All Saints Day 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 5:1-12 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

Blessed are you! Blessed are you because Jesus Christ has come in the flesh to save you from your sins and bring you back to God. Blessed are you because He gave His life into death as the holy Lamb of God sacrificed in your place on the cross of Calvary. Blessed are you because that Jesus who was dead is alive again the third day, triumphing over death. Blessed are you because He has washed you at the font and made you holy, made you a saint. Blessed are you because He continues to absolve you of your sins and feed you with His holy flesh and blood to keep you holy in His sight. Blessed are you that in Jesus Christ, you are clothed with that white robe that has been washed in His blood and you are numbered in His church with all the saints of Old Testament Israel and all the peoples and nations that stand before the throne of the Lamb. You are His saints. You are a part of all of that. Now we might have lots of earthly blessings for which we can be thankful: money or a job or a house or food and clothing or families or good health. But all that stuff is just a drop in the bucket compared to the EVERYTHING you have been blessed with in Jesus Christ. Forgiveness of sins. Salvation from hell. Eternal life. Blessed are you because…Jesus!

But we forget. We forget we are blessed. Jesus says, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn,” etc. All those “blesseds.” That’s you, His holy people. Those words describe you. You are poor in spirit but rich in grace. You hunger and thirst for rightouesness. You are peacemakers and the people who know how to have mercy on others. But you forget. Your Old Adam mucks it all up. He goes along with the devil and the world to make us think every little irritating inconvenience in life is somehow proof God is against us or that we did something to upset Him. That we’re being paid back. Maybe the car broke down and needs an expensive repair. Maybe the cancer is back. Maybe your kids are sick for the umpteenth time and you have no more time to take off work. Maybe you spilled your coffee on your new pants. Maybe your spouse died. Maybe there was some tragedy in your family. Whatever it is, listen up! Every single one of those things that happens, the Lord uses them to teach you to trust in Him. The devil and your Old Adam, however, try to use these things to make you forget you are a saint. And it’s not that your sainthood is stained when you throw a fit and get all upset about it. Rather, what the devil is after is getting you to stop trusting that in Jesus you already have way more than anything you can think of. That in Christ you are a saint. That for Jesus’ sake, nothing can truly harm you. You’re saints! You have every good gift in Christ! But your forget. And when you forget, you aren’t peacemakers and mercy-havers and you don’t hunger and thirst for righteousness. No, instead, you grumble and complain and worry and think that whatever your problem is is the end of the world. And that’s where Jesus rescues you by stating simply: No, you are blessed. Blessed because you are all these things that He says: poor in spirit, meek, persecuted, etc. You are saints. Holy ones. HIS holy ones.

This is why we have All Saints Day. We see the reality of the Lord’s people, the saints who have rested from their labors. There they are around the throne of the Lamb. Dressed in white. No more tears. Not from baby shampoo, but because all sin and evil has been put far behind them. Paradise. The gates of pearl. The golden Jerusalem. When we hear the glimpse of that vision, of our brothers and sisters in Christ who rest from their labors, we learn that the Lord keeps His promises. He really DOES keep His people in the faith unto life everlasting. He really WILL raise all of us from the dead on the Last Day. The difference between us and them is not that we aren’t both dressed in the white robes of Christ. It’s that our Old Adams still cling to us, trying to make us forget everything but ourselves. The cloud of witnesses, the saints and angels, the throne of the Lamb–all of these draw our eyes and ears and hearts and minds away from our pouting selves to remember what it is to be a saint. They are there in their white robes. YOU wear a white robe. You might not see it with your eyes, but it’s been put upon you in holy baptism. They sing praises to the Lamb. So do we, every time the church is gathered and the songs of our liturgies and hymns are upon our lips. We may look around and see just each other, but faith sees one another clothed with Christ. Those saints stand around the throne of the Lamb. You are gathered around that Lamb, too. Again, you may not see with your eyes, but there He is under the bread and wine, His flesh and blood given you to raise you from the dead on the Last Day. St. John reminds us in our Epistle: yeah, we don’t know what we will be like…yet. But we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. For this life, that’s really all we need to know about that. That Day is coming, the day when Christ will return and raise us from the dead and the Old Adam stays buried and the tears are wiped away. Until then, don’t forget. Don’t forget who you are. You are His. You are saints. You are holy. You are blessed. You are all that in Jesus Christ. Happy All Saints Day. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Twentieth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 22:1-14 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

You could throw the greatest party ever. All you can eat. All you can drink. You can tell people it will go several days to accommodate their schedules. You can tell them there’s no charge, free parking and they don’t have to bring a thing. Just show up and enjoy. You could do all that and you know that some people still wouldn’t show up. So the Lord does. He prepares the feast of salvation. Unlike all the religions in the world, there is nothing for you to do. He’s done it all. He sent His Son Jesus. He sacrificed Him for your sins. He has raised Him from the dead. He has sent forth His preachers to preach and teach and baptize and dish out the Supper. He has done all that and yet there are people who just don’t care. It means nothing to them. They don’t want it. So it was with the Jews of Jesus’ day. They rejected Him. Forty years later, The Lord gave them what they wanted and the Romans wiped Jerusalem off the map. Meanwhile the slaves of Christ have gone forth into the world to drag in anyone they could find. The good. The bad. Doesn’t matter. Jesus died for them and the party is theirs to enjoy. Yours to enjoy!

The host even provides the wedding garment. What does that point to? Being dressed with Christ, his righteousness. His holiness. His forgiveness. Faith. The Holy Spirit. All of that. Your baptism. Absolution. The Father brings you in to His feast that He has prepared and it’s all yours. Don’t over think it. Just enjoy it! Celebrate the marriage feast of the Lamb. The union of the Bridegroom, Jesus united to His bride, the church, from whom He has washed away every spot and wrinkle and stain of sin. And yet there’s a guy that decided he was dressed fine with his own clothes. Or maybe he didn’t want to be there. Doesn’t matter. He was not wearing the wedding garment. And when asked why not, he had nothing to say. When someone asks why YOU are at the party, the only thing to say is, “The Lord dragged me in here. Since it’s on His dime, I’m gonna enjoy it! Feast away!” That means live life as one who is free in Jesus! Enjoy the feast! Celebrate that your sins are wiped out! Love and serve you neighbor and enjoy the feast with them! But don’t think to enjoy this feast without the clothing of Christ. If you want to wear your own good works or life or ideas, then repent! You’ve been given the clothes to wear for this wedding and you’ll never look better than how the Lord has dressed you!

Now I want you to notice something. The people who are at that wedding feast are both “the good and the bad.” That is, they are there without reference to how they live or what they do. Of course, we’re all sinners but the point is that it isn’t more or less sins that get you an invitation. The grace of the host is what brings you in. Christ is your Savior and this feast is for you no matter who you are or what you have done or not done. And at the wedding, the wedding garment covers the good and the bad. If you’re a good person, don’t worry, you’re still covered by Jesus! Same with a bad person. Covered by Jesus. What gets the guy thrown out is that He rejects the garment. Rejects Christ. Rejects faith. Rejects Christ’s baptism and Supper. That’s our warning. Not to toss off the wedding garment. Not to neglect the gifts of Christ by which we are clothed and remain clothed with Jesus. Don’t stop coming to church, hearing Christ’s Word, receiving Christ’s body and blood. But also never doubt that there is never going to be a cover charge for this party. No admission price to this feast. It is yours. Christ has been sacrificed. The feast is ready. Come to the feast! It’s been made for you. It’s all a gift. No strings attached. Forgiveness. Eternal life. Enjoy! In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Nineteenth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 9:1-8 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

Do you know what you need most of all? Of everything there is to need, what is most important? The forgiveness of your sins. All that you have done against God and others. Forgiven. When it is forgiven, that means God does not hold it against you. When your sins are forgiven, then you have eternal life. When your sins are forgiven, the devil, the world, and even your own sinful nature cannot accuse you. When your sins are forgiven, the curse and damnation the Law hammers upon those who disobey–will not fall upon you. Without forgiveness, there is a sad, lonely, and horrible hell that awaits. So, no matter who you are or what you do or what you’ve done, the single greatest gift you need is the forgiveness of sins. And that’s the gift that Jesus brings. When Jesus tells the paralytic, “Your sins are forgiven,” He means it! He means that there is nothing that will keep this man from paradise. Not even being paralyzed. Being paralyzed, of course, is a reminder of sin. Not any particular sin, just the fact that this creation has been ruined by sin. So Jesus speaks the word of pardon. He can do that, of course, because the Bible said He would “bear their infirmities in His body.” And He carries not just sicknesses but sins. All of our sins. All of the sins ever. All sin and sins everywhere and anywhere and anywhen. Carries them to the tree. Paralyzed, in a manner, Himself, by being nailed to Calvary’s cross. Blood shed. Spirit given up. Dead, dead. Side pierced. Buried. The third day, alive. Sins left buried. Gone for good. That’s forgiveness.

But how do you KNOW you have it? How can you be certain that this Calvary-dying and Easter-rising Savior has forgiven YOUR sins? Well, I think according to the Pharisees, all you’ve got is some mystic hope that God will forgive you if you deserve it. But that’s not what Jesus does. He tells the man Himself. “Your sins are forgiven.” And the crowds marveled”–listen closely to the last words of the Gospel reading–“that God had given such authority to men.” And He still does. When your called and ordained preacher says, “I forgive you all your sins…” he means it. He is doing it. Because he has been given authority. People will argue with that. “Only God can forgiven sins.” “That’s between me and God.” “I don’t need a pastor to get forgiveness.” Why would we talk that way about a gift? What if your boss came to you and said, “Hey, you’re getting a raise!” and then you said, “Well you can’t give me a raise, only the owner of the company can give me a raise. I don’t believe you.” That would be nonsense. Just so, Christ Himself has given your pastor the authority to forgive sins. Your sins. Forgiven. And if you ever doubt that your sins really don’t count to God any more, just ask your pastor to tell you. “Pastor, please hear my confession in order to fulfill God’s will.” “Do you believe that my forgiveness is God’s forgiveness?” “Yes.” “May it be done for you as you believe: I forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” And with that pardon, that absolution, you can cast down the kingdom of hell, because there is no enemy that can accuse you when the Lord Himself has forgiven your sins and set you free.

Now, if what you need most is the forgiveness of sins, what do you think your neighbor needs most of all? That’s right: the forgiveness of sins! So what a great thing you can do for them to bring them to your pastor so they can hear the same thing. But guess what else you can do? YOU can forgive them. Forgive them in the name of Jesus. Tell them, for Christ’s sake, that their sins are forgiven. This is your pastors job, and it carries with it the seal of the confessional. But you, dear Christians, having been forgiven by God, are also authorized to forgive sins. Not because you’re ordained, but because God has set you free from your own sins and that gives you the authority to set others free from their sins. What if someone is burdened because they have sinned against you? Forgive them! What if someone does something against you that is bad? Forgive them. What if someone is troubled by something they’ve done maybe not to you but to someone else? Forgive them. Bring them to your pastor for forgiveness, and help them learn to apologize and ask the person they’ve hurt to forgive them too. If the forgiveness of sins is really the most important thing we need, then that means forgiveness is the most important thing that we have been given and possess and have to give to others. You are a walking, talking, lightning rod of forgiveness and a dynamo of forgiveness given to others. Put their sins away. Don’t hold them against them. Don’t carry a grudge. Don’t “Forgive but not forget.” Forgive because you are forgiven. The greatest thing you have been given, the forgiveness of sins, is for others as well. That forgiveness will be stocked up and reloaded as you remember your baptism, as you are absolved, as you are given Christ’s body and blood. Hey, Jesus, you can’t forgive sins. Only God can do that. But didn’t we hear last week that Jesus IS God? But He’s also true man. And He can and does forgive, by His cross and resurrection. And He makes sure that forgiveness gets where it’s supposed to by sending pastors to absolve sinners. And He keeps that forgiveness going as absolved sinners forgive others. What do you need most? The forgiveness of sins. What does Jesus have for you? The forgiveness of sins. So what do you have for others? The forgiveness of sins. What do we all have fro Jesus, for everyone? The forgiveness of sins. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 22:34-46 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

It’s always about us. “So, Jesus, which is it? Which is the great commandment in the Law? There’s lots of commandments but which one is the most important? Which one do I need to make sure I’m keeping better than all the rest?” Easy. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul and your mind. Awesome! I totally do that. Don’t you? Who here wouldn’t raise their hand if I asked, “Does anyone here love God?” But do you love Him with your WHOLE heart? Your WHOLE soul/self/being? Your WHOLE mind? No. Not even close. And you know how I know? Because there’s a second commandment like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. If you loved God, you would love your neighbor. If you loved God with your whole heart and soul and mind, you wouldn’t look down at others, whisper about the things they do. You wouldn’t get angry at them when they step on your toes. You wouldn’t hold a grudge against your neighbor. You wouldn’t give your neighbor the silent treatment. If you loved your neighbor, you would be in church without fail, to boost up your brothers and sisters in Christ and show them that along with God’s Word, they are the most important things in your life. If you really loved God. If you even tried to love your neighbor. But loving God and loving your neighbor would require you to love YOU the least not the most. And our sinful nature will not stand for that. So that Old Adam has got to die. He will hang on that Law: Love God. Love your neighbor. You don’t. The commandments condemn. Doom for the God and neighbor haters!

Until Jesus. He’s the son of David. And He’s David’s Lord. Now pay attention because what I just said about those commandments spells certain doom for you but what I am about to say spells certain salvation and eternal life. Jesus is David’s Lord. Because Jesus is God. Because He is the eternal Son. And Jesus is David’s son, because He’s born in the human family tree of David, from Mary. Jesus. Is. God. Jesus. Is. Man. Jesus is both true God and true man. And the whole Old Testament (the Law and the Prophets) is pointing to Him. Love God. Love neighbor. Jesus does exactly that. He loves God the Father above all things, even His own life, because He obeys the Father to undergo humiliation and suffering and death. And He loves His neighbor because He undergoes that humiliation and suffering and death, FOR YOU, His neighbor. Get it? Love God, love your neighbor. On those two commandments HANG all the Law and the Prophets. On those two commandments hangs Jesus. There’s the you and God part (vertical) and the you and your neighbor part (horizontal). And they meet in a cross. And the God-man hangs there to fulfill it all. What Jesus does, He does for God the Father and for everyone else. Not a bit of Jesus doing anything for Himself. And this is the difference between us and Jesus. We want to know what commandments we need to keep to try to save ourselves. Jesus keeps the commandments to save you.

So don’t be like the Pharisees who couldn’t answer the question. How can Jesus be David’s son AND David’s Lord? Because He’s God and man. What is the greatest commandment? Love God AND love your neighbor. It all comes together in Jesus. At Calvary. And it comes together for you at the font. In His Word. At the altar. Because there, your breaking the Law is covered and forgiven. There, His keeping of the Law is given to you. In your baptism, you do love God and your neighbor. When your sins are forgiven, you love God and your neighbor. When you are filled with the body and blood of the God-man Lamb of God, you love God and keep your neighbor. And by these gifts, the Spirit puts to death Mr. I’ll-keep-the-Law-to-save-my-own-bacon-Old Adam and gives to your new man the gift of learning to actually love God more than yourself and to love others more than yourself too. By water and Word and body and blood, Jesus gives you such a faith that, trusting in Him, you do love God because Jesus is God and your neighbor because Jesus is your neighbor. That is to say, by faith in Christ, His keeping and fulfilling the Law means you keep and fulfill the Law in Him. And suddenly, the commandments are not the way we save ourselves, they are the gift by which we see our lives in love of God and fervent love toward one another. Then by God you are saved from your sin and your neighbor is saved from Old Adam you to be blessed by New Man you in your daily life in Christ Jesus. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 6:24-34 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

The question is: Is your heavenly Father going to take care of you or isn’t he? Is He going to give you your daily bread or not? Is He going to make sure you have food and clothing or isn’t He? Jesus thought He’d be just fine. Do you ever see or hear Jesus worrying about money? Jesus just went around living like He would always have something to eat, something to wear, some place to stay. Jesus’ heart was never divided. He only ever desired to do the Father’s will. And he was confident His Father would provide for Him. And He did. Do you ever see Jesus hungry or thirsty or naked? Well, actually, yeah, we do. Good Friday. Calvary. Naked. Thirsty. His clothes were given away. Nothing but a sponge of sour wine to sip. What happened? Just this: by giving His Son into nakedness, and thirst, and death, your heavenly Father is making a promise that He will always feed and clothe you because He has first made sure your were righteous. The Lord has first made sure your sins are taken away. Christ has saved you from death and hell and, until He comes again, His Father and our Father’s promise to you is that He will provide what you need for this body and life.

So therefore you can’t serve two masters. You can’t serve God and mammon. You don’t NEED to! God’s got you covered. But, oh don’t we try! The love of money and the worry about money are doubly bad. First of all, worrying about money and loving money so much that it consumes us is that it has become a god we serve. Go to school so you can get an education. Why? So you can get a job. Why? So you can have money. Why? So your parents don’t have to support you your whole life and they’ll have money again! When I have enough money, then I’m happy, and grateful for having money. When I don’t have enough, then I love it and wish I had more and I’m grumpy and I pout and yell at people. Which means making mammon your god is not only idolatry, it’s bad for your neighbor. When we worry, we’re no help to others. “Yeah, yeah, I know you need help, but MY problems are way worse!” “Sure, I’d like to help, but you know, things are kind of tight right now.” How many of you have worried about how you’re going to pay a particular bill or be able to pay a bill and still buy something you want? But how many of us ever work hard to figure out how we can support our church? Or take care of something that someone ELSE needs? I’ve wracked my brain figuring out a way to scrape together enough money to buy this awesome thing I want, but I don’t seem to work that hard to figure out how I’m going to support my congregation, or get what my kids need, or help someone out. This sort of worry and mammon loving just exposes what’s in our hearts: idolatry. Selfishness. Greed. Sin. No, we can’t serve God and mammon. But we try. Help us, Lord! Teach us to repent and trust in you for all that we need.

Now, when faced with the stark reality of your sinful worrying and mammon loving, you need to be certain God won’t hold that against you. That’s where your baptism comes in. Worried about what to wear? In Baptism, Christ has clothed you! A robe of His righteousness. Worried about where you next meal will come from? Here’s His body and blood to eat and drink. These gifts are promises. They are promises that God doesn’t hold your sins against you. It’s His promise that for Jesus’ sake, who died and rose, that even when you love other stuff more than Him, He still loves you completely, and forgives you and calls you back to Himself. And these are His promises that what Jesus says about birds and lilies is true too. Your heavenly Father takes care of all of them. He’ll take care of you, too. Wasn’t it amazing that Elijah dared to tell a widow what to do with her last bit of oil and flour? Yet the Lord took care of her. Took care of Elijah. He takes care of you, too. Even with our doubts and faithlessness, the Lord is faithful. The cross says so. The empty tomb says so. The water, Word and Supper say so. The widow reminds us. The birds and lilies do too. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Eighth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 7:15-23 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

Everything Jesus says and does is for your salvation. When He tells us to “beware of false prophets,” He’s telling us that to save us. To rescue us from preachers who would lead us astray and to death because they are bad, dead trees, that produce a withered, poison, fruit. So beware and don’t be fooled! But don’t think such a preacher is going to come along and say bad stuff about Jesus, either! They come in sheep’s clothing to snatch you away. They’ll talk about Jesus. They’ll say all kinds of things about Jesus. But the simple way you can recognize their lies is that the false preacher, even when he is telling you about Jesus, is really telling you about you. You must do this. You must do that. You must improve your life. You must be a better person. You must make a decision or choice for God. You must take hold of God’s promises. You. You. You. Jesus died for you BUT…you something something. You. The fruit of that preaching is hearers who trust in themselves and not in Jesus. The fruit of that preaching is pharisees who think they can keep God’s Law and so be “in” with God. Or else the fruit is despairing sinners, who know nothing of God’s grace and have no hope. Jesus doesn’t want you to think you can keep the Law and save yourself. And He doesn’t want you to despair that you can be saved. That’s why He tells you today: Beware of false prophets.

False prophets make you a debtor to the flesh, as St. Paul calls it. That is, they give you the religion of keeping score with God and trying to do enough. But the Son has set you free to be a son of God and and heir with Him. Jesus came to set you free. Here is the Good News that saves: Christ Jesus came to save sinners. He came in the flesh to be the Lamb. He came to take your being full of yourself on the one hand and despairing of God’s mercy on the other and take that all to Calvary and be nailed with it there to the cross. Talk about a tree that gives good fruit! Apple trees make apples. Diseased apple trees make gross, nasty apples no one will eat. False preachers make people who are withered and turned inward. But Jesus’ cross is a tree that is good. Its fruit is life. Because the fruit of the cross is the salvation of sinners. It’s a fruit of water squeezed into the font and blood poured into the cup. The fruit of Christ crucified for you is the forgiveness of all your sins. All of them. Without exception. Without conditions. Without restrictions. Without anything on your part. The fruit of Christ’s cross is your life as a believer, one who trusts in Jesus and can confess, “Yes, all my sins, all of them, are forgiven for His sake.” The fruit of this preaching, of this Good News, of this real Jesus, is sinners who are set free from their debts. Sinners who know they owe God nothing and are free totally and completely from their sins. They are sinners who smile to rejoice that they are children of God, that they can, for Jesus’ sake, call Him Father.

And that is the fruit of faithful preaching. That a sinner knows they are the Lord’s because of Jesus and for no other reason. False preachers cast doubts. Faithful preaching points to Jesus. A false preacher will tell you about Jesus and then leave it in your hands: “Have you…? Did you…? Will you…?” Faithful preaching declares: “Christ has. Christ did. Christ will always. For you.” Do you see the difference? False preachers will encourage you to look at your own life to see if you are doing enough, being good enough, trying enough. And you need to watch out because your Old Adam loves to get sucked into that “all about me” stuff! That’s why these false preachers are so dangerous. They’re preaching to the Old Adam and he’s all ears! But you, you are the ones who call God, “Abba! Father.” You are the heirs of God’s riches along with Christ. You are those whom the Lord has given the Good News of Jesus so that you don’t have to look to your own hearts or lives to see if it is true. You are those who have been baptized and absolved and fed with Christ’s flesh and blood so that you can look to those gifts and declare confidently that your sins are forgiven. False preachers. Bad fruits. Beware! Jesus. Cross. Good fruits. Forgiveness. Life. Salvation. Heirs with Jesus of all the good things God has. As your preacher, called by Christ, and in His stead, that’s what I declare to you today: It’s not about you. It’s about Jesus. And since it’s about Him, then it’s all about you being saved and being children of God and heirs of eternal life forever. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Sixth Sunday after Trinity 2015

Bible Text: Matthew 5:17-29 | Preacher: Rev. Mark Buetow | Series: 2015

You are murderers. The Law of God says so. The Lord drops the Law upon us like tablets of stone and it is a crushing load that leaves no wiggle room. Unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of God. No murderers in God’s kingdom. And that’s you. Because your righteousness does not exceed the scribes and Pharisees. You, like them, think you are not a murderer because you haven’t killed anyone. You’ve never taken a life so you can’t be a murderer. So Jesus will now school you all the way with the Law. Murder isn’t just killing. It’s hatred. It’s bearing ill will toward someone. It’s keeping a grudge. It’s being angry with someone. And every one of you has someone you don’t want to forgive, that you’re at odds with, that you need to be reconciled to. And because of that, because you are angry at them, because you won’t forgive them, because you would hurt them if you got the chance or at least you THINK about hurting them and how you would—because of all that, you are a murderer. And in God’s way of doing things, murderers get the death penalty. Don’t try to wiggle out of it. No excuses. The Law is clear. You are not perfect. You are a cold-blooded killer and deserve hell. That’s what the Law has to say to you. That’s what all the commandments but in particular today the Fifth Commandment says. Murderer. You’re done.

So…want some Good News? Want THE Good News? It won’t come from the Law. The Law says do this and live or else don’t do it and die. Here’s the Good News: the Son of God came to trade places with murderers. If you’re a murderer like the Commandment says, guess what? Jesus will trade with you. That’s what happened, of course. Remember Pontius Pilate? “Do you want the murderer or the King of the Jews?” And they picked the murderer. The guilty guy goes free. The innocent Jesus gets the scourge and the cross. But it’s not just Barabbas who goes free. You go free. Jesus isn’t just taking his place, He’s taking your place too. That’s right. You’re the murderer who goes free because Jesus takes the fall for you. Takes the hit for you. Gets your sentence, takes your punishment, does your time, dies your death. And you? Your fate? Not guilty. Set free. Forgiven. Debt paid. Reconciled to God. Can you be sure about that? As sure as the water and Word put on you at the font. As sure as your called and ordained pastor absolving you. As sure as the body and blood of Jesus are given and shed for you to eat and drink for the forgiveness of sins. As sure as you are baptized into Christ, His death is yours, says, St. Paul, and because He rose, you have been raised at the font to new life.

And what does new life look like? It’s about not calling in debts that come due. It’s about forgiving them. It’s about looking at the hatred and anger you have at another person and forgiving them and being reconciled. It’s saying, “The Lord has traded places with me and taken my death. He’s forgiven me. So I forgive you. And I ask you to forgive me.” Jesus doesn’t tell us to be reconciled to our brother because that’s how we somehow “activate” God’s forgiveness. He tells us that because, unlike the Pharisees and the scribes, knowing the Lord’s mercy means knowing what He has forgiven in you and that you cannot possibly hold what someone else has done against them. You see, in the kingdom of God, Jesus is all about taking the place of murderers and forgiving the hearts like ours that don’t want to forgive, and teaching us to forgive one another and be reconciled to one another. That is a blessed gift the Law cannot provide. It can only say do or die. But Jesus takes your place and puts everything right, just how it should be in a kingdom that is all about forgiveness and debts paid in full. In the Name of Jesus. Amen.