One Wedding. Ten Virgins.

“Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom." -Matthew 25:1

“For your husband is your Maker, Whose name is the LORD of hosts; And your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.

“For the LORD has called you, Like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, Even like a wife of one’s youth when she is rejected,” Says your God.

Because you have been baptized into the One who has the words of eternal life, He is sounding the words of eternal life into your ears this day, so that you do not miss out of the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end. Therefore He speaks of the ten virgins to you, five of them wise, five of them foolish.

You know you live in an age when you can send instant messages all around the world. O how anxious you become as you consider who is reading those messages, how they will respond, and when they will reply.

Thus your heart and mind are drawn away from your husband, the LORD Your God Who made you and all the heavens, not in haste or cheaply, but out of His tender mercies from of old.

You know you live in an age when you can travel hundreds of miles in a relatively short time. O how anxious you become as a simple stop light cycles for a minute or two, preventing you from reaching your goal while slow idiots and fast maniacs test your soul as well.

Thus your heart and mind are drawn away from the LORD your God as you stew in anxiety, rather than rejoice and give thanks to your Father in heaven Who has brought you into His kingdom so that you grow in the grace and knowledge of your LORD Jesus Christ, your true husband. The growth He desires for you is neither instant, nor quick, nor cheap.

You know you live in an age when, and in a place where, you can go to the store to buy foods of all kinds and enjoy them with little thought, yet that short wait in the grocery line is like torture, isn’t it?

So your heart and mind are drawn away from your Father in heaven, who over a relatively long period of time has prepared that food for you. You open that bag of chips and devour it without thinking where that food truly came from, and how long it took for it to reach your mouth. It took at least a full growing season. You would prefer to live by bread alone.

You know you live in an age when, and in a place where, you can cast a vote for your national leaders on Election Day and know the results before you go to bed. O how you twitch with anxiety if the answer is not quickly forthcoming as to who will rule over you in this earthly life of labor.

Hear my prayer, O LORD! And let my cry for help come to Thee. Do not hide Thy face from me in the day of my distress; Incline Thine ear to me; In the day when I call answer me quickly.

It is not that quickness and haste are necessarily bad things. It is that quickness and haste are most often your flesh’s way of doubting God, Who is called the God of all the earth, to Whom every king and kingdom and nation will bow, Whose purpose they will serve, whether they know and believe it or not.

And so He, your true husband, patiently teaches you and makes you ready to receive with thanksgiving everything that comes from His hand, whether it be food and drink, house and home, land, animals, and all you have. He patiently teaches you because He is patient. He tarries. The place He prepares for you, His Holy Bride, is not going to be shabby.

There will be no shortcuts. No. Full satisfaction will be made. True, everlasting, eternal life is to be Yours in His Name. Not substitutes or quick fixes will do.

Sacrifice and offering FROM YOU, dearly beloved, He does not want or desire, but He has prepared a Body for you. A husband. In the scroll of the book it is written of Him that He, and He alone, is given to do the will of the Father for you. That means He and He alone, will take away all your sin and serve as your righteousness before God the Father.

Instant messaging, driving, fast food, and national elections – these are but a few of the things that easily draw you away from your true Husband. Your Maker, your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Your flesh is willing to abandon Him, but the LORD has called you like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit.

He calls to you this day and speaks His Word saying, “Not so fast. Slow down. I have set all of time and all of eternity before you as a great wedding, to be followed by a great wedding feast. These things take time. I am tarrying, but I have gone to prepare place for you and I will return for you with a shout, so be ready, for I do NOT want you to miss out on my wedding.

Do not grow weary. Do not fall asleep, but listen continually to my voice. Keep your lamps full and ready at all time with the oil of gladness.

The oil of gladness. It is THIS oil, first given to anoint your Christ Jesus, through which justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. It is THIS oil with which He anoints you, so that justice and righteousness are not things for you to fabricate for yourself, but to receive and to practice just as sealed upon you and into you who are baptized, married, and wedded into His Holy NAME and life and body and blood.

After all, this is a wedding. Not just any wedding, but God’s wedding to you, His holy Bride, the Church which has been from the beginning and will endure into everlasting eternity.

The expense for it is His very own body and blood, given and shed for you. This body and blood were not prepared in haste and without thanksgiving, but were prepared from the very beginning with thanksgiving to the Father who sent Me to claim you as His bride.

Where your heart and mind draw you into the idolatry of instant self-gratification, lust, and greed, His righteousness from of old calls you to reject yourself and instead come under His loving discipline as His disciples.

Idolatry is your old practice. Idolatry is your ongoing problem. It is not a quick fix. It is not a cheap fix. It is, again, a wedding in which the husband of the bride invests all He has at the behest of the Father. His life. His possessions. Everything. In teaching you these things He sets before you ten virgins who take lamps to go out and meet a bridegroom.

One wedding. Ten virgins. Five of them foolish. Five of them wise. From this you may know that your dear LORD Jesus Christ is speaking of the whole and entire creation, both before and since the fall into sin, because the number 10 is the number of completeness. If I told you once, I told you ten times.

That they are split into five foolish and five wise is plainly to say there will be a judgment. While all ten virgins are longing for the day of the LORD, the foolish ones are rejected. “I do not know you,” says the Bridegroom.

What a horrible pronouncement. What a sad occasion. Made in the image of God, but rejecting the image and receiving in due course the result of rejecting that image and instead adopting any and every image that satisfies the lusts of the flesh, having a lamp that is empty and thus worthless when it was most needed.

So your dear LORD Jesus does not want you to be lost. He wants to know you and wants you to know Him, so He speaks this Gospel to you as a way to wake you up and keep you alert as you enter into the last Days. He wants your lamp to be full of the oil of gladness, which is found in hearing and receiving His Word of the Gospel, wherein He makes known to you and imparts to you His own righteousness, procured through His own obedience before the Father while occupying the same flesh and blood as you.

Virgins meeting a bridegroom with lamps. While it may sound strange and look strange and not be in accord with your own understanding of what a wedding should look like and what a wedding is all about, the simple fact and explanation of it is this: You who have been baptized into a royal priesthood are the recipients of God’s grace and favor in and through Christ Jesus, and as such your lamps are full, and as the oil burns in your lamps while going out to meet the bridegroom (which He has given you to do day by day) you call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks, knowing that you are His and He is yours, both joined together in the holy matrimony of His holy body and blood, given and shed for you.

You know by experience and this day are being taught, that He tarries. He waits. He seems so far off. As if He is not thinking of you or does not care for you. O but He most certainly, dear Holy, unblemished Bride, hidden in the unblemished Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world. It is just that, while He comes daily and richly through His Word and promise, He has yet to come again in glory to judge the living and the dead.

That, beloved in the LORD, is the ultimate wedding feast, when He comes again in glory to judge both the living and the dead.

It is because you are nearing the end of the Church Year and the end of Days as you know it, that our dear LORD Jesus Christ points to this final fulfillment of all things, and slaps you into consideration for what matters most, both now and always: that you cling to His promises continually and not grow lax. That you avail yourself of, that you place yourself into, the hearing of His Word and His Supper, because these things are your oil.

Can you think of any occasion where it is good to run out of oil? Motor oil? Olive oil? Corn oil? Nearly all the oils of creation are good and made for our blessing.

The oil of God’s Word and promise of the Gospel is the oil that makes and keeps ready YOU, who have inherited (not earned or purchased) the kingdom of heaven through the very bridegroom who is coming to meet you both here in this place today, and very soon as this age draws to a close.

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The Great Tribulation

These are those who are coming out of the Great Tribulation, and they washed their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. -Revelation 7:14b, LSV

The Great Tribulation as referenced in the Book of Revelation is nothing more, and nothing less, than all of time from when Adam fell into sin until such time as Christ returns in glory.

No one born of a woman into this world is without tribulation. Indeed, even birth itself has come with great pain from the time of, and as a result of, Adam's choice to heed the voice of his wife as opposed to the Word of the LORD.

The LORD God from the begining has made known that Adam's choice was not, and is not, the end or overall purpose of history. No. Creation and all of history is subject for a time to futility, to a Great Tribulation, so that salvation will belong to the One Who created and sustains all things from beginning to end.

Whether you are inside or outside of this overall purpose and plan of God - whether you perish eternally or are saved eternally - is not only of great concern to Him, but also of great concern to you and to your neighbor, for it is you and your neighbor who are created in the image of God.

The Great Tribulation: thorns and thistles are only the start. Anxiety and death are the end. Idolatry and pride are the means. These all stick like glue to the creation for a while.

They are broken free and healed only through God's Only-Begotten from eternity, Jesus the Christ, Who with His own flesh and blood has redeemed you, a lost and condemned person, together with His whole creation so that a new heaven and earth will come about after the Great Tribulation into which you were born.
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Humility

[If] My people on whom My Name is called are humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. -2 Chronicles 7:14

Humility is a virtue which, upon being claimed, is immediately lost. It cannot be taken up at will. It cannot be turned on and off like a light switch. It is rather a blessing that comes not through your own efforts, but by the grace of God through His creation and discipline.

Humility is an attribute of those upon whom God has placed His Name. As such it belongs to, and is charactistic only of those whom He baptizes and teaches.

With the above in mind, what is humility? The definition at hand is this: a modest or low view of one's own importance.

If you take this definition in conjunction with your status as a creature and child of God, it is plainly apparent that you are not the boss you think you are. You do not have control over as many things as you think you do.

Humility never looks to itself, but comes from God, Who from the beginning has ordained that He be your only Hope, Help, and Comfort in life. No other thing or person is to be honored, reverenced, or thanked more than He.

Once this is understood, your notion of self is brought into true accord with God's holy will. You are free to be not yourself, but God's own child. It is He in Whom you find your identity.

Moreover, your dealings with those around you - your family and your neighbors - will not be high handed or heavy handed, but will be tempered by the certitude and solicities that obtain to being a creature and child of God.

Christ Jesus, Who took on the form of a servant, is the Name of God placed upon you. With His Name comes His substance and blessing, for He is not a God Who is far away, but Who draws so near as to incorporate you into His own Body and Blood, living, present, and active for you before the Father of all mercies and the God of all comfort.

Therefore it is for you to pray, and for God you hear and to heal not only you but the land in which you live. Thanks be to God, it is He Who causes these things, and not you.

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Feeding in the Wilderness

“They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat.”
-Matthew 14:16b

The Son of Man serves bread to those who are out in the wilderness. He is The Bread of Life, after all, able to feed not only your body with good bread and food from one day to the next, but also to feed you body and soul with the food that is imperishable, namely His body, which has made atonement for your sin and now avails before the Father so that you have His blessing now and forever.

Men, women, and children. When things happen it is because God says so. What He says, and what happens as a result, will often, if not always, run contrary to the Old Adam of your flesh. It will run contrary to your reason and senses. It will run contrary to your experience.

But speak and act He must do, for He is your Creator, and without His speech – His Word and action you would not be here. Nor would the creation which you inhabit from one day to the next under the sun.

He spoke by the Prophet Isaiah: A voice is calling, “Clear the way for the LORD in the wilderness; Make smooth in the desert a highway for our God.”

From that Word of the LORD came John the Baptist who, as a proclaimer of the Word, points the finger precisely at your Christ Jesus, Who this day makes smooth in the desert a highway for your God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Who has come down to drench you in the waters of His Word and Baptism so that you may be severed from the desert, from the unbelieving world, and instead abide in Christ Jesus, who is your imperishable Bread, given up for men, women, and children.

No surprise there. God spoke through His prophet Isaiah, and then, about 700 years later in time came John, preaching in the wilderness and pointing to Christ who was incarnate and born in the fulness of time. All time is of one piece with God, and He has put you smack dab into it, for you are here by His will and by His Word.

But here is the surprise. Here is what you did not expect. Nor did John. Nor did his disciples: John was thrown into prison and beheaded. Not for any crime, mind you, but for faithfully performing the duties of his office.

The prophet Isaiah says nothing of John’s imprisonment and beheading. The disciples are genuinely disturbed and even John the Baptist is disturbed because God is not acting the way they think He should.

He never does, does he? “If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross and save Yourself!” So cries out the flesh of fallen man.

But do not be surprised or alarmed. It may not be written or spoken by the prophets, apostles, and evangelists, but if it happens it is in accord with God’s gracious will and provision from the beginning.

What you hear from the Holy Gospel today is at the apex, the highest height, of how God wishes to deal with you all, men, women, and children. It is not just how He wishes, but it is what He does.

“Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself.” That is to say, Jesus, with his own ears, heard that the last and greatest of the prophets, had been cruelly executed, and he did what you also would do when matters of great import and saddening news are brought to bear: you seek to escape. To be alone. To get away from it all. A vacation. A vacation from anyone and anything. Just stop the world. I want to get off.

So from this – that your LORD Jesus Christ withdrew by Himself upon hearing of John’s death - you can see that your Father in heaven, in and through Christ Jesus knows and suffers with you the trouble and anxiety that comes with the world and its thirst for blood, power, vengeance, falsehood, idolatry, and lust.

Such would you be, had you not been severed from the unbelieving world in God’s Baptism of you, and placed into the ark, the boat, with water all about you and drowning in the righteousness of Christ Jesus your Lord and saving you from sin, death, and the devil.

So from this – that your LORD Jesus Christ withdrew by Himself upon hearing of John’s death - you can see that Your Father in heaven, in and through Christ Jesus, is true man, born of the virgin Mary, and as such He, too, withdraws from all the trouble and troubling news.

But he is not just doing this to escape it as you would do. He does not withdraw for His own comfort. He withdraws so that He, in all faithfulness for you and on your behalf, may draw nearer to the Father in prayer.

After all, He is your substitute in life and death, while also experiencing what you experience. He knows it all. He has felt it all. As the Son of God He has spoken it all, and it all comes into being and will run its course from the beginning and unto eternity under His gracious Word and life for you.

So Jesus withdraws and takes the boat. He takes a cruise, all by Himself. Safe and secure, as if hovering over the waters even as the Spirit of God hovered over the waters before the land became a dry mass. Of course He is not alone, for in Him and through Him, and by Him all things were made. In Him, by Him, and through Him all things are sustained as it has been from the beginning.

But, by all appearances He is alone in that boat. No doubt, according to what you would to do when everything around you is nothing but trouble, He withdraws, gets away, because solitude provides opportunity to have gratitude and to hear and to speak with God the Father alone, in and through the Holy Spirit.

The solitude is not going to last for long. There is work to do while it is day. Imagine taking yourself on a single solitary vacation only to discover thousands of people following you.

How many people follow you? How many friends do you have on Facebook? Who is paying attention to you? Do you even want them to pay attention? Add them up. Are you up to 5,000 or more?

According to all four Gospels, five thousand people were there to meet and greet Jesus who went by boat alone while they went on foot through the wilderness. Five thousand *besides* women and children, so the total number could easily have exceeded ten-thousand. Imagine that waiting for you in your pursuit of peace and solitude.

It is true today that a good many famous people have way more than five thousand followers. But if you did an internet search today to see who is the most famous person – and by no means should you look to the internet as a source of ultimate truth; you should look and listen for that here, from this pulpit and from this altar – but the most famous person today according to the internet is . . . wait for it . . . Your dear LORD Jesus Christ, Who laid down His life in payment for your sin and took it up again.

Yes. He had five-thousand people besides woman and children meet him after a brief time of solitude in a boat following news of John the Baptist’s imprisonment and execution. Imagine setting off for some time of solitude, and then meeting thousands of people not only eager to see you, but also eager to hear you speak, and to receive help from you.

And this is really the heart and center of the Holy Gospel as preached to you this day: Christ Jesus is the only source of help. Whether it is in the wilderness or in the city. Whether it is at home or at work.

This one man, born of the Virgin Mary, whose flesh and bone and blood are just like yours, Who grew hungry and thirsty and tired, is also He who comes to your aid from one day to the next and into eternity to give you all you need for this body and life, and all you need for the life to come. He gives Himself, yes. And in demonstration of that, He feels compassion for the thousands who came on foot, out into the wilderness to see and hear this Christ Jesus.

Fame is not his object. Fame is not His purpose. Fortune is not his goal. Power and control is not His aim.

His object, His purpose, His goal, His aim, is to make payment for your sin with His own body. It is to take that payment and apply it to you not just as an idea, but through concrete means, and those concrete means are the apostolic ministry, Holy Baptism, Holy Supper, and Holy Absolution.

Yes. Your LORD Jesus is intent upon sanctifying you and keeping you in the one true Church until the Last Day when He shall raise you up.

This feeding of so many people in the wilderness, so many men, women, and children – they call it the feeding of the five thousand but it was five thousand besides women and children so it might as well be the feeding of the ten-thousand. This all comes and is multiplied from the provision of one small boy – he must have been a boy scout, because boy was he prepared.

St. Paul writes, “grace, mercy, and peace be multiplied unto you, and multiplication it is from one day to the next. Where sin did abound, there did grace abound all the more. By his feeding of so many with the resources that were so small, Christ Jesus, just as He does at the wedding in Cana – demonstrates Himself to be true God, begotten of the father from eternity.

You see, you cannot abide with God and have sin. You cannot have your sin removed unless God removes it. God cannot remove it unless He takes upon Himself your nature apart from sin, and He cannot remove it unless He is true God.

So this feeding in the wilderness is for you a sign that your Father in heaven will feed you just as he fed all those people in the wilderness. He does not do this begrudgingly but gladly.

What your LORD Jesus Christ did for the people then, and what He does for you so faithfully and well this day and every day, it is all at His own expense, having denied Himself the same comfort and benefit with which He serves you.

He has gone hungry and thirsty that He might feed you and quench your thirst. He has gone homeless, that He might shelter you; naked, that He might clothe you. He has borne all your griefs and sorrows, all your sickness, suffering and death, that He might heal you and give you life forever.

You shall not live by bread alone, but by that Word of God in Christ, the Word-made-Flesh, who speaks to you in love and gives Himself to you as Bread for both your body and soul. He is the Rock who has opened Himself up to pour out water and blood to quench your thirst and cleanse your spirit and give you life, even in the desert.

He does it now, as then, by the hand of His disciples, His apostles, His Evangelists, and His preachers, but He is the One who acts, who speaks: He takes the bread, He blesses and breaks, and He gives it to you: Take, eat, be satisfied, and live and abide with Me forever and ever.

And now we shall take, eat, be satisfied, and live and abide with Him forever and ever.

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A Good Day

Day unto day utters speech, And night unto night reveals knowledge. -Psalm 19:2

It has been my practice over the past several years to think of each day on a scale of 1 to 10 in terms of whether it is a good day.

The only day for me that will ever be a 10 is the day my baptism is completed and I am in the nearest presence of Christ, my LORD. That is the day upon which, according to this world, I die.

If there happens to come a day at 1 or below it will be a day that I, by my own reason and strength, reject Christ Jesus. That is the day upon which, according to this world, I live.

Most days have landed above a 5, but below an 8. Being a bit creative, I tend to take the assessment out two decimals, so today, June 26, 2020 would rank at about 6.89.

All of this raises a question of serious import: What constitutes a good day? Or, as the world puts it, a “nice” day.

Is it a good day when everything goes just as you wished and planned? The question is loaded. What is “good?” What does a day count when there are so many, not to mention an eternity to follow?

The course of history from the beginning is that days mark it out in the biggest way. We have come to mark days out in 24-hour increments, and have even taken time into nano-second considerations.

But who owns time, and where did it come from, and what makes your time good or bad?

For those who are baptized into Christ Jesus, all of time is good, even though by all appearances much of it is bad. The pains of a troubled conscience and the prospect of death, along with certain losses, one would allocate to the bad side of life.

But wait. Since those who are baptized into Christ Jesus are baptized into all of time at once, what appears bad is, in fact good. Why? Because it is God’s creation and time, into which He entered with flesh and blood like yours.

A good day is measured on God’s terms, not yours. It is His aim to love and discipline you in His only-begotten Son, Christ Jesus. This He does just for you, every day.

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The Spoken Words

“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. -Matthew 10:27

And just like that, things are looking red. Not the paraments and the vestments which are still green to mark the Ordinary time of the Church, but the letters of the Gospel text this day, spoken by Christ Jesus in your midst.

You have heard of “red letter” versions of the Sacred text, have you not? They are versions where the words spoken directly by Christ Jesus as He went in and out among the Apostles are printed with red ink.

Were it not for the words repeated from the Holy Gospel from last Sunday, namely these eight words, “These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them,” every single word of today’s Gospel is spoken directly by Christ Jesus. Every word is a red letter word.

It is fitting on this second Sunday in the ordinary time of the Church year to have such a rich and full text consisting only of words spoken by Christ Jesus, for it is by His Word and by His speaking, and His alone, that the Church comes into being and lives and is sustained from day to day and into eternity.

You know, this is why, when the Holy Gospel is read aloud in our midst, we do not sit on our behinds. We stand up. We do not just stand up, but we sing the Alleluia verse.

You confess with St. Peter, “LORD, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Words of eternal life they are. Better than food which perishes.

Today you sang, “Alleluia. Everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before My Father who is in heaven.” This is most certainly true, for by His Word Jesus imparts all things, including Himself, so that you may be brought to the Father and kept there forever.

Red letter words: the Words spoken directly by Christ Jesus, first to His hearers who were the disciples and apostles, and now this day to His Church, where the ministry of the Apostles continues until such time as this age is complete.

We will circle back to these red letter words in a few minutes, but for now what about the other words? What about the other words? What about the black letter words? What about words that do not come from Christ Jesus and do not teach of him?

Do you remember the words that were spoken when you were conceived in your mother’s womb? No. At that time your consciousness was not developed enough to have a memory.

But God remembers, because when you were conceived in your mother’s womb it was together with His express will and Word. You are not an accident. Some speaking took place.

But what was said, and how was it said, when you were conceived in your mother’s womb? Do you think there was a narrator? The manner and method of words is so multitudinous. The ways to express things, as you have now come to learn, is so various.

There is first, second, and third person. There is direct discourse, indirect discourse, and all manner of voices such as making a statement, asking a question, making an exclamation of surprise, giving a command, expressing a wish or desire, all while considering the past, the present, and the future.

There are even things placed before your reason and senses for which you and everyone around you are at a loss for words.

Not only all this, but how many sources have there been for all the words you have been given to hear? What were the first words you ever heard and comprehended? Where did they come from? Maybe it was your Dad, who said in so many words, “Welcome to the world, O little stranger.” Yes. Direct discourse from your Dad. He was talking to you and no one else.

Maybe it was your Mom, who said in so many words, “Hello there, my little love,” directly and only to you.

It is without question that other words were spoken in your hearing even before you were born, but these are probably not words you remember. Nevertheless they also did not go without effect. Words do not sit in a vacuum. They do something, as you well know.

As for the other voices, who are they and where do they come from? Books. Magazines. Newspapers. Movies. Audio recordings. The strangers you encounter from day to day. The people you work with. The friends you keep company with. The people you work with. Your brothers and sisters. Your spouse. Radio and television broadcasts. The internet. And then there are the thoughts that pop into your head. Where do those come from, and whose idea was it to put them there?

Oboy. Are you beginning to see just how many words there are, how many places they come from, how many ways they are expressed, and what effect they have had on you from the day you were conceived in your mother’s womb?

It again is no wonder that, as last weeks Gospel says, “distressed and dispirited” is characteristic of the situation for you and all those around you.

But the One Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit in His mother’s womb, namely Christ Jesus, as your one and only Savior and substitute in every aspect of life and of death, heard and spoke only those words which will bring you to the Father in everlasting joy, so it is His Words, more than any others, that are to cut through all the other voices out there – especially the voices that would drive you to pride, despair, and every kind of shame and vice – His Word and voice cut through all the garbage (as it were) so that you are obedient from the heart to that form of teaching to which you are now committed: a disciple of Christ Jesus under His Cross together with Him.

Is it not true, that when you hear the words spoken by Christ Jesus, preserved for you and for the whole Church throughout the ages by the Holy Spirit, that when you hear these words they are completely distinct from those other things you hear from day today or think up for yourself?

Where you would think to yourself, “I will stand up on the side of all that is good, true, and right, even if I must die for it,” the fact is, when the Shepherd is struck you would turn tail and run like hell just like each and every one of the disciples did in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It is precisely into scenes such as this, where you would count on your own thoughts and words to sustain you, that Christ Jesus speaks red letter words into your heart by His Holy Spirit: “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”

You see, this Christ Jesus, Who has body and soul, has come to save you body and soul with His body and soul. His life. That is what He imparts to you, who were conceived in your mother’s womb under His tender mercies at the beginning, and who are sustained in life to this very day.

Having been utterly abandoned on the Cross for all your sin and transgression, and having been raised from the dead on account of His faithfulness ON YOUR BEHALF AS YOUR SUBSTITUTE, He is able to strengthen and encourage you so that - not by your reason or strength, but by His Word - you may proceed without fear of death or anything man may do to you in this life.

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.”

Where you would think to yourself, “I will just go along to get along, live and let live, and not judge anyone, not upset anyone, not rock the boat and float through life with as little pain or trouble as possible,” the fact is that you who are baptized into Christ Jesus cannot make an easy way for yourself.

It is precisely in the face of thoughts such as this, that Christ Jesus speaks red letter words into your heart by His Holy Spirit: “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.”

You may say, “But Jesus is speaking to his Apostles here. These words are not for me, are they?”

Well, you tell me. What do you hear and what do you see in the world today? Do you and everyone around you confess Christ Jesus before the world without any negative consequence whatsoever, or are those who confess Christ hated and persecuted?

Indeed, it is the latter that is happening. You know it has been this way from the beginning. The righteous are persecuted. Those who cling to the one and only true God are despised by the world.

“Why is that?,” you say, with your own internal direct discourse (or maybe you wonder it aloud together with your fellow Christians). “Why does the world hate Jesus?” O, they do not only hate Him, but they take His words and twist them into excuses for their own shame, or turn Him into nothing more than a nice, smiling man who was a great teacher in His day.

But why?

Because it is the nature of light and of darkness to be opposites, just as it is the nature of sin and holiness to be opposites.

You who have been baptized into Christ Jesus, who abide in Him, and who are taught by Him, who are under the care of pastors sent by Him, you do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and you do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but you present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members – your arms, legs, fingers, toes, mouths, ears, eyes, reason, and all senses - as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

The world hates that, and will have nothing to do with Christ except to crucify Him anew, along with anyone who believes, teaches, and confesses His Name. “If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul (which is in effect calling Him “Lord of the Shit Flies” or “Prince of Demons”), how much more will they malign the members of his household!”

But, as Christ Jesus says to you this day, you need not fear them. The LORD is with you like a dread champion. Your persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will be utterly ashamed, because they have failed, with an everlasting disgrace that will not be forgotten.

“Therefore,” says Jesus with direct discourse and red letter words, “do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops.”

Where have you heard that before? What radio or TV show? What work of fiction? What documentary? You have not heard these words anywhere than from the mouth of Christ Jesus, and they are still in effect. From Him you know and have been taught that you, and all that pertains to your body and life in this age, are an open book before God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

What Jesus discloses to His disciples in that short time where His body of flesh was soaking up the sin of the world with the glory of God hidden under the cross of darkness, this is NOW disclosed, revealed, and proclaimed to every tribe and nation and tongue, so that the great harvest is underway to the present day even unto the end of this age; a harvest which has brought you into the tender care and mercies of Christ Jesus, your Dread Champion who presents you to the Father in His Name and sustains you by His Word and Spirit, red letters and all even as His Word was, is, and evermore shall be.

In all truth, God the Father of our LORD Jesus Christ by His Holy Spirit has made you his own from the beginning, so that He is yours with every blessing, to protect and help you in all need.

Look. The one Who bids you to fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell has given His soul and body voluntarily into just that condition, not as a ghost, but while garbed in the same flesh and blood you have. This He did not do for His own sake, but for yours.

Having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, you have this gift, resulting in sanctification, that is a separation from the ways of this world of sin and death, AND resulting in the outcome, namely eternal life both now and forever as your God and Savior brings you to Himself.

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A Little Light

“You are the light of the world." -Matthew 5:14a

In many and various ways the Holy Spirit points Christ Jesus to you, and you to Christ Jesus, for Christ Jesus, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit are the One, true God, apart from Whom there is no other, and Who in these last days still shines for you as a light shining in the darkness.

A light shining in the darkness. That is how the Holy Spirit testifies of Christ Jesus through the prophets and apostles, and through your pastors today and now. This is what “Epiphany” means, namely the revelation of Christ Jesus unto the world, attested to you by the Father and the Holy Spirit as the only Son from heaven, come to save you and all people from sin, from death, and from the power of the devil.

In the Holy Gospel according to St. John, the text concerning the wedding at Cana, where Jesus blesses the wedding with abundant wine when the wine had run out, this text is used on the Second Sunday after the Epiphany both in the Three-Year Lectionary and in the One Year Lectionary.

It is a beautiful showing forth of Christ Jesus your LORD who has come to bless you with the abundance of His mercy, which flows forth like the finest of wines and in great abundance.

The Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew, appointed for this day, is no different, for what can be more revealing, what can be more life-giving, what can be more public, what can be more abundant in showing forth the only begotten Son of God than for Him, upon seeing the crowds who were at this point following Him - to go up on the mountain upon, sit down, have His disciples come to Him, and then open His mouth and began to teach them?

He is the Only-begotten Son, with Whom God the Father is well pleased. Listen to Him, for He teaches not as the Scribes and the Pharisees, but with authority, for He is God in human flesh, come to serve and to lay down his life.

This He does not do without words. This He does do, together with the words of eternal life, so that you also may hear Him this day and be both saved and comforted in this perverse generation.

Today’s Gospel begins with the tenth saying in what the Church has called “The Sermon on the Mount.” You see, the Epiphany of your Lord happens from Above and comes down to you, as a light for you, a light that shines into your hearing.

So He is literally above the people on this mountain, as it should be. As the law was given to Moses from atop Mt. Sinai, the Gospel this day is given to you first from the mountain in Galilee where these words were first spoken, and then delivered to you from this pulpit, which also, as you can see, is elevated above your pew.

Speaking of elevation, the traditional mountain ascribed to where Jesus speaks these words is on the northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, between Capernaum and the archeological site of Gennesaret, on the southern slopes of the Korazim Plateau. Its negative altitude (around 80 feet below sea level) makes it one of the lowest summits of the world. Think of that. A mountain top that is below sea level!

And that makes sense, for the Son of Man came down to seek and to save that which is lost, to shine forth in word and in deed as the one and only perfect sacrifice for the sin of the world, your sin and mine, and to accompany His word for you with words of speech and teaching. More than that, with water, bread, and wine.

He comes down low into the earth not to exalt Himself, but to make payment for your sin and exalt you, to raise you up from your death of sin and trespass, to plant you in his vineyard as you are grafted into Him, to set you free from bondage, to cover your nakedness, to be your rear guard, and to keep you together with Himself in the one true Church until the Last Day.

And what does He say to you this day, this Holy Son of God who is Your Epiphany?

He says, “You are the salt of the earth.” These words of Christ Jesus will remain the focus of our attention until such time as we enter into the prayers of the Church this day.

“You are the salt of the earth.” What does he mean by this? To whom is he speaking? Does he mean this as a kind of compliment? Is he speaking to you as an individual, or is he giving this attribution to a whole bunch of people at once? What does it mean to be the salt of the earth?

Without question, these words apply to all who hear His voice and who follow Him. He is speaking to His disciples, of which there are twelve. He is also speaking to the crowd which by definition is comprised of many people.

By virtue of His Gospel going out into all the earth, He this day and hour is speaking to you as a congregation. He is speaking to you as an individual, and yet you cannot and do not live as an island or as a hermit, so that, whether you know and believe it or not, who you are as an individual is always intertwined with other people of your flesh and your blood.

Moreover, it is plain from the original language, which is able, unlike the English language, so spell out plainly whether “you” means “you” as a single individual, or “you” as in “y’all.” I suppose a good Texas translation would be “Y’all are the salt of the earth.”

And this, dear Christians, is an Epiphany in its own right, for if Christ Jesus had not spoken this and you not heard it, you would be floundering in confusion, thinking yourself to be your own person, dependent upon no one other than yourself, and defined as the devil, the world, and your own flesh would define you.

These words are not spoken as a compliment – you are the salt of the earth. They are spoken by the only Son from heaven who defines you through His baptism of water and speech.

Yes. As it stands, you are defined by Christ Jesus, into Whom you have been baptized, and who declares you first of all to be His own Child, having brought you into the flesh of His death and resurrection, and Who also declares you to be the salt of the earth, which chief attribute and purpose is that of . . . preservation.

True, we commonly know salt as a spice for food and a threat to physical well-being when ingested in excess, but in this case your dear LORD is telling you, y’all both corporately and individually, that you are a preservative in the world.

How can this be? It can be, and is, because God, who said, “Light shall shine out of darkness,” is the One who has shone in your hearts to give the Light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

It is you, dear Christians, who tread upon this earth in the sure and certain knowledge, revealed and given to you not in superiority of speech or of wisdom, who are determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

It is you who tread upon this earth, wherever you are given among men, in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, whose messages and deeds are not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power as you are raised up in the heavenly places in and through Christ Jesus, so that your faith does not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

It is also you, dear Christians, who tread upon this earth, who speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; but you speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age has understood.

This altogether makes you the world’s preservative, not so that you can serve your whims and wishes, but so that God, through you and for you, withholds the judgment of wrath which is well deserved on account of the world’s sin and transgression, and instead acts in abundant mercy through His only begotten Son, given into death for the sin of the world, and raised up from the dead for your justification, allowing you to cry out to God and to be heard through this Christ Jesus alone, Who is your advocate before the Father.

This saltiness is yours because God in His mercy and by His Holy Spirit preaches to you, sanctifies you, and edifies you. He continually makes known to you that He is your only true God, your only Help in time of trouble, your only deliverance from sin and death.

This saltiness is yours because He has taken your heart of stone and replaced with a heart of flesh, the heart of Christ, Who was, and is, perfectly obedient unto the commands of God, seeking Him with His whole heart, not straying from His commandments. He guides you in the way of these commandments, and that makes you, y’all, the salt of the earth.

“But if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”

Should you despise and neglect the Word of the LORD, then the saltiness will be lost. For there is no preservation or life apart from Christ Jesus Who comes to you only through His Word. There is no good purpose in being trampled underfoot, for what is trampled underfoot is worthless, like chewed up, spit out gum on a Disneyland manhole cover.

So listen. He Who speaks to you from this low mountain is also He Who was uplifted on the cross. This lifting up is for all to see and to know. With a soul exceedingly sorrowful, even to the point of death, He is preserved so that you, believing and being baptized into Him may also be preserved, and be a preserver in the midst of this world for a time subject to futility, but at the last made anew.

Your LORD Jesus has sacrificed Himself for the sin of the world, and in bringing you into His body, He seasons the world with you – yes you, as you are - and with the sacrifice of thanksgiving, so that you live here as life giving members of His body, in love and service to your neighbor and in thanksgiving for all things given you from Above, from the light of the World.

It is He who will preserve you, body and soul, unto life everlasting. It is He who feeds you with His body and blood in this place to that very and. It is He Who will shine forth in you and before men, that they may see your good works, your preserving works, and glorify your Father in heaven.

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The Right Message

The next day he saw Jesus coming to him and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! -John 1:29

In many and various ways the world speaks to you by false prophets and false teachings. They say:

Follow your muse.
Take a step today to make your dream into a reality.
You owe it to yourself to become everything you've ever dreamed of being.
Just be yourself.
Feed your wild side.
Just do it.
You are a rugged individual who can take care of yourself.

Those are just a few of hundreds, if not thousands of examples where seemingly sound advice is given. Pick your advertising slogan.

On the surface of things, these sayings are as delightful and innocuous as could be. Who could possibly disagree? Who could possibly find fault? Who would be so negative as to criticize and pick apart these words that only encourage the joy and happiness you owe to yourself and the world owes to you?

Well, recall the kind words St. Peter has for Jesus upon hearing Jesus SAY that it is necessary for him, Jesus, to suffer and to be killed, and to be raised up on the third day. Peter says, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You,” which in this case is another way of saying . . .

Follow your muse.
Take a step today to make your dream into a reality.
You owe it to yourself to become everything you've ever dreamed of being.
Just be yourself.
Feed your wild side.
Just do it.
You are a rugged individual who can take care of yourself.

To these worldly words of wisdom your natural flesh yields a hearty, “Amen!”

Yet what does Jesus say to St. Peter, who only a short time ago confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God? Jesus says to Peter, “Get thee behind me, Satan.”

That ought to be a sober reminder that your own thoughts and words, even when they sound their best to every ear around, may not be in accord with the holy will and purpose of your Father in heaven.

“Follow your muse.” We’ll just pick on that one for now. This is a way of directing you to follow your creative self, as it were, and you are certainly creative by nature. You are made in the image of God, Who is a creator.

But there are problems: There are limits to what you are able to create. You cannot create all things out of nothing and sustain them, as has your Father in heaven.

Moreover, your nature is now fallen and corrupt, so that the things you follow for yourself and create for yourself have a driving desire to take you away from your Father in heaven and plunge you into your own world which can, and would, only end in grief, despair, and damnation. And make no mistake about it, your muse is still at work and will be at work until that day when you depart this life.

The Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world does not bid you to follow your muse. He bids you to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him, and Him alone.

Do not let the word “cross” pass through your ears lightly and without further thought. The cross is forever identified with the most ignominious, shameful punishment, deserving only of the worst criminals. Not only that, the Cross also mark you as a discipline, and a disciple does not accept all that the world has to offer.

And so it is.

For you, O house of Israel, O saints of God who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus in this sanctuary here and now, for you the LORD God has made My mouth like a sharp sword, for I am given to you to speak the things The Holy Lamb of God speaks.

In the shadow of His hand He has concealed this Lamb of God who suffers upon the cross for you, and yet even the islands and peoples from afar will hear of His name and His deeds from of old.

Like a select arrow, like the perfect bullet, the LORD God has placed your sin, transgression, and rightful death upon Christ Jesus. Not just some of it, but all of it. Not just what you have done, but who you are by nature.

Today He baptizes you, He washes you, with the Word concerning His innocent suffering and death and his resurrection from death so that you do NOT follow your own muse and dreams and what you think to be your just desserts, but instead look to Him, behold him, behold the Lamb of God at all times and in all places for everything good both in this life and in the life to come.

Twice John the Baptist says of Christ Jesus, “I did not recognize him.” “I did not recognize Him, but so that He might be manifested to Israel, I came baptizing in water.” “I did not recognize Him, but He who sent me to baptize in water said to me, ‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’”

If the last and greatest of the prophets did not recognize Him, what makes you think you will? You won’t. You cannot. It is not in you. Your muse is taking you in the other direction.

Your muse is all about you. Your life. Your plans. Your notions, ideas. The flotsam of all the world has taught you and your flesh what to accept as true and real.

Therefore you must hear from him who says, “I myself have seen, and have testified that this is the Son of God,” and you must be baptized, washed, buried, clothed, and sanctified by and in Someone other than yourself.

The baptism of Christ is not yours to generate, conjure up, bring into being and distribute. No. He Who is from the beginning, whom you could not and would not recognize, has created you anew not out of your devices, but out of His from everlasting mercies.

The Lamb of God, Who is spoken to you, is the One Who baptizes you and joins you to Himself. He is the select arrow, hidden in the quiver of God, the one man of flesh given among men upon whom the sin of the world has fallen once for all.

No, John did not recognize him. He had to be told from the outside. He had to be instructed, just as you who once were dead in trespasses and sin. He had to hear, just as you must hear, and in hearing you are brought from death to life.

For just as God through Christ brought the heavens and the earth into being by speech, and still sustains them, He also brought you into being and moreover brought you into His kingdom through the washing of fire and sword that is His Gospel of the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life to be found and bestowed in and through Christ Jesus alone.

Twice John says He did not recognize him. Likewise twice John says, “Behold the Lamb of God Who takes away the sin of the world.” O Christ, Thou Lamb of God, that takest away the sin of the world, have mercy upon us.”

How many times are you going to say those words? How many times are you going to sing them together with your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, you and old, rich and poor?

I’ll tell you this: You are going to sing them today, just as you have sung them each time the body and blood of Christ are shown before your eyes in the Divine Service, where His baptizing Word of fire is spoken aloud in His presence to deliver you from your own muse and from the passions and messages the devil, the world, and your own flesh would substitute for what is true and real.

What is true and real is the substitutionary atonement of the Lamb of God, for He was at one with your sin as He was crucified, and you are now at one with Him since He has washed you with water and word.

You see, to baptize is simply to wash and to soak and to cleanse and to wipe away all the filth that clings. This your Christ Jesus does by the word of His mouth, spoken to you this day, and delivered with the gift of His holy body and blood into your mortal body so that you may be blessed and preserved both now and unto eternity.

The same testimony concerning Christ that was given to St. John has also been confirmed in you. Confirmed because you are baptized into His name. Confirmed because you are here in the presence of Him and His Word as it is preached in your hearing. Confirmed because He delivers to you this day from this altar the fruits of his innocent sufferings and death and resurrection from the dead because he purposed from all eternity by His Holy Spirit to call you, to speak to you, and to point you to Christ, the Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world.

So when the world comes along with its many and various ways of speaking its wisdom, do not fall for it. Test it. Question it. If it draws you away from Christ Jesus in any way, then reject it. Cast it aside. Move ahead in grace while awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

It is He, and He alone, who out of the everlasting mercies of God, will wash you with His Word and preserve you in the midst of this world full of false hopes, false teachings, false prophets, and your own, ruinous thoughts and deeds.

To Him be the glory, forever and ever.

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