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God’s Love Covers Me With Christ

Advent Midweek 1

December 1, 2010

Jeremiah 23: 5-8

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

God loves you dearly, and that is shown most clearly by the Lord’s desire to come to you to save you. Advent means “coming.” The Lord is coming. During Advent we joyfully relive the countdown to Bethlehem, waiting for the perfect timing of our God to send us our Savior as Mary’s son. We also rejoice that the Lord comes to us here and now in His forgiving ways—the Gospel, Baptism, absolution, and Christ’s body and blood. We might call this current Advent of our Lord in His forgiving ways as His second advent.

But we also wait for another coming of our Lord—Jesus’ final advent. He is coming to set His people free. On the Last Day He will judge the living and the dead. How can you be sure you are prepared for that day? How can you be sure you will be found righteous, innocent, pure, and holy? By trusting God’s beautiful, comforting promise in Jeremiah 23:6 where God promises that Christ will be your righteousness, your perfect record—no wrongs and all good credited to your account as you trust in Christ. Because “this is the name by which He will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’ ”

“The Lord is our righteousness.” There can hardly be better news than this, for we are certainly not good enough in ourselves.

Rod Torreson, the poet laureate in Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a Missouri Synod Lutheran school teacher. He grew up on a farm in Iowa. His family had a loyal farm dog. The dog was a tame, helpful, protector of the chickens and sheep. He was joyful. His whole back half would swing as his tail whipped when greeting his master. But this dog had a dark secret, a terrible double life. At night he would catch up with a pack of wild dogs and hang out. They didn’t smoke and play cards. They’d track down sheep; sink their canines past the wooly fluff right into lamb’s flesh. One morning the Torresons caught him sneaking home at sunrise with some lamb caught between his teeth.

O Christian, you are living a double life too. We look so tame and domesticated, pious little Christian family dogs. But there is a battle going on inside me, inside you. Wild dog thoughts race through our fevered minds. Animalistic instincts leap within us, seeking to be free. Free to sink our teeth into our best friend’s reputation by barking out cutting words. Free to wander off wherever we want into dens of iniquity. Free to stare our sharpened eyes on what the Lord does not want us to see, leering into the glowing computer screen, panting in the dark corner. Free to dump our Master and be our own masters as we chomp down hard on the flesh of rebellious fruit. Oh sure the loyal dog inside gains control for awhile, but “I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Romans 7:15). We have divided hearts and split minds. We’re tame on the outside, wild on the inside. “Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:24).

Lord have mercy on us! Hosanna, that is, save us! Deliver us! And even before we cry out, He already has. For God loves us dearly. He saw our need before we were. Before His advent to judge our Lord comes twice—both advents to cover us with Christ’s righteousness, His perfect goodness, that at His last advent we can stand and live forever.

That is why the God who loves you dearly sends a righteous branch from David’s clan. A beginning tree doesn’t look like much, especially a little shoot growing out of a stump. But this shoot from the stump of David’s nearly decimated family tree has got a name: “the Lord is our righteousness.”

First, this branch that God raises up is not just anyone. He is “the Lord!” This is not just some regular old descendant of David. This offspring is not another Solomon who starts out with great promise but fails miserably. This is Yahweh Himself.

Second, this branch that God raises up is not just His own righteousness—proof of the Lord’s own holiness, goodness, and perfection—but He is your substitute. He has come to stand before the court of God’s judgment in your place. He has come to be your not guilty verdict and your straight A report card. “The Lord is our righteousness.”

What a blessed substitute before God’s judgment. In place of our sinful conception—for we all like King David, as Psalm 51:5 testifies, inherited sin from our parents—God places in evidence the sinless conception of Jesus. In place of our childhood disobedience, God places in evidence the perfect obedience of Mary’s Son. In place of our teenage foolish choices, God places in evidence the wise choices of Jesus’ early manhood. In place of all the good we’ve meant to do but left undone, God places in evidence the completed work of the God-man. In place of our death, part of the wages of our sin, God places in evidence Jesus’ death because it is the wages of all our sins. In other words, when God the Judge opens your record, O Christian, He sees Jesus’ record. According to God’s judgment you’ve lived every moment from the womb to the tomb without a single failure of any kind. For “the Lord is our righteousness!” Not even the tiniest smidgen of your sin is showing—only Christ.

But remember, it’s not that you are righteous, that you’ve done the good you ought. It’s that He is righteous. And by being in Christ you are righteous, for “the Lord is our righteousness.”

So, repent. Fess up. Yes, I am a poor, miserable, wild dog of a sinner. And the eternally free Son of God, who willingly bound Himself into our slavery, proclaims you free. And the angels are rejoicing. Welcome home. Eat the Lamb of God’s flesh to feed the believer and strengthen him for the daily battle against your wild dog flesh.

Abide, that is, hang out, stick around with, Christ and His Word, Holy Scripture. Abide, hang out, dwell in the Church, the hospital for dogs infected with mad dog disease. Live in the embrace of your Baptism into Christ’s resurrection. You are God’s own child—even as the war in your body continues. The Son has defeated sin, satanic wolf, and death for you and declared you free. And on that last advent, the Day of the Resurrection, you in Christ will be completely free, no more sickness, no more aching tiredness, no more chaos, no more sin—you’ll then be as righteous as Jesus is for you today and on Judgment Day.

Until that final advent, return to the new life God gave you in Baptism. Hear your true Master’s voice. Confess the truth God’s Scripture gives you: I am a sinner. I deserve eternal punishment. But the Lord is my righteousness.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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Jesus Lives, And He Is Not Angry

Rev. Neil Ray

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost/Midweek Service

June 23, 2010

Gospel Text:  John 20: 1-18

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Jesus, betrayed, bloody, hated, tortured, and dead, lives.  Jesus lives.  He has suffered all death could give.  He has endured all the taunts and missiles Hell had to throw.  He has given His neck to the devil.  Yet, He lives.  He laid down His life, but He has taken it up again.  He has fulfilled His Father’s will.  The prophecies have all been fulfilled.  The Law is complete.  He was dead and buried, but now, in the body born of Mary, He lives.

And here is the greatest surprise, not that He lives, that He has conquered death, that He is stronger than the strong man, but that He is not angry.  Adam failed Him in the garden.  David failed Him in Jerusalem.  Peter failed Him in the courts of Caiaphas.  We have failed him in our homes, in our workplaces, in our daily lives.  He was tortured and killed for our sins.

Once it did seem as though we would be destroyed, and that at our own hands.  It looked as though our sins would overcome us, that we would endure the justice of our shame, that we would be exposed as the wicked, selfish things we are, that we would die the common death of men and go to a Hell worse than that of Dante’s imagination.  For everything the devil did to us, we really did to ourselves.  Adam was a willing accomplice in the garden.  He succumbed to temptation, true.  He was seduced.  But don’t forget that he was in paradise.  He was not hungry.  He was surrounded by lavish, interesting, delicious food.  David had wives aplenty.  He had everything a man could want.  All his desires and wants were met.  But he was filled with greed for that which belonged to another.  No one made them sin.  No one made you sin either.  No one made you throw a temper tantrum, send an angry e-mail, call your neighbor a bad name, or say mean things.  No one made you steal or lie or cheat or covet.  No one made you think those nasty thoughts.  No one made you proud or arrogant or afraid of what people might think.  Repent.

But do not be afraid.  Jesus is back, alive out of the grave, but He is not angry.  He bears no grudge.  He seeks no vengeance.  He comes instead to bestow peace, with mercy and forgiveness, with salvation.  Jesus gives Himself alive to His creatures made now into His Bride.  Adam is restored to his dominion over creation.  David returns to his throne and wins the war.  Peter retains the keys to heaven.  And you, O Christian, are renewed, reconciled to the Father.  For Jesus lives and Jesus forgives.

He comes out of the earth, back to life, to the upper room.  Jesus lives!  The angelic song to shepherds in their fields is now fulfilled.  There is peace on earth, between God and men.  The Prince of Peace, the Lord of Life, the Lion of Judah, lives.  All other things fail.  All things of creation decay and grow old and die, but not Him.  He has died, but He has not decayed.  He has paid sin’s wage in full.  He has given Himself as a Sacrifice.  He has been nailed to the cross and pierced by the centurion’s spear.  But now He lives.

Now, the war in heaven has come to an end.  Satan has been cast down, secured in Hell with chains.  And so, too, the sins that held us have been destroyed.  We are free indeed.  There is nothing to keep us in Hell.  There is nothing to keep us out of heaven.  Our ancient enemy, that seductive accuser from the garden, has no more to say.  The cherubim and seraphim with flaming swords are removed.  They sing God’s praise and tell the women, “He is risen!   He is not here.”

Jesus lives.  And He is not angry.  Imagine that!  He is not angry.  He seeks no vengeance, bears no grudge.  He does not blame those who killed Him.  He does not blame you.  His petition to the Father on the cross, “Forgive them,” is granted in His resurrection.  He comes alive out of death to forgive, to give His life to you.

The fast is finished.  Feasting begins.  Praise ye the Lord.  Jesus lives.  Hallelujah!  Jesus died, but is not dead.  Hallelujah!  Jesus lives.  Death has done its worst, but death is undone, is no more, has nothing left.  O death, you pitiful thing, where is your sting?  O grave, you wicked liar, where is your victory?  Jesus lives.  Hallelujah!  Jesus lives.

Do not be afraid.  Jesus lives, and He is not angry.  The sacrifice has been made.  The debt is cancelled and forgotten.  Righteousness is declared.  Jesus lives.  He lives, and He is not angry.  Adam, David, and Peter are restored.  You are reconciled to the Father in the Son.  Your future is assured:  Jesus lives.  It is not just death and Hell, and the devil and his demons, that are undone.  Your sins are also undone.  They are gone, forgotten, destroyed.  Jesus lives.  Hallelujah!  Jesus lives.  And because He lives, you are just.  You are right with God, pleasing and delightful to Him.  You are forgiven, clean, pure, holy, and filled with His good works and with His name.  He is not angry.  He is glad to have you.  He wants you.  He loves you.  And He feeds both Adam and you with the heavenly feast of His true body and blood.  Come, take, eat.  Jesus lives; He lives in you.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

The Work of the Holy Spirit

Rev. Neil Ray

Third Sunday after Pentecost/Midweek Service

June 16, 2010

Gospel Text:  John 16: 1-16

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

The Holy Spirit does three things.  He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  There is nothing here about speaking in tongues, performing miracles, or seeing the future.  The Spirit has given those gifts, at times, to men.  But here our Lord speaks of why He sends the Spirit and of what the Spirit always does.  The Son sends the Spirit to take what is His and declares it to you.  He does not speak of His own authority.  But He takes what is the Father’s and the Son’s and declares it to you.  When He has done other things, miracles and such, it was to underscore or serve this gift.  For by this declaration, what is the Son’s is now yours, the Holy Spirit guides you into Jesus, into Truth.

The Spirit convicts you of sin.  Because you do not believe in Jesus.  He convicts you of righteousness.  Because Jesus has gone to the Father for you.  And He convicts you of judgment.  Because the devil has been judged, and removed from the bench, so that you go free.  This is still the work of the Spirit today.  This is the message of the Church.

You are a sinner.  You commit sins because you do not believe in Jesus.  You do not trust Him.  You think He is holding out on you, that He doesn’t care about what you want or need, that He is not providing what it takes to make you happy, and so forth.  So you take it for yourself.  If you believed in Him you would not sin.  You would wait for Him to give you what you want.  You would trust that He knows best and cares for you.  But you do not.  You think you are smarter than Jesus, nicer than Jesus, even that you love yourself more than Jesus love you.  That is why you sin.  But your sin never works the way you thought it would, because Jesus does in fact love you.

The Law of the Lord isn’t just arbitrary rules for you to follow, meant to break you or teach who is boss, like making West Point cadets scrub the toilets with toothbrushes.  Think of gossip.  Why is it forbidden?  Because no good comes of it, because it hurts not only those you talk about, but it also hurts you and those you tell.   How many times have you gossiped and then regretted it?  When have you restrained yourself, not said something evil, told the truth, spoke well of other people, even your enemies, and then regretted it?  Never.  The Law is good.  It shows us what is good.  It shows us the best way to live, what we were made for, how life is the most satisfying.  But you have broken it.  You have failed.  You have acted foolishly, selfishly.  You have hurt people.  You have dishonored God.  You have not believed that Jesus is good, that He loves you.  You are a sinner.  Repent.

That is the first conviction.  But that is not all the Holy Spirit has to say.  He also convicts of righteousness.  Because Jesus has gone to the Father, you are righteous.  Jesus has come to the earth and taken up your flesh, made Himself a sacrifice for sin, defeated death, Hell, and the devil, and then gone to heaven, to the Father, as a Man, for you.  He has opened heaven to all believers.  You are righteous because Jesus has paid your debt and gone to present your case to His Father, because Jesus loves you.  Yes, you are a sinner.  But He came for sinners.  He died for your sins.  The conviction that we are sinners is not bad or evil in the least.  Indeed, it drives us to the Gospel.  If we are sinners, then we have a Savior.  The point is this:  you are righteous in Christ.  Jesus is your Mediator, your High Priest, and your Advocate.  He points to the marks on His hands and feet and side as payment in full.  Justice has been satisfied.  The Law has no accusations left.  You are righteous.  The devil is defeated.  He cannot have you, for you belong to Jesus Christ.

This is what the Spirit takes from Jesus and declares to be yours.  The Lord makes a great exchange.  He takes your sin, guilt, shame, and mortality.  And in exchange for them, by the Spirit’s declaration, He gives you what is His:  His righteousness, innocence, holiness, blessedness, perfection, love, grace, the service of angels, the Name of His Father, and access to heaven.  He takes what is yours.  He gives you what is His.  It is not a fair exchange.  It is mercy.  It is the way of the Lord.  It is what “the meek shall inherit the earth” is all about.  And by it, you are righteous.  The Spirit seeks to convict you of this, that is, convince you, that for Jesus’ sake, at Jesus’ Word, you are righteous, the beloved of the Father.

Consider this.  The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, of necessity and for our good.  But imagine if He stopped there, if He only preached the Law.  Who would be pleased?  The devil.  If the devil had his way, we would not only put the Ten Commandments onto the walls of our court rooms, but raise monuments in our living rooms, classrooms, and bedrooms, in our libraries and bars, casinos and brothels, bus stations and grocery stores.  We would never escape from the Law if the devil had his way.  All we would know is the first conviction:  you are a sinner.

The Law is good, but the devil loves it.  Why?  Because it is one of his chief allies, a fellow prosecuting attorney.  The Law always accuses.  And so does the devil.  Remember the temptation of our Lord?  The devil uses the Word of God for his purpose, which is always the same, to accuse, condemn and kill.  But thanks be to God, the Spirit has more of the Word than just that!  What the devil despises is not the Word of God but the proper use of God’s Word, the distinction and application of Law and Gospel.

The Spirit convicts.  You are a sinner.  But there is more.  The devil would not only stop there, but he would twist it.  For his method is to always show us but one side of Christ.  He preaches the Law as though you can do it, obtain the good, and avoid the bad, in the Commandments by “giving it all you’ve got.”  He says, “See.  The Holy Spirit and I agree.  You are a sinner.  Now you need to just try harder.”  By this he would either lead you to despair, because no matter how hard you try you would not make it, or he would lead you to the delusion of self-righteousness and teach you to compare yourself to others.

The Holy Spirit convicts of sin, but differently than the devil.  He does not hold the Law as a promise to be obtained or a goal to be reached.  It is simply a statement of face:  You are a sinner.  You do not believe in Jesus.  You deserve damnation.  But the Holy Spirit continues.  He uses the Law in mercy in order to expose you and convict you, but this is to prepare you for the Gospel.

So the Spirit convicts.  You are judged.  You make your confession.  You say, “I am a sinner.  I am guilty.”  But you also say, “I am baptized.  Jesus has claimed me as one of His own.  I wait on Him.  He declares me righteous.  The Lord will fulfill His Word.”  The Spirit’s conviction always leads to Jesus Christ.

Then the evidence is presented.  The court is shown the perfect life, suffering, and death of Jesus Christ.  The gavel comes down.  You confessed guilt, but Jesus showed His sacrifice.  The pronouncement is made:  “You are innocent.  You are righteous.”  And that is the judgment of heaven.  You are like Barabbas.  You are set free.  Jesus takes your place.  So also, the devil is judged.  He brought false accusations against you.  You have no sins.  You are forgiven, as clean as the new fallen snow.  You are righteous, a saint of the Most High.  The devil slandered you.  He tormented you.  He tempted you.  He is a liar.  He is judged and condemned because of it.  He cannot do this to you, a prince or princess of heaven, the bride of Christ, the beloved of the Father.  For the Father is well-pleased with you.  You are righteous.  The devil is chained in Hell forever.  His power was always an illusion, and now it is gone.  He has nothing left.  He is judged, and there is no one left to accuse you.  You are judged—innocent.

The Holy Spirit does three things.  He convicts of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment.  Thanks be to God.  He does them all in mercy and He does them all for you.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.