All Saints’ Day (Observed) 2019

Revelation 7:2-17

November 3, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

While is certainly has its strange moments, we hear of God’s revelation to St. John which shares a very comforting picture in the midst of the trials and tribulations in our lives.  As we look to the Church Militant - those saints still living and fighting the good fight on earth - and the Church Triumphant - those saints from whom their labors rest, as we just sang - we hear of time where they are one in the same.  All Christians are holy in Christ, sanctified by the Holy Spirit through the forgiveness of sins. In this Feast of All Saints, we remember and give thanks for everyone who has lived and died by faith in Christ. With the saints who have gone before us in the faith, and with all who believe and are baptized into Him, we are one body in Christ. And the countless number of God’s people from all over the earth and throughout time, come together with the angels praising God for our salvation.

What a sight it must have been. St. John brought by the angel to see a great heavenly host from every nation, tribe, people, and languages. Maybe even more spectacular though is that all these, along with the angelic host, are all gathered around the throne of God and the Lamb. The heavenly crowd is carrying palm branches.  This is the only other place outside of John 12:13 - Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem a week before He was to die and be raised from the dead - where palms are mentioned in the NT.  The picture that John paints for us in Revelation is one of all God’s saints participating in the same sort of things as Palm Sunday, a reception of the promised King, the Son of David, waving palm branches and singing a song of praise to one who has come to save us.  But this time, it’s very different.  We aren’t talking about Palm Sunday where Jesus rides on to die.  No, this morning, we hear of the Messiah coming to His people to live! 

People who stand before God, dressed in white robes, dressed in the purity and righteousness of Christ.  This fits in nicely with the Epistle reading.  1 John 3:3 “And everyone who thus hopes in Him purifies himself as He is pure.”  You, God’s saints, His holy ones.  You have been white washed.

What a wonderfully visual picture John paints for us today!  Every time I read this, and I’ve thought this way since I was pretty young, I always think of Tom Sawyer.  I don’t remember how old I was, but I was younger than 10, when I first read this book by Mark Twain.  And in my book was a picture of Tom Sawyer after he had gotten in trouble, whitewashing a fence.  I seriously dreaded that my parents were going to make me do this to our fence when I got in trouble.

It wasn’t until I grew older that I realized I didn’t have to worry about whitewashing.  Because I’m not Tom Sawyer.  I’m the fence. Since salvation is by grace alone, as we heard about last Sunday particularly during our Reformation Service, it’s impossible for a person to wash himself to achieve the forgiveness of sins.  God alone can turn scarlet sins to white by scarlet blood.  Christ white washes you, using His own blood as staining a wooden cross as paint.  That blood He then takes and uses to wash you white and clean and pure from all your sins.  Revelation 7:13-14 “¹³ Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?’”  ¹⁴ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.”  And he said to me, ‘These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.  They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” 

John is assured that God Himself will dwell with His saints who have gone through the tribulation in the same way that Jesus became flesh and dwelt among us.  The Lamb of God will be the Shepherd – one like the sheep in the flock will also be like God.  Fully man and fully God. He will guide them to springs of living water remind us of Jesus’ own words that He is the water of life and the shepherd that lays his life down for His sheep.  This also sounds a lot like Psalm 23, those comforting words we often hear at funerals, to which John adds in Revelation that “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

On that day, that great Day of the LORD, as the Father sent the Shepherd to the earth to gather His people (John 10:14-18, 2:27-30), now the Shepherd, as the victorious Lamb, presents the flock to His heavenly Father, clean and pure, white washed in divine blood. The angels in heaven praise God and the Lamb for the salvation of human beings.  The redemption of God’s people in Christ is the most important action since His creation of all life.

As we wait for that final day, we live today encouraged despite the fears and horrors in your life and the world, and in view of the tribulations yet to come.  God will protect His people as they carry out the mission of the Lord here on earth.  He will not forsake us, not permit us to lose hope and faith in Him.  And He promises your citizenship as part of the church triumphant.  This is our end, you future, your life – eternal glory of God with all the faithful saints of God, white-washed in the blood in the Lamb.

Funeral Sermon for Ron King

October 29, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Reformation Sunday 2019

Matthew 11:12-19

October 27, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

“He who has ears, let him hear.”  Whenever our Lord speaks these words, it is to reveal important truths and so we ought to sit up and pay attention. In the case of the Gospel reading for today, His words strike the conscience of Christendom like a hammer on this anniversary service of the day, when 502 years ago, Luther’s hammer struck on the doors of the Christian church.  It is a hammer blow that is still echoing throughout the world.

On this Reformation day, we do not merely look back to long-gone years of the Lutheran Church. Our celebration of the Reformation isn’t about what happened 500 years ago as much as what happened 2000 years ago.  This Gospel reading takes us back to the good old days, the greatest days in the world, when the Kingdom of Heaven broke into this world in the person of Jesus, God in the flesh. All the law and prophets of old up to John had been preparing for that very moment. And then John the Baptist, the greatest of all men born of women, proclaimed this coming kingdom and the king who had arrived. 

God has come in a way to reign that will not look right to normal human perception. Of course, there is power in the reign of Christ, but it power for those who repent and believe, not power to overthrow violent men.  Make no mistake, there is violence when it comes to the kingdom of heaven. The kingdom suffers violence, Jesus says. The Old Testament prophets knew this all too well.  Being a prophet in the Old Testament times was not for people pleasers.  Christ Himself suffered a gruesome death upon the cross.  11 of the 12 disciples died a martyr’s death. Countless Christians in the early church were martyred. Luther had a death sentence upon his head for speaking against the evil of indulgences, of buying and selling forgiveness. Christianity today is still the most persecuted religion in the world.   

But the real violence, the most dangerous violence, is that done to the Word.  It is the violence done to Christian’s soul when it is starved of the pure Gospel.  When false prophets, antichrists, and liars twist God’s Word into something different. There’s good reason that Jesus warns against those who will come in His name but who have not been sent by Him, nor represent Him, nor speak His Word. don’t usually think about differences in doctrine to be that big of deal, but it is.  This isn’t some attempt to say I’m right and you’re wrong, or to win an argument, or to say Lutheranism is better than everything else, but it has everything to do with proclaiming Jesus. For violence done to the Word is violence done to He who is the Word of God in the flesh. 

And that is really the very heart of the matter, and the heart of the Reformation, isn’t it?  It’s not about Luther, nor the sound of the hammer on the church door in Wittenberg. It’s about Jesus crucified for the forgiveness of your sins.  The One who takes the violence of all the sin in the world, and the very wrath of God, upon Himself.  It’s about the Gospel. It’s about people hearing and believing the Word of God, and that people are justified in the sight of God for Jesus’s sake. It is that good news that your sins are forgiven for Christ’s sake, and where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

Thus the Reformation as we know it was started by Martin Luther, who was attempting to reform the Catholic Church back to what the Apostles and early church Fathers understood and taught from Holy Scripture.  And so the Reformation teaching of, and insistence upon, salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is not a history lesson. It is a contemporary issue. It is your life today in Jesus. Your life is a reformation, a re-forming of your heart, mind, and body in the image of God. It is a life lived in light of the Gospel of Christ, that the Lord Himself has violently broken into this world, suffered violence against Himself, and drives you out of the wilderness of your sins and into the kingdom of God as heirs of the heavenly Father.  It is a life marked by repentance over your sin, faith in Christ and in His forgiveness, and the new life lived with the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe.

The purpose of the Reformation is to thank and praise God for the blessings He gives. The kingdom of heaven has not departed, for the King still lives and reigns with the Father and Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.  This is the message of the everlasting Gospel announced by the angel in the Revelation to St. John. And this good news does violence to the kingdom of Satan. The King of kings and Lord of lords has invaded this world that He might shed His blood and destroy the work of the devil and your sinful heart. He snatches people right out the jaws of hell, where your sins would land you, just as we saw today in the baptism of these two young men.

He who has ears, let him hear.  For faith comes by hearing, hearing the word of Christ. And the Word of Christ is this: that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.  He is the propitiation, the atoning sacrificed. He is just and the justifier of all who believe in Him.  For His sake, your sins are forgiven. We celebrate the Reformation in a spirit of grateful humility that God still allows His good news of forgiveness to be preached to us and heard, and we ask that He would preserve His Church on earth for the sake of Christ so that many more might hear the pure doctrine that God forgives sinners all by grace through faith in Jesus, all while praying that He keep us in the same.

Trinity 18 2019

Deuteronomy 10:12-21; Matthew 22:34-46

October 20, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

            Our Old Testament reading begins and ends with the command to fear the Lord your God. To most people today fear is not a positive emotion.  Yet when reading the Bible, it is often seen in a positive light.  So which is it?  Well, it’s really not as complicated as it may seem.  The nature of fear depends on the object of that fear. When we fear something that is evil and powerful, our reaction is all too familiar. Adrenaline spikes, fight of flight response kicks in. But when you fear someone who you know has your best interest at heart, someone who loves you, that kind of fear becomes altogether different. It becomes reverence and awe, it makes you want to follow that thing.

            And so it is with the first commandment to have no other God’s can be summarized that we are to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.  This fear, awe, and reverence arises out of an awareness of our sin and guilt, our own unholiness in the presence of the holy God but which is relieved by the good news of forgiveness. The fear of God is to be united with the love of God; for love without fear makes men remiss, and fear without love makes them servile and desperate (Johann Gerhard).  This fear of God awakens love, the fruit of which is revealed in serving God with all the heart and soul.

The people of Israel are about to enter the promised land, and God gives them two instructions through Moses.  They are to circumcise their hearts.  Circumcision was a physical act, performed as a sign of the Savior’s covenant on every Jewish boy when he was 8 days old. But Moses explained that beyond the physical, to what it actual means.  An uncircumcised heart was one that was hardened against God’s grace. And so the Lord breaks through such hardness.  St. Paul says in Romans 2 that true circumcision is not one of the flesh, but that of heart. God’s people are made, covenant established, fear, love and trust implanted.

Second, they are to love the sojourner, your neighbor. God wants His people to love the weak, the powerless, and the stranger as evidence of a circumcised heart. The people of God are to love others because they have been loved by God. We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). In order to love others, you must first know what true love actually is. What we hear in Deuteronomy is that a vital relationship with God which is worked out in terms of responsibilities toward our neighbors. Without the true circumcision of the heart, which is to say, Baptism, true fear of God and love for God and for the neighbor is impossible.

These two things point to the summary of the whole 10 commandments: to love for God and love for one’s neighbor. Together, these two are what God’s requires of us, as Jesus clearly saw in His response to the Pharisee who asked Him which is the greatest commandment.

But how is it that the Pharisee was so hung up on keeping the law perfectly and yet missed the whole point? Luther once remarked that the Law can show you the way to go, but can’t give your legs the strength to get there. Only the Gospel can do that.  The law way of thinking hangs on in every person’s heart. It prefers deeds over creeds, works over faith, and leads us to try to take at some credit for our salvation.  By nature we find it more reasonable to believe that we must do something to be saved rather than to believe the good news that God in Christ has already done everything that needed to be done to save us. The Pharisee asks a Law question and gets a Law answer. But Jesus does not leave us with the Law, but with His Gospel. He leaves us with what He does, with Himself.

And that is why we are here. We don’t comes to church because He commands it, we hear His words as Gospel words, not as if God is putting a whip to our back.  Not because God will be angry with us if we don’t. But He will be disappointed if He can’t be giving out His gifts. That’s what He loves to do most of all.  And if you won’t be dealt with in that way, then He will deal with you in the other way, the way you actually deserve.  If you reject the Gospel way, then the Lord will give you the Law way. 

What is required of you is to be served by Christ. For He is the one who loves the Lord with all His heart, soul, mind, and strength and who loves His neighbor as Himself.  What is required is to receive the benefits of Christ fulfilling the Law, of His circumcision of your heart in the waters of Baptism, and of His perfect love for you. God does not ask of you what He Himself does not do in Christ. Christ comes not to make the Law easier or doable or to get rid of the requirements. He comes to fulfill the Law, to meet the requirements of a perfect fear, love, and trust. He meets the requirements of a perfect life and He takes the punishment of your failure upon Himself at the cross.  He rises again so that you might receive Him . You do not have to justify yourself, your works, or your lack thereof, for God declares you righteous for Christ’s sake by grace. As all that we are and have is a gracious gift of God, all that we have to offer Him is the sacrifice of thanksgiving.

What is the message that we want to get out to the world?  “What must I do to be saved?” You have to do all these things, work hard, try hard, and God will appreciate your effort.  Is it “be afraid! God will send you to hell if don’t do these works, be this good, act this way.  Is it come with me, we have the best coffee around? The best youth group? Your kids will have the best time playing with others. But let me ask you this? What do all these things have in common?  Or better yet, who do all these things have in common?  ME! And this is the point of the matter.  It’s not about you, it’s about Jesus.  What is required is Jesus. What about come with me, we don’t have all the gimmicks and programs and productions and distractions.  Here is the Lord God, kneeling down from heaven to give you His victory over sin, death, and the devil.  Come with me. Here is Christ Himself, baptizing you in His crucifixion and eternal life. Here is Christ Himself feeding you with His body and His blood. 

Fear the Lord, you His saints.  Hold fast to Him, for He is your God, and by His name He has given to you, you will swear, you will live, and you will love, even the name of Jesus, who with the Father and Holy Spirit, are one God now and forever. Amen.

Trinity 17 2019

Ephesians 4:1-6

October 13, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

There is some discord in our country. It sure would be nice to say that it wasn’t so in the Church, but we all know better as well.  Divisions in the church, which should not be, are here. We have church after church, denominations abound.  Yet, we still confess in the Creed that we believe in “one holy, Christian and apostolic Church.” In the original words, the Creed speaks of the church as Catholic, meaning “universal”, those throughout all time and throughout the world who believe and confess in Jesus Christ. The church is one – the only community in which there is salvation, for it is the gathering of all who believe in Jesus, who comes to His people in His Word and Sacraments.

The unity of the Church is a fact. St. Paul doesn’t say there ought to be unity, but that there is.  The unity of Christ’s church isn’t based on us, it is based on Christ.  Our efforts do not create the Church, nor sustain the Church.  We don’t gather together each Sunday as like minded individuals who share the same beliefs and values, rather we are called, gathered, enlightened, sanctified, and kept with Christ in the one truth faith by the Holy Spirit. As Christians we ought to share the goals of the faithful confession of the truth of Divine doctrine, of God’s Word, consensus in that truth, and peace in the Church; in that order. There can be no peace where there is no consensus in doctrine. And there is no true consensus in doctrine unless all believe, teach, and confess the same thing, that is the true faith of Christ.

St. Paul gives seven bases of and for this unity: one body, one Spirit, one hope, one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. As we are all members of one mystical body and have one divine Spirit, as well have one hope in our common eternal home, one Lord and Master whom we serve, one saving truth on which we live; as we all had the same baptismal water poured on us and the same cross impressed upon our heads and hearts; as we are all children of one Father, who is watching over us all, we must cultivate every grace of humility toward those who are so united with us in Christ. 

In this way, St. Paul shows and teaches what the true Christian Church is and how we are to recognize it. Namely, that there is not more than one Church or people of God on earth, which has the same faith, Baptism, the same confession of God the Father and of Christ, to which they hold and remain.

Let me be clear though. I am not saying that only Lutherans go to heaven.  What I am saying is that “the Church is the congregation of saints in which the Gospel is purely taught and the Sacraments are correctly administered.  For the true unity of the church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments” (AC VII). These are the marks of the true church on earth.  And this Church alone is called Christ’s body, which Christ renews, sanctifies, and governs by His Spirit (Ap VII). Whoever wants to be saved must be found in this Church and incorporated into it. Outside of the Church, which is only to say outside of Christ, there is no salvation. Because it is only in the Church where the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation is delivered to sinners by means of Absolution and the Sacraments.

As a Christian, our highest duty is “to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called…”  The unity of the church can only be realized in the bond of peace as we bear with one another in love, with all humility and gentleness.  We must guard ourselves against spiritual arrogance and not deem ourselves worthy to sit with Christ in and of ourselves. We cannot rely upon our own works, our own wisdom, our own efforts to create or maintain the unity. Jesus never demands something of us that He does not first do for us.  Elsewhere, St. Paul explains a little more, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is your in Christ Jesus, who, though He was in the image of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Phil 2:5-11).

Jesus now works in the believer for the sake of the Church’s unity.  We should pray for our fellow Christians and work with them whenever possible to advance the Gospel. We should seek to prevent and heal sinful divisions when are where we can.  We should lament disunity and engage in conversation based on God’s Word with the sincere hope that we can be reconciled. We should ask God to heal the divisions that exist.

It is not honest, nor safe, nor good therefore to pretend or act as if divisions don’t matter. “For there must be factions among you in order that those who are genuine among you may be recognized” (1 Cor 11:19). These divisions, while sad, make clear who was following the Word of God and who is not. It is a grave sin to cause, foster, or rejoice in divisions within the church, for it is a sin against Christ Himself.  What God has joined together, let not man separate. To cut the body of Christ apart is not to make two bodies any more than the sword of Solomon could make two children out of one.  But it does hurt the body, it grieves the Lord, and it is sin. We are called to unity, a unity based on Christ and His Word. At the same time, we can’t pretend that differences and divisions don’t exist and don’t matter, and we should not give a false witness of unity where unity on the Word doesn’t exist.

Therefore, this unity of the Church exists, is found in, is strengthened by, is dependent upon Christ and Christ alone. 

LWML Sunday 2019

Luke 17:6

Adapted from a sermon by Rev. Dr. Dean Nadasdy, President Emeritus LCMS Minnesota South District

October 6, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

We hear a lot of talk these days about how difficult it is to be a Christian. The world has changed. The nation has changed. Increasingly, people are walking away from the church or choosing never to affiliate because we are seen as irrelevant, judgmental, or hypocritical. The more secularized we become as a nation, we’re told, the less impact we Christians seem to have. So it is in the post Christian world. It is no longer safe to assume that everyone knows about Jesus, much less has some sort of faith in Him.

All this talk about the challenges of living in “a post-Christian world” can lead to timid, fearful, even doubtful disciples of Jesus Christ. Truthfully, our world is not that different from the world of Jesus’ first disciples. Their world has been described as a pre-Christian world in which people did not know Jesus or His teachings or His mission.

Consider Jesus and His disciples in Luke 17. Jesus was constantly teaching about everyday values and practices. Here He tells His disciples that they would need to forgive others, even if they had been wronged, seven times in a single day. He wasn’t talking about some institutional health here but a way of life. He was referring to the simple but challenging act of confronting another with their sin and voicing forgiveness. This is the stuff of everyday relationships. But it’s so out there, the world notices. Brother of a man killed, forgiving the policewoman who did shot him, after her trial was just in the news.

It is hard to confront, though, isn’t it? And it is hard to forgive. The roots of bitterness run deep and last long, like tree roots — like mulberry tree roots, stubborn and strong. No wonder the disciples responded to Jesus’ challenge to forgive with the words, “Increase our faith” (Luke 17:5). They could have said, “Good Lord! You expect us to forgive like that and that often? Now that’s challenging! We need greater faith for that! Give us greater faith, Lord!”                                                                                                          

It was one of those teaching moments. So when His disciples said, “Increase our faith!” Jesus did not say, “Sure! May you have greater faith!” What He did say was, “If you had faith like a grain of mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.”

Jesus doesn’t explain His response. Luke, who records Jesus’ words, doesn’t interpret them either. You have to admit, it’s quite an image, though. With just a little faith, Jesus is saying —  faith as small as a mustard seed, the faith you have right now — you can uproot a thirty-foot mulberry tree and plant it at the bottom of the sea. I can imagine a Christian saying to a mulberry tree, “Pull up your roots and head for the ocean, tree! You will be the first mulberry tree successfully transplanted to the ocean floor!” Then we see, of all things, this mulberry tree flying off to its new surroundings, 4000 feet below sea level!

So what is Jesus saying here? For one thing He is saying that it is not helpful to quantify our faith. Jesus’ disciples were doing that with their request, “Increase our faith!” In other words, “Jesus, give us more faith, heroic faith, enough faith to do the hard thing in hard times.” Jesus’ response says that it is not helpful to make faith a quantifiable possession. We say that, don’t we? “If only I had enough faith!” “If I could just believe enough!” Or, negatively, we say, “I guess I just don’t have enough faith!” Notice how the weight of those statements is on us. Can we believe enough? Can we trust enough? Do we have enough faith to make things happen?

So if faith is not to be quantified, how do we understand Jesus’ words, “faith like a grain of mustard seed”? It’s not the size of faith that truly matters, but who faith is in – Jesus Christ. So when we pray, “increase our faith” we are praying, “Jesus, grant me to hold onto You more and more.” It is simple trust in Him, a trust that abides in Him, depends on Him, and lives every day in Him. It is only in Christ that we move mulberry trees, even the deep ones like bitterness or a lack of forgiveness. That is possible only as Christ lives in us.

So “faith like a grain of mustard seed” says that you can forgive not so much because you have enough faith to do it but rather because but because of Jesus. “Faith like a grain of mustard seed” says you already have what you need to live your Christian life and witness: You have Christ, or better, Christ has you! The One who came and died for you, the One who broke through death and came to life for you, the One who called you in Baptism and made you His own — He makes seemingly impossible things possible.

So, in Christ, you can confront the person who has wronged you, and offer forgiveness. You do the hard thing and share your faith with your neighbor. You make time to pack food for the hungry when you thought you were too busy. You drop a quarter in an LWML mite box, believing it will make a difference. You hold the hand of a neighbor in the hospital, maybe not your favorite neighbor. You phone a friend who has become distant.

Today is LWML Sunday. The Lutheran Women’s Missionary League has always lived by mustard seed faith. Little gifts, mites, combined across our synod, make big things happen in mission across the world. Christ has been moving mulberry trees through the LWML since 1942. What a model they are for Christian discipleship! If our congregations are the soul of the LCMS; if our pastors, workers, and missionaries are the beautiful feet of the LCMS; if our seminaries and universities are the mind of the LCMS; if Lutheran Hour Ministries is the voice of the LCMS; then the LWML is the heart of the LCMS. The women of our church have taught us what it means to move mulberry trees with just a little faith – to hold onto Jesus.

May that be our attitude the next time we say that it is difficult to follow Christ. What appears to be hard, and even impossible, may be just the thing we need to do as we live with Christ day-in-day-out. And because Christ abides with you, the difficult thing can be done with joy. It may not be easy, but it is possible in Christ. May it be said of us, “Those were the days when Christians moved mulberry trees, all because of Jesus!” Amen. 

St. Michael and All Angels 2019

Revelation 12:7-12; Matthew 18:10

September 29, 2019

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

In today’s Gospel reading from Matthew 18, we hear how Christ commemorates the angels, for the sake of which, we remember and celebrate the feast of St. Michael and All Angels today.  We do this for the purpose of a right understanding of angels.  It’s important, it’s beneficial, it’s comforting for us to know these things concerning their office, their work, their essence and how we ought to consider them.  If we lose this, if people don’t know the purpose for which they were created by God, then things become easily confused.  

True knowledge about angels should remain among Christians. Knowing the duty and the activity of the good angels leads us to thank and praise God for the reasons that God created them.  Likewise, knowing of evil angels, of demons, of Satan and those who followed him in rebellion against God, leads us to trust in Christ and His victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil.

In our day, it seems as though angels are largely treated as something just for children; children’s stories, children’s prayers, cartoon caricatures. That’s many how misunderstand today’s Gospel reading.  Angels are for children, if not real children than those who are child-like in intellect, vulnerability, or spiritual development.  Angels are for those who childishly believe that some greater force exists, some higher being that lovingly designs our destinies, or keeps them from going too badly awry.

Or to another extreme, some people become practically obsessed with them, seeing angels at every corner, influencing the world in a way that only the most spiritually attuned are able to see.  Seeing angels in such a way even misunderstands what the word “angel” means.  Angel means “messenger.”  Angels aren’t heavenly ninjas sneaking around.  In Scripture, the vast majority of the time, God gives His angels no weapons.  Angels have no powers or sophisticated tactics.  They are messengers, mouthpieces, spiritual beings who repeat what the Lord says back to Him in prayer, praise, and thanks. They also speak against the Devil, which means “accuser,” defying that fallen and irredeemable liar, to defend and protect of the children of God with the truth of God’s Word.  That’s what angels do.  They speak the Word of God.  The Word is their weapon.

Consider our reading this morning from the book of Revelation.  War breaks out in heaven.  Michael and his angels fight with Satan, and against other angels who followed this dragon.  And what are the weapons of this war in the heavens?  They are words.  Satan and his demons fight by using words of deception, lies, and untruths. Michael fights by speaking the Truth.  

But Michael doesn’t just happen to speak what is true, He also speaks the Truth who is the very Word, the Lamb of God shed His blood upon the cross and raised from the dead.  “And they [Michael and his angels] conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony” (Revelation 12:11). That’s where the picture by Raphael on our bulletin cover gets it wrong.  He doesn’t jab Satan with a spear, but with the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.  Remember, angels serve God by being His messengers. Angels speak God’s words. That’s what we see in Revelation as words fly back and forth in that war between good and evil, between demonic and angelic forces, between Satan and the angel Michael.  Words are their weapons of war. By this Word, St. Michael and the angels overcome the lies and the and misleading words of the Devil. This Truth that Michael speaks is united to the One who is the Truth, Jesus Christ.  And it’s that Truth--joined to the One who is the Truth--that undoes the lies of the father of lies, the Devil.  By this Word, who is Truth in the flesh, the accuser is overcome.

The Word and the blood of the Lamb are your weapons of war.  When you eat and drink the body and blood of Christ at the Lord’s Table, Christ’s victory over sin, death, and the devil is delivered to you.  When you hear the Word of Christ, read the Bible, sing the hymns, pray God’s Word, you engage the enemies of Christ not just any words, but the Word of Christ, the Word of the Gospel.  Hidden in this Word is the power of God. It is not the sounds that you make, the Word of God empowered by His Spirit, spoken in faith.  It is this Word that created the heavens and the earth and all that dwell in them, including the angels. It is this Word that declares you righteous and holy and justified in God’s sight, and an heir of God’s eternal kingdom. It is this Word that drives back the devil, as we sing in the great battle hymn of the Reformation, A Mighty Fortress,

That is the Word of Christ. But every time you resist temptation, say your prayers, serve your neighbor, read your Bible, come to Church, you hear and you speak the angelic message, which is nothing but the Word of God, the devil and his demons are beaten back. Last week, we saw 4 people baptized, and then heard 20 new members of our congregation together stand up here and renounce the devil and all his works and all his ways, not by their own strength, but with the Word of God, with His grace and His help.

And the Lord of the heavenly hosts sends His holy angels to fight at your side. They are to care for you and to watch. They are not merely messengers and protectors and warriors. They are also watchers. They rejoice over one sinner who repents, over one child who is made clean. They also watch the face of the Father for they are Holy. They belong to Him. He loves them and they love Him.  That is why they watch you. The Holy Angels love to watch the people of God being loved by God.

The devil cannot stand this.  The Devil’s lies and deceptions war against the Word of Truth.  His twisted words attempt to give birth to doubt fighting the Word of Christ that gives birth to faith.  Where the angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven, the devil no longer does.  He is cast out. The accuser has nothing on you, for your sins are forgiven. They are gone. By His Word, He has already declared you righteous and holy washed clean by the blood of the Lamb. And it is that Word, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit connecting words to the Word, who gives and keeps you in eternal life; that strengthens and delivers you from every evil. So today, let us remember St. Michael and the holy angels, doing so giving thanks to God for His messengers, and most importantly by hearing in faith the angelic message, the Word of Truth, who is Jesus the Christ, who has come to save you.  Amen.