Blessed are those who have set their hearts on the pilgrims’ way. But how shall you endure to the end of that way? How shall you be saved? That is the pressing question that Jesus sets before you today. How shall you draw near to God and not die but live with Him in His Kingdom?
There are all manner of possible answers competing for your attention and allegiance: The nation, your family and friends, and all manner of would-be “churches” claim to have an answer for you. Then there is your own reason, your common sense, and the notion that your own savvy, ingenuity, and hard work will get you there. Or, maybe “all you need is love,” whatever that is taken to mean. And perhaps you are tempted to look for life and love in the pleasures and pastimes of this world.
For all of that, no matter where you look, no matter how you spend your time and money, the truth remains that everything on earth will be destroyed. Even Jerusalem is leveled, and the Temple is torn down. Indeed, the earth itself will perish like a garment and pass away with fire in the end.
Meanwhile, nations come and go, kingdoms rise and fall. Do not suppose that even the United States of America will last forever. It won’t. Whether it remains until the Lord returns in glory is up to Him and not to any of us. Egypt came and went. And Assyria. And Babylon. And the Medes and Persians. And the Greeks and Romans. And the Holy Roman Empire and Byzantium. Nazi Germany. The former Soviet Union. Nations won’t save you. Kingdoms won’t save you. No amount of government stimulus will save you.
Only Christ Jesus and His Word remain, steadfast and forever in the glory of His God and Father. He Himself who died for your sins has been raised from the dead for your justification, and He has taken His seat at the Right Hand of the Father until all His enemies shall be placed under His feet. He alone remains. Therefore, look to Him. Fix your eyes on Him. Cling to Him in heart and soul, with all your mind, your spirit, and your body, too. Confess His Holy Name, come what may.
Listen to Him. That is what God the Father Himself has commanded from heaven, as you may recall from the Transfiguration. Listen to this one Lord Jesus Christ, the beloved and well-pleasing Son of God in human Flesh and Blood. Listen to Him, to the Word that you hear from His lips, and trust in Him. Rely on what He says and promises, and so also live according to His Word.
And be on your guard. For Christ Jesus Himself has alerted you to the dangers that surround you. Be on your guard with constant vigilance. Do not be frightened, but do not let yourself be misled, either. For not everyone who speaks (or claims to speak) in the Name of Jesus — not everyone who calls Him, “Lord, Lord” — actually speaks by and with His Holy Spirit. But if you would know and recognize His Voice, then, as for you, listen for the preaching of His Cross.
St. Paul has written, for example, that he would know nothing in the Church except Jesus Christ — and Him Crucified. The preaching of Christ is always the preaching of His Cross. And that is the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in His Name. That is the Voice of the Lord which saves you. For it is by His Cross and Passion that He has redeemed you from sin and death, and it is by His Cross and in His Resurrection that He brings you into Life everlasting with God.
Listen for the preaching of His Cross. Look to Him upon the Cross. Trust and hope in His Cross. But be aware that His Cross divides the entire world. It divides kingdoms, and it divides families; it even divides churches on earth. And the Cross divides your own heart and life, as well. It kills, in order to make alive. It wounds, in order to heal. And it must be so.
If you belong to the Crucified One, then you shall be crucified. If you belong to the One who was blasphemed and hated by men and by all the world, know that you also will be hated and handed over to death because of the Name of Christ Jesus which you bear.
You were given His Name in your Holy Baptism. Little boys and girls, grown-up men and women, whatever your age, know this, you are beloved children of God because you are Christians, you are named with the Name of Christ Jesus. So are you hated for His Name’s sake; and on account of His Word, you will be questioned, accused, and put to the test, punished, and even put to death.
These are the beginnings of the birth pangs, the narrow passage of Crucifixion with Christ Jesus, whereby you are delivered from out of death and raised up from the dust of the earth unto the Life everlasting in both your body and soul — born of God by the water, Word, and Spirit of Christ.
But if you renounce the Cross of Christ in your words and in your actions — if you turn your heart and mind away from Him, the Crucified One — if you deny His Name, reject His Word, and forsake Him in exchange for other gods — if you do this in fact, even while you give lip service to Him — you shall not stand in the judgment, you shall not survive, and you shall not be saved.
How, then, shall you endure to the end? How shall you be saved, being the poor, miserable sinner that you are? For your sins not only accuse and condemn you, but they also weigh you down with guilt and shame, and they so easily ensnare you in their grip and drag you down into death.
Think about it. Think about your life. Think about your days on earth and how you go about them. Think about your allegiances, your commitments and convictions. Are you strong and courageous like Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms, who stood his ground under the glare of both church and state, when so many were ready to cast him out and kill him? Are you brave and steadfast like the holy martyrs, who were put to death by stoning or burning or even being cut in half, who did not love their life on earth but remained faithful to the Lord Jesus Christ, even to the point of death? Are you like them? Or do you betray the Lord for silver and gold? Do you deny Him out of fear?
If you examine yourself honestly, there’s nothing but death there, and you cannot save yourself.
Be on your guard! But how? You are your own worst enemy! And from the inside-out, by sinful nature, you get it wrong. See to it that no one misleads you — but you do not know the way. How shall you get there? How shall you not already be off the trail? That is where you end up if you go looking inside of yourself, if you try to find your endurance in your own resolve, if you try to stand by your own strength, if you try to live by your own wisdom. Do not do that.
But do not be frightened, either. Hold fast the confession of your hope in Christ Jesus. That is to say, confess what He has said and promised. Your hope is in Him, and He will not disappoint you, because He is faithful. Even when you are faithless, He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself, and He will not deny you, to whom He has bound Himself in love by His Word and Holy Spirit.
His great prince, St. Michael the Archangel, and His legion of holy angels, they arise to guard and keep you for His Name’s sake and by His Blood of the New Testament, His holy and precious Blood, shed for you upon the Cross and poured out for you to drink here at His Altar.
It is by and through His holy and precious Blood, and by the Veil that He has opened for you, that is, by His sacred Flesh, that you draw near to God — right here, right now. It is by His Flesh and Blood that you here enter into the Holy of Holies of the true Temple, which is the Body of Christ Jesus. Not to be slain, but to stand. Not to die, but to live. Not to be condemned, but to be saved.
Therefore, draw near with confidence. Do not shrink back or despair. Where you have turned away and wandered in the past, turn back now and draw near in faith. Do not consider your sins, but consider Christ who loves you, who has died for you and is risen, who calls you to Himself.
Do not be afraid. For by His Cross, with His own Blood, by the sacrifice of Himself once-for-all, He has atoned for all of your sins, and that is forever. And not for your sins only, but for the sins of the whole world. So testifies the sure and certain Word of God.
Your Savior, Jesus Christ, has washed you with pure water, with His Word and Holy Spirit. He has sanctified you in body and soul. You are perfected by His humble obedience unto death, by His Resurrection from the dead, by His righteousness and holiness, innocence and blessedness. He has cleansed your conscience of every stain. He has forgiven you all of your sins, He has taken them all away. There is, therefore, no condemnation, not for you who are in Christ Jesus.
By the preaching of His Gospel, which is His free and full forgiveness of sins, He calls the nations to Himself and to God the Father in Him. So does He call you to enter in, to abide with Him, to recline upon His bosom here at His Supper, and so to recline in the bosom of His God and Father.
All of this because He has endured to the end — even unto death, even the death of the Cross. And He has been saved from out of death and the grave — in His Resurrection from the dead and in His Ascension to the Right Hand of the Father. And all of this that He has done, He has done it all for you. For all of you, yes, for each and every one of you. There are no exceptions.
You, therefore, enter into His Passion, enter into His Resurrection, enter into His Sabbath Rest, His great Salvation — by eating and drinking His Body and His Blood at His Word. For here at His Altar are the Fruits of His once-for-all Sacrifice for sin, whereby He has ended all sacrifice for sin because the one Offering of Himself upon the Cross has atoned for all sins, forever and ever.
Here in His holy Body and precious Blood is the Temple of God and the Holy of Holies; which, having risen from the dead, shall never die again, which shall never be torn down, which shall never perish or pass away. This crucified and risen Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, which are given and poured out for you here in His Holy Supper, have conquered death and the grave by His Cross and Resurrection; and these Fruits of His Cross now also conquer sin and death in you.
As the Lord Jesus clearly says, this Body and Blood of His are given and poured out for you, for the forgiveness of all your sins; and where there is such free and full forgiveness of sins, there is no longer any death, but everlasting Life and eternal Salvation. That is what is here for you.
As you are assembled here, together with your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, in His Name, to eat and drink His Body and His Blood in the Holy Communion, you live and abide in the presence of God, and you reside in His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
Do not forsake this assembly, but draw near to God and enter into His inner Sanctum here, into the Holy of Holies, as He draws near to you in the Flesh and Blood of Christ Jesus, the beloved Son.
And so living by His grace, and living in His presence, abiding as a member of His Body — in His Temple — brothers and sisters, parents and children, friends in Christ, love one another; for all of your sins and all of theirs are forgiven.
Behold, what beautiful stones you are, built into a holy Habitation. Even now the Lord your God is in your midst, dwelling in His Temple with such loving-kindness. Make the circuit of His City, set here on His holy Hill. Look well, and take it to heart, as you walk round about this place. See the Tower of His Cross, and Christ lifted up for you upon it; consider the Bulwark of His Baptism, and examine the Stronghold of His Sacrament. This is your God forever, your Savior evermore.
In the Name + of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment