#keypreaching

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Baptism of Our Lord (1/9/22)

Primary Text | Luke 3:15-22

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Dear People of God,

Traditionally we call him John “the Baptist.” This title for him is not to be confused with the denominational name of Baptist, like Southern Baptist or American Baptist or Missionary Baptist. All Christians technically could be classified as Baptists because all Christians baptize. Clearly, the various groups of Christians have different beliefs. In our theology, the Lutheran branch of Christianity is radically different than the Baptist branch of Christianity. It can be said though, that Lutherans are “pan-Baptists” because we not only baptize, we baptize everyone. To avoid the confusion around the label “Baptist” some will call him John “the Baptizer.” That’s not as traditional of a rendering, but it does clarify the ministry John did. John the Baptizer baptized people. Why was he doing this? He had received a word of God in the wilderness to preach a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3:3). Because he had this word of God people began to question whether or not he was the Messiah. I don’t blame them, at the time John was active, it had been some 500 years since there had been a prophet of Israel. So, John corrects them, “I baptize you only with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to undo the strap of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). In other words, John is saying he is not the Messiah and that the Messiah will baptize with a baptism greater than his.

And so, when Jesus’ baptism took place, the door of heaven was opened. Then, the Holy Spirit took the bodily form of a dove and descended on him. And, a voice from heaven spoke: “You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22). Here we have heaven itself opened up and all three persons of the Trinity visibly or audibly active. It is no small event; Jesus’ baptism signals a turning point in history. The Holy Spirit’s appearance tells us that Jesus is indeed the Messiah—the anointed one, the Christ. The Holy Spirit will be the one to implant the word of Christ into those who will believe. Now, the voice from heaven, aka, the voice of the Heavenly Father, reveals Jesus is indeed God’s Son. God wills all the world to know him only through his anointed Son, Jesus, for then will one know and believe in God’s merciful heart. The baptism of our Lord also signifies the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry—a ministry, that yes will include things like walking on water, or, like turning water into wine, but will culminate in his gruesome death, and finally, in his glorious resurrection.

But why did Jesus get baptized? John’s baptism was a “baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” Being that Jesus is God’s Son, Jesus had no sins of his own that would need to be forgiven. That he had no sin is something unique to Jesus of all the people ever to exist. Dear people, Jesus gets baptized because he becomes our sin. You see, this in Paul’s Second Letter to the Corinthians, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor. 5:21). We are forgiven because our sin, guilt, and shame no longer belong to us, but belong to Christ and were with Christ put to death on the cross. When we talk about Jesus’ death on the cross, it is not ultimately a sacrifice to God, but God’s sacrifice for you. In Christ, God ripped himself apart, in his warm love, so that we may know what it means to be a forgiven people. He died for the ungodly, for the unlovely, for the unrighteous. It wouldn’t make sense for God to forgive sins if we weren’t actually sinners. We speak on the gravity and severity of sin within us not for the sake of conjuring feelings of guilt and shame. We name the power that sin has over us, so that we name another and better reality. The absolution. That God fully and completely forgives our sin for the sake of Jesus Christ. God ripped himself apart for our sake, not because we have anything good to give him, but simply because of his kind and gentle heart. In his love, he takes our sinfulness as his own, and places his goodness upon us, so now his goodness is our own. In Christ, God restores human beings to wholeness, that we may have glad, joyful, and merry hearts.

And so, Jesus’ baptism is also our baptism. The baptisms we do are still a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. In baptism God’s graciousness is revealed and sinners are forgiven. We, like John, are Baptizers because we believe through this water the Word kills the old sinner, and raises a new person to eternal life. We are Baptizers because that water connected to the Word is a saving water, saving us from our sins, from death, and from the power of the devil. This baptism we undergo, and only need to undergo once, is effective because it is one and the same as Jesus’ baptism. Plus, when we are baptized all three persons of the Trinity are present. The Father with his gracious heart, the Son who redeems, the Spirit who makes new. We celebrate the baptism of our Lord because through the Son of God we are shown God’s mercy and favor. You, dear people, are beloved by God because Jesus is beloved by God. You actually are forgiven, you actually have life, and you actually are saved. This is not of your own doing, nor can you mess up the promise. You are baptized in Jesus’ baptism, and so you belong to a gracious God, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. You are in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation for you. Only grace.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Epiphany of Our Lord (1/2/22)

Primary Text | Ephesians 3:1-12

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Dear People of God,

St. Paul was the great preacher of grace because he was the great preacher of Christ. St. Paul, who wrote 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament, was commissioned by God to share the heavenly secret. He was tasked to reveal the mystery of Christ. What is that mystery? That all people, Jew and Gentile alike, have access to God through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 3:12). So now, what formerly was a secret, that which was hidden away, is put forth publicly! It is no longer a secret, dear people. The Christ-child, both God and a human being, is the key to salvation, not for the Jews alone, but also for the Gentiles—that is, Jesus is God’s gift and plan for salvation that that is to be set forth to every nation and people. And that we see with the story of the Epiphany. The wise men from the East, people who were not Jews, traveled to see with their own eyes the mystery made known in Jesus Christ, this child who is King of the Jews. When they saw the child in Mary’s arms, they knelt down and paid him homage. Through this child, Gentiles are included in the promise. It is a thing of overwhelming joy that through the blood of Christ we who were once far off are brought near to God. We have the unsearchable riches of Christ through the proclamation of the gospel. The good news that those who believe in Jesus Christ are forgiven of their trespasses and given access to God by that same faith in Jesus Christ. To believe is to trust and cling to Christ as our only hope for salvation. In the time of trial, when we go through suffering, when we are brought low, when our sins burden us, our faith turns to Christ and his promise to save. All this happens by grace alone, God’s favor of forgiveness, life, and salvation placed within us through the Word of promise. Of course, one cannot believe unless they have something to believe in, and so that is why when we gather as the church, we proclaim Christ’s promise over and over again, so that we may never forget God’s unconditional love in Jesus Christ.

The gospel, which is for all nations, is no longer a secret or a mystery. God makes the gospel known thorugh the audible word—that we are justified by grace, through faith, for the sake of Christ, apart from works. When this word is spoken the Spirit is at work to turn the gospel of Christ from mere knowledge, to a trusting faith. Faith does not look to itself for assurance, but looks to its Christ. We are saved by faith, but we are not saved by the strength of our faith, but by the strength of the promise. Whether you can feel the promise within yourself is not an indicator on whether or not you have faith. Faith is not a feeling, though it can certainly produce feelings. Faith is not our thoughts, although faith does think. Faith is ultimately God’s gift to trust in Christ alone. Even the tiniest, weakest drop of faith, is the strength of God to keep you by his side and not to push you away.

Let us then be bold and confident preachers of God’s grace. For no one is without need for God. God, who created all things, is the source of life and salvation. And if people are to have life, they must be brought near to God by the blood of Christ. We are so fundamentally broken, so captive to sin that we cannot free ourselves. To save a fallen humankind, the Son of God was given. And, so we preach God’s grace by preaching Christ, so that we may be made new. To create such saving faith in the promise of the forgiveness of sins, we preach Christ who died for sins. With Paul, we can say that we are the very least of all the saints, but God works through us people who are the very least, to bring salvation to a humanity so badly in need of being rescued from the darkness.

As I am assigned to be your preacher of grace, I can assure you that you sitting here today have been brought near to God by the blood of Christ. Jesus, who is both God and a human being inseparably so, is here, in the word proclaimed and in this sacrament to be administered. It is not a mystery whether or not you belong to God. Your eternal destiny is not left up to chance. Why? Because through the word and sacrament you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit and therefore you now belong to Christ. You indeed have access to God through faith in him. A faith not of your own making or strength, but given to you by God’s sheer favor. So be bold and be confident in your relationship to God. Pray to him daily, give him thanks and praise. For the promise pronounced over you is not a secret or mystery, but is a person named Jesus Christ. And his grace is for you. It is so great that it is unsearchable. An analogy: God has a library about you. And if you go through it, you would never be able to read every book; because his thoughts of kindness and mercy for you are endless. By water and the Word you are joined into the one body of Jesus Christ, and share in God’s good promise. Jesus Christ was born for this.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Sixteenth Sunday after Pentecost (9/12/21)

Primary Text | James 3:1-12

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Dear People of God,

The Letter of James uses an analogy that happens to hold weight in our personal experience as Wyomingites. He writes, “the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great exploits. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire!” (James 3:5). The smoke this summer has been egregious. Summer 2019, my first summer in Wyoming, I do not recall there being much of any smoke hanging in the air. Summer 2020, my second summer, I think there was like one weekend that it was smoky. In 2021, there has been little reprieve from wildfire smoke since July. To me this is strange because it was never a thing where I grew up. But this summer my family back in Wisconsin alerted to me that they too have had a share of this smoke. We all know wildfire smoke can have multiple causes—ranging from something unpreventable like a lightning strike to something very preventable like some foolish humans playing with fire.

St. James writes the “tongue is a fire” (James 3:6). He wants his fellow Christians to be careful with how they use their tongues. The tongue, although one of the smallest members of our body, is in fact a tool that can do exponentially great damage compared to its size. With this concern, James first addresses those who would be teachers, saying, “Not many of you should become teachers, my siblings, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness” (James 3:1). Here James warns us of the gravity of responsibility a person has as a teacher. This would be fine to be applied to any kind of teacher, but here he means anyone who is, desires to be, or claims to be a teacher of the Word of God. James directs this to preachers. As your preacher, I have a great responsibility laid on me in what I teach you. I am not here to tickle your ears with whatever you want to hear. Nor is my job to teach you things that would make me popular, I have to speak hard truths too, not just the easy truths. As your preacher, I am bidden to teach you the Word of God, not just about God, but about what God has authorized me to speak to you from his own mouth. If I do not do this, I have failed my job. Which is why, when I was ordained, I made a vow. A vow is a solemn promise, one that must not be broken. In that vow, God bound me with certain duties, to preach and teach only according to the holy scriptures, the three ecumenical creeds, and the Lutheran confessions. Think of my job as preacher and teacher as building a bridge. If I built a bridge with bad materials, or with a bad design, and that bridge broke and people died, I would most certainly be held accountable for what I had done, probably go to jail or something. So, it is with teaching the Word of God, I must use good materials, and be attentive to design. Of course, these are not to be of my own making, but of God’s making. God expects me and you should expect me, to only teach the Word of God according to the good materials of the holy scriptures, the three ecumenical creeds, and the Lutheran confessions—which are each faithful witnesses of the gospel—the good news that all who believe in Christ are radically forgiven for his sake in the eyes of God. As a preacher and teacher, if I would use bad materials to build a bridge, and people perished, unlike a builder of a real bridge, I would much more easily get away with it. That is why teachers in the church of God are told they are judged with greater strictness, so even if they are not held accountable by earthly authorities, they will be held accountable by God for what they preach and teach.

But of course, being a preacher is not the only one with the responsibility of teacher in the church. Parents, grandparents, and godparents, and any fellow Christian who bears the name of Christ, have a duty to teach the Word of God properly. We do not want to teach our own word as the Word of God, we must teach that which comes from outsides ourselves, that Word of God made known in Jesus Christ. Therefore, what we believe, teach, and confess to be true absolutely matters. The Second Commandment commands us to “Not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God.” If we are teaching our own words in the name of God, we are speaking empty words. But if we speak God’s Word, that is, what God would have us say, we are speaking words brimming with power and with life and with the ability to change darkness into light, and weakness into strength. God has bidden us to speak the word that creates faith in those whom he has entrusted to us. I am concerned that those of us entrusted to teach, whether we be preacher, teacher, parent, or whichever office God has called us to, that we end up speaking no words at all on behalf of God. We are not only responsible for what we say, but for what we do not say. Which is why hopefully each of us takes care to hear and learn the Word of God not just on Sunday mornings, but throughout the week as well. Even Confirmation is meant to be a supplement for Christian education, and not the beginning or the end of Christian education.

Luther says, “We need to hear the gospel every day, because we forget it every day.” What is that gospel? That God forgives you by his sheer favor, through faith, on account of Christ, apart from the works of the law. How, then, is one to believe if they never have opportunity to hear God’s gracious promises? We all need to be students of the Word and never think we have mastered it, nor think that we have no need to learn anymore. God seeks to nurture and to feed us with himself, by the words of a teacher, a preacher both in church and in home. Because God doesn’t come to us half-heartedly, but puts all of himself into building up his kingdom. That is why my hope that having the Digital Service is a temporary solution. When it does become safe enough to return, let us not lose the habit of physically going to church. God does not come to us only so far as a screen. He comes to us in the flesh. God was born of the Virgin Mary. God became a human being. In Jesus Christ, we meet God face-to-face, and we should look for God in no other place. Jesus Christ died and was raised for sinners. Which means that he died and was raised for you. So that you may have life, and life abundantly. It is his death on the cross that swallows up death. So even when we die, we die in the Lord. And then by his resurrection he gives us new life. So even when we die, we live in the Lord. And nothing can shake this eternal truth, this wonderful gift, this solemn promise of God. You can’t even mess it up. It is God’s decision. And he made that decision about you when you were baptized, that you belong to him, and he doesn’t care how sincere you are, how religious you are, how strong or weak you are. He claims you as his own for his own name’s sake. (pause) It is true God is both severe and kind. But even his severity is meant to drive us to his kindness. It is for his sake alone you are forgiven. Therefore, may it be that your words be formed by the Word. Upon others, do not let your mouth speak both blessing and curse. Bless, and do not curse. In the time of trial God will hold you close; his grace is sufficient.

As God has called me to be your teacher, I continue to make the solemn promise to speak to you with only the fresh water of the Word of God, and not brackish water that comes from a source other than the Word. It is this same water in which you are baptized, the same water in which you are forgiven of your sins unconditionally. It is the water of baptism that brings you from death to life everlasting—because God uses it to create and sustain your faith. God’s solemn vow. Be at peace.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Reformation Day (10/31/21)

Primary Text | Romans 3:19-28

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Dear People of God,

I recently went to the Here We Still Stand conference in Las Vegas. The theme of the conference this year was “Assurance in Christ.” What I learned is when we’re talking about assurance we’re talking about certainty. How can a person be certain of their relationship to God? More specifically, how can a person be certain that God is gracious to them? The world we live in actually revels in being uncertain. Uncertainty, also known as doubt, has become a modern-day virtue. We’re so saturated with it that even church leaders can be found espousing doubt as a moral virtue. Doubt is, of course, looking within yourself and determining you can’t know or trust anything for certain claimed as a matter of faith. But do you think when God does a thing, that he wants us to be doubtful of what he has done? Did our Lord die on the cross so we can say sweet platitudes but nothing for certain? By no means! Jesus was put forward as a sacrifice of atonement by his blood, effective through faith—to show his righteousness” and elsewhere it says Jesus’ atoning death was “to proveat the present time that God himself is righteous and that he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus” (Rom. 3:25, 26). Jesus did not undergo death to remain unknown. In his death God had something to show, something to present to the world. That is, that only God is righteous, only God is good. This fact upends any notion of our own goodness, or our own righteousness. It means even the best things we do or the best things about us have absolutely no standing in fixing our relationship to God. We cannot make ourselves righteous before God. We all are in need of being justified, of being made right. And God chooses to justify the person who has faith in Jesus. For Jesus alone is our righteousness, this we have entirely by God’s mercy when we believe. Apart from this faith in Jesus, we are lost. But when God has brought us to believe in Jesus, “we hold that a person is justified by faith apart from works prescribed by the law” (Rom. 3:28). So, then this is not a matter of being doubtful of what God has done, but certain. God assures us that in the Christ he will not lose us, that we belong to him, and that he looks not on our sins but on the righteousness of Christ, and so we are certainly justified by faith in him.

To illustrate the theme of the conference “Assurance in Christ” one of the speakers led a devotion modifying the story of The Three Little Pigs. Instead of three little pigs we now have the story of The Three Little Christians. These three little Christians knew they were going to be attacked by the Big Bad Wolf of Doubt. In order to counter the Wolf of Doubt, the first little Christian came up with a course of action. He would build his house with the straw of this world. He checked out as many self-help books he could, he faithfully listened to the advice of Oprah, and he would make sure his chakras were aligned. Then he thought he could be safe and secure. But when the Wolf of Doubt huffed and puffed, down went his house of straw and he was soon digested. The second little Christian saw this and said to herself, “I know, I will make a better course of action. I will build my house with the sticks of my strength. I don’t need any other people, I don’t need to go to the church, I am the only one I can trust, I am the only one that matters.” And so, with her own hard labor she bundled those sticks together, she chopped the wood with her mighty strength, and she built a house of sticks. But when the Big Bad Wolf of Doubt huffed and puffed, down went her house of sticks and she was soon digested. Seeing what happened to the previous two little Christians, the third little Christian came up with his own course of action. He thought to himself, “I will not use those sticks or that straw, I will build my house with the bricks of being super religious.” He prayed and read his Bible every day, he sung the loudest in church, he felt pretty good about himself by all the things he could do for God. But when the Big Bad Wolf of Doubt huffed and puffed, he blew down his house of bricks. And surely, the third little Christian was soon digested.

Ah, so the surprise ending is that none of these little Christians made it pass the Big Bad Wolf of Doubt! We might have thought at least one of them would have! The problem was each of the three decided the best course of action was a course of action. They thought their certainty depended on their own abilities rather than on what God has done in Jesus Christ. Each of the three looked within themselves and not on the Lord. In one way or another we are all tempted to build a house of straw, sticks, or bricks. We all face wanting to justify ourselves before God based on our own ways. Let me tell you some truth: You will not find salvation in who you are or the things you do. It is not from within that you will get assurance of anything eternal. It all must come to you from outside yourselves. That is, through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The one who gave his life for you, to redeem your life from the agony of sin, death, and the devil. And this evangelical message is not found in nature, in self-help books, or in the good things you do. The good news of Jesus Christ where God chooses to justify the ungodly by faith in Jesus is promised wherever the Word is proclaimed and the sacraments are given. God does not show himself to you generically in anything, but specifically in Christ and Christ proclaimed. Take note: The proclamation of Christ is always this—the forgiveness of your sins for the sake of Jesus Christ received through faith. For wherever Christ is proclaimed there is the Holy Spirit and there is salvation. Wherever Christ is not proclaimed there is no Holy Spirit and there is no salvation.

Dear people, there are many wolves of doubt we will face in our lives. But know this, the best course of action is no course of action. Do not build with straw, sticks, or bricks. Instead, look outside yourself, hear the good news, your name is written in the wounds of Christ, your forgiveness of sins is complete by the atoning sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Your justification, your fixed relationship with God does not depend on you or your strength, but on Christ and his cross. In baptism he has already made you his own. You do not need prepare a house of straw, sticks, or bricks, because a house has already been prepared for you by your heavenly Father—the house of God known as the body of Jesus Christ. Here is your assurance—God has justified you through faith in Jesus, and not even the Big Bad Wolf of Doubt can take that away from you. This is most certainly true. Happy Reformation Day.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost (8/15/21)

Primary Text | Ephesians 5:15-20

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Dear People of God,

The days are evil (Eph. 5:16). That is to say, the time we are living in is not our friend. As this was true in the late 1st century, when the letter of St. Paul was written to the Ephesians, it is just as true for us who live in the 21st century. Of course, in our age, communication, transportation, and medical knowledge have progressed leaps and bounds. Most of the conveniences we take for granted have not been around very long at all. I was in middle school when computers became widely available. I was in high school when cell phones became commonplace. I was in college when social media took off in popularity. I remember in college marching band one of my friends said, “You have to get Facebook. It’s inevitable.” And, I did. We also take for granted that when we go to the grocery store there are bananas and other produce there all year round. Until recently in human history, most people lived into there 20’s and 30’s. If you lived to your 40’s and 50’s you were fortunate and you were elderly. Those of us who live today may easily view ourselves superior to those who have come before us. Perhaps as a society we have made much progress. But whenever we think we have progressed we must consider at who’s expense we have progressed. Yes, we may walk down the street with the best phone in our pocket, new clothes on our back, and a banana in our hand, but that doesn’t make us better than those who came before. Much of what we call progress has been achieved through exploiting the vulnerable both here in the United States and around the world. In many ways, it is an illusion to assume the days are good and that the age we live in can be trusted.

As St. Paul says, the days are evil. Why are the days evil? It is because both then and now the driving arc of the world has never been interested in the will of the Lord. And unfortunately, even of among those who claim they care about the will of the Lord, when faced with whether or not to do the right thing, they have used religion as an excuse to condone atrocities. In his letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul gives no illusions. He leads us neither to optimism in which we trust in our powers and abilities, nor does he lead us to pessimism where we despair altogether. He says, “Make the most of the time, because the days are evil. Do not be foolish but understand what the will of the Lord is” (Eph. 5:17). Those of us who follow the Lord Jesus Christ are not to waste the time that is given us. Indeed, every day we live is a gift from the Lord our God. (pause) The strange word “debauchery” is used in this passage. And that simply means, “reckless living.” Here St. Paul says that the meaning of life is not found in that 3rd bottle of wine or that 10th bottle of beer. The only meaning of life that God has decided is worth our time is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

And so, St. Paul tells us, “Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts (Eph. 5:19). The Spirit is not that quiet voice you call your conscience, he is a person, he is the third person of the Trinity, and in fact the Spirit is God the Lord himself, the giver of life. The Spirit does not arise from within ourselves but approaches us from beyond ourselves. That is, he is the one who brings the Word of God, the Word of life to you. When St. Paul says, “Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” it is no accident. Because in those psalms and hymns and spiritual songs there is the Word of God, the will of God, who is the Lord Jesus Christ. That’s why, when you face these evil days, when you undergo suffering, when you encounter the darkness—both the darkness that still lives within you, and the darkness in the world, I beckon you to immerse yourself in the Word. As Luther says, “Nothing is so powerfully effective against the devil, the world, the flesh, and all evil thoughts as to occupy one’s self with God’s Word, to speak about it and meditate upon it…Without doubt, you will offer up no more powerful incense or savor against [the evil you face] than to occupy yourself with God’s commandments and words and to speak, sing, or think about them.” I commend to you, in your time of trial, to read the psalms especially. But even get yourself a hymnbook. Hymns and spiritual songs are not supposed to be empty words, but also are meant to point us away from ourselves and to the Lord Jesus Christ. And this is good news. Because in the face of evil we can give thanks to God who has given us his Son through whom he shows favor to whomever believes. Those who eat the flesh of Christ and drink the blood of Christ will live forever. He has promised that he will lose nothing that the Father has given him. Those who believe can be assured that Christ abides in them and they abide in Christ, and that he will raise them up on the last day. The bread Christ gives is his own flesh for the life of the world. You are forgiven of your sins because Jesus died and was raised for you. And so, you will live. You will live. You will live. Forever.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for St. James' Day (7/25/21)

Primary Text | 1 Kings 19:9-18

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Dear People of God,

There was division in Israel. Yes, they worshiped and served Yahweh the God of Israel. But that was not all. At the behest of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel, the children of Israel had also egregiously begun to worship the storm god Baal. The prophet Elijah challenged this practice by saying, “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kgs 18:21). This matters because its not good enough to worship the LORD if one also worships other gods. That the Israelites chose to worship Baal in addition to the LORD was a betrayal of the covenant the LORD established with the people of Israel that he alone would be their God. And so begins a dramatic confrontation between the Prophet Elijah representing the LORD and the 450 prophets representing Baal. (I recommend reading 1 Kings 18 for the details.) What I will say is Elijah triumphs over the prophets and priests of Baal and then puts them to death. This becomes a problem for Elijah because the prophets of Baal were commissioned by the Jezebel, the Queen of Israel. Though Israel is supposed to only worship the LORD…the worship of Baal had become officially sanctioned because King Ahab had married Jezebel. She was a princess of the foreign nation Phoenicia, and brought her gods with her. When Jezebel heard her prophets had been put to death she sent a message to Elijah, “So may the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life like the life of one of them by this time tomorrow” (1 Kgs 19:2). Which is to say, she wanted Elijah dead for what he had done.

Aided by the angel of the LORD, Elijah escaped to a cave on Mount Horeb. Then the word of the LORD came to him saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” (1 Kgs 19:9). To which Elijah replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.” (1 Kgs 19:10). Elijah is afraid and in despair. What the LORD does next is mind shattering. It’s as if God said to Elijah, “Hold up, you think you are all that? Do you think you are the one who has gotten you this far? Do you think that you alone are left? Do you doubt me, O Elijah?” There were some terrifying things, and then an unexpected thing that happened. First, the LORD caused a great wind so strong that it split mountains, and broke rocks to pieces. Then there was an earthquake. Then there was fire. And then, in contrast to everything so far—there was a barely audible sound. Perhaps a whisper. At this point, Elijah comes out of the cave. And again the LORD asked him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” And again Elijah says, “I have been very zealous for the LORD….the Israelites have forsaken your covenant…and killed your prophets. I alone am left, and they are seeking to take my life.” And though Elijah is still filled with dread the LORD instructs him in what to do next. And then ends by saying, “I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kgs 19:18).

After recounting this story and filling in some of the details, what can be taken away from this passage about Elijah? And what might it have to do with today’s Festival of St. James? First, I’ll say that what was a problem in the time of Elijah has not gone away. The worship of gods besides the God of Israel is as widespread as ever—even by those who go by the name of Christian. These other gods may not be the storm god Baal, but they are nevertheless things that enrapture our hearts. For we have many gods of our own devising. Therefore, it is not enough simply to say and think “I believe in God.” We must also worship and serve this God alone that we claim to believe. It’s made all the more difficult because our culture dazzles our eyes with many distractions—and thus more often than not God and the worship of God are put on the backburner as if its no big deal. When this happens, and it does to all of us, we are prime candidates to hear the word of God through Elijah: “How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him, but if Baal, then follow him.” That is to say, either follow the LORD only, or follow our little self-made gods. There is no in between. God is no hobby and does not want to be treated as one. He wants your whole heart and being in devotion to him and him alone. Another take away from this story from 1 Kings is in how God revealed himself to Elijah. Yes, God is capable of powerful acts as he showed with the great windstorm that split mountains, and broke rocks apart, and caused an earthquake, and a fire. What is a wonder is the LORD was not to be found in these and did not want to be found in them. Instead, the LORD revealed himself to Elijah with the small, barely audible sound. This is how God reveals himself to us. He approaches us not with great acts of his majesty, he chooses to come to us, to you, in the most unexpected way—the barely audible sound of his Word. So, when we speak the Word to each other, we speak Christ to each other. The other gods in our lives will appeal to us with great and booming sounds. But the true God, the God made known in Jesus Christ, only approaches us through the quiet and humble Word. That is, the Word that proclaims Christ alone as the only source of our salvation, our only hope for a future.

Another thing the story of the Prophet Elijah teaches us is not to despair. From Elijah’s perspective, he thought he was the only prophet of the LORD left that was not murdered, and he felt he soon would have his blood spilled by the hands of Jezebel. Though Elijah was in despair and frantic, God was not perturbed by Jezebel’s death threat. Plus, the LORD could see more than Elijah could see. Elijah thought he was alone, the last person who was faithful to the LORD. But God assured him, “Yet I will leave seven thousand in Israel, all the knees who have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him” (1 Kgs 19:18). Today we consider the Church to be the people of God. That means not only us gathered here today, but all people who gather to worship the LORD Jesus Christ. And yet, if we look at the outward form of the Church, we can be very discouraged. It is true that in every age, the Church is beset by corruption and heresy and deterioration. But we have this promise, God’s Church, the true people of God in Jesus Christ, will never perish. We must not look at the outward reality to determine the truth, the truth is found in faith. For even if the majority of the Church are people who are hypocrites and follow other gods, God will nevertheless preserve his faithful few. Apart from the word proclaimed and the sacraments administered there is no church, no people of God. But wherever the Word is proclaimed in its purity and the sacraments administered according to the gospel, there is God’s church, God’s holy people.

And, finally, what might this passage about Elijah have to do with the Festival of James? St. James was one of the very first to leave everything and follow Jesus. He eventually became an apostle—sent to authoritatively proclaim the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. In the Book of Acts, we see he is martyred—killed because of his witness to Jesus. King Herod had James killed with the sword (Acts 12:2). What Elijah and James have in common is that there are times we must confess our faith before those with power even if it means risking our lives. A confession of faith comes about most poignantly when everything is on the line—when it becomes a matter of death and life—which both Elijah and James endured. In our time, we don’t have queens and kings out to murder us. Nevertheless, to stand up, to confess that Jesus is Lord, and he alone is the Lord, will bring opposition. You will find people do not want to give up the storm god Baal. Whether Baal is in the form of another god, or in their own person, or the ways of this world. To stand up and confess Christ alone is yet a matter of death and life. The only life that is available in the world is the life that comes through faith in Jesus Christ. All else is death, and only death. And, even for those of us who already believe in Christ, we have been put to death. Because God kills in order to make alive. We met this God in baptism, for there our old self, our old way of life, our old gods have all been put to death by God himself. And then, in baptism, God makes a new you. Brand new. There was and is no continuity between the old you and the new you. And daily God raises you and clothes you in Jesus Christ, killing off the old you, forgiving your sins, making you alive. Killing off the old you, forgiving your sins, and making you alive. In this way God keeps us from bowing our knees to Baal and keeping our mouths from kissing Baal. And thus, by God’s strength revealed in the small, barely audible sound of his Word, preserves us in faith in Christ alone. Amen.

[buggie-hagen]

Wedding Sermon for Dane and Tanner (7/18/21)

Primary Text | Luke 19:7-10

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Dear People of God, Dear Dane and Tanner,

Today is a lovely day. We could even say today is a fabulous day. God has brought us together to witness your love cemented together. (pause) Because marriage is a divine estate, you have God’s Word on your side. What happens today is no human invention or institution, it is God’s gift by which he will bless you and give you to each other. You may face a world of unknowns, but what is known is that you belong to each other. And we gathered here today will vow to support you and your relationship in all of life’s turns and twists. That you would love one another was established before the foundation of the world. What you have as partners in life is a spiritual reality that has manifested itself today. On your wedding day your love for one another is made known very publicly—so that you can have the prayers and support of those who love you—and so that we can ask God’s blessings on you in your love for one another.

The Lesson you chose from the Gospel of Luke fits perfectly for this occasion. Zacchaeus is deemed by others to be outside the reach of God’s love. That Jesus went to stay at Zacchaeus’ house was enough to cause consternation among the haters. They grumbled against Jesus and said, “He has gone to be the guest of one who is a sinner” (Luke 19:7). There are some who would grumble that you two dare to get married, even moreso, some would grumble that you are getting married in a church. I have this to say: Don’t be afraid; the Lord is with you. Don’t be discouraged by those who grumble. Jesus doesn’t care what other people think. What matters is what he thinks. And guess what, Jesus has no time for the haters. But he does have time for you. Jesus is present as your guest. Just as Jesus went to be a guest of Zacchaeus, today Jesus is a guest at your wedding. This is because God does not save righteous people who think they are better than others (after all, people who think they are so good and pure and others are so terrible have no need of God). What matters it this—Christ only dwells in sinners. In that way it is actually a good thing to be a sinner. Because that means if you are to have anything good to claim about yourself, it is God who has given you of his own goodness. So that his goodness now is your goodness. You have what belongs to God because you have been redeemed through faith. In stories like Luke 19 we learn those whom society deems less than are precisely the ones Jesus chooses to be with.

As Jesus announced to Zacchaeus “Today salvation has come to this house” so now he announces to you, “Today salvation has come to this house” (Luke 19:9). Tanner, Dane, I mean this house (I point to their hearts), the one you have built together in your hearts. The God who saves you for the sake of Jesus Christ has come to you in this very moment. He has made a decision about you. To be your God. And he doesn’t wait to see how sincere you are, how religious you might be, or how much you know about the Bible. He simply decided to be your God. Therefore, by the authority of Jesus Christ, I announce to you the full forgiveness of all your sins. This God also bestows on you new life and salvation. And because God is indeed a loving parent, one who will never fail you, God daily gives you many more good things. Today we in particular celebrate that he gave you one another. You, Dane, to Tanner. You, Tanner, to Dane. Because you are children of Christ God has decided you deserve to love and be loved by one another. You are not meant to be alone or to be lonely, as the haters might think. God wants you two to experience the joys and sorrows of life arm and arm together—and to support each other in all of life’s needs. Remember this, Jesus came not for the haters, but to seek out and to save the lost. And now you have been found by the One who shows you his mercy unconditionally. The Holy One who in ancient times showed mercy to King David now shows mercy to you, Dane, and to you, Tanner. I pray God gives you many and gracious blessings as you continue the rest of your lives together.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Sixth Sunday after Pentecost (7/4/21)

Primary Text | Ezekiel 2:1-3:4

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Dear People of God,

There’s a magnitude of difference between the Lord GOD and his servant, the prophet and priest Ezekiel. The seven times the Lord GOD in this passage addresses the prophet he does it in a way that highlights his mortality—addressing him “Mortal.” Every time God talks to Ezekiel, he reminds him that he is a “son of Adam.” Which is to say, Ezekiel is limited, weak, and has nothing worthy about himself to boast. Anyone who is a child of Adam is a person made of the earth, of dry dirt, and to dry dirt they shall return. This reality that was true for Ezekiel is also true of every human being ever to exist. The Lord GOD reminds Ezekiel that he is a puny human being. In fact, “Lord GOD” in this passage would more literally be translated as “Master Yahweh.” God is the Master; we are his servants. I suspect if you asked Ezekiel himself who he thinks he is to speak on behalf of God he would say, “I am a person of no consequence.” Yet God chose to speak his Word through this puny human being—his servant Ezekiel.

Master Yahweh said to his servant, “Mortal, I am sending you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me…. impudent and stubborn” (Ezek. 2:3, 4). The people of Israel are people of the promise. But even though they have God’s Word and promises they turn against him time and again. They do not wish to hear what God wants them to hear, they do not want to obey God’s will when they think they can do their own will. Stubborn people. This holds true for the people of God known as the Church. We are a stubborn people more apt to listen to our own heart over and against God’s heart. Though we be people of the promise we too scorn God’s Word and place ourselves above it. God is not interested in this private, self-determined spirituality that we have built up for ourselves. His hammer will break apart whatever sand castles we build in place of him. He is a jealous God that wants our hearts to be in service to him alone. He does not want us to believe in ourselves, or to serve our own sensibilities, but to believe in him and serve his Word alone.

This is the task of the proclaimed Word of God. Both to destroy our strongholds and then to replace them with the gift of himself—he is to be our sole stronghold. When God sent Ezekiel, he sent him as a vessel of God’s Word. One who would speak God’s very words to the people. No matter if the rebellious people would hear or refuse to hear God demanded he speak to them “Thus says the Lord GOD” “Thus says Master Yahweh”—no matter if the rebellious people would hear or refuse to hear. God continues his task of sending children of Adam, that is, weak, limited, and people made of dry dirt to proclaim the divine, everlasting Word. Most will reject this and God’s place in their life. To insist that God’s Word comes from beyond ourselves is offensive. That God makes claims over us contrary to our own ways will cause lament. People will refuse to hear they need to be made right with God. They will groan against God when they hear that apart from believing in Jesus Christ human beings are utterly sinful and lost. To proclaim that if we are to have any righteousness of our own it must not be our own, but the righteousness of God that comes through faith in Jesus Christ alone—to proclaim this is unacceptable to the modern ear that wants to hear anything goes—it doesn’t matter what we believe or do. Because God’s truth is actually received by very few, we can expect rejection, people to revile us, to persecute us, to speak all kinds of evil against us (Matt. 5:11). In this task God encourages Ezekiel. He says, “O mortal, do not be afraid of them, and do not be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns surround you and you live among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words, and do not be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house” (Ezek. 2:6). This is also encouragement for us who God has tasked to speak God’s Word. Briars, thorns surround us, and we live among scorpions. But when God’s Word is spoken, even if just feebly, or with little eloquence, or by a small child, God’s Word is spoken. What happens, whether people repent and turn to God or remain in their stubbornness, that remains to be seen. What we know is that God does not change hearts apart from his Word. And we know that God’s Word will not return until it has accomplished that for which he sent it. We just give thanks that even though we are mortal, God has chosen to send his Word out through our mouths.

Our Master Yahweh said to Ezekiel as he says to us, “Mortal, go to the house of Israel and speak my very words to them” (Ezek. 3:4). Though we be frail, children of Adam, weak ones consigned to the dry dirt…yet God has given us his Word to eat and to preach. Contrary to what many think, God’s Word is not uncertain. It is clear. The task to speak God’s sure and certain Word in the world is not only for the ordained, but for all baptized Christians. It doesn’t matter whether the people hear or refuse to hear. The Lord GOD, Yahweh, our Master, sends us out saying “Go…speak my very words.” In fact, God’s Word is sweet as honey. For Jesus Christ died and was raised for you. To save you. To restore a life-giving relationship between you and God. God calls you and all people to himself because he wants to speak tenderly to you. Just like Ezekiel ate the scroll with God’s Word, so God has you eat his Word in the Lord’s Supper. That bread and wine has God’s words written on it—saying, “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood shed for you.” In that way he enters your mouth. But he also enters your ears in the absolution when God says to you, “I forgive you all your sins for the sake of Jesus Christ.” Apart from God’s intervention in our life we are satisfied eating moldy food. Food that kills us. In fact, we are already spiritually dead apart from Christ. But when God, enthroned in the heavens, has sent you his Word by the mouth of a mortal and puny human being, it is better than winning the lottery. For God gives you his very Word, Jesus Christ, as heavenly food. And when he gives you this food, you are a recipient of eternal life. That is, a life of joy and gladness and peace that never ends. Through God’s very words you have been beheld by God. Through this Word proclaimed and this sacrament administered--Christ dwells in you. And since it is true right now in this very moment that Christ dwells in you, you have God’s grace and favor. Not because you could ever be good enough, but because God has chosen you. Christ is your gift. Not one that you have to make the effort to open yourself—but one that comes to you every day in its entirety. Christ is your forgiveness, which is sure and certain. Christ will continue to feed, nourish, and sustain you until your very last breath. This is the ministry of the gospel, to bring God’s very Word to you through the Christ.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost (8/22/21)

Primary Text | John 6:56-69

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Dear People of God,

Today’s Gospel lesson from John is the last of five sessions in which our lectionary has focused on Jesus speaking about being the bread from heaven that gives life to those who believe in him. Jesus says, “Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood abide in me, and I in them” (John 6:56). If you’re not prepared to hear that, those words of eating flesh and drinking blood sound rather rash and perhaps horrid. But Jesus is not encouraging cannibalism here. What Jesus is talking about is faith. That is to believe and trust in Jesus as the Christ, the Holy One of God. In this passage, when he says eat my flesh and drink my blood, he is talking about believing in him. Here’s a caveat before I go any farther. As Lutherans, we do confess that in the Lord’s Supper we are eating Christ’s true body and drinking his true blood. When Jesus says, “This is my body” in regard to the bread, and “This is my blood” in regard to the cup, those are straightforward words—so that as we eat the real bread, we are also eating the real body of Jesus, and as we drink the real wine, we are also drinking the real blood of Jesus. This is, of course, a mystery. It is also a promise of Christ that we trust. Jesus gives of himself “in, with, and under” the bread and the cup whenever and wherever the Lord’s Supper is celebrated. We are not claiming to gnaw on his knuckles and fingers. Rather, our receiving of Christ’s body and blood happens in a supernatural, incomprehensible, unexplainable way. But in the passage from the Gospel of John we are not talking about sacramental eating and drinking. We are talking about faith, believing, trusting Jesus at his word. Those who believe can be assured that they are alive in Jesus and that Jesus is alive in them. He says, “Whoever eats me will live because of me” (John 6:57). What a wonderful and assuring promise. The life God has for us comes from himself and is given freely. That means that the life we have does not depend on you, or me. It would quickly slip away from our fingers. The life God has for us is firmly established in him and by him for the sake of Christ.

Jesus continues, “This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like that which your ancestors ate, and they died. But the one who eats this bread will live forever” (John 6:58). Jesus is not a man who worked really hard to be holy. He’s not just one wise guru among others. He’s different. He’s special. Indeed, he is unique because he is the divine-human One, God incarnate. He has been chosen by God the Father to be the One to whom all people must look and whom all people must trust in order to have eternal life. That means that even though we will one day die, we still are alive because of him. The ancestors in the wilderness ate the bread called manna. But that wasn’t the bread of eternal life. The manna preserved their life for a little while. But eventually they all died. Jesus is the life-giving bread come down from heaven. We don’t need a ladder to get to heaven. We don’t need to prove how good of a Christian we are to get to heaven. Instead of you going up to find God, God comes down to find you. And it’s as simple and profound as that. He finds you, and he enables you to believe in Christ. And thus, he gives you eternal life.

After Jesus shared his striking words and promises to his followers, many of Jesus’ disciples decided to leave—and to stop following him. They said, “This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?” (John 6:60). They found it unpleasant and hard to believe the things Jesus was saying about eating his flesh, drinking his blood, and him being the bread that came down from heaven, that one must believe in Jesus to have eternal life. And it’s not just many of the original disciples that felt that way, but many reject these words of Jesus in our time as well because they do not like them. They did and do not like the idea that eternal life is connected to believing in this Jewish man named Jesus who made extraordinary claims about himself. This is, after all, quite specific. It’s not a generic belief in God that brings life, but it is specifically believing in Jesus Christ who is the self-revelation of God. So, Jesus says, “Does this offend you?” (John 6:61). And, he’s right. It is offensive. It means that not all beliefs are equal. It means that not all paths lead to God, not all paths lead to eternal life. And so, we ourselves, when we are offended at this, want to set ourselves up as God and decide how eternal life is received. But two things. One is, any of us would be absolutely terrible at making that kind of decision. We’d be terrible at it because absent of God’s will we would certainly make eternal life depend on some kind of Law that binds rather than the faith that frees. It would always end up being something like making all people in “the image of blank”—like if it were up to me it would look a lot like me, it be making eternal life dependent on “the image of Logan.” If it were up to Butch Cassidy, it would look a lot like him. It’d be making eternal life dependent on “the image of Butch Cassidy”—and neither of which are the image of God. The second is, it is not up to us or our own choices and never has been and never should be. Jesus says, “It is the Spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless” (John 6:63). The flesh, this sack that we carry around our necks, that is to say, our sinful selves, have nothing to do with making, giving, or producing eternal life. This is the jurisdiction of the Spirit; it is the Spirit who gives life when and where he chooses. (pause) Jesus knew then who would not believe and he knows now who does not believe—he knows who rejects him. And he says, “For this reason I have told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to that person by the Father” (John 6:65). Eternal life is, as all things are, up to God the Father almighty. So, we have nothing to say about it, nor can this reality be changed. Many of the disciples then, and many people now, both inside and outside the church, walk away because they are offended and don’t want to hear it. The true disciples of the gospel have always been and will always be few in number.

After being offended, many of the disciples no longer went about with Jesus. Jesus asks the Twelve, “Do you also wish to go away?” Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom can we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God” (John 6:67-69). Instead of being distracted by all other considerations, Peter here hones in on the promise. “Where else can we go? You have the words of eternal life.” At once Peter admits there is nowhere else that eternal life can be found. All other ground is sinking sand, as the old hymn goes. All other people or things that claim to give eternal life are actually an exercise in bait in switch. Instead of giving you eternal life like they claim, you will be fed with death. But with Jesus there is eternal life. He is the only source where your sins are forgiven, and in him they are forgiven, and thus you are placed in a right relationship with a holy God. Jesus is where God wants to be believed and known. Dear people, Jesus is the Holy One of God. He is God. You can depend on him for eternal life. It is through him that God makes you something you weren’t before—he makes you alive. He will never drive you away, but comes down from heaven to be with and to live in you. Never has there been something uttered more trustworthy. Be at peace Christ is with you.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost (8/8/21)

Primary Text | Psalm 34:1-8

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Dear People of God,

Psalm 34 has much to teach and preach to us. It is first and above all a very encouraging psalm. In just these eight verses this psalm bursts open with a litany of God’s promises—promises such as: the LORD answers those who seek him (vs. 4), the LORD delivers us from all our fears (vs. 4), that the faces of those who look to the LORD shall never be ashamed (vs. 5), that the LORD has heard the cry of this poor soul (vs. 6), that the LORD saves us from every trouble (vs. 6), that the LORD delivers those who fear him (vs. 7), and finally, that the LORD is good and happy are those who take refuge in him (vs. 8).

One must not approach this psalm with logic, nor can experience be relied upon. Logic will tell you, “Maybe God can deliver us from some of our fears, but certainly not all our fears, the LORD hasn’t saved you from every trouble, has he? Experience will also barrage you with doubts, saying, “Is the LORD really good? You can’t completely rely on God to be your refuge. God’s not that reliable, after all.” The conclusions of logic and experience though they may appeal to us, are in fact, fatal. Of course, if you look with your eyes and see all the terrible things you have experienced—whether it be a life-altering disease, the horrible death of a loved one, the betrayal of someone you trusted, the threat of someone with power over you, etc., etc…If you look at these, you may very well despair. And so, we must not and cannot rely on logic or experience. The promises of this passage can only be understood and received with the eyes of faith. Faith, that deep, abiding trust in God that clings to Christ alone, and absolutely nothing else. (pause) Martin Luther has an insight for us to help us trust that God is good despite all apparent contradictions, he says, “For this is the Christian art, which we must all learn, the art of looking to the Word and looking away from all the trouble and suffering that lies upon us and weighs us down.” And here Luther actually echoes verse 5 of the psalm: “Look to him, and be radiant; so your faces shall never be ashamed.” Luther, and the Psalm Writer, turn our faces away from absolutely all the darkness we encounter, and then they turn our faces to the LORD, to the Word, to the promise, to the Christ. What does that mean? That trouble, suffering, and darkness that weighs heavy are not the things we should rely on—we must only rely on the LORD Christ as the one whom we can depend and who gives us life.

It is the promise that God is gracious in Jesus Christ that certainly does and will deliver you from all your fears. What we rely upon is the promise of the Word, that is, the Word about Christ who “for the life of the world has given his flesh.” We know God has heard our cries because Christ is the bright, shining light of our faith. He gives you, yes specifically you who hear this message today many promises that stand firm against the troubles of this world. (grab hammer) In fact, Jesus’ Word is a hammer that breaks whatever darkness we face to pieces, like where Jesus says, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never be hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty” (John 6:35)… “Everything that the Father gives me I will never drive away” (John 6:37)… “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day” (John 6:39)… “This is indeed the will of my Father, that all who see the Son and believe in him may have eternal life; and I will raise them up on the last day” (John 6:40)… “Very truly, I tell you, whoever believes has eternal life” (John 6:47)… “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh” (John 6:51).

With the Psalmist, we can praise God saying, “My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the lowly hear and be glad” (Ps. 34:2). This directs all us poor and beaten down souls to boast in the LORD alone. Do we boast that death and darkness and sin seek to overwhelm us every day we live? Never! There is never a time we go without the blessing of the LORD. We boast in the LORD. And we can because of Jesus’ death and resurrection has defeated all evil. We boast in the LORD who has given us his flesh as the guarantee that we will have eternal life. We boast not in our despair but in the Word of the Lord that will not lose any of us. In our First Reading today Elijah felt lost and was in despair and asked the LORD to take his life away (1 Kings 19:4). Elijah wanted to die. After all, he was in dire straits, Jezebel had it out to assassinate him. He didn’t see any escape. What was the LORD’s response? Did the LORD say, “Yep, we might as well give up”? Never! The LORD sent his angel who touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” And Elijah looked, and there at his head was a cake baked on hot stones, and a jar of water. He ate and drank, and lay down again.” (1 Kgs 19:5-6). Did the LORD give up on him then? Never! Instead, the angel of the LORD came to him a second time and said, “Get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you.” Elijah got up, and ate and drank, then he went in the strength of that food” (1 Kgs 19:8). God provided ways to strengthen and establish Elijah. And just as God had compassion on the despairing Elijah, so he has compassion on you. He beckons you too, whatever you are going through, to get up and eat, otherwise the journey will be too much for you. And so, he provides the food of his own body and blood under the bread and wine. Indeed, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper to strengthen you. The Lord’s Supper is food for the journey, it is for all who are weak and feel their need. Every time you partake of it you can be assured that you are given eternal life, salvation, and the forgiveness of sins. Indeed, in the Word and the sacraments God both gives and does his promises to you, so that you may know that the LORD is good. God attaches his goodness to the words of proclamation, to the bread and wine of the supper, and to the water of holy baptism so that you will have a word that delivers you from all your fears and all your troubles. Now I declare unto you what the Lord has commanded me to do: I forgive you all your sins in the name of Jesus Christ. No matter where life takes you (even if it’s to Oklahoma), you shall never be lost, nor shall you perish. In his Word he turns you away from all your troubles and to himself. And in him you shall never be put to shame. You have eternal life which can never be taken away from you; for the sake of Christ.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (7/18/21)

Primary Text | Ephesians 2:11-22

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Dear People of God,

Long ago God made a covenant with Abraham. In the covenant God made an everlasting promise to be God to Abraham and to those who would be his descendants (Gen. 17:7). The mark of that covenant would be circumcision as recorded in Genesis, “Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. Throughout your generations…” (Gen. 17:10-12). And in this way God made a distinction between the people he chose to give his promises to, and all other people on earth—with the “physical circumcision made in the flesh by human beings” (Eph. 2:11). That is where in the Bible the distinction between Jews and Gentiles were in the beginning. The Jews are those people who can trace their direct lineage to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and are collectively known as the people of Israel. They are the people of the promise. The Gentiles are every other nation and people on earth. Ephesians tells us about Gentiles by saying, “remember that you were at that time without Christ…strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world” (Eph. 2:12). The Gentiles, which is to say, the rest of the world, did not get in on God’s promises until the Messiah of God showed up and began his ministry on earth. Even though each nation may have worshiped their own gods, we all were, in effect, atheists—because we did not believe in the one true God, the God of Israel. That is, none of us Gentiles believed in the God who made heaven and earth, and created all things seen and unseen. Before Christ came into the world the rest of us were alienated from God and from God’s people Israel, and indeed we were without hope.

Now that the Messiah Jesus has come along with the new covenant, things work differently. Gentiles are no longer excluded from the promise, but are brought into the promise. That is why it says, “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ” (Eph. 1:13). Again, before Christ, we were far away from God and God’s promises. In fact, so far away that we weren’t even in hearing distance. It is the blood of Christ that eliminates that distance. That is, for the sake of Jesus and his suffering and dying, we are brought near to God. Now that we have Christ are made right with God. For Christ “is our peace” (Eph. 1:14). That hostility that existed between Jew and Gentiles is “broken down” (Eph. 1:14). The mark of the new covenant is not circumcision, but the cross of Jesus Christ. Instead of all males getting the marks of circumcision it is God who gets the marks on himself—marks made in the flesh by human hands—but this time from the nails on his feet, the nails on his hands, and piercing in his side. The very marks St. Thomas felt for himself after the resurrection.

God’s work on the cross is not only something that reconciles the divine-human relationship. But it reconciles human-human relationships. For yes, it is Christ who brings us into a life-giving relationship to God. But it is also Christ who brings us into a life-giving relationship with one another. For we see here that God works to reconcile both groups—Jews and Gentiles—through the cross— “putting to death that hostility through it” (cf. Eph. 2:14-16). In the early Church there was tension between the Jewish Christians and those who were coming to believe in Christ from the Gentiles. Ephesians is written to eliminate those tensions—reminding its hearers that peace comes by way of Jesus Christ. The former tensions are not part of the new creation God is bringing in. Through the cross God is working “to create in himself one new humanity in place of the two” (Eph. 2:15). Whatever distinctions we make among ourselves are now no longer ones put on us by the Divine Majesty, they are ones we put on ourselves. And though we may give God glory that he makes us each uniquely and wonderfully, in the new creation these distinctions between us are not dividing or reason for hostility. The new human beings that God creates in Christ are the beginning of true peace among people. Using our differences against each other is silly, then, in light of the cross. The distinctions we have: skin color, ethnicity, language, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc., etc.—should never be weaponized against each other. We belong to each other because we belong to Christ.

Jesus died for all, regardless of distinction—and his death means peace between us and God and between us and one another— “for through him [we each] have access in one Spirit to the Father” (Eph. 2:18). Which is to say that we are members of the same household. After the Divine Service is over this morning, we all may depart to our own homes. Some of us live in town, in other towns, and for those watching digitally perhaps you live whole states or countries away from here. But none of this takes away from the fact that we are “members of the household of God” (Eph. 2:19). We are in fact, family. The home for believers in Christ is “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets”—all whom witnessed to “Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone” (Eph. 2:20). And though we have our own physical houses, we have one spiritual house. In this spiritual house dwells God—the God of Israel—the one who made heaven and earth, and all things seen and unseen. Here in this house, “God approaches [you] so graciously, invites so warmly, and promises so richly” (LC 1:40). For this is the house of Christ. In this house, your sins are forgiven on account of Christ. This home will never fall apart on you, nor will the storms of the world tear it apart. Here is your peace. That is truly yours. God has promised to be your God and will deliver you from every terror. You now have peace with God by the cross. And as we gather around the Sacrament of the Altar shortly, God’s peace will be there, uniting you with God and with each other. All under the shadow of the cross of Christ.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Fifth Sunday after Epiphany (2/7/21)

Primary Text | Mark 1:29-39

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Dear People of God,

         We live in a day that we can no longer assume people know what the Christian faith is. Much less can we assume people know what we believe as Lutheran Christians. The prevailing notion about Christian faith, even among professing Christians, is a consumer culture approach. Meaning, “Well, I like that part so I’ll take that. But, oh, I don’t like that part, so I’ll do my own thing.” Basically, we treat faith like a set of Legos where we choose the blocks we like, toss away the blocks we don’t like, and make the rest up—indeed, we make faith what our “itching ears” (2 Tim. 4:3) want to hear.  When we fall for this approach it is not faith, it is instead kicking God off the throne and setting ourselves up in his place crown and all. True, genuine faith is something that comes to us from outside ourselves. It is not something we have Legos to build. It is the kingdom of God, that comes from God, from heaven to earth.

Here’s the thing, God’s kingdom does not come out of thin air. Which is why we cannot assume people know what it is. God’s kingdom comes about as Jesus said, “Let us go to the neighboring towns, so that I may proclaim there also; for that is what I came out to do” (Mark 1:38). Again, what he proclaimed was “the kingdom of God has come near; repent and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). To proclaim is to preach God’s Word—repentance and believing in the good news. In some ways it might be easier to proclaim the good news. It is pure honey and goodness. Proclaiming repentance can be more difficult. For righteous people, who have no need of repentance, are unable to taste that honey and goodness the good news will bring. In order to appreciate the good news, one must also here the hard news—that word of repentance. The kingdom God is bringing in requires us to be completely changed—not one stone will be left on top of another. Not one thing can remain. And people don’t like that. We don’t like to change. We don’t like God to speak to us things that challenge our worldview. We want to hold on to our own point of view unscathed; we want to be the ones in control. Which is why something like the pandemic hasn’t turned hearts in service of the neighbor. Because of this, people have died unnecessarily. Allowing people to die when we could prevent it is not a matter of one’s personal choice in the kingdom of God. But like the demons who Christ casts out (Mark 1:34, 39), this too will be cast out.

As Christ says, “Repent, and believe in the good news” (Mark 1:15). That is what he went about proclaiming. Proclamation is the method by which God has chosen to bring in the kingdom of God to this day. We Lutherans call this Law and Gospel. The Law that acts as a mirror to show us our sin and complete inability to save ourselves—and the Gospel, the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that he died and rose for you for the free forgiveness of sins. The Gospel is the good news that God, in Christ, has done everything to bring about your salvation. These are things we could not muster up ourselves. These are things we depend entirely on God to bring to us. It is pure honey that when it comes to salvation, matters are in God’s hands entirely. We did not choose him but he chose us. Therefore, there’s nothing you can do or I can do or anyone can do to mess it up.

Again, it doesn’t come out of thin air. The kingdom comes near through a Preacher. For Christ brings his word to you through the mouth of human beings. And yes, the pastor is one such preacher. But you, as well, are preachers to your neighbors. Whether at school or work, among friends or family, God has entrusted you to be the one to proclaim God’s kingdom through Law and Gospel to them. He has placed those around you for such a time as this. Whether people realize it or not, agree with it or not, people need Christ in their lives. For it is through Christ that God is at work reconciling the world to himself. It is in him you have healing and wholeness. And it is Christ who will be faithful to you to the very end. He it is who will hear your prayers, he it is who will hold you tight when the world is falling apart. He it is who does not leave you to the demons, but delivers you from evil. Thank God that you do not need to build your Lego blocks to know whether or not God forgives you. He does. He endured death on the cross so that you may have life in his name. Amen.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Second Sunday of Easter (4/11/21)

Primary Text | Acts 4:32-35

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Dear People of God,

Water is thicker than blood. You have two families. One is your blood family. Generally speaking, these are people with whom you share DNA. And if not that, you are either adopted in or have become part of the family by some other means. Usually this bond holds for a lifetime. In an ideal world, your blood family is supposed to be a place where you belong. Such families bear things together and look out for one another. At least, this is the ideal and value I think many of us hold to and would want in a family. In this fallen world, a content and undivided family is not as plentiful as we would like. Dysfunction, alcoholism, adultery, and abuse are all too common. Nevertheless, the family is a sphere that God chooses to be active in—both to make upright citizens in society and also to raise up children to have faith and trust in God. Within your blood family God certainly calls you to share in all things, to build each other up, to love, and to ensure one another not only to make it by in life, but to thrive in life.

Now there is another kind of family you have. No sort of law binds this family together. Nor does DNA determine the bond. This family is your family by God’s sheer grace. This is your water family. By virtue of baptism believers in Christ belong to one another with a bond stronger than all other bonds. Baptism means we belong to the Lord, and if we belong to the Lord we belong to one another. The water in baptism is none other than the water of resurrection. The Bible speaks in endearing, familial terms about the relationship of believers to one another. We are brothers, sisters, siblings to each other. In the Book of Acts, which I recommend you read, you will learn how the earliest Christian communities were formed by the resurrection. For there you��ll see with what “great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 4:33). And it is this testimony that normed and formed the earliest believers in Christ. And hopefully, by reading Acts you’ll understand why it is important in the Nicene Creed that we confess that we believe in the apostolic church. For us to say we believe in the apostolic church is to trust the testimony of the apostles—the very first messengers of the bodily resurrection of Jesus. To be an apostolic church, of which we are, is to be one with the apostles in what they taught and proclaimed. This is, of course, to be children of the light—the gospel that through the resurrection of Jesus Christ God forgives the sins of all those who believe in him.

In our First Reading today, we see that those who believed were of “one heart and soul” (Acts 4:32). Think of it as if we all shared one body. We would want to take care of our body. To do that we would make sure that our body is properly fed, has enough sleep, has clothes to wear, and a reason to smile. When we as the Christian church are of one heart and soul we are of one will, namely, God’s will. Can we truly say that the Christian church remains of one heart and soul today? Can we say that about the Christian church gathered as this congregation? The answer is paradoxical. Both yes and no. Insofar as we are formed and normed by the resurrection of Jesus we can say yes to that question. So that we might not boast in saying yes, we must recognize that truly it is not our own doing but the gospel that makes this so. It is true because when the Holy Spirit dwells in our hearts it is like putting fertilizer on a withering plant—we begin to become healthy plants and produce numerous good fruits as we believe rightly and do the will of God. We also must answer no to this question, we are not of one heart and soul. For daily we are weak and succumb to temptation and sin and division. We are of multiple hearts and souls when we want to place our heart and soul over and above everyone else’s. Or, when we speak ill of one another or we gossip or tear each other apart. Though we are family by God’s sheer grace in the waters of baptism we forget that and allow the squabbles of the world to encroach on our bond rather than the resurrection of the Lord Jesus to form us. When we hate one another, when we malign one another, when we judge one another we are no different than the world around us. We forget what Jesus said, “They will know you are my disciples by your love for one another.” May God preserve in us the one common, true faith so that we can love one another and boldly show the world that we belong to Christ.

The resurrection of the Lord Jesus changes everything. No longer do we operate according to the norms and course of this world—we operate according to the norms and course of Christ’s kingdom. It is a kingdom of grace. You have been rescued entirely by God’s favor. This is not done by any other means than by faith in the risen Christ. And you, dear people, have been given this faith without any contribution on your part. In Christ God chooses to overlook your sins. You are no longer under condemnation; you are under great grace. This grace, or God’s favor, is greater than all your sins, all your faults, all your blemishes. You belong to Christ. To belong to Christ is to belong to a God who is gracious and merciful. And because you belong to Christ you also belong to Christ’s community. Christ’s Church. Christ’s holy community is found wherever they are gathered around the word and sacraments. In this community, in this family we have through water, we take care of each other. We take notice of those in need so that among us it can be true what is written--“there was not a needy person among them” (Acts 4:34). We belong together with a bond stronger than blood, a bond of water—based on God’s promises in the risen Christ. It is my prayer and hope that you will truly experience God’s love as you love one another. Faith cannot help but love. Never be afraid and question whether you belong here; because it is the Holy Spirit who has brought us together, therefore no one earned their way in. We belong together, you belong here, because God has brought you in through the resurrection of baptism. And with the apostles, every day we have the opportunity to join them in great power by proclaiming the resurrection of Christ. Because Christ was raised from the dead nothing, not even death, can separate you from God’s love. Christ Jesus is God’s favor in flesh and blood, risen from the dead so that you may believe and so have the forgiveness of sins. Christ is risen! Christ is risen indeed! Be encouraged, you my brothers and sisters and siblings in Christ you belong because Christ is raised.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Fourth Sunday after Pentecost (6/20/21)

Primary Text | Mark 4:35-41

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Dear People of God,

We have God to thank and praise because he has provided us with passages like this in the Gospel of Mark. The story of Jesus calming the storm, though brief, is super encouraging in matters of faith. Its point is to strengthen our faith. So we have it, after teaching the people Jesus and his disciples got on a boat and set out to sea. While on their route a great windstorm arose. Wave after wave began smashing against them. Water began filling the boat to the point that the boat was going to sink. They were going to drown. While the storm was wreaking havoc, Jesus was asleep at the back of the boat lying on a cushion. The disciples must have thought, “We’re about to die, how can it be that he is still sleeping?” So they woke him up and asked him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Let us pause the story here. The disciples are relatable. A great and terrible storm is upon them and by all accounts it looks like they’re about to die. Now most of us living in Wyoming don’t need to worry about our boat sinking in a storm. But we do face our own storms in our own ways. A storm can be anything that threatens stability in our life, in our person, or in our world. Christians are by no means exempt from great and terrible things happening to them. And like the disciples, when bad things happen, we might be tempted to think God doesn’t care. For example, we might think: “I got this rare disease, so God doesn’t care about me,” “I have no friends, so God mustn’t love me,” “I lost my job, my loved one, my feeling of security, therefore I am doomed,” “My life has been ruined because of this or that, therefore God has abandoned me.” If we base how much God loves us on whether or not life is easy or difficult, we do not have a firm foundation on which to stand. No wonder many people think God is absent.

Back to the storm. When the disciples wake Jesus up and ask him, “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” we learn who God is and what faith is. Jesus then admonishes the wind and tells the sea “Silence! Be still!” At which point the wind stopped and the sea became calm. Then Jesus turned to his disciples and said, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” Here we have the point of the story. It is to teach us about faith. We will indeed face things that make us sweat, our heart pound, our body shake…but that by no means means that God has abandoned us. Faith believes God is gracious even when by all accounts it seems the opposite is true. Faith believes God is gracious and preserves us even as it seems we are perishing. Faith believes God is gracious and saves us even as the storm beats its waves against us and the ship is sinking. Faith believes God is gracious when life grows weary and hope is dim. Faith, of course, is not a feeling. Nor is faith something that we can make with the force of our own will. Faith is itself, God’s gracious gift. Even if it is weak or hard to perceive the Spirit has placed it in our hearts. Faith is something that we can depend on God for. This is true both in life and in death. No matter what storms we face in life God has not abandoned us. And, unless the Lord comes back soon, each of us will face death. Faith is our greatest comfort because when we do die, it is a gracious God who calms the storm, holds us tight, and will one day raise us up again…so that death is really falling asleep, to one day be woken up to a new life.

As Christians, we are not exempt from terrible things happening to us in life. Storms happen to everyone. But we do have hope. A sure and certain hope. It is a hope that comes from beyond ourselves. When everything goes wrong, we need not despair and give up. We know this because when Jesus died on the cross death did not keep him down forever. He rose again. And because of this we have peace with God. Jesus died and rose again to one day calm all storms. And he especially died and rose again to forgive sins. Your sins. Faith believes God is gracious not for the sake of ourselves, but for the sake of Jesus Christ. Because for the sake of Christ God forgives your sins fully and completely. And no matter what storms you face, be still. God has you. He will not let you perish. (Pause) We forget daily that God is gracious. But God gives many reminders of his goodness. So if you need someone to calm your storm, you have it by the mouth of human preachers—and not just pastors but anyone who can assure you of God’s good promises. Whether it be me or another Christian, we can remind you about Jesus and his peace that passes all understanding. (pause) I had a friend in college. We were fellow music education majors. She played guitar and wrote her own music. One day I went to see her perform at the coffee shop in my dorm. One song she performed that night changed the course of my life. The lyric went, “At the end of the day, I get on my knees and pray, and thank God I know his love, his unconditional love.” Even though it was a song, even though she was an ordinary young women—in that moment she preached to me. We are preachers whenever we share the love of the triune God made known in Jesus. And that’s what she did, she preached to my troubled ears that God loves me. Life in college and as a young adult is filled with much uncertainty and many storms. Through the words of my friend God assured me that his love is unconditional, that no matter what storms I would endure, and I have weathered many storms, the promise remains that nothing can separate me from God’s love in Jesus Christ. The same is true for you.

Whatever troubles are before your eyes, disregard them. Do not rely on your eyes. It is only the promise that can be relied on—the promise of God that exists despite all things against it. If the Lord himself endured suffering and the cross, we his followers will also face these things. Yet, we are with the benefit of God’s favor. Not only does God calm the storm in the words we say to each other, but he also provides for that calm in the Lord’s Supper. There the Spirit gives his promise to forgive your sins, to give you new life and salvation. In the Holy Supper you receive the Lord Jesus’ true body and blood, the very testament of God’s enduring love. The Spirit also places his promises in baptism. When you were baptized, you were baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. So that you too will walk in newness of life. Which is why we baptize not only adults, but also infants. They too belong to God’s promised redemption in Jesus Christ. We, the Church of Jesus Christ, ought also to give them God’s blessings. You have a God who serves you relentlessly, forgives you relentlessly, shows you his favor relentlessly, on account of Christ. At the end of the day, when all is said and done, we are only upheld by the promise. On the other side of that stormy cloud is a rainbow, and sunshine, and a new you who has life in the Son of God.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Fifth Sunday in Lent (3/21/21)

Primary Text | Jeremiah 31:31-34

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Dear People of God,

         Jeremiah says, “Surely the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jer. 31:31). Those days Jeremiah speaks of have already begun. The new covenant begins and ends with Jesus. And those days will be complete when Jesus comes again to judge the living and the dead. Remember a covenant is a promise and so the new covenant is a new promise. The great thing about when God makes a promise is that God keeps his promise. We ourselves are apt to break and fail at keeping our promises, we often do fail to keep our promises. But God is completely worthy of our trust. His promise, or I should say, his Word, does what it says it will do. In the middle of death God’s promise brings new life.

Jeremiah continues, “It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, says the LORD” (Jer. 31:32). Here the LORD distinguishes between the prior covenant and what is the new covenant. He reminds us that he brought his people out of Egypt and established Israel as a people that uniquely belonged to the LORD. But it is a covenant they broke. “Though I was their husband” is the LORD establishing that he was faithful to his people even as they were unfaithful. The “husband-language” signifies God’s great love and care for his people. Of course, if we think of this in purely human terms we may be confused because often our marital relationships do not reflect two spouses faithful to each other. About half of marriages in the U.S. end in divorce. Our human relationships are often filled with brokenness wrought with pain and suffering and betrayal. But that is not how we ought to think of our relationship to God. Again, the LORD is completely worthy of our trust and faithful to us even when we are unfaithful to him. Nor does the LORD treat us with contempt. The new covenant is the sign that God will do and endure everything in order to bring us into a life-giving relationship with him. He wills our relationships with one another to also be life-giving.

Another thing to notice about the new covenant is that it is unidirectional. As the LORD says, “I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be my people” (Jer. 31:33). The main thing we hate about God is that he is God. We’d much rather be god ourselves. Meaning that we want to make meaning of life based on our own likes and sensibilities. A big problem when we become our own god is that we think we live in freedom—but that is a façade. Apart from Christ we are slaves to sin and therefore in a bondage—we cannot free ourselves from. Thankfully, it is not our law that God writes on hearts but God’s law. When God writes on our hearts we live in the new covenant. That is, we have the promise that God will be our God—we are not subject to any other god, not even to ourselves. This means that we belong to Something bigger than ourselves. And when we belong to our LORD nothing else can take away God’s love. In the new covenant we know that nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love in Jesus Christ.

Jeremiah describes that covenant as “No longer shall they teach one another, or say to each other, “Know the LORD,” for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, says the LORD; for I will forgive their iniquity, and remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31:34). The point of the new covenant is that through it we may know the LORD. Some of what is written in this last verse is still future-oriented. For now, we do need to teach one another about the LORD. But when the Final Day shall come, we will no longer need to teach one another. What is important for us right now is that in the new covenant we come to know God because God chooses to forgive our iniquity and to remember our sin no more. Sin acts as a wall that separates us from God. But in order that God may be our God and we may be God’s people in the new covenant God sent his Son to die for us. If there were any other way of saving us God would not have sent his Son to die a humiliating death on a cross. The cross, therefore, was necessary. It is through Christ’s death and Christ’s resurrection that we have new life. Jesus Christ, both God and a human being, is God’s greatest gift to you. He suffered as you suffer. But because he suffered you are never alone as you suffer, for God suffers with you and for you. And Christ intercedes on your behalf. He endures all condemnation so that now there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. Indeed, God does not want to be known in any way but by his mercy and compassion. That is why he points us to Christ, and Christ alone, who is the new covenant.

Where else do we hear of the new covenant but in the Words of Institution: “Again, after supper, he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it for all to drink, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sin.” When we celebrate the Lord’s Supper yes, we do remember Christ’s death. But did you know that in the Lord’s Supper you are given forgiveness of sins? You are. Every time you take and eat and drink. And when you have forgiveness of sins you know you have a God who is gracious, forgiving, and who has unconditional love for you. That is what it means to know the LORD.

[buggie-hagen]

Sermon for Nativity of Our Lord - Christmas Day (12/25/20)

Primary Text | Isaiah 52:7-10; John 1:1-14

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Dear people of God, Merry Christmas!

         The LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed the ruins of Jerusalem (Isa. 52:9). The people of God have suffered devastation. But now the time has come. God has sent Good News from heaven to earth. There is peace, true peace at Christmastime. For it is on this day “the Word became flesh and lived among us…full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). In Jesus the Christ, God has chosen to dwell in the ruins of humankind. We may think we live in times difficult. And we do. Right now, we miss what life was like in the before-times, and we yearn for a better life in the future. One free of strife and worry. We yearn for the day free of today’s burdens. Though we think life is hard right now, and it is, there has never been a pristine time to be alive. We live and make do among the ruins. War and turmoil have been ever-present. The bad news of death and disease has followed us all our days. People interested in lording it over others saturate the secular realm in the government and the spiritual realm in the church. The hearts of people have grown cold in abandoning their neighbor for conspiracy theories and their own self-proclaimed righteousness.

Listen again to the Sacred Scriptures: “The LORD has comforted his people, he has redeemed the ruins of Jerusalem.” And again, listen to our Lord’s counsel: “So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today’s trouble is enough for today” (Matt. 6:34). God brings peace enough in the incarnation of Jesus Christ. The Word became flesh means we have not been left alone in today’s trouble. For God has redeemed the ruins of Jerusalem. The Lord Jesus Christ was not born into a world pristine, but born into a world in ruins. He is the Light to a world lost in the darkness. He brings peace to a war-torn world. The prophet Isaiah says, “The LORD has bared his holy arm before the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of God” (Isa. 52:10). One of those ends of the earth the LORD has in mind is Wyoming, our city, our county. Our little corner of the world is not left out from God’s promises. The ruins of Sandy River County too are redeemed wherever the Lord Christ is proclaimed. God goes about redeeming us from the ruins by drawing us to himself through the Christ. The Holy Spirit both brings us to Christ and brings Christ to us through the proclamation of the good news. That God has compassion on sinners, and in order to rescue you from the present darkness, joined the human world as an infant, bringing salvation in our midst—which is the forgiveness of sins incarnate, that we have entirely by grace, when we so believe. Nothing is able to vanquish this promise, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). Even in death Jesus was raised from the dead. The ruins of your heart have been redeemed. In Christ, you are released from all your burdens and taken them upon himself. Dear people, “Your God reigns” (Isa. 52:7). There is joy and reason to be glad. Merry Christmas.