Last Sunday of the Church Year

Text: 1 Timothy 2:1-4
Vicar Gary Schultz

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

First of all, then I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people…

We often think that prayer is setting before God a list of wishes and hoping that he will favorably answer the way we want. We may forget the phrase “Thy will be done” altogether or pray it halfheartedly and desire God’s will to line up with our thoughts, rather than the other way around.

Notice how in our text Saint Paul places thanksgivings right along with supplications, prayers, and intercessions. In addition to asking for things from Our Father, we are also to give thanks to Him. Our current intercessions to God are made within the context of His past blessings to us. Praying for our current needs cannot be separated from giving thanks to God for His gracious gifts previously bestowed. This helps us to pray for our supplications with “Thy will be done” in our minds because as we give thanks to God for His blessings, we see how His will was done in the past.

Our nation has set aside this day as a day to give thanks for our blessings – for our freedom, our stable government, our bountiful harvests, our medical and technological advancements – all the things that our people are blessed to enjoy. It was in the midst of the Civil War that President Lincoln declared a National Day of Thanksgiving. It might not seem as though this was a good time to start Thanksgiving. The nation was in the midst of a brutal war within its own boundaries. Yet Lincoln asked the nation to give thanks for the blessings that people still had in the midst of great turmoil and tension. Today, we continue to give thanks for blessings received, even in the midst of the troubled world in which we live.

As we give thanks to God, we also make supplications, prayers, and intercessions for all people. We pray for those among our parish, families, and friends who are sick, injured, depressed, despairing, or recovering from various ailments. We pray those who have lost loved ones. We intercede for the safety of our government leaders and those who serve and protect our communities and our nation. We pray for the needy, for those who are unemployed, and those going through difficulties and disappointments of any kind. As we make these requests, we do so in the context of and with thanksgiving for the many blessings we have received.

In the church, we take this day even farther. We are not just giving thanks to some general force in the sky, a higher power, the god that is on our money, a god of American spirituality.

We give thanks to the one true God, the God who shows Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. In verse three of our text, Paul identifies God as “Our Savior.” And who is God our Savior except for Christ Himself? It is only through Christ that we are able truly to give thanks to Our Father for all the physical blessings He has given us in this life. It is only through our forgiveness in Christ that we able to approach Our Father at all. For after our Epistle text today, 1 Timothy chapter two continues: For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time (1 Tim 2:5-6).

Our Old Testament for today relates why God sustained His people with manna in the wilderness – a blessing they grew to dislike: And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. In addition to food for this life, God’s people needed food from heaven – the Word of the Lord. Now that Word has become flesh in the person of Jesus Christ. He is the Word of the Lord, the True and Living Bread from Heaven.

Our observance of Thanksgiving goes even further than our temporal blessings – the gifts we have been given right now for life on this earth. Our daily needs are more than met. We have an abundance of choices at a variety of stores to obtain food and clothing. We have new, cutting-edge medical technology and treatment to help us in our physical concerns. We have computers and cellular telephones and communicate with friends and family across the world. We can contribute to organizations and societies to help those in need. Our needs are fulfilled by Our Father beyond the bare minimum. While it’s wonderful that we have so many gifts to enjoy on this earth, the gift of life after our life on this earth is what we give thanks for above all other blessings.

Christ Jesus gave himself as a ransom for all. Sin required payment. God would not sit idly by while sin separated His creation from Himself. So Christ, true God and true Man, came to be the one mediator between God and men. Christ the Son, our Mediator, bridges the gap of sin that separated us from Our Father. Now we are blessed with the greatest gift: assurance of eternal life in heaven with Our Lord face-to-face.

Now we can give thanks to God our Father, whose mercies are new every morning and who graciously provides for all our needs of body and soul (Collect), because of Jesus our Mediator, giving us full access to Our Father to bring our supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings before Him, in thankful confidence in His forgiveness. On the cross, He gave up His own life as the ransom for all.

We are now free to proclaim gladly and with a clear conscience to Our Father: The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and you give them their food in due season. You open Your hand and satisfy the desire of every living thing (Ps 145:15-16). Oh give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; his steadfast love endures forever (Ps 118:1). Amen.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

2nd Last Sunday in the Church Year

It Will All Be Thrown Down!
Reverend Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Mark 13:1-13

In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His son (Heb. 1:1, 2). As (Jesus) came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” And Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Dear friends in Christ; there is a strong desire in the human will for things to last. We don’t like it when things dear to us are thrown down – our plans, places we know, people we love. We want there to be permanence and stability in the life we lead. Our inner desire is for that security to be seen in our surroundings. When the Gore homestead on North Oakland Ave., the oldest house in Shorewood, is gone in 300 seconds, we are reminded how time and change pull things down. When the massive, gleaming trade center towers in New York are thrown down in one September morning, we are reminded how easily the buildings of mankind are shaken. When we recall the hundreds and hundreds of people whose earthly tents, whose bodily lives were destroyed in a few minutes on that day, we are reminded how frail our earthly tents are. “Look Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” “Do you see these great buildings?” Jesus asked, “There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

They were wonderful stones! Historians describe the larger ones as 37 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 12 feet high; as long as our nave is from side to side and half that wide. White in color, the temple gleamed in the sun. It seemed as permanent and as powerful as anything on earth. It was also wonderful in another sense. God used that house of worship. He met with His people there in the Holy Place. The blood of the sacrificial lambs that flowed in the precinct of those stones flowed by God’s command, connected to His promise. There, forgiveness was given by His mercy. “Look, Teacher, what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings!” Yes they were.

There are also wonderful buildings in your life and mine that will be thrown down. In creation God built us to last, and He built this earth to last. We were made not to be shaken and not to be thrown down. Then came the fall into sin and with it God’s curse and with it change and decay and death. All creation now groans under bondage to sin and yet the goodness of God’s daily bread is still felt by us.

It can be so good when things are built up, new and strong. Houses are constructed, rooms are remodeled, roads are repaired, and neighborhoods are revitalized and health restored. There is building up as a marriage is begun, at the birth of a baby, in the growth and excitement of youth, during the maturation of adulthood. These gifts are indeed wonderful things. But houses grow old and need ongoing repairs, smooth new roads too soon have bumps and potholes. Bodies too soon grow weary, circulation slows, memory fades, joints wear out, diseases and illness take a heavier toll. The sad truth is that it will all be thrown down, the buildings of our bodies, the buildings around us, every wonderful thing that we admire.

And as he sat on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be accomplished?” Jesus never did answer their questions of “when”. Instead He pointed to four signs closely connected to the tearing down of this world.

The first permanent-looking thing that Jesus warned against is religion. All that is spiritual is not good. There is a whole lot of spiritual stuff swirling around in every generation that claims to offer security and stability. And Jesus began to say to them, “See that no one leads you astray. Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he!’ and they will lead many astray…” To come in Jesus’ name doesn’t mean that these spiritual seducers simply run around saying, “I am Jesus, I am Jesus”. What it does mean is that they claim to speak a higher truth, put you right with the world, give you inner peace, or offer you salvation in some way. Their spiritual deception is by nature hard to detect. That is why Jesus lovingly warns his disciples, “See that no one leads you astray.” From nature worship to feminist religions to new age mysticism to works righteousness to civil religion, the spiritual inventions of mankind will not stand in the judgment. Like the massive, impressive, much-admired stones of the temple, they will all be thrown down.

Jesus also warns against putting our ultimate hopes of security in worldly government. “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.” Wars and rumors of wars must take place, Jesus warned. That admonition carries added weight as we consider nuclear weapons in the hands of rogue governments and terrorists who view the whole-scale death of us infidels as a good thing. While government is a blessing given by God, no government, not even the democracy of America will last forever. Like the massive stones of the temple, every earthly government will ultimately be thrown down.

Jesus also warns against putting our ultimate hopes of refuge in the natural world. “There will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines,” Jesus warned. “These are but the beginning of the birth pangs.” The mountains and the vast plains and the extensive forests of the earth are filled with beauty and can seem so formidable, almost unshakable. Nature worship still deceives many. But the truth is, nature is dying. Tsunamis and earthquakes and hurricanes and droughts warn us that the earth is very shakable. We are to be good stewards, we are to conserve, but we cannot save the earth and nature cannot help us spiritually – that is a false religion. Like the massive stones of the temple, nature will be thrown down.

The fourth solid looking foundation that Jesus warns about is the most difficult of all to consider – our earthly families. Not only will there be persecution of the church from the outside, but there will also be betrayal from within. When the trial is severe Jesus said, “…brother will deliver brother over to death and the father his child, and children will rise against their parents and have them put to death. And you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”

The lives and deaths of the apostles bear out what Jesus said. What happened to them is not a pretty picture. Indeed, the trail of the church down through the centuries has often been a trail of blood. The world doesn’t mind Christians who wink at the golden calves of an immoral culture. The world will sheath its sword if we change colors like a chameleon to compromise with humanistic and civil and new age religions. But confess too clearly the Ten Commandments and that salvation is found only in Christ and the knives of disdain and discrimination and even delivering over to death quickly come out.

In our country family treachery over Christ is often sophisticated. It is designed to mete out emotional pain from an imagined position of intellectual superiority. But the ultimate family betrayal Jesus described has also occurred thousands upon thousands of times in our lifetime, particularly in communist lands. One of the guides who assisted during my teaching trip to Siberia spoke of her own disavowal of Christ under Stalin. She spoke of the millions who were denounced by family and friends for confessing Christ and the tens of millions who lost freedom and life in those decades. Upon showing me a painting of the Prodigal Son in the Hermitage she asked if it was true that there was also forgiveness also for those like her who at one time sought earthly position and security at the price of denouncing Christ and His church.

Dear Christians, false spirituality, decaying and warring governments, the storms of nature, and the rebellion of family members over Christ are four signs that expose the false foundation of all created things. None of them are inherently bad except the false religions, but none of them will stand forever. We are to give thanks for the relationships God has given us on earth. We are to love those in our family. But if we put our ultimate trust in our children or our parents or any other person, we will be shaken. Like the massive, impressive, much-admired stones of the temple all earthly things that come before Christ will be thrown down.

We, like the disciples, easily gawk at such false foundations. We admire our own handiwork. We may idolize another human being. We have visions of security based upon our own construction and imagination and achievement. Every day we are tempted to build our own little kingdoms and think, “ What impressive things!” Why are we surprised when wars continue to shake the world, when famine continues to plague many, when serious illness strikes close to home, when things we know and love are torn down? In love, Jesus continues to say, “Do you see these great buildings? There will not be left here one stone upon another that will not be thrown down.”

Beloved, the things of this world that appear solid and secure will not stand. On the other hand, the person who appears powerless and weak will stand forever. Jesus spoke these words about the temple on Tuesday of Holy Week. He would soon step forth to establish a foundation that will never be thrown down. The writer to the Hebrews described that foundation, “…we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened up for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19-22)

As Jesus left the temple for the last time, all of the signs He warned against were directly in view for Himself. The religious powers were deceived by Satan and intent on throwing Him down. The political kingdom looked out for itself and Governor Pilate washed his hands, agreeing to Jesus’ destruction. On the day of His death, nature itself convulsed as the sky grew black and the earth quaked. Those He called His brothers, His disciples, betrayed Him and denied Him and deserted Him as He was put to death.

Beloved the key to all that is solid and sure in His flesh, His holy embryonic flesh knit together in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary, His youthful flesh perfectly obeying the Father’s will, His ministerial flesh baptized in the Jordan and withstanding all of Satan’s temptations, His crucified flesh, hanging in naked, bloody, agony on Calvary, His dead flesh, laid in the garden tomb. “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh…” His flesh and blood are more unshakable than stone! He was born to bear judgment day ahead of time, to take into His body the curse of the world. He was born to bear your sin – all of it. There is no greater ruin than the ruin left hanging on the tree of the cross. What is it that you have done or left undone that His once-for-all sacrifice does not satisfy? Behold the holy Son of god thrown down to suffer the torments of hell in our stead. How foolish we are ever to doubt God’s love for us or His desire for us or the standing He gives to us in Christ.

The Word made flesh is God’s real house and He is in this house of worship for you! The true temple of God that was thrown down in total ruin sprang to life again in total victory. He had said to those who demanded a miraculous sign, “Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it again” (John 2:19). And rise He did! And wash you with pure water He did! And come to you today to teach you and to feed you He does!

Remember the guide in the Hermitage and her question to me about the Prodigal Son in the Hermitage. Is it true that God forgives like that, she asked, even someone who formerly openly denounced Christ? The answer I gave her is “yes”, absolutely yes! For He has said, “I will remember their sin and their lawless deeds no more.” In Christ you sins are thrown down, drowned in the depths of the sea. In Christ, Satan in thrown down, no longer able to accuse you before God.

“The one who endures to the end will be saved.” But, you say, she certainly didn’t endure under Stalin. And you say, you certainly haven’t endured the way you desire. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God”. “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them whit in the blood of the Lamb.” That dear woman did not return to the church and receive God’s gifts in vain. Nor do you receive God’s gifts in vain.

You see, those who stand firm to the end are real sinners who stand firm only by the real forgiveness of the Lamb of God. By His strength you are now His wonderful stones, living stones, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Himself the chief cornerstone. What a wonderful stone He is! God help us to marvel at Him and invite others to look to Him for life and blessing that will never be thrown down. In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, but now in these last days, He has spoken to us by His Son. Amen.

Third Last Sunday in the Church Year

Text: Mark 12:38-44
Vicar Gary Schultz

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.

We like to identify ourselves with the widow. We’ve got it pretty rough, we say. We never seem to quite have enough money. We always have to do without something we’d like to have. We may have to do without the next toy we want, the latest fashion trends for ourselves and our families, or the newest convenience recently invented. And when it comes time to give back to Our Lord for the work of His Kingdom, our finances seem really tight. “When I get these bills straightened out, then I’ll give an appropriate offering.”

Jesus was watching the gifts given. Giving is an important response of faith. Scripture often emphasizes not the amount given, but the proportion given. Stewardship committees undoubtedly love to use this text, and it conveniently appears at this time of the year when annual budgets are often a topic in churches and other organizations. Yet the point of Jesus’ words here is not to begin a funding drive for the next fiscal year or to admonish people to get the giving back up on par with the year-to-date budget chart.

This lesson is about the first commandment: “You are to have no other gods.” For as soon as we look at our finances and say, “There isn’t enough to give back to God today,” then we have stopped fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things. As soon as we put our financial well-being as our top priority, as soon as we put aside worship and daily prayer for more hours at work, then we have another god and our faith in Christ is neglected.

This text is among various texts that we could use to talk about the appropriateness of tithing, the concept of giving to God from our first fruits, and returning to God a sacrifice proportionate to our income. This lesson, however, is primarily about faith – about giving to God “all we have to live on” in complete confidence and trust that He will continue to sustain us in our earthly lives and eventually will fill our greatest need by drawing us to Himself in heaven.

Whether you are going through financially tough times or are up to your ears in cash and don’t know how to spend it all, this message is pertinent to everyone. Certainly, there are different amounts of financial contributions made by each person, but all gifts to Our Lord are to be made in complete, confident trust – trust that He knows best how to care for our needs.

As long as we view our faith as something that we do, then complete confidence in God to provide for our needs won’t last very long. As long as we view our faith as something that we do, then our complete confidence in Christ’s forgiveness for our sins won’t last very long. Often in religious groups in our culture today, we hear so much about “my faith.” In a sense, faith is an individual thing. No one is saved by someone else’s faith. But in a deeper sense faith is not an individual thing because our faith is not defined by us. Our faith does not originate with us. We do not have faith in our faith – in our believing; we have faith in Christ and in His salvation. Faith originates in us by the Holy Spirit. As soon as we start having faith in our own act of believing, we also start losing true faith in Christ.

The widow in today’s story, giving her small gift of two coins, gave more than those who dropped off massive sums of money. For they contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty put in everything she had, all she had to live on. We like to look at the size of the gift, the statistics, the external value of things. Jesus did not expect those giving gifts to neglect their vocations in providing for their families. But Jesus looks at the internal giving – the motives of the heart. Perhaps some of those big amounts of money were given in faith. Jesus here sets the widow’s trust as an example of faithful giving.

God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. We know that God will continue to give us our needs for this life, and we give thanks for His provision in the past and look with confidence toward the future. But we have a blessing even greater than provision for our earthly lives. What we really need is eternal life.

Christ has entered… into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf… He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Here is where our faith lies. Here is the origin and completion of our faith. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. Our lives are now lives of complete confidence and trust, because Christ has given up Himself on the cross for the forgiveness of sins. Christ gave up “all He had” – His own life – in order to save us from our sins. Christ offered up His body – the new Temple – and raised it again on the third day. “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”… he was speaking about the temple of his body (Jn 2:19, 21).

Jesus did not just give a small gift out of His great abundance. He gave up all that He is. Nothing was withheld. He gave up His body and His blood, His life and His death, for the forgiveness of His people. And just as Jesus was watching what was given in the temple, so Our Father was watching as Christ gave up Himself on the cross – the great and total offering that brought eternal life.

Our faith is now perfect. It is not a trust in ourselves to believe hard enough. Our faith is perfect because of its perfect object – the crucified and risen Jesus Christ, crucified and risen for our atonement, to redeem us with His innocent suffering and death. The needs of the widow in the Old Testament were met through the continual supply of oil and flour. The needs of the widow in the Gospel were met through God’s provision. The oil and flour did not run out. So also Christ’s sustaining gifts to us through the waters of Holy Baptism, daily assuring us of the forgiveness of sins, never run out. Every week, Christ feeds us with the continual forgiveness of His body and blood. Christ’s word of forgiveness through private and corporate absolution is without end.

Now our sacrifices to the Lord – our prayers, our thanksgiving, our offerings, our praise – are pleasing to Our Father on account of faith in Christ’s death and resurrection. We offer these to Our Father in complete faith that He will take care of all our needs of both body and soul and finally give us that greatest gift that fulfills all our needs – eternal life in Him. Amen.

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

All Saints Day

Text: Isaiah 26, Revelation 21, 22, Matthew 5:1-12
Rev. Dr. Kenneth Wieting

BLESSED ARE THOSE GIVEN TO BY GOD IN CHRIST
HIS NAME WILL BE ON THEIR FOREHEADS

To the church of God at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, called as saints, grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dear holy ones in Christ; this is the day we name the names of our dead – those who have died since last All Saints’ Day – names of those whose faces we will no longer see, whose voices we will no longer hear, whose hands we will no longer hold on this earth. For some of us these will be names we knew a little. For others there will be names intimately intertwined with our lives – names of a spouse or parent or close friend. These are the names of those with whom we had happiness and pain; agreement and disagreement; names of those who helped us and those whom we have helped. This day, on which we name the names of our dead, also calls to mind loved ones who died in other places or those who died in earlier years. It is good to remember with thanksgiving those who have died in the faith - for they are blessed. It is good to think about the church triumphant, for we in the church militant are the minority, and up ahead just a bit we will join them.

Death is something they had coming! At least that is what they said as they confessed their sin in this house of worship. Death is something that you have coming and that I have coming. At least that is what we confessed a few minutes ago. You see, here, in this place, we don’t have to pretend that we have all the answers. We don’t have to pretty ourselves up and make idols of ourselves. We are dying sinners, beggars before God, and we say so. In this place we can speak plainly about the curse of this ugly enemy, death. It leaves us and our loved ones with no more breath, no more brain waves, and no more heartbeat – not just for a few minutes - but evermore from this earth. In this place we can escape funeral parlor talk and euphemisms for death. Death is not a path for reincarnation. That is a deadly deception. Death is not natural, nor is it a friend. Here, in this place, as Christ comes among us we can speak honestly. We can say that our names also will one day soon be read and a bell rung if this same custom is still in use. Will it be next year for you or me or another decade? Lord teach us to number our days aright that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Dear Christians, now we live in the night of trial and temptation. As Isaiah said, “My soul yearns for you in the night”. (26:9) The thought is sometimes expressed that now we live in the day and that as we get older and die we go into the night. Not so! This present time is the night and soon the light of God’s eternal day will break upon us. While we wait here, there is sickness and struggle and sorrow and loneliness and longing and loss. While we wait here, we are the target of Satan. Here below our earthly conflicts will never cease. We are dying sinners in a dying world - in constant need of God’s mercy and His gift of steadfast endurance.

Yet with all of our honest talk about death, we can also say, “death where is your sting”, “death where is your victory?” “The sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord, Jesus Christ.” “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them” (Rev. 14:13).

Beloved, do you see our confidence for those we remember today? We read their names today trusting in the forgiveness won for them on Calvary by the Lamb who was slain. The deeds that followed them would never be enough except as a gracious gift of God. As Isaiah expressed it, “O LORD, you will ordain peace for us; you have done for us all our works.” How marvelous! In Christ, God does all our works for us! Another way of saying that might be “Blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ”.

Jesus said it this way in the beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This is the beating heart of all our hope! This first beatitude sums up and carries in it all the rest. Each one of them is talking about the same people – the Bride of the Lamb - you, His saints. Not only are the saints poor in spirit (making no claims over against God), they mourn over the sin and death of this cursed world. Not only do they mourn over sin and death, they hunger and thirst for the righteousness that comes in Christ, for themselves and for others. Not only do they hunger and thirst for righteousness, they are mocked and insulted for such concern. Yet, the beatitudes are theirs as a gift.

This is so because Jesus who speaks the blessings is the blessing! He is the content of His own preaching and He turns the world’s ideas of blessedness upside down! The world says “blessed are the movers and shakers and money makers and pitiable are the meek. The Son of God in human flesh, says, “Blessed are the meek”. He is the peacemaker who makes peace with God for us by the blood of His cross! In fact, He is our peace (Eph 2:14). He is the pure in heart, the one with such singleness of purpose that He gave Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. He is the meek one who inherits the earth. In fact the Greek word for meek is used of no one else in the Gospels except for Jesus Himself. (Mt. 11:29 and Mt. 21) He is the merciful one who mercifully took away the sins of the people (Heb. 2:17). In fact the Greek word merciful is used of no one else in the New Testament but Christ.

Dear Christians, these beatitudes do not speak of different blessings earned by different categories of people as you often hear from television preachers. They are not if-then formulas for earning heaven. You see, the beatitudes cannot be done by anyone except Christ. To anyone else, they must be given. That’s why they are such beautiful news to you who have been baptized into His death. How blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ.

Jesus hungers for your righteousness so much that He does for you all your works. Notice that this is also how John describes those who enter the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem. They are not described as those who are humble enough or who try hard enough to make peace. Rather, only those enter it are those who keep faith, whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

His book of life has your name written in it because His tree of death had His name written on it, Jesus, the King of the Jews. In heaven the gates will never be shut, because those very gates were shut on Jesus when He became sin for us. Nothing impure will ever enter there, not even Jesus when He was covered with our impurity. That’s why God forsook Him! That’s why He suffered our eternal punishment! On the cross it could not be said of Him, How blessed, but only how cursed! How cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree (Gal. 3:13). His curse has become your blessing! Do you see the treasure the risen Christ comes to serve you today and each week in the Divine Service?

How blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ. He gives His blessings to you not by spoonfuls or bucketfuls but by the river of life flowing from the throne of God and the Lamb. It is bright as crystal, clean and holy. The pure river of the water of life that flows in heaven flows to you through the water of your baptism. That’s where the Holy Trinity put His name on you as the sign of the cross marked your forehead and your heart.

The tree of life that stands on either side of the river and bears its fruit brings its healing to you through the Bread of Life. C.F.W. Walther, the first president of our synod taught that the holy Supper with the body and blood of Jesus Christ is the new Tree of life which stood in Paradise, which Christ has now again planted in His kingdom of Grace” (TBOWC – p.43). Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. How blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ.

Today we read the names of our dead. As we do so, however, God comforts us. In Christ, even though they have died, yet they live. You see, death with all of its finality is not the final act. Christ tasted death for us and rose in victory over it. Where the head goes, the body follows. Those who have died in the faith, receiving Christ’s forgiveness are still the body of Christ. As our risen and living head comes into our midst today, He does not do so in isolation from His body. Your brothers and sisters in Christ whose names you remember join us today in worship. With angels and archangels and the whole company of heaven we sing with them their song, “Holy, Holy, Holy”.

These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. He has done for them all their works. Blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ Jesus. By His giving, they now abide in security and perpetual joy. By His giving they now abide in a great city of universal and everlasting peace, the heavenly Jerusalem. Its very walls are salvation.

There is no false worship there, no idols, no counterfeit temples. There is no false worship there because God and the Lamb are the temple. “No longer will there by anything accursed, but the throne of God and the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him.” There is only one throne, not a multitude of little altars to the idols of nature and the human spirit. The one eternal throne is the throne of God and the Lamb for as Jesus said, “I and the Father are one” and “No one comes to the Father except by me”. The one who was crucified, the Lamb who was slain, is the risen one who sits on “the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22:3). Nothing is outside of His hands and His authority, including your death and mine. He already sees the time and manner of our death. He holds it in His hand and will not let you go even through the valley of the shadow of death. That’s a beautiful place to rest your thoughts each day and night.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because He trusts in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD God is an everlasting rock. Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of God. Blessed are those who are given to by God in Christ.

Happy All Saints Day! Rejoice and be glad. Rejoice also for those who have died in Christ, for their joy is now full. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord…that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them” – all of their holy deeds which Christ Himself has done for them. In the Name of Jesus - Amen

Reformation Day

Text: John 8:31-36
Vicar Gary Schultz

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

These Jews were confused by Jesus’ words. “We’re good Jews – of the line of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob! We’ve got it right. We don’t need to be set free. We aren’t slaves to anyone.” In the verse following today’s Gospel, Jesus responds: “I know that you are offspring of Abraham yet you seek to kill me because my word finds no place in you.” Jesus is the fulfillment of the line of Abraham. The words He speaks brings ultimate freedom and life. The words He speaks are the fulfillment of God’s promises to Abraham and to all His people, bringing the political kingdom of Israel to an end and establishing His Kingdom in the church.

“Those foolish Jews,” we might say, “Why didn’t they get it? Jesus tells us to abide in His Word, so we do. After all, it’s Reformation Day. We’re good Lutherans – of the line of Luther, Chemnitz, and Walther. We’ve got it right.”

Our church is blessed to abide in God’s Word. Indeed the distinctive characteristic of the Lutheran Church is that her teachings are none other than those of the church catholic, that is, universal. When so-called “Lutheran” groups forsake abiding in God’s Word and leave behind the teaching and practice of the church of all times and places, then being “Lutheran” is a worthless title.

But lest we put our hope and trust in the wrong thing, we must consider Jesus’ admonition to abide in His word. To abide in His word is more than just being a member of a parish or church body, to be confirmed, to attend worship, or to give a monetary contribution.

While these are all part of the Christian life, to abide in God’s Word is to fear and love God so that we would not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it. To abide in God’s Word is to regularly attend worship, to spend time daily in prayer through reading of the Scriptures and offering our sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, and throughout life to confess the faith of the church in our daily vocations.

Do you ever skip the Divine Service for no good reason – to sleep in, to watch sports, to go fishing? If not, have you ever considered doing so? Do you ever attend the Divine Service and not pay attention to what’s going on, pondering what you’re going to do once you get out of church? Does your daily prayer and reading of God’s Word get set aside for more “important” things? Do you neglect personal and corporate study of God’s Word? Do you attend Bible study and find it boring or impertinent? Do you go through your daily life and think of your “spiritual life” as something separate from the rest of your life? This is not abiding in God’s Word – this is remaining in our bondage as slaves to sin.

When we do not abide in God’s Word, we remain slaves to sin under the law. When we do not abide in God’s Word, we are on our own to be righteous before God. Whether we are active Christians, straying from the faith, unbelievers, or have never heard the Gospel, at times we all think we have our lives under control. Whether we abide in it or not, God’s Word is clear: All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Whether we believe it or not, our sin keeps us in bondage and slavery – apart from God’s glory. Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

Jesus came to free us from our bondage in slavery to sin. Jesus kept the law perfectly for us. This is the righteousness of God that has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it. His perfection was given to us as He was offered up as the One to set us free. The author of Hebrews explains: Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who though fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham (Heb 2:14-15). He became flesh and blood to be tempted and suffer in every way just as we are tempted and suffer. He became flesh and blood to live a perfect life for us in the face of temptation. He became flesh and blood to remove the curse of sin, death, and the devil from us. In the water of the Jordan at His baptism, Jesus took on the sin of mankind so that in the water of our baptism, Jesus places His perfection upon us. His atoning sacrifice and victorious resurrection become our death and resurrection in these life-giving, freeing waters. We in the church are the offspring of Abraham whom He helps.

This is the message that the reformation of the church set about to proclaim clearly. This universal, catholic message of the freedom from sins by Our Lord was reclaimed by the reformers of the church and continues to strengthen, sustain, and comfort the church to our very day. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! The reformation is about returning to the catholic church – the church of every time and place. The Augsburg Confession reminds us: “…the churches among us do not dissent from the catholic church in any article of faith but only set aside a few abuses that are new and were accepted because of corruption over time…” (AC Articles in Which an Account Is Given…, 1). The reformers were setting out to return to the basic truths of Christianity. These reformers weren’t doing anything new! They were recovering that which makes us new. The freedom from sin through Christ’s gifts of Baptism, Absolution, the Sacrament of the Altar, and the Preaching of the Gospel are how we abide in Christ and He abides in us. These gifts are what the church is all about.

On the cross, Christ took away the punishment from when we go away from His Word. His death made atonement for our imperfection, our disobedience, and our straying from His Word. Being justified in Christ, His admonition to “abide in His word” is not a difficult command to follow or another thing for us to do in our hectic lives. It is a gracious gift to live in the blessings of forgiveness given through His Word of forgiveness. Christ is the Word made flesh. He abided in the Father’s word – a word that brought wrath against Him. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He begged for that word to be removed. “Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me” (Lk 22:42). Yet, it remained, and He abided in it until the end – for our forgiveness.

Jesus said, The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Our freedom in Christ now has eternal benefits. We are now the children of God through faith in Christ. So we are free indeed – free to remain in Our Father’s heavenly mansion – as children, not as slaves, to sing with David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Ps 23:6) and My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord (Ps 84:2).

Our freedom in Christ who became flesh for our salvation has set us free to dwell forever in our Father’s heavenly dwelling. And while we wait for that great day, we abide in His word, and we give thanks that He constantly abides with us. We, with the church, pray: Abide with us, Lord, for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. Abide with us and with Your whole Church. Abide with us at the end of the day, and the end of our life, at the end of the world. Abide with us with Your grace and goodness, with Your holy Word and Sacrament, with Your strength and blessing. Abide with us when the night of affliction and temptation comes upon us, the night of fear and despair, the night when death draws near. Abide with us and with all the faithful, now and forever. Amen (Prayer at Compline).

The peace of God which passes all understanding guard and keep your hearts and minds in the true faith until life everlasting. Amen.