Is the Reformation Over?

 Revelation 14:6-7

 And I saw another angel flying in midheaven, having an eternal gospel to preach to those who live on the earth, and to every nation and tribe and tongue and people; and he said with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters."

Sermon for Reformation Day 2025                                      10/26/25

Is the Reformation Over?

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

The Epistle lesson we have as our text has long been widely understood to be a clear reference to the Reformation and to Martin Luther.  He opened the eyes of the world to the Gospel once again.  The Reformation was the work of God, to be sure, but it was worked by God through Martin Luther.

Luther himself did not see himself as the reformer.  Christ is the Reformer of His Church.  Luther was merely a teacher, given to teaching very unpopular truths.  And teach them he did.  The teachings of the Lutheran Church which are the sweetest to us are the ones that drew the heaviest fire in Luther's time – and still draws the antipathy of the world, both religious and secular, today.

One of the topics that Luther spoke and wrote about on several occasions was the idea that the Gospel would not long endure in one place.  He likened it to a shower of rain which would be here for a time, and then move on to somewhere else.  The cause of this change, according to Luther, is the hostility of the world in the place where the Word is taught – the hostility of the world within the church, not merely outside of it.  Let me read you a couple of quotes of Luther on this topic.

This first quote is Luther writing about John 7, verses 34 & 35.  Jesus says He will not be among the Jews much longer.  Luther writes:

These words are terrible enough; but the wickedness, the impiety, and the ingratitude of these knaves are even worse. They must be told: "I shall be with you a little longer, etc." Christ says, as it were: "You need not be in such a hurry to kill and destroy Me. As it is, I shall be with you just a little while longer." We have a similar message for the pope: "It is unnecessary for you to fuss and fume so against the doctrine of the Gospel. Even without your ranting the Gospel will tarry in your midst but a short time, especially after we who are now proclaiming it have closed our eyes in death. It will not remain after our departure." The Gospel has its day and takes its course from one city to another. Today it is here; tomorrow, there. It is like a heavy shower which passes from place to place, soaking and enriching the soil. Christ says (Matt. 10:23): "If they drive you from one city, go to another. When all the cities have been visited, then I shall come with the Day of Judgment."  Even if a certain place accepts the Gospel today, it will not stay there long. People hate it; they view it with envy; they curse it; yes, they starve it out. Therefore Christ declares: "I will not remain with you long. You need not persecute and condemn the Gospel so. I shall soon quit the field and make room for you. As it is, a darkness will soon descend upon you, leaving you in utter ignorance." There, Luther was warning the Pope.  In another place, Luther is encouraging his people - Lutherans - to be diligent in holding fast to the Gospel.  He wrote:

Let us remember our former misery, and the darkness in which we dwelt.  Germany, I am sure, has never before heard so much of God's word as it is hearing today; certainly we read nothing of it in history.  If we let it just slip by without thanks and honor, I fear we shall suffer a still more dreadful darkness and plague.  O my beloved Germans, buy while the market is at your door; gather in the harvest while there is sunshine and fair weather; make use of God's grace and word while it is there!  For you should know that God's word and grace is like a passing shower of rain which does not return where it has once been.  It has been with the Jews, but when it's gone it's gone, and now they have nothing.  Paul brought it to the Greeks; but again when it's gone it's gone, and now they have the Turk.   Rome and the Latins also had it; but when it's gone it's gone, and now they have the pope.  And you Germans need not think that you will have it forever, for ingratitude and contempt will not make it stay.  Therefore, seize it and hold it fast, whoever can; for lazy hands are bound to have a lean year.

We have begun to see this ingratitude and contempt that Luther wrote about today.  We would expect nothing else from the Roman Church who never delighted in the Gospel.  The Protestants, too, were never on board with Luther in His prizing of the Gospel, preferring decisions and holiness of conduct to trusting God and believing that we have forgiveness as His free and unmerited gift.  What is troubling is how Lutheran Churches – so called, and once quite Lutheran in fact – are walking away from the Gospel.   Even the so-called conservative Lutheran Churches are not reliably Lutheran any more.  The situation leads one to ask, "Is the Reformation Over?".

The answer is that for many, it is.  Just weeks ago the ELCA announced that they were formally abandoning the filioque of the Nicene Creed, for example. Those for whom the Reformation is over have rejected the truth in favor of something that feels good.  We all have that temptation.  Even when we delight in the old hymns and find comfort in the familiar shape of the liturgy, our flesh is seeking its comfort in how things feel - warm and familiar - rather than finding our comfort and hope in Jesus and the salvation which He accomplished for us and gives to us.  It is good when the truth is familiar and comfortable and comforting – but we must guard against letting the beauty of the service or the nostalgic hymns, and what-not, be comforting simply because they are familiar and nostalgic.  You want the truth to be familiar and comfortable, and it is good that it is such an old friend that it brings you joy just to hear it.  But it is the faith and the doctrine that should bring the joy, not merely the sense that we have been here before.

Many others in our society have given up the truth in favor of other teachings.  Perhaps they have been deceived, and perhaps they have been distracted by something new.  Some have put away the uncomfortable truths of the law and about sin in order to be more appealing to the unbelieving world around us.  The new emphasis on outreach and "missions" often covers a flight from the difficult things about our sins and our sinfulness.  There are those that want to pretend that people are basically decent and good by nature.  It is an alluring thought, and the world around us likes that form of doctrine.  It just doesn't happen to be true.

But if you throw away the doctrine of sin, and stop telling people about their need for salvation, they won't understand the Gospel, and they will invent something much more to their liking for their religion - like Scientology which re-affirms the individual and tells you that you are wholesome and capable and if you just focus all that positive energy, you can achieve great things!  They call such teaching "New Age", but there is nothing new about them.  This heresy is as old as the Serpent in Eden.  In addition, the old errors of works righteousness are always around, and many people find scoring high on their own goodness standard is easier to trust in than the gift of God in connection with Christ Jesus.  Trusting God has not been a human strength since the time of Adam and Eve.

For those who have turned away from the truth, or who have chosen to reach for the delightful spiritual experience, instead of church and faith, or for those have opted out to take full advantage of all that the world has to offer, the Reformation is probably over.  We are being invited to join that happy throng all the time.  The invitation is present in the temptation to think we know better than the Bible.  It is found in  the desire to take back that hour or two a week that seems so hard to devote to worship and fellowship.  It is what you are wrestling with when you feel like you can stop learning and stop doing devotions and focus a little bit more on everyday life.  You are being tempted to join the world when it doesn't seem so bad to miss church and you have a right to do those things that keep you away from the fellowship of the people of God around Word and Sacrament.  If you give in to such things, the Reformation is over for you.

t is over for most people in America.  Today Christians, so-called, feel somehow authorized to be arrogant, independent, competent in themselves, and safe.  Bumper sticker witnessing takes the place of actually speaking about your faith to another, and your faith becomes something just between you and God.  When your religion makes you feel a step ahead and a stroke better than someone else, you have moved beyond the Reformation.  The truth is that we Christians are never done with the Reformation, if we are true to the faith of our fathers.

We need to be constantly reminded that we are worthless and evil people.  Our holiness is not something we do, it is something that we have been given, and if we lose sight of that truth, it will slide off our backs and reveal again that we are just like the worst of those around us in society – you know, those that we point to and wrinkle up our noses at.  We are sinners even as Christians.  Our holiness and our salvation is by Grace alone.  We need to continually be reminding ourselves of that wonderful truth.

No, it is not wonderful that we are wretched and miserable sinners, just true – but it is wonderful that Jesus has died for us, and pours out on us His righteousness on us and makes us holy and gives us eternal life, and guarantees that we shall rise from our graves and live forever – no matter what happens to us before then.  We cannot lose sight of what we are by nature - and so pride and arrogance is out of the question.  We dare not lose sight of what Christ has done in us and to us, for that is the Gospel - and so despair and self-loathing are not appropriate either.  We can have a quiet joy, and a sense that those awful people around us need some of what God has given to us - salvation.  

We don't pity other people, we simply recognize their need, and sorrow over their lost condition, and try to do what we can to help them.  And all that we can do is tell them the good news of forgiveness, life, and salvation, and pray that they will also believe and receive and become just like us in Christ.  And we can invite them to church, too.  Christ alone is our righteousness and hope – and He is all they have to hope in, too. 

We need to continue the Reformation, daily in our own lives, and in our church, and in the world around us.  We need to live out what it is that we believe so that there is a hope that they - whoever they are - may see something of Christ in us, and ask us the questions, so that we can give that good defense for the hope that is in us, just as Peter wrote in 1 Peter 3:15.  We need to do what we can – not to earn anything, because we cannot, but to spread the faith - because it is Faith Alone that receives the forgiveness Christ won on the cross for us.  And it is faith alone that finds comfort and hope and joy in the Gospel - and in the fellowship of believers.

 suspect that the "little shower" of the Gospel among us may be moving.  It doesn't seem long for America.  Too many of those who have heard it have become bored with it.  Too many who knew it once have abandoned it.  We tend to get bored with the familiar – even the good familiar.  When it is God's stuff, our nature simply rebels.  We need to pray daily that God would continue to maintain the blessings of the Gospel and His church among us.  We need to plead with Him to keep the Reformation alive in our hearts and in our homes and in our church.  Wherever God's people are, there the Reformation is alive and on-going.   We must be in the Word - for it is Scripture alone that works in us and strengthens us, and teaches us.  It was in the Word that Luther found the Reformation, and it is only when we are in the Word that it will continue among us.

Is the Reformation over?  For some, yes.  For some, it never started.  For me - and I think also for you - the answer is, ‘No'.  Or at least I hope and pray that it is not - and that it will never be over.  May God grant us this prayer, for Jesus sake.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)

You Are In God's Hands

1 Corinthians 1:4-9

I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  God is faithful, through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Sermon for the Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity          10/19/25

You Are In God's Hands

y Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

When I went to college, it was fashionable to sing the song, "He's Got the Whole World In His Hands," in Christian gatherings.  It is a nice song.  It is useful in a mixed group of so-called Christians because everyone can insert their own theology into it and think that the song means something real.  As I consider it today, I am not so certain that it does.  Sure, it means that God has everything in His hands and under His care.  It just doesn't actually say anything about who God is, or what He thinks of us, or why that should be comforting.

Actually, the song is a little deceptive.  We think it is a song of faith, but it is merely a statement that someone is in control, and it is not us.  Everyone and everything is in His hands equally and without distinction.  There appears to be no grace in Jesus Christ, no church, no distinction between Jew and Moslem and Christian.  "He's got everybody here in His hands" without regard for who is there, or what He has us in His hands to do.  Christians simply imbue the "He" of the song with their own faith-ideas and go happily on without thinking what the song is saying – or what it is not saying. 

I only bring that up because our text says something similar.  It indicates that God has you in His hands, but it also indicates who He is and what we might expect "in His hands".  Our theme, this morning, is You Are In God's Hands.

In the last verse of our Epistle, Paul writes that "God is faithful".  In the light of my critique of the familiar campfire song, you might be asking – in fact, you should be asking – what does that mean?  My answer would be: this text doesn't say, but when we consider the rest of what Scriptures has taught us, it tells us that God will do what God has promised to do.  The rest of the Epistle lessons tells us what God has promised to do, toward which the Apostle was pointing.  Basically, in this context, "God is faithful" means that you are in God's hands.

Paul tells us that we have everything we need.  "In everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift."  Among the Corinthians, this meant that God had provided them with people who understood the Gospel and the Scriptures, and were able to teach them clearly what God's Word said.  For you, today, it means the same thing, although God has arranged the provision of these gifts in a different way.  They had people who were possibly gifted by God with special knowledge and understanding – directly.  Paul was one such person.  He had knowledge when God called him.  God merely gave Paul understanding about all that he knew that was from a different, divine perspective.  Then Saul of Tarsus became the great Apostle Paul.

You have everything you need, by God's gift, too.  God simply used The Bible - which didn't exist in its present form back then - and schools and church bodies to prepare men to teach you, and preach to you.  Then He gave you His Holy Spirit, that you might believe.  Every blessing of your life is God-given, so that you will be prepared to live in the Gospel and serve Him with your life and your possessions, whatever they may be.

Now Paul says that the Corinthians were eagerly awaiting the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.  That should be our posture too.  We should be eagerly awaiting His return.  I suspect, however, that most of us are quite content to wait.  We want to see our grandchildren grow up, or we have travel plans we would just as soon fulfill.  I suspect that we may be waiting, but somewhat less than eagerly.  Salvation seems to be our fallback position rather than our goal.

Mind you, I know that it is easy to get comfortable in a world of wealth and privilege, with excellent medical resources abounding for our health, and food of every sort available for our appetites, and transportation so easy that we can contemplate travel to almost anywhere on the earth that we might desire, and comfortable homes, and abundant clothing.  God has so richly blessed us that we cannot imagine why anyone would want to leave this and go to heaven.

But, leave it all we must.  Sooner or later, death will come a'calling.  More to the point, we assume that what we want is what God wants for us.  Our Synod does that when it touts every program as being blessed by God and assures us that if we only follow their plans, we will see unbridled success.  But what if God doesn't want us to have that kind of success?  What if His will for us is something more sublime and less agreeable to our flesh for a time?  Do you, then, want what God wants?

God has given us everything that we need, so that we are not lacking in any gift.  First of all, that means Jesus, and the Gospel.  He has given us life everlasting, forgiveness of sins, and salvation.  He has rescued us from dangers about which we are barely conscious and not often terrified.  The warning signs of the consequences of sin have been muted and pushed to the edges of our awareness by modern technology and medical science, and the abundant comforts of our country.  God has given us everything we need, but we often don't pay much attention to needing those things because life is so good, and we tend to take God's gifts for granted.

But if we cannot see the need or sense the needs which Christ has fulfilled, we are simply being blinded by the world around us.  Temptation still tempts us, and sin still threatens us, and death is still coming.  Perhaps the disturbing news on the daily news programs is not the fault of the Republicans, or the Democrats, Antifa, or even the crazy Islamists, but is the finger of God tapping on our shoulders, trying to awaken us to the imminent dangers which gather round us to threaten us, that we might find our peace and shelter in His salvation.  Sometimes, what we need is not another bit of comfort to lull us into sleep about spiritual things, but a sharp jolt to awaken us to the dangers of the world around us which have been masked by wealth and comfort.  After all, God says that we are not lacking in any gift.

We have everything we need.  We simply may not understand our need, or be willing to use what God has given us to meet our needs for His purposes instead of our own.  We don't need another amusement, more time for frivolity, or another escape from the pressures of reality.  We want those things, and we may want the next piece of technology that titillates us, or another visit with the kids or grandchildren.  We want those things, and who can blame us?  But what is it that we need?

We need to give thanks - heartfelt and honestly recognized thanks for the abundance with which God has filled our lives.  We eat regularly.  We dress well.  We enjoy the finest health system in the world.  Our families are large and generally healthy.  We have time enough to get bored now and then.  We need to find our connections with one another so that we don't feel so alone at times.  We need to learn to share our faith with confidence so that we can confess Christ to God's glory and to the blessing of those around us.  We need to discover the truth of our corruption in sin so that we can be conscious of the honest value of the forgiveness which is ours in Christ.

Note that we have what we need to answer those needs in each of those situations I have mentioned.  We have one another to be connected to.  We have faith, and we have the knowledge of that faith to practice putting into our words with one another, so that it doesn't seem so strange when the opportunity comes to speak our faith to someone outside of the family.  We have God's Word to read, and we can listen to our own consciences and see what we do that we ought not, and what we fail to do or say that we should - to be fully conscious of who we are and how precious the forgiveness of sins is.  We even have the aches and pains of aging to remind us of the swift approach of death, and the delightful promise of resurrection to a life without pain or sorrow, sickness or death, forever!

We simply need to put the things we have been given to use.  Paul tells us that God will confirm us to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.  As long as we depend on God, and trust Him to do what He has promised to do, He will confirm us - that is, cause us to stand firm in the faith and salvation which we have been given.  He will cause you to stand forgiven - blameless - because that is the heart of the promise of the Gospel: forgiveness of sins.  The secret is to keep your attention fixed on Him.

That's the problem with the comforts of modern life; they distract us.  The flashing colors of the world around us draw our attention.  The pleasures offered entice us.  The comforts try to confuse us and convince us that there is no urgency to the faith, and no real dangers to be rescued from.  Our eyes are drawn to what we can do and what we can have, and away from God as the Provider and God as the Savior.  We need to shake off the haze and wipe the cobwebs away and see reality for what it is, and focus once again on God as the author and giver of life and every good thing, and the Savior from sin and death and hell.

The thing is, we often don't know what we need - and we are not aware at all times of what God has given us to meet those needs.  But St. Paul assures us that we have been provided with all that we need.

God knows the temptations and distractions we will face.  He gives us His Word to remind us - and sends people like me to preach to you that you don't forget.  God is faithful.  He provides you with the heavenly food of the Sacrament to cleanse you and to say to you that He has not forgotten you.  He has filled you with His Spirit so that you might know the right things to do to cultivate faith and thanksgiving and a forward-looking hope in you.  He places people around you for you to share the Gospel with so that, by all means, some may come to the faith and be saved.

Paul describes these realities by saying that you have fellowship with Jesus because God called you.  That fellowship is in His body by means of the Word and Sacrament, and joined with those who are seated around you.  They are the ones who give you His greeting each time we gather, and to whom you can give your greeting for Him.  It is in this fellowship and with the gifts He pours out on you here by means of His Word that God means to care for you in this life, and encourage you toward all that is blessed and salutary for faith and life in Him.   Here and now, especially in the congregation and in His grace, you are in God's hands for blessing and strengthening and everything good which God has planned for you.  You are in God's hands while we, too, eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)

A Manner Worthy of Your Calling

 Ephesians 4:1-6

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Sermon for the 17th Sunday after Trinity                                     10/12/25

A Manner Worthy of Your Calling

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

Who are you?  What are you?  Those are the questions you need to ask yourselves.  The answers will determine the course of your life and the values you support and live by.  I have often said that people actually live out what they believe.  And they do, although they don't always live out what they say that they believe.  Such people don't, evidently, know who they are.

Now, I'm sure you think you know who you are.  If you want to be sure, look at the decisions you make - decisions about your time.  Decisions about your behavior.  Decisions about your stewardship of all of that which God has entrusted you for a time.  What you do and how you decide will show you just who you are.  If you look at yourself honestly, and have the courage to face the truth about what you see, you will discover that you are not who you think you are - or at least who you think you want to be - or want others to think you are!

That is because of the flesh, the part of you that is still under the sway of sin.  For some people, that is their entire being, but since you are here, this morning, I am going to assume that you are genuinely Christian, and that what you see is a reflection of that part of you that is still awaiting the resurrection.  I said ‘that part of you' that is awaiting the resurrection because when you were baptized, part of you - your spirit - died and was born again to a new and everlasting life in connection with Christ Jesus.  We don't actually see the baptized person die or be raised to new life, we merely witnessed the means by which God accomplishes this miracle, Holy Baptism.  Because God says that this is what He is doing in Baptism, we know that we witness it happening, although we cannot point to a moment when the individual's spirit dies to sin or is raised to new and everlasting life in Jesus Christ.

We don't actually see it because the flesh does not die.  It is still alive and well, and infected with sin, just as are we all!  It is that sinful flesh that leads us astray.  It is the flesh that leads us to say things we know we ought not to say, and to do things we know we should not do, and to fail to do those things we know we just should do, as God's people.  Things like prayer, forgiving one another, gathering for worship with all God's holy people on a regular basis, and the like.

The Apostle Paul wrote that we should walk - that is to say we should conduct ouirselves - in a manner worthy of our calling - the calling with which you have been called.  That is the same as saying that you should live out what you confess - or what you believe.  As we look at our text this morning, our theme is "A Manner Worthy of Your Calling."

You act on what you believe because what you believe makes you what you are.  Think about it.  Pagans act like pagans.  They live without a consistent moral center, because their gods, if they profess having one in today's world, are of their own making and imagination, and they are shaped according to their own desires.  They do what they want to do, and they justify their actions by reference to their god - as Muslims do - or by explaining that they have no god, and they are free to do whatever they are strong enough or clever enough to get away with.

Sensualists live for the pleasure of it - however they may define pleasure.  The Connoisseur lives for the pleasure of food, or wine, or whatever he or she claims is their speciality.  The practitioner of the extreme sports lives for the thrill of being on the edge.   Some live for the more erotic sensual pleasures.  They do so because that is where they believe the meaning of their lives exists.

People who believe that this life is all there is live for the moment, and when life is no longer fun or profitable, they throw it away.  The Hemlock Society, for example, lobbies for the legal right to exit this life at the time of one's own choosing, before it is no longer worth living, in their estimation.

Christians live out what they believe – or, to put it as Paul does, they live in a manner worthy of the calling with which they have been called in Christ Jesus.  They have been called to faith in God and the forgiveness of sins, and the hope of salvation.  Please note that they are not called to live in such a manner as would make them worthy of their calling.  They are called, rather, to live in a way that is appropriate for one who has such a calling.

Judging by our Epistle lesson this morning, to "walk in a manner worthy" means to live deliberately as a member of the church, as a member of the body of Christ, living out our forgiveness, and our unity with one another and with everyone who places their hope completely on the grace of God in Jesus Christ. 

The question is, how do you do that?  What is the worthy manner?

We turn to the text again.  Paul indicates that the worthy manner includes humility.  That makes sense, since we live by the grace of God, which is the  undeserved choice of God to bless and save us, through Jesus Christ.  We did not merit Christ's gift.  The fact that we needed to be saved says that much.  We are just like everyone else, deserving God's wrath and destruction, without the work of Jesus on our behalf.  So we have no particular reason for ego and pride that we are Christians or that we will be going to heaven.  We have reason for joy, but it is a gift, not something we have earned.

The worthy manner also includes gentleness.  The manner worthy of our calling is ‘like Christ.'  Jesus did not come with violence or aggressiveness.  He had good cause for violence and aggressive behavior, but He came humble and gentle for our sakes.  He didn't demand His rights or pushing people into the pattern in which He wanted them to live.  He came teaching and preaching and setting and example, and enduring the sin of those around Him even when it was focused on Him.  He chose to lead the flock, not drive the herd.

Paul also included patience in that worthy manner.  It just goes with humility and gentleness.  Patience doesn't demand its own way or its own time schedule.  The manner worthy of our calling is a manner that recognizes that we have been called to represent Christ on earth - not as employees, but as members of the family who share the same focus, that through Jesus Christ men and women might find salvation.  This humility is linked to forbearance, which Paul also lists.  We bear with the weakness and folly of one another, knowing that we, too are weak and foolish, but that in spite of our weakness Christ has chosen us and rescued us from sin and death and hell.

Finally, the worthy manner is to be diligent to preserve unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.  Basically that means living in the reality of the oneness we have been given in Jesus Christ — one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God (who is Father) and one body and one Spirit.  The body is the Church and the Spirit is the Holy Spirit who dwells in each one that believes.

Jesus said, "By this will all men know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." We are to love each other first. We are to "preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." This love is not about doing good deeds, although it certainly doesn't exclude them.  This love is about peace and harmony and patience and humility and such with one another.  In other words, the love which we are to have for one another is another way of expressing the worthy manner to live out the calling of Jesus Christ to eternal life and salvation.

Our unity is first that we are part of that "one body" that Paul writes about.  He means "the body of Christ", which is the Church.  We share that one Spirit.  And we all partake of that one hope - the promise of resurrection from our graves, and eternal life in glory with Him and with all those who have loved the Lord and shared in this unity.  This is the truth of God, revealed to us, but not the truth of our senses or of our feelings, or of our earthly experience, necessarily.  

Naturally, all those who believe have the same Lord - the Lord Jesus Christ.  

We confess one faith.  Denominational labels do not matter in this.  Everyone who goes to heaven believes what we believe, that is to say we share the same fundamental doctrines.  One way I have stated that before is to say that everyone who goes to heaven is a Lutheran, whether they know it or not, because they believe the same Gospel.  They hold to the same salvation.  They repent.  They trust in Jesus alone for their salvation by grace alone through faith alone - or they are not Christians.  It isn't enough just to know how to pronounce the name, Jesus.  A false faith hopes in that which is not saving and trusts in those things which are not promised.  So one might say that the Baptist, or the Catholic, or the Methodist that trusts in Jesus for salvation is a Lutheran under the skin and unawares, for they share that one faith of which Paul has written to us.  That is a big part of our true unity.

Each of us shares in the one baptism.  It is the Baptism of Jesus, commanded in Matthew 28:19 and Mark 16:16, in Acts 2:38 and Acts 22:16.  It is a baptism which clothes us with Christ, washes away our sins, causes us to be born again to a living hope, and makes us members of Christ's body, the Church.  Without that baptism, we are not a part of this thing called the Christian Church.  It is the same baptism no matter where it is done or what method we may us - immersion, pouring the water, or sprinkling.  It is all the same, and it is all by Christ's command and by Christ's hand - for He calls the hands of those that baptize into His service, and gives them the command - "Baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost."

The church is our true unity.  We all worship the same God and have but one heavenly Father who is over all, and in us all, and works through all of us to accomplish His gracious will here on earth.  Living deliberately within this unity, and deliberately seeking to preserve it in peace and concord, is part of what we are called by in this text to live in, the manner worthy of your calling.  

Each of us is in the same delicate condition, clinging to a hope which is beyond our power to choose to believe in the first place.  We earnestly want nothing to shake us, and, if we are true Christians, we want nothing to shake each other.  God has given us to one another to help us stand fast and firm in this evil world.  

The American dream of independence is strong in our culture, and strong in our flesh, but it is not a part of the Christian faith.  We are united, walking together in the manner worthy of our calling, deliberate in love because the Holy Spirit in us works love in us for one another - by this will all men know that you are disciples of mine, if you have love for one another.  

So, when all is said and done, we answer the question "Who are You?" by walking in the manner worthy of your calling because it is who we are as God's holy people.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)

Comprehending the Love of Christ

 Ephesians 3:13-21

Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.  For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.  Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.

Sermon for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity                                     10/05/25

Comprehending the Love of Christ

My Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

People often struggle with the idea of a loving God.  They see the troubles of the world around them, and ask, "How can a loving God permit this to happen?"  People respond to war, to human tragedy, to illness, and to sorrow in this way.  They act as though they believe that God should be responsible for these sorts of things.

Now, if the problem is a hurricane, for example, it is somewhat reasonable to lay the responsibility on God, although the modern controversy about anthropogenic global warming makes even that a little inconsistent.  After all, if we have the power to control the environment to the point that we can cause warming or cooling of the planet, which we don't, we probably also have the power and responsibility for the factors that regulate the appearance and severity of hurricanes, even if we don't understand how quite yet.

When we confront human tragedy and sorrow in general terms, however, we rarely if ever consider the sort of control that God would need to exercise in order to prevent or control the things which cause such trouble and sorrow in our world - such as war, crime, and abuse of one another.  Much of the freedom of decision and action which we enjoy would need to be taken from us, if God were to prevent every difficult experience from confronting us.

Also, when we ask how a loving God can permit such things, we also have to ask how we can permit them, or what are we willing to do to prevent or ameliorate such difficulties.  Are you willing to surrender your freedoms?  Are you willing to give up your free time and work to solve these problems?  Are you willing to divest yourself of your treasures and your wealth to eliminate human sorrow and suffering from this cause or that?  Of course, the answer is that if you were willing to do so, you would already be doing it.  If we are not willing to expend our resources to eliminate our troubles, how is it that we can hold God accountable?  It is only when we can seriously ask these sorts of questions that we can begin to ask the right sorts of questions that might help us understand God and His love.  Our text addresses that issue briefly, and our theme, this morning, is "Comprehending the Love of Christ."

The love of Christ is far more complex and thorough-going than we are accustomed to think.  We tend to love far more simply and shallow.  Our love often is a love of pure emotion, and very little intellect is applied.  Many parents have trouble doing the things that are wise, in regards to their children, simply because they are difficult or painful to endure.  So we have an entire generation of parents who say, "My child is not going to have to do this - or do without that," simply because they had to do or endure it, and did not find it delightful, or understand it well.  They never stop to think of how their experiences – whether they thought them good or bad – schooled them and made them the people that they are today.  They just know that they did not like it (or them) and they resent it, and they will not allow their children to experience it.  And that is that!

The love of Christ is far wiser and deeper and more compelling.  God permits us to do the difficult and even painful things that we need to do in order to achieve the good that He has planned for us.  Take for example the opening words of our Epistle lesson by Paul, Therefore I ask you not to lose heart at my tribulations on your behalf, for they are your glory.

Paul realizes, undoubtedly by God's inspiration, that the troubles he is enduring are going to work out for the better for him and for those Christians to whom he is ministering.  He doesn't necessarily know exactly how, nor does he need to.  He simply trusts God - and accepts that what God has said is so.  The tribulations he is enduring will work out for their glory.  In fact, he says that his own tribulations are their glory.  We also have the Word of God which tells us that our difficulties will work out on our behalf.  So all we really need is to take God at His Word, and trust that He will do what He has promised.  That is the nature of the Love of Christ for us.

Paul then writes this prayer, For this reason, I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man; so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  Paul never met any of you, and yet this prayer is also for you.  Such is the love of Christ.  Paul is praying that you might have the Holy Spirit dwelling within you with His mighty power so that you might believe - and so that Christ would dwell in your hearts through faith.  The purpose for this is simple, that you may comprehend the love of Christ.

Paul writes, "and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God."  This isn't simply a prayer that you will realize that Christ loves you, but that you will begin to understand in some measure the nature and enormity of the love of Christ.

Don't feel bad if you have trouble capturing it all in your mind - Paul writes to us that it surpasses knowledge.  You simply cannot think that big, or in such complexity and detail.  The Gospel is a good place to start, if you want to understand the love of God, but it just isn't clear enough for us to get an accurate fix on that love.  Because I am talking about things beyond my comprehension, I may sound like I am babbling at times as I try to impress you with the love of God, but bear with me.

The Gospel tells us that God the Father loved us enough to send His Son to live for us and die in our place, innocent of any guilt, and not deserving to die at all.  I have read examples of people trying to draw an analogy which would make the staggering depth of the love of God for us clear, such as comparing us to ants, and one of us being willing to step down to the existence of an ant for their benefit.  It is a nice story, but it fails as an accurate analogy because we have more in common with ants than God has with us, by nature.  We are created things, with bodies and such.  Besides, ants never did anything to really offend us.  We may find them inconvenient or want them out of our houses, but they have never sinned against us.  They are not even capable of doing so.

We have to grasp the nature of sin and its offense against God to understand what He chose to do for us.  We would probably need to compare it to a stinging slap of insult and rejection - although it is far more.  It is also destructive and evil and caustic and contrary to God in every way.  Yet His love fervently desired to rescue us from sin - even though we are willing participants.

Then try to imagine the love of Christ, who took on human nature and came to live among us, offensive sinners.  He did not walk about holding His nose, mincing through the crowd as though He feared touching the pollution, as we might if we were working with foul, smelly, and contagious people - especially if they were flinging their feces on us and calling us names and spitting on us as we worked to help them.  The love of Jesus was enormous.  He came among sinners to save sinners, and endured the wickedness and the hypocrisy and the hostility of sinners toward Him while He did good and healed them and prepared to suffer and die hideously for them.

Then, He took your sins, that foul stench, on Himself and them paid the penalty for it as though it was His own - so you could have life everlasting, and joy and peace and freedom.  That was His love.  And yet the love of Christ is more, and larger.  It is not that we can take those few words and clearly imagine how it was for Jesus or what that love must be like.  We cannot!  But that love is just part of it!

Another aspect of that love is how He blesses and protects and guides you each day.  He takes you sometimes where you don't want to go, and where you only go kicking and screaming and doubting His love or His presence and power.  He takes you where you need to go, and blesses you with all sorts of blessings - the soft and wonderful kind, and the rough and prickly sort that we hate to experience.  He walks with you and watches over you and strengthens you so that you can endure, and that you can accomplish what He has set before you to do, and you receive the glory - whatever it is here and now, and all that it shall be in His heaven, there and then.

He has promised to feed you - and in all the years of your life, He has kept that promise.  He has promised to clothe you, and none of you have stumbled in here naked this morning.  He has promised to guide and protect you, and here, in the fellowship of His people, He does through Word and Sacrament.  He provides everything you need, but it may not always be in a way you expect or coming to you as you would prefer.  But unlike your typical parent, Jesus takes us where we need to go even when it is painful and difficult for us to experience, because His ultimate goal is our ultimate good and salvation.  He is not so much worried about being our friend as He is being our Savior.

Wrapping your mind around that, comprehending the love of Christ, is not easy.  Our culture and our natural tendencies work in a different direction.  And Jesus has perfect vision when it comes to what is right and good for us.  He is not limited by our sense of things – or our reactions to them.  Jesus is willing to bear our frustrations and confusion when we don't understand the paths our lives take.  He can take even our sins and turn them to our blessing, at times, although I would not suggest sinning in order to provide Him with opportunities of that sort.  But I would recommend trusting God – and that is aided by diligently applying yourself to comprehending the love of Christ, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen.  These words make a fine way to end a sermon, but you want to listen to them carefully, as well.  We confess in these words that Christ is able to do "exceedingly abundantly beyond all that we ask or think."  He can do far more than you can imagine, or ask of Him.  And He does it all by the very power which dwells in us through the Holy Spirit.  It would be nice, according to the way we think, if we could access that power and do what we desire to be done, but He loves us too much for that.  We would make mistakes, and probably would do the things that benefit the flesh but hurt the Spirit.  We have the power in us, but He is using it for us and for our good.  But when you are facing the difficult, threatening, and challenging things of life, it is a great comfort to know that the power you need is not a long way off, or hidden somewhere.  It is in you.

All you need is to remember the love which Christ has for you, and trust Him, and His love.  This moment, this problem, this illness, this situation is going to work out for blessing and good.  That is the promise of God, who loves you.  Even if it works out for death, in the end, it is a blessing, for death is but the door to eternal life.  To see the blessing, however, you must take God at His Word and trust Him – but the blessings is there, and, when you comprehend the length and breadth and height and depth and know the love of Christ, you can have peace even in the midst of turmoil, and look forward to the blessing of God in any and every situation.

To Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

(Let the people say Amen)