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READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Romans 8:1-39
- St. John 16:1-33
May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of
God and of Jesus our Lord. (2 Pet 1)
Who speaks to you this evening, from His letter to the
Romans, saying:
“No, in all these
things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
In all these things. What things? In all those who are
against us or say God is against us. In all charges brought against us. In all
worldly condemnation. In all feelings of separation, tribulation, distress,
persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, sword, and death.
Lest we make the mistake of assigning religious meaning to
irreligious things that others have conquered without the need of the cross, we
name them along with St. Paul. For it is into this trouble that Jesus sends the
Holy Ghost to comfort you.
As we ponder our final stanzas from “Dear Christians one and
all rejoice” this evening:
9 "Now to My Father I depart,
10 "What I on earth have
done and taught
From earth to heav'n ascending,
Guide all your life and
teaching;
And, heav'nly wisdom to impart,
So shall the kingdom's work be
wrought
The Holy Spirit sending;
And honored in your preaching.
In trouble He will comfort you
But watch lest
foes with base alloy
And teach you always to be true
The heav'nly treasure should
destroy;
And into truth shall guide you.
This final word I
leave you."
What are some things we can conquer without the cross of
Jesus? Any sort of personal change falls under this from weight loss, to making
better choices, to turning your life around. All of that can be and are done by
many who do not believe in Jesus. You do not need Jesus to cut sugar and
chemicals out of your food and you don’t need Jesus to steer you in the right
direction.
This is one of the arguments of the atheists. People don’t
need a sky-daddy, as they call Him, to be watching all the time to make sure
we’ve been good. They can just look within themselves. Morality can come from
humans, from the natural man, they assert. We can live just fine as if we had
no god.
The problem, I believe, comes when they have to begin to use
religious words to describe this “life without the cross”. Religious words such
as suffering, justice, and good. Why are those religious words? Because you
cannot use them without describing an antithesis. Meaning, when you use them,
you are suggesting there is a right and a wrong.
Is it right that I can go to the dentist to fix my teeth and
not have to rely and wait for God to fix them Himself? Sin and the works of man
need more than just the temporary alleviation of inconvenience. Suffering
implies a right and a wrong. It is wrong I am suffering. Who thinks they are
right in causing it?
This necessitates the need for a conqueror. A just and
upright King Who knows what is right and what is wrong, no matter how the mob
votes.
Dr. Luther says:
the “holy Christian people are externally recognized by the
holy possession of the sacred cross. They must endure every kind of misfortune
and persecution, all kinds of trials and evil from the devil, the world, and
the flesh (as the Lord’s Prayer indicates) by inward sadness, timidity, fear,
outward poverty, contempt, illness, and weakness, in order to become like their
head, Christ. And the only reason they must suffer is that they steadfastly
adhere to Christ and God’s word, enduring this for the sake of Christ” (AE
41:164-165)
Suffering and trouble are not produced by us “leaving our
comfort zones” or being on fire for Jesus. They come on their own. And there
are two kinds: the sin induced kind, meaning that which we expect when dealing
with sinners in our lives. And the other kind, because of our fear, love, and
trust in God.
For it is at the cross that Jesus departs to the Father and
ascends to heaven. His crucifixion is His whole purpose of being made man, to
suffer, die, and take away the sin of the world. In Jesus’s ascent to glory,
the Holy Spirit becomes the pastor and preacher.
Jesus ordains the Holy Ghost as pastor and preacher “to
prevent one from gaping toward heaven in search of Him, as the fluttering
spirits and enthusiasts do, and from divorcing Him from the spoken Word of the
ministry. One should know and learn that He will be in and with the Word
(preached and taught), and that it will guide us into all truth, in order that
we may believe it, use it as a weapon, be preserved by it against all the lies
and deceptions of the devil, and prevail in all trials and temptations….The
Holy Spirit wants this truth which He is to impress into our hearts to be so
firmly fixed that reason and all one’s own thoughts and feelings are relegated
to the background. He wants us to adhere solely to the Word and to regard it as
the only truth. And through this Word alone He governs the Christian Church to
the end” (AE 24:362).
This is the importance of the Bible. That we believe it is
what God chose to work in this world. To be a means of the Spirit and the only
norm and source of our teaching. And the Spirit is not a substitute for Jesus.
Jesus sends Him and He takes what Jesus has and hands it over to you.
That is why the Peace Jesus leaves and the comfort the
Spirit gives are both found in Word and Sacrament. The Word that reveals our
sin and Savior and the Sacraments which purge our sin and unite us to our
Savior. This is accomplished even in the midst of suffering. Maybe we should
say, especially in the midst of suffering.
It is through this preaching that God gives us the certainty
of salvation in the forgiveness of sins. The “foes with base alloy” preach and
teach of human actions, human feelings, and human understanding.
The preaching of the Kingdom of our Father Who art in heaven
gives belief and grace to believe His holy Word and lead godly lives now and in
eternity. Christ remains with His Church by sermon and sacrament, turning
sorrow into joy and condemnation into consolation. The words of the Holy Spirit
are the words of Jesus and they are life.
Jesus says “I have said these things to you, that in me
you may have peace. In the world
you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have
overcome the world.” The hymn and this
Lenten Season then draws to a close where it began: “Dear
Christians, one and all
rejoice/With exultation springing/And with united heart and
voice/And holy rapture
singing/Proclaim the wonders God has done/How His right arm
the vict’ry won/What
price our ransom cost Him.”
And hopefully now, this hymn has a bit more meaning for you,
too.
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