Romans 8:1-4 1
John 5:24-30 24
Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text today are the readings from earlier.
Troy and Lorraine, Kyle, Lacey, family and friends in Christ. On Monday of this past week, on a gravel road outside of Ayr, our son, our brother, our friend Steve Dickerman’s life was completed… and I was not there. On Monday of this past week, on a gravel road outside of Ayr, Steve’s life came to a close… and you were not there. Because we were not there, we cannot speculate on what was going on in Steve’s mind, we can’t understand his thought process, but dear friends, I know One who was there with Steve. I know one who was there, and ready to receive him in faith as his life came to its close. Jesus Christ, the Son of God in human flesh. The One who died for you and your sin, and yes for Steve, was there.
Our Old Testament lesson today was Steve’s confirmation verse, and I believe it has much to say to us here today as we deal with the aftermath of what has happened. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Those are bold words are they not? How can we be strong and courageous, how can we be not dismayed or frightened? Our son is gone, and we hurt, and we are angry. Why did this happen? How could this have happened? What are we to do now?
Friends, we don’t have the power to be strong and courageous in ourselves. We don’t have the ability to not be angry and frightened. We do not have the answers of why and how. And so we must look at how that text ends. “Be strong and courageous…for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” The Lord God is with you. Jesus is with you. Jesus who loves you, and your family, and yes even Steve so much, that He entered our sinful world, born of the Virgin Mary. He lived a life fulfilling what you and I could not do. He was strong and courageous for us, when we felt weak and cowardly. He was free from fear when this world of sin, death and the devil was too much for us. He was not dismayed, even in the face of tragedy, even in the face of death and loss. Friends, Jesus is with you. Jesus loves you, and loves Steve.
That love is deep. That love is strong, and that love is with you wherever you go. And this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the calming for our sins. For our sins of anger. For our sins of sorrow. For your sins. For my sins. For even the sins of Steven. For there is not a single sin that our Lord Jesus has not died for. There is not a single sin that cannot be forgiven through the faith that God graciously pours out upon us from his life giving cross.
As the epistle lesson says, “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” There is no condemnation for those who have faith. NO CONDEMNATION. And as Jesus Himself says in our Gospel, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” Dear friends, in faith, all sins are forgiven through Jesus Christ’s bloody and gruesome death on Calvary.
Jesus has paid for all sins and accomplished that salvation for the entire world. And not only does He accomplish it for us, He delivers it too! He delivers the deliverance earned on Good Friday and Easter in the waters of Holy Baptism where He washes us clean and calls us to faith. He delivers the deliverance each time we read or hear or sing the precious Gospel, growing our faith and strengthening us in our weaknesses. He delivers the deliverance into our very mouths as He feeds us with the crucified and resurrected body and blood of Jesus in, with and under bread and wine for forgiveness life and salvation. This is not done in the abstract; this is not an idea or concept. It is real! It is for you! It is finished!
Troy, Lorraine, family and friends there is still pain and hurt. That will not magically disappear. There is not a magic wand that I can wave to make the hurt go away. As we read the other night at your home, even Jesus wept and hurt at the death of his friend Lazarus. There will be hard days ahead as you mourn the loss of you beloved son. You will be tempted to ask questions. “What if I would have called him a little sooner? Did I miss something? Should I have acted differently? What happened? What if this, what if that?” These questions have no earthly answers. We cannot dwell in what-ifs, for they take our eyes off the true answer. For we do have a True answer, the words of the One who knows all things, and graciously strengthens and sustains us each day, the answer of the cross.
Be strong and courageous, Jesus says, for I have borne the sins of the world, yes, Steve’s sin as well as your sin, and I have killed it on the cross. Be not frightened, for all to whom I give faith, I will carry through death into life everlasting, drowning their sins in baptismal waters, even as Steve was baptized himself. Be not dismayed, for I have been raised from the dead, even after being brutally murdered and killed, and “an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good (by the faith I give to them) will enter the resurrection of life. Be strong and courageous, not trusting in yourself, but as your Lord and your God gives you all good gifts, life, forgiveness and salvation because he took death, and swallowed it up forever. As St. Paul says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” No condemnation. For Christ has died for all.
Friends, our only answer is through the Holy Spirit to look to Jesus for our hope, for our promises and for our own forgiveness of sins. The answer is Jesus. The answer is His death for you. The answer is His resurrection for you into eternal life, and the fact that he bears all of us through these things in Himself. And Steve is now in God’s hands. We trust the mercy that God promises to all in faith. We trust the promises he received in his baptism, and the promises that Steve himself confessed he believed here and at his own confirmation with these words. Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you Troy, Lorraine, Kyle and Lacey wherever you go, just as He was and is with Steven even now and forevermore. Jesus in our only answer.
In the name of Jesus. Amen
