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Episodes
Weekly sermons and Bible studies led by a retired pastor of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod
Episodes
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Last week, we heard more warnings of judgment for Judah and Jerusalem, in Zephaniah 2:1-3, though there are words of hope for humble people who seek the Lord and His righteousness, as the Lord led King Josiah to do, for a while. Then, the focus turns to judgment against the Philistines and their four major cities, including Gaza, as enemies of God’s people. They would be destroyed, and in the future, there is another word of hope for God’s people, as their land along the coast of the Great Sea would become pasture land for “the remnant of Judah.” Again, the focus changes to judgment for other perpetual enemies of Israel: the Moabites and Ammonites to the East. Their nations will also fall, and their “gods” are not real and are of no help.
We begin, then, with Zephaniah 2:12, with one verse predicting the fall of the Cushites, far to the South of Israel. Cush is the name for the area that is now called Ethiopia. Ethiopia was associated with Egypt and with the powerful city of Thebes - but much of this area fell to Assyrian armies in 663 BC.
The Assyrians seemed invincible and so powerful, with their capital city of Nineveh, far to the north of Jerusalem. If you remember the Book of Jonah, the leaders and people of Nineveh had listened to the message of the prophet Jonah, earlier, and were led to repent and pay attention to the One True God for a time, though Jonah was very unhappy about that. That allowed them to survive longer, though they later rejected the Lord and went right back to their evil ways and false gods. Now God raised up Zephaniah to predict the judgment and fall of Nineveh and the whole Assyrian empire, too. They had become such a cruel and hateful nation that most everyone was against them.
Meanwhile, the Babylonians had become stronger and, together with the Medes, were able to defeat the Assyrian armies and captured and totally destroyed the city of Nineveh in 612 BC. (Zephaniah 2:13-15) The city became a wasteland and disappeared for many centuries. The description of it as a place only for birds and wild animals was true. It had been an “exultant city that lived securely” (2:15). The mention of “capitals” refers to the tops of columns of abandoned and destroyed temples and palaces. The mention of “cedar work” was an indication of great wealth and luxury (2:14). See what the Lord says about this in Judah, through the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 22:13-17. Some of the ruins of the city were rediscovered in the mid-1800s. Around it is now the city known as Mosul, in Iraq, where there has been much fighting with ISIS forces in recent times.
The most serious problem with ancient Nineveh, of course, was its false gods and pride in itself, as if it were a god. God Himself had said twice in Isaiah 45:5-6, “I am the Lord, and there is no other.” Already in Exodus 3:13-14, God was saying that His name was “I am Who I am,” and “I am” has sent me to you. Jesus, as the Son of God, said, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58), and used the “I am” sayings about Himself. But here, the king of Babylon was saying, in effect, in Isaiah 14:13-14, “I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; … I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” And the Ninevites leaders were saying, “I am, and there is no one else.” In these cases, commentator Walter Roehrs says this is “the political form of man’s primal sin, the desire to be like God” (Genesis 3:5, 22).
Powerful nations can be like that, thinking that they are god-like. As Zephaniah, Chapter 3 begins, God switches back to His own city of Jerusalem, which He also calls “rebellious and defiled, the oppressing city.” The people “listen to no voice” but their own. “They accept no correction,” even from God. They “do not trust in the Lord” and “do not draw near to their God” (Zephaniah 3:1-2). “Their officials” are like “roaring lions,” and “their judges are like evening wolves.” They devour everything of others and leave nothing for the next day (3:3). Even the prophets “are fickle, treacherous men,” and the “priests profane what is holy and do violence to the Law" (3:4). “The Lord is just and righteous,” but “the unjust know no shame” in what they are doing (3:5). King Josiah tried to make many reforms, but they were not continuing, and too many people were slipping back into their evil patterns. Judgment is coming for all this.
In 3:6-8, then, the Lord says again that this coming judgment on Judah and Jerusalem is a pattern for judgment that is coming for all nations in the last days. “Surely people “will accept correction” and “fear Me,” says the Lord, “but all the more they are eager to make all their deeds corrupt” (3:7). Judgment comes, and “cities are desolate and laid waste, without inhabitants,” and no one pays attention (3:6). Therefore, “wait for Me,” says the Lord, for I will “gather nations and kingdoms” and “seize the prey” and “all the earth shall be consumed.” This is a picture given in the New Testament, too, for the last day, the Day of Judgment. Think of some of the Scripture readings we have heard in the last weeks of the old church year and even in Advent. Judgment is coming for unbelievers, for all those rejecting the Lord and not trusting in Him through Jesus our Savior (Matthew 25:31-46, 2 Peter 3:8-13, etc.).
But finally, beginning in 3:9, we hear words of promise that the Lord can turn things around for His people, “humble and lowly.” We will focus on these words of hope, in the final portion of God’s message through Zephaniah, next week.
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Tuesday Dec 12, 2023
Sermon for the 2nd Sunday in Advent, based on:
Isaiah 40:11
2 Peter 3:8-14
Mark 1:1-8
Sermon originally delivered December 9, 2023
Repentant Joy
Let us pray: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.” Amen (Psalm 19:14).
The text for our meditation this evening is the Gospel, read just a few minutes ago. You are welcome to follow along with it as printed in your bulletin.
We are now in the Advent season, and if you are an old-timer, like me, you might remember how things used to be.
- The color of Advent was purple, the same somber color we use in the Lenten season when we think of the suffering and death of Jesus for our sins.
- We omitted parts of the worship that were more joyous, as we still do, but we were especially to avoid any Alleluias until Christmas Eve.
- I was taught to avoid, also, singing any Christmas hymns in worship until we actually reached Christmas Eve itself.
Things change, don’t they? We value tradition, as Lutherans, as they keep pointing us to the Scriptures and to Christ, but there is no Scripture that says we must do Advent in only one way.
The blue color we now use is beautiful, and it reminds us of looking up at a blue sky on a beautiful day and thinking of the eternal joy that Jesus came to bring to us, as He was born in Bethlehem, as our Savior - and the joy that He will bring us when He comes back from the sky, with some clouds, on the last day, to bring us everlasting joy in heaven.
It is what Mark says in the first verse of our Gospel lesson. The Advent season is “the beginning of the Gospel - the Good News - of Jesus Christ, the Son of God,” who came for us, to bring us hope and joy.
We can’t avoid our culture, either, with Christmas songs, many of them secular, beginning long before December, and many Christmas movies on competing TV channels already beginning in mid-October. And much of this “Christmas” emphasis stops right after Christmas, when we are just beginning our Christian Christmas celebration and the singing of Christmas hymns, through Epiphany, January 6.
What we don’t want to miss out on, though, in all these changes, is another important part of the Advent message - that the only reason Jesus had to come was because of our own sins and the many sins of our very troubled world.
Mark quotes in our text for tonight from the Old Testament prophet, Malachi, and then from the prophet, Isaiah. God said through Malachi that He would send a messenger before Jesus, who would prepare the way for Jesus. Isaiah predicted, in our Old Testament lesson for today, that this messenger would be “a voice, crying in the wilderness and calling people to receive “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of their sins.”
Mark clearly identifies John the Baptist as this messenger, this voice, preparing the way for the Lord. Mark also indicates that many people from Jerusalem and Judea went out to see and hear John and were baptized by Him, confessing their sins.
Some, if they knew their Old Testament, would realize that John was wearing the same hairy clothes and a belt of leather that the great prophet Elijah wore (2 Kings 1:8) - and that there had been predictions that Elijah would come, turning hearts of people, before the Promised Savior came (Malachi 4:5-6). Jesus Himself identified John as the one coming in the spirit and power of Elijah, as did an angel earlier (Luke 1:16-17, Matthew 11:11-14).
And yet John was always pointing beyond himself, as our text says, to Jesus as the Mightier One. In fact, John says that even as a prophet of God, he was not worthy enough even to stoop down and untie the sandals of Jesus. Among the Jews, a servant could be asked to do almost anything his master wanted, except for undoing his master’s shoes, some rabbis taught. Only the lowliest of slaves could be expected to do that. In comparison with Jesus, John was putting himself even lower than the lowliest of slaves.
John could baptize with water. But only Jesus was the Christ, the One anointed by God to be the Savior of the world and to do the work necessary to forgive our sins, by His perfect life and His suffering and death on the cross and His mighty resurrection. Only Jesus was the Son of God, as well as a man, sent from His Heavenly Father, and able to baptize not just with water, but with the power of the Holy Spirit.
And think now about the call to repentance from John and, later on, from Jesus Himself, and how well people do with that. To repent means not only to be sorry for our sins and confess them; its root meaning is “to turn,” to turn away from our sins and to the Lord and His will for us.
Some churches say that we must make that turn on our own, as an act of our own will, and only when we have made that decision, will God pay attention to us. Many others have found, though, that they can’t make that turn on their own. No one can, the Bible says.
If you have ever read about groups like Alcoholics Anonymous and other such “Anonymous” groups, you know that their first two principles are:
- “We admitted we were powerless over alcohol” (or whatever our problem was) and
- "We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us.”
AA gets off track in other ways, because they don’t speak clearly of the Biblical fact that only the One True Triune God can restore us. Our God is the only real Higher Power, as God the Father sent Jesus, God the Son, born in Bethlehem to rescue and forgive and restore us, and bring us to faith through God the Holy Spirit, whom He and the Father sent.
Martin Luther discovered that, through the Scriptures, after he had struggled and struggled in his own power and life to be a good Christian, and couldn’t do it, in His own power. Luther finally wrote, in his Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot, by my own reason or strength, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel (that Good News Mark speaks about in our text) and enlightened me with His gifts, and sanctified and kept me in the true faith” (Explanation of the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed).
On Pentecost, Peter preached the Good News of Jesus as Savior, and then said, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit;” and 3,000 people were brought to faith. The whole package, from repenting and confessing and turning to Jesus, was the promise and the gift of God through His Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38-39).
There’s an Old Testament prayer in Lamentations 5:20 that literally says, “Turn us unto You, O Lord; and we shall be turned; renew our days.” God turns us, through Christ and through the Holy Spirit, to Himself in the gift of faith.
And even repentance is a gift of God that God enables in us. When the early Christians preached the Gospel to fellow Jews, they said in Acts 5:31, “God exalted Jesus at His right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.” And as the Gospel was spread to non-Jews, the believers in Acts 11:18 “glorified God, saying, ‘Then to the Gentiles also,” (even to non-Jews) God has given repentance that leads to life.” Martin Luther said, in His 95 Theses, at the beginning of the Reformation that “the whole life of a Christian is one of (that kind of) repentance” as a gift of God.
We have a confession of sins in every Communion service in our church. But sometimes we just rattle through the words and forget what a great privilege it is to think and talk honestly about our sins and our struggle to do right, and that our Lord still cares about us and forgives us and is the one who can turn our lives more toward Him and His will, through His power.
And later in our service, we remember our baptism, when many of us were brought to the Christian faith through the Spirit’s gift of new life for us, and as our liturgy says, “With repentant joy,” we come to the Lord’s Supper and “receive again the salvation accomplished for us,” as a gift, “by the all-availing sacrifice of Christ’s Body and Blood on the cross.” Receiving such gifts is truly Advent “repentant joy” in our Lord.
Please rise for prayer: “Now may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, keep our hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Amen (Philippians 4:7).
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
The Scriptures this week continue the Advent theme of Christ’s coming to be our Savior, bringing forgiveness of sins, and His coming again on the last day.
The Psalm is Psalm 85. The psalmists, sons of Korah, knew that God had shown mercy to His people and forgiven their sins in the past. Now, in a difficult time, they pray that the Lord will again “revive” and “restore” His people with “His steadfast love” and “salvation.” The psalmists remind the people “not to turn back to folly,” but to “fear” and trust the Lord and His “faithfulness and righteousness” brought to them.
In the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 40:1-11, Isaiah speaks of God’s “comfort” and “good news” that would come to His people. “In the wilderness the way shall be prepared” by “a voice” for “the glory of the Lord” and “the Word of the Lord” coming. “The Lord God Himself will come” to “the cities of Judah,” like “a Shepherd tending His flock and caring for His lambs.” Jesus is, of course, that Good Shepherd.
The Gospel lesson is Mark 1:1-8. Mark announces “the beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” “His way is being prepared” by John the Baptist, who is the fulfillment of prophecy quoted from Malachi and Isaiah. John preached “a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin,” but made it clear that Someone much greater was coming, (our Lord Jesus) who would bring baptism with water and “the Holy Spirit.”
The Epistle lesson is from 2 Peter 3:8-14, another reminder of Christ’s second coming on the last day. He is not “slow” about His return, but works with a different sense of time, and is patiently wishing that more people “should reach repentance” and faith in Him. Peter encourages all believers to seek to live in “holiness and godliness,” as we “wait for and hasten” the day of Christ’s return.
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Last week, we heard very strong language of judgment in Chapter 1 of Zephaniah for God’s people of Judah and Jerusalem, because of their sin and rebellion against their Lord. Days of “darkness and gloom” were coming, which did happen during the Babylonian captivity (Zephaniah 1:4-16). This judgment was a prelude and picture of ultimate judgment on the last day for all “blind, sinful” unbelievers and the “consuming” and passing away of heaven and earth as we know it (Zephaniah 1:17-18).
As Zephaniah Chapter 2 begins, the “shameless nation” of Judah is called to gather together before “the day of the burning anger of the Lord comes” and they pass away “like chaff” (2:1-2). They are called upon to “seek the Lord” in humility, being humble ones of the land, who “seek righteousness” and seek to “do the Lord’s just commands.”
Maybe He will keep them “hidden on the day of His anger” (2:3). (Remember how King Josiah did repent and return to His Lord and sought to make reforms and was spared much trouble for a time, for himself and Judah.)
Then, the Lord directed His attention to four of the five main cities of the Philistine enemies of Judah. The fifth, Gath, had already been defeated earlier. (See 2 Chronicles 26:6.) These cities are listed in Zephaniah 2:4 - Gaza (the same area that we hear so much about today), Ashkelon, Ashdod, and Ekron. (If you have an ESV Bible, you can find these cities on one of the colored maps at the beginning of the book. They are in the Southwest of the Land of Judah, along the coast of the Great Sea, the Mediterranean.) The words in 2:4 indicate that they would all be destroyed. Ashdod, for example, would be defeated at “noon,” in broad daylight, an unusual time for an attack, and Ekron would be totally uprooted, with nothing left there. The Philistines had been perpetual enemies of God’s people, even from the days when the land was still called Canaan. These people are also called Cherethites (Cretans) because many of them had originally come from the island of Crete (2:5). They had often attacked Israel and often led Israelites to worship their false gods and do evil in the eyes of the Lord. (Goliath was the Philistine giant that David defeated with a slingshot, long before, in 1 Samuel 17.)
Now, though, some words of hope come for God’s people in Zephaniah 2:6-7. This seacoast area would become pasture land for shepherds of “the remnant of the house of Judah.” “For the Lord their God would be mindful of them and restore their future.” See the prophecy also in Isaiah 37:31-32 for the “remnant” of Judah and Jerusalem. This would not happen until much later, after the Babylonian captivity, but those who were humbled before the Lord (Zephaniah 2:3) and trusted Him would receive the land again.
The prophetic words of God through Zephaniah then move from the southwest of Judah to the East, where more continual enemies of Israel were, the people of Moab and Ammon (Zephaniah 2:8-11). The Moabites and Ammonites had often made trouble for God’s people and “taunted” and “reviled” them and sought to lead them astray, away from the One True God (Zephaniah 2:8,10). We also heard, for example, of people of Judah who worshiped the Lord but also worshiped Milcom, an Ammonite god, in Zephaniah 1:5, and were in big trouble with the Lord. On the other hand, Ruth was a Moabite woman who came to follow and believe in the Lord, married Boaz, and became an ancestor of King David and of Jesus Himself. And Jesus died and rose again to be the Savior of all people, not just His own Jewish people, of course. At this point, though, because of their opposition to God’s faithful people, the Moabite and Ammonite lands would become “like Sodom and Gomorrah’ and their people defeated (2:9).
These people who worshiped false gods would offer food to their gods to feed them. Since their worshipers would be defeated and gone, the Lord makes fun of these gods and says that they will become “famished” and starve (2:11). This is prophetic of the end of this age when everyone will have to realize and admit that there is only the One True Triune God and that no other gods were ever real (Philippians 2:9-11).
I will stop here for this week. Next week, we will see more condemnations and trouble for other nations, warnings again for Judah and Jerusalem, and finally, more words of great hope in the coming Savior. The Lord’s continued blessings, as you keep searching the Scriptures.
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Tuesday Dec 05, 2023
Sermon for the 1st Sunday in Advent, based on:
Sermon originally delivered November 27, 2011
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
The Advent season and a whole new Church Year begin this Sunday, using readings from Series B in the three year series of readings. The word “Advent” is from a Latin word meaning “to come to,” and we focus primarily on preparations for Christmas and the birth of Jesus, God the Son who became man for us to be our Savior, born in Bethlehem. Advent can also emphasize other “comings” of Jesus, as we will see in the readings for this week.
Advent used to be a more “penitential” season, as we also thought more about our sins and repented for them and remembered how they were the real reason that brought Jesus into this world, to be our suffering Servant and Savior and paying the penalty for our sins, for our sake. The color of the season was purple, like in the Lenten season, and we sang no “Alleluias” until Christmas when Jesus was born. In more recent times, the Advent color is blue in many churches, and we sing joyous Christmas carols much sooner.
We still see the call to repentance and God’s forgiveness in Christ in some of our Advent readings, though. In the Old Testament lesson, Isaiah 64:1-9, Isaiah wishes that the Lord would “rend (rip open) the heavens and come down,” as He had done with “fire” and “quaking” at Mt. Sinai long before. Isaiah admits that God’s chosen people had been living in sins for “a long time,” with “polluted garments” and “not calling in God’s Name” as they should. He prays that the Lord would not “remember their sins forever,” but “look upon them” with mercy.
The Psalmist Asaph has a similar plea for the Lord’s help in Psalm 80:1-7, asking twice: “Restore us, O God; let Your face shine, that we may be saved.” His people had suffered much, with “tears to drink in full measure” because of their sins, and their “enemies laughed” at them. He asks God to “give ear,” to hear and “stir up His might and come to save them.”
God did send His Son, Jesus, of course, and there are two choices for a Gospel lesson, both from Mark, from which most Gospel readings this church year will be. Mark 11:1-10 tells of the “coming” of Jesus into Jerusalem, with people putting down palm branches in honor of Him and saying that He came “in the Name of the Lord” and connecting Him with the Kingdom of His ancestor, David. Jesus is a King, but He comes riding on a lowly donkey to suffer and die for the sins of His people and the whole world, later that week. The alternate Gospel, Mark 13:24-37, tells of another “coming” of Jesus, as He returns to the earth on the last day, when “heaven and earth will pass away,” but God’s “elect,” believers in Him, will be gathered up to everlasting life. No one on earth knows when that day will come, and Jesus calls us to “stay awake” in faith, trusting in Him and His saving work for us.
The Epistle lesson is from 1 Corinthians 1:3-9. Paul gives thanks that “the grace (and peace) of God in Christ Jesus “ had come to many in Corinth. (This is another way that Christ comes, as He has come to us and brought us the “gift” of faith in Him through His Word, “the testimony about Him,” and the “gifts” of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.) Paul also speaks of the coming of Christ on the last day, “the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ.” “God is faithful” and will “sustain us to the end,” and we will be counted “guiltless” on Judgment Day, through what Christ has done for us.
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Last week, we started into the section of Zephaniah 1:4-13, where the Lord said that He would bring judgment against the Southern Kingdom, the Land of Judah, and the people of Jerusalem that remained in Israel. This would happen because many of the people had “turned back from following the Lord” and were following false gods or just not seeking the Lord and His will (Zephaniah 1:4-6).
In 1:7, Zephaniah tells His people to “be silent” before the Lord because “the day of the Lord is near” for them. He describes it as “a sacrifice being prepared,” but in this case, it is not a sacrifice of animals, but a “sacrifice” of many of God’s own people. The “guests” invited to participate and make the sacrifice are another nation, the rising, powerful people of Babylon. This is a very unusual description, because in the Old Testament, animal sacrifices were the means by which atonement was made for the souls of God’s people, and they were forgiven. (See Leviticus 17:11. These sacrifices were a preparation for the “once-for-all” sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to pay for and forgive the sin of the world. See Hebrews 10:5-10.) In this case, though, the picture of a sacrifice is the opposite, the execution of God’s judgment against His own people. Foreign powers will be employed by God to punish His people.
In Zephaniah 1:9, the Lord says He will punish the officials and even sons of the king, who loved “foreign clothing” and apparently, the evil ways of these foreign nations, too. (This did not include Josiah, who was just a young child at this time, with little real responsibility as King.) Also to be punished was “everyone who leaps over the threshold.” This may be a reference again to pagan practices with worship of false gods. (See the Philistines in 1 Samuel 5:1-5 as an example.) This might also be a reference to people in Judah who would break into the homes of others through the threshold and steal and take things in a fraudulent way and by violence. (We hear many stories about people today, too, in high crime areas, breaking into businesses and homes, with violence and theft and great harm. Squatters take over homes and property, too.) Punishment will come to such people.
In Zephaniah 1:12, we hear of people who are “complacent” about what is going on and say to themselves, "God does not care about us. He is doing nothing. He will not do good, nor will He do ill about anything going on. Why should we care about Him and what He says and wants?" They go their own way, against the Lord and His will. But eventually, punishment will come. (The image of the Lord “searching Jerusalem with lamps” is a way of saying that nothing can be hidden from Him. He knows the evil, as well as the good. See the story Jesus tells of the woman who searches with a lamp until she finds her lost coin in Luke 15:8-10. In this case, there is also hope, for one who is lost in evil can be found. We will see more of this hope next week.)
For Judah and Jerusalem, though, there will be cries and wails and loud crashes from various places in Jerusalem (Zephaniah 1:10). Enemies will come against the cities of Judah and even against Jerusalem with its “fortifications and lofty battlements“ (Zephaniah 1:16). Trade will stop (1:11). “Goods will be plundered and houses laid waste. People will no longer be able to “inhabit houses they have built” or “drink the fruit of their vineyards” (1:13).
This is all a prophecy from the Lord, through Zephaniah, of what would come eventually, as the Lord used the Babylonian armies to conquer Judah and Jerusalem and carry many of their people away into captivity in Babylon because of their sin and rebellion. Zephaniah piles up the words about how terrible this “great day of the Lord’s judgment” will be. It is “near and hastening fast.” Even mighty men will “cry out” in agony (1:14). It is described as “a day of wrath,” a “bitter day,” with “distress and anguish, ruin and devastation, darkness and gloom, clouds and thick darkness” (1:14-1:15).
God goes on to say through Zephaniah again that the kind of judgment and wrath coming upon Judah and Jerusalem is a warning of such judgment upon the whole unbelieving world at the end “because they have sinned against the Lord." This will be “distress on mankind” (1:17). “Silver and gold” or anything else they have will not “be able to deliver them.” “All the earth shall be consumed” and there will be “a full and sudden end” for “all inhabitants of the earth” who are without faith in the Lord and His forgiveness (1:17-18).
That warning continues into the New Testament. “Heaven and earth will pass away,” Jesus said (Mark 13:31). In His description of Judgment Day, Jesus warned that unbelievers “will go away into eternal punishment” (Matthew 25:41,46). But Jesus also said, “My Words will not pass away.” He has words of hope, that people can be changed and brought to repentance and trust in Him and escape that ultimate day of wrath. We will finally begin to hear more about that in Chapter 2 and especially in Chapter 3 of Zephaniah. (You can also hear that Good News in my sermon from 11/26/23 (you can listen or read it here: https://lutheransermons.podbean.com/e/new-sermon-for-the-last-sunday-of-the-church-year-november-26-2023), reflecting on the Day of Judgment for believers: “Come, Blessed Ones, Inherit the Kingdom.”)
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
NEW Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year
“Come, Blessed Ones, Inherit the Kingdom”
Matthew 25:31-46
Let us pray: Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen. (Psalm 19:14)
The text for our meditation this evening is the Gospel lesson, read just a few moments ago. You are welcome to look at it, together with me, as it is printed in your bulletin.
This is the last Sunday of the Church Year, and it’s not a surprise that our focus would again be on last things and the end of the world and being ready for that day that is often called Judgment Day. But have you ever asked yourself why Jesus would spend so much time talking about the end just a few days before His own suffering and death and resurrection?
If you look in your Bibles, you will find that in Matthew 24, Jesus talks about signs of the end and the certainty of His return, even though no one knows exactly the day or the hour, and therefore the need is there for us to be ready continually. Then in Matthew 25, Jesus tells the two parables of the end that we heard the last two weeks and then gives our text about the judgment. In Matthew 26, right after our text, we hear these words: “When Jesus had finished all these sayings, He said to His disciples, ‘You know that after two days the Passover is coming and the Son of Man (referring to Himself) will be delivered up to be crucified.’” And then, in the last three chapters of Matthew, the focus is upon Jesus and His suffering and death and resurrection for us, for the forgiveness of our sins. He is making it clear that it is through trust in Him alone that we are ready for the last day.
Our enemy, the devil, though, always wants to turn things around and put the focus on us, ourselves, and what we have done. The name “Satan” literally means “the accuser,” our enemy who accuses us. Satan likes to ask us, “Do you really think you are good enough and worthy enough that God will accept you?” And deep down, we know that we are not worthy, on our own.
We hear strong Law Scriptures like Matthew 5:48, which says, “You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” - And we know we are not even close to that. Or we hear a strong Law passage like 2 Corinthians 5:10, which says, “We must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one of us may receive what is due for what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Satan can take a Scripture like this one and use it out of context and make us begin to wonder, “What if Jesus remembers and exposes all the bad things I have done and that I regret? What if he nails me for all the things I should have done and did not do in my life? We all have plenty of that, too, don’t we?
Or Satan might try to convince us that we’re just as good as anybody else, and we’ll surely be OK on Judgment Day, especially if we try more and more to do what Jesus said in our Gospel lesson - feed more hungry people and visit more prisons and help more sick people and give away more clothes. Surely all that will earn us God’s favor.
All thinking of Satan is actually the opposite of what Jesus says and does. Jesus tells us about the End Times and His return and judgment, but then points us away from ourselves and to Him alone as our Hope and Savior. At His baptism, Jesus said, “I have come to fulfill all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15). And that is what He did. He lived a perfect life, for us, in our place, as our Substitute.
Christ Jesus also “died for our sins. in accordance with the Scriptures,” Paul tells us (1 Corinthians 15:3). Peter says, “Christ Himself bore our sins in His Body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live for righteousness. By His wounds, you have been healed”(1 Peter 2:24). Paul again says, “For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin who knew no sin so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God." In Christ, God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians 5:19,21). Our sins really are forgiven and paid for already, in Jesus!
And how many sins are forgiven in Christ? The apostle John says, “The blood of Jesus, God’s Son, cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7). And for whom did Jesus do all this? Paul writes, “There is one God, and there is one Mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:5-6). And another Scripture simply says, “He died for all” (2 Corinthians 5:15).
And how does all that Christ Jesus did for us get to us personally? It comes to us through being brought to faith and trust in Jesus, through God’s Word that reveals Jesus to us, and through His gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, and the forgiveness that Jesus keeps giving us, as we keep confessing our sins.
We also know the Scriptures: “God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16). And, “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned” (Mark 16:16). And, “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household” (Acts 16:31). It is Good News for all! And it comes “by the grace of God 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” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Now, apply all this to our Gospel lesson, as we listen to it again: (Matthew 25:31-40). Jesus comes, in His glory, on the last day, and all His angels are with Him, and the souls of all believers who have been already in heaven, as we heard a few weeks ago (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). All the bodies of the dead are raised, and all nations are gathered, and immediately they are separated into sheep and goats, believers and unbelievers.
This is not a long, drawn-out process, because Jesus already knows those who are His own and those who are not. Other Scriptures say that this happens “in the twinkling of an eye” (1 Corinthians 15:51), and Jesus the King simply says to those on His right, the believers, “Come, you who are blessed by My Father.” Eternal life really is a gift, a blessing from God Himself. It is an inheritance - and an “inheritance” is usually something given as a gift to a family member or friend because of some relationship. We, as believers, are now children of our Heavenly Father, through what Jesus has done for us, and we inherit heavenly blessings, as part of a heavenly Kingdom, through Jesus.
And notice the great mercy of Jesus, as he continues to speak and mentions only good things that we, as believers, try to do, in gratefulness for the mercy and love and forgiveness we have seen first and received, in Jesus. Why is nothing of the bad we have done mentioned? Because it is all paid for and forgiven and forgotten in Christ, as we trust in Him.
We don’t do merciful things to earn anything, either, but just to help others and to be a witness to Christ’s mercy to others. The believers are not counting what they have done. In fact, the believers ask, “Lord, when did we do all these things?” And Jesus answers, “When you did these things to the least of these, you have done it unto Me.” These don’t have to be big things, either. How many of us have gotten up in the middle of the night and given a drink to a child or grandchild? Jesus says, “I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink.”
Finally, we hear the warning of eternal sorrows coming for unbelievers. Judgment day will be too late for them, but the fact that hell was prepared for the devil and his evil angels is a reminder that no human needed to end up there. Until Christ returns on the last day or until a person dies, there is still time for God’s love and the forgiveness and faith Christ wants to bring, to be brought to others, perhaps through our witness and acts of mercy and care and hope for them, in our Savior, as a means Christ’s Spirit uses.
But for us, in Christ, Judgment Day is a day of great joy. The Scriptures say, “When the Son of Man, Jesus, comes in a cloud with power and great glory… straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is near” (Luke 21:27-28). One commentator, Martin Franzmann, has written, “All that was bad or broken in our lives will then be as if it had never been, and God’s long plan of salvation will be fulfilled. Christ has returned. He will take us to eternal life. He is our hope and glory forever.”
Let us rise for prayer: Now may the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe, only where they are safe, in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Wednesday Nov 29, 2023
Sermon for the Last Sunday of the Church Year, based on:
Sermon originally delivered November 20, 2011
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
Tuesday Nov 21, 2023
On this last Sunday of the Church Year, the Scriptures turn our thoughts again to the last day, Judgment Day, and our confidence in Christ our Savior on that day. In the psalm, Psalm 95:1-7a, we make a “joyful noise “ with “songs of praise” to the Lord. We “kneel” before Him, “our Maker” and “the Rock of our Salvation.” We are “the sheep of His hand.”
In the Old Testament lesson, Ezekiel 34:11-16, 20-24, the Lord God says that He will go into action “as a Shepherd,” “seeking out” and “rescuing” His “lost” and “straying” and “injured” sheep because many religious leaders of this time were not caring for these people, these sheep. He will judge between (His) sheep” and “sheep who push others aside and scatter them.” “He will set up over them one Shepherd,” the “servant Son of David” - a prophecy of Jesus our Good Shepherd and Servant Savior.
The Epistle lesson, 1 Corinthians 15:20-28, tells of the victory of Christ Jesus over our “enemy," “death,” and “every (evil) authority and power,” through His own servant death and “resurrection” for us. He will come back, and “at His coming,” He will bring with Him, all “those who belong to Him,” by faith in Him as “the Christ,” their Savior. He then “delivers this everlasting Kingdom to God the Father.”
In the Gospel lesson, Matthew 25:31-46, Jesus gives us a picture of that last day. He gathers all people and immediately “separates His own sheep,” who have followed and trusted in Him, from “the goats,” who have rejected Him. Jesus already knows His own and can tell them also by fruits of faith in their lives, as they have shown mercy and love to others, in gratefulness that Jesus first loved and showed mercy and rescued them. As other Scriptures say, in “the twinkling of an eye,” as those “blessed by God the Father,” they will “inherit the (everlasting) Kingdom prepared for them” as a gift from Christ. In contrast, those who have rejected Christ and the one way to salvation, through His mercy and saving work, will “go away,” whether they realize it or not, “into eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (I am preaching again this Saturday, on this passage. Check the podcast next week for more explanation of this in my sermon.)