Sermon for 28 September 2014, Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity

The Rev. Paul J Cain

Matthew 6:24-34

Enough to Worry About

Fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, 28 September 2014

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, WY

In the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It was a difficult spot to be in to say the least. Tom had two full-time jobs and had an impossible schedule each day. He had more than enough to worry about. From early in the morning to early afternoon, he worked at the lumberyard. Then, he had the late shift at the railroad yard. He barely had time to eat and sleep. He wasn’t married. If he were, he’d never see his wife and children. We’d probably all agree that this was no way to live. Something had to give. And finally, Tom had to make a choice. He was promoted at the railroad and was offered the day shift. There simply was no good reason to try to work two jobs. Even the money wasn’t worth what it was doing to him. Tom learned by experience what Jesus said: “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

Money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. For some, it becomes the god in which they put their trust. Providing for the family becomes a convenient excuse to work more and more and accumulate more money in the bank account or more stuff in the house or garage.

Even our young people sometimes fall into the trap. Money from a part-time job often goes to what are really luxuries: cars, music, electronics, video game systems, or name-brand clothing. While none of us would likely give up being a Christian for a billion dollars, many simply do it for minimum wage. I’m thankful to see you for Church today.

God knows we need our daily bread, everything that supports our bodies and lives. We pray for daily bread daily. By faith we see that everything we have is a gift from Him. We receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. But we still worry. We worry about important things. We worry about silly things. We worry about what other people will think. We worry about how we’ll pay the bills. We worry about how much we worry.

And Jesus says: “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? ²⁸And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³²For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

God provides you with everything you truly need. That’s the sermon in one sentence. God gives you daily bread and spiritual bread, forgiveness in Christ. You have enough to worry about in regularly receiving the Lord’s gifts and offering back to him your sacrifice of thanksgiving, offerings, praise, and doing good works in service to your neighbors.

Seek the kingdom first. The spiritual gifts endure forever. They are the only ones you can take with you once you die. God knows you need physical blessings. He gives food to all, even the evil. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

Worry means that what you’re concerned about rolls around in your head, fills your heart, and consumes your time, yet without much positive result. You may well be powerless.

In prayer, we take any thought captive to Christ, exercise God-given faith in our heart, and make better use of our time by presenting our needs before the Lord who can do something about them.

I’m not going to rehash a list of the things that may concern you. That would be a waste of my time and yours. Instead, think about those things before the Lord in prayer and pray in faith that the Lord can and will resolve them! Worry uses up so much valuable prayer time. Many times you cannot change what is happening. You just have to sit there and watch it happen. You can change how you react to situations. You can act out of faith instead of acting out of fear.

We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things—including money. All too often we have a different kind of fear—the being afraid kind—and it can be paralyzing.

One dark pitch-black night a man was walking down an unfamiliar road. On either side was a steep ravine. [Why he’s walking down the road and why it’s at night we’re never told.] Suddenly he stepped into space and began to fall. Thinking he was falling to certain death, he began flailing his arms and clutching for anything he could get his hands on. He was able to grasp a bush along the side, and he held on for dear life. It was agony. His body became numb. At last in weakness and despair, he let go and dropped—six inches to the bottom of the ditch. Think of the endless agony he went through because he didn’t let go sooner. Think of the needless agony you go through in the midst of your worries because you don’t let go of our worries and appeal to Christ in prayer.

You have enough to worry about. And worry is often an excuse to doubt God’s love and care of us. We lean on Him and our families and Christian family in time of need. And sometimes we actually pay enough attention to notice that the Lord has provided enough. We just haven’t been spiritually awake enough to see all that He has provided. God will provide for your needs. He may have a difference of opinion with you regarding something you want versus something you truly need. Worry is not something you need. Prayer is.

 “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Isn’t that the truth! God gives daily bread daily. Trouble comes daily. And God gives us what we need to make it through each day. We aren’t told exactly what each day will bring. God has called us to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown. We pray that the Lord will give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go, but only that His hand is leading us and His love supporting us through Christ, our Lord.

The famous musician was depressed. His right side was paralyzed. All his money was gone. He was so deeply in debt that he was threatened with being thrown into jail. Nevertheless, he worked on composing the musical masterpiece for which he is still remembered. He worked so fast and hard, he seldom stopped for meals. When his servant brought him food, the servant often found his master weeping. In twenty-four days, from August 22 through September 14, 1741, George Frederic Handel finished his oratorio Messiah.

We don’t know how much this grandson of a German Lutheran pastor prayed while he was composing such great music amid such great anxieties, [yet] He is said to have commented, “I think I did see all heaven before me, and the great God Himself.” Handel’s music shows us how needless are our worries, even in the face of what appears desperate, because the Almighty accomplishes great things!

We celebrate some of those great things today. We remember our baptism into Christ in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We rejoice in the forgiveness of sins. We thank God for the opportunity to hear His Word. We are blessed to be able to freely assemble in His name in this country thanks to the sacrifice of others. We will leave this place with His blessing. And we give thanks for the good we are able to both receive and give this day and this coming week. This Wednesday and next Sunday, we will receive the Lord’s Body and Blood for the forgiveness of sins.

God provides you with everything you truly need. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. In Christ, You have nothing to truly worry about! Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sermon for 21 September 2014, St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist (Fourteenth Sunday after Trinity)

The Rev. Paul J Cain, Jr.

Ephesians 4:1-16

One

St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist, 21 September 2014

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

To the saints who are… faithful in Christ Jesus: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 1:1b-2) Amen.

20Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, 21to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

This morning, we begin with an Amen. Yes, yes, it shall be so, he means. Today is a day we thank the Lord for St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist. My sermon text is the Epistle for that occasion. In Ephesians 4, St. Paul builds on the foundation of all that has gone on before in his letter to the church in Ephesus.

1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

The Holy Spirit has called, gathered, enlightened, and sanctified you, and keeps you and the whole Church with Jesus Christ in the true faith. You are the baptized. God’s gracious working in you has consequences.

Living in habitual sins is not walking in a manner worthy of God’s call. Insisting on our own way is the opposite of bearing with one another in love. Asserting human thinking or human traditions, or political correctness over God’s Word is not how one maintains the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

What peace is there when people disagree on the fundamentals of Christianity? Is Jesus primarily an example, or first and foremost the Savior from sin, death, and hell? Is Jesus the illegitimate son of a Roman solider, or truly begotten of the Father from eternity, the Virgin-born Son of God? Was it all faked—the biggest cover-up of human history, or was the tomb truly empty because of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead?

Faith knows the difference between the devil’s seductive lie and true Biblical history. Scripture is on our side. Secular historical evidence is on our side. Archaeology is on our side. Leave it to the modern and post-modern world to throw the faith in the trash.

Unity means something significant in common. Tolerating false teaching alongside truth does not foster unity. Two is not the same as One. How can the mainline denominations survive while there are both Christians proclaiming the Biblical message, and also those who insist on positions exactly opposite of what the Bible says: accepting and promoting homosexual behavior, ordinations, and so-called “marriages”, demanding the ordination of women as pastors, ignoring cohabitation, and replacing historic worship with entertainment, spectacle, and psychobabble. St. Paul would shout, “No!”

1I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7But grace was given to each one of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. 8Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

The unity our congregation enjoys, the unity the Wyoming District defends, and the unity the Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod largely has, is a gift from God. Sadly, it is a gift some in the LCMS don’t see as a gift.

9(In saying, “He ascended,” what does it mean but that he had also descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) 11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints [ , ] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ…

The One message the Lord has given to the Church in Christ, in the Word is proclaimed in these diverse ways. We should heed the advice of our late Synod President Barry: “Keep the message straight…Get the message out…”

11And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12to equip the saints [ , ] for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, 14so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. 15Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, 16from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.

St. Paul calls for Christian maturity. We are to avoid “every wind of doctrine.” A Lutheran radio host calls this the “Fad-Driven Church.” Pastor Todd Wilken writes: The dictionary defines a fad as "a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal." This could just as well be a description of congregational life of many Christian churches today. There is a new book, a new program or a new emphasis every year or so. It’s all anyone can talk about; it's all the preacher preaches about - for a while. Then, as quickly as it came, it's gone. As eagerly as it was received, it's abandoned and forgotten. Welcome to the Fad-Driven church.

At first this might not sound like a problem.  Some Christians can remember when the Church didn't jump from bandwagon to bandwagon every year or two. But for others, this is all they have ever known. For them, it is hard to imagine what the Church would be like without the constant ebb and flow of church fads. For them, the long list of church fads represents their personal history as a Christian: Spiritual Gift inventories, Spiritual Warfare, Promise Keepers, Weigh Down Workshop, The Prayer of Jabez; the Left Behind Series, Becoming a Contagious Christian, a long succession of evangelism and stewardship programs, and most recently, The Purpose-Driven Life and 40 Days of Purpose. There are many Christians for whom this list (give or take one or two) is Christianity. Some church fads come and go, some come and stay. A few are genuinely harmless; most contain serious theological error. All are popular - while they last In the fad-driven church, “exaggerated zeal” has replaced "the faith once for all delivered to the Saints."

Wilken continues: In the course of hosting Issues, Etc. I've examined most if not all of the recent church fads. I am always surprised - not by the fads themselves, but by something else. I am always surprised by how uncritically churches accept a fad, how enthusiastically churches embrace a fad and how carelessly churches abandon a fad. That is why this article isn't about the fads themselves, but about the kind of churches that accept, embrace and abandon fads.

Every fad has a life cycle. The fad is first accepted, then embraced and finally abandoned. For the fad-driven church, this life cycle is a way of life.

The cycle begins with acceptance. The fad-driven church is practiced at this. Too close an examination of the fad at the outset might raise too many questions. "After all, this book is a best-seller!" "Thousands of churches are doing it, how can we go wrong?" Accept first, examine later, if at all. This acceptance may come through the pastor's active promotion or through grassroots popularity. Either way, the fad spreads like wildfire in the congregation.

The cycle continues with enthusiastic embrace. By "enthusiastic" I don't mean excitement or emotion, although those things may be involved. What I mean is that the fad-driven church embraces its latest fad with creedal intensity. While the fad has currency, it is an article of faith. Belief in the fad becomes a mark of loyalty to the church. During this phase of the fad's life cycle, critics of the fad may be dismissed as unloving, judgmental or unconcerned for saving souls. At the very least, they are viewed as troublemakers and obstacles to the church's mission. During this phase, in some cases, the fad may dictate what is preached, the content of bible study or even the focus of congregational life.

The life cycle ends with the abandonment of the fad. Some fads have a built-in expiration date... most simply linger until something better comes along. The fad-driven church may cling with a martyr's fervor to the fad while it lasts, but everyone knows that its days are numbered. Sooner or later it will have to be abandoned. Accept the fad, embrace the fad and abandon the fad. This is the life of a fad-driven church.  There are exceptions to this life cycle. In a few cases a fad doesn't die; it grows into something bigger than a fad. It grows into a movement... [Pastor Wilken says,] I have often been critical of church fads at the height of their popularity. After several encounters with fad defenders, I noticed something. The seasoned member of the fad-driven church will defend his fad today. But he will happily abandon the same fad six months from now. I realized that the fad itself is inconsequential; everyone knows that it will be forgotten sooner or later. Christians caught in the cycle of church fads must defend a particular fad, because by doing so, they are defending their willingness to accept, embrace and abandon fads in general. They are defending their fad-driven-ness.

The need of discernment in the Church is one of the most frequent admonitions in Scripture. Paul's warning to the Ephesians is typical: We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves, and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming, but speaking the truth in love we are to grow up in all aspects unto Him, who is the head even Christ.  

The church is supposed to stand immovable against “every wind of doctrine." By contrast the fad-driven church is a windsock. If you want to know which way the wind is blowing, the latest teachings, the newest programs or the most current methods, just look at the fad-driven church. If you want to know what the fad-driven church will be doing next, just walk through your local Christian bookstore or page through a Christian publisher's catalogue.

In the fad-driven church, books, programs and seminars are evaluated primarily by their sales, popularity and attendance records, rather than on their theological merit, "False teaching? Why would so many churches be reading this book if it contained false teaching?” Can millions of Christians be wrong? Yes, they can. [End Quote.]

Therefore, it is important for Biblical Christians to be ready to speak / the truth / in love. Our sharing is done with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience. We share the truth in love, that is, lovingly and out of a loving motivation. We're not about winning arguments. We're not about shoving religion down someone's throat. Being obnoxious or pushy is out of line.

We show respect by asking questions and genuinely caring about their answers. We want to find out about them, their hurts, concerns, needs. And we bring the Word of God to bear upon those hurts, concerns and needs to bring about healing, understanding, and reconciliation with God.

Finally, we do all of this out of a good conscience. We speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God! We don't sugar-coat the truth. We don't rewrite the truth to fit what they want to hear. We don't add to God's Word or cut anything out. All of those actions would be lying, and unloving.

And it doesn’t hurt to be proud of our congregation—in a godly way—rather than be embarrassed. If you are ashamed of Immanuel in some way, then that is something that 1) needs to be confronted in yourself, so that you may be better conformed to the Word, rather than what any human being says, and/or (possibly both) 2) it may be an area were healing, reconciliation, and forgiveness is essential between you and a fellow Christian who is here or not here. Both actions are part of the good conscience mentioned in our text.

So, we are to be prepared. And eat our Wheaties. And by Wheaties, I don’t mean the cereal. And I’d like to speak especially to the men. If you don’t eat your Wheaties, you won’t have strength to serve, either your family or congregation. One must be fed before he can feed others. Word comes first, then comes service. If you try serving before or instead of being fed by the Word, you will, I repeat, will burn out and get discouraged.

If we are to be prepared to share our hope in Christ, we ourselves should know of that hope and be comforted. That takes time in the Word, individual prayer and Bible Study, family devotions, Bible Classes, time reading good Christian books or articles, and time each Sunday at the Divine Service and Sunday School.

Telling the Good News about Jesus is not a burden, but a privilege. Consider yourself. Someone told you about the hope they had in Christ Jesus. That Word took root in you and the Holy Spirit brought about the fruit of faith. You believe because someone told you the good news about Jesus. You may have heard this Word from infancy. It may have happened later in life. You may have fallen away and then returned. Whatever the occasions God used to draw you to Himself through His Word and Spirit, He used someone who was prepared to share Christ's hope with you.

Therefore…walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. Amen.

Peace be to the brothers, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible. (Ephesians 6:23) Amen.

Sermon for 14 September 2014, Holy Cross Day (Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity)

The Rev. Paul J Cain

John 12:20-33

See Jesus

Holy Cross Day, 14 September 2014

Immanuel Lutheran Church, Sheridan, Wyoming

In the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Today is the first of two Sundays in a row where we have a special church festival in addition to this being the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity. Today is also Holy Cross Day, and the sermon text is the Holy Gospel for Holy Cross Day, John 12:20-33:

Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. 21 So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

27 “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. 28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” 30 Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. 31 Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. 32 And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” 33 He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” It was a simple request. And they were Greeks! We are not told specifically if they were Greek-speaking Jews or Greek converts to Judaism. What we are told is Jesus’ reply: “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.” These people wanted to see and hear Jesus, and He makes Himself heard by predicting again his suffering and death. Jesus will die.

But that’s not all of the story. If it were, there would be little point talking about a crucified Jewish man nearly 2000 years after his sad and unfair execution. The Father speaks, revealing that Jesus is not only a man, but the Son of God: “I have glorified it [My Name], and I will glorify it again.” How? Jesus says, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die: He would be lifted up on a cross.

When the Church preaches the forgiveness of sins, Christians often take for granted that forgiveness. Since grace didn’t cost us anything, we assume that it isn’t worth much. Consider what it cost God: His only-begotten Son! Dietrich Bonhoeffer noted this over 60 years ago: Cheap grace is preaching forgiveness without repentance; it is baptism without the discipline of community; it is the Lord’s Supper without confession of sin; it is absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without the living, incarnate Jesus Christ. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, 1937 (DBW 4, p. 44).

That living, incarnate Jesus Christ reminds all of us that there is a cost to following Him. “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.”

There is a cost in this world to following Jesus. We may feel that we miss out on so-called “fun” activities when we all know that the so-called “fun” in question is actually sin. Of course there is fun that is not sinful. But somehow, that doesn’t seem as attractive to us as the devil’s temptation.

Sometimes the cost is a disagreement in the family about Jesus. There may be different priorities when it comes to what the family does on a Sunday morning. There may be ridicule at work or school. Sometimes the cost is internal. An individual grieves over a lost business opportunity because a less profitable venture was actually more beneficial spiritually.

There are times when the cost gets to us. We cry out, “Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say?” Jesus said those words. He knew He had come for a purpose, to save us from having to bear the cost of our own entrance into heaven, something we could never accomplish.

“Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.” The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, “An angel has spoken to him.” Jesus answered, “This voice has come for your sake, not mine. Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.” He said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die.

The cross is central to our Christian message. Jesus carried His for you and your salvation. You do not have to carry His burden, but the Lord does give you a cross, too. It has a different purpose. And it helps you better focus your heart, mind, and eyes upon Jesus, especially when the troubles of this world make it hard to see Him.

Again Bonhoeffer in an extended quote: [The cross] is laid on every Christian. The first Christ-suffering that everyone has to experience is the call which summons us away from our attachments to this world. It is the death of the old self in the encounter with Jesus Christ. Those who enter into discipleship enter into Jesus’ death. They turn their living into dying; such has been the case from the very beginning. The cross is not the terrible end of a pious, happy life. Instead, it stands at the beginning of community with Jesus Christ.

Whenever Christ calls us, his call leads us to death. Whether we, like the first disciples, must leave house and vocation to follow him, or whether, with Luther, we must leave the monastery for a secular vocation, in both cases the same death awaits us, namely, death in Jesus Christ, the death of our old self caused by the call of Jesus. Because Jesus’ call brings death to the rich young man, who can only follow Jesus after his own will has died, because Jesus; every command calls us to die with all our wishes and desires, and because we cannot want our own death, therefore Jesus Christ in his word has to be our death and our life. The call to follow Jesus, baptism in the name of Jesus Christ, is death and life.

The call of Christ and baptism leads Christians into a daily struggle against sin and Satan. Thus, each day, with its temptations by the flesh and the world, brings Jesus Christ’s suffering anew to his disciples. The wounds inflicted this way and the scars a Christian carries away from the struggle are living signs of the community of the cross with Jesus. But there is another suffering and another indignity from which no Christian can be spared.

To be sure, Christ’s own suffering is the only suffering that brings reconciliation. But because Christ has suffered for the sin of the world, because the whole burden of guilt fell on him, and because Jesus Christ passes on the fruit of his suffering to those who follow him, temptation and sin fall also onto his disciples. Sin covers the disciples with shame and expels them from the gates of the city like a scapegoat. So Christians become bearers of sin and guilt for other people. Christians would be broken by the weight if they were not themselves carried by him who bore all sins. Instead, by the power of Christ’s suffering they can overcome the sins they must bear by forgiving them.

A Christian becomes a burden-bearer—bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). As Christ bears our burdens, so we are to bear the burden of our sisters and brothers. The law of Christ, which must be fulfilled, is to bear the cross. The burden of a sister or brother, which I have to bear, is not only his or her external fate, manner, and temperament; rather it is in the deepest sense his or her sin. I cannot bear it except by forgiving it, by the power of Christ’s cross, which I have come to share. In this way Jesus’ call to bear the cross places all who follow him in the community of forgiveness of sins. Forgiving sins is the Christ-suffering required of his disciples. It is required of all Christians. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Discipleship, 1937 (DBW 4, pp. 87-88). End Quote

We are tempted to think that Christ Himself is a burden we must bear when we are faced with temptations from the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. Yet, Jesus comforts us with the fact that His yoke is easy and His burden is light. That doesn’t mean life is always easy, but that we are not alone. We do not have to carry the cross of our own sins. We do bear the burden of forgiving others as Christ forgave us. That is part of the cost.

When you struggle with forgiving others, when you are burdened by a sin you committed against someone else, see Jesus. If He can forgive that other person, you can, too, for you are forgiving them with Jesus’ forgiveness. When you think that your deeds are unforgivable, tell Satan to stop deceiving you and remember that Jesus died for all and for all your sins. There is a cost, but the benefit of discipleship is valuable beyond all numbers!

“Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” It was a simple request. Jesus’ reply is that He is most clearly seen on the cross, answering for all sin. That is the point this Holy Cross Day and every Sunday. Amen.

In the Name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.