Category: Sermon Page

Twenty-third Sunday after Pentecost
November 13, 2022

“Day of Judgment, Day of Redemption, Days of Distress” (Malachi 4:1-6; Luke 21:5-36)

“Day of Judgment, Day of Redemption, Days of Distress”: We hear about all of these days in our readings today. All these days are guaranteed. God’s word makes it so. All these days will happen. In fact, some of them are happening already. But there is a day ahead that is not yet here. It’s still to come. And we need to be ready for it. Let’s find out.

Day of judgment, day of redemption: That is the day that is still to come. And really, it’s just one day. The judgment and the redemption will happen at the same time, on the same day. Whether it will be judgment or redemption for you–well, that’s the question, isn’t it? But that singular day is coming, no doubt about it, and it could happen at any time.

That day will be a day of judgment. Our reading from Malachi tells us about it: “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” Whoa! That is very severe judgment being prophesied! Utter destruction! That’s what will happen on the day that is coming.

Jesus likewise speaks of the day of judgment that is coming on the earth: “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.”

You see, Jesus tells us when Judgment Day will arrive. It will happen on the day when he himself returns. We don’t know when that will be, but we do know that the day is coming. Jesus guarantees it. And Jesus himself will be the Judge doing the judging. Like we just sang in the hymn: “The clouds of judgment gather, the time is growing late; be sober and be watchful, our judge is at the gate.” Like we just confessed in the Creed: “And he will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.” Jesus Christ is the Judge who is coming on Judgment Day.

All the arrogant and all evildoers are doomed on the day when Christ returns. Jesus tells of the judgment to come on the world by prophesying the judgment that would come on unbelieving Jerusalem in the year 70. The judgment on Jerusalem would be complete, utter destruction. The temple will be burned and leveled to the ground. What Jesus prophesied then took place 40 years later when the Roman army destroyed the city in A.D. 70. That judgment on Jerusalem serves as a microcosm–that is, a miniature world–a portent and perpetual warning of the final day of judgment that is coming on the earth. Again, one of our hymns describes what will happen: “The day is surely drawing near when Jesus, God’s anointed, in all his power shall appear as judge whom God appointed. Then fright shall banish idle mirth, and flames on flames shall ravage earth as Scripture long has warned us.”

The day of judgment, the day of Christ’s return. Doom and destruction for all the arrogant and all evildoers. It’s easy to condemn them, but how will we escape? Can we stand the scrutiny of an all-seeing judge? Are our deeds, are our hearts, pure enough to pass? Based on God’s law, the Ten Commandments, I know I would fail. My words, my thoughts, my motives do not measure up. Now if I can see these sinful traits in my character, surely the God who reads the heart will know that a thousand times over.

How about you? Are you ready to stand before the Judge? If you’re basing it on how good you are, even relatively speaking compared to others, I can tell you that the Judge will throw the book at you. You will be condemned and cut down with the arrogant and the evildoers. There is no safety in that route, only damnation. Thus it will be on the day of judgment, and that day is coming.

But thank God, the day of Christ’s return, the day of judgment, will also be the day of redemption! Yes, the day when our Lord returns will be for us Christians the great and awesome day of our salvation! “Straighten up and raise your heads,” Jesus says, “because your redemption is drawing near.” Your redemption–that is, your liberation, your deliverance from judgment–your redemption is drawing near. Because Christ is drawing near, and he is your Redeemer. Do you hear that? Our Judge is also our Redeemer! By him, through the redemption he purchased for us with his own blood, you will not be judged and condemned with the world. Rather, you will be redeemed to stand righteous before his throne. “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” For those who trust in Christ, the great and awesome day of the Lord will be a day of deliverance, not doom. It will be a day of joy, not judgment. A day of salvation, not damnation. This is why we look forward to that day, and we pray for its coming. It is our great hope.

Hope sealed with blood, the blood of Christ our Redeemer. The blood he shed on the cross for you, to set you free from your sins, to pay a price you could never pay. But he could, and he did. For he is the very Son of God, the Holy One from heaven, who suffered and died for the sins of the world, including your sins. Jesus turns your judgment into joy. He turns your death and doom into resurrection and righteousness. He is your great escape on the day of judgment. Trust in him, for he is your only refuge.

Friends, the day that is coming is both a day of judgment and a day of redemption. Judgment for the world. Redemption for those who are in Christ. And that’s you. God placed you safe and secure in Christ when he took you from the world and brought you into his kingdom. You came into the kingdom when you were brought into the church through Holy Baptism. The Spirit has given you saving faith in Christ, so that now you know Jesus as your Savior. You are a Christian, a member of God’s people, the church.

This is where you need to be. To stand outside the church, outside the community of faith, is a dangerous place to be. Life is dangerous enough as it is, being a Christian living in the world, with all the trials and afflictions we face. But to have no hope, no refuge on the day of judgment, nothing to look forward to–what utter foolishness and lostness and sadness that is. And people don’t even realize it.

And so the days leading up to the day of Christ’s coming–these are days of distress, even for Christians. We Christians are not immune to the turmoil and distress that this world experiences in these days before Christ comes. Tribulation is all around us, and it will be so until that day. Wars and rumors of wars, famines, earthquakes, natural disasters, persecution, religious deception, false teachers and deceivers–these are the conditions that surround and afflict the church throughout this New Testament age.

One of the false teachings you may hear in some circles is the notion that the church is going to taken up in a “pre-tribulation rapture,” as it’s called. That way, so the idea goes, we will not have to experience the tribulations that Jesus describes. But that is a bunch of poppycock. It has no basis in Scripture. No, the church has suffered and will continue to suffer distress and tribulation in this world. This will continue until the day when our Lord returns at his second and final coming.

And so these are days of distress, and they call for endurance. These are days of watchfulness on our part. Jesus warns us of the danger. He calls us to wakeful watching: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.” You see, Satan will continue to try to separate us from our faith and our Lord. The world will continue to attack the church. Our own sinful flesh will continue to mislead and deceive us. Temptations from the devil, afflictions from the world, doubts and struggles from within–such is life on this side of the Second Coming.

But do not despair. Instead, take heart! God will strengthen your weary knees and lift your drooping spirit. The promises of God are as good and as sure as the words of our Lord. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” Jesus says, “but my words will not pass away.” And his promises revive our flagging heart. Days of distress would drag us down. But God’s word lifts us up! His promises cause us to be watchful and wakeful and, yes, even hopeful!

“Day of Judgment, Day of Redemption, Days of Distress”: The day of judgment that is coming is also the day of our redemption. For your Judge is also your Redeemer! He is our Lord Jesus Christ, and Christ is surely coming! Through faith in him, we will be ready for that day. On that day, as Malachi says, “the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” What a day that will be! And this promise, this hope, puts a spring in our step even now, in these days of distress. “Straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

All Saints’ Day (Observed)
Sunday, November 6, 2022

“All Saints: Signed, Sealed, Delivered” (Revelation 7:2-17)

“Behold a host, arrayed in white.” So we just sang. Our reading from Revelation tells us who they are: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

But before they came out of the great tribulation, first they were in it. That’s where we are. In the midst of tribulation. Trial and tribulation. Struggle, sorrow, sadness. Grief and loss. This is our lot in life here in this vale of tears. But the vision of that white-robed multitude, the church triumphant–this brings us comfort, this gives us hope, knowing that this is what awaits us and our loved ones who die in the Lord. We can be confident of this, because all of God’s saints have been signed and sealed and thus will be delivered also. “All Saints: Signed, Sealed, Delivered”–this is our theme today on All Saints’ Day.

Let’s start by asking: What is “All Saints’ Day”? Why do we observe it? What is the purpose of this day in the church year? Well, it has a long history in the Christian church. In the early church, it was customary in many places to gather at the gravesite of a departed Christian on the anniversary of their death. The purpose was to commemorate, to remember, that dear brother or sister who had died in the faith and now was with the Lord. Over the centuries, this practice came to be transferred to just one day toward the end of the church year, when a congregation would remember all the faithful departed from their members who had died over the previous year.

That’s what’s being done in thousands of churches all around the world today. All Saints’ Day actually is November 1, but many congregations observe it on the first Sunday in November. Now there are saints’ days set aside for the big-name saints throughout the church year, for example: St. Andrew, November 30; St. Mary, August 15; St. Matthew, September 21. But on All Saints’ Day, we remember the faithful departed who don’t have a special day on the calendar, whose names may not be well known. But the Lord knows their names. He has not forgotten them, so neither should we. This is what we celebrate on All Saints’ Day.

Now what about this term, “saints.” What do we mean by that? Most people, when they hear the word “saints,” may think of certain individuals who have been canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. But we’re using the term in a broader sense. The word “saints” literally means “holy ones.” But then we have to ask: What do we mean by “holy”? To be “holy,” in biblical thought, means “to belong to God,” to be “his.” “Set apart to belong to God.” In the Bible we read about holy days, holy places, holy things, holy people. These all are holy, because they have been set apart from ordinary use to belong to God alone. That’s what “holy” means, and these are who the “saints” are: the holy people of God.

But the amazing thing is, this is who we are! Yes, you and I, we are “saints,” “holy ones”! How can this be? I’m not that holy! And I know enough about human nature to know you aren’t, either. In myself, that is, in my flesh, according to my sinful nature, I am not holy. I’m not all that pure, clean, or morally upright–however you want to define “holy” in that sense. No, I am a sinner, and, guess what, so are you. So how is it that lousy sinners like us get to be called “holy”?

It’s because we have been “set apart” to belong to God. This is not our doing, but his. He makes us holy. God has taken us sinners, sometimes by the scruff of our neck, and dragged us over to the baptismal font, and washed us clean and pure. We don’t deserve it, we didn’t do anything to earn it, but God chose to wash us in Holy Baptism. There’s that word “holy” again. In Holy Baptism, God makes us his holy people. This is where you were signed and sealed. And in the end, this is how you will be delivered.

You have been signed. At your baptism, the sign of the holy cross was placed on you: “Anna”–I’ll use the name “Anna,” because my daughter was baptized on All Saints’ Day, 27 years ago–“Anna, receive the sign of the holy cross both upon your + forehead and upon your + heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified.” Same for you, baptized Christian. You have been signed with the cross of Christ.

And the cross of Jesus Christ is the only thing that will save you. The blood that the Son of God shed on that cross atoned for all your sins–indeed, for the sins of the whole world. The sign of the cross has been placed on you, applied to you personally, in Holy Baptism. Again, it’s God’s doing all the way: Christ dying on the cross for you, then God applying the cross to you in Baptism.

All your sins are washed away. It’s like the great multitude in Revelation, clothed in white robes, standing before the Lamb: “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This is the only cleaning solution that will get the stain of sin out. Like it says in Isaiah: “Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin. Christ shed his blood for you on the cross, and you have been signed with that cross in your baptism.

Signed, sealed, and delivered. You have been signed. What about being sealed? You have been sealed, as well. God placed his seal on you, again, in your baptism. That’s when the name of the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, was placed upon you. Now you belong to God. You are his. He put his name on you. He signed you with the holy cross. He sealed you with the Holy Spirit. God put his shield of protection around you. As it says in Revelation: “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” You are secure under God’s seal of protection.

Brothers and sisters, God has enrolled us in his witness protection program. As we bear witness to our Lord in this hostile world, we do so under God’s protection. In baptism, we were given the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit will guard and keep us in the true faith. The world cannot harm us. Oh, they may persecute us–they may arrest us, even kill us–but they cannot harm us. They can’t separate us from God’s love. They can’t strip us of our faith. They can’t take away our salvation. God will see to it. We have been sealed.

And so, signed and sealed, we will, in the end, be delivered. That will be the outcome of our faith. We will come out of this time of tribulation. God will graciously take us from this vale of tears to himself in heaven. God will wipe away every tear from our eyes. “Deliver us from evil” we pray, and God will answer our prayer.

Even now, those who have departed this life in the faith–the Christians we have known and loved–they now rest from their labors, and their souls are with the Lord. Together we all await the day of resurrection, when our Lord Jesus will return and raise up our bodies, whole and glorious. That will be the final deliverance. And that is already our sure and certain hope, as sure as Christ’s own resurrection, to which we were united in baptism.

Today know that all the saints who have gone before us are rejoicing with us on this All Saints’ Day. They know the victory Christ has won for us. It’s not just us here in this church. Besides all the millions of our fellow Christians around the world, the one holy Christian church includes all the departed saints we remember but do not see.

You know, in our Communion liturgy, there is the line, “Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name.” Note, “and with all the company of heaven.” They are joining us today–or rather, we are joining them, in their song of praise to God and to the Lamb.

In churches in Scandinavia, there is an old custom that the communion rail around the altar is formed in the shape of a half-circle. The half-circle stops at the back of the chancel. Beyond the chancel, on the other side of the wall, lies the churchyard, the cemetery, where the members of that parish are buried. And that is the reason why the communion rail is only a half-circle. The great Swedish churchman Bo Giertz explains:

“Where the circle ends at the chancel wall, the fellowship still continues; in the churchyard is the resting place of the dead, the Lord’s faithful, who now are partakers of the great banquet in heaven. They are with us as a great cloud of witnesses, they continue the small circle of people around the altar in my parish church, a circle that widens and is extended both back in time through the centuries and forward into the eternal world. It is a table fellowship without end. Shoulder by shoulder are they with us: our own faithful ancestors who once received the sacrament here at this altar, saints and martyrs elsewhere through the ages, and finally the Lord Himself and His apostles in the glorious kingdom in heaven above where the circle comes to its conclusion. This is ‘communio sanctorum,’ the communion of saints in Christ’s kingdom of grace. Celebrating the Lord’s Supper with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am connected with the saints who sit at the Lord’s Table in the heavenly kingdom. I am counted as one of God’s holy people.”

God’s holy people–and so we are! For you and I have been signed, marked with the sign of the cross of Christ. We have been sealed, sealed with the Holy Spirit, who will protect and keep us until the end. And so we will be delivered. We will be among the white-robed saints in glory everlasting. Fellow saints of God: Signed, sealed, delivered–you are his!

Reformation Day (Observed)
Sunday, October 30, 2022

“A Reformation in Liturgy and Hymnody” (John 8:31-36)

Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” Friends, this is really what the Reformation was all about: that people would abide in the living, life-giving word of Christ; that they would know the truth of the gospel, which had been obscured by the errors that had crept into the church; and that this truth would set people free from the slavery they had been laboring under. Luther himself had labored under that slavery, and when he discovered the freeing truth of the gospel, he bent every effort toward wanting others to know the freedom that is theirs in Christ. The whole Reformation was geared toward that end. And it meant reforming every area of church life that had been infected by those enslaving errors. It meant bringing the truth to light in every aspect where it had been clouded over.

Today we are the recipients and beneficiaries of that great Reformation program. And one of the prime ways in which we enjoy that rich heritage is in what we are doing right here in this church service. For today, on this Reformation Sunday, we will see what benefits are ours, precisely because the Lutheran Reformation included, very prominently, “A Reformation in Liturgy and Hymnody.”

First, a reformation in liturgy. By that I mean reforming the church’s regular order of the Divine Service of Word and Sacrament, otherwise known as the Mass. And the Mass was in need of reform. For over the centuries, false ideas had become attached to the Mass, that by our doing of it, the priest and the people were offering up a sacrifice to God that contributes to our salvation. In other words, the arrows had been reversed. Instead of the big thing being how God gives us his gifts in the Divine Service, purely out of his grace–which is the big thing–instead, over time the emphasis had switched to our works in the performing of the Mass, in order to gain God’s favor. And this false view was reflected in the practice of the Mass.

In 1523, Luther wrote about the abuses had crept into the service. He said, “God’s Word has been silenced,” that is, that typically there was no preaching of God’s Word in the service. Further, he said, “such divine service was performed as a work whereby God’s grace and salvation might be won.” “The mass became a sacrifice,” said Luther. And that needed to be changed. “Let us, therefore, repudiate everything that smacks of sacrifice . . . and retain only that which is pure and holy, and so order our mass.”

And that is what Luther proceeded to do. He removed from the liturgy the parts that gave the idea that by our work we are offering up to God some atoning sacrifice. Another problem that needed to be addressed was that the Mass was in Latin, a language that most people did not understand. So by 1526, Luther had developed a German mass, so that people could know what was going on and participate in the service.

Luther saw the need to reform the Mass. But he did not reject it. Lest you think Luther was some sort of radical who wanted to junk the liturgy altogether–no, that was not the case. He kept as much of the historic liturgy as could be kept without injury to the gospel. He writes: “It is not now nor has been our intention to abolish the liturgical service of God completely, but rather to purify the one that is now in use from the wretched accretions which corrupt it and to point out an evangelical use.” For example, he says, “Let the chants in the Sunday masses and Vespers be retained; they are quite good and are taken from Scripture.”

The historic liturgy had developed over many centuries, from the time of the early church. The Kyrie, the Gloria in Excelsis, the Creed, the Sanctus, the Agnus Dei–these historic canticles have been integral to the structure of the service from long before Luther. They have served the church well. And so Luther saw the need only to cleanse the Mass from those “wretched accretions” that had crept in, which gave the impression that we are offering up to God our work, rather than God doing the work of giving us his gifts in Word and Sacrament. He kept everything that could be kept.

And so it is, dear friends, that here today we are using the same basic order of service that had developed over many centuries in Christendom and that Luther cleansed and reformed. Our liturgy has stood the test of time and passed with flying colors. We are blessed to have and to use the historic Divine Service as we have it in our hymnal.

And speaking of hymnals, the first Lutheran hymnal was published in 1524. It consisted in eight hymns, in the German language, for the people to sing. But that was just the start. Soon, Luther and his colleagues began producing many hymns that praise God and extol the gospel. Luther himself, who knew the Word of God better than anyone and who was a skilled musician–Luther would write some 41 hymns in his lifetime. Not only is he our chief theologian, he is also our best hymn writer. We have many of his hymns in our hymnal. In fact, all of the hymns we’re singing today in our service were written by Luther.

And what a joy it is to sing them! How the beautiful light of Christ shines through! Take, for example, the first hymn we sang today, 556, “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice.” In my opinion, this may be the greatest hymn ever written. The music is an uplifting match for the text. The text is theologically sound; it gets Law and Gospel right. And the imagery is creative and imaginative. Consider stanza 5, wherein the Father speaks to the Son:

God said to His beloved Son:
“It’s time to have compassion.
Then go, bright jewel of My crown,
And bring to all salvation.
From sin and sorrow set them free;
Slay bitter death for them that they
May live with You forever.”

Brothers and sisters, this is the gospel, isn’t it? It’s putting into singable, poetic, memorable form the wonderful good news of what God has done for us in Christ. God did send forth his beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to bring us salvation. By his atoning death and victorious resurrection, Jesus does set us free from sin and sorrow and death, so that we now will live with him forever. It’s like Jesus himself says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Friends, our liturgy and our hymns proclaim the gospel loud and clear! Prior to Luther’s reforms, the gospel was being obscured and hidden. But now, every Sunday here in church, you are getting the life-giving, liberating gospel of Christ, full blast, in word and song–in your ears, on your tongue, implanted in your heart and mind. Liturgy and hymnody have a way of doing that.

It’s like what it says in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” When the word of Christ dwells in you richly, as it does through our liturgy and hymns, then you will be abiding in Christ’s word, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

Grace Lutheran Church (LCMS)

Guest Pastor: Rev. Robert Zagore, LCMS Executive Director of National Mission.

Old Testament Reading: Genesis 32:22-30

Epistle: 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5

Holy Gospel: Luke 18:1-8

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost
October 9, 2022

“But the Word of God Is Not Bound!” (2 Timothy 2:1-13)

Do you ever feel constrained or held back, like you’re the prisoner of things that are too powerful for you to overcome? Maybe it’s age. You feel the advancing years taking their toll on you. Maybe it’s sickness. You get over one thing, and then it’s something else. More pills, more trips to the doctor. You feel like a prisoner in your own body. Or maybe it’s a guilty conscience weighing you down. You sense your own failings. Your past sins keep on dogging you. Then there’s the approach of death. We don’t know when that will come, regardless of our age. It’s like how Scrooge saw Marley’s ghost, shackled with chains, rattling and haunting him in the night. The inevitability of death can haunt us like that. All these things–the sadnesses and sorrows of life; the lack of connectedness with people we know we ought to be closer to; the sense of alienation from God, tucked in the back of our head–all these things are like chains wrapped around us, holding us back, weighing us down, binding us up.

“But the Word of God Is Not Bound!” And it is through this word that God frees you from your chains and makes you alive in his love. Today I want you to hear this freeing word that God has for you. And you can hear it in all of our Scripture readings today.

Let’s start with the Epistle. The apostle Paul was bound up and chained–literally. He was a prisoner in a Roman jail when he wrote this letter to Timothy. Now Paul had been arrested and imprisoned a number of times in his career as an apostle. For example, he had been in jail at Philippi, Paul and Silas had been, with their feet fastened in the stocks. Then at midnight there was a great earthquake; their chains were loosed and the doors were opened. Later on, Paul was imprisoned again. He was taken to Caesarea, and then off to Rome, where he was placed under house arrest for two years before being released. But that was then, and this is now. Now Paul is in prison again in Rome, but this time it will be for keeps. This time–and it’s probably around the year 66 or 67–this will be the last time Paul will be in prison. But this time there will be no great earthquake to break the bars and loosen the chains. And this time it is not a low-security house arrest that will end in release. No, this time, this imprisonment, will end in Paul being executed, beheaded, for the crime of preaching the gospel of Christ.

Paul is waiting for the carrying out of that sentence as he writes this letter to his young assistant Timothy. He reports that he is suffering for the gospel: bound, he says, “bound with chains as a criminal.” But lest young Timothy get discouraged and dismayed–lest Timothy gets deterred from his task of carrying the gospel forward–Paul adds a very important reminder: I, Paul, may be bound, bound with chains, that is true. “But the word of God is not bound!”

Did you catch that? “But the word of God is not bound!” This is the freeing message that gave confidence to Paul in the face of his impending death. This is the freeing message that gave courage to Timothy, in spite of the prospect of facing persecution himself. This is the freeing message that will lift your spirits today no matter what you are facing. “But the word of God is not bound!”

You see, the mighty Roman Empire could chain up Paul and even put him to death. But they could not chain up the word of God. After Paul would come a Timothy. And what Timothy heard from Paul, he entrusted to faithful men who in turn would teach others. There would be no lack of proclaimers of God’s word. And so it goes, down to our day. The word of God is not bound. It is not bound by persecution. It was not bound to only the age of the apostles. The word of God is not bound. It is alive and active and free, mightier than any prison chains. And the word of God frees up those who receive it in faith. That would be Paul, that would be Timothy, and that’s you and me.

The word of God is not bound. It never has been. That was the case, even hundreds of years before Paul, in the days of the Old Testament. Back then, the nation of Israel was entrusted with the task of being the caretaker, the steward of God’s word. But even so, God’s word of blessing was not limited to only those from the nation of Israel.

Take the story of Ruth, for example. Ruth was a woman from the country of Moab. She was not an Israelite. And so Ruth was outside the covenant of blessing the Lord had established with Abraham. Or was she? Remember, the Lord had told Abraham: “I will bless you and make your name great, and you will be a blessing. In you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” All the families of the earth! So here was Ruth, from one of those other nations. But by coming into contact with the people of God, she too came into the blessing! The word of God was not bound by nationality. God’s word crossed that boundary and brought blessing to the Moabite woman Ruth.

The word of God is not bound. It’s not bound by persecution. It’s not bound by nationality. The word of God reaches out. It frees and blesses. That’s what happened in the case of the lepers that we heard about in today’s Gospel. Lepers are unclean. They have a terrible skin disease and have to isolate themselves from other people. “Unclean!” they cry, to keep others away. Except this time, in our Gospel reading, they cry something else: “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” You see, they’ve heard enough about Jesus that they sense in him someone who can help. They hope that Jesus will bring them a word of mercy from God, a powerful, effective word that can heal and help. And they’re right. Jesus is the one to ask for such a word. Which is what he speaks, and does. He tells the lepers to go and show themselves to the priests, who will attest to their healing. And even before they get there, as they go, they are cleansed. God’s mighty word of mercy and cleansing and healing was not bound by their disease.

What’s more, one of the men Jesus healed was a Samaritan. Like Ruth the Moabitess, this Samaritan leper was an outsider–not only because of his skin disease, but also because of his ethnicity and religious practice. But the word of God is not bound by any of that. Jesus is able to overcome all barriers. He receives and welcomes, he helps and even commends the Samaritan leper. Jesus is in the business of showing mercy to the marginalized, to all sorts of people, even folks like you and me.

So where do you find yourself in these stories? Are there chains of hopelessness that would try to lock you in, and lock you out from God’s mercy? Is it the fear of what people might think of you or do to you, because you’re a Christian? Then hear the message that freed up Paul and Timothy in the face of persecution: God’s word is not bound! Therefore you are not bound by fear! Are there chains that bind you? Is it the sense of being an outsider, like you’re someone God doesn’t want to bless or help? Then hear the word that blessed Ruth: The God of Israel is your God too! God turns outsiders into insiders. Hear the word that helped those lepers, even the Samaritan: Jesus wants to have mercy on you! Because your faith is in Jesus Christ, your faith will make you well. Not because it is “your faith,” as though you were doing some great thing. No, it’s because your faith is in Christ. He has mercy on you and makes you whole for eternity.

Jesus is the one who brings the word of God to you. Jesus is the Word of God for you! And the word of God is not bound! Jesus, the Word of God incarnate, was not bound by the shackles of death. He conquered death for you. The tomb could not hold him. Jesus is the Redeemer who breaks all your chains and sets you free! Remember Jesus Christ, the Son of God come to earth to be your Savior. Remember Jesus Christ, crucified for all your sins. Those were the real chains that tied you down. But Jesus took your sins and let himself be bound by nails to a cross, where he suffered and died for you, in your place. Those chains of sin are broken! And then: “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead.” Christ burst the bonds of death that kept all of humanity in its chains. Those chains are broken also ! You are free! Free in Christ!

Our message today: The word of God is not bound! And this is the gospel word that is being preached to you right now! This word is for you, so that you also, as Paul says, “may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” You then, my friends, like Paul said to Timothy, “be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”