Our Saviors Sermons

Private Devotion on Matthew 10:17-20

Brief personal devotion on Matthew 7:24-29

A short devotion on Matthew 6:1-4 and the righteousness that avails before God.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Psalm 110:1: The Lord says to my Lord: ‘Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool.’

This psalm speaks of Christ. He himself cited it on his way to Jerusalem to die, revealing the mystery that he was David’s Son and David’s Lord, true Man and true God. His glory was hidden in his humility, but would soon be revealed.

Moses, in his last book of Deuteronomy, prophesied about the Christ: “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15). This prophet like Moses only greater would judge instruct his people, judge his people, defeat his enemies, and reign gloriously. And Jesus, in his end-times sermon, describes when he would come and reign, when all his enemies would be his footstool: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world’” (Matt. 25:31-34).

This blessed King and Prophet Jesus would return, reign, and give this beautiful inherited gift. Yes, Jesus describes the works of those on the right, but they themselves didn’t recognize it. They were simply wearing the beautiful robes of dawn that Jesus had provided to them. They were living lives thankful for the free salvation given by this blessed one who stood in the gap between themselves and God, who defeated death for them, who won life for them.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Psalm 90:12-15: So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil.

The exercise of the Christian life and of faith is simply more and more to decrease in ourselves, to see how little we are, and to see how great God is, and to trust hispromises, rather than to make ourselves lords and rulers and deciders of what is right.

In the book of Numbers, the people of Israel stood on the doorstep of the Promised Land, but the report of the spies was pessimistic. They did not think they were strong enough to enter. So the people complained and rebelled, and God became angry. Moses, who wrote this psalm, stepped in to intercede: “And now, please let the power of the Lord be great as you have promised, saying, ‘The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, forgiving iniquity and transgression, but he will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, to the third and the fourth generation.’ Please pardon the iniquity of this people, according to the greatness of your steadfast love, just as you have forgiven this people, from Egypt until now” (Num. 14:17-19).

This is how much greater God is than we are: not only does he know better, but even when we fail, he forgives. For as hard as things have gone for us, God promises twice as much blessing. In a sermon on forgiveness, Jesus put down all the pride of his disciples by saying, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3, 4).

It’s a glorious reversal, that we sinners, we lowly, are given the crown of Jesus’ life, the Son of God who himself became a humble child to earn our forgiveness.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Psalm 84:1-2: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the Lord; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.

On one hand, the dwelling place and courts of God refer to heaven—that is where he resides in his glory. But he had set up a temporary dwelling place on earth, where he could be with his people: the tabernacle was set up after the pattern of heaven, where people could come to God for redemption and with their prayers.

In this worship place, sacrifices were daily offered, morning and evening. God told his people then, in the book of Leviticus: “For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life” (Lev. 17:11). This demonstrates the beauty and loveliness of the courts of the Lord: this is where life is given for you.

But even such a beautiful thing can be, and has been, misunderstood and misused. The sacrifices even were thought of as a reason to boast, not as a gift from God. Jesus speaks about very serious misunderstandings like this in his parable sermon: “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given…. This is why I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand” (Matt. 13:11, 13). But when Jesus gives that gracious understanding, giving faith to receive the truth, your heart can see the real value and the gift, and like one of his parables of the kingdom of heaven, you find “treasure hidden in a field,” found by a man, for which, in your joy, you can give up your own ideas and instead simply receive: “he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field” (Matt. 13:44).

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Psalm 72:12-14: For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight.

These verses refer to the king God has chosen to lead his people, who would do God’s work among them. This mighty ruler loves and cares for the plight of the people, and seeks to save and deliver them.

In the book of Exodus, we are given the history of God’s people in Egypt, and when he sent Moses to deliver them because he “heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Ex. 2:24-25). He loved them so that he purchased them with blood in the Passover, and he brought them through the water in the Red Sea, destroying their oppressors through these things, too.

In his missionary sermon, Jesus sent out his apostles to proclaim, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 10:7). But he warned them that there was persecution and oppression to come in response to this message: “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved” (Matt. 10:22). He explained, too, that he came not “to bring peace, but a sword” (Matt. 10:34), because his deliverance would cause divisions, and enemies would still pursue the people who received his redemption. But his promise remained: “And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matt. 10:38-39). While it seems hopeless, beyond saving, Jesus delivers.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Psalm 24:3-4: Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully.

You and I are creatures of an almighty God, the one and only God, in fact. As such, we were made to be in relationship with him, to be able to walk with him and enjoy his presence. But David declares this universal truth, that only those who are perfectly clean, pure, and sinless can be with God. Who is such a person?

From Genesis, we see how the sin of our first parents corrupted all human beings, so that access to God was in fact cut off: “He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:24). The situation seemed hopeless.

And yet God had made a promise: one descendant of the woman Eve would crush the head of the deceiver, restore righteousness to men, and bring us back to God. God gave this promise again to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. One man would ascend the hill of the Lord and bring us life.

In his sermon on the mount, Jesus declares the seriousness of our case: “For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20). But in that same sermon, Jesus also declares the fulfillment of the Promise: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17). He is the one God’s Word pointed to, the one with clean hands and a pure heart, the one who perfectly kept the Law, and he won for you the ability to be in God’s blessed presence.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

John 20:24-29 Sermon - 12/21/22, St. Thomas' Day

John 1:19-28 Sermon - 12/18/22, Advent 4

Hebrews 11:16 Funeral Sermon - Funeral of Eva Fredrickson, 12/17/22

2 Peter 1:21: “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.”

What made those men holy? They were holy because the Holy Spirit spoke his Word through them. We have an example in Isaiah: he saw God seated on his glorious throne and despaired, “‘Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, The LORD of hosts.’ Then one of the seraphim flew to [him], having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. And he touched [his] mouth with it, and said, ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; Your iniquity is taken away, And your sin is purged’” (Is. 6:5-7).

Because something holy from God came and touched Isaiah, he was made holy, forgiven, and able to share the Word.

That Word itself is a holy thing from the altar of God. Where it goes it sanctifies. It is a living and active Word, “sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Heb. 4:12).

It is natural for all human beings since Adam and Eve to look for God or holiness somewhere other than God’s revealed means. He “does not want to deal with us in any other way than through the spoken Word and the Sacraments. Whatever is praised as from the Spirit—without the Word and Sacraments—is the devil himself” (SA III.viii.10).

Through the blessed Word and Sacraments, though, the Holy Spirit makes you holy, purges your sin, and unites you with the holiness of Jesus. In the Word and Sacraments, Jesus comes to you, having paid for your sins, and gives you his righteousness and life.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Romans 10:17: “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”

Learning something takes a lot of work. Study, memorization, repetition, and you can get exhausted. You have to put a lot into it. Thanks be to God that you aren’t saved by learning. You’re saved by faith.

There’s a difficult distinction here for us to understand, between believing and understanding. You can believe without understanding. Faith is not the activity of your mind. Faith is the reception, the mark on the doorposts of your heart, of grace you have received. Scripture says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God”: hearing itself, the capacity to receive, is given by the Word. You do nothing. God and his Word does everything.

Faith then working in your heart causes you to overflow in activity. Faith is not dead, but living and active. It will cause you to obey the first table of God’s Law, to “love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,” so that you are made to praise and confess your faith, to call on him in trouble, and to worship him and go back to receive his Word again and again. That’s what comes as a result of your salvation. And faith causes you to obey the second table of God’s Law, to love “your neighbor as yourself,” reflecting the love Jesus had for you in saving you, sharing that love you have received with others.

The life and righteousness you have is all what Jesus did, keeping that Law in your place. And he gives it to you freely by his Word.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Genesis 3:2-5: “And the woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, “You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.”’ Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’”

You might be familiar with this history. Your many-times-great-grandmother Eve was tempted by the Devil to reject God’s Word and to turn to something else. Adam, your many-times-great-grandfather, wasn’t innocent either. He stood by and let his wife be tempted, and joined her in her sin. As a result, you have inherited this broken nature, sin, which is hostile to God.

You might not think you’re hostile. I doubt Eve thought she was hostile, at first anyway. She thought she was going higher. The reasoning went like this: “God saidthis, but really, there’s something more! There’s something behind what he has said that he’s left me to figure out!”

That’s where all damnable teaching comes from. When we think there is something morethan what God’s Word has told us, something beyond it, which ultimately deniesthat Word, we are rejecting the way God saves us. The Holy Spirit comes only by God’s Word. Don’t look anywhere else. But it’s in that Word that you receive the life of your Savior who died for you. He took the death of the forbidden fruit, and by his death on a tree, he gives you eternal life. How do you get it? It comes to you through his Word, where God has said and promisedit would be.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Galatians 3:2: “Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

God grants you his Spirit or grace only with the Word. It’s the Word of God. It’s not anything that you or I have control over, or authority over. It tells us what is true. Your mind and reason and emotion can’t overcome it. There might be passages that seem obscure and maybe even irrational or wrong. But God does not lie. Instead of throwing out the value of the book, the Word, take the advice of Martin Luther. When he came across a passage he didn’t understand, he said, “I tip my hat to the Holy Spirit and acknowledge that he is wiser than I.”

Examine yourself: do you value your own wisdom? Do you think you’re right all the time? Really look. It’s easy to say “no,” but in practice you shut out others who disagree, without even listening to their reasoning. You’re hot-headed, but you call it passionate. You’re judgmental, but you call it protective. You’re pushy, but you call it advocating. This and many other sinful behaviors like it are unnecessary and misguided. You don’t need to do anything. You get to be passive in your salvation. Jesus did it. And now he gives you his Word. You don’t even need to get up and take it. The Holy Spirit creates that faith in your heart which receives it. God is giving you his life. There’s no need to fight.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

Matthew 16:19: Jesus said, “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

Imagine the despair felt by Adam and Eve when their paradise was closed to them. The way was barred by an angel with a flaming sword, so that they had no access to God’s richest blessings any longer. Or in the parable of Jesus in which he described the foolish virgins who came too late to the wedding feast: “the door was shut,” and they begged the Bridegroom, “‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you’” (Matt. 25:10-12). Sin locks the door to heaven.

Adam and Eve had the promise of restoration, though. And here it came in Jesus. He won the way to reenter Paradise. His blood purchased the redemption of your sins. And that forgiveness is pronounced to you through the words of mere human beings. This is why God tells you to confess your sins, and to be told by those who serve you the Gospel, your pastors and teachers, that your sins are forgiven. Jesus serves you and opens the way to heaven for you by this gift of absolution or forgiveness.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

A brief devotion in the week of Pentecost

A brief devotion in the week of Pentecost

A brief devotion in the week of Pentecost

A brief devotion in the week of Pentecost

A brief devotion in the week of Pentecost

03/06/22 Sermon - Matthew 4:1-11

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

John 15:26: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

The Holy Spirit, the third Person of the Holy Trinity, proceeds from the Father and the Son. It is as though the Father and the Son together breathed out the Holy Spirit. But again, this is an eternal act, outside time, so the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are all equal to one another.

But the Spirit is distinct. The Father sends him, and so does the Son. But there are two common questions about the Holy Spirit: first, Is he really God, or is he a creature?

In Acts 5:3, 4, St. Peter told Ananias that he had lied to the Holy Spirit, and explained that he had therefore lied to God. The Holy Spirit is God.

And second: Is the Holy Spirit a Person, or just some impersonal divine force?

In his first letter to the Corinthians, St. Paul explains that the Holy Spirit has deep, divine knowledge, as well as a personal will and choice. We already saw that he can be lied to. And he may also be grieved. These are things that can only be said of a Person, not a force.

This Holy Spirit brings the Son’s holiness to you. In the inspired and perfect Word of God, the Holy Scriptures, and in the Sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, the Holy Spirit’s power comes to give faith and life in Jesus.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

John 10:30: “I and the Father are one.”

God is so far above us that we cannot comprehend him. We simply repeat, like children, what he reveals to us about himself. Beyond what he says, we are silent.

When we speak of the three Persons of the Godhead, we repeat Scripture. The first Person is called “Father,” and the second Person is “Son.” Their relationship is revealed to us in those terms, that the Son is the only begotten of the Father, who resides in the bosom of his Father. He is also called the Word.

But we have to be careful: this doesn’t mean the Son is inferior to the Father. The Father begat his Son in eternity, outside of time. Our language simply can’t get closer to the mystery than that. The Father and Son know one another; the Father loves the Son and the Son honors the Father. The Father sent the Son to win salvation according to his plan, to suffer and die and rise again, and the Son returned to the Father, bringing us with him. But the Father and Son are one being. The Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, so that whoever sees the Son sees the Father.

In his Word, we have seen the Son. He took our flesh to give us his glory.  So we have the Father’s own eternal life and love.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Matthew 28:19: “…in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

God is one God and three Persons. What does “person” mean?

The Persons of God are not members of some council. They’re not parts that together constitute the divine being. The Persons are individual centers of self-consciousness and self-determination. In Scripture the Father and Son and Holy Spirit speak to one another and about one another as distinct.

Jesus spoke the words of Baptism’s Sacrament, including the names of all three Persons. At his own Baptism, all three Persons were manifest: the Son on the banks of the river, the Father speaking from heaven, and the Holy Spirit as a dove.

The Father is not the Son. The Son is not the Holy Spirit. But they are perfectly one in essence. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. And there is one God.

This is a mystery that we hold by faith, and in which we see that the whole Godhead is at work for our salvation. The Father sent his Son, the Son became Man and died for our sins, and the Son sent the Holy Spirit to create faith in our hearts, so that we are tied to his eternal life, which he gives us by his grace through his Word and Sacraments.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

1 Corinthians 8:4-6: “Therefore…we know that…‘There is no God but one.’ For although there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’—yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.”

God is one. His essence is not made up of component parts, and there are no other gods beside him.

This is a truth that requires constant reminding. As Israel danced around a golden calf, we find our fears focused on dangers as though God were not in control, our love toward the things of this world, as though the Creator of them all couldn’t give all we need, our trust in passing things, as though the eternal God would not preserve us for eternity.

If the truth of God’s oneness is not rooted deeply in our hearts, controlling all our thoughts and actions, then we are idol-worshipers. Withholding any part from him is building an idol against him.

Our God knows the weakness of our flesh, and for this purpose he became one of us. Here is the mystery: the Father did not become Man or suffer, nor did the Holy Spirit, but the Son of God became man, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried. He rose from the dead and is our intercessor before God, having paid for all our sins. God is one of us, and in him our human flesh is granted power, glory, and divine life.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

In Jesus’ name. This is Pastor Michael Lilienthal of Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, Albert Lea. Together, let us meditate on and wrestle with God’s Word:

Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

From the ages, God’s people have known he is exactly one God. In the ancient Christian Creeds, however, we confess faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As one of those creeds says, though, “And yet there are not three gods, but one God.” We agree with the ancient Christians. We’re not going to try to come up with some new faith, but hold to the same faith which the church has held from the beginning and for which it will fight to the end.

But it’s not something I can explain, and I’m not going to try. Instead, it’s something that has to be believed. To believe that God is the Father, uncreated and unbegotten, and the Son, uncreated and begotten of the Father, and the Holy Spirit, uncreated and unbegotten but proceeding from Father and Son, but all is also only one God, is an object of our faith. God has revealed this truth about himself, and we trust him.

Not only do we believe in God’s Triune existence, but we believe all things that he has said about himself: that he is the Maker of all things, that he is eternal, spirit, omnipotent, wise, and good. We do see that he is good. Our limited natures, our sins themselves, cannot shake him in his unassailable goodness. And in Jesus, the Son of God made flesh, he brings that goodness, forgiveness and eternal life, to us.

Amen. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.

01/06/22 Epiphany Sermon - Matthew 2:1-12

Matthew 5:7-12: “Blessed are the merciful, because they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, because they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, because they will be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven. In fact, that is how they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Jesus’ saints have been forgiven much, and so filled with faith are willing to show mercy and forgiveness to others.

Believers have pure hearts, not because we have never done anything wrong, or even because we have fixed all that by having a really strong faith. Instead, our consciences are clean or pure because they have been washed in the blood of Jesus through his Word and his Baptism and his Holy Supper.

The children of God imitate Jesus by making peace—not merely a worldly peace, but the peace we have with God because of Jesus’ sacrifice. It is the peace of forgiveness.

Persecution must be suffered by Christians. Lies and complaints will be lodged against you because the world is on the Devil’s side. But Jesus repeats this promise, so that you can have comfort in the face of persecution. The saints of God have always been persecuted this way, and those holy men and women and children have gone into heaven ahead of you, where they wait to rejoice with you in the inheritance you share, because you are made by God into his saints, his children.

Matthew 5:3-6: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, because theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, because they will be comforted. Blessed are the gentle, because they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, because they will be filled.”

The poor in spirit are those who don’t lay their confidence on wealth or possessions, or take pride in their great abilities or prestige. Instead, we have nothing to call our own, not even our great spirituality! Nevertheless, as a blessing, Jesus gives us the kingdom of heaven.

Those who mourn are those with trouble-filled lives. The Christian life will not have only good days, singing and skipping and jumping. We will also have trouble and agony, and we will be made keenly aware of our sin, and of the effects of sin in our life and in the world. But Jesus gives us comfort.

The gentle or meek have no ability to avenge themselves. Lambs among wolves, where the world will take full advantage of them. But to those who are beaten so low, Jesus gifts the whole earth.

The saints of Jesus are hungry and thirsty for righteousness. They have given up on their own efforts to be good, and instead they see that Jesus gives that righteousness through his Word and Sacraments. Such powerful things incur the wrath of the Devil and the world and their own sinful flesh, but in the cross, Jesus satisfies our desperate need for his holiness, making us saints and children of God.

Galatians 3:10-14: “In fact, those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.’ Clearly no one is declared righteous before God by the law, because ‘The righteous will live by faith.’ The law does not say ‘by faith.’ Instead it says, ‘The one who does these things will live by them.’ Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.’ He redeemed us in order that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that we would receive the promised Spirit through faith.”

The Gospel is nothing but the proclamation of good news, a good preaching of Christ, how the Lord Christ came forth from God the Father to help all people in body and soul, temporally and eternally. The Law commands, compels, and forces. But the Gospel commands nothing, forces nothing, but rather attracts with kindness and beauty to Christ through the most loving promises. Sometimes, however, it seems to us as though the Gospel is commanding something. Like in the Beatitudes, it seems like it’s telling us, “You have to be poor in spirit, meek, merciful, and so on.” But no, the Gospel only writes about Christ. In Jesus’ mercy, he made the blind see, made the paralyzed able to walk, made the dead alive. In his mercy, he also makes blind souls see the truth of God’s Word, so that we know where our salvation is found. All the Gospel does is make promises. Jesus unites us to himself through his Word and powerful Sacraments, so that we receive his blessing, are called holy saints of God, and become children of God.

Titus 3:5-7: “He saved us—not by righteous works that we did ourselves, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and the renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.”

When we think of “all saints,” especially of those who are dead, God has given us no command to do anything for them. The idea of “purgatory” is a foreign idea that came mostly from the apocryphal book of 2 Maccabees, where souls are supposedly working hard to burn off the last of their sin, and where they could use all the help we on earth can give them. But this is all a doctrine of uncertainty. You don’t know whether a person is in heaven or not! You don’t knowthat purgatory doesn’t exist! You don’t know how much sin they’ve got to burn off yet! You don’t know whether you’ll be considered good enough when you die! Against this is the doctrine of God’s Word, which in no uncertain terms tells you that your place in heaven doesn’t depend on how good you are. It’s grace. This is given by Jesus, who earned everythingfor you. And you don’t even have to come up with the strong faith you need to hold onto that grace. That’s a gift from Jesus, too, when he speaks his Word to you, and when that Word is connected to the waters of Baptism and to the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, making those elements also your Savior’s body and blood. Jesus is your Savior, causing you to be reborn a heavenly creature, a child of God, a saint.

Romans 4:2, 3: “If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast—but not before God. For what does Scripture say? ‘Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.’”

Halloween is coming up—All Hallows’ Eve, the day before All Saints’ Day. Christians have always, even from the very first Christians, honored the saints (like St. Paul honoring Abraham). But in honoring the dead saints, we should remember that we can’t do anything for them. If we get so distracted by the dead saints, whether the heroes of faith of millennia ago or those nearer to us, our loved ones and family members, they easily become idols. Instead, take the example of those saints and honor Jesus above them all, having the faith that the Holy Spirit gives us through his certain and firm and joyful Word. We honor the departed saints so that we might be encouraged and grounded in the doctrine of faith, which they taught and believed. And then in our lives, we honor the living saints, our neighbors, serving them in their needs as Jesus served us. Jesus won their eternal life and offers his holiness to them. This is why they may be called “saints.” No holiness is present in any human being, not even you or me, that qualifies us to be called “saints.” But the holiness of Jesus comes in Baptism, it is given in the Word, and it feeds us in the Holy Supper, bestowing on us the title “saint” just as we receive the title “child of God.” Through faith, which itself is just a gift of God, God credits us with righteousness.

Devotion on Isaiah 58:5-8

Devotion on James 2:10-17

Devotion on Psalm 15

Devotion on Matthew 5:17-19

Devotion on Romans 3:23-28

What's the use of personal devotion?  And how do we do it?

Personal Devotion doesn't stay secret in your room, but you go and share in your life of faith with others.

What's the use of personal devotion?  And how do we do it?

"Tentatio" - Wrestling - is the third and final step in personal devotion.

What's the use of personal devotion?  And how do we do it?

"Meditatio" - Meditation - is the second step in personal devotion.

What's the use of personal devotion?  And how do we do it?

"Oratio" - Prayer - is the first step in personal devotion.

What's the use of personal devotion?  And how do we do it?

February 14, 2021 Sermon - Matthew 3:13-17

The Baptism of Jesus

Matthew 14:16-21 Devotion

Exodus 16:11-15 Devotion

Matthew 26:26-28 Devotion

Romans 7:24, 25 Devotion

Psalm 145:15, 16 Devotion

What is the difference between Christianity and all other religions? There are, after all, many religions in the world. Are they all more or less equal? Do they all give more or less the same end result? Aren’t they all essentially concerned with the same basic moral teachings?

Everyone needs to hear the truth of the Bible. That means the truth of the Law’s threats, that because of your sins you deserve God’s anger. And it also means the truth of the Gospel’s promises, that because of Jesus’ sacrifice you have righteousness and life with God.

Have you ever read about some of the punishments God doled out on people in the Bible and thought, “That seems a little harsh! Isn’t God a loving God?” Or maybe you’ve suffered in life and thought, a truly loving God wouldn’t be so mean!

Who is Jesus? Obviously that’s an important question because Scripture tells us, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

How does a person get to be saved? This is one of the most important questions someone can ask.