4th Sunday of Lent

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 15:1-3; 11-32

THE FATHER’S LAVISH LOVE FINDS WHAT WAS LOST AND MAKES ALIVE WHAT WAS DEAD

“O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of the faith.” Dear hearers of the Word:

Gender neutral Bibles are not spiritually neutral. The God who created you in your mother’s womb; the God who redeemed you through Him born from the virgin’s womb; the God who gave you new life from the womb of death is God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. In this age of political correctness and feminization of the church; in a culture in which the true responsibilities of fatherhood are often evaded, take courage and comfort from God the Father’s lavish love for you.

This Sunday’s Gospel parable is usually called “The Prodigal Son or Sons.” The word “prodigal” comes from the Latin word for “lavish.” Dictionaries often give two definitions; first that of reckless spending and wastefulness and second that of extravagant generosity. Today consider this text by focusing on that second meaning as applied to the Father. That is, the Prodigal Father who is so extravagantly generous in lavishing His love upon you.

Lack of understanding His love was the root cause of the grumbling of the Pharisees and the scribes. They were saying of Jesus “This man receives sinners and eats with them.” We have become accustomed to that expression and that general thought. We even sing “Jesus sinners doth receive”. It doesn’t seem surprising or shocking.

But there was nothing conventional about it in the life of Jesus. There He was, eating with prostitutes and with those serving in the disloyal and often dishonest office of tax-gatherer, and with an array of other sinners. It was shocking! If we think about it concretely, it is a bit hard to take at first. Instead of “Jesus receives sinners” consider “Jesus receives whores or rapists or slave traders or child pornographers”. Jesus sits down to eat with Islamic terrorists or dirty politicians or crooked lawyers. Perhaps the temptation to grumble is understandable.

So Jesus told a parable. The younger son demanded his inheritance thereby telling the Father he wished he was dead. He was tired of waiting for the old man to kick the bucket. The Father knows the pain and problems that will result from this impatient grab for gusto. He also knows that He cannot force love and honor from his son. He therefore takes the hurt and divides the property as his son requested.

Free at last, said the younger son by his actions. He quickly put some distance between himself and the Father. With delight he pursued the wild life. He partied and played and chased his own happiness until he was totally unhappy, until he was empty. Short term pleasure was replaced with long term pain - a common story line in our fallen world. It is an understatement to say that he had made some bad choices. It was only when pig food started to look good that he realized just how bad his choices were. Having wasted it all, he considers heading home. Remembering His Father’s love and care, he prepared this confession; “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Treat me as one of your hired servants.” The Prodigal (wasteful) son humbly returned to His Prodigal (generous) Father. But he didn’t get quite what he expected.

He expected to be treated as a slave. His best hope was for a second rate place in the household. What a sizable underestimation of the Father’s lavish forgiving love! The Prodigal (generous) Father had never written him off. The Father’s heart was longing for his return, scanning the horizon. O happy day, it happened! While he was still along way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. There is no half-way restoration with this Father. The Father said to his servants, “Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.” The family ring carried the full authority of the family. Servants were barefoot, but not an honored son. And what’s more, the Prodigal Father threw a party to celebrate that His son who was “dead” is alive again.

Dear Christian this is a picture of your heavenly Father’s compassionate love for you. He rejoices over the sinner who repents, and so do the angels who behold His face. He doesn’t love you conditionally but rather with love that is lavish and extravagant and searching and forgiving. His great desire and joy is to have you home with Him forever. God is your Father – your loving Father.

That’s why the Prodigal (generous) Father sent His own Son to be the Prodigal (wild and wasteful) Son. As the Father in the parable gave to the younger son of His livelihood, or literally his “substance”, so we confess in the Nicene Creed that Jesus is of one substance with the Father. As the Prodigal son in the parable went to a far country, even so the Son of God left His heavenly home to go afar. He went so far as to descend into the mess of our dying world in the flesh.

Here He blew His wealth and His substance consorting with tax collectors and sinners and the likes of us. He is prodigal, that is wonderfully excessive and extravagant, in the way He dishes out God’s grace and mercy towards us. He divides the inheritance with us fully and freely and without complaint.

Beloved, He lost it all because of the Father’s lavish love for you. “That is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them.” The Son lost it all for you, dying as your substitute. He was punished as if He were the rebellious son, the self-righteous Pharisee, the prostitute, the glutton, the drunkard, the materialist, the proud one, the greedy one, to win your forgiveness. “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” When He bowed His head in bloody death on Calvary, He had nothing left to give.

But on Easter morning He did! As the Father in the parable, said, “this my son was dead and is alive again”, so Jesus arose and returned to His Father. Ascended on high He is exalted to God’s right hand and given the name that is above every name. He who was lost for a time to the grave has been found triumphant over sin and death and the devil. He was welcomed back home with honor and glory and the celebration in heaven continues for ever to which you are invited.

In fact you have the place of a royal son of the Father right now. Once you were lost, but now you are found. Once you were dead, but God raised you to life in the washing of rebirth. He clothed you in the robe of Jesus’ righteousness for as Scripture says; “as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ” (Gal 3:27). He put His family ring on your finger. Even today He sets the banquet table of His supper to celebrate the return of His repentant, rebel children. There is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous, religious folks who see no need for repentance.

And that brings us to the older son. When the older son heard about his brother’s return He refused to join in the celebration. He had stayed around home and performed his assigned tasks. But as it turns out, he had been working for himself. He had been working with his heart fixed on his own service and good works. Such statistical sainthood and comparative Christianity is a deadly evil. Sadly, he thought that his place in the Father’s household was earned. He thought that He deserved it and His self-righteous perspective robbed him of joy at the return and restoration of his brother. As the parable ends his self-righteous view has him outside the feast of His father’s love and forgiveness. The Prodigal (generous) Father is begging him to repent and come in.

Fellow-Redeemed, the bible is clear that we are not to participate in the sin of another. We are not to pretend that someone living openly unrepentantly in sin is also receiving grace in God’s household. There is tragedy and pain involved when God’s will is spurned as did the younger son. We are not to act as if this is fine and confirm someone in and ungodly life. But we are to pray for their return. We are to speak of God’s, searching, lavish (yes – prodigal) love. And when someone returns from chasing false freedom we are to rejoice in their full standing in our midst. When someone who has strayed away from God’s will returns in repentance, we are to welcome and rejoice with that one as a brother. For you see, the household of God runs solely on the extravagant love of the Father for us sinners in Christ. We don’t merit our standing in His gracious care.

Jesus does receive sinners – sinners like me - sinners like you – and He eats with them! He knows that you have not viewed every minute and every possession as His gift to you. Good heavens look what happens to our hearts even when His Word speaks to us about returning a first-fruit percentage gift to Him. He knows that you don’t trust His lavish love and care for you perfectly. Good heavens look at the worry and coveting that easily infiltrates our hearts. He knows that fears about health and death trouble you. Good heavens are there not times when we don’t perfectly believe that to live is Christ and to die is gain.

The truth is, God the Father knows that your thoughts and words and deeds are soiled with sin, just like mine. He knows that everyday sin clings to you just like it does to me despite your struggle against it. And with all that knowledge, His lavish love nonetheless embraces you and kisses you as His dear holy son. With all that knowledge, He keeps you covered with the splendid beauty of the robe of Christ. You haven’t earned a stitch and yet everything in the Father’s household is yours.

That is a wonderful position from which to welcome back and rejoice with any repentant sinner? That is a splendid standing from which to see every one of our brothers and sisters in Christ as our equal. It’s all a gift! The robe, the ring, the sandals, the very household of God into which we have been adopted, it’s all a gift. It’s a gift God would have us invite all those we know to return and receive. As we sang, “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples…”

Perhaps as you look back at your life you see yourself more like the younger son or perhaps more like the older son. Perhaps we see how both sons have messed with us and still tempt us. What Jesus longs for us to see in this parable is the lavish, searching, forgiving love of God the Father. Through His son, the invitation of our Prodigal (extravagantly generous) Father is still the same, “Let us eat and celebrate.” In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

3rd Sunday of Lent

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 13:1-9

UNLESS YOU REPENT YOU WILL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH

To The Church at Luther Memorial Chapel and University Student Center, called as saints, grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Dear hearers of the Word:

A bus transporting a college baseball team plunges off an overpass. A drunken father loses control with his children in the car. A tornado strikes a high school filled with students in a southern state. Gunfire in this city strikes a man in the head who was just driving by in his van. In each case there is sudden, violent, brutal death for individuals who were doing nothing to actively bring this tragedy on themselves.

Sometimes if you take a moment to dwell on the suffering, the injury, the death that is part of this world everyday, it is simply overwhelming. You soon have to turn your thoughts away in order to continue to function at your daily tasks. A traffic accident, a vicious crime, an airplane crash, an exchange of gunfire, a roadside bomb, someone slipping on the ice, a violent storm, a fire – tragic forms of death just keep coming, day after day, throughout the world and in this city.

Jesus spoke of violent death – worshippers massacred by Pilate. He spoke of sudden, brutal death – 18 crushed by a collapsing tower. “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish. Or those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Dear Christians, such butchery and such calamity has occurred in every generation and in every society. From the death of Abel, to the time of Jesus, until the twenty first century, political violence, horrible disasters and brutal deaths are always at hand. Jesus spoke bluntly about such tragedies and rendered His judgment. His conclusion is both stunning and scandalizing to human hearts.

In the face of death and destruction Jesus does not want us to speculate that those who died were worse sinners or greater debtors than we are. While it is true that sinful acts at times lead to sudden death, this is not ours to judge. Consider those who committed idolatry and sexual immorality in the wilderness, as St. Paul wrote to the Corinthians (I Cor. 10:1-13) In one day 23,000 died. To say that they died because of their idolatry and sexual immorality is not speculation. God reveals that this is why He felled them in the desert.

But we are not God. We are not to judge others and God when suffering strikes today. The Pharisees believed that calamity was generally punishment for specific sins. They were quick to place blame on those who were afflicted and struck down. On the other hand, it is also common to blame God when the unthinkable happens. By nature we do not believe that death is the wages of sin or that we sinners deserve death. The prophet Ezekiel set forth such reasoning in the complaint of Israel, “the way of the Lord is not just, when it is their own way that is not just.”

To every form of speculation concerning death and destruction Jesus says, “unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” Uncaring? Insensitive? No, just the truth! The Son of God doesn’t make statements to please modern sensibilities. He simple speaks because He loves us. “Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The word Jesus used for “repent” means continual repentance. Our Lutheran Confessions specify that this word means the entire conversion of man (FC SD V 7). The word Jesus used for “perish” is often used for end-time destruction. It means more than having one’s life end by disaster or tragedy. This happens in a sinful world, also to God’s people. Jesus’ full meaning here, however, is that unless you live in repentance and faith, you will perish eternally in sin that is not forgiven.

Then He spoke a strong warning against despising God’s grace. In the parable of the fig tree Jesus connected faith and fruit. His warning applied to Israel, the original tree in God’s vineyard. St. Paul made clear that His warning also applied to the Gentile Church in Corinth “let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” His warning also applies to you and to me, to His church today.

Bloody political terrorism, sudden accidental death, violence and destruction, are signs that all of us are on our way to judgment. It is appointed for you once to die and then the judgment (Heb. 9:27). Reincarnation does not happen. The view that death is a good thing that returns you to nature is not true. It is appointed for me also to die once and then the judgment. In view of the violent, unpredictable, ever-present threats to end our earthly life, Jesus calls not for speculation, but for contrition and faith. Death and destruction are signs that all of us must keep on repenting and keep on receiving the kingdom that Jesus bestows.

In Baptism God planted you in His vineyard with expectation of a harvest (Rom. 6:1-50. He looks at you not for figs, but for repentance (Matt 3:7, 8). He is looking for a heart that humbly acknowledges its own sinfulness and receives in faith the forgiveness God pours out through His Son. The arrogant cannot stand in His presence (Introit). He takes no pleasure in evil (Introit). He will hold us responsible for the fruit of repentance. He will hold us responsible for speaking the truth in love to others.

He said it this way to the prophet Ezekiel. If I say to the wicked, O wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. Beloved, God’s expectations are just the opposite of those of our culture. Our culture speaks of “truthiness”, that is, whatever feels right to you. Elite voices in entertainment, education, and even external religion urge us to go along with the dishonoring of marriage, the idolizing of nature and science, the destruction of embryonic life, and the making light of sin. But that is deadly advice. As I live declares the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live…” But how can they turn if no one speaks the truth in love?

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God takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked and yet He did take pleasure in the death of His holy Son. “The Lord was pleased to crush Him…as a guilt offering” (Isaiah 53:10). Pilate’s mingling the blood of the Galileans with their sacrifice speaks this word to you: “unless you repent you will all likewise perish.” Pilate’s shedding of the blood of another Galilean on the altar of the cross speaks a different word to you. “His blood cleanses you from all sin”.

Remember the fig tree Christ spoke of? In truth, Christ became the barren fig tree for us for He became sin for us. For three years Christ bore the perfect fruit of preaching and healing and forgiving. But He did so also bearing the whole fruitless mess of our sin. Baptized by John in the Jordan River He was grafted into our tangled mess of rebellion and death – He joined Himself with us. When the Father looked for good fruit in Him on Calvary, there was none. Therefore He who hung upon that tree was cut down.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, in this fallen world swords will continue to strike, towers will continue to fall, disasters and sickness and accidents will continue to come. They will come also to us. As we see them around us and as they visit us, Christ uses them to call us to repentance, not speculation.

You know as well as I do that one of the biggest objections to belief in the Holy Trinity is the violence, the disaster, the disease that continues to plague this world. If there is a loving God, how can this be? You know as well as I do that millions upon millions do not see death as the wages of sin and do not believe there will be a day of judgment. The evil in this world then becomes the litmus test by which human hearts deny God. You know as well as I do that when death stands before us, our hearts and minds will not naturally face that defeated enemy with perfect fear and love and trust in God.

But you also know as well as I do that God will not let us be tempted beyond our ability. That is His promise! With the temptation He will provide the way of escape, that we may be able to endure it. That way of escape is He who is the way the truth and the life. That way of escape rose from death on Easter morning and comes among us even now to warn us and to dig around us and to fertilize us and to nourish us with spiritual food and spiritual drink. The only fruit that will stand in the judgment is the sweet fruit that He brings to us from the tree of the cross

This Lenten season it is good for us to take moments to dwell upon the suffering, the violence, the death that is part of this world everyday. We are to weep with those who weep and mourn with those who mourn. But it is also essential for us to dwell upon the suffering and death and resurrection of the Lamb of God for our salvation. He is the way of escape, the only way, for us and for everyone we know. O come, let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith. AMEN.

2nd Sunday of Lent

Vicar Gary Schultz
Text: Luke 13:31-35

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

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is forsaken.

Jesus longs to care for His people as a hen takes care of her little chicks, protecting them, loving them, doing what’s best for them. Jesus longs to be their refuge and fortress, to cover them with his feathers, to hold them with complete trust under the wings of His mercy. But His own chosen people aren’t interested. They weren’t interested in the messages of the prophets sent before; they aren’t interested in the message of God’s own Son sent now. They would rather sit in judgment in opposition to the Word of the Lord. It is with great concern and anguish for His people that Jesus laments about the killing of the prophets and the stoning of the ones sent to Jerusalem. While He knows that He is next in line to be killed, His grace and mercy to His people never ends.

How often we go off on our own way, leaving behind the way of Our Lord. How often we are tempted to stray from the love and protection of the wings of Our Lord. How often would we rather listen to messages other than what God’s Word and His messengers teach. How often we would rather sit in judgment in opposition to the Word of the Lord. It is for us also that Our Lord longs to gather us under His wings into Jerusalem, to bring us from the emptiness of our own way to the perfection of His way.

Jerusalem was the site of the temple – the place where God promised to be present among His people. King Solomon built the temple after King David had obtained Jerusalem to be the capital city. The temple was the dwelling place of God, where the ark of the covenant sat, on the holy hill of Mount Zion. At the temple the priests offered sacrifices for the people that brought God’s forgiveness. Jerusalem was the magnificent city of God’s people – the heart and center of religious life and government.

As the years go on, however, Jerusalem’s image changes. It becomes known as the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it. We see it already in the Old Testament with the prophet Jeremiah. When Jeremiah is called upon to speak the Lord’s word, calling the people to turn from their evil ways and walk in the ways of the Lord, they responded: You shall die! This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city.

Despite His desire and longing for Jerusalem to be gathered together under the Lord’s word – as a hen gathers her brood under her wings – Jesus acknowledges that He must journey to Jerusalem where He will be killed. I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

It is tragic that the holy city with its prestigious temple and beautiful religious life became associated instead with violence in opposition to the Lord’s word, whose visible presence with His people was in the nearby temple. This was supposed to be the place of the pouring out of God’s mercy. Now it had turned against the Lord and His teachings and His messengers. But God uses this in His plan, in His will for the salvation of His people – indeed for our own salvation! It is Jesus’ will to go to Jerusalem after His ministry of casting out demons and performing cures to finish His course on the third day at the holy city.

Jesus takes what’s bad and uses it for our good. It cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem. Jesus shows that He’s the prophet of the Father as He dies in Jerusalem. While the deaths of other prophets for speaking the Word of God was an abomination, the ultimate abomination – the death of God Himself – was for our salvation. It was necessary for Jesus to die in Jerusalem. It was in Jerusalem, in the temple, where the sacrifices were offered up. And now, Jesus – the true sacrifice, the true temple, offers up Himself on the cross on the hill outside the holy city. The greatest prophet – our Lord Jesus – makes right the sins of all people, makes right those things the prophets spoke against in order to give His people salvation. On the third day – Jesus says – I finish my course. On the third day, Jesus, who was killed for our salvation, rose triumphantly over death and the grave.

As Jesus had promised, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed. Behold, your house is forsaken. The ethnic people Israel is no longer God’s people. The government of the old Jerusalem is finished. The old temple is gone. There are no longer Levites sacrificing animals for forgiveness. That’s not a problem for God’s people anymore. The physical city of Jerusalem and the physical nation of Israel have no bearing on the message of God’s people today. Jesus became the New Temple. The New Jerusalem is heaven, and the New Israel is the kingdom that includes all those who confess the teaching of Scripture – God’s kingdom of the church. Those people who think they need to take over lands in the Middle East to fulfill God’s will for His kingdom are missing the fact that God’s promised kingdom has already been fulfilled in Christ. That’s why we confess: The kingdom of God certainly comes by itself without our prayer, but we pray that it may come to us also.

Just as Jesus foretold of the destruction of the temple, He told of the destruction of His own body. Destroy this temple – He said of His body – and in three days I will raise it up (Jn 2:19). On the cross, Jesus – the true temple – was destroyed. But on the third day, He rose to conquer destruction and to bring life. Christ gives us Himself – the True Temple – as we partake of Him today in His body and blood, clothed in bread and wine, given today at this altar. The Temple of His body brings to us the forgiveness that was foreshadowed by the countless bloody sacrifices at the temple in Jerusalem. Jerusalem is brought to us in the Sacrament.

In the Old Testament, God’s people lived primarily in the land of Israel. But our citizenship is in heaven. The church, made of both Jews and Gentiles who trust in Christ, is the New Israel and the dwelling we inherit from this citizenship is heaven. In heaven we will see Jerusalem as St. John testifies: I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coing down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:2-4).

In Holy Baptism, we are brought under the wings of Christ’s mercy in the strength and security of His shield and buckler. We are now citizens of the New Jerusalem, even as we wait for that day when we will be drawn by Christ to Himself in heaven, where we will see fully the glory of Christ our Temple.

Jerusalem, O city fair and high,

Your towers I yearn to see;

My longing heart to you would gladly fly,

It will not stay with me.

Elijah’s chariot take me

Above the lower skies,

To heaven’s bliss awake me,

Released from earthly ties. (LSB 674:1)

In the new Jerusalem of heaven, we will be perfectly sheltered under Jesus’ wings forever. Amen.

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

First Sunday in Lent

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Luke 6:1-13

THE WINNER STANDS FOR YOU!

Dear Christians, “By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19).

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days being tempted by the devil. Fresh from the water of His baptism, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness. Satan, the heavy weight from hell, had never been defeated by a man. From Adam onward, whenever he stepped into the ring, the results were the same. There is no one righteous, not even one (Romans 3:12).

Satan too had heard the Father’s words over this man at His baptism, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well-pleased”. The devil’s first mighty blow was aimed at the body of Jesus. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

You know what hunger is like, physical hunger, emotional hunger, hunger for happiness, hunger for healing. You know the power of bodily need. The same satanic mouth that swung at Jesus has dropped doubting thoughts into your suffering heart. If God really made you His child in your baptism, then why doesn’t it always seem so? If you are so loved by Him, why does He allow you to be hungry or lonely, or injured or widowed or to face illness or to suffer pain? Satan lures us to turn from the trustworthy words of our Father to the fickle feelings of our hearts. And too often the devil’s temptations strike home. Like a punch in the mid section can knock the wind right out of our lungs so Satan’s powerful blows can leave us spiritually weak and gasping for trust in God.

But not with this man! Nor more had the blow been launched when it was blocked by the Word of God. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.” Instead of turning stone into bread, Christ stuffed the rock solid Word of God into the devil’s open, tempting mouth. Round one in this desert battle is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Circling for another attack, the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time…and said…”if you…will worship me, it will all be yours.” This was a head shot! In the first temptation the devil aimed relief from adversity and pain at the body of Jesus, now he held prosperity and delight before his face. The devil knew that Jesus was attentive to the sufferings that awaited him. As he swung again, he held nothing back. This was not a jab to test for weakness, promising a little here or a little there. It was a powerful roundhouse that offered everything this dying world has to tender. Such love of power or position or money or pleasure or more things often leaves mankind sprawled out, down for the count.

But not this man! Jesus came not to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many, as a ransom for you! And if he came not to be served, certainly he came not to pursue wealth, fame and glory! This roundhouse might have been launched with all the force of hell, but it never landed even a glancing blow. Slipping the punch with unshakeable faith the Second Adam answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.” Round two of this battle in the desert is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Having been defeated in the first two rounds with our Lord, Satan continues the fight in the dirtiest manner of all. In this temptation, the devil is using the very weapon of Christ and seeking to turn it on Him. “Since you claim to be the beloved Son of God then rely on His word, He will protect you. Take His word and take to the air, O wingless Son of God.”

Dr. Luther noted how much havoc the devil has worked with this temptation; the temptation to twist or abandon God’s clear Word. Luther taught that this is Satan’s greatest temptation. With it the outward unity of the Church has been shattered into scores of denominations. With this tactic Satan has tempted countless people to jump from the pinnacle of the truth and strike their feet on the stone of heresy.

But not his man! Is it not beautiful to hear? Satan sought to wrench the sword of the Spirit from the grasp of Christ? Quoting the 91^st Psalm he grabbed hold of Scripture in a bid to use it incorrectly: He will command his angels concerning you, to guard you, and “On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” But Jesus never relinquished His hold on God’s double edged sword. Even as Satan grabbed it from the wrong end, Jesus sliced apart his grip on the razor-sharp blade of God’s Word. “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Round three of this battle in the desert is scored perfectly for the Son of Man.

Do you see what our Lord has done in his conquest of Satan with all of his temptations? What the First Adam did not do, the Second Adam did completely. In the beautiful Garden of Eden, the first Adam was defeated by the ancient Serpent. In the barren wilderness the Second Adam fought off every temptation of the evil one. Every fiery arrow shot from Satan’s bow was doused in the water of the Word. Heaven and hell stood toe-to-toe and hell was left lying in the dust. The tempter whom you could never defeat on your own Christ has defeated for you.

All along the way to the cross Satan tempted Christ - through opposition and through praise, through disappointment and through success. The people at times wanted to make Him king and at times wanted to kill Him. His disciples kept trying to turn Him away from the sacrificial death that He foretold. From the Garden of Gethsemane through the shameful, bloody hours of Good Friday the devil threw all of his strength at this one man. But Jesus held steady. It appeared that the serpent’s poisonous fangs had destroyed Jesus on Calvary, but instead, the heel of this one man crushed the devil’s accusing head.

In this season of Lent remember that Jesus died for you. But remember also that He lived and still lives for you! The blood that He shed on Calvary, the blood that He gives you to drink in His heavenly meal is the blood of the risen Lamb without blemish or defect. He never dishonored His parents! He never gave into the pressure of peers on a college or high school campus! He never complained or murmured against God! He never sinned in lust or greed or pride! He never gossiped or worried or envied! He never lacked fear or love or trust in God with His whole heart! He was tempted in all these ways, just as you are. Yet, He was without sin. In Jesus, the devil met a true man who was his better.

Beloved, it’s all yours! By the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5:19). What belongs to the Head belongs to the body and you are the body of Christ. Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.

If you haven’t seen today’s delightful reading for daily prayer in our Lenten booklets, please do so before you turn in tonight. The author recounts Dr. Luther’s thoughts who said, “When I go to bed, the devil is always waiting for me. When he begins to plague me, I say, ‘Devil, I must sleep. That is God’s command. So go away.’ If that doesn’t work and he brings out a catalog of sins, I say, ‘Yes, old fellow, I know all about it. And I know some more sins you have overlooked. Put them down, too. Now begone!’” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the confidence we have in our Lord. His fight in the wilderness was for you. To accuse you the devil must successfully accuse Christ, and that will never be.

“O come let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and finisher of the faith, Who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

In His Name, Amen.

Transfiguration of Our Lord

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Deut. 34; Luke 9 – Selected Verses

YOU SHALL NOT GO OVER THERE

From the heights of Mount Nebo the Lord showed Moses the Promised Land, which God swore to give to the offspring of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. And the Lord said to him, “…I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord…”

Dear hearers of the Word: A senior citizen watches with delight the maturation of her grandchild. Excelling all the way through the university, now at the top of his medical class, he has prepared to pursue a career in cancer research. He readily shares with grandma conversations about new drugs and new equipment and new methods that are being studied. She wonders if he may help find better treatments and looks forward to following his work. But then an aggressive cancer strikes her. Surgery is not possible. Within weeks of diagnosis, just days before his graduation, her earthly life comes to its end. What she had fondly anticipated, what would have seemed to hold promise also for her, was not to be.

A young lady finishes school. After several years of paying back loans and working less than ideal jobs, everything has come together. She has been offered a good package doing something she would enjoy and excel at. But there is another possibility. A young man she has been dating for the past year has proposed. She has always desired a husband and children should God grant that and she has grown to love this young man. She chooses marriage and the date is set. Then it happens. An oncoming car skids on the ice crossing the center line. No seat belt, no air bag could absorb the impact. What she had anticipated, the promise of life unfolding is snuffed out in a second.

Dear Christians, there is always an end here. For each one of us comes that final scene of earthly life beyond which we will not pass. In this dying world there will always be disappointed hopes and unfulfilled promises. You know of such, in your family, in your circle of friends.

Sometimes it comes for children or teenagers just beginning, sometimes for young parents with little ones dependent on them, sometimes for soldiers in uniform, sometimes in working years before retirement can be enjoyed, sometimes after 80, 90 or 100 years, but there is always an end here. An accident occurs, a roadside bomb explodes, a disease cannot be treated, complications multiply, a heart stops beating. As with Moses, God will say to each of us, “you shall not go over there”.

Consider Moses. God knew him face to face. He was God’s instrument in bringing the Israelites out of captivity in Egypt. He received God’s commandments in person on Mount Sinai. He had survived 40 years of wilderness wandering with its grumbling and scattered graves. He had persevered through adversity and criticism and attempted rebellions. Even at the age of 120 his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. Since Moses, no prophet did such signs and wonders and great deeds. Now, after a vigorous climb to a mountain peak, with his strong clear vision, he could see a whole new land, the Promised Land. Finally, after all those decades and all that disappointment there it is. Yet the Lord said to him, “I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there.” So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab.

There is always an end here on this earth. For Moses it was by death on the mountain. But not for Elijah! And that takes us to the other mountain in today’s readings, the mount of Transfiguration. Behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. Moses is the major model of the Law. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, also known as the Law of Moses. Elijah is the major model of the Prophets. He was the prophet God promised would return to prepare the way for the Messiah. Elijah was the prophet in whose spirit and power John the Baptizer then came. Moses and Elijah correspond to the Law and the Prophets. Their conversation with Jesus as His Transfiguration, in part testifies that the Law and the Prophets show forth Jesus. More pointedly, the entire Old Testament testifies to the subject of their conversation. It all points to Jesus’ cross and resurrection.

Moses had died. Elijah was taken to heaven alive. Now they both appear with Jesus in glory. You see Jesus has complete and total power over both the living and the dead. No one is out of the reach of His authority. The presence of these two who were taken from earthly life in different ways echoes exactly what the Father said. “This is my Son, my Chosen One; listen to him!” Neither death nor life is closed off from Jesus. He has power over both.

They were talking with Him about His Exodus that He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. The word for “talking” means that serious discussion was taking place, spoken out loud. Of all the subjects we might imagine for consideration when heaven meets earth, the one subject that is not imagined is Jesus sacrificial death for us sinners. That’s how the beauty of this event becomes ours. You see, this holy mystery, this glorious event has everything to do with you! The glory of Jesus is the glory God gives to you His children. Moses and Elijah were unique servants of God to be sure, but they were also sinners, just like us. Both grew frustrated and disheartened. Elijah became so depressed he wanted to die. Yet by God’s grace and mercy they now appear with the same glory that Jesus has. That is also the glory you now have in Christ. The very same!

You are God’s adopted sons. As we prayed in the collect, “O God, in the glorious Transfiguration of Your beloved Son You ….wonderfully foreshowed our adoption by grace…” St. Paul wrote to the Galatians (3:26, 27) “…in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ”. Jesus is God’s Son by nature. You are His sons by adoption.

That means you share in the glory of The Son even as you go to school or work or rest at home. In Catechism instruction we have emphasized what it means to put on Christ in Holy Baptism. When God looks at you He sees Christ, not you. When we look at ourselves and one another we see something quite different with our struggles and suffering and sin. But that doesn’t change what God gives to you in His Son. The glory you possess in Him is hidden now, just as Jesus’ glory was hidden until the day of His Transfiguration. But the glory you possess in Him is just as real as His.

We understand Peter’s desire to contain Jesus and the glory of heaven here on earth. “Master, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah” – not knowing what he said. We also want it to be right here. We want to cross over to the next thing and the next thing and not to miss out. We want our hopes to be completely fulfilled like heaven on earth. Why return to a valley of suffering from a mountain of glory?

But the glory Jesus shares with us comes at a price. That price was the subject of conversation as heaven met earth on this Holy Mountain. No tents were to be built because God had already made His tent among us sinners in the flesh of Christ. That tent, that tabernacle was not to be set up but rather torn down as He set His face toward Jerusalem. He was about to undergo the penalty for our sin. The transfigured face of Jesus, shining like the sun, will soon be covered with blood and spit and tears. See who it is Who bleeds for you! See who it is Who is mocked for you! God in the flesh dies for you to give you His eternal glory. As we enter the season of Lent God give strength to our repentance and steady our hope in His sacrificial love.

Dear friends in Christ there is always an end here. There will be a Lenten season that is our last. God wants us to know that, to number our days. Sickness and injury remind us that life here could end at any moment. We will not always be insulated from the accidents and acts of terror and obituaries in the daily news. There will always be unfulfilled hopes in this life, also for us. There will come a time when God will say to each of us, “You will not cross over there”. Here is your earthly end.

He wants you to know this but He does not want you to get used to it! Never! Death is a curse. No matter how much society or secular caregivers describe death as something to accept, a natural part of life that is a lie from the father of lies. God does not want you ever to get used to this truth! Rather He wants you to get past it. That’s why the Son of God left His eternal glory and came down in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary. That’s why the God/Man came down from this holy mountain with His face set toward Jerusalem. That’s what we fix our eyes on this Lenten season.

So often in obituaries we read that a person is born to eternal life on the day of their death. But that is not exactly true. You were born to eternal life when God gave you faith in His beloved Son, clothing you with Christ. You have already crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). You are co-heirs of Christ and already possess His glory as adopted sons. It is hidden, but it is as real as the presence of Christ in your midst to serve you this morning. On the day that God says to you on earth, “you will not cross over there” He will also say to you in heaven, “you have already crossed over here with My Son.” Moses didn’t miss out when God called him home and neither will you.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

6th Sunday after Epiphany

Pastor Kenneth W. Wieting
Text: Jeremiah 17:5-8; Luke 6:17-26

JESUS SPEAKS BLESSINGS AND WOES!

In the name of Jesus. Dear blessed ones: Good news or bad? It’s not always so easy to tell. A classic Chinese tale helps illustrate, describing a man who had one son and one horse. When his horse broke out of the fence and fled to the hills, his neighbors said, “that’s bad news”. How do you know asked the man? Sure enough, the next night the horse returned for his normal feeding leading twelve wild horses with him. The son slipped out, locked the gate and suddenly they had thirteen horses instead of one. What good news said the neighbors when they heard of the increase. How do you know asked the man? Sure enough, a few days later his strong young son was trying to break one of the wild horses. He was thrown to the ground severely breaking a leg. The neighbors came by that night and again quickly passed judgment. Your son broke his leg – that’s very bad news. How can you be sure of that asked the father? Sure enough, a few days later a Chinese war lord came through the region conscripting every able-bodied young man taking them off to war. They never returned. The tale ends with this man’s son being saved from a brutal end because of his broken leg. Seemingly bad news turning out to be good! It provides a reminder of our tendency to make snap judgments about whether an event or circumstance is good or bad. Truly, things are not always what they seem.

Dear Christians, what do you think of Jesus’ system of blessings and woes? Weeping is elevated over laughter. Poverty is superior to riches. Hunger is healthy while being full and satisfied is harmful. Being hated, excluded, reviled and spurned on account of the Son of Man is reason to leap for joy. Having all people speak well of you as they did of the false prophets is reason for weeping and mourning. Truly, when it comes to blessings and woes in the kingdom of God, things are not always what they seem.

These words from Jesus are not for everyone! While all the crowd sought to touch him and be healed, when He spoke these blessings and woes, he lifted up his eyes on his disciples. In other words He spoke to His followers telling them that this is what they are in Him, the “poor”, “hungry”, “weeping”, and rejected. Yet at the same time they are also blessed! So Jesus speaks to His church today. So Jesus speaks to you today. Concerning blessings and woes, it doesn’t work in the kingdom of God like it does in the kingdom of the world. Jesus turns our natural way of thinking upside down and inside out.

The prophet Jeremiah said it this way, “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.” “Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.” Those who turn from the Lord are like a shrub in the desert. Those whose trust is the Lord are like a tree planted by water.

As Jesus speaks the last blessing and the last woe in each list we are helped to understand the central meaning of them all. “Woe to you when all people speak well of you…” is opposed with “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! He is the key! Jesus! The Son of Man and the Son of God! The Word made flesh! Blessed is the man whose trust is the Lord. Everything spoken here is on account of the Son of Man.

Those who are rich are those who are full of themselves, who trust in their own strength and standing and service to others. Those who are full now are those who feel they can take or leave the healing touch of Jesus’ word and Jesus’ nourishing food. It all depends on their appetite and whether they feel the needs of the moment are satisfied or not. Those who laugh now are those who block out eternity in their daily perspective and find all they need in the things and the relationships of this passing world. For there is plenty of activity and physical blessings to keep us amused and entertained! Woe to those who turning from Christ are rich and full and laughing.

Jesus was right to speak His words directly to His followers. He was saying in detail what Jeremiah said in general. “Cursed in the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength…” Dear Christians, the twelve were doing this all the time. They kept vying for earthly position. They kept depending on their own strength. They kept trying to redefine the work of the Messiah to focus on earthly needs and power. They kept judging by what they saw and felt. So do we all the time, without even trying. We judge by outward beauty or the relief of stress or the temporary satisfying of a felt need or the good opinion of others. Try as we might we can never completely free ourselves from these imprisoning perspectives.

You see, when Jesus said “woe to you who are rich…and full and laughing now,” He wasn’t just speaking condemnation. The word for “woe” in the Greek is also an expression of pity for those who stand under judgment. This is not just a warning from Jesus but also a lament expressing compassion for us sinners! “Woe to you…” Jesus said in sorrow for us who so readily find our strength in ourselves and the shifting sand of our surroundings.

Yet to these same ones Jesus also said “Blessed are you…” The word “blessed” means fortunate in the highest degree. It is the best that God can give you! When Jesus speaks a blessing, His word conveys what He says. His primary intention here is to bless and comfort believers in affliction, to assure them that God knows their lives and their struggles and the opposition of the world. Yet in Him, they enjoy the full blessing of God.

They may weep now over the sin-sickness of the world and of themselves and of those they love, but they will laugh. Sowing with tears they will reap with songs of joy (Psalm 126:5). They may hunger now for more love in the church and more joyful confidence in the resurrection and more faithfulness to God’s will and worship, but they will be satisfied. The verb here is passive. This is something God will do. He will completely fill them with good things. They may be hated and reviled and excluded now for confessing Christ and His Word, but their reward is great in heaven. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

Beloved, Jesus speaks here to bless and comfort you! Hang in there! Press on! Continue to pray for all! Continue to speak the truth in love! God disciplines those He loves! God uses trials as refining fires! God’s strength is made perfect in weakness! God works everything for the good of those called according to His purpose, those who love Him. It is now and will always be a mess in this passing world. No Christian gets a free pass. Yet great suffering is to be considered the ground for great joy. Really! Truly! This is how God sees blessings and woes. Therefore never make it your chief goal to be spoken well of by all. Always make it your chief goal to love all in Christ.

The reaction to you personally at any given moment is not the main concern. This is not a popularity contest. How much more clearly can Jesus tell you that confessing Him and His words can sometimes lead to a negative and ugly reaction to you? The welfare of your neighbor for unending moments is the real issue, not your popularity. What appears hateful and negative for you at the moment may be eternally positive and full of future healing for your neighbor.

A person was living in sin, that is openly, willfully and continuously setting aside God’s commandment. A younger family member spoke to him of God’s will. None of your blankety-blank business, he replied. Yes it is, she said, because God loves you and so do I. She didn’t feel blessed, but she was! Blessed are you when people revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy…

Joy is different than happiness which is controlled by our emotions. Joy is God’s gift and it isn’t always felt in the face of hatred or exclusion by others. But there is eternal joy in Christ, whatever the thoughts or actions of others. We tend toward pessimism in trials and thereby aggravate our misery. Our flesh judges by feelings. But here again Christ comforts us, calling us to live by faith, not by sight!

Good news or bad? It’s not so easy to tell. Jesus entered Jerusalem amid shouts of Hosanna and blessed is He. It sure looked good! But soon He hung poor and hungry and naked and cursed; for cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. Good news or bad? Nothing could have looked worse! But things are not always what they seem. His cross of death is our tree of life! By God’s grace, all of our woes became His and all of His blessings became ours. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, whose leaf never withers, whatever He does prospers. Through your baptism into His death and resurrection you are also planted in the blessed stream that comes from His pierced side. Blessed in the man whose trust is the Lord.

So which is it for you, blessings or woes? The things you lack at the moment; the recognition of your weakness and your sin and its wages of death; the desires and yearnings of your heart for God’s blessing and healing for yourself and for all people; the struggles of life that make you weep inside or openly sob in sorrow for others in love; those times of drought and the hour of your death when everything feels like it will dry up and blow away? Which is it for you, blessings or woes?

It is not always so easy to tell, so Jesus stands in your midst again today to tell you and to heal you with His touch. “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. “Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

5th Sunday after Epiphany

Vicar Gary Schultz
Text: Luke 5:1-11

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

When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” For he and all who were with him were astonished at the catch of fish that they had taken… And Jesus said to Simon, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men.”

Have you ever noticed all the talk about water, boats, and fish in the Bible? There’s Noah’s ark and the flood; there’s Jonah being thrown off a boat and swallowed by a big fish; there’s people walking through divided waters, there’s people walking on water; there’s people traveling on boats, teaching on boats, and boats in storms. There’s lots of water in the Bible, and today we hear another story with water – the account of the miraculous catch of fish and Jesus’ calling of His first disciples.

Jesus uses boats, water, and fish to preach the good news of the kingdom of God (4:43). These were things the people were familiar with. The land of Israel is between the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, and the Jordan River. Being a fisherman was a job for many people. Boats, water, and fish were everyday parts of life.

We’re familiar with these images as well. There’s water all around. You’re sitting about six blocks away from Lake Michigan. Shorewood’s geographic location is between this giant lake and the Milwaukee River. Most of you have gone fishing or seen someone fishing before. You know about boats, water, and fish. You’ve seen crashing waves in a storm. You know about the darkness of deep water. So this image of Jesus to tell about His Kingdom continues to illustrate the work of the church and her pastors.

The Psalms speak to us about water as well: Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I sink in deep mire, where there is no standing: I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me (Ps 69:1-2). These words of David portray the biblical imagery of the depths of the sea as disorder, evil, and death. David continues his prayer, showing the depths to be his own sin and unrighteousness. He looks to the Lord to be a deliverer, to save him from sinking in the depths of sin and the enemies of God and His people: But as for me, my prayer is unto thee, O LORD, in an acceptable time: O God, in the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. Deliver me out of the mire, and let me not sink: let me be delivered from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. Let not the water flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me (Ps 69:13-15).

Whether we feel like it or not, the storms of this life are filled with temptations pulling us down. Our journey through life on earth is like swimming through a tumultuous sea. The wind and waves of the storms of life threaten to pull us under and drown us. Temptations and troubles come at us from all sides and constantly. We can’t keep our head above water for long. The currents of our society and media sweep along, encouraging us to give into the temptations of the world and our sinful flesh. But Christ is our deliverer to save us from the deep waters, to keep us from being swallowed up by evil.

“Because Christ is present in the boat, it becomes a symbol of the church” (Maximus of Turin). The church building is often seen as the image of a boat. The place where you’re sitting is called the Nave, from the Latin word for ship. Christ is often called the Anchor. Christians weather the dangerous storms, winds, and waves of the temptations and trials of life through the safety of the boat that is the church. Yet, we are not saved merely by being part of an organization. While helpful for record keeping, being in the church roles or pictorial directory won’t amount to anything when our last hour comes. We are saved in the church because it is the body of Christ Himself. The church is what it is because Christ is who He is – God in the flesh, coming to deliver His people from the depths. We, the church, are the body of Christ, and so we pray: Keep Your family the Church continually in the true faith that, relying on the hope of Your heavenly grace, we may ever be defended by Your mighty power (Collect). We are the fish. The nets are the preaching of the Gospel that brings us and keeps us in the true faith in the boat of the church. That’s why Christ still calls pastors today so that through the Gospel in Preaching and the Sacraments, people are drawn to and kept in this saving boat.

Peter and his colleagues worked hard, but caught nothing. But at the word of Jesus, a miracle happens. Peter immediately recognizes the power of Jesus’ word. He knows there were no fish to be caught there – he just finished his fishing and caught nothing. At Jesus’ word, there’s more fish than they could ever have imagined. The nets are full. They call in the other boat. Both boats are overflowing. They went from no fish to an abundance of fish. All at Jesus word: Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.

Peter is afraid and astonished. He recognizes Jesus’ miracle. But Jesus assures him: Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men. Now, Peter will be a disciple of Jesus, called into the apostolic office to preach the Gospel of Christ. Yet, Peter knows that it is not his hard effort that will do the work. When Peter tried to catch fish on his own that night, it didn’t work. The fruits of the labors of his work will be accomplished by Christ and His Gospel. When Jesus spoke to put down the nets, then there was a great result.

New souls are brought into the church through the Preaching of the Gospel.
The church is sustained and grows by the Word of Christ, who works His miraculous catch when and where He wills to. The fishermen let down the nets – the Gospel – trusting that Our Lord knows best what He’s doing.

Just as Christ told the disciples to let down the nets into the depths, so Christ let Himself down into the depths of sin. He endured the waves of God’s wrath, the waves of temptation, the waves of human troubles. He sunk into the deep mire and deep waters where the floods overflow. From the wrath, temptations, and troubles of the cross He was not delivered. But Jesus uses this flood to give new life. The waters of the first flood killed many, but saved Noah and His family. The waters of the Red Sea killed the pursuing Egyptians, but saved God’s people.
The waters of Holy Baptism kill the old Adam, but bring you to new life in Christ. This is primary way that God brings people into His church. Baptism is a flood that both kills and makes alive, a blessed flood and a lavish washing away of sin. The baptismal liturgy captures the imagery of the church as a saving ship in the storms of life as it directs us to pray: Grant that he be kept safe and secure in the holy ark of the Christian Church, being separated from the multitude of unbelievers and serving Your name at all times with a fervent spirit and a joyful hope, so that, with all believers in Your promise, he would be declared worthy of eternal life, through Jesus Christ, our Lord (LSB 269). Amen.

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