Martin Luther on How to Prepare for Death

Interesting words from Martin Luther and how seriously he takes death and its connection to ones spiritual well-being, Lord’s Supper and Divine Service participation. Taken from Treasury of Daily Prayer, Concordia Publishing House ©2008, p. 1102.

[How to prepare for death:] First, one must admonish the people to attend church and listen to the sermon so that they learn through God’s word how to live and how to die. It must be noted that those who are so uncouth and wicked as to despise God’s word while they are in good health should be left unattended when they are sick unless they demonstrate their remorse and repentance with great earnestness, ears, and lamentation. . . . Second, everyone should prepare in time and get ready for death by going to confession and taking the sacrament once every week or fortnight. He should become reconciled with his neighbor and make his will so that if the Lord knocks and he departs before a pastor or chaplain can arrive, he has provided for his soul, has left nothing undone, and has committed himself to God. When there are many fatalities and only two or three pastors on duty, it is impossible to visit everyone, to give instruction, and to teach each one what a Christian ought to know in the anguish of death. Those who have been careless and negligent in these matters must account for themselves. That is their own fault. After all, we cannot set up a private pulpit and altar daily at their bedside simply because they have despised the public pulpit and altar to which God has summoned and called them.

Third, if someone wants the chaplain or pastor to come, let the sick person send word in time to call him and let him do so early enough while he is still in his right mind before the illness overwhelms the patient.

Alive to God in Christ - January 12, 2014 - The Baptism of Our Lord/1st Sunday after the Epiphany - Text: Romans 6:1-11

Our Christmas celebration has now come to an end. Monday was the day of Epiphany. Epiphany, that word means appearing. Perhaps you have heard of someone having an epiphany, that is someone had something appear or dawn on them. For us, we celebrate the Epiphany of the appearing of the Magi or wise men who came to visit the child Jesus. And here we should make some corrections in what really happened. The Magi did not visit Jesus while He was still in the manger in a stable. If you recall, the Magi asked Herod where the king was and Herod’s wise men told them in Bethlehem. By the time the Magi came to Jesus he was over a year old and Matthew tells us that they came to the “house” where Jesus was to present Him with their gifts. Anyway, that was Monday. Today, we move ahead thirty years and in the Gospel reading we have the account of Jesus being baptized by His cousin, John the Baptist, in the Jordan river in order to “fulfill all righteousness.” Jesus was baptized in order to identify with us and in order to be ordained into His Office of Holy Ministry. And so, this morning we celebrate the baptism of Jesus and Paul reminds us how this baptism relates to us.
 

We begin with Paul’s words beginning at verse one, “1What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (v. 1-4). Christ was baptized in order to “fulfill all righteousness,” in order to be our substitute, in order that His grace and forgiveness may abound. So, the argument of some, perhaps even some of us, is that if grace abounds should we not go on sinning so that it may abound even more? Martin Luther is attributed with the quote that we are to sin boldly, but he continued, “believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly, for He is victorious over sin, death and the world.”
 

Should we go on sinning so that grace may abound? No, we cannot go on sinning because grace abounds. We cannot go on sinning because we are new creatures. Through our baptism our old sinful natures have been drowned and we have been reborn, new spiritual creatures so that we might walk in the newness of life.
 

How does this baptism thing work? Is it a symbolic act of obedience? Is it really important? What does God tell us through Paul? God through Paul tells us it is a uniting with Christ as we read picking up at verse five, “5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 6-11). Through baptism, that is, through our own baptism, through the putting on of water and God’s name we have been united with Jesus. And what we may not notice in the English is that this baptism is a passive action. We do not bring ourselves forward in obedience, but we are baptized, we are being done to in Holy Baptism. We are being made one with Christ.
 

That we are united with Jesus, that we are being made one with Him means that Jesus death becomes our death. It was our sin that put Jesus on the cross. It was our sin of thought, word and dead. It was our sin of omission, not doing what we should be doing and our sin of commission, doing what we should not be doing, that put Jesus on the cross. When Jesus died on the cross it was for our sins, because He took our sins upon Himself. His spiritual, eternal death is our spiritual eternal death. But even more, when He rose from the dead, His resurrection becomes our resurrection. Because He rose from the dead, victorious over sin, death and the power of the devil, we know that these have no power over us and we too will rise again. Sin, death and the devil now have no power over us and with the help of the Holy Spirit we may defeat them.
 

Instead, Jesus’ life now influences our lives. When temptations come, we know that we can go to our Lord and He will help us. We know that He has already faced all that we will face and even more. And we know that as He never sinned, as He took our sins and paid the price for our sins, and as He defeated sin, death and the devil, He is with us to help us to do the same.
 

What comfort we find in the words that “the death He died He died to sin, once for all.” His death, His suffering the eternal, spiritual death penalty paid for all sins of all people of all places of all times, once for all. Nothing else needs to be done, no satisfaction, no nothing. Nothing else needs to be done, as if we could do anything. We may pass away from this world, that is we may suffer physical death, but we will never have to suffer eternal, spiritual death.
 

And, yet, Paul is not  done. Verse eleven brings words of sanctification, we are “dead to sin, alive to God in Christ Jesus.” In other words, by the power of the Holy Spirit we live lives of faith, we do the good works God has for us to do. But this not something that comes from within us, no, this too points back to Christ. Yes, our justification points to Christ, who did it all and our sanctification points to Christ as well, who moves us to respond with lives of faith.
 

So, what does this mean? As we celebrate Jesus’ baptism we understand how important is our own baptism. Think about it, Jesus did not need to be baptized, at least not to be baptized for Himself and He did not need to subject Himself to John’s baptism which was a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins because Jesus never sinned. He was baptized in order to identify with us, in order to fulfill all righteousness, in order to be our substitute.
 

We are sinners, conceived and born in sin and we do need a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. But even more, we need what God gives through Holy Baptism, through this sacrament, that is through this mystery of God working through simple earthly elements of water and His Word. Yes, with water and God’s name, “Father, Son and Holy Spirit,” we are united, made one with Christ.
 

Through His baptism Jesus identified Himself with us. Now, through our baptism we are identified with Him. Through our baptism Jesus’ life becomes our life, His death becomes our death, His resurrection becomes our resurrection. The fullness of the Gospel is not simply the last part of what I just said, that Jesus’ death and resurrection are for us, but the fullness of the Gospel is in Jesus’ life becoming our life. We cannot live as we ought. We cannot do anything we ought to do. We cannot keep the law perfectly, or even close. Thus, the fact that Christ’s life becomes our life means that everything that He did, perfectly is credited to us as if we lived perfectly. And as our substitute, He did take our sins upon Himself and suffer and die in order to pay the price, the cost, the eternal spiritual death penalty of hell for us, in our place. And He rose showing us that He defeated sin, death and the devil and as He has defeated and won, so His victory is ours.
 

Baptism is not a symbolic act of obedience, rather baptism is a sacrament, it is a sacred act. It is not we who are acting but we who are being acted upon. Through this simple earthly element of water and God’s powerful Word and name, God, working through this sacred act, does great things. Through Baptism, God puts His name on us. He makes us His children. He puts faith in our hearts. He gives us forgiveness of sins. He writes our names in the book of Heaven. He does it all and we are passively done to. He gives and we are given too.
 

And now, now that we have been baptized. Now that we are children of God. Now that God’s name is on us, He continues to send His Holy Spirit who works in us to do the good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do. And we do them, again, not in and of ourselves, but because He motivates us to do them, because He gives us the good works to do, and because He works them in and through us. Here again, always pointing back to what He is doing.
 

Finally, we give praise to the Lord. And here again, this too, is not according to our conceived and born sinful human nature. We give praise to the Lord as He stirs in our hearts to give Him praise.
 

How important is baptism? Very important. So important in fact that Jesus Himself was baptized even though He did not need to be. As we celebrate Jesus’ baptism, I pray that you might be reminded of your own baptism so that as you are reminded of your own baptism you are reminded that you are a redeemed child of God and that your name is written in the book of life. And I pray that you might continue to remember the words we speak at one’s baptism, that is that “through Baptism God has added [you] to his own people to declare the wonderful deeds of our Savior, who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light.” To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Knowing Hope - January 5, 2014 - Second Sunday after Christmas - Text: Ephesians 1:3-14

Today is the twelfth and last day of Christmas. This morning we continue to celebrate the birth of the Christ-child, the one who came as our Savior, the one who came as King of kings and Lord of lords. In the Old Testament reading for today we hear young King Solomon asking not for riches or fame, but for an understanding and discerning heart to be better able to lead the children of Israel. In the Gospel lesson we met up with young Jesus who is in the temple at the age of twelve talking with the priests and we are told that He is growing “in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and man.” And in our text we hear of God’s plan of salvation.
 

Our text is the beginning of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians we pick up at verse three, “3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (v. 3-6). Paul begins this letter as he begins most of his letters, with words of blessing. Paul begins by saying, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,” or literally, “‘Good words’ be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” God is blessed, or using not so good English, He is “good worded” in connection with Jesus. God is blessed because Jesus has accomplished His work of salvation and is seated in the heavenly realms. God is blessed because He has accomplished what He said He would accomplish. His Word, spoken and written, have been fulfilled in Jesus, God in flesh, who gave His life for all people.
 

Paul continues by telling us that God is blessed because He chose us, before creation, to make us holy and blameless. We did not choose God, He chose us. He chose us, not because of anything deserving within us, not because He knew we would do anything to deserve His choosing. He chose us by the death of His Son which He told us would happen.
 

Paul goes on to tell us that in love, that is in agape, Christlike love, God adopted us and made us a part of His kingdom. He did this according to His good will and pleasure. It is God’s will that all people come to faith and are saved. And He works that salvation out according to His plan of salvation.
 

God’s plan of salvation is that according to His grace, His undeserved love, a love that is freely given, He gave us His Son, the Word made flesh to give His life for ours. It is through the death of the One He loves, His only Son, that He works His plan of salvation.
 

Picking up at verse seven Paul lays out God’s plan. We read, “7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ  10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth” (v. 7-10). In Christ we have redemption. Last week we talked about this word redeem, how it means to trade something and we talked about S & H Green Stamps. However, Jesus did not save up and trade stamps for us and our sins. No, He traded His life, He shed His blood for our sins. Remember, the price for sin was set in the Garden of Eden, the price for sin is death, eternal spiritual death and even physical death. The price for sin was that blood had to be shed. Jesus shed His blood for us.
 

Jesus shed His blood for all people. That the riches of grace are lavished on us means that there is no end to His grace. His grace is for all people. His grace exceeds our sins.
 

He has made know the mystery of His will. The mystery of His will is how God could love us so much. The mystery of God’s will is how a Creator could love His creation, especially His sinful creation, His creation run amuck, so much that He would do what needed to be done for His creation, that He would give His life, that He would shed His blood for us.
 

Thanks be to God that we have Paul’s words of hope as we continue reading at verse eleven, “11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (v. 11-14). We have hope, that is a certainty in Him. In Him, that is, in Christ, in faith in Him we have the certainty of an eternal inheritance in heaven.
 

This did not happen by accident. This did not happen according to our good will or pleasure. This did not happen for any reason for which we might be accountable. No, this was all according to God’s foreknowledge, plan and purpose. Even before the creation of the world God knew what was going to happen and so even before the creation of the world He knew He would be sending His Son to shed His blood for us. That fact in and of itself should tell us how much He loves us and how He created us in order to love us and to lavish us with all His good gifts and blessings.
 

And now, the Holy Spirit seals the deal. We have hope, that is we have the certainty of heaven, not because of anything on our part, but because the Holy Spirit brings us to faith, gives us faith, strengthens and keeps us in faith. It is the Holy Spirit who does the work of giving us the hope and certainty of eternal life.
 

As I read these words from our Epistle lesson today I realized how relevant and how fitting Paul’s words are for us today. And so I come before you to tell you that as Paul told the Ephesians, so I am tell you the same thing.
 

First, I want to remind you that God has chosen you. He has not chosen you because of something you have done, or will do. In the same way He does not disown us because of something we do or do not do. In other words, He has not disowned us because of our sins; our sins of thought, word and deed; our sins of omission and commission. He has chosen you because He has given the life of His Son, whose birth we just celebrated, for you.
 

Next, I want you to know that you are saved by God’s grace alone. Again, this is not something we can accomplish in and of ourselves. This is not something we can earn, deserve or work for. We are saved by God’s grace, by His undeserved love for us. We are saved by the blood of Jesus poured out for us on the cross. But we are not saved for no reason. We are saved for a purpose. First and foremost we are saved so that we may be loved by God and lavished with His good gifts and blessings. We are saved so that we might do good works. Yes, we are to do good works. We are saved so that the faith which is given to us at our baptism, at our conversion, is reflected in our love for each other.
 

My prayer, then, is that you will continue to make use of the means of grace so that you might be strengthened in your faith. In the same way the you were brought to faith by God’s good Word, I pray that you will continue to make regular and diligent use of that good Word to be made stronger in your faith. Remember, the mystery of why some are saved and some are not saved is because some refuse God’s gifts. We refuse God’s gifts by not making use of the gifts that He gives, the gifts of His means of grace, the gifts of His Word, Confession and absolution and His Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. My prayer is that you will make good use of that good Word, written and given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
 

And my prayer for you is that you will have the hope, that is the certainty, of heaven. Too often I hear a person say, “I hope when I die I will go to heaven.” I pray that you can say, “I know that when I die I will go to heaven.” I pray that you will have that certainty because that certainty comes from the good word of the Lord. That certainty comes from knowing the Good Word of Jesus. That certainty comes from faith given by the Holy Spirit and strengthened by Him through His Word and sacraments.
 

I read a shirt once that read, “So many books, so little time.” If you like to read you know how true that is. There is a plethora of reading material available in our country today. Unfortunately, not all of it speaks favorably or even speaks of the most important Word, the good Word, the Word made flesh, the Word given to us to eat and drink at His holy Supper. I will continue to pray for you, that the Lord will continue to give you a real desire and hunger for His Word, that you may be weaned off the milk of the Word and hunger for the meat and potatoes of God’s Word through which the Holy Spirit will strengthen and deepen your faith in the Lord and your love for each other. May it be done to the glory of the Lord, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.