The Promise of the Helper - June 1, 2025 - Seventh Sunday of Easter - Text: John 15:26-16:4

Today is the Seventh Sunday of Easter meaning that next Sunday we will celebrate the Pentecost of our Lord and we will rejoice in God’s sending of the Holy Spirit. You remember the Holy Spirit, the person of the trinity of which we rarely like to speak and I would suggest for good reason. Too often in our world today the Holy Spirit is misrepresented, misunderstood, and miss proclaimed. This morning in our text Jesus is preparing His Apostles for the sending of the Holy Spirit and is giving them a bit of a better understanding of the Holy Spirit before He is given.
 

Our text begins with Jesus teaching concerning the Holy Spirit, 26“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”
 

Jesus begins by telling us that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth. Perhaps this image of Truth might remind you of Jesus’ response to the Jews, “31So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (John 8:31-33).
 

Or perhaps this image of Truth might remind you of Jesus’ Jesus’ response to Thomas: “6Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. 7If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7).
 

Or perhaps this image of Truth might remind you of Jesus before Pilate when Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate said to him, “What is truth?” (John 18:37b-38a).
 

Jesus is the Truth and as you may or may not have heard the adage, “No (N-O) Jesus, No Truth, Know (K-N-O-W) Jesus, Know Truth.” Indeed, apart from Jesus there truly is no such thing as truth. Have you ever wondered why our world has such a problem with truth? Today truth is said to be relative and there are no absolutes. What may be true for me may not be true for you and vica versa. Have you ever wondered why someone is more interested in truth than facts? Because facts can be explained away according to my own truth. It is no wonder we have such a problem because our world has become so Jesus-less it is quite truth-less.
 

Continuing on, Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father (and the Son), as we proclaim in the Nicene Creed. Of course we want to be careful so as not to misunderstand the Holy Spirit and our Triune God for that matter. We certainly believe that our God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three equal persons in one eternal Godhead. And we do not want to gravitate to any form of Modalism, such that God came first in the from of the Father, then the mode of the Son and now the mode of the Holy Spirit. Rather, Jesus is speaking of the fact that although the Holy Spirit was at work even in the Old Testament, now He will be the primary one at work in our New Testament times.
 

Moving on in our text, Jesus speaks of the persecution of the Apostles “1I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me” (John 16:1-3).
 

Jesus gives quite a warning to His Apostles and I might add, to us today. They will be put out of synagogues. Now, that might not sound so bad to us today, but in the days of the Apostles to be put out of the synagogue was tantamount to excommunication. Of course, the Apostles and we today understand that because of Jesus’ defeat of sin, death and the devil, because Jesus fulfilled all the Law and prophets perfectly, the symbol of the synagogue no longer had the meaning it once had. Even Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Roman church. Yet, for the Apostles to be put out of the synagogue could mean a separation from family and friends.
 

But their difficulties would not simply be being put out of the synagogue, but also the possibility and the eventuality of their being murdered. And we do know that all the Apostles, except John were persecuted and died a martyrs death.
 

Jesus tells the Apostles that people will persecute them because they will be believing they are doing God a favor. Very much like the Apostle Paul himself who was out persecuting the early Christian church because he believed they were a false church, that they were blaspheming God. And I would say, just like many people in our world today who are constantly bombarded with false, misleading lies about Christians and the Christian church there are Christians around the world who are being martyred for their faith. Fortunately, for us here in America our persecution is not necessarily so open. Today our persecution is more subtle and yet I would say it may get worse in the near future.
 

Thanks be to God that Jesus goes on to give words of courage, “But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you (John 16:4). We might say that Jesus is speaking to preempt the fears of His Apostles. Jesus is warning them of the persecutions they will be facing. His intent in not to discourage them because He has a great task laid out for them. He will be sending them out to bear witness of what they have seen, the initiation of the end times. They have seen Jesus as He lived the perfect life demanded of us, took our sins, paid the complete price for our sins and the sins of the world, and rose from the dead. And they will be taking that message to others, many who will reject that good news.
 

So, Jesus is offering encouragement now because as He tells them, before He sends the Holy Spirit He was with them, but when the Holy Spirit comes He will no longer be with them physically. Although He will continue to be watching over them, ruling over them, and interceding for them.
 

What does this mean? First and foremost it means that today we have the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is with us. As we learn in catechesis the Holy Spirit is God with all the attributes of God. He is everywhere present. He is all powerful. He is almighty. And so He is with us, as we hear, where two or three are gathered together in my name I am with you.
 

The Holy Spirit is with us and He is working in and through us. How does the Holy Spirit work? First and foremost the Holy Spirit works through means, namely the means of grace, the Word, Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and the Holy Supper. This working through means is His usual way of working with us. Now, although working through means is His usual way of working with us that does not mean He cannot work otherwise, after all He is God and can do whatever He wants to do, but His usual way is through means, thus the importance of the means of grace.
 

Just to be clear, the Holy Spirit’s usual way of coming to us is through means. We call that mediately or through a mediator of sorts, Word and Sacrament. He does not usually come to us immediately that is directly as in a dream or vision or voice and again that is not to say He cannot come in those ways. However we are also told that we are to test the spirits to see if they are from God or not. Thus, when anyone speaks of an immediate speaking of the Holy Spirit my response is to test the spirit. If what is said contradicts what God says elsewhere, then that is not the Holy Spirit. If it is in agreement, then maybe. Yes, I will always be a skeptic.
 

One good test of the spirit, is the fact that the Holy Spirit always points to Jesus, never Himself, which is why we do not hear much about Him. The Holy Spirit points to Jesus through the Word, and in particular the Word in flesh, Jesus Himself. He points to Jesus through the Word in Holy Absolution as the one forgiving us, in Holy Baptism as the one who’s name is put on us and in the Holy Supper as we partake of Jesus’ body and blood.
 

How is this done? How does the Holy Spirit go about His work? The Holy Spirit works through means, in particular through the means of grace. Thus, first and foremost we should see the necessity of our coming to Divine Service and Bible Class so that we might be given the gifts the Holy Spirit has to give. Our desire as Christians is to making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, that is to be where and when the gifts of God are being given out. The gifts of faith, forgiveness, strengthening of faith, life and salvation. It is only as we are filled and refilled each and every Sunday, yes, each and every day through our own personal reading of God’s Word, our own personal and family devotions, that we are and can be filled. I liken this filling to God being a never empty vessel and we are cups who are filled every time we make use of the means of grace. However, should we be filled and then absent ourselves, just like a cup of water will evaporate, so when we absent ourselves from the means of grace our faith may evaporate as well. Indeed, it is only as we are filled that we will ever reach a point that we overflow and then we too become instruments to carry out the means of grace, the Word of God to others.
 

Which brings us to God’s desire that we are always ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. Paul says that we are to be ready to give an apology which means a defense. And yet, he tells us that this defense is not something we try to force on others, but is what we are to be ready to offer when we are asked. And he says to do it with gentleness. As we live lives of faith. As we live as priests in the priesthood of all believers. As we offer our lives as living sacrifices, other people see and notice that we are different. Ultimately they may ask, what is different about us. It is only as we have been filled with the gifts of God that we can be ready to give an answer. And as Jesus promised His Apostles so He promises us. He is with us. The Holy Spirit is with us. The Holy Spirit will give us the Words to speak, those words we heard in the Divine Service and Bible Class, those words we read in our devotions. The Holy Spirit will give us the words and the courage to speak those words. And the Holy Spirit will work and give faith, when and where He pleases. Ours is not to give faith, ours is simply to give an answer.
 

Next week we will celebrate the giving of the Holy Spirit. This week Jesus is preparing us as He prepared His Apostles. We have the Holy Spirit. He is with us. We have the Truth, which sets us free. We live in a world in opposition to Jesus and thus in opposition to us. We have God’s Word which sets us free to be His people. And we have His promise that He will never leave us nor forsake us. This morning we are thus encouraged as we continue celebrating Easter that we worship a living God who has taken care of everything for us and gives everything to us. And He even gives us the joy of sharing that message of forgiveness and salvation to others. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Thoughts on a Lutheran Identity Vs. a Lutheran Confession

The following are my personal thoughts concerning the 2025 Texas District Convention Resolution 02-03-25: To Define and Affirm Lutheran Identity.

I am against the resolution. To quote from the resolution, “The Lutheran Church is not defined by cultural or national identity but by its confession of Christ and the pure teaching of His Gospel. To be Lutheran is to confess what the Scriptures teach and what the Church has always believed.” – Herman Sasse, Here We Stand: Nature and Character of the Lutheran Faith.

Unfortunately the overuse of the word “identity” has almost emptied it of its meaning. With that said, there is a distinct and great difference between one’s “identity” and one’s “confession.” Today anyone may identify as just about anything, a woman may identify as a man (however that does not change her XX chromosome to XY) and a man may identify as a woman (again that does not change his XY chromosomes to XX), and yet neither identity is true or real.

In the Lutheran Church and in our Confessions we do not use the term “identity,” but we use the word “confession” because to have a confession means so much more than simply to have an identity. To have a confession means that one not only confesses with their lips, but believes in their heart and that belief is then acted out and seen in their life. Thus, a true confession is a combination of faith and life or better said, doctrine and practice. For one to practice something different than their doctrine or to simply say they identify as something means that they are truly not confessing. As mamma always said, “Practice what you preach.” Or as we hear today, “If you’re gonna talk the talk, then you better walk the walk.”

Unfortunately, this denominational identity seems to be as divisive as identity politics. Also, as memory serves, it was during the Seminary Walkout that the one group wanted to have a Lutheran “identity” very much like we heard in recent times from Concordia Austin. Yet, simply to have a Lutheran “identity” does not mean one is a confessional Lutheran. One example of how this is happening and is so divisive in our synod today is what happens on Sunday mornings. Back in the early 1980s this Texas District was involved in the Chuck and Win Arn Church Growth movement. That movement defined what was done on Sunday morning as worship and suggested that in worship God was the audience, the congregation were the actors, the pastor and choir were the prompters, thus, if not outright stating, it was implied that people were to attend worship in order to do something for God and thus needed to have a part in the worship service, such as read the lessons, be in the praise band or the drama team, etc. As confessional Lutherans we understand that what we do on Sunday morning is Divine Service wherein God is the actor and the congregation are the ones being acted on and given to, such that the called and ordained pastor is the one through which God works to deliver the gifts He has to give and the laity are there to be given to. The response of the laity is simply to offer hymns (good sound theological hymns), offer prayers, and offer their firstfruits and tithes (which were hopefully the same). So, we see in this example the difference between an identity and a true confession which is acted out.

Finally, to quote again from the resolution, “The Lutheran Church is not defined by cultural or national identity but by its confession of Christ and the pure teaching of His Gospel. To be Lutheran is to confess what the Scriptures teach and what the Church has always believed.” - Herman Sasse, Here We Stand: Nature and Character of the Lutheran Faith. Notice the difference in the words, identity and confession. So, to simply identify as a Lutheran does not make one a Lutheran. Only to confess with the lips and live that confession makes one a true Lutheran.

It Is Done - May 18, 2025 - Fifth Sunday of Easter - Text: Revelation 21:1-7

So, when I sit down to write a sermon (and no, we do not get our sermons from Synod and someone once actually asked me that question) after thirty years of preaching, I have seen every text at least three times, anyway, I always pull up my work from the last time I preached on the text. When I pulled up the work from nine years ago the title was “It Is Done,” and I thought that would be a great title for my last official sermon here at St. Matthew. As usual, I think God has an interesting sense of humor in that the timing of this text was such that the title would be so fitting.
 

But, getting to today. I know we have heard the saying, because I have said it before, that goes something like this: “God said it, I believe it, that settles it.” Unfortunately, as you hear me rail in Bible Class so often, why are we interjecting ourselves into the equation, as if we have something to do with anything. The more correct saying would be: “God said it, that settles it.” Our belief or unbelief has no affect on what God says or does. If I deny the existence of China, that does not mean it does not exist. If I say I believe in fairies, that does not mean they exist. In our text for today, as we continue on in the Revelation of John we see, as always, God’s Word does what it says, and gives the gifts He speaks.
 

John begins by describing the new heaven and the new earth, “1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away” (v. 1-4).
 

In the beginning God created the first heaven and earth. The heaven and earth God initially created was perfect and holy. As we read of God’s creating in the first two chapters of Genesis we hear that as God is the one doing the doing, everything is perfect and holy. When we get to chapter three we hear of Adam and Eve and when Adam and Eve hit the scene that is when everything which God created as perfect and holy becomes imperfect and cursed. Thus, God’s perfect creation fell into sin, and is perfect no more.
 

In his vision John now sees the new heaven and the new earth which will be without sin. When God created all things out of nothing His intent was for all things to remain without sin. We see God’s great love, however, in the fact that even though He knew what was going to happen, what we call His Divine foreknowledge, even knowing He would have to suffer and die for His creation, He created all things anyway. Now as we approach the end of His revealed Word to us, He speaks to us of what will happen in the end, that is that He will make all things new.
 

John sees how God will dwell with man once again. Remember how in the Garden of Eden we are told that Adam and God had a very intimate relationship. God and Adam would walk together in the Garden. After the fall into sin and the curse, the relationship of God and man has been tenuous at best. After Adam broke his perfect relationship with God, having been cursed, the sin of Adam has been passed down from generation to generation so that even today man’s relationship with God is tenuous at best. Yet, because of Jesus, because of His perfect life for us in our place, because He took our sins and paid the price for our sins, because He died and rose thus earning forgiveness for us and restoring our relationship with Himself, even with God; Father, Son and Holy Spirit our hearts are being renewed daily. So, John speaks of what he sees in his vision and tells us that in the end God will once again dwell with us.
 

And we might, I think, obviously surmise that it will be a place of perfection. God is perfect and holy. God dwells in perfection and holiness. Where God dwells is perfection, thus as God dwells with man once again it will be a place of perfection.
 

John goes on to tell us that he was told to write this down, “5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (v. 5). As we began so we hear from the one speaking to John, God said it and that settles it. God is the one speaking. God is the one who makes all things new. In heaven there will be no more sin.
 

John, the same John who wrote the Gospel of John in which many times he refers to himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved, and as he bears witness that his testimony is true, even as he speaks of Jesus own testimony that He is truth, indeed, the Way, the truth and the life, he is told to write this down, because it is trustworthy and true, that is as we say, God’s Word is efficacious it does what it says and gives the gifts of which it speaks.
 

Finally he says, it is done, “6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son”(v. 6-7).
 

It is done. As we heard Jesus say on the cross, “It is finished,” so He declared that the sins of all people, of all places, of all times had been paid for. The price for sin, death, eternal death and hell has been paid for by Jesus’ suffering and dying. Indeed as we hear declared here again in this revelation to John, it is done, all sins have been forgiven. Notice this is an already accomplished, past action, completed action. Nothing more needs to be done, as if there is anything we need to do or can do. And so as began saying it is not necessary that we believe it for it to be done and true. All sins have been paid for because Jesus paid the price, because we are declared forgiven and so as God declares it is accomplished. You are forgiven, thanks be to God.
 

As we laid out a few weeks ago, Jesus is alpha and omega, beginning and end, even without beginning or end, there at the creation of the world and here at the end of the world, or better said here at the beginning of eternity. Jesus is the alpha and the omega, the one who died and has been raised to life. Jesus is God in flesh who accomplished all things for us.
 

Jesus gives eternal life, as He is the one who paid the price for our sins in order to earn eternal life for us. We do nothing to gain eternal life. We do nothing to earn eternal life. Eternal life is a gift given to us by the one who earned and paid for it, Jesus. Indeed, we come before our Lord as wretched beggars. He is the one who scoops us up our of the muck and mire of our own sin. He washes us in His blood and robes us with His robes of righteousness. He makes us His own through the waters of Holy Baptism and His Holy Word. He gives us eternal life.
 

Yet not just to us for He gives this inheritance of eternal life to all who believe. As we have heard many times, we are the true children of Abraham, the true Israel, not by DNA, but by faith. God’s covenant first given in Eden, to Adam and Eve, before there ever was a Jew or Gentile, His covenant reiterated to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David and so forth was always a covenant of grace, always pointing to Jesus. God said it and that settles it.
 

What Does this mean? I attended college enrolled in the teacher education program. Having taken many methods of teaching classes and student teaching and one phrase that continually sticks in my mind is that the best way to teach is to teach and reteach, in other words to teach the same thing over and over until it is mastered. The reason we attend Divine Service and Bible class every week is because we so easily forget. Thus we need the constant reminder of God’s love and forgiveness for us. This morning John, through his vision reminds us once again of the fact that in the beginning God created all things perfect and holy and man sinned.
 

As we approach the end of God’s revealed Word of Holy Scripture, in this book of revelation of the vision to John we hear what John sees which is God’s recreation, that is the fact that Jesus has paid the price for sin, for all sin, for all people, and most especially for your sin and mine. In the Gospel reading for this morning, John’s Gospel nonetheless, we are reminded of Jesus’ words to love one another. Indeed, as we hear these words most certainly they remind us of how much we fail. Time and again we fail to love one another. And as I have said many times, it is only as we see just how sinful we truly are that we can then truly understand how gracious and loving God truly is. The less sinful we are the less we think we need Jesus and truly the more we simply think we can rely on ourselves, which leads only to death. The more sinful we realize we are the more we understand how much Jesus has suffered and forgiven and the more we understand God’s grace and love.
 

John sees the end. Johns sees God recreating, making a new heaven and a new earth. John sees how God makes all things new, like in the beginning, except this time God will not allow for sin and a curse. God creates everything new, perfect and holy and dwells with us in perfection and holiness.
 

God gives eternal inheritance to all who believe. Heaven is not a matter of DNA. It is not a matter of who are your parents. It is not a matter of having your name on the roles of a congregation, especially if you never step foot in the door of that congregation. It is not a matter of what you know rather it is a matter of who knows you, who has redeemed you, who has given you faith, and who gives you eternal life, Jesus.
 

As we read and hear John’s words we know that we can believe his words because they are God’s words and He is faithful and true. And it is not a matter of our believing that make it faithful and true, rather it is a matter of the fact that He said it that makes it faithful and true. God said it and that settles it because He is all powerful and gives what He says and makes what He says happen.
 

This morning on my last official Sunday here at St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield I might say, “It is done.” My work here is complete, but as are all things earthly, God’s work in this place will continue and I most certainly believe that as the members of this congregation continue to be about the Lord’s business, continue steadfast in the Apostles’ Doctrine, the breaking of bread and prayers, the Lord will continue to bless you, as He has blessed and sustained you for the past 125 years. Your work, God’s work, even my work will continue until the Lord returns and as I have said time and again, each day we live moves us one day closer and it will happen. We will each meet the Lord either at our own passing or when He returns and yes, that day will be sooner than we know and sooner than we can imagine. As I said last week so I repeat, the main thing in this life is being ready for the life to come. No matter what we may believe are our accomplishments in this world, none of that will matter in heaven. It is all about Jesus. And I have to say it one more time, as you always hear me say, we get it right when we point to Jesus. God said it, that settles it. It is done. Come Lord Jesus, come quickly. To God be the glory. Amen.

Washed in the Blood of the Lamb - May 11, 2025 - Fourth Sunday of Easter - Text: Revelation 7:9-17

Let me begin by wishing our mothers a happy Mother’s Day. We are glad you are here and we rejoice in your most blessed vocation of being a mother.
 

Thus, we might say how fitting is our text for this morning as we continue our look into heaven. We see, again, the enumerable number of people in heaven, not only the four creatures, the twenty-four elders, the enumerable number of angels, but also the enumerable number of Christians. We see them wearing white robes and holding palm branches. We hear them sing. We see how, even John, is unable to answer the question from God concerning what he is seeing, so he refers the question back to God answering, “Sir, you know.” John’s answer reminds us that we do not need to know all the answers to all the questions about God or about the Bible, rather we need to realize that God is so much bigger than we are and He does know all the answers. Which in turn encourages us to continue steadfast in the Apostles’ Doctrine to learn more about Him and be strengthened in our faith.
 

Our text begins with John telling us that he sees “a great multitude that no one could number.” These words remind us that the reference to 144,000, mentioned in the verses at the beginning of this chapter, as being the number of people in heaven, is not a counting figure, but is a symbolic figure. The 144,000 means the Old Testament believers from the twelve tribes of Israel times (X) the New Testament believers from the twelve apostles times (X) the number of completion, ten, cubed (v.9-10). In other words, the number 144,000 is what John is seeing, that is a great multitude, all believers who ever lived, from Old and New Testament times. Everyone who believes in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is included in the great multitude, and in the 144,000. We, you and I are included in that 144,000.
 

Their song reminds us that salvation is given by God to those who believe. Salvation is not something we get. It is not something we earn. It is not something we claim for ourselves. Salvation belongs to God. It was earned by Him and it is given out by Him. It is given by His grace through faith in Jesus. And it is given out through the means of grace, His Word and sacraments.
 

The song of the great multitude is followed by a song by the angels, elders and four living creatures and it is again a sevenfold song of praise. We are told that “they fell on their faces before the throne” (v. 11b). They fell down in fear, in awe and in respect. In the Old Testament we are often told of people falling prostrate before the Lord, or a king or whoever. To fall prostrate means to fall on your face, completely flat, face down on the ground. This falling is a posture of complete submission. Thus, even the angels, elders and four living creatures recognize Jesus as Lord and fall down in complete submission to Him. And they sang another sevenfold song of blessings, something like the song in last week’s reading, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen” (v. 11- 12).
 

They worshiped and said “Amen!” They spoke the word which reminds us that God is faithful. In His faithfulness He remembered His promise to send a Savior, Christ the Lord. In His faithfulness Jesus came to earth to live perfectly. In His faithfulness Jesus fulfilled all God’s laws and prophecies, perfectly and completely. In His faithfulness Jesus took our sins, your sins and my sins and the sins of all people, on Himself and He suffered and paid the price for our sins. In His faithfulness He gave His life for ours on the cross. And in His faithfulness He rose from the dead, victorious over sins, death and the devil. In His faithfulness Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to bring us to faith, to give us faith, and to keep us in faith until He comes again.
 

John is then questioned by one of the elders. He asks, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?”(v. 12-17). John rightly answers, “Sir, you know.” John does not know and so he turns the question back to the man who asked so that he might get an answer. The answer is that they are those who have suffered for their faith. The word in our text that is used for tribulation is the same word that Jesus used when He said that we would have trouble in this world, but we are to take heart, because He has overcome the world. This trouble, this tribulation that we suffer is what we have suffered since the fall into sin in the Garden of Eden. To be a Christian means that you inevitably suffer trials and tribulations.
 

You might think of it this way, the devil does not spend as much time working on those he already has. Why should he if they already belong to him? Instead, he spends his time working on those he does not have. Which means that if you are not suffering from the trials and tribulations of the devil you might want to take a hard look at yourself to make sure that he does not have you already [smile :)]. And yet, we have to admit that we do daily fall for the lies and temptations of the devil. We daily sin much and are in need of forgiveness. We daily become the means and instruments the devil uses, not only for our own sin, but for the sin of others. Here again, that is why we come to Divine Service every Sunday, in order to confess our sins and hear our Lord’s most beautify words of absolution, that our sins are forgiven.
 

The elder continues by saying that these are they who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” It is faith in Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, the shedding of His blood that brings the white robes of righteousness. By faith in Jesus, we stand before God in His perfection, in His white robes of righteousness.
 

“Therefore,” the elder says, meaning, as a result of Jesus redeeming work, because Jesus shed His blood on the cross, by faith in Him, therefore, salvation comes to those who believe. The perfect bliss of the redeemed people of God is described in the next series of ten statements. Remember too, that the number ten is the number of completeness and perfection and so we are reminded by these ten statements that there is complete release from all evil and complete fullness of joy which is ours, given to us by God in heaven.
 

The first three lines describe the blessedness of the redeemed who stand in the presence of God spending their days and nights in service to Him. Their service is a worship service, time spent in praise and adoration to Jesus.
 

The next four lines speak about the freedom we Christians have from the effects of sin. The curse which was placed on all creation in the Garden of Eden is now broken. In heaven there is no hunger, no thirst, no begin beaten down by the sun.
 

The final three lines describe heaven in positive terms. We are reminded first that Jesus is the Good Shepherd as we read in the Gospel lesson for today. Jesus compares us to His sheep and He is our Shepherd. He leads us beside the quiet waters as we read in the Psalms. Jesus is the living water. We are Baptized into faith through water. We need water to live. Jesus is that living water for us. And with God there will be no suffering, no more tears. Heaven is a place of complete and unending joy.
 

This morning we get another glimpse of heaven. We are reminded that heaven is a gift, given by God, earned by Jesus’ death on the cross and the shedding of His blood. We are reminded that heaven is a place of forever joy. And we are reminded that heaven is a place of forever worship.
 

Again, the question we might ask ourselves this week is “are we ready?” If you ask young people “are you ready to go to heaven?” Many times you will get the answer, “Yes, I am ready, but I would rather grow up before I go.” How often do we find ourselves answering in like manner. “I think I am ready for Jesus to come again, but I would rather get done doing the things I think I need to do here on earth.” I think that begs the question even more. Are we ready? Are we ready if we believe that there is more for us to do on this earth than to get ourselves ready for Jesus’ coming? And maybe spending time getting others ready. I wonder if we are ready as we continue to keep our focus on the things of this world instead of focusing on things heavenward.
 

To help us know if we are ready, perhaps we would do well to ask the question, why are we here? Why are we here as a church, even as a Christian congregation, St. Matthew Lutheran church? Are we here to be self-serving? Are we here to only to be an outreach post? Might I suggest that we are here for a three-fold purpose. We are here for the sake of encouraging and building up each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, in other words, we are here for our own faith and to be strengthened in our own faith. Of course that means, as you hear me so often say, making regular and diligent use of the means of grace, being in Divine Service and Bible class, every Sunday, in order to be strengthened. We are also here to extend God’s kingdom in this place. We are here as an outreach post in order to invite others, our unchurched family and friends and the community to come and see the Lord, to come and be given faith, to come and be a part of His family. And we are here to give praise and glory to His holy name. As we go about the business of being the church in this place, perhaps at every meeting, and concerning all the decisions we make we should ask the question, “How is what we are doing encouraging and building up the body of Christ? How is what we are doing helping to reach out to share the Gospel with others? How is what we are doing giving glory to God?” And if we cannot answer those questions or if we cannot answer them in a God pleasing way, them maybe we need to rethink what we are doing? Our time on this earth is short. Now more than ever is the time to be about the Lord’s business.
 

When I was attending the Seminary, one of my classes followed chapel. Every morning we had chapel at 9 a.m. It was a short service in which we heard the Word of God and sang some hymns. The professor in our class that immediately followed chapel, noticed that some of the men from our class were not making it to chapel, but were missing for some reason. He chastened us one morning by using the following words, “Gentlemen, receive the gifts.” So, too, I come to you and as I come to you I ask you to share these words especially with those who are not here, those who are rejecting the gifts. Ladies and gentlemen, receive the gifts. Because it is only through the gifts God gives, the gifts of His Word and Sacraments and the gifts given through His Word and Sacraments that He can prepare us for Jesus’ coming. And now more than ever is the time to be prepared. And, as the angels and elders and the four living creatures say, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen” (v. 12). Amen.

May 2025 Newsletter - Last Newsletter for St. Matthew Lutheran Church of Westfield as Senior Pastor

May 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As I conclude my 23 years of service here at St. Matthew I would like to use this last newsletter article to highlight the top ten lessons I hope and pray you have learned over all these years.

10.    I have sought to continually inform and instruct you as to the business of our Synod, that is our national church body as well as our District. I have done so with the goal that you should know what is being proposed and accomplished within the church body with which this congregation has agreed to walk together (which is what synod means, walking together).

9.    I have encouraged you to understand that caring for one another in a congregation is not simply one person’s responsibility, but it is the joy and privilege of being a member of a church family to speak well of one another, as well as the congregation as a whole, and to share in what we call the mutual consolation of our brothers and sisters in Christ by building each other up and caring for one another. As I have said, if you see some in need, seek to be God’s helper; do not simply think that someone else might do it.

8.    I have encouraged you in your life of witness and evangelism reminding you that “as you are going,” that is as you are living your life in your various vocations, you have God’s authority to speak His Word, so that as you are asked, you can give an answer for your faith and hope in Christ Jesus, knowing you have God’s promise that He will give you not only the courage, but also the words to speak.

7.    I have encouraged you in your faith life and stewardship reminding you that God is the Author and Perfecter of our faith. God gives first, and He gives us His best. Our response of faith is just that, a response of faith. As we learn the joy of first fruits giving and especially of tithing, we will see that we cannot out give God. We will also begin to understand that our response of faith in our giving is just that, a response of faith. We first acknowledge that all we have has been first given to us by God, so our offerings (of our time, talent, and treasures) are simply our thankful response to God’s giving and a step in faith believing God will continue to bless us.

6.    I have sought to teach you and encourage you in understanding the importance of making regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace, meaning every Sunday and every day. I have encouraged you to be not only in Divine Service on Sunday mornings but also to be in one or more of the weekly Bible Studies that are offered. I have reminded you that the more you learn about God, the more you realize there is so much more you do not know. And I have warned you that lack of regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace makes us weak and a target of Satan and his lies.

5.    I have taught and encouraged you to have a clear understanding that our doctrine (what we believe, teach and, confess) is seen as it should be in our practice (how we act out what we believe) and in particular in our practice of the Divine Service. We also understand that our practice informs our doctrine so that what our worship (noun) demonstrates is what we believe. Thus, on Sunday morning we do not worship (verb) as some others do believing that we are there to do something for God as if He is the audience and as if He needs us to do something for Him. Rather, we worship (verb) by coming to Divine Service to be given the gifts God has to give through His called and ordained servant, the pastor, and the response as laity is to offer hymns, prayers. and first fruits.

4.    I have reminded you that, as Lutherans, we have the clearest understanding that God’s usual way of dealing with us, of giving us the gifts He has to give is mediately, that is through means and in particular through the Means of Grace. This understanding does not negate the fact that God can come to us immediately, in a dream, in a voice, etc., but that is not His usual way. God gives us faith through His Word and Holy Baptism. God forgives our sins in Holy Baptism, through Holy Absolution, and in His Holy Supper. God strengthens and keeps us in faith through His Holy Word, through our remembering our Baptism, and through His Holy Supper.

3.    I have reminded you that, as Lutherans, we have the clearest understanding of Law and Gospel. The Law points us to ourselves showing our sins (mirror), keeping us on the straight and narrow (curb), and instructing us in holy living (guide). The Gospel points us to Jesus and tells us everything that Jesus has done and continues to do for us. The fullness of the Gospel is the fact that God created us to love us and that love is seen in the fact that Jesus lived for us, the perfect life demanded of us, in our place.

2.    I have encouraged and reminded you that we as Lutherans have the clearest understanding of Justification and Sanctification. We are justified in God’s eyes, by His Grace through the faith He has given us, in Jesus. We are Sanctified in that we are made holy and lead holy lives as the Holy Spirit stirs in us and moves in us, and as we live lives as priests as living sacrifices, always being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in Jesus, we do so to the glory of God.

1.    I have continually sought to remind you that we get it right when we point to Jesus. When we point to ourselves, we are talking “Law talk,” and the Law does not save us. When we point to Jesus, we are talking Gospel. We are saved, we are justified, and we are made right before God by Grace. God’s Grace is a gift given to us first in our Baptism as God’s Name is put on us. We are forgiven through Holy Absolution. We are strengthened through our making regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace. We have Jesus put into us in His Holy Supper. God gives, and we are given to!

Let me encourage you as I have encouraged every congregation I have served when concluding my service: the Lord will provide a replacement for me (probably even better than me). Here at St. Matthew I would remind you that you are in a position of not many congregations. You have a history of God’s blessings of over 125 years. You have all your buildings paid for (albeit, some repairs not withstanding), and you have no debt. This congregation has members which possess all the gifts, talents, and abilities you need in this church family, and God will give you all that you need to continue to be His people and His congregation in this place to be a beacon to the community and beyond.

Having served the Lord at St. Matthew for 23 years (the longest tenured pastor of 125), I am reminded of how quickly time passes. We arrived with two children and have added two more the youngest of whom is eighteen. And yet those 23 years have been but a blink of the eye reminding us that our lives on this earth are short indeed as Job says, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1) compared to our eternity in heaven. So, again I would encourage you to live a life with a priority of making sure that your real forever life in heaven is a certainty. With that, I will continue to pray for you as I ask that you continue to pray for me and my family.

As many of you know, pastors never retire, or as the bad dad joke goes, pastors do not retire they are put out to pasture. As of this writing I have already been ask to fill in and preach twice in the coming months. I hope to take the Witness Workshop to other churches and publish the books I have written. Hopefully they will soon be available on my webpage for purchase. And You can keep up with what is happening by checking my blog: http://rabswritings.blogspot.com and by visiting my webpage: Point2Jesus.org.

God’s richest blessings.
In His Service,

Pastor Bogs
1 Cor. 15:3-5

I Am the Living One - April 27, 2025 - Second Sunday of Easter - Text: Revelation 1:4-18

Jesus is risen from the dead. He is alive. We worship a living God. This morning we continue in the afterglow of our Easter celebration, and really, as Christians we are reminded that each and every Sunday is an Easter celebration. This morning we continue with using the Epistle lesson as our text and although you might not think it, Revelation is a fitting after Easter text. Let me put it this way. Maybe you remember that Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke and the follow up book of Acts. In much the same way, John wrote the Gospel of John and the follow up book of Revelation. As we get to our text we will see that Revelation is indeed “A Distant Triumph Song,” as one of my commentaries calls it. I might also begin by saying that John’s revelation is appropriate because what John is seeing is the resurrected Jesus, who is seated at the right hand of the Father, who is in all His glory, which He had given up to be born as one of us.
 

Our text begins right at the beginning of the book. Immediately after introducing this writing as a revelation from God in the first three verses, John continues with words of doxology and greeting in the next four verses. John writes “to the seven churches in the province of Asia.” Many times in the Bible numbers have special meaning. Yet, we need to be careful, because not every number has special meaning. Here in the book of Revelation, which is a vision, many of the numbers do have special meaning. Here John uses the number seven, “the seven churches” to mean the number of completion. In other words, John is seeing this vision which is for the complete number of churches, the whole church of God, all believers in Jesus.
 

John begins with doxology. He begins with trinity. He begins with “grace and peace” “from him who is, and who was, and who is to come,” in other words, he begins with God the Father. God is eternal. He always was, always is and always will be. He is forever.
 

John then speaks of God the Holy Spirit, or as he calls him, “from the seven spirits.” It is possible that John uses the term “seven spirits” to bring to mind “the seven-fold description of the Holy Spirit found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah (11:2).”
 

And John speaks of God the Son. John describes Jesus in His role as the faithful witness, which is the role of the prophet; as the firstborn from the dead, and here I would make an aside to remind you that He is the firstborn from the dead after having made Himself the sacrifice for our sins, which we are reminded that the role of the priest was to make sacrifices; and He is the ruler of the kings of the earth (v.5), meaning that Jesus is our King, even the King of kings. So, we see Jesus as prophet, priest and king. And we see that John begins with the trinity, Father, Holy Spirit and Son. And he begins with Jesus threefold office of prophet, priest and king.
 

John reminds us that Jesus is the one who has freed us from our sins. He did this by the shedding of His blood on the cross for us. He did this by His death and resurrection (v.6) for us, in our place. And John reminds us as Paul does in many of his letters, that we are redeemed, not for nothing, but so that we might serve Him in His kingdom, so that we might do the good works which He has prepared in advance for us to do.
 

John reminds us of the coming day of Judgement. He reminds us that Jesus is the one who is coming to judge the world. In His coming to judge the world, the unbeliever will mourn because of Him (v. 7), because he will know that means his eternal destruction.
 

John goes on to share Jesus’ words of greeting and his description of what he saw (v. 8-18). John tells us that Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, that is, He describes Himself as the beginning and the end (v. 8). Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last. It would be like saying in English that He is from A to Z. Notice also that Jesus’ words remind us that He is one with the Father and the Spirit and that He was with the Father and the Spirit even from the beginning, even at the creation of the world.
 

John writes that he is suffering as Jesus said he would (cf. John 16:33). Interestingly enough, the word that John uses for suffering is the same word that Jesus used for trouble in the Gospel of John when He reminded us that we would have trouble in this world, but we are to take heart, because Jesus has overcome the world. In other words, Christ has overcome the suffering and troubles of this world.
 

John says he saw the seven golden lampstands. These lampstands are symbols of the seven churches. As we said earlier, John is speaking to the whole Christian church.
 

John goes on to describe God (v.13-16). His head and hair were white like wool, not because of His old age, even though I would wonder if it could not be from the trouble we have been, but His hair is white to show His wisdom and dignity. His whiteness shows His purity, holiness, and righteousness. His eyes of blazing fire show with what purifying fire He will judge, as He sees absolute truth from a lie (v.14). His feet were bronze “showing his authority and the exercise of His power over His enemies, who must serve as His footstool,” and His voice was the sound of rushing water, both frightening for sinners and calming for believers (v.15).
 

John describes what came out of His mouth as being like a “sharp double-edged sword.” And what comes out of Jesus’ mouth is nothing but His Word. Paul reminds us that as Christians the only offensive weapon we carry into battle against the devil is the sword of the Word of God.
 

John, quoting Jesus, again, says that He describes Himself as the “living one.” That brings us back to the understanding that we worship a living God. And we worship a God who holds the keys to heaven. Faith in Jesus is the key. Faith saves, unbelief condemns.
 

So, why am I excited about having the book of Revelation as our text? One reason is in the book of revelation we have an answer for those who knock at our door dismissing the idea that Jesus is truly God and truly man. Follow along with me if you will. And you may use the Bible in the pew if you do not have your own with you. I would suggest marking this in your Bible at home so you have it when someone knocks at your door. First, we want to establish that God is the Alpha and Omega. We do that by looking at Rev. 1:8 (p. 1377 in the pew Bible). “I am the Alpha and Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” So, we ask, who is the Alpha and Omega? The answer is, God is. Now turn to Rev. 21:5-7 (p. 1395) “He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” Again, who is the Alpha and the Omega? He is the Beginning and the End, in other words, He is God. So, not only is God described as the Alpha and the Omega, He is also described as the Beginning and the End. Now, turn to Rev. 22:13 (p. 1396). John writes: “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” And again we ask, “who is saying this?” and the answer is that God is saying this. Now for the clincher if you will, turn to Rev. 1:17-18 (p. 1377-1378). And this is again from our text for this morning. John writes: “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Now we ask, once more, “who did we say was the Alpha and the Omega?” We said it was God. And then we make our case that Jesus is God by asking, “when did God die and come back to life?” And of course, we know the answer, when Jesus, who is God, died on the cross and rose again. Which is what we just celebrated.
 

A another reason I am excited about having the book of Revelation as our text is because we do not get to have it as a text too often, probably because it is so misunderstood by our society. As I said earlier, the book of Revelation is the second half of John’s Gospel. It is a book of Gospel, reminding us that our God is not dead but is alive. It is a book in which we see Jesus Christ seated at the right hand of the Father ruling over us, interceding for us, watching out for us and caring for us. The book of Revelation shows us Jesus in all His glory. He is in heaven living in all the glory that is His, that He gave up to be born as a human being. He is in heaven where He is using His divine attributes to their fullest.
 

The book of Revelation reminds us that Jesus is our Judge. that He will come again with power and great glory and might. He will come to judge the living and the dead. He will come to take us, the faithful, believing Christians to heaven to live with Him forever in eternity. He will do this because that is what He earned for us by His death on the cross for our sins and by His resurrection.
 

Finally, the book of Revelation reminds us of our need to be ready. We need to be ready at anytime and at all times, because we do not know the day or the hour when He will come again, only the Father knows. We need to be ready and we ready ourselves by being in the word, by reading our Bible, by remembering our Baptism, by confessing our sins and hearing His Word of absolution, by partaking of the Lord’s Supper. We ready ourselves and we show that we are ready by being about the Lord’s business, sharing His Word with others, being good stewards of our time, talents and treasures, using them to extend God’s kingdom, and especially to extend God’s kingdom here in this place. We show we are ready through our thoughts, our words and our actions, as they are directed heavenward. We need to be ready and we are ready as our Lord makes us ready through the means of grace.
 

Again, I cannot say it enough, in our text for today, and as we will be in the book of Revelation for the next few Sundays, John reminds us that Jesus’ death and resurrection was not for nothing. His death earned life for us. His resurrection reminds us that we too will rise again. Jesus has accomplished all things for us and to that we say, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Christ Did Rise - April 20, 2025 - Easter Day - Text: 1 Corinthians 15:19-26

He is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!
 

In a court of law, witnesses play one of the most important roles. The prosecution, as well as the defense, each get to call their own witnesses and cross examine the other witnesses. The role of the witness is to explain what they saw. As Christians we are witnesses of Jesus’ resurrection. As we read God’s powerful Word, the Holy Spirit works through that word to work faith in our hearts. Thus, by the working of the Holy Spirit, through faith we have seen and bear witness to Jesus’ resurrection. Now, that witness may be good enough for others who share the same faith, but for those who do not believe, that witness may not be enough. Thanks be to God that we have reliable witnesses so that we have proof positive of the resurrection. If we did not have such reliable witnesses then Paul’s words would be devastating, “19If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 19-20).
 

From my Catechetical Helps book I have a list of witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection. According to this list (p. 90) Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. She is listed with Mary the mother of James, and Salome in our Gospel lesson as having witnessed Jesus alive. Jesus appeared to Peter as we read in Luke (24:34). Jesus appeared to James as we read in 1 Corinthians (15:7). He appeared to the disciples of Emmaus on that first Easter afternoon. He appeared to the disciples when Thomas was absent, again on that first Easter evening. One week later He appeared to the disciples and Thomas. He appeared to the seven disciples by the sea, that was when He helped them catch a large number of fish. He appeared to the eleven on the mountain and possibly these were some of the 500 mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians (15:6).
 

These witnesses I have just mentioned are written in our Bible. What about witnesses outside our Bible? Are there any witnesses of Jesus resurrection outside of the Bible? The answer to that question is yes and no. No, there is no specific witness saying that the Easter Resurrection happened without a doubt, but there is evidence which supports the resurrection. The first bit of evidence is the very fact that the Jewish argument shared with Christians the conviction that the tomb was empty, but the explanations for its being empty are different. Dr. Paul Maier puts it this way, “Such positive evidence within a hostile source is the strongest kind of evidence and becomes self-authenticating.” In other words, if the enemy disagrees, which they naturally would, that is one thing, but if the enemy agrees, such as the tomb being empty, that would mean your case holds the strongest argument. Another extra Biblical witness is that of the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus who mentions that it was reported that Jesus appeared alive again three days after His crucifixion. As archeology continues to find ancient relics there is no doubt that even more evidence is forthcoming.
 

There are still other reasons for believing in Jesus’ resurrection, such as the very fact that Jesus Himself spoke of His resurrection. In passage after passage Jesus told the people that He had to die and that He would rise again. Another reason to believe in the resurrection is the fact that the disciples are trustworthy historians. The disciples were out to tell the truth, to bear witness to the facts they saw. Why would they make up such stories, especially if they knew that they would be executed for doing so? More than likely people make up things in order to get out of being punished. Why would the disciples make up the stories of the resurrection in order to be punished?
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is the change of the behavior of the disciples, and especially that of Peter who changed from being what I would call a reactionary to being a responder, someone who responded to the needs of others.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is the observance of Sunday. What else would account for the change of the day of worship, the Sabbath rest, from Saturday to Sunday? It would have to be something very dramatic. And it was, it was the resurrection which moved people to want to worship on Sunday in order that every Sunday would be a little Easter celebration.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is that of Christianity. Christianity was not some kind of new sect, rather it is the followers of Christ, the fulfiller of all the Old Testament prophecies and the way to eternal life. And actually most of the first Christians were Jews who were waiting for a Messiah, and especially those waiting for an eternal life, forgiving Messiah. For these first Jewish Christians, their Jewishness no longer had any meaning except in Christ, thus becoming little Christs or Christians.
 

Another reason for believing the resurrection is because of our calendar. We are living in the year 2025 A.D. that is translated as, “in the year of our Lord.” The years before our Lord are cleverly referred to as the years before Christ or B.C. In an attempt to thwart Christianity there are some who are trying to change our references to B.C.E. being “before the common era” and C.E. being “common era,” but the fact remains that for so many years and even with the “common era” reference we continue to reference time according to the days of our Lord Jesus Christ.
 

As Christians we can rest assured in the fact of the resurrection and because of the resurrection we know that we too have victory over sin, death and the devil. Going back to our text Paul says, “24Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power” (v. 24). And “26The last enemy to be destroyed is death” (v. 26). Yes, we may still experience physical death, but because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we are assured that we will never experience eternal death in hell.
 

We have victory over sin, death, and the devil meaning we have victory over original sin as well as actual sin. Going back to our text Paul says, “21For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. 22For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (v. 21-22). The genetically transferred sin of Adam which is born in each and everyone of us is forgiven as well as the sins we commit each and every day.
 

What does this mean? This means that we are free from the bondage of sin, original and actual sin, sins of omission and sins of commission. We are free from death, eternal death and hell, and we are free from the power of the devil. We will still have to face trials and temptations. We will still have the struggle of resisting sin and temptation. We will more than likely still face physical death. But now we have the added advantage that our sins have been forgiven and we have the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who is with us to help us resist sin and temptation and to overcome and win out in the end.
 

This means that we have the promise of eternal life. We may fear the way in which we may physically die, but we do not fear what will happen after our physical death. By grace, through faith in Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection we have the assurance that we have a place in heaven waiting for us, so that we may be sure, as the thief on the cross, that in the very day we die we will be with Jesus in paradise.
 

How is this done? This done by the Holy Spirit working through the means of Grace, the Word, Holy Absolution, and the Sacraments, Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. The Holy Spirit uses these means to bring us to faith, to forgive us our sins, and to keep us in faith. The Holy Spirit uses these means to impart God’s gifts to us, His gifts of faith, forgiveness, assurance of forgiveness, assurance of life and salvation and the list of gifts never ends.
 

What are we to do? With the help and by the power of the Holy Spirit we respond to all our Lord has done for us not because He needs anything from us but simply because of our need to respond. We respond by taking part in God’s Means of Grace so that He can pour out even more of His gifts on us. When we absent ourselves from His Means of Grace then He has no way to give us His gifts and ultimately we fall away, but when we daily read His Word, when we daily remember our Baptism, when we regularly, once a week, come to Him in Divine Service and confess our sins and partake of His true body and blood in His Holy meal as often as we are able, then He has ample opportunity to give us His gifts and even more of His gifts. It is very much like any sport, art, craft, or talent, playing golf, bowling, playing piano or any musical instrument, the only way to continue to do well is to practice, to make time to practice, no matter how many distractions tempt you away from practice. So it is with the Lord’s gifts. We  cannot receive His gifts if we absent ourselves from them and believe me the temptations to be absent from the Lord’s Word are far greater than any other.
 

Yet, as we respond in faith; as we take any and every opportunity to make regular and diligent use of the Means of Grace, being in Divine Service and Bible Class, having personal and family devotions, reading God’s Word, remembering our Baptism, hear His Word of Holy Absolution, partaking of His body and blood in His Holy Supper, offering our tithes, first fruits and offerings, singing our hymns and offering our prayers; as we are moved to respond so the Lord fills us and fills us and fills us so that our desire is to respond even more. Indeed, our desire as little Christs is to be where the gifts of God are being given out and then to respond even more as He has first given to us. With the help of and by the power of the Holy Spirit we respond in gratitude and praise for all our Lord has done for us, all He does for us and all He will continue to do for us. He comes to us through His Means of Grace and we go to Him in pray, praise, and giving thanks.
 

“19If in this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. 20But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep” (v. 19, 20). He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

Jesus Is Risen - April 20, 2025 - Easter Sunday - Sunrise Text: Mark 16:1-6

He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
 

This is the day we have been waiting for, planning for, and anticipating since Friday, the day we saw our Messiah, God in human flesh, die on the cross. Have you ever thought about it, our God died. For a moment in time it seemed like all was lost. It seemed like evil overcame good. Certainly Satan and all his evil angels were celebrating the death of Jesus. Little did they know that He would not stay dead, but that He would rise again. Little did they know that their fiendish plot to get rid of the Savior would backfire and that instead of being rid of Jesus their plot brought about the salvation of all people of all places of all times. And that brings us to the second astounding thought, our God rose. The Christian church is very different than all other religions. All other religions worship a dead person or persons. You can find the grave of Mohammad, of Buddha, of great cult leaders. You cannot find the grave for Jesus because, well first of all His was simply a borrowed tomb that He only used for a weekend stay and because He did not stay dead but rose from the dead. The Christian church is founded not on a dead God, but on a living God, Christ, the Lord.
 

Our text is the Easter account. We begin with the setting. We read verses one and two (v.1-2), “When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that they might go to anoint Jesus’ body. Very early on the first day of the week, just after sunrise, they were on their way to the tomb” The Sabbath, the day of rest was over. They were now allowed to go back to work as it were. As you recall they were only able to make some minor preparations of Jesus’ body on Friday, as it was late in the day and the Sabbath was about to begin. The women came early on the first day of the week, Sunday morning, because they could not do anything on Saturday, the Sabbath, which was from Friday 6 pm to Saturday 6 pm. The Jewish ceremonial law forbid any work on the Sabbath.
 

So, the women came early to complete the preparation of Jesus body that they began on Friday. They came prepared. Perhaps they had purchased the spices on Saturday after 6 pm and were ready to go early on Sunday, even before sunrise.
 

They came early to the grave, as early as possible, probably right at sunrise. They came early because they knew that the body would decay quickly and they needed to hurry in order to give it proper burial. What they were intending to do was one of the deepest devotions of love a person could have for another. They intended to give their Lord, and our Lord, a very decent burial.
 

As they approached the tomb they had certain expectations. We read verse three (v.3), “and they asked each other, ‘Who will roll the stone away from the entrance of the tomb?’” Their conversation shows that they did not expect Jesus to be gone. They had no expectation of a resurrection. Their concern was the fact that the grave was shut with a large stone and it would need to be removed before they could give the body a proper burial.
 

They may or may not have known about the guards, that there had been guards posted. Remember, the Pharisees asked Pilate to post a guard to that the disciples would not be able to steal the body and claim Jesus rose as He said He would. Perhaps if they knew about the guards they would have thought they could ask them to move the stone, of course they did not know that they would have been gone anyway.
 

They were too preoccupied with preparations to be concerned about any of the other events that were taking place around the crucifixion. They were not concerned about the political part of the crucifixion, only about their love for their Savior.
 

Our text tells us what they found. We pick up at verse four (v.4-6), “But when they looked up, they saw that the stone, which was very large, had been rolled away. As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. ‘Don’t be alarmed,’ he said. ‘You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him.’”
 

As Mark relates the account, we are told that they found the stone, as our text meekly says, “rolled away.” I think Marks account understates the reality that is what they found was that the stone had been blown off its “hinges,” so to speak. This stone was a huge stone which probably took more than one person to move. It was probably rolled down in a little “grove” so that it would be with great difficulty to be moved, back up to its original place before being rolled down to cover the entrance to the tomb. So, when they arrived they found the stone thrown out, back away from the tomb and lying on the ground, “blown off its hinges.”
 

When they arrived they entered into the tomb. What they found was an empty tomb, empty with the exception of the angel. The angle was robed in white, a white of purity from sin. The angel was there to comfort them and help them understand what had taken place.
 

They did not find what they were coming to prepare for burial, the body of Jesus. The angel pointed out the place where Jesus was laid and then he gave them some instructions.
 

The angel told the women what they were told to do. We pick up at verse seven (v.7-8), “‘But go, tell his disciples and Peter, “He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”’ Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. As Mark gives his account he says that they said nothing to anyone, “because they were afraid.”
 

Notice that the first thing the angel tells the women was that they were not to be afraid. Here they were standing in the presence of perfection, and they in their sin and yet they are told that they are not to be afraid. They were not to be afraid because their sins had been forgiven. I hope and pray that you will notice as we move through the Easter season over the next seven weeks that when Jesus appears to show Himself alive He often speaks those same words, “Don’t be afraid.” Indeed, you might recall back in Advent when the angels were delivering God’s messages of the birth of Jesus they often began by saying, “Don’t be afraid.” Perhaps we would do well to remind ourselves to not be afraid in this world, because Christ has over come the world and has won the victory over sin, death and the devil. Indeed, there is nothing in the world for us to fear.
 

Then the angel tells the women to go and tell the disciples and Peter that Jesus had arisen. They were to especially to tell Peter so that he would know he was forgiven for his denial. Although Mark does not relate the telling of Peter, the other Gospel writers fill in more details about Jesus resurrection so that with all four Gospel we get a fuller witness of the events of the first Easter morning.
 

As the women left, notice that our text says “they said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.” Why Mark tells us this information can only be speculation. Perhaps they said nothing because they were in a hurry to speak to the disciples and Peter. Perhaps it was because they remembered all the times people would bear witness of their faith while Jesus was alive and how they were ridiculed by the Pharisees. Why Mark tells us this information is really not important especially since we have the accounts of the other Gospel writers.
 

What a wonderful experience Easter always is for us. During the season of Lent we continually reflected on our part in Jesus’ death. We realized that Jesus died for me and for you. And that if you or I were the only person on earth, Jesus still would have died for us.
 

Easter morning comes and reminds us that Jesus also rose for me and for you. Because Jesus rose we know that we too will rise again. Death has been defeated. Death has no power over us. The victory is our.
 

With excitement we raise our voices. He is risen: He is risen, indeed, Alleluia! To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

God Is Dead - April 18, 2025 - Good Friday - Text: Luke 23:46

We have come to the end. We have come to see our God die. That is what happened on the cross, our God died. Maybe Nietzsche was on to something when he declared God to be dead. Putting the best construction on everything, maybe he was talking about Good Friday, but I doubt it. Anyway, we have come to the last hours of Jesus’ suffering on the cross. We have heard His words praying for forgiveness for those who put Him on the cross, not the soldiers who were simply doing their duty, not the crowd who cried “crucify Him,” but us, those of us here today. Yes, Jesus was praying for you and for me. Indeed, as we have heard and heard again, it was because of His love for us, because of our sin beginning in the Garden of Eden. It was because of God’s great love for all people that Jesus was on the cross. We heard the result of that forgiveness as He told the thief on the cross that today he would be with Jesus in paradise, and so we were assured of our own eternal inheritance in heaven. We heard Jesus care for His mother Mary as He fulfilled His fourth commandment duties and gave the disciple whom He loved, John to be her son. We heard Him cry in agony as He became an orphan, being forsaken by His Father in heaven. As we heard, the pangs of hell are complete absence from God and His love. We heard Him ask for a drink after all things had been completed, not necessarily to quench His thirst but so that He might speak His next words of declaration. Thus, we heard Him declare that “it was finished,” that the sins of the world had been paid for. And this evening we hear Him commit His Spirit back to His Father who had forsaken Him, as He loudly declared and cried out in victory, “Father, into Your hands I commit my spirit.”
 

Jesus had completed His work. He gave up the glory that was His in heaven. He gave up full use of His divine power. He took on human flesh and blood even being born as a helpless infant. He lived a perfect life obeying all of God’s commandments perfectly, never sinning. He suffered all temptation even from Satan Himself and never sinned. He fulfilled all of God’s promises concerning Himself, as Messiah. He freely took all our sins upon Himself. He suffered the eternal death penalty of hell for us, in our place. He had asked for something liquid to clear His throat and now He is able to cry out. His cry was not a quiet, agonizing cry, for His suffering was complete. No, His cry was a peaceful, joyful cry. His cry was the confident cry of a Conquering Victor. The Battle was won.
 

Notice that Jesus cry was addressed once again to God as His Father. Earlier, He was forsaken by the Father. He had taken on the sins of the whole world, of all people of all places of all times upon Himself. He had become a curse and as such He could not stand before God the Father in His Holiness. God the Father left Him, so He was left alone to die on the cross, cursed with the sins of the world.
 

There is something else that we should mention about Jesus’ death. Whenever we see a portrait, a painting, a sculpture of Jesus on the cross, it is usually misrepresented. You see, Jesus died, not with a loin cloth around His waist as we picture Him, but in complete disgrace and humiliation for He was crucified in His nakedness. Remember, the soldiers at the foot of the cross cast lots for His clothes. We picture Him in a loin cloth because we cannot bear His shame. Yet, Jesus died in all His shame. He gave His life, completely for us.
 

Jesus suffered all that needed to be suffered. As we have reiterated several times, no more needs to be done to pay the price for our sins, no good works, no works of satisfaction, no nothing more needs to be done. And then Jesus cries out. His cry was to commit His spirit to His Father, in heaven. Jesus distress, His suffering is past, He is speaking in peace and joy, looking forward to and awaiting His homecoming in heaven.
 

And Jesus breathed His last. Jesus died. His was a usual, human death. Some people have a hard time understanding how God can die. I would ask you to think about us as human beings. We have a body and we have a soul. Some would say we also have a living spirit. An animal has a body and a living spirit but no soul. Our living spirit is the fact that our bodies can be kept alive even after we have died and our soul has left our bodies. Anyway, when we die our soul leaves our body and awaits it reunion in heaven. Jesus is a human, born in a human body. He is God. We might say His is not a human soul in a human body, but His is God in human body. So, when Jesus died His God soul left His human body to wait to be reunited at His resurrection. So, yes, our God in the flesh of the person Jesus died. He died and was buried.
 

God died, does that mean that we have no more God? Does that mean the devil has won? Does that mean the devil is now God? What does this mean? It means that while the devil was celebrating because he thought he had won, instead Jesus’ death reconciled us with the Father. Jesus death brought us back into a right relationship with the Father. As He bows His head to die, Jesus commits His spirit to the Father, after being forsaken by Him and after referring to Him as “God” earlier.
 

As the devil celebrates his seeming victory he has to come to grips with the fact that Jesus’ suffering won victory over sin, death and the power of the devil. The devil now has no power over us because Jesus has taken all that power away from Him. Certainly the devil can go around tempting the world to sin, and that is what he will continue to do until Christ returns, but with Christ as our victor we do not have to worry, because he has no power over us.
 

Jesus’ death was a true death. He was not lying only dead as a human, He died as true man and as true God. He suffered eternal death in hell and then He died. He died and then He descended into hell not for more suffering, but where He went to declare victory over the devil. As we confess in the Apostle’s creed, “[He] suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead.” Thus, the devil’s victory celebration was rather short lived.
 

Ultimately, Jesus’ death means we have life, even eternal life. Because Jesus died we know that we will not have to die, at least not an eternal death in hell. Yes, while the Lord allows us to live in this world, until He should return, we will all die a physical death, but we have no fear of our physical death because we will not have to suffer hell. And as I always remind you, every day that we live in this world brings us one day closer to our own passing or to the Lord’s return, which will be sooner than we know and sooner than we might image. Also, as I have said before, because of Adam and Eve’s sin we are each one born with sin in our DNA, thus from the moment of conception we are destined to die because sin is what brings death and because we know that from the moment of conception a person can die we also know that from that moment the moment of conception we are accountable for our sins. Thus, we understand the importance of infant baptism. Finally, we know the rest of the story, thanks be to God. Jesus is the firstborn from the dead, so because He rose we know that we too will rise again.
 

This evening we come in shame as we realize that it was because of our sins that Jesus died on the cross. We come to remember and participate in His death. Tomorrow we sit and wait. We wait as the disciples did, until on Easter morning we will echo those words of comfort which we have heard since that first Easter morning, “He is risen! He is risen! indeed,” but for now I will leave out that last word of joy. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The Lord’s Supper - April 17, 2025 - Maundy Thursday - Text: the words of institution (Matt., Mark, Luke, 1 Cor.)

We began Lent forty-three days ago. This year we have been standing at the cross listening to the words of Jesus from the cross. This evening we want to go back to the day before Jesus death on the cross. This evening we want to look at the specific event that happened on that first Maundy Thursday. This evening we come together to celebrate the giving of the Lord’s Supper to His disciples and His Church, to us.
 

The Lord’s Supper is what Jesus gives to us and is taken from His celebration of the Passover with His disciples. We read in Luke (22:7-13), “Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, ‘Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.’ ‘Where do you want us to prepare for it?’ they asked. He replied, ‘As you enter the city, a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him to the house that he enters, and say to the owner of the house, “The Teacher asks: Where is the guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?” He will show you a large upper room, all furnished. Make preparations there.’ They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.”
 

The Passover meal was for the children of Israel and any foreigner who might be in their midst. This was a meal to remember and celebrate the “passing over” of the angel of death in Egypt when the children of Israel were delivered from their bondage of slavery in Egypt. This meal was meant to remind the children of Israel to keep from straying and sinning, lest they be overtaken and put into bondage again, as happened many times throughout their history.
 

Although this meal was intended for the children of Israel and any foreigner in their midst, when Jesus gave His Supper He gave it only to those of His closest friends. He gave it to those of the same faith. As you read through the accounts of Jesus giving the Lord’s Supper there seems to be some uncertainty concerning whether or not Judas was there at the supper. If Judas was there then we would understand that his partaking of the supper would have been to his judgement as Paul describes in Corinthians. If he had left it would give a better understanding of the importance of faith and understanding of the supper before partaking. Either way, when Jesus institutes and gives His supper and He gives it as a closed communion, a right faith and understanding, recognizing His body and blood, and the added benefit of an agreement of faith.
 

Which brings us to the correct understanding that what Jesus gives us is the Lord’s Supper, that is, it is His Supper which means we do it best, we do it right, when we do it the way in which He has given it to us to do. For example, when you are invited to someone’s house for dinner you do not go in and say, “I do not want to do it the way you are giving it, I want to do it my way.” No, you sit and are given to as the host gives to you. Likewise, at the Lord’s Supper, you do not say, “this is a me and Jesus thing and so I should be allowed to come to your table.” No, instead you come as a poor miserable sinner, desiring to be given Christ’s body and blood and the forgiveness of sins. You do not come with the attitude that it does not matter what you believe, because we all believe something different about this meal, again, that is a “me and Jesus” attitude. No, you come in faith, believing that with the bread you are being given Jesus’ body and with the wine you are being given Jesus’ blood. You come, not to take, but to be given to. You come to receive. The word used, “‘take’ eat,” is the word, “take or receive,” or be given to. We do not take, we are given the Lord’s Supper. We are given His Supper in faith, preparing ourselves and being given in the way in which He gives it, in this way we participate in His death until He comes again.
 

Getting back to Jesus’ celebration of the Passover meal. During the Passover a lamb was selected. It was slaughtered and it was eaten. The blood of the lamb was painted on the doorpost and the lintel of the house, much in the way of making a sign of the cross, to mark the house so the angel of death would pass over the house. Notice that the people in the house ate the lamb so that the lamb became a physical part of them. They did not symbolically nor simply “spiritually” eat the lamb. No, the lamb became a physical part of them. As Jesus was celebrating, at the point in the meal when the bread was to be eaten Jesus give it to His disciples and tells them that the bread He is holding in His hand is His body. Jesus does not say it represents or is changed into, but is. And after He blesses the third cup of wine He speaks similar words, that the wine is His blood.
 

Thus, when we come to the Lord’s Supper we come to be given to and what we are given? We are given bread and body. This is what we call real presence. In, with and under the bread is the body of Christ, truly, really present, not symbolically present, nor simply spiritually present, but really present. We physical eat the bread, as we say in a physical way and we eat the body in what we call a supernatural way. As my favorite sainted professor would say, as the bread enters the mouth and God’s Word enters the ear we are given Christ’s body to eat.
 

We are also given wine and blood. This too is what we call real presence. In, with and under the wine is the blood of Christ, truly, really present. We physical, in a natural way drink the wine and as the Word enters our ear we are given Christ’s blood.
 

Through this is eating and drinking we participate in the Lord’s death. This eating and drinking are what we call remembering His death. We participate in His death meaning that His death becomes our death. Just as His perfect life becomes our perfect life. So, His prefect death and perfect resurrection become our perfect death and resurrection. Through this meal the forgiveness which He earned He earned for us and is ours.
 

In good Lutheran fashion we ask, “What does this mean?” This means that we take seriously our statement of our practice of the Lord’s Supper which is printed in the bulletin each week.
 

This means that we come prepared. We examine ourselves to make sure that we believe that we are sinners and are in need of forgiveness. That we are sorry for our sins. That we believe that through the Lord’s Supper we will be given forgiveness of sins.
 

This means that we come in faith, especially believing in the real presence of Jesus body and blood, in, with and under the bread and wine. As Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians (11:27-31), “Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”
 

This means that we come as a community of like-minded believers. That we come, not lying about our confession, but confessing together. In other words, if we partake of the Lord’s Supper at the table of other denominations then we are saying that we confess what they confess. If that is true, then we are lying when we come to our table, because our confession is not the same. Thus it is important that we make a clear and honest confession when we come to the Lord’s Table.
 

And this means that we come to be given to. We come to be given forgiveness, strengthening of faith and eternal life.
 

The Lord’s Supper is just that, the Lord’s Supper. It is not our supper. It is not for us to do as we wish or to do what we believe in our own eyes. It is not a me and Jesus thing. It is all Jesus giving and our being given to. He gives it to us and He gives it to us to be given in a certain way, according to how He has given it. The Lord’s Supper is where we go to be given the gifts which the Lord Jesus earned on the cross on Calvary. May the Lord prepare us to faithfully be given and make use of His most blessed Supper. To Him be the glory. Amen.

Our Attitude like Christ’s - Palm Sunday - April 13, 2025 - Text: Philippians 2:5-11

Although our Gospel reading was the reading of what we call the passion of Christ, today is actually Palm Sunday. Today is also the beginning of Holy Week. Today we remember and even celebrate Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem, for the last time. Jesus came to Jerusalem to do what He came to earth to do, to give His life, to die on the cross for us, for you and for me. With this as our backdrop, today we hear Paul’s encouragement, even his exhortation to have the attitude of Christ.
 

As we look at our text, the first thing I want to say about our text is that it is thought that this text may have been a part of an early Christian creed which was spoken during a worship service, similar to how we speak the Nicene or Apostles’ Creeds. Our text begins by telling us about Jesus Christ, and specifically, about His attitude, Paul writes, “5Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped” (v. 5-6). Paul exhorts us to have the mind, that is the attitude of Jesus. So what is the attitude of Jesus?
 

The attitude of Jesus is that He is true God. He was with the Father and the Spirit at the creation of the world. He is true God and as true God He was enjoying all the glory that was due Him. He was in heaven where He freely used His divine attributes of omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence, and the like. He was in heaven being God, watching over us, ruling over us, taking care of us. He was in heaven enjoying the eternal bliss of heaven.
 

Yet, His attitude is what moved Him to give up what was His in heaven. He gave up the glory that was His in heaven in order to show how much He loved us, His creation. He gave up use of all His Divine attributes, so that He did not always use His Divine attributes and power nor did He always use them to their full potential. He did not heal everyone while He was on earth, nor did He cast out all demons or raise all the dead. He did use His divine power to some degree, healing some, raising some from the dead, and casting out some demons, but again, He did not always nor fully use His Divine power as He could have. He gave up enjoying the eternal bliss of heaven. His attitude was that He gave all this up because of His love for us.
 

His attitude is that He humbled Himself. Paul continues at verse seven, “7but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (v. 7-8). Paul says, Jesus made Himself nothing. Other translations say He emptied Himself, that is, He made a decision not to use His Divine attributes to their fullest. Notice when He was tempted by the devil in the desert, He did not change the rock into bread. He did not jump off the temple. He did not bow down and worship the devil. Yes, He did use some of His Divine attributes to some extent, but He did not always nor fully use them as He could, as God.
 

In His love for us He took on human flesh and blood. As we confess in the Apostle’s Creed, He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit making Him truly God and born of a woman, a human woman making Him truly a human. He had a manger for His first bed. His parents were not wealthy or of seeming nobility, although He was born from the line of King David. He lived a rather obscure life. We do not hear anything about Him from birth until age twelve. Then we do not hear anything about Him until He reaches thirty and is ready to begin His ministry. He was a human being and He showed Himself to be a human being. He was tired. He was thirsty. He had emotions. When His friend Lazarus died we are told that He wept. He walked wherever He went. He slept and ate. He was truly a human man.
 

His greatest humility is seen in this, that He humbled Himself to the point of death. He was obedient to the Father’s will. He lived a perfect life. He was perfectly obedient to the will of God the Father. He obeyed all the Laws perfectly. He could have simply asked the Father to take Him to heaven. But, because that was not the reason He came to earth and because that was not His attitude, instead, because of His great love for us, He took all our sins upon Himself. He became sin for us. Not because He had too, but because He wanted to. He is our prophet, priest and king. As our priest He went to the altar to make sacrifices for us. As our Savior He became the sacrifice for us, in our place, once and for all, on the cross. He suffered the cruelest of deaths. He suffered the most humiliating and shameful of deaths. He suffered so that we might not have to suffer. He suffered so that we might have forgiveness and life.
 

After His suffering, Paul says, “therefore.” Therefore, He was exalted. We continue at verse nine, “9Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (v. 9-11). God exalted him so that now He is seated at the right hand of the Father. There, at the right hand of the Father, He has returned, to the place from where He came. There He is, interceding for us, praying for us, watching over us, ruling over us, guiding and directing our doings in this life.
 

There He enjoys all the glory that was His, that He had given up for us. And Paul tells us what John tells us in Revelation, that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and in earth. All creation will bow before the Lord, both those who believe and those who do not believe. Yes, even non-believers will bow before the Lord on the day of judgement.
 

And, every tongue will confess, in heaven and in earth, that Jesus Christ is Lord. Again, Paul tells us the same thing John tells us in Revelation. The unbelievers will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There will be no way they can not make this confession nor any other confession. They will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and then will try to blame God for their own unbelief. The believers, the faithful Christians, we too will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We will gladly confess and then we will rejoice and sing praises to the Holy Name of the Lord.
 

So, what does this mean? What does this mean for us today? To answer that question perhaps we would do well to understand that our attitude is simply a reflection of what is in our heart and mind. In other words, how we live, how we act, how we speak and the like is a reflection of what is in our mind and heart. Thus, on a daily basis we encounter people who are angry, zealous, pious, cheerful, carefree, anxious, and the like. Very often our attitude is learned from past experiences and how we have reacted to those experiences. If our life has been a wonderful life with no difficulties perhaps we would have a very positive and cheerful attitude. Or, if we have experienced difficulties in life and have had difficult experiences we may have a negative or depressed attitude. Of course, the opposite of this may be true as well. If we have had a wonderful life with no difficulties we may still have a negative or depressed attitude and if we have had a difficult life we may yet have a positive and cheerful attitude. Our attitude depends on how we react to any given situation and reflects what is in our heart and mind.
 

As Paul tells us, so should our attitude be, that is we are to have the attitude of Christ. What was Christ’s attitude? His attitude was such that, because of His great love for us, He gave up everything for us. For us to have such an attitude would mean being willing to give up everything for Him, and for others. Which then begs the question, “Have we given up anything for Christ, lately?” Or, have we given up anything for anyone else, lately? And let me confirm you thinking, no, we do not do well at having the attitude of Christ. We tend to be self centered, self thinking, and the like, after all, that is our nature. Yet, Paul’s words are not intended to be such harsh law words. Rather Paul’s words are intended to be words of Gospel and they are Gospel words for the simple fact that it is because of the attitude of Christ that we have forgiveness, life and salvation.
 

For us, then, to take on the attitude of Christ is to understand and acknowledge Jesus Christ is Lord. To profess faith in Him. To desire to be the people He would have us to be, and to understand that it is only with His help that we can even attempt to be the people He would have us to be. Thus, to take on the attitude of Christ is to have the desire to grow in our faith and knowledge of Him. So, when it comes to knowing God, we confess that the more we learn about Him, the more we can see that there is so much more that we do not know about Him. And that reminds us that there is even more reason to continue on with our own instruction in God’s Word, continuing to be a part of Divine Service, Sunday morning Bible class, continuing to read God’s Word at home, and to have personal and family devotions, continuing to humbly learn and grow in faith, this is taking on Christ’s attitude.
 

Many churches have confirmation on this Sunday. Perhaps you have a niece or nephew, cousin or friend who is being confirmed or know of someone being confirmed today. We would have confirmation today, except we do not have anyone of this age, although we do have five that are working toward confirmation and hopefully and prayerfully they will complete their studies next year so that they may be confirmed. With that in mind, I would summarize this morning by reminding you of your own Confirmation. I would remind you of the vows you made at your confirmation, including the vow that very much reflects that attitude of Christ that is that you will remain faithful in faith, word, and action even to death. And so, as Paul encourages and exhorts us, so I encourage and exhort you, now is a time to continue in the attitude of Christ, to continue in living a life to the glory of God by continuing to be in the Word and partake of the Sacrament, and to be willing to give your life for Him. May God grant you the will and the strength to live in such a way. To Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.