Sermon for Pentecost 3: "Facing Jerusalem"

 + 3rd Sunday after Pentecost – June 29, 2025 +

Series C: 1 Kings 19:9-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

 

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

 

Family road trips are full of questions. “Are we there yet?” “Where are we going?” I imagine the disciples asked the same questions. But while the disciples didn’t know where they were going…Jesus knew exactly where they were headed. Luke tells us…

 

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

This was Jesus’ purpose. That’s why Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Why He obeyed and fulfilled the Law. Jesus came to be “taken up” on the cross for you in order to take you up together with Him. And so He set His face to Jerusalem. For you.

 

On his way, Jesus traveled through Samaria. And the Samaritans refused Him. Why? Because His face was set toward Jerusalem. Samaritans worshipped on Mt. Gerazim – in the old Northern Kingdom from the Old Testament, not Jerusalem in the south. The Samaritans in Luke 9 did not understand why Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem. Ironically, neither did his own disciples.

 

James and John, the “sons of thunder,” wanted to call down a little Sodom and Gomorrah style airstrike. “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

 

But that’s not the message Jesus calls his church to proclaim to all nations. Didn’t they get it? Didn’t they see who Jesus was? It’s easy to point the finger at the disciples and forget that you and I are no different. 

 

James and John admit the truth about all of us. God’s fire from heaven is not ours to call down. The same fire and brimstone you call down on others, could very well be called down upon you. No, this kind of judgment, thankfully, hasn’t been given to you and I. Just ithe destruction you could unleash if you had that power?

 

What’s truly remarkable is that God doesn’t judge you and I as we judge others. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem. God judges the world by sending Jesus to be judged in our place. God desires to seek and to save the lost, even Samaritans, even you and me. And he goes to the greatest length possible, even death on a cross, to be judged in your place, to rescue you from sin and death forever. For all the times you’ve set your face in the opposite direction of your heavenly Father, Jesus set his face to Jerusalem for you. 

 

Jesus set His face to Jerusalem for the Samaritans too - those who turned Him away and slammed the door in His face. You can walk down the streets, any street at any time of any day, and look in the face of any random person, be they rich or poor, young or old, well-dressed or not, and you can truthfully say to yourself, “Jesus gave His life on the cross to save that person.” He set His face to the cross of Jerusalem to save this person. There is no fire from heaven for the Samaritans or for you, only for Jesus. That’s the way of the cross. And the way of the cross is also the way of life for you his disciples.

 

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

Tough words aren’t they? Jesus’ claim on his disciples is total. It’s all or nothing. No halfway, half-hearted disciples. To follow Jesus is to go to Jerusalem with him; to the cross. To follow Jesus is to die and rise with Jesus. To lose your life in order to save it. 

That’s what Jesus saw when He set His face to Jerusalem. He saw the cross. He saw his suffering. His death. But above all, he saw you. His focus was like that of a lifeguard venturing out into the rip currents with only one thing in mind. Saving you. 

 

And so, the disciple’s focus is on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith. Don’t look to yourself. Rather, look to Jesus Crucified for you.

 

Remember Elijah. When he looked to himself and started whining about how he was the only faithful one left in all of Israel and how everyone was trying to kill him, that’s when he got it wrong. He had his little pity party at Mt. Horeb. Queen Jezebel had issued death threats against him. And he expected God to flex some muscle…you know, call down some fire. He thought he was the only faithful Israelite left on the face of the earth. It’s called an “Elijah complex” today, when you think you’re the only one who sees it, the only one who has it right.

 

Elijah quickly learned that it wasn’t about him. The kingdom didn’t rest on his shoulders. And he wasn’t alone. Seven thousand in Israel had not bowed the knee to the idol Baal. The Church is the same kind of hidden mystery. You can’t see it in its fullness. You can only hear Jesus’ Word and see the activity of Christ in the sacraments. God’s kingdom doesn’t rest on your shoulders or mine…thank the Lord, but on Jesus crucified for you.

 

Elijah learned that God works hiddenly. Elijah saw the power and glory as fire rained down from heaven on the prophets of Baal. But he also learned that fire from heaven was not God’s ultimate purpose. Instead, it is to justify the ungodly. Forgive sin. Save you. Show mercy. God wasn’t in the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire. God was hidden in the soft voice - in his word. You expect God to shout, and He whispers. You expect a show of lights and action…and he comes hidden and humble. It’s no different today… in simple ordinary words, water, bread and wine. Here’s Jesus for you.

 

Come, fix your eyes, hearts, and minds on Jesus. For it was Jesus who fixed his eyes on Jerusalem for you. 

 

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

 

 

Sermon for Pentecost 2: "The Gerasene Great Reversal"

 + 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost – June 22^nd, 2025 +

Series C: Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-4:7; Luke 8:26-39

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

 

Most stories you read or movies you watch have what’s called a character arc; the change that happens in any given character from the beginning to the end of the story. Like how Han Solo goes from being a greedy, stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf herder to a selfless hero of the Rebel Alliance. Or Ebenezer Scrooge, who is changed from being a cold, cruel, curmudgeon full of humbugs into a warm, joyful, gracious giver full of happiness.

 

You see this in the true stories of the Scriptures as well. Peter goes from being stubborn, foolish, and denying Jesus three times, to being restored, reconciled, and boldly confessing Christ. Saul goes from being a zealous persecutor of the church to being a steadfast preacher of the Gospel. 

 

There’s a Gospel, Christ-centered character arc in today’s reading from Luke 8 as well. Luke is a good journalist and historian, and storyteller as well. He carefully sets the scene: Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[c] which is opposite Galilee.²⁷ When Jesus^[d] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons.

 

When you first meet this man you don’t know his name, but you know he’s not an Israelite. He’s from the Gerasene region, opposite Galilee. He’s an unclean man held captive by unclean spirits…He has demons. Not one. Plural. Legion. He’s enslaved. A captive of darkness. In bondage to the beast. To make matters worse, he has no clothes, no home except the quaint comforts of the graveyard, and the chaos that clouds his heart and mind. 

 

By the end of this story everything has changed for this man. It’s a great reversal. The Gentile becomes a disciple and student of Jesus. This non-Israelite becomes a member of the true Israel who believes in and confesses Jesus as Lord. He goes from being unclean to being cleansed. From captivity to freedom; from bondage in sin to and darkness to liberation and new life. At the end, Luke tells us, this man is no longer naked and full of raging madness. He is clothed and in his right mind, siting at the feet of Jesus. He went from living in gloom, chaos, and paranoia to heading home proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

 

What could possibly bring about such a dramatic change? Was it his moral improvement? Fortitude? His good behavior, positive attitude, or his good feelings? No. This man brought the same thing we bring to our conversion and Christian life and salvation…nothing but the shackles of our sin and the darkness of death. 

 

So what was it? Not a what. But a who. A Voice. A Person. A Healer and Preacher of Good News who is the Good News in the flesh. This man is changed not by something he does but by what Jesus does and says for him. 

 

Jesus speaks and wickedness and darkness are undone. The God who broke the darkness of creation by his word of “Let there be light” does the same for this Gerasene man. Jesus commands the unclean spirits by his word. Jesus casts out and conquers the demons by his word. Jesus restores this man and gives new life by his word. Jesus teaches and sends this man home healed, cleansed, and holy by his word. Jesus gives this man a vocation. Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.

 

And this same Jesus, whose word and life brought about this great reversal for the Gerasene man, speaks his healing, saving, death conquering, demon destroying, sanctifying word to you. The Gerasene man in Luke 8 isn’t the only one with a character arc that ends with the Gospel. This is your story as well.

 

Jesus comes to make you who are unclean clean. Jesus come to make you who are unholy holy. Jesus comes to set you, who are enslaved to sin, set free. Jesus comes to you in your dead, naked and shamed life in Adam, clothed in your own flesh, hanging naked on the tree of the cross, hanging out in the place of the dead, resting in the tomb, surrounded by the chaos and darkness of sin all so that he can raise you up from the dead. Clothe you in his righteousness. And bring you home to him. And fill your mouth with his word, that you too would declare how much God in Christ has done for you.

 

This is what our Lord Jesus did for David this morning. What he did for you and does for you all, not in the waters of the sea of Galilee, but in the waters of baptism. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 

When that water came pouring over you, as it did for David this morning, all of Christ’s promises come with it. What Jesus did in the fullness of time flows over you in the font. Jesus is born of woman so you are born again from above. Jesus is born under the Law to redeem you who were under the Law and unable to keep the Law. Jesus, the Son of God is also the Son of Mary so you can receive adoption as sons. 

 

Everything has changed for you, as it did for that Gerasene man. Jesus brought a great reversal in the Gerasenes, and he does so for you too. And he does it in the same way. All by his word and promise delivered and given to you.

 

You are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of the King. You are cleansed. Holy. Set free. Raised from the dead. Clothed and in your right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus here in his house. And in our Lord’s house the gifts always keep on coming…like Christmas morning with Ebenezer Scrooge. Like Paul proclaiming the Gospel. Like this Gerasene man returning home rejoicing in all that Jesus had done for him. As it was for him, so it is for you.

 

Jesus speaks and the darkness flees. Jesus speaks and chaos and unclean spirits are conquered. Jesus speaks and delivers you by his word. Jesus speaks and you are cleansed and washed and brought to his table, where once again he speaks and delivers healing to you. By his word bread holds his body broken for you to make you whole and holy in him. By his word a cup of wine holds his blood shed for you that overflows and gushes with grace and goodness and good news, for you.

 

And having sat at Jesus’ feet, having been clothed by Christ, having received his word, having been fed in forgiveness, having the author of the story step into history and rewrite your ending in his grace, he says to you as he said to the Gerasene man.

 

Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.

 

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

 

 

 

Sermon for Concordia Tacoma Baccalaureate: "Christ With Us"

 + Concordia Baccalaureate – June 7^th, 2025 + 

Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 139:1-14; Matthew 28:16-20

 

 

In the Name of + Jesus.

 

In one of the lesser known stories of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis tells the story of Shasta. A boy who was about to be sold into slavery but ran away and makes his journey headed for Narnia and the north. He befriends a fellow runaway, and eventually is met by Aslan the great lion of Narnia who tells him…

 

“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.” 

 

What Aslan does for Shasta is a picture of what Christ promises to you throughout his word. 

 

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

When YHWH called Abraham to leave his own country and travel to a new country, the Lord promised Abraham, “I will be with you.”

 

When YHWH called Joshua to lead his people into the promised land, he promised Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” 

 

When YHWH called his prophet Isaiah to preach his word of judgment and promise to his people, he promised, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

 

And when YHWH takes on human flesh, he comes with promise. His name is Immanuel. God with us. 

 

Our Lord Jesus is like the great hound of heaven in the famous poem by Francis Thompson. He chases and pursues and follows you like a sheep dog, always at your heels with his grace and mercy. The Lord who promised to be with Abraham, Joshua, Isaiah and his disciples, promises to be with you. When our Lord makes you a promise he keeps it.

 

And this is good news. For there will be days when you’re afraid. Days when you’ll feel lost. Alone. Confused. Uncertain. Days that no matter how hard you try, the memories and moments you want to last forever feel like they won’t. Days that feel like the only thing that sticks with you is the guilt and shame of sin, the fear, the pain, and the haunting shadow of death. 

 

For these kinds of days, Jesus hung on the cross and was forsaken in your place, so that you will never be forsaken from him. Jesus was crucified and risen for you, and not just for dark days, but to bring you good days and good gifts. A good school and teachers and joy of learning; the gifts of family and friendship; and blessings too many to count. And through it all, Jesus makes you the best promise of all. A promise that lasts. “I am the Lion who will be with you always.”

 

Today as you graduate, as you go on into the next chapter of your story, wherever our Lord calls you…It is the Lord who goes before you. And he promises you… “I will be with you; I will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for Trinity Sunday: "The Triune God of Abraham"

 + Trinity Sunday - June 15th, 2025 +

Series C: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:14, 22-36; John 8:48-59

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.

 

This is what Jesus says to the Jews near the end of their rather lengthy debate over his identity and divinity, a debate that takes up a better part of John 8, until Jesus lays down his final arguments in the debate by claiming to be YHWH in the flesh, the Great I AM incarnate. 

 

And it makes you wonder…what was it that Abraham saw about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, that would cause him to rejoice and be glad. After all, Abraham saw many things.

 

Could it have been when YHWH called Abram to leave his father’s house and go to the land God would give him? Or when he promised…I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great? Or when YHWH caused a deep sleep to come upon Abram and made his covenant with him and promised to send him a son through whom all nations would be blessed? 

 

Could it have been when Abram and Sarai were given new names or when YHWH delivered on his promise and gave Abraham and Sarah their beloved son, Isaac? Or when YHWH rescued Abraham and Lot and their families from the destruction of Sodom, or on the mountain where YHWH told Abraham to bring his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, for a sacrifice but the Lord provided another sacrifice?

 

Yes…all of the above.

 

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the God who called him also calls you, out of this dark and dying world into the new creation in Christ ushers in on the cross and out of the grave.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the same God who promised to bless him and make his name great has a greater name which is above all names: the Name of the Holy Trinity, which we confess and rejoice in today: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And because the God who made his covenant with Abraham, is the same God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who brings you out of the sleep of death, and the darkness of sin, in the covenant and promise of Holy Baptism. There he places his eternal, holy, Triune name upon you.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad, because even though his sin, and yours and mine is as numerous as the stars in the heavens, the steadfast love of the Lord is far greater; and in his mercy he calls us children of Adam to be children of God. The same Lord who gave him and Sarah new names, has also given you a new name: saint, baptized, beloved, heir…all by the work his saving name accomplishes for you. The name that we confess today: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the same Lord who promised the birth of Isaac himself was delivered, born of the Virgin Mary, a child of promise born to save Abraham and you. And this beloved Son of God, born of Mary, is also the only begotten Son of the Father, …and one substance with the Father. He and the Father are one. And the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to you. For the same Lord who rescued Abraham and Lot and their families, came to live, suffer, die, be buried, and rise again to bring you into his family and make you members of his holy household by grace. The Father sends his Son for you. The Son gives his life for you. The Spirit is poured out for you to bring you back to the Father through the Son.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because he saw from afar the dawning day of the greater Isaac, the only begotten Son of the Father, who was not spared on the mountain of sacrifice but gave his life for Abraham, Isaac, and for you. Abraham saw who Jesus is. The Jews in John 8 do not. Standing before them was the one who was before Abraham, who is and who was and who is to come, the great I AM incarnate who declares to you…I AM the resurrection and the life.

 

There’s no middle ground when it comes to Jesus’ words here in John 8. Either they are the height of blasphemy and the Jews were right to pick up stones and hurl them in his direction…or Jesus is exactly who he says he is…that he and the Father are one, and he is God in the flesh to save you, sent from the Father and sending of the Spirit. 

 

This is the holy confession we echo in the Creeds today and every Sunday. That we worship the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. 

 

The question isn’t about whether or not we can perfectly understand this mystery. We can understand it no better than the Jews in John 8 ready to stone Jesus. The question isn’t whether or not  you can explain Jesus’ words or the mystery of the Trinity, but do you believe this confession? Do you trust his words? Do you believe him when he says that he and the Father are one? Do you believe him when he says, before Abraham was, I AM? Do you trust that he - and he alone - is the one whose words are life and whose life is given to you that you would never see death (the big D, everlasting, Death)? 

 

And with those famous father’s words, we confess…Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps me in the faith, just as he did for Abraham. The Lord Jesus gives you what you lack, just as he did for Abraham. The Lord Jesus gives you a righteousness that is not your own, just as he did to Abraham. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

 

As it was for Abraham, so it is for you. Today you confess and rejoice and are glad in the work and mystery and saving rescue the Holy Trinity brings to you in Jesus. Today you confess that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also the God who is the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - to save you by grace. Rejoice and be glad, for with Abraham and all the saints you confess and live in the saving name of the Holy Trinity, and the undivided unity.

 

 

A blessed Trinity Sunday to each of you…

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost Sunday: "The Preacher"

 + Pentecost Sunday – June 8^th, 2025 +

Series C: Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

We probably all know someone, a friend, family member – maybe it’s the man or woman in the mirror – who loves to talk about one thing and one thing only. Every conversation. Every text. Every social media post. Every phone call. It’s always groundhog day and the topic is always the same. 

 

I had a friend in high school like this. No matter the class – history, algebra, biology, or theology – he found a way to talk about the cartoon show, The Simpsons. 

 

Strange as it sounds, this is a perfect picture of the work of the Holy Spirit – and not just on Pentecost – but in the Church through the word and the forgiveness of sins. 

 

If the Holy Spirit were a radio station DJ, every song, every playlist, every hour of airtime would be given to playing this one song over and over again: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

If the Holy Spirit were the film operator at your local theater, the one movie he would play over and over again is the true story of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

 

If the Holy Spirit were your professor, every assignment, every lecture, book, paper, and quiz would be on this teaching: And to the one who does not work but believes in^[a]him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted as righteousness. 

 

This, says Jesus, is the work of the Holy Spirit. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. Who does the Spirit glorify? Speak about? Point to? Who is the topic of every word of ever page of every book in the Scriptures? Not your favorite topic and mine, ourselves. But Christ. Always Christ in his blood shed for you and his dying and rising for you.

 

When Jesus teaches his disciples about the Holy Spirit in John 14, he also teaches you what he sends the Holy Spirit to do. the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

 

And the Holy Spirit is sent to be the preacher and teacher of Christ; his work is to give you Christ. The Holy Scriptures and the font and the altar and the absolution are the Holy Spirit’s pulpit where he constantly, ceaselessly, and graciously proclaims and gives and points you to Christ.

 

The Spirit is your Helper, Jesus says. Your Advocate. Your teacher, whose chalk board is full of illustrations and arrows pointing you to the crucified Son of God who bled and died for you.

 

The Holy Spirit draws your attention away from yourself, which is where you and I always want it to be, and draws it back to Christ. The Holy Spirit brings you out of death and your countless idols to Christ. The Holy Spirit gives you a Christ-centered fixation. The Holy Spirit brings you Christ. Teaches you Christ’s word. Preaches Christ’s promises to you. Gathers you in Christ’s Church. Pours out Christ’s dying and rising for you in water and word. Raises you from the dead in Christ in the forgiveness of sins. 

 

This is what that word holy means in the Holy Spirit. It is the work of the Holy Spirit to make holy what is unholy. To sanctify sinners. To raise you from the death of sin to life in Christ. To sanctify you is to bring you to Christ. To receive what you and I cannot and would not have on our own. The Holy Spirit is not the helper in the sense of lending you a hand up, or like when you tell your child, “You have to use your own legs to get up; I can’t lift you by myself.” 

 

No, the Holy Spirit does all the heavy lifting. Does all the raising from the dead. Carries us all the way to Christ. Or, as you learned in the Catechism. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith…in the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church…where he daily and richly forgives my sins and the sins of all believers.

 

That’s you. That’s me. This is what the Holy Spirit is sent to do. Holy Spirit is sent to be the preacher and teacher of Christ; his work is to give you Christ. It’s the Holy Spirit gives you faith in Christ. Preserves your faith in Christ. Keeps you in the faith in Christ. Works day in and day out until the Last Day of the Resurrection to bring you to Christ. And all of those good works and fruits of faith Scripture talks about…those are all the work of the Spirit as well, filling you with the love of Christ.

 

How does the Holy Spirit do all of this? Not by your faith, but by his faithfulness and the faithfulness of Jesus for you. Not in your feelings; the Holy Spirit isn’t Yoda telling you to search your feelings…but in the sure and certain Word of God, which is where promises to speak and teach and proclaim Christ for you. Not in your works, but by his work which he binds and ties to things you can hear, touch, taste, see, smell…words from the Scripture that give you Christ. Water and word which gives you Christ – as it did for Jane today. Bread and wine that give you the body and blood of Christ. 

 

Jesus’ words in John 14 give us a marvelous picture of what the Holy Spirit is sent to do in Christ’s Church, day in and day out until the Day of Resurrection. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. 

 

The Father sends the Son. The Son lives and dies and suffers and rises for you. The Spirit is sent through the Father and the Son in the name of the Son, to bring you to Christ. Give you Christ. 

 

This is the Holy Spirit’s constant refrain: Christ for you.

 

 

 

A blessed day of Pentecost to each of you…

 

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

 

 

 

Sermon for Easter 7 (Confirmation Sunday): "The Name"

 + 7^th Sunday of Easter (Confirmation Sunday) – June 6^th, 2025 +

Series C: Acts 1:12-26; Revelation 22:1-20; John 17:20-26

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

Alleluia. Christ is risen!

 

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

 

Jesus prays in John 17, I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

 

A name is a gift. It isn’t chosen or earned. A name is revealed. Made known. Given. When you name something or someone a gift is given. So your parents did for you when they named you – perhaps a family name or a name that had meaning or beauty. God gave Adam the sacred task of naming the animals brought to him in creation in Eden. Where do we learn this sacred gift of naming? Where does this gift of names come from? 

 

From the one who gave Adam and you your name in the first place. From the Name above all names. The Name of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. The Holy Trinity is the great giver of names. 

 

Remember, a name is a gift. It is made known. Given. So it is with God’s name throughout the Scripture. The Lord reveals his name to Moses in the burning bush. YHWH. I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you.’ This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.

 

YHWH places his same revealed name upon the stones that adorned the priests’ vestments in the tabernacle and temple. YHWH places his name at the beginning of the commandments…I AM YHWH who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 

When YHWH instructs Moses to build the tabernacle, he promises that in the place where he promises to put his name there he will be present and there he will bless.

 

So it is when YHWH of the burning bush and the pillar of smoke and fire is incarnate and born of the Virgin Mary. YHWH reveals his name once again. His name is Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins, the angel tells Joseph. 

 

There is no other name under heaven given among men by which we are saved, preaches Peter. 

 

YHWH reveals and makes known and gives his name. It is his gift given to you. It’s more than a nametag by which he is known. His name brings his peace. His name is his presence to save and rescue. His name means he dwells with you and for you. His name brims with promise. His name is backed by his authority over death and the grave.

 

This is the name by which you are saved – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And this is the name, Jesus prays in John 17, that he has revealed and given to his disciples. But not only his disciples. He reveals and gives his name to you as well. 

 

Jesus is praying for you in this part of his high priestly prayer. And we need this prayer. This word from Jesus. We need his name upon us. Over us. Surrounding us. Because it’s tempting for you and I to go the way of the men of the tower of babel and make a name for ourselves. To confess and exalt and take pride in our name and call upon our own name in the day of trouble. To do what is right in our own eyes. 

 

This is why Jesus must reveal God’s name for us. The Trinity must make himself known to us. God gives us his name like a light into the darkness. Like life from the dead. Like water in the wasteland. And this he delights do to. 

 

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.

 

What Jesus prays for is what he does for you. YHWH names you. He gives you a name you didn’t earn or deserve or choose or make for yourself. He has made and chosen it for you. For it is his name placed upon your forehead by water and word and the Spirit.

 

I baptize you in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. This is the name he reveals in Scripture and the name he gives you. The Lamb’s name written upon your forehead and heart.

 

This is the name that you – like our catechumens today – received on the day of your baptism. The name that saves you. The name that you – as they do today – confess the faith in. The name by whose grace you intend to live according to his word and continue steadfast in this confession and suffer even death for his name rather than fall away from it.  

 

Yes, confirmation day is a day for naming things. For receiving gifts in the name of YHWH – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. It is for you as it was on the day of your baptism. Today you remember whose you are. Whose name belongs to you. Whose name you are baptized in. Whose name you confess. And whose name has written your name in the Lamb’s book of life. 

 

Today, tomorrow, and forever, Jesus reveals his name and makes it known to you and gives you his saving name to live in, to confess, to call upon in prayer, to give you his blessing, promise, and presence…now and always.

 

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