The waterquakes [Epiphany 4; St. Matthew 8:23-27]

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From the Gospel heard today, Jesus speaks, 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.”

First of all, this was no ordinary storm at sea. The word translated as storm actually is used everywhere else in Scripture as “earthquake”. But, I’m sure the translators thought, you can’t have an earthquake on land. What would you call it, a waterquake?

However, this is important for two reasons: first, with an underwater earthquake or the water acting like an earthquake, the water is all roiled up like tsunamis. Second, the other places in Scripture that use this word are important to give us the broader picture of what Jesus is really doing here.

On the second day of Creation, God separates the waters from the waters, or the heavens from the earth. Thus, the earth at this point appears to be nothing but deep water. Even before the first day, however, the Spirit is said to be hovering over the face of the deep waters. Then, on the fifth day, God fills the deep with all the sea creatures, even the sea monsters (Gen. 1:21).

“Thou hast broken us in the place of sea dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.” (Ps.44:19) “You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters.” (Ps.74:13)

Finally from Isaiah we hear, “In that day the Lord with his hard and great and strong sword will punish Leviathan the fleeing serpent, Leviathan the twisting serpent, and he will slay the dragon that is in the sea.” (27:1)

The point is that there is something in the depths of the sea and it is the dragon, the old evil foe. Down there, the eternal prison of hell awaits his final imprisonment. Down beneath the waves is death, so you can see why the disciples cry out in such drama. Even today, the deep places of the oceans lie beyond our reach and without special, rare equipment, death is still there; sometimes even with the equipment.

Thus, when the Son of God steps out onto the waters, the devil is roused. Like piranhas smelling the blood of their prey, the sea rears its ugly, rebellious head at the Lord and His followers, ready for the feast.

And God sleeps.

You don’t need to be on the seas though, for this same violence to be directed at the Church today. Oh no. You don’t even have to take this as a metaphor. Between natural disasters and personal disasters, life is as tumultuous as this great waterquake.

The great German theologian, Helmut Thielicke, described the Evangelical church of the 1950s as a ship on whose deck the Divine Service was being celebrated with the highest solemnity, while the clergy were blissfully oblivious that the ship had listed to the side and that the waves were already lapping at the deck.

Today, at both coasts of the USA, the Lutheran church dwindles to a very sparse minority and those that stay enact unionistic practices so that you can’t tell they’re Lutheran at all.

On the 200^th anniversary of the Reformation in 1817, there was a celebration in Prussia. All the princes had given up Lutheranism and were violently forcing the 7000 Lutheran congregations under Calvinism. The magnificent sermon was about the great honor due both Luther and Calvin while the Service denied the real presence of Jesus. So, they put up a statue of Luther to mark this point in history.

Especially in this year of significant celebration for us, it appears to be more a time of remorse and repentance, than victory and celebration.

And Jesus sleeps.

Repent. The Lord predicts many earthquakes and shaking of the seas in our future, but He also has St. Matthew record two great earthquakes for us (27:51 and 28:2) and they occur at two key moments. This first is after Jesus has died on the cross. The Temple veil was torn in two and the earth shook and the rocks split, even opening graves.

The second earthquake comes when an angel descends to roll away the stone revealing an empty tomb on Easter. The reason this is important, is because we are not just hearing about the storms and strife of our lives. We are seeing Christ in action, revealing His death and resurrection.

Jesus sets out on the boat intentionally, just as He offers Himself up for suffering and persecution. He willingly places Himself square within the old dragon’s sights. This of course is to take his eyes off you. He joyfully sleeps the sleep of death on your behalf, but He raises Himself and quiets death, the devil, and sin forever.

We take comfort in the fact that God never sleeps. That He is always watching and guarding and protecting. But, Jesus sleeps. He sleeps the sleep of death. He rests in the tomb from His greatest labor: your salvation. He does not stay asleep, though, and raises Himself to new life.

Yet, even though He sleeps, His heart is awake, King Solomon says (Song of Songs 5:2). It is in this place where Christ comes to calm the storms. Outside of here, the waves lap at the windows, the winds buffet the roof, and fiery darts ricochet off the walls.

But here, Christ says, “Peace”. He says Peace to our hearts where sinful thoughts are raging. He says Peace to this world, its endless wars engaging. And at the Word of the Creator; at the Word of Jesus, the storm stops here. At the declaration of forgiveness, at the imputation of grace, and at the installation of salvation, a lull in the storm manifests.

“Peace be with you” and the world is still. “Peace be with you” and the storm is calmed. “Peace be with you” and peace is made with God and man that you hold in your hand.

Jesus stays in the boat, His Church. You say that world is going to hell in a hand-basket, but that’s where the Church is. No matter who you meet, we are all in the same hand-basket in need of Christ’s boat.

We are the new Noah. But where Noah couldn’t save anyone except his family, we have flotation devices galore, even for when that one wave hits you. There is forgiveness with the Lord and He gives it out free today. Christ is in the boat, giving peace, giving life, and giving it all free to you. He comes into your presence and manifests the glory of His salvation in Word and Sacrament.

Miracle charlatan [Epiphany 3; St. Matthew 8:1-13]

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From the Gospel heard today, Jesus speaks, saying:

“And behold, a leper came to Him and worshiped him, saying, ‘Lord, if You will it, You are able to purify me.’”

What we explore in Epiphany is how Jesus reveals Himself to be the only true God, because people already see Him as “just a man”. Again, He is not pointing hell at you and demanding you kneel in fealty. He is pointing at His miracles in order that you believe that the Son has authority on earth to forgive earthly sins in earthly ways.

Let’s just be honest, as much as people want you to believe that good feelings heal you better than anything else, good feelings do not help this leper. He doesn’t need good thoughts. He doesn’t need platitudes. He needs to return to his family. He needs to return to his life and his church. He needs to be healed.

Let’s understand leprosy. Leprosy, in holy Scripture, can be used to describe a number of skin diseases. When a skin disease is contracted, you go to the priest. He looks at it. Declares you unclean and depending on how it looks, proscribes your quarantine sentence, which could range from 7 days to infinity days, depending on whether or not you get better.

If the priest touches you, he goes through days of purification to become fit for service again. If you happen to get better, you go through days of purification, burning your clothes, and shaving all your body hair off in order to rejoin society and church, but only if you happen to get better.

Which usually wasn’t the case and the priest did not have the power to heal you, only to diagnose. This is why leprosy is considered punishment for sin and the wrath of God. Many times in the Bible people who sin are divinely afflicted with leprosy and when they are, they are cut off from the people, because God’s people are to be clean.

Thus we get leprosy colonies. What else are we to do with our loved ones that are cursed? We want to love them, we don’t want to forsake them, but we don’t want to catch Gods wrath from them. What did they do to deserve that? What if associating with them gets me the same thing?

Now, you could say that leprosy, at least how we know it today, has been cured. So, if Jesus would just have waited a couple thousand years, He would not have had to perform a miracle, or His miracle was not a miracle because a cure could be found. To make matters worse, every religion claims miracles.

That would be true, if miracles were Jesus’ only calling card. That would be true if miracle were the only thing to prove Jesus’ divinity. That would be true if God was simply a god of parlor tricks.

Whether it’s a cold or a terminal illness, all diseases point to one thing: death. Even if you get over them, you know the next one could be it, because everybody dies. Thus, a miracle really can not stand on its own. Its needs something beyond itself to point to, because a miracle done in time only delays the inevitable.

No amount of scraping, shaving, or bathing washes away death. No amount of miracle pills, cures, or even miracles themselves, rid a person of dying. Do not look for miracles when you are seeking Jesus. Though He can do them if He wished, even the devil will be performing miracles in these last days.

Repent. You‘d like to think that you can spot a con game from a mile away. You’d like to think that if you just search the Scriptures, you’ll find a life to live and that will be your test against these false miracles. You’d like to think you stand firm by what you do.

What happens when Jesus touches the leper is that He becomes unclean! What happens when Jesus touches the dead or dying is that He becomes unclean. One of the false charges against Him is that He eats and drinks with unclean people and things and therefore is unclean and not worthy to call Himself God.

When Jesus touches the leper, the leper is made clean and declared clean. The leper gets to return to his family and Jesus must go before the high priest. The leper gets to return to life and Jesus must go to suffer and die. The leper is raised up and Jesus is brought low.

Jesus performs this miracle, not for the miracle’s sake, just so that there are miracles for you to believe in, but because the miracle not only shows His power over all things, but so that when you see Him on the cross, you know what He can do and Who He said He was. And three days later believe it.

Now who is on the cross? The man who did miracles but has none for himself. The God who cured and healed and raised, but can not save Himself. When you look at an empty cross, instead of focusing on Who should be on it, you are thinking about what happened and how it happened and what it would be like for you to see.

With a miracle it’s the same way. How did that happen? What did He do to make it happen? Isn’t that amazing? Do you do children’s parties? Can you do it again?

Jesus goes to the cross to silence these speculations and uncertainties. If miracles were all there were, then Jesus is a fraud. However, Jesus on the cross answers all the questions. The miracle that temporarily restored life shows a Savior who is going to permanently restore life, with His death on the cross.

If you are going to perform a miracle, you had better be prepared to die for the sins of the world, otherwise you too are a charlatan. Miracles are no parlor games. In Scripture, they are all performed to prove that Christ is crucified and those receiving faith need to be baptized. They are done so that people believe and are brought into the life of the Church.

Thus, miracles take a back seat to catechesis and going to Church. Miracles are lower than preaching the Gospel and receiving the forgiveness of sins. You do not have a mystery on the cross. You do not have an enlightened idea on the cross. There should be a body there so there is no question: this is what miracles are all about.

The importance of this is what is to be done with the leper, with the one who is afflicted with death. He needs healing, yes, but he needs perfect healing. He needs a savior who doesn’t just produce ideas and miracles, but one Who can guarantee that it will never happen again.

One that will take this sickness unto death into the grave permanently. When there is a body on the cross, you do not have to speculate or doubt any promise made by Jesus, because it all becomes clear. The miracles were done to show that Christ is on the cross, both God and man, dies, and three days later rises again.

Here is the miracle worker Who has one last miracle for you: to rescue you from sin, death, and the power of the devil by the forgiveness of sins. This is the greater work of Jesus Beyond the miracles is you hearing Christ’s forgiveness proclaimed to you by the pastor and believing it is yours.

Teaching and learning [Epiphany 1; St. Luke 2:42-52]

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Jesus speaks to you today from His Gospel saying,

“And he went down with them and came to Nazareth and was submissive to them.”

In this way, Jesus grew in wisdom and favor with God and man. Thus, being obedient to your parents gains you wisdom and favor. Honoring your father and mother was the first commandment with a promise attached to it, after all.

This is because everything centers around family. Not your family, but the family of God: Father, Son, Holy Spirit, and the Son’s Bride, the Church.

If this is true, why not stay at the Temple then? Why not continue, at the obvious church, to reveal Himself as the Light of the World and God’s only Son and the salvation of all the earth? Because His mother said “No”.

The Lord so values His own commandment and so prizes His ordering of the family, that He even subjects Himself to it, so great and holy is the command.

The Lord becomes a servant to His parents. With a flick of His wrist or a syllable from His mouth He can bring false teachers to their knees, destroy the puppet kings, and accomplish salvation. Instead, He becomes a child to re-enter the kingdom of heaven through the cross.

If Jesus is the servant, there must be a master. Indeed, for what other purpose do we older folks exist other than to care for, instruct, and bring up the young? Everyone is looking for some great meaning, some grand purpose to their lives, and the very first thing passed over on that quest is being an obedient child. The second, is being a father or mother.

Maybe they are passed over because they are too normal. It’s the way it’s been done for millennia. Everyone does it.

If we really want progress; if we truly are going to make that next evolutionary leap, we need to move beyond the conventional and pedantic.

Repent. You live in a time of unprecedented peace and in a land of plenty. You have more tools at your disposal to train up a child, than the entire world put together and yet there are uneducated children, un-obedient children, and unwanted children. All must be gathered together, the good and the bad. Likewise must we gather, as well as we can, the best of tools, for this prosperity, this abundance will not be yours forever.

God’s Word and grace are a passing rain shower and if we continue to focus education solely on making a living, then we will witness just how quickly the rain passes. No one is alert. Everyone just quietly goes along with whatever is fed to them.

The freedom to provide sound Christian schooling is the freedom of the Gospel itself, Dr. Luther says, but when it’s gone it’s gone. The Jews had it, but when it’s gone it’s gone, and now they have nothing. Paul and the Apostles brought it to the Greeks and Europe, but when it’s gone it’s gone and now they have the Muslim. Ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay.

The parents may be the masters, but really who is more important in the slave/master, student/ teacher relationship? It is the child. For though the child is submissive, he is the one receiving all the attention, all the time, and all the effort.

And Christ came down with His parents to Nazareth and was submissive to them, but Jesus also had a heavenly Father. And since Joseph and Mary were obeying God’s commands, the Father’s will also fell in line with theirs, for His will was that Jesus be born of a virgin, that He be your brother, that He disguise His royal power, take on a servant form, like you, and lead the devil captive.

Here now is the great exchange of Christmas. The Lord becomes a child to lead the Children of God to life and light. Jesus submits to parent who have submitted to Him; an exchange only possible through love; love given and shown clearly on the cross.

For there is the great and final obedience. On the cross is Isaac obeying Abraham, Samuel obeying Eli, and David obeying Saul. The Son accomplishes and obeys the Father to the point of death, but where the previous sons failed to accomplish the task, Jesus succeeds.

The task is education to everlasting life. The task is teaching that death is not the answer. The task is knowledge that leads away from death. You are not just to urge children into eking out a living, but to receiving a full and eternal life at the hands of the servant God: Jesus.

The Lord then becomes a servant. Seeking, saving, and teaching. He spends the treasure of His entire Kingdom in order to give it to you. He spends His entire life, quite literally, on making sure you have access to life.

The prophet cries out, “All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children.” (Is. 54:13) Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, goes to Jesus. (Jn 6:45) You are given the Word that you may have life more abundantly, not just in things, and what you are given you are to pass on.

Jesus passes His life on to you. The teachings of God are life itself. Jesus hands over His entire being in order that you be brought into it. Clothed in this Body, death has no hold on you and sin has no dominion over you.

You shall doze off [Trinity 27; St. Matthew 25:1-13]

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On this final Sunday, we once again find ourselves faced with fear as Jesus returns and says to you today,

“As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.”

We hear of one other person resting in the 3^rd Commandment. In it the Lord demands a remembrance of the Sabbath Day. The day He rested from His work of creating. Now you get to rest in the same way God does. Its not obedience and its not that God stops working, its that you get to put your feet up and hear that it is God taking care of all things, even you.

How do you know? You hear and learn God’s Word. For it is only in hearing that you receive Faith and it is only by faith alone that you hold it sacred and learn it. One of the holiest works God gives you to do is to gladly hear and learn preaching and His Word.

It is easy to say that the 10 virgins do a bad thing by falling asleep, but I say to you they are hearing that 3^rd commandment and obeying. It is not the work you do in keeping your lamp, it is the Lord’s work in giving and maintaining your lamp of faith. In the same way it is your duty to rest everyday, meaning hear and learn God speaking to you.

But you can not do this on your own. In order to hear, someone has to preach. Even the world understands this. Education is best given through a teacher. However, even though everyone hears the Word, not everyone reacts the same way to it. When the Holy Spirit enters, you either believe Him or reject Him.

Remember Daniel and the lions! King Darius had just come into power over all of the empire of Babylon. Daniel had gained his favor, so the king had heard the Word from Daniel and so had all the princes and other rulers. And when they heard it, they rejected it and conspired to throw Daniel to the lions.

But who else heard the Word? The lions! They heard God and obeyed, setting aside their normal God-given task of eating meat. They heard the ultimate power that created the universe and couldn’t help but believe that it was their Creator telling them what to do.

So we also hear Isaiah speaking God’s own Word and prophesying about lions eating straw like the ox. The Word of God is performative; it’s creative; it does what it says. If God said let black be blue, then it would happen. If God said day is night, it would be so. If God said come unto me all who are weary and I will give you rest, then that is what happens.

When God says take your lamps, meet the Bridegroom, and watch all these things are done to you. You are given the lamp, you are given the Bridegroom, and watching is a passive activity. All these things are given to you in order to comfort you and make you realize that God is doing the work, but that you are in the right place.

There is no command from God to keep your lamp burning or filled with oil. There is no command to create or make sure there is a Groom. There IS the command to be at the right place with the right equipment. There is the command to greet the Bridegroom when He arrives and there is the command to go with Him.

Repent. What God gives to His Church, He offers freely and abundantly. Church is open seven days a week, 24 hours a day. We could have Service everyday. We could have Bible class everyday. You can come in for private Confession everyday.

Instead we have Service once, maybe twice a week. Bible class is twice a week. We are the 5 foolish virgins seeking God’s Word in a place other than where God has said it would be.

Jesus is the Light of the World, which is better than any old lamp to begin with. Jesus is the Groom who chases after His bride in all her faithless wanderings. Jesus neither slumbers nor sleeps in His constant regard for your faith and your salvation.

Baptized into His Light, you are not a child of darkness, groping about as if blind to the facts. You understand. You see clearly. You know the height, the depth, and the breadth. Your mirror may be dim and your vision of the future cloudy, but Christ on the cross is visible through those obstacles.

The Word of God has called you by His Gospel. That sound has made you a child of God, birthing faith within you. So perfect is this gift that you become a virgin; fresh and clean. Free form any spot or blemish. The invitation for the feast goes out and you are there. The announcement, “Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord” is given and you stand in front of the Bridegroom.

Nourished and strengthened by the Lord’s Supper, you constantly receive forgiveness, which is your lifeblood. This is the blood of the Spirit which surges through your veins, creating a spirit of constant watchfulness. You want to hear more of God’s Word in Bible Class. You want to receive more of God’s Word in Church and you want to cry out to everyone else, “The Bridegroom approaches!”

This is your life now, in these last days. It is not “I better or else”, but “I can’t believe I get to!” It is simply unthinkable and unbelievable that God has made you like God. What Adam and Eve attempted in sin, God succeeds at through the cross. Not in lowering Himself, but in elevating you.

Whenever you speak God’s Word, you speak with the creative force that birthed the universe. Whenever you hear the Word, you are hearing the very words that sustain all life today. This is the gift that Jesus packs into a neat little box of a church and a convenient book. This is the gift you are given this day.

Nevertheless, there is greater yet to come. Even though such a wonderful series of events is taking place here, at the Word of God, but even more is to take place when Christ returns. The lesser is on earth. The greater is in the new heavens and on the new earth, living forever in the true Temple, that is Jesus.

The End will come and when it does, to be sure you will be in the right place by grace alone, but all this will pass away. It will not matter how bright your lamp is, how clean your clothes are, or how well you stayed awake.

It will not matter how rich or poor you were or how well you did this or that task set before you. Nothing else will matter, even this day. For you will look back and there will only be the narrow, golden path that lead you to Christ’s side. All the chaff will be burned away.

You will make it through unscathed, though you were scarred. You will make it through perfectly healthy, though you were full of disease. You will make through strong as an ox, though you were feeble. You will make it through richer than Solomon, though you could not even buy bread. You will find rest, though you worked to death.

You will look back and see that the only thing that mattered was you setting aside the work you do so that God would work in you.

For, if it is true that the living Christ comes among His gathered people to teach them and feed them in public worship, and

if it is true that the life of the Church flows to her from Christ Himself, then

what is more important than weekly gathering together to receive His Gifts and responding to Him with our prayers and offerings?

Power [Trinity 26; St. Matthew 25:31-46]

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So, Jesus speaks to us today in His Gospel and says,

“When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.”

We hear Jesus and see His life has led Him to a glorious throne and we ask, “when do I get one”? Many followers of Jesus, however, think this is just fine and have no problem submitting halfheartedly and blindly to a Jesus they have made up. A Jesus that is so powerful and so far removed that He only demands submission and blind obedience, or else.

This kind of power all men wish to obtain. The power over the masses. The power to impose will. The power to be popular and liked and to gain god-like status among followers, inducing religious zeal and tears. This sort of thing is not exclusive to religions. Any gathering of people for a certain cause gains this unfortunate obsession with power.

So, you must ask these 5 questions to any person who wishes to have power over you:

1. What Power Have You Got?
2. Where Did You Get It From?
3. In Whose Interests Do You Exercise It?
4. To Whom Are You Accountable?
5. How Can We Get Rid Of You?

The answer to the first question varies. You may be the next president of the freest country in the world or you may be a husband or a father. Either way, power here usually only comes in the form of “who are you responsible for?” Power is given to someone by choice either by force or coercion.

Which immediately answers the second question: "where did you get power from". No matter the situation, you give others the permission to use power over you, even if you are too weak to defend yourself, there is still a choice. Again, power could be by election or by force.

The third question, "in whose interests do you exercise power", probably rounds back to question one and two. The same people that gave you power over them should be the ones you are using it for and (the 4^th question) should also be the one you are accountable to.

The most telling question, and favorite, is the final one: how do we get rid of you. It’s the favorite because not a one of you with power would ever want to get rid of it, much less have someone take it from you and use it against you.

This is the lie of power. You work so hard to build it up and keep it up, but it seems to have a mind of its own and slip through your fingers on a whim to another wielder, possibly your enemy. You seek it nonetheless.

You want to be your own power, just like Adam and all the kings of Israel. You want it to come from inside of you; when you dig down deep. You want it all for yourself, to battle what you have to battle, to accomplish what you have to accomplish. Maybe you find yourself benefiting others, but your motive is pure autonomy and no one is going to take it from you.

Repent. When Jesus comes in power and glory, there will be none for you. You will have to sulk in His shadow and curse Him under your sinful breath, “Who does He think He is?”

How do you know this will be your reaction to Christ’s return? Look at how you treat others in power or those who have power over you. Do you fear and love God so that you do not despise or anger your parents and other authorities?

Jesus claims all power in heaven and on earth. He is the most high God and Creator. It is His by default; by right. It is a power that is inherent in Who He is. It comes from Himself. He wields it in His own interests and is accountable to no one but Himself.

Even unbelievers are with us up to this point, however, what Jesus does with this power is completely and utterly unbelievable. Everyone knows God demands perfection and is intolerant about it, but their understanding stops there. They refuse to see a self-sacrificing God.

Jesus does not need to create man in order to be a loving God. Jesus does not need to stay with the Israelites for thousands of years, in order to prove that He is the Lord. Jesus does not need to be born of a virgin, in order to prove His compassion. Jesus does not need to suffer and die on a cross, in order to prove His salvation.

But He does. “Empty”, is the word St. Paul uses to describe Jesus - all powerful, all knowing, all mighty Jesus. “Servant” is the word Jesus uses to describe Himself - Lord of all, fully perfect; need nothing Jesus. “Love” is the word used synonymously with “death on a cross” in Holy Scripture.

Jesus doesn’t need to do things this way at all, but He does. He does to show the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God. That it is in losing power that you gain power. Its in giving all of your power away that true power arises. But this does not work for us in the real world, only in Faith.

Faith that clings to the words and promises of Jesus in times of trial and in the groanings of these Last Days. It is Faith that submits to the power of Christ, not out of duty, obligation, or fear, but in belief and trust that all promises come true for those in Christ Jesus. It is Faith that believes that a man is marked for separation to the right and not to the left.

On this earth, rulers and princes change with the rising and setting of the sun. In the USA, we elect our own authorities every two years or so. In serving, loving, and honoring your parents and other authorities, you are loving Christ. Jesus has so intertwined Himself with humanity that it is impossible to hate your brother and love the Lord.

Even if your parents, brothers, or rulers are wicked, Jesus hides Himself behind them and tells you loving them is loving me. Serving them is serving me. “As you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

Now that humanity has been assumed into the Godhead, there is no distinction to be made. Power is not had when you have the ability to oppress or kill on a whim. Power is to be had in utter service and submission to your neighbor and even that is really Jesus’ power and not your own.

Your own power only produces sin and strife. Christ’s power produces peace and life in exchange for His own. Jesus may appear unjust in His assumption of power, but the cross tells us otherwise.

Because, once there was a time where we could have gotten rid of God, or at least it seemed like it. There was a time where Jesus allowed Himself to be available, so to speak, for the airing of grievances. There was a time when you could hold onto the Almighty with two hands, falsely accuse Him, and nail Him to a cross.

We have tried ignoring Him, like Adam. We have tried consciously turning away from Him, like Israel. We have even tried killing Him, but He always comes back in mercy, compassion, and love. From the beginning, Jesus has exercised His power in long-suffering even while being ignored, even while being disregarded, and even while being murdered.

Jesus does not seek power the way you seek power. He seeks power in a way that is impossible for you to attain, not only because you would misuse it in sin, but because there would always be someone behind you waiting to take it from you. This can not be.

Therefore, Jesus is always the target, not you. Jesus is always the one making rules, promises, and retaining power. Jesus will be the powerful Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world and, by His Body and Blood, will create many sheep to be beside Him.

Today’s Gospel is not a treatise on power nor is it a primer on how to tell the difference between sheep and goats. It shows you that the power Christ has over the sheep and the goats is His because He has died for both, in order that through His sacrifice they would both have the forgiveness of sins, regardless of what they do with it. In the same way, the free forgiveness of sins is handed out by Jesus to you, each day in His Church, regardless of what you think you do or don’t deserve.

Jesus finds you [Trinity 25; St. Matthew 24:15-28]

On this 3^rd last Sunday of the Church year, we hear our Lord speak directly to us 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.”

Last week, we talked about what it meant to be a man: getting married, having kids, and especially teaching. Today continues that same train of thought by begging the question: where is Jesus??!

As a man, it is your duty to teach and to lead your family to Jesus, but according to the Gospel heard today Jesus is not anywhere. You are not to believe certain fellows if they say He is in great signs and wonders, in the wilderness, in the inner rooms, here, there, or anywhere.

You must also not believe when men work out these miracles in front of you to prove their affinity to Jesus or Christ’s presence. If someone miraculously heals the sick or even raises the dead, you are to call that demonic. If someone starts multiplying loaves and fish or does anything Jesus used to do, you are to run away, for satan and your persecution is near.

On top of this, even if we go to the Bible for words, we only hear that God will dwell in the Temple and with David’s throne forever and both of those are destroyed and muslim mosques sit in their places.

So how will you teach something you can not see? How will you find something that can not be found? You have tried searching the way of living an upright life, but that only gave you a feeling or idea of Jesus and He can be very judgmental.

And herein lies the problem. Imagine if someone actually had miraculous healing powers, what would we do to them? We would hound them and never let them rest. The government would want to dissect them and study them. We would get angry because they are not helping everyone and being selfish with their gift. We would tear them to pieces.

If we were able to find Jesus as He was, we would make Him do whatever we wanted. We would force Him to be a moralist, a bread king, or a Santa Claus. We would push Him into elected positions and charities so He could fix things. We’d press Him onto pictures, flags, and slogans and make Him make things right or crucify Him for failing to do so.

This is the type of Jesus you find. A Jesus made in your image and likeness to whom you give lip service, but make sure He stays in those boxes. So that even when you claim to have found Him, you have really just found another idea to be placed at the buffet of competing ideas and not Jesus at all.

Jesus hides Himself so that this doesn’t happen, even though lots of people attempt to do all of this to Jesus without Him appearing, you are not to believe them. Jesus is not going to do any of the things He has preciously done in the way He has preciously done them. Jesus will not be back as He once was.

Jesus will not return meek and mild as at Christmas. Jesus will not return in secret. Jesus will not return in any way that He needs to be born again, grow up again, or is at the mercy of man again. Never again will only one corner of the world witness God in the flesh. You will not find Jesus doing anything that He has done in the Bible, when He returns.

Do not follow those who say so! Follow the Word of God. Yes the Word says that Jesus has done all those things, but that is not the point of those miracles and wonders. Jesus has already accomplished the purpose of His miracles and that was to go to the cross and until Jesus returns again, in glory and in a sight to be seen from the east and the west, He will still be on that cross, for you.

Follow Jesus to the cross. You will find Him there. Not that He is forever crucified, but He is forever known as the God-man Who was crucified for the whole world. Jesus is known in heaven by that act. He is known by His enemies by that act and He is known in hell by that act.

Thus, you will know Him by that act, revealed to you by the holy Scriptures. You will not have to search for Jesus nor will you have to pick out which person is telling the truth about where He is. This is because Jesus is already found. He found Himself and He found you to tell you about it in Faith.

Christmas was not accomplished in a corner. The heavens were opened and angels were flying around singing, for crying out loud. That’s a pretty big corner. Epiphany was accomplished in the Temple, in the wilderness, and on a mountaintop in front of crowds. Lent was a tour of practically the entire eastern shore of the Mediterranean. Good Friday was a billboard and no one has yet disproved Easter.

You will remember Jesus by what He has done for you by hearing and teaching the Word of God. You will know Jesus by what He has done for you and you will recognize Jesus on the last day by what He has promised you and told you beforehand.

Do not be afraid. Not only have you been marked and set aside for the Return of Jesus, but He has promised to not leave you behind. The cross of Christ has declared just this thing. Those in Judea have already fled to the mountains and beyond. The one on the housetop and the one in the field have already left their posts.

You are already amid the tumult of the great tribulation and false christs abound, for the sign of the times has already been placed. The red flag of the end of all things has already come up. The cross, whereon God sat, has already been gathering many and will continue to do so.

Finding Jesus for your family is not a great mystery, neither is the Last Day. Jesus has given all the secrets to you. You already know what’s going to happen and how it will happen and you already possess the power and salvation of God at your fingertips.

You don’t go to find Christ, He comes to find you. He comes with His Word and His Sacraments bearing the good news of the forgiveness of sins. He brings His own holy water, His own holy words, and His own holy meal so that you know its Him. You will not have to decipher Him, decode Him, or attempt to remember Him like some long lost friend.

You will not miss Him if you don’t do things in just the right way and He will not pass you by if you are caught red-handed. And even if He hides Himself and things get worse and worse, they have an end. They will come to an end and the world to come will have no end.

The devil will have his 7 years and the Lord will have His thousand. For a little while you, the heavens, and the earth will be shaken, but for eternity you will stand in the presence of the Lord blessed, innocent, and righteous, for the sake of Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord.

Signs and wonders [Trinity 21; St. John 4:46-54]

LISTEN TO THE AUDIO HERE.

Jesus speaks to you in His Word, saying,

“So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’”

So what signs and wonders have you seen from God? I’m willing to bet that you have never seen an entire universe created, or a sea split down the middle, or pillar of fire. I’m almost 100% certain that you have never seen a Buddha statue fall down, on its own, when brought into Church.

I’m also pretty sure that you have never been raised from the dead, been in a crowd fed by five loaves of bread, or been healed of paralysis.

Here’s the good news, though. Jesus says that you don’t have to see these things, even today. You get to walk by faith, not by sight. Better yet, anything that is too hard for you to understand like who to vote for, evolution, and microbiology; you get to place in that “faith” box. You don’t have to think about them. You don’t have to study or learn about them. You get to walk through life blindfolded, tempting God to keep the next step in front of you.

This is what you think. If its not done by God directly, then it is still God’s work somehow and that gives you the excuse to not know or learn about it. Or, even worse, you think God doesn’t act at all in the real world and so the Bible is just some mystical metaphor about being a good person. So, what’s the point in being in Church, as well?

On top of all that, Jesus seems to tell us the exact opposite of what we are hearing today when He says, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He could have said it more than just the two times that are recorded in Matthew, but the meaning is clear. The application, not so much.

Repent. The meaning is that we are the evil and adulterous generation who needs signs and wonders before we believe. We yearn for some powerful manifestation of God’s presence in our lives that we completely miss what God is actually doing and the true sign that He is working.

That same verse from St. Matthew gives us our clue, to what God is actually doing, as does what Jesus does to the Official’s son. Death is what is happening in both places; the death of the Official’s son and the death of Jonah. Both are going where their families and friends can not reach. Both are being swallowed up against their will and neither can do anything about it.

Thus, the real miracle of Jesus, that you are witnesses of, is the resurrection from the dead, revealed to you only in Holy Scriptures. It is not in personal revelations or private signs and wonders, tailored just for you and no one else. It is the universal message of universal atonement.

One Lord. One Faith. One baptism. One message and one experience for all. The Lord only interacts with you in the way He promises. There is no hope of you finding Him anywhere but there. You will not find Him in a house. You will not find Him in your neighbor. You will not find Him anywhere.

Unless. Unless there was such a time and a place where He said He would be. Unless there was a way, a means, by which He said He would use. I had asked before how many of you witnessed a sign from the Lord. The answer is none of you and all of you.

None of you have witnessed a sign like you want to witness one, but all of you are witnesses of the sign that the Lord has given to be witnessed. Does that make sense? If you witness a sign that you want to, it is only your own and not from God. But if God sets up a sign to be witnessed and you see it, then its all good.

The Lord has a son. He watched Him be born, grow up, and live on His own. This Son also became sick, but this sickness could not be healed and so the Lord had to watch His Son die. But, so that this death would not be in vain, the Lord set His Son up on a placard. This Son was set on a pole as a sign. A sign to show what kind of sickness leads to everlasting death, even the death of God, and that is sin.

The sickness the Son contracted was your sin and the sin of all people of all time, not His own. This sickness is incurable just in you, thus you can imagine the incredible burden every sin of all time placed on the Son. But the Son bore it. Each and every step of His life He carried it, slowly, surely to the cross.

On that post, you may read that the King of kings hangs there. The true King of the Jews dies there and He will not be back, once He leaves it. For the true King is Jesus. The true Son is God and man in one Christ.

So it is, that today, you don’t just hear of Jesus saving some son by some miracle. You hear of the true Son of God going down into death in order to catch the official’s son and throw him back to life. Jesus dies on the cross and is buried in order that, when you die and are buried, He would also catch and release you.

Thus, you pass from death to life simply by His Word. And if simply by His Word, then by anything attached to that Word as well. Not as a magical formula, but as a God-given promise. Because Jesus said so. “And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.”

At this very moment, in this congregation, there is a person who is more qualified than anyone on earth, to give a testimony about witnessing this sign from Jesus. Unfortunately, she has yet to learn to talk. Yet, by her actions, dear Rebecca has freely given this testimony to all of you. She has touched, seen, and heard this sign coming together upon her. The water and the Word combined to create a sign of Faith that she shall not die, but live.

The true miracle, sign, and wonder of Jesus is that He doesn’t change. What He does to this official’s son, he does to all of you. When He promises rebirth and resurrection by water and the Word, it is accomplished in that way, and no other. You can get wet in the rain that falls from heaven, but you will not receive the same holy cleansing.

Baptism. One of the true signs, given to the Church, by Jesus. In it Jesus physically washes, clothes, and cares for the person, by faith alone. It is the sign that you have been forgiven, rescued from death, and given eternal salvation. It is the way Jesus promises salvation to Rebecca and to you, by faith alone, not by works.

Jesus makes His own signs. These are the signs we have, in the Church, and so these are the only signs we give and witness to, because these are the only signs in which Jesus works out His salvation in you and all people.