Category: Higher Homilies

Rev. Rich Heinz

Ephesians 2:1-10

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“We will watch your career with great interest,” says the newly-elected Chancellor Palpatine. You can hear the schmoozing and insincerity in his voice. And years later he declares, “Everything that has transpired has done so according to my design.” He prepared situations, events, and placed the right people in the right locations at the right times to do what he devised. And Anakin and others unknowingly did the works which Palpatine prepared in advance for them to do.

Yes, the Galactic Emperor is fiction, and yes, he is evil. So Perhaps he is not the best example of this. Yet we can see that the works were not necessarily Anakin’s, or anyone else’s; they were the Emperor’s, who prepared them for others to do.

The Lord God has GIVEN you Baptism and called you by grace – out of His holy and perfect love and mercy that is completely undeserved. He has GIVEN you faith. He has GIVEN you His Gospel and His Absolution that speaks Christ into your ears and into your hearts. He has GIVEN you His Holy Supper so that Christ enters your body with forgiveness, life, and salvation.

These GIVEN things are precisely what you confess when you declare: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” The trouble is, this is where you usually cut it off. The passage you learned by heart typically stops with verse 9. But wait! There’s more!

“For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Hold on, Pastor. We are saved by faith alone, not by works.

You are right. Martin Luther once quipped that we are saved by faith alone, however, he said, faith is never alone. Where there is faith, the littlest thing is a good work. Washing dishes for your family, taking out the trash, defending your classmate from slander on FaceBook, these are just a few examples of good works that God has prepared in advance for you.

Although face it, are you always doing these with a pure heart and in sincere faith? Not a chance. Like Anakin serving Palpatine, you can have wrong motives. Your heart is not always in it. Even if you might have the good of someone else in mind, such as trying to save your wife from dying, in the end, so much is motivated by selfishness. You fail to be perfect in these works of love.

And teaming up with you is the old evil foe. Satan tries to give you gifts too – gifts of doubt, gifts of self-centeredness, gifts of anger, fear, and aggression. These gifts are really burdens of evil. Your flawed human nature is attracted to these gifts, and would rather pursue them with your own works than receive the free gift of salvation in Christ.

That is why God does not leave this up to you. He has reached out and redeemed you by the precious suffering and death of Jesus. He has delivered that redemption to you through His Holy Gifts of the Means of Grace.

And He does not save you on the basis of your works. He does not even demand them as a follow-up to redeeming you. Yet He produces them in your life of faith. He provides the works and the opportunities – He even provides the will to do these things that He “prepared in advance for [you] to do.”

Have no fear. God watches you with great interest, but the Lord is not scheming and not requiring good works of you. He has GIVEN them to you! He does them through you and your brothers and sisters in Christ. He even does them when you least expect it. Rejoice and be glad. This morning’s text is not some Law-requirement that you do something. No. It is a joyful declaration of the Gospel, and delivers God’s forgiveness and peace as He reminds you of the good works that He gives you, and to you.

Isaiah 42:1-9

You didn’t even ask.  You didn’t even merit it.  And you probably thought you could do without.

But the Lord interrupts your life.  The Lord speaks up when you’d rather be talking, texting, tweeting or facebooking.  He has something to say.  He preaches a sermon.  The old fashioned way.  No Apple iPhone 4 message.  A word from His mouth.  And He’s in a giving mood.  Always is.  And the sermon? “Look here everyone!  Behold, my servant!  I’ve chosen Him!  I’m absolutely delighted with Him!  And He’s my gift – to you!”

Did you catch that?  The Lord gives you – A SERVANT!  How odd.  God gives a Servant.  His Son.  Jesus.  For you.  A sinner.

What will you do with this gift?  Take advantage of Him?  Abuse or spurn the gift?  Mock the gift? Would you rather not have Him interrupt your life?  And so make plans to eliminate Him?  What was that you said?  Was it … “Crucify Him”?  “Crucify Him”? That was you, wasn’t it?  You handed the Roman soldiers the hammer and the nails, didn’t you?  Didn’t you offer your assistance to hoist up the cross with the Servant Gift hanging on it?  As He screamed in immense agony and then died?   

The answer’s yes.  Yes you did.  And so did I.  We’re responsible for hanging Servant Jesus there.  You and I crucified Him!  

And yet the Father who created the heavens, who spread out the earth, who gives breath to all living things, is still delighted!

With Jesus!  His gift to you.  Servant Jesus.  Who came not to be served but TO SERVE and to give His life into death for you!  

Behold a “new thing.”  We don’t go to God.  God comes to us.  The Father’s only begotten Son is conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the Virgin Mary.  Immanuel – God with us.  Christmas Gift Servant Jesus.  To save you from your sins.

How?  Good Friday.  You meant it for evil.  But He uses it for good.  Your eternal good.  He just goes ahead and does the Friday we now call “Good.”  Your sin is His.  He answered for it that day.  All of it.  He left none out.  His Blood cleanses you from all sin.  

Yes, that’s right.  I said it.  All!  You name the sin.  Little.  Big.  Or if you’d rather not – it doesn’t matter – it’s all taken care of in Servant Jesus.

Behold a “new thing.”  Servant Jesus interrupted your life.  Called you by the gospel!  Took you by the hand, gave you His holy name, and washed you clean at the font.  Comes right into your midst and sets you free from the chains of your sin and death by saying:  “I forgive you.  I died for you.”  And then He invites you to His supper table.  He speaks something very new.  What had never been said before:  “Bread.  Eat it.  My body given for you.  This cup of wine.  Drink it.  It is the new testament in my blood. My promise – my absolute promise – that I don’t hold your sins against you.”

No wonder the Father says:  “Have you seen my Servant!  I chose Him.  And I’m so delighted with Him!”  Because Servant Jesus is His gift to you.  The one and only gift of salvation.  And because of Jesus – He is most pleased with you.

In the Name of Jesus.

Gen 2:4-7; 1 Pet 1:13-23; Jn 3:13-21

In Nomine Iesu

“Oh, you shouldn’t have. No, really, you shouldn’t have. It’s too nice. It’s too expensive. I don’t deserve it. You shouldn’t have bothered. Why did you do this? Wow. I’m totally blown away by this! You really shouldn’t have.”

Isn’t that how it sounds when we receive an unexpected gift? “You shouldn’t have.” Why? Because now I have to give you something back. Because now I’m obligated to you. Because now there is a debt between me and you.

We’re natural-born transactionalists. Deal-cutters. Bargainers. When we give gifts, it’s to get something in return. Isn’t it? Guys? Hmmmm? We bribe. We bargain. We butter up. We control and manipulate. “If you really loved me, you’d buy me that ring.” “How do I love thee, let me count the ways: One carat, two carats, three carats, more.”

Thusly God loved the world: He gave Jesus. This is His love: He sent His only-begotten Son into the world, into our flesh, born of a Virgin, born under Law, to redeem the world, to buy it back, not with gold or silver, but with His holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. Not to condemn the world but to save it.

It’s not a deal, it’s a gift. God loved the world in His Son. God gave His Son to the world. A gift given. Wrapped in swaddling clothes. Hung on a cross. Raised from the dead. It’s a fact whether you believe it or not, want it or not, like it or not.

God gave Adam life. Body and breath. He breathed into Adam’s clay His breath of life and Adam became a living being. It’s one of the most remarkable verses of the Bible,and I defy anyone to rationalize it. There was no transaction. No bargaining. No deal. Just lifeless clay and the breath of God. Divine CPR.

God has given you body and breath too. Not out of the mud, but from your mother and father. Biologically reasonable, yes, but no less mysterious. We know about the genetic code and conception and all that, but we are no less fearfully and wonderfully made. Your eyes, your ears, your parts, your reason, your senses, your psychology, your intellect, your intuition, our talents. All are gifts from your Giver God.

Adam and Eve refused the gift, and you know the story. It’s written in Genesis 3 and also in your life. The rebel will. The refusal to be given to. The gift used against God. That’s what evil is. God’s good used against God. A tree becomes a weapon of defiance; its fruit the sacrament of death. “On the day you eat of it, you will surely die.” “You will be dead to me. Adam, where are you? Where are YOU?”

They loved darkness rather than light; themselves rather than God; the devil’s instead of God’s truth. You know the outcome. Ashamed, hiding, fearful, accusing each other, accusing God.

We love the darkness. We love the deal. We love the notion that we are gods and that we have God wrapped around our little fingers. We love the idea that we can be like gods. Some people think they are. What better religion can there be than one where you are a god? We love the notion that we can work our way up the ladder, and we’ll devise ladders small enough for us to climb. Oh we love the darkness for what it hides. We hide from each other and from God.

You too. Your inner sinner, the old Adam, Adam 1.0, loves the darkness, the shelter the darkness affords for sin. Who will see when no one is watching? Who will know when no one has knowledge? Who will judge when you don’t get caught? God does. His light penetrates the darkness of sin and death, exposing the evil and bringing it into the truth.

Here is the truth: God gave His Son. This is His love for the world, for you. Behold, the Lamb slain and living whose blood pays the price for your sin, whose death conquers your death, whose life is your life. It’s all given, to be received by faith, simple trust that it is finished, it is so. This is the judgment: Light or darkness, life or death, Jesus or self. “He who believes, who trusts, is not condemned; he who does not believe, does not trust, is condemned already.” Believe it, my friends, believe it. Trust this Jesus who saved you. He is all you have and all you need. He is given you.

He gives you His gifts. You were dead in trespasses and sin. You still are, in yourself. Dead as dead can be. The Law says so. Your sins are the hard evidence. But God breathed life into you. New life. The Spirit. In your Baptism you were born anew from above. As you had no choice in your first birth, so there is no choice here either. Baptism is not a deal but a gift. Forgiveness, life, salvation – all are given you in water and Word. And again in Absolution, given you in the word of forgiveness. And still more in the Supper, His death destroying, sin forgiving, life sustaining body and blood given you in your own mouth, His words ringing in your own ears. “Sinner, I have not come to condemn you but to save you.”

God can’t help Himself. He loves to give. He loves giving out gifts to His children. And He loves when His children receive His gifts. It is the Father’s joy that you receive the gifts of creation, the gift of His Son, the gift of salvation, the gift of the Spirit and new life and adoption and the opportunity to call Him Father with delight.

So what do you say to such gifts? What can say? “Oh, you shouldn’t have?” Of course not! Simply Amen! Gifts received with joy and thanksgiving. This is most certainly true.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Mark Buetow

People often think that by ascending into heaven, Jesus has gone away from us. He was here on earth and now He’s “up there” somewhere and isn’t really around until He comes again. But pay close attention to what Luke wrote down in the book of Acts: “A cloud hid Him from their sight.” The Bible doesn’t say that Jesus went away when He ascended. It says they couldn’t see Him anymore. But if Christ isn’t gone then where is He? That is answered in St. Mark’s Gospel in which Jesus gives His apostles the command to preach the Gospel to every creature. And so they did, writes Mark, “the Lord working with them.” When Jesus ascends and is hidden, it is only to be hidden to our eyes so that instead, by the preaching of the Gospel, He would go to the ends of the earth. Before Elijah was taken away in the fiery chariot, he ordained Elisha to be the preacher after him. Before our Lord’s Ascension, He ordained His Apostles to preach the Gospel and Baptize. Understand this: the big deal is not that Jesus Himself is here speaking to us but that His Word is delivered into our ears whether its by His own mouth or the mouths of His preachers. The Good News of the forgiveness of sins is what our Lord gave to His preachers to deliver to the world.

Jesus’ Ascension is the celebration and seal of His work for sinners and it is the beginning of the delivery of that forgiveness. Christ’s perfect life and His bloody death have destroyed the power of sin and the power of Satan to accuse us before God. His resurrection from the dead stripped Death of its power. Now His ascension means that all our righteousness is kept safe for us and no one can take it away from us. Imagine the big tall kid holding the ball while the little kid jumps up and down trying to grab it and can’t. So it is with our salvation and righteousness. It is kept safe by Jesus so that the Devil can’t snatch it away! Our Lord Himself holds on to your righteousness in heaven so that nothing can take it away from you. It is this forgiveness and salvation that is splashed upon you at the holy font; spoken into your ears by preaching and absolution and fed into your mouth with Christ’s own body and blood! These earthly gifts that are given to us with Christ’s Word attached have His promise that where they are given out faithfully, He Himself is there. Jesus isn’t far away in outer space somewhere! He’s right here, on earth, in His church. Hidden to our eyes, true, but plainly visible to the eyes of faith. And you have this promise that everything He gives you in this life: Baptism, Absolution, the Gospel, the Supper, all have the crucified, risen and ascended Jesus standing behind them so that their promises smash any opposition of Satan and cannot be overcome!

Notice that after Jesus ascended, the Apostles weren’t sad. They rejoiced! They were happy! And what did they do? They worshiped! The angels preached that Christ will come again. His Ascension reminds us that just as He departed, so He will come again and one day Jesus will again be seen with our eyes. But until that day, we aren’t sad. We rejoice! And we worship. Until Christ comes again we worship. And “worship” just means we receive Christ where He has promised to be: in His church in His Word and Sacraments. That’s why the angel’s say, “Why are you looking up into the sky?” You don’t look for Jesus “up there.” You don’t look for Him just anywhere. You look for Him where He has promised to be: in His church in the means of grace. There He comes to you and will never leave you. Here He comes and delivers His forgiveness, life and salvation which can never be snatched away from you! On this day, Christ ascended on high! Not to get away from us! But so that He would be with us always and among us to forgive and save us right here where His Word is. All thanks and praise and glory be to our Lord Jesus Christ who has conquered all our enemies and now lives and reigns on high at the right hand of the Father while yet dwelling among us in His holy church through His holy gifts. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Rich Heinz

John 10:22-30

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

“Hear My voice.”  Have you ever watched a baby’s reaction to his mother’s voice?  He reacts.  He turns toward his mother, and is soothed by the comfort of His mother’s voice.  He has heard her from within the womb, and finds comfort and nurture and care in her voice. 

Dr. Shinichi Suzuki recognized the importance of listening, even when we are not aware of it.  He stressed the importance of listening to a piece of music over and over to help in learning to play it.  Playing that same piece well is aided immensely by repeatedly listening to it played well.  And he even noted instances when children recognized pieces of music in utero. 

The same is true for the pastor’s voice.  A family that comes to the Lord’s house throughout pregnancy, will have a child that recognizes his pastor’s voice, and responds.  Like his mother, the infant finds comfort and nurture and care in the voice of his pastor.  And even if not from infancy, the more a person gathers around Christ’s gifts in the Church, the more he will know the voice of the Shepherd, and the more he is nourished and known by Christ, and thus follow Him. 

In Holy Baptism, the Good Shepherd stretched His hand out over the waters, and pulled you to Himself.  He called you by name, placing His own Name upon you, and brought you to hear His voice.  As God’s new, baptized creature, you recognize His voice through His Sacred Scriptures, as well as the voice of His servant through whom He speaks to you. 

Yet you do not always want to listen.  There are many voices out there competing with the Lord, and to the sinful mind, sometimes they sound better.  In fact, sometimes your own voice sounds better to your sinful self. 

The contestant stares blankly, dumbfounded.  “No.  I am the best,” she thinks.  “I am the next American Idol!  These judges don’t know what they are talking about.  They don’t know real talent!”  In her frustration, and perhaps even delusion, the singer is refusing to listen.  She does not hear the voice of the judge that says, “I’m sorry.  It’s just not for you.”  She lives in her own fantasy, hearing that she is great, talented, and amazing! 

You do too, when your Old Adam is winning.  You fancy yourself as great, talented, and amazing, rather than recognize the sin in your life that makes you as lowly, dumb, and plain as a sheep. 

But Christ, our Good Shepherd, overcomes Old Adam.  Our Lord has saved you, and He knows you.  Yes, your Shepherd knows you!  And it’s not just some passing knowledge! 

In English we lump it all together with the verb “to know.”  But our German crowd here at St. John’s could tell you there is a difference between “wissen” and “kennen.”  “Wissen” is to know as in to know facts and things.  “Kennen” is knowing something or someone with whom you have a relationship.  The Lord knows you.  Not simply as an object or fact.  Der HErr kennt euch!  The Lord KNOWS you, personally!  

Christ, our Good Shepherd, knows each and every one whom He has saved and forgiven.  He calls out to His sheep and leads them  — not blindly or generically, but personally and with deep thought and care, for He knows them. 

For one hundred years, the Good Shepherd has tended His youthful sheep at Luther Institute, and then Luther High School-North.  When lambs have strayed, He has searched for them, and carried them home.  While the school walks through the valley of the shadow of debt, in reality He has not abandoned the lambs or sheep of the school; His rod and staff of His Law and Gospel will see every one through the hardship, and the Table He spreads will lavish His Means of Grace upon us all.  How so?  He knows us!  He knows us personally as His own.  We know [His] voice, and follow [Him.] 

So just how do we know His voice?  Where do we hear Him?  The confirmands can tell you.  They spent Friday night’s lock-in hearing about these Means of Grace: Baptism, Absolution, Gospel and (the Lord’s) Supper.  In these holy and precious gifts, the Good Shepherd speaks to us and we hear His voice.  He nurtures His relationship with us, and so He continues to truly know us!  He brings us to regularly and faithfully receive these gifts, and thus we are following Him. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”      The Good Shepherd called out: “I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  And He knows the child whom He has called, and that baptized Christian follows Him. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

The Good Shepherd cries out again and again: “I forgive you all your sin, in the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.”  And you are absolved – the sin is gone; you are freed from it!  You hear the voice of God that has passed judgment – a judgment that makes you “not guilty!”  He does this out of love for you, as He truly knows you, and He now leads you to follow Him. 

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

The most important words that blessed voice utters each week: “This is My Body, given for you.  This is My Blood, shed for you.”  Jesus gives absolutely everything to protect and nourish and nurture His sheep.  He even gives Himself!  When you hear these sweet and blessed words, you are embraced by them, wrapped up in the ultimate and boundless love of Jesus.  You hear His voice – the voice of God’s mercy – the voice of our Good Shepherd who knows you perfectly – better than you know yourself!  And He brings you to follow Him! 

Other voices may clamor for your attention.  Others may claim to know you.  But your sweet, loving Savior is your Good Shepherd.  And now and always, He causes you to hear His voice, and He knows you, and you follow Him.  Amen!   

 

The Rev. Rich Heinz is Pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church & School, Chicago, IL.  Having grown up in a congregation with a large window depicting our Good Shepherd, and continuing to love the art and music associated with the day, this Sunday of Easter is especially dear to him.  The reference to Luther North is regarding our local Lutheran high school.  Luther North is working through some major financial challenges, and is undergoing a national campaign for funds.

Rev. Mark Buetow

St. John 20:1-18

What has fallen has been lifted up again. What has been lost has been recovered. What was ruined has been made whole again. What was destroyed has been repaired. What was cursed has been blessed. We who expected death have been given life. All this because He who was dead is now alive! Christ who was slain is alive again.

When the Lord made man He gave him life and put him in a garden. When Adam and Eve left the garden it was in shame and death. Our Lord enters the garden in shame and death; He is laid in the tomb. But He leaves the Garden alive and the tomb is left empty. Where man brought death into the world in a garden, Christ brings forth life from the garden.

When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, an angel with a flaming sword was stationed to keep them from ever going back. The flaming sword of God’s judgment blocked them from that paradise ever again. Now angels are in the empty tomb, no longer swinging deadly flaming swords but pointing to the risen Christ who is the Life of Mary and Peter and John and all the world. In this Garden the angels are not enforcing the bad news of the curse but proclaiming the Good News of Jesus’ resurrection.

The Lord walked in the Garden and Adam and Eve hid themselves. Now in this garden of the empty tomb, Jesus comes, hidden to reveal Himself to Mary as the risen Savior. A serpent preached to Eve. Eve then shared these lies with her husband. The result was the Fall into sin and the judgment of death. Now, Christ speaks to Mary and she goes to proclaim that He is alive to the disciples. The lies of death are replaced by the Good News of life. What happened in the Garden of Eden is reversed in the Garden of Christ’s empty tomb!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, by His death that conquered death and His life which restores life, Christ has overturned the work of sin and death in this world. By your Baptism into Him, you have died and rise with Him. By the preaching of His Gospel He has called your name and turned you to Him. By His Holy Supper He lives in you and promises to raise you up at the Last Day. All the powers of hell and death have been defeated and they cannot hurt you. By his death He has rescued you even from death. By His resurrection He has promised you to be raised and have eternal life. All of the curse that you have been under has been undone by your Lord Jesus and paradise is once again yours. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

by The Rev. Rich Heinz

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. 

The children come running, as they return from the vacation.  Excitedly, each one wants to be the first to speak in the classroom.  “Teacher, guess what I did!”  “Teacher, pick me!”  “You won’t believe where we went and what we got to do!” 

Jesus is welcoming back His students from their field trip.  His first 72 missionaries, aside from the 12 apostles, are coming back to Jesus in today’s Gospel, and they can’t wait to talk to Him!  .  “Teacher, guess what I did!”  “Teacher, pick me!”  “You won’t believe where we went and what we got to do!” 

With eyes wide from amazement, they describe to Jesus how even demons submitted to them in His name.  Fallen angels – Satan’s minions – evil spirits roamed about Palestine and wreaked all sorts of havoc and tormented people.  Demons are still very real.  But then and there, they were in a last-ditch effort to ruin Christ’s work of salvation.  Demons were unleashing all they had to distract people from our Lord and His Gospel.  No one else had made any headway. No one, that is, except Jesus.  Our Lord Christ had cast out demons.  And now, recently, His disciples were beginning to do the same – not from their own authority or power, but in the Name of Jesus! 

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”  How’s that for a thrill that sends chills down your spine?  Satan, the old evil foe, the prince of this world, falls down.  That wicked serpent who deceived our ancestor Eve, who tormented faithful Job, who set the hearts of Pharaoh, Herod, and even modern, “civilized” politicians against innocent babies, is cunning and ferocious.  Yet he is powerless against the Word of Christ. 

Watch yourselves, though.  For often we do not encourage Satan’s fall.  Sometimes we help him back up.  When you shy away from admitting that the devil exists and is a threat, it actually is helpful to him.  It helps him up!  When you think that demons are made up stories in the Bible and deny their existence, it helps him up.  When you refrain from being sustained in the Divine Service by Gospel and Sacrament, Satan is happy; it helps him up! 

But for all those rebellious times, our compassionate Savior and loving Lord rescues us.  He dishes out His forgiveness and mercy through His means of grace.  And with every helping, Satan fall[s] like lightning from heaven! 

In today’s Gospel, our Savior rejoices with these returning missionaries, giving encouragement and cheering, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”  But what does He mean?  When Jesus says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven,” is He talking about the mission that He just sent them on, or is He talking about Satan and his fellow, fallen angels being cast out after they rebelled against the Lord, before the fall of Adam and Eve?  In a word, yes.  But specifically, our Lord Jesus calls attention to the recent events as these men were preaching the Gospel. 

You see, every time a pastor’s hand dips in that font and pours a cleansing flood over someone, Christ wins.  And the devil falls down. Satan fall[s], like lightning from heaven.  Every time the saving work of Jesus Christ is proclaimed, and His forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are declared to people, Satan fall[s], like lightning from heaven.  Every time someone repents and comes and confesses their sin to their pastor and he absolves him, Satan fall[s], like lightning from heaven.  Every time someone comes to the Holy Supper of our Lord, and receives the Holy Gift of Christ Himself, Satan fall[s], like lightning from heaven. 

But as joyous as it is, to know that Satan is falling, our Lord Christ declares that we are not to spend too much time focusing on that.  No.  He says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  Jesus says, “Yeah.  It is great that you are kicking the devil’s backside in My Name!  But this is even better: You get to spend eternity in heaven with Me!” You have been called by the Gospel, enlightened with His Gifts, sanctified and kept in the true faith.  You have been given new birth by Water and the Word, and continue to be nourished by His Gospel and Eucharist.  Through these Gifts, Jesus is preserving you on that list, “written in heaven.”   

On this Church festival of Saint Michael & All Angels, it can get easy to lose that focus.  For well over a thousand years, the Holy Church has taken the 29^th of September as a day to give thanks to God for His holy angels who serve and protect us.  In the Lutheran Church, we sometimes transfer this celebration to a Sunday, so more people can participate in the occasion.  We praise the Lord for His legions of spirit warriors who defend us from the evil one, and watch over God’s children.  They do amazing work – miraculous work – that blesses us in our earthly pilgrimage, and for this it is completely appropriate to pause and thank our heavenly Father.  Yet do it with the proper focus. 

As the Master Teacher welcomes us to the Divine Service, we may get excited recalling the protection of guardian angels at this or that moment in life.  “Teacher, pick me!  I have a great story about angels!”  And we remember the car accident where the police officer claims that no one should have survived, yet the baby in the car seat filled with shattered glass does not have a single scratch. Another recounts an accident where the semi’s rear bumper came to rest on the steering wheel, and one more inch would have made the crash fatal.  Still others tell of moments of rescue, with no physical explanation, from tragedies, war, and violence. 

Are these good to recall?  Most definitely!  Do angels serve and protect us?  Absolutely!  Should we honor them and praise the Lord for using them?  Without a doubt!  But should they crowd out the message of Christ?  Never. 

Jesus, Lord over men and angels, reminds us, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”  And until we join Him there, dear friends in Christ, you can join the thrilling celebration of Satan falling like lightning.  We rejoice not simply in his defeat, but knowing that his defeat is Christ’s victory!  Jesus baptizing another.  Jesus preaching His Gospel to another.  Jesus feeding another with His Body and Blood. 

Praise God!  Michael and Gabriel, angels, and archangels and all the company of heaven join in this praising.  Celebrate that our gracious God sends them to serve and protect His children and His Church.  But even more, dear friends in Christ, rejoice that your names are written in heaven. 

by The Rev. George F. Borghardt III

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen. Holy Cross Day goes all the way back to Pious Helena.  If you don’t know her, you most likely know her son, the Emperor Constantine, the Roman Emperor who converted to Christianity.  

Helena went to Jerusalem to find landmarks about her faith – to find Jesus in the dirt of the Holy Land.  There, she found the sites for the crucifixion and the burial of Jesus – sites which scholars today believe to be the actual historic places where these things happened.  

But, along with these important New Testament landmarks, she found not one, but three crosses.  Three is what you’d expect – one for Jesus and two for the robbers.  But, which one is THE Cross upon which our Lord Jesus died?  How do you tell?

A miracle helped her – a sick person touched one of the crosses and was healed.  There ya go, that one must be it!  So, she took the true Cross and placed it in the church built on Golgotha, the place where Jesus died.  That church is called “the Church of the Holy Sepulcher.”

Finding the Cross where the Son of God was nailed is certainly reason to celebrate, isn’t it?  Gotta have a Potluck or something!  But, the Christian Church never has parties on Good Friday.  The day is too solemn.  So, the date set aside for the celebration of the Cross was September 14, 335 A.D.

There, in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher,the Cross remained until the Muslims conquered Jerusalem and carried the Cross off as a trophy.  Not cool.. Not at all.

But the Christian Emperor Heraclius was victorious over the Muslims and returned the Cross to its place in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem on, you guessed it, September 14, 630 AD. 

Now, Did Helena really find the true Cross?  Well, like many of the early church stories in history, it’s hard to distinguish between the myth and the reality.   

And myths don’t save.  Not one single myth ever saved anyone from sickness, from death, or hell.  Your faith is founded on the Word.  The Word which is true and certain – even when we may not be.

So, what’s a myth and what’s real about your faith?  The world will  ask you that question.  How will you answer?  The answer is a matter of life and death!

Some Greeks today have the answer for you.  They show up out of place in the Gospel lesson.  They aren’t supposed to be there.  Greeks were certainly too intelligent, too wise, to be participating in some Jewish Feast.

But, here they are and they come up to Philip with a request, “Sir, we would see Jesus.”  Philip directs them to Andrew, and Andrew and Philip get them Jesus…. 

And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.”  The hour.  Jesus’ hour.  Actual time.  

And He is not glorified by victory, or conquest, but by dying. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains alone.  But, if it dies it bears much fruit.

His hour, is the hour that He dies.  The hour that He won’t avoid!  The hour is why He came – He came to die on the Cross.

And there on the Cross, we see the reality of how God is… He dies to save us from our sins.  Then, He rises to be our justification!

This One, Jesus is true Man like you, born of the Virgin Mary, but also is true God, begotten of the Father before all eternity.  

This One suffered under Pontius Pilate (a real governor in Roman history).  Then, This Jesus was crucified on an actual wooden cross – whether we have it or not, and then He died and was buried.  After three days, this Jesus who died on Good Friday, rose again.

“Sir, we would see this Jesus.”  True God and true man.  And those Greeks saw that day saw an actual man. The One who died to save us.  For the Greeks.  For you.  For me.  

That’s what Holy Cross Day is all about.  Holy Cross Day reminds us, dares us, to contemplate the Cross of Christ.  To say with St. Paul, “I desired to know nothing among you other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”

The Cross is the center of your faith.  When Jesus is lifted up, He drags all – even you and me – to Himself.  

For here is salvation.  Here is faith.  Here is the reality of your world.  Here is heaven itself.  Here is the glory and majesty of Almighty God – Jesus Christ crucified for you.

Then, Easter morning.. In the empty tomb speak the angels.  “You seek Jesus who was crucified, He is not here, see the place where He lay.”    The Jesus who rises on Easter morning is the same Jesus who died for our sins on Good Friday.

Whether or not Helena found the  actual Cross and the tomb – the “sepulcher”, where He once was laid is irrelevant, because there is a place where He was laid and He lays no longer.  

The place where He isn’t any more, for He has risen from the dead and conquered your sins, and smashed death all up.

Crucified.  Cross.  Not a myth or a symbol, but a reminder of an event that is true whether you believe it or not.

That bears repeating: Christ and Him crucified on the Cross  is not a myth that is made true by your holding it dear.  No, it’s not something that has a moral to the story that is important to remember.

No, the Cross of Christ is a reality, a historic event, which shows you God’s glory.  God’s glory is seen in how He gives up His Son to save you.

It actually happened.  Not a myth.  Not a fairy tale.  A life changing event.  The Jesus who died on Good Friday rose on Easter morning.  When He is lifted up on the Cross, He draws all to Himself.  You too.

So, stop living as if this is all a myth!  Stop living as if He’s still in the tomb, dear Saints of God.  Come out of your sins.  Stop doing them.  Stop the evil you do – the immorality, the despair, the hatred, the idolatry, stop your sins.  Stop judging others for the things you do.  Stop the hatred, stop the negativity, stop the tearing one another up.  Just stop.  For Jesus died and rose again.

I know you know He died and rose.  I’m asking you to let the reality of the death and resurrection of Jesus draw you out of your despair, your sin, your selfishness, and your death.  

For when Jesus is lifted up – when He dies on the Cross, He draws all, even you and me, to Himself.

Seek Jesus.  Find Him in the Word.  Then, teach your children that these are not just stories, but real events.    

The Cross shows you the reality of your faith.  That’s the best way to celebrate Holy Cross Day!  Remember the Crucified Jesus.  Remember it when you wake up.  Remember it when you go to sleep.   

That’s the other thing Holy Cross Day teaches us.  It reminds us to make the sign of the Holy Cross. 

When you have some free time some time, look up Ezekiel 9.  Yep, Ezekiel, in the OLD Testament- look it up.  There you will find God marking His people to protect them from wraith.  He does this again in three different chapters of John’s Revelation.  The mark was the Hebrew “tau” which is like an “t” or “x.”  Those marked are those rescued from God’s wrath.

So, the custom rose out in the Christian Church to trace the mark of a cross as a blessing, as a remembrance, a reminder of how Jesus was lifted up for us on the Cross.  I’m talking early – like 190 AD, a Pastor named Tertullian said that Christians don’t do anything without the sign of the Holy Cross. 

Morning, noon, praying, and bedtime.  All done in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Now, I’ve heard before folks tell me that making the sign of the Cross isn’t Lutheran.  But, I have three different Catechisms here and they all say the same thing: In the morning, when you pray, make the sign of the holy cross and say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”  In the Evening, repeat.  

It’s also in your hymnals!  Anytime you see that little red “plus” sign in the text.  That’s the good folks at CPH telling you that it’s ok to make the sign of the Cross here.

You can’t get more Lutheran than your Scriptures and Catechism!

Now, you are, Of course,free to or not to make the sign of the Cross.  Just remember that you were marked with the Cross at the Baptismal font and His name was put on you.

Remembering your Baptism, who you are, what He did for you – that’s how to celebrate Holy Cross Day – in His Name, with the watermark of His cross on you.  

He died for me.  He rose for me.  He made me His own in the waters of my Baptism.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

A real Jesus on a real cross.  God dying for you.  This is not a myth.  Not a story.  It’s a fact.  Your salvation.  

And all of it is remembered…. With His Cross.  So, a blessed Holy Cross Day tomorrow to you. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.