I recently started flying the US, Texas, and a Christian flag on the parsonage. This flag is a newly designed replacement for the “Christian Flag” from our friends at Ad Crucem, who made our newer sanctuary banners. They call it the Agnus Dei Flag. This flag is a bold visual confession of the Christian faith.
A red cross covers the white flag from top to bottom and left to right. That image is borrowed from banners flown by Christian soldiers in the crusades. There’s a sound argument to be made that the crusades were a rare moment of Christian unity. The imagery is more reflective a unified Christian faith than any modern, sectarian symbolism. We’ll never see a unified Christian church on Earth. But, the image of Christian unity in Christ in the resurrection serves as a fine symbol for our eyes on this side of the eschaton.
The shape covering the center of the flag is a trefoil. The trefoil consists of a triangle and three incomplete circles. It stands to symbolize the trinity. The circle by itself represents eternity. The triangle by itself represents the Trinity. Those two elements combine reinforce the notion of the Triune God expressed in the Athanasian Creed: a trinity in unity and unity in trinity with none before or after another.
Inside the trefoil, we find the Lamb of God, Jesus, to whom St. John, the Baptizer pointed. The Lamb bears a mortal wound on His neck. He has an Christological aureole around His head. And, He’s holding a triumphant banner (also crusadery in design). This Lamb is Jesus Christ crucified and risen again to forgive our sins.
The other little details are a bit busy, but they add wonderful meaning. Jesus is also presenting His Body and Blood in with and under the wafer and chalice of holy communion. He’s standing a in a heavenly sort of space on the clouds in the sky. He’s also standing atop a scroll with seven seals. The Lamb’s scroll contains the names, our names, of those sealed for salvation.
Many of us grew up with a different flag in our sanctuaries, assembly halls, and classrooms. It’s a white flag with a blue upper left canton and a red cross within the canton. This flag is commonly called the “Christian Flag,” but that an inaccurate name for the flag we see. It’s better called the “Methodist Young People’s Missionary Movement Flag,”
That flag was designed by British immigrant pastor Charles C. Overton with the help of Ralph Diffendor in New York. Its design features two deliberate attributes. It was simple in its expression to appeal to many Christian sects without revealing any theological inconsistencies between them. It was also designed using the colors and the familiar silhouette of the American flag to appeal to Americans especially.
It worked. The flag found use in the US military chaplaincy. The flag was adopted by the Federal Council of Churches in 1942. It’s been flown by a broad collection of Christian, christianish, and non-christian groups ever since. It is not a flag standing for a unified Christian faith. And, it never will be.
Instead, I fly a flag that does symbolize the Christian faith as I have received it.
Dear saints, this morning our Lord continues His journey to Jerusalem. He is preparing to lay down His life for you, for me, for everyone. His journey takes Him into the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And there He encounters ten lepers. The men, unclean with a disease that ends with death, stand at a distance a call out to Jesus. They are contagious. They reek of death. They are cut off from society and family. It is no surprise that they call out for mercy.
We do not know what they know or have heard about Jesus, but they know enough to think He will be merciful to them. Perhaps He will even heal them. But they do not know that He is their Messiah, for they call out Master rather than Lord. But even with this less than perfect plea, our Lord hears and answers their prayer. “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” The ten turn and are cleansed as they went.
Notice that Jesus does not say, “I will. Be clean.” Instead, He tells them what the person cleansed from leprosy is to do: show himself to the priests in the Temple. They are inspected, and after about two months, would finally be declared clean. Once this declaration is made, they would finally be allowed to return to their family, their city, and to worship in the Temple. They must turn from Jesus with trust that they will be cleansed of their disease.
See, leprosy did not only cut you off from those who love you and that you love. It also cut you off from gathering with God’s people in the Temple or Synagogue. In effect, it cut you off from the presence of God. The same is true of your sin. Sin banished Adam and Eve from the Garden. Sin and unrepentance brought The Flood. It confused languages at Babel. And your sin separates you from God, alienating you and making you His enemy. Sin, like leprosy, is fatal. But the fatality of sin is worse than the awful effects of leprosy.
Each man, woman, and child need the cleansing of their sin and iniquity. All need their leprosy of sin removed. The lepers in our lesson call to Jesus from a distance. They come in earnest and reverence as they entreat Jesus for mercy. Mercy is given as they are cleansed on their way to Jerusalem.
Our cleansing is a bit different. Our cleansing was accomplished when Jesus reaches Jerusalem. Once there, having entered triumphantly, He spends the week teaching. He institutes the Lord’s Supper. He is put on trial. He is crucified. And just before He gives up His Spirit, we hear that “It is finished.” Your redemption is won. Forgiveness is yours. And you can know this is true as what Jesus promised is fulfilled: The Temple of His Body was destroyed, and in three days, it was restored, raised from the dead.
But this redemption, while it is yours was not yet applied to you. As the lepers realize their healing, one of them turns back. Rather than going to the Temple and the priest, he goes to the Temple that is our Lord and our Great High Priest. And he does so while praising God with a loud voice. When he reaches Jesus, he falls on his face at Jesus’ feet and gives thanks for his healing. For this miraculous cleansing provided to him.
Out of ten leprous men, only one recognized Jesus as his Christ and went back in thanksgiving and worship. That man was a Samaritan. A man whose background is not well regarded and whose theology was likely poor. Even still, he believes in Jesus.
Our lesson says Jesus tells him, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”Made you well is an accurate translation, but it is lacking. All ten were made well. All ten were leprous and are now clean. But not all ten showed faith in Christ. Only one does, this Samaritan. A more precise translation would be, “Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.”
The cleansing of these lepers is miraculous. Great mercy is shown to them. Just as great mercy is shown to every person with the blood of Christ on the cross. However, this mercy is applied to you in Holy Baptism. In baptism, the miraculous cleaning of your sins is delivered. The blood of Jesus on the cross washes you clean. Faith is given and strengthened. And you, too, may rise and go your way, for your faith has saved you.
Rather than being separated from your God due to the leprosy of your sin, you stand before Him cleansed by His blood. He invites you to draw near and hear His Word. You can hear it and respond in prayer and hymn and thanksgiving. He invites you to His Table, where He feeds and nourishes your body and soul, giving you His Flesh and Blood to eat and drink for the forgiveness of your sins and the strengthening of your faith. In short, He invites you into His fellowship.
The nine lepers received a physical cleansing, but since they did not have faith, they did not receive their soul’s cleansing. All people with all their sins are atoned for, but those who do not have faith in their Messiah do not receive the benefit. But you, dear Christian, embrace and hold fast to your Christ. In the faith granted to you by the Holy Spirit, you receive the miraculous cleansing of your sin. And you are welcomed into fellowship with God and His saints where you are kept in the faith by the same Holy Spirit. Where He keeps you in His church with His perpetual mercy. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Peace Lutheran Church Alcester, SD
This one stems from a series of conversations in person and online concerning a resurgence of COVID among vaccinated and unvaccinated people. Though no one in particular asked, it’s a question worth examining. The distilled logic goes something like this, “I am vaccinated, and have contracted the plague. Therefore, there is a certain human being in my imagination. That person is unvaccinated. And, they are to blame for my infection.”
Before diving into the Christian life aspect of this question, let us also consider the logic. If I am the one speaking this way, I imply that only an unvaccinated person can pass the disease to another human being. This is untrue. Generally speaking, a person who is symptomatic with a fever is infectious to others. Their vaccination status has nothing to do with this reality.
It is logically inconsistent to assume the unknown source of infection to be of one patient population or another. This is a bit like Schrödinger’s Cat. The difference being that upon opening the box, we can determine if the cat is alive or dead. The state of quantum uncertainty revolving around an unknown infection source can never be removed from its state of uncertainty outside of evidence and identification. Apart from that evidence, the only thing certain is that a virus is to blame for infection.
Even for pagans, that is the answer. Now, for Christians there is even more at play. We must also consider how we are to talk about our neighbor. The Eighth Commandment teaches us to only use our words about our neighbor to uplift them.
The Eighth Commandment – You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way. [Luther’s Small Catechism 1.8 (1529)]
Dr. Luther didn’t pull this idea of expanding the letter of Decalogue (the 10 Commandments) out of his stylish German hat. He used the exact model laid down by Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel.
“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” … “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” [Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28]
So, how does this apply to us regarding that unknown Philistine, who infected me or my loved ones with the virus?
It applies this way. Not knowing who they were, neither gender nor ethnicity, age nor education, religion nor vaccination status, we may not impugn their character. Breakthrough infections are proof that vaccinated people can be vectors of transmission. The unknown source of whom we speak here can’t be spoken ill of by a Christian, especially in their state of quantum uncertainty. Moreover, we also can’t use the unknown person to malign other people either.
Dear Christians, let us only speak well of our neighbor.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
On September 3rd, 1846, the Bark Caroline arrived from Bremen, Germany at the port of New York after fifty-six days at sea. Aboard were eleven second career men and a candidate for the ministry. They were bound for Fort Wayne, Indiana. The were the first formal class of students to attend what is now Concordia Theological Seminary.
Like most German immigrants, the soon-to-be student body would be very glad to stand on the bustling docks. They would be far from alone. By 1846, thousands of Germans arrived in New York each day, bound for the lands in the Midwest, which were legendary for their fertility. They would soon have hard work ahead of them, literally carving farmland out of the endless old growth forests in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and territories to the west.
Wilhelm Löhe called these future pastors Sendlinge (“Sent ones”) and Nothelfer (“Emergency Helpers”) They were second career men who were given a crash course in an array of subjects, designed to produce pastors for the hundreds of thousands of Germans scattered on the frontier. Löhe and several of his friends spent about a year preparing the men to go to North America. Dr. Wilhelm Sihler and several instructors that would serve alongside of him would finish their training in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
The Sendlinge likely booked passage to Fort Wayne via a steamboat to Albany, New York. There they would travel on a packet boat along the Erie and Wabash Canals. In good weather, the trip would have been quite pleasant, towed most of the way by mules, traveling through nearly virgin forest across New York State to Buffalo, along the southern shore of the great lakes, into the Wabash Canal through the Black Swamp to Fort Wayne. They would take their meals on board, but would stay overnight in inns and taverns that had risen along the route to care for passengers. The trip would take about a week.
The frontier town of about five thousand residents had begun to prosper. Fort Wayne was the portage between the Maumee River and the Little Wabash River — ten miles that separated the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River systems. The canal bridged that gap, so goods, settlers and travelers soon flowed through town on the way back and forth across the frontier. Many German settlers selected this area as their home and a growing number of Lutheran congregations were scattered across that wilderness. Dr. Sihler and his predecessor, missionary F. C. D. Wyneken had been caring for them from this crossroads.
The Jews hated the Romans because they believed that God wanted them to rule themselves. In addition, the Romans were pagans, who worshipped idols, and lived in ways often directly against God’s Law. The saw Zacchaeus and Matthew as traitors who kept the Romans in power. The Pharisees mentioned them in the same breath as sinners — people who lived as they liked and ignored God’s laws completely. The feeling was often mutual. So tax collectors would often live like Romans do, cheat the people and live at their expense. Zacchaeus was like that. He was a tax farmer — a collector who employed other tax collectors. He would add a hefty surcharge to all he collected and think nothing of putting his thumb on the scales.
Zacchaeus was curious. He likely had heard all about this Rabbi, a descendant of David, who taught in a very direct way, healed the sick and loved people the Pharisees shunned. Being a short man, he climbed a sycamore tree to get a good look. The Rabbi surprised him. Jesus called him out by name, told him to come down because he had to stay in his house.
The tax collector was moved because Jesus did the unthinkable. He spoke to the tax collector. Even more, he stayed in his home and received his fellowship. This was unthinkable for a Rabbi. It would be like a pastor staying in a prostitute’s home to us today. Yet Jesus loved Zacchaeus. This love moved the tax collector to change his life and become His disciple. The tax collector was amazed. He had left God, but God had not left him.
Jesus explained why he was doing this to the crowd. In Jesus, God himself had come to this lost Son of Abraham. This was because God had sent his Son to seek and save the lost.
One day when Jesus was at home in Capernaum, the friends of a paralyzed man brought him to to Jesus to be healed. The word about Jesus’ teaching and ability to heal was spreading throughout the area. His reputation had reached the scribes, biblical scholars of the time, and they were present to hear what the new rabbi had to say. The crowds were so big that the friends could not bring the paralytic to him through the front door. So they climbed up on the roof.
In the time of Jesus, towns like his built flat roofs made of branches, dried plant material and mud. The friends of the disabled man had a brilliant idea — they dug a hole in the roof over where Jesus was sitting and lowered him down to the teacher. Jesus recognized their love for the man and their faith in God. So, he forgave the man his sins.
While that sounds like an odd thing to do for us, it didn’t to Jesus’ audience. The Pharisees and other people believed that God punished especially bad sins with sickness and disaster. They thought that the blind, the paralyzed, lepers and others like them must have done something very wrong. Sins are ultimately all committed against God. So, if a person’s sins are forgiven, there is no longer a reason for the illness.
The people also believed that only God could forgive these sins and make the person well. By forgiving the man his sin, Jesus showed that He had the authority to forgive sins and to heal. Both are impossible for man, but not so for God. To say, “your sins are forgiven” or to say “get up a walk” are just as easy to say since both should be impossible — unless you’re God. And Jesus is God in the flesh. The people missed the point. They thought it meant that people also could forgive sins.
Because Jesus took all our sins to the cross and die to pay the price for them, he has the authority forgive them all. Which he does. He also tells pastors to forgive the sins of those who repent of them.
So, Jesus wants his people to do both today. He wants us to forgive sins and to have compassion on the sick and disabled. He wants us to pray for them and to do whatever we can to care for them. In the end, it is Jesus himself who does the forgiving — right here, right now and forever.
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The theme for this morning’s sermon is this: Law and Gospel explain to us the whole meaning of the Bible.
How do we read and understand the Bible? This question was the basic question that we answered this summer during our Lutheran Faith Class. If there is one thing that matters most to us as Christians, it is Bible Study, both on our own and as a congregation. This is the question that people ask me all the time. Sure they read the Bible … but What does it mean?
How do we read and understand the Bible? We could even ask the question a different way. How are we supposed to listen to a sermon? When I first arrived here, there were many who asked me to simplify the sermon or to come down to our level. That is something I have tried to do without being condescending to any of you. That is something I have tried to do, having attended chapel each day for 8 years, hearing sermons from hundreds of different pastors, and coming from a town and state far away from here.
How do we listen to a sermon? Paul answers this in our epistle for this morning. He talks about Law and Gospel. Luther talked about Law and Gospel. C. F. W. Walther one of the founders of the Missouri Synod, wrote his most famous book on Law and Gospel. The circuit visitor in Plainville has been having a weekly video on Law and Gospel. But Pastor, what is Law and Gospel?
Law and Gospel is how we read and understand the Bible. The Law we find in the Ten Commandments. The Gospel we find in the Apostles’ Creed. The Law we find in the Confession of our sins. The Gospel we find in the Absolution of our sins. The Law we find in our three enemies, sin, death, and the power of the devil. The Gospel we find in the forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
Law and Gospel is found on nearly every page of the Scripture. It is the way we read and understand the Bible. What does this mean? Is the famous question from the Small Catechism, and it is the primary question that we have as Christians studying God’s Word. How do we read and understand the Bible? How am I supposed to listen to the sermon?
Law and Gospel. Take the Parable of the Good Samaritan for instance. This is our Gospel reading for the day. What is the Law portion of this reading? We take a look at the context of the parable to understand the point of the parable. A guy asks Jesus “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” We would think that that is the wrong question, but Jesus turns the guy back to the Ten Commandments. He turns him back to the Law. For this guy is a secure sinner, a self-righteous independent person who needs to hear the Law.
This we know because he then asks, “Who is my neighbor?” In other words, he made the Law so small that he could get around it. He made the Law something that is attainable. He really thinks that he is a good person. He thinks the inheritance is already his without even trying. He does not need to be told that he is forgiven, if he isn’t even repentant. What need does he have of righteousness when he already thinks that he is? He keeps the commandments among his friends and at church, why does he need to care about the poor or his enemies?
Jesus then tells the story we know so well. The robbers steal from the man, and then they hurt him. What commandments have they broken? They broke the Fifth Commandment, You shall not murder, and the Seventh Commandment, You shall not steal. Is this who we are? We ask ourselves.
We probably say that we are not, and I don’t think that is the point of Jesus’ story. We aren’t supposed to be the robbers. But do we see murderers and robbers in our country? Of course we do. They go to prison for it. There is an external civil punishment for sin. This is the Law. But so also are the lesser sins, like cutting corners in order to make a bigger profit. So also it is the Law that we help and support our neighbor in his body, whether with groceries or visiting in the hospital.
Then the priest and the Levite enter the scene. The guy is still beaten up, poor, unclean, and left for dead on the side of the road. What do they do? They should keep the Commandments, care for the man’s wounds, provide him with food, water, and shelter. They are the religious people, the church people, the Christians, the Lutherans in the story for today. They should, but they don’t.
Although they didn’t murder or steal, they did not help or support their neighbor in his body, nor did they help him to improve and protect his possessions and income. They were no better than the murdering robbers from before. This is the connection that Jesus wants to make between the self-righteous man asking Him the question about eternal life and in the story. That your neighbor might be your enemy. That your neighbor might be the poor. That your neighbor might be really suffering. That we really ought to help them.
This is the Law. Who among us could wriggle out of it? Who among has not been either the robbers or the religious people in this story? This is the part of the sermon that shows us our sins, that convicts us, that offends us, that causes us to be sorry for our sin. This is where the robber hits the road. This is where we are left for dead in our trespasses and sins.
This is where most sermons you hear on this text then get it wrong. Because most sermons you hear on the internet, most sermons you hear in our world, then make us out to be the Good Samaritan. Be the Good Samaritan today, or some such thing like that. But then we are left with more Law. Then the whole story has no Gospel at all. There is no forgiveness, there is no work of God, there is no comfort for the suffering. Be a good neighbor, love your neighbor, take care of the poor, and you’ll gain eternal life. It’s just the same as the guy asking the question. He is self-righteous and independent and don’t worry, he’s got this all under control.
No, the point of the story is that Jesus is the Good Samaritan. Jesus is the one whose neighbor is His enemy, and yet He dies for us. Jesus is the one who takes the place of the beaten man upon the cross and suffers because of the world and its sin. Jesus is the one who has mercy on us, healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, bandaging up the wounded.
This is the Gospel, not more of what you must do, but the Gospel is all about what Christ has done for you. The Gospel is that free gift from God through the death of His Son. The Gospel is that the Lord Jesus Christ has perfectly obeyed the Law in order to offer you the Gospel. The Gospel is outside of you, your works, your righteousness before the world, or whatever.
The Gospel is what Christ has done for you, taking your place, redeeming with His grace, that you may be confident of the forgiveness of your sins, that you may be certain about the life everlasting, and that you may believe that He came into this world for your sins. Christ pays the price for you when you are near death, when you tempted to despair, and when you are struggling through this veil of tears. Christ Jesus is Himself the Good Samaritan, your Good Samaritan, who shall care for you each and every day.
How do you read the understand the Bible? It is through the Law and the Gospel. How do you listen to a sermon? It is through the Law and Gospel. What does this mean? It means that the Bible is full of this Law and Gospel, that the pages of Scripture apply to us. We are convicted of sin and comforted of the forgiveness of sins. We are worried about death, but Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead and shall raise you also from the grave. We are tempted by the devil, but Jesus has conquered the devil by His death on the cross and that victory will never be defeated.
Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and that is the Gospel, dear friends, in its absolute sweetest.
In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.
Rev. James Peterson First Lutheran Church Phillipsburg, Kansas
You may have noticed folks who seem to be praying before coming to the altar of the Lord or after returning to their seats. What is it that they pray? Or, what/how should I pray, if I’m so inclined?
This question exists within the sphere of “what should I pray?” or “what if I don’t know what to say?” There is no shame in not knowing what to pray. The disciples asked Jesus the exact same thing.
“Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.’” [Luke 11:1]
And, He did. Jesus also taught us a good reason to pray at your seat, when you pray alone during lulls in the divine service.
“And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.” [Matthew 6:5-6]
There are two ways that Christians pray: corporately and privately. For corporate prayer, think of the depictions in Exodus, Samuel, and Chronicles. The divine service is that sort of prayer, all together, with one voice. Jesus is exhorting here about private prayer, humble, unobtrusive.
The very front of your hymnal (Lutheran Service Book) has a list of prayers for your benefit on the unnumbered page. Two of them are for before and after communion.
Before communing : “Dear Savior, at Your gracious invitation I come to Your table to eat and drink Your holy body and blood. Let me find favor in Your eyes to receive this holy Sacrament in faith for the salvation of my soul and the glory of Your holy name; for You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.” [LSB -ii]
Thanksgiving after receiving the Sacrament: “Almighty and everlasting God, I thank and praise You for feeding me the life-giving body and blood of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Send Your Holy Spirit that, having with my mouth received the holy Sacrament, I may by faith obtain and eternally enjoy Your divine grace, the forgiveness of sins, unity with Christ, and life eternal; through Jesus Christ, my Lord, Amen.” [LSB -ii]
Both of these are fine examples of how to pray. They are individual, first person prayers. But, they are written focusing on the given faith, which receives the gifts of God. When you pray, pray like this.
Apart from faith we receive condemnation. But, in and through faith, we receive forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
Dear saints, this morning we remember and thank God for His servant John the Baptizer. He was the forerunner of our Lord Jesus Christ. He boldly proclaimed God’s Holy Law and called on everyone who heard him to repent of their sins. This preaching of repentance was directed towards everyone: the common people, the Pharisees, Roman soldiers, and even the ruling authorities like Herod. The boldness of John, like the other Old Testament prophets before him, landed him in hot water. In fact, it landed him in prison. A couple of weeks ago, we heard that the saints are to be remembered so that we may strengthen our faith when we see how they experienced grace and how they were helped by faith (AC XXI). Let us, then, consider the final Old Testament prophet this morning: John the Baptist.
Our Gospel lesson begins after John’s death. Herod began hearing what Jesus was doing and reasoned that John had been raised from the dead. He felt guilt about John’s death, but why? St. Mark tells us: Herod had seized John and put him into prison. He then threw a party for himself. It was a party that no respectable person, male or female, would dare attend. At the party, a young woman performed a crude dance for the guests. The performance wowed and pleased the guests and Herod. Herod then does something extremely unwise: he makes a vow to her saying, “Whatever you ask me, I will give you, up to half of my kingdom.”
The young woman goes to her mother for advice. Should she ask for money? Land? The pick of men for a husband? Her mother responds, “Ask for the head of John the Baptist.” Wow. That is evil. But this daughter is not innocent. She ratchets up the request. She immediately went back to Herod and not only asked for John’s head but that it be delivered on a platter.
Herod is gutted. And I am sure he is fearful at the request. But he is also a coward. Instead of breaking his foolish vow and calling out the girl for her evil request, he decides it is better to keep the vow and deliver the head. And so, John lost his head. It was put on a platter and delivered to the girl, who gave it to her mother.
As we remember and thank God for John this morning, we consider this morning’s collect. There we asked that the Lord would grant us daily repentance for our sin, that we would patiently suffer for the sake of the truth, and that we would fearlessly bear witness to His victory over death.
John was a preacher of repentance. That meant he called sin what it is: sin. And it did not matter your standing in the community. Slave or royalty, sin has the same result. And it has the same solution: repentance and absolution only through Jesus. John preached the Law to the people. The same Law we find ourselves wanting to keep, but constantly failing to keep. If John was standing where I am today, he would tell you to flee from the coming wrath of God. To bear fruits in keeping with repentance. I hope that this is what you hear from me, even if I am not as fiery in my speech as John was. Perhaps I should take a lesson from him for the future….
John landed in prison because he called out the sin of Herod. Herod had married Herodias, his brother’s wife. This illicit and sinful marriage needed to be repented of. And John was willing to say it. Herodias was furious and wanted John dead. But Herod, wretched as he was, realized that John was righteous and holy. He feared John, and so he protected him. He did not understand John’s preaching, but he was always willing to hear it.
In prison, he patiently suffered for the sake of the truth. And as John once said that he must decrease and Christ must increase, he may have also thought his time on earth was short. After all, he is a prophet. And we know what regularly happens to faithful prophets in the Old Testament.
And so, in time, Herod throws this banquet. The girl who danced and whet the sexual appetites of all the men there was Herodias’ daughter. She was Herod’s stepdaughter. The depravity deepens the more you hear what went on that night. And at the depravity’s height, St. John’s head is placed on a platter. Because he fearlessly bore witness of Christ, he was martyred.
John is one of those coming out of the great tribulation who have had their robes washed not in their own righteousness but in the blood of Christ. You have been washed in the waters of Holy Baptism and were clothed in that same righteousness. As you were united with Him in a death like His, you shall also be united with Him in a resurrection like His. You are raised and made able to walk in the newness of life. To walk in righteousness rather than sin.
This is, again, not your doing. It is the work of God. And it is because of Him that you shall take refuge and not be put to shame. It is why we pray the Lord’s Prayer and commit ourselves to His hands.
It is why we are not only bold to ask Him to grant that we daily repent of our sins, patiently suffer for the sake of the truth, and fearlessly bear witness to His victory over death, but why we are confident that he will grant us this request. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Peace Lutheran Church Alcester, SD
Dear saints, as you near Sioux Falls on 115, there is a sign on the west side of the road you may have noticed. It reads something like, “Pray for us immaculate heart of Mary.” It is sponsored by a Roman Catholic organization, but I do not recall which one. It is a pious request, but it is, at best, misguided. First, the heart of St. Mary was not immaculate. It was stained by sin, just like yours and mine. And second, she is not a mediator for us. She is the mother of our Mediator. Consider what the Augsburg Confession says:
Concerning the cult of the saints our people teach that the saints are to be remembered so that we may strengthen our faith when we see how they experienced grace and how they were helped by faith. Moreover, it is taught that each person, according to his or her calling, should take the saints’ good works as an example … However, it cannot be demonstrated from Scripture that a person should call upon the saints or seek help from them. “For there is only one single reconciler and mediator set up between God and humanity, Jesus Christ.” He is the only savior, the only high priest, the mercy seat, and intercessor before God. He alone has promised to hear our prayers. According to Scripture, in all our needs and concerns it is the highest worship to seek and call upon this same Jesus Christ with our whole heart. (AC XXI)
It is one thing for a governor or president to consider the good example of King David as they rule. It is another for them to ask him to intercede or help them. Similarly, it is good for a pastor to consider the words and recorded actions of Sts. Paul or Peter, yet it would not be good for them to ask them to reveal anything through direct mediation and extra-biblical sources.
With this in mind, we consider this morning St. Mary, the mother of our Lord. She is a young virgin, engaged to a righteous man named Joseph. She is visited by the angel Gabriel and told that she shall bear the long-awaited Messiah. And she responds in faith: “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” She then travels to her relative Elizabeth’s house, whose account we heard a few moments ago.
The bulk of the lesson is Mary’s response not only to her interaction with Elizabeth but going back also to the visit from Gabriel. It comes after what may be the most important words we heard this morning, from the mouth of St. Elizabeth: “And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”
This, dear saints, is why we remember Mary today. Not because of a supposed immaculate conception. Not because she is a co-mediator or co-redemptrix. Rather, because she believed in the promises of God and the words of Gabriel. She does not regard herself as anything special on her own account. Instead, she considers herself as a slave to the Lord. She realizes her humble estate. But she recognizes that God has looked upon her with favor and done mighty and great things for her. She recognizes that the child she carries is the promised seed we hear of in Genesis 3.
Mary, like you and me, were born under the Law. We found ourselves by nature condemned under that Law. And we needed a Savior from that Law. And in the fullness of time, that Savior is sent. God sends forth His Son, born of a woman. And that Son redeems those who under that Law. Mary. You. Me.
In Holy Baptism, He claims you as His own and adopts you as His own son. He has sent His Holy Spirit into your heart. You may now call Him your Heavenly Father. Therefore, rather than a slave to sin, you are a son. You are an heir to the Kingdom through the work of God. Because of the work of Christ, you may sing along with Mary. You may claim that He has done great things for you.
In his commentary on Luke, Dr. Arthur Just writes, “The proper honor and praise of Mary has as its cornerstone the church’s imitation of the faith of Mary.” In Mary, we see a humble servant of God. When an angel brings news that turns her world upside down, she does not despair or doubt. Instead, she accepts God’s will in wonder, for she knows it is only the power and work of God that can accomplish Gabriel’s words. She rejoices and worships God for what He has done for her.
And today, we rejoice not only with Mary but with Cody. For Cody, like you and me and Mary, is also a humble servant of God. He is also redeemed by the Blood of Christ. And this morning, in the presence of God and His Church, he confesses the True Faith as his own. We rejoice in the work of the Holy Spirit in him. And we pray that he will share with us and Mary in the glory of our Father’s eternal kingdom.
Cody, may you continue to grow in faith. May you imitate the faith of Mary, confessing that you, a humble servant, have been shown mercy and redeemed. That you are a son and heir of God. And that He, through His Word and Sacrament, will sustain you in all things needed for life and salvation. Amen.
Rev. Brent Keller Peace Lutheran Church Alcester, SD
