God Terrifies the Hard-hearted

Sermon based on Mark 6:45-56 for the Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Dear disciples in the storm: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

How does God deal with the hard-hearted? He terrifies them. God terrifies the hard-hearted so that they cry out in fear.

Our Gospel reading tells us that the disciples’ heart was hardened. The disciples were Israelites, awaiting the promised Saviour of the world. They were awaiting the fulfilment of the prophecy spoken by Moses, that the Lord God would raise up a prophet like him from among them (Deut. 18:15). Jesus, the fulfilment of that prophecy, was right there in front of them, but their heart was hardened, and they did not understand.

As Moses taught God’s people in the wilderness, so Jesus taught them in the wilderness as we heard last Sunday. As with Moses when the people of Israel were miraculously fed the bread of manna in the desert, so Jesus miraculously fed them in the desert as we also heard last Sunday. Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecy spoken by Moses.

Psalm 23 says that the Lord is our Shepherd. As we heard last Sunday, Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And then He shepherded them. He fed them physically and spiritually. Jesus is the fulfilment of the promised Good Shepherd.

Isaiah prophesied that God will come and the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame man will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy (35:5-6). The disciples had witnessed Jesus healing, casting out demons, and even raising the dead (cf. Mark 5). The disciples had also witnessed Jesus calming a storm earlier, when He was in the boat with them (Mark 4:35-41). Jesus is the fulfilment of the prophecies of Isaiah, so the disciples should have seen that Jesus is God who has come.

The disciples had witnessed all of this, but they did not understand. They did not perceive who Jesus is. The disciples’ heart was hardened.

How does God deal with the hard-hearted? He terrifies them. Jesus made the disciples get into the boat, knowing that a storm was coming. Jesus made them get into the boat. He compelled them or forced them to go, and sent them off to the other side of the sea even though it was already late and He knew that a storm was coming.

The disciples didn’t make much progress. From the late evening to the fourth watch, which is between 3 and 6 in the morning, the disciples fought with the wind. The wind was harassing them and afflicting them, fighting against their progress across the sea. The text says they were making headway painfully (v. 48). This is also clear from the fact that a trip that would normally not take much more than a couple hours had taken them all night and they still hadn’t reached the other side.

The text also says Jesus saw them making headway painfully. Jesus saw their struggles. Jesus saw their affliction. Yet, He did nothing to stop it. He didn’t even walk to towards them. Mark records that Jesus intended to pass by them.

The disciples see Jesus walking on the water past them. Who can walk on water? Job 9 says it is God who treads on the waves of the sea (v. 8). Psalm 77 (v. 19) and Isaiah 43 (v. 16) say God’s way is through the sea, and His path is through the great waters. Who can walk on the sea? Only God can. But the disciples’ heart was hardened, and they did not understand. Instead of recognizing God in the flesh, they feared they were seeing some kind of ghost or apparition, and they were terrified.

How does God deal with the hard-hearted? He terrifies them. To those who do not recognize that Jesus is God in the flesh, God is a terror. To those who do not recognize that that Jesus is the Saviour of the world, God is a terror.

This is true because those who do not recognize Jesus as God and Saviour think that they need to fight the storm by themselves. Instead of looking to Jesus for help, they look to themselves to get out of the storm. They don’t even pray to God for help. Notice that the only one who prays in our Gospel reading is Jesus. No mention is made of the disciples even praying for help. They thought they had to fight through the storm on their own because their heart was hardened. They did not recognize Jesus as their God and Saviour.

Those who do not recognize Jesus as their God and Saviour think that everything is up to them. They see God simply as a strict judge and think they must work to save themselves. They think that the storms in their lives are just random events, and that they must save themselves from those random events. Seeing Jesus in the storm then just causes terror because they don’t believe that Jesus could possibly be there. It must be some ghost or apparition who is out to do harm.

How does God deal with the hard-hearted? He terrifies them. God terrifies the hard-hearted in order to soften their hearts. God terrifies the hard-hearted out of trusting in themselves to get through the storms in their lives. God terrifies the hard-hearted out of trusting in themselves for their salvation. He terrifies the hard-hearted so that they would recognize Jesus as God and Saviour.

God puts the hard-hearted into situations that terrify them in order soften their hearts. He did it to the twelve disciples. He does it to us. He makes us get into situations that we would rather not be in. He compels us into the boat, only to send a storm our way that will break our hardened heart. He terrifies us so that we would recognize who He truly is: our Saviour.

Did the disciples have a reason to be terrified of Jesus? No, not if they recognized Him as God and as their Saviour. Not once Jesus opened their eyes to see that He is the fulfilment of the Old Testament prophecies. Not once Jesus opened their eyes to see that He is the one who provides physical and spiritual nourishment. Not once Jesus terrified them out of trusting in themselves to trusting in Him as their Saviour.

Jesus can be terrifying if we don’t see Him as our Saviour. If we look at God’s commandments and realize how we have broken them all, the only thing left in us is terror. But Jesus terrifies us so that we would see our sin and rather than trusting in ourselves for our salvation, He opens our eyes to trust in Him as our Saviour.

If we see Jesus as who He is, as our Saviour, then we see things completely differently. We see that the Son of God came to earth in order to put Himself under the Law for us. Jesus fulfilled the commandments of God perfectly for us. Then He willingly took on Himself the punishment of our sins and our failures to keep God’s Law. He died on the cross in our place. He faced all the terrors of hell so that hell is no longer a terror to us. He faced the storms of life for us so that we will be rescued from the storms of life in the end.

How does God deal with the hard-hearted? He terrifies them. He terrifies them out of trusting in themselves. He terrifies them so that they will see that He is their Saviour.

So when you are in the boat and the storms of life rock your boat, know that Jesus is your Saviour. Know that He put you in the boat and sent you into the storm. If Jesus has compelled you into a storm, then you know that your suffering is not just bad luck or a random event. If it is merely by chance that you are in the storm, it must be merely by chance that you make it through the storm. However, if God sends you into a storm, you know He does it for a reason. If God sends you into a storm, He will also save you from that storm. God uses the storms of life to terrify us out of trusting in ourselves, and seeing Him as He is: our Saviour.

As we will sing in our final hymn today:

When life’s troubles rise to meet me,

Though their weight May be great,

They will not defeat me.

God, my loving Saviour sends them;

He who knows All my woes

Knows how best to end them. (LSB 756 st. 2) Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Fed

Sermon for the Eighth Sunday after Pentecost based on Mark 6:30-44

Dear people who have come to be fed: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus was taking the apostles out to a solitary place to rest a while. They had just come back from their first mission trip of preaching God’s Word, and they were tired. The crowds came continually, not even giving the apostles opportunity to eat, so Jesus planned a retreat for them. Jesus and the disciples left in a boat to a desolate place by themselves for some rest.

The crowds, however, had something else in mind. They saw Jesus and the apostles leave in the boat and they ran on foot from all the towns and got to the destination ahead of them. So much for their retreat. But Jesus does ensure the apostles have something to eat – and not just the apostles, but also the crowds. The crowds who didn’t even give the apostles an opportunity to eat were fed miraculously by Jesus out there in the dessert.

We see that God does care for our physical needs. He cares and He provides what we need. Thus we confess in the meaning of the First Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them. He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have. He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life. He defends me against all danger and guards and protects me from all evil.”

God created us, but He also continues to provide for us. He makes all creation help provide the benefits and necessities of life. God has even blessed us with government that allows us to live in peace and security and to gather for Divine Service without danger.

God gives life, and God sustains life. This means that none of us has life or anything else from ourselves, nor can we ourselves preserve anything that we have. God gives, and God sustains.

The meaning of the First Article continues. “All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me. For all this it is my duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him. This is most certainly true.”

Because everything we possess, and everything in heaven and on earth is daily given, sustained, and protected by God, it inevitably follows that we are duty bound to love, praise, and thank Him without ceasing, and, in short, to devote all these things to His service, as He has required and commanded. [LC II.19]

Luther writes in the Large Catechism, “Here much could be said if we were to describe how few people believe this article. We all pass over it; we hear it and recite it, but we neither see nor think about what the words command us to do. For if we believed it with our whole heart, we would also act accordingly, and not swagger about and boast and brag as if we had life, riches, power, honour, and such things of ourselves, as if we ourselves were to be feared and served. This is the way the wretched, perverse world acts, drowned in its blindness, misusing all the blessings and gifts of God solely for its own pride, greed, pleasure, and enjoyment, and never once turning to God to thank Him or acknowledge Him as Lord and Creator.” [LC II.20-21]

As Christians, we are to thank and praise God for what He gives. We are also to recognize that God gives and sustains only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in us. We do not deserve what He gives to us, but He gives it to us anyway out of His great love for us. This, in turn, warms our hearts with gratitude to God and gives us a desire to use all of these blessings to His glory and praise.

Notice, however, that even more important than providing physical blessings, is God’s provision of spiritual blessings. When Jesus arrived ashore to the place where He was to rest with the apostles, He saw the great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And He began to teach them many things (v. 34).

Despite fatigue, Jesus saw the spiritual needs of the crowds, so He taught them. Jesus preached God’s Word to them because that is what they needed more than anything else.

Sheep without shepherds are helpless. They make easy prey for wolves and other predators. They have trouble finding water and food. So Jesus had compassion on the crowds because they were like sheep without a shepherd. No one was spiritually feeding them God’s Word. No one was defending them from the false shepherds who sought to lead them astray and benefit at the expense of the sheep. They were not being nourished by the Word of Life.

The text says Jesus taught them “many things”. Not just a quick sermonette or parable, but He taught them many things. He taught them so long that the hour became late and the crowds got hungry. Then Jesus also fed them physically. Jesus continued to show compassion to the crowds.

Jesus also has compassion on you. Yes, He richly and daily provides you with all that you need to support this body and life. But more than that, He gave His life for you. The Good Shepherd gave His life for sheep that love to wander. Jesus’ death on the cross was for us, for our sins, for our breaking of God’s Law. Jesus’ death was for our thoughts that we have what we have only by our own doing, and for our thanklessness and ingratitude. Jesus’ death earned forgiveness for you, and He has not stopped and will not stop feeding you.

Jesus has made sure that you are not like sheep without a shepherd. He is your Good Shepherd, and He continually feeds you and nourishes you through His Word and His own body and blood. Every Sunday He calls you to be nourished by His Word and Sacrament. Every day He calls you to be nourished through His Word whether alone or with your family. Don’t starve yourself because Jesus wants to richly feed you.

And don’t get caught up in physical blessings in favour of the spiritual blessings. John tells us that the crowds were following Jesus because they had seen Him heal many who were sick (Jn. 6:2). The crowds were seeking physical relief and physical blessings. But what did Jesus do? He taught them. He nourished them spiritually.

Sometimes God even allows us to suffer physically so that we would spiritually benefit. God does care for our physical needs, but He cares much more for our spiritual needs. Sometimes we suffer loss. Sometimes God takes away physical blessings in order to give us spiritual blessings. Sometimes we need a reminder that all we have has been given to us by God and is sustained by Him. But God will never withhold His spiritual blessings and nourishment from us. In our sin we may despise His nourishment and avoid His spiritual blessings and chase after physical blessings instead. But He continues to offer His Word and Sacrament to us in order to nourish us and bless us. He continues to be our Shepherd and calls us to hear His voice. Jesus continues to have compassion on us. He continues to give us what we need for our physical needs, and especially what we need for our spiritual needs. So come, receive the spiritual nourishment of Jesus’ true body and blood. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Justice is Served

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost based on Ephesians 1:3-14 and Mark 6:14-29

Dear believers sealed with the promised Holy Spirit: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The world’s courts of justice are not always courts of justice. Injustice is commonplace as imperfect judges cannot always discover the truth of circumstances or evidence and as the laws of the land become corrupt and immoral. When the laws and the judges themselves are corrupt and immoral, all hope for justice is lost.

Herod was the tetrarch over Galilee and Perea. He was one of four rulers over the territory of Israel. Along with Pontius Pilate who ruled over Judea and two other rulers, Herod was responsible for the administration of justice.

Herod threw himself a birthday party with his nobles and military commanders and the leading men of Galilee. These people were not just the rich men of substance in the land, but the inner circle of Herod’s government. These people were exactly those who helped him rule – the nobles and leading men – and those who carried out justice on his behalf – the military commanders.

John the Baptist had preached God’s justice to Herod. He proclaimed, “It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.” According to God’s Law, what Herod was doing was wrong; it was sin. It was not lawful. It was not just.

John’s proclamation of what is right and just in God’s eyes did not go over well with Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Phillip whom Herod had taken. So Herod threw John in prison. That was Herod’s justice – throw the preacher of God’s Word into prison if you don’t like what God’s Word says.

But it didn’t end there. Herodias found the opportunity to further her idea of justice during Herod’s birthday party. Herodias’s daughter’s dancing during the party pleased Herod to the point that he offered her whatever she wanted, up to half of his kingdom. Offered any benefit she desired, she conspired with her mother and requested the head of John on a platter. Finally there was an opportunity for her idea of justice. So, for the sake of these two women and his desires, Herod had John, the preacher of God’s Word, put to death, and his head was gruesomely and horrifically presented on a platter to the girl, who gave it to Herodias, her mother. The world’s justice is served.

So, did worldly justice prevail over the justice of God? Did Herod’s justice trump God’s justice? It may have seemed like it to some. But by putting to death the one who preached God’s Word to him, Herod put to death the one who proclaimed the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Herod hardened his heart, and when he came face to face with the very Lamb of God during His trial, He treated Jesus with contempt and mockery (Luke 23:11), and sent Him back to Pilate for judgment. Pilate then condemned Jesus to death. Once again, the world’s justice is served.

The justice of the world is so far removed from the justice of God. Our Gospel lesson outlines the justice of the world. It very often is quite unjust. Our Epistle lesson outlines the justice of God. God’s justice is perfect.

Our Epistle lesson answers our questions about our judgment before God’s throne. Will God find us guilty before His judgment seat? Will our sins be too great to receive mercy? Will our eyes be too blinded by our ideas of worldly justice that we will fail to receive God’s grace on Judgment Day?

Our Epistle lesson tells us that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ has blessed us in Christ even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him (vv. 3-4). So what will be God’s declaration of you on Judgment Day? That you are holy and blameless; that you belong to Him and are without blame; that you are a saint without sin.

But you don’t have to wait until Judgment Day to hear that declaration. You are already now declared holy and blameless by God. You are already now declared holy and blameless because you have been sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of your inheritance until you acquire possession of it (v. 13-14) In Baptism, you were sealed by God; marked as His own. You were baptized into Christ. Galatians 3[:27] says, “For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” In Baptism you put on Christ, so your sins were covered. You have put on Christ, so His righteousness is your righteousness; His perfection is your perfection.

Titus 3[:5-6] says that in the washing of Baptism the Holy Spirit is poured out on us richly. Our Epistle lesson tells us that the Holy Spirit is the guarantee of our eternal inheritance. Having received the Holy Spirit, He is the guarantee, the pledge, the deposit of our future inheritance. In Baptism, your body was marked by and filled with the Holy Spirit as a guarantee that your body will be raised to live forever in God’s kingdom. Adopted as God’s child, you have the promise – the guarantee – of the inheritance of His children.

But you may have noticed something even more in the text. You don’t just have the guarantee that you will be declared holy and blameless on Judgment Day. You don’t just have the guarantee that you are already now declared holy and blameless as God’s baptized child. The text says that you were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world!

This takes God’s guarantee to a whole other level. It by necessity removes all human worthiness or merit from our salvation. If we were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, we were thus chosen before we could do anything good or evil. We were chosen before we could do any good work that might please God. We were chosen before we committed any sin which would deserve God’s wrath and punishment. We were chosen before the foundation of the world that we would be holy and blameless.

God chose you before the foundation of the world. And because He chose you before the foundation of the world, He brought you to Holy Baptism after you were born. Because He chose you before the foundation of the world, He has given you the Holy Spirit through Baptism as a guarantee of your future inheritance in His kingdom. Because God chose you before the foundation of the world, He has brought you to faith and you can rest assured that He will keep you in the faith through His Word and His Holy Supper.

Because God chose you before the foundation of the world, you have the guarantee that the punishment that Jesus took for the sins of the world was for your sins. You have the guarantee that Jesus’ death on the cross was for you. You have the guarantee that because you were baptized into Christ, you are in Christ. All of your sins are covered by His righteousness. All of your sins are covered by His perfection. That is your guarantee of God’s justice.

God’s anger and wrath were poured out on Jesus instead of you. That is God’s justice. Jesus took the punishment of your sins. That is God’s justice. Jesus was forsaken by God the Father so that you would be adopted as His child. That is God’s justice.

Whatever justice or injustice we must face in worldly courts, we have the guarantee that Jesus faced God the Father’s justice on our behalf. We will be declared holy and blameless on Judgment Day. We are declared holy and blameless now as God’s adopted children through Baptism. We were declared holy and blameless before the foundation of the world. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Hear and Live

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost based on Mark 6:1-13 (Ezek. 2:1-5, 2 Cor. 12:1-10)

Dear hearers of God’s Word: grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

God sent Ezekiel to speak His Word to the people of Israel. For the most part, they did not listen. Ezekiel was not sent to speak his own words, but the very Word of God. But most of the people did not listen.

Was there a problem with Ezekiel? Maybe he wasn’t winsome enough. Maybe he wasn’t friendly enough. Maybe he wasn’t lenient enough. But no, the problem was not with Ezekiel. God Himself says the problem was the people of Israel. God calls them “nations of rebels” who had rebelled not against Ezekiel, but against Him (Ezek. 2:3). God calls them impudent and stubborn (Ezek. 2:4). These people hardened their hearts to God’s Word because they didn’t want to hear God’s Word. They didn’t want to turn from their sins. They loved their sins rather than loving God. Of course they’re going to find God’s messenger not to be winsome, friendly, or lenient.

Maybe if Ezekiel would have been more like Saint Paul he would have had more success. Saint Paul says he became a servant of all that he might win more of them (I Cor. 9:19). He says he became all things to all people, so that by all means he might save some (I Cor. 9:22). That sounds winsome. That sounds friendly. That sounds lenient.

But Paul faced imprisonment, beatings, riots… insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities (2 Cor. 6:4-5, 12:10). Being all things to all people did not mean that everyone listened to the Word of God that Paul preached. Even to the church in Corinth, Paul had to defend himself from so called “super-apostles” who came to lead the congregations away from pure doctrine (cf. esp. 2 Cor. 11:5). And for those who refused to repent, Paul judged them according to God’s Word and told the congregations to deliver such people over to Satan by putting them out of the church (I Cor. 5:5). That does not sound winsome, friendly, or lenient.

Maybe if Paul had been more like Jesus, he would have had more success. But Jesus Himself faced rejection, even by the people of His own hometown and His own relatives. They took offense at him (v. 3). They did not believe in Him (v. 6). In the end they whipped Him, beat Him, scoffed at Him, spit in His face, crowned Him with thorns, and crucified Him.

This all points to what Jesus says to those He sends to preach His Word, “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.” (Luke 10:16)

God’s Word will be rejected by the world. It will be rejected by the nations of rebels who have rebelled against God. It will be rejected by the impudent and stubborn. It may even be rejected by those of our hometowns and our own relatives.

We have witnessed the rejection of God’s Word again recently with the Supreme Court in the United States legalizing the sin of homosexual “marriage”. America joins us here in Canada who legalized such sin about a decade ago. Scripture is so clear on homosexuality that it is easy for us to be up in arms over such abomination, impurity, and dishonourable passions (cf. Rom. 1:24-27). It is easy for us to point the finger even at the other so-called “churches” who embrace such debauchery and depravity. But this is not the first time nor is it the only way marriage has come under attack. This is where we have to take blame for our own despising of marriage.

Concerning marriage, Jesus says, “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Matt. 19:6) We have to examine our own hearts. Where have we hardened our hearts against our spouses, refused to forgive, and divorce them? Where have we encouraged the divorce of others through what we have said, what we have done, what we have gossiped?

God’s Word says, “You shall not commit adultery” (Ex. 20:14), and “Let marriage be held in honour among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.” (Heb. 13:4) Here also we have to examine our own hearts. Where among us has the marriage bed been defiled? Couples live together outside of the life-long union of marriage instituted by God. Adultery, fornication, and pornography are the norm of society and we are only too ready to embrace them. Should we expect a winsome, friendly, and lenient message from God?

God’s Word says marriage is for the procreation of children as God mandated by saying, “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 1:28). There are many reasons for the decline of the church, but one of the biggest reasons is most certainly the unwillingness of Christian couples to have children. And when we do have children, how faithfully do we teach them what God’s Word says about how they should live sexually pure and decent lives?

So before we get too upset with the homosexual agenda and how it has taken over the airwaves, newspapers, and all media, we need to examine our own sins against marriage and repent of them. We need to repent of our own sins, including our own reluctance to show love to our friends and families by warning them of the dangers of their sin. God will not forgive sins which we refuse to turn away from. God will not forgive those who reject His Word and impudently and stubbornly remain in their sins.

Yes, this message of repentance will be rejected by the world. When Jesus sent the Twelve to preach repentance in our Gospel reading, He anticipated that there would be places where they would not be received; that there would be places that God’s Word would be rejected; that there would be people who will not listen. Jesus says, “When you leave, shake off the dust that is on your feet as a testimony against them.” (Mk. 6:11) Jesus tells them to move on from such impudent and stubborn rebels. They will receive in themselves the due penalty for their error (Rom. 1:27).

Not everyone will listen to God’s Word. In fact, most people will not. But we must ensure that we do. We must listen to God’s Word and repent. “I have no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Lord God; so turn, and live.” (Ezek. 18:32) Repent.

To repent means to be sorry for our sins and to believe that they are forgiven by Jesus’ death for us. God’s Law is not winsome, friendly, or tolerant. God’s Law shows us our sin so that we would be sorrowful over it. God’s Law condemns us in our sin so that we will see and recognize our need for a Saviour.

And then God’s sweet Gospel tells us that Jesus took all of our sins on Himself and died for them on the cross. Jesus’ suffering and death show exactly how winsome, friendly, and tolerant God is of sin. It required the horrific suffering and death of God’s own dear Son to pay for our sins. But Jesus’ death in your place means that you are forgiven. It means that however you have sinned against marriage, you are forgiven.

Jesus said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:17) Jesus came for us sinners who suffer the sickness of sin that has permeated our very existence. Jesus came to forgive us for the ways we have trampled on His institution of marriage. Jesus came to give us new life, even amidst this world that rejects Him and His Word. Even those sins which still gnaw at our conscience; those sins whose consequences we still suffer from; those sins we still struggle with; all these sins were put on Jesus. He is not shocked by our sins. He didn’t come to earth expecting to find pretty good people who just needed a little bit of help. Jesus saw our death and came to give us life. Jesus came to give life to heterosexual sinners and homosexual sinners.

We’ve been washed clean by the waters of Holy Baptism. Jesus comes to us in His true body and blood once again to give His forgiveness to us; to strengthen us in our struggle with sin; and to give us eternal life. Yes, in His body and blood Jesus gives you eternal life, because where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Don’t look for a winsome, friendly, lenient Word of God. Hear God’s Word which condemns your sin and tells you that Jesus took your sin on Himself. Hear God’s Word which gives you the forgiveness of sins. Hear God’s Word which gives you eternal life. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.