Heaven Opened For You

Text: Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

After traveling fifteen miles from Galilee to the Jordan River to be baptized, Jesus was met with rejection.

“No! No! No! This is not right.  You?  Here?  For this? I do not need to baptize you, but you, Jesus, need to baptize me!”

You see, John the Baptist was conducting baptisms for sinners.  Thousand upon thousands of people who needed their lives turned around and transformed were coming to John for baptism. It was a baptism for people who knew they were underdogs, deadbeats, losers – sinners.   But, this was not who Jesus was.  That is why John insisted, “I need you, Jesus, to baptize me!"  But as we heard in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus won't be put off. He said, "Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness."

And what did John make of this response?  What do we make of   Jesus descending into the water for John to baptize Him, just like all the other underdogs, deadbeats, and losers who were there being baptized?

Dear friends, this is the way it had to be. Jesus said that this is how He would fulfill all righteousness. For Jesus to be baptized in the dirty Jordan River with a bunch of sinners is exactly how Jesus will make His righteousness available for all people.  Contrary to what we might think,  Jesus’ uprightness, His holiness, His worthiness, His unbroken "yes" to the will of the Father is the very reason why He needs to be baptized in the Jordan River with a bunch of sinners. That is to say, Jesus’ righteousness is what brings Him down to the dirty waters of the Jordan to stand together with a bunch of sinners who have spoken countless "no's" to the will of God.

This past Christmas, we marveled at the fact that the Son of God took on human flesh – that Jesus took on human flesh and blood and lived among us.  It is indeed remarkable that God did not leave us in the muck of sin by ourselves, but rather, plunged into this world of sin with us, to live among us. But here in today’s Gospel reading is a greater phenomenon and that is this, the Son of God in human flesh and blood walks right into the waters of the Jordan River and stands together with us underdogs, deadbeats, losers – He is baptized with sinners in a sinner’s baptism.  The one who is perfect comes to sick-sinners.  He comes to stand with you and me in the water under the verdict of condemnation that we might stand with Him in the water and hear the verdict of righteousness, the announcement that in and with Him we are beloved children of the Father.  Jesus is splashed with the water of sinners so that we might be splashed with His righteousness.

Let us pause briefly here to make sure we understand what is going on.  In the waters of the Jordan River, we see a shadow of the cross that is to come.  We see what Jesus is all about.  He is about sinners – coming to sinners to take their sin so that they might have His righteousness.   This is what Jesus I about; this is what Christianity is all about.  It is about the Lord coming to and for sinners like me and you.

So what happens next? As Jesus comes up, dripping wet in John’s baptism, John is astonished.  There above Jesus in the water, heaven itself is opened, and as John looks up, he sees far more than the sky.  He gasps as he is given an unbelievable glimpse into the overwhelming love and joy of heaven itself.

John sees the Spirit coming down from heaven with the gentleness of dove and landing on Jesus.  John hears the Father's voice speak words of unimaginable love and acceptance, "This is my beloved Son, in Him, I am well pleased." Martin Luther adds that there would certainly have been all the angels present too, for where Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are there is all of heaven itself.

Here in the waters of that dirty Jordan River in the midst of a bunch of sinners, there is a shining glory that is revealed!  We not only see the Son of God standing in the midst of sinners, but we see that heaven is opened up and the favor of God the Father is spoken.

What does this mean, though?  It means that as God’s glory and favor shine upon the waters of Jesus’ baptism, that the same glory and favor shine upon every other baptism conducted in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Indeed, the Baptism of Jesus not only shows us the Son of God standing with sinners, but it shows us what is given to us in our baptisms.  It is like this, today’s Gospel reading shows you and me what we were given in our baptisms.  It shows you and me what we were given on the day of our baptisms, and that is, an open heaven, the gift of the Spirit, and the promise that God is well pleased with us!  

Yes, on the day you were baptized, heaven itself was opened to you.  Above the water that poured over you, the Cherubim put away their swords and the gates to paradise swing open wide. Heaven was not barred and sealed to you when you were baptized, but it opened wide to you becoming your true home. 

Yes, on the day you were baptized, the Holy Spirit descended from heaven and landed on you.  To live with you and never leave you again.  At the day of your baptism, you became a citizen of the Kingdom of God.  At the day of your baptism God’s favor was pronounced upon you, “Your sins are forgiven; I am well pleased with you!”   

Dear Baptized Saints, do not brush this off.  Stop.  Pause.  Take note of what we hear this day. On the day you were baptized, God the Father looked down from heaven and said to all His angels and all the world,

"Look! This is my own child! This is my beloved! How pleased I am with this one!" 

Yes, at your Baptism you were plucked out of the kingdom of darkness and made a child of God.

But you may be saying to yourself,

"Oh, pastor, come on. A little bit of water and few words and all of that is the result? How can water accomplish all of that? How can water do such great things?"

We remember from the Small Catechism that it is not the water that does all of this, but the Word of God which is in and with the water and faith which trusts that Word of God in the water.

So while the world thinks that baptism is some 5-minute empty and dry church ritual that Christians do to babies, we know that God is up to something so much more.  In other words, while the world sees baptism as a dead old church ritual, we know this day that the splash of the water, the power of the Word, and the Spirit binds us to Jesus the Lord… all in baptism.  The world in all of its sophisticated wisdom is made foolish, for in simple water and God’s powerful word, baptism drives away death and hell and makes us eternally alive. 

All of what we hear this day is why Jesus calls the church to baptize all nations in the Gospel of Matthew the twenty-eighth chapter.  He calls us to baptize not as some dead ritual and not as some sort of act of obedience towards God showing that we are somehow really pious and good Christians.  But rather, He calls us to be baptized so that we can be made His disciples. 

Dear friends, Baptism is a mighty gift.  It is what the Lord does for us to make us His own.  In baptism the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit show up again and again and again as the water lands on each sinner at the baptismal font. 

It is rather simple my friends is it not?  Where God's name is, there is God. In and with the water of baptism the Lord is present to make us His own; therefore, it is so much more than ordinary water. 

All this we celebrate today on the Baptism of Our Lord.  By faith, we cling to the events of Jesus' Baptism and know that these events are for us too.  We know that on the day we were baptized, heaven was opened for us, the Spirit was given to us, and the Father claimed us as His very own loved child.

Today, know that the gifts given to you in the water of baptism can never be taken away.  People may forsake and leave the gift of baptism, but the gift of baptism will never leave.  So, when we wander – because we indeed are prone to wander and prone to leave the God that we love – we only need to be returned to our baptism where everything good in the Lord began.    

Baptism remains in all of its fullness.  At our baptism heaven and the gift of the Spirit and the gift of our citizenship of the Kingdom of God are completely present for you today, tomorrow, and until the Lord takes you home to Himself.

Blessed friends, you are baptized.  The Lord God is well pleased with you this day.  Heaven has been opened to you. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Portions of the Sermon are indebted to William Weedon’s sermon on Matthew 3:13-17.

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Disregarding The Voice?

Text:  John 1:19-28

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

“I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness…”

Those words should have been enough to tell the Jewish priests who this John guy was.  After all, their own beloved Moses had told them long ago that the Lord would raise up a prophet from among them who would be just like him.  And like Moses, the Lord would put His words in this prophet’s mouth, and the people were to listen to him as they would listen to the Lord Himself.

So along comes John.  Now it is not that they doubted the Lord would do this, in fact, they had been waiting for quite some time for this promised prophet to show up.  It was more that they were looking for someone or something a little more mainline, more acceptable to the masses.  Someone like Moses, respected and honorable, good looking with a nice smile and a great resume.

And John was none of this.  He was the Wildman Preacher who gave up a life in the temple to live in the desert.  He cut his clothes from a dead camel’s back.  His hair was probably as wild as he was.  This prophet had grasshoppers stuck between his teeth and honey on his breath. 

And then there was the message that John delivered.  It cut like a chainsaw and everyone, no matter how holy they thought themselves to be, was considered timber when John spoke.  John was not what the people had in mind when it came to their promised prophet!

Most mothers do not want their babies to grow up to be John the Baptizers.  To tell the truth, John really is not the kind preacher we would like to have in our pulpit because he is offensive, he cuts, and he hurts our sensitivities. 

He is not politically correct because John points to our sins, especially those favorite ones we do not want to let go of.  And he tells us the demands that we must repent of, or else.

In fact, with a pastor like John, we would probably be afraid to invite our friends to church because they would be offended by his message if not only his appearance.

But remember what the Jews forgot, John’s message was not his own.  John was only the voice.  The words and the message are those of the Lord crying out in the wilderness; that is why they cut so deeply; that is why they point to our sin and condemn us for it.

Dear friends, it is the Holy Spirit who points to our hidden faults and demands that we repent of all our sins and iniquities with which we have ever offended God and justly deserved His punishment now and forever.

Even now as then, people manage to ignore the pain and offense of the Holy Spirit’s words.  We simply disregard the voice that gives them sound.  We write off the man God chooses to speak through as though he is eccentric and out of touch with what is happening in our times.  We disregard what is said because we choose to believe something else more mainline, more acceptable to the masses.

Even now, we still like to pretend that the Scriptures are multiple choice and we believe the devil when he tells us we are free to pick and choose which parts of God’s message we will accept and believe.

And the result of so many years of conveniently disregarding the message by dismissing the voice?…a host of pastors who stand in a pulpit too ashamed to speak the whole counsel of God, too shy to point to our sins and proclaim God’s righteous and eternal wrath on unrepentant sinners.

Indeed, we do not have to go far to find entire churches so concerned with offending the people that they conveniently tuck away the politically incorrect parts of the Holy Spirit’s message.  They hide anything that would dare to point out the sin in our hearts.

We do not need to listen long to hear would-be Christians countering God’s eternal judgment and wisdom claiming that God has changed His mind and now things like abortion, assisted suicide, homosexuality, and casual sex outside of marriage are all acceptable.

Dear saints, we can see that when the message of the Holy Spirit though the Word is ignored, when the Scriptures are rewritten, toned down or tucked away so that they no longer cut and kill by pointing to our sin for what it is, then we are left with nothing but a bunch of feel-good mush.  And mush will never get us to heaven.

That is why John stands so prominently in the Scriptures that even Jesus says that among those born of women none are greater than John.

From the time of his conception, John was set aside by the Lord as the one sent to prepare the way of the Savior.  John was the cultivator who went before Jesus ripping and tearing, cutting and killing.  His job was to preach God’s Law in all it’s terrible glory, to prepare the hearts of God’s people to receive the grace and forgiveness that Jesus was coming to give.

John was about the Law.  He preached a message of repentance.  And through him, the Holy Spirit convicted the people of their sin and showed them how very much they needed a Savior and the forgiveness that He brings.

If we dismiss the voice of the servant through whom God speaks, and disregard the message of the Spirit, then we will never see our sin for what it is—an offense against God, an offense that must be forgiven.  That is why the Holy Spirit speaks such harsh cutting words of Law at times.

Because only those sins that are confessed as sins and repented of can be forgiven.  That does not mean you need to remember every single sin, only that you do not have the option to hold your favorites back to enjoy them later.  It means coming clean and knowing that we are poor miserable sinners who sin in thought, word, and deed. 

The reason why this is so important is because Jesus came only to forgive and save sinners.  All those who are too proud to admit they need Him and His grace and instead decide to stand on their own merits and their invented holiness, well they will always stand alone, condemned eternally.

So, when you hear the Law preached to you, remember it is the Holy Spirit speaking to you.  Do not disregard the voice, lest you lose the message.  And do not start thinking to yourself about who of your neighbors needs to hear it, instead think of how the Holy Spirit is speaking to you, to show you your sins and your need for a Savior.

Because that is who Jesus is—your Savior!  Jesus came for sinners; the Gospel is for sinners only.  Jesus came to bear the full weight of God’s judgment on your sin.  He came to endure those harsh punishments that cut like a chainsaw.  He came to shelter you from the wrath that God’s law pronounces over you and your sinfulness.

And today He comes again in His Word and Sacrament to fill you with His life and grace.  Your Jesus comes to you now to soothe and comfort your troubled conscience, to heal those wounds that the Holy Spirit has made by His message of Law. 

The Law has made you dead, but Jesus and His forgiveness delivered to you through Holy Baptism, the Word, and the Sacrament of the altar make you alive.  Alive today, alive tomorrow, and alive for eternity. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

This sermon is indebted to Rev. Joshua Reimche.

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Not The One We Expect, But The One We Need

Text: Matthew 11:2-10

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

John the Baptist had seen better days.  He had been in prison for about a year, for he was arrested by King Herod.

While John was in prison, Jesus was traveling around the land bringing the dead back to life, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, and calming storms. 

To make a long story short, some confusion came about, though.  While John the Baptist was in prison and while Jesus was healing and preaching some of John’s disciples became confused.  That confusion was this: John’s disciples began to wonder if Jesus was the Messiah or not?  Was Jesus the one who was to bring salvation or not?  There was doubt as to the identity of Jesus as the Messiah. 

You see, John the Baptist had said before Jesus’ ministry began that Jesus was the one who would baptize with fire – fire being understood theologically as judgment.  John had said that Jesus would separate the wheat from the chaff with His Judgment Day winnowing fork.  John portrayed Jesus as the one who would bring release and freedom and prosperity to those languishing in bondage and despair.  However, this was not what happening.  Jesus was not living up to these expectations of the coming Messiah, according to the followers of John.   They could not regard Him as the Messiah, for Jesus did not fit the bill – at least according to their own criteria and outlook.   

You see, these disciples of John the Baptist had heard about these images of judgment tied to the coming Messiah.  They heard John describe Jesus as the one who would baptize with fire.  And then they were pointed to Jesus as the Messiah. 

When they first saw Jesus, they must have thought to themselves,

“Finally, here is the one that we can expect big things from!” 

However, instead of big things happening, John gets arrested and is put in prison.  And instead of dropping the hammer and putting an end to all of this misery and suffering and bondage and oppression in the land, Jesus is out preaching and healing.

Indeed, Jesus was not living up to the expectations of some of the people at that time.  They were hoping that Jesus would shake things down with those who were violating God’s Law.  It appears that they wanted a Messiah who would only get after lawbreakers, beat them down, and go after other bullies that oppressed, such as the Roman Empire.  They wanted a Messiah of fire.  They wanted the burning of the chaff.   But a Messiah who gave sight to the blind, cleansed lepers, granted hearing to the deaf, and restored life to the dead… well, this is not what they were expecting.  This kind of Messiah actually offended them. 

Now, we must pause briefly here to make sure that we are clear.  Do not think that John the Baptist is all about the Law and that Jesus is all about the Gospel.  No way!  Jesus proclaims Law and Gospel.  Jesus is the Redeemer and the Judge.  He comes to save humanity by his life, death, and resurrection on the cross and He will come back to judge the living and the dead at the Last Day.

So, to say that Jesus is only about Law and Judgement is incorrect.  And to say that Jesus is only about Grace and Miracles is also incorrect.  But rather, Jesus’ first coming to earth was to accomplish salvation; His second coming to earth will be to judge the living and the dead and to take Christians unto Himself. 

But, back to John the Baptist’s followers. 

According to John’s followers, Jesus was probably not the Messiah because He was not bringing the kind of salvation and deeds that they were expecting, which resulted in them thinking that they should maybe begin to look for another Messiah.  In other words, they began to doubt Jesus and they maybe even became offended by Jesus, for He was not living up to their hopes, dreams, and aspirations. 

Tragically, this way of thinking has continued to our present day and age.  It typically goes like this.  Jesus does not measure up to what we think He is supposed to do, and then we say to ourselves,

“Maybe I should look for another or something else that will fit with my personal spiritual expectations.” 

That is to say; we say to ourselves,

“Jesus is the problem, not my expectations; I will look for something else!” 

And so, people will hop from church to church and hop from spiritual fad to spiritual fad to somehow get their expectations met.  Sadly, the whole world is filled with such people, constantly offended that Jesus does not meet up to their own expectations.  As a result, they become spiritual nomads, traveling from church to church and from spiritual fad to spiritual fad in search of that which will appease their unrealistic expectations.  They become wanderers, never having a permanent home, always at unrest.  Always searching and never finding; always dissatisfied and always offended.            

Given this, we must ask ourselves, this question today: do we get offended by Jesus?  Does Jesus live up to our expectations all the time?  And when He does not live up to our expectations, do we doubt and say to ourselves,

“I wonder if I should look for

something else that will fulfill my expectations”? 

Jesus apparently disappointed the followers of John the Baptist, for He was not acting the way that they thought He should.  And Jesus will continue to disappoint us, because He does not act the way that we think He should, for Jesus is not the Savior that we want, but the Savior that we need. Bluntly stated, the problem in our Gospel reading is not with Jesus, but it was with the disciples.  And when we struggle with Jesus and the Christian faith, well… the problem is not with Jesus, but it is with you and me and our unrealistic expectations. 

The followers of John did not need another Messiah, but they needed to repent.  The same is true for you and me.  We do not need to look for anything else, except the Jesus that we already have before us – the Jesus that came to us in Bethlehem some 2,000 years ago and the Jesus that will come again to take us home with Him forever.  Repent brothers and sisters of our unrealistic and misguided expectations.    

So, what does this all mean?  It means that the salvation that Jesus comes to bring is not social justice warrior cause where Jesus beats down a bunch of mean people, as many hoped for in the first-century.  No, the salvation that Jesus brings is welcomed with open arms only by those who know themselves to be blind, deaf, lame, and dumb; it is welcomed by those who have been ground to a fine powder by the Law in repentance.  Yes, the salvation that Jesus gives is rejoiced in by those who know themselves to be the poor who have broken hearts that need mending, and those who sit in a prison they can’t get out of, a prison with walls higher than any jail in Palestine:  the prison of sin.  To such prisoners, Jesus comes bringing good news.

Dear Baptized Saints, drop your unrealistic expectations and fall before the feet of Jesus in repentance, for Jesus has come to break into the prison of sin and set prisoners, like you, free.  Dear friends, “If [you] are too blind to see God’s miracles and works, He will lighten [your] eyes.  If [you] are too deaf to hear God’s Word, He will open [your] ears.  If [you] are too mute to confess God’s glory and truth, He will open [your] mouth.  If [your] hands and feet are too lame and lazy to serve the poor, He will make them straight.  If [you] are leprous and stained by false doctrine, He will cleanse [you] through His Word.  If [you] are dead in sin, He will wake [you] to life by His grace.”[1]

This is the kind of Savior who came to humanity some 2,000 years ago and was laid in a manger.  This is the kind of Savior we receive and discover in Word and Sacraments.  This is the Savior who cleanses us in the waters of Baptism.  This is the Savior who at the Table puts into our mouths the very ransom with which He purchased our freedom and destroyed the prison that held us fast:  His body and blood.

Jesus Christ is not the Savior that we expect, and thank goodness for that.  But rather, He is always the Savior that we need. 

Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world – Jesus Christ, your Lord. 

Amen.

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[1] Johann Spangenberg, The Christian Year of Grace: The Chief Parts of Scripture Explained in Questions and Answers tr. Matthew Carver (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2014), 29.

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Rolling Around In The Mud With Pigs

Text:  Matthew 3:13-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen. 

Jesus becomes one of us. 

There was no holding Him back. 

He became one of us when He put on flesh and was born into a stinky stable that Christmas long ago.  He also became one of us when He took on all that has gone wrong with us – our sins.  Yes, this is the way that it is with the Son of God; He descended into the sin filled world by His birth in a manger; He plunged further still by going to the Jordan River and being baptized by John the Baptist in a sinner’s baptism.

Take pause for a moment and consider what was just said.  Consider our Gospel reading from this morning, as well. 

Out in the wilderness next to the Jordan River, we hear about dirty water, water that had washed over some 500,000 sinners in a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.[1]  John the Baptist had blasted away at sinners; confessions of sin, acknowledgements of failure, and concessions of corruption abounded; baptismal water dripped from the heads of adulterers, thieves, liars, prostitutes, swindlers, blasphemers, murderers, legalists, rebels, and ragamuffins.  It was an unusual place by the Jordan River with John the Baptist; people laid bear with the ugliness of life exposed and lines of individuals went into the water for baptisms. 

Indeed, things out by the Jordan River were surely no sanitized walk in the park; it was messy and unclean.  It was no rated “G” event.  The stench of sin filled the air and the waters of the Jordan River were polluted by transgressors, and this is exactly what Christ walked into and embraced.  It is exactly what Christ took hold of as if it were His own. 

 

John the Baptist did not seem to like this though.  He even argued with Jesus, telling Him to stay back.  For John the Baptist, Jesus needed to stay detached; He needed to keep His distance.  He had no business being baptized with dirty sinners.  We may think the same as well, that Jesus needs to stay clean and pure and holy, for He is the Holy Son of God.  We may not like the way that this all sounds.  Yet, contrary to John and to our thoughts, Jesus moved into the dirty water and demanded to be baptized. 

Dear friends, this is the way that it had to be.  Like a cleanly bathed child going to roll around in the mud with pigs, Jesus descended into the Jordan and was baptized in the midst of sinners.  The water of filthy sinners was applied upon Christ, showing that He was the one who would bear the sins of the world—that the mud of sinners was to be splashed upon Him. 

This is the kind of Savior that we have.  There is no distance or separation between us sinners and Him.  This is God showing you and me that we are in this together; not alone and not abandoned.  This baptism of Jesus is the fulfillment of righteousness; it is how righteousness and the gospel work for us.[2]   

As it was in the Jordan River, it is no different for us today.  Just as He came into the midst of sinners at the Jordan River, the Lord Jesus Christ comes in the twenty-first-century to where sinners gather.  He comes to where sins, failures, troubles, guilt, and shame are confessed.  He comes to churches like Zion Lutheran Church—a hospital for sinners.  He comes to sinners in the Word and the Sacraments, in order that we might believe, know, and understand that there is no distance or separation between us sinners and Him.  Truly, He comes to the place of sinners, because the Gospel is for sinners only.  He comes to gift forgiveness, life, and salvation.    

What does all of this mean?  It means that Jesus belongs to us.  It means that we cannot cleanse ourselves and move closer to Him, but rather, Jesus comes into the muck of our sin for us.  It means that “Jesus placed Himself in the Jordan River, so that in Baptism He might place you inside Himself.  [Indeed, it means that you blessed Saints] are baptized as a member of His body, intimately connected to Jesus as a finger is to a hand. . . .  His life flows into you as freely as the water flows onto you in Baptism. You are [connected with God in your baptisms,] filled with Him who fills all things, and fills you in particular with forgiveness, everlasting life, salvation, peace, all the riches of heaven.”[3]

Think about it!  At the baptism of our Lord, the Father’s happiness and pleasure and favor were upon Jesus.  And since we are in Christ through Baptism—joined to Him—the Father delights in us as well. 

Make no mistake about it, what is ours—that is our sin—becomes Jesus’; what is Jesus’—that is His righteousness—becomes ours.  Simply stated, because God delights in Jesus and we are in Jesus by baptism, well then, God delights in us too.  If our hearts would totally take all of this in, Martin Luther once said that our hearts would burst for joy into a hundred thousand pieces.

This world is given over to sin, death, and the devil; it is perishing.  More specifically and a bit closer to home, we live in a world were slander attacks our character, gossip assassinates our friendships, unjust condemnation presses upon our consciences, and demonic accusations pierce our souls.  We live in a world where people falsely believe that they have successfully risen out of the sewage of sin by their own strength and clever endeavors, whereas other people celebrate the filth of sin as if it were glory and normal.  We live in a world where there is truly no safe place to lay one’s head; always on guard, sleeping with one eye open, and constantly looking over the shoulder.  We also carry around this body of death, the old sinful nature, like a ball and chain to the end of our lives.  Considering this, even though it is true that you are in this world, you mustn’t forget that you are not of it.

Dear Baptized Saints, your citizenship and life are hidden in Christ; your life is not your own.  You live and rest where Christ is, where God has His delight, for you are connected with Christ in baptism.   Hear this: God has spoken His divine word upon you!  “With the water His name was put on you at your Baptism.  [Therefore,] you are not just a doubtful, ambiguous, meaningless, hopeless bunch of atoms bouncing around.  [You are not some accident of natural selection.]  [Furthermore, the world, sin, death, and the devil, do not possess you, for] you have the word of God put on you.  At your Baptism, surely, and at Jesus’ baptism too.  For there [in baptism] Jesus is in [unity] with [you] and [you] with Him.  Because he is the beloved Son, we with Him are beloved sons and daughters, delighted in and beloved of God.  So you can’t just drag along dreary, fearful, guilt-ridden, nobody-loves-me, me-against-the-rest [of the world], . . . me-separate, all alone.”[4]   No, none of this is possible.  You are not alone; the world, sin, death, the devil, and your sinful nature do not have the final say, for you are connected and joined to Son of God in your baptisms.    

Through the baptism in the Jordan River, Jesus sanctified (that is made holy) and instituted all waters to be a blessed flood, a lavish washing away of sin.  Yes, in your baptism you are forgiven—completely, nothing held back.  In your baptism, you have been made a member of the Son, and an heir to all of the treasurers of heaven.  You have been chosen and claimed and marked as the Lord’s own; no one can pluck you from His hand. 

Hear this today: there is no separation with the Father, for we are baptized into Christ.  Sin cannot disturb your soul any longer, for you are baptized into Christ!  Death cannot end your gladness, for you are baptized into Christ! Satan’s might has come unraveled, for you are baptized into Christ![5] 

Dear Christians, firmly hold this gift.  Give God thanks forever!  Baptism gives the power to uplift; it revives your soul; it makes you stand and makes you whole; it is your glorious robe of righteousness.[6]

You are God’s own child, blessed Saints, for you are baptized into Christ.  Nothing can change that reality and nothing can separate you from your Lord that unites with you.

In the name of Jesus who was baptized in the Jordan –for you: Amen.

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[1] It has been estimated that some 200,000 to 500,000 people were baptized by John the Baptist, for Jewish Historian Josephus mentions that the Baptist caused a great sensation.

[2] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel: From Valparaiso to St. Louis (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 43. 

[3] Chad Bird, “Gather at the River of Life and Death,” Flying Scroll, https://birdchadlouis.wordpress.com/category/baptism/ (Accessed January 9, 2016).

[4] Ibid.

[5] Erdmann Neumeister, Lutheran Service Book: God’s Own Child, I Gladly Say It tr. Robert E. Voelker (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 594.

[6] Paul Gerhardt, Lutheran Service Book: All Christians Who Have Been Baptized (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2006), 596.

What Is To Be Done About This Unpopular Invading Word?

Painting by Steve Dawson

Text: Mark 6:14-29

To Him who loves us and has washed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen.

John the Baptist is a unique character.  He offends our modern sensibilities.   He is difficult to label.  Every time that we read about him, it is apparent that we cannot tame him.  

John the Baptist’s attire of camel hair and a leather belt definitely communicate a wild-man prophet.  His diet of locusts and wild honey are not found on most lunch menus as the daily special. 

His message of repentance and baptism echoes off of the wildness and collides with our political correctness.  His message cannot be sugar coated, no matter how many layers of frosted sugar are applied to it. 

Thus, John the Baptist and his message offend.  The offense then fuels anger. 

Yet, in the midst of this offense, there is a peculiar draw to him, for apart from everything that is undomesticated about him, deep down his message and straight forwardness hits our conscious and we find ourselves confessing that he is a righteous and holy man. 

As for being offended and also intrigued by John the Baptist, we actually find that this mixture of offense and intrigue is the current situation in our Gospel reading from St. Mark.  Otherwise stated, there are two main characters in our Gospel reading from this morning – Herod and his wife Herodias.  They are intrigued and outraged by John the Baptist. 

Herodias, on the one hand, was irritated by John and his message.  In fact she was so furious about John and his message that she wanted to have him tortured and killed.

Herod, on the other hand, found himself strangely attracted to John and his message; John the Baptist had a soft-spot in Herod’s heart.  In other words, Herod was perplexed by John’s message, yet he enjoyed listening to him. Therefore, he protected John the Baptist from Herodias, that is to say, until he buckled under the pressure to have John killed, resulting on John’s head being placed upon a platter. 

Even though we can be fascinated with the drama of today’s Gospel reading, this troubling story is actually a vivid reminder of what happens when the Word of God is proclaimed.  Indeed, there is no more dangerous place on earth than a pulpit or when you proclaim the Word of God.  The reason being, when the Word goes forth, the message of the Lord not only has a way of perplexing and interesting individuals, but also offending.  This is so, because the Word of God is truth.  The truth resonates with and pricks the conscience; it offends the sinful nature.  

You see, the Word of God is living and active—sharper than any two-edged sword.  The Word “breaks through and wounds. It takes away every ground of trust and ascribes redemption solely to the blood of Christ; it pricks and wounds the soul.”[1]  What this means is that God’s Word has aim. “God’s word is not a reference book in a library that we pull off the shelf when we want information. There is nothing inert or bookish in these words. God’s words, creating and saving words every one, hit us where we live. . . . These words get inside us and work their meaning in us.”[2]  The Word of God works us over in order to show us our sin and show us Christ crucified for sin.  The Word grants us repentance and gifts us faith.  Simply put, “the Word of God invades the world of sinners,”[3] because “we are unfinished creatures requiring complex and extensive assistance in every part of our being….”[4]  Indeed “the Bible is not content to leave modern people as they are. It wants to convert and change”[5] –you and me.

Dear friends, the Holy Spirit through the Word ‘must’ invade; the Word must continually function as the only source, rule, and standard of the church’s faith and practice, for apart from God’s Word the world is left in despair with counterfeit words and can do nothing.[6]  “The Holy Spirit must always work in us through the Word, granting us daily forgiveness.”[7]  It is undeniably needed.

Regarding all of what was just stated, like Herodias and Herod, you and I and our neighbors resist this invasion of the Word.  As church going folks, many times we listen to the Word like it was any other triviality and we keep coming back to church out of custom.  Otherwise stated, after the pronouncement of the Benediction by the pastor, the Word rolls off us like water off a duck’s back, and then we rush out the doors to watch football at home.  We are like little Herod’s who hear, but really don’t listen.  We can hear the Word and it entertains us from time to time, but we resist it taking root. 

We are also like a little Herodias, who actually fights against this Word, wanting to have it our own way.  The Word is preached, it offends us; therefore, we end up criticizing the Word and demanding that it be stated in a more politically correct way to suit our own fancy.  We will even decapitate the Word in order to diminish potential blowback.  When confronted by portions of the Word that we disagree with, we say that we can’t take the whole Bible serious, or we do what Thomas Jefferson did, start cutting out the portions of the Bible that go against our modern eyes.

Fear of persecution, the lure to place harmonious fellowship above truth, the yearning not to upset numerical church growth, and the narrative of tolerance all encroach upon us, tempting all of us to either shrug our shoulders at the Word of God, like Herod, or eliminate portions of it, like Herodias, in order to satisfy the mantras of the day.

It really makes sense why such preaching of the Word put Jeremiah in the stocks, resulted in Isaiah being sawn in two, and resulted in John the Baptist losing his head.  This is the way that it has always been and always will be with the Word of God.  When the Word of God goes forth, whether from pastors or laypersons, it confronts and collides with the lies that we believe, lies formed by sin and lies whispered into our ears by the devil.  Truly, proclaiming the Word of God results in receiving a bull’s-eye upon the forehead so that the evil one and the world have something to shoot at. 

This is the way that it was for John the Baptist.  Herodias was offended by John calling out her sin against the sixth commandment.  As a result, Herod, not wanting to appear bad in front of his friends and not wanting the bull’s-eye placed upon him, honored a request from a frivolous promise that he made, and had John the Baptist killed.  This appeased Herodias and relieved Herod of embarrassment.    

The convicting message from the man with the breath of sweet honey and locusts: slaughtered.  Herodias got her wish, a head dripping with the preacher’s blood.  Slaughtered so that her conscious would not be offended; slaughtered so that she might obtain the feeling of being whole.  Herod got his way too.  Even though he was sad to see John dead, Herod was no longer in an awkward position of looking bad in front of Herodias and fellow company.

This is the way that typically goes, the Word never achieves popularity in a world full of people who love lies and love the dark.  Don’t be surprised dear friends, the world is hostile to the God’s Word and your sinful nature is too.  Indeed, the Word is foolishness to those who are perishing and foolishness to our old sinful flesh, that is, our old Adam.

And so it goes, John was preparing the way, giving his head for the head of the Church, the one, Lord Jesus Christ, who would soon be dead by another ruler’s decree.” 

And so it goes with Jesus Christ as well.  Like John the Baptist, Jesus experienced the same fate.  The Lord Jesus continually revealed that He was Israel’s true shepherd.  Through His ministry and teaching, He essentially triggers the conflict as His teaching and actions rubbed against the establishment and undercut their sense of control. 

The world, the evil one, and our flesh simply can’t handle the Word… so we kill Jesus and those who profess Him. 

Beaten, bloodied, and crucified—because of you and me.

A decapitated dead body taken and placed in a tomb, because his message was too much to handle: the death of John.

A crucified dead body taken and placed in a tomb, because His message and Words were too much to handle: the death of Jesus. 

This is where the path of the Christian faith leads, my friends.  All roads lead to death.  All roads lead to the cross for John, for Jesus, for you, and for me.  

Listen, Christ didn’t suffer so that you wouldn’t suffer; He wasn’t crucified so that you would be spared the cross; He did not die so that you wouldn’t die.

…

Oh, but hear the good news of the Gospel that is for each and every one of you!  Christ was beaten, bloodied, and crucified—for you.  Beaten for you who, like Herod, don’t take the Word of God to heart.  Bloodied for you who, like Herodias, fight against and hold a grudge against the Word of God.  Crucified for you who, like John the Baptist, suffer persecution from the attacks of the world.  Otherwise stated, Christ Jesus was beaten, was bloodied, “was crucified, and died so that in Him—welded to His flesh in the heat of [your] baptism—you might be plunged into the same death and emerge alive again in His resurrection.”[8] 

Dear friends, the kingdom of God is at hand.  Listen to the Word today, drop your defenses, welcome the Word that breaks through and takes away every ground of trust and ascribes salvation solely to Christ, fear God and not man; flee to Christ who is not dead, but alive and who is the head of the Church. 

Hear today: Christ was beaten, bloodied, crucified, ‘and’ resurrected—for you.  

Do not doubt, do not fear, you are forgiven. 

You are not a little Herod or a little Herodias, but you are a baptized saint, covered in the forgiving blood that dripped from Jesus’ head. 

Yes, your sin will put you in a tomb, but the Gospel places you in Jesus’ tomb, where God has raised up for you a mighty Savior, a Savior not confined to death, but a Savior who lives and reigns today with you and for you as your Lord. 

With John the Baptist, do not fear the guillotine, but recline at the table of the life giving Lord, for the resurrected Lord is with you in this life, through death, and unto eternity. 

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

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[1] Martin Luther, Luther's works, vol. 12: Selected Psalms eds. J. J. Pelikan, H. C. Oswald & H. T. Lehmann (Saint Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 1999), 225.

[2] Eugene H. Peterson, Answering God: The Psalms As Tools For Prayer (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1991), 25.

[3] Ibid.

[4] Peterson, Answering God, 35.

[5] William H. Willomon, Shaped by the Bible (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 1990), 63.

[6] See John 15:1-ff.

[7] Martin Luther, The Large Catechism, The Book of Concord: The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, eds. Robert Kolb and Timothy Wengert (Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press, 2000), 438.

[8] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Sermons and Meditations (Chad Bird Copyright 2014), 100.