Category: Sermon Page

Folks of a certain age may be familiar with a 1985 movie called The Breakfast Club. The whole movie takes place in one day, specifically, March 24, 1984, when five students from Shermer High School have to report at 7:00 a.m.—hence Breakfast Club—on a Saturday for all-day detention. A voice-over at the beginning describes the five as “a brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, and a criminal.” That’s what makes the movie so good—that these five students are so different. If it weren’t for detention, the quintet would never be in the same room, let alone speak to one another. What makes the movie so profound—profound enough to serve as a sermon illustration!—is that they not only talk but also joke, argue, laugh, cry, and become great friends. So, question: Why did that not happen before?

If you’ve been to high school (and in one sense I’m not sure we ever truly get out), you know the answer. Because when your identity, your who-you-are, is a brain or an athlete or a basket case or a princess or a criminal, you hang out with the brains or the athletes or the basket cases or the princesses or the criminals—because if you don’t, if you fail to live up to the expectations of those groups, those tribes, those cliques, then you risk getting the boot, having no identity at all, and eating your cafeteria Tater Tots all by yourself. So what happened with the Breakfast Club? Well, they got a new identity, specifically one as detainees, a new common identity that trumped all those others and freed them, in this case, to be friends.

     Freed just the way Paul was, and we are . . . kind of.

Imagine a pre-Damascus-road Paul as a student at “Shermer High School” (a metaphor for a world in which we’re enslaved to one identity or another).What’s his group/tribe/clique? A Jew? A Pharisee? Top of his class? Zealous enforcer? (See Phil 3:4–6; 2 Cor 11:22–29.)

          Before Jesus met him on the way to Damascus, these are what Saul just was, what drove his every action and interaction, and without which there was no Saul.        Imagine yourself at “Shermer High School.” What’s your group/tribe/clique? Perhaps try some diagnostic questions to help identify the tribe from which you get your “who am I?” Whose approval do you need or crave?

Whose disapproval would crush you? Whom would you most like to see fail (and there are some!)? If you’re exhausted right now, is it because you feel you can’t keep up? And, if so, with whom are you trying to keep up? Why do you live where you live? It is hard to see and admit (confess!) how we get enslaved to the expectations of the brains, athletes, basket cases, princesses, criminals, and so on—but we do!

Often those who most deny it are most enslaved.

Since I am free from all . . . (v 19).    “Since” may be a better rendering than “though.” At the very least, “though” should include a “since.” What happened to Paul so that he could recognize his earlier life as Jew/top-notch-Pharisee/enforcer to be slavery to the group/tribe/expectations? Jesus! Jesus happened to him. Jesus transformed Saul! Jesus showed up and gave him a new identity! The risen Jesus gave him a sure identity, surer than death! The gracious Jesus gave him an identity he didn’t have to prove/earn/virtue signal again and again! The forgiving Jesus gave him an identity he can’t mess up! (My-Everyday-Struggle with-Sin) Is-Annihilated by Him) MESSIAH Priceless treasure Jesus gave him an identity that made all the other stuff pulling his strings and that he’d thought was so important look like a pile of rubbish (Phil 3:8).

     Just like you! All the same is true of you! Who are you? A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a criminal? No—at least not first, and definitely not only!

Your name tag reads Baptized Child of God! Eternally beloved! Fully forgiven! Then, March 26, 1984, for Paul—and you. While in detention at Shermer High, each of the five was supposed to be writing a thousand-word essay answering the question: “Who do you think you are?” While they don’t get around to writing until the end—actually “the brain” writes one essay on behalf of all five—the point is that by 4:00 p.m., March 24, the detainees were not who they thought they were at 7:00 a.m.

      A question that goes left unanswered in the movie is what happened on Monday, March 26, when the brain, athlete, basket case, princess, and criminal went back to Shermer High. Did the common identity forged on March 24 stand, or do they go back to the “slavery” of the cliques? By the time Paul wrote his well-over-a-thousand-word essay to the Corinthians, he knew very well who he was and to what he was or wasn’t beholden.

Paul doesn’t have to live up to the Corinthians’ expectations for him (as one of the strong ones). The now-believing-in-Jesus Paul has a new identity. In Jesus, Paul is free. Since he is free from all the enslaving identities/expectations, he is free to, well, do what comes naturally to the new identity! Gripped and captivated by the gracious call of Jesus, secure in an identity that cannot be taken away, he does what he cannot help but do: namely, preaching the Gospel by which enslaved sinners are set free. With no one left to impress, Paul is free to “become all things to all people” (v 22). So now it’s your March 26, 1984. You Are Free in Jesus. What are you—Child of God—now free to do? Your calling is probably different from Paul’s, but your identity is the same. You’re possessed by Jesus. You are a member of the Body of Christ. If you can stand the hokeyness, welcome to the Jesus Club! So, Child of God, what are you now free to do? A brain, an athlete, a basket case, a princess, a criminal . . . butcher, baker, candlestick maker. Whoever you are, you’ve been transformed by Jesus. He’s marked you as his own. There’s no one to impress. Just people to love. Amen.

Epiphany 4 Raising Up a Prophet

Sermon Theme: The Lord our God has raised up a prophet like Moses to whom we shall listen Text: Deuteronomy 18:15–20 Other Lessons: Psalm 111; 1 Corinthians 8:1–13; Mark 1:21–28

Goal: That you believe in your hearts that Jesus is the final prophet to be raised up—on the cross and from the grave—for forgiveness of sins, that you recognize the danger of so many other prophets you might hear, and that you then have confidence that God speaks to you as a gentle, loving Father in Christ. From CPR 2015 by Rev. Timothy P. Halboth, Sermon: To whom should we listen? These days it seems everybody’s putting something in our ear—politicians, pastors, teachers, bosses or foremen or team leaders. Half of it we don’t believe, and the other half, well, we’re a little wary. Chances are we ought to be.

Problem is, most people are just telling us what they think we ought to hear..

In our text today, Moses, the man God has used for the last forty years to pass along his words to the people of Israel, is about to leave, to die. So the frightening question is to whom should they listen now? Would the Word of God that’s been so faithfully passed on to Moses and then by Moses still be passed along faithfully to future generations, even ours? To whom should we listen? In our text, God gives us his answer. Christians, take heart! The Lord Our God Has Raised Up a Prophet like Moses to Whom We Shall Listen.

As with Moses, we must listen to this Prophet. As Moses warned, there are plenty of false prophets to whom we might listen. Israel was about to enter the Promised Land, where the inhabitants promised anything but a faithful word from the Lord (vv 9–14a). Fortune-telling, divination, consulting the dead—these were all ways of seeking a word from the gods to get advantage in life. And all of these God says are an abomination—right up there with child sacrifice. Among us, it could also be fortune tellers or horoscopes ( one newspaper I remember had the horoscopes on the church page) or Ouija boards or seances. But it could also be some pretty slick false prophets: televangelists or pastors down the street who proclaim such false teachings as giving your heart to Jesus, accepting Jesus into your heart, prosperity gospel—believe and you’ll prosper. No doubt many of these are sincere; they mean to pass on faithfully what they think God wants us to hear. But sincere or frauds, either way, words not from the Lord are false and dangerous. We must only listen to a prophet like Moses—a prophet who speaks God’s Word (vv 14, 20). Things like fortune-telling and Ouija boards are actually inviting the devil to speak to us. And what about those other false teachings? Do we really want to give Jesus our heart, which is at times cold and uncaring?     Scripture is clear that it is Christ who has first chosen us; we didn’t ask him into our hearts (Jn 15:16). And as to those promises of prosperity, what about people who believe but struggle to pay the mortgage, miss loved ones overseas, struggle to feed their families?

Jesus is the Prophet who, like Moses, speaks God’s Word, for his every word is God’s (v 15).

Moses had Jesus clearly in view—even though he wouldn’t come for another 1,400 years. Jesus’ earthly ministry demonstrated that he was the very Son of God. This morning’s Holy Gospel is evidence of that. The people were amazed that Jesus, in word and deed, showed such authority .And the demon knew exactly who he was: “the Holy One of God” (Mk 1:24). Jesus is God!—so when he speaks, it’s always the Word of the Lord. And, yes, we must listen to him (vv 18–19). At the Baptism of Jesus, just three weeks ago, God announced that all are to listen to him. The reason we must listen to Jesus is that he is the way of salvation, Jesus has the Word of truth. Everything he says, we can count on: “I love you with all my pure, sinless heart.” Jesus has the words of eternal life: “I have chosen you to be mine for eternity.” Jesus has the Word of faith: “I am with you, caring for you, even those times that don’t seem prosperous at all.” No other prophet but Jesus was raised up to free an entire world from sin, to proclaim eternal life to all believers. So we must listen to this Prophet, Jesus, who speaks the Word of the Lord to us, but can we? Yes, As with Moses, we can listen to this prophet. The fact is, we could not listen to the Word of the Lord any other way. Forty years before our text, God had come down on Mount Sinai (Mount Horeb) to speak to Israel, and how had that gone (v 16)? The lightning, the earthquake were too frightening. The Israelites were right (v 17). Sinful people cannot speak with God face-to-face and live. Because we’re sinful, we couldn’t bear to hear the Word of the Lord that way. That’s why God became a prophet like Moses—truly one of our brothers (v 18). Israel asked for God to speak to them through someone they could receive. Jesus is God, certainly enough, but he’s also truly one of us, our Brother. Jesus veiled his divine glory and majesty in humble flesh, like Moses’, like ours. He spoke to us gently, lovingly, in a way we could hear. But the gentle voice was possible only because of the loud cries of agony as this Prophet like Moses was raised up on a cross. That action took away those sins against which God’s voice must be terrifying. That sacrifice reconciled God to us so that now we can stand before him face-to-face. To this Prophet, then, we can listen. Jesus’ words from the cross “It is finished!” are the words we most want to hear. God raising Jesus up from the dead is his word to us that we are forgiven. And his Word we still hear today. Where? Here!  When words like Moses’ in our text are read. When the Absolution is pronounced. When Jesus says, through me, that at this altar you are receiving his very body and blood. This is what you hear when the Word of God is proclaimed to you—Jesus, the final Prophet who was raised up by his heavenly Father. Amen.

Your Ninevehs:

The Lord Will Not Fail

Sermon Theme: What is your Nineveh?

Text: Jonah 3:1–5, 10

Goal: That you will be assured that no matter where you go and no matter the circumstances, the Lord will act for you and through you.

Basis for this sermon was obtained from Concordia Pulpit Resources by Rev. Daniel L. Gard,

The outline of the story of Jonah shows us a very reluctant prophet. He did not choose to be called to that vocation. He was a weak and sinful man, very much like the rest of us, and when his call came, he wanted desperately to avoid it.

So, let me ask you: In your vocation, are there things you need to do because Scripture tells you? I ask myself, and now also you: Have you avoided that Christian duty? This is the Epiphany season, and it’s all about the Light that is Christ shining on us and on every place like Nineveh. Let’s consider this:

WHAT IS YOUR NINEVEH?

Nineveh is a frightening place to go.

Assyria’s kings gained and held the throne by threats, destruction, and oppression.

Preaching in this corrupt and evil capital of international terrorism, as Jonah knew, would not exactly be a vacation.

Yet it is into this corrupt culture that Jonah was to go and proclaim the destruction of the city.

The message Jonah had to proclaim would not be a popular one: “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown” (v 4). His life was in true peril, and he could no longer run away.

Yet our Lord will work his purpose even in Nineveh.

Jonah preached the Lord’s message, not his own. The people of Nineveh “believed God” and “called for a fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them to the least” (v 5).

The fasting and sackcloth would be futile and meaningless without repentance. Our Lord is merciful and does not desire the death of a sinner. We humans can easily write off those who seem to us the epitome of evil humanity. Surely there can be no salvation for people such as these! So in our own self-righteousness, we turn away from those we consider to be unredeemable.

But God does not! The miracle of divine grace is more powerful than the worst of human sin. “When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do” (v 10).

Jonah was a prophet, but he was a very faulty human being too. He had been given a second chance to go to Nineveh after he ran from the first call. He himself had been forgiven and restored. The Lord would work through his preaching to bring Nineveh to repentance. But when he saw that the Lord had relented, he was exceedingly displeased (4:1). How quickly Jonah forgot the forgiveness the Lord had extended to him after he tried to run away to Tarshish!

So the Lord asked, “Should not I pity Nineveh, that great city?”(4:11).The grace of our Lord is sufficient for all “Ninevehs.” Wherever human sin is strongest, the grace of God is stronger. Our world is filled with places that can be called modern Ninevehs. The ancient Assyrians were truly a frightening empire, and Nineveh was the center of it.

Yet that same desperate evil has permeated all of human history. From Cain who murdered his brother Abel to this moment, from Assyria to Rome to modern nations, human hate and violence have brought a divine sentence of wrath and condemnation on all. Make no mistake about it—though God is the world’s Creator, he is also our Judge. And that judgment is pure and perfect justice. The Lord sent Jonah into the midst of ancient Nineveh to bring them to repentance. And he sends his people today into the darkest and most rebellious places. But everything would change that day when the Father would send his own Son into our world. He came and, from the moment of his miraculous conception, confounded every sin and evil of the ancient Assyrians and of every place and time, including our own. He, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, would be the great and final prophet whose sacrifice and proclaimed Word would redeem our fallen and hurting world.

This prophet, the Christ, would defeat sin, death, and hell by dying and rising. He continues to bind the power of Satan every time a sinful human being is baptized and every time the redeemed gather for his blessed Sacrament of Holy Communion.

The Lord’s mercy is yours. You see, God’s judgment is also perfect as to its mercy. What changed eternity for Assyria, for Jonah, for Israel, and for you came not through destruction but, instead, through the punishment for all sin, inflicted not on the sinner but once and for all upon the sinless Sacrificial Lamb.

No, wrath was directed not upon this broken human race but upon the Christ whose body was broken for us and whose blood was shed for the forgiveness of our sin. Human sin must be met with divine justice. But the love of Jesus Christ compelled him to offer himself as the bearer of all of humanity’s sin. The center point of all history is found on that hill called Calvary and in the message that came from an empty tomb: “Christ is risen!” This is the heart of all things, the redemption of every empire and every race and every language of this created world.

There are places to which you and I might not want to go and times we would rather not speak the precious Gospel. No matter what your vocation might be, the Lord will lead you through a world with many places as rebellious and broken as that ancient city of Nineveh. But nothing can take you from God’s hand. He who created you and redeemed you in Jesus Christ has not only visited you but embraced you in the water of your Baptism and in the blessed meal of his Supper.

Children of God, never fear the world or satanic powers, no matter where your vocation might take you. All of sin, death, and hell have been bound by the incarnate Word of God. And it is he who is the Savior for all people, of every time and nation. He is yours, and your life is found in his resurrection, and nothing can take that away from you. Jesus lives, and you, too, shall live! Amen.

Sermon 1-14-2024 The Lord God Is with You and Reveals Himself to You by the Preaching of His Word

A Word to Hear
When God Seems to Be Silent
Sermon Theme: “Speak, for your servant hears.”
Text: 1 Samuel 3:1–10 (11–20)
Be assured that you can learn daily who the Lord is and how he speaks.
The times were dark. External enemies threatened the people of God. Worse, the sons of their divinely-appointed judge, Eli, were without the character to succeed their father. But in the tabernacle, under the care of Eli, there was a youth, perhaps twelve years old, named Samuel. In the past, the Lord had spoken to Israel through the prophets, but now he seemed to be almost silent.
One night, however, as Samuel and the world slept, that was going to change. The Lord of Israel had formed that nation for the purpose of bringing his salvation to all of fallen humanity, and Samuel was to be the Lord’s next spokesman. Before he could speak, though, Samuel needed to learn and to say,
“SPEAK, FOR YOUR SERVANT HEARS.” Lord, teach me who you are. There are no true atheists.
Everyone has a god to whom they turn in trouble and need. Every culture has a religion, because humanity seeks to understand a God that they know must exist. That god might be anything the fallen mind of man wants—power, money, self. But the true God is known only in his revelation of himself.
Ancient Israel had come to depend on the Word of the Lord through prophets and visions. That Word had become rare, so it was no wonder that Samuel did not recognize the voice of the Lord and three times mistook his voice for Eli’s voice (vv 4, 6, 8).
The reason was that “Samuel did not yet know the LORD, and the word of the LORD had not yet been revealed to him” (v 7).
The greatest need of all people in every age is to know the Lord. Samuel was not alone in his need to learn who God is; so many of the people of Israel had forgotten the Lord who had given them this land.
Our times, too, are dark when it comes to knowing the Lord. Any vestiges of our Western societies reflecting Christianity or its values are gone.
The Church is mocked, lampooned in the media; basic tenets of the sanctity of human life and male and female identities are officially rejected in legislatures and courts.
We are persecuted subtly and more and more openly. We may wonder if God is near to hear us.
This is always true: No person can find purpose until he or she knows the Creator. Lord, teach me how you speak.
To know the voice of God, we must go where it is he speaks. Consider this familiar passage from Hebrews: “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world” (Heb 1:1–2).
In our day there are many false prophets who claim to speak for God. But to learn what his voice sounds like, we must go to where we can hear him, and not someone else, speaking.
Holy Scripture, the very Word of God, is where we learn to recognize his voice. We read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest that precious voice of the Shepherd. Yet the Lord has not left us without a human voice to speak on his authority and in his name. That is how we hear the absolution spoken—by the pastor. Lord, teach me what to say. All the prophets bore witness to the same message. From the promise given at the fall in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15) through John the Baptist, every word and every act of God in the life of Israel prepared the way for the Messiah. When that One promised long ago was born, he came to be the final Sacrifice for all of mankind. The world needs a message of salvation and hope, and that message is found only in the Christ. He alone brings salvation by bearing all sin, shedding holy, innocent blood to cleanse us, entering our tomb, and then breaking forth on Easter with the glorious message, “Christ is risen!”
This is the message for which Samuel and all the prophets longed and which has been so richly poured out on you and me. In your Baptism, your own resurrection of the body is guaranteed.
In the blessed Sacrament of the Altar, you receive the food of immortality, Christ’s very body and blood. In the eternal words of the Holy Absolution, you hear the very voice of God: “Your sin is forgiven.”
All of God’s redeemed are sent to speak with his own words. You are redeemed by Jesus Christ, the Holy One promised by the Word of God through his chosen prophets. You and I do not look forward to a promised One who is yet to come, as did the ancient people of God. We look back to the historic life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for us and for all the world.
This truth of who Jesus is and what he has done is what we are taught to speak—no matter what our vocation might be. Some are called to the vocation of pastor and preacher. But all are called to witness wherever God puts you—in your home, your school, your workplace, your neighborhood. You speak what you have heard the Lord say through his prophets, apostles, and pastors: “Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world.”
Our days may be as dark as the days of Samuel, but just as in the former days, so today and into the future here on earth, that hope and peace from God is present as light in the dark. So live in his light until the day he calls you home to heaven where there is no need for sun or stars, because the Lamb is the light. Amen.

THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD (7 January 2024) In Holy Baptism, the Triune God Reveals Himself and Recreates Us in His Image

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). Then, as “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters” (Gen. 1:2), God spoke His Word: “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light” (Gen. 1:3). In the same way, “the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Mark 1:1) brings about the new creation through the waters of Baptism by the same Word and Spirit of God. When John the Baptist came, “proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” Jesus also came “and was baptized by John in the Jordan” (Mark 1:4, 9). Although He had no sins of His own, He took His stand with sinners in His Baptism and took the sins and mortality of the world upon Himself. He was baptized into His own death, by which the heavens are opened and the Spirit is given to us. God the Father is well pleased with His beloved Son and raises Him from the dead. As we share His Baptism and are “united with him in a death like his” (Rom. 6:5), we also share His resurrection unto “newness of life” (Rom. 6:4).In Christ’s Baptism, Luther Sees Our Baptism ask the question: What does it mean that “We were buried . . . with [Christ]by baptism into death” (Rom 6:4a)? Perhaps no one has illustrated that better than Martin Luther in our Hymn LSB 406

This is one of Luther’s catechetical hymns; he wrote a hymn for each of the Six Chief Parts of the catechism to help people learn the major doctrines of Scripture. But this one is interesting, because to teach the doctrine of Baptism, he doesn’t choose a doctrinal passage of Scripture to be the text for his hymn. He doesn’t base it on, say, 1 Peter 3:21, “Baptism . . . now saves you,” which we quote in our liturgy of Baptism, or Titus 3:5, “the washing of [rebirth],” or even our text, Romans 6, both of which he himself quotes in the catechism. Instead of using a doctrinal passage, he bases his hymn on today’s Bible story from the Gospel reading.

The title, “To Jordan Came the Christ, Our Lord,” tells you, obviously, that the hymn is about Jesus’ Baptism. And it tells the story very well, doesn’t it? Stanza 1: “Baptized by John.” Stanza 3: “The Father’s voice from heav’n came down, Which we do well to ponder: ‘This man is My beloved Son, In whom My heart has pleasure.’ ” Stanza 4: “The Holy Spirit like a dove Upon the scene descending.”

But within the story, Luther interweaves what Baptism means for us. Stanza 1: “The Father’s Word Was given us to treasure. This heav’nly washing now shall be A cleansing from transgression And by His blood and agony Release from death’s oppression. A new life now awaits us.” Stanza 2: “O hear and mark the message well, . . . Our Lord here with His Word endows Pure water, freely flowing. God’s Holy Spirit here avows Our kinship.” Stanza 4: “That in our Baptism [God] will thus Among us find a dwelling.”

This, ultimately, is the point of Jesus’ Baptism. By being baptized when he himself had no need, he placed himself in our shoes so that by our Baptism, we are then placed in his. That is, he does all that is required for our salvation—obeys God’s Law perfectly, suffers the punishment of the sinners with whom his Baptism places him—and then God declares that by our Baptism, we have also obeyed him perfectly and have already now died as our sins deserve. By our Baptism, we are buried with Christ into death so that “just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (6:4b).

Carl C. Fickenscher II, Fort Wayne, Indiana

It is hard to live in this fallen world, but the reality of our Baptism gives us forgiveness, identity, salvation, and hope. Epiphany is indeed our time to proclaim Jesus’ credentials as we head toward Lent and the most important weekend in the history of the world.

This revealing began with a star announcing God’s birth. But it becomes even clearer—and even more dramatic—at Jesus’ Baptism. The Introit previews the event in the Jordan: “Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights. I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, ‘You are my Son; today I have begotten you’ ” (cf Is 42:1a; Ps 2:7). The Word of God. The Psalm amplifies: “The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the LORD, over many waters” (Ps 29:3). The Word and water.

The reality is, every one of us is dying . . . and dying to fill holes in our lives. We need something real to fill those holes within us.

Holy Baptism connects us to Jesus, who fills the holes within us. God gives us very real things to fill our senses and strengthen our faith.

Jesus Christ is the very practical solution to the way sin has made our lives.

Sin is unbearable with it’s many consequences. But, God has a means for bringing you salvation.

When you confess your sins and I announce God’s forgiveness of sins to you, it is not a different forgiveness than you receive in your bedroom, but God wants you to hear it. He wants you to hear that you are really forgiven. In the words of the sermon and the liturgy that we speak together, you hear that you are a sinner, but that you are also saved by God’s grace alone.

The Christian life is not a perfect life. Christians will be at times lonely and afraid, and they will suffer. Sin on earth, both ours and that of others, has made our lives the way they are. But the Christian life is also a life of assurance and hope. As you return to the world this morning, remember your Baptism. It is real water joined to God’s real Word. Baptism has made you alive where once you were dead in trespasses. It has washed away your guilt and has pardoned your regret and shame. Jesus himself has given you the mercy he won for you at the cross. Look to your Baptism daily, for there you will find your identity. There you will find your connection to the history of your people. There you will find life and salvation. Look to your Baptism. There you will find the reality of Christ. There is something you can hang on to in the trials of your daily lives.

Amen.