Sermon for Lent 3: "The Cross, not Karma"

 + 3^rd Sunday in Lent – March 23^rd, 2025 +

Series C: Ezekiel 33:7-20; 1 Corinthians 10:1-13; Luke 13:1-9

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

We live in a world of transactions. And it’s not just the cash, credit, checks, Venmo, or Paypal we use. It’s the way we tend to look at the world. It’s why we honk the horn at the car in front of us when they cut in line while merging onto I-5, or why we snicker a little when the driver who just sped past you gets pulled over by the highway patrol a few miles down the road. We say things like, “well, serves them right.” or “you reap what you sow,” or “they had it coming.” “You know, what goes around comes around. Bad karma, payback,” and so on. 

So often daily life is full of transactions (great and small) that we think God operates the same way. That good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. And if something tragic happens, well, surely they must have done something to deserve that. We want things fair. Right. Justified…at least in our eyes and according to our rules.

 

But when it comes to life and faith, Jesus doesn’t play by our rules. And that’s a good thing. The Kingdom of God doesn’t operate like the kingdoms of this world - on credit and transaction. There’s no karma (good or bad) in the kingdom of God. It’s a kingdom of mercy for messups. Grace unearned and unmerited. In the Kingdom of God, the ungodly are justified. Outrageous forgiveness is given to undeserving sinners. It’s not about reaping what you sow, but rather living in Jesus’ gifts of repentance and forgiveness of sins. 

 

We’re not told why some folks came up to Jesus in the early part of Luke 13, but perhaps they came seeking to justify themselves before others or get an answer from Jesus as to why bad things happen to good people, or give an explanation to what caused this or that tragedy or to go scorched earth on the Romans. 

 

But Jesus doesn’t do whatever the crowds expected him to do. 

There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way?  No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” 

What did Jesus think about all this? His answer was rather surprising. You’d expect Him to comment one way or the other. Was their cause righteous or not? Did they die a martyr’s death or a deserved one? Instead Jesus turns the whole question back on the questioners. “Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than anyone else from Galilee? Do you think you can measure the size of the sinner by the size of the suffering? No. I tell you, unless you repent, you will all likewise perish in the same way.”

Jesus goes on and offers an example of his own. “What about… those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them: do you think that they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

Again, Jesus doesn’t point out the sins of others, as if Sin-A led to Tragedy-B. Instead, Jesus points his hearers back to their own sin. He points us back to our own sin. When sin and suffering happens in the world around us, or in the lives of others, we don’t lift up our heads in pride but fall on our knees in humility and repentance. Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. That’s what I deserve too. 

 

It’s a good thing that the kingdom of God doesn’t’ run on our merit, but God’s mercy. Not by what we deserve but by God’s undeserved kindness and grace. Not by what we have coming, but by what Jesus did for us. Your life isn’t found in karma, but in the cross of Christ.

 

That’s part of the point of Jesus’ little parable he tells right after this. A man had a fruitless fig tree that failed to produce for three years. He wanted to cut it down. It was taking up space, wasting land. But the gardener is a mediator. Give it another year. Aerate its roots, fertilize it. If it bears fruit great; if not then you can cut it down.

The parable was spoken against Israel. The time for repentance was growing short. For three years Jesus left His footprints all over Israel. Three years He came to seek and to save the lost. Three years of preaching, teaching, and miracles. Three years looking for repentance and faith in Israel. And time for Israel was running out. And yet, God is patient. He puts up with unbelief, hostility, rejection. He is patient, not wishing anyone in this world to perish but that all would come to repentance. 

 

This is why he doesn’t give us what we deserve either. This is why the Scriptures echo the constant refrain. Return to the Lord your God, (why?) for he is gracious and merciful. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Our Lord is patient and merciful, desiring repentance and rescue not ruin.

 

When suffering and tragedy fall on us and others around us, it’s tempting to ask, no doubt we’ve all asked some form of this at one point or another: why do good things happen to bad people. The truth is, the real question is why do good things happen to sinners? Why does God not give us what we deserve? Why does he give us his undeserved love at all? And the answer to that goes like this:

 

Why do good things happen to bad people? That only happened once…and he volunteered. 

 

God made him who knew no sin to become sin for you. 

God shows his love for us in this, that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 

This is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

And to the one who does not work but believes in him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is reckoned as righteousness.

 

In the Kingdom of God, we’re not given what we deserve. Instead, you’re given what is undeserved. You don’t reap what you sow, you receive what Christ has sown for you in his dying and burial in the grave and rising again. In the kingdom of God you don’t get yours or what you had coming to you. You get everything Jesus has: his life and his righteousness and his goodness. 

 

Christ, your vine-dresser, has interceded for you. You live in his gifts of repentance and forgiveness. You live not by merit, but mercy. Not by your goodness but by his grace. Not by transactions but by the tree of the cross and the blood of Jesus shed for you.

 

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

 

Sermon for Lent 2: "City of Peace"

 + Lent 2 – March 16^th, 2025 +

Series C: Jeremiah 26:8-15; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 13:31-35

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

The ancient city, Jerusalem is as rich in history as its name is in irony. Jerusalem means city of peace, or the Lord will provide peace. And yet throughout history, it’s hard to find peace in the city of peace. 

 

Jerusalem of the Scriptures is a city that faces hardships, bloodshed, idolatry, destruction, and ruin. Jerusalem of the Scriptures is a city steeped in innocent blood. 

 

It began with the innocent blood of the sacrifices in the temple built by Solomon under God’s instructions for his people. Innocent blood shed to atone for their sins and share God’s holiness with his people. 

 

It wasn’t long before the sacrifices of the temple were swapped for idols of foreign gods. Israel was no longer content for the peace YHWH provided and looked to other gods.

 

So, the Lord sent his prophets to warn the people: flee from sin, return to the Lord. Jerusalem quickly earned a reputation when it came to prophets. Just ask Jeremiah how Jerusalem treats the prophets. He was arrested, thrown in to a pit, his books burned. According to tradition, the prophet Isaiah was sawn in two in a hollow log in Jerusalem. The NT doesn’t fare any better. Stephen, the first Christian martyr, was stoned to death in Jerusalem. James, the brother of John the fisherman, was killed by Herod in Jerusalem. 

 

Jeremiah knew all this but didn’t seem to care. “Do whatever you want with me, but rest assured, that if you put me to death, you will bring the guilt of innocent blood on yourselves and on this city and on those who live in it.”

 

Jerusalem was steeped in “innocent blood.” In Jerusalem that Pilate washed his hands of Jesus’ blood and declared, “I am innocent of this man’s blood” and where the people cried out, “Let His blood be on us and our children.” In the temple in Jerusalem, Judas tried to give back the money paid to betray Jesus because he had betrayed “innocent blood.” And the priests refused to take it back because it was “blood money” so they bought a “Field of Blood” with it. 

 

Jerusalem had a bloody history from its mysterious origins: the blood of sacrifices and Passover lambs and prophets and martyrs leading down to Jesus, God’s Lamb, the final and ultimate innocent Blood, the One who atones for the sin of the world.

 

As makes Jesus way to Jerusalem in Luke 13, he knows all of this. Those were his prophets he sent to his people. And now many of those same people are rejecting him and plotting to kill him. Neither Herod, the two-bit king, nor the scheming Pharisees, will stop Jesus from going to Jerusalem. Jesus employs a bit of sacred sarcasm….Tell Herod, that fox, I’ve a job to do. I must finish my course. I must go to Jerusalem. I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following, for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem.

 

As Jesus laments over Jerusalem and his people, for he knows that Jerusalem is a city that is soon to be steeped in innocent blood once again.

 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! You would not.

 

Every time Jerusalem killed a prophet, every time Jerusalem shut her ears to the Word, it was Christ they rejected. “How often I have longed to gather you.” The old mother hen has been clucking away for centuries through priest and prophet, through Torah and scribe, calling to her children, but they would not. They would not trust. They would not believe. They would not abandon their idolatries and adulteries. They would not live by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 

 

It breaks Jesus’ own heart. This is His city, His temple, His throne. Yet He is unrecognized, unwanted, hated. “He came to His own, yet His own did not receive Him.” We’re reminded here that salvation is ever by grace, gift unearned, always the mercy of God. The Son of God has to go this way. For us. For all. For you. He spreads His wings over the city that wants Him dead, over a world that considers Him a stranger, an alien, a nuisance, an imposter, a fraud. He spreads those arms wide to embrace every sinner and every sin in the only death that saves.

 

It is tempting to think we’re not like the people in Jerusalem. That we’d never be so dense as to reject Jesus and His Word. We’d never refuse to be gathered by God. And yet, within each of us beats the heart of an obstinate, stubborn, stiff-necked, hard-headed sinner. Left on our own, we “would not” either. Left to our own, we would not deny ourselves, take up our cross, or follow Jesus on the way of death and resurrection.

 

And yet this is precisely why Jesus cannot and will not stay away from Jerusalem. The Lord will provide peace – not political peace…something that will endure. The peace the Lord provides is not found within the walls of Jerusalem it’s, but on a hilltop outside the city, where God makes peace for you by the innocent blood of his Son Jesus.

 

Jesus goes to Jerusalem for your sins of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. He goes to shed his innocent blood for you and on the third day rise again. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to lay down his life for you not when you’re at your best behavior and on your best day, but on your worst. Jesus dies, not for the perfect and righteous and godly, but for the ungodly, for the obstinate, stubborn, stiff-necked, hard-headed sinners…for you and for me. 

 

And by his dying and rising, Jesus provides the peace that Jerusalem the city was always intended to be a picture of: his peace. Only this new Jerusalem isn’t an earthly one. You won’t find it on a holy land tour. This Jerusalem is the Church, which comes down from above, from heaven, as a beautiful bride dressed for her wedding day, radiant, spotless, glorious, processing down from heaven. This is Jerusalem redeemed, restored, raised up. Her murders have been atoned for in the death of God’s Son. The blood shed in her streets has been washed by the blood of the Lamb. Her streets once littered with stones cast in hatred are now paved in gold. The prophets and apostles she killed are now her firm foundation. And Christ the Lamb, who died at her gates, is the Lamb enthroned, her Light and her Life.

 

This is your city! You are free citizens of that city made holy by the blood of the Lamb. And here you are steeped in, baptized in, fed and nourished with, and forgiven in…the innocent blood of Jesus. You are citizens of the heavenly and holy Jerusalem, God’s free city, redeemed in the death of Jesus, raised in His resurrection, glorified in Him and soon to be seen in glory when He appears in glory on the Last Day. Then you too will say, “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!”

 

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

Sermon for Lent 1: "Adam 2.0"

 + Lent 1 – March 9, 2025 +

Series C: Deuteronomy 26:1-11; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

A few weeks ago our family watched a documentary called the “Toys that Made Us” – the episode featured Star Wars collectible toys. And the story was told how in the early days of marketing the toys, companies would push out “new” toys with a method called “label-slapping”. Pretty simple really. You take stuff like lunch boxes, backpacks, existing toys, and so on and slap the Star Wars label on it and voila…a new toy!

 

Now, there aren’t any toys in today’s Scripture reading. But Satan tries his hand at a sneaky bit of label-slapping in the wilderness. He repackages the same old lies he sold the first Adam and offers them up to Jesus, Adam 2.0. But Jesus isn’t buying what Satan is selling. 

 

In the Garden, Adam was tempted 3 times and overcome by Satan. In the wilderness, Jesus, the second Adam, is tempted 3 times and overcomes Satan. The first Adam was tempted to become like God. Jesus, the second Adam is true God, and man who is tempted for us, yet without sin.

 

The devil label-slaps the same three temptations on Jesus , hoping he’ll fool him the way he did the first Adam. Food, idolatry, and doubt of God’s Word – but underneath, it’s the same lie: Jesus’ Word isn’t enough. Worship your desires. Worship yourself. Worship any word except Jesus’ words. But Jesus, the second Adam prevails where the first Adam failed. 

 

The devil knows Jesus was weak and hungry after his 40 days of fasting in the wilderness. And that’s when he attacks. 

 

“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

 

Beware. He attacks us the same way. Like a virus searching for weakness in our immune system, Satan looks for our weaknesses – our thoughts, desires, doubts, guilt, grief, pain, anger, pride – any little gap in the armor. Above all, the devil knows our greatest weakness. That we are selfish, and self-serving.

 

But not Jesus. He denies himself for you. He fasts 40 days for you. Jesus, the Bread of Life refuses to make bread for himself. 

 

“It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone.”

 

Jesus does what Adam – and we – cannot do. Jesus fights the devil. He resists temptation. He stands firmly on the Word of God. For you. That’s his bread and yours, God’s Word. “It is written.” He knows the Father will provide all He needs. And he promises to provide for you too.

 

And so, where the first Adam ate and brought death, the second Adam does not eat and brings life. You, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, are filled by His Word of life - in Scripture, water, absolution, bread and wine.  The devil’s lies are no match for the Word. Christ speaks. The devil flees.

 

Satan tries a second time: “To you I will give all this authority and their glory...if you will worship me, it will all be yours.”

 

This too is a repackaged temptation. He claims to offer Kingdoms. Authority. Power. Glory. It’s a temptation to idolatry. A temptation to satisfy our appetite for control. You can be like God.

 

The devil comes at us this way too. My kingdom come. My will be done. You can have it all your way…if only you bow down and worship me.”

 

But Jesus doesn’t take the bait. He stands firm: “It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God, and him only shall you serve.”

            

Jesus refuses to be the Superman and instead becomes the Man of Sorrows, the broken, bleeding man, the beggar King who rules by dying and rising. The King of kings whose glory is revealed on the cross for you.

 

Notice that the devil loves conditional worship: “If you worship me, then I’ll give you “this or that.” Not so for Jesus. Jesus serves you. Jesus washes away your sin in Baptism. Jesus pours out his body and blood for you to eat and drink. Jesus forgives you all your sins. Freely.

 

Finally, the devil takes Jesus to the top of the temple. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you’ and ‘on their hands they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

 

Again, the devil twists God’s Word, as he did with the first Adam. “Did God really say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the garden?”

            

This third temptation - Luther observed is the greatest of all. It’s the temptation to forsake the Lord’s clear Word. It’s a temptation that creeps into our hearts and minds too. Is God’s Word really enough? For my life, my family, my daily bread, my faith, my forgiveness?

 

When we flee from Jesus words, what happens? The first Adam failed. Fell in sin. Died. And so do we.

 

But not Jesus, the second Adam. Where the first Adam said “yes” to the devil’s lie, Jesus says no, again, again, and again.                

            

The first Adam was overcome by the tree serpent and the tree of the Garden. Jesus our Second Adam overcomes the devil by the tree of the cross for you.  

 

The first Adam fell and brought us sin and death. Jesus our Second Adam dies and rises to raise us from the dust by His resurrection.

 

The first Adam was cast us out of Paradise. Jesus our Second Adam brings us through the wilderness to a new creation: “today you are with me in Paradise.”

 

The first Adam gave us food of the fall by sweat and labor. Jesus our Second Adam, feeds us with his own life-giving food, the Bread of Life in his body and blood.

 

As we begin this holy season of Lent we rejoice in Paul’s words: “As in Adam we die, so in Christ, our Second Adam we live.” A new creature. A new creation…

 

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

Sermon for Transfiguration of Our Lord: "A New Exodus"

 + Transfiguration of Our Lord – March 2^nd, 2025 +

Series C: Deuteronomy 34; Hebrews 3:1-6; Luke 9:28-36

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

 Exile and return. This is the story of the Scriptures. Adam and Eve were exiled out of Eden. And now our whole human nature is filled with the longing to return and soaked with the sense of exile (Tolkien).

 

Jacob fled his brother Esau in an exile and the two were later reconciled. Abram and Sarai also went down to Egypt in their own mini-exile and exodus. And of course there’s the climactic and greatest of the Old Testament exiles. Israel in slavery and captivity in Egypt and out again in divine deliverance and the exodus. The walls of water surrounding Israel. Pharaoh’s army giving chase then drowning and dying. Then the shouts of victory: I will sing unto the Lord for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and rider thrown into the sea. It was an exodus out of slavery into liberation, from captivity to deliverance.

 

From Eden to the New Creation, Scripture tells us the story of a cosmic exodus. But as great as the exodus out of Egypt and through the Red Sea was, God has a greater exodus in store for you in Jesus.

 

God planned an exodus that will out-exodus all the others. What is this plan? It’s what Moses and Elijah are talking about with Jesus on the mountain of his transfiguration. 

 

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray.  And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white.  And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah,  who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure,  which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. 

 

“His departure” – this is an English euphemism for the better Greek word behind this translation, “his exodus”. Moses and Elijah and Jesus were talking about Jesus’ exodus he’s going to Jerusalem to accomplish.

 

“Hey Moses, you remember that time I appeared to you in the burning bush and then the pillar of smoke and fire and led Israel through the Red Sea and drowned your enemies? That was pretty great wasn’t it. Guess, what. I’m going to do something even greater. I’m going to lead my people through the great exodus of the grave and come out the other side alive again. I’m going be crucified and buried in the tomb all people, let the waves of death crash over me and by doing so I’ll destroy death and sin and the serpent forever.

 

And Elijah, you remember how I appeared to you on Mt. Carmel and destroyed the prophets of Baal and saved you and Israel? Well, here. Hold my cup of wine. Listen to this. I’ve got something even better planned this time…a new exodus I’m about to accomplish in Jerusalem. I’m going to let all the fire of God’s wrath for sin fall down on me instead. In fact, I’m going to become sin and give my life for the life to the world.

 

This is the topic of conversation on the mountain of Jesus’ transfiguration. Jesus’ exodus. His death. burial. Rest in the tomb. And glorious resurrection. Good Friday. Holy Saturday. Resurrection Sunday. The greatest events in the history of the world is also the greatest exodus of all time.

 

For this great exodus will be the work of the Messiah, the Father’s anointed, chosen One from all eternity, who will gather God’s people who are scattered and suffering in sin and bring them home.

 

You see, the exodus isn’t just the story of God’s rescue and deliverance in the past. It’s also the story of God’s deliverance and rescue for you in Christ. In Jesus’ perfect life, his sacrificial death, his holy rest in the tomb, and his victorious resurrection from the grave, he goes on a great exodus for you to bring you out of the exile of your sin.

 

For that is exactly what our sin is: exile. Captivity. We live in a prison of our own sin. A dungeon of death held in bondage by the bars of our idolatry and the chains of our trespasses. We live in the trenches of a fallen world where we move from one hell-hole to another. If it’s not guilt, it’s shame. If it’s not shame, it’s sorrow. If it’s not sorrow, it’s hopelessness. And further and deeper the darkness gets.

 

But all of that comes to an end when Jesus goes to Jerusalem to accomplish his exodus, just as Moses and Elijah foretold. And just as they discuss on the mountain of transfiguration. Jesus goes to Jerusalem to accomplish his exodus for you. A new exodus of deliverance and rescue. It is an exodus from guilt to forgiveness. From shame to glory. From slavery to release. From exile to the new creation. From death to life all through Jesus exodus to the cross and through the grave.

 

In the old exodus, God declared…I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.

 

In the new exodus God declares…This is my Son, my anointed One; listen to him. His death brings you out of the land of death and out of the house of sin and into his holy house of healing and life and light. 

 

The old exodus was an out of Egypt event for Israel. The new exodus is an out of the grave event for all who are in Christ

 

The old exodus had the blood and flesh of the Passover lamb, the water of the Red Sea, and the fiery presence of God dwelling with his people. Now through the new exodus of the cross and grave, Jesus gives you something better: his flesh and his blood. His water and word and promise. His very presence to dwell with you until he brings you through that same exodus of the grave and into the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. 

 

Today, as we join the disciples in the wonder and glory of Jesus’ transfiguration, we look to where he points us. Down from this mountain, across the valley and up to mount Calvary. To his cross and to his exodus he accomplishes there for you. 

 

 

 

A blessed day of our Lord’s Transfiguration to each of you…

 

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

 

 

 

Sermon for Epiphany 7: "The Merciful Father"

 + 7^th Sunday after Epiphany – February 23^rd, 2025 +

Series C: Genesis 45:3-13; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26, 30-42; Luke 6:27-38

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

There’s a storytelling device that screenwriters use in movies, where they begin the movie with a scene from the end of the story, and then the movie tells you the story of how you got there – like the opening of Saving Private Ryan where he’s at the graveside of Captain Miller in Normandy, or Forrest Gump where he tells his story to people on a park bench. Beginning a story with the end can make for compelling narrative, but it also can help you better understand what holds the story together.

 

And that’s a helpful way of looking at this week’s reading from Luke 6, part of Jesus’ sermon on the plain. It’s a continuation of last week’s reading that began with the beatitudes. Last week, Jesus declared our identity. Who you are. In Christ you are blessed, beloved, redeemed, and rescued. This week Jesus moves from being to doing. From who you are in Christ, to how you live in Christ. 

 

Jesus’ words towards the end of today’s reading help us better understand everything else he says. After giving a number of instructions on how his disciples (then and now) are to live, Jesus says,  “Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.”

 

Those last four words are the key. Your Father is merciful. These words are the ending that we should pay attention to at the beginning of this week’s reading. These words are the key to understanding what Jesus is saying here. God’s mercy in Christ is the foundation of everything Jesus is teaching us here. The heart and center of Jesus’ sermon on the plain is the abundant mercy of a merciful God revealed in the merciful life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you. 

 

Now, there are plenty of wrong ways to understand Jesus’ words here in Luke 6. One way is to treat Jesus’ words like a check list that we must complete in order to be a perfect Christian…do these things and God will bless you. Problem is, that’s not good news. That’s not the gospel. It’s also not what Jesus is saying. We don’t do these things Jesus says in order to be blessed. We live this way because we are blessed in Jesus’ dying and rising.

 

Another way is to treat Jesus’ teaching here like some kind of Christian karma (which it isn’t)…do good to others and God will reward you and so on. But Jesus says just the opposite…to do good and be merciful not expecting anything in return.

 

Yet another way we misunderstand Jesus’ words is to think, “Well, this all sounds impossible. Nope. Too hard. I give up.” And so we never actually try to live how Jesus teaches us to live.

 

Think for a moment, though; why are these words so difficult to hear and do? Is it because we don’t like what Jesus says? Probably. Is it because it’s hard to love our enemies, become merciful, and give selflessly? No doubt about that. Is it because Jesus’ words reveal our failure to live as those who are blessed and redeemed in Christ? Yes, that too. 

 

The truth is deeper though. We find these words so challenging because they reveal the truth that we do not always live as God’s people. That we do not love our enemies; we do not do good; we are not merciful, we do not give selflessly. The reason Jesus’ words are so hard is because they reveal our sinful hearts. We don’t love our enemies because deep down we love ourselves more. We’re not always merciful because we don’t think others are worthy or deserving of God’s mercy. We don’t give selflessly because we are self-centered. 

 

But even though this is all true, there is a deeper truth in Jesus’ sermon on the plain. The heart and center of Jesus’ words isn’t who we are or even how we live. But who Jesus is and how he lives for you.

 

The heart and center of Jesus’ sermon on the plain is the abundant mercy of a merciful God revealed in the merciful life, death, and resurrection of Jesus for you. 

 

For while we were still enemies of God, while we were still sinners, Christ Jesus died in love for you. When we hated Him by thought, word, and deed, He did good for us by bearing all of our sin. When we cursed Him for daring to say we had sinned, He blessed us with forgiveness, paid for by His blood. When we abused Him and His whole creation for our selfish desires, He prayed for us, saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” When we struck Him, He offered more of Himself to be stricken by being nailed to a cross. When we took His cloak and divided it, He offered His tunic for which we cast lots. When we begged for Him to be crucified, He gave His life, not holding it back. Jesus did for us, what we should have done for Him. And by it, has saved us all. Each and every one of these imperatives in His sermon, Jesus fulfilled completely on the cross for you. 

 

That’s what it means to be a Christian. To live in Christ’s mercy. In Christ, you are his baptized, beloved disciple. And in Christ, every day, every moment, every good thing do or say is done because you live Christ’s mercy. It’s true for our salvation and it’s true of our life of good works as well.

 

Remember the beatitudes. This is who you are. You are blessed in Christ. You are alive in Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. You live in his mercy. Mercy in the forgiveness of sins. Mercy in his Word which you read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest. Mercy in your baptism into his holy Name. Mercy in his body and blood. You are alive in Christ’s mercy. That is who you are. It’s also how you live.

 

You live, each day, in all your vocations, in all you say and do, in Christ’s mercy. You are a good tree which produces good fruit. Our Christian life (of sanctification of good works) described here by Jesus, is like an oversized t-shirt that you grow into. Become merciful. We’re constantly becoming, growing into the disciple Jesus declares you are in his mercy.

 

This is how you live as Christ to your neighbor. So, when you do good works that Jesus gives you to do, praise the Lord that he has given us such fruit of faith to love and serve others. And when we fail to live up to Jesus’ words here in Luke 6, praise the Lord that he is merciful and has kept all these words for you. Whether it’s your salvation or good works, the answer is the same; you live in Christ’s mercy.

 

Are Jesus’ words difficult? They sure are. These are hard things to do: to love our enemies. To do good. To pray for them. To become merciful. To give selflessly. Forgive. Do good, expecting nothing in return. 

 

You can only do these things in Christ. You can only do these things, if your identity is in Christ. And it is. You live in the mercy of Jesus.

 

It is the Father’s mercy that covers all you say and do. And it’s the Father’s mercy in Christ that’s at the center of Jesus’ words and our lives. For we all live under the mercy of Christ. And unlike those movies that begin with their ending, God’s mercy to you in Christ is always beginning, and never-ending. 

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 6: "The Two Ways"

 + 6^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 16^th, 2025 +

Series C: Jeremiah 17:5-8; 1 Corinthians 15:1-11; Luke 6:17-26

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Theology might sound like a loaded, academic word. But it simply means words about God. Teachings of God. Study of the things of God. So you may not have gone to seminary or studied at a bible school. You may not have written books or have your own Sunday TV program, YouTube channel, or podcast. But there’s something we all have in common. Something we all are. Every single person here and everyone alive right now has thoughts or words about God – we’re all theologians. 

 

The question is…what’s your theology? What does it teach? Who does it proclaim? 

 

Looking at the Scriptures, and looking at fallen humanity, Martin Luther wisely observed that there are really only two kinds of theologians or two kinds of theologies in the world. Luther called these two different, contrasting theologies, a theology of glory and the theology of the cross.

 

A theology of glory expects the Christian life to be total success, having all the answers, winning all the battles, and living happily ever after. A theology of glory is all about my strength, my power, and my works. It is self-centered. Self-aggrandizing. All about me, myself, and I.

 

The theology of the cross, by contrast, sees God’s greatest success revealed in suffering; His victory in the defeat of the cross. The theology of the cross is all about Christ’s strength made perfect in weakness, his power revealed in dying and rising. It is about the selflessness of Christ crucified for you. It’s about his giving himself unto death for you. It’s Christ at the center. 

 

A theology of glory says that when I am happy, healthy, and prosperous, I know God loves me. A theology of the cross says that God comes to me in my weakness and suffering and makes them his own on the cross.

 

Or to put it another way. A theology of glory wants Easter without Good Friday; the theology of the cross, however, sees God’s great glory revealed in his crucifixion – in dying for sinners, then in his resurrection – making all things new.

 

Jesus is teaching us something similar in Luke 6 in his sermon on the plain. It’s Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. Jesus teaches his disciples then and now the two ways: the way of life or the way of death. the way of his self-giving love on the cross or the way of man’s love of glory. The way of his blessings or the way of woe.

 

Think of Jesus’ words here in Luke 6 in terms of a word-game our kids like to play once in a while. “Would you rather?” 

 

Would you rather be poor, hungry, weeping, and persecuted…or rich, full, laughing, and everyone loves you.

 

No problem, we say. That’s easy. We’d much rather have the second list of things. 

 

But notice what Jesus says instead. What does he call blessed?

 

“Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.

²¹ “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied.

“Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.

²² “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man! ²³ Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.

 

Jesus’ words bring a great reversal to what we think is blessed. You’re poor in spirit and have nothing and no one to cling to except God in his grace? You’re blessed. You hunger physically and spiritually? Guess what? You’re blessed by him who promises to feed and satisfy. You weep and mourn in more ways than you can keep track of? You’re blessed in him who is the man of sorrows and acquainted with grief and bore our griefs and sorrows.

 

This seems so opposite of what we’d expect blessings to be. What’s so blessed about being poor, hungry, and hated? How can we who weep and mourn rejoice? The answer is found not within us. But in the cross. In Christ crucified. 

 

Each of us in our sinful flesh is a theologian of glory. Our old Adam is a spiritual treasure hunter looking for God’s glory and blessings in all the wrong places. We want what is great, grand, and glorious. We want the riches, the happiness, the laughter, and everyone to love us…we want it all and we want it now. 

 

This is all really another way of saying we’d prefer to be god. But here’s problem with all our idols. They have mouths but do not speak. Ears but do not listen. Promises but cannot deliver and they cannot last. They cannot endure. They cannot save you.

 

A theology of glory will not get you through chemotherapy treatments; it will only tell you God must be angry with you or is punishing you. 

A theology of glory will not help you when you’re wrestling with doubts and depression and worries; it’ll only tell you to pray harder and have more faith.

A theology of glory will not help you when you’re struggling to pay the bills or find a place to live; it’ll just tell you believe in yourself. 

 

The theology of glory might seem like attractive, but it’s really the way of death. The way of life is found only in the cross. And in Jesus who suffered there for you. 

 

So a theology of the cross will tell you that Christ who suffered for you on the cross is with you in your suffering and as you sit with those who suffer. 

A theology of the cross will tell you that no matter how deep the darkness of sin, doubt, despair…the love of God in Christ is always deeper, and he comes to sit with you in the dark and embrace you in his death.

A theology of the cross will tell you that you are not alone in your struggles, but the Lord is with you. he gives you daily bread and he gives you brothers and sisters in Christ to bear your burdens with you. 

 

The theology of glory points you back to you. But the theology of the cross points you to Christ crucified.

 

He is the one we see in these Beatitudes. Jesus is the one who though he is rich became poor for our sakes, so that by his poverty we would be made rich in his grace. Jesus is the one who hungered and thirsted in the wilderness and on the cross to defeat the serpent and destroy death. Jesus is the one who wept for sinners as he entered Jerusalem to save sinners. Jesus is the one who endured hate, insults, mockery, and was cast outside of Jerusalem and onto the cross…for you. And then on the third day risen from the dead for you. 

 

Jesus did all of this for you. So when we look at the emptiness of our hands and hearts, he reminds you that you his kingdom is yours. Be of good cheer, my son, your sins are forgiven! So that when you hunger physically and spiritually, Jesus is the one gives you daily bread at your table and his. So that when you weep and mourn, you are given a promise that one day those tears of sorrow will turn into tears of joy as you laugh your way out of your grave to the joy of the resurrection on the Last Day.

 

For you, Jesus’ baptized disciple, the way of blessing is the way of his cross. And this theology of the cross is the way of life. 

 

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

 

 

Sermon for Epiphany 5: "At Your Word"

 + 5^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 9^th, 2025 +

Series C: Isaiah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 14:12-20; Luke 5:1-11

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

A little over 500 years ago Martin Luther preached a Lenten sermon where he had this to say about the Lutheran Reformation: I simply taught, preached, wrote God’s Word; otherwise I did nothing. And while I slept, or drank Wittenberg beer with my friends Philip and Amsdorf, the Word so greatly weakened the papacy that no prince or emperor ever inflicted such losses upon it. I did nothing; the Word did everything.

 

God’s word did everything.             

The same thing is true when we turn to the Gospel reading today from Luke 5. Think of this whole story like a large body of water – say, the Puget Sound. When you first look out over the horizon of this reading, there are a number things happening, just as you would see a number of vessels out on the water standing along Ruston Way. There are the crowds. There’s Jesus sitting and teaching. There’s some tired, and empty-netted fishermen. There’s the miraculous and abundant haul of fish. There’s the confession and absolution and calling of Peter by Jesus. How does all of this happen? 

 

Like boats traveling through the Tacoma Narrows, something is carrying all of these things along through the story of Luke 5. There’s the current. And the current that carries everything along in this story is God’s word spoken by the Word incarnate. Everything in this story depends on God’s word. For the crowds, for Peter, for the disciples, and for you…everything depends on God’s word. And everything you need is given to you at Jesus’ word. Jesus’ word does everything.

 

That is, after all, why the crowds gathered and pressed in on Jesus. To hear the word of God. Jesus moves from the synagogue to the seashore, but his task remains the same: teaching and preaching and proclaiming - God’s kingdom comes in him and by his word. 

 

And just when Peter thought he could get his boat back and finish cleaning up after getting skunked on his all-nighter …Jesus speaks directly to Peter. “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.” 

 

Imagine this from Peter’s point of view…this would be like me walking up into the cabin of a crab boat on Deadliest Catch and telling Captain Sig Hansen where to put his crab pots. You can imagine what Peter is thinking. He’s worked all night. No fish. Just sweat. Sore body. Tired and probably a little hangry. You can hear these experienced fishermen muttering to themselves over their nets. “Who does this guy think he is, anyway? What does a rabbi and a carpenter know about fishing? Doesn’t he know it’s a waste of time fishing in the deep in midday? Doesn’t he know it’s easier to catch fish in the shallows at night when they’re biting? Yea, stay in your lane, bro.”

 

“Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.” 

 

Against his reason. His experience. And probably his feelings too. He tosses the nets out again. In that moment Peter has nothing to cling to except Jesus’ word. At your word.

 

Something like this happens when we approach God’s gifts. All we see is plain old water and some words…but at your word, Lord, sinners are baptized and forgiven and hauled into the boat of your church by the nets of holy Baptism. All we see is ordinary bread and wine…but at your word, Lord, you give us your body and blood for our forgiveness. All we see is another sinner standing before us…but at your word, Lord, we hear the promise…in the stead and by the command of Jesus you are forgiven all your sin.

 

Everything in his church, in your life, and your faith…it all depends on Jesus’ word. And the word of God does everything. 

 

So it was for Peter and James and John that day. Before they knew it the nets were breaking. Cords snapping. The boats sinking. This is how Jesus’s word works: more than we can ask for, expect, or deserve. When the Creator comes to his creation and speaks his creative word, there’s always more. When Jesus the Word speaks his word he speaks life and grace in abundance. 

 

But this same miracle that brings more than a boat-load of fish also brings big, tough fisherman Peter to his knees. Trembling. Crying out. “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.” 

 

Peter is overwhelmed. Not by the fish. But by his sinfulness. He does what each of us in our own sin and sinful flesh do: push Jesus away. Put him and his holiness at a distance. Depart from me. My sin is too ugly. Too deep. Too shameful. I am too guilty. Too unworthy. 

 

Those might be Peter’s words and our words to Jesus…but those are not Jesus’ words to you. When it comes to fishing, Jesus doesn’t go for catch and release. He comes to catch and redeem. Peter wants Jesus to depart. Jesus doesn’t. Jesus stays. Jesus draws near to sinners. Jesus speaks his word that does everything. Do not be afraid.

 

But those words for Peter are also for you and me. “Do not be afraid.” Not because our sin isn’t as bad as we think. It is worse than we think, actually. But that is also the very sin which Jesus died for. That is the very sin that Jesus forgives. That is the same sin that is covered by His blood for your sake.

 

It all happens the same way it did for Peter. At your word, Lord. Jesus’ word does everything.

 

You see there’s more than one miracle in this story. Sure, the fish get all the headlines. But the miracles move from good to greatest. The fish. That’s good. Peter’s trust in Jesus’ word despite all reason and experience – that’s better. Best of all is this: what happens after Peter’s confession. Jesus doesn’t depart from sinners; he draws near to sinners to catch them dead and make them alive again. What Jesus does for Peter he does for you: he welcomes unholy sinners into his holy presence. 

 

Jesus catches Peter and us in the nets of his Gospel and saving death and resurrection. And it’s the opposite of fishing for fish. When you fish for salmon or trout, what’s alive becomes dead. In the holy ark of the church when Jesus hauls you in by the net of Holy Baptism, he does the opposite. You were dead in the water, and now alive again by water and his word. 

 

And it all happens the same way for you as it did for Peter that day. At your word, Lord, Ezra and Ellis are washed, forgiven, and baptized into your death and resurrection. At your word, Lord, baptism saves. At your word, Lord, we who are unworthy are declared righteous. At your word, Lord, bread and wine bring forgiveness and healing. At your word, Lord, you do not depart from me, a sinner, but draw near with pardon and grace.

 

It is for you as it was for Luther and for Peter, and for us all. Everything in our life, faith, and church depend on Jesus’ word. And Jesus’ word does everything. 

 

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