Category: Sermon Page

Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany
February 7, 2021

“The Jesus Vaccine” (Mark 1:29-39)

Have you gotten the vaccine yet? That’s a question that’s been going “viral” lately (yes, pun intended). Have you gotten the vaccine? Everybody’s talking about that, because the vaccine is supposed to protect you from the virus–the Coronavirus, Covid-19. And so, people are lining up at the various vaccination sites in order to get the shot–or two shots, as the case may be. There are a couple of different vaccines available. The two I’ve heard about are the Moderna vaccine and the Pfizer. And so far, the results sound encouraging. The numbers I heard Friday are these: The Moderna vaccine is currently posting a 94.1% efficacy rate and the Pfizer vaccine is showing an efficacy rate of more than 90%.

But, dear friends, those results are not nearly good enough. Because that still means that anywhere from six to ten percent of people who get the shot get the virus anyway. And if the Coronavirus doesn’t get you, something else will. So far, I have not heard of any vaccine that can prevent you from succumbing to something. As a famous surgeon general once said, “We all will probably die with something sooner or later.”

Well, actually, let me take that back. I do know of something that can and will prevent you from dying. And I’m here today to tell you about it. It’s called “The Jesus Vaccine.” The Jesus vaccine. It’s not 90% effective. It’s not 94.1% effective. No, the Jesus vaccine is 100% effective, and against all causes of death, Coronavirus included.

The Jesus vaccine. Now first let me tell you what I do not mean by that. When I was thinking about this the other day, I googled the words “Jesus” and “vaccine.” And what I discovered was that there were some people who were protesting the Covid vaccine, saying that they don’t need it, because, as their signs said, “Jesus is my vaccine.” Now that is taking it too far. I’m not saying that everybody has to get the vaccine. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to have some hesitancy or reluctance to get it. I understand that.

But these protesters saying, “Jesus is my vaccine”–it’s like they’re suggesting that just because they are Christians, they’re not going to get the virus. And that’s wrong. Being a Christian does not make you immune from disease. In fact, I know of a number of Christians, even fellow pastors, who have died from the Coronavirus. Jesus did not prevent them from getting the virus and dying from it. It’s not that they didn’t have enough faith. They did have faith. But they’re human, and humans get diseases and die. That’s a fact.

So how can I say that “the Jesus vaccine” is 100% effective and will keep you from dying? Here’s how. Because Jesus has the desire to heal you from disease and death, and he has the power to do it. We see that in our text today from Mark chapter 1. “Now Simon’s mother-in-law lay ill with a fever, and immediately they told him about her. And he came and took her by the hand and lifted her up, and the fever left her.” Or later that day: “That evening at sundown they brought to him all who were sick or oppressed by demons. And the whole city was gathered together at the door. And he healed many who were sick with various diseases.” So, Jesus certainly has the desire to heal and the power to do it.

Then how come not all people who would like Jesus to heal them get healed? Well, not all people back then got healed either. There were plenty of Israelites back in Jesus’ time who did not get healed. Maybe they had no one to bring them to the door where Jesus was doing his thing. Maybe they were living in a town that Jesus did not get around to visiting. Or maybe, like Simon’s mother-in-law, who got healed of a fever that day, later on she got sick with something else, and then she died. The point being, all those people that Jesus healed still ended up dying.

So why did Jesus do those healings, then, if they weren’t going to last? What Jesus was doing was demonstrating the final outcome of the mission he came to accomplish. The journey Jesus was taking, the ministry he was carrying out, will result in the perfect healing of both body and soul. These physical healings were an advance installment of the final fulfillment. They were a sneak preview, of sorts, of what is to come. Therefore, Jesus didn’t have to heal every single person who was sick at the time. Nor does he need to do a miraculous healing for every Christian who is sick today. Jesus has done enough healings, though, the ones recorded in the Bible, to show that this is what is in store in for all who trust in him. Jesus came to announce and usher in the kingdom of heaven, and in this kingdom there will be complete and total healing, in body and soul, for all believers.

Disease and death, physical maladies, sickness and sorrow–these are alien intruders in the paradise that God created. These ailments and illnesses are the result of our sin, humanity’s rebellion against our Creator. They are part of the curse that we brought upon ourselves for disobeying God’s command. Man was not meant to die. But all of creation–including our bodies–has been damaged by our fall into sin.

This is why we get sick and die. Because of our sin. Oh, not that this specific sickness is directly the result of that particular sin. But just generally, we get sick and die because we are sinners, living in a fallen world.

And if Christ had not come, if we were just left to our own devices, we would die eternally. And that’s the Big Death. To perish eternally under God’s condemnation and judgment, to suffer God’s wrath and punishment–that’s what you and I were headed for. And justifiably so. For you and I have sinned against God. We have broken his commandments, repeatedly. And what we have earned by our sins is death. Death with a big D.

But Jesus came to remedy that. He came to get to the root of the problem. We could not rescue ourselves. Only Christ could. Only Christ Jesus, the very Son of God come in the flesh, could do that big job. And he has.

What was needed was a man who would keep God’s commandments. Jesus got that right. What was needed was a man who would take the punishment for our sin. Jesus did that by dying on the cross. And because he is God’s own Son, what Jesus did is big enough to cover all sinners. His righteousness gets placed in our account. Our sins are cleansed by his holy blood. By his holy wounds, we are healed. By his resurrection, we are assured that we too will rise from the dead.

This is why I can say that Jesus will keep you from dying eternally. Because the Big Death has already been taken care of. Only the small death remains. This is why Jesus could say: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

So, unless Jesus comes back first, you and I will die. It may not be a virus, but something will cause us to breathe our last. But that death will not be the big one. You and I who trust in Christ will never die that death. Instead, we will enjoy everlasting life.

The fact that Jesus came to heal our bodies and not just our souls is vouchsafed to us in the sacraments. The sacraments are God’s way of telling us that he has redeemed our physical bodies. The sacraments apply God’s healing mercy to our mortal bodies.

Luther gets at this in the Large Catechism. About the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, he says: “‘I am baptized. And if I am baptized, it is promised to me that I shall be saved and have eternal life, both in soul and body.’ For that is the reason why these two things are done in Baptism: the body–which can grasp nothing but the water–is sprinkled and, in addition, the Word is spoken for the soul to grasp. Now, since both, the water and the Word, make one Baptism, therefore, body and soul must be saved and live forever.”

Likewise, Luther writes about the bodily benefit of the Sacrament of the Altar. He says: “It will cure you and give you life both in soul and in body. For where the soul has recovered, the body also is relieved.” Friends, today, when you come up to this altar, you will be taking into your body the life-giving body and blood of your Savior. And this is why the early church father St. Ignatius could call the Lord’s Supper “the medicine of immortality,” the antidote against dying, “that we should live forever in Christ Jesus.”

And this is why today I am calling this sacrament “the Jesus vaccine.” In fact, the whole gospel is. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the great Physician of body and soul. Take the Jesus vaccine, the gospel medicine, and no virus, no disease, no death will be able to shut you out from eternal life. Have you gotten the vaccine? The Jesus vaccine, I mean. With this one, the efficacy rate is 100%.

Fourth Sunday after the Epiphany
January 31, 2021

“Exclamation Mark: Immediately! Authority! Astonished!” (Mark 1:21-28)

The featured gospel in our lectionary this year is the Gospel according to St. Mark. While all four gospels are telling the same story, the story of Jesus, and all four are inspired by the Holy Spirit, each gospel writer tells the Jesus story in his own individual style. And what all readers notice about the way Mark tells the story is the sense of urgency and action he conveys and how the story moves along. Jesus is thrown into conflict right away. We move from one event to another in rapid fashion. Jesus does amazing, astonishing things, displaying powerful authority in his words and his works. Marks tells the story in bold, dramatic fashion. So much so that today I think I’ll call him “Exclamation Mark.” And what jumps out at me in our reading from Mark today are three words that I think could use an exclamation mark, namely, “Immediately! Authority! Astonished!”

Immediately! Authority! Astonished! The pace, the power, and the impact. That’s what we see in the reading today from Mark chapter 1. And each word has meaning for you.

This reading today takes place right at the beginning of Mark’s gospel. Someone has described Mark’s distinctive style like this: “Mark is the gospel of breathless excitement. The narrative is noted for its rapid movement between scenes and for an urgent tone through the miracles and journeys of Jesus.” And we’ve already seen that so far in the verses preceding our text. At the baptism of Jesus: “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.” At the temptation of Jesus: “The Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness.” When Jesus calls the fishermen Simon and Andrew to be his disciples: “And immediately they left their nets and followed him.” Likewise with James and John: “And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”

Now did you hear a certain word jumping out at you as I read that? That’s right, it’s the word “immediately.” Mark uses that word a lot! Four times in the first twenty verses! And three more times in the eight verses of our text today. Bing! Bang! Bong! Immediately Jesus does this! Immediately he does that! Immediately this happens. Immediately that. Rapid movement. Action. Urgency.

The word that Mark likes so much is the Greek word euthys. In the whole New Testament, the word euthys occurs a total of fifty-some times. But over forty of those occurrences are found in Mark! And most of those are in the first seven chapters. So it really stands out here at the start of Jesus’ public ministry. Usually the word is translated as “immediately,” sometimes as “at once.” The effect is to move the story along with some urgency.

So here we find the term three times in our text today: “And immediately on the Sabbath he entered the synagogue and was teaching.” “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” “And at once his fame spread everywhere.”

Now what is immediately, at once, happening here? Jesus is being launched into his messianic ministry right away. And with that, he is being thrown into conflict right away. Immediately, at once, we see Jesus being confronted with forces opposed to him and his coming. And this sets the tone for the gospel as a whole. Tension, conflict, will mark Jesus’ ministry. Whether it is from unclean spirits or from human opponents, Jesus will meet with resistance all the way to the cross. But Jesus is determined to carry out his ministry and fulfill his mission, no matter how fierce the opposition. And all the “immediately’s” in Mark’s gospel emphasize Christ’s determination to accomplish his purpose. And that purpose, dear friends, is to save you, to rescue you from the clutches of the devil and death and the grave. Jesus will not let anything stop him.

So that’s the first exclamation mark in our text today: Immediately! And the second is like unto it: Authority! That word “authority” jumps out at our eyes and ears in this text. Jesus demonstrates amazing, astonishing authority in what he says and does. This power can only come from God.

The words and the works of Jesus carry this divine authority. His teaching and his deeds. His teaching: Jesus was in the synagogue, teaching the true meaning of God’s Word. Jesus speaks like he knows what he’s talking about! And of course, he does! He is the Word of God incarnate. If anyone knows how to expound and interpret the Holy Scriptures, it is Jesus. He literally wrote the book!

So our text says, “He taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.” How did their scribes teach them? It would sound like this: “Rabbi Joshua said: I have received a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher from his teacher,” and so on. They just kept repeating the opinions of other rabbis. But that was not how Jesus taught. Jesus would say, “You have heard that it was said so-and-so; but I say unto you.” Then Jesus would get straight to the point and make clear the intent of God on this or that subject. And people could tell that Jesus’ words carried such weight.

And not only his words, but his works also. Both his teaching and his deeds demonstrate his divine authority. We see this in the incident with the man with the unclean spirit. “And immediately there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit.” Here is a man in the control of, in the clutches of, an unclean spirit. An unclean spirit is a demonic spirit, and it has this man in its grasp. “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us?” Well, actually, yes! Jesus of Nazareth has come to destroy the devil and all his works and all his ways. And this will just be the start. “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.” The unclean spirit has got this right. And he’s also got this part right: “I know who you are–the Holy One of God.” Yes, that’s true, too. Jesus is indeed the Holy One of God. He is God’s anointed, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus is the very Son of God come in the flesh, and he has come to rescue mankind from the dominion of the devil.

So that’s what Jesus is going to do right now. No use dialoging with a demon. Out you go! “Be silent, and come out of him!” Which, of course, the unclean spirit has to do. Jesus is in charge here, and he’s exercising his authority like a boss.

Dear friends, Jesus has come to deliver you from the clutches of the devil. You and I were in Satan’s domain. We fell for the devil’s lies just like our parents did in the garden. And so we were headed for hell. “But God has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” How? By Jesus taking on our sins and suffering our punishment. In so doing, even as he suffered and died on the cross, Jesus was stomping on the devil’s head and dealing the death blow to Satan’s power. This is real authority that overcame sin and death, as evidenced by Christ’s victorious resurrection.

Brothers and sisters, Jesus uses his authority on your behalf. What he says, goes. When he says you are forgiven, you really are. His words carry authority. “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.” Boom! And so it is! Exclamation mark! “This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.” Boom! And so it is! Exclamation mark! You can believe what Jesus says and does. You can stake your life on it. He has that kind of authority.

The people back then who heard his teaching and witnessed his works recognized that Jesus had this astonishing, amazing authority: “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority.” “What is this? A new teaching with authority! He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey him.” They were astonished! They were amazed! Some twenty times in the Gospel of Mark there is a word like that to describe the reactions that people had to Jesus.

But how about us? Have we lost our ability to be astonished? Has the gospel become humdrum to us? Has the good news become old news? If it has, ponder anew, take in afresh, the wonder of God’s love for us in Christ. Consider what Jesus did for us, by making the all-sufficient sacrifice for our sin, delivering us from death and the devil and eternal damnation. Regard Christ’s glorious resurrection and the prospect of what that will mean for us, namely, our own bodily resurrection when Christ returns. Imagine the eternal life we will enjoy, perfectly whole in body and soul, in a restored creation, in perfect fellowship with our Lord and all the saints. This is pretty outstanding! Understatement of the year! And even now, we have the gift of the Spirit, to keep us in the one true faith, through the means of grace, Word and Sacrament. God is lavish in his gifts!

And now maybe you can understand why “Exclamation Mark,” as I call him–that is, St. Mark the Evangelist–was so jazzed up about telling the Jesus story! “Immediately!” “Authority!” “Astonished!” Simply remarkable!

Third Sunday after the Epiphany
January 24, 2021

“When Jesus Calls, We Follow” (Mark 1:14-20)

“Hark, the voice of Jesus calling, ‘Who will go and work today?’” Yes, true, Jesus calls us “to work for God’s kingdom and answer his call.” But first things first. Before our Lord calls us to go and work, he first calls us to come and receive. Jesus calls us to repent and believe. He calls us to come and follow him. Then we take up the tasks he gives us. And so our theme this morning: “When Jesus Calls, We Follow.”

Our text today is the Holy Gospel from Mark 1. Jesus is just beginning his public ministry. “Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God,” it says. Jesus had good news from God to proclaim. And this is the gospel he was proclaiming: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.”

“The time is fulfilled.” The appointed time has arrived. Now the Scriptures are fulfilled in the coming of the Christ. All the promises of God, his eternal plan for the ages–now they are being brought to realization as Jesus appears on the scene. As it says in Galatians: “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law.” At just the right time in human history, here comes Jesus, striding onto the stage.

And he’s got a tremendous message to deliver: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” Listen up, folks! This is the moment the whole world has been waiting for! God’s kingdom is breaking into this world in a new and seismologically shifting way. The kingdom of God is the active reign and rule of God, and it comes from heaven to earth in the person of Jesus. The kingdom of God is at hand, because now Jesus is at hand, right here among us.

God’s kingdom brings both judgment and salvation. God’s kingdom brings both doom and blessing, wrath and grace, upon sinful mankind. Jesus announces its arrival: “The kingdom of God is at hand.” It’s the moment of truth. Which will it be for you, judgment or salvation? “Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” “Today, if you hear his voice, harden not your heart.” “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Do you hear Jesus calling you today?

And this is what Jesus is calling: “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Repent. Turn from walking in the ways of the world. That’s a dead end. Do a U-turn. You turn to God in repentance, in sorrow over your sins and your sinfulness. You turn to God for forgiveness and restoration. In repentance, there is both a turning from and a turning to: turning from sin and turning to God.

To repent means to change your whole way of thinking. It’s a change of your mindset. It’s letting God rearrange your thinking. “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind.” That’s what happens in repentance. The Holy Spirit uses the word of God to transform your mind. You will begin making different decisions than before. You will reevaluate what the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh have been telling you. That’s how repentance works.

“Repent and believe in the gospel.” Repenting means giving up on yourself to be your own God. Believing in the gospel means to rely on God to be your God. He’s the only one who can save you. He’s the only one who can cleanse you from your sins. He’s the only one who can give you life that overcomes death. This is what you need. And this is what God gives you. The gospel is the fountain of forgiveness. The gospel is the only source of eternal life.

And this gospel is focused and centered in the person of Christ. To believe in the gospel is to believe in Christ. Not just that you acknowledge that Jesus is the holy Son of God. Even the demons know that much. But to believe in Christ is to trust in him, to look to him alone for your salvation, to cling to him as your one and only lifesaver. This is what faith is. This is what believing in the gospel means.

And what has Christ done, that you should believe in him? He gave his life for you. He fulfilled the law on your behalf. You broke God’s commandments. Jesus kept them, perfectly. You have sinned. Jesus took the burden of your sins and carried them to the cross. The Son of God suffered the judgment and the wrath that you and I deserve, so that the punishment for sinners would be served and you and I would be saved. Jesus did it. He did it all, for all people, including you, dear friend. This is why Jesus Christ is the sole source of salvation for all mankind. He is the way and the truth and the life. His victorious resurrection demonstrates that his death on the cross has destroyed death. The victory remains with life, the life Jesus freely gives to all who trust in him.

So when Jesus calls us to repent and believe in the gospel, we will gladly follow. To follow Jesus is to follow him in faith, to continue to listen to his voice, and to learn from him as his disciple. It is to follow him through the valley of the shadow of death, fearing no evil, because we know that he, our Good Shepherd will bring us safely through to the other side. When Jesus calls, we follow.

Once we have heeded his call and come to him for life, now Jesus may have some things for us to do. That was the case for those fishermen back then at the Sea of Galilee, Simon and Andrew, James and John. They were commercial fisherman, busy with boats and nets and the like. But Jesus had a special calling for those fellows, a new vocation. Instead of hauling in fish, now they will begin training to haul in people. Hauling them in alive, by means of the net of the gospel, bringing people into the boat that is the church. Like Noah’s ark, this boat will be the place of safety and rescue, the church will be. And we get brought into the boat when the gospel net brings us on board.

There are some guys who need to be casting the net for the fish to be brought to safety. Peter and Andrew, James and John–that was the new vocation Jesus was calling them to take up. They were going to be preachers, proclaimers, issuing the same life-giving call that Jesus himself had announced: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” That’s what preachers do. We simply give a voice to what Jesus himself is continuing to proclaim.

OK, but maybe you’re not called to be a preacher. Is there nothing you can do? No, we’re all part of a team here in the church. Together we work in harmony here in the body of Christ to accomplish what God would have us to do. The preacher may be the public mouthpiece at the pulpit, but all of us can speak here and there as we have opportunity. “You can tell the love of Jesus, you can say he died for all.” Your personal witness, to the people you know–your friends, your relatives, your coworkers, your neighbors–you can say, “We have found the Savior, the one who gives us life! We have found the true meaning of life, and I want you to know this joy also. Come with me and see.” And you bring that person with you here to church, where they will find Jesus giving out his gifts.

And then there are a multitude of tasks we can work on together to keep the congregation functioning well. Putting your tithe into the offering plate on a regular basis–this is one way you can help. Putting your self into the pew–this is in itself an encouragement to your brothers and sisters (and to your pastor, I might add), as we see your body adding to the number of the faithful, as we hear your voice confessing the Creed, singing the hymns, and giving your hearty “Amen!” to the prayers.

There are lots of ways you can help. Ask your pastor or ask your congregational officers how you might help, and I bet they might come up with a few. There are candles to light, bells to ring, bulletins to pass out, plates to pass around. There are repairs to be made. There are ideas to be “ideaed.” There are members who could be visited or called, shut-ins and prospects and people you haven’t seen here in a while. Maybe you know them, or would like to. We all can play a part.

You elected congregational officers–today we are installing you into your offices. Thank you for your service! It is much appreciated. Keep in mind with your various tasks: You don’t have to do them all yourself, but you do want to see that they get done. Think about recruiting others to help in what needs to be done. God bless you in your efforts this year.

When Jesus calls, we follow. And it’s not just in churchy stuff. Even more so, it’s in your daily life, in all your various vocations in life: husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, butcher, baker, and candlestick maker. In all these spheres of life, you are God’s person, his channel of blessing to others. To follow Jesus is to be a servant, actively showing God’s love through your life of love and good works, giving glory to the one who has called you.

When Jesus calls, we follow. That’s what life is all about. He calls us to a life of repentance and faith, to receive from him. And he calls us into lives of love and service. When Jesus calls, where Jesus calls, we will gladly follow.

Second Sunday after the Epiphany
January 17, 2021

“Leading a Chaste and Decent Life” (1 Corinthians 6:12-20)

Have you seen the January issue of the Lutheran Witness? On the cover it has a quote from Luther’s Explanation of the Sixth Commandment. It says: “We should fear and love God so that we lead a chaste and decent life.” And that’s the theme of the issue: The articles are on how we as Christians should lead a chaste and decent life in what we say and do.

And so, when I looked at the Scripture readings coming up for today, I thought, “Wow, the Epistle lesson ties right in with this issue!” And it certainly is a timely topic, as we shall see. Thus the theme for our message this morning: “Leading a Chaste and Decent Life.”

“Chaste”: That’s kind of an old-timey word to describe the right and responsible use of our sexuality. The updated translation of the catechism uses the term “sexually pure” in place of “chaste”: “The Sixth Commandment: You shall not commit adultery. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.”

As I say, this ties right in with today’s Epistle. Let me read a few of the verses again for you: “The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. . . . Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? Never! . . . Flee from sexual immorality. . . . Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”

Well, today I’m going to preach on this reading from 1 Corinthians 6. And I’m guessing that some of us may find that a little uncomfortable. Why? Because this portion of St. Paul’s letter to the Corinthians deals with . . . sex. There, I said it, the “s” word. But we should not be afraid to hear this, because the Bible deals with this subject. And the culture that we live in is much like the culture of the Corinthians. It would draw even us Christians into some unhealthy, sinful patterns. So, this is a very relevant word that we need to hear today. God wants us to hear it. That’s why it’s in the Bible.

First, let’s set the stage. Paul is writing here to the Corinthians, that is, to the church in Corinth. Corinth was a big city in southern Greece, a major seaport for the Mediterranean world. And even in the pagan Greco-Roman world, Corinth was notorious for its sexual immorality. It was known as a “sin city,” full of vice and prostitution. So much so, that the term “to Corinthianize” came to mean “to live a promiscuous life,” “to lead a life of licentiousness, debauchery, and gross immorality.” That was what Corinth was like.

First-century Corinth was like what 21st-century America has become: a moral cesspool. Now I’m not the oldest person here today, but even I can remember when it was not like this. But since the mid-1960s, especially, our country’s public morality has increasingly gone downhill–particularly in sexual matters. Things that used to be shameful now are not only tolerated, they are celebrated.

Think of how things have changed. Divorce by its nature goes against what God intended, but now we have “no-fault” divorce, making it much easier for people to tear asunder what God has joined together. And now we have people bypassing marriage altogether, simply choosing to shack up together without the public commitment of marriage. People wanted to have sex without consequences, and since pregnancy and the responsibility of raising children were thought to be “inconvenient,” now we have abortion on demand, the willful killing of innocent human life. This Friday will mark the 48th anniversary of the fateful Roe v. Wade decision of January 22, 1973. On that date, the United States Supreme Court unconstitutionally and immorally struck down state laws against abortion. The Supreme Court acted egregiously again on June 26, 2015, in the Obergefell v. Hodges case, when they struck down state laws defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman. Now we have the strange notion of homosexual “marriage,” which is an impossibility.

Deviancy, perversion, LGBTQXYZ–rebellion against the way our Creator made us–all these forces are dominant now in our sick American culture. The people who promote these things dominate the entertainment industry, public education, big tech, the news media, and, once again starting this week, the federal government. And if you disagree with them, you are in danger of being cancelled.

America has become like Corinth. And here in our text, Paul is writing to the young church in Corinth. He’s writing to Christians who had come out of that pagan background and who were surrounded by that sexually immoral culture. But the problem was, many of the Christians, many of the church members, had not made a clean break from their culture. So in his letter to the Corinthians, Paul has to address this problem.

In chapter 5, for instance, Paul has to deal with the problem of a man who has been sleeping with his father’s wife–and the congregation has been tolerating this! This should not be! And in chapter 6, in the verses right before our text, Paul says: “Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” In other words, Corinthians, too many of you are still living like you’re back in your old pagan ways!

And that’s the same problem with the church in our day, in our culture. Too easily we go along with the world around us. In his article in the current Lutheran Witness, Pastor David Ramirez writes: “While Christians often readily condemn homosexual behavior and other extreme deviancies, many ‘Bible-believing’ Christians wink at premarital intimacy, living together before marriage, adultery, and other forms of fornication. . . . Christians should not wonder how our culture arrived at the inability to recognize the absurdity of gay ‘marriage’ and transgenderism. We arrived by way of no-fault divorce, toleration of engaged couples ‘playing house,’ and glorification of hook-up culture. The culture that surrounds us celebrates promiscuity–indiscriminate physical intimacy.”

So the church needs to become countercultural. We need to recapture and extol the virtue of chastity. Also in the current Witness, seminary professor Joel Biermann defines chastity as follows: “Chastity is the practice of rightly embracing the fullness of one’s bodily self in a way that honors God and cares for the neighbor. In other words, chastity is thinking about and using one’s body, particularly the sexual aspect of that body, in a way that lives out the will of God for our sexuality and personhood.”

What Biermann is doing here is to portray chastity in a positive light. It’s not merely abstaining from sex, as though sex were dirty, which it is not. Rather, it is to use the good gift of our sexuality in a responsible and God-pleasing way. Which is why God instituted marriage in the first place, for husband and wife to love and honor each other within that blessed estate.

In our text, Paul says, “Flee from sexual immorality.” But now what do you do if you have been caught up in it? It may not be an adulterous affair. It could be an addiction to pornography. It could be going along with the popular culture and condoning what God condemns. What to do? Repent. Confess your sins to God your Father. Ask for his forgiveness. Seek his help to resist temptation, and avoid situations where you know you are more likely to be weak. Put to death the old sinful flesh, and put on the new person you are in Christ.

Listen to what Paul tells the Corinthians, and realize this is for you, too: “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God?” You see, you are baptized. In your baptism, you received the gift of the Holy Spirit, to lead you in the right ways. Follow the Spirit’s lead. Don’t listen to the excuses and rationalizations you make up in your own head. Go with the fruit of the Spirit, not the desires of the flesh.

Paul continues: “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price.” Thank God you are not your own! On your own, you would be doomed to hell, because of your sins. But God has delivered you from the domain of darkness and transferred you to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom you have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. You were bought with a price, the incalculable price of Christ’s holy blood, shed on the cross for your forgiveness. Jesus Christ, your Lord, has purchased and won you “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 was the tremendous price with which you were bought. Why? To what end? That you “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 who you are, dear Christian. You are no longer a worldling, lost in the darkness of sin and sexual immorality. No, now you belong to God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And that’s best place to be. The ways of this world are a dead end, literally. The ways of God are light and life. Flee immorality. Pursue immortality. Eternal life, new life–these are the gifts you have received from God. “So glorify God in your body.” Ask his help to lead “a chaste and decent life.” God is faithful, and he will do it.

The Baptism of Our Lord
Sunday, January 10, 2021

“The Baptism with Our Lord” (Mark 1:4-11; Romans 6:1-11)

Today we celebrate the Baptism of Our Lord. On Wednesday we celebrated the Epiphany of Our Lord. That makes today the First Sunday after the Epiphany. And that means that today, as we do every year on this Sunday, we hear an account of Jesus being baptized, whether from Matthew, Mark, or Luke. This year it’s the account from Mark.

And Mark says, “In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan.” And you say, “OK, so Jesus got baptized. Why is that important? What does this have to do with me?” And I say, “A whole lot. As we will now see.” The Gospel reading from Mark and the Epistle reading from Romans will make the connection for us, the connection between the Baptism of Our Lord and our own baptism, under the theme, “The Baptism with Our Lord.”

But first, the Baptism of Our Lord. Christ’s baptism. And we ask: What’s so special about Jesus being baptized? Well, the most obvious thing is, he didn’t need to be. Jesus did not need to be baptized. Because John was preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins, and what did Jesus need to repent of? Nothing. What sins did he need forgiveness for? None. The people being baptized were confessing their sins. What sins did Jesus have to confess? None. That’s what seems strange about Jesus coming to be baptized. He wasn’t a sinner.

But how about you? Are you a sinner? Do you have sins to confess? Do you have sins to repent of? Yes, you do, and so do I. You and I need to make a trip to the wilderness, to hear John preaching repentance. For you and I daily sin much, in thought, word, and deed, in what we do wrong and in what we fail to do right. Read the Ten Commandments, and you will see how those commandments pierce through our self-defense rationalizations. Realize how seriously God takes the breaking of his commandments and how penetrating his eye is. You will soon discover that you have plenty of sins to confess. You will begin to see how deeply rooted sin is in you.

But with Jesus, this was not the case. He is the sole exception in the whole history of humanity. He is the only one without sin. Jesus is pure and holy as he is coming to the Jordan to be baptized. He is, in fact, the sinless Son of God, who kept God’s law as it was meant to be kept. Jesus is the only one who can say that.

So then, why is he getting baptized? It doesn’t make sense. But really it does, when you understand why the Son of God came in the flesh in the first place. Because he came to rescue sinners. And to do that, he needed to identify with us. Jesus gets in the water with us, going where sinners belong. For the ministry that he is about to begin will take him to where sinners deserve to go: to death, death under God’s judgment. That sinless Jesus here is identifying with us sinners is the first thing we can say about his baptism.

Next it says, “And when he came up out of the water, immediately he saw the heavens opening.” The heavens were opened. And really, it’s a little stronger than that. The text actually says, “he saw the heavens being torn open.” The Greek verb means “to split apart.” When Jesus was baptized, he saw the heavens “being split apart,” “being torn open.” There’s almost a violent feel to it. This is right away at the start of Mark’s gospel. And at the end of this gospel. you will find this same “split apart” verb used again, where at Jesus’ death the curtain of the temple is “torn in two.” Already here at the start, at Jesus’ baptism, we are given a hint of what’s to come.

The heavens are being torn open. It’s like there was an earthquake in the sky. What’s going on here? By God’s Son undertaking his saving mission of identifying with sinners and going to the cross for them, there is a deep cosmic shift going on. At Christ’s baptism, there is an intersection of heaven and earth going on. Heaven is opening up, so that the Father and the Spirit can add their blessing to what the Son is doing.

Which is what they do. First, the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and comes to Jesus. This is showing that God’s blessing, favor, and choice are empowering this man, the Christ, the anointed one. Jesus is being anointed with power to do the work of his public ministry, which he is about to begin. Wisdom, healing, blessing–these will mark Jesus’ ministry, as he inaugurates the kingdom of heaven here on earth.

The Spirit descends, and a voice comes from heaven. It is the voice of the Father, giving divine approval, assurance, and encouragement to his Son as he undertakes his mission. “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.” The Father was well pleased with the Son from before the foundation of the world, knowing that the Son would willingly take on this mission to redeem the world. Now, as the incarnate Son, Jesus Christ, begins that journey to the cross, the Father speaks his approval and his love.

So, what does all of this have to do with you? Everything. The triune God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, all are united on this great plan to redeem sinful humanity–yes, to save even you. That will only happen through Jesus identifying with us sinners and taking our place and bearing our sins into death.

At his baptism, Jesus sets out on this course that will take him to the cross. And since he has completed that journey and defeated sin and death, the result is complete forgiveness for you and final victory over death. This is what Jesus won for you by making that journey from the Jordan to Jerusalem.

And now Jesus shares his victory with you when you are joined to him in your baptism. In Holy Baptism, you are connected to Christ, united to him. You have been joined to Jesus. He shares with you all the blessings he won for you by his cross and resurrection. And so the baptism of our Lord leads to the baptism with our Lord. We are baptized with Christ.

That’s where Paul goes with this in his teaching on baptism in Romans 6. Paul says that in our baptism we have been united with Christ in his death and resurrection. This has profound implications for both our daily life and our eternal life.

For our daily life, it means a daily dying and rising with Christ. Dying to sin, and rising to newness of life. The forgiveness of sins is not meant to be used as a license to sin. That is a distortion of God’s grace, and Paul is arguing against that here. Just because God is gracious and he forgives sins–that should not be taken as an excuse to go on sinning. No, Christ died for those sins, so how can we go on living in them? We have been joined to Jesus, buried with him in baptism, and our old sinful self needs to be put under the water and drowned every single day. We come up out of that baptismal water each new day to live as the new people we are in Christ. We have been joined to Jesus, connected to Christ, and that will show up in the way we live. That’s what baptismal living is all about.

Connected to Christ in baptism, this means everything to us for eternal life, too. Our sinful self has been put under the water with Jesus and drowned. Our sins have been washed away. We are forgiven. Peace with God once more is made. No obstacle, no barrier, exists between us and God. The heavens have been torn open, and the way is clear. Christ has opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. You, baptized believer in Christ, you have eternal life. You have eternal life already now, and that means death will not have the last word. You have been joined to Jesus in baptism, and therefore you will share in his resurrection from the dead.

The baptism of our Lord leads to the baptism with our Lord. Christ puts all the benefits of his baptism into ours. He takes all our sins upon himself and gives us all his righteousness in their place. Christ, who was anointed with the Spirit, baptizes us with the Holy Spirit, to give us newness of life now and eternal life forever. The heavenly Father, who called Jesus his beloved Son, takes us as his own beloved sons and daughters.

The great church father St. Ambrose wrote: “Our Lord was baptized, not to be cleansed himself, but to cleanse the waters, so that those waters, cleansed by the flesh of Christ which knew no sin, might have the power of baptism.” Brothers and sisters in Christ, this is the power of baptism: that our Lord got into the water with us sinners, washing away our sins and putting his righteousness and his life into our baptism. The Baptism of Our Lord leads to our baptism with our Lord, and that means life for you and me.