Choice, choice is really a wonderful thing isn't it. We can rejoice in the many and highly varied choices that are gifts of our good and gracious heavenly Father to us. In the world today we have choices that we can make in our everyday lives that would have been mind boggling to our ancestors just a few generations before. Also, in this country, we are blessed with choices that would astound people in many other countries around the world. All we have to do is walk into a grocery store and look at just the choices we have of breakfast cereals; we have more choice in just breakfast cereals than many people in the world have of basic food to eat on a daily basis. But in the cars we drive, the homes we live in the food we eat, the person we would marry, the entertainment we enjoy, the church we will attend, and even, at least so it would seem, the god we will serve; or whether we will serve any god at all. Now the last part of this statement may surprise you; but just look around, doesn't the world tell us that even in matters of religion and god we have many choices.

Then too, there are Christian denominations that firmly believe that they are the ones who have sought out and finally chosen to give their hearts to Jesus, to ask Jesus to come into their hearts; they firmly believe that they deserve the credit for making the decision, the choice to follow Jesus. They would tell you that they are the seekers who have reached their goal at last. This type of belief can be seen in songs such as "I have decided to follow Jesus." If you look at the words of this song you really see almost nothing about Jesus and what He has done for all of us at the Cross in His suffering and death for our sins; but what you do see are many "I" s and "me"s there. Listen to the first line from each stanza: "I have decided to follow Jesus" - "Though I may wander, I still will follow" - "The world behind me, the cross before me" - Though none go with me, I still will follow." Yes, the cross and Jesus are given honorable mention, but I and me are given the first and prominent placement. My choice and my decision are glorified. Now having said this; being a redeemed and forgiven child of God who has been washed clean by the blood of Jesus Christ shed at the Cross for sinners is God the Fathers desire and it is His will. God has chosen us for salvation in and through His Son Jesus Christ. But again, what exactly does that mean?

God through His Word tells us. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation." Then the apostle John writes in 1 John 2:2, "He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world." These verses and many more repudiate the idea the Christ suffered and died only for a select few. No, in Christ God chose all people to be saved and to be brought into His kingdom.

But then doesn't that imply that we also are left to make a choice? Doesn't that say that we as human beings must decide to believe or not to believe; that we have to choose to follow Jesus, or that we indeed CAN choose to follow Jesus? We see in our text that Jesus tells the disciples in verse sixteen, "You did not choose me, but I chose you." There are times when Jesus' words were meant as instructions for His disciples alone but these words apply to us and all people just as much as they applied to the disciples. We do not choose Jesus, He has chosen us. In Ephesians 2:1-2 St. Paul writes, "And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience." That is the default choice that all human beings make, the choice of following the course of the world and the twisting winds of popular culture and opinion wholly disregarding the Word and commands of the one true God. All of us were once also dead in our sins and we needed to be rescued; brought back to life. A person who has died can do nothing for themselves. They can make no choices and they certainly cannot bring themselves back to life. Those who are dead in their sins are still under the control of their sinful natures and are slaves to sin and cannot free themselves, they must be freed.

The only choice we can make as sinners is to resist and reject God's most loving and gracious gift of life and freedom that He as to give to us. We see only too well the choices that sinful human beings make on their own everyday; and we also see in ourselves the struggle that we face on a daily basis with our own sinful nature that struggles against the new man within us. We know that we also fall prey to sin each and everyday as we choose to gossip against our neighbor, to tell those little while lies that we just know won't hurt anyone, to maybe take a bit more lunch or break time at work than we are entitled to because after all the boss will never find out, or we decide that that day is just to wonderful to waste on sitting in church for an hour or two for Sunday School or Divine Service and we do not give thanks and praise to the one who blessed us with the gift of that beautiful day and the ability to enjoy it.

Those are the choices that we make, we do not choose to follow Jesus but God has chosen all of us and He has given us His Word and sent us the Holy Spirit to bring us into the faith, to carry us into His family and to receive the benefits earned by His Son our Savior Jesus Christ who paid the price for our sins. In Ephesians 2:8-9 Paul writes, "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. If you say that following or believing in Jesus as your Savior was your choice you are denying those verses. Making a choice to do something is a work; God did all the work when it came to our salvation, God make the choice, God chose to save the whole world through the suffering, death, and glorious resurrection of Jesus and to send the Holy Spirit to bring and keep us in this saving faith.

Way back in 1914 President Woodrow Wilson officially declared that this day, the second Sunday in May would be Mother's Day. We continue to celebrate with joy and thanks to God for this gift that He has chosen to give to us; the gift of our mothers. Make no mistake, mothers are indeed a gift from God and they reflect God's love and care for us in the love they show for their children. But even our mothers, as wonderful as they are also need God's love and forgiveness because even our mother's do not love perfectly as God has commanded us all to do; even mothers at times make poor choices and fall into sin.

But praise and thanks be to God that He has kept His promise of sending a Savior into the world who would rescue us from our sins and the evil choices we make. God choose to love us and buy us back to Himself. God choose to turn us from enemies to friends, from servants to children of the household, heirs of the promise; and as we come to Him in contrition and repentance and faith imploring Him to forgive us for those sins we continue to choose He chooses to love and forgive us for the sake of Jesus His Son our risen Savior and Lord. I am thankful that God made the choice. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Fifth Sunday of Easter - May 6, 2012

Last Sunday we looked at 1 John chapter 3 where John tells us in verse 23 that the commandment of God is to "believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another." We talked a length about the first part of that commandment but really did not touch on the second part very much at all. But now in the epistle reading for this Sunday John we see that John continues to talk about love. John talks about God's great love for His creation, His people, and just how He had expressed this love to all of us. In fact this section of 1 John has been given the sub-title of "God is Love" taken from verse eight which has just been read that makes that very statement. John writes that God is love. Here again in our text after he tells us that God has shown His love for us and that He has shown it in a most particular and stunning way; he then tells us that since this is so, we "ought to love one another."

Doesn't that sound so very easy? We are told to love one another. But just how easy is it? Is it really easy for us to love one another? Remember this instruction does not mean that we are to only love our family, our friends, and the members of our church that we see on Sundays or at other church functions.

This is also not even an admonition for us to love everyone who has loved us first; although maybe by some stretch we might be able to mistakenly believe that. No, when John writes that we are to love one another because of, and in response to, the great, overwhelming, and undeserved love that God has shown to us and it doesn't matter whether they love us or not. Because again we must remember that we love God only because He has loved us first and He has shown this great love that He has for us in that He sent His one and only Son Jesus Christ to suffer and die because of and for us. We were still enemies of God and yet He loved us anyway. He certainly shows His love and care for us by providing all that we need to sustain us on a daily basis; and He does this for all people whether they believe in Him or not. Jesus Himself tells us in Matthew 5:45 that God, "Makes His sun shine on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust."

But even more important than how God showed His love for us by His provision of our earthly and temporal needs is His provision for our spiritual and eternal needs. What greater need do we and do all people have than to be forgiven of our sins. What is more important than for our heavenly Father to show His great love for us than through His actions that bring us back into a right relationship with Him? Verse ten of our text tells us that, "He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." To propitiate, to be propitiation is to be one who appeases or conciliates an offended power. Make no mistake, our sins have offended God, our sins have angered God. Many people look at out reading this morning, especially where it says that "God is love" and come away with the mistaken idea that God will sweep all sins under the proverbial rug and that because of His love could never send people to hell. This belief does not take into account the fact that yes, God is love, but that God is also holy, that God hates sin, and that He is just. God's justice and His holiness demand that sin be paid for, that propitiation be made. It is because of His love for us that God takes care of this Himself. But yet because of sin people throw God's love back into His face as they reject and refuse to believe in the one whom He has sent to be that sacrifice, that propitiation for their sins, His one and only Son Jesus Christ.

We sinful humans spend a lot of time thinking about, writing about, and even singing about love. We even tell ourselves that we know what it is. We tell ourselves that we are capable of loving God when in reality we can not even love our brothers and sisters. We show by our sins that we can not, on our own, love God as we should. We show by our sins against one another, which are in reality sins against God, that in our present state that is impossible for us. We show that we do not love God completely by our failure to love our neighbors and to love our enemies. In fact we see evidence of this even in that closest of human bonds, the bond of marriage where God tells us that the two become one flesh. Husbands and wives mistreat one another and love themselves and look after their own wants and interests before the needs and interests of their spouse. But again we need to remember that John is not telling us that this is what saves us. John is not writing this to us so that by our doing this command we might earn forgiveness and eternal life. Our forgiveness and eternal life have already been paid for. The suffering and death of Christ, God's Son has paid the debt of our sins, our loveless ness in full. Christ has taken the anger and wrath of God that our sins had earned for us unto Himself so that because of His sacrifice we might fully and completely enjoy God's love. So, it is also only by the power of God that we love Him and that we love one another.

In verse seven of the epistle reading John says, "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." Jesus told Nicodemus that in order to see the Kingdom of God that a person had to be born again. In John 3:5 Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God." We are born again through the power of the Holy Spirit who works through the waters of Baptism and God's Word. We are enabled to love God and one another as we are brought into God's family as redeemed children of God.

Today is confirmation Sunday here at Hope. We have a young lady, Yesenia Estrada who after receiving instruction in the Christian faith will shortly confess and confirm the faith that she received at her Baptism. Yesenia, you heard over the course of this instruction of God's great love for all people and for you in particular. It is so very important that you and of course all of us recognizes that God loves each of us individually and calls us each by name. You heard of God's love for you and for all people that was shown in and through the sacrifice that Jesus His Son made for us at the Cross. But today is not an ending, it is not even a beginning, it is just a continuation of your walk of faith in your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ as daily you continue to remember the love He has for you even as the devil tries to throw your sins at you; you remember that through your Baptism you received the Holy Spirit and you were made God's child. Now you will continue to remember God's love for you as you receive the Body and Blood of your Savior in with and under the bread and wine as you come to His table. All of us here today pray for you as you continue to walk with us in the love of our Savior and as we serve Him by our service to and love for one another.

Yes, because God showed His love for us in the sacrifice of His Son Jesus for our sins we now can love Him and love one another. This is a grateful response to Him for the great gift of forgiveness of sins and eternal life that we enjoy in Jesus name. God is love and what wondrous love it is that He loves us so much that He teaches us what love really is and that He gives us the ability to love Him and one another as we are made forgiven and redeemed Children for Jesus sake. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Fourth Sunday of Easter - April 29, 2012

Policies, procedures, regulations, rules, and laws; we are surrounded by them; we are to some extent almost drowning in them in every area of our lives. We have rules to follow in our jobs. There are rules to follow using items in our homes. We have to follow traffic laws. We have just passed one deadline that almost no one looks forward to regarding tax law. We have just recently passed tax filing day. We have all heard stories about the Internal Revenue Service or IRS. We all know that the IRS is one government agency that you had better not cross. If you break the tax laws you can bet that the IRS will come after you.

Now we know that laws are good for the smooth operation of society. Really, can any of us imagine a society, a world without any laws at all? I can't. A world without any laws, without any commandments would be an unbelievably chaotic place. A world without any laws or commandments would be not only chaotic but it would be a very dangerous place as well. I would not want to live in a society, in a world where anyone was free to do whatever he or she wanted to do without any restriction or fear of punishment. I would guess that this is a belief that even the most idealistic person among us would share. We live in a would that is dangerous enough with laws.

Did you ever ask yourself why this is? Why, even with all of the laws, all of the commandments that we have, we live in a world that is very dangerous. In fact you can say that we live in a world in which we are surrounded by evil. The apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:8, "Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." Even with all of our laws, all of the commandments out there that regulate our lives we face this danger. It was this way from the very beginning. Adam and Eve had only one commandment from God and we see it Genesis 2:16-17, "And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, 'You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'" Now we all know what happened, the devil came and tempted them and threw in what looked like a loophole in the law. But this was not a loophole. This was the entrance to the tomb of sin and death and all of mankind ever since have been trapped there, helpless. But God stepped in; God would not leave us in this condition without any hope. God promised a Savior who would defeat sin and death and our enemy the devil. Our heavenly Father has kept this promise. He has sent His Son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and He had indeed done all of those things and He has done them for us. He has done them so that we might be freed from slavery to sin and the law and be under the freedom of God's grace and the Gospel; forgiven of our sins in and through the broken body and shed blood of Jesus.

But still the number of laws, of commandments has increased because Satan is still out their doing his best to continue to deceive us with the idea that the commandments of God are what is evil and that breaking them will not lead to death. The number of laws that have been needed for the orderly operation of society and to try and protect us has gone through the roof. But just as with Adam and Eve in the garden it seems that as soon as a law is passed or a commandment is put into effect our sinful human nature instantly tries to convince us that we are justified in breaking it; we go about searching for a way around it, we look for a loophole. The devil, the world, and our own sinful nature tell us we can justify ourselves and we are convinced that we are good people who do the best that we can, it is the law that really is the problem, it is the law, the commandments of God that are at issue here and not us.

Well, St. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7:13-14 and this is what Paul says concerning the law, "Did that which is good, then, bring death in me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin." So you see it is not God's laws, God's commandments that are the problem. The problem lies with us, with our sinful flesh. The sinful nature that tries to push the law as far as we can trying to get around it and find a loophole or even worse we try to justify ourselves to God by it.

Jesus laid all of this to rest in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew chapter 5 when He spoke of sins such as anger and of lust. Jesus told us that anyone who looked at another with lust had already committed adultery in their hearts and anyone who had been angry with another has already murdered them in their hearts. Jesus told the lawyer who tried to test him that everyone was his neighbor as He told the parable of the Good Samaritan. Even with Peter who tried to justify himself through the law and asked Jesus how many times he had to forgive someone who sinned against him. Peter thought he was going over and above the law with seven times, while the law specified only three. Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 18 that he was to forgive them "seventy times seven."

Yes, we struggle with the laws and the commandments. On the one hand we see that they are good and for our benefit but our sinful flesh continuously seek a loophole. God's laws and commandments do not save us; we can never be justified through the law. The law serves to show us our sinfulness and our need for a Savior who is Christ. Luther tells us that the law always accuses. Paul writes in Galatians 3:10, "For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, 'Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law and do them.'" So it is clear that if our salvation depends on our obedience to the law then we are lost because we can not possibly do it.

But in our text this morning we see a commandment that can and does save us. John writes, "And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us." In John 6 when the people asked Jesus what they had to do to do the works of God Jesus answered, "This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He has sent. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ obeyed the Law perfectly for us without looking for loopholes or ways around it. Then He became sin for us as He took our sins upon Himself and washed them away with His blood.

There is no loophole around the commandment that John gives here in our text that we believe in Jesus. We are told in Acts 4:12, "And there is salvation in NO ONE ELSE, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

There is clearly no loophole present there. But this is not an oppressive command it is a joyous and love filled announcement of freedom from death, from the devil, and from our sins. There is no rule or regulation that will save us or free us. But we are freed from all of the things that bind us because of the gift of faith we have been given; the gift of faith in Christ who obeyed every commandment but as the Gospel reading says laid down His life for us His wayward sheep. We praise and thank our heavenly Father that we are called to faith by the Gospel of Christ and His Holy Spirit gives us the power to obey this most critical, joyful and easiest of commandments, "believe in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved!" Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Third Sunday of Easter - April 22, 2012

Around 1875 a woman by the name of Fanny J. Crosby wrote the hymn, "To God Be the Glory." This hymn is not in the Lutheran Service Book so for those of you who are not familiar with it I will read the first stanza and the refrain. "To God be the glory, great things He hath done! So loved He the world that He gave us His Son, who yielded His life an atonement for sin, and opened the life-gate that all may go in. Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the earth hear His voice! Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, let the people rejoice! O come to the Father thru Jesus the Son, and give Him the glory, great things He hath done."

I remember singing that hymn many times as I was growing up and as I was looking at the reading from Acts for today I actually found myself singing the refrain in my mind and was also asking the question, "What does it mean that Jesus was glorified and what does it mean for us to give God the glory? Then of course some people would ask the question, "Why does God deserve or need glory from us?

Well, of course Jesus does not need our praise or any glory from us. We know that in fact God needs nothing from us. Jesus, speaking to the Jews in John 5:40-44 said, "Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people. But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?" Aren't we so very quick to give glory and praise to anyone or anything other than God? Aren't we so quick also to give credit to anyone else other than God or worse yet to claim the credit, the glory and honor for ourselves?

Look at our text and then keep in mind Jesus' words that we heard from John 5. Peter and John were in Solomon's Portico after having been used by God to heal the lame beggar. We find the words that Peter used when the man was healed in Acts 3:6, "In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" The man was healed in the name of Jesus and by Jesus not by Peter or by John.

We too, you and I and all people as also healed in the name of Jesus and by Jesus. We were suffering from the disease of sin and were doomed to die from this dread disease. 1 Peter 2:24 says, "He Himself bore our sins in His body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed." Peter in Acts 4:12 said of Jesus, "And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Is there any doubt that at the very least it is because of this that God deserves our praise, thanks, and glory because of the forgiveness and healing from sin that we have received for Jesus' sake?

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ received glory and was glorified in the most unlikely of places. Jesus Himself acknowledged this fact. In John 13:31-32 Jesus says, "Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in Him. If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself, and glorify Him at once." Jesus said this on Maundy Thursday evening just a short time before He was betrayed and handed over to suffer and die. Jesus saw His suffering and death on our behalf as the moment of His glory. The Father's plan of salvation for the world was about to come to fruition. Jesus, by His suffering and death was about to inflict a defeat on sin and the devil that would be decisive and permanent. Then by raising Jesus from the dead the Father glorifies His Son and shows that He approves and accepts the sacrifice that He has made on behalf of sinners so that they might not die but receive forgiveness and life in His name.

But yet even in the face of this most precious gift many refuse to give God the glory, many refuse to glorify Jesus and praise and thank Him for the life that He has given. Many seek to glorify themselves don't they? Instead of glorifying God for His creation the world would like us to believe that all that we see came about through a series of fortunate accidents. Instead of honoring God gift of marriage as God has given it to us many want us to believe that marriage is anything that we say that it is. Instead of praising and thanking God for the gift of this physical life that He has given to us and honoring and protecting the most vulnerable among us; the world would like us to believe and accept that we can end the lives of those who are "unwanted" or who are no longer considered useful. Or instead of giving praise and glory to the one true God many would like use to believe and accept that there are many ways to heaven, many paths that will allow access to God.

But make no mistake; God will not share the glory that is His and His alone with anyone or anything else. Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols." Then again in Isaiah 48:11 the Lord says, "My glory I will not give to another." These words are clear and they are unmistakable aren't they? They give us pause when we even try and consider that we may be able to contribute to our own salvation or that we might be able to earn our Lord's forgiveness outside of the full and complete grace that we receive in and through Jesus Christ. When we believe that we work with Jesus and contribute to our salvation we glorify ourselves and we dishonor our Lord just as much as when we break God's commandments.

It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit who comes to us in God's Word and in the waters of Baptism and when we receive Christ's body and blood in His Holy Supper that faith is created, strengthened and renewed within us. As we believe, teach, and confess if we are lost it is our fault, we alone are to blame; but if we are saved God alone receives the glory.

Peter told the crowds who gathered around him and John that day not to look to them and be amazed over what they had just witnessed because it was Jesus that deserved the praise and the glory for the healing of the lame beggar. But then Peter goes on to deliver an even more important message to the crowd. In verses 18-20 he tells them, "But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus."

Yes, to God be the glory because great things He has done for us and the world as He glorified His Son our Savior Jesus through His suffering, death, and resurrection on that first Easter morning. Jesus is glorified and the Father is glorified through the Son as He showers His grace upon us and we are forgiven of all of our sins no matter how big or no matter how small. Jesus is glorified. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The Second Sunday of Easter - April 15, 2012

Living in Missouri we all certainly know that Missouri is known as "The Show Me State." This slogan appears on our license plates. We have the "Show Me State Games." However, although these things are true you may be surprised to learn that the slogan is not official. The best known story concerning where this slogan originated gives credit to the state's U.S. Congressman Willard Duncan Vandiver. Vandiver served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1897 to 1903. While serving on the Committee on Naval affairs he attended an 1899 naval banquet in Philadelphia. In his speech there he said, "I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me."

That statement kind of implies that yes, in fact, seeing is believing doesn't it? Our text this morning also says a little something about that as well. The risen Lord had appeared to the disciple, minus Thomas, and when Thomas returned and was told that Jesus was risen and alive he said that he would not believe it until he saw it for himself. Not only that but just seeing wasn't going to be enough either. Remember Thomas told the other disciples, "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side, I will never believe." Wow, to me that statement is just incredible. Thomas has around him all of the other disciples who he had been with, walking with Jesus for about the past three years. He had been learning and hearing along with the rest of them Jesus' words that the Son of Man must suffer, die and rise again on the third day. Jesus told them that He would not be bringing about an earthly kingdom but instead He would as He tells them in Matthew 20:28 "give His life as a ransom for many."

This ransom that Jesus was giving His life for was required because of the people's sins, because of our sins, your sins and my sins. What kind of sins might these be? Well, I guess any and all sins that you could possibly think of. Let's look at a list of sins that St. Paul writes in Colossians 3:5-8, "Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth." Just looking at this list should make us all realize that none of us can be smug and self satisfied because none of us can say we haven't been and are not still guilty of these sins Paul lists for us. We are all sinners and all in desperate need of the forgiveness Jesus earned for us at the cross. When we hurt or harm and sin against one another we try our best to earn the forgiveness of the one who we have hurt or harmed. Maybe we by our wife flowers or we make our husband his favorite dinner; we try and work ourselves back into the other's good graces. That is the logical thing to do. That is what our reason tells us that we should do. We tell ourselves that if the other person sees that we are sorry and they see that we are trying to make amends they will believe it and accept our efforts and apology. But that doesn't work with God. We cannot work our way back into God's good graces. We cannot work to earn our Heavenly Father's forgiveness; even if that goes against what our reason tells us.

Thomas was using his human reason the day he told his fellow disciples that unless he saw and touched Jesus he would not believe that He had risen. Thomas would not even allow the testimony of these men that he knew and trusted to over ride what his reason told him that must be so. Just think about what Abraham told the rich man from Jesus' parable of the rich man and Lazarus. The rich man asked Abraham to send Lazarus to his five brothers so they would not end up where he was. Abraham told him in Luke 16:31, "If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead." Their reason would work against it. Seeing would not be believing. I even wonder if the people at the cross who mocked Jesus and called for Him to come down off the cross and then they would believe, I wonder if even after seeing this, would they have believed.

Thomas, along with many others saw Jesus heal the sick, drive out demons, calm storms, feed thousands and even raise other people from the dead. Certainly those things went against human reason as well but many saw and believed but now Jesus Himself is raised from the dead and Thomas refuses to believe; he must not only see but must touch and feel as well.

St. Paul tells us about the folly of relying on human wisdom or reason. We read in 1 Corinthians 2:12-14, "Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual. The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned." This goes right along with what Jesus Himself had told to Peter after he confessed Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus told Peter that this did not come to him from flesh and blood but from the Father in heaven. Natural human reason did not give this to Peter.

Jesus blessed Thomas and He appeared again in the same place to all of the disciples again, this time with Thomas there. Jesus showed Himself to him and allowed him to touch His hands and His side and Thomas believed. Jesus then said to him in verse 29 of our text, "Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." Brothers and sisters in Christ we can give praise and thanks to God that there have been many, many people who have not seen but have believed; you and I included. But how can this be so what is the source of this belief, is it us? No!

We believe in Christ and His atoning work for us for the forgiveness of our sins through the power of the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament and this is contrary to human wisdom and reason. Luther tells us in the explanation to the Third Article of the Apostle's Creed; "I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith." We may not have seen Jesus' miracles but we have His inspired Word. John tells us in verse 31 of our text, "But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name. And yes, this is by the power of the Holy Spirit creating and preserving faith within us as a most precious gift so we are empowered to believe. No, seeing is not necessarily believing, but praise God that we do not have to see Him to believe; but because we do believe one day we will see Him. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

Easter Sunday - The Resurrection of Our Lord! - April 8, 2012

He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! It truly is a glorious day, a day to remember and to celebrate because if it were not for this day when our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead we would have no reason to be here. As St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:14, "And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain." But Christ has been raised and we have eyewitness testimony to the fact so our preaching and our faith are not in vain and our hope and our joy rest on the firm foundation of Christ and the forgiveness of sins that we receive in His name.

But that first Easter morning it did not look at all hopeful. In fact the women and the disciples had resigned themselves to the fact that Jesus was dead. The women and at least one of the disciples had seen Him die and the Roman centurion gave testimony to the fact that Jesus had died. The disciples and these women who had witnessed His death and were now approaching the tomb still did not understand what had happened. Even though Jesus had told them time and time again that He was going to suffer and die for the world's sins and then rise after three days they still did not understand. As these women approached the tomb we know what they expected to see by the question that they asked one another. In verse three they ask one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" They came to the tomb with spices to finish the preparations of Jesus' body for final burial. Now their only thought was how they would get in to prepare the body because the stone at the entrance, as we see in verse four, "was very large." But instead they come upon the tomb and the stone, which they saw as an insurmountable obstacle for them was rolled away. The stone had been dealt with and was no longer a worry for them. We see the angel tell them not to be afraid and that they seek Jesus, who was crucified; but He is risen! The angel tells them they will see Jesus in Galilee, just as He had told them they would. Now our text tells us that they flee from the tomb with trembling and astonishment and that they were afraid. The resurrection account given to us in Matthew 28 adds another detail. Matthew tells us that although they were afraid they were also filled with great joy. They were expecting to see death, but instead are told that the Jesus that they are looking for is not dead but He is alive and He is risen! The obstacle of the great stone blocking their entrance into the tomb is quickly forgotten.

There is another great obstacle. This is an obstacle that is even more daunting than a stone, even one that is very large. This great obstacle is of course our sins. They may not always seem like that big of a deal. They certainly do not always seem to us to be even an obstacle like that very large stone, but it is. Our sins keep us from God. Our sins keep us from life itself because our sins bring us only death. Remember the prophet Isaiah's words when he encountered God in His temple. In Isaiah 6:5 he cries out, "Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!" Isaiah understood perfectly well that his sinfulness separates him from a Holy God and that he expects to die. But this great obstacle of Isaiah's sin is taken care of. The burning coal from the altar is touched to his lips and the seraph says in verse seven, "Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for." The huge stone of Isaiah's sin and guilt was removed, and not by Isaiah, because he was helpless and could do nothing about it himself.

St Paul in Romans chapter seven realizes the great obstacle that the stone of sin is and he also cries out for someone to rescue him. Paul cries out for someone to remove that very large stone that weighs him, and all other people, down. Paul knows that he is helpless to do it himself and he makes the plea in verse 24, "Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?" You can almost hear the plea of the women in Paul's question as the women ask, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Just as the stone had been rolled away from the tomb so had St. Paul and all of us been delivered from these bodies of death by Christ's bitter suffering and death and then His glorious resurrection that we joyously celebrate today.

The women going to the tomb that first Easter morning were thinking that they had to have someone roll the stone away from the tomb's entrance so that they might go in and prepare Jesus. But the stone was already rolled away and Jesus was not there. But the stone had not been rolled away so that Jesus could escape from the grave. No, Jesus, in his glorified resurrection body had no concerns about such physical restraints. Remember how He appears to the disciples in the locked upper room. The stone was rolled away for the benefit of the women and the disciples, not so they could prepare Jesus for the grave but so that they could see that the tomb was empty and that Jesus, the Savior, was not there that Jesus had risen! Also, just as it was for them, the stone was rolled away for our benefit as well. We can read the accounts of the eyewitnesses to Jesus' resurrection and rejoice along with them not just on Easter but each and everyday as we consider the blessings that are ours in and through our risen and Lord and Savior.

Because of sin we were trapped in a tomb. As I said, Jesus did not need the stone rolled away so He could get out; but you and I and all people trapped in the tomb because of sin do need help. We do need that stone rolled away, that stone of sin, which remember "is very large," must be rolled away for us to escape from death and the tomb that it traps us in; because remember it was also your sins and my sins that nailed Jesus to the Cross. We too in our despair over sin cry out with the question that the women asked, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" There is one and only one answer to that question and that answer is Jesus the Christ who has risen from the grave and through faith in Him we too are made alive and the stone is also rolled away for us and we too rise freed from the grave to new life. St. Paul talks about this in Romans 6:3-4, "Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life." We live because Jesus lives. We are forgiven, redeemed, and washed clean by the blood that He shed for us at the cross. Jesus has torn in two the curtain that had separated us from God and He has not only rolled away the stone of our sins that had us trapped in death but He has removed it completely and has cast it away into the depths of the sea. What a glorious day this is! Easter, where mourning was turned to gladness and joy; this is the day when hopelessness and death were replaced with hope and life forever in Jesus name. Sin, death, the devil, guilt, reproach, and shame have all been defeated our victory has been won. It has been won by Jesus for us. Rejoice, the tomb is empty, and the stone has been rolled away! He is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our risen Savior and risen Lord. Amen.

Palm Sunday - April 1, 2012

humble and mounted on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem; and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall speak peace to the nations; his rule shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. As for you also, because of the blood of my covenant with you, I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. Return to your stronghold, O prisoners of hope; today I declare that I will restore to you double." Amen. This is our text.

It may very well seem strange to be thinking of this day as a beginning. Now in one sense it is a beginning that we can all recognize, because it is the beginning of the end of Jesus' earthly ministry. This is the beginning of the end of Jesus' journey to the Cross for our salvation. Beginnings are, for the most part, wonderful events that are full of hope. The birth of a child into the world is a beginning of a new life that holds great promise and potential. The beginning of a marriage holds the promise of a man and a woman becoming one in the eyes of God and starting the walk of their lives together. There are other beginnings that we can point to in life that hold great promise and potential such as graduation from college, the start of a new career, the beginning of a life in a new community. Some even look forward to the beginning of new sports seasons with anticipation of the promise of success that they bring.

This day is also a beginning for us here in the Church. We anticipate the season of Lent coming to a close and we have the start of all of our Holy Week celebrations. We go from what we might consider the high of our Lord and Saviors triumphal entry into Jerusalem where the people throw palm branches and their cloaks into Jesus' path and follow a virtual roller coaster ride of highs and lows as our Savior washes the disciples feet, institutes His Holy Supper, prays in agony in the garden, then is arrested, beaten, tried, and crucified. Jesus fulfills the prophecy we read from the prophet Zechariah. We too along with the people of Jerusalem and called to rejoice, we too are called to witness the coming of our King. We too are called to cry out with the people in Jerusalem as they called "Hosanna! ("This means Lord save us.") Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!" Because Jesus came to do exactly that, He came to save us. The people anticipated a new beginning of freedom from Roman rule under a Messiah who would throw off the Roman yoke. But Jesus came to throw off an even heavier and more oppressive yoke, the yoke of sin and death. He came not to begin an earthly kingdom but to begin the kingdom of God through His victory over sin, death, and the devil at the Cross.

This is the beginning of our Savior's redeeming work for us and for all people. Jesus enters into Jerusalem on a donkey, not on a warhorse. Look at how our text describes Jesus. "The Messiah is called a King. He is said to be righteous and having salvation. The tools of war will be gotten rid of and His Word will be a message of peace to all the nations. His rule will extend to the ends of the earth. But He is not the King that the people expect. Jesus is also not the King that people today look for. We are just like the people of Jesus own day, the disciples included, who were not looking for a Messiah, a king who would come with the adulation of the crowds but then we arrested, beaten, mocked, and killed. But even that is only the beginning because Jesus would then rise and we know, because we have His promise to us, that one day He will return and His triumphal return to this earth will cause the triumphal entry to pale before it.

But along with being Palm Sunday, where we celebrate out Lord's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, this is also the Sunday of the Passion. In fact our appointed Gospel for today is the Passion account from Mark's Gospel. Our Lord's Passion, His bitter suffering and death on the Cross is where our Savior's redeeming work for us ultimately ends; but it is here with His entry into Jerusalem that we really see it begin. Jesus answers our cries of "Hosanna" because He knows that we cannot save ourselves. That any work we attempt will fall short because none of us are righteous where He alone is. None of us are without sin while He takes all of our sins upon Himself and becomes sin for us to redeem us.

That is why this is also only a beginning is another way as well. This is only a beginning for our ultimate and final glorious celebration of Christ's passion. All people, you and I included, are on a journey to our own deaths or to witnessing Jesus' return. But as redeemed people of God if we die before He returns this death is not an eternal death. This is not a separation from God for all eternity. This death carries with it the promise of Jesus own words to Martha in John chapter eleven, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die." That promise is for all of us this morning. We are reminded of this promise as we daily remember our own new beginning which we experienced at our baptisms.

Because during our own individual roller coaster rides through a life of struggles with sin, fear, doubt, and other afflictions we have the assurance of a Savior who will never leave us or forsake us who has traveled this same road before us and who has defeated all of these things for us. In verses eleven of our text we see the beginning of a new covenant. This is also a covenant of blood. But it is not the blood of animals that signified the old covenant but it is the very blood of the King Himself and it is the King's, the Savior's blood that will accomplish the saving work. As He refocuses the Passover meal to Himself as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and institutes "The Lord's Supper" as He gives the disciples the cup Jesus says this in Matthew 26:27-28, "Drink of it all of you, for this is MY blood of the COVENANT, which is poured out for the many for the forgiveness of sins."

So, this day as we celebrate Palm Sunday and as we remember our savior's Passion we do not look at it as an end. We look at this as a beginning because it is a new beginning, a glorious new beginning where we see not a triumph over early rulers and persecutors, but the beginning of our Savior's triumph over sin, death, and the devil that starts with His entry into Jerusalem to the cheers of the crowds and goes on to seeming defeat but is actually the real triumph of His victory at the Cross.

We participate in this triumph, this new beginning, this glorious victory every time we go to The Lord's Table and receive His body and His blood of the covenant to eat and to drink for the forgiveness of our sins. He has set us free from the "waterless places" and leads us to springs of living water. We read in Lamentations 3:22-23, "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness." Mornings begin each new day and with each new day we experience God's grace for us which never ends. We joyfully anticipate one day being in the presence of our Lord and Savior for all eternity to continue our life with our Savior, our eternal life which has already begun at our baptisms. Amen.

The peace of God which passes all understanding, forever keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus out Lord. Amen.