God’s Punishment is Patient

Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 9:51-62

Dear forgiven sinners: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus sent apostles ahead of Him to a village of the Samaritans, but the village wanted to have nothing to do with Jesus. The village would not receive Jesus. By rejecting Jesus’ messengers, the village rejected Jesus. After all, Jesus says concerning His messengers, “The one who rejects you, rejects me.” (Luke 10:16)

James and John don’t think this is right, and it’s not. It is not right that these people rejected Jesus, so James and John asked Jesus if they should tell fire to come down from heaven and consume the inhabitants of the village that would not receive Him.

Maybe James and John were thinking about how Elijah had called fire down from heaven to consume soldiers sent by a godless king to arrest him (II Kings 1:10-12). Maybe they were just contemplating the fact that the earth is stored up for fire and that the ungodly will be destroyed along with the earth (II Peter 3:7). Is that not a just punishment? Those who reject Jesus certainly deserve to have fire come down from heaven and consume them and they deserve to suffer in the fires of hell eternally. Those who harden their hearts and will not receive Jesus certainly deserve to receive such punishment.

We can relate to James and John. We see how evil the world is around us, and we wonder why God has not cast fire down from heaven to consume the wicked. We hear of calamity befalling sinners like the massacre that took place in Orlando, and perhaps sinfully are pleased in what we see as God punishing sin. We might think that it would be a good thing if God struck down sinners the world over and made this a better place to live.

Jesus, however, rebuked James and John. Jesus rebuked His disciples’ sinful anger and their desire that sinners be punished. Jesus rebuked their impatience with God’s justice.

God’s justice will come in His good time. He will overthrow the wicked. Those who reject Jesus and want nothing to do with Him will be cast into hell. Those who say that they follow Jesus but live impenitently in the works of the flesh, including the examples from our Epistle lesson, will not inherit the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19-21). On Judgment Day, God will cast down fire to consume this world along with the ungodly.

God has told us that He will do this, but as Saint Peter writes “The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (II Peter 3:9) God is not slow in carrying out justice; He is patient. He patiently and generously gives time so that His Word will work in the hearts of sinners so that sinners would turn from their sins and receive forgiveness. God doesn’t want anyone to receive punishment for their sins. God doesn’t want anyone to go to hell. That’s why Jesus hasn’t returned yet. God is still giving sinners time to repent. That’s why Jesus didn’t want James and John to call down fire from heaven and consume the village in Samaria. He was giving them time to repent.

God is giving time right now for the world to repent. Every calamity we hear about is another reminder of the final judgment of God. But the call to repentance isn’t just for the world outside the church. The call to repentance is also for the church. The call to repentance is for you.

The life of a Christian is a life of daily repentance – daily turning away from sins and evil desires; daily asking for forgiveness; daily contrition and sorrow over sin and yet at the same time faith that sin is forgiven and grace is obtained through Christ daily.

God will not deny you forgiveness because you have again fallen into sin. He will not say that you sinned one time too many to be forgiven. He doesn’t count how many times He forgives you. Every time He forgives you is the first time He forgives you because when you are forgiven, He removes your sin from you as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12). He treads your iniquities underfoot and casts your sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). He has promised to remember your sins no more (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12).

Luke records that in the time of Saint Paul, sinners in Samaria did repent. Luke writes that the church in Samaria was being built up and multiplying (Acts 9:31). The patience of God resulted in people turning from their sins and receiving forgiveness. God continued to send messengers with the word of repentance and the Good News of the forgiveness of sins in Jesus, and the Word of God accomplished what the disciples had given up on happening – God’s Word turned sinners away from their sins toward Jesus and His love and mercy.

God is patient and merciful. He continues to send His Word which shows us our sin so that we would see our need for a Saviour. God continues to send us His Word which tells us of our Saviour who did come and take the punishment of our sins on Himself. Jesus has taken our punishment, so no punishment remains for us who are baptized into His name. The fire and wrath from heaven consumed our sins when Jesus died for us on the cross and now we have the promise of eternal life.

Jesus took the punishment that our sins deserve, so now we get forgiveness of sins which we do not deserve. Jesus continues to absolve us of our sin. Jesus continues to give us His true body to eat and His true blood to drink so that we know that His forgiveness is for us. We know for certain that we receive forgiveness in His holy body and blood because He has promised it to us.

He is ever patient with us, ever feeding us with His Word and with His body and blood, so that we will be with Him in the home He is preparing for us in the new heavens and the new earth. He will come again to judge the living and the dead, and to take us to be with Him at the time that He knows best.

Until Jesus returns, let us pray that those outside the church would be brought to repentance along with us. Let us pray that God would continue to be patient with sinners and continue to call them to repentance. Let us take no joy in seeing the destruction of sinners, just as God has no joy in punishing sinners.

And let us heed the call to repentance. Let us turn from our sins and trust that sin is forgiven and grace is obtained through Christ. Amen.

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

Breaker of Chains

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 8:26-39

Dear believers whose chains have been broken: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The devil’s chains and shackles are far stronger than any physical chains and shackles. We can see this in the demon-possessed man breaking the physical bonds of chains and shackles even while under guard, and escaping from prison to once again wander in the desert naked, living among the tombs, roaming among the dead. Chains and fetters cannot restrain one who is under the influence of the devil. Barred windows and doors will do nothing to control the devil, his works, or his ways.

Without God, man is imprisoned by the chains of the devil. There is no neutral ground or fence sitting. There is imprisonment or there is freedom. There is slavery to sin or there is freedom in Christ.

Outward appearance doesn’t always tell you very much. Yes, in some cases, one who is enslaved to Satan might be running around naked in graveyards. However, one who is enslaved to Satan may also appear perfectly sane and put together. He could be running a successful business, teaching in a university, or even running for president of the United States. Whatever works an unbeliever does, even if they outwardly appear good, they are actually sin. The Bible says that anything done without faith is sin (Rom. 14:23) and that without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11:6). Without faith, man is the enemy of God, and a slave of the devil (Rom. 5:10, 6:2; Col.1:21).

When it comes to being released from the shackles of sin and the chains of hell, the helps of this world are useless. They can no more keep sin under control than the chains with which the demonic was chained kept him under control. Chains and fetters cannot restrain one who is under the influence of the devil. The world has no solutions to help or release mankind from the devil, or the effects of sin.

This is helpful for us to keep in mind when we seek release from the shackles and burdens of this life that weigh us down. We are not under the rule of the devil since we have been baptized into Christ and are thus under His lordship (Rom. 6:2), but we still suffer the effects of sin and feel the heavy burden of sin and its consequences in various ways, and the world cannot help us.

The world’s attempts to deal with anxiety, depression, and worrying amount to drugs which only numb the effects. The world’s attempts to deal with illnesses and diseases are the same. As a solution to character traits you don’t like about yourself such as laziness, cowardliness, or impatience, the world points you to pop psychology or counselling for the solution. Suffering from obsessions, addictions, or a short temper? The world tells you to just read the latest self-help book and pick yourself up by your own bootstraps.

Whatever these worldly solutions offer, they at best try to mask symptoms. They put Band-Aids on mortal gunshot wounds. They tell you to fix yourself with your own abilities, like telling a patient to perform an operation on himself. These worldly solutions do not and cannot deal with the fundamental, underlying problem – our sin.

Trying to deal with sin or the effects of sin by earthly means will never be successful. Just as medicine cannot undo or prevent death, so imprisonment doesn’t forgive the sins of the criminal, so counselling doesn’t prevent you from being lazy or addicted or impatient, and so medicine doesn’t prevent depression but merely alters the chemicals in your brain while you’re on the medication to decrease the symptoms. Seeking physical solutions to spiritual problems can never be successful. The things of this world cannot break the bonds of sin, nor keep them under control.

Only Jesus can break the bonds of sin that bind us. Chains and shackles could not bind the demon-possessed man, but Jesus’ Word broke the fetters of the devil and the chains of hell. Jesus’ Word set the man free.

So Jesus’ Word sets us free from our chains and shackles of sin. His Word doesn’t set us free to return to the bondage of sin but sets us free from those bonds. Jesus’ Word doesn’t set us free to be like a pig that returns to the mire or a dog that returns to its vomit as Saint Peter writes (2 Peter 2:22), but His Word sets us free from following the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. Jesus’ Word declares us forgiven saints free from sin.

“Nothing is so powerfully effective against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts as to occupy one’s self with God’s Word, to speak about it and meditate upon it, in the way that Psalm 1 calls those blessed who “mediate on God’s Law day and night.” Without doubt, you will offer up no more powerful incense or savour against the devil than to occupy yourself with God’s commandments and words and to speak, sing or think about them. Indeed… [this] drives away the devil and puts him to flight.” (LC Preface)

When you are tempted, turn to the Word of God for strength in temptation. When you are anxious, depressed, or worried, read God’s Word for comfort. When you are feeling lazy, cowardly, or impatient, pick up the Bible which feeds you, strengthens you, guides you, and leads you in God’s will for you and your life.

It should be your first thought to read Scripture when you are under attack by the devil, the world, and your flesh. There is good reason it is called the sword of the Spirit (Eph. 6:17). Leaving God’s Word on the shelf when struggles and temptations come is like a soldier who leaves his sword in the barracks when the enemy comes. If such a soldier is not killed, it is a miracle.

We daily need God’s Word just as we need daily bread. Leaving God’s Word on the shelf in the face of the daily and incessant attacks and ambushes of the devil is like leaving food and water at home and heading out on a hike across the desert. If such a hiker is not killed, it is a miracle.

Those who follow their sinful desires may think that they have freedom – freedom to do whatever they want. What they do not realize is that they are in fact slaves to the devil, the world, and their own sinful nature. What they do not realize is that their so-called freedom is nothing more than roaming naked among the dead.

Those who are in Christ are truly free. It may be a daily struggle to do what God commands, but Saint John can say that His commands are not burdensome because we are born of God and have overcome the world by faith (I John 5:3-4). God’s commands are not burdensome because we are free from the slavery of sin. God’s commands are not burdensome because they have been fulfilled by Jesus on our behalf.

Burdensome commandments are those that you must keep to earn yourself eternal life. If our salvation depended on us keeping God’s Law, it would be beyond burdensome. However, Jesus carried the burden of God’s Law for us and fulfilled it for us, thus making our yoke easy and our burden light (cf. Matt. 11:29-30).

We have been freed from the shackles of sin and the chains of death by Jesus’ death in our place, thus we have the promise of eternal life. We are continuously given the forgiveness of our sins in the body and blood of Jesus and we are continuously strengthened through the Word of God in our fight against sin and temptation. Jesus has rescued us from the kingdom of the devil. He has shattered the bars of death and broken our chains of sin.

Jesus voluntarily took on Himself the chains and shackles of our sins and suffered and died for our sins. But He didn’t remain dead. Jesus rose from the dead, thus breaking the bonds of sin – our bonds of sin. Jesus rose from the dead, thus breaking the bonds of death – our bonds of death.

Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have true freedom. Freedom from slavery to sin. Freedom from the devil. Freedom from hell. Because of Jesus, we have freedom to live forever with Him in His kingdom which has no end. Amen.

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

Already Forgiven

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 7:36-8:3

Dear debtors with cancelled debts: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The entire city knew her sin. Of whatever shameful and disgraceful sin she was guilty, everyone knew it. The entire city looked down on her and she would have liked to do nothing more than crawl under a rock and disappear rather than face the disgusted expressions on the faces of those who saw her.

Whatever her sin was, society in general was agreed that it was horrible; something upsetting the very fabric of life in their city. Maybe something more common in some pagan city far away, but not there in a Jewish city. Maybe something they’d heard someone doing somewhere else, but not there in their midst. Yet there she was, guilty of this sin, right there in the house of Simon the Pharisee, a leader of the church of that time.

Despite what the city thought of her, the sinful woman of the city didn’t crawl under a rock and disappear. Despite what Simon the Pharisee thought of her, the sinful woman of the city entered uninvited into his house. Despite the disgusted expressions on the faces of those who saw her, the sinful woman of the city washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, dried them with her hair, kissed them, and anointed them with expensive ointment.

The woman just had to do it out of love for Jesus. Jesus had forgiven her all of her sins, including the sin that everyone else knew about and talked about. In God’s eyes, her open shame was covered and her sins had been washed away. Jesus had rescued her from her life of sin and she now hated her sin as much as everyone else in the room. Her sin which had started small and then spiralled out of control; her sin which had grown larger and larger and enslaved her; her sin from which she was not able to escape had been taken away by Jesus and forgiven. She just had to show her love and devotion to her Saviour despite what other people thought about her and her actions. She loved much, because she was forgiven much.

We, on the other hand, tend to be more like Simon the Pharisee. We see the sins of others very easily, but we think that we ourselves are pretty good. We think forgiveness is for people like this woman of the city, but not so much for us. Oh, sure, we need forgiveness for this little thing or that little thing, but it’s really no big deal. We’re so blind to our own sins that we don’t think we even need all that much forgiveness.

God commands us to love Him with our whole heart (Luke 10:27). We think we’ve done it even though we cling to the things of this world and don’t want to lose them or even give them back to God, thus we break the First Commandment. We think we love God with our whole heart even though we’re more likely to misuse His name as an exclamation than call upon it in prayer, thus we break the Second Commandment. We think we love God with our whole heart but anything that comes up on Sunday morning is guaranteed to be more important than the Divine Service, and every family activity is more important that reading God’s Word together, thus we break the Third Commandment. No, we do not love God with our whole heart.

God commands us to love our neighbour as ourselves (Luke 10:27). We think we’ve done it if we haven’t physically murdered, committed adultery, or stolen. Yet we despise our authorities and speak evil of them, breaking the Fourth Commandment. We get angry at our neighbour who does evil against us and we don’t help our neighbour in need, breaking the Fifth Commandment. We do not love and honour our spouses as God commands or hold marriage to be God’s gift to us, breaking the Sixth Commandment. We do not give to everyone who begs of us, and we demand our goods to be returned to us if someone has taken them away, breaking the Seventh Commandment (Cf. Luke 6:30). We gossip about the sins of others and hurt their reputations instead of putting the best construction on everything, breaking the Eight Commandment. We are not content with what God has given us, but we want what our neighbour has, whether it’s his house or his wife, breaking the Ninth and Tenth Commandments. No, we do not love God with our whole heart, nor do we love our neighbours as ourselves.

To top it all off, even if we did all these things perfectly, Jesus says “When you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.’” (Luke 17:10) Even if we loved God with all our heart and our neighbours as ourselves, we still wouldn’t be doing anything great or grand, but only what we are supposed to do and have been commanded to do, and we would still be unworthy. If we are unworthy when we obey, how much more unworthy are we when we disobey?

Our sins are really the same as those of this sinful woman of the city. Maybe we hide them better so that the whole city doesn’t know them, but our sins are just as filthy in God’s eyes and require the same forgiveness that Jesus gives.

Just like this woman of the city, our sins are already forgiven. Jesus said that she was showing this love towards Him because she has already been forgiven so much. Even so, Jesus once again told her, “Your sins are forgiven,” and “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Jesus once again absolved her of her sin.

She came to Jesus because she was forgiven. She washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her hair because she was forgiven. She poured expensive ointment on Jesus’ feet and kissed them despite the thoughts of those in the house because her sin was forgiven. Yet Jesus once again absolved her of her sin.

So also we continuously need our sins forgiven. Even though our sins are already forgiven, we continuously need to hear God’s absolution. Even though your sins are already forgiven, if you need to hear it personally, confess your sins to your pastor and in the stead and by the command of Christ, he will give you Christ’s absolution. Even though your sins are already forgiven, continuously come to the Lord’s Altar and receive the true body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of all your sins and the strengthening of your faith.

There is no sin for which Jesus did not die. Regardless of what some self-righteous Pharisee thinks; regardless of what the town thinks; regardless of what onlookers think, Jesus died for your sins and they are forgiven through absolution and through receiving Jesus’ true body and blood. That is where you get the benefits of Jesus death on the cross in your place. That is where you receive forgiveness of sins whether or not society agrees that what you’ve done is horrible, and whether or not the whole town knows what you’ve done.

He who is forgiven much, loves much. The more we recognize our sin, the more we realize how much we have been forgiven, and the more our hearts are filled with love for Jesus and the salvation He has won for us. The more we realize that we are forgiven, the more we want to receive that forgiveness in the Lord’s Supper, and the more we want to hear, “Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Amen.

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

Death Pursues Me All the Way

Sermon for the Third Sunday after Pentecost based on Luke 7:11-17

Dear saints pursued by death: Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

The villains in many books and movies can be quite terrifying. Their evil goals and objectives hurt and harm many people. The devastation they leave in their wake is multiplied if the villains are powerful or well-armed. Such villains cause people to flee in terror and hide lest they too become victims.

All of mankind has a very real villain from whom no one can run or hide – death. Death is really something of a supervillain. We cannot outrun death. We cannot hide from death. Death does not discriminate. He takes the old. He takes the young. He takes the unhealthy. He takes the healthy. No one escapes death.

A great hymn puts it this way:

And death pursues me all the way, Nowhere I rest securely;

He comes by night, he comes by day, he takes his prey most surely.

A failing breath, and I In death’s strong grasp may lie

To face eternity today As death pursues me all the way. (LSB 716 st. 3)

We are completely helpless in the face of death. The best medical care may postpone or prolong death, but nothing more. Exercise and a healthy diet increase the possibility of a longer life, but nothing more. When death comes, all we can do is watch helplessly.

Death has a rightful claim on us. God says, “The soul who sins shall die.” (Ezek. 18:20) It’s as simple as that. Death doesn’t have to wait until we are 80 or 90. Death doesn’t have to wait until we are diagnosed with a terminal illness. Death doesn’t have to wait for us to be frail and weak.

Death can and does take lives already in the womb. Death can and does take little children playing innocently at the playground or learning intently at school. Death can and does take athletes and health gurus and vegans and vegetarians. No one escapes death.

Death tragically took away a widow’s only son, the only provider and defender remaining for her since death had already taken her husband. Death took away her only remaining reason for living; the only one remaining in her life.

The crowd from her town of Nain was helplessly mourning with the widow. The whole crowd could do nothing to save her son from death. All the doctors and medicine in the world couldn’t do a thing to help. Death took his prey.

Jesus saw this grieving widow who had now also lost her only son, and He had compassion on her. He raised the young man back to life through the power of His Word. So easy. Jesus just speaks, and the young man is brought back to life.

Sure, joy and happiness resulted. A young man’s life was restored. But the only thing that really happened to the young man is that he now had death pursuing him again. The young man was raised back into this life where death will once again come for him by night or day, when he’s young or when he’s old, when he’s sick or when he’s healthy. Death will once again take his prey.

Jesus raising the young man back to life is not the whole story. If it was the whole story, you would have to conclude that Jesus doesn’t have compassion on those widows and parents whose loved ones are not restored to this life. If it was the whole story, you would have to conclude that this life is all that there is, so we should cling to it like there’s nothing better. If it was the whole story, you would have to conclude that, in the end, death is undefeatable even for Jesus.

The whole story is that Jesus here shows His power over death. He not only shows that He is the promised Saviour the Old Testament prophesied would come and raise the dead, but He shows that He has power over death.

The terrible villain that pursues all of mankind every day needs only a Word to be undone. One Word from Jesus undoes the worst that death can do. One Word from Jesus takes all of death’s power away. Jesus faces death head-on and triumphs.

Jesus’ ultimate victory over death was His own death. Death had no claim on Jesus because Jesus lived a perfect life of obedience to God’s Law, but Jesus took our sins on Himself and gave Himself over to death for us. The powers of death did their worst, but death could not hold Jesus. Death could not hold God in the flesh.

Jesus broke the bars of death and the chains of hell. He rose victorious over death and the grave, proving Himself the author of life. Jesus has defeated our great enemy and has routed the villain that pursues us. That’s the whole story.

This means that Jesus does have compassion on you who have lost loved ones even if He does not raise them back to this life. He has compassion on you widows who grieve the loss of your husbands and on you widowers who grieve the loss of your wives. He has compassion on you parents who have lost children and on you children who have lost parents. Jesus has compassion on all of you who grieve and gives you the promise of eternal life.

Jesus will not raise your loved ones back to this life of sin and suffering, but He will raise all believers to new life in the new heavens and the new earth. He will not raise them only so that death can pursue them once again, but He will raise them and you to where there is no more death.

You know that He will do it because you see that all He needs to do is say a Word and the dead are raised. He who created Adam from the dust of the earth will raise us and all believers from the dust of the earth to eternal life. So easy. Jesus just speaks, and we will be brought back to life.

Jesus has triumphed over death, our enemy. This means that when death thinks it is going to win a victory over us at our death bed, it will be a hollow victory because death will not be able to hold us. Death will no more hold us than it held Jesus, because we are baptized into Him. As surely as Jesus rose from the dead, we too will arise.

Now hell, its prince, the devil, Of all their pow’r are shorn;

Now I am safe from evil, And sin I laugh to scorn.

Grim death with all its might Cannot my soul affright;

It is a pow’rless form, Howe’er it rave and storm. (LSB 467 st. 4)

Because Jesus has defeated death, death now is our doorway to eternal life where God’s good healing will relieve all suffering, sin, and sorrow. We will be reunited with all our loved ones who have died in the faith, and death will be no more. Death will no longer pursue us or threaten us. You will not be raised to life only so that death can pursue you once again, but you will be raised to where there is no more death. Alleluia. Amen.

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