Preached by Rev. Doug Irmer
Matthew 9:18–26
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dearly beloved,
Since the first Sunday in June we have journeyed through the vast green
meadow of the time of teaching in the Church year. With occasional breaks for important celebrations of saint’s days and feast days our mother, the church, has immersed us in her teaching. There are yet two Sundays left in this teaching cycle and then on the last day of this month, the holy season of Advent will be upon us.
Are there important teachings left that we need to cover on these last three Sundays in the Church Year? Or rather, are we in a time of summary? In the Holy Gospel for today, we learn and are reminded of that which is central to the teachings of the One, Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church. For today our Lord Jesus Christ graciously reveals the importance of the gift of faith.
There is so much to see in this Holy Gospel at so many levels. Some of it would absolutely not see apart from divine revelation. It is only by the grace of Almighty God through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to see so much that we do see.
This isn’t just about two women who are healed by the Lord Jesus Christ. This is about so much more than one woman being healed and a young woman being raised from the dead.
This is about the whole struggle of life and death; the life of a Christian in the midst of life and death. This one Gospel proclaims our helplessness, our total inability to do anything for ourselves. This one Gospel proclaims the almighty
power of the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ. This one Gospel proclaims the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. This one Gospel proclaims your salvation. For as Luther teaches in our catechism, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.” This one Gospel proclaims that precious gift of faith.
I should very much like to take the time to read the entire eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews in this sermon, but I won’t. However, you should, on your time read, or reread Hebrews eleven to come to some better understanding of this precious gift from God. And it is His gift to you. For St. Paul writes to the Ephesians in a passage beloved by all Lutherans:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
If we are indeed to have a summary of the Church’s teachings at the culmination and termination of the Church Year, let that summary begin with faith. If we are to review all that we have learned this year, let that review begin with faith. In the waters of Holy Baptism, God the Holy Spirit washes us with simple water and the Word of God to forgive our sins and to create faith that firmly takes hold of Jesus Christ for salvation. It is this faith that leads and guides us through our lives on this earth and keeps us firm until we die. This morning’s Gospel demonstrates both of these works of faith in our lives.
The Lord Jesus has just been teaching the Pharisees that the true works God expects from us are not righteousness and sacrifice, but mercy and worship. “Go and learn what this means,” Jesus says. Then He quotes Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
Listen very closely. If you can be righteous enough for God, on your own, by your own obedience, then the Lord Jesus is not for you. If you are, “good enough,” then Jesus cannot save you.
If, on the other hand, you are a poor, downtrodden, sinful, filthy, stinking, wretched sinner, then you are just the person Jesus came to save. For many years I’ve smiled when people bristle and ask a pastor, “Who are you to judge me?” I agree as they say, “I’m not good enough to go to church.” Many people are startled at my agreement, but that’s just the point: you aren’t good enough; Jesus came because you can’t be good enough. Jesus is good enough in your place.
Not understanding Jesus’ teaching, the disciples of John as Jesus why His disciples didn’t fast. Very simply, Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast because Jesus was among them. It’s why we don’t fast, we feast. Jesus is among us here. Here, today, in this place we see and hear the Lord Jesus. Together with King David we rejoice and sing, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is Good.” Right over there and Christ’s high altar we taste as we receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our many, hideous, malevelont, disgusting sins. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us His holy body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgivness of all of our many sins. Who can fast from such a feast?
So we see in today’s Gospel. This woman who had been bleeding for twelve years believes in Jesus as her savior. “If I only touch the fringe of His garment I will be saved.” Learn well, beloved this example of piety and saving faith. It was not her work of reaching out to Jesus that saved her. It was not her work of touching the hem of Jesus’ garment that saved her.
Jesus looked at this woman and said, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has saved you.” Faith is not the work of the one who has faith, it is the work of God the Holy Spirit in us.
Not so many weeks ago we looked on as a young paralytic was brought to Jesus. In that instance, we learned what is important to Jesus, and therefore what is important to us. Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who stood around were outraged. Who did this Jesus think He was that He could even forgive sins? Who could forgive sins but God, alone? So Jesus, teaching the onlookers from where they stood said, “Which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven or rise and walk?” But so you may know the Son of Man can forgive sins, He then turned to the paralyzed man, “Arise, take up your bed and walk.”
What do you need to hear from Jesus? What do you need to receive from Jesus? Do you need Jesus to provide you with universal healthcare? Do you need Jesus to provide zero deductable and no copay treatment for your physical ailments? What can Jesus provide for you that you can’t get anyplace else, from anyone else? Why do we give up the rest and sleep in a warm and comfortable bed on Sunday morning and come to church?
We come for the forgiveness of sins. That is what is offered here that is not offered anywhere else. “In this Christian Church [the Holy Spirit] richly and daily forgives my sins and the sins of all believers in Christ.” With trembling hands we reach out to touch the hem of the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He proclaims the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit. You are forgiven. By the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of your sins are forgiven.
And another amazing thing happens. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ you are raised again. Closely tied in to the saving of the woman with a discharge of blood, cloesly tied in to her salvation, there is this account of the resurrection of a young girl. In fact, the salvation of the woman takes place more or less in the middle of the ressurection account.
Like so many things in Christianity, everything seems backward. A young girl lies dead, and Jesus doesn’t seem to act appropriately concerned. St. Matthew doesn’t record that Jesus hurried to the bedside of the young girl. In fact, when he arrives at the ruler’s home, Jesus is a little perturbed by all of the mourners gathered.
There is so much hope and so much joy in this account of Jesus raising this girl from the dead. To Jesus, death is only sleep. Let’s don’t be confused by some heretical teachings from the past involving “soul sleep” or other abominable things. A better way to consider this is that it is no more trouble for Jesus to raise someone from the dead than it is for us to awaken someone from their sleep. Jesus speaks of death as sleep. Remember when Jesus’ friend Lazarus died. Jesus told His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep and I go to awaken him.” (John 11). Finally, St. John records Jesus telling His disciples, “Lazarus has died.” St. Matthew records that at Jesus’ crucifixion, “Many of the saints who were asleep arose when Jesus died (Matthew 27). “The girl is not dead but sleeping,” Jesus says. It is no trouble for Jesus to raise again to life those who have died.
In the Old Testament lesson today, from Isaiah 51, we have this joyous chorus proclaimed: “The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall o btain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away”.
Who would ever have thought this was about death. But truly for a Christian there is great rejoicing surrounding death. There is no longer any suffering or pain as we leave behind the trials and woes of this world. The book of Philippians is regarded by Christians as a letter of great joy. It is in that Epistle that St. Paul writes: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Dying in Christ is far better than living in this world. Remember that, dear Christians. In fact, we rejoice in just this truth at every Christian funeral. There we rejoice at the forgiveness of sins that Christ has won for us by His death on the cross. At a funeral we rejoice in Christ’s resurrection from the dead and our own resurrection that is to come. In fact, listen closely, a Christian funeral is a celebration of life, a celebration of Christ’s life. It is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we celebrate as we lay the earthly body of our loved ones to rest. Our own lives are filled with sorrow, sin and suffering. But the life of Jesus Christ overflows with our forgiveness and our resurrection.
Among the last things we are taught as the Church Year wanes and wends to its close, our gracious and loving Lord, Jesus Christ, guides us through illness, suffering, pain and even death that we might eagerly anticipate our departure from this life and await His return in glory.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Matthew 9:18–26
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Dearly beloved,
Since the first Sunday in June we have journeyed through the vast green
meadow of the time of teaching in the Church year. With occasional breaks for important celebrations of saint’s days and feast days our mother, the church, has immersed us in her teaching. There are yet two Sundays left in this teaching cycle and then on the last day of this month, the holy season of Advent will be upon us.
Are there important teachings left that we need to cover on these last three Sundays in the Church Year? Or rather, are we in a time of summary? In the Holy Gospel for today, we learn and are reminded of that which is central to the teachings of the One, Holy, Christian and Apostolic Church. For today our Lord Jesus Christ graciously reveals the importance of the gift of faith.
There is so much to see in this Holy Gospel at so many levels. Some of it would absolutely not see apart from divine revelation. It is only by the grace of Almighty God through the power of the Holy Spirit that we are able to see so much that we do see.
This isn’t just about two women who are healed by the Lord Jesus Christ. This is about so much more than one woman being healed and a young woman being raised from the dead.
This is about the whole struggle of life and death; the life of a Christian in the midst of life and death. This one Gospel proclaims our helplessness, our total inability to do anything for ourselves. This one Gospel proclaims the almighty
power of the Word of God, who is Jesus Christ. This one Gospel proclaims the forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ. This one Gospel proclaims your salvation. For as Luther teaches in our catechism, “where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation.” This one Gospel proclaims that precious gift of faith.
I should very much like to take the time to read the entire eleventh chapter of the book of Hebrews in this sermon, but I won’t. However, you should, on your time read, or reread Hebrews eleven to come to some better understanding of this precious gift from God. And it is His gift to you. For St. Paul writes to the Ephesians in a passage beloved by all Lutherans:
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.
If we are indeed to have a summary of the Church’s teachings at the culmination and termination of the Church Year, let that summary begin with faith. If we are to review all that we have learned this year, let that review begin with faith. In the waters of Holy Baptism, God the Holy Spirit washes us with simple water and the Word of God to forgive our sins and to create faith that firmly takes hold of Jesus Christ for salvation. It is this faith that leads and guides us through our lives on this earth and keeps us firm until we die. This morning’s Gospel demonstrates both of these works of faith in our lives.
The Lord Jesus has just been teaching the Pharisees that the true works God expects from us are not righteousness and sacrifice, but mercy and worship. “Go and learn what this means,” Jesus says. Then He quotes Hosea 6:6, “For I desire mercy and not sacrifice.”
Listen very closely. If you can be righteous enough for God, on your own, by your own obedience, then the Lord Jesus is not for you. If you are, “good enough,” then Jesus cannot save you.
If, on the other hand, you are a poor, downtrodden, sinful, filthy, stinking, wretched sinner, then you are just the person Jesus came to save. For many years I’ve smiled when people bristle and ask a pastor, “Who are you to judge me?” I agree as they say, “I’m not good enough to go to church.” Many people are startled at my agreement, but that’s just the point: you aren’t good enough; Jesus came because you can’t be good enough. Jesus is good enough in your place.
Not understanding Jesus’ teaching, the disciples of John as Jesus why His disciples didn’t fast. Very simply, Jesus’ disciples didn’t fast because Jesus was among them. It’s why we don’t fast, we feast. Jesus is among us here. Here, today, in this place we see and hear the Lord Jesus. Together with King David we rejoice and sing, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is Good.” Right over there and Christ’s high altar we taste as we receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our many, hideous, malevelont, disgusting sins. The Lord Jesus Christ gives us His holy body and blood to eat and to drink for the forgivness of all of our many sins. Who can fast from such a feast?
So we see in today’s Gospel. This woman who had been bleeding for twelve years believes in Jesus as her savior. “If I only touch the fringe of His garment I will be saved.” Learn well, beloved this example of piety and saving faith. It was not her work of reaching out to Jesus that saved her. It was not her work of touching the hem of Jesus’ garment that saved her.
Jesus looked at this woman and said, “Take heart, daughter, your faith has saved you.” Faith is not the work of the one who has faith, it is the work of God the Holy Spirit in us.
Not so many weeks ago we looked on as a young paralytic was brought to Jesus. In that instance, we learned what is important to Jesus, and therefore what is important to us. Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “Your sins are forgiven.” Those who stood around were outraged. Who did this Jesus think He was that He could even forgive sins? Who could forgive sins but God, alone? So Jesus, teaching the onlookers from where they stood said, “Which is easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven or rise and walk?” But so you may know the Son of Man can forgive sins, He then turned to the paralyzed man, “Arise, take up your bed and walk.”
What do you need to hear from Jesus? What do you need to receive from Jesus? Do you need Jesus to provide you with universal healthcare? Do you need Jesus to provide zero deductable and no copay treatment for your physical ailments? What can Jesus provide for you that you can’t get anyplace else, from anyone else? Why do we give up the rest and sleep in a warm and comfortable bed on Sunday morning and come to church?
We come for the forgiveness of sins. That is what is offered here that is not offered anywhere else. “In this Christian Church [the Holy Spirit] richly and daily forgives my sins and the sins of all believers in Christ.” With trembling hands we reach out to touch the hem of the garment of the Lord Jesus Christ, and He proclaims the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the faith given to us by the Holy Spirit. You are forgiven. By the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ, all of your sins are forgiven.
And another amazing thing happens. By the resurrection of Jesus Christ you are raised again. Closely tied in to the saving of the woman with a discharge of blood, cloesly tied in to her salvation, there is this account of the resurrection of a young girl. In fact, the salvation of the woman takes place more or less in the middle of the ressurection account.
Like so many things in Christianity, everything seems backward. A young girl lies dead, and Jesus doesn’t seem to act appropriately concerned. St. Matthew doesn’t record that Jesus hurried to the bedside of the young girl. In fact, when he arrives at the ruler’s home, Jesus is a little perturbed by all of the mourners gathered.
There is so much hope and so much joy in this account of Jesus raising this girl from the dead. To Jesus, death is only sleep. Let’s don’t be confused by some heretical teachings from the past involving “soul sleep” or other abominable things. A better way to consider this is that it is no more trouble for Jesus to raise someone from the dead than it is for us to awaken someone from their sleep. Jesus speaks of death as sleep. Remember when Jesus’ friend Lazarus died. Jesus told His disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep and I go to awaken him.” (John 11). Finally, St. John records Jesus telling His disciples, “Lazarus has died.” St. Matthew records that at Jesus’ crucifixion, “Many of the saints who were asleep arose when Jesus died (Matthew 27). “The girl is not dead but sleeping,” Jesus says. It is no trouble for Jesus to raise again to life those who have died.
In the Old Testament lesson today, from Isaiah 51, we have this joyous chorus proclaimed: “The ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall o btain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away”.
Who would ever have thought this was about death. But truly for a Christian there is great rejoicing surrounding death. There is no longer any suffering or pain as we leave behind the trials and woes of this world. The book of Philippians is regarded by Christians as a letter of great joy. It is in that Epistle that St. Paul writes: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.”
Dying in Christ is far better than living in this world. Remember that, dear Christians. In fact, we rejoice in just this truth at every Christian funeral. There we rejoice at the forgiveness of sins that Christ has won for us by His death on the cross. At a funeral we rejoice in Christ’s resurrection from the dead and our own resurrection that is to come. In fact, listen closely, a Christian funeral is a celebration of life, a celebration of Christ’s life. It is the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we celebrate as we lay the earthly body of our loved ones to rest. Our own lives are filled with sorrow, sin and suffering. But the life of Jesus Christ overflows with our forgiveness and our resurrection.
Among the last things we are taught as the Church Year wanes and wends to its close, our gracious and loving Lord, Jesus Christ, guides us through illness, suffering, pain and even death that we might eagerly anticipate our departure from this life and await His return in glory.
In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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