Category: Sermon Page

First Sunday in Advent
November 27, 2022

“Come, Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord” (Isaiah 2:1-5)

“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD.” The prophet Isaiah says that this is what many peoples, many nations, will say in the latter days. “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.” And this is what we say–yes, you and I–this is what we say in these latter days, because this is equivalent to saying, “Come, let us go to church.” Really? Yes, really! Because this now–this place, the church–this is the mountain and the house that Isaiah had prophesied. This is God’s house, the place where God’s word goes forth. And this is why we gladly say: “Come, Let Us Go Up to the Mountain of the Lord.”

In our reading from Isaiah 2, the prophet says that the days are coming when God will establish his house on the mountain of the Lord. And peoples from all over will come there, because that is where the Lord will teach us his ways and his word.

Now Isaiah lived about 700 years before Christ. And the mountain he had in view was Mount Zion, where Jerusalem is situated. On Mount Zion stood the temple, the dwelling place of God in the midst of his people. That was the house of the Lord at the time of Isaiah.

But Isaiah was looking ahead to a time beyond his own. That’s why he says, “It shall come to pass in the latter days.” The Lord revealed to Isaiah what was to come in the future: “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills.” This place–the mountain where the house of the Lord is–will be the one place in all the earth that shall be preeminent and most prominent.

And as the most prominent place in all the world, what will happen there? “And all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come.” Note, “peoples” shall come. When the Bible says “peoples,” plural, it means the Gentiles, the non-Jews, the nations outside of Israel. The Gentiles did not know the one true God. They worshiped other gods. But those peoples, those outsiders, now will come to the mountain of the house of the Lord. It won’t just be Israel going up to Mount Zion. In the future, in the latter days, peoples will come from all around. This is a prophecy of the Gentiles becoming part of God’s people, the church.

And why will they come? What will they come for? “Many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.’” Friends, this is the reason why you are here. You have come to the house of the Lord in order to hear God’s word. You want to know his ways. You want to walk in his paths. You want to follow Jesus.

Because Jesus is the one who would come and make this place worth coming to. The coming of Christ–that’s what we’re looking for in this season of Advent. His coming at Christmas, in the flesh. His coming as our humble king, to suffer and die in Jerusalem for the sins of the world. His coming to us now in Word and Sacrament. And his coming again at the Last Day, when his kingdom will be established in its fullness and glory.

What a kingdom it will be, when Christ comes again to judge the living and the dead! “He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” The kingdom that Christ will establish on that day will be a kingdom of peace and life and blessing forever. It will be glorious, and how we look forward to it!

Isaiah foresees the coming of the Christ, both his first coming and his second coming. What Jesus would do in his first coming guarantees the glories promised at his second coming. For Jesus himself would come and go up to the mountain of the Lord. Jesus made the trek up that mountain. He went from the Mount of Olives and came up Mount Zion, riding into Jerusalem on a donkey. “Behold, your king is coming to you!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

Christ your king came to suffer and die for the sins of the world. He came to suffer and die for your sins, all of them. No longer are they held against you. You have forgiveness in Jesus’ name. And by Jesus taking away our sins, which he did on the cross, he has taken away the barrier that separates us from God. Now God is at peace with us. Now God looks kindly upon us. Now death has had its sting taken out of it, because Christ has risen from the dead, and you, baptized Christian, you will share in his resurrection. Christ has made it so.

Christ came to fulfill this prophecy of Isaiah. He is the Word of God incarnate. He teaches us God’s ways. Jesus says to each one of us: “Come, follow me. I am the way and the truth and the life. I am the light of the world. Hear my voice, and I will give you the light of life.”

And so you have come here to meet with Jesus. You have not come to Mount Sinai, where the threats of the law would terrify you so that you tremble with fear. No, as it says in Hebrews, “you have come to Mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, . . . and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant.” Yes, his shed blood on your behalf speaks a word of comfort and peace to your soul.

And so we come. We come to where Jesus is. And he is here, here in this house of the Lord. What the temple was in the Old Testament, our Lord Jesus is in the New Testament, and in an even greater way. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”

And Christ Jesus has come here on this day, to this house of the Lord. Jesus has come here to this house, in this service, to give us his very body and blood for our forgiveness. We acknowledge his coming in our midst by singing those same words that the crowds in Jerusalem used to greet the coming king: “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

Christ has come to the mountain of the Lord, Mount Zion. And so the peoples, the nations, will come also. Why? How? “For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” This is the law in the broad sense of the word, the Torah, the instruction of the Lord–both Law and Gospel, really. The word of the Lord goes forth, inviting people to come. Calling us here: “Come to the mountain, come to this house, to get your sins forgiven! Come and meet your Savior! Come to the mountain, come to this house, and receive the gifts that God has to give you! Come and be at peace with God, and learn how to love your neighbor, too.” “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.”

Christ has come to this mountain, Christ has come to this house, to be God dwelling in our midst. And this is why you have come. You and I can say with the psalmist: “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!’” Brothers and sisters, it is a joyous thing to be able to say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.”

Last Sunday of the Church Year
November 20, 2022

“From the Domain of Darkness to the Kingdom of His Son” (Colossians 1:13-20)

Our reading today from Colossians says that God has “delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son.” And this gives us our outline for today’s message: first, the domain we’ve been delivered from; second, the kingdom we’ve been transferred to; and third, the Son whose kingdom it is.

First, the domain we’ve been delivered from. St. Paul describes it as “the domain of darkness.” This is what God has delivered us from. And thank God he has. For this is a domain from which we could never rescue ourselves. “The domain of darkness” describes the lost condition in which we were born and in which we would still be stuck, if not for God’s intervention and rescue. The domain of darkness is the devil’s domain of doom and death. In his realm and under his sway, the devil deceives us into thinking we are our own gods, independent of the will of our Creator. And we all too easily go along.

The domain of darkness. The world is lost in the darkness of sin and unbelief. The people of this world are groping around in the dark. They don’t know God. They can’t find their way to him. Oh, they may figure that there must be a god or gods up there somewhere. Nature, reason, and conscience can tell them that. From nature they can observe that there is an intelligent design to all of this. It could not have come about by accident. Likewise, reason tells them that must be a Creator behind all of this and a purpose to our existence. Their conscience tells them that there is a standard of right and wrong, which they can know since God has written his law in human hearts. People can sense that there is a god to whom we are accountable, but that somehow things are not right between us and God.

Nature, reason, and conscience can give us this sort of natural knowledge of God. But it is not a saving knowledge. It does not tell us who this God is or how he is disposed toward us. It does not tell us how we get right with him. And it does not solve the death problem. These are questions the people of this world have no answers for–not right answers, anyway. So they’re just groping around in the dark, guessing, grasping at straws, making things up as they go along.

The domain of darkness is a bad place to be. And you and I would still be there, trapped, stuck, if God had not intervened. He undertook the big rescue mission. God sent his own Son into this hall of death, this domain of doom and gloom and darkness. Jesus took on the devil on his own turf. Or at least the devil thought it was his own turf. It isn’t, but it was under his temporary sway. Like Pharaoh enslaving the Israelites, so Satan held us in slavery and bondage. But also, like Pharaoh, Satan was about to get cut down to size.

And so Christ came, doing the big rescue job. Born as our brother, sharing our humanity, the Son of God came down from heaven for us men and for our salvation. The devil went after him from the get-go, trying to kill him, along with the other baby boys of Bethlehem. That didn’t work. So the devil went after him again, at the start of Jesus’ ministry, right after his baptism in the Jordan. The devil tempted Jesus in the wilderness, just like he tempted Adam and Eve in the garden and the Israelites in the wilderness. But again, it didn’t work. Jesus withstood the temptation.

Jesus then went on the offense, driving out demons, healing diseases, fulfilling the law, forgiving sins, exposing hypocrisy, teaching his disciples. This did work, and it worked beautifully. But Satan didn’t give up. He’d give it one more try. Yeah, get someone to betray Jesus, hand him over to the authorities, get him sentenced to a shameful, humiliating crucifixion. “Ah, Satan, this time you’ve done it! You’ve won!”

Uh, maybe not. Satan, you are pretty stupid, when compared to God. Because, actually, this crucifixion was part of God’s plan. It didn’t look that way the time. It looked like the domain of darkness was winning. Deep darkness came over the land, the mockers mocked, and Jesus cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

But this actually was God’s rescue plan–his daring, dramatic plan, put into action. This was the only way for humanity to be saved, to be delivered from the domain of darkness. The penalty for sin had to be paid, and we couldn’t pay it. Our sacrifice wouldn’t amount to a hill of beans. But Christ’s death does measure up, and then some. For he is the very Son of God, fully able to pay the price for all sinners who have ever lived. Jesus is the holy, righteous one. He kept God’s law in perfect righteousness. As the Son of God in the flesh, his death, his shed blood, has infinite worth.

And so this rescue mission, this deliverance, did work. “It is finished!” Christ cries out. The goal has been reached. All the sins of man have been atoned for. The devil’s domain has been shattered. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. The resurrection of Christ shows forth his victory. Death is defeated. God and man are brought back together. Peace, reconciliation, forgiveness–all accomplished in the cross of Christ. Life–new, eternal life–springs forth from the empty tomb.

And this is for you. You, dear friend, have been delivered from the domain of darkness. No more are you groping around in the dark. You are baptized. You have been enlightened with the gift of the Holy Spirit. You know who God is. The true God is the triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You know how God is disposed toward you. He is merciful toward you. He loves you with an everlasting love. You know how you are put right with God. Not through you own works, which could never suffice. But through the saving work of Christ, for you, on your behalf. Thus you know the answer to the death problem. It is, quite simply, Jesus Christ himself. Through faith in him, you are moved from death to life.

God has delivered us from the domain of darkness, our text says, “and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Our citizenship has been changed. No longer are we in the devil’s domain. Now we have been transferred, relocated, to the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. This is Christ’s kingdom, the one he came to establish. In this kingdom, we have redemption. “Redemption” is a word of liberation, freedom. Redemption means release from a state of bondage, by means of a payment being paid to set the person free. The payment that secured our release was the blood of Jesus Christ, which is all-sufficient. And so, in the kingdom of Christ, we have the forgiveness of sins. “Forgiveness” means that our sins have been removed from us. God has sent them away, lifted them off us. God doesn’t hold our sins against us any longer. For Christ is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

God has “transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” Luther sums it up like this, in his explanation to the Second Article of the Creed: “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.”

And this is most certainly good news! Living under Christ in his everlasting kingdom of glory–this is the great transfer we will get to enjoy for eternity. This is the transfer we rejoice in even now, because right now you and I are living in his kingdom of grace.

God has delivered us from the domain of darkness. He has transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. Now Paul, in the rest of this passage, tells us more about who this Son of God is. This part of Colossians, in its form and style, looks like it may have been an early hymn of praise to Christ, used in the church. It goes like this: “He,” that is, Christ, “is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities–all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

This is who your Savior is! Look at who it is who has rescued us! Look at who it is, this king of the kingdom to which we belong! He is the eternal Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, the one by whom all things were made. He holds all authority in heaven and on earth. He is the head of his body, the church. Yes, the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ right now is ruling all things for the sake of his church. And that’s us. He has our welfare in mind in all that happens in this life. Christ is the beginning of the resurrection of the dead, meaning that you too are going to rise, on the day when he returns. He is the God-man Savior, both true God and true man, all powerful and, at the same time, our sympathetic and merciful brother. Jesus Christ–through him God has reconciled all things to himself, “making peace by the blood of his cross.”

This is the great gospel of Christ: who he is, the very Son of God, and what God has done for us through him: God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son. This gospel, this good news, this sure anchor of our salvation will sustain you to the end, through all adversities and trials. This gospel of God’s grace, which even now fills you with hope and joy, will carry you through into the age to come, in the everlasting kingdom of glory.

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.