Romans 9:1-5; The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost; August 2, 2026

The Tenth Sunday after Pentecost

The Greatest Gift Has Always Been Christ

Romans 9:1–5 • August 2, 2026
Life in Christ Lutheran Church • Grand Marais, Minnesota

“I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience bears me witness in the Holy Spirit—that I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, my kinsmen according to the flesh. They are Israelites, and to them belong the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, and the promises. To them belong the patriarchs, and from their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.”

—Romans 9:1–5

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

Paul Begins with Tears

Paul begins this chapter with tears.

“I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart.”

Why? Because the people he loves do not believe in Christ.

He isn’t angry. He doesn’t say, “Well, they made their choice.” He doesn’t wash his hands of them. Instead, he grieves. He even says something almost unbelievable:

“I could wish that I myself were accursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers.”

Paul knows that is impossible. No sinner can take another sinner’s place before God. No one can bear the guilt of another’s unbelief. But that is how deeply he loves them.

That raises a question for us.

How do we see unbelievers? As enemies? As political opponents? As “those people”? Or do we grieve because, without Christ, they are lost?

There are many things about which we may be indifferent. We don’t all have to like the same music, the same food, or the same hobbies. But the Church must never become indifferent to unbelief. Christ certainly isn’t.

The Compassion of Christ

That is where today’s Gospel helps us understand Paul’s words. Jesus has just learned that John the Baptist has been murdered. He withdraws to a lonely place. We can only imagine the sorrow He carried. Yet the crowds follow Him. If we are honest, most of us would have wanted to be left alone. We might have said, “Not today. I just need some time.”

But Matthew tells us something remarkable:

“When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them and healed their sick.”

Jesus didn’t see an interruption. He saw people who needed Him. That is the heart of Christ. It is the same heart we see reflected in Paul. Paul’s tears are simply a reflection of the compassion of his Savior.

The disciples saw the same crowd, but they saw something entirely different. The day was growing late. The people were hungry. The nearest villages were some distance away. Their solution seemed perfectly reasonable:

“Send the crowds away.”

Let them take care of themselves. Let them find food somewhere else.

Jesus answered with words that must have shocked them:

“You give them something to eat.”

Their response was immediate:

“We have only five loaves and two fish.”

The disciples looked at what they had. Jesus looked at what He could give. The disciples saw scarcity. Jesus saw abundance. The disciples saw impossibility. Jesus saw an opportunity to show His compassion.

That is always the difference between our hearts and the heart of Christ. Our first instinct is to count what we lack. Christ’s first instinct is to give.

Christ Became the Curse for Us

Paul’s wish is impossible. He cannot become accursed for anyone else. No sinner can stand before God in another sinner’s place.

But there is One who can.

Jesus Christ did not merely wish He could take our place. He actually did.

The eternal Son of God took on our flesh. He became one of us so that He could stand where we deserve to stand. Every sin you have committed, every sinful thought, every selfish word, every failure to love God with your whole heart or your neighbor as yourself—He carried it all to the cross.

St. Paul writes elsewhere,

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us.”

On Calvary, Jesus was treated as though He were the sinner, though He had never sinned. He endured the judgment that belonged to us. He cried out,

“My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

so that you would never be forsaken by God.

Paul wished he could do that for Israel.

Jesus actually did it for the world.

That is why I often say:

“If you go to hell, it is your own fault. If you go to heaven, it is God’s fault.”

Hell is never the result of Christ failing to save. Christ has already done everything necessary for the salvation of every sinner. Hell is the tragic rejection of the salvation Christ won on the cross.

Heaven, however, is never our accomplishment. It is Christ’s. He lived the life we could not live. He died the death we deserved to die. He rose again to declare that sin, death, and the devil have been defeated. Faith simply receives what Christ has already accomplished.

Salvation belongs entirely to Him.

God’s Greatest Gift

Part of Paul’s sorrow is that Israel had received incredible gifts from God. They had the adoption, the glory, the covenants, the giving of the Law, the worship, the promises, and the patriarchs. No nation had ever received so much from the hand of God.

Yet none of these was the greatest gift.

Paul saves that until the very end:

“From their race, according to the flesh, is the Christ, who is God over all, blessed forever.”

Everything God gave Israel pointed to Christ. The sacrifices pointed to Christ. The Passover pointed to Christ. The Temple pointed to Christ. The promises pointed to Christ. Every one of God’s gifts was leading His people to His greatest gift—His Son.

The same is true for us.

God has given us wonderful gifts. He has given us Holy Baptism. He has given us the Scriptures. He has given us Holy Absolution. He has given us the Lord’s Supper. These are precious gifts, but they are precious because they give us Christ. Without Christ they would be empty ceremonies. With Christ they become God’s own means of forgiving sins, creating faith, strengthening His people, and bringing them safely to eternal life.

He Takes, Blesses, Breaks, and Gives

Notice what Jesus does with those five loaves. He takes them. He blesses them. He breaks them. He gives them.

Those words should sound familiar.

They are the very pattern of our Lord’s ministry. They are the words that lead us to the Upper Room. There, on the night when He was betrayed, Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. But before He could give them His body and blood, He first had to give Himself to the cross.

The feeding of the five thousand was never just about bread.

It pointed to the greater feeding still to come.

Christ would offer not five loaves, but His own body. He would pour out not merely compassion, but His own blood for the forgiveness of sins. The cross is where the heart of Christ is seen most clearly. There the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. There the innocent One becomes the curse for the guilty. There the Son of God gives everything so that sinners might receive everything.

And now He still gives. He gives His body. He gives His blood. He gives forgiveness. He gives life. He gives salvation.

The greatest gift has always been Christ.

He Has Borne the Curse for You

Paul’s tears are a reflection of Christ’s tears. Jesus wept over Jerusalem because He desired her salvation. Then He went to Jerusalem for one purpose—to die for the very people who rejected Him.

That is the heart of Christ. A heart that grieves. A heart that suffers. A heart stretched out upon the cross. A heart that refuses to stop loving sinners, even as nails are driven into His hands.

That crucified and risen Lord still comes to you today. He does not send you away hungry. He feeds you with His own body and blood. He does not leave you in your sins. He forgives them. He does not leave you under the curse. He has borne the curse for you.

If you are lost, it is your own fault. If you are saved, it is entirely God’s doing.

For Christ has done everything necessary for your salvation. Amen.

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

Romans 18:25-27; The Fourth Sunday of Advent; December 24, 2023;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ! Amen.” (Romans 16:25–27, ESV)

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

There is a very interesting phrase in Paul’s doxology here. “The obedience of faith.” At first glance it looks like doing things that are in agreement with having faith. i.e. getting rid of sin by confession, serving our neighbors, providing for our families, and bringing the Gospel to people who have never heard it. In other words, doing the things that show you are a Christian. But it is much simpler than that. Before the phrase Paul specifies what has “been disclosed through prophetic writings” and “has been made know to all nations.” That is the Gospel. The account of Jesus birth, life, death, and resurrection. In fact, if you step back a few verses, Paul makes it very clear (context, context, context).

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive. For your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, but I want you to be wise as to what is good and innocent as to what is evil. The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.” (Romans 16:17–20, ESV)

He speaks about the “doctrine you have been taught.” Doctrine is a biblical word (διδαχή). It means the teaching about what scripture means. Jesus talks about doctrine a lot. In Matthew 28:20 he says,

teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. (Matthew 28:20a, ESV)

The word teaching the same Greek word as doctrine. Many people say that doctrine is secondary to the Word. And in one sense that is correct. But it is also necessary. When doctrine, or the teaching about scripture, conforms to the Word, they are one and the same. You can’t have the Word without teaching what it means. You can’t have correct teaching without the Word. Correct doctrine is not opinion about what the text says, it repeats what the text says. False doctrine does not say what the text says. True doctrine says what God says, false doctrine says what man says.

It is up to the Christian to discern true doctrine. You can’t reject doctrine just because it is doctrine. But you must reject doctrine that doesn’t say what God’s Word says. You do that by comparing what has been said with the Word itself. The difficulty comes in because false shepherds preach what you want to hear, it sounds true because you want it to be true.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching (διδασκαλία yes, doctrine!), but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2 Timothy 4:3, ESV)

True shepherds teach what is true, that is, what scripture says. Sometimes you won’t like what a true teacher says. But that is because it is God’s Word, that he preaches, not his own. It is one reason why we spend so much time on the doctrine of the church. The truth is, the church is about teaching, teaching the doctrine of the Word. That is, what the Word says and what the Word means.

What is even more interesting, in our text, is the word “obedience.” The Greek word is υπακούν. What is so interesting about this word is where it comes from. Its root is the word ἀκούω. Which means to hear and listen. So, to obey is to hear, listen and react. Obedience has as much to do with what is heard (what is taught) as it does with what is done. The obedience of faith literally translated is the listening of faith. It is when someone trustingly hears and follows what is said. This obedience isn’t sanctification (that is the actions that come after coming to faith, obedience that results from faith), but this obedience is justification (that is, obedience that consists of faith). That is, the obedience Paul is taking about is justification not sanctification. It’s about coming to faith, not growing in faith.

What Paul says brings about the obedience of faith is the Word of God, specifically the Word of God about Jesus.

the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but has now been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations. (Romans 16:25b-26a, ESV)

and earlier in Romans he says,

But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” (Romans 10:16–17, ESV)

You guessed it, obeyed is the same Greek word from our text υπακούν. The obedience of the Gospel and the obedience of faith are one and the same.

There is only one way to obey the Gospel. That is to believe and to confess. It is as simple as what is said in the churches doctrinal summery, the Apostles’ Creed. And [I believe] in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was

buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

Faith is the result of hearing the Gospel. To obey the Gospel is to have faith, that is, to believe that what Jesus did he did for you. The moment you do that, you have obeyed the Gospel, you have the obedience of faith.

because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.” (Romans 10:9–10, ESV)

And just what is the result of that faith and confession? It is exactly what the angels sang,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased! (Luke 2:14, ESV)

Peace. εἰρήνη. The Gospel of Jesus Christ brings the only real peace that human beings can find on earth. Peace between God and man. The peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7 ESV). The cancelling of the hostility of God. Namely, the forgiveness of sins. The baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger (Luke 2:12 ESV) brings it.

Paul says this about that baby in his letter to the Philippians.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:5–11, ESV)

To use a tired cliché, Jesus is the reason for the season. He is Lord. He brings forgiveness. He delivers it through his story. He became your servant, to give you eternal life. He humbled himself to die on the cross for your punishment. And God raised him from death, highly exalted him for your justification, that is to make it just-as-if-I’d never sinned.

but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification. (Romans 4:24–25, ESV)

When you trust what Jesus has done for you, you have the obedience of faith. You are justified, you are forgiven, you have peace with God. Amen.

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

Romans 11:33, Part 3; The Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost; September 10, 2023;

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! (Romans 11:33, ESV)

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

Over the past weeks we been talking about God’s attributes, specifically three: His riches, which are not money but mainly seen in his mercy, (that is not giving us what we deserve, eternal wrath and punishment). He gives salvation through Jesus Christ, graciously. Scripture tells us that God is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4). Last week it was God’s Wisdom. He is wise above all things. His wisdom extends into our everyday lives. He provides all we need to support this body and life. He provides Jesus to be our savior. His death on the cross is God’s wisdom showing.

An aside. Last week I said that I disagreed with God about my divorce. I didn’t mean to imply that it was God’s doing. The fault lies with me, and my x-wife. The sin is entirely ours. The consequences come from that. However, God could have intervened. He didn’t. He allowed it to happen. I accept his wisdom in this matter, I don’t like it, but I accept it.

Today is about God’s knowledge. As we have said before, God’s attributes are the most, best of all. He knows more about everything that humans will ever attain. In speaking about God’s knowledge, Jesus said,

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Matthew 10:29–31, ESV)

Sparrows were sold in the market for a snack. God knows intimately about each one of them. They are of little value to human beings. But to God they are everything. Even something as insignificant as the hairs on your head, God knows how many exactly you have. Just think, though, if God cares enough about you to know the number of hairs on your head, that is a great deal of knowledge. It isn’t hyperbole either. Somewhere in God’s mind he has that number. He knows everything about you, every single detail. His memory is as unfathomable as his knowledge. I can’t remember what I had for breakfast. God’s knowledge extends to every part of every meal you have ever eaten. He knows all your thoughts. He knows all your struggles. He knows all your pain. He knows all your feelings. In detail.

And he even knows your sin. He sees the blackness in your heart when you think poorly about your neighbor. God knows when you want to not do the right thing regarding your taxes. God knows when you think impure thoughts about the girl or boy next door. He knows when you refuse to apply his word to your life. Every detail about everything you have ever done, or thought is open to him. He knows more about your sin than you do.

Does it make him angry? Sin always angers God. He is perfectly holy. He can’t tolerate sin in any way. The bible says God’s anger burns against sin. This is not Good News. You can see why the author of Hebrews says,

“The Lord will judge his people.” It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:30b–31, ESV)

When we understand the depth of the knowledge of God, we see our predicament and it is much worse than it seems. God knows everything. Nothing and no one escape his judgment. There is quote that I have put in the bulletin,

“Objects in the mirror are more sinful than they appear.”

And there is something more God, in is infinite knowledge, knows. You are buried so deep in your sin, that you can’t dig your way out. For you the situation is futile and hopeless.

The more you see your sin, considering God’s knowledge of it, the more you see how rich God is in mercy. There is no hiding anything from him since he sees everything. It makes his wonderful gift of salvation through Christ even more amazing. Despite your sin, God sent his only Son to be your savior. In fact, through Holy Baptism, your connection to Jesus, God adopted you. Since Jesus set aside your sin by taking it to the cross, you have become a son (or daughter) of God through Word and water. This changes everything for you.

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:3–7, ESV)

It is God’s knowledge of you (everything actually) that brings this about. He knows you intimately, and his love is such that he is not content to see you perish and suffer forever in hell. Instead, Jesus becomes your punishment. Displayed on the cross is God’s anger against sin, yours included. Jesus bears it. Since you are adopted by God, when he looks at you, he no longer sees your sin. Instead, he sees Jesus. Jesus’ life lived in the perfect will of God, the Father. Jesus always loving his neighbor and his enemies, even at the expense of his life. Jesus giving to the government appropriate obedience. Jesus not lusting after the women in his life. Jesus conforming himself to God’s Word, perfectly. All this, that God knows you are unable to do, is his gift for you, through faith in Jesus. And even that faith is his gift of love for you.

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!

So, we have looked at these three attributes of God. We could talk about all his attributes in the same way. Every one of them is infinite. That is God’s nature.

Maybe you have noticed one peculiar thing. When we talk about God’s attributes, we always end up talking about Jesus. It isn’t forced. Jesus, himself, says in John’s Gospel:

I and the Father are one.”” (John 10:30, ESV)

And

If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”” (John 14:7, ESV)

Jesus and the Father are one (also the Holy Spirit). He says that if you know me you know the Father. Everything about God, is seen in Jesus.

[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.” (Colossians 1:15–20, ESV)

You can’t separate Jesus from God. He is God. Everything that is true about God is true about Jesus. Creator, preserver, savior, sanctifier, he is all these. And more, he has all the riches, wisdom, and knowledge of God. Plus, he is fully human. God and man together, God in human form. To see Jesus is to see God. This is God’s knowledge at work. In his mercy, he sends Jesus as a visible sign of what he is. As Jesus walks, preaches, heals on the dusty roads of Israel he is God, himself, at work. God in his knowledge knows what people need, a physically present God. God that can be interacted with. God that can be seen.

That is exactly what we have in Jesus. He was born into history. He left his marks on it. No one in history has had a more profound effect. It is proof that God became man. When such a being appears in history, it is exactly what you would expect.

But, you may say, he is not physically here with us now. Well, that is God in his riches, wisdom, and knowledge also. While the people of old had Jesus’ present with them, we also have him present. He is present through his word and promises. He is present through the Holy Spirit given at Baptism. He is physically present in his Holy Supper. He is present in his church.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”” (Matthew 18:20, ESV)

Is it the same? Not quite. It is in fact better. Instead of Jesus in a single place, where he can be seen by just a few, he is everywhere, especially with all who have faith in him. We see him every Sunday in this place. We hear his words preached into our ears. We see him in our brothers and sisters in Christ sitting about us. You could say that the Church is firstly about Jesus being present.

This is why it is so important for Christians to gather in worship and fellowship, to see Jesus, to hear Jesus, to see and know God.

So, the church is an outpost of God’s presence in the world. And you are his ambassadors. You being a Christian, bring God’s presence to the place where God has placed you. His riches, his wisdom, and his knowledge. In your vocation, you show God’s love to your neighbor by faithful service. You show his wisdom through your godly actions. And you show God’s knowledge whenever you speak the truth in love. Amen.

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

Romans 11:33-36; The Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost; September 3, 2023;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!” (Romans 11:33, ESV)

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

Last week we talked about God’s riches. They are of course not money. The text talks about God’s attributes. God is the richest person in the universe. He has no need for money. We primarily see his riches in his activity with us. Namely, that he gives freely from his riches. One of those ways is that he shows abundant mercy. God is rich in mercy. From Ephesians 2:

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,” (Ephesians 2:4, ESV)

God gives us mercy when we don’t deserve any. Mostly he sent Jesus to be our savior, to die on the cross to give us the mercy of salvation through faith.

Today we are going to talk about another of God’s attributes, his wisdom. The scripture talks about God’s wisdom in 1 Corinthians 1:25:

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV)

What Paul is saying here is that if God had foolishness (he doesn’t!), that foolishness would be greater than all the wisdom of people. In fact, God is the wisest person in the whole of creation. Everything he does is the wisest thing that could be done. We, at times, have a difficult time with God’s wisdom. It isn’t necessarily a lack of faith, but we sometimes disagree with God’s actions. For example, I think that my life would have been much better had my wife stayed with me. I disagree with God on that point. But I know what seems to me, his foolishness is greater (the greatest) than my wisdom. So, in faith I bow to his wisdom. I just don’t like it. I also know that he is right, and I am wrong.

But there is more to God’s wisdom than just the things he does and allows in our lives. In fact, right before Paul says,

For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:25, ESV)

He says,

Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:20–24, ESV)

Jesus is the wisdom of God. That is a very interesting thing. Jesus, the Son of God, made man, the Savior of all the world, is God’s Wisdom. Since God is the wisest person in creation, that means that when he sends Jesus, it was the wisest way to bring about our salvation. Let that put an end any talk about how God could have saved us any way he wanted. It was, in fact, the only way to save us. God knew, in his wisdom that is greater than all the world’s wisdom put together, that Jesus was the only way to accomplish what he desired, saving the world.

It seems like foolishness. In our wisdom we would have saved the world in some glorious looking way, with lightning bolts, and thunder. We would have used a person above everyone that no one could reject.

But God does it differently. He sent Jesus in humble form to serve people. Jesus wisely loves and heals and feeds people. He wisely goes specifically to the cross to bear the sins of the world, to exchange our sin with his righteousness. He wisely rises from his death to live again. That resurrection is all the proof the world should need to see God’s plan for the wisdom it is.

Think about the parable of Lazarus and the rich man. In hell the rich man begged God to send Lazarus to his brothers to save them. God replies,

He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’ (Luke 16:31, ESV)

In his wisdom God uses a simple preacher’s voice to preach Christ crucified and risen. He uses his word, the account of Jesus life, death, and resurrection, to implant faith in the hearts of people. He uses water and words spoken over a baby, he uses bread and wine to combine with Jesus body and blood to bring about faith and strengthening of faith. The world doesn’t know this kind of wisdom, it calls it folly.

And sometimes it seems not enough to us as well. We are tempted to think we must add to it to make it more effective and more palatable. We think that those foolish notions just aren’t enough. Soundwaves in the ears, water on the head, and bread and wine running down throats is too simple to work on its own.

God in his wisdom created the church to proclaim his Word, Jesus. If we, as a church, are preaching God’s Word in its truth and purity; if we, as a church, are baptizing in the name of God; if we, as a church, are administering the Lord’s Supper as Jesus gave us instruction; then we are doing all that is required of us. That’s the wisdom of God and following the greatest wisdom in all creation is wise.

But there is more. God being God doesn’t conform to our idea of mathematics. God give everything in his salvation of the world. It is just like him. He is a gracious giving God. And then he gives more. For God one plus one does not equal two. In his mathematics one plus one is infinite. He gives everything and then he gives more.

He gives us the gift of his church. We know where to go to receive life and salvation. We know what time to be here. That is God’s grace in action. But there is more to the church than that. It is God’s gracious will for the church to give everything and still have more to give. What God does through the church, is to allow you to participate in his gracious giving. Having the opportunity to practice your faith. Individually in our vocations we serve our neighbors, the church allows us to do it collectively. We can show God’s great love for people through what the church does. A good example is Faith Lutheran in Silver Bay has a program called “Swaddling Clothes.” Their church supports babies by giving necessary items. Our Synod supports Mercy Work. Through LCMS World Relief and Human Care. They provided Disaster relief, Life Ministry, Veterans Ministry, Medical Teams to foreign shores.

James talks about this in his Epistle.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, be warmed and filled,” without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:15–17, ESV)

He is saying that when faith is present, so are works. They show up everyday of our lives. By God’s grace the church has everything and more. We have the opportunity to serve our neighbors in love, to help with the things of this physical life; to comfort those who are suffering; to help those in need. All in the name of our savior Jesus.

That is God’s wisdom. Well, a small portion of it anyway. He gives of his riches, his mercy in Jesus. He gives from his wisdom. Next week we talk about God’s Knowledge.

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

Romans 11:33-36; The Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost; August 27, 2023;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” (Romans 11:33–36, ESV)

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

You have seen the wonder of a child. When they see or experience something wonderful for the first time. The joy of opening a surprise Christmas present or seeing something in nature that is full of wonder. There is something pure about that wonder.

That’s what Paul is trying to convey here. He starts with the interjection “Oh!”. In Greek it’s the same. It’s a one letter word, Greek letter Omega (pronounced “Oh!”). It’s an emotional outburst something that can’t be contained, in other words in this case, “The wonder of God”. The English translation tries to show this with exclamation points. There are none in Greek. It has to be expressed with the words, and he does. Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!

It’s a song, or psalm in Greek. Maybe even an early hymn. The editors of the Greek text recognize this and put in poetic form. Then as now the mysteries of God are often well expressed by the church in song.

And, of course, it is more than an emotional response. We tend to turn the text to ourselves. But Paul is talking about God’s riches, God’s wisdom, and God’s knowledge. It’s not our knowledge of him. That little word “of” is important, it means “belonging to”. The Apostle is speaking of things that belong to God. I have often said, when we speak of God’s attributes, he is the most if any of them. God’s riches are more than we can imagine. God’s wisdom is more that we can image. God’s knowledge is more than we can imagine. It’s the most riches, the most wisdom, and the most knowledge. Today we are going to talk about God’s riches. God’s riches are, of course, not money. God’s wealth is found mainly in his giving nature (but it is more than that!). In fact, even though money is one of the most mentioned things in scripture, God himself doesn’t need it, he already has more than everything. I dare say, God doesn’t care about money. It is a human invention. It causes all kinds of trouble. Many people love money above everything else. Pastor Paul addresses this in his first letter to Timothy.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.” (1 Timothy 6:10, ESV)

It is just like sinful human people to love their own creation above the Creator. And look at what it causes; wondering from the faith and many pangs. (It is noteworthy to show that these sufferings due to money are self-inflicted! A literal translation says, “impaled themselves with much suffering”). What God cares about regarding money is how you use what you’ve been given.

God values his creation but what he values above all in his creation, is people. He shows it clearly. He is, above all, a giving God, giving his riches freely. He provides all that we need to support this body and life. Martin Luther said in the catechism. Physical life would be impossible without God giving. The world would not function without him giving his daily attention. God cares deeply about creation, and he gives it to people for their use. His creation is one of his most wonderful gifts. The gift of creation gives us life itself. It gives us recreation. It gives us beauty. There is no way to fully comprehend wealth of God’s gift.

But, most relevant to us,

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4–6, ESV)

God is rich in mercy. He has saved us in the most incomprehensible way. By giving his only son into death on the cross. Mercy is not getting what you deserve. We don’t deserve his mercy.

we were dead in our trespasses

Trespasses is a word that means crossing over the line. Specifically, God’s. We often cross over the line when we break his commandments in thought, word, and deed. Because of that we deserve God’s punishment. But God, in his rich mercy, sent Jesus to take our punishment.

Contemplate for one moment God’s richness in mercy. He sent his most valuable son, of more value than all money, or even creation itself. Jesus was made man. That in and of itself is a remarkable thing. And yet, not as remarkable as Jesus, the creator, becoming a man to serve us. It is backwards. God is so rich in mercy, that he serves people. He becomes a human person to save sinful, trespassing, people. He humbles himself to suffer the effects of sin. He suffers every day as a person would; we often see him groaning (i.e. Mark 7:34) over diseases, death and pain. But more so on the cross.

Hymn 437, Alas! And did my Savior Bleed. Was it for crimes that I had done He groaned upon the tree? Amazing pity, grace unknown, And love beyond degree! (LSB 746f )

Amazing pity, is another way to say mercy.

On the cross Jesus groaned for us for us. He suffered the human pain of death, and he suffered the eternal punishment of hell. And, in great mercy, he did it for you and me to save us from it. And, in fact, he took our punishment for sin on himself. There is no greater show of mercy, and there never will be. We do not get the punishment we deserve because Our Savior took it instead. That is God, rich in mercy.

It is a sad fact that most of the world rejects God’s mercy in Jesus. And you and would do the same if it weren’t for the Holy Spirit at work in the Word. He shows us our sin, our need, and then shows us our Savior, the solution. He implants faith to believe in all that Jesus did into our hearts. The fact that you and I are not destined for hell is all the work of God in mercy.

We cannot repay what God has so richly done for us in Jesus. Payment would negate mercy. What we can do is show gratitude. It may seem like a small difference. But it isn’t. Gratitude is a selfless measure that glorifies the giver. Repayment puts the glory on the payer.

So, how does gratitude look in our lives? How do we show God glory for what he, and he alone, has done for us? By living a life of service. We serve others because God served us. We show mercy to others because God showed mercy to us. We give people what they don’t deserve. Unconditional forgiveness, unconditional mercy. That is without requiring anything in return, even acknowledgement of what we give; even without seeing any response of their doing things differently. It isn’t our responsibility to change hearts, that belongs to God alone. It is ours, to simply speak forgiveness offered in Christ, and point to the cross. Pointing to our God who is rich in mercy.

Oh! The depth of the riches God. It inspires wonder, he is above all things wonder-full beyond our comprehension. He gives endlessly from his riches things that we don’t deserve and can’t fully comprehend. Amen.

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

Romans 7:15-25a; The Sixth Sunday after Pentecost; July 9, 2023;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:15–25a, ESV)

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

It is a persistent problem in the Christian church. Christians don’t seem to be any different from anyone else. We have the same temptations, same problems, and especially, the same sins. You hear people say, “You Christians are no different than anyone else. You are just hypocrites.” Well in one way it is true, we are no different from anyone else. We are sinners. Luther has it right in his explanation of the Lord’s Prayer, the Fifth Petition.

… we daily sin much and surely deserve nothing but punishment. (http://sites.cph.org/catechism/lords-prayer.asp)

St. Paul has it right doesn’t he?
• “I do the very thing I hate.”
• “I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out.”
• “I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want I keep on doing.”

You and I, as Christians, understand these statements. We live them every day.

And what’s worse, we who believe the Bible to be God’s very word, must hold sin is very serious.

For the wages of sin is death. (Romans 6:23a, ESV)

The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:20b, ESV)

And so our struggle with sin is a serious one, with serious consequences. Sinners, the Bible says, deserved death and hell. And that means you and me. We seem we deserve to die and go to hell. So why is it that we have this struggle? If we were truly Christians, wouldn’t we be passed sinning? If Christians sin, then what good is it to be a Christian?

Paul is explaining the issue. He says there is a struggle between “mind” and “flesh.” He says, in his mind, he wants to do what is right. But, in his flesh, he continues to do what is wrong. It’s almost as if it’s a struggle between two people, a good person and a bad person. And they’re both living in the same body. It is the reality of what life is like as a Christian. We want to do what God wants, but we continually sin and follow our own sinful desires.

As I’ve told you before, in the church when something is important, we give it a Latin name. The Christian church long recognized this struggle. It is called Simul Justus et Peccator. The word simul is where we get our word simultaneous. It means “at the same time” Justus you can see looks like the word justice. It means “righteous.” Et means “and.” And peccator is the Latin word for sinner. In other words, Simul Justus et Peccator means “at the same time saint and sinner.”

It means that Christians are two things, both sinful and forgiven. It’s not a contradiction but a paradox. These two things are simultaneously true. It’s not a half-and-half, as if we are half sinner and half saint. We are completely saved and made righteous through the life death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and we are still the same old sinner we have always been.

Let’s try it this way. We sin so we are sinners. But through faith in Jesus Christ God imputes, that is transfers to us, Jesus’ perfect life. God sees us now as completely righteous. St. Paul says in Colossians that through Holy Baptism (the declaration of your connection to Christ) …

you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.” (Colossians 3:3, ESV)

and in Galatians:

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

Or another way to think of it is to ask this question: Will I be judged in order to get into heaven by my righteousness or by the righteousness of Christ? If I am judged by my own righteousness, everything is lost and I will spend eternity in hell. Because it is clear that, my life is filled with sin. But if I am judged by Jesus’ righteousness, everything good has been done for me. The righteousness that is mine is the perfect righteousness of Jesus. And can you see what good news that is? I am reconciled to God, which is forgiven of all my sin, not because of anything that I have done or will do or can do, but solely on what has been accomplished by Christ.

Punishment for my sin, and my sin itself, is imputed or transferred to Christ. And on the cross, Jesus Christ paid the punishment in full for my sin. God does not negotiate sin. He doesn’t compromise his integrity. My sin is fully punished. I am saved by this double transaction. And it is all the work of God through Jesus Christ. And it is yours and mine through faith that what God has done is done for me and for you.

So even though I am forgiven in God’s sight my sinful flesh remains. So as God’s child, I want to do right but struggle to do it. I know what God has done for me, in Jesus Christ, and I want to please him by doing good, but my heart is full of sin and leads me astray and away from God.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17, ESV)

It’s not the old saying where if you teach a man to fish you feed him forever. We Christians realize that we need a new fish to be given to us every day. That’s what God does for us. Every day our old sinful nature, Martin Luther called it the Old Adam, is drowned to death. That’s what holy baptism is, a drowning of the old sinful nature. But we don’t believe baptism is a single event that happened in our past. It is an ongoing life lived. Luther again from Small Catechism

What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Or as he said, the old Adam needs to be drowned every day because he’s a good swimmer. There is no trying to live a better life that will accomplish anything. There is only living in Holy Baptism. Living in forgiveness won by Jesus Christ on the cross, and nothing else.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20, ESV)

We don’t focus on our doing good, we focus on the good that Jesus has done for us. By faith, we look to the God-man Jesus Christ who gave his life for us on the cross. We don’t go out looking for good works to do; we do the good works that God has placed before us. And when we find sin in the good works we do, and we always will, we drowned them in repentance and receive forgiveness and the good work stands.

The struggle is there. It will exist in you until the day you die when you’re Old Adam is finally put to death permanently. Then your new creation will stand before God in righteousness and purity forever. The struggle will be over. Sin will be gone. And you rejoice in the salvation given to you as a free gift by God in Jesus Christ. Amen.

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

Romans.3.19-28; Festival of the Reformation; October 31, 2021;

Romans.3.19-28; Festival of the Reformation; October 31, 2021;
Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marias, MN;
Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus. Then what becomes of our boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? By a law of works? No, but by the law of faith. For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law. (Ro 3:19-28, ESV)
Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
We don’t see it very much these days… It really is a picture from the past… I mean this picture of a young man (like Martin Luther) struggling to be good enough so that God won’t send him to hell. In fact, we all may look at that picture and think that it’s old fashioned. We may ask ourselves why anyone would ever be afraid of such a thing. Certainly, few of us have had any fear about that. We are an enlightened mature society. Religion is about love. If it’s about God at all it’s a god whose great love for people would never allow him to send anyone to punishment forever. It is often expressed in phrases like this: “The god I know would never punish people that way.” Or “How can a loving god deal out eternal punishment?”
I mean, if hell isn’t a reality for people, then the question of being good enough to avoid it is really a non-issue. Isn’t it? It all makes the Reformation that began with the struggle of a young German monk over sin and hell, a moot point. After all Luther’s struggle was against God, wasn’t it? He looked at himself and saw an imperfect person who didn’t “love God with his whole heart and soul and mind.” He looked at God and saw a judge who demanded perfection, not just in the way things were done, but in the motive and the thought too! His thorough study of scripture led him to the unmistakable conclusion that he was hell bound. That was then, this is now. The whole fear-of-hell thing seems like a leftover from a previous time when people thought differently.
The way it is now, the way people actually prefer to look at the world, and life, and God is completely different. We’ve made up a god of our own that doesn’t match with what the Bible tells us. Our new god is a doting grandfather that gives us whatever we need and want, and he simply ignores our shortcomings and failures. It could even be said that he doesn’t really even care that people don’t believe in him or even out and out reject him.
“They’re only human,” He coos, “and nobody is perfect.”
This god looks lovingly at struggling humanity and with a twinkle in his eye says, “They try so hard… that’ll be good enough.”
It’s the picture of God giving an “A+” for effort, regardless of the results and regardless of the motives that lie behind the actions. He gives people a purpose in their lives and rewards them as long as we live in that purpose.
It’s no wonder people don’t fear the consequences of their sin anymore. The god we’ve invented acts and sounds just like one of us. He sweeps sin under the carpet just like we like to do. That’s just the way we live, as if sin weren’t a problem, sweeping it quietly under the carpet. Letting it stand where we find it.
Just think a moment of these issues since 1973 in the entire world just this year we have killed well over thirty-five million helpless children through abortion. In the United States nearly half end in abortion, that’s four in ten, over three thousand a day. It’s a staggering figure. And don’t forget that you and I actually pay for three out of every ten.
We’ve defined marriage to be anything we want it to be. Men and men; women and women; Adult and child; why not a man; a girl and two dogs and a donkey. It’s not just that, we participate in the degrading of the institution. How about how this issue hits closer to home. We all have it in our families. You know that that 90% of young couples (both Christian and non-Christian) live together before marriage. They ignore the stats that show those who do have an 80% higher risk of divorce. And one that strikes extremely near to home for me, there is no difference in statistics for divorce between church going and non-church going folks. We ignore that God calls this a sin that affects the whole body of Christ.
God, the true God, speaks clearly about these issues. Killing human beings at any stage of development is murder. He says sex outside of marriage is wrong, that means it is wrong for couples to live together before they are married, no matter how good the reasons seem. Test yourself on these issues: How many people know you are Pro-Life? Do you consider unborn children when you stand in the ballot box? How many young couples have you told that living together before they are married is wrong? We spend a lot of time and effort saying that God’s will for our lives is whatever we want it to be. And that God’s standards for living are quite flexible, more like suggestions that can be set aside when they are inconvenient or don’t match up with our “feel good” philosophy of life.
Luther’s struggle was about the difference between God and human beings. God is holy. People are not. God is perfect. People are not. God knows everything. God is able to look into the very depth of the human heart. When Martin looked honestly into his own what he saw there frightened him. It frightened him because he didn’t find an inner core of good. He saw an inner core of evil and darkness and hatred of other people and even of God. And when he realized that God saw that same heart, he knew that he was lost.
With the law comes the knowledge of sin.
St. Paul said to him. It was just like Jesus said,
For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. (Mt 15:19, ESV)
Martin Luther discovered that was accountable to God not just for his outward acts but also for what was in his heart. God said it also in the Old Testament.
“For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Sa 16:7, ESV)
That’s the real problem, isn’t it? It’s what’s in here that we can’t get rid of. We can only ignore it or pretend it isn’t there. Or invent a god that doesn’t care about sin, a god of our own making that hides his eyes to what we know is there. Because the real God, the one we learn about in His Word does care about sin. That same Word tells us all the truth we already know:
For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.
No amount of keeping the law is going to fix what’s in here. The more we try to do what is right the more we see how we don’t do it perfectly, “with our whole heart.”
But it is precisely because the true God cares about sin that we are here today. It is because God really does love human beings beyond our understanding that He doesn’t just sweep sin under the carpet. He sees what sin does to us, how it tears our relationships apart, how it makes a mess of everything we try to do. And he knows how we are powerless to do anything about it.
For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
That’s what the law makes very plain to us. But God goes beyond that he also says that we are justified by his grace as a gift… Well, it would have to be a gift, wouldn’t it? We can’t scrub it clean; we can’t work it out on our own, and we can’t end sin in our hearts by any other way. We need a righteousness that we don’t have. Righteousness is exactly what God has. It is what God is. In fact, the best definition of righteousness is… Jesus.
St. Paul used that unusual word propitiation. He wrote
the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood.
What he is really talking about is a peace offering. When a wife is angry at her husband, he scrambles to find a florist and shows up at the door with a big batch of flowers. That’s propitiation. And Jesus is just that, a perfectly righteous peace offering to God. Jesus offers himself to God as the object of God’s just anger over sin. He suffers the punishment that all human beings deserve because of the sin in their hearts. In Jesus heart, even though he fully human, there wasn’t any of the blackness that is in yours and mine. He didn’t make excuses for not following God’s law. Not only did he not sin, but he also confronted sin everywhere he went. He called sin, sin and pointed out its consequences. He didn’t struggle against God’s will for His life, even when it led him to a brutal execution. You see, everything He did was perfect, and not just in the things he did, but the motives and the thoughts, too! That’s because Jesus was not simply a good guy, he was human, but he was also God, perfect and holy… You might say Jesus is the very heart of God.
Now when we compare Jesus’ heart to ours, we know that what we need is His…
It’s the most amazing thing… it’s really beyond our understanding… it’s so utterly different than anything our experience can understand… But Jesus is exactly what God gives to us. Our sinful prideful mind and heart immediately jump to the conclusion that we must have earned it, somehow. “I must have done something good!” But God’s law is right there to show us that there is nothing we can do. The law real purpose is to show us our sin because we will not believe in Jesus, we can’t have true faith, until the law shuts us up, and puts anything we would do out of the picture. Then through faith in what Jesus did, we get this wonderful totally free gift of Jesus righteousness, God’s perfection. What Paul means by that is seeing, that Jesus’ righteousness is now yours. In Paul’s words:
we receive the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.
That’s where that young monk’s struggle and search ended… in faith. When Martin Luther saw that the righteousness that he needed was his as God’s free gift he did what faith does. He believed… he received… he hoped… and he lived in faith every day of his life from that moment on.
My dear Christians friends, it is just so for you and me. The very same gift is ours. We can’t earn it; we can work our way to deserve it. It is a gift. It is the most amazing thing in the whole world. Our sin, both the things we do, and the things we think and feel, that blackness and evil in the deepest part of our heart is covered up by righteousness of God, through faith in Christ Jesus. We do what faith does… We believe… we receive… we hope… and we live in faith every day, from this very moment on.
For we hold that [a person] is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
Amen.
The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Romans 6:6-11; Third Sunday after Pentecost; Jun 13, 2021

Romans 6:6-11; Third Sunday after Pentecost; Jun 13, 2021 Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.” (Romans 5:6–11, ESV)Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; I love living here in the United States. Where else in the world am I able to be my own man, independent, and self-reliant? There’s no one around that dare tell me how to live my life, or how to take care of my family. I’ve become successful through my own sweat; my own hard work… there’s nowhere in the world that that pays off like here. I’ve sacrificed for the things I wanted, and no one’s is going to take that away from me. I could live and be alone, a strong individual, like the Marlboro Man I really don’t need anyone. Above all else, whatever you do, don’t look on me as helpless or powerless. That is one thing I am not… powerless. I prove it everyday. I approach my work with the attitude that gets it done. I may not be the strongest guy around, but there’s more to power than brute strength. There’s knowing how to get the job done, knowing how to work the system… lots of times, knowledge is power. When things get tough, the tough look to me for direction. And that’s power. I don’t let emotions cloud my judgment. They make you weak and as I told you before above all, I’m not weak. When decisions have to be made strong people make them without the influence of all that emotion. I can defend myself, too. If I have to, I can take the licks and survive, but if you come against me, you’d better be careful. I’ll come back and when I do, I’ll strike hard. My family is safe with me around. I’m not weak and powerless as far as defense is concerned. Just in case you didn’t catch what I’ve been saying I’ll say it again. I’m my own man, independent, strong and powerful. But… lately I’ve been beginning to wonder about all that. Lot’s is happening in the world that I really don’t have any control over. And somehow it all seems to be closing in on us here. The Global Pandemic has had a large affect on the feeling. Believe in it or not, it has been impossible to change what has happened. Businesses struggle to get workers, out of fear, or because they can make more on unemployment. There are no foreign workers to work here, it only adds to the problem. And now, just as things are lightening up, new strains are popping up. Makes me feel out of control. The flood of immigrants that are coming across the boarder is staggering. Are terrorists gathering? Have we forgotten World Trade Center towers? What is the next target? Mall of America? USA Today said that a dirty nuke, that’s a bomb with radioactive medical waste blows up at the Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC, the fallout will pretty much make that city unusable for centuries. How can I stop one crazy person who’s willing to strap 20 pounds of dynamite and nuclear waste around themselves? And there’s more that this powerful guy can’t seem to get a handle on. I’ve seen it all around, people get sick… the list of people we pray for each week with cancer continues to grow. That nasty disease brings strong men to their knees… but the worst part is that you just don’t know who’s next. I’m a strong guy, as I said, but who can stand up against and invisible enemy that attacks you from inside. The more I think about it, I’m not really all that powerful after all. My independence is really a sham; I need people around me all the time. Not just to watch my back, but also to be there for me, because when I really think about it, I am helpless and weak… powerless… But… You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Did that say what I think it said? When we were powerless? When I was powerless, Christ died for me? I see, that’s what the Good News of Jesus Christ is all about isn’t it? I was I am powerless, but God is powerful. Not only that but even more than that, St. Paul writes that we were God’s enemies, enemies deserving His wrath and punishment. That independence that I show highly prize is really an affront to God. When I try to live my life on my own, I disregard the creator and ultimate provider, “I don’t need you, God! I don’t need other people that you have provided for me!” we say. God’s enemies… that puts powerless in another interesting light. We are all truly powerless standing before God in our rejection of him. And what does Paul say, for a righteous man someone would rarely die, but that’s exactly what Jesus did. And we were hardly righteous or even good. We were God’s enemies! And yet, Jesus Christ died for me, powerless, helpless, and pathetic me! Powerless, helpless and pathetic you! Just exactly did the death of Jesus Christ accomplish? Michael Powers tell the following story in Allison Bottke’s book “God Allows U-Turns.” Brian “was a special education student at the small high school I attended. He was constantly searching for love and attention. It usually cam for the wrong reasons, from students who wanted to have some ‘fun.’ He was the joke of the school…” Mike defended Brian, even had him over to the house. “Hey, Mike,” Brian asked. “How come you’re not like some of the other kids at school?” Mike told him about the love of God the Father. “Brian really opened up to me. He explained that his dad had left him and his mom when he was five years old. He told Brian that he couldn’t deal with having a son like him anymore, then he walked out of Brian’s life and was never seen again. Brian told me that he had been looking for his dad ever since. “Now I knew why the tears kept flowing that day in my bedroom. His search was over. He found what he had been looking for since he was five years old. A Father’s love. “He would never again be alone.” When we were alone and powerless, God the Father showed His great love for me by sending His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to death on the cross, to make me His own children. He showed me a Father’s love; a love that would sacrifice everything, especially when I was helpless and alone. He sacrificed the life of Jesus to satisfy the judgment that was mine as God’s enemy. He made Jesus his enemy instead of me; and He made me His child. It was a simple exchange. But that isn’t all; because God approved of Jesus perfect sacrifice, He raised Him from death to life again. That too is a promise to me. So, what about all those things that I can’t control; Pandemic, terrorists, illnesses that are lurking around out there looking for me? I’m helpless in the face of them, but God is my Father. He has done everything for me. He has made me his own child. I’ve been “reconciled” Paul said. What reconciliation! I’ve gone from God’s enemy to God’s child. I guess there’s nothing I can do about the terrorists, the bomb may go of in Asia, and cancer might be in my future. I am helpless, powerless… but really, it’s a good thing that I am because being powerless is being dependent, and I’m as dependent as I can be on my Heavenly Father. I’m as dependent as I can be on him and his promises. I will be saved because of Jesus Christ. Have you been feeling alone, helpless and powerless lately? Maybe you don’t show it, but there’s a lot going on these days that can make you feel that way. Well, all that I’ve been talking about for me is true for you too. God, the Father, has also reconciled you through the death of Jesus Christ! When you were powerless, when you needed it the most, Jesus Christ sacrificed everything to restore you, and make you a child of God again. And all those things you may be worrying about, well they might seem powerful but not compared to the love of God, the love that God the Father has showered down on you! Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Romans 5:1-5; Second Sunday in Lent; February 28, 2021;

Romans 5:1-5; Second Sunday in Lent; February 28, 2021; Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN; 1Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, 4and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, 5and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. Romans 5:1-5 (ESV) Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We have been "justified" by faith. That's what St. Paul tells us. Justified. We see that word all over Paul's letters. And it is no wonder; this word is at the very heart of our faith. If we are not justified by Christ, we are still in our sin, St. Paul tells us. But I wonder if sometimes we see it and just kind of pass it over, because it's a word that we think we should know what it means. Do we really understand what it means? And do we really know that we have been justified? First let's make sure we understand what the word "justified" means. The picture is this. We stand before the judge guilty. There’s no plea bargain. There’s not fancy lawyer to get us of easy. We deserve the punishment that is coming our way. The worst part is we are standing before the most severe judge there is. He never lets anyone off that deserves punishment. “You realize your crime deserves death.” He says. We have to agree. Just when the judge is about to pronounce the sentence Jesus steps forward. “Father, this one is mine. I have already paid the price. I have already suffered his death.” “Ok, my son, with you I am well pleased.” the judge responds. Then to you he says. “I declare you to be not guilty on account of the punishment already paid. You are free.” What we are talking about here, being justified is what Jesus Christ has done for us. It's His life, death and resurrection that do it. We are declared to be righteous. That is sin set aside. Sin removed. Sin taken care of. My sin taken care of. Your sin taken care of. Whenever we talk about being justified it's important that we remember that we are indeed sinful people. We are born that way. We need to be justified. No one who's been a parent can really believe that children are born without any sin. The smallest child will bear this out. Of course, they need the attention they demand, but they are the most self-centered people on the planet. As they grow older, we tend to overlook the selfishness, or think that it's cute. Go to any playground anywhere and you'll see the bald truth that children have to be taught not to hurt one another. I know the folks who you see on TV don't agree. But in spite of what they say, children do not have to be taught to hate, they have to be taught not to hate. I have a teenager in the house. I think the teenage years are the time when all of us struggle the most trying to balance selfishness and living in community. That struggle between what we really want and what is best for us and the people around us is what makes those years so difficult. Even when we get older some of us never get over the fact that we are supposed to share our toys. We are sinful people. Earlier in Romans Paul says it this way: 10as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; 11no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." 13"Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive." "The venom of asps is under their lips." 14"Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness." 15"Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16in their paths are ruin and misery, 17and the way of peace they have not known." 18"There is no fear of God before their eyes." (Romans 3:10-18, ESV) The lying tongue, the bitterness, the anger, the pushing God out of our lives, we all have to admit that there we are, right there in the middle of the pack. We'd like all those "theirs" in there; "their tongues, their feet, their paths, their eyes, to be "theirs" that is someone else's. But we know that we lie, even if it's just those little white one that pop up in conversation to make us look better to our friends. And who hasn't been bitter about the nice things in life that other people seem to get so much easier than we do? And talk about no peace, even in our Christians families, yelling and anger are regular features of our lives. Just feel the tension as we try to make any decision at a voter’s meeting. But worst of all, we could walk around all day and simply ignore the fact that we are sinful people. We get into our everyday and everyday, and simply think that God will just ignore our sin because we do. But God won’t ignore sin. In fact, sin deserves punishment because it is an affront to God’s purity. God is perfect and holy, we are not. In order to be tolerated in God’s presence we have to be perfectly perfect, “without spot or blemish,” without any sin of any kind. To stand before God in sin is to stand before the judge who will condemn. "None is righteous, no not one" points out our need to be justified. When we realize that the law Paul wrote is talking directly to us, then that's when those first few words "Since we have been justified…" come to us as pure Gospel, that's when it's not simply Good News, it's Great News. "Since" Paul says. The word “since” means "in view of the fact that…." It's true. It's a fact. It's yours and it's mine. "Since we have been justified…" Even though we are sinners we have been made holy. We have been declared righteous. That selfishness that controls us from the time we are conceived through our adolescence and right into our adulthood, and even old age, is taken away. God has seen to that by sending Jesus. From His adulthood all the way back to His conception He wasn't a sinful person; He was never selfish; He never spoke lies; He wasn't ever bitter about His place in life; and He always kept God in His mind and always thought of other people’s needs. That law that Paul preaches to us "no one does good, not even one." applies to everyone except Jesus. Jesus never sinned. And yet, there is a way that all of it does apply to Jesus. He does something about our sin because we can’t do anything about it ourselves. We are helpless to change. We are born with sin and in order to get rid of it, it has to be killed. Paul talked about that too in another letter he wrote. 21For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21, ESV) And in the verse right before our text he says, 25[Jesus] was delivered up for our trespasses... (Romans 4:25, ESV) All that sin, which deserves God’s punishment, was put on Jesus. He became the target of God’s anger. Jesus, God’s only and perfect Son, was killed because of it. He became sin… our sin… your sin… my sin… Jesus, the world’s only perfect person is also Jesus the greatest sinner who ever lived, not for sin of His own but your sin and mine. You know the sins that we wish weren’t ours. The ones that we wish were only “theirs” Their lying tongues that are really ours. Their bitterness that is really ours. The lustful thoughts that we love to have, but then regret when they are over. Our hating the judge for requiring us to be perfect. That sin that we wish was someone else’s really does become someone else’s in Jesus. In Jesus, our sins are put to death. In Jesus they are sent to the grave. In Jesus they are under the punishment and anger of God. Jesus dies on the cross and takes the punishment for our sin. And He gives to us the righteousness of God. When Jesus takes our sin, and when he becomes sin for us, he gives us his perfect life, we become his righteousness. All that living right, all that doing good, all that not sinning is given to us in exchange for our sin. Jesus becomes sin, we become justified. So that’s what it means to be justified. We’ve had here the best object lesson about justification that there can ever be. It has happened right here over and over again. Right here at this font the words are spoken. “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” When a pastor says it here, he isn’t speaking for himself he is speaking for God. He does exactly what God has commanded us to do. And little children, born in sin, become God’s children. All the promises of God are now true for them. God justifies them through the cross of Jesus Christ. In that moment God declares the to be justified, not guilty of the sin they are borne with. Now remember Paul’s word, that little word “since?” It means “in light of the fact.” All that happens here at the font is in fact, founded on Jesus. It’s all because of what Jesus has done. You see it. You have a real picture that you can’t miss the meaning. The sin is washed away by water connected to God’s Word. You witness it. You see justification in action. It is one of the reasons we do baptize publically, and why we recognize the private baptisms here during worship. There is no better picture than being justified and not lifting a finger to make it happen. Jesus comes and takes our sin and gives us his perfect life. Jesus lives perfectly. Jesus dies. Jesus rises again. When ever we see God working in baptism it is one of the clearest ways that we see that we have nothing at all to do with our justification. It is given to us through the work of God accomplished by Jesus Christ. And given to individuals given to you and me through water and God’s spoken Word and promises. Do you know that it’s true for you? You do if you’re pointing to Jesus. You do if you are remembering that in your baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, God declared you to be not guilty. Because in that baptism Jesus took your sin to death on the cross and in your Baptism, he gives you his perfect life. You’ve been justified. Amen. The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds Christ Jesus. Amen.

Romans 8:18-27; The Seventh Sunday in Pentecost; July 19, 2020;

Romans 8:18-27; The Seventh Sunday in Pentecost; July 19, 2020;

Life in Christ Lutheran Church, Grand Marais, MN;

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. Likewise, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:18-27 ESV)

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

Listen, can you hear it? I think if you listen very closely you will. It’s all around us. It’s groaning. No, it’s not just the groaning you’ll hear if you think the sermon is too long or I’ve picked a hymn you don’t know. Oh, that groaning is included, but it’s much more than that. There’s the groaning of nature, where animals live by the blood of their neighbors. Life brings life only through death. The weak feed the strong. Survival of the fittest, as Darwin coined the phrase. There’s the groaning in cities that have been wiped flat from tornados. The groaning of children who starve to death because their governments won’t distribute food. The groaning of mother’s whose children don’t return from the battlefield. There’s the groaning you hear in your own joints as age creeps in and makes work and play harder and harder. Betty Davis said, "Old age is no place for sissies."  There’s the groaning you still hear inside yourself from your child, mother, spouse, daughter, brother, sister’s death. There’s the groaning that comes from hard work and little pay. There’s the groaning of the empty house that used to be filled with little footsteps that have grown and moved out… out of town, out of the county, out of the state. The groaning waiting for them to call. The groaning of the gas pump. The groaning of credit card debt. The groaning of lost friends. The groaning… well I think you get the picture. It’s the picture St. Paul paints for us today in this reading.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22 ESV)

Groaning together… he says. We groan because things aren’t the way they should be. The world doesn’t work the way we know it should work. Nature doesn’t live together the way we know it should live together. Our bodies don’t last the way we know they should last. We die. So, we say the lie we know is untrue, that death is a natural part of life. But there is the desire to live forever. That desire comes from a knowledge that it all should be permanent. That lie is in the face of the groaning we all know. The whole creation groans together… we groan together… because we live in a world that is difficult and broken and cursed to death and suffering.

But there is worse news yet. The creation out their groans because it was subjected to a curse. But it was curse not from its own fault but from ours. When God created the world, he created it for human beings to live in. It was all perfect and good. When our first parents choose to disobey God, when they wanted to be god for themselves, they destroyed their perfect relationship to God. Corrupt and sinful humans couldn’t live in a perfect world, so it was “subject to futility.”  You see, every time things don’t work in the world, every time a tsunami destroys a city, every time an animal dies to feed another, every time a child starves, every time a bone breaks, every time age creeps into our joints, it’s our fault. It’s your fault. It’s my fault.

I know that seems harsh. But that is what the groaning is all about. Adam’s sin brought it all about.

And to Adam he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” (Genesis 3:17-19 ESV)

Now here’s the thing. You might want to blame Adam for this mess, but if you were him, you’d have done the same thing. You don’t keep God’s law either. We’ve talked a lot about our broken relationship with God and our broken relationship with other people. That’s all a part of that groaning. Simply stepping through the commandments and realizing that they are not only talking about doing or not doing but they are talking about the heart, our desires and thoughts. All this shows us very clearly that we are sinful. We are sinful. We see it effects in the broken relationships. We see the effects in our lack of desire to help others. We see it in our lack of care and concern for the world that God has given us. Sin is the cause of all that groaning out there. That’s what St. Paul is confessing to us today.

But notice that St. Paul doesn’t end with the groaning…  Listen again to the verse where he talks about it.

For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. (Romans 8:20-21 ESV)

The creation was subjected to this groaning in hope… even in our groaning we groan in hope…  That’s the whole point of what St. Paul is saying.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18 ESV)

He’s saying that what we are headed for, the glory, is so much greater than the suffering we are undergoing now. He puts that in terms you can understand too.

For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. (Romans 8:22 ESV)

Any woman will tell you about the pain of childbirth. God didn’t give this curse to men because he knew that we couldn’t handle it. Women suffer that pain. But it evaporates as soon as the child is in their arms. They understand the idea of no pain no gain. Many women even do it more than once. So great is the joy the pain is forgotten. That’s what Paul wants us to see. The groaning it temporary, the groaning is part of the process, the groaning will be over, and the joy will come, and the groaning will be forgotten.

That childbirth, which groaning inwardly, attests to the good news that is here. We groan because we look forward to the redemption of our bodies. That too is what the groaning of Jesus was all about. He came not only to win our way to heaven, but to restore the world to its pre-groaning state. He came not just to redeem you and me, not only to rescue you and me from hell, but to rescue us to, and for a perfect world. The creation groans in eager expectation because it has been released from the curse of human sin placed on it. Jesus groaned on the tree, like that Good Friday hymn says:

Tell me ye who hear him groaning, Was there ever grief like His? (LSB 451.2)

Jesus’ pain and suffering on the cross is to release you and me, and the whole creation from the bondage to sin. Jesus knows about your groaning, he groans too. He comes to fix it. He comes to end it. He comes to restore a perfect world for you and me to live in, in perfect bodies for all eternity. It is all finished. The new world, our new bodies are on the way. That’s Jesus promise through not only His death but through His resurrection from death. That’s His promise that you will be raised from death, too.

In the meantime, what about all that groaning? Well, it’s not really going to stop. Right now, things don’t work the way we want them to. Right now, there’s trouble, pain, and sorrow. Right now, we sin and or sin affects our relationships. Right now, death stalks us. Right now, nature seems to be out to get us. So, we groan wanting it all to come to an end. And Jesus knows what that groaning is like. He lived it too. He walked on sore feet. He was hungry when it was time to eat. He wept when His friends died. There’s nothing that happens to you that Jesus doesn’t understand. He is a human being. He groaned upon the earth. He knows what you need to overcome your troubles. And He delivers. He can because He is not just a human being, but God, too.

And look how the passage ends.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. (Romans 8:26-27 ESV)

So, when your troubles leave you groaning, and you don’t know where to turn. The Holy Spirit God’s gift to you in Holy Baptism is right there in the middle of your groaning, changing it into a prayer. And not just any prayer, but a prayer for just what you need. Amen.

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