Sermon for Sexagesima - Lk 8:4-15

 

                                                                                                            Sexagesima

                                                                                                            Lk 8:4-15

                                                                                                            2/8/26

 

 

Does the Word of God – the message of the Gospel – really work? There are times – more than we would like – when it seems like that question should be answered in the negative.  We speak the Gospel, and it meets with dismissal or even outright rejection.  In the same way, it is very disappointing to see people who have been Christians fall away from the faith.  These experiences can undermine our confidence in God’s Word.

This morning in our text, Jesus explains about the nature of God’s Word and how it is received.  His teaching gives us some understanding about the things we don’t want to see. It guides how we need to live in relation to God’s Word. And it provides assurance that God’s Word will not fail to produce results.

In our text Jesus tells the parable of the sower. We learn that a man went into his field to sow seed. In an era before machinery this was done by the simple process of tossing out handfuls of seed. Christ describes how not all the seed landed in fertile soil. Some fell along the path. Paths had been worn from many years of people walking along the edge of fields and even through their midst. Here the seed was trampled underfoot by passersby, and the birds ate it up.

Some of the seed fell on rocky soil. The seed that landed here did grow. But because it was very poor soil that did not contain sufficient moisture, the seedlings withered and died.  Other seed fell among thorns. Here too the seed grew. But the thorns also grew up along with the seedlings, and in the end the thorns choked them out. Finally, there was seed that landed on good soil, and this seed yielded a hundredfold.  It produced a great harvest.

At the end of the parable Jesus said, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”  These words signal that there is more going on here than may seem at first to be the case.  It certainly caught the disciples’ attention. We learn that they began to ask Jesus what the parable meant.

The word “parable” has a rather broad meaning in the New Testament. It can be used for a brief saying that illustrates a truth or conveys some meaning. Here we find it in the form we are most used to as an extended story. This is the first time in Luke’s Gospel that Jesus has told story like this which is labeled as a parable. It introduces a continuing use of the this kind of teaching. The disciples noticed this new form of teaching and asked our Lord what it meant.

Jesus replied, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’” Our Lord began by saying that the secrets of God’s reign in Christ were being revealed to the disciples. God had called them to faith and they were being given understanding.  Jesus was about to explain to them what the parable meant. He was going to reveal the truth conveyed by the story.

This stood in contrast to others who only received things in the form of the parable.  We learn that during Jesus’ ministry the parables revealed and concealed at the same time. To those who believed in Jesus they provided understanding about the kingdom of God – the reign of God that was present in Jesus. To those who did not believe in Jesus they remained simply entertaining stories.

In this case, Jesus said the purpose of the parables was so “so that ‘seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.’”  These words are drawn from what God said to Isaiah when he called the prophet.  After Isaish said, “Here I am send me,” Yahweh replied, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.”

When Isaiah asked how long he was supposed to do this, he learned that this was to take place until God had brought judgment upon Judah by means of the Assyrians.  God was sending Isaiah to a people who were sinning and rejecting Yahweh. The word of Isaiah was going to harden them in their sin as God prepared to bring his judgment.

This background from Isaiah helps us to understand Jesus’ words. Our Lord was speaking to people who were sinful and were rejecting Jesus’ word – many refused to believe in Jesus as anything more than a prophet or an interesting rabbi. The very first time we hear Jesus preach in Luke’s Gospel - in the synagogue at Nazareth - the people rejected his claim about being the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy and they tried to throw him off a cliff.  In the chapters that precede our text, the Pharisees have rejected and attacked Jesus.

Jesus’ words lead us to ponder how God saves people, and why some people aren’t saved. He teaches us that only God can call people to faith and reveal the mysteries of the kingdom. As we confess in the explanation to the third article of the Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.”

            God wants to save all. That is why he sent his Son into the world to suffer and die on the cross for the sins of all. Paul told Timothy that God, “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” But Scripture also teaches that where people refuse to repent and reject God, he hardens them in their unbelief through his word. That is what he expressed to Isaiah. That is what Jesus says about the nature of the parables.  Jesus will say later in this Gospel, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.”

            We want to understand why there are people who don’t believe. We know why we believe – it is because God has called us through the work of the Spirit. We know that it is God’s desire to save all – that is what his word says. We know that God hardens in unbelief those who reject him.  But why is it that some people take this stance of rejection in the first place?

It is very tempting to say that God is the cause – after all, he is the cause of those who are saved. But such a logical conclusion contradicts the fact that God says he wants to save all. Instead, Scripture locates the cause in the fallen sinfulness of man himself.  It says that God wants to save all in Christ.  It says that only God can call people to faith. It says that sinful man is responsible for his rejection of the Gospel. It says that, like Pharoah, God does harden people in their rejection of his word.

You can’t make those biblical truths fit together in a neat logical construct.  And so we are left confessing what God’s Word says, even if we can’t explain exactly how things work. But recognize, this is nothing new. We do the same thing when it comes to the Holy Trinity and incarnation of the Son of God. We believe God’s word in faith, trusting that God’s ways go beyond the understanding of fallen man.

After describing the nature of his parables, Jesus then went on to explain the parable of the sower. He said, “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God.” This word of God is the Gospel of the kingdom.  It is the proclamation that Jesus Christ died on the cross as he received the punishment against your sin. Through this sacrifice he has won forgiveness for you. And then in his resurrection from the dead God demonstrated that he had in fact been at work in Christ. The resurrection of Christ was the defeat of death. Through faith in Jesus Christ you have forgiveness, salvation, and resurrection life on the Last Day.

Jesus then explained, “The ones along the path are those who have heard; then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved.” The sharing of the Gospel does not take place in a neutral environment. The devil became the lord of all sinful man through the Fall. In his homicidal lordship he wants to plunge all into the torment of Hell just as he himself will experience it.

The devil uses different means to snatch the word away so that it does not even receive a consideration. Through his influence in the world people reject anything that is “religious.” They say that Scripture is just a book written by men. In particular, he uses the materialism of our culture to support a profound spiritual apathy. People are focused on the things of this world and just don’t care about spiritual matters at all. They don’t even give the Gospel a consideration as they go on living their life.

Next Jesus said, “And the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away.” The seed that fell on the rock did grow, and Jesus says that this describes people who hear the Gospel and believe for a awhile. However, believing in Christ and walking in his way will mean taking up the cross. It will bring trials and testing. In response, some give up on the faith and walk away.

Our Lord added, “And as for what fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature.” Once again, Christ describes people who hear the word and believe. However, over time their faith is choked out by different challenges of this fallen world.

Worries and concerns cause people to focus on problems instead of Christ. They begin to think that the Lord isn’t doing them any good as they struggle with health problems and financial concerns. The riches of this world suck people in as money and all the things it can buy becomes the thing that is really their god. The pleasures of life include all of the forms of sexual immorality present in our world – sin that is celebrated by our culture as normal and good. These things choke out faith – they cause faith to die.

In the explanation of the seed on the rock and the seed among the thorns it must not escape our attention that Jesus is speaking about people who were Christians. They had faith in Christ. But it withered and died.  It was choked out. There is no such thing as “once saved, always saved.” Christians can, and do fall away from faith in Jesus. I have seen this while pastor at Good Shepherd. Members who were active and involved, drop out of the life of faith. Youth who were taught the faith and raised to walk in Christ, leave home and just drift away as Jesus no longer has any role in their life.

Thus far what Jesus has said is discouraging. We have heard about all of the different ways that the word does not produce salvation. The Gospel is shared, and in the end it produces nothing. It is easy to wonder: what’s the point?

But remember how Jesus described the seed that landed in the good soil.  He said it produced a hundredfold. It produced a bounty.  Our Lord explains, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

            Jesus’ words about the seed on the good soil raises two different, and important points. First, the word of the Gospel goes forth and God promises that it will bring forth a great harvest.  We are to sow – we are to share the Gospel - in this confidence.  Jesus expressed this same truth when he told the parable of the mustard seed.  He said, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his field. It is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

            It is easy to focus on the rejection of the Gospel. The reign of God in our midst looks small and insignificant like the mustard seed. But Jesus promises that in the end it will produce great results that we will see on the Last Day.  We have this confidence because Jesus is the Lord who has risen from the dead.

            And so the parable of the sower teaches us to sow. It teaches us to cast the Word of God forth – to speak the Gospel to others. It is not for us to worry about whether the seed lands on the path, or on rocky soil, or among thorns. We sow, and God promises that he will produce the growth according to his will.  It will produce a harvest that we will recognize on the Last Day.

            The second point we learn from the parable is how we must live in the faith.  You didn’t create the faith in Christ that you have. But you can lose it.  Jesus says, “As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”

            Christ says that we must hold fast to the word. To do this, you have to continue to receive the word. You must continue to receive the word in its various forms. You must continue to receive the Means of Grace.

            The starting point for this is what you are doing right now. The Divine Service on Sunday morning should be the necessary starting point of each week. Each week the word of God is read and proclaimed to you by Christ’s called servant. Each week you receive the true body and blood of Christ given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This is the food that sustains faith. Faith can only continue as we hold fast to the word.

            But that is just the starting point. The next step is your personal reading of Scripture during the week. Do you take time each day to read God’s Word? How does the time you devote to reading Scripture compare to the time you spend looking at social media on your phone, or watching sports, or doing a hobby?

            Our church body has developed a great pattern for reading Scripture.  It is both quite comprehensive in its scope over the course of a year, and also reasonable in the amount of Scripture it sets before us to read each day. And I am going to keep pushing it until the day I am no longer pastor at Good Shepherd. It is in the Treasury of Daily Prayer and InPrayer app by Concordia Publishing House. It is in the bulletin insert each week. It is on the church website, complete with the link for reading those texts online. I email this out to you every week.  Hold fast to the word by using this to read Scripture.

            To remain in the faith you have to hold fast to the word. And you have to also bear fruit with patience.  This means that we have to commit to living out the faith.  It means loving my spouse by putting his or her needs ahead of my own. It means trusting in God’s continuing love and care, even when I am experiencing hardships that I do not want. It means turning away from sin by choosing not to gossip about my neighbor; by not having sex outside of marriage and looking at pornography; by not speaking when I feel angry. It means forgiving others.  As Paul told the Ephesians, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”

            So what do we take away from all of this? Sow the seed – speak the Gospel to others, for God promises that it will produce. Hold fast to the word – receive the Means of Grace and read Scripture each day. Bear fruit with patience – love your neighbor with action; forgive; turn away from sin. This is what Jesus teaches us today.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for Septuagesima - 1 Cor 9:24-10:5

 

                                                                                               Septuagesima

                                                                                               1 Cor 9:24-10:5

                                                                                               2/1/26

 

     Recently, Indiana University won the national championship in college football. It was an amazing story. Historically, Indiana had been one of the losingest teams. Two years ago they hired Curt Cignetti to be their coach. He entered the job with a confidence and bravado that seemed absurd for someone coaching at Indiana. When asked at his introductory press conference about what people should know about him, he replied: “I win. Google me.”

     However, Cignetti used the new college rules of the transfer portal and paying players to transform Indiana. Last season Indiana went 11 and 2, and made it to the playoffs. This year his team went 16 and O to win the national championship. Remarkably, he did so with a team of players who were not highly rated recruits.

     The Indiana story captivated sports fans across the country. The national championship game had 30 million viewers. It was the largest viewership for a non-NFL game since another sports story that captured the nation’s attention: game seven of the 2016 World Series as the Chicago Cubs won their first championship in one hundred years.

     Sports play a huge role in our culture. We are drawn to big sporting events that have high stakes and great story lines. But we are not in any way unique. This has always been true. It was true in the first century world, and in our text today Paul draws upon this fact in order to make his point.

     Our text this morning comes from a portion of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians in which he was addressing a significant question that confronted early Christians.  We take it for granted that there will be meat in our meals. We also live in a setting where meat is freely available – you can walk into a grocery store and get any kind that you want.

     However, this was not the case in the first century Greco-Roman world. For them, meat was not something that was a daily part of their diet. It was expensive and not readily available.  Almost all of the meat that was available in a city came from one source – animals sacrificed at pagan temples.

     People had access to this meat in a variety of ways. We know from archaeology that temple complexes had dining rooms where this meat was served. These were spaces that could be rented for celebrations like a birthday. Eating meat in this setting wasn’t always specifically religious. But that didn’t change the fact that it was the grounds of a pagan temple, and the meat being served came from pagan religious rites.

     In the course of chapter eight, Paul had pointed out that while only God who had revealed himself in Christ is the true God. And while idols were nothing, not everyone understood this clearly. Those who were weak in faith, could be misled by seeing a Christian eat in one of these temple dining rooms. He said “For if anyone sees you who have knowledge eating in an idol’s temple, will he not be encouraged, if his conscience is weak, to eat food offered to idols? And so by your knowledge this weak person is destroyed, the brother for whom Christ died. Thus, sinning against your brothers and wounding their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ.”

     During the course of chapter nine, Paul then used himself as an example of how Christians needed to act in ways that care for the neighbor such as he had just described. A Christian shouldn’t eat at a temple dining room because it might lead another Christian back into paganism. At times a Christian will not make use of all his rights in order seek the good of another. Paul himself had done this in sharing the Gospel. Just before our text he said, “I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.”

     At the beginning of our text, Paul addresses the need for self-control in the life of a Christian. This self-control – or discipline – is necessary for two reasons. First, it enables us to put the needs of others first, just as Paul had been discussing. And second, it assists us in avoiding sin which can cause the loss of salvation.

     Paul says, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.”  The apostle uses the metaphor of athletics to make his point. It is something that would have connected with his Corinthian readers because of how big sports were in their world. Every other year Corinth hosted the Isthmian Games. This was a major Hellenic athletic contest that was second only to the Olympics in importance. Great crowds attended the games, and financially it was important for the city.

     Paul’s point is that we all know how athletes train in a rigorous way – how they exercise self-control. In Paul’s day that did it to receive a wreath made of plastered pine leaves that adorned the head of the winner. Today, they do it to receive a championship. But these are both things that perish. Who won the 1935 college football national championship? No one remembers. It has vanished into nothing.

     But as Christians we are straining toward the prize of the crown that will never fade away. As Paul told Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that Day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his appearing.”

     Because the Christian life leads to eternal life, we will want to be committed in the way we go about living.  Paul adds, “So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

     Thus far, Paul’s words have been directed towards how we live in relation to others. When the apostle talked about this to the Philippians he said, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” He then described how Jesus Christ provides the model for this, because he humbled himself in the death of the cross to save us.

     In our fallenness the natural inclination is to look out for ourselves. We look for ways that make my life easier – ways that give me the best outcome. In doing so, we ignore the needs of those around us. Or worse yet, we actively harm them.

     But through baptism we are a new creation in Christ. The Spirit of Christ has made us a new man. And so we are able to see these impulses for what they are. Instead, as Paul describes we are able to direct our efforts in ways that put to death the old Adam. The discipline is that of choosing first to help, support, and assist our spouse, parent, sibling, and co-worker.  So put their needs first, as you are Christ to them.

     Paul uses the metaphor of an athlete who is self-controlled and disciplined in order to address how Christians put the needs of others first.  But he also does this for a second reason that appears in the latter portion of our text. Self-control and discipline are needed because it assists us in avoiding sin which can cause the loss of salvation.

     Some of the Corinthians appear to have had a very skewed view of the Christian life.  They believed that because they were baptized and were receiving the Lord’s Supper they had a spiritual status that made the immune to the dangers of the pagan world. They did not see the sinful behaviors of the world as being a threat to faith.

     Paul addresses this by talking about what had happened to God’s people in the Old Testament.  Israel had also experienced God’s miraculous action. He had brought them through the water of the Red Sea. He had fed them with manna from heaven. He had given them water from a rock. The apostle writes, “For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink.” Paul connects what Israel experienced with what the Corinthians were now experiencing in the sacraments.

     But then he adds, “Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”  Israel had experienced God’s saving action. But they continued in sin, and as a result they received God’s judgment and perished in the wilderness.

     The apostle wants the Corinthians – and us – to know that this is not just ancient history. Instead, as the Church this is our history, and God is using it to teach and guide us in how we are to live. Immediately after our text Paul says, “Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did.”  More specifically the apostle adds: “Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, ‘The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.’ We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day.”

Paul refers to the idolatry of the gold calf at Mt Sinai, and the sexual immorality that occurred at Baal Peor. After adding a couple more instances Paul concludes by saying, “Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

These things were written down for our instruction. Paul says we need to be self-controlled and disciplined in avoiding idolatry.  For the Corinthians this meant not participating in the rites and meals of a pagan temple.  For us it means putting God first in relation to our money by returning a proportional first fruits of our income back to him. It means putting God first on Sunday as the day we receive his Means of Grace. It means putting God first as the source of our confidence and assurance in life.

Paul says that we need to be self-controlled and disciplined in avoiding sexual immorality. For the Corinthians, this meant only having sex with one’s spouse and not having sex with prostitutes, slaves, and anyone who wasn’t the wife of man, because the culture considered all of these to be completely acceptable. For us it is very similar because it means only having sex with one’s spouse – only having sex as husband and wife – and not with anyone else because our culture says that sex is for hook ups; sex is for dating; sex is for living together; sex is for basically anything you want to do.

And in our own setting it means avoiding pornography.  Jesus said, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” Pornography existed in Corinth. But technology now makes it available in a form and with a power that is different from anything that has existed before. Not only is it sinful as it brings spiritual harm, but this sin destroys relationships and rewires the brain so that an individual is not capable of functioning sexually as God created us to be.

Paul tells us that we need to be self-controlled and disciplined as we press on for the crown that does not perish – for eternal life and resurrection with Christ.  We do so we because we live as those upon whom the end of the ages has come.

That is what has happened in Jesus Christ. At Christmas we celebrated how in the fullness time God sent forth his Son, as Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary. God’s end time action to redeem us from sin and death arrived in Christ. Jesus took our sin as if it was his own, and received God’s judgment against sin that we deserved. God condemned our sin in the flesh of Christ on the cross so that we can be forgiven before him.

Then on Easter God the Father raised Jesus from the dead. Resurrection is a Last Day event. Scripture teaches us that the resurrection of the Last Day began in Jesus. Paul says later in this letter, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” 

The Holy Spirit was poured out by the risen and ascended Lord on Pentecost, for God had said through Hosea, “And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.” Now the Spirit has made you a new creation in Christ as you were born again in baptism. Forgiven in Christ, you are now led and enabled by the Spirit to live in Christ – to be self-controlled and disciplined as you walk in the ways of the Lord that lead to salvation and eternal life.

 

  

 

 

 

    

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: Central Illinois District President arrested for alleged production of child pornography - A pastoral response

 

Good Shepherd members,

 

I am writing in hopes that you receive this news from me first. Yesterday, President Harrison informed the LCMS that Central Illinois District President Michael Mohr was arrested by federal agents on charges of alleged production of child pornography.  We recognize that in our legal system a person is innocent until proven guilty.  As President Harrison indicates, we want every step to be taken by authorities so that the truth of this matter is known.  We expect that serious charges of this particular nature would not be brought unless there was significant evidence to support them.

 

There are occasions when pastors fall in grievous sin that necessitate they be removed from the Office of the Holy Ministry. There was recently another instance of this which directly impacted a Good Shepherd member who is away at college, along with a former Good Shepherd member who is a member of that congregation.  Because this happens, it is important that we recognize what such instances do, and do not mean.

 

Pastors serve in the Office of the Holy Ministry that Christ established (Matthew 28:19-20) to administer the Means of Grace and provide spiritual care for God’s people. As those in ordained into the Office of the Holy Ministry, they have been placed by the Holy Spirit in that particular congregation to feed and care for Christ’s flock that he purchased with his own blood (Acts 20:28). These are the people who have been allotted to their care as Christ’s undershepherd (1 Peter 5:1-4). It is Christ’s Office of the Ministry, and they are God’s people. Therefore, pastors will be directly accountable to God on the Last Day for their ministry toward the congregation (Hebrews 13:17). While their salvation is not dependent on this, Scripture is clear that the character of their ministry will be revealed by God and that this has consequences (1 Corinthians 3:5-15).

 

Pastors are Christians, but because they are in the Office of the Holy Ministry they are also in a position that is not like other Christians. As described above, they are directly accountable to God for their conduct as pastors in a way that is not true of other Christians. In addition, they are specifically charged to be examples to God’s people in living the faith (1 Timothy 4:12; Titus 2:7).  Simply stated, we are to expect more of our pastors as they model what it is to be in Christ. For this reason, Scripture states that only men who have shown themselves to be faithful in their conduct can be admitted into the Office of the Holy Ministry (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9).  For this reason as well, men who are in the Office of the Holy Ministry and commit grievous sin that scandalizes the flock must be removed from the Office, and are not eligible to serve as pastors again. They have demonstrated by their behavior that they are unfit to be a pastor.

 

Pastors serve in a position of spiritual authority over those entrusted to their care (Hebrews 13:17; 1 Thessalonians 5:12; Acts 20:28). They have been charged by God to feed and care for God’s people. They are to be examples to the congregation of how to live in Christ. When a pastor fails to do so and is guilty of public and grievous sin, this is a great tragedy for a congregation. Their trust has been betrayed by the very one who was placed there to care for them. There is no getting around the fact that this is a painful wound, and it often takes time to heal from this experience.

 

Yet we give thanks in the knowledge that such events do not in any way call into question the acts of ministry that the pastor carried out in the midst of the congregation. It is Christ’s Office of the Holy Ministry.  It is his Means of Grace.  These things are not dependent on the spiritual character of the man through whom Christ administers these gifts in the midst of his people. The Lutheran confessions express this truth beautifully:

Nor does this detract from the efficacy of the sacraments when they are distributed by the unworthy because they represent the person of Christ on account of the call of the church and do not represent their own persons, as Christ himself testifies [Luke 10:16], “Whoever listens to you listens to me.” When they offer the Word of Christ or the sacraments, they offer them in the stead and place of Christ. The words of Christ teach us this so that we are not offended by the unworthiness of ministers (Apology VII/VIII.28).

 

Please keep the congregations of the Central Illinois District in your prayers, along with the Rev. Michael Burdick, the First Vice President of the CID.  Pray for all victims of sexual exploitation, and for law enforcement as they seek to bring truth and justice to this situation. Pray for Michael Mohr, who was a classmate of mine at the seminary.  In his prior public conduct, preaching, and teaching he has been an excellent pastor, and I have considered him a friend. Pray “Come Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20; 1 Corinthians 16:22) as we ask our Lord to bring an end to sin and death.

 

 In Christ,

 

Pastor Surburg

 

Sermon for the Feast of the Transfiguration of Our Lord - Mt 17:1-11

 

Transfiguration

                                                                                                         Mt 17:1-9                                                                                                               1/25/26

 

 

          Each Sunday our Gospel lesson is a chunk of text that has been set before us.  It is a pericope – a word that comes from the Greek, meaning “to cut around.” It is a portion of text that has been cut out from the whole and has been placed before us for our consideration on that Sunday.

          Now of course, our focus is going to be on what is in that text.  But one of the most helpful things I learned at the seminary about reading the Gospels is that the meaning – the message – is not only found in what the text itself says. Instead, it often includes what comes before and the text. Quite often, the meaning of what we are reading is shaped by what has just happened or been said.

          That is certainly the case this morning. And in our text, Matthew goes out of his way to signal this to us as he begins by saying, “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” Now Matthew almost never gives us a time reference. The fact that he does so here should lead us to ask: “Six days after what?”

          The answer to this question takes us back into chapter sixteen where Matthew tells us, “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”  Our Lord asked what people were saying about him. And disciples answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others say Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”  The people were saying that Jesus was some kind of prophetic figure.

          But then Jesus asked the really important question. He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”  He confessed that Jesus was not just a prophet. Instead, he was the Christ, the Son of God. And then Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven.”

          Peter was exactly right. Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And Jesus made it clear that Peter had not figured this out on his own. Instead, God the Father had revealed it to him. We see here yet one more evidence for why the Small Catechism’s explanation to the third article of the Creed says: “I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel.” Faith in Jesus – that he is the Christ, the Son of God – can only be given by the Father through the work of the Spirit. Fallen sinners can never arrive at this on their own.

          This was great stuff. Peter had clearly confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. He was the Savior for whom Israel had hoped. But then Matthew tells us: “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.”  Jesus confirmed, that yes indeed, he was the Christ, the Son of God. And then he began to explain to the disciples that he was going to suffer and die.

          This is not what first century Jews expected about the Christ. It is certainly not what Peter expected. In fact, Matthew tells us that Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, saying, “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.” He tried to tell Jesus how things were supposed to work.

          But Jesus shut him down. He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.” Our Lord said that Peter’s ideas did not come from God. Instead, they came from Satan.

          Two weeks ago we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord.  There when Jesus was baptized, the Holy Spirit descended on Jesus like a dove. God the Father spoke words that were based on Isaiah chapter 42 as he said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” We saw that in this event the Father designated Jesus as the Servant of the Lord. He identified him as the One who took our sins as if they were his own in order to be the suffering Servant – the One who was pierced for our transgressions and was crushed for our iniquities.

          The devil was determined to do everything he could to derail Jesus’ mission. We will see during Lent that this was his purpose when he tempted Christ. It is the devil’s will that is heard in Peter’s words as he denies suffering and death for Jesus.

          Jesus rebuked Peter’s denial of suffering and death for the Christ. And then he went one step further. He added that those who followed Jesus would also experience suffering and death. He said, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

          Our Lord had said that he would suffer and die. He said that those who follow him must expect to take up the cross – that they too would experience suffering and death. But he had also said that he would be raised on the third day. And then he added, “For the Son of Man is going to come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and then he will repay each person according to what he has done. Truly, I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom.” Christ announced that he would come in glory to judge. He even said that some of those standing there would not die before seeing Christ in glory.

          In our Gospel lesson we learn that six days after these events, Jesus took three of his disciples – Peter, James, and John – with him up onto a high mountain by themselves. Matthew reports: “And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”

          At Christmas we rejoiced in the mystery of the incarnation. Conceived by the Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ was born of the virgin Mary as the One who is true God and true man.  Jesus lived as a man in this world. But he never ceased to be God. And in this moment he openly revealed his divinity to the disciples as his face shown with the brightness of the sun, and his clothes became white as light.

          Matthew tells us that this was not all. He adds: “And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elijah, talking with him.” Moses and Elijah were two of the greatest figures in the Old Testament. Both of them had encountered Yahweh at Mt Sinai, and had spoken with him. Now they were present there with Jesus on the mountain as he shown with the glory of God and they talked with our Lord.

          Peter was rarely at a loss for words, and once again he had something to say. He said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good that we are here. If you wish, I will make three tents here, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Jesus had just spoken about suffering and death. But now Peter was in the presence of this glorious scene, and it was so much better. He suggested that they set up things to stay there. His proposal about building shelters for Jesus, Moses, and Elijah seemed to place all three on the same level.

          Yet while he was still speaking a bright cloud overshadowed them. This was an indication of God’s presence as a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.” God the Father spoke the same words that he had spoken about Jesus as his baptism.  They were words that identified Jesus as the Servant of the Lord – the suffering Servant who bears the sins of all in death. Yet now the Father speaks them about Jesus as he shines in divine glory.

          Just before the transfiguration, Peter had confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Then Jesus had told the disciples that he was going to suffer and die. To Peter this seemed to be an impossible contradiction, and he rebuked Jesus because of this.

          Now we see Jesus shine with the revelation of his divine glory, as God the Father speaks the exact same words as at his baptism. They are words that identify Jesus as the suffering Servant, but they are spoken about the One who stands before them in glory as the Son of God. And God says, “Listen to him.”  To what are they to listen? It is what Jesus has just said - that is he is going to suffer and die, and then be raised on the third day.

The transfiguration of Jesus demonstrates that in God’s plan suffering, death, and glory are not contradictions. Jesus Christ took our sins as if they were his own in order die on the cross. He went to the cross to receive God’s condemnation against sin in our place. The just God justly condemned our sin in the flesh of Christ. He did so as Christ died in the shame, weakness, and humiliation of the cross.

On Good Friday, the death of Christ on the cross appeared to be the pointless death of a pathetic figure.  But in the Gospel we learn that the cross was God acting in a saving way for us. It was God acting powerfully in his love to reconcile us to himself by giving us atonement – by removing the sin that stood as a barrier to fellowship with the holy God.

We now know this because on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. Easter was the proof that the cross had been God at work for us. In the glory of the Lord’s resurrected body we see that for God suffering, death, and glory are not contradictory.  God’s glorious saving action had occurred through suffering and death. And now, in the resurrection of Jesus death has been defeated and the glory of the resurrection that will be ours has begun in Christ.

Matthew tells us that when God the Father spoke, the disciples fell on their faces and were terrified. But then Jesus came and touched them, saying, “Rise, and have no fear.” Then we learn that when they lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.

In the account of the transfiguration, we hear the Lord saying the same thing to us. We learn that for us too, suffering, death, and glory are not contradictions. Christ, the One who passed through suffering and death into the glory of the resurrection, says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”

Being a Christian means that we are willing to accept the cross in our own life. Thankfully we don’t live in a place like Nigeria, Sudan, or Syria where there is the real possibility that someone will kill you because you believe in Jesus Christ. But the cross of suffering occurs in other ways.

Confessing that you believe in Jesus Christ will bring contempt and disdain from our culture which will dismiss you as being “religious.”  Abstaining from sex outside of marriage and refusing to live together before marriage makes dating more difficult because it means you need to find a person who shares these beliefs.  Saying that homosexuality and abortion are sinful will bring the world’s condemnation.  Setting aside Sunday morning as the time when you attend the Divine Service will mean saying no to world’s view that Sunday is just another Saturday.

Following Jesus Christ does mean that we will have to take up the cross.  Paul told the Philippians, “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake.” But we do so in the confidence that the cross is not a contradiction of the glory that is already ours in Christ. Baptized into Christ the risen Lord we are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession. We are the sons and daughters of God because of Jesus.

We have been born again of water and the Spirit, and now the Spirit of Christ is at work in us.  It is the Holy Spirit who enables us live in joy, hope, and peace no matter what the circumstances may be. As Paul told the Romans, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”

We are able to take up the cross and follow Jesus because we know that the glory he has as the risen Lord will be ours as well.  Christ passed through the death of the cross and then rose from the dead on Easter.  Because he did, we will too.  He is the firstborn of the dead. On the Last Day he will return in glory and raise up our bodies as we share in his resurrection.

The transfiguration of our Lord shows us that suffering, death, and glory are not contradictions for our Gospel God. Six days earlier Jesus Christ had announced his suffering and death. But now on the mountain he reveals his divine glory to Peter, James, and John. Jesus stands in glory as the Father again identifies him as the servant of the Lord – the suffering Servant.  The suffering and death of Christ was the means of God’s saving action for us. And then in Jesus’ resurrection he began the glorious bodily life that will be ours as well.