“The Ministry of Reconciliation” 2 Cor. 5.16-21, Lent 4C, 2013

1.             Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  Amen.  In our lesson from 2 Cor. 5:16-21 the Apostle Paul is speaking about a divide that spans all of humanity that tears at the heart and soul of all people.  We can see the evidence of this divide everywhere.  It’s said that "The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers; wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints; we have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often." It’s a time when there’s much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom.  So, when the world has never been more interconnected (internet and social networking) the sad reality is that we’ve never been more separated. Overcoming these divisions, that's the reconciliation that Paul is talking about. Bridging the gap, the one that divides heart and soul from God, from your relationships with others, a gap that even divides you and me from ourselves. That's the gap that Paul is speaking about.  That's why Paul says, "That God was in Christ reconciling the world unto Himself, not counting man's sins against them."  The message is entitled, “The Ministry of Reconciliation,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.             Paul begins by saying in 2 Cor. 5:16-17, “16From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer.  17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”  Paul’s declaration collides with the spirit of our age, a spirit that revels in shallow, fleshly regard. If I’m to judge by the reading material available in most barber shops and doctors’ offices, People, 17, and Vogue Magazines are the devotional literature of our day, and they’re read with a reverence that amounts to a religious longing. How we look has been elevated to a moral virtue. For example, in the past good girls were defined in terms of traditional moral categories, today good girls are categorized as to how they take care of their bodies. Good girls eat one apple a day. Bad girls eat hamburgers. Good girls work out. Bad girls don’t.  The right look is everything. “It’s all about image.”  People evaluate one another according to their wealth, their position, their connectedness, and their fame or infamy. It makes no difference how it’s attained, it’s said—whether as a porn star or as a moral crusader.

3.             As Christians we must be done with such carnal & worldly distinctions. If we aren’t, we deny that when Christ died for all, all died in him, and we revive distinctions that were put away in Christ’s death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.  What were some of the Corinthians saying about Paul which he needed to react too? Maybe some accused him of favoritism. Some rejected his apostolic authority because of his former life as a persecutor of Christians. But, here Paul wants to set the record straight. Yes, he once regarded Jesus from a worldly point of view as a heretic and a blasphemer, a danger to Israel. But, no more. In the same way, he now regards all people from a heavenly rather than an earthly perspective.  Once they became Christians, they became what Paul became when he was converted: new people. Something had changed in them, so that the preacher simply couldn’t think of them in an earthly way—according to their social status, wealth or poverty, race, nationality, or the like. What had happened is what Paul speaks of next.

4.             2 Corinthians 5:18-19 says, “18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.”  “All this”—the love of a Christ who died and rose for all, the miracle of being transformed into a new creation who can now live for Christ, a new perspective on life that views Christ and people from the vantage point of the cross and empty tomb—all this, says Paul, “is from God.”  Paul describes this work of God with the word reconciliation. God, says Paul, “reconciled us to himself.” This is the first of 5 times in verses 18–21 that the word reconcile or reconciliation is used.  The basic meaning of the word is “to change.” The earliest use of this word in Greek was for “the business of moneychangers, exchanging equivalent values.” Then it came to mean a change in relationship on the part of people, from a hostile relationship to one of peace and friendship.

5.             Paul uses this word in that way in 1 Corinthians. Writing on the subject of marriage and divorce, he says, “A wife must not separate from her husband. But if she does, she must remain unmarried or else be reconciled to her husband” (7:10, 11). These 2 parties at disagreement with one another, husband and wife, should be restored to a right relationship with each other. They should be reconciled.  Paul uses the word reconcile in a somewhat similar way in the verses before us. In this case the 2 parties are God and all of humanity. It’s obvious that the problem here was caused by only one of the two parties. Using this same word in Romans 5:10, Paul writes, “When we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him.” We were enemies. God was and always has been love. If a change in relationship were to occur, God would have to take the initiative. This is exactly what happened: God “reconciled us to himself.” He took it upon himself to change our status from enemies to friends.

6.             How did he do it? “Through Christ,” says Paul. In the Romans passage just quoted, Paul explains how God reconciled himself to us through Christ: “We were reconciled to him through the death of his Son.” God has done something else besides reconciling us to himself through Christ. He also “gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” “The ministry of reconciliation” is the way by which God gets the message of reconciliation out into the world. God has made us missionaries, we would, perhaps, say today.

7.             2 Corinthians 5:20-21 says, “20Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”  Here the Apostle Paul connects the doctrine of individual reconciliation with both universal reconciliation and the Office of the Holy Ministry, the Office of the Pastor in the Christian Church. Through those who preach and teach the Word, God makes his appeal to those whom he has reconciled to himself: “Be reconciled to God.” God and the preacher are of one mind in this. The Office of the Pastor is the link between the universal and the individual. Jesus accomplished the universal, and through the preaching of pastors God brings about more believers. Since this is the case, the ministry truly ought to be held in great honor by all Christians. Many in Corinth weren’t doing so, and many today follow their lead. Pastors are God’s tools to bring about, out of universal reconciliation, the personal reconciliation of the sinner to God.

8.             The force of Paul’s argument and the example of his pastoral heart for his people has given me much to reflect upon as to what my heart must be for my call here as your pastor and has brought to mind the example of Charles Simeon.  Simeon was the man who almost single-handedly brought the evangelical resurgence to the Church of England. Fellow of King’s College Cambridge, he’d secured the pulpit of Holy Trinity, Cambridge, where he preached for over 50 years. For the first 10 years of his ministry, his unhappy parishioners chained their pews closed, so that all listeners had to sit in the aisles! But Simeon persevered. His twenty-one volumes of sermons—Horae Homilaticae (Hours of Homilies)—set the standard for preaching in the following generations.

9.             I say all of this because Simeon was a passionate preacher of the Word with a heart for his people. When Simeon died, one of his obituaries carried this remembrance of calling his hearers to faith:  “And after having urged all his hearers to accept the proffered mercy, he reminded them that there were those present to whom he had preached Christ for more than thirty years, but they continued indifferent to the Saviour’s love; and pursuing this train of expostulation for some time, he at length became quite overpowered by his feeling, and he sank down in the pulpit and burst into a flood of tears.”

10.         Pulpit tears aren’t my normal custom, and I suspect they weren’t Simeon’s either. But, they revealed the right emotion considering the tragedy of receiving the grace of God in vain.  At times in the moments after an infant baptism when I’ve held the baby in my arms and have led the parents and baptismal sponsors in solemn vows to raise this child in “the nurture and admonition of the Lord,” I reflect on the sad events that have followed similar occasions in the past. Sometimes the parents and sponsors neglected to raise the child up in the knowledge and faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  What a tragedy!  At other times, the parents loved the child and prayed for him or her. No parents are perfect, but they did raise that little soul in a godly home. The child grew up in the church through awkward junior high years and then high school and went off to university and a career, but at present wants nothing to do with Christ’s church. The grace of God (the prayers, the preaching, the love of the Body of Christ) has been until now in vain. And some appear as if they will continue through life without ever truly responding to the Word and Sacraments. Such a waste. Such sorrow for a soul that’s running away from God and refusing His grace and reconciliation in Christ. I pray that the grace of God won’t be in vain.  So I appeal to you dear friends in this ministry of reconciliation on behalf of Christ, don’t receive the grace of God in vain. Look! Now is the day of salvation.  Amen.

“The Washing of Regeneration”--Holy Baptism, Matt. 28.18–20, Lenten Midweek 4, ‘13

1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  This week is a turning point on our journey through Lent. Luther begins the section on Baptism in the Large Catechism by saying we’ve now finished 3 Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine—the 10 Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. And then he says, “Every Christian also ought to have at least an ordinary, brief instruction about the Sacraments, because without them he cannot be a Christian” (LC IV 1). Those are strong words, and I hope by the time we’re finished you’ll understand them and agree.

2.      To begin, I’d like to say that I’m not a plumber.  But, you probably knew that. If you need a plumber, don’t call me! You’d be better off leaving your plumbing problem alone rather than letting me tackle it. But, God has given me the privilege in this congregation to work with water, the water of Baptism. Why have so many of you trusted your children to me to baptize them? In Baptism, I’m no better than I am a plumber.  Unfortunately, some people think Baptism is something that people do, that it’s the work of the pastor or the person being baptized. This is a misunderstanding of Baptism. If you’ve this idea about Baptism, then you’ve had a terrible plumber wash your child. Baptism is God’s work, not our work.

3.      Luther points out, “In the first place, we must above all things know well the words on which Baptism is founded” (LC IV 3). Then he quotes Mt 28:19: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” He also includes Mk 16:16: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.”  The Church didn’t invent Baptism. It’s not a human institution. We should never have any doubt that Baptism is divine. Since it’s divine, it’s not something that I do or you do. It’s something that God does.  Baptism isn’t a human plaything, although some people look at it that way. Some “regard Baptism,” Luther says, “as a silly matter, like putting on a new red coat” (LC IV 6). He goes on to say that there are many religious groups in the world who argue “that Baptism is an outward thing and that outward things are of no benefit” (LC IV 7). But Luther reminds us, “What God institutes and commands cannot be an empty thing” (LC IV 8). “To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men, but by God Himself. . . . Although it is performed by human hands, it is still truly God’s own work” (LC IV 10).  In these religious groups, there are many people who believe that Baptism is just something we do; that it’s a symbol; that it’s nice, but it’s really not important. Often nondenominational Bible studies simply ignore Baptism because they know there’s a controversy concerning it. But by ignoring it, we give the impression that it’s unimportant. 

4.      Here’s a story to illustrate this. Many years ago a Lutheran pastor in Ignace, Ontario had a good friend who was an Anglican priest in town. A little girl in his congregation died in a car accident. She was 5 years old. The town was so small that they didn’t have a funeral home, and the nearest one was 75 miles away. The custom was for the visitation to take place the night before in the church.  It was winter, and the Anglican church had furnace problems. So the Anglican priest asked if they could use the Lutheran church for the funeral. The Lutheran pastor said, “Sure, that’ll be fine.”  The evening came, and the Lutheran pastor opened the church and turned on the lights and heat. The funeral director arrived. How sad it was to see a 5 year-old girl in that casket!  Many people began to arrive. Then came a woman who was well known in the town. The Lutheran pastor happened to meet her on the steps as she was leaving the church.  For some reason, she decided this was the time to debate the theology of Baptism. She’d been an Anglican but then joined a church that denied infant Baptism. She said to the Lutheran pastor, “You don’t think saying magic words in Baptism over that little girl did anything, do you?”  Can you imagine being confronted in that situation by this woman? But God gave the Lutheran pastor the presence of mind to say, “No, I don’t believe that saying magic words over that little girl in Baptism did anything. But they were not ‘magic words.’ They were God’s Word! And God’s Word does what he says it will do!”  Human beings with human eyes may doubt. Human beings may see a poor plumber with a little water dripping, stumbling over his words, and think, What can there be to this?  But Christian people know that it’s God who is doing the baptizing. That it’s God’s Word that has the promise.

5.      This is what our Old Testament Reading says in Isaiah: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it” (55:10–11). That’s what God does in Baptism. He does the things he’s promised to do.  In the Large Catechism, Luther says, “It is pure wickedness and blasphemy of the devil when our ‘new spirits’ mock Baptism, leaving God’s Word and institution out of it. They look at Baptism in no other way than as water that is taken from the well” (LC IV 15). (Of course, we would have said “faucet.”)

6.        So why did God give Baptism? Luther says this: “[To] state it most simply in this way: the power, work, profit, fruit, and purpose of Baptism is this—to save” (LC IV 24).  1 Pet 3:21 says, “Baptism now saves you.” That’s why God gave it to you, to give you the blessings of salvation won for you by Christ on the cross.  Martin Luther goes on to say, “To be saved is nothing other than to be delivered from sin, death, and the devil . . . to enter into Christ’s kingdom . . . and to live with Him forever” (LC IV 25). “It makes sense that whoever rejects Baptism rejects God’s Word, faith, and Christ, who directs us to Baptism and binds us to Baptism” (LC IV 31).

7.      Where can you find this in the Bible besides 1 Peter 3? You can read it in Rom 6:3–6. There we learn that Baptism gives us victory over death and the devil. In Acts 2:38, Peter says that it gives us the forgiveness of sins. Titus 3:5–6 calls Baptism “the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.” This is what God is doing in Baptism.  People can become confused and think that faith makes Baptism. They think a baby must have faith before it’s baptized; otherwise, the Baptism couldn’t be valid. The other way of thinking would be that any of our Baptisms might be invalid if our faith were too weak.  Imagine if that was true. Let me ask you this, Does your faith make Jesus? If you don’t believe, does it mean that Jesus didn’t die on the cross for the sins of the world? No, your faith has nothing to do with the objective reality of what God did in Christ.

8.      Dear friends, Jesus is real. He really died on the cross for the sins of the entire world. As John the Baptist declared, he is “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). My faith doesn’t make that true.  My lack of faith can’t change it. But if I reject it, then it’s not mine. It’s like putting up an umbrella and saying, “I don’t want any of God’s forgiveness raining on me!” It’s still there and real. So also Baptism is real and valid. But, if a person doesn’t have faith (if they reject it), it doesn’t change Baptism. It just changes the result.

9.      Some of you are married. Let’s pose a question.  If someone were to ask if you are married, you might respond, “I was married on my anniversary.” For me that was June 24, 2005. I was married on that day.  But if I were to answer, “I was married,” what would you hear? “But I’m not anymore.” If you really are married, you would say, “I am married.” That was a wonderful day on June 24, 2005. But there have been many wonderful days since then. I not only was married, but I am married. That’s how we’re to think of Baptism. Not that I was baptized, then fell into sin, and now something else has to come along so that I’m not baptized any longer. Christians answer, “I am baptized.” I was baptized on a date some years ago, and I still am baptized today.

10.  Every time you come to the Lord in repentance, kneel before his cross, and seek forgiveness, you are returning to your Baptism. Luther says, “Repentance . . . is nothing other than a return and approach to Baptism” (LC IV 79). Let this be of value to you. The blessing of being a baptized person is comfort for your soul. When the devil says to you, “How can such a rotten scoundrel call himself a Christian?” You answer, “Because I’m baptized and I’m forgiven. I’ve been washed clean of my sin and have Christ’s robe of righteousness placed on me.”

11.  “If we have received forgiveness of sin once in Baptism,” Luther says, “it will remain every day, as long as we live” (LC IV 86).  In a few minutes, we’re going to speak together Luther’s Evening Prayer. The genius of Luther’s prayers is that they hit so close to home. In the morning we pray, “Keep me from sin” but at night he takes us back to our Baptism, and we seek forgiveness. And there it is, new every day. When you go to bed tonight, you have no guilt on your conscience. If you should pray, “Now I lay me down to sleep” and if you “should die before you wake,”  There Is No Doubt That Your Sins Have Been Washed Away in Baptism.  Though they were like scarlet, they now are as white as snow (Is 1:18), because you are one of God’s baptized children. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

“God is Faithful” 1 Corinthians 10.1-13 Lent 3C, March 3rd, 2013

1.             Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this morning, the 3^rd Sunday in Lent is taken from 1 Cor. 10:1-13 and is entitled, “God is Faithful,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.             Some people find history interesting, but there are many people think it’s just plain boring. “Why do I have to learn all of these dates?” the teenager complains to her parents. “This is just old stuff that nobody cares about any more,” another child says to his history teacher. “What’s it got to do with me today?”  The famous Harvard philosophy professor George Santayana wrote, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” History can teach us where other people have made mistakes and sinned as they met the challenges of life. If we fail to learn from their examples, we too may fall into sin when circumstances present us with similar challenges.  The Apostle Paul judged that the history of Israel provided many important lessons for us as the Christian church. In 1 Cor. 10 he calls the church’s attention to Israel’s wilderness wanderings in the days of Moses.  Paul warned that the Corinthian church risked repeating Israel’s idolatries.  In the midst of our sin and unfaithfulness to God we as Christians find that God is faithful to us in His Son Jesus Christ.

3.             Like the children of Israel 1000 years before, the Corinthian Christians were a privileged people. But, like the children of Israel, they were taking God’s grace lightly. Both of Paul’s letters to that church show one unhappy sin after another: adultery, incest, drunkenness, lawsuits, choosing favorites among their pastors, and a whole parade of foolishness. Far too often, that church was living as though the grace of God had never visited the lives of its members. Paul used Israel’s history to instruct and to warn these Corinthian Christians.

4.             1 Corinthians 10:1-2 says, “1I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, 2and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.”  In calling God’s chosen people “our forefathers,” he connects the Israelites with the New Testament Church. Both are God’s chosen people. Both are recipients of God’s grace.  What a privileged group of people it was that marched out of Egypt in the middle of the night.  Who else but Israel had seen the Lord of the universe blazing a trail for them through the wilderness with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night? Who else but Israel had walked through the center of the Red Sea on dry ground? These two things were a special kind of baptism for Israel. Every Israelite who went through that dramatic baptism had a reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people!” Like those Israelites of old, all of us Christians are privileged people—people touched by the grace of God, people who have received a baptism in which God brought forgiveness and adoption into our lives. The passage through the Red Sea bound God’s people to their leader, Moses, whom God sent to lead them to safety. We were baptized into the name of our leader, Jesus Christ, and are bound to him.

5.             1 Corinthians 10:3-4 says, “3and all ate the same spiritual food, 4and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ.” The spiritual food the Israelites ate was manna. The spiritual drink was the water that flowed from the rock Moses struck at Kadesh (Nu 20). The food and drink are called spiritual because they were miraculously provided. Like those Israelites, we too have the privilege of eating and drinking spiritual food—the body and blood that Jesus offered up and poured out to put us into His family. We too are people whose needs for time and eternity have been supplied by a merciful Savior.  God is faithful to us!

6.             1 Corinthians 10:5 says, “5Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.”  What a sad statement. Out of about 600,000 men 20 years and older who left Egypt, only 2, Joshua and Caleb, lived to enter the Promised Land. Why? Israel took God’s grace lightly. They found their security in their own history, not in the God who stood behind that history. With that kind of sinful self-confidence, Israel developed an unfaithfulness toward God which took for granted all He’d done for them and said to them. That unfaithfulness stuck out like a sore thumb in some things the children of Israel did before they ever reached the land of Canaan.

7.             1 Corinthians 10:6-10 says, “6Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. 7Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” 8We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. 9We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, 10nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer.”  Notice that Israel committed the same sins that the Corinthians were guilty. It’s even more significant for us to note that Israel committed the same sins we as Christians today are still falling into. That’s why Paul gives us these warning examples from Israel’s history—to keep us from setting our hearts on evil things!

8.             The first warning from Israel’s history is its worship of the golden calf. Paul paints a picture of God’s people having a good time. The children of Israel tired of waiting for Moses to come down from Mt. Sinai. So they made a golden calf and devised their own kind of worship. It consisted in dancing and living it up. Paul says: “Do not be idolaters, as some of them were.” The worship of the golden calf still goes on today. How easy it is for us to get tired of waiting for Jesus to come again. Is any pagan revelry ever involved when it comes to our attraction to and love for many of the things of this world?  The second warning example from Israel’s history involves sexual immorality. Paul refers to the time when the men of Israel went over the border and enjoyed the sexual favors of the Moabite women (Nu 25). For this sin, God commanded Moses to kill 23,000 of these men in one day. History does repeat itself. With all the living together before marriage today, divorce, homosexuality, and pornography so readily available in our society, do we as Christians today take to heart God’s 6^th commandment not to commit adultery? Are you remembering God’s Word that says your body is a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit (1 Co 6:19, 20)?   The third and fourth warning involves Israel’s complaining and groaning against the Lord. Israel was never satisfied. They challenged God and put His patience and faithfulness to the test (Nu 21). They murmured about Moses’ leadership and God’s dealings with them (Nu 14 and Nu 16). To deal with his complaining people God punished them—first with snakes and then by opening up the earth which swallowed them. Showing thanklessness for all the Lord does for you, complaining about your situation in life, rebelling against your Pastor and teachers in the church—how many times do you put Jesus to the test?

9.             1 Cor. 10:11-13 says, “11Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come. 12Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.  13No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”  God had Moses record Israel’s sins so that they would serve as warning examples for all those who would come after them. For us as Christians today, if we don’t learn from the past history of God’s people, then we are prideful fools!  To look at all these warnings and say, “That couldn’t happen to me!” is dangerous. If we think we don’t have these weaknesses, that’s proof that we do. When we stop being repentant, we stop being children of God. When we elevate ourselves above others because we haven’t murdered or stolen or fornicated, when we think we don’t need to be involved in Church or go to Worship, or that we don’t need to learn anymore about God, then we’re ready to be punished like Israel. Paul tells all Christians that if we think we can stand before God with what we are, we will fall from faith.

10.         The Lord’s Prayer Jesus says that we should ask God not to “lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matt. 6:13). “Evil” is better translated “the evil one,” referring to Satan. In other words we should pray that God will not allow tests to become temptations, in the sense of inducement to evil. The idea is, Lord, stop us before Satan can turn your test into his temptation.”  Dr. Hutton has said: “God always makes a way of escape and sometimes the way of escape is the king’s highway and a good pair of shoes.” In other words, let the Devil see your shoes—run as hard as you can to get away from the temptation. One of the reasons we yield to temptation is that we’re like the little boy in the pantry. His mother heard a noise because he had taken down the cookie jar. She said, “Willie, where are you?” He answered that he was in the pantry. “What are you doing there?” He said, “I’m fighting temptation.”  Dear friends, that’s not the place to fight temptation! That’s the place to start running.

11.         Paul turns from the unfaithfulness of Israel to the faithfulness of Israel’s God. Time and time again in the Old Testament, Israel sinned against God. But because of His faithfulness to a promise, God forgave. Even though a generation of Old Testament Israel did die with their bodies scattered over the desert, God was faithful and gave His people the Promised Land and the Promised Savior.

12.         Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, God is faithful! That’s the gospel message of this last verse. Every time we were forgiven, it was our faithful God who forgave us. Every time we did what was right, it was our faithful God who gave us the power. Every time we resisted temptation, it was our faithful God who provided the way out. God has dressed us in the purity of His own Son and through Him gives us the one and only way to escape those same old sins committed by Israel.  Amen.

“Our Father Who Is in Heaven-The Lord’s Prayer” Matthew 6.9–13, Lenten Midweek 3 2013

1.             In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  At the end of this service, we will have reached a significant point in our journey through Lent. Since there are Six Chief Parts of Christian Doctrine in the catechism, when we’ve completed the third Chief Part, we’ll be halfway through our Lenten series. In the Ancient Church, the catechism consisted just of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. But, in the Middle Ages many other elements had been added to various catechisms. It was Luther who returned to the basic three and then included what was necessary to know about Baptism, Confession and Forgiveness, and the Lord’s Supper. Today we’ll discuss the Lord’s Prayer, and when we finish with it, we’ll have covered the full content of the ancient catechisms.  The truth is we’ll never really be finished with the Lord’s Prayer, because, as Luther says, in it we have enough for a whole lifetime of prayer.  Our heavenly Father gives us reason to make prayer our whole lifetime. Our brief look at the Lord’s Prayer tonight can give us a start in understanding how Our Father Gives Us Every Good Reason to Pray.

2.             How did your day go? How did you occupy your time? Some of you went to work. Others went to school. Some of you were home handling tasks you set as top priority. Everyone has duties and responsibilities. One of your duties and responsibilities today was to pray. How often did you pray today? It’s our duty to pray. God has commanded it. In fact, the Epistle says it so well: “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thess 5:17). And as Jesus introduces our text from Matthew’s Gospel, he says, “And when you pray” (Mt 6:5). Notice, it’s not “if”; it’s “when.” Our lives are to be lives of prayer. How well did you do on that?

3.             I was raised in a Christian family. I was taught to pray before meals. I do that pretty well. I also was taught to pray after I eat. Sometimes I’m not so good at that. Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve been so hungry that you ate without prayer? Is that okay? Is prayer optional, that is, it’s good if you remember, but it’s okay if you don’t?

4.             What would Daniel say about that? Did Daniel have this attitude about prayer? No, he didn’t. Jealous leaders plotted against him. They convinced the king to pass a law that couldn’t be changed and required prayer only to the king for 30 days. Prayer offered to the true God wasn’t banned forever, just for 30 days. It was Daniel’s custom to pray 3 times a day. I believe if I had been Daniel, I may have said, “I can give up prayer for 30 days. No big deal. After all, prayer is optional.” Some Christians may think this, but not Daniel. Daniel knew it was his duty to pray. In spite of the consequences, Daniel prayed.  Daniel agreed with what Peter and John would tell the Sanhedrin centuries later: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). He understood it was his duty to pray. Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. A stone covered the entrance. Daniel may have believed he was going into his tomb. It may have been that Daniel trusted that God would take him into heaven at the mouths of these lions. But I’m reminded of another tomb with a stone rolled in front of it. It served God’s plan that when the stone was rolled away, Daniel was alive!—there—just as Jesus was alive! Daniel knew it was his duty to pray regardless of the consequences.

5.             Someone may say, “Well, that’s not right. I shouldn’t pray because God commanded me. God isn’t forcing me to pray. I should just be praying out of my heart. What do you mean, God commanded prayer?” When we come to God with our little complaints, problems, and ideas, how do we know God will listen to us? One way I know is because God has told me, “Come. Got any problems? Come! I want you to come. Pray without ceasing.” God tells you to pray so that if you have any doubt that He wants to hear your prayer, simply open the Bible and read that, yes, God has told me to come and pray. His command gives us confidence rather than a burden.

6.             Luther makes this interesting comment regarding prayer, “Babbling and bawling . . . [is] not prayer” (LC III 7). There’s a certain form to prayer and a certain discipline of things we need to do. For example, bowing your head and folding your hands are appropriate to teach our children. But this isn’t what makes prayer. Some may think that if they put more energy into a prayer, God will listen to them better. Or, if I bawl and cry out to God, then he will listen. There was a competition between the prophets of Baal and Elijah (1 Ki 18:16–46). Each was to build an altar and pray for God to accept the sacrifice. The prophets of Baal had the most sincere prayers ever.  They walked around the altar, bawled, and cried out. They even cut themselves to show they were sincere. But there was no answer because they prayed to a false god. The effectiveness of prayer isn’t from the energy we put into it. It’s from the person who hears our prayer, God. Elijah prayed to God, and God heard. And God sent down a consuming fire on the altar. Although the altar was drenched with water, the fire consumed everything there because God answered prayer.

7.             Suppose you call 911 and say, “I have a fire. I need the firemen to come,” and the operator replies, “You don’t sound sincere enough. Put your heart into it. Really make me believe.” That doesn’t make any sense. Or what if you call 911 and the operator says, “OK, if you can call back maybe 3 or 4 more times, then I’ll think about it.” No. Or how about this: “I’m glad you called, but we will only answer your request for firemen if you can get 100 of your closest friends to call too.” Some think about prayer this way. But, it’s not the sincerity of my 911 phone call that gets the help. It’s the sincerity of the fire department that answers the call. Now, God wants us to pray from the heart, but God answers prayer because He’s a good and gracious God.

8.             Do you ever feel so unworthy that you think God doesn’t want to hear your prayer? He tells you to call upon Him. There’s a reason He tells you this. The reason is the cross. On the cross, when Jesus died for your sins and for mine, He made you acceptable to God. He reconciled you to God.  This is why the 5^th Petition of the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses,” is so important. If God were to look upon our sins, He could only deny our prayers. But, because Jesus took away our sins on the cross, God doesn’t see our sins. He only sees us as dear sons and daughters, as holy and worthy as the only begotten Son who took our place and gave us His.

9.             Some years ago, a pastor was at the hospital near the critical care unit. A woman standing there saw him. She saw that he was wearing the collar of a clergyman, and she grabbed him and said, “Come, please, pray for my mom. She’s in the ICU.” The pastor went into the ICU, and he prayed with her mom. When he was done, the woman said, “Oh, thank you so much, I know that really helped. I’ve tried to get everyone in here. I’ve had a priest and a rabbi too.” She had the idea that those of the clergy were closer to God, that God would hear a pastor’s prayer before he would hear her prayer. How sad and untrue that is. God hears your prayer, because Jesus is the one who gave you permission to say, “Our Father in heaven,” to pray to God, the Father Almighty, who made heaven and earth.

10.         Luther says this to one who doubts God will hear his prayer: “You should say, ‘My prayer is as precious, holy, and pleasing to God as that of St. Paul or the most holy saints. This is the reason: I will gladly grant that Paul is personally more holy, but . . . God does not consider prayer because of the person, but because of His Word” (LC III 16). The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us—Jesus Christ. Our Father promises to hear our prayers because we are His dear children through Jesus and His cross.  When children sing in church, it makes me happy to see the smiles on their faces. But there’s a special joy in seeing the faces of the fathers and mothers as their children sing. Parents have great joy when children phone home. They rejoice because they love their children. Because of your faith in Jesus, this is God’s attitude toward you when you pray! “My children, who have been adopted into my family through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, how wonderful it is that you are now talking to me as dear children talk to their dear father.”

11.         This is exactly what Luther is teaching us when he explains the first two words of the Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father”: “With these words [Our Father] God tenderly invites us to believe that He is our true father and that we are his true children, so that with all boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their dear Father.”  We should all form a daily habit of prayer. It would be good if we would learn this from youth. It’s a great blessing to be raised in a family where parents teach their children to pray—when they get up in the morning, when they go to bed at night, before and after meals.  Sometimes our heavenly Father teaches us the habit of prayer. He may remind you to pray by placing you on your back in a hospital bed so that you must look up to heaven and remember Him in prayer. Sometimes He teaches you to pray by allowing you to have difficulties, either in your family life or at work or with finances. These are all opportunities to be reminded of the godly habit of prayer.

12.         Luther says this, “Whenever a godly Christian prays, ‘Dear Father, let Your will be done’ [Matthew 6:10], God speaks from on high and says, ‘Yes, dear child, it shall be so, in spite of the devil and all the world’ ” (LC III 32). In spite of the devil and all the world, God’s will is done for your ultimate blessing.  One of the greatest examples of this is a prayer I want you to remember throughout the Lenten season. On a hill far away stood 3 crosses. From one cross a prayer came to Jesus’ ears: “Remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23:42). God privileged that child of God to hear the answer to his prayer immediately, “Today you will be with me in Paradise” (23:43). As you offer your prayers to God, I hope the answer to the prayer of the thief on the cross will ring out and echo in your ears. God wants you to be with Him forever in paradise because of Jesus, your Savior. In His name. Amen.

“Fear Not! For I Will Never Leave Thee” Hebrews 13:5--Roy Falkenheim's Funeral Sermon preached on 2-14-13

“Fear Not!  For I Will Never Leave Thee” Hebrews 13:5

Roy Falkenheim’s funeral sermon by Rev. John M. Taggatz preached at Roy’s Funeral on Feb. 14^th, 2013 at St. John Lutheran Church Baldwin, IL

1.      Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Dear family and friends of Roy.  On behalf of the congregation here at St. John we offer to you our deepest sympathy.  Today we’re going to look at Roy’s confirmation verse that he received on the day that he confirmed his faith in Jesus Christ his Savior on April 11^th, 1937 here at St. John Baldwin.  It’s from Hebrews 13:5, which says, “⁵ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”  The message is entitled, “Fear Not! For I Will Never Leave Thee.”  Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      Roy was deeply loved by many friends, family members, and members of this congregation here at St. John Baldwin.  He will be greatly missed.  But, he wouldn’t want us to think that his death is the end for him.  For Jesus promises us who believe in Him as our Lord and Savior in John 14:1-6, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. ⁴ And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. ⁵ Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? ⁶ Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”  This moment of sorrow, suffering and pain for us as we mourn over Roy’s death will pass for we know that since we too believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior we will see our beloved Roy again in the gates of paradise.  Roy would want us to know that His Lord and Savior Jesus has prepared a mansion for him in heaven and through Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins, He’s prepared one for you as well, if you believe in Him as your Savior.

3.      Roy was ready to help those who were in need.  Earlier in his life he was often the first responder to auto accidents at the highway overpass near his home. He will be remembered for his over 50 years of being a dairy farmer and he also worked as a security guard at Sparta Printing Company and Peabody Coal.  Roy was also a 1950 graduate from the University of Illinois.  We also thank him for his service to our country as a WW II veteran.

4.       But, the one thing that Roy would want to be remembered the most for is his deep love and trust in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior.  For the past 5 ½ years I’ve had the privilege as Roy’s pastor to deliver to him and his wife Laverne the saving means of God’s grace through Christ’s Word and Sacrament.  I know Laverne & Roy looked forward to receiving the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation that Jesus freely gives to those who receive His Word and His body and blood in faith.  Roy held fast to the promises of God given to him in his baptism, remembering that he was washed and cleansed of his sins and made a child of God when he was baptized on March 18^th, 1923 at Schulein in the home of his parents with Rev. Justus Lohrmann officiating.   

5.      On the day of Roy’s confirmation he received this text of Scripture from Hebrews 13:5 from his Pastor Justus Lohrmann.  Hebrews 13:5 says, “⁵ Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.”   Here the author of Hebrews tells us to “Keep our lives free from the love of money.” From warning against immorality earlier in Hebrews 13, he turns to the love of money. Quite naturally so, for Scripture often links these two together (1 Corinthians 5:11; Ephesians 5:3). A covetous person pays little attention to anyone else’s well-being as he selfishly pursues his own aims. Christians are to keep their lives free from such love of money. Those whose greedy hearts reach more for gold than for God, would do well to remember Paul’s warning in 1 Timothy 6:10: “Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.”  After all, Job reminds us that naked we came into this world and naked we will leave, blessed be the name of the Lord.  No one ever sees a U-Haul following behind a hearse.  Only our Christian faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior will lead us into the riches that come from God that will last in the paradise of Heaven.

6.      The antidote is to “be content” with what we have. Christians believe that God knows what’s best for them. Whatever we have, we regard as having come from God. And there we stop! To go beyond invites either sinful worry or ungodly greed. In a world that revolves around the possessions you have and the position you hold, it’s not easy to practice contentment. It’s not easy to join Paul in the words of Philippians 4:11: “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.”

7.      The great dividing line between Christianity and other religions is the teaching of salvation by grace alone through faith on account of Christ.  Other religions give credit to sinful man with some ability to gain favor with God and being saved.  Only Christianity gives all glory to God by teaching that sinful humanity is saved by the free grace of God.  When this doctrine of free grace lives in our hearts, it keeps us strong so that we’re not, “Led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace,” (Hebrews 13:9).

8.      As sinners we understand that the wages of sin is death as Paul tells us in Romans 6:23.  We aren’t just sinners because we sin, no, we sin because we are sinners who are conceived in sin in our mother’s womb.  We can’t say that we have kept the requirements of God’s holy law.  Roy knew this for this is what he was taught in confirmation class.  We know that the heart produces evil thoughts—not love, but hate; not hospitality, but cold indifference; not sympathy, but cruel condemnation; not purity, but immorality.  The law is kept only by faith in and through the perfect obedience of our Savior Jesus Christ.

9.      For Martin Luther, the doctrine of salvation by grace was the touchstone of the Christian faith.  By it all other teachings could be measured.  Today, many claiming to know the way of salvation based primarily on what we as human beings can do to earn our salvation are many.  Their message is centered on the third use of the Law, which is a guide for daily living.  It seems that proclaiming salvation only by God’s grace is humiliating because it leaves human merit out of the picture.  But, we may measure the teachings of all theologians by this—that God has revealed Himself as a gracious God in Jesus Christ, who has won for us and our beloved Roy, freedom from sin and the gift of eternal life if we believe in Christ.

10.  Roy’s confirmation verse from Hebrews 13:5 tells us that as Christians we are to be content with the blessings God has given to us.  Our hearts cling to Christ, whose blood alone purifies us from all sin.  Jesus promises to supply us with all our needs of body and soul.  This is the secret of contentment.  It’s to remember our God’s promise, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” Never will Jesus leave us. Never will He abandon us. Always He goes with us. Always Jesus is our eternal Resource. What more could we ever want? Constant mindfulness of God’s fatherly presence and of his never-failing promises is the key to contentment.  When God speaks, we as Christians respond. With confident courage we declare on the basis of Psalm 118:6, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?” Content with God’s perfect provision, covered with God’s perfect protection, we as Christians walk toward heaven’s shores unafraid.  And, this my friends is what we need to hear today as we mourn Roy’s death.  As Christians we can know that with God on our side we have a majority of one, regardless what foes or fears we face, even death itself.  Praise God the Father that He’s given us the victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!  Amen.

“Like Savior, Like Servant” Jeremiah 26.8–15 Lent 2 Series C, 2-24-13

1.             Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  In the middle of this Lenten season, it’s easy to see similarities between Jeremiah and our Savior on Good Friday.  Both Jeremiah & Jesus came with God’s message (v. 8), both were met with opposition (vv. 8–11), and yet both Jesus & Jeremiah trusted the Lord (vv. 15), and carried out their mission (vv. 12–15).  The message from God’s Word this morning is taken from Jeremiah 26:8-15 and it’s entitled, “Like Savior, Like Servant,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 

2.             In the 1920s it was the Scopes trial, when William Jennings Bryan and Clarence Darrow squared off to debate creation versus evolution. In the 1930s it was the Lindbergh case, which tried to convict the kidnapper and killer of Charles Lindbergh’s young son. In the 1970s it was Watergate, and the American presidency was on trial. In the 1990s it was O. J. Simpson. Every generation has its “Trial of the Century” to capture the public imagination.  The same was true during Biblical times. One famous case began with a true prophet preaching an unpopular message in the city of Jerusalem. Among other things, the prophet Jeremiah predicted that God’s temple would be destroyed. The citizens of the city were so hostile to his message that they angrily formed a mob, hastily put him on trial, and eagerly demanded the death penalty. Because the man was a true prophet, putting him to death would have brought the guilt of shedding innocent blood on every inhabitant of the city.

3.             Hear again what Jeremiah 26:8–15 says, “8And when Jeremiah had finished speaking all that the LORD had commanded him to speak to all the people, then the priests and the prophets and all the people laid hold of him, saying, “You shall die! 9Why have you prophesied in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be desolate, without inhabitant’?” And all the people gathered around Jeremiah in the house of the LORD.  10When the officials of Judah heard these things, they came up from the king’s house to the house of the LORD and took their seat in the entry of the New Gate of the house of the LORD. 11Then the priests and the prophets said to the officials and to all the people, “This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”  12Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and all the people, saying, “The LORD sent me to prophesy against this house and this city all the words you have heard. 13Now therefore mend your ways and your deeds, and obey the voice of the LORD your God, and the LORD will relent of the disaster that he has pronounced against you. 14But as for me, behold, I am in your hands. Do with me as seems good and right to you. 15Only know for certain that if you put me to death, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves and upon this city and its inhabitants, for in truth the LORD sent me to you to speak all these words in your ears.”

4.             Not every sermon is worth repeating, but since a new king was on the throne, the Lord instructed his prophet to deliver a message first heard during the reign of Josiah (Jer 7). The Lord knew how tempting it would be to soften the message. This is the only time in Jeremiah’s ministry we’re told God specifically commands, “Do not omit a word” (26:2). God insisted that Jeremiah proclaim his message in a high traffic area of the temple, where “the priests, the prophets and all the people” (v. 7) would hear him. No one was to miss this message. The crowds did listen. They listened to make sure they had all the evidence they needed. Then they “seized him and said, ‘You must die!’ ” The Lord’s evaluation of his people hit the bull’s-eye: “You do not listen to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I have sent to you again and again” (v. 5). Our Epistle reading for this Sunday describes such “enemies of the cross” (Php 3:18). “Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things” (v. 19).

5.             The sermon was a good one. It had the two elements every faithful sermon must have—law and gospel. Good preaching both explains the Law of God, which exposes sin, and proclaims the grace of God, which forgives sin.  Jeremiah began with the Law. He followed the instructions he was given.  He preached nearly every one of the Ten Commandments, how the people had failed to love God with all of their heart, soul, and strength and how they had not loved their neighbors as themselves. He explained in detail how the people were failing to keep covenant with their God.  Jeremiah did not preach the Law to condemn, but to convict. God hoped that this preaching of the Law would turn people away from sin.

6.             Jeremiah was just trying to preach law and grace the way God told him to preach it. But his congregation didn’t see it that way. They made him a victim.  By way of contrast consider the cartoon that depicts a seminarian sitting at a desk piled high with books and papers. He is not studying. He is daydreaming about what it will be like to be a pastor. He fantasizes about preaching the best of all possible sermons. In his imagination he can hear the congregation shout his praises and see the elders hoist him on their shoulders and carry him out of the sanctuary in triumph.  Yeah right.

7.             Jeremiah was not carried out like a champion.  Instead, the people grabbed him, but not in triumph. Jeremiah was a victim of mob violence. They weren’t crowding around him to get his autograph. They were out to get him.  This ugly scene would have ended in murder had not the authorities rushed in to break things up. They followed all the proper legal procedures. They took Jeremiah from God’s house to the courthouse.

8.             Jeremiah’s trial began with a reading of the charges. The murderous intentions of the plaintiffs were revealed when they called for the death penalty, even before they stated their charge or made their case! The prosecution hardly saw the need to present any evidence. According to them, all the people had heard Jeremiah’s sermon with their own ears.  The prophets and the priests were not interested in repentance. They completely ignored Jeremiah’s message of law and grace. They were more concerned with what he had said about the temple. Speaking against the temple seemed like treason. It had become a national shrine. They were offended when Jeremiah warned that God was going to destroy their precious temple.

9.             Once the charges had been read, it was up to the defendant to make his plea. In effect Jeremiah pled “not guilty by reason of obedience.” Jeremiah explained that he had not been preaching on his own behalf. The people of Jerusalem were blaming the messenger, but their real complaint was with the message.  Human nature being what it is, ministers often come under criticism. Sometimes criticism is justified, in which case a minister must receive correction with all humility. But many complaints a faithful pastor receives are not complaints against him at all—they are complaints against God. That was certainly the case in this trial, and Jeremiah was not afraid to point it out. The people thought they were contending with Jeremiah, but actually they were contending with God. If they had a grievance they would have to take it up with God himself, for he was the one warning them about judgment and calling them to repentance.  Jeremiah submitted to the jurisdiction of the court. His chief concern—his only concern—was to be God’s faithful messenger. He would not lift a finger to save his life. But he would defend God to the death.

10.         Jeremiah did not lose his life. He found it. He found his life not by delivering himself from death, but with the help of advocates who took up his case.  In the end, Jeremiah was delivered from death. He was acquitted of all the charges against him.  But, the words of the verdict in Jeremiah’s case remind us of another prophet who was handed over to the people to be put to death. Like Jeremiah, Jesus Christ was tried in the city of Jerusalem. Like Jeremiah, he was seized by a band of angry men who crowded him on every side. And like Jeremiah, he was charged with treason against the temple. Like Jeremiah, Jesus was innocent of the charges brought against him. Jesus was without sin. Yet, like Jeremiah, he did not defend himself. When the trial of Jeremiah is placed beside the trial of Jesus Christ, one finds obvious similarities in the charge, arrest, accusation, and defense. When some people said the Son of Man was the second coming of Jeremiah (Matthew 16:14), they were more accurate than they realized.

11.         There is one great difference between the trial of Jeremiah and the trial of Jesus Christ—the verdict. At the trial of Jesus, no one observed the warning that his death would bring the guilt of innocent blood upon them. Jesus was not delivered from death—he was delivered unto death. He was handed over to be executed (Matthew 27:26). Jesus Christ was arrested, charged, convicted, and crucified for your sins and mine.  And, there is one other difference between the trial of Jeremiah and the trial of Jesus. The verdict against Jesus Christ was overturned on appeal. In his dying moments Jesus appealed to the highest court in the whole universe. “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit’ ” (Luke 23:46). He not only appealed his own case—he appealed our case as well. He said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (v. 34).

12.         And God the Father accepted those appeals. The guilty verdict given to Jesus by sinful men was overruled by God the Father. The proof of the success of that appeal is the empty tomb on Easter Sunday. The Resurrection proves that Jesus Christ was innocent. Since Jesus was wrongly executed, the law of the highest court in the universe demanded that he be returned back to life.  The Resurrection proves that the sacrifice Jesus offered for sin was accepted by God. The appeal Jesus made for God to overturn the verdict against you has been just as successful as his own appeal. Once he paid for your crimes, the verdict against you was no longer able to stand. If you trust that Jesus died on the cross for your sins, and if you believe that he was raised from the dead, then you too will be delivered from death.  Amen.