Sermons and Devotions

1st Sunday after Christmas Pastor Nathan Fager
December 28, 2008 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Clothe Yourself in Christ
I. God chose you
II. Christ lives in you
Colossians 3:12-17
12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The clothes you wear can say a lot about you. If someone is wearing flashy name brand clothes they might be trying to show that they have lots of money to buy those nice clothes. If someone is wearing a nice suit and a tie they might be trying to show that they are a professional and need to keep up a clean appearance. If someone is wearing ratty old dirty clothes they might be trying to show that they are really poor or just too lazy to make it to the laundromat.
Clothes are a way to express yourself. You can influence what others think about you even before they get a chance to talk with you and find out what you are like under the clothes. Depending on your intentions you can even give people a false impression. Take, for example, someone who wears very nice clothes. Without looking into their bank account you really don’t know how much money they have. They could be very poor and yet wear those nice clothes just to keep up appearances. They don’t want anyone to know that they are poor. In a way that could be a mask that they wear.
The same can be true the other way around. Someone could wear casual everyday type of clothes and again you could have no idea what they are worth. In fact, they could be a multimillionaire and you wouldn’t even know it. But just like the poor guy, this person doesn’t want others to know about his financial situation. He figures if people know he’s rich then they will come hit him up for money. He doesn’t want to stand out by the clothes that he wears, so instead he puts on something to give a false impression.
Clothes are a way to express yourself. What people see on the outside can be a way for you either to show or to hide what you are all about under the clothes. On this first Sunday after Christmas the manger scene is still very fresh in our minds. What do you think Jesus was expressing about himself by the clothes we see him wear? When people came to see him were they getting a real or a false impression about him? Was he showing or hiding what he is all about under the clothes?
The baby we see wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger is actually a very clear expression of what our God is all about. Unlike any other god the world can dream up the true God acts on behalf of his people. God ultimately wants to free us from burden not make life worse. He wants to set us apart for himself not turn us away. He wants to purposefully unconditionally love us not burn with anger against us. And the baby Jesus in a manger expresses that perfectly.
Sure he was not shining with all the glory of heaven, so in that sense he was hiding himself, but that life was the light of men and in him was no darkness at all. From the first moment the Word became flesh he displayed the true heart of God. To free us from burden Jesus had to take our place. To set us apart Jesus had to give us his holiness. To love us purposefully and unconditionally Jesus had to take every poor miserable sinner with him to the grave.
God becoming man shows us what God is all about even before we get a chance to talk with him and find out what he like under his clothes. In the gospel lesson Simeon saw this. He saw a poor humble child who came to be his salvation. Through his elderly eyes he saw Jesus living, dying, and rising for all people. He saw a true servant in a true servant’s form. And he was happy to worship this child as his God.
How amazing it is that God would do such a thing for us. That he who owes us nothing would go out of his way to pay our debt. That he who sees hearts that are born hostile to him would purposefully unconditionally love us. That he who hears not one cry for help from our rancid mouths would make us his own people. How amazing it is that in the opening words of our lesson today the apostle Paul can call us “God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved.”
We have been chosen, picked out, selected to be on the God’s team. Like a kickball game at recess God pointed his finger at us and said, “I want you.” It didn’t matter that you were the worst player standing by the wall. Of all the other people he could have set apart he chose you. And like a good captain would who wants to win the game he goes to bat for every weaker player and hits a home run. He didn’t win the game for himself he won it for you, he won it for all those on his team.
And when you go to line up after recess there’s no guessing who won the game. You wear your victory with pride for all to see. You can’t stop talking about it. You can’t stop reliving that glorious moment over and over in your head. You show everyone what that winning kick looked like mimicking your captain’s flawless form and grace. You go home and make t-shirts that say “kickball champions” and wear those clothes with pride.
You can tell a lot about someone by the clothes they wear. What people see on the outside can really show or hide what someone is all about on the inside. So what about you, do you have on a shirt that says “champions” or has the pride of that victory faded so that you don’t care so much to let everyone know? When people see you they get an impression about you. What are you expressing to them on a day to day basis? Are you hiding or are you priding?
I don’t even think ‘priding’ is a word, but it should be. ‘Priding’ is exactly what our lesson is talking about today when it says “clothe yourselves.” In the Greek this is actually the first word of verse 12. The Greek language does that for emphasis. The thought of putting on clothes is what Paul wants his readers to focus on as they read the rest of his sentence, which goes all the way through verse 14.
The thought is very purposeful, intentional just like when you go to your closet every morning and determine what you’re going to wear. When you’ve got a choice of either hiding or priding, then Paul says put on clothes that show what you are truly all about. Wear the clothes that Jesus gave you, the shirt that says ‘champions’ on it, the clothes that express to others Christ-like virtues.
The clothes you wear can say a lot about you. What do others see when the look at you? Do they see that you have put on love? And not a warm and fuzzy love, but the kind of love that says, “It’s not about me.” It’s not about me when I act with compassion showing affection to those who may be suffering or in distress. It’s not about me when I act with kindness giving of myself in a way that shows no hint of harshness. It’s not about me when I act in humility sacrificing myself to serve my God and others. It’s not about me when I act in gentleness opening myself to injury rather than inflicting it. It’s not about me when I act in patience refusing to hold a grudge or take revenge as I hold out or even suffer while waiting for God.
These are all virtues that display love, the kind of love Jesus had for us. And for as much as we try, we know we have sometimes pulled off these clothes. We have turned the shirt inside out so that it says ‘it’s all about me.’ But that’s why Jesus provides us with the next set of clothes that Paul refers to in verse 13, the clothes of forgiveness. For as many times as there is no compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience there is forgiveness with the Lord. And for every time there is forgiveness with the Lord there is forgiveness with your brother or sister in Christ. Just as Jesus held nothing back when he showed that love to us, so we also hold nothing back when others sin against us.
The clothes you wear can say a lot about you. What do others see when the look at you? Do they see that you have peace ruling in your heart? Now that may be a little harder for you to put on display. But it’s not as hard as you think. Really, having peace rule in your hearts is keeping chaos and confusion out of your lives. Now I’m not saying that if your life is chaotic then you don’t have peace ruling in your hearts. But if peace is ruling in your hearts then the chaos is at least under control and easy to bear.
It’s like the difference between a game with an umpire versus one without an umpire. There would be nonstop arguing if there wasn’t an objective voice to say whether or not the pitch was over the plate or both feet were in bounds. This is the picture of peace ruling in our hearts. Peace is our referee so that when faced with a choice we always choose the side that promotes unity and harmony.
The clothes you wear can say a lot about you. What do others see when the look at you? Do they see that you have God’s Word dwelling in your life? There’s a saying that goes ‘you are what you eat.’ That can apply to the actual food you put in your stomach but it can also refer to the other things you bring into your mind and heart. If you are ingesting vulgar language and immoral attitudes, then won’t that lead to similar behaviors? The same is true with ingesting God’s Word. If you want those Christian virtues and peace that we’ve been talking about to play out in your life, then ‘you are what you eat.’ Seek to ingest mentally and spiritually the things God wants you to say and do.
In this way then, like is says in verse 17, whatever you do can be done in the name of the Lord Jesus. When you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, when you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, when you interact with your spouse and family, when you walk along the street, or go about your daily tasks, all of this can be done in the name of Jesus, connected to him, in harmony with his will. I see it like the book ends of life. Every book can stand up straight if supported by a book end on either side, without it everything falls apart. With Jesus’ name inspiring all we say and do everything stays together.
The clothes you wear can say a lot about you. What do others see when the look at you? Do they see that you have thankfulness to God? People are impressed with a child who has learned to say ‘thank you’ without being prompted. That thankfulness should be a natural reaction every day of our lives. Thankful for the bad along with the good. Thankful for the clouds along with the sunshine. Thankful for the failure along with the success. When people see these clothes they see how different you truly are.
This way of life that mimics the perfect example of servitude which Jesus gave could never be attained without the power and inworking of Christ in me. What a comfort it is to know that when I am achieving or when I am failing it’s not about me. It has always been and will always be about Christ in me. These, after all, are his clothes not mine. I was his choice not the other way around. When you go to the closet to decide what to wear, clothe yourselves with Christ. Let others see you wear with pride the shirt that says ‘champions.’ Let them discover before ever talking with you that Christ lives in you. Amen.

3rd Sunday after the Epiphany, Friendship Sunday Pastor Nathan Fager
January 25, 2009 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Jesus Proclaims Good News
I. His message needs to be heard
II. His call needs to be answered
Mark 1:14-20
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. 15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” 16 As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. 17 “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 At once they left their nets and followed him. 19 When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets. 20 Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If you came to church here last Sunday, you may have been surprised to hear someone else’s voice leading Bible study and the worship service. You may have been wondering, where is the voice I’m used to hearing share the message of God’s Word. As a matter of fact I was at the hospital coaching and supporting my beautiful wife during the delivery of our second son. But as they say, “The show must go on!” So another voice took the stage and shared with you the message of God’s Word in my place.
I really wish I could have been here with you to share in this brief yet gratifying time of your week, but I couldn’t. And sometimes that’s how it goes. Sometimes one voice is unable to speak anymore and another has to take its place. Our voices were not meant to go on speaking forever. When the last breath of air passes from our lips, we will be without another chance to make our voice be heard.
But as they say, “The show must go on!” If what one voice was saying was worth repeating, then there will be another to take its place. The voice may be gone but the message still remains. One of the prominent voices that spoke the message of the Word of God was that of John the Baptist. But his too was a voice that would not go on forever. In fact, his was silenced prematurely and maliciously when, as the opening words of our Gospel reading say, he was put into prison.
But John was only a voice, a prominent one, yes, but one whose message could be carried on by another. And sure enough, as Mark records, in the same breath that we read about John being put away we hear of another who carried on the message. Jesus now would fill the void left behind. Only the message he would proclaim would be different than the world had heard before.
For thousands of years the world had been waiting for the time to come, that short and specific time when God would come with his power and grace and deliver his people. John’s message too was one that prepared the way for one far greater than himself. And when Jesus left the carpenter’s bench in Nazareth to become a voice in the region of Galilee, he knew he had a new message that needed to be heard.
Someone had to speak up and that someone was him. For with the physical appearance of Jesus in this world the time long awaited had come. That was the first part of the good news Jesus proclaimed. In verse 15 he says, “The time has come. The kingdom of God is near.”
These were words that were longing to get out. I would imagine there would have been almost discomfort in every conversation until Jesus could transition to speak about this heavenly truth. His words needed to be heard so much that I’m sure he would have interrupted a pointless conversation just to slip his words in.
It’s like if you know someone has a hair out of place on their head, or better yet a spice between their teeth. How long would you let that conversation go on before you said what needed to be said? Would you let them walk away from you without hearing something that important? Or would you take the first opportunity to stop them and say, “You should know something. There is a spice between your teeth.”
Now what if the message you had to share was of something far more damaging? Perhaps they spilled their wine without knowing. You would tell them that right away before that stain set in. Or even worse, perhaps they either in a moment of weakness or a blatant act of disrespect broke one of God’s commands. They selfishly wasted their money, they spoke hurtful words behind someone’s back, or they had impure thoughts for someone other than their spouse.
How long would you go before saying what needs to be said? Would you let them walk away from you without hearing something that important? Or would you stop them and say, “You should know something. You have a stain about to set in.” Can you see from these individual examples how desperately Jesus’ message of good news needs to be heard? There were people about to stand before their Maker with anger provoking stains. If he didn’t speak up they would be left to face God’s anger in ways only he knew about.
The goal of Jesus’ message was the good news. The people needed to hear that the time of God’s power and grace has come. God above all else wants everyone to be saved. He wants everyone to turn from their evil ways and find his love. He wants holy lives, dedicated and committed lives, lives that are set apart for him and him alone.
So the heart of Jesus message was this, “Repent and believe.” Repent – that is the turning from wickedness to righteousness. And not just once. This invitation of Jesus is a lifelong, daily task that must be visited regularly. Think of it like a plant that must be watered. If you took a day off the plant might be okay, but a week might kill it. The plant needs water. In the same way your heart and mine need repentance. Not even a day should go by without there being thoughts about the message of Jesus.
“Repent and believe.” The second follows hand in hand with the first. Sorrow over sin brings you nothing but continued grief and guilt. But when you believe, there is relief. There is the doctor that comes out and says the cancer is gone. When you believe, that is when you trust with full confidence that this Jesus brings forgiveness, then the fear of death and punishment are removed.
This Jesus who was proclaiming the message “Repent and believe the good news” was pointing to himself as that good news. God’s kingdom is here. Look at it. In me you see the power and grace of God on display. This life I live I live for you. The death I plan to die will be a death for you. The return to life will be for your comfort to know that life is yours as well.
This message needs to be heard. With the voice Jesus had while he walked this earth he never stopped proclaiming this good news. But his voice would soon too be silenced and he needed others to carry on his message. “The show must go on!” Since what his voice was saying was worth repeating, there must be others to take its place. The voice may be gone but the message would still remain. And so to carry this message on Jesus prepared the hearts and hands of men to be his disciples.
As Mark records, Jesus went down to walk beside the Sea of Galilee. There he finds a few good men. These men, fishermen by trade, were very likely followers of John the Baptist. They had heard him point to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. They had even met and spoken with Jesus. But on this day they were back to work casting their nets into the sea to make a living.
I see them in no way as extra-ordinary men. They had to work to support themselves and their families. They had calloused fingers and sore backs. They had the stress of busy routines that took up their whole day. After such long hard days they looked forward to a good night’s rest before getting up to do it all over again.
In the middle of their busy day with nets in hand Jesus reaches out and taps them on the shoulder. He makes the call that would change their lives forever. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Without looking down on the work of their hands Jesus provides them with the opportunity to work for him in a special way. They would put out into the sea of humanity around them not the Sea of Galilee. They would cast the Word of God not they nets of string. They would catch men not fish.
I like Jesus’ invitation here. I see many parallels between fishing for men and fishing for fish. Proclaiming the good news is like putting the boat on the water without any clue what you’ll come home with. You’ve got the right tool in the Word of God. You’ve got the right attitude that what you catch is out of your control. But you may catch nothing or your boat may be full.
Jesus was offering these men a life of uncertainty. They would have to create a new routine. They would have to learn to adapt to new surroundings. They would have to be held accountable for the knowledge Jesus would pass on to them. But did change and responsibility scare them away? Did they row their boats to the other side of sea pretending they didn’t hear Jesus call? Did they call back and say, “Go find someone more qualified”?
Without a moment of hesitation they left their nets and followed Jesus. What does that tell you? That says very clearly they knew what was most important. Without skill, without scholar, without stopping to second guest themselves they said, “Yes, Jesus, you have my hands you have my voice to use as you see fit.” From that day until Jesus went back to heaven Jesus taught his disciples proclaiming to them the good news. They in turn wrote down for us everything necessary for eternal life in heaven. We now have that Word as a powerful tool to cast out into the sea of humanity.
Jesus is looking for fishers of men to carry on the message when one voice is silenced. Will there be persecution such as that which took John the Baptist away and eventually put him to death? I cannot lead you to believe that will never happen in your lifetime. The devil is working very hard to silence as many voices as he can.
But there are still ears all around that need to hear that message and hands that need to be put to work. Maybe yours can be the voice to keep the message going. Maybe yours can be the voice that answers Jesus’ call saying, “Here am I, send me.” Maybe yours can be the voice that proclaims as Jesus did saying, “Repent and believe the good news.”
My friends, on this friendship Sunday remember the friend you have in Jesus. Take to heart the love he had not only to proclaim the good news but to make that good news possible. His cross before our eyes makes the guilt and sorrow over sin go away. His hands which bring strength to ours make the task we bear easy to fulfill. As you take your fishing nets to the sea today take with you the message of your captain and commander, your savior and your friend, Jesus. Amen.

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany Pastor Nathan Fager
January 18, 2008 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Hearts Respond to Jesus’ Invitation
John 1:43-51
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. Finding Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip, like Andrew and Peter, was from the town of Bethsaida. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” 46 “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” Nathanael asked. “Come and see,” said Philip. 47 When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.” 49 Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You shall see greater things than that.” 51 He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
When someone plans a big party with lots of guests they may send out invitations. Sometimes you’ll see the letters RSVP. Does anyone know what those letters stand for? “repondez s’il vous plait,” a French phrase that simply means “please reply.” You know when you see those letters that you should respond and let them know whether you’re coming or not.
Accepting the invitation may not be all that hard at first. But then you think about how far away they live from you and you’re not so sure you want to pay for gas. Or you think about how few people you’ll know at the party and you’re not so sure you want to make the effort of being social. Or you think about how at the last party they played those embarrassing group games and you’re not so sure you want to make a fool of yourself again. So you plan to just mark the box that says ‘unable to attend’ and send the note back.
But what if the invitation were more personal? What if they were standing face to face with you, invitation in hand, saying “Are you coming or not?” What if for every concern you suggested they could help you see that it’s not going to be as bad as you think? Then you could either accept or decline with a clear understanding of what the invitation is really all about.
When Jesus sets out early in his ministry to appoint men as his disciples he gives an invitation that requires a response. “Are you coming or not?” is about as basic a question you can ask. And yet this is a decision that should not be taken lightly. If you’re going to decline you should know what it is you’re actually declining. The same is true if you’re going to accept, you should be fully aware of what you’re getting into.
The words of our Gospel lesson today show us how Philip and in particular how Nathanael responded to Jesus’ invitation. We’ll see that after coming face to face with Jesus, hearing his words, and seeing his miraculous power, only a fool would turn away and miss out on what Jesus has to offer.
Philip, the first of the disciples mentioned in our lesson, did not take very long at all to respond to Jesus’ invitation. It took relatively very little before he accepted. It may have been like a young woman waiting for her man to get down on his knee and ask her to marry him already. After making it totally clear that this is what she wanted he need only speak the words and she’s already got the date picked and knows who’s going to stand up in the wedding party.
Philip, to me, is an eager young man who knows what he wants. Jesus need only make the offer and he would respond, “I thought you’d never ask. Of course I’ll follow you. I have no doubt that you are the one whose way John the Baptist has been preparing. You have my full allegiance, devotion, and commitment.” This was the attitude that would stay with Philip throughout his time with Jesus and afterward. We can understand how, when Peter said he would follow Jesus to the cross, Philip did not hesitate to say the same.
Without a doubt Philip’s heart was moved to respond and accept Jesus’ invitation. This positive and eager response happens in the same way today. Upon receiving an invitation from Jesus a heart immediately jumps on board. I see this particularly in the case with children. If someone they trust and look up to is telling them what is right they accept it. They have no reason to doubt. Who are they to question?
When you tell a child that Jesus died on the cross for their sins they believe you. When you say that because of Jesus they get to go to heaven they give you a big smile. This childlike faith is the response Jesus wants all to have to his invitation. This joy in his promises is what he wants all of us to hold on to not just in our childhood but every day.
Philip had immediately jumped on board. He was willing to follow Jesus. He may not have known all that his soul would encounter but all he needed to know was who Jesus was. Jesus would take care of the rest for him. Philip was ready to be a witness to the greatest time in the history of the world. For what could be greater than to be walking in the footsteps of the one the world had expected for thousands of years.
This was an experience that Philip knew he couldn’t keep to himself. There were others who were waiting and watching for the Christ to come. So Philip would share the news. He would go specifically to a man named Nathanael. This was not just some guy off the street. Philip searched and found Nathanael, perhaps a close friend. And when he did the words were probably ready to burst from his mouth when he said, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the Law, and about whom the prophets also wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
This was a solid confession. Philip knew exactly who Jesus was. All throughout the Old Testament there was held out one, one seed of Abraham, one son of David, one servant and deliverer. Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible and recorded this promise there. The prophets repeated and applied this message of law and gospel to God’s people again and again. By the time Jesus came the people need only connect the dots and they would arrive naturally at Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.

Our confession to others, and not just to children now but to anyone, holds out the same confidence that we have found the one, the one who helps in time of need, the one who hands down generous blessings, the one who saved and delivered us from sin. In the same way that Philip knew Nathanael needed to hear this news we too become aware of people who need to hear what we have found.
I don’t feel there’s only one right way to witness to others, but one great example is the way Philip did it. He just came right out and shared what he knew. It didn’t matter how Nathanael would respond. It didn’t matter what questions would come out. It didn’t matter how foolish he may have appeared. What was important to Philip was to get the word out.
And sure enough we see Philip faced with what many of us are familiar with: doubt. Once we stopped thinking like children we stopped simply accepting someone’s words just because they said them. Nathanael was no different. His immediate response was doubt and the question came out, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” “There is nothing from Moses or the Prophets that even hints at something good coming from Nazareth. Philip you must be confused. What you are saying makes no sense.”
Doubt is one of the powerful weapons the devil uses very well. It is just all too easy to dismiss something as foolishness if we cannot wrap our minds around it. For some all it takes is the suggestion of one question, one uncertainty, one apparent contradiction or discrepancy and the whole thing is tossed out. Especially today, wouldn’t you agree that little if anything is accepted blindly? We want proof, we want evidence, we won’t believe until we see how what you’re saying must be true.
Doubt is dangerous. If the devil can produce doubt then he has won half the battle. Doubt means he’s got you thinking and when you start thinking, assuming you’re thinking with your mind, then faith risks becoming secondary. If the devil can convince you to think with your mind instead of your heart then the battle is won. Jesus never asked us to understand him completely, only to believe him without doubt. There are going to be many things that don’t make sense and to which we don’t have the answer, but just tell the devil that that’s okay. We don’t need all the answers to believe.
The devil had quickly lost with Philip but had a chance with Nathanael. Doubt was waiting to triumph. The devil could win if he could get Philip and Nathanael into an argument. But then Philip gave the answer that made the devil rethink his battle strategy. Instead of arguing Philip gives the best remedy to preconceived notions. He says, “Come and see.”
Sometimes ignorance is bliss. Philip didn’t need all the answers not when Nathanael could see for himself. It may have taken some coercing but if Nathanael was looking for an answer and he could go to the source himself then he was willing to go along. And answers are just what he found.
He didn’t see anything miraculous when he got to Jesus but what he heard was convincing enough. Jesus right away reached into Nathanael’s heart and experienced his hopes and expectations. Without ever talking to him first Jesus knew Nathanael like a brother. Nathanael found more than he was looking for. Jesus said, “Here is a true Israelite, in whom there is nothing false.”
He wasn’t expecting this man to know him in such a personal way. So he raises the question, “How?” To which Jesus responds in a way that could only have touched Nathanael the way that it did, he says, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you..”
And for whatever reason, that was enough. Nathanael’s initial response of doubt had now turned to acceptance. He was now ready to jump on board with Philip and follow Jesus wherever he would go. Philip was right. And so, too, his acceptance turned naturally into confession. He says, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Philip and Nathanael, two men, each with their own response to Jesus’ invitation saw Jesus for who he was. One simply took a little more convincing that the other. But that’s okay. God gave us minds so that we can think and test what we hear. There are many false and misleading voices out there. We have to be careful what we accept as true. It’s a good practice to be able to examine teachings for ourselves. But when we find the truth in Jesus, only a fool would turn away.
When we run into people with initial doubts or preconceived notions, then simply say what Philip said, “Come and see. I don’t have all the answers and even if I did you would have no reason to believe my words over yours. So let’s go together and see Jesus. He’s not here physically now, but he stands ready to meets us in his Word. Let’s use that to answer our questions, decide our arguments, and distill our doubts. Let’s go to the source and let Jesus speak for himself.”
With an invitation like that in hand we can give people a clear understanding of what they are accepting or declining. Then, how they respond is up to them. Not everyone will be a Philip who only needs one invitation. Not everyone will be a Nathanael who believes after seeing convincing proof. Each heart responds differently to Jesus’ invitation.
But when it’s Jesus’ party, his guest list, and his invitation, we are simply the delivery person. We simply say, “Are you coming or not?” Hearts respond to Jesus’ invitation. May your heart today be moved away from doubt to confess what you know to be true. And may your mouth be bursting with news to share with others the joy that Jesus brings.
Amen.

2nd Sunday after Christmas Pastor Nathan Fager
January 4, 2009 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Jesus is Proud to Call You Family
Hebrews 2:10-18
10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. 12 He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.” 13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again he says, “Here am I, and the children God has given me.” 14 Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— 15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. 16 For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. 17 For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. 18 Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How many of you had a chance to be with your family recently? I’m sure most of us took advantage of the Christmas season to get together, maybe exchange gifts, or just enjoy each other’s company. Family seems to be a major part of any big celebration. Whether it’s your blood relatives, your church family, or your close circle of friends, it can be very beneficial to be together. This is something we perhaps should not take for granted when we think about how many families are separated by many miles and simply cannot be together during the holidays.
There’s just something special about being side by side with a loved one, a member of the family, a brother or sister. Phone calls and emails seem to help, but it is never the same as looking into their eyes and allowing them to open up when you genuinely ask, “How are things going?” When you’re right there, you are much more able to share what they are going through in a personal, sometimes intimate way.
The ability to share emotions is one of the blessings I see of a close family. When families are close, they are invariably knit together. Like strands that are interwoven when one part feels a tug the whole garment is pulled. Sometimes families are pulled by great joy. When someone close to us has good news to share we are just as thrilled to hear it as they are to share. Happiness grows when there are others to share it.
Sometimes, also, families are pulled by deep sorrow. When someone close to us has bad news to share we join in their pain and look for ways to help carry their burden. When one hurts everybody hurts. The whole close knit family woven together feels the tug when the garment is pulled.
Not all families are like this though. Some people don’t really want to know how things are going when they ask, “How are things going?” With as emotionally strapped as some people are already, dealing with someone else’s problems is the last thing they want. There is a strong temptation to want nothing to do with a struggling family. This is when it may be a good thing to be many miles away. Then by default you aren’t involved. Whereas families that are close geographically may want to take an active step away from what the family’s going through.
Maybe they start screening phone calls and deleting emails. Maybe they lock their doors and turn their lights out at night. There may even be those who want so little to do with the family that they change their name, move out of town, and completely break all ties with where they came from. That might be a drastic step, but when a family is faced with an overwhelming burden that may seem like an inviting option.
But where does that leave the family? With one less strand in the garment everyone else takes on a little bit more emotionally. The burden that could have been shared with many is now left for only a few and sometimes only one to carry alone. Deserted, unappreciated, and after being there for you to help you carry your burdens. The truth we all face is this: we are always open to sharing joys but reluctant to taking up heavy burdens.
Our part in the family of God is sometimes no different. We are happy to be in God’s family when things are good, when there are joys to be shared, and the days are relatively easy on us. But the natural reaction to burdens and problems is to want nothing to do with the family.
It’s not easy to bear the name of Jesus. Your friends here at church might make it easy enough for the hour or two you spend here on Sunday, but the rest of the week we keep our family name in our pocket like the pictures of our kids only to pull it out when someone asks about it. And even then the pride is shortcoming. There might even be more shame in revealing your family name than pride. To avoid any unnecessary grief you may even deny belonging to God’s family. Then you are no different than the one who wants so little to do with his family that he changes his name, moves out of town, and completely breaks all ties with where he came from.
Where does that leave your family? Deserted, unappreciated, and after being there for you to help you carry your burdens. Why should your Father ever take you back into the family? What makes you think that when there are joys to be shared you will be invited? Every one of us should see ourselves as that good for nothing brother or sister that no one wants to admit belongs to their family.
God has every reason to disown us who are so quick to disown him. God should be ashamed of us who are ashamed to admit we belong to him. But for as often as we have deserted the family, as often as we have been reluctant to take up burdens and share sorrows, for as often as we have struggled to take on tough times we have always had a brother who is proud to call us family.
Deserting the family was the last thing on Jesus’ mind when he came to share our humanity. Instead of running away from family problems he embraced them willingly. Our family, the descendants of Adam and Eve, faced some pretty overwhelming burdens. Living in this world we are constantly faced with choices between right and wrong. The forces commanded by the devil both inside and out make it easy to do what we know is wrong. These temptations attack us where we are weakest. And when we lack the strength or desire to fight back we give in.
And if the burden of sin wasn’t overwhelming enough, the burden of sin’s consequence leaves us crushed. The fear of death holds each of us in the bonds of slavery. The devil is ready not only to take our bodies to the grave but also to keep his death grip on us on the other side of the grave. This is what we face as men and women, as descendants of Adam and Eve, as part of humanity.
But Jesus was not going to leave us to bear this burden alone. In verses 14-15 we read, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”
Instead of running away from family problems Jesus embraced them willingly. Just as we face the powerful temptations of the devil; so did he. Just as we face the consequence for sin by going to the grave; so did he. The only difference is that when Jesus bore our burdens he did not give into temptation but remained without sin. When Jesus faced the grave he did not lose the fight and succumb to the devil’s death grip but proved his victory over the grave by rising triumphantly destroying him who holds the power of death.
This was all part of God’s plan from day one. Of all the plans God could have put into place he chose one that put his amazing grace on display. He wanted the world to see his love in action, in a visible, physical manifestation. His plan was to bring many sons to glory by having his son take part in our humanity. Verse 10 says, “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering.”
It was no accident when God made Jesus the author of our salvation perfect through suffering. When everything exists for God and through God nothing is an accident. It all happens the way he wants it to happen, both joys and sorrows, happiness and burdens, pleasure and suffering. In a very purposeful, intentional way God put a plan into effect and carried it out. God made Jesus suffer as a necessary part of his plan.
In this way then Jesus became the author of our salvation. In a sense Jesus came and wrote the book on salvation. If you want to learn about baking a cake you read the author of a cookbook. If you want to learn about fixing your car you read the author of an owner’s manual. If you want to learn about your salvation you turn to the author of salvation.
Jesus is the source, the one with all the answers. But the difference with Jesus is that not only does he give you the knowledge of salvation he also makes it happen. Like if the author of a cookbook baked your cake for you, or if the author of the owner’s manual fixed your car for you. Jesus not only wrote the book on salvation he made it possible for us.
As verse 11 proclaims, “Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.” When the devil and his temptations needed to be destroyed he did it for us. When sin and its consequences needed to be removed he did it for us. He accepted every burden of the family of humanity. He was never reluctant to become our brother. He wanted to help us. He wanted to be one of us to face what we face, walk where we walk, and suffer what we suffer.
In this way then he is able to help us when we need help. As verse 18 concludes by saying, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” As children of God, sons of glory, we will still be faced with overwhelming burdens, hardships that come because we bear the name of Jesus. But know that Jesus helps us by sharing those burdens. And when the burden is too great know that Jesus helps us by carrying those burdens.
No earthly family can compare to the family of God. There may be some very close knit families that are open to sharing all their emotions but God’s family surpasses them all. When faced with a burden we need to share, we have one who never turns us away, never leaves us feeling deserted or unappreciated. He is more than willing to help us in our light and momentary burdens after carrying our biggest burden for us.
When God could have kept his Son with him in the unmatched glory of heaven out of love he sent him to be our brother. Jesus wears our family name with great pride. He has never been nor will ever be ashamed to call us family.
Amen.

December 30, 2007 1st Sunday after Christmas Pastor Nathan Fager
God Sent His Son!
I. To adopt you as his sons (vs. 4-5)
II. To make you all heirs (vs. 6-7)
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Galatians 4:4-7
4 But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, 5 to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.
6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.

This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given.” Let the angels sing praises. Let the shepherds rejoice. Let the whole world give glory to the baby in the manger, because he is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords… because he comes to set his people free. Jesus had been sent by the Father. Jesus came and fulfilled his mission. Who can let the devil fill your heart with doubt and fear? Who can despair in this time of joy?
The church has never stopped telling the good news of the Son of God who came as a baby that first Christmas. We live daily in praise and worship of the one who saved us from the curse of the law. Today, God’s Word reminds us of our reason for thanksgiving. God sent his Son! Paul’s words to the Galatians tell us the reason Jesus humbled himself. Jesus came to adopt you as his sons and to make you all heirs.
Paul shares the first reason for which Jesus was sent in verses 4 and 5, “But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.”
The timing was perfect. The world was prepped and ready for the good news of the Christ. Rome was experiencing peace. Greek was becoming a universal language. Travel had never been so easy. God in his unsearchable judgment knew that the timing was perfect. Perfect for what? Perfect for conceiving in the virgin Mary the Savior who is Christ the Lord. Perfect for sending the Son of God into this world to be born of a woman. The Lord of the universe came to us with a human nature. God’s Son became man. Jesus joined mankind born from a woman, just like you and me.
Jesus joined mankind under law, just like you and me. All people before and after Jesus have been born under law. All people are born and live under God’s roof and as long as we live under God’s roof we must obey God’s rules. Jesus, as one of us, was no exception. He too was born under law by the very fact that he was born of a woman. And the reason is clear. No one has been able to free himself or herself from the law. No one has been perfect. No one has escaped a sinful heart from the moment of conception. No one, except Jesus.
The law and its curse of death for the trespasser loomed darkly over mankind. In order for there to be true freedom something had to be done with the law. But God’s holy standard could not be destroyed, it could only be fulfilled. God sent Jesus with a purpose. Jesus did not come to destroy the law, rather to fulfill it. Jesus came to do all that the law requires. Only Jesus could provide a righteous and holy God with the perfect life and innocent death he demands. Only Jesus, God’s Son, could free all people from the law.
When Jesus was born under law he had in mind a specific result, “that we might receive the full rights of sons.” This implies that before Jesus came we did not have the full rights of sons. For most of you this may be hard to understand because you have never been without parents. But try to put yourself in the shoes of a child who really doesn’t belong. A child whose parents don’t want him. A child who is lost in this big world. A child who bounces from one foster home to the next wondering if this one will be his last place. A child who is all alone. A child who belongs to the state. Now what kind of life is that? But then, finally, an open and loving home. A home willing to buy you from the state and go through all the legal processes. A home that gives you a new last name, the same name as they have. A home that will never again turn you out into this dark world unwanted.
Adoption is such a wonderful thing. How amazing it is to have the full rights of a son. But is it real? Can you be sure that it really happened? I remember taking my now brothers and sister to the courthouse the day we adopted them. We were all so excited. It was quite the sight. My whole family marched up into the courthouse in our Sunday best. I mean dresses, shirt and tie, shiny shoes, the whole works. But there was no big ceremony. In fact it was rather simple. When we finally got to see the judge he said a few short words, looked over the papers to make sure everything was in order, and that was about it. In fact, Michael looked up and had to ask, “Are you my big brother now?” Was it real? Did it really happen?
But it really did happen and the legal papers prove it. These little kids who had no place to call home now are adopted into our family. What made them so special? What makes any one of us so special? You and I are all born with no place to call home. Without Jesus I am just another naughty little kid who bounces from house to house never belonging to anyone. Do you feel that way sometimes? Do wonder how God could take in such a sinner as you? Do you sit there in fear and despair wondering if you have true sonship? Is it real?
It is quite understandable why someone would ask such questions. But that is why we need constant reminders from God’s Word about the truth of our sonship. Jesus really did come as a baby on the first Christmas, fully man born under law, and fully God able to live perfectly for us. God really sent Jesus to adopt you as his sons. No one is excluded. Not one is left behind. Jesus bought the whole world for the price that was demanded. But it was not with silver or gold that Jesus paid the price. No, it was his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.
How awesome God is for loving us so much that he sent Jesus to be our Savior. Those who have rejected Jesus from their life, remain under law. But believers, in whom God has worked a heart of faith, are no longer under law. Jesus really died to pay the price that the law demands. Jesus really set us free from the curse of death. Jesus really takes away all fear and despair. Through faith in Jesus you have the full rights of sons. Through faith you are confident of you sonship. You are God’s sons.
The picture of a son is not a new idea for most of us. God is our Father and we are his children. As children of God we enjoy many blessings. These blessings belong to us not as something that will come when we grow up and mature as adult children of God. Rather we receive these blessings fully because Jesus made us worthy of blessing for adults. This is the reason Paul expounds his picture of sonship to include the idea of an heir. Listen now to the blessed results we have because God sent his Son to make you all heirs. 6 Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” 7 So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.
Limp. Almost lifeless. When we first got Michael he was only 18 months old. You would pick him up and expect him to cling to you as most babies do. But he just hung there. He had spent hours on end not in his mother’s arms but in an infant walker. Unable to show affection. Unable to respond with love. But now when he hugs he almost squeezes all the air out from your lungs. This little lifeless baby ended up adopted into our family. He now knows what love is and can respond with love and affection.
What had happened? Did you catch the order of progression? A child was able to respond with love only after he had been shown love first. The same is true with God. “We love because he first loved us.” God first showed his love for the world by sending his Son. And now because Jesus has given us sonship we love in return. Because we are sons, we no longer are lifeless, lacking love and affection. Instead we are driven by a heart of faith. A faith that was created by the Holy Spirit.
With the Spirit in our hearts we cling to the Father. Because we have the Spirit we cry out, “Abba, Father.” Paul was expressing to the Galatians the close personal relationship that we have with God. Yes we call God ‘Father’ giving him the formal respect that we owe. But our relationship goes much deeper. We can say ‘Abba’ which is the equivalent to our word ‘Daddy.’ God is our affectionate and loving, caring and tender, kind and compassionate Father.
And as our Father he treats each of us as his own. And often that means keeping us all in line. Just as an earthly father has rules for his children to live by so also God would have us live according to his will. And when we stray from God’s will for our lives, when we do not act as children of God, when we fall into our pet sins again and again, it is then that our heavenly Father disciplines us in his love. He corrects our sinful wanderings to keep us on the path that leads to eternal life.
But he does not treat us as if we were infants. When Paul tells us that God also made us heirs, he explains to us that we are sons who are full-grown. An heir has a special place in the house. He knows that he has full right to claim his inheritance. An infant would not know what to do with an inheritance, but a full-grown son looks forward to his time being fully prepared to take his place as head of the house. This is the type of sonship we have because of Jesus. Each of us is fully prepared to take his inheritance when the time comes. Your hearts are filled with the Spirit. Your lives are governed by your Father. And until your time comes to claim your eternal life in heaven, you wait.
But this is not an idle wait. While we wait to claim our inheritance we constantly remember how none of this would be possible without Jesus. Only through Jesus can we have the hope of eternal life. Praise the Son of God who has made each of you heirs. Share the Spirit of the Son so that others too may be filled with the Spirit and cry out, “Abba, Father.” Be ready and prepared every day as you live with constant expectation of the day your Father will give you your inheritance. Live as sons and daughters as you serve God and one another in love.
The Christmas season continues today as it has in the past and will until Jesus comes again. Our lives are filled with the blessed results of what our Savior still does for us today. We openly receive all that Jesus has done for us through faith. How blessed we truly are because God sent his Son. As this Christmas season continues today remember how Jesus came to adopt you as his sons and to make you all heirs.
Amen.

3rd Sunday in Advent Nathan Fager
Wait Patiently!
I. Your Lord is coming (vs. 7-8)
II. Your grumbling will be judged (vs. 9)
III. Your perseverance is encouraged (vs. 10-11)
James 5:7-11
7 Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. 8 You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.9 Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 10 Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. 11 As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,
Christmas time is always an exciting time. One of the reasons for that is the preparation we make as we wait for our relatives to come. I’m sure you can picture it. Mom says, “Grandma and grandpa are on their way here!” And so the wait begins. Tim starts running laps around the house filled with so much anxious energy he can hardly contain himself. But soon he realizes that the wait is going to be longer than expected.
Soon we all end up on the couch watching for the door to open and grandma to come through. “Don’t touch me. I get the first hug from grandpa. Stop touching me! I bet I can reach the door before you can. Mom, he won’t stop touching me!” And so, Mom comes in to stop all the grumbling. “Look at how nicely Matt is sitting while he waits for them to get here. You can wait just like he can. Now be patient.” Sure enough, they did arrive, and after a hug Tim started running laps again.
Christmas time is always an exciting time. Another more important reason is the preparation we make as we wait for the coming of our Lord. God’s Word tells us, “The Lord’s coming is near.” For us this wait is going to be longer than expected. This long wait may lead us to think he is not coming. This may also lead us to grumble against each other as if we were no different than little children. No one said this wait would be easy. In fact this wait is full of suffering that may cause us to give up and quit waiting patiently.
James encouraged his readers to learn from the examples of those who have gone before them. Great men of faith like Job and the prophets persevered through much suffering according to God’s plan. Today we too can learn from God’s Word to wait patiently. First, you can disperse all doubt because your Lord is coming. Second, you must keep a proper attitude while you wait because your grumbling will be judged. Finally, you can be encouraged to persevere in your suffering by remembering the examples of those who have gone before you and have persevered.
Listen again to verses 7-8, “Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.” He’s coming. He’s almost here. You have heard it before and you will hear it again. You need to hear it over and over because we all need constant encouragement to wait patiently. He’s coming. He’s almost here. We live in the last times and see all the signs that point to the end. But when? How long, O Lord, will you let your people stare at the door until you come?
Let me ask you this. Who of you signed up for the short-term deal? Who thought the Lord was going to come back yesterday and is disappointed today? Who planted their crop today and expects to see a harvest tomorrow? No farmer could stay sane if he expected immediate results. He knows that the rains will come. He knows that the seed will grow. Until all that happens he waits. For the sake of the crop the farmer waits patiently for the rain to come and the land to yield its valuable crop. So are you ready for what could be the long haul? I say it could be long because no one knows the day or the hour. For some already the wait has been long; 70, 80, 90 years! Is the Lord ever going to come?
He’s coming. He’s almost here. How do I know this? How can I be sure? Look to the Lord in his Word. Remember the wonderful promises that quiet your concerns. Jesus once promised, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” (John 14:2-3) Keep your hope in the Lord’s coming not as a possibility but as a certainty. He’s coming. He’s almost here. We are all in this for the long-term deal. We all keep waiting with constant expectation. Let your anticipation build, but do not lose your confidence that your Lord is coming. Like the farmer, wait patiently.
For some it is not difficult to wait patiently. What a blessing to have such a wonderful fruit of faith. For others, waiting patiently is easier said than done. The devil is constantly bringing temptation on you to make you unprepared for the Lord’s coming. Once such temptation to which our lesson points today is grumbling against one another. Yes, the wait is going to be long, but that gives Christians no excuse to fall into this temptation. So listen to God’s Word as it says in verse 9, “Don’t grumble against each other, brothers, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door!”
What is James talking about here when he says, “Don’t grumble”? Some of you may be more familiar with this than others. Verbal abuse, gossip, judgmental criticism, complaining, lashing out against each other. These are all ways that Christians find to grumble against each other. These actions do not show a spirit of unity. What message are you sending to the world? If a visitor were to come through the church door and listen to your conversations what words would he hear? “Oh, this church is going down the tubes… If I had my way, things would be different… Have you seen how she conducts herself in public?… What a shame the vote didn’t go my way.”
A pastor once wrote, “Bickering Christians make evangelism almost impossible – who wants to join a church that is full of backbiting and quarreling? Even total unbelievers can smell that a mile away.” How true that is! As Christians in fellowship with each other we should stop our grumbling. The judge will condemn those who are not waiting patiently. He will come unexpectedly and may catch you unrepentant in your sin. As your judge he will sentence you, as you deserve. The punishment for sin is eternal death in hell. Unbelievers can grumble all they want down there. In hell there will be no more second chances.
But while you are still here and while there is still time, repent of your sins, including your sins of grumbling against each other. The judge does not want to see you punished for your sin. That is why he gives us this warning in our lesson. God cares very much about how Christians should treat one another. God also cares very much about forgiving your sins. He cared so much that he sent Jesus to be your perfect substitute. Jesus came to live a humble life. He came to die a selfless death. Because of Jesus’ death on the cross the Judge declares you not guilty of your sin. Jesus paid for all your sins even your sins of grumbling against each other.
Since God so loved you and me, what then should our attitude be? As we remember the selflessness of our Savior we cannot help but respond with fruits of faith. Therefore we will treat each other with “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22-23). We need each other. We need encouragement and guidance from our fellow Christians. We can be there for each other when this wait gets long. We can build each other up so that we all are strong in the faith. We can patiently bear the burden of abuse that people bring against us as we wait for the Lord’s coming.
This wait may be long and it may be burdensome, but we are not alone in our suffering. God is with us through everything with his guiding and protecting hand. He is with us today just as he was with those who have gone before us. James directs our attention to examples of those who have persevered in this life of suffering. Look at verses 10-11, “Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”
Take the prophets. Think about the life they endured. Called by God to speak words of total destruction for the sins of their own people. How many of them were threatened with death again and again. How intense was their suffering and abuse for speaking in the name of the Lord. The prophet Elijah ran for his life when evil queen Jezebel wanted revenge for killing the prophets of Baal. The prophet Hosea was considered a fool and a maniac. The prophet Jeremiah was put in a cistern by his enemies and left to die until someone rescued him. The prophet Isaiah was possibly executed by being sawn in two. The list goes on. The suffering continued. Yet they persevered and never totally gave up because they were not alone.
Go back and read about God’s prophets in the Bible. See for yourself how God responded to those who persecuted his people. See how God was with his prophets. Trust the words spoken to Jeremiah, “‘Today I have made you a fortified city, an iron pillar and a bronze wall to stand against the whole land… They will fight against you but will not overcome you, for I am with you and will rescue you,’ declares the LORD” (Jer. 1:18-19). God came to the prophets again and again to remind and encourage them of his presence with them.
The prophets serve as great examples for us of patience in suffering. The world hated the prophets and the world will hate you too. Believers don’t get special treatment. Instead they are persecuted and tormented. We are pushed to the point of giving up. What a comfort it is to know that the Lord is in control of this world. We willingly submit all things to his power and remember that he knows what is best for us. If we are to live with the prophets as our examples then we can expect to suffer in this life. But even suffering comes from the Lord.
We can say with Job, “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10) This spoken after Job had lost everything including his flocks and herds, his children, even his health. But even with all this God made sure that he had not given Job so much suffering that he could not bear it. What an encouraging example Job is for us all. Even more encouraging is how God brought an end to Job’s suffering by blessing him with twice what he had started with. Twice the animals, ten more children, and a long life to the age of 140 to enjoy his earthly blessings. And how great is the Lord who will never give you so much that you cannot bear it. Your can have encouragement to persevere because you know God will give blessings now and in eternity to those who persevere and keep their love for him.
The end of our lesson states the heart of our confidence, “The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Your God is a God of love and faithfulness. He is slow to anger. He is compassionate and gracious. Therefore, when you suffer, don’t give up. If it seems as if no one else in the world is there for you, never say die. When God sees fit to take away from you instead of increase what you have, keep holding on. Remember the examples of those who have gone before you. Your Lord has an end to your suffering. God does not allow us to suffer for no reason, and even though the reason may be hidden in the mystery of his divine purpose we must trust in him, as the God who does only what is right. Only after this life is over will we realize God’s will for our lives. Then we will have all eternity in heaven to praise him for preserving us.
Christmas time is always an exciting time. This advent season we get to prepare for the Lord who is coming soon to take us to heaven. The attitude of our heart motivates all that we do in life. Let your heart be filled with patience as you wait for the Lord’s coming. This wait will be longer than you may expect. But don’t let the length of your wait discourage you in your eager anticipation of your Lord’s coming. The Lord is coming. He is almost here. Wait patiently! Amen!

2nd Sunday in Advent Pastor Nathan Fager
December 9, 2007 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Prepare the Way for the Lord!
Matthew 3:1-12
1 In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the Desert of Judea 2 and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” 3 This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the desert, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’” 4 John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. 5 People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. 6 Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. 7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 11 “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Pictures often portray John the Baptist as a strange man, the kind of guy who sticks out in a crowd like a sore thumb. He was not like everyone else. His choice of diet and dress were different, to say the least. He had clothes made of camel’s hair, not many others would wear this since it was so uncomfortable. He had a leather belt, which was only common among those who couldn’t afford something nicer. He ate locusts and wild honey, fitting for his choice to live in the desert.
As we picture John the Baptist we see a living illustration. He was proving that you can survive without the excess and extras. He was in the desert away from the many distractions of a city life. He was living on the bare necessities that kept him clothed and fed. No one who saw him could say he was a man of this world. No one who heard him could say he was out for his own gain.
His audience could focus on his words free from distractions. He would preach like few others before him and be heard in a way that could not be mistaken. He had a stern message to proclaim and he wasn’t about to waste his time telling people only what their itching ears wanted to hear. With Word and Sacrament, and yes, even with dress and diet, John the Baptist played a very important role in preparing the way for Jesus.
He was the prophet whom Isaiah foretold would be “a voice of one calling in the desert.” He was a voice and nothing more, not to speak his own words but to relay a message handed to him. He was to speak as the voice for God. This is how God has chosen to speak, through the foolish and often flawed mouths of men. John was no eye candy nor did he preach a feel-good message. That’s not what this is all about. This is about God, his Word and his Sacraments, and his authority which stands behind what is preached however foolish or unattractive the preacher and delivery may be.
What we see and hear in the desert was appointed by God. At this time, Jesus was walking on the earth preparing for his full-time ministry. Any day now he would walk up to this John the Baptist to be baptized. The people’s hearts and lives were in need of mending, straitening out, and even turning around. John was opening eyes and ears to their spiritual carelessness. He was showing them the way to be ready for the One soon coming after him.
John’s message was limited and specific. His message was this, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” Perhaps he said more, but this was the main content. This was what people would walk for miles to hear. This was people would brave the hot sand and high sun to see. Surely they were reminded of the wandering their ancestors did in this dreadful desert. Surely they were made aware of their spiritual state which was not where it needed to be.
They needed to hear the message of “repent.” They needed someone to turn them around and show them the way to go. Why? Because the kingdom of heaven is near. The reign of God’s power and grace was upon them. Sure God has always been reigning in the lives of his people, but this would be something new. This would be the fulfillment of God’s promises to save his people. This would be a time when Jesus would take human flesh and bring about the redemption of the world.
John the Baptist was a voice in the desert to bring people to repentance. He would preach of the power and grace of God’s kingdom. Then he would baptize those who repented, those who were genuinely sorry for their carelessness and wholeheartedly believed God’s pardon and peace. Here was John, a voice, a hand that God used to fill in the valleys and bring down the mountains. A voice, a hand that God used to prepare the way for the Lord.
Apparently this was a man worth listening to. Crowds of people were repenting and being saved through baptism. But not everyone was prepared. Not everyone came out to John with genuine motives and contrite hearts. We’re told that many of the Pharisees and Sadducees were coming out to be baptized too. Perhaps their insincerity was obvious, perhaps John was given the ability to see their hearts. Whatever the case his words were warranted.
He says to them, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? 8 Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. 9 And do not think you can say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham. 10 The ax is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.”
What John was doing out in the desert was no passing trend. He was not a here today gone tomorrow type of preacher. He had a serious message that could not be compromised, especially not for this self-righteous brood of vipers. John was exclusive. He was not open and accepting to anyone and everyone. If someone is not genuinely sorry for sin then they have no place with God.
John was not preaching something new, nor has his message died off over time. What John so boldly and sternly proclaimed for God rings in our ears today. The Pharisees and Sadducees should not think they have a place locked in heaven because they are children of Abraham. Nor should we think that by belonging to a church or being a Lutheran by name will get us any reward. The Pharisees and Sadducees should not think their self-righteous acts were making them look better before God. Nor should we think that we will be in heaven after we die because we tried to live a good life.
John says, “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance.” No one can escape God’s wrath by insincere outward religious acts. God in his holiness and righteousness wants nothing to do with sins we hold on to. God wants us to produce fruit, to live lives that show our hearts are changed. If your lives are not changed then neither is your heart. At least that is the conclusion we must make based not on the faith in your heart, for that is invisible, but based on the fruit in your life, for that is visible.
The kingdom of heaven is near. Prepare the way for the Lord. Hear and listen to the words of John who wants us to be ready for the coming Day of Judgment. He says, “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”
When John the Baptist spoke these words to the Pharisees and Sadducees he was giving them a chance too. He never stopped performing his main function even in the face of insincerity and carelessness. John points to the still present grace of the One coming after him. One far more powerful than he. In fact, John did not consider himself fit even to carry his sandals. The power of the One coming was so great that he would baptize with the Holy Spirit and with fire.
Jesus would wield this power as the Son of God. He would touch hearts and change lives by the creative work of his grace. It is Jesus who can take common, lifeless stones and raise up children for Abraham. That’s you and me. Common, in that we have no family line connection to Abraham. Lifeless, in that before Jesus baptized us with the Holy Spirit we were totally dead. But Jesus raised us up to be children for Abraham. Spirit children connected to Abraham because we share the same faith as he.
Jesus did not leave us to face God’s wrath alone. Jesus stepped in between us and God to face that wrath for us. Jesus won a battle we couldn’t win alone. Jesus did it all alone, once for everyone. Because of this grace and power we have forgiveness for all our sins. God does not see our carelessness or insincerity. He sees Jesus our perfect substitute and grants us pardon and peace.
It was with the knowledge of this salvation that John the Baptist could preach the words he did. He could prepare hearts and lives by pointing to the forgiveness which Jesus would soon bring. This is where we focus today. When we see John in the desert we hear his message and it changes our hearts and lives. We repent, turning away from whatever hinders, whatever distracts, whatever takes us away from the grace of God.
This life of repentance, day in and day out, has been ours since our baptism. The grace that saved us that day drowns our old self every day. We are free to live lives producing fruit in keeping with repentance.
Only God can test the sincerity of your heart. He knows when the fruit we produce is done out of faith. He knows whether we are prepared or not to face the day when Jesus will clear his threshing floor.
With all true believers we too will be gathered into the barn. By grace we will be saved from the unquenchable fire reserved for the unrepentant and unprepared. God made us children of Abraham to live lives of repentance. By faith the way for the Lord is prepared in our hearts and in our lives. Come, Lord Jesus!
Amen.

1st Sunday in Advent Pastor Nathan Fager
December 2, 2007 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Be Ready!
I. The Son of Man will come
II. You will not expect him
Matthew 24:37-44
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 40 Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. 41 Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. 42 “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. 43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A good practice after hearing the words of a preacher is to go back to Scripture on your own to test what he said. Was he accurate? Did he speak the truth? After this morning I want you to go read through Jesus’ words recorded in Matthew chapters 24-25. When you do that I have a feeling that a couple of things will happen. First, you’ll call me up on the phone and ask, “What does all this mean anyway?” Then, I’ll explain as best as humanly possible the signs of the end which Jesus foretells.
What I expect to happen next is that you will find a somewhat comfortable chair. Slowly you will sink down to sit. Your wide open eyes will focus on nothing in the air. And you will say to yourself, “This is it. I am living in the end times of the world. What Jesus has foretold continues to be fulfilled and he could come back at any time.” Now I don’t know if that’s how you take sudden revelations. But that’s how I picture this happening.
Perhaps, though, this won’t be a sudden revelation to you. After studying this portion of God’s Word again you’ll simply be reminded of what you already know. However, the truth of the matter is that you can’t come away from words like this without an attitude of haste. It’s time to be ready. It’s time to keep a steady watch until Jesus comes.
It’s not easy, though, to stay ready for Jesus. Questions run through our mind, “How long? If the signs are happening all around, then what’s the hold up? Why can’t he just tell us when he’s coming and leave the suspense out of it?” Distractions come up at home, at work, wherever and our steady constant watch becomes half-hearted. Over time we become blind to the signs and deaf to the warnings. We then loose our sense of haste and become unconcerned as we drift off to sleep closing our eyes that once were wide with anticipation.
If he’d have just told us when he was coming we would be even lazier. Then all of us would hang up our faith until just before the end. We’d wait to dust off our Bibles until we absolutely had to. Then, and only then, would we repent in sackcloth and ashes. Jesus would have meant nothing to us before then, so chances are we’d be alone, no family, no friends, no loved ones who could have stayed ready with us the whole time.
Well, wake up! Jesus gave signs of the end not to be overlooked but to remind us that the end is near. No, we don’t know the day or time. All we know is that it could be at any time. Do you have a sense of haste? I sure hope you do, otherwise the coming of the Son of Man will be like the flood that came in the days of Noah. As Jesus says starting at verse 38, “For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.”
The people of the world at the time of Noah were careless and free. They had nothing to worry about as long as there was no rain. Maybe the first passing shower or two raised an eyebrow, but it wouldn’t have taken long before the signs of certain destruction became meaningless. For the hundred and twenty years Noah spent building the ark the people were unconcerned. Noah was probably more a joke than a respected man of God. His words of warning would have fallen on deaf ears and hard hearts.
Instead of hearing words of repentance Noah would hear words such as, “How long now? When is this flood supposed to wipe us out? I don’t see any rain Noah, why don’t you just forget about this whole ark thing and get a life?” By the time God would send the rains and floodwaters there would be no excuse. The people of the world would have had their chance. They would get what they deserved for their godlessness.
And sure enough the day came when God closed Noah and his family inside the ark. The people outside didn’t stand a chance. They couldn’t get to the highest point in the world fast enough. It wouldn’t have mattered since that was eventually covered too. They couldn’t get a boat to flow well enough. They all would have perished. Noah and his family were prepared, they were ready, and they were saved. The others were unprepared, they were unsuspecting, and they were left behind for destruction.
The signs were there. Even if they didn’t speak with Noah about the coming flood they saw or heard about this massive ark and the miraculous gathering of animals. If they couldn’t see, it was their own blindness. If they couldn’t hear, it was their own deafness. If they couldn’t care less, it was their own hard hearts. But the signs were there.
Surely, Jesus encountered the same unbelief when he came the first time. His miracles pointed to divine power. His teaching pointed to divine wisdom. Prophecy after prophecy fulfilled pointed to him as the Christ. And still some people disregarded him. They were unconcerned with this blasphemer. And for that reason unprepared for the judgment they faced at their death. The unprepared face the consequence for their foolishness. No excuses. No second chances. Like the flood they are washed away into certain destruction.
What then will Jesus encounter when he comes the second and final time? Will the signs of the end be overlooked and disregarded? Will eyes be blind, and ears be deaf, and hearts be hard to the warnings all around? Or will his Word be taught in its truth and purity? Will there be those who stand up against persecution? Will there be those prepared and ready, watching and waiting, eager with anticipation as though nothing else in the world mattered?
The Son of Man surely will come. The floodwaters came when God said they would. Noah was saved and the world perished. The Last Day will come when God says it is time. Believers will be saved and the Godless world will perish. This time will come and it will come unexpectedly. Listen to what Jesus says in verses 40-41, “Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left.”
These people aren’t standing on a tall hill watching the clouds. They are busy doing what they would do any other day. The two men are out in the field most likely making a living. The two women are in the kitchen most likely making supper. And then comes the rapture, when one is taken and the other is left. At the coming of the Son of Man the world will be separated.
Who then are the ones taken and who are left behind? Think about Noah and the flood again. Who was taken there? Noah and his family. Who was left behind? The godless world. In the same way the Son of Man will take those to himself whom he wants to save. He will put them away in a place safe from the worldwide destruction he brings. As for those left behind, scripture is clear that there will be no second chances. They will come face to face with the Son of Man only to be swept away.
If only they had been ready. If only they had not made the foolish mistake that cost them eternity. If only they had kept a steady watch, then they too would have been taken. Surely that day will come unexpectedly. Jesus explains further in verse 43 and following, “If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him
Did the owner of the house care about his stuff? Surely he did. Did he want to get robbed? Absolutely not, no one does. But was he ready, did he keep a steady watch? He did not. And the thief came when he least expected it. The one night he didn’t lock the doors. The one night he didn’t set the alarm. The one night he dozed off and let down his guard, that was when the thief came and broke into his house.
The Son of Man is coming and you will not expect him. But that does not mean you cannot be ready. You can still be prepared so that you do not make a fools mistake and be caught with your guard down. You can still be one of those taken and not left behind. God gave Noah what he needed to be ready for the day of destruction. God saved Noah from the flood that wiped all life from the earth. God wants for us to be in this same place of safety.
While all else is destroyed on the last day we will be with God in heaven. When the Son of Man comes, whenever he comes, he will find faith on the earth. He will find you and me, men and women of God, and he will save us. We will be taken to our place of safety because God has given us what we need to be ready for the day of destruction. He has given us faith to believe and the means to strengthen and nourish that faith through the gospel.
With the firm grip of faith and constant exposure to the Word and sacraments we can be ready as Jesus encourages us when he says, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” Just as you set your house in order for Christmas see that you are ready for Christ’s second coming. The lights are glowing around the tree. So may your hearts be aglow with the light of Christ. The gifts are set with names already assigned. So may you find your name on the gift of God’s grace. The tree is decorated with ornaments and keepsakes. So may your life tell the story of the precious love of Christ.
As we prepare for Christ this Advent season, don’t just get ready, be ready. Yes, be ready for the demands of your busy life, but as of first importance be ready for the Son of Man. Confident you will be taken to a place of safety be watching and waiting. Eager with anticipation be ready as though nothing else mattered in the world.
Amen.

22nd Sunday after Pentecost Pastor Nathan Fager
November 4, 2007 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Pray Faithfully
I. God wants to hear your case
II. God will bring justice to you
Luke 18:1-8
1 Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. 3 And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ 4 “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, 5 yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7 And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Life is not fair. Our parents tried teaching us that ever since we were young. As soon as we were old enough to understand favoritism anything that didn’t go our way was a reason to cry out, “That’s not fair!” And our parents would reply, “Whoever said life was fair?” I wish I knew the answer to that one. I wish someone would have recognized it as a fact and recorded it for us to point to and say, “See, right here, it says life is supposed to be fair.” But no one ever said life was fair, and as long as we’re alive we will face injustices.
It doesn’t take long for any one of us to compare our lives with others and raise the question of fairness. It isn’t fair when we suffer while others thrive. My friend dies in the war while another’s comes home safely. Who made that choice? Something’s not right. My family struggles to pay the bills while another’s lives securely. Are they that much better than we? Something’s not right. My faith is persecuted, ridiculed, or questioned while another’s beliefs are tolerated and accepted. Who made that rule? Something’s not right. It isn’t fair when we suffer while others thrive.
How long will injustice and discrimination rule over our lives? How long will we cry out for relief and find none? We cry out to God in prayer, but why is he not listening? We put our lives in his hands, but why does he keep putting us off? We know he is just. He will do the right thing at the right time. We know vengeance is his. He will repay those who do wrong to us. We know he will defend the defenseless. He is on our side to fight with us and fight for us. But when? Why the wait?
God puts us into a spiritual wrestling match. Sometimes it’s like Jacob where we go at it all night long. Back and forth our emotions go from unwavering conviction to impatience and complaining. From time to time we pin God down and say, “Bless me! You’ve promised me relief, now come and come quickly!” At other times our faith wavers and in weakness we question God. Like the writer of Psalm 94 we cry out, “Does he who implanted the ear not hear? Does he who formed the eye not see? Does he who disciplines nations not punish? Does he who teaches man lack knowledge?” (9-10).
We question, but do we know the answer? Do we know the answer well enough to stand behind our prayers with faith? Today Jesus asks, “When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?” When that day comes, will we have learned and passed on to our children the need to pray and not give up? If you think your prayers are good for nothing, if you are about to lose heart is this heartless world, if you are waiting for justice to prevail for God’s chosen people, then listen again as Jesus tells a parable to teach us about faithful prayer.
Jesus starts by telling of a certain judge. No name to this man, just a judge. We are led to see him as unjust. Not a good quality for someone who is supposed to decide right from wrong. Jesus says he “neither feared God nor cared about men.” A rather selfish, self-serving, arrogant, and proud man. Jesus is not saying the whole legal system is corrupt, just this one judge.
Then, Jesus tells us of a widow. Again no name to this woman, just a widow. Apart from knowing that her husband has died we don’t know much about her. Was she poor? Probably. This would have made her that much less influential and therefore all the more uninteresting to this judge. If he wasn’t going to get anything out of this verdict, he could very easily turn her away.
The plea of the woman went something like this, “Grant me justice against my adversary.” We don’t know who had wronged this woman or how. But we do know it was bad enough that she wanted justice. She had had enough; and the legal system should support her to repay the wrong done against her. She was so convinced of this that she kept coming back. From time to time she would put this back on the judge’s plate only for him to refuse.
This process must have gone on for some time. It was a battle of wills. Will the woman stop coming if he keeps sending her away? Or will the judge give in and do his job? You’d think they had some kind of German heritage. Whose stubbornness would win out? Jesus continues, “finally [the judge] said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!’”
It wasn’t because of the widow’s solid case. It wasn’t because of a bothered conscience to do the right thing. The judge responded for his own peace of mind. She was getting on his nerves. She kept bothering him, literally this means hitting him under the eye. It was giving him a black eye. One more punch might knock him out. Enough was enough. The widow, who meant nothing to the judge, wore him down and she got justice.
As good Lutherans we ask, “What does this mean? What does this have to do with praying faithfully?” Jesus answers. Jesus explains the point of the comparison. He says, “Listen to what the unjust judge says.” This horrible, scum of the earth, unjust, and, yes, unfair judge finally brought justice to the widow who kept coming back. If justice had been served for all the wrong reasons by this selfish lowlife, then how will God treat us? Jesus says in verses 7-8, “…will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
Jesus told this parable not as a direct parallel but as a total contrast. God, our Judge, is not a selfish lowlife. God does not think like this worldly judge. The wickedness of this unjust judge is emphasized in order to contrast it to the goodness of our righteous God. He is righteous and just, he is fair and trustworthy, he is caring and loving.
The widow making her plea is set in contrast to you or I, God’s chosen ones. The widow meant nothing to the judge, she was poor and powerless, she was easy to turn away. How much different we are to God! We are his special creation by water and the Word. We mean everything to God. We are not poor and powerless, we are rich in mercy and influential to the almighty God. God can turn us away no easier than a father his hurting child. He wants to hear our case and bring us justice.
Another contrast is the widow’s plea set against what God expects from us. How do we approach our just and loving God? From time to time when it’s convenient? Only after we’ve had enough of the injustice happening around us? As a last resort? Or are we the ones who cry out by day and night?
Jesus can encourage this type of faithful prayer because he made it possible for us. Jesus defends the defenseless. As our substitute he approached the great Judge of the world to open the door. He cut through the red tape of God’s legal system and takes us right to the throne of God. Because of Jesus God forgives our sins of impatience and complaining. Because of Jesus we can pray faithfully to God with unwavering confidence.
God will hear our case. Whether in the middle of the day or in the middle of the night. The one who implanted the ear does hear. The one who formed the eye does see. The one who disciplines nations does punish. And the one who teaches man does not lack knowledge. He hears, he sees, he knows what is on your heart. He hears, he sees, he knows the injustice that happens all around us. And not only that, but Jesus says it in verse 8 so it must be true, “I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly.”
That last word is one of the hardest for our human minds to comprehend. When we say ‘quickly’ we snap our fingers and expect immediate response. But God does the right thing at the right time. That often means ‘not right now.’ But ‘not right now’ does not mean ‘not ever.’ It means ‘not yet.’ It means justice is coming, and it’s coming quickly. God may be patient with the world now, but there is an end. Justice will be served. As surely as Jesus says, it is true.
In the parable the widow saw justice in her lifetime. For us, justice may not come for generations after we die. Justice will not ultimately be served until the final Day of Judgment. On that day every offender will surely be brought to face punishment. That day and time have been set and are known by God. Until then, this world is on its last few breaths before death and decay take over and the vultures tear flesh from bone and leave nothing behind. We are here to wait for God to bring that justice. We are here to pray faithfully that that day will come quickly.
By God’s grace we are ready for that day. God made it possible for us to escape the judgment of this world. God chose us. He set us apart by faith to be holy and blameless in his sight. Those whom God has chosen will surely be sanctified. Those whom God has chosen will surely be glorified. Those whom God has chosen will surely have the image of God restored to them. Our Last Day will be a proud day, for on that day justice will be served.
When the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth? I believe he will. Because we have not given up praying faithfully. Nor have we forgotten to teach our children. With the unwavering confidence of faith we can pray day or night. We can be sure that God hears us not as a bothersome widow but as a dearly loved child. With a Judge like that we don’t give up. We understand that we should always pray. We pray faithfully. Amen.

Reformation Sunday Pastor Nathan Fager
October 28, 2007 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Romans 3:21-24,28
We Are Justified Freely
I. Who justified us
II. How he did it
III. Why it’s free
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
There’s not much you can get today free for nothing. Many of the nice things we enjoy came at a price. If you want something nice you have to work for it. You can’t expect the bike store to just give you the bike you want. You’ll have to pick up a side job to earn the extra cash to buy it. The cruise line will not just give you an all inclusive vacation. You’ll have to pinch and save until you’ve got enough to pay for it yourself. Gifts free for nothing are few and far between. Sure there’s Christmas and birthdays, but apart from that if you want something nice you’ll have to work for it.
Everything has a price tag on it, even your ticket to heaven. God won’t let everybody in. Some will have what they need to get in; others won’t. If you’re taking your chances that God will count you worthy of eternal life, you may not win. If you’re rolling the dice, so to speak, on the chance you’ll be one of the lucky ones, you might be surprised on the Last Day. Getting into heaven is not about chance or luck or just plain wishful thinking. If you’re banking your soul’s salvation today on the thought, “I hope I’ve done enough,” then you’re waiting for a reward that will never come.
God will not reward you or me or anyone for what we’ve done. That’s just not how he operates. If perfection were possible in us, then surely we’d have a chance. But today I stand here before you as one of you. Together our good lives all piled up together don’t amount to a hill of beans. Not one of us will have anything to say to God on the Last Day.
Every mouth who tries to say, “But I was better than so-and-so” will be silenced. Every mouth who tries to say, “But I tried harder and harder to be good” will be quieted. Every mouth who tries to say, “But look at all the good things I did” will be shut up as quickly as a disrespectful child before their parents. God will respond to us saying, “Don’t look at so-and-so, look at me! How much better are you now?” He will say, “So you think you’ve tried hard, but you still missed my mark of perfection.” He will say, “I can see not only the good things you did but every good thing you didn’t do, every spot and stain, every imperfection. You’re not good enough.” No one’s good enough.
Think of it this way. If getting into heaven meant jumping from one chair to the next, most of us could do that. We could count on our physical ability to clear the gap and make it to the other side. But if getting into heaven meant jumping from one chair to another chair on the other side of the room. Not one of us would make it. Even a world record long jumper would fall short. Some would get farther than others, but in the end, we all fall. It’s simply not humanly possible. God’s standard, his determining line cannot be met.
The cause of this is what we call sin, which means missing the mark. Even if we could jump far enough we have only one spot to aim for. Anything outside that mark is a miss. Anything apart from true perfection is not good enough. If getting into heaven means living a holy life then our chances are shot. You can wish all you want, but it won’t happen from anything in you. You can rely on luck, but the house always wins. There is only one way to be right with God, and that way can never come from us.
This message should not be new to you. If it is, don’t be surprised. God has been telling his people this ever since the beginning. Anyone who tells you differently is trying to sell you something. They are trying to make heaven your choice, your decision, your reward. They are trying to give you hope in a hopeless situation. Neither you nor I can choose, decide, or earn a right place with God. It’s not about you. It never has been, and it never will be, ever!
God tells us through the apostle Paul in Romans 3 starting at verse 21, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” And then in verse 28, he continues saying, “For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.”
The point Paul is driving home to the Christians in Rome is very simple. Paul could not be any clearer when talking about this important subject. He says that righteousness, that status of perfect and holy before God, comes from God. It’s not a matter of chance, nor luck, nor a simple wishful thinking. It’s not a matter of living a good life or working hard. Getting into heaven is only possible because God made it possible.
But how can this be true? Remember nice things come at a price. That’s the way it goes in life. If you want something you have to work for it, right? With God the answer is no. Check your human reasoning at the door. God’s ways are higher than our ways. And how fortunate we are because of that.
There was a moment in the life of the reformer Martin Luther that is worth remembering. As a student of the Word he was blessed to come across Romans chapter three. During this time in history, however, the people in the church simply believed what the church told them to believe. Only church leaders could understand and interpret Scripture so it’s better to just believe what the church believes. We call men like Martin Luther ‘reformers’ because they didn’t buy into that idea. Scripture belongs in the hands of the people. Let them see for themselves the truth of God’s Word.
Martin Luther was struck by the words of verse 28, “a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law.” He is remembered for writing in is Bible, which by the way is okay for you to do too. He wrote a word that would become the rallying point for Christians even today. He wrote the word ‘alone.’ “A man is justified by faith alone.” The word is not there in the Greek, but it doesn’t need to be. Paul said it clearer when he said “we are justified freely by his grace” and by saying this happened “apart from observing the law.” Paul could have written the word ‘alone.’ But instead he wanted to be crystal clear that there’s nothing else that makes us right with God. Faith alone.
And faith only receives. When you go home to eat lunch today think of faith like the cup or glass by your plate. The cup doesn’t choose to be filled up, that’s your choice. The cup doesn’t make itself worthy to be filled up, you just fill it up because you want to. Faith receives what God chooses to give to us free for nothing. We are filled up because God wanted to fill us up free for nothing.
And what then do we contain? What does faith hold on to? You know the answer to that one too. If you don’t, you shouldn’t be surprised. Paul tells us “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” He also says that we are justified “freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Our faith holds onto Jesus Christ, to his righteousness, and to the redemption he brought to us.
We believe that the price God demanded of us was paid in full. That is redemption. That is Jesus taking our place. That is Jesus living and Jesus suffering and Jesus dying for us. We trust that his righteousness is ours because he was raised back to life. He proved that we are now saved from our enemies of sin, death, and the devil. Not because we earned or deserved it, but because Jesus wanted to save us. Jesus wanted to make us right with God because he knew there was no other way.
The only way for us to be right with God was for God to make us right with him. Again, check your human reasoning at the door, because this makes no sense to us. Not one of us would invite our worst enemy over for dinner. Not one of us would throw a party for a repeat offender. Not one of us would give a precious gift to a persistent criminal. It’s not what we’re about. It goes against natural behavior.
But God is not a man. God acts above and beyond what any man is capable of. God acts in love. Love that is unasked, unforced, and unearned. The love we have experienced can only be what we call ‘grace.’ It was grace that brought God to send Jesus, grace that led God to punish Jesus, and grace that took what Jesus earned and gave it to us. In grace, God invites us to the feast of eternal life. In grace, God throws a party for us who believe. In grace God gives the precious gift of eternal life to us.
If it had not been for reformers like the man Martin Luther you may not be hearing me say this to you today. My message could be totally different. You would probably still hear how much of a wretched sinner you are. But you would not hear about grace free for nothing. You would hear motivational speeches to live a better life. You would be held accountable for all that you do or don’t do. You would think of God not as a loving father but as a righteous judge ready to punish you at a moment’s notice.
One interesting critique of Martin Luther’s sermons after the Roman Catholic Church kicked him out was that his messages contained little or no law preaching. He rather focused his listeners and readers on the clear message of the good news of grace free for nothing. We can understand that the people who listened to the Roman church for so many years had heard plenty of law messages. Martin Luther and others who broke away from Rome were eager to give what the people needed to hear. They needed to hear a message like Paul’s from Romans chapter 3. They needed to hear that God’s grace is a gift free for nothing.
Now I’m not saying we should stop preaching law and preach only gospel. There is still value in hearing the law. For us Christians the law has a new purpose. Yes, at times it will be used to crush the sins that rear up in us again and again. But especially now, to you and me who believe, the law serves as our guide through life. Not to tell us what to do to be saved. No one is saved by observing the law. But those who are saved, you and I, we use the message of the law to live lives that are pleasing to God.
God has given us a gift that is truly precious. He has filled us with faith to believe in Jesus Christ. How fortunate we are that the price for our salvation has been paid. He has earned for us a place with God in heaven. We have been redeemed. We have been justified. We have been made right with God by nothing in us, nothing from us, nothing through us; it was a gift free for nothing. Apart from Christmas and birthdays we get few other gifts free for nothing. The gift of righteousness that comes from God surpasses them all.
Amen.

21st Sunday after Pentecost Pastor Nathan Fager
October 21, 2007 Risen Savior Ev. Lutheran Church
Endure Everything for the Gospel
I. For His Word is powerful
II. And our faithfulness is rewarded
2 Timothy 2:8-13
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God’s word is not chained. 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Recently there was a show on TV called ‘Fear Factor.’ The premise for the show was that people would do anything to win the prize money. The show would challenge their participants sometimes physically but especially mentally. They would have to overcome their fears and endure horrifying and often disgusting things through the competition: eat cockroaches, get covered with snakes, dangle a hundred feet off the ground. Any phobia and many unthinkable acts were endured. You get the picture.
Some people were willing to endure anything just to win that money. They didn’t do it on a bet or for bragging rights or just a pat on the back, they wanted the money. It’s amazing what some people will do for money. It’s amazing what any one of us is capable of if the reward is worthwhile. As we say, you can do anything you put your mind to, and this is true also of your life as a Christian. God’s Word says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” God wants us to put our minds to living for him willing to endure everything for him.
Our lesson today from God’s Word is Paul’s encouragement to a fellow Christian to endure everything for the gospel. Having the first-hand experience, Paul knows that much suffering can happen for those who live for the gospel. He also knows it is possible for this suffering to deter us from seeing the reward for our faith. We may forget what we’re living for. We may not be willing to endure everything for the gospel. But Jesus had given Paul, young pastor Timothy, and each of us a reason to endure. We have a powerful Word that has saved us and a faithful promise of eternal life.
Paul lived each day of his Christian life with a willingness to endure everything for the gospel. This is rather impressive considering what Paul had to endure. His time spent as a missionary was often met by persecution, whippings, beatings, trial hearings, and jail time. Paul refers to that in verse 9 when he says “I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal.” No one thinks very highly of the criminals placed behind bars. Many thought of Paul that way. How shameful. How disgraceful. Mingling with the dregs of society, himself thought to be a threat and therefore chained like a criminal.
What would have easily deterred us only spurred Paul on to share the gospel even more. This horrible situation for Paul did not put an end to his gospel. He was prevented from speaking the gospel by being placed in chains. But the gospel he preached was not locked up with him. He says in verse 9, “yes, I may be in chains, But God’s word is not chained.” There is not one prison warden that can contain God’s Word. There is no cord you can use to bind this Word. It will go out. It will be proclaimed. Even with the worst persecution no man can command God’s Word into submission.
This speaks to the great power of God’s Word. It has a power that could never come from a human hand. We add nothing to the Word. Its power comes from outside of us. We call it God’s Word because it comes from God, it speaks of God, and it has the power to connect us to God. This is the Word that has been committed to us. This is the Word that we use to make more and stronger disciples for time and for eternity. Paul saw this great power of God’s Word and he let it loose getting out of its way to bring salvation to the elect.
Paul had such confidence in the power of God’s Word. It’s hard for us to imagine his endurance for the gospel. Not one of us here today faces what Paul had to face. It makes us feel privileged to be spared such suffering. It sure would be hard to endure similar testing in our lives. We may not be so willing to let the gospel loose if it means we have to endure suffering.
Does the fear of negative consequences cause us to get in the way of the gospel? Are we so willing to endure everything for the gospel? Do we not seek to put the gospel in chains? The Word can do nothing if it is only ink on a page. God’s powerful Word is useless unless the words become part of our lives.
How damaging it is to you when you selfishly chain the Word. If you separate yourself from worship you prevent God from feeding your soul. If you separate yourself from personal meditation you prevent God from strengthening your faith. If you separate yourself from group Bible study you prevent God from equipping you with training to endure. Is it really not worth your time and energy to make God’s Word part of your daily life? Are there really that many things more important than letting God work in your life?
And what about the lives of those around you? You separate your friends and family from God’s saving food when they are not here with you. You separate them from God’s strength when you point them to the comforts of this world. You separate them from spiritual training when the Bible sits on a dusty shelf instead of in your hands as a daily tool. Is it really too much work to point others to God’s powerful Word? Is God’s Word really not worth suffering for?
Yes, it is true that the Word cannot be put in chains. But that gives us no reason to neglect it in our lives. Keeping the Word out of our lives is like leaving your medicine on the shelf. You are sick. You wake up every day with the need to be made well again. The medicine waits to be taken. But it will not inject itself into your body. You need to take it. You need the Word to heal you, to take your sickness of self away. The power to save you is in the Word because of the sum and substance of the Word.
I am talking about Jesus who is the Christ. Every page of God’s holy Word points to Jesus. He is the central theme and purpose. Without Jesus, the Word would mean nothing. It would, then, truly be just another book on the shelf. But the Word of God is the Word of life. Jesus did save you. God’s Word tells us this is true. Jesus was the fulfillment of the promised king a descendant of David. Not to rule on earth but to take his place in our hearts.
As the great victor over sin and death Jesus rose from the dead. He proved to us all that sin has been removed. Our selfish neglect of God’s Word, our foolish priorities, and our muted tongues have all been forgotten. Surely death cannot keep us. Satan has no power over us. Jesus saved us. He made it possible to obtain salvation.
God’s Word is not in chains. It continues to go out and change the lives of God’s people. If this Word can remove our sin and give us salvation, is it not worth suffering for? Will we not endure everything for the gospel? Will we not consider our lives as unimportant except to share this good news? Our lives are very precious to God. So precious that he sacrificed his one and only Son to save us. And now we endure everything for the gospel. Paul says in verse 10, “Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.”
We want nothing more than to get the Word out to the elect. It is worth our time and energy to make the Word part of our daily lives. It is worth the pain and suffering to speak the gospel to others. Paul was not afraid to let the Word loose. He was fearless of the negative consequences. He trusted that God’s Word is powerful. He trusted in his reward. From the shameful, disgraceful prison cell, chained to the wall we hear Paul speak of his confidence in God. God is faithful and those who remain faithful to him are rewarded.
Paul gives a wise word in verses 11-13, “If we died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us; 13 if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.”
Notice Paul’s change in his words here. He had been speaking about himself and his willingness to endure everything for the gospel. He set himself as a prime example to follow. We may not be called to endure what Paul endured. We will each have our own suffering. But what Paul says here includes us all together. This is no longer Paul’s example; this is what is true for every one of us.
First, we are dead. By very fact that we believe in Christ we are connected to his death. His death is ours through faith. Not to borrow for a little while and then to return. Not to rent for a year or two and then buy our own. We own Christ’s. His death is ours. We have no death to die because we died with him.
And since that is true, what must also be true is that we will live with him. He has been raised from the dead. He sits at the right hand of his Father in heaven. Life is what we get. Paul says if we endure, we will also reign with him. After a life of being put down and crushed, in heaven we will be on top. Together we escape what we endure on this earth for the gospel. In heaven we will reign.
But Paul points out that this is not for everyone. Some will not reign. Some will not endure everything for the gospel. Just as the faithful will be rewarded, it is just as true that those who disown will be disowned. “I don’t know the man.” Sound familiar? It should. The great rock of the church, the apostle Peter, at one time disowned his Lord. Three times he broke his suffering Savior’s heart. Peter did not acknowledge his friend. But Peter, we know, repented. He turned to God for strength to overcome his weakness. And he became faithful.
Some will say “I don’t know the man” and stick to it. Unlike Peter, they will permanently deny Jesus. God will not have anything to do with those who want nothing to do with him. God is faithful. Even if we are faithless, he is faithful. He won’t change his mind. He won’t suddenly let everyone who faithlessly disowned him reign in heaven. That reward is saved for those who acknowledge him, who live for him, who endure everything for him.
Yes, God is faithful and will punish the faithless, but in that same faithfulness he will reward the faithful. You don’t need to sit in a prison with chains to be worthy of heaven. You don’t need to endure what Paul endured to earn a place with Jesus. God will reward you for your faithfulness. He wants you to say, “I know the man.” He wants you to share that confession with everyone you know every day of your life. He wants to hear you on the Last Day say, “I know the man. He is Jesus, my Savior, my King, my reason for living, my reason for dying, my reason for enduring everything for the gospel.”
In the TV show ‘Fear Factor’ there was only one winner. The other participants would endure horrifying and disgusting things often for nothing, no runner up prize only a pat on the back. Everyone who endures the suffering in this life for the sake of the gospel will see the reward of their faith. Our reward is greater than any amount of prize money. Our reward is eternal life with Jesus in heaven. On the Last Day we will be taken out from under the burdens of this life and given a place of honor at the right hand of Jesus. That is worth living for. That gives us reason to endure everything for the gospel. Amen.

EVERY LIFE FOR CHRIST—-NAO Phase Four

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, grace and peace to you.
There’s a saying that goes, “Children should be seen but not heard.” Wouldn’t that be nice? If only our children would never interrupt the conversations of adults. If only our children would never talk back to a person older than they are. Quite often the case is that children want to be the center of attention. “Watch me,” or “See what I can do,” are commonly heard when a child has taken center stage.
The point of the saying “children should be seen and not heard” is that when in the presence of adults the child should be listening not showing off. But this is not to show our children they are unimportant. This is not to downplay the profound thoughts a child may have. Their simple understanding may at times be valuable and worth listening to. But at times it is best if a child learns from the adults around them.
By using the rule “children should be seen and not heard” adults take on a very important role. We do a lot of teaching with both our words and the personal example of our lives. This is true in our lives at home and at church. Wherever we are, we should think that little eyes are watching. They are learning behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs at all times. How important it is to teach about the important things in life. A child who learns this may someday share it with others, perhaps their own children.
Jesus too spent time with children. He would take a break from his adult company and let the children be seen and heard. He said once, ‘let the little children come to me and do not hinder them for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.’ He taught children, and the adults around them, about the really important things in life – about believing in him and living for him. He showed that all people are important. And that we all have a very important mission to fulfill. This was a lesson Jesus taught again and again both to children and to adults.
But this was nothing new. Every life, young and old, is a life for Christ. Children have been learning that for thousands of years. From one generation to the next the message of believing in Christ and living for him has been preserved. Let me tell you about a little girl that had learned that very well. Listen now to 2 Kings 5:1-3.
Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the LORD had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy. Now bands from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
They came charging into her village…the sound of those hooves would never leave her mind because they changed her life forever. She had heard about them and had learned to rightfully fear them. Those men were evil. They looted the homes and then probably burned them, killing the adults, maybe even her mother and father. They grabbed our little girl and hauled her off with the other loot, because little girls made good slaves for rich men’s wives.
We don’t really know whether her parents lived or died that day. But this we know: they had already made a significant difference in their young daughter’s life. They had raised her to know God and his word. She knew about God’s promises and even knew the name of God’s preacher in those days, a man named Elisha.
Now she is living in the land of those she had learned to fear. No loving parents around her, protecting and caring for her. Even the language is different. She’s a slave now. She knows what beatings are. She knows she has no choice but to do exactly as she’s told. And it would be so easy to hate every minute of her life, hate those who stole her future, hate this whole country she’s in, and despise her master and mistress, doing only what was required from her and aching for the day when she could escape. She hears no more words about the true God…only what she remembers from her parents. But God’s word had had a powerful effect on her.
Her master was a very powerful man as the top general in the army of Syria. God had even been using him to bring military victories to Syria. He was a tremendous soldier. However, he had leprosy. Leprosy is a slowly progressing bacterial infection that destroys the skin, peripheral nerves in the hands and feet, and mucous membranes of the nose, throat, and eyes. Sometimes the fingers and toes become mutilated and fall off, causing the deformities that are typically associated with the disease. You can imagine how much that man wanted to be healed of his leprosy. He probably contacted every doctor he could. Imagine the picture of this proud and powerful man, slowly losing his life to disease and can’t do a thing about it.
This slave girl could very easily have kept her mouth shut. She could have kept to the rule ‘be seen and not heard.’ She could have thought “It serves him right? He’s getting what he deserves for the kind of life he lives as a pagan and slave-owner?”
How do we respond to a cruel and unjust world around us? There is probably more injustice in our world today than you are aware of. In so many places it is hard to even teach God’s word. China persecutes many faithful Christians, in India, Hindu extremists burn Christian villages and kill the people there, and in the Muslim lands it is forbidden to speak about Jesus…they might even cut off your head if you do.
In our own country, godlessness is running wild. More and more of our young people seem to be losing their faith. They are being bombarded with constant messages that teach that God is either not real or not relevant. For many, POP CULTURE often replaces Christian culture and becomes the driving force in people’s lives. Jesus is absent from all this. How do you respond?
While our world has a great deal of sin and evil in it, that’s nothing new. In the days of our text, not only was Syria a pagan country, even the king of Israel, God’s own special nation, was a pagan! Yet God did not let his people nor his Church disappear from the earth.
Rather, he works through his word to help us see that the problem is within us. It’s our sin, our own personal sin that needs to be dealt with. The apostle Paul once wrote, “FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST AND TO DIE IS GAIN” (PHI 1:21). If you haven’t memorized that passage you still know that it’s true. And yet, it’s getting more difficult to LIVE YOUR OWN LIFE FOR CHRIST! Yes, we hate what’s happening in our own spiritual lives. Sure we wish there were more godly influences around. We find it easy to condemn the world, but powerless to make necessary changes.
You struggle to both read and meditate on God’s word…and your life is showing it. You know you should be sharing Jesus with everyone you meet…and you meet many people….but it’s become too hard for you to do it…and you offer the usual excuses: “I don’t know what to say…afraid I’ll say something wrong…I’ll look like a fool!”
Even your children or grandchildren don’t seem to know much of God’s word or care about it all that much….it’s become difficult to talk about God around your house… maybe they even turn away when you bring up Jesus. You are finding yourself too tired (or maybe too disinterested) to get involved any more in your church…you have the gifts… your family have the gifts… but even the guilt at letting God down is not motivating you any more.
Search your heart and see your sin. Sorrow will be natural as we grieve our pagan tendencies. All that we have left to do is repent. Together you and I turn to God for forgiveness. For when we confess our sins “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 JN 9).
God does this for the sake of another Child servant. He too came from a different place. Only this Child was a perfect one, come from heaven to earth, God’s one and only Son: The Messiah that Elisha preached about. The promised Savior that our little girl held firmly in her heart. “He made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness"(PHI 2:7).
He carried out his servanthood to the max…as the One who took the evil, the guilt, and the sin in us and transferred it all to himself. He became sin for us and faced His Heavenly Father with the guilt of all squarely on his back, Hitler’s, Stalin’s, every Muslim extremist, and even yours and mine. And in his death, our sins were all covered, all paid for, all wiped from our account. What a life lived for us!
“For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit” 1 PE 3:18. And that’s how we know, just as that little slave girl knew, that heaven is in store for us. We are going to actually get to meet her because Jesus rose from the dead, proving that his service, his sacrifice, was absolutely enough to cover us all.
God has worked the miracle of faith in our hearts just as he worked in that little girl’s heart more than 2800 years ago. He’s never stopped working faith…through his word! We believe in Jesus! And that faith has changed and is changing our lives. More and more we are realizing that the most important thing in this life is to know Him and then to show Him to others. In other words: Every Life for Christ.
Our little nameless girl in Syria was all alone with only God to help her, only her memory of the passages she had learned very young in life to strengthen her faith, and only a heart hoping for the Messiah, the long-promised Savior. And He is enough!
God was doing something in her life. Instead of cursing the general, she cared about him. Instead of playing it safe, she risked sharing her faith. Verse 3: She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
A little slave girl in a foreign pagan country found the courage to speak. We don’t know how she knew Elisha would actually heal him. That must have come straight from God. But her mistress and her master…and even the pagan king were moved to respond. We can conclude that this little girl was believable…that she had demonstrated it time and again. Perhaps it was the loving service she gave this family, her Christian servant attitude of helpfulness. Perhaps it was her visible confidence in her Savior God, her faithful prayer life, her reciting some of her memory verses, her REALNESS as a consistent believer.
We don’t know. We give God the full credit for all this, as he was definitely using her as part of a plan far bigger than she was. The little girl’s words didn’t bring the great general to faith. Her life and words certainly had an effect on him. But it was later, through the miracle and the prophet’s words, that the general became a believer. Her words got him started on that journey! She not only knew; she was truly practicing Every Life for Christ…as a natural part of the life God had nurtured in her.
God wants to use all of us Christians in his great work of reaching people with the gospel! He gives us new eyes with which to see our world, just as he did with this little girl. Instead of hating the world and all the pagans around us, we see this world as one trapped in and by sin and the devil…. and everyone around us as precious souls for whom Jesus has already died. Sure, we’re tempted to keep our mouths shut. But for Jesus’ sake we want to share this life in Christ and heaven with this world!
This little girl’s life and witness and the rich blessing He gave to them provide a model for us. Powered by the gospel, each of us on our own, each of us together with our congregation, and each of us together with our fellow WELS congregations, work to teach and spread the good news of Jesus. Let that gospel start in us and continue through us all across this continent and around the world! Every Life is for Christ!
Amen.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What do people look for in a church? Let’s just say for a moment that you’re not a confessional Lutheran. What kinds of things might you expect to find in a church? Most surely you would find someone who leads the people, like a pastor. Perhaps you would look for a good speaker or one who is outgoing. Another aspect of a church would be a place to gather. Perhaps you would look for nice padded pews or maybe a high church steeple. A third and important aspect of the church may be the people. Are the people welcoming and inviting, did someone learn your name, or is there a group you can get involved with?
Now, I asked you to think as though you are not a confessional Lutheran. I only suggested that so you could think of the non-spiritual aspects of a church. But it doesn’t take a confessional Lutheran to know what to look for in a church. You can find all sorts of leaders with all sorts of people in all sorts of buildings. But the difference between any other group of people and a church is that a church has a spiritual purpose for gathering together. You are not here because of the padded chairs. You are not here because of one particular leader. You are not here because of the people. You are here because this is where the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity.
Where the Word is taught will there be nice buildings? Not always, but most of the time, yes! Where the Word is taught will there be leaders trained to know and speak that word? More than likely, yes, and we would look for them to teach and preach rightly! Where the Word is taught will there be people? We would surely hope so! People who gather around the Word, that’s what the church is.
What kind of people, though, could we expect to be in a church? Well, here again we have to be careful what we think we can expect. In reality, all we really can expect is that these people will be people. Obviously we would think of them all as Christians, but God knows there can be weeds among the wheat. Very likely we want them to be friendly and welcoming, but that’s more a personality trait than what every Christian is expected to do. With this in mind, we know that the people who make up a church are still people. People who are not perfect, people who have powerful enemies, and people who all battle daily temptations.
Our spiritual enemies would love for us to live and act as though we we’re not Christians. The world, for one, would love it if we cared more about it than about our souls. Then we would be out to better ourselves while others are in need. The devil, another enemy, would love it if we only prayed and meditated on God’s Word for one hour on Sunday. The rest of the time would be his while we snuff out the fire till next Sunday. Our own flesh, a third powerful enemy, would love it if we gave into our natural desires. Then we could become numb to our conscience and do whatever makes us feel good. Our enemies love to see us fall short.
Not only do the people who make up a church fail to live rightly but also we are tempted to corrupt the pure Word of God. All it takes is for the pastor to slip into one false teaching, then the rest of the purity of God’s Word would be in jeopardy. How would you know if I, as your pastor, spoke the truth? How could you tell right from “well, that sounds right”? How can you keep the Word of God pure if you never open your Bible to check? How can you train your children to know right from “well, that sounds right” unless you as parents and grandparents teach them?
The people who make up the church do not live as God wants them to nor do they stay true to the Word. They are sinners through and through. And not people in some other church. I’m talking about you and me. But in the Apostles’ Creed we confess, “I believe in the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints.” We would not confess this gathering of Christians to be holy and saints, if they were only sinners. Remember that a church is made up of people who gather around the Word. The Word of God is no insignificant thing. The Word of God is the power of salvation for everyone who believes.
There is power in the Word, power to change hearts and lives, power to take what once was imperfect and make it holy. It is through the Word that sinners become saints. Paul writes to believers as saints, “From the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Thessalonians 2:13,14).
In the Word, God reveals himself to us as a God of love. In the Word, we learn about Jesus, who he was and what he did. In the Word, we discover that the faith to believe in Jesus and the power to understand did not come from anything inside of us. Instead, we learn about the Holy Spirit and what he did to make us holy.
It was nothing you did to receive your salvation. You did not decide that this was true. You did not choose to have Jesus come into your life. You did nothing actively to accept this gift from God. You couldn’t, you simply weren’t able. God’s Word says, “The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14).
You did not make yourself holy. That was the work of the Holy Spirit. God came to you, not the other way around. God’s Word says, “You did not choose me, but I chose you” (John 15:16). The only way any one of us could say, “Jesus is Lord” is by the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:3). He opens our hearts to believe. He plants the seed and makes it grow. He gives the power to the Word.
The Holy Spirit makes me holy by turning me around. This is what we call conversion. Before the Holy Spirit came we were on the way that only leads to hell. That was all we cared about then. Our eyes were on worldly things. Our ears were open to the devil’s lies. Our bodies did whatever felt good. But the Holy Spirit grabbed us by the hand and turned us around. He got our eyes off worldly things to see the road to heaven. He muffled our ears to the devil so that we can only hear the truth of Jesus. He teaches us to offer our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.
The Holy Spirit makes me holy by giving me a second birth. This is what we call rebirth or regeneration. We were born again. When water was connected to the Word at Baptism we started a new life. We didn’t enter our mother’s womb a second time, but the story is the same. Just as we did nothing to come into this life the first time we did nothing to be born again. Just as life changes drastically outside the womb so our life takes a drastic change from a life of sin to a life of holiness as saints.
The Holy Spirit makes me holy by bringing me back from the dead. This is what we call quickening or our first resurrection. Before the Holy Spirit came we were dead, no breath of life, no blood pumping through our veins, nothing going on in that gray matter between the ears – dead. You can’t tell a corpse to choose life. You can’t tell what is not alive to decide to live. But by the power of the Holy Spirit, who is God, the miracle of life takes place. Because of the Holy Spirit we have life now and in heaven.
This is what the Holy Spirit has done for you. He has turned you around, given you a second birth, brought you to life. This makes you a member of the Church. No, not this congregation, not this specific location. You are part of the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints. You are a member of an invisible church where only God knows those who are his. Along with all other true Christian believers you are holy. This is the church Paul spoke of when he said, “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27).
Do you think of yourself in that way? Radiant! Without stain or wrinkle! Holy and blameless! No matter what you’ve done or how often you’ve done it, this is true. Because of the love of God, the work of Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit this is true for you. This too we confess to believe in the Apostles’ Creed when we say we believe in the forgiveness of sins. God does not see your sins. As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed your iniquity from you (Psalm 103). He only sees saints in you. He only sees holiness in you.
The Holy Spirit makes me holy by not only creating faith to believe this is true but also by living in me and through me with his heavenly gifts. Yes, I have forgiveness. What is more I have peace with God. I have the certain hope of everlasting life. I have the joy that the world cannot give, where? Down in my heart, down in my heart to stay. I’ve got the love of Jesus. I’ve got the comfort of my God. I’ve got all these things as gifts of the Spirit, as fruits that grow from faith.
Through faith we stay connected to the Holy Spirit who keeps making us holy. We are not sent to find our own nutrition from the soil. We are not sent to find our own water to make us grow. The Holy Spirit comes to us and continues to see that we grow strong, that our roots grow deep and are nourished, that our fruit becomes obvious for all to see. Our strength and nourishment comes from his Word. The very Word the Spirit used to create faith he uses to increase our faith. We grow daily in his Word.
That is the benefit of this visible church. In this congregation you are surrounded by fellow Christians who also want to study the Word and make it their own. In this congregation you are led by a well-trained student of the Word who strives to teach and preach the Word in its truth and purity. In this and other congregations like it you have encouragement from the Holy Spirit to live a holy life.
People will always have their reasons for joining one church over another. Some people will want pretty buildings, others will want energizing programs. Although these are good in and of themselves, they are not the reason you are part of the church. You are part of the Christian church on earth through faith in Jesus. The Holy Spirit gave you this gift and continues to fill you with all good things. As you use the gifts given to you for the benefit of the church you touch the lives of the people in this congregation, a group of people who gather around the Word of God. Amen.

I believe in Jesus… who… descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
I imagine the day to be not much different than a day like today. A pleasant spring day in the month of May would have had comfortable temperatures and fair weather. Partly to mostly cloudy with a soft breeze. Flowers starting to bloom. The view from the Mount of Olives would have been clear to the top of the hill across the valley. The eleven disciples could easily look to the city of Jerusalem, where their Lord and Savior went to end his humble service to all mankind. After the cloud hid him from their sight perhaps their minds were racing back to the day Jesus came to them alive three days after his suffering, death, and burial.
Here they stood forty days after that miraculous resurrection. The surprising entrance and peaceful words from Jesus in that upper room were surely burned into their memories. There he stood in flesh and bones, not a ghost, but their risen Lord. They had no reason ever to doubt again his truly divine nature as God’s Son. They had every reason to trust that his worldly mission was finished and he was their Savior. Jesus was a man of his word and life was now waiting for them after death just as surely as Jesus came to life after his death.
How deeply their hearts ached to keep this Jesus with them. So much had changed in those brief three years. Their lives were turned around and heading in a totally new direction. Fishermen were no longer fishermen. A tax collector no longer a tax collector. After Jesus came into their lives everything was different. They were committed to following Jesus, listening to him, learning from him. But now he’s gone. He went up. Where did he go? What’s he doing? What’s the rest of the story?
The clouds above hid him from their sight. Surely they were still scanning the sky to see where he went. I see them speechless wondering who would be the first to speak. I see them motionless wondering who would be the first to walk away. Then they heard a voice say, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11).
The voice of angels, sent to relay a message, sent to both explain and give us all a confident hope. They spoke of the place where Jesus went. Jesus was taken back into the heaven from which he came. He had no more reason to remain on earth. His mission was accomplished, his task completed. The humble service for which he was sent was finished on the cross. He paid the price for sin, breathed his last, and his body was laid lifeless in the tomb. After all this, the Father exalted him.
The details of Jesus’ exaltation are, again, confessed in the Apostles’ Creed. With confidence we confess these words printed on your bulletin insert: I believe in Jesus… who… descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. With these words we confess to believe in a victorious march through the streets of hell. We believe that a lifeless body was brought back to live in glory. We confess that God the Father gladly welcomed Jesus back into heaven.
Oh what a celebration that would be. A triumphant king returning to his throne. The battle was over and the victory won. The shouts of praise and acclamation would surely be a magnificent sound to hear. It makes you wonder if those angels talking to the disciples missed any part of the celebration. And yet they had this important message to relay. With their words the silence was broken. With their words the feet of the disciples were set in motion. With their words the church was given a confident hope of seeing Jesus again.
But while they waited to see Jesus again, the disciples did not need to stand there looking into the sky. They could know where he was, what he is doing, and that he would come again. The angels made clear to them that Jesus was in heaven. So what then was he doing? Was he taking a break? Taking it easy? After all, his mission was completed. True enough, he had completed one task, but now Jesus assumes a totally new responsibility.
In heaven again Jesus has received great power. God’s Word says, “[God] seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion…. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church” (Ephesians 1:20-22). In order for Jesus to accomplish his new responsibility he was given power over all things. The powers of this earth belong to him. The powers of heaven belong to him. Everything has been placed under his feet for him to rule as he sees fit.
With this great power Jesus can do whatever he wants. And he wants nothing more than to use his power for the benefit of his church. There are two passages from God’s Word that tell us what Jesus does for us in heaven. The first is this, “If anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One” (1 John 2:1). When we know that Jesus rules everything for the church, that means of course the people who make up the church. That means you and me.
Our greatest asset is to have Jesus pleading our case in heaven because the people who make up the church are not always good people. Don’t think so much about the person sitting next to you. Think about the person who stares at you in the face when you look in the mirror. We all struggle against sin every day. It’s different for everyone. Some of us may struggle with standing up for what is right in the face of pressure to do what’s wrong. Others of us may struggle to be diligent in the study of God’s Word and prayer. Still others may find something better to serve than his Lord first and foremost.
These and so many others are the sins that we commit every day. But as we know and believe these sins have been forgiven. Our sincere sorrow and heartfelt desire to repent is met every time with forgiveness. God does not count our sins against us because Jesus stands up for us. He says, “God, you punished me in their place. Now let them live.” And God, who is faithful to his promises, hears our defense and gives us life.
This is our confident hope: that heaven is our home. The second passage that tells of what Jesus does for us in heaven is this: Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am” (John 14:2,3). Jesus knows we are coming, so he is there to get things ready. He is making our bed, setting our place at the table, opening up his house, making it available for us when we will join him.
Not only does Jesus make ready our home in heaven, but also he ensures that we will reach that blessed end. He surely creates the faith in our hearts to believe in him. He surely protects us from evil and delivers us from harm. He surely sends his Holy Spirit into our lives to preserve us in faith. Our greatest weapon is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God. Our greatest shield is the faith we profess. As God’s Word say, “The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom” (1 John 2:1).
Our place in heaven cannot be taken away from us, not when we are cared for by our loving Lord Jesus. Our only concern is that we remain steadfast in him. And we know that this is our greatest concern for the end is coming soon. Either we will meet death in this life or we will still be alive when Jesus comes again. Whichever the case may be, the end can come at any time. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:42,44).
So he’s coming back. The angels said Jesus would come back just as we had seen him go into heaven. That means visibly. That means physically, powerfully, and in a magnificent display of glory. His primary task will then be to judge the living and the dead. He will no longer need to plead our defense before the Father; that time will be over. He will no longer need to prepare our place in heaven; on this day heaven will be filled.
Instead he comes to judge. All will stand before his judgment seat, every man woman and child who ever lived. Some will be judged guilty of eternal death because they do not believe. Others will be judged not guilty because of their faith in Jesus. As God’s Word says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:18).
With only these two judgments possible should we not be busy preparing? But this means more than getting our own house in order, going to stand on a hill, and waiting for Jesus to return again. The angels didn’t say sit down and wait here. They asked, “Why are you standing here looking into the sky.” Implying that there’s work to do. Jesus said as the Father has sent me I am sending you. So go! And that’s what the disciples did. They went to share the good news starting in Jerusalem. Then after Pentecost the good news spread to Judea and Samaria. The good news went out to all nations of the world.
We prepare for Jesus’ second coming in the same way. We get our eyes out of the sky and set our feet in motion. We break the silence by sharing the good news right where we are and throughout the world. Our work will be done when Jesus says it’s time to be done. Either he will take us from this world in death. Or he will come again on the Last day and take all believers home with him forever. If you are ready to go, great! Now let’s work together to get others to be ready to go too.
Yes, Jesus has gone. He left this world visibly when he ascended into heaven. But he has not left us alone. He lives and reigns in the hearts of believers. Our exalted Jesus lives and reigns for me using his power for my benefit and for the benefit of the church. As we remember Jesus today in his state of exaltation we take comfort to know that heaven is our home. What is more we know he will come back and then on that day we can stand up, lift up our heads to the sky, and know our redemption is near. God bless and keep us all until that day through the grace and power of our Lord Jesus.
Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Five days ago was the day called Juneteenth. The celebration of this Day always comes in the middle of the month of June somewhere around the 19th. Has anyone here ever celebrated Juneteenth Day? If you haven’t, then you have missed remembering an important time in American history. This day has much to do with freedom for those who once were slaves. Abraham Lincoln had declared the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. However, the word didn’t reach the slaves in Texas until General Gordon Granger read the proclamation on the 19th of June, 1865, after the war had ended. We can only begin to imagine the celebration that would have erupted in Galveston, Texas, with such good news.
This newfound freedom was the most important thing for those slaves. A great victory had been won for their sakes. And as we know this victory came at a high price. An intense war was fought and precious lives were lost during our Civil War. And yet the result of this conflict led to a preservation of the freedoms that we as Americans hold so dearly today. God only knows what our county would look like today if we never set the slaves free.
How much does freedom mean to you? I would think we might take our freedom for granted. But this is only because we have never felt as though we had been without it. Who here can say he’s ever been a slave. Haven’t we always been in control of our own destinies? Haven’t we always been our own masters? Haven’t we always set our own boundaries and lived by our own rules? Well, have we?
It may come as a surprise to you when I say that each of us was born as a slave. Our slavery was far different than belonging to a plantation owner in the South. Our slavery called for a great and precious price to be paid in order to win our freedom. But this price could not be paid in silver or gold. Our slavery could not be overcome by any human effort. So what type of slave master had such a hold on us?
Let’s turn to God’s Word for the answer to this question. First we hear this, “Every one who sins is a slave to sin” (John 8:34). Who is the master here? Sin. And who is the slave? Everyone who sins. That’s a pretty big group of people. In fact you can safely say that this includes us all. Not one of us can claim to be without sin. That means each one of us has fallen short of God’s perfect will at one time or another. Only a perfect life deserves to be free. The rest of us, well, we belong to our slave master.
And what a slave master sin is. We all know how merciless and cruel this master can be. We are tormented day after day with whips and beatings, with guilt and curses. Sin has its powerful grip on us from which we cannot escape. Sin bends us to his will leading us to do what we know is not right. Sin is strong, strong enough to cause us more pain and suffering. Seldom is this felt physically, but our soul and spirit feel the brunt of the weight. A heavy burden is placed on our backs, a burden that weighs us down and holds us captive, the burden of certain condemnation.
Slavery is real for each one of us. We do what we don’t want to do. We want to give our firstfruits to the Lord, but we give the leftovers instead. We want to help share Jesus with our neighbors, but we leave that for others to do. We want to avoid places and people that promote bad character, but we join in because it’s fun and entertaining. We know it’s wrong but we do it anyway. And why? The reason is because you and I are slaves to sin. So easily we bend and give in to our master.
Sin, though, is only one of our masters. God’s Word points out another dark and powerful slave driver when is says, “Death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12). If you think you can avoid sin, watch out, because you cannot avoid the inevitable consequence to your sinfulness, death. Death waits for us all. His greedy arms have taken in every living person before us, he will take each of us, and not one after us can avoid meeting death face to face. Not only physical death, but for the sinner awaits eternal death in hell. You cannot do anything to break free from these bonds. Death has you and will not let you go.
How bleak and dark is our walk through this life. We are slaves to masters from which we cannot escape. And if sin and death weren’t enough for you to realize your lost and condemned state, we have one more master who lords his power over us. God’s Word says, “He who does what is sinful is of the devil” (1 John 3:8). This powerful angelic being who was cast from heaven has no hope of heavenly glory. He has met his judgment and lives in the eternal torments of hell. He wants nothing more than to get us to join him there. One sin makes us his own. One sin causes rejoicing in this place of suffering. One sin is all it takes for your freedom to be lost and to belong as a slave to him who holds the power of death.
Every day the shadow of your slave masters looms over you. “Get back to work. You’re mine, and you’ll do what I tell you to do.” How great is our sinfulness. How costly is the price that will set us free. If you think you’ve got what it takes in yourself, you’re wrong. God’s Word says, “No man can redeem the life of another or give to God a ransom for him – the ransom for a life is costly, no payment is ever enough” (Psalm 49:7,8).
What is the price to free a slave today? If you worked and saved your money, you may just have enough to pay for one man. I don’t know the going price for a slave and to be honest I really don’t want to know. But we can assume that the price to free every slave would simply be insurmountable. The lives that were lost to win the victory in the Civil War were enough to bring freedom for the slaves in our country. But what about the world? What if every person was a slave? What price could be given for us?
No man can fight and win the victory of freedom for another. No man, save one. This one precious life, when it was given, paid the full ransom price to redeem the lives of all people. By faith we know this precious life to belong to the holy Son of God. We confess to believe in this life that was given to set us free when we speak the words of the Apostles’ Creed. Again these words are printed on your bulletin insert and begin with the words, “I believe.” Please confess these words with me.
I believe in Jesus… who… suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.
The great and powerful King of the universe came to take the place of us slaves. As God’s Word says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45). In order to pay the price of freedom Jesus had to give his holy, precious blood and endure innocent suffering and death.
The price that was paid to set you free was a price that was paid in blood. But this was not the blood of bulls or goats. This was the blood of Jesus. This was not the blood of some ordinary man. This was the blood of Jesus, Son of God and son of man. As the Son of God Jesus remained spotless and perfect. The blood he shed was totally without sin. God’s Word says, “We have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are – yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).
Jesus was without sin all throughout his innocent suffering and death. Not one could claim him guilty of sin. When his disciples slept in the garden he did not lash out in anger. When his friend betrayed him to his enemies he did not fight back. When his disciples deserted him and denied knowing him he did not harbor hate. When he was falsely accused he did not point fingers back at them. When Pilate handed him over to be crucified he did not call down curses on his enemies. Throughout every beating, every slash of the scourge, every step burdened by his cross, every nail driven through his flesh, Jesus obeyed. He never departed one step from the will of his Father, whose will it was to punish Jesus in our place.
This innocent suffering and death makes his blood the most precious price that could ever be paid. And this precious blood was enough. God’s Word says, “You know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed… but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:18,19).
No amount of silver or gold could ever set one of us free. But the blood of Jesus covered the price for us all. Jesus had no price to pay for himself. Instead he paid the price for the sins of all people. “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21).
What could ever lead Jesus to do what he did for us? What would drive him to the cross and keep him there until he gave up his life? What would cause him to pay for every sin so that he could cry out in the end, “It is finished”? Believe me when I say it was love. “Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). A love inspired payment of his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death was pleasing to God. His victory set us free.
No slave master can ever take ownership of us again. We have a new Lord, Jesus our victorious King. With Jesus as our Savior and Lord we are free from sin. The curse of the law that once burdened us has been lifted off. God’s Word says, “Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). The condemnation that loomed so dark and heavy has been removed. God’s Word says, “There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
With Jesus as our Savior and Lord we are free from death. Surely this body will physically meet the grave, but whoever lives and believes in Jesus will live even though he dies. Your soul has been saved from eternal death. There is now no punishment in hell. Instead we have a confident hope of eternal life in heaven. God’s Word says, “Our Savior, Christ Jesus… has destroyed death and has brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10).
With Jesus as our Savior and Lord we are free from the devil. God’s Word says, “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work” (1 John 3:8). His whip of death has been rendered powerless. His lies have been silenced. And his accusations cannot stand. Because of Jesus we have power to stand against our foe. Because of Jesus we have power to overcome our foe. Because of Jesus we have been set free.
We must not forget the price that was paid to win this victory. Our freedom came through an intense battle where a precious life was lost. How thankful we are to God who gives us the victory of Jesus. He gives the proclamation of our freedom. Let your life of service to your new master reflect your joy and thankfulness for your freedom. It is never to late to share this proclamation with all those who once were slaves but now are free. Let the celebration ring out every day for Jesus who was crucified, died, and was buried. Amen

Jesus Humbled for Me
I. A precious child
II. An innocent life

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today as you know is Father’s Day. Today we get to show our appreciation to our fathers for what they do for us. We thank them for all the blessings we have in life because of them. Even the very gift of life itself. Although our fathers didn’t bring us into this world, they were a very integral part of the miracle of life. We can blame, I mean thank our fathers for half of the genes that make up who we are.
But we can’t thank our earthly fathers for the miracle itself. We know that our heavenly Father is responsible for that. God makes children they way they are from the moment of conception. He forms and crafts them every step of the way. He maintains that delicate balance that keeps them alive. He performs the miracle of life, something that modern medicine still cannot fully understand.
The life of a child is so precious. It truly is a miracle every time a new life is created. Today we focus on a special miracle of life. Today we look at select words from the second article of the Apostles’ Creed. These words again are printed on the bulletin insert near the top and start with the words, “I believe.” Please read these with me. “I believe in Jesus… who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary.”
How about that for a miracle of life? We can barely understand the miracle of our own lives. How much more miraculous is the child Jesus? With these words we confess to believe what cannot be explained. We only accept what God’s Word says and know that it is true. We only trust the angel Gabriel when he explains to Mary that “nothing is impossible with God.”
Yes, God can make this miracle happen. He can conceive a child by the power of the Holy Spirit. He can create life in the womb of a virgin named Mary. He can give his one and only Son as a free gift to mankind. God can become fully human. A miracle for sure! And more precious than anything we could ever hope for or imagine.
Although you cannot understand how this can be, like the young virgin Mary you simply believe it is true. Although you cannot explain it, you know how precious this life is. As God’s Word says, “You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).
He was rich. He had it all. He had all the glory. Angels and all the saints standing around his throne worshipping him. Singing songs of praise. Shouting words to honor the Lord of lords and King of kings. He had all the power. Power to create a universe out of nothing with only his word. Power to set up kings and depose them. Power over the forces of nature and the creatures of the earth. Before he came to earth, as God, Jesus had all the riches of heaven. No hunger or thirst, no pain or suffering, no fatigue or anxiety. He was rich. He had it all.
Yet even “though he was rich, yet for yours sakes he became poor.” He put aside his glory. He went from being worshipped on the throne to being surrounded by barn animals as he lay in a manger. He put aside his power. Once able to do whatever he wanted he became perfectly helpless not even able to change his own diaper. He put aside the riches of heaven. His stomach would ache when he was hungry, his knees would hurt when he would fall, his eyes would grow tired and he would sleep. He was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor.
It’s true; God became a man. Jesus humbled himself to be one of us. Jesus, though, did not ever stop being God. We believe that he remained fully God at the same time that he was fully man. This is how God’s Word talks about Jesus. It says, “In Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” (Colossians 2:9).
As God, Jesus could say, “Before Abraham was, I am.” As God, Jesus could know the hearts and thoughts of those around him. As God, Jesus could say, “Surely I am with you always to the very end of the age.” Jesus is eternal, all-knowing, present everywhere. He is all-powerful. He changed water into wine, healed countless people from numerous diseases, calmed raging storms with a word, fed thousands with so little, and as we heard in our gospel reading he even raised the dead. As God, remember, Jesus raised himself from the dead on the third day. The prophet was right when he foretold, “‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’ – which means ‘God with us’” (Matthew 1:23).
With his truly divine nature Jesus became a man. He didn’t just take the form of a man; he was a man. As a man he started as an infant and grew up. He became strong undoubtedly working for his father Joseph as a carpenter in Nazareth. When he was hungry he ate, unless he was fasting. When he was tired he slept, even during a raging storm. When he was sad he wept, he grieved the loss of his friend Lazarus. Pain was real to him. Suffering was real to him. Agony was real. As a man, then, so was the death he died, as real as death is for you and me.
To believe that Jesus is only God or that Jesus is only man is to miss the truth. He is both God and man. He is what he is. How? We don’t know, we simply believe. We simply listen to the word of God Gabriel spoke to Mary when she asked the same question. He said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
So he was rich. So he became poor. So this precious child was conceived in this miraculous way? So what? “So that you through his poverty might become rich.” If Jesus did all this to make us rich, what does that imply? Well, at one time we must have been poor. In fact, before Jesus made us rich we didn’t have a penny to our name. We were like those who want to win the lottery but never buy a ticket. We can’t afford to play. Therefore on our own we can’t do anything to win.
Before Jesus, we were the definition of “dirt poor,” worth the same if not less than a pile of dirt. Dirt is all we’re worth because dirt is all we are. “For dust you are and to dust you will return.” When that curse was spoken to Adam, God spoke of the consequence to a life of filth and worldliness. Dust we are. We came from this earth. Every day we live on this earth. And every day we live of this earth. The dirt of materialism, the dirt of immorality, the dirt of selfishness makes us who we are, dirt poor. The wages of these and all sins are death. It’s no wonder why we don’t have a penny to our name.
No one here or anywhere can pay the wages that he owes. No one can win the lottery since we can’t even afford to play. But this was the purpose of the precious child. Jesus came to make us rich through his poverty. With an innocent life Jesus owed no wages. In this way Jesus could pay what we owed and make us worth more than dirt. Through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection we are now as precious to God as a newborn child to his father. God’s Word says, “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons” (Galatians 4:4,5).
For us and for our salvation Jesus came down from heaven. When the time was right Jesus came to live on this earth. With the same law ruling his life he lived in perfect obedience. As a young boy we see Jesus obedient to his Father’s will. After looking all over Jerusalem Mary and Joseph found him right where he was supposed to be, in the temple discussing God’s Word. When Jesus was thirty years old he went down to the Jordan to be baptized by John. This was backwards to the Baptizer, but Jesus explained this must happen to fulfill all righteousness.
Jesus was obedient to his Father’s will. He also shared that will with others. He called twelve men to walk with him and learn from him. He led these every day common individuals to understand the deep things of God. It may have taken them some time, but they eventually got it. Jesus shared God’s will with so many others. He forgave their sins. He healed their diseases. He taught them the very heart and will of God who wants all people to be saved. He did his work, he lived his life, he did it all in perfect obedience so that we might become rich.
Because of Jesus we are worth more than dirt. We have been made sons of God and heirs of eternal life. We began this relationship in Baptism. We are sons and daughters of our heavenly Father. We live in perfect unity and harmony with the king of the universe. We have his abundant love and faithfulness always present in our lives. And what is more, the riches of heaven now await us who believe. In heaven there will be no hunger or thirst, no pain or suffering, no fatigue or anxiety. By the grace of Jesus we are rich now and will be rich forever.
With faith in Jesus in our hearts we do not fear the dust that awaits this body. Through Jesus we have forgiveness for all our sins. Jesus forgives us for our dirty hearts and our worldliness. Jesus became a man to save us all and give us life. As it says in the book of Hebrews, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the power of death – that is, the devil” (2:14).
Indeed Jesus was our substitute. But more than that Jesus lived as our example. The innocent life he lived is now the life we strive to live. As Jesus did, we want to keep our Father’s will. We want to be in his house growing in his Word. We want to live in our baptisms daily drowning sin away. As Jesus did, we also want to share God’s will with others. We want to play an active role supporting the training of future ministers of the gospel. We want to do our part to make his Word available to as many people as we can. We want to share the riches of Jesus, which he so graciously shared with us.
Jesus didn’t have to become a man. He could have stayed in heaven and left us to destruction. But his great love for us compelled him to do otherwise. Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus became our perfect substitute fully God and fully man. By faith you know and believe that Jesus did all this for your sakes “so that you through his poverty might become rich.” Amen.

Series on the Apostles’ Creed – Part 2 Pastor Nathan Fager

Jesus’ Name Means Redemption
I. He is my Savior
II. He is my Anointed One
III. He is my Lord

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What a great day for an outdoor service! The sun is shining. The trees are green. The flowers are budding. The birds are singing in the trees. Even the neighbors are out mowing their lawn. It’s just a great day to enjoy God’s beautiful creation. Last week we learned about our Creator and Preserver. God the Father puts everything into our lives and works everything out for our good. On days like today it’s not hard to count the many blessings of creation that come from his hand.
And yet, for as nice as everything is around us, this creation has been ruined. What we see is not even close to the way God created it when it was all “very good.” Sure, an oak tree may look the same as one on the earth at creation, but what we see today has all been infected with the same unnatural fate. God did not create a world for death and decay. But now every day has been numbered for the fish in the lake, for the birds in the air, even the trees and flowers will all meet ruin and destruction.
What is more, each of us will experience the same unnatural fate, namely death. I say that death is unnatural because when God created Adam and Eve all creation was perfect. Ruin and destruction came to all creation only as a result to the fall into sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God they brought a curse that infected all of creation. God’s Word says, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned” (Romans 5:12).
That leaves us in a cursed, condemned, and ruined creation. We are each a part of that creation. Born into sin by the very fact that we are born from our sinful parents. Each of us is cursed, condemned, and ruined. We face the same fate as our parents because we are no different than our parents. The evil that saturates this world entices us to eat the forbidden fruit again and again. We learn very early that it just tastes better when you’re not supposed to do it. Each of our hands has taken hold of a way of life that only leads to death.
But a perhaps striking aspect of the account of the fall into sin is that God did not curse mankind before first making a promise. Because of sin God had every right to cast us from his presence. But because of love, undeserved mercy and faithfulness, God promised to send one who would crush the serpent’s head. God said to the devil, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15).
When we were too weak to save ourselves God promised a Savior. The second article of the Apostles’ Creed gives a name to the one who would crush the serpent’s head. When we speak these words we confess the name of the one who has become our Savior and our Lord. The opening words to the second article to the Apostles’ Creed are printed on your bulletin insert. Please confess these words with me now, “I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.”

Who here likes a good hero story? TV, movies, and comic books have all grabbed on to our interest in heroes. Some heroes are everyday type of people who help another person in need. Others we call super-heroes, those who have great strength or supernatural powers to help others. There usually is some conflict between good and evil. You may get caught on the edge of your seat wondering whether the hero will save the day. But then in the end good triumphs over evil and everyone is safe at least for a little while. The constant threat of evil coming back is what keeps the hero story going and going.
I’m talking about a hero today only because that is the type of person Jesus was. If ever you want a good hero story, this is it. Jesus, though, is better than any comic book or fantasy hero. The story of Jesus is absolutely true. He really came to be our Savior. In fact, did you know that the name ‘Jesus’ actually means ‘Savior’? Sure, the angel said it about his birth, “You are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21). And then after his birth the shepherds heard the angel announce, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:11).
That name ‘Christ’ marks Jesus as one with a very special task. ‘Christ’ means the same thing as the word in the Old Testament, ‘Messiah.’ It means ‘Anointed One.’ Jesus, the Christ, has been anointed for a special work, the job similar in purpose to those who were anointed in the Old Testament. Jesus came in order to fill a threefold purpose as Prophet, Priest, and King.
A prophet, very simply, is one designated to speak God’s Word. Jesus too would speak God’s Word. The good news he would proclaim would be like our hero who steps into the scene. Before facing up to his enemy he comforts the distressed by saying, “I’ll save you!” That is what Jesus did during his time on earth. He went from town to town declaring himself to be the Christ. The Prophet long awaited who would proclaim his saving message.
The second purpose for which Jesus was anointed was as a Priest. When we think of a priest we think of one who represented the people before God. Very often we think of the sacrifices made on behalf of the people. Well, when Jesus showed up he represented all those who needed a Savior. Jesus stood up on behalf of the world. He stepped in to stand between us and certain death. Instead of letting death take hold of us, Jesus gave a sacrifice. But no other sacrifice would do but the sacrifice of himself.
Jesus came to us knowing he would die, but he came anyway. In this way he led us into battle to fight for us, just as a king would for his people. As our King, Jesus took on our worst enemies. But the enemies that would easily have taken us were quickly destroyed. The head of the serpent was crushed. The sting of death was rendered powerless. The weight of sin was heaped on his shoulders and done away with. Sin, death, and the devil were left powerless to harm us. Our hero saved the day. Good triumphed over evil. But these enemies would never return, no other battle would be necessary. “For he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 7:27).
In order to do this Jesus Christ had to be a special person. Not that he could leap tall buildings in a single bound or be handy with the sword. In order to be the hero that we need Jesus would not be a mutation or a visitor from another world. In order to be our Savior Jesus had to be both true God and at the same time true man.
He had to be God, the true God, one with the Father and the Spirit from eternity, present at creation, boundlessly powerful, holy and absolutely perfect. When Jesus walked the earth he then couldn’t sin, he was God. Sure the devil tried his worst to tempt him to sin. But Jesus would not and could not be outdone by this evil angel. He was God. Perfectly capable to keep every command and requirement.
With this purely divine characteristic Jesus put himself in our very situation. He came born under the law as we are under the law. The very law that would condemn us he kept perfectly for us. He became our substitute, our human substitute. He had to be a man to take the place of mankind. One who would not only live as we could not but who could die as we very well can. Our great victor who came ever so humbly as a baby in a manger would end his life is the greatest act of service. God’s Word says, “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).
As a man he lived like we could not and as God he gave a price that covered us all. In this way Jesus has become our Lord. God’s Word says, “Now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life” (Romans 6:22). We have been set free from one master to serve an entirely different master. The one only wished our ruin the other only wishes to treat us with his love.
When we think of a hero we never think of him asking anything in return. A fireman pulls you from a burning building because that’s his job, to save lives. You don’t owe him anything for that. He acted not for reward but purely out a sense of duty. If this fireman had saved you, would he have to ask you to say thank you. I surely would hope not. You would be so grateful to him that you would do just about anything. How can you ever repay someone who saved your life? How much would you offer to give in return?
What if someone saved your eternal life? What if he rescued you not from a burning building but from the unquenchable fires of hell? The same is true with this hero. He asks nothing in return. He saved you because he wanted to save you not because he was seeking a reward. After saving you does he now have to ask you to say thank you? I surely would hope not.
Our response to the Lord who set us free from sin is to offer up in return all that we are. How could you ever repay the one who saved your life? How much would you offer to give in return? The service we render to our Lord is not a repayment but our way to say thank you. “Thank you for saving my life. I now give my life to you. Now show me what you would have me do.”
A life that pleases our Lord is a life of righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. We have been set free, free to be slaves. Free not to live for ourselves but for him who died and rose again. Free not to serve our own good but to serve him who gives us eternal goodness. The blessings of our loving God are all around us, even as we look around us today. His blessings are constant reminders of the ultimate blessing of Jesus.
With the words of the second article of the Apostles’ Creed we confess the one named Jesus, a name that means Savior. We confess that he is the Christ, a name connecting him to Old Testament prophecy and a name that declares him our anointed Prophet, Priest, and King. We confess that he is the Son of God the Father, sent on a love-inspired mission to pay a ransom price. Finally we believe that he is our Lord, whom we gladly serve with all our hearts and lives.
Maybe you never thought all that was in the powerful name of Jesus. Maybe you’ll have a few more things to think about when you speak these words of the Apostles’ Creed. Maybe you can use these few words to answer those who ask you, “What do you believe.” With these words you can tell them about the main character and central theme of all of Scripture. When you make these words your own they become your most precious treasure and the greatest gift you can give to anyone.
Amen

“The Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations” (Psalm 100:5).

Series on Apostles’ Creed – Part 1 Pastor Nathan Fager
I Have a Mighty Father
I. Who created me
II. Who preserves me

“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
This morning we start a series of discussions on one of our basic confessions. For the next seven weeks we will study the Apostles’ Creed. The words of this creed have become very familiar to us since we say them every couple of weeks in church. We say them so often it is important to know why we say them and what they mean.
So why do we speak these words? Well, by learning a basic confession like the Apostles’ Creed each of us will be able to give an answer to anyone who asks, “What do you believe?” Any response to that question would be putting words to the feelings in your heart. We simply call that a creed or a confession. These words can be whatever you want them to be; they’re what you believe. And so, confession is necessary for the expression of the faith in your heart. It is important than to have a clear expression of what you believe.
Thankfully, we don’t have to grapple for words to say. Tradition has handed down the Apostles’ Creed to us. These words have been spoken by Christians for almost two thousand years. We call this confession the Apostles’ Creed because it states what the apostles taught and wrote by inspiration. The Apostles didn’t come up with something totally new. Their message is in perfect agreement with the rest of Scripture. Here in these basic words we have an adequate summary of the basic gospel truths revealed in the Bible.
We will review these truths in the next seven weeks. But words such as these can never be left to collect dust. Not one of us should consider it an insignificant thing to review this public confession of our faith. I would hope that parents regularly teach these words to their children. I also hope that all of us spend some time on our own reviewing the truths expressed in these words.
The more we study the more we will grow in our understanding of our gracious and loving God. The more we dig for treasure in God’s Word the more we will be richly blessed. Each of us can strive for a thorough knowledge of the essential bits and pieces of an incomprehensible creator, redeemer, and sanctifier. This God is the one we remember on days like this Trinity Sunday. We hear again how our God reveals himself to us in three distinct persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. While at the same time he reveals himself as one indivisible God.
These three, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are the main focus of the Apostles’ Creed. In the three articles of this Creed we confess a Father who creates us, a Son who redeems us, and a Holy Spirit who sanctifies us. Today, then, we study what the Bible says about God the Father in the first article. These words are printed on your bulletin insert near the top and start with the words, “I believe…” I ask you now to join me to confess these words:
“I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.”
In a couple of weeks we will remember our fathers on Father’s Day. This will be my first Father’s Day as a father. I am looking forward to celebrating the joys of fatherhood. At the same time I get to say “Thanks” to my own father. I’m not sure yet how I’ll show my thanks, but in some form or another I’ll show my appreciation for all my father does for me.
What will you thank your father for? Will you remember his strength for you when you were too weak to stand on your own? Will you remember his wisdom when you did what he said just because he said so? What about his unconditional love for you? Sure, fathers may not be the best at showing their emotions, but they still love their children. They never stop providing for what we need. They never stop taking care of the family. They never stop nurturing us and directing us on a safe and productive path. When we remember all that our fathers do for us we cannot help but show our appreciation.
This same relationship is present with our heavenly Father. In the first article we say we believe in God the Father. We use that title “Father” for a very special reason. We don’t call just anyone our Father. This word Father implies a close personal relationship. Better than any human relationship between a father and his child. When we call God our Father we are confessing to the most intimate connection any one of us could have.
Up to this point the most connected you’ve been with someone has been your mother. For nine months she carried you inside while you kicked and punched in almost total security. But where did those little hands come from? Or those little feet? Or that brain that would acquire so much knowledge and ability? You mother couldn’t actively make all that happen. But God did.
While you were kicking and punching God knew all about you. He knew how tall you would grow. He knew how smart you would be. He knew how productive you would be in life because he made you the way that you are. God’s Word says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13-14).
In six days God made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. In the beginning it all came out of nothing by the working of his almighty word. God spoke and there was. He has been and always will be in connection with his creation. The stars he set in place, he makes them burn. The plants that grow from the ground, he makes them bud and flourish. The creatures that walk the earth, fly in the air, or swim in the water that’s all his handiwork as well. Ever since the time of creation when God said “Let there be,” each of us too has been a special creation of God.
So you think you’re not perfect? Well, that’s no mistake. God cannot make mistakes. Sure, he makes things interesting, and sometimes that means pain and hardship. But God has never removed his creating hand from man, his special creation, the crown of creation. With the same special care and concern God used to form Adam and Eve from the dust of the ground God has created you and me. How does that make you feel? For some I would hope you would feel happy to be so special. But for others, myself included, we may feel a bit of guilt. “Wow, God did all this for me. He made me special. And what have I done with his creation? When I think about it I have been unappreciative? Or maybe I have simply been a poor steward and therefore wasteful.”
How often does God’s goodness go into the trash? How often do we question God’s workmanship instead of giving thanks to God? Probably more often than we’d like to admit. Probably very often if we are honest with ourselves. But let’s move one step farther than being honest with ourselves. Let’s be honest with our Father in heaven. Repent if you need to. Reevaluate if you must. Trust not in your own strength but rest solely on his power to forgive you.
With the same almighty power God used to create the universe he could wipe us from the face of this earth. He could punish us with endless torment in hell for our misuse and displeasure of his creation. Instead God chose to make us a new creation. As carefully as he formed Adam and Eve from the dust of the ground God devised and carried out a plan to save us. Yes, the body will return to dust, but we do not die as people without hope.
Because of Jesus we are a new creation. Our heavenly Father had no problem showing his emotion. In his great love he sent his one and only Son. Jesus came as our Savior to right the wrong inherited from our first parents. Through him we have forgiveness of every sin. For Jesus’ sake we see mercies that are new every morning. For Jesus’ sake this body will go back to dust but this soul will live on forever through faith. In heaven we will regain the image of God. We will forever be perfect just as God created Adam and Eve in the beginning.
With a relationship like this we have every reason to call God our Father. He is the Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth, greater than any earthly father, more deeply connected than any other human relationship. His strength keeps us up when we are too weak to stand. His wisdom governs every direction our lives take by telling us what we should do. And what about his unconditional love? In love he provides all that we need for body and life. He cares for us. He nurtures us. He directs and protects us. When we speak the words of the first article of the Apostles’ Creed we confess, “I have a mighty God who created me.”
And what is more I have a mighty God who preserves me. God’s Word says, “The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing” (Psalm 145:15-16). Not only did God create all things, but also his almighty hand remains active. When God rested on the seventh day from his work of creating he didn’t sink into his comfy chair for the rest of time. His hand never stops richly and daily providing and preserving the needs of every living creature.
Where would you be without his preserving hand? Every creature, man or animal, plant or insect, depends on God for preservation. God has not only set rules that govern this world but he also holds them in place. Even the very delicate balance and harmony in nature is the result of God’s preserving hand. Seldom does God go beyond natural means to preserve us. But with his almighty power he can and at times will perform miracles to preserve us.
All things are given from his hand to us. All things are preserved by his hand in us. If only that meant the perfect peace and goodness that we want. Sometimes we can’t even make it through the day without coming face to face with evil. The hardships that came as results to the fall into Sin are present everywhere we go. There is pain in childbearing. We eat our food by the sweat of our brow. We should not be surprised to see these effects around us.
And yet we know that all things are under God’s control. For this reason the good we want may not be the good that God wants. When God allows evil and hardships to come to us he has a plan for that too. He does not mean to punish us. He merely cares for us as his dear children. As kids living in his house. Think for a moment how some kids think they have it rough growing up.
Father’s are always on their case making life difficult. When they step out of a very strict line then there are consequences. Kids have it rough. They get grounded, loose privileges, get put to work cleaning yards and doing dishes. If only life were easy. If only kids didn’t have to do chores or pick up their room. If only there were no consequences for our actions. We would all be happy, healthy and comfortable, right?
Every parent knows the need for discipline in a child’s life. Every house has strict rules to live by to keep everyone at peace. Rules are beneficial in that sense. Kids aren’t allowed to do what they want when then want. Valuable lessons are learned early in life and last into adulthood. If life were easy then life may be taken for granted. If a father doesn’t discipline his children in love then the child grows up with a greater chance for facing pain and suffering.
If we know this to be true of our homes then we can understand how this is true with the way our heavenly Father treats us. His goal is not to make more evil for us, but to make everything work for our good. God treats us like his dearly loved children. He does not want us to take his love for granted nor does he want to face greater pain and suffering. If we had everything we wanted, then we’d have no reason to look to God to provide for us. If we had all the peace we needed, then we’d have no reason to look to God to protect us.
The truth is that only God knows what evil and dangers surround us. His will to keep us protected will at times mean that we don’t get what we want. But we surely get what we need. When we need protection from evil, God is there with his guarding angels. When we need deliverance from harm, God is there to help us stand. Anything bad in our eyes has to be for our good, our heavenly Father would have it no other way.
When we remember all that our Father does for us we cannot help but show our appreciation. A thank you card would be nice, but a life lived in thanksgiving would be better. A song or hymn of praise would be fitting, but an unending song of joy fits better. An act of Christian service would be great, but a permanent servant attitude would be far greater. An hour of obedience to God’s will would be fine, but our daily humble obedience would be a better start.
We cannot ever thank, praise, serve, and obey God enough for all he has done for us. How truly blessed we are to know that for Jesus’ sake we have all eternity in heaven to try. Each day until our last we will benefit from the love of God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. May God our Father bless and keep us all with his almighty hand.
Amen.

The Day of Pentecost Pastor Nathan Fager
Jesus Sends the Holy Spirit
I. Who testifies about Jesus
II. Who teams up with us
John 15:26-27
26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me. 27 And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.
The Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Power comes in many forms. When an individual has political influence over many people we see that as power. When an athlete lifts weights with great physical strength we see that as power. When the forces of nature produce strong winds and heavy rains there too is intense power. On the day of Pentecost we see another form of power. This is a power unlike any other natural power. When the Holy Spirit came on that day we see a supernatural power. Those disciples gathered there began to speak so that the good news of Jesus could be heard. On that day alone thousands believed their message and were baptized. Now that’s power.
The power that we see on Pentecost was the result of a combined effort. The disciples would have had nothing to say were it not for the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit would not have filled the disciples had Jesus not sent him to them. Jesus would not have sent the Spirit had the Father not given him for that purpose. And the Holy Spirit was not just a pawn in this whole ordeal, he actively let himself be given and sent. He actively worked in the disciples to speak a saving message. Then he worked through their message to create faith.
The combined effort we see on Pentecost has not changed in the church today. The Holy Spirit is still displaying great power. He is actively working in and through believers to create faith in the hearts of unbelievers. Our neglect to participate in this effort, however, limits the Spirit in his work. But as God’s people we know how blessed we are to have the Spirit in our hearts. Knowing this will help us continue the work we see happen on Pentecost. Today the Holy Spirit through the Word of God will empower us with his presence. We then work together with him to testify to the truth. Today we see how Jesus sends out the Spirit who testifies about Jesus and who teams up with us.
Before we focus on the team effort with the Spirit, it’s important to know who this team player is. Let’s look again at Jesus’ words in verse 26, “When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.” From this single passage we learn a lot about who the Spirit is. He is the Counselor. He is sent from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth. Finally, he testifies about Jesus.
First as the Counselor, what does that mean? Do we go into his office and lay back on a long couch? Do we talk about our problems while he takes notes? Does he then lay out a detailed plan to make our lives perfect and happy? This picture of a counselor is somewhat different than the way Jesus pictures the Spirit he will send to his disciples on Pentecost. The Greek word here is ‘Paraklete,’ no not parakeet, ‘Paraklete.’ Perhaps another word we could use to translate this word would be “Advocate” or simply “Helper.”
The picture Jesus gives of the Spirit is more of a protector, a defender, or one who empowers another in a struggle. The battle facing the disciples is mentioned in an earlier verse. Here Jesus talks about how the world is going to hate the disciples. The world hated Jesus, so it only makes sense that it would hate those who testify about Jesus. The disciples were going to face the same if not worse persecution and affliction. Sharing their faith would never be easy.
So Jesus promised to send the Counselor. He would be their strength and shield. He would be by their side every step of the way. I think of him like a parent walking their child through a dense crowd. Not just holding the child’s hand but standing over him, protecting him, finding the safest path through, while never letting go. The dense crowd we walk through will not make it easy for us to pass. Without a Counselor with us we would easily get lost or run into the ground.
What a comfort to know we have a Counselor on our side. We know that he will not fail us because he has been given by the Father and sent by the Son. The second point we learn about the Spirit is that he is God. To only say that he comes from God would diminish his eternal essence. He is God. No different than a ray that comes from the sun is still the sun. No different than a stream that comes from its source is still one system. It’s hard, if not impossible, to come up with a perfect illustration, but I think you get the point. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have an undisturbed equality.
As God then the Spirit is not only boundlessly powerful but also his testimony is unquestionably dependable. Coming from the Father and sent by the Son he carries with him the very heart and will of God. He knows what God is thinking because he is God. He knows what God is feeling because he is God. When he testifies he speaks as God. In this testimony then he speaks about God and specifically the truth of Jesus.
If you’re following along, this then is the third point about the Spirit: he is the Spirit of truth. What’s so great about being the Spirit of truth? Well, this may be hard to comprehend because we are faced with so many lies. Ask your teenage kid what he did last Saturday night and you may know what I’m talking about. The tongue is one of the worst parts of our body. Sometimes it seems like it has a mind of its own. We know what the truth is, but to save punishment or embarrassment the tongue decides to say something else.
The Spirit won’t do that. He is the Spirit of truth. Not only can he never tell a lie but he always speaks the truth. I’m being redundant for a reason; the Spirit by our side is unquestionably dependable. His testimony will stand up under any and all scrutiny. His testimony does not contradict itself. His testimony is not tainted or sugarcoated to fit someone else’s palate. He is the Spirit of truth.
And not only is he the Spirit of truth, but also he testifies about the truth. Jesus’ last point about the Spirit in this passage is that he testifies about Jesus. To find the truth is to look no further than the person of Jesus. To know the truth is to believe nothing more than Jesus and his saving mission. To testify to the truth is to say no more than the truth of Jesus as the way to eternal life.
The testimony of the Spirit is clearly seen on Pentecost. Here the disciples were filled with the message of Jesus. This message and only this message changed the hearts and lives of those people that day. The Spirit continued his testimony as he spoke to the authors of Scripture the words to write through inspiration. The Spirit would continue his testimony as he works through that very Word of God. His testimony would be revealed in and through the apostles on the day of Pentecost and throughout their lives. His testimony would continue to be revealed in and through the Church, which proclaims the same message of the apostles.
The Holy Spirit is not a one-man show. He never has been and he never will be. On the day of Pentecost he needed the disciples to speak to unbelievers. As the church continued throughout the centuries his work has not changed. Even today the Spirit needs people, you and me, to testify to the truth. As Jesus sends out his Spirit the Spirit teams up with us who must testify.
Perhaps you’ve never thought of yourself as an instrument of the Spirit. Or maybe you always knew that about your life but never wanted to live up to that responsibility. It sure would make it easy if the Spirit would be a one-man team. If only he could take all the shots while we sit on the bench cheering him on. That would sure take the responsibility off my shoulders. I’m sure you wouldn’t mind that either. We would just sit back in our nice comfy chairs and let the Spirit do all the work for us. But that would be a lazy man’s wish. Instead Jesus says in verse 27, “And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.”
So I have to suit up and actually do something? I have to go through intense training to perform my best? I have to open my mouth and give my personal testimony? Well, if we don’t then the work of the Spirit will not only be impaired it will be nonexistent! The only testimony that will go out will be the result of a combined effort. Just think where we’d be right now if the disciples just sat in that room with flames on their heads and kept their mouths shut. Just think where the unbelieving world around us will be if we limit the Spirit’s work by keeping our testimony to ourselves.
Whatever reason you have for holding back your testimony is only an excuse. When you and I face that reality then we are one step closer to being a team player. If you have not repented of your idle tongue then now is the time. The unrepentant heart is condemned just as an unbelieving heart. Our only hope is in the real and true cross of Christ. In Jesus we are not left to die in our sin but to live forever in holiness. Our request for forgiveness will not go unanswered. Jesus has forgiven all your sins. The Spirit of God assures you of that. The Spirit of truth who testifies to the truth has changed your heart. You are now and will continue to be a child of God.
As a child of God you are also a team player. You have no choice, the testimony of your own forgiveness is now the testimony you make known to others. A living body cannot help but be alive. A lit candle cannot help but shine. A burning coal cannot help but give off heat. As a child of God, redeemed, restored, forgiven, you and I cannot help but give our testimony. It is only natural. The Spirit will not testify all alone, he teams up with us to respond to the gospel.
Together we become the total athlete. We strengthen and tone every muscle. Not just in our legs, not just in our arms, but our whole bodies, our whole lives. From the start of the day till it’s time to rest every moment is spent in testimony. We testify with all our words not just when we speak about Jesus. We testify with all our actions not just when we act in Christian love. We testify with all our thoughts not just when we meditate and pray on God’s Word. The Spirit teams up with us in all that we are.
Together we become the total musician. We play every note and every cord. We don’t leave one part out. We reveal everything about Jesus. We open to the Old Testament and testify to every promise given. We open to the New Testament and testify to every promise fulfilled. We testify to a loving God, to a willing Son, to a perfect life, to an innocent death. We testify to a risen Lord, to a living Savior, to an eternal life, to endless blessings. We are the instruments. Oh, what beautiful music we will make together with the Spirit!
With the cooperation of the Spirit anything is possible. An idle tongue becomes active. A spoken testimony becomes effective. The effect our testimony has on another will not always be the same nor can we anticipate what the response will be. When we testify someone else may believe. Praise be to God and the power of the Holy Spirit! Or when we testify someone may reject the Spirit’s testimony to their own condemnation. Our efforts will not affect either of these responses. The success of a testimony rests solely on the Spirit. The rejection of a testimony rests solely on the unbeliever.
With no burden of effectiveness we don’t bother to anticipate what a response will be. We simply become the tool and instrument to whomever the Spirit will speak. We don’t know if that person will be eight days old or eighty years. We don’t know if that person will be homeless or live in the best house in town. We don’t know where and when the Spirit will work. We only know he works where and when we give our testimony about Jesus.
Yes our testimony is necessary, but we know that this testimony is only natural for us. Together with the Spirit we will give a testimony that will never end but will endure forever. If those disciples had not gotten up to speak on the day of Pentecost it’s likely we wouldn’t be here today. But we know that they did give their testimony of Jesus. In the face of a world that hated them they spoke the truth.
The world will always hate Jesus. The world will always hate those who testify about Jesus. But that doesn’t change the Spirit whom Jesus sends to us. The Spirit has supernatural power. He has a message and he will always testify about Jesus. The Spirit has us on his team and we will always be his instruments. In the face of a world that hates him may Jesus continue to send his Spirit to empower us all to testify to the truth of Jesus. Amen

1st Sunday in Lent Pastor Nathan Fager
The Word is Near
I. A Word of faith
II. A Word for all
Romans 10:8b-13
8 … “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: 9 That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. 11 As the Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
This is the Word of the Lord.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Two men got up in the temple to pray. The first man stood where everyone could see him. Then with a voice that everyone could hear he thanked God. “Thank you God that I am not like those who cheat, steal, and lie. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. Thank you God that I am a better man because of this.” The second man also got up but stood by himself. In words that may have only sounded like a murmur he too prayed to God. “God, have mercy on me, a sinner.” He did not pat himself on the back for doing good works but beat his breast in remorse for his sins.
Jesus told this parable to show which of these two men went home right with God. Jesus pointed, of course, to the second man. He had true fear of God and true faith in God. In a demonstration of genuine repentance he showed that God’s word was very near to his heart and his mouth. The first man, however, had gone so far from the word of God that he put his trust in himself. As we hear from Paul’s words to the Roman believers there is only one way to be right with God. We are saved not by what we do, but by the faith in our heart that shows itself through our mouth. As you hear from God’s word today let that word stay near to you that you all may let your mouth confess the faith in your heart.
Paul introduces our lesson by quoting an Old Testament passage which says, “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart” (Dt 30:14). If you were to look at this passage in its original context, you would quickly find out that the word referred to here is God’s word found in the law. It makes very good sense that the words of the law would have been on the hearts and mouths of the people. This culture depended on oral communication far more than we do today. The words would have been spoken by one to another. That word would have had an effect on the heart and the mouth would openly confess what the heart had come to know.
But in our lesson Paul is obviously not talking about the word as it is found in the law. He has made the switch to speak of the word as it is known in the gospel. Paul says this is “the word of faith we are proclaiming.” And we can see why he quotes this passage. This is his point. Just as the words of the law were readily available so also are now the words of the gospel as Paul and others would proclaim. Just as the law took effect in the heart to work on the mouth, the same is true of the gospel. The good news of Christ when spoken by one is heard by another. The heart receives what God offers through Christ and the mouth is prompted to speak.
This is the word that is near. This is the word, the preaching, the proclaiming of the good news to produce faith. The spoken word is the medium, the means to reach the heart. And Paul’s message then is a word of faith because as it says in verses 9 and 10, “If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.”
With words such as these from Paul it is important to get his point about the word as it relates both to the heart and to the mouth. Keep in mind that Paul is showing the one way to be right with God, not by earning or doing, but by receiving. That is why Paul speaks of the heart. It is the heart that is touched by the word of faith. Paul says that it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, which means made right with God.
When the word goes out that God raised Jesus from the dead, the heart simply receives this good news. The heart rejoices to know that Jesus completed the work of deliverance. God sent his Son to save the world and that is what he did. Jesus gave his life on the cross to pay the price once for all. Then God raised Jesus from the dead. Jesus came to life to show his power over death. And not just his death, but also yours and mine. Just as Jesus was raised to life so we will live again after the Last Day.
Neither you nor I earn or deserve to have the word of faith near to our hearts. This is God making us right with God. This is then the content of the word of faith. God uses this message as the means to change hearts. But the heart is not the only part of you that is changed. Paul also speaks of the mouth, and for good reason. Paul speaks of the mouth because it is unquestionably connected to the heart. That which is inside must come out.
Picture, if you will, a nice warm sunny summer afternoon. The kids are out in the yard looking for a good time. You decide to take out the water sprinkler. So you grab the hose, connect one end to the house and the other end to the sprinkler, and turn on the water. Will the sprinkler keep that water all stopped up inside? Not a chance! The water will be thrown high and far for all to see and enjoy.
I hope you’re getting the picture. When the good news of Jesus reaches our hearts we are not going to stop it up. The mouth will open. The mouth will speak. The mouth has to reveal what is in the heart. The mouth is prompted to talk about this word of faith, to discuss it, to put it in his or her own words, to make it their own, to make a statement of what it believes is true. The mouth makes the heart’s confession.
So what then does the mouth say? Very simply put, Paul says that the mouth that has been saved will confess, “Jesus is Lord.” With those three words the mouth says a mouthful. It recognizes that Jesus, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary, is Lord. As Martin Luther says in the explanation to the second article of the Apostle’s Creed, “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he has risen from death and lives and rules eternally. This is most certainly true.”
This confession, this statement of what the heart believes, was spoken from your mouth the moment you were saved. For the majority I am referring to your baptism. In a special way the word of faith was in your mouth. You made your confession that Jesus is Lord. Now, granted, the words I just read were not publicly confessed until your confirmation, but that does not mean they were not on your mouth before then and every day after.
A believing heart and a confessing mouth always go together. A true heart of faith is never silent, it always confesses. Naturally we know the order to be believing then confessing. But this order is only a logical order and not an order in time. By that I mean that there was no time lapse between your heart receiving the word of faith and your mouth making its confession. They are two aspects of one reality. Two sides of one coin. Two separate acts but one life before God under the Lordship of Jesus.
“The word is near you.” This is the message Paul proclaimed to the Roman believers, but it is also the message that is proclaimed to you and me. Paul never intended the word of faith to reach only these Christians. Paul readily recognized how this word of faith is universal. This word of faith is offered to all people everywhere. Paul writes for us in verses 11-13, “As the Scripture says, ‘Anyone who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’ For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’”
So what are you doing? What are you doing when you keep the word of faith to yourself? God makes it clear in Scripture that there is no difference between Jew or Gentile. And yet here we stand on one side and on the other side stands so many who appear to be blissfully ignorant. One of us may say, “My routine is just fine, there’s no need to make a special effort to speak out. And they’re over there doing their thing, so who am I to impose?”
So what are you doing? If you are here only for yourself then you are here for the wrong reason. It is my prayer that you are here to learn to open your mouth. Yes, open your mouth in praise to God for saving you from your sin of idleness. Yes, open your mouth to speak your confession. But with your heart filled with the word of faith open your mouth to tell everyone what Paul has reminded you today.
Again, Scripture says, “Anyone who trusts in him,” that is Jesus as Lord, “will never be put to shame.” Scripture also says, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord,” that name is Jesus, “will be saved.”
Who are we to say who gets to hear this message and who doesn’t? Again, there is no difference between Jew or Gentile. There is no difference between your life at church and how you talk about your faith at work, school, and at home. There is no difference because the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him.
For those who are far from the word of faith we are ready to open our mouths. Not only are we saved when we call on the name of the Lord, but the same is true for everyone else.
With the word that comes from your mouth so many more will see that the word is near. It can be in their mouths and in their hearts too. But they need to know what word will come from a believing heart. Which word will your mouth share with them? You only have two options. Either you will offer life by living right, in which case you will only supply a hopeless promise for a sinner, or you will offer life by receiving the word of faith as a gift.
Rest assured that there is nothing anyone can do to earn or deserve to have the word near. The true comfort for sinners, of whom we all are the worst, is that Jesus is Lord. Jesus has rescued the world from sin and put us into a permanent place of safety. As we hear from Paul’s words to the Roman believers there is only one way to be right with God. We are saved not by what we do, but by the faith in our heart that shows itself through our mouth. The word is near! Let that word stay near to you that you all may let your mouth confess the faith in your heart.
Amen.

6th Sunday after the Epiphany Pastor Nathan Fager

Look, the Lamb of God!
I. See and believe (29-34)
II. Follow and learn (35-39)
III. Go and testify (40-41)
John 1:29-41
29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! 30 This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.” 32 Then John gave this testimony: “I saw the Spirit come down from heaven as a dove and remain on him. 33 I would not have known him, except that the one who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The man on whom you see the Spirit come down and remain is he who will baptize with the Holy Spirit.’ 34 I have seen and I testify that this is the Son of God.” 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).

What do you see when you look at symbols in the church? The point of a symbol is not necessarily what you can see with your eyes, but more often it’s what you can see with your heart. What do you see when you look at the symbol of a picture of a lamb? Perhaps you think of Jesus who is the Good Shepherd, in which case you would be that lamb. Another way a lamb is pictured, as it is used today in our lesson, reminds us of how Jesus is that lamb. When you see that symbol you are reminded about the perfect sacrifice that was made by “a lamb without blemish or defect” (1 Peter 1:19).
The picture of a lamb has been around since the time of Moses and the people of Israel. The many sacrifices that were made served as constant reminders of the need for a perfect sacrifice. The prophet Isaiah too used the picture of a lamb when he foretold of the sacrifice Jesus would make. In our lesson today, John the Baptist used the picture of a lamb to vividly point people to Jesus and what He had come to do. John said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” The words of our lesson point us to Jesus today just as John did for his followers. The words and actions of those in our lesson will teach us all to do three things. First, see and believe! Second, follow and learn! Finally, go and testify!
To help you see the Lamb of God as he came to John that day, imagine yourself as one of the crowd who went out to the desert. It was probably another hot day. But the trip was worthwhile. Maybe you had been out there before; maybe this was your first time. But you will never forget what you saw that day. John the Baptist, the man of God, stopped whatever he was saying, stood straight up, and in words that everyone could hear declared, “Look!” So you turned with eyes wide open to see what he wanted you to look at. A man was walking toward John. Maybe it was another man who wanted to hear the good news about the Christ from the mouth of John. But no, John explains that this man is no ordinary man.
Now with eyes, ears, and heart wide open you listen to John give his testimony. John tells you about the sign he received from God. He goes on to tell you how that sign was fulfilled when the Spirit came down from heaven as a dove and remained on this man. John tells you everything he saw so that, even if you weren’t at the Jordan when Jesus was baptized to see it for yourself, in your mind’s eye you could see it all happening. John revealed to you everything he saw and now he tells you to “Look!” John wants you to see and believe that this man is the Son of God.
“I don’t see it,” someone else says and then walks away. “It can’t be true,” another replies before regretting the time he spent in the desert. “Where is the royal entourage? This can’t be the one.” They don’t get it do they. When John tells them to look, they can’t see. They can’t see that this is the one. He is the Christ we have all been waiting for. This ordinary looking man is the Son of God. He will be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. No wonder John called this man “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” John saw through faith that Jesus would be a sacrifice.
Can you see? Is the picture of a lamb clear in your mind? As a Jew in Israel at this time you have witnessed the bloody sacrifice of a lamb in the temple. On more than one occasion you had seen a lamb without blemish or defect give its life on the altar. Why all this death? Why did the innocent have to be punished? Sacrifices were made because of the guilty, because you and I disobeyed God. We failed to keep God first in our lives. We failed to honor our father and mother. We kept hate in our hearts and let it ferment. We let our tongue speak blatant lies, hurtful words, and disgusting language. Because of our sin, death is the punishment. Sacrifice after sacrifice reminded us of our sinfulness and need for a Savior.
Can you see? Can you see and believe that Jesus is your Savior? Maybe you can picture it in your mind. More importantly can you picture it in your heart through faith? Without Jesus’ blood dripping before your face can you picture his sacrifice on the cross? Without your hand touching the wound in his side can you picture the price that was paid for the sins of the world? With only the words “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” can you see and believe? Your answer and mine resounds from a heart of faith, “Yes!” Yes, as John testifies he is the Son of God. Yes, he is my perfect sacrifice. Yes, I see and yes, I believe that Jesus takes away not only my sins but also the sins of the whole world. I no longer need to give another sacrifice because I see and believe that Jesus is my perfect sacrifice.
See and believe. That’s what God wants us to do in response to John’s words. Now with a heart of faith we are eager follow and learn from the Son of God. Jesus was now stepping into the scene. His public ministry had just started at his baptism. John knew the time had come to step aside and let people follow Jesus. So let us learn from God’s Word to do as those disciples did. When John points us to Jesus let us follow and learn. 35 The next day John was there again with two of his disciples. 36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!” 37 When the two disciples heard him say this, they followed Jesus. 38 Turning around, Jesus saw them following and asked, “What do you want?” They said, “Rabbi” (which means Teacher), “where are you staying?” 39 “Come,” he replied, “and you will see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and spent that day with him. It was about the tenth hour.
Jesus knew why they followed him that day. Jesus could see into their hearts and know their intentions. But he still asked, “What do you want?” Jesus wanted to hear the disciples give their own reason for following him. They could have expected a number of things from Jesus like earthly prosperity, political power, or deliverance from their Roman oppressors. But what was their answer? Why did the disciples follow Jesus? Unlike Jesus we cannot see into their hearts, but we can judge their words and actions. The disciples focused their answer on Jesus. They wanted to know where he was staying because they were eager to follow. They called him Rabbi, which means Teacher, because they were eager to learn.
The question from Jesus is one we can all ask ourselves. “What do you want?” As you follow Jesus what do you expect to get? A sinful heart is quickly tempted to want a number of things, like peace in your life, freedom from hardship and trials, or some other special treatment for calling yourself a Christian. But you do not follow Jesus to get what you sinful heart wants or expects. Rather you and I follow Jesus so that we can learn to know Jesus better. So that we can learn from him whatever he wants to teach us. We follow Jesus so that we can learn about his great love and what he has done for us. We follow Jesus so that we may grow in our faith and our dedication to a Christian life. We follow Jesus so that we can learn to imitate his humble life as we serve him by serving others.
There are many ways in our life that we can live the life of a disciple as we follow Jesus. One of those ways is by sharing with others the same good news that was shared with us. We can all learn from Andrew’s actions and words the same eagerness, willingness, and desire to tell the world about Jesus. So then, just as Andrew did, go and testify. 40 Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard what John had said and who had followed Jesus. 41 The first thing Andrew did was to find his brother Simon and tell him, “We have found the Messiah” (that is, the Christ).
I’ve got it. Here it is, right here. So what next? What do I do with this little light of mine? Do I hide it under a bushel? No, I’m gonna let it shine. I’m gonna let it shine in places that only know darkness. I’m gonna let my faith shine as I share the wonderful message of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
But is that my job? That’s why we have youth groups and evangelism committees. That’s why we called a pastor and a vicar, to go out and share the message, right? Absolutely, but that does not exclude you in any way. We all can take our message to our brother. By that I mean we all have people close to us in our families, schools, and workplaces. They all need to hear your message.
So, go tell your brother. If you don’t have a brother, find one. Take the gospel to the whole world. Let God’s Word encourage you today to go until you can’t go anymore. Use every means possible until you are spent. If you have time, give your time. If you have money, give your money to support the ministry. If you have encouragement, fresh ideas, or a welcoming smile, then you can give that too as you go into this neighborhood, this city, and the world.
When Andrew went out he had something to say. “We have found the Messiah!” This simple gospel message is a great example of what we too can say. You don’t need to have the Bible memorized. When you share your faith with others you need only to point them to the Word of God. Have them look at their lost condition as a sinner. Have them look at God’s encouragement to repent of their sins. Have them look at Jesus who alone can save them from the curse of death. Have them look at the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.
Each of us can speak from a heart of faith about the peace we have through Jesus. Share the joy you have in your heart whenever God gives you an opportunity to do so. Be confident knowing that when you speak it is not you working on their heart, but it is God working through you. God will give you the strength to share his Word. Trust that the Word of God is powerful and effective. Be convinced that the Holy Spirit can work faith through your efforts, big or small.
John the Baptist’s words leave a timeless image of the Lamb of God in our minds and hearts. But the picture of a lamb is much more than a symbol in a church. Jesus really is that Lamb of God. Jesus really gave himself on the cross to take away your sins and mine. Jesus took away the sins of the whole world, and that makes the whole world our mission field. So then believe, follow, and testify in response to the words of John the Baptist, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”

5th Sunday After the Epiphany Pastor Nathan Fager
Let Down Your Nets for a Catch
Luke 5:1-11
1 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, 2 he saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will catch men.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
What’s it take to be a good fisherman? I know that some of you can answer that better than others. You enjoy the sport of fishing and have probably acquired what it takes to be a good fisherman. Without a doubt you need the right equipment. In warmer weather you need a way to get to the fish, so you have a nice boat. You also need a way to find the fish, so there are all kinds of electronic locators. Then of course you need a way to catch the fish; you need poles, reels, hooks, bait, and a list of other essentials.
The fact of the matter is, you could have all that stuff and still not be a good fisherman. Without a doubt you also need a bit of experience. Where do the fish usually bite on this lake, during this month, at this time of day? You have to know by experience what bait is the best for which fish. Now, with all these electronic locators you have to know how to read them.
Finally, even with all the right equipment and a bit of experience I guess you still need a bit of luck. Sometimes just about anyone can be a good fisherman if they just have enough luck. For me to be a good fisherman I would rely heavily on luck. I need more advice for fishing than I can give. I have no problem asking for help. But others of us may. Would you struggle to take advice from someone with far less experience? Would it be hard to listen if you had fished in the best place at the best time and caught nothing? Would you take advice to go against your experience and conventional wisdom to fish in the worst spot at the worst time?
Ok, now you’re Simon Peter, the lifetime fisherman. You have all that it takes to be a good at what you do. You have a couple of good boats, a small crew of men, and some good strong nets. You don’t have electronic locators, but you know this lake like the back of your hand. Where’s the fish? Well, they’re in the shallows. When’s the best time to fish? At night, of course, even those who aren’t fisherman could tell you that.
Ok, now you’re Simon Peter, the new apostle of Jesus. You’ve fished all night unsuccessfully. Now Jesus wants to preach from your boat. Not a problem since the best fishing time is long gone. As the day gets long you’re probably planning your next night’s excursion. Then, around midday Jesus takes a break from his preaching. “Let’s go fishing,” he says, “and why don’t we push out to the deep?” As a new disciple of Jesus this is probably your first test. Your Master wants you to rely on his word to grant you success. “Ok, Master, even though we caught nothing at the best time in the best place I’ll let down my nets for a catch just as you say.”
Well, Peter, you didn’t do that bad on your first test. You went against conventional wisdom. You faced possible embarrassment from those on the beach wondering why you’re letting down your nets in the deep at midday. But really all you did was listen to your master. He gave you the simple command “let down your nets for a catch” and you complied. No props for you, this catch of fish is all about Jesus.
Only Jesus could have control over nature in this way. Only Jesus could fill those nets to overflowing. Only Jesus could say the word and perform such an amazing miracle. So much for conventional wisdom, so much for electronic locators, you could have all that it takes to be a good fisherman and never catch a fish. But with Jesus, great things happen in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times.
What do you think of Jesus’ advice now? His simple command “let down your nets for a catch” now means a lot. It means that all I have to do is listen when he tells me “It’s time to go fishing.” It means that when Jesus gives the command he will supply the results. “But you no longer will catch fish,” Jesus says. “From now on you will catch men.” If Jesus can give success like this when we let down our nets he will surely give success when we share the good news. And so with full confidence you drop everything, your workers, your boats, your families, your homes, and you follow Jesus.
Ok, now you’re you, lifetime Christian and disciple of Jesus. The simple command given to you is the same one given to the disciples, “from now on you will catch men.” What kind of confidence do you have in your work? How willing are you to listen to Jesus when he tells you where and when to fish?
My fellow fishers of men, I join you in saying that it’s hard to take Jesus at his Word. I will admit with you that it’s discouraging to work at the best time in the best place and come up empty handed. We think we’ve got it all figured out until our nets come back empty. What’s wrong? Why aren’t we catching anything? Why aren’t our nets filled every time we let them down?
What do questions like these lead to? You and I are so close at times to losing all confidence in Jesus’ Word and doubting its ability to work miracles. Doubt creeps into our hearts where faith had previously been. There is a struggle for supremacy. Who will win out? Faith or doubt? When our faith is tested we cannot stand alone. The more we rely on our own ability to be productive the more we will come up empty handed. We will fish all night in the best places but catch nothing.
My fellow fishers of men, it’s not about you. If it were then you would have come crashing down long ago. If success depended on you then no one would listen. You have no power to change hearts. You have no power to work miracles. You have no power to add anything to the Word of God you share with others.
As Peter, let us fall to the knees of our Lord Jesus and say, “Go away from me, for I am sinful.” In your weakness turn to his strength. Turn away from your doubt and turn back in faith. As we humbly recognize our inabilities, Jesus lifts us up in confidence. As he said to Peter he says to us, “Don’t be afraid.” Don’t be afraid to ask for strength from your holy God, Jesus has freely welcomed you. Don’t be afraid to speak for Jesus, there is power in his Word.
Cast your doubt to the side and take up your nets again. Let them down for a catch. As we go out to catch men we take up the powerful net of the gospel. This is the same powerful means that changed our hearts for Jesus. At one point someone cast out the good news of Salvation through Jesus. We were caught in this net and pulled us into the boat from the sea of death to live forever.
In the same way we let down our nets for a catch. Whether or not we catch something is not up to us. Very simply put, we let down our nets for a catch and Jesus does the rest. With the same power he exerted over nature he will empower the work of our hands. Will we always see a boat that is overflowing? Not always. This is because spiritual things are invisible. The reaction of the heart happens where we cannot see.
As we learned from this great miracle of Jesus, he will work where and when he wants. We have no power to make the gospel work just as a fisherman has no power to make fish bite his bait. We very likely may come up empty handed after working in the best place at the best time. With the power of Jesus behind the good news we share we can find success in the most unexpected places at the most unexpected times.
Success from the Word of God is not a question of “if.” We let down our nets for a catch. We know that we will have success. The only questions are “where” and “when.”
My fellow fishers of men, we may not all have what it takes to be good fishermen. But you know that we have what it takes to be good fishers of men. What does it take to be a good fisher of men? Well, first you need the right equipment. You don’t need a church building. You don’t need a neon sign. All you need is the clear and powerful tool of the gospel.
Can each of us share the gospel, or do we need experience too? The only experience needed is what you discover each and every time you meditate on God’s Word. You know how God speaks to your heart when you are lonely and depressed. You know how God hears your words of praise and thanks. The experience you have comes from the ongoing relationship you have with your God. So you don’t know chapter and verse, that’s fine. But you know the good news of Jesus. At times it takes no more than sharing your personal experience.
And the rest we leave up to luck, right? Not in this case. Maybe for a novice fisherman, but not for a fisher of men. The reason people will open up to your message is because of the power in the Word. This is the power of Jesus who can work miracles. He can bring those who are dead in sin back to life. He can turn on the light of faith for those who wander aimlessly blind. He can bring peace to those who are by nature enemies of God.
There is no luck when you let down your nets for a catch. The power is in the Word. You have exactly what it takes to be a good fisher of men. Whenever doubt tries to climb back on board remember this miracle of Jesus. Trust that with the same power he used to catch all those fish he will give success to you. Simply let down your nets for a catch, and let Jesus do the rest.
Amen.

4th Sunday after the Epiphany Pastor Nathan Fager
Jesus Deals with Rejection
I. He speaks the truth
II. He walks away
Luke 4:20-32
20 Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, 21 and he began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” they asked. 23 Jesus said to them, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” 24 “I tell you the truth,” he continued, “no prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. 27 And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.” 28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. 31 Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. 32 They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
There’s something special about coming back to your hometown. People just seem to treat you differently. Some may like the fact that they watched you grow up. They have a sense of pride to know that you made something of yourself. Others may wish you had never come back. It depends on the kind of name you’ve made for yourself. If you had become a big politician, TV star, or sports player the town may throw you a parade. Then again, if you had become a serial killer, bank robber, or drug dealer the people may drive you out of town.
There’s something special about coming back to your hometown. People just seem to treat you differently. Jesus too experienced special treatment during his brief visit to his hometown of Nazareth. The people of this town had watched him grow up in the house of Joseph the carpenter. It appears, though, that they simply could not get past that fact when Jesus began to preach to them. It became very difficult, if not impossible, for Jesus to do his work in his hometown.
We don’t want to face the same kind of rejection as Jesus did, do we? There is a strong temptation to keep the truth of Jesus to ourselves when we know people will treat us differently. But when these people rejected Jesus, how did he respond? What was Jesus willing to do for these people from his hometown? As the Holy Spirit teaches us today from God’s Word, let us see how Jesus deals with rejection.
If you remember from last week we looked at the words of Jesus that lead up to our lesson today. Jesus had gotten up to read in the synagogue. They had handed him the scroll of Isaiah. From those words Jesus read, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” After sitting down to speak Jesus told them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” The eyes of all the people were fastened on him. “This famous preacher now has a message for us.”
Verse 22 says, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” Jesus spoke before them as the fulfillment to Isaiah’s prophecy. The gracious words from his lips spoke of freedom, release, and restoration. Because of Jesus the world would not longer be slaves to sin, death, and the devil. This audience heard a powerful message from the one who was anointed by the Holy Spirit.
I imagine that Jesus was just as excited to speak these words, as the people were to hear them, at least at first. In the midst of their amazement over Jesus’ words they made sure to remember who this boy was. “Oh yea,” they say, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” “Well, sure, he grew up down the street. He helped build my house. He fixed my broken door frame.” We don’t know all that they would have said about Jesus. We just know that they caught a snag because they knew him as Joseph’s son.
“The carpenter’s boy has made a name for himself. Isn’t that nice. I suppose since he’s done so much for other towns that he’ll now perform great miracles here too. I mean, why wouldn’t he? This is his hometown.” Jesus responds to this kind of thinking in verse 23, “Surely you will quote this proverb to me: ‘Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.’” Why did they want Jesus to perform for them? Was it because they believed in him as the Son of God and their Savior from sin? Or was it because he was a hometown boy?
They caught a snag because they knew him as Joseph’s son. So what did Jesus do? Did he avoid the issue? Did he change the subject to something nonreligious? Not at all! Jesus speaks right to the heart of the problem and he speaks out with authority. Without any hesitation Jesus speaks the truth. Verse 24 says, “I tell you the truth, no prophet is accepted in his hometown.”
This should not have come as a surprise to them, and Jesus points out why. Jesus illustrates his point by referring to two of Israel’s greatest prophets, Elijah and Elisha. Look at verses 25-27, “I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah’s time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed—only Naaman the Syrian.”
Jesus points out that these two great prophets were not accepted in their home country. Elijah was able to perform a great miracle for the widow of Zarephath and Elisha was able to heal the foreigner Naaman from his leprosy. If not among his chosen nation then God would show his mercy among the gentiles. If Jesus could not preach even in his hometown then he would go elsewhere.
Since it is as Jesus said, no prophet is accepted in his hometown, then why did Jesus go there in the first place? If he knew the people wouldn’t listen to him, then why did he open his mouth? Jesus very easily could have stayed out of the synagogue or even out of Nazareth altogether. That wouldn’t be that hard. You and I do something like that all the time. Although we can’t read hearts and minds like Jesus, we can tell when someone doesn’t want to hear us share our faith. And so we keep our mouths shut. Or we change the subject to something nonreligious.
Very naturally we don’t want to be treated differently. It doesn’t matter if we’re talking with the closest of friends or the stranger off the street. If I open my big mouth and start talking about Jesus they may end their relationship with me. Sometimes do we not care about our reputation more than our responsibilities as Christians? This is true especially in a culture that pushes not only tolerance but also acceptance of another’s beliefs. The devil is winning a huge victory when you believe his lie that you should not share your faith for the purpose of changing hearts and lives for Jesus.
Hell waits for those who do not believe in Jesus as their Savior. When we believe the devil’s lies then we deserve this eternal fate as well. But your stubborn heart and mute tongue do not need to stay that way. Because of Jesus we have a reason to speak. The suffering Jesus endured for his message in Nazareth was only the beginning. Jesus would later be rejected and ultimately put on a cross to die. But Jesus did not need to save himself. Rather he died for the sake of the world. He died for those people in Nazareth. He died for the sake of your sins and mine.
Jesus knows what it means to be rejected. And now because of all his suffering and death your sins are forgiven. Jesus suffered for every time you obeyed your hellish master. But now God no longer sees your failures day after day. We have one who speaks to the Father in our behalf, Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. You and I now serve our Father in heaven. We are his to use as he sees fit.
When Jesus walked the earth he was on the mission appointed by the Father. The reason he went to his hometown was not because it was his hometown, but because it was one of the many places that needed to hear the good news. This indeed was a tough crowd, partly because they knew Jesus as Joseph’s son, but mostly because their hearts were hardened in unbelief. And yet Jesus opened his mouth and spoke the truth, no matter what the response would be.
Unfortunately, their response was quite bold and extreme. The unbelief in their hearts left the door wide open for the temptation to cause Jesus harm. Verses 28-29 say this, “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff.” The eagerness and excitement to hear Jesus speak was over. They had heard enough. They were not content only to throw him out of town. They wanted to throw him off the cliff.
The riotous words pouring from their lips surely would have muted any plea on Jesus part to reconsider. As is true of all those who are dying, the heart of stone does not want the softening words of the gospel. They had rejected Jesus and his words. They had stood up opposed to God. They had shut the doors of their hearts in the face of the Holy Spirit. When all hope was finally lost, Jesus walks away. Verse 30 tells us how he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.
We’re not told of another time when Jesus returned to his hometown. Why? Not because Jesus had any less love for their souls. Only because they had their chance. They had heard Jesus’ saving message but in unbelief had rejected him as their Savior.
Put yourself in Jesus shoes, or rather his sandals. How would you feel to be driven out of town and taken to a hill with the intent of throwing you off the cliff? Even to the strongest among us I would say that you would crumble. Your confidence and strength would be shattered. You would take that as some kind of sign and never open your mouth again.
Thank the Lord that Jesus kept his strength. Even after an episode like this he keeps preaching. Verses 31-32 conclude our lesson by saying, “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority.”
Jesus doesn’t skip a beat. For as quickly as he walks away from one town he is right down the road preaching his message again. And with no less, if not much more, authority amazing the people with his teaching. Not everyone would believe Jesus from here on out. Undoubtedly there would be others who would reject Jesus and his message. But he would not be deterred nor let their rejection stop him from sharing his good news with all people.
How do you deal with rejection? Do you get ready to tap out more quickly? Or do you learn from tough experiences ready to stay in the fight longer. If you have not had an experience as Jesus did then you can learn from him. Learn to be bold and confident no matter what the response will be. Learn that not everyone with whom you share Jesus will listen to your message. Learn that the world will hate you because you are different, because you are a child of God.
With the help of the Holy Spirit we will quickly discover that apart from preaching the Word, you and I do nothing. We do not make someone believe, that’s the job of the Holy Spirit. We do not make someone reject the message; each heart is responsible for his own rejection. Your job and mine is simply to tell the truth. To keep your mouth shut would be to perjure yourself in a lie. Tell the truth of Jesus as the Savior of the world. Tell that message again and again until your listeners are either with you in the book of life or against you ready to throw you off a cliff.
With the help of the Holy Spirit we don’t skip a beat. For as quickly as someone rejects the message we are right down the road preaching the message again. Even if no one listens, know that you’ve done your part. But we know that they will listen. God has promised that his Word will not return to him empty but accomplish the purpose for which he sent it.
Jesus’ suffering on this day was not only a part of his payment for sin but also an example to us. Our Lord Jesus knows that our toughest crowd will be those of our hometown. But we know that all people need to hear the message of Salvation through Jesus. So we will not hesitate to preach the good news not matter what the response. Let your hearts be prepared to deal with rejection as you constantly speak the truth to those who desperately need it. Amen.

1st Sunday after Epiphany – The Baptism of Our Lord Pastor Nathan Fager
We Recognize Jesus as God’s Son
I. Coming with power
II. Anointed with purpose

Sermon text: Luke 3:15-17,21-22
15 The people were waiting expectantly and were all wondering in their hearts if John might possibly be the Christ. 16 John answered them all, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 17 His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” 21 When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In Stage Theater it’s not uncommon for there to be numerous actors on the stage at the same time. Especially say for a musical when the whole chorus joins the main characters. It’s sometimes fun to let your eyes drift back and forth to see all that is happening in the scene. When all this is going on the audience can easily be distracted from the dialogue of the story. Directors may keep the unimportant voices down to a dull roar and their actions to no more than hand movements. The point is to show activity but not to detract attention from the main character.
The best way for an actor to be noticed is not to hang around with the chorus. Often you see much of the important action happen right at the front and directly in the center of the stage. Then if they really need to be noticed the director will dim all other lights and turn on the spotlight. There the actor stands with undivided attention on him. You have to be pretty important to deserve this kind of consideration. Only the main characters end up in this light.
Today’s gospel brings Jesus into the spotlight for the first time. Up to this point he had been waiting offstage. When Jesus appears it’s clear that he deserves to be front and center of attention. John the Baptist sets up Jesus’ character so that his listeners could recognize Jesus for who he is. Both John’s introduction and Jesus’ first big scene make clear to us that Jesus is God’s Son. As the Holy Spirit teaches us today we will recognize that Jesus came with power and was anointed with a purpose.
Before Jesus began his public ministry it’s possible the common person had only a vague idea of what the Christ would be. Would he just fit in with the crowd unnoticed or would he be eccentric and preach with a powerful message? It may only have taken one suggestion to influence the crowd around John the Baptist. All we know is that the people were wondering in their hearts if John was the Christ.
Who was this John the Baptist anyway? Well, he wasn’t the Christ. He made that clear in verses 16 and 17 when he said, “I baptize you with water. But one more powerful than I will come, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” It’s a good thing that John the Baptist did not have delusions of grandeur. He could have easily said, “Sure, I’m the Christ, now bow down and worship me!” But instead John recognized that the Christ would be the Son of God. John did not fit this description. Yes, he spoke with authority as a great prophet. Yes, he continually preached repentance. Yes, he baptized people for the forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation. But he was not the Christ.
John was sent to prepare the way for the Christ. He was the great forerunner to prepare the people’s hearts. He recognized himself as no more than a servant, and a lowly servant at that. In fact, the humblest servant slave in the house compared to his master. The lowest slave in the house was responsible to wash the feet when his master came in from the dusty roads. Who would want a dirty job like that? John admitted that he was not worthy even to untie the sandals of the Christ. When compared to the great power of Christ John the Baptist was lower than low.
If Christ’s power would be so much greater than John’s, then what kind of power would this be? John compares the element nearby, the water used in baptism, with a far more cleaning element, fire. With water the best you can do is to scrub and rinse, but fire burns away any and all impurities. Fire permeates to separate pure silver or gold from whatever would contaminate. Christ would come with a baptism, a cleaning, in the power of the Holy Spirit’s fire.
That is a power that no man can wield. No one can control the power of God, except one who is God himself. If John’s audience was listening, they recognize that the Christ would be the Son of God. The appearance of Christ would bring about a new age of spiritual cleansing. The Holy Spirit would not be limited but would be sent out through the whole world. The time of preparation would end and all people would recognize the power of Christ as the power of God.
This cleansing fire shown brilliantly on the day of Pentecost. After the work of Christ’s redemption was complete the Holy Spirit anointed the apostles with power. In the languages of many nations the message of salvation was shared for all to hear. And so began an abundant outpouring of power through Word and Sacrament. The power of the Holy Spirit would cleanse the dirty heart of sin with the powerful fire of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
This power of the Son of God extends to us here today. The Holy Spirit has been sent to create and sustain faith in our hearts as well. Know that this cleaning is far more powerful than the water in the shower you took this morning. This is a cleansing fire that has purified your heart from sin. This is a cleansing fire that nourishes your very soul. This is power that Christ uses for the sake of his people after taking the stage.
John’s audience awaited Christ’s first appearing. We all wait for Christ to appear again at the last day. John points out that Christ stands ready to clear his threshing floor, with his winnowing fork in hand. We’ll get to Jesus’ first big scene in a minute. What John the Baptist refers to here is the big finale, the separation of the wheat from the chaff. On the threshing floor lies both wheat and chaff intermixed. The winnowing fork is then used to toss the mix into the air. The precious grain falls to the floor while the useless chaff is blown by the wind. The wheat goes into storage in the barn and the chaff goes off to the fire.
With the power that alone belongs to the Son of God the believers will be separated from the unbelievers. Unbelievers will be sent to the fire. Not to be annihilated but to burn in an unquenchable fire. A fire that lasts forever. These are the fires of hell. In hell there is no end to the torment and pain. The unquenchable fire will never burn out. On the other hand, believers will be gathered into our home in heaven. Just as the fires of hell will be unquenchable so the joy of heaven will be unending.
Christ, not John the Baptist, would have this divine power. John the Baptist would only preach about who Jesus would be. He waited and watched until the time came for Jesus to take the stage. The spotlight was ready to shine on Jesus for the rest of the show. As we’ll see now, there is no doubt that Jesus is the Son of God who was anointed with a purpose.
When Jesus took the scene he came as one of the crowd. He did not wear a fancy costume, nor did he have any distinguishing physical markers. And yet he did more than blend into the crowd, he was part of the crowd. He was a man just as any other man. He had flesh and blood. He had hunger and thirst. He had human emotions and human temptations. But as John proclaimed and as we’ll see in the remaining words of our lesson, Jesus is recognized not only as a man but also as the Son of God.
Verses 21-22 describe events surrounding Jesus’ baptism, “When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
Jesus was one of the crowd. He was down by the Jordan River waiting his turn to be baptized by John. When the time came he was baptized. We don’t know exactly how this all happened but as any other baptism we can assume that there was water connected with the Word of God.
In all his divine power Jesus came to identify with us. It didn’t seem right. Even John the Baptist protested this. In another gospel account we hear how John wanted Jesus to baptize him. But Jesus responded that this was to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus knew his time had come. He was ready to willingly step into the spotlight and have all eyes on him.
The spotlight couldn’t have been any brighter. What happened next revealed to everyone that this Jesus was something more. Heaven was opened. The best way we visualize this is with a great light. What it looked like we don’t know, but it must have been amazing. The Holy Spirit descended on him. It’s fitting that the physical form he took has become a symbol of peace and love. Then, the voice of God from heaven said of Jesus, “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”
What that crowd saw that day was only the beginning of the great things Jesus would do. On this day Jesus was revealed as the Christ. In this amazing sight and sound when all three persons of the trinity were present Jesus was anointed for a purpose. The part Jesus would play in all this would be to fulfill all righteousness. Jesus was perfect for this part. As God he would live holy and blameless his whole life. Then, as a man Jesus would die. But as God Jesus’ death would count for the sins of the world. And on the last day Jesus will come again in bodily form as judge of all other men.
The day Jesus was baptized marked the beginning of his public ministry. This was a ministry he would perform for you and for me. Having received publicly the Father’s seal of approval Jesus was out with a purpose, to bring us salvation.
If Jesus had not done what he did for us, then our baptisms would have been pointless. Then the water would have been just plain water. There would have been no power behind the Word and no faith created in our hearts. But Jesus did what he was sent to do. He fulfilled the purpose he as anointed for. Now our baptism means something. It means forgiveness of sins, new life, and salvation full and free.
Our baptism connected us to Jesus. His death is now our death. His life is our life. The righteousness he fulfilled is our righteousness. Every day we live in this baptismal grace. Every day we remember how Jesus in his divine power washed us clean. Every Sunday we see this baptismal font and know that’s where it all started for me. Just as Jesus’ ministry started at his baptism, so also our individual ministries, our lives of service to God, started at our baptism. We live each day by faith, which our baptism created.
When Jesus took center stage we recognize one who is right for the part. When he came he fulfilled John’s words and came with power. And when he was anointed he was anointed with a purpose. As we celebrate the baptism of our Lord we see Jesus identify with the people he came to save. As these words in Luke’s gospel record we believe and trust that this man Jesus is the sinless Son of God.
Amen.

2nd Sunday after the Epiphany
Jesus, Be My Guest!
John 2:1-11
1 On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding. 3 When the wine was gone, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no more wine.” 4 “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” 6 Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.” They did so, 9 and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine. He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew. Then he called the bridegroom aside 10 and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.” 11 This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Whenever we sit down to eat a meal it’s a good time to say a table prayer. Many use the common table prayer, “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blest.” We may refer to this as common because we say it so often. It’s true though that whenever we use a familiar prayer we can easily be distracted from what we’re asking for. Our mind may rather be thinking about the food we’re about to eat and not the words we recite by memory. You realize you did this when halfway through the meal you ask, “did we say the prayer?” Then you know you weren’t paying attention. And so you take another brief moment and repeat the prayer, and this time you mean it.
What, then, does it means when we ask Jesus to be our guest? He’s not going to eat any of the food. In most cases there isn’t even an extra chair for him to sit at. I’ve heard of families setting another spot at the table for Jesus, but I don’t think they ever offered food to his plate. When we ask Jesus to be our guest hopefully we recognize something very wonderful about him. Today we’ll remember when Jesus came as a guest to another meal. This was actually a wedding feast. See if you can discover what Jesus reveals to us about himself by performing this, his first miracle and why we still today ask Jesus to be our guest.
Wedding celebrations can really be a big deal. A number of months are needed in order to make all the reservations, send out the invitations, and make sure everyone is entertained while they’re there. The more we deal with the more stress is involved. Will there be enough to eat and drink? Will the DJ show up on time? With so many things that could go wrong there rarely is a perfect wedding day. Sure the ceremony goes great, but then there is the reception. Have you ever been to a celebration when the food ran out? We can only begin to understand the embarrassment.
Our celebrations today are somewhat different than what Jesus would have attended on this occasion. Our parties only last a day or two, three if you count the gift opening. It is possible that at Jesus’ time wedding celebrations would have lasted a whole week. And we think we have it stressful. For us there is usually only one big meal. Back then the wedding coordinator had quite a bit more responsibility. Nothing could be worse than to run out at a time like this.
But that’s what happened. We’re told that the wine was gone. Not a very socially acceptable thing to happen. In fact, this would have been a serious offence. The bride and groom were looking at some serious embarrassment here. This is the last thing you want to have happen on your big day, or in this case big week.
Not a pretty picture. We’ve all been there. Maybe it was at a wedding celebration, or maybe it was at some other time when we were looking at the bottom of the barrel wondering what to do next. It’s gone? It can’t be gone. After planning and preparing, where has it all gone? Maybe you can recall a time when you thought this way about the money your checkbook. So much of what we do depends having enough money. After turning the last couch cushion and dumping the last cup holder in the car we’ve seen something very important run out.
Not everyone has been there with money, but you’ve been there. You’ve stared at an empty well when the love in your relationship is gone. You’ve run out of time and energy for your family when they need you most. You’ve spent sleepless nights and wearisome days worrying about tomorrow. You know how close you’ve been to total embarrassment. Where do you turn? When it’s all gone, where do you turn?
Mary, Jesus’ mother, turned to Jesus. She ran up to him and exclaimed, “It’s gone! They’ve run out of wine. Now what?” Good for you Mary, but not good enough. You went to the right place but you had the wrong intentions. We know this because Jesus turned to her and said in verse 4, “Dear woman, why do you involve me?” Jesus replied. “My time has not yet come.”
Mary wanted what we want: instant gratification. The faster our society gets the more we expect instant gratification. Jesus rather teaches about the lesser know form of delayed gratification. There would be a time for Jesus to do something, but that time had not yet come. We’re not told how much time elapsed before Jesus performed this miracle. All we know is that Mary and whoever else was involved in the wedding planning had to wait. Even in the most embarrassing time, they had to wait.
Has Jesus ever had to teach you about delayed gratification? “Lord, it’s gone. You blessed me with so much and now I have none. Give me what I need.” Just like that it’s there, right? Not always. Even when we think it can’t get any worse, Jesus’ answer is “wait.” A humbling experience to say the least. And so we dig deeper. We work longer, harder. We do the best we can with what we’ve got until the time is right. In this way God opens our eyes to see that we on are his timetable, not the other way around.
Mary told the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.” Now she knows that Jesus would not perform on command. Jesus would wait to perform at God’s command. Now Mary opened her hands to Jesus. She could do no more, but Jesus could. As the mother of Jesus we know that Mary had full confidence in what Jesus was capable of.
Listen again to what Jesus did in verses 6-9, “Nearby stood six stone water jars, the kind used by the Jews for ceremonial washing, each holding from twenty to thirty gallons. Jesus said to the servants, ‘Fill the jars with water’; so they filled them to the brim. Then he told them ‘Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.’ They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.”
Jesus’ time had come. This was now the time to do something special for a special reason. First, what was so great about what Jesus did? It started as a typical request. Since the people are out of wine, then go fill some water jars and they can drink water. The servants were probably wondering what was so great about this fix. But whatever they were thinking they filled the jars. And they filled them to the brim. 120 to 180 gallons was a lot of water.
But this water would not be used for cleansing as the jars were intended or for drinking as someone may have thought. Jesus told the servants to take some of the water to the master of the banquet. He would approve it and then serve it to the guests. But it was just water, not bottled, not from a spring in Canada, just water. The servants would have been pretty confused about this whole ordeal. At least until the miracle happened. When the master of the banquet tasted what the servants brought to him, the water that had been turned into wine.
No, not watered down wine. Water that was turned into wine. And not just any wine. From this man’s reaction we find out that this was a choice wine, better than what had been served up to this point. And since the water in all six of those jars was turned to wine there surely was enough to go around.
As amazing as this all was, we cannot leave this story without knowing why Jesus did this first great miracle. Well, here Jesus was just helping out, right? There was an immediate need and he had the means to make things better. There was no wine and with Jesus’ miracle there now is plenty. Is that why Jesus did this miracle?
Maybe he did this to show that drinking wine is okay. He could easily have left the water as it is and suggested that everyone can have water with their food. But Jesus made the water into wine, so wine is okay to drink. There is no law that condemns the drinking of alcohol. The Bible does speak strongly against drunkenness and debauchery, but used responsibly, drinking is okay. Is this why Jesus did this miracle?
Fortunately, we don’t have to guess as to why Jesus turned the water into wine. Verse 11 tells us why. It says, “This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed at Cana in Galilee. He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him.” Jesus performed this miracle as a sign.
What are signs used for? Where do we see signs? A sign can be used to explain as well as to tell of things to come. Take for example a highway billboard sign. Very often these are used to promote a certain business. Others may be used to tell of upcoming events. Think also of street signs. You know how fast you can drive, what road you’re on, and where the next main attraction is. Signs are used to point at something very specific.
So Jesus also used this miracle to point. He pointed as something very special about himself. By performing this sign what did Jesus show? His glory. Not a “hey, I’m a real nice guy for helping out” but a “now you can see with your eyes that I have power as God.”
To really understand the significance of the revealing of the glory of the Lord you have to know about when God has done this in the past. Throughout the OT the Lord God has physically made his presence known. If you think about it you can come up with some very popular occasions. With Moses there was a burning bush, a pillar of cloud by day and fire by night, smoke and fire on Mt. Sinai, and the cloud in the tent of meeting, just to name a few. Whenever he reveals himself God tells us something about himself. And yet every time he appears we are struck by his absolute majesty. How amazing it is that our holy God would care about us poor sinners.
It is truly amazing that Jesus came to this sinful world. Even more amazing is that Jesus did not come to seek honor on earth. Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. He came so that we would place our trust in him and believe in him as our savior. This was the result for Jesus disciples who believed in him. They put their faith in Jesus. They understood that this demonstration of glory revealed Jesus as their God. By faith they accepted all that Jesus stood for and came for. They believed that Jesus was their savior from sin, death, and the devil. By Jesus’ death on a cross Jesus would finish all that needed to be done.
What an amazing guest Jesus was at this wedding celebration. A friend of the family who helped out in a time of need. A friend of sinners who reveals to us his heavenly glory. The glory of the Lord does not appear today so magnificently as it did in OT times or when Jesus walked the earth. But his glory still surrounds us. He reveals himself to us in so many ways. If you think about it you can come up with some very important occasions. Take for example your baptism through which God created faith in your heart. There is also the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper where he gives us his body and blood to eat and to drink. Then think about how magnificent God is revealed to us in his holy Word.
God still comes to us today to give us blessings for our soul. And as you know he comes to give us blessings for our body as well. “Come Lord Jesus be our guest…” is a prayer where we ask for his blessing. We ask him to come with his glory and with power. We ask him to abide with us at all times and provide what we need in life according to his will. By his grace he listens to our requests and answers us. Sometimes God’s time is not our time, sometimes his answer is wait. But even then we turn ourselves over to God knowing that he has a plan for our lives. He works all things out for our good.
Wherever you are right now in life, whether you have six jars filled to the brim or if you are starring at the bottom of the barrel, know that Jesus is here with his glory. In his abundant love he will take time for you and love you as his own. You and I then put our faith in Jesus. We put our trust in his ability to provide abundantly for all our needs for this life and for the life to come.
Amen.