Ephesians 1:15–23; Ascension; May 17, 2026

The Ascension of Our Lord, Jesus Christ

Ephesians 1:15–23

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN
May 17, 2023

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ascension seems a bit strange to Christians.

The Ascension almost seems like an ending.

Christmas begins something.
Good Friday accomplishes something.
Easter triumphs over something.

But Ascension can sound like Jesus simply went away.

As though the disciples watched Him disappear into the clouds and now the Church is left alone to continue without Him.

That is how many Christians quietly think about Ascension.

Jesus was here once.
Jesus acted once.
Jesus spoke once.

But now He is gone.

But the Scriptures teach the opposite.

Ascension is not Jesus leaving His church.

It is about Christ taking His throne.

Jesus Christ, the crucified One, now reigns over His church.

Lots of people don’t look at this Ephesians text as an Ascension text.

But it is.

It is exactly what Paul is talking about.

He speaks about rulers, authorities, powers, and dominions.

And to be honest, in our day and age, all of that looks like a mess.

The world is a mess.

Wars rage across the world.
Governments promise peace and produce corruption.
False teaching creeps into the Church itself.
Christians are mocked.
Churches shrink.
Death continues its relentless work.
Cemeteries keep growing.
Hospitals remain full.

And every generation of Christians begins to wonder the same thing:

Is Christ really reigning?

There is nothing new here.

The world is always the world; societies are built on corruption and greed.

The church faces the temptation to doubt Jesus’ words.

Even the disciples stood staring into the sky after Jesus ascended.

Into this doubt, Paul says God:

“raised [Jesus] from the dead and seated Him at His right hand.”

He uses enthronement language.

Seated at the right hand of God.

The power of God is there at His right hand.

Christ isn’t floating somewhere in space.

He is seated at the power of God, at the authority of God, at God’s dominion, and His kingship.

And notice:

The One who reigns isn’t merely God.

The One reigning is Jesus Christ.

The man born of Mary.

The One with the nail marks in His hands and feet, and the spear scar.

The One who was crucified for sinners.

The crucified man rules the universe.

Not Caesar.
Not presidents.
Not billionaires.
Not armies.
Not the devil.

The One ruling creation is the One who allowed nails to be driven through His hands.

The One seated above every power is the One who carried a cross through the streets of Jerusalem.

And that changes everything.

Then Paul pushes it one step further.

It is, in fact, the very heart of this text.

“And He put all things under His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church.”

Over all things, Paul says.

But he doesn’t end there.

Over all things to the church.

To the church.

In other words, everything Christ rules, He does for the benefit of His people, the Church.

The ἐκκλησίᾳ.

The Greek word means “called out.”

Those Jesus calls through Holy Baptism, through faith, are the beneficiaries of Jesus’ rule.

We benefit from all that we see Him doing.

Just look at this church building—I see Him working here.

But that’s obvious.

He rules even in things we don’t understand.

He rules in suffering.
He rules in hardship.
He rules even in death.

There is nothing that happens that escapes His authority.

Absolutely nothing.

That means your suffering is not random.

Your hardships are not meaningless.

Even death itself has been bent into service under Christ.

The devil intends destruction.
The world intends chaos.
Sin intends ruin.

But Christ reigns over all of it.

And if you think there are powers outside His control, Paul answers that too:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
— Romans 8:38–39

Notice how Paul piles up the universe itself:

death,
life,
angels,
rulers,
powers,
height,
depth,
all creation.

He is exhausting language itself trying to make one point:

Nothing can separate you from Christ.

In other words, the One governing history isn’t your enemy.

He rules over everything in love, for you.

He is your Savior.

And being that, everything that happens is used for your benefit.

When we think that the Ascension means Jesus is absent, the Scriptures teach exactly the opposite.

Christ now fills all things.

He is here every time we gather.

He is reigning over His church through speaking His Word, through His activity in Holy Baptism, through His real presence in the Holy Supper, and especially through the forgiveness proclaimed to you.

The ascended Lord Jesus Christ is here now.

He isn’t here because you can feel Him here.

He isn’t present here because we use our emotions to climb up to Him.

We don’t gather around memories of Jesus.

The church gathers around the living Christ who still speaks and gives Himself.

Christianity is not nostalgia.

The Church is not a museum preserving stories about a dead religious figure.

Christ is alive.
Christ reigns.
Christ speaks now.
Christ forgives now.
Christ feeds now.
Christ is present now.

Paul prays.

The text is a kind of prayer.

He wants us to understand how Jesus is reigning.

He gives us hope in our calling.

We are ἐκκλησίᾳ, called out, the Church.

The Church is the ἐκκλησία — the “called out ones.”

Called out of darkness.
Called out of unbelief.
Called out of death itself.

Christ reigns for those He has called to Himself.

He calls us out of the world to Himself.

He gives purpose and meaning.

We have an inheritance.

Not only a heavenly one, but a new earthly one.

And everything He does is for the Church.

Why does Paul spend ink on those things?

Because we lose sight of Jesus reigning.

Christians see the world the way it is.

And Satan is pushing you to believe that evil is winning.

That history is random and rudderless.

That Jesus is distant.

That He left the church and abandoned us.

But Ascension says otherwise.

Jesus reigns now.

He is the One reigning over all heaven and earth.

And He is the same One who died and rose for you.

Ascension is not the story of Christ abandoning His church.

It is a public declaration:

Sin is defeated.
Death is conquered.
Satan is crushed.
The sacrifice has been accepted.
And the crucified Christ now reigns forever.

The throne of heaven is occupied by your Savior.

And He reigns for you. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 1:3-14; The Second Sunday after Christmas; January 5, 2025;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1:3–14, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Star Wars, Return of the Jedi, Episode VI in the Saga. Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader have it out in a last epic struggle. After a long series of blows, Luke finally wins the fight by cutting off Vader’s hand. The evil emperor, watching over the event, tells Luke to “fulfill his destiny,” kill the man he now knows to be his father and take his place at the emperor’s side and rule the galaxy with him. Luke refuses his “destiny”, at least the one the emperor said he had.

The idea of having a destiny is very popular in the movies and it isn’t outside of Christian belief either. It is in fact at the heart of what we believe. We are born with a particular future. But that leaves a question.

Is your destiny the destiny one that you would wish to fulfill?

The text says we are “predestined”, that “God has predestined us.” It gives some possibilities, doesn’t it? It’s a bit unnerving. We sometimes get the idea that our destiny with God is carved in concrete from all eternity. Like, being “destined” to meet the perfect spouse, or serving God in a particular vocation. If it’s not “meant to be” then you just lose out. If you make the wrong move you are out of God’s plan for your life.

John Calvin, a Swiss Theologian (and father of many of the non-Lutheran protestant denominations) that was a generation younger than Martin Luther talked a lot about Predestination. He said that everyone was predestined by God for one of two eternities. Heaven or Hell. Calvin said, before God made the world, he determined the final destination of every single human that would ever live. It was set in eternal concrete, God’s unchangeable plan. Some people were set for heaven and others set for hell.

John Calvin was wrong in one particular, very important way. Look at you: We have all been born destined to sin. Even though God created everything perfect, Adam and Eve brought sin into the world and saddled us with it. We say we are “by nature, sinful”. We sin often, and often we like it. And oh, how easy it is to sin with the world, and our sinful flesh, and the world, backs us up. Lots of people think that Christianity is a way to stop sinning. But we don’t. Our old sinful nature keeps up its bad habits, we are often tempted and often fall. Christians are often seen dishonoring the name of Christ. Are we just living up to our destiny?

Doesn’t God predestine us to be saved? Yes. It was always God’s plan to save his people. You might even say our destiny was born on Christmas morning. The baby in the manger, Jesus Christ, is God’s promised plan of salvation in a picture we can understand. The re-creation of everything begins with God-in-Human-Flesh Jesus. Our destiny is made perfect in his death on the cross. Forgiveness of sin is an essential part of our destiny.

And yet, God demands perfection. He can’t do anything else because he is perfect and holy. The great news is that he provides the perfection he requires. Jesus is God, perfect and holy. He takes on human flesh to be perfect for us, to live up to God’s expectation for us. Through faith in Jesus and his life, death and resurrection Jesus perfect life is accounted to us. Our destiny is in Christ Jesus. God declares us to be perfect because of Jesus. That is how we will be judged according to Jesus, not according to what we have done. We are predestined to heaven.

How can we know? Listen again:

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.” (Ephesians 1:3–6, ESV)

“In love he predestined us”; “He chose us!” it’s done, not might be done, but a done deal. “He has freely given.” There is no fear, threat or uncertainty. John Calvin was just wrong. The bible only speaks of one predestination, that of those adopted as Sons through Jesus Christ. It doesn’t say that he predestines people to hell. It sounds like a contradiction. But we can only go by what scripture says. God views all people the same. God wants all people to be save. And yet, some go to hell. God has done everything necessary to save us, in Jesus Christ. If we are save God is the reason. If we are not, it is solely our own doing.

The great thing is that God has also chosen to save us from our destiny to sin. It is in the promises made to us in Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper. In these wonderful gifts God gives the gift of Jesus himself. We are predestined always, in Christ Jesus. Baptism is a re-creation of who we are. We receive Jesus perfect life, and our old sinful nature is drowned in the water. We are called, that is baptized, into the perfect name of God. We receive forgiveness, life and salvation though Jesus. We have all the blessings promised by the Father to the ones he loves. And Baptism isn’t just true when your head is still wet. It’s true every day of your life after. It’s God’s way of giving you something to look at, see and feel. “I’ve been baptized!”

We are not destined to be enslaved by sin and death. We are predestined to be saved. Jesus became a complete human being, just like you and me. He chose to come and live a perfect life in the place of imperfect people. You have been baptized into Jesus. You have forgiveness of all your sins. Jesus perfect life has been accounted to you. Your destiny is to be raised from your death to eternal life with all those who are “in Christ”. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 5:2 - LWML Zone Really Devotion–Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church, Creston, Iowa–October 4, 2014

 

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2, ESV)

Whew! Something stinks. Oh! I guess it’s me. Well I wouldn’t laugh if I were you. You smell too! Here listen to this and see if you smell it.

Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:25–32, ESV)

Do you smell it? You should. How many of you have done exactly, perfectly what God tells you to do there, through Paul. Yea, that’s what I thought. We all stink don’t we? We stink like death… as in the wages of sin. Might not be exactly the “fragrance” the planners over at LWML were thinking about when they chose this passage.

And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 5:2, ESV)

In fact, the flowers on the bulletin cover look nice but they might miss the mark a bit, don’t you think. Right before this Paul urges us to

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” (Ephesians 5:1, ESV)

Well, I don’t know about you (well, I actually do know about you), but the fragrance of sin and death hangs in the air. We are sinners, due death and poor imitators of God.

And yet, Paul says, “Be imitators as beloved children.” He says “Walk in love, as Christ loved us.” How is that? Well, Jesus lived, and worked, and walked and talked, to sinful people everywhere. He gave them what they needed, food, healing, comfort, and most of all forgiveness. That’s the “gave himself up for us” part. His death on the cross, his suffering there, his burial in the ground, his body wrapped in linen cloths and spices to keep away the smell of death, all done for stinking sinners, you and me. He was an “offering and sacrifice to God”. The words are referring to the daily offerings and sacrifices given to God in the temple. That was Jesus. Offered and sacrificed on the cross. And it didn’t smell good. Death never smells good. But it was a pleasing smell to God. Not because it was flowery, but because it was God saving his children. God doing what is necessary to save sinners. God, in Jesus Christ, taking the punishment of sin and failure in himself, through the cross, through death and through the resurrection to new life.

Walk in love. Yep, even stinking sinners can do it. Not because they can, but because He did. All that stuff that Paul says to do we do because not so that. We love because he first loved us and gave himself as the atoning sacrifice for us. We love because our neighbors are living in the smell of death and the solution isn’t us, but Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 5:8-14; Third Sunday in Lent; April 3, 2011;

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for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:8-14, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, … I will turn the darkness into light before them” (Isa 42:16) Isaiah writes that in the Old Testament lesson for today. Those words remind us a lot of the reading from the book of John where Jesus heals the man who was born blind. Jesus does exactly what Isaiah said, he turns this man’s darkness into light. That blind man himself said as we will sing in our closing hymn today, “I was blind but now I see!” as the story continues he sees more and more. The more the Pharisees grill him about how he was healed the more his faith grows. In the end he gives a very powerful witness to Jesus. He worships Jesus, the one who took his blindness away. He moves from darkness into light.

The Pharisees go the other way. They see the light that Jesus brings but they choose to stay in the darkness. The fulfillment of the prophecy is there for them to see, the blind man who was healed, stands before them. It is sight and light brought to a man born blind, but they refuse to believe. For the man born blind, Jesus created a completely new world of light where there was only darkness before. How much different would his life be now?

That brings us to the answer to that question according to St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. The man that Jesus healed was blind, in darkness, and now he is in the light, he could see. The world that he only knew by his other senses was brought to new light. And not only that, but he could see the one that God had sent to be the Savior of the world. He saw the “Son of Man,” the light of the world.

You and I, we can see. We’re not blind. Only a few of you even know what it’s like to struggle with problems with your sight. Maybe you know person who is blind, but most of us do not. We have the best of medical care that corrects and protects most of the problems we have with our eyes. I have three pair of glasses! In lots of ways we see better now than any generation. When I was a senior in High School the teachers told me they thought I might need glasses. I didn’t believe them, but I went to the eye doctor anyway. It was one of those “in-the-mall” eye clinics. After the checkup the doctor brought me out to pick the frames for the new glasses he said I needed. As I sat there he must have seen the dubious look on my face. “You don’t think you need glasses do you.” “No!” I answered. “I can see just fine.” He pointed out the window of the shop to a tree. “What do you see?” he asked. “A tree,” I said in a sarcastic voice. Holding the lens that would be my glasses prescription in front of my eye he asked again. “Now what do you see?” “Leaves!” I said. Before that, I didn’t know that that when you looked at a tree you were supposed to see leaves. I was blind to it. I was brought into the light. I couldn’t wait for the glasses to be done.

We also have light… at least the electric sort. It’s not very often that the power goes out around here. The lights are very dependable. Once in a while, we have power outages from snow and ice. Whenever you mention the power being out you always here about the old days when the snow piled up the roof and power was out for weeks. All that is just in our memory, our lights rarely go out today. But even if we can see and we have light there is darkness to be found in our lives. It’s blindness that doctors have no cure for. It is darkness that you can’t fix with a flashlight. And it all lives in the chambers of our hearts.

We live with this darkness every day. We struggle with what we know is right and what we want for ourselves. It comes out in our selfish desires. It comes out in our anger. It comes out in our laziness. It comes out in our apathy. We know the darkness. We most often point it out when we see it in other people. But we know that what we see in others is only a reflection of our own troubles. What’s more, God’s light, His Holy and Perfect Word exposes us for what we really are. It shines the light on our sinful nature. When what’s in our hearts is in control of our lives there can be only darkness in our lives.

Saint Paul also knew well what he was talking about when he said; “You were once in darkness…” He lived it in his own life. Before Jesus changed his life he stood by and approvingly watched as people threw stones at Stephen until he was dead. Stephen died because he confessed Jesus. He was the first Christian martyr. Paul even held the killers coats while they worked. Paul’s world, before Jesus, was darkness. And even if we don’t care to admit it, we know what he’s talking about, too. We don’t like it when the light of truth shines on our dark hearts and reveals our sin. We would rather keep our secrets, secret. We want our private lies, our private desires, and our private darkness, to be only ours. But, God’s light shines on it and exposes it all and when it does we want to cower in the corner, and stay in the darkness.

But, Paul also says that we are Children of the Light. We are that because we have been made so by the Jesus. He said himself that he is the light of the world. He not only brings light into the world, like when he made the blind man see, but he is the light of the world. Jesus is life, and that life, is the light of men. St. John says at the beginning of the Gospel of John. So Saint Paul can talk about our darkness as a thing of the past. Just look how Paul says it You were once in darkness… he said, but now you are light in the Lord. God’s Word of Light shines on us and tells us of our need for a Savior. It shines on the darkness in our hearts and exposes it. God’s Word also tells us that Jesus Christ is the Savior we need. He won forgiveness for the sin that is in our hearts. God’s Word tells us again and again of God’s great love for us in Jesus. His love was so great that, on a darkened hillside outside of Jerusalem, the Light of the World endured the pain and suffering, the punishment and the condemnation, that our darkness deserved. All the darkness of the world was gathered into that one place, and placed on Jesus. He took the darkness of our sin to death, and left it in the grave. We know what happened after that, he rose again. He came alive. The darkness of death was defeated by the Light of the World. That’s the Light that shines into your darkness with God’s great love.

When you walk into a darkened room you simply flip a switch and soon light floods every corner. We do it every day without thinking. Light makes a difference in the room. The Light of Jesus makes a difference in your life. Jesus is your Light. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and Water and Bread and Wine, he pushes the darkness away, and we see Jesus even more clearly. The Light that Jesus gives defeats the unholy, secret, dark things in our hearts. Like the blind man who saw the light of the world for the first time when Jesus fixed his eyes, our lives are also forever different.

Paul tells us again, Live as Children of the Light. The fruit of a life as a Child of Light is evident goodness, righteousness, and truth. And that describes you and me, too. Even though there still times when the darkness comes out, because of Jesus we always have the moments of light. Visits to the hospital miles away from home, a caring touch for a hurting relative, and an understanding smile. Speaking the truth in love when it is needed. Faithful, often unnoticed, work for the church, or your family. Money that sends missionaries to the farthest, darkest corners of the earth. The Light of God shines in and through us, as the love of God reaches out from us, to the dark world that is all around us.

And there are times when we point to the darkness of the world around us, and shine the Light of Truth there, too. It isn’t that there isn’t darkness in us, but that God’s light is needed out there. “…light that makes everything visible.” There are times to speak up about sin in the world: to defend the lives of the helpless; to point out what God says is evil. So there are times when we must speak out against public sin. It’s not that we want to condemn but that we want to bring to light what God had done about the whole world’s sin. We want there to be repentance to life. We what God’s light for other people, too. Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. “God has sent Jesus Christ to remove the darkness from your life.” We say to those whose lives are controlled by the darkness. “Turn to him and live in the light.”

Jesus sent the blind man to a pool of water to wash the mud off his eyes. When he did his new life in the light began. Our new lives, our new life in the light begins with our washing too. Every day we as we wake, when the light of day wakes us from sleep and we hop into the shower or wash our face, we remember the new life, the light that Jesus brings to our lives in Baptism. We remember that we were blind but now we see. We remember that Jesus washed the darkness in our hearts away. We are no longer blind but are in the light. We also remember that every day we wake and rise only because the Light of Jesus Christ has shines on us. The Light of the World shines through us to make us a light to the world. Darkness no longer controls us, but light, the light of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Jesus. Amen.

Eph.2.11-22; Seventh Sunday after Pentecost; July 19, 2009

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Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called “the uncircumcision” by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands— remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. 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 us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:11-22, ESV)

(from an outline by Rev. Mark D. Boxman, pastor, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Arkansas City, Kansas)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Things just aren’t the way they should be. You know what I mean. Things just don’t work out like we’d like them to work out. People just don’t get along like we think they should. We even see it here in the church. Old scars never seem to heal. New, unexpected hostility pops up and former friends get set against each other. Weather its money, or time, or authority people get divided. People put up walls of hostility. We know how it should be, and life just isn’t the way it should be.

St. Paul says it like this, there is a dividing wall of hostility, between Jews and Gentiles. He knew it shouldn’t be that way. The Jews and Gentiles knew it wasn’t supposed to be that way. (Illustration Jonah) God loves all people. He created us to live in relationship to each other. The Jews and Gentiles had a long history of hating each other. There were lots of things that separated them, culture, language, art, race, and religion. It was the same kind of relationship we see being played out with missile exchanges today. The dividing wall of hostility is played out in the daily news in blood.

That’s exactly why Jesus came to earth. He actually tore down the dividing wall of hostility. He has already made things the way they are suppose to be. God has reconciled old enemies. God had healed old scars. God has brought together Jew and Gentile. He has done it all Himself in Jesus Christ. Jesus blood shed on the cross has put an end to all sin between them. Through Jesus, God has united Jews and Gentiles into His Church, the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church. We have one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one Spirit and one Holy Word of God. God has already done it all and we, you and I, right now, have it. Jesus Christ has made things the way they are suppose to be.

How that? You ask, as you look across the aisle at the person you can’t seem to get along with. How has Jesus torn down the wall that separates me from the people I enjoy fighting with? He’s done it with His Holy and precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.

Look around you. You know things aren’t the way they should be here at Trinity. We know how they are supposed to be. We should enjoy being together. We should be able to come to worship without feeling hostile to someone (we should be able to sit anywhere without causing a stir). We should be caring for one another. We should be taking Jesus to this community in a way that shows. We should be able to get along at meetings. We should have unity and harmony and peace in this place.

But we don’t. Sin is a work. Sin builds a very tall dividing wall between us. It prevents us from doing what we should be doing. It makes things other than the way they should be.

Jackie couldn’t bear to go to church. Joey was there. They worked at the same place and used to be best friends. But something happened, a conflict at work. Words were spoken. Feelings were hurt. Anger flared up. The anger spilt over into church activities and meetings. Sins a work cause things to change from the way they should be to the way they shouldn’t be, at work and at church. Jackie hasn’t been to church for years.

The marriage was breaking. Matt and Jill just couldn’t take the pressure anymore. Sin had crept in between them. The dividing wall was built up slowly, but when it got to a certain point everything else in their lives came crashing down. The sin of a broken marriage and divorce made things the way they shouldn’t be. The trouble made a mess of the family. Parents and children struggled to make the best of the situation but it was painful. And the pain spilled over into the church. Members seemed to be forced to pick sides.

Ray thought that some people just don’t belong in his church. He shouldn’t have to stand next to people who don’t even care to dress up for church. He shouldn’t have to put extra money in the collection plate because others don’t manager their money properly. He shouldn’t have to help people who don’t understand the value of a dollar. He shouldn’t have to take communion with them either. He was never so glad the church got rid of the common cup. He wasn’t afraid to tell them so either. “You don’t belong in this church.” He told one woman. And it worked. He didn’t have to see her any more.

Satan is hard at work in the Church. He’s hard at work in our church. He uses the dividing wall of hostility to divide and conquer. He uses the dividing wall of hostility to sap our energy so we aren’t doing the things we should be doing. He wants to separate you and I from each other. He wants to separate you and I from God.

Jesus makes things the way they should be. He came to tear down the dividing walls that we build up with Satan’s prodding. St. Paul says as much, that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. (2 Corinthians 5:19a, ESV) Jesus removes the sin that separates all people from God.

Think about the Ten Commandments. The first three are about our relationship to God. Commandments four through ten are about our relationship to other people. Sin that lives in our hearts breaks the first three first, and separates us from God. When we aren’t connected to God we can’t be connected to other people and we break the other seven. Jesus restores our relationship to God by keeping all the commandments for us. He restores us to God and to each other. (Fifth petition “forgive us our trespasses”, Paul pleads with Philemon for him to be reconciled with his servant Onesimus)

Jackie went to her pastor. She wanted to know what could be done. Her Pastor shared what God had done in Jesus about her sin and Joey’s too. He talked about how Jesus blood was shed for the forgiveness of their sin, especially the sin that creeps up between friends. Jackie suggested that maybe she should visit her old friend. After several discussions they were reconciled and became friends again. Jackie returned to church, in fact, every Sunday she sits right next to Joey.

Ray’s story too has turned out the way things are suppose to be. Jesus changes hearts. God’s Word showed Ray that Jesus died for everyone. He now heads the social ministry of the church. He’s found new ways for the church to care for folks who aren’t socially acceptable.

What about Matt and Jill? What that’s still a work in progress. Things just aren’t the way they should be… yet. Jesus never gives up. The Spirit works through God’s Word and Sacraments to soften people’s hearts to see that the dividing walls of hostility are really gone.

So what about you? Do you see that the dividing walls of hostility between you and God, and you and your fellow Christians are gone? Or are you hiding behind them? Jesus has torn them down. There’s nothing to them anymore.

Your relationship with God is everything it should be. Jesus has assured that with the shedding of His blood on the cross for you. He’s given you some precious gifts to use to melt away the pain and fear in your heart. In fact, He pours His Holy Blood right into you to do it. What better way is there to be sure of God’s forgiveness for you than to be connected directly to Him in His Supper? Jesus promises that His forgiveness is yours. That means that you too can forgive. The wall of hostility is torn down. Things are the way they should be. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Ephesians 2:8-10, Funeral Sermon for Ron VanPelt, May 17, 2008

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV)

Grace and peace to you from Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

“Ron was a good man.” I’ve heard that a hundred times if I’ve heard it once. So today we are here, in part, to remember a “good man.” After all how much better does it get than to be called “smiley” by a bunch of kids? How much better does it get to always have a treat handy. It is certain that Ron loved kids. He’s the kind of guy, in fact that still opened the car door for his wife (at least when he was physically able to do it.) He’s the kind of guy that even grown up kids called “grandpa.” Mona complained to me that the kids, grandkids, great grandkids would all take more time saying good bye to Ron than her, even the ones that weren’t his grandkids but hers! That was Ron every loved him. He was a good friend, father, step-father, grandfather, golfing buddy, loving caring husband, and old army friend… and as I got to know him, faithful Christian man. Nobody has anything bad to say about Ron… ever.

Well, that’s nice. But in a way it’s a shame too, because Ron wasn’t perfect. One thing we human beings tend to do at funerals is over speak the truth. We are afraid to speak ill of the dead. It is ok to speak about the shortcomings of Ron, about his failures and mistakes. He had them. He was a good father, but not a perfect one. He was a good husband but he didn’t always put his wives first. He was a good grandfather but there were probably times when he was selfish. He suffered these last few years with little complaint, but he really did wonder why God would punish him so, and he was sometime in despair over it all. You see, Ron was, just like you and me, completely human. And all human beings are the same in that sense. Ron was a good man, he did lots of good things but he was also a sinful man who did and thought sinful things. But as good as Ron was it wasn’t good enough to avoid death. The proof of Ron’s sinfulness is right here in front of us as bold as death itself. And so, even more important than coming here to remember Ron the good man, we remember today also Ron the sinner.

Why is that so important, well, that’s what the text I read at the beginning of this message is all about. It is by grace you have been saved, it is the gift of God, not of works. You see, if anyone had a chance at earning his way to heaven, Ron did. He was a good guy. But he couldn’t earn his way to eternal life and the proof of that is right here. The wage of sin, on display, bold as well death! The reality of it all is that God demands for us not just to be a good man, but to be a perfect man. That’s what Jesus said, You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48 ESV) Perfect is all that counts. There’s no one good enough in God’s eyes. Now, this is exactly what Ron believed. He knew he couldn’t earn God’s favor by anything he did. He knew that all his good stuff fell short of perfect. He knew that as far as earning eternal life with God was concerned he couldn’t do it. That’s why he depended on Jesus.

Jesus was no just a good man, he was a perfect man. He didn’t just do good stuff he did perfect stuff. When God, the Father, saw what he did and was going to do he said,

“This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17b ESV)

Jesus didn’t fall short like Ron. He loved people perfectly. He loved God perfectly. He is the only person who has ever been good enough to earn eternal life with God. That’s something that Ron believed, too.

Why is all this important? That brings us right back to the passage, saved by grace. The word grace means undeserved love. God loves you. God loves me. God loves Ron, in spite of the fact that none of us deserves it. God isn’t willing for you and I to die in our sin and spend eternity separated from him in hell. So God provided a perfect life for us. He does what we can’t do. That’s exactly what he did for Ron. Jesus was born, just like Ron. He grew up, just like Ron. He had friends, just like Ron. He laughed and cried, just like Ron. But Jesus wasn’t a good man like Ron, he was a perfect man. You see Ron’s body here, dead. Well, because of sin Ron deserves to be here. Jesus lay dead in his tomb, but he didn’t deserve it. Ron died easily by just going to sleep. Not Jesus. Jesus died a sinner’s death. He was tortured and crucified. In fact Jesus suffered the death of all sinners. Even though God was pleased with all that Jesus did, in the end he turned away from him so that Jesus suffered the eternal punishment of hell on the cross.

The passage says it is not of our own doing; it is the gift of God. Jesus is that very gift. That’s exactly what we talked about when we put this white covering over Ron’s casket. We say it like this, “in baptism Ron’s sins were washed away.” What we really mean is this: In Holy Baptism Ron’s sins were placed on Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to pay the wages of sin, for Ron. Then Jesus’ perfect life was placed on Ron. So now when God looks at all that Ron did he says,

“This is my beloved Child, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17b ESV)

The gift of God, not a result of Ron’s good stuff, the result of Jesus’s good stuff. We can’t boast about any of the things that Ron did, but we can boast about the thing that Jesus did for Ron.

Ron knew all of this and believed it with his whole heart. We talked about Jesus quite a bit as he lay in hospital bed after hospital bed. We talked about it has his home, sitting in his favorite chair. We talked about it at Good Sam when he longed to be back in his chair. Ron is saved by God’s undeserved love through faith in Jesus Christ.

Oh, one more thing. That last sentence of the text. You and I saw that in Ron every day.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. (Ephesians 2:10 ESV)

That was Ron. He was a good man. Ron is God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, through Holy Baptism, for good works. He did them, not to earn something from God, but because of what God had done for him in Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, amen.

Eph 5.8-14, Fourth Sunday in Lent, March 2, 2008

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for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” (Ephesians 5:8-14, ESV)

(This is a repeat sermon from Feb 27, 2005, preached at St. John's, Burt IA).

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, … I will turn the darkness into light before them” (Isa 42:16) Isaiah writes that in the Old Testament lesson for today. Those words remind us a lot of the reading from the book of John where Jesus heals the man who was born blind. Jesus does exactly what Isaiah said, he turns this man’s darkness into light. That blind man himself said as we sang in the hymn, “I was blind but now I see!” as the story continues the sees more and more. The more the Pharisees grill him about how he was healed the more his faith grows. In the end he gives a very powerful witness to Jesus. He worships Jesus, the one who took his blindness away. He moves from darkness into light.

The Pharisees go the other way. They see the light that Jesus brings but they choose to stay in the darkness. The fulfillment of the prophecy is there for them to see, the blind man who was healed, stands before them. It is sight and light brought to a man born blind, but they refuse to believe. For the man born blind, Jesus created a completely new world of light where there was only darkness before. How much different would his life be now?

That’s what this text from St. Paul is about. The words he wrote in Ephesians answer that question. The man that Jesus healed was blind, in darkness, and now he is in the light, he could see. The world that he knew only by his other senses was brought to new light. And not only that, but he could see the one that God had sent to be the Savior of the world. He saw the “Son of Man,” the light of the world.

You and I, we can see. We’re not blind. Probably very few of you even know person who is blind. Few people in this room even suffer from poor eyesight, that is disabling. We have the best of medical care that corrects and protects most of the problems we have with our eyes. In lots of ways we see better now than any generation. When I was a senior in High School the teachers told me they thought I might need glasses. I didn’t believe them, but I went to the eye doctor anyway. It was one of those “in-the-mall” eye clinics. After the checkup the doctor brought me out to pick the frames for the new glasses he said I needed. As I sat there he must have seen the dubious look on my face. “You don’t think you need glasses do you.” “No!” I answered. “I can see just fine.” He pointed out the window of the shop to a tree. “What do you see?” he asked. “A tree,” I said in a sarcastic voice. Holding the lens that would be my glasses prescription in front of my eye he asked again. “Now what do you see?” “Leaves!” I said. Before that, I didn’t know that that when you looked at a tree you were supposed to see leaves. I was blind to it. I was brought into the light. I couldn’t wait for the glasses to be done.

We also have light… at least the electric sort. It’s not very often that the power goes out around here. The lights are very dependable. Once in a while, we have power outages from snow and ice. Whenever you mention the power being out you always here about the old days when the snow piled up the roof and power was out for weeks. All that is just in our memory, our lights rarely go out today. But even if we can see and we have light there is darkness to be found in our lives. It’s blindness that doctors have no cure for. It is darkness that you can’t fix with a flashlight. And it all lives in the chambers of our hearts.

We live with this darkness every day. We struggle with what we know is right and what we want for ourselves. It comes out in our selfish desires. It comes out in our anger. It comes out in our laziness. It comes out in our apathy. We know the darkness. We most often point it out when we see it in other people. But we know that what we see in others is only a reflection of our own troubles. What’s more, God’s light, His Holy and Perfect Word exposes us for what we really are. It shines the light on our sinful nature. When what’s in our hearts is in control of our lives there can be only darkness in our lives.

Saint Paul also knew well what he was talking about when he said; “You were once in darkness…” He lived it in his own life. Before Jesus changed his life he stood by and approvingly watched as people threw stones at Stephen until he was dead. Stephen died because he confessed Jesus. He was the first Christian martyr. Paul even held the killers coats while they worked. Paul’s world, before Jesus, was darkness. And even if we don’t care to admit it, we know what he’s talking about, too. We don’t like it when the light of truth shines on our dark hearts and reveals our sin. We would rather keep our secrets, secret. We want our private lies, our private desires, our private darkness, to be only ours. But, God’s light shines on it and exposes it all and when it does we want to cower in the corner, and stay in the darkness.

But, Paul also says that we are Children of the Light. We are that because we have been made so by the Jesus. He said himself that he is the light of the world. He not only brings light into the world, like when he made the blind man see, but he is the light of the world. Jesus is life, and that life, is the light of men. St. John says at the beginning of the Gospel of John. So Saint Paul can talk about our darkness as a thing of the past. Just look how Paul says it You were once in darkness… he said, but now you are light in the Lord. God’s Word of Light shines on us and tells us of our need for a Savior. It shines on the darkness in our hearts and exposes it. God’s Word also tells us that Jesus Christ is the Savior we need. He won forgiveness that makes the darkness in our hearts go away. God’s Word tells us again and again of God’s great love for us in Jesus. His love was so great that, on a darkened hillside outside of Jerusalem, the Light of the World endured the pain and suffering, the punishment and the condemnation, that our darkness deserved. All the darkness of the world was gathered into that one place, and placed on Jesus. He took the darkness of our sin to death, and left it in the grave. We know what happened after that, he rose again. He came alive. The darkness of death was defeated by the Light of the World. That’s the Light that shines into your darkness with God’s great love.

When you walk into a darkened room you simply flip a switch and soon light floods every corner. We do it every day without thinking. Light makes a difference in the room. The Light of Jesus makes a difference in your life. Jesus is your Light. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and Water and Bread and Wine, he enables us to push the darkness away, and see Jesus even more clearly. The Light that Jesus gives defeats the unholy, secret, dark things in our hearts. Like the blind man who saw the light of the world for the first time when Jesus fixed his eyes, our lives are also forever different.

Paul tells us again, Live as Children of the Light. The fruit of a life as a Child of Light is evident goodness, righteousness, and truth. And that describes you and me, too. Even though there still times when the darkness comes out, because of Jesus we always have the moments of light. Visits to the hospital miles away from home, a caring touch for a hurting relative, and an understanding smile. Faithful, often unnoticed, work for the church, and money that sends missionaries to the farthest, darkest corners of the earth. The Light of God shines in and through us, as the love of God reaches out from us, to the dark world that is all around us.

And there are times when we point to the darkness of the world around us, and shine the Light of Truth there, too. It isn’t that there isn’t darkness in us, but that God’s light is needed out there. “…light that makes everything visible.” There are times to speak up about sin in the world: to defend the lives of the helpless; to point out what God says is evil. So there are times when we must speak out against public sin. It’s not that we want to condemn but that we want to bring to light what God had done about the whole world’s sin. We want there to be repentance to life. We what God’s light for other people, too. Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. “God has sent Jesus Christ to remove the darkness from your life.” We say to those whose lives are controlled by the darkness. “Turn to him and live in the light.”

Jesus sent the blind man to a pool of water to wash the mud off his eyes. When he did his new life in the light began. Our new lives, our new life in the light begins with our washing too. Every day we as we wake, when the light of day wakes us from sleep and we hop into the shower or wash our face, we remember the new life, the light that Jesus brings to our lives in Baptism. We remember that we were blind but now we see. We remember that Jesus washed the darkness in our hearts away. We are no longer blind but are in the light. We also remember that every day we wake and rise only because the Light of Jesus Christ has shines on us. The Light of the World shines through us to make us a light to the world. Darkness no longer controls us, but light, the light of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Jesus. Amen.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost, Eph 2:13-22, Aug 6, 2006

Eph.2.13-22
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
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 us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing the law of commandments and ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:13-22, ESV)
(from an outline by Rev. Mark D. Boxman, pastor, Redeemer Lutheran Church, Arkansas City, Kansas)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Things just aren’t the way they should be.  You know what I mean.  Things just don’t work out like we’d like them to work out.  People just don’t get along like we think they should.  We even see it here in the church.  Old scars never seem to heal.  New, unexpected hostility pops up and former friends get set against each other.  Weather its money, or time, or authority people get divided.  People put up walls of hostility.  We know how it should be, and life just isn’t the way it should be.
St. Paul says it like this, there is a dividing wall of hostility, between Jews and Gentiles.  He knew it shouldn’t be that way.  The Jews and Gentiles knew it wasn’t supposed to be that way. (Illustration Jonah) God loves all people.  He created us to live in relationship to each other.  The Jews and Gentiles had a long history of hating each other.  There were lots of things that separated them, culture, language, art, race, and religion.  It was the same kind of relationship we see being played out with missile exchanges today.  The dividing wall of hostility is played out in the daily news in blood.
That’s exactly why Jesus came to earth.  He actually tore down the dividing wall of hostility.  He has already made things the way they are suppose to be.  God has reconciled old enemies.  God had healed old scars.  God has brought together Jew and Gentile.  He has done it all Himself in Jesus Christ.  Jesus blood shed on the cross has put an end to all sin between them.  Through Jesus, God has united Jews and Gentiles into His Church, the One Holy Christian and Apostolic Church.  We have one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one Spirit and one Holy Word of God.  God has already done it all and we, you and I, right now, have it.  Jesus Christ has made things the way they are suppose to be.
How that? You ask, as you look across the aisle at the person you can’t seem to get along with.  How has Jesus torn down the wall that separates me from the people I enjoy fighting with?  He’s done it with His Holy and precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.
Look around you.  You know things aren’t the way they should be here at St. John’s.  We know how they are supposed to be.  We should enjoy being together.  We should be able to come to worship without feeling hostile to someone (we should be able to sit anywhere without causing a stir).  We should be caring for one another.   We should be taking Jesus to this community in a way that shows.  We should be able to get along at meetings.  We should have unity and harmony and peace in this place.
But we don’t.  Sin is a work.  Sin builds a very tall dividing wall between us.  It prevents us from doing what we should be doing.  It makes things other than the way they should be.
Jackie couldn’t bear to go to church.  Jean was there.  They worked at the same place and used to be best friends.  But something happened, a conflict at work.  Words were spoken.  Feelings were hurt.  Anger flared up.  The anger spilt over into church activities and meetings.  Sins a work cause things to change from the way they should be to the way they shouldn’t be, at work and at church.  Jackie hasn’t been to church for years.
The marriage was breaking.  Matt and Jill just couldn’t take the pressure anymore.  Sin had crept in between them.  The dividing wall was built up slowly, but when it got to a certain point everything else in their lives came crashing down.  The sin of a broken marriage and divorce made things the way they shouldn’t be.  The trouble made a mess of the family.  Parents and children struggled to make the best of the situation but it was painful.  And the pain spilled over into the church.  Members seemed to be forced to pick sides.
Ray thought that some people just don’t belong in his church.  He shouldn’t have to stand next to people who don’t even care to dress up for church.  He shouldn’t have to put extra money in the collection plate because others don’t manager their money properly.  He shouldn’t have to help people who don’t understand the value of a dollar.  He shouldn’t have to take communion with them either.  He was never so glad the church got rid of the common cup.  He wasn’t afraid to tell them so either.  “You don’t belong in this church.”  He told one woman.  And it worked.  He didn’t have to see her any more.
Satan is hard at work in the Church.  He’s hard at work in our church.  He uses the dividing wall of hostility to divide and conquer.  He uses the dividing wall of hostility to sap our energy so we aren’t doing the things we should be doing.  He wants to separate you and I from each other.  He wants to separate you and I from God.
Jesus makes things the way they should be.  He came to tear down the dividing walls that we build up with Satan’s prodding.  St. Paul says as much, that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them. (2 Corinthians 5:19a, ESV) Jesus removes the sin that separates all people from God.  
Think about the Ten Commandments.  The first three are about our relationship to God.  Commandments four through ten are about our relationship to other people.  Sin that lives in our hearts breaks the first three first, and separates us from God.  When we aren’t connected to God we can’t be connected to other people and we break the other seven.  Jesus restores our relationship to God by keeping all the commandments for us.  He restores us to God and to each other.  (Fifth petition “forgive us our trespasses”, Paul pleads with Philemon for him to be reconciled with his servant Onesimus)
Jackie went to her pastor.  She wanted to know what could be done.  Her Pastor shared what God had done in Jesus about her sin and Jean’s too.  He talked about how Jesus blood was shed for the forgiveness of their sin, especially the sin that creeps up between friends.  Jackie suggested that maybe she should visit her old friend.  After several discussions they were reconciled and became friends again.  Jackie returned to church, in fact, every Sunday she sits right next to Jean.  
Ray’s story too has turned out the way things are suppose to be.  Jesus changes hearts.  God’s Word showed Ray that Jesus died for everyone.  He now heads the social ministry of the church.  He’s found new ways for the church to care for folks who aren’t socially acceptable.  
What about Matt and Jill?  What that’s still a work in progress.  Things just aren’t the way they should be… yet.  Jesus never gives up.  The Spirit works through God’s Word and Sacraments to soften people’s hearts to see that the dividing walls of hostility are really gone.  
So what about you?  Do you see that the dividing walls of hostility between you and God, and you and your fellow Christians are gone?  Or are you hiding behind them?  Jesus has torn them down.  There’s nothing to them anymore.  
Your relationship with God is everything it should be.  Jesus has assured that with the shedding of His blood on the cross for you.  He’s given you some precious gifts to use to melt away the pain and fear in your heart.  In fact, He pours His Holy Blood right into you to do it.  What better way is there to be sure of God’s forgiveness for you than to be connected directly to Him in His Supper?  Jesus promises that His forgiveness is yours.  That means that you too can forgive.  The wall of hostility is torn down.  Things are the way they should be. Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Third Sunday in Lent, February 27, 2005, Ephesians 5:8-14

Sunday, February 27, 2005, Third Sunday in Lent

St. John’s, Burt ~ Our Savior, Swea City

(Ephesians 5:8-14, ESV)

Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

“I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, … I will turn the darkness into light before them” (Isa 42:16) Isaiah writes that in the Old Testament lesson for today. Those words remind us a lot of the reading from the book of John where Jesus heals the man who was born blind. Jesus does exactly what Isaiah said, he turns this man’s darkness into light. That blind man himself said as we sang in the hymn, “I was blind but now I see!” as the story continues the sees more and more. The more the Pharisees grill him about how he was healed the more his faith grows. In the end he gives a very powerful witness to Jesus. He worships Jesus, the one who took his blindness away. He moves from darkness into light.

The Pharisees go the other way. They see the light that Jesus brings but they choose to stay in the darkness. The fulfillment of the prophecy is there for them to see, the blind man who was healed, stands before them. It is sight and light brought to a man born blind, but they refuse to believe. For the man born blind, Jesus created a completely new world of light where there was only darkness before. How much different would his life be now?

That’s what this text from St. Paul is about. The words he wrote in Ephesians answer that question.

The man that Jesus healed was blind, in darkness, and now he is in the light, he could see. The world that he only knew by his other senses was brought to new light. And not only that, but he could see the one that God had sent to be the Savior of the world. He saw the “Son of Man,” the light of the world.

You and I, we can see. We’re not blind. Probably very few of you even know person who is blind. Few people in this room even suffer from poor eyesight, that is disabling. We have the best of medical care that corrects and protects most of the problems we have with our eyes. In lots of ways we see better now than any generation. When I was a senior in High School the teachers told me they thought I might need glasses. I didn’t believe them, but I went to the eye doctor anyway. It was one of those “in-the-mall” eye clinics. After the checkup the doctor brought me out to pick the frames for the new glasses he said I needed. As I sat there he must have seen the dubious look on my face. “You don’t think you need glasses do you.” “No!” I answered. “I can see just fine.” He pointed out the window of the shop to a tree. “What do you see?” he asked. “A tree,” I said in a sarcastic voice. Holding the lens that would be my glasses prescription in front of my eye he asked again. “Now what do you see?” “Leaves!” I said. Before that, I didn’t know that that when you looked at a tree you were supposed to see leaves. I was blind to it. I was brought into the light. I couldn’t wait for the glasses to be done.

We also have light… at least the electric sort. It’s not very often that the power goes out around here. The lights are very dependable. Once in a while, we have power outages from snow and ice. Whenever you mention the power being out you always here about the old days when the snow piled up the roof and power was out for weeks. All that is just in our memory, our lights rarely go out today. But even if we can see and we have light there is darkness to be found in our lives. It’s blindness that doctors have no cure for. It is darkness that you can’t fix with a flashlight. And it all lives in the chambers of our hearts.

We live with this darkness every day. We struggle with what we know is right and what we want for ourselves. It comes out in our selfish desires. It comes out in our anger. It comes out in our laziness. It comes out in our apathy. We know the darkness. We most often point it out when we see it in other people. But we know that what we see in others is only a reflection of our own troubles. What’s more, God’s light, His Holy and Perfect Word exposes us for what we really are. It shines the light on our sinful nature. When what’s in our hearts is in control of our lives there can be only darkness in our lives.

Saint Paul also knew well what he was talking about when he said; “You were once in darkness…” He lived it in his own life. Before Jesus changed his life he stood by and approvingly watched as people threw stones at Stephen until he was dead. Stephen died because he confessed Jesus. He was the first Christian martyr. Paul even held the killers coats while they worked. Paul’s world, before Jesus, was darkness. And even if we don’t care to admit it, we know what he’s talking about, too. We don’t like it when the light of truth shines on our dark hearts and reveals our sin. We would rather keep our secrets, secret. We want our private lies, our private desires, our private darkness, to be only ours. But, God’s light shines on it and exposes it all and when it does we want to cower in the corner, and stay in the darkness.

But, Paul also says that we are Children of the Light. We are that because we have been made so by the Jesus. He said himself that he is the light of the world. He not only brings light into the world, like when he made the blind man see, but he is the light of the world. Jesus is life, and that life, is the light of men. St. John says at the beginning of the Gospel of John. So Saint Paul can talk about our darkness as a thing of the past. Just look how Paul says it You were once in darkness… he said, but now you are light in the Lord. God’s Word of Light shines on us and tells us of our need for a Savior. It shines on the darkness in our hearts and exposes it. God’s Word also tells us that Jesus Christ is the Savior we need. He won forgiveness that makes the darkness in our hearts go away. God’s Word tells us again and again of God’s great love for us in Jesus. His love was so great that, on a darkened hillside outside of Jerusalem, the Light of the World endured the pain and suffering, the punishment and the condemnation, that our darkness deserved. All the darkness of the world was gathered into that one place, and placed on Jesus. He took the darkness of our sin to death, and left it in the grave. We know what happened after that, he rose again. He came alive. The darkness of death was defeated by the Light of the World. That’s the Light that shines into your darkness with God’s great love.

When you walk into a darkened room you simply flip a switch and soon light floods every corner. We do it every day without thinking. Light makes a difference in the room. The Light of Jesus makes a difference in your life. Jesus is your Light. Through the work of the Holy Spirit in Word and Water and Bread and Wine, he enables us to push the darkness away, and see Jesus even more clearly. The Light that Jesus gives defeats the unholy, secret, dark things in our hearts. Like the blind man who saw the light of the world for the first time when Jesus fixed his eyes, our lives are also forever different.

Paul tells us again, Live as Children of the Light. The fruit of a life as a Child of Light is evident goodness, righteousness, and truth. And that describes you and me, too. Even though there still times when the darkness comes out, because of Jesus we always have the moments of light. Visits to the hospital miles away from home, a caring touch for a hurting relative, and an understanding smile. Faithful, often unnoticed, work for the church, and money that sends missionaries to the farthest, darkest corners of the earth. The Light of God shines in and through us, as the love of God reaches out from us, to the dark world that is all around us.

And there are times when we point to the darkness of the world around us, and shine the Light of Truth there, too. It isn’t that there isn’t darkness in us, but that God’s light is needed out there. “…light that makes everything visible.” There are times to speak up about sin in the world: to defend the lives of the helpless; to point out what God says is evil. So there are times when we must speak out against public sin. It’s not that we want to condemn but that we want to bring to light what God had done about the whole world’s sin. We want there to be repentance to life. We what God’s light for other people, too. Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you. “God has sent Jesus Christ to remove the darkness from your life.” We say to those whose lives are controlled by the darkness. “Turn to him and live in the light.”

Jesus sent the blind man to a pool of water to wash the mud off his eyes. When he did his new life in the light began. Our new lives, our new life in the light begins with our washing too. Every day we as we wake, when the light of day wakes us from sleep and we hop into the shower or wash our face, we remember the new life, the light that Jesus brings to our lives in Baptism. We remember that we were blind but now we see. We remember that Jesus washed the darkness in our hearts away. We are no longer blind but are in the light. We also remember that every day we wake and rise only because the Light of Jesus Christ has shines on us. The Light of the World shines through us to make us a light to the world. Darkness no longer controls us, but light, the light of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Jesus. Amen.