Proper 21 - O - 2014 - The Sinner Shall Die

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

September 28, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32        Philippians 2:1-18             Matthew 21:23-32

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the Old Testament lesson just read, especially these words, “The soul who sins shall die.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, It is a harsh reality that our Old Testament lesson puts forth today.  All souls who sin shall die.  Its not a “Maybe they’ll die,” its not a “Probably they’ll die.”  It is a clear cut, “If you sin, there is absolute certainty that you will die.”  Why?  Because God is just.  He cannot allow any sin to go unpunished.  He cant avoid reality about what we’ve done.  Because God is just, everything must be accounted for at the end – both good and evil. 

And so dear friends, we must die.  Its true.  When we look at all the things we’ve done in our lives, when we tally up the score we’ve managed, we’ll be found wanting.  We’ll be found guilty of disobedience to our just God.  We’ll be found guilty because of all the sins we’ve committed, whether it was us failing to do the right thing, or purposefully doing something evil.  Yes, dear friends, you’ve done both.  You’ve passed by the person in need, more concerned with your own self-preservation than with needs of someone else.  You’ve put yourself first when you’ve planned things or done things.  You spent your money for your desires rather than to care for your neighbor.  Dear friends in Christ, all of these things and more are your sin. 

When a righteous person turns away from his righteousness and does injustice, he shall die for it; for the injustice that he has done he shall die, so you, dear friends, shall die.  Don’t be mistaken, don’t think God enjoys killing sinners.  He grieves over the things you’ve done.  He is torn up by the way you’ve turned your back on him.  He weeps at every funeral that happens, more so even than we do.  He hates that his beloved creation has turned their back to him and written him off.  He has no pleasure in the death of anyone.

And so in His great mercy he calls out to you in the words of scripture, “Turn aside from your sin.  Leave it behind and do what is right.”  Have no other gods, do not commit adultery, love your neighbor and love your god.  Be holy as the Lord your God is holy.  Do this and you will live. 

But dear friends, despite your efforts, you will never succeed at this goal.  You will never be holy.  Even if you did not sin once the rest of your life – an impossible task – you could not make up for the sin you already have committed.  In fact, the very idea that you can stop sinning is nothing more than a pipe dream – one which condemns you all the more by showing your complete inability to do good in God’s eyes. 

And it is because of that, dear friends, that God did something amazing and wonderful to forgive your sin and stop your impending death.  He sent his son, Jesus Christ into our world, and placing your sin upon his shoulders in the waters of Holy Baptism, God killed Jesus in your place. 

Yes, your guilt, your shame, and your wrong doing was placed on Christ.  He became the greatest sinner the world has ever seen because he bore the sin you have committed.  It was a heavy burden, one of which he courageously bore to the cross outside of Jerusalem.  Carrying your sin, he had to die, as sinners must.  He had to suffer, as sinner must.  He had to bleed, and give up himself as sinners must.  And so he did. 

It’s what our epistle lesson today says.  Jesus “emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant,^[b] being born in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.”  He took on the form of the servant by bearing the sins of the servant.  And because Jesus died for and in the place of sinners, sinners are made righteous, and in the righteousness of Christ they can live.  Let me say that in regards to you, dear friends.  Because you wear the righteousness of Christ you can live.  Because he bore your sins, you’re forgiven.  God killed Jesus, his own son, so that you might be forgiven. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

St. Matthew - 2014 - G - Jesus Comes Only For Sinners

The Festival of St. Matthew the Apostle and Evangelist

September 21, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 2:8-3:11          Ephesians 4:7-16         Matthew 9:9-13

Hymns LSB 611, 518, 730   Communion Hymns LSB 743, 617, 596, 594
Sermon Audio Found Here

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Today is St. Matthew the apostle day, the day we remember that great tax collector turned saint.  And yet today, as we remember St. Matthew, we remember more the many great things that Jesus did for him than we do him at all.  We think of Jesus, not the sinner, not the martyr, not the tax collector at all.  Just Jesus. 

St. Matthew the Tax collector.  What do you think of when you hear the words, “Tax collector?”  I’m guessing that there are few words that you despise more, except maybe “Audit” and “IRS” and taxes due.  We do not love the taxman’s excessive need to take our money from us at ever increasing rates.  We are fine when someone else pays taxes, but we hate our own. 

The same thing was true back in Jesus day.  Tax collectors were thought of as thieves, as liars, and what’s worse, they worked for the occupying Roman army, sending their money on to the Caesar’s.  What’s more, these tax collectors made their living by collecting extra taxes which went right into their own pockets.  They were hated by the average person, thought of as “less than human” and more sinful than the average person. 

And so they were avoided by people.  They were treated badly.  They were sinners, and all knew it.  Tax collectors like Matthew had few friends, and were some of the outcasts of their time.  And it is to this tax collector Matthew that Jesus calls today, “Follow me.”  All the others in town ask questions?  How can Jesus eat with Sinners or tax collectors like Matthew?  How can Jesus interact with such a terrible person as Matthew, who betrayed his own people for a bit of money?

Dear friends, Jesus answers that question in our lesson.  He comes for sinners.  Jesus comes only for sinners, not for the healthy.  Just a doctor does, he comes only for those who are sick and weak and do what is wrong.  Not for those who are healthy. 

So dear friends, what are you?  What do you think about yourself?  Do you have everything together.  Do you always do what is right?  Are you a healthy normal, human being, or are you a sinner?  Are you upright, or are you down right sinful? 

Be honest, dear friends.  Look at your life, you are sinful.  There is no way around it.  You don’t do what’s right.  You sin in thought word and deed.  You hate, you murder, you lie.  You even sin the same way Matthew did.  In fact, we love money more than a tax collector, don’t we?  Which is why you are so afraid to give it up to taxes or to the offering plate, or to help a person on the street.  You love the power that we feel when we use money to benefit ourselves.  We love money itself – it becomes an idol for us. 

And what’s more, dear friend, we also are guilty in the same way as the Pharisees in our text.  We judge people as worse then us, as more sinful than us, as terrible horrible no good very bad people.  And we take great pride in these judgments, because they mean we can sleep a little easier at night knowing at least there’s someone sicker than us. 

Dear friends, repent of your sin.  Turn aside from you idolatry and your pride.  Admit how sick you are, sick enough that you will one day die from your sin.  And in your illness, heed the call of the great physician Jesus, just as Matthew did. 

Jesus came for the sick.  Jesus came for the weak.  So be weak, be sick, and receive his mercy and his care.  Jesus came for those who are dying, and in sin you are dying, so let him be your Hospice doctor, caring for you in your final days.  Because dear friends, as you die from sin, there is no better doctor than Jesus. 

For Jesus has already been through death.  Yes, all the way through, he suffered as we suffer, he bled, as we bleed, and he died, nailed to a cross, so that when we die, it shall not be our end.  For Jesus went through death, all the way through.  He rose again on the third day, promising eternal life to all those for whom he’d care.  He rose, promising to take with him, all who died with him.  That promise was made to all the sick, all the sinners, all the liars, the murderers and the cheat.  That promise was made, dear friends, even to you. 

Yes, your sin, your pride, your guilt and all the rest of your sickness is healed by Jesus crucified and risen.  Just as he saved poor sinful tax collector Matthew, so too will he save you.  It is his promise, it is the hope that we have in his name.  It is the truth in which we believe. 

Dear friends, Jesus came for the sick.  Admit your sin, admit the sickness is causes you, and be saved by the grace offered in his Holy and precious name.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Harold August Theodore Fenske Funeral

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Romans 8:26-32, 35-39 * Also at Paul’s Funeral

²⁶ Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.²⁷ And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because^[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,^[b] for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹ For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

God's Everlasting Love

³¹ What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written,

“For your sake we are being killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”

³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

John 14:1-6 * Also at Paul’s Prayer Service

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God;^[a] believe also in me. ² In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?^[b] 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. ⁴ And you know the way to where I am going.”^[c] 5 Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?” ⁶ Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Dear friends in Christ, especially Laurel, Family and Friends of Harold. 

Just a few days ago, as I stood at the edge of his death bed, I read to Harold the familiar words of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”  I told Harold, “There is our hope, as your life comes to its end, that because God gave Jesus into death on the cross for you, that you have the hope of eternal life.”  And as I finished saying those words, Harold looked up at me and quoting the small catechism he learned so many years ago said, “Amen, amen, means yes, yes it shall be so.  I don’t think we say those words enough.  Pastor, Jesus is going to take me home soon!” 

These were very near the last words Harold spoke to me.  What a bold confession of faith to make, especially as the end of life draws near!  And it’s a confession we can boldly echo today.  Amen!  Yes, Christ has taken Harold home to the place prepared for him.  Amen, Jesus has saved him, carrying him to be with the Father!  Amen!  Harold now rests from his labors in the loving arms of Jesus.  Amen!  Yes Harold no longer struggles with the toil and tribulation of this world.  Amen. Yes, yes it is so!  

It is a bold thing to say at a time like this, when we gather together in the church, with the body of our dear loved one laying before us.  And yet, it is the truth in which Harold believed, and for which he prayed throughout his life.  Harold was baptized “In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit Amen,” for forgiveness of all his sins!  Yes, yes it shall be so.  Harold was confirmed here, with the words of our first lesson for today, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation” and at the end the pastor said, “He who has begun this good work in you, bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.  Amen!”  It shall be so.

Every evening, Harold would call family and pray the Lord’s Prayer with them on the phone before bed, “give us this day our daily bread,” knowing that God would provide all that he needed to support his life?  Each time ending with “Amen.  Yes it shall be so.”  And Harold prayed, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us,” knowing that in Christ and Christ alone there was forgiveness for all his sins. 

Yes, dear friends, Harold knew his sin.  He knew that in his many years there were many things he wished he’d have done differently.  He knew there were times where perhaps he hadn’t trusted in God the way that he ought.  He knew that he had done wrong in his thoughts and words and deeds.  And knowing that, he confessed his sins often, even just a few days ago, and each time I’d announce Christ’s forgiveness, and we’d speak together the word “Amen!  Yes, yes it is so.”  Knowing that because of Jesus those sins were forgiven. 

And so, dear friends, today we speak Amen as well.  And the Amen we speak is not a looming final “It is finished” sort of amen, but rather it is an Amen that acknowledges what God says.  “In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Christ Jesus.  Neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor power nor height nor anything in all creation can separate us from God’s love.”  And as we say those words, we know it is now true for Harold, that death has not taken him away from his Lord, but rather has become the gateway for him to be with him forever more.    Amen.  It shall be so. 

Today we speak an Amen to the words of our Gospel lesson, when Jesus says, “I go to prepare a place for you, and I will come back to take you to be there.  And where I am, you shall be also.”  And as we hear those words, dear friends, we know that’s where Harold is now.  He is with Christ, and shall be forever more.  The saving work of Jesus, crucified and risen to take away sin has been made complete in him.  He has inherited life in the death of Jesus, life to the full. 

And so we say Amen today, knowing that Harold lives because Jesus lives.  We say Amen knowing that in the bloody death and glorious resurrection of Jesus, Harold was saved.  We say Amen knowing that one day we too will die because of our sin, but in Christ’s forgiveness we will live forever.  We say “Amen, Yes, yes it shall be so,”  for Christ has said it on our behalf – “They shall be forgiven in my blood – it shall be so.” 

Dear friends, those words say it all, when they say it about what Christ does for us.  Harold was right, “We don’t really say those words enough, Amen, yes, yes it shall be so.” 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Lucia Ann (Hatton) Jording

Ruth 1:15-18 - ¹⁵ And she said, “See, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and to her gods; return after your sister-in-law.” ¹⁶ But Ruth said, “Do not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge.  Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. ¹⁷ Where you die I will die, and there will I be buried. May the Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you.” ¹⁸ And when Naomi saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.

Revelation 2:10 - Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.

Luke 23:44-49; 24:1-6 - It was now about the sixth hour,^[a] and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour,^[b] 45 while the sun's light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. ⁴⁶ Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands Icommit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last. ⁴⁷ Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, “Certainly this man was innocent!”⁴⁸ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts. ⁴⁹ And all his acquaintances and the women who had followed him from Galilee stood at a distance watching these things.

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. ² And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, ³ but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. ⁴ While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. ⁵ And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead? ⁶ He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee,

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially Timothy, Dacia, family and friends of Lucia.  Ruth told her mother in law Naomi, “Where you go, I will go.  Your God, shall be my God.  Your faith, shall be my faith.  Where you die, I will die, and there will I be buried.”  Those were bold words for her to speak.  Her husband had just died, a short time after her father-in-law had died.  Naomi would be soon heading back to Israel, her homeland, a foreign place for Ruth.  There were no guarantees of food or a roof over their head.  Ruth would be considered a foreigner, and Ruth’s own family would be far away.  And yet, she went where Naomi went, trusting that God would provide for her no matter what things happened because of it. 

The same could be said for Lucia as well.  Many years ago, in 1958, she married a newly ordained pastor, promising to go wherever God called him to serve God’s people.  She promised to him, essentially, that she would “Go where you go.”  And so they went.  From Illinois, to Wisconsin, to cold northern North Dakota, and finally here, to southern semi-tropical North Dakota. 

And throughout all the trip and travel, God did provide for her.  He was there when she lost loved ones and family members.  God was there when  things were challenging.  God was there when there were joys to celebrate.  God was there, almost two years ago, when her husband of 54 years passed away.  And now, dear friends, God was with her when her life came to its end just a few days ago. 

Where you go, I will go.  Dear friends, Jesus makes that very same promise to us.  Wherever we go in this world, Jesus will be there in His Word and Sacrament.  Wherever we go, Jesus is there with forgiveness for all our sin, he is there in all trials and tribulations.  And dear friends, Jesus also turns it around. 

“Where I go, you will go.”  Jesus says.  And Jesus went to suffer.  Jesus went to bleed.  Jesus went to die on the cross.  And we follow him.  We suffer and struggle in this world, just as Lucia did at times.  We hurt and weep, just as Jesus did.  And dear friends we even follow Jesus into death.  As we read earlier, “Did you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death.” 

Lucia has followed Jesus.  But the good news about following Jesus into death is that Jesus didn’t stay dead.  Jesus rose.  Jesus did not stay dead.  And dear friends, because Jesus rose, so too will Lucia.  Where Jesus goes, so too will she, and so too will you. 

Yes, dear friends, you too will follow Jesus one day into death.  You will because of your sin.  You will age, you will weaken, and you will die.  But fear not, do not fear what you are about to suffer.  For you are following in the footsteps of Jesus, who promises, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of eternal life.”  You will leave this world, just as Christ did, but you shall follow him through death and into eternal life.  Your tomb will one day be empty.  Your grave will be opened, and Christ will give you eternal life, and will resurrect you with all the dead on that great and glorious day. 

Where Jesus goes, so too, dear friends, will you. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

Margaret Amanda Pankow

Download the audio of the sermon here.

Lamentations 3:22-33 - The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;^[a]
    his mercies never come to an end;
²³ they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
²⁴ “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.”

²⁵ The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
    to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶ It is good that one should wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷ It is good for a man that he bear
    the yoke in his youth.

²⁸ Let him sit alone in silence
    when it is laid on him;
²⁹ let him put his mouth in the dust—
    there may yet be hope;
³⁰ let him give his cheek to the one who strikes,
    and let him be filled with insults.

³¹ For the Lord will not
    cast off forever,
³² but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion
    according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³ for he does not afflict from his heart
    or grieve the children of men.

Revelation 14:13 And I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Blessed indeed,” says the Spirit, “that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”

Luke 2:36-38 And there was a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years, having lived with her husband seven years from when she was a virgin, ³⁷ and then as a widow until she was eighty-four.^[a] She did not depart from the temple, worshiping with fasting and prayer night and day. ³⁸ And coming up at that very hour she began to give thanks to God and to speak of him to all who were waiting for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Dear friends in Christ, especially family and friends of Margaret.  When Baby Jesus was just a few weeks old, his parents took him to the temple to fulfill the law of Moses (Leviticus 12), and presented him as a firstborn child.  At this time Mary made an offering of two turtle doves to be forgiven of sin. 

However, while they were there in the temple, they ran into two other people.  Simeon, who upon seeing Jesus sang the following, “Lord now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to you word.  My eyes have seen your salvation in the baby Jesus.”  These are words, we too will sing today in just a little while. 

The second person is the one I’d like to focus on today.  After seeing Simeon, the Holy Family ran into Anna, the prophetess.  Anna had been living in the temple as a widow for many long years.  And after many years of waiting, after many years of praying and serving faithfully in God’s temple, Anna finally sees Jesus, her Lord and Savior Jesus face to face. 

And upon seeing him, she rejoiced and told all around her about how Jesus would save His people all from their sin.  She rejoiced, because Jesus would be her saving grace.  She rejoiced that Jesus would die so that her own death would be temporary.  She rejoiced, because having seen Jesus, she could depart in peace the same as Simeon. 

Dear friends in Christ, these last few days, I’ve been considering the story of Anna, because I see so many parallels between Anna and our dear friend Margaret.  Anna had been a widow for many years, as has Margaret since Rueben passed away in 1985.  Anna loved the temple and worship, and receiving God’s gifts in Divine Service, and so did Margaret here at St. John’s, serving as LWML president and attending bible studies as long as she was able.  And for Anna, the most important thing that she looked forward to was Jesus, and dear friends, I believe the same was true for Margaret as well. 

I don’t want you to hear that Margaret was perfect, or that she was without sin herself.  Those things wouldn’t be true.  She was a guilty sinner just like you and just like me.  But she did, as did Anna in our lesson, look to Jesus for salvation from that sin.  She did, as did Anna, trust in Jesus to be her salvation, even up until the very end.  Margaret always looked forward to receiving the Lord’s Supper for forgiveness of her sin.  Margaret knew that she was a baptized child of God, who was washed in the forgiveness earned by Christ on the cross.  Margaret looked forward to the day when she would see Christ with her own eyes.  And it was then, just a few days ago, after weeks and months of struggling to breathe, that Christ delivered her from the evil of this world. 

Now Margaret is in God’s heavenly temple, rejoicing at seeing Christ face to face.  Now she worships God in his very presence.  Now she no longer struggles to breathe, now she no longer is easily exhausted, but now she is with Christ awaiting the resurrection on the last day. 

So you see, dear friends, today isn’t really about Margaret, and it isn’t really about Anna, but it is about Jesus, who loved Margaret, and who loves you enough that the cross was not too much to ask.  He suffered, bled and died, so that faithful widows, along with you and me might be saved from all sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.  He went to the cross to set all free from their guilt and shame and sorrow.  He died so weakness would be destroyed in His death and resurrection. 

He gave that forgiveness and salvation to you in baptism, just as he did for Margaret.  He fed that faith in you through the preaching of his Holy Word in this church, just as he did for Margaret.  And dear friends, he fed that faith as you receive the Lord’s Supper – Christ’s very body and blood, as Margaret always desired when I visited her. 

And so, today, we know exactly where sinful but “faith-filled by Jesus” Anna is, where sinful but “faith-filled by Jesus”  Margaret is, and dear friends, where we sinful, but also forgiven by Jesus people will one day be – with Christ, in his eternal and gracious forgiveness forever.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

LWML Bible Study Fall Rally

Bible

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2014 North Dakota District Fall Rally

Draw from the Well of Salvation

In 1887, work began on the largest hand-dug well in the United States.  A team of 12 men dug for over a year to produce the “Big Well” in Greensburg, Kansas.  The well is 32 feet in diameter, and goes down to a depth of 109 feet.  It was built at a staggering cost (for 1887) of $45,000, to provide water for the Santa Fe and Rock Island railroads which passed nearby, as well as drinking water for the town citizens. 

Over the years the railroads changed from steam locomotives to diesel, eliminating their need for the water the “Big Well” provided – but still water flowed in its depths.  The town dug a new more modern well in 1932, one that could pump the water directly into your home, eliminating the work of pulling a bucket on a rope.  In May 2007, a giant tornado ripped through the town of Greensburg, filling the Big Well with debris from the town.  Yet through it all, the “Big Well” still has water in it to this day.  Repairs to the well have been made, and you can walk down spiral stairs to the very bottom, and see the water of the “Big Well” up close and personal. 

Water still flows from the “Big Well” – even today!

In a similar way, Holy Scripture speaks of the “Well of Salvation” that flows with God’s grace and mercy.  It flows with the forgiveness earned by Jesus into our own lives, despite our many sins and shortcomings.  It comes and washes us in water and the Word, so that we are God’s holy precious children, adopted heirs of Christ.  It flows that we may be made whiter than snow. 

Prayer:  Dear Lord Jesus Christ, our sins are as scarlet, marking us as guilty people.  Wash us, and make us whiter than snow with the water of life that flows from the wells of salvation.  In your holy name we pray, Amen. 

Isaiah 12

You will say in that day:

“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,

for though you were angry with me,

your anger turned away,

that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;

I will trust, and will not be afraid;

for the Lord God is my strength and my song,

and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:

“Give thanks to the Lord,

call upon his name,

make known his deeds among the peoples,

proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;

let this be made known in all the earth.

6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,

for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

 

Read Isaiah 12:1 You will say in that day:  “I will give thanks to you, O LORD for though you were angry with me, your anger turned away, that you might comfort me.” 

What does it mean “in that day”?

Why would God be angry with us? 

See 1 John 1:8 and Deuteronomy 5:9b

Are you a sinner?  How do you know?  Romans 3:9-18

Luther’s Catechism on the Office of the Keys:  Am I a sinner?

“Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments:  Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife or worker?  Have you been disobedient, unfaithful or lazy?  Have you been hot-tempered, rude or quarrelsome?  Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds?  Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?” 

What have you deserved from God because of your sins? 

See Romans 2:5 and Romans 6:21-23

Whom did God’s anger fall in your place?  Why has God’s anger turned away? 

See 1 Thessalonians 5:9 and 1 John 4:10. 

What promise then do we have from God because of Jesus? 

See 1 Corinthians 15:55-57 and 1 Peter 2:24

Read Isaiah 12:2 “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” 

What does it mean that “God is my salvation”? 

See Luke 23:33-34 and Ephesians 2:4-5

Can we by our own strength trust in God or believe? 

See 1 Corinthians 2:4, Romans 8:7 and Ephesians 2:1

How can we as sinners ever hope to trust or believe then?  See Romans 1:16 and the explanation for the third article of the creed in the Small Catechism. 

“I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel…

Where is it that Christ’s work on the cross comes to me, to forgive my sin? 

See Titus 3:4-7 and Colossians 2:11-14

Are these words familiar?  We sing them in the Liturgy in the service of Prayer and Preaching.  (See the end of our study.)

Read Isaiah 12:3 “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”

What is the well of salvation? 

See Ephesians 1:13, 1 Peter 3:18-21, and Matthew 26:26-28

Let’s focus specifically on the “water” aspect.  What “well” have you been washed in?  Where does that “well/font” sit in your church?  Why? 

 

Many churches have their baptismal font in the back entry way of the church so that you must pass through baptismal waters to enter the church – symbolic of the way God called us to be Christians in baptism.  One Missouri Synod Church has that symbolism carried even further.  Their baptismal font overflows into a stream that one must cross to enter into their altar rail and receive the Lord’s Supper for forgiveness, life, and salvation – a great reminder that in baptism you’ve drowned your sin with Jesus and risen to new life.  

Many baptismal fonts are 8 sided, as the number 8 is a symbol of eternity and re-creation.  Jesus died on the sixth day of the week (Good Friday) rested in the tomb and rose again on the eighth day of the week – Easter Sunday. 

Read Romans 6:3-10. 

What promise do we have in our baptism? 

What does baptism do to the Christian? 

See Mark 16:16, Galatians 3:27 and Acts 22:16. 

The Small Catechism says it this way:  “What benefits does baptism give?  It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal life to all who believe this as the words and promises of Christ declare.”

If there’s time – see John chapter 4, where Jesus meets a woman at a well, and tells her about the living waters He offers.  If she partakes in Christ’s living waters, she shall never thirst again, and they will well up within her to eternal life. 

How does this relate to our study?

Does the well of salvation in baptism really promise us eternal life with Christ? 

See Revelation 7:9-17. 

When are the above words often read?

What do they promise?   They promise that Christ will lead us to springs of living waters, and wipe all tears from our eyes. 

Read Isaiah 12:4-6  “And you will say in that day:  “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.  “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously; let this be made known in all the earth.  Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

Whose work is baptism? 

Who has done gloriously?  Whose deeds are done among the people? 

Why is that good news to us sinful people? 

To whom alone do we owe our salvation? 

What then do we do in response to the salvation given to us in baptism? 

Pray the Lord’s Prayer

Dear Lord, today You have brought me to the well of salvation – the baptismal font – where You washed away all my sins, and made me well in the promises of Christ.  Because of Your great mercy and work on my behalf, I am able to “give thanks to the Lord, call upon Your name, and make known Your deeds among the peoples.”  Keep me in that baptismal faith, all the days of my life, that they may well up into living waters with in me forever. 

Amen

To close, sing “The Lord God is my Strength and My Song”  on the next pages.

 

The Old Testament Canticle based on Isaiah 12