Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost

 Watch Service Video

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 16C)

August 24, 2025

Text: Luke 13:22-30

            The Door to salvation and eternal life is narrow.  And it opens in the shape of a cross.  That is to say, Christ is the Door.  Christ crucified for sinners.  Christ risen from the dead.  Christ alone.  Christ only.  What makes the Door narrow, is not that it is available only to a privileged few.  It is, rather, the exclusivity of it that makes it narrow.  That is, Christ is the only way to salvation.  All roads do NOT lead to the same place.  All doors do NOT open to life.  Not even many roads, and many doors.  All religions do NOT lead to God.  Only Christ.  Only Christianity.  Jesus says it this way in Matthew Chapter 7 (13-14; ESV): “Enter by the narrow gate.  For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.   For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

            We kick against this, because we know any number of (humanly speaking) very fine people, who are not Christians.  They’re nice.  They give to charity.  They do good deeds and lead good lives.  And we know any number of Christians who are (humanly speaking) not very fine people.  They wear their sins on their sleeve.  That is a scandal, to be sure.  But see what we’ve done?  We’ve made salvation dependent on human behavior.  Human disposition.  Works.  We want the way to be wide, in such a way that whoever is sincere, a basically good and decent fellow, regardless of the god he worships, gets in.  It’s politically incorrect to say that Jesus is the only way.  It’s tempting to say it doesn’t matter.  Just go the wide way.  Beloved, repent.

            To say that Jesus is the only way is not arrogant.  It doesn’t make those of us who know the way any better than those who don’t.  Actually, we confess quite the contrary, don’t we?  “I, a poor, miserable sinner.”  It just means we’ve found the Door.  And, as Lutherans, how is it, we confess, that we found it?  By grace.  By grace alone.  By the Holy Spirit, bringing us to the Door by His Word.  By someone telling us about the Door.  By the preaching.  (In this way, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say, “The Door found us!”)  And now, because we’ve located the Door, it is incumbent upon us to tell others, “Here is the Door.  The only One that leads to Life.  This is the Way.  Jesus.  The cross.  Christ alone.  There is no other Name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).  Every other door leads to death.”

            Of course, that kind of pleading with others to enter through the Door comes with its own frustrations and heartaches.  That is, so many reject our pleading.  So many of those we dearly love reject our pointing them to the Door that is Christ.  Why?  “That Door is small,” they might say.  “Insignificant.  Most people are traveling the broad way.  Safety in numbers.  Consensus must equal wisdom.  And, it’s easier to go the broad way.  And more attractive.  That narrow Door, shaped, as it is, in the form of a cross, necessarily means it is difficult.  It is ugly.  It entails suffering.  I don’t want that.  So, no thank you.”  Endless are the reasons people give for passing by the narrow Door.  The plain fact is, that Door appears foolish to fallen human reason.  Thus St. Paul to the Corinthians: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14).  It takes a gift of the Spirit to be caught by the preaching of the Door, and so enter through it, enter through Christ and the blessed and holy cross.

            But this leads to a question, doesn’t it?  If the Holy Spirit gives faith to some who hear the preaching, and not to others… and if the Spirit wants everyone to be saved, as He says He does in His Word (for example, 1 Timothy 2:4: God “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth”)… and if there is nothing in man that makes him worthy of coming to faith (finding the Door), but God alone gives faith as an unmerited gift (again, St. Paul, Eph. 2:8-9: “For by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast”)… then… what’s the question?  Why are some saved, and not others?  Or, as some well-intentioned disciple asks in our Holy Gospel this day, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?” (Luke 13:23).  That question is a variation on a theme, isn’t it?  The mystery why some enter through the Door, and others do not. 

            How does Jesus answer?  He doesn’t!  Why some, and not others?  After wrestling with this question (the Doctrine of Election, we call it in theology) in Romans 8-11, St. Paul essentially puts a finger to his lips and says, enough with the question!  The answer is not for you to know!  It’s up to God to do as He knows best.  Instead, here’s what you should do.  Follow Paul’s example, and simply praise God’s incomprehensible wisdom: “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!” he says, as he silences all questions.  “How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Rom. 11:33).  Instead of trying to figure out how and why God elects people, (and, frankly, judging Him as unjust, because you don’t understand the mechanics of His choice) just rejoice that you are one of the elect, take comfort in that, and give God all the praise.  Well, similar answer to the question, “will those who are saved be few?”  Worry about you, Jesus says, essentially.  You, “Strive to enter through the narrow door” (Luke 13:24).  “Strive to enter through Me, and remain in Me.”

            Here, the Lutherans have another problem, they think.  Strive.  Sounds like works.  Here’s the problem with you.  You always fall for the old sleight-of-hand trick of the adversaries in the Lutheran Reformation.  That is, slipping in the idea that the striving itself is what justifies, what saves.  That’s not what Jesus says.  He’s already brought you to the Door.  He is giving you, even now, at this very moment, by grace, to enter through it.  But you know it’s a striving.  That is to say, it’s hard, now, in this life, to remain in Christ.  Because the old, easier, comfortable, broad way is calling you to come back out the Door and join the world.  And your sinful nature wants you to do just that.  Because it appeals to your flesh.  And you look at the cross shaped Door of Christ, and you don’t want to have to go through that, because that means suffering.  The broad way means all kinds of pleasure and ease and comfort, now, heedless of any suffering that may await you at the end (plus, you won’t have to worry about all those other people who won’t come through the Door).  The narrow Door means suffering now, in anticipation of the great joy of the Kingdom and resurrection in the End.  See what it means to strive?  Not salvation by works.  Salvation is in Christ alone.  But mortification of the flesh.  Patience.  Discipline.  Resisting the temptation to apostatize (forsake the faith).  Suffering for the sake and Name of Christ. 

            Some Christians think they can have their cake, and eat it, too (you understand that phrase?  If you eat your cake, you don’t have it anymore.  It’s gone).  That is, they keep one foot… or maybe just a toe… maybe just the little toe… near the Doorway, or so they think, by maintaining their outward Christian bona fides.  Whatever that is, in their minds.  They come to Church however much they think they should.  They do good things.  Live good lives.  According to their own definition of “good.”  But they’ve actually left the Door, little toe and all.  By trusting in those bona fides instead of Christ alone.  Like the Pharisees, who trusted their own righteousness.  Or, they thought they would leave the Door, but stay close enough that they could rush back to it when the moment of crisis comes.  Like somebody who doesn’t really participate in Christianity on any regular basis, but they plan to get to it, someday, near the end of their life.  And what happens is, death will come… or maybe even the End, when Christ comes again… and the Door will be shut... before they have a chance to repent.  Before they can run back to the Door.  That is the warning of this text.  They will have lost out on the Time of Grace (the time of this earthly life).  It’s this great mystery why not everybody feels the urgency.  Why they don’t seem to want the comfort, and peace, and joy we have as Christians.  “Lord, why?  Why do some reject You?”  What is Jesus’ answer?  Don’t let that be you.  Don’t be one of those banging on the Door on the Last Day, shouting that you should be let in, because you deserve it, somehow… even though you wanted nothing to do with the Door when it was open to you.  Don’t be one of those who are shocked when Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the Prophets enter in, with this great multitude from east and west, north and south, but you yourself are shut out. 

            How do you avoid that?  Be in the Door now.  Be in Christ now.  Be receiving His death, and therefore His life, now.  How?  You know it, because you’re here.  Be in His Church.  Be in His Word.  Be at His Table.  Often.  Always.  These are the means He gives you, by which you remain in Him.  Will those who are saved be few?  We worry about that, because we want everyone to be saved, and especially those we love.   But you can’t believe for another.  And you can’t be in Christ for another.  But you can be in Christ for you.  And you are.  God has given you to be here (called you by the Gospel, enlightened you with His gifts).  Stay here.  No matter how hard it gets.  Because only here, in Christ, is there Life and salvation.  And call out to others: “Here it is!  The Door!  Come on in… to Christ alone.”  Some won’t listen.  But some will.  Some will even surprise you.  And that will be a joy to you for all eternity.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.    

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

Video

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 15C)

August 17, 2025

Text: Luke 12:49-56

            Fire from heaven.  The wrath of God.  “I came to cast fire on the earth” says Jesus, “and would that it were already kindled!” (Luke 12:49; ESV).

            The fire that rained down upon Sodom and Gomorrah (Gen. 19:24).  The fire and hail of the Egyptian plague (Ex. 9:23-24).  The fire of the LORD that fell and consumed Elijah’s burnt offering, with the wood and the stones and the very water in the trenches around the altar… divine judgment on the prophets of Baal, resulting in their humiliation and slaughter (1 Kings 18:38-40).  How about the fire from heaven that, not once, but twice, and nearly three times, consumed the captain and his fifty men sent by Israel’s king to capture Elijah?  And the third was only spared because he feared the LORD and begged the prophet for mercy (2 Kings 1:11-16).

            Fire from heaven.  The wrath of God.  “For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God,” Moses preaches (Duet. 4:24).

            The Lord Jesus Christ is God in human flesh.  That is to say, He is a consuming fire.  Yet He does not consume His own human nature.  Isn’t that a mystery!?  God in our weak flesh, yet our weak flesh still lives?  Nor does He consume His mother Mary when He is conceived in her womb.  Like the flame of fire in the bush on Horeb.  The bush was burning, yet it was not consumed (Ex. 3:2).  What was that flame?  What was that fire?  The presence of the LORD God Himself.  Never mind the bush… the flame should rightly have consumed Moses.  A sinner on holy ground.  But it didn’t.  And this is the key to understanding what our Lord means when He says to us this day, “I came to cast fire on the earth.”  The fire of God’s wrath and judgment?  Absolutely.  The fire that is the very presence of God on earth?  Yes.  Fire that will burn us to smithereens?  Hellfire that will torment us for all eternity?  Well, that is the question, isn’t it.  Is that all the fire does?  Destroy?  Why does the fire obliterate Sodom, but leave the bush, Moses, Mary… the flesh of God’s Son… unharmed? 

            What would Jesus accomplish with His fire?  James and John, those Sons of Thunder, wanted to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans who did not receive Jesus (Luke 9:54).  But what was Jesus’ response?  He rebuked them (v. 55).  They didn’t understand what Jesus would accomplish with His fire.  We, too, as we look around us in this dying and degenerate world, can be tempted to wish God would blast those sinners to hell with His fire.  It’s this longing for justice within us.  But then, if we’re honest, we’d have to recognize that God blasting sinners to hell would necessarily include His blasting each and every one of us.  So, do we understand what Jesus would accomplish with His fire?

            Where is it, specifically, that Jesus casts this fire upon the earth?  Golgotha.  The cross.  Do you see what happens there?  Jesus directs the fire of God’s wrath away from sinners, away from us… upon Himself, suspended between heaven and earth.  “I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished” (12:50).  He is talking about His Baptism by fire, His Baptism in blood, His suffering and death.  That is the fulfillment of His Baptism in the Jordan.  He is talking about the blessed and holy cross.  There, He drains the cup of God’s wrath to the very dregs (Ps. 75:8).  There, He makes atonement for all our sins, and the sins of the whole world.  With burning lips, He pleads for our forgiveness (Luke 23:34).  Parched, He thirsts for our salvation (John 19:28).  Forsaken of God, He suffers our damnation (Matt. 27:46).  And in His death, what happens to the fire?  It is quenched.  God’s justice is satisfied.  His wrath is spent.  And you are saved. 

            This is why you want, always, to be found in Christ.  This is why you must ever and always abide in Christ.  Because, in Christ, the Judgment is done.  Your debt is paid in full.  There is no more wrath to suffer.  “It is finished” (John 19:30).

            Now they lay our Lord into a tomb, like so many scattered ashes and smothered coals.  But what happens on the Third Day?  You know it.  As the first rays of sunlight creep over the horizon, the tomb is revealed to be empty.  The fire once again blazes forth.  The stone is rolled away.  Light overcomes the darkness.  Death itself has been consumed by the flesh and blood of God.  Christ is risen.  Jesus lives. 

            And now, a conflagration.  The fire spreads as the Gospel is proclaimed.  First by the angels.  Then by the women (oh, the blessed, faithful women who first visited the tomb).  Then by Peter and thunderous John (this is the fire God wants you to spread, John).  The risen Lord Himself appearing to Mary.  Igniting hearts on the road to Emmaus as He opens the Scriptures to those buried in grief.  Then, the Day of Pentecost, and a mighty, rushing wind.  Fire from heaven on the heads of the disciples.  The Holy Spirit, opening lips.  And the fire spreads as the Word of the Lord grows, to this day, casting its heat and light into every corner of the world.

            Now, it is not a tame fire, understand.  It is still fire… the same fire that destroyed Sodom.  But it is also the pillar of fire leading Israel safely through the barren wilderness.  It is the same fire that consumed Elijah’s sacrifice, consigning false prophets to the slaughter.  And it is the same fire that consumed the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, for the sins of the world.  What does fire do?  It destroys, to be sure.  We’re well aware of that, here, in the hot, dry Idaho summer.  But it doesn’t only destroy.  What else does it do?  It warms.  It enlightens.  It purifies. 

            Oh, it does destroy.  That is the warning for all those outside of Christ, as well as for us, who walk in danger all the way… danger of falling into temptation… danger of forsaking our faith… danger of denying Christ and the Gospel.  Fire destroys.  It hurts, and even kills, when we don’t hold it in reverence.  When we pretend it doesn’t exist, or that it can’t harm us, in any case.  The fool says in his heart, “There is no God!” (Ps. 14:1), and it is the fool, likewise, who plays with the divine fire, or ignores it to his own peril.  The Day is coming when those outside of Christ will be winnowed and burned like chaff (Luke 3:17), cast out where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched (Mark 9:48).

            But, so also, fire warms and enlightens.  Again, the Emmaus disciples’ hearts were burning within them as Jesus opened up the Scriptures to them along the way.  That is an admonition to us to be constantly with Jesus in His Word, warmed and enlightened next to the holy fire.  St. Paul reminds Pastor Timothy to “fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Tim. 1:6).  That is, to busy himself with the ministry of the Word bestowed upon him at his ordination.  “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path,” we pray with the Psalmist, King David (Ps. 119:105).  So we should always shine the light of God’s Word before us, as we go on our way in this world, toward the next. 

            And it purifies, this fire.  By the preaching of God’s Law and Gospel, it destroys the old Adam in us, and brings us to new life.  It shatters our hearts of stone, and gives us new, beating hearts of flesh.  As God tells us through the Prophet Jeremiah: “Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Jer.23:29).  Likewise, St. Peter tells us that our very faith… the faith bestowed on us by the Spirit in God’s Word…  the faith that receives Christ and His righteousness… our very faith is like gold refined in the fire.  How so?  The various trials we have to suffer now, for a little while… like family members and friends rejecting us on account of Christ and the Gospel, as many of you know all too well… like the heat of persecution suffered by so many of our brothers and sisters throughout the world… like the attacks of Satan in body and soul… these various trials melt us down, why?  So that all that is not faith, all that is not Christ, can be skimmed away (1 Peter 1:6-9).  Our fallen flesh.  Our sin.  Our impurities.  Our idolatries.  All of these are purged in fire… not in such a way that we make atonement for them (only Christ can do that, and He has!), but so that Christ is all that remains to us.  And He is all we need, for He is our life and salvation. 

            Christ.  Man only needs Jesus Christ.  When we are in Christ, we are safe from the fire of God’s wrath, because He took it for us (the cross!).  And now the fire is transformed into that which warms us, enlightens us, and purifies us.  So, we want ever and always to be found in Christ.  We, too, have a Baptism to be baptized with, don’t we?  Baptized into Christ.  Baptized in His blood.  Baptized into His death, and so into His life.  Baptized with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 

            And now, we’re like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, engulfed in the midst of the burning, fiery furnace, but unharmed, and unbound… alive… safe in the sheltering presence of the very Son of God. 

            Our Lord Jesus came to cast fire on the earth.  What would He accomplish by it?  The end of God’s righteous wrath over sin.  The redemption and purification of the whole world.  Our eternal life and salvation.  The flashpoint of divine fire is the cross of Jesus Christ.  Our God is a consuming fire.  By His coming into our flesh, He consumes our sin and death.  Now, let us, therefore… engulfed in His Baptism, hearts aglow with His Word, returning from the altar like lions breathing fire, terrible to the devil (as St. John Chrysostom said)… be wholly consumed with Him.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

                  

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost (Proper 14C)

August 10, 2025

Text: Luke 12:22-40

            The holy Christian Church confesses: “I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth” (Apostles’ Creed).  Dr. Luther tells us what this means in his Small Catechism.  I bet you even know the words: “I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.  He also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals, and all I have.  He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life.”[1]  Etc., etc.

            Then, in the prayer our Lord and Brother, Jesus Christ, teaches us to pray to Our Father in heaven, we petition our Abba: “Give us this day our daily bread.”  And, again, Dr. Luther helps us with the meaning: “God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving.”  And just “What is meant by daily bread?  Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.”  (The “and the like” part is simply to say, everything else you can possibly think of that may be needed for this body and life.  And frankly, even beyond what is needed.  For many of us… in fact, for most, if not all, of us… God gives us so much more than we need.  God really spoils us, in the best sense of that word, doesn’t He?)

            See, He’s our Father.  He loves us.  He wants to give us all good things.  And yet, what do we do?  We worry.  As if the unfailing fountain of goodness that is our God is suddenly going to dry up and fail us.  We think if we don’t worry, the whole world is going to fall apart.  We think our life and wellbeing depends on our worrying.  We even think… maybe not consciously, but we even think that worrying about things will lead to longer life.  (I’m that way in the airplane.  I feel like, if I just let my guard down and enjoy the ride, we’re sure to fall from the sky and go up in a ball of flames.)  We’re silly, aren’t we?  We’re ridiculous.  Nevertheless, we’re anxious.  Why?

            Perhaps we have reason to be.  I mean, we are sinners.  How often have we offended our righteous and holy God?  How often have we rejected our Father?  How often have we disobeyed His good and gracious will for us?  We’ve thrown our tantrums.  As rebellious children, we’ve stormed out with the thought, if not even the words, “I’m so angry with You, God!”  Maybe even, “I hate You!  You just don’t understand me, or what I go through!  You don’t love me!  If You loved me, You would…”  (Whatever it is we want.)  God could rightly give up on us.  No one would blame Him.  He could rightly forsake us.  That would only be fair.  It would be just.  It’s not as though we don’t have it coming.

            But you know, even earthly fathers… generally speaking… I realize there are plenty of heartbreaking exceptions… even earthly fathers don’t give up on their children so easily.  And you know what your Father has done about your sin.  Your rejection of Him and of His will.  Your reviling.  Your temper tantrums.  You know…  He sent His Son.  You know…  The cross.  “Suffered under Pontius Pilate.  Crucified, dead, and buried.”  And you know what this means.  Again, with a little help from Dr. Luther: Jesus Christ, my Lord, “has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that I may be His own.” 

            And you also know that the cross and death are not the end of the story.  Not for Jesus.  “The third day He rose again from the dead,” we confess.  And you know what that means:  It means that death is not the end of the story for you and me, either.  It means that I may “live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.  This is most certainly true.”

            In fact, it is true for you and me right now.  We already live under Him in His Kingdom.  But that’s not all.  He is coming again, to judge the living and the dead.  And, as far as you are concerned, you already know the Judgment, on the basis of the Lord’s death and resurrection.  You heard it in the Holy Absolution (after you confessed all your sin and rebellion and rejection and temper tantrums).  God has already said to you, “I forgive you all your sins, in My Thrice-Holy Name.”  What does it mean?  Here is where the Holy Spirit gets to work.  “In this Christian church He [the Spirit] daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers.”  And so, “On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ.  This is most certainly true.”    

            That is why Jesus says, beloved: “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom” (Luke 12:32; ESV).  And if that is true (and it is)… why worry?  Why be anxious?  “He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?” (Rom. 8:32).  If your Father’s good pleasure is to give you the Kingdom, what else is it His good pleasure to give you?  Everything you need for the support of this body and life.  Everything you need in this time between our Lord’s first coming and His coming again.  Your Father knows what you need.  He loves you.  He will give it.  Do not be anxious.  I love how Paul says it in Philippians: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.  And,” what?... “the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (4:6-7).

            Until Christ’s coming again.  His coming again… watch for that.  Be ready.  He is coming soon.  Stay dressed for action.  Keep an eye toward the horizon.  Seek first His Kingdom…  Now, as you faithfully tend to your vocations according to God’s holy Word on this side of the veil.  And then, as the Kingdom manifests itself, visibly, tangibly, when Jesus appears to us in glory.  And all these things will be added unto you.

            And then, keep an eye toward your neighbor.  Sell your possessions, Jesus says.  Or even give them away.  So as to give to the needy.  Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  How do you do that?  Give it to others.  Invest your earthly stuff… your wealth, your possessions… in heavenly pursuits, by investing it in those around you.  Because the things God provides for your body here and now, He would also provide for your neighbor in his body here and now.  And the amazing thing is, He gives you to be His conduit to give them to your neighbor.  He gives you more than you need, so that He can give to your neighbor through you.  It’s His work.  And yet, He says to you, “Good work, my child,” as though you did something marvelous.  What grace!  He blesses you, by giving you to be a blessing to your neighbor.

            And you know, right, that you’re not going to run out.  Beloved, your Father will not forsake you.  Not now.  Not ever.  It is His good pleasure to give you the Kingdom.  That is what He does in Christ Jesus.  And so also, on account of Christ Jesus, He gives you every good gift besides.  Do not be anxious.  Don’t worry.  Believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.  And know that He loves you.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

---

[1] Catechism quotes from Luther’s Small Catechism (St. Louis: Concordia, 1986).

Household & Heritage Conference - Vespers

 

Household & Heritage Conference

August 9, 2025

Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church, Rathdrum, Idaho

Text: Joshua 4

            Twelve men, a man from each Tribe.  Twelve stones from the midst of the Jordan.  To be a memorial forever.  A visible, tangible sign.  Of what?  Of God’s saving acts for His people.  In a wonderful rerun of the Red Sea miracle, there is the LORD, present, this time not in a pillar of cloud, but enthroned between the cherubim, seated upon the Mercy Seat, the covering of the Ark of the Covenant.  And the moment the beautiful feet of the priests bearing the holy Ark touch the water, the waters of the Jordan are cut off.  The LORD is holding back all that would hinder the children of Israel from entering the Promised Land.  God’s people pass over on dry ground.  Collect the stones!  Actually, first build a similar monument right there in the midst of the Jordan.  And then collect the stones.  Twelve of them.  And lay them down in the place you lodge tonight

            What is the purpose of a monument, memorial?  What’s it for?  Well, first, it’s so you go look at it and remember… remember the thing it is given to call to mind (it’s right there in the word, “Memorial”… remember).  And in the remembering of the thing, reflect on it.  Meditate upon it.  Let gratitude for the thing thus memorialized be engendered within you.  And then, think what that thing means for you now, and in the future.  Let it give you confidence for the present, and wisdom and courage as you face the future.  That is the first purpose of a memorial: Your own edification.

            Second, that it may do the same for future generations.  When your child looks at the memorial, and asks, “What does this mean?”… ah… now you have the perfect opportunity to teach them about it.  That they may have the same gratitude for the past, and the same confidence, and wisdom, and courage for the present and the future.  You can think about this in terms of holy memorials, like the stones.  But you also know this from, say, the Washington Monument, or the World War II Memorial.  These memorials ground us, who came later, in the struggles and remedies of generations past, and make their struggles, and their remedies, our own.

            And it even works for those who don’t share our history.  Others can come to know about the thing memorialized, by means of the memorial.  Maybe even ask you about it.  So you’ll tell them.  And then, they, too, will come to know and participate in it in some way.  They will come to receive the benefit of it.

            The twelve stones work that way.  They were given for that purpose.  Whenever an Israelite would come to Gilgal, he’d look at the stones, and remember and give thanks for God’s great salvation.  And he’d be steeled for the present and the future in the face of the mighty enemies who stand between him and his inheritance. 

            That is what signs do in the Scriptures.  In the Gospel of John, Jesus’ miracles were called signs.  In Acts, the Apostles performed great signs and wonders (it was actually Jesus working through them).  The memorial of twelve stones was to serve as a sign.  Such signs are not only momentous in and of themselves (I mean, crossing over the flooded waters of the Jordan on dry ground is pretty momentous!).  They also testify to the certainty of God’s Promises for the present and the future.  Specifically, in this case, the Promise of the Land.  But also, and to every generation, THE Promise: The Seed of the woman, the Seed of Abraham, the Son of David, Messiah, who would come to crush the serpent’s head, deliver His Israel from bondage, be the Blessing of the nations, save His people from their sins.

            And in this way, this sign, the twelve stones… this is for you, beloved.  Twelve stones, a stone for each Tribe.  I can’t help but think about the twelve foundation stones of the New Israel, the Twelve Apostles.  Upon their teaching and writing the holy Christian Church is built.  St. Paul agrees: “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord” (Eph. 2:19-20).

            Twelve stones.  You can’t see them with your own eyes (we have no idea where they are, now).  But here they are, memorialized by the Spirit in the Holy Scriptures, so that they may do your work on you.  Thanksgiving for God’s mighty acts of salvation, as you now receive the benefit of them.  Confidence, wisdom, and courage for the present and the future, by virtue of the certainty of God’s Promises (that is to say, faith!).  God has brought you to this moment by His sheer grace and mercy.  He will bring you through this moment, on into eternity, by that same grace and mercy. 

            All the Holy Scriptures are, in this way, a memorial, a sign.  What else?  Holy Baptism (and the LORD, present in the midst of the Jordan, that His people may pass over into the Promise, certainly ought to call to mind Christ’s Baptism in that same Jordan, and our Baptism into Christ!).  Some of you may vividly remember your Baptism, if you were old enough.  But those of us baptized as infants have to remember it by other signs.  So, “Here stands the font before our eyes, Telling how God has received us” (LSB 645:4).  Maybe you were given a baptismal certificate you can hang on your wall, or a candle, or a baptismal shell.  Memorials.  That’s what those things are. 

            What else?  The Supper.  Bread and wine that you can taste, touch, smell.  And, of course, ears that hear our Lord’s Word, that this is no mere bread and wine, but the very body of Christ that suffered and was given into death on the cross for our sins, and is now risen from the dead (resurrection body of God invading us when we eat of it), lives, and reigns.  The very blood of Christ, shed on the cross to make atonement for us, now coursing through our Lord’s resurrection veins, and our veins as we drink of it. 

            What else?  Brothers and sisters in Christ, united in confession, and suffering, and prayer, gathered around the Lord’s gifts.  What else?  There is virtually no end.  The very architecture of the Church is a sign.  Ask yourself, what is prominent here?  What does it mean?  Think about it.  Meditate on it.  Big cross, front and center.  Below it, an altar, where the once-for-all Sacrifice is delivered to us as Sacrament.  Ah, but you can only get to that through the font.  Pulpit and lectern, like an open Bible on either side.  Attention directed up, and toward God, but you, planted deep in the company of others like you, believers in Christ, to form one body of Christ. 

            Now, your children may ask you about this, that, and the other thing, “What does this mean?”  Actually, you should lead them to ask you.  And if they won’t ask, ask for them.  And then answer them.  Your pastor can help you, but remember, as Dr. Luther repeatedly reminds us in the Small Catechism, the head of the family should teach the faith in a simple way to his household.  And this is one of the things a memorial is for.  That you may teach your children, and so catch them up into the story of our Lord’s salvation, so that it becomes their own.  So, do it.  Read and meditate on the Scriptures with your family at home.  Keep the Bible before their eyes and in their ears.  And the Catechism.  And the hymnal.  Put up some crosses and crucifixes and Christian art on your walls.  In every room of your home.  Keep it always in your line of sight.  How about a crucifix in close proximity to your computer screen?  You get why that may be helpful?  Why not listen to hymns, and sing hymns together with your family?  Inundate the senses with the signs. 

            And then, others will come to know, too.  They may even ask you about it.  And you’ll tell them.  You’ll show them the signs, and memorialize our Lord’s great salvation for them.  You’ll tell them about Jesus and His love for them.  His life for them, His death for them, and His resurrection from the dead for them.  How He restores them to the Father and bestows His Holy Spirit in His Means of Grace.  The signs. 

            Just like the stones.  They are for you, and for your children.  And they are for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to Himself (Acts 2:39).  Why?  “(S)o that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever” (Josh. 4:24).  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.        

 

 

 

 

             

 

In Memoriam +Donley Dale Kubasch+

 

In Memoriam +Donley Dale Kubasch+

July 28, 2025

Text: Eph. 2:4-10

            Don is baptized into Christ.  He is united to Christ, immersed in Christ, covered in Christ.  And that is to say, Christ’s death became Don’s death at the font.  And so, Christ’s life became Don’s life at the font.  Don lives, in Christ Jesus, who is risen, and lives.  Where Christ is, Don is.  And as Christ is, so Don will be on that Day when all things come to their fulfillment.  Don will rise from the dead.  Bodily.  And you, beloved, will rise from the dead.  Bodily.  And for you, who are likewise in Christ Jesus, you will see Don again.  With your very eyes.  You will talk with Don again.  You will embrace Don again.  You will live with Don again.  In Christ.  With Christ.  In the presence of Christ, who loves you, and whom you love.  Because you, too, are united to Christ, immersed in Christ, covered in Christ.  Because you are baptized into Christ.

            That is what St. Paul is getting at in our text, the epistle lesson from Ephesians 2.  Hear this, now, again: “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:4-6; ESV).  God made us alive together with Christ.  That is what He does for us in Holy Baptism, when He unites us to His beloved Son.  Now, it is all God’s work.  Baptism is not our work for God, it is God’s work for us.  Faith is not our work for God, it is God’s work in us.  Union with Christ is not our work for God, it is Christ’s taking us into Himself.  So, Paul stresses, it is all by grace.  By grace you have been saved.  Because God is rich in mercy toward you.  Because He loves you with a great love.  Even when you were dead in your trespasses and sins, which is precisely what you were apart from Christ… dead.  Spiritually dead, even as you walked around in the flesh.  Incapable of coming to faith in Christ, of uniting yourself to Christ.  If you are to be in Christ, God must do it.  His work.  Grace alone.  So, that’s what He does.

            It’s easy to see in infants who are brought to Baptism, as Don was by his parents, a mere 20 days after his birth into this world (with Pr. Ernst, at St. John Lutheran Church in Hollywood, Minnesota).  What does an infant do at a Baptism?  He doesn’t decide to be baptized.  He doesn’t walk on his own two feet up to the font.  He can’t even confess the faith for himself.  His parents and sponsors have to do that.  If anything, the infant does some rather unbaptismal things.  Probably cries.  Possibly screams.  Certainly squirms.  Maybe spits up, or… other things.  He doesn’t exhibit spiritual life in himself.  Actually, that’s why he’s there.  Because spiritual life has to come from outside of him.  From God.  By grace.  Grace alone.  By grace you have been saved.  God does it by uniting the precious infant to His beloved Son by water and the Word.  New birth.  Adoption into God’s Family.  God’s Name written on the little one, “Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.” 

            You can see how that has to be by grace, apart from the infant’s work.  The same is actually true, though, for adults who come to Christ, and to Holy Baptism, if only we had eyes to see it.  Adults often think they made their own decision to come to Christ, and walked up on their own two legs to be baptized into Him, as though it’s some great work they’ve done for God.  But the truth is, God still did it all in them.  Before you can decide to be in Christ, God has already worked faith in you by His Word.  Before you can walk up on your own two legs to Holy Baptism, the Spirit has already done His work of converting you by His Word.  So, by grace.  Grace alone.  God’s rich mercy.  His great love.  Uniting you to Christ.

            Dead to self, because, as we heard from St. Paul at the beginning of the Service, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” (Rom. 6:3).  So, Don got his death over with at the font, as a 20-day-old, when he was joined to Christ’s crucifixion.  That really rips the teeth out of physical death, doesn’t it?  And then what?  “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life” (v. 4).  So, raised a new creation in Christ.  You don’t even have to wait for heaven for that, because, when Don was a 20-day-old, he was joined to Christ’s resurrection.  His whole earthly life long, Don walked in Christ.  Immersed in Christ.  Covered in Christ.  Faith in Christ.  Baptized into Christ.  Newness of life. 

            That is what Paul is saying in our text, as well.  God raised us up with Christ, who is risen from the dead.  And what else?  Christ ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  So, by virtue of our baptismal union with Christ, we are seated with Him in the heavenly places.  So, get this… For us, who are baptized into Christ… for Don… death is not so much a leaving here for… somewhere, wherever heaven is.  I suppose there is a sense in which we can say that, so, fine.  But really, our physical death is an unveiling of what has been the reality ever since we were joined to Christ Jesus.  It is the curing of our fleshly blindness.  What we once knew only by faith, we now know by sight.  There is Jesus.  We see Him!  With the Father and the Holy Spirit.  There are the holy angels and the whole heavenly host.  There are our loved ones who died in Christ, yet live in Him.  Oh, and the things we hear!  The New Song.  The Song of Triumph.  The Song of Christ’s Victory over sin, death, and the devil.  You should read about it sometime in the coming days, in Revelation 4 & 5, and take great comfort in the fact that Don now sees this, and hears this.  And soon, you will, too. 

            But that’s not all.  “(S)o that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2:7).  You know what that is, that showing of immeasurable riches that will happen in the coming ages?  It is the resurrection of the body, and the New Creation, the life of the world to come.  Again, this body will rise.  Don will rise from the dead.  And so will you.  And all who are in Christ will live together in the resurrection world.  You should read about that sometime in the coming days, in Revelation 21 & 22. 

            Now, we don’t deserve this.  Not even Don.  Yes, not even sweet, noble, courageous, loyal, self-giving, self-sacrificing Don.  That’s not how it works.  We’re sinners.  Even the best of us (and Don is one of the best of us, humanly speaking).  We still fall far short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23).  We don’t deserve this salvation and eternal life with God.  But Christ does.  Don is baptized into Christ.  And so, what Paul here writes is true for Don, and it’s true for you: “by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Eph. 2:8-9).  Christ gives His deserving to Don, and to you, as a free gift, by grace, received through faith in Christ.  And even that is not your doing.  It is God’s.  No boasting, except in what God has done.  What He has done for Don.  What He has done for you. 

            Well, that’s great.  But what about Don’s good works?  He did have them, after all.  Devoted husband, and father, grandfather.  A career of sacrificial service to his nation in the Navy.  Loyal citizen and revered veterinarian in the community of Moscow.  Etc., etc.  (And, of course, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention what a gift he has been to his Church.)  Those, actually, are also gifts of God’s grace… to Don (it is a great gift to be able to do them)… and through Don, to us.  They are God working in Don.  Listen to Paul: “For we are [God’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (v. 10).  God is the Workman.  We (including Don) are the instruments of God’s work.  And He has prepared the very works we do from eternity.  He prepared for Don, all those great good works our dear friend did for us.  He prepared for us, all the great good works we are given to do.  And (note this… this is very important), we don’t do these good works in order to be saved and go to heaven when we die.  That’s not how it works.  We do them because we are saved.  By Jesus Christ.  By His life, death and resurrection.  His work.  Which is to say, by grace alone.

            Don is baptized into Christ.  And so he is with Christ.  He is safe, and happy… enraptured by the beatific vision of his Savior, the Lamb on the throne.  That is your comfort.  You want to be with Don, there, in the royal court of Christ?   Be with him here, in His Church.  Baptized into Christ.  Listening for, and heeding the voice of your Good Shepherd.  Gathering around the Altar where the Lamb is with His true body and blood, for you, for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.  Gathering with angels and archangels and… what?... All the company of heaven.  That means Don.  Lauding and magnifying Christ’s holy Name… singing the Song!  Heaven comes down, here, in Christ’s Church.  Someday, the veil will be removed from your eyes, and you’ll see it.  But until then, it is just as true.  Where Christ is, there is Don.  Because Don is baptized into Christ.  Beloved, you be there, too.  God grant it, by grace, for Jesus’ sake.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                    

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost (C)

July 27, 2025

Text: Luke 11:1-13

            Why are we so reluctant to pray? 

            Why are we so reluctant, when our Lord Himself teaches us to pray, and gives us the very words to say, the Lord’s Prayer?  The greatest, perfect, all-encompassing prayer?  The prayer our Father loves to hear, and promises to answer?  The prayer Jesus prays with us and for us?  The prayer that speaks to us, as much as it speaks to God, because it is the very Word of God’s Son?

            Why are we so reluctant, when we know how it is among sinful, fallen, frail human friends and neighbors?  Even they respond to our petitions, whether willingly, or reluctantly, whether out of friendship, or perhaps due to our impudence (a word that means “offensively bold,” “shameless” in the making of the request).  If that is true of them, how much more so of our loving and all-merciful God, our Father in heaven?

            Why are we so reluctant, when our Lord promises us that if we ask, it will be given; that when we seek, we will find; that when we knock, it will be opened to us?  After all, we are blood-bought, baptized children of our heavenly Father.  What earthly father, if his son asks for something good, will instead give him something bad?  (Oh, it happens.  I know it happens, but I also know… and you do, too… that that isn’t the rule.  Even most earthly fathers would give their very lives for the sake of their children.)  If even earthly fathers, who are evil… sinful, fallen… know how to give good gifts to their children, how much more will the heavenly Father… … Well, we expect Jesus to say, “give good things to those who ask him,” and that is true enough.  That is the way Jesus says it in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 7 (v. 11; ESV).  But here in Luke, in our Holy Gospel, He says, “how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Luke 11:13; emphasis added).  And that is an incredible Promise, because, first of all, you have but to ask the Father for the Holy Spirit, and you have Him.  With all His gifts.  Calling you by the Gospel.  Enlightening you by His Word and Sacraments.  Sanctifying and keeping you with Jesus Christ in the true faith.  Counseling you.  Consoling you.  Advocating for you.  Tending you.  Working in you. 

            And secondly, and relatedly, you know what He is doing for your prayers?  It is what St. Paul teaches us in Romans 8: “we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (v. 26).  That is, the Spirit takes our weak and paltry prayers, and makes them what they ought to be as He brings them before the throne of God.  Our words can’t even begin to express the petitions His groans deliver to our Father. 

            Why are we so reluctant, then?  Laziness, undoubtedly.  The deadly sin of sloth.  Prayer takes effort, at least as a daily habit, a discipline, and old Adam convinces us it just isn’t worth the trouble. 

            Pride, certainly.  I’ll talk to God in a crisis, or when things really get tough.  But, for the most part, I’m doing fine on my own.  I have things, more or less, together and under control.  I can handle it. 

            On the other hand, fear.  What if I don’t do it right?  What if I say the wrong thing?  And He probably doesn’t want to hear from me, anyway.  Who am I to speak to the God of the universe?

            Then, in a strange combination of pride and fear, despair.  I’m too sinful.  God won’t listen to me.  My sins are too big for His mercy.  I know, He loves everybody… everybody else, that is.  But not me.  (It’s this bizarre arrogance that says my sins are even bigger than God can handle!)

            And then, I think it’s simply that we’re just extraordinarily dense.  I mean, I know what a gift prayer is.  I know things go better when I speak with my heavenly Father about the people I love and the things that concern me.  But I just forget.  As many of you know, I’m no stranger to insomnia, and it’s usually because my brain won’t turn off.  Especially the negative cycle.  The worry cycle.  I should know better, but I actually think that if I don’t worry about something obsessively, and solve every problem in my life (and yours) at 2 am, the whole world’s going to fall apart.  Do you ever have that?  It’s a tremendous lack of faith, isn’t it?  It really puts me in the place of God.  And the thing is, I know that, most of the time, if I simply commend it all to God and pray the Lord’s Prayer (you know, the one Jesus gives us, word for word, here in our Holy Gospel), I can usually fall asleep in peace.  But do you think I do that?  Hours I lay there, until it dawns on me.  “Oh, yeah.  I should pray.”  Dense. 

            But more than anything else, I think, our reluctance betrays a negligence in hearing God’s Word and living in His gifts.  You know, prayer is not just us talking to God.  It actually starts with God speaking to us in His Holy Word.  And in that sense, prayer is a two-way conversation.  We learn to speak by listening to our heavenly Father.  Like infants who learn to speak by listening to, and imitating, their parents.  And His Word gives us faith in Him, to know that He loves us, and wants to hear us, and answers us, and always gives what is best for us.  Apart from His Word, we don’t have that faith, so why would we ask Him anything?  See, our faith can only be strong and active as the Spirit comes to us in the Word of our Father, in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and in the holy Sacraments (the visible Word). 

            The Spirit… How much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?  So… ask Him.  Ask, and you will receive.  Father, grant me Your Holy Spirit, that I may pray, and believe, and so receive.  The Holy Spirit will give you to pray the prayer of the Lord Jesus, on the sure and certain ground of His death on the cross for your sins, and His justifying and life-giving resurrection.  Out with pride.  Away with fear and despair.  New life animating your body, soul, mind, and spirit.  Overcoming laziness and sloth.  Sharpening you where you were dull.  Cutting through the density.  The Spirit will give you to ask for good and godly things.  For yourself, and for your neighbor.  To commend all things to Him.  Always to seek His good and gracious will, for you, and for all.  Always to knock upon His fatherly heart, seeking His mercy and help and grace in Christ Jesus, the Savior.  Knowing that He will open His heart to you, and pour forth His gifts.  Knowing that He will open His Kingdom to you.  That He already has in the riven side of the crucified Son of God. 

            With Promises like those our Lord gives us in this Gospel, why on earth are we so reluctant to pray?  Repent of that.  We ought to commend everything to God in prayer.  Absolutely everything.  Corporately, in the prayer of the Church, praying for the sick and the suffering, the grieving; for the welfare of our congregation, and for the whole Church of God; for our nation; for the world; and for all of our concerns (a building for worship, for example).  And in our individual and family prayers (and you should pray individually, and as families… set aside the time).  Pray formally, as a matter of routine.  And then pray constantly throughout the day.  Pray before you go to work or school in the morning.  Pray for God’s blessing and protection, for you and your loved ones.  Pray that you do good work, that glorifies God, and benefits your neighbor.  Pray for those you know who are in need of God’s help (well, that list is endless, but at least hit some highlights).  Pray for your family.  Never stop praying for your family.  What are the things that are bothering you?  Pray about those things.  Pray for God’s mercy against all the misery in this world (I often pray through the headlines… otherwise the news just buries me in despondency, but prayer commends these things to the only One who can do anything about it all).  Pray before a trip.  Pray before each task.  Pray for each appointment, and for the people with whom you’ll interact.  Why not pray before you have that conversation, or send that email?  If you don’t already, gather the family to pray before each meal.  I have a suspicion that gift is falling by the wayside in too many Chrisian homes.  Whatever the thing is, just pray.  Commend it to God.  Ask His help.  Ask His blessing. 

            And see, it’s not just some drudgery, another obligation to fulfill.  I mean, it is commanded.  You should do this.  If you need to hear this as Law, hear it.  Repent of your indolence in prayer.  But that’s not why you’re doing it.  You’re doing it because of the Gospel Promises Jesus makes to you today.  When you pray, say this prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, because it covers everything you could possibly need to pray about, and your Father… your Father!  God is your Father!... your Father loves to hear it.  Ask, and God will give it.  Seek, and God will give you to find it.  Knock, and God will open up.  Maybe not in the way you wanted… Better, in fact.  Best.  Because He knows. 

            That is why you are praying.  Because God has spoken His prayer into you.  Because He’s breathed into you His Spirit.  Because He is your Father.  Because you are in Christ, His Son (Baptism).  Because Christ, His Son, is in you (the Word, the Supper).

            Why are we so reluctant to pray?  No more of that.  Here, our Lord teaches us just what to say.  Repeat after Him.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.