Sermon for Lent 2: "Resting in Grace"

 + 2^nd Sunday in Lent – March 1^st, 2026 +

Series A: Genesis 12:1-9; Romans 4:1-8, 13-17; John 3:1-17

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

When you or I make something we always need the right parts, ingredients, or materials before we begin. Cedar for woodworking. Yarn for knitting. Watercolors for painting. Lego bricks for building. And so on.

 

Not so for God. When God creates, he creates ex nihilo, out of nothing. 

 

When God reveals his saving love in sending Jesus he doesn’t ask for an assist. He doesn’t need our helping hands. Our Lord has no copilot. No assistant to the regional manager. 

 

When our Lord Jesus comes to our rescue everything he says and does for you – indeed, your entire life – rests on his grace. 

 

And when Paul writes of the righteousness that comes by faith. And when Jesus tells Nicodemus he must be born from above by water and the Spirit. This is nothing new. It’s as old as father Abraham. As old as creation. In fact, it’s as old as before the foundations of the earth: Whatever God does, he does it by grace. Jesus, and Paul following his master, are doing nothing new. 

 

From the dawn of creation with the first “let there be light” to the archangel’s trumpet on the Last Day, this is how God works: everything rests on his grace for you in Jesus.

 

God calls creation – which begins in darkness and void and nothingness - is into existence by the gracious, powerful Word of God. All of creation (even now and till the Last Day) rests on grace.

 

God calls Abram – a gentile, pagan, childless father – to a new country, the bearer of the promised Seed, the Offspring, the One through whom God would bless all nations. And for Abram it all rests on grace.

 

God calls the apostle Paul, formerly known as Saul the persecutor, to be a preacher of his Gospel. The Good news that to the one who does not work but believes in Him who justifies the wicked, his faith is reckoned as righteousness. For Paul all of life, body and soul. Rests on grace.

 

God calls Nicodemus the pharisee, who comes to Jesus by night, to a new birth and new life by water and his Spirit. Light and life in the Son who is raised up on the cross for Nicodemus and for us all. So that his faith, like ours, rests on grace.

 

And part of us – the new Adam and the new Eve, the baptized child and saint of God that we are – rejoices in this abundantly gracious giving God. Our new man delights in the good news that all we are and have. All of God’s promises in this creation and the new creation, they all, we all, rest in the grace of God in Christ.

 

But there’s another part of us, at least in this life, the old Adam, the old Eve, the sinful nature, that begrudges God’s graciousness. More than that. Finds it offensive. Scandalous. Too good to be true. And downright terrifying. Why?

 

Because when God does all the work, all the saving, all the giving his gifts of repentance and forgiveness, there’s nothing in our hands to bring. Nothing we can pat ourselves on the back for. Nothing we can take credit for or contribute. Oh, sure we contribute plenty. Plenty of sin. A plethora of trespasses. A steaming, dung-heap of filth and faithlessness…but that’s it. Everything depends on God’s grace. It’s out of our control. And this is what our sinful flesh finds so maddening. 

 

Because if there’s one thing our sinful flesh loves more than sinning (or being prideful that we aren’t all that bad of sinners); if there’s one thing we love more than loving ourselves; it’s living in the delusion that we are in control. Independent. Self-reliant. Captains of our own ships. Masters of our own destinies. True north on our own compasses.

 

And this, when we’re honest with ourselves. Honest with what God says to us in his holy word, this is terrifying. Humbling. Brings us to our knees. Falling on our faces.

 

This is why we have a season of Lent. A time where our Lord brings us into the wilderness for testing. Where our Lord calls us to a new land and new promises. To journey with Abraham, out of nothingness into his promise. To travel with Paul on the Damascus road and go from breathing threats and murder, to preaching grace and mercy. To sit with Nicodemus in the dark and hear the wildness of God’s grace wash over us. 

 

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born from above he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

 

And that’s the way out of the labyrinth. That’s the way our Lord called Abram to travel. The road Jesus sent Paul journeying down. The way he invited Nicodemus to walk upon. To take the paths of the dead. To walk into the grave with Jesus. To see that we are dead in trespasses and sin. Unalive and in need of a new birth. That we are dead men walking from the moment we’re conceived. That we’re wicked and ungodly as Paul says we are. And that we’re right there with Nicodemus in the dark, confused and struggling to believe that which sounds unbelievable. 

 

Is there a way out? Where’s our rescue? What hope do we have? How can these things be, we join Nicodemus in asking?

 

And Jesus’ reply is simple. There are not many ways, but one way. And one way only. One door. One narrow path. Into death. Through the grave. And made alive again in the resurrection.

St. Paul says it this way: For the promise to Abraham and his offspring that he would be heir of the world did not come through the law but through the righteousness of faith. ¹⁶ That is why it depends on faith, in order that the promise may rest on grace and be guaranteed to all his offspring

For Paul. For you. For me. It all rests on grace. And this grace is yours in Christ Jesus who gives life to the dead and calls into existence the things that do not exist.

Our Lord Jesus says it this way, so that you never forget: your life, faith, body and soul – all rests on grace. For as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. 

 “For God loved the world in this way, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

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

Sermon for Lent 1: "Wilderness Redux"

 + 1^st Sunday in Lent – February 22^nd, 2026 +

Series A: Genesis 3:1-21; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Every so often you find yourself thinking: “This sure looks, sounds, or smells familiar.” It’s that strange phenomena we call Déjà vu. 

 

Matthew’s account of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness case of theological Déjà vu. As we read and hear Matthew 4 we get an overwhelming sense that we’ve been here before. We’ve heard this story before.

 

Matthew begins the narrative with a heavy dose of OT déjà vu. Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.  And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 

 

Jesus is in the wilderness. He’s tempted. He’s hungry. He’s been fasting for 40 days and 40 nights – now there’s a loaded phrase from the OT. And if all of this sounds familiar. There’s a good reason. 

 

Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness is a cover of a classic song; a reboot of an old movie, a reprint of an ancient story. The story of Israel’s Exodus and the wandering in the wilderness and the story of temptation in Eden all rolled into one. The point is clear: Jesus is Israel and Adam, repeating history for you. He is also there for us, true man, enduring temptation as one of us, for us.

 

Here in the wilderness, Jesus is Israel reduced down to one man. Jesus is the second and greater Adam. 

 

Just as Israel’s identity was God’s chosen son, in a similar yet greater way, Jesus is identified as true and only begotten Son of God, the chosen, anointed, holy one. Just as Israel was saved from death by the blood of the Passover lamb, Jesus comes to offer himself as the final Passover Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Just as Israel passed through the waters of the Red Sea, Jesus passes through the waters of the Jordan on his way to a greater Exodus on the cross. Just as Israel was in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus spends 40 days and 40 nights in the wilderness. Just as Israel was tested and hungered in the wilderness wandering, Jesus endures hunger and temptation. 

 

Here in the wilderness, history repeats itself, only this time with a different outcome. Where Israel failed, time and time again, Jesus succeeds. Where Israel rebelled, Jesus is faithful. Where Israel disobeyed God’s Word, Jesus obeys his Father perfectly. And doing so on your behalf. Jesus is the perfect Israel. And the perfect Adam, overcoming the serpent where the first Adam was overcome.

 

When Jesus rebukes and rejects the devil, he hits the replay button a few familiar OT themes: Israel’s constant failure, and God’s constant faithfulness. 

 

First, the devil tempts Jesus to use his own power to serve himself, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

 

Unlike Israel, who grumbled and complained when they hungered in the wilderness, and did not trust the Lord to provide, Jesus does not fail. Hungry though he was, he did not grumble against the Father or doubt God’s promise to provide. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”

 

Next, the devil tempts Jesus to doubt the Father’s power, or to misuse that power selfishly. “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

Again, Jesus replies, “It is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’ 

 

Unlike Israel, who quarreled with Moses and doubted that God would provide water for their thirst in the wilderness, Jesus does not fail. Jesus trusts the Father perfectly. For Israel. For you. For us all.

 

Finally, the devil attempts to turn Jesus away from the Father. So he “took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.  And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

 

Once again, Jesus keeps the first and foundational commandment: “You shall have no other Gods.” Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Jesus’ life and ministry, his death and resurrection are a perfect act of worship and service to the Father. Not for his own sake, but for you. Everything he does is for your good.

 

After all, we’re not all that different from Israel in the wilderness. We’re in need of rescue and redemption. We fail, falter, and fall. We grumble and complain; we quarrel and rebel against God’s Word; we doubt his promises and goodness despite all his gracious work for us. 

 

This is why Jesus is led by the Spirit, into the wilderness to be tempted. For Adam. For Israel. For you. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all ways tempted as we are, yet without sin. 

 

So when you are tempted, know that Jesus has defeated Satan for you. He has wandered that wilderness for you. There’s no place where Satan can take you that Jesus is not already there. There is no temptation that Satan can throw your way that hasn’t already been faced and defeated by Jesus for you. 

 

Jesus is in the wilderness to succeed where Israel, and we have failed and sinned in thought, word, and deed. 

 

And when Jesus repeats history in our place, he redeems our history and carries us through his cross and grave into the new creation.

 

 

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

 

Funeral Sermon for Wally Holmquist: The Gardener

 In Memoriam – Wally Holmquist 

February 21^st, 2026

Isaiah 65:17-25; 1 Corinthians 15:20-28; John 20:11-18

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Quite often in Scripture when God wants us to look forward to the dawning day of Christ’s return and the resurrection of all flesh, he appoints his prophets to bend our ears back and listen the dawn of those first six days of creation. When God want us to look forward to his saving rescue in Jesus, he bids us to grab a trowel and dig into the very good soil of Eden. 

 

We heard the prophet Isaiah do this very thing this already this afternoon: 

But be glad and rejoice forever
    in that which I create…

… for like the days of a tree shall the days of my people be,
    and my chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

Now, at first, this might sound strange. But there’s a good reason for the way God speaks to us. For God, creation and redemption are two sides of the same coin. Two peas in a pod. 

 

What God did in his first creation he will do again for us and for Wally, only greater when he stretches forth his hand again in new creation on the day of resurrection.

 

So, it’s no accident that the story of Holy Scripture is bookended by gardens. Eden in Genesis. The New heavens and earth of Revelation. Christ our Creator-Redeemer, and gracious Gardener at the center of it all, just as he is at the center of the lives of all his saints, tending, nourishing, caring for us, as he did for Wally, as his own precious vines and branches.

 

And this is something that, I think, would give our dear brother in Christ, Wally, a giant gardener’s grin from ear to ear. After all, he spent a lot of time working with his hands in the garage and the garden. From his beloved bonsai trees to his backyard garden, Wally was known for his green thumb. He had a knack for bringing forth life no matter what kind of soil he was stuck with. 

 

If you didn’t find Wally working at the shop (still working with wood…he made this pulpit and many other things around church), chances are you’d find him outside among the trees and plants, like Adam, tending God’s creation with the utmost care. Dirt under the nails. Callouses and cuts on his hands. Every scratch, scrape, and scar told the story of a steward of God’s creation.

 

By God’s grace, Wally brought that same care of the plants outside to the branches of his family tree inside the home as well. Wally would nod his head in agreement with the psalmist who thanks God that his wife is a fruitful vine and his children are olive shoots around the table. 

 

And as life and family grew, so too did Wally’s faith and life. Our Lord rooted him deeply in his word and promises. Wally lived as well all do, a seed of God’s own planting, tending, and nourishing. He knew that sometimes our Lord prunes our dead branches, cuts away our sin, but always to bring forth life. The same life he poured out upon Wally by Word and water and Spirit, on that day the new creation dawned upon Wally in holy Baptism.  Even when it appeared, at least to our eyes, that Wally’s health and life were withering away – even in his last days and hours, though sin and death take their toll, Wally was and is very much alive in Christ. 

 

And if Wally had a green thumb, how much more is that true of our Lord Jesus. Desiring to save and redeem and make Wally and you and me, into his new creation, he decided to get his hands dirty. To soil himself in the grime of sinners. Looking at Christ’s hands you’ll see the green thumb of the creator, but also the callouses and cuts of a carpenter. Each scratch, scrape, and nail-scar tells the story of your redemption and your new creation. Sown in sorrow upon the tree of the cross for you. Planted in the earthen grave for you. Risen from the dead as the first-fruits of the resurrection for you.

Which is why it’s no coincidence that Christ, who created the first garden, also brings new creation and life by his resurrection from the dead, also in a garden as he appeared to be a gardener to Mary.

 

 Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” 

 

And there it is again. Redemption and Creation all in one garden plot. You see, our Lord Jesus is the good and gracious gardener with an unrivaled knack of bringing life out of the worst of soils. Working light in the darkness. Life out of the grave. Resurrection from our dust and bones. All by that same word that he spoke in the beginning and to Mary and to Wally and to each of us. 

 

For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.  But each in his own order: Christ the first-fruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. 

 

For us and for Wally, Christ our gracious gardener left the upper room to pray in a garden. To be betrayed in a garden. To be crowned with thorns woven from a bush of his own creation. To hang upon the wood of a tree that he gave life to. To be buried in a new tomb in a garden. And there he rested, like a seed sown in the earth for winter, but only for a short time. He would not remain dead. 

 

Our Lord who called forth the trees of the forest and plants of the field rose from the dead and walked out of his tomb in a garden. But he did not walk out of that tomb alone. Jesus rose from the dead and walked into that garden carrying Wally and you and me. Each of us resting safely in his everlasting limbs

 

For us and for Wally, the God who said, “Let there be light”, will on the last day say to you who are in Christ, “Arise. Come out of your graves. Let there be life, light, and resurrection.” 

 

So the next time you find yourself digging in the earth, or with a bit of garden soil under your finger nails, remember that our Lord Jesus too has gracious green thumb, and one day soon he’ll use that thumb and his holy word as a shovel to crack open the earth and break ground once again, only this time he’ll plant us in a new and greater garden with undying, resurrected bodies made new. And in an eternal Eden with our Lord the gracious gardener and redeemer, who will gather Wally and all the saints to himself in endless life, eternal joy, and never-ending rest. 

 

Until that day…

 

The Almighty and merciful Lord, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, bless and preserve you.

 

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

Sermon for Transfiguration Sunday: "A Mountain Story"

 + The Transfiguration of Our Lord – February 15^th, 2026 +

Series A: Exodus 24:8-18; 2 Peter 1:16-21; Matthew 17:1-9

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Looking out your window, at a postcard, or a photo, it’s easy to think that the mountains are quiet. Docile dots on a map: Mt. Rainier. Mt. St. Helens. Mt. Adams.

 

And yet, those lahar sirens don’t fill the valley on the first day of the month because the mountain is always silent. The mountains are not always mute. If we look and listen closely we’ll discover that the mountains are rarely silent.

 

So it is with the mountains of Holy Scripture. The mountains of God’s word have a story to tell as well.

 

They tremble with the footsteps of him who treads our enemies under his feet. They’re alive with seismic activity of salvation. Here is the God who comes down: who ascends the hill of the cross and descends into the heart of the earth and rolls the stone away with a mountainous tremble and quake.

 

There’s Mt. Sinai, where the God of the burning bush and the Red Sea thundered forth and lit up the mountain with his glory, presence, cloud and covenant.

 

There’s Mt. Tabor, where the God of Sinai stands enfleshed. The embodied incarnate covenant. 

 

And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. 

 

Mountains are places where the air is thin, but so is the veil between heaven and earth. Jesus lifts the curtain for a moment. Cracks the lid open on the ark. Jesus’ face is a solar flare of glory. His clothing ablaze with the light brighter than what he first spoke into creation. 

 

And there, standing next to him, are two of the Old Testament’s most famous mountain men. Moses who saw the backside of God’s glory, ate and drank, and spent 40 days on the mountain. Elijah who stood on the mountain trash-talking the prophets of Baal in a fiery divine-duel, and spoiler alert…YHWH wins, just as he does again on Mt. Calvary.

 

Peter interrupts the majestic moment. “Lord, it’s good that we’re here.” And he’s right. Well, half right. For if Jesus stays on this mountain with Peter, all of our sin stays with us. If Jesus takes shelter on Mt. Tabor he will not be our shelter on Mt. Calvary. 

 

So, what goes up the mountain, must come back down. Mt. Calvary, the cross, has a gravitational pull on Jesus. As good as this mountain is, Jesus must go on to Golgotha. So must Peter. And so must we.

 

Because the truth is, as Peter and James and John quickly learn, there’s no shelter on the mountain. Nowhere to run. Nowhere to hide. You’re exposed. 

 

And that’s when the cloud descends. God interrupts Peter for a change. This is my beloved Son. Listen to him.

 

Listen to him when he says…The Son of Man will be handed over. Delivered up to death. Condemned. Crucified. And killed. 

 

Listen to him when he says…destroy this temple – let the mountains melt like wax – and on the third day I will raise it up again.

 

Listen to him when he says…Rise, and have no fear…I am the resurrection and the life.

 

For Peter James and John and for us, there is nowhere to hide in the light of his glory, in the holiness of his presence. Nowhere except in the one who hides his holiness in our humanity. 

 

He is not tame, but he is good. He is wild and free, yet a humble servant. He is majestic and mighty, yet he stoops down in the mud.

 

So Jesus says to his fearful disciples, and to us, the same thing he says to us in his resurrection. Rise. Have no fear. Do not be afraid.

Rise, and have no fear.” And when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

This is the story that echoes through every hill and holler of Scripture. Over hill and dale, God comes down to lift up. God goes up the mountain and down again, but not alone. 

 

Jesus goes down from this mountain where Jerusalem awaits. Where Pharisees plot. Where disciples will betray and scatter. Where he will hang all alone on the mountain where he is crucified. And yet not alone. Jesus goes up that mountain, and hangs on that cursed timberline for you.

 

Jesus hangs there, not with Moses and Elijah, but with criminals and sinners. Jesus, once again, is covered by clouds and thick darkness. Only this time, the only voice that’s heard is his: my God, my God, why have you forsaken me. Forgive them. It is finished.

 

Jesus goes up that mountain to come down. To be with you in your frailty. To sit with you in your shame. To weep with you in your grief. To cry out with you in your anguish. To walk with you in your loneliness. To bleed and suffer and die for you. To pay sin’s wages. To climb the mountain only he could climb for you. 

 

The mountains of Scripture have quite a story to tell. Each mountain has a story to tell. Or rather, each one has the same story to tell, like a never-ending mountain range rising with peak after peak. The hills of Scripture are alive with the sound of mercy and grace and the glad songs of salvation. 

They ring out with good news:

 

That the God who formed the mountains with the word of his mouth shakes the grave open with a word: be of good cheer, your sins are forgiven.

 

That he who made the heights of the hills and holds them opens his holy hands not with to give you rocks and stones but his body and blood. Like Moses we eat and drink with God on this mountain.

 

That he who brought Noah’s ark to rest on the mountains of Ararat opens the rock of his side and bathes you in divine grace and goodness. 

So, rise, and do not fear. For today, the Lord of the mountains comes down once again. For you.

 

A blessed Sunday of Transfiguration to each of you…

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

Sermon for Epiphany 5: "Light of the World"

 + 5^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 8^th, 2026 +

Series A: Isaiah 58:3-9; 1 Corinthians 2:1-12; Matthew 5:13-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Jesus does not say you are a Tesla, now go plug in at a charging station for a while until you’re fully charged.

 

Jesus does not say run like a hamster on a science experiment treadmill power generator till the bulb burns bright enough.

 

Jesus does not say you must become light so fire up that inner nuclear reactor of faith.

 

Jesus does not say that you are the little light bulb that could. I think I can. I think I can. I think I can.

But instead…you are. You are. You are. 

 

Jesus does not talk to you like Yoda talks to Luke Skywalker telling you to search your feelings for the light. 

 

No. Jesus simply says, you are. He promises. He makes a holy declaration.

 

You are the light of the world. 

 

When it comes to the Christian faith. When it comes to our identity in Christ. When it comes to you are as his baptized child, there is no such thing as energy independence. 

 

The same Jesus who said…“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” …also declares you to be children of light, not darkness. Children of the day, not the night. Children of the heavenly Father, not the father of lies. Children of life, not of death. Children of resurrection, not the grave.

 

You are not who you say you are. Not who the world says you are. Not who your sinful flesh says you are. Not who your past sins and failures say you are. Not who the serpent with whispering accusations lying in your ears says you are: full of fears and guilt and shame and weakness. 

 

You are who Christ declares you to be. You are the light of the world. 

 

It is for us as it was for the psalmist… you are my lamp, O Lord, and my God lightens my darkness.

 

Apart from Christ we were what creation was before Genesis 1: chaos and void and darkness and nothingness. Then, as he did in the beginning, Jesus, the Word of God declares, “Let there be light.” And it just as it was in the first creation, so too, he makes you a new creation. “You are the light of the world.”

 

The same Lord who called light and life out darkness and chaos, says you are the light of the world. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Apart from Christ we were what Moses was before the Lord appeared to him in the wilderness. wandering exiles. Lost in the night. Unholy, adrift in the dark.

 

But then  same Lord Jesus who appeared to Moses in the fiery light of the burning bush is the same one who comes to you and declares:

 

you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

 

Apart from Christ we were what Israel was without God’s presence in the blazing pillar of smoke and fire. Alone in the wilderness. Alone in their idolatry. Alone with sin and the haunting hole of the grave.

 

But then the same Lord who stood between Israel and Pharaoh’s army in the pillar of fire, who filled the tabernacle with his holy presence in the smoke and cloud and blazing glory, who led his people through the wilderness following the light of his holiness is the same Lord who says:

 

at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

 

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵ Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 

 

Jesus is your light and life. Jesus gives you light and life. Jesus declares and makes you his light. 

 

You and I are the moon, reflecting the light of Christ. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

 

Jesus does not say this to shine the spotlight on your works. He does not say this to put you out on to center stage for a round of applause when all the lights come up. He does not say this so that you and others gather around your good works like campers huddled around a campfire. 

 

Jesus says this to you that you and I would be who he declares us to be. Who he has made us to be. Who he says we are.

 

You are the light of the world. let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and…glorify you? Me? No. But rather, our Father who is in heaven.

 

The same heavenly Father whose only begotten Son is God of God; light of Light to be born in the darkness of the Bethlehem, rescue us out of darkness and death and the grave by going into the black night of that Good Friday afternoon. Covered in blood. Soaked in sweat. Hanging in the pitch black on a cursed tree. Breath by agonizing breath, making his way through the valley of the shadow of death for you and for me and for us all. 

 

And there on the cross, the God who said, “Let there be light” that filled creation is also the God who says, “It is finished” and accomplishes your redemption. The God who came down into the darkness, was laid in the abyss of the grave is the same God whose death destroys the power of death and whose resurrection is your victory, light, and life. 

 

In this dark and dreary world do not forget who and whose you are. In Jesus you are the light of the world.

 

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

Sermon for Epiphany 4: "The Weakness of God"

 + 4^th Sunday after the Epiphany – February 1^st, 2026 +

Series A: Micah 6:1-8; 1 Corinthians 1:18-31; Matthew 5:1-12

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

When our kids were younger we’d make an occasional trip to the Build-A-Bear workshop at the mall. It was a buffet for the imagination. Pick your stuffed animal of choice. Stuff it. Give it a heart. And don’t forget all the accessories. Harry Potter scarves and Star Wars Jedi robes. You get to create your own little cuddly critter just the way you want it.

 

It’s a great, fun idea for a toy store. But a terrible idea when it comes to the holy gifts and holy name of God.

 

And yet, that’s how our Old Adam thinks when we open up God’s Word. Our Old Adam waltzes into the storehouse of Scripture like a kid at Build-A-Bear. Here’s my toyshop. My playground. My build-a-god workshop. I can mix and match and stuffs my build-a-god creation with all my favorite things.

 

A mighty, rippling-muscled Messiah. A deity who flexes his divine power at my every whim and fancy. A tame god who obeys my every command and does what I say. When I say. How I say. A superhero savior who can leap Jerusalem’s walls with a single bound. A rockstar redeemer promising fame and fortune. 

 

A little pet-god of my own creation. Just the way I want him to be. Mark Twain was right. “In the beginning God created man in his own image…and ever since then we’ve been trying to repay the favor.”

 

Thankfully, God has a different way. A better way. His way. The way of the cross. The way where everything he does is so opposite of what we would do or think or expect that salvation and rescue can only come by His grace. 

 

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 

 

This way of Christ is power, but power made perfect in weakness. Jesus wraps his might in mercy. He hides his glory in the blood and sweat and agonizing gasps for air of the crucified. Jesus cloaks his divine wisdom with the folly of a lowly criminal’s death on the tree. Jesus hides his holiness in utter humility for you.

 

God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 

 

And this is nothing new. This is how God has always worked. When God revealed his promise to Adam and Eve to send a savior from sin and death and the serpent’s tyranny, he foretold his coming in the flesh. an infant redeemer. A swaddled savior. Born of a woman. Born under the law to redeem us who are under the law. 

 

When God chose the man through whom he would make his everlasting covenant and bless all nations of the earth through his Offspring, he chose a pagan from the land of Ur named Abram.

 

When God blessed one of Jacob’s sons through Jacob’s hands and words, he did not choose the first, or even the second or third born son, but the fourth son. Judah, from whom would come the Seed, the Offspring, the unexpected Deliverer, Jesus.

 

When God led his people Israel out of slavery in Egypt, he called Moses a murderer and a man too afraid to speak in public to be his servant and to lead his holy people in the exodus.

 

When God defeated Israel’s enemies in the days of the Judges, He did not conscript Israel’s best bowman or their elite warriors. Instead, God paid a visit to Gideon – his mighty man of valor – who was threshing wheat hidden in a winepress for fear of the Midianites. And yet YHWH brought victory through seeming weakness. Not 30,000. Not 10,000. But 300 men. No weapons. No shields. Just torches. Trumpets. And the sword of God’s word. 

 

When God placed a king on the throne and promised him that one of his Offspring would sit on the throne forever and his kingdom would have no end, God anointed the covetous, murderer, liar, and adulterer, David. 

 

Not surprisingly, when God takes on human flesh he continues to confound us by turning page after page of his gracious playbook to our marvel and wonder and awe.

 

The Holy One of Israel is born a humble infant. The Mighty Fortress is made man. The Blessed One bleeds for you. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob reveals his greatest glory in unimaginable suffering. The Son of God becomes the Son of Mary to save sons of Adam and daughters of Eve. The Anointed One – the Christ – chooses to be spat upon, mocked, betrayed, scourged, and ridiculed. The Faithful and True One chooses to become the fool and the faithless and the sinner for you. The Author and Giver of life chooses death by spikes and thorns and wood and spear to deliver you.

 

Indeed… the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

So, God being God. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Paul does not mince words. He offers no spoonful of sugar. He tells it like it is. We are sinners in need of a savior. Debtors in need of redemption. Lost. Lowly. Little. Last. Least. And in need of rescue. The diagnoses is in and the disease is terminal. Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.

 

And like the good physician’s assistant and preacher that he is, Paul gives you the cure; he delivers with God’s word, the one consolation and antidote. We preach Jesus Christ and him crucified.

 

For the word of the cross – foolish as it is and looks – is your salvation. Jesus crucified is the power of God for you who are being saved. You will not find this salvation in your pride, power, prestige, or pet-gods, but in the passion and pardon and promise of Jesus.

 

For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. For you.For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.

 

Therefore, let the one who boasts, boast in the crucified Lord Jesus.

 

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