4 September 2022 - Trinity 12 - Mark 7:31-37

Sign language consists of certain gestures of the hands and body, which picture or symbolize specific words or thoughts. For those who are unable to hear or speak, sign language is an indispensable means of communication.

But certain kinds of bodily gestures can be useful also to those who are able to hear and speak - not as substitutes for spoken words, but as a means of reenforcing and underscoring the meaning of those spoken words.

We’re not talking now about a full acted-out vocabulary of hundreds or thousands of words, as would be the case with the kind of sign language that deaf people use. But there are various gestures, or symbolic bodily actions, that can help even hearing people to focus their attention on the meaning of the words that someone may be simultaneously speaking to them.

In our culture there are lots of gestures like this. When you recite the Pledge of Allegiance, or sing the National Anthem, you are expected to place your right hand over your heart, as a gesture of loyalty and love of country. When someone is introduced to you, you are expected to reach your hand out toward his, and shake his hand, as a symbol of friendship and goodwill - or at least that’s the way it was before COVID!

The Christian tradition offers us such meaningful physical gestures, too. For example, in the section on morning and evening prayers in Luther’s Small Catechism, we are given this encouragement:

“In the morning, when you rise,” or “in the evening, when you go to bed, you shall bless yourself with the holy cross and say: In the name of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.”

“Kneeling or standing” are then given as the recommended postures for the prayers that follow, which are to be spoken with humility and respect.

And in the section on prayers before and after meals, the Small Catechism indicates that these prayers are to be spoken at the table “reverently and with folded hands.”

In today’s Gospel from St. Mark, Jesus shows that he also has a keen understanding of the basic principles that undergird both an organized sign language, and the use of meaningful physical gestures in general, for the purpose of achieving a higher level of communication. Specifically we’re thinking of the Lord’s interaction with the man who was deaf, and who also had a speech impediment.

The healing that Jesus performed for this man was, of course, accomplished by the power of the word that he spoke: “Ephphatha!” - which means “Be opened!” But the man who received the healing, and who needed his ears to be “opened,” would not have been able to hear Jesus speak that word. He was deaf, after all!

And so Jesus, on this occasion, used a series of gestures and bodily actions, in conjunction with the speaking of the word, in order to communicate to the man the meaning of that word. We read:

“And He took him aside from the multitude, and put His fingers in his ears, and He spat and touched his tongue. Then, looking up to heaven, He sighed, and said to him, ‘Ephphatha,’ that is, ‘Be opened.’ Immediately his ears were opened, and the impediment of his tongue was loosed, and he spoke plainly.”

First, we notice that Jesus took the man aside, and dealt with him privately. This means that the gestures Jesus then used were intended for the personal comfort of that man.

They were a form of communication from Jesus specifically to this person, for his benefit. Jesus wanted the deaf man to know that he was not engaging in these actions to put on a display for others, but to teach something to him about the nature and source of the healing that he was about to receive.

And then we notice what Jesus did, once he had taken this man aside. He put his fingers into the man’s ears, to indicate to him that, by the power of his word, he was going to open his ears, and remove the affliction of deafness from which this person suffered.

And Jesus put his own fingers into the man’s ears - not a swab that had been dipped in some kind of medicine. He was thereby telling him - through this unique kind of sign language - that he himself was his healer. Jesus himself was the “medicine.”

After that, the Lord placed some of his own saliva on the man’s tongue. Remember that this person’s deafness was accompanied by an inability to speak intelligibly. Jesus showed the man, by this action, that he himself was going to solve that problem too.

And then Jesus, in a very obvious and demonstrative way, looked toward heaven - the dwelling place of God the Father - and sighed. The miraculous healing that was going to occur, was going to occur because of God’s love for the man.

Jesus was the Son of God, who was always in prayerful communion with his Father, and whose actions were governed by the will of his Father. As he was performing this healing, he thereby invited the deaf man - through this gesture of prayerfully looking up - to pray to the Lord himself, and to acknowledge that his healing was an act of divine grace.

And finally, after Jesus had helped the deaf man understand what was happening, and why it was happening - through the use of these bodily gestures - he then spoke the word of healing that actually accomplished the miracle this man needed. “Ephphatha!” “Be opened!”

And the ears of the man were opened, so that he could hear. His lips were also “opened,” as it were, so that he could now speak plainly, as the text tells us. The word spoken by Christ had accomplished this.

But the “sign language” that Jesus had used, in conjunction with the speaking of the word, had testified to the divine power of that word; and had served to illustrate - in an acted-out kind of way that the man could grasp - the meaning and purpose of the spoken word.

And so, even though he was deaf, this man was able to know that God was healing him through Christ, so that he could place his trust in God - and in the Son of God.

There are at least two take-aways for us, as we hear this story. The first is the illustration that it presents to us of the deeper deafness and muteness that handicaps all of us, by nature.

We may not suffer from an inability to hear with our physical ears, but we all come into this world without an ability to hear the voice of God in our hearts. Regarding those among his listeners who did not believe in him, Jesus said on another occasion:

“I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

Also on another occasion, the Lord rebuked some of his opponents with these words: “He who is of God hears God’s words; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God.”

By nature, all of us, as fallen human beings, are dead in trespasses and sins. Dead men do not hear. And dead men do not speak, either.

One who is spiritually dead cannot confess from the heart a faith that he does not have. But when the Holy Spirit has worked life and salvation in the heart of a penitent sinner who now turns to Christ for pardon and peace, the Spirit also draws out of this Christian precisely such a confession.

St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Romans: “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

And in his First Epistle to the Corinthians, he also writes: “No one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.”

When Jesus comes to you in the gospel, and through the gospel touches your heart through the personal comfort of his forgiveness, he thereby heals the spiritual deafness and spiritual muteness of your heart. He gives you a faith that is now willing and able to listen to his word, and to declare his word.

The second take-away for us, is to see in the physical actions of Jesus in today’s text, an example of the sort of thing that he still does today, through the means of grace. Jesus continues to employ a certain kind of “sign language” in his church, as he brings the gospel to his people, in a special way, in Holy Baptism and in Holy Communion.

Those who are physically deaf and mute are not the only people who can benefit from the kind of ceremonial gestures and symbolic actions that Jesus employed in today’s text.

We, who were spiritually deaf and mute - before God regenerated us, and opened our hearts to his salvation - benefit greatly from having the message of his gospel reinforced to us, and underscored for us, through the use of outward signs that accompany the spoken message.

According to the Lord’s institution, the sacraments are defined by the respective words that are to be spoken, and by the respective rites that are to be performed, as the sacraments are administered. The Apology of the Augsburg Confession reminds us that,

“as Paul says, ‘Faith comes from hearing’ (Romans 10:17). But just as the Word enters the ear in order to strike our heart, so the rite itself strikes the eye, in order to move the heart. The effect of the Word and of the rite is the same. It has been well said by Augustine that a Sacrament is a visible Word, because the rite is received by the eyes and is, as it were, a picture of the Word, illustrating the same thing as the Word. The result of both is the same.”

In his institution of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper, Jesus - for the benefit of those who receive these sacraments - commanded his church and its ministers to carry out certain outward actions and gestures as intrinsic components of these sacraments.

Baptism involves the physical application of water to the body of a person, in conjunction with the speaking of the Trinitarian words that Jesus commanded to be spoken.

Now, insofar as Baptism is, by the power of these words, a conferral of the gospel, it is not a symbol. Baptism is the reality of God the Father bestowing the Holy Spirit upon the baptized person, so that his Spirit can wash away the sins of that person through the blood of his Son.

When it was time for Saul of Tarsus to be baptized into Christ - in Damascus - Ananias said to him: “And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

But within the rite of Baptism, the act of applying water to the body does also serve as an outward, visible picture of the inner supernatural cleansing of the soul that is also taking place in the sacrament. That’s why the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews writes:

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”

Those of you who were baptized in adulthood - and who can therefore remember what it felt like to have that “pure water” running down over you - can hopefully also remember the great joy that came to you then, as you believed the promises of God: that your sin and guilt, too, were at that same moment being washed away for the sake of Christ.

But even if you cannot remember your own baptism in this way, you can still be comforted to know that this is indeed what happened to you, because God’s Word tells you that this is what happened to you.

And you can be reminded of this each time you witness a baptism: when you see the outward washing of water, and when you believe in the inner washing of God’s Spirit. That’s the “picture” that the outward ceremony of Baptism paints for us, as the inner gift of Baptism is simultaneously bestowed upon the soul of the recipient.

The Lord’s Supper, too, is not in itself a symbol. It is the reality of Christ - God and man - coming to us in his body and blood; and intimately uniting himself to us: to forgive our sins, and to strengthen within us the hope of eternal life.

But the physical act of eating the consecrated bread and drinking the blessed wine, which is a necessary component of this sacrament, does also illustrate - in a very vivid way - what it is that is happening, at a deeper level, in and through that eating and drinking. In St. John’s Gospel, Jesus speaks these words of comfort to his disciples:

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ... I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.”

In the ordinary course of life in this world, the eating of literal bread satisfies your bodily hunger; and the drinking of literal wine quenches your bodily thirst.

So, too, when you by faith receive Christ into your life - supernaturally “eating” him, as it were - your starving soul is filled with his grace and forgiveness, and your parched spirit is refreshed and rejuvenated with his peace and righteousness.

By the power of Jesus’ words - which he spoke on the night in which he was betrayed; and which his called servant speaks in his stead here and now - the body and blood of Jesus are truly present in the bread and wine of his Supper, and are orally received by each communicant. And thereby Jesus himself - the Bread of Life from heaven - is truly present.

In this sacrament he comes to you, and speaks to you, personally. He invites you to believe in him, and put your trust in him, once again.

And when you physically feel the bread and wine entering into your body, you can know that in this moment the divine-human Christ himself is also entering into you: to renew his claim on your body and soul, once again, as his own precious possession; and to make your heart, once again, to be his own special dwelling place.

For someone who has no access to the sacraments - like the thief on the cross - the spoken Word by itself is able to bring Christ and his gospel to a sin-stained and spiritually-hungry soul.

But isn’t it wonderful to consider that Jesus wishes to bring his gospel to us in all of its dimensions: also in these tangible sacramental ways that involve a special “sign language” that he addresses to us personally, as he comes to us personally in the washing of Holy Baptism, and in the eating and drinking of the Sacrament of his body and blood?

You should never underestimate your need for the sacraments that Christ has established for you - just as you should never underestimate your need for the proclaimed gospel. But in the sacraments, your appreciation of God’s love for you is deepened, and your grasp on the mercy of Christ is strengthened, by means of the multifaceted manner in which each sacrament impacts you and engages you.

As Jesus touched the man in today’s Gospel, while his words brought healing and restoration to his ears and tongue, so too does Jesus touch you, in and through the water, the bread, and the wine. And as he touches you, his sacramental words also heal and restore you: working for you, and bestowing upon you, his gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation.

Jesus uses the sacraments, with their special kind of “sign language” - their ceremonial actions and physical gestures - to focus your attention more intently on the meaning of the words that he speaks; and to emphasize and underscore for you the true supernatural miracle that he is thereby performing.

He speaks, and, listening to His voice, New life the dead receive,
The mournful, broken hearts rejoice, The humble poor believe.

Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb, Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come, And leap, ye lame, for joy. Amen.

---

11 September 2022 - Trinity 13 - Luke 10:23-37

When you look at a photograph that was taken of a group of people that included yourself, who is the first person you try to find in the picture? Yourself! You always look for yourself in a picture if you were there when the picture was taken.

I’m going to ask you to do something similar right now, as we reflect together on today’s Gospel text from St. Luke.

“A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.”

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.”

If you can imagine the parable of the Good Samaritan to be a symbolic snapshot of a group of people that includes you, will you be able to find yourself in the picture? Where would you look in the story in order to find the character who matches you?

I suppose we would all like to think that we can perhaps find ourselves in the image of the Samaritan. The Samaritan was willing to help the man who had been severely injured by robbers, almost to the point of death.

Each of us would like to think of himself or herself as someone like that, wouldn’t we? We’d like to think that we would act in a similar way if confronted by similar circumstances.

You try to be a good person. You are willing to help others, especially when their need is so obvious. Or, at least, you are usually willing to do so.

And, as each of us would hope to see ourselves in the person of the Samaritan, we at the same time would look disdainfully at the priest and the Levite in the story, who passed by the robbery victim on the other side of the road. “How could they have been so heartless?”, we ask.

Well, there might be a reason. We can easily imagine that the man lying by the side of the road, who had been left “half dead” by his attackers, would have looked like he was fully dead.

And a concern that the Jewish priest and Levite would have had, was that if they were to come into contact with a dead body, they would, according to the Mosaic Law, become ceremonially “unclean” for a significant amount of time. This would mean being segregated from the community, and being forbidden to perform their temple duties.

Now, for a typical Jew, this ceremonial isolation would certainly be an inconvenience. But for a priest or a Levite, it would have a direct impact on his livelihood, and on his ability to fulfill the necessary public functions of his office.

If one of these men had stopped to try to help the man, and if he had found out - upon a closer inspection - that the man was already dead, he might not get paid for a couple weeks. His wife and children might not eat.

Was it worth the risk - especially since the man was probably going to die anyway, if he was not in fact already dead? What could a lone priest or Levite really do for someone who was so far gone?

So, as these men weighed all the factors, they decided that it would not be worth the risk. They did not stop.

Another thing they may have considered was the possibility of an ambush. The perpetrators of this attack might still be lurking just off the road, waiting to pounce on someone else.

The injured man may have been left on the road as “bait,” to lure other travelers into making themselves vulnerable to be attacked and robbed themselves. If the priest or the Levite had stopped and gone over next to the injured man, he might have been the next victim.

Again, was such a thing worth the risk - especially on such a deserted stretch of road, where there would be no one to come to the rescue if the robbers were still around? The priest and the Levite decided that they would not chance it. They passed by, on the other side of the road.

So, are you still not able to see yourself in the person of the priest or Levite? Haven’t you justified your inaction in similar ways, in similar situations?

Don’t you also engage in the same kind of pragmatic calculations, when making a decision whether or not to take a chance for someone else, or to put yourself at some risk in order to help someone else?

Will you take chances that might effect your own livelihood, and your ability to provide for your family? Will you put yourself in danger when you’re not completely sure that you can even be of help to an injured or troubled person?

Where do we honestly see ourselves in this picture, after all?

At a very basic level, the parable of the Good Samaritan serves as moral instruction to us. It teaches us the importance of helping others in need, even when providing that help can be risky or inconvenient.

And as a story about godly morality and ethics, this parable also convicts us of our failure to love our neighbors as ourselves. It makes us face up to the selfishness and fear that actually govern our actions - or our inactions - more than we might otherwise want to admit.

But there is another way to read this story. And there is another place, and another character, where we can perhaps find ourselves in the picture.

When we see the parable of the Good Samaritan as a story about Jesus - and not just as a story about us and how we should treat others - then, at a deeper level, we are invited by the Lord to see ourselves as the robbery victim, lying by the side of the road.

You, and all human beings, have been left “half dead” by the assaults of the world, the flesh, and the devil. In the fall of Adam, the whole human race was robbed of the treasure that God had given to us when he made us in his own image.

Humanity lost its fellowship with God. Humanity lost its original righteousness. Humanity lost its immortality. Humanity lost its inner spiritual life. The spiritual “attack” that took place in the garden of Eden resulted in humanity’s spiritual death.

After this attack, our bodily life does, of course, remain. So, we are, in this sense, half dead. But in the natural condition in which we all come into the world, we are not alive to God.

The idea of a God remains in the conscience, and in the history of the world this idea has become the basis for a myriad of humanly-devised religions. But in our hearts we are distant from the true God who actually created us, and we are disconnected from him.

In thought, word, and deed, we are likewise disconnected from God’s law. And we are helpless - incapable of reconstituting our moral and spiritual character.

We are, by nature, lying along the side of a spiritual road on which we no longer have the strength to travel. We can go nowhere under our own power, because our power - in matters relating to God and the holiness of God - is gone.

But a Good Samaritan comes to us. By his own power he kneels beside us, treats our wounds, and saves us.

And this Good Samaritan loves us. He sees each of us as his neighbor, for whom he is willing to risk everything, and sacrifice even his own life, rather than to leave us in our desperate condition.

“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.”

On another occasion, recorded in St. John’s Gospel, the Lord’s opponents said to him: “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?”

In response, Jesus denied that he had a demon, but he let the association with the Samaritans stand. And now, perhaps, we are seeing a follow-up to this symbolic identification.

Jesus - the Son of God in human flesh - is the Good Samaritan. When he finds us, he pours his own divine Oil - that is, his own life-giving and faith-creating Spirit - onto our wounded soul.

He washes away the contamination of our guilt with the crimson wine of his own blood, which he shed for us on the cross. He carries us away on his own animal - baptizing us into his baptism, and speaking his own righteousness upon us.

In his Epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul describes - in different words - the state in which the Good Samaritan from heaven finds us. He writes:

“And you...were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.”

But then, St. Paul describes what the Good Samaritan from heaven has done for us:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

If you are tempted to think of yourself as a morally and spiritually self-sufficient person, and not as someone who is utterly and completely dependent on God for everything, Jesus wants you to see yourself - in the picture that his parable today paints in your mind’s eye - in the wounded man lying by the roadside.

You are not the Good Samaritan. You are the person who needs the Good Samaritan’s help.

And if you are tempted to think of yourself as a hopeless case, or as a spiritual “goner” - lost and unsalvageable - Jesus also wants you to see him in this picture, in the Samaritan who comes to where you are; who cares about you when others do not; and who lifts you up, and carries you to a place of safety and healing.

“And he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’”

The inn to which the Good Samaritan takes us is his holy church. In Christ, the church is a place of refuge in this world, where the people of God are entrusted to the care of the Lord’s pastoral inn-keepers until his return; and where they are fed with the Lord’s Holy Word, and sustained and strengthened with the special medicine of immortality that Jesus has left for us: the Holy Sacrament of his body and blood.

The church is not a place where good people come to show off, but where sick and wounded people come to be healed. It is not a place for excitement and agitation, but for rest and peace.

Every individual in the church - lay and clergy, men and women, adults and children - is “a work in progress.” But under the care of the ministers of the gospel, and in the strength of that gospel, God is bringing us along, and moving us forward, to where he wants us to be.

Elsewhere in his epistle to the Ephesians, St. Paul writes:

“I bow my knees to the Father..., that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever.”

That’s what God is doing for you in the inn, as you wait for the return of the Good Samaritan - the bodily return of Christ on the Last Day. That’s what is happening to you as you are preserved among God’s people and are nurtured by the gospel; and as you abide in the Word of Christ as a disciple of Christ: putting on the mind of Christ, growing into the image of Christ, and becoming ever more like Christ in how you love your neighbors in need.

So, when you look for yourself in this picture - in this parable of the Good Samaritan - you can and should see yourself in the victimized man: not only in the first part of the parable, as he is lying helpless along the road; but also in the second part of the parable, as he is increasing in strength and health - in faith and in Christian virtues - under the care of the inn-keeper.

You can see yourself in this picture: not only as a person in desperate need of help from a Savior; but also as a person who is receiving that help, freely and without cost to you, in the fellowship of the church, through the ministry of Word and Sacrament.

And, you can see yourself as a person who is waiting with joyful expectation for the Good Samaritan to come back for you, to settle all your accounts, and to bring you to your eternal home. Amen.

---

18 September 2022 - Trinity 14 - Proverbs 4:10-23

Today is “rally day” at Bethany Lutheran Church. “Rally day” is a new thing for me. I’m still learning what the customs for rally day are, here in Princeton.

But one thing I have figured out, is that rally day is the day when the congregation gears up for a new year of Sunday School, and for a new year of adult instruction and Bible Study as well.

We are not born already knowing about God’s gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation through his Son Jesus Christ. And while we are born with some knowledge of God’s law, and of the difference between right and wrong, that knowledge is not very deep, and it is not very clear.

So, for people like us, who admit regularly that “we are by nature sinful and unclean,” it is relatively easy for our corrupted flesh to find ways of selectively blocking out the voice of our conscience regarding good and evil. It is relatively easy for the wicked world to succeed in confusing and misleading us.

And it is relatively easy for the devil to succeed in deceiving us, with lies that we are too eager to believe, about how much better off we would be if we lived according to the greedy, selfish, and lustful impulses of our fallen nature; and if we ignored the directives and warnings, the promises and gifts, of the good and loving God who created us, and who actually knows what would be best for us.

How can we fully know what God’s Word of law actually requires of us? How can we be led to admit the sober truth of how rebellious and disobedient we actually have been?

We need to be taught. Psalm 119 leads us to pray, in repentance for these shortcomings:

“You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently. Oh, that my ways were directed to keep Your statutes! Then I would not be ashamed, when I look into all Your commandments. I will praise You with uprightness of heart, when I learn Your righteous judgments. I will keep Your statutes; oh, do not forsake me utterly!”

“How can a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed according to Your word. With my whole heart I have sought You; oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You.”

And of course, we cannot know God’s Word of gospel at all, unless it, too, is taught to us. God’s saving acts of redemption - in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ - took place in real time and space.

They are events of history. They are not woven into the fabric of creation, to which human reason may have some degree of access. The only way in which you can know that God’s eternal Son became Mary’s baby son, is if someone teaches this to you.

The only way you can know that Jesus “was delivered up because of our offenses, and was raised because of our justification,” is if someone teaches this to you. The only way you can know that Jesus instituted one baptism for the remission of sins, and that he instituted the Holy Sacrament of his body and blood - also for the remission of sins - is if someone teaches this to you.

As the Lord said in the last chapter of St. Matthew’s Gospel:

“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you.”

The two places or arenas where the teaching of the faith occurs, according to God’s will and order, are the family and the church. We read in St. Paul’s Epistle to the Ephesians:

“Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ‘Honor your father and mother,’ which is the first commandment with promise: ‘that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.’ And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.”

When Paul wrote this, he was likely thinking of this verse from the Book of Proverbs: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

And in the church, Paul gives this exhortation to Timothy, and through Timothy to all pastors:

“Devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. ... Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.”

In his Epistle to Titus, Paul says a bit more about the kind of teaching that a pastor is called to carry out. And he shows that others may also be authorized to do some of the teaching, depending on the needs and circumstances of the church. He writes:

“As for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Older men are to be sober-minded, dignified, self-controlled, sound in faith, in love, and in steadfastness. Older women likewise are to be reverent in behavior, not slanderers or slaves to much wine. They are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled.”

“Likewise, urge the younger men to be self-controlled. Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works, and in your teaching show integrity, dignity, and sound speech that cannot be condemned.”

Now, if the Christian family and the Christian congregation do not fulfill their duty under God; and if parents, pastors, and others who are called to speak for God do not teach the truth of God to those who are under their charge, this doesn’t mean that those who are under their charge will now not be taught.

It means that they will receive all their instruction and guidance from other places. It means that they will be shaped and formed in their beliefs and values, in their moral vision and in their ethical standards, on the basis of sources other than Holy Scripture.

Secular elites in media, in entertainment, and in many other societal institutions, are ready and eager to teach you - and to teach your children and grandchildren! And with each passing generation they are having ever more success in weaning the population off of the Christian worldview.

Those who deny that God has created us as male and female, and as moral beings with accountability to our maker; those who disparage marriage as God instituted it; and those who oppose the influence and authority of the family and the church in our lives, are ready and eager to transform our beliefs - using the wide array of resources and techniques that are available in our age - and to make themselves the new masters of all that we think, say, and do.

But we don’t just wring our hands or throw them up in the air, running and cowering in fear to await our destruction. And we don’t just curse the darkness. We stand up to the darkness. And we light a candle.

As a church we bring the flickering light of God’s Word to all whom we are able to reach with our teaching. And as individuals, we are willing to be taught.

We are willing to learn, and to grow in wisdom and conviction in how we view the world, and in how we understand the meaning and purpose of our own life in the world.

And we are willing to learn about what God has called us to, and about what God promises to us: as members of his eternal family through the adoption of the Spirit of Christ, and as citizens of his otherworldly kingdom under the reign of Christ.

With the Psalmist we confidently pray to the God of the Bible:

“Through Your precepts I get understanding; therefore I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. I have sworn and confirmed that I will keep Your righteous judgments.”

I think that’s what “rally day” is really about, at the deepest level. Now, it’s okay that there are some fun things associated with rally day.

But there is also a very serious thing associated with it: pertaining to how you live and why you live that way; pertaining to the decisions you make and why you make those decisions; and pertaining to what you believe to be true and why you believe those things.

The words that Solomon addresses to his biological son in today’s Old Testament reading from the Book of Proverbs, are words that our Father in heaven also addresses to each of his spiritual sons and daughters:

“Hear, my son, and receive my sayings, and the years of your life will be many. I have taught you in the way of wisdom; I have led you in right paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hindered, and when you run, you will not stumble. Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go; keep her, for she is your life.”

“Do not enter the path of the wicked, and do not walk in the way of evil. Avoid it, do not travel on it; turn away from it and pass on. For they do not sleep unless they have done evil; and their sleep is taken away unless they make someone fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.”

“But the path of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble.”

Solomon uses some interesting imagery when he speaks of what brings those who have given themselves over to evil, to ever lower depths of depravity. They regularly partake of a devilish “anti-sacrament,” whereby they “eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.”

But, as God brings his uplifting teaching to you - renewing to you the forgiveness, life, and salvation that are yours in Christ the Lord - he seals that holy teaching with a holy sacrament, wherein his people are invited to eat the bread of righteousness, and to drink the wine of peace.

Jesus, who offered his body into death to atone for your sins - and for your many failures to receive and follow his teaching - is your righteousness before God. Jesus, whose shed blood washes away the stain of all your sins and failures - and who thereby reconciles you to God - is your peace with God.

Holy Communion gives us this righteousness and this peace, as it gives us Christ. And then, as we go forth from that forgiving encounter with God’s Son - reflecting upon it, and drawing strength from it - we get to start over afresh with a new life of learning, growing, and believing.

The words of Psalm 85 become our words of joyful confession:

“I will hear what God the Lord will speak, for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints; but let them not turn back to folly. Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him, that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed.”

For our congregation as a whole, rally day can be such a new beginning for us - for all of us.

How many unbiblical attitudes have you absorbed from the fallen world? How much have you allowed the values of the fallen world to shape your values?

Have you begun to tolerate and even excuse, in your own mind and heart, what God does not tolerate? Have you hesitated to love and forgive those whom God does love and forgive?

Today is a day for all of that to change, or to begin to change, as we all resolve that - with the Lord’s help - in the coming months we will come faithfully to the Lord’s house on the Lord’s Day; and - as much as it may lie with us, and as circumstances permit - that we will do what we can to see to it that our children and grandchildren also come.

We will come in humility to repent of our sins and to receive God’s pardon. We will come in reverence to partake of the means of grace that Jesus has left for his church.

We will come in devotion to sing the Lord’s praises and to pray for his protection and blessings. And, we will come in eagerness to be taught from the Holy Scriptures, and to learn from the Holy Scriptures.

We will learn things that we can learn here, but in few other places. We will learn things that will change our standing with God, as all the barriers of past sin are torn down by the grace of Christ, and as we are justified before God by faith in Christ.

And, we will learn things that will change us and make us different - different from the unbelieving world, and different from how we used to be - as God’s Word gives us the mind of Christ, and as God’s Spirit renews in us the image of Christ.

Today’s text from the Book of Proverbs continues with these words:

“My son, give attention to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Do not let them depart from your eyes; keep them in the midst of your heart; For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh.”

Today, and on every Lord’s Day, your ears can and do incline to the words and sayings of God. You are forgiven in the pronouncement of his absolution upon you.

You are built up in faith by the reading of his Scriptures, by the singing of hymns that are derived from his Scriptures, and by the preaching of sermons that unfold and expound his Scriptures.

And, the words and sayings of God do not depart from your eyes, either, as the tangible earthly elements of bread and wine are consecrated, distributed, and received according to Jesus’ institution; with the pledge and promise that he is there in a hidden yet very real way: to forgive, to heal, and to unite himself most intimately to all who come to his table in a worthy manner - prepared and made ready for this encounter through teaching!

As God teaches you all these things, in all these ways - and with the Holy Spirit impressing these truths upon your mind and heart - you will know many important things that the unbelieving and hurting world, sadly, does not know.

You will know that there is indeed a God in heaven. You will know that this God loves you, an that he proves this love by sending his only-begotten Son to be your Savior.

You will know that your sins are forgiven through faith in this Savior, and that eternal life with him is now your destiny. And you will know that this Savior is also your Lord, who has purchased you as his own, and who now governs and guides you in all that you think, say, and do.

God's Word is our great heritage and shall be ours forever;
to spread its light from age to age shall be our chief endeavor.
Through life it guides our way, in death it is our stay.
Lord, grant, while worlds endure, we keep its teachings pure
throughout all generations. Amen.

---

25 September 2022 - St. Michael (transferred) - Daniel 10:10-14; 12:1-3

In today’s Old Testament lesson, the Prophet Daniel reports an extraordinary visitation he received from the pre-incarnate Christ - the Second Person of the Holy Trinity. He writes:

“Suddenly, a hand touched me, which made me tremble on my knees and on the palms of my hands. And he said to me, ‘O Daniel, man greatly beloved, understand the words that I speak to you, and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you.’ While he was speaking this word to me, I stood trembling. Then he said to me, ‘Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard; and I have come because of your words.’”

God the Father sent his eternal Son to Daniel to show him what would happen to his people “in the latter days.” He adds: “For the vision refers to many days yet to come.”

In regard to these latter days, which the pre-incarnate Christ is describing for Daniel, we are then told that

“At that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people; and there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation, even to that time. And at that time your people shall be delivered, every one who is found written in the book.”

In the Book of Daniel, angels - both good and evil - are often described as “princes” who rule in hidden ways over various nations. Michael is the prince, or guardian, over God’s chosen nation.

In Daniel’s day, this nation was the faithful remnant of the Jewish people, then in captivity in Babylon, who were waiting for the time of their chastisement to be over so that they could return to the promised land.

Today, God’s chosen nation is the holy Christian church: comprised of the descendants of those Jews in the first century who in faith recognized Jesus as their Messiah when he came in the flesh, together with the many gentiles who have been grafted onto this spiritual nation, over the centuries, through Holy Baptism. St. Paul writes to the Galatians:

“For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

So, Michael the archangel, as the prince of Daniel’s people, is therefore today the prince of the church on earth, which is the heir of Old Testament Israel, and of the promises that God made to Israel. We are Daniel’s people today.

Michael is, of course, not the church’s Savior. But under the direction of its Savior he is its protector and guardian, and does battle with “the prince of this world” on our behalf and in the name of Christ.

In the history of the church, Michael is a major figure. But he is a major figure behind the scenes.

In the midst of all the upheavals and tribulations that the church endures, we are comforted to know that Jesus is keeping his promise to be with us always, even to the end of the age. But Michael - the powerful servant of God and of Christ - is also with us, battling for us under the command of our king and his, Jesus.

Through the supernatural efforts of Michael and his cohort of righteous angels, the elect people of God - that is, “every one who is found written in the book” - are preserved and delivered.

God works through means. The angels are means, or servants, through whom God keeps us physically and spiritually safe, even as the Word and Sacraments of Christ are the means through which God delivers to us his forgiveness, life, and salvation - under the canopy of that safety.

It is, however, not the calling of Michael and the other angels to preach the gospel to all nations. We see an illustration of this vocational limitation in the Book of Acts, where an angel miraculously brings the Roman centurion Cornelius and the apostle Peter together, so that Peter can preach to, and baptize, Cornelius and his household.

The angel does not preach the gospel to Cornelius himself, but honors the fact that God has entrusted the Great Commission to the church and its human ministers. But Michael and the angels do clear a path for the gospel and for the mission of the church, even today.

As the devil attacks the church and its ministers, Michael protects them, and counterattacks. Under God’s direction, as Jesus exercises his hidden kingly authority in this world for the benefit of his church, Michael pulls the strings of human history, and as the Lord’s agent makes thing happen in ways that people generally don’t see.

Angels are spirit creatures of the Lord - without gender or procreation. There are no families of angels. Each one is an independent, immortal being. They are not the souls of departed loved ones - which is a common popular superstition.

Approximately one-third of them rebelled against their creator under the leadership of Satan, and became fallen angels, or demons. The good angels - who are now confirmed in their righteousness - under the leadership of the archangel Michael, battle against these evil spirits.

The 16th-century Lutheran theologian Martin Chemnitz wrote a Treatise on Angels in which he explained a lot of these things, and in which he also explained why the church has a St. Michael’s Day on its calendar. This is from that treatise:

“Because Scripture has spoken of certain angels by name, such as Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, we have a feast called the feast of the angel Michael, in order that by this very name itself we should be instructed in the most important things to be learned in this life about angels and what we ought to believe and know about them.”

“For example, in regard to Michael the Scriptures tell how he fought against the dragon and his angels on behalf of the church, Revelation 12 and Jude 9, and how he was sent to minister in the affairs of the government in Daniel. Thus the festival of Michael instructs us to teach about evil and good angels. We should also teach how Satan ‘walks about as a roaring lion,’ First Peter, and how the good angels ‘encamp around them that fear the Lord,’ Psalm 34.”

There are no doubt many, many times when angels have shielded us from harm, but we were not aware of it. Occasionally, though, one hears believable stories of special angelic interventions in times of spiritual or physical danger, when an angel was seen, or when his presence in a particular time and place was in some other way known.

Yet even when angels are not seen - which is most of the time - we know they are there.

In the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, St. Michael’s Day was, in practice, a major festival. Special music was composed for St. Michael’s Day by our church’s baroque masters, since it was such an important day for the church.

The Reformers were very much aware of the reality of the demonic world. They soberly pondered how in and what ways the devil was actively working in the world to destroy souls and to silence the gospel. And this often came out in their hymns:

The old evil foe Now means deadly woe;
Deep guile and great might Are his dread arms in fight;
On earth is not his equal.

But Luther and his colleagues did not live in fear. Far from it. They knew that Christ would protect them. And they knew that Michael and the angels of the Lord, who work under the direction of Christ, are just as much a reality in the supernatural realm as are Satan and the demons:

Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us.
We tremble not, we fear no ill, They shall not overpower us.
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.

This changed, however, with the advent of the Rationalist movement in the 18th century, when many in the western world stopped believing in the power of that “little word” from God, and believed instead that human reason could understand everything, and explain everything. And as the spirit of rationalism also began to permeate the institutional church, St. Michael’s Day fell by the wayside.

The effects of Rationalism, and of the so-called Enlightenment, are still very much with us. One of the chief bits of evidence that this is so, is that St. Michael’s Day has not been restored to prominence among Christians in the 21st century.

The physical and psychological sciences were and still are believed to be able to explain all or most of those phenomena that Luther’s generation believed were best explained by the actions of hidden supernatural intelligences.

But as our own society is becoming ever more a post-Christian society, it’s also becoming - in some ways - a post-rationalist society, too. It’s interesting to see that many of those in our time who are abandoning the church and the Christian faith, are not becoming full-blown materialists, and deniers of the supernatural realm.

Instead, they are becoming increasingly interested in the supernatural realm, and in the paranormal. Look at the proliferation of ghost story and ghost hunting shows on television.

But most of this modern interest takes its interpretive cues from the religion of spiritism, where psychics and mediums are seen as the experts, not pastors and priests.

The Christian explanation of the supernatural realm seems almost unknown, largely because institutional Christianity - under the continuing influence of Biblical skepticism and theological liberalism - has muted its own witness to the reality of the world of angels and demons, as Holy Scripture defines and describes this reality.

This needs to change. And this change needs to begin with us.

But not only do we need to understand the serious reality of the dark and deceptive forces of the supernatural realm - so that we will not play with Ouija boards or participate in seances. We need to appreciate the serious reality of the holy angels: who excel in strength, who do the Lord’s word, heeding the voice of His word; ministers of His, who do His pleasure - as we confessed in today’s Introit from Psalm 103.

The righteous angels have never known the tragedy of sin in their own hearts. They therefore do not know - for themselves - the unique joy of the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for humanity on the cross.

But the angels take a great interest in Christ’s atonement for the sins of humanity. And they take a great interest in your forgiveness in Christ.

When the Holy Spirit brought you to repentance and faith, and thereby reconciled you to God and restored you to his fellowship, the angels rejoiced. “I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents” - to quote Jesus.

St. Peter writes in his First Epistle - regarding the revelation of Jesus Christ, and the salvation of souls by Jesus Christ - that the prophets of old did not see, during their lifetimes, the fulfillment of their prophecies concerning Christ’s suffering and glorification. But, as Peter explains,

“It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things into which angels long to look.”

Angels are active witnesses of the life and discipline of the church. After exhorting his young colleague Timothy to maintain proper order and sound doctrine among God’s people, and after giving him some specific directives to that end, St. Paul writes:

“I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the elect angels, that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.”

The angels take a special interest in the baptized children of the church, who are uniquely vulnerable to demonic attacks, and who are therefore uniquely protected by the angelic guardians whom God has assigned to them. In St. Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus reminds us of how important these little ones, and their growing faith, should be to us as well:

“Take heed that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of My Father who is in heaven.”

The angels watch, and worship with us, also when we partake of the sacramental feast of the new covenant that Jesus has established for us, in which he nourishes us with his body and cleanses us with his blood.

Christ reigns in glory at the right hand of the Father, but at the same time he is also truly present in his Holy Supper, with us and for us. As we together reverently approach Christ - with faith in his word and promise - let us ponder what the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us:

“You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.”

St. Michael, and the angels whom he leads, are a part of everything that is going on in your life of faith. They are with Christ, and so they are also with you when Christ is with you. They watch over you; and they watch out for you.

Christ is with you now: as his words of pardon and peace have absolved you of all your sins; as he is instructing and encouraging you through the Scriptures; and as he will come to you yet again, most intimately, at his sacred altar.

And the holy angels likewise were with you, are with you in this moment, and will remain with you while you remain in the Lord’s house: to create a “safe space” for the Holy Spirit to work here, without demonic interference and distractions.

If your eyes could be truly opened, right now, oh, what marvels, and what marvelous and powerful heavenly beings, you would see all around us in this place! And if your ears could be truly opened in a few minutes, as we join with the hosts of heaven in singing “Holy, Holy, Holy,” what extraordinarily beautiful otherwordly voices you would hear!

St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians that “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness.” And in a cosmic tag-team match, the angels help us in this struggle, and wrestle against these supernatural enemies right alongside of us - even as they also watch with us, and sing with us.

We close this sermon with the prayer with which all of us should close each day, from the Small Catechism:

“I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have graciously kept me this day; and I pray You to forgive me all my sins where I have done wrong, and graciously keep me this night. For into Your hands I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the wicked foe may have no power over me. Amen.”