Category: Higher Homilies

by The Rev. Bruce Keseman

Sola.  That’s Latin.  You’ll learn a lot of Latin this week.  Sola means “alone.”  Maybe you already knew that.  If you didn’t, I guarantee you’ll know it by the end of this conference.

Sola.  That’s a word that offends some people.  Especially when they understand what it implies.  Sola may offend our sinful natures when we understand what it implies.  But it’s a word that should cause you to rejoice.

In the town of Collinsville, Illinois—which, by the way, is where our esteemed organist, Mr. Chris Loemker, lives—they had a big to-do a few years ago.  Don’t blame Mr. Loemker for the to-do.  He didn’t live there yet.  What was the to-do?  Would they have about prayer at their high school graduation or wouldn’t they?  They discussed.  They debated.  They argued.  And they decided.  They decided to compromise.  Which is to say, the devil got his way.  They decided to have a prayer.  A non-offensive prayer.  A non-sola prayer.  An “all religions are created equal” prayer.

The principal said, and I quote, “There will be no reference to Christ or anything that is of a particular religion.  There may be a reference to a supreme being.”  Unquote.

I don’t know what the principal believes.  But that school’s policy seems to imply that one religion will get you to the Father as well as the next.  Jesus begs to differ.  Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”

How do you get to God?  Through Jesus.  Any other possible way?  Nope.  Christ alone.  When it comes to getting you to heaven, Jesus flies sola.

Did you notice the one name, the only name, the principal specifically said would not be mentioned in the graduation prayer?  “Christ.”  Jesus.  The only One who can get us and our prayers to the Father is the only One they specifically say won’t be mentioned.

Maybe they don’t want to offend anyone.  But then we don’t want to offend anyone either.  When you’re talking to your friends, especially your non-Christian friends, and the conversation turns to religion, do you say clearly, unequivocally that Jesus is the only hope for us sinners?  Not if you’re a typical Christian.

Why?  Why are we so hesitant to say that Jesus flies sola?  Isn’t it because we don’t want to offend anyone?Isn’t it because when we say that no one comes to the Father except through Jesus, we’re saying that Jews and Muslims and Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses and Hindus and Buddhists—and a whole lot of our own friends—are going to hell?  So we don’t offend them.  We refuse to tell them about the One who took care of their eternities and ours on a cross.

There may be another reason we’re hesitant to say Jesus and Jesus sola—alone—can get us to the Father.  I’m not sure we believe it.  Your pastor may have taught you in catechism class that Jesus is the only way.  But isn’t it possible that your pastor is wrong?  Hmm?  Isn’t it possible that all these different religions—or at least most of them—worship the same God we do but just call Him by different names?  Who are we to claim that we’re right and everyone else is wrong?  (Actually, we don’t claim that we’re right.  We claim that God is right.  There’s a big difference!)

But don’t Muslims and Buddhists and Jews and Mormons all teach the difference between right and wrong—just like Christians?  And don’t they all urge people to do what is right and not do what is wrong—just like Christians?  Doesn’t that make all those other religions as good as Christianity?  Yes!  It does make them as good as Christianity.  As long as you always do what they say, as long as you always do what is right, they are every bit as good as Christianity.

But if you are like me, if you are a sinner, if you fall short of the glory of the Father, then you need something those other religions don’t offer.  You need a Savior.  You need Jesus.

Jesus says, “In my Father’s house are many rooms.”  We call that house with many rooms “heaven.”  On the way home from this conference, our youth group is staying in a hotel.  It has many rooms.  And they are all “no smoking” rooms.  No smokers allowed.  In our Father’s house there are many rooms.  They are all “no sinning” rooms.  No sinners allowed.

For good reason.  If God allowed sin in heaven, it wouldn’t be heaven.  It would be this messed up earth all over again.  More sorrow.  More pain.  More death.  More zits.  That’s what came into this world when we brought sin into this world.  That’s what would be in heaven if God allowed us to bring our sin into His heaven.

So heaven is “No sin allowed.”  But we are filled with sin.  Which is why we need the Jesus that no other religion offers.  We need the Jesus who flies sola.

The Father did not lay your sins on Mohammed.  The Father did not lay your sins on Buddha.  The Father did not lay your sins on Joseph Smith.  The Father laid your sins on Jesus.  Christ and Christ sola—alone—has been to the cross for you.  Christ and Christ sola—alone—has removed everything that would keep you out of your room in the Father’s house.  So Christ and Christ sola—alone—is the way to the Father.

Not just any god will do.  You need the God who puts His Son on a cross for you and then raises His dead Son to life for you.  Any other way will lead you awayfrom the Father and into hell.

So Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  Isn’t that rather exclusive?  Yes.  But in this case exclusive is good.  Exclusive is God’s way of being inclusive.  Exclusive is His way of including every sinner who has ever lived in the category of people whose sins have been paid for.

Let’s say you and I are in a high rise building.  In Freeburg, Illinois, where I’m from, a two-story building is a high rise.  But let’s say we’re in that six-story residence hall I’m staying in across campus.  Way across campus.  And let’s say that in this Texas heat, that six-story residence hall spontaneously bursts into flames.  When that happens, there are probably fifty different windows that we could jump out.  But the firefighters have a net under only one window.  If you happen to know which window has the net, I’d really appreciate it if you did not say, “Oh, pick any window; one is as good as the next.”  Be exclusive!  Tell me which one will save me.

School officials in Collinsville, Illinois, and people all over the world may imply that all religions are pretty much the same, that you can jump out any one you’d like.  But there’s only one with a net.  There’s only one with Jesus crucified and risen for you.  Maybe that offends some people.  But personally, I kind of like not having to guess which window has the net, which one will save me.

How can you be so sure that you can trust Jesus?  How can you be sure He’s the net that will catch you?  Well, there have been countless religious teachers in the history of the world.  All of them lived.  All of them taught.  All of them died.  And all of them are still dead.  Except one.  Jesus.  He was dead.  But He came back to life.  That is why you can entrust Him with your eternity.  If any one else dies for your sin and then rises to life, you can trust that person with your eternity.  But none will.

That’s why Jesus says, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”  When it comes to your salvation, Jesus flies sola.  Christ alone.  That is not a reason to be offended.  That is a reason to rejoice.  For you, dear Christian, have been baptized into that Christ.

Rev. William Cwirla

Exodus 12:1-14

The little one at the table got to ask the questions. The little ones love to ask questions. ”Papa, why do we do this every year? Why do we sweep the house all week? Why do you kill that poor little lamb? Why do you paint his blood on the doorposts? Why do you roast him beyond well done? Why do we eat the lamb and these bitter herbs and this unleavened bread? What does this mean?”

And the father of the house would teach the household: “It is the sacrifice of the LORD’s Passover, for he passed over the houses of the people of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians but spared our houses. It is the Lord’s Passover.”

The Lamb stood in place of the firstborn son, including the firstborn of Pharaoh. Life for life. The Substitute Sacrifice. The Vicarious Victim. Like the ram caught in the wood who saved Abraham’s son Isaac from the knife and the fire. The blood was the sign, the wood the signpost. Where the blood was painted on the wood, there death passed over.” The firstborn was spared. The Lord had spoken and promised it. “It is the Lord’s Passover.”

Israel walked into freedom through bloody wood, doorposts and lintels soaked in blood. They were a blood-bought people. A Passover people. They were no better than the Egyptians, no less deserving of slavery and death. But they were a bloodied people. A Passover people. God’s people.

“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” There in the Jordan River is God’s unblemished, sinless Lamb, washed for the sacrifice.

He did nothing wrong, and you can do nothing right. He deserved to live, and you deserve to die. He is innocent, you are guilty. He is spotless, you are marred beyond measure. He is free, you are as bound and dead as an Israelite in Egypt. But God made you alive in the Lamb. His blood brings you life and freedom. The blood is the sign, the cross is the signpost, the doorpost and lintel of the world. Behold God’s Son, God’s Servant, God’s Lamb, who lays down His life for your life, who sheds his blood for your blood, who bears your sin, who dies your death.

“Where the blood, there death passes over.” “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” Jesus’ Body and His Blood go with you wherever you go – your home, your work, your worship. To your grave. And from the grave, He will raise you, for He will not deny His own Body and Blood. Death cannot contain Him, nor can it hold you who have His Body and Blood.

Why then do we do this every week? Why do we take this bread and eat it? Why do we take this wine and drink it? What does this mean?

Here’s why. Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread. And when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to His disciples and said, “Take, eat. This is my body which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. In the same way also, He took the cup after supper. And when He had given thanks, He gave it to them and said, “Drink of it, all of you. This cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.”

It is the Lord’s Passover. And you are His Passover, bloodied, holy people.

In the name of Jesus,
Amen.

Rev. Tab Ottmers

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

A few names for you, Alexander the Great, Frederich the Wise, Elvis the King. People who are known for their accomplishments. These folks have a name that connects them to accomplishments any mother would be proud of. Accomplishments that identify. These names give us reasons why we should follow or listen to a person. This is the wisdom of men. This is how the world works. This is the way of the law. This is the way the Old Adam in us loves because it feeds our pride.

St. Paul writes to the Corinthians. They are people just like us. The Corinthians are impressed with lofty language, displays of wisdom. Think Plato, Aristotle and the like. These are people who based the truth of a message on how eloquent the speaker was or how the speaker made them feel. A reputation followed. A person identified by their accomplishments.

These last few days you have seen this too! Perhaps it was the long van ride here or the dreaded bus trip. You have met or gotten to know others by their accomplishments. You know, like John the stinky. Susan the babbler. Pastor the boring. Stacy the nerd. Brandon the jock. Yes we judge people according to how they make us feel. This is the wisdom of man. This is an identity from the law.

However, when we are on the receiving end it’s not always so great is it? To be identified by our accomplishments is not so great because the law ultimately shows us we are far from perfect. The very thing, the law, which promises us an identity, the very thing that promises us life, this law finally becomes our death in showing us our sin.

Someone points out how weak or unimpressive you are and it stings doesn’t it? Let’s be honest though, the things that people see, those outward things we maybe don’t even like about ourselves are nothing compared to what we harbor in our hearts! You may be able to restrain your lips in calling others out, but what about how you identify others in your heart?

Maybe you get upset at other when they point out your faults because it hits you too close to home. Too close to the truth you know in your heart that it’s not just that you are Daniel the shy, or Lucy the loud, but you are the sinner. The rebel against God.

You who because others aren’t as perfect as you. You who know and call others names because that is lofty language. Lofty language in a sense that it lifts you on a pedestal. That is a very attack on God who alone is to be worshipped. Our sin, that is the accomplishment we all know too well. Too often we trust in lofty speech, impressive displays of wisdom that enables us to celebrate ourselves. We look to comfort ourselves in the language of the law. Lofty language that trains and develops a faith in ourselves. Repent.

Stop looking at yourself! Look to Christ for your identity. For look where St. Paul points the Corinthians and us. Not to ourselves. Not to our words. Not to the law. Not in words of wisdom or lofty speech that impresses the world. We find our identity in Christ and him crucified. Our identity is in His accomplishment. Crucified for you! Crucified for your sins. Crucified for your love of the wisdom of men. Jesus Christ and him crucified for your sins. Not Jesus the wise. Not Jesus the cool. Not Jesus the popular, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is what our faith rests in. The power of God to die, to be crucified for you! To live the sinless life, to become your sin and be crucified.

Now through the crucifixion of Christ, his accomplishment, God sees you not according to your sinful life, not as Matthew the liar or Sally the adulterer. You are John the forgiven! Lisa the forgiven. Stephanie the forgiven. Your sins are forgiven! You are a child of God. That is your identity. Jesus Christ and him crucified for you. God identifies you with the accomplishments of Christ.

St. Paul says it like this, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” “As many of you who have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.”

You were in baptism put to death in Christ. Your old self that loves to find identity in the law was drowned and you were raised with a new identity, none other than the very identity of Christ. St. Paul bases the truth of his message on the identity of Christ and him crucified.

Christ now gives you a man, your pastor. Pastor the absolver. Pastor the forgiver. Pastor who stands with the authority of Christ forgiving your sins. He’s not someone who feeds you empty platitudes but someone who declares to you the reality of who you are in your baptism into Christ.

It is not your achievements or eloquent words of wisdom that identify you or make you God’s child. If that were the case we would all be lost forever. You have been baptized. You are absolved in Jesus Christ and him crucified, for you! Amen.

Rev. David Kind

I Corinthians 2:1-5

Grace, Mercy and Peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

For several years now folks from my church have gotten together on the 4th of July to have a cook out and watch the fireworks in Minneapolis. We always have a pretty good time together. But this year the fireworks were, well, just not that impressive. The display lasted about 15 minutes total. And the grand finale, and it is a stretch to say it was grand at all, lasted all of about 30 seconds. And there really wasn’t anything special about the fireworks that were shot off. And most disappointing to me, there were hardly any of those ones that make the big boom that you can feel in your chest. So I said to my wife afterward: “That was pretty lame. Next year we need to go somewhere else.” I want to be impressed, after all.

We all like to be impressed. And that’s the way people think about church a lot of times. Sometimes the church service doesn’t seem all that impressive. We go and sing the same old hymns, chant the ancient liturgy, and listen to the same preacher. And though your pastor is pretty well educated, he may not be the most impressive person around. Perhaps he’s a little nerdy, or over weight, or balding. Maybe his sermons aren’t the most riveting things you’ve ever heard. Perhaps his preaching style is a little dry. And then you hear that there is this great preacher at your friend’s church that really speaks to people like you, and that their worship services are dynamic and exciting and designed to impress you. And every Sunday there are like thousands of people there. And once in a while they may even give away a big screen TV. And you think about going, because you want to be impressed for a change.

Or maybe what’s really impressive is not another preacher, but someone speaking at the local mosque, or a professor wowing people with scientific or philosophical wisdom in the lecture hall at the University, or an atheist poet at the local coffee house. So why waste your time and attention on something that doesn’t seem all that impressive. Why continue to listen to your pastor and go to your church?

Tradition tells us that St. Paul was not a very impressive preacher, that he had a kind of irritating high-pitched voice, and that he was long winded. Now I know that I’m not the most interesting of preachers, but I can say that I never put anyone into such a deep sleep that they fell out of a window and died during any of my sermons. But St. Paul did. And yet we know that he was one of the greatest apostles and saints that the Church has known and that the spread of Christianity into the Roman empire was due in large part to his preaching.

But what does St. Paul say about all of this himself? He says: “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom… And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom…” Paul admits it! He wasn’t that impressive. But what else does Paul say? He came not with human strength, but with the power of God, not with words of human wisdom neatly fitted together into an impressive message, but with the Holy Spirit, not with lofty speech, but preaching Christ crucified.

And why? Because your faith must not be in men, must not be in human wisdom or philosophy, must not be in what impresses for the moment, but in the power of God, that is, in Jesus Christ and in Him crucified. All other impressive things fall apart in the end. And so Paul contrasts the plausible speech of men to the mysteries of God, which are above human explanation. He contrasts the wisdom of human beings, even the most intelligent of them, with the power of God which is active in the simple Word of Christ that is preached. He contrasts the lofty well crafted rhetoric of the unbeliever with the seeming foolishness of Christ.

But what is truly impressive? An exciting, well rehearsed, preacher? A passionate imam? An erudite and articulate college professor? Or Christ Himself, the Son of God come down from heaven to be crucified for you? In Him is the power of faith and life. In His death and resurrection is forgiveness and salvation. He alone is truly impressive. And because of Christ, your pastor, however funny he looks, whatever foibles he might have, however boring his speech, is impressive too. For he speaks and acts for Christ. His Word, by the power of Christ, forgives. And the supper he serves you from Christ’s table gives eternal life. So don’t look too closely at the messenger who faithfully preaches Christ and His Word. Don’t let his lack of impressiveness fool you. For the Word that is faithfully preached is the power and glory of God, and Christ is heard and given in it. And that is truly impressive. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, to life everlasting.

by the Rev. Mark Buetow

Martin Luther had to be set free. He was a slave to his sins. He had become a monk so that he could spend every hour of every day living a holy life and make God happy with him. But the problem was that instead of a holy life, he just had more time to think about his sins. He spent hour after hour and day after day wondering how he could ever get on the Lord’s good side. After all, Jesus was the righteous Judge and Luther was a moldy worm sack! He would go to Confession and then go and scrub the floor and then have to run back to his Father Confessor because he remembered some sins he had left out. Finally his Father Confessor, Father Staupitz, told him, “Martin! Stop already! Believe and trust in Jesus who has taken away your sins! I’ll tell you what. You have too much time around here to think about your sins all day. You’re not busy enough. You’re going to go to Wittenberg and teach the Bible.” So off Martin Luther went. And he immersed himself in the Old Testament as he lectured. He drunk deeply of the Scriptures until at last the Holy Spirit brought the Word of God clear to Martin Luther. God’s justice and righteousness are found in Jesus and Jesus forgives our sins by grace. We receive this forgiveness by faith through the Word and Sacraments. Luther finally learned, from God’s own Word, that Jesus was not the Judge of sinners but their Savior; that salvation wasn’t something earned but given; that the forgiveness of sins and eternal life were not rewards but gifts. The Word of God showed Martin Luther the Truth. And the Truth, that is, Jesus, set him free. Free from sin, death, devil, hell, the curse of the Law, guilt, misery and despair. Luther was a free man in Christ!

As Luther learned the Gospel more and more and as he preached and taught and wrote, he was constantly fighting against two kinds of false doctrine. These are the same temptations to false belief that swarm around us today. On the one hand was the teaching of the Roman church that just by doing whatever the church said, you would be saved. As long as you went to Confession, went to Mass, acknowledged that Pope was always right, and did other good works, you would be saved. Furthermore, if you just gave enough money, you could have your sins forgiven completely and avoid any time in Purgatory. In other words, by mixing your faith with your good works, you could be certain of God’s favor. On the other hand, the other “Protestants” taught that God is experienced directly, in your heart. Never mind preaching and the Sacraments. Never mind the external Word of God. We are to look for Jesus in our hearts and in our changed lives. All of these ideas are alive and well today! That if we just do some things like show up in church, we’re automatically in. Also, that being a Christian is all about MY faith and what’s going on in my heart; my decision and choices; that we don’t have to receive God’s grace in the Word and Sacraments but just have some “personal relationship” with Jesus, whatever that means. Brothers and sisters flee such preaching! Flee such teaching which directs you to trust in what you’ve done or what you have chosen or how you live. Flee such instruction which does not lead you by faith to Jesus Christ but one way or the other has you put your trust in yourself and what you have done. Such a faith can never save! Only Jesus the Son sets us free by giving us His Word to save us.

Against the first false notion of earning grace by works we put the works and merit and life and death and resurrection of Jesus. What Martin Luther learned is what Jesus taught the Jews: “If you remain in my Word then you are truly my disciples and you will know the Truth and the Truth will make you free.” The Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, the teaching and preaching in the church all give us Jesus. Everything in our Christian life is about Him. All that He has done, He has done for you. All that He still does, He does for you. He is the eternal Son of God, begotten of the Father. He is man, born of the flesh of His mother, the Virgin Mary. As a man, Jesus placed Himself under the obligations and demands of the Law. He sinlessly kept all the commandments for you, loving His Father above all things and His neighbor as Himself. Jesus was baptized with sinners, tempted by the devil, accused and condemned by men. He carried our sins to the cross of Calvary and, nailed there, shed His blood for the sins of the world, for your sins and my sins. On that cross, Jesus drank in death and breathed His last, declaring that all things for our salvation and bringing us back to God are finished. He declared that victory triumphantly to the Devil and the powers of Hell. He rose again on the Third Day. He ascended in triumph and then sent the Spirit upon His preachers so that the Word would go forth to save sinners all over the world. All glory, honor, work, accomplishment, belongs to Jesus! The Jews didn’t recognize that Jesus was the center of salvation. The Roman Church and other Protestants speak of Christ while subtly putting the focus on ourselves. But the Holy Scriptures deliver Jesus to us for our salvation.

Now, against the other notion, that we can only be sure of Jesus when we look into our hearts, or in how well we live, against that notion Luther preached and taught plainly that the Lord does not come to us or deal with us or save us in any other way than in His external Word. What do we mean by that? We mean the Gospel and the Sacraments. The four “holies” as they  are called: the Holy Gospel which preaches and teaches what Christ has done for us. Holy Baptism in which God’s Word is joined to water to wash away our sins! Just like Alayna today! At the font, the Name of God is put upon us! Holy Absolution in which the called minister of Christ pronounces forgiveness in the stead and by the command of Jesus. Holy Communion in which our crucified and risen Lord’s body and blood are put into our mouths so that we have forgiveness, life and salvation. Dear Christian, believe this, trust it, that Jesus comes to us in no other way than through His Word and Sacraments. The Jews of Jesus day were proud to be in the family tree of Abraham. But that didn’t save them. Many so called Christians today are convinced that by their own feeling of faith in their hearts or by some way of living, they prove they are Christians. Such ways of thinking leave us no comfort. The Gospel and Sacraments, however, are all the comfort in the world. They show us exactly where Jesus is and teach us to be absolutely confident and certain that our sins are forgiven and the Lord is no longer our enemy but our Savior. He is no longer the Judge who will condemn but the Lord who has brought us into His kingdom of righteousness. Through the Gospel and the Sacraments, you can be certain that you are Jesus’ disciples and that He has set you free from sin and death. So be in church! Not because showing up makes you holy. But because Jesus’ church t is the only place you can be certain that your sins are forgiven and you have a heavenly Father in Jesus.

Finally, now that the Gospel has come clear in the church, now that we understand that the forgiveness of sins is a free gift of God, accomplished by Jesus and delivered in the Gospel and Sacraments, we can have a right view of God’s Law and Commandments. Now, instead of thinking the Law is just rules to keep to avoid hell, we can learn and believe that the Law teaches us how best to love and care for our neighbor. Martin Luther became a monk because he wanted to avoid hell. He left the world where he could serve his neighbor so he could try to save himself by his life cut off from the world. What joy that he learned later on to come back into the world and work hard to preach faithfully to his congregation, to be married and so care for his wife and children. You, dear Christian, have been set free from the Law and its judgment against your sins. Now, learn from the Commandments what your neighbor needs you to do: to love your husband or wife; to care for and teach your children; to work honestly at your job; to help those in any kind of need. Because you are no longer slaves of sin! You have been set free by the Son to be a servant to your neighbor.

Martin Luther became a free man in Christ by the power of the Holy Gospel. In that Gospel, God’s righteousness was revealed through the faith of Jesus Christ. It’s all about Jesus and His work to save sinners. Now you are set free. Set free from thinking your works can earn you God’s smile. Jesus has done this by His life, death and resurrection. Now you are set free from looking in your heart or life or other strange places to find Jesus. He comes to you clearly and for certain from the font, altar and pulpit. Now you are set free from using the Law as a ladder to get up to God. Rather, the Law becomes your guide in knowing what holy and good works your neighbor needs you to do for them. Remain in this Word, dear Christians, and you are truly His disciples. Because His Word makes it so. His Word gives you Jesus Himself. And Jesus has set you free from sin and death. Go in peace. Happy Reformation! Amen.

by The Rev. Brent Kuhlman

Matthew 3:13-17

What’s Jesus doing? Obviously, He didn’t get the memo. Someone call the bouncers before He gets past John and jumps into that water! This is no way to start your ministry Jesus! After all, you’re the Christ!

Stop right there Jesus! John’s baptism is for sinners. For the low lives and losers of the world. For critter crooks who have lots for which to repent. You don’t Jesus. These scum need to have their sins washed away. But not you Jesus. You’re the sinless royal Son of God!

So don’t go there Jesus! You’re not a sinner. You’ve got no sins to confess. The Jordan River banks are full of rotten to the core criminal sinners. This water swarms with the reeky and venomous sins of bottom feeders. You should not be here Jesus! You’re better than this! Hey John! A little help here! Don’t give your consent to this! You just got done calling the religious wig heads a brood of vipers. Surely you can stand up to your cousin. Talk Jesus into baptizing you instead. Thanks for listening, John.

The Lord doesn’t listen to you or me. Won’t be deterred by John. He’s bullish. Goes right ahead and does the unthinkable.

Steps right into that sin-infested water! It reeks of sin! Enough to make you retch! Polluted with every kind of noxious sin from every sinner that John’s baptized. You name it and Jesus is hip deep in it. Idolatry. Adultery. Immorality. Rape. Murder. Theft. Abortion. Cursing. Hate. Greed. Prejudice. Lying. Unforgiveness. Love of the self. Self-justification.

Jesus jumps right into that toxic water! Rancid! Putrid! Rotten! Malignant! With nothing at all to protect Him! No sin resistant water suit. No sin protective goggles. He dives in completely unprotected. His Body is covered with it all.

Downright disgusting isn’t it? We’d never do anything like this. Not even on Fear Factor.

And yet God the Father is delighted. So is the Holy Spirit. Thrilled that Jesus receives this baptism. Elated that He’s washed with this sin-plagued water. That He is drenched in it up to His armpits.

We’re repulsed. We’d run away. The Father attends. The Holy Spirit descends. All heaven breaks wide open. “Here is my Son. I love Him. I couldn’t be more pleased.”

We’d try to save Jesus from this poisonous sin-infected water. After all, this sin-polluted water will kill Jesus!

Precisely! Now you’ve got the hang of it! The sins in the water will kill Him!

Don’t you get it? In His Baptism He’s taking the sin of the world in His Body. He’s going to shoulder it all – soak it all in like a sponge — all the way to Calvary. Where He does His very good Good Friday. Answering for the world’s sins. Dying as the sinner in your place.

He’s come as the Christ to claim all sin as His own in the water. And then take that sin and its full punishment on the Cross. That’s death and hell for Him. That’s salvation for you. Behold, His Jordan River Baptism fulfills all righteousness. Jesus takes your sin — the world’s sin — to do the Good Friday job that only He can do.

No wonder the Father’s not offended. He loves His Savior-ing The World Son as He saviors the world in this particular way.

What a Savior! You are Good Friday-ed and Easter Sunday-ed. You are baptized into Christ’s atoning death for you.

You are holied. You are Holy Spirit-ed. Washed. Reborn. Forgiven. Heaven cracked wide open for you at your baptism. Now listen to what the Father says about you: “For Christ’s sake you are My child! I love you who are washed clean and born again in Holy Baptism! I couldn’t be more pleased with you!”

Aren’t you glad John consented to baptize Jesus in the Jordan? And isn’t it just wonderful that your parents brought you for Holy Baptism? Absolutely!

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

This sermon was preached at the Opening Divine Service at the 2016 Bread of Life Higher Things® conferences.

Rev. George F. Borghardt

In the Name of Jesus. Amen. “Take the Lamb. Kill the Lamb. Eat the Lamb. Put the Lamb’s blood on the doorpost. Remember the Sacrifice. Be saved by Me.” It is the Lord’s Passover! You see, the thing you most need to fear in this life isn’t the devil or the world. No, be scared of God. God is the One from whom you need to be saved!

The Lord God isn’t a cuddly teddy bear or an old Santa-Claus-like-Grandpa God. He’s not a best friend God (“BFG”) or the type of God that you Snapchat with or whatever new-fangled social media thing that you young whippersnappers play with on your phones. No, the Lord God is the destroyer of sin and sinners. He’s the unstoppable force and the immovable object who is not just “salty” about sin, He’s burning with hell-hot anger and hatred against it and those who sin. He’s a jealous God, visiting the sins on the third and fourth generation of those who hate Him.

Think about that the next time you dismiss your sins as a nothing or do something because you think that God will just forgive you afterwards. The fires of hell say that the Lord God isn’t manipulated like that.

But you won’t see that angry God in the Passover Lamb! For the Lord God launches Himself on the night of the Passover at the Egyptians to open a can of Old Testament judgment on every male firstborn both man and beast who gets in the way of His being your God.

Take the Lamb—”a pure one” He says. Don’t get “chintzy” with the God of Israel and pick out a three-legged lamb or one with spots. It must be a perfect lamb, a spotless lamb. Kill the Lamb at twilight. Take the Lamb’s blood and paint it on the door post with a hyssop branch.

Then, eat all of the Lamb. Consume it with bitter herbs, remembering your suffering. Have shoes on your feet, clothes tucked in, staff in hand, and ready to go. When the Lord arrives He’s going to save you. For when the Lord God saw the lambs’ blood on the doorposts of the children of Israel’s houses, He passed over their homes. They were saved from His wrath, saved from Him.

“Take the Lamb. Kill the Lamb. Eat the Lamb. Remember the Blood on the doorpost. You were once slaves and I freed you.”

And so, the children of Israel celebrated the Lord’s Passover every year until…Good Friday. On the night when He was betrayed Jesus saves you from the wrath of the Father for your slavery to sin.

God Himself chooses His own Passover Lamb: one Lamb for everyone, for all time—a perfect Lamb, without blemish or spot. He chooses Jesus.

The Lord God Himself is the Passover Lamb on this night—slain at twilight. God only punishes one Firstborn for you: All the anger and hatred that God has for every sin for all time fell upon His Son, His only-begotten, Jesus on the Cross. Jesus died. You live.

Here our true Paschal Lamb we see,
Whom God so freely gave us;
He died on the accursed tree—
So strong His love—to save us.
– Christ Jesus Lay in Death’s Strong Bands, LSB 458:5

And the God who punishes, whose anger consumes and burns hot like the sun, passes over punishing you. Jesus dies—His blood covering you in Holy Baptism. You live and love in Him, blessed to the thousandth generation. By grace, received—that is eaten—by faith alone.

Take, eat the Body of the slain Lamb of God. Eat the Lamb’s Body. Be forgiven. Receive His sacrifice in the Bread of Life. Take, drink the cup. Receive His Blood shed on the Cross. Drink the Blood of the Lamb and be forgiven.

That’s how you “Do this in remembrance of Me!” You eat His Body! You drink His Blood! You receive His Calvary-sacrifice. “For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup you proclaim the Passover Lamb’s death until He comes again.”

And the Children of Israel left plundering Egypt—with the grieving Egyptians throwing their valuables at them in hopes that the Israelites would stay gone forever and take their firstborn-slaughtering God with them.

And you, today, feasting on the Body and Blood of God’s slaughtered and raised-from-the-dead-First-Born Son plunder all your enemies, too. Death, Satan, Hell…these can no more harm you than they can harm Christ. They are stingless and toothless against Christ. So, they are stingless and toothless against you. For you have already been marked: doorpost, lintel, forehead, heart, in the waters of Holy Baptism.

See, His blood now marks our door;
Faith points to it; death passes o’er.
And Satan cannot harm us. Alleluia! – LSB 458:5

And God can’t harm you either. In the Passover Lamb, He now calls you “His child.” And in the Body and Blood of Jesus, you call Him your “Heavenly Father.” No more wrath. No more judgment. No more hell. Only forgiveness, eternal life, and love for those around you.

For this is the Lord’s Passover: His Body broken for you and His Blood shed on the Cross for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. Receive it. Eat Jesus’ sacrifice. Be forgiven. Be saved.

“And the Body and Blood of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will strengthen and keep you steadfast in the One True Faith unto life everlasting. Depart in peace!” In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. George F. Borghardt is Senior Pastor of Zion Lutheran Church in McHenry, IL. He also serves as President on the Higher Things Board of Directors.

Rev. Joel Fritsche

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. So what’s the lesson here? We could talk about faith. Elijah was in hiding after prophesying drought and famine to evil King Ahab in Israel. Yahweh, the Lord, had sent Elijah east of the Jordan to the brook Cherith. There God promised to provide for him miraculously. He could drink from the brook and ravens would bring him bread and meat. It happened just as the Lord said, according to His Word. Next, the Lord sent him to a widow out in the Gentile territory of Sidon. Again the Lord promised to provide for Elijah in a miraculous way. Widows didn’t typically have much. How would she feed him, especially in the midst of famine? But it happened again, just as the Lord said, according to the word He spoke to Elijah. Each time Elijah stepped out in faith.

What about the widow? Well, she stepped out in faith, too. She and her son were down to a smidgeon of flour and oil. She was ready to bake a little cake—a last meal of sorts for her and her son. They would eat it and then it would be death by starvation.

But along comes the prophet, the Lord’s mouthpiece to speak His promises. And so Elijah does just that. He gives a command, but one with a concrete promise: “Go ahead, bake that little cake, but first give some to me, then some for you and your son. THUS SAYS THE LORD, the flour and oil shall not run out until I send rain upon the earth.” So the widow took a leap of faith and look what God did. And the oil and flour didn’t run out.

Wow! We have a lot to work with here. I mean, here we are in Nashville. We might even have a great country song on our hands. Tragedy! Certain death! Miracles! A widow! A momma and her boy! Biscuits! We could write a real whopper of a faith- inspiring tale of tragedy to triumph. And isn’t that just what YOU need so that YOU can step out in faith, too? And if you do? Won’t the good Lord pour out His blessings upon you? He took care of Elijah. He took care of the widow and her son. You’re next. If you just obey Him, trust Him and take that leap of faith, imagine what God will do for you.

Guys, that’s how texts like this one are often universally applied, preached and taught. But’s that’s not right. Now hold on. I’m not against obedience. I’m not saying Christians can’t step out in faith and trust to take bold action. However, look at the text. Elijah had a specific promise under specific circumstances in a specific place. Hiding from Ahab and his wicked wife, Jezebel, the Lord sent Elijah to Zarephath and promised to provide for him. Same goes for the widow. Elijah spoke to her what the Lord promised about flour and oil.

If we’re going to make taking a leap of faith the central theme, what do we make of how the story continues after the text? The widow’s son dies and she blames Elijah—that he came to rub her sins in her face. Okay, so God does another miracle and raises him back to life. That’s cool. But you can’t help but recognize that faith wavers. And look at Elijah, despite God’s miraculous provision, despite later seeing God’s power over the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel, his faith wavered at times, too. He feared for his life. Would God protect him from Jezebel? At one point he just wanted to die. That’s how it goes for sinners, even the Lord’s prophets. We go from faith and trust to weakness and despair.

Still, all too often we think that if we just show the Lord how faithful we are, He should pour on the goodness. And so we tend to focus on the promises that just aren’t there instead of the promise that is. Yes, there were plenty of times when our Lord commended the faith of certain individuals in the Scriptures. He even once commended the faith of a Syrophoenician woman in the same region where Elijah met the widow.

Surely He’ll commend my faith, hold me up as an example, reward me. But in the reality, this is how the devil works to snuff out faith, by pulling you away from what is specific and concrete, a promise from God to you, for you, to whatever else strikes your fancy, whatever you think God should be doing for you at the moment. Repent!

God has provided so much more for you, dear Christian. As always, God has the bigger picture in view. He provided for the widow of Zarephath and her son in a way she didn’t even fully recognize. In fact, God was actually at work for the salvation of the world. God was sustaining His prophet, Elijah, the mouthpiece of His promise to save humanity from sin and death. God called Elijah to speak hope in the midst of the reign of one of Israel’s most evil kings, the dynamic duo of Ahab and Jezebel. God was keeping alive the promise FOR YOU, the same promise given to our first parents, Adam and Eve, after the fall, the promise a Savior. It’s a concrete promise of salvation for you.

Through His prophets of old, from Elijah to Isaiah and Jeremiah, God revealed more and more about the Savior of His fallen people, until the greater Elijah came in the fullness of time: Jesus Christ, more than a prophet, more than a miracle worker. Oh, He did miracles, too. He even fed 5,000 people from a little bit of bread and a couple of fish.

Still, some only wanted a miracle worker, a bread king, but God was doing something so much bigger. Your Jesus was ready to die, to give His life in payment for your sins and the sins of the world. That’s just what He did on the cross—a concrete promise of salvation for you, promise fulfilled, a promise that never runs out.

God provided for His prophet Elijah through the most helpless person imaginable: a widow on the brink of death. But that’s how God works. Through the death of His only Son, He provides for you. To the water in a little vessel at the font of Holy Baptism, He’s attached His very concrete, specific promise and He’s given you to drink the water of life that never runs dry.

Through a morsel of bread and a sip of wine, He feeds you with His very own Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar, that you may eat and drink and not die, but live. Oh, you’re ready to die, to depart in peace, but God’s promise to you in Christ, is that believing in Him, even though you die, you live.

We can talk about faith until we’re blue in the face. But far better for you is the promise, the Jesus, the Bread of Life come down from heaven, who sustains you in the way, by whom you live and move and have your being. He is God’s concrete, specific promise for you. Take, eat, this is My Body! Take, drink, this is My Blood. And so it is for you, according to His Word. Eat and live forever! In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Joel Fritsche serves as a career missionary of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod in the Dominican Republic. He is also the Secretary of the Higher Things Board of Directors.

Rev. Brett Simek

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

A little less than a year and a half ago, my life changed forever. In about a week, the way I viewed myself, my relationship with my wife, my parents and siblings, and her parents and siblings changed. Even my relationship with God changed in just one week. A little less than a year and a half ago, my life changed forever when my son was born. When he was born, he had to go into the newborn intensive care unit because he had fluid in his lungs and wasn’t getting the oxygen he needed. His lungs cleared up after a couple days and he was fine, but he had to stay in the hospital for a week because they were giving him medicine just in case.

So for a week, I stood over his crib in the hospital telling myself, my wife, and my new son what the doctors had told me, “He is fine.” But no matter how many times I said it, out loud or in my head, I couldn’t shake the fear and feeling of being powerless to help my son as he lay motionless, sleeping in that crib attached to those machines. It is a fear and a feeling and an emotion that I pray no parent ever has to feel, but it is a fear, a feeling and an emotion that I imagine Jairus felt as he saw his daughter dying and as he got news of her death. But as Jesus stands over lifeless children, He is not powerless, but…

Jesus gives life and food to the lifeless.

Any and every death is tragic. Whether it is a friend, an acquaintance, a parent, or a spouse, death is hard. But there is perhaps no harder death to endure than the death of a child. Ask any parent what they fear the most, and I would guess many of them would say the death of their child. And the death of a child before they are born is no easier. A stillborn child is a child all the same. Yet we are all stillborn children. We are all dead, not from our birth, but from our very conception. We are born, even conceived in sin. We are dead in our trespasses and sins from the very moment we are alive, from the very moment of conception.

We are conceived and born dead in our sin, lifeless and powerless to escape its grip on us. There is nothing we can do. There is nothing our parents can do that can save us from this death. There is nothing Jairus could do to save his daughter from her approaching death, and he knew it. So he, and we, look to the one place, to the one person, we know that can do something about it. And Jesus comes, and He stands over the lifeless body of this little girl, who is dead, and He says, “Little girl, I say to you, arise.” And by His word, Jesus brings life to the lifeless and tells them to feed her.

And as your parents and your church stood over your lifeless, sinful body, Jesus washed you with water and spoke to you through your pastor and said, “In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit I baptize you and say to you arise,” and life and faith is brought to the lifeless, faithless, powerless sinner. From the baptismal font you arise, a new creation, a new child, not of sin and death, but of God. You are a child to be fed with the Word of God, brought up and taught the faith, and fed with the very Body and Blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

It is by that very Body and Blood that you are given life. In His flesh and blood Jesus says to this girl, “arise,” and He says to you, “arise.” For in His flesh and blood Jesus has taken on your sin and death. He met it head on at His cross where He died for you. And His lifeless body was taken from the cross and placed into the grave. And as His Father stood over His lifeless body, He said, “Arise. You are righteous and holy.” And rising from the dead, Jesus puts death to death and gives life to the lifeless, to you and to me.

And one day, our bodies will lay lifeless again. One day, after living our lives of sin and repentance, our sin will overcome us, we will breath our last, and the life will go out of us. Sinful child of God as you are, your Father will get the news, “Your child is dead.” And our lifeless, sinful bodies will be laid to rest, to sleep in our graves.

One day, you will die and your death will be mourned-at least, for a little while…at least, until your Father stands over the bed where your lifeless body lays. And in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye and with the sound of the trumpet, Jesus will say to you, again, “Arise!” And you and all the dead will be raised in a resurrection like His. And the Father will say to you, “You are holy and righteous. Your sins have been forgiven for the sake of My Son. You shall live. Give him something to eat.” And you will be given life and food and seated at the marriage feast of the Lamb and His kingdom to eat and drink for all eternity. You will be granted your crown of life, never to die, never to sin again, but to sit with Jesus in eternal pleasure. So “do not fear, only believe,” that Jesus gives life and food to you. Amen.

Rev. Brett Simek is pastor of Hope Lutheran Church in Jerseyville, IL. This sermon was preached at Bread of Life in Nashville, TN.

Rev. Joel Fritsche

Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him. – Matthew 4:11.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Three times Satan tempts our Lord, but each time without success. It’s not Adam with whom he is contending. It’s the Second Adam, conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Even the Word of God, though twisted and misapplied, can’t deceive the very Word made flesh. Thanks be to God for that!

But temptation, even for our Lord, the sinless Son of God, is no easy business. Forty days without food, three times tempted, despite the devil’s flight, Jesus must have been sapped. St. Matthew tells us that angels came and ministered to Him. Thanks be to God for that, too! In the Garden of Gethsemane, His soul was sorrowful to the point of death, knowing what was to come. Then, when His betrayer comes with the chief priests, temple officers and elders, Peter draws his sword and strikes. But Jesus replies, “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and he will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then should the Scriptures be fulfilled, that it must be so?” (Matthew 27:53-54). No attending angels this time, Jesus forges ahead!

To be sure, Matthew 4:11 wasn’t the end of Satan’s barrage. Maybe it was for the moment, but surely he returned to take another stab. There’s no account of another direct faceoff between Jesus and Satan in the Scriptures per se, but consider the cross. There Satan pulled out his “Hail Mary.” It came in his assaults hidden behind the words of the passersby, the chief priests, scribes and elders, and even the robbers crucified with Him: “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself! If you are the Son of God, come down from the cross…He saved others; he cannot save himself. He is the King of Israel; let him come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him. He trusts in God; let God deliver him now, if he desires him. For he said, ‘I am the Son of God'” (Matthew 27:40-43).

Satan’s defeat came around the ninth hour when Jesus cried out with a loud voice and yielded up His spirit (Matthew 27:50). St. John records the words, “It is finished” (John 19:30). Don’t read Matthew 4 apart from that, lest it become some lesson in fighting off the devil’s cunning wiles. That’s not the Gospel. As awesome as that scene is–seeing the devil flee so early in the ministry of our Lord–it’s not the end. Read it through the victory of the cross. Then receive the victory that is yours by faith in Christ.

To read Matthew 4 apart from the cross is to think that you can charge into Lent with the right tools for victory. We don’t march into Lent with Jesus standing on the sidelines cheering us on. I don’t really think we march at all. We’re on a course for the cross, led by the One who conquered Satan by dying there.

When your soul is sorrowful, beaten down by your failures to win the battle over the tempter, it’s Christ’s victory–His cross-won forgiveness that wins not only the day, but the battle itself, even as it rages on in your daily life. Satan has no “Hail Mary” left. Your “Hail Marys” and even your “Our Fathers” aren’t enough to do the job.

In my house we struggle as a family to get along, to live in peace under the same roof. It’s five sinners battling it out day in and day out. Are we terrible Christians? Are we Christians at all? I’m tempted to wonder. My boys are at each other’s throats, fighting over toys, arguing over who gets to sit in the front seat, even having it out over who gets to pray. Wow! I lose my cool all too often. My wife shakes her head in dismay. What’s wrong with us?! We pray the “Our Father” at least twice a day–even in Spanish for crying out loud. We pray for the Holy Spirit to help us be patient with one another, love one another and forgive one another. What’s the deal? Are we simply not sincere enough?

We’re right to pray such things: “Lead us not into temptation…Deliver us from evil.” Yes! These are blessed gifts from the Lord. Pray. Use God’s Word rightly to fend off Satan. But know that he’ll be back. He will always be back. Part of his deception is that he wants you to try and fight him off. He knows that you can’t win. He’s battle-hungry. He wants the easy fight. He wants Jesus not to be your Savior, but your cheerleader, standing on the sidelines telling you that you can do it. He knows that’s the best way to beat you down.

Yes, you have the gift of prayer, even the prayer that the Lord Jesus Himself taught us to pray. Pray. You have the Scriptures. Use them. But even more, you have the Word made flesh. He is the Angel of the Lord who comes to minister to you with His holy gifts. In the daily struggle you have His Baptism–His name upon you–to which you return daily in repentance and faith. You have His absolution, the sweet declaration that your sins are forgiven in the name of Jesus. You have His Supper, the very Body and Blood which have already vanquished the foe. Through these means you have not only the strength you need in the fight, but also the victory and the Victor Himself.

Tired? Hungry? Throw yourself down. Fall down and worship. March-no-crawl into Lent in all of your weakness. For in that weakness is all the victory you need.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Joel Fritsche serves as a missionary to the Dominican Republic. He is also Secretary of the Higher Things® Board of Directors. You can find out more about the Fritsches and what they’re doing in the Dominican Republic at http://www.lcms.org/fritsche.