7 September 2025 - Trinity 12 - Mark 7:31-37

During his earthly ministry, Jesus performed many miracles of physical healing. A common feature in these miracles was that Jesus spoke healing into the person who was sick or disabled.

Usually this speaking was accompanied by his laying his hands on the person, but not always. In the case of the servant of the Roman centurion in Capernaum, Jesus was not physically near the sick person. But the healing power of his words was able to reach him anyway.

Sometimes other physical elements were used for the healing. An example of this is when Jesus healed a man who was born blind. Regarding that miracle, St. John’s Gospel reports that

“He spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, ‘Go, wash in the pool of Siloam’... So he went and washed and came back seeing.”

The miracle that is recorded in today’s text from St. Mark, involving a man who was deaf and who had an impediment in his speech, combines all three of these features.

Jesus spoke to him. “Ephphatha,” he said. “Be opened.” Jesus touched him - putting his fingers in his ears. And Jesus used another element - his own saliva, placed on the man’s tongue - as an instrument for the healing.

The bodily healings that Jesus performed in these ways during his time on earth were of great practical benefit to those who received them, and who had been truly suffering from a wide array of maladies. In and of themselves, these healing miracles were divine gifts of mercy and relief, for suffering people.

And we would not say that Jesus has stopped healing people physically. Even apart from the fact that God uses the medical profession, and the vocations of physicians, as his instruments in bringing physical healing to people, we are more than willing to believe that medical miracles are also still possible. There have been many such cases over the years and centuries, which have puzzled doctors.

But of course, the bodily healings from Jesus that are recorded in the New Testament were also images and symbols of the deeper healings of the soul that Jesus also performed, when he forgave sins, and put hope and salvation into the troubled consciences of people. And the methods he used in bringing physical health and restoration to people, also pointed toward the kind of methods he used, and still uses, for those deeper healings.

Often the words of Jesus, all by themselves, bring forgiveness and reconciliation to those who hear and believe those words. Sometimes the words of Christ are accompanied by a loving touch or by an embrace - nowadays not by Jesus directly, but by caring Christians who are indwelt by the Spirit of Christ, and who in his name express compassion for a hurting person with a hug or with some similar gesture.

And in very specific and tangible ways, the healing words of Jesus sometimes accompany the use of material elements in the delivery of a miracle of grace to a needy person.

Now, however, it’s not saliva that comes from the mouth of Jesus, but it’s the bread and wine of Holy Communion that are placed into the mouths of communicants. Now it’s not mud that is smeared onto the eyes of a blind man, but it’s the water of Holy Baptism that is poured upon the head or body of a baptized person.

Jesus didn’t simply “think” healings into people in the days when he was walking the earth. He spoke healings into them, from the outside. And he used physical actions and material elements to accompany, carry, and reinforce his words.

He still does this. He still does this among us, and for us. And it is indeed healing - a deep, spiritual healing - that he accomplishes for us through his means of grace.

The primary blessing of the means of grace is the forgiveness of sins. Our sins alienate us from God, offend God, invite God’s anger, and make us guilty and fearful before God.

In these various ways they break our bond with God, and sever our relationship with him. But God’s forgiveness, for the sake of his Son’s life, death, and resurrection on our behalf, undoes and reverses all of that.

The relationship is restored. The offensiveness of the sins we have committed is removed, when the sins themselves are washed away and covered over. The guilt is also removed, as God assures us of his grace and mercy.

The remorse and shame that we may carry around for a time - when we have done something really bad, that we really regret - do wound us. But those wounds are healed when God’s forgiveness is pronounced and applied.

Our conscience is clear before God, when God promises that he will remember our sins no more, for the sake of Christ. Other people may still remember our faults and failures, and may still throw these things up to us. That’s something we will have to live with. But if God has healed us - deep down, on the inside - then we are healed.

God told his people of old, through the Prophet Malachi, that the Messiah would come to this world - for his saving mission - as a rising Sun of light and warmth. And he added this thought:

“To you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise, with healing in His wings.”

And in the vision of heaven and of the new Jerusalem that John received in the Book of Revelation, he saw

“a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life... The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

In faith we can and should join our prayer to the prayer of Jeremiah the Prophet, when he says:

“Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise. Indeed they say to me, ‘where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now! ... Do not be a terror to me; You are my hope in the day of doom.”

So, when we bring spiritual sickness and injury upon our own souls, by defying God’s law and disobeying him, God brings healing when he brings his forgiveness - delivered through the gospel of Jesus Christ in Word and Sacrament.

But there is also another way - a very important way - in which the gift of God’s healing grace can be appreciated and rejoiced in. In Psalm 6, David offers this prayer:

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled. My soul also is greatly troubled... Return, O Lord, deliver me! Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake! ... I am weary with my groaning; all night I make my bed swim; I drench my couch with my tears. My eye wastes away because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity; for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping. The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord will receive my prayer.”

We all know that David was certainly capable of willfully sinning against God, and of calling down upon himself God’s well-deserved wrath on account of his own transgressions. But this Psalm is not about that.

David’s anguish and depression, and his pleas that God would heal him emotionally and spiritually, have arisen this time because of attacks against him from others - from enemies and workers of iniquity.

David, as king, would normally want to keep a stiff upper lip, and preserve his reputation as a strong and unflinching leader. But here, in this prayer, he allows us to see his weakness and vulnerability.

As is often the case for people who have been grievously sinned against by others, their trauma has made them feel dirty and unworthy of God’s love. Their confused conscience blames them for what was done to them - by enemies and workers of iniquity - so that they would say things like what David says in his anguished prayer:

“O Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger, nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.”

Jesus heals us of such wounds, too. And in this healing, he restores clarity to our confusion, and brings light to our darkness.

The Greek word that is translated as “forgiveness” in our English versions of the New Testament is “aphiemi,” which means “to send off.” When God pardons us for our own misdeeds, he sends the guilt of our sins off of us, so that he now no longer sees those sins and will not punish us for them. Psalm 103 exhorts and comforts us with these words:

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. ...”

“The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. ... He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”

But the healing power of the gospel also sends off of us, the sins of others, that were pressed upon us and that wounded us, when we were violated, degraded, slandered, ridiculed, disrespected, or in some other way wounded by the evil words or actions of others.

In this world of sin, there is, and has always been, much injustice. Terrible things have been done to people through no fault of their own.

Those who would have been called by God to protect these victims - fathers, husbands, or police officers, for example - either were not able to protect them, or were unwilling to do so. And God, in the mystery of his permissive will, allowed the crime or the insult to happen.

But God has not abandoned his children, even in the midst of their suffering. He brings healing through Christ: who also suffered unjustly, at the hands of wicked men. God, in Christ, pours the oil of grace and love onto the wounds, and bandages the wounds with compassion.

He does this through the means of grace, in the power of his Word and Sacrament to send all sin off of all of us. And he does this through other Christians, as his Spirit animates us to demonstrate to those among us who bear such burdens, that we are willing to help lift those burdens from them.

God uses us to help make good things happen for people who feel isolated and embarrassed, but who actually belong in the loving fellowship of God’s church and of God’s holy city and dwelling place. The righteousness of Christ now defines their lives, and clings to them always as they daily trust in him.

They don’t have to be defined by the wicked men who hurt them in the past. And the ghosts of a painful past can be cast out of their lives, so that they will no longer be haunted by them. As Psalm 147 confesses:

“The Lord builds up Jerusalem; He gathers together the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. ... Great is our Lord, and mighty in power; His understanding is infinite. The Lord lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground.”

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; ye voiceless ones, Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come; And leap, ye lame, for joy. Amen.

---

14 September 2025 - Holy Cross Day

Good Friday is that day of the church year when we meditate on the suffering and death of Jesus, as he was nailed to a cross in Jerusalem, for our redemption. Good Friday is positioned between Maundy Thursday, which commemorates the institution of the Lord’s Supper; and Holy Saturday, which commemorates the burial of Jesus - and his “Sabbath rest” in the tomb of death - before his resurrection.

The passion of Christ on that first Good Friday was a very important thing, in a sequence of important things, that were accomplished for humanity’s salvation from sin, death, and the devil. The cross of Christ is accordingly one of several things that we think about during Holy Week and Easter: after we think about the Passover table at which Jesus and his disciples ate the Last Supper, and before we think about the tomb in which Jesus’ body was laid and from which Jesus arose.

But beyond the place of the cross in this sequence of significant saving events, the cross also, in a different way, stands for the whole Christian faith, and for all of Christian life.

In the cross, the curse and judgments of God’s law are deflected away from us. And through the cross, the regenerating grace and blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ are poured out upon us. St. Paul addresses each of us in his Epistle to the Colossians, when he writes:

“You, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him.”

The cross also symbolizes the whole content of Christian preaching. Everything in the Christian gospel either leads to the cross, or flows from the cross.

The cross is the hinge and the fulcrum, on which the whole gospel turns. St. Paul writes in his First Epistle to the Corinthians that Christ had sent him

“to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.’ Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

The unity and peace among Jews and Gentiles - and among all men and nations - that the Christian gospel brings, also find their focus and force in the cross of Jesus: where human pride and human wrath come to an end. And so St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians:

“But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, ...having abolished in His flesh the enmity..., so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father.”

At the time of the Reformation, the theology of Martin Luther and the other Lutheran reformers was often described as a theology of the cross, as compared to a theology of glory.

According to a theology of glory, God is expected to reveal himself, and to prove that he is present in the lives of people, by doing obviously powerful and glorious things that would get the world’s attention.

According to a theology of the cross, in contrast, God hides his power under things that are weak according to the world’s standards. And he reveals his will and purposes for humanity in ways that are accessible only to faith - often in the midst of great physical suffering.

God’s saving plan for all people was that their sins would be atoned for, and that they would be reconciled to him in time and in eternity, through the death of his Son on the cross. Now, anyone looking at the cross as Jesus hung on it on Calvary - or looking at artistic depictions of the cross today - would never see what God was doing there for humanity, without the message of the cross explaining God’s plans and purposes, and offering God’s gifts and benefits.

God’s saving will for people today, is that they would hear and believe this message - this message of the cross - and in this message find and receive the salvation of their souls.

And so, before a world of sinners who have been blinded by the lies of Satan, but who have also been redeemed by Christ and are loved by Christ, we lift high the cross. And as we do, we remember what Jesus told us in today’s Gospel from St. John:

“‘Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.’ This He said, signifying by what death He would die.”

The message of the cross does not reveal a God who is eager to satisfy the worldly needs of worldly people. But the message of the cross does reveal a God who in his Son forgives the guilt of sin; who heals the wounds of sin; who liberates from slavery to sin; and who promises that all the effects of sin will ultimately be overcome in the final resurrection.

In the ancient Roman world, where the Christian gospel was first proclaimed, any message about any cross - and any depiction of a cross - would not have invited the positive attention of people who might otherwise have been curious about spiritual or religious things.

Rather, the cross - in itself - would have repelled them, as an emblem of shame, humiliation, and helplessness. Remember, this is how the empire executed criminals, and tortured them to death.

But Christians adopted the cross as their chief symbol anyway, because what they were offering to the world was something different from what the unregenerated human heart would ever have wanted - in the realm of spirituality and religion.

The Christian gospel - which in its apostolic form was indeed a theology of the cross and not a theology of glory - did not offer worldly success or material prosperity. Rather, it made men rich in divine mercy.

The Christian gospel did not offer a life in this world without sickness, injury, or death. Rather, it filled men with an eternal hope: so that as they lived, they would live in Christ and die to the destructive passions of their own flesh; and as they died - in faith - they would still live, in Christ and with Christ, even as Christ lives forever, for them, and in them.

Holy Cross Day, and the place on the Christian calendar that was given to this special commemoration, have their origin in a trip to the Holy Land that was undertaken by St. Helena, the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine, in the fourth century. On this trip, Helena identified many places where key events in the life of Jesus had occurred, based on what the Christians who still lived there told her.

But Helena’s claim that she had found the actual cross on which Jesus had died is more dubious, since this claim was based on a miraculous sign that supposedly revealed this to the bishop of Jerusalem, and not on a reliable tradition passed down in the Christian community.

Still, Helena and most Christians of the time believed that the wood of the real cross of Jesus had been discovered. That cross was then disassembled and broken up - ever more so as time passed.

And it was also augmented over time by imaginative and avaricious relics traffickers, so that eventually there were enough slivers of wood throughout Christendom that supposedly came from the cross of Jesus, to reconstruct hundreds of crosses.

The Lutheran reformers dismissed all these claims, and the many superstitious claims regarding various other relics of Jesus and the saints, as dangerous distractions from the gospel. The reformers also reasserted the apostolic emphasis on the sacraments which Jesus instituted for his church, as true points of connection between Christians and God.

Jesus had attached promises of forgiveness, life, and salvation to those sacraments. But no such promises were attached to relics - whether genuine or fake.

Yet among the Lutherans, the festival of Holy Cross Day was not discarded, but was reformed in the spirit of the gospel. Lutherans keep this day on the calendar: not because we think that we have some pieces of the true cross stashed away in various reliquaries, but because the many representations of the cross of Jesus that we make today - sometimes with ordinary wood, and sometimes with precious metals - are profoundly important symbols of, and testimonies to, our faith.

Senator John McCain used to tell a story about an experience he had while he was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, involving a particular guard who previously had been unexpectedly kind to him after a rough interrogation, and who also had likely seen him praying in his cell. Here are Senator McCain’s words, from one of the times he told this story:

“Because it was Christmas day, we were allowed to stand outside of our cell for a few minutes. ... And I was standing outside, for my few minutes outside at my cell. [The guard] came walking up. He stood there for a minute, and with his sandal on the dirt in the courtyard, he drew a cross. And he stood there. And a minute later, he rubbed it out, and walked away. For a minute..., there were just two Christians worshiping together. I’ll never forget that moment.”

If this guard’s supervisors had found out that he was a Christian, he would likely have gotten in a lot of trouble. And if he had been caught sharing a brief moment of Christian worship, and devotion to the cross of Christ, with an American POW, he might have been executed.

But for this Christian North Vietnamese guard, this gesture, and this confession of faith - centered on a very simple representation of the cross, in the dirt of a Hanoi POW camp - were worth the risk.

And Senator McCain, on this occasion, was not left to wonder what that simple sign, scratched in the dirt, meant. He did not need to guess what lay behind it, in the mind and heart of the guard who scratched it out for him - and for himself - to create a time for a silent yet meaningful Christmas prayer, shared by two brothers in Christ in the most difficult and trying of circumstances.

On another occasion, Senator McCain offered a deeper reflection on the meaning of the brief time he spent with that guard, in a shared devotion to the cross:

“For just that moment I forgot all my hatred for my enemies, and all the hatred most of them felt for me. I forgot about...the interrogators who persecuted my friends and me. I forgot about the war and the terrible things that war does to you. I was just one Christian venerating the cross with a fellow Christian on Christmas morning. I saw him again occasionally. But he never looked at me or attempted to speak to me. We never worshiped together again. But I have never forgotten him or the kindness he showed me as a testament to the faith we shared.”

Senator McCain lived for many years after that encouraging incident, and went on to earn a significant place in American history. But for others - hundreds of thousands and perhaps millions of others - the image of the cross becomes profoundly meaningful to them at the end of their lives.

Luther describes a custom that was often followed during the middle ages:

"It was a good practice to hold a wooden crucifix before the eyes of the dying or to press it into their hands. This brought the suffering and death of Christ to mind and comforted the dying.”

And if he had his way, Luther would have liked to see this custom return. So he also said:

“The custom of holding a crucifix before a dying person has kept many in the Christian faith and has enabled them to die with a confident faith in the crucified Christ.”

This practice is in fact also referred to in one of our favorite hymns:

Hold Thou Thy cross before my closing eyes,
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies;
Heaven’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me!

But today, the image of the cross is so often not treated with the kind of respect and veneration that it deserves.

Satanists use, as one of their symbols, an upside-down cross: representing their rejection of what the cross stands for, and their negation of what it symbolizes. Rebellious goths and flamboyant gang members often wear crosses, as a mockery of the faith that those crosses symbolize.

Even churches - in particular those churches that are using every bait-and-switch tactic they can think of, to lure the curious through their doors - often get rid of the cross as a symbol, together with every other historic Christian symbol, so that their gathering places will look and feel like secular entertainment venues.

Mormon ward houses and temples also never include crosses, since the Latter-day Saints believe that an atonement for sin took place in the Garden of Gethsemane and not on the cross. The Jehovah’s Witnesses likewise reject the cross, and consider it to be a pagan symbol. They think Jesus died on a large stake, not on a cross.

For us, however, whenever we see a cross - whether in a simple design, or ornamented with the corpus of Christ on it - a hundred thoughts instantly rush into our minds: thoughts of our sins and of their offensiveness before a holy God, which is what drove Jesus to the cross; thoughts of Christ’s great sacrificial love for us, and of the great sacrifice of his body and the shedding of his blood, offered on the cross for our redemption;

thoughts of the forgiveness that flows out from the cross, to us, in the means of grace - even as water and blood flowed out from Jesus’ side when he died; and thoughts of Jesus, at the end of his suffering, entering the domain of death, with the promise that when we die he will be with us even then, and will lead us through to the other side of death and to our future resurrection.

Everything that we believe about Jesus, and everything that we are committed to as Christians, come into focus for us in the symbolism of the cross. Our memories of everything that we have experienced as God’s people in this world - the good and the bad - find their ultimate meaning in the emblem of the cross.

We pray that St. Paul’s declaration in his Epistle to the Galatians, will always be our declaration, too:

“God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

And we pray that as we live, and when we die, the cross will always be before our eyes, in our thoughts, and impressed on our hearts.

Jesus, may our hearts be burning with more fervent love for Thee!
May our eyes be ever turning to Thy cross of agony,
Till in glory, parted never from the blesséd Savior’s side,
Graven in our hearts forever dwell the cross, the Crucified! Amen.

---

21 September 2025 - St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist

Have you ever thought about the politics that were present among the disciples of Jesus?

I’m not referring just to the way in which they related to each other. I mean the disciples’ involvement in the secular politics of the day, in that corner of the Roman Empire in which they and Jesus lived.

Consider where St. Matthew was, and what he was doing, when he was called by Jesus to be one of his disciples. Matthew himself tells us, in today’s reading from his Gospel, that Jesus

“saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, ‘Follow Me.’ So he arose and followed Him.”

Matthew was a Jew, but he worked for the Romans. Indeed, as a tax collector, he was considered by most to be a dishonorable collaborator with this unwelcome occupying power. The politics of collaboration were smeared all over Matthew’s job, and all over Matthew and his standing in the community.

The Romans were idolaters. And the culture of the Romans was filled with behaviors that were morally repugnant to Jews. Various forms of sexual deviancy, and abortion and infanticide, were common among the Romans.

And Matthew, and people like him, were helping these pagan Romans gain an ever firmer foothold in the land of Israel, with all of their wicked, corrupting influences!

But the way Matthew and people like him saw it, was that the Romans were the great power of the age. Whether we like it or not, they are in charge. So we might as well get used to them, and make the best of their presence.

Another of the disciples of Jesus was known as Simon the Zealot. The Zealots were also a highly politicized group in first-century Palestine.

Politically, they were the exact opposite of people like Matthew. The Zealots were committed Jewish nationalists who were always looking for opportunities to attack the Romans, and undermine their control.

They were willing to use violence. Their ultimate dream was for the Romans to be driven out of the holy land altogether, by a messianic military leader for whom they were always waiting and praying.

The insurrectionist tactics of the Zealots often brought about retaliation and reprisals from the Romans, which ended up hurting people other than the Zealots themselves. And so for a lot of Jewish people - while they didn’t like the Romans, and didn’t enjoy having them around - they also didn’t like the way the Zealots provoked them and got them angry.

Now, we might think that once Matthew and Simon became disciples of Jesus, they would have left all of their politics behind them. And in many respects they no doubt did. But maybe not in all respects.

Elsewhere in Matthew’s Gospel we are given a list of the twelve apostles, after Jesus had appointed them to that office, together with a brief added description of most of them. That list includes “Matthew the tax collector” and “Simon the Zealot.”

Matthew’s identity as a tax collector was still attached to him. Simon’s identity as a Zealot was still attached to him. They were still identified on the basis of the political associations they previously had, before becoming followers of Christ.

And even as followers of Christ, it is easy to imagine that Matthew still leaned toward the politics of trying to get along with the Romans as much as possible, short of an outright embracing of their idolatry and immorality; and that Simon still leaned toward the politics of opposing the Romans as much as possible, short of violence and murder.

Christians who take the Bible seriously will have a shared worldview, and common civic values, at a fundamental level. The details of their political priorities and strategies will, however, often differ. And that’s okay.

In the first century, among the Jewish people of Palestine, the politics of the day seemed to them to be of the utmost importance. Angry clashes between people on different ends of the political spectrum likewise seemed justified and necessary, because of how important the issues were.

These issues would never go away, it was thought. They would continue to be the most important things to be thinking about and arguing about.

But the politics of first-century Palestine, with all of the passions that were inflamed by the issues of that time, did go away. The Romans have been gone for a long time.

And the conflicts that were swirling around Jesus and his disciples did not get absorbed into the permanent, ongoing life of the Christian church, either. Old conflicts between the group that Matthew had been associated with, and the group that Simon had been associated with, are not lingering among us in the church, because they were never brought into the church.

Something else had come to be seen by all the disciples of Jesus as more important, more overriding, and more significant. What Jesus said to Matthew - and by extension to all his disciples - was now the strongest influence and the defining feature of their lives.

“Follow me,” Jesus said. Follow me into your new understanding of yourself, and of your destiny beyond life in this world: as a forgiven child of God, and as a citizen of his eternal kingdom.

Follow me into your new earthly vocation, as preachers and teachers of the gospel: not just in your own nation, where you are comfortable and connected, but in all nations. Follow me into your new way of thinking about earthly politics, as you all, together, now endeavor in my name to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

The temptation would have been great for Matthew, Simon, or others, to bring their politics into their faith, and to let their politics shape their faith. Before the Day of Pentecost, we can see an example of this, when the disciples asked Jesus: “Will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” And Jesus replied:

“It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Even after the resurrection of their Lord, the disciples still had a political vision of what the risen Jesus would be doing in the world. It was only after they were filled with the Holy Spirit, that they were set free from this.

Now, Matthew, Simon, and the rest, no doubt still had political views. And they may have had differing political views - remnants of what their differing political views had been years earlier.

But their faith in Christ took the rough edges off of their politics. What may previously have been seen as of greatest importance, was seen now as only of secondary importance.

This is the way it needs to be for us, too. Each of us is not only a religious person, connected to the church, but is also a political person, connected to the larger society. And for many of us - as with others in our land - our politics may have become very intense in recent years.

But if that is the case, then our theology needs to be even more intense. Who we are as Christians must always be a greater influence on what we think and say, and on what we do and how we do it, than anything that comes from the world of politics.

The Bible gives us some important guidance, not only for our faith and personal life as Christians, but also for our public, political life. Some of what we read in the Old Testament still applies. In the Book of Proverbs we are told that

“Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.”

This is not just about the ancient Kingdom of Israel. This is about all nations, and all peoples - or at least it should be.

God wants civil righteousness to prevail in all nations, so that in their communal existence people will respect each other, and fulfill their civic obligations to each other, on the basis of the moral law of God: which is accessible to everyone, not only from the Ten Commandments, but also from the voice of the human conscience - if people would only listen to that voice.

If there are believing Christians in any given nation, then we especially expect them to try to have an influence in their society for public righteousness and good, and against public sin and evil.

To that end, as we engage in political discourse, the obligations of the eighth commandment always apply. We need discerning ears, so that we do not automatically believe the worse about our political opponents, based on lies or half-truths, or based on people with an agenda misquoting them.

Instead, listen to what others actually say - in context - and read what they actually write. And then respond - while also always putting the best interpretation on their words, not the worst interpretation.

And it is sadly necessary to say in our troubled times that threats, intimidation, violence, and murder must never be condoned, excused, or carried out, as a response to political speech that angers us, frightens us, or is successful in persuading others not to agree with us.

What God said to the people of Israel regarding the spiritual issues he had with them, we should also say, calmly, to those with whom we may not yet have reached an understanding in political matters: “Come now, and let us reason together.”

The Book of Jeremiah quotes for us the divine guidance that was given to the Jews who would now be living in exile in Babylon:

“Build houses and dwell in them; plant gardens and eat their fruit. Take wives and beget sons and daughters; and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands, so that they may bear sons and daughters - that you may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the peace of the city where I have caused you to be carried away captive, and pray to the Lord for it; for in its peace you will have peace.”

We know, as St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Philippians, that “Our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.” So in the deepest sense, no country on earth is our true home.

Branches of my family have been living continuously in America for 405 years, but America is not my eternal dwelling place. Its history and culture do not give me my ultimate identity. It is my temporary Babylon, not my Holy Land.

And yet, as God has providentially placed me and my family here, I will live here. I will fulfill my vocations here. And I will pray for the peace and prosperity of this country.

In the realm of politics, I will speak, work, and vote in keeping with the responsibility and calling that God has given me, according to my best judgment. But I will not think that living and working for the betterment of my native land in this world, is more important than being a citizen of God’s kingdom, in the world that is to come.

St. Matthew is probably best known as the human author of the Gospel that bears his name. And in that Gospel, he recounts for us a conversation that Jesus once had with some of his detractors:

“Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle [Jesus] in His talk. And they sent to Him their disciples, with the Herodians, saying: ‘Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?’”

“But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, ‘Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? Show Me the tax money.’ So they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, ‘Whose image and inscription is this?’ They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ And He said to them, ‘Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’”

This conversation was heavily freighted with the politics of the day. The Pharisees and Herodians, who usually clashed, on this occasion formed a temporary “political alliance” against Jesus, to try to get him in trouble with the Romans.

The Pharisees could not stand having the Romans around, and avoided contact with them whenever they could. But they kept their mouths shut about it, and didn’t say out loud what they really thought.

The Herodians, in contrast, were open collaborators with the Romans. Their name was taken from the dynasty of Herodian rulers, who were puppet kings under Roman control. Matthew had essentially been one of them.

But Jesus navigates through the trap they tried to set for him, by expressing the dual loyalty and obedience that all of us have. Our first loyalty is to God and his church. We confess Jesus in particular to be our Lord, and as Lord and king he governs our thoughts, words, and deeds through the authority of his Word.

But we are also loyal to the civil government under which we live on earth, even if we don’t like a lot of the things that this government does. Most Jews had real issues with the Romans. But the Romans were the government. Caesar was the head of that government.

And so they and we render to Caesar what is due to Caesar, as long as Caesar does not command us to sin. Only then would we disobey.

And when Caesar does not command us to sin, but upholds the moral law of God in the laws that are made and enforced for the ordering of the society, then we recognize that God is actually working through Caesar, as his minister and instrument.

Elsewhere in St. Matthew’s Gospel, another conversation is recounted, which was not about worldly politics, but was about the unique purpose and mission of the church. This is a conversation that Jesus had with his disciples before his ascension. He is also having that conversation now, with us:

“And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, ‘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; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’”

This momentous and unchanging mission has been entrusted to the church, and not to any civil government. This mission is to be fulfilled among all nations, under a wide assortment of governments and political systems.

The deepest needs of the human conscience are not political needs that can be met by the platform of a political party. They are the need for God’s forgiveness of our sins, the need for reconciliation with the God whom we have pushed away by our sins, and the need for the new spiritual life that the Holy Spirit always brings with this forgiveness and reconciliation.

The tools of government - tools of coercion and enforcement - are definitely not suited to the dispensing of these supernatural blessings. But the tools that Jesus has given to the church - the gospel, to be proclaimed and taught; and the sacraments, to be administered as he commands - are suited to this.

And those divine tools do work in delivering salvation even to the most fearful, the most discouraged, the most remorseful, and the most confused among men.

Because of Jesus, and because of what he has done for you in his death and resurrection, your sins are pardoned. You, as a redeemed sinner, are at peace with God.

And because of what Jesus does for you now - through the ministry of his church - you are at peace within yourself. As a baptized member of the holy Christian church, your conscience is clear.

And, you now have a God-given faith that is able to look beyond the horizons of this world - with all of its turmoil and upheaval, and with all of its divisive politics - to the eternal dwelling place that Jesus has gone to prepare for all of us.

The church prays that wherever it goes on this earth, it will have the freedom to do what Jesus has called it to do: in announcing this eternal hope to one and all. We don’t want the civil authorities to take over this task, but simply to stay out of the church’s way.

And in turn, the church, in its Biblical teaching, encourages among believers respect for the civil authorities and for the law of the land, honesty and fairness in how we speak and act, and a continuing commitment to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.

These are the things that shape the politics of a Christian. And these are the kinds of things that will make any earthly society to be a better society.

We close with these words from Jesus, as St. Matthew - the apostle, the evangelist, and the tax collector - records them for us:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?”

Lord Jesus Christ, with us abide, for round us falls the eventide;
Nor let Thy Word, that heavenly light, for us be ever veiled in night.

In these last days of sore distress grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness,
That pure we keep, till life is spent, Thy holy Word and Sacrament. Amen.

---

28 September 2025 - St. Michael and All Angels

Many people are drawn to fantasy stories about epic clashes between angels and demons, in which - on a superhuman scale - the forces of good battle against the forces of evil.

We might sit in amazement as we watch movies about this kind of thing. We might be deeply absorbed in anticipation as we turn the pages of a book about this sort of thing.

But whether we are fascinated by a movie like this, or by a book like this, we know that these stories are about things that are taking place at a safe distance from us. And we remind ourselves that these fictional stories are not even real.

But today, on the feast day of St. Michael and All Angels, I’m here to tell you that the battles in which angels and demons are engaged, are not happening at a distance from you - even though your physical senses are usually not aware of them. They are taking place all around you, all the time.

I’m also here to tell you that these battles are not imaginary. To be sure, they are usually taking place in a supernatural realm, and not in the natural realm - although there are times when the presence of angels and demons can be known and experienced in physical ways.

But whether or not you are aware of these battles, they are real, and will not stop for as long this world endures. The rolling of the credits at the end of a movie, or the closing of the cover of a book, do not make them stop, and do not cause the angels and demons themselves to disappear and cease to exist.

And finally, I’m here to tell you that angels and demons are not fighting merely over cosmic issues of good and evil - like who will control the universe or the world. They are fighting over who will control your soul, and over the eternal destiny of your soul.

As God’s servants, the angels are involved in what God is doing, when he calls you to repentance and sustains you in faith. As God’s enemies, the demons are always trying to lure you away from God, and away from what he is doing for you in his Word and Sacrament.

In explaining the meaning of his parable of the lost coin, as St. Luke records it, Jesus said: “Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

The angels care about the conversion of each and every lost sinner, and about the rescue of each and every fallen human being from the clutches of Satan. St. Paul tells us in his Epistle to the Colossians that God “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

The reason why the dominion of darkness is dark - for those who do not know Christ - is because the dominion of darkness is the dominion of demons. The gospel of Christ “is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded” - as St. Paul explains in his Second Epistle to the Corinthians.

“The god of this age,” if anyone is wondering, is not the true God, but is the premier fallen angel: Lucifer, or Satan. In deceiving the darkened minds and shadowy hearts of lost men, he “transforms himself into an angel of light,” making people think that good is evil and that evil is good.

Jesus tells us in John’s Gospel that Satan “is a liar and the father of lies.” So, he appeals to people’s pride, lust, and greed - which are made to seem like completely normal components of who they are - and persuades them that God would take away all their fun, and would ruin all the good things in their life, if they let him get too close or have too much influence.

Satan also exploits the confusion and fear of hurting people, offering false solutions to their real problems that actually make those problems worse. But these deceptions do often succeed in distracting hurting people from God’s genuine solutions in Christ.

Of course, supernaturally deceived people almost never know that it is the devil who is whispering into their minds and hearts. They are quite sure that they are coming up with all this worldly wisdom on their own, and are making all their own decisions.

And the devil is not content just with keeping unbelievers in their unbelief. He is always looking for opportunities to discourage and wear down Christians - especially in their suffering and human weakness - and to rob them of their faith. And So St. Peter exhorts Christians in his First Epistle:

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

God’s grace in Christ does indeed overpower the devil and his minions, in order to restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish the faith and hope of his people: so that the forces of evil cannot in the end prevail and steal them away.

God uses his angels to pull the demons off our backs, and push them away, as the saving power of the gospel then pushes its way in, and does its healing and forgiving work.

Guardian angels watch over us and protect us. In Matthew’s Gospel Jesus speaks specifically of the little ones who believe in him, and says:

“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. For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.”

Angels are inter-dimensional beings. They are before God, and with us, at the same time.

And they are at Jesus’ side, helping and serving him in his saving work for those who were lost, or who still are. As God’s instruments, they guard us not only against physical threats, but also and especially against spiritual threats.

In his First Epistle, St. Peter speaks of the promises of the coming Christ that God revealed, through the centuries, to the Old Testament prophets. As those prophets, by divine inspiration, wrote down those promises, they did so ultimately for us, who now have experienced the fulfillment of these things in Jesus. Regarding the prophets of old, Peter says:

“To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us, they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven - things which angels desire to look into.”

Throughout the ages, God’s holy angels have indeed taken a great interest in the plan for human salvation that was gradually unfolding. They saw that this divine plan brought salvation to many ancient people even before it was fully enacted, since the message of a promised gospel is itself the gospel - and has the power to save just as does the message of a fulfilled gospel.

And the Book of Acts tells us of more than one occasion when an angel helped to make the spreading of the gospel possible in the New Testament era.

We read about the time when an angel spoke to Philip the deacon, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This put Philip where he needed to be, so that he could bump into the Ethiopian eunuch, explain to him the meaning of the messianic prophecies of Isaiah that he was reading, and then baptize him.

On another occasion, an angel appeared to Cornelius, a God-fearing Roman centurion, telling him:

“Send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. ... He will tell you what you must do.”

This set the table for Simon Peter to come and preach the full Christian gospel to Cornelius and his household. As he preached, the Holy Spirit fell upon them in an extraordinary way. And Peter baptized them.

We see a pattern here, where angels are making things happen externally, in order to facilitate the gospel of Jesus being preached by men to other men.

So, we do not wait for angels to go and make disciples of all nations. That is our calling: as baptized members of the church who confess our faith to our neighbors, as called ministers of the church who publicly preach this faith to all who will listen, and as generous donors who offer support for home and world missions.

But as we confess, as we preach, and as we donate, the angels are with us. They are in various ways helping to bring people who need the gospel to us. And they are in various ways helping to bring us to people who need the gospel.

The angels - with their flaming swords - are keeping the demons away, so that the message of Christ crucified for sinners can be heard without distraction, and can be believed when it is heard.

Dear friends, you personally also need to understand the supernatural dimension of any influence in your life that would keep you away from the gospel: any influence that would keep you from hearing the Lord’s absolution, and from being cleansed by those sacred words; any influence that would keep you from receiving the Lord’s Supper, and from being renewed in faith by the body and blood of Jesus in that sacred meal.

The perceptible reasons for staying away from church might be laziness, indifference, boredom with worship, or an overwhelming feeling of guilt and unworthiness. But the devil’s fingerprints are also on these influences.

With his lies and strategies, Satan will amplify in your mind and will any thought or desire that is contrary to God’s will. Something that the devil finds especially useful is the notion that I don’t have to go to church to be a Christian - which is the exact opposite of everything that Jesus and the apostles ever said on the subject.

With his lies and strategies, Satan will minimize in your mind and will any thought or desire that is in keeping with God’s will. Something that the devil never wants you to hear, is the invitation of Jesus in Matthew’s Gospel:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

And he especially never wants you to be reminded of something else that Jesus said, in John’s Gospel:

“Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”

The Bible doesn’t specifically teach it, but it is not too hard to imagine that Satan has assigned a particular demon to your case, who will always be watching you, and will keep himself informed of what is going on in your life: as he looks for any opportunity to put distance between you and Jesus.

But there is also an angel, and maybe more than one, who is also watching you, and watching over you. The angels want only what is good for you, in time and in eternity. And to those ends they are always working on your behalf, under God’s direction.

The angels rejoice when you repent of your sins, because they know that whenever that happens, Satan has lost a battle, and is that much closer to losing the war. The angels rejoice when you embrace Christ, and receive his Word and Spirit into your heart and soul.

And there is no doubt a very special presence of angels among us, in that sacramental moment when there is also a very special presence of Christ among us. Christian artists and hymnists through the centuries have often been led to paint pictures of angels, and to sing about angels, in conjunction with what is happening when Holy Communion is being celebrated.

An angel is sometimes portrayed in Christian art at the crucifixion of Jesus, collecting the blood that flowed from his side into a chalice. An angel is sometimes portrayed holding a chalice, in preparation for the distribution of that blood to communicants. You can see an example of such a painting on the back of today’s bulletin.

Also on the back of the bulletin, you will see a hymn, translated from the Latin, that describes the body of Christ in the sacrament as “the bread of angels”: not because it comes from them, or is intended for them to eat, but because they in their own special way are involved in seeing to it that this sacrament gets to the people who need it, and who are ready to receive it.

They accompany Jesus as he literally and personally comes down from heaven, to us, in this Supper. And they gather with us to worship the Savior of men, as he enters into our midst. There is a communion hymn that speaks of this, too:

Let all mortal flesh keep silence, and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly minded, for, with blessing in His hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth, our full homage to demand.

Rank on rank the host of heaven spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish as the darkness clears away.

At His feet the six-winged seraph, cherubim with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the Presence, as with ceaseless voice they cry,
“Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia, Lord Most High!”

Yes, that is what is really happening, beyond our physical sight and hearing, as we chant our sacramental welcome to Christ:

“Therefore with angels and archangels, and with all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth; Heaven and earth are full of Your glory. ... Blessèd is He who comes in the name of the Lord.”

And just for today - the day of the angels - we say it a little differently, as we pray to God:

“Through Jesus Christ our Lord..., Your majesty is praised by all the holy angels, and celebrated with one accord by the heavens and all the powers therein. The cherubim and seraphim sing Your praise, and with them we laud and magnify Your glorious name.”

Dear friends: Please, please never renounce your confession of faith in this, or your devotion to this.

This sacrament, which even the angels yearn to see up-close, is what Jesus instituted for the deepest needs of his church: for our forgiveness and comfort; for the strengthening of our union with Christ, and with each other in Christ; and for the fortifying of our faith and courage, as we face the continuing attacks and intrigues of Satan in this world.

How sad it is when misled Christians are cut off from this, in religious gatherings that mix truth with error: so that this revealed truth is not confessed, and this profoundly important meal is not received.

We will not join them in this deprivation. We will hope and pray that someday they may join us, in the rich bounty of what Jesus intended for all his people.

The angels are with us throughout life: protecting us, fighting against demons for us, and helping us find our way to the means of grace. And, at the end of our earthly struggles, the angels are with us in death: helping us to die in faith, even as they had always helped us to live in faith.

In this way they were with poor Lazarus, in the story that Jesus told about him and the rich man in Luke’s Gospel: “So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.”

We also have a hymn about this, with which we will close:

Lord, let at last Thine angels come, to Abram’s bosom bear me home, That I may die unfearing;
And in its narrow chamber keep my body safe in peaceful sleep Until Thy reappearing.
And then from death awaken me that these mine eyes with joy may see,
O Son of God, Thy glorious face, my Savior and my Fount of grace,
Lord Jesus Christ, my prayer attend, and I will praise Thee without end. Amen.