St John 3:1-17/Isaiah 6:1-7/Romans 11:33-36
Holy Baptism of Janae Tyshae Jamice Anderson

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Today is Holy Trinity Sunday.  It is also the Holy Baptism of Janae.  And so you are given to confess two Creeds, two ancient statements of faith of the historic Christian Church.  The Apostle’s Creed, that Baptismal profession, is simple and concise.  The Athanasian Creed is lengthier, more elaborate, and technical in its language.  Yet they are in agreement.  By the recitation of both you believe and confess the evangelical, catholic, and orthodox faith.  This is the faith once for all delivered to the saints.  Hold fast this confession, my friends, for it shall save you. 

But the recitation of these Creeds today and the Baptismal questions asked of the little ones may give some the impression that knowledge is the means of entrance into the Christian faith; that intellect or decision is how one enters the kingdom of God. 

This is false.  It is not by reason or strength that one enters the kingdom of God.  Rather the Holy Spirit calls and enlightens you by the preaching of the Word of the Gospel, which is the forgiveness of sins in Christ Jesus.  Indeed our Lord calls the little children to Himself, for of such is the kingdom of heaven; and unless you turn and become like a little child, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Nicodemus thought he had it all figured out.  He had evaluated Jesus on the basis of what he knew.  His preliminary conclusion is flattering and complimentary, Rabbi we know that You are a teacher come from God.  He is learned, studied, and eloquent.  Yet for all that he is ignorant and naïve.  And Jesus has to stop him in his tracks and take him to school; not for academic information, though, but to be entirely reborn by water and the Spirit, because Nicodemus was in the dark. 

You also were in the dark.  For you were conceived in sin and born under the Law, blind to the kingdom of God, as was said of Janae.  Indeed we would be lost forever unless delivered from sin, death, and everlasting condemnation.  For we are, all of us, men of unclean lips who dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. 

Yet today Janae have been born again by water and the Spirit; that is, she have been given new birth from above by the Word of the Lord.  God has become her Father who is in heaven.  Christ is her brother in the flesh.  And the Spirit who breathed life into her by the Name of the Holy Trinity, has made her body His temple.  By the mystery of Holy Baptism she has entered the kingdom of God, through the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus. 

All of this is the gracious good work of the Holy Trinity for you, His gift.  You could not recognize it, nor even receive it, by your own perception and insight.  The kingdom of God does not come by any ingenuity or understanding of yours.  It becomes all the more impossible for you, as it was for Nicodemus, to see or understand the kingdom when it comes down to the Sign that Jesus performs in the hour of His glory: His crucifixion.  There upon the Cross Jesus glorifies the Father’s Name.  But He surely does not look like a teacher sent from God, rather, like a Serpent lifted up on a pole, in suffering and agony.  But it is His Cross and Passion, first of all, that Christ is lifted up for you, in order to atone for your sins, to call you to Himself, and to bring you with Himself back to the Father in heaven.

It is through His death that you are born again, unto life with God.  There is no resurrection or ascension for you except by the Cross of Christ.  As it is written, From Him and through Him and to Him are all things.  To Him be glory forever. 

None of this is within your own natural grasp.  You could not see it, nor comprehend any of it, much less believe it.  Nor can you even now by any will or wisdom of your own heart and mind.  No matter if you be sixty years old or six. 

So how, then?  How do you look to the Son of Man, lifted up for you, with the eyes of faith and so believe in Him that you may have eternal life?  How does God’s kingdom come?

It comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word.  Like a fiery angel from heaven, God sends His pastors to carry the cleansing coal of Christ, the very Word made flesh.  For the Spirit who breathes were He wills, is given to you in the preached Word of Christ.  He speaks of what He knows and bears witness to what He has seen.  That is, God the Holy Spirit proclaims Christ to you.  He calls you by the Gospel, enlightens you with His gifts, sanctified and keeps you in the true faith, unto life everlasting.  That is the essential key to everything, by which you enter the kingdom of God through Christ Jesus the incarnate Son.  The Spirit reveals Him. 

For who has known the mind of the Lord?  Or who has given a gift to Him that He might be repaid?  None.  Not Isaiah, not Nicodemus, not Janae, not you.  Holy Baptism is not your gift to God; not the proof by which you evidence faith.  Holy Baptism is the blessed gift of new birth granted you by the grace of the Father through the Son by the Spirit.  Holy Baptism bestows faith, which is itself a gift. 

The coal touched Isaiah’s lips and he believed the promise of forgiveness; he participated in the atoning sacrifice.  Also Nicodemus, who had spurned the baptism of St John and here rejects the Word of Jesus, would later host fast to the atoning Cross of Christ in hope.  So too Janae – the burning coal of Holy Baptism has cleansed her.  Christ who atoned for her sin and takes away their guilt, has put Himself in Holy Baptism, the washing of water with the Word. 

So too has He given you the new birth from above. 

Today the Church has become her Mother in Christ, having given birth to them from the womb of the font.  God Himself is her Father; she His own dear children.  They do not have the Father without the Mother.  One does not have the Lord his God apart from His Bride, the Church.  To say it another way, one does not have his Father’s eyes, unless he has his Mother’s ears.

So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.  Do not suppose that you can lay hold of heavenly things apart from earthly means.  Do not suppose that you may be a Christian apart from the body of Christ.  You won’t.  You can’t. 

But the Holy Spirit performs His work upon you with the earthly things that you can see and touch and handle and taste.  That is, the Holy Spirit is actively present and at work within the Church on earth, speaking the Gospel to you by earthly ways and means.  Here He is breathed upon you from the Cross of Christ in the Word of forgiveness, in Water, in the Body and the Blood. 

You cannot see the Spirit with your eyes.  You cannot predetermine His comings and goings.  Do not even try.  But you do hear His Voice, because He calls your by the Gospel our of the darkness into the Light; out of the nighttime of your sin and death and unbelief, into the Day of the Lord. 

You have received Him, that is the Holy Trinity, in Holy Baptism.  By His grace you believe on His Name.  He has made you His children, born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but begotten from above by God Himself. 

And as Nicodemus would eventually learn, the children of God speak the language of God their Father in the tongue of the Church their Mother.  Thus do you confess the Creeds.  The mystery of the Holy Trinity is not comprehended by intellect, but is received by faith and spoken back to God in praise and before and with your brothers and sisters in Christ.  And here your confession and song is joined to that of the angels and archangels, singing, Holy, Holy, Holy the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory! 

And at the Last, He who lifted Christ Jesus up, shall lift you up from your graves, having breathed life into you by His Spirit, and bring you into His kingdom forever and ever.

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

Genesis 11:1-9

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

It was not the tower that was sinful.  Technology is rarely the problem.  Christian piety has given us incredible advances over the centuries in everything from architecture to science to medicine and more.  Indeed the Christian is best positioned to invent and create and innovate, for he properly understands the relationship between the Creator and His creation; and rightly uses all things of God’s good earth in love toward one’s neighbor and in faithfulness toward the Lord who graciously provides. 

Thus their construction was not wicked, nor their architecture evil.  Rather the motivation for their building – pride.  It is the first sin; to take the blessed gifts our Lord gives and use them inappropriately, for our own devices.  This is the sinful impulse of all fallen men; the basest desire of one’s heart.  To take the technological advancements and further our own ends, make names for ourselves, horde wealth, garner power and prestige, it is not different than entering once more into Eden and strolling right up to the tree, plucking its fruit and sinking our teeth in for a nice, juicy bite.

Why do we flaunt our achievements?  Why do we boast of our children’s talents?  Why do we joy when our brother fails?  Why do we glory in our shame?  Why do we revel in our sin?  Pride.  Always pride.

Thanks be to God our Lord came down that day on the plain of Shinar, confused our languages, and dispersed us.  He needed to break our pride.  He sent us off, scattering us in order that He may once again gather us as He sees fit.  Not under the arrogance and pride of a towering structure built by men, but under the divine tent of His Church. 

For the Lord did come down, but He didn’t descend the tower of Babel.  He was born of a Virgin.  He lived among prideful men.  Arrogant men.  Sinful men.  And He came to gather us together once more, not to Babel, a tower of brick and mortar, but to His Church, a fortress built upon the doctrine of the blessed Apostles, with Christ Himself as the Cornerstone. 

For the Cross is the glorious tower erected on earth with its top in the heavens.  Upon it is the most glorious work ever accomplished.  And it is not the work of men, but of God.  For it was the will of our Lord that the Christ should suffer and die.  For when He is lifted up He shall gather all men to Himself. 

On account of Him you are one people again.  God’s people.  You have one language again, the confession of His holy Word.  He has gathered you together in Himself.  Return to the East from which you came, but look not to Babel.  Rather fix your eyes on that magnificent structure: our Lord’s Cross.  Boast in it, for it shall fail you, but guide you unto life everlasting.  

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

St John 14:23-31/Acts 2:1-21/Genesis 11:1-9

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Pentecost was one of the three pilgrimage feasts of the Old Testament when Jewish men were required to journey to Jerusalem.  Passover and Sukkoth were the other two.  Pentecost, as its name implies, was celebrated fifty days after Passover and commemorated the giving of the Law at Mt Sinai. 

Farmers from around Jerusalem would rise early on the morning of Pentecost and be led by a flute player in procession to the temple mount, that is, up Mt Zion.  They would sing and chant the psalms, the Songs of Ascents, as they went.  Psalm 136 was the climax of these songs, O give thanks unto the Lord for He is good, and mercy endureth forever (Ps 136:1).  It goes on to praise God, who alone does great wonders.  As the farmer’s procession reached the city, the king would heave a basket of grain on his shoulder and lead the way into the temple courts. 

In the temple courts the farmers would present their baskets, their first fruits.  Each would say the liturgy of recitation from Deuteronomy 26: A wandering Aramean was my father, and he would recount the mighty works of the Lord, having ransomed His people from Egypt, bringing them into the Promised Land, and providing for their physical and spiritual needs; concluding with, And behold, now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground, which You, O Lord, have given me.  The first fruits belonged to the Lord and in faith one trusted that in grace and mercy the Lord would provide more. It was a confession.  And each spoke in Hebrew, regardless of where he was from.  The Old Testament feast of Pentecost united all Jews in a common tongue, one language. 

And so it is that there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven.  They had come for the feast; gathered together from nations to which they had been dispersed.  Remember that it was the Lord who had dispersed them at Babel.  For He had commanded Noah and his descendents to spread out, to be fruitful and multiply, to fill the earth and subdue it.  And they were to call on the saving Name of the Lord.  But in pride and egotism, man rebelled against the command of the Lord and remained solitary.  And sinful men desire to make a name for themselves; to be self-made and chase the impossible dream. 

And so they began to construct a tower toward heaven.  And men are always attempting to climb ladders to heaven.  Ladders of good works to ascend into heaven and get closer to God by our morality and clean living, assuming that such action brings God’s favor.  Or ladders of knowledge and wisdom, seeking to unlock the secrets of the divine, map the universe in an attempt to find God or else disprove His existence and seat ourselves on the empty throne.  Or the ever pervasive Pop Christian ladder: emotion.  Trying to find God within, trying to feel again that ecstasy, that rush, and capture it for the tough week ahead. 

We climb these ladders.  We try to please God, have Him smile on us, earn His grace and favor by our good works.  We try to solve our problems with intelligence and wisdom that turn out to be gimmicks and tricks.  We try to convince ourselves that God just wants me to be happy, so whatever makes me happy must be okay with God.  These ladders all turn out to be new commandments, new laws.  And to seek a righteousness that lies in works, in the law, is to cull death; it is to climb the stairway to heaven, only to realize it is a ladder to nowhere.

But the righteousness based on faith says, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down) “or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).  But what does it say?  “The Word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the Word of faith that we proclaim); because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.  For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing His riches on all who call on Him.  For “everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved.” (Rom 10:6-13)

Thus does St Peter preach on Pentecost: Everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.  For the Lord who came down and scattered His people, multiplying their languages, confusing their tongues, has now come down in Christ who gathers them together by His Word.

The Old Testament feast was a foreshadowing of this.  For in the liturgy they spoke a common tongue, regardless of ethnicity.  But now the reverse is true: as St Peter and the other Apostles preach in different languages, it is an indictment against the Hebrews who rejected the Word made flesh who came among them.  The Holy Spirit goes forth to gather all God’s elect, from every nation and race and tribe and language.  He brings them into the family, making Abraham, the wandering Aramean, their faith through faith.  And He gives us a common language once more in the holy liturgy, the mother tongue of Christians of all times and places. 

This bold proclamation of Christ is spoken by St Peter!  He who once cowered at the voice of a servant girl now stands before a crowd that could, by reasonable assumption, kill him and his companions.  Indeed some mock, as stubborn men are want to do.  They hear the languages and in stubborn, willful ignorance say, They are drunk. 

The preaching of the Gospel always sounds like drunken speech to the unrepentant.  Its not that its just radical and hard to believe.  Politicians make outlandish claims all the time and no one accuses them of being filled with new wine.  The problem, I think, is that politicians don’t actually believe the claims they are making.  Everyone knows their words are too good to be true and so they don’t believe them either. 

The problem with the Gospel – the good news that God loves and forgives us in Christ Jesus despite our hatred of and rebellion against Him – is that those who preach it do actually believe it.  St Peter and the Apostles and Christian preachers ever since preach the Word with conviction.  Note that its not power or dynamism.  It’s the Word itself that is powerful.  The Word itself is dynamic, not the man.  But the fact that these men actual believe the Word does what it says, that they preach with such conviction, makes sinners uneasy.

And it should make sinners uneasy.  We should be uneasy at the preaching of the Law.  It ought to cut us to the quick.  And with those hearers in Jerusalem we ought to ask, “What shall we do?”  The Good News of God’s love for us in Christ is only good news for sinners.  It is only good news if you need it.  My friends, Christ came only for sinners.  Christ died only for sinners.  Christ dwells only in sinners.  If you are not a sinner, than leave this place, it is not for you. 

But if you know your sin, if you have been prideful and arrogant, if you have acted and said and done selfish things, if you have lied and gossiped, if you have cheated and stolen, and are left asking, “What shall we do?” 

The answer is the same as Peter spoke that first Pentecost: repent and be baptized, every one of you.  Already baptized?  God be praised!  Repent and return to your baptism.  For there Christ gave you the gift of the Holy Spirit, who forgives all your sins.  There the Father who loves you and the Son who loves you, came and made Their home with you.  There He named you with His own Name.  You are His and He is yours.  He cannot and will not refuse your call. 

Beloved, He gives you His peace.  Not as the world gives does He give.  But peace that surpasses all understanding.  Peace that keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Peace brought by the shed blood of Christ.  This peace is given through His preached Word, His watery Word, His absolving Word, His Word attached to Bread and Wine. 

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  For our Lord has called you to Himself in love.  He has gathered you from among the nations.  He has given you a new language, a common tongue, the very confession of His Word.  Pentecost is fulfilled, as is all the Law.  Jesus Christ whom we crucified has, in fact, been raised from the dead, the Firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20).

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

St John 15:26-16:4/1 Peter 4:7-11/Ezekiel 36:22-28

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

This Sunday, known as Exaudi, from the Introit in Latin: “Exaudi, Domine, clamavi,” Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud, is an in-between day.  Three days prior our Lord ascended into heaven, where He is seated at the right hand of the Father, His enemies having been made His footstool.  The promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost is still eight days away.  The disciples live in the in-between.  They wait.  And while they wait, they pray the Psalms, saying, Your face, Lord, do I seek; hide not Your face from Me.  It is a cry for our Lord’s return. 

And it is the perpetual prayer of the Church: “Marantha, Come, Lord Jesus.”  In truth the entire life of the Church is lived in the in-between.  In-between our Lord’s first coming, His perfect life, His innocent suffering and death, His victorious resurrection and ascension, and His second coming on the clouds of heaven to judge the living and the dead. 

We live in the in-between.  And so we wait.  And while we wait, we pray, as St Peter exhorts us: The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.  Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 

And because we live in the in-between, we live in the midst of suffering and persecution and hatred from the world.  This is the reality of the Church militant, the Church at war, in battle, attacked from all sides, from within and without, rent asunder by schisms, plagued by false doctrine and lies, tortured by those who oppose her.  Make no mistake, dear Christians, the world hates you.  But if the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you, our Lord comforts.  

And so the apostles of Christ will be mocked and ridiculed, tortured and martyred.  They will be put out of the synagogues; that is, excommunicated from the community on account of Christ.  And they shall bear witness not only by their preaching and teaching, but by their dying.  This is their marturia, their witness; that in the shedding of their blood they see the shadow of Christ’s own sacrifice. 

This is what is means to be a Christian in a world hostile to Christ.  To bear the baptismal Name of Jesus among those who seek to silence the preaching of the Word of the Gospel. 

But the disciples would not go it alone.  They had each other.  They had the Church, built on the Rock of Christ.  She will prevail against the very gates of hell, though she appears weak in the eyes of the world.  Her weapons are more powerful than any could imagine: the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word, kills and makes alive, wounds and heals. 

And they would have the Helper, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  He is the Advocate of the apostles.  He is their Paraklete; their Comforter.  But He comes not to embrace them in warmth and security, like hug from mom when you scrape your knee.  He comes to give them a backbone, make them steadfast and resolute; to strengthen weak knees, to make strong feeble hands, to testify to them of Christ.  For Jesus says, He will bear witness about Me.  The Helper is the Spirit of truth who testifies of the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; who helps you to recall the things of Christ. 

Christ is the Strength of the Church.  He is the witness of the Holy Spirit and of Christians of all times and places.  Do you not confess in the Introit, The Lord is my Light and my Salvation; whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the Stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  Whom shall you fear, indeed!  Fear not the terror of the night, nor the arrow of the day, nor the pestilence in the darkness, nor the destruction at noonday.  Fear not the false witnesses that have risen against you, that breathe out violence. 

For our Lord Jesus has silenced them all.  His blood is the true Testimony, with which He has sprinkled you clean.  He suffered the terror of the dark night of sin.  He received the arrows and fiery darts of the evil one.  He gave Himself up to be destroyed at noonday.  And victorious over death and hell He has ascended on high where He rules all things by His might and from whence He sends the help of the Holy Spirit.

He has taken your heart of stone and, by His Spirit, He has given you a heart of flesh.  He has put His Spirit within you, having marked you with His great Name, sprinkling the clean water of His Holy Baptism on your sinful flesh, and having created in you a clean heart by the working of water with His Word. 

For the world that viciously hates you without cause, hates you on account of Christ.  But you were once of the world.  You were brought forth in iniquity and conceived in sin. 

But according to the great mercy of our God, according to His steadfast love, He sent His only-begotten Son, who for His Name’s sake, ransomed you from sin and destruction by His suffering and death.  And He has sent His Spirit to testify to you of Christ, who atoned for the sins of the whole world, who died to take away your sin.  Indeed the Spirit comforts you in weakness by speaking to you the things of Christ – His mercy and forgiveness, strength and life, peace and joy, courage and endurance. 

God the Holy Spirit testifies of these things to you from without, from the preaching of the Word of Christ.  Do you desire to know where to find the Holy Spirit?  How do you know if you have Him?  Your Church has Him?  Is it a Spirit-filled place?  Then listen for Christ!  For where Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins is preached there is the Spirit.  Where Jesus is offered to you in Bread and Wine, water and Word, there the Holy Spirit is at work, bearing witness about Christ. 

This He does in the Church, in the very Body of Christ, who is called out of the world.  You are, by our Lord’s very mercy and grace, the ekklesia, His Church.  And so it is that you bear the marks of Christ – His Word in liturgy and preaching, His Sacraments, baptism, absolution, and the supper; you pray in and through Christ, and you, the Church, also bear the final mark: suffering. 

Of this Christ warns His disciples, and us, but He does so with a promise.  You will suffer for His Name’s sake.  But He has said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that He told them to you.  He has said these things to you to keep you from falling away. 

So do not be surprised, beloved, at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange where happening to you.  But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s suffering, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.   Be of good courage, beloved, for the end of all things is at hand. 

And our Lord hears you when cry to Him.  He who feeds the young ravens when they cry, gives you the very Bread of heaven, His own Body, to strengthen you in the day of temptation.  He teaches you His way, and guides all things for you according to His good and gracious will.

You live in the in-between.  Confessing and rejoicing over our Lord’s first advent, awaiting His second.  While you wait receive often the testimony of the Spirit; that is, the preached Word of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, be gathered to His ekklesia, to listen, learn and confess.  Trust His promises.  Show hospitality to one another.  Serve one another.  Be constant in prayer, vigilant in waiting.  Fear not, the time is short.  Christ will return in the same manner that He left.  He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  His kingdom will have no end. 

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

St Luke 24:44-53/Acts 1:1-11/2 Kings 2:5-15

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

The Lord has gone up with the sound of the trumpet!  Sing praises to God! Sing praises to our King!  The Sundays of Easter we hail Him as the Paschal Victim, who on the Cross was slain.  But on this day, the Ascension of our Lord, we sing to Him praises as the mighty Victor.  He has received His proper crown.  He has entered His glory, having finished His work of redeeming man.  Now all our enemies – the devil, the world, sin, and death – lie crushed beneath His feet.  He has delivered you from these.  He has cleansed you from your sins and now sits at the right hand of the Divine Majesty in heaven.

Christ’s ascension is of great and supreme comfort for you.  Prior to Good Friday the hearts of the disciples were weighed down with dissipation and sorrow.  The little while between the resurrection and the ascension was also bitter sweet.  Yet at this departure, the disciples returned to Jerusalem with great joy!  For though He has left their sight, He has not forsaken them. 

As we rejoiced at Christ’s coming to earth, His incarnation and nativity – how the angel sang, Behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people – so now do we rejoice that Christ, true God, begotten of His Father from all eternity, and true Man, born of the Virgin Mary, is seated at the right hand of God.  There He intercedes for you! 

Dear Christians you heard last Sunday about the great gift and benefit of prayer.  Tonight you are comforted with the promise that you do not pray alone.  He has sent the promise of the Father: the Holy Spirit.  He prays for you and in you.  The Son prays for you, laying your prayers on the Father’s throne as His very own.  Thus the Father hears you and answers, for the sake of His coronated Son, your King, the crucified and risen and ascended Lord Jesus.  

Remember the words He spoke while He was still with them: And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also (Jn 14:3).  This promise is for you also; to refresh your spirit and enliven your soul, to comfort you with the knowledge e that when you die you shall abide with Christ and remain with Him forever.  He who has been crowned with glory and honor has laid up for you the crown of righteousness, which He, the righteous Judge, will give to all who have loved His appearing. 

He has taken rightful possession of His kingdom once more and rules over all things in heaven and on earth in grace, for the good of those who love Him and for the proclamation of His Gospel, which is the forgiveness of sins, His baptism and doctrine.  At the last He shall return and say, Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Mt 25:34). 

All this is on account of His holy, innocent, bitter suffering and death.  Christ became your brother in the flesh in order to accomplish for you in the flesh what you could not accomplish – perfect obedience to the Law.  He has fulfilled Moses and the Prophets.  He has silenced the accusations of the Law.  He is risen from the dead, never to die again. 

And He who became your brother in the flesh has given you to become His brothers and sisters according to the Spirit.  By the preaching of repentance and the forgiveness of sins in His Name, that is, by the proclamation of His Cross and Passion, His resurrection and ascension, He gives His Holy Spirit, by which you are clothed in His righteousness, given His life and peace, and made sons of God.

Finally you shall attain heaven’s glory and everlasting salvation.  He shall draw you to Himself, to the place where He is exalted at the right hand of the Father, and bring you into the company of the holy angels and all the saints where you shall not only behold His glory, but share in His glory with all the faithful. 

Although He has ascended on high and withdrawn from your sight, Christ remains with you, as He promised at the close of St Matthew’s Gospel: Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Mt 28:20).  And it is precisely in this way that Christ Jesus is with you: in the preaching of His Word, in His Holy Absolution, His Baptism, His Eucharist – all for you! 

He is with you in the hour of need.  He is your Comfort in affliction.  He is your Rest in suffering.  He is your Peace in adversity.  He is your Courage in fear.  And you shall see Him face to face and behold Him with you own eyes and not another, in your very flesh, as Job rightly confessed. 

My friends, this day is a feast of gladness, for Christ and for us.  Our Brother is glorified by His ascension.  So also is our human nature elevated to the divine.  It participated in the highest divine honor.  Christ entered heaven in His human Body, to sit on God’s throne in His human nature. 

But in a mystery behold all telling, He is here, in both natures, divine and human, in and under the Bread and Wine, His Body and Blood.  Christ has ascended on high, yet continues to bring heaven down to earth, uniting the two in Himself.  Tonight, dear friends, we enter heaven, though we are on earth, for the glorified Christ comes to dine with you.  You, who are loved by the Father.  You, to whom the Holy Spirit is given.  You, who share in the humanity of the only Son of God. 

Come, then, in the joy of sins forgiven and fellowship restored, come, eat and drink His true Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, and ascend in heart and mind to dwell with Him in heaven, until that Day when He shall take you to Himself for eternity. 

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

St John 16:23-33/James 1:22-27/Numbers 21:4-9

In the Name + of Jesus.  Amen.

We live in constant danger.  Not the dangers that the news unceasingly warns us about – the threats to our health, the scams to take away our money, all the dangerous and scary people that do not look or think like us.  No, these are not the dangers that the Word of God warns us of.  There are things far more deadly than cancer or muggings or losing your life’s savings.  Do not fear what can destroy your body; rather, fear the One who can destroy both body and soul in hell. 

The people of Israel did not fear God, but grumbled about their food.  Think of it!  They were more worried about the menu than fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things.  Not just food, but all sorts of things cause misplaced fear.  We have God’s Word, yet we fail to trust His promises. 

St James describes the danger of hearing God’s Word but failing to do it, that is trust and keep it.  Its like a man who comes across a beggar and says, “God bless you, I hope you find food!” while he saunters off to his warm house and hot meal.  Its like the woman who sings out the praises of God, but cannot bridle her tongue, she simply must pass on that juicy bit of gossip. 

Have you run down your boss?  Your brother?  Your fellow Christian?  Your neighbor?  Did you not hear what St James says about the person who cannot hold his or her tongue?  This person’s religion is worthless.  Worthless!  What good are all your words of praise to God and all your prayers if you use the same tongue to speak ill of another?  This person’s religion is worthless. 

Taking an honest look at ourselves we must conclude, “My religion has been worthless.”  For even the good that I have done has been done out of fear or obligation, or the very worst, out of pride at how good my works are, how obedient I am.  I, me, my – all my works center around myself, even when they appear from the outside to be directed toward my neighbor.  I am not so altruistic.  I am a phony, a sham. 

In my working, in my believing, in my praying, nothing to rely upon can be found, nothing to last in the Day of Judgment; nothing that is good in God’s sight.  Everything is soiled with sin, everything is corrupt and worthless.  By what right do I even dare to pray? 

So the key phrase in the Gospel text is when Jesus says, In My Name.  Whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.  This is not a blank check.  It does not mean that we have discovered some secret formula, a magical incantation that by the mere utterance will produce the desired result. 

In My Name, means according to the will of Jesus, according to the work of Jesus, according to the authority of Jesus.  So it would be impossible to ask for the opportunity to commit adultery or murder in the name of Jesus, because that is contrary to His will. 

Prayer in Jesus’ Name must begin with confession, as it did for the children of Israel.  They said to Moses, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord.  And so when we pray in the Name of Jesus we are asking the Father to not look upon us, our thoughts, our desires, but instead to look at us only through Jesus, only through His Cross, only through His death for our sins, only through His resurrection for our justification. 

For like the Israelites we also have a tendency to be fickle, to ignore prayer, to wallow in self-pity and impenitence.  That is one reason why our Lord allows tribulation to come upon us, even as He sent the fiery serpents into the Israeli camp, that they might be called back to Him, their hearts being turned from hardness to repentance. 

So too you.  He loves you.  And those whom He loves He disciplines.  Tribulation is not a punishment.  It is not a curse.  It is the Lord’s tool to turn us to Him; to teach us to fear, love, and trust in Him above all things. 

I know that many of you have tribulations of various kinds.  The Lord knows them too.  He knows the conflicts you have in your family; He knows your problems at work; He knows your despair and your addictions; He knows your loneliness and your ailing body.  He knows the sins you struggle with, and the ones you should be struggling against.  Too often we respond shamefully to this life’s troubles. 

So when we realize that we abide in danger because of our self-centered thinking, when we become aware that we are under assault by the devil himself, this is a blessing!  As the Australian Lutheran theologian, Dr. John Kleinig put it, “The devil’s attack on us serves to strengthen our faith because it drives us back to God’s Word as the only basis for our spiritual life.  We cannot rely on our own resources in the battle against Satan and the powers of darkness.  If we rely on our own wisdom and power, we will fail.  In that situation, our only hope is Christ and His Word.” (Grace Upon Grace, 22). 

So praying in the Name of Jesus means that we are not relying on our own resources, our own wisdom, our own power, but on Jesus, His becoming Man for us, His perfect obedience for us, His death for us, His resurrection for us, His ascension for us, and His continual prayer for us. 

The false prophet, the theologian of glory, preaches, “You can overcome, you can achieve, you can be a success.”  Faith in this equation becomes an internal power of the soul that gives you a positive outlook, an optimism that enables you to surpass the obstacles that are keeping you from your goals. 

But what is given to us in the Holy Gospel, in the Words of Jesus, is none of this.  The disciples said to Jesus, Now we know that You know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that You came from God.  They had that theology of glory, that Pop Christianity version of faith.  To this Jesus replied, “Oh yeah?  You think that is faith?  That is not true faith.  It will not stand us at the hour of the cross.  You will all be scattered.  This faith will prove empty.” 

But after telling them of their impending failure, He says the most astonishing thing: These things I have said to you, that in Me who may have peace.  He speaks of their failure, and then talks of peace?  What is the source of this peace?  Not in themselves, not in yourself!  Not even in your “faith.”  That fideism, faith in faith. 

But, In Me, Jesus says, the object of faith. In Me you may have peace.   In the world you will have tribulation.  But take heart, I have overcome the world.  Not, “Here is how you can overcome the world, how you can overcome your problems, how you can overcome your difficulties,” but I have overcome the world. 

Everything that we do, everything that we are, everything that we have, rests on Jesus, who He is, what He does.  For He is the Serpent lifted up on the Cross, grotesque and hideous to the world, the pinnacle of tribulation and suffering; but to we who are being saved, the power of God and the wisdom of God, and the glory of God.

So when you pray in His Name saying, “Dear Father in heaven, I am a fool.  I have utterly failed to live as your servant.  My sins are too numerous to list.  My thoughts and desires are soiled with sin.  Yet you have invited me to pray in the name of Jesus and have promised to give whatever I ask in His Name.  So I now ask You for the greatest thing: that for the sake of His precious death and glorious resurrection, You would pardon all my sin and grant me a place in Your kingdom.  And in whatever remains of this brief life, I pray that You send down Your Holy Spirit that I may be strengthened to avoid sin and make a beginning in serving my neighbor.  I ask this in the Name of Jesus.”

That would be a good prayer.  A prayer that is pleasing to God our Father who loves you.  A prayer that is in accordance with His will.  A prayer that is truly answered “yes” in Christ, and fulfills your joy in Him. 

It is certainly good and right to pray for your friends and family and neighbors also, even your enemies, that they receive pardon and remission of sins through faith in Christ Jesus, as you are taught and do the Prayer of the Church.   

But remember my dear ones: if it were up to you, everything would have been ruined lone ago.  But thanks be to God it does not depend on you; everything depends on Jesus.  Therefore with all boldness and confidence, with courage in the face of tribulation on account of the death and resurrection of Christ, ask in His Name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. 

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

Who Wears the Pants? Or
Authority and the Two Kingdoms

The Christian finds himself in a precarious position.  Like the Church herself, he is in the world, but he is not of the world.  He is but a stranger here; heaven is his home.  His citizenship belongs in the New Jerusalem, the mystical body of our crucified, risen, and ascended Lord Jesus to which he has been joined through Holy Baptism.  Our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ (Phil 3:20). 

And yet the Christian lives and works and acts in this world.  He is a citizen of his state and nation.  He obeys the law.  He pays his taxes.  He votes.  And he gets embroiled in the political and moral arguments of the culture.  How is the heavenly-minded Christian to interact with this world?  How is he to straddle politics and religion?  What is the relationship between the church and the state? 

Lutherans speak of the church and the state as two realms or kingdoms.  The kingdom of the left is the earthly authority and rule.  This kingdom is governed by the natural law, which all men have written on their hearts.  The kingdom of the right is the church, the kingdom of Christ.  She is governed by grace and mercy, the Gospel, which is the forgiveness of sins, the proclamation of Christ crucified and His blessed Sacraments.  We believe that our Lord rules over all things.  He has power, dominion, and authority over both kingdoms, though He works differently in each. 

In the kingdom of the left God calls the government to promote and protect justice, to punish wickedness, and to maintain peace.  This is accomplished by law and order, by means of the curb of the law and threat of punishment.  For he [rulers/government] is God’s servant to do you good.  But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing.  He is God’s servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer (Rom 13:4).  The civil government receives its God-given authority from the fundamental unit of society – the family, and the calling of fathers to rule over and protect their families.  “In this commandment [the fourth] belongs a further statement about all kinds of obedience to persons in authority who have to command and to govern.  For all authority flows and is born from the authority of parents” (Large Catechism I 141).  For there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God (Rom 13:1). 

The kingdom of the right, however, is our Lord’s kingdom of grace, His Church.  She is not of this world, as Jesus tells Pilate.  If My kingdom were of this world, My servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews.  But My kingdom is not from the world (Jn 18:36).  The Church is not ruled and governed by the Law, which is the threat of punishment.  Within the kingdom of grace the Gospel reigns.  Here Christ’s verdict is the absolution, the proclamation of a forgiveness of sins not achieved by merit or worthy.  The chief concern of the Church ought to be the preaching of the Christ crucified.  She is not to be about leading armies, conquering nations, or getting wrapped up in politics. 

But the free course of the Gospel takes place best in an orderly and peaceful society.  Thus the Church, while not being of the world, prays for the world, its citizens, rulers and authorities, even her [the Church’s] enemies.  So too the Christian is given to pray for his leaders, even if his man or woman didn’t win.  I urge then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone – for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.  This is good, and pleases God our Savior (1 Tim 2:1-3). 

In an article titled “Two Kingdoms – One Lord” Rev. John T. Pless (coming speaker at the 2nd Annual Diakonia Conference – see below) writes,
            Lutherans are rightly concerned with keeping the teaching of the two kingdoms straight and clear for the        
            sake of the Gospel, which alone gives forgiveness of sins and eternal salvation.  Luther fumed that the devil 
            is incessantly seeking to “brew and cook” the two kingdoms together.  Satan would like nothing better than 
            duping folks into believing that salvation comes through secular government or, conversely, that the church 
            is the institution to establish civil righteousness in the world.  Either confusion displaces Christ and leaves 
            sinners in despair (For the Life of the World, Vol 16 No 1, p13; emphasis mine).

This does not mean, however, that the Christian or the Church remain completely out of politics or the culture.  The Christian lives his life within the Church from the living Word of Christ, which forgives all his sins, and the Holy Eucharist, which is the food of heaven.  And he lives in the world as a redeemed child of our heavenly Father, giving honor to those in authority and loving his neighbor as God has given him.  And he trusts that our Lord is in control, having all things in the palm of His hand, and working them together for his good. 

Your unworthy servant,
Pastor Mierow
Festival of St Mark, the Evangelist
Icon of Vocation