JANUARY 2024
JANUARY 2024
4 January 2024 - Funeral of Ronald Arthur Braun
In the commercial world, the Christmas season begins around the time of Thanksgiving, and ends on Christmas Day. But in the church, Christmas begins on Christmas Day and ends twelve days later. There are twelve days of Christmas, as the popular song reminds us.
So, this is why our sanctuary is still decorated for Christmas. Our congregation is still basking in the light of this great festival, and is still celebrating everything that Christmas is and means for us.
Ron died on the day after Christmas. But we can also say that he died on the second day of Christmas.
His departure from this world took place while the church was still celebrating God’s entrance into this world, in the birth of Jesus. And that celebration hasn’t ceased. Today is the eleventh day of Christmas.
The only begotten Son of the Father became a human being for us, so that he could live for us, die for us, rise again for us, and as the immortal Lord of heaven and earth remain with us as our Savior from sin and from the fear of death. As the angel announced to the shepherds on that sacred night:
“Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
This message is still echoing in our ears. This message is still echoing in our minds and hearts.
Jesus did not remain as a baby, but in his human existence, he did start out as a baby. And so everyone, of every age and condition, can relate to Jesus: because Jesus - at some point in his life - related to everyone.
Whether you are a small child, a teen, or an adult, there was a time in the earthly life of Jesus when he was what you are. Whoever you are, you never have to wonder if Jesus can understand you. He can. He always can.
Jesus also knew a full range of earthly experiences, at the various stages of his life. He knew times of joy and times of sadness, times of plenty and times of want.
He celebrated with those who were celebrating - such as when he was at the wedding in Cana. And he mourned with those who mourned - such as when he wept with Mary and Martha at the death of their brother Lazarus.
And Jesus endured temptations to sin, just as we do, whether we are young or old. The Epistle to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus as our great high priest, who offered himself on the cross for our sins. And it then also adds this thought:
“We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but [He] was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
Christmas - the birth of Jesus as a humble and helpless baby - was the beginning of all of this. It was the beginning of a perfect life lived for us. It was the beginning of a loving life lived with us.
This is the Jesus whom Ron knew and loved. To be sure, he did confess the theologically precise descriptions of Jesus as God and man that the ancient church has handed down to us in the creeds. In fact, his niece told me that she learned the Nicene Creed from him.
But for Ron, this divine-human Jesus was also the close companion in life on whom he relied, in childhood and in adulthood. Jesus was his personal companion in times of contentment and in times of trial; in times of happiness and in times of grief; in times of health and strength, and in times of sickness and weakness.
This was the Savior and friend to whom he prayed. This was the Lord of whom he sang.
Christmas was a special time for Ron every year. It was special because it was an annual reminder of the beginning of the greatest and truest story ever.
The sights and sounds of Christmas - the sound of singing especially, in which he eagerly joined - renewed in Ron each year his simple yet profound faith in a Savior who came into this world to forgive the sins of his people, to fill their souls with his peace, and to fill their hearts with the hope of eternal life.
Each Christmas Ron was joyfully reminded that Jesus came into this world to forgive his sins, to fill his soul with peace, and to fill his heart with hope and life.
As the earthly life of Jesus took him from infancy all the way to full manhood, and to the cross, so too was Ron reminded at each Christmas celebration, that the Savior who had been with him since his baptism was still watching over him, still helping him, and still protecting him in body and soul, until his own life in this world would someday come to an end.
And as the crucified Savior broke the chains of death, and rose victorious from the grave on the third day, so too did Ron know that he would live forever with Christ, and with all of Christ’s redeemed people. He was especially comforted to know that there would be a heavenly reunion with his parents, but not just with them.
And on the last day there will be a resurrection of all flesh. The bodies of God’s people will be called forth from the elements of the earth without any stain or scars of death, disease, or infirmity.
And God’s people - in soul and body - will dwell in righteousness and purity in new heavens and a new earth forever and ever.
For any redeemed child of God, but maybe especially for Ron, there would be no better time to depart from this world, than that time in the year when the church is celebrating God’s entrance into this world to be our Redeemer.
Ron’s life was filled with the joy and peace of Christmas, and of everything that Christmas means for our salvation, during decades and decades of the Christmases of the past. And this year, Ron’s death was filled with the joy and peace of Christmas, and of everything that Christmas means for our salvation - for his salvation.
This is the only funeral I have ever conducted for which I have appointed a Christmas carol to be one of the hymns. But for Ron’s funeral, I have done so. To honor and remember Ron’s joyful Christmas faith - and his entire life of faith - I have done so.
And we are still in the Christmas season. So, we will sing of Christmas. We will sing of Christ, who in Bethlehem came among us to be our deliverer and companion; and who - as the living Lord - remains as our deliverer and companion even now, wherever we are.
As you sing this hymn in a couple minutes, think of Ron’s humble faith in the solemn truth of all the things that this hymn mentions: that the one who came down from heaven, as God and Lord of all, “feeleth for our sadness” and “shareth in our gladness”; that “He leads His children on, to the place where He has gone”; and that when God’s children do depart from this world, they shall see Him, “Not in that poor lowly stable with the oxen standing by,” “but in heaven, set at God’s right hand on high.”
This was Ron’s hope. And this now is Ron’s heavenly reality: because of Jesus: the Babe of Bethlehem, and the King of the universe.
As you sing these words, and as you ponder these thoughts, may this faith also be your faith, and may this hope also be your hope. Through Christ - your Redeemer, your companion through life, and the forgiver of your sins - may this someday also be your heavenly reality.
The Christmas story, with everything that this story means, is a true story. It is true for all people.
It was true for the shepherds. It was true for Ron. It is true for you.
Christ is born. Let us glorify him. Amen.
6 January 2024 - Epiphany - Matthew 2:1-12
We all know the Biblical story of the Epiphany, involving wise men from the east who traveled a great distance to find the newborn king of Israel. A star guided them to Bethlehem, where Jesus was, and where the wise men worshiped him.
That’s the story, right? Well, not exactly.
St. Matthew’s Gospel does not tell us a whole lot about the star that the wise men noticed, and that prompted them to leave their homeland in search of Christ. There are various theories about what this star was, held by people who do take the Biblical account seriously.
Some think it was not literally a star, but was a conjunction of planets. Others are of the opinion that it was a comet. Still others say that no natural explanation is adequate, and that the appearance of this star was a miracle plain and simple.
Whatever the star may have been, it did fulfill a divine purpose in the lives of the wise men. God definitely used it to get their attention, and to prompt within them a desire to seek out the newborn king of Israel.
Yet the star, all by itself, did not actually lead the wise men to Bethlehem, where Jesus was to be found. When the wise men had nothing more to go by than the star, they ended up, not in Bethlehem, but in Jerusalem.
The meaning and message that they read out of the star did not bring them to the modest house of Joseph the carpenter. Instead, they ended up at the opulent palace of Herod, the despotic Roman puppet king.
Geographically, the wise men were close. Jerusalem is only about six miles away from Bethlehem. But theologically, Herod’s home, and Joseph’s home, were just about as far away from each other as they could possibly be.
As significant as the star is - in the story of the wise men, and in the story of the Epiphany - it did not, all by itself, lead the wise men to the true king of the Jews, and to the Savior of all nations. It led them only to a usurper, and a satanic counterfeit.
What did finally put the wise men on the right track - toward the city of David - was the testimony of God’s Word, through the prophet Micah, to which the religious scholars in Jerusalem directed them:
“‘But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”
The star had pointed the wise men in the right general direction. And after the wise men were enlightened by the details of the Biblical prophecy, and began to head toward Bethlehem from Jerusalem, the star reappeared, and once again went before them, “till it came and stood over where the young Child was.”
But without the clear and precise testimony of Holy Scripture, pointing them specifically to Bethlehem, they would not have found their Savior.
There are, we might say, a lot of “wise men” today, who are also searching for God, and for a relationship with God. St. Paul states in the Book of Acts that
“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, ...gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him.”
This human religious search is prompted by various influences and experiences. Some people who are on this quest are thereby showing their strong sensitivity to the testimony of their conscience that there is a morally righteous God out there somewhere, with whom they should have a relationship.
St. Paul writes in the Epistle to the Romans that “the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness.” But this awareness of a higher divine power is not enough to bring people to Christ.
We can know, intuitively, that there is a God. And we can discern certain things about God through our sensitivity to the natural law that he has imprinted on the hearts of all human beings.
But the way of salvation is not accessible to us through these intuitions. The way for fallen sinners like you and me to be restored to our fellowship with God cannot be learned through this natural knowledge of God.
This kind of spiritual sensitivity and inner moral awareness is like a star in the sky, leading people in a general way toward their religious destination. But all by itself, such sensitivity and such awareness can get us only as far as Jerusalem. It will not get us to Bethlehem.
There is an increasing number of scientists today - especially younger scientists, who have not built a whole career on the assumptions of Darwinism - who are freeing themselves from the intellectual straightjacket of Darwinism, and from the philosophical assumptions of materialism and naturalism that come with it.
These scientists are not afraid to admit that in the “irreducible complexity” of so much of what see in the world of nature - in particular in the realm of biology, genetics, and the DNA code - presents scientific evidence to them of the existence of a mighty creator God.
These things did not create themselves, and they did not fall together haphazardly, but they have been purposefully engineered by some greater intelligence. And the scientists who can see intelligent design in the mechanisms of life would like to know more about that intelligent designer.
But the message of God’s redemption of the human race in the cross of Christ, cannot be read in the irreducible complexity of the eye ball. The strings of DNA that govern biological life in this world, do not tell us anything about the eternal life that Christ’s resurrection has made available to us.
The evidence for intelligent design in creation, is like a star in the sky, leading people in a general way toward a knowledge of God and of the things of God.
But all by itself, the awareness of such evidence can get us only as far as Herod’s palace. It cannot get us to the carpenter’s house, where Jesus, our incarnate Savior and Lord, is to be found.
Wise men who look for God only in the testimony of their conscience, or only in the scientific mysteries of nature, need to become wiser than they are now. They need to become as wise as the wise men of 2,000 years ago became, when they were enlightened by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures - God’s written revelation to man.
It is “the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” - as St. Paul writes to Timothy.
The historical events that are of such crucial importance for our salvation - such as the birth of Jesus, the dearth of Jesus, an the resurrection of Jesus - are not recorded in the inborn human conscience or in the genetic code of human DNA. They are recorded by divine inspiration, and on the basis of eyewitness testimony, in the pages of Holy Scripture.
How wise are we? Do we always seek Christ, and the salvation of Christ, where the Word of God tells us to look? Are we as firmly committed as the ancient wise men of today’s text were, to going to the place where the Scriptures tell us our Savior can be found, and where our salvation can be received?
Since his resurrection and ascension, Jesus is no longer present in a localized and natural way in only one place at a time - whether in Bethlehem or anywhere else. But he is encountered supernaturally in the places where he has promised to make himself available to his people.
Listen again to these familiar words from the end of St. Matthew’s Gospel, which Jesus addressed to his disciples:
“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
“I am with you always, even to the end of the age,” is a promise that is fulfilled chiefly at the times, and in the places, where the Word of Christ is taught and proclaimed, and where the sacraments that Christ has commanded are administered.
This promise of Christ’s saving and forgiving presence is not given in conjunction with the various “stars” that spiritually curious people follow in this life: whether it is the natural voice of the human conscience, or the natural evidence of intelligent design. This promise, and the certainty that Christ can be found where he has promised to be, are connected to his gospel, and to the sounding forth of the gospel.
As the wise men of the first century were instructed by the Scriptures, it became clear to them that who they were looking for would not be found in Herod’s palace. Jerusalem was not their final destination.
As the words of Micah touched their hearts and enlightened their minds, they now wanted to find the Savior of whom this prophet spoke. They now wanted to find Jesus. And they were not going to be satisfied with anything or anyone other than Jesus.
The truly wise men of today, whose hearts have likewise been touched and transformed by the inspired Scriptures, also want to find Jesus: not merely a morally righteous God whose forgiveness is unknown, and not merely a mighty creator God whose mercy is unknown.
They want to know - they need to know - the true God who is both righteous and the justifier of the unrighteous who repent and believe in him, through Jesus. They want to know - they need to know - the true God who is both their creator and their Redeemer, through Jesus.
You cannot find Jesus just by following a star. At best that might get you close to him, in a certain sense. But matters of the soul are not like horseshoes. Close doesn’t count.
You can find Jesus only by hearing, and believing, the message of the inspired Scriptures; and by going to where the Scriptures tell you Jesus is available to you and waiting for you, to bestow upon you his gifts, and to receive your praise.
Where Christ’s people are gathered in his name, around his gospel and sacraments, there he is, in their midst. And there you too will be, if it truly is Jesus - the King of the Jews and your own King - whom you seek.
You are not here, where Jesus truly is - to receive his salvation and to worship him - because you were led here by a star. You are in this place - to listen to Christ’s comforting gospel voice, and to feel his healing sacramental touch - because you have been led here by the teachings of the Bible concerning what Christians believe, what they do, and where they go.
The Scriptures supernaturally gave you a desire to be here, and they have supernaturally prepared you for the blessings you will receive here.
When the wise men in today’s text finally made it to Bethlehem, and realized that this was where Jesus would finally and truly be found, “they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy.”
And when you also find him - as God’s Spirit and grace have drawn you to find him - you too, with all truly wise men of all times and places, will rejoice exceedingly, with great joy.
“As with joyful steps they sped, Savior, to Thy lowly bed,
There to bend the knee before Thee, whom heaven and earth adore,
So may we, with willing feet, Ever seek Thy mercy-seat!” Amen.
7 January 2024 - Epiphany 1 - Luke 2:40-52
In this world, there may not be too many people you can really trust and count on. Usually, however, we do assume that at the very least, we should be able to rely on our closest relatives: parents, children, siblings, and spouses.
They won’t let us down. They won’t turn on us. But you know what? Sometimes they will.
As a twelve-year-old boy in a large, strange city, Jesus was dependent on his parents for care and protection.
According to his divine nature Jesus was, of course, the almighty and all-knowing God of the universe. But in his state of humiliation, and according to his human nature, he was like any other twelve-year-old child in this respect.
But in their negligence, Mary and Joseph were no longer taking proper care of Jesus, or protecting him from danger. They lost track of Jesus, and left him behind in Jerusalem when they departed from the city to return home to Nazareth.
They would have been traveling with a large group of pilgrims. And according to the custom of the time, Mary and Joseph would not have been walking together on this homeward journey.
Men traveled with other men, and women traveled with other women. Boys and girls under the age of thirteen or so, would travel with the women. Boys older than thirteen or so, would travel with the men.
This might explain how Mary and Joseph could have been on the road for a whole day without realizing that they had left Jesus behind. He was around that transitional age for a boy.
So, Joseph probably thought Jesus was traveling with Mary, as he would have on previous pilgrimages. Mary, in turn, probably thought that this year, Jesus was walking with the men, and was under Joseph’s care.
But whatever the reason for their negligence was, they had not made sure that Jesus was safe and sound with one of his parents. And he was not safe and sound with one of his parents. He was all by himself, in a strange city.
Clearly this was the fault of the responsible parties here: Mary and Joseph. This was not the fault of a twelve-year-old boy.
But what did Mary say when she and Joseph finally found Jesus? We read, from today’s text in St. Luke:
“Now so it was that after three days they found Him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions. ...and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have You done this to us? Look, Your father and I have sought You anxiously.’”
Mary is exasperated. But she is also evading responsibility for her own shortcomings as a mother. She is actually blaming Jesus for his own abandonment. “Son, why have you done this to us?”
We certainly would have expected more of her. But what we see here is an example of something that is repeated often in human relationships.
Because of the sin of pride that is embedded in all of us, a subconscious self-defense mechanism is triggered whenever objective circumstances, or our own conscience, expose a failure on our part. There is an instinct - a sinful instinct - to blame others for our sins.
Tragically, this blame - more often than not - gets cast in the direction of the very person who was harmed or endangered by our actions or inactions. This casting of blame onto our victims, instead of taking the blame for our own failures, is insidious.
It adds insult to injury. In the case of Jesus and his parents, it was bad enough that they had left him in Jerusalem to fend for himself. But this injury is now compounded by Mary putting the blame on Jesus.
In our families, when we do this sort of thing, and treat each other in this way, this has a very destructive affect on the trust and affection that is supposed to be there: between spouses, between siblings, or between parents and children.
But in spite of the obvious harm that comes from this behavior, the tendency to do this is well nigh universal. Even Mary was guilty of this. Certainly you and I are also guilty of this.
This episode shows that Mary, too, was a sinner, in need of a Savior. And when we behave in a similar fashion, it proves that we likewise are sinners, and are in need of a Savior.
In the case of Jesus, as reported in today’s text, when his earthly parents were nowhere to be found, he knew where to turn for the protection and care that he was not getting from them. His instinct was not to get angry with his parents because of their negligence, or to surrender to human fear, but it was to rely on his Father in heaven.
Jesus went to the one place in Jerusalem that most vividly represented the presence of God with his people, and the protection of God over his people. He went to the temple. And that’s where Mary and Joseph eventually found him.
After three days of searching for the boy, they located him where they should have looked first: “in the temple, sitting in the midst of the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.”
And after the unjustified rebuke and accusation that Mary hurled at her innocent son, he calmly and respectfully asked her a couple pertinent questions, too:
“Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”
Other translations state:
“Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”
Follow the example of Jesus, dear friends, when people you thought you could count on, let you down and fail you, and when they may make the situation even worst by turning on you, and blaming you for their sin.
Do not allow yourself to be overwhelmed either by discouragement or by anger. Instead, go to the temple. Turn to the Lord: your heavenly Father, and your divine protector.
When human beings - even the best of human beings - let you down, God will not let you down. His words are ever true, and he is ever faithful to the pledges that he makes to us in the gospel of his Son Jesus Christ.
In a time of stress and disappointment, therefore, we can pray with confidence the words of Psalm 86:
“You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
The promise that was made to the children of Israel in the Book of Deuteronomy, is a promise that you, too, can claim for yourself in Christ, as a member of Christ’s holy church:
“It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
When human flesh does forsake you, God embraces you as his own child, and lifts you up in his love.
And if you have been guilty of a sin like the sin of Mary in today’s text - hurling accusations, and casting the blame for your mistakes onto others - there is hope for you as well.
If you have been negligent in fulfilling your responsibilities toward other people; if you have let people down, when they had the right to think that they could count on you; and especially if you have then blamed these wounded people for your wrongdoing, you do need to try to make that right.
Apologize to the people to whom you owe an apology. Ask for their forgiveness, and with God’s help do the best you can not to repeat those mistakes in the future - so that trust and mutual affection can be restored.
But know as well, that this sin was one of the sins that was imputed to Jesus, that was carried to the cross by Jesus, that was atoned for by the suffering and death of Jesus, and that was then left in the grave of death and divine forgetfulness in Jesus’ resurrection. This sin has been forgiven.
In today’s text, Mary’s sin of maternal negligence was imputed to Jesus, too. He was blamed for it.
But notice that he didn’t push back against this accusation, or deflect it from himself. He let his mother’s imputing of her own sin to him, rest upon him.
Mary’s sin was a sin that Jesus allowed to be credited to him. Jesus allowed himself to become guilty, by imputation, of the sin of negligence and carelessness that Mary had actually committed.
In truth, he allowed all human sins - and all your sins - to be credited to him before God’s tribunal, as if he were guilty of them. He didn’t shake off any of the sins of the human race that were placed upon him, with counter-accusations and defensive self-justifications.
He accepted all of them, he let all of them stick to him, and he carried all of them to the cross. St. Paul explains in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians that
“For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”
Before God, Mary’s sin is therefore forgiven, because it has now been paid for by fallen humanity’s righteous substitute. Before God, all of her sins are forgiven. Jesus loves her just as much as ever.
Before God, all of your sins are forgiven. They have all been paid for. And therefore you can be certain that Jesus loves you just as much as ever.
And Jesus is still, as it were, in his Father’s house, and about his Father’s business. That is, he is in the living temple of his church, wherever his gospel is preached and his sacraments are administered.
He is there - he is here - to forgive his people, to restore and heal his people, and to restore and heal the relationships among his people that have become strained or broken because of their sins: sins that include the proud and selfish casting of blame onto the innocent.
Through the Lord’s Supper in particular, Jesus is with us in this temple.
The body that was sacrificed for all sin, and the blood that was shed for the redemption of all of God’s people, is bestowed upon us here, for the restoration of our relationship and standing with God. The forgiveness that was won for us in the sacrificing of this body, and in the shedding of this blood, is received here in repentance and faith.
And this body and blood, and this forgiveness, also draw us close to each other: reuniting us in Christ, and restoring relationships even among those who have disappointed and offended each other; who have let each other down, and perhaps who have accused each other of things they did not really do.
As God has forgiven us, so too will those whom we have hurt and attacked, but with whom we now kneel at the Lord’s altar, forgive us, with the help of their Father in heaven: filled and refreshed as they now are with the body and blood of the Savior and healer of us all.
And in the forgiveness of Christ, the love of Christ returns, and flows through us to one another. One of the post-communion prayers that we use in our order of service speaks to this:
“We give thanks to You, almighty God, that You have refreshed us through these salutary gifts; and, we implore You that of your mercy You would strengthen us through them, in faith toward You, and in fervent love toward one another; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord.”
Sometimes the people we care about and trust, betray that trust. Sometimes the people who care about us, and trust us, are betrayed by us. Such sins push us apart, and pull us apart, all at the same time.
In this fallen world, this can and does happen among friends. In this sin-sick world, this can and does happen within families.
But there is hope in Christ. There is always hope, and a way back, in Christ.
There is hope for healing and reconciliation, under his grace, for those who have been divided from each other by sin. And even when such reconciliation remains elusive and unfulfilled, there is hope in the love and faithfulness of Christ toward us.
He remains as our companion. He helps us to bear our pain and burdens in his strength, and sets our hearts at peace. Psalm 94 comforts us with these words:
“The Lord will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage.” Amen.
14 January 2024 - Epiphany 2 - John 2:1-11
God himself instituted marriage and the human family in the Garden of Eden, when he created Eve from Adam’s rib; and when he then introduced her to him, to be his friend and partner, and the future mother of their children. The institution of marriage did not evolve over the centuries on the basis of human societal needs. It came from God, and is defined by God.
It is not customary for Lutherans to describe marriage as a “sacrament,” since marriage was not instituted for the purpose of conveying forgiveness to us. The act of getting married does not, in itself, bring any special measure of saving grace or eternal blessings into your life.
Marriage is, however, an institution that is intended to bring many temporal, earthly blessings to those who enter it. Yet in this life, the blessings that marriage is intended to convey are not actually experienced by married couples exactly as they are supposed to be, according to God’s original plan.
Not long after our first parents were given to each other in marriage, they fell into sin. And their sin affected their marriage in very direct ways.
Instead of encouraging her husband to remain faithful to God and his Word, and supporting him in that faithfulness, Eve drew Adam away from God’s will and coaxed him to disobey his Lord. Then, instead of taking his proper share of responsibility for his actions, when God called him to account, Adam turned on his wife and blamed her for everything.
Adam and Eve’s harmony with God was broken by their sin. And Adam and Eve’s harmony with each other was likewise broken by their sin.
From that point forward, throughout human history, marriage has been consistently characterized by two things: a married couple’s wish to experience fully the blessings of marriage, as God instituted it; and a married couple’s failure to experience fully the blessings of marriage, because of their sinfulness.
Christians are not immune to these failures. Like everyone else, we do bring into marriage our sincere aspirations for happiness and fulfillment. But also like everyone else, we bring into marriage our sinful nature.
As a result, we disappoint each other with our mutual weaknesses and shortcomings. We hurt each other with our mutual pride and selfishness.
Again, marriage as such is not a sacrament, because marriage does not convey God’s forgiveness and saving grace to those who enter it. But those who do enter it, and who endeavor to live within it, definitely need God’s forgiveness and saving grace for the many mistakes they inevitably make.
The story of the wedding of Cana, from the Gospel of St. John, helps us to understand how God does in fact provide to married couples - and to every member of a family - the kind of forgiveness and grace that they always need.
Jesus was present as a guest at this wedding. The bride and bridegroom who were celebrating the beginning of their life together had wisely invited Jesus to be a part of that celebration.
Indeed, at a deeper level, it is wise to invite Christ to be a guest at every wedding, and to be a continuing part of every marriage and family.
As God in human flesh, Jesus himself is the divine author of marriage, and is the divine guardian and preserver of marriage. And for those couples who, in repentance and faith, invite him to be a continuing part of their relationship, Jesus is also - when he needs to be - the divine restorer of marriage.
When the joy of marriage runs out, and when the rich happiness of mutual love and respect is gone - leaving only a thin and watery cohabitation in its place - Jesus in his gospel miraculously replenishes the wine. He pardons the sins, and renews the love.
And the joy of a renewed love - seasoned by forgiveness mutually- received, and lessons mutually-learned - is often more satisfying and rewarding than the untried and immature love of a new relationship.
As a couple’s marital love is tested and strained, it may break and crumble, if the healing grace of Christ is not mutually sought. But when that grace is sought - when we humble ourselves together before the Lord, admitting our faults and seeking his pardon - then a love that has passed such a test can become a stronger love, and a deeper love.
The wine that Jesus gives us at such times is better than what we had before.
Self-reliance and self-help efforts will not accomplish this. Relying on his own means and provisioning, the bridegroom at Cana - who was responsible for the wedding feast - did not have enough wine for all his guests.
Without divine intervention, that celebration would have been ruined. His lack of preparing adequately for the guests would have caused profound embarrassment, especially because of the heightened importance of such hospitality in that culture.
But Jesus saved this man, and his new wife, from the public disgrace that these shortcomings would otherwise have caused. He filled in all the gaps. He provided everything that was lacking. He covered over all the inadequacies.
And we, too - because of the original sin that we have inherited - are incapable of being everything that we should be, and of doing everything that we should do: not only in our marriages, but in all our relationships and callings. Our best efforts will always come up short. Always.
St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. And it will be that way for as long as our sinful nature clings to us.
But where we fall short, Jesus fills in all the gaps for us. He provides everything that is lacking. He covers over all our inadequacies.
The righteousness that Jesus credits to us through faith - his own perfect righteousness - places the wealth and merit of his obedient life into our otherwise empty account. In his forgiveness Jesus assures us that our relationship with God, strained and threatened by our sin, has been restored, and that God is perfectly at peace with us for his sake.
As the power of this forgiveness then bleeds over also into our human relationships, it makes them better, too. As a reflection and fruit of God’s forgiveness toward us, we forgive others, and in Christ are at peace with them.
In Christ we are at peace with spouse and children, siblings and parents. And with others as well.
Notice also that when Jesus was invited to the wedding at Cana, he did not come alone. His disciples were also invited, and were there. And that’s the way it is in our relationship with Christ.
To be sure, there are some deeply personal aspects to the faith- relationship that we have with our Savior.
Some of our inner struggles and regrets are known only to ourselves and God. Some of the private joys and victories of our faith - over sin, doubt, and fear - will likewise always remain just between us and the Lord.
But as a general principle, the only way to have a genuine relationship with Christ, is to have a genuine relationship with the disciples of Christ - that is, with his church.
St. Paul tells us in his first Epistle to the Corinthians that we were all baptized into the body of Christ; and that we are renewed in our membership in the one body of Christ when we participate sacramentally in the Lord’s body and blood.
“Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
To invite Christ into your life, and into your marriage and family, is to invite his church into your life, and into your marriage and family. And it is to place yourself, and your family, into the fellowship of Christ’s church.
At a minimum, this means that the place for a Christian family to be on the Lord’s day, is in the Lord’s house, among the Lord’s people.
Sometimes, of course, it is not easy for us to get along with other members of the body of Christ, just as other members of the body of Christ sometimes have a hard time getting along with us. Sometimes our fellow Christians test our patience, even as we test theirs.
In the needs and weaknesses of the sinfully-damaged humanity that we all share, we may have an emotionally draining effect on each other. When we all become a part of each other’s lives, in the larger fellowship of the church, we, as it were, drink up each other’s wine - just as the disciples of Jesus did their share of depleting the supply of wine at the wedding in Cana.
But again: Jesus, and the disciples of Jesus, come together as a package deal. You can’t have one without the others. You can’t genuinely invite Jesus into your life and into your relationships, without also being willing to welcome his church into your life and relationships.
As the Psalmist declares, “God settles the solitary in a home.” In your Baptism God gives you a home among his people, imperfect though they may be.
He causes you to become a part of the family to which they belong. He makes them a part of your life. But it’s not all bad. In fact, it’s mostly not bad.
As Christians grow closer to their mutual Lord and Savior, they also grow closer to each other, and in time they become better able to overlook the little irritants that don’t really matter all that much.
They become better able to count on each other, and to draw strength from each other. And especially in the gathering of God’s people around Word and Sacrament - where we pray together, and confess God’s truth together - Christ replenishes our wine.
Through the absolution that his called servant speaks to you in his name, and through the Sacred Supper that his called servant distributes to you in his name, Jesus justifies you with the announcement of his pardon, and covers over your sin with the gift of his righteousness.
He fills in all the gaps that your sin has created. He provides for you everything that is lacking. He graciously makes up for all your inadequacies.
And the work of God’s Word and Spirit continues on, reaching also into the encounters that we have with each other outside the setting of the worship service. We are a family of families, of various configurations: married couples and single people; the grown children of older parents and the grown parents of younger children.
But whatever the circumstances of our home life may be, we are woven together by the gospel into a patchwork of families that care about each other, that help each other, and that speak and sing the Word of God to each other.
God does not do his healing and restoring work in our lives in spite of other Christians, but precisely through them. God brings to you his words of warning and hope, of rebuke and comfort, through the lips of other people.
That’s the way he builds you up in your faith. That’s the way he helps you when you are hurting, or frightened, or lonely.
And for those of you who are married, that’s the way he builds up your marital relationship when it falters. That’s the way he restores your marital love, when the wine runs out.
May the inspired words of today’s Gospel serve to describe not only the events in Cana so many centuries ago, but also the state of the homes and families of each of us today:
“On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding.” Amen.
21 January 2024 - Transfiguration - 2 Peter 1:16-21
The Transfiguration of our Lord was an event in the earthly life of Jesus unlike anything else that had ever happened to him. In more veiled ways, Jesus had, of course, often given evidence of his divine power, by doing extraordinary things, and by performing miracles.
But nothing like the Transfiguration - with its direct and obvious manifestation of divine glory - had ever happened.
From the moment of Jesus’ conception, when the eternal Second Person of the Holy Trinity took to himself a human nature from the virgin Mary, Jesus was always both human and divine. But during his state of humiliation, when Jesus lived as a man among men, the divinity of Jesus was usually hidden beneath the humble form of his humanity.
In the Transfiguration, however - for a very short time - the Lord’s divine glory broke through the cloak of humanity that normally covered it, and became visible to the three disciples who were there.
The various miracles that Jesus had previously performed served as testimonies and confirmations of his Messianic authority, and of his power to forgive sins. Peter and the other apostles had seen those miracles, and had believed in him.
But the Lord’s opponents hadn’t been convinced of anything by his healings and exorcisms. They accused Jesus of sorcery. They claimed that he performed these miracles by the power of Beelzebub - which is another name for the devil.
But a sorcerer would definitely not be able to imitate what happened to Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration! That kind of thing could only have happened to the true Son of God in human flesh.
So, much more so than his various other miracles, the Transfiguration of Christ was able to serve as a testimony and confirmation of his Messianic authority. Peter, James, and John could now be sure - really sure! - that the man they were following was indeed who he claimed to be. They could be certain that their faith in him was not in vain.
And if that were not enough, they also heard the supernatural, booming voice of God the Father, coming from the cloud, identifying Jesus as his beloved Son, and exhorting them to listen to everything that he would tell them.
Note, too, the appearance of Moses and Elijah with Jesus, when the light of his heavenly glory was shining forth. According to his divine nature - even during the years of his earthly ministry - the Son of God was always ruling and sustaining the universe, in his eternal unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
In other words, even when he was visibly on the earth in the form of a humble servant - eating and drinking, sleeping and rising - he was also filling the heavens with his divine power. And he was enjoying the heavenly fellowship of Moses and Elijah, and of all the departed saints, without interruption.
But now, in the Transfiguration, this heavenly fellowship of God and his saints becomes visible to Peter and the others - even if just for a few moments. It was as if a crack in the doorway to heaven opened up, and these disciples were able to peek in and see what it was like.
When Jesus had raised Jairus’s daughter and the son of the widow of Nain, these miracles had served to reassure the apostles that their Master did indeed have power even over death.
Jesus had promised eternal life, and the hope of the resurrection, to those who repented of their sins and believed in him. Anyone who had witnessed these miracles would be able to know that Jesus could keep such a promise.
I suppose, though, that there were skeptics and unbelievers who would have tried to refute those miracles, too. Some of Jesus’ enemies would no doubt have claimed that the people Jesus supposedly raised from the dead weren’t really dead - just unconscious.
But for anyone who had witnessed the Transfiguration, there would be no way to deny the reality of heaven, and the reality of Jesus’ divine authority in heaven.
The appearance of Moses and Elijah would have confirmed to Peter, James, and John, that there is indeed life after death, and that Jesus is indeed able to bestow eternal life on those who trust in him. If they weren’t sure of it before, they were certainly sure of it now!
As we think about all this, we might wish that we could experience something like what the apostles experienced, when they witnessed these things. We might feel this way, because when we compare our religious life to theirs, ours, it would seem, comes up lacking.
We’re not able to see Jesus with our physical eyes. We haven’t seen him walk on water or calm a stormy sea. We haven’t seen him heal anyone, or raise anyone from the dead. And we certainly haven’t seen anything like the Transfiguration.
Instead, in our religious life, we have to settle for the written descriptions of these things that we find in the Bible. We’re not able to see Moses and Elijah with our own eyes. We have to make do with the stories about them that come to us by means of Scripture.
And we don’t hear God speak to us in a booming, audible voice, either. The only way that he speaks to us is - again - through the pages of the Bible, or in liturgical and sacramental contexts where Scripture is being quoted. There’s nothing very exciting about that - at least not when compared with what happened to Peter, James, and John.
And in regard to the Scriptures, we certainly can’t fail to notice how many liberal scholars there are in our day, who spend a lot of time and energy telling everybody that the miracles of the Bible are actually myths; that Jesus, if he existed at all, was not really the Son of God; and that he did not rise bodily from the grave.
In the classrooms of secular universities and apostate seminaries, on television and in popular magazines, the Bible is continually getting sliced and diced; folded, spindled, and mutilated. Sometimes it might be hard to continue to believe in the gospel of Christ, when our sole source of this faith and knowledge is mocked and ridiculed over and over again by people who seem to be smart and well-educated.
But wait! Before we go too far in bemoaning the lack of power and certainty in our spiritual experience, as compared to the spiritual experience of the apostles, let’s listen again to what St. Peter tells us in today’s lesson from his Second Epistle.
We might be tempted to think that the testimony of Scripture provides only a minimally-useful, second-hand kind of assurance for our faith, since it describes - or claims to describe - the experiences that other people have had with God.
We might be tempted to think that our faith would have a much firmer foundation, and that we would be much less prone to doubt, if we ourselves had been present for Jesus’ miracles: and especially if we had been present for the Transfiguration.
But that’s not the way Peter looks at it. He writes in his Second Epistle:
“For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.’ And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Where our translation has Peter say that “we have the prophetic word confirmed,” an alternate and more literal rendering would be, that “We also have the more sure prophetic word.”
In the Transfiguration, Peter, with his own eyes, saw divine glory shining forth from the human face of Jesus. And with his own ears he heard the audible voice of God the Father.
But Peter does not - on this basis - minimize the importance of Holy Scripture as a source of faith and certainty regarding the things of God and of Christ. Instead, he understands the tangible experiences that he and the other disciples had as confirming the greater and more enduring power and authority of Holy Scripture, and as illustrating the true character of Holy Scripture.
The prophetic word of Scripture has a human appearance, since it comes through men, and is expressed in human language. But the prophetic word of Scripture is in fact the voice of God, through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which overrides and overpowers any false human interpretation that skeptics and unbelievers might put on it.
Just as the divinity of Jesus shone forth from his humble human form in the Transfiguration, so too does the divinity of the Bible’s saving message shine forth from the humble human form of the Bible.
Most of the time, while he was on earth, Jesus looked and sounded like an ordinary man. To be sure, he occasionally did extraordinary things. But his opponents were able to explain away his miracles, and to continue to think of him as a mere man whom they thought - or hoped - they could silence.
But he was not a mere man. The Transfiguration showed that he was not a mere man. And the Transfiguration showed that his enemies would not be able to silence him, or the message of salvation that would go forth from him, through his apostles, to all nations.
The unbelieving critics of Holy Scripture think that they are able to explain away the Bible’s fulfilled prophecies, and with a patronizing attitude to dismiss the life-changing effect that the message of Scripture seems to have on so many. They continue to think of the Bible as nothing more than a mishmash of human opinions and human legends.
But the Bible is not merely a collection of fallible and flawed human writings, even though it may look like that to many people on a first glance. St. Peter - who is in a position to know - wants us to understand that the events of the Transfiguration, which show us who Jesus really is, also serve as an enduring illustration of what Holy Scripture really is.
Martin Luther once wrote:
“The Holy Scripture is God’s Word, written and, so to speak, spelled out and pictured in alphabetic letters, just as Christ is the eternal Word of God veiled in humanity.”
Siegbert Becker - a well-known Lutheran theologian in the last century - expanded on this thought:
“For just as Christ is human and divine, so the Scriptures, too, are both human and divine. The words are human words spoken and written by men, but they are also divine words spoken and written by God through human agency. The holy writers were His scribes, His penmen, whom He used to produce the sacred Scriptures.”
The words of Scripture are filled with life - the life of the Holy Spirit who inspired them. They probe us, and convict us of our sins. And then they sooth us, and speak the peace of God’s pardon and reconciliation to our conscience.
God may not be speaking to you today with an audible voice coming out of a cloud. But he is definitely speaking to your mind and heart - through the Scriptures - all the time.
By means of the Bible, with its Christ-centered focus and content, God is bringing clarity, firmness, and certainty to your deepest convictions. He is rejuvenating your faith, shaping your values, and transforming your character.
There is great power in what is written on those sacred pages. There is likewise great power in the inscripturated words that Jesus commands us to speak in conjunction with the administration of his sacraments.
Witnessing the miracles of Jesus, and being present for his Transfiguration, were wonderful privileges that Peter and the other apostles had. The fact that they were eyewitnesses of these things - and of all the other important events in the earthly ministry of Jesus - is what sets them apart as apostles.
But as far as the certainty of saving faith is concerned, the continuing testimony of the “prophetic word” of the Scriptures is able to confirm the Messianic authority of Christ, and his power to forgive sins, more effectively and more deeply than these other experiences ever could.
Regarding the gift of eternal life and the hope of the resurrection, the prophetic word is best able to preserve us in our faith that Jesus is indeed our Savior, and that someday we will be with him in Paradise.
Let’s not sell God short. He has not left us without anything that we need, in order to be saved from our sins, and to be preserved in that salvation, throughout our lives.
If we have a yearning for the kind of experiences that Peter and the other apostles had - with the thought that this would bolster our tottering faith - it only shows that we seriously underestimate the divinely-given power of the divinely-inspired Scriptures that are right here with us all the time.
It’s true, of course, that Peter, James, and John heard the voice of God. But when the message of Scripture is proclaimed to us, and when the words of institution for the sacraments are spoken to us, that’s God’s voice, too.
In the Transfiguration, Peter and the others became very much aware of the fact that Jesus did indeed have a true divine nature, united with the human nature that they had always known about.
And Peter now wants us to look beyond the human nature of the Scriptures - beyond the human writing style and human personality of each of the prophets who penned them - and to see that the Scriptures also have a divine nature: indeed, that they are chiefly a divine revelation.
The heavenly brilliance of the Transfiguration was temporary - like a bright flash that comes and goes quickly. But the Scriptures emit a steady and permanent light from God that never burns out, and that illuminates the pathway of our faith for as long as we live.
The divine light of Scripture is not the kind of light you see with your physical eyes. But that doesn’t mean that God’s Word emits no light.
The Scriptures supernaturally enlighten your soul. As a thoroughly reliable lamp from heaven, they show you the Lord’s ways, and warn you of the dangers that will come if you veer off the safe pathway of Christian truth.
In the prophetic Scriptures, by a miracle of God that is more profound even than the Transfiguration of Christ, we hear things that others can’t hear, and we see things that others can’t see.
In the prophetic Scriptures, which were not written on the basis of any human interpretation, our belief in Christ’s power to forgive and save is miraculously confirmed. In the prophetic Scriptures, which were not produced by the will of any man, we are continually made ready for our heavenly life with God, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in our hearts.
We have a sure prophetic Word By inspiration of the Lord;
And though assailed on every hand, Jehovah’s Word shall ever stand.By powers of empire banned and burned, By pagan pride rejected, spurned,
The Word still stands the Christian’s trust While haughty empires lie in dust.Abiding, steadfast, firm, and sure, The teachings of the Word endure.
Blest he who trusts this steadfast Word; His anchor holds in Christ, the Lord. Amen.
28 January 2023 - Septuagesima - 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Please listen with me to a reading from the tenth chapter of St. Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians, a portion of which we have already heard as our second lesson. We begin at the first verse:
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ. But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness. Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted. And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.” Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
So far our text.
“Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.”
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
Church members are often accused by the non-religious of being judgmental, and of thinking that they are better than other people. Some church members are probably guilty of religious pride, or of looking down on others.
But St. Paul does not give any encouragement to those who may have this kind of smug or superior attitude, by virtue of their membership in a Christian congregation. In fact, he gives a severe warning to them - and to all of us who are likewise outwardly associated with the Christian church.
In many places the Bible does speak a message of condemnation and judgment against the flagrant unbelievers of the world, who do not follow God’s ways, and who also do not make any pretense of following God’s ways. But in today’s text, Paul conveys a divine message of judgment against many who are at least externally associated with God and with God’s people.
By means of his recounting of certain aspects of Old Testament history, Paul gives a serious warning to many who have been baptized, and who have partaken of the Lord’s Supper. With the use of imagery that immediately calls to mind these sacraments of the New Testament era, Paul describes the experiences of the children of Israel in this way:
“Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.”
All of the people of Israel who participated in the Exodus were beneficiaries of God’s special deliverance. They were all, as it were, baptized. And all of them ate and drank of the miraculous nourishment that God provided.
Paul adds, by the way, that it was actually Christ - the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in his pre-incarnate state - who was the divine companion of Israel during its 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. So, there is much similarity between these ancient Hebrews, and those who are sacramentally associated with Christ and his church today.
Now, even though all of the people back then were delivered by God from Egyptian slavery, and even though all of them were brought together to be their own nation, Paul tells us: “But with most of them God was not well pleased.”
Most of them did not remain true to the identify that God had given them in their national baptism, as they passed through the Red Sea. Most of them did not continue as grateful and faithful followers of the God who had faithfully made provision for them - in the manna that fell from the sky and in the water that flowed from the rock.
Instead, they rebelled against God: in their hearts and in their outward actions. They turned away from him. And so he turned away from them, and judged them.
They were judged and punished as unbelievers and as haters of God, because in their hearts that’s what they had become - even though they were still outwardly associated with the community of God’s people; and even though they had previously been recipients of God’s favor and blessing. When they became unbelievers, on the inside, that past reality didn’t matter any more.
Paul gives a few examples of what it is that they did to bring God’s wrath down upon themselves. But what Paul says does not pertain only to these people, and it does not merely satisfy a historical curiosity we may have about what happened back then. What he writes, he writes for us, as a warning to us:
“Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.”
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.”
What kind of faith-destroying sins did the Israelites fall into - even though they were, in effect, baptized and confirmed members of the church? Paul tells us:
“Do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play.’ Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell; nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents; nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.”
The idolatry example is a reference to the incident with the Golden Calf. But we need to take note of the fact that the people sincerely thought that the Golden Calf represented the Lord Jehovah, who had brought them up out of Egypt.
Or at least this is what was suggested to the people by Aaron, the misguided brother of Moses. In the Book of Exodus, we read:
“Aaron...built an altar before it. And Aaron made proclamation and said, ‘Tomorrow shall be a feast to the Lord.’ And they rose up early the next day and offered burnt offerings and brought peace offerings. And the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.”
For their supposed worship of the Lord on this occasion, the Israelites borrowed some of the cultic practices with which they had been familiar in Egypt. Employing these familiar and “culturally-relevant” religious usages would allow them to feel comfortable in their worship. Or at least that’s what they presumed to think.
They also thought that their worship on this occasion should be fun and entertaining, not sober and serious. They “rose up to play,” as the text tells us.
What we have here is an early example of an extreme form of “contemporary” worship, which was based on what the people were familiar with, and on what they already liked to do in their life in this world. But God didn’t like it at all. He called it idolatry.
Faithful worship is not just a matter of saying that we are worshiping God, regardless of what we are actually doing. Faithful worship is a matter of listening to what God wants to say to us, in his message of law and gospel, as that message comes to us in sermon and song, in readings and rituals.
And faithful worship is then a matter of responding to him in prayers of petition, praise, and thanksgiving that his Word has shaped in us, and taught to us.
Faithful worship does not involve “rising up to play,” in fulfillment of a misplaced craving for fun and entertainment in church. Faithful worship does not involve telling God what we think in our arrogance, or what we want in our selfishness, without first listening to him.
St. Paul exhorts us in his Epistle to the Colossians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
God will punish idolatrous worship that does not focus on the Word of Christ, flow from the Word of Christ, or exhibit a proper reverence for the Word of Christ.
But the list of offenses committed in the wilderness does not end with Paul’s condemnation of the idolatry of the Israelites. Paul also mentions the sexual immorality in which many of the Israelite men on one occasion indulged, with the women of Moab.
These men knew better. They had their own wives at home, whom God had given to them as their legitimate companions. And if they were still single, God would have given them godly wives from among their own people, with whom they could have been honorably married.
We shouldn’t think that it is only our generation that has been supposedly “liberated” from “sexual repression.” There have been plenty of epochs in human history, when people did as they pleased: without moral restraint and without personal discipline; without respect for those who are lustfully used and exploited, and without self-respect.
There have been plenty of epochs in human history, when people thereby called down upon themselves the judgment of a God who forbids adultery and everything associated with adultery.
And notice what else is on the list. Some of the Israelites were grumblers - chronic complainers about Moses and his leadership.
That doesn’t seem so bad - at least not when compared to idolatry and sexual immorality. But Paul thought so. And so did God. He punished it with death.
To grumble against God’s called servants, as they faithfully teach and apply God’s Word, is to grumble against God himself. To grumble against the church, and against the people in the church who are doing the best they can to serve the Lord - even with their human weaknesses - is to insult the Savior who loves the church as his beloved bride.
All of these things - the false worship, the adultery, the grumbling - are evidence of spiritual hardness and hypocrisy. All of these things are evidence of a heart that is turning away from the Lord, if it has not already turned away completely.
And this is still the case, even when the body is still in church, going through the motions of church. All of these things invite God’s judgment.
You cannot take refuge from this divine judgment in the false security of your outward church membership. You cannot deflect away from yourself the condemnation of God’s law through the recollection of your baptism and confirmation as external events of the past, if your baptism and confirmation are no longer a living reality in your life.
The Israelites who were on the receiving end of God’s punishment were all a part of God’s people, externally. They had been delivered from slavery with the rest, and were being led through the wilderness like the rest.
But in their hearts they had come to desire that which was evil, and not that which was good and pure. And so they were cut off.
You, too, will be cut off, if you also desire evil, and if you set your heart on that which is ungodly and wrong, and not on that which God’s Word gives and teaches.
You will cease to be a part of his church in the true, inner sense - even if you keep up your outward membership. You will cease to be under God’s protection and guidance.
You will be placed instead under his wrath, together with everyone else who is without God: in the company of honest atheists, who have no pretenses about God and faith; and in the company of dishonest religious people, who do have such pretenses.
Is there hope for us, in the midst of these temptations, and in the midst of these struggles? Is there hope for us, if we have sinned against the Lord, by a false faith; if we have sinned against the spouse whom the Lord has given us, and against our own body; if we have sinned against the Lord’s ministers, and the Lord’s people?
Yes, there is hope! There is a way to be renewed in our baptism, and to be reconfirmed in our confirmation. There is a way to remain as a part of God’s true church - inside and out.
St. Paul says in today’s text: “God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”
Jesus is your way of escape. Jesus is your hope. He is able to lead you through the temptations that surround you, and to guard your soul from those temptations, as he instructs your conscience and bolsters your faith.
If you have succumbed to the temptations, and fallen into sin, he is able to lift you out, cleanse you, and restore you by his forgiveness. And if your heart has been hardened, and stained with sin, he is able to create in you a clean heart, and to renew a right spirit within you.
God was indeed displeased with most of the Israelites during the Exodus. But he was not displeased with all of them. Those who remained with him - not only physically, but also in their hearts and minds - remained under his grace, and were pleasing to him.
These were the ones who honestly repented of their sins when the law was preached to them. These were the ones who believed the Lord’s word of forgiveness and pardon - pictured for them especially in the tabernacle sacrifices that were carried out on their behalf, according to the Lord’s institution.
These were the ones who then sought, with God’s help, to walk in his ways, as the fruit of their faith.
In the institutional church of today, there are also many with whom the Lord is still pleased - in whom he delights utterly. He is not pleased with them in this way because they have no sin. All have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God.
No. God is pleased with the people with whom he is pleased, because when they do sin, they call out to him in repentance, acknowledging their sin. In humility they turn away from sin. They don’t turn away from God.
And God forgives them, and pardons them, because the blood of Christ, shed for them in the supreme sacrifice of Calvary, has covered over their sins. The righteousness of Christ is credited to them by faith, so that they stand before God pure and innocent, even as Christ their Savior is pure and innocent.
This is our hope, when we become aware of our hypocrisies and inconsistencies - and when we are brought to conviction regarding our flagrant offenses, too - and are troubled in our conscience by these failures. Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, and who therefore also takes away our sin.
When you in faith receive the forgiveness that he brings, the fear of God’s judgment - which you otherwise have earned - is taken from you. And the peace of Christ - a peace that the world cannot give, but that God’s Son does freely and fully give - is bestowed on you in its place.
You can know that you, personally, are among those who are pleasing to God, for Christ’s sake, and not displeasing to him. You can know this, because in St. John’s Gospel, Jesus makes these promises to you:
“This is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” “Whoever comes to me I will never cast out.”
In our congregation, the Lord’s Supper is available on every Lord’s Day, in one form or another. In that sacrament, God nurtures you with the more deeply satisfying “spiritual food” of his Son’s true body, and with the more wonderful “spiritual drink” of his Son’s true blood.
The physical act of receiving Christ’s body and blood in the sacrament, in and of itself, is not a guarantee that you, in your heart, are really a part of God’s true church. That’s why Scripture gives us warnings about communing in an unworthy manner, and the judgment that comes with that.
But when you receive this sacrament with a humble and penitent heart that trusts in the Lamb of God, who has taken away your sin, you will receive the sacrament in peace - as Jesus grants you his peace. And you will live, and someday die, in that peace, and not under God’s judgment.
“Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.”
“Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come.” Amen.