Palm Sunday (Sermon)

World Seeks vs You

John 12:12-19

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning is from the Gospel lesson. This is the great entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem. There are great crowds that have been following him since he raised Lazarus from the dead. There are even other disciples, who have journeyed with him for three years now. 

The large crowd takes palm branches in their hands. They wave these palm branches in celebration, often the thought of a King coming into town after a great victory in battle. So it seems fitting that they would shout, "Hosanna, Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord and the King of Israel.”

But the question is why do they celebrate Jesus as the King? Why have all these crowds gathered? Similarly, we may ask why have you come here this morning? Just as Jesus asked those who went out to see John the Baptist, what did you go out to see? Jesus tells them they went out to see a Prophet, when they went to see John the Baptist.

The Apostle John tells us these people went out to see a miracle worker. They went to find a King, who had called Lazarus out of the tomb. “The reason why the crowd went to meet him was that they heard he had done this sign.”

Similarly, since Easter has come a little early this Year, we missed an earlier text reflecting why people come to see Jesus. After the Feeding of the Five thousand in Chapter 6, John writes, “Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.”

The people seemed Jesus after the feeding of the Five thousand, because they saw a man who could provide them with food. Similar, now Jesus has raised Lazarus from the dead and the crowds seek after the one who can raise them from the dead. They seek the one that can heal their diseases.

The crowds come looking for someone to make this life a little easier. They look for someone to provide them a little help in living their life. They seek someone who will make them feel better. They are praising one who might provide them a little more prosperity.

Is this why we have come here? Have you come for a King who will make you feel a little better about yourself? Maybe you are seeking a sign from Jesus that life is not full of suffering. Maybe you are looking for some sense of satisfaction with the way the world is.

But Jesus does not come to make you feel better. He did not come to heal the sick. He did not come to provide you with money to pay your taxes. He did not even come to cast out the devil from your wretched life.

Jesus says, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” Jesus does heal the sick. He does raise Lazarus from death. He does help Peter and himself pay the temple tax. He does cast out demons from people. He even commands the water to stand still. But all these are done so that you may believe, he is the one God sent.

“Hosanna! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” When Samuel was asked by the people to provide them with a King like the nations, they had not rejected the leadership of Samuel and the prophets. They reject God, who is their King. 

When Nicodemus comes to Jesus by night and Jesus tells him that famous passage, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” It continues to says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

“Hosanna! Blessed is he that comes in the name of the Lord, even the King of Israel!” Jesus comes with this name, because Jesus is the only Son of God. He is the Son of Man who has descended from Heaven. He is the Son who is lifted up, like Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.

So why do we come here? You have been called by the Holy Spirit to look upon the one who was lifted up for your forgiveness. God has sealed you with his Name in Baptism. God has claimed you to be his very own people, because he is our King. We do not come for prosperity, mysticism, rationalism, or moralism, we come here for forgiveness.

We come here as sinners, not looking for a better life now, but for the hope of an eternal future. We come here to celebrate with Palm Branches, not a King who will keep us in this world of sin and suffering. But the one who dies for our sins. The one sent from the Father to provide us with a new creation. The Son that does not condemn us but delivers us.

The World seeks after Jesus, because they seek a man to do miracles, heal the sick, raise Lazarus, still the water, and provide bread for their stomachs. But we know better. We take up our cross and follow Jesus, because he has died for my sins, he has won the victory over death. Next Sunday, we will celebrate the first fruits of our resurrection, when there will be no need of these signs. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fifth Sunday in Lent (Sermon)

He is in the Father, and you are in him

John 14:1-14

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning comes from the Gospel lesson. The main key is where Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth and the life." But I think there is something in this text which really brings all the 'I Am' statements in John together. Jesus says, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?"

The first week in Lent I talked about how Jesus said, "I am the light of the world." This meant that Jesus is the Lord of all creation. He is God most high. Similarly, we can hear this as Jesus says, "I am the truth." Jesus makes it very clear after Philip asks his question, by saying, "Whoever has seen me has seen the Father." Then Jesus says, "Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me?"

Here we see the glory of the Holy Trinity. The Father and the Son are one. They are both the truth. They are together the Lord of all creation. One God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is true God and true Man. He and the Father are one.

Many people get this all mixed up. They hear Jesus say, "I am the Way, the truth and the life." But lose sight of the things that bring it all together. Jesus is the creator. Jesus has defined what is truth, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Way to the Father, because he and the Father are one. He is the Way to everlasting life, because he is the Resurrection and the Life. He is the one who breaks down the barrier between God and man in his own flesh.

Jesus is the one who brought life into the world. Through the Word of God you were given physical life. Through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection, you died and rose again to new life. He has brought you from death to sin, and alive in Christ Jesus our Lord, as St Paul tells us.

Thus, when Jesus says, "In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also." He is not talking about some mysterious place in the sky for you to dwell. But he is talking about putting all his enemies under his feet. He is talking about preparing the New Jerusalem to descend out of Heaven to a renewed earth. He goes to prepare for the harvest, when he will come to judge the living and the dead.

But this is just a lot of theological talk, or possibly rambling. What does this have to do with you? Many people will talk about the fact that even as Jesus has ascended into heaven he still cares for you. Jesus is still desiring to come and take you to himself. But if we see his coming as the Last day in judgment, then Jesus is going to come and bring that Mansion to us.

Maybe instead the real focus for our lives is to ask, What does it mean for us that Jesus is the way the truth and the life? He is the Way means that he has provided us with everlasting life. He has broken down the barrier between us and God. And he is the only way to everlasting life. For no one comes to the Father except through him. So we need to get rid of all the foreign gods. Anything that tells us we can get to everlasting life, or God apart from Christ needs to be removed.

Similarly, He is the Truth. If I want to know whether something is right or wrong, I can listen to the Words and acts of Jesus. Is alcohol wrong or evil? Jesus drank wine. Is stealing wrong? Jesus did not steal but freely gave. Is being unforgiving or hateful wrong? Jesus forgave even the people who were crucifying him, and said love your enemies. He is the Truth. Jesus who is one with the Father, explains and teaches us the hard truth. Even the evil dreams we have are sinful and unclean. The thoughts that nobody hears, God already knows the evil in your heart.

He is the Life. Apart from Jesus Life does not exist. If someone is living apart from Jesus, they do not have life. Apart from God we can do nothing. Apart from Jesus, we are dead in our transgressions. You are evil people. You are lost and condemned people. Thanks be to God, we heard last week that Jesus is the vine and you are the branches.

Jesus has claimed you to be his very own. He has claimed you, and gives you life. He has called you to hear the truth, and believe the truth. Jesus has provide you with the only way of salvation, so that you may live in the Father's house.  That house has many rooms so that we may call others to know the love of God, that they may know the way the truth and the life.

But even more than all this. Jesus is in the Father and the Father is in him. Just as we are joined to the vine, and a member of the body of Christ, You are joined with your Father who is in Heaven. You can call upon your Father in heaven in all times of need, through our Lord Jesus Christ. And guess what the Holy Spirit will even help you to pray. This is what it means for us to know, Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life, and he tells us, "I am in the Father and the Father is in me."

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fourth Sunday in Lent (Sermon)

Forgiven by the Vine

John 15:1-17

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning comes from the Gospel lesson. Jesus says, "I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing." Jesus identifies himself with a vine. He does not identify himself with the grapes that are harvested, or the branches from which the grapes are picked. He is the vine itself, which provides life to the branches and the nutrients for grapes to grow. The illustration is going to fall apart if I try to identify someone else as the roots that pull the nutrients from the soil.

But I can push the illustration by using 1 Corinthians 12, St Paul writes, "For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ... Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it." We do not just talk about the stem as the vine separate from the branches and roots, but we also call the entire plant the vine. Jesus is the vine and you are the branches, which are individually members of the vine.

St Paul uses this connection to encourage us to take care of and look after the other branches in 1 Corinthians 12. In Romans 11 though, St Paul uses the illustration of a tree, into which you have been grafted. In Romans, St Paul is illustrating that you can be cut off from the tree on account of unbelief, and others can be grafted in through Faith.

St Paul is only further illustrating what Jesus says here in John 15. Those who are members of the Body of Christ, find their strength, encouragement, and life from the Vine. Those who reject the Vine and the forgiveness of sin, are cut off and will be gathered together and thrown into the fire. "If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned."

For if you do not bear fruit the vinedresser will take you away. How do we identify fruit? Is this good works? Is this just faith? Or is it as James would say, "Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works." How do we identify fruit? It is by what we can see.

So all of you who have not borne good fruit this last week, you are cut off. If you have not followed the Lord's commandments, you are done. Jesus says, "If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love." In order to remain, or abide in the Vine you need to bear fruit.

Let us think back though to the words of St Paul. St Paul reminded us that the gentiles have been grafted in. You have been joined to the Vine by the Vinedresser. Therefore, in both Romans 11 and here in John 15 there appears to be time for the branch that is cut off. It may be thrown aside, separated from the vine or tree, but the Vinedresser still can graft it in again.

I don't know how this would work with an actual branch, but I know how it works with God's forgiveness. God continues to strengthen you, by his word. The Holy Spirit continues to call us by the gospel. He continues to help us to abide in God's love.

Here we need to remember, Jesus said, "I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, For Apart From Me you can do Nothing." Let us not be so quick to feel rejected. Apart from God we can bear no good fruit. Apart from the Vine we are unclean and unworthy.

Thanks be to God that he loves us so much that he sends Jesus Christ true God and true man to die for the forgiveness of our sin. He is the one who shows the love God has for you, "Greater love has no one than this that someone lays down his life for his friends." Jesus claims you to be a part of his own Vine, or Body. He claims you through his sacrifice to be his friend. 

Even though we continue to fall away. We continue to live a life of sin. We know the evil and continue to walk in the ways of darkness. Therefore, the vinedresser continues to prune his Vine. He cuts away at the vine. God will even up root the vine and cast it away, only to replant it once again. In so doing he has cut off all the branches, putting them all to death. He then brings the vine new life, and with it all its members. You have died and risen with Christ Jesus our Lord.

Jesus even reminds his disciples, "Already you are clean because of the Word that I have spoken to you." Therefore, in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ, I speak those same words of Forgiveness to you, I Forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Fourth Sunday in Lent

OT: Ezekiel 15:1-8

OTA: Ezekiel 17:22-23

NT: 2 Peter 3:1-18

NTA: Romans 11:11-24

CL: John 15:1-17

GA: John 6:41-51

Ps: Psalm 80:1-19

March 15^th

Collect of the Day:

O God, our Father, You are the vinedresser who prunes Your Vine and Its branches, allow these branches to be Nurtured through the Vine and be fruitful, as You continue to graft others into this Vine so that Your Church may continue to Grow; through Jesus Christ, the True Vine, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Theme for the Week          Nurtured by the Vine

Verse of the Week:            John 15:5

Daily Bible Reading List:

Mon: 2 Peter 3:1-18 Tues: John 15:1-17 Wed: Ezekiel 15:1-8

Thurs:            Romans 11:11-24   Fri: John 6:41-51

Catechism Reading:

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

 These words,

"Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,"

shows us that in the Sacrament

forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation

are given us through these words.

For where there is forgiveness of sins,

there is also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?

Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things,

but the words written here:

"Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking,

are the main thing in the Sacrament.

Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say:

"forgiveness of sins."

Who receives this sacrament worthily?

 Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training.

But that person is truly worthy and well prepared

who has faith in these words:

"Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins."

But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them

is unworthy and unprepared,

for the words "for you" require all hearts to believe.

Third Sunday in Lent (sermon)

Good Shepherd Protects

John 10:11-21

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this Morning comes from Jesus own words. "He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep." I have difficult time thinking that too many Shepherds, or owners of sheep, would just let anyone tend their sheep. The idea that even the hired hand would not care at all what happens to the sheep, seems just a little strange.

I know there are days at work when you may not care too much whether your boss gets fired, or the company goes under. Some people don't even care about the customers they service. I can understand these frustrating days. I can empathize with these thoughts.

But if the hired hands boss gets fired or the sheep change hands, it is not that big of a deal. The sheep are after all breed for wool and slaughter. But if the one who hired you, loses his ability to make money, then so do you. So you might care just a little about whether the sheep are slaughtered without pay. So we might want to care a little about whether the company goes bankrupt and we lose our job.

Then you get to customer service. You talk to employees, who really want to be proud of their work. They even want to make the customer happy, while showing distain, disappointment or just lack of respect to their boss, or employer. I would think the hired hand would like, maybe not love, but at least like the Sheep.

It really comes down to which would you put first, your life or your job? I think there are very few people in the world that would say they would put their job before their life. But there are many people that are killing themselves at work. They are not doing this because they love work, care about their job, or even because they can't find meaning without employment. They do this because they desire to put food on their table. They do this because they have bills that need to be paid. Many people work hard labor, so that their children will have a better life.

So this gets us back to the Good Shepherd who actually protects his sheep. He does not do this because he takes great pride in killing wolves. He does not do this because it is easy. He does not do it begrudgingly. The Good Shepherd does it out of love. He does it out of Love for his Father. He does it out of Love for his brothers and sisters. He does it out of Love for the hard work of creation.

All of creation was made through Jesus Christ and for Jesus Christ. St Paul writes, "all things were created through him and for him."  All the sheep were designed to be a loving family. But there are mean sheep and suffering sheep. Ezekiel writes, "Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, that you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture; and to drink of clear water, that you must muddy the rest of the water with your feet?" There are even wolves. The Good Shepherd comes to lay down his life in place of the sheep, and save the sheep.

Now, I hope you understand that the sheep are you. You are the lost sheep of Israel. You are the sheep that have been scattered. You are the sheep that God has sent his Shepherd to gather together into one flock. You are the Holy Christian Church, and the communion of saints. Jesus Christ has laid down his life for you. He lays it down and he will take it back up again, which means that we get to die and rise again also.

But I want you to think about one more side thought. The Good Shepherd loves you to lay down his life for you. There is no greater love than this, that someone would lay their life down for another. But just take the words a little more literal in our text. "I lay down my life for the sheep."

I heard a good Christmas sermon talk about the lambs raised in Bethlehem being prepared for the Passover. These Lambs were bred for one purpose to die for the Passover Feast. These lambs were bred to be sacrificed. At Jesus' birth the Shepherds of these lambs come to find him.

Jesus lays down his life for the sheep, for those lambs. I am not 100% positive, but I would imagine some of those same lambs would be used on the Day of Atonement. These sheep bred to die for the sins of the people. Jesus Christ, is proclaimed in John chapter 1 to be the very lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World.

This lamb of God comes to lay down his life for the sheep. Just as those sheep would take the place of the people, and be sacrificed for their sins. God cares so much for his creation, that he sends his Son not just to take your place, but to suffer in place of all those sheep.

Jesus dies once for all, so that we no longer need to sacrifice sheep for our forgiveness. Jesus is the Good Shepherd who protects and cares for all his Sheep, even the literal sheep, no longer requiring the blood of sheep, lambs, bulls, and so on. The only blood we look for is the blood of Christ, which washes you in Baptism and is shed for you to drink in the Lord's Supper.

The Good Shepherd protects you, and lays down his life for you. This same Good Shepherd protects and serves all his glorious creation, and lays down his life for the sheep. Hopefully, this helps you think a little bit more about how much Jesus loves you, and the creation in which he has placed you to be his hired hand.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Second Sunday in Lent (sermon)

Voice of the Door

John 10:1-10

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Our text for this morning is from the Gospel lesson. Jesus says, "I Am the door.” This is one of those passages, which I use to remind people that Jesus is not always speaking literally. Jesus is not saying that he is an actual door. The Son of God took on flesh, not wood or stone in order to be a door. But at the same time Jesus’ words are very true. Jesus is the door of the sheep.

Many people have come along and chosen to be part of the sheep. There are many people in the world today that have decided to become Christians. In some cases they have even chosen to join a church. These people have even decided that they know enough of about the Bible to teach others. These people jump over the fence and decide to help the sheep realize the truth.

These are people who know how dumb sheep can really be. They tell the sheep they are a part of them, while really they just want to lead you into a different sheep pen, or maybe the goat pen. They will come to your bible study, church, or fellowship group. They will seem very wise and insightful. These people will even be leading pretty upstanding lives. They will look like angels and speak with a soothing voice.

Then you will fall prey to thinking these people have what is best for you. You will listen to them. You will support them. Until one day, you hear a voice so far off in the distance that you can barely recognize it anymore. This voice is calling to you. You recognize, but it would be way too much work to listen to it. You would have to change how you have become comfortable to follow that voice.

All those who do not come in through the Door are thieves and robbers. The only way to enter into the true sheepfold is through the Door. Jesus Christ is the way we have to eternal salvation.

Many people have asked disciples in scripture how must we be saved. The end of Mark says, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” Jesus tells the rich man, “If you would enter life, keep the commandments.” On the day of Pentecost St Peter said, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Similarly, Paul and Silas told the jailer, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

But in all these statements, we know that there is nothing we can do to save ourselves. We can’t keep all the commandments in the least, more or less perfectly. We can’t baptize ourselves. We can’t even believe in Jesus Christ our savior by our own reason or strength. It is the Holy Spirit who grants us this gift of Faith.

Jesus is the Door, by which we enter into the sheep pen. Jesus is our Good Shepherd who keeps us in that sheep pen. He is the one who leaves the 99 to seek after you. He is that faint voice we hear in the distance. He has claimed you to be his very own. He has claimed you to be his little Lamb.

There are many who come to steal you away. There are still others who wish to destroy your faith. They will teach you lies, about who you are and about who Jesus is. But the Word of God will remain true. His voice continues to call you by name. His voice continues to call you back to the truth of his word. St Peter reminds us, “Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”

We are just sheep. We hear Jesus’ voice, and he calls each of you by name and leads you out. He delivers you from bondage to sin, the Kingdom of the Devil, and the corruption of this world.

But even now, we still live with Sin, the Devil, and the world pressing in on each of us. There are many robbers and thieves in our own lives. These things seek to steal us from God, and eternal life from us. They seek to destroy our faith.

Thanks be to God, it is not about us and what we do. It is all about what Jesus has done for us and in our place. Jesus Christ our savior took on flesh, and was born of the virgin Mary. He grew up. He suffered under Pontius Pilate. He was crucified died and buried. The good Shepherd lays down his life for the Sheep. He breaks down all the barriers that stand between you and God, with one exception, himself.

Remember Jesus says, “I am the Door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” Likewise, he says, “I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

And so John 10 we will carry on to next week. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.