Christ Jesus Builds His Church Upon the Ministry of His Gospel

The Wise Man has built His House upon the Rock.

The almighty and eternal Son of the living God has come down from heaven, and He has taken for Himself our human Flesh and Blood from the womb of His Blessed Mother, in order to give His Body and Life as a Ransom for the many.  He has entered into our pagan territory of sin and death, and here in our stead He has defeated our ancient enemy, that old dragon, the devil or Satan.

By His Sacrifice upon the Cross, the Lord Jesus Christ has atoned for the sins of the whole world, reconciled all of us to His God and Father in heaven, and thereby destroyed death, released us from the fear of death, and removed all the power of the devil, namely, sin and guilt and accusation.

He has plundered the grave and Hades of their dead, and in His own bodily Resurrection He has opened the gates of heaven to all who believe and are baptized in His holy Name.

It is by this precious Gospel of Christ Jesus — by His forgiveness of sins and the great Salvation of His Cross and Resurrection — that He establishes, builds, and protects His Church on earth, from Jerusalem to the ends of the world, that disciples from all nations might have Life in Him.

Whoever lives and abides within His Church, even now bearing His Cross in faith and hope, is safe and secure from sin, death, the devil, and hell, and shall live and abide forever with the same Lord Jesus Christ in Paradise.  For He is indeed the Wise Man who has built His House upon the Rock.  The winds rage, the rains downpour, the floods rise and pummel that House, but it shall not fall.

Why, then, would you drown and die outside of His House in the midst of the storm?

The problem that confronts the flesh and blood of your old Adam and the whole sinful world in which you live, is that the Wise Man appears to be, not wise, but foolish; and the Rock foundation of His Christian Church appears to be, not solid and secure, but shifting sand.

The Lord Jesus Christ, the Nazarene, the “Son of Man,” appears to be nothing more than a man like any other.  Extraordinary, yes; a great Prophet, perhaps; a good and righteous man, no doubt; and a powerful preacher.  But surely not the Son of God.  No one is able to perceive or to believe who and what He truly is by means of their mortal flesh and blood or their fallen human reason.

And when He is crucified, put to death, and buried; executed as a criminal; hung upon a cursed tree in naked shame and humiliation; and laid to rest within a borrowed tomb, where is God in all that?

Where is the power and might of the glory of God in His Cross and Passion?  Where is the promise of His coming?  And where do you ever see or feel or experience His Resurrection and His Life?

He says that the gates of Hades shall not be able to overpower His Church.  But what are you to make of the fact that you and your loved ones, your family and friends and fellow Christians, are all subject to death and finally return to the dust, whether by way of illness, old age, or martyrdom.

Where is your hope, your life, and your salvation?  Where is the living God who can help you and save you from death and the grave, who will actually bring you out of Hades into His Heaven?

The Church appears to be a pitiful fortress indeed, little more than a fisherman’s shack upon the seashore.  After all, its so-called “Rock” foundation is nothing but the Ministry of the Gospel, that is, the preaching of repentance, the spoken word of forgiveness, the washing of water with the Word, and the administration of bread and wine in the remembrance of Jesus who was crucified.

And what sort of men are actually called and sent to preach and administer this Gospel?  Sinners, the lot of them!  Men like Simon Peter and Paul of Tarsus — the one a wavering denier of Christ, and the other a former diehard Pharisee, a persecutor of Jesus and His followers.

Pastors to this very day and age are likewise quarried from the same Rock.  They, too, are sinners, each and every one of them, in need of forgiveness for their own sins.  They are mortals, just like you, subject to death and the grave.  Finite, flawed, and frail creatures of flesh and blood.

And what keys do they bring, what instruments and means by which they are to help and save you?  With what do they come to set you free from the death-grip of sin and to open the gates of heaven to you?  By what power and authority are they supposed to keep you safe from the devil and hell?

They have nothing but the Gospel, which is the Word of Christ Jesus and His forgiveness of sins.  It is admittedly pathetic and pitiful to all appearances, seemingly impotent to meet all your needs.  Nor can you perceive or believe otherwise about any of this by any intellect or wisdom of yours.

The truth is that you cannot recognize the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is, nor can you come to Him, nor are you at all able to love and trust in Him, unless the Father reveals Him to you, and gives Him to you, and lays Him upon your heart by His Word and Holy Spirit.

But all of this the Father surely does for you, according to His tender mercies and steadfast loving-kindness, by way of that very Cross of Christ Jesus and that preaching of His Gospel which appear to all the world — and to your own fallen flesh — to be so foolish and miserable and weak.

You could not possibly open your eyes wide enough to see it.  But He has opened your eyes in faith by the Light of His Word, that is, by the Gospel of His forgiveness of all your sins.

You could not even begin to open your heart or your head to accept it.  But He has opened your ears to hear, your mind to understand, your heart to believe, and your lips to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, who has become your Savior, your Strength, and your Song.

The Word of Christ that His servants speak to you in His Name is His Word upon their lips.  The Sacraments they administer in His stead, in remembrance of Him, are His own Gifts of Life and Salvation for you.  Their forgiveness of your sins is His forgiveness, as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ your dear Lord dealt with you Himself.  Truly, this is how He cares for you.

And this Word of forgiveness, this Holy Absolution, this free and full forgiveness of all your sins — although it seems like such a still small voice against the rage and roaring of the devil — it is a most solid foundation of a truly mighty fortress, which shall not fall nor fail to preserve your life.

Where sin is forgiven, the devil cannot accuse you, and even God’s own Law does not condemn you anymore forever.  There is no condemnation for you in Christ Jesus.

Where sin is forgiven, death no longer has any rightful claim on you, but it must relinquish you, body and soul, unto Christ your Redeemer, who has purchased you with His very own lifeblood.

Where sin is forgiven — and your sin is forgiven by the Word of Christ — there is only Life and Salvation.  Come hell or high water against you, these cannot touch you, they shall not reach you.

You shall not die but live.  The gates of Hades shall not prevail against you.  For you belong to the Body of Christ, His Holy Church; and just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns forever in His own Body, so are you raised up by His Ministry of the Gospel to live with Him eternally.

His death has been the death of death, the devil’s defeat, and hell’s destruction, and all of this on your behalf.  Therefore, His Resurrection from the dead is your resurrection, and His own Life is yours forevermore.  So has He spoken, and so shall it be.  His Word abides unto Life everlasting.

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

A Mighty Fortress Is Christ's Church

The Almighty and Eternal Son of the Living God has come down from the Father in heaven, into human flesh and blood, in order to lay down His Body and offer up His Life as a Ransom for the many, for the salvation of the world.  He has entered our pagan territory of sin and death, in order to slay and defeat our ancient enemy, that old dragon, who is called the devil or Satan, the accuser.

By His sacrificial death upon the Cross, this one Lord, Jesus Christ, has atoned for the sins of the world and reconciled all of us to His God and Father.  He has thereby destroyed death, removed its sting, and robbed the devil of all his powers, which are sin and guilt and accusation.  The Lord has thus plundered the grave and Hades of their dead.  And in His Resurrection He has opened the gates of heaven to all who believe and are baptized into Him, the incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.

It is by the preaching of this precious Gospel, by this Word of forgiveness, and by the giving of life and salvation through the ways and means of His Cross and Resurrection, that Christ Jesus establishes, builds, and protects His Church on earth, even as it is in the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever lives and abides within His Church on earth is safe and secure from sin, death, the devil, and hell, and shall live and abide with Christ in Paradise, together with His Father and the Holy Spirit.  For Christ Jesus is the Wise Man who has built His House upon the Rock.  The winds rage, the rains pour down, and the floods rise against that House, pummeling it.  But it shall not fall.

Why, then, would you even consider living outside of His House, where you would surely perish?

The dilemma that confronts the flesh of your old Adam, the paradox that puts off the sinful world in which you live, is that the Wise Man appears to be, not wise, but utterly foolish and weak.  And the Rock Foundation of His Church on earth appears to be, not solid and secure, but shifting sand.

As far as human sight and sense can tell, the Lord Jesus Christ appears to be no more than a man.  A great Prophet, perhaps.  A good and righteous man.  And a powerful preacher, no doubt.  But surely not the Son of God, the Savior of all people.  No one is able to see that by flesh and blood.

And when He is crucified, put to death, and buried — condemned as a criminal, hung up on the Cross in naked shame and humiliation, and then laid to rest within a borrowed tomb — where is there any victory in that?  Where is the power and might of His great Glory?  Where is the promise of His coming?  Where do you ever see or feel or experience His Resurrection and His Life?

He declares that even the gates of Hades shall never prevail against His Church.  But what, then, of the fact that you, and your loved ones, your family and friends and fellow Christians, are subject to death and finally buried in the ground?  Where is your hope, your life, and your salvation?

Where is the Living God who can and will help you, when death still seems to get the last word?

The Church appears to be a pitiful fortress indeed!  Little more than a fisherman’s shack upon the seashore.  Its so-called Rock Foundation is but the Ministry of the Gospel, that is, the preaching of repentance, the spoken Word of Absolution, the washing of water with the Word, and the administration of bread and wine in the Name and stead of Christ Jesus, the Crucified One.

And what sort of men are called and sent to preach and administer this Gospel?  Sinners, the lot of them!  Men like Simon Peter and Saul of Tarsus, the one a wavering denier of Christ, and the other a former diehard Pharisee, a persecutor of Jesus and His Christians.  Pastors to this day are quarried from the same rockpile: Sinners in need of forgiveness for their own sins.  Mortals, subject to death and the grave, just like you.  Finite, flawed, and frail creatures of flesh and blood.

And what keys do they bring?  With what do they come to set you free from the death grip of sin and to open the gates of heaven to you?  By what power and authority are they supposed to keep you safe?  Nothing but the Gospel, the Words of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, the means of grace.  All pitiful and pathetic, it would seem, and impotent in the face of all your needs, all your hurts, and all your suffering.  You shall not perceive or believe otherwise by your own reason or strength.

You cannot recognize the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is.  Nor could you have done so back in the day.  You cannot come to Him, nor can you love and trust in Him, unless the Father reveals Him to you, and gives Him to you, and lays Him on your heart by His Word and Holy Spirit.

But the beautiful truth of the Gospel is, that the Father surely does reveal and give His Son to you, according to His grace, mercy, and love.  It’s just that He does it by the Cross of Christ, and by the preaching of His Gospel, which appear to all the world to be so foolish and miserable and weak.

You cannot open your eyes wide enough to see it.  But He opens your eyes in faith by the Light of His Word, by His Gospel, by the forgiveness of all your sins in the Name and stead and for the sake of Christ Jesus.  You cannot open your heart or your head to accept it.  But He opens your ears to hear it.  He opens your mind to understand it.  And He opens wide your heart to believe it.

And then, not only that, but He also does for you as He did for St. Peter.  The Father opens up your lips to confess that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who has come in the flesh to be your Savior, and who, by His Cross and Resurrection, has become your Strength and your Song.

The Word that His servants speak to you is His Word.  The Sacraments they administer are His works of life and salvation for you.  Their forgiveness of your sins in His Name is His forgiveness of all your sins.  And according to His own Word and promise, by that special authority of Christ which He has entrusted to His Church in the Office of the Keys, that Absolution (or forgiveness) is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ your dear Lord dealt with you Himself.  Because it is, in fact, your dear Lord Jesus Christ who is dealing with you precisely in this way.

And His forgiveness of your sins, His free and full forgiveness of all your sins by the spoken Word of His Gospel — though it seems a still small voice against the rage and roaring of the devil — it is a most solid foundation of a most impenetrable Mighty Fortress.

Where sin is forgiven, the devil cannot accuse you.  Where sin is forgiven, even God’s own Law does not condemn you anymore forever.  Where sin is forgiven, death no longer has any claim on you; it must relinquish your body and soul to Christ your Redeemer, who has purchased and won you for Himself with His own holy and precious Blood.

To that end, He gives you a down payment on the resurrection of your body and the life everlasting of your body and soul, by feeding you with His Body and Blood right here at His Altar on earth.

Where sin is forgiven — and your sin is forgiven! — there is only life and salvation, come hell or high water against you.  It cannot touch you.  It shall not reach you.  You shall not die, but live.

The gates of Hades shall not prevail against you within the Body of Christ, His Church.  For the Word and Flesh of Christ abide and stand fast forever.  His death has been the death of death and hell’s destruction.  His Resurrection is your Resurrection, and His Life Everlasting is yours.

Taste and see that it is so, and that the goodness, loving-kindness, and tender mercies of your Lord abide forever in the Body and Blood of Christ, your Savior, crucified and risen from the dead.

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

Built on This Rock, The Church Doth Stand

Lutherans have sadly sometimes erred in robbing St. Peter in order to give St. Paul his due.  But the Church, in her God-given wisdom, has chosen to remember and give thanks for these two great Apostles on the same festival day.  And if St. Paul shall be the champion of Justification by grace alone through faith alone, then St. Peter shall be the principle example that “such faith” is not the one thing left that you must do for yourself.  To believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is not of yourself, but God has instituted the apostolic Office of Preaching and the Sacraments, by which He obtains faith where and when He pleases in those who receive this Ministry of His Gospel.

And in all of this, at all times and in all places, it is all about Jesus.  Everything, everything, everything depends on Him.  Apart from the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no Church; there is no Gospel; there is no faith, no forgiveness of sins, no life or salvation.  Apart from this only Son of the Living God, there is no Father and no Holy Spirit; no heaven, no earth, nor anything else.

So, what you need — in the deepest, most profound and significant way — is Jesus, Jesus, only Jesus.  This your song must ever be, the faith in your heart, and the confession on your lips: That He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, who became flesh and bore your sins in His own Body to the Cross.  That He was crucified for your transgressions and raised for your justification.  That there is salvation in no one else, in no other Name in heaven or on earth.

There are those who thus conclude that celebrating the memory of the saints and Apostles detracts from this faith and confession of Jesus the Christ.  And some have likewise gone so far as to suggest or imply that even the institution of the Church on earth and the pastoral office are somehow a distraction from the one and only thing that really matters.  As though the Lord Jesus Christ were accessible to you apart from the preaching of His Word and His Holy Sacraments.

Perhaps you have adopted the same false thinking and fallen into your own version of the same error, by supposing that you can live and get along just fine without God’s Word and the preaching of it, without returning every day to the significance of your Holy Baptism, without confessing your sins and seeking Holy Absolution from your pastor as from Christ Himself, and without the Body and Blood of Christ Jesus on any given Sunday.  After all, you may say, at least you “love” Jesus, and you “believe” in Him, and that’s all that really matters.  Right?

But how could it be that you claim to love Jesus, and yet not long to hear what He says to you?  And what does it mean to say that you believe in Him, if you are not clinging for dear life to His Word of forgiveness, and if you are not living in the way that He has called you and commanded you to live in the confidence of His promises?  Just who is this “Jesus,” whom you claim to love and trust, if you imagine that you are able to have the Son of God apart from His flesh and blood?

It should come as no surprise, in such a case, that you do not speak the Gospel to others; that you do not serve your neighbor as you should with deeds of love and real charity; that you do not forgive those who trespass against you; and that you rarely bring anyone to Church.  Not when you have fabricated for yourself a disembodied “Jesus,” neither God nor man, who never says or does anything, but who is simply tucked away as a warm fuzzy in your own self-centered heart.

Repent of your sins, and give heed to the Word of the Lord.  For the Son of Man, Christ Jesus, the incarnate Son of God, He is not as you imagine.  Even the guesses of the people then, that He was John the Baptist or one of the Prophets, were closer to the truth than your fairy tales.  But none of these are sufficient, either.  If you would be saved, you will need a far different Jesus than that.

Thankfully, the Lord Jesus Christ, conceived and born of St. Mary, is the personal Word of God the Father from all eternity, who has become Flesh for you and your salvation.  The Word of God, who is the Word-made-Flesh, that is Who and What your Savior is.  And so it is that He is near you, in your ears and in your heart, in your mouth, and in your life, by the preaching of His Word, and by the administration of His Body and His Blood, crucified and risen, given and poured out.

It is for this purpose, that you should thus be rescued from sin, death, the devil, and hell, and saved for eternal life with God in body and soul, that the one Lord, Jesus Christ, called, ordained, and sent St. Peter and the other Apostles, including St. Paul, to preach repentance in His Name unto faith in His forgiveness of sins, to catechize and baptize disciples across the nations, to the ends of the earth and the close of the age, and to administer His Holy Supper in remembrance of Him.  For it is by these ways and means of His Gospel that the Son of God is with you and saves you.

There is no Church, because there is no Gospel, because there is no Jesus Christ — not for you at least — except by this preaching and administration of His Word and Flesh.  As St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Church at Rome: How shall they believe in One whom they have not heard, since faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of Christ?  And how shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach, unless they are sent?

It is in this sense that St. Peter is the Rock, as the Lord Jesus declares in this familiar Holy Gospel.  Not by any merit or virtue of his own person or his personal faith, which was wobbly at times.  But specifically as a Confessor of Christ, which is to say, as a Minister of His Word, and as the first of those twelve holy Apostles who were called and sent to preach the Gospel in His Name.

So long as we bear in mind that Christ Himself, and He alone, is the Builder of His Church; and so long as we do not forget that the Church which He builds is His Church — it does not belong to Peter, to the pastors, or to the people, but to Christ — then we shall not take offense that Christ has chosen St. Peter and the other Apostles to be the Rock-foundation of His Church on earth.  As St. Paul writes, Christ Himself is the Cornerstone.  He gives strength and shape and stability to the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets; and through them, that is, through their Ministry of the Word, Christ Jesus Himself is at work to establish, to build, and to uphold His Church.

The most central and characteristic aspect of this Holy Ministry is the preaching and practice of the Law and the Gospel, unto repentance and faith in the forgiveness of sins.  Thus, when Jesus the Christ addresses Simon Peter as a Minister of His Gospel, and when He describes the Rock-Foundation of this apostolic Ministry for His Church on earth, He focuses upon the Office of the Keys and Holy Absolution.  Everything in His Church is so arranged for the forgiveness of sins.

Those who attempt to define and describe the Church apart from this Ministry of the Gospel and the Office of the Keys — who move the forgiveness of sins from the center to the periphery — invariably return to the legalism of the Pharisees, misunderstanding the Christian faith and life primarily in terms of the Law instead of the Gospel.  When the Word and work of Christ Jesus, His Body and His Blood, His free and full forgiveness of sins, His Life and Salvation, are set aside or marginalized, then the house is built upon the sand, and it cannot help but fall into great ruin.

Such were the false confessions that St. Paul, in particular, had to preach and teach against.  So, as I have said, where St. Peter is the Apostle who embodies especially the Ministry of the Holy Gospel as the Word and work of Christ Jesus, St. Paul is the Apostle who exemplifies the Life that is lived by grace through faith in the same Lord Jesus Christ.  Now, it is not a lazy or lethargic life, not in the home, nor in the world, nor in the church.  It is a busy and active life that never ceases to praise God and care for the neighbor, to bear the Cross and sacrifice in faith, hope, and love, in prayer and thanksgiving.  But it is all of that, and you also live that life in Christ, because it does not rely upon your own reason or strength, but it returns daily to Holy Baptism, depends upon the Word of Holy Absolution, and feasts upon the Body and Blood of Christ in the Holy Communion.

It is a robust and vigorous life that you live in Christ Jesus, by His grace, through faith in His free and full forgiveness.  For by His death, He has destroyed death; and by His rising again, He has opened the Kingdom of heaven to you and to all who believe and are baptized in His Name.  His holy and precious Blood cleanses you of all your sins, within and without, and His own Flesh strengthens and preserves your body and soul in His Life and Salvation.  So it is that, safe within His Body, within His Holy Apostolic Church, the gates of hades shall never prevail against you.  Just as He is risen from the dead and lives and reigns eternally, so shall you rise and live in Him.

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

Safe and Sound in the House That Jesus Built

It’s all about Jesus, the Christ, the incarnate Son of God, crucified and risen in His own Body of flesh and blood.  Everything in heaven and on earth — whatever was, and is, and is to be — it all depends on Him: on Who He is, and on what He has done and continues to do for you and for all.

The Church, which is His own Body as well as His Holy Bride, is established — and she lives, on earth even now, as in heaven forever — because He has conquered death, defeated the devil, atoned for the sins of the whole world, reconciled all mankind to God, and ascended to the right hand of the Father as the true Man, the perfect Second Adam, for the salvation of all people.

So, now, the question is, Where is this Lord Jesus Christ?  Where and how does He do His thing?  Which is really also to ask, Where is the Church?  How and where does she live by the grace of God in Christ, her Savior?  And, to get downright personal about it, How is it that you live in and with Christ Jesus, within His one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church?  For, if you would be saved, and if you are to live, it will be within the Body of Christ, within the House that Jesus built.

But, truth be told, you are no more able than Simon Peter and the other disciples (to say nothing of the rest of the people in their day) to recognize the Lord Jesus Christ for who He is.  You neither know nor do you understand what it means that He is both the Son of God and the Son of Man.  Nor are you able to come to Him.  Nor can you fear, love, and trust in Him as your Savior and your God in the flesh — not at all by any wisdom, reason, strength, or savvy of your own.

And yet, you are here, and you do know Him and love Him, precisely because, and only because, the God and Father of this dear Lord Jesus Christ has given His Son both for you and now to you.  And by the gracious blessing of His Word and Holy Spirit, He reveals Him to you, and He opens your ears, your heart, and your mind to receive Him, to believe in Him, and to confess Him.

It is by this grace of God, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that you recognize Jesus for who He is, and know Him rightly, and find your life in Him, though you could never do this for yourself.

It is for this reason and purpose that the Lord Jesus Christ, in the utterly foolish Wisdom of God,  has built His House upon the Rock.

A most unlikely Rock it is, to be sure, as one might expect from this most unlikely of Saviors!  So much so, that theologians and scholars throughout the Church’s history have managed to wrangle and fight over it, though the simple and straightforward Word of Jesus is not so hard if it is taken at face value and heard within its context in the light of His own explanation.

The Rock foundation of the Lord’s Church is surely not St. Peter’s personal faith, nor his person, both of which were more than a little wobbly and misguided at times, as we all know.

But it is, after all, the Lord Jesus who calls this man and names him “Peter,” the Rock, so let us not suppose that he has no part in the foundation that Christ lays for His Church on earth.  The Rock, as our Confessions explain, is the ministry of the confession that St. Peter makes, according to his office and vocation as an Apostle.  For this man is called, ordained, and commissioned to speak the Word of Christ the Crucified, and to bind and release sins in His Name and stead.

This is how the one Lord Jesus Christ chooses to be present with and for His people.  This is how He works and does His thing, according to the good and gracious will of God, in order to rescue sinners from death and to give them eternal life in body and soul by His Cross and Resurrection.

It is upon this apostolic Ministry of the Gospel — the preaching of the Word of Christ unto repentance and faith in His forgiveness of sins — that He establishes and builds His Church on earth, and that He protects her from the storms of life, from all the winds and waves of this world, both real and metaphorical, and from sin, death, the devil, and hell, even to the close of the age.

Although it is by now very familiar to you, and therefore seems quite normal and ordinary, let us admit again that the Ministry of the Gospel is a most unlikely foundation, even as it is formed and shaped on a most unlikely Cornerstone — that Stone which the builders rejected, although He is chosen by God and precious to Him.  His Apostles and Prophets, His pastors and teachers, His whole Church, and all His members are likewise despised by the devil, the world, and fallen flesh.

Consider, for example, those two foremost Apostles whom we remember with thanksgiving on this day: One of them a hotheaded fisherman, and the other a persecuting Pharisee of Pharisees.  But neither of these men, fallible and flawed though they were, is any more scandalous than the Cross they were called and sent to proclaim as the power of God unto salvation.  In fact, His power is made perfect in such weakness, beginning with His own voluntary weakness on the Cross.

Be encouraged, then, in your own office and stations in life, in your own calling as a Christian in this fallen world.  And take heart that, as the Lord has established and built up His Church, as He has planted, watered, and grown His Kingdom, even to the ends of the earth, by the way and means of men like Simon Peter and Saul of Tarsus, so does He work through you and accomplish His purposes in you, in spite of your faults and failings.  Do your job and carry out your duties with joy and confidence that your labors in the Lord are not in vain.  And do not be ashamed to confess the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Living God, in all that you say and do.

For it is by the Cross that this incarnate God, conceived and born of Mary, has defeated death and the grave, such that even those gates of Hades have no power over anyone who belongs to Him, who lives by His grace, through faith in His Word, within His Church, His House upon the Rock.

For this Church of Christ — the very Kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven — is established and sustained by His Ministry of the Gospel, which is fundamentally the Ministry of forgiveness, of Holy Absolution in His Name and stead.  The Office of the Keys and the Office of the Ministry go together, hand in glove, so that everything is said and done, finally, for the sake of forgiveness.

It is for the forgiveness of sins, by and from the Cross of Christ, that the entire Church on earth has been structured and arranged.  Forgiveness is the foundation and the front door of God’s House in the washing of the water with His Word in Holy Baptism.  It is the very air that we breathe in the living room of His House and Home, where the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the children of God by and with and for the proclamation of the Holy Gospel.  And it is found in abundance at the Father’s Table, around which His Household and Family are gathered for the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, given and poured out for you and for the many.

It is by and with this forgiveness of all your sins — both given and received in such bodily ways and means for both your body and your soul — that death and damnation, the devil, and hell are rendered powerless against you.  Such wicked foes may rage and roar, but they cannot harm you.

Though your body grows weak and perishes — whether through infirmity or illness, accident or active violence, even as St. Peter and St. Paul were put to death for their faithful confession of the Lord Jesus Christ — yet shall your body be raised immortal and imperishable, like unto the risen and glorious Body of Christ, since you are forgiven in body and soul by His Gospel Ministry.

So also tonight, as the same Lord Jesus Christ, the almighty and eternal Son of the Living God, crucified for your transgressions and risen from the dead for your justification, gives to you His own holy Body and precious Blood for the free and full forgiveness of all your sins, so are your life and salvation secured for you in heaven forever with Him.

Here is a strong foundation beneath your feet, four solid walls around you, and a secure roof above your head, which no enemy or army in all of creation shall be able to penetrate.  Here within the House that Jesus built, you are safe and sound, unto the Resurrection and the Life everlasting.

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