Worship – Page 9 – What Does This Mean?

For All The Saints

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

This year has been quite a wild ride. All Saint’s Day last year we were not even aware of the virus that would wreak havoc well into this year. We had no idea that nursing homes would close up and keep family members and pastors from doing their visiting with their loved ones and shut in members. It changed a lot of what could be done for folks in compromised health situations. I don’t honestly remember the last visit I made to a person in the hospital.

We all were humbled and are continuing to be humbled this year in one way or another. The things we have taken for granted have been taken away in large part. Science and Medicine once something considered all knowing has been questioned repeatedly from all kinds of people for their lack of knowledge about this virus. I think it is right to say that God has knocked down many of our idols, cutting off their hands or smashing their faces, showing how useless they are when it comes to life and death.

Some may ask, why is God doing this? What kind of judgement is this? It is the kind that is supposed to lead all to repentance, turning to Him and receiving from the forgiveness of sins He so richly and lovingly provides to us poor miserable sinners who need his forgiveness, mercy, and love.

That’s what the saints of the Lord Jesus Christ know. They know where to turn when life turned sour, when a plague hit, when things got rough, they knew to call upon the name of the Lord, coming to him in repentance, seeking His mercy. When they sinned in thought, word, or deed, they came to the Lord confessing their sins and seeking God’s grace and favor. For that is God’s character. He is merciful and gracious, abounding in steadfast love.

I think about those men and women who were called home in our congregation since the last All Saints’ Day service. I was not able to do some of their funerals. Funerals I longed to do, for I knew that their funerals would have been a glorious last testimony speaking of the mercy and grace of their Lord Jesus Christ, in whose blood their own robes were made white, pure, and holy. They were covered in the blood of the Lamb, and thus made holy for the sake of Him who died to save the world from its sin.

Many of you probably have been paying attention to the additional services that we have been hosting on random days of the week. And if you watch the live streams you might remember seeing the names of various saints. Like James of Jerusalem, Luke, Peter and Paul. The list goes on. You might ask yourselves why we remember them and why have a service on Nov 1st for All Saints. First and foremost, the men and women remembered with their own day in the church, God used them to point us to Christ. Think of the writers of the New Testament books. They have left for us the very Words of Christ so that we might believe and have life in Christ with them. They even allowed their own blunders and sins to stand so that we might learn from them and see the grace of God in granting the forgiveness of sins on account of Christ. Christ used the quick to speak but slow to think Peter. He forgave and used a murderer in St. Paul to bring the Gospel to the Gentiles. He used a tax collector to write the great catechetical Gospel we call Matthew. The list goes on and on. They want us to be in everlasting fellowship with Christ, and thus also with them. But they also give us examples in the faith to follow. Paul for instance on a few different occasions speaks to the church, saying, “Imitate me and the Lord.” God used them to glorify not themselves but to glorify the salvation won for them over sin, death, and hell, by their Lord Jesus Christ. It is ultimately always about Christ and what He has done for us by his death and resurrection.

So it is also, with the saints in our own day. We can give thanks to God for their lives of faith through which they looked to the Lord God for grace and mercy but also loved and served their neighbors. Perhaps it was mowing the church yard or making sure the widow down the street was being taken care of and able to get her groceries. Maybe it was teaching the children of the town in the old country school. Maybe it was using their voice to lead the choir and congregation in singing praises to the Lord. But what was their motivation? Like the saints of old, to glorify Christ and to give thanks to God by serving their neighbor just as God had served them in love, removing their sins from them for the sake of their Lord Jesus Christ’s death on the cross.

All Saints’ Day remembers and gives thanks to God for the unnamed saints, those from every tribe and nation who were called by the very Gospel, which you yourselves have heard and believed, into faith in Jesus Christ the Lamb whose blood sets us free to be the people of God. We may sing this hymn today, we may not, but I do encourage you to look at it if you get the chance. The hymn is 678. We sing for all the unsung saints, that countless nameless throng, who kept the faith and past it on. With hope steadfast and strong Through all the daily griefs and joys, No chronicles record, Forgetful of their lack of fame, but mindful of their Lord.

You might not now all the saints. But you are bound to them by the bond of love that is Christ Jesus. You make up one body, Christ’s body, the Church. While you might not know them all, the more important thing is that Christ knows you and He knows you by name. For He called you by name at the waters of your Holy Baptism where you received that white robe of righteousness, His righteousness. There were watched clean of your sin and made God’s own Child. You then are a saint already. Having been made one at your Baptism.

So God looks at you and sees Christ’s righteousness. You have been clothed, as have your sins. You in your Baptism are made new, regenerated, reimaged in Christ’s image and likeness. A living faith in the Lord will naturally produce works that are good and loving towards your neighbors. But will you always do that? Will you love your neighbor as yourself as the Lord requires in His Law? Of course not, while you are a saint you are also a sinner on this side of Heaven. You are still in your sinful flesh, and you are still fighting against the Old Adam daily. That is why we confess the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die that a new man should arise and emerge to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. This life in which you now live by faith in Christ Jesus is one that is a daily battle. It is one where the world, our own sinful flesh, and Satan himself will fight and battle against us. You will be persecuted for your faith in Christ Jesus. You will be ridiculed for holding the line of Scripture when it comes to 6-day creation, God’s institution of Marriage, life beginning at conception, the Virgin Birth, the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead, the list goes on and on. The world, you own weak flesh, and Satan will work mightily to make you doubt all of these things and ridicule Christ.

Yet, here we are. Where Christ promises to be for you and for your salvation. And where Christ is, that is where His Saints gather. And no, I am not just talking about ourselves here in these pews. But really the whole host of Heaven who are already singing the praises of the Lamb who was slain for their salvation, whose blood makes their robes white.

The life and faith of the saint is a daily battle. We need to be strengthened. We need the cleansing of Christ’s saving blood often because our robes are often dirty with our sins. Only Christ’s blood covers the stains and blots them out, as far as east is from the west. And we get that every time our Lord comes to serve us in His Divine Service. He gives us the forgiveness we need and also gives his body and blood to strengthen us in this faith. Rejoice and be glad and be at rest in your Savior Jesus.

And here is Christ with all his faithful, those who have gone before us, those who have written their testimonies, those who are unnamed and unknown to us, and those saints we hold most dear, and we are participants together with them all singing the great hymn of praise. Not looking to ourselves but to the Lamb who was slain.

This year has been hard. It has been a battle for everyone on many fronts. But let us not lose hope. But let us hold even more fervently to Christ and His promise. For Christ saves us! He covers our sins that we might be called saints not just here but also in eternity that we might live in His Kingdom forever! We, along with all the Lord’s saints from all tribes and nations, will be before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. We shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike us, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be our shepherd, and he will guide us to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear from our eyes. These are words for All The Saints. These are words for you.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Singing the Psalms with Isaac Watts

Encore Post: When Martin Luther wrote his hymns, one of his aims was to make singing accessible to everyday people. He wrote hymns that not only praised God but taught the faith. Many of his hymns paraphrased Scripture, especially Old Testament passages and pieces from the liturgy. Often he brought Jesus into Old Testament texts. Lutherans followed his lead, beginning a rich tradition of music and the arts that continue today. John Calvin and his followers took a different tack. Nothing was to be sung in worship, they believed, that was not a Psalm or a close translation.

Nearly two hundred year later, the young son of a Calvinist minister, Isaac Watts, could not stand how dull and unfeeling the singing of the Psalms were in their worship. When he complained to his father, the elder Watts said, “if you don’t like it, try to do better.” And he did. His hymns became very popular. His work inspired many other hymn writers so that he became known as the father of English hymnody.

Four Hundred and one years ago, Isaac Watts, then a leading Calvinist minister, set out to replace the Psalm singing that distressed him so with Psalm paraphrases, following similar principles as Luther used. He published a hymn book of paraphrases of nearly every Psalm he thought he could baptize. This book is titled: Psalms of David Imitated. These include some of the most beloved English hymns. You know some of them: nine of them are in Lutheran Service Book. They are:

705 – The man is ever blessed (Psalm 1)
832 – Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (Psalm 72:8–19)
867 – Let children hear the mighty deeds (stanzas 1–3, 5) (Psalm 78:1–8)
733 – O[ur] God, our help in ages past (Psalm 90:1–5)
387 – Joy to the world, the Lord is come (Psalm 98:4–9)
814 – O bless the Lord, my soul (Psalm 103:1–7)
816 – From all that dwell below the skies (stanzas 1–2) (Psalm 117)
903 – This is the day the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24–26)
707 – Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways (Psalm 119, selected verses)

Children of the Heavenly Father Forgive

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ever the great catechist, Jesus, gives us, his catechumens, the same lesson in a different form. We ought to forgive one another so that we might be reconciled to one another but more importantly be reconciled to God our heavenly Father who forgives us or debts for the sake the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered on the cross for the sins of the world. We are after all children of a Father who forgives.

Peter’s question gives Jesus the opportunity to give the parable of the unforgiving servant. We might want to be like Peter, “Lord, how many times do I have to forgive?” He still does the same thing over and over again. He never says he is sorry for what he does. There does not seem to be any genuineness. Do I really need to give forgiveness? When is enough, enough?

It is so much easier to give forgiveness when the person who committed the sin against us says they are sorry. But perhaps we need to take a step back. In today’s world repentance, confession, and absolution are all confused. Peter along with the disciples didn’t seem to get it right away either, as his question reveals.

Let’s go back to last week for a moment. God says he hates sin. He takes sin so seriously that he sends his men to speak his warnings as well as how sin is dealt with. Acts of sin bring judgment and if the warnings are not heeded that judgement will come. And it will not end well for the sinner. So, we need to know what our sins are. We need to know what God says is sin, and we learn that by his 10 commandments. Jesus does a deep dive excursus on these commandments in the Sermon on the Mount and now here we are where Jesus starts talking to his disciples about when they are being sinned against no matter the context, go to the person who committed the sin against you call out the sin that was committed, call it by name and be reconciled, granting forgiveness.

Only when we identify sin as sin, are we able to then move on towards repentance, forgiveness, and reconciliation. Knowing sin comes by knowing God’s Word where He defines it. Because let’s face it, if we do not know what God defines as sin, we will not be able to tell a person that they sinned against us in order that we forgive them properly as God desires us to do. Also, when we sin against someone else it difficult to repent of something, we don’t know to be a sin. And if we don’t believe what we are doing to be sin, then we certainly will not seek the forgiveness of sins found in Christ Jesus.

So first we need to know what sin is. And we should also add in we need to know what the consequences of sin is. God tell us straight up: “The consequence of sin is death.” But God does not desire the death of the sinner. That is already established. In His great mercy, God has given us His Son Jesus Christ as the one who stands in our place, taking into himself the punishment of death and hell that should be for us. Christ comes proclaiming that God has been reconciled to his creation in the giving of the Son at the Cross. Forgiveness of sins comes by way of the cross where the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ flowed.

Yet, we keep on sinning. We still transgress against every single one of those 10 commandments. We are sitting ducks for the hungry serpent seeking to devour his next victims, especially if our consciences are so seared that we feel no guilt, regret, or shame for our sinful words and deeds. The world has thrown the Law of God out the window and the really the word sin, except for the most egregious things or the sin of being politically incorrect, or speaking against the tide of culture. You can see the moral degradation all around us. And what is worse is that we, who ought to know better being Children of God by Holy Baptism, go along with it. Like the World, we sin against God thinking we know better than He. Or we think we can declare God’s Word to be obsolete and behind with the times and thus follow the flow of culture. We allow our own children and grandchildren to follow in the ways of the world far too often, to do things which are contrary to God’s word. Sins which we let go unchecked causes pain to not just the person who commits the sin but there is also collateral damage done. A so-called individual sin that shouldn’t hurt anyone hurts a lot more people than you think and can lead many to their own sins too. And he heard what should happen to someone who causes a little one who believes in Christ to sin. Repent. Yes, we all have left sin unchecked. We have failed to identify sin as sin. We have failed to seek out our brother when we have been wronged. And we have tried to cover up our own actions and deeds where we have sinned against someone else.

We need to be made aware of our debts. And if we are honest our debts are to numerous to count. Unfortunately, this practice has all but been lost, especially in our Lutheran Churches, but when Luther lived He went to confession. Private Confession. Now at the time it was taught that you must confess every sin that you had ever done since your last confession. In other words, you had to innumerate your sins. Luther could spend hours at a time in that confessional booth. On one occasion Luther left the confessional only to come running back to the booth because he forgot one or two sins. The Church no longer says that we need innumerate our sins. For who can know all of his errors? But knowing our debts and our sins are important because then we just can see how merciful our Lord and God is to us for the sake of the Lord Jesus Christ. And by our Lord’s messengers, the Gospel is proclaimed so that faith in Christ be created. We hear Christ was crucified for Me. He died for Me.

For we are like the one with a 10,000 talent debt. We have sin up to our eyeballs and we won’t stop sinning. There is no way we can pay what we owe. We can only throw ourselves at the mercy of the Judge. Lord, mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. And God has had mercy on us for the sake of Christ, who came to die for the sin of the world, paying the debt we owe. Paying not with gold or silver but with his holy and precious blood poured out for us and the world at the cross.

Last Sunday we talked a little about how God deals with the problem of sin in the Kingdom of Right, the Church, by going to the heart and changing them. Ezekiel talks about a heart transplant. When our hearts are changed by the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we then can forgive those who have brought us pain, suffering, and grief because of sins. A sinful heart will not forgive. But a heart made new in the image of Christ will. Mercy has been shown to you by God your Father in Heaven. If you are children of the Father in Heaven, you then will also show mercy to your brothers and sisters. For God did not send Christ only to pay for your debt, but Christ paid the debt of all mankind. Christ died for the sins of that person who has sinned against you, so then you also should forgive them. Just like God forgives you. It plays out time and time again when you hear the news of a senseless death, if Christians, the family will speak forgiveness to the person. One such event the brother of such a victim spoke directly to his brother’s murderer and said “I hope you go to God with all your guilt, all the bad things you might have done in the past, I know I speak for myself, I forgive you, and I know if you go to God and ask Him, He will forgive you. And I love you just like anyone else.” The world cannot even begin to deal with this type of behavior. At the time political activists and journalists came unglued and unhinged at the forgiveness given by this man to the murderer of his brother. They wanted hate to spewed. The did not want forgiveness to be offered but anger to held on to. But you, a child of the Heavenly Father, forgive your brother, for your Heavenly Father has forgiven you.

But it is hard to do! It is hard to do because we are still sinful and we are still sinned against! We still agonize over the hurtful and angry words spewed our way because of our own positions and opinion. We don’t like to give forgiveness to some who can’t say “I am sorry.” We hurt when people do not take our words in the kindest way. We can get burned by those whom we confront about a sin they do not really want to have exposed. And it hurts too when you know you have sinned against someone and try to ask for forgiveness but rather than hearing “I forgive you,” you get “its okay.” That is not the same as hearing absolution. Use the words Jesus has given us to speak his love to one another. Forgive one another for the sins that you commit against one another.

So how are we able to do all this in the midst of being so hard and so contrary to the way of the world? Be where Jesus is, acknowledge your own debts to the Lord, your own sins for what they are, deserving of death and hell. But call upon God to be merciful and Just, as He has promised to be. For again, he does not desire the death of the sinner, but that the sinner turn and be reconciled to Him. And God has done all the work to forgive and reconcile us to Himself. He has had mercy on you. He sent His Son to be your Savior from sin, death, and hell. And having been made a child of the Living God, be like your Father, who continues to show His mercy to us who sin constantly against him, let us show mercy to those who sin against us.

Be made ready and capable to pass this mercy of your Heavenly Father on by filling up with Christ’s mercy at His Supper. Therefore be a vessel through which the mercy of the Lord may be made known to those who may have never seen God’s mercy before. Forgive richly because you have been richly forgiven by your Heavenly Father for the sake of Christ Jesus your Lord.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for the 7th Sunday after Pentecost: The Parable of the Weeds

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Something that every Christian ought to be doing is reading their bibles. Some folks like to read from start to finish, and that’s fine, but we can easily get distracted if we began in Genesis and Exodus and then we hit Leviticus. The laws of Israel get us bogged down and we lose interest and stop reading. However, if we were to sit down and read through a Gospel say, Matthew, in one sitting it might surprise you how many connections the Gospel has interwoven throughout the book. Matthew was a master at this, as He was crafting and using his Gospel to teach new Christians about Jesus, the faith granted to them and the new life of faith in Christ.

Consider Matthew’s gospel as a catechism book, God’s Word, but crafted and put together in such a format that every chapter builds on the themes before it, word choice and ideas that show up in the beginning get refined, and more poignant as the book progresses. Jesus’ parable of the weeds picks up a few ideas from St. John the Baptist primarily the fire at the end, and the parable that precedes it with the words and ideas of the seed, planting, and the field. It also deals with some of the themes from the Sermon the Mount, primarily the part of judging. Reading the Gospel of Matthew in sitting certainly helps begin to see how masterfully Matthew was in tying together any loose ends.

So, lets imagine shall we that we are students of St. Matthew and the best catechist ever: Jesus and see what this parable says to us in our day and our age. It is nice that Jesus like the parable of the Sower gives an explanation for us because if he had only given us the explanation of the first parable we would just assume the seed had the same meaning, as well as the field, etc. And we could certainly see how this would fit. But Jesus has another meaning in mind, which is why he gives this parable an explanation as well.

He explains the parable: “The one who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. The Son of Man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all law-breakers, and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.”

While Jesus does not say it this way, we can take this parable as analogy of what happened at the beginning in the other book of beginnings: Genesis. There God called everything he had made good, especially his prized creation: man, made in his image, able to reflect his love in the rest of creation. But we know the story, the Serpent came and disrupted all that was good. He seduced Adam and Eve to eat of the tree which God had commanded them not to eat. All that was deemed good and fruitful by God, turned bad and fruitless, everything became weeds and barren.

The workers, the angels were at the ready to pluck the weeds from the word go. But the Lord knew better because what had been made good in the beginning had been so corrupted that nothing of man was good, there would be sons of the kingdom, unless God Himself acted on behalf of his creation. His own son would need to be planted into the world. The Son, born of the virgin, the seed of the Woman would have to come into the world in order for there to be any fruit at harvest. Without the coming of this “son of the kingdom” there would be no additional sons and daughters of the kingdom. It would only be a harvest of weeds ready for the fire. And God did not want that. God does not desire the death of anyone. Jesus later in another parable concerning the last day speaks of the fires being first and foremost created for the devil and his angels, not for people, but people who reject this preaching of Jesus and the promise Jesus gives in this preaching will be sent their as well.

So, having heard the first parable of this chapter the parable of the sower, you see that God has shown mercy upon his creation. He did not destroy it when He saw the corruption of sin and the fruit of that sin: death. He has sent His Son into the world, to sow the seed that is His Word into the hearts of men, who have been corrupted. But by that word, the men who hear and believe, in others words have been called to a knowledge of Christ Jesus as the Son of the living God, Emmanuel, would be transformed from weeds to a plant that bears fruit and a harvest, making them sons of the Kingdom. Note this is strictly being done by the grace and power of the Lord’s Word. And this merciful and powerful work has taken place in you, for you gladly hear it, and learn from it. By hearing Christ’s preaching, you have been called by His Gospel to faith in Him, and have been made a son or daughter of the kingdom by the waters of Holy Baptism. And you are made righteous for the sake the very Son of God, Jesus Christ, who came to restore and reconcile you to your heavenly Father.

You have been made and accounted Righteous before God in Holy Baptism, but you still live in a sinful world, and you yourself still live in a body marred and corrupted by sin. You still have evil thoughts that come out. You still show your weediness. You having been called sons don’t always act like sons of the kingdom. More often than not we are just like the weeds when it comes to the kind of fruits we produce, good for nothing but the fire. But remember the promise given you in Baptism. You are deemed righteous for the sake of Jesus. And you have forgiveness and life everlasting because Jesus has granted it to you.

And let’s remember folks, Jesus is pretty clear that the enemy is still sowing his seed. We see evil still around us, and its easy to spot as it does not even seem that enemies of Christ and his Church try to hide any more. They are coming from all angles. Even within the tent that is “called Christianity” we have folks who speak the opposite of what Scripture speaks. So how much longer until the end? How much longer do we have to wait? We don’t know. I don’t know, and if you hear someone give an exact date, run from them for they are not speaking for God. Jesus even says he does not know the day or the hour of the return of the Son of Man.

But what is clear also is that Christ is still sowing his own seed. He who has ears let him hear. Jesus still showers us with his mercy and his grace. He has not returned yet for harvest. Until that day, there is still time for his mercy to work to on the hearts of those who are his enemies. He has made you his own. He has given His Words to preached, in order for faith in Him be created in the heart of men and women alike. Weeds can be transformed. You who were once weeds, have been made wheat for the sake of Jesus’ death on the cross, and you have been granted the name of son and daughter of God. And having been made wheat, you bear a harvest because you are grafted into Christ.

Jesus also teaches us to be diligent and remain awake. One of my favorite hymns for this day puts it this way:

Rise my soul to watch and pray, from your sleep awaken! Be not by the evil day Unaware’s o’ertaken; for the foe, well we know, is a harvest reaping while the saints are sleeping. Watch against the devil’s snares Lest asleep he find you; For indeed no pains he spares to deceive and blind you. Satan’s prey, Oft are they Who secure are sleeping, and no watch are keeping.”

The hymn is 663 and I strongly encourage you to learn this hymn and keep it on your lips during these days. Satan, the world, and our own flesh are fighting against us and the church, and we cannot let our guard down lest we lose what Christ has given us. He who has ears let him hear.

So, in catechetical fashion: How does one remain diligent and awake? And how does one with ears hear? Be where the word of Christ is preached. Be where the food which nourishes us and works in us good works is provided. Receive the watering of Christ’s Holy Gospel and the free forgiveness won for you by Christ’s bitter sufferings and death at the cross. Receive the “miracle grow” that is his body and blood, that works in your own heart to trust Christ at his word more and more as well as doing good works toward your neighbor. For by these things you are made ready and kept for the harvest when that day comes.

Out of faith and trust in Christ flows the fruit of the harvest. What those works look like are different depending on your stations and vocations. Perhaps you are a nurse, so caring for the patients put under your charge. Maybe you are a son of elderly parents, so making sure they don’t need to be mowing their grass in the heat of summer by mowing it for them if called upon to do so. Maybe you are the wife of a farmer and so perhaps it’s the simple act of driving the truck to the field with his lunch. What makes these good in the sight of God is that they are done in faith in Christ. Maybe you are student and you have to put up with the false teaching of evolution and listen to the dogma of the secular world, grin and bear it, yet speak the truth when able.

Though you might not feel it now, and you might not feel like you are shining, soon all that seems to have overtaken the truth and the sons of the kingdom on earth will be gathered into bundles and burned at the last. And you, being deemed righteous and good for the sake your Savior Jesus, will be made to shine like the sun, like you were supposed to always shine before our heavenly Father in his Kingdom. May God continue to protect us night and day from the assaults of the Enemy, strength and faith increasing, so that still mind and will shall unite to serve him and forever love him. Amen.

Note: If desiring to hear how this sermon came out in the service, email pastorhercamp@gmail.com. Blessings in Christ!

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for the 5th Sunday after Pentecost

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

No one really knew what was coming as 2020 came into focus. Many of us myself included figured a few weeks of isolation would stem the tide sweeping the nation that was the virus. I know for myself I was not really prepared to face a longer period of the “stay at home” stuff. Much was needing to be done. I felt more busy than ever. Much of my busyness being brought on through anxiety. Trying to navigate how to best serve a church in the middle of the pandemic. Every move, every decision, wore me down. I felt pretty helpless.

As God has a way of using events of the world to bring folks to their knees in repentance, I too was brought to my knees in a few ways. I was reminded and perhaps you have been as well, that you have little strength in and of yourself. And the strength you have in yourself in the long run does not last, nor are you able to add one day to your life by it. I was reminded time and time again not to lean on my own understanding, my mind and my body were going through the wringer. I was burdened and heavy laden with anxiety about how everything would be heard and received. As like many workers in the midst of the pandemic I was being reminded that I was not the savior. In my office as an installation gift I received an icon, depicting Christ walking on the Water. In the icon on my office wall Jesus is lifting St. Peter from the water. It reminds me of something I should have never forgotten: Jesus is the savior of St. Peter, not me.

I am one who needs to come and put off the yoke of my heavy burdens. I am weak. Christ is the strong one. O that we might all have this revealed to us by the Father in Heaven. May we be made into little children and trust in the gracious will of our Lord, instead of try to trudge through our burdens of sin/shame/anxiety alone.

Think about your own situations and lives. There are plenty of situations that you have in your life that likely make you feel helpless and hopeless. Maybe it is something along the lines of family dynamics which we have touched on in previous weeks as the Gospel lessons have brought to the fore. Maybe you teachers are feeling lost in the sea of Covid-19 classroom preparedness. Maybe you are concerned for all your students who have not received the last months of school and now summer is really here and you are anxious where they are in life and in education. Just how far down the ladder have they fallen? Maybe you are trying to do it all, working and trying to make sure no child is left behind. But how can you do that? Feeling the burdens? Do you feel like you have failed? And those are some secondary and tertiary vocations. We aren’t really even talking about the vocations of mothers and fathers. Fathers, have you been burdened by the fact that your livelihood and the lives of your family members have been affected economically? I don’t think this has been the case for our members as much thanks be to God, but many have lost months of income and the standard of living has fallen for many around us. Anxious about what comes next? Burdened by worry? What do you do and where do you turn?

Turn to the one who cries out, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:25-30).

Jesus Christ offers freely rest for our wearied souls. Worry and anxiety are symptoms of a failure to fully fear, love, and trust in the promises of God our Father in heaven. They are sins against the first commandment. We worry because we don’t think we can handle what’s been put on our plate. And usually we are right about being unable to handle it because our focus is on the wrong thing. Our focus is on ourselves and our own strength. We find ourselves to be weak, especially when the burden of our failings mount up against us. Repent. That is the only way to have relief for our souls and conscience.

Jesus tells us a bit more about how this happens. This rest comes to you in knowing Jesus and by knowing Jesus we know His Father. It’s a trinitarian act: For The Holy Spirit is the Person who speaks to us knowledge about Jesus and his Gospel, that is what we confess as the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gathers us to Jesus, and Jesus reconciles us to His Father. And there is our rest knowing that our burdens and our sins, our worries, our anxieties have been taken on by Jesus and dealt with once and for all. We are not the savior, Jesus is. And that is rest to our weary souls indeed.

Like anything, our anxieties and our worries come and go, our feelings of helplessness ebb and flow. Sometimes we feel like we are on top of the world, other times we are feeling like we are walking through the valley of death. Sometimes we will want to give up and give in, throwing the pity party that can come when we feel alone and the load is too much for us to bear alone. Yet, in all circumstances, Christ calls you to walk with him in his way, carrying the easy yoke that leads to eternal life.

He calls you to be like little children. Children do not do much for themselves. They need to be fed. They need to be reminded of a parent’s love for them. They need hugged. They need picked up when they fall off their bike. They need a kiss on the scuffed-up knee. They need to know you care for them. So too you being a child of God you need that same kind of encouragement, a better love that never ends nor fades, a love that picks up all the pieces of your weary body and life and makes it all well in the cross of Jesus.

You are little children, beloved by your Father, made God’s own Child, because you are baptized into Christ. By baptism you are connected to Christ, both his crucifixion, and his resurrection. All your anxiety, all your worry, all your sin, and the shame that burdens your conscience taken away there in Christ’s death. And you participate in that by being washed clean in the waters of Holy Baptism. St. Peter talks about Baptism in this way: Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ. You are given a light yoke; you are given knowledge of Jesus who has died and risen from the dead that you might live forever with your Heavenly Father.

In some churches, the font is in the back of the church and each parishioner passes right by the font as they go to their pew. In those churches, if you have ever been to one, you might have seen some folks take the liberty of dipping their finger into the water and making the sign of the cross upon themselves. What an awesome way to be reminded of the gifts Christ gives to us in Holy Baptism. We are called by the grace of our Lord into a life that is ours on behalf of Jesus, a life that is not to be burdened with the cares of being the savior of ourselves or our families or anyone else. No, that job has been covered and taken forever by Jesus. Look to the font and know your burdens have been taken up by Christ and he has dealt with them once and for all.

And know too that if we falter and do worry and fall into sin, we have the Son who comes to us and picks back up and takes those sins away. This is the continued out-flowing of God’s love for you. That love is made manifest to you in the Divine Service, where you repent and confess your sins and receive rest for you souls, rest that lasts through eternity, receiving that rest by receiving Christ on your ears in the hearing of His Word and on your very lips as you eat his body and blood for the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of your faith.

Christ cries out, come to me, and I will give you rest. St. Augustine that great 4^th Century Church Father put it this way: You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” Thanks be to God that Christ continues to call to us, calling the young and old to rest but above all to souls distressed longing for rest everlasting. And you have been brought into that rest who is Christ by Baptism and He has been put into you by Holy Communion. So be at rest, you souls distressed. Be at rest, Christ is your savior and he has come and carries your burdens far from you.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

Grace, mercy, and peace be unto you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

We in the Lutheran Church seem to have a greater affinity for St. Paul than for St. Peter. Perhaps, we are drawn to Paul more because of his clarity when it comes to speaking of being justified freely by grace through faith. He says it everywhere, nowhere clearer than in Ephesians 2:8–9. Maybe too it has to do with historical reasons. Peter, of course, had been called the rock, and for some this meant it was He upon whom Christ would build his Church. Peter than became the Pope, and the Lutherans could not go along with the office of the pope as the office of the pope had become so corrupted through the centuries up to Luther’s time. Maybe that is why when I did a quick search on names of our churches, I found nearly 500 churches associated with St. Paul to around 150 named after St. Peter.

But both Apostles were called for specific purposes and both are celebrated together. We should not see Peter and Paul set up against one another but rather fellow workers in the same harvest field. Paul says Peter was set up for ministry to the circumcised and he to the Gentiles.

But let us remember that Peter did not always just work with the Jews. In Acts 10, Peter learns through the vision that God makes no distinction between Jew or Greek when it comes to salvation. God does not show favoritism. And in our reading from Acts 15 we get the same confession from him: We believe that we will be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus, just as they will.” Those who confess Jesus to be the Christ are the Lord’s people, no matter their nationality or what we in today’s world call race. Again, God makes no distinction. God made one human race. Let us be very clear on that.

Those who are saved are the ones who make the confession: Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus tells us that not even the blessed Apostle Peter could say that without the Father making it known to him. Just as we ourselves cannot by our own reason or strength confess Jesus is Lord. Rather we are brought to that knowledge when we are gathered by Holy Spirit calling us by the Gospel.

It is on this confession of Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God that everything else flows and is built. And what a beautiful body and habitation that has been built: The Church. And Peter and Paul made bold confession of Jesus being the Christ, to both Jews and Greeks. They saw how the Spirit of God was poured out by the grace of our Lord so that all might come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

This confession however does not come without cost. With the confession of Jesus as the Christ comes the cross, the one which Jesus bore in our stead, and the cross born by Peter and Paul for our benefit, as well as our own crosses, to follow Jesus where He leads. To follow Jesus through death and into life.

Peter saw Christ’s death first hand. He was the one who upon calling Jesus the Christ did not want Jesus to do the very things which the Christ came to accomplish. Peter could not accept that Jesus would have to suffer death by crucifixion. But Jesus showed him what He and the entire world would benefit by his bitter sufferings and death: redemption, the forgiveness of sins, and everlasting life in a resurrected body. And Peter proclaimed this until he too would suffer death on account of Christ’s name.

Paul’s story is similar, for God desired Paul to be his servant and show him how much he must suffer for the name. And Paul would have plenty of instances where he would be persecuted against, stoned, arrested, ship wrecked, etc. He ultimately would die a martyr’s death as well for the sake of Christ.

We too face our own crosses for the sake of the Name which was placed upon us at Holy Baptism. We might not die a martyr death, but we can begin to feel the society of our nation growing more and more hostile to those of us who call Christ Lord, who believe what the bible says about Holy Marriage, about Male and Female. While a riot can have hundreds of people in close proximity to one another, a church service can only have 10 souls at a time. The voice of the faithful are being drowned out and cancelled in the public square. And it might even feel like hell is here right with us and we are being trampled. But know this: Jesus says, “On this rock, I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” It may look like Satan owns the day, but he has been defeated, Christ has died and Christ is risen, and his resurrection is made your resurrection by the proclamation of Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

So the Church continues to confess the truth about Christ, a confession that we could not know by our own reason or strength but it has been revealed to us by the grace of the Triune God. The apostles’ confession and witness to Christ is still on going, for by their witness, the Church still is being built up by the grace of our Lord, calling the young and old to rest but above all to souls distressed, longing for rest everlasting. The rock is not Peter or Paul, but the confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who suffered and died for the sins of the world and rose on the third day and then ascended to the right hand of the Father, who will come again to judge the living and the dead.

May we confess with Peter and Paul the truth of Christ and be built upon the rock of Christ Jesus and look to him for grace and forgiveness, that we might be saved from the assaults of death and hell now and forever. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for the Nativity of St. John the Baptist

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Six months is all that separates the Baptist and Jesus at least by earthly age. And so on June 24^th the Church celebrates and remembers the birth of the Baptist. For with his coming into the world, the Sun of Righteousness also would arrive.

If we read the earlier verses of St. Luke’s Gospel, we learn that the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her that she would bear the Son of the Most High, and in that conversation Gabriel tells Mary that its not just her who has been visited and remembered by the Lord, for Mary’s cousin Elizabeth, the one who had been called barren was now in her sixth month. And upon receiving the blessed news from Gabriel, Mary quickly went to visit Elizabeth. Luke does not say explicitly in his Gospel, but he leaves the reader to ponder if Mary was actually there for the birth of St. John the Baptist. Luke throws out this line about Mary’s stay: “And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.” Doing the math, it is very possible perhaps even plausible that Mary assisted with the delivery. It leads me to at least consider the possibility she was there, meaning also that Jesus, the one for whom John would prepare a people was there watching and working, as this was the plan from of Old as Zechariah would joyfully sing. And if Mary was there carrying the Lord Jesus in her womb, the song Zechariah sings takes on quite a bit more theological weight.

Zechariah when he was confronted by Gabriel, was confused and a bit unbelieving of the news that he and Elizabeth would have a son. As part of the sign that Elizabeth would have a son, Zechariah would be mute until the child was born. And when he named the child John, in accordance with what the Angel told him, Zecahriah’s mouth was loosed. He could speak. And the people were filled with awe and asked the question: What then will this child be?

Being filled with the Holy Spirit Zechariah prophesied the song that we commonly call the Benedictus, Latin for Blessed… What is interesting to me Zechariah’s song does not answer the question of the people right away. He first prophesies of the one that his own son would point to as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Think of this: Mary still there and Zechariah breaks out in song: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up for us a horn of salvation for us in the house of the servant David. That is not about John, but about Jesus. And He had actually been in Zechariah’s house for the past 3 months via the womb of Mary. And redemption of God’s people was the plan from of old as far back as Adam’s fall. It’s not his son that Zechariah is ooing and ahhing over when he starts singing. No it’s Jesus that Zechariah sings about. Jesus is the oath sworn to Father Abraham, that we would be delivered from the hand of our enemies and serve him (the Lord God) without fear in holiness and righteousness. Jesus would do that as the one who would do the work of our redemption by his cross, by being the very Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world and grants us His holiness and His righteousness.

Its not until verse 76 that Zechariah’s attention turns to his own son. You my child will be the prophet of the Most High, going before him to prepare his ways, giving knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins. Bringing comfort to a people burdened by their sin, giving light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, guiding our feet into the way of peace.

Who then will this child be? The preacher of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the preacher proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. Preparing the hearts of those who listen for the coming of the One whose sandals John himself is not worthy to even untie. John never preaches of himself, and Zechariah’s song even shows this too. Zechariah does not answer the question directly but first goes to Jesus, who comes after John but ranks before John because He was before John and there in the beginning. To this Jesus John would bear witness as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

John still proclaims that message into your very ears every Advent season, preparing us for the coming of our Lord, the Sun of Righteousness. Some think John’s preaching is fire and brimstone, and it might be on that side, but how else to rattle and crack the hearts of stone of a dead people? The preaching of repentance, puts you to death but not only that: it raises you to life. John’s preaching causes the Light of the Lord’s mercy to shine upon you. It gives you the new birth of the Holy Spirit, and gives to you the Name of God by his Grace, granting you peace that passes all human understanding. John preaches not his own word but the Word of the Lord, in order that they might be made alive by the Gospel and Comfort of the coming of the Lord Jesus who would die for the sin of the world and be raised from the dead on the 3^rd day and would then lead the way unto everlasting life with the Father in Heaven.

John’ preaching of repentance is the preaching of the forgiveness of sins. But John’s preaching is really the preaching of Christ! And thus by John’s preaching you are not just prepared for Jesus’ coming but it is by this way and means that Christ comes to you in love and visits you with tender compassion.

Christ did not just visit Zechariah or the people of Judea and Galilee, but He has come and visits you with tender care and mercy this day. He has redeemed you just as we swore he would do, giving you the forgiveness of sins which He won for you by his cross, now by giving you His body and blood in the Sacrament, the Covenant/Testament of His body and blood. That you may be led in the way of peace forever.

John was the forerunner, the preacher who pointed Jesus without fail. May the preachers of our day follow on coattails of John and continue to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins, that your ears and heart are prepared to receive Christ now and always. For it is Christ who has released you from all sins, and has removed from us all fear of death and hell and now guides our feet into the way of Peace.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

Christian Suffering: A Sermon for the 7th Sunday of Easter

Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and our risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Throughout the entire Epistle of 1 Peter and here again, the great apostle warns and prepares his readers and hearers to suffer for the faith. To be made a participant along with the sufferings of Christ Jesus. As we heard in a few stories from the book of Acts this Easter season, may we too rejoice as we are counted blessed to suffer for the sake of the Name of Jesus Christ.

Unfortunately as the Lord speaks of his disciples on the night of betrayal, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. We don’t like to suffer. There are names for conditions for people who like to suffer. Suffering is not something many people look forward to, of course it comes, knocking like the undesired guest you feel compelled to invite to thanksgiving dinner because he’s family, you smile and you bear it but you certainly aren’t happy he actually showed up.

But suffering for the sake of something can bring about good results. The most suffering I have every put myself through was when I volunteered to run Cross Country for my High School. The tempo distance runs, the 400 meter sprints followed by 3 minute rests and the circuit began again. The extra stretching to keep my calves from locking up. The pounding of pavement sending shock up my legs. It was suffering I willingly put myself under for the sake of the team. I was the 5^th runner. You needed 5 to qualify for the state races. It was the carrot I kept chasing, helping the better runners have a chance to qualify for state races. And you know what? I actually saw my times get better over time. I actually began to look forward to the runs. And when it was time to lay it all out for the sectional race, I put down my best time all year, pushing through the rigorous cross country course to run my personal best. The past suffering helped push me along.

You can see this with any endurance racer. You have to suffer in order to endure a marathon. You have to grit it out and push your body to the brink to prove to yourself it can be done when it counts. And usually this suffering results with a good outcome.

Christians, as Peter tells us, should expect suffering. And like the suffering of a runner, Christian suffering results in good on a much greater scale. The Christian never suffers alone, but always with Christ. And suffering with Christ is a blessed suffering.

Its been a while now but you can do a quick search of the most dangerous countries toward Christians. You probably have an idea where most of those countries are located: most being located in the Middle East and North Africa. And like I said last week, we have begun to feel some of the pinch. Nothing like these places where there are people dying for the sake of the Name of Christ. We have little to no idea what true suffering for the sake of the Name actually looks like. Many of us should repent because of our anger for what we think we are suffering. They are in the fiery trials, we are like sitting on a hay bale roasting a marshmallow. Little to no comparison.

But the sufferings are likely coming our way. Peter told his hearers to be ready. So we too must be diligent and awake. We should be looking to the sky, awaiting the Lord to return at any time. We should be made ready by the hearing of the Word of Christ. We should be joyfully receiving from Him the forgiveness and life everlasting he has purchased and won for us by his own suffering and death on the cross. And you have these precious gifts before you this day. Earnestly desire them. Do not despise them. For only in these gifts of Christ are you made ready for the day of suffering.

But are we ready? Or are we ignorant because we have been blessed to not have the sufferings of many of our brothers and sisters in the faith? I would suggest that in a way we have been lulled to sleep. We have grown complacent and actually we in America are falling away from the faith without any fire at all. Matt Walsh, a commentator of church and culture affairs, effectively said the same thing in a recent interview with Issues, Etc. Do not be lukewarm concerning the faith. Do not be like the church of Laodicea which the risen and ascended Lord scolds saying, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor blind, and naked.” “I counsel you to be from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.”

Yes repent and do not be lukewarm when it comes to your confession of Christ in word and deed. But know that you will suffer for the sake of the Name of Christ. Expect it.

Not all suffering is created equal. Some suffering is justified and some is not. But only Christian suffering, that is suffering for the sake of the confession that Jesus is Lord and God will be a blessing.

Peter reminds us that we are right to suffer the consequences of our sins. And we know very well some of the worldly sufferings on account of our sins. Broken homes. Relationships broken because we can’t help but gossip or desire things and people that are not ours to have. Having to suffer these consequences of our sins is not Christian Suffering. Suffering due to our sins is a just reward. Like the men on the cross to the right and left of Jesus. The man confesses they deserve what they are getting in the cross. And we too confess similarly in the preparation rite of the Divine Service, that we deserve both temporal and eternal punishment for our sins. And quite honestly we deserve even more suffering that we often get.

So what then is Christian suffering? Christian suffering has to do with Christ and our relationship with Him. You are blessed if you are insulted for the name of Christ, for “the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.” Christian suffering is that suffering that comes simply by being a Christian and holding to the confession that Jesus is Lord and God, the redeemer of the world. In the day of judgment the Christian who suffers will be blessed. He will rejoice and be glad in the unveiling of Christ’s full glory and splendor, while the ungodly will stand in complete and utter terror. The Christian might suffer for the Gospel of Jesus now, but suffering in the world is temporary, the suffering Christian has a promise to be taken to a place where God wipes away all tears. There shall be no sorrow, no suffering, and no more fear. For the Lamb will be their shepherd and will guide them to quiet and restful waters. He will be with them forever. The Christian suffers here and now in the world but it is only temporary, for you will be called to your eternal home, the place which Jesus has gone to prepare for you. The world and the ungodly might rejoice now, they will suffer the consequence of their unrepentance.

The suffering of a Christian is rewarded by God. This is not a salvation issue, you do not have to suffer so that God saves you. But, suffering for the sake of Jesus is an almost given in this world and climate. God promises to exalt those who are prepared to suffer for the sake of Jesus. It is only in Christ that we can withstand the attacks of your sinful nature, the world, and ultimately Satan. Satan might roar like a lion, but he has been chained. He has been conquered by the greater lion of the Tribe of Judah.

Let us pray then to our Risen and Ascended Lord that we may stand fast when our time of fiery trials come that we may remain steadfast in the one faith of Jesus Christ, who has indeed destroyed the power of sin, death, and Satan by dying on the cross and having been raised to new life on the third day. It is He who fights to keep you, it he who is with you in your sufferings, your Christian sufferings. The Christian suffers in order to participate in the sufferings of Jesus. Holy Scripture testifies that god, who has called us, is faithful. So when He has begun the good work in us, He will also preserve it to the end and perfect it, if we ourselves do not turn from Him, but firmly hold on to the work begun to the end. He has promised His grace for this very purpose. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for St. Philip and St. James the Less Day

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today, in the Church we commemorate Philip and James. We don’t know a lot about Philip except for what is recorded for us in the Gospel of St. John. Philip was called by Jesus to follow him. Philip then found Nathaniel and told him about Jesus. Philip told Nathaniel, “Come and see” when Nathaniel questioned if anything good could come from Nazareth. Philip was in the group of apostles whom Jesus told in Mark 6, “You feed the people,” before Jesus taking the bread, gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to the people, feeding 5,000 men. It was Philip according to John 6 that said the words, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough of them to get a little.”

Philip was also the man in John 12, whom some Greeks came to saying, “Sir we wish to see Jesus.” And here in the Gospel for today, Philip is the man who says those words, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

James on the other hand is a bit obscure because of the fact that we have three James to discuss. James the brother of Zebedee is known in the Church as James the Great. James the son of Alphaeus could be a second James, and ultimately, we have James, the author of Epistle James. In some traditions this James, the author of the epistle, is James the son of Alphaeus. But others insist on him being the half-brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and also brother of Jude. Three James adds to some of our confusion about this Saint remembered today.

It is this James, the half-brother of our Lord, the author of the epistle that we remember with Philip today. Philip was called to faith in Christ early on in the ministry of Christ. James, the brother of Christ later, after the resurrection but before the Ascension of Christ as Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15:7. Paul gives us the run down of events this way concerning who saw Jesus after the resurrection: That he [Jesus] was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. Then he appeared to more than 500 brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. James was called to faith in Christ in a similar fashion as Paul.

Think of the rivalry that must have been in the house of Joseph and Mary. Jesus was the perfect son, James? Uh, not so much. We know from the Gospels that the family of Jesus thought him to be off his rocker a few times, and then we also know that Jesus said that his family were those who did the will of the Father. And the will of Him who sent Jesus is this: “That everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the Last Day.” When Jesus talks about his family, faith in him as the Savior of the world from sins, is not really talked about much. And if were in that household I probably would have resented Jesus. If a prophet cannot have honor in his hometown, he certainly has no honor given him in his own home. James was not a fan of Jesus and his preaching in the beginning. And we can probably see ourselves in this light too. The natural man, that is the man still slave to sin and death, does not like the light of God’s Law coming and running everything amuck. For it exposes the evilness of our hearts and the sinfulness of our ways. It exposes our resentment toward one another and the like, much like the resentment and animosity that James had toward his brother, Jesus.

Yet, in all grace and mercy, James was called to repentance and faith in Christ. Not only was James granted faith but also zeal to proclaim the reality of Christ’s resurrection and the forgiveness of sins given to the world through Christ’s atoning death by the risen Lord Christ, Himself! The same forgiveness is proclaimed to you still today. For it is the same Gospel and it endures until Christ’s return calling us all to faith in Christ Jesus.

By grace, James became the bishop of the Jerusalem church as the other apostles like Peter and John began to move away from the city in times of persecution. It is likely that during this time of persecution James wrote his letter, quite early on in the life of the church. Paul speaks about going to visit James a few times in his letters as well. And in Acts 15 it is James who oversees the first Church Council and forms the letter, when the church is confronted with the question, “What shall we do with the Gentiles, who believe in Jesus?”

Jesus tells us, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” Jesus has prepared a place for them. They belong. You belong in the home of Christ and His Father.

With the story of St. Philip, we can extrapolate a little bit more from John 6 and Mark 6, that’s where the feeding of the 5,000 is located in those two Gospels. John tells us that Jesus went across to the other side of the sea of Tiberias and there performed this sign on the mountain. The other side of the Sea of Tiberias was Gentile country. And its in the context of that we should hear the words of Jesus from Mark 6:37, “You give them something to eat.” Yes, Philip. You feed them. But do not feed them just any old bread. But feed them the bread of life, which is my flesh, and do not give them any old drink, but give them my blood. Yes, James, the Gentiles belong to me as well. Those who believe in me have the Father and have a place in my Father’s house.

We should also not miss the opportunity to see how Christ gathers these folks on a mountain, just as He gathers all people to himself at the foot of his cross. Where his body and blood are given up in death that we might have forgiveness of sins, and life everlasting. Yes, Philip show me, high and lifted up on the cross, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

And this is what was preached by both James and Philip by the grace and mercy of our Lord Jesus. This is still preached to both Jew and Gentile, Christ has come to save you from your sin to prepare for you a place to rest eternally. You have a place with Christ Jesus. And you are already being prepared for it. You have a foretaste of it here on Earth in the Divine Service, where the preaching of Christ is put into you very ears. Here, You hear the risen and living voice of Christ here and now. And here, You receive on your lips the living body and blood of Jesus, this Jesus whom has died for your sins and risen to life and ascended to the right hand of the Father preparing for that place. That He might return and that we might be brought to be with Him forever.

This is the Jesus whom Philip and James preached until their own mouths were stopped by their respective martyrdoms. But the preaching of these saints still goes on. We have James’ own testimony in Scripture crafting his own letter in a similar fashion of Jesus’ own Sermon on the Mount, calling weary Christians to come and be at rest in Jesus Christ. And Philip still calls out to you, “Come and see this Jesus, and follow Him.” For this Jesus will take you home to be with him and his Father forever. Amen.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO

A Sermon for St. Mark’s Day

Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed Alleluia!

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You might say you see Mark in his own Gospel as well. It is also assumed from the context of the story of the rich young man is Mark’s account, from Mark 10:17–31 that we see the author Mark there coming to Jesus asking what He must do to inherit eternal life. There Jesus, after giving him the 2^nd table of the Law and hearing the man’s response that he had kept these commandments all of his life, looked at him, loved him and said You lack one thing; go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” That day the rich young man walked away sad.

But You first hear of Mark by name in the book of Acts. He is a secondary companion of Paul through Barnabas. Its also interesting to note that Mark’s mother’s home was a location of a church in Jerusalem, likely the location where the Last Supper took place as well. Barnabas was a Levite but was from the island of Crete, who had returned to Jerusalem. Mark was the nephew of Barnabas. And Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey. But in the first tour, after reaching Pamphylia the group decided to leave and head towards Antioch of Pisidia. It involved climbing some rugged mountains, something that Mark had not apparently signed up for. As some others have said concerning Mark, that following Jesus was fine for Mark, as long as he could still enjoy the finer things. Paul had little use for someone who would abandon the mission of the gospel being proclaimed.

No one who still breathing is unable to be redeemed, to be brought back into the fold of Christ’s church, to repent and believe in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. By the grace of God through the continual proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Mark become the Evangelist who worked with Paul, listened to Peter and eventually wrote the Gospel that bears his name. Who better to get the goods of the Gospel of Jesus from than Peter, the spokesman of the Apostles, who himself had once been on the wrong side of denying the Lord Jesus Christ?

And that is why Mark’s gospel and the fact that we celebrate Mark this day is important. For it is in Mark that we get the baptismal promise: “Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved.” You can debate whether or not this is actually belongs Mark, but that’s beside the point. Nevertheless the Church has consistently said it belongs to the proclamation. And if you remember that Mark likely got all his stories directly from St. Peter, then it makes all the more sense, for it is Peter in his first epistle that says, “Baptism now saves you.”

And indeed, it most assuredly does. Only in Mark does baptism find itself in the act of Christ’s cross. When the brothers James and John come to Jesus and make the request to sit at his right and left, Jesus responds: You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink, or to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized?” Christ drinks the cup and is baptized in his own blood as ransom for many at the cross, and now the baptism with which Christ tells the apostles to proclaim is the baptism which connects us to His cross and passion. And by believing and baptism you shall be saved.

Mark is the only book of the four gospels which expressly calls itself the gospel. Mark begins his book this way: “The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” And a quick search for the word gospel in the four Gospels, reveals that Mark uses the word eight times, which is one more time than the other Synoptic Gospels combined. John does not even use the word. Gospel means good news. And Mark’s Gospel is indeed good news to those who like himself who fell away and needed to be brought back into the fold of the Church, the household of believers. Like us who constantly are in the cycle of belief and unbelief, falling away for the things of this world. Mark is the only Gospel to record for us the words of the Father whose son is demon possessed. He records this interaction beginning at Mark 9:23: And Jesus said to him, “If you can! All things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe, help my unbelief.” Yes, Lord. We believe, help our unbelief.” And the Lord does help our unbelief.

He gives to you the proclamation of the Gospel as well as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. These are the vehicles through which the grace and mercy of God are given to you. It is like the story of the rich young man only now we don’t leave sad, but we kneeling before our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ at the rail, He looks at us and loves us and we follow him where he leads. For Mark that meant repenting of breaking the first commandment for he loved the goods of the world more than the Lord, repenting of his abandonment of Paul and Barnabas. It being called again by the Gospel of Christ to a living faith, one which followed Christ and proclaiming the Gospel with Barnabas to various places, but it also meant being reconciled. Paul and Mark both had some repenting and forgiving to do towards each other. And by the grace of Christ, it came to be. We hear St. Paul say in the second Epistle written to Timothy: “Get Mark and bring with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.” Indeed, Mark would prove fruitful for he would go on from Paul and meet up with Peter and work alongside Peter likely in Rome and write the Gospel which sits in second position in the New Testament.

For us the proclamation is exactly the same. We too have sinned and we too have abandoned the mission of the Lord in many and various ways. We too need to repent and believe the Gospel. This is the life of the baptized. And remember the promise: All who believe and are baptized shall be saved. What a blessed promise given to us. Lord Jesus, we believe, help our unbelief.

As one professor of mine said in a sermon many years ago, “Mark is a favorite of many pastors” because in Mark pastors see themselves. Pastors fail their people. They fail the charge laid before them, but by the same grace which brought Mark back and redeemed him, we too are called back into the life of faith. Faith given to us by the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ of whom Mark, the Lion of the Four Gospels, now roars.

Rev. Jacob Hercamp
St. Peter’s Lutheran Church
La Grange, MO