Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Easter 3 – Jubilate (May 15, 2011, revised from 2004)
John 16:16-22

2011jubilate

TITLE: “A Little While”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is from the Gospel lesson. We focus on Jesus’ words, A Little While.

In Exodus fifteen we read that as the children of Israel were led by the Lord, they wandered for three days and found no water. But when they finally came to Mara, the water they found was so bitter they couldn’t drink it.

That is still how things are with you and I, the spiritual Israel. Sometimes we have to drink bitter water in the wilderness of this world. Sometimes the cup that the Lord gives us is the cup of cross and tribulation (Ps. 75:9), just as our Lord drank gall and vinegar from the cross (Matthew 27:48). This is, to be sure, one of the most difficult things to understand about the Christian faith. It is sometimes called the theology of the cross; at other times the theology of suffering; but we might simply sum it up and call it life. How is it that in this life we suffer and undergo trials of various sorts? Didn’t Jesus die on the cross and rise again from the dead so that we would not have to suffer?

We all face crosses and trials of various kinds here in this life. They may be physical trials, they may be emotional or personal, they may have to do with family or work. Or the trials you face may be of another sort entirely, that no one else even knows about! The trials of this life can be very painful and grueling, just as that bitter water was so hard to swallow for the children of Israel so many years ago.

But God showed Moses a tree which he was to set down into that bitter water in order to make it sweet. God does the same for you. He sets before you the Tree of Life, that is, Jesus Christ in His Word (Rev. 22:2). As one pastor put it many years ago, “When we sink the Tree into the bitter waters of cross and tribulation, when we ponder Christ’s cross and suffering, also when we seize and take to heart the comfort of His Word, even through that our cross becomes light and sweet” (Johann Gerhard). This is what Jesus is talking about when he says, Come to me, all you who are worn out and overburdened; I will refresh and renew you. Take my yoke upon yourselves-for My yoke is gentle and My burden is light (Mat. 11:28-30).

Our text this morning about the little while of Jesus going and coming teaches us four things about the doctrine of the theology of the cross. First, it teaches us that all true Christians will be subjected to the cross in this life; second, that our reason cannot understand the mystery of the cross; third, it shows why our Lord places us under the cross; and finally, what kind of comfort the Christian may receive by the power of His Word.

First of all, the Scriptures repeatedly teach that the Christian will be under the cross their entire life. Jesus says in Matthew 16:24: If anyone wants to follow Me, let him deny himself and take his cross upon himself and follow me. And Saint Paul says that We must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22). And St. Paul says again in 2 Timothy 3:6, For those who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus have to suffer persecutions. And we hear in Hebrews 12:6, For whomever the Lord loves He chastises. And Jesus repeatedly says in reference to His own suffering that this must happen or it is necessary that the Son of Man suffer and the like.

Perhaps the way to think of it is like this. Our Lord wants to make you into living stones that build up the body of Christ. You are His workmanship, His work of art. Now stones, in order to be used in building, must be chiseled and polished and worked until they are just right. God is, in effect, chiseling you out and polishing you for the kingdom of God. He is working away at your unbelief and sin, removing the impediments to faith and building you up into His own image, the image of His only begotten Son.

But this is truly a mystery if there ever was one. This is the second point of our text. The disciples didn’t understand, and neither do we. When we are faced with trials and tribulations in this life, our response is more likely to be one of complaining and murmuring against God, than it is rejoicing that He has made us worthy to be fashioned into His likeness. It is a mystery that only God can reveal to us by His Word.

So why is it that God must lay crosses and tribulations upon us? It works this way: Our rebirth comes through faith, and faith comes from the Word of God, but the Word of God is seldom planted apart from the cross and tribulation. When things are going perfectly in your life, when you are happy and making money, when everything goes right in your life, who needs God? So in order to cultivate the ground of your heart, God sends tribulations and trials, so that you will hear His Word and trust in Him all of your life.

Now perhaps at first glance this seems mean. I suppose that to a young child, when a parent disciplines them, it does appear just mean. But nothing could be farther from the truth. Our heavenly Father chastens us and allows trials and tribulations precisely because He loves us. When cross and trial grieve you, rejoice and be glad! For this is a sign that God has not abandoned you, but rather that He loves you so much that He wishes to fashion you into something even greater.

Jesus’ cross and empty tomb give you a lens for seeing the world and your own life. The devil, the world and your own sinful nature all want you to look at the trials and sufferings of your life, and believe that by them God is proving He has abandoned you. But Jesus in our Gospel today gives you hope. A little while, he says. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? A little while. That’s how long the suffering and trials of this life will last.

Now while you and I are stuck in the middle of things here on this earth, a little while may seem like a terribly long time. We may cry out with the Psalmist, How long, O Lord, how long? Our little while may seem more like the Israelites four hundred years of slavery in Egypt, or their seventy years exiled in Babylon. But just like the Israelites as they prayed in Psalm one hundred twenty six:

1 When the LORD brought back the captivity of Zion, We were like those who dream.
2Then our mouth was filled with laughter, And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations, ”The LORD has done great things for them.”
3The LORD has done great things for us, And we are glad. (Psalm 126:1-3)

Christ our Lord may leave for a little while, as He says in this text, but He returns again and again by Word and Sacrament to give you the strength you need to go on with life. Trust that Christ will take care of you. He who died on the cross and rose again for your salvation will see you through. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Some of the ideas behind this sermon are received with thanks from Johann Gerhard’s Church Postils.

epiphany3-2011_01

TITLE: “The Faith of the Centurion”

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is from the Gospel lesson in Matthew chapter 8, and the story of Naaman is II Kings chapter five.

We have here in our two readings the stories of two men, Naaman and the Centurion. There is much that is similar between the two. They are both Gentiles. They are both in the military. They are both officers, in charge of many men. They are both very used to being in charge, and having things happen their way and no other way. And they both face a problem that is outside of their control. Naaman has leprosy; the Centurion has a servant who is dying.

Imagine what it is like for these two men. They are used to getting things done. They are used to giving orders. They say JUMP, and the men say, how high? That is the way their lives work. Yet now here they sit, out of control. They are unable to solve the problems before them. And these aren’t just your usual, run-of-the-mill problems. These are life and death problems. These are problems which they face because they are unable to get out of these messes on their own.

Have you been there? Have you ever had a stage in your life where things are sailing along great and you feel like you have everything under control? Then something happens: a death, unforeseen debt, family or marital problems or even worse. These things can sneak up on you in a way that frankly is very disconcerting. They can slap you right in the face and say to you you’re not in control! That is the Law, or more accurately, the result of the fall into sin hitting you. In this fallen world, things just don’t work the way that you want them to work. They don’t. No amount of positive attitude or visioning or even plain hard work can change that fact. You are not in control of your life. At least not nearly as much as you think you are.

This is what these two men, Naaman and the Centurion, faced. But their reactions are completely different. How are they different? One of them reacts in faith in the healing Word of God, a

nd the other responds in unbelief at how God works in the world.

For Naaman, it just drove him bonkers to think that God would use water from the dirty, smelly Jordan river to wash away his leprosy and make him clean. God cannot work that way! He just can’t. Why not the water from our own rivers in Syria? But God hadn’t promised to cleanse him of leprosy from those rivers; He promised, through Elisha, to cleanse Naaman of leprosy using the waters of the Jordan and no other. That was the promise of God, take it or leave it. Initially, Naaman left it. he rejected God’s promise of healing. His own pride just couldn’t handle the truth of the Word of God given by Elisha to him. But after careful teaching, and patient begging on the part of his own slaves, Naaman relented and was led into the Jordan, and low and behold, he was made clean, his skin was like a brand new baby’s skin.

It took Naaman a while to get there, but by the patience and persistence of the Word of God, he came to trust in the Word of God given in the water. It didn’t make sense on the surface. It was just ordinary water. But because God’s promise was attached to it, it was no longer just water, but a life giving water, full of grace and every blessing by God.

Now our Centurion, he actually got there quite a bit faster than Naaman. He recognized first of all his inability to help his servant, but even more than that, he recognized that there was another One who could heal his servant, Jesus Christ. Even though the Centurion, in the eyes of the world, should have been in a much better position to help his sick servant, he knew that Jesus was the one who could heal diseases, for he is God in the flesh. In simple terms, the Centurion had faith. He trusted that if Jesus would say the word, it would be enough. His servant would be healed.

Faith trusts the Word of God in whatever that Word claims. The power of faith does not lie in the one believing, but in where you place your trust. If you were to trust in the goodness and righteousness of Saddam Hussein or Osama bin Laden, not amount of faith on your part would make it true. You can hope for the best all you want, but it wouldn’t happen. But if your faith points to Jesus Christ, then you will never be disappointed.

This is what St. Paul is talking about in our Epistle when he quotes Hosea who says the Just shall live by faith. Living by faith means continually putting your trust in the right place, Jesus Christ the righteous one who forgives your sins. Only God can give you the faith of the Centurion. Only God can bring that about, for it clearly is not in you to have that kind of a faith.

But God does bring it about. He gives you faith by His Word and Sacraments. What looks like ordinary water is in fact the very life giving water of life, because of God’s Word and command. What looks like simple bread and wine is in fact the very body and blood of Jesus Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. And what sounds like simple words, I forgive you, are in fact the very words by which God forgives your sins, creates and sustains faith in you for life.

We each face challenges and trials every day to the faith. You look at your checkbook and you are tempted to believe that God will not provide for you. You worry and stress about your job, your family, your friends, even church can sometimes be a source of unbelief. But God promises to you this day and every day, I will never leave you nor forsake you. That’s His promise, pure and simple. In many ways, that is what the season of Epiphany is all about. When Jesus took on our flesh and blood, He entered into our lives in a way that no pagan good or good luck program ever could. He entered into your life for good by Baptism. You are His child, a part of His family. It is true, and it will never change.

Believe it, for it is true. Believe it, for that is what God in His Word promises to you. He who spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things? That is the power of the Gospel which St. Paul tells us about so beautifully. That is the power of your salvation, through His Word and Spirit alone. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith unto life everlasting. Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Populus Zion – Advent II (Dec. 4, 2010)

Luke 21: 25-36

advent2-2010

TITLE: “Cleaning House for the Season”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel just read from Luke chapter 21. We look particularly at verse 28: “Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

We don’t generally think of December as the time for spring cleaning, but it sure seems like there is a lot of preparation that goes into the season. Cookies to be made. Presents to be bought. Decorations to put up. Music to learn. Parties to attend. Family near and far coming to visit. The things that keep us busy during this time of year really seem to have no end. And of course, who can forget winter? When the snow falls on the ground, you know that you had better be ready. In fact, if you have waited until you see the snow on the ground, it may already be too late. This is Wisconsin, after all.

But preparation doesn’t just have to do with the things of this world. What we so often forget in the weeks leading up to Christmas is what we might call spiritual preparation. How do we prepare for His coming, as our collect of the day asks? The prophet Malachi reminds us of the preparation which will happen for the coming of the Son of Man. He says this,

“For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall. And you shall tread down the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet, on the day when I act, says the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1-3

When God speaks about preparation, it seems, His view is a little different than ours. We think about getting the house dusted, the garland out of the attic, and of making sure the right coats are in the closet. But for God, preparation has to do with what is inside as much if not more than it does with what is outside.

Malachi points us to two types of people who will not be prepared for the coming day of the Lord. The first is the arrogant. To be arrogant means to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think. Paul puts this in perspective for us in 2 Timothy,

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.” (2 Timothy 3:1–5 ESV)

This picture is hardly complimentary, especially when we talk about the joys of this season. But there it is. If we are honest with ourselves, many of these words hit a little too close to home. Tragically, our preparation usually means making lists of things we want, rather than thankfulness for all the blessings God continues to give. Our self-centeredness as Americans really knows no bounds. And I am just as guilty as you.

But Paul again helps us to see why God would issue such a warning, such harsh Law to sinners like you and I. Paul wrote in our Epistle for today,

For whatever was written in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. (Romans 15:4)

So how is it both Paul and Jesus’ warnings can instruct, teach us to endure, and give us hope through the encouragement of the Scriptures?

It’s like this. When you or I sin it breaks down relationships, creates barriers that shouldn’t be there, and generally messes up everything around us. Lying begets lying. Stealing makes for more stealing. Anger creates anger. Arrogance leads to more arrogance. Sin can only lead to more sin. Yet somehow or another we get this crazy notion into our heads that I can do something that is sinful and wrong, and that this is going to make things better. They say the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Yet that is what you do with your life. You lie to your husband or wife or friend or co-worker, and assume that somehow you are doing this in order to accomplish something good.

So what God does in setting this warnings before you and I is to shake you loose from your comfort zone. Like John the Baptist, these words of warning and repentance hit home even when we don’t want them to hit home.

But that Law, which pierces through your soul like a sword through flesh, that Law breaks down all of these walls you have built up around yourself. It kneads them over, grinds them up to rubble, so that you are empty of all thought of your own inherent goodness. Then, and only then, can God do His real work for you. Then God and work on making you alive, because you finally recognize how dead in trespasses and sins you really are.

That is why Jesus says to you this day to straighten up and lift up your eyes. He doesn’t mean straighten up or you’ll get booted. This isn’t shape up or ship out. No, it is more that Jesus knows you are weighed down with the cares and worries of this life, many of which you yourself have caused. So to you who are downtrodden by your sin, and by the results of sin done against you, Jesus says, lift up your eyes. Look up. The day of your redemption draws near.

The day of His coming draws near, and is here even now. You are now in the presence of the Almighty God. Lift up your hearts, be cleansed of all of the foul sin that stinks up your life, and receive the promise of God’s benediction upon you. Prepare in this case means to be emptied of all of this gunk, so that God can fill you with all good things in Christ. God is faithful. He will give you a reason to rejoice. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

And now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith to life everlasting. Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Trinity 27 (November 22, 2009)

Matthew 25:1-13

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, click this link: Trinity27-2009

TITLE: “Wake, Awake!”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text for today is the parable of the 10 virgins from Matthew 25.  Let us pray:

Lord God, heavenly Father, send forth Your Son, we pray, to lead home His bride, the Church, that with all the company of the redeemed we may finally enter into His eternal wedding feast; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

“Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”  So said our Lord.  But the virgins don’t look too shiny sleeping in the middle of the night, as they are depicted here in our text.  On earth their works were not thought wise, the hymn exclaims.  By all appearances, the faith of the wise and the faith of the foolish appeared the same.  You couldn’t tell the wise from the foolish as they slumbered.

Yet there is a difference.  The Christian here on earth lives and breathes and struggles through life just like everyone else.  But by the grace of God, you have the one thing needful.  God in His mercy has given you the oil of gladness, faith in our Lord, Jesus Christ.  This faith points you upward toward heaven.  It means that no matter what you do here in this life, one ear is listening for the trumpet.  There is a part of you that wonders, is it today?  Will the bridegroom return today?  Will our sorrowing have an end now?  We pray it every day in Christ’s Church: Thy Kingdom Come.  When it it be, Lord?  When will you come back?

We don’t know, of course.  We don’t know when the coming of the Son of God will be.  It will be when we least expect it.  He will come in glory, with His holy angels going before Him.  They will cry out to a dying world, Wake, awake,  your king is coming to you even now!

What will that mean for the redeemed, the Baptized into Christ on that last day?  It means all sorrow will come to an end.  It means that all the waiting and wondering and fear and heartache and anxiety and gunk of this life will be over.  Our hymn exclaims that joy as follows:

Zion hears the watchmen singing,

And all her heart with joy is springing;

She wakes, she rises from her gloom.

For her Lord comes down all-glorious,

The strong in grace, in truth victorious;

Her star is ris’n, her light is come.

Now come, Thou Blessèd One,

Lord Jesus, God’s own Son,

Hail! Hosanna!

We enter all

The wedding hall

To eat the Supper at Thy call.

Yet there will be no second guessing that Last Day of our Lord.  There is no place for salt-lookers in Christ’s kingdom.  Set your eyes upon Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.  Like the virgins in our text, the oil is yours and yours alone.  You cannot believe for another, and God will not share your heart with anyone else.  You are His, and His alone.  The things of this life cannot hold you, dearly Baptized.  If they hold you down, they will shackle you to the earth and will keep you from looking up to the Rising Sun, who comes with healing in His wings.

This is what we mean might call in the Church a holy indifference to the things of this world.  It means receiving and rejoicing in what God has given you, but it means not letting those things which God has given you to overshadow the God who gave them to you.  Practicing charity and love toward the neighbor means confessing that because Christ is coming again, the things of this life cannot hold you back and holy you down.  For if they do, there is great danger in losing the oil of gladness as we try to hold on to and juggle all the things of this life in our hands.

The Last Day will be here soon.  There will come a day when all of the evil of this life will pass by as a dream.  The day is coming when Amen will be the only word that really makes sense at all.  The evil of this place will be gone.  Luther put it this way in his catechism:

But deliver us from evil.

What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

So rejoice this day, dearly beloved. When your last hour comes, be it today or in fifty years, God will give you a blessed end, because you are His child, holy, baptized, a part of the family, with the oil of gladness.  You are ready. Believe it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting.  Amen.

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

All Saints’ Day 2009

Matthew 5:1-12

For an audio mp3 of this file, click here: AllSaints-2009

TITLE: “Blessed”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for All Saints Day is from St. Matthew the fifth chapter. We focus on the word, blessed.
What I think is so hard about a day like All Saints Day (or Sunday as we celebrate it) is that it is such a day of faith and not of works. Faith trusts what is not seen. Faith is hidden. Faith looks with the ears, and hears what God’s Word proclaims to be true. Now we can understand this when we’re talking about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and rising again from the dead for our justification. That is received by faith. I can’t reason my way into that. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t follow from how the world works or what I think I know about God. But it is true nonetheless. And because it is true, God’s Word teaches and gives it to poor sinners like you and I to trust and cling to no matter what our hearts may tell us or our eyes may try to show us.

So here we come to a day like All Saints Day. It is easy in some respects to think about concepts like forgiveness and justification and even eternal life, as long as they are sort of academic terms or ideas. As long as these things are just words it is easy to marginalize them or consider them unimportant to your life here on earth. We all do this, don’t we? I’ve got the Gospel. I’ve got Jesus in my heart, and so I don’t really have to reflect or seek to receive it anymore.

But what happens when you’re looking at your father or mother’s grave? What happens when you bury your own child, or when someone else you love dies suddenly? Now, dear friends, now the Christian faith kind of faces a great trial. You see, Satan wants you to believe a lie. He wants you to believe that all of this God and forgiveness talk is just so many words. Death, though, death is real. Death is concrete. Death is where you see things as they really are. Satan wants you to believe that there is nothing more certain that your own death. That is the end. That is reality. This is why funerals are so painful, even for the Christian. We fight and struggle with our own unbelief in the face of such trials. You look at death, and it reminds you of your own weaknesses and sorrows and trials. Is all of this faith-talk really true? What if God really doesn’t love them? What if God really doesn’t love me?

This is where the Gospel shines mostly brightly, dear friends in Christ. This is where God’s Word holds up a reality that goes beyond the grave, and a life that never ends, because of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh who took on our flesh for us. Jesus in our text this day recounts the blessedness of being in Him. Our text, commonly called the beatitudes, shows us a picture and a life that makes no sense, if we are left to what our eyes show us and our hearts tell us. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. Blessed, blessed, blessed. How can this be? Who is Jesus talking about?

Jesus is talking in three ways here when he describes the blessedness of a life in God. First of all, He is talking about Himself. Who else hungers and thirsts for our righteousness? Who else is truly the peacemaker? Who else sorrows and grieves for our sin? Who else is persecuted for us? Who else but Jesus Christ, the righteous one? When Jesus speaks these words, He first is talking about Himself.

But then He is also talking about you. In your Baptism everything that Christ won for you on the cross and in the tomb became yours. You are blessed, because you are in Christ. That is all that finally matters. When you are in Christ, you have received all things. You are holy and righteous, beloved by God. You are blessed. Of course, this reality is hidden. It is not so easy to see. But just because something is hidden, does not mean it is not there. This is true, and we will talk about how we know this to be true in a moment.

Now if this text is talking about Jesus, then you, it is also talking about all of God’s children adopted into His family by Word and water and the Spirit. This text is talking about all of the saints who have gone, who rest from their labors in Christ, and how now sit with Him in the heavenly places. This text is describing the Church in heaven that reigns in glory, just as it describes the Church on earth, hidden under the cross and suffering. When you read these words, remember all of your loved ones who have gone before us and are with Christ. Remember them, and rejoice! Because they are in Christ, they are bound to you in a way that transcends time and space, suffering and hurt. You are connected to them in the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sin.

But how do you know this is true? It is true because Jesus Word and promise are true. Take, eat, this is my body, take, drink, this is my blood. St. Paul put it this way: The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ? (I Cor. 10:16) Then a little later St. Paul writes, Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually (I Cor. 12:27).

You, dear friends, are the body of Christ. You have been bought with his blood, sealed in the waters of your Baptism, you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit. You are the body of Christ. But not only you, all of those who have lived and died in the faith are the body of Christ. So when you receive the body and blood of Jesus Christ from this Altar, you do so praising God with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven. This is the God’s Word and promise, given and shed for you.

What this means, in a profound and wonderful way, is that when you commune here, you commune with the whole body of Christ. The whole body of Christ is here, at this altar, every time we receive the Lord’s Supper. What a profound mystery! What a wonderful Sacrament! God delivers Himself to you, and in delivering Himself, he delivers the whole company of heaven into our midst.

Faith trusts what it does not see. Faith clings to promises that God gives, even if we cannot fully understand them. But mark this well, dear Christians. Christ has won salvation and eternal life for you. You are free in Him. You are one of God’s saints, along with the whole company of heaven. You are a part of His body, a part of His family. And in Christ, there is always hope for the future.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “The Fruits of the Gospel”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel lesson just read, “Therefore by their fruits you will know them.”

When Paul made his farewell address to the pastors in Ephesus, he did so with a warning. The warning was that they were to pay hear to the whole counsel of God, and that they were to pay attention to their flock, the blood bought souls whom Jesus had commended to them. Paul warned that after he left ravenous wolves would come, that would seek to scatter the flock, devour them, and try to rob them of the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins. Even worse, Paul said, these wolves who come in won’t be outsiders, they will arise from their own flock, from in their own midst.

Jeremiah said much the same thing with the people of Israel, as they were about to be led into captivity in Babylon. God didn’t send these false prophets, but they came. They came, they spoke, the lied in the name of the Lord of Hosts, and they did it all trying to destroy the gifts of forgiveness of sins, life and salvation which God won for them with a mighty hand. The false prophets wanted to paint a picture for the Israelites that there could never be disaster, that things will not go bad because of their false belief, and that Baal would serve them as well as the true God.

So what are we to make of this? What are we to make of Jesus words that only those who do the will of His Father will enter the kingdom of heaven? How are we to understand Jesus’ warning about good fruit and bad fruit?

One thing is clear from these texts. We should never presume that just because there is a label, that things are what they seem. Just because David Koresh claimed to be Jesus in the flesh didn’t make him so. Just because you see the name “Christian” in front of a building does not mean they are Christians. By your fruits you shall know them.

So how are you to tell the difference? Jesus says that only those who do the will of His Father in heaven will enter the kingdom of heaven? But what is God’s will? God’s will is two-fold. His will is that you keep all His commandments first of all. That will is unbending, firm and true. That will of God is for your good, even though you may not always see it as such. That perfect will of God also shows you how regularly and consistently you fail at keeping His will and desire for you. By all accounts, you and I have listened to the lying voices of the night, which seek to keep us away from the forgiveness of sins, and which want to drive us to despair.

But God’s will ultimately is that you be saved. God’s will is that you live, and that you be free of sin and every evil of body and soul. That’s what God wants for you. If you want to know whether a preacher or teacher or church is from God, find out what kind of Jesus they present to you. Is it the Jesus of the cross? Is it the Jesus that died so that you might live forever in Him? Is it the Jesus that forgives, that comforts, that consoles, that gives hope and healing in the midst of sorrow and pain? Or is it another Jesus?

Jesus says that only those who do the will of His Father will enter into heaven. But don’t be afraid at this news. This is good news for you, not bad. God’s will is that you live and have life in His holy name. You are baptized. That is God’s work and will for you. Doing God’s will doesn’t mean mighty acts and great deeds that impress the world. Doing God’s will first of all means receiving what He has to give to you in His Son. It’s free. It’s a gift. It is life in His name.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Messiah Lutheran Church

Kenosha, Wisconsin

Thanksgiving Eve (November 27, 2008)

Luke 12:15-21

For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Rich Towards God”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this Thanksgiving is from Luke 12 as we heard a few moments ago. We especially look at the following verse: “And he said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”” (Luke 12:15 ESV)

Isn’t it incredible when it seems like God’s Word is speaking directly to the situation at hand? Our country is faced with two different and maybe opposing viewpoints right now. On the one hand we have a new president coming into office in just a couple months, and we pray God’s blessings upon him and hope that his time of service will be good for our nation. But on the other hand, we have a serious recession going on, and many people are talking about financial depression. Our church has felt the crunch, the holidays are coming up, and money is just in the air. So all of it really begs the question: What really is life all about?

That’s a good question. Jesus says in our text that one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions. And yet in some ways, it seems as though that is exactly what we do this time of year. We gather around the dinner table, hold hands, and give thanks to God for all of the stuff that we have. We give thanks for clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals and all I have, as the catechism would put it.

But Jesus in our text seeks to draw us away from the things of this world and into Himself. And to do so He gives a parable. The parable of a rich man who is getting richer. The rich man, in fact, is so rich that he has to make more barns to house all of his riches. And because he is so very rich, because he has been blessed so abundantly, the man says to himself, take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.

In other words, the man looks at his possessions and sees in them the point, the purpose to his life. His life was all about stuff. More stuff, so that he could eat, drink and be merry. The man’s life was good. He was happy and well provided for. Those who are happy want more money, because they believe it will make them happier. Those who are unhappy believe that money will solve all their problems.

But the rich man could not see the truth. His world was not what it seemed, and so his life was actually a waste and he never even knew it.

Now there is for us tonight both a warning in this and hope for the future. The warning from God is obvious: don’t let the things of this world define you. Your life does not consist in the things of this world. They come and go. Houses, cars, food, drink, the toys of the day, these things do not make you who you are, and if you seek to find happiness and joy in them, it is fleeting and will soon be gone. Don’t be trapped by the devil into thinking that these things are the point. They are not.

That’s the Law. Here’s the Gospel. Jesus talks about how the rich man laid up treasures for himself but was not rich toward God. What does it mean to be rich toward God? Being rich toward God has everything to do with faith, for it is by faith that you receive the God things which God gives you this day and every day.

That, dear friends, is what Thanksgiving for the Christian is all about. It’s all about faith in the one who gave up everything. Christ our Lord became poor so that you might be rich toward God. He cried out from the cross, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? That is the ultimate in poor. He was forsaken by all, doomed and left to die alone, a poor beggar with nothing but vinegar on a sponge for his food and drink. And yet through His death and resurrection, you are now rich beyond measure. When you look at your life, the thing that makes you who you are, it is Christ’s work that makes you rich.

Really if you think about it, the gifts and things of this world are almost icing on the cake for the baptized. When God gave you His Son in your Baptism, he gave you everything you would ever truly need. But the reality is that He continues to give to you, over and over again. He provides for your soul and your body. He gives out of the abundance of His mercy, so that even in tough times, you are fed and clothed, your family is safe, and you look forward to an eternity together with Him.

So this thanksgiving, as we remember all of the blessings God has given us, let us remember first of all the great gift He gives us by forgiving our sins and drawing us into His holy presence. You are truly rich toward God, and because of that, you may receive the things of this life with thanksgiving. What makes you rich is not your hard work, our great nation, or the ups and downs of the economy. What makes you rich toward God is that God in His riches delivers it all to you for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Lent 2 – Reminiscere (February 17, 2008, revised from 2003)
Matthew 15:21-28
For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “God’s Silence and His Speaking”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is the Gospel lesson just read from Matthew 15.

Silence. Complete and utter silence. That was Jesus’ response to her. Her daughter was terribly vexed with a demon, a horror we can only imagine. She was at her wits end. All the parenting skills in the world could not help her daughter. She was at the end of her rope. She went to the one Man who could help her. She went to Jesus, the Son of God, the Messiah. Surely He would help her! Surely He would look at her plight and would have mercy upon her by healing her daughter.

But God’s answer before her was silence.

Have you been there? Have you reached a point in your life where there is no where else to turn, nothing to do, and so you finally go to God? You reach out, you go to Him in prayer, and the answer is not what you want. Silence. More heartache and pain. Difficulties abound. Perhaps things even get worse. Where are you, God? Why don’t you answer me?

Our Lord’s ways are certainly not our ways. There are no quick and simple answers to why God does not make all the problems of life disappear as soon as we ask. But we can glean some answers from His Word on how He works and why things happen in this life the way they do.

First of all, we have to remember what God’s goal is for your life. God’s goal for your life is not that it be without troubles. That may be our goal for life. I think sometimes that all we really want is for there to be no problems or worries. That would make life pretty easy, wouldn’t it? No, God’s goal for your life is to bring you to heaven to be with Him forever. That is a very clear goal for him, but the problem is that because we are beset with sin, we cannot always see the path. What may be the most direct route for us may look like a terribly hard road. It’s kind of like looking over the top of a hill. You just can’t get too much of a sense of how much is left or even what’s on the other side as long as you are on the journey.

This goal of God’s, to bring you to heaven, is much more important than short-term fulfillment and happiness. He doesn’t want you to be without problems. He wants your life to be fulfilled and complete with Him. But in order to get there, sometimes God’s silence has to come before His voice of the Gospel.
That’s what St. Paul is talking about in our Epistle lesson for today:

Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. (Romans 5:1-5 NKJV)

What this Canaanite woman understood was that when everything else is stripped away, when her trust in herself is gone, when her trust in her family and lineage is gone, when every ounce of self-worth and fulfillment lie in the dust, then, and only then, can God’s work of healing and life begins. In other words, she had hope in Christ and not in herself.

We call that repentance. It is a profoundly Lenten word, and it is a word that Christians often forget, neglect, or act as if it doesn’t exist. Repentance, though, is absolutely central to our lives and growth as Christians. You can’t be a Christian without repentance. In fact, there is no such thing as faith apart from repentance, because in order to have faith in Christ you need to lose your faith in yourself.

I think that’s why God’s silence before this Canaanite woman is so important for you and I to understand today. God speaks with two voices, Law and Gospel. He speaks His word of Law to you to crush you, to destroy your self-reliance, to make you uncomfortable in your sinful skin, and to bring all of your self-made gods come crashing down. That Word of Law may come in many ways. Death is certainly the most obvious, but every time your life falls apart, every time things don’t go as they ought, it is our Lord at work using these horrible things that happen in life for good. For good? Yes. For our God glories in using Satan’s work and using it for His glory and your eternal life.

Our Canaanite woman had nothing to cling to on her own. She had no family. She had no name. She had no resources. Doctors couldn’t help. Nothing could help her daughter. All she had was God’s promise of mercy. And she grabbed on to that like a dog to a bone. She would not let God’s promise for a blessing go, no matter what. Just like Jacob in our Old Testament reading, she was willing to wrestle with God Himself in order to receive the blessing that He had promised.

Our Lord Jesus Christ says to you this day, repent! Repent of your self-made worth and fantasies. Repent of your thoughts that you can make everything work out as long as you try hard enough. Repent. But His Word to you does not end there. He also says to you, believe. Believe my word of promise. Believe that when I come to bless you, it will be a blessing that will last for all eternity. Believe.

Our Lord gives you and I the food that falls from His Table. We are unworthy to receive even the crumbs, but He gives us more than crumbs. He gives us His very body and blood as a sure pledge and guarantee of His love and forgiveness. This is no dog’s meal; it is a rich feast, and a full supper of life and salvation for your eternal good. Come to His Table, eat of His body and drink of His blood. The problems and trials of this life are but passing. But the gift He gives you this day, it will last for a lifetime. Believe it for His sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.

Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
The Presentation of Our Lord (trans. to Feb. 3, 2008, rev. from 2003)
Luke 2:22-32
For an audio MP3 of this sermon, CLICK HERE

TITLE: “Jesus Presents You Pure and Cleansed to God”

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen. Our text this morning is the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of our Lord in the Temple.

The Law of God given to Moses required that a woman, after giving birth, would be set apart for forty days. She could not go to any holy place or touch any holy thing for forty days after giving birth to a son. This was called the period of her purification, because giving birth, even in the best of circumstances, always involves pain and blood. All the way back at the Garden of Eden, the Lord told Eve that she would suffer in child-birth. Even in the giving of life itself, there was an understanding that death is at the door. And death is a very unholy thing, for it is born from sin.

It’s really hard for us to understand the idea of uncleanness and purification as the Scriptures teach. We just don’t think in those categories today. How could Mary be impure because she gave birth to a Son? It’s offensive to think about this. What could be more natural than giving birth? What could be more normal than that?

Of course giving birth and bearing children is a good and salutary thing. Children are always a gift from God and blessing of the Lord. But because of the sin of Eve and Adam, with this blessing from God comes a cross. Let’s face it. Children are messy. They start out messy, and it only gets messier as they get older. The messes just change. And the messiest child of all is what we commonly call an adult. Our lives are full of messes, ones that we cause or ones that seem to fall into our laps. Life this side of the grave is messy business thanks to this common sin which infects us all.

The Scriptures understand this very well, and so every mother at forty days was to bring a lamb to the Temple for a burnt offering and two turtledoves or pigeons for a sin offering. In this way she was cleansed by the death of these animals, and made pure once again. The only way that a mother could be made clean was by death and sacrificed. That was the only way it happened.

The same was true for the son. From the time of Mount Sinai, every firstborn male child of the sons of Israel was holy to the Lord, and dedicated to service in the Temple of God. But since the tribe of Levi were the tribe of the priests, all of the other firstborn sons were redeemed, or bought back from Temple service forty days after their birth. The price for the redemption of a firstborn son was five shekels of silver.

So this forty days was a time of purification for Mary and preparation for Jesus to be presented at the Temple of the Lord. Jesus, the true Temple of God, came to visit the earthly Temple. So it is that this young girl, Mary by name, was purified for forty days after the birth of her Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. At the end of this time, she and Joseph brought Jesus to the Temple, along with two turtledoves to make sacrifice, as the Law of Moses required. They were a Jewish couple doing what new families do, to purify the mother and present the Son in the Temple and redeem Him from sacrifice. But this time it was different. This time Mary does not simply bring two turtledoves for her own sacrifice. This time she brings the sacrifice, the one sacrifice of all time, which would cleanse and purify all of us from sin and death forever.

Now this is a bit of a culture shock for you and I. We just don’t think this way. But it is true. Jesus is presented at the Temple of God in Jerusalem and so fulfills the Law of God. They bring the two pigeons to fulfill the Law for Mary His mother, but they do not bring the five shekels of silver for Him. Like the prophet Samuel many, many years before, Jesus will serve the Temple of God. Only this time, Jesus will be the Temple of God, for He is the very Son of God in the flesh.

This is what that old man, Simeon, saw in the little infant Jesus. Simeon picked Him up in his arms, blessed God and said:

“Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word; For my eyes have seen Your salvation Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples, A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”

Simeon could now depart in peace, because the very Temple of God was now in the flesh of Jesus Christ. And He got to hold Jesus in his very arms. What a blessing indeed! The salvation and redemption of God’s people did not finally lie in turtledoves and temples and shekels and lambs. All of these things were but a shadow that pointed to the One. God’s salvation, the light for the Gentiles like you and I, and the true glory of Israel, came in that little baby that would one day die for the sins of the whole world. Only He could make Simeon whole. And when Simeon held Him in his arms, then he could go home and depart this world in peace.

But that’s not even the most miraculous part of this wonderful story. When do we sing these words, “Lord, now you let your servant depart in peace….”? We sing them right after receiving the very body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ in Holy Communion. That is no coincidence. What Simeon held in his arms, you take in your mouth. Simeon longed to be in the presence of God, and you take that Real Presence of our forgiving Lord into your very mouth and soul. Take and eat, take and drink, the very body and blood of Christ, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

Incredible, isn’t it? More than incredible. Simeon longed his whole life to have what you receive every week right here, in the Lord’s Supper. Here He cleanses you body and soul. Here He forgives your sins. Here He makes right everything that is wrong and messed up on your life. I said earlier that children are messy, even the adult variety. It is that very messiness which Christ our Lord takes on for you. The Epistle to the Hebrews puts it this way:

“Therefore, in all things He had to be made like His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people.”

He was made to be like you, so that He could remake you to be like Him. What a wonderful gift and treasure our Lord gives you in His body and blood! He comes into that messiness, that mire and muck of your life, and cleanses you from all sins. We may truly pray with the hymn:

Jesus, by your presentation,
When they blessed you, weak and poor,
Make us see your great salvation,
Seal us with your promise sure;
And present us in your glory
To your Father, cleansed and pure. (LSB 519:3)

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.