Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Who speaks to you today saying:
“And behold, there
arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the
waves; but he was asleep.”
God causes this Gospel to be heard and believed by all in
order that they may hear of the “little faith” of His chosen Apostles. The same
men who are, when listed, grouped with the Prophets of old, as in Ephesians
2:20, “You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”.
And yet, these Saints of saints, chosen, sent, given the
mysteries of the Kingdom, are of little faith. Do we belittle them? No. We
relate to them. We relate to them, not just because we don’t always find our
faith strong, but because they made it. Faith, no matter how small, makes it to
the end.
So it is, on this the 40th day after Christmass, the child
Jesus has been circumcised on the 8th day and now the Mother of God will be
purified, according to the Law of Moses.
St. Mary is now purified and recognized by the priest as
able to commune with everyone else, at the Temple once again. This 40th day is
marked by Simeon, and Anna, and the Nunc Dimittis.
And is this year, uniquely marked by this Sunday of Epiphany
where our Lord Jesus Christ calms the great storm in front of His chosen
Apostles.
With the church commemorating St. Mary, on the 14th having
to deal with St. Valentine, the 24th St. Matthias, and any number of other
feast days of the saints, we celebrate our saints.
In order to begin to understand sainthood, we should first
refresh our memories on what the chief Article of the Christian religion is.
Dr. Luther, in his Smalcald Articles, puts it this way:
“That Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, died
for our sins, and was raised again for our justification, Rom. 4:25.
And He alone is the Lamb of God which taketh away the
sins of the world, John 1:29; and God has laid upon Him the iniquities
of us all, Is. 53:6.
Likewise: All have sinned and are justified without merit
[ freely, and without their own works or merits] by His grace,
through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, in His blood,
Rom. 3:23f
Now, since it is necessary to believe this, and it cannot be
otherwise acquired or apprehended by any work, law, or merit, it is clear and
certain that this faith alone justifies us, as St. Paul says, Rom. 3:28: For
we conclude that a man is justified by faith, without the deeds of the
Law. Likewise 3:26: That He might be just, and the Justifier of
him which believes in Christ.
Of this article [of Justification] nothing can be yielded or
surrendered [nor can anything be granted or permitted contrary to the same],
even though heaven and earth, and whatever will not abide, should sink to ruin.
.. there is no other name under heaven, given among men whereby we
must be saved, says St. Peter, Acts 4:12. And with His stripes we are
healed, Is. 53:5. And upon this article all things depend which we teach
and practice in opposition to the Pope, the devil, and the [whole] world. Therefore, we must be sure concerning this doctrine, and not doubt; for
otherwise all is lost, and the Pope and devil and all things gain the victory
and suit over us.” (SA II:1:1-5)
This, the Chief article of Justification by grace alone, for
Christ’s sake alone, through Faith alone, is not common knowledge, neither can
you ask the wind and the waves about it. By how much of their own strength and
natural knowledge, being experts on the sea, did the Apostles get through this
storm?
It had to be revealed to them. And what was revealed? That
the storm was the way. The storm was threatening to take the lives of all those
aboard the USS Jesus and was offering no mercy. There was no discussion. There
was no trial. There was no debate.
And yet, we have the saints in constant discussion with each
other and with God. Public discussion. We have St. Mary, at the Wedding of
Cana, saying, “Do whatever He says” John 2:5. Whatever He should say to
you, make it so. Whatever He says.
The storm won’t talk to us, maybe its Creator will.
And the Saints claim, preach, teach, and believe unto death
that God gave them the thoughts and the words to write Holy Scripture. What is
it that St. Matthew reveals to us today? Jesus speaks. Jesus reveals the
Gospel. The Gospel hidden in the storm of sin, death, and the devil.
What is hidden there? St Mark records it for us: “SILENCE!”
(Mk 4:39). Silence to the wind and waves promising death and destruction, but
also “silence” to the Saints believing the words of the storm and preaching
that: “We are perishing!” (Mt 8:25)
And what is revealed to St. Jonah in the whale? “For you
cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows passed over me…yet you brought up my life from
the pit, O Lord my God” (Jonah 2:3, 6).
Jesus has come to speak. He has come to speak in the face of
deaf and dumb idols. He has come to speak in the face of hypocrites. He has
come to speak in the face of despair, despair that leads to unbelief. There is
no question that our own false god is power. When we see power in front of us
that is greater than ourselves, we quell, we tremble, we worship and beg for
mercy.
Yet, Jesus has command over that power. He is given it, by
His Father and our Father, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me” (Matt 28:18). And He exercises it over His enemies. Against
sin, He pits His righteousness and innocence on the cross. Against the devil,
He pits His obedience and submission to the Father, even unto death on a cross.
And against death, He pits His own death.
Death stays dead. Jesus lives forevermore. In His waking
from sleep, He stills despair. In His waking from the tomb, He defeats death,
never to die again. This He reveals to His chosen men to preach and to teach to
us. Not so that they too might find a giant fish or a capsizing boat in the
middle of a tsunami. But that they, and we, find His Word more certain than
them and more certain, even, than His miracles.
The Apostles and Prophets convey to us the Word and the Word
says, “Justified by grace, for Christ’s sake, through faith alone”. These words
still the storm and reveal the Gospel to us, the free forgiveness of sins,
offered only in Christ’s Gospel.
For this “Verbal Inspiration” from the Holy Spirit,
“Our Confession approves [a threefold honor] to the
saints...The first is thanksgiving. For we ought to give thanks to God because
He has shown examples of mercy; because He has shown that He wishes to save
men; because He has given teachers or other gifts to the Church. And these
gifts, as they are the greatest, should be amplified, and the saints themselves
should be praised, who have faithfully used these gifts, just as Christ praises
faithful business-men (Matt. 25:21, 23).
The second [approval] is the strengthening of our faith;
when we see the denial forgiven Peter, (or the small faith forgiven the
apostles in the boat) we also are encouraged to believe the more that grace truly superabounds over sin, Rom. 5:20.
[Finally,] The third honor is the imitation, first, of
faith, then of the other virtues, which everyone should imitate according to
his calling.” (Ap XXI:4-6)
If we only invoke their names and try to have them hear our
prayers, then we have no Jesus in the boat. He is removed. If St. Peter wanted
to, he could have stilled that storm. Not. If we remove Jesus, we remove
Justification. If we remove Justification, we no longer have the Church of our
Lord, but a capsized ship for all eternity.
In Jesus alone is Justification and therefore
Sanctification, or the making of saints to the Lord. As 1 Corinthians 1:30
says, “And because of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom
from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption”.
And our sanctification, our beatification, our “being made
saints”, by His Blood, is the whole point and goal of God’s most holy work of
Redemption. 1 Thessalonians 4:3 reveals, “this is the will of God, your
sanctification”.
Jesus steps down from heaven to make saints. Jonah was going
to preach and hear the Gospel, no matter what. No fish, no wind, and no waves
are going to prevent the Saints of Christ from believing His Word and receiving
eternal life from it. Not the 1000s in Nineveh, not the 12 in the boat, not the
billions and billions from all time and places, and not you.
“Silence”, Jesus says to you. You are a saint. Though you
retain your sin for a little while, it is not your works that make or break
your sainthood. It is His. If you are loved by God, you are a saint. If you are
called and chosen to believe His Holy Gospel, you are a saint.
If Christ has sanctified you, given you faith, qualified
you, you are a saint. Jesus has come to do that work, accomplish that work, and
perfect that work such that there can be no doubt from His Words that He has
sanctified you.
From the epistle to the Hebrews: “by that will we have
been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all”
(Heb 10:10) and “Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to
sanctify the people through his own blood” (Heb 13:12).
Thus we take our saints and our sainthood seriously. Body
and Blood, you are sainted in Christ.
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