Once again Redeemer Lutheran has been blessed to participate in a Lenten pulpit exchange with a number of local LCMS congregations. The focus is always on the Scriptures and Small Catechism. This year's theme is the preaching of the cross in the catechism. I was given the topic of "The Cross in Holy Baptism". A blessed Lent to you all.
2015
Lent Pulpit Exchange
Midweek
Lenten Sermon
Romans
6:1-14
In
the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Water
kills. Water gives life.
We
see reflections of this in some of our most beloved books and films: Dorothy
hurls water on the Wicked Witch and as she melts, Scarecrow is saved from the
fire.
Andy
Dufresne, in The Shawshank Redemption, crawls through the
sewer to escape from prison and stands in the cleansing rain.
Eustace
Scrubb, in Lewis’s Dawn Treader, is overcome by his selfish desires
and turned into a dragon but later un-dragoned by Aslan in a pool of water.
Water
kills. Water gives life. And not just in stories, but in reality.
The
flood destroyed everything on dry land in whose nostrils was the breath of
life, everything except Noah and his family. Eight souls in all, saved through
water.
God
drowned hard-hearted Pharaoh and all his host in the Red Sea, yet He led His
people Israel through the water on dry ground; they were baptized in the sea.
The
prophet Jonah was thrown into the sea; the waters of the deep closed around
him; weeds encircled his head; he was buried in a liquid grave. And yet the
Lord raised him from the watery pit.
Water
kills. Water gives life.
And
in this, you have something in common with Noah, Moses, and Jonah. The Lord
fixes his Word - which also kills and makes alive - to water in order to bury
you in his death bless you in his resurrection.
The
same Lord who opened the heavens and the wells of the deep, opens the font,
drowns your sin, and saves you in a flood of forgiveness. Like Andy
Dufresne, you are cleansed from the filth of your sin in Jesus’ redemption.
The
same Lord who led the people Israel through the Red Sea on dry ground, leads
you through Baptismal waters while Satan and all his hosts are swept away.
Jesus hurls Word and water upon us. Ding-dong, the wicked serpent is dead, and
you’re saved from the flames.
The
same Lord who appointed a great fish to swallow up Jonah was swallowed up by
death, once for all. Like Jonah and the fish, the grave will spit you out
through your Baptism into Jesus’ death and resurrection. Like Eustace, Jesus
un-dragons you in Baptism.
Noah
was not alone in the ark. Moses and Israel were not alone at the Red Sea or in
the wilderness. Jonah was not alone, even in the belly of the great fish. And
you are not alone in the font. Jesus is with you in water and Word. Your
Baptism is soaked with Christ’s promises. You are saturated in Jesus’ cleansing
sacrifice for sin.
Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into
Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by
baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For
if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be
united with him in a resurrection like his.
In
Holy Baptism you die and rise with Jesus because Jesus died and rose for you.
Jesus’ cross is in your Baptism.
In
Holy Baptism you go where Jesus goes. Jesus dies for you; you die with Jesus.
Jesus rises for you; you rise with Jesus...in your Baptism, and in the
resurrection of the dead. This is remarkable, miraculous!
Imagine there was a doctor somewhere who understood the art
of saving people from death, or even though they died, could restore them
quickly to life so that they would afterward live forever. Oh, how the world
would pour in money like snow and rain. No one could find access to him because
of the throng of the rich! But here in Baptism there is freely brought to
everyone’s door such a treasure and medicine that it utterly destroys death and
preserves all people alive. (Large Catechism IV.43)
Baptism
gives you Jesus. Lent and Easter also give us Jesus’ dying and Jesus’ rising.
In Baptism Jesus’ gives us his Lent and Easter. Jesus’ bitter suffering and
death; Jesus’ agony and bloody sweat; Jesus’ cross and passion - it’s all yours
in Baptism. Jesus’ victory over the grave; Jesus’ glorious resurrection and
ascension - all yours in Baptism. Your Baptism - and every Baptism - is a
little Lent and Easter, poured into the font and poured over us.
And
so, every day is a little Lent and Easter. Let us never say, “I was baptized”
but rather, “I am baptized into Christ.” Baptism is always present tense. Daily
we die to sin. Daily we rise to new life in Christ.
What
does this mean? To die to sin means to confess it. Confess that we who have
died to sin still live in it. And not only that, but we love it. We are quick
to slake our sinful thirsts above our neighbors’ needs and against God’s will.
Confess and repent that our heart is an arid, loveless wasteland. Confess and
repent that our lips gush with praise for ourselves while our prayer, praise,
and thanks to God is dusty bone-dry. Confess and repent that our mouths are
parched from our constant slander and gossip and hatred for others. Confess and
repent that our love for our neighbor is a drought of mercy while our love for
ourselves is a reservoir, full of greed and self-serving.
It
is good, then, that Lent and Easter bring us Jesus’ death and resurrection.
Water kills. Water makes alive. Baptism comes to irrigate the desert of our
hearts. Baptism brings Jesus’ death and resurrection to you. You are washed by
his blood. Cleansed by his sacrifice. Buried in his tomb. Risen with Christ.
Consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, do not present your members as instruments of
unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the
dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall
not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.
What
does this mean? Live in your Baptism. Remember who you are in Christ, a new
creation. You belong to Jesus. And Jesus’ death and resurrection belong to you.
When
you’re sharing the Gospel with your co-workers, friends, neighbors, and family
– or even those you do not know, like Jonah did...remember, you have died and
risen with Christ in Baptism. Your mouth is now an instrument of grace.
When
you’re lending a helping hand for your neighbor…remember, you have died and
risen with Christ in Baptism. Your hands are now instruments of mercy.
When
death stares you in the face and causes you despair…remember, you’ve already
died and risen with Christ in Baptism. Death no longer has dominion over
Jesus…or you.
When
all you see is a world, like Noah did, full of wickedness…remember, you have
died and risen with Christ in Baptism. In this world you will have trouble, but
fear not, Christ has overcome the world and gives you his victory in your
Baptism.
And
when Satan waves your sin in your face like a dirty diaper, remember…you have
died and risen with Christ in Baptism. All your sins belong to Jesus now. Take
comfort in God’s promise: I am baptized into Christ. And if I am baptized, I am
dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Jesus
is your Greater Noah, who keeps you safe in the holy ark of the Christian
Church. Jesus suffered the divine deluge of judgment in your place. Jesus is
your Greater Moses, who leads you through the water into the Promised Land;
Jesus conquered the Pharaoh of hell on the cross for you. Jesus is your Greater
Jonah, whose head was encircled in thorns, who descended into the pit, and
spent three days in the belly of the earth to raise you from the dead. Death
could not hold Jesus; and neither will it hold you.
In
Holy Baptism you die and rise with Jesus because Jesus died and rose for you.
Jesus’ cross is in your Baptism.
And what does such baptizing with water indicate? It
indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be
drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily
emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.
This
is most certainly true.
In
the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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