Sunday Sermons

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Isaiah 51:9-16

Colossians 1:9-14

Matthew 9:18-26

Pastor James Peterson

#151

11/14/2021

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for this morning is this: The Lord’s Prayer and Paul’s Prayer are also our prayer for our church.

            For the past eight weeks, we have heard children’s sermons on each of the petitions of the Lord’s Prayer. During that same time, we have prayed Luther’s Prayer of the Church that he wrote for Lutheran churches that was based on the Lord’s Prayer. Many of you have commented to me that you noticed “the big long prayer” sounded like the Lord’s Prayer. Of course, last week, we prayed the Lord’s Prayer at the baptism, during the children’s sermon, and even as part of the Lord’s Supper liturgy. Certainly the Lord’s Prayer has been on our minds.

            What better way to close out the Church Year than to talk about prayer one more time? What better time than this, when we have so many prayers for so many things, that we see how the apostles prayed? In today’s epistle reading, we hear about St. Paul’s prayer for those Colossians he knew were part of the church. 

As you know I begin my sermons like St. Paul began his epistles. Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I always do this, because this greeting reminds you of what you have in Christ Jesus- grace, mercy, and peace. But St. Paul has another habit in his epistles. He begins by telling his people that he is praying for them. 

Let’s look even before our epistle reading for today, where it reads, “We pray for you.” Why does Paul pray for the Church? “Because we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus.” This I think is important for us. It is probably common to pray for struggles, to pray for concerns, to pray for sickness. But the first thing Paul prays for is faith in Christ Jesus. He prays as Jesus did, “Hallowed be Thy name” and “Thy kingdom come.” Paul prays that the Colossians keep believing and that more would come to believe in God. 

But that’s not all. He prays for “the love that you have for all the saints.” Paul has particularly in mind the mission in Jerusalem, and the church that lives there. The churches of Paul’s missionary journeys helped support Christians they had never met. Certainly this sounds like “Give us this day our daily bread.” And the whole situation seems backwards to us. Why would the Gentile Christians help out the Jewish Christians? Why would the mission churches help out the mother church in the town in which Christ died? 

It is because of “the hope laid up for them in heaven.” Namely, the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Namely, “Forgive us our trespasses,” “Lead us not into temptation,” and “Deliver us from evil.” In these petitions is the hope of the whole church. In these petitions are the gifts for the future. While the first part of this prayer from Paul is in the here and now, the faith and the love that the Colossians have, the second part of this prayer is about what we have and will always have, “hope laid up for us.” 

This we know the same way the Colossians did, from the “word of the truth, the Gospel.” This we have heard just like they did. They had heard the Gospel though they were Gentiles. They had heard the Gospel, which we hear from this lectern and this pulpit every Sunday, which they heard when they gathered together as the Church in Colossae every Sunday.

And so, now we get to our text for this morning. And Paul says to the people, “We have not ceased to pray for you.” If at first we don’t succeed, try, try, try again, we often say. If we did not hear the lesson the first time, then it must of course be repeated. Paul has explained this once, but now he starts again. Why does he pray for the people? That “they may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

And so I say again to you as Paul said to the Colossians, I pray for you and I have not stopped praying for you that you would be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding. What does that mean? I pray for you that you would have faith, trust in God, and know God’s will and that it will be done for you. I ask that you pray for me, for my faith, that I would know God’s will, and for our congregation, that we would day by day become strengthened in the faith unto life everlasting.

This we know is fully pleasing to God. That we pray the Lord’s Prayer for one another. That we pray Paul’s prayer for one another. That we pray our own prayers for one another. This we know is bearing fruit in every good work, that we increase in the knowledge of God, in faith in Him, and in fervent love toward one another. This is why we pray, not so much for our own selves, for the lives of others. This is how we build one another up, this is how we begin our worship, this is how we begin our personal devotions, and this is how we continue in the faith. 

I, like Paul, leave you this benediction, this blessing on your prayers this week, “May you be strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father.” This message to the Gentile Christians in Colossae is the same message for the saints here in Phillipsburg. That we would faithful and that we would take care of one another’s needs because of the hope laid up for us in heaven itself, the inheritance of glory everlasting. In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

All Saints’ Day

Revelation 7:9-17

1 John 3:1-3

Matthew 5:1-12

Pastor James Peterson

11/01/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for today’s sermon is this: Those saints buried in our hearts will be raised from the dead unto life everlasting.

            I have mourned with you all more than any other people in the whole world. I have met you in the funeral home before I even met you in your family home. I have watched the White’s checkout notices every day just like you do. I have served as chaplain at our hospital and held hands and prayed prayers in the most difficult moments. 

Every family grieves, but I grieve with every family. At the hospital, I am there. At the bedside, I am there. At the casket, I stand there. At the graveside, I pray with you there. On the anniversary, I call you and visit you. I told you about the death in my family last year, and we grieved together. We supported one another. We prayed for one another. 

Dearly beloved saints of God, I carry your burdens with you, but Christ carries your burdens for you. I carry your burdens and wear this stole, but I carry them only so far, only so far as this altar, and there I leave your burdens, and let God care for your soul. There I lay your burdens, your griefs, your sorrows, and your loss, and pray the Lord is your Shepherd and you shall not want. There I carry, and there the Lord takes from me and from you and from all the burdens and sorrows of us all.

Those saints in our bulletin this morning, those saints of our families buried deeply in our hearts this day, those saints who have died because of Covid, or because of cancer, or because of suicide, or because of an accident, or because of anything, those saints will be raised from the dead unto life everlasting.

I know this is true because I know that Jesus lives. Just like Jairus’ daughter, just like the centurion’s servant, just like Lazarus, just like our Lord, those who have died will certainly be raised. Just like Jonah spent three days in the belly of the fish, Joseph was tossed into pit and prison, and Daniel was sent to the lion’s den, the people of God will be brought back to life. This is what Easter promises, the end of sinful life and the beginning of unending life, the end of death and the beginning of life with God forever. 

For it will be like Ezekiel and the dry bones. Ezekiel sees the graveyard full of bones. And he speaks to the bones and they rattle to life, growing muscles and torsos, stomachs and hearts, heads, shoulders, knees, and toes, and there standing before Ezekiel are living people, an exceedingly great army. For the King must raise an army. The King will raise this army. King Jesus our Lord and God has power over life and death. King Jesus our Lord and God shall raise His army and lead His people not to battle, but to victory, not to hell, but to New Jerusalem, not to death, but to life everlasting.

And this army shall be from every nation. This army shall be from every tribe and people and language. This army shall be without number. For the Lord who loves every nation, tribe, people and language, died for them all on the cross. Death is no longer theirs, but life only and life with God. And this living army, this raised army, this eternal army will be standing forever before the throne and before the Lamb. And this army will not be clothed in camouflage or uniform. This army will be clothed in white robes, blameless, sinless, and guiltless before the King of Kings.

With palm branches in their hands, they will cry out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” This they shall cry, this we shall cry, this you shall cry with angels and archangels and all the heavenly hosts. And we shall sing, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 

For here in this place we experience heaven on earth. What we sing here we shall sing there. What we pray here will be answered there. What we worry about here will be of no concern there. What we fear here will have no control there. For there is not a place, but the very presence of God Himself. In the presence of God we shall not hunger or thirst. In the presence of God we shall not have burdens to carry, for we will have God face to face with us.

Easter reminds us of this: that we will be raised in body and soul unto life everlasting. Easter is more than a miracle. It’s more than a great story. Easter is the promise that we cling to, the hope that we already have, and the answer to the problem of death all around us. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He showed that He defeated death forever, for you and for me. When Jesus was raised from the dead, He declared victory over the devil. And that devil has no claim on you, for you have been claimed by God Himself to be raised from the dead unto life everlasting. 

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Reformation Day

Revelation 14:6-7

Psalm 46

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

#149

Pastor James Peterson

10/31/2021

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for this morning’s sermon is this: Let the Word of God dwell in you richly.

            It doesn’t matter how much money you have or what family you come from. That is the hard lesson from Jesus. We are not born into heaven. We are born onto the earth. The ways of the world are not the ways of the church. This is most certainly true. For I do not have lordship over you, your Lord Jesus Christ does. I am not your Savior, Jesus Christ is. The Council or the Elders put aside self-interest for the sake of all of us. It does not matter how much money you have or what family you come from.

For the Jews claim that they are part of Abraham’s family, and this is enough for them. For them it was all about what family you come from. This was what the Pharisees believed. That we are God’s own special people. We heard that phrase in the hymn the children sang. But the Jews believed they were special because they were born into the family. But the hymn makes clear that we are God’s special people, not because we were born into it or because we have the money for it, but because we believe in God’s Word and trust in His promises.

If you abide in My Word, you are truly my disciples, Jesus says. God’s Word is what matters. Faith is what matters. Doctrine is what matters. It is God’s Word that brings us to Jesus, and God’s Word that brings us closer in fellowship to one another. We gather around the Word, that the Word would dwell in us richly.

            The Christian life used to be about how much money you have and how much you gave. Your life was not secured by baptism or the Lord’s Supper; your life in heaven was secured by paying indulgences on earth. Your Christian life depended on how much money you gave and to whom. That was what Luther started the Reformation about, that the forgiveness of sins cannot be bought or sold. Forgiveness is free, grace, free and boundless.

            Forgiveness is free and for everyone. Even the poor can be forgiven. Even the poor can enter heaven. Even those without a good family have a place in God’s family. Even those tax collectors and sinners we hear about often in the Gospels, they were counted righteous because they believed what Jesus taught them. Because Jesus died for all, every single one of us can believe and be saved.

            But as we talked about on Monday, not everyone believes this Word of God. No amount of money saves us, no type of family can deliver us, but we all know so many people who do not believe God’s Word in the world today. Or they say they believe it but they do not behave like they believe it. God’s Word promises life to us, but the world pursues its Best Life Now all the days of their lives.

            If you abide in My Word, you are truly my disciples. If you read and hear the Scriptures, then you are disciples of God. The word “disciple” means someone who learns. In our case, a disciple is someone who learns what God says to us. This is what we are doing right now. This is what faith does. This is how we know that we are Christ’s disciples, because we are gathered around the Word of God and this Word dwells in us richly.

            How beautiful it is that we are saved by grace through faith and not by our family. How wonderful it is that we are justified by Christ’s death on the cross and not by the amount of money we give. How comforting it is that we are gathered here around the Word of God, abiding here in God’s presence rather than anywhere else. How amazing is this grace, how sweet the sound of children singing about the Church of God, Elect and Glorious! 

            God Himself has given us all we need for faith, that we will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. We has given to us His Word, both the Old and New Testaments, to strengthen and preserve us unto life everlasting. He gave to us His only Son, Jesus Christ, who came to teach and to preach among us, but more than that, to die for us and be raised like we shall be on the Last Day. God has given to us His Holy Spirit, who creates and sustains faith in us, reminding us of God’s promises, teaching us God’s Word in its truth and purity, that we gladly hear and learn it.

            But wait, there’s more! God has given us clear and certain gifts of forgiveness. It’s not who we know or what we have, but what God gives to us, forgives for us. That we have a family, God’s family, baptized into Christ at this font. This family is far larger than any other family in the world. This family gathers for family devotions each Sunday at this pulpit and in your pews. God’s holy nation and chosen race is found here in His Church because He has baptized us into a family that shall have no end.

            As for payment? Jesus Christ paid for our sins with His holy, precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. This gift of forgiveness He clearly and certainly offers to us, His Body given for you and His Blood shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. This payment is all that is necessary for your salvation. This sacrifice is finished on the cross and offered at this altar. 

             As part of Christ’s family and bought with His Blood, the Word of God dwells in you richly. As Christ lives and His Word dwells here, so also shall you live and dwell in the courts of the Lord’s house forever and ever. In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

21st Sunday after Trinity

Genesis 1:1-2:3

Ephesians 6:10-17

John 4:46-54

#148

Pastor James Peterson

10/24/2021

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for this morning’s sermon is this: God created the heavens and the earth.

            In all that we do, we have to start with something. First we start with a seed. We plant the seed into the ground. Then we fertilize it, then we water it, and we watch it grow. We watch it dry out and then we cut it at the time of the harvest. I don’t know much about farming, but I keep learning in the combine when I find time to ride. But we have to start with a seed.

            We have to start with something. When we want to build a Family Dollar/Dollar Tree, first we have to get the land. Then we go and get the supplies. First we lay the foundation, then the steel frame, and then we can attach the four walls. Finally we work on the inside of the building, the electrical, the plumbing, and the painting. But we have to start with the land; we have to start with the foundation.

            We have to start with something to make something. The Old Testament Hebrews understood this quite well. The word for “create” was a word that only God could do. Only He could make something out of nothing. And this is exactly what He did in our Old Testament reading for today. The earth was formless and void, and there was nothing on the face of the deep. 

            There was no rock too heavy for God to move it because He made all the rocks. He made the chicken before the egg, because He didn’t need an egg to make a chicken. Chickens need eggs to make chickens, but God does not. He made Adam and Eve, not as babies, but as full-grown people, in His image. God made out of nothing everything that was made. All He did was say the word, and it was there. Let there be…and there it was.

            This is no magic trick. These are no Genie’s three wishes. God has the whole world in His hands, like we used to sing as children. He made in six days what He could have made in six minutes. He did not need thousands or millions of years to make the world, like our world shoves down our throats. Nor did He create death or need lots of death in order to produce life. 

            God said it, and it was so. Much like Jesus spoke to the sea, “Peace, be still!” and it was immediately calm. Much like God parted the Red Sea and closed it up when Pharaoh pursued His people. Much like when Jesus said to the paralytic, “Rise and walk!” or to Lazarus, “Come out of there!” and they did.

            God created the heavens and the earth. Do not let the world confuse you. Do not try to explain what can only be believed. This we believe and this we confess that God almighty is Maker of heaven and earth. At the end of every sermon, we confess these words together as a congregation. In confirmation class, we recite this clear teaching as we learn what it means. On Wednesday night we have learned God created the heavens and the earth. At the death bed, we utter these most comforting words that God has made me and all creatures, and still takes care of me.

            We have to start with something to make something. But God alone has created all things and He alone sustains them. He created the birds of the air and the fish of the sea. He made all the cows and the pigs and all the meat that we eat. He created you and me and everyone we see.

            But with us, He has a special relationship. He is our Father and we are His children in those blessed baptismal waters. Without the water and the word, there is no relationship with God. But with this promise, we have been created anew as God’s people. This alone God can do. Make something out of nothing. Make us holy out of the unholy. Make righteous out of the unrighteous. Make eternal out of those who fear death. 

            God said it, and it is so. Not only has God created you by His Word, but He has saved you by His Word and His Sacraments. This water that He created so long ago, He has washed you with and calls you forgiven. This bread and wine that He created He used at His Last Supper and said, “This is my Body given for you.” “This is my Blood, shed for you.” When God says that it forgives your sins, it forgives your sins. When God says to do this in remembrance of me, we do this just as He commanded us to do.

            For what God says creates faith in us. What God said has created the world. What God says has redeemed your soul. God created the heavens and the earth. He created by a Word. God redeemed the world. He redeemed by the Word made flesh. Let this Word dwell among us richly, for this Word of God shall surely sustain us from the beginning of the world to the end of our lives, and even unto the life everlasting.

            In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

20th Sunday after Trinity

Isaiah 55:1-9

Psalm 27:1-9

Ephesians 5:15-21

Matthew 21:33-44

#147

Pastor James Peterson

10/17/2021

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme for this morning’s sermon is this: The heir has been killed, but the inheritance is yours.

Preach the Word of God to the people of God. This is the simple command for pastors. This is my life’s work. At the end of the week, this is really all that I absolutely have to accomplish, that I preach the Word of God to the people of God. We often joke that pastors only work one hour a week, one day a week, even though we know that isn’t true. 

Because in reality, most of my days are filled with this very thing: preaching the Word of God to the people of God. Whether here on Sunday morning, or in the hospital, or at your home, or over the phone, this is what I do: preach the Word of God to the people of God. On this pulpit, I have posted the simplest words from the Gentiles in the Gospels: “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” This I get to do, and I love doing it. But more importantly, I must do this, I must show Jesus to the Church and to the world.

But the point of today’s parable is summed up in a phrase that I think is quite familiar to us all. “Don’t kill the messenger.” We usually use this phrase when we have bad news to tell someone who we know does not want to hear it. We might use it in other ways. But this is definitely the point that Jesus is trying to make.

That the people of God do not want to hear the Word of God. That God sent a message to Joseph, but his brothers sold him into slavery because they did not want to believe it. That God sent a message to Moses, but Pharoah would not let God’s people go from the land of Egypt. That God sent Ten Commandments to Moses, but the people did not want to obey them. That the people in the time of the Judges all “did what was right in their own eyes.” That God sent a message to Isaiah, but he was sawn in two pieces. That God sent a message to Jeremiah, but the people went into exile in Babylon anyway because they did not want to hear it. Again and again, they killed the messenger to forget the message.

In fact, Jonah is the one exception to the rule. God sent a message to Jonah, but this time it was Jonah who did not want to preach it. The people of Nineveh eventually repented and God relented, but Jonah had to live in a fish for three days to realize that the message was more important than his own fear. Jonah had to understand that it was his job to preach the Word of God to the people of God.

Preach the Word of God to the people of God. This is the task. But the people did not listen and they did not believe. So God sent forth His Son, that whoever believes in Him might have eternal life. God sent His one and only Son, who is Himself the Word of God brought in human flesh to the people of God. 

Jesus preaches this parable to the people after most of His ministry, after He already came into Jerusalem on a donkey. The pressure was on. Jesus preaches a prophecy that is fulfilled four days later. He knew that the people wanted to kill Him, the priests and the Levites and the Pharisees alike. This was what always happened to the prophets. But in Jesus’ case, it was what had to happen.

For now the heir had come to claim the vineyard. Now the Lord was human flesh to redeem the world. Now the Word dwelt among us. Now God who loved the world came Himself to preach the Word of God to the people of God.

The people killed Him. They crucified Him. One Man died for the people. They did not just kill the messenger, they killed the Lord God of Sabaoth. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords was crowned with thorns, stripped naked like Adam and Eve to pay for every sin since Adam and Eve, to forgive the people of God for unbelief.

He paid for the sin of the world with His own Body and Blood. Each messenger pointed to Christ, every prophet prepared the people. Even Jesus preached the Word of God to the people of God. Yet He died. 

Then the apostles were slaughtered. For the Word of God has never been popular, and God’s Word has never been the easy road. There is no such thing as an easy sermon, and I am not here to be your motivational speaker. This simple task for pastors, to preach the Word of God to the people of God often comes with rejection. We all must expect this. The world we live in is the same world God entered in. This world God loved. This world God redeemed. This world is our world, and have we heard the lesson? 

That although the prophets were killed, though the heir was crucified, the inheritance belongs to us. Talk about the gift we do not deserve. Talk about the Gospel that is unbelievable. God not only suffered for our sake, but He forgave us all our sins. The heir Himself was killed, but the inheritance was transferred to our account, that we are saved by the blood of Jesus.

Have we heard the lesson? Or are our hearts hardened like Pharaoh and Pharisee? That this is what we must expect, Preach the Word of God to the people of God, and believe. This I shall do, in season and out of season, like the prophets and apostles before me. This you shall hear again and again without end, that the Word of God made flesh died to redeem all flesh. 

That message never gets old, this Gospel never expires. That we are sinners, but Christ died for sinners. That the heir has claimed the vineyard for Himself once and for all, and not even the gates of hell shall prevail against it.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Second Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 40:1-11

Psalm 85

2 Peter 3:8-14

Mark 1:1-8

Pastor James Peterson

12/06/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The theme for this morning’s sermon is this: John is great, but Jesus is greater.  

In Communist Russia, it was illegal to be a Christian. In college, I read a book about those killed during the early years of the Russian Revolution. I honestly don’t remember very much about the book, but there was one chilling detail that has stuck with me ever since: the first to be killed were the pastors. The churches were torn down, burned down, or turned into swimming pools and gymnasiums. Christians were arrested, imprisoned, shot, or banished.  

For you see, when your god is the government, then even our Lord must be put to death and anyone who follows Him will carry His own cross. Jesus knew this would be the case when He predicted His own death that those who follow after Him would be martyred for His sake. And they were. Like the prophets before Jesus, the apostles were slaughtered in Jerusalem for the sake of the Gospel. The Roman government, like the Russian government, strove to kill off Christians as quickly and efficiently as they could.

What is the world like when the prophets ceased to preach? Before John the Baptist, there had been no prophets in Israel for 400 years. There was no temple; there were no sacrifices. In a word, there was no forgiveness. We often think to ourselves, “How could the people in the Bible not understand what Jesus was teaching?” or “How could the people in the Bible crucify Jesus on the cross?”  

The answer is obvious. They did not know the Scripture. They did not know the Lord. They did not know who Jesus was or what He was teaching because they had had no preaching or teaching for 100s of years. For longer than America has been a nation, there had been no prophets in Israel. What impact will that have? The people were godless, hopeless, and ruthless.  

What about Russia? What is the world like when the pastors ceased to preach? When Russia replaced churches with circuses and exchanged faith for sports, this did not produce a happier life. In fact, the Russians were threatened, impoverished, and left for dead. With government as god, there were no Bibles, there were no pastors, there were no churches, and there was no comfort. There was only work to death or war to death. There was no hope, no courage, and no life worth living.

So when John the Baptist arrives on the scene after 400 years of silence and starts to preach to the people of Israel, people listen. When John the Baptist offers forgiveness, people flock like sheep to a shepherd. When John the Baptist preaches and teaches and baptizes and forgives, Jerusalem and all Judea go out to hear it. No, John is no celebrity. No, John is not some weirdo in camel’s hair. John the Baptist preached like a prophet and looked like a prophet in a world in desperate need of a prophet.  

John the Baptist appears as Elijah the prophet in the wilderness. He had the camel’s hair and the leather belt. He ate the locusts and wild honey. The clothing reminds us of Elijah, but the clothing converts no souls. The food was strange, but the people sought John because of His preaching. Perhaps the people knew, perhaps they did not know, but certainly Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John knew. They knew that John was preaching because there had been no preaching. They knew that John was teaching because there had been no teaching. They knew that John was the voice crying out in the wilderness. They knew that John was the messenger of God for the people of God.

Not only did John look the part, but he preached the part he was supposed to preach. John fulfilled what Isaiah the prophet said about him. John was preaching to prepare the people for the Lord Jesus. What was the voice John crying in the wilderness? Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. This Isaiah had preached and this John certainly preached to the people. This the people needed to hear, and this the people wanted to hear.  

What did they want to hear? They wanted to hear the two voices that Isaiah speaks about. The first “voice” speaks about the coming of the Lord as an act of creation or rather re-creation. Roads in the desert, mountains made low and valleys raised up are prepared like a red carpet for the King. When things happened in the world, like floods, famines, plagues, or earthquakes, the people of Israel took notice and knew the Lord was at work in the world. What is that purpose? That the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is exactly what happens in the person of Jesus Christ and it shall happen again when our Lord comes back to earth to take us home with Him forever.

What about the second voice? The second “voice” cries out and this time compares people to planting and harvesting. People are grass, he says. We grow and then we are cut down whether by scythe or beast. People are like flowers who bloom and then are gone. The command to “Be fruitful” and “Multiply” certainly fits into this context. Certainly this is the work of the farmer, of Adam working by the sweat of his brow. But the voice provides a contrast between the people of God and the Word of God. Although the people of God will die like flowers and grass, the Word of God will stand forever. This beautiful promise remains a comfort not only to the people in Isaiah’s life, but even to us.

It is pretty clear that John is great news for the people. The people had not heard a prophet for many centuries, and now they heard the Word of the Lord again, as a voice of one crying in the wilderness. Sending the prophets into the godless and hopeless and ruthless world is what our Lord is all about. And the prophets must be courageous. And the prophets must be strengthened against every attack.  

When we look at history and realize the effect that the Communist Revolution had on the church in Russia, we rejoice now with them that they have pastors once again, they have churches once again, they have Bibles once again, and they have faith once again. The work is difficult and it is still dangerous, but we pray that the people flock like sheep to the shepherds and hear the Word of the Lord once again in their lands.

As great as prophets were and as strong as the apostles were, even John knows that Jesus is greater and mightier to save us from our sins. Isaiah would be nothing if he did not preach Jesus, in chapter 64 and chapter 40, in chapter 61 and 7 and 9 and 62 and 52 and 61 and 30. John would be nothing if he did not preach Jesus as he did in the wilderness, as he did at the Jordan River, as he did until they cut off his head.  

The apostles would be nothing if they did not preach Jesus. The book of Acts shows their work and the epistles are their sermons. And all of these words are all about Jesus. All of these sermons point back to Jesus.  

The pastors would be nothing if they did not preach Jesus. Pastors can do many things, but if they do not bring Jesus every day, preach the Word of God to the people of God, they are worthless.  

Know this: Jesus is greater than the apostles and John, and He is greater than Isaiah and the prophets. Jesus is the whole reason we have hope, the whole reason we live, the whole reason we worship, and the whole reason we gather. Like a voice crying out in the wilderness, I tell you today, Jesus was born in Bethlehem to save you from your sins. Jesus suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, and was buried to make payment for your soul before God forever. Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven as the firstfruits of the resurrection to give you hope and a guarantee that you will rise to new life forever with Him on the Last Day. Jesus will come again, to reign on the throne with the prophets and apostles, to separate the sheep from the goats, and to shepherd His flock forever and ever without end.

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Advent Midweek I

Isaiah 64:1-9

Pastor James Peterson

12/02/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for tonight’s sermon is this: Yahweh Rends the Heavens and Comes Down to Us.

            “1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…Ready or not, here I come!” Whether you hide in the closet or in the shower, in the basement or in the attic, hide-and-seek is a game that never grows old. Sure, when you get older you call it flashlight tag or capture the flag. But the rules are basically the same: everybody hide and one person or one team has to find you. There is excitement growing as the seeker passes you by and pride acknowledged when you are the last one to be found. There is strategy to find the dark corners and find the darkest safest path to move to a new location. There is teamwork to figure out where the flag is and how to grab it. Hide-and-seek, flashlight tag, and capture the flag all have one thing in common: everybody likes to hide.

            Just like Adam and Eve. When they ate the fruit, when they sinned against God, when they knew good and evil, they hid for they were ashamed and they were afraid. They were hiding but they shouldn’t have been. They were hiding from God because of their sin. They were hiding because they now knew what evil was and that God was good. They were enemies of God, hiding, hoping never to be found. 

            Most people hide from God too. They hide because of their sin and no hope of forgiveness. They hide because of their guilt, their grief, their pain, or their hurt. They hide from God because they know that sin is not holy, not good, not just, not right. Even sometimes people hide from the church because of us. They don’t like what the preacher has to say, or they don’t like what the church has been doing, or they don’t like how so-and-so treated them, and so they leave, they hide, and they don’t intend on coming back. They live in their sins or we live in our sins. Nobody repents, nobody forgives. Nobody asks for forgiveness and nobody gives it. We heard that Jesus forgives us, but we would never forgive them their trespasses against us.

            Because of Adam and Eve, because of sin entering the world, everybody in human history is a sinner by nature and unclean. Everybody sins and the wages of sin is death. If this were not true, then everybody would be living forever. There would be no fear of the virus, there would be no virus at all. But because everybody has a sinful nature and because everybody sins everybody is bound to die. This is the curse of sin laid upon us in the Garden. 

And so Yahweh was concealed in the clouds on the mountains. But first, Yahweh, what’s that? Yahweh is the name of our Lord used in the Old Testament. In our Bibles we find the word Yahweh when we find the word LORD in all capital letters. Yahweh is the Hebrew word that God Himself said to Moses at the burning bush. Yahweh means “I am.” 

In other words, Yahweh was there in the beginning when the world was created and He Himself made the heavens and the earth. Yahweh was there in the days of Noah, and He Himself shut the door of the ark. Yahweh led the people in the Exodus by a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud through the wilderness to the Promised Land. Yahweh always is, even in the time of Israel’s history, even in our own history and for all times and in all places. 

Yahweh, our Lord, was concealed in the clouds on the mountains. Isaiah refers to this when he says, “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at Your presence- as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil.” Yahweh was not hiding and concealing Himself because God is evil or God is wrathful. Yahweh was hiding and concealing Himself in the clouds on the mountains because of the people’s sin, because of their unholiness, because of their unbelief, and because of their sinful nature. Yahweh hid from us because of His mercy, in order to bring us to repentance, so that we might forgive one another and live as His people.

But the Hide-and-Seek game was over when our Lord Jesus was born in Bethlehem. No longer would Yahweh be hidden in clouds or in fire or in smoke or in earthquake. No longer would He dwell in the tabernacle and be found in the temple. No longer would our Lord hide from us because of our sins. Jesus is the Word made flesh; Jesus is the Lord made flesh. Jesus is Yahweh revealed to the world. Our Lord Jesus Christ was conceived of the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Yahweh no longer hid from us. He would pay for our sin; He would defeat death; He would crush the devil. Yahweh sought out His people to save them.

And so Jesus takes Peter, James, and John up on the mountain. And the three know what to expect. Jesus will be clouded from view. They know what to expect, the fire and the smoke, a sacrifice to be made. They know what to expect, that Jesus will call on the name of the Lord and rend the heavens and come down to us. I mean, they know that the Holy Spirit came down at Jesus’ baptism and that the Father spoke to Jesus from heaven that day. 

But instead, Yahweh was transfigured before the apostles and prophets on the mountain. Jesus was shown brightly to them. Moses and Elijah were there, Peter, James, and John, but more than that, God was there, Yahweh was there, Jesus was there, made manifest. There were no clouds that day, only blinding light and the glory of God in full effect. Yahweh appeared on the mountain all right, Jesus, God in Man made manifest!

The whole Bible shows us that Yahweh rends the heavens and comes down to us. Although we are sinners through and through, the Lord knew what to do. He forgave us. Although we are dying and afraid of death, the Lord gave His final breath. Although the devil tempt, the Lord took our contempt. The Lord Jesus is Yahweh revealed to us. The Lord who hid in the Old Testament was revealed in the New Testament. The Lord who loved His people and had mercy on them by hiding from them was the same Lord who loved the world and was born into it. Jesus Christ is the Lord Most High revealed in full light as our Savior and Redeemer. Jesus Christ needs no fire or smoke in order to be the sacrifice on the mountain for us, bleeding and dying on Calvary for you and me. 

Because this is true, you can be certain, Yahweh will rend the heavens and come down to us on the Last Day. Jesus Christ the Lord will rend the heavens and come down. The Last Day is not a rapture; the Last Day is the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ once again, the resurrected and ascended Lord descending to us, to harvest us, to gather us, to claim us, and to bring us to Himself forever. 

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

First Sunday in Advent

Isaiah 64:1-9

1 Corinthians 1:3-9

Mark 11:1-10

Pastor James Peterson

11/29/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for today’s sermon is this: The King enters into Jerusalem to claim His kingdom.

            And just like that, in the middle of the night, it’s go time! Get in the car, get the bag, call the babysitter. Don’t forget the camera! What’s the quickest route to the hospital? Would somebody feed the cat? Would everyone please calm down? Our friends dropped off their daughter at our house in the middle of the night, with no socks, no shoes, no diapers, and no blankies. And off they went to deliver their second daughter, to meet their second child, to hold their second baby.

            Having a baby is an incredibly exciting time. No matter what else is happening, we cancel it, get in the car and drive way too fast to get to the hospital in time. No matter what is happening at work or at school or in town or at home, baby becomes the most important thing for husband and wife, most especially the wife. 

            As for Joseph, he takes Mary halfway across the country on a bumpy donkey ride in order to pay his taxes. How romantic! That’s certainly one way to bring on labor. From Nazareth to Bethlehem, Joseph walked and Mary rode to get to the City of David. Mary dreamed of this day, when the angel said, “Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.” Joseph dreamed of this day, when the angel said, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.”

            Mary and Joseph both had to trust God and the angel whom He had sent. Which is easier, to believe that you are the Mother of God, or to marry the woman who is pregnant before the wedding? Mary and Joseph trusted the Lord even more than each other and found their way to Bethlehem, to pay taxes, to have a baby, and to meet some shepherds. 

            The King enters Bethlehem, the City of David. Where David was born as the great-grandson of Ruth, there the Messiah Jesus would be born on Christmas morn. Where David was a shepherd boy, the Good Shepherd would meet the Bethlehem shepherds. While David was born and only later crowned king, Jesus was born and immediately became king. For it was the Wisemen who said, “Where is He who was born king of the Jews?” And they came from far away to offer him gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. Jesus was the King born in Bethlehem whether the world acknowledged Him or not. 

            God was born. This is the profound message of Christmas. And certainly this is only the first week of Advent. Should we wait a bit longer? Should we hold back the surprise? Should we anticipate and look forward to Jesus’ birth rather than mention it in the first sermon of the new Church Year? 

            No, we don’t have to wait. Jesus was already born. No, we don’t have to hold back. We know the story backwards and forwards from the earliest days of our lives until today. We have heard the story of Jesus’ birth. It never gets old and it never gets forgotten. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem in order to save the world from their sins. Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem, not an accident, but in the fullness of time and according to God’s plan, to answer the problem of sin and to defeat the enemy Death forever.

            This King who entered Bethlehem is God Himself in human flesh. It is a mystery and a miracle that Jesus is both God and Man. Most of the world does not believe it. Most of the world laughs at us like Sarah in front of Abraham. Most of the world thinks the virgin birth is foolishness. Because they can’t understand it, they can’t believe it. But we believe it. Because the Bible tells me so. Because the Bible is true. Because the Bible is all about Jesus. 

            But Christmas is not all there is. Christmas is only the beginning. The King who enters Bethlehem is taken quickly to Egypt to escape death. Death to the King of the Jews? Treason already? King Herod, jealous of the baby born, wants to kill the King before He grows like Pharaoh killed the baby boys in the days of Moses. And yet like Moses, our Lord Jesus is saved from death. Our Lord Jesus grows in wisdom and in stature. Our Lord Jesus lives to die another day.

Just like Jesus rode a donkey into the town of Bethlehem, Jesus will ride another donkey. The King enters Jerusalem, the Son of David. Bethlehem is the City of David, but there is no palace there. Bethlehem is for shepherds, not for kings. Jerusalem is the city fit for kings. Jerusalem has a palace there; Jerusalem has a temple there. Jerusalem is the capital of the kingdom. And into Jerusalem, Jesus rides in as King.

But Jesus was not born in Bethlehem in order to rule over Herod’s kingdom. Jesus did not ride into Jerusalem to sit on Pilate’s throne. Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the City of David; Bethlehem, the City of God. Jesus rode into Jerusalem, not to establish a palace and an army to overthrow the Romans. Jesus rode into Jerusalem to establish the everlasting kingdom, to reign over all people, to be King of the world forever and ever. His kingdom is established, and it shall not be moved. His kingdom is secure, and it shall never end.

What then is Christ’s kingdom? Since He did not take Jerusalem by force, where then is Christ’s kingdom? Why then do we pray “Thy Kingdom come” if it already here? It is because the King enters His kingdom through His Word and Sacraments. God the Father created by the Word in six days all that was made. So also His Son Jesus Christ lives and reigns by the Word, “It is finished.” The kingdom came when the King died for you. The kingdom was established when the King was executed on a Roman cross. 

The kingdom comes not in one time and place, but for all times and in all places. Jesus’ kingdom is right here, where the King declares you forgiven of all your sins. Jesus’ kingdom is right here, where the King protects you from all enemies, even sin, death, and hell. Jesus’ kingdom is right here, because the King Himself is here by His Word and in His Sacraments. Jesus’ kingdom is right here, where the King feeds you the feast that shall have no end. 

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Thanksgiving Eve

Deuteronomy 8:1-10

Philippians 4:6-20

Luke 17:11-19

Pastor James Peterson

11/25/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Thank the Lord. As a child, my mom and dad insisted on me saying “please” when I wanted something and “thank you” when I received it. It was good manners. When I received gifts for birthdays or Christmas, the next day I spent writing thank you cards to those who had given things to me. 

Take a look at the story today. Of the ten lepers that Jesus healed in Samaria, only the one leper returned and thanked the Lord. Although all ten cried out “please,” only one of the lepers said “thank you.” The lepers cried out, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” And Jesus the Master most certainly did have mercy on them. He healed what could not be healed. He took away what had quarantined them from their families, from their towns, and from their synagogues.

Isn’t this quite like what we are experiencing this year? “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” This disease has made people sick and some people have died. Because of the unpredictable nature, everybody has become afraid, become anxious, become depressed, become alone. It has closed down schools, businesses, churches, and workplaces. It has divided the country in more ways than one. I know, “Enough about Corona, Pastor!” We have all had enough; have mercy on us; let us return to work, to church, to school. 

And sing His praise. If there is one thing we can still do, it is to sing His praise. We can gather here and sing praises to the Lord our God. Singing is the most joyful thing we can do as Christians in a time like this. I know that there are studies that singing is dangerous, but so is everything else we do in this place. There is always some danger whether there is a virus or not. And we have the children singing for the Christmas Program in two weeks. We have hymns to sing and the liturgy to sing. We have choir practice where we can sing to the Lord a new song for this Christmas season.

Singing as a congregation unites us to one another. Singing teaches us the truths of God’s Word. Everybody knows that it is easier to remember a song than it is to remember a paragraph in a book. Singing strengthens our faith and gives joy that otherwise would be absent from us. Sing His praise like the leper praises the Lord with a loud voice when he is healed.

 And tell everyone what He has done. After thanking the Lord for all His benefits to us, and singing praises to Him, then as Christians we tell everyone what He has done. We go and tell it on the mountain. Having heard the Word of God, we tell the Word of God to others who need to hear it. And boy is there a crowd that needs to hear the comforting words of Jesus in this day and age. Having received the Body and Blood of God, we tell our neighbors about the power in the Blood to forgive sins and give eternal life and accomplish our salvation. We tell our neighbors about what Jesus has done for us, feeding and nourishing us, forgiving and dying for us.

When I am teaching the confirmands, I teach them that the Law is what we must do or not do as God’s children. For example, we should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them. We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other. 

And then I teach them about the Gospel, what God has done for us. That God has created the world and all people. That God has died and rose again from the dead for the world and for all people. That God has called us by the Gospel to receive His gifts of Word and Sacrament. That God will give us daily bread and forgive us our trespasses, that He has baptized us His children and forgiven us our sins and feeds us with His Supper. This I teach to the confirmands; this I teach to you; this we tell the world what He has done.

Let all who seek the Lord rejoice. Let all those who come to the house of the Lord rejoice because of the salvation accomplished for us. Rejoice like Philippians 4 says. Rejoice in the midst of so many challenges, that the Lord has taken care of us, the Lord has protected us and provided for us, the Lord has sustained us and preserved us. Let us rejoice that we are here together worshipping in the sanctuary and not watching a sermon video. Let us rejoice that we have each other praying and encouraging one another. Let us rejoice that we are the Church, gathering together around our Lord. 

And proudly bear His name. We bear His name from the day that He baptized us. There He placed His name upon us, making us His children and granting us a new family. We bear His name on our forehead and on our heart to mark us as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. Let us proudly bear the name of Jesus on our lips in this place and in our homes, in our community and in our families. Let us proudly bear the name of Jesus, the name that is above every name, that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess what we believe in our hearts, that Jesus Christ is Lord.

For we know that He recalls His promises. The Lord Jesus promised us that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He promised us that He would be with us always. He promised us that this is His Body and this is His Blood for the forgiveness of sins. He promised us that He could come again for us. Our Lord promised us and He recalls, He remembers, and He keeps His promises to us. Jesus will always be faithful to us.

And leads His people forth in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Like a shepherd leads the sheep, our Lord will lead all of us forth in joy. We have nothing to fear. We have nothing to worry about. We have nothing to doubt. For the Lord is our Shepherd and we shall not want. We do not lead ourselves through this world, strong and independent. Our Lord leads us through each day, through each challenge, through each obstacle, and through each suffering. Our Lord leads us in joy with shouts of thanksgiving. Alleluia, Alleluia.

Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. It is right to give Him thanks and praise. Amen.

Last Sunday of the Church Year

Ezekiel 34:11-16,20-24

1 Corinthians 15:20-28

Matthew 25:31-46

Pastor James Peterson

11/22/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for today’s sermon is this: THE SHEPHERD KING WILL GATHER HIS FLOCK.

            We often think of Matthew 28, where it says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Baptize all nations, baptize all people, welcome all people, teach all people all things. We have baptized Creed Alexander Suggs before your very eyes; now let us teach him about Jesus every day from here on out. Jesus’ message is that He came not just for the Jews, but for all the world. For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

            And certainly we should be as friendly as the Baptists and as faithful as the Evangelicals. Believe it or not, I did not attend a Lutheran grade school or high school. I attended a Christian School, where we prayed before each class, we had chapel every week, and where all of my friends were not Lutheran at all. And boy were they friendly and boy were they faithful. They challenged all my Lutheran beliefs and made me sure of what I was taught in church every Sunday.

            Before the Lord returns, while we remain here on this earth, while we are the church gathered in this place, we should feed the hungry, we should give drink to the thirsty, we should welcome the stranger, we should clothe the naked and visit the sick and those in the prison. Invest your faith in each other, as we heard last week. Share the faith and the love of Christ with your neighbor. It is the second greatest commandment. Believe it or not, the church does not grow without any effort. Believe it or not, the church does not grow without any witness, without invitation, without building relationships with those in need. Be like the Baptists and make friends and bring them to church.

            Make disciples of all nations, as many as you can, by baptizing and teaching. Jesus tells us exactly how to make disciples. By baptizing Creed and teaching him. By baptizing others and teaching them. Bible Study is foundational to our Christian witness. Bible Study is how the Church grows and it is how the Church lives. If there is no teaching, how can there be faith? If there is no teaching, how can there be a church? If there is no teaching, how can we have any mission goals at all?

            The problem I have with this reading we have today is that it sure sounds like if you are a good neighbor like State Farm then you will be granted heavenly bliss. If you do good, and work hard, and give much, then the King will welcome you in. But our God is not appeased by our sacrifices. Our Lord is not pleased by our good works. This is why He came to be born in Bethlehem. This is why He came to die in Jerusalem. He came to save us. He came to redeem us. He came to justify us and to cleanse us with His blood.

            And He came to baptize and teach. I came here also to baptize and teach. We come here to this sanctuary for baptism and teaching. And this does separate us out from all the world. This does make us special in God’s eyes. This does draw the line between saint and sinner, between faithful and unfaithful, between Christian and unbeliever. Our Lord declares us part of His family, part of His people, part of the Church.

Think of this example. The people of the Old Testament misunderstood what God was doing. They were proud to be God’s people and they worked hard to stay holy. They created more and more laws, thinking this was good enough for heaven. They tried to appease God and please God with their good works for their neighbor, but they completely neglected worshipping God with their lips. They walked the walk, but they did not talk the talk. The Old Testament people misunderstood God’s grace and His work among them, to bring them to faith and to preserve them in that faith.

How does God bring us to faith? By baptism. How does God preserve us in the faith? By teaching. And this will separate us out from all the world. This is what God is going to do on the Last Day. Christ the King will return to gather the flock like a shepherd. This is what Ezekiel and 1 Corinthians and Matthew are all saying. Our deeds are like filthy rags, but our faith in God is all that matters. This is what separates us from all the world, thanks be to God. This faith granted to us by baptizing and teaching is what makes us God’s people and not just Phillipsburg people. This is what makes us God’s people, that He claims us and names us, forgives us and feeds us, teaches us and strengthens us with His Word each and every week until we die. 

Inherit the kingdom He says. And the thing with inheriting is that it is always gift. We may think that inheritance is rightfully ours, but it is our Father who grants to us the inheritance, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life eternal. We are His children and He is our Father. And the Father sent forth His Son first to claim the kingdom, not a place but a people. This Jesus did for us and died for us. 

Now the Father will send this Shepherd King back to earth. If the cross was everything, then Jesus would never return. There would be no need. But this is not who our Lord is. Our Lord is gracious and merciful and He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will return as He Himself promises, separating out His people from all the nations, finding the baptized and those taught about Him. Like the Bridegroom from two weeks ago, our Lord will know who His Bride is. Like last week, the Master will seek out His servants. This week, the Shepherd will gather His flock, each little lamb, each one that He has called by name and fed and nourished. This Shepherd King will separate us out from the world, and take us to the world to come. This Shepherd King will call out to us and bring us home. Our Lord will return, just as He promised and gather us into the kingdom for the inheritance that has no end.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Twenty-Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

Zephaniah 1:7-16

Psalm 90:1-12

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11

Matthew 25:14-30

Pastor James Peterson

11/15/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. 

The theme for today’s sermon is this: THE MASTER MAKES GOOD ON HIS INVESTMENT.

As many of you know, my father is the Associate Dean of the College of Business at Southern Illinois University. He works in the Finance Department. He specializes in investments. As a kid, I regularly heard about the DOW and the NASDAQ and I even travelled six hours and toured the stock exchange trading room in Chicago as part of my school’s field trip. 

Dad definitely taught us basic money management, “Give, Save, Spend.” Whatever we received for birthdays or Christmas, from friends or neighbors, or for hard work in the community, first, we gave to the church. Dad always taught “God first” to me and my sisters. What we had came from God and was entrusted to us. 

Then from what was left, we saved in our own bank accounts. “You’ll need this for college some day, son,” I can hear him saying. “Saving protects you during bad times and gives you freedom during good times,” he would say. 

And finally, he encouraged us to spend from the rest. Certainly spending came last, and spending had nothing to do with bills to pay. I was a kid then. But this too was important to do: to enjoy life’s many toys and games, to watch the baseball and football games at the university, and to have ownership of things we loved.

And while this was good enough while I was young, as I grew up, Dad changed the conversation with me about money. Dad always emphasized the power of “money over time.” Giving is necessary, saving is smart, and spending is useful, but investing is an entirely different deal. Investing takes both time and money, setting aside for the future and watching money grow. This he started with me as a teenager and then continued as a college student and a graduate student. It made my life easier and opened more opportunities for me. Because of investing, I became a pastor in the first place.

It is true that the Master gives talents to His servants in our story this morning. But He does more than that. He is investing in His people. To the first servant He gives 100 years of money. To the second servant 40 years. To the third servant He gives 20 years worth of money. But He does not give it to do with however they please. Like He invests in them, He expects them to invest in others. He expects that His money will make a return, that money over time will grow. 

            This is an example for us today. Our Lord has given to us 100 years of faith, 40 years of faith, or only 20 years of faith. Granting the inheritance at our baptism, now He waits to see what we do with it. Will we invest our faith in others? This is what He expects. He expects that husbands invest in the faith of their wives, that fathers invest in the faith of their sons and daughters. He expects that we invest our faith not only in ourselves, but in our families firstly and our neighbors secondly. 

            Last week, we talked about filling up with faith like the oil in our candles in the chancel. But this week, we realize that Jesus is teaching us about what to do in the meantime as His faithful people. We remember that we cannot know the day or the hour, but what is it that we should do during the minutes, hours, days, months, or years before the Lord returns? 

            Investing our faith is much more than dollars and cents. This is why Jesus keeps “talents” vague in the text. Jesus is not asking for a Christian talent show day after day, month after month, or year after year. What Jesus is asking is to “put God first” and schedule everything else around your time with Him. Faith is more important than fame; faith is more valuable than finances. Faith is the greatest gift that the Lord gives. Start the day with the Word of God and end it with prayer before bed. Teach your children and remind them of God’s Law and His promises. Invest your faith in the next generation, and the finances will work themselves out.

For the Master will not be gone forever. The Lord will return to His servants. He will return to face the world one servant at a time. Our text today has two faithful servants and one unfaithful one. This shows us that the whole earth will see God on the Last Day. Ready or not, the Lord Jesus comes, as we heard last week. For those investing their faith, the Master comes to receive back what He invested in at your baptism; the Master will take you, body and soul, to Himself forever. He will gather those whom you invested in too, your husband or your wife, your son or your daughter, your friend or your neighbor. 

What did you invest, o banker? What did you harvest, o farmer? Who did you instruct, o teacher? Who did you care for, o nurse? When you invested, what was most valuable to you? When you harvested, did you reap what you sowed? When you instructed, did you teach from a Christian worldview? When you cared, did you show the love of Christ to the sick and the wounded?

            Where is your wife, o husband? Where is your husband, o wife? What about your sons and your daughters, where are they? Who have you gone and told it on the mountain? Who have you prayed for on the street corner? Who have you brought to church and Bible Study? Who have you called the pastor to go and visit? 

            The thing about investing is that it is all about “faith over time.” Believe it or not, your faith strengthens the faith of others. Your prayers encourage the lives of others. Your presence here at this altar comforts the others all around you. In the meantime, while we wait for the Lord to return, invest in your faith. Let the faith of your fathers be the faith of your families. Let the faith that we have show forth to this congregation, to this community, and to all the world. 

For in the end, on the day when the Master returns, He will see the world and seek His servants. He will be prepared for a return on investment. And that investment is in each other. And He shall be glad when He appears and sees us. For the Master welcomes the servants with joy. When He goes to settle accounts, He will not look at our money, our house, our achievements, or anything except our faith in Him. And when He sees who we are, and that we have been faithful, and that we have invested, then He shall most certainly say, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little. I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your Master.”

Enter into that joy, He says, and you shall, o servant of the Lord.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

Amos 5:18-24

1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Matthew 25:1-13

Pastor James Peterson

11/08/2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            The theme for today’s sermon is this: Ready or not, the Bridegroom arrives for His Bride.

Are you ready to meet your Maker? We see this message all along the interstate. Apparently, well-meaning Christians intend to scare us to death! The message causes fear, not faith. It puts Judgment Day before our eyes, but it makes even Christians unsure and insecure, wondering and worrying, asking and doubting the salvation that you have in God’s hands nailed on the cross.

            Are you ready to meet your Maker? It makes us think of a wild west movie with the sheriff and the outlaw facing off at thirty paces. This old town is not big enough for the two of us, we hear them say to each other. Death is on the mind. Murder and revenge build the suspense of the moment.

            Are you ready to meet your Maker? Is the question of the end of the world, the question of the end of our lives. But is it a Christian question? At its surface it mentions the Maker, and we naturally assume that Maker to be God the Father. It acknowledges the relationship between Creator and Creature. It brings Genesis into the questions of Revelation, the creation and the new creation, the world and the world to come.

            But it does not say it right. Are you ready to meet your Maker? Makes us fearful, not confident. It causes us to worry and be anxious and doubt whether we are ready, whether we are faithful, whether we are saved. And that is a huge issue. It ignores completely our Savior Jesus Christ. It isn’t that we are created people that we go to heaven, but that we are redeemed by God’s blood and declared worthy of heavenly Paradise. The creation of the world shows us where we live. But the redemption of the world offers us life forever. Genesis doesn’t open heaven to us. The death and resurrection of Jesus does.

            Our story this morning causes us to think about these things. First, will I be saved? Second, will I have enough faith? Third, how long do I have to wait for Christ’s return? Fourth, Are we foolish or are we wise? It is no surprise that this story causes us to evaluate these questions. This is part of Jesus’ purpose.

            But it is not His purpose with us. Firstly, are you ready to meet your Redeemer? Of course you are. Here He is in the Word and the Sacraments. No, we cannot talk to Jesus like Peter or touch Jesus like Thomas. But we hear what He says and we eat and drink what He promises. Ready or not, here He comes, not hiding from us but residing in us. Ready or not, here He comes in baptism like a dove down from heaven to dwell in our hearts and create faith in our souls. Ready or not, here He comes in the Word, to teach us about Him, to strengthen our faith in Him, and to comfort our troubled souls with His promises. Ready or not, here He comes in the Lord’s Supper, to forgive our sins with His Body and His Blood, given and shed for us. Ready or not, here He comes, not only that He made us His creatures but that He redeemed us His people.

            Secondly, will you be saved? Of course you are. This is why Jesus died and this is why He comes again. On the cross the Bridegroom declared His love for you. On the cross the Bridegroom gave His life for you. On the cross He saves all people from their sins. On the cross He rescues all people from death. When He comes again, He does not declare His love again, but He shall gather His Beloved Bride from the earth and bring her home to New Jerusalem. When He comes again, He does not give His life again, but He will be living and reigning as the King of Kings. When He comes again, He will not save His people from their sins, but He will rejoice over every sinner who repents and follow Him. When He comes again, He will not rescue people from death, but He will destroy death forever and grant life forever and ever.

            Thirdly, will you have enough faith? Of course you do. We keep the oil in our lamps by attending church regularly, by learning new things in Bible Study, and by praying for all people according to their needs. Thy Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path says the Psalmist. We keep the oil in our lamps by calling one another, visiting one another, and gathering together with one another. We keep the oil in our lamps by being the church and worshipping together. Just like the oil in our candles in this chancel needs to be refilled regularly, so also we are as Christians. In this depressing and lonely world, our faith will run out more and more quickly without refilling here with oil to fuel our faith. But know this, dearly beloved saints of God, with the oil in our lamps we will know our Bridegroom when we meet Him. And most importantly our Bridegroom will know who we are and take us with Him to the wedding feast.

            How long must we wait? Only the Bridegroom knows the day or the hour. We know He is coming, ready or not. We know He is coming for us, for those He created, those He saved, those He redeemed, and those He loved. And He will come when He’s ready, ready for the end of the world and the beginning of the world to come, ready for the end of our earthly life and the beginning of eternal life. Come Lord Jesus, quickly come!

            While the world thinks we are fools, our Lord knows we are wise. While the world thinks the cross is foolish, we know the wisdom of the cross, our own salvation. While the world mocks and ridicules our Lord, He says not a word like a Lamb led to the slaughter. While the world mocks and ridicules us, let us wait for the Bridegroom who comes to bring us home. 

            In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Reformation Day

Confession and Absolution

Revelation 14:6-7

Psalm 46

Romans 3:19-28

John 8:31-36

Pastor James Peterson

October 25th, 2020

            Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

            Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.

            This is confession. Too often as Lutherans, we think that confession is a Roman Catholic thing. Oh, I wouldn’t want to do that. I don’t need to do that. I don’t have time to do that. But this is confession, and we do it on first and third Sundays. We confess that we are sinners. And this is the first part. For if we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 

            “I am a sinner” is a hard thing to say. Who wants to say to the police officer, “I have sinned, for I was driving 85 in a 65.” Who wants to say to the teacher, “I have sinned, for I did not finish my homework as you asked.” Who wants to say to their parents, “I have sinned, for I slapped my sister and knocked her down.” Who wants to say to God, “I have sinned, for I have not been keeping the Sabbath Day holy.”

            But this is what we are doing when we repent. When I am teaching the confirmands what it means to repent, I walk toward the playground, toward the world, away from God. In order to repent, I then turn back around and walk toward the sanctuary, toward the church, toward the altar, toward the presence of God. For this is what “repent” means: “to turn back to God.” And this is the first part of confession, to turn back to God, to confess that we are sinners, and to ask for forgiveness where it can be found.

            But what sins should we confess? What sins should we repent and turn back to God? Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts. In other words, when we pray “forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us” we are asking God for forgiveness of all of our sins, Monday sins and Tuesday sins, Wednesday sins and Thursday sins, Friday sins and Saturday sins, and even Sunday sins. This we do on Sundays before we hear the Word, before we hear the sermon, before we pray the prayers, and before we receive the Lord’s Supper. From the beginning of the service, we have repented, and God has said to you, “You are forgiven.”

            For Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This is the second part. That we receive absolution, that is forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven. 

            If you sin against me, James Peterson, call me names or gossip about my character or whatever it is you might do against me, that is between you and me, and I will certainly forgive you. Let us deal with it privately. 

But when we are talking about repenting and forgiving, when we are talking about confessing sins before God, when we are at the beginning of the church service, it is not that I, James Peterson, am forgiving you. It is that God is forgiving you of all your sins. He uses my voice, like He uses my voice to read the Word, to teach the Word, to preach the Word, and to consecrate the Lord’s Supper. But the forgiveness is not mine, but God’s forgiveness for you. 

            For forgiveness is called the Office of the Keys in Matthew 16 and 18 and John 20. And this forgiveness is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent. By this, it takes my thoughts, words, and deeds completely out of the equation. 

God is saying basically this, “I want to forgive my people of all their sins. This is why I died on the cross. But I want them to hear it, so that they can believe it, so that they can be comforted by it. Apostles, forgive my people for my sake. Because I died, their sins are forgiven them. Pastors, forgive my people for my sake. Pastors, don’t think too highly of yourselves and forgive them because you forgive them, for that is no great gift. Forgive them because I forgive them and tell them I forgive them.”

And so I will. For whatever you may think of me personally, whether I am cool or not, whether I am too young or too smart, it really doesn’t matter to you or to me. What matters is not me, but the office, the position, the authority from God Himself. Just as Moses decreased and Joshua increased, just as Elijah decreased and Elisha increased, just as John the Baptist decreased and Jesus increased, so also I must decrease and Jesus must increase. This ministry isn’t about me and how awesome I am. The whole reason we are here is because of Jesus and how awesome He is, so awesome that He forgives each and every sin of thought, word, and deed!

For the Lord has obligated me to remind you that you are forgiven. He has given me a task, to speak His words to you on a weekly basis. It is not who I am that matters, but what God does through me that matters. God forgives you, and I know you believe it. For you believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with you by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

This is why I am offering Confession and Absolution tomorrow night and each month on the fourth Monday at 7 PM. Because many of us are deeply troubled by our sins, and the devil tempts us to think we are not forgiven. But most importantly, because God’s forgiveness never fails. Because we need to hear that God forgives us all our sins. Because this year has caused us to sin in ways we never thought we would. Because forgiveness won on the cross is personally applied to us when we have need of it. 

Forgiven now before God; forgiven now of all our sins of thought, word, and deed; forgiven now of what we have done and left undone; let us go into this world forgiven. Let us believe that words of God are true, believe that the work of the cross is true, and that we are forgiven because God says so.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

Tenth Commandment

Isaiah 45:1-7

1 Thessalonians 1:1-10

Matthew 22:15-22

Pastor James Peterson

10/18/2020

        Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

        You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not entice or force away our neighbor’s wife, workers, or animals, or turn them against him, but urge them to stay and do their duty.

        The THEME for today’s sermon is this: Be content with who you are in Christ Jesus.

        The pressures on our children are enormous. Get good grades. Be the best athlete. Don’t get beat up by the bullies. Do your chores. Where does “Be content with who you are” fit in? Now that does not mean “be lazy” or “don’t try hard.” It does not mean to get bad grades to get attention from teachers, from coaches, and from parents. It does not mean to give up sports or do enough at practice to get by. “Be content with who you are” means to find your identity in God.

        At the end of the day, at the end of your life, at the end of the world, your grades won’t matter, your sports won’t matter, your health won’t matter and your chores won’t matter. But your faith matters and your identity is in God and not yourself. This why He baptized you and named and claimed you. So that if grades fail, if sports end, if health worsens, you are never confused and alone. This is why Jesus came to earth, to die for you and to reclaim you as one of His very own people.

        “Be content with who you are.” The multiplication of spouses and houses complicates life because it complicates faith. You have a wife; don’t look for another. You have a husband; don’t look for another. Coveting possessions leads us to stealing. Coveting people leads to adultery. This commandment is simply this: Do not make their loved ones your loved ones.

        Because for whatever reason, whatever excuse, and whatever intention we may have, in the end we are not happy with who we have in our life because we are not happy about who we are in this world. Look at the world around us, inventing new perversions of all kinds and proud of it. Men with men, women with women, men becoming women, and women becoming men. And now the abomination of adults with children recorded for our living rooms! When the world was turned upside down, we used to say that it was like dogs and cats living together. We used to seek peace and tranquility, not chaos and confusion. Now we promote living together outside of marriage, we promote “whatever makes you happy” and “love is love” without a second glance. If the church does not stand up against this, no one else will. If we do not teach that we should not covet, we should not commit adultery, then we have disregarded God’s Word and weakened the marriages all around us. It is time that we look at what marriage means not in the eyes of this world, but in the eyes of God.

        This is what Romans 7 means. God’s will and my will are wrestling inside of us. We call this “saint and sinner.” God says, “Do not commit adultery,” but we say “just this once.” God says, “Be faithful,” but we say, “I want more.” Apply this to any sin, to any commandment, but at the root of the issue is this: “We are not content with who we are.” “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” we pray each week, each day, and each time we see one another in our daily lives, but in the end, my will usually wins while we wrestle with our God.

        Again I say to you “Be content with who you are…in Christ Jesus.” If we base our identity on our family, our workers, our animals, or our land, we will not be content and we will certainly be disappointed. If we base our identity on education, sports, or health, we will not be content and we will certainly be disappointed. If we base our identity on love and happiness rather than faithfulness and commitment, we will not be content and we will certainly be disappointed. 

        But if we base our identity in our Lord Jesus Christ, then we will be content with what we have. For Jesus understands that we wrestle like Jacob did with God in the days of old. He understands that we are both saints and sinners. He inspired St. Paul to teach us about the Christian life in Romans 5, 6, and 7. The fact of the matter is, Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by the devil himself, fasting and praying for forty days and forty nights. Yet, Jesus did not sin because He came to forgive your sin. He knows that temptation seizes us, temptation to want the best wife, the best kids, the best workers, the best animals. But this has already been given to us. 

        Because in the battle of wills between God and us, Jesus knew that He had to obey the Father’s will. Thy will be done, Jesus said in the Garden. Thy will be done, Jesus bled on the cross. Thy will be done and not mine, not yours, not anyone’s, but God’s will be done, that God Himself would die for the sake of His people, that God Himself would forgive the sins of all sinners on the tree. Thy will be done and not what I want or desire. 

        Jesus did not die because He wanted the whole world to be happy; He died because He wanted the world to be forgiven and to live forever and to be free from the devil. Jesus did not promise happiness, but the cross, our cross to bear. But He did not leave us or forsake us with nowhere to go. He did not die and leave us hanging from our own gallows. He rose, rose from the dead, rose from the depths of hell, rose for those to believe in life after death.

        Jesus baptized us so that our identity is secure. Everything the world offers rots or burns. But Jesus offers the grace, mercy, and peace that never ends. He offers the gifts, His own Word to be heard, and His Sacraments to be received. We are not built to live forever in this world, but we have been chosen by God to live forever in the world to come. For the life granted to us with water and the Word never fails because God’s promises never fail us. For the identity offered to us does not pass in a few months when a season ends or when grades are turned in. Our identity is in God and He promises to be faithful, He promises to be committed, He promises never to leave you or forsake you. He promises to be with you, right here, and over there, and this day and every day until that Day when He returns in glory and we meet Him face to face. 

        In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 25:6-9

Philippians 4:4-13

Matthew 22:1-14

Pastor James Peterson

10/11/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not scheme to get our neighbor’s inheritance or house, or get it in a way which only appears right, but help and be of service to him in keeping it.  

The THEME for today’s sermon is “Be content with what you have.”

What is coveting anyway? We devote 20% of the Ten Commandments to coveting and yet most of the time, we don’t even understand what it means. And why are there are two commandments about coveting rather than just one commandment, You shall not covet? Let’s take a closer look.

Coveting is the sinful desire in our hearts to acquire for ourselves anything that belongs to our neighbor. It is much more than “I want a house.” It is more like “I want your house.” Look no further than HGTV to covet your neighbor’s house. No, I don’t mean that the host and the couple are coveting their neighbor’s house necessarily. At the end of the show, the family will pick a new house and begin paying for it. But what about us? I have often found myself watching that show and saying, “How can a pink salamander farmer buy a house that is that expensive?” Or perhaps the reverse is true: “Why would someone pay so much for small town country living when we can live peacefully right here in Phillipsburg?” I tell you today: Be content with what you have.

This example is big scale and obvious. But doesn’t this thing happen even among our children? I want your lunch because you have chips and soda. Or when I was growing up everybody wanted to be decked out with Under Armor and wearing the cool basketball shoes from Dick’s Sporting Goods. I am sure the times have changed and the brands have changed, but the desires have not changed. Is brand name stuff an evil in itself? No, absolutely not. God has given us everything we need and so much more, and we are to be content with what we have. This is the commandment. But too often we take things the extra step further than we should. I should have the cool lunch and eat whatever I want. I should have the cool shoes and trade him for my “terrible” ones. Like Tom Sawyer and the white-washed fence, we try to find ways to get what we want in ways that only appear right.

This is so true when we are talking about an inheritance. Everybody should get the same. Or I should get the house. Or I should get the farm. Or I should get the tractor. Or I should get the boat. Like prodigal sons, we think we are entitled to everything our parents have and cherish. We are sons and daughters after all. What is theirs is mine we think. And so we take care of our parents not always out of love for them, but for what we get from them. We don’t want them to die, nobody in this world thinks death is a good thing. But we treasure our parents for the treasures they have rather than the treasures they are. And again I say to you, Be content with what you have.”

What you have is Jesus. Your greatest treasure is Jesus Christ our Lord. Consider His words: For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Here we lay the treasure upon the altar, the Body and Blood of God given and shed for you. Here we preach the treasure, the Word of God for the people of God. Here we speak the treasure, the forgiveness of sins and life eternal. Jesus, priceless treasure is one of my favorite hymns in the whole book.

Jesus, priceless treasure,

Fount of purest pleasure,  

Truest friend to me.  

Ah, how long in anguish  

Shall my spirit languish,  

Yearning, Lord, for Thee?

Thou art mine, O Lamb divine!

I will suffer naught to hide Thee;

Naught I ask beside Thee.

Consider how our Lord left all the treasures of heaven to be born in a stable to a teenager. Consider how He was in the house of the Lord all the days of His life and came to this world to redeem it. Consider how our Lord was not content with sin, death, or the devil, and died to forgive and give life and defeat the devil forever. Consider your God who lives and reigns to all eternity. Consider what is really important, not what we have or don’t have, but what God has given to us, a priceless treasure beyond measure, beyond death, beyond the grave.  

The Lord Jesus Christ has given us grace to believe, mercy to receive, and peace to relieve us of our sins. This began in baptism and continues today through His Word and is offered this morning in His Body and his Blood. Here is the grace, the mercy, and the peace of God. Here is the treasure Jesus Christ, who offered His own Blood for our redemption.  

Although we covet our neighbor’s house, rejoice with me that we have houses to live in. For the Lord loves you and has provided for you what you need. Although we covet our neighbor’s things when we are young, give thanks to God for the things He has given to us, given personally to us. For the Lord loves you no matter what age you are, no matter what you have, and no matter if you are cool or not. Although we covet our parent’s inheritance, be glad that your inheritance is eternal and no moth or rust can destroy it, that you are sons and daughters not only of your parents but you are children of God Himself, baptized into His name and forgiven of all of your sins. Although we sin against this commandment, be content with what you have, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for you have the priceless treasure, Jesus Christ our Lord.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

LWML Sunday

Eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 5:1-7

Philippians 3:4b-14

Matthew 21:33-46

Pastor James Peterson

10/04/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.  

The Owner of the vineyard sent out the prophets to gather the harvest. He sent them out with the Word of God for the people of God. He sent Moses and Elijah, He sent out Isaiah and Jeremiah, He sent out Jonah and Micah and Habakkuk and Malachi. He sent them with His Word into His world. The Owner of the vineyard needed to gather the harvest.  

This shouldn’t surprise us. For God created the world and wants all people to be saved. God planted the Garden of Eden and yearns for our return to it. God expects that the Word that is sowed will produce fruit and that the fruit will mature and dry out and be ready to be cut, to be harvested, to be taken in and stored into the barns.

So God sent the prophets of old to the people of old. “Thus saith the Lord” saith the prophets. Repent and turn from your wicked way, they said. The Messiah is coming, they said. Follow the commandments, they said. Remember the Passover, they said. Law and Gospel they preached. What we should do as Christians and what God has done for Christians they taught. That we are all sinners in need of a Savior, that sin required a sacrifice, that death is not the way of God, the prophets repeated again and again.

But you know the story. The people of old slaughtered the prophets. They did not want to listen to a prophet, they did not want to listen to God. They wanted what they wanted, they trusted what they trusted, they loved what they loved, and they did what was right in their own eyes rather than in God’s eyes.  

No wonder the Pharisees hated this parable. Jesus was calling them out. He was accusing them in their hearts for what they were plotting, what they were planning, what they were seeking, and what they were wanting. Like the people of old, the Pharisees were planning to kill the prophet, Jesus, the Messiah, Jesus, the Son of the Vineyard, Jesus.  

For the king had beheaded John for a daughter’s dance. Jesus didn’t expect anything less, anything different. Jesus knew He would die. It wasn’t a gamble. God would send the prophets for the fruit in the vineyard, for the harvest of the saints. John would preach, Repent for the kingdom of heaven is near. John would preach that the axe was laid at the root of the tree. John would preach what the prophets had preached, repentance and faith, sinner and saint, Law and Gospel. The Advent Prophet prepared the way for the Christmas Lord born of Mary in Bethlehem.

For you see, Jesus makes a true statement in verse 37. Finally, He sent the Son to them. He is talking about Himself. He is talking about who He is. He is claiming to be the Son of God. He has brought the parable from the earliest Old Testament prophet to the present day of this parable. He is claiming to be the Son of God and of course He most certainly is. He has come into the vineyard with the same message, with the same Law and Gospel teaching and preaching, and the Pharisees have tracked Him and attacked Him, tested Him and trapped Him as best that they could. Jesus is telling them flat out that they are rejecting God, that they are rejecting Him, the Son of the Vineyard.  

And the prophecy comes true. A few chapters later, the Pharisees, the chief priests and the scribes have got their man, the Son of Man, the Son of God. And they will lie until they crucify. Jesus is slaughtered like the prophets before Him. The Word of God for the people of God was the preaching of the prophets; the Word of God became flesh in the body of Jesus Christ. This Word of God was for the people of God in a totally new way. Rather than sending more prophets, rather than sending more mortal men, God sent forth His Son for the same punishment, death at the hands of unbelief, death on a cross like a common criminal.  

And this message is worth repeating: Jesus died for you. God sent His Son into the vineyard to pay for the vineyard by His blood. God gave up life eternal for death on the tree for you and for me. God knew the message, that we must repent and believe, that we are sinners in need of a Savior, that we are not God and that we need Him.  

In our vineyard, in this place, God sent out a prophet, and we call him pastor. And hey, I’m pretty happy…I’m not dead yet. God sent me to you for the same reason He sent every prophet, apostle, and pastor that the world has ever known: to tell you what God says and to tell you what God does. To show you your sin and to show you your Savior. To preach Law and Gospel like Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel and Daniel. To defend the flock from sin, death, and hell, and when I fail, to rely on God to pull us through it.  

This is what the LWML does. They send out missionaries to all corners of the world. I just met two of them this past week. They send out pastors to the flocks. They send out deaconesses to their parishes. They make ministry possible in every place for the sake of the Gospel, that Jesus died and rose for the forgiveness of our sins.  

This message will never die out because Jesus will never die again. Because our Lord lives and reigns to all eternity, the Church remains forever and ever. Because Jesus came to earth we have new birth in baptism. Because Jesus died, our sins are paid. Because Jesus rose, we have hope in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Because Jesus ascended into heaven, we know He shall come again to reclaim the vineyard, to gather the harvest, and take us to Himself in heaven forever and ever.  

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Seventeenth Sunday after Pentecost

Ezekiel 18:1-4, 25-32

Philippians 2:1-18

Matthew 21:23-32

Pastor James Peterson

09/27/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not tell lies about our neighbor, betray him, slander him, or hurt his reputation, but defend him, speak well of him, and explain everything in the kindest way.

Don’t tell lies. Don’t lie to your parents, don’t lie to your teachers, don’t lie to your friends, and whatever you do, don’t lie to your grandma! For if we lie once, we have to keep on lying. Watch the lie multiply. Did God really say, “You shall not eat of any tree in the Garden?” then becomes “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The serpent lied for he is the father of lies. One lie after another the serpent lies and the truth is not in him.  

For this is what happens with us. Did the teacher really say, “You cannot run in the hallways.” We know what the teacher said, but we think we know better. We know that running isn’t allowed, but that makes us want to run more and faster and farther. We know that we will get in trouble, but we will run anyway. We will run… and hide. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden with God.

We all know how important the truth is. For “I graduated” doesn’t really matter until the grades are submitted and the work is all done and the diploma is in hand. Then “I graduated” is the truth, and that cannot be taken away from you. Or in another example, whether “I love you” is the truth or a lie is the difference between a marriage and divorce. This is not just a true statement on the wedding day, but for each and every day. This is the truth upon which marriage is founded, that your word to your wife is true, that your word to your husband is true. As God has made promises to you about your life, so you make promises to your wife for your life and hers, together.  

Or regarding our faith, “The Bible is the Word of God” is true or false and that is a matter of life and death, heaven and hell. Either the Bible is the truth or it is a lie. Either the Bible is God’s Word or it is man’s word. Either Jesus is the Way, the Truth, or the Life or there are many ways, many truths, and many lifes. Let us pray that the Truth prevails over all the lies we hear in this world.

The meaning of this commandment is like my grandma used to tell me, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” Or as it is written in the commandment, “explain everything in the kindest way.” This is one of the hardest things to do. But it is one of the most valuable things for us to remember. For if we criticize one another, will that promote unity in the church? If we tear each other down, how will we be built up together again in the Body of Christ?  

It is so easy to hurt feelings and so easy to have hurt feelings. But it is impossible to know who hurt your feelings or whose feelings you hurt. It is so easy to pass it on, “but just don’t tell anybody.” Instead, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, if we hear criticisms of anyone among us, stop that person in their tracks. Go with them to that person and resolve the issue right away. If you hear something you shouldn’t, stop that conversation and reconcile with the person who will be hurt. Do not betray or lie or slander one another, but defend, speak well, and explain everything in the kindest way.

For the only one who withstood the harshest criticisms was our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. At every turn, the Pharisees tried to trap Jesus, tried to accuse Him. They played the devil even though they were leaders in the church. Jesus spoke the Truth because He is the Truth. The Pharisees were confronted with the Truth right in front of their faces, but they could not and would not believe Him. They were threatened by Him. They were jealous of Him. They were confused by Him. And yet, Jesus withstood every assault, defended every neighbor, spoke well of tax collector and sinner, and explained everything in a godly manner.

As if that was not enough, Judas betrayed Jesus over to the authorities. Jesus knew it was going to happen even when all the world did not, but it happened and Jesus did not stop it. It was through betrayal that God would die for the world. It even says in the Scriptures that Satan entered into Judas. Judas offered up His Lord to those who wished to kill Him. Judas’ sin led to Jesus’ death, yet Jesus’ death paid for even Judas’ sin.  

As we know, the chief priests lied about Jesus. They took Jesus to court and lied under oath. They called up every false witness they could pay. They would never relent, even if Pilate thought this man did nothing wrong, even if Herod wanted nothing to do with Him. The chief priests had got their man and they would lie and lie until they could crucify. And they wouldn’t take the blame for that, they wouldn’t kill Him Himself because that would break a commandment, even though they were breaking them all in front of God Himself, against God Himself.

But the one that hurt the most was when Peter denied Jesus. Peter confessed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God when the times were good, but when the pressure was on, even Peter denied Jesus, not once, not twice, but three times before the bird crowed. Peter was the apostle, the guy who walked on water, who received the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Peter was the sidekick, the right hand man, the trusty disciple. Yet Peter denied knowing His Lord, denied believing His Lord, denied any association with the Lord being crucified. And about this, Jesus looked at Him and they wept. Peter denied Jesus on that day in that way, but Jesus never denied Peter on that day, Jesus never denied Peter in any way.  

“Crucify, Crucify!” Every liar in the room sent Jesus to the cross. Every betrayal possible to experience was laid upon our Lord. Every false witness broke oath before God Himself, against God Himself. And so they led Him to be crucified. As He went to the cross, the Roman guards slandered and ridiculed Jesus. They gave Him a purple robe and a crown of thorns and called Him King who looked powerless, weak, and headed to execution. To serve the kings of the nations they ridiculed the King over all creation, the King of all the earth. The Roman soldiers spat on God, scourged the Lord, and whipped Jesus. They made every joke and laughed in His face.  

Jesus spoke not a word. He did not defend Himself, though He could call down angels. He knew that this would happen, that this did happen, that it had to happen for your salvation. He knew that people lie and betray and slander one another in this world. He knows that we do the same. Yet He died for it.  

He died for you. On that cross, He said, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” Because He forgave the lies of the Pharisees, He does forgive our lies to our parents, teachers, friends, and grandmas. Because He forgave Judas’ betrayal, He does forgive yours too. Because He forgave Peter’s denial, He does forgive those who repent of their sins and believe in God again. Because He forgave the Roman soldiers, He does forgive our thoughts, words, and deeds, when we criticize our leaders and when we tear down each other in the Church.  

For you see, the Truth prevailed that day. The Truth died to cover up all the lies. And Jesus’ death is the only payment for lies, and He paid for every one of them. He did not accuse His opponents, He called them to repentance. He did not play the game of words and slander those who slandered Him; He forgave them. Jesus is the Truth, the only Truth, and nothing but the Truth. And the Truth is, that even when we fail in this commandment, Jesus forgives us too.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.  

Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 55:6-9

Philippians 1:12-14, 19-30

Matthew 20:1-16

Pastor James Peterson

09/20/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You shall not steal. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.

When we went to kindergarten, there was one lesson we all learned. We had to share with others. For some of us, if we had a brother or a sister, we already knew this was the rule at home and we were punished if we didn’t. But no matter what, in kindergarten, we had to share the blocks, the paints, the glue, or whatever it was.  

But a kindergartener’s favorite word is “mine.” And so Sally would take all the blocks and make a tower. And then would come tattling to Mrs. So-And-So. And then possibly some running around the room. And perhaps some crying in anger or yelling at one another. Kindergarten, the good ol’ days, when we were told to share, but we didn’t want to share.

But then, when we first got married, we were older and wiser and committed. Yet the lesson was exactly the same: we had to share a home with a husband or with a wife. What you had she had and what you loved she loved. Your animals became our animals, your farm became our farm, your house became our home. Husband and wife both gave up self-interest, gave up some routines, some hobbies, and some friendships.  

Yet, just like the kids in kindergarten, husband and wife cannot share the bathroom sink. There is his sink and her sink, and never shall the husband use the wife’s and never shall the wife use the husband’s. And woe to the marriage who tries to share a car. Why does she have to drive you to work? Why does he have to take you to the store? And who gets to change the channel on the radio? It turns out that the kindergarten lessons remains the same for us.

What about at work? We give our time, and they give a paycheck. We work a field, and they pay for grain. Yet so often we are tempted to think that the paycheck isn’t enough for our time. We are tempted to think that the grain will pay more if we wait more. In so many areas of our work, we call it efficiency, but we seek every convenience to do the least amount of work for the longest period of time.

This was the attitude when I worked for Parks and Recreation. So long as the boss wasn’t around, we could do whatever we wanted. Our goal was to try to get away with as much as possible for as long as possible for as little consequence as possible. We were striving for “good enough” by our standards, not God’s standards. We worked hard by hardly working, we used to say. Rather than doing the best we could, we did the bare minimum.  

In our society we have traded quality for quantity. Output is far more important than input. The bottom line justifies the means. Rather than achieving awards, we hand out participation trophies. Rather than excelling at one sport, we play them all. Rather than getting rest, we seek pleasure in all its forms. Rather than doing our best we strive to do the most, or at least more than you did.  

What about in the church? Here we have the pantry item collection. What you have someone else may need. What is yours could be theirs. We all know that this has been a tough year for all, and we know some who have been hit harder than others. Sharing with others is not just a lesson learned in school; as Christians, we call it giving.  

For what we have, we were given by God. God created us man and woman, boy and girl. He gave to us the breath of life and food and water to sustain us. He gives us clothing and shoes, house and home, land, animals, and all we have. All this He does out of fatherly divine mercy without any merit or worthiness in us.  

The commandment about stealing really boils down to this: whatever you have is God’s and He gave it to you. It is not yours or “mine” but His. God does not make this commandment just for the fun of it. God made this commandment because He wants us to give to our kindergartener, our husband or wife, our coworker or boss, or anyone else who is our neighbor whatever they need from whatever God has given to us.

For God has given to us even more than all these things. He has provided for our bodies each and every day, but even more so He has given to us all we need for our souls. God has died in order to give what we cannot get on our own and what we do not deserve. God offers and gives freely the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. This we should share with others. Tell people about your faith, about your God, about the Lord Jesus. Share with them your hope of the resurrection and offer them what God has given to you.  

For everything else in this world requires a fee. There is no such thing as a free lunch. But the forgiveness and grace granted from God to you has only this price, the shed blood of Jesus. Eternal life granted from God to you has only this payment, the death of God Himself and not us. Salvation granted from God to you has only this to say, that the message “Jesus saves” is the whole gospel in a nutshell and not we ourselves.  

This Jesus has given and forgiven all that we need for body and soul unto life everlasting.  

In the holy name of Jesus. Amen.

Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Circuit Winkel

Genesis 50:15-21

Romans 14:1-12

Matthew 18:21-35

09/08/2020-09/13/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

How often will my brother sin against me? This we know is never-ending. In families brothers sin against brothers, sisters sin against sisters, fathers sin against mothers and mothers against fathers and parents against children and children against parents. Family feuds are no small matter in this sinful world, and unfortunately it ruins many family gatherings.  

In schools, let us never forget middle school drama, bullying the weak, and the cool kids and the outcasts. In schools there are teachers in conflict with the board and the board in conflict with the teachers. There are parents who are dissatisfied with decisions and school leaders dissatisfied with the parents. There are school feuds in this sinful world in every place, and difficult circumstances do not make the situations any less tense.

In churches, it is often quite the same. Church feuds are no small matter among us. There are fights between members, fights between Christians, fights between brothers and sisters in Christ. Though Jesus unites us to one another, we so often forget or at least we ignore it. We want our way and we will insist on it. We hurt each others’ feelings and compete to appear holier than thou. Rather than doing as Christ has commanded, we leave and we grieve and cause a wedge to be in the fellowship. Rarely do we forgive.  

Sometimes it is the pastor, and sometimes it is the people. Or so we think. But in every feud there are two sides, two people responsible, two people repentant, two people in need of forgiveness. Sometimes we fight over the important matters, but most of the time, we focus on the miniscule and petty details.

Repent one and all. If the fathers repent of their sins, then the mothers and children forgive him. If the brothers repent of their sins, the sisters repent of their quarrels, the teachers and parents and leaders and students repent of their sins, then forgiveness remains for each one and is freely offered and freely received. If the pastor repents of his sin and the people repent of their sins, then forgiveness is given not just from each other but also from their God in bountiful measure.  

When sin is committed, forgiveness is the only solution. We sin daily; so we forgive daily also. How often will your brother sin against you? It will be often, it will be hurtful, and it will divide us. This is what the devil desires and this is what sin does among us. Forgiveness washes the sinner clean. Forgiveness covers over a multitude of sins. Forgiveness brings families back together, brings schools back together, brings churches back together, brings Christians back together.

How often will I forgive my brother? As often as you sin, so often do you forgive. Peter wants to put a number on it. If I forgive this many times, then after that, they are dead to me, he thinks. But Jesus does not make a rule so strict and neat; Jesus says repent and forgive. If you have sinned, repent. If you were sinned against, then be ready to forgive.  

Be reconciled to your brother, dear people of God. This does mean addressing those with whom you are feuding. It does mean spending the time and making the effort. Sometimes these things do take time to heal, but the healing won’t start until the feuding stops. And the whole situation is awkward. I have hurt feelings, but now I must approach my brother or sister in Christ and tell them my hurt? I have sinned, but now is there any chance that my brother or sister will forgive me? We become immobilized to confess sin and to forgive sin. We ignore rather than deal with it. This is so common and so easy to do, but it is not the Christian thing to do.  

Be reconciled to your brother, your sister, your father, your mother. Be reconciled to your teacher, your boss, your friend, your worker. Be reconciled with the church, the pastor, and all the members of it. This is what binds us together. Sin and forgiveness is the daily life of the Christian. This is how families are strengthened and unified. This is how schools move forward together. This is how churches are run. This is how this church ought to be, forgiving the sinner, and reconciling with each other.  

This is why the beginning of the service begins with confession and absolution. This is why we repent and God forgives. This is why we do this in the first place, as true and real forgiveness heard in our ears. But we also do it so that we know how to repent and forgive with one another. This is not merely about my forgiveness before God, but about forgiving those whom I have hurt.  

This is the point of Jesus’ parable. God forgives us each and every sin, the sins of the ‘80s, the ‘90s, the ‘00s, the ‘10s and the ‘20s. He forgives every sin before this time and after this time. He forgives with His own blood the sins of our thoughts, words, and deeds, the sins we have done and those we have left undone. Every sin is forgiven for you by Him.  

Now forgive in the same way. Forgive even if the person doesn’t deserve it. If the person confesses and repents, forgive them completely. Forgive and forget it, for this what God does with our sins. He has forgiven a debt of sin that we couldn’t pay. We cannot head over to First National and pay off our sins. We cannot ever have enough money or enough goods to pay our way out of family feuds much less to pay our way to heaven. Yet, this is what Jesus did. He paid for every sin, paying a debt we couldn’t pay.  

So for the small things, the things that grieve us and make us angry, for the petty and miniscule things in our lives, let us forgive one another. Fathers and mothers forgive one another. Brothers and sisters forgive one another. Teachers and parents and students and principals forgive one another. Brothers and sisters in Christ, forgive one another and approach this altar absolved. Pastor, forgive the people and people forgive the pastor. Let the Word of Christ dwell in us that we are forgiven and that we are redeemed, that our debt has been paid and that we are reconciled to God and to one another.  

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Sixth Commandment

09/06/2020

Pastor James Peterson

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You shall not commit adultery. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we lead a sexually pure and decent life in what we say and do, and husband and wife love and honor each other.

Marriage is both the most difficult and the most rewarding thing you could possibly experience. God started the whole Bible with marriage, and He ended it with marriage too. He started by making Eve for Adam so that He would not be alone. He started by taking from Adam to fashion Eve, taking out a rib so that the two could be one flesh. This is profound, this is miraculous, this is what husband and wife are all about.

But it didn’t take long for the good gift of marriage to be stained with sin. Adam and Eve sinned in the garden and were removed from it. Later in Genesis, Lamech had two wives instead of one and boasted about it. Then later in Genesis, Abraham lied about Sarah being his wife, not just once, but twice, and both times caused a rift in their marriage and a rift between Abraham and God Himself.  

And Jacob, what a mess! He wanted to marry Rachel, but instead he married Leah, and her concubine was his mistress. Then he married Rachel and her concubine. Four wives for one man is not how God designed marriage. We know the turmoil that resulted. We know that the wives fought and the brothers feuded, and Joseph was sold into slavery. What was created very good had turned very bad and very sinful. Everyone did what was right in their own eyes, but their eyes deceived them.

What God created very good became very sinful as recorded in the Scriptures and in the history books. Eventually God’s people loved other gods and goddesses, other men and women who worshipped there, and devoted themselves to Baal and Asherah. Even the kings followed the habits of other kings and took many wives and sinned against the Lord God of Israel. Marriage was a mess and needed redemption desperately.

And so God Himself came as Jesus Christ into this world and taught us about marriage. Clearly, in the Gospels, the people didn’t get it. They were divorcing for the simplest reasons because it didn’t work out, or because it was just too difficult, or because there was someone better. And our world is no different today. It’s easier to get divorced than it is to stay married. It happens all the time, it tears apart so many families, and it leaves emotional scars. There are so many attacks on marriage in our day, whether cohabitation, or adultery, or divorce, homosexual marriage. None of these are God’s will; none of these are how God has designed us.

Dearly beloved saints of God in Christ Jesus,

Not so among you. This marriage commitment is for life; this is your life; this is your wife. ‘Til death do you part is what the vow says. Keep the vow. Trust each other. Forgive each other.  

Husband, there is no one in this world, not a boss or a best friend, not a father or mother, not a son or daughter, that is more valuable to you for your time and hard work than your wife. Wife, there is no one in this world, not a boss or a best friend, not a father or mother, not a son or daughter, that is more valuable to you for your time and hard work than your husband.  

What God has joined together let not man separate. Be joined together and never leave or forsake one another, for neither has Christ left you alone or forsaken you forever.

For as the Bible began with marriage, so the Bible ends with marriage. As our lives together begin with marriage, so our lives end with a marriage. For men, who love our brides as Christ loved the church, willing to sacrifice our time, our money, our priorities, and our own lives for you. And women, who respect your husbands as the spiritual head of your families, as a bride adorned in the most beautiful splendor.  

Men and women, man and woman, husband and wife, this marriage is for your life, but that marriage is for the life eternal. For you were bought by the blood of God Himself, Christ who loved you and died for you, who is your Bridegroom and you are His Bride. We are given in marriage in the life eternal to Jesus, who lives and reigns forever and ever. We are given in marriage at the high feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which shall have no end. Marriage that we experience here on this earth does not compare to the marriage between us and our Lord.  

Marriage is for this life, but when death do us part, we are married to the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Marriages do sometimes fail in our world, but the marriage between Christ and His Bride, the Church, has begun when He rose from the dead and will continue when we rise from the dead. And that marriage to God shall never fail. And we shall be with God in heaven forever, never alone, never apart from God Himself, singing His praises and enjoying the splendor of the life everlasting.

Marriage is the most difficult and rewarding thing you will ever experience. For it was difficult even unto death for our Lord Jesus and it is rewarding unto life eternal for each one of us. He sacrificed heaven itself to be born on Christmas and to die on Good Friday and to rise on Easter Sunday. He sacrificed every good thing for the sake of His Bride.

Now go with my blessing, be married to one another in this world, and be married to our Lord in the world to come. Amen.

Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost

Jeremiah 15:15-21

Romans 12:9-21

Matthew 16:21-28

08/30/2020

Pastor James Peterson

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

You shall not murder. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need.

This commandment starts at the creation. Our God created the heavens and the earth. In six days everything was made out of nothing, only a word, only the Word of God himself. God did not make only rocks of course. No, God created living things, birds and fish and mammals and reptiles. He gave to His creatures the breath of life. The Lord of life gave life to the world He made.

And then He created man and woman. We are the crown of all creation, made in His image and made in relationship to our Creator. This makes us different than all the rest of creation. Yes, we breathe like the animals. Yes, we eat plants and animals for food. Yes, we drink water in order to survive. But man and woman alone have been made in the image of God. God is no frog or dog or cat; we are not monkeys or apes. We are men and women and God has made us to be in His likeness, in His image.  

And the image of God shall not be killed. The Lord of life intends life for His people. He creates, preserves, and protects us from death. Murder certainly takes the life away from a man or a woman. But murder brings death to a person whom God created and loved. From the very beginning with Cain and Abel, it is clear what God says about murder. It is clear what God says when David kills Uriah.  

Murder is wrong; we all know it. Even unbelievers know that murder is wrong. This is why the punishment is capital punishment or prison for life. This is why murderers are not let loose in the streets. This is why we arrest anyone who punches another person in the bar or why we restrain the raging and violent members of our society. Life is a gift of God because we are made in the image of God.

And we are not free to take that away from anyone, not even a baby. Abortion remains a murderous operation in our land. According to God’s Word, life must be preserved in every case. We must distinguish clearly between miscarriage and abortion. Miscarriage happens, but it is not abortion. It is not sinful if life is ended naturally. However, abortion is not natural; it is elective surgery or medication. It is not forced or coerced on us; it is a choice. Because of this, some Christian women have had abortions. As Christians, we do not condemn these women; we forgive them. We must love them and care for them. We must welcome them and pray for them and support them. Like every sin, there is repentance. And because there is repentance, then forgiveness is abounding for them.  

We are not free to take life away from anyone, not even my own life. Suicide remains a deadly reality among us. All reports say that suicide rates have risen this year because of the pandemic. Everyone is worried, panicked, afraid, and lonely. Despair and depression are no joking matters; these are real things experienced by real people daily. We have held education seminars at our hospital and have reached out to the lonely over the last few months. Yet we know that suicide is still a reality for some in our town and county. And the worst part of it is, we don’t know what to do, we don’t know how to help, we don’t know who is struggling, and at some point we know that it’s too late.  

This is why the church is so important. Here we know we are not alone. Here we know we are forgiven of all our sins. Here we know that we are loved by God and by one another. Here we have a refuge against every temptation. We are one body, with many members. We are here for each other; we support and care about one another. If we know anyone who is struggling with depression, bring them here. If we know anyone who is struggling with suicidal thoughts, bring them among us. If we know anyone whose loved one has died by suicide, this church is where they should be, receiving forgiveness and love from God Himself each and every week.

We are not free to take life away from anyone, not even if they want it. There are so many life-or-death situations. There are those who are in so much pain. There are those who are suffering terribly from disease or disability. There are those who are frail and weak. In all of these cases, we are to let that person die naturally. Let God make the call. Let the Lord who gives life take the last breath. Let the Lord call home His beloved sheep. There is a fine line between aiding life and preventing death. With increasing technology, there is greater confusion as to God-pleasing options. These are never easy for so many reasons. But there is help during that moment for the dying and for the family they leave behind. There is hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come for the one who is suffering.  

The Lord who created you and me and each man and every woman loves us too. The Lord of Life came to earth Himself. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit and sanctified every womb for life in this world. He was born as we are, yet without sin. He was born in Bethlehem to Mary His mother. Then He was brought to the temple and there Simeon and Anna praised the Lord. He was brought to the synagogue and there He grew in wisdom and in stature. He was raised in faith and in fervent love toward one another.

And Jesus was a perfect man. He is not a sinner like us; we have no need to forgive God. Jesus led a perfect life, a sinless life, a Christian life because we aren’t perfect, and because we are sinful, and we are repentant. Any time we face a life-or-death issue, focus on the life of Jesus. He was born in our world and lived in our world. He suffered pain because of the effects of sin, the effects of our sin, not His. Though He was tempted as we are, He did not sin His whole life long.

The life of Jesus gave life to the world. When Jesus saw the blind man, He healed him. When Jesus saw the deaf man, He healed him. When He saw the paralytic, the man with withered hand, the woman who bled, and even Lazarus the dead, Jesus healed each one with a word or a touch or a promise. Jesus gave life to the world. He undid the deed of death. He came to earth not to murder like Cain, but to restore life like God has always intended it. He gave life in the face of death. He forgave sin in the face of suffering.  

Our Lord Jesus Christ did what we cannot do. He healed and did many miracles. But more than that, our Lord Himself died on the cross the perfect, spotless, sinless Lamb of God. When He was born He sanctified the womb for all life to come forth; when He was buried He sanctified the tomb for all the dead to be raised on the Last Day. When our Lord died, He ended the slaughter of animals on the altar, and instead placed Himself on the altar like Isaac, sacrificed for the sins of the world and for the life of the world.  

The Lord of Life gave life eternal on that cross to the mother who had an abortion and the father who regrets and grieves. The Lord of Life gave life eternal on that cursed tree so that we are not hanged on it ourselves. For the murderer, the Lord of Life grants life free from guilt. For the one contemplating suicide, He has already died for every most deeply felt sin in our souls and has offered life eternal no matter how difficult life in this world is. For the person suffering pain or disability or disease, the Lord of Life offers life eternal without pain and suffering, life with Him and the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. The Lord of Life who created this world has redeemed this world and sanctified this world from death forever. And that Lord will one day call us home to the feast which shall have no end.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost

Fourth Commandment

Pastor James Peterson

August 23rd, 2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God and Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Honor your father and your mother. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor them, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.

In the first commandment, we learned what we believe. In the Second Commandment, we learned what we teach. In the Third Commandment, we learned what we confess. These are the commandments about our relationship with God.  

But now at the fourth commandment we begin to learn how we relate to each other. And God starts with the family. First, the commandment says “Father and Mother.” This is profound in our day and age. For there are so many women without husbands and men without wives. Yes, this falls in the sixth commandment, but without marriage there is no family. Families are foundational to every society, to every community, and especially to every congregation. Marriage is the very best blessing available to humanity, that we are never alone and that we are always faithful.

This we must teach to our children. For there are so many children without parents or with only one parent. This should not be, and this presents incredibly difficult challenges to the next generation. How can a boy become a Christian man if his father does not teach him? How can that man become a Christian husband if his father does not love his mother? How can a girl become a Christian woman if her mother does not teach her? How can that woman become a Christian wife if her mother does not love her husband?  

For you see, husbands and wives must first honor one another, serve and obey one another, love and cherish one another.  Our parents must be honorable. If they are not honorable, how could our children ever honor us? If a husband beats his wife, should a boy see that as honorable? If a wife is unfaithful to her husband, should a girl likewise be unfaithful? If parents encourage children to steal, should they do it? If husband and wife criticize each other and tear down one another, should children likewise criticize and tear each other down when they get married?  

Clearly not. And this is the difference between “honor” and “obey.” Children are not asked to obey blindly, as if the Ten Commandments are a list of chores to tick off the list. Children are to honor their parents, serve and obey their parents, and love and cherish their parents. It is not so much “do everything I say” but rather “do everything I do.” Because I love your mother, you should love your wife. Because I teach you, you should teach your children. Because I earn an honest living, you should earn an honest living. From the parents’ example, children will learn lessons for a lifetime.

Before I left for college, I knew everything about everything. But when I finished college, my parents had really learned a lot! Before I was married, I knew everything about marriage. After Michela and I were married only a short while, I realized I didn’t really know as much as I thought I did. Before we had kids, I never understood why parents were always late to dinner parties or why they couldn’t go out with us. After we had kids, I appreciated the sacrifices that others made in order to make time for us.

You see, obeying someone implies a master-slave relationship. It implies terms of a contract. It is transactional and conditional. But honoring someone means looking back and learning from both the successes and the failures, both the good and the bad. Honoring does not mean repeating sins over again. Our Lord himself has placed honor in terms of father and son or mother and daughter. Honor is seen inside the family first of all. Honor is not a contract, but a duty. It is not transactional, but sacrificial. It is not conditional, but unconditional.  

The example for us is Jesus Christ. For He came because the family was broken. Adam and Eve sinned, and Cain killed Abel, and at the time of Noah came the flood. He knew that marriage was corrupted because husband and wife were divorcing. So Jesus came, not to obey His Father, but to honor Him, to glorify Him by His death on the cross. It’s true, family is foundational to society because it is foundational to who God is, Father of His only-begotten Son. It’s true, marriage is a wonderful blessing because Jesus showed the greatest love a Bridegroom can show when He bled and died for His Bride the Church.  

It is simple to see the Ten Commandments as the do’s and don’t’s, but that misses my point entirely. God the Father has established these commandments not to prevent us from having fun, but because we are part of His family. We are His children. These first three commandments were written so that we would be in relationship with Him, but the last seven were written for our relationships with one another, because this is who our God is.  

Take the fourth commandment: God has called you His child. Take the fifth: God died to give life to the world. Take the sixth commandment: Jesus remained faithful even unto death for the sins of His Bride. Or the seventh: Jesus gave up all His riches to buy His people with His blood. These commandments are not arbitrary or dispensable; these commandments show us how we are created to be and how God shows Himself to us.  

Jesus honored His Father, served and obeyed Him, and loved and cherished Him. For this, He came to earth. For this, we remember His birth. For this, He came to suffer and die. For this, He came our souls to buy. Jesus Christ our Lord has promised to you the wedding vow, that you will never be alone and He will always be faithful. Jesus Christ our Lord has promised to you are part of the family, you are a child of God, you are inheriting treasure beyond measure in the new heaven and the new earth.  

Let us live honorably with one another as husband and wife and son and daughter, serving and obeying and loving and cherishing every moment. This is our duty and greatest honor, and this is the first commandment with a promise: that we will live long in the land the Lord our God is giving us. And that land He is now preparing for us and His kingdom shall have no end.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost

Isaiah 55:1-5

Romans 9:1-13

Matthew 14:13-21

Third Commandment

08/02/2020

Pastor James Peterson

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.

What is the Sabbath day? The Sabbath day is the day God rested. God worked and worked and worked and worked all week, creating the world, day and night, sun, moon, and stars, land and sea, fish and birds, and Adam and Eve. But He rested on the seventh day. I am thankful to God that I do not have to teach you to work hard. There are many in our country who do not work hard even under normal circumstances. But I do not have to teach you how to work hard. Instead, I get to teach you how to rest. Even God rested on the seventh day, and He did it for our benefit. This is the day devoted to God. This is the Lord’s Day, set aside from the very beginning for worship.

The Sabbath Day was the day when the people of Israel remembered the power and goodness of God in His work of creation. While the world considers how everything is being destroyed, on the Sabbath Day we believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth. God who created this world will sustain this world until the Last Day. While the world considers overthrowing power and authority, we believe in God the Father Almighty, who is more powerful than every person, more powerful than every state and country. While evil surrounds us and makes us afraid, we worship God who is good, who alone is perfect and sinless and who delivers us from every evil. On the Sabbath Day of rest among us, we also remember God’s power and God’s goodness and God’s creation. We confess it in the Creed, and we believe it in our hearts.

But the Sabbath Day is more than that. The people of Israel not only remembered the creation of the world, but they remembered God’s work of redemption for them in the Exodus. They remembered God’s work and rested from their work. They believed that God saved them from the hands of Pharaoh and parted the waters of the Red Sea. While the world seeks a Savior, we already know the Savior of the world. While the world slanders leaders and topples monuments, we know that our King is not of this world but is the King of kings and the Lord of lords.  

We are like the people of old because we believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary. Christmas shapes our worship on the Sabbath Day, but Easter Day does even more. It is not as important that Jesus was born as it is that He died on the cross, that He died for you and for me. We remember not just that God created us in this world, but that God redeemed us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. We do not worship on the Sabbath Day because it is Sunday that is the Lord’s Day, the Lord’s day that He rose from the dead, that He redeemed His people, that He saved us from death and hell. Remember, remember, and remember this well.

On the Sabbath Day we remember the creation and redemption of this world. We remember the work of God and rest from our work. This is why we worship here. This is why we gather together. Here we praise the Lord for creating the world. Here we give thanks to the Lord for redeeming the world. Here we remember the Word of God, the creation and the Exodus. Here we remember the birth of Christ and the death of God. We remember the resurrected and risen Lord. Here is where we remember. Here is where we keep the day holy. As it was in the tabernacle in the wilderness, so it is here among us today. As it was in the temple in Jerusalem, so it is here in our sanctuary even now. As it was in the churches of old, so we remember the Sabbath Day and keep it holy.  

Sunday morning is not an episode that we turn on when we want and we turn off if it doesn’t please us. Sunday morning is the start of our week and the first thing we do. Nor is this church a country club where we pay our dues and reap the benefits. Believe it or not, children don’t always listen the first time and do what they are told. Believe it or not, students do not learn the lesson once and remember it the rest of their lives. Neither do athletes have one practice and become Lebron James. Believe it or not, we don’t want to wear masks, we don’t want to eat right and exercise, we don’t want to be told what to do. Believe it or not, relationships take work, take prayers and time and money and service.  

Your relationship with God is no different. We hear the Word and sometimes we believe it. We receive the Sacraments and sometimes we cherish them. We hear the sermon and sometimes it is a good one, sometimes it means something to me and other times it means something to someone else. Sometimes our faith is strong and sometimes it is weak.  

But worshipping God is how God keeps working through you. Remembering the Sabbath Day allows you to rest and God to work for you. Sunday morning is the time when we are the church, when we are in fellowship, when we are unified. Sunday morning is when we hear the Word and learn something new. Sunday morning is when we receive the Sacrament and our Lord strengthens our faith.  

For on this day and in this place, there is rest for the weary and a refuge for the weak. There is peace for the anxious and mercy for the sinner. There is a family for the orphan and fellowship for the widow. There is forgiveness and life and salvation given and shed, offered by God each week of your life until the end of the age. The Lord’s day is when the cross and the resurrected Jesus are applied to you on your forehead and on your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ crucified. The Lord’s day is the day when forgiveness of sins abounds and eternal life is promised, when salvation is offered to you unto the life everlasting.  

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Eighth Sunday after Pentecost

Confirmation Day

Deuteronomy 7:6-9

Romans 8:28-39

Matthew 13:44-52

07/26/2020

Pastor James Peterson

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.  

What is the Christian life?

The Christian life is a life of repentance. It is doing the right thing even when your parents aren’t around. Have no doubt: It will be easy to stop going to church in high school if you want to. It will be desirable to disobey your parents even though they care about you. It is easy to throw your lives away with poor choices because you think you are invincible. It is easier to live with your girlfriend than to marry her and raise a family. It is normal to squander your money like prodigal sons or daughters hoping for adventure, only to regret it in the end. It is tempting to ruin your friend to save your own reputation. But now you know these are the wrong things and the sinful things. Now you know the right thing to do. You know what God says. You know His commandments and you know what it means to be a Christian. Do what is right and honorable. Do what is faithful and true. As you gain more independence, depend on the Lord and follow in His steps.

The Christian life is a life of faith. It is believing the right things against all odds. Faith isn’t flashy; it isn’t foreign. Every person you meet will challenge your worldview. Pick Christian friends. Every experience will tempt you to doubt. Strengthen your faith with God’s Word. Every place you go will shape who you are. Make one of those places the Church. Believe in God, dear friends. You know who He is. He created you and this whole world; He redeemed you and this whole world; He sanctifies you against every evil you will ever face in this world. Sure, you can believe whatever you want; the devil is counting on it. Believe anything but in our Lord and the devil will have won in the end. Believe this day and all your life in the one Lord and in the one Savior, for He alone lives and reigns and won against all odds your salvation.

The Christian life is a life of prayer. You will encounter many things in your life. There will be struggles and challenges and disappointments. Jesus does not promise prosperity, but suffering. You cannot fix all your problems and you cannot please everyone, but pray to the Lord who alone can do everything you can’t. When there isn’t enough money, pray for a way. When there is no one who supports you, pray for a good friend. When there isn’t any hope, pray for strength and endurance. When there is a world outside going nuts, pray for wisdom and for peace. The Lord hears your prayers because you are His child and cares about your cares. He knows about His world and your life in it. Pray and let Him worry; pray and let Him work.

For the Christian life is a life of forgiveness. He has called you by the Gospel. He has called you by name, His name. He has called you His child in the baptismal waters. He forgave you then and there each and every one of your sins. He forgave you for both your sinful nature and your sinful behavior. In Baptism, the water with the Word offered to you all the eternal promises. In Baptism, your sins were washed away, for baptism makes the cross yours, personally applies the work of the cross on your forehead and on your heart to mark you as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. In Baptism, you were granted eternal life, for your death was swallowed up in the grave of our Lord and He left it there. He defeated death because we can’t. He defeated death so you will live. In Baptism, both the cross and resurrection are applied personally to you, forgiveness and eternal life are personally offered to you. In Baptism, you were granted the victory, not just a Gatorade bath at the end of the game, but the full and final victory over the devil himself. Victorious, you are raised. Victorious, you are washed. Victorious you are because your Lord has declared it.  

It’s true, the Christian life is a life of forgiveness. If we as Christians say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. In thought, word, and deed, we sin against one another. In what we have done and what we have left undone, we sin against one another. In how we treat our church and its pastor, how we treat our parents and grandparents, how we treat life and love and money and reputation, we sin against one another. Though we know God’s will in His commandments, though we believe in who God is, and we pray to Him for everything we need, though we are baptized and forgiven before Him forever, we fall short of the glory of God. But Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  

The Christian life is a life of forgiveness. This is most certainly true on a day like today. This is most certainly true at the altar before your eyes. This is most certainly true that the Christian life is all about the forgiveness of sins and the life everlasting. When we don’t do what we are supposed to do, it is here at the Lord’s Supper when we taste and see that the Lord is good and that the Lord forgives us each week. When we don’t believe what we are supposed to believe, it is here at the Lord’s Supper that our faith is strongest, our fellowship is best, and that unity is displayed. When we have unanswered prayers, it is at this altar where we pray and we leave our requests before God and He hears our prayers. When we are uncertain if we are forgiven, it is at this altar, with His Body and His Blood, given and shed for you that you know for certain that you are forgiven and you are redeemed. The Christian life is a life of forgiveness, forgiveness for you and for me this day and always.

What is the Christian life? It is repentance and forgiveness, faith and prayer. The Christian life is worth living, and it is certainly worth dying for. The Christian life is unlike life in this world, for our Christian life has no end. The Christian life is not ending today at this ceremony; this Christian life is only beginning and there are tough times ahead for you, o confirmands, and also for you, o church. There will be sin and suffering throughout each day and month and year. This year 2020 certainly has shown that. But there is the one and only Lord, Jesus Christ, who forgives sin and suffered all. Believe in Him, and you have nothing to fear. Believe in Him, and He will forgive you because He loves you. This Christian life is not optional; it is the only way of salvation, and for us it is the most comforting consolation and the most blessed relief. The Lord continues His work among us. Believe it, and you shall live in the kingdom that shall have no end.

In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

Lila Rose Brobst’s Baptism

Isaiah 44:6-8

Romans 8:18-27

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

Pastor James Peterson

07/19/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

What is baptism? Baptism is not just plain water. This water is special water, but not like holy water or water taken from the river Jordan. It does not need to be purified seven times. It needs to be water, not Gatorade or beer or coke, but just water. Water is necessary for us each and every day. Water makes the crops grow and refreshes us after a long day of hard work. Water is the foundation of life in this world. God uses water in baptism for the foundation of eternal life in the world to come.

What makes this water special? It is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word. The water is not powerful without the Word of God. The water is not useful without the Word of God. This water is special because God has set it apart for this purpose: to wash clean His children of all their sins and to call them His own children. Jesus has said that it should be this way, when He said, “Go, therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” How do we make disciples? By baptizing and teaching them. This is the mission of our church, because Jesus says so. This Word of God is what makes this water special, and not that the water makes the Word of God special.

Baptism is special and the water used in special, but baptism is not just a special ceremony. Baptism actually gives us gifts. What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins. What Jesus won on the cross is personally given to you, the forgiveness of sins. Yes, this means you are a sinner and I am a sinner. Yes, it means we deserve temporal and eternal punishment. Yes, we have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Yes, we have sinned in thought, word, and deed. We deserve temporal and eternal punishment, but the Lord has taken what we deserve and nailed it to the cross. What happened at the cross long ago is applied to us on our forehead and upon our heart to mark us as one redeemed by Christ the crucified. Baptism makes the cross and Jesus’ forgiveness real to us today and all our lives.

But baptism gives us more. It rescues from death and the devil. Baptism is tied to the cross and death of Jesus, but it is also tied to the resurrection of Jesus from the grave. Not only does baptism forgive our sins, but it rescues from death too. It is wonderful that the cross is personally applied to us in baptism; it is even more wonderful that Easter is personally applied to us, applied to Millie last week, Lila this week, and Dayton next week. Good Friday and Easter become ours at baptism. The work of God is placed on us, washed over us, and offered to us in these baptismal waters.

But wait, there’s more! Baptism gives eternal salvation to all who believe this. Baptism now saves you, Peter says. And Peterson says it to you today, baptism now saves you. Having defeated the three enemies, sin, death, and the devil, Jesus offers you salvation. What else is there that stands in the way between you and your God? There is nothing, because Jesus’ death and resurrection have overcome everything for you. And this death and resurrection applied to you means it is yours, salvation unto us has come, and the victory has been won forever!

But how can water do such great things? The Word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. The Word of God does it because our Lord declares it. This Word is how God communicates to us. This Word of God is the terms of the covenant between us. This Word of God calls you God’s child, and so you are. This Word of God declares you forgiven, and so you are. This Word of God became flesh to redeem all flesh, and He certainly did. This Word of God we hear and we believe. This Word we believe, and our faith is strengthened by it. When our Lord says something, He means it, and He means that it is yours even today and always.

So then, 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. The Old Adam is our sinful nature. This Old Adam is part of who we are because we are born into a sinful world. We are born from sinful parents who were born of sinful parents and we will give birth to sinful children. This Old Adam in us is what we say when we say, “we are by nature sinful and unclean.” And this nature causes us to sin in thought, word, and deed.  

But baptism indicates that we are contrite; we repent. Contrition is just a fancy word for repentance. We repent of our sins in thought, word, and deed because we believe that baptism forgives all sins. We are contrite because we believe that God’s forgiveness is truly ours. And God’s forgiveness drowns and kills even the Old Adam inside us each and every day. God’s forgiveness forgives each sin and every sin, both our nature and our failures.  

And so, baptism indicates that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. This is the Christian life. This is our baptismal identity. This is why we baptize and why baptism is so important. Because out of these waters, out of these Words and Promises of God, we have every confidence that we are forgiven of every sin and rescued from death and delivered from the devil. We emerge new each day as a child of God, called to live in righteousness and purity forever. This the Lord does, and He always will, until the end of the age. In the holy name of Jesus, Amen.

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

Millie Peterson Baptism

Isaiah 55:10-13

Romans 8:12-17

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23

Pastor James Peterson

07/12/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are debtors. We are born poor and naked. We have nothing, and we wear nothing. No baby has earned anything or saved anything or owns anything. Money means nothing to infants; pennies are easy to swallow and dollars are easy to rip. They have no job except to eat and sleep and poop. They need a father and a mother for everything.

We are born naked. Like Adam and Eve in the Garden, we are naked. Unlike Adam and Eve in the beginning, we are ashamed of our nakedness. Babies are born in their birthday suit, cold and exposed and in need of clothes and coverage. Father and mother clothe them and care for them.

Babies do not choose to be born, much less to be born poor or to be born naked. Babies do not name themselves or walk around the room or talk to the family. They need doctors for a check up and parents for a home. They are debtors unable to pay. They can’t care for themselves in this life.

But they can believe like John in the womb. They can be set apart like Paul before he was born. They can’t save themselves, but the Lord is their Savior. They can’t take care of themselves, but the Father takes care of them. Babies can believe, as can everyone who is ever born. If babies couldn’t believe, then neither could we believe. If babies couldn’t be saved, then neither could we be saved. Because babies are born from sinful parents, babies are sinners too. Because they are sinners, the Lord forgives them too. Because babies sometimes die, they need eternal life promised to them too.

Like a father pays for the hospital bill, our Father takes care of His sons and daughters. God the Father begets His children in the waters of baptism. He gives to us the family name, the Trinitarian name, His very own name. Although we have nothing, He has everything. He made the world, He made our land, our town, and each one of us. He has everything and gives it all to us. Although we haven’t earned anything, He sent His Son to pay the debts, to pay the world’s debt, to pay the ransom for our soul. Although we haven’t saved ourselves from any suffering we experience, the Lord has saved us from every hardship and every suffering forever.

Like a mother who feeds and clothes her baby, our Father feeds us each day our daily bread. He feeds us every other week His most blessed feast. He clothes us not with filthy rags, but with his own righteousness. He clothes us not with anything that can be bought at the store, but with garments that last forever, with robes that never wear out. He clothes us so that we are no longer ashamed of our nakedness. He clothes us because we are His children, His sons and daughters forever.

Because He has created us in this world and recreated us for the world to come, we live by the Spirit and are led by the Spirit. Because He has named us and given us His own name, we are part of a family that lasts forever, we have a Father who never dies, our Lord Jesus who lives and reigns, and the promise of life that never ends. We are the children of God and sons of the promises. We are the daughters of Zion and the Bride, the Church. Having been adopted into the family, we cry out as any child would, “Abba, Father.” We can approach our Father in prayer, in worship, in Word, and in Sacrament. We can approach our Father because He has made us His children.  

And because we are children, we are no longer debtors. We are not debtors because Jesus has paid the cost. We are not debtors because our Father has footed the bill and crushed the devil. We are not debtors because our Father has made payment through the death of His own Son. We have earned nothing. We have saved no one. But the Lord earned it and He has saved us.  

Because we are His children, we are no longer debtors, but inheritors. When a father sets an inheritance, whether it is a farm or a family business, a fund or an asset, he decides the terms and he distributes the wealth. Before we were children of God, before we were added to the family, before we became Christians, before we came to faith, we had no claims and no family. But because we are in God’s family, the inheritance is now ours and will always be ours. Now we have an inheritance where moth and rust do not destroy. Now we have an inheritance much greater than worldly wealth. We are no longer debtors that is true.  

But our Father has offered us even more. He has given us room in the house of God, to dwell in the house of the Lord forever. We are sons and daughters forever in His presence. We are not merely inheritors of this or that and now to begin fighting over it. We are inheritors of a kingdom that has no end, of a feast that has no end, of a family that has no end. We are inheritors of all the promises we find in the Scriptures, that we are forgiven, that we are redeemed, that we are saved, and that we are His in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Let us suffer with Him now in order that we may also be glorified with Him forever and ever. Amen.

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

Zechariah 9:9-12

Romans 7:14-25a

Matthew 11:25-30

Pastor James Peterson

07/05/2020

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The Second Commandment: You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not curse, swear, use satanic arts, lie, or deceive by His name, but call upon it in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.

When my child was born this week, I gave to her a name. Her name is Millie Jane Peterson. I gave to her a name because I am in a relationship with her. I am her father and she is my child. I gave her a name different than mine, different than her mother’s, different than her sisters’. Her name is not shared with a grandparent, an aunt or an uncle. It is her name, and by it she relates to us and to the world.

She will sign her name on every test, write her name and say her name and hear her name every day. Her name will be on her baptism certificate, on her confirmation and wedding certificate, on her bank account, on her backpack and school supplies, and nearly everywhere she goes her name goes with her. Her name is her identity, and it is how she relates to others.

This is what this commandment means. It is not enough that God is living and that we have no other gods, but our God has a name. Our Lord is identified as a Person, not a force, not a feeling, not anything we can create. And our God wants you to know His name. He wants to be in a relationship with you. Knowing His name, you pray as His children, you praise as His saints, and you give thanks for all He gives.

It is one thing to believe there is a God. It is quite different to believe that He has a name. Whereas the first commandment can be summed up “Believe in God,” the second commandment is this: “pray to God” or “praise God” or “give thanks to God.” Have a relationship with Him. He is not saying merely to have a god, but to acknowledge Him as God, the only God, your God and your Lord.

This is how it was with Moses. God spoke to Moses out of a burning bush. Certainly Moses was scared to death at that moment. Certainly he had to fear God who could kill him, he had to love God by doing what He said, and he had to trust God to be stronger than Pharaoh and all his chariots.  

But Moses said to God, “What is your name?” And God answered out of the bush, “I am who I am.” In other words, I am with you always. The Lord spoke His name and He promised His presence. He promised never to leave Moses and began a relationship with him. Then Moses could tell the people, “God sent me, and He promised never to leave us. He is our God and we are His people. He will deliver us from the hands of Pharaoh.” God gave Moses His name with the promise attached. As Moses spoke His name to the people they too were brought in relationship with God, they too had the promise given.

It is obvious why we should not misuse God’s name. It is much more than saying bad words. It is much more than talking about swearing in the court. It goes further than our marriage vows to one another and our own faithfulness to our promises to each other. It is these things, but all of these things only matter because we are in a relationship with God.  

It would be like a child who calls out “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy!” And Mom comes and says, “What is it?” And the child says, “Oh nothing.” Or like the boy who cried wolf. Can you imagine calling out to God, praying to Him, but not really meaning it? Can you imagine worshipping God but not believing in Him? Can you imagine teaching false doctrine and calling it God’s Word? These are just some of the examples.  

Because misusing God’s name is not for prayer, praise, or giving thanks, but for power over someone else, or anger about a stubbed toe. Misusing God’s name is more than a word or a thought. As we learned from Millie and Moses, God’s name is given to us because we are in a relationship with Him. He has called us to be His children. He has called us to worship in His house. He has called us by the Gospel to believe. If we misuse God’s name, we are blaspheming God and we are breaking the relationship, breaking the covenant, breaking the promises between God and us.

This is why Jesus taught so much. This is why Jesus criticized the Pharisees and Sadducees and scribes, priests, and rabbis. They were saying what God didn’t say. They were teaching what God didn’t teach. They were preaching what God didn’t preach. They were like false shepherds, hired hands, leading the sheep astray. This is what Paul is talking about throughout the book of Galatians, that the teachers are using God’s name for evil and teaching another Gospel.  

When we take a look at the Gospel, we see that Jesus prayed to the Father all the time all alone. We see that Jesus praised God and glorified Him. We see that Jesus gave thanks for meals, gave thanks for healing, and gave thanks for the Lord’s Supper. Jesus kept the Second Commandment perfectly. He did teach the wisdom and knowledge of God. He did teach the apostles the correct teaching, and He took very seriously that they would not be led astray.  

Jesus did not misuse the name of the Lord. He used the name of the Lord for salvation and forgiveness. Jesus’s own name declares to you that “the Lord saves.” This is His name and this is what He does. He speaks to us His name and He promises to us His presence. This is why we worship in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The name of God declares the work of God. The name of God declares the presence of God. This is why we are baptized in the name of God. For we are His children, we are His people, and He has promised to save us. He has done so, and His name alone will sustain us. This is why we pray to Our Father and in Jesus’ name. We have a relationship with God. This might seem like a simple thing, but it is a wonderful thing. This might seem elementary, but that God has a relationship with us, that God has called us by His name, is one of the greatest comforts the world has ever known.

In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost, The First Commandment, June 28th, 2020

Holy Trinity Sunday June 7th, 2020

Pentecost Sunday May 31st, 2020

7th Sunday of Easter May 24th, 2020

Ascension Day May 21st, 2020

6th Sunday of Easter May 17th, 2020

5th Sunday of Easter May 10th, 2020

4th Sunday of Easter May 3rd, 2020

3rd Sunday of Easter April 26th, 2020

2nd Sunday of Easter April 19th, 2020

Easter Sunday April 12th, 2020

Palm Sunday April 5th, 2020