Sunday, June 25, 2017

Our Declaration of Dependence

Presentation of the Augustana
June 25, 2017

Matthew 10:28
Our Declaration of Dependence

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Have you ever looked closely at the back of the two-dollar bill? You see all the founding fathers gathered around King George III handing over the Declaration of Independence in his royal throne room in London. It’s impressive to see them putting their lives into direct risk before a powerful king.

But, of course, that is not how is it happened. They did put their lives on the line, but in Philadelphia, far away from King George.

But something like I described did happen. The founding fathers of Lutherans, rulers and kings and princes, put their lives into immediate jeopardy by handing a confession of faith into the hands of a powerful king. This king, Emperor Charles V, had the legal right to put to death these men for what they were doing.

What were they doing? They had read and signed a statement of the true Christian faith. It declared that we humans are sinful from birth and that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, is our only hope for salvation. They took Jesus at His word when He declared:

You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—28just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.”
MATTHEW 10:26-28 NIV 1984

These powerful men humbled themselves before God. They saw their sin and how death would after them, save for Jesus’ sake, for His death and rising from the dead. They declared their dependence on Christ and Him alone for their rescue.

Unlike Mr. Franklin, Mr. Jefferson, and even Mr. Washington, these men:

John, Duke of Saxony;
George, Margrave of Brandenburg;
Ernest, Duke of Lueneberg;
Philip, Landgrave of Hesse;
John Frederick, Duke of Saxony;
Francis, Duke of Lueneburg; and
Wolfgang, Prince of Anhalt; along with
the city councilmen of Nuremburg and Reutlingen

were glad to declare how helpless they were standing before the holy God. They knew they had nothing to offer Him, except for their pathetic attempts at self-salvation. So by faith they received life from Jesus’ death and placed their lives into His hands, come what may: persecution, insults, poverty, family strife, and death.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Amen!

Mark 10:45

Sunday, June 18, 2017

Helpless Sheep Need the Compassion of God’s Shepherds

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 18, 2017

Matthew 9:36
Helpless Sheep Need the Compassion of Gods Shepherds

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

You see a whole family—mom, dad, kids—begging for money at the entrance of a fast food restaurant in Davenport.

You hear about little children left on purpose overnight in a car in Texas.

You see your own grown children ignoring the Word of God on a daily basis and especially on Sunday.

These are all things are not right, even bad. And when you see or hear bad things, you have an emotional reaction. You get sad or mad. Or both.

Jesus saw bad things, too. He saw and heard about dead children. He saw poor people begging for money. And He saw grown children who ignored His words.

What was His reaction?

When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
MATTHEW 9:36 NIV 1984

Just before this, He had seen a dead girl and a bleeding woman, two blind men, and a demon-possessed man who couldnt speak. And that just Tuesday!

In other words Jesus daily saw a great deal of misery and sadness, things that shouldnt be, and things that were downright evil. And just like us, His reaction was mercy and compassion. This isnt a big surprise, because He is the same God who said to Moses in the Book of Exodus:

I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim My name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.”
EXODUS 33:19 NIV 1984

This is after He had led Moses and the people of Israel out of Egypt. After! But Moses still needed reassurance of Gods love for him. Instead of becoming sad or mad at Moses for his weak faith, the Lord strengthened Mosestrust by talking to him and repeating His promises of mercy and compassion.

This compassion is heard and seen throughout the words of the prophets. A good example is Gods compassion on Nineveh. He had sent Jonah there to call them to repentance and by the work of the Holy Spirit, they listened and repented and turned away from their violence and false religion.

And then we have Jesus at work. He had compassion and raised a dead girl to life, healed a bleeding woman, gave sight to two blind men, and drove out a demon so that a man could speak again. And but it doesnt stop: the bad things or Jesuscompassion.

He saw the crowds and more than just feeling sorry for them, He did something to save them. He sent them shepherds.

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.”
MATTHEW 9:37-38 NIV 1984

He sees helpless and harassed people. Back then and now. Just like then, we see bad things around us: poverty, violence, neglect, false religion. And we realize something even worse: that we ourselves are bad and do bad things. So what can we do? Where can we turn for help?

By ourselves we are helpless, but Jesus sends preachers and tellers to tell of Gods compassion and mercy. So you are no good and deserve death and hell, but Jesus is good for you. By suffering and dying on the cross for all and then baptizing you, He makes a trade: He takes the blame for all bad things and He gives you the credit for all His goodness.

And news of this trade must be told. So He sends out tellers and preachers. In these New Testament times, He started with 12. Some doubted Him, all deserted Him, one betrayed Him. But by His compassion, many were faithful tellers of this grand trade made on the cross. Preachers like Peter, Andrew, James, John, and Matthew, and many more have gone out among fellow sinners to tell of Gods compassion.

When you see bad things, youll react with emotion. Sometimes youll be able to react with merciful action. And when we meet a fellow bad person who has done bad things (which isnt some random scenario, but often happens at home or even at church!) tell them what youd want them to tell you in the situation was reversed: that Jesus gives us the opposite of what we deserve. Instead of harassing, He helps. He gives life instead of death.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Amen!

Mark 10:45

Sunday, June 4, 2017

His Creeds Against Our Doubt

Trinity Sunday
June 11, 2017

Matthew 28:17
His Creeds Against Our Doubt

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

Matthew 28:
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I Am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Why do we have Creeds? The Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, the Athanasian Creed? Why do we agree with these Creeds? Why do we make them our personal statement of what we believe? Why? “Because some doubted.” The text from Matthew that I just read to you said,

Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshiped Him, but some doubted.

But some doubted. Creeds are meant to be universal truths drawn from Scripture to nail down the faith in a short and simple way. The Creeds of the church developed because some doubted and others failed to listen to Jesus.

Sixty years or so after Jesus’ ascension, a man named Cerinthus (SIR-RIN-THUS) who claimed to be a Christian, but he doubted the actions of the true God. This man taught that God the Father did not make the physical world. He taught that Jesus was not God. Cerinthus did not listen to Jesus command to observe all that Jesus had taught them.

In response to this false confession of faith, the Apostles’, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds teach the truth:
they teach that Jesus is the only Son of the Father,
they teach that He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary,
they teach that He is God of God and Light of light, very God of very God, begotten not made,
and they teach that He is perfect God and perfect Man composed of a rational soul and human flesh.

What does this mean for you? It means that your forgiveness isn’t fake, it’s real forgiveness, it’s not an illusion, it’s not imitation forgiveness. It also means that Jesus Christ who is God and man, is who Scripture says He is, and that He died fully and completely for your sins. God didn’t skip out on the suffering of the cross or death upon the cross, it was not the man only who suffered and died, who took the cup of wrath down to the dregs. He suffered hell for you and then He died.

He did this dying for you; He died for every single last person, whether they are over 100 years old or still in their mothers womb. Jesus died for liars, cheats, thieves, those who curse His name and use it falsely, those who sleep around or dream of sleeping around, for those with covetous hearts, and those who refuse to hear His Word: He died for you and for me and for all our sins.

But you might wonder, “I’ve failed at making these confessions my confessions, I’ve not taught them well, I’ve not always honored what Scripture teaches about Father, Son and Holy Spirit, I’ve not had a faith that confessed these things consistently or with great conviction, I’ve been a doubter . . . is their hope for me?”

Yes! and I’ll tell you why.

When you read the Gospel of Matthew you’ll notice that when Matthew uses the word disciple he doesn’t use it to mean everyone who follows Jesus. When Saint Matthew uses disciple he is speaking of the specific men that Jesus handpicked to be the twelve, when the eleven went up on the mountain to hear the words spoken by the resurrected Christ it was the same handpicked group of men (minus Judas).

So when Matthew says that the disciples worshiped Jesus as God, it was out of the same eleven that you hear that “some doubted.” The Greek word translated some is an interesting one: it could mean that some of them doubted or it could mean the ones there doubted. Why is this important?

We just had Pentecost Sunday and the events of Matthew 28 happen before that day when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples. Now think of it: the resurrected Jesus,
Who could not be stopped by nails and spears and a crown of thorns,
Who could not be stopped by the chains of death,
Who could not be stopped by locked doors,
Who they had witnessed alive and glorious on a number of occasions together as a group,
Who had eaten with them in those days after His resurrection and done all that He said He would do,

this living Jesus stands before them yet again and there is still doubt. Yet Jesus doesn’t say, “Well, I will only send the Holy Spirit to those who muster up perfect faith; sorry guys, but not all of you will receive the promised Comforter.”

No! Jesus forgave their doubting and loved them just the same. Jesus forgave them; Jesus will forgive you. He didn’t withhold the Holy Spirit from any of them on the day of Pentecost and He doesn’t withhold the Holy Spirit from you in your baptism. Jesus will forgive you if you’ve failed in having perfect faith: ask and you shall receive.

And on the last day when the disciples, like we are risen with our bodies, remember that the deeds you give an account of will be washed clean in the blood of Christ Jesus. Sins forgiven and good works made righteous by the same blood of Christ Jesus. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit will see these works and declare them good and you will enter into eternal life. So dear believers, believe and teach and confess that:


the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Amen!

Christians Dream of Christ

Day of Pentecost
June 4, 2017

Joel 2:28-29
Christians Dream of Christ

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen!

I.

Daydreams are a part of human life. Someones talking to you and you start thinking about something else. Often this dreaming is triggered by something the talking person has just said, and off goes your mind (or maybe on goes your mind). You enter a state of meditation and it comes to an end when the preacher says, “Amen!” or your wife says, “Dear?”

You should listen carefully when others talk to you, but dreaming can be good if youre dreaming about something good.

So, do you dream about Jesus?

II.

Joel was a prophet of God who lived and preached hundreds of years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem. The Lord spoke through Joels pen and the Lord said:

28After this I will pour out my Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your old men will have dreams, and your young men will see visions. 29I will even pour out my Spirit on the male and female slaves in those days.
JOEL 2:28-29 CSB

We need to explain a few words: prophesy and vision, dream, and pour out.

We usually think prophecies and visions will tell us the future, but its also about speaking to the present. Joel was a prophet—he spoke about Gods promises for the future, but he also spoke of the situation of his own time. And usually there are strong connections between the present and the future. For example, the Lord sent Joel to call the people of Israel back to God, so they would be ready for the Day of the Lord, when they would meet their Maker and Savior.

When dreams paired up with prophecies and visions, we are right to think about prophetic dreams of God’s people (and sometimes Gods enemies). These dreams were interpreted to reveal God’s promises. For example, God showed Joseph in Egypt that Pharaoh’s dream about fat and skinny cows meant that there would be seven years of good harvests and then seven years of no food.

But for us, dreams arent so much about predicting the distant future, but instead are much more a way to think about the present and the past. Night dreams draw on our past experiences, even if its just chewing on what happened that day. On the other hand, daydreams chew over things that are on our mind for the present and near future.

III.

So, whats on your mind? What do you dream about? What keeps you up at night?

Missing library books. Overdue bills. Angry children. New ideas. Tricky surgery. Usually bad stuff, right?

So put some good stuff on your mind. Put Jesus on your mind. Dream about Him. And we will because of that last verb: pouring out the Spirit.

The Lord God in our time pours out His Spirit on all His people, His Church. The Christian Standard Bibles translation of “humanity” gives the impression that the Holy Spirit is poured on unbelievers, but the original Hebrew says that the Spirit will be poured out on all flesh. Flesh means all living things. Since unbelievers are not alive, the Spirit comes only to Gods baptized and living people.

This pouring and coming of the Holy Spirit is the hearing of Gods Word. At the original Pentecost dramatic signs and wonders (wind and fire) accompanied the preaching of Jesus Christ. And they preached:

22Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. 23This man was handed over to you by Gods set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to the cross. 24But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him.
ACTS 2:22-24 NIV 1984

The prophets on that day spoke of Jesus dying as our Savior; they did not talk about themselves. They did not call on their listeners to perform signs and wonders; they simply showed them Jesus and called on them to repent of their sin and trust Jesus.

IV.

This pouring is happening right now. Im not speaking to you in some strange ecstatic speech; there is no fire or wind. (Although think of how interesting it can be when listening to a sermon through a thunderstorm!) Im just talking Jesus to you. The Spirit through the Word pours out Jesus on you and all of Gods people. When Joel mentions sons, daughters, old men, young men, and slaves, he means that all of Gods people will prophesy and all of us will dream. We speak and dream of Jesus. In the past He was crucified for all our sins, in the present His Holy Spirit speaks Jesus to us, and in the future He will return to take us home.

So dream, day and night, of Jesus, who has saved you!


For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many, for you. Amen!