The Rite Church [Ultimate Sunday]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 65:17-25

• 1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

• St. Matthew 25:1-13

 

Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come; from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

                  

Who speaks to you this Ultimate Sunday saying,

“The kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet the bridegroom.”

 

Thus far from our Gospel reading, written for us to hear of how Jesus will be victorious over sin, death, and the devil and that He will accomplish that victory through His Church. He has purchased and won the visible means to locate His Church, for us, so that we may be bold to assert that we have God’s own truth and are right to hold onto this faith He gives to us.

 

The fourth and final phase of our spiritual and physical war, will bring the final clash. There can be no other eventuality than the full and absolute defeat of Satan and his cronies. "The devil who seduced them was cast into the sea of fire and brimstone”, says Revelation 20, “where the beast and the false prophet were, there to be tormented day and night forever and ever" (Rev. 20:10). And heard in St. Matthew 25, "Depart from Me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (v.41).

 

Afterwards, all war will cease, and God will reign alone in peace. And we will never again have to worry about whether or not we will make it to the Last Day properly or if the devil has infiltrated our church and if we should stay or go.

 

But that is not this day, though there is plenty of time left for Jesus to arrive today, it is not this day so far. This day, we are faced with 10 virgins, a wedding, and a bridegroom. And the problem we have with them is that we cannot see them. We cannot interact with them. We cannot interrogate them; ask them "why?" They are just characters and events in a story.

 

And yet, the questions still come: how can the same group of virgins not be monolithic, as in how can they not all think and believe the same? Also, how can a marriage feast have a door that works for some but not others? And if the Bridegroom is so important and central, where is the Bride?

 

It’s importance is given by Who tells us and why He tells us. Since Jesus is taking the time, just before His crucifixion to tell us about this scene, we must carefully think about it. And since we have come to believe that the war in heaven and earth is taking place in the Church, we should understand what the Church is.

 

What she is not, is some sort of good luck charm. As in you sign up for it once, and you’re good for life. As in, you graduate, and there’s now just maintaining your certificate. As in, we went through all the motions, so now we can set it and forget it. 

 

This is the faith of the 5 foolish virgins. They had the lamp, the symbol of participation and the cracker and juice box, what else did they need? They did not need vigilance, or care, or involvement. They simply needed the laminated card that proved “they belong”.

 

But the card only produces a locked door. All that effort and the return is zero! Being a virgin is no small thing. I’m sure they are raised from their youth to such a vocation and virtue. Nothing like a lifetime of effort come to nothing. 

 

Repent! The devil has set himself up in the Church. We said that last time. So of course, there is going to be a wrong way to “do church”. Part of it is this quote from a famous actress:

“I like believing. I believe in all of these Irish myths, like leprechauns. Not the pot of gold, not the Lucky Charms leprechauns. But maybe was there something in the traditional sense? I believe that this stuff came from somewhere other than peoples’ imaginations.” (Megan Fox, allegedly)

 

In our sin, belief becomes something intriguing, but not something worthwhile or physical. We think that, at first it’s great, but we bore of it. Then we think there may be something ancient, something old behind it, so we seek out its real meaning and real purpose, to which the devil cackles in delight. And in this secret knowledge, we become puffed up and boastful.

 

Return to the source! What is the Call, what is the command? “Here is the Bridegroom! Come out and meet Him!” Your command is not to find secret knowledge, to fill your lamp, or to find the devil, wherever he is in Church. Your command is to hear the call. Your command is to come and meet Him. Your command is to believe.

 

This is the heart of the matter when it comes to answering the question “what is the Church”, especially when we must be weary of the devil’s doctrine. The Church is not some outward membership or association with a certain group or man. It is the sum total of the Communion of saints, as our Creed teaches. 

 

To find the true Church, you need to find three things:

Believers, something for them to believe in, and Jesus giving that thing to believe in. So, Jesus preaches and we hear and believe what He says. You gotta have the Good Shepherd, His voice, and the people hearing and believing. 

 

The Church is not a building, not an organization. It is the sum of all those believing in Jesus, living and dead, earth and heaven.

But, there’s a problem: you can’t see belief, you can’t see faith. Some say the visible element of unity for the Church is a pope or some other figurehead in front, like a man. Others say you find the Church where you find the fruit of faith, the good works. 

 

The problem with these things is you end up with 10 virgins. You end up with things anyone can accomplish. You end up with wishful thinking and good luck charms. Any religious organization can put a man in front and say he was called by God. Any gathering of the super-spiritual can do charity work and call it heavenly holiness. “knowledge” puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor 8:1)

 

For Christians, Lutherans, you find the Church where you find the tools that the Holy Spirit uses to create the Church. Finding the Church is finding the Holy Spirit is finding the Word and Sacraments. In other words: the Gospel purely preached and the Sacraments ritely administered.

 

You can’t see faith, but you can see the Holy Instruments. Of course, Jesus knows this and of course He would make provisions for us to be able to endure to the end. He does not leave us orphans or comfortless, but houses us, cleans us, and nourishes us. 

 

That is, just as our salvation is hidden in His wounds, so is His Bride, the Church, hidden in plain sight in His Gospel and Sacraments. That is our division between our virgins and that is our division our Lord gives to us to mark out His true Church, related to the false church: 

 

Faith alone.

 

Hear what Jesus has to say about the devil’s church, from Proverbs 9:

“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing.

She sits at the door of her house; she takes a seat on the highest places of the town,

calling to those who pass by, who are going straight on their way,

’Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!’ And to him who lacks sense she says,

‘Stolen water is sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.’

But he does not know that the dead are there, that her guests are in the depths of Sheol” (v. 13-18).

 

Folly is the devil’s church, because all he does is ape and mimic what Christ has purchased and won, already. And what is purchased and won already, needs no work or to be left to luck, but faith. Hearing and believing. 

 

But the devil unwittingly reveals the true Church on earth. For, what he goes after is what God is actually doing. He goes after the water, the bread, and the wine. That must mean they are important, but we don’t have to take his word for it.

 

God already speaks in terms of Word and Sacrament being the saving medicine needed to keep us in the faith. The Gospel shows this very clearly today: “The Bridegroom is here. Come to meet Him!”

 

So we run to the Call of Christ, not because it’s nice, but because the world is falling apart. We run to the Bridegroom’s marriage feast, not because we prefer it, but because our food is fragile and perishes. We run to the Promise made, “He is here”, because there is none other on earth Who could fight for us on that Last Day and every day till then.

 

The Light of Church [Penultimate Sunday]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Daniel 7:9-14

• 2 Peter 3:3-14

• St. Matthew 24:31-46

 

Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come; from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

                  

Who speaks to you this Penultimate Sunday saying,

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me”

 

What we take from these cryptic words of Jesus today is that He hides Himself. He hides Himself in the good works that He gives to His faithful Christians. these Good Works are proof of salvation, fruit, not the means of salvation, as Jesus said, “As you have done so, you have done to me”.

 

What this points us to is not just the problem of sin, but now a true dilemma and fight. If the Lord is in secret, then how will we know Who is the real Christ? Can anyone claim the title by deeds, by divine right, by flippant whim? 

 

God chose me! Prove it. I know in my heart, so there.

 

Jesus tells us ahead of time He is hidden from sinful eyes, not to bring confusion, but so that we do not look for Him as He once was, any longer. Once He shows up, He shows up, and every knee will bow. This is our comfort today and our peace for the rest of our lives, which swim in nothing but chaos and suffering.

 

For, it is not enough that there is war in heaven. It is not enough that the devil has been cast down among us, basically giving us a taste of hell on earth. No, he has also entered the hallowed halls of God’s own house, the Church. Where God builds His Church, the devil erects his chapel. 

 

One of the lessons from today’s Gospel, which the Lord wants us to hear, is that division starts within. Jesus will be coming to judge all people, yes, but He will start in the church, as He says in 1 Peter, “For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?” (4:17)

 

The devil is not just in the details, he is in the Church. Which makes sense. We see him in heaven’s courts at the beginning of the book of Job. We see him arguing over the body of Moses, in the letter from St. Jude. What we don’t hear about is his actions in the courts of kings and presidents or his arguing over unbelievers’ bodies.

 

We don’t hear about that, because he thinks they are already his, for they fall under his jurisdiction. He already has their hearts. It is the hearts of the faithful that he truly wants and he will risk everything to get them, including trying to sneak into the Son of God’s wedding feast, as we heard the 20th Sunday after Trinity (St. Matt 22)

 

The war continues in all its fury, because satan has been cast down. He could not get to God, even through Jesus. The next closest are God’s children and those who obey His commandments. It is with them that the war goes on, now. And they are in Church.

 

And there is nothing beneath him. If you seeing your beloved, yet dead grandmother will pull you away from the faith, he will impersonate her as an apparition. If you being a part of a defeated or victorious political party will shift your focus off Jesus, then he will encourage you there. And it will only worsen as Jesus approaches His return.

 

The devil resorts to any means necessary. He doesn’t care about logic or reason or being consistent. He utilizes all earthly services of men, civil and religious organizations become his attack dogs. He has encroached upon every aspect of the lives of men.

 

How can he do this? He employs his favorite disguise: 2 Corinthians 11 says, “for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light” (v.14). He preaches, from his own pulpit, that which only appears right. He tempts us by what on the surface feels right and good, only to the world’s standards. 

 

He promises pleasure and fulfillment in many ways that the world honors but that set aside God’s Word and will. He denies the need for suffering and struggle in Christ’s church.  He casts doubt on God’s love for us.

 

Eve received the full brunt of such a sermon and she came to the same conclusion, “that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate” (Gen 3:6). 

 

Does God not want His children to grow up? Does He not want them to find wisdom and knowledge? If there is vengeance or wrongs to be righted, that must be His cause. Surely, He does not deny pleasures and delights, does not God create them? Even the Psalms say, “at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (ps 16:11)

 

Repent! When you look at the world around you, and see this war, even in your own soul, you sink, like St. Peter on the water. Like Eve, you begin to see a new path. A path of self-growth and independence. Like Adam, you go along to get along, sacrificing truth for a worked for and earned righteousness.

 

The angel of light gives comfort, if you want comfort or not. He gives hard work, if you want hard work or not. Truly he works in mysterious ways. He gives pleasures beyond your wildest imagination, if you just give in. Shave off pieces of your soul, you have plenty. And you know in your heart that it just feels right.

 

The battle is met in Church and thank God it is. Not because church is the place we love the most for friends, family, or direct oversight as to where and how we worship. No. Not you. Not because of the soldiers. 

 

How is battle joined? Battle is joined when the captains take the field and order the march. We know the devil is on his loathsome horse. But Who is to take the other side of the field? 

 

Joshua had that same question, as he approached the mighty and impenetrable Jericho. 

Chapter 5 states, “…he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing before him with his drawn sword in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?” And the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so” (v.13-15).

 

Then He gave command on how Jericho was to be defeated, but first was His declaration. Almost as if He said, “I am not for you or against you, because I am for myself”. Yes, because God’s Name is holy in itself. He doesn’t need us and our prayers to accomplish His eternal tasks. First was the holiness, a repeated from in front of Moses. 

 

He does not need us, yet He brings us with, just as He brought Joshua with, past the walls of Jericho as they crumbled. 

 

Why is the battle met in Church and not outside or on the field of Armageddon? Because the Lord says, “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you” (Ex 20:24). And His Name is remembered here, and His death is proclaimed here. He has shown up. He has taken the field.

 

So take off your sandals. right now. Take off your sandals of sin. Take off your sandals of doubt. Take off your sandals of works. The Lord is going to do an amazing thing and you will only get in the way. And what is He doing? Psalm 118, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes” (v 22-23). That is the suffering, death, and resurrection of God and man in Jesus.

 

The devil promises pleasure and fulfillment, but Christ suffers. The angel of light denies the need for suffering and struggle, but Jesus denies the soft couch for the cross. The Old Adam squirms at the sight of blood and declares an unloving God, but Jesus declares forgiveness by His Blood: death and resurrection.

 

When the Lord, our Great Captain Jesus, fights for us, His weapon is forgiveness. Not “its ok” or “there there, don’t worry about it”, but “Father forgive them”. For what? For rebellion. For clinging to the angel of light, instead of the cross of Christ.

 

And the cross is carried at Jesus’s Word and Sacrament. There, we run into the God-man, Himself. For it is in His Word that He reveals to us what He gave to His Apostles and Prophets to write and teach that He is God’s Christ, the Only-Begotten. And it is in His Sacraments, where He uncovers the Word made flesh, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins.

 

This Gospel is our path through the midst of the battlefield. At the words and Promises of Jesus, “a thousand fall to your right and ten thousand to your left” (Ps 91:7). The battle is won when God’s Word and sacrament make us holy, not our efforts. When sin is called sin and the free justification of sinners is publicly declared, for Christ’s sake alone.

 

The Lord Who is hidden reveals Himself through means, and this the devil cannot stand. There is no hidden truth, no archive under the vatican, and no secret return. “Every day I was with you in the Temple courts”, Jesus said (Mk 14:49). That is, everyday He is with us in His Temple, His Body, His Church. “And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph 1:22-23).

 

As St. Peter said in our Epistle for today, we are to be found without spot or blemish and at peace (2 Pet 3:14). The only man without spot or blemish is the Paschal Lamb of God, Who takes away the sin of the world. The only Peace comes from the promise of Peace, made by Jesus. The sheep know the voice of the Good Shepherd because He preaches Himself: His Gospel and His sacraments according to it. 

 

Faith alone separates the sheep from the goats. We have merely to wait. “The Lord will fight for you”, says Exodus 14:14, “and you have only to be silent”. 

He gave us the signal: In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

 

Amen.

 

Christ is here [Trinity 25]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Exodus 32:1-20

• 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

• St. Matthew 24:15-28

 

Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come; from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

                  

Who speaks to you in today’s Gospel saying:

“So, if they say to you, ‘Look, he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.”

 

 In the madness of sin, some super-believers will use this verse to prove that God is not on earth and therefore His Sacraments do not save, even though it seems He promises they do. Yet, in that false statement of belief, they prove the devil is here, twisting Scripture as he pleases. This then, in turn, proves to the faithful that God is here as well, in His Word, as He promised.

 

For as much as I like to say any ruler or government is going to be oppressive. For as much as I enjoy a good, Acts 5:29 hoodie that screams, “Obey God, defy tyrants”. For as much as I would love to fly a 6th Louisiana Infantry flag of the Orleans Rifles which declares, “Let us alone, Trust in God”. 

Regardless, the Lord gives us lesser authorities.

 

Now Jesus is the true authority, to be sure, but there will also always be earthly governments until He returns. And taxes, lest we forget, no matter how much we try and rage against the machine. 

 

Last week, we discovered that there is war in heaven. This week, we focus on its primary theater: earth. For the devil has been cast down. Where to? Earth. There is no other place except the realm God has created. All of His creations live together whether we can see each other or not, and whether we like it or not. 

 

Thus, in mercy, the Lord allows His authority on earth to be used to keep His peace and allow His people to worship Him. Earthly authorities have the duty, bare minimum, to enforce godly peace. Not their own. Not their constituents’. God’s peace.

 

This means punishing the wicked and promoting God’s own virtue. 

A step outside that divine jurisdiction is a step outside their vocation. As in, they no longer operate as the Lord’s “earthly swords”. Thus, in order to keep a semblance of peace on earth, we will have kings.

 

We may call them presidents, but a consolidation of power is a consolidation of power.

Listen to Psalm 21: “O Lord, in your strength the king rejoices, and in your salvation how greatly he exults! You have given him his heart's desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. 

For you meet him with rich blessings; you set a crown of fine gold upon his head.

He asked life of you; you gave it to him, length of days forever and ever.” (v. 1-4)

 

Sounds like “Long live the king” and “God save the king”, right? Now we know where that came from. What else does it mean that the devil is cast down? It means that we live in the realm where sin, death, and the devil are on a rampage.

 

So what is “God’s Peace” that it can be gotten by a human sword? It is the peace we have been striving for. The peace that is love. The peace that is “random acts of kindness and reckless acts of beauty”. The peace that is “can’t we all just get along?” Struggle as we might, we never get there. So is God’s sword dull?

 

Repent. Whenever we think of God’s peace, we always think in terms of a zero-sum Game. That is that there are winners and losers and the gain from the winners equals the loss of the losers. And of course, we are always on the winning side. Thus, we treat God as if He were an earthly king: to be placated, to be appeased, to be obeyed no matter what.

 

Yet, out of the mouth of Christ comes a two-edged sword, as He says Revelation 1:16. This is His Law, His earthly authorities. They may cut down enemies with it, in the name of faith, but if their measure is off, then the backswing also cuts them, because they are also not innocent.

 

And because it is impossible to tell who is saved and who is not, with this method, God swings the sword Himself. Indeed some of you may sing, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord: He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword:”. But have you?

 

Have you seen or do you know Who it is that the Lord pierces with His terrible swift sword?

For these things took place that the Scripture might be fulfilled: “Not one of his bones will be broken.” And again another Scripture says, “They will look on him whom they have pierced” (St. John 19:36-37)

 

God causes His Earthly sword to swing against His Only-begotten. God makes the earth sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic against Jesus. And there is only one end to that: His death. And by rising again, He proves that the kingdoms of earth are nothing. That, though He gives earthly authority, their only purpose, their only end goal, is to get us to Jesus.

 

“Everybody wants to go to heaven, but no one wants to die”, the saying goes. The devil has obtained very definite power over the world. He has brought strife upon the face of the earth on the day when he led Eve into sin, and Adam through her agency. Evil then made a triumphal entry and Satan became "the Prince of this World." 

 

His power, maybe, was described by Christ in the parable of the strong man overcome by one stronger (Lk 11:22). Over all mankind Satan extended his sway. Paganism with its idolatry, its cruelty, lust, and the overwhelming majority of vote for the murder of babies, is his domain. 

 

Once, again, this “strong and stronger man” may sound like it describes satan, but it describes Christ. Jesus holds His creation securely. And though it is gripped by suffering, He suffers as well. And in that suffering, Jesus also becomes the stronger man. On Golgotha they clashed, and Satan lost. Christ had foretold it before His passion: "Now has judgment come upon the world; now the prince of this world is cast out" (John 12:31). The second phase of this war ends with the defeat of the devil.

 

Defeat through defeat. Not even God gets out of the stupendous combat unscathed, and it is on purpose. In His suffering and dying on the cross, suffering and dying find their fulfillment in God Almighty. Maybe you never thought of suffering as a prophesy, but there it is.

 

Jesus has engaged both the spiritual and physical battle for us. We sing of Him as our strong Captain, our Right Arm of the Lord Who fights valiantly and holds the field forever. And the fields are the fields of earth, now, and forever in the New Earth.

 

Dear Christians, Jesus does not win and then retreat to His quarters for a spot of tea. He wins and remains. What does “I am with you to the end of the age” mean, except that He continues to dwell with us on earth? He sets His forward position in His Church. Here are the front lines.

 

Why? Because it is here you must wrestle with the Word of God made flesh. You do not argue against a ghost, but against a person: God with flesh and bones, coming to commune with His people. It is only in regards to the Last Day, can you say there is no Christ here, because He will come then in all His glory.

 

But until the Last Day, until the Last Battle is fought, Christ remains. He remains unshaken. He remains unmoved. He remains unchanged. All in order that we be medivac’d out. His battle, His victory is for us. So that, though we stand on the front lines, we remain on hospice in His Church, IV’d to His Body and Blood, awaiting His Return.

 

Jesus stays with us. We only get hints through creation, such as kings and authority. But they are shadows, passing away with the night. For it is the morning breaking in the east and the distant triumph song begins to float to weary arms and faint hearts. Hark! A thrilling voice is sounding: Christ is near we hear it say. 

 

He follows you [Trinity 24]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE 

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Isaiah 51:9-16

• Colossians 1:9-14

• St. Matthew 9:18-26

Grace to you and peace from Him Who is and Who was and Who is to come; from Jesus Christ the faithful Witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
                  
Who speaks to you in today’s Gospel saying:

“Jesus rose and followed him, with his disciples”

 
God’s Word to us today, and He causes it to be written in order that we understand His atoning sacrifice. He will be the one to ransom, sacrifice, and work sanctification. And when He does, it will be a complete work, such that anyone saying there’s more to do, does the work of the anti-christ. Believing this, we take this faith to our lives, living for God and neighbor in peace and comfort, not doubt or distress.
 
Our Gospel reading opens with a ruler coming to kneel at Jesus's feet. Why? Because Jesus is the true ruler and, just as the Magi knelt at infant Jesus's feet, so too does all proper authority in heaven and on earth bow before Christ. Which then makes the next verse that much more uncomfortable, where Jesus is being led by an inferior ruler.
 
An inferior ruler to lead to an inferior world. One that is ruled by death. “follow me Jesus to my dead daughter”. Imagine Genesis being written that way. Here, Adam and Eve, says God. Inherit this dying trash world. Be fruitful and multiply to futility and have dominion over decay. 
 
Not to increase depression and despair, but to prove the reality that you are all on your way to the last day. For what this ruler confesses is what we hear in Revelation 12: “and there was war in heaven”. Jesus steps down from heaven and asks for the situation report. “My daughter has just died”, Jesus. That’s the situation.
 
Everything that God made was very good (Gen. 1:31). This included all His angels (Job 38:7). In a cosmic tragedy Scripture does not detail, some angels rebelled against the loving gifts of the Holy Trinity. Satan wanted to be worshiped (Matt. 4:9; 1 Tim. 3:6). Other angels fell with him (Rev. 12:7, 9). Satan in Hebrew, means “adversary.”  Devil in Greek, means “Accuser” or “slanderer.” 
 
Also known as the demon or Beelzebub or the prince, the ruler of this world. Satan, the devil, is the great tempter (Matt. 4:1-13; 1 Thess. 3:5; Luke 23:31-32; 1 Pet. 5:8-9) and he has started war in the spiritual realm. A war that oozes out and finds footing in all our battles and wars on earth. 
 
Maybe we hear satan’s plight described by Isaiah:
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!
For you have said in your heart: ‘I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will also sit on the mount of the congregation On the farthest sides of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds, I will be like the Most High.’
Yet you shall be brought down to Sheol, To the lowest depths of the Pit.” (v12-15)
 
Not only external war, armies and guns, but also spiritual war. In our sin, we don’t take it seriously. We pay respects, lip service, but that's it. “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; We sang a dirge, and you did not wail” (Mt 11:17). As in, we did all the right things, and said all the right words, but it wasn’t enough? That’s not fair. How do you fight something you cannot see?
 
Just as He followed the ruler in today’s Gospel, Jesus follows the ruler of this world: satan. Jesus does not sit idle on the king’s throne, as earthly rulers usually do during a war. for though Isaiah seems to be talking about satan’s plight, he is prophesying the Way of the Messiah.
 
Jesus is the true Morning Star as He names Himself in Revelation 22:16. Where the father of lies, lies, Jesus speaks truth. Both did fall. The devil was banished, the Son of Man stepped down into His own, rational body and soul, yet still a cut down from where they were.
 
Weakened nations. You could say that the Good and Holy Law of God has weakened nations, by demanding and commanding a righteousness unable to be achieved. Or even before that, by saying there is a limit to what humanity can do. That there is a right and a wrong. This infuriates humanists, naturalists, and relativists who just want their own truth. So divisive, Jesus!
 
Jesus said in His heart and to His disciples, I will ascend to heaven, above the heights of the clouds. In St. John 20:17, “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” He says He will ascend, but first a second descent is made.
 
First to earth, then He was brought down to Sheol, to the lowest depths of the pit. There, to be imprisoned by our sins, not His own. But showing that that prison cannot hold Him, He did not go to serve time, but to proclaim victory. 
 
The point is, the deceiver deceives, even so far as to pretend to be the Christ. This is why we have been warned of the Anti-Christ. On the coat-tails of the true God-Man, Jesus Christ, comes the Tempter with power, to deceive, if possible, even the Elect.
 
So we have a copy-cat at hand. What are we to do? 
Jesus says, “Let your loins be girded about, and your lamps burning;” (St. Luke 12:35). That is, the work is finished, its time to go. That’s the difference, if you caught it. Jesus has accomplished all He came to do. The devil will still say there is more to be done.
 
Jesus says, the last hour is now on its way. Not the last hour to get things done, but the last hour when all things are done and its time to go! The devil says you have lots of time to get your stuff together. Jesus says, “You are my people”, in our Old Testament reading. You are my people now. The devil says, not quite yet.
 
Jesus says, “I will follow you”. HE is going to follow US. I don’t think you realize yet how amazing that is. There is no room for Him waiting for us. There is no time for turning back. Be ready, for today the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing, in Word and Sacrament. 
 
That Father has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. You are pre-approved, as they say. Not for anything you did, but because the King follows you. He follows you to your sin. He follows you to confession. He follows you to your grave. 
 
Not to end you, but to renew. “And He who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’…‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true’” (Rev 21:5).
Jesus is not following us to wait for us to renew ourselves. He makes us new. A new creation. A new heart. A new Spirit.
 
The new is not like the old. We are familiar with the old, and this is the Way Christ first comes to us: in the flesh, in suffering, in dying. His atonement on the cross is Him following us, because the wages of sin is death. He purchases faith, the forgiveness of sins, and eternal life there.
 
But what is the new? Isaiah says, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (43:19). And we do not perceive it because of sin. But when sin is taken away, when sin is paid for, what do we perceive?
 
Easter. The Resurrection of Jesus is the completion of making all things new. That is that now bodies can rise from the dead. Now, the Right Spirit within us does not just “change lives” or “realign values”, but resurrects. 
 
The faithful, inferior ruler kneels in faith. Faith that the Ruler’s Right Arm fights for us in spiritual and physical ways. Not only can He forgive sins and make a sinner righteous, but He can also reverse what spiritual warfare does to us. He can make alive what once was dead.
 
Age, disease, dying. These are all things we usually don’t associate with our spiritual battles, because they are fights we can’t win, no matter how many cruciferous vegetables we ingest. This is our clue that something is wrong in the spiritual realm. The next is when we find ourselves siding with the ruler of this world. Where does that come from? Why does it keep coming back?
 
That is Original Sin. For it, Jesus is our Original Savior. Our only Savior. There is no substitute for Him or His work and that is a completed work. Done. For you. You do not deliver yourself, you have been delivered. You do not strengthen yourself, you have been strengthened. You do not raise yourself from the dead, will yourself to be born again, or decide to follow Jesus.
 
He follows you. He makes you alive in Him. He finishes His work, then bids you wait. Wait for Him, not in silence, solitude, or uncertainty, but in His accomplished work. Wait in His Church, His Bride. Wait in the forgiveness of sins, proclaimed to you today. Be bathed and eat and drink the Fountain of True Life Who says, “Take heart. Your faith has saved you.”
 
 

Lutheran is Christian [Reformation Vespers]

TEXT ONLY <==> NO AUDIO

READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:

• Revelation 14:6-7

• Romans 3:19-28

• St. Matthew 11:12-19

 

Grace, Mercy, and Peace are secure for you from God our Father, through our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus the Crucified of God!

 

Who speaks to us, even this evening, as we hear from the epistle to the Romans:

“It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

 

In this, our Lord’s revelation to us, we do well to ponder the epistle to the Romans as it places God’s righteousness solely in His passing over of sins. That is, when you are tasked to find the Righteousness of God, you answer: in the forgiveness of sins.

 

In Jesus alone we find it and this is why we celebrate the Reformation. It was a recovery of the Gospel. No that it had gone away, but that the righteousness of men had taken over as the chief doctrine of the Church. That doctrine that said, the New Man in Christ is only attained through a vow of poverty, a vow of chastity, and obedience to the Vicar of Christ. 

 

They taught the Ten Commandments were righteousness for the normies and were bare minimum requirements for being a normal Christian. But now that the Gospel has come, they say, there is a higher righteousness, a set of Evangelical Counsels they called them, that are for those who desire to become perfect in God’s eyes.

 

The word “evangelical” means Gospel. So even then, the Gospel was horribly confused with the Law, just as it is today. Churches are still looking to vows and pledges and decisions to determine who is or who isn’t perfect, or saved. Protestants are just sloppy Roman Catholics.

 

In this vein, the Lutherans wanted to be known as Evangelicals, in order to usurp and reteach what the Gospel actually is. That is it not based on works, evangelical or otherwise, but solely on Christ, His person, word, and work. And that work, as Jesus has already told us this evening is the forgiveness of sins; the Good News that we are freed from the guilt, the punishment, and the power of sin, and are saved eternally because of Christ’s keeping the Law and His suffering and death for us. (LSCE p.100) Here alone does God offer the forgiveness of sins.

 

With this recovery, comes the need to be distinguished, not boasting, but separated out from those who wish to live by the Law. Hence, the name of our denomination: Lutheran.

 

However, as we hear of the sole Name of He Who Saves, let us ponder these words of Dr. Luther:

I ask that people make no reference to my name; let them call themselves Christians, not Lutherans. What is Luther? After all, the teaching is not mine. Neither was I crucified for anyone. St. Paul, in I Corinthians 3, would not allow the Christians to call themselves Pauline or Petrine but Christian. How then should I – poor stinking maggot-fodder than I am – come to have people call the children of Christ by my wretched name? Not so, my dear friends; let us abolish all party names and call ourselves Christian. (Luther’s Works, Vol. 45, p. 70)

 

So, mayhap it is that we are in the wrong, calling ourselves Lutheran. Even celebrating the Reformation was not done in the church until well after the 16th century. And yet we continue to confess, with our Lutheran Confessions, that nothing we do is new or novel in the church. 

 

Pastor Johann Gerhard attempts to explain it this way:

It is not we who call ourselves Lutherans. Rather, our adversaries call us that. We allow this to the extent that this title is an indication of the consensus that our churches have with the orthodox and catholic doctrine that Luther set forth from Holy Writ. Therefore we allow ourselves to be named after Luther, not as the inventor of a new faith but as the asserter of the old faith and the cleanser of the church from the stains of Papist dogmas. 

Consequently, we also do not reject the names “Christian” and “catholic,” nor do we render ourselves unworthy of it by the approval of any heretical dogma, as did the Arians, Nestorians, Eutychians, etc. Rather, we are called "Christians" from Christ, as the only Author and Teacher of our faith. We are called "catholics" from our consensus with the catholic faith. We are called "Lutherans" from Luther as the asserter and defender of that faith, but especially as the reformer whom God raised up. (Johann Gerhard, Theological Commonplace, XXV).

 

I’m not sure how that makes things better or at least it hasn’t worked and we are still called schismatics, heretics, and deserters. For better or worse, we are given labels throughout history to use. For one thing, they shorten explanations. Instead of saying “factory processed and baked milled oats shaped into torroidal miniatures”, I can just say “Cheerios” and bypass all that explaining.

 

Likewise, the term “lutheran”. It doesn’t describe a religion so much as it describes a sign post in history and a sign post on the church door. The Christians went this way. The Gospel is preached this way. 

 

But what about this or that interpretation? Already taught. What about this or that history? Already purged the heresy. What about this tradition? Cleansed in light of the Gospel. What about…? and the list goes on.

 

That title “Lutheran”, teaches just what exactly goes on within these four walls and suggests we may find the same in other buildings that claim that name, though we must still be on guard. But that is another point of the Reformation, that we are always reforming. We must always reform because we are always led astray. That is we must always seek out and find the pure Gospel.

 

And since the Gospel is an eternal Promise made by God, we can seek out and find that throughout His Word. We can adjust our reading glasses as we study and inwardly digest the Lord’s revelation to us of His Son and search the Scriptures to find Christ, instead of some corporate or religious ladder.

 

The Promise has been and always will be the Free Justification of Sinners for Christ’s sake. The Lord threatens with His wrath against sin and His righteousness opposing sinfulness. In our sin, even the Gospel becomes an angry place for God handling sinners. And that is not right.

 

St. Paul counts it all joy to have received the Gospel together with all those who converted to the faith. He says in Romans 15:13, “Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” 

“make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore”, says Psalm 16:11, equating pleasure with joy.

 

The Gospel is a comfort, not more burden on an already over-taxed conscience. The Gospel is peace, not more work that leads to disappointment and despair. The Gospel is Christ, Who has manifested apart from the Law, outside it. The Law’s sole purpose is to lead us to the Messiah. 

 

Thus, if we truly lived by the Law, we would not find more for us to do, but we would find Jesus doing everything on our behalf. That is, we would find the righteousness of God, given to us through faith alone, for Christ’s sake alone, for all who believe. 

This is most certainly Lutheran. And its even Biblical!