Savior (John 19:30)

Series: Names of Wondrous Love

Good Friday

March 29, 2013

Dear friends in Christ.

Scarcely had the sponge soaked with sour wine moistened our Savior’s parched lips when we hear him cry out with a loud voice, “Tetelestai!” Which means, “It is finished!”  Although a single, four syllable word in the Greek language, these three English words, “It is finished!” are incredibly significant for each and every person of the world.  In fact, we would not be exaggerating if we should call them the most important words in the history of the world!  For when Jesus said, “It is finished,” he didn’t speak in a weak whisper, or even so quietly that you would have had to lean in close to be able to hear what he was saying.  Rather, he cried out in a loud voice so that all the world would hear.  Our Savior cried out these words as his proclamation of victory in the midst of the darkness of Calvary.  These words were not the words of a man who was surrendering to death, but the words of a soldier who has conquered in the battle, and won the victory over sin and death forever.  These words are the words of our Savior whose mission has been completed.  These words are words of wondrous love, whose wondrous name of love we know as, Savior.

Could there be any greater love than the love that our Savior reveals to us as he willingly goes to the cross?  In his great love for us, he allowed himself to be pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquity.  In his great love for us, he endured the punishment that would bring us peace so that by his wounds we could be healed.  In his great love for us he endured even the pain of hell itself as he was rejected by his own Father.  But now that has all come to an end, for as we look closely at his face, we see his love as he cries out his declaration of victory for us.  With these words our loving Savior was telling all who would listen, “I have won.  My work of salvation is done.  I have opened wide the gates of heaven for mankind.  I have kept all the law perfectly for every person.  I have paid the price demanded for each and every sin.  Not one sin is left!  I have suffered the agonies of hell and damnation—agonies that were reserved for sinners.  I have endured the full punishment and anger of my Father over sin.  I have shed my precious blood to redeem all mankind.  And now my work of salvation is complete and finished and done.” 

What wondrous love our Savior conveys as he cries out, “Tetelestai! It is finished!”  For this single word was the very word that the ancient Greeks would inscribe on tax bills to show that they were completely paid in full.  Thus, with these words Jesus took the crimson ink of his blood and wrote “Paid In Full” across the bill of sins that we had run up before God.  Nothing more needed to be added because Jesus blood had completely washed away our sins.  Nothing more needed to be done because on the cross, as our Savior cried out, Jesus declared that he had completed the work of our salvation!  “With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30, NIV84) 

Could any other words demonstrate our Savior’s wondrous love for sinners?  When our Savior had completed our Salvation, he willingly bowed his head and gave up his spirit.  Though death stood near the scene on Calvary that day, death did not dare to approach our Savior until he allowed it.  How different his death was from ours!  We die because death is the consequence of sin that our first parents brought to all people.  We die because our lives are snatched away from us.  We die, because the Lord chooses to separate our souls from our body.  There is nothing that we can do to prolong our lives in any way.  But when Jesus died, he died at the moment he chose.  Not until he had completed our salvation did he allow death to come near to him.  Only when he had procured our Salvation did our Savior pray, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” (Luke 23:46) and “with that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” (John 19:30)

It is never easy to be reminded of our Savior’s death, because we know the death he died was the death we deserve.  Yet, as we stand at the foot of our Savior’s cross today, we find comfort in the fact that his death has removed the sting of death forever.  Because our Savior willingly gave his life over to death, death is nothing more than a lion whose claws and teeth have been removed.  Though death still growls for us, it can no longer harm us!  Because our Savior paid the price our sins deserved, we no longer need to be afraid!  Rather we can confidently fall asleep in Jesus’ wounds, knowing that the last beating of our hearts will be a soft knocking at heaven’s door. When it opens, we will be home with Jesus, our Savior from sin, our Savior from death, our deliverer to eternal life.

All this is wrapped up in the simple name, Savior!  For included in that name of wondrous love, is all that Jesus, our Savior did to free us from our sins, and make us his own.  Though we use this name so easily and so often, it truly is a comfort to us, for it is our Savior who has saved us and made us his through his blood!  In the same way that a life guard will save drowning swimmers by pulling them out of the water and brining them to the safety of dry land, our Savior saved us from drowning in our sins.  By his death, we have been declared righteous before the Lord our God.  All this is wrapped up in the lovingly wondrous name of Savior, as John tells us, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10, NIV84)   

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Look to the Lord and Live! (Numbers 21:4-9)

March 4, 2012

Dear friends in Christ.

Back in 1896 when the first modern day Olympic Games were held, weightlifting was included, though it wasn’t an event in its own right as it is today.  Instead, it was originally held as part of the Field event, which was the predecessor to today’s Track and Field or Athletics event.  Because of this, weightlifting was not regularly a part of the Olympics until 1920, when fourteen nations competed.  Though there have been a number of different types of weight lifting competitions through the years, today there are only two types of lift competitions—the snatch and the clean and jerk.  Though similar, the essence of the snatch is to lift the barbell from the platform to locked arms overhead in a smooth continuous movement, while in the clean and jerk competitors first lift the barbell from the floor to chest height and then lift it up to locked arms overhead.  But regardless of which style lift a competitor is performing, each one knows just how important it is to find a specific point to focus on during the lift, for by looking intently at that single point, a weight lifter is able to focus all his attention on the task of successfully lifting the weight he has chosen to lift.  Well, in our lesson today, our Lord is calling on us to do the very same thing.  He is calling on us to look to him and live.  He is calling on us to move the eyes of our faith from the things of this world and focus them on him so that we might live. 

Look to the Lord and live!  Truthfully, this is all that the Lord really wanted from his people, Israel, as he led them through the wilderness on their way to the land of Canaan.  However, looking to the Lord and guarding their lives against sin seemed to be the very last thing that thing that the Israelites wanted to do.  For as you know, the Israelites were famous for their  grumbling and complaining against the Lord as well as their stubborn refusal to follow his will in just about every situation.  In fact, this is exactly what Moses is revealing to us in our lesson today as he writes: “They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!” 6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died." (Numbers 21:4–6, NIV84)

Sadly, it seems that whenever the going got too tough, or the way to the Promised Land was just too long, rather than guarding against sin and following the Lord’s will, the people embraced their sin and complained against him.  It seems that whenever even the slightest thing went wrong the people stopped looking to the Lord and looked at themselves as they complained about the things that they didn’t have.  Yet, before we go and judge the Israelites too harshly, we have to ask ourselves if we are any different than they were.  If we are honest with ourselves, then we will immediately realize that we are no different than they were.  For how often doesn’t it happen that whenever the going gets too tough or slightest thing goes wrong, we, like they, fail to look to the Lord?  How often don’t we fail to guard ourselves against our sins, and begin to complain and wail against the Lord just as they did.

Just think about it.  Though we haven’t had much to complain about when it comes to snow or ice, how often haven’t we been surprised by the cold temperatures and began complaining about them?  Or how often don’t we complain about traffic and road construction?  How often don’t we complain about mosquitoes, lady bugs, and box elder bugs?  How often don’t we complain about taxes, insurance, and the costs of prescription drugs?  How often don’t we complain about our jobs?  How often don’t we complain about our homes, or our friends, or our families?  How often don’t we complain about our church, or our pastor, or our childcare, or each other?  How often don’t we complain about our synod schools, or our synod officials.  In short, How often don’t we fail to guard our lives from sin by complain about anything and everything that crosses our minds?  How often don’t we have opened the floodgates and allowed our sins to pour out before the Lord our God?  So often we have failed to guard our lives from sin and have failed to look to the Lord who saves us! 

In fact, if there ever was a people who deserved the Lord’s wrath more than the Israelites, it is us.  If there ever was a people who deserved the Lord to unleash poisonous serpents in their mist, then we would have to stand up and declare that we deserve it.  For the truth is, even though we know exactly what the Lord’s will is for our lives, we have done the exact opposite on just about every occasion.  But even though the Lord has not sent poisonous snakes among us to chastise us as he did with his people, he still uses the tool of his law to turn us back to him.  Sometimes all it takes is the prick of our consciences constantly reminding us how we failed the Lord before we turn to him in repentance.  Sometimes it takes the heavy hand of his commandments pressing down on our backs before we recognize what we have done.  But then there are the times that it takes the full 16 ton weight of God’s Law falling on us and crushing us to the ground before like so many of the Warner Brothers cartoon characters before we realize how we have completely failed to look to the Lord and guard our lives from sin.  But even though it might take the full weight of God’s Law to crush us to dust and make us realize how horribly we have sinned against the Lord, when that realization finally comes, it is the Lord who gently speaks to us and tells us, “Turn to me for forgiveness.  Look to me and live!

Look to the Lord and live!  Turn to the Lord for forgiveness!  These two short phrases form the point of what the Lord was saying to his people when he sent the poisonous snakes among them.  For in the same way that he sometimes crushes us with the full weight of the Law, the Lord intended to crush his people with the full weight of the consequence of their sin, and recognize it they did.  When the people saw how those who were bitten by the snakes died, they quickly realized their sins and turned to the Lord for forgiveness as Moses tells us, “The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.” 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived." (Numbers 21:7–9, NIV84)

When the Israelites turned to the Lord for forgiveness, the Lord not only forgave them; he also gave them tangible assurance that if they looked to him in faith they would live.  This is why the Lord had Moses set up the bronze serpent for the people and tell them that if they were bitten, they could look at this snake and live.  He did this to give them a visual reminder of what faith was all about.  For just as the forgiveness of sins came to the people Israel through faith in the Lord God, healing from the fatal snake bites came only from looking at the bronze serpent with their eyes, and looking past it, with the eyes of faith, to the Lord so that they might live.

We have the same assurance from the Lord our God today!  For when we realize the enormity of our sins against the Lord and turn to the Lord for forgiveness, it is the Lord who says, “Look to me and live!”  For in the same way that the Lord gave tangible assurance to the Israelites of the forgiveness of their sins, the Lord has given us the same tangible assurance of the forgiveness of our sins through his Son, Jesus Christ our Savior.  For in the same way that Moses lifted up that bronze snake in the desert, so also has God the Father lifted up his Son, Jesus Christ, in the desert of Golgotha, for the forgiveness of all of our sins.  In the same way that those who looked at that snake with the eyes of faith lived, we who have been bitten by the poisonous vipers of our sins, and have been crushed by the full weight of God’s law, have looked to the Lord our Savior, and have lived.  We have looked to the Lord our Savior who was lifted up on the cross, sacrificed for our sins, and raised to life on the third day, and we are assured that we have received the forgiveness that he won for us.  Now, whenever we look at the cross, we don’t see a broken and dying Savior, but we see the Savior who conquered sin and death by his death and resurrection.  Now, when we look at the cross, we don’t see a device for execution, we see a symbol of comfort and hope.  For whenever we look at the cross, we see more than just two pieces of wood.  We see our Savior to whom we turn for the forgiveness of sins.  We see our Lord to whom we can look and live.

What a great comfort it is for us to look to the Lord our God and focus the eyes of our faith on him.  For in the same way that weight lifters focus all their attention on a single point so that they might successfully lift the weight they are lifting, we who now look to the Lord in faith know that we will live.  Though we may not always be successful at guarding our lives against sin, we know that when we turn to the Lord in repentance he will forgive us, and having been forgiven, we will seek to look to him once more so that we might continue to live for him.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Salvation is Yours through faith! (Romans 3:18-28)

October 30, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

As long as I can remember, it has been our practice to celebrate the Festival of the Reformation as the month of October is drawing to a close.  It has been our practice to remind ourselves how an insignificant monk named Martin Luther, screwed his courage to its sticking place on the evening of October 31, 1517 and went out to nail his 95 theses or 95 statements for debate to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany.  It was that hammer blow, which echoed forcefully through the streets of Wittenberg and some might say echoed around the world that began the Lutheran Reformation as a movement that simply would not be stopped. It was that hammer blow that signaled the beginning of a path that would the very faith which had begun to grow in Luther’s heart since the day he first in the Scriptures and understood that salvation did not come from anything he could do for God; rather salvation came from God through faith in Jesus Christ the Savior. 

Since that day some 590 years ago, many churches have celebrated the Lutheran Reformation.  Many Pastors have preached beautiful sermons about what Luther said and did in his life, and from that, many church members have wondered why we place so much emphasis on Luther, when he was nothing more than a sinner saved by grace, just like you and I.  In fact, I expect that some of you are already wondering why I’ve spent so much time talking about him this morning.  Well the answer is simple.  Today is the day that we have gathered to give thanks to the Lord that he used Martin Luther as his servant to restore the clear truth of the Scriptures that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior! 

It is this clear message of the Scriptures that salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, which the Apostle Paul is proclaiming to us in our text today! For as he writes, he reminds us very clearly and very vividly that our own salvation has never come to us by anything that we have done, rather, our salvation comes only through faith in Christ Jesus.  Paul writes: “Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:19-20)

There it is!  Right there, in those two short verses, we have the sum total and the very purpose of God’s Law!  Though our sinful human nature proudly believes that we aren’t all that bad, God’s Law reveals something quite different.  Though our sinful human nature believes that given enough time we could gain our own holiness by struggling and striving to keep God’s Law, God’s law shows us that we will never be declared righteous by observing it.  We will never be declared righteous by observing it, because God’s law has one single purpose—to show us our sins.  God’s law has one single purpose—to silence our mouths. God’s law has one single purpose—to hold us accountable to God.

Though we may think that God’s law cannot possibly apply to us because we are really good people who have struggled and tried to earn our salvation by keeping our thoughts pure, by keeping our words blameless, and by keeping our actions impeccable, it is God’s Law that reveals just how corrupted we have become.  For God’s law tells us that there is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God, because all of us have turned away and have together become worthless.  All of us are incapable of doing good.  Our throats are open graves.  Our tongues practice deceit.  The poison of vipers is on our lips and our mouths are filled with cursing and bitterness.  Our feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark our ways, and the way of peace we do not know, because there is not fear of God before our eyes.” (Romans 3:10-18)

Though we might think we’re pretty great, God’s law paints a different picture for us, for no matter how hard we try to keep God’s law, we fail.  No matter how hard we try to be perfect, we can’t even come close.  No matter how hard we try to shed our sins and our guilt and do work harder at keeping God’s law, we can’t because as James tells us, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10)  Or as Paul tells us, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).

Now, I don’t know about you, but after hearing all that, I don’t feel all that great.  In fact, I actually feel angry.  I’m upset, frustrated, and outraged by this God who gave me this ridiculous set of rules and regulations that he demands I keep, even though he knows I can’t keep them!  What’s the point!  Why should I even bother! Why should I try to please him if he’s just going to sit on his high and mighty throne judging me because I have sinned and fallen short of his glory!  What hope is there if I can’t possibly keep his Law on my own!  Why have I come!  What more can I do if I am condemned to eternal death in hell by the very law God demand that I keep! 

I’m sure that is how Luther felt while he lived as a monk, for the story has been told of how his fellow monks would find him passed out and bleeding on the floor of his room.  Passed out from hunger, because he had denied himself food in order to punish his body for its sinful desires; passed out from pain and bleeding, because he had beaten himself and scourged himself to free himself from his sins, which he knew kept coming back again and again no matter how many times he confessed them to his father confessor.  No matter how hard he tried to keep God’s Law, he couldn’t, and because of that he was entering a world of despair even worse than I what I just expressed, until he discovered and understood the very Gospel that Paul reveals to us when he writes, “But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. (Romans 3:21-26)

This is what the Lord our God has done for us!  Though it is the Lord who demands that we keep every detail of the Law he has given us, because he knew we could never do it on our own, he sent his Son to do it for us.  Though we had done nothing to earn it or deserve it, we have been justified—declared not guilty of all our sins—through Jesus Christ our Savior, who redeemed us by his blood.  It was our God, the very God who gave me all the rules and regulations of the Law, which he demanded I keep, who sent his Son to keep them for me.  It was my God, the very God who held me accountable for my every sin, who took those sins from me and placed them on his Son.  With a plan of which I never would have conceived, he sent his Son, to take the place of me, his enemy.  He sent his Son to keep every single rule and regulation of his law perfectly.  Then, he, my gracious and loving God, sent his own Son to be tortured.  He sent his one and only Son to be crucified.  He weighed down his own Son with the burden of my sins, and then he, the Lord my God, turned his back on his one and only Son, forsook him, and let him die!  The very things I would never allow to happen to my children, the Lord my God willingly caused to happen to his one and only Son.  The very things that I would rush to prevent from happening to my children, he allowed to happen to his Son, so that he might be just and justify—declare not guilty of sin—those who believe in Jesus as their Savior.

Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, each and every one of us has salvation.  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, each and every one of us has been washed clean of every spot and stain of our sins.  Through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we all have the sure and certain hope of eternal life, because we know that when Jesus died and rose again, he did it to free us from our sins, so that we could live with him forever in the halls of his heavenly kingdom.  This is the great comfort and assurance we all have from knowing that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  Though we continually see our sins as we gaze into the mirror of the Law, as we look in to the Gospel, we see our salvation revealed to us.  As we look into the law we are reminded again and again that there is nothing we can do to free us from our sins, but as we look into the Gospel, we are assured that Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior.  Though it is the Law that condemns us, it is the Gospel that saves us so that all our thanks and praise belong to the Lord.  As Paul says, “Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. (Romans 3:27-28)

Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior!  This is the heart and the core of the Bible’s teaching, and this is the very reason why we have gathered to celebrate Reformation Sunday.  We have gathered to give praise to the Lord that some 590 years ago the Lord used an insignificant German monk to reveal this truth to the world.  We have gathered to praise the Lord because Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church is a direct result of the Lord’s use of Martin Luther back in Germany.  We have gathered to praise the Lord because through the Reformation we celebrate today, we have heard the truth of the Gospel which Paul proclaimed in his letter to the Romans.  Salvation is ours through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior who gave his life to free us from the power of the devil, so that through faith in him we would be blessed with the gift of eternal life.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling

Grace EvangelicalLutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN

Sing Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Peter 1:3-9)

May 1, 2011

Dear friends in Christ.

If I could choose only one season out of the entire church year as my favorite, I would have to choose Easter. I love Easter. I love how the whole church seems to transform from a veil of sorrow to a veil of joy. I love how we beautify our church with all sorts of different flowers as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, Jesus. But most of all I love how joyful our celebrations are as we gather to sing praise to the Lord our God on Easter Sunday. It is always so fund to gather and raise our voices together in song as we sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as we did last Sunday, with songs like, I know that My Redeemer Lives, Amazing Grace, Sing, My Tongue, the Glorious Battle, and even a couple of stanzas of How Great Thou Art! As I’ve said before, I do wish that all of you could sit where I do and hear how beautiful you all sound as we raise our voices together, singing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For, as we gathered on Easter Sunday and as we’ve gathered here again this morning, we have gathered to sing praise to the Lord our God who raised his Son from the dead. We’ve gathered to sing praise to the Lord our God who freed us from our sins and made us his own through the death and resurrection of his Son, our Savior. We’ve gathered to sing praise to our God and Father because he has redeemed us, restored us and forgiven us. In short, we have gathered to sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for all the great things that our God has done for us, just as Peter explains to us in our lesson for today.

Now, if you haven’t already opened your Bibles to our lesson for today, I invite you to open to 1 Peter chapter 1 beginning with verse 3 and we’ll take a look at all the reasons Peter gives us to sing praise. Now, as you are turning to 1 Peter, let me give you the back story, so to speak. As Peter writes in 1 Peter chapter 1, the year is somewhere between 62 and 64. The Apostle Paul is most likely traveling in the region of Spain, and Peter, perhaps at the request of Paul, sits down with Silas to write a letter of comfort and encouragement to the believes in the cities where Paul and Silas had traveled on Paul’s second Missionary Journey. A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned in Bible Class that it was Luke who had written 1 Peter along with Peter, however, that was not correct, as Peter tells us in chapter 5 that it was with the help of Silas he had written this letter (1 Peter 5:12) And who better than Silas, the man who had visited these congregations with Paul, to aid Peter in writing this letter of praise!

Take a look at what Peter writes beginning with verse 3: “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade—kept in heaven for you, 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9, NIV84)

What better message could there be for us to hear on the heels of Easter than this message, giving us every reason to praise our God who has brought us into a new and living hope. What greater message could there be than the assurance that we have hope in any and every situation, especially when we take a look at the world around us. It is no secret that our economy is struggling. It is no secret that people are scared. It is no secret that more and more people have entered survival mode and are on the brink of losing hope? How many of us are in the same boat? How many of us are finding ourselves scared about the future? How many of us are sacrificing little things here and there to keep from having to enter survival mode too soon. How many are looking at the world around us and beginning to wonder if hope will hold out?

This is why Peter is writing as he is this morning! He is writing to assure us that in the midst of our economy we have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father. We have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father because even though we had once been lost in the darkness of sin and unbelief, God the Father willingly handed over his one and only son to death so that we would not have to die. Before we were even born, God the Father loved us and planned for our salvation. Before he even created the World, God the Father laid out his plan for our eternal salvation which centered on nothing that we could do for him, but everything that he could do for us. Now, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior, we have been given new birth in to a new and living hope. No matter what might be happening around us, the hope we have is secure, because our hope is in the forgiveness of sins that Jesus won for us. Our hope springs from the waters of Baptism that have washed us clean through the work of the Holy Spirit in connection with the Word of God. Our hope is certain because Jesus Christ who died in our place, rose again from the dead to assure us that our sins have been completely washed away.

Now, through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior, we have been made children of God and heirs of eternal life! In the midst of an economy where people are concerned about their investments, 401k’s, stock options and other retirement funds, we have no concern whatsoever. We have no concern because we know that our retirement benefits are not only safe but they are out of this world. We are confident because we know that our inheritance is kept for us in heaven, where no thief can ever break in. No moth can ever destroy. No rust can ever corrupt. Nothing can ever spoil it, nor can it fade away, nor can it be lost because the stock market takes a turn for the worse. Thus we sing the praise of our God and Father because he has secured our inheritance through his mighty power with which we are shielded even now, until our salvation will be revealed when the Lord calls us home.

Because of this, we have every reason sing the praise of the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if that’s the case Pastor, if we can rejoice in the Lord our God, if we can sing his praises because he has redeemed us, made us his own, and even protects us in this life, why do we still have to face sorrows and hardships? Why do find ourselves suffering at the hands of others? Why do face difficulties in this life? Peter answers that question for us beginning with verse 6 where he says, “6 In this [that is all these things with which God has blessed you] you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. 7 These have come so that your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.” (1 Peter 1:3–9, NIV84)

Though no one likes hardships or suffering, we can still rejoice in them because we know that they come to us so that our faith might be proven to be genuine. They come to us to draw us closer to the Lord. They come to us to make us take our eyes off the things of the world and refocus our vision on the things of eternal life. They come to us because Jesus promised that when we followed him the world would hate us and we would be persecuted just as he was. They come to us because satan is looking for any and every opportunity to distract us from our faith, cause us to despair, lose our hope, and finally fall away from the faith. They come to us because sometimes the Lord sends them into our lives, as he did when he asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, so that we can learn what we are made of; so that we can learn the caliber of our faith and our trust in Jesus Christ as our Savior. Though they are never easy to cope with, James tells us that we can consider it pure joy whenever we face trials of many kinds because it will produce perseverance of faith. (James 1:2) Though they are never the most easy thing to cope with, Paul assures us that we can rejoice in suffering because produce perseverance, perseverance produces character, and character produces hope. (Romans 5:3) Though they are never easy to cope with Peter assures us that they come to help us look forward to our living hope in a better future with the Lord our God forever in heaven.

This is why we have every reason to sing praises to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! We have every reason to sing praise to our God and Father because he is the one who freed us from our sins by sending his Son to be our Savior. He is the one who crushed Jesus and caused him to suffer (Isaiah 53:10) so that we would never have to. He is the one who forsook his own son on the cross so that he would never have to forsake us. He is the one who raised Jesus from the dead to assure us that not only have all our offenses been cleared, but that he will also raise us, just as he raised his Son. Thus we have gathered together on this Sunday after Easter, to sing praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, because he is the one who has made us his own and has given us a sure and certain living hope in eternal life through his Son, our Savior.

Amen.

Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church --Le Sueur, MN