Rev. Jonathan P. Boehne: Recent Episodes
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Advent 2 Midweek
Isaiah 9:2-7
December 13, 2023
“King of Kings”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
In many and various ways God spoke to His people of old by the prophets, including among that list of prophets our dear brother, Isaiah. Through Isaiah God spoke to His people of old about His Son who would come now in these last days, saying, “For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given.” Seven hundred years before that child and son was delivered by the labor of His mother, Mary, and placed in a manger, Isaiah already saw Him and spoke of Him, and declared to us the wonders and mysteries of the babe of Bethlehem.
Isaiah speaks of this baby in chapter 9 as a great light shining into the darkness, as a great joy like that of the time of harvesting, as a great freedom for those under burdens and oppression, as a great and peaceful government carried upon His shoulders, as a Wonderful Counselor, a Mighty God, an Everlasting Father, and a Prince of Peace. Words, it would seem, will always fail us, even fail the greatest prophets of old like Isaiah, to communicate the immeasurable attributes of this child and Son, Jesus Christ. He is, without any qualification nor exaggeration, the King of all kings and the Lord of all Lords. He is our King and our Lord.
St. Matthew joyfully recalled these first words of Isaiah, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light,” in chapter 4 of his Gospel, when Jesus went into the region of Galilee to begin His work of service after His baptism and temptation. Jerusalem would hold the distinction of being the city where they put Jesus to death on a cross, but it would be the region of Galilee up north where Jesus would shine His great light into the darkness. Galilee, a land which had seen much and deep darkness, would be the place from where Jesus called disciples, where He healed lepers, where He miracled water to wine, where He calmed wind and waves, where He fed thousands, and where He raised the dead.
Galilee, where people dwelt in darkness, in the region and shadow of death, would be enlightened by the very voice that spoke in the beginning, “Let there be light.” Not Jerusalem and Judea, but into Galilee of all unexpected places the light shone most brightly on fishermen, on lepers, on the demon-possessed, on tax collectors and harlots, on the sick and the dead, and on Gentiles.
In the same way today, the light of Christ doesn’t shine brightest in the glitzy and glamorous lights of Hollywood nor in the bright spotlights of NFL or MLB stadiums, nor in the bright mansions of the world’s rich and powerful, nor in the blinding, blue light screens that blind our eyes and our minds for hours every day. No, the rays of Christ’s light shine brightest on those walking in the darkness of grief, on those trudging the dark paths of shame and regret, on those limping through the darkness of pain and physical suffering, on those lying on hospital beds and in nursing homes waiting to be nursed, on those locked inside institutions, on those groping around in the blackness of mental depression, on those walking the dark walk of loneliness, on those who have walked with loved ones through the deep darkness of the shadow of death. To all of them and all of you, walking in the darkness of sin and evil and death, the light of Christ shines most brightly.
This light of Christ multiplies the nation in Isaiah 9:3. Many sinners, like the ones gracing the pews here tonight, come to the light so that the nation, the people of God, the Church of God, multiplies by thousands upon thousands, by myriads upon myriads. And as the Church multiplies, so the joy increases by proportion. This joy of the Messiah, our Lord Jesus, is compared by Isaiah to the joy of harvesttime or to the rejoicing when people divide the spoil. It’s the joy of a Thanksgiving table filled with ham and potatoes and all sweet things as your family and loved ones divide the potluck spoil with smiles on all faces. So the Church of God joyously lines up around the Lord’s eucharistic table of bread and wine and the sweet Lamb of God and joyously divides the spoil of forgiveness, eternal life, and salvation.
This joy is multiplied around the Lord’s Supper because (verse 4) the yoke and staff and rod of our oppressive burdens have been broken by our strong and mighty Gideon. It was Gideon, on the day of Midian (verse 4), who drove away the Midianites with the trumpet call of God, the light of His glory, and the shout of His victory using only three hundred men against the Midianite army of thousands. Our strong and mighty Gideon, our Lord Jesus Christ, has driven away our sin, the devil, and death itself and has broken the yoke, staff, and rod of those hellish oppressors.
And our Gideon, Jesus Christ, fuels the fire of victory with all our muddy boots from the battle tumult and our filthy rags and garments rolled in our own blood and the blood of Abel our brother which cries out from the ground. He casts our sin and shame and guilt and violence into the fiery furnace, never to be seen again, and He walks us through the flames so that they consume us not nor are we burned. No longer will we be slaves to the Egyptians or to the Philistines or to the Midianites or to the Assyrians or to the Babylonians or to the Romans or to the grave or to death or to hell or to our sins.
“For to us a child is born, and to us a son is given. And the government shall be upon His shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end.”
Next to this King of Kings, Jesus Christ, all other kings are but vapor and mist and smoke. Never mind that He is a child born and a son given, for His reign is everlasting. All other kings and governments are vanities of vanities. The shoulders of King Ahaz will crumble to pieces along with the shoulders of governmental giants such as Kings David and Solomon, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and George Washington. Not even to be named in the same sentence are such governmental peons as Donald Trump or Joe Biden. Their names sound like noisy gongs or clanging cymbals next to the sweet melody and four-part harmony of this fourfold name: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
He wonderfully, mightily, eternally, and peacefully governs you as your Counselor, God, Father, and Prince in a kingdom and world that will never end and will be upheld in righteousness and justice forevermore. The zeal of the Lord of all angel hosts and armies with do this. He is zealous in bringing this King Jesus to you. So walk in His shining light, rejoice around His joyous harvest table with all the Church of God, walk free with Him through the fire that burns up all the oppression of sin and guilt and death, and live under His government and peace from this time forth and forevermore.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
(No audio available this Sunday.)
Trinity 23
Matthew 22:15-21
November 9, 2023
“The Things That Are God’s”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”
It’s only money. It’s just money. “Jesus, is it ok for us to pay taxes to our government?” Wouldn’t part of you love it if He said, “No way! That’s your money. Don’t give it to the government!” But He doesn’t say that, does He? He holds up a coin to them and says, “Whose face is on this money? Caesar? Ben Franklin? The government’s face? Then it’s only money. Give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar. Pay your taxes.”
It’s only money. That’s the first part of Jesus’ answer. Calm down and pay your taxes. God puts the government there for a reason. So do your duty under the government. But the second part of Jesus answer is much bigger, “Life isn’t only money. Life is much more than just money. Give to God all the things that are God’s.”
I put together a little picture on the sermon insert of two circles. The little circle is the government. That’s a much smaller part of your life as a Christian where you say, “It’s only money. I’ll pay my taxes and do my duty to the government God gives me.” It’s a very important part but a small part. The bigger circle is all the rest of your life. The much bigger part of your life where you say, “Life is much more than only money. I’ll give to God everything that is God’s.”
And that’s how we’ll divide up Jesus’ word to us today. First we’ll talk briefly about the small circle of Caesar—the government. What’s your place under the government? But then we’ll spend the most of our time talking about the big circle of your place under God. What do you and I render to God?
So first let’s be reminded of all the things God teaches us about government in the Bible. There have been many forms of government. The Bible doesn’t teach that any particular form is the only right way to govern. We Americans tend to really like democracy for good reasons. Some forms of government are certainly better than others. But mostly we take what God gives us. Most Jews in Jesus’ day really didn’t like the Roman government. And there were good reasons not to like them. However, Jesus and all the apostles after Him honored the Roman government and taught Christians to do the same. Jesus said to Pontius Pilate, “You would have no authority over Me unless it had been given you from above.” You get it? Jesus honors the guy who makes Him suffer. God gave Pilate authority and Jesus honored that authority. He didn’t sweat it.
God has given us a government. So you and I give to the government the things that are the government’s. The Bible says you owe your taxes to the government as Jesus says right here and as Paul says in Romans 13. You owe your prayers for the government. That’s 1 Timothy 2. You owe honor to the government. That’s 1 Peter 2. You owe your obedience to the government. That’s Romans 13. (Provided, of course, that they don’t command you to disobey God. That’s your one and only exception.) And at times you may owe your body and service to the government in the case of serving as a soldier or serving in the government in one way or another. Yesterday, on Veterans’ Day, we gave thanks for those veterans who did give their service to our nation and government. This is good.
As Christians we have a dual citizenship. We are citizens of this world, in particular of the United States of America. At the same time, we’re also citizens of the kingdom of heaven. Both are good and important. However, be very careful that you don’t make too much of Caesar or too much of President Biden or too much of the Congress or too much even of America. The Romans were very bad guys at times. But Jesus said, “It’s only money. Pay them your taxes.” God put the Romans there for that time. And Jesus didn’t come to get rid of Tiberius Caesar. The same is true today. You may not like many things our American government does. You may rightly think that some things should change. And they should. We should tell our government that abortion is murder, for instance. That’s fine and you can work in that little circle of Caesar to try and make things better in our government. But there are also bigger fish to fry. Namely, the devil and our sin and death. Those are the fish Jesus came to fry. Not the Romans. Not Caesar.
It’s only money. Render to Caesar. It will be ok. God’s in control. And let’s turn our focus now to the bigger fish in the bigger pond, the bigger circle. Let’s turn to our citizenship in the kingdom of heaven. To Jesus’ second words, “Render to God the things that are God’s.”
Do you know why Jesus wasn’t very concerned about money or about governments? Because He had bigger things to take care of—namely, you and me. He came to render us back to God. He could easily have been rich on earth. He could have easily had greater earthly power than Pontius Pilate or Tiberius Caesar. In fact, the devil tried those temptations on Jesus—money and power. But Jesus, in His divine wisdom, said, “It’s only money. It’s only power. It’s only Caesar.” He had bigger fish to fry. And those fish were you and me.
Jesus rendered you back to God by giving His life for your sins on the cross. He made the payment that had to be made—His innocent, perfect life for your guilty, sinful life. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness, rendered us back to God, and made us citizens in the kingdom of Jesus Christ. Bigger fish have been fried that money and government. In the kingdom of Jesus, sin and death and devil have been dealt with.
This is as big as the difference between this hundred dollar bill and a human soul. That’s what we’re talking about there. They showed Jesus a denarius, a coin with the image and name of Tiberius Ceasar on it. Jesus said, “Fine, give that hundred dollar bill back to Caesar.” But then Jesus says, “Give to God what is God’s.” And what has the image of God stamped upon it? The human soul. Your human soul. You are made in the image of God. And what has the name of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit inscribed upon it? You do. Child of God. Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
So in the little circle of government we get coin and bills with names and faced stamped on it. It’s important and we need to render to Caesar what is Caesar’s like taxes, prayers, obedience, honor, service, etc. But in the big circle of the kingdom of God we have human souls and bodies with the image and name of God inscribed upon them. You—the children of God. And we must then render to God what is God’s. In other words, we render our entire soul and life to God.
So let’s talk about how you do that. How do you render to God what is God’s? First and foremost, you believe. Faith. You entrust your entire self to God. You fear, love, and trust in God above all things. Faith. You believe in Jesus Christ who has purchased and won you from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. You believe in the God who has baptized you and placed His name upon you and the image of His beloved Son, Jesus Christ. In other words, friends—you don’t trust money or government, do you? They only get your taxes, your prayers, etc. God gets all your trust. You give it all to Him. “Into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things.” Give all your faith and trust to God.
What next? Give God’s money back to God. Be very generous. God loves a cheerful and generous giver. Start with your offerings to Church. Ten percent is a good place to start. And then be very generous with the rest of the money God has given you. Use it to take care of others. To take care of your family. To feed and clothe and shelter the people God has given to you. Use it in ways that bring glory to God.
What next? Render to God the things that are God’s—that includes your body. Your physical body. Paul says, “You were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.” Give your body, your mind, your strength, your energy, your emotion—not for sexual sins, not for drunkenness, not for laziness—but for the love and service of others.
So we have this little circle of life—render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. We give to our government the things owed—taxes, honor, obedience, prayers, service when required. But those are small fish in a big pond. We have a much greater calling also—to be a citizen of God’s kingdom and to render to God the things that are God’s. God’s name and picture are imprinted on us. So we give Him all our trust, our bodies and all that we have, for His glory.
One last way to picture this. If you do a budget (I don’t how many of you do one), but it’s a list of your income at the top and then after that all your expenses for a month. Somewhere at the top of that list then is taxes. Render to Caesar. (Income tax and property tax). Depending on your place in life in America, that could be anywhere from 10% to a more likely 20% or 30%. Render to Caesar.
But then once that is out of your budget, who does all the rest belong to? Give to God what is God’s. The rest of your life is all God’s. Everything else after that budget line of taxes (I’m putting it first because many people have it taken out of their paycheck before they’re even paid), then everything else is God’s. You give your offerings to Church, you give for the groceries to feed the family, you give for all the things needed to clothe and shelter your family which includes insurance and gas and electric and water and all other utilities. All of this gives glory to God because it’s loving and serving your neighbor and taking care of your own body that the Lord has given you. The goal is seeing everything in our budget—better said, everything in our life—rendering to God the things that are God’s.
You are God’s. Created in His image. Restored in His image in Jesus Christ. His name inscribed upon you in Holy Baptism. You are God’s. Your heart, your soul, your trust, your love, your money, your body, your life—Render to God the things that are God’s.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Trinity 20
Matthew 22:1-14
October 22, 2023
“Few are Chosen”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Many are called, but few are chosen. Why? That’s what we want to know. Why are few chosen? If the Lord wants all people to be saved, as He tells us in His Word, and if Jesus died for the sins of the whole world then why are only a few chosen? That’s exactly why Jesus tells this parable. So that everyone will hear these warnings. He truly does want all people to be saved. He’s not kidding or playing games with us. He wants everyone and He calls everyone. But so many reject the invitation. So Jesus tells this parable of the wedding banquet so that we and all people will be warned of the danger and will not miss out on the wedding reception.
The King in the parable and in reality is God the Father. The Son who is receiving this wedding feast is Jesus Christ. The wedding feast itself is the Gospel, the forgiveness of sins in Word and Sacrament. As we sang this morning, “This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!” The feast is the Divine Service where the Gospel is preached and the table is set for the Supper.
Now the servants go out to call those who were invited. These servants are all the prophets of the Old Testament all the way up to John the Baptist. They called all of the Jews, all of the Israelites, to come to the table but they wouldn’t come. That’s verse 3. Then verse 4 God sent other servants. These are all the apostles, all of Jesus’ disciples, and all of the evangelists in the book of Acts like St. Paul and Timothy and Silas and Barnabas. These servants told the Jews in their synagogues, “Everything is ready for the feast. Come.” The oxen and fat calves that have been sacrificed are Jesus, the great and one time sacrifice for the life of the world. He is the food and the feast. Everything is ready because of His death, resurrection, and ascension.
But things went bad. Some people paid no attention to the Gospel. Some hated the Gospel and killed the servants like Stephen, James, and many of the other apostles. That’s all verses 5 and 6. Then God the Father was angry and in 70AD He sent in the Roman troops to Jerusalem and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. That’s verse 7.
Then the King sent out the servants again like Peter and James and Paul and Barnabas. And He said, “Those invited weren’t worthy.” So God sent them to the Gentiles. This is exactly what Paul says in Acts 13, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you Jews. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.” And so the Church was filled up with people. That’s all verses 8 to 10.
Then the King finds a guest inside who doesn’t have a wedding garment. The wedding garment is the white robe of the righteousness of Christ. In short, the garment is Jesus Christ and this self-righteous man refused to wear Christ. So God the Father kicks him out of the feast to the outer darkness where there’s weeping and gnashing of teeth. That is hell. And so, Jesus concludes, many are called and few are chosen. It’s few because so many refused to come.
We’re going to take up these three warnings one by one—the first is those who in verse 5 paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business. They’re apathetic. They “just don’t care”. Isn’t it crazy to think that someone would reject an invitation by the King to the Prince’s wedding? But today this is exactly what happens all the time and no one bats an eye. The Lord of all Creation, of heaven and earth, invites people all the time to come and feast with Him and so many pay no attention and go off, one to his farm and another to his business.
So here it is, short and simple: Beware of not caring. In 2023, we live in a Western world that is spiritually bored. Spiritually apathetic. Spiritually depressed. People in the West just don’t care about holy things. The very things that ought to be our utmost care—like life and death and eternity—we just don’t care about them. We’re bored with all that.
This largely comes from a problem that I would remind you of today—the problem of relativism in our Western world. It’s in the air we breathe every day that all truth is relative to people. “You have your truth. I have my truth.” So in spiritual things we say, “Ah, who cares? No one knows what’s true anyway?!” Instead of it being, “Either Jesus is Lord and Savior or Jesus isn’t Lord and Savior,” the world just says, “Believe whatever you want to believe. It doesn’t matter.” Instead of it being, “It’s wrong to gamble your money away or it’s wrong to sexualize children or it’s wrong to have sex outside of marriage,” the world just says, “It’s only wrong if you think so. You do you and I’ll do me.” And so, if there isn’t any absolute truth for all people and any absolute good and absolute virtue, well then what does any of it matter anyway? We just don’t care.
We go off, one to his farm and another to his business. Do you know this is a big reason why we’re all scrambling around so “busy” today with a gazillion different things. All this busyness isn’t a good sign. It’s a bad sign. It’s not a sign that we care a whole lot and we’re wanting to be so productive. It’s a sign that we’re drugging ourselves so that we don’t have to think or care about anything too serious. All this busyness is a narcotic. It’s just a way of coping with the pain of lostness. In an article written by Pastor Harold Senkbeil on this topic he quotes a psychologist, Richard Leahy, “The average high school kid today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the 1950s.” Behind all this frantic busyness is a profound emptiness – we just don’t care. We pay no attention.
What’s the answer? Come to the wedding feast. Jesus is the Truth. The absolute Truth. He cares deeply. For you. He cares about the utmost things. Forgiveness. Life. Eternity. Virtue. Leave the farm and business in their place and come first and foremost to the feast.
The second warning is found in verse 6 where some “seized the servants, treated them shamefully, and killed them.” They hate the King. Hate Him! This is a serious warning against anger and hatred towards God. In the parable, they made the King the enemy and became violent against Him.
Beware of making God the bad Guy. Beware of making God the enemy. When the Jews made God the enemy and killed Jesus along with other apostles after Him—they made God angry. It didn’t end well for them or for Jerusalem. Beware of blaming God and making Him the enemy.
When we look at the world around us, especially, for instance, some of the radical evil going on over in Israel and in the Gaza strip, we would be tempted to blame God and make Him the enemy. When we look at some of the cancer and other suffering going on in the lives of friends and family, we may be tempted to become angry with God or even hate Him.
That’s the devil’s game. He was the first to make God the enemy. To be angry with and hate God. It will not end well for him. Beware. And it won’t end well for anyone who sides with Satan and makes God the enemy. God isn’t the enemy. The devil is the enemy. We and our sin are the enemy. Death is the enemy. God, on the other hand, is King and Lord of all who has thrown a Gospel wedding feast of forgiveness and hope and peace and joy and eternal life. And you’re invited! Come to the feast. God isn’t your enemy. He’s your Savior. Come to His kingdom where there is no violence and war and bloodshed. Come to His kingdom where there isn’t any sickness or death. Whoever believes in Him will never die. Don’t hate the King. Come to the King. Your King.
The third warning starts at verse 11. It’s the warning of wearing the wrong clothes at the wedding reception. There’s a dress code for this wedding just like there’s pretty much a dress code for almost every wedding you attend. You’re expected not to come dressed in mud and stink. At this Gospel wedding feast of victory here in the Lord’s Church, the only clothes we’re all wearing are the clothes of Jesus. Beware of trying to come in your own clothes. God has given you the white clothes of the righteousness of Jesus Christ. All your sin is covered. You’re baptized. You’re forgiven. Washed clean. Isaiah 61, “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness.” Isaiah 1, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Come to the feast. God has your clothes ready. The clothes of Jesus. His perfect righteousness. Few are chosen. Sadly. Sadly. But you be among the few. God has called and chosen you. Come to the Gospel feast of victory for our God. There’s no better way to end than Revelation chapter 19: ““Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Trinity 19
Matthew 9:1-8
October 15, 2023
“To the Heart and Soul of It”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In the book The Fellowship of the Ring, Frodo and company are brought to meet the great elf, Lady Galadriel. After some discussion, she spends some time staring at each one of them, gazing deep down into their hearts and souls and reading their inner selves to see if they are true to the quest. They talk afterward about how they felt naked before her piercing gaze.
Jesus is even better than Lady Galadriel as He doesn’t have to stare at people for a while to read their hearts and souls. He does it instantaneously. In this crowded house in Matthew 9, He stares into the heart of the paralyzed man and sees faith, into the hearts and souls of the paralytic’s friends and sees their faith, and He pierces into the hearts of the scribes and sees evil.
Jesus can see into the very heart and soul of everything. That includes you. At times we use this phrase, “Let’s get to the heart of it.” That’s what Jesus does and that’s our teaching we’re focusing on this morning. That the heart and soul of life, of your life also, is the forgiveness of sins. That’s what every one of you needs more than anything else in the world. You need forgiveness of your sins. You need it more than you need money, more than groceries, more than any you can buy anywhere. You need forgiveness of sins more than you need a laugh, more than you need time to yourself, more than you need “self-care”, more than you need exercise. Your kids need forgiveness of sins more than they need sports, more than they need friends, more than they need to be successful. Let’s get to the heart and soul of it! This is what you and I need to hear most of all and for sure on every Sunday, “Take heart, my child; your sins are forgiven.” You have paralyzing sin—Jesus has forgiveness.
That’s what Jesus says to the paralyzed man, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” And he doesn’t object at all. He doesn’t cry out, “Forgiven?! What do I care about forgiveness?! I want to walk again!!” We don’t hear about any such fit. Nor would Jesus have healed him if he had thrown such a fit. When you’re laying before someone like Jesus, who pierces into your very heart and soul, you don’t object when He tells you that your sins are forgiven. You cry for joy. Because that’s what you need more than anything else.
Now consider this paralyzed man for a moment and consider that we don’t know his past at all. Why is he paralyzed? We have absolutely no idea. Maybe he used to be a drunk and he had a terrible accident of some kind. Maybe he has a bad temper and got into a fight that went very wrong. Maybe he was born paralyzed and has been angry and bitter about it all his life, taking it out on other people who love him, and his conscience eats away at him for it. Maybe he was a dirty, rotten scoundrel before he became paralyzed and now he thinks he’s paralyzed because God hates him and that God’s punishing him for all his sin. Whatever the case it, when he’s laying before the loving eyes of Jesus, gazing into his heart and soul, there’s only one thing he needs more than anything else, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” I can’t say it for a fact because neither Matthew, Mark, nor Luke records it, but I’m quite sure this man is crying. Jesus has reached down into his heart and soul and given him what he needs—the forgiveness of sins.
What is it that eats away at your conscience and my conscience even if we may not be paralyzed in the legs? What sins paralyze your heart, paralyze your soul? Is it your anger? It is things you’ve said in the past to loved ones? Is it a divorce in the past? What’s paralyzing your soul? Is it abuse—from you or from others? Is it your drinking? Is it vile thoughts you’ve had? Is it pornography you’ve watched or read? Is it your mouth that won’t ever stop talking? Is it your selfishness? Is it a grudge you’re nursing? You know what it is…
“Take heart, my child; your sins are forgiven.” Jesus sees into your very heart and soul. And He loves you. He knows what you need more than anything else in the world and it’s not working legs. It’s also not money, success, or entertainment. You need forgiveness. That’s the heart and soul of life itself. You need forgiveness. And that’s what Jesus gives.
Jesus does heart surgery; soul surgery. He doesn’t have to make any big incisions. But He goes into your heart, removes the cancerous tumor of sin (whatever that tumor all is…your anger, lust, greed, pride), and He puts into your heart His medicine of immortality, His prescription-strength forgiveness of sins. It’s Divine Service Surgery. Your standing appointment is at 10am on Sunday morning at Trinity Lutheran surgical center. And the good Doctor keeps office hours on the rest of the week as well when you need Him.
Now how do you know Jesus knows what He’s doing? How do you know Jesus really has the authority to forgive your sins? To erase them? To release them as far as east is from the west? How do you know? Because the scribes get angry with Jesus. He sees the evil brewing up in their hearts. He’d like to forgive them too but they don’t believe in Him. They don’t believe He really has the authority to forgive sins in the heart and soul. So how do you know?
Well, Jesus backs it up. For one, He also does Divine Surgery on this man’s legs and nervous system and whatever else it took to make him walk again. For two, He showed us numerous other miracles like changing water to wine, calming storms, casting out demons, healing the sick, and raising the dead. But most important of all, you know Jesus has the authority because He died on Good Friday and then rose from the dead three days later on Easter morning. That’s how you know, know. That’s how you really know without a doubt that Jesus really can remove that sin from your heart and fill you with His Holy Spirit. Because He rose from the dead for you.
And Jesus really does want you to know which is why He also gives us His Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion. He wants you to hear His Word as surely as this paralyzed man heard His Word saying, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.” So He gives you that Word in the Holy Scriptures and the preaching, in the words of your Baptism into Christ, and in the Word of Holy Communion here at the altar in the bread and wine. That’s how you know. Your sins are forgiven.
Now, remember that we Christians know, thanks to Jesus our Savior, the very heart and soul of life itself. We know forgiveness of sins is the heart of it all. Because forgiveness of sins brings love and acceptance and heaven. There’s nothing more important than that. So we happen to know not only what we need more than anything but what everyone else in the world needs more than anything. Forgiveness of sins isn’t just for our hearts and souls but for everyone else as well. So, we need to take it to them.
In our Epistle today, Ephesians 4:25, Paul says, “Having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another…don’t let the sun go down on your anger.” We have several things here to say. For one, we must tell it like it is—get to the heart and soul of it—with people we love and care about. We know what they need. They need the forgiveness of their sins. They need to be in the Divine Service Surgery every Sunday morning at 10am. They need to be hearing and receiving God’s Word and Sacrament. And so we must tell them. If you’re not in the Divine Service then you’re missing out on the one thing you need more than anything else—the forgiveness of sins. You’re the scribes with evil in your hearts thinking, “This man can’t really forgive sins.” But yes, He can and He does.
For two, we must check our own anger and speak the truth of forgiveness to other people. We must get to the heart and soul of it with people we care about and we must forgive them. Tell your wife she’s forgiven and you love her. Tell your husband. Tell your friends, “Take heart; your sins are forgiven.” Any time any person anywhere tells you they are sorry for something, tell them, “You’re forgiven!” Any time any person anywhere tells you they’re sad about something they’ve done and they’re telling you how stupid they are…tell them! “You are forgiven!”
I want to end today by putting into your hearts and souls some of the most beautiful words in Holy Scripture about the forgiveness of sins. Forgiveness is the heart and soul of life. The Bible tells us so over and over. Listen to these words:
Isaiah 43:25 “I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”
Isaiah 44:22 “I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like a mist.”
Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”
Psalm 103:12, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Micah 7:19 “He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.”
Psalm 51:7, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.”
Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”
Matthew 26:28, “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”
Matthew 9:2, “Take heart, my son; your sins are forgiven.”
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Jonathan P. Boehne
Fall Pastors Conference CID
Daniel 7:9-14
October 2, 2023
“The Church Forever, Forever and Ever!”
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
This is one nasty, vicious horn in Daniel 7. An animal horn that has eyes and a mouth and speaks pompous, prideful, hateful things. An ugly thing to picture. Even when Daniel is seeing the Ancient of Days, the Father, on His throne with ten thousand times ten thousand of angels standing before Him, he still can’t help looking at this nasty, pompous animal horn. Daniel’s attention is drawn away from the Father to hear this horn still spewing out his venom. That horn is the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness.
In the rest of Daniel 7, we learn more about this pompous horn. He makes war against the saints (v. 21). He fights Christians. He speaks words against the Most High (v. 25). He blasphemes. He wears out the saints of the Most High (v. 25). He’s relentless against us Christians. And he thinks to change the times and the law (v. 25). He thinks to tear people away from God’s Divine Service and His Divine Law.
You see what’s going on here. This pompous, Satanic horn antichrist is wearing us down and making war against the saints, against our kingdom! He diverts our attention away from the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man. We’re tempted to lose heart. It was true for the exiles in Babylon who wept by the waters. It was true for Daniel and the three young men. And it’s true for us today.
But what becomes of the horn? He’s destroyed and burned with fire (v. 11). He’s consumed! All dominion is given to the “one like a son of man” coming in the clouds, to Jesus Christ. And His kingdom, His Church, is one that shall never be destroyed. And v. 18, “The saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess it forever, forever and ever!”
That’s the theme of Daniel 7 – “The Church forever, forever and ever!” And we’ll take it to heart right now even as that pompous horn bloviates all around us in the world and even within the Church.
Now all of this comes out of a vision that Daniel receives during Belshazzar’s reign. Daniel, along with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, have all learned that these kings are nothing to the King of kings. Their kingdoms are nothing to the Church. Nebuchadnezzar with his threats and fiery furnace was nothing. Belshazzar partying with the vessels of the Temple saw the handwriting on the wall—he was nothing too. Darius and his lions den was nothing. They were all nothing great in God’s overarching vision.
So Daniel sees that vision of God in chapter 7. The vision of four beasts rising out of the sea. The lion with eagles’ wings. That’s the kingdom of Babylon. Then a beast like a bear devouring much flesh. The kingdom of the Medes and Persians. Then the third beast, a leopard with wings, the kingdom of the Greeks. And finally, the fourth and greatest beast, the Roman Empire. This last beast has ten horns. But one horn comes up out of the ten and this is that nasty, vicious, pompous horn with eyes and a mouth. The antichrist. All of the beasts are destroyed but this horn keeps remaining, shouting his blasphemy against the Most High and wearing out the saints.
That horn, that voice of Satan in our ears, is wearing out a lot of pastors. So the statistics say and so we’ve all witnessed. Pastors who can’t bear to fight anymore because that pompous horn has turned their eyes and hearts away from the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man on the throne. That horn, with a voice like a dragon in Revelation 13, is wearing out the saints of our congregations. He lures the saints away, deceiving them and convincing them to worship the other beast of Revelation 13, to worship the world and everything in it. The horn speaks and so many of our people listen to his sermons instead of ours. They go to worship on Sunday morning at the beast’s altars. At the altar of sex. The altar of shopping and same day shipping. The altar of sports. The altar of screens. The altar of sham spirituality of every stripe. That horn is a nasty, pompous mouth. I hate him. He’s wearing me out. And maybe you too.
When I was a kid on the dairy farm, one of our jobs was dehorning the calves. You generally don’t want dairy cows having horns. It causes numerous problems. The same basic principle as a cat having claws in the house. It causes problems. So you dehorn them. When the horn is just starting to grow you take this tool with a glowing hot ring on the end, lock the calf’s head in a stall, and then burn a ring around each horn. It essentially kills the horn. But if you wait too long and the horn gets too big, as irresponsible kids often did, then you had a mess. The horn was too big to fit the ring around. Now you had this nasty, pompous horn staring at you. So you had to take a bigger tool, a “lopper” of sorts, that would chop off the horn. Then the blood would start spewing as you tried to then do all the burning and killing at the base of the horn. We’d often do a whole day of this. Thirty calves or so. At the end of the day we’re covered in blood from head to toe, manure all over us from fighting those calves, covered in the smell of burnt hair and flesh.
What does that look like? Like pastors and all the saints of God after a day in this world fighting that pompous, Satanic horn antichrist. Bloodied and stinking from head to toe. We ought to learn to burn off that pompous, little horn sooner. We have the tools to dehorn the great beast. We have the Christ, the Son of Man. We have a kingdom stronger than Babylon, stronger than Persia, stronger than Rome, and certainly stronger than any nation today. We have the Church forever, forever and ever! We have the Word of God, prayer, absolution, the Sacrament to burn that horn to death. Daniel turned to the Christ and the lions didn’t touch him. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego turned to the Christ and the fire didn’t touch them. They didn’t even smell like smoke.
The pompous horn barked at them but they dehorned his power with the Word of God. They turned away from the nasty horn and turned their eyes and heart to the kingdom, the Church, that is forever, forever and ever. So, you worn-out pastors with worn-out saints in your congregation, turn your hearts and your eyes to Daniel’s vision once again. See the Ancient of Days taking his seat among the thrones. Our Father who art in heaven. See His clothing white as snow in the holiness which He gives to us in Christ. See His throne of fiery flames with fire issuing before Him to burn the beast and the pompous horn. See the ten thousand times ten thousand angels before Him and see the book of life opened in the court. The book with your name written in it.
See the one like a Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven—died, risen, and ascended to the right hand of the Father. See the lamb once slain and now victorious from the grave. See Him given all the dominion of the entire world, all peoples, nations, and languages. And see His Church, His kingdom, which He has given to the saints. The Church forever, forever and ever. And tell the horn to eat fire.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Trinity 15
Matthew 6:24-34
September 17, 2023
“God’s Things First”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
“You can’t tell me what to do!” You can’t say that to a lot of people without getting into some trouble. You can’t say that to your parents. You can’t say that to your boss. You can’t say that to a teacher. You can’t say that to the police if they pull you over for speeding. You can’t say that to the man at the checkout in the store when he says, “That’ll be $39.28.” God says that all of those people can absolutely tell you what to do. They can and you must obey as long as it doesn’t mean you’d have to disobey God. You can’t say to most people, “You can’t tell me what to do!”
But here’s a little fun. You can say that to the devil. You should say that to the devil all the time, “You can’t tell me what to do, you dirty devil.” And you can also say that to the world when the world demands that you do and be everything the world wants you to do and be. Then say to the world, “You can’t tell me what to do.” Because Jesus says that you cannot serve two masters. You can’t have two people telling you what to do. You cannot serve God and money. Only one master. And that master is God. And if the world tells you different, then you say, “You can’t tell me what to do.”
In fact, this is kinda fun. I think you should practice doing this. For instance, you can talk back to all the advertisements and the slogans that try to tell you what to do. When Nike tells you, “Just do it,” then you can tell them, “No. You can’t tell me what to do. No, I don’t need your over-priced apparel just because you put a swoosh mark on it and just because I like Michael Jordan. No, I won’t just do that.” Jesus says not to be anxious about clothing. God puts better clothes on the flowers than Nike has ever sold in all their years.
Look up here at these flowers. Look at this rose. How does God do this? Nike has never made a fabric in all their existence that feels and smells as good as the petals of this rose. Nike has never made a shoe that’s as beautiful as this rose. “They neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.” That’s what Jesus says about lilies. And this rose will be dead and wilted within a few days. God has so much beauty to give that He can afford to give it away on roses that only bloom for a short time and then are thrown into a landfill. “Will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Nike clothes are fine, of course, if you want to wear them. And there’s nothing wrong with a marketing slogan. But don’t let them tell you to just do it. You don’t have to have any certain brand or type of clothes. Because you’re not that overly concerned about clothes. You have a greater and better Master that you serve.
And what about food. Don’t let those food advertisements tell you what to do either. When you hear Dunkin’ Donuts tell you, “America runs on Dunkin’,” then you should say, “Maybe, but I don’t. You can’t tell me what to do.” Who runs after a big donut, anyway? Not anyone I know. I certainly don’t go running after a delicious Boston Crème donut from Dunkin’. I don’t run on over-priced coffee and donuts and neither does America. Sure, Dunkin’, we might eat your donuts and drink your coffee once in a while since you positioned yourself right there so nicely by the Walmart and the Aldi. But you can’t tell us what to do. We certainly don’t need a coffee and donut to get us up and running.
Jesus says, “Don’t be anxious saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’” Food and drink are wonderful gifts of God. But they shouldn’t tell us what to do. “Look at the birds,” Jesus says. Do the birds build Dunkin’ Donut drive thrus? Do they build big barns to store all their food? Sure, some of you will put up “big” barn feeders for them on poles in your yard full of seed. And they appreciate that. But they don’t worry if yours runs dry. They just fly off somewhere else. In fact, where do birds even go all the time? What a mystery?! Yet your heavenly Father is always feeding them. So why are we so worried about food? We shouldn’t be continually being told what to do and eat and buy just because the world has good ad slogans.
Now this is actually serious business. Of course, you know it’s serious because Jesus is talking to you about it. The world wants you to be far too concerned about food and drink and clothes. Big, big money is spent trying to get you to think you have to wear certain clothes and eat certain food and drink certain drinks. But you don’t have to. The world isn’t your master. God is. The world can’t tell you what to do. You can drink the water from your kitchen faucet, wear the same clothes two days in a row if necessary, and eat peanut butter and jelly for lunch and dinner. And you’ll be just fine.
We take our marching orders from Jesus. He’s our Master. So let’s get specific about what He’s telling us to do here. It helps to think about this word translated “anxious” when Jesus says, “Do not be anxious.” It will help us all to make some distinctions here about what Jesus means and what He doesn’t mean. When He says that you shouldn’t worry, shouldn’t be anxious, shouldn’t be too overly-careful about food and drink and clothes—He doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t ever plan ahead. Of course not. So let’s make that distinction very clearly. Some faithful planning is good and holy. But only in it’s proper place. You certainly don’t need to worry or be anxious.
So it might help you to know that the word here that Jesus uses for worrying and being anxious has to do with being distracted. The Greek word merimnao. It could be said that you get distracted from the whole and become overly concerned with the parts. We’ll say that again. When worrying and being anxious, you’re losing sight of the whole and becoming distracted in the parts.
So, Jesus says, in order that you don’t get distracted and start worrying and fretting over the individual parts like food and drink and clothes—rather, “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,” and all those individual parts will be taken care of. Why be anxious and worrying over small little parts like food and drink and clothes? God will take care of those. Don’t be distracted by the world and money telling you what to do. They can’t tell you what to do. You have a higher God and He will always take care of you. If He’s taking care of birds and flowers, then He’s going to take care of you.
Let’s say you’re on your way to St. Louis for a Cardinals game. They’re playing the Cubs so this can go for either a Cubs or Cards fan. I don’t know who you’re rooting for but your destination is Busch Stadium. Start time of 1:15 in the afternoon so you start out early around 8am in the morning. You want plenty of time for the drive and lunch and so forth. You get on Interstate 39 out here and you’re cruising. No anxiety. No worry. No distraction. Coming around the west side of Bloomington you see a billboard for McDonalds. “I’m lovin’ it.” You’re loving a coffee and a McGriddle so you take the exit ramp. While you’re off you also see the Farm and Fleet and remember you’d really like a couple tie straps or twenty so you take a quick stop. Plus then you can get a look at the baby chicks in the water trough. Then the Walmart’s right there and you could use a few snacks for the road so you’re off there for a bit.
Back on the road. On your way you see a couple billboards for Scheel’s in Springfield. Good thing you left early for the game. A short little four hour stop there at Scheel’s. Few turns on the Ferris wheel. Then you’re hungry. Ooh, there’s a Chick-Fil-A. Stop in there. Oh, a Dunkin’. Bostom Crème donut and a latte. And there’s a Kohl’s. It’s getting dark. Where were you going today anyway? Eh, who knows? Better head back home.
So we might translate Jesus’s words, “Therefore, I tell you, don’t be distracted by what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you’ll put on. Isn’t life more than food and clothes?” Yes, life is more than McDonalds and Farm and Fleet and Walmart and Scheels and Dunkin’ Donuts and wherever else. Life is God and His kingdom and His righteousness. Don’t get distracted along the way with worries and anxieties that God’s going to take care of. Yes, it’s good to know where the gas stations are on the way from El Paso to Busch Stadium. But much more than that and now we’re missing the whole picture.
First things first. That will probably become an overused cliché but it really is a good saying. You ought to keep first things first. In our case, that means God’s Things First. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness. You know what that means. What does God tell you to do? Keep His things first and tell the devil and the world, “You can’t tell me what to do.” God’s things are His holy and sacred Word in the Bible that we’re talking about right now like when He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God.” Keep His Word first. God’s things are prayer and thanksgiving and singing. Keep talking to Him first. God’s things are forgiveness of sins and so we keep the Divine Service first and the Lord’s Supper first. God’s things are love for Him and love for our neighbor. So we keep those vocations first where we serve God and our neighbor.
Don’t be distracted. Don’t let the world tell you what to do. God will be taking care of you. That’s a fact. So seek first God’s things. God’s things first. And the rest will be taken care of. He will just do it.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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Lent 3
Ephesians 5:1-9
March 12, 2023
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Good is good and bad is bad, right? It’s that easy, right? Everyone knows what’s good. Everyone knows what’s bad, right? It’s so simple and easy, right? We never get them mixed up at all, right? You know what’s good. You know what’s bad. And everyone agrees with you, right?
Wrong. Let me give you the biggest case in point ever. Jesus is good, right? Can we all agree? Yes, He is the best of the best, absolutely good, Son of God. He is good. Period. And everybody, then, knew He was good, right? No. In the Gospel today they actually call Jesus a demon. That’s right. They say He’s in league with Satan. That’s how He’s doing all these miracles, they say. So there you go! That’s how crazy screwed up we people can get about what’s good and what’s bad. They call the best person ever, Jesus, evil. This isn’t as simple and easy as we think, friends!
In fact, we consistently get good and evil screwed up and mixed around. I can’t think of a better example right now than what our state of IL is doing in regard to abortion. Our Governor and our legislatures want to expand abortion as much as possible and, at the same time, they’re trying to pass legislation to effectively shut down pregnancy centers. So look here! Killing babies is called the good. Helping mothers and babies to live and thrive is called bad! And all with a straight face!
But before you get in a huff over our culture, which is worth getting in a huff over, let me remind you that you and I are just as bad at mixing up good and evil. It’s not nearly as easy to distinguish them as you think it is. How often we pass off greed as a good thing; how often we justify selfishness and laziness; how we excuse our anger and bitterness; how often we gorge ourselves and drink too much and then laugh it off as a big joke; how often we worship the world and all its stuff and pretend that God is pleased with all our shopping.
So now take to heart Ephesians chapter 5 today. Go through it with me and take to heart Paul’s words. He wants to clearly, clearly, clearly show you the good from the bad, the good path from the bad path, the right way to walk from the wrong way to walk. Look here, before we go through this text together, take a moment to picture these two paths of walking that Paul is describing. The bad, he says, is walking a path of darkness. The good, he says, is walking a path of love and light.
Now let’s get a good picture in our mind here. The path of love and light in Jesus, he also says, is a fragrant and pleasing smell to God. So you picture some place that you love to be where the sun is shining and there’s a warm, comforting smell in the air. Where is it? How about walking the beach on a sunny, warm day with the smell of the ocean? How about walking amongst the fragrant flowers on a bright, warm day? How about a shiny, hot day next to the sweet smell of the grill? You know what I can’t wait for? (I already talked to Bob about this and we agreed.) I can’t wait for a bright, warm day sitting on the mower with the smell of the cut grass. I loved the smell of freshly cut alfalfa hay when I was a kid when you were riding in the sun on the tractor.
Now you get that warm, sweet-smelling path in your mind because that’s the path of the light and love of Jesus Christ. The path of sin is a pitch-black, cold, frightening path through hell. But the answer to finding that good and right path, that bright and warm path, is Jesus Christ! He’s the answer! He’s the good. Follow His love and follow His light and you’re in the way of the good and right and true!
Now let’s hit it. Hit the good path of Jesus. Ephesians 5:1. “Brethren, be imitators of God, as beloved children. Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” The word imitate in the Greek is “mimic”. Mimic God. He walks in love and light. So you walk in love and light. Reflect Him. He’s the center of the universe. He’s the Sun. So He imparts His love to us and we mimic it. We reflect it.
Like a little puddle reflecting the sun and we see a rainbow. Or like that little tiny rainbow mimicking the great rainbow in the sky. So God and His love for us sits at the center of everything in the universe and we imitate His love by giving ourselves to others.
How do you know this good path? Each one of you—how do you know to walk in this good path of love? Because Jesus. That’s how. Jesus loved you, imitated His Father’s love, and gave Himself up for you, Paul says, a fragrant offering. Here’s where that sweet smell and aroma comes in. In the Old Testament sacrifices, over and over it talks about how they would produce a pleasing aroma to the Lord. So Jesus giving Himself for you in love on the cross produced the most pleasing aroma of all time to the Lord.
When you guys walk in the love of Jesus, on that bright, warm, sweet-smelling path of love, it brings a pleasing aroma to the Lord. He loves to see you, His beloved children, walking in that same love that He’s loved you with. When the Philippians sent Paul a gift of love, here’s what he said about it in Philippians 4:18, “I am well supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent, a fragrant offering, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God.” Your gifts and sacrifices of love to your neighbors are a pleasing aroma to the Lord, acceptable and pleasing.
But now God warns us of the other path, the path of darkness and stench and evil. The path of impure love—loving the things of the world rather than God. So Paul says, “But sexual immorality and all impurity and covetousness must not even be named among you.” I especially want to take you to verse 6 of this same point, “Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of the these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not associate with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light.”
Now here we have this key problem that I started with – that we are so often deceived with empty words and we think that the evil is actually the good. The devil and the world lie to us and tell us that the path of darkness is actually the path of light. That’s how you get people actually calling Jesus evil. And you and I better pay attention because many evil things today are being called good.
On the inside page of the bulletin insert I put a list together by just going through Ephesians 4 and 5. On the left side is all the evil things Paul wants you to see are on the path of darkness. On the right is everything he mentions on the path of love and light. Now it seems pretty clear when you look at it light that, right? But let me give you some examples how evil gets passed off as good.
How about sexual immorality? Today our culture excuses nearly every kind of sexual sin with these empty words, “Well, love is love. It’s natural to love, right? You’ve got to follow your heart.” So we excuse everything – polygamy, adultery, living together before marriage, pornography, homosexuality. We celebrate it all with pride. Surely we can’t deny ourselves any pleasures, right? And so we call the evil path of darkness good.
And what about our greed and covetousness? Covetousness is that desire to have more and more and more. And we excuse that under words that sound good like business and investments and savings and retirement funds. People get paid very good money just to tell other people what to do with all of their extra money. And we justify it all as good business sense.
And we excuse all our crude and vulgar joking, our foolish and silly talk, our ranting about nothing, our gossiping about our neighbors and jokes at their expense—we excuse it all with, “Well, I just need to unwind, to let loose. It’s all just good fun. It doesn’t hurt anyone.” God doesn’t think it funny. Verse 4, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place and out of character.” You should be thankful.
Look at how easily we’re deceived about the evil path of darkness. But Paul brings us back. At one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord! Walk as children of light, for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true. If you want to know what’s good, what it means to walk on the good path, then you bring everything into the sun. Listen to what Jesus Himself says in John 12, “The one who walks in the darkness doesn’t know where he’s going. While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become children of light.”
Jesus has shone His light, the light of the world, into your hearts to give you faith and to drive away the darkness. Now you’re light. And you know you’re walking in His good path when you’re producing fruit that is good and right and true. Just like this spring the sun will shine and blossom into all kinds of good fruit on trees and plants, so the light of Christ shines into your hearts and blossoms into the good and right and true.
The good fruit is kind fruit. Being kind to one another, forgiving, tenderhearted. Bearing with one another in love and gentleness and humility. The right fruit is the fruit of justice and honesty and hard work, making the best use of time and doing the Lord’s will. The fruit of truth is always speaking the truth in love and being mature in Christ, not being tossed to and fro by every wind of false teaching.
Now we need to end today with a word I’ve been using a lot over the past few weeks – the word “fight”. Fight the good fight of faith. In this case today, you need to fight to stay on the good path of Jesus, the path of love and light. The world and the devil are working hard on you to convince you that darkness is actually light. To convince you that all kinds of evil are actually good. There are many evil things that are being called good today. I’ve already talked about many of them so I won’t list them all again. But beware and fight for what’s right. Make sure you’re walking in the path of Jesus where the sun is shining, where’s it warm, and where the smell is very pleasing. The path of love and light.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Lent 1
Matthew 4:1-11
February 26, 2023
Theme: We’re in a spiritual war against the devil but we have the strong Christ and strong weapons of Word and prayer.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
How many times have you said something like this, “Wow! I never realized how many….!?” When we moved to South Dakota and felt like something was really missing we said, “Wow, we never realized how many trees there are in IL.” We didn’t notice them. We’re often oblivious to things. You get glasses and you start to look around at people, “Wow, I never realized how many people wear glasses or contacts.” You buy a blue Ford Focus and say, “Wow, I never realized how many blue Ford Focuses there are around. They’re everywhere.” You decide to cut down on sugar and start looking at the nutritional labels on all the food you eat, “Wow, I never realized that sugar is added to almost everything I eat.” Many things go unnoticed by us.
And that includes the devil. Christians like you and me need continual training and instructing and encouraging so that we’ll keep seeing the devil’s work more and more and say, “Wow, I didn’t realize how many times the devil is tempting me and shooting his arrows at me. And I didn’t realize how many parts of my life are actually spiritual battles against Satan.” This Sunday of Jesus’ temptation is another Sunday to get you to notice and realize the devil working all around you. Because if you notice him working, then you can shut him up and his lies. Because you have Christ who has already taken away the devil’s power. And you have the Word of God and prayer which are weapons to drive the devil away.
You may not always realize it but you’re an enemy to the devil now. When you’re baptized into Christ, you’re marked as an enemy. He puts his tracers on you. It’s like when you realize just how often Google is tracking your movements, “Wow, I didn’t realize.” Well, the devil is tracking you because you’re baptized into Christ and he wants to take every opportunity to turn your heart away from Jesus.
Our reading, Matthew 4, starts immediately after Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River. When Jesus was baptized, He was taking His stand with us against the devil. And sure enough, the devil went after Him right after He was baptized. Matthew 4:1, “Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.”
Now you might notice very correctly, “Why does it say the Spirit led him to be tempted?” Does God actually “lead us into temptation” even though we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “lead us not into temptation?” Remember, this is all getting to that question that we’re always asking, “Why is God allowing this to happen?” And yes, the Spirit did, in fact, allow Jesus to be tempted by Satan. He allowed that for us and for our good. Jesus showed us how to defeat the devil.
And yes, God does often allow you to be tempted by the devil. He Himself doesn’t tempt you. God doesn’t tempt anyone. But He does allow suffering and discipline and temptation because He loves you and would strengthen your soul. He allowed Job to be tempted. He allowed David to be tempted. And He strengthened them. But here’s the promise of 1 Corinthians 10, “No temptation has overtaken you that isn’t common to man. God is faithful, and He won’t let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation He’ll also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
So yes, God may allow temptations but Jesus was tempted in every way that we are, yet without sin. That’s Hebrews 4:15. And God promises not to leave or forsake us, but to provide the way of escape. He gives us strong weapons against the devil—Christ Himself, the Word of God, and prayer.
Now, why “into the wilderness”? Aha, take special note, Christians. The devil will often work the best and hardest on you when you’re alone. When you’re “in the wilderness”. He loves to get you alone, maybe at night when you’re in bed and he gets you fretting and worrying and getting angry. Maybe when you’re alone in your room and you’re on your phone or computer. Then he’ll attack with fury. No Christian should go alone. We must be together, the family of God. We must be here together in the Divine Service but also, outside of the Church service, watching and caring and praying for one another.
Now the next verse we’re told that Jesus has fasted for forty days and forty nights and now He was hungry. Now here’s another time for you to notice how the devil works. He waits for the opportune time. You’ll often say, “Wow, I didn’t realize all along that the devil was working on me.” Yes, he’s often working on you and waiting for the opportune time to strike. He’ll work behind the scenes for a long time waiting to attack you when you’re weak or vulnerable.
Now Jesus had fasted for forty days. How did He do that? Because He’s the Son of God. But at the end of it we also clearly see His humanity—He’s hungry. Hungry just like you and I become hungry. He’s tempted in every way we are, remember. He was hungry. His stomach was growling bitterly. He could feel His stomach twisting and turning in knots wanting desperately to be fed. But when the devil suggests that He turn rocks into bread to eat (which He could easily do), He refuses and says, “No! Man lives by God’s Word. God takes care of Him.”
Now, first of all, notice that God is the answer to all our hunger. God is the answer. Everything that you think you’re so hungry for and can’t live without—the truth is that God is what you’re really needing. Are you so hungry for a vacation? Sure, you can take a vacation and that’s okay but it’s really God Himself and the rest that He gives that will actually satisfy you. Vacations don’t last but God does.
Are you so hungry for food? For sweets? Sure, you can go have a cookie and that’s okay. But it’s really God Himself that satisfies us. Jesus says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to Me shall not hunger.”
Are you hungry for money? For power? For sex? For gambling? For pleasure? Well, those are another story. Now the devil’s making an outright assault on you and it’s not okay at all to feed those hungers. Now you’re being led into sin and you’d better stop with Jesus and say, “No! Man lives by the Word of God.” All of your hungers are answered by God and God alone. So take all your hungers to Him. Psalm 107:9, “For He satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul He fills with good things.”
Now notice another thing about this first temptation. The devil has a definite three stages to his temptations. First is the suggestion. He suggests to Jesus, “Why not turn these stones into bread?” Then secondly comes the desire which, of course, Jesus resists but we often don’t. He suggests it and then we start to desire it. Then third comes the consent which, again, Jesus will not give but we often do. You can’t stop the devil making all kinds of suggestions to you constantly just like you can’t hardly stop all the advertisements you see around you every day. But you can choose not to listen to his suggestions. By the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in you, a baptized child of God, by the Spirit of Christ Himself, you can say no to desiring his suggestion and you can say no to consenting to it. That’s where the battle is fought for us Christians.
And now then comes our victory. Yes, you can’t stop the devil making suggestion after suggestion. Yes, you can’t stop all the feelings of hunger. Yes, the Lord Himself will often allow temptations and suffering to come upon you. Yes, we need to look around and say, “Wow, I never realized how hard the devil is fighting against me.” BUT – Christ is your Champion! Your victory! He has not only taken the devil’s power away by His death and resurrection and by your Baptism into Him, but He also shows you the way to get rid of the devil with God’s Word and prayer.
Wow, I never realized how hard the devil’s fighting against me and tempting me. Yes, that’s true. But wow, I also don’t often realize how strong my Savior Jesus is and how strong His Word is against the devil.
Let’s take an image out of that hymn we just sang, “The Tree of Life”. The devil overcame Adam and Eve by a tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God allowed the temptation. Satan made the suggestion. And Eve and Adam desired it and consented. They were hungry and decided to find satisfaction in somewhere other than God. Now sin infects every one of us like a disease and we hunger for all the wrong things in all the wrong places just like Adam and Eve.
But God has given us a different tree to eat from now. The tree of Jesus’ cross. Verse 4, “Now from that tree of Jesus’ shame Flows life eternal in His name; For all who trust and will believe, Salvation’s living fruit receive. And of this fruit so pure and sweet The Lord invites the world to eat, To find within this cross of wood The tree of life with ev’ry good.”
So when the devil makes his suggestions and we find ourselves hungry, we say to him as Jesus said in John 4:32, “I have food to eat that you don’t know about.” We have food to eat from the Tree of Life, the cross of Jesus. Food of forgiveness and peace and joy and love. Food that truly satisfies and fills us with good things. Food here in the Lord’s Supper, the body and blood of Christ, which fills our body and soul with the fruits of Jesus’ cross, the fruits of forgiveness and peace.
Wow, I didn’t realize how often the devil is attacking me. The other day when I was sick and feeling all was lost – he was attacking my soul. That time when I thought no one cared about me at all – that was the devil and his lies. All those times I think I’m worthless and can’t do anything right – that’s the devil punching me. Those times I’ve given in to sins that I know I shouldn’t do and don’t even want to do – that’s the devil shooting his bullets at me. When I have thoughts that God doesn’t love me and can’t ever forgive me for what I am, that’s the devil lying to me. When I’m hungry for power and money and pleasure—that’s the devil assaulting me.
But wow, I have a strong tower to run to and be safe. Wow, I have a powerful Savior Jesus Christ who wants to fill me with every good thing. Wow, I have powerful weapons, the Word of God and prayer, that I can arm myself with against the devil. Wow, I can stand with Jesus and shout, “Be gone, Satan! For it’s written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve!” Wow, God will send His holy angels to minister to us as we so often pray, “Let your holy angel be with me that the evil foe may have no power over me.”
We’re in a war with Satan—but wow, we have on our side all the answers in Jesus Christ.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Transfiguration of our Lord
2 Peter 1:16-21
January 29, 2023
Theme: We have something more sure and certain to live on—the Word of God.
The Scripture I’m preaching on today is the Epistle, 2 Peter 1:16-21, so you can follow along with me as you want.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Why do you guys listen to me every Sunday morning? There are a hundred of you out there and all of you are more interesting than me and can probably tell better stories and better jokes. But you come every Sunday and give me your attention for 15 to 20 minutes. Why do you do that? And it’s not like I’m just telling you the weather or the news. I’m telling you how to live your life. How to think. Telling you what’s right and wrong. Telling you about things beyond this life. I’m talking about the most important things in life and you listen. Why?
That is our reading this morning. It’s like Peter stopped in his letter and said, “Now why should you guys listen to me at all?” In the first fifteen verses of the letter he was telling them how they should be living. And then we hit our text today, verse 16, and he says, “Now why should you listen to me? Because, I will tell you, none of this is my word. It’s all God’s Word.” Why trust Peter? Because he was eyewitness to Jesus’s glory at the Transfiguration and he heard the voice from heaven. And even more than that, he says, you have something even more sure—the Word of God in the Scriptures and you should pay attention to it.
The truth is that you guys don’t come for me at all. You could certainly find more entertaining people to listen to. But you come to hear this guy, St. Peter, who was eyewitness and earwitness to Jesus and you come to hear what God speaks to you in His holy Word. THAT is what you build your life on! THAT is worth listening to—not just 15 to 20 minutes on Sunday—but all the time. Every day. Yes, that’s right, I’m telling you how to live your life, what’s right and what’s wrong, how to think, about things eternal. But you ought always to be checking that what you’re hearing from me is exactly what you’re hearing from God in His Word. That’s where we stake it all. Not on some pastor’s opinions. We have the sure and certain Word of God and that’s what we live on.
I’m not telling you that God’s Word is a safe bet. A safe gamble. No! I’m not telling you to bet on God’s Word—I’m telling you to BUILD on God’s Word! I’m appalled right now by the rapid rise of sports gambling. I can’t hardly believe that you watch a football or basketball game and you see all these commercials about betting on the game. Gambling didn’t all of a sudden become safe, people. We better wake up. Those commercials are garbage. People are betting their livelihoods and losing. Don’t believe those garbage commercials. You can bet your life on games and lose BIGTIME.
But never will you lose building on God’s Word. Never. His Word is infallible, meaning it will not fall. It cannot fall or fail. Not ever.
Now let’s look at Peter’s argument starting in verse 16 – For we didn’t follow cleverly devised myths or fables when we talked to you about Jesus. Cleverly devised myths. There are plenty of those out there today. Peter and the other apostles weren’t in the upper room secretly hatching out a conspiracy to sell Jesus to the world.
There are plenty of people hatching myths and fables today. YouTube is a hot mess of cleverly devised myths and fables. And sad to say, even TV itself is a garble of myths and fables now as well. You’d do quite well to turn most of it off. Nearly every advertisement to you is a cleverly devised fable. Some beautiful person looking happy telling you if you spend your money here or here then you’ll be as happy and beautiful as they are. Pure fiction.
And there’s a lot of it out there. So many conspiracy theories out there regarding Democrats, Republicans, Biden, Trump. Conspiracy theories about food and medicine. Now maybe a small handful of them are actually true. So what? You can’t build your life on these conspiracy theories. It’s a gamble. Most of the people selling them can’t be trusted. They’re only out to make money and get their face on TV.
And then there’s every false religion so cleverly devised to take little bits of the Christian truth and mix it with fables. Whether it’s Joseph Smith, founder of Mormonism, with his fables about golden plates in a cave that became the Book of Mormon. Pure fiction. Or Muhammad and his Quran, saying he was the last and greatest prophet the world was waiting on. And Islam’s cleverly devised myth that Muhammad was really a good man of peace. And there’s many more of those cleverly devised fable religions like Scientology, for instance – a mix of religion with science fiction.
We’ve got myths and fables aplenty today—like “Marijuana’s good for us” and “gambling’s good for us” and “we’re better and smarter than every generation before us” and “Big Tech really cares about your privacy”. Pure fiction.
Now then what’s NOT fiction? The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That’s Peter’s exact phrase there. The power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. No fiction here. No fables or myths here. How do we know? Well, because first of all, Peter was an eyewitness of his majesty. Now, I know, some of these other people I was mentioning like Joseph Smith claim to be an eyewitness. Fair enough. But we’ll get to that. Peter says he has something even more sure that his eyewitness and earwitness testimony. So hold on to that for a minute.
But it wasn’t just Peter who saw these things. Peter, James, and John were all on the mountain. Notice Peter’s word “we were eyewitnesses”. It’s not just one lone man’s word. After Jesus ascended into heaven and they needed to replace Judas with another apostle, one of the strict qualifications was that the man needed to have been an eyewitness with them from the beginning. Does that sound like guys who are cleverly devising a myth?
All of them witnessed Jesus’s power in the resurrection. They saw Him with their own eyes, risen from the dead, and they touched His hands and His side where the nails went through and the spear went through. But Peter, James, and John also received a very unique experience at the mountain of Transfiguration. They got a preview of His glorious coming—a preview of what the Last Day will be when we see Jesus coming in all His glory. They saw His face shining like the sun and His clothes white as light.
Furthermore, they were earwitnesses because they heard the very voice of the Father from heaven saying, “This is My Beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” So you have many eyewitnesses to the power of Jesus in His resurrection and you have these three—Peter, James, and John—as eyewitnesses His coming in glory. No cleverly devised myths here. You can build your life on their testimony.
But, verse 19, Peter says, “I won’t only leave you with MY WORD, however. We have something more sure.” What?! More sure? What could be more sure than eyewitness and earwitness testimony? The only thing more sure than that is when God Himself is the witness on the stand. And that’s what we have in the prophetic word. The Holy Scriptures, that is. Now Peter is especially thinking of the Old Testament when he says these words, “And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention.” But from our perspective we can apply his words to the entire 66 books of the Bible. All of them are the prophetic Word—the very voice of God Himself speaking.
Look at how Peter defends the Bible in verse 20. “No prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation…but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” That word “carried along” is the same word as back in verse 18 about the voice “borne from heaven”. Same word. So what’s the point? When you hear me go over to that lectern and read that Word of God, you are hearing the voice of God being borne from heaven through the speaking of men like St. Peter and others who were borne along by the Holy Spirit. You’re hearing God Himself.
We must insist on this inspiration of the Holy Bible because God Himself insists on it. This is how He Himself describes the Bible—as His very voice speaking through humans. Men spoke God’s words as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. All of it, from Genesis to Joshua to Psalms to Hosea to Malachi to Matthew to John to Paul and Peter and to Revelation, is the very voice of God Himself.
Is this reason to listen? Is this sure and certain enough to build your life on? Is this trustworthy? We have here in this prophetic word something more certain and more sure than anything you will hear anywhere else in this world. This isn’t some man’s interpretation, some man’s opinion.
Now you have to do the work, of course, when you’re listening to a Pastor or to anyone else claiming to speak God’s truth, to make sure that what’s being said is actually what the Bible says. Sadly, there are many charlatans out there who claim to say what the Bible says but are false prophets. Jesus warns us heavily about them and so do Peter and Paul and James and John. But we can test the spirits with the Word of God.
Now Peter gives you a mental picture to think about. He says you’ll do well to pay attention to God’s Word as to a lamp shining in a dark place. The Bible is a lamp shining in a dark place. When you wake up in the middle of the night you turn on a lamp or the flashlight on your phone or whatever the case is. That light shines in the dark place until either the sun will finally come up later in the morning or until you turn on all the lights in the house. So the Bible, God’s Word, is right now a flashlight in this dark world showing us the way things really are. Giving us a sure and certain thing to build our lives on. But pretty soon the full light is going to shine. The sun is going to rise and we’re going to see everything clear as the light of day.
Peter says, “until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.” In other words, you WILL see in due time, without any shred of doubt, when Jesus comes in all His power and glory. For now, pay attention to the Word. It’s your lamp, your flashlight, shining in this dark world and showing you the truth.
No betting here. No gambling. No myths or fables or conspiracies. This is the solid truth, sure and certain. As our theme this year of 2023 says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10. He has stamped His name onto His holy Word. The Word itself is a strong tower. Sure and certain. Pay attention to it. Run to it. And you will be safe.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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