St. Ruth [Trinity 5; St. Luke 5:1-11]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

In the Gospel, you hear Jesus speaking to you saying,

“And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.”

What we see today in the casting of nets and the catching of a great number of fish, is the Gospel of Christ at work in the world. The sinner is happy in his home of sin and death and wishes nothing more than to be left alone there.

So when Jesus’ net comes crashing in, threatening his way of life and his very existence, he attempts to flee and resist. This is the perfect picture of the sinner before a holy God. Whether the sinner is saved or not, the struggle continues. You think you have lost your rebellious streak?

Yet, it is good for the net to enclose you. It is good for you to be ripped out of the only environment you think can preserve you. It is good for you to be caught and die, because Christ is the Fisherman; the One Who kills and makes alive again.

One perfect example of this is found in Ruth, whose day we commemorate today. If you remember the story of Ruth or not, make sure you go home and read it today. Let me sum up the book so you know what you’re reading: a man of God goes down to a foreign country, leaving his plentiful homeland, but his death there makes his people’s redemption, possible. (Hint: its about Jesus)

In the book of Ruth, we hear of Elimelech, which means God is King, a native of Bethlehem, and Naomi his wife and two sons, who leave the Promised Land in Bethlehem for the land of Moab.

Now, Moses and Joshua had just spent over 50 years of their lives trying to get Israel into the promised land and, in Ruth’s time, the Judges are very busy trying to KEEP Israel in the Promised Land, and Elimelech up and leaves.

A result of this is that his two sons take Moabite women for their wives, Orpah (not Oprah) and Ruth, an act explicitly forbidden by God (Deut. 7:3). So serious is this command, that in the Book of Ezra, all of Israel separate from their foreign wives, after the Babylonian Exile, in order to be complicit with God’s Law.

Well, as you would expect, removing yourself from God’s Promises only creates death. Thus, Elimelech and his two sons die of a famine, leaving the women to fend for themselves in a life bereft of life.

In this lifeless life, Naomi is overcome. Depressed, she returns to her hometown, the Lord’s land in Bethlehem, changes her name to Mara, which means “bitter”, and attempts to send her daughters-in-law away to start their own lives over and not remind her of her pain anymore.

Orpah leaves (big surprise), but even more surprising, Ruth does not leave. She was determined to have Mara (Naomi) as her mother-in-law and the Lord as her God until death them do part.

Now, the story belongs to Ruth. The net of God’s Word has enclosed Mara and Ruth, trapping them in His Word and ruining their lives, by dragging them out of their comfort in the desert of Moab, up into the Promised Land of Bethlehem. Ruth had been married to a child of promise, but now a widow, she was just an outsider, a Moabite outside the promises of God.

Her only hope lie, now, in the bitter arms of her mother-in-law. The one person who is a part of the covenant God made with the whole earth and, in taking care of Mara, she shows forth her own redemption. In their lifeless life, Mara and Ruth find a redeemer. Meaning they find one of Naomi’s kindred that is able not only to buy back the women’s birthrights as children of God, but also to marry Ruth and continue the blood line.

The two little fish, Naomi and Ruth, though trapped in the net, find that in their lifeless lives; their lives of sin and death, the Lord brings new life. Now they are fish that can live on land; Promised Land. For Boaz, the redeemer, buys back all of Elimelech’s stuff, claiming Naomi as true descendent and Ruth as his wife.

This new life; this Word of Life and Promise spoken by Jesus is the net which He casts at us. The horrible, harbinger of death of a net is lowered onto us, and we squirm. We kick, we fight, we bite the hands, anything in order to be let go; in order to be dropped back into the waters of everlasting death.

But the net does not let go. The Gospel goes out and accomplishes that purpose for which God sent it out: the salvation of the whole world. Naomi heard it and believed. Ruth heard it and was saved. You heard it and the Holy Spirit entered your life, giving you faith, which allows you to live in a world covered in the shadow of death.

Just what is this Word of Life and Promise that mightily brought Ruth out of the lifeless desert and into a new life of redemption? It wasn’t just Boaz, but their descendant. For if you look in the first chapter of St. Matthew, you will find a list and in that list are explicitly the names of Boaz and Ruth, great-grandfather and great-grandmother of Jesus.

Ruth’s story is not just history. Its not a story of losing love and finding it again. It is not even a story about hospitality and congeniality among family. It is The Story; the History of Salvation story in which Jesus, against all odds and ends, makes it into the womb of St. Mary.

In celebrating or commemorating St. Ruth, we are simply celebrating the Word being preached to us, in our hearing. The Law, always accusing, always killing; and the Gospel always comforting, always making the lifeless alive.

Hear the promises made to Ruth:

“Go, return each of you to her mother's house. May the Lord deal kindly with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. The Lord grant that you may find rest, each of you in the house of her husband!” (1:8-9)

“I went away full, and the Lord has brought me back empty.” (1:21)

“Let me go to the field and glean among the ears of grain after him in whose sight I shall find grace.” (2:2)

“Remain tonight, and in the morning, if he will redeem you, good; let him do it. But if he is not willing to redeem you, then, as the Lord lives, I will redeem you. Lie down until the morning.” (3:11)

“Wait, my daughter, until you learn how the matter turns out, for the man will not rest but will settle the matter today.” (3:18)

Boaz is representing Christ, who dwells in Bethlehem, whose wealth of grace and mercy, purchased on the cross, authorizes Him to buy back all that satan has corrupted and redeem it.

He has also purchased and won His Bride, the Church, who is our Mother that we return to, empty of this world, but who fills us with Christ and His forgiveness. Where we go to the fields of harvest and find nothing but grace. Wherein we wait upon Jesus to appear with the morning and find our redemption in the sacraments freely given.

All so that Jesus’ Name would be holy, that His legacy would not be cut off from the earth, for He has made you a promise. Jesus has promised that He would save you from your sins. Jesus has promised that you will not be slaves to sin forever. He has promised that you will be free just as He is free.

Hear, then, the Lord’s words to His Church; to you all, today:

“We are witnesses. May the Lord make the woman… like Rachel and Leah, who together built up the house of Israel. May you act worthily in Ephrathah and be renowned in Bethlehem, and may your house be like the house of Perez, whom Tamar bore to Judah, because of the offspring that the Lord will give you by this … woman.” (4:11-12)

And finally, “Blessed be the Lord, who has not left you this day without a redeemer, and may his name be renowned in Israel! He shall be to you a restorer of life and a nourisher of your old age, for your daughter…who loves you, who is more to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” (4:14-15) Who is, Christ the Lord, for your salvation.

Judge not [Trinity 4; St. Luke 6:36-42]

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Jesus speaks to us today by the Gospel saying,

“Judge not, and you will not be judged...”

Ah, yes. The timeless phrase used and misused over and over and over again. These great condemning words of Jesus loom so large in our field of vision, that we immediately cast them upon others using them to silence anyone and anything that begins to disagree with our life choices.

“Judge not…” I can have a baby or not have a baby, with or without marriage. Its my life.

“Judge not…” God spoke to me and told me to do this. Are you saying I’m lying?

“Judge not…” just because I don’t believe every part of the Bible doesn’t mean I’m not Christian.

“Judge not…” I can marry whomever I want.

“judge not…” Look at your own life and you’re telling me what to do?

In fact, if we were to follow the world’s prescription on “not judging” there would be no world left. For, we would have “not judged” it into oblivion, following this or that desire or lust until everyone died.

This, of course, is not what Jesus meant when He said, “Judge not”, neither did He mean that religion is whatever anyone feels it is. What He meant was, there is judgment and, depending on who judges, will determine whether or not humanity has hope for an eternal future or an eternal hell.

Really, we can blame this all on God. It was He who said “judge not” but then tells us in Leviticus (19:15) and many other places TO judge. The Bible seems to contradict itself here. How do you explain this disconnect that gives apparent permission to everyone to be as vague as possible with “not judging”?

God is the Judge, you say? Well, that’s true. He says that He will judge the ends of the earth (1 Sam. 2:10). He says that the earth rejoices, because HE comes to judge the earth (1 Chron. 16:33).

That’s fine. He can be Judge, but what does that have to do with us? It doesn’t matter who is judging, it matters how they judge. God being a judge does not hold any special meaning in anything religious for us, if He just wants to set up court somewhere.

What’s not fine, is God claims to be judge and claims to do it with uprightness and equity (Ps. 9:8, 75:2). This is a problem, because we don’t see evidence for that. The earth is filled with evil that always wins out over good; where injustice rules the day; where the poor are oppressed. So whenever God, or anyone else, says they judge with equity, we say: prove it.

Worse than that, we go further and say that God judges unjustly! That He doesn’t play fair, that He picks favorites, and that He is too harsh and intolerant. In this way, we play both sides of the fence: we use “not judging” as an excuse for evil and we also use it to judge God.

Repent. One thing is certain: there must be judgment in this world, no matter who does it. In order for a civilized society to remain civilized, we must have judges. Likewise, if heaven is to remain pure and undefiled, there must be a judge who makes it so.

So we return to God’s claim of being a fair judge, but this time look at the evidence He provides in the affirmative.

The first piece of evidence is strange, for God says He is Judge and God is Spirit, but then His Word promises that man will be the judge. He tells Moses not only to judge, but to then continue to appoint judges over the people to judge in God’s place.

Most profoundly, the Lord says this: “And you, son of man, [will judge the bloody city]” and declare to her all her abominations (Eze. 22:2). Somehow, it seems, a man will be judge in God’s stead? But we all know we can’t trust men to do that work, for they are all corrupt.

To be a fair judge you must be a champion of justice and a punisher of evil and no one fits that bill, not even Jesus, for there were still many oppressed and victimized that He did nothing about. If there are those who have been plundered, you must rescue them (Jud. 2:16). The wicked must be killed and the poor, needy, and meek must be attended to (Isa. 11:4). More than that, you must be able to save even the wicked man.

Nowhere is this spelled out in Jesus’ words: “Judge not…”, but now it is a much bigger picture we must look at rather than just focusing on our lives and how we and others judge. Because our last piece of evidence clinches the case and leaves us in want.

The Lord tells us that it is He who is reviled and did not revile; He who suffered, but did not threaten and continued to trust Himself to the One Who judges justly (1 Pet. 2:23).

God can judge, because He judges Jesus in your place. God’s judgments are unjust because they punish the innocent (Jesus), instead of the guilty, you. “Judge not, lest ye be judged” now is not a command to you, but a command to God Himself, Who has judged in the past and is therefore judged on the cross.

We are all victims; prisoners of our own devices. When we hear a command from God, we expect its meant for us, when it turns out it is meant for Jesus. In the cross, we see exactly how judgment is done uprightly and equitably. In the cross, we see exactly how God can be the judge and we can depend on Him to be impartial and fair.

This is because He has judged His own Son, His very essence, and found Him guilty. You want God to be an unfair judge, believe me. You want Him to find some other scapegoat to punish for your crimes against the crown.

If He does not, then it is your life that is forfeit upon another cross. Do not judge yourself or your neighbor worthy of the cross and death, when there is only One worthy to mount that tree and descend into the grave. Do not judge your neighbor to hell, when only One retains the honor of descending and ascending.

When Jesus tells you not to judge, He is telling you not to put anyone up on the cross except Him. Judge not, for the Lamb is worthy of honor, riches, glory, and wisdom, and strength, and power, and blessing, all gained in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Thus, when we want to understand God’s claim to be Judge and His other claim to be fair and upright, you know, the kind of judge we want around, we don’t look at the evidence our eyes see, we look to the cross.

Jesus on the cross is the reason God is the Good Judge and that we can trust Him with such responsibility. He has given His promises and His judgments through Jesus and in the suffering and death of Jesus, we see and believe that all things work out for our good, even when they seem evil.

Jesus will be the Judge, because He is the one to share our humanity and suffer with us. God’s judgments are best and true, because Jesus has risen from the dead. He was crucified on our behalf and therefore can be trusted. Jesus is the only reason God has any claim to be Judge and Jesus is the only reason we find mercy and pardon, rather than guilt and condemnation in God’s Judgments.

The woman You gave me [The Visitation; St. Luke 1:39-45]

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Jesus speaks to you today, saying,

“and she exclaimed with a loud cry, "Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”

Ah, the question that forever plagues Lutherans: 
what to do with Mary?

On one side, we do not want to fall into the Roman Catholic camp and confess her as co-redeemer alongside Jesus. Neither do we want to fall into the Protestant camp and completely throw her under the bus.

We can’t side with the Romans, because Scripture doesn’t say she hears prayers or comforts us. We can’t side with the Protestants because Scripture speaks so highly of her. So what is a poor Lutheran seeking the truth supposed to do?

Our first answer should be God’s answer, meaning what we hear in the Bible. What we find are two, very important people who say some pretty uncomfortable sounding things to St. Mary. The first is the Archangel Gabriel. I don’t know what you think, but he’s pretty high up the food chain.

He says, “Greetings, Highly Favored One”. No one else in the Bible is greeted as St. Mary is. The second address comes from her cousin, Elizabeth, who is pregnant with St. John the Baptist. Elizabeth greets Mary in the Spirit calling her the “mother of my Lord”. In other words the mother of God.

A third reference we don’t always think of, is from Moses’ first book, Genesis. In it, the Lord addresses the Serpent after the Fall and promises redemption. God says to the Serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed; he shall crush your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” (Gen. 3:15)

In Scripture, there is a woman who is highly-favored, who is Mother, and who is at odds with the serpent. Now, Scripture talks about women a lot. Some of it confusing, but most of it liberating. More liberating than most people think. Scripture also gives women the vocation of motherhood, which is highly prized and highly protected.

But, in the Bible there is one woman whose worth is far above jewels (Prov. 31:10), a woman who is clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars (Rev. 12:1), and one woman whose children will be more than the children of her who is married (Isa. 54:1).

Now, that may be Eve. Adam did name her the mother of all the living, but God’s Messiah was not any of her sons. That may also be Mary. Since she birthed the Lord of all Creation, you’d think she would be the leading candidate for those titles.

However, there is also a Bride in the running. A mysterious Bride who speaks and is spoken to in the Song of Solomon. A pure Bride who is purchased and won, made pure and holy, by her Husband.

In Revelation, the angel says this: “’Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.’ And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed—on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” (Rev. 21:9-14)

The true woman of Scripture is the Bride of Christ, His Church, wherein are found all the blessings and gifts purchased and won upon the cross. It is protected by the high walls of the Word, it is adorned with the rare jewel of the cross of Christ, God’s glory, and the doctrine of the 12 tribes and the 12 Apostles are its entrances and foundations.

What we hear in St. Mary and St. Eve and all the baptized Christian women in our own lives is a shadow and reflection of the one, true Church. The Church who is so highly favored, that Jesus dies to purify her completely. The Church who holds so tightly to the Gospel and the Sacraments that she is afflicted by the serpent. The Church who is the Body of Christ and is with Him for all eternity.

Just as St. Mary gave birth to Jesus, the Author and Perfector of the Faith, so too does our holy mother the Church give birth to us by water and the Word. Just as St. Mary nurtured the one, true God, the Church brings us up in the Word. And just as Jesus nursed at St. Mary’s breasts, so too are we nursed by the true Body and Blood of Christ.

So, in the first place, St. Mary and all the women of the Bible should immediately remind us of the redeemed Church of Christ, of which we are a part. In the second place, St. Mary, like St. Peter, is special. No bones about it. How special? So special that she was a virgin and remained so even after giving birth, according to Jesus.

Now was she a perpetual virgin, having no more children after Jesus? When the Bible says “brothers and sisters of Jesus” is it literal or does it mean cousins or spiritual siblings? We don’t know. You can make the case for both; that she had other children or that she didn’t.

In either case, Gabriel is sent specifically to Mary, not just to give our children something to act out at Christmas, but to usher in the age of the Church. The age where true salvation and forgiveness is found outside Temples of stone and mortar.

For being birthed outside the Temple, Jesus teaches that now the whole world is sanctified as the Temple, or at least can house the Temple. Now that righteousness has been born apart from the Law, anywhere two or three are gathered can become, can manifest the Temple among them, in faith.

Jesus does manifest Himself among us. He does cover the sins of the whole world, by grace alone, and it is faith alone that makes all this possible for you. This same faith that entered into St. Mary, through her ear, comes to you today, revealing to you the specific location of your Savior.

There is a narrow way which the Christian walks, where St. Mary is not any more special than any other saint and yet more important than all of them. The Christian can be comfortable is hearing praises sung for St. Mary and not talking about her for quite awhile.

In any case, Jesus is the result of St. Mary and her faith. She was a necessary stop along the way to the cross and even before that, it was necessary for Jesus to receive a true body and soul through His mother, in order that He would act in our place under the Law and fulfill it for us. And, with the body and soul, be able to suffer and die for our guilt, because we failed to keep the Law.

Justification [The Presentation of Augsburg; St. John 8:31-36]

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Jesus says,

“The slave does not remain in the house forever; the Son remains forever.”

CANON 9:  "If any one saith, that by faith alone the impious is justified; in such wise as to mean, that nothing else is required to co-operate in order to the obtaining the grace of Justification, and that it is not in any way necessary, that he be prepared and disposed by the movement of his own will; let him be anathema."

CANON 12:  "If any one shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence alone by which we are justified...let him be accursed"

Canon 14: "If any one saith, that man is truly absolved from his sins and justified, because that he assuredly believed himself absolved and justified; or, that no one is truly justified but he who believes himself justified; and that, by this faith alone, absolution and justification are effected; let him be anathema."

Canon 24:  "If any one saith, that the justice received is not preserved and also increased before God through good works; but that the said works are merely the fruits and signs of Justification obtained, but not a cause of the increase thereof; let him be anathema."

Canon 30:  "If any one saith, that, after the grace of Justification has been received, to every penitent sinner the guilt is remitted, and the debt of eternal punishment is blotted out in such wise, that there remains not any debt of temporal punishment to be discharged either in this world, or in the next in Purgatory, before the entrance to the kingdom of heaven can be opened (to him); let him be anathema."

Canon 33:  "If any one saith, that, by the Catholic doctrine touching Justification, by this holy Synod inset forth in this present decree, the glory of God, or the merits of our Lord Jesus Christ are in any way derogated from, and not rather that the truth of our faith, and the glory in fine of God and of Jesus Christ are rendered (more) illustrious; let him be anathema.

What you have been reading, thus far, is the Roman church’s condemnation of Lutheran doctrine, especially that of Justification, and still in force today. By the way, “anathema” means cursed of God. But it’s not just Lutheran doctrine. The Augsburg Confession was presented as the universal creed of Christianity on par with the Creeds.

And everyone agreed, for a few years, at least. However, the fight remains over Justification and our reaction to Jesus’ words, “everyone enacting sin is a slave to sin.” Here, Jesus leaves no middle ground. If you sin, no matter how small, you are a slave to that sin, even if you were saved yesterday.

If you misunderstand justification; meaning, if you misunderstand how Jesus is working in you to will and to do His good pleasure (Phil. 2:13), then you will miss salvation. Because you will either think that you are naturally powerful enough to prepare for free grace from God, that you just need a little help along the way, or that you think the Holy Spirit does not work through means.

We believe “…that in spiritual and divine things the intellect, heart, and will of the unregenerate man are utterly unable, by their own natural powers, to understand, believe, accept, think, will, begin, effect, do, work, or concur in working anything, but they are entirely dead to what is good, and corrupt, so that in man's nature since the Fall, before regeneration, there is not the least spark of spiritual power remaining, nor present, by which, of himself, he can prepare himself for God's grace, or accept the offered grace, nor be capable of it for and of himself, or apply or accommodate himself thereto, or by his own powers be able of himself, as of himself, to aid, do, work, or concur in working anything towards his conversion, either wholly, or half, or in any, even the least or most inconsiderable part; but that he is the servant [and slave] of sin, John 8:34, and a captive of the devil, by whom he is moved, Eph. 2:2; 2 Tim. 2:26. Hence the natural free will according to its perverted disposition and nature is strong and active only with respect to what is displeasing and contrary to God.” (SD.II:7)

As far as salvation, faith, grace, and forgiveness is concerned, we obtain this not because of our own merits, meaning ANY work we do, but freely for the benefit of Christ; through faith alone in Christ.

“Therefore there is a great difference between baptized and unbaptized men. For since, according to the doctrine of St. Paul, (Gal. 3:27), all who have been baptized have put on Christ, and thus are truly regenerate, they have now a liberated will, that is, as Christ says, they have been made free again, (John 8:36); whence they are able not only to hear the Word, but also to assent to it and accept it, although in great weakness.” (SD.II:67)

For when we talk about being justified by Christ, being turned into a free man, we are NOT talking about believers, after they have by faith, having accepted the remission of sins for Christ’s sake should also be renewed in the spirit of their mind. Neither is the issue whether or not the renewal belongs to the benefits of Christ.

Neither is the issue whether or not repentance, contrition, good intentions, love, or good works should follow such faith.

The chief issue is this: what is it that makes God receive sinful man in to grace? What must and can be set over against the judgment of God that we may not be condemned according to the strict sentence of the Law? What must faith apprehend and bring forward, on what must it rely in order to deal with God, and what intervenes between the sinner and eternal damnation?

Is it the satisfaction, obedience, and merit of the Son of God, the Mediator? Or is it the renewal which had been begun in you all, the love, and other virtues in you?

Justification is therefore not a process, but a promise, a promise that creates and gives in reality what God says. A promise that says, if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. God is not a liar and God is not mocked.

Jesus is what makes God receive sinful man into grace. Jesus is what is set over and against the judgment of God that we may not be condemned. Jesus is what faith apprehends and brings forward and relies on to deal with God. Jesus is our intermediary and interventionist between us and eternal death.

Hopefully you see the importance of justification and the fight that the church of the Augsburg confession wages against the devil and this world. It is not hate-filled-labels, or moldy history, nor is it “my church is better than your church”.

What we are interested in is the Truth. So, what we follow is that truth. Since we find truth in the Augsburg confession, we expect everyone to find that same truth. If we are seeking like-minded believers, we ask what they think about the Augsburg Confession. If they’ve never read it, we give them a copy.

For we want them to hear and believe what we hear and believe: that Justification is a free gift from God, a promise, not a process, that stands no matter what we do to it, because we did not make the promise, neither would we, but God did by His Son. And if this Crucified and risen Jesus Christ sets you free, then you are free indubitably.

Today marks the 487th anniversary of the presentation of that Augsburg Confession, and the birth of the Lutheran Church, not on Reformation Day as most suppose. This was the first of the Reformation Confessions defining just what was being reformed. In fact, as we have been studying the Formula of Concord, which was written later, we find that everyone agreed with the Augsburg Confession, until they started splitting off.

“On Saturday, June 25, 1530, at three o’clock in the afternoon, Dr. Christian Beyer stood, walked toward the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, Charles V, and began reading the Augsburg Confession in a loud and distinct voice.  Through the open windows a hushed crowd outside in the courtyard hung on his every word, as did the two hundred or so people gathered in the hall.  Beside Dr. Beyer stood Dr. Gregory Brück, holding a copy of the Augsburg Confession in Latin.  The German princes around them stood up to indicate their support for the Confession.  The emperor motioned for them to sit down.

When Dr. Beyer finished reading, Dr. Brück took the German copy of the Confession from him, handed both copies to the emperor, and said, ‘Most gracious Emperor, this is a Confession that will even prevail against the gates of hell, with the grace and help of God.’  Thus was the Augsburg Confession presented as a unique Confession of the truth of God’s holy Word, distinct from Romanism on the one hand, and Reformed, Anabaptists, and radicals on the other.

"... [in this way the] courageous Lutheran laymen confessed their faith and told the emperor and the Roman Church what they believed, taught, and confessed.  They relied on the promise of God’s Word, as contained in Psalm 119:46, ‘I will also speak of Your testimonies before kings and shall not be put to shame.’  The Augsburg Confession was presented as a statement of biblical truth and a proposal for true unity in the Christian faith.  It has never been withdrawn.” 

All about Jesus [Trinity 1; St. Luke 16:19-31]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus says,

“The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.”

Jesus is the rich man.

Listen to verse 22 and 23 again and tell me if it sounds familiar: “…he died, and was buried. He descended into hell.” Jesus is God, so naturally, He is the rich man. He has no needs and no wants. He is life itself. All that He has is from Him and to Him. Beginning and ending, He is the perfect Triune God.

And He is rich. Rich with wisdom, rich with knowledge, and rich with life. He has no lack. He is a King and there is perpetual celebrating in His Kingdom forever and ever. He is clothed with clothes that are not found on earth and eats food produced in the heights of heaven.

He is the one Who has it all and needs not one thing from us or anyone, or anything, else.

It is “The Lord [who] makes poor and makes rich;” (1 Samuel 2:7).

King David is preaching and he says, “Both riches and honor come from [The Lord], and [He] rule[s] over all” (1 Chronicles 29:12). Thus, Jesus is the rich man who has shut up His riches in heaven, away from all prying hands and eyes. He is rich, we are poor. And the gate to heaven is shut.

Jesus is Lazarus.

He has been cast aside by the very people he has come to help. He is burdened with the heavy yoke of sin and violence of His own people. His is alone to fend for Himself and to carry on His impossible cause. There is none to help.

He is tossed in front of the gate to heaven and is rejected to death. Carrying the weight of all sin, all death, and the devil, He is brought to the locked entrance and the only path left for Him is death and a decent to hell.

All this goes on despite how you feel about things. If every rich man truly cared and believed, there would be no rich men in the world, because they would be giving away their wealth as it came. If every poor man truly cared and believed, they would not hold the rich in contempt and begrudge him his riches.

Jesus is both the holier-than-thou man that no one likes and wants to be around and He is also the poor, weak God that no one wants to care about, Who allows Himself to be man-handled and die and no one wants such a one-sided relationship with such an unbending person.

But, Jesus is also the rich-poor God Who does all this for someone else’s sake: yours. “Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches”( Jeremiah 9:23)

Jesus has nothing to boast about if His wisdom does not create salvation by His words. Jesus has nothing to boast about if He can not take on flesh, suffer, and die and still be mighty God. Jesus has nothing to boast about if His treasury does not include the redemption of every single person that has or will exist.

Repent. One of the grievous evils King Solomon witnessed in the world was that “…riches were kept by their owner to his hurt…” (Ecclesiastes 5:13). We keep our riches, God does not. We leave the poor in the streets, God does not. We condemn to hell, but Jesus preaches to those in prison.

Really, Jesus is neither the rich man nor Lazarus, but better than both. Jesus is the rich man Who also opens the gate, not just to one poor Lazarus, but to the entire human race of all time. Jesus is the poor, fatally ill man Who suffers and dies, but rises again, because death can’t hold Him.

And it is in death, that roles are reversed. The rich man, blessed in life, turns out to be destined for hell. Lazarus, rejected completely, turns out to be favored completely.

Jesus, Who is rich beyond measure and will not share; Who suffers and dies an abandoned, criminal’s death, turns out to be the loving, compassionate, long-suffering Creator of the universe; Who also happens to point out that the way of heaven was not shut, but has always been open to the true Son of God.

Heaven’s riches belong to the rightful heir. No one else will inherit them or even handle them. Likewise, heaven’s greatest work, the redemption of mankind through suffering and death on a cross, will be accomplished solely by heaven’s greatest champion. The Man Who can be poor, yet rich. The Man Who can be dead, yet alive.

This is the exclusionary, one-sided relationship God has with you. This is the way holy Scripture reads with Jesus at its center and focus. This is what it means when people say: it’s all about Jesus. It is all about Jesus, not about you.

You must be able to find yourself in Christ, if you want to read any part of the Scriptures and it have something to do with you. If you want to participate; if you want communion with any of these heavenly treasures, then you must become a part of Christ, otherwise the door remains shut.

This power, to grant communion with the one, true God, is given to Christ’s Church on earth. This power to call and enlighten with the Gospel is given to the Holy Ghost Who only works through means; tools that God has foretold.

The primary tool is the Word, preached in its purity, and that purity is Christ on the cross. That work that Jesus alone can accomplish, to the exclusion of you, includes you by His declaration of fellowship.

The poor are included with the rich, and vice versa, much to both party’s chagrin. Much more to the point, you are included. From a single Word from Jesus, you are declared adopted sons. And from His sacraments, He continues to work that in you, giving you confidence and comfort in that promise, that now in Him, you are rich, you are poor, and you are redeemed as a son of God.

Trinity in unity [Holy Trinity Sunday; St. John 3:1-15]

LISTEN TO AUDIO HERE.

Who speaks to you all today saying,

“Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.”

The Trinity is a unique being. No other god in the history of gods lives up to Him nor can compare to Him, not just because they are made up, either.

You see, if you want to make up a god or a religion, you simply make one god. That is simplest. If you only have to deal with one god, then that makes life easy, especially when you have to deal with him, for even if he is temperamental, at least he is not always changing.

It is in this way that you also consolidate authority. If there is only one god then he must have a representative and you are it; on top of the world, giving orders, raking in the cash profits.

If you want to be truthful about the world you live in, you go in for multiple gods, not just one. Multiple gods may be harder to deal with, but it explains the world much better than just one. With multi-god religion, you have a god hiding in just about everything you can imagine. If you want something you just need to go to that god and deal with it once.

If you need water, you go to the water god. If you need luck, the luck god. Mercy, the mercy god and so on. The only drawback is, no god is more true than another. So you may serve the god of the mountains, but the water god could be angry with you and erode you away. Or fire/water, etc.

If you want the easy life and a short trip to the top of the religious-leader ladder, the one thing you don’t do is create a god too complex to understand and/or follow, such as the Trinity. If you want gobs of servants and boatloads of cash, what you don’t do is say people have to believe in the Trinity.

Likewise, as said God, if you want followers, you make it easy. You don’t create humans and then talk to yourself in the third-person plural saying, “Let US make man in OUR image” (Gen. 1:26). Then, when things go south, don’t double-down and say, “Then the Lord God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of US in knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:22).

You also do not cause certain things to be written regarding an incomprehensible plurality saying things like, “The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre…as three men…” (Gen. 18:1-2) and “The Lord rained fire down from the Lord” (Gen. 19:24) and “My Lord said to my Lord, sit at my right hand” (Ps. 110:1).

And we, Christian believers, having had the fullness of God revealed to us, still think this way. Though we would not admit it, we want God doing certain things at certain times and not doing things at other times. We want Him close, but not that close; we want Him far away, but not that far away.

Repent. You don’t understand God. You can’t make sense of the depth of His riches, wisdom, or knowledge. You can’t make heads or tails of His judgments or His ways. What is He thinking? How can I make Him see my perspective? What sort of offering can I bribe Him with?

Our problem is that God has revealed Himself. Our problem is that God has answered all these questions for us, in His Son. Our problem is we do not want to hear what God has to say about it all.

Our problem is our greatest asset.

Let me explain.

God has revealed Himself. We see this as a problem because it means that our entire view of the world is wrong. It means that God is Who He says He is and not what we care about or think of. Now, we must see the universe as ruled by one, true God Who is also three persons and that is impossible for us.

We think we can be the first to create neat things, but God did it first. We think we can be the first to create perfect laws to order and unite, but God did it first. We think we can be the first to make the perfect deal with local deities and have all the best for ourselves, but God made the perfect offering first.

Jesus says, “we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony.”

“We speak”: Jesus is double-speaking here. He is talking about us and He is talking about Himself, for when He speaks it is “we”: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. “We speak” and all things are created. “We speak” and our words come into being and create what they say.

This “we” is a Trinity word, thus when Jesus speaks of what “we know” and what “we have seen”, He is talking about all things, but most especially His depths of His riches, wisdom, and knowledge which is Christ Crucified for the forgiveness of sins.

Our problem is our greatest asset, because our problem is sin and Christ has come for sinners. Not just to forgive them, but to reveal all things to them: His plan, His purpose, and His Will. Nothing is hidden from those who walk by faith.

This means our sins are forgiven His way. This means that there is a Way, a Truth, and a Life. This means that salvation is not dependent on me nor is it worked out with my cooperation or completed with my understanding. I would never die for an enemy.

We do not revel in our problem of sin, neither do we celebrate it. With the Spirit of the Triune God dwelling in us, we are ashamed of it and horrified by it. For, even though we still think that there are local gods/spirits and that one god is easier to understand than a triune one, God comes to dwell with us.

And He is unique. None other that has ever claimed the title of “god” has done what this Triune God has done. Thus, it is in specific ways that He does His work of salvation. He creates, redeems, and sanctifies all in how He describes and, conveniently enough, has caused it to be written down.

So that, when we open Scripture and wonder Who God is, the Athanasian Creed comes from that inquiry. When we open Scripture and wonder how to act, the holy 10 Commands appear. When we open Scripture and wonder how to contact/please/appease/bribe or any other form of communication with God, the Church is created before our eyes.

In the Creeds, God gives us lofty ideas and thoughts, transcending time and space, conquering all evil, and shining as light in the darkness. In His Church, all those ideas become reality. And just like Her Lord, the Church doesn’t change.

The same Gospel is preached. The same Sacraments administered. The same salvation offered. With a Triune God in charge of all things, you get a specific, narrow way to redemption. He excludes what He has not done and since Jesus is a part of this Trinity, the Word He says, the Work He does, and the Person He offers is the one, true way.

What we know, speak of, and bear witness to is only, always our own sin, failing at each step of the path of righteousness. What Jesus knows, speaks of, and bears witness to is that in spite of us, while we were yet sinners, He, the Triune God, making all things and remaking all things, renewing men in the true image and icon of God, suffered and was crucified.

Before we called, He answered. Before we thought, He created. Before we acted, He saved. Before we understood, He was Himself and created all things for our good, even when we don’t understand; ESPECIALLY when we don’t understand.

Baptism means Christ Crucified [Pentecost; St. John 14:23-31]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to us today, saying,

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name,he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

The word “baptism” occurs 23 times in Acts which has 28 chapters. And, according to one count, only 15 sermons.

But St. Peter does not tell them to get baptized every time. He simply presents God’s Word and work and tells them to repent. However, when Faith hears that Word, it can’t help but feel like it needs a good washing.

Here is the proof from the Book itself:

Acts 2:38

And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:41

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

Acts 8:12

But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.

Acts 8:13

Even Simon himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.

Acts 8:38

And he commanded the chariot to stop, and they both went down into the water, Philip and the eunuch, and he baptized him.

Acts 9:18

And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized;

Acts 10:48

And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.

Acts 11:16

And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’

Acts 16:15

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.

Acts 16:33

And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds; and he was baptized at once, he and all his family.

Acts 18:8

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.

Acts 19:4

And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.

Acts 19:5

On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.

Acts 22:16

And now why do you wait? Rise and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on his name.’

The point of doing this is to show you what is really happening in Scripture, in the book of Acts, after Jesus ascended and the Holy Spirit came to the Apostles. They weren’t just doing things and stuff and whatever they wanted.

There was a plan. There was a purpose. There was a definite goal and, more importantly,  the means to get there. The point of reading all that about baptism was to show that, even in the very beginning, the Apostles were building the Divine Service.

The future may not be set in stone for events to take place between us and our neighbors, but the future is definitely rock solid when it comes to salvation and the Church of Jesus. When we seek the Church or wonder where the Church should go next, there is never a question. The Church goes into the future, unchanged.

So, the Holy Spirit is causing the Apostles to remember, teach, and keep the Word of Jesus in this book of the Acts of the Apostles. What is it that they are remembering, teaching, and keeping?

Is it “believe on the Lord Jesus and you will be saved”? Is it “bless Israel and I will bless you”? Is it “be the hearts and hands of Jesus”?

No. What they are remembering, and now us today, is what it means to be a Christian. We are remembering, with the Apostles, what it means to have our life “hid in Christ”. With the Holy Ghost, we hang on every word of Jesus, but most especially we circle the wagons around the places where He promises forgiveness and salvation.

For the Apostles were not just preaching baptism neither were they simply doing what they could to build the Church. They were preaching Christ Crucified for sinners and when that preaching of that unrestricted Gospel sounds upon the ears, faith awakens and is immediately desirous of God’s Holy Spirit.

Found only in Christ, the forgiven sinner seeks to become a part of Jesus and so gain the eternal favor and blessing that only the Son of God has. This of course, being only found in baptism.

Thus, forgiveness and salvation, according to the preaching of the Apostles, is not just found in Jesus, but in the Crucified Jesus. And there is a grave difference. If we just have an Easter and Ascension Jesus, we can forget about that nasty suffering and crucifixion bit and move on to “better” things.

But there is no forgiveness, no salvation with that sort of Jesus. The world needs an Easter-Jesus with scars. Sinners need an Ascended Jesus with tattoos on His wrists, feet, head, and side. The Law demands suffering and death for transgressors and a suffering Jesus went to the cross.

Your dear heavenly Father has given you His Son to take your place. He has given you His Spirit, Who keeps His created Church in unity. He has given to His Church the Means of the Spirit whereby you receive life, light, and forgiveness, as you are united into the Body of Jesus.

This is what the Holy Spirit is doing, even today. This is what we are remembering and believing, thanks to Him, today, expressed in this poem:

[For] Today the Spirit of God who brooded over the waters of a lightless creation

Swoops down with tongues of fire to kindle faith in the re-creating work of Christ.

Today the Spirit of God who made the tower-builders into foolish babblers

Unites believers in the univocal language of the church-building grace of Christ.

Today the Spirit of God who came mightily upon the deliverers of Israel

Falls upon the apostles to proclaim the deliverance from sin we enjoy in Christ.

Today the Spirit of God who endowed with wisdom the builders of the tabernacle

Imparts the saving wisdom of the Word made flesh who tabernacled among us.

Today the Spirit who gave the law to Israel on two tablets of stone

Gives hearts of flesh for hearts of stone in the proclamation of the Good News.

Today the Spirit whom unfaithful David prayed the Lord would not take from him

Pours himself into sinners that they might sing of the faithful love of their Husband.

Today is Pentecost, the fiftieth day after the Passover resurrection of our Lord

When we are made holy by the holy-ing Spirit of the Christ who gives us the Father.

Today is Pentecost.

Let us rejoice and be glad in it. – Chad Bird