Month: March 2025

The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Gospel reading from Luke.

Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

When I was about twelve, we got our first dog. My uncle had decided that the boys, that is my three brothers and I at the time, needed a dog. I’m not sure what the conversation was between my parents and him about this idea, but the dog arrived one day, and we named him Blackie.

My dad had dogs out on the farm, but we really knew nothing about dogs, living in a small city. To show our ignorance, each morning we would just let Blackie out the door to do his thing and then at some point, call for him. He always seemed to be there, even though our yard was not fenced.

Well, the reason I mention this dog is because one day my dad decided to plant a beautiful apple tree in the back yard. The next morning, we let the dog out as usual and when my dad came home later that day, he discovered that the dog had chewed off that young tree. All that remained was this stick of a trunk, about eighteen inches high or so.

You can imagine my dad was not impressed, and he took the chewed off remains of that young tree and gave the dog a whopping. The question for him though, was what do you do now with an eighteen-inch stump.

He decided to let it be and see what would become of it. Over that summer, and in the years that followed my dad cared for that tree and out of this stick grew two branches that would become the basis for a large and beautiful apple tree that bore many delicious apples for numerous years.

I’m sure it could have gone the other way too and if it had been up to me, I might have just dug it up and replaced it. What would you have done?

The Gospel reading made me think of this dilemma because it ends without a resolution. The owner of the vineyard wants to cut the tree down because for three years this tree has born no fruit. From his perspective, it’s just taking up space. However, the vinedresser, the one who is caring for the orchard, says,

‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

That’s where the parable ends. We’re left asking, “Does the tree end up bearing fruit or does it get cut down?” Jesus doesn’t tell us the end because that’s not the point of the story.

Earlier in that same text people were asking Jesus about why tragedies occur. Why do people get killed, murdered, or have buildings fall on them? Does it have to do with some people being worse sinners than others. Rather than answer that question, Jesus notes that these tragedies, whether they occur to us or not, are about what we all deserve because of sin.

This is the very thing we pray many Sundays:

Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment.

This is why Jesus repeats himself twice with this conclusion…

3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

That is certainly a word of Law and judgement, but it is also a warning offering hope to everyone who has ears to hear.

You see, repentance is essential to our salvation. Not because repentance contributes to our salvation but rather repentance is our recognition that we are indeed sinners, separated from a holy and just God, and we cannot save ourselves. In repentance, we are confessing that we need a Saviour.

Now perhaps like me, you taught your children to say “sorry” when they did something wrong. I suppose that’s important because it helps the child learn about confession. However, if it stops there, it doesn’t really get to the heart of what true repentance is.

We’ve heard a lot about repentance over the last couple of Sundays. In fact, Jesus’ warning about the need to repent is a common theme in Lent and this theme pops up over and over in the Gospel according to St. Luke. It begins with John the Baptist calling people to repentance, but then Jesus from the very beginning of his ministry picks up on the same message calling people to repent, and not just to say, “I’m sorry”, but to go on to live a life of fruitful repentance.

We as Christians of the Lutheran Confession have always taught that true repentance is far more than having some momentary feelings of sorrow or guilt or just saying, “I’m sorry.”

In the very Augsburg Confession that lays out our foundational and biblical doctrines, we confess that repentance has two related parts. First, that there is contrition or sorrow as we acknowledge our sin, and second that we trust in God’s promise of forgiveness through Christ Jesus. It is from this joy-filled good news of our forgiveness in Christ that we are then led to a fruitful life of love toward others, and a change that turns us away from the sin we committed.

Our Lutheran forefathers wrote this:

“[A]fter a person has been justified by faith, there then exists a true, living ‘faith working through love’ (Galatians 5). That means good works always follow justifying faith and are certainly found with it, when it is a true and living faith. For faith is never alone but is always accompanied by love and hope.”

This is why Jesus not only calls people to repentance, but like John the Baptizer, Jesus also calls people to bear the fruit of the repentant life – the changed life. And in this parable Jesus is warning those who are only saying “Sorry” without bearing the fruit of a life transformed by the grace of God in Christ Jesus.

In fact, the parable puts us all on notice, warning us of the possibility of being cut down, destroyed, if we do not bear the fruit of repentance. But this warning is also there in those first five verses of our Gospel text, which remind us that the tragedies of life are not there to prove who is a worse sinner but are a warning to all of us about God’s coming judgement.

You see, all creation is fallen, and that includes you and me, and all creation will be held accountable. So, when bad things happen to others or to us, it is a warning that God’s judgement is near. These tragedies are a call to repentance.

And yet amidst the struggles and tragedies of sickness, sorrow, pain, suffering, violence and death, the blunt warning of this parable and those earlier verses are overshadowed by the hope we hear there also.

8 And he answered him, ‘Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure. 9 Then if it should bear fruit next year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’”

I’m not sure what motivated my dad to keep that chewed off, spindly stick; to then care for it and protect it, but in some ways it symbolizes for me what Christ does for us, as well as how the Holy Spirit works through us in the lives of others, mediating God’s grace amidst God’s judgement.

You see, we are like that chewed off stick of tree. If it were not for Christ’s ministrations in my life and yours, as the Word came to us through the water of Holy Baptism; as we were then nurtured in the faith as that same Word came into our ears and through the lives of pastors, parents, family and friends, fellow members, Sunday school teachers, grandparents; and thenas that Word was placed in our mouths in the bread and the wine, Christ’s body and blood…if it were not for these ministrations, we would not be spiritually alive and who we are today.

At the same time, we probably know of a lot of chewed off sticks like us, family members, friends and others who are suffering from being strangled by their sin, the devil, and the world, and even though they are physically alive, there is a spiritual deadness there. And yet, as long as they have physical life there is also hope for these chewed off sticks too.

You see, the vinedresser refused to give up on this unfruitful tree. He put himself between that tree and the judgment it deserved, serving as both the mediator and the caretaker. He promised to nurture it, and to help it bear fruit.

This is exactly what Christ has done for us and how His Spirit continues to work in our lives. God addresses our unfruitfulness with the mercy and forgiveness of Christ’s death on the cross. He fills us with life through His Word and Spirit. He then sends you, as a preacher of the Gospel, to proclaim His promise of patience and forgiveness to all those, like you, who have been chewed off by sin, death and the devil.

Yes, today you are being sent home with the hope of the Gospel for others, so that they also can hear about the promise of Christ that truly nourishes and enlivens people eternally. It is the promise of Christ, the forgiveness of sins, that peace which passes all understanding, which daily renews our lives in Jesus, and sends us forth to live in love toward others and to bear witness to the One who takes chewed off sticks and turns them into beautiful fruit-bearing trees.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Old Testament reading from Jeremiah.

Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Have you ever walked into a situation where everyone seems mad or upset and you wondered, “What did I miss?”

Our Old Testament reading begins this way…
8 And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die!

Upon reading that I immediately thought, “What did I miss?” What happened to motivate these leaders and members of the congregation of God’s people to not just ask Jeremiah to resign, but to pronounce a death sentence upon him?

In the first seven verses of Jeremiah 26, which we didn’t hear today, we learn about what led to this reaction. The Lord had given the following message to Jeremiah:

Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. 3 It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. 4 You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, 5 and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, 6 then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.’”

Like any good Lutheran sermon, this message from the Lord proclaimed both Law and Gospel. The Law was the Lord’s call to repent of their evil ways, and to turn back to the Lord’s ways. The Law was also the threat that they would be destroyed like the city of Shiloh had been and that their disobedience would become negatively famous, a curse word among other nations, if they did not repent.

In contrast, the Gospel in this message from the Lord, is really that fact that God is taking the time to warn them, to call them to repentance and that He is willing to relent of the disaster He intended to bring upon these people.

So there it is, Law-Gospel. We sin. God judges. We repent. God relents. We confess. God forgives. That’s the work of the Law – showing us our sin, and the Gospel, turning us around and graciously placing us again under the forgiveness and love of God in Christ Jesus.

Unfortunately, this is not what happened back then. You see, few people like to be called up on the carpet, as the saying goes, criticized, judged, called to repent. Even though it was God who was doing the criticizing, judging and calling people to repentance, the only one the people saw was Jeremiah, the man, even though he was the Lord’s ordained messenger, God’s representative.

Just as their ancestors had complained against Moses and were thinking of stoning him, and just as later on, the apostles would be targeted for what they had said, God’s people in this reading, could not see their Lord who was standing right there behind the message of Jeremiah, and if we think forward to Jesus, neither could God’s people see their God who had come in the flesh for them.

I’m sure it’s hard to imagine ever saying to your pastor, You shall die! What would it take for you to even think that or to ask your pastor to get out of town? But we all know that in the heat of some moments, when our emotions take over, we can quickly lose sight of God, and only see the man up here, rather than the vessel of God’s work, or even see our brother or sister in Christ as the enemy.

As we move on in this text to hear what happens next to Jeremiah, we cannot but also be drawn forward to what happened to Jesus many centuries later. But let’s begin with Jerremiah’s situation…

10 When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the Lord and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the Lord. 11 Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”

Now I want you to listen to what occurs to Jesus (Matthew 26), a text we will hear during Holy Week…

57 Then those who had seized Jesus led him to Caiaphas the high priest, where the scribes and the elders had gathered. 58 And Peter was following him at a distance, as far as the courtyard of the high priest, and going inside he sat with the guards to see the end. 59 Now the chief priests and the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put him to death, 60 but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward 61 and said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to rebuild it in three days.’” 62 And the high priest stood up and said, “Have you no answer to make? What is it that these men testify against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent. And the high priest said to him, “I adjure you by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God.” 64 Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” 65 Then the high priest tore his robes and said, “He has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need? You have now heard his blasphemy. 66 What is your judgment?” They answered, “He deserves death.”

Back to Jeremiah…despite the sentence of death hanging over him, Jeremiah continued to proclaim the opportunity for good news and salvation for the people. We read…

12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13 Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you.

Our God wants to relent if we but repent. Our God is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love in the midst of all our sin. It is as the Lord says in the book of Joel (2):

12 “Yet even now,” declares the Lord,
“return to me with all your heart,
with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning;
13 and rend your hearts and not your garments.”
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.

God’s desire to relent is shown most clearly as Jesus goes to the cross for our sins and dies for us while we were yet enemies of God, and then rises in victory over the consequence of sin, that is, death. God is prepared to receive us as sinners even before we make the first move. Jesus has died for all so that all may turn to him in repentance and be saved: you, me, everyone.

However, I’ve found in my own life, as well as in the lives of others, that we often love our sin more than our Lord. Like many alcoholics, we would rather drink the poison of our own sinful selves leading to death, destroying our lives, our families, sometimes even our congregations, than to turn in confession and contrition and in faith to the Lord of life who can transform us.

I said at our voters’ meeting recently that it was easier for me being a trustee than a pastor and what I meant by that is that as a trustee I can fix many things that are broken, but as pastor I can’t even fix myself or any of my parishioners, no matter how hard I may try or want to.

Only Jesus has the fix to our sinful condition, and this is why Jeremiah implied at the end of his message that he was only the messenger, not the healer or fixer. Jeremiah said……

14 But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15 Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

This is the position of every pastor. I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you even though your response to the Word that I or any other pastor proclaims, will mean either life or death for you, for in truth the Lord sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

And in truth, the pastor stands as one of our absolutions declare…in the stead of Christ, who on the cross said (Luke 23:34), “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” And later on, he would then say (Luke 23:46), “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” – the real hands any faithful pastor or baptized member are truly in.

It may also be true as Pastor Fritsche said at that same voter’s meeting, that you are an easy congregation, by which I think he meant that he enjoyed being your pastor and that is good.

However, that doesn’t mean that the sin each of us struggles with is any less a problem or that we are any less sensitive when God through his messengers poke us where we are most sin-sore, calling us to repent in order that we might come to the One who can heal us, who wants to relent of the disaster that will come upon us apart from that saving work of Christ.

The call to repentance is not God’s way of rubbing salt in our wounds or some pastor’s attempt to make you look bad or feel guilty. The call to repentance is the expression of God’s desire to save you and everyone, to draw you into the arms of the crucified Christ who seeks to wash you clean, clothe you in his righteousness, and then feed you with His own life-giving body and blood.

Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love;
and he relents over disaster.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (1 Timothy 1:2)

The basis for God’s Word to us today is our Gospel reading.

Let us pray…Speak O Lord your words of life to us and may the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable to You, our Rock and our Redeemer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Beth and I were married in May and our honeymoon not only involved a couple of weeks out on the West Coast, but also a couple of months up in Whitehorse where I filled in for a pastor who had gone south on vacation.

Now if you’ve never been to Whitehorse, it is a sprawling city covering more than 400 square kilometers and straddling the Alaska Highway for some 27 kilometers. It is made up of little pockets of populated areas nestled in the hills and we lived in one of those neighbourhoods.

One day we decided to hike up a hill in our neighbourhood, leading to the CBC tower. We wondered what was on the other side and when we got to the top we discovered the reality of our lives, that we were living on the edge of a vast wilderness. From there we could see for miles and there was nothing but bush and lakes.

Perhaps that’s not the exact image of the wilderness Jesus was immediately pushed out into by the Holy Spirit after he was baptized but like any Canadian wilderness, the wilderness of Judea was not a friendly place.

Now each year, on the first Sunday in Lent, we read of this wilderness event early in Jesus’ ministry. For forty days he is fasting in that harsh and lonely terrain.

You may be aware that Jesus’ time in the wilderness parallels the experience of ancient Israel, when they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. In one sense Jesus is Isreal in a nutshell, Israel personified and yet unlike Israel, Jesus is the one true Israelite – the one who gets it right.

I’m sure you can probably recall how many times Israel got it wrong in wilderness of Sinai, and if there was one common temptation Israel faced as they wandered those forty years, that temptation was to grumble and complain about almost everything. And as you know, they gave in to that temptation all too often.

You can almost hear them expressing the same sentiments over and over again: “Why is God making this journey so difficult for us?” “Why is God giving us the same food every day!”

Now fast forward to Jesus’ situation in the wilderness and what is his response? Just imagine, he literally had nothing to eat during those forty days, and it was within that growing hunger that Satan came to tempt him. However, unlike Israel Jesus would be faithful. He would not grumble or complain.

It’s pretty easy to think of Jesus as some superhero, some Marvel comic character who never has to eat or go to the bathroom, who isn’t like us with all our neediness. But when we confess that Jesus is both truly God and truly man, this means that he had a very real body, with the same needs and desires that you and I have. So naturally this prolonged fast made Jesus very hungry. And this is exactly when the devil strikes, just as he strikes us when we’re vulnerable.

The devil said to Jesus,
“If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Let’s pause here for just a moment because there’s a lot here to consider. Starting with that little word, “if.” What does the devil mean by, “If you are the Son of God?” Is the devil denying that Jesus is the Son of God?

In our English translation it might sound like: “If you were the Son of God–which you aren’t–then. . . .” I understand that in the original Greek there is a way to say that kind of “if”, but this is not it. No, the devil is not that in your face. He’s far more subtle and likes to more often, come in the back door or the side door.

When the devil says “if” he is not denying that Jesus is God’s Son. Instead, it’s quite the opposite. The devil knows full well that Jesus is God’s Son and so this “if” is more like our “since”: “Since you are the Son of God,” then. . . .” And this sets Jesus up for what follows.

You see, the devil’s temptation is not in proving or disproving that Jesus is the Son of God, but in doing something about it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

Notice the subtleness of the temptation: “So God says you’re his Son, does he? That’s what he said at your baptism, wasn’t it? ‘You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.’ Well, if you’re so beloved, then why has God sent you out here into this God-forsaken wilderness? Why is he letting you go hungry like this? What kind of ‘loving Father does this? Doesn’t God’s Son deserve better than this?”

That’s how the devil operates, kind of from the side, usually not head-on. The devil wants you to doubt that God really cares about you. He wants you to get the wrong idea about God. He wants you to believe that God is some mean old grouch who’s holding out on you and wanting to spoil your fun. Isn’t that how the devil worked on Adam and Eve.

Perhaps like the similarities between Jesus forty days in the wilderness and Israel’s forty years in the wilderness, now there’s a kind replaying of that original temptation. In fact, in Luke’s record of Jesus ancestry, he traces it all the way back to Adam. So maybe he wants us to have that episode in mind and make the comparison between Adam and Jesus. Jesus as the one true man, the second Adam, the one who overcomes the devil and gets it right.

Again, just think of the similarities between these two accounts. Adam was in a garden. Jesus is in a wilderness. The devil comes at Adam and Eve somewhat indirectly, wanting them to doubt God’s goodness. And he comes at them through–guess what–food, something to eat. “You know that tree there, the one God told you not to eat from? Why would he do that? Why would he tell you not to eat from it? I mean, it looks like a perfectly good tree. And, hey, didn’t God put you in charge of this place?

Then why would he not let you eat from this one tree? Is God is holding out on you. Does God really care about you. Now look at that fruit there. Doesn’t it look good? Go on, you know you want it. Come on, take matters into your own hands. Go for it!”

Hasn’t Satan come at you sometimes that way? Does the devil whisper in your ear like this? I bet he does because this is his standard M.O. – modus operandi. He wants to get you to doubt God’s goodness, to doubt God’s word, to be your own God, to make your own decisions about what’s right for you, because you deserve it. It’s what you want, isn’t it?

The temptation is always to be your own God, to be independent of that mean old guy in the sky who wants to spoil your fun.

And I guess you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re not the first to fall for it. Adam and Eve fell for that temptation–and that was a big fall! Upon them fell the curse, and death came into the world so that we hear those words: “Dust you are, and to dust you shall return.” That’s our destiny because of sin.

Death comes down to us. But Jesus came to reverse that curse, to do something about the sin and the death and all the misery that comes in its wake.

So, this is the devil’s play out there in the wilderness. He wants to stop Jesus before he gets started saving people. And he tries to use the same slippery approach on Jesus that seemed to work so well on Adam. You can almost hear him…“God doesn’t care about you. You’re hungry. You’re entitled. You can do something about it. Go for it. “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.

And it all starts with that one little word, “if.” It’s the little word that sets up the big trap to follow. If God cares about you, then why is he letting you suffer like this? If God loves you, then why is your life so miserable? Maybe he doesn’t love you.

Or what about all those other “ifs.” If God forgives sins, then why not go ahead and sin some more, since God will forgive you anyway?

It’s such a deception because there’s always a little grain of truth in the devil’s set-up. But then he twists it and uses it to lead you off in the wrong direction. It only takes a deception of leading you one degree off course to take you down a path, a hundred miles away from God.

Well, to the devil’s little word, “if,” Jesus has some little words of his own: “It is written.”
You see, Jesus doesn’t even stop to consider the devil’s temptation; rather, he stops it cold in its tracks. “It is written.” It stands written, and you can take your stand on what is written. And what is this written thing that Jesus is referring to?

Well, it is God’s Word. God’s word is a sure thing, a solid footing. God has spoken. His word is true. Don’t listen to the devil’s lies and half-truths. Instead, shut him up and shoot him down. And the way you do that is through that reliable and trustworthy word of God. “It is written.”

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,’” Jesus says. You see, there’s more to life than just feeding your belly and satisfying your own desires. To do that apart from God’s word and will would be to fall into the devil’s trap. But Jesus doesn’t fall for it.

On the other hand, we too often do. But you know what, that is why Jesus came. To do what we don’t do, what we so often fail at.

You see, Jesus is our representative, our stand-in, our Champion going out to do battle for us. Jesus does what we don’t. He refuses temptation, stops it cold in its tracks. He is the man who will say no to the devil! Adam didn’t. We don’t. But Jesus does for us.

And here is why it is so absolutely vital and necessary that Jesus does this. Remember how we so easily get distracted by all those temptations so that we end up on the path to hell rather than the path to salvation. Jesus, on the other hand, does not get diverted from what he came to do.

You see, Jesus came to reverse the curse of sin and death, to change our course and the devil wants to keep him from doing that. Jesus came to save you. The devil doesn’t want that to happen. He’ll do anything to keep Jesus from accomplishing his mission for us.

So, the devil plays on Jesus’ status as God’s Son, in order to get him to use his sonship to serve his own desires. The devil tempts Jesus with all the kingdoms of the world–which Jesus is entitled to and will end up getting eventually, but the devil wants to offer him a much easier path to get them than the hard road of the cross.

Thanks be to God, that temptation doesn’t work. Jesus answers him, “It is written.” The devil tempts Jesus with the offer of quick success and power and popularity. “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself off the temple where everybody can see you, and they will surely acclaim you as the Messiah–which is what you want, isn’t it? God will surely protect you. After all, you are his Son.” “If you are the Son of God.”

But Jesus has his own little words: “It is written.”

Jesus will not be deterred or diverted from the road he has taken, the way of the cross. For that is the only way Jesus could accomplish his mission and save sinful mankind; to save you and me.

Jesus took no shortcuts or sidesteps or easy ways out. It was straight ahead, full speed ahead–that was the way for Jesus. He went to battle with the devil as your divine Champion. And he won! And he gives you a share in his victory. Jesus would let nothing stop him from doing what he set out to do, which is to go to the cross, to carry your sins on his back—that sinless back that would endure flogging and beating for your sake.

Through thick and thin Jesus remained faithful to his Father’s mission. And this is the good news of God’s Word for you today. Nothing can stop our Savior from reaching his goal – from reaching his goal for you!

And reach it he did! On that cross all of your sins were paid for; and because God’s own Son died for them in your place. The curse of death that comes from sin has been reversed, as Jesus’ resurrection proves. Your enemy, the devil, has been defeated.

That doesn’t mean that Satan has stopped tempting us. Indeed, he continues to work, day and night, luring us away from the truth.

However, when he comes at you with his temptations, you can say like Luther, “ I am baptized.” I am saved! “Take it up with Jesus, devil! He is my Champion because I know he stopped you in the wilderness, he defeated you on the cross, and he will stop you–and stomp on you–here and now and forever.”

At the same time, we can also cry out to Jesus: “Help me, Lord! You are stronger than I am! Lead me to the Rock that is higher than me. Help me to stand on your completed work; to trust Your Word, your promises. Help me to say with you, Lord, ‘It is written.’”

The devil comes at us with his little word, “if,” twisting and turning the truth, planting doubt and leading us astray. But Jesus comes out on the field of battle as our Champion, and he comes with those little words of his own, “It is written.”

I end with words from that great Lutheran anthem we sang at the beginning of the service …

This world’s prince may still
Scowl fierce as he will,
He can harm us none,
He’s judged; the deed is done;
One little word can fell him.

Jesus!

It is written…

Amen.

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Today we see Jesus and three of His disciples on the top of a mountain. From here on out, it’s all downhill — in more ways than one. Peter, James and John went up this mountain with Jesus to pray. Waking from a sound sleep, they are astonished at what they see. Jesus is transfigured, shining: Not like a spotlight from above that throws Him into sharp relief. No, He’s shining from the inside out. His clothes are white as a lightning flash. Elijah and Moses have appeared and are speaking with Him about events to come. And then, to top it all off, a cloud envelops them and the Father’s voice declares, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him!

Now, take a moment to review what happens there; for if this does not convince the disciples of Jesus’ identity, one wonders what will.

Jesus radiates white, lightning-like light. This is not something that an ordinary man can do. In fact, this is something that Almighty God does, as He appears in white with fire on His throne in Daniel 7. This is exhibit A that Jesus is the Son of God.

Exhibit B: Moses and Elijah, who died so many centuries before, are alive and present and speaking with Jesus. They aren’t instructing Him as if He’s in need of their counsel and advice. No, they’re talking about Him and what He is about to do. Our text says they speak of His “departure,” — the literal word is “exodus;” they are speaking of His departure by which He will set His people free. They are bowing to Him, not vice versa. So what? Consider this: It was to Moses that God gave the Law and Mt. Sinai, and it was Elijah who defeated the 450 prophets of Baal and Asherah on Mt. Carmel, cementing his place in history as the foremost of the prophets after Moses. These two mountain men came to represent the Law and the Prophets; and the “Law and the Prophets” was a name for the Old Testament scriptures. Therefore, as Moses and Elijah defer to Jesus on this mountaintop, they declare that the Old Testament scriptures-the Law and the Prophets-point to Jesus, too. Therefore, Jesus is the Messiah they’ve been waiting for. That’s a pretty good exhibit B.

But exhibit C is even more convincing: A cloud appears and overshadows the disoriented and fearful disciples, enveloping them. It’s not your average cloud, but a very Old Testament type cloud — the kind of cloud that led the people of Israel out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, and through the wilderness. The kind of cloud that descended on Mt. Sinai when God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses. The kind of cloud that filled the tabernacle and the temple, driving out the priests because of its glory. No, this is no ordinary cloud; rather, it indicates that God the Father has come on the scene, to make clear who Jesus is. And so the Father declares, “This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to him!”

Peter, James and John should have no doubt: Their teacher Jesus is most certainly the Son of God, fully human and fully divine, the long-awaited Savior promised by God. On this mountain, the Lord makes this plain and apparent to their eyes and their ears. No matter what happens from here on out, they can look back at this mountain, this Transfiguration of Our Lord, and be sure that He is the Savior.

Such memories are important because, just like that, things are back to normal. No glistening white, no Moses, no Elijah, no cloud, no voice. Just three dazed disciples and Jesus. For an all-too-brief moment, they had a hint of His glory. Now He looks like just plain Jesus again.

And from here, it’s all downhill. Jesus will never look like that again before His ascension into a cloud. Now, He’s going to go back down this mountain, do some more miracles and teach more about the kingdom of God. And as He goes along, people are going to start to reject Him even more. The disciples have already heard one ominous statement; just eight days before the Transfiguration, Jesus told them that He would be crucified. If it was hard to believe eight days ago, it must be impossible to fathom during the Transfiguration. But it will happen soon enough, because that is why the Savior has come.

Before the cross and its shame, though, the Lord gives Peter, James and John a hint of His glory on the mountain that day. And along with exhibits A, B and C, they will do well to remember the last two words spoken by God the Father: “Listen to Him.” Listen to what Jesus has to say, for the Transfiguration certainly shows that He speaks with authority. The Lord has no credibility gap: What He says is to be believed.

“Listen to Him” because He speaks His powerful, faith-giving Word. No matter how glorious the display of His majesty, God doesn’t save by His glory apart from His Word. His glory may convince man of His existence and power; but He uses His Word to give them faith to believe that He is also gracious and merciful.

And finally, “Listen to Him” and the Word He declares, because the faith He gives can enable the disciples to believe in what they can’t see — in spite of what they do see. It’s only a matter of time until Jesus goes up one more mountain — a little hill, really, but one that He’ll barely be able to climb. The hill is called Calvary, and Jesus will be crucified at its summit. He won’t look very glorious when the Roman palace guard is done scourging and beating Him. He won’t look very powerful when He’s too weak and battered to carry His cross up the hill. He won’t look like the King of kings with a crown of thorns jammed down on His brow. And He sure won’t look like the Son of God when He’s up there between two thieves instead of Moses and Elijah.

So the Father cautions and admonishes these three, “Listen to Him.” Appearances change, but the Word of the Lord remains the same. Before the Transfiguration, Jesus has told them that He’s going to be crucified and raised from the dead, and that Word will be fulfilled. And while the appearance of the Word made flesh looks far different up on the cross, He remains the same Savior that He was on the mountaintop, doing exactly what He came to do: redeem mankind by dying his death and suffering God’s judgment for our sin.

The Lord tells Peter, James and John to focus on the Word because appearances are powerful things, and will often seem to contradict God’s Word. Peter will see Jesus betrayed and arrested, and that will lead him to deny Jesus three times that night. When Jesus is raised from the dead, it may well appear that Peter has proven too much of a coward to be a disciple, but the Lord restores him. How? With His Word: “Feed My sheep,” and “Follow Me” (Jn 21:17-19). Listen to Him, Peter, for thereby you are restored.

All of this lies in the near future for Peter, James and John; so on this mountain of Transfiguration, the Lord does two things for them. First, He proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is, in fact, the Son of God, fully divine as well as fully human. Second, because the immediate glory will not last, He points them back to His Word; for no matter how things will appear, His Word remains forever.

On that mountain of Transfiguration, He is doing the same for you. He is transfigured there to show His glory, that you may know that He is the Son of God, your Savior. And since you and I could not be there to witness it with our eyes, He witnesses of it by His Word to our ears. He tells us, too, of the bright light, the presence of Moses and Elijah, and the Father’s testimony; and because He tells us about these things in His holy Word, we can be even more sure than if we had seen them with our own eyes.

So, as we hear this Sunday of the Transfiguration of our Lord, remember the Word and remember the glory. First, as the Father instructs from the cloud, “Listen to Him.” Listen to the Son of God and His Word to you. Listen to His Law and know that not one jot or tittle has passed away (Matt. 5:18). Hear His declaration of the Gospel and know that He who has died on the cross in your place still forgives you for all of your sins.

Listen to Him, and hear Him no matter what appearances may lead you to believe, for the devil will use appearances to make you doubt the Word of God. After the Transfiguration, the disciples had to witness Jesus’ rejection, betrayal, crucifixion and death. Three days later, they saw the glory of His Resurrection, then witnessed His ascension forty days after that. Afterwards, they would see persecution, exile and death. In such times, all they would have is the Word.

The last thing the devil wants to do is have you hear the Lord speak, so he comes up with many tactics to prevent it. He will make sin appear to be permissible, enjoyable, maybe beneficial in the short-term. The Word of the Lord — which you are commanded to hear — declares that enjoyable and recurring sin of yours is still an offense to God that seeks to destroy your faith; so expect the evil one to bombard you with appearances and events to distract you away from God’s Word and make that sin look all the more attractive. In other words, we are tempted to believe that “If it feels right for me, then it must be okay;” hearing the Word, we respond, “No matter how it feels, it’s wrong if God says it’s wrong.” Similarly, we might find ourselves saying, “I kind of liked that sin, and don’t really feel that sorry for it.” Hearing the Word, we must firmly say, “Even if I don’t feel like confessing it, by faith I believe the Word that it was a sin that I must confess.”

At the same time, the devil may make use of sins you’ve committed to make it seem that the Lord could never forgive the likes of you. Guilt can bring on a despair from which there seems to be no relief. But far more certain than that crushing load is that Christ has died for your sins. Hearing the Word, we battle back and say, “Even if I do not feel forgiven, Christ promises that He forgives me.”

Furthermore, the devil will do his best to make it appear that the Lord has forgotten you. As the world continues to creep closer and closer to destruction, the devil will do his best to convince the Church that the Lord isn’t going to return. You see, when terribly afflicted, the people of God cry out, “How long, O Lord?” If they look for the answer in what they see, the answer is a horrible silence. But if they continue to hear the Word, they know that the Lord will faithfully return in His time.

So the devil and your own sinful flesh seek to do the same to you, personally and carefully selecting whatever afflictions will most effectively make you miserable. It may be a matter of ill health, because chronic pain and medicinal side effects will seek to shout louder than God’s Word. It may be a matter of loneliness, and your Old Adam will use that isolation from other people is to make you feel isolated from the Lord. It may be a matter of unbearable stress, tempting you to wonder if the Lord were indeed powerful, why would you have to suffer so?

Now, all of these things are more than just appearances-the pains and hurts are real enough. But what is not true is the appearance that these are more powerful than the Lord’s Word; and so the Lord calls you to continue to hear Him, no matter your circumstance. Illness and loneliness and stress will claim that God is out to get you, but don’t expect the wages of sin to preach a good sermon. Instead, hear the Word of the Lord. So much does the Lord care for you that He has already gone to the cross to redeem you. He promises that He will relieve you from all your afflictions in a little while; in the meantime, He has already relieved you of your sin and given you everlasting life.

The Lord looked glorious at the Transfiguration, and anything but glorious on Calvary. You and I must endure dark times, at times, when the Lord seems neither glorious nor near nor merciful. But you have His Word that He forgives you, is with you, and will not forsake you. Hear Him. And especially hear Him when He speaks His Word of grace and forgiveness to you. Cling to His promise that He has made you His own in Baptism. Hold fast to His Absolution and His Word, “I forgive you.” Do not let go of the promise He makes when He says, “Take and eat, this is My body…take and drink, this is My blood…for the forgiveness of sins.” For by these words, the same Lord who was transfigured in glory, crucified for your sin and raised for eternal life, is with you.

Listen to Him, for by His Word He remains with you. He remains with you, and you have His Word on it. So you can say with St. Paul: For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 8:38-39)

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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