Psalm 50:1-15; 2 Peter 3:3-14
LSB 885

In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Confrontation with mortality has a way of prioritizing one’s thinking and sharpening one’s perspective. My friends, hear these words of St Peter tonight - and his entire second letter - as his farewell discourse. His parting thoughts on the Christian life of faith and love. Gone is the bravado before Holy Week when he pledged to be jailed or even die with his Lord Jesus. How’d that turn out? Flailing around with his sword in the garden. Frightened by the questions of a servant girl in the courtyard. The rock was reduced to a pebble. He came face to face with his the possibility of his own death and he was scared. He denied to save his own skin.

Fully absolved and freely restored, Peter took his place in humility, learning that his strength is not internal, his resolve not innate. Rather, as the Lord promised St Paul, My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor 12:9). As the two greatest Apostles, with hands stretched out, were dressed and lead by another where they did not want to go, did they confess together and to one another, For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak then I am strong (2 Cor 12:10)?

He goes to his death, his martyrdom. An inverted cross. For he said, “I am not worthy to die in the same manner as my Lord.” He learned. It is a hard lesson. When this is all over. When all this pandemic and politics is behind us. Will we have learned?

For the Epistle from Sunday is preached to us tonight. The Christian faith cannot be without works. Peter has realized this. Thus does he exhort us, his friends and fellow disciples, to test ourselves by good works and become sure of our faith. Be established in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ alone and not in the myths of men. In whatever field they may claim expertise.  

Beware of false teachers who will arise from within. They will follow their own sensuality, reveling in their deceptions, having eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved (2 Pt 2:19). Be watchful and alert, dear Christians.

For the Apostle means to stir up your mind by way of reminder. He seeks to call you back to the basics, back to your catechesis, to prioritize your thinking as you too confront death. Scoffers with come with scoffing. Their sinful and unbelieving behavior will go hand in hand with their self-indulgence and mockery of God’s Word and work in the creation of the world.

The fathers have fallen asleep. Stephen, James, and John have already suffered martyrdom. Peter and Paul are not far behind. Nero’s insanity will swell leading to the bloody persecutions of Trajan and later Diocletian, just as Christians in every time and place have suffered somewhere. The kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force. So it was at the time of Noah, a herald of righteousness. For one hundred years he built the ark. He preached. He pleaded. He prayed and sacrificed. Not a single convert. Not one. How his soul must have been greatly distressed! And in His justice the Lord deluged the world that He had created by His Word with water and it perished.

By this same Word, beloved, the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. Hold fast to this Word in these last days of great distress. Cling to it for your life both now and hereafter. For the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promises. He does not delight in the death of the wicked. He desires all to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.

It is in mercy that He restrains the judgment. That He holds back consuming fire of His wrath, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. Thus does He also in mercy reveal to you your sins. And in mercy, by His Word and Holy Spirit, repents you of them, and grants you pardon, remission, and forgiveness of all your sins. This is the warp and woof of the Christian life. Our daily bread and butter.

It doesn’t progress beyond repentance and forgiveness, sin and grace, Law and Gospel. But precisely through this, in meditation on His Word, by prayer, and in suffering, does our Lord forge and fashion you as a theologian of the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the Day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the sun, moon and stars will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.

My friends, since all these things are to occur, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness?

Firstly, and always, dear Christians, repent of your sins, repent of your lack of faithfulness and love, of your lukewarm confession and fruitlessness, of all that is not Christ. Fear and love Him, the Mighty One, God the Lord, who speaks and summons the earth, as your Lord and God.

But also trust in Him as your great Good Shepherd. He is your merciful High Priest, your Savior and Redeemer. Hear His voice in the preaching of His Word and the gift of His Table. Follow Him through the Cross and death into His Kingdom. The Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. The Kingdom which is your inheritance not by works, but by grace through faith. For your righteousness avails nothing, but His righteousness is yours.

Love Him, therefore, because of who He is, and because He loves you faithfully forever. Love Him, by loving and serving His Christians. Love them in His Name and for His sake. These are His brothers. Such love is the evidence and fruit of your faith and life in Christ. For Christ Himself works in you, both to will and to do, according His His good pleasure. And by the Tree of His Cross into which you are grafted as a branch to the Vine, He bears fruit in your life. To reject such fruit of faith is to squelch and reject faith in Christ. To deny mercy is to deny Christ!   

Therefore live in love toward your neighbor. Not to merit or maintain your salvation, for that is a free gift, an inheritance of your Father who is in heaven. But because this is the life of Christ.  He daily and richly provides you with food and drink for your hunger and thirst; with safe shelter and sanctuary from the cold, from darkness and death; with clothing for your nakedness; with comfort and care in all adversity; with good health in place of all your illness, and with release from your prison.  

So then, as for you: feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the poor, visit the sick and imprisoned. Do it for Jesus’ sake. Do it in His Name as He does so for you. Do it all as unto Him.  

Learn to see Christ in your neighbor’s frailties and weakness and needs. Not only in the occasional act of kindness and charity, but especially in the daily duties and commands of your vocation. Children, honor and obey your parents and those in authority over you. Parents be patient with your children, bringing them up in the care and tenderness of the Lord, showing them unconditional love even as you are loved in Christ. Husbands and wives love and respect each other. Workers of all kinds obey your employers and serve them in honesty. To all, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, showing greater honor to the weaker and neglected parts of the Body of Christ.

Above all, do not ignore and neglect the Church, for she is the Body and the Bride of Christ. For how you react to the preaching of His Word, to the severity of His warnings and the promise of His grace, is of eternal significance. Therefore hold fast His Word, gladly listening and doing what He commands. As St Peter writes, Be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish, that is living by faith toward God, and at peace, that is, living in love and charity and service toward one another.  

For this is the significance of the Church on earth, and of this congregation: Here the eternal judgments are declared and delivered. Here the Son of Man exercises His authority to forgive sins, and with that forgiveness of sins He gives you life and salvation. Here He clothes your nakedness and shame with His righteousness. Here He feeds you and gives you drink of His Body and Blood, freeing you from the prison of your sins. Here works of mercy accompany the preaching His Word, for love grows forth from faith. Here the Christian who is served by Christ goes forth and serves his neighbor in Christ.

Here He gathers you to Himself, to feed and clothe you, to heal you, to set you free; even as you wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! But according to His promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.

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

Daniel 7:9-14; 2 Peter 3:3-14; St Matthew 25:31-46
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Jesus came to gather. The Gospels make this quite clear. He is born and shepherds gather around Him. As a toddler even Persians came a great distance to gather to Him. Near His bar mitzvah age He remained in the Temple, scribes and teachers gathered around Him. Often times He preached saying, Come unto Me, drawing more and more weary and ruined people into His Kingdom.

He says of Himself, I am the Good Shepherd, a job where one makes his living gathering. He compares Himself to a mother hen desiring to gather Jerusalem to Himself as a brood and give them shelter. He calls Himself the Teacher, gathering disciples, that is catechumens too Himself. He actually makes some of them gatherers too. Fisherman who made a living gathering fish would now be gathering men alive into the Kingdom. Even the Psalmist sings today, The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons - gathers - the earth. Gather to Me My faithful ones. Jesus came to gather.

It must be something very offensive, then, that would turn the Great Gatherer into the Great Separator today. Something very wicked that causes Jesus - who wants everyone to be His sheep, who is patient, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance, who desires everyone to be placed on His right, desires all to inherit eternal life - it must be something very wicked that causes Jesus to call people goats and place them with the damned on His fiery left.

And it is! And where the world divides itself into endless groups, races, languages, cultures, causes, genders, numerous ivtersectionalities, Jesus divides everyone into only two groups: the sheep on His right, but the goats on the left.

Before we say anything about these two groups - and only two groups - note that this is how it is with religions, too. Men don’t want to put Christianity and all other religions into diametrical opposition, don’t want religions divided into two different classes. Instead they search for some “general concept of religion.” A definition of religion so wide and all embracing that it expresses the nature of all pagan beliefs and Christianity into one genus, one class. Look closely, though, and you will see that a definition this broad is meaningless. There are but two different religions in the world: Christianity and all others. The former is alone the religion of grace. The latter, all others, are religions of works. Every other world religion, all -isms are works righteous (Cf. Christian Dogmatics I:10, 13).

Consider, then, the blessed ones on the right. Blessed by the Father to inherit the Kingdom prepared for them from the foundation of the world. This text teaches eternal election unto salvation by grace apart from works of the Law. And because they are elect, the sheep do sleepy things. That is, they do the same kinds of things their Good Shepherd does. They feed the hungry. They give drink to the thirsty. They welcome strangers. The cloth the naked. They visit the sick.

Note that. It’s not that the sheep had no recollection of these works. They don’t ask, When did we do these things? Rather, When did we do these things for You, Jesus? The Christian remembers his good works. This foolish notion that good works “just happen,” and that if a Christian realizes he’s done them than they’re somehow no longer good works is nonsense. It is as dangerous to the Christian faith as thinking one is saved by works.

What did St Peter exhorts us today? What sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the Day of God. Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by Him without spot or blemish and at peace. The sheep took the opportunities to live as people who are free, not using their freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God (1 Pt 2:16), as he says elsewhere. Sheep do sheep things. They live like their Good Shepherd. And on the Last Day Christ will reveal that in serving your neighbor, you are serving the Lord.

But the goats blew it. These are “goats” like the kids now use it: Greatest of All Time. They’re not even “goats” like we used to mean - someone who lost the game for their team. This is no game. Today Jesus teaches us that hell is real. Eternal punishment is real. We can’t say we believe in Jesus and then live however we want. We cannot say, “I love God,” and hate our brother (1 Jn 4:20).

For to be a goat on the Last Day is to be someone who didn’t actually live by faith in Jesus. But by faith in their works. The goats blew it. By refusing to love their neighbor the goats showed they didn’t actually love God. They didn’t trust in Him. “When did we see You Lord and fail to help? If You had been sick or naked or imprisoned, we would’ve done something.” Amen I say to you, “As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”

We are tempted to think like those goats. Compare your interest in feeding the hungry with your interest in feeding yourself. Compare your interest in clothing the naked with your interest in stuffing your own closets. Compare your interest in visiting the sick, or even anyone, with your obsessive interest in “staying healthy.” Repentance is needed, my friends. Repentance for thinking like those goats. Repentance for believing that we can confess one thing and do another.

Do not despair, however. You are not a goat. And today Christ is not here as the Great Separator, but as the Great Gatherer. His Holy Spirit has called and gathered you here this morning. So that you may hear that despite your goat-like tendencies, you are one of His beloved sheep, blessed by His Father. On the Last Day He will come in all His glory, and all the angels with Him, and sit on His glorious throne. But today He comes with His angels in lowliness. In mercy. And is placed on this Altar to feed you, His sheep, with what you most need - forgiveness, eternal life, and credit for all the good Jesus has done.
But that only happens, my friends, because Christ once came in the Flesh as the Shepherd who not only gathered sheep, but gathered all your offenses into His holy Body and died for them, blotting them out with His Blood from God’s memory.

This only happens this morning because Christ once came as a Mother Hen who did more than just stretch out His wings to gather. He stretched out His wings on the Cross and absorbed the Father’s condemnation, so that you might have shelter from the punishment you deserve; so that you might be blessed by the Father.

This only happens because Christ still comes as the Teacher whose Word gathers more than just fishermen. He gathers all who know they’ve failed and blown it in so many ways, so that He can absolve you and cover you with His righteous deeds.

Today’s Gospel scares the hell into us. We can’t help but hear it and wonder it we’re a goat. Wonder if we’ve only been hearers of the Word and not doers, deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). And yes, according to God’s Law you are a goat. It’s all your fault. You’ve passed up so many opportunities to serve Jesus in your fellow Christians. In your spouse, your kids, your parents. We deserve to go away into eternal punishment prepared for the devil and his angels.

But then let this Gospel scare the hell out of you and onto Jesus. Because you’re no goat. He is the Goat. Jesus desired to be our Scapegoat. All the sins of the world were gathered into one and pushed on Him until He became a Curse. Until He was driven outside the gate, raised up on a Tree, and took our place in hell there on the Cross. He died and was buried. All that so that He might rise again and bestow on us a place in heaven.

So let Him be the Gatherer that He is. Are you weary thinking you have to save yourself and earn your worthy before God? The Gatherer says, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest (Mt 11:28).

Are you worried that you’ll be cast out like a goat because you haven’t done enough? Listen to the Gatherer: Whoever comes to Me I will never cast out (Jn 6:37).

Are you hungry and thirsty for a righteousness you can’t seem to muster? Come, says the Gatherer, come everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come buy and eat! Come by wine and milk without money and without price. Incline your eat, and come to Me; hear, that your soul may live (Is 55:1, 3a).

Come. Eat and drink. Believe and live. Here, dear sheep, He seats you at His Table and gives you to fellowship in eternal life.

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

Psalm 103:1-13; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
LSB 882 O Christ Who Art the Light and Day

In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

People loved by God, a different sort of homily for you this evening. A “Bible study” of sorts. The Reformers called it “expository preaching” and deemed it necessary for the dear saints to hear from time to time concerning especially those precarious and difficult passages of Holy Scripture. These verses from the Epistle last Sunday, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, are nothing if not difficult. Made all the more so in these “evil days,” as St Paul writes to the Ephesians (5:15), with wars and rumors of wars (Mt 24:6) and no shortage of false christs and false prophets (Mt 24:24). Fear not, dear Christians. The times and seasons are determined by the Father (Acts 1:7). And as the Psalmist sings, He who sits in the heavens laughs; the Lord holds them in derision (Ps 2:4). He hears your prayer and does not hide His face from your distress (Ps 102:1).

But we do not want you to uniformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. “St Paul writes out of a special love and apostolic solicitude” (Luther). He praises the Christians in Thessalonica for having received the Gospel in earnestness and remaining steadfast under persecution and suffering, even at the hands of their own kinsmen at times. Their steadfastness and zeal is a beautiful example of faith to congregations everywhere.

Having received a report, however, from Timothy of some concerns within the congregation, Paul now sends this letter back to them, along with Timothy and Silvanus. They are the “we” who do not want their Christian brethren to be ignorant concerning the death and resurrection of their fellow believers in Christ. For they were infants in the faith. New catechumens. Who though confessed the truth of the resurrection, misunderstood the application. These Christians in Thessalonica were gravely concerned that their fellow Christians who had died before Christ’s second coming were lost. Thus they grieved as others do who have no hope. That is, as the pagans, who whatever they may think of dying and death, do not have the one and only hope of the resurrection to eternal life in Christ Jesus.

Those who are asleep. Hear how St Paul describes the death Christian’s death: sleep. This is not a euphemism. The Father’s called these the mortis dulcia nomina the “sweet names of death.” Sleep. Gathered to one’s people (Gen 25:8). Departure in peace (Lk 2:29). Depart and be with Christ (Phil 1:23). Taken from evil (Is 57:1). Rest (Rev 14:13; Heb 4:11). Gain (Phil 1:21). Behind all these names is the Christian knowledge and joyful hope the resurrection unto eternal life.

For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep. Now “we” is not just Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy. Not just the catechists. But the catechumens. We all believe in “Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was crucified, died, and was buried. The third day He rose again from the dead. He will come to judge the living and the dead” (Apostles’ Creed). Christ Jesus is the only One who stepped into death and then stepped out again. He alone had the power to lay down His life and the power to take it up again (Jn 10:17). He died for our advantage and blessing and rose to make this advantage and blessing our own when we believe.

Thus through faith in Jesus, God the Father will bring with Him all those who have fallen asleep. Jesus is the One Mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). His mediation did not stop when these believers fell asleep, it continues now and will continue until the Parousia, His Second Coming. He will raise them up on the Last Day (Jn 6:39-40).

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Paul and all Christian preachers proclaim the reality of the Parousia of Christ and the resurrection of the dead in accordance with the Lord’s Word. No one knows the day nor the hour (Mt 24:36). We now know that nearly two thousand years have passed since Paul wrote. Our expectation of the Last Day has been greatly dulled. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness (2 Pt 3:9), St Peter writes. In Paul’s day this expectation was keener. The Christians in Thessalonica and elsewhere lived in anticipation of Christ’s imminent return. We would do well to regain some of that urgency.

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voce of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Here the Thessalonians have an exact description of what shall happen. This removes all cause for grief regarding their beloved dead. For not only is there hope, there is the greatest possible hope - equal to those who are alive - when the Lord Himself descends, calling with His quickening Word, raising the dead in Christ first.

Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Secondly, the living Christians, will be snatched up together with them to meet Christ in the air. Once the devil’s domain, the fallen prince of the power of the air (Eph 2:2) must yield to God’s own Son to whom all authority in heaven and on earth belongs (Mt 28:18).

Beloved, much damage has been done to this text through the knowledge of a little Latin. “Caught up,” harpazo in the Greek, carries a connotation of sudden and violent action. Translated raptus in the Vulgate, the modern innovation of the heresy of the rapture was conceived. With fatherly love Paul is teaching his Christian children about the resurrection, not some secret return of Christ. “The air” does not mean heaven. The Lord will descend to earth where the judgment will occur. He will not return to heaven after the Parousia, for heaven and earth will be one. United as the new heaven and the new earth with the Holy City.

Therefore comfort one another with these words. We who wait in patient expectation of this coming continue with the Thessalonians to pray “Behold, O God, our shield and quell, the crafts and subtleties of hell; direct Thy servants in all good, whom Thou hast purchased with Thy blood” (LSB 882:5). This is the hope the Thessalonians have in regard to their dead in Christ. They have the same hope for themselves. This is the same hope which you have in the same Lord Jesus Christ who died and rose again. This is the answer that alone removes all grief. The only confession that silences the doubts and questions.

Beloved, this brief paragraph from St Paul is of inestimable value not only to the Church in Thessalonica, but to all Christians as they stand beside their dead. As they lay their loved ones into God’s acre, awaiting in joyful expectation a happy reunion with those who have departed this life in faith. This is genuine comfort offered to them and to us. This is the comfort which we offer to one another. Unlike the comfortless false doctrines of so many worldly religions, the Christian faith alone is the only one which has the true facts that overflow with real hope and real comfort.

“O Lord, remember us who bear the burden of the flesh we wear; Thou who dost e’er our souls defend, be with us even to the end.”

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

Exodus 32:1-20; 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; St Matthew 24:15-28
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Man who is born of woman is few of days and full of trouble (Job 14:1). Old Job was not only describing himself, but us. Our days are numbered. Yet in our folly, we do not count them correctly. Your days are determined. The number of your months is with God. He has appointed limits for you which you cannot pass. Teach us to number our days, prays Moses, that we may get a heart of wisdom (Ps 90:12).

But our hearts are filled with worry, anxiety, regret and anger. And so the fear of death that every man experiences is not a fear of dying, or even the fear of pain in dying. But a fear of life escaping, of slipping away. Man comes out like a flower and withers; he flees like a shadow and continues not (Job 14:2).

Like autumn leaves in full color that give way to decay our lives are for a season. Winter is approaching. The smell of the apocalypse is in the air. In truth we are nearer now to the end, to that great and terrible day. Closer than last week. Closer than ever before.

The warning of our Lord Jesus Christ to His disciples is a warning for us. What happened to the Israelites was written down for our instruction, writes St Paul, on whom the end of the ages has come. Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall. (1 Cor 10:11-12).

Hold fast to the Word of the Lord which alone endures forever. Beware of false christs and false prophets who seek to lead astray, if possible, even you, His elect. For the prayer of the Church is as you just sang, “Preserve Your Word, O Savior, to us this latter day, and let Your Kingdom flourish; enlarge your Church, we pray. O keep our faith from failing; keep hope’s bright star aglow. Let nothing from truth turn us while living here below” (LSB 658:1).

You are indeed a storm tossed little flock. Assailed from without and within. Satan never lets you have a moment’s peace. He seeks night and day to lead you into false belief, despair, and other great shame and vice. Resist him, firm in your faith. It seems as though God Himself is against you at times, even as He afflicted old Job. You know and experience the trouble of our days on account of the sins you’ve committed and on account of the sins committed against you. And sometimes, dear Christians, you suffer for reasons unknown, unexplained. But nothing has befallen you that is not common to man.

As the dire words of Christ rang in the ears of the first disciples, no doubt their minds went reeling to the desolating sacrilege of Antiochus Epiphanes, 200 years earlier. In 167 BC the tyrant king of Syria sacked Jerusalem. He slaughtered swine on altar. He put to death women who circumcised their sons, hanging their murdered children around their necks. He set up a statue of Zeus in the Temple.

A savior arose in Judah Maccabee. His revolutionary army eventually reclaimed the Temple. He purified the sacred space in a celebratory rite which became known as the annual remembrance of Hanukkah. He was hailed as a national hero. An Israelite William Wallace. But peace would not last. The Romans came. They saw. They conquered. Israel was enslaved once more.

And as tensions mounted and tempers flared, the fury of her masters was kindled against in AD 70. Jerusalem was besieged. Hunger and starvation plagued the city for months on end. Mothers smothered their infants to keep them from wailing in hunger. Bodies piled up in the streets. The living fell exhausted into the graves of their dead. It was an apocalyptic catastrophe the like of which no Hollywood movie could duplicate or media pundit could bemoan. The Temple was desecrated once more. It was destroyed, never to be rebuilt.

And if those days had not been cut short no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. See, I have told you beforehand. The hearers of Matthew’s Gospel would have known all too well the events of Jesus’ prophecy.

What of you? History is an excellent teacher, if one is willing to learn. Are we assuming that the man who sits in the chair at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave is the abomination of desolation? Are we watching the signs of the times and the seasons? The charts and graphs and data and metrics?

Do not be uninformed, dear brethren. We are given to keep vigil concerning the Sign, the desolating sacrilege, even Jesus Christ our Lord! For as much as Christ warns concerning the destruction of Jerusalem or the great and awesome Day of His Return, He is actually preaching about His death!

Jesus is not a tabloid journalist or a doomsday prophet. He is the Holy One. He is the new Temple made without hands who became a sacrilege unto God. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us - for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree (Gal 3:13). And elsewhere, For our sake God made Him to be Sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21).

This is what the prophet Daniel and all the prophets proclaimed. Christ was made a curse for you. An abomination in the sight of God. For in His death He was not one sinner among others. In the Father’s eyes He is the only Sinner. A desolating sacrilege. And the Holy Place in which He stands is Golgotha. Following His crucifixion, Jerusalem and the Temple will be destroyed within a generation. Jesus’ death and Jerusalem’s destruction constitute one act of divine judgment.

Do not be deceived, dear Christians, we are living in the Last Days. Not on account of political elections or societal woes or economic conundrums. But on account of the Incarnation of the only Begotten Son of God. The Word made Flesh. Nothing has been the same since the nativity, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension of the Son of God. Everything hinges on the Cross. The universe, history, the Church, your life. Everything. Governments rise and fall. Nations rage against nations. The Body of Christ ever lives in great tribulation. The Church has been praying for the end since her birth, saying, “Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.” Those Christians in Thessalonica lived in the expectation of the imminent return of Christ.

You ought to be no different, dear ones. For you too live in the midst of false prophets and false christs who perform great signs and wonder, seeking to lead you astray. Don’t believe me? Check out the Christian best seller lists or turn on the Daystar network. Or better yet, don’t. If they say to you, “Look, He is in the inner rooms,” that is, you an find Jesus within the chambers of your heart or in your own spiritual meditation, Do not believe it. If they say to you, “Look, He is in the wilderness” meaning you can hear and receive the Gospel in nature or in cultural or wokeness, Do not believe it.

For there is but one place to locate God: in the Cross and preaching of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There the sinner can find God. There the Father reveals His wrath against sin in Sin Incarnate, in His only Son, our Lord. This is the hill to which you shall flee - even Mount Calvary; here the Cross laid sideways as a Table from which He feeds you. For as Lot and his family escaped the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by fleeing to the hills, so too shall you only escape the coming judgment by running to the Holy Place, the new Temple mount, that is, Mount Zion, His Altar, the Church of God in Christ Jesus.

As it is written, Wherever the corpse is, there the eagles will gather. St Matthew doesn’t say, vultures, as the ESV renders it. Rather, eagles, as the prophet Isaiah proclaimed: They who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles (Is 40:31).

This means, dear Christians, that whoever the Body of Jesus is, there the faithful will still gather together, receiving His life-giving, death defying Body and Blood. This is the folly and scandal of the Cross. It is, in reality, the wisdom and power and righteousness of God. And you, dear ones, are the eagles, soaring high above the death and destruction and ruin of this passing world, being gathered around the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In this you live. Even when you fall asleep. For you are in Christ and He in you. You go now to the Sacrament of the Altar, running to the Hill of the Lord, as though going to your death. Do you not sing, Lord, now let Your servant depart, that is, die, in peace, after receiving the Holy Eucharist? You do this, dear ones, as preparation and catechesis. As dress rehearsal for your death. You come to the Lord’s Supper as though going to your death so that when you meet your death you may go as it going to the Lord’s Supper.

Fear not, people loved by God. For the fury of God has been satisfied in the Blood of the Son. He drank the Cup of Sorrow, the Cup of Woe, the Cup of your Idolatry down to the dregs. He gives you the Cup of Salvation. Call upon His Name. For His verdict is spoken to you already: forgiven. The absolution is the verdict of the Last Day spoken now.

Encourage one another with these words. Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the Lord. Do not depart from them to the right or to the left. Hold fast the eternal Word in this decaying world. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near (Heb 10:24-25). And He shall deliver you from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation; and finally, when your last hour comes, give you a blessed end and graciously take you from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

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

Ephesians 6:10-17; St John 4:46-54
Psalm 46 and LSB 668
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

St Paul was sitting in prison in Rome when he wrote to the Christians in Ephesus. It was perhaps the largest and most important city in Asia. By the grace of our Lord given him to be an Apostle to the Gentiles, St Paul was privileged to help establish the Christian Church in Ephesus. He spent nearly three years there, preaching and teaching, catechezing. Reading the context of Acts 20 and Revelation 2 it seems likely that a seminary of sorts was established in Ephesus. Serving not only the metropolis, but the entire sounding region. Paul knew these Christians well. His heart was with them.

The epistle is a beautiful pastoral letter, a sermon, in which he reminds the Ephesians of the Gospel, of the gift of repentance through faith, of the doctrine of justification. By grace you have been saved, through faith. And this faith is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not the result of works, so that no one may boast (Eph 2:8-9). He also reminds these saints that we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Eph 2:10). These good works take shape according to the Ten Commandments within our various vocations and callings.

In Ephesians 5:22-6:9, Paul provides a “table of duties,” showing how the Christian faith enlivens husbands and wives, parents and children, bond servants and masters.

This is important context for our text this evening. Paul is describing a soldier who is on guard duty. He is describing each of us as we are stationed in our vocations. Parents are stationed in the home on spiritual guard duty for our children. Like you see with the father from the Gospel reading. Pastors are stationed in our congregations to do spiritual guard duty for the families and individuals whom the Lord has given them to serve. Christians are at their jobs, in their neighborhoods, among their communities as spiritual sentries.

In the ancient world the Romans placed sentries all along their borders. Those soldiers were to stand night and day. Alert. Watching for danger. If there’s any trouble, they call for reinforcements. They don’t go an fight alone. That would be futile. Their job was to stand. To stay awake. To stay alert. To watch. To listen. And to call for help when needed.

So there you are, standing on the wall of a great city. Everyone is sleeping. But you’re there, looking out, scanning the horizon, watching, listening, noting the movements of the enemy, and reporting to your commanding officer. This is our duty in spiritual warfare. We stand on the watchtowers of the estates, in the places where the Lord has put us. We watch to see how the enemy attacks. We pray for the Lord’s help.

And to keep you safe on our posts, the Lord Jesus has given us equipment, spiritual armor. Finally, be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.

We are not scheming. We are resisting and standing against the schemes of the devil. The devil is busy and active, working to overthrow the Lord’s kingdom. We are still, standing, watching. There is a calmness, a peace, to the Christian’s place in this battle. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Our fight is not against other people. The Christian war is not at war against any other human being. We can’t be. Our Lord Jesus has died for all. God is in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. How can the Christian be at war with one for whom Christ has died?

Our battles are spiritual. We fight against the demons, the rulers, the cosmic powers over this present darkness. Our equipment, then, is also spiritual. The whole armor of God in which we stand and withstand and stand. We are not to charge. We are not to attack. We are not summoned to rush into battle. Like a sentry standing on the wall, we stand, we watch, we pray.

And our equipment, dear Christians, is not what we do or accomplish on our own. Rather, it is provided by the Lord. They are His gifts.

Belt of truth:
Christians are truth tellers. Not our own truth. God’s truth. He has spoken to us in His Word
The belt is the truth of Jesus: I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Christian truth is a person - Jesus Christ. His person. His work. His Word. (Apostles’ Creed)

Breastplate of righteousness:
Protects the heart
Not our own righteousness that keeps us safe. That would be filled with holes.
Impenetrable breastplate of Christ’s own righteousness - For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.
Not our righteousness, or even the righteousness of Adam before the Fall. The Righteousness of God! We are partakers in Christ’s own righteousness!
No wonder Paul so often warns of trusting in our own righteousness

Shoes:
Shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the Gospel of peace
Exception to standing - shoes for readiness - run.
Messenger. Euangelion. Good news. Origin of word “marathon”
Beautiful feet of Romans 10

Shield of faith:
Extinguish the flaming darts of the evil one
Spiritual attacks. Don’t even know we’re being shot at.
Faith that is believed. Faith that believes. Both.
Strength of faith is always its object. The shield of faith is always saturated with the blood of Jesus. Extinguishes the flaming arrows of Satan

Helmet of salvation:
Protects the head. Our mind. Our thoughts. Our imaginations. Our study. Our convictions. Our reason. Our plans.
Life of the mind and the life of faith connected
Already and not yet of salvation

Sword of the Spirit:
Roman soldiers known for their deft handling of their short swords. Would that the Christian Church would have the same reputation for handling the Word of truth!
Word of God is the Spirit’s sword
Devil tempts us with lying words. We use the word of truth on the counterattack. Example: Christ’s own temptation against the devil, He employs the Word of God
Continue the text: The sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making intercession for all the saints. We engage in spiritual warfare in prayer.

We don’t rush into the fray. We don’t jump from the wall and run onto the field. We sound the alarm. We watch. We pray. We run to Jesus - like the father in the Gospel - and Christ our Champion fights for us. He takes the field against our old Evil Foe who means us deadly woe. And like the Psalm, He turns back to us on the wall and says, Be still, and know that I am God. “I’ve got this,” Jesus says. “I will lay down on the wire. I will allow Satan to do His worst to Me. I will die at His hand. And in so doing, I will rescue you. This is how I will win the victory. And in My resurrection I will bring the victory back to you. I will bestow it upon you in Holy Baptism. In the river whose streams make glad the city of God.”

Behold, dear soldiers, food for your watch. Provisions as you stand and watch and pray. He knows you are tired. He knows your weaknesses. How easy it is to give in and give up. Here He gives His Body and Blood to strengthen you in His Word and faith. To shield you from harm.

Receive the Word made flesh, given into death for you, back from the grave to support you in body and soul. Take up His Word. Speak it back to Him in prayer and praise and thanksgiving. Hold fast to His promises. They are the basis of your prayers. Stand guard in your vocations, where the Lord has placed you. Ask God for wisdom and serve and bless your neighbors in that wisdom. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

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

Revelation 7:2-17; 1 John 3:1-3; St Matthew 5:1-12
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

When you hear the word meek, what do you think of? Probably a doormat or a dishrag. Someone who’s a weakling or a wimpy. Don’t. Think instead of a man with great power and authority and the resources behind him to unleash terrible revenge. But at the same time a man who is humble, gentle, patient, kind, self-controlled. He never lets his emotions get the best of him. Think of a person whose every instinct, every impulse and every passion are subject to God’s control.

When you hear the word meek, think Joseph. Ganged up on by his older brothers. Stripped of his beautiful robe. Thrown into a pit and sold into slavery. They did this evil to their own flesh and blood. But God saw to it that he would rise to the highest heights and be exalted in Egypt. The most powerful nation on earth at the time. Now, with all the strength of the Egyptian army behind him, these brothers, seeking some grain with which to simply stay alive, stand before him. What does meek Joseph do? He is not revengeful. He doesn’t demand an eye for an eye, evil for evil. Instead he pardons and embraces them. In other words, he is meek.

Or even better, when you hear meek, think Moses. He’s not only meek, but Holy Scripture actually describes him as very meek. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth (Num 12:3). That was certainly good news for his sister Miriam who challenged Moses’ authority and spoke against him. But God had Moses’ back and struck her with leprosy. But there would be no “serves you right, sis.” No, “that’ll teach you,” from his meek lips. He doesn’t take pleasure in her misfortune. Instead he prays for her and God restores her rotting flesh.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. So where does that leave you? Based on your meekness it seems to leave you without a happy inheritance. Right? Time and gain God has allowed you to be treated poorly by others so that you might show yourself meek. That you might exercise that faith He has given you. But time and again, you’ve shown yourself to be no Joseph.

In fact, sometimes all it takes is one rude remark. One perceived slight. And the claws come out to choke your brother.

And you certainly don’t need your livelihood threatened by your sister to show that you’re no Moses, either. Sometimes one wrong look is all it takes for someone to get an earful of some very nasty language from your out-of-control tongue. All your “meekness” has inherited for you is a full does of God’s just anger, displeasure and punishment.

Today is a day for repentance, dear saints. For today, as it has always been, you are not treated as you deserve. Instead, you get an earful of some very good words from God the Father about His love. See what kind of love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are (1 Jn 3:1).

That means that we can say, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called saints; and so we are.” And that means we can also say, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called meek; and so we are.”

For you have been given a Kingdom where what matters is not so much what one has done, but what God has done. What He calls a person. His creative, performative Word does what it says. He calls you children of God and that is what you are. Even though last week you again lied like the devil.

His Word speaks forgiveness. He calls you saint. And that is what you are, despite the ungodly and disgusting things you’ve thought.

He calls you meek. His favor looks at you that way. And so meek is what you are, what He considers you, despite that out-of-control lust to have things your way. And the earth is indeed your inheritance, despite the trail of sin you’ve left on it. For blessed are those God considers meek.

You are blessed because of what the Father calls you, how He looks upon you in favor, what His Word says of you. You, dear saints, are blessed because of what the Father has given you. And what is that? More than a meek example like Joseph. More than a very meek example like Moses. He’s given you more that anything a very meek Savior. He has given you our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.

He is the One with all authority in heaven and on earth. Yet He came for you as the ultimate Meek One. Born on this earth as a humble Baby. To a poor Virgin Mother in a lowly manger. Great in strength, He set aside His power and came to His high-minded creation meek and lowly in heart. Does He not invite you, Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light (Mt 11:28-30).

The Great King, He came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday on a borrowed donkey, for He is a Meek King. A Meek Messiah.

He was treated worse than Joseph. He was challenged, spoken against and mocked more than Moses ever was. Yet His every instinct, every impulse and every passion was under perfect control to do His Father’s will. For He would go meekly to the Cross and spill His Blood on this earth for man. He would be buried on this earth for man. He would rise again from this earth on the Third Day for man, triumphant over the choke-hold of death. He would ascend from this earth, yet leave behind an inheritance on this earth for you.

He has done all this and has left His inheritance to you in your Holy Baptism, which He has bestowed upon you on this earth. This is how His messengers seal the servants of our God on their foreheads. You have received the sign of the Holy Cross both upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. How does St Peter put it? Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you (1 Pt 1:3-4)!

Through Holy Baptism, by faith in Jesus Christ, you are made a co-heir with Christ and all His saints. Your happy inheritance is secured!

Baptized into Christ you have washed your robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. That Blood is the Blood of the Lamb who has atoned for the bad you’ve been and the bad you’ve done. He poured out His Life Blood onto the earth so cursed with sin in order to give you here, on earth, an true inheritance of the Lamb in His Kingdom with has no end. The unfathomable joys seen by St John in his Revelation await you!

See what kind of love the Father has given to this sinful world. What He has given to you, one of His children planted right where He wants you to show gentleness, long-suffering and self-control to those you live with. See what kind of love the Father has given to your workplace. You! Who stand ready to point sinners to a Savior who gives people an inheritance much greater than grandma’s antiques.

See what kind of love the Father has given to your family. You! Whom He has given to be a blessing unto your spouse and your children, praying for them, serving them, sacrificing for them according to your vocation.

See what kind of love the Father has given this congregation. You! Whom He has planted here and sanctifies, set apart to serve one another. This is going to be especially apparent, dear saints, as those whom we love, with whom we are knit together in the mystical union of Christ’s Body, begin returning. Some after many long months away from the Lord’s House and the Lord’s Gifts. He will give and already gives you ample opportunity to speak to them in love. To bear their burdens. To invite them, His dear children, to return to Father’s House.

That you may sing with one another as the Lord opens your lips to declare His praise. As He opens your mouth to receive the Blood of the One who meekly went forth to the Cross that you might humbly come forth to this Altar now and receive forgiveness, life, salvation and a full measure of His meek Spirit. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

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

Revelation 14:6-7; Romans 3:12-19; St Matthew 11:12-19
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Those who lived through the extreme poverty of the Great Depression; who won for us World War II, who came home and built homes, had families and anchored the post war society. We call them the “Greatest Generation.” Those among the many babies being born between 1946 and 1964 we’ve called them the “Baby Boom Generation.” Those born between 1965 and 1980 were deemed to be without identity and an uncertain future. So we call them “Gen X.” Those born after 1981 came of age at the turn of the century, so we simply call them “Millennials.” Now those born after 1997 are being called “Gen Z” or “Zoomers.”

Today, Jesus considers His generation. What should He name them? To what should He compare them? They were like fickle, impossible to please, determined to be difficult, children on the playground. One group calls out to them, “We’ll play a happy song on our flutes, will you dance with us?” But they refuse.

Another says, “Okay, just for you we’ll play a sad song, will you cry with us?” They refuse. They could’ve offered up all kinds of other songs, but it wouldn’t have mattered. Because He didn’t fit their narrative, didn’t march to the beat of their drum, they were determined in their contrary little hearts to oppose Jesus and His Gospel.

I suppose Jesus could've called His opponents the “Childish Generation.” But He waits to name them later. He calls their generation an evil and adulterous generation (Mt 16:4). A faithless and twisted generation (Mt 17:17). Perverse. Foolish.

Today we commemorate the Reformation of the Church and the event that started it all - the posting of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses in Wittenberg against the practice of indulgences. Luther’s generation in the 1500s was an evil one too. One where it was taught that one could purchase spiritual benefit rom the church. But whatever you might say about that generation, they weren’t like children. Not only Luther, but many others too, wrestled with serious, adult questions such as, “How can I ever meet God’s expectations of me?” “What do I do about God’s anger that I feel deep down in my bones?” “How can my family and I avoid eternal death?”

Our modern, or is it post-modern, generation isn’t like that. We don’t ponder such eternal questions. We don’t think critically about things like religion and politics and worldviews. Ours is a childish and fickle generation. Our religious questions are more self-centered. “God, why don’t I have everything I want?” “God, why don’t You realize that I deserve better?” “God, why are You allowing these things to happen to me?”

We are the Veruca Salt generation. She’s that difficult, self-centered, awful child in Willie Wonka. Remember? The one who barked at her Daddy, “I want an Oompa Loompa, now.” She’s also the same girl who later demanded the golden goose and it led to her demise. She ended up taking a plunge down the garbage chute.

But whether it’s Jesus’ generation, Luther’s generation, or our generation, one thing is for sure - every generation is an evil generation because it is made up of sinner with evil hearts. Hearts that are turned inward. Hearts turned against Jesus and His grace. Hearts that are not just fickle, but hearts that thoroughly reject Jesus and His gracious message and His gracious ways.

Now, you would never say that you oppose Jesus and His grace. But you know that saying, “Actions speak louder than words?” Yeah? So glance a critical eye at yourself. You expect grace from your spouse when it comes to your short comings, but you don’t give him any. You love to hear about how Jesus died for your sins and forgives you, but you are withholding forgiveness. You say things like, “He’ll pay for that.” Just how many grudges do you have going right now?

On the playground, with those petulant kids, at least its three strikes, you’re out. But with us, its often one strike and you’re out. Remember that reading from the Congregation at Prayer this past week? The one with Peter thinking that forgiveness seven times is merciful enough? Jesus had to correct him, I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven (Mt 18:22). Its not 490. Its not a math problem. Its a heart problem. Your own. It doesn’t matter if we’re Boomers, Zoomers, Gen Xers, or Millennials, its all the same. We put ourselves in opposition to Jesus. We’ve added to the evil of this generation. There is no distinction. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Our mouths are stopped.

Repentance is needed. Not just because its Reformation Day. Everyday. Stop talking about deserving better. What we all deserve is to go down the eternal garbage chute with Veruca Salt. We need to stop spending all this time complaining about what we deserve and thinking about what we need, and rejoice to see what God has provided right here in our generation. Jesus’ opponents didn’t know it, but they preached the Good News you truly need to hear.

Did you hear what they said? Look at Him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners! Yep. And there’s the key. There’s the answer to the heart that rejects Jesus and His grace. Its the heart of the One who totally and completely accepts sinners who oppose Him.

“Look at Jesus!” That’s what John preached in his generation. That’s what Luther preached in his generation. That’s the only hope for sinners in this generation!

Look at Him! The God in the flesh who eats with sinners. Look at Him! Dos in the flesh who drinks with sinners. Look at Him! The One who is God’s grace in the flesh, the One who has befriended a human race of His enemies, by atoning for their sins and the sins of every generation.

Look at Him! The Kingdom of God enfleshed suffering violence at the hands of evil men for sins He didn’t commit. Look at Him! Being seized by force, condemned for the sins of the whole world, including our hypocrisy, our judgmentalism, our gossip and slander and lies.

Look at Him! Who set aside His power in order to be the lamb of God who bears away the sins of the whole world. Look at Him! Bleeding and dying for God-rejectors. Look at Him! The One that God put forth as the Mercy Seat Sacrifice  in His Blood which turned away God’s hatred and anger toward every sinner. Look at Him! God’s Righteousness in the flesh, rising from the dead to cancel guilt and break the devil’ stronghold on men’s souls.

Look at Him! Look at Jesus! Look at Him in faith! For He is what God has provided to show forth His grace and righteousness to every generation. He is Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. That means that in Jesus you are a loved generation. An accepted generation. A favored generation. Through Jesus, salvation unto this generation has come, by God’s free grace and favor.

He has gathered you here as His Church. His holy assembly. Claimed by Him you can call yourselves the “greatest generation.” Not because you made it through the poverty of the Great Depression, but because rich Jesus for your sake became poor, so that by His poverty you might become rich.

You are the greatest generation, not because you won the Big War against the Nazis, but because Jesus came into the world to win for you the Big One. The battle against Satan and his tyranny. You parade through life as victors, reaping His spoils of war and bearing fruit in keeping with repentance.

This is how wisdom is justified by her deeds. That in Christ you walk to the beat of His drum. You love what He loves. Our generation may not wrestle with the same questions of Luther’s. But we need to wrestle with the Reformation questions of “Now what?” We hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. Amen and amen. Yes. How are we to now act and live? In the righteousness of Christ we are to act righteousness to our neighbors. We are to love our parents, our spouses, our children, our rulers, our pastors. We are to go to Church, hear God’s Word, receive the Sacrament, recall our Baptisms, receive Absolution, pray, praise and give thanks. We are to look to the Law, fulfilled for us in Christ, for all moral behavior.

This is what is looks like to be among the greatest generation. Not because you had many children, but because in Holy Baptism, God has adopted you as His children and gives you what you don’t deserve - a place in His eternal Kingdom. You are His own. And this is how His children believe and behave. For here you live under Him and serve Him by serving your neighbor in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. Just as He is risen from dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

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

Jeremiah 21:1-16; 1 Peter 1:3-9; St John 15:12-21
LSB 430 My Song is Love Unknown
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Precious little is known of these two Apostles, Simon and Jude. They are not among the pillars, as St Paul refers to St Peter, St James, and St John. Whenever the twelve apostles are listed, Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed our Lord, is listed last. This is an indictment against his sin, but also an acknowledgement that he was, indeed, an Apostle, as St Peter declares, He was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry (Acts 1:17).  

Immediately before him, though, listed second and third to last, are St Simon, whose name is often appended the moniker, the Zealot. He was apparently part of the political movement associated with Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judea to rebel against the Roman Empire. And St Jude, who was also known as Thaddeus; perhaps only to distinguish him from Judas Iscariot, because Jude is simply a shortened form of Judas.  

Here’s where it gets really confusing: among the Twelve Apostles, now, there are two Johns, two Simons, one who is called Peter, two Judases, two Jameses, Bartholomew who has multiple names, Thomas, sometimes called Didymus, and Matthew, also known as Levi. It can be difficult to unravel the individual strands of each of these men.

Yet this much is known: St Simon and St Jude were Apostles. Which means, therefore, that they were witnesses to the life and ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. They followed Him after His Baptism by the hands of St John in the Jordan River. They were with Him at Cana in Galilee where He turned water into wine. They assisted in the distribution of the loaves and fish at the feeding of the five thousand. They were present at the resurrection of Lazarus.

Above all, they were eye-witnesses of the events of Holy Week and Easter. They participated in the Palm Sunday procession. They were in the Upper Room when Jesus removed His outer garment, donned an apron, and taking the lowest place at the Table, washed their feet. They would have eaten the Supper with their Master and heard the farewell discourse on Holy Thursday, from which our Gospel text comes, at which St Jude asked, Lord, how is it that you will manifest Yourself to us, and not to world?” To which Jesus replied, If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come and make Our home with him (Jn 14:22-23).  

They traveled with Him to the Mount of Olives and fled when the soldiers came with Judas to betray Him. They were in the Upper Room once more on Easter evening when the crucified and risen Christ Jesus appeared and manifested Himself to them, showing them His hands and His side. And again, the following Sunday when He invited St Thomas to touch and see.

They were catechized along with the Twelve concerning all that was written about Jesus in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms, and were given the command to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His Name unto the ends of the earth. They witnessed the Ascension of our Lord, participated in the election of Mathias to compete their number, and were present at the miracle of Pentecost when the crucified, risen, and ascended Lord poured out His Holy Spirit upon them and they proclaimed the praises of God in languages they had never studied.  

They were also arrested with all the Apostles when the high priest jealously put them in public prison, but during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out and said, Go and stand in the Temple and speak to the people all the words of this life (Acts 5:17-21).  

According to the tradition of the Church, after the dispersion of the apostles, Saints Simon and Jude traveled together as far as Persia, bringing the message of salvation to any who would hear.  While there, both of them suffered martyrdom for the holy name of Jesus.  

All of this, dear Christians, serves to catechize us, according to their example, in the life of faith and love according to the Word of the Lord. For though we don’t know much about the personal details of these men, what we have exemplified for us is that their entire lives were intricately interwoven with the life, death, resurrection, and ongoing work of our Lord Jesus Christ.  

Indeed, this is what it means to be a friend of Jesus. And for Him to call you friend. There is great risk and substantial cost for such love and friendship. When you give yourself to and for another person, you not only expend yourself, but you are open and vulnerable to being hurt. Not only in the shedding of your blood in martyrdom, like St Simon and St Jude, but also in a death by a thousand insults, in the mortification of the flesh through repentance and faith, in persecution and slander, rejection and mockery, in the grievous endurance of various trials.  

For your faith, given you as a gift of the Holy Spirit through the Word and doctrine of the blessed Apostles, is a precious and holy gift.  

And it came at great Risk and Cost. Not in the laying down of your own life, nor in the sacrifice of the martyrs, but in our Lord Jesus Christ, who has exercised the greatest strength made perfect in weakness, in the greatest Love, by giving Himself for you and by laying down His life for you. He chose to do so. He has loved you in this way, not because you were His friend - but even while you were His enemy! - in order to befriend you. That is to say, Christ Jesus has befriended you precisely by and with and in His great love for you, in His atoning death upon the Cross and by His glorious Resurrection from the dead.  

He has paid this Cost to love you and be your Friend. He has taken this Risk to open Himself to you, to reveal and give Himself to you, and to make Himself vulnerable.  

This is the message of the prophet Jeremiah when the army of Babylon was at the gate of Jerusalem: in surrender you will live. This is the proclamation of all the blessed Apostles: in laying down your life, you shall keep it. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there will My servant be also. If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him (Jn 12:25-26).  

Christ Jesus has served and loved you in His obedience and loving service to His Father. For He hated His life in this world, and laying it down of His own accord, He has kept it in His resurrection until eternal life. In this way He has befriended you. And bestowed upon you His rebirth from above, enlivened to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.  

In this rejoice. As He has chosen and befriended you, in love, calling you to Himself by His Name, so you, now, are a friend of His. You live as He lives. You love as He loves. Bearing good fruits in His Name. Such fruits are the fruits of His Cross and they are the fruits of love: that you should love one another as Jesus loves you.  

You have, to be sure, tasted the risks and paid the cost of such love and friendship. Once bitten, twice shy, you are tempted to flee from your neighbors; to retreat into yourself, to guard and protect yourself, by all means, and at all costs, from everyone else.  

Now, for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith - more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire - may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.  

So do you take the risk of loving and serving and caring for your neighbor, whatever your vocation. You make yourself vulnerable and weak. You open yourself up to hurt and rejection.  All for the sake of the love of God in Christ Jesus your Lord and your Friend.  

This is what the Holy Apostles did - St Simon and St Jude, and the others. That is what they did and how they lived, in going forth and bearing the good fruits of the Cross according to their calling and appointing as preachers of Christ, like Jeremiah and the Old Testament prophets before them!  

There was certainly a risk to being identified as a friend of Jesus. But loving Him, and loving the world for which He died, they preached faithfully in His Name, for which they too, like Him, were hated and persecuted and put to death.

Was it worth the risk? Worth the cost? Indeed it was!  

It was not pointless or meaningless. The faithful preaching of the Gospel and the right administration of Christ’s Sacraments never is. It is foolishness to the world, to be sure; sometimes, sadly, even to others within the Church, but it is the very means by which the Holy Spirit works to create and sustain saving faith in you. Faith which is lived in passive righteousness before God, always receiving, and in active righteousness before the world, always serving in fervent love.  

By this ministry of the Gospel, though hated and maligned and met with such violence, good fruit of the Cross was borne, and you, beloved, even you, were brought into the fellowship of this Holy Church, the doctrine of the blessed Apostles being the foundation, with Christ Jesus Himself the true Cornerstone.  

Here you share in the same hope as St Simon and St Jude, and all the saints in heaven and earth, joined in the Holy Christian Church: the promise of the free and full forgiveness of all your sins and the hope of the Resurrection in Christ Jesus.  

This Church is not a “safe space” in which you are free to continue in sin, to avoid the costs and risks of love and friendship, and to set aside the Cross of Christ.  

But the Church, which is the Body of Christ the Crucified, is a refuge of repentance, in which you are saved from sin, and you are set free to bear the Cross in love.  

This is the life to which He has appointed you. He knows the risks and the cots and the hurts and heartaches. He knows the disappointments and deep sorrows. He knows them because He has borne them and experienced them in Himself, in His Body on the Tree.

But God has raised Him from the dead! And so does He raise you, in and through your Holy Baptism and daily repentance to sin. And He welcomes you as His friend to His Table, to be seated with St Simon and St Jude, with the Twelve and all the saints, to partake of the Food for the journey, His very Life and Love, given for you in His Holy Sacrament. Here, dear ones, the Father gives to you, in the Name of Jesus, the answer to all your prayers that you may abide in Him and He in you unto eternal life.  

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

Isaiah 55:1-9; Ephesians 5:15-21; St Matthew 22:1-14
In the Name + of JESUS. Amen.

Why wouldn’t you go? The King is throwing the wedding reception to end all receptions. He is serving the choicest cuts of meat and the finest of wines. Its a royal wedding to top all others, the Prince and His Bride will be married. There will be a feast of rich food. The King is throwing open the royal cellar. Cups will be overflowing with the vintage normally drunk only in the palace. It is the opportunity of a thousand lifetimes and you are an honored guest.  Why wouldn’t you go? Who turns down a invitation like that?!

Some are rebels who hate the King. Their allegiance is not to the King, but to another. A would-be prince who has deceived them that he is the world’s true king. These rebels embrace his ethic of kill or be killed, or survival of the fittest, of take what you can get and look out for yourself and maybe your family.

But most of those who refuse the invitation have simply stopped believing that the King’s word means anything. They don’t think the invitation really is for them. They don’t think the King means them well. Or maybe they no longer believe there even is a King.  He hasn’t been seen in a long, long while. And others speak of the King’s name in anger when they stub their toes or get the credit card bill. Why bother with a King who seems so insignificant?

And so they make light of the King’s invitation. They don’t go because they think it’ll be better not to go. There are more important things to do. More exciting things to see. They are simply too busy.  

Is there another reason not to go? Yes. One other. You see, the invitation comes with an uncomfortable word on it: “Repent.” The King’s servants have let it be known that He is not happy with the people’s greed and selfishness, with their lying and gossiping, with their failure to honor and respect their spouses and marriage, with their unwillingness to defend His little ones. His invitation includes an amnesty; but going will mean facing and fessing up to the King’s Word. It will mean coming out of the darkness into the light.  

And that will mean a destruction of idols, a change of mind from cherished beliefs and values. It will mean admitting they were wrong, rejecting their past reasonings and experiences. It will mean tearing down the worldly decorations in their hearts and making room for another occupant.  

So this King’s invitation doesn’t seem worth it. After all, the Son for whom the marriage feast is being held, they see Him naked and hanging on a tree, in disgrace, shame, and humiliation.  Some King. He can’t even protect His own Son!  
And the followers and friends of this King’s Son! Well, they’re hated, mocked, and slandered, aren't they? They’re poor and hungry and some are put to death like the King’s Son. Who wants any part of that?

So they stay with their homes and businesses. With their wives and families.  That’s what they know. That’s where they think they are safe. That seems the sensible, practical choice.  

But they are destroyed. Not just the rebels, but also the indifferent. The King sent His troops and burned their city; not one stone was left atop another.  

Now, this is no mere story. It is a parable. Which means, dear ones, that you’re in it. Parables are stories that tell us about something real, something that involves us. And Jesus tells us what it’s about. The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a King who gave a wedding feast for His Son.  The kingdom of heaven is not like a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a King who gave a wedding feast. The kingdom of heaven is like a Man.  

It is like the man who came shouting, Repent, the Kingdom of heaven is at hand and pointed to that self-same kingdom in the flesh and blood of another Man. And that Man sent out the same invitation, proclaiming, “Repent and come in.  All is ready.”  

You see this is a story about heaven, about God’s invitation to you, which is a call to repentance and an offer of forgiveness. The invitation happened when prophets like Isaiah were sent out by the Word of the Lord to preach to His people. The invitation was sent again when John the Baptist proclaimed the coming Kingdom in the person of Jesus Christ. The invitation went again out when Jesus sent His men as the Father sent Him. The invitation still goes out when He sends His servants to you to read and proclaim His Word. Lord grant laborers in Your harvest!

The invitation goes out when you invite someone to Divine Service, when you invite someone to Bible study or catechesis, when you confess the faith before your family, friends, and neighbors.  

But you don’t accept the invitation by showing up here, although you ought to. You don’t accept the invitation by contributing a percentage of your income to the Church, although you ought to.  You don’t accept the invitation by loving your neighbor and obeying the Ten Commandments, although you ought to.  

Rather, when the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is calling you to repentance. When the King says to you, “Come to My Son’s wedding feast,” He is saying, “Turn away from the idols in which you trusted, the things that cannot save you. Turn away from your sins. Come to Me.  All is forgiven. I offer you not only mercy and amnesty and forgiveness. I also offer you Life in My kingdom, not as slaves or subjects, but as My honored and beloved Bride, My own dear Church. All that I have is yours.”  

But they made light of it. Why? Why would one not accept such an invitation? Pride. Pride is the only answer. They reject and beat and kill the King’s servants because of pride.  

How about you? How has pride manifested itself in your life? What are you hanging on to, not letting go of, not letting the Lord’s Word have its way with you? To what sins are you clinging, refusing to let go? What foolishness takes the place of prayer, meditation on God’s Word, and the exercise of a godly life? In what ways are you making light of the King’s invitation, neglecting the Lord’s Word read and preached? It is written, How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Heb 2:3)  

Look carefully how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, writes St Paul. Repentance is needed.  Those who neglected the King’s invitation were destroyed, as Jesus says, because they were not worthy. How is this so? Was not everyone invited? Why then does He say some were not worthy?  

Because worthiness is not found in yourself. Consider the prodigal son. He confessed to his father that he was not worthy to be called his son. Anyone who loves father or mother more than Jesus is not worthy of Him and whoever does not take up their cross and follow Jesus is not worthy of Him (Mt 10:37-38). Even John the Baptist acknowledged that he was not worthy to do a slave’s job for Jesus - he was not worthy to loose His sandal strap.  

And this is your confession. You are not worthy of the things for which you ask in prayer, nor do you deserve them. You are not worthy, in and of yourself, to be a Christian, to receive Holy Communion, the forgiveness of sins, an invitation to the Kingdom. You are not worthy to have eternal life.

Who then can be saved?! What is worthiness? Here the Small Catechism helps. Question: “Who receives this Sacrament - the Foretaste of the Wedding Feast to Come of the Lamb in His Kingdom - worthily? Answer: Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training, but he is worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words, ‘Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.’ But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words ‘for you’ require all hearts to believe.”  

Worthiness, dear Christians, to come to the wedding feast consists in seeing that you are not worthy. Worthiness is believing the King, who invites you not because of your goodness, but on account of His goodness and mercy.  

So in the parable the King sends out His servants to invite everyone they could find, both good and bad, for there is no distinction. The invitation to the feast does not consist of anything in us; but comes only by the grace of the Host, by the kindness of the King, that anyone has entrance to the feast.

That means the invitation is for you. If you are in the depths of despair, the invitation is for you.  If you are in agony over your sins, the invitation is for you. If you know you are not worthy to attend, the invitation is for you. If you are thirsting for relief, the King invites you, “Come to the waters.” If you have no righteousness of your own, but hunger and thirst for righteousness, the King invites you, “Come and eat.” If you see that you are a sinner, the King invites you, “Come and be forgiven.” If you have been living as a rebel, the King invites you, “Come and be pardoned.”

And those who enter the wedding hall are clothed with the wedding garment, supplied by the grace of the King. What is this wedding garment? Holy Baptism.  As it is written, As many of you as were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ (Gal 3:27). And this is not a garment to be worn once and then hidden away in a box in the attic. It is to be taken out every day, it is the daily garment of the Christian; it is the clothing of Christ’s own righteousness, without which you are naked in your own filthy rags.  

Thus the man in today’s parable who rejects the wedding garment of the King. He is rejecting his Baptism, turning away from the righteousness of Christ, seeking a righteousness of His own. It is as if he said, “I am a good person. I have a right to be here!” instead of saying, “I am a wretched person. I am a sinner; I have no right to be at the feast, but the King is astonishingly gracious, and He has invited me here and given me clothes to wear that I could never afford.” The man without the wedding garment rejected the graciousness of the invitation. He was a sham Christian who despised the garment and so despised Christ. He may have looked pious and good and wanted to be with the guests, but the wedding garment consists of faith in the heart, not outward appearances.  

The Christian faith and life is a continual, on-going, daily exercise of contrition and repentance, of receiving holy absolution and pardon and living in the full and free forgiveness of sins. It is never complete this side of heaven, but those sins you still see in yourself the King doesn’t count against you as you remain and abide in His Word. As you heard in the Epistle, Do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not be foolish, that is, a fool, an unbeliever, one who constructs a house, built not on stone, but on sand. When the judgment comes such a house falls.  

Yet the one built on the Rock of Christ and His Atonement, when the judgment comes, shall prevail. For this is the will of the Lord: that you believe on the Son whom He has sent. As our Lord Jesus says, Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved (Mk 16:16). For indeed, Many are called, but few are chosen.  

Strive, my dear Christians, to enter by the narrow gate. Make the best use of the time, because the days are evil. And heed this day the King’s invitation: everything is ready, do not delay. Do you know your sin and desperately seek to be free from it? Then do not stay away. “Come to the feast, all is ready.” You have no money? Nothing good to bring or offer? Good. Come, buy and eat without money and without price. Here everything is free according to the good and gracious will of the Lord your God who invites you to the feast. Here you are not only guests, but here, at His Table, at the wedding Feast of the King for His Son, you are His beloved Bride.

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