It Isn't About Entertainment Or Spiritual Jumping Jacks, But About Hearing The Lord's Word

2015 Zion Lutheran Lent Series

God's Ten Word's - For You

Part 2 of 6 

Texts:  Exodus 20:1-17 and Hebrew 4:1-16

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Last week we began the Season of Lent.  As it was mentioned, the Season of Lent is an extended period of time, during the calendar year of the church, where we pause and reflect.  It is a time for us to take a step back from the busyness of life and consider our place before almighty God.  This happens as we move towards Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday. 

In order to consider our place before the Lord, it was also mentioned last week that we are examining over the next month and a half, the perfect, divine, and holy will of God for us as expressed in the Ten Commandments.  Yes, through the Law of the Lord we are not only instructed on what is good and true, but we are also convicted of our sin and driven to despair.  Otherwise stated, as we contemplate our sinfulness this Lent Season through studying God’s Law, we do so knowing that we are traveling towards the cross of Good Friday where our sin finds its home not on us, but on Christ.

Tonight we are focusing specifically on God’s design for life as expressed in the Third Commandment.  The Third Commandment states,

“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping in holy.” 

In other words,

“You are to hallow the day of rest.”
 

Now, too often this Third commandment is misunderstood by those outside and even inside the church.  Truly, we fool ourselves when we think the Third Commandment is speaking only about a certain day of the week when we have church, or that it is speaking only about not doing any physical work at all on the Lord ’s Day, or that it is speaking only about the day of the week which the old Blue Laws didn’t allow businesses to be open on Sundays.  Otherwise stated, each of us knows that we need physical rest at least one day a week; our bodies need to be refreshed.  But rest is not the main point of the Third Commandment.  Each of us understands that Sundays are typically ‘church days’, but that is not the main point of the Third Commandment.  So, what is the main point of the Third Commandment?  The main focus is really on God’s Word, His Word for you and for me.

Every day is intended for hearing God’s Word; it isn’t limited to just Sundays.  And every day is holy because God’s Word makes every day holy.  But we also set aside certain days, mainly Sundays for the purpose of hearing God’s Word.  We do this so that everyone may have the time and opportunity to attend public worship.  And that’s the main point of the Third Commandment.  It teaches us that worship is ultimately about hearing and learning God’s Word, receiving His gifts of life and salvation.

We need to really hear this in our day and age, especially when churches have become so completely radicalized in our country.  These days some of what passes for “worship” is little more than low-budget entertainment.  Some so called “worship services” in our time only seek to alter moods or get people fired up for some reason or another.  This unfortunately puts the focus on our reactions, our emotions, and our thoughts.

And this mind set is not only “out there in radicalized churches,” but it is also right here, in our hearts and our heads.  We too have something of these thoughts and desires of entertainment within us.  We want to be wowed.  We want to be impressed.  We want to feel a particular feeling. Our time is valuable, so we want each minute to count and to impress us.

Think about this for a moment…in our spare time we try to find some way to entertain ourselves and alter our mood, to forget about everything else for a little while.  When we are off of work and rest, we want the television to hold our entertainment, make us laugh, and give us that escape from the mundane of life.  We avoid boredom like the plague.  We especially want this of our weekends! 

So when it comes to Sunday morning, those ideas of entertainment are still bouncing around in our head and sometimes we begin to desire the same kind of thing in the Sunday Morning Divine Service.  When we consciously and subconsciously do this, we put the focus on what we feel and desire instead of on what God has to give us in His Word.  If a song doesn’t move us, if a sermon does not give us a tingly, and if we are not kept engaged, we cry foul.  “This is not entertaining!”  We then determine that we would’ve been better off staying home to watch the Kardashions, or Face The Nation, or the NFL Pre-Game Show, or Sunday morning reruns of The Wheel of Fortune on the Gameshow Network. 

   

My friends, when it comes to the Third Commandment, it is most certainly about us stopping our work and the elimination of our entertainment agendas, so that we can simply listen to God’s Word.  You see, our Sunday Morning Divine Service and Wednesday Night Services are all about hearing the Word and receiving the Sacrament, these are the times for us to stop thinking about our quest for distraction and entertainment as being most important and instead focus on the work God is doing to and for us in His Word.

What this all means is that we keep the Sabbath day holy by stopping our efforts and by receiving God’s efforts as He works for us.  The Sabbath, the worship service is not about what you can do for Jesus, it’s about God’s Word and what it tells you your Savior has done and is doing for you.  The Divine Service on Sundays is not mainly about us speaking to God in worship in order to summon His presence and offer Him praise so that we can impress Him and obtain kudo points.  This view sees God as the audience of our worship.  This way sees us as the ones coming before God and doing all sorts of spiritual jumping jacks and spiritual work in order to get the Lord to notice us and then hopefully respond to us with kudos.  Christian worship is the exact opposite my friends.  God is the speaker.  We are the audience.  He calls us before Him so that He might give His Gifts to us.  

This is why God wants you to hold preaching and His Word sacred.  This is why you are to gladly hear and learn it.  There is nothing sweeter than gathering around God’s Word and being fed with the forgiveness of our sins as we listen with our ears.

God forgive us for attempting to make the Sunday Morning Divine Service into something that it is not.  God forgive us for our laziness, those times where we convince ourselves that we really don’t need to hear the Word of God.  God forgive us for those times where we sleep in or simply attend to something else that we believe has a bigger importance than hearing from the Lord.  God forgive us for our failure to simply hear, that is to say, listen to the Word and receive the gifts from the Altar. 

Baptized Saints, hear the Word of God for you and for me now.  You are forgiven; Christ Jesus was crucified—for you.  Yes, you who have ears, hear.  St. Paul says in Romans that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”  That means, faith doesn’t come by what we do or how much we do.  Faith doesn’t come by how you feel or whether you are entertained.  Saving faith doesn’t come by sermons on religious living or how to lose weight with Jesus, or how to have a stress free life.  Faith comes in only one way: by hearing the Word of God and the clear message of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of the world.  Thus, hear again, God’s Word, His promise to and for you.  You are forgiven for Christ’s sake! Be of good cheer, the good news of Mt. Calvary is for you.

This very listening to God’s Word—hearing about the forgiveness of your sins—is the greatest privilege and work we can do as Christians.  When you listen, learn, take to heart and inwardly digest and retain the message of Jesus you hear in this place, God is more pleased than if you were to build the greatest church ever built.  Listening and taking His word to heart is the greatest involvement any Christian could have in the worship service.

God’s design for life is a life with His Word. It’s a life of listening to Him and what He does for us in His Son.  It is a life that is captive to the Word of God.  It is a life receiving constantly from the    Word of God.  It is a life that is fed, shaped, and formed from the Word. 

God’s Word will never return to Him empty, it will accomplish what He desires.  And what He desires is your forgiveness, life, and salvation.

This is what the Third Commandment is all about.  It is about guarding and protecting the Word of God, the Word that is given to you and to me.

Baptized Saints, listen: You are forgiven for Christ’s sake. 

Baptized Saints, pause: You are forgiven for Christ’s sake.

Baptized Saints, rest:  you are forgiven for Christ’s sake.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Note: This sermon is highly indebted to Pastor Joshua Reimche of Our Savior Lutheran Church and Martin Luther's Large Catechism. 

Yes, You Are Completely Sanctified By The Word Spoken To You

Text: John 15:1-6

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

It is certainly obvious from this parable in our Gospel reading that Jesus deserves all the credit for declaring you and me clean and for connecting us to him. Indeed, as dead helpless branches, you and I have been forgiven at the cross and then grafted into the true living vine by the power of the Lord’s word and promise pronounced upon us.  Once connected to Christ by his word though, notice that the calling is not for you and me to work towards becoming ‘more’ connected or ‘more’ grafted into Christ, but the calling is to simply abide and remain. What does this mean?  It means that you can confidently know that you have already been cleansed and are fully and completely grafted into the vine through the Lord’s powerful word, his word that delivers the benefits of Mt. Calvary to you.  Yes, you can say with confident joy that you are completely justified because of Jesus’ death on the cross and you can also know and confess that you are completely sanctified—that is to say made clean—by the word spoken to you.  Listen dear friends, you are reckoned saints for Jesus is your complete sanctification![1]

Being sanctified in Christ though means that you are not subject to the enemies of assurance, those enemies being adjectives; adjectives like: more, greater, true, further, higher, real, and nearer. Indeed these enemies of assurance all communicate that the branch’s grafting to the vine is lacking; however, you are not lacking anything in Christ. Indeed, adjectives can strip assurance and create the impression that the goal of the Christian is to move closer or upward towards the vine in order to obtain something that it is lacking. Regrettably, adjectives give the impression that the branch should ascend up the vine to obtain a greater or improved ontological status. But this is not the case for you.  The reason being, you have every spiritual blessing in Jesus because he has declared you clean.  Yes, his word has declared you clean; it is what it is.  Otherwise stated, it is not necessary for you to move upon the Holy One, but rather it is the Holy One who has moved upon you with a declarative word. “You are clean!”

Being sanctified in Christ also means that it is not up to the branch to try and produce fruit (i.e., good works) as a bargaining tool for being connected to the vine or as a payment for the status of being declared clean. Rather, this sanctification is the source of all good works, works that the forgiven Christian gets to bear. The implications of this are clear. The good works that each of you bear certainly have no power to make you more clean or more connected to the vine. The good works that you walk in are a result of being connected to Jesus by the word and faith, not the cause. The fruit of good works can be thought of as marks of faith and grace; they are descriptive not prescriptive. Thus, we must be on guard from believing that the reason for being connected and staying connected to the true vine is due to our good works or some inherent strength that we supposedly bring to the table.

Now, while it is spot-on to confess that good works are not the cause of sanctification and do not preserve faith, it must be noted that it is certainly true that evil works do destroy faith.[2] 

What this means is that even though you are cleansed by God’s forgiving word, we are daily in need of the vinegrower’s (i.e. the Father’s) work upon us, because the old Adam still clings to us. The Father though does not act upon us by applying spiritual cosmetics to our sin in order to masquerade our sin as legitimate fruit. Furthermore, the solution to the old Adam is not an exhorting pep talk to encourage the old man to tap into willpower so that he might somehow produce fruit, or possibly reform his old ways.  Just try harder! Rather, what is needed is an end to the old Adam and his sin. What is needed is death. Your sinful nature needs to be cut off and thrown away, that is to say, drowned in the waters of baptism, for you have been baptized.[3] The Vinegrower needs to act upon the branch by pruning and stripping the branches of unneeded leaves.  Thankfully, God will not allow or permit the branch to simply exist in an unpruned status.  It must be fertilized, acted upon, and tended to, for to not do so would be to let it degenerate into a wild and barren branch.  To not act upon it would be to allow it to decay into nothing.  God does indeed cultivate, feed, prune and strip the branches so that they yield good fruit.[4]

Truly, the branch is pruned to make it bear more fruit, but fruit for whom? Martin Luther once said, “God doesn’t need our works, but our neighbor does.” This is also certainly true in the parable before us, for the vine does not produce fruit as a means of circular consumption. The branches are not a means that the vine uses to bear fruit for itself. Furthermore, as branches, you and I are not the source of good works, the vine is. What this means is that we don’t produce good works, but bear good works.[5]  Good works are prepared in advance for us to walk in, which teaches us that we don’t do good works to become a Christian, rather we do good works because we already are Christians. Thus, a proper understanding of the doctrine of vocation helps us understand that God not only prepares good works, but He gives us the opportunity to serve our neighbor with these good works in our callings. These vocations are avenues in which God has called us to bear fruit.

Blessed Baptized Saints, Jesus says that apart from him we can do nothing.  Yes, you can do nothing apart from Christ.  This Christian life is not the establishment of the unholy trinity of ‘me, myself, and I’ as an independent autonomous vine, it is rather to abide in Christ the true and only vine, by faith; continually receiving the word and sacraments that are for us.

Blessed Baptized Saints, as branches of God the Holy Spirit, you and I only do good to the extent that he rules, leads, and guides. If God the Holy Spirit would withdraw His gracious hand - if you and I ceased to be branches of his verbs to and through us - we could not for one moment remain in the faith, let alone bear good fruit.  You are dependent upon the vine and cooperate as they receive all that is good and salutary from the vine.

Blessed Baptized Saints, because good works are the fruits of the Spirit, you and I get to look to Christ and his word rather than ourselves and what we are doing. The reason for this is, if we look to the good works to spur on more good works, our endeavor will prove to be futile at best. It is foolish because Jesus, the true vine, is the author and perfector of faith; fix your eyes on Jesus, his word is for you.

Baptized Saints, you are completely justified because of Jesus’ death on the cross and you are completely sanctified (i.e., made clean) by the word spoken to you.  You are reckoned saints for Jesus forgives you of all your sins. Be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.  There is no condemnation for you are in Christ Jesus.  You are clean, Jesus is your complete sanctification.

Jesus is the true vine, we are the branches, and we live this sanctified life from the true vine.  Receiving, faithing, living—in Him and His Word for us! 

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

---

[1] The term Sanctification, as used here, is to be considered in its wide sense where it speaks of everything that God does in the one who He turns from sin to holiness (i.e., God’s work of repentance, faith, justification, sanctification, and preservation of the person).

[2] See: Ephesians 4:30; 5:5; 1 Corinthians 6:9-ff; Galatians 5:21; Romans 8:13; Colossians 3:5-6.

[3] See:  Romans 6:1-ff.

[4] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, Sermons on the Gospel of St. John Chapters 14-16 ed. Jaroslav Jan Pelikan, trans. Martin H. Bertram (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House,1961), 212.

[5] See: Ephesians 2:10.

Forgiveness For The Unholy Trinity Of 'Me, Myself, And I"

2015 Zion Lutheran Lent Series

God's Ten Word's - For You

Part 1 of 6 

Text: Exodus 20:1-17 and 32:1-20

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today is Ash Wednesday which means it is the first day of the Season of Lent.  More precisely, at the heart of Ash Wednesday is the theme of repentance and sorrow for sin.  It could also be said that at the heart of the Season of Lent is an extended period of time, in the calendar of the church, for pause and reflection.  It is a time to consider our place before almighty God. 

Tonight, there is no better way to consider our place before almighty God than to contemplate His holy, perfect, and divine will for us as expressed in the Ten Commandments.  Yes, over the next six weeks we will be considering God’s holy, righteous, and perfect Divine Law.  Through the Law of the Lord we will not only be instructed on what is good and true, but we will also be convicted of our sin and driven to despair.  Yes, as we contemplate our sinfulness this Lent Season through studying God’s Law, we do so knowing that we are traveling towards the cross of Good Friday where our sin finds its home not on us, but on Christ. Therefore, through contemplating the extent of our sin problem during Lent only makes the Good News sweeter still.

To begin this six part series on the Ten Commandments—God’s Word for us—we are focusing on the first and second commandments of God which state,

“You are to have no other Gods.”

“You are not to take the name of God in vain.”

With this stated, tonight we are going to focus a bit more narrowly on a topic embedded in these opening commandments.  That topic is the subject of idolatry—not adultery with an “A”, but idolatry with an “I”.

When we think about the topic of idolatry it is easy to imagine primitive people groups gathering around false gods, false gods that are carved out of stone or wood.  While there is some truth to this generalized characterization of idolatry of primitive people worshiping wooden idols, we need to be on guard from an over simplification of idolatry.  In other words, we need to be aware of the failure of seeing idolatry only in the realm of kneeling before visible objects of adoration.  The reason we need to be on guard of this characterization is that this characterization can actually segregate the sin of idolatry away from us as twentieth-first-century Americans. 

Martin Luther teaches us in the Large Catechism that idolatry does not consist merely of erecting an image and praying to it, but he shares that idolatry is primarily a matter of the heart.  You see, our hearts gaze upon things other than God in order to seek help and consolation from them.  Our eyes are easily turned away from the Creator to created things.  Thus, we can easily make any created thing an alternative god.  Tragically, you and I commit idolatry with whatever our hearts cling to or relies upon for ultimate security.

So, what is your idol today?  What god have you created; what god do you trust, believe, and desire good things from? 

As we consider this topic, the scriptures are no stranger to idolatry.  There are countless stories within the Old Testament regarding the idols of Baal, Molech, and so forth.  However, the climatic story of idolatry in the Old Testament scriptures is most definitely the story of the Golden Calf in Exodus 32. 

When the people saw that Moses delayed to come down from the mountain, the people gathered themselves together to Aaron and said to him, "Up, make us gods who shall go before us. As for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him." So Aaron said to them, "Take off the rings of gold that are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me." So all the people took off the rings of gold that were in their ears and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand and fashioned it with a graving tool and made a golden calf. And they said, "These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!" When Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it. And Aaron made a proclamation and said, "Tomorrow shall be a feast to the LORD." And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.   

-Exodus 32:1-6

We can learn several things from this story.  First, we see that the people wanted a visible representation to go before them.  This stems from the unbelief of their heart.  Secondly, by obtaining a golden calf they are obtaining a visible image that is tangible and accessible.  By their faithless actions they are attempting to gain independence from God.  A more personalized God in tangible form is easier to manage!  Finally, in verse 4, Aaron says, “These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.”  Many very bright scholars and theologians believe that Aaron is speaking of both the idol and God.  Thus Aaron and the people are doing something very atrocious.  They are mixing a false idol with almighty God.  They are putting false truth and real truth in a blender and mixing them together.  This is properly called syncretism.  While it might not seem so dangerous to have God and idolatry mixed together and though it comes across as mildly dangerous, this kind of mixing truth and false truth can be extremely dangerous!  It can be damning!  How much Drano in a batch of cookies is dangerous?  Mixing even a little bit of poison into cookies can be lethal!  What is it that they say… when you mix ice cream and manure together, you get what?  Well, yes… you just get more manure.  Mixing an idol with God is never, even if only a little bit, is never good but is spiritually fatal.      

Is this any different for us today?  Have we not mixed the blessed truths of Christianity not with a wooden idol, but with the idol of the unholy trinity of ‘me, myself, and I?’  Has not ‘self’ become the idolatrous creator, healer, and sustainer for us as modern Americans?  To confirm this one only has to look at the self-absorption and self-love exemplified in the American media venues.  It is no different in the church either!  David Wells once said that the American Church is, “trying to hold at bay the gnats of small sins while swallowing the camel of self.”  In other words, we so quickly try and stand against infractions and sins that easily pop into our mind, but then we either consciously or subconsciously prop up the idol of ‘self’ or worse yet, allow the idol a ‘self’ a place among the heavenly truths of scripture. 

The painful reality though is that we are fascinated with the idol of ‘self.’  As the old hymn states, “prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love.”  We wander back to ourselves and our own projects.  The blunt reality is that we tend to focus not on the outward and objective Gospel but on ourselves—our inner life, piety, community groups, and so forth.  We are addicted to the idol of ‘self’.  We are an idol unto ourselves.  We try to have a little of God, while also injecting a lot of ‘self’ into our theology. 

Besides the obvious sin of the idolatry of ‘self’, there is a catch 22, and that is, it doesn’t sustain or work!  The idol of ‘self’ is frankly, powerless.  For example, if the idol of ‘self’ is the source of meaning in life, how does one cope and survive with the pressures of carrying this autonomous ideology?  As ‘self’ attempts to be god, how well can ‘self’ carry the pressures of life?  How well can the idol of ‘self’ define his own meaning and efficiently work at actualizing that meaning?  How does the idol of ‘self’ properly grant comfort and define his own narrative with the insurmountable weight and aspiration of being god? It is clear that mankind is inherently not designed this way.  Like the idols of the Old Testament who have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see; and ears, but do not hear, the idol of ‘self’ is empty, incomplete, powerless, and futile. There is a need for the sacred, a need for something outside of the idol of ‘self’; there is a need for us to be acted upon.

As we consider the story of the golden calf in Exodus 32, what is rather ironic is that the building of the golden cow is contrasted with the building of God’s tabernacle in the later portions of the narrative of Exodus.  Both the Israelites and we seek to create what God has already provided.  We, rather than God, attempt to take the initiative.  The ironic implication is that mankind forfeits the very divine presence of God with the hopes of binding God more closely to ourselves.

In the midst of America’s idolatry of the self-absorbed idol of ‘self,’ the cross stands. You and I attempt to create unique individualities that contain worth; God’s Gospel says that you have been chosen and set a part as a royal priesthood by the worthy blood of Christ. (i.e., 1 Peter 2:9)  You and I attempt to climb the spiritual ladder to actualize our moral, mystical, and intellectual needs; God comes down to you in the water, word, bread, and wine marking you with His name, feeding you the forgiveness of sins, and pronouncing that all is finished.  You and I mistakenly attempt to love to get love; God’s Gospel Word speaks to you that you get to love because He first loved you. (i.e., 1 John 4:19)  You and I attempt to construct a god into our own image so that we might live; you are met with the cross that crucifies your old Nature so that you might live by faith in the Son of God. (i.e., Galatians 2:19-20)  You and I try to establish the perfect image through the idolatrization of ‘self’; God presents to you His perfect icon and image, Jesus the Christ—the one you are clothed in. 

God have mercy on us, on me…. the sinner. 

Behold and look upon Christ my friends, He is your deliverance, He is your sustainer and He is the Lamb of God who actually takes away the sins of the world and especially your sins of idolatry. (i.e., John 1:29, 3:14-16)  You, who have ears, hear.  In Christ, the idol of ‘self’ finds its end; in Christ you are baptized, have worth, have an identity, have meaning, have hope, and belong to Him. 

My friends, there is no need for the idol of ‘self’, for you have been given Christ, the one who came and tabernacled among us for the purpose of putting our sin to death.  Our life is found not in a powerless wooden or stone object called ‘self’, for the idol of ‘self’ died in the living Son of God who bled and died—especially for you!  Yes indeed, your life, worth, and identity are all in the waters of your baptism, where you were buried into Christ and raised anew in Him.

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

No Longer Bedridden In The Condemnation Of Sin

Text:  Mark 1:29-39

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Season of Epiphany will be ending next week with a big, bright bang of glory, as we hear about Jesus going up on a mountain where He will be transfigured, that is to say, lit up like the sun with total and complete glory in the presence of Elijah and Moses. 

From next week’s Transfiguration Sunday, we will then descend deeply into the valley of Lent, as we march closer and closer to the dark day of Golgatha, that is, as the mission of Jesus takes us to the place of the Skull.  Yes, at the cross, the great mission of God will be accomplished on our behalf, as Jesus will be beaten, crucified, bloodied, buried, and raised again. 

Today though we have one more Sunday of Epiphany left where we get to see Jesus doing what Jesus does.  And what does Jesus do today?  What does this last Sunday of Epiphany have in store for us? 

In today’s Gospel reading we hear that Jesus left the Synagogue where He had just cast out an unclean spirit and then goes to the house of Simon and Andrew, with James and John.  Keep in mind though that Jesus is no ordinary prophet or meager carpenter, but the Son of God who speaks with authority and exerts authority.  Indeed, He is the God-Man King; where He is, you will find the Kingdom of God and where you find the Kingdom of God, there you will find the King.  Therefore, according to our Gospel reading from today, the Kingdom of God goes “into this lowly, little world of Peter’s house . . .  Here is one mightier than [all] the unclean spirits”[1] coming into this dim and lowly house. 

Now, even though this house was most likely an average home during that day and age, there is something unique about this house that is worth mentioning.  Otherwise stated, the Kingdom of God will soon meet a specific set of circumstances inside this house.  These circumstances are a bit troubling.  Sickness dwells within the walls of the house.  More specifically, it is a house where Peter’s mother-in-law has been sick with a high fever, a fever so high that she has been restricted to a bed.  It is most likely the kind of fever that makes one shake all the way down to the bones; the kind of fever that makes one break out in a sticky sweat and ache in every joint imaginable. 

One can imagine Peter’s family members when Jesus and the disciples entered the house:

‘If there are not enough chairs, we can sit on the floor.  If we had known you were coming!  And everything is such a mess!  It has been enough taking care of the sick mother-in-law, you know the bother she can be, and these fellows have been no help at all, off listening to some preacher . . .”[2]

Jesus though, disregards all of the circumstances and makes His way not to the kitchen for a snack or to the relaxing portion of the house, but rather He makes His way to where the quarantined woman lay.  That is to say, He goes to the place where sickness lay, where the warmth of a fever and the stuffy air dwells.  Jesus comes to her; she does not come to Him.  Keep this in perspective!  The great King and the Kingdom of God go into a feverish flu infested area to be with an extremely ill woman.  At that point in time there is “nothing more important in all the world than for Jesus to be there for the sick woman.  With all of Himself, He is there just for her.”[3] 

But there is more!  The Gospel reading says that Jesus took the sick woman by the hand and lifted her up.  Yes, do not overlook this phrase talking about the physical actions of Jesus in reference to the sick woman.  “He came and took her by the hand.” This is no small detail, for Jesus has a way of stretching out His hand and touching those who are dirty, sick, detested, on the fringe, and unclean.  Indeed, in this profound miracle, Jesus took this feverish sick woman by the hand and lifted her up out of the pain, out of the chills, out of the tossing and turning nights; she is granted complete and instantaneous health.  He does it all from start to finish, to and for her.   

This is the way that it is with the King and the Kingdom of God.  Notably, the Kingdom of God and this King Jesus stepped into the dirty waters of sinners to be baptized, He stretched out His hand to touch leapers, He ate with sinners, He rubbed shoulders with tax collectors, and here in our Gospel Reading He approaches and grabs ahold of a sick woman. 

In case you didn’t notice, these actions are loaded with theological implications!  Otherwise stated, what we are seeing during this Epiphany Season is that the Kingdom of God and the King come for fisherman, the sick, those burdened by unclean spirits, lepers, tax collectors, and so forth.  Seriously though, the movement of the Kingdom and the King is towards ragamuffins, misfits, scoundrels, and lowlifes; it is a movement towards sinners.

You, who have ears, listen.  Just as Jesus came to the sick woman with all of her crackling aches and pains, He comes to all of humanity the same.  This is who Jesus is.  This is what the Kingdom of God does. 

…into the waters of the dirty Jordan River to be baptized with sinners and for sinners.

…into the midst of Galilee among sinners to proclaim a message unto repentance and faith.

…into the house of a sick woman to grant healing.

…into the unclean zone of lepers to make clean.

…into a world of sinners, darkness, and pain to forgive.

….into the darkness of death where a cross stands.

This is the way it is with Jesus.  This is what Jesus is about and what He does.  He does not hesitate to touch those with whom He interacts, especially those that are sick, those plagued with leprosy, and even those who are dead.  The presence of that which is dreadful to mankind does not eliminate or prevent His presences from drawing near. 

The Holy One of God who was there as a servant for the sick woman; the Holy One of God who was there for the lepers and for the all the other dirty, sick, unclean misfits of the day; the Holy One of God who was there as a servant on the Cross for you, me, and the entire world, is also among us this morning as well.

Consider for a moment our Divine Service.  Each and every Sunday we begin our service by confessing that we are sinners and that we have sinned in our thoughts, words, and deeds.  There is nothing flashy, attractive, or fun about this confession.  It is the raw deal.  It is a matter-of-fact way that it is with you and me.  It is an offensive, crass, jarring moment of our service each week.  With all of this stated, what is actually happening during the portion of the service is that we are essentially confessing and agreeing with the scriptures that we are rotten damn sinners of the law.  While this should be enough for the Lord to cringe and take a step back and possibly leave the vicinity, it is rather the opposite.  Like the woman sick in the house, Jesus comes to us poor miserable damned sinners of the law in this Divine Service with a word, “I forgive you all of your sins!”

Jesus, comes to this house—this sanctuary—and seeks you and me; He seeks sinners so that He can forgive.

Yes, Jesus came for sinners, Jesus loves sinners, Jesus comes only for sinner and Jesus dwells only in sinners.  “As Jesus was for Peter’s mother-in-law so it is FOR YOU from Him as gift. Are you pure and holy? Then you don’t need Jesus [and you don’t need to go to church.]  Only to those who are unworthy, who are in need, who can do nothing except receive from Him does He come. His water, His word, His body and blood are for sinners only. No worth of your own. No worthiness.  [Church is for sinners only.]  Only the worthiness of the One who comes, who raises you up to gladly be His disciple no matter what your unworthiness”[4] is what matters.

This is Jesus, the savior of sinners who serves you and me. 

Do you fear death and the grave?  If so, look to your baptism. There the Lord washed you, placed His name upon your heart and head.  There you can know that the Lord was not bothered by you but reached out to you and held you firmly in His name and cleansed you by the lavishing water flood.  Indeed, at Jesus’ baptism He was with sinners like you and me taking sin upon Himself making your baptism a blessed flood. 

Is your heart heavy and do you feel your own weakness?  If so, the Lord’s Table of Communion is especially for you.  It is a blessed meal that you have been invited to.  It is a blessed meal that is for those who hunger and thirst, those who are poor in spirit, and those who mourn.  It is a meal prepared for you, where you receive comfort, strength, and forgiveness unto everlasting life.

Do you doubt whether you are truly forgiven?  Do you doubt if those skeletons in the closet are ‘really’ forgiven?  If so, hear the good news that Jesus not only drew near to the sick woman, but boldly drew near to your sin at Mt. Calvary.  He joined you there with all of your sins—past, present, and future—bore them declaring, “It is finished,” then died in your stead.   What is said about Jesus in Mark’s Gospel and what Jesus does for Peter’s mother-in-law is what is done to and for you.   Thus, even though the law condemns you as poor miserable sinners along with your pastor, in and by Jesus you are completely and totally forgiven! 

Christ Jesus lifted the woman up from her illness and He lifts you up from the condemnation of your sin, for He Himself was lifted up on a cross.  It was and is all done for you, for Jesus is a friend, savior, and Lord of sinners.  Indeed, in Him you are no longer bedridden in the condemnation of your sin, but lifted up unto Him; clothed in His righteousness, forgiven by Him, and declared His perfect and beloved saints!

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 57.

[2] Ibid.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Donavon Riley, Mark 1:29-31 Sermon (Personal Email).

Demons Are Worms; Christ Is Our Authoritative Lord

Text:  Mark 1:21-28

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Who knows how long this evil spirit had been attending the synagogue.  Had the evil spirit been in the synagogue for days or weeks or months or years?  Furthermore, had the evil spirit caused division and disruption in the synagogue or simply tried to blend in?  Had the evil spirit ever been noticed by fellow people in the synagogue; did people in the synagogue distance themselves from this man who had this unclean spirit or was this man accepted as one of the regular attendees who seemed to be a couple French Fries short of a Happy Meal?

In case you are not totally following me at this point, permit me to bring you into the context of our Gospel reading from today. 

We hear in today’s Gospel reading from the Gospel of Mark that Jesus came into a synagogue to teach.  While He was teaching in the synagogue, the words and teaching of Jesus actually collided with a man who had an unclean spirit.  Keep in mind that this collision did not happen in some slummy dark alley or in some drug infested ghetto at night, but rather this collision of light and darkness occurred in a religious synagogue, it happened during a religious service in the day where apparently no one suspected that this man had an evil spirit.  Indeed, this collision happened in a synagogue, a building where a Jewish assembly met for religious worship and religious instruction.  It was from inside this religious building and this religious service—much like our modern day church service—that the Kingdom of God crashed with the kingdom of darkness and literally all hell broke loose.

Can you imagine being present that day, settling into the religious service listening to Jesus teach as the guest speaker of the day?  Then all of a sudden Frank—the local farmer—bursts out in a loud guttural voice crying out loudly, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth?  Have you come to destroy us?” 

Can you envision the confusion?

Who said that? 

Oh my, is that Frank?

What is Frank doing?

Why is his voice weird?

Why is he freakin’ out over Jesus and the teaching?

Then, to make things even more intense, Jesus in complete authority, power, and integrity boldly rebukes and casts out crisp powerful words saying, “Be silent! (aka, shut up you filthy demon), and come out of him!”

What proceeds to happen is that Frank convulses and cries out loud as this dark unclean spirit is separated from him.

Intense, is it not?  Truly, a collision of Kingdoms!  Light and righteousness meet darkness and evil.

Regarding this collision, in last week’s sermon we likewise heard something similar.  We heard that when Jesus and the Kingdom of God draw near to us that repentance and faith happen and come forth.  Otherwise stated, it is the same in today’s Gospel reading, we hear a bit more of what happens when the Kingdom of God draws near in the person and work of Jesus.  Yes, when Jesus drew near in the first-century, not only did repentance and faith happen, but a battle broke out due to darkness and evil being infringed upon.  The light shined into the darkness and darkness squirmed! 

All of this said, I am sure that each and every one of you are thinking about this exorcism that occurred in our text as the Kingdom of God came upon this man with an unclean spirit.  I am sure your curiosity is wandering a bit about the topic of demons and exorcisms.  Considering this, let us take a moment and address this subject.

First of all, we need to keep in mind that we have three enemies in this life.  They are: the world, our sinful flesh (i.e., our sinful nature), and the evil one (i.e., the devil) along with all of his cohorts (i.e., demons). 

Second, because the evil one and his cohorts are our enemies, we must also be careful when approaching the subject of demonism and the devil.  In the words of C.S. Lewis,

“There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devil and demons.  One is to disbelieve in their existence the other is to believe and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.  They are equally pleased by both errors and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight!”  (Screwtape Letters)

To rephrase this a bit, both a denial that evil exits, as well as an infatuation with evil is not healthy.  Evil does exist and it is not our friend.

Thirdly, scripture teaches that demons are evil angels.  “Because demons are evil angels, we cannot detect them.  That means that we cannot touch, smell, hear, or see them.  Today’s Gospel demonstrates that they can exert an influence on the physical world, but this influence is only a disguise. They are not physical beings.”[1]

Fourthly, while there are obvious cases of people acting like delirious raging lunatics due to having demons, we must understand that the forces of evil typically disguise themselves.  Yes, scripture says that the devil parades himself around like an angel of light, seeking to kill, steal, and destroy our faith.  Demons and their pathetic work are often disguised in our modern culture; they cleverly attempt to make good into evil and evil into good.  Otherwise stated, “Demons have worked out that they can do the most damage in our modern culture by working quietly, behind the scenes.  It is possible that there are just as many demon possessions now as there ever were [in the New Testament times], but they are choosing not to act out.”[2]

What does all of this mean for you and for me?  It means that demons don’t spend a lot of time attacking people who are already on their way to hell, for there is no need to oppose those who are living in darkness.  But rather, demons do attack people and congregations—that is to say Christians and Christian Churches—where the salvation of Christ is proclaimed and given, but they do so under the guise or sneaky appearance of goodness and light.  Permit me to give an example:  Hypothetically, what would things look like if satan really took control of Sargent County and Gwinner?  If you are like me, immediately our mind drifts to negative things such as: mass chaos, anarchy, bloodshed, moral decay, outbreaks of painful infidelity and so forth.  However, is this how satan would unleash his rule if he could?  As previously mentioned St. Paul describes satan in his second letter to the Church in Corinth.  He says that, “Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”  Therefore, it seems to me from this reading that satan tends to work much more covertly.  So, I ask again, what would things look like if satan took control of Sargent County and Gwinner? 

Consider the following answer from a Presbyterian pastor named Donald Barnhouse.   Some 50 years ago he offered up a scenario on his weekly radio sermon that was broadcast nationwide on CBS.  He speculated that if satan took over a city that, “all of the bars would be closed, pornography would be banished and pristine streets would be filled with tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other.  There would be no swearing.  The children would say, ‘Yes, sir’ and ‘No, ma’am,’ and the churches would be full every Sunday…where Christ is not preached.”

Bluntly put my friends, satan only needs to get the church to look away from Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins.  Keep in mind that a lot of things that distract us from Christ are not only negative but can be very good things.  “In order to push us offpoint, all that satan needs to do is throw several spiritual fads, moral and political crusades and other ‘relevance’ operations into our field of vision.  Focusing the conversation on us—our desires, needs, feelings, experiences, activity, and aspirations—energizes us.”[3]

So what would things look like if satan took over Sargent County and Gwinner?  Simply put, Christ not preached.  The key issue is Christ and Him Crucified for the forgiveness of our sins.  Where Christ is clearly professed and presented as the Savior of sinners, we can be most assured that the forces of evil will be on-site trying to turn the eyes of the church away from Christ.

While this news of the kingdom of evil and demons certainly can be sobering and even discouraging to you and me, we mustn’t forget what our Gospel reading shares with us.  In the Gospel reading, “Jesus rebuked [the unclean spirit], saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And the unclean spirit, convulsing [the man] and crying out with a loud voice, came out of him.  The unclean spirit [had] no choice.  It [was] no longer in control.  It [had to] submit and come out.  Jesus is Lord even over the demons.  It is just as James, the brother of the Lord wrote, [James 2:19] Even the demons believe—and shudder!”[4]

In summary, in our own strength we have nothing, are nothing, and frankly don’t stand a chance against the devil, his evil lies, and his fallen angels.  That is why we pray in the Lord’s Prayer that we would be delivered from evil; that is why we pray in Luther’s Evening Prayer that we would be protected from the powers of the evil one.  However, even though we are weak sinners in thought, word, and deed we do have a Savior, we do have a Lord that we belong to.  Yes, Jesus is your Lord; He is the Son of God.  He lived a perfect life for you and died on your behalf.  He rose for you.  He defeated death; He defeated the devil; He defeated sin.  You are baptized into His name, into His death, and into His life.  You no longer live but He lives in you.  Thus, you can know and confess today and together that Jesus has complete and total power over demons and over the pathetic-foul-weak-blind-no good-rotten-dirt eating-ignorant-brainless-hopeless worm, who is known as satan or the devil.  Yes, Jesus’ power over evil is pure Gospel to you and to me.  “The most powerful demon can no longer rule you.  Jesus has come.  He has come to expel them and set you free.”[5]

Therefore, Blessed Saints, “When the devil throws your sins in your face and declares that you deserve death and hell, tell him this: ‘I admit that I deserve death and hell, what of it? For I know One who suffered and made satisfaction on my behalf. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God, and where He is there I shall be also!’”[6]

Yes, the Kingdom of God came in the first-century; it has come to us in our baptisms, in the Word, and in the bread and wine.  Therefore, you belong to the Lord!  He is yours; you are His; He has and will save you and preserve you from all evil in this life and even in death. 

Even if masses of demons filled the land with threats to devour you and me, we shall not tremble or be unmoved for we stand underneath the shadow of the Cross.  The evil foe cannot overpower us for his might is doomed to fail.  The Lord’s judgment will prevail, for the Lord’s Word subdues the evil one and forgives you and me, thus promising us everlasting life forever.[7]

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] James Batchelor, “Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany.” (1 February 2015) http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=4030 (31 January 2015).

[2] Ibid.

[3] Michael Horton, (Specific Source Unknown).

[4] James Batchelor, “Fourth Sunday After The Epiphany.”

[5] Ibid.

[6] Martin Luther Quote.

[7] A loose paraphrase of Stanza 3 of “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God.”  (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 657.