Blessed Are You Who Believe

The visit of the Blessed Virgin Mary to her relative, Elizabeth, in the final trimester of the older woman’s pregnancy, is at once the most profound Mystery and the most practical work of mercy.  And now the Son of God, St. Mary’s Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, visits us in this Word of His Gospel, no less so than He visited St. Elizabeth and the unborn John the Baptist in her womb.  Indeed, He visits you here in this place in much the same way that He visited them.

It was, in many ways, a very practical visit to begin with.  St. Mary was given the sign that barren Elizabeth had conceived a son in her old age, and so she went straightaway in accordance with that Word to see the fulfillment of that sign.  But she also went in love to help and serve her elderly relative — and in turn to learn and benefit from St. Elizabeth’s wisdom, to be strengthened in her faith and vocation by the witness of St. Elizabeth’s faithfulness and righteousness.  Thus, these two women, in some respects at opposite ends of the spectrum, yet bound together in faith and by their sons, love and serve and care for each other in mercy.

Consider what it would have been like for that dear old lady in her final months of pregnancy: Heavy with the weight of the child growing inside of her, weary from the work of it, her frail mortal flesh stretched and strained by that burden under the curse of sin and death, her bones no longer so resilient as they were in her teens and twenties.

We hear nothing of St. Elizabeth after the birth and circumcision of her son, but she likely did not live long, perhaps only a few more years in which to nurse and wean the boy.  It is no stretch to suppose that her pregnancy, her labor and delivery, might have broken her health and led to her decline and death.  Her child grew and became strong, but he lived in the deserts until his public appearance some thirty years later, dressed in camel’s hair and eating locusts and wild honey.  There is no indication that St. Elizabeth ever saw the Christ Child following His holy Nativity.

What she did see and receive was a welcome visit from her young relative, the Blessed Virgin Mary from Nazareth.  The dear young Mother of our Lord came and spent the final three months of Elizabeth’s pregnancy with her.  And along with everything else going on in this beautiful story, her visit was no doubt a source of help and comfort.

For St. Mary, too, there was the blessing and benefit of being with and learning from the wise and faithful St. Elizabeth.  We know nothing from the Holy Scriptures concerning St. Mary’s father and mother, but it is possible that she may already have been orphaned, even at her young age.

She was probably in her early teens, old enough to be engaged by the standards of that culture, and her body able to conceive and bear a child.  But now she was pregnant before her wedding, before the consummation of her marriage.  Hence, the wonderful Word of God that she received in faith, by which the Lord was fulfilling all His promises and granting His tremendous blessings, was also throwing everything up into the air for St. Mary and putting her life into jeopardy and danger.

The Son within her womb was conceived miraculously by the Word and Spirit of God, and she herself remained a chaste and pure virgin, faithful and righteous by God’s grace.  But who was going to believe that?  What was Joseph going to think or say or do?  And what was she to do?

What she did was go with haste in the direction the Word of the Lord had pointed her, in the same faith with which she had prayed, “Let it be,” and in love for the Lord in her womb and for St. Elizabeth.  This was her vocation set before her, and just as she believed that the Lord’s Word to her would be fulfilled, so did she trust that He would care for her and provide for all her needs.  And as she believed, so was it done for her, one step at a time.

Zacharias the priest — and Elizabeth his bride, a daughter of Aaron, the mother of the Lord’s forerunner — they believed St. Mary’s story.  And they strengthened and sustained her faith in the days ahead, even as their own faith was strengthened and sustained by her confession and witness.

You should learn from this to seek out your brothers and sisters in Christ, not only your close relatives but your fellow members of the household and family of God, to love them in faith, and to be loved by them.  Resist the temptation to withdraw into ever narrowing circles and personal isolation.  Faith and love, body and soul are strengthened and sustained — and both you and your neighbor are comforted and helped — through fraternal fellowship and in the mutual conversation and consolation of those who are bound together by the Gospel in the one Body of Christ Jesus.

To be faithful by God’s grace, and to be righteous by such faith in Christ, does not mean that you will never be lonely or afraid, that you will never be confused or doubtful, that you will never be worried or anxious.  Even the Blessed Virgin Mary and Righteous Elizabeth bore the burdens of their mortal flesh, the frailty and weakness of their sinful hearts and minds, along with the bodily burden of their baby boys.  Righteous Zacharias, too, had doubted and questioned the Word of the Lord when it was first spoken to him by the Archangel Gabriel.

Do not suppose, then, that you shall simply stride forward in confident faith and never falter.  Nor despair when your mind balks, your heart quails, your body trembles, and your frail flesh falls short.  Rather, follow the example of St. Mary and St. Elizabeth in hearing and heeding the Word of the Lord, and proceed in faith upon the path that He lays before you.  You live and walk by faith, and not by sight, by the hearing of the Word of Christ.

Hidden in the womb of his mother, St. John the Baptist is already filled with the Holy Spirit and begins to fulfill his vocation and office as the forerunner.  He kicks and leaps for joy inside his Mama at the presence of the Christ, the little Lord Jesus, deeply hidden in the womb of His own Mother, and therefore doubly hidden from John!  But little John points to Mary’s little Lamb and proclaims that He is the Coming One, because that is what St. John’s whole life is all about.

St. Elizabeth heeds the non-verbal preaching of her son, as she hears the verbal confession of the young Maid Miriam, that is, her beautiful song, the Magnificat, which the Bride of Christ continues to sing to this day.  By this double testimony of her Lord, the Christ — who, even as a Fetus in His Mother’s womb, is nothing less and no one else than Yahweh in the flesh — by His gracious Visitation, St. Elizabeth too is filled with the Holy Spirit.  In faith and love and with great joy she cries out with a loud voice, singing a priestly chant of praise in the presence of the Lord.

Here the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh Sabaoth comes home to a city of Judah.  Great David’s greater Son has come to save His people from their sins, to set them free from all their enemies, from death, and from the devil, and to establish the House of His God and Father forever in the midst of His true Jerusalem, with peace and rest and perpetual felicity.  For the body of St. Mary bears the very Son of God, and the Church rightly confesses that she is the Mother of God.

He thus comes in and with a body of His own, of the same flesh and blood as St. Mary and as all of you, in order to bear your sin and be your Savior.  He bears all of your iniquity, guilt, and shame in His Body to the Cross, where He sacrifices Himself once for all — the Lamb of God, indeed, who takes away the sin of the world.  So does He shed His holy and precious blood to atone for all your sins, to make propitiation for you and the whole world, to cleanse your conscience and to seal His Covenant with you.  So does He also feed you with His flesh, to strengthen and sustain you in body and soul as He leads you out of Egypt, through the desert, into Paradise.  For He is the living and life-giving Bread from heaven, the very Word of God made Flesh for you.

With all this grace and every blessing, He comes to visit you in great lowliness and meekness, wrapped up in frailty, and hidden in deep humility.  You cannot see Him with your eyes, nor do you discern the glory of His Resurrection in the present experience of your body and life on earth under the Cross.  You share His lowliness, His weakness and humility.  Or else, when you presume to exalt yourself, He scatters your pride, empties your hands, and brings you down from your high horse.  He calls you to repentance.  He closes your mouth and shuts your lips, until He shall open them to confess, to pray, and to show forth His praises by His Word.

He does all of this in remembrance of His mercy toward you.  He does not forget you, even when you have forgotten Him.  He remains faithful even when you are not.  Therefore, He humbles you, in order to exalt you in Himself, in His own Resurrection from the dead.

His promises to you, His gifts and benefits, His life and salvation for you, are no less miraculous, no less amazing and remarkable than the pregnancies of a very old woman and a young virgin teen.  Nor are they any less true, but just as sure and certain as Christ Himself is the Truth incarnate.

What has been spoken to you by the Lord has been fulfilled for you, already in Christ Jesus, the Son of Mary, and it shall be fulfilled in you, in your heart and mind, body and soul, just as He has promised.  For by your Holy Baptism into His Cross and Resurrection, you have been born again to a new and living hope.  Blessed are you who thus, by His grace, believe His Word and promises.

Here He has brought you to His House by His Word and Spirit.  And as soon as you hear the sound of His greeting, the proclamation and confession of His grace, mercy, and peace, you also are filled with His Spirit, with the great joy and gladness of His Gospel.  So do you sing and chant and pray and confess in the confidence of Christ the Lord, in the presence of His holy Ark and Altar.

From this Altar, in this place, by His Word and with His Spirit, hidden in the womb of His Church, the dear Lord Jesus Christ visits you with His own flesh and blood.  He feeds your mortal body with His own Body, conceived and born of Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate, dead and buried, risen and ascended.  And by this gracious Visitation, He feeds you and He fills you with good things, His mercy rests upon you, and He is borne in you unto the life everlasting of your body and soul.  For He has done great things for you, even by the nailing of His strong hands and outstretched arms upon the Cross.  His mighty deeds of salvation are manifested and given to you in His deep compassion for you, in His tender mercy and kind pity on your misery.

Blessed of the Lord, do not be afraid.  He shall exalt you at the proper time.  Behold, He is with you even now, and you have found favor in His sight.  Surely, He will help you at all times and in all places, for He will never leave you nor forsake you.  Just as He has spoken, so shall it be done.

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

By the Word and Spirit of God

All of these things are from God, by His grace, according to His Word — delivered to you and accomplished for you by means of His Word.  Indeed, it is the Word of God — the only-begotten Son, begotten of the Father from eternity, by whom all things are made — who is conceived by the Holy Spirit in St. Mary’s womb, and from her flesh and blood becomes flesh and blood Himself.

Therefore, do not be afraid, for you have found favor with God, who comes to you in mercy and speaks to you in peace.  He has given His Son to be conceived and born of this Blessed Virgin, to bear your sin and to be your Savior.  So is He named Jesus.  For Yahweh saves His people from their sins, and He calls you to be His own, to be one of His beloved people, to live with Him in His Kingdom.  And as He lives and reigns eternally, so shall you also live and abide with Him forever.

To be sure, these are incredibly great and precious promises that are given to you by the grace of God, and a truly remarkable Word that is spoken to you by the mouth of the Lord.  It is seemingly impossible that a virgin should conceive and bear a Son; that the very Son of God should thus become true Man; and that He should save you and all His people from the devil, death, and hell.

All of this seems impossible.  And it is impossible for you to believe and trust these words and promises of God, except by the power of His Word and the work of His Holy Spirit in your heart.

Blessed are you who thus believe this Word of God, according to His grace.  And blessed is she — to speak as Elizabeth will sing of Mary by the Spirit of God — blessed is she who believed all that the Lord had spoken to her, every Word that proceeded from His mouth into her ears, into her mind and heart, into her body and her life, all for the sake of our life and salvation in her Son.

In all of this, aside from everything else, St. Mary is and remains such a beautiful example of faith.  Behold the handmaiden of the Lord, who prays and confesses so rightly and well, “Let it be to me according to Thy Word!”  God grant that you should also have such faith and speak in this way.

Indeed, to have and confess such faith is perhaps the most miraculous and incredible grace of God, above and beyond all of the other miracles at work in this Holy Gospel.  But so it is, according to His steadfast love and mercy, that you trust His holy Word and boldly confess what He has said and promised in the face of all adversity, even (and especially) when it all seems so impossible.

The way and the means by which the Lord God grants to you such faith are, in fact, the very way and means by which He bestows His gracious gifts upon you.  And in this He deals with you in the same way and by the same means as He dealt with dear St. Mary.

He sends His servant, His messenger, to speak and proclaim His Word and promise to you.  The Liturgy confesses and declares this point each time you hear the Salutation from your pastor, the very same Salutation that St. Mary received from the Archangel Gabriel: “The Lord be with you!”

With that greeting He announces not only His gracious presence, but also His works of mercy for you, and His good gifts of the Gospel.  He speaks the forgiveness of all your sins, and He bestows the salvation of your body and soul by the body and blood of the Incarnate Son, Christ Jesus.

It is that Word of God — that Word of Christ, the Word of His Gospel — that Word by which and through which the Holy Spirit is actively present and at work — it is that Word which opens your ears to hear, your heart to believe and trust, your mind to understand the Truth, and your lips to confess the same Son of God, your Savior, Jesus Christ.

So do God’s Word and Spirit also embrace and comprehend the chosen elements of His good creation, as the Word and Spirit embraced and comprehended the body of the Blessed Virgin Mary, in order to manifest and give His Salvation “in the flesh” unto His creatures of flesh and blood.

As the Son of God was conceived and born of St. Mary, so are the children of God conceived and born by the washing of water with the Word and Spirit of God in Holy Baptism.

And as the Son of God took flesh and blood from St. Mary’s body, in order to become flesh of our flesh and blood of our blood as true Man, so does He give that same Body and Blood to you when His Word comes to the bread and wine of the Holy Communion and He unites Himself with them, in order to be “conceived and born” in you, as it were, as you eat and drink at His invitation.

In these means of grace, within the Holy Christian Church, the Incarnation and the great Salvation of God continue to happen — for you — to the praise of His glorious grace.

Beloved of God, the Son of God has come in the flesh to cast away the works of darkness and to destroy the works of the devil; He has come to purify you in body and soul, for now and forever, that you should live no longer in sin but unto righteousness, by His grace through faith in Him.

As He has prevailed over sin, death, and the devil in His Body of flesh and blood, by His Cross and in His Resurrection from the dead, so does He accomplish His purposes in your body and life — not by your own reason and strength, but by His Word and Spirit.  Though it is not yet obvious to the world, nor even to your own perception, nevertheless, you are the Lord’s, and He is yours.

And so it is that, as St. Mary presents you with a beautiful example of faith within her vocation as the Mother of the Son of God, so do you now live by faith within your vocation as a child of God.

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

Bearing the Fruits of Repentance in Christ

Why are you here this morning?  Why have you come?  Is it because you recognize your sin, and you know the death and damnation that you deserve under the wrath of God, and yet you hunger for the forgiveness of your sin, which is found only in Christ and His Word?

Or have you come because you presume to belong by right to the Church and Kingdom of God?  And you figure that, whatever He may have to offer, you want to get what’s coming to you?  And you’d like to be made to feel good in time for the holidays?

The reality is that you are a poor, miserable sinner, and you deserve nothing but punishment.  By sinful nature, from your conception and birth to the present day, you are subject to the temptation and influence of that old serpent, the devil, to whom your fallen flesh readily gives in.

Therefore, if you are a member of the holy Christian Church, it is not by any right, nor by any choice or decision of your own, but only by the grace and mercy of God, who has loved you — and He loves you still — even though you have been His sworn and mortal enemy.  He has called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts, sanctified and kept you in the true faith.

Your entire life and salvation hinge and depend upon that grace of God.  That is all that stands between you and the axe that is poised at the root of your unfaithful and unfruitful tree, which would otherwise chop you down, and you be thrown into the fire.  It is the Lord’s gracious Gospel, and only that, which gathers you into His barn and keeps you from being swept out with the chaff.

The thing of it is, you have no “right” to be here, no claim upon the Lord, and no merit or worthiness whatsoever before Him.  In stark contrast to your pride and self-confidence, you are utterly empty and hollow, destitute and desolate (inside and out) like a desert wasteland.

And yet, it is precisely for those reasons that you are here — by God’s grace, by His Word and Spirit in Christ — not to receive what you deserve, which is nothing but punishment, but to be raised up through His forgiveness and filled up with Christ Jesus Himself and His Salvation.

If you are here for any other reason than that — with any presumption, or with any pretense — then you may as well go home.  Because you’re not going to be patted on the back and made to feel good about yourself and your life.  The Lord has not called you and brought you here to stroke your pride or feed your ego.  On the contrary, He calls you to die, and to receive a new life altogether, one that is no longer defined by the devil, the world, or your sinful flesh, but a new life that is from the Holy Triune God and lived according to His Word.  It is a life that is shaped by the Cross and Resurrection of Christ Jesus, which you also share by your Holy Baptism into Him.

If you are concerned by all of this, as well you should be, then there must necessarily be some change and indication in your attitude and behavior to confess that your life is in Christ.

So, what is your life in Christ going to look like?  It’s going to vary in its specifics from one person to the next, according to vocation and circumstances.  But, in general, it means that you serve your neighbor as Christ Jesus serves you — not selfishly, but sacrificially; not for any personal gain, but simply and solely for Jesus’ sake.  And the particulars of all that are spelled out for you by God, and according to His Word, in the specific demands and responsibilities of your stations in life.  You do what your calling and your job require of you, in faith toward God and in love toward your neighbor, neither neglecting your duties, nor abusing your position and authority.

As a husband and father, or as a wife and mother, you serve your spouse and family.  And as a son or daughter, you honor your father and mother, serve and obey them, love and cherish them. As a worker, you serve your employer, your clients and customers, by faithfully doing your job.  As a citizen, you serve your community and your country.  And as a member of the church on earth, you serve your congregation and your brothers and sisters in Christ with your time and energy, with your talents and skills, and with your financial means and resources, according to the needs of the church and in keeping with the gifts and abilities the Lord has entrusted to your care.

In each and all of these ways, you bear fruits worthy of repentance and confess that your faith and life are in Christ Jesus, by serving your neighbors in love.  That is true in several different ways:

On the one hand, you serve your neighbor in the way that Christ serves you.  And on the other hand, you serve Christ Jesus in your neighbor, since your Savior and Lord has identified Himself with those in need, with the poor and lowly and despised.  In both respects, you demonstrate and express that your life is no longer defined and dominated by the devil, all his works and all his ways, but by the Holy Triune God, as He has revealed Himself and given Himself to you in Christ.  So have you promised and confessed in the rites of Holy Baptism.

It is simply not possible to be called by God to such repentance and faith — that is, to be turned away from your sins back toward God in Christ — and yet not to bear the fruits of repentance.

The fact that such fruits are frequently missing in our lives, even as Christians, simply and soberly demonstrates that we still remain such poor, miserable sinners, that we yet deserve nothing but temporal and eternal punishment: to be chopped down and burned in the fires of God’s wrath.

Nevertheless, the genuine fruits of repentance and faith are nothing more nor less than that.  They are the fruits or produce of faith and life, not the means or the source of your life and salvation.

These fruits of repentance and faith do not constitute some kind of “self-help” program.  In fact, as soon as you attempt to bear such fruits as a means of helping and advancing yourself, it is no fruit worthy of repentance that you bear, but the vain efforts and works of self-righteousness, which only serve to confirm your sin, death, and damnation.

In any event, none of us produce the genuine fruits of repentance as faithfully as we should.  Even if you could, and even if you did, those good works would still not save you.  They’re not meant to, nor does it work that way.  Rather, the fruits worthy of repentance demonstrate and give evidence of just the opposite!  Namely, that you do not rely upon yourself, nor upon your own sincerity, efforts, works, or accomplishments, but solely and entirely upon Jesus Christ.

The actual heart of repentance and faith, and your only real hope, is not the fruits that result, but first of all to be turned away from yourself (away from your sin, death, and the devil), and turned toward the Lord Jesus Christ, who is alone your Savior and Redeemer, your Life and Salvation.

Really, that is what all the fruits of repentance are about.  They are expressions of faith in Christ, and of the life which is only in Him.  Which is to say that real works of love for your neighbor are an outward manifestation of your faith in Christ.  Such fruits follow faith — necessarily so — but if there were any “fruits” apart from faith in Christ, they would be sour grapes and rotten apples.

Now, do not misunderstand the point.  It’s not as though everything depended on your faith.  Rather, your faith and everything else depend upon Christ.  Everything that St. John the Baptist proclaims, along with everything I preach to you this morning, depends upon Christ Jesus.

He is the One who suffers the axe and the fire that threaten you.  Which is to say that He suffers all the righteous wrath of God and all of the judgments and punishment of the Law.  And all of this He bears and suffers in your place, in order to spare you the death and damnation you deserve.

What is more, He bears and suffers all the burden of your sins, as well, in His own body on the Cross.  All the hurt and harm that you have done or caused by your sin, and all the wrong that has been done to you, He has taken upon Himself.  Not for retribution or revenge, but for mercy and forgiveness, that you and your neighbor might be reconciled to God and to each other in Him.

So it is that He is stripped naked and goes hungry.  He is overtaxed, falsely accused, mistreated, and extorted by force.  Which is why, for example, you see and serve Christ Jesus in the poor and hungry, the naked and imprisoned, the needy and despised.  Yet, He is the One who feeds and clothes you with Himself in Holy Baptism and the Holy Communion; who showers you with all His riches; who heals you, guards and protects you, and gives to you His own divine, eternal life.  Indeed, all the love the Law requires for your neighbor, the dear Lord Jesus does for you.

His fulfillment of this royal Law of Love is centered in His Cross and Resurrection, and He continues to love you from the Cross.  For by His own death, He has destroyed death, forgiven sin, and conquered the devil.  And as such, He has also risen from the dead and lives and reigns to all eternity, opening heaven and obtaining eternal life for you and all sinners.  It’s all a done deal in Him.  There’s nothing for you to earn or obtain for yourself.  He’s already accomplished it for you.

Now He gives it to you all by grace, as He has done beginning with your Holy Baptism.  There, by the washing of water with His Word, He shared His Cross & Resurrection with you personally.  You died and rose with Him in those waters.  That’s repentance!  Being crucified and resurrected with Jesus the Christ.  Dying to sin, death, and hell, and rising to new life in Him  — and He in you — by His forgiveness of your sins.  Uniting you with Himself in His Cross & Resurrection, He has granted you His own divine Sonship and anointed you with His Holy Spirit, so that you are no longer the offspring of vipers, but a beloved and well-pleasing child of His own God and Father.

The Lord Jesus continues to serve you with all of these good gifts through His Ministry and preaching of the Gospel, His spoken Word of Holy Absolution, His free and full forgiveness of your sins.  By His Law He levels your mountains of pride, but with His Gospel of forgiveness He raises your valleys of humility to share His own glorious exaltation at the right hand of the Father.  Bearing His Cross by faith, dying and rising with Him through daily repentance, your life is safely and securely hidden with Christ in God, seated with Him in the heavenly places.

The fact of the matter is that He and His Cross are the genuine Tree of Life, which bears the only worthy fruits there are for the forgiveness of your sins, for life and salvation in Him.  Above all, these very fruits of Christ and His Cross are given to you here and now, from this Altar this morning and throughout the year, in His own holy body and precious blood.

Here, then, receive the fruits worthy of your repentance, the fruits of His redemption, given and poured out for you.  Open your mouth and be filled with His grace, mercy, and peace.  And as you are thus fed, so bear such fruits after their own kind in your own place, that your neighbor may see the Salvation of God in you, His dear child, and glorify your Father in Christ Jesus.

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

God's Great Amen to Your Petition

Dear child of God, you are righteous before Him by grace through faith in Christ Jesus, and in such faith you pray to Him as your own dear Father in the Name and for the sake of the same Lord Jesus.  Not only that, but your prayer certainly is heard by God and answered with a resounding “Yes” and “Amen” for His Name’s sake.

And yet, your own “Amen” sometimes falters and fails.  For the Word and promises of the Gospel stand in sharp contradiction to your experience, to what you see and feel and suffer.

The Lord has sent His messenger before His face to speak His Holy Gospel to you, which is indeed fulfilled for you by Christ the Lord.  Yet, the frailty and weakness of your sinful flesh too often gets the better of you, so that you doubt and fear, you agonize and worry, and you question the grace of God in Christ: How can you be sure of His Word and promise?

This is your lot, your calling as a Christian: To wait and to watch in silence, with nothing to rely upon but the Word of the Lord that He has spoken to you.

You cannot make it happen, nor can you make your heart believe that it will.  Instead, you must be called daily to repentance, and this also is the work of the Lord your God.

He acts to save you, to deliver His people from sin, death, and the power of the devil, from unbelief and false belief, from all unrighteousness, and from every evil of heart and mind, body and soul.  He Himself comes, the incarnate Son of God, to redeem you for His own, for now and forever and ever.

In order that you would be prepared for His coming and able to receive Him (not by your own reason and strength, but by His grace), He raises up and sends the Forerunner first.

Where St. John appears in the spirit and power of Elijah, preaching repentance — and, by the Word and Spirit of God, turns the people around, away from their sins back to God — there the Christ Himself is surely on the horizon, who is coming speedily to save His people from their sins, from the captivity of death, and from the tyranny of the devil.

So this messenger of the Lord goes before His face and calls you to repent: To turn away from your sins and from the death and destruction they bring; to quit your doubts and fears and your wicked refusal to believe; to give up your shame and vice and all your bad habits.  To be freely and fully forgiven, and to receive the Lord’s good gifts of life and salvation.

So, then, repent, and believe the Gospel.  If you are baptized, remember and return to your Baptism.  And if you are not, then submit yourself to the Lord’s Baptism of repentance, in order that you may be saved by His gracious forgiveness.  Either way, cease and desist your sinful ways.  Refrain from your wickedness, and do what is good and right.

It’s not as though the Lord desires to deprive you of happiness.  On the contrary, He alone freely bestows the true joy and gladness that are real and forever, which are found not in your sins but in His Word and faith.  He calls you to repent, therefore, not in meanness, but in Love.  As a father’s heart is toward his children, so is the heart of the Lord toward you, and He disciplines you in love for your good, for life and health and strength in Him.

Where your worship and prayers have faltered, do not despair, but now become faithful and attentive.  Hear and heed the Word of the Lord, which He in mercy causes to be preached to you.  Call upon His Name in prayer, with praise and thanksgiving.  Fear, love, and trust in Him above everything else, both in prosperity and in adversity, in good times and bad.

Where you have hurt or harmed your neighbor by your words and actions, apologize, and make restitution where you are able.  And where you have failed to help and support your neighbor in body or soul, do not delay any longer to do what you can, but do what you are given to do within your office and station in life.

Care for the orphans and widows in their distress, and do not neglect to care for your own spouse and children in the meantime.  Serve and support the elderly and infirm.  Feed the hungry.  Help the poor, who are always with you.  Shelter the weak and lost and homeless.

Do not be greedy or selfish, as though your life were your own to grasp and preserve, or as though your life were actually found in your possessions.  And do not fail to support the Church and Ministry, the Temple and Priesthood of the Lord, with your first fruits and best gifts; for it is the House of His abode, the place where His Name and glory dwell with you.

Do not be afraid, and do not despair of His promises.  Neither doubt nor worry whether they are true.  The Word that God speaks is faithful and certain, whether you believe it or not.  But that you should believe it, He calls you to repentance, according to His steadfast love.

The Lord is not angry with you.  In His tender mercy and compassion, He comforts you with His peace.  For He is your Strength and your Song, and He supplies you with all that you need for now and forever from His wellspring of Salvation.  He calls you to repent, not to discourage or destroy you, but that you should receive Him who comes now to save you.

You cannot see Him, nor can you feel His presence, but He is with you, even now, even in your old age, infirmity, and weakness.  His Word is Spirit, Truth, and Life.  The One who promises is faithful, and He shall do it, just as He has spoken.  Amen! Amen! It shall be so.

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

The Word of Faith That Is Preached to You

In the beginning was the Word, by whom and for whom all things exist, and without whom there is nothing.  He alone is your Light, your Life and your Salvation.

This same divine and living Word has become flesh and dwells with you in love.

He has become flesh to bear your sins in His own Body to the Cross, and to shed His holy, precious Blood for you, in order to atone for all your sins and to redeem you, to justify you with His righteousness and reconcile you to God the Father, to sanctify you with His own Holy Spirit, and to share with you His own divine, eternal life.

He is the true Passover Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world — who takes upon Himself and takes away your sin — who covers you with His Blood and feeds you with His flesh.

In order that you may behold Him, and recognize Him, and receive Him as the Christ, your Savior and your God, the Lord has sent the Forerunner to preach repentance, in order to make a disciple of you by baptizing and catechizing you.

Apart from this Word and Sacrament (the Ministry of repentance for the forgiveness of sins) you cannot even see the Lord Jesus.  Far less could you come to Him, believe in Him, or follow Him.

It is by the Word and Spirit of Christ, by the preaching of Christ Jesus, that you are pointed to Him and brought to Him in faith.  Whereas, without His Word, you remain utterly in the dark, subject to death and damnation.  Thus, not only all of creation, but everything pertaining to faith and life and godliness depends upon the preaching of the Word of Christ.  Otherwise, you have nothing.

It is for your sake, for your life and salvation, that the one true God has opened His mouth in love and spoken His Word to you, and thereby breathed His living and Life-giving Spirit into your body and soul.  And with this divine and holy preaching of God Himself, He has established for you, and for His whole Christian Church on earth, a most sacred tradition of the Word, that is, a handing over of the Son of God from heaven to earth, from then till now, from God the Father unto you.

The Father speaks forth His Son to make the heavens and the earth, and to create man in His Image.  The Father speaks forth the same only-begotten Son in the flesh, to bear your sin and be your Savior.  And as the Father has thus spoken, so does the Son speak His Word to you, which is Spirit and Life.  He speaks to you by the ministers of His Word, called and sent in His Name.

And by that Word that is preached to you, far more than simple information is conveyed.  Indeed, the very Lamb of God is manifested to you, and you are called to repentance, to faith and life in Him, through His free and full forgiveness of all your sins.

That is what this Word does: It forgives you.  And by this Holy Absolution, this Word of forgive-ness, you know the one true God as your own dear Father; you live and abide with Him in peace.

This God and Father still speaks His Son to you.  He sends His man, John, to go before His face to prepare His way — to prepare you for His Advent (His coming) — and to point Him out to you: the Lamb of God, who saves you.  And He sends His servants, Andrew and Simon Peter, His James and John and Paul, His Richard and David and others, to preach the one Lord Jesus Christ to you — to bring you to Christ Jesus in faith, and to bring you to Himself in Christ.

Now, then, what is it that you seek?  Is it not life, and a place to live, a place to call home?

That life and home are in Christ; and Christ is here for you in His Word of the Gospel: He is so very near to you, in your ears, in your heart, and even in your mouth.  First of all as He speaks His forgiveness of your sins, and bestows His peace upon you, and feeds you in body and soul with His holy body and precious blood.  And as He thus gives you life, by grace through faith in Him, so does He open your lips to declare His praise, and He opens your mouth to confess His Name.

You, then, carry on this sacred tradition of the Word: Speak as you are spoken to.  As you have heard, so also believe, and call upon the Name of the Lord.  Pray and confess His Word.  Speak Christ Jesus to your neighbors, beginning first of all with your own family, your spouse, your parents and your children, your brothers and sisters.  And speak to the members of your true and permanent family, that is, to your brothers and sisters in Christ — as Brother Andrew spoke to Brother Simon.  For you belong to them, and they belong to you, as fellow members of one Body in Christ, His holy Church.  For His sake, speak in holy love and with free and full forgiveness.

Do you find yourself speaking otherwise, and not with such grace and evangelical eloquence?

Hear and heed the Word of Christ to you: Repent of your sins and follow Him.  Come, hear and see where He lives, and how He lives.  Receive His hospitality and abide with Him.  For He is your Teacher, and He catechizes you for life.  He has died for you and shed His blood for you, but see, He has also risen from the dead and lives for you, as well.  The very blood that He has shed for you now anoints you with His Holy Spirit and fills you with His righteousness and peace.

Taste and see that He is good — in Him is Life, and that Life is your Light and your Salvation.  Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away your sins.  You are forgiven.  You are His very own.

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

The Lord of the Donkeys

Although you are a sheep of the Good Shepherd, and you abide by His grace in His green pastures, on this day He would have you see yourself in that donkey, in that colt, the foal of a donkey.

Without any rider, you might appear to be free.  But you are not.  You are tied up and owned by other lords.  Unused and useless.  Unclothed, unbridled, unneeded.  But not free, and not safe.

And then Christ Jesus sends His disciples to release you from your bonds and set you free, to clothe you with the garments of a disciple, and to set Christ Himself upon you.  Not that He would burden you, but that He would be your gracious Lord and King.

In fact, for you and your salvation the Lord Jesus Christ has Himself become a donkey, as it were, a beast of burden.  For He carries all your guilt and sin and shame in His own body to the Cross, and He carries you also on His back through death into life.

In His descending, you are raised up.  He goes up to Jerusalem, yes, because He is offered up to the Father as the sacrifice of atonement for the sins of the world.  But He thus comes down from the Mount of Olives, anointed by the Holy Spirit for the sake of mercy, in order to give you life.

The Law accuses and condemns you, and would rebuke your worship of the Lord Jesus Christ.  But He has come to establish righteousness for you, to save you by His grace, and to grant you safety, peace, and rest in the midst of His Jerusalem.  He receives your praise, as He receives you.

He does not condemn you, nor cast you away from His presence, but has called you to Himself.  He does not rebuke or reject you, but calls you to rejoice in His salvation and His righteousness.

For God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself.  And as there is now peace in heaven, in the heart of God the Father toward sinners, so is there now peace on earth in the preaching of the  Gospel, in the preaching of repentance for the forgiveness of sins in the Name of the Lord Jesus.

Now He calls you to be reconciled to Him.  For He would convert your stony, idolatrous heart into a heart of flesh — to love and trust in Him, your God in the flesh.  Rest yourself in His Peace, and so be at peace with Him.  And in such peace, love and serve your neighbor in his body and life.

Such love and peace in your body and life — in your daily words and actions, in your dealings with the sinners and brothers and sisters and fellow disciples all around you — such love and peace are all that is lacking in your faith as a disciple, as St. Paul writes to the Thessalonians.

To be sure, even in your weakness, in your frailty and falling short, your faith lays hold of Christ Jesus and His Righteousness, in which there is no lack but perfect life and light and love, both now and forever.  All of that is fully yours by His grace in the Gospel.  So, again, be at peace with Him, as He is indeed at peace with you.  And so do I also rejoice and give thanks for your faith and life.

But in your flesh, in your heart, mind, and spirit, in what you say and what you do, it remains the case that your faith in Christ has not fully turned in love toward God and toward your neighbor.

Repent, therefore.  Do not remain tied up and still attached to your old lords and masters, but live now in the freedom of Christ, that you may increase and abound in love for one another.  Do not avoid your brothers and sisters, but seek them out in mercy.  Do not wait for them to ask for your help, but look for ways to love and serve them, as Christ has come to help you when you did not know Him.  Do not speak ill of your neighbor, nor cause him any hurt in his body, his family, his home, or his honor, but let all your words be gracious and all your actions graceful toward him.

Love freely, in faith, and not as though you were under a whip or goaded by a prod.  Have no fear of punishment.  You shall not die, but live.  Rather, rejoice in the King who comes to you, who reigns over you in love from His Cross, and so also bear His Cross in love for your neighbor.

As Jesus Christ has become your gracious Lord and King, as He has borne all your burdens in His body, and as He has set you free from sin and death, so now bear Him in your body and life.

Be the colt that carries Him.  Be and live as a Christian.  Let your tongue and mouth be bridled; let your hands and feet be guided; and let your flesh be disciplined by this one Lord, Jesus Christ.

Let Him be the Lord who rides you through death and the grave into the life everlasting.

Let your outer garments be trampled under His feet on His way of the Cross, so that you may be clothed with new vestments, with His righteousness and purity, and with the holiness of His Love.

Has He not named you with His Name — the Name of the Lord your God — in Holy Baptism?

Has He not signed you — also in your body and your flesh, upon your forehead and your breast — with the sign of His Holy Cross?

And yet, it is not you, the servant, the donkey, but Him, the Christ, the Lord your God, who first of all bears the burden of the Cross and releases you from the bondage of your sin and death.

If you now bear the Christ and His Cross, it is only because He has already borne you and yours.

So it is that you are born again to a new and living hope.  No longer the foal of a donkey, you are a son of God, a daughter of Jerusalem.  You dwell in safety, and you shall be saved, because Christ the Lord has made righteousness and peace for you.  That is your freedom, and that is your faith.

For, behold, there is yet another donkey here at hand, who bears your King to you, who comes in the Name of the Lord, having salvation for you.

As He has sent His disciples to make a disciple of you — to forgive you in His Name; to baptize you and catechize you in love; to fill up whatever is lacking in you with Jesus — so does He also send His disciples before His face, to prepare this upper room of His Church, this House of the Lord, for the true Passover Feast of His Body and His Blood.

The Lord has need of bread and wine.  These are the colt that He now rides upon, that by these earthly means He should enter His Jerusalem in mercy, wherein He gives His Body for you, and pours out His holy, precious Blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Here He has need of you, as well.  Not that you should serve Him, as though He needed your help, but that He would serve you with all the authority of His Atoning Sacrifice and with all the power of His indestructible Life.  For He would be your one true King of righteousness and peace.  He comes, not to enslave you, but that you should live with Him in His Kingdom.

He is a greater and more faithful King than even David, a better and far wiser Son than Solomon.  He is Himself your righteousness and holiness.  He is Himself your safety, peace, and rest.

That is why we shout aloud, and cry out, and greatly rejoice.  That is why we sing of peace on earth as it is in heaven.  For “blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord.”  From the House of the Lord we bless His Holy Name and worship Him with thanks and praise.  Hosanna in the highest!

And happy are you, who know this festal shout on earth here and now, and in heaven hereafter.

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

The Thanksgiving of Christ Our Savior

The Lord your God is bringing you into a good land through Jesus Christ, the beloved Son.

In order to do so, He has first of all come to find you and has met you in a foreign land, on the outskirts, where you have been cut off and separated from Him and from your neighbors.

Because you are sinful and unclean, you have been subject to death and to every sickness and sorrow of heart and mind, body and soul.  You cannot cleanse or heal yourself, nor can you feed and clothe and shelter yourself.  You cannot raise yourself from death to life.  But you must wait upon the Lord, and listen for His voice, and meet Him where and when He comes to you.

Watch and wait, therefore, in the faith and confidence that He has come near to you, here and now, with tender compassion for you, with grace, mercy, and peace, and with all that you need.

The dear Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son, has come to provide you with all good things and, above all, to raise you up and bring you, in and with Himself, into the good land He has promised, a place of perfect peace and rest, the home where righteousness dwells.  He brings you in His own Body to the heavenly and holy city, New Jerusalem, and into the Temple made without hands, eternal in the heavens — into the very Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum of the Holy Triune God.

He brings you into that good land through the wilderness of sin and death.  And you survive that difficult and dangerous journey, in spite of your frailty and weakness, and even though it is very hard, because He daily and richly provides you with clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, or with tent and shelter of some kind, with family and friends and whatever else is necessary — not only for this poor life of labor, but for your body and soul unto the life everlasting.

This present wilderness is not pointless in the meantime.  It is a pilgrimage of repentance, of faith and forgiveness, whereby you learn to recognize both your own mortality and the Lord’s mercy.  You learn to confess your sin, your sickness and sorrow, but also His salvation.  You learn to call upon His Name in every trouble — by prayer and supplication with praise and thanksgiving — to ask Him and thank Him because He is good and His mercy endures forever.

He brings you through this wilderness, through this vale of tears and death, and He catechizes you in this way of repentance, faith and life, prayer and thanksgiving, all by the way of His Cross — in His own Body of blood and flesh like yours — as your merciful and great High Priest.

Consider that.  The almighty and eternal Son of God has come down from heaven to find you in the wilderness, and to lead you through all harm and danger, even through death and the grave, through the baptismal waters of the Jordan, into the good land flowing with milk and honey.

For He is the very Word that proceeds from the mouth of God the Father, who has become flesh so that you may live.  He has given Himself for you and for all, and even now He gives Himself to you as the true Manna from heaven — the living and Life-giving Bread which neither you nor your fathers could have known or baked up, but God the Father has opened His hand to give you.

But He is more than even all that.

He is more than you could ever have asked or imagined.  He is more than a new and better Moses, and more than a new and better Joshua.  He is more than your Prophet, Priest, and King, and more than the Food and Drink which now sustain you on the way.

He is the Sacrifice of Atonement for all your sins.  His Blood has made peace and reconciled you to God the Father.  Not only that, but His Blood and the water from His side are for your cleansing and refreshment, for the healing of all your diseases and the quenching of your deepest thirst.

And in His Body of flesh and blood, He is also the Sacrifice of Thanksgiving with which you enter the presence of God, a fragrant offering, acceptable and pleasing.

Take this to heart, and rejoice!  Not only does God give Himself to you in Christ Jesus, but He also brings you to Himself in thanksgiving through the same Lord Jesus Christ.  For His own Body is the Temple of God, wherein you approach and draw near, and wherein you live and abide in the glorious divine presence of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, both now and forever.

Everything is summed up and centered in the incarnate Son of God, Christ Jesus our Lord.  For He is your God, who is with you and for you in the flesh, and He is the sweet-smelling sacrifice and the incense of your faith and prayer, by which you rise and live unto God.  You pray to the Father in His Name, and through Him you offer thanks and praise — whereas apart from Him even your thanksgiving would fall short and be unacceptable on account of your sin.

You have no access to God apart from Christ Jesus; you would remain cut off and far removed.  But now all the fullness of God dwells with you bodily in the flesh and blood of this incarnate Son.

All of creation is redeemed and sanctified, cleansed and healed and perfected in Him, in His Incarnation, Cross, and Resurrection.  Indeed, all things are made brand new in His Body and by His Blood, the very Feast which is given and poured out for you, here and now, to eat and drink for the forgiveness of all your sins, for life and salvation with God in Christ.

Now, then, with your body, and so too with your heart and mind, soul and spirit, give glory to God, worship Him, and give Him thanks and praise, by receiving this heavenly Manna and spiritual Drink at His Word.  Open your hand to receive what God here opens His hand to give.  Open your mouth and be fed.  And when you have eaten and are satisfied, open your mouth to bless the Lord and praise His Name by confessing the good Word that He has spoken to you.

As everything is a gift of God’s grace to you in Christ Jesus, there is nothing for you to do for Him or give to Him but to return thanks.  And your thanksgiving is joined to the flesh and blood of Christ, also by His grace, through faith in His Gospel–Word and Sacrament.

Your whole life, in fact, is offered as a living sacrifice of thanksgiving to God — that you might praise Him with your body and your whole being — by loving your neighbor, as the Lord your God loves you in Christ.  Therefore, that which you hear and receive from Him, put into practice by speaking and giving to your neighbor in His Name.  Feed and clothe, shelter and protect your neighbor, for the Lord your God daily and richly does these things for you.

Live by faith in His Word, and walk according to His commandments, because He is bringing you into the good land that He has promised to you.  To live in such a way, according to His Word — in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another — in Christ Jesus — is already to begin living the heavenly life on earth.

It is to live the life of God Himself, as He has lived for you, in the flesh, on earth as it is in heaven.

And in that same Lord Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son, in His Body of flesh and blood — in His Cross and Resurrection and Ascension — you have already passed out of the wilderness through death and the grave into the life everlasting, by way of your Holy Baptism in His Name.

That is how safe you are, and how safe and secure your body and your life are — hidden with Christ in God.  And that is how sure and certain your salvation is, now and forevermore.

See here, how He so graciously and so generously opens up His hand to feed you with Himself and to satisfy you in body and soul with all that you need.  For He forgives you with His holy and precious Blood, He feeds you with His own Body, and He renews your life by His good Spirit.

All glory, honor, worship, praise, and thanksgiving to Him who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  Amen.