It is something that we all will face one day or another, sooner or later. We will face the sickness and death of loved ones. We will face the even our own sicknesses and death, and it all stems from that very first sin. Yes friends, one day each one of us will lay on our death beds. And no matter what the scientific reason for death may be, the spiritual reason is the same: sin has come into our world through Adam, and brought death to each of us with it.
Friends, all mankind is guilty. All mankind has fallen short of God’s eternal glory. All mankind deserves death. Let me say it plainly. You deserve death. You have sinned right alongside Adam and Eve. You have fallen into slavery to Satan, because you have not wanted to obey God’s word. And your slavery leads only to eternal death and damnation, and no matter how hard you try, no matter how many “good works” you do, you cannot save yourself. You are trapped, and you have no way to escape. On your own you are doomed.
But you are not on your own. God does not leave you alone in your sin, for where you have fallen short and fallen into temptation, Jesus has not. In our Gospel lesson, three times Satan tries to pull the same shenanigans with Jesus that he so successfully pulled with us in the Garden of Eden. Satan tries to get Jesus to fall into the same slavery of sin and death that you and I are under. But Jesus is firm; Jesus stands up and says, “No, I will not turn against my God and my Father.” And so Jesus does what you cannot, and because of it, God rescues you.
God doesn’t rescue by giving you a set of steps to follow, or by giving us the ability to earn forgiveness. In our sin, that wouldn’t work, we couldn’t do the things God asks. Instead God rescues by having Jesus submit to the punishment we deserve for our sin. God rescues by having his own son give himself over to the power of death and the devil in our place. We are rescued by Christ as he goes into Jerusalem, and suffers and dies so that original sin which infests you and me might die with him. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Where we did not listen to God, Jesus did. Where we did not love God more than ourselves, Jesus did. Where we did not submit to God’s will, Jesus did. Jesus completed what we could not on our own. Jesus submitted, even to the point of having nails driven through his hands, as his beaten and gruesomely bloodied body was nailed on a cross. By the obedience of Jesus, by his submission to His heavenly Father, you are made righteous.
You are made righteous as you are washed in his blood in baptism. You are made righteous as you hear what you loving God has done for you because you could not. You are made righteous, because God loved you so much he was willing to suffer and die, even when it was you who deserved that punishment. You have rescue on a lonely hill, on a Friday we call Good. You have rescue as your God dies on a cross to give you His life and His holiness and righteousness.
Friends, we are sinners. We are guilty. But in the blood shed Jesus, we are made clean. We are made holy and blameless before God. We are rescued, and we have life. Yes, one day you may leave this earthly life behind, but on that day you will be raised with Jesus into an eternal life that this life cannot even compare to. A world much like the world Adam and Eve enjoyed before the fall into sin, only better. A world apart from tears and pain. A world apart from fighting and sin. A world of peace. Dear friends, Jesus saves. Jesus rescues. And by his death, you are brought back to that original holiness that God gave to us in the beginning.
THROUGH ONE MAN, THE GOD MAN JESUS, YOU ARE BROUGHT LIFE.
Amen.
Romans 5
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned— 13 for sin indeed was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not counted where there is no law. 14 Yet death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those whose sinning was not like the transgression of Adam, who was a type of the one who was to come.
15 But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man's trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many. 16 And the free gift is not like the result of that one man's sin. For the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation, but the free gift following many trespasses brought justification. 17 For if, because of one man's trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
18 Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness leads to justification and life for all men. 19 For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text today is the Epistle lesson, especially this verse, “For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends, we all know the story of creation. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth – a miracle - and when he was done, he declared that it was very good. And as the pinnacle of His creation, God created man and woman, and put them in the garden. And thus the history of humanity began. Man and wife living together in harmony. Humankind living in the Garden of Eden with little to worry about. Everything was very good. As that seventh day of existence came to a close, one wondered what could possibly go wrong.
But things didn’t last that perfectly for very long. In our Old Testament lesson we see how a good and wonderful gift could be so easily be destroyed by sin and selfishness. Adam and Eve, given so many good gifts from God’s loving hand wanted more. They didn’t just want to receive God’s gifts, they wanted to be like God Himself, to give gifts. They wanted to judge right from wrong themselves, and to make their own decisions. And so, they disobeyed God, and through one man and his disobedience, sin entered the world. Through one man condemnation entered the world.
That sin entered through Adam and Eve, and because of it death began. Each person now faced the knowledge that because they had disobeyed God, that one day their heart would stop beating and their lungs would stop breathing. One day they would die, and until that day, their world would be one of suffering and death, pain and sorrow.
And this sin didn’t affect them only. It also affected their children and grandchildren. You see when Adam and Eve disobeyed, we disobeyed right along with them. We are just as guilty as they are. We only need read a few paragraphs further in Genesis and we learn that that sin we committed with Adam has caused Cain to stab to death Abel. That one seemingly innocent bite of fruit has now caused blood to be shed in their own family, and in ours. Sin now reigns in a world that once was very good. Death and the devil are now the ruler of God’s holy creation. And this evil will continue until the world is brought to its end some day in the future.
Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. And Death reigned from Adam until Moses and yes even unto today. That same sin is still in your life. That same sin affects the way that you live, and the way that those around you live. Adam’s sin infects us down to our very core. It makes us selfish, wanting to keep for ourselves countless blessings which God still gives to us in our sin. We store up for ourselves treasures of gold and silver here where moth and rust can destroy. Adam’s sin makes us hate and fight and murder as we interact with our brothers and sisters in the faith, killing them in our thoughts words and deeds. Yes friends, Adam’s sin still has a firm grip in our world.
And because that very first sin has a grip on us, so too does death. It is something that we all will face one day or another, sooner or later. We will face the sickness and death of loved ones. We will face the even our own sicknesses and death, and it all stems from that very first sin. Yes friends, one day each one of us will lay on our death beds. And no matter what the scientific reason for death may be, the spiritual reason is the same: sin has come into our world through Adam, and brought death to each of us with it.
Friends, all mankind is guilty. All mankind has fallen short of God’s eternal glory. All mankind deserves death. Let me say it plainly. You deserve death. You have sinned right alongside Adam and Eve. You have fallen into slavery to Satan, because you have not wanted to obey God’s word. And your slavery leads only to eternal death and damnation, and no matter how hard you try, no matter how many “good works” you do, you cannot save yourself. You are trapped, and you have no way to escape. On your own you are doomed.
But you are not on your own. God does not leave you alone in your sin, for where you have fallen short and fallen into temptation, Jesus has not. In our Gospel lesson, three times Satan tries to pull the same shenanigans with Jesus that he so successfully pulled with us in the Garden of Eden. Satan tries to get Jesus to fall into the same slavery of sin and death that you and I are under. But Jesus is firm; Jesus stands up and says, “No, I will not turn against my God and my Father.” And so Jesus does what you cannot, and because of it, God rescues you.
God doesn’t rescue by giving you a set of steps to follow, or by giving us the ability to earn forgiveness. In our sin, that wouldn’t work, we couldn’t do the things God asks. Instead God rescues by having Jesus submit to the punishment we deserve for our sin. God rescues by having his own son give himself over to the power of death and the devil in our place. We are rescued by Christ as he goes into Jerusalem, and suffers and dies so that original sin which infests you and me might die with him. For as by the one man's disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.
Where we did not listen to God, Jesus did. Where we did not love God more than ourselves, Jesus did. Where we did not submit to God’s will, Jesus did. Jesus completed what we could not on our own. Jesus submitted, even to the point of having nails driven through his hands, as his beaten and gruesomely bloodied body was nailed on a cross. By the obedience of Jesus, by his submission to His heavenly Father, you are made righteous.
You are made righteous as you are washed in his blood in baptism. You are made righteous as you hear what you loving God has done for you because you could not. You are made righteous, because God loved you so much he was willing to suffer and die, even when it was you who deserved that punishment. You have rescue on a lonely hill, on a Friday we call Good. You have rescue as your God dies on a cross to give you His life and His holiness and righteousness.
Friends, we are sinners. We are guilty. But in the blood shed Jesus, we are made clean. We are made holy and blameless before God. We are rescued, and we have life. Yes, one day you may leave this earthly life behind, but on that day you will be raised with Jesus into an eternal life that this life cannot even compare to. A world much like the world Adam and Eve enjoyed before the fall into sin, only better. A world apart from tears and pain. A world apart from fighting and sin. A world of peace. Dear friends, Jesus saves. Jesus rescues. And by his death, you are brought back to that original holiness that God gave to us in the beginning.
THROUGH ONE MAN, THE GOD MAN JESUS, YOU ARE BROUGHT LIFE.
Amen.
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Matthew Bible Study Notes
Below is a link to the Matthew Bible Study Materials for this week.
The Bible study meets on Sunday Mornings following Divinse Service at Immanuel Lutheran Church.
Baptism Bible Study 01
Below is the link to the first set of Baptism material we will cover in our Thursday Night Bible Study at St. John's. Pastor will try to make all materials available here on this Blog.
This set examines the foundation for Baptism, namely God's Word.
This set examines the foundation for Baptism, namely God's Word.
Bible Study meets at 7:00 on Thursdays at St. John's Lutheran Church.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Ash Wednesday 2011
This years Lenten Midweek sermons are prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman from Murdock NE. They are examining the 2nd Article of the Creed. This is the sermon for Ash Wednesday.
Joel 2:12-19
The Lord has created you. Given you your body and soul. Eyes and ears and all your members. Your reason and all your senses. And He still takes care of them. He’s the Creator. You’re His creation. Everything that you have comes from God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. He defends you against all danger. Guards and protects you from all evil. Why? Because of His fatherly mercy and goodness. That’s right! ONLY because of His fatherly divine mercy and goodness! Incredible!
And what do you do? You’re not satisfied being the human being He’s created. You insist on being in control. Self-made men/women! In control of your own destiny! You fear, love, and trust in yourself above all things. Curved in on yourself! A god unto yourself! Yes, that’s right I said it: A GOD UNTO YOURSELF! And so like Adam and Eve we wannabe deities end up running away and hiding! Don’t want to the Lord to find us. Because if He does … well … it all might end sulfurically and hellaciously!
So the Lord sends a pastor. Joel. Pastor Joel comes to you with the Lord’s words. So when you hear Joel – you’re hearing the Lord Himself through His words. You’re squared up to the Lord as Joel speaks the Lord’s words to you.
Joel doesn’t mess around. No chit chat. No talk about the weather today. He goes right to the heart of the matter. And what’s that? Your relationship with the Lord. Or – the Lord’s relationship with you! And that just might surprise you. Shock you!
“Return to me,” says the Lord. In other words, “repent!” Turn from your sin. From your idolatries. From your wicked ways. From your self-centeredness. That’s the way you were going: the road to damnation. Now it’s time to go a different direction. A new course -- the path of salvation. And that’s the turn back to the Lord. “Return to me with all your heart.” That’s a new heart. A heart that confesses: “I’m a filthy rancid sinner. Rotten to the core. I have sinned against you Lord. I have done what is evil in your sight. I have lived only for myself. I have not loved you Lord, or my neighbor. I only love myself. I’m so, so self-absorbed. I deserve nothing but your temporal and eternal punishment.”
That’s so true. Finally, the truth comes out. It’s about time. The Lord has shined the lamp of His Word into the light of our darkness. We are sinners. And what we deserve from the Lord frightens the your know what out of us. We’re scared …
But now we come to the biggest question, the biggest issue in your life, both now and forever. It’s the eternal life or death question. What will God do with you? His creature that has rebelled? His creature that runs away and hides? Will He damn you as you deserve?
Only if YOU insist on it.
But the Lord’s cup of tea is “mercy.” He is very bullish on NOT giving you what you deserve. Pastor Propet Joel categorically proclaims to you this day: “Return to the LORD your God.” God the Father Almighty the maker of heaven and earth! God the Father Almighty who created you! “Return! Repent!” Why? Because … (newsflash everyone!) … the Lord, “is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love.”
WHAT A SHOCKER! A MAGNIFICENT SURPRISE! The Lord isn’t who you thought He was! All along you believe falsely about Him. You feared that He was only out to get you. That He couldn’t wait to get in your face and give you a piece of His mind. And then give you precisely what you deserve. But none of that with the Lord! He’s overflowing with love for you! The very person He created.
He sticks with you – His creature -- through thick and thin. He’s in this relationship with you for the long haul. He remains faithful. Ever faithful. Forever faithful. Just as He’s promised. Genesis 3:15. The covenant He made with Abraham. And with Israel at Mount Sinai.
But what about God’s anger? What about God’s judgment? Where did all that go? If you’re not on the receiving end of damnation for your sin, who got stuck with it?
The answer is: JESUS. Who took on our human flesh. Conceived and born without sin, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Jesus: Your suffering Servant. Who willingly endured all of God’s damning wrath. Where? As he hung suspended between heaven and earth! Stapled to the Tree of Calvary!
What? Jesus damned? Jesus condemned? Yes. Absolutely. Because He who knew no sin was made to be sin as He was numbered with the transgressors. There at Calvary -- He carried all your sin. The world’s sin. In His body. He made satisfaction and answered for all of it. He left none out. Laid on Him was the entire load of your filthy, rotten iniquities! And when all your sin was heaped on Him the Law came and said: “You must die! You are cursed – damned!”
What joy! The Father damns Jesus as the “greatest thief, murderer, adulterer, robber, desecrator, blasphemer, ect. there has ever been anywhere in the world.” Jesus clothed and wrapped Himself in your sin on the Cross. It all belongs to Him. Your sin is His. He took it away from you so that the Law attacks and kills Him.
And since all your sin is laid on Him -- it is no longer on you! Jesus dies – He is damned -- as the guilty one – with all your sin! And so, for Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven. Absolved from all your sin and set free from all its damnation.
Jesus has done the salvation job! All for you.
So, “return to the LORD your God.” Why? “Because He is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger. And He abounds (overflows) with love.” That’s Jesus. The Good Friday Jesus who dies for you. The Good Friday Jesus who sheds His sacrificial Blood on the Cross in order to answer for all your sin and its damnation. The Good Friday Jesus who says tonight: “Eat and drink. Do you see that bread? It’s my Body. Do you see that cup? It’s my Blood. The Good Friday Body and Blood that answered for all your sin.”
What a God! The complete opposite of what you would expect. Mercy! Forgiveness! Life! Salvation! For sinners! For you! Given in and through His Son Jesus!
“Return to the LORD your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding is in love.”
In the Name of Jesus.
Joel 2:12-19
The Lord has created you. Given you your body and soul. Eyes and ears and all your members. Your reason and all your senses. And He still takes care of them. He’s the Creator. You’re His creation. Everything that you have comes from God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. He defends you against all danger. Guards and protects you from all evil. Why? Because of His fatherly mercy and goodness. That’s right! ONLY because of His fatherly divine mercy and goodness! Incredible!
And what do you do? You’re not satisfied being the human being He’s created. You insist on being in control. Self-made men/women! In control of your own destiny! You fear, love, and trust in yourself above all things. Curved in on yourself! A god unto yourself! Yes, that’s right I said it: A GOD UNTO YOURSELF! And so like Adam and Eve we wannabe deities end up running away and hiding! Don’t want to the Lord to find us. Because if He does … well … it all might end sulfurically and hellaciously!
So the Lord sends a pastor. Joel. Pastor Joel comes to you with the Lord’s words. So when you hear Joel – you’re hearing the Lord Himself through His words. You’re squared up to the Lord as Joel speaks the Lord’s words to you.
Joel doesn’t mess around. No chit chat. No talk about the weather today. He goes right to the heart of the matter. And what’s that? Your relationship with the Lord. Or – the Lord’s relationship with you! And that just might surprise you. Shock you!
“Return to me,” says the Lord. In other words, “repent!” Turn from your sin. From your idolatries. From your wicked ways. From your self-centeredness. That’s the way you were going: the road to damnation. Now it’s time to go a different direction. A new course -- the path of salvation. And that’s the turn back to the Lord. “Return to me with all your heart.” That’s a new heart. A heart that confesses: “I’m a filthy rancid sinner. Rotten to the core. I have sinned against you Lord. I have done what is evil in your sight. I have lived only for myself. I have not loved you Lord, or my neighbor. I only love myself. I’m so, so self-absorbed. I deserve nothing but your temporal and eternal punishment.”
That’s so true. Finally, the truth comes out. It’s about time. The Lord has shined the lamp of His Word into the light of our darkness. We are sinners. And what we deserve from the Lord frightens the your know what out of us. We’re scared …
But now we come to the biggest question, the biggest issue in your life, both now and forever. It’s the eternal life or death question. What will God do with you? His creature that has rebelled? His creature that runs away and hides? Will He damn you as you deserve?
Only if YOU insist on it.
But the Lord’s cup of tea is “mercy.” He is very bullish on NOT giving you what you deserve. Pastor Propet Joel categorically proclaims to you this day: “Return to the LORD your God.” God the Father Almighty the maker of heaven and earth! God the Father Almighty who created you! “Return! Repent!” Why? Because … (newsflash everyone!) … the Lord, “is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love.”
WHAT A SHOCKER! A MAGNIFICENT SURPRISE! The Lord isn’t who you thought He was! All along you believe falsely about Him. You feared that He was only out to get you. That He couldn’t wait to get in your face and give you a piece of His mind. And then give you precisely what you deserve. But none of that with the Lord! He’s overflowing with love for you! The very person He created.
He sticks with you – His creature -- through thick and thin. He’s in this relationship with you for the long haul. He remains faithful. Ever faithful. Forever faithful. Just as He’s promised. Genesis 3:15. The covenant He made with Abraham. And with Israel at Mount Sinai.
But what about God’s anger? What about God’s judgment? Where did all that go? If you’re not on the receiving end of damnation for your sin, who got stuck with it?
The answer is: JESUS. Who took on our human flesh. Conceived and born without sin, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Jesus: Your suffering Servant. Who willingly endured all of God’s damning wrath. Where? As he hung suspended between heaven and earth! Stapled to the Tree of Calvary!
What? Jesus damned? Jesus condemned? Yes. Absolutely. Because He who knew no sin was made to be sin as He was numbered with the transgressors. There at Calvary -- He carried all your sin. The world’s sin. In His body. He made satisfaction and answered for all of it. He left none out. Laid on Him was the entire load of your filthy, rotten iniquities! And when all your sin was heaped on Him the Law came and said: “You must die! You are cursed – damned!”
What joy! The Father damns Jesus as the “greatest thief, murderer, adulterer, robber, desecrator, blasphemer, ect. there has ever been anywhere in the world.” Jesus clothed and wrapped Himself in your sin on the Cross. It all belongs to Him. Your sin is His. He took it away from you so that the Law attacks and kills Him.
And since all your sin is laid on Him -- it is no longer on you! Jesus dies – He is damned -- as the guilty one – with all your sin! And so, for Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven. Absolved from all your sin and set free from all its damnation.
Jesus has done the salvation job! All for you.
So, “return to the LORD your God.” Why? “Because He is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger. And He abounds (overflows) with love.” That’s Jesus. The Good Friday Jesus who dies for you. The Good Friday Jesus who sheds His sacrificial Blood on the Cross in order to answer for all your sin and its damnation. The Good Friday Jesus who says tonight: “Eat and drink. Do you see that bread? It’s my Body. Do you see that cup? It’s my Blood. The Good Friday Body and Blood that answered for all your sin.”
What a God! The complete opposite of what you would expect. Mercy! Forgiveness! Life! Salvation! For sinners! For you! Given in and through His Son Jesus!
“Return to the LORD your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding is in love.”
In the Name of Jesus.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Transfiguration - 2011 - Heaven on Earth
Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen, our text today is the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased, listen to him.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in Christ. In all three of our texts today, we have heaven on earth. In our Old Testament lesson, we have heaven with God’s presence as His people eat and drink covered in blood on Mt. Sinai. In the Epistle, St. Peter tells you that the account of the transfiguration really happened, that Jesus really truly revealed his divinity on top of the mount of transfiguration. And then in our sermon text, the Gospel, we see Jesus transfigured, and the divinity that was hidden in our own human flesh flooded forth from the very Son of God, to whom we are to listen. Heaven comes to Earth, and we sinners see a picture of what it will be like.
In our text, Jesus reveals who he really is, in case you haven’t gotten it yet. Jesus who has proved He is God by miracles, by healing the sick, by raising the dead, wants to make sure that you get it. In our text, Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Transfigured means that His divine nature, hidden with His human flesh, leaks out for the whole world to see. When you see Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration, you see the same Jesus you will one day see in heaven. Jesus the God. Jesus the Almighty. Jesus the creator and redeemer of the world. It is a beautiful picture, heaven on earth, heaven where real men, Peter, James and John may experience it. Its heaven, because they are in the presence of the revealed God.
Peter knows what must happen. Peter knows, they must build a temple to house this majesty and glory, just like the one in Jerusalem. They must build a temple for Jesus, and his two helpers, Moses and Elijah who long ago led the people of Israel. Peter wants to capture this heaven on Earth for himself, to keep it with him always. To lock it up, and keep it hidden so that God will always be revealed among his people. Peter wants heaven now, without the events Jesus has promised, of Good Friday, of Golgotha, of crucifixion and of death.
“Lord, it is good that we are here.” Peter says. In other words, “Let’s always stay here! Let’s leave the horrid world behind, and enjoy heaven.” And who can blame him, for we all know that Heaven is better than this sinful world that we live in. But no sooner than Peter says these words, then God speaks, “This is my Son” and then the heavenly picture is gone. And as they go down the mountain, Jesus’ road to the cross continues.
Dear friends, don’t you want heaven? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a little piece of heaven right here of our very own. Something we could hold and touch. Something we could look at and see, something that would magically take away all the struggles and sin of this world? But it seems like that is a dream, just a faded idea in our minds, isn’t it. I mean this world is definitely not heaven on earth. This world has struggles and sin. This world is a dangerous, evil place.
Be honest, what is your world like? What do you face each day as you rise from your beds? Do you face another day of toiling and toiling, but still not sure if you have enough money at the end of the day to support yourself and your family? Do you face stress of wondering if you are good enough, or if you are liked, or if anyone cares about you? Do you face another day of fighting with a loved one, despising their nagging, hating the way they seem lazy or more? Will you run and hide in alcohol and drugs, or maybe hide in hours of television where you don’t have to interact with anyone?
When you arise, do you face illness of a loved one, or even of yourself. Do you wonder how you are going to pay the doctor’s bills, or how on earth healing might come? Do you feel guilt, guilt over not seeing a grandma one last time, or guilt over past sins that you know are so bad that no one can ever forgive you, so you hide them away within yourself.
Friends, it seems like this world is often as far from heaven as you could possibly get, because these things just scratch the surface of each person’s individual sin. You are guilty. You fall short. You are a sinner. On your own, you don’t deserve heaven, but you deserve death, destruction and hell.
But still, heaven comes to you. Just as Peter, James and John experienced heaven so too do you, and you are right now. You enter heaven covered in blood. You experience heaven here on this earth because you are covered in blood, just as in our Old Testament lesson, where Moses sprinkled the people with blood so that they might experenece heaven on earth. You are sprinkled in blood shed from Jesus Christ. Blood that poured out from his body as he suffered hell for you on the cross, giving up his own life. In the waters of Baptism that blood covers you, and because of that blood, you may now enter heaven.
And here, in this building, you experience heaven on earth. Here you come face to face with Jesus. Here you receive his gifts. Here Jesus is with you in the fullness of God. And you participate in the heavenly feast, the sacrificial feast of the very body and blood of Jesus. Friends, that is the heavenly meal, because in this meal all your sin, all your sorrow, all your pain, all you suffering is taken and killed by Jesus. Instead, in it you receive Life, Healing, Comfort, Peace and Hope from God himself.
Friends it is good for us to be here, in the presence of Jesus, the one who God says in our text, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Listen to him as He himself tells you, “Take and Eat, this is my Body given for you! Take and Drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Listen to Jesus as he says, “These are my gifts for you, gifts I earned by my own suffering and dying, Receive them and be my Holy possession, be my brothers and sisters, and experience here in my house heaven.”
Friends, this world often times seems like hell, and truly it is as close to hell as you will ever get in faith. But even here, even in the midst of tears and sorrow, we have a little piece of heaven, because we have the presence of God with us, and for us. Heaven on Earth is wherever Jesus is, and friends He is here for you. Amen.
Dear friends in Christ. In all three of our texts today, we have heaven on earth. In our Old Testament lesson, we have heaven with God’s presence as His people eat and drink covered in blood on Mt. Sinai. In the Epistle, St. Peter tells you that the account of the transfiguration really happened, that Jesus really truly revealed his divinity on top of the mount of transfiguration. And then in our sermon text, the Gospel, we see Jesus transfigured, and the divinity that was hidden in our own human flesh flooded forth from the very Son of God, to whom we are to listen. Heaven comes to Earth, and we sinners see a picture of what it will be like.
In our text, Jesus reveals who he really is, in case you haven’t gotten it yet. Jesus who has proved He is God by miracles, by healing the sick, by raising the dead, wants to make sure that you get it. In our text, Jesus was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light. Transfigured means that His divine nature, hidden with His human flesh, leaks out for the whole world to see. When you see Jesus on the mount of Transfiguration, you see the same Jesus you will one day see in heaven. Jesus the God. Jesus the Almighty. Jesus the creator and redeemer of the world. It is a beautiful picture, heaven on earth, heaven where real men, Peter, James and John may experience it. Its heaven, because they are in the presence of the revealed God.
Peter knows what must happen. Peter knows, they must build a temple to house this majesty and glory, just like the one in Jerusalem. They must build a temple for Jesus, and his two helpers, Moses and Elijah who long ago led the people of Israel. Peter wants to capture this heaven on Earth for himself, to keep it with him always. To lock it up, and keep it hidden so that God will always be revealed among his people. Peter wants heaven now, without the events Jesus has promised, of Good Friday, of Golgotha, of crucifixion and of death.
“Lord, it is good that we are here.” Peter says. In other words, “Let’s always stay here! Let’s leave the horrid world behind, and enjoy heaven.” And who can blame him, for we all know that Heaven is better than this sinful world that we live in. But no sooner than Peter says these words, then God speaks, “This is my Son” and then the heavenly picture is gone. And as they go down the mountain, Jesus’ road to the cross continues.
Dear friends, don’t you want heaven? Wouldn’t it be nice if we had a little piece of heaven right here of our very own. Something we could hold and touch. Something we could look at and see, something that would magically take away all the struggles and sin of this world? But it seems like that is a dream, just a faded idea in our minds, isn’t it. I mean this world is definitely not heaven on earth. This world has struggles and sin. This world is a dangerous, evil place.
Be honest, what is your world like? What do you face each day as you rise from your beds? Do you face another day of toiling and toiling, but still not sure if you have enough money at the end of the day to support yourself and your family? Do you face stress of wondering if you are good enough, or if you are liked, or if anyone cares about you? Do you face another day of fighting with a loved one, despising their nagging, hating the way they seem lazy or more? Will you run and hide in alcohol and drugs, or maybe hide in hours of television where you don’t have to interact with anyone?
When you arise, do you face illness of a loved one, or even of yourself. Do you wonder how you are going to pay the doctor’s bills, or how on earth healing might come? Do you feel guilt, guilt over not seeing a grandma one last time, or guilt over past sins that you know are so bad that no one can ever forgive you, so you hide them away within yourself.
Friends, it seems like this world is often as far from heaven as you could possibly get, because these things just scratch the surface of each person’s individual sin. You are guilty. You fall short. You are a sinner. On your own, you don’t deserve heaven, but you deserve death, destruction and hell.
But still, heaven comes to you. Just as Peter, James and John experienced heaven so too do you, and you are right now. You enter heaven covered in blood. You experience heaven here on this earth because you are covered in blood, just as in our Old Testament lesson, where Moses sprinkled the people with blood so that they might experenece heaven on earth. You are sprinkled in blood shed from Jesus Christ. Blood that poured out from his body as he suffered hell for you on the cross, giving up his own life. In the waters of Baptism that blood covers you, and because of that blood, you may now enter heaven.
And here, in this building, you experience heaven on earth. Here you come face to face with Jesus. Here you receive his gifts. Here Jesus is with you in the fullness of God. And you participate in the heavenly feast, the sacrificial feast of the very body and blood of Jesus. Friends, that is the heavenly meal, because in this meal all your sin, all your sorrow, all your pain, all you suffering is taken and killed by Jesus. Instead, in it you receive Life, Healing, Comfort, Peace and Hope from God himself.
Friends it is good for us to be here, in the presence of Jesus, the one who God says in our text, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased. Listen to him!” Listen to him as He himself tells you, “Take and Eat, this is my Body given for you! Take and Drink, this is my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Listen to Jesus as he says, “These are my gifts for you, gifts I earned by my own suffering and dying, Receive them and be my Holy possession, be my brothers and sisters, and experience here in my house heaven.”
Friends, this world often times seems like hell, and truly it is as close to hell as you will ever get in faith. But even here, even in the midst of tears and sorrow, we have a little piece of heaven, because we have the presence of God with us, and for us. Heaven on Earth is wherever Jesus is, and friends He is here for you. Amen.
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