Rejected (Lent 5c, 2013)

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Lent 5c (March 17, 2013)

Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn

Holy Cross Lutheran Church

Rocklin, California

lent5c-2013

TITLE: “Rejected”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and The Lord, Jesus Christ.  Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke, chapter twenty.

The point of the story is the patience of God.  Not once, not twice, not three times, but four times the landowner suffered rejection by His tenants.  He sends servants to speak His Word.  By word and action he demonstrates His care for His wayward tenants.  Time and time again He gives them another chance.  And time and time again they abuse him by abusing those whom he sent.

Finally, the landowner in our story sends his son, his “beloved” as he is called.  Surely they will listen to my son, he thinks.  But the violence goes from PG to R in short order.  In our story, the tenants look at the son coming and think, “Aha!  If we kill the son we will get the inheritance!”  Hatred odes not have to make sense.  As we read in Proverbs, “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12 ESV)  Prejudice and anger follow their own rules.

But it does not end well for the tenants in our story.  Perhaps you have heard the saying, “Hatred is swallowing poison and hoping that your enemy dies.”  Eventually the landowner does come back.  Their hatred reaps its reward in the end.  He destroys the tenants and gives the land to others.  He does not do this willingly, but He does it in the end.

But do not lose the point of our parable.  God is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.  He risks rejection in sending His only begotten Son.  And time and time again, Jesus is rejected by you and me, His wayward children.  There is no gift of God we cannot twist.  There is no mercy we cannot stretch and warp into our own sick purposes.  The tenants in our story have nothing on us.  You are those tenants apart from Christ.  Repent.

But something remarkable happens.  Jesus quotes the Psalmist who says “the stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”  Now we don’t talk much about cornerstones today.  But in Jesus’ day, the cornerstone was everything.  If you didn’t have a good cornerstone in your building, everything would be off.  Your measurements, whether the building would be level, all of it depended upon a good cornerstone.

God sends the perfect cornerstone, the rock which is Christ Himself.  He is the very foundation of our life as God’s children.  St. Peter writes about it like this,

“As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”” (1Peter 2:4–6 ESV)

So what does this have to do with you and me and where we fit into this story of rejection and grace?  It works like this.  God, who is merciful and gracious and slow to anger, sends His Son to risk rejection and even death for us.  Jesus is cast out of the vineyard, rejected by the very ones whom He came to save.

But now this Son doesn’t reject you like you deserve.  No, He accepts you, and calls you His dear brother or sister.  He brings you back to the vineyard with Him, and His Father, your heavenly Father, now He gives you all things in His Son, Jesus Christ.  You will not be put to shame, for He was put to shame for you.

Our Lord’s rejection is a hard thing for us to hear and understand.  But God now accepts you because of Jesus Christ and His great work for you.  That is what Lent is all about.  That is what Holy Week and Good Friday is all about.  That is what Easter is all about.  It is all about God’s love for you, and how you are now accepted in His sight because of His Son.

At the end of the day, this is the most important thing in your life.  This is what St. Paul is talking about when He writes,

“Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.” (Philippians 3:8–11 ESV)

So come to the vineyard, dear brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.  Come into the vineyard of God.  You are welcome here.  He has given it to you.  It is your home.  Come and eat of His fruit and drink of His vintage.  All things are now yours.  God does not reject you.  He loves you and holds you to Him as a dear father clings to his dear children.  Come home, for all things are now yours.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake.  Amen.

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

With thanks to my friend, Chad.

 

 

 

Perspectives (Lent 4c, 2013)

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Prodigal Son Rembrandt

lent4c-2013.mp3

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke, chapter fifteen. Today we are going to hear three perspectives. From the older son, the younger son, and the Father.

The Younger Son

I was such a fool. In my arrogance I told my father I wished he was dead. I told him I wanted everything now. I left my home, my family who had always loved me, always taken care of me. I left my father and went off. I thought money would bring me happiness. I thought that stuff was the key. Or food. Or women. I tried it all. It was a sham. There was no happiness there. Oh it was fun for a while. Don’t get me wrong. But with each dollar spent, each desire fulfilled, I felt like a part of my soul was torn from me. Is this really what my father wanted? Was this really what was best for me?

I was such a fool. My hope was that my father would let me back in, that I could negotiate a deal where at least I could start to pay back some of my debt to him. That seemed reasonable at the time. He wouldn’t just forgive me, could he? That seems too good to be true.

He did. I still can’t believe it. My father must be crazy. He didn’t even let me get my whole speech out of my mouth! The robe, the ring, shoes, a feast given in my honor, like I am some kind of conquering hero! I didn’t do anything to deserve all of this. In fact, I did a lot to deserve death itself.

I love my father, but I sure don’t understand him. This is a greater reception than I could possibly imagine. Why would I feel like everything is upside down and inside out. I’ve done everything wrong and he’s paid the price for it. Now He gives me everything and I don’t deserve any of it. Crazy!

The Older Son

You have to admit that this Father seems pretty crazy, so thinks the older son. He clearly has never taken any parenting classes in tough love. What is he thinking? Doesn’t he know when he’s being taken advantage of ? How can he let his son do that to him?

Let’s review a few things in this story so we can soak in how absurd this Father really is. Imagine the first scene. The younger son comes to His Father and says, “Dad, I wish you were dead. Give me my part of the inheritance. I’ve got sinning to do and you’re holding me back.”

AND THIS CRAZY FATHER DOES IT!

Has He lost it? How can He be so irresponsible? Giving away His hard earned money to this deadbeat son of His. It is a scandal. What will all our, I mean his, friends and neighbors say?

And sure enough, off he goes, this son of his. Foreign lands. Foreign living. A “reckless lifestyle,” as they say. Clearly he doesn’t deserve all of the stuff he has. I even heard this young upstart lost it all. What a scandal! Crazy. My, I mean the younger brother got so low that he was below the pigs. The pigs! No self-respecting Jew would be caught dead with that kind of work. It just isn’t done.

And you won’t believe what happens next. This deadbeat, this sinner son, he actually comes to his senses. He realizes that he has blown it in a big way. So he has the gall to come groveling back. He has a plan, I’m sure. He probably wants to weasel his way back into father’s good graces. Make him one of the servants, something like that. I can imagine the scene in my mind, “Oh father, I have sinned against heaven and against you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me one of your hired servants.” What a joke. Surely father won’t fall for it. Will he?

He did. In fact, our Father didn’t just fall for it. He didn’t even let the deadbeat negotiate! “Put on the finest robe, the best rings, sandals and kill the fattened calf! My son was dead and is alive, was lost and is found.” I am so angry, I refuse to have any part of this charade, this gross miscarriage of justice. If things were fair, this son of his should still be groveling with the pigs. If things were fair, father would recognize that I am the good son. He should be rewarding ME for always obeying, and not squandering my future, my inheritance, on this loser, this sinner.

The Father

I love my sons. Both of them. But they don’t understand what it means to be a family. Not yet, at least. When my younger son said he wanted me dead, my heart broke. How can he do that? Doesn’t he know how much I love him? Doesn’t he know that going his own way will only lead to death and his own destruction?

He does now. I’ve given him everything. Everything. I hold nothing back from my sons, and I love them both. Some might call my love crazy or irrational. But being a family isn’t about being fair. It’s about mercy and love. It’s about giving and receiving. And if there’s one thing that’s true about families, it is that they don’t make sense.

My older son, my firstborn son, he still doesn’t understand all of this. He still thinks that because he is good on the outside, that that’s all there is to it. He doesn’t understand that love and family means mercy. It means not keeping track. It means giving and not keeping score. I love them both, but in many ways, my older son’s lack of mercy hurts as much as the younger son’s open rebellion.

Conclusion
So there you have three pictures or impressions from our Gospel. The older son is convinced of his own righteousness, even though he has no reason for it. The younger son has sinned greatly, and has seen the love of his father. And the father loves them both, is hurt by both, and yet continues to show mercy to them both, through thick and thin, hardship and joy.

So where are you in this story? Are you the younger son, waiting and hoping that your father will take you back? Are you the older son, convinced that you are right?

In many ways each one of us can relate to both of the sons. You have had your reckless moments, your prodigal times when you have sinned greatly against our heavenly Father. Maybe it was obvious and painful. Maybe it is secret and only you know of it.

Certainly we can relate to this older son. There is always a great temptation for the Christian to thumb our righteous noses down at anyone who doesn’t “get it” as much as we do. “Lord, I thank you that I am not like other Lutherans,” to paraphrase the Pharisee in another one of Jesus’ parables.

But here is the key. The Father, our Father, loves you whether you are young and foolish or young and arrogant. He loves you, young and old, with all of the warts and weaknesses and rebellion that you have and are. This is pretty amazing, the more you think of it.

And like those two sons, our Lord throws a banquet for you. He puts the finest robe of His righteousness upon you, gives you the ring that says you are a part of His family once again, and He kills the fattened calf, or lamb, for you. The banquet is perhaps above all a sign and token that you are a part of the holy family of God.

So come to the banquet. The feast is ready. The Father has come to you in His Son. He has made all things ready. Come to the feast.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

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

The Tower and the Fertilizer (Lent 3c, 2013)

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00 159 166 PS2

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke, chapter thirteen.

Why do bad things happen to good people? That’s the question that is asked of Jesus in our text. What did these Galileans do to deserve having their blood mingled with their sacrifices? Or why, as Jesus then asks, did a tower fall upon those 18 people in Siloam, outside Jerusalem?

Our questions today are often not that different. Sandy Hook Elementary School. The theatre in Aurora, Colorado. A tsunami in Japan. A meteorite in Siberia. Our stories can go back even farther. I remember preaching on this very text after 9-11. The Twin Towers. With each passing generation we have our Federal Building bombings, our Kent State or Berkley riots, our own Hiroshima or Pearl Harbor.

Each one of these disasters, either natural or man made, asks the question of why. Why this person and not that person? Who, we might ask, is at fault? Was it the person or the nation? Or perhaps it is more serious than that. What if it isn’t our fault at all? What if it is God’s fault? Could God really do such things? Those are the questions of the day.

These questions, as serious as they are, cannot be asked apart from one more thing: the cross of Jesus Christ.
It’s like this: The only way you and I really know anything about God is through Jesus Christ, his birth, death and life again for us. That’s it. If we look for God anywhere else, we will be seriously disappointed and even misled.

So what happens if we look for God apart from or out outside of the cross? It starts, so often, with finding God in beauty, the sunset, the love of family, flowers, and the like.

But it can’t stop there. Sooner or later we end up at the tsunami. And there we find the God of disaster. This God, so it seems, is arbitrary and, well, just plain mean. This God doesn’t stop with beauty. For this God, things get ugly pretty quick.

In all honesty, this is the God that we see and feel and know, or think we know. With this God it is dog eat dog. With this God it is survival of the fittest. With this God we live and die the divine “if/then” statements. If you do this, then you will live. This is the covenant of the Law we talked about Wednesday night. If that is all you think God is about, then your God is pretty tough.

So this is what the people were asking Jesus about that they didn’t get or understand.

Jesus answer is both disturbing and comforting. His answer for them is that no one sinned more than another. As St. Paul would later put it, “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and a little later “the wages of sin is death”.

This is why Jesus answer to the question of why bad things happen is repentance. Repent, Jesus says! Jesus calls you to not think so highly of yourself, and to recognize that you live by the mercy of God. This is not a bad thing, because frankly, God’s mercy is far more reliable that our own ability to do well at anything.
Let me say that again, because it needs to sink in. God’s mercy is far, far more reliable than anything we say or feel or do. That’s what makes it God’s mercy, and not our own works. That is why we need the cross of Christ.

So teach us how God uses these disasters and hardships of our life, like the Tower of Siloam in our text, Jesus tells the parable of the fig tree.

This fig tree story, we have to admit, is as disturbing as the Tower and all the repentance talk. First, there is a warning. The warning is that trees that don’t bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. The second disturbing thing is the fertilizer. Let’s talk about the warning first.

The warning and the fire at its simplest is judgment. Each tree of the vineyard must produce good fruit. At first glance, this sure sounds like good works, doesn’t it? If you don’t do good works, God is going to judge you. There is a warning here to recognize that we never do enough, and to recognize this all the time. But the problem is as long as I am focused on the fruit, things will never change.

It’s like this. When a tree isn’t bearing fruit like it should, you don’t start yelling at the fruit: “Get better! Grow more! Be more fruity!” How well would that work? Not very well.

No, if a tree isn’t bearing fruit, it is because it isn’t getting enough sun, or water, or nutrients in the soil. It may need pruning or some other kind of care. The fruit is the end product, and when the fruit isn’t growing, you look to the tree, not the fruit.

The warning Jesus gives to you and me is that if we aren’t bearing fruit in our lives, it is a faith problem, not a good works or fruit problem. That’s the warning God gives you and me. Examine your life and conduct and ask yourself if you are bearing fruit in your life. Fruits of love, patience, kindness, mercy and long-suffering. You know the fruits. If you aren’t bearing the fruit you ought to bear, then it is time to repent and trust in the mercy of God once again.

But guess what. You never bear enough fruit! Not by yourself, that’s for sure. The only way you bear enough fruit is by being connected to the tree, and that tree is Christ. Not bearing fruit, therefore, is a faith and trust problem. It isn’t a good works problem.

That’s the warning. Now let’s talk about fertilizer.

What is the fertilizer that God piles upon you so that you might grow and bear fruit? What is it that will show you your need for your Savior? The fertilizer is the trials and suffering you endure in your life. Faith rarely grows from success and victories in life. Faith thrives and grows when there is lots of, uh, fertilizer piled on it. These trials force us to examine our lives, repent and trust that God will take care of us, because we cannot take care of ourselves. St. Paul helps us out with this in Romans chapter five:

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” (Romans 5:1–6 ESV)

God uses the Towers of Siloam in our lives, the fertilizer that piles up all around us. He uses these things for you and for your benefit. The towers hurt when they fall. The fertilizer, truth be told, the fertilizer stinks. We should never pretend it doesn’t. As St. Paul said, while we were weak, Christ died for the ungodly.

This is what happens, beloved. God uses these trials and hardships for you. He feeds you and waters you. The trials show us our great need for God, and God longs to serve you and care for you.
Today God longs to be with you, to be your God so that you may be His child. It is easy to get stuck in the why questions. It is easy to get distracted by the fertilizer in our lives. Why did this happen to me and not someone else? You can’t answer those questions, because they are unanswerable. Our Heavenly Father, however, longs to feed you and care for you, to water you with His Word and Spirit as only He can do. The fruits of Christ’s work in you for for you rise up to heaven, where God says, “Ah yes, that is my tree, my beloved. That is just the way things ought to be.”

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Rejected (Lent 2c, 2013)

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Lent II – February 24, 2013
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, California
Rev. Todd A. Peperkorn

lent2-2013

TITLE: “Rejected”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Our text for today is the Gospel just read from St. Luke chapter thirteen, as well as the Old Testament reading from Jeremiah (26:8-15).

Jeremiah is in trouble. He has proclaimed God’s Word to the people of Israel. They are going into Exile. This was around 610 B.C. It is their unbelief and hardness of heart that will cause the disaster that will befall them. It is their own fault. No one else is to blame. Jeremiah is simply announcing the way things are. But they are ready to kill the messenger, because they don’t like the message.

Often this is your reaction when it comes to confronting sin. It is mine as well. You don’t like to be wrong. You don’t want someone to show you your weaknesses, far less your sin. Can you imagine the audacity? Actually telling another person that they’re wrong? We don’t do this today. We just don’t. Right and wrong today is, well, it’s a private opinion. Our culture today would have you believe that if there is a right and a wrong, you should keep it to yourself.

But God loves you too much for that. God loves you so much that He is willing to risk your rejection in order to save you.

So He sends prophets, preachers who speak the truth in love both in season and out of season. And sometimes that warning, that cry to repent and turn away from your self-centered and empty life, well, sometimes the rejection gets ugly.

This is what was going on with Jeremiah. And for speaking the truth to these people, He was rejected.

The same happened to most all of the prophets. Even John the Baptist, the last and greatest of the prophets. He had the nerve to tell Herod, that old fox as Jesus calls him, He had the nerve to tell him that adultery and murder is a sin. Herod didn’t like this message, not one bit. He threw John in prison, and eventually murdered him. It’s a dangerous thing, bringing bad news. The only thing worse is not bringing it.

By the time we get to our Lord in our text, He is heading the same was of Jeremiah, and John, and all of the rejected prophets who went before Him. Our text says that some religious leaders, Pharisees, they come to Jesus and urge Him to go away, because Herod wants Jesus dead.

At first glance it sounds like they are doing Jesus a favor. After all, they do go and warn Jesus and urge Him to leave. But they aren’t saying this to Him as a favor. Basically they are trying to pressure Him and manipulate Him into leaving His divine mission of salvation for the world. Like Satan before them, they try to get Jesus to look after Himself and let the world go to hell all on its own.

But that’s not God’s way. It’s our way. Our way is conflict avoidance. Our way is to ignore the signs of our brokenness. Our way is to avoiding talking about things like sin and death. Why? Well, they are so negative. If we don’t talk about them, maybe they will go away. Maybe things will just work out all on their own. And so we run from God, and hide just like Adam and Eve in the Garden.

But God is not like us. Not in this way, at least. God sees your need. He knows that the path you are on by nature only leads to death, sorrow, and to everlasting guilt. He knows this. That is why He sent His Son, Jesus, to come into the world to save us from our sins. And it begins with the call to repentance. Recognize your sin for what it is. Know that you are the cause of your own impending death. You, and not someone else.

St. Paul warns us of this in our Epistle today. He writes,

“For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things.” (Philippians 3:18–19 ESV)

When our minds are so focused on the things of this world, we forget our baptismal identity. Each one of you knows some, maybe close friends or even family members, who no longer recognize their deeds and life as full of sin. We don’t have to go far to find those who glory in their shame, who flaunt sins of greed and sensuality and desire before the world, and don’t care if God or anyone knows about it. Their minds are set on earthly things, as St. Paul says. And we are right there with them.

This is why Jesus weeps and laments over Jerusalem, His own city. You can imagine this scene in our Lord’s life. He’s on His way to die, and still they try to keep Him from saving them. You can imagine Jesus looking over His city and saying these words,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you would not!” (Luke 13:34 ESV alt.)

Hear yourself in those words, dearly baptized. For you have caused our Lord’s anguish as much as they. Repent and believe the Gospel.

The time is coming, and is even here, beloved, when our Lord enters into His city once again. Soon we will sing those words, “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna to the highest!” Jesus enters Jerusalem with forgiveness and healing, life and salvation for you, always for you. He goes to Jerusalem to die on the cross so that you may receive His own body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins. That is love that knows no bounds.

God has established a New Jerusalem here at His Altar. Come, leave behind all of the sin and hardship that brings you low. Come and rest. God has it all taken care of for you, always for you.

Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

 

God For Me (Lent 1, 2013)

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Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Holy Cross Lutheran Church
Rocklin, CA
Lent 1 – 2013
February 17, 2013 (rev. from 2008)
Luke 4:1-11

2013-02-17-Lent01.mp3

TITLE: “God For Me”

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for today is from our Gospel lesson just read from St. Luke chapter four.

Johann Gerhard once wrote that the entire life of Christ was one of fighting temptation, and that we, through Holy Baptism, enter into that same battle. Temptation has been the struggle of man since the Fall into sin. All the way back to the Garden, the struggles of the flesh in food, of twisting God’s Word for our own desires, and of worshipping the false god who promises the world but instead gives us hell, these have been our constant companions, the thorns that prick us and will not go away.

This is your life, O Baptized. This is your life, for when you were baptized into His death you were also baptized into His life, and Jesus life was one of constant temptation and struggle against the devil. Every step He took, from His birth, His epiphany and baptism, His ministry of healing the sick and preaching the Gospel, every step was beset with this constant question: Will you go to the cross? The people want Him to provide food for them, to satisfy their basest needs. The Pharisees and scribes want to trick Him with the Word of God, so that He will deny his messianic purpose. And the disciples, His own closest followers, when He speaks of the cross and His impending death, they are aghast. They cannot fathom a God who would become Man and then would die. What kind of a God dies? It’s not possible, and so even His closest friends sought to deter Him from His holy purpose.

But what of you, O Baptized? How often have you forgotten God in favor of satisfying your own flesh? How often have you justified your sinful actions with a misplaced bible passage, or a cover-all like “love” which means do whatever you want? How often have you forgotten the way of the cross, the way of sacrifice for your neighbor, of giving of what you have and trusting that God will provide for you? You know the answer to these questions. The answer is you justify your false actions and forget. You forget who you are all the time. You forget that you are dust, and to dust you shall return (Psalm 103:14). You forget that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). You forget that apart from Christ you are nothing, but in Christ you are kings and queens in the heavenly kingdom.

It is for this, our wretched forgetfulness, our willful disregard for God’s Word that our Lord came into the flesh. It is for this reason that He was baptized to fulfill all righteousness. It is for this reason that He fasted. It is for this reason that He allowed the devil to do His worst. It is for this reason that He lived. It is for this reason that He died the lonely death of the criminal, the greatest sinner, for He took all our sins into Himself.

So what does this mean for you, O sons and daughters of Adam? What this means is everything. The walk of the Christian life is not one of victory to victory. It is a life of sorrow and hardship, where joy is found not in the little battles with sins each day. It is in those battles that to our eyes we lose all the time. The walk of the Christian life is Christ’s life, and that means a life of suffering, rejection and even death. Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.”2

But this, dearly beloved, is not a sadness or some sort of gloomy message that only Lutherans can really appreciate. Far from it. Our Lord said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). It is in this suffering, rejection and death that you are most like Christ. Where the world sees weakness, we see strength. Where the devil sees his victory, we see his greatest defeat. Where our sinful nature cries out that we are giving up our very lives, we cry out with joy that we have been given Christ’s life for us.

Our Lord’s temptation in the wilderness is not an example for us to follow, like some sort of formula for beating temptation. His temptation in the wilderness is your defeat of Satan. No matter what may come your way, no matter what the temptation, no matter what the sin or grief or sorrow that you bear, Christ takes it all into Himself. The suffering that you bear ties you to Christ in a way that is mysterious and yet very simple. Your suffering ties you to Him, because He suffered for you.

That is where the Cup of our Lord’s Supper fits in so beautifully with your life as a Christian. The Cup of blessing which we receive from the Lord’s hand is the sure and certain promise for you that our Lord has died and rose again for you, and that the trials you undergo today, the temptations you face every day, that our Lord has given Himself to you in those trials, and where you fail by weakness or sin, that He Himself has paid the price for your forgiveness.

So come, beloved, receive the blessing of the Lord from His own body and blood. Christ has won the victory for you.

Though devils all the world should fill, All eager to devour us,
We tremble not, we fear no ill;They shall not overpow’r us.

 This world’s prince may still Scowl fierce as he will, He can harm us none.

 He’s judged; the deed is done; One little word can fell him. (LSB 656:3)

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.