Through the Water into Life with God in Christ Jesus

In the beginning, from out of nothing, the Holy Triune God created the heavens and the earth by the speaking of the almighty and eternal Word.  The Father spoke forth His only-begotten Son, and with that Word He breathed forth His Life-giving Holy Spirit; and thus did He bring forth all of Creation, beginning with water, a great cosmic deep, and then forming the earth out of water and by water.  That is how He chose to work, to begin and to proceed.  All of this was and is very good, because it was and is the work of God, the Lord, and because He still preserves and provides for His whole Creation in love.  The Father upholds all things by His Word, who is indeed His Son.

All of this the Lord has done, and still does, out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, for the sake of Man, male and female, created in His Image and Likeness for Life with Himself forever.

But of course, our first parents, Adam and Eve, rebelled against the Lord who had created them, who had given them life.  They disobeyed His Holy Word, though it was His Word that brought them into being, gave them body and life, and provided for them. And by their sin they plunged all of mankind, all of their children, into a downward spiral of sin and death and eternal damnation, which is separation from the Holy Triune God, from His Life and His Love and His Light.

Henceforth, all men and women, boys and girls, infants and toddlers receive this inheritance from their parents, from the first moment of conception in the womb.  It is this inheritance that you have likewise received from your father and mother, which you also pass on to your sons and daughters, this heritage of sin and death from which you cannot set yourself free.  The heart, soul, mind, and strength of man, of all the sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, are sinful from the outset.  That is the stream into which you were born, in which you would drown and die forever without God.

So it was that the Flood, for example, was God’s righteous judgment against the hardened hearts, unbelief, and rampant idolatry of Man.  The Holy Scriptures testify that the Lord was sorry that He had even created Man.  So He brought the waters of the Flood down upon their heads.

Yet, that same Flood, which was indeed the judgment of God against the sins of the world, was also a Type and a Sign of the great Salvation He would accomplish by His own Son, Jesus Christ, by His Holy Cross and Passion in His Body of Flesh and Blood.  For it is upon the head of Christ Jesus that God the Father finally pours out all His righteous wrath and judgment in your stead.

The Flood was thus a Type of that gracious washing of regeneration and rebirth by the Holy Spirit which the Lord has brought about in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism.  And so it was with faithful Noah and his family, eight souls in all, though they were descendants of Adam and Eve, conceived and born in sin and subject to death, they were saved by the waters of the Flood, which lifted them up in the mercies of God — pointing them and you and all mankind to Christ Jesus, our Savior.

Really, everything in the Old Testament — from before the foundation of the world, and even to the close of the age — it’s all about Jesus, the incarnate Son of God.  Everything depends upon Him, on His Incarnation, His Life, His Cross and Resurrection and Ascension.  Everything depends upon Jesus for its real meaning, for its purpose, and for its fulfillment in divine and holy Love.

So, for example, the Old Testament Exodus from Egypt is finally realized for what it truly is in the Exodus that Jesus accomplishes for us men and our salvation upon the Cross outside of Jerusalem and in His Resurrection from the dead.  He is the Firstborn Son who is put to death to set you free from Pharaoh’s satanic bondage.  And He is the Passover Lamb who is sacrificed in your stead, whose Flesh feeds you for Life, and whose Blood covers and protects you from death.

It is the wood of His Cross that parts the waters of the Red Sea; which is to speak of your Baptism in His Name, whereby you pass through those waters with Him, through death and the grave into Life in the Resurrection.  He feeds you with the heavenly Manna of His holy Body throughout your pilgrimage on earth, and He seals you in the New Covenant of His Blood in the Holy Communion.

In truth, until you finally tread the verge of Jordan — until your body is finally dead and buried from your life in this world — you never do outgrow the necessity and benefits of your Baptism.  As the Catechism has taught you, it possesses a lifelong and daily significance for you.

It is by your Baptism into Christ Jesus that you have been born again to a new and living hope through the Word of His Cross.  Like little fishes you were born in those waters, and as a Christian you live your whole life in those same waters of Holy Baptism, wherein the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit have recreated you in the Image and Likeness of God — which is to say, in Christ Jesus.

It is by your Baptism into Christ, the beloved and well-pleasing Son, that you are a dear child of God, and that He is your dear Father in heaven.  And it is by your Baptism in His Name that you have been anointed with the Life-giving Holy Spirit, unto faith and life in Christ Jesus, through the forgiveness of your sins (which you need each day, just as the Lord has taught you to pray).

Your Baptism is and does all of these things, because it is by your Baptism into Christ Jesus that you have been united with Him and bound to Him in His Cross and Resurrection; such that His Good Friday and His Easter are now yours — your dying and rising in and with Him.

Henceforth you live, no longer in Adam and for yourself, but in Him and for Him who for your sake died and was raised.  The river of sin and death flowing from Adam and Eve to all of their children has been cut off, because Christ has taken His stand — together with all of us mortals — in the middle of that stream.  He has planted Himself and His Cross, the true Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat of God, in the midst of the Jordan River.  And by His priestly Sacrifice of His own Body and Life, He has opened the Way for you and for all the baptized — out of the desert wilderness into the Promised Land of heaven, flowing not with sin and death, but with the pure spiritual Milk of His Word, like Water from the Rock, sweeter than honey from the honeycomb.

Thus has the new and greater Joshua, Jesus the Christ, established the New Israel of His Church, wherein He has fixed this Pillar and this Sign of Holy Baptism, which works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal Salvation — to you and to all who believe this, as the Words and Promises of God declare: “He who believes and is baptized will be saved.”

It is to this permanent Monument of Holy Baptism that Jesus calls you daily by His Word and Holy Spirit through contrition, repentance, and faith.  For it is with His Baptism that you also have been baptized; only, what was death for Him is now Life for you.  By your Baptism with Christ, your old Adam is crucified, put to death, and buried; he is drowned and destroyed, with all your sinful lusts and desires.  But, so also, by and from those waters of Holy Baptism, you arise and emerge to live before God as a new creation, to live in and with the New Man, the true and better Adam, Jesus Christ, in His righteousness and purity, which are yours by His grace through faith in Him.

So it is that you live with Him in His Kingdom, now and forever; and you do drink His Cup, the overflowing Chalice of His holy and precious Blood, unto the Resurrection and eternal Life.

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

As God Speaks by His Son, So Do You Pray in His Name

The Lord your God has commanded you to pray, and He has promised to hear you.  He has also taught you how to pray and what to pray, so that you may approach Him and call upon His Name with all boldness and confidence, as a child looking to your Father for all that you need.  And it is truly meet and right that you should do so, because your need for Him is great.  He is your Life and your Salvation, and He is your Help and Hope at all times and in all places.

Pray to Him in faith according to His Word, that is to say, in the way that He has taught you and in the confidence of His promises.  Because He has so tenderly invited you to do so, look to Him as your own dear Father in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son.  And rely upon Him for all good things, for all that you need in body and soul, trusting in His mercy, His grace, and His forgiveness.

This way of prayer is the way of true wisdom in the fear, love, and trust of the Holy Triune God.  It is your acceptable and pleasing sacrifice and your sweet-smelling incense in the presence of the Lord your God.  And it begins, not with your speaking, but with your listening to His Word.

You know how and what to speak, both to and about God — you know how and what to confess and to pray — first of all by hearing what God the Lord says to you, and then by speaking to and about Him as He has spoken.

“Righteousness looks down from the sky,” and then “faithfulness springs up from the ground.”

God speaks His justifying Word of the Gospel to you, and then by faith you pray to Him as He has spoken.  For His Word does not return to Him empty or unfruitful, but as the Lord gives the seed, the sunshine and rain from heaven, and thus brings forth a bounteous crop from the earth, so does He raise you up, a new creation, and open your mouth and your lips to show forth His praise.

It is from a heart of faith in Christ Jesus that you pray.  This Son of David, who is the incarnate Son of God, the true King of Wisdom and of Peace, He is the One by whom you pray and are heard.  He is God’s Word to you — the Word of the Father in the Flesh of His Son — who has become your sure and certain Word of Prayer to God.

This Lord Jesus Christ has accomplished and fulfilled the good and gracious Will of God for you and your salvation.  He has overcome death and the grave and He has defeated the devil by atoning for all your sins with His holy and precious Blood, by the sacrifice of Himself.  In His Resurrection from the dead and in His preaching of the Gospel of His Cross, He has brought and established the Kingdom of God in His Church on earth.  And in your Holy Baptism He has not only made you a free citizen of that fair and glorious Kingdom, but He has made you a member of the Household and Family of God, a dear child of His own Father, by naming you with His Name.

All of this for which you pray He has done for you by His Incarnation, Cross, and Resurrection, and He now gives to you by His Ministry of the Gospel, by His preaching and His Sacraments.

Thus, He teaches you to pray for the Gospel, first and foremost; which He delights to give to you and do for you by His grace.  He teaches you to pray for what He is already doing and giving!

The Gospel of Christ Jesus is the most important “daily bread,” without which you have no life.  Therefore, He teaches you to pray, that you would learn to know your need for it, and that you would look to Him alone to save you, and that you would receive the Gospel with thanksgiving.  He does not force it upon you, but He desires you to have it from Him so that you may live.

Worldly riches, earthly power, human fame, and temporal success, all are attractive and enticing, but all are empty of real life and altogether unable to save you.  To be sure, they are gifts of God, to be received and used with thanksgiving and sanctified by the Word of God and prayer.  But everything depends upon His Word and Holy Spirit, lest His good gifts become your deadly idols.

It is by and with the Gospel that the Lord your God gives you every good and perfect gift and all that you need, already here in time and all the more so for your body and soul hereafter in eternity.  With the Gospel God Himself is yours by His grace, and His Kingdom and His Righteousness are yours through His forgiveness of all your sins — purchased and won for you and all people by the giving of the Son of God into death upon the Cross and by the Resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead, who ever lives to make intercession for you before the Throne of His God and Father.

Everything depends upon the forgiveness of sins, since all that you deserve is only punishment, now and forever.  But the Gospel is entirely by the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus, by the divine Charity of the Father in His Son.  For His sake He forgives you all your sins.  In Him the Father speaks Peace to His people.  And with that grace He freely gives you all good things.  For it is in Christ Jesus, by your Baptism in His Name, that His God and Father is your God and Father.

He is your true Father, and you are His own dear child.  But He is not your Father only.  He is the Father of all who are baptized into Christ Jesus, the beloved Son.  He is the God and Father of all who belong to Christ by His grace, through faith in Him.

Therefore, as often as you pray, you do so in the fellowship of the whole Christian Church, both with and for your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.  You pray to one and the same God and Father of all Christians everywhere, in the holy Name with which each and all of you are named.

And all those many brothers and sisters of Christ, all those children of the heavenly Father, they all pray for you and with you in the one Lord, Jesus Christ, and in the Life-giving Holy Spirit.  Really, there is that one Prayer of Christ and His Spirit, to which your prayer and the prayer of all the baptized faithful is united.  The crucified and risen Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit are the uplifted Hands and the holy Incense of your prayer, of your evening and morning sacrifice, which ever arise and ascend to “Our Father who art in heaven” and are gladly received by Him.

As this great fellowship of the Church depends upon the forgiveness of sins, so does the Church on earth also live in the mutual forgiveness of sins — each and all of you, one for the other — confessing your sins to one another and freely forgiving each other in the confidence of Christ.

The faith that lives before God in Christ Jesus likewise dwells in love with the neighbor in Christ.  And as you pray to your Father in the faith and confidence that He daily and richly forgives you all your sins, so do you thus abide in His love and forgive your neighbors for Jesus’ sake.

By contrast, a refusal to forgive those who sin against you is a rejection of the very forgiveness of sins that you yourself need and depend upon.  And that refusal of your neighbor — that rejection of the Gospel for your neighbor — shipwrecks your faith and poisons your prayer.

You simply cannot pray in the peace of Christ Jesus while refusing to forgive your neighbor.

So it is that your Father calls you daily to repentance.  He does so in His great love for you, His own dear child, so that you do not grow cold and hard and die in your sins, but that you would be turned to Him in faith, to receive from Him the forgiveness, Life, and Salvation of Christ Jesus.

He performs a kind of open-heart surgery, cutting you open and piercing your flesh to its core, in order to expose and deal with your animosity and enmity, your bitterness and grudges, and your stubborn rejection of grace — for that is what your refusal to forgive your neighbor actually is.

This painful process, which threatens to kill you — and in a sense, it does, there on the operating table — that is the discipline of a loving Father for His dearly-beloved child.  He opens you up and exposes your sick and sinful heart in this way, in order to speak tenderly to your heart by His Son.

He allows you to be tempted and tried, and He puts you to the test, in order to restore your faith, and strengthen your faith, and teach you to pray.  For surely your need and your hurt, your poverty and suffering bring you to your knees and turn your ears and heart back to God, to listen to Him, and then also your mouth and your lips to pray, to call upon His Name for mercy and salvation.

He teaches you not to despair, but to pray in this way, and He also answers your prayer by the way and the means of His Gospel.  He hallows His Name in you by the preaching of His forgiveness.  And He protects your faith and life within His Kingdom by His Holy Spirit through the same Holy Gospel.  So, too, according to His good and gracious Will, He thwarts the wickedness of the devil, the world, and your own sinful flesh, and He preserves you steadfast in His Word and faith.

He daily and richly forgives you all your sins — by His Gospel in His Church — and He daily and richly provides you with all that you need for this body and life on earth.

And by this same grace and mercy, by the Word and Spirit of His Son, and by the strong protection and sacred service of His holy angels, He guards and keeps you in the midst of temptation, and He delivers you from every evil of body and soul.

So it is that trial and tribulation, temptation, and tragedy are not able to destroy you, but rather serve the purpose of driving you back to God, your Father in Christ Jesus, in whom you endure — in whom you have peace and rest — unto the Resurrection of your body and the Life everlasting.

That same Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, your Savior, is the true King Solomon, the real Prince of Peace, and the very Wisdom of God the Father.

By Him God speaks to you — His Perfect Peace and His Sabbath Rest for your body and your soul — and in Him you speak to God: You pray, praise, and give thanks, and you call upon His Name.

As He speaks to you by His Son, so do you pray to Him by the Same.  What is more, dear child of God the Father, your prayer is heard by Him, it is acceptable and pleasing to His ears, and it is gladly answered in love with a resounding “Yes” and “Amen,” which is Christ Jesus Himself.

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

The Word of Christ Is Near to You

It’s a rough and tumble world, and it’s easy enough to get caught up in the crush of the crowd, with so many people pushing and pulling at you, threatening to trample you beneath their feet, or else to drown and destroy you with their endless chatter, everybody talking at you, telling you what’s what, and what to do, and what you should be like.  There’s lots of noise and confusion, lots of words and information, and lots of competition and jockeying for position.

It is overwhelming, and yet, in its own way, enticing.  Against the onslaught of the crowds, you are tempted to impress them and appease them, to protect yourself from the critics, and to promote yourself with the movers and shakers, in the hopes of becoming someone important.

But none of the people, neither the celebrities nor the crowds, are able to save you or destroy you.  They can neither make you nor break you, not really.  For each and all of them are mortal, like yourself, subject to death and decay and held accountable to the judgment of God.

It is in the presence of the Lord your God that you live your life and die your death: Coram Deo, that is, before God, the Creator of the heavens and the earth and of all things.  He is the One with all authority — the authority to judge all of creation — because He is the Author and Giver of Life.

Therefore, He is the One, not only with power to hurt and kill, such as fallen man presumes to do with those who are smaller and weaker than himself; but God has genuine authority to condemn both soul and body forever: To “Gehenna,” Jesus says (though it is sometimes translated “hell”).

Gehenna was the name of a valley alongside Jerusalem, where, at various times, even the Israelites had resorted to sacrificing their own children, and where an ongoing fire served the potters’ kilns and the constant burning of rubbish and every manner of refuse.  It provides a vivid picture of hell on earth, but only God Almighty has the authority to consign both body and soul to such a place.  And He alone has the power and authority to save you, in body and soul, for the Life everlasting.

Therefore, the Lord Jesus exhorts you, not to be afraid of the world and its power-brokers, but to fear, love, and trust in the Lord your God above all things.  For He is the only true God, who is Life and Light and Love within Himself.  He has created you in holy Love, both body and soul, in His own Image and Likeness, for Life everlasting with Him, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Not only that, but the almighty and eternal Lord, who changes not, has Himself become a part of His own Creation by the conception and birth of the Son from the Blessed Virgin Mary.  He has lived and died in the Body, with flesh and blood like yours; and God the Father has also raised this incarnate Son, Christ Jesus, bodily from the dead.  So shall your body likewise be raised at the last, and glorified like unto the crucified and risen Body of your Lord, unto Life eternal in Paradise.

Do not doubt that it is true.  The One who created the sparrows and still cares for them, though they are but a dime-a-dozen, cares for you all the more and provides for you all that you need, for this life and for the Life to come.  You are precious to Him and valued most highly.  Just consider the price that He has willingly paid for you: not gold or silver, but His own Body and His Blood.

He who was crucified for you — who has also risen from the dead and lives and reigns forever as your great High Priest, always interceding for you at the Right Hand of God the Father — He now serves you in body and soul with His tangible Means of Grace, His Holy Word and Sacraments.

The Word of the Word-made-Flesh penetrates your heart and mind, your soul and spirit, through the ears of your body.  And your conscience is cleansed before the Lord your God by the washing of your body with pure water, that is, with water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word in Holy Baptism.  And your Savior Jesus Christ, the incarnate God, feeds you with His true Body and gives you to drink of His true Blood, which you eat and drink with your mouth.

Therefore, your body also is justified and saved by the Gospel of God; and in fact, your soul is not saved apart from your body, for it has no access to God apart from His Word and Sacraments.

So, then, take it seriously that the life which is yours in Christ Jesus, which you have by grace through faith in Him, is lived not only in your heart and in your head, but likewise in your body — in your words and in your actions, in what you say with your mouth and do with your hands.

And yet, you know well enough that your insides and your outsides don’t always match.  You know that what you say is not always what you’re thinking and feeling.  And you know that your actions are not always in harmony with your convictions and your actual preferences.

Those differences are not bad, but good and right, when they stem from the discipline of your sinful flesh, so that you do and say what you should, instead of what your old Adam desires.

At other times, however, it’s not a matter of self-discipline, but of hypocrisy, whereby you make an outward pretense for the sake of good impressions but out of sync with your conscience.

In this respect, there is actually a two-fold danger of hypocrisy.  There is, on the one hand, the outward show of false piety, in which you act the part of godly reverence and you go through the motions of the fear and faith of God, while your heart and mind are still far removed from Him.  Then you are like a white-washed tomb, decorated pretty on the outside, but hiding death within.

On the other hand, there is the hiding and disguising of the Christian faith and life, as though you could carry on with Jesus privately, while outwardly you live like a pagan and talk like a pirate, whether it be out of fear of “persecution” (be it martyrdom or being laughed at), or maybe to compete with the world on its terms, contesting for popularity, power, and prestige, or whatever.

One and the same person can be as pliable as Play-doh, shaped by the expectations — or by the perceived expectations — of the people around him.  So he may be pious and reverent at church, profane at school or work, and something else altogether by himself — probably lost and lonely without the crowd to play to, without an audience to perform for.

But the truth will come out.  It will.  Jesus says so.  And that is both a warning and a promise.  Your secret sins are not hidden from the Lord your God.  But so, too, your faith and life in Christ are also known to Him who loves you.  There is no concealing of your conscience before Him.

Where you actually stand with the one true God will be made known — in your life and in your confession, and in the final Judgment — whether for everlasting Life or everlasting punishment.

So, here is what you need to know: True Life is found only in Christ Jesus, crucified and risen, and it is had only by faith in Him, in His Gospel of forgiveness.  Not by your works, but by His.  And yet, such faith in Christ cannot be kept hidden in the heart.  It can’t — not without suffering loss.  No, faith in Christ is exercised, as it is expressed, with your mouth and with the rest of your body: In worship and in works of love — and in words of confession, whereby you speak as the Lord your God has spoken to you.  To say what He has said is how you know and speak the Truth.

Both faith itself and the words and works by which you confess the faith are the gracious work and the good gifts of God the Holy Spirit.  And He is near to you, indeed, He is actively present and at work in you, by and with the preaching of Christ Jesus.

The Holy Spirit calls you and brings you to faith in Christ by the Word of Christ.  There is no other way by which you believe and are saved.  And He likewise strengthens and sustains you in this true and saving faith by the same Word of Christ Jesus.  Apart from this Word, you die.  By it, you live.

The Holy Spirit preaches Christ to you, so that you believe in Christ and call upon His Name in prayer, praise, and confession of His Word.  What He speaks into your ears comes out of your mouth; for this is how the Spirit works in and with the Church, which is the Body of Christ Jesus.

The power and authority of this Word is the Gospel; for by the Word of Christ your doubts and fears, your denials and failings, and all your many other sins are freely and fully forgiven, just as He was crucified for your transgressions and God raised this same Christ Jesus from the dead.

So it was that Simon Peter, who denied Him, was forgiven and restored to faith and life in Christ.

But to set your heart and mind against the preaching of the Word of Christ is to resist and reject the Holy Spirit and His gracious work.  So it was that Judas Iscariot ended his own life in despair.

Beware that you do not harden your heart and mind in this way, lest you be condemned to the fire that burns forever, and your soul and body be consigned to a worse Gehenna than earth has known.

Rather, hear and heed the Word of Christ that is preached to you.  Hear and receive His Word of Absolution, that is, the forgiveness of all your sins; for with that Word He sets His own Cross and Resurrection before your eyes and thereby saves you from the fire forever and ever.

You need not scale the heights of heaven (nor can you!), as though to bring God down to you.  Nor can you raise yourself or anyone else from the deep dark abyss of death and the grave.  But the Lord your God has come down from heaven, and He has gone into the depths, into Sheol, into Gehenna, in order to raise you up with Himself.  God the Father has sacrificed His own dear Son, in order to atone for all of your sins and thereby to rob death and the devil of any claims on you.

Now the Son draws near to you in Peace, and He befriends you with His Word and Holy Spirit.  He reconciles you to Himself by the way of repentance and forgiveness of sins.  In this way He returns you daily to your Baptism, and He raises you up from sin and death to life with God.  For the Lord has surely set apart the godly for Himself, and you are godly by the grace of His Gospel.

With this Word of Christ Jesus the Holy Spirit teaches you what to confess, and He likewise gives you the confidence and courage to do so, come what may.

Cling to that Word with both your body and your soul, as He gives it to you generously in so many ways: by preaching and teaching, by the Holy Scriptures, by the Catechism, and by the Hymnal.

And for God’s sake, teach these things to your children, and to your children’s children, as you are given the opportunity; that they, too, may not die but live forever with God in Christ.  Read the Bible to them.  Sing hymns with them.  Pray with them and for them.  And bring them to church.

This Word of Christ is not powerless, it is living and Life-giving.  Indeed, the Lord Himself is very near you by and with His Word, as He preaches it into your ears, as He lays it upon your heart, and as He brings it to confession in your mouth.  So is He a very present help in every kind of need.

By His dying and rising He has received all authority in heaven and on earth, that is, the true power and authority of the New Creation — to forgive sins and to save sinners; to comfort you with His forgiveness, life, and salvation; to justify and save you in body and soul, for now and forever.

So does He grant you a quiet night, a restful sleep, and peace at the last.  And so does He raise you up in the true joy of His mercy, which is new every morning and ever shall be, world without end.

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

The Perfect Righteousness of Your Father

You are to be perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect: whole and complete, holy and righteous.

Indeed, unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the Kingdom of heaven.

But Whoever keeps and teaches the commandments of God, the Law and the Prophets, He shall be great in the Kingdom of heaven.  That is to live according to the Word of God, to find life in His Word, and to confess and teach His Word to others, especially to your own children, that they may learn to love the Lord their God and to live by faith in His Word, unto the Life everlasting.

So you are called, on the one hand, to live as an obedient child of God within your own particular place, and on the other hand, to become a true father or mother to those entrusted to your care.  This rhythm of receiving all things from your Father in heaven, and then handing over what you have received to those who come after you on earth, is fundamental to the Christian faith and life.

So it is that Christ Jesus has come, the Son of God in the Flesh, not to abolish the Law and the Prophets, but to fulfill them in Himself, in His own Body and Life.

What does this mean?  The Lord Jesus lives His entire life — and He lays down His Life in death upon the Cross — in perfect faith and love for His God and Father in heaven, and in steadfast love and with forgiveness for His neighbors here on earth, including you and all of yours.

He lives ethically and morally, to be sure.  That is a given for the One who fears, loves, and trusts in God above all things.  He possesses His own vessel, His Body and Life, in purity and holiness and peace.  But more than that, He serves His neighbors — even you — in grace and gentleness.

So fully and completely does He trust His God and Father, even unto death, that He also fully and completely offers up Himself and sacrifices Himself, as the Charity of God, in order to save His neighbors from sin, death, the devil, and hell — in order to save you for the Kingdom of heaven.

This, then, is the Royal Law, that you are to love your neighbor as yourself.  Not only your kinfolk and buddies and those who do you well, but also your enemies and persecutors, who hate you and hurt you, who take advantage of you and take you for granted, without any gratitude or thanks.

For the love of God, do not seek revenge but reconciliation with those who have done you wrong.  By the same token, do what you can to make amends and to be reconciled with those whom you have wronged.  For your part, be at peace with all your neighbors and do right by them in love.

So shall you be and live as a son of your Father in heaven.  Which is really to say that you live in Christ Jesus, as He has lived for you, and as He ever lives to do you good, in spite of your sins.

His mercy triumphs over judgment, as surely as His own Cross and Passion and His Resurrection from the dead have already actually achieved justice and righteousness for you and for all people.  By His holy and precious Blood and by His innocent suffering and death you are set free from the Law of transgressions, set free to live by His grace according to the Law of Liberty.

That is the glorious freedom that is yours through His forgiveness of all your sins.  It is the true freedom of faith in Christ, because there is no condemnation for you who are in Christ Jesus.

Such is the freedom truly to love and forgive your neighbor; because your life in Christ is secure, and God is your dear Father, and you are a free citizen of His Kingdom, on earth as it is in heaven.

Therefore, you are given to love your neighbor, not only as you love yourself, but, so much the better, as the Lord your God loves you.  That is not to harbor anger and resentment, and not to hurt your neighbor, whether with your fists or your words, but rather to provide assistance in need.

It is not to covet what your neighbor has, but — being content with what the Lord has given you — to use whatever you have been given to care for your neighbors in their circumstances, as you are able; to give rest to your neighbors, as you are given rest in Christ Jesus; to forgive, as you are forgiven; and to be reconciled with your neighbors, as God has reconciled you to Himself.

This is the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus, which far and away surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, and by which you are saved.  By faith in Christ, by faith in His Gospel, you have entered the Kingdom of heaven and you live with Him in His righteousness.  In Him you are right with God.  You are not condemned but rescued from every evil.  You are safe and sound forever.

This is your confidence and courage before God, which undergirds your charity for other people.

This is your perfect righteousness, because this is the perfection of your Father in heaven, that is, the fulfillment of His good and gracious Will in the Flesh and Blood of His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, your Savior.  He not only fulfills the Law and the Prophets, but He Himself is their perfect fulfillment; for He was crucified for your transgressions and raised for your justification, and He has thereby reconciled the whole world, including you, to God the Father in Himself.

He has made Himself the Poor Man, in order to make you wealthy with His grace.  He has given up His outer coat and His inner shirt, in order to cover your nakedness and shame, to clothe you with His righteousness, His holiness and peace.  He has gone the full distance to save you, and by His fair Name He has called you from out of death and the grave into the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.  So, then, as He offers up Himself in perfect faith and holy love, He also brings you in and with Himself to God.  And so are you made perfect in the righteousness of His mercy.

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

Given and Poured Out for You and for the Many

It is a common but misleading error to think of the Lord’s Supper as simply a “means to an end,” as one of many other means of forgiveness.  To be sure, it is a gracious means of forgiveness, and so also of Life and Salvation with God in Christ Jesus.  But this Chief Part of the Christian faith and life — the Sacrament of the Altar — is really the crescendo and fulfillment of everything else.

In the First Chief Part, the Ten Commandments reveal your sin and demonstrate your desperate need for a Savior from sin, death, and hell; and they provide you with the Word of God that you need to examine yourself honestly and rightly, so that you are able to confess your sins and receive the Lord’s Holy Absolution by way of the Fifth Chief Part, the Office of the Keys & Confession.

In the Second Chief Part, the Apostles’ Creed confesses and declares the Church’s holy faith in the Word and promises of the Holy Triune God, who grants Life, Life, and more Life to His people in the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.  And all this Life that you receive from the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is given to you, personally, in the Fourth Chief Part, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, whereby you are God’s own child, united with the Lord Jesus Christ in His Cross & Resurrection.

In the Third Chief Part, the Our Father teaches and gives to you the very Words with which to pray as a baptized child of God in Christ Jesus, calling on His Name with bold confidence for all that you need in both body and soul.  And all of these things that you believe, teach, confess, and pray for, the Lord graciously places into your hands, upon your lips, and into your mouth and body in the Sacrament of the true Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, given and poured out for you.

Far from being a means to some other end, the Lord’s Supper is the very Foretaste of the End — a very present and real participation in the divine, eternal Life and Salvation of the Holy Triune God.  It is, indeed, Paradise itself here on earth, in the face of Satan, sin, and death, and in the midst of this fallen and perishing world with all its sickness and sorrow.  What more could you ask or hope for than the Body and Blood of your crucified and risen Lord Jesus, your Savior and God?  In truth, nowhere are you closer or more intimately united to Him in this body and life on earth.

Of course, much time has been spent in the course of Christian history arguing over the presence of Christ Jesus in His Holy Supper.  Such arguments are a shame, but the Body and Blood of Christ in His Sacrament are not incidental, inconsequential, or irrelevant, but central and fundamental.  To put it bluntly, it is worth fighting about; the Truth is that important.

You cannot know or embrace the true significance of the Holy Communion without knowing what the Sacrament of the Altar is: “The true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.”  Anything else or less than the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus, which He gives to you here, would leave you without the forgiveness and grace, life and salvation with which He feeds your body and soul in His Supper.

Along with this confession, that the Sacrament of the Altar is the true Body and Blood of Jesus, given and poured out for you and for the many, there is also the larger significance of this Blessed Sacrament for your faith and life in Christ.  We could hardly begin to exhaust that significance, even if we spoke of nothing else from now until eternity.  But I have often found that three Old Testament precursors are especially helpful in grasping the meaning and purpose of this Supper.

Probably the most obvious Old Testament precursor to the Lord’s Supper — indeed, the context in which it was first given and poured out for you and for the many — is the Passover, which was so central and instrumental to the Lord’s deliverance of His Israel from Pharaoh’s bitter yoke.

You’ve heard the beginning of that story again this evening.  When the Lord was about to bring the sons of Israel out of Egypt by His mighty arm and outstretched hand — when He would send His Angel of Death throughout the land to slay the firstborn son in each and every household — He prescribed the Passover as a means of grace to be eaten by those who trusted in Him.

Instead of the firstborn sons of Israel, each household would sacrifice a male lamb without spot or blemish.  On the night of the Exodus from Egypt, the blood of that lamb would be applied to the doorposts and lintel of each home — in the shape of a cross! — to protect the family from the Angel of Death; and within that house the flesh of the lamb would be eaten as a meal of salvation.

All of this was a marvelous exercise of the Lord’s mercy upon Israel.  But as with everything in the Old Testament, the Passover also pointed forward to the coming of the Christ and His Cross.

Indeed, the true Passover Lamb is our dear Lord Jesus, the Christ.  He is the firstborn Son of God, who willingly offered His Life as a sacrificial Lamb in the stead of the entire world.  And now, in His Holy Supper, His Blood covers you from death, His Flesh is given as your Meal of Salvation.

Following the Exodus from Egypt — after all the people had been “baptized into Moses in the Cloud and in the Sea,” as St. Paul writes  — the Lord established His Covenant with the sons of Israel at Mt. Sinai.  He declared Himself to be their God, and He blessed them to be His people.

At the foot of that sacred Mountain of God, sacrifices of oxen were made on behalf of the people.  Then Moses took half of the blood from those sacrifices and sprinkled it on the Altar as an offering to the Lord.  And the other half of the same blood he sprinkled on the people to seal the Covenant between them and the Lord their God.  “This is the blood of the Covenant,” he said as he did so.

Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was handed over to His voluntary suffering and death upon the Cross, took up those same Words of Moses and made them uniquely His own in the pouring out of His Blood of the New Covenant for His disciples to drink in the Sacrament.  So does He now give you to drink from His Cup, the New Covenant or Testament in His Blood, here at His Altar.  The same Blood that He offered to the Father on the Cross, He now pours out for His people to drink as the Seal, Pledge, and Guarantee of His free forgiveness, eternal Life, and Salvation.

We typically think and speak of the “Old” and “New Testaments” as collections of Books in the Bible.  But in actual fact, the Old Testament was really that Blood of the Covenant at Mt. Sinai; and the New Testament, likewise, according to the Words of our Lord Jesus Himself, is the Cup of His own Blood which He pours out for you and for the many, for the forgiveness of sins.

That is the “New Covenant” that God promised through the Prophet Jeremiah, in which He gives Himself to each and all of His dear children.  For He comes to you and feeds you with His own Body and Blood, intimately uniting Himself to you, and giving you His Life in body and soul.

If you pray that He would be your God, if you would be and live as His child, then learn from Him to seek and to find the answer to that prayer in His Sacrament of the Altar, His New Testament.

As the sons of Israel then wandered in the wilderness on their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan, you know how the Lord provided them with Manna from Heaven.  In fact, we  recently heard reference to that daily bread with which He fed them so faithfully all those years.

Well, the Lord Jesus reveals in one of His sermons, recorded by St. John, that the Manna was really pointing forward to the true and living Bread from Heaven — that is, to Christ Jesus Himself, the  Word of God who became Flesh and tabernacles with us; who has come down from the bosom of the Father in heaven, conceived and born of St. Mary, in order to save us all from sin and death.

The Bread that He gives for the life of the world is His own Flesh.  He says so, Himself.  So does He also promise that whoever eats His Flesh and drinks His Blood will never die — as those who ate the Manna did — but they will live forever in and with Him, sharing His divine eternal Life.

It is, of course, this true Bread from Heaven, this Flesh and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, that He spreads before you in this Feast of His Holy Supper, here at His Table in His House.  And it is of the greatest significance and benefit — for you — because of the Words with which He gives to you His Body to eat and pours out His Blood for you to drink, for the forgiveness of your sins.

His Words of Institution — the Verba Testamenti with which He gives this Holy Supper — and His Body and Blood thus given — indicate, first of all, the meaning and purpose of His Sacrifice; that no one takes His life from Him, but He lays it down willingly in faith and love, handed over by His God and Father to His Cross and Passion for the reconciliation of the world.  Thus did He sacrifice Himself in obedience to His Father and with divine compassion for you and all people.

And just as He offered up His Body and His Blood in sacrificial death for you and all upon the Cross, so does He now hand over His Body and Blood to you and to the many, to eat and to drink, in order to give to His disciples all the fruits and benefits of His Sacrifice.  Apart from His Words — that these most Holy Things are here given for you — you would hardly dare to take the Body and Blood of the almighty and eternal Son of God upon your lips; nor could you ever do so.  But the fact is that He has spoken — and His words, for you, invite you to believe and trust in Him.

Take these precious and priceless Words to heart, and so also take the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus into your mouth with peace and joy and hope and confidence in Him.  There is no greater treasure in heaven or on earth than these sacred Gifts.  And your own dear Savior desires nothing more than this, that you should receive them as your very own, as your participation in His Life.

When you are tempted by the devil, by the world, and by your own flesh to avoid the Sacrament — whether it be out of a misguided sense of humility or a false sense of unworthiness, as though you could ever be worthy of yourself to eat and drink the Body and Blood of Christ — or whether it be out of laziness or pride — consider the good advice that Dr. Luther gives in the Catechism:

“What should encourage a Christian to receive the Sacrament frequently?”

In respect to God, both the command and the promise of Christ the Lord should move him, and in respect to himself, the trouble that lies heavy on him, on account of which such command, encouragement, and promise are given.

“But what shall a person do if he be not sensible of such trouble and feel no hunger and thirst for the Sacrament?”

To such a person no better advice can be given than this:

First, that he put his hand into his bosom, and feel whether he still have flesh and blood, and that he by all means believe what the Scriptures say of it (in Galatians and Romans).

Second, that he look around to see whether he is still in the world, and keep in mind that there will be no lack of sin and trouble, as the Scriptures say (in John’s Gospel and 1st Epistle).

Third, he will certainly have the devil also about him, who with his lying and murdering, day and night, will let him have no peace within or without, as the Scriptures picture him (in John’s Gospel, as well as First Peter, Ephesians, and Second Timothy).

In all things, at all times and in all places, it is the Word of the Lord that catechizes you in the true Christian faith and life.  And Christ be praised that, by His Word and promise, you have such a sure and certain refuge in His Body and His Blood — given into death upon the Cross for your Atonement and Redemption — and now given and poured out for you here in His Supper for the free and full forgiveness of all your sins, and for Life and Salvation with Him in body and soul.

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

The Place and the Means Wherein the Lord Abides with You

Like the Tabernacle before it, the Temple in Jerusalem was the way and the means by which God the Lord dwelt among His Old Testament people with grace and mercy and forgiveness.  It’s not that God needed a place to stay; He was not homeless.  Nor could all the heavens and the earth contain Him.  But He established His House on earth to be a place of peace and rest for His people.

In fact, the Temple was the place where the Lord God caused His Name and His Glory to dwell.  It was neither accidental nor arbitrary, but very deliberate and particular.  As you have heard in Solomon’s prayer of dedication, wherever the people might be, in Israel or elsewhere, their prayer and worship were to be toward this place, this House in this City, according to the Lord’s promise.

The Temple was a means of grace for the people then, as surely as Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper are means of grace for you.  For God is ever and always attaching His Word to particular places and things, to particular objects and actions.  So, just as otherwise ordinary water, bread, and wine become Sacraments of Christ Jesus at His Word, so was the Temple an actual place where God was tangibly present with His people.  And, as such, it was to be a House of Prayer.

At the heart and center of all prayer, as also in the Our Father, is the petition for the forgiveness of sins.  As Dr. Luther explains, if God does not forgive our sins, first of all, then we’ll not receive anything else, either.  And we hear that echoed in Solomon’s dedication prayer, as well.  Over and over, the thing for which he prays, and the thing for which the people will pray when they come to the Temple or look to the Temple, is forgiveness: “Hear, O Lord, from heaven, and forgive.”

So the Temple was not only a House of Prayer but a House of Sacrifice.  Every morning and every evening, sacrifices were offered — in order that the incense of prayer could also then be offered.  As prayer depends on the forgiveness of sin, the sacrifices were offered every day for atonement, so that the prayers and intercessions of the people and the priests would be heard and answered.

Of course, all of these Old Testament things had their power and authority from the Christ who was to come, and from His coming Sacrifice upon the Cross.  All the blood of all those bulls and goats, lambs and sheep, all those prayers, and all that incense, it was all pointing to Christ Jesus.

The Temple was the place where God’s Name and Glory dwelt in the Old Testament, the location of His grace, mercy, forgiveness, and peace.  As such, it was also the place to which the people were called and returned in repentance and faith.  Whenever they wandered away, wherever they ended up, whatever sort of mess they got themselves into, the Lord was always calling them back to His House in Jerusalem, to the place of His promise, to the grace and glory of His Name.  And that is a picture, not only of Israel’s history, but of your life, also; for there is no one without sin.

Thus, God disciplines His children in love, because that is what a good father does.  Which is to say that He calls them to repentance — back to Himself — to His House and Home and Family.  In doing so, He teaches them how to live as those who bear His Name, and He keeps them safe and secure, close to Himself, at peace with Him and with each other in the forgiveness of His Gospel.

The Lord’s discipline always aims to bring His children out of harm and danger, away from sin and death, and closer to Him.  His desire is never to cast them away from His presence, but to restore them to divine Life in faith and love within His household and family.  That requires both Law and Gospel, the preaching of repentance and forgiveness of sins.  And the Lord your God is the Master at doing this.  No one knows how to apply the Law and the Gospel better than He does.  So, that is what He’s all about when He disciplines you, both with His Word and by various other ways.

By way of example, Solomon mentions in his prayer that God will sometimes shut up the heavens and withhold the rain, or bring a famine or a plague upon the land, because the people have sinned and turned away from Him — that they should repent of their sin and call upon His Name in faith.

Dr. Luther similarly warned the people in his day that, if they persisted in despising the Word of the Lord and neglecting His good gifts of the Gospel, He would likewise send such a drought and famine of His Word upon them.  Then they would long for His Word and the preaching of it, but there would be not a drop or a crumb to be found.  It has seemed to me, over this past year, in particular, that our Lord in His mercy has exercised precisely such a discipline upon His people, in order to restore them to a genuine hunger and thirst for His Kingdom and His Righteousness.

God grant that we would learn not to despise or neglect His good gifts, but to call upon His Name at all times and seasons, to pray, praise, and give thanks, and to avail ourselves of His Gospel!

As you have heard, Solomon also prays concerning enemies, including those who defeat the people of God in battles.  And you have had such enemies and battles, too.  I’m not talking about your high school nemesis or workplace rival, but your real enemies of sin, death, and the devil, and the battles you wage with your addictions, the desires of your flesh, and countless other temptations that confront you in this mortal body and life.  How often have you lost those battles?  And then you are faced with the sting of defeat, with guilt and shame and doubts and fears, inside and out.

There are those enemies that carry you away and take you captive altogether — addictions that take over your life and become besetting sins, which may end up dogging you until the day you die.  So did Babylon take the people of Judah into captivity because of their rebelliousness, idolatry, and rampant disobedience.  But then, like the Prodigal Son, in that far country to which you have been taken, by the grace and mercies of God you begin to remember who you are and who your Father is; and by His Word and Spirit you turn back to Him with your whole heart and soul — you call upon His Name — and He hears and answers your prayer, forgives you all your sins, and restores you to faith and life in Him.  He brings you back to the Temple of His Church on earth.  That is, again, the point and purpose of His discipline, because He loves you and longs to save you.

In returning to the Lord in His Temple you confess that you have sinned against Him and deserve nothing but punishment, but that you also fear, love, and trust in Him and rely upon His mercy and forgiveness.  Such confession on your lips flows from a heart of repentance, a broken and contrite heart, which the Lord does not despise.  And though it is possible to confess hypocritically, that is, to say the right words while your heart remains cold and hard, it is hardly possible to repent with your heart without also confessing with your lips; for as you believe, so do you also speak.

You confess the faith and you confess the Creed because these things are true.  And for that same reason, in much the same way, you confess your sins according to the Word that God has spoken.  You do as both the Scriptures and the Catechism have taught you, which is to examine yourself in the light of the Ten Commandments, and then to confess the truth concerning your sins.

You have had other gods.  You have misused God’s Name to curse and swear, but have not called upon His Name in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.  You have despised the preaching of His Word, and you have despised your parents and other authorities.  You have hated your neighbor in your heart and injured him with your words and actions.  You have been angry unrighteously and let the sun go down on your anger.  Instead of helping your neighbor you have neglected his needs and added to his woes.  You have lusted after your neighbor’s wife or husband.  You have coveted and taken what God the Lord has not given, thereby making idols of those things that are not God.

God calls you to repent for each and all of these sins, and He is serious in doing so, for they are not only wrong, they are deadly.  Your sins cut you off from God, because they contradict His Word and so destroy both faith and love.  They rob you of the Life that He desires to give you.

So He calls you to repentance and faith, away from your sins and back to Himself in His Temple.  He calls you and all the nations to find compassion, mercy, and forgiveness in His Name.  That’s not some kind of “pie in the sky,” nor is it merely some idea in your head or a feeling in your heart.  He calls you to the place and to the means wherein His Name and His Glory now abide for you.  He calls you to the Temple of His Church on earth, to the Ministry of His Gospel in His Church.

This Temple of His Church is established, now and forever, in the Body of Christ Jesus, crucified and risen from the dead, given and poured out for you and for the many in the preaching of His Word and in His Holy Sacraments.  Not only that, but you are a member of His Body, His Church — a living stone within His Temple — because you are baptized into Him, into His Cross and Resurrection, and because you eat His Body and drink His Blood in His Holy Supper.

It is in His Body of Flesh and Blood that Christ Jesus was crucified for your transgressions and made Atonement for all your sins, and not only for your sins, but for the sins of the whole world.  So it is from His Body — in the water and the blood that flow from His wounded side — in and with the Spirit that He breathes upon His Apostles in sending them forth in His Name — it is from His Body that forgiveness is given to the ends of the earth.  And it is in His crucified and risen Body that you are reconciled to His God and Father, justified and righteous in His presence.

As you have heard again from St. Paul this evening, “God has reconciled the world to Himself, not counting men’s trespasses against them; for He made Him who knew no sin to be Sin, so that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him.”  The Lord your God has done this.  He has reconciled you and the whole world to Himself in the Person of Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son.  He is at Peace with you.  He loves you and forgives you.  And He calls you to Himself through the Ministry of Reconciliation, whereby His servants preach repentance and forgiveness in His Name.

You, then, be reconciled to God.  Turn away from sin and death, and return to the Lord your God.  Call upon His Name.  Seek Him where He may be found.  And know that He is found right here in His Church and Ministry of the Gospel, in the preaching of His Word and in His Sacraments.

The Ministry of Reconciliation surely includes all of the ways in which the Gospel is administered in the life of the Church: The preaching of the Word of Christ, the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism, and His Body given, His Blood poured out for you in His Holy Supper, a real Feast instead of drought and famine.  And along with all of these, there is also Individual Confession and Holy Absolution, resting on the sure and certain Word and promise of your dear Lord Jesus Christ, who says to His ministers, “Whosoever sins you forgive, they are forgiven.”

Is this a matter of the Law?  Do you “have to” go to Confession?  No, that is not the point.  But there is a great benefit to this means of grace and forgiveness, which is the voice of God on earth.  It is one-on-one pastoral care, whereby the Good Shepherd guards and keeps you safe and sound as a sheep within His green pastures, beside His streams of water, and at His Table in His House.

Here is a means of repentance and reconciliation, whenever you are brought to a recognition of your sins and failings, and as often as you find yourself out of sorts and at odds with God and with your neighbors.  It is, as Dr. Luther often said, a return to the significance of your Holy Baptism, a way to reorient yourself, by God’s Word and Spirit, in faith toward Him and in love for others, that you might rest and reside at His Altar in peace, where His Name and His Glory dwell for you.

“By what authority?”  That’s the question they put to Jesus, right?  “By what authority do you do these things?”  How on earth is it that any man should presume to forgive anyone else’s sins?

It’s certainly not by my own authority that I speak the Lord’s Word of Holy Absolution.  But it is by the same authority with which St. John the Baptist came preaching and baptizing, and by the same authority with which Christ Jesus laid down His Life upon the Cross and took it up again in His Resurrection from the dead — the same authority by which He sent His holy Apostles to make disciples of all nations.  It is, indeed, by the special authority which Christ has given to His Church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners.  It is the authority of His Word, whereby your old Adam is put to death and the New Man is raised up in you.  It is the authority of His Gospel, by which He heals you, feeds and waters you, and gives you Life with God by the Tree of His Cross.

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

Baptized into the Entire History and Life of Christ Jesus

The Sacrament of Holy Baptism is the fulfillment of Lent and everything it is about.  The baptismal Font is the location of your own personal Holy Week, where you are drowned and buried with Christ Jesus in His death, and so also united with Him in His bodily Resurrection from the dead.

The waters of Holy Baptism, administered with the Word of Christ Himself, are the means by which Good Friday and Easter become “meaningful,” important, and significant for you.  For the Passion, Cross, and Resurrection of Jesus are not just ancient history or memorable events of the past; they are an eternal reality that you enter into and share with Him by way of this Sacrament.

So it is that the sacred Season of Lent, such as we have known it and observe it, developed as a time of preparation for Holy Baptism.  The older candidates for Holy Baptism would be engaged in a final period of focused catechesis in the foundational stories of the Holy Scriptures and the chief parts of the Christian faith and life throughout the “forty days” of Lent, in the hope and expectation that they would receive the washing of water with the Word at the Easter Vigil.

It is both interesting and instructive to consider the content of their Lenten catechesis.  In the last few weeks they would, for example, receive and memorize the Creed and the Our Father, the most basic confession and prayer of the Church, such as we have recently considered, which they would also confess and pray beginning with their Baptism in the Name of the Lord.  And in particular, along with those “chief parts” of the faith, their pastor or catechist would review the entire Old Testament history of Salvation — Creation, the Flood, the slavery of Egypt and the Exodus, the Manna in the wilderness, and the crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Canaan.

Now, on the one hand, that sounds like basic Sunday School stuff.  And of course it makes good sense in that respect, also.  But more to the point is the connection between those Old Testament events and the cosmic reality and divine significance at work in the waters of Holy Baptism.

The fact is that everything God was doing for the life and salvation of His people throughout the Old Testament — and really throughout history — and all that He has done for the world in Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son — He has done for you and given to you, personally, in Holy Baptism.

The waters of your Baptism are for you the waters of the New Creation — the great cosmic deep over which the Spirit of God hovers as divine and Life-giving Breath.  And again, they are the waters of the Flood, whereby sin, death, and all the power of the devil — your old Adam and all his cohorts, the whole motley crew — are drowned and destroyed; whereas the same waters of Holy Baptism uphold and support the Holy Ark of Christendom, wherein you are kept safe and sound, dry and secure, along with faithful Noah and his family.  And emerging from that deluge of the Font, like a newborn infant from the womb, you arise and live as a beloved child of God.

It is precisely in this way, by the catechesis of the Word of God and by the washing of the water with His Word, that you have actually become a part of that Christian faith and life and salvation which you have been taught to confess in the Creed.  Do you believe in God the Father Almighty? Yes.  Do you believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord? Yes. And do you believe in the Holy Spirit? Yes.  Well, the Life and Light and Love of that Holy Triune God is the divine and eternal reality that you have received and entered into by the grace of God in your Holy Baptism.

Everything that you confess by the Word and Spirit of God along with the whole Church on earth, is now your story, your life, and your salvation in the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, is the Key that has made all of this possible for you.  For He is the One who has conquered sin, death, the devil, and hell, by His Sacrifice upon the Cross.  And He is the One who has opened heaven to all those who believe and are baptized into Him.

So, too, it is the Baptism of Christ Jesus Himself in the Jordan River that has sanctified the waters of your Baptism to be a gracious washing of forgiveness, divine Life, and eternal Salvation.  For though He is the almighty and eternal Son of God from all eternity, holy, sinless, and perfect, He entered the waters of the Jordan and took upon Himself all of your sins and death and suffering, in order to carry all those things in His own Body and put them to death in Himself on the Cross.

Consequently, when you entered the waters of your Baptism, saturated with sin and weighed down by your own mortality, you received in exchange the Righteousness and Holiness of Jesus and all the benefits of His Sacrifice upon the Cross and His Resurrection from the dead.  All that He is and everything that He has done has thus been freely given to you and credited to your account.

So it is that you have become — and so you are — a son of God in Christ Jesus, regardless of whether you’re a boy or girl, a man or woman; because your relationship to God the Father is in His beloved Son, Christ Jesus.  As I have often said, the voice of God from His opened heaven now declares that you are His beloved and well-pleasing son, because you are baptized into Christ; which is how and why you have the blessed privilege of praying to God as your own dear Father.

So have you also received the Holy Spirit, as surely as He descended on Christ Jesus in bodily form as a dove at His Baptism.  For all that He has received is given to you, as well, by the ways and means of the Gospel.  The Spirit of God has been poured out upon you generously in your Holy Baptism, and now He wells up in you as a Spring of Living Water which flows outward in holy faith and holy love, in the prayer and confession of the Word that God the Father speaks to you in His Son.  The same Spirit preserves your faith and life in Christ within His Holy Church.

Accordingly, just as the Cross and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus are far more than just historical events of the past, so is your Baptism far more than just another memorable date on the calendar of your life.  Indeed, your Baptism has an ongoing, daily, and lifelong significance, which actually defines your entire vocation as a Christian and all that you do and say as a disciple of Christ Jesus.

The drowning and dying of your old Adam and all his cohorts, which began with your personal Flood in the baptismal Font, is a drowning and dying that must continue throughout your life on earth.  In this body and life, there is never a point at which you can say that sin is once and for all behind you.  It is a battle that rages both within you and all around you until the Lord shall finally call you from this fallen and perishing world to Himself in heaven.

But the battle you engage with sin and your old Adam is not won by your good intentions or firm resolutions on your part.  As Christ defeated Satan by clinging to the Word of God and allowing Himself to be killed, so do you triumph by clinging to His Word and allowing yourself to be put to death with Him.  And what that means for you, specifically, is daily contrition and repentance, the confession of your sins, and the exercise of faith in the forgiveness of the Gospel.

In this way, the Sacrament of Holy Baptism already anticipates and really initiates the Fifth Chief Part on Confession and Holy Absolution.  For Dr. Luther, confessing your sins and receiving forgiveness in the Name of Christ Jesus was simply the ongoing activity of Baptism in your life.  It is not only for those who find themselves in a crisis over some great unusual sin; it is the most natural thing in the world for Christians, who acknowledge their sins and yet cling to their Lord.

Indeed, repentance and forgiveness are yet another way in which Holy Baptism continues to bring the reality and significance of those Old Testament events into your personal story as a child of God in Christ.  This, too, belongs to your Exodus from the slavery of sin to the freedom of faith.

Baptism is your crossing of the Red Sea out of the Egypt of sin; and at the last, Baptism will be your crossing of the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Paradise.  Then shall you be raised from the dust of the earth to be glorified and live in your own body, like unto the glorious Body of Christ Jesus.  And in the meantime, you live in the desert with your Lord and with His people, feasting on the Manna from heaven which He alone provides, and trusting His providential care for all that you need in both body and soul, both for this life and for the Life everlasting.

As you live this way in Christ Jesus — walking, as it were, on the waters of your Baptism — you find that He and His Spirit live in you, as well.  Despite your sins and weaknesses, which persist throughout your life on earth, you also begin to live the New Life that is yours in Christ Jesus by the washing of water with His Word.  Hence, the Law of God, including the Ten Commandments, is no longer just a curb to restrain you or a club to crush you in your sins, but now also a positive description of who you are in Christ Jesus, a beloved child of God anointed by His Holy Spirit.

What it all boils down to is this: In Holy Baptism the Life of Christ Jesus has become your own — the Life that He lived and offered for you and for all, for the forgiveness of your sins and the hope of eternal salvation — and the Life He continues to live in you and through you.  It is His Life which defines your identity as a beloved child of God and permeates all that you do and say.

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

To Pray at All Times and Not Lose Heart

The Lord Jesus teaches you to pray at all times — day and night, throughout your life — and not to lose heart.  Not as a desperate last resort, but with the unwavering confidence of a little child, knowing and trusting that your prayer is heard and will be answered by your Father in heaven.

Such prayer is the voice of faith, which looks to the Lord your God and expects good things from Him.  Such faith rests upon His Word and promise in Christ Jesus and boldly calls upon His Name.  And whoever thus calls on the Name of the Lord shall be saved.  Believe that is so, and pray.

It is to catechize you in such faith and prayer that your dear Lord Jesus tells this Parable of the Widow and the Judge.  It’s one of His great stories.  You can picture the scene, the woman in dire straits, in desperate need of justice, probably in danger of losing whatever little property she has.  She needs someone to help her, to contend for her, to fight for her and not take advantage of her.

Out of necessity that poor widow goes to that hardhearted judge, though he has no regard for God or man.  He is an unrighteous judge who acts only in his own self-interest.  He looks with contempt on the widow; he does not want to bother with her, he has no interest in helping her, and so he does his best to ignore her.  Only, she won’t stop asking for his help, because she has no choice, no one else to ask.  And her persistence finally wears him down, to the point that he relents and gives her justice, not because he cares, and not because it is good and right, but just to get her off his back.

That’s the picture Jesus paints of constant prayer — that you should confidently call on the Name of the Lord who loves to hear and answer His elect, who grants them justice and does it quickly.

It’s interesting how closely this Parable lines up with the story of Jacob, who wrestled through the night with that “Man” who turns out to be the Lord.  You can imagine that situation, too.  He has basically had to flee from his Uncle Laban, who has become envious and jealous of the blessings God has bestowed upon his nephew.  Despite Jacob’s personal faults and shortcomings, the Lord has been with him according to His promise, and Jacob has prospered in his years with Laban.  But now he is returning to the scene of his crime, as it were — to the brother he deceived and swindled, who was previously determined to kill him.  So Jacob doesn’t know what will happen.

He does what he can to hedge his bets.  He hopes for the best and prepares for the worst.  He sends his wives and his children and all his worldly possessions across the stream.  And then, through the long dark night, he is left alone.  I’m guessing that all of you have had nights like that, when everything is falling apart, crashing down around your ears, and everyone else has gone away, or so it seems and feels.  In the darkness you are all alone.  And perhaps you have also spent such nights wrestling with the Lord, with cries and tears and groaning too deep for words, looking for some help, some comfort, some peace and rest, a blessing in the midst of danger and heartache.

The “Man” comes and wrestles with Jacob.  That is the key.  Jacob refuses to let go of Him — but does anybody really think that God the Lord could not get away?  God has come to wrestle with Jacob, and God holds on to him.  He teaches Jacob how to pray.  And so does He also teach you.

Jacob finally lets go when he receives the blessing he has sought.  That’s what he’s after when he asks for the “Man’s” Name.  For it is by and with His Name that Yahweh blesses His people, as in the Benediction, whereby Aaron and his sons bless the other sons of Jacob with the Name of the Lord.  So in this case, the Lord blesses Jacob with His Name; and He gives to him a new name.

This is how you should pray, as well, calling upon the Name of the Lord and refusing to let go until He lays His Name upon you and blesses you with His Name.  So has He taught you, invited you, and commanded you to call upon His Name in every trouble and temptation, to pray, praise, and give thanks at all times and in all places.  And of course, you are given to seek and receive the blessing of His Name especially in the Liturgy of His Gospel, in His own Word and Sacraments.

But you do not know how to pray as you should.  And you do not pray as you should, because of your weakness, because of your sinful doubts and fears and lack of faith.  You do not listen to the Word of God, you do not trust it, and so you are too timid or too proud to pray.  Of yourself, left to yourself, that is how it is.  You do not listen to the Lord, and you do not call upon His Name.

But in His tender mercy and compassion, in His deep love for you, the Lord does for you what He once did for Jacob.  He prevails with you and for you.  He comes to wrestle with you, and He strives with you, and He teaches you how to pray.  Not only that, but He Himself prays for you.  Your dear Lord Jesus Christ, your merciful and great High Priest, ever lives to intercede for you.  And the Holy Spirit also helps you in your weakness, He prays and intercedes for you at all times.

Christ Jesus and the Holy Spirit pray and intercede for you; and they also teach you to pray, first of all by calling you to repentance and to faith in the Gospel, and then also by giving you the very Words with which to pray: “Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. . . .”

“When you pray, say this.”  So the Lord Jesus has instructed you with reference to the Our Father.  Not to restrict you, but to supply you and support you.  He puts these Words upon your lips and in your mouth, where you would otherwise have no right words and nothing to say.  He thereby gives you the Wisdom of God and the Spirit of God.  Consequently, during those long dark nights when everyone else has gone away, and everything is in danger, and you are threatened and afraid and seemingly all by yourself — you open up your mouth, and out come these Words of Christ.

In your Holy Baptism this Lord Jesus Christ has given you His Name.  The Lord renamed Jacob, “Israel.”  The Lord has renamed you, as well, with the very Name of God, the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, the Name of Christ Jesus.  So you bear His Name.  He has blessed you.  He has given you His Spirit and made you a dear child of His own God and Father.

“Do you not know that all of you who are baptized into Christ are sons of God in Christ?”  So, God is your Father.  You don’t have to be afraid of Him.  You don’t have to bribe or bargain with Him.  You are His child, He is your Dad.  So, call upon His Name, the Name which He has given you.

That’s how you pray the Our Father.  It is in virtue of your Holy Baptism, whereby He has given you the new birth of water and the Spirit.  You thus share in the Sonship of Christ Jesus, so that His God and Father is your God and Father.  When you open up your mouth and pray the Words that Christ Himself has given you, and when you open up your mouth to pray from the heart of faith that Christ has worked in you by His Word and Holy Spirit — and when that Spirit of Christ Jesus prays in you and with you — what your Father in heaven hears is Jesus, His beloved Son.

Will the Son of Man find faith when He comes upon the earth?  Indeed He does, because He has first of all established such faith and faithfulness in Himself, in His own Flesh and Blood, for you and all the children of man, for widows and orphans in distress, once and forever.  And now by His Word and Holy Spirit He calls you to fear, love, and trust in Him, to be raised up and live in Him.

He brings you into that faith and life by His Cross, by way of your Baptism, and thereafter by His preaching and catechesis.  He puts you to death and raises you to life, He wounds you in order to heal you.  His Cross thus brings you to repentance.  His Cross brings you to faith.  And so by His Cross He brings you into His own ongoing prayer and intercession, which arises to His Father in His Resurrection from the dead.  As He rises from the earth and enters into heaven, as He sits at the Right Hand of the Father, so does your prayer ascend to the Father in heaven.  For Christ Jesus Himself is your Prayer, and you are heard and answered as surely as He lives and reigns forever.

The fact is that, by His Cross and Passion, He has wrestled with God and prevailed on your behalf.  Think of His agony in the Garden, how He prays with great drops of blood falling from His brow.  “Father, if it be possible, take this Cup from Me; yet, not My will but Thine be done.”

He calls upon the Father there in the Garden, as St. Mark tells us, with the very words that you are given to pray by the Holy Spirit: “Abba! Father!”  For there in the Garden of Gethsemane He has taken your place through that long dark night of the soul on the far side of the river, with family and friends far away, falling asleep, everything stripped away, and only His Father to call upon.

And it seems as though His Father will not help Him but destroy Him, hand Him over to the Cross, and leave Him to suffer and die in such brutal agony, bearing the sins of the entire world in His beaten, bruised, and battered Body.  It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the promised Seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, whose hip is put out of joint; for His own Cross and Passion were already in view as He wrestled with Jacob at Penuel.  And in that Hour, it is for you that He strives and wrestles.

It is in this way that God gives justice to His elect.  It is by this way and means that He justifies you and declares you righteous.  It is in this way that He vindicates you in the face of all your enemies — by handing over His Son, Christ Jesus, to the Cross — and then by raising Him from the dead.

So, let’s think again about that widow and that judge.  Although it may seem obvious that the judge is somehow supposed to represent God, and that the widow represents you, it is not you who have been so persistent.  It is God who has been so persistent in bringing you from your unrighteousness to faith, in breaking your heart of stone and granting you a heart of flesh, and in converting you from someone who cares for neither God nor man to someone who loves God and your neighbor.

It is Christ Jesus who has accomplished all of this for you, and it is Christ Jesus who now works such faith and prayer in you.  By His Cross and in His Resurrection He teaches you to live and to pray as He does.  He strives and wrestles with you through the night, and He prevails upon you, to bring you to repentance and faith.  And in this way, by the way of His Cross, He teaches you to pray in the sure and certain hope and confidence of His Resurrection.

Your suffering under the Cross prompts you to pray in this way.  It reduces you to nothing but the one hope that you have had all along, which is your God and Father in Christ Jesus and His Word and promise; so that, in suffering you are brought into hope, to call upon the Name of the Lord, to rely upon His Word and Holy Spirit.  It is like ancient Israel in the wilderness, when God let them go hungry, and then He opened His hand to feed them.  And again, it is like Israel in the Land of Canaan, which God gave them as He promised.  Over and over again the people abandoned the Lord and turned away from Him to other gods; so the Lord, in His mercy and love, would send enemies to discipline the people, to call and bring them to repentance; then they would call upon His Name for deliverance, and He would hear and answer and send the judges to rescue them.

So does the Lord your God likewise discipline you, as a father disciplines the son whom he loves.  He lays the Cross upon you, to put you to death and raise you to life; not to destroy you, though it may feel that way at times, but that you would open up your mouth and call upon His Name.

And as you are united with Christ Jesus in His Cross and Resurrection by your Holy Baptism in His Name, so is He both your Prayer and your Father’s Answer to your prayer.  He is God’s “Yes” and “Amen” to your every need, and to each and all of those Petitions He has taught you to pray.

It is in Christ Jesus, the beloved Son, that God is your own dear Father in heaven.  It is in Him that God’s holy Name has been given to you.  It is in Him that God’s Kingdom comes to you, and in Him that God’s good and gracious Will is done for you, unto everlasting Life and Salvation.  It is in Christ Jesus that you are fed with daily bread for this body and life and for the Resurrection.  It is by Him that your trespasses are forgiven; that you are protected from all trials and temptations; and that you are delivered from the old evil foe and from every evil of body and soul.  And so it is that, in and with Him, you shall at last be raised up from this valley of death to your Father in heaven, as surely as He is risen from the dead and lives forever.  “Amen! Amen!”  It shall be so!

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

Hallowing the Name of the Lord by Confessing the Word of Christ Jesus

I’m sure you’ve probably heard the slogan, “Deeds, Not Creeds!”  Theology by way of slogans is always a risky business, not least of all because they are prone to be either legalistic or licentious.  But it’s fair enough to insist that, if you’re gonna “talk the talk,” you better also “walk the walk.”  The Holy Scriptures also teach that we are to be doers of the Word, and not hearers only.  Even so, let your doing begin with your hearing and your speaking, your confessing, of the Word of God.

To listen to the Word that God speaks, and then to pray and confess what He has spoken, is the first and foremost thing that you are called to do as a Christian.  To do so in faith is to worship the Lord your God, to glorify His holy Name.  It is also the first service of love for your neighbor, to speak what the Lord has spoken, just as God Himself does everything by His Word.  Indeed, we know from the New Testament that our Savior, Jesus Christ, is Himself the Word-made-Flesh.

So, when you speak the Word of God, you speak Jesus.  That is not a small or insignificant thing.  It is the most powerful thing you are given to do.  And everything else you do in faith toward God and in love for God and your neighbor flows with that speaking of the Word of Christ Jesus.  For it is by the preaching, teaching, hearing, confessing, and praying of His Word — and so also by living in accordance with His Word — that God’s Name is sanctified and kept holy among us.

You honor the Lord your God by saying the same thing that He has spoken to you in Christ Jesus.  That is what confession is, to say the same thing that God has said.  What is more, there is nothing better you can say to your neighbor than the Word that God has spoken to us by His Son.  That is to speak both the Law and the Gospel unto repentance and faith in Christ Jesus.  Above all, it is to speak mercy and forgiveness in love for your neighbor, as God forgives you with His Word.

It is by the hearing and speaking of His Word that the Spirit of your God and Father speaks in you.  In this way, no matter how little you may be, no matter how young, no matter how uneducated or simple, you do what God the Father in heaven does.  You speak the Word who is the Son of God, Christ Jesus; and in speaking the Word of Christ, you breathe the Holy Spirit upon your neighbor.

This is a high and holy calling that you have been given as a Christian, to confess what God has spoken.  And to be sure, let all your deeds be in harmony with such speaking.  What you confess, that is also how you are to live to the glory of your God and Father.  But bear in mind that your speaking of His Word is already an activity, a deed, a work of love that you perform with your lips and mouth, whereby you give life to your neighbor.  And Holy Scripture takes this very seriously.

What you say with your mouth matters.  Your words are not incidental, but they are significant.  They matter very much.  Your speaking makes a difference for you and for your neighbor, whether for good or for evil, depending on whether what you say is right and true or wicked and wrong.

Consider the case of Job, for example.  In spite of what he suffered, the Word of the Lord declares that Job did not sin with his lips.  He had his doubts and fears, he had his questions and concerns, but he did not do what his wife advised — he did not curse God — he did not sin with his lips.

Eventually, the Lord restored to Job all that the devil had been permitted to take away from him.  But prior to that final restoration, Job confessed with his words his faith in his Redeemer and his hope in the Resurrection; and he confessed the Almighty, that God is righteous, just, and wise, that He is the Maker of the heavens and the earth, and that He has the prerogative to do as He will with His own Creation.  Then God Himself says to Job’s would-be friends that they have been wrong, that they have spoken wrongly concerning God, and that Job has spoken rightly about Him.

What is more, God sends those men to Job, instructing them to ask Job to pray for them.  He does pray for them, and he is heard.  What is spoken matters.  It means something and does something.

Now, tonight you have heard the case of Nebuchadnezzar, and his words also mattered, first for evil and then for good.  The word in his mouth to begin with was met with the voice of God from heaven, it was met with the Word of God.  And whereas the words of Nebuchadnezzar had been false and powerless, the Words of God were immediately fulfilled.

When Nebuchadnezzar spoke in praise of himself, he was driven to madness.  For this is the true madness, to exalt yourself above the one true God, and to credit yourself with all that you have been given and received as a gift from the Lord.

So, Nebuchadnezzar was driven to madness, driven away from other people to live with animals.  And the once mighty king became like a beast himself, without words and without reason.

The animals cannot speak as man does.  They honor and acknowledge God by looking to Him and relying on Him for everything they need; and in this they are both wiser and more innocent than fallen man.  But the animals cannot speak as man does, and so they cannot confess the Lord in the way that man is able to confess; nor do they blaspheme His holy Name as man has so often done.

The ability and capacity to speak, as God Himself speaks, is both powerful and dangerous.  With your mouth and lips and tongue you are able to call upon the Name of the Lord, but so are you also able to curse His holy Name.  With your mouth you can speak truly, or you can speak falsely.  You can help or hurt your neighbor with your words.  And you are held accountable for what you say, just as the king of Babylon was.  The Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His Name in vain.

Nebuchadnezzer was driven to be like an animal, and in this way he was humbled by the Lord who brings down the lofty and exalts the lowly.  Just so, when God had humbled Nebuchadnezzer, the Lord then lifted up his eyes to heaven.  Nebuchadnezzar looked up to the Most High.  He no longer exalted himself, but he praised God.  His reason returned to him, the genuine logic of right words instead of blasphemy.  Hence, he praised the true God with his speaking, with his confession.

As surely as it is real madness to speak falsely about God, to praise yourself instead of Him, this indeed is real wisdom and right reason, to speak the Truth concerning the Lord Most High, both His Law and His Gospel — to confess what He has spoken and revealed concerning Himself.

With this sort of speaking or confessing, with such a Creed, you praise and honor the one true God, the Holy Trinity.  You exalt and magnify His holy Name.  And as I have already said, you also serve, support, and strengthen your neighbor with that Word of God.  You call your neighbor to repentance and to faith, and you comfort your neighbor with the mercies of God in Christ Jesus.

Do not underestimate how important your words are to your brother or sister in Christ.  Do not be ashamed or afraid to speak the Gospel to your neighbor.  You don’t have to come up with your own clever words to do so.  Speak as you have been taught from the Bible and the Catechism; speak as you have heard in the Liturgy; speak as God the Father speaks to you in Christ Jesus.

In particular, as you are gathered together as the people of God, as a congregation of His Church, as one Body in Christ Jesus, you serve and support and strengthen each other by your praying, by your confessing, and by your singing of His Word.  St. Paul mentions this more than once in his Epistles, that by the singing of Psalms and hymns and Spiritual songs the Spirit of God dwells among you richly.  You fill each other up with the Spirit of Christ Jesus, unto faith and life in Him.

Do not doubt that as you sing the hymns of the Church, as you confess the Creed alongside your brothers and sisters in Christ, and as you join the whole congregation in praying and confessing the words of the Liturgy, your voice strengthens and sustains your neighbors in ways that you might never realize.  Not only that, but here in the gathering of His Body, here within His Church, the Word of Christ rings out, so that you also are strengthened and sustained by your neighbors.

Parents, you have the special privilege and the special responsibility to do much the same thing for your own children.  Indeed, the Lord your God commands you to catechize your children in the prayer and confession of His Word.  And you do so by telling them the stories of the Bible; by rehearsing the Catechism with them; by singing hymns with them in your home; and especially by bringing them faithfully to church for the Lord’s Liturgy of the Gospel in Word and Sacrament.

By this catechesis and confession of Christ, you fathers and mothers do the most wonderful and amazing thing that you can possibly do for your children.  With the Word of the Lord you fill them with the Holy Spirit, you fill them with Christ Jesus, you strengthen and sustain them in the one true faith, and you bring them to their God and Father in heaven, as others have done for you.

For thousands of years Christians all over the world have been confessing the same priceless Word of the Lord, rehearsing and savoring the salvation of God in Christ Jesus, His Love, His mercy, and the Life that He bestows by His Ministry of the Gospel.  By taking that Word of Christ upon your lips, even as you treasure it in your heart and mind, not only are you strengthening your neighbor, but you are likewise strengthened in the one true faith — and you are armored against the devil.

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Church at Ephesus, he admonishes you and all Christians to put on the full Armor of God and to take up the Sword of the Spirit by praying and confessing the Word of the Lord.  The Creed and the Our Father are surely a great place to do both of those things.

When you call on the Name of the Lord and when you speak His Word, you resist the devil and chase him away from your heart, mind, and life, because the devil cannot stand before the Word of Christ Jesus.   That “one little Word” still defeats that old evil foe.  That Word strengthens your faith and sustains your life against the assaults and accusations of Satan.  For the Word of Christ Jesus drowns out the devil’s Big Lie.  It drowns out the false word of wickedness with the true Word of Wisdom, for the Word of Christ is Spirit, Truth, and Life; it is both living and Life-giving.

This is something you can and should do as a Christian, because you are baptized and catechized in the Name of the Lord, you are a disciple of Jesus.  And it is enough for you, as a disciple, to be like your Master, to speak as He has spoken.  That is something you can and should do.  But it is not your own work.  It is not by your own reason, wisdom, or strength.  It is the gift of God, and it is His Logic, His Righteousness and Peace, which are given to you by His speaking of His Word to you — that Word in which you rest — that Word by which you live in Christ Jesus.

It is by and with and in that Word of Christ that the Lord is ever near you and abides with you even to the end.  It is by His Word that He foils the tempter’s power.  It is by His Word that He guides you and guards you and keeps you, as your Staff and Stay.  It is by His Word that He is kind to you, gentle, and good.  It is by His Word that He heals you of all infirmities and all iniquity.

It is by His Word that He sets His Cross before your eyes, in order to bless you by the forgiveness of that Cross and to uphold you in the one true faith, in life, in death, even unto the Resurrection of your body and the Life everlasting of your body and soul.  So, too, He opens up your ears to hear, He opens up your heart and mind to believe and comprehend the hope and promise of the Gospel, and He opens up your lips and your mouth to declare His praise and to glorify His holy Name by the prayer and confession of His Word

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