Are You Ready? - November 30, 2025 - First Sunday in Advent - Text: Matthew 24:36-44

Did you read the headlines? It’s coming. The news is all over. There are even billboards that talk about. It’s coming. I do not know about you, but I want to be ready, because I do not want to miss it. I suggested this to someone the other day and their response was, “Miss it? Are you kidding? No one will miss it. This is one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ things that no one would dare miss.” Well, I thought that is true, but I still want to be ready.
 

I was talking with Mrs. Jenkins the other day. I was explaining to her the fact that it was coming and I did not want to miss it. I was doing everything I could to get ready. Her response set me aback somewhat and got me to thinking. She said she was not sure if they would be ready. Then she went on to tell me about what all was going on in the life of their family. Their oldest son, Tommy, he is the one who is a senior this year, he is doing a lot of extra work, writing letters and applying to the various colleges he hopes to attend. That fact, along with his school work and all the other activities involved in his senior year keep him pretty busy and her, too, for that matter. She then brought up her second child, Allison, she is the one who is a freshman this year, she has a lot of adjusting to do, moving out of Jr. High, just getting into high school and following in her older brother’s footsteps. It is not so bad for her, though, being a girl it is not as hard as if she were the second brother, that was what she was saying. She said that Allison wants to get involved with sports as well as drama and to add to it, she will be wanting to get started on driver’s education. That really is not until next year, but she wants to get going as soon as possible. 
 

I stopped her at this point and said, “My it does seem like you are pretty busy,” but then she started up again. “And you know there is our youngest, little Harvey, Jr.” She explained that even though he was just going into fifth grade, he demands a lot of time as well. He is involved in soccer as well as tennis and swimming. “Quite an athlete,” she called him. “He thinks he has to keep up with his older brother and sister,” she said. “And,” she then went on to explain about all her husband was involved with as well, such as too many hours at work, meetings at church, travel for business and the like. Finally, she even told me about her busy schedule, the parent teacher meetings, the clubs of which she was a member and all that went into keeping her “girlish” figure. Finally she said, “I do not know how we will make it. I wonder if it is really worth all that it is made out to be.”
 

After we parted company I began to think, she really has a lot on her plate. I wonder if it is all necessary. I know the Jenkins family is a Christian family, at least they are members of our church. Maybe she just does not realize how important this is. All I could think of was that this poor family is so busy they are all going to kill themselves.
 

Later I met up with Mary Ann as I was on my way to church. Mary Ann was all excited. You see, she had just gotten engaged. She told me how much planning and preparation went into a wedding, “at least into a wedding which was to be done right,” those where her words. I never realized. She was telling me how you have to book the church and the hall, at least a year in advance. There were the invitations to select and order, the guest list to make out, the menu to choose for the reception, and the honeymoon, so many places to choose from, but again, the reservations had to be made well in advance. I asked her if she was getting ready, because it was coming. She told me she had seen the headlines and had noticed the billboards, but she had not given it much thought, just too much other stuff to do. The way she talked, it was almost as if she did not believe it was coming. Here again, all I could think of was that this poor young lady is so busy she is going to kill herself.
 

Well, I do not have to tell you, but by this time I was getting a bit discouraged. Was I the only one who was excited about it? Did I miss something? How could so many other things be as exciting or as important as this? But my enthusiasm continued. I met Grandma Perkins after church. She was excited. She told me that she was getting ready. Nothing was going to stand in her way for this. She told me that she had been looking forward to it for many years. “You know,” she said to me, “I cannot believe that there would be anyone who would not be excited.” I did not want to put a damper on her enthusiasm, so I did not mention anyone I had been speaking with before.
 

Finally, I went home, somewhat discouraged. For my devotion that evening I opened my Bible and I read these words, “As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left. Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him” (Matthew 24:37-44). Slowly it began to dawn on me. Slowly it all began to make sense to me. Jesus is talking about us, today.
 

Christmas is coming. We are in the season of Advent. The liturgical color is blue, the color of hope. The Advent wreath has been put out. We have decorated the church and the Christmas tree. I do not know about you, but Christmas has always been an exciting time of the year for me. Unfortunately, I believe that we too often run off barreling ahead of ourselves and we forget about Advent. Advent is the time we take to get ourselves ready, it is the time of preparation. How can we be ready if we do not get ourselves ready? Mary Ann was telling me how much time she needed to get ready for her wedding. If I understand my history right, it took God some 4500 years to get everything ready for the first Christmas, for Jesus’ birth and entrance into the world. And here we take just three or three and a half weeks to get ready for this monumental celebration. How can that be enough time to get ready? Now do not get me wrong, I am not talking in terms of getting ready for our Christmas celebration in terms of getting presents purchased and wrapped, getting the house decorated and the like. What I am talking about is getting our hearts and minds in the proper frame of mind. But it is coming, whether we are ready or not, our celebration of Jesus’ birth on Christmas morning is coming.
 

Yes, Christmas is coming and we need to be ready, but do you know what? Something even more important is coming as well, or rather I should say, someone more important is coming. Jesus is coming. We often talk about that at the end of the church year and here at the beginning of the church year we talk about it some more. Jesus is coming. The old “Hide and Seek” game cry comes to mind. You remember the call, “Ready or not, here He comes.” And that is a fact. Whether we are ready for His second coming or not, when it is time, He will be here. He has been planning this for about 2000 years now. Again, Mary Ann and her wedding come to mind. So much planning involved in getting ready for a wedding. God has done so much planning in getting ready to come for His Bride, the Church, that is, us.
 

I do not know about you, but I know I want to be ready and so I know that I need to spend time in getting ready. No, I am not going to quit my job or anything like that, but I am going to make a better effort at doing what I need to do to make sure I am ready. Perhaps Paul’s words to us are words we should take seriously, that is that we should put off those things which entangle us in this life. Perhaps we need to take a look at our own priorities and see if these things with which we are busying ourselves are worth the price. Or if they are busying us to death. Sometimes I like to put things into an eternal perspective. Sometimes that is the only way I can make sense of this world. Of course, the eternal perspective is the fact that compared to eternity, millions of billions of years, our life on this earth is but a snap of the fingers. So, what is important is our life is the world to come and that is something we would not want to miss.
 

Well, I am glad for the fact that even if I am not completely ready, at least Jesus was ready. It took God 4500 years to get things ready, but when the time came, Jesus was ready. He was ready to be born and placed in a manger. He was ready to be born of humble parents. He was ready to be born in literal obscurity, even if He was visited by some shepherds and later by some Kings. I do not know if His life was any easier or less busy than ours, but I do know that He came for one reason and one reason only. He came for you and for me. We may not know a lot about His early life, other than His birth, His visit by the Magi, His trip to Jerusalem at the age of twelve and then we pick up His life at His baptism, at the age of thirty. He was a busy man. He walked over one hundred miles from one end of His mission territory to the other and possibly some thirty to sixty miles east and west. In other words, He covered from three to six thousand square miles of territory by foot, and He did it all in three years.
 

Jesus came with one purpose in mind and He never lost His focus from that purpose. Neither was He too busy for the people. He always had time to teach and to preach, to heal and to cast out demons and He always made time to pray. On the day of rest, the sabbath, His usual routine was to be in His Father’s house. Like I said, He came for one purpose and that purpose was to do for us what we are unable to do, He came to live for us. And He did. He lived perfectly, for us, in our place. And then, wonder of wonders, He took all our sins upon Himself, our sins of busying ourselves with the things of this world instead of the things of His Kingdom. Our sins of putting other things ahead of divine service, reading His Word and prayer. He took all ours sins upon Himself and He suffered and died for them. He paid the price, the cost, the wage of what our sins earned, for us. He suffered the eternal death penalty for us in our place.
 

After His death and burial, He rose. Death and the grave had no hold over Him. He rose from the dead and before He ascended into heaven He promised that He would return. He is going to return. Mark my words. Just like He kept His first promise to come to this earth to save us, so He will keep this promise to return. And when He returns, it will be to gather us, those He has made ready, those who have faith in Him, and He will take us to be with Himself in heaven. He will come to take us, His Bride, the members of His Holy Christian Church, of which we are members by His grace through faith which He gives to us and strengthens us and into which He keeps us through His Word and Sacraments, to be with Himself in heaven. He is coming and through His means of Grace He gets us ready for His coming. He gets us ready and He keeps us ready. So that when He comes and He is coming, He will come to take us, you and me, to be with Himself in heaven, forever, and ever. It’s coming. He is coming. And by God’s grace, we are ready. Amen. 

He Is the God of the Living - November 9, 2025 - Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 27) - Text: Luke 20:27-40

You may have noticed, or not, but our liturgical color is back to green this morning as two weeks ago we celebrated the reformation of the church and the work of Dr. Martin Luther and our liturgical color was the celebration color of red, and last week we celebrated all the faithful saints who have passed on before us and the liturgical color of white and purity were on the altar. This week we move back to continue our Pentecost season of growth with the color of green.  After today, we have two more Sundays in this present church year and on Sunday, November 30 we will begin a new church year with the season of Advent, but more on that when we get to that Sunday.
 

I am fascinated by people of some denominations who make such interesting statements as, “We are a Bible church and we don’t have any creeds.” Usually this is a misunderstanding of our denomination and the fact that we do have our confessional statements of faith in what we call the Book of Concord, of which I would encourage everyone to read. Perhaps you will learn how to be better able to give an answer to such interesting statements. Personally, I would like to respond in a snide way and say, “Oh, we threw the Bible out.” And I would like to point out that their statement is a creed of sorts, a bad creed, but a creed, or a statement of faith nonetheless. But that would not be answering in a gentle way. Anyway, the reason we have our confessional books and statements is that, as we hear in our Gospel reading for this morning, God does not gives us a systematic description of Himself as we have laid out in our confession, rather God gives us a historical narrative of Himself and through that historical narrative we learn a little about Him at a time. Thus, as we hear in our text for this morning and as we have been hearing in our text throughout this Pentecost season, not only did the Pharisees and teachers of the law get it wrong about Jesus and the Bible, so did the Sadducees.
 

As we get into our text, as we have been touring along with Jesus, He has been teaching and preaching, doing signs, wonders and miracles as proof of His divinity and humanity, of His Messiahship and all along the way the Pharisees and Scribes had been questioning and testing Jesus. Of course, as we have been hearing, they have failed every step of the way as well, yet they remained unconvinced and unconverted.
 

So, now in our text it is the Sadducees time to have their turn. About the Sadducees we should make note that although they do believe in the Mosaic law and the Pentateuch they do not believe in the resurrection to eternal life. As one comedian punningly stated it, “the Sadducees are sad you see, because they do not believe in the resurrection.” As we will see, they do not believe in the resurrection because of their own misunderstanding of God’s Word, which reminds us that there is only one interpretation of God’s Word and a whole lot of misinterpretations because of the sinful nature of those who misinterpret God’s Word. So, how do we know we get it right? We know we get it right by going back to the Word which points to Jesus. We get it right when we point to Jesus and Jesus is running the show.
 

It is the Sadducees turn and so they ask a question in order to trap Jesus. The Sadducees poise a rather ludicrous scenario according to Mosaic law as proof of their denial of a resurrection. They asked, “Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies, having a wife but no children, the man must take the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. 29Now there were seven brothers. The first took a wife, and died without children. 30And the second 31and the third took her, and likewise all seven left no children and died. 32Afterward the woman also died. 33In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had her as wife” (v. 28b-32).
 

A man marries a woman and dies, his brother marries her then dies. All seven brothers were married to the woman. All seven died without leaving an heir. Then the question is asked, “Whose wife will she be in heaven?” The Sadducees think they have come up with the perfect scenario to prove their denial of a resurrection. You can imagine the smug look on their face after they asked this question as they wait for Jesus to squirm and be unable to answer. But their self-satisfaction is short lived.
 

Jesus responds, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage, 35but those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage, 36for they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. 37But that the dead are raised, even Moses showed, in the passage about the bush, where he calls the Lord the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. 38Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him” (v. 34b-38).
 

As we said earlier, there is only one interpretation of the Word of God. There are many misinterpretations and here we see that the Sadducees have indeed misinterpreted the Word of God and Jesus, who is the author of all Scripture explains to them where they have failed in their understanding. First Jesus explains that the Sadducees do not understand the distinction between life in this world and life in the world to come, especially and including marriage. Marriage is God’s gift and blessing for this world. His blessing of companionship, chastity, and children. In heaven there will be no marriage because in heaven there will be no need to populate the earth, nor will there be a need for companionship and chastity as we will all be perfect and in perfect companionship with one another.
 

Not only does Jesus address the issue of the resurrection, but He also addresses another issue of misinterpretation of these Sadducees, that is of their lack of believing in angels. You may have missed it, but Jesus says that in heaven we will be equal with angels suggesting that in heaven there will be no marriage because we will be like the angels (v. 36), whom we know are perfect, sinless and sexless, in other words procreation will not be an issue in heaven.
 

The Sadducees do not understand marriage on earth or in heaven, they deny God’s creation of His messengers, that is His angles, and they also do not understand the resurrection. Jesus is attempting to teach the Sadducees, as if they have come to be taught. They are actually like many people in our congregations today, those who have a misunderstanding of what God says in His Word, but rather than attend Bible Class and learn appropriately they would rather stay away and remain in their ignorance so they think they have an excuse in being wrong. I cannot tell you how many times I have taught classes on church doctrine, such as why we have closed communion only to have those who disagree not attend so they might not hear the correct understanding and instead remain in their ignorance and complain about why it is not the way they want it. Anyway, Jesus reminds the Sadducees of Moses calling God the God of the living Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and after Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had been physically deceased for over 2000 years.
 

And so, Jesus reminds the Sadducees that God is not a God of the dead, but a God of the living. Those who have passed on from this world, those who have physically died, are not dead, but their souls are in heaven with the Lord. There is a resurrection of the dead. There will be a day of judgement and the ignorance and denial of the Sadducees will not negate the truth and validity of the Word of God. Quite a warning to these Sadducees and to us even today.
 

Interestingly enough, although Jesus may not have convinced these Sadducees, He did gain some respect from the Scribes, who no longer dared to question Him. Again, a reminder to us, as we have been following along through this Pentecost Season, this season of growing in our faith and as an invitation to our regular Sunday Bible Class, it is through our study and hearing God’s Word that the Holy Spirit uses what we have heard and learned so that as we have the opportunity and as we are asked we too can, with God’s authority and promise to be with us, give an answer for the faith we have in Jesus as our Savior.
 

So, what does this mean? Jesus gives us instruction concerning the difference between this world and heaven, especially the explanation that marriage is a blessing for this world only, in heaven we will be members of the bride of Christ. This world is a place of imperfection and sin. We are conceived and born in sin in this world. Every intention of our heart continues to be evil all the time. Our nature is to sin and then to run and hide from God. Our nature is to not want to get up on Sunday mornings and be in Divine Service, rather our nature and our natural inclination is to stay away. Of course the devil continues to encourage our nature, because he does not want us anywhere near where the gifts of God are given out. Yes, we live in this world, but we are to remember that we are not of this world. This world is only a temporary weigh station for our permanent dwelling in heaven. Certainly while we live in this world we are to take advantage and enjoy the life our Lord has given us, but not to the detriment of our eternal well being. Thus, God has given us our day of rest. He has given for us to have an opportunity to be refreshed in our faith, to be strengthened in our lives so that we might bear up under the temptations of the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh. And His desire is that we desire to be where He gives the gifts He has to give.
 

God’s Word is so important to us and we see how important His Word is especially as we hear in our text for today. Apart from God’s Word we might end up like the Pharisees, the Scribes, and the Sadducees. We might end up with a complete misunderstanding of the Word of God. We might end up denying angels, and even worse, end up denying the resurrection even our own resurrection. Our text is important as we hear Jesus give proof of the resurrection in the lives of the previously earthly departed saints, Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. And notice how Jesus Himself uses His own Word as its own interpretation always pointing to Himself.
 

God’s Word is so important and that is why our making use of His Word is so important. God has given us His Word as a means through which He comes to us. It is through God’s Word that He comes to seek and to save the lost. It is God’s Word which tells us the correct and true account of human history including the creation of the world. It is God’s Word which speaks to us of the reason the world is in the mess it is in, because of Adam and Eve’s sin and the curse of the world. It is also God’s Word which tells us of God’s promise to make all things right, His promise to restore our relationship with Himself. It is God’s Word which tells us that it is only by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus, faith given to us through that Word, by the Holy Spirit that we too have eternal life in heaven. It is not we who save ourselves, as we are conceived and born in sin. It is Jesus who is the one promised of old. Jesus who is the one who is the sinless Son of God, truly God and truly man. It is Jesus who fulfilled all the promises of the coming Messiah and who fulfilled all the ceremonial laws which pointed to Himself and the once for all sacrifice on the cross. It is Jesus who took our sins and paid the price, the eternal death penalty of hell for us in our place. It is Jesus who lived, suffered, died, and rose and who has sent the Holy Spirit to come to us, to give us, to strengthen and keep us in faith and indeed to stir in us a response of faith. As we said last week, our faith shows itself in our desire to be given the gifts God has to give and to respond in giving ourselves, our first fruits, our tithes even offering our time and talents in service to our Lord, serving Him as we serve others.
 

As we hear Jesus Words this morning we rejoice in our loving, gift giving God who pours out on us all the good gifts and blessings He has to give and who stirs in us to respond saying, to Him be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Blessed - November 2, 2025 - All Saints’ Day - Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Today we celebrate All Saints’ Day. This does not mean that we give undue credit or glory to those faithful family members and friends who have fallen asleep in faith, but it does mean that we place their lives before us as an example of how we are to live the Christian faith. As we remember the saints who have gone on before us we remember that they too were at the same time sinner and saint, just like us. We also take the time to be reminded that by faith in Jesus Christ we are all saints. As we go around the room we might call each other by our sainted name, Saint Shirley, Saint Pat, Saint Jon, Saint (place your name here) and that would continue for each one of us. As saints, then, heaven is not just something we look forward to, it is a present reality. By faith in Jesus, His life, suffering, death on the cross and resurrection, we have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Heaven is ours now, it is just that we will have to wait until we fall asleep in faith from this life until we will awaken in our heavenly home.
 

This morning our text is what we call the Beatitudes, or the statements of blessing from Jesus. Before we get to these statements of Jesus let us take a few minutes to remind ourselves what is the world’s idea of being blessed. And I will use what may be the world’s term for blessed as success. I hope we have all at least heard about these various items from time to time. Being blessed according to the standards of this world means having riches. Wealth and money is a sign of worldly success. The more money one has, the more successful they appear to be, at least in the eyes of the world.
 

Another indicator of success in our world is power. Power is a sign of worldly success. The more powerful one is, or the more powerful they seem to the world, the more successful they appear to be, again, at least in they eyes of the world.
 

A third indicator of success in our world is fame. Being famous is a sign of worldly success. The more famous one is, the more successful they appear to be, again, at least in the eyes of the world.
 

Yet, as we have been reminded time and again, these worldly signs of success are not necessarily indicative that a person is successful, because, as we know, as we have heard stated and read about, some of the most wealthy, most powerful and most famous people are also some of the most depressed. Jesus has a different idea and understanding of being successful and that is where we now turn our attention.
 

Beginning at verse three, Jesus’ idea of being blessed begins with admitting our weak faith. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 3). Jesus is not talking about simply being poor in spirit, or weak in faith, but admitting that we are in a constant need of having our faith strengthened. Here we might remind ourselves that confirmation was not graduation and that there is always more that we do not know about God than we do know about Him and so we have a constant need to be in His Word, to read our Bible, to be not only in divine service, but also in Bible Class so that we might be strengthened in our faith.
 

Continuing on at verse four, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes being ashamed of and mourning our weak faith. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (v. 4). Jesus is not talking simply about some outward speaking of our weak faith, you know the line, “I know I should be in Bible Class, I know I should read my Bible every day, I know I should be in church every Sunday,” and so forth. No, Jesus is talking about a yearning which comes from the heart, a yearning so deep that it moves us to do something about our weak faith. In other words, we simply cannot help but be where the gifts are given and distributed.
 

In verse five, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes meekly acknowledging one’s part in Jesus’ crucifixion. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth” (v. 5). Blessed are those who are not arrogant, but who bow their heads in grief because of their sin and their part in Jesus’ death, that Jesus had to die for their sins. This confession means that each one of us confesses, for ourselves, that it was because of my sins that Jesus had to shed His blood and die on the cross. For if we cannot and do not acknowledge our part in Jesus’ death on the cross, then we have no part in Jesus’ resurrection and eternal life. It is this acknowledgment, when it is a faithful and true acknowledgment which gains for us an inheritance in heaven and which leads us into action as we read in verse six.
 

In verse six, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes craving, hungering and thirsting after doing the right thing. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied” (v. 6). Those who are blessed are those who hunger and thirst after the Word of God, those who truly hunger and thirst after the Lord’s righteousness, and those who strive, with the Lord’s help, for an eternal righteousness and a piety of life. Again, this is something that is so powerful we simply cannot help but want to be where God’s gifts are distributed and given out.
 

So far Jesus has been pointing to us as individuals. We are blessed when we confess and grieve our sins, confess our need to be in His Word, and then hunger and thirst for His word and righteousness. Our confession brings forgiveness, but even more. Here we are reminded that our faith does, or at least should, make a difference in our lives, the way we live, how we speak, what we do and so forth. There is more to our Christian lives than just showing up for church and Bible Class on Sunday morning.
 

In verse seven our attention focuses on our outlook toward others. Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes showing mercy to others even if that mercy is not show back. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” (v. 7). Blessed are those who have a deep and sincere concern for the temporal and spiritual needs of their neighbor. Here we might be reminded of the opportunities which the Lord gives to us to be merciful to others, specifically to our guest who come to divine service with us and especially those who have no home church.
 

In verse eight, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes being pure in heart, thinking pure thoughts. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God” (v. 8). This is the opposite of hypocrisy which is acting like a Christian, but not believing. Are our thoughts on ourselves or on those who have not yet heard the message of Jesus and salvation? Are our thoughts continually on this world and our lives in this world, or on the world to come and our being ready for the world to come and getting others ready?
 

In verse nine, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes seeking to bring peace among ourselves and others. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God” (v. 9). This is not a peace which comes from compromising one’s faith and beliefs, but a peace which has at its center Jesus Christ. Maybe you have seen the sign or the bumper sticker, “No (N-O) Jesus, No (N-O)Peace, Know (K-N-O-W) Jesus, Know (K-N-O-W) Peace.” Apart from Jesus and apart from faith in Him we cannot know or have true peace. Remember, true peace comes only from sins forgiven so without Jesus there is no forgiveness and no true peace.
 

In verse ten, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes suffering persecution because of our faith. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (v. 10). It is our spiritual righteousness, our moral character, our exclusive claim that there is one way and only one way to eternal life, which makes us Christians stand out and “look” aloof to the world and thus that is why we are hated by the world. When we make the Lord’s righteousness ours and when we adopt our Lord’s intolerant attitude toward sin then we can no longer be accepted by our unrighteous and, ironically enough by our, so called, tolerant society. Do you want to know if you are really a Christian or not? Check to see if you are loved or hated by the world.
 

Finally in verse eleven, Jesus’ idea of being blessed includes suffering, being insulted, falsely accused and spoken against. In His own words Jesus says, “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account” (v. 11). Here Jesus names a few forms of hatred which will be bestowed on “practicing” Christians. It is our honor and distinction to suffer in His interest and because of His name. As Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (v. 12). As Christians we still have an irrepressible joy, because no matter how much the world might hate us, no matter how much the world might persecute us, this hatred and persecution is nothing compared to the glory which is ours in heaven.
 

This morning we see a stark difference in our focus and in the focus of the world. The world’s focus is on the here and now. For those who are in the world and of the world, this is all there is and so life must be lived for the here and now. “You have to grab for all the gusto you can.”
 

Whereas God’s focus is on the now and the not yet, the future, eternity. Our life on this earth is short, from conception and birth to a hundred years or so and then it is over, compared to our life in heaven which is forever and ever and ever, without end. As Christians our focus is not so much on the here and now as on the now and the hereafter. That is why we see the importance of confessing our sins and being given forgiveness, that we confess our weak faith, that we hunger and thirst after the Word of the Lord and His righteousness, that we show mercy and seek ways to share the love of Jesus and His Gospel message with others, so they too might be a part of His kingdom.
 

As we celebrate All Saints Day we celebrate that by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, faith and grace given to us, we are a part of God’s Kingdom and that we have a hope and a certainty for now and for the future. We celebrate the example of all the saints who have gone on before us because they showed their faith in Jesus alone for their salvation, because they hungered and thirsted after righteousness and because their lives are an example to us to be about the business of Jesus in spreading His love and Gospel message to all the world.
 

I like the words of one of the songs we used to sing when I was serving with a group that did weekends for church youth groups while in college, it went, “Heaven is a wonderful place, filled with glory and grace, I want to see my Savior’s face, heaven is a wonderful place, I want to go there.” I pray that this is your song as well so that when our last hour on this earth has come we might all together with all the saints stand before the Lord’s throne and proclaim, “to Him be the glory,” for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Truth and Freedom - October 26, 2025 - Reformation Sunday - Text: John 8:31-36

Happy Reformation Day! Let me begin by confessing that Reformation Day is one of my favorite holy or holidays and I think it is appropriate that we greet each other in this way, “Happy Reformation Day!” This year, Reformation Day is as it always is on October 31, which this year it is on Friday. Reformation Day is the day we celebrate the act of one man, the sainted Dr. Martin Luther, after whom our church denomination is named, who on October 31 in 1517 posted his 95 statements or theses for debate on the town bulletin board, which happened to be the church door. It was this act which set off what we now call the Reformation.
 

Dr. Luther did not suggest that he had found the real church which was lost. He did not suggest that God had given him any new revelation for beginning a new church. He was not trying to form his own new church, rather he was trying to make his old church, the Roman Catholic church of his day, aware of what he knew were false teachings and false doctrines which were being proclaimed, so that the truth of the Gospel might prevail. And if anyone understood these falsehoods, it would be Dr. Luther. Perhaps you have heard his story.
 

Dr. Luther was born to Hans and Margaretta Luther, November 10, 1483 in Eisleben, Germany. He began his college education studying law, but at the age of twenty-two a thunderstorm and the death of a friend moved him to make a vow to enter the quiet life of a monk in monastery wherein he also began his studies to become a priest in the church. Young Luther believed that if he worked hard enough, if he studied hard enough, if he stayed out of the public life and could keep from sinning, then he might be able to earn heaven. This teaching is what was being taught in the church during his life and as we will see, this is also what he wanted to reform. In the language of our text for today, Luther became a slave to works righteousness.
 

The “truth” that young Martin Luther was taught and believed was that if you were good enough, if you kept from sinning, if you did what was right, then you would be justified, then you could stand before God as a just person, deserving eternal life and heaven. Unfortunately, or rather, fortunately for us, the more young Martin Luther tried to justify himself before God, the more he felt unjust and undeserving. More than once young Dr. Luther fasted to the point of almost starving himself to death. He would beat himself in hopes of appeasing, what he believed to be, an angry, vengeful God. And so, Dr. Luther really kept himself in a vicious cycle of trying to appease God, thinking he had to do more and so he tried to beat himself more, fast more, confess more, and that only made him realize he could not do enough to appease God, so he tried even harder.
 

Young Dr. Luther did not know the truth. He was like many people in our world today. We live in a world where truth, for some, has become relative. What may be true for me may not be true for you and what may be true for you may not be true for me, or so the world would have us believe. Today, in our world, truth is validated, not by facts, but by feeling. If I feel it, it must be true, at least for me. Or truth may be validated by one’s perspective, that is from my point of view this or that is truth, but it may not be true from your point of view. I am here to proclaim to you that there are not many truths, that each one of us does not possess our own individual truth, but that there is one and only one truth. There is only one absolute truth. I know that goes against the world and against our culture, but I, and the whole Christian Church for that matter, cannot do otherwise. The very reason we are in the mess we are in, having various truths, is because we do not know the Truth. In answer to the question of “What is truth?” the only answer we can give is the answer of Truth Himself, that is, that Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Apart from Jesus there is and can be no truth. Why do we have such a problem with truth in our world today? Because we live in a truth-less, Jesus-less world.
 

John tells us, in our Gospel reading, that it is faith in Jesus Christ alone which brings us into all truth and which makes us a part of God’s family. We are not a part of God’s family by physical birth nor DNA. We are not a part of God’s family by who we know. We are not a part of God’s family because we are so good and deserve to be a part. We are only a part of God’s family by faith in Jesus Christ. Faith in Jesus makes Him our brother and God our Father, then we are a part of the family. When it comes to eternal life in heaven it truly is not what you know, but who you know, or better, who knows you!
 

Young Dr. Luther’s problem was that he was not a part of the family. Young Dr. Luther’s problem was that he was a slave to everything except Jesus. For young Dr. Luther, the Scripture reading, “The just shall live by faith,” meant that he had to be just, he had to live a just life, he had to do what was right in order to stand before God and be declared righteous. It was only after his eyes were open by the Holy Spirit working through the Word of God that Dr. Luther came to understand the truth. The truth is that “the just shall live by faith,” means that we are declared just and right before God, not by our own accord, but by faith in Jesus Christ. We, you and I, can never do enough good things, we could never fast enough, we could never beat ourselves enough, we could never do anything enough in order to pay the price, to work off the cost of what our sins have earned. And believe me, our sins have earned plenty. We are born in sin and daily we add to our sin. And the cost of our sin, the wage of our sin is death, eternal death, hell. Maybe, before we turn to the Gospel, too quickly, we need to spend some time with young Dr. Luther in the Law. We need to spend more time in the Law, because until we realize that left to ourselves we are deserving of nothing less than eternal life in hell, the Gospel will mean little or nothing to us. To young Dr. Luther the thought of deserving hell was devastating and that is what drove him to do all he could to redeem himself. Perhaps we might need to spend time contemplating our destiny apart from Jesus Christ, because, you see, a part from Jesus Christ, we are, you and I are, deserving of eternal death in hell. And that ought to be pretty scary for us.
 

But there is good news. The good news is that hell is what Jesus suffered for us, for you and for me, in our place. Jesus took all our sins upon Himself and paid the price, the wage, the cost for our sin. He suffered eternal death for us. That is what young Dr. Luther realized when he came to a proper understanding that, “the just shall live by faith,” means that we are made just in God’s eyes by faith. By faith Jesus’ life becomes our life. By faith Jesus’ suffering becomes our suffering, by faith Jesus’ death becomes our death. And by faith Jesus’ resurrection becomes our resurrection. Notice that it is no longer we who are doing anything, but it is Jesus who is doing the doing.
 

When Dr. Luther understood the Gospel, that Gospel set him free. Dr. Luther understood that no amount of fasting, no amount of beating himself, no amount of anything could pay for his sins. No amount of money could pay for his sins. His sins, the cost, the wage, the price for his sins had been paid, in full, by God’s grace, through faith in Jesus. Dr. Luther rejoiced in his new found freedom in the Gospel and from that day forward began boldly to proclaim that same freedom to others who, like him, were devastated by the constraints of the Law.
 

Which brings us back to our Reformation celebration. You see, as Dr. Luther grew in his faith and understanding of the truth of the Gospel, he began more and more to see the false teachings which had made their way into the church of his day. You might say that the straw that broke the camel’s back was the selling of indulgences, that is the selling of the forgiveness of sins. The story goes that on one of his walks through town, Dr. Luther stumbled over one of his parishioners who was on the ground drunk as a skunk. When Dr. Luther told him that he would be waiting for him to come to confession later in the week, the man held up a piece of paper and boldly stated that he did not need to come to confession anymore because he had paid good money for his sins to be taken care of. In other words, he had paid money for his sins to be forgiven so he no longer had to worry about sin, instead, he could live life as he wished with no repercussions, or so he thought.
 

It was this event as well as many other similar events which stirred Dr. Luther to sit down and write his 95 theses or statements for debate. These statements were written in Latin, the language of the educated, because he was looking to debate these concerns with others who were educated in the theology and teachings of the church. His sole intent was to correct and to reform what he knew were some false teachings of the church. He knew that church would be full on All Saints day, November 1, so on the eve of all Saints Day, on All Hallow’s Eve as it is called or as it has been mispronounced today on Halloween, he posted his statements for debate.
 

You might remember that a man named Gutenberg had invented what is called the printing press at about this time, about 50 years earlier and so Dr. Luther’s statements were quickly translated into German, the language of the people, printed and distributed for everyone to read and that is what started what we now call the reformation.
 

I believe there is an adage which reminds us that we need to study and be mindful of our past history lest we are doomed to repeat such history. We live in a world not unlike the world of Dr. Luther’s day. We live in a world where it is believed by many that it is our character, it is our good deeds, it is our sincerity of faith, our living an obedient life,  it is our living as God’s people which will bring us to some sort of eternal existence. Jesus tells us that we are saved by His grace alone, through faith in Him alone. Both faith and the object of faith are important. It is our faith which brings us the truth. It is our faith which makes us members of Jesus’ family. It is our faith which makes us the people we are, little Christ’s or Christians. We are to have faith as a child, not trusting in anything of our own, being completely helpless, but trusting and clinging to Jesus alone who sets us free.
 

In our Gospel reading for today, Jesus is dealing with His own people, the Jews, who had similar beliefs to the people of our world today, people who believed they were saved by pointing to themselves. The Jews believed they were saved by their DNA by being born Jewish. Today people believe they are saved by pointing to themselves as well, by their good deeds. Just as Jesus reminded the Jews of His day so He reminds us today, we are not saved when we point to ourselves. Jesus points us to where we are saved, outside ourselves to Him and Him alone. Jesus said it best in our Gospel reading when He said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” As His disciples, being given faith, through the waters of Holy Baptism, strengthened and kept in faith through His means of grace, the Lord’s Supper, holding on to His teaching, the very Word of God, and being given forgiveness of sins, through Confession and Absolution and knowing that with forgiveness is life and salvation, we rejoice and say, to God be the glory. Thus, we rejoice and celebrate this day we call Reformation Day. We give thanks for the work of Dr. Martin Luther, but even more we give thanks for a clear understanding of our salvation, pointing, not to self but to Jesus and Jesus alone. Indeed we are sons of God, set free by the Son of God so we are free indeed. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.