LWML Sunday - E - 2014 - Skubalon

LWML Sunday - Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 5, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 5:1-7     Philippians 3:4b-14     Matthew 21:33-46

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, St. Paul writes today in a similar way as we so often do in our obituaries, bragging himself up as he says with his own words, “confident in his own flesh.”  He is confident that if it is possible to please God by actions that he has achieved it.  He states he is the best of the best in terms of holiness.  He is the Jew of all Jews, “circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless as blameless can be. 

And yet the very next words are quite striking.  “And yet all of my righteousness of works and holiness of living, I count it all as rubbish.”  The word he uses is skubalon.  That word very piously, but wrongly translate as rubbish.  The real meaning is stronger, because the rubbish of which this word speaks is the kind we so often flush down the toilet – yes, Paul crassly calls his holiness and works sewage in very plain terms.  Paul says that those good works are lost to him, and that they won’t benefit him in God’s eyes. 

Its not that the works are good in a worldly sense.  They are.  It’s not that they haven’t benefited himself or even others around him, they have.  Rather its that his sin is so large that no amount of civil righteousness or worldly holiness can make up for his sin.  Furthermore his worldly holiness gives only empty rewards of money, home, riches and other things that cannot be taken with him beyond the grave. 

Instead Paul trusts in something better than all the skubalon of our world.  He trusts in Christ, and in his promises.  He happily would have all the skubalon of the world taken from him so that he might gain Christ ⁹ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of his own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— ¹⁰ that he  may know Jesus and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, ¹¹ that by any means possible he may attain the resurrection from the dead.

What about you?  The truth is often times we get distracted by the skubalon of the world.  We are proud of our works, we have pride that looks down on others.  We struggle to do what is right, but tell ourselves that our best effort is good enough.  We get angry at other people for things they do wrong, when we turn around and do the same things ourselves.  We slander and hurt other people’s reputations, and drag their names in the mud. 

And then we boldly declare ourselves righteous to the world.  We talk about the great things we’ve done.  We brag about how we spend our money.  We toot our trumpets to all who will listen about the amazing things that we have done. 

So often we call this Christianity as well.  We have all seen the what would Jesus do bracelets.  We’ve all heard the “Christians are supposed to be better than everyone else, we’re supposed to act better.”  And so often we tell people that we do!  We take pride in our faiths.  We tell others about how good our faith is – Even if it isn’t the truth. 

Dear friends, it is all skubalon.  It is sin.  It stinks.  It kills us.  Count it for what it is, flush it away as it ought to be flushed.  Repent.  Turn aside from you sin.  Trust in Christ, and in his mercy only.  For only in him is their forgiveness.  Become like him, in his death.  Put your sin to death in his body, in his blood and in his mercy and forgiveness. 

Why?  So that you might obtain eternal life.  So that you might reach the reward of heaven.  And dear friends the only way you can put your sin and pride to death is in Christ.  His death on a cross is for you and your forgiveness.  His blood poured out so that you might be forgiven.  You were baptized into that forgiving death.  You were washed in that blood.  You are holy, not by your own actions or works, or by your pride, or your selfishness.  You’re holy in Jesus, and in Jesus alone. 

And so that’s how we live.  That’s how LWML works, that’s how our missions work, we set ourselves aside in faith in Christ and serve our neighbors.  We don’t brag, except in Jesus.  We don’t trumpet ourselves, but we tell all we can about the good work Christ has done in us.  Because, dear friends, when we talk about Christ, we avoid the skubalon. 

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.  

Proper 9 - E - 2014 - Sinner Saints

The Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

July 6, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Zechariah 9:9-12         Romans 7:14-25a        Matthew 11:25-30

Hymns LSB 707, 684, 752 Communion LSB 662, 965, 717, 718

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 just read, especially these words, “I do not understand my own actions.”  Thus far our text today. 

Dear friends in Christ.  St. Paul, the great apostle and follower of Jesus, who even was beheaded for his faith by the Emperor Nero in the late 60’s AD, makes a bold confession in our text today.  “Wretched man that I am,” he says, “Who can save me from this body of sin?”  It is a good question isn’t it?  And it needs to be a question that we ask all the time, because, dear friends, we too are wretched with sin. 

Yes, you.  You are wretchedly full of terrible, horrible sin.  It infects you, and every person in Hankinson to their very core.  Its within you, in your selfish wants and desires.  It shows its ugly head when you hurt your neighbor because you are more concerned about yourself.  You’ve not loved your neighbor who is on the street suffering and hurting.  You’ve failed to give compassion to everyone in every place that needed it. 

You’re wretched in sin so that you’ve driven past cars stalled on the side of the road because you’ve been late.  You’ve honked at cars that you’ve felt weren’t driving the right way as it if was your job to police them – and then a few moments later you’ve sped off as if speed limits don’t apply to you. 

You’ve become wretched in sin.  So wretched that you would rather watch filthy reality T.V. shows that read your bible for five minutes.  You’d rather go out fishing that come in to church on a nice Sunday morning – and what’s worse, when you do so, you justify yourself by saying ridiculous things like “Well God’s in nature so its ok for me to spend time here instead of where His word is proclaimed for my salvation.” 

You’re wretched in sin, so much so that you do things even when you know they are wrong, even when you know that they are wrong.  You continue in sin as if it doesn’t really matter.  You keep on in wretched things, because you enjoy them.  You act as if you don’t know they’re wrong.  You get angry when someone else tells you that the things you’ve done are sinful, to the point where you begin to judge the other person, comparing your sin with theirs, and deciding that theirs is worse than yours – which is in fact a lie. 

Yes, because all are wretched.  Even the person who seems the most holy outwardly is a terrible rotten sinner inside.  All of sinned, all have fallen short of the glory of God.  All have failed in their thoughts words and deeds.  It’s the truth – each one of you is wretched. 

So what should you do?  Resolve today to change your sinful life?  To no longer sin?  To only be holy and gracious?  To do what is right in all times and all places?  Go ahead and try – you will fail.  Your sin is not a decision – it is a reality that is beyond your comprehension.  And since it is not your decision to be infected with sin, it is not your decision to be rescued from it, but it is only God’s grace that can take it away.  You do not do the good you want to do, but instead you do the very things you hate.  Wretched people that you are, who will save you from this body of sin?

The answer comes from the very Word of God.  While you were still a sinner, God saved you, not by righteous things that you have done, but instead by the washing of Water and the Word, so that being justified by his grace, we might heirs of the hope of eternal life.  Yes, in baptism your sinful self was drowned and died.  In baptism, all the wretchedness that infected you was killed.  It was destroyed along with death and the devil in baptism.  You poor miserable sinner became a holy blessed child of God.

Its true.  When you were baptized you died with Jesus, and your sin died with you.  You became a participant in Jesus death.  You died when water was poured on your head in the name of the only true God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  You were dead in a tomb with Jesus, and as Jesus rose from the dead victoriously sin free, so too did you.  And because Jesus rose, so too do you rise.  Wretched man that you are, Jesus died and rose to rescue you!

We watched it happen this morning.  A tiny baby, already sinful by nature, came to the font, and with the power of the Word in and with the water was made righteous in God’s sight.  All the sin that the baby had already committed was taken away.  All the sin that the baby would commit was already forgiven.  The baby was already promised eternal life.  The baby was made well in the blood of Jesus. 

And the same happened to you, a forgiven wretched sinner.  Yes, your sin was made well, by the water of baptism that connects you to Jesus.  Your sin, all of it, has been paid for, forevermore.  You are free from the bounds of sin.  You are God’s own Holy Child. 

That doesn’t mean sin won’t be apart of your life.  You will still sin.  You are still wretched for as long as you are in this world.  Its reality.  But at the same time you deal with your sin in this world, you are a forgiven wretch.  You are sinner and saint.  You are guilty and not guilty.  And you will be that way until finally your sinful nature dies for good at the end of your earthly life, when all that will be left is your new, forgiven, perfect and holy for Jesus sake self.  Then the reality of your baptism will be made complete – you will be forgiven and with God, even forever more. 

In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  

The Resurrection of Our Lord - G - 2014 - Do Not Be Afraid

The Resurrection of our Lord

April 20, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Jeremiah 31:1-6           Colossians 3:1-4          Matthew 28:1-10

Hymns - LSB 457, 469, 463, Communion – LSB 458, 465, 461, 467, 487

He is risen.  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “Do not be afraid”.  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ. There was so much fear on that first Easter morning.  The disciples had locked themselves in the upper room where just a few days earlier Jesus had instituted the Lord’s Supper.  Peter afraid for his life had denied knowing Jesus three times.  Mark, ran away in the garden naked when a soldier had grabbed ahold of his shirt to arrest him.  Judas afraid of the consequences of his actions had hanged himself.  Fear ruled the morning.  Fear ruled the lives of those in our lessons today – and in a way it always had. 

After all, God is just.  He judges sin, and the sinners who commit it.  He calls into account what people do in this life.  That means Peter, and Mark.  That means all the disciples.  That means you and me. 

The women on the way to the tomb to anoint the dead body were also afraid.  Afraid for being disciples of Jesus out and about after he was condemned.  Afraid that no one would be there to help them open the tomb to anoint the dead body of Christ.  Afraid of seeing the tortured remains of their friend.  Afraid of seeing the wounds, and remembering the gruesome and wicked way that they were formed. 

But as they fearfully made their way to the tomb, there is an earthquake.  And as the earth stops shaking they see an angel, who has rolled back the stone of the tomb of Christ and sits upon it.  Upon seeing the angel their fear turned to terror.  Angels of God reflect his holiness and glory, and seeing that angel in that emotional time is almost too much for the women.  They almost faint like the guards at the tomb. 

Except they don’t, for in the midst of their fear the Angel speaks God’s Word to them.  Don’t be afraid.  Don’t worry.  Don’t be alarmed.  Why not?  Because Jesus has arisen.  It is finished as he had said.  He lives again, and he always will live.  Fear not!  For there are tidings of great joy that shall be for all people. 

The women look in the tomb, and then begin making their way out of the garden cemetery.  And there on there way out, they see him.  Jesus.  No longer dead.  No longer pale gray.  No longer still and lifeless, but alive.  And he speaks the same words to them.  “Do not be afraid.”  For sin is no more.  For death has been swallowed up by death.  Be not afraid.  From the very mouth of the crucified and risen God in human flesh, the same words as the words of the angel.  Fear not!  Never fear again. 

Dear friends, this Easter morning, what are you afraid of?  Are you afraid of making ends meet?  Are you afraid of keeping your job?  Are you afraid of how much rain will fall this summer, if your fields will produce as well as their supposed to?  Are you afraid that your mortgage will come due, and you won’t have enough for the payments?

Do you fear for your child?  Do you fear for your parent or grandparent?  Do you fear illnesses and cancer?  Do you fear weakness and pain?  Have you bitten off more than you can chew?  Have you hurt a loved one and are afraid to speak with them and reconcile the conflict?  Are you afraid of a coming judgment or penalty?  Are you afraid of commitment?  Are you afraid of fire, or flood or global disaster?  Are you afraid of your sin, and God’s just judgment of it?  Are you afraid… of death?

Dear friends, Christ is risen.  Be not afraid!  Let not the terrors of this world frighten you anymore.  Jesus has overcome it all, every last one of your fears have been destroyed by His bloody death on the cross, and confirmed by his glorious resurrection.  He has loved you with an everlasting love – a love that is this, that he gave up his life for you as a sin sacrifice.  You are hidden in Jesus, you have already been promised resurrection in him. 

When confronted by this world, because of the resurrected Jesus, you need not be afraid.  When sad, fear not.  When overwhelmed pressures and pain of this world, let terror not overwhelm you.  When confronted with death, know that life has won. 

That is our hope on this most blessed of days.  That Christ has arisen, and so too will we one day rise.  Even though in this world we struggle, even though we hurt.  Even though we will grow sick and die, we know that because Jesus is risen, so too will we arise. 

We are given that promise in the water of baptism, where we already have died and arose with Jesus.  We are given that promise today as we eat the body of blood of Jesus- the Risen and living body and blood – for the forgiveness of our sins.  And in those things we are directly connected to the life that Jesus now lives forever. 

Dear friends, you will live forever.  There is no fear in this world that can overcome you.  There is not pain too large, there is no suffering that can destroy you.  You will live.  You will be brought safe out of the tribulation.  You have Christ, and his promises forever more.  Fear not, for Christ is not dead.  He is Risen.  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia, Amen.  

Palm Sunday - G - 2014 - Ride on in Weakness Jesus

Palm Sunday

April 13, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11, John 12:12-19 (Processional); Matthew 27:11-66

LSB 442, 438, 441   Communion – LSB 443, 440, 634, 543

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel processional lesson read earlier, along with the Old Testament Lesson, especially these words, “Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!”.  Thus far our text.

Hosanna, for your king is coming.  Rejoice, your salvation is riding boldly into Jerusalem today.  He goes to be lifted up.  Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die!  He who prepared the world for you and me, he who has given us all we have and know, even the very breath of our lives heads into Jerusalem to what we have prepared for him.  Death on a cross. 

And yet, those people cheered him on as he entered.  A large crowd, who had entered for the Passover feast, shouts to Jesus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”   With those words, the Son of God rides towards his suffering and death.  He boldly rides on the back of a donkey.  The crowd watches, smiling and rejoicing. 

How can it be?  The people who today shout “Hosanna” will shortly shout “Crucify him, crucify him.”  The people will force the hand of their Roman governor to kill their Jewish King.  It doesn’t make sense, how could they turn so quickly?  We judge them, we criticize them for their change of tone. 

And yet, our faces are in that crowd.  We too, today shout hosannas as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.  We too stand as Jesus rides by.  Jesus, who knows all your sin, who knows all the things you’ve done wrong.  After all he is God.  As he rides by, we know that he knows, and we wonder if he will tell.  Will he share my deepest darkest secrets with those I don’t want to know them?  He’s got to die!  It’s either him or me, and I would rather it be him, wouldn’t I?  We turn on a dime, just as those people so long ago did. 

Hosanna Jesus!  Get on to that cross, before you reveal that I struggle with alcohol!  For you know, that I always have a slight buzz, that I can’t quit drinking.  You know that it has affected my entire life, my job, my family, my friends.  Go to the cross Jesus!  Go to the cross and die!

Hosanna Jesus!  You know that my family life is falling apart.  You know that there are difficulties between my wife and I, you know that my brother won’t talk to me.  You know that I have mistreated my children, you know that I despise my mother and father every day for what they told me what right and wrong.  Go die Jesus, for I have no place for you here in my life.

Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is he, even as I am not, as I have despised God’s word.  I don’t really care for Bible Study.  I don’t really spend time in God’s Word.  I have more important things to do.  I don’t really believe in all this Christianity stuff anyways, but I have to be seen in church.  I preach sermons to myself, sermons that say I am not good enough, that I am not forgiven, that I cannot be forgiven.  Sermons that do not actually match what God’s word said.  I create my own religion on my own terms, so die Jesus for being all “holier than me”. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  Or so shout our lips, the same lips that just moments ago were putting down John Doe because of the situation in his life.  So shout the same lips that curse, swear, that lie and deceive.  Blessed be God is our shout one moment, and the foulest language imaginable is on our lips the next.  Sinful dogs that we are – so die Jesus!

We murder!  We steal!  We lie!  We covet!  And Jesus does none of it!  So go on Jesus and die!  Go to the cross, for you think you are better than we are!  You think you can control our lives here and now.  You aren’t the God I want, you aren’t the God I create for myself.  So go and die!  Suffer!  Bleed!  Thirst!  Go and do it, for I do not want to, and it is really what I deserve.  For it is I lord that am guilty, not you.  It is I who deserve punishment by my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.  And you Lord Jesus go where I dare not, to die for my sin.  Ride on, ride on to die.

And Jesus does.  Today, dear friends, he rides past us, knowing our sin and guilt.  Today he rides on, knowing our pain and suffering, and still he rides boldly on.  He carries the sin of those who rides past.  He carries the sin of those who in a few days will not shout, “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”  He carries the sin of you, of me, even as he knows you will turn on him.  He knows it, and he will not turn aside from it.  He won’t forget it, but he will die for it.  And he does all of this in your place, for you, for your forgiveness.  The death you deserve, today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to deal with. 

This most holy week, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And all of this is for you. 

Dear friends, now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  No longer will you be slave to sin.  No longer can you give into the horrible way of the world.  Satan does not rule you today, nor will he ever again.  He is weak, he is destroyed, he is defeated forever.  For Christ has shed his blood on the cross.  And so we rightly shout, “Hosanna Jesus!  Hosanna to the king, he rides on to die for the sins of the world.  To be lifted up. To take away my sin!  Hosanna!  Blessed are you Jesus” 

Christ goes to die, and he does it for you.  He goes to forgive your sin, to take it away as far as the east is from the west.  On Friday, it is finished.  On the cross, you are forgiven.  Jesus rides in to shout, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Ride on, Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die.  O Christ, they triumphs now begin, o’er captive death and conquered sin.  Amen.  

Lent 5 - G - 2014 - Alive

The Fifth Sunday of Lent

April 6, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 37:1-14           Romans 8:1-11            John 11:1-53

Hymns - LSB 420:1-3, 430, 420:4-7    Communion – LSB 724, 725, 421, 428

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read,  Thus far our text.

Dear friends, in a few weeks, we will gather together and meditate on the death and torture that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will suffer on Good Friday. He will be beaten, spit on, mocked tortured and crucified.  He will cry out, “It is finished, Tetelestai,” and have earned us salvation and life.  we know with certainty Christ has suffered in our place, and that in that, we now have life eternal.  We have certainty of life. 

But do we truly have certainty? Do we really believe that Christ was raised from the dead? I have never seen anyone rise from the dead. I have never seen someone whose heart has ceased beating for more than a few minutes, who has come back to life. It doesn’t make sense.  How can it really be true that someone could rise from the dead?

That is exactly what happens in our text today.  If we look at the story of Lazarus, we see it is quite the interesting story. It takes place about a week before Good Friday. We see a friend of Jesus is sick, and dies. They bury him in a tomb, and by the time Jesus arrives, he has been laying there for four days. He isn’t just sitting in the tomb, there is no doubt at this point that Lazarus is dead. He has passed into eternal rest, and nothing can bring him back.

The family, certain of this has begun to mourn and wail. All of Lazarus’s friends come and weep for the loss of their friend Lazarus. But he is gone, nothing can bring him back. Even Jesus mourns at the loss of Lazarus. He mourns that because of sin, mankind must die. He mourns that in our sin we must deal with death. Lazarus too was a sinner, and in that sin, he has now died. The loss associated with death overcomes all those around.  Death hurts. 

But Jesus tells that mourning family, “I am the resurrection and the life.” And here he proves it. Jesus has the tomb opened, and standing outside calls forth Lazarus alive. The one who is dead returns to life. The one who was dead is returned to his family. The mourning of loss turns into joyful shouts, and celebration. By the mere speaking of His words, Jesus brings one of his believers back to life. By His word, Christ can make death run backwards.

It’s a miracle!  It really happened!  Today, you can go and see this, Lazarus’s first tomb.  There are even members here who have been there. You can walk down inside of it, and see where Jesus called Lazarus forth from death. You can walk the same steps Lazarus walked out of the tomb. It is a miracle that God used to show that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life (John 10) That He is the Lord of life.

This miracle happened, because Christ is true God. Jesus could raise Lazarus because he was headed to his own suffering and death. But unlike Lazarus, Jesus would not die for his own sin, but for your sin. Jesus would suffer and die, and be laid in a tomb, just like Lazarus.

But Christ has power over death and life. Even as Jesus is killed, the grave cannot hold him in. Even though He is executed, His life cannot be permanently ended by human means. Instead, Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. He is Lord over life and death.

And He has earned that right. He earned it by obeying God’s law completely and totally. He earned it by passively submitting to the will of the Father and drinking the cup of wrath prepared for sinners. Christ took our place and He suffered for us. And when our salvation was assured to us by the spilling of his holy precious blood, He announced to the world that sin and Satan were defeated by His rising again on the third day from the tomb.

Friends, almost 2000 years ago, the tomb of Jesus was found empty, just like the tomb of Lazarus was found empty. Just as Jesus called Lazarus back into life, God the Father raised Jesus back to life through His glory and power.

But Jesus’ resurrection was even more wonderful than Lazarus’. Lazarus would die again. Lazarus had two tombs, one in Bethany and one that church tradition holds was in the city of Larnaca on the island of Cyprus. Lazarus served as a pastor there until again he died and was reburied.

But Jesus will not die again. As the prophet Isaiah says, “He has swallowed up death forever.” (Isaiah 25:8) Where O death is thy victory, Where O death is they sting? (1 Corinthians. 15:55, Hosea 13:14) It is gone forever. Death cannot defeat Jesus Christ, because by his own death, he defeated death. When the tomb was found empty, that message has resounded throughout all the world. “Through Christ, death is defeated. Through Christ you have life.”

This is the message of the church. This message is important to the whole world, especially to you and me. God’s word tell us we are in the same boat. We hear that we have not kept God’s law. Scripture even says that “If we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” We are poor miserable sinners, and as sinners we too must die. Just as Lazarus died from his illness of sin, we too will die unless we live to see that last day. Just as Jesus laid in a tomb, we too will lay in a grave of some kind.  It is the price that we must pay for our sin. It is the consequence of our disobedience to our heavenly Father.

And we see that in our daily lives. Even when we try to obey God, we fail. And in our failure we are trapped. We are uncertain which way we should turn. We are uncertain if there is a way out at all! All we can do is flounder around in our sin.

Being trapped in our sin is very much like being trapped in a grave. In our sin we are dead. In our sin we cannot climb or dig our way out. There is nothing that we can do. We are stuck, permanently. Just as a dead Lazarus could not remove himself from his own tomb, neither can we rescue ourselves. We are lost in our sin. We are dead in sin.

But Christ is risen. His tomb has been opened and the message of His victory has been spread over the entire Earth. It has come to our ears as we hear that beautiful message both in song and word. Even as this Lenten season we look forward to the death of Christ, we know that is not the end.  The tomb will be opened with angel proclaiming the victory of the Lamb.

Because Christ is risen, so too are you risen. We have the promise of eternal life. In Christ, you have life. In Christ you no longer need fear death or the power or the power of the devil. You are set free, to live and reign with hi for all eternity. In Christ’s life, you too receive life, life to the full.

Death has no power over you. Even if you shall die, yet shall you live. In Christ there is victory. In Christ you triumph, the enemy is destroyed. Today, you have eternal life. You are risen with Christ.

Lent 4 - E - 2014 - Darkness comes to Light

The Fourth Sunday of Lent

March 30, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 42:14-21           Ephesians 5:8-14         John 9:1-41

Hymns – LSB 435, 551, 423

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is from the Epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “Walk as children of light.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Within each one of us, deep in the depths of our soul are terrible secrets.  Things we don’t want the other people in town to know about, things we don’t want our spouses and families to know about.  Sinful, dreadful things.  You all have committed some sort of sin that you don’t want to become public, that you don’t want to come to light.  And due to the shame you’ve felt over that sin, you’ve buried it deep within your hearts, to keep it hidden away from prying, judgmental eyes. 

What defines these deep dark secret sins?  Specifically?  It’s different for each one of us.  Perhaps it is some sort of adultery that you have committed.  Perhaps it that money you wrongly received and stashed away.  Perhaps it’s the way you’ve treated a neighbor or family member, perhaps its hating and despising, perhaps its even the abortion and murder you’ve committed.  Maybe you’ve been angry.  Maybe you’ve been drunk, maybe even on one more than one occasion. 

In fact, these things define who you are.  You are a sinner, dear friend.  You are wrong in God’s eyes.  He despises the things that you’ve done, the person that you are in sin.  That’s why you hide your sin away, you’re trying to hide it from God.  As if God won’t know that you are a sinner if you hide your sin away.  God knows.  He knows you walk in darkness.  He knows your faults.  All of them.  He knows your shame.  All of it.  He knows your sin, you cannot hide it away in the darkness of your soul.  The light must shine upon it. 

And that’s what our Epistle lesson says today.  At one time you were in darkness, but now you are in the Light of the Lord.  The light of Jesus Christ, whom the darkness cannot overcome.  He shines his light upon you, and as the light shines, so too do all your shortcomings and failures become visible.  They are bathed and revealed in the Light of Christ. 

And yet, when Christ shines his light upon them, they are made visible, not for shame, but for forgiveness.  When Christ shines upon your guilt he does so with healing light, a light that shines forth from him because of the great things He accomplished.  He went to the cross.  He bled.  He died, and rose again.  He did this all so that he might shine out forgiveness upon you. 

And he does.  Yes, all your blemishes and secrets are made well in that death and resurrection of Christ.  We need not hide in the darkness of our sin, but instead, we are free to bask in the light of his forgiveness and glory.  That’s what Paul says in our Epistle.  “But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.’” 

The light of Christ for your forgiveness shines upon you.  Your sins are brought to light, and in his blood are made into light.  You are forgiven.  Awake O sleeper, and arise from the dead.  For Christ has shined upon you.  Amen.  

Lent 3 - G - 2014 - Bridegroom and Bride at the Well

The Third Sunday of Lent

March 23, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Exodus 17:1-7             Romans 5:1-8              John 4:5-30, 39-42

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “Jacob's well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  In today’s world, there are all sorts of place where spouses meet.  Perhaps at a dance hall, or in college.  Maybe on Eharmony.com or Christian Mingle, or one of the other of dozens places advertised on Radio and T.V.  But thousands of years ago, things were a bit different.  In the Old Testament times, wells were the gathering place for people to talk, to gossip, to visit, and most importantly, to meet your future spouse.  Yes, wells in ancient Israel were the hot spots for dating.  Abraham sent a servant to Haran to find a wife for his Son Isaac, and it was there at a well, in the late evening, that the servant first met Rebekah, the future Mrs. Isaac, the very literal answer to the prayer he had just prayed. 

It was not many years later, that Isaacs and Rebekah’s son Jacob too, having run away from his brother Esau who sought to kill him for stealing the birthright, fell down at the same well, and met for the first time his future wife Rachel.  Jacob worked 14 years for Rachel’s father Laban, so that he might marry Rachel. 

Moses, some 400 years later, also fled Egypt, having murdered a slave master.  He too, after wandering in the desert sat down next to a well, and met the seven daughters of Jethro, including one named Zipporah.  Moses helped them water their flocks at the well, and soon he too married Zipporah as his wife. 

And so it is in our Gospel lesson today, that Jesus too, the fulfillment of the nation of Israel sits down at the edge of a well dug by his Father Jacob many years earlier.  And who should come, but a woman, who is not married.  But unlike the virginal young madiens of the Old Testament, the woman who comes to see Jesus is not so seemingly righteous.  She’s been married before, not just once, not just twice, but five times before.  And now, she lives outside of marriage with a man who is in fact not her husband, but instead a live in boyfriends if you will.  And what’s worse, this woman is a Samaritan, a people who were despised by the Israelites. 

The woman comes not in the evening when the sun was setting and it was cool and crisp to draw water, but instead she comes in the middle of the day, when no one will be there to judge her and the life of sin that she has chosen.  After all, we are embarrassed by our sin, just as she was.  But as she quietly and quickly seeks to draw her water for the day, Jesus speaks to her, asking her to draw some water up for him to drink. 

The woman is taken aback.  How can a Jew talk to a Samaritan woman?  Especially one who is outcast of her own society because of her sin?  Jesus goes on, “If you knew who I was, the bridegroom of all Israel, you would ask me, and I would give you living water to drink, and you would never thirst again!”  This sounds good to the woman, no more drawing water in the heat of the day, no more walks out of town to the well.  Instead no more thirst.  So she asks for this water from Jesus.

And its then that Jesus cuts to the chase, “Go get your husband so that I can give it to you both,” confronting the woman with her sin.  She sheepishly looks to the ground and tells Jesus a half truth, “I have no husband.”  “You’re right,” Jesus responds, “you’ve had five, and the man you’re with now is not your husband.” 

There’s no going around it, the woman’s sin has been called out.  She knows that God knows the truth about her life, and her lack of holiness.  She knows that He knows.  And she’s terrified.  The Bridegroom Jesus has arrived at the well, and the bride has been found wanting.  The Groom has arrived, and the Bride has fallen short of her end of the bargain. 

No dear friends, I’m not talking about Jesus being married in the way that we think about it.  I mean in the eternal, heavenly way, the way in which you and I and all people of the world are supposed to be the Holy Precious Bride of Christ.  We are supposed to be united with Jesus forever.  We’re supposed to be taken care of by Him, to live in the home he’s prepared in heaven.  And in return, we’re supposed to be Holy and pure, beautiful and radiant for him.  But the problem is, we’re not.  We’re sinful.  We’ve whored ourselves out to false Gods and sinful desires.  We’re all adulterers, not just once or twice, not even just five times like the woman at the well, but over and over again, each and every day. 

Yes, dear friends, you as a sinner are that bride whose found wanting.  You’ve sinned.  Not just in adultery as the woman in our text, but also by all the other commandments as well.  When Christ the bridegroom looks at you, he shouldn’t want you because of your sin.  He shouldn’t want you because you’ve done evil in thought word and deed.  He shouldn’t want you. 

But he does.  He cares about you, just as he cares about this poor Samaritan woman in our text.  He loves you enough that he will point out to you where you’ve fallen short, telling you of your sin, whether it be five husbands, or swearing once.  Not only that but he also will still promise to give you the water of life from the well of God.  He meets you at a well, no not a water well for watering animals, but a shallow well sitting right here in the church.  The well of the baptismal font.  There, in baptismal waters, you are washed in the water of life, made clean, made sparkling, and where Christ makes you his sinful dirty bride, holy and sparkling.  He assigns his own righteousness upon you. 

And then, having washed you and made you clean in baptismal waters, he robes you in the white robe of his righteousness, and brings you to the wedding feast, here at this altar.  There you eat his body and blood, why?  To forgive your sins.  To make you holy.  So that by eating the foretaste of that wedding feast you might receive the life of Christ, and salvation in his name. 

And Jesus loves you so much, that he’s willing to give up all he has to make you into his beautiful bride.  He fulfills Ephesians chapter 5, promising to love you his bride so much that he’s willing to give up his life to care for you.  He’s willing to bleed, he’s willing die, he’s willing to give up all that he has to make you well again.  And he does, on the cross, giving up all to make you his bride holy.  He gives his life, so that it might be your life.  He gives his blood that it might wash you.  He gives his body into suffering, so that you might not.  He forgives you sins on the cross. 

Dear friends, today’s story is a wedding story – and you're the bride.  You're the one Christ wants, and loves.  You're the one he meets and washes at the well.  You're the one he brings to the wedding feast.  You’re the one he gives up all he has to care for.  And so thus, your sin is forgiven forever, and you are the beautiful, holy, precious bride of Christ.  Even forever more.  Amen.  

Lent 1 - E - 2014 - By One Man Sin, By One Man Grace

The First Sunday of Lent

March 9, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline

Genesis 3:1-21            Romans 5:12-19          Matthew 4:1-11

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the epistle lesson we just read, especially these words, “by the one man's obedience the many will be made righteous.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  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.

Ash Wednesday 2014

+Jesu Juva +

Lenten Theme:  “Behold the Lamb of God That Takes Away the Sin of the World!”

John 1:29 / 2 Corinthians 5:19-21

Adapted from a sermon by Rev. Brent Kuhlman

In Matthias Grünewald’s painting, John the Baptist points his bony finger not at himself, but at gory, gruesome, hanging-dead-on-the-cross-Jesus!  John the Baptist, the last and greatest prophet of the Old Testament, preaches … this Jesus!  Imagine that!  John makes as much of Jesus as he can!  He extols Jesus to the hilt!  Jesus is all in all!  He is the way, the truth and the life.  He is the “treasure” (Matthew 6:20) come down from heaven.  He has come to cleanse, wash, and save His people from their sins. 

Therefore, John must decrease -- become less.  Jesus, however, must increase – be greater. (John 3:30)  John is nothing.  Jesus is everything!  With his outstretched index finger and his prophetic mouth John proclaims the good news that Jesus is the Savior of sinners:  you, the entire world and me! That man Jesus who hangs dead on the cross is God FOR YOU!  FOR YOUR SALVATION!  “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Why then would you dare to exclude yourself from John’s promise in the sermon?  Why would you ever take the hellish risk of blowing off God’s promissory grace in Christ?  Why do you bullishly insist on believing the hellacious lie that you are not a sinner who desperately needs a Savior? 

It’s time to be repented.  To live in and from your Baptism.  You need to be truthed by the power of God’s Word!  And here it is:  “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me … Against you, you only [LORD] have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight” (Psalm 51:5, 4)!  That’s you!  It’s the truth about you!

If you purposely exclude yourself from the truth of you being a sinner, then you’ve also deliberately excluded yourself from the salvation job done by the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  After all, Jesus died only for sinners.  If you don’t believe that you’re a sinner, then you have no use for Jesus hanging on the cross.  And then you’ve bought yourself a one-way ticket straight to hell – over Jesus’ dead body! If you insist that Jesus’ dead body on the cross is a nothing, then I’m here to tell you that you are still in your sins and you will be damned in them.       

  

I have been sent to with another message from the Lord.  It’s this:  “Be reconciled to God.”  Put down your guns.  Let all your defenses down.  Stop the 24-7-365 justification of the self.  You are not the exception to the rule. The fact that Jesus is crucified and that He takes away the sin of the world means that you’re a sinner who needed saving!  The fact that “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them,” (2 Corinthians 5:19) means that you have sinned.  When King David cries out:  “have mercy” (Psalm 51:1) it means he’s a transgressor.  It indicates that he’s polluted and toxic with iniquity!  “Blot out my transgressions!” King David begs the LORD.  “Blot out,” King David implores, “my lusting for another man’s wife, my stealing her, bedding her down, impregnating her, and then murdering her husband without any fear, love or trust in you LORD.” 

I beseech you brothers and sisters:  “Now is the time of God’s favor!  Now is the day of salvation!” as I stand here like John the Baptist pointing you to Christ and preaching Christ to you.  Christ has sent me as His ambassador to urge you and to make His appeal “ to receive God’s grace,” favor and forgiveness in His hanging-dead-on-the-cross-Son now!    

It is high time for you to believe John’s promise:  Jesus is “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  That includes your sin and all your sinning against God and the people in your lives!    

Behold how Jesus takes away your sin – how He forgives it –or washes and cleanses it -- from you the sinner!  It’s incredible!  It will absolutely blow your mind.  The circuit breakers in your mind are going to be popping in astonishment of the Lord’s way of dealing with you the sinner.  I’m here to tell you that the preaching of this Jesus will “restore to [you] the joy of your salvation,” (Psalm 51:12). 

Listen.  God made Jesus who knew no sin – who never sinned in his life – not even once,  “TO BE SIN!”      

Really?  “To be sin.”  Jesus?  Made to be sin?  How can that be?  He’s holy!  Divine.  He didn’t sin!  Ever!  Jesus and sin don’t go together!  Right?  Jesus and sin have to be divorced – kept apart – disconnected – as far as the east is from the west!  Right?  Got to protect holy and sinless God Jesus from the lethal rot, gunk, and filth of our and all sin!  Right?  St. Paul’s got to be wrong!  Surely he misspoke!  Or perhaps he’s just exaggerating.  If Jesus is really made to be sin on the cross, then He can’t be … God anymore.  Right?

WRONG!  Don’t fall for it!  Don’t even try to undo or untangle what God puts together!  Seriously!  Why would you want to do that?  Then you’d be left all on your own to find other ways besides Made-To-Be-Sin-Jesus to get rid of your sin and get to heaven.  You don’t want to do that.  Seriously!

Better stick with the bald and audacious assertion of the text that I’m here to preach.  “God the Father made holy, sinless, all-the-fullness-of-the-deity-dwelling-in-the-body-of-Jesus TO BE SIN!” 

How?  By taking all your sin and carrying it and answering for it in His divine Body to which John the Baptist points and preaches!  “The Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” (Isaiah 53:6)!  “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree,” (1 Peter 2:24)!  With your sin, the world’s sin, and mine Good Friday Jesus is, as one preacher from the 16^th century puts it, “sinner of sinners,” and “the highest, the greatest, and the only sinner!”[1] 

I know it sounds like madness – sounds so wrong -- but this is what God does FOR YOU when your salvation / forgiveness is at stake!  Jesus is  “made to be sin” on the cross!

Your sin is now Christ’s sin!  He took it away from you.  And He’s answered for it.  Got damned or cursed with it.  In exchange, He gives you his holiness, purity, righteousness – in other words -- FORGIVENESS.  In Jesus, “made to be sin,” God “hides his face” from your sin – He blots out or doesn’t count your sin against you.  After all, He counted it all against Jesus because He was “made to be sin!”      

All this done on the Friday afternoon we call “good”!  God’s doing and giving to save you!  Carrying out a Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world work! 

On the cross Jesus is wrapped in all of your sin!  Your sin and Lamb of God Jesus belong together so that He is “made to be sin.”  Your sin is defeated in Made-To-Be-Sin-Jesus and only in Him.  Christ became sin FOR YOU and FOR YOUR SALVATION. 

Behold, the Lamb of God / Made To Be Sin Jesus who takes away the sin of the world!  At Calvary! 

And even now tonight in the Sacrament at the altar and in your mouth!  With His own Lamb-of-God-who-takes-away-the-sin-of-the-world-promise that your sin is forgiven – “creating in you the pure heart” (Psalm 51:10) of faith – as He feeds you, through my “ambassador” hands (2 Corinthians 5:20), the “treasure” (Matthew 6:21) of His Paschal Lamb body and blood with the bread and wine.  What joy!  The joy of your salvation – forgiveness -- life!  Only in Him! 

In the Name of Jesus.

---

     [1]Dr. Martin Luther, “Lecture on Galatians,” in Luther’s Works 26:278. 

Transfiguration - O - 2014 - Blood of the Transfiguration

The Transfiguration of Our Lord

March 2, 2014 - Pastor Adam Moline

Exodus 24:8-18         2 Peter 1:16-21            Matthew 17:1-9

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson, especially these words, “Moses took the blood and threw it on the people.”  Thus far our text for today. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Today is Transfiguration Sunday, the last Sunday before Lent.  On this day we celebrate the event recorded for us in our lessons for today.  Peter, James and John went up with Jesus to the top of a tall mountain.  And while they are there, Jesus changes, his clothes began glowing like the sun, his face shone with the glory of God.  And Moses and Elijah appear, talking to Jesus about what must happen to Him, that he must be crucified, that he must shed his blood and that he must die. 

Peter, James and John are amazed at what they see. Elijah was the great prophet of old, who on the top of Mount Carmel built an altar to God, and after having shed the blood of the sacrifice on the altar, the altar was consumed by fire from heaven, proving to the Israelites that the True God was more powerful than Baal.  For the Lord God could not stand the false teachings of the prophets of Baal, and had them killed, for their unbelief.  On that day, the blood of the unbelieving prophets of Baal was required by God, and it was paid in full. 

Moses too had a mountain top experience, the one that we read about in our Old Testament lesson.  Moses made a sacrifice, and capturing the blood in a bowl, he walked around the entire people of Israel, and dipping his finger in the blood, he sprinkled it upon all the people.  Why?  So that their sin might be forgiven, and being forgiven, that they might see the God of Israel.  For it was only with the shedding and sprinkling of blood upon the people of Israel, that God would allow them to be in His holy perfect presence. 

And it is with these events in their mind, that Peter gets nervous in our text.  He sees the God-ness of Jesus shining forth.  He sees the holy prophets from of old, standing with Jesus.  It is at that moment that things click for Peter, and he understands that Jesus is God in human flesh.  The fullness of who Jesus is makes itself manifest.  It is the most clear epiphany – and Peter is scared to be in God’s presence, because He knows God hates sin.  That God hates unrighteousness, so much so that he wants to destroy it from his presence.  And Peter, knowing his own skin is terrified of being with God. 

There’s only one thing to do, the same thing Israel did in the Old Testament. Build three tents – tabernacles really.  Places to hide God away, so that they might know he’s present, but not have to be in his presence.  A place where God might be contained, so that sinners might stay safe in his presence.  But when Peter suggests this in our text, God appears in a glowing cloud, and says clearly – This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased, Listen to him.  Now Peter, James and John are truly terrified.  And they have no sacrifice to atone for their sins before God. 

Dear friends.  You too are guilty of sin.  You too deserve punishment from God.  You too have done wrong, and the only thing that can cover your sin is blood.  The only thing that can forgive your sin is blood. 

And like Peter you ought to be terrified.  One day your life will end, and you, like Peter in our text, will stand before the God of heaven and earth.  He will call into account all the deeds of your life.  He will ask if you’ve done good or if you’ve done evil.  And the truth is, because of sin you’ve done evil, time and time again.  You will not be able to plead ignorance on that day.  You will not be able to pass the buck onto someone else.  You will stand condemned, and your blood will be required by God, just as the prophets of Baal’s blood was required of them. 

Except that you have already been covered in blood.  Your sin has already be atoned for.  Just as Moses sprinkled blood on the people of Israel so that they could stand before God, blood has been sprinkled on you.  Just as blood took away their evil and gross sin, so too your sin is taken care of. 

No it’s not your blood, but it’s a sacrifice in your place.  The blood comes from Christ.  It was shed on a Friday we call good, many years ago.  It was poured out generously, the skin of Christ broken by whips and thorns.  The blood of Christ flowing quickly from his hands and feet, and finally the last of it drained as the point of a spear pierced his dead body.  Yes, it’s the blood of Jesus that was your sacrifice.  It was the blood of Jesus that covers you. 

It too was sprinkled upon you, just as Moses did in our lesson, in a font, where water and the Word of God combined to bring the forgiveness of Jesus to you.  In baptism, you’ve washed your robe and made it white in the blood of the lamb.  Your sin was taken away, because Jesus’ blood was shed in your place – just as it was shed for Peter, and for James, and John, and for all who believe in the name of Christ.  Your sin washed in the blood of the transfigured, and resurrected Lord Jesus Christ. 

Epiphany 7 - O - 2014 - Be Holy in Jesus

The Seventh Sunday after Epiphany

February 23, 2014 - Pastor Adam Moline

Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-18             1 Corinthians 3:10-23             Matthew 5:38-48

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is from the Old Testament Lesson just read, especially these words, “Be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  Be holy, God says.  How holy?  As Holy as the Lord your God is holy.  In other words, you are to be perfectly holy, without any spot, or stain, or shortcoming of failure at all.  You are to be Holy in the way you interact with God, and as God explains in detail, you are to be holy in regards to all your neighbors as well. 

God explains how in our lesson.  Be kind to the sojourner and traveler.  Provide food for the needy.  Don’t lie, don’t steal, don’t deal falsely.  Don’t pay people what you owe them late, don’t slander, and protect the life of your neighbor.  Finally, God says, don’t hate your brother, but love him as yourself. 

If you do these things, and if you do them perfectly, then you will fulfill God’s command and be holy as God himself commands in our text.  But as you well know, there’s a problem with this.  You aren’t perfect, and you aren’t holy.  You fall short time and again.  You don’t, and I don’t, care about our neighbors perfectly the way we ought to.  We do lie.  We do steal and more.  We aren’t holy, and no matter how hard we try, we cannot make ourselves holy enough to please God.  Even if we were to be perfect each and every day for the rest of our lives, we still couldn’t make up for the places that we have already fallen short.  You are not Holy, unlike the Lord your God who is holy. 

But that’s part of the message of our text today as well.  That the Lord God is Holy, that he is the very definition of Holy.  He has always been holy, and will always be holy.  He even was holy when he took on our human flesh in the person of Jesus Christ.  Jesus fulfilled that entire list of things that God wanted humans to do.  Jesus was the only person who truly was holy as the Lord God is holy, because he was the Lord God hidden in human flesh. 

He was so holy, that he cared about his neighbors – you and me – enough that he went to the cross, to suffer, to die, and to rise again, so that sin might be forgiven. 

And he shares that holiness with you dear friends.  You who could not be holy, Jesus makes holy.  How?  In baptismal waters, he washes you with the washing of rebirth and renewal poured out on us generously through the Holy Spirit.  In baptism, the sin of you have committed is washed away with the blood of Christ.  To put it clearly, in Baptism, your unholiness is covered up by Christ’s holiness – his righteousness becomes your righteousness. 

Now when God looks at you, he doesn’t see your failures, or your weaknesses, or your shortcomings, instead, he sees Jesus, crucified and risen for the sins of the world, covering your sin specifically. 

Be Holy as I the Lord your God am holy.  How holy?  Jesus covering your sin holy.  Jesus died for your sins holy.  Holy, just as Jesus, the Lord your God in human flesh, is holy.  And dear friends, you are, holy washed in the water and word of baptism.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.