Category: Sermon Page

Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 18, 2023

“The One Man Adam and the One Man Jesus Christ” (Romans 5:6-15)

As by one man all mankind fell
And, born in sin, was doomed to hell,
So by one Man, who took our place,
We all were justified by grace.

So we just sang, and so is the message of our Epistle reading today, from Romans chapter 5. As it says in verse 15 of our text: “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”

In our text, Paul has been setting up a contrast, a stark contrast. Through one man and his trespass, death reigned over all of us. Through another “one man” and his obedience, grace abounded for all of us. What a difference! It literally is the difference between life and death, what comes to us through these two men. Thus our theme this morning: “The One Man Adam and the One Man Jesus Christ.”

These are the two men Paul is putting side by side, to make a contrast. They are the one man Adam, and the other one man, Jesus Christ. Adam was a “type of the one who was to come,” Paul writes. The word “type” means that Adam served as a model, a prefigurement, in some respects, of the one to come. But the parallel runs from the negative to the positive, in going from the one man Adam to the one man Jesus Christ. Adam fell to temptation, fell into sin, whereas Jesus did not. Jesus remained faithful. So let’s compare the failure of Adam vs. the faithfulness of Christ.

On the failure of Adam, Paul writes, “Sin came into the world through one man.” Here he’s referring to the fall into sin from Genesis 3. Adam had received a command directly from God not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But Adam did not heed the word that God had spoken to him. He tuned out God’s word, yielded to temptation, and fell into sin.

Jesus is quite the opposite. The word of God was uppermost in his thinking, when he took temptation head on in the wilderness. Remember how Jesus kept answering the devil. He would say: “It is written.” “Again it is written.” “For it is written.” Jesus took his stand on the word of God, never departing from it. By remaining faithful even while fasting, Jesus embodied the Scripture that says, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

How about you? Do you ever let temptation–the whisperings of the devil, the opinions of the world, the desires of your flesh–do you let temptation get the better of you? Do you ever tune out the word of God? I guarantee you that you do. For example, in his commandments, God tells you to set aside a day each week to come and hear the preaching of his word, to gladly hear and learn it, and to hold that day sacred, inviolable. But are there weeks when on the Lord’s Day you’d rather do other things than obey God? In his commandments, God tells you not to murder your neighbor, whether in thought, word, or deed. But how often, how bitterly, and how long do you hold a grudge? We tune out God, who tells us to forgive those who trespass against us. You get the picture. We all, each one of us, have inherited that old, Adamic, sinful nature. It’s a family portrait, for all of us in the line of Adam.

Sin characterizes this family, and, as a result, so does death. Paul writes, “Sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned.” Death follows after sin as surely as night follows day. Death is the curse and consequence of Adam’s disobedience. Adam sinned, and it corrupted the whole human race. The judgment for sin thus fell on the whole of humanity. Adam sinned. We all sin. Adam died. We all die. Adam was driven out of the garden and barred from the tree of life. Likewise, death consumes us all. All of mankind got messed up, right from the get-go, when Adam got the heave-ho. “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.”

You and I follow in the footsteps of our father, Adam. Flesh gives birth to flesh. This tendency to sin is common to all the sons of Adam. The fancy term for this is “original sin.” It is the sinful nature of our origin in Adam. The evidence of this reality is the fact that we all sin and we all die. We’re showing the family trait, more telling than red hair or blue eyes or the distinctive shape of our nose. The family characteristic that we all share alike, every one of us on earth, is that we all sin and we all die.

Look, it’s not going to get any better, if all you are is descended from Adam. Sin and death is your sorry lot, and there’s no escape if that’s all you got. You need to be related to somebody else, someone who can get you out of this mess. And that person is Jesus.

If Adam is the first “one man,” who us into this mess, Jesus is the second “one man,” the one who gets it right and gets us out of this death trap that we fell into. Jesus is the head of a whole new humanity. “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” Here is the “one man” you need to be related to: It’s Jesus Christ. You can sum up his whole life, his whole ministry, his whole saving mission, as perfect obedience to the will of his Father, from start to finish.

Adam wanted to be like God, and so he disobeyed and exalted himself. Jesus Christ, the very Son of God come from heaven, did not think equality with God a thing to be grasped, but instead he humbled himself, made himself nothing, and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He did this, the will of his Father, in order to save and redeem mankind from the black hole of sin and death that we had fallen into. And so the cross of Christ is our tree of life. Jesus willingly died in our place, winning our forgiveness and redeeming us from the curse of death. His resurrection proves it.

Fulfilling the promise given in the garden, Jesus is the seed of the woman who crushes the serpent’s head. He is our divine Champion, delivering the whole human race. Jesus heads up a new humanity, to which, by faith, you belong. God’s gift of righteousness, your right standing before him, is given to you freely for Christ’s sake. You are justified, pronounced righteous, being found in Christ. Adam and Eve tried to cover up their shame with fig leaves, a device of their own making. That didn’t work. God clothes us with the robe of Christ’s perfect righteousness, purchased with his blood when he died in our place. His righteousness is the only thing that really does cover our guilt.

“But the free gift is not like the trespass. For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.” God’s grace abounds for you, my friends! Much more than the sin of Adam is the gift of righteousness in Christ! Much more than the death we die is the life we live in Christ! Our God is a “much more” God! Do you have sins and trespasses that weigh you down? God’s grace is much more than that! It is abundant grace! Do you have death looming ahead in your future, staring you in the face? Much more is the life–the eternal life–that is yours, in Christ!

There’s an old rhyme that goes, “In Adam’s fall, we sin-ned all.” Well, today I’d like to offer a new couplet: “In Christ our Lord, we’ve been restored.” For from the one man Adam, you and I inherited an old sinful nature that wants to tune out God and do its own thing. And with our sin, we get the curse of death that comes with it. But thank God for the other “one man,” our Savior Jesus Christ! For from him, and by his obedience, we receive the free gift of righteousness and life, life that overcomes death.

You see, it’s a “much more” deal. Oh, sin and death are powerful stuff. But much more is the gift of abundant grace and eternal life that are yours in Christ! “For if many died through one man’s trespass, much more have the grace of God and the free gift by the grace of that one man Jesus Christ abounded for many.”

We thank You, Christ, new life is ours,
New light, new hope, new strength, new pow’rs.
This grace our ev’ry way attend
Until we reach our journey’s end.

The Holy Trinity
Sunday, June 4, 2023

“Baptized in the Name: Confidence, Belonging, Relationship, Identity” (Matthew 28:16-20)

Sometime during the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension, our Lord Jesus Christ met with his disciples on a mountain in Galilee, and he told them: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore 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 that is what the church has done for all these many centuries. And that is what has happened to you, every one of you here who has been baptized in the name of the triune God. What does this mean for you? What has God given you in your baptism? Let’s find out now on this Holy Trinity Sunday, under the theme: “Baptized in the Name: Confidence, Belonging, Relationship, Identity.”

“Baptized in the name”: What does this give you? First, it gives you confidence. You can have confidence in your baptism. Why? Because God’s authority stands behind it. The baptism you received was not some quaint custom invented by men. No, this is Holy Baptism, God’s baptism, instituted by Christ himself. He is the one who told us to baptize. Jesus Christ, the Son of God from heaven, the crucified and risen Lord, having completed his saving mission on earth, comes to his apostles and says, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” It is on this authority that he commissions his church to baptize. Baptism has been instituted by Christ himself, invested with his full authority.

Baptism is done “in the name of” the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. “In the name of” designates the authority behind an act. For example, when a policeman says, “Stop in the name of the law,” the power of the law stands behind his order to stop. Well, baptism has behind it not law but gospel authority. Baptism says not, “Stop in the name of the law,” but rather, “Go in the name of the gospel.” Go and live free by the power of the gospel! Go, knowing that God has done this good work for you and in you. God’s own name stands behind your baptism, backing it up with his gospel power. In the Large Catechism, Luther writes: “To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men but by God himself. Therefore, although it is performed by human hands, it is still truly God’s own work.” Thus, God’s authority gives you confidence, knowing that God was doing his own mighty work when he baptized you.

“Baptized in the name”: What does this give you? Second, it gives you a real sense of belonging. Because now you belong to God. He put his claim on you by putting his name on you. His name is the brand you wear. It shows that you are his. God bought you at a price, the price of Christ’s own blood. For Christ my Lord has redeemed me, purchased and won me, that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom. Christ owns you, my friend. He purchased you at a price. In fact, you belong to God three times over. He created you, giving you life and breath. He redeemed you, with the precious blood of Christ. He sanctified you–the Holy Spirit gave you new life and the gift of saving faith. You belong, quite literally, to God. He bought you and put his claim and his name on you.

But this is not an oppressive bondage, this is no awful slavery, this ownership that God has over you. No, this is a most blessed thing, that you belong to God. You have come under God’s protection and provision. His lordship over you is the best thing that could ever happen to you. It sets you free from the slavery to sin and death that we were hopelessly locked into. Now you are free. Now you belong to God. Now you bear his name.

“Baptized in the name”: What does this give you? First, confidence. Second, belonging. Now third, relationship. Because being baptized in the name of the triune God means that now you are in a right relationship with the one true God. Now we know who God is and that we have come into a living, life-giving relationship with him. Beforehand, you and I did not know who God really is. Men by nature have only the vaguest notions of what God must be like. They know that there must be a God. That’s obvious from nature and from conscience. But who is God? What is he like? And who am I in relationship to him? Is God for me or against me? My guilty conscience gives me no peace. Nature does not give me a clear picture. If the sun is shining and the crops are good, then I figure God must like me; he must think I’m pretty good. But if the rain washes out my crops–or if my wife dies, or I lose my job or–pick your misfortune–then God must be against me. Is it because he is a mean God or because I am a bad person? How do I get back on God’s good side? Do I offer sacrifices? Do I try harder? Do I compare myself to people who aren’t as good or as moral as I am? These are the questions that haunt and hound man to the grave, when man has only nature and his own warped conscience to go on.

But God has revealed himself to us clearly in the gospel. Now we know who the true God is. That’s what this “name” business is all about. The “name” of God is his revelation of himself, God making himself known to us. For Christ Jesus, the only Son come from the Father, makes God known to us. Now in Christ we know a God who is with us and for us, no matter what. Christ has revealed the Father to us, his Father, who now in Holy Baptism becomes our Father also.

“Baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” We have been baptized into a relationship with the Father–a dear Father who regards us as his own dear children, children of the heavenly Father who hears our prayers and takes care of us, who has an inheritance waiting for us in heaven. Likewise, we are baptized into a relationship with the Son–Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who died on the cross for our sins, who rose from the grave and ascended into heaven, assuring us of forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. And we have been baptized into a relationship with the Spirit–the Holy Spirit who brings us to faith in Christ and keeps us in the faith, through the gospel and the sacraments, in the communion of the church. Thus, as the Large Catechism says about being baptized in the name of the triune God: “Where God’s name is, there must also be life and salvation.”

“Baptized in the name”: This gives us confidence and belonging, and it puts us into relationship with the triune God. Now fourth, being baptized in the name gives us a strong sense of identity. And this identity guides and empowers our life every day of our life.

How can you remember and live out your baptized identity from day to day? Well, here’s a way that can help, and you learned it in the Small Catechism, under Daily Prayers. Start each day as a baptized child of God: “In the morning when you get up, make the sign of the holy cross and say, ‘In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.’ Then, kneeling or standing, repeat the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer.”

This is a good way to live out your baptism, to live in and from your baptism. To live each day, consciously, in the name that was put on you in your baptism. By calling on the name of the triune God, we commit ourselves and that day into God’s hands. By invoking that holy name, we remember who we are and whose we are. We are new people in Christ, led by the Holy Spirit. By recalling our baptism, we take to ourselves all the gifts that God has given us with his name: forgiveness, new life, the power to live as God’s people, the sure hope of the resurrection–the resurrection of this body that God has put his name on. By invocation of the name of the triune God, you claim your identity as a baptized child of God. And every time the divine name is placed on you here in the Divine Service–at the Invocation, the Absolution, the Benediction–you can likewise make the sign of the holy cross and remember your baptism.

The bottom line is to regard your baptism as your greatest treasure. Think of it! You have been baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit! The Father, who loves you so much that he sent his Son to be your Savior. The Son, Jesus Christ, who carried out his saving mission and returned to his Father in heaven and from there sent us the Holy Spirit, that we would know who we are and whose we are and what is ours in Christ. In Holy Baptism, we become God’s children, we are washed clean by the saving blood of Christ, and we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, who works faith and new life in us. The triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, all working together for your good!

“Baptized in the name”: What does this give you? Today we have seen that your being baptized in the name gives you confidence, knowing that God’s authority stands behind your baptism. Second, it gives you a real sense of belonging, because God literally owns you. Third, your being baptized in the name puts you into a saving relationship with the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And fourth, your baptism gives you a strong sense of identity for your daily life, knowing who you are whose you are.

Brothers and sisters, listen to what Luther says in the Large Catechism about being baptized in the name of the triune God: “His name is a treasure greater and nobler than heaven and earth.” Friends, this is what it means to be “baptized in the name.” And this is the most wonderful thing that has ever happened to you! “Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity. Let us give glory to him because he has shown his mercy to us.”

The Day of Pentecost
Sunday, May 28, 2023

“Rivers of Living Water” (John 7:37-39)

Last weekend Susan and I went to Excelsior Springs, Missouri, to attend the wedding of Pastor and Mrs. Paul Flo. Excelsior Springs got its name and its fame long ago from the springs of water located there–healthful, healing waters, with restorative powers, it was said. Well, it so happened that when we went out there on that Friday, I wasn’t feeling so well. But when we returned on Sunday evening, I came back . . . with a bad case of acute bronchitis. I guess the healing waters of Excelsior Springs didn’t do me much good. By the way, I went to the doctor Monday morning, and now I’m doing much better.

Now while the springs of healing water in western Missouri may not cure what ails you, I know some waters that will. And these healing waters are flowing right here, right now. Because today our Lord Jesus Christ invites you to come to him, and he will give you “Rivers of Living Water.”

Our text is the Holy Gospel for today, John 7:37-39, reading again: “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Now the words that Jesus speaks here, there are two different ways to translate them. I’ve given you both ways in your bulletin, and I’ve labeled them A and B. Both options are provided in the ESV and in other translations, as well.

Let’s look first at translation A: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now the way this translation reads, it sounds like the living waters will flow from out of the believer. “Whoever believes in me,” it says, “‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And you can certainly make a case for that reading, both grammatically and theologically. Grammatically, you can read the Greek text that way, so that the “his” in “his heart” refers to “Whoever believes in me.” And that can make sense theologically, too. For the person who believes in Christ–yes, you could say that the Christian does have rivers of living water flowing out of him. His faith wells up in him and overflows. The living waters of the gospel flow out in an abundance of hope and joy, in the Christian’s life of good works, in the worship of God, and in witness to Christ the Savior. “Whoever believes in me . . . ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Isn’t this like what Jesus told the woman at the well, in John chapter 4? There Jesus spoke of “living water” that would become in the believer “a spring of water welling up.” And that woman then did overflow in joy and excitement. She told her whole village about this man who is the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world. So there were rivers of living water flowing out from the woman at the well.

Then we have a similar scenario on the Day of Pentecost, which we’re celebrating today, as we heard in Acts chapter 2. Rivers of living water are flowing out in all directions from the heart of Peter and all the believers. Moved by the Spirit, their tongues are telling the mighty works of God. Peter begins preaching the life-giving gospel to the crowd that had gathered, giving them the promise that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” So there were rivers of living water flowing out from the hearts and mouths of the believers on Pentecost.

All this supports the first way to read this text: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”’ In this translation A, the living waters flow out of the believer.

But then there’s a second way to read the text, which also makes sense both grammatically and theologically. Let’s look at that. It’s translation B, and it reads as follows: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and let him who believes in me drink. As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

This too is a legitimate way to translate the passage. It’s the alternate translation provided in the ESV and in other Bibles as well. This translation uses the same Greek words; it just changes the punctuation. It breaks up the two sentences at a different point. Literally, it would go like this: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me, and let him drink, the one who believes in me.” Then the second sentence would be: “As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

Notice what this does. In this translation, the first sentence has two parts that say the same thing in parallel fashion. “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me” is the first half of the sentence. And the second half restates the thought: “and let him drink, the one who believes in me.” This type of parallel construction is very common, biblically. And here it would describe faith as a thirsty person coming to Jesus and believing, by drinking the thirst-quenching water that Jesus gives. That makes a lot of sense. This sentence then is Jesus’ invitation in two parallel parts, for thirsty people to come to him and to have their thirst quenched by trusting in him.

And so that changes where the second sentence begins. Now the second sentence would read: “As the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” And this changes the one from whom the rivers of living water flow. In translation A, they flow out of the believer. Here in translation B, the rivers of living water flow out from Jesus. Thirsty people are invited to come to Jesus and drink, because he is the source of that living water. “Out of his heart,” that is, out of Jesus’ heart, “will flow rivers of living water.”

My friends, whichever way we translate the passage, this much is true: Jesus is the source of the living water. He invites us to come to him and to drink and have our thirst quenched. How about you? Are you thirsty? Do you feel the dryness in your soul that comes from sin and a guilty conscience? Are you troubled by your sins? Then come to Jesus and drink. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Yes, Jesus is the source of the living water. That’s also what he told the woman at the well: “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Likewise, on the Day of Pentecost. The living water comes from Jesus. Having been crucified and then raised from the dead, having ascended into heaven and now sitting at the right hand of the Father, the exalted Lord Jesus Christ pours out the Spirit on his church. He provides the water. He provides the life.

Now one thing we haven’t discussed yet. Our text says, “On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up,” etc. So which feast was this? There were three major festivals in the Hebrew calendar, Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles. The feast mentioned in our text was the Feast of Tabernacles. Tabernacles commemorated how the Lord had miraculously provided for Israel during their wilderness wanderings. And on the last day of the festival, as it was observed at Jesus’ time, there was a special water ceremony to remember how the Lord had supplied the Israelites with water in the wilderness. And how had that taken place? It happened when the Lord God directed Moses to strike a rock with his rod, and out flowed fresh water in the desert. A miraculous, divine, life-saving supply.

So it is with Jesus. Jesus was taken to Golgotha, Calvary, the Place of the Skull, a place of death. There he was crucified. There the Lord of life, the Son of God sent from heaven, died to atone for the sins of the world, your sins and mine. And when Jesus died, a soldier came and struck him with a “rod,” so to speak–a spear, in Jesus’ side–and out flowed a sudden rush of blood and water. Jesus himself is the Rock of Ages, from whose pierced side flow the rivers of living water. Because he died, we live. By his blood, our sins are forgiven. And by the living water of the Spirit, which Jesus gives, we receive the gift of faith. By Christ’s death and resurrection, you and I are saved from death for eternal life.

And by our ascended Lord pouring out the Spirit on his church, on us Christians, now the rivers of living water flow out from us to others: in works of mercy, in words of witness, in songs of worship and praise. The source of the living water is Jesus himself. The flow goes from him to us, and then from us to others.

“Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Out of whose heart? Out of Jesus’ heart and into us. Then out from our heart, toward God in faith and worship, and toward our neighbor in fervent love and witness. “Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Either way you read this passage, we come out at the same place. The rivers of living water flow out to us from Jesus and then out through us to others. So go with the flow!

Guest Pastor: The Rev. Rob Riebau

First Reading: Acts 1:12-26

Epistle: 1 Peter 4:12-19; 5:6-11

Holy Gospel: John 17:1-11

Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 14, 2023

“I Perceive That You Are Not Very Religious” (Acts 17:16-31)

In our reading from the Book of Acts, Paul is in Athens, at the Areopagus, and he begins his address there by saying, “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.” Now I wonder how Paul might begin a speech here, if he came to America in our day. He might just say, “I Perceive That You Are Not Very Religious.”

Not very religious: Let me explain. If you track the views and activity of Americans over recent decades, you would have to say that we as a country are becoming less religious, and increasingly so. Oh, we’re still more religious than Western Europe, which has become almost totally secularized. But compared to how America was, say, sixty years ago, or even thirty years ago, we are definitely less religious than we used to be. It started in the mid-1960s, the decline of church membership in our country. And now in the 21st century, what was a stream has become an absolute torrent. Church membership has drastically, dramatically, plummeted. Some call it “The Great Dechurching” of America. It’s the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history. 40 million Americans have left the church over the last 30 years.

Which leads us to the group known as the “Nones.” Now I’m not talking about little old ladies in black habits. Those would be “nuns,” n-u-n-s. No, I’m talking about mostly young adults who are not into church habits. These are the Nones, N-o-n-e-s. If asked on a survey to list their religious preference, they would mark “None.” They are the religiously unaffiliated; they don’t go to church, they don’t know the Bible, they don’t hold to any particular set of religious beliefs or practices. If you ask them, they’ll say, “Oh, I’m spiritual! But I’m not religious. I don’t believe in organized religion.”

You see, to the Nones, “organized religion” is the big bugaboo. What, so you prefer “disorganized religion”? Or should I say, “individualized, privatized religion”? Because that’s what it’s more like. Each person does that which is right in his own eyes. “My truth is my truth,” even if it doesn’t make any sense. These are the Nones. And they are growing. Rapidly.

So if Paul were here today, he might say, “Nones of America, I perceive that in every way you are not very religious.” And they would nod their heads and say, “Yeah, you’re right, Paul. We are not very religious. And we like it that way.”

But that doesn’t mean the Nones don’t have their gods. They do. Athens was full of idols. So is America. An idol is whatever false god you worship. In the Large Catechism, under the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” Luther writes: “What does it mean to have a god? . . . Whatever you set your heart on and put your trust in is truly your god.” And Luther goes on to list some of the more common idols that people have: Money and possessions. Happiness and pleasure. Whatever you look to as your highest good, that is your god.

So it is today. People may say they’re not religious, but they still have their gods, their idols. I’ve often said that wherever people spend their Sunday mornings, that is where their god is. If it’s sleeping in on Sunday morning, their god is the pillow. If it’s going out for brunch, their god is their belly. If it’s taking their kids to their soccer games, their god is their children. And so on. Now there’s nothing wrong per se with a good night’s sleep or going out for brunch or taking your kids to their games. But anytime you choose to spend your time on something other than giving your attention to the one true God–the God who created you, the God who forgives your sins, the God before whom you will stand on the day of judgment–whenever you choose something else over the one true God, you are making a wrong choice.

Now let’s be clear: It’s not just the “Nones” or the “dechurched” who do this sort of thing. We all do. Even us respectable, church-going folk. Oh, we may put a better gloss or veneer on how we look, but we still have that old, idol-worshiping sinner within us. When it comes down to it, each one of us wants to be our own god and do whatever gives us the most pleasure. It’s been that way ever since the fall into sin. We all sin, and we all die.

So thank God, he has given us the realization that we all are idolaters! Thank God that he has given us the gift of repentance to know our sin and the eternal death and judgment that would await us! Thank God, he’s given us the gift of faith to know our Savior, Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose from the dead in victory over sin and death. Thank God for the Holy Spirit, who creates faith in our hearts through the gospel and keeps us strong in this faith and love through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament.

This is what all people need to know. Through the ministry of the church, through the preaching of God’s Word of Law and Gospel, God would have all nations come to the knowledge of the truth.

Friends, this is what the apostle Paul was doing in Athens, preaching at the Areopagus. He was meeting the people where they were and then leading them toward repentance and the forgiveness of sins. “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.”

People by nature do not know who the one true God is. So they grope around in the dark and create gods in their own image. The people of Athens would have idols devoted to all the various gods that people come up with, and then, just to make sure they were covering all their bases, they even had an idol devoted to “The Unknown God.” Paul picks up on this and says, in effect, “OK, you admit you don’t know who God is. So now I’m going to tell you about him.”

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth,” Paul goes on, and he describes how there is only one God, who made everything that exists. And yet, even though all people should seek for this God, they don’t know him as they ought. That is due to man’s ignorance. But now God has revealed himself to us, so that we can know him. And that means it’s time to give up on our idols, who cannot save us, and turn in repentance to the one true God who can and will save us.

Paul says: “But now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” You see, Paul is preaching Jesus and the resurrection. This is what all people everywhere need to know. There is a judgment day coming. How will you stand on that day? Will your idols save you on that day? No, they will not. No Athenian idol can help you on that day. And no American idol, either.

God will judge the world in righteousness. There will be no slipping by. There will be no secrets that you can hide from God. The Law is the Law: Love God with your whole heart, and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself. Anything short of that, and you get the guilty verdict.

But thank God that in his mercy he has sent his own Son, who has taken the guilty verdict from you and served the death sentence in your place! This is Jesus, the God-man Savior. He is your only hope on the day of judgment. Trust in him, not in yourself, not in your idols. This same Jesus, having accomplished the mission for which his Father sent him–this same Jesus rose from the dead and now lives forever. You wouldn’t know this, other than God sending his messenger to tell you this good news. So, listen up and take this to heart.

That’s where Paul is going with his sermon at the Areopagus. And that’s where every faithful preacher goes to this day. This is what you need to know! You are a sinner. You have a Savior. His name is Jesus. And I’m here to tell you about him.

Friends, it doesn’t matter whether you are a “None” or a “dechurched” or a heavy-duty, every-Sunday, “churched” kind of person. There is no distinction. God is not a respecter of persons. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. All have the same Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who died and rose to give you the gift of forgiveness, life, and eternal salvation. Take hold of Christ, by faith, and you will never need anything or anyone else to save you.