The Congregation at Prayer

For the Week of Pentecost 6 (July 13-18, 2009)

Invocation: In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.


Speak the Apostles’ Creed.


Verse: Ephesians 2:13 – “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”



Hymn of the Week: Lutheran Service Book #644 “The Church’s One Foundation”
Hymns for next Sunday: 578, 601, 644, 637, 710, 687, 922




Readings for the Week: [The readings for Thursday - Saturday are for this coming Sunday.]

Monday: Psalm 23
List all that the Good Shepherd does for you in this psalm!

Tuesday: 1 Kings 19:11-21
How did God provide for a downcast Elijah? Think about ways that God also for you in your need.

Wednesday: Luke 5:1-11
Why did the enormity of his sin overwhelm Peter? What did Jesus say to him? Why?

Thursday: Jeremiah 23:1-6
Why was God mad at His shepherds? What did He promise?

Friday: Ephesians 2:11-22
How does God make us “one in Christ?” Who is this promise for? Why?

Saturday: Mark 6:30-44
How did Jesus have compassion on the people? What did He do? How does He have compassion on us? What does He do?



The Catechism: The Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise or anger our parents and other authorities, but honor, serve and obey them, love and cherish them.


The Prayers: Please pray for . . .
+ yourself and for all in need (remembering especially those on our prayer list).
+ God’s blessing, wisdom, and guidance for our congregational financial secretary, Chris Rhondeau.
+ God to strengthen your faith and open your eyes to His hand at work around you.
+ all effected by severe weather, that the Lord sustain and provide for them.
+ the Lutheran Church in Brazil, for provision, protection, faithfulness, and growth.
Conclude with the Lord’s Prayer and Luther’s Morning or Evening Prayer from the Catechism.

Now joyfully go about your day (or to bed) in good cheer, child of God!

Pentecost 6 Sermon

Jesu Juva

“The Freedom of a Christian”
Text: Mark 6:14-29

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

In the Holy Gospel that we heard today, who was in prison?

You will probably tell me John. John the Baptist. And you would not be wrong. King Herod had John seized and bound and thrown into his dungeon.

But now, think some more; think a little deeper. In the Holy Gospel that we heard today, who was in prison?

The answer is: those to whom John preached. For Herod, Herodias, and Herodias’ daughter Salome, were all in the prison house of sin and death. John’s prison was a physical prison that would last only for a time, but the house of Herod was in a spiritual prison that if not stormed and broken down, would last for eternity.

And so John preaches to them, both before he is thrown into prison, and after he is thrown into prison. They are his neighbors, who need his love, who need his preaching, who need his care. They are his neighbors, even after they do him wrong. They are his neighbors, even though they do not consider him as one.

And so John preaches to them, that even as he sits in darkness and chains, they might be set free from their captivity to sin. John preaches to them because, in reality, he is the one who is free. Free in Christ to love and serve. Free in Christ, no matter what the outward situation. Free in Christ to lay down his life for others.

And for his efforts, John is beheaded. And not just beheaded, but made a spectacle of, as his head is put on a platter and given as a bloody gift. But this is not to his shame but to his glory - he is counted worthy of suffering for the name of Jesus Christ.

Which now brings us to you. For you know both these prisons - the prison of sin, and the prison of suffering.

You know the prison of sin, for the truth is that you and your house are not so different from the house of Herod. You know the weight of the chains of sin from which you cannot set yourselves free. You know the darkness of the evil that lurks in your heart. You know the shame of that which seeks to hold you in its captivity. Like the house of Herod, you may look free on the outside, but inside, it’s quite another story, isn’t it?

For what is it with you? What sins have enslaved you? Perhaps they are sins like those of Salome, Herodias’ daughter - those sins you have done for pleasure and delight, but of which now you are ashamed. Perhaps they are sins like those of Herodias, Herod’s illegitimate wife - those sins you have done because of grudges and hatred and anger and revenge. Or perhaps they are sins like those of Herod himself - sins you have done because you wanted what was not yours, or sins you have done because you have feared looking bad in front of your friends more than you have feared looking bad in the eyes of God. And what other sins, for what other reasons?

You know the prison of suffering as well - suffering perhaps even for doing good, like John. Suffering because you have faithfully fulfilled a God-given vocation, like John, but your good was met with hardship, pain, and difficulty. And maybe those God-given vocations of parent or child, boss or worker, student or teacher, friend or neighbor now even feel like prisons themselves. Like great chains weighing you down. Chains from which you would like to be set free. Chains of obligations and commitments and responsibilities, where the good that you would do is met only with ingratitude and even scorn. And all the future looks to hold is more of the same. More demands, more languishing; less joy, less freedom; unfairly treated, unappreciated, and overlooked. Maybe it will even be your head next on the chopping block . . .

But whether your chains come from your own self-seeking sins or from the self-indulgent sins of others - or both - you have hope. Hope, for the One to whom John pointed, the One of whom He preached, has come. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The One who came to fulfill all righteousness. The One who came not to be served, but to serve you, and to give His life to set you free. To set you free from your chains of sin and from your chains of suffering. To give you the freedom of a child of God. Freedom from sin, not freedom for sin. Freedom to serve, not freedom from serving. And the freedom to live, even now - no matter what obstacles stand in your way, no matter what dungeons surround you - knowing that you are not alone, not forgotten, and that your suffering is not in vain.

For the One to whom John pointed, the One of whom He preached, has come. The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world has come, for you. To take the sins that you inflict on others, and to take the sins that others inflict on you. To take the sins of your past, and to take the sins of your future. To take the sins that rob you of life, and to take the sins you think you need to give you life. To take all the sins that weigh you down and imprison you and be the bloody gift that sets you free. For He takes the judgment of sin in your place on the cross. He feels the sting of death and is laid in the grave in your place. He enters the prison house of sin and death with you, for you. That in His resurrection, not only He be free, but you be set free.

And so when Jesus burst the bonds of the grave on the Easter morning, it was as if a whole army came with Him. A whole army of people from every nation, tribe, people, and language set free. Free from sin, free from death, free to now live - to live like our first parents, who did not know sin or death, but only life.

That is the life that has been given to you - the life into which you have been baptized. A life where the judgment of sin and the fear of death have been put away and where the sins of others cannot keep you down because of the power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. A resurrection which is not just a future hope, but a present reality that you get to live now. A present reality every time you hear His Word of forgiveness. A present reality every time you receive the gift of His body and blood. A present reality every time you lay down your life for others, in the sure and certain hope that you cannot give more than Christ has given to you. For the water and blood that flowed from His side are a never-ending banquet feast for you and me - a banquet where the devil does not dance, but where the angels sing, and a whole kingdom is given to you and me. The kingdom of God given to sons and daughters of God. Sons and daughters born of water and the Spirit.

That is the faith that enabled John to preach and serve his neighbor in prison or out of prison. No matter his outward situation, he was free in Christ Jesus.

And that is the faith that now enables you to live, in your God-given stations, whether in prison or out of prison, in suffering or in joy. For no matter your outward situation, you are free in Christ Jesus.

For quite frankly, sometimes, when you stick your neck out for others, your head’s gonna get chopped off! A bloody gift to your neighbor. And if it does, what will you do? Retreat into your shell and into a prison of fear? Or in the forgiveness, love, and life of Christ, be raised to live another day? Another day of freedom. Another day of resurrection. And whether you are counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ Jesus, or spared from such suffering, thanks be to God! Thanks be to God that no matter what comes your way, you are safe in the ark of the body of Christ Jesus.

So today, John is calling you to repentance and to faith. And today, Jesus is calling you to His Table of forgiveness, life, and salvation. So come now, child of God, and live. And then go, child of God, and live. In freedom. For the Son has set you free. And if the Son sets you free - no matter where you are or what you are - you are free. Free indeed!

In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

(Thanks to Rev. Erik Rottmann and Rev. Dr. Rick Stuckwisch for some of the thoughts, words, and inspiration for this sermon.)

Pentecost 5 Sermon

Jesu Juva

“Powerful Weakness”
Text: Mark 6:1-13; 2 Corinthians 12:1-10; Ezekiel 2:1-5

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

St. Paul tells us today: “Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this.” But he never tells us what the “this” is. He calls it “a thorn in the flesh;” a “messenger of satan.” It is clearly something quite difficult in his life; something that he struggled with and which tormented him. But he never identifies it, which I think is a good thing. For although there has been much speculation about what it might be that Paul was talking about here, if we knew what it was I think we’d immediately begin to analyze it, try to calculate it and its impact, and then compare it with what we ourselves are going through in life and try to measure whose affliction is greater. In short, we’d put the focus on Paul and on ourselves, which is not where the focus belongs. That’s not why Paul wrote that here. He did so to put the focus on Christ.

And so that we might keep that focus on Christ and not put it on ourselves, Paul not only does not tell us what the “this” is - what he struggles with, what torments him - he then says this astonishing thing: God’s power is made perfect in weakness.

Now that’s a phrase that’s tossed around quite a lot - perhaps sometimes a bit too carelessly and thoughtlessly. It is what we call an oxymoron - two words, side-by-side (or nearly so), that are opposites. Which is the case with power and weakness. In our world, they don’t go together. You are either one or the other. You can’t be both. So when Paul here puts power and weakness together, he is doing so to draw our eyes away from the things of this world, away from the realm of what we know, away from what we think is possible or impossible, and fixing our eyes on Jesus. On Jesus, the one in whom power and weakness do, in fact, go together. The one who was both. For He is in one person both God and man.

This oxymoron is why Jesus was rejected in His hometown, as Mark told us today. It wasn’t the first time. When He had gone home before, His family thought He was out of His mind (Mark 3:21). Because they knew Him! (Or so they thought.) They knew Him when He was young, and growing up, going to the synagogue and working with His father. And so they could not believe what they were seeing and hearing.

For, they thought, the hands of Jesus were carpenter’s hands, not God’s hands - and carpenter’s hands shape wood, they don’t heal people. And, they thought, the mouth of Jesus was a carpenter’s mouth, not God’s mouth - and carpenter’s mouths don’t utter the wisdom that He did. And, they thought, Jesus was an ordinary man from an ordinary family - and their weakness of faith and strength of unbelief would not let them even believe that a prophet was among them, let alone that God was standing before them. The God who was so strong that He became weak. That He became a man.

This weakness is also why you are sometimes rejected - rejected by the world, and perhaps even by yourself. For what you and others see and feel may belie the reality of God and His Word. And so maybe you have been told and maybe you feel that if you were really a Christian then you would not be the kind of person you are - you’d be better. Or, that if you really believed you would not despair and have doubts - your faith would be stronger. Or, that if you really belonged to Christ, the problems and difficulties you now face would not be so.

But is that not putting the focus on us and not on Christ? Turning us in on ourselves, and thinking that the evidence says that God is not working . . . or will not work . . . or cannot work. This is reading ourselves and determining truth based upon our own thoughts and feelings and experiences, instead of upon God what God has told us is true in His Word. That’s why the folks in Jesus’ hometown would not believe and took offense. It is why we sometimes doubt and disbelieve and take offense. And of that they needed to repent. And so do you and I.

Because while power and weakness do not go together for the children of men, they do for the Son of God. The Son of God who is rich, yet for your sake became poor. The Son of God who is strong, yet for your sake became weak. The Son of God who is the Lord of life, yet for your sake died your death, that You might have a share in His resurrection. That your sins be forgiven, your death overcome, and your enemy, the devil, be vanquished. That as in Christ, so in you - that God’s power be perfect in weakness.

For the truth is that when Jesus was the weakest, He was also the strongest. For while on the cross, weak and dying, He was bearing all the sin of the world, battling the forces of evil, and feeling the crushing weight of death. He was enduring all the wrath of God against sin and making atonement for sin as THE Lamb of God. He was both priest and sacrifice as He offered Himself as a sin offering for us. And on the cross He was loving, caring, and forgiving, showing the power of His mercy and compassion for you and me and all people. No mightier work was done by His hands than this, even while they were attached to the cross by nails made by His own creatures, and hammered home by fallen hearts. Like Paul, Jesus prayed three times in Gethsemane that His Father take this cup from Him. And like with Paul, the answer was no. The cup and the thorn would remain, that in that weakness, God might unleash His power against sin and death and devil, that you and me and all people might be saved.

And as God sent His Son, so also (we heard) did He send His prophets and apostles - in weakness. Taking with them nothing but the Word of God. Yet see how powerful they are in that weakness. The apostles proclaimed repentance, and that Word cut through hardened, sinful hearts, producing repentance and giving forgiveness. They healed many who were sick and cast out many demons with the authority Jesus had given them. Because with God, weakness and power DO go together.

And so it is also with you. For you too are sent out into this world - not as prophets and apostles - but in all of your vocations. And you are sent out weak - armed with only the Word and forgiveness of our Lord. To forgive, to love, to care, to be weak and humble in service to others. Which is often times very hard, isn’t it? Cross hard. And maybe when it is so hard, we think of these words that we’re considering today, and think: But yes, when I am weak, then God will make me strong! Because we want to be strong, not weak.

But be careful! That’s not what the Word says.

St. Paul tells us today that God’s power is made perfect IN weakness. That exactly WHEN I am weak, then I am strong. And so you will not stop being weak in order to be strong. Rather, remember - that with God, power and weakness are not opposites. Your weakness will BE His strength.

Your weakness which drives you to pray prayers that have a power you cannot even begin to image.

Your weakness which drives you to repent and receive a forgiveness that takes away all your sin.

Your weakness which drives you to the Word of God to read and hear not an empty word, but a Word filled with power for it is filled with the Spirit. The same Spirit that created all things in the beginning, and who re-created you in Holy Baptism.

Your weakness which drives you to the altar, to open your weak and dying mouth to eat the Bread of Life and to drink the blood that was poured out for you for the forgiveness of your sins.

Your weakness which drives you to cling to His life - the life of Jesus, which He has come to give to you and me. Life to the dead; life to the sinful; life to the despairing; life to the hopeless; life to the outcast; life to the struggling and doubting; life to all.

When face-to-face with this life, the people in Jesus’ hometown that day were amazed! How could Jesus do such great things? Many today ask the same question - even us, when our weaknesses seem to keep getting the better of us. Yet Jesus has shown us - once and for all - that in weakness He does His greatest work, His saving work, in helpless and weak babies, in children, and in men and women of all ages. For in Jesus, power and weakness do go together. That living we die, and dying we live. This - not riches, fame, health, or ease - this is our Saviour’s glorious work. His work, for you, for ever.

In the Name of the Father and of the (+) Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Pentecost 3 and 4

No sermon by Pastor Douthwaite to post for two weeks as we enjoy guest preachers. Check back on the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost for more sermons.

Pentecost 2 Sermon

Jesu Juva

“Rest in His Promise”
Text: Ezekiel 17:22-24; 2 Corinthians 5:1-17; Mark 4:26-34

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

St. Paul wanted to leave this world. Life wasn’t easy for him, and the thought of leaving all this pain and trouble behind sure sounded good. He was tired of the opposition, the persecution, of being in prison. Yes, even the man most people call the greatest missionary of all time, was at times frustrated and disappointed. And like many of the patriarchs and prophets who came before him, he looked to God and to heaven and thought that looked pretty good, compared to what he was going through here.

You know what he meant. You have probably felt the same way, at some point, maybe even now. You look around at all that is going on in the world, you look around at all that is going on in your life, you look around at all that is going on in the church - all the fighting, all the problems, all the pain and trouble - and the thought of leaving all this behind sure sounds good. Its tempting, isn’t it?

Yes, tempting is exactly what it is. A temptation from the devil, dressed in pious white wishes. For while you may think that wanting to leave this world and go to heaven shows your faith, in reality it doesn’t so much show your faith as much as it reveals your doubt - your doubt about what God is doing now, even in the midst of frustration and disappointment. Uncertainty about His promises and care. Questions about what He is doing in you and through you. We must be careful what we wish for. Our wishes are not always good. But God and His promises are.

That’s why St. Paul, after talking about his groaning and longing then says: we are of good courage. Courage born of faith in the promises of God. That though we are tired, though we are weak, though we are frustrated and disappointed, none of those things nullify the promises of God. And so not to what we see, but to those promises, we cling. Those promises which give us the courage and strength to go on. Or as someone once said: “Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.””

One of those promises is contained in the parables told by Jesus today. Jesus didn’t use the word “promise” in those verses, but the promise is there. And the promise is this: that the Word of God, scattered as seed on the ground, will grow. Though we may not see it, or know how, and it may take longer than we want, it will grow. And even the smallest seed of God’s Word can grow into the largest and strongest of trees. The seed that has been sown into your heart, and the seed that is scattered through your mouths, carries with it this promise.

And if you need an example of this, look no farther than Jesus Himself. Was there ever a smaller seed planted in this world than He? Planted in a young virgin who nobody knew or cared about, who lived in a backwater town, who lived and grew up as a carpenter’s son, and who even when He began His public ministry didn’t seem to be very successful. His twelve closest followers were not very educated or steadfast, the religious establishment was against Him, and for all His efforts He just wound up on the wrong side of the Roman government and so hung up on a cross. And yet from such a small beginning, the Church has grown to survive threat and persecution and our own sinful stupidity, and envelope the world! Just as Jesus said, the tree of the cross has become the largest of trees, and people from every nation, race, and language have made their home in its shade.

Now, I know what you’re thinking . . . that’s Jesus! Of course He grew and what He did grew! But, O Christian, do you not know that it is the same Jesus working now? The Word of God made flesh and planted in Bethlehem is the same Word of God which now comes and is planted in you in Holy Baptism. The same Spirit that descended on Jesus at His baptism descended on you at your baptism. And so the Word of God is growing in you. It may be small, it may be slow, you may not even feel it or realize it - but it is growing. Growing and producing the fruits of faith in your life. Yes, it’s Jesus! And just as sure and inevitable as His death and resurrection for you, is now His death and resurrection in you. Or as St. Paul put it: “We regard no one according to the flesh” - that is, according to outward appearance; which includes how you regard yourself. For “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away [death]; behold, the new has come [resurrection].” So, perhaps we could say, that as much as you may want to leave this life and go to heaven, you have something even better: for in Jesus, heaven has come down to you!

Now, the devil does not want you to know that, of course, and so is constantly seeking to blind you to the work of God in the world and in you; to blind you to His Word and promises; to blind you so that he can lead you into despair. To think that you are useless and no good, and that there is nothing you can do. You are too weak and doubt-filled and sorry.

But you know what? He’s been whispering that same lie into the ears of Christians for thousands of years. To Moses and Abraham, to Elijah and Jeremiah, to Paul and Luther. And in a sense, he’s right. The kernel of truth to his lie is that yes, on our own, we can do nothing. Quite right. But we are not on our own. The Word of God which has been given to you and is working in you and through you is powerful and active and living and growing. And it is not dependent upon you and your eloquence and abilities - but on the One whose Word it is. On the One who inhabits that Word and promised to be in that Word. Our Saviour, who is working that all may come to the knowledge of the truth and be saved.

We heard that assurance and promise from God through the prophet Ezekiel this morning as well. He, too, spoke of the great tree that God would plant and grow - which we have already said is Christ and His cross and His Church. And then these words of promise at the end: “I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

Armed with that promise: “I will do it”, we have the courage to face each day. To rest in the shadow of the cross. Rest, which does not mean doing nothing! But living the lives and callings our gracious Father has given to us in the confidence and trust that He is working through us. In ways seen and unseen. In ways both big and small. You need not worry or despair when you have His promise.

And armed with that promise, the love of Christ [then] controls us. Which is good news! For with those words, Paul is not burdening you, telling you: Make sure the love of Christ controls you! No, he is telling you a reality - a reality anchored in the death and resurrection of Jesus. For what is the love of Christ? It is the love that caused Him to come down from heaven and to live and die for you, and the love that causes Him still to come down from heaven and to feed you here with His body and blood, to forgive your sins, and to strengthen your faith. That love given to you is the love that now controls you; the love that causes you to get up and go out each day to live and die for others. To serve them in your callings. To scatter the seed of the Word with your mouth. And to rest under the cross all through the day, knowing that our Lord has promised to work through you and through His Word. We need not know how, or when. We simply cling to His promise, and rest in it.

Until the day when Jesus keeps His promise to come one last time for you, to harvest you and take you to heaven. We don’t know when that day will come for any of us - maybe for you, not soon enough! But until He does, we simply cling to His promise, and rest in it. For while its not wrong to want to be in heaven, know, as St. Paul said, that you are already a new creation. You don’t have to wait! Christ is with you even now. His Word is sure and true. His I forgive you means you are forgiven. His I am with you means you are never alone. And His you are mine, well, means just that. Even in the midst of this world of sorrow and tears.

You may be only a small seed in this great big world, but what great things God is doing in you and through you. So do not despair, but rest in His promise: “I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.”

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Holy Trinity Sermon

Jesu Juva

“Driven to the Cross”
Text: John 3:1-17

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

How many of us wouldn’t like an opportunity like Nicodemus had. To sit down with Jesus, one on one, and talk. No distractions, no crowds, no beggars crying out for mercy, no people tugging at Him for healing. And Nicodemus was well-qualified for such a conversation - he was a teacher of Israel; perhaps today he would have a Ph.D. in theology.

But this night was more than he bargained for. Before Nicodemus could even ask a question, Jesus takes the conversation over and takes Nicodemus where He wants him to go. Where Nicodemus needs to go.

For this is how God works. He drives the conversation with us - not the other way around. In the beginning, at creation, God drove the conversation - He spoke and it is so. It was God who drove the conversation with Adam and Eve after they sinned, and with all the Old Testament saints, like Abraham and Moses and Isaiah. When it came to our re-creation, our redemption, God drove the conversation - He sent His Son, the Word made flesh, into the world, to save a world lost in sin. And so should we be surprised that the same is true with us today - with you and your life, it is God who drives the conversation. For if you think of your life as an ongoing conversation with God, it has this rhythm. God speaks and we listen. God gives and we receive. We breathe in His Word, and then breathe out His Word in prayer and praise. And in this conversation of life, we are filled with questions - why things happen; why other things don’t happen. There is much we would like to know.

But like with Nicodemus, it is not we who drive our conversation with God - He is in control. He takes us where He wants us to go; where He knows we need to go. And so through the events in our lives, through all the ups and downs, through all the twists and turns, through all the Word we hear, our conversation is driven by God - that He may give us what we need: namely, Himself. Our triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - is driving the conversation so that we may believe, and believing have eternal life.

And so as much as we would like to drive the conversation, it is better that we don’t. For when we do, it is all about what we know, and what we want to know. But when God drives the conversation, it is about what we don’t know and don’t even know enough to ask! That’s why Nicodemus doesn’t even understand what Jesus is telling Him. Born again? He’s thinking of husbands and wives and human birth and the things he knows. Earthly things. But Jesus is telling Him of heavenly things. And with these words, telling Nicodemus that sinful men don’t just need a little work, a little revision, a little improvement - we need a new birth. A whole new start. A death and resurrection. For, Jesus said, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Now, we usually think of heaven when we hear those words, but to see the kingdom of God means more than simply going to heaven - it is to see the kingdom of God for which we pray in the Lord’s Prayer. Not only His kingdom of glory, but also His kingdom of power, by which He is working and ruling all things in this world with His power for the good of His own, and His kingdom of grace, His Church, where our good and gracious God is working and ruling with His grace, giving His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Unless we who are blinded by sin are born again from above, we will be like Nicodemus - not even able to see the kingdom of God sitting right in front of us! [Point to the Font and the Altar] Sitting right in front of us.

So what is this new birth? This birth from above? Well, think of babies. We have several here. A baby is a new person who must learn everything - how to see, how to hear, how to walk and talk. They are rocked in a cradle, carried on the arm, cleaned when they mess themselves, and grow. And this is what we are. As we are born again from above, we are new people who must learn, grow, be carried on the arms and rocked in the cradle of the church . . . and yes, be cleaned, forgiven, when we mess ourselves. We are new people. Not the same old people. New people.

And this is not something we do - again, we don’t even know what we need. God is driving the conversation of your life. And so just as you were brought into this world physically by another, so it is spiritually as well. It is, Jesus said, by water and the Spirit. It is in Holy Baptism that you were born again from above and given a new life through the death and resurrection of Jesus. That through that water where your Saviour has attached His Word and promise, your old man is put to death with Jesus, and a new man brought to life in His resurrection.

Now, some people think that’s asking too much of baptism; of a little water splashed upon someone’s head. And it would be if it were just plain water. But where the Word and promise and Spirit of God is, anything but new life is too little!

But Nicodemus didn’t get it. His Ph.D. wasn’t doing him any good this night. And so Jesus gives Him a picture of what He means - the bronze snake in the wilderness. Remember your Sunday School lessons, Nicodemus? When Israel was mired in rebellion and sin, they could not get themselves out. They could not rescue or save themselves. They wanted to! Oh, did they want to! Those serpents biting them were painful and deadly. And that is our situation still today as well - people today are trying to overcome sin in all kinds of ways and create utopias in this world where we can live beyond the reach of sin. But all our attempts fail. Because while you may be able to separate yourself from all those sinners “out there”, you cannot escape the sinful poison coursing through your own veins. You cannot escape the truth that wherever you are, sin is. Israel dying in the wilderness is a picture of us. For the same satanic serpent that bit Adam and Eve, and that bit the people in the wilderness, is still working and biting us in our lives as well. Injecting the potent and powerful and deadly venom of sin into us.

But as powerful as sin is, there is an even more powerful antidote. That comes not from us, but from God. That comes not from within us, but from outside of us. That comes from God, who so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Saved by taking our condemnation and death away from us and putting it all upon Himself. That it be on Him and therefore not on us. Jesus did that for all people on the cross. He did it for you in Holy Baptism. And having our spiritual blindness healed as we are born again from above, we look to the cross - as Israel looked to the snake on the pole - and live.

And so your baptism is a great and powerful thing. And know that there are no stillborns with the God. The author and giver of life keeps His Word. He speaks and it is so. That some depart from this faith is also a reality - one that we wish was not so. But that does not lessen God’s love or power for us in Jesus. When we drive the conversation with God, we want to know why does this happen? How? But Jesus drives us in a different direction - to His cross. To see the power of sin that was borne by Jesus, but to see that power overcome and defeated. Not that we have all the answers, but so that we have the answer that we need. So that we have the life that we need. That whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

But believe what? We confess it each week in the Nicene Creed. We will confess it today in the Athanasian Creed. That our triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is driving the conversation of our lives, that we may hear, that we may see, that we may believe. That you believe in God’s Word made flesh on the cross, for you. That you believe God’s Word of forgiveness spoken to you. That you believe God’s Word in the water which gives you new life. That you believe God’s Word which makes mere bread and wine into His life-giving body and blood, for you to eat and to drink. That you believe His love, and that all this is for you. That your life is not about what you do, but what the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit have done for you.

For satan doesn’t care who you are. Whether you have a Ph.D. or never finished High School. Whether you are wealthy or poor. Whether you are young or old. He is an equal opportunity killer who doesn’t care who you are because no human can overcome him on their own. No good work, no strength of ours can stand against him.

But there is One who can, and who did! Who spoke against him in the Garden, who spoke against him in the wilderness, and who speaks against him now. Who speaks a powerful Word! Our Saviour, the Son sent from the Father who is working in us still through His Spirit, exorcising satan from us in baptism, breaking his power in forgiveness, and giving us a transfusion of His blood - that the old sinful, poisonous blood coursing through our veins be replaced with His life-giving blood.

For if satan is an equal opportunity killer, Jesus is an equal opportunity life-giver, who has come to give His life to all. That all - bar none! - that you may be born again from above. No longer hopeless, but hopeful. Not longer dead in your sin, but alive in Christ. No longer blind, but filled with the light of life. That born as children of God here, we may live as children of God forever.

Nicodemus got more than he bargained for that night with Jesus. Perhaps we could say it turned his life upside-down. But if you’re upside-down in sin to begin with, doesn’t that mean Jesus is really turning you right-side up? Then that’s a good thing. Not an easy thing! Faith is often a struggle, as so much of what we see and feel contradicts what faith believes. But while there are many things we do not know and cannot understand, the cross shines in the midst of it all, saying: But you do know this. Here is God for you. Here is God’s love for you. Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be. (LSB #430 v.1)

And so with Nicodemus and with you, it is to the cross that Jesus is driving the conversation of your life, in all that is happening, that you may look to Him and live. That all that He is, He give to you. That you have what you need most, and know how stunningly much God loves you. That you join your voice with the saints of ages past and those still to come, and confess: Blessed be the Holy Trinity and the undivided Unity. Let us give glory to Him because He has shown His mercy to us.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.