Vacation Sermon - Pastor Brent Kuhlman

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost - Proper 8

7/1/2012

30

Lamentations 3:22-33

2 Corinthians 8:1-9,13-15

Mark 5:21-43

Old Testament – Lamentations 3

“²² 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.

Epistle – 2 Corinthians 8

8 We want you to know, brothers,^[a] about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia, ² for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy and their extreme poverty have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. ³ For they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means, of their own accord, ⁴ begging us earnestly for the favor^[b] of taking part in the relief of the saints— ⁵ and this, not as we expected, but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. ⁶ Accordingly, we urged Titus that as he had started, so he should complete among you this act of grace. ⁷ But as you excel in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all earnestness, and in our love for you^[c]— see that you excel in this act of grace also.

⁸  I say this not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. ⁹ For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.

Gospel - Sermon Text - St. Mark 5:21-43

²¹ And when Jesus had crossed again in the boat to the other side, a great crowd gathered about him, and he was beside the sea. ²²  Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing him, he fell at his feet ²³ and implored him earnestly, saying, “My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live.” ²⁴ And he went with him.

And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him. ²⁵ And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, ²⁶ and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse. ²⁷ She had heard the reports about Jesus and came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment. ²⁸ For she said, “If I touch even his garments, I will be made well.” ²⁹  And immediately the flow of blood dried up, and she felt in her body that she was healed of her disease. ³⁰ And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, “Who touched my garments?” ³¹ And his disciples said to him, “You see the crowd pressing around you, and yet you say, ‘Who touched me?’”³² And he looked around to see who had done it. ³³ But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. ³⁴ And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease.”

³⁵ While he was still speaking, there came from the ruler's house some who said, “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” ³⁶ But overhearing^[a] what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not fear, only believe.” ³⁷ And he allowed no one to follow him exceptPeter and James and John the brother of James. ³⁸ They came to the house of the ruler of the synagogue, and Jesus^[b] saw a commotion, people weeping and wailing loudly. ³⁹ And when he had entered, he said to them, “Why are you making a commotion and weeping? The child is not dead butsleeping.” ⁴⁰ And they laughed at him. But he put them all outside and took the child's father and mother and those who were with him and went in where the child was. ⁴¹  Taking her by the hand he said to her, “Talitha cumi,” which means, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” ⁴² And immediately the girl got up and began walking (for she was twelve years of age), and they were immediately overcome with amazement. ⁴³ And he strictly charged them that no one should know this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Sermon written by Pastor Brent Kuhlman

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

No sleeping, snoring Jesus this week.  No boating this weekend.  He’s on the beach after calming the storm and after healing a demon possessed man who lived in a cemetery.  Lord Jesus.  Lord of the winds and the waves.  Lord over sin, death, and the devil.  No wonder a great crowd is waiting for Him on the shore.  People have been waiting.  Waiting for generations.  For centuries.  For the kingdom of God.  For the Christ.  And here He is – fully awake -- on the seashore.

In Mark’s Gospel people come out of the woodwork.  People you’d never expect.  But word has been leaking out that the Messiah has come.  And so off these hungry-for-the-Gospel-people go looking for Jesus.  Trusting in Jesus.  Giving Him the highest of worship:  faith. 

Today there’s two.  No “little” faith with them like the disciples in the boat last week.  Or total rejection by the Gerasenes just a few verses before this text.     

First up:  Jairus -- the big shot synagogue ruler.  Has a little girl.  Twelve years old.  She is very sick.  Deathbed sick.  Hospice sick.  There’s not much time left.  Down to just hours.  Maybe even minutes.  Where does Jairus look for help?  To whom does he desperately look?

Not to himself.  Jairus is nothing.  But to the Savior who has burst on to the scene!  Jairus gets through the crowd to Jesus.  But the mighty synagogue official comes before Lord Jesus only as a beggar.  Falls down before Jesus’ feet and out spills the beggar’s cry of faith:  “My little girl is at death’s door.  Please, please come.  Lay your hands on her and bless her Jesus so that she can get better and live.”

They take off.  Off to the house.  “Hurry Jesus!  We don’t have much time!”  Everyone’s on the edge of their seats to see what will happen.  Jesus marches along to save a little girl from the icy grip of death itself.  As they go the throng of humanity presses, squeezes and pushes against the Lord Jesus.

They’re making progress.  Going as fast as they can to the house.  Then all of sudden Lord Jesus hesitates.  No.  Comes full stop!  Someone has touched His coat!  And Jesus perceives that He’s helped someone because His divine healing power flowed from His body.  He won’t budge until He finds out who came to Him in faith.  “Which one of you touched my garments?”  Jesus asks.

Are you kidding Jesus?  Good grief!  There’s a whole mass of humanity pressing up against you!  It’s a scene of human gridlock and yet you ask, “Who touched me?” 

During this delay Jairus is probably getting quite anxious.  Every second counts.  But Jesus delays.  He wants to know.  Someone who believes in Him touched Him. 

And lo and behold it is a woman.  An unclean, outcast from the worshiping community hemorrhaging-for-twelve-years-woman.  Spent all her savings on physicians.  And their health care only made her condition worse.  She’s heard that Messiah has come.  So she dares to come up from behind Him to touch – just touch a piece of His coat.  And she felt it.  The healing.  The hemorrhaging dries up. 

His eyes meet up with hers.  She’s terrified.  She too is reduced to being only a beggar before the Lord.  Falls down before Him.  Confesses what she, an unclean, hemorrhaging woman has done.  “It was me Lord!  I touched you!  I’m sorry.  I was so sick.  The physicians took all my money.  Made my condition worse.  You’re all I have left Jesus.  You’re the only one who can help me!” 

And Lord Jesus, in this mass of humanity, is there entirely for her.  Yes, that’s right, there just for her – this poor, poor woman.  He absorbs her uncleanness.  Takes it in His body in order to take it to Calvary and die for it.  And in exchange she is cleansed.  Restored.  Redeemed.  She is not just a woman.  Now she is a:  DAUGHTER!  She belongs.  She’s a part of God’s family.

Jesus praises her faith.  Her faith in Jesus.  “Daughter, your faith has made you well.  Go in peace and be healed of your sickness.”          

But this delay has cost Jairus dearly.  While Jesus was having this divine service on the road, messengers arrive to tell Jairus that his daughter has died.  “No need to bother with this Jesus anymore Master Jairus,” they say.  “He’s of no use now!” 

Jesus overhears this conversation.  He steps up to the plate.  “Do not be so afraid any more.  I’m here.  Only believe!”   An outstanding promise from the One who is the Resurrection and the Life.  “Do not fear.  Only believe.”   

So off they go again to the house.  Jesus lets Peter, James and John go along.  Once they get to the house the commotion and lamentation is in full swing.  In those days mourners were even hired. 

Jesus acts like nothing is wrong.  And really with Him nothing is ever wrong.  “Why all the weeping and wailing?  The child isn’t dead.  She’s only sleeping!”  And their crying turns into hilarious laughter.  The only time in the New Testament that Jesus evokes laughter.  It’s a mocking laughter.  “What an idiot!  What a maroon!  Of course she’s dead!  Who is this fool Jairus?”  And the world still laughs at this Jesus who treats death like a sleep.

Jesus leaves the mockers outside and goes in to the little girl’s bedroom.  Takes Dad, Mom, Peter, James, and John with Him.  Grabs her hand. He’s there entirely for her.  “Talitha kum! (Little girl, it’s time to get up now!)” 

And His words do what they say.  They give what they say.  The twelve year old daughter “immediately” gets up and walks around the room.

The woman was hemorrhaging to death.  Jairus’ daughter died.  But Jesus was there entirely for them.  Two daughters.  One healed.  One raised from the dead.  Both given even more:  salvation. 

Today you’ve come out of the woodwork.  Expecting good gifts from Lord Jesus.  You have His promise too:  “Do not be afraid.  Only believe.  Believe that I’ve raised you from the dead in Baptism to live a new life of faith in Me.”  Yes, indeed.  Jesus is here entirely for you.  With all the power of His dying for you.  His Body.  His Blood.  For you for you to eat for pardon from all your sin.  That’s His promise.  Once you were dead.  But now you are alive.  And then more to come.  Resurrection and eternal life on the Last Day.  "I’m here entirely for you too.  Do not be afraid.  Only believe."In the Name of Jesus.  Amen.

Proper 7 - G - 2012 - The Turn of Fear

Fourth Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 7

June 24, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Job 38:1-11                 2 Corinthians 6:1-13               Mark 4:35-41

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “Jesus said, ‘Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?’   And they were filled with great fear.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  It is an interesting turn of events in our text today.  The disciples think they are afraid.  They are out on a small rickety boat in a lake 8 miles wide and 13 miles long.  They have no outboard motor, perhaps a few oars and a sail, and all of a sudden a squall blows into the lake.  The waves grow and crash into the tiny boat – filled to the brim with 12 apostles and one teacher.  Water begins pouring over the sides, the boat gets lower in the water allowing even more water to come in. 

The disciples are frantically bailing water out of the boat knowing that a boat full of water doesn’t float.  If the boat sinks, they will die.  It’s a terrifying thought.  They don’t want to drown.  They don’t want to meet their end that way.  They want to live to see another day, they want to make it to shore.  They are scared for their lives.  And while they are scared, there Jesus sits, sleeping on a cushion in the back of the boat. 

It sounds like our life, so very often doesn’t it?  We are terrified of the things going on around us, yes, but mostly we are scared to die.  Sure, I know, most the time we avoid thinking about it, but it’s coming for you dear friends.  And it is coming on a day and in a way that you probably aren’t anticipating.  Just like those disciples on that boat, one day the waves will increase, the boat will fill with water, and you will know that the end must be near. 

Cancer, Alzheimer’s, emphysema, heart attack, stroke, old age, and more, these things and more will be your future.  They will come to you.  They will slowly increase in your life until at last dear friends, they will take you, each one of you.  And your life will be no more. 

The disciples when faced with this prospect, turned as many of us do to God.  “Wake up Jesus, don’t you care that we are going to drown?  Don’t you care that our lives are quickly going to come to an end?  Do something, save us!  Do it now!” 

I imagine that as the disciples said this to Jesus, they had in mind Jesus picking up a bucket and bailing water out of the boat.  But that is not what Jesus does.  Jesus stands up in the rocking boat, and speaks to the waters, “Peace! Be still”  and the waters listen.  The storms stops suddenly.  The sun shines, the boats make it safely to the other side of the lake.  Jesus turns to them and says, “Why were you afraid?  Do you still have no faith?”

And at this point dear friends is the interesting turn in our text today.  The text says, “And the disciples were filled with great fear and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”  It is at this point they realize they had nothing to worry about from the storm, because in the boat with them is God.  The God who created them.  The God who formed them out of the dust, who controls all things, including small little storms.  The God who commands them to be perfect and a part from sin. 

This is their fear, for they, like you, have failed the God who is the boat with them. They, like you, have sinned daily.  The words of Jesus from the Gospel of Matthew strike true for the disciples in that boat “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” – the one who can stop a storm in its tracks.  They are to fear and love and trust in God, and they have failed. And that causes them true fear.

And for you, Cancer may destroy your body, but only Jesus can destroy your soul.  Alzheimer’s may destroy your memory and mind, but only Jesus can destroy your soul.  All these illness and the threat of death are always there, and yet, Jesus is the only one who can truly end you.  And dear friends, he doesn’t.

Jesus doesn’t choose to send you to hell, for you believe in him.  Jesus doesn’t destroy you in the squalor of sin, but instead stands up in the midst of it and says, “Peace, be still.”  Peace be still, for I have suffered for sin on the cross, and I will count that as sufficient payment.  Peace be still, These things that destroy your body are only temporary.  And peace and stillness will come after. 

Jesus brings peace and stillness to your lives.  You may face death, but you no longer need to fear it, for Jesus has defeated it for you.  He allowed his own body to be nailed to a cross, laid in a grave and raised, so that you might know the same thing will one day happen to you.  You have already drowned in the sea of baptismal waters, and you have already be rescued from them into peace, and stillness apart from sin.

Peace, the only one you need fear loves you, so much that he would die for you.  Peace, don’t fear the waves of this world.  They are overcome.  Peace for you – forever in Christ, Amen. 

Proper 6 - G - 2012 - The Mustard Seed Savior

Third Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 6

June 18, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 17:22-24         2 Corinthians 5:1-17   Mark 4:26-34

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, especially these words, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God, or what parable shall we use for it?”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, mustard seeds are small, very small.  One of the last Sundays I spoke with Iva Tischer, she brought it a necklace with a mustard seed embedded in a bead.  It amazed me that Jesus would compare his glorious heavenly kingdom with a seed so small you could barely notice it when it is even in the palm of your hand.  But that is exactly what Jesus says in our text today, “the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which, when sown on the ground, is the smallest of all the seeds on earth.”  It is tiny, it is insignificant, something that the average person doesn’t notice.  And yet, hidden inside that minuscule tiny seed is a plant, ready to grow, ready to branch out toward the sky so large that all sorts of critters can make their home in it.  

That’s what seeds do isn’t it?  We who live here in rural America know – seeds grow.  Its how we make our living, its what keeps us in business.  You take the seed, hide it in the ground, water it and then it grows and provide for us in all sorts of ways.  And so it is with the kingdom of God – and with Jesus himself.  For just as a seed, Jesus came and was planted on this earth – a seemingly unimportant baby born of a virgin in a tiny village suburb of Israel’s capital.  Hidden there in that seed, in that baby was the fullness of God, the only begotten son who has existed since eternity. 

That baby grew up, worked in his father’s carpentry shop, and lived an average, insignificant life until its 30^th birthday.  And then, as a seed finally after much waiting and praying pokes it head above the ground, the Son of God began to be noticed.  He healed the blind and sick.  He preached to the poor and talked to the sinners.  He turned water into wine, he raised the dead, he became anything but insignificant.  The seed had sprouted, and was growing at a furious rate. 

He grew so fast in fact that the Pharisees and Sadducees, and all others noticed.  This couldn’t happen.  He was cutting in on their business, and making them look small and weedish comparatively.  Those who had formerly respected them turned to watch this mustard seed become a great tree that cast its shadow on all who believed.  And as sinners do, in their jealousy, in their selfishness in their guilt (the same guilt you and I carry as well) they decided to take drastic action.  They cut him down by nailing him to a tree and leaving him to die.  And when he was dead they put him back in the ground, into a tomb, sealed it and tried to forget about him. 

But even a tomb could not hold him; death would not be his master.  He sprouted again, and grew faster and taller and more massive than they would ever understand.  He rose again on the third day, and now lives and reigns to all eternity.  The tiny insignificant seed now is the tallest, fullest, most beautiful tree around.  The kingdom of God – Jesus – had started small but now is huge, with room on its branches for all sorts of birds to perch, room for you and for me. 

There’s room for sinners there in the branches of the kingdom of God, there’s room for sinners in the branches of the church.  There’s room for you in the arms of Jesus.  I know, at times it may seem like you don’t belong.  At times it may seem like your sin is too great, that your guilt is too large, and that you don’t deserve to live here in the church.  You are right, and yet, Christ still has a place for you, because in his name you are forgiven. 

Here, in the church, you have a home, along with all repentant sinners.  It’s a home you didn’t create – God planted it.  It’s a home that you don’t sustain, God does with His holy word and Sacraments.  It’s a place you didn’t find, God brought you in through baptism.  And now you, a forgiven sinner, are sheltered in the arms of the church even to life everlasting.  Make nests in the arms of Jesus, dwell in his love, in his grace, in his gifts.  For here, you will be kept safe from all the dangers of this world. 

The kingdom of heaven, is like a mustard seed, small and insignificant.  And yet, it grows up to be the safety of all that live in it.  It is strong, it is a mighty bulwark against evil, and through grace earned in the death of Jesus, it is your home forever more.  Amen.  

Proper 5 - E - 2012 - Things Fall Apart and Things are Renewed

Second Sunday After Pentecost - Proper 5

June 10, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Genesis 3:8-15            2 Corinthians 4:13-5:1            Mark 3:20-35

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today comes from our Epistle lesson that was just read, especially these words, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.”  Thus far our text today. 

Dear friends in Christ.  It was several years ago, I remember it well.  I woke up one morning while serving on vicarage in Brookings South Dakota, and there it was staring at me in the mirror.  Well, it wasn’t in the mirror so much as attached to my head.  At 25 years old, there was my very first (of many by the way) gray hair.  It was a sign that I wasn’t the young high school kid I used to be, but was a quickly aging person.  Its something I imagine many of you have experienced as well.  Our bodies age, they begin to fall apart, they wrinkle and hurt. 

It is in the face of this great issue that Paul writes, “Do not lose heart”, even though your body is falling apart, even though your knees give way, even though cancer ravages your body.  Do not lose hope, for this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.  Or so says St. Paul in our text for today – boldly and without reservation!   For these words aren’t just wishful thinking, but they are a bold truth proclaimed in a world that doesn’t believe this to be the case.  Paul preaches eternal life in a world of death. 

It is easy for us to lose hope isn’t it?  In our own congregations we have seen people whom we love dearly whose health has deteriorated.  We have had loved ones who have passed away – 11 funerals in our parish over the last year and a half.  We ourselves know our bodies are not as good as they once were.  Our joints hurt, our limbs are weak.  Our balance is off center.  Wrinkles are creeping into our face as are gray hairs into our heads. 

The signs are there, look at your body and compare it with 5 years ago, with ten years ago.  Its dying.  Its falling apart.  Unless you are a child your body will not get any better than it is today.  It will slowly, ever so slowly get worse and worse until one day it will no longer be able to keep itself alive.  It will no longer be able to keep your heart beating, and your lungs breathing.  And it will stop, and you, yes each of you, will finally be dead. 

It is exactly what God promised would happen to sinners in the beginning, and we are ashamed of the fact that it has affected us.  In our Old Testament lesson we see that dreadful moment, right after sin entered the world.  Adam and Eve hiding in the bushes, their bodies already deteriorating.  Their fate is already certain.  Adam will die.  Eve will die.  Their children will die – even murder one another.  Their fate is certain and they are ashamed. 

We feel that same pang within our own lives.  We dread that same fate as Adam and Eve did.  We too are doomed to die, and we see that fate drawing ever nearer in our own lives as we look to our own body.  No doctor can stop it, no medical intervention can prevent it forever – yes maybe delay it, but not prevent. 

Alzheimer’s, Lou Gehrig’s, blindness, cataracts, cancer, strokes, heart attacks, pain and suffering.  These only the tip of the ice berg for us.  All of them, leading to our death, to our end, to the grave where our body will decay, our bones will collapse, until finally there is no remnant of us left on this earth except for dust.  For you are dust, and to dust you shall return!  What hope is there in the face of this?  What comfort comes to the lost sinner, to the dead, to those whose fate is sealed?

It is in the face of this question that Paul preaches in our epistle.  Do not lose hope.  Do not lose hope, though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day.  For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.

You are being renewed, even as your body falls apart.  Your spirit which once was dead in sin has been revived.  How?  It is connected to the death and resurrection of Jesus.  In baptism that which was dead is made alive, the blood of God means the stain of sin is removed from you forever.  Even as your body crumbles and dies, your soul is promised to live forever, renewed in the life giving blood of the lamb. 

Paul even calls the struggles of this world “light, momentary afflictions.”  As we deal with cancer and sickness, we would hardly call them light momentary afflictions, yet Paul knows the truth and preaches it faithfully.  That if Christ is risen from the dead forever, so too will those who believe in him.  If Christ lives and reigns in heaven for eternity, those who follow him shall as well.  If you have cancer, or Alzheimer’s even for 20 years, it is nothing compared to the eternal joy that awaits, for years without end in heaven. 

Your sin is forgiven.  Your death averted.  Jesus paid the price for you in his suffering and death on the cross.  For we know that if the tent that is our earthly body is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.  That is what we await.  That is where we hope.  Do not lose heart, Though our outer self is wasting away, our eternal self is just beginning.  Amen.  

Trinity Sunday - O - 2012 - Terrifyingly Beautiful Heaven

Holy Trinity Sunday

June 3, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Isaiah 6:1-8               Acts 2:14a, 22-36                 John 3:1-17

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the Old Testament lesson today, especially these words, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  We see a terrifyingly beautiful picture of heaven in our text today.  Beautiful with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven – the throne of God, six winged seraphs and all that goes with it.  It is the perfection that our world will never be, the holiness of God is everywhere.  And dear friends, that is exactly what makes heaven such a terrifying place for Isaiah in our text. 

For when Isaiah sees heaven, the difference between his own unholiness and the Holiness of God Almighty is so stark as to be unavoidable.  When Isaiah thinks of himself compared to the Triune God, the HOLY HOLY HOLY, there is not even a comparison that fits words.  “Woe is me!” he cries, “I am ruined!  I am dead mean!  For I am a sinner, and I live among sinners!”  And God himself had told Moses that sinners could not see the face of God, or they would die forever!

It’s not exactly what we expect is it?  We have read or heard of the books about people who supposedly have gone to heaven and tell of its glories and majesties.  We have read about ninety minutes in heaven, or how heaven is for real, and not in a single one of those books does the main character react like Isaiah – with terror at their circumstances. 

Why does Isaiah react this way?  Why is he terrified for standing before the true and only God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit?  Because of his sin.  And Isaiah knew his Bible, he had read time and time again how God commanded Israel to blot out sin before God.  He had read the punishments of Sodom and Gomorrah, and of hard-hearted pharaoh, and of all the nations that stood against Israel.  He knew God won’t stand for even the smallest sin.  He read how David, the man after God’s own heart had his own kingdom fall apart all for one night of adultery.  And worst of all – when he looked at himself, Isaiah realized, that he himself was the worst of all sinners – for he knew allthe secret little thoughts he had.  He knew all the little sins that no one else knew.  He knew the guilty little thoughts he had, the sin that lurked away in the recesses of his soul.  And standing before the throne of God, Isaiah was terrified, for he knew the just God knew his sin as well. 

What about you dear friends?  Ask yourself this question today:  As you are today, how would you fare before God.  Are you holy, or are you a poor miserable sinner in your thought word and deed?  When you stand before God, and all your secrets are revealed, and your sins brought into light, will you be innocent, or will you be the worst of all sinners? 

I know that for me personally it is a terrifying prospect, for all my shortcomings, for all my guilt, and all my sins to become known to the God who says, “Be holy, as I the Lord your God am holy!”  Dear friends, I have failed – failed as a christian, failed as a pastor, failed as a father and a son.  And I suspect friends that if you are honest with yourself that you have failed as well.  Your sin is ever before you, ever nagging at your conscience, ever declaring the truth – yes the TRUTH!  You are not worthy on your own before God. 

And so with Isaiah, we stand before God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, guilty.  Woe to us, for we have unclean lips, and we live among those who also are unclean.  Woe to us, for we will stand before the Holy, holy, holy as unholy people. 

And yet, see what happens in our text.  Isaiah is terrified and a dead man, but an angel comes with a burning coal from the altar of God and touches Isaiah’s unclean lips and says “Your guilt is taken away, your sins are atoned for.”  Isaiah is no longer guilty before God.  What is it with this coal?  How does this seemingly silly act make all this sin go away?  Its where this coal was taken from!  The altar of God.  The place where sin is atoned for, the place where a poor soul is bound, slaughtered, their blood poured out and then their body burned as a sacrifice for sin.  Isaiah had been to the temple in Jerusalem, he had seen countless animals killed as sin sacrifices, and now in heaven he saw the true glory of God’s atonement for sin. 

The sacrifice for Isaiah’s sin, and for your sin is the same.  God, the great King of Kings and Lord of Lords left behind the glories of holy heaven, and entered our dirty sinful world.  He lived a life in the flesh our human nature and then when the time was right he was the ultimate sacrifice for sin.  He was the one who was bound.  He was the one whose blood was poured out.  He was the one who suffered the just punishment for Isaiah’s sin and yes friends, for your sin as well.  His blood was poured out on the altar of heaven for Isaiah’s sin, for your sin, and for the sin of the whole world.

So when that burning coal touches Isaiah, it is that blood that heals him.  It is that blood that takes away his sin.  It is that sacrifice that allows him to be before the Triune God in peace.  And the same is true for you as well dear friends.  No, we are not going to touch your lips with burning coals.  But we are today going to touch your lips with the very body and blood of that sacrifice Jesus.  We will give him to you for eat.  And as you eat him, your whole body is made well, your sin is gone, you are connected to the sin sacrifice of Jesus. 

And dear friends that sacrifice is good for all your sins.  Because Jesus poured out his life on the cross for you, you can safely enter heaven.  Because Jesus died in your place, you can stand before God, and see him face to face.  For because Jesus died for your sin, because he took away every last bit of it, you are now holy, just as God is Holy, Holy, Holy.  Your sin is cleansed.  You are made well with the blood of the lamb. 

So rejoice, as you one day will stand as Isaiah does at the end of our text, in heaven.  Not afraid of God.  Not dreading judgment.  Not guilty, but innocent, at peace forever.  You will sing with the angels and the archangels, the cherubim and seraphim all without terror or fear.  You will see your loved ones who have also died in the faith.  You will live forever, and never have pain again.  For the sacrifice of God has touched your lips, you are made whole in the blood of the lamb.  You – today – are a citizen of heaven, all because of the sacrifice of Jesus.  Amen. 

Pentecost - OT - 2012 - Dead Bones Alive

Pentecost Sunday

May 20, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Ezekiel 37:1-14                       Acts 1:1-21                 John 15:26-27; 16:4b-15

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Old Testament lesson just read, especially these words, “Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ:  “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”  Its true, it happened this way.  God made everything you see, and then to finish His work of creation, he made man out of the very dust of the earth and breathed the very breath of life into him.  He knelt down, got dirty, and caused that first man to breathe.  And thus began life, your life was given there.  The life of the world came from the source of life, the breath of God – the very spirit of God

But as you know, it didn’t last long.  Our forefathers and mothers fell into sin in a very short matter of time.  And as soon as sin was a part of their lives, so too was the consequence – Death!  Death that effects you and me, death that we fear and dread.  Death that hurts us and our loved ones. 

That deadly sin is there in you.  That deadly sin is in me.  And that deadly sin was in the people of Israel 3000 years ago when the prophet Ezekiel wrote the words of our Old Testament text.  For years before that time, the people of Israel had been warned – turn away from your sin.  Stop blaspheming the name of God.  Stop turning your back on him.  Stop ignoring the preaching of his word.  Stop despising your authorities, stop hurting people stop fighting. And despite years of warnings, generations of warnings, the people continued in their sin.  And so they were conquered by foreign armies.  Their people were killed and those who were left alive were carried off into exile. 

They were dead bones.  The Lord says to Ezekiel, “these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.”  The gifts of the Lord had departed them in their sin, and all that was left was death, ruin and damnation.  Because of their sin, they died.  Because of their sin, their lives ended. 

And dear friends in Christ, because of your sin, the same fate awaits you.  Because of your sin too, you will be dry bones one day – and yes, even now you are already dry bones – dead in sin yet still alive for a time here on earth.  You’re dead in sin.  You’re gone, your bones are dried up, your hope is so often lost and you often feel dried up. 

You are guilty, just as those ancient peoples were.  You too have turned your back on God.  You blaspheme, you dislike preaching – especially if it hits too close to home.  You fight with each other – even with those whom you love the most.  You lust, you curse you swear.  You hate authorities and you do more and worse than even this.  You’ve turned your back on the God who knelt down next to you and breathed life into your body.  You!  You’re a sinner – and the sinner must die. 

Its uncomfortable isn’t it?  Knowing that when Ezekiel sees a valley of dry, dead bones, that it is you that he sees.  That your flesh has rotted away, and that your situation is as bad as last year’s dead cow lying in the field. 

But hear what God tells Ezekiel about the dry bones of Israel.  Hear what God says to you dry bones!  “I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

He will open your grave, dear Christians.  He will put the sinews back on your bones – as he does in the valley of dry bones.  He will build again the flesh of your body out of the dust into which it will rot.  He will put the hair back on your head, the skin back on your body.  He will recreate you, just as he created our first parents in the very beginning.  And for you, dear friend on that last day he will kneel down next to your recreated body, and breathe into you and give you life.  The Holy Spirit will enter you again and you will be raised forever.  The breath will come into you, and you will live and stand on your feet.

How can this be?  It is the work of God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  God the Father will rebuild your body.  Why?  Because God the Son has suffered and died in its place.  He gave up all he had, his life, his blood, and more so that you would not have to remain a dead dry bone.  And now, today on the day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit is poured out upon you to create and sustain faith in each one of you that looks to the blood bought sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Its this Holy Spirit that calls you by the Gospel, enlightens you with his gifts, and makes you holy keeping you in the one true faith.  This is most certainly true. 

And so dear friends, it is this Holy Spirit that Ezekiel prophesies to.  It is this Holy Spirit that comes to you today, making you alive again. Pointing you only to Jesus Christ who takes away the stain of sin, death and the devil.  Its this Holy Spirit, the very breath of God, that enters your cold dead bones, and makes you alive again forever – an Army of the Lord. 

In the beginning, God created man in his image.  He formed him out of the dust of the earth, and breathed the very life giving Spirit into his lungs to give him life.  Man turned away and died, but again, God will breathe that spirit into those who believe in Jesus.  He will raise all the dead, and give eternal life to all who believe.  This is most certainly true.  Amen.    

Easter 7 - G - 2012 - The Name of Jesus

The Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 20, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Acts 1:12-26           1 John 5:9-15            John 17:11b-19

Grace Mercy and Peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel lesson, with special emphasis on the first two verses. 

Brothers and Sisters in Christ.  Is your name important?  Does it actually mean something, or does it mean nothing?  In the play Romeo and Juliet, Juliet determines that a name doesn’t really mean anything, saying “What’s in a name?  A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet.” 

It seems like names don’t mean anything.  We toss them around and use them like they don’t matter.  I can’t remember how many times, when I was in trouble as a kid, that my mom would call me both of my brothers names before finally realizing that it was me, Adam, that was in trouble.  She knew which one was the one who was in trouble, but she the name wasn’t the important thing at the time. 

And many of us don’t like our names either, we change them or shorten them, we pick nicknames and demand that people call us that instead.  For us people in today’s day and age, names just aren’t really that important at all are they?  No matter what you call something, it just doesn’t change what it is. 

But to God, names are important.  To God names mean something.  Throughout the pages of scriptures, God gives people names that mean something.  These names identify who the person is, and what they have done or will do.  We have Peter, whose name mean rock, and upon whose confession, “You are the Christ” the church is founded.  We have Abraham, whose name means Father of the People, who became the father of many nations.  The list goes on and on, but the most important name is the name of Jesus, which means the Lord saves. 

In today’s text, Jesus prays that the Father might keep us in the name that God has given, the name of Jesus, the name “The Lord Saves.”  In that name we are one, in that name we are united as the Church of Christ.

I.                   We were in the name of Death, the name of Sin, the name of Satan.

But we haven’t always been in that name.  We were born of another name, We were born into the name of sin, into the name of Death, into the name of the Tempter.  We have been held captive to this name.  We could serve no other name on our own.  Instead we were held bondage to the owner of this name, Satan. 

We have been subject to the name of Satan since almost the very dawn of time.  It was when our forefather Adam ate of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil that we have been bound to that name.  In that act, all of us have been sold into slavery to Sin death and the devil. 

And we can see that in our daily lives.  We are slaves to sin, and because of that we can not truly love God.  Our sin shows itself in every way imaginable.  St. Paul tells us in Galatians 5, that the acts of the sinful nature are obvious:  Sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, factions and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like.  Those are the things we are guilty of.  WE are guilty of these things because each one of them stems from our broken relationship with God.  These things are sin.  Sin tarnishes the name of God, it separates us from him. 

When we are separated from God, we no longer have his name upon us, instead we have the name of Sin Death and the Devil.  And really, we don’t want to have God’s name upon us do we?  How many times in our lives do we avoid the opportunity to witness to who’s name is upon us?  WE are at times embarrassed to be known to be a Christian, to have Jesus’ name upon us. Our text tells us that because we have God’s word, that the world will hate us. We don’t want to be hated, we want to be liked.  We want to have friends.  We want respect.   Instead we brazenly claim any other name we can, but we ignore the name of God.  WE don’t want to claim that name for ourselves. 

I am an American.  I am a South Dakotan.   I am a republican, or I am a democrat.  I am doctor, I am a Teacher, I am a whatever, but when it comes to faith we feel like we have to be careful who knows what we believe.  We have to be careful who we share our faith with.  I don’t want to put my job on the line by claiming to be a Christian.  I don’t want to offend anyone who thinks differently then me because I am a Christian.  So I will just keep it quite and inside.  I won’t tell anyone.  I don’t want to be embarrassed infront of my friends, so I ignore my faith in public. 

Its easier to do that.  We don’t want people to think badly of us.  We don’t want to be criticized.  Instead we want everyone to like us.  But God says in our text today that he has given us his word, and that the “world has hated them” because of it.  The world hates Christianity because it is not of this world. 

II.                Now we are in the name of Jesus, and belong to him who saved us by his death.

But we do have God’s name upon, even though we are in sin.  Even though we deny it before the world, we are God’s possession, and we do have His name upon us. 

a.       Through Baptism

You received that name in the waters of Holy Baptism.  You received a new name, the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  That name is the name above all names, the name at which all other names will bow.  That is the name of Jesus.  You receive it upon you, and it claims you as its own. 

In the ancient Christian church, all the baptisms, for both adults and children were done at one time, the day before Easter.  At that time all the baptismal candidates would come into the church in the very early morning before Easter Dawn, and they would be washed in the baptismal waters.  Upon coming out of the water, they would receive a new Christian name, and leave behind their old pagan name.  Instead of having the name of Apollo, the pagan god, you would have the name Christopher, the bearer of Christ. Instead your pagan name you received a Christian name, one that marked you as Christ.

In modern baptism, we have a remnant of that, as the Pastor asks, “What is this child to be named?” and immediately following, that baby is baptized into the name of God.  In baptism we too have left behind our old name, the name of Sin, the name of Death, the name of the devil.  Now we have a new name, one that marks us as belonging to Christ. 

In the book of Revelation, we see that name being recorded in the book of Life.  In baptism, your name was recorded into that book, written in the blood of the lamb.  You see it isn’t just claiming the name “Christian” that saves you.  Instead it is that by being washed in that name, you are connected to the very death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  When you received the name of God, you died with Christ on the cross.  When you received the name of God, you laid dead with Christ in a tomb for three days. When you received the name of God, you rose victoriously with Jesus, and now will never die again.  Now you have eternal life and you have it to the full. 

Friends in Christ, Jesus has given you his name, so that when God the Father looks at you, he doesn’t see your former name of sin, he doesn’t see all those times when you thumbed your nose at Him.  Instead, God sees Jesus every time He looks at you.  Thus He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant, you are serving me in Christ’s name, the name of Jesus, the name which means God saves.” 

Jesus prays in today’s text that you might be kept in that name.  IN our world today, we will face many struggles.  People will die unexpectedly.  Friends will suffer from sickness and disease.  People will hate you because you are in that name.  Through it all, God has promised to keep you in that name.  God has promised that you will remain His, for nothing can snatch you out of his had.  He has promised, and that promise is written in the blood of Jesus Christ, crucified for the sins of the world. 

Jesus name means God saves.  Jesus name is written upon you.  Jesus name cannot be erased by anyone else no matter what.  You are His.  He will now guard and protect you even to life ever lasting.  Names do mean something.  God’s name means you have forgiveness life and salvation.    Nothing is so sweet as that promise.  Life in Jesus Name.  Amen.  

Easter 6 - E - 2012 - These Three Testify

The Sixth Sunday of Easter

May 13, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

^{Acts 10:32-48             1 John 5:1-8               John 15:9-17}

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen!  Our text today comes from the Epistle lesson just read especially these words, “For there are three that testify:  the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  We all know what testimony is, we have all seen it, when in court a person puts their hand on the bible and swears to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  We have seen in court television shows and news reports this very process take place time and time again.  Witnesses testify to what they have seen, they tell the truth about a situation, about what is going on. 

And dear friends, you too are witnesses.  Every day of your life you testify to that which is inside of you; that which is your hope, that in which you live, breathe and have meaning.  You testify with you words, your thoughts and your actions.  You testify, and your testimony isn’t that good.  You fall short time and time again.  You speak about people behind their back.  You get drunk, you curse and swear.  You look at pornography, you hoard your money, you don’t give and share your wealth.  You hate.  You steal.  You skip church whenever you feel like.  You testify and your testimony so often is “I’m really indifferent about God.  I really don’t care too much.  I know what’s best for me more than some old archaic bible.” 

You make this testimony.  I make this testimony.  We openly and publically deny our faith time and time again.  We testify that we are sinners.  We testify that we don’t believe in God, or at the very least that we really aren’t that concerned about Him.  We testify that our main concern is me, myself and I. 

Sin.  Sin that fills each of us.  Sin that infects each of us.  Sin that defines who we are.  Dear friends can’t you see it in yourself?  Don’t you know that it’s there?  “What a wretched man I am! What a wretched person you are!  Who will rescue me from this body of death?” 

For that is what scripture testifies to.  If you are in sin, you are dead.  If you turn your back on God, he will condemn you to eternal flames and fire and torture.  He will send you to the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth, and where the worm will not die.  Scripture’s testimony about sin is clear. 

Our actions and words testify against us.  Scripture testifies about our sin.  And when we are confronted with this testimony, there is only one conclusion:  We are doomed.  We have no hope.  Our sin is so great that there is no rescue within us.  We cannot by our own reason or strength believe or save ourselves.  We have chosen the wrong course, and we cannot, no matter what we do, change that course. 

But there is a testimony that is true, a testimony that speaks on our behalf.  A testimony of three things that assure your rescue, three things that testify that you are forgiven, that you will be saved.  Water.  Blood. Spirit.  These three agree in their testimony.  That you are forgiven because Jesus has come, has died, and has set you free from sin forever more. 

There is Water that testifies.  Water that has washed each of you.  Living water that washes your sin away, making you holy and blameless in the eyes of God.  Water that in your baptism carried you through the raging flood of sin in this world, just as it carried the ark of Noah through the flood so many years ago.  In Baptismal water your sinful nature was drowned and killed, and a new person, a holy person was resurrected with Jesus.  Water testifies that you are forgiven.

There is blood that testifies.  Blood that was shed from a cross, from the body of Jesus, from the body of God incarnate.  Blood that poured out and speaks a better word than that of Abel – that speaks a word not of condemnation but of forgiveness.  There is blood that testifies, that as you were baptized with water you were covered in the blood of Jesus washed whiter than snow.  The blood of Jesus atones for your sin before God.  It is a blood that testifies in place of your blood, blood shed instead of yours. 

This water, and this blood both testified together on a Friday we call good, when as Jesus cries out “It is finished” on your behalf, his own side was pierced, and what poured forth?  Water and blood!  Water and blood that come from the dead and risen again savior, water and blood that cover you to testify on your behalf “not guilty!”  “Not wrong!”  Not condemned!  Forgiven!  All in the name of Jesus.  All for your sake. 

And finally the spirit testifies to you today about the truth of this matter.  He testifies in the Word of God that you have now hear.  He testifies in the hymns that we have sung, the service we have participated in.  He testifies to you through the words of this sermon, delivered by this poor lowly sinner.  Dear friends, hear these words, as the Holy Spirit works faith in you – You are forgiven in Jesus!  The Holy Spirit now calls you by the Gospel, Enlightens you with his gifts, and sanctifies and keeps you in the one true faith.  You may be a sinner, yes, but you are a redeemed sinner through Jesus Christ. 

Water testifies that you are a new creation in baptism.  Blood testifies that your sin was atoned for.  And the Spirit who now testifies and creates faith in you through his holy gifts. 

Water, blood and spirit these three testify – they testify that you belong to God.  Amen.  

Random Church Father Quote

"Every kind of honor and happiness was bestowed upon you, and then was fulfilled that which is written, 'My beloved did eat and drink, and was enlarged and became fat, and kicked.' Hence flowed emulation and envy, strife and sedition, persecution and disorder, war and captivity. So the worthless rose up against the honored, those of no reputation against such as were renowned, the foolish against the wise, the young against those advanced in years. For this reason righteousness and peace are now far departed from you, inasmuch as as every one abandons the fear of God, and is become blind in His faith, neither walks in the ordinances of His appointment, nor acts a part becoming a Christians, but walks after his own wicked lusts, resuming the practice of an unrighteous and ungodly envy, by which death itself entered into the world."


And then later:


"Let us look steadfastley to the blood of Christ, and see how precious that blood is to God, which having been shed for our salvation has set the grace of repentance before the whole world.  Let us turn to every age that has passed, and learn that, from generation to generation, the Lord has granted a place of repentance to all such as would be converted unto him."

- First Epistle of Clement

Confirmation - G - 2012 - Dead Branches Made Alive with Promise

Confirmation Sunday - Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 6, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Acts 8:26-40               1 John 4:1-21              John 15:1-8

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!  Amen!  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson just read, especially these words, “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, especially our confirmands today.  Today we celebrate confirmation.  Today we celebrate the bold public confession that two young people from our parish make, that they believe in Jesus and would rather be killed, that they would rather die than renounce their faith.  It’s a huge promise.  It’s a bold promise, with years of Sunday School and years of confirmation study leading up to this day.  It’s a difficult promise to make, especially in this day and age, when faith is laughed at, ridiculed, and often forgotten. It’s a promise made here in the very presence of God.  And dear friends, it is a promise that all of you who are confirmed have made as well. 

In a few minutes we will turn to page 273 in your hymnal and ask these questions.  Do you intend to live according to the Word of God , and in faith, word and deed to remain true to God, Father Son and Holy Spirit, even to death?  Do you intend to continue steadfast in this confession and Church, and to suffer all even death, rather than fall away from it?  Do you intend to hear the Word of God and receive the Lord’s Supper faithfully?  In other words will you come to church regularly?  Will you participate?  Will you give to the church of your time and talents?  And will you continue to do this – whatever the circumstances – until at last your life comes to its end?

Today, (Betsy/Theresia) will make this promise.  And many of you have made this same promise.  So how well have you done?  How well will you do?  Have you kept your promise to God?  And I don’t mean just a little bit, or even 99% of the time, have you kept your promise completely and totally?  And will you, young confirmand, will you keep it as well? 

I am the vine, and you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.  You promise today to be a faithful branch, to remain connected to the vine, to bear fruit in this church, and in every part of your life forever more.  We make that promise, and then we forget about it.  We move on with our life, we “graduate” from church and have more important things to do with our time. 

We don’t have time to serve on a church committee or board.  We don’t have extra money to give to our church.  The world offers us all sorts of other activities to do on Sunday mornings – many of them important no doubt, many of them maybe even more fun than church.  We can’t seem to find just one hour, maybe an hour and a half if the sermon is long, to come to church.  We become dead branches.  We don’t bear the fruit we promise in our confirmation.  We are cut off from the church and as our text says, deserving to be burned in the eternal fire.  Because of your sin, you are a dead branch. 

But today, on confirmation day, Christ speaks to you, and as the text says, “you are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.”  And the word that Christ speaks to each one of you confirmands, both past and present, is this:  “God is love.  In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.  In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

God loves you dear confirmands.  He knows that you have sinned, and still he has sent his only Son into the world to die on your behalf.  He takes your sin away.  He rescues you from sin death and the devil.  He purchases and wins you as his own, not with gold and silver, but with his holy precious blood, and innocent suffering and death.  He delivers you from evil, calls you by the gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and now will sanctify and keep you in the true faith.  And he does it all because of his love for you.

Dear confirmands, you are grafted back onto the vine.  He takes you a dead branch, and firmly reattaches you to himself, using his own blood shed for sin as the glue.  He sends eternal life coursing through your veins, raising you to life in baptismal waters.  He feeds you with his own body and blood, so that you can blossom and grow in the true faith and so that you can bear much fruit in service to your neighbor.  And all of this he does only out of his divine goodness and mercy, without and worthiness or merit in you at all.  That’s his love.  And it is for you, you dead branch, so that you might become alive once more, and this time forever. 

Dear friends, that’s our confession of faith.  That’s what the catechism says because that is exactly what scripture says.  You poor sinner are rescued because Jesus loved you and give his life for you.  Today is not really about you at all.  It’s not really about what you are promising to do for God, it isn’t about what you should do or worse what you have failed to do.  Its about what Christ has done.  He created you.  He baptized you into his own Triune Name.  He brought you here today, and he will be with you as you go throughout the rest of your life. 

He will guard and keep you in the one true faith as you grow older.  He’ll be with you as you leave for college.  He’ll be there when you finally get married.  He’ll serve you as your hair turns gray and as your body slowly falls apart.  He promises.  And dear friends, he will raise you from the dead to serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity. 

“I am the vine,” Jesus says “and you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing… If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.  By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. ” 

Dear friends, dear confirmands both young and old, both this years and those from years gone by, today is Confirmation Day.  Today is the day for promises, promises made by God, sealed by Jesus’ blood, and given to you freely by your gracious and loving God.  You have overcome the world, for he who promises to dwell with in you in greater than the world.  You are dead branches who are made alive again in Christ.  Amen.