The Last Sunday of the Church Year

Text: Matthew 25:31-46

Today draws a line in the sand, a dividing line between one Church Year and the next. Today is the last Sunday of the Church Year, and next Sunday will begin a new year for us.

The Gospel reading for today also demonstrates a clear line in the sand for God’s true Church; a judgment is coming and is revealed through the image of separating the sheep and goats of this world.

Jesus described the sheep in this way as He says,

For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

But for the goats, He says,

For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’

Who are you?

It’s easy to want to be an image and icon of the person Jesus describes as a sheep, but are you as humble as a sheep or as proud as a goat?

While we may get caught up in the external image of these two animals, Jesus is directing our attention to the internal nature of these two animals.

Sheep are often seen to demonstrate more innocence, humility, patience, and obedience. And they flock together. However, goats tend to be the opposite; they smell, can be fierce and quarrel, and often go alone and by doing so wander into dangerous places.

And so, who are you?

What’s pretty amazing is that the Gospel says the sheep didn’t even know they were demonstrating the characteristics of sheep as they responded to the King’s words of praise by saying, “And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?”

This brings to our mind the words of Jesus as He preached the sermon on the mount and the Christian’s care of the needy as He said, “But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.” (Matthew 6:3)

However, the response of the goats to their King is in opposition to these words, aren’t they? The goats want the world to know what their left and right hands are doing as they responded to the King, “Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?”

Please don’t misunderstand me; our works are not necessarily bad in this life and world. In fact, Holy Scriptures says you cannot be a Christian without good works. St. James writes in his epistle, “So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.” (James 2:26)

Faith requires good works, but our good works flow out of a faith that demands that our left-hand doesn’t know what our right hand is doing. (Matthew 6:3)

So, what is this truly getting at? What will Jesus judge when He returns on the last day? The nature and faith of our hearts.

But did you also catch how the sheep didn’t even realize how they were caring for the King? The sheep responded to King in the gospel by saying,

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

Isn’t this beautiful? Their good works did, in fact, flow out of a pure faith that knew nothing else but to care for their neighbor. It’s just who they are. It's like a mother whose ceaseless love for a child is revealed as they nightly set out clothes for the next day, pack lunches, or give goodbye hugs and kisses as the child goes off to school.

But did you also catch this? Jesus said, “And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.”

So, who are these brothers? They are the ones whom Jesus regards as being welcomed, fed, clothed, and cared for by the sheep or rejected by the goats – they are His Disciples, His brothers.

Now, none of this is to say you are not all made brothers and sisters of Christ through the waters of Holy Baptism; you are. However, in the Gospel of Matthew, the term brothers is often reserved for Jesus' Disciples. Those whom Jesus has sent out in Matthew Chapter 10 to travel from place to place, preaching the Good News of Jesus to the “lost sheep of Israel.”

But Jesus warns His brothers that not everyone will receive them or the message they were given with hospitality or willing ears to listen. In fact, there will be days when they will be rejected, suffer harm, and remain sheep among wolves. And so, we continue to hear Jesus’ warning to His disciples today,

He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me…. And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward. (Matthew 10:40-42)

What is this reward but eternal life with Jesus?

For this reason, I, too, have been sent among you to bring and confess unto you God’s Word. To feed you with the flesh and blood of Christ Jesus for the forgiveness of sin. In these ways, the Holy Spirit creates and sustains a heart of innocence, humility, patience, and obedience within you. In these ways, you are made ready for the day when Christ returns and separates the sheep from the goats.

So don’t go the way of the goats, looking to yourself and your prideful works for validation. They will only lead you to quarreling, loneliness, and straying into life's dark and dangerous places – or, as Jesus says, “The way of eternal punishment.”

Instead, focus your eyes and hearts on your Savior, Jesus Christ. He is coming to judge the living and the dead just as we confess in the creeds.

But take heart: His cross will lead His sheep (you) out of this valley of tears and into His eternal kingdom to live forever. +INJ+

The Eve of Thanksgiving

Text: Luke 11:11-17

Going home is somewhat of a Thanksgiving tradition. With Thanksgiving always on the fourth Thursday of November, it’s hard for families that live afar not to plan a journey to see family. What is it about these homecomings that are so special? Is it seeing a brother or sister from the military returning home on leave? Maybe it’s the smells and aroma wafting from grandma’s kitchen as she cooks the bird and whips the potatoes. Or perhaps the stories being repeated by a father or grandfather too. The football game is also undoubtedly on TV.

But more, Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder that you are part of a tribe, a clan, a family. Being home provides comfort, a reminder of what we see as truth in the world, and a steady aspect of normalcy for many.

But for others, Thanksgiving is a yearly reminder that they are alone, isolated, and cut off from family and friends.

The lepers in the Gospel tonight share in these feelings of loneliness and isolation. They, too, have been living apart from the world, isolated from their village, people, family and friends.

These ten men have leprosy, a disease that renders them unclean, casts them out of their village, and isolates them from those who are pure, clean, and enjoy the fellowship of community.

When one thinks of leprosy in the Old Testament, it should bring to mind a disease that ravages and eats away the flesh of a man. But is leprosy simply an external disease? What about the conscience and the soul of the leper?

The leper had to stand at a distance from everyone else. This is why the lepers greet Jesus outside the city. They are not welcome inside the village gate they so desperately wish to rejoin. According to the purity laws of the Old Testament, they must be separated as outcasts of filth.

Whenever someone passed near them, they had to declare their condition by saying, “unclean.” Over time, their voices would become hoarse, and eventually, the only ones who would hear these words of judgment were the lepers themselves.

But when they see Jesus, all they can do is call out to Him. To lift up their voices to be heard, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” Their desire is mercy, not to simply be made clean, but to be saved.

While leprosy is not seen ravaging us or our neighbors today, we are still devastated by the disease and leprosy of sin.

The evil thoughts toward our families we have been cut off from, our neighbors whom we fail to see eye to eye with, or leaders whom we feel have led us astray. Like the ten lepers, the leprosy of sin penetrates beyond our flesh; it consumes our hearts, filling our thoughts with evil and spilling forth from our mouths.

However, tonight, the lepers show us the way of faith and point us to the true source of salvation. Their cries for mercy are our cries for mercy. The lepers cannot heal themselves but must rely upon the Son of Man to deliver them, grant them salvation, and return them to their community.

But isn’t this something? It always amazes me how the ten are healed by Jesus and sent on their way to the temple to have their cleansing verified by the priests so that they could rejoin their family, friends, and community once again. But just the one leper returns on bended knees and with prayers of thanksgiving. Just one recognizes Jesus as the giver and source of salvation.

We often gloss over salvation, but salvation is the deliverance from the trials, disasters, or physical and mental ailments of this life. An earthly king or president may be able to grant a form of salvation to save man from a lengthened prison sentence or by forgiving a debt. But, the salvation of man, the eternal rescuing of man, resides in the incarnate Son of God.

Jesus tells the leper who returned to thank him: "Your faith has made you well.”

Where is your faith this Thanksgiving? Is it located in Christ? Or is today just another reminder of the sin that separates you from family and friends?

Sin is ultimately our turning away from God, our departing from His presence. It’s not God that has separated us from Him, but we who have gone astray from Him.

People often say, “Home is where the heart is.” It’s often meant to comfort someone away from family and friends or who might move a lot. But, it’s true in the sense that where your heart is, there your faith will follow. This is not only your comfort but also your assurance this night. Your home is with Christ Jesus.

Have you separated yourself from your neighbor? Run to them and seek reconciliation. Are you one who is happier to avoid the gathering of family? Stop and thank God for giving you the gift of people to love and care for you in this life. Have you sinned and departed the grace and joys of your Baptism? Repent, turn back to Jesus, cry out with the lepers, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” and know that He hears you and will save you.

What a comfort this is for us to hear again this night. You have a Savior who hears your pleas for mercy, who died upon the cross and rose again for you so that you may have an eternal home with Him in heaven. So come and feast this night on the Holy Meal prepared for you upon this altar. In this bread and wine, you receive the flesh and blood of Christ, the medicine that heals your leprosy of sin, restoring you to Christ Jesus, and sends you home with thanksgiving. +NJ+

25th Sunday After Pentecost

Text: Matthew 25:14-30

+INJ+

Well, our Gospel reading didn’t end very Gospel-like.

Jesus said, “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

One might wander in off the street and say, “That’s pretty dark.” It is; Jesus is nearing the cross and preparing His disciples for His death and when He will return in glory on the last day.

Today, Jesus is teaching the disciples and us about the stewardship of faith. He wants to impress upon them the importance of an active faith that does not sit idly with our heads buried in the sand.

When we think or hear “stewardship,” our minds often go directly to money. It’s hard not to, especially as Jesus teaches this parable using the image of a talent. 

A talent was worth a lot. One talent alone was worth nearly 6,000 days of wages or twenty years of slavery. So, receiving two talents as the second servant would be 12,000 days of wages or 40 years of slavery. Or five talents as the first servant would be 30,000 days of wages and 100 years of slavery. This is even unimaginable to most of us.

The only way many of us would ever see an income of this magnitude would be if we were the starting quarterback of an NFL team. But then, again, to keep it, we’d still need to be good stewards.

But what is stewardship anyway? One of the most basic ways to define stewardship is to see it as carefully managing what has been entrusted to you. So, this implies that stewardship is done when someone else places something or someone into your possession and for your care.

The parable says that the Master is the source of the talents entrusted to the servants. The duties of the servants are to now use these gifts faithfully and well.

As we know from the Gospel, those servants entrusted with five or two talents used them and saw them increase twofold. However, the one who dug a hole and planted his talent into the earth as some time capsule to be opened years later needed to have used his gift correctly. Instead, the parable says,

He also who had received the one talent came forward, saying, ‘Master, I knew you to be hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you scattered no seed, so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here, you have what is yours.’ But his master answered him, ‘You wicked and slothful servant! You knew that I reap where I have not sown and gather where I scattered no seed?

What caused the servant to dig and bury the gift entrusted to him by his master? The servant said it was fear.

But who owns this fear? The servant does.

It’s his fear that caused him to dig and bury what was entrusted to him by the master. He fears losing his earthly life more than anything else.

It’s important to note that the master entrusted all his servants to use the goods he provided them, no matter the amount. This is why the first two receive the accolades and blessing of the master as he said, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant.”

The good and faithful servants use the gifts entrusted to their care not for themselves but ultimately for their neighbor, and by doing so, they not only please their master but also serve him and see His kingdom grow.

So, what are we to make of all of this today?

How many of us come and receive the blessing and gift of God’s forgiveness each week, only to return home and bury the gift we’ve received in the Divine Service out of fear?

At its core, what fear am I speaking of? The fear of reconciliation, the fear of confessing our sins among one another as we have confessed before God. The fear of absolving one another as God has absolved and forgiven us. Or, to put it more simply – the fear of saying, “I am sorry” and “I forgive you.”

When the servants of Jesus Christ do not use the Gospel gifts of grace and forgiveness granted and entrusted to them in their lives and among neighbors, they are, in fact, rejecting their Master.  They are not only failing to exercise proper stewardship of the great gift of faith among others, but they are also excluding themselves from communion with Jesus through the idleness of their faith.

This is why Jesus said, “And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place, there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

It’s frightening.

Too often, we see the things of this world as ours: homes, cars, clothes, knickknacks, people. But truthfully, we’d have nothing if God the Father did not give it to us first.

When we realize we own and possess nothing and are just using and caring for the gifts our heavenly Father entrusts to us as a gardener tending their garden, it changes how we value not only the people in our lives, such as husband or wife, mother or father, children, friends but how we use the gifts of this world to serve one another. 

The stewardship of our lives is important. In fact, our whole lfe should be one long exercise of preparing for our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, to return and take account of our stewardship.

Have we dug and buried His Word in the ground in order to hide our faith from Christ Jesus and our neighbor alike? Have we used His grace to extend His forgiveness among one another, permitting His Church and kingdom to grow? Or has fear turned our hearts from our Savior and silenced the confession of our lips?

If so, turn back to your Lord and Master, Jesus Christ. Return to His cross and learn again how,

[Jesus] purchased and won [you] from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver (or talents), but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, that [you] may be His own and live under Him in His kingdom and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity.

An eternity He desires to call you into.

As we continue journeying to the Last Sunday of the Church Year and the day when our Lord and Master returns to settle our accounts, may His Word not only abide but actively increase faith, love, and charity within you for God and neighbor alike. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI

Funeral of Dawn Hawkins

Text: Luke 2:25-38

Dear family and friends of Dawn, grace, mercy, and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Some of you may wonder, “Who is Anna the prophetess?” After all, her name is mentioned only once in all of Scripture. It comes immediately after the infant Jesus is presented in the temple, and Simeon sings the familiar hymn, Nunc Dimittis, you know, “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace; your Word has been fulfilled.”

However, in a way, Anna is in the shadows of Simeon. But, with only a couple of verses mentioned, we learn a great deal about her. She was a pious woman who did not depart the temple. Her life was centered and anchored in being where Israel came into the presence of God. While she dwelled in this place of God’s presence, she spent her time worshipping her Lord night and day in anticipation of the redemption of Israel. She looked with an expectation of the newborn king’s arrival.

This is true of Dawn as well; as her days grew shorter, she was anchored in God’s Word and was looking forward to the arrival of her Savior – to bring her into His eternal presence. 

And this is why Simeon and Anna were great examples for Dawn and teachers for us. Both Simeon and Anna had been waiting and longing for the Lord, a waiting for the Savior that embraced both hope and comfort.

But patience and waiting are not what most of us are known for, not in this lifetime. Yet, as Dawn was a teacher, she had to master the art of patience as she was entrusted with children's education. Teachers have to have some of the deepest wells of patience, don’t they? The repeating of instructions to students over and over again. The answer to the question parents also receive all too often, “But why?” The challenges of helping students navigate emotions and family issues they brought to school.

In many ways, God used these experiences for Dawn to prepare her for her last days on earth.

Why would Dawn require patience in her last days? Because her body would not move as it once did. Her mind was not as quick or sharp as it once was. Her relationships with family were not as they once were.

We can relate.

So, what gave Dawn and what will give you the patience needed for this life? The same Jesus whose appearance causes Simeon to break forth in song and Anna to give thanks endlessly because Israel’s redemption, their Savior, had arrived in the flesh of the baby boy born to Mary. 

This redemption was also granted to Dawn in the waters of Holy Baptism. A redemption that was given every time she confessed her sin. A redemption that was placed upon her lips as she received the Lord’s Supper, even in her final days of life, and joined Simeon and the Church in singing, Nunc Dimittis, “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, your Word has been fulfilled.”

Isn’t this such a joyful confidence?

One of the last things Dawn ever did on this earth was to receive her Savior’s flesh and blood for the redemption and forgiveness of her sin. Jesus came and visited her in this final time of distress, granting her the patience she needed for the last days.

And in thanksgiving, she sang with Simeon, Anna, the angels, archangels, and the whole company of heaven; she sang praises to Her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, declaring she was ready to be gathered into His eternal courts.

It doesn’t get much better than this. And yet, it doesn’t take away your sadness and grief, but as the apostle Paul reminds you, “We do not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe in Christ Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.”

This is the same hope that must accompany us to the grave of Dawn. For just as the body of Christ only laid in the grave three days, we know Jesus, our Redeemer, lives. And just as the body of Christ was raised on that first Easter morning, we look forward to the great resurrection when Christ returns, and the body of Dawn and all who are in Christ are raised in glory.

So, look to Simeon, Anna, and Dawn – learn from them to wait patiently on the Lord. Receive God’s Word into your ears and take into your hands the flesh and blood of your Savior, Jesus Christ. For in this way, you are not only granted the patience needed for the trials of this life; you are made ready to join the song of heaven, confessing your readiness by singing, “Lord, now you let your servant go in peace, your Word has been fulfilled.”

 His Word has been fulfilled, and Dawn has received eternal peace.  +INJ+

24th Sunday after Pentecost

Text: Matthew 25:1-13

+INJ+

For whatever reason, the hymn we just sang, “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying,” has always stayed with me. It’s haunting, yet you can hear how the trumpets might sound in the background as a choir sings, and a bride makes her grand entrance.

However, as the hymn writer Phillip Nicolai wrote the hymn, life was not that joyful. But instead, an epidemic hit his town of 2,500 people, killing 1,400 of the townspeople. Nicolai recounted that some days, he’d performed nearly 30 funerals. By all accounts, this number is simply staggering to us. But it was the reality of those living in the tiny German town of Unna.

One would surmise, amid all the sickness, war, and death, these people must have prayed the closing words of Revelation quite often, “Amen, come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20)

And yet, that is precisely what the hymn “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying,” and our Gospel reading today are about – the coming of the Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

Like a “Mighty Fortress is Our God,” today’s hymn is a complete paraphrase of Holy Scripture, a marriage of hymn text and Scripture. It’s pretty beautiful.

Now, there is a twofold aspect to the Gospel today: the first is preparation, and the second is the ability to remain vigilant and ready.

It’s Veterans Day weekend, and for those of you who have served in the military, you know how painstaking the process of training and preparation for a mission can be. The details matter, and you train over and over and over again to ensure a state of readiness because the training and preparation before meeting the enemy can mean life and death.

In many ways, this is the same mentality we must have today as the Church.

And for this reason, today's text is not speaking of a strictly physical and mental alertness; instead, it speaks of a spiritual readiness.  A readiness that requires all hearts to be prepared for, as we confess in the Creed, the Bridegroom, “who will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead.”  

While this daily and weekly confession should arouse us from our spiritual slumbers, we must ask if our ears actually hear the words of our lips. Do we take our confession of faith as seriously as we ought? Does our confession reveal hearts with the necessary oil of faith to await the Bridegroom, your Savior, Jesus Christ?

The twentieth-century German theologian Hermann Sasse wrote, "Is the foolishness of the virgins not also our foolishness? Have we not become tired and sleepy in the light of the Christian faith? Have we not let the lamps of hope, with which we would escort the coming of Christ, go out?"

The midnight cry that goes out will separate the wise from the foolish. This is all so disturbing because in the Gospel today, it’s not that the lamps of the wise were continually burning; they weren’t. Instead, it was that they were prepared and ready with the oil required to burn their lamps and greet the coming of the Bridegroom. While the foolish spurned preparation, they had been in the company of the wise and yet turned out very differently.

We often ask this question about brothers and sisters – how are they both from the same parents and mature so differently? How is it that we can come and hear the same Gospel, the same sermon, and receive the sacrament at the same rail, and yet, some of us will depart today, wise and prepared, while others will not take seriously the call to be ready for the day of death? Truthfully, I don't know; however, sin works in each of us differently; the devil and the world attack us in different ways, according to our individual weaknesses.

Now, while we all confess with the Church in the Creed, "And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead," we must continually examine and ask ourselves, have we, as our brothers and sisters, grown weary as we journey through this life and world of sickness, war, and death? Have we permitted the flame of faith to grow dim as we travel to the grave? Have we begun to mechanically confess and gloss over the gravity of these words of the Creed?

To you, the cry comes out, awake! Prepare! The Bridegroom is near!

The time of judgment and the time of the Bridegroom's return draws nearer with each passing breath. We do not know the day or the hour. Yet, the words, "I never knew you," should frighten and arouse you to awake from slumber and confess your sins to God, confess your sins among one another, announce and extend forgiveness, receive forgiveness and the oil of faith that only God can provide to you.

So the time is at hand for us to prepare for the Bridegroom, to be like soldiers obsessing over the details of faith and practicing them over and over and over again.

How do we do this? First, by coming to the Divine Service and being mentally, physically, and spiritually involved. By making the liturgy our song, a song that abides in our hearts and leads us even to sing it throughout each week while we go about our daily tasks.

But also by getting back into the Small Catechism. No, the Catechism is not just for kids; it's for all of us. In fact, it’s the most basic form of preparation and training of the Christian faith that we cannot outgrow. Instead, through careful repetition of the catechism and liturgy alike, the lamp of faith continues to receive the oil needed for young and old alike.

Why? Because repetition and preparation are the difference between life and death. Of possessing the oil of faith or hearing the Bridegroom pronounce to you as the door to the eternal marriage feast closes, “Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.”

On the last day, age will make no difference; intellect will make no difference, only faith. So, prepare.

Because while we do not know the day or the hour, we do know Christ Jesus is coming. This is what all the Gospels are leading to at the end of the Church Year, the return of Christ Jesus. So let us hear His call today to prepare and make ready our hearts for His return.

Now, I get it, for some these readings always seem down and gloomy, but shifting back to our hymn, “Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying,” did you notice how we sang in the first stanza, "The watchmen on the heights are crying." But, in the second stanza, the watchmen break forth in joy as we sang, "Zion hears the watchmen singing…." Why is this important? Because the watchmen of old never sang to announce an arrival, good or bad, into their town or village, they shouted! But, the news of this Bridegroom is too exciting not to sing; they cannot help themselves.

As the days of life grow shorter and darker, as you approach the day of your death, remember the joy of the watchmen. Let their song be your song, and sing not only with the Church on earth but with the Church Triumphant (Those who now rest from their labors and are with Christ). For as you sing, you confess the virgin birth, the crucifixion and resurrection, the ascension, and the coming again of the Bridegroom – your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

So my friends, amid all this world's sickness, war, and death, prepare each day for your Lord's return by keeping His name and life upon your lips. Praying with the Church, “Amen, come Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20) In this way, even upon your deathbed, you join in keeping watch for the Bridegroom. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI

Reformation Sunday 2023

Text John 8:31-36 & Romans 3:19-28

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

As a child, I absolutely feared cemeteries, especially around Halloween or All Hallows Eve. The cold, damp air, the constant thoughts of being watched, the absolute darkness – it caused my heart to race, my breathing to become shallow and rapid, and my mind to succumb to paranoia.

What is the paranoia that causes fear in your life? What wraps you into bondage? Is it the lack of power and control? Is it the thought people are watching you or the belief they are out to get you? Is it a present darkness that no one knows besides you, a darkness of grief and despair that seizes your heart and won't let go?

Our fear is what gives birth to sin and the things that continue to haunt us throughout this life.

Martin Luther was also haunted as you; he would be driven by the torments of this world to confession for hours at a time. The voice of Satan would whisper into Luther's ears seeds of doubt - are you genuinely sorry enough for your sin? Have you enumerated every sin? Have you stopped sinning?

All this is enough to enslave a man and drive them mad.

But, where all this madness eventually drove Luther was to read the Holy Scriptures all the more, to pray feverishly, and to confess what is true and right.

In the first of the 95 theses nailed to the Castle Church door of Wittenberg, Luther wrote, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent’ (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

The first of the 95 theses began with Reformation.

Our world is constantly looking to reform, except their reform is not a return but a way forward. A way to advance a cause. A method for change.

Reform the economy, reform the police, reform education, reform the IRS code, reform election laws, reform, reform, reform... The desire for reform today is seen as a method to improve life, advance, and transform institutions.

But, to reform is not to look forward but to look back. The "re" in reform means to return or go back to the original foundation. One word that comes to mind is "redeem," which means to buy back again.

And the “form” for reform should bring to mind a former likeness or condition once experienced. So, the point of Reformation is to bring the Church back to its original resemblance or condition.

What is the former condition and likeness the Church should desire - the image and likeness of Christ Jesus.

How does this Reformation happen?

Hear the words of Luther again, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, “Repent'' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”

A repentant heart springs a correct fear of God that begins with faith and trust in the only Son of the Father.

Repentance begins with remorse and the feeling of guilt then leads a man to a confession of their sin. And finally, repentance calls man to have a change of behavior, a change of heart. To go another way…

Where do you need a change of behavior? In what ways does your heart need to be reformed?

Have the words you have spoken to your neighbors caused your heart to race and your breathing to become rapid? Have you become paranoid of others, telling the devil's lies under your breath? Do you have an email you wish could be buried and never seen again? Or have you sat silently, unsure what to do, failing to speak the liberating Words of Christ Jesus to your neighbor?

The torments of the heart and mind enslave and lead you into doubt and sin. Yet, abiding in the Word of God leads you into the truth, and this truth does not set you free in the shallow American way of thinking – it liberates man's heart. The truth Jesus speaks of dwells within you through His death and resurrection, emancipating you from the chief enemy of sin, death, and the devil. 

So run to the waters of Holy Baptism and learn again from the Small Catechism your need to return to your baptism again and again and again. In fact, you will need to remember that you must return to your baptism daily to drown and put to death the Old Adam and all sins and evil desires that possess you through contrition and repentance so that you may daily emerge and arise anew to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. (Fourth Part of Holy Baptism, Small Catechism Paraphrased)

This is the way of an ongoing Reformation within each of us. Confession and absolution, returning to Jesus, and His forgiveness.

So, when Satan whispers into your ears seeds of doubt regarding the contrition of your heart, run to the font and say, “I am baptized!”

When the night comes, and you are haunted by the ghosts of your sin, say and believe with all your heart, “Yes, I have fallen short of the glory of God, but I am justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”

Through the daily drowning of the old Adam within you, live a life of repentance so that a new man will emerge daily.

When you return to Christ Jesus with sorrow and repentance, your fears are put away, the devils torments are put to flight, forgiveness is present for you, and the assurance of everlasting life will abide forever and ever – even until the day when Christ returns and the cemetery is seen as nothing more than a garden, whose seeds are the true children of God. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI

Wedding Sermon of Jonah Wendt and McKenna Hammack

The Marriage of Jonah Wendt and McKenna Hammack
October 21, 2023

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

It is good to be with you today for the marriage of Jonah and McKenna - to witness the beginning of their earthly lives being intertwined, grafted, and brought into full communion by God.  

As many of you know, this man and this woman met in the great, powerful, and often confusing city of Washington, D.C. – also known as the center and heartbeat of freedom.

In fact, their paths first crossed, and their courtship began as their offices worked to support the religious freedom case of Rev. Dr. Juhana Pohjola, the bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Mission Diocese of Finland and Dr. Päivi Räsänen, a Finnish politician, as this pastor and politician were prosecuted for confessing their Christian faith and belief in marriage as it was instituted by God.

But what is freedom anyway?

I fear this has become a confusing question for us today.

If you trust the internet or the voices we consume, they inform us that freedom is the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without external hindrance or restraint.

Or maybe you view freedom as many today as the absence of being subjected to anyone or anything.

Well, maybe good old Martin Luther, the great German reformer, can help us frame things better. He once wrote in the same breath in his work, “The Freedom of the Christian," that:

A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all.

At first, this also appears to be an absolutely confusing statement, providing little or no help.

But, if you ponder these words of Luther, there is a great, mysterious, and beautiful paradox for us, the Christian, especially in view of marriage.

There will be times, Jonah and McKenna, that you will not desire to be in subjection to anyone, let alone one another; you will crave freedom as defined by this world to roam about the country to see your beloved Horned Frogs or battle over the temperature setting of the thermostat (in the car or home) or continue the age-old struggle over whether to leave the toilet seat up (or down).

But, only when you are able to step back from these insignificant battles of the sinful flesh you both inherited from your first parents, Adam and Eve, will you be able to see the words of Luther more clearly through the lens of Scripture,

A Christian is an utterly free man, lord of all, subject to none.
A Christian is an utterly dutiful man, servant of all, subject to all.

The secret and what’s at the heart of these seemingly paradoxical sayings is Jesus Christ Himself.

It's really that simple, yet we make this so hard in marriage (and life in general).

One of the reasons we get hung up on this is because of those words “subject to all.” Or, as we heard in the Ephesians reading, the dreaded word, “Submission.”

Our getting caught up on all of this, which I believe is somewhat anchored in our own subjective ideas of freedom and the culture we live in today, really hinders us from seeing Jesus in the midst of our own relationships and lives.

I mean, for a moment, reflect on how Jesus demonstrates submission and service throughout His earthly life.

As we confess in the creed, “Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary and made man.” God submits Himself to our human flesh, being born of woman.

As a child, Mary and Joseph searched for the boy Jesus as He hung back in the temple. Why? Because He said, “I must be in my Father’s house.” Yet, as Jesus’ earthly parents found Him, probably full of a mixture of emotions (kind of like yours today), the Scriptures say, “Jesus was submissive (or subject) to them.”

Again, as Jesus nears the cross, the Gospel of John recounts how Jesus took the form of a servant, washing His disciples' feet, saying, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”

Ultimately, the whole life of Jesus and the many more instances of His submissiveness and service to others finds its fulfillment upon the cross.

It's on the cross Jesus demonstrates complete submission to His heavenly Father’s will while sacrificing Himself for you, His bride, the Church so that today He can now serve you with His forgiveness and eternal life.

So, the linchpin to understanding Christian Freedom, submissiveness, and servanthood is found in Jesus Christ, His cross, and sacrificial love for you.

This is why the reading from Ephesians is the perfect image and icon of marriage.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word... In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body.

Today, Jonah and McKenna are united in marriage. The two become one. And yet, today, you begin to learn to live as one.

So, what does this new life and freedom look like? 

It’s as the Apostle Paul wrote in Galatians, “For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (5:13)

Liberty seen through the lens of Christ is not autonomy from the world or, more importantly, one another, but rather being free from this world of sin and death, and as Paul wrote in Ephesians, learning to walk as husband and wife in “all lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Ephesians 4:2)

Because this peace granted through the work of the Holy Spirit will also allow you to “bear one another’s burdens.” (6:2)

To bear and encourage one another when work is difficult.

To rely on one another when children come, babies cry throughout the night, and McKenna needs help changing the most horrendous diapers, Jonah.

Or to walk alongside each other when illness comes, comforting and supporting one another as your final breaths approach and death and grief draw near. This is how you “bear one another’s burdens.”

In the end, marriage, along with the life of the Christian, is nothing like the world around you. But with Christ Jesus as the heartbeat of your marriage and life, it is greater and more powerful than any city or human institution on earth.

So, my friends, Jonah and McKenna, live in the liberty of Christ's forgiveness, loving and serving one another. Trust Him to guide you throughout all the days of joy and sadness alike so that in the end, you may both find yourselves at the eternal wedding feast of His kingdom. +INJ+

Pentecost 20

Text: Matthew 22:1-14

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

In many ways, with my installation last week, we began a marriage (you and I). It's a time of great joy but also filled with anxiousness. Much like a young couple, you don't truly get to know your spouse until you begin living and working together. But that is what these new days for us are all about - learning, growing, and getting to know one another. 

Scripture also begins with a wedding, which started in the Garden of Eden as Eve is formed from the side of Adam. They were to live in harmony and peace. But, they departed from God's command, became unworthy, and were expelled from the Garden. Thus, the story of Adam and Eve is and remains our story. However, it's not the end of the story.

However, like installations, weddings are joyful events. For a bride, her wedding is often seen as the day of days, the coronation of her life. You can just picture the train of her dress now. Or so the fairy tales go…

But, in the Gospel today, there is not much joy or happiness regarding the wedding described.

The wedding was set, the food prepared, the invitations sent out, everything was ready.

Yet, no one came; the guests “made light of the [wedding].” They were uninterested in the grand celebration. Rather than joining the joyous event, they departed to the tasks of the day, their farms, and their businesses. Who are these people? Who doesn’t enjoy a good time?

They are the Chief Priests and the Pharisees. It’s Holy Week.

Before our Gospel today, Jesus has just spoken to them the parable of the wicked tenants who threw out, beat, and killed the master’s son of the vineyard. Now, He continues to speak to these Chief Priests and Pharisees regarding Israel’s persistent rejection of God’s invitation to His banquet.

The rejection of the King comes to completion as Jesus would be arrayed and enthroned upon the cross in mere days. The rejection and destruction at the hands of armies foretold in the parable also came to fruition in the demise and destruction of Jerusalem some 30-40 years later.

Has anything changed since that first Holy Week? Or is the feast still ready? Do the people of Earth continue to make light of it? Do they brush off the invitation, treating the servants who have been sent spitefully, even putting some to death? Sadly, the answer to these questions is yes.

Now, most of us have not endured the experiences of martyrs; we have not met that fury. But, as a pastor, the concern for the flock persists.

Yet, throughout the past few years, our world has transformed quicker than we’ve ever imagined. Not everyone continues to hear the weekly invitation and enters the Lord's sanctuary at Good Shepherd.

As employment has entered our homes through telework, Christians have likewise become comfortable living out their vocations without venturing beyond their doors' threshold. Do you need food? Order online and pull up to the curb. Do you need clothing? Amazon. Do you need to attend a work meeting? Zoom. Do you need Jesus? Change the tab of your browser and see what the church down the road is doing.

Church now comes to anyone who desires, ready to be consumed as any other commerce within our lives. This is not to say technology is the devil (although some of you would disagree); it can be a blessing, too.

But, the invitation to the wedding is meant to be incarnational. Christ took on human flesh and dwelt among us. Likewise, we are called to be present physically and in the presence of one another as we gather every Divine Service, just as we hear in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, “be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20)

Well, that’s what we’re doing here, right?

But today’s Gospel asks the question, are you here? Are you present in thought, word, and deed? Do you possess true faith in Christ Jesus? Have you been made worthy?

Outwardly, you were all baptized. You come and continually listen to the Word of God and confess the ancient creeds of faith. You even understand the doctrine of the Lutheran Church and have defended it throughout your conversations. You are not easily moved to anger; you are humble and seek forgiveness – even seeking out those you have wronged to confess or permitting yourself to be rebuked when you have trespassed against your neighbor.

Yes, it all looks good.

But, todays Gospel is speaking about the heart of man, your heart and mine, is not right. It’s the heart that does not trust in Jesus alone. Therefore, words and works do not proceed out of true faith – we are caught simply going through the motions to possess the appearance of being pious and upright. We are the guest without the wedding garment.

Just as Jesus saw the rejection in the hearts of the Pharisees of last week’s Gospel, He continues to see our heart this day; there is no hiding from His judgment. So here is why we should take to heart the words we confess each day in the Creed, “From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.”

These are powerful words to confess – words of judgment, yet words of peace for those who call upon the Lord with a true heart.

As Isaiah wrote:
“Seek the LORD while he may be found;
                 call upon him while he is near;
         let the wicked forsake his way,
                  and the unrighteous man his thoughts;
          let him return to the LORD, that he may have compassion on him,
         and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

My friends, do not waste time, but examine yourselves before the Lord returns. Turn not only your body but your heart toward God. He is near in His Word of grace – through His compassion, He will hear your confession and grant you pardon and peace. He will give you His Holy Spirit to call, gather, and enlighten your way and the way of the whole Christian Church on earth until His return.

This is what the gift of Holy Baptism does; it grants you the Holy Spirit to call, gather, and enlighten your way and the way of the whole Christian Church on earth so that you may journey confidently through this earthly life that leads to the last day – when Christ returns to “to judge the living and the dead.”

So, until that day arrives, we must return to our Baptisms daily, drowning the Old Adam within by going the way of confession and absolution, which in turn leads us along the paths of righteousness, the path of forgiveness, the path that leads to the great wedding hall that awaits.

And for this reason, pastors are sent. Not only to get to know the sheep but to shepherd them throughout this life and unto eternal life in Christ Jesus.

You know, just as the first book of Scripture begins with a wedding, so the last concludes as it is written in the book of Revelation:
           Let us rejoice and exult
                  and give him the glory,
          for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
                  and his Bride has made herself ready;
         it was granted her to clothe herself
                  with fine linen, bright and pure” (Revelation 19:7-8)

Friends, come, make yourselves ready, rejoice, and receive the foretaste of the marriage feast the Lamb has prepared for you. Receive His forgiveness. And in faith, remain ready for Christ's return to gather you and all who are adorned with the garment of salvation into His eternal kingdom. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI

Trinity 10

***This sermon was preached on my last Sunday at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Alexandria, VA. I will be in a period of transition as I move to Tomah, WI, and begin serving the saints of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church.***

Text: Luke 19:41-48

+INJ+

In September of 1989, the American musician Billy Joel released the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” I remember listening to the song with my older siblings over and over and over again. The quick pace and rhythm were captivating to a 7-year-old. But I’ll be honest, I didn't really understand what the song was about; I just got caught up in the rhythm and beat.

As I’ve now gotten older, I find myself listening to music with a little more intent, and I believe the story of how this song came about is relatable to many of us today.

You see, Billy Joel was in the recording studio when his friend Sean Lennon (son of John Lennon) said, “It’s a terrible time to be 21!” Billy Joel replied: “Yeah, I remember when I was 21 – I thought it was an awful time, and we had Vietnam, and y'know, drug problems, and civil rights problems and everything seemed to be awful.”

Sean replied: “Yeah, yeah, yeah, but it’s different for you. You were a kid in the fifties and everybody knows that nothing happened in the fifties.” Billy Joel retorted: “Wait a minute, didn’t you hear of the Korean War or the Suez Canal Crisis?” Billy Joel later said those headlines formed the basic framework for the song [We Didn’t Start the Fire].

How often do you look around and romanticize over the past? How often do you become conditioned to the world around you? The destruction and evil? How often do you sing with Billy Joel regarding the circumstances and events of your life, “I didn’t start the fire!”

But you did.

You are a child of Adam and Eve, which means you inherited the seed of their sin. Like Cain and Abel, their first children, you war against one another, continuing the flames of destruction that burn within your heart since the creation of man and your first parents’ fall and expulsion from the Garden.

Therefore, the world’s history is your story.

This is also why the account of Jerusalem’s physical destruction by the historian Josephus in AD 70 should still grieve us today. The Roman general Titus laid siege on the city as foretold by Jesus in today’s Gospel.

While the siege was ongoing, the inhabitants were driven to hunger and despair. As the masses were dying, best friends and families came to war with one another over pieces of bread. Children are even recorded as forcefully taking food from their parents’ mouths.

Even as we have seen the costs of eggs and a gallon of milk rise and become more valuable than gold these past years, grain was the hottest commodity in Jerusalem. The desperate people who lay in the city’s rubble were not beyond eating hay, leather, or even dung.

When the city had finally been conquered, over 115,000 died of starvation, while 600,000 people died throughout the entirety of the siege (The numbers may even be higher). Because of how horrendous the events of Jerusalem’s fall were, Josephus still recorded them because he feared future generations would never believe them.

Titus, however, did desire to spare the temple as the siege went on, he saw the magnificence of the building. Yet, it was still set ablaze in the final battle, bringing it to ashes.

In the end, the place where the great city of Jerusalem once stood was no more. This is why Jesus weeps in today’s Gospel, reflecting how the kindling of God’s judgment upon the city and man’s sin began decades and centuries earlier.

Look to our reading from the prophet Jeremiah this morning; he wrote to those desiring to enter the temple;
Stand in the gate of the Lord’s house, and proclaim there this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all you men of Judah who enter these gates to worship the Lord. Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Amend your ways and your deeds, and I will let you dwell in this place. Do not trust in these deceptive words: ‘This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord.’

Why does Jeremiah say, “Do not trust in these deceptive words, The temple of the LORD?” Because the temple was not seen as a place where God comes to His creation but as a location for empty rituals that lacked the fear of God, true repentance and an amending of one’s ways.

Instead, the temple was where anything goes, and the Ten Commandments were meant to be broken: sexual sins, stealing, and harm to one’s neighbor – it happened there. 

What a sad state of affairs.

All of this should also give us pause to ask, what in our surroundings and current state of affairs hinders us as we enter the gates of this sanctuary to worship the Lord?

You, too, live near and in a great and powerful city of this world. Many of you are accomplished and thoughtfully take the faith of Christ into your earthly vocations that affect not only the people you engage with daily in your offices or over Zoom and Teams meetings - but organizations, our country, and sometimes the world.

However, have you become consumed by your earthly and often political vocations that form and mold you Monday through Friday? As the Church strives to remain a refuge and harbor for the wary, have you, in fact, brought the attributes of your earthly vocations into the Church to a fault?

I’d argue that, unlike Peter Pan, we cannot escape the shadows of our daily lives. Like those Jeremiah preaches to and Jesus contends with today, is it us that bring the outside world into the Church - the political battles, the culture, and the complete destruction of the soul – it is us.

And so, Jesus weeps for us who permit the icon of this world to descend upon His Church.

Reflect on the Ten Commandments, use it as a lens, and exam how we transgress them here – maybe the gossip of our lips transcends physical conversations and pours over into the technological conversations - where we are tempted to forward email conversations we were never privileged to, or maybe there’s a temptation to step out of Scripture Study or the Divine Service to converse over the business and politics of church governance, or quite simply – the words, “I’m sorry,” just don’t flow off your lips as easy as they ought – reflecting a heart lacking true repentance and reconciliation before God and neighbor alike.

Today, Jesus weeps for you, for us.

Now, when Jesus entered the temple, it says He began to drive out those who were not there for prayer. Interestingly, the root word in Greek for Jesus, “Driving” out those who were profaning the temple, is “ekballo,” which means to cast out – another word for exorcism.

So, in reality, Jesus is calling those conducting the business of the world in His Father’s temple unclean spirits, needing expulsion.

So, what does this have to do with us?

Well, from the word exorcism, we also get “exercise.” And for the Christian, we must understand that the whole Christian faith and life is one of exercise – the act of confessing Jesus, the confession of sin, the process of having the unclean and impure thoughts and sins cast out of our hearts by Jesus Himself.

You see, we need not be caught up in the rhythm and beat of the world that pits brothers and sisters against one another, nor bring it into the Church, but instead, we must be drawn into harmony with one another through the beat and rhythm of confession and absolution.

Because this is what it means to be a Christian, to be led to humble yourself before Christ Jesus and His cross – to confess your sin and rejoice in how He casts this darkness out of you.

Sure, you didn’t start the fire, but you certainly heap the fuel and coal upon it that keeps it burning when you, as your first parents in the Garden, fail to take ownership for the trespasses of your hearts and lips, saying, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Or, as the woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

My dear brothers and sisters, if you genuinely desire to block out the world, you cannot act as Adam and Eve; you must approach every aspect of life differently.

You must come to the font daily where Jesus has taken your sin into His death and raised you to new life. So, dip your fingers in that font and remember your baptism as Christ Jesus continues to douse the inferno within your heart.

Then, you must gather with one another in this sanctuary where your Immanuel dwells with you this day – bringing the true temple of God to you as He fills your ears with His Word and purges this corrupted world from your mind.

And then, finally, approach this altar where the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” feeds you with His life-giving flesh and blood – expelling the dung of the sin that consumes and destroys you. 

This is the rhythm and beat of the Church’s song - written so that we, along with future generations, would know its story, sing it, believe it, exercise, and live it as we place our faith and trust in our Savior Jesus Christ.

As I descend this pulpit for the last time today, my prayer is that the cross of Christ Jesus continues to unite you as true brothers and sisters - leading you out of the ashes and sadness of this life and unto eternal life where we are given the new song of eternal praise to our heavenly King who reigns eternally in the great city of peace, His Holy Jerusalem. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

Trinity 9

Text: Luke 16:1-13

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Today we heard the parable of the unjust steward. Permit me to let you in on a bit of a secret; not everyone loves this teaching of Jesus. 

But before we get too far into things, let's briefly define what is meant by an “unjust steward.”

To be unjust is the opposite of being just – to be unjust is to act contrary to what is right - in a crooked way. 

When we think of a steward or read and hear the Gospel today, our first thought is probably money! The steward was terrible with money. 

The Greek word for steward is “οἰκονόμος.” So the construct of “οἰκονόμος” is really two words, “οἶκος," meaning house, home, or estate. And “νόμος” denotes law, rule, and authority. So a steward is placed or given authority to rule or manage a home, estate, or even today, a business. 

The steward in today's Gospel oversaw the rich man’s goods or possessions. The debtors owed things like oil and wheat. This was commerce, but these were also needful things for life. 

Many, if not all of us, have some sort of steward in our lives. We all manage our homes. Parents are stewards of their children and the aspects of their lives. Some of us rely on family members to oversee our affairs and finances as we age. Others employ people to manage estates or businesses. Yet, pastors are also included in Scripture as stewards - the apostle Paul writes, pastors, are “servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.” (1 Corinthians 4:1)

In all of our vocations, we have been entrusted with stewardship. We are called to be honest, just, and wise with the people, possessions, and faith entrusted to our care. 

Do children eat the food placed before them or push it away, toss it to the ground, and throw a fit? Do parents see their children as gifts from God, giving their care to raise them in wisdom and virtue, or are they a means to an end? Is the Church a place where you come to receive the forgiveness and salvation promised in Christ Jesus, or is it a place for unholy business and the affairs of this world to take place? 

In reality, the parable of the Unjust Steward reveals to us that while our focus is often solely on the monetary aspect of stewardship, when unjust stewardship takes place – it penetrates into all aspects of life – the possessions of the world, the body, and our faith. 

Possessions and mammon are not evil in themselves. They are gifts from God. However, when riches, power, control, homes, land, food, or the needs of daily life become our focus and idol, we are led into sin. It is then that these things become unrighteous mammon. 

Our health, vision, hearing, wife, and children are all gifts for us to care for throughout this life. And yet, we must guard against the allure of this faithless world – protecting our family from the assaults that wish to lead us to misuse our time and energies, permitting the devils of this world access into our homes.

God created you as body and soul – the two are inseparable. He gave you reason and intellect, wisdom, shrewdness, and an ability to suffer all in this life – even if it means you would have to dig trenches as the steward today in the Gospel says he could not do or one day beg as poor Lazarus would a little later in Luke Chapter 16. 

But this is a portrait of the Christian life, is it not? 

You are to be content with what God has entrusted to your care. If it is to manage money, then do it wisely. If it is to teach, do it with patience and joy. If you have been given to lead, then lead with charity, a cup overflowing with grace, and by being just. 

In these ways, you are diggers, tilling the soil of faith through your places of stewardship. 

And by all means, don't be ashamed to beg before God. It is recorded that Martin Luther’s final words of this life were, "We are all beggars; this is true." 

Why is it we are beggars in this life? Because we are unjust and in need of God’s mercy. The Collect of the Day begins to reveal this aspect of the Gospel as we prayed, “Let Your merciful ears, O Lord, be open to the prayers of Your humble servants.” 

A servant serves. A servant must till the earth through the callings they have been given from above. They are the one who begs, and this begging leads us to God's mercy.

Remember earlier I said pastors are “stewards of the mysteries of God?” In the broad sense, this mystery is the Gospel. 

To the unbeliever, the Gospel remains hidden in the foolishness of the cross. And yet, to those who have faith, the Gospel forgives, restores, and nurtures the hope of the resurrection to come. 

And in a more narrow sense, begging leads you to confession and absolution. Thus, the pastor is a steward of the means of grace in Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper – the locations Christ has promised to be present for you, reveals His great love for you, and delivers life and salvation to you.

Being a steward goes beyond finances and commerce. Stewardship reflects the One who entrusts you with all the possessions and goods of this life. You will never be stewards of God's gifts as you are supposed to be. The math and accounting will never be in your favor. For this, you are led to the cross where your Savior has paid your debts to the fullest degree. 

So be generous in all your dealings of this life, with people, goods, and with the mammon of this world – “do good and distribute,” trusting that God will care for you and bring you into an everlasting home with Lazarus and all the faithful beggars that look to the mercy of Christ Jesus. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Trinity 8

Text: Matthew: 7:15-23

Have you ever noticed parents have this crazy ability to spot a person they would prefer their child not to hang around? It's like they have sonar that keeps them in a constant state of alertness. When I was young, it would sometimes frustrate me to no end. But as I have grown and have my own children, I can now realize and understand the wisdom of my parents. They warned me of bad company and didn't want me to be led astray, into trouble, sin, or away from the faith.

One of the hardest things about growing up can be to know who a true friend is and who is not. This continues to be true throughout the Christian Church, some pastors appear good and friendly, but in reality, they are sheep in wolf’s clothing that wish to lead Christians away from true faith in Jesus.

In fact, just a couple weeks ago, I was called a wolf in sheep’s clothing, but not in so many words. The person was a devoted Latin Mass Roman Catholic and had no time to discuss the Christian faith with me. I did not belong to what the person had determined as the “One Roman Catholic Church.” My arguments and confession for the use of Scripture and the “One Christian and Apostolic Church” fell upon deaf ears. Instead, I was informed I was wearing a “Fake Collar.”

The whole ordeal brought me some sadness, but it also helped me realize again we must always keep watch over the faith entrusted to us.

For this reason, our Lord begins today’s Gospel with a word of caution against false prophets and wolves, saying, "Beware!" Be in a state of alertness, be concerned, and do not let down your guard.

What does the wolf do?

The wolf tells us what we want to hear and not necessarily what we need to hear. The wolf leads you away from your Savior. The wolf corrupts your faith at the core, telling you that it's not enough to simply believe that Jesus died for your sins; there is more you can do to be saved and earn heaven.

So, here's a challenge of today's Gospel. Jesus instructs that we are to beware, to be on guard, and to discern the faithful preachers and prophets from the false ones. Simple enough, except they will be in sheep's clothing. They will appear to be good while being bad. From the exterior, they are indistinguishable. They may even wear a clerical collar as the clergy do here at Immanuel. Or they may be the writers of the blogs you peruse or the podcasts you can’t get enough of. Yet, Christ warns us that they are ravenous wolves.

St. Paul also warns, "Satan will disguise himself as an agent of light." (2 Corinthians 11:14) These men and women are not coming to synagogues for Jews; they are not coming to mosques for Muslims. Instead, these imposters and fictitious storytellers are coming for you, the Christian.

Luther writes regarding Satan and his wolves:

The aim of these desperate scoundrels, with the beautiful appearance of their doctrine and life, is to destroy souls and to tear them up. They will not do it outwardly, like the tyrants and persecutors who tear up life and property or like the preachers who preach against us publicly and condemn our doctrine. They will do it inwardly by secretly tearing away the treasure in our heart, which has now become the throne and kingdom and dwelling place of God.

So, the wolf in sheep's clothing conducts an inside job. The treasure they wish to snatch from your heart is the true doctrine and Gospel of Jesus Christ. God the Father sent His only begotten Son into this world to be a Shepherd for His sheep, sacrificing and laying down His life so that the sheep may live and withstand the wolf's attacks, sure of their salvation and eternity.

The prophet Jeremiah says the false preacher will tell you, "It shall be well with you," and "No disaster shall come upon you." Except, these words stand in contrast to our Lord recorded in the Gospel of John that this life will, in fact, experience tribulation and hardship.

There is an allure to the words of the false preacher because when life leaves you hurting from the betrayal of family or friends, the hurt you witness of a child wounded by the lips of the wolf masquerading as a child's friend. The false preacher does not tell you what you need to hear; instead, jumping on your vulnerability, he fills you with vain hope by telling you what you want to hear. That "It shall be well with you." Sticks and stones, words never hurt, and everything will be okay in time. Don't worry, child.

So why doesn't God do away with false preachers? Why are wolves allowed to circle and lie in wait?

To strengthen you for the times when you feel as if no one is around to protect you. To prepare you for the times of despair when the friends of the night provide you with false counsel that lacks true wisdom. It's written in Deuteronomy, "You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the LORD, your God is testing you, to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul." (Deuteronomy 13:3) In these ways and at these times, your faith is directed to Christ, it is deepened, and your foundation surer.

How does one discern the faithful preacher from the unfaithful one? By their fruits. The fruits of a preacher are the doctrine they teach and proclaim. The faithful preacher is one that warns you of falling out of faith. He cautions you from the lure of false doctrine. He doesn't tell you what you want to hear. Instead, he speaks the words that you need to hear.

What is it that you need to hear? First, God's call to repentance. The words of the last prophet, John the Baptist, still ring true today, repent. "Bear fruit in keeping with repentance." The faithful preacher calls you out of sin; he calls you to turn away from the things that cause you harm in this life. But he also instructs you to cast your burdens, wounds, and scars upon the crucified Lord.

And then the faithful preacher equips you for the attacks of the wolf by always pointing you to the Gospel, by constantly pointing you to Jesus, by pointing you and giving you Christ's precious body and blood. Why? Because this is where Jesus has said He will be for you.

In Jesus, you are given the words you genuinely need to hear. Words that grant forgiveness. Words that give eternal life. Our prayer is that God will keep us steadfast in the one true faith by keeping us in His Son.

The antiphon of the introit today is quite beautiful; it gives us this focus as the psalmist writes, "We have thought on your steadfast love oh god, in the midst of your temple." Here the third commandment gives pause to this life so that we will gather in this place to contemplate God's Word and steadfast love in the Divine Service and become receivers of His healing, His mercy, and forgiveness. (Paraphrase of Rev. David Petersen)

What joy this is! You have a Good Shepherd that desires to keep you safe from the false prophets and wolves that come and masquerade among you. You have a merciful Lord that wishes nothing more than to bandage the wounds and scars of your life with His forgiveness.

This you can be assured of, for God's Word has surely said it. +INJ+

“Now the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.”

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA 

Congregational Letter Announcing Call Decision

***This letter was read and sent to my congregation on July 16, 2023***

Immanuel Lutheran Church and School
1801 Russell Road
Alexandria, VA 22301

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ Jesus,

On Sunday, June 18, 2023, I was extended a Divine Call from St. John’s Lutheran Church in Berlin, WI, to serve as their Pastor. Additionally, on Sunday, June 25, 2023, I was extended a Divine Call from Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Tomah, WI, to serve as their Pastor.

Over the past few weeks, I have been fervent in prayer regarding my Calls to serve St. John's Lutheran Church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, and Immanuel Lutheran Church. I have visited these congregations and have sought the counsel and guidance of fellow pastors and district presidents. I have greatly appreciated your prayers and am incredibly thankful for the encouragement, support, and concern you have shared with me through emails, texts, and conversations. Thank you. 

To be an undershepherd, servant of Christ, and steward of the mysteries of God is not to be taken lightly. (1 Corinthians 4:1) When a congregation extends a Divine Call, it is because there is a great need for a flock to be served and cared for by the Gospel. This is one reason the deliberation process is a challenging endeavor and an opportunity for the spiritual growth of both pastors and congregations.

This past week, I notified St. John’s Lutheran Church in Berlin, WI, that I am returning their Call.

However, I also notified Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Tomah, WI, that I am accepting their Call.

What this means for Immanuel Lutheran Church is that in the coming days and weeks, my family and I will begin planning our move to Wisconsin. As details for our move become clear, I will share with you the date of my last Sunday at Immanuel.

Immanuel will forever remain a special place for the Rogness family – it is where Becky and I first met, it’s where we left from for seminary, it’s where we came back when the Army called again in 2018, it’s where our family has continued to grow, and the seed of faith has been nourished these past years in our children as they attended school.

As we begin this new chapter, I want to express how much my family loves you all, and while we are grateful to call you our friends, we find it even more humbling to call you our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

Your brother in Christ,
Pastor Rogness

Trinity 6

Text: Matthew: 5:17-26

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

I recently read an article on the CiRCE Institute website by Joshua Gibbs regarding the children’s book series, “Frog and Toad.” My family has particularly enjoyed reading these books, and they’ve been required reading for our school’s younger children.

Suppose you are not familiar with the book series from the 1970s. In that case, the anthropomorphic Frog and Toad are two characters who have adventures but also wrestle and teach children of a young age about real-life situations like temptation, sloth, or worry.

For instance, the story of “The Lost Button” highlights anger, which is appropriate with today’s Gospel.

You see, Frog and Toad were out on a walk across a meadow, in the woods, and along a river. Once they had returned home, Toad realized he lost a button from his jacket. So, being his good friend, Frog says, “Don’t worry, we will go back to all the places where we walked, and we’ll find your button.”

Animals of all sorts bring Toad buttons, large and small, thick and thin, but none were the correct button. The process of losing and searching for the button increases Toad's anger. Eventually, he is shouting, stomping, and just not happy at all.

After this, Toad decided to go home and slammed the door shut behind him in a fit.

But low and behold, the button that had fallen off his coat was right there under his nose on the floor of his own home.

In the end, Toad “decoratively sews all the wrong buttons [he collected from his wilderness friends] on a jacket for Frog as a way of making up for his anger and small-mindedness.”

What a friend.

Joshua Gibbs makes the point in saying he believes “children’s books have become increasingly squeamish [today] when it comes to addressing genuine human problems.”

I’d have to agree with him, but I’d add the Church has also not only become squeamish when it comes to handling genuine problems of man’s heart, such as anger, but has forgotten where true peace is located for them today and through the days of this life – in your Savior, Jesus Christ.

C.F.W. Walther wrote, “This Gospel [today] is not like the gentle dew which trickles softly upon languishing hearts. It is glorious like a torrential rain, which comes amid the flashing of lightning and the roll of thunder.” (Walther’s Works, Volume 2, Page 54)

The Gospel today speaks hard words into your ears; it convicts and leaves you little room to run because as you, too, journey through the wilderness of life, you have all given way to anger, hatred, and the murdering of your friends and neighbors.

What propels this is that you do not grasp the severity of God’s Law as you ought. Instead, you poo-poo the law when it applies to you; you minimize its importance, or as some translations of today’s Gospel say, "Whoever therefore [loosens] one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great In the kingdom of heaven."

Now, the idea of using the word "loosens" also implies a person is not concerned with abolishing God's law but rather with downplaying the law's importance.

We do this all the time, loosen our understandings of laws, rules, and instructions throughout our daily life, and do so for self-preservation and self-justification. 

Instead of taking responsibility for our feelings, words, and actions, we often justify our words and actions while accusing our neighbors of betrayal, lacking charity in their words, or even offering the gift of forgiveness.  

In other words, we act like a Toad who has lost his button; we get mad – jump up and down, stomp, and pout like a child.

Will this make you feel better? Maybe, but will you have your button? Will you receive peace or gain a friend?

No, not at all.

And this is because you are looking to self-justify yourself and search for peace as the world searches rather than looking to the One who came and fulfilled every iota of the law for you.

You see, our lives are nothing but losing our way, staggering across meadows, through the thick brush of the woods, and along long shores of rivers only to be disappointed in not finding what we’re looking for – peace among the troubles of this life, peace among and with the friends of this life.

Yet, the answer to all of this animosity, exasperation, or resentment within your heart is not lost (it's you who has been lost). Instead, the answer is found right before you – where it has always been. In your Savior, Jesus Christ.

I mean, how often do we forget we’ve received the same gift as Ruth this morning? How often do we forget Jesus has placed His name upon us in the waters of Holy Baptism, and we are now His brothers and sisters?

The epistle today speaks clearly to us sinners,
How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father; even so, we also should walk in the newness of life.

Just like Ruth, you are not to live in the sin of anger any more than the sin of lust, anxiousness, or greed. Your baptism took you into Christ's grave so that you may arise with Him to new life – thus, you are called to walk in the newness of life, the fulfillment of Christ's work upon the cross for your salvation.

For this reason, your prayer should then be that of our collect today, that God would graft into your hearts the love of His Son and the desire to be Christ-like - to be “slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.” (Psalm 103:8b)

So, with this frame of mind, what should happen to you when you become angry? First, you should feel compelled by the Word of God to run to your baptism, to rejoice again in how you have been forgiven, and how your neighbor requires this same reconciliation and new life in Christ Jesus.

Now, many of you have undoubtedly prayed these words of Psalm 4, “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent.” (v. 4). These are not words condoning the anger of our hearts, but as the Church Fathers often read them, words that lead and encourage us to do as our Gospel says today,
Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

In other words, when you experience anger throughout life, run through meadow or highwater to reconcile with your neighbor so that there may be peace among the relationships of your horizontal life so that your vertical relationship with your heavenly Father is not altered. 

In the end, there’s no denying how the murder that follows the anger of your heart lurks in your life and affects your relationships. There's no denying God knows your sins. But isn’t this the hard part for us, taking ownership and speaking aloud the words, “I am sorry, I have sinned.”

You are called to confess your trespasses audibly upon your lips because they lead you out of the wilderness and to those sweet words from one another and anchored in the cross of Jesus, “I forgive you.”

This is where the writings of the Law and the Prophets were leading and pointing throughout all of Scripture – to Jesus, “The Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”

Your sin and mine.

When you take a step back in life, it's really something, isn't it? How something as simple as a missing button can turn hearts in on themselves and upon one another.

But don’t forget the answer to your anger, and all that ails you is always right before you; look to your Savior, Jesus Christ, as He continues to look upon you.

What better gift can there be for two people at odds than this? The gift of being baptized into Christ's death and raised again to walk in the newness of life. That's the kind of friend I want; that's the brother and sister in Christ I yearn for…

So, be friends with one another and journey to the cross of Christ Jesus together because the forgiveness of sin makes you more than a friend; it makes you brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

The Visitation

Text: Luke 1:39-55

I was recently speaking with some school parents, and they were describing the maps they purchased for their children. One map was so the children could track all the places they had visited throughout the world. The other map was to mark the places they visit here in the United States.

It's quite something to see all the places children travel to today.

Growing up, I believe I was one of the unicorns; I was never blessed with an 8th-grade trip to the great and powerful city of Washington, D.C., like so many children throughout the country today.

What must it be like to be a student or child or one of the over twenty million (According to 2019 statistics) people, a year, who visit Washington, D.C., and see the magnificence of the buildings and monuments of this great city on a hill?

The “City on the Hill.”

John F. Kennedy echoed these words of John Winthrop in a speech as he said,
Today the eyes of all people are truly upon us--and our governments, in every branch, at every level, national, state, and local, must be as a city upon a hill--constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and their great responsibilities.

Is that the city we live near? A place “constructed and inhabited by men aware of their great trust and great responsibilities?”

You know, in the verse before the Gospel today, Mary responds to the angel Gabriel’s announcement of the Christ child she will bear, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” (Luke 1:38)

How often do you who dwell near this great city join Mary’s confession, “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word?” You can just hear these words flowing off your lips, right?

Alright, probably not. Truthfully, this confession by the mother of our Lord can't be further from your lips.

We live near a city where everyone angles not for servitude but to be served. Our hearts, our minds, and the words of our lips reveal where our trust truly lies. In man, in ourselves.

Still, as we observe the Feast of the Visitation today, the Savior is found within the womb of Mary; she now represents the Church – a Church where Jesus not only visits but dwells within so that He would humbly take upon Himself the form of a servant, you.

Isn't this something? He came into your lowliness as He grew within the womb of Mary, taking upon Himself your corrupted flesh. In doing this, Christ Jesus took your sin of mistrust and failings to the most magnificent cross.

Not really the self-sacrificing image of your lives today, is it?

But here is the image of a true city on a hill because it is a city and Church whose foundation is in the cross of Jesus Christ alone.

A little later in the Gospel of Luke, John the Baptist sent His disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Luke 7:19)

“Are you the Coming One,” this is the definition of a visitation. It’s as if these disciples are asking Jesus, are you the One that has come to visit us from on high?

Jesus would send the disciples of John the Baptist back to his prison cell with a message regarding His earthly visitation:
“Blind are seeing again, lame are walking around, lepers are being cleansed, and deaf are hearing, dead are being raised, poor are proclaimed the Good News.” (Luke 7:22)

God has come to His people and brought the reign and kingdom of heaven with Him - the true and beautiful great city on a hill.

So often, we travel and visit incredible places throughout our country and the world. In fact, some of us become consumed with going places and seeing things. Sometimes even placing our trust in the great and magnificent buildings and monuments made of men.

However, no great and mighty city on earth, nor its inhabitants, will ever save you.

Instead, the One who came and continues to visit us from high saves you, the child in the manger, wrapped in swaddling clothes.

He gives you true sight when faith falters, He shows you how to walk through life's trials and tribulations, He cleanses you from sin, and opens your ears to faith, that you might be raised from death to life.

My friends, I urge you never to stop coming to this place where Christ dwells to nourish you with the Word and the holy meal of His heaven. Here you can be certain He comes to visit and abide with you.

And when He abides in you, you, as Mary, are blessed because you have confessed with her, “I am a servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word?”

What greater joy is there than this? This joy might even cause you and your heart to leap for joy in the womb of Christ’s blessed Church.

May we, like children, never fail to look upon the cross of Christ Jesus with fervent faith and awe, for He has come to visit and redeem us this day. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

Presentation of the Augsburg Confession

Text: Matthew 10:26b-33

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

On June 25, 1530, a group of German princes and representatives presented and confessed the Christian faith they shared with Martin Luther and had come to believe to be an accurate exposition of Holy Scripture.

Prior to this date, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor, was growing frustrated with the rise of the Lutheran Reformation. In some ways, the whole thing was a distraction as the emperor had a variety of wars he was engaged in at the time.

Due to Luther being an outlaw, he could not travel to Augsburg, so Philipp Melanchthon, a trusted partner of Luther’s and drafter of the confession, went to Augsburg. One thing that became clear as the Lutherans descended upon this city was how they were accused of many ancient heresies.

For this reason and purpose, Melanchthon drafted the first part of the Augsburg Confession rather quickly to succinctly and clearly put forth the Christian faith. 

The simplicity of the Augsburg Confession is one of the reasons it continues to be one of the principal documents of the Reformation, contained in the Lutheran Confession (otherwise known as the Book of Concord) that still presents a summary of the Christian faith for us today.

Another characteristic of the Augsburg Confession is how it presents the Christian faith methodically. The first article of the confession begins with God the Father and Creator, then original sin and man's fall, followed by the Son of God, who in Article IV then provides justification, that is, the forgiveness of sins. As we heard a couple of weeks ago, Article V is about the Office of Holy Ministry and how the gift of forgiveness is given and proclaimed to man, which explains in Article VI how we are to live and in Article VII be the Church. This whole pattern continues to demonstrate the Christian faith according to God’s Word through a total of twenty-eight articles – while also correcting various false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. 

But another effect of the Augsburg Confession is this, it unites. This confession united the Lutherans of the Reformation and still unites us in the one Christian faith. But why?

Isn’t this the great question of Lutheranism? Why? Or “What does this mean?”

As Luther confessed nine years earlier at the Diet of Worms, even against the backdrop of possibly being burned at the stake for the charges of being a heretic in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church, he spoke these famous words, “My conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. Here I stand; I can do no other. God help me.”

Why won't Luther recant, and what do Luther and all Lutherans stand upon? The Word of God.

The whole Reformation was a return to God's Word, as it is the very thing that sparked Luther to begin questioning the Roman Catholic Church in the first place.

As we heard a couple weeks ago, the words that caused such a spark within Luther came from the Apostle Paul as he wrote in the book of Romans:
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

“As it is written, ‘The righteous (those forgiven by God solely because of His Son, Jesus Christ) shall live by faith.’”

This faith is an absolute trust in Christ Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection.

And this faith produces an icon and image of Jesus and His cross within you, that as you live out and confess your faith in the Church and world, people do not see you; instead, they see Christ Jesus, Himself. As Luther remarked, “In the good we do, we are just “little Christs” to each other (LW, Vol. 31, pages 367-368).

But more, having the joy of this Christian faith strengthens you to confess it with the likes of Luther before men. For Jesus spoke in the Gospel,
“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33)

Saint John Chrysostom remarked regarding these words,
           The Son does not here speak soothing words but rather speaks of the consequences of denial. Note carefully: It is not by some power within yourself that you make your confession but by the help of grace from above. But if you deny me, the Son, he is saying, then I will deny you in the presence of the Father. Someone may then object: “How then am I to be blamed if God, forsaking me, denies me?” The answer is, Your being forsaken is the fault of you yourself, the forsaken person, not of God.

“But why,” you object, “should I need to confess faith with my mouth if I confess faith in my mind?” No, we must confess with our mouths in order that we may be steadily trained to speak boldly. It is only through this more abundant love and determination that we will be raised on high.

            In this way, Jesus addresses himself to each one of us personally. He is not here addressing his original disciples only but every one of us who follows after his disciples in accord with their witness to him. One who learns this lesson will teach it in boldness to others, prepared to suffer all things easily and with a ready mind. This is why so many have come to have faith in the witness of the apostles to this Word.

Chrysostom ends here by pointing us again back to the Words of the Holy Scripture. This is not only the tradition of the Church but the foundation and rule of faith throughout the Church’s life – the Word of God.

So take stock of your lives; how do you confess the Holy Word of God in the many vocations you possess as husband and wife, son and daughter, executive or reporter, teacher or pastor; people should not see you, but Christ Jesus Himself.

Are you “little Christs” to one another within your homes, offices, and the Church?

The reality is that few of us will ever present ourselves before emperors, kings, and presidents to confess our faith with the Lutheran Reformers. But we'll also never be ready for that day if we do not confess this faith in our homes, offices, churches, and ordinary daily lives.

This confession of the Christian faith must begin in the heart and exit your lips, but it seldom percolates as it should because of fear.

Fear for our lives, fear for the loss of friends and family, fear of confession and repentance.

Yet, if we do not confess the Christian faith in every aspect of our own lives among one another, we will no longer be “Little Christ’s,” and thus, no longer Christians.

This makes the Gospel's final verse today so terrifying, “But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.”

In the end, why did the princes, representatives, and reformers of the Lutheran movement stand before the Emperor and the Roman Catholic Church at Augsburg? To confess Jesus and their faith in Him. It’s that simple.

So, do you, too, want to be a radical reformer? Then begin today by repenting of your sin, turn back to your Savior, Jesus Christ, and with your lips, confess His Word among the world you have been placed into.

And when you live in this Word of Christ, rejoice that it is Christ upon which you stand, and with Him, there is nothing and no one to fear. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

Saint Barnabas

Text: Mark 6:7-13 and Acts 11:19-30, 13:1-3

+INJ+

It's all a wonderful and frightening story in the Gospel today; Jesus sends His disciples out two by two. These disciples go out with absolutely nothing to their names.

He commanded these disciples “to take nothing for the journey except a staff—no bag, no bread, no copper in their money belts.”

The ministry they were to bring was to be all about Jesus.

Additionally, there was no governance, constitution, structure, or means of earthly protection for these men – just a Word of repentance and the sweet balm of the Gospel.

This is the Church in its purest form. The ministry of bringing the reign of God to man – the healing Words of Jesus.

And yet, the instruction Jesus provides His disciples also reveals how some would not receive His Word, and when this happens, He says, “shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”

This is pretty gnarly – how’d you like to go out on this journey? Jesus says when someone doesn't receive you in kindness and charity, shake off the dust of your feet as a testimony of God's judgment against them. To be honest, this sounds dangerous.

Still, since Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles, Jesus has been sending out His Apostles into parts unknown, with nothing but His Word. This is a good time to remember that a disciple is a student, and an apostle is one that is sent out.

We see this with Paul and Barnabas in the epistle today as they continued to take the message of repentance and forgiveness to those who would listen.

This message is what makes Christianity different from all other religions.

Yet, the Church has had to remain on guard throughout the centuries for error, distractions, or a departure from this message of Jesus.

Luther saw this in the Roman Catholic Church of his time, which is why, when he “rediscovered” the Gospel in reading the book of Romans, he sought to confess God's Word with the likeness of the first apostles. Luther desired to see the Church return to Jesus's words. Thus, the term “Reformation” is a return to the original form. 

What were those words of Paul that reformed Luther, this,
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17)

To summarize, God forgives, and a forgiven person will then want to help his or her neighbor.

Is this an image of the Church today?

In the first of confessional documents presented by Lutherans before Charles the V, the Augsburg Confession layouts in a methodical order what the ministry and Church are to be.

Article V of the Augsburg Confession, regarding the ministry, states,
So that we may obtain this faith (the faith of justification and forgiveness), the ministry of teaching the Gospel and administering the Sacraments was instituted. Through the Word and Sacraments, as through instruments, the Holy Spirit is given [John 20:22]. He works faith when and where it pleases God [John 3:8], in those who hear the good news that God justifies those who believe that they are received into grace for Christ's sake. This happens not through our own merits but for Christ's sake.[1]

Further, Article VII of the Augsburg Confession, regarding the Church, states,
Our churches teach that one holy Church is to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints [Psalm 149:1] 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…. As Paul says, “One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all” (Ephesians 4:5–6).[2]

Did you hear this, “For the true unity of the Church it is enough to agree about the doctrine of the Gospel and the administration of the Sacraments.”

So the Church is pure when doctrine (the teachings of God's Word) and the Sacraments are administered correctly, and the purpose of the Office of Holy Ministry is to deliver these beautiful gifts to you, God's holy children.

But was this the image of the Church at the time of the Reformation? Or, as you examine the Church (capital "C") today, is this the image of the Church you see?

The Lutheran theologian Hermann Sasse once wrote an observation of the Christian Faith and the Church:
If one asks what the one characteristic feature of the Christian faith is, distinguishing it from all religions in the world, then we would have to say: It is the forgiveness of sins. The pious Jew and even a pious Mohammedan may hope for God's pardon. Forgiveness is a real gift, the full assurance of forgiveness that is the gift of the Gospel.

To proclaim the Gospel of forgiveness, to declare to repentant sinners the forgiveness of their sins, to distribute the Sacraments with all the gifts of divine grace contained in them, this and nothing else, is the proper task of the minister of Christ as it was the official proprium [proper office] of Christ Himself. This the Church had to learn in the great crisis of the second century. . . . The church administration in Europe follows the patterns of the administration of the state, while in America, the great business organizations seem to be unknowingly imitated by the churches. The consequence is that also the parish minister becomes more and more of an administrator and organizer who rushes from meeting to meeting and has not enough time for his proper calling as a shepherd. (Hermann Sasse, “The Crisis of the Christian Ministry,” The Lonely Way: Selected Essays and Letters, Volume 2, Page 371)

Do you agree with these words of Sasse?

It's an interesting observation when compared to how Jesus sent out the disciples in today's Gospel and, later, how the ministry and Church are presented in our Lutheran Confessions.

Has the world around us seeped into the Church? Has the Church taken on an image that follows the blueprint of our time’s great American business organizations?

I’ve always believed where we spend the most time reveals not only what we believe to be most important but the image of what genuinely guides our hearts.

So, do we spend more time in the meetings and business of the Church or in the Divine Service itself, receiving the gifts of God? Do we find ourselves arrested by fear and anger with one another or scheduling time for reconciling and prayer for and with our neighbors? Are pastors of our day hopping from meeting to meeting, as Sasse says, or are they sent off with the likes of the apostles to carry out the frightening and beautiful work they receive from Jesus Himself, to shepherd the flock with the words of repentance and forgiveness?

These are hard questions to wrestle with and may make us even more uncomfortable. But these words of Sasse are also such a blessing as they remind us of the characteristic feature of the Christian faith, “The forgiveness of sins.”

For this reason alone, today, the Church should observe St. Barnabas.

First, a little background, Barnabas’ real name was Joseph, and he was a Jewish Levite. After hearing the Gospel, he sold some of his earthly possessions and laid the money at the feet of the disciples – he desired to aid the poor in Jerusalem and support the Church. For this, the Apostles called him Barnabas, which means “Son of Encouragement.” That’s a nice name, isn’t it?

This encouragement is another way to lift another person’s spirits or comfort and provide consolation. I cannot think of a better place and way to receive such encouragement than in the Church of God – where the tired, those burdened by the world, and those who require refuge can come to receive the healing balm of Christ Jesus. 

While Barnabas did indeed support the ministry of the apostles through financial means, he also journeyed with Paul to Antioch to carry out the ministry entrusted to them by Christ Himself. It was here we heard, “And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”

Another beautiful name and title because where there is a Christian, there is a heart led not only to receive the gifts of God's forgiveness but a forgiven person with a desire to forgive and help his or her neighbor.

This is the Church in its purest form.

As we remember Barnabas and all the apostles, we should take the words of the collect we prayed to heart as we petitioned God, “Grant that we may follow [the] example [of Barnabas] in lives given to charity and the proclamation of the Gospel.”

When you get to it, this is truly beautiful and frightening - confessing sin, forgiving others, and extending charity.

But, like Barnabas, it’s who we, as the Church, are called to be. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

[1] McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (p. 33). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

[2] McCain, P. T. (Ed.). (2005). Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions (p. 34). St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House.

ILS 2023 Closing Chapel

***Note: The below chapel sermon was given at Immanuel Lutheran Church and School on June 9, 2023. For context, Immanuel Lutheran Church and School is situated in Northern Virginia, and many students move from year to year due to their parent's employment or military service.

Closing Chapel Service
of Immanuel Lutheran School
June 9, 2023

My friends, the last day of school has arrived. It’s kind of crazy to believe, isn’t it? The time has come for us to say “Goodbye” for another summer.

But have you ever thought about all the ways people say goodbye in the world? I mean, there is the straightforward, “Bye.” But have you heard other ways of saying, “Goodbye?”

In Spanish there is “Adios.”

If you are wanting to have fun with someone you might say, “See you later – alligator.”

Or the Italians might say, “Ciao.”

The French say “Adieu.”

Or the British would say, “Cheerio” or “Ta-Ta.”

All of this brings to my mind the song from The Sound of Music,

So long, farewell
Auf Weidersehen, goodbye
I leave and heave
A sigh and say goodbye
Goodbye

 But what does it mean to say “Goodbye?”

This word came about in the late 16th century, but like so many words, it has a deep Christian meaning. It means “God be with ye.”

That’s right, “Goodbye” means “God be with you.”

As we all prepare to depart today, I want you to take a look to your left and right; some of your friends, classmates, and teachers will not be among us next year. Whether it’s a move to a new state, a new country, or a new school down the road – today we say “Goodbye.”

And while it might sound kind of sad, it turns out, it is a pretty great thing to say to a friend, “God be with you.”

And He is!

He is with all of you today, tomorrow, and always – no matter where you spend your summer, no matter where you attend school next year, where you move, or no matter what happens in life – God is with you.

And if you should ever forget this, let your memories of Immanuel Lutheran School be your reminder, because Immanuel means – “God with us.” (Matthew 1:23)

So as you walk out of school today and head home, be sure to say to one another, “Goodbye.”

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

ILS Baccalaureate Service

Immanuel Lutheran School
Baccalaureate Service 2023

One of my favorite things to do this time of year is to read the "Meet Us Monday" blogs of the school because they highlight the graduating class. In these blogs, the students were asked questions like when they first began attending Immanuel Lutheran School, their favorite memory, favorite subject or teacher, hymn, or Scriptural verse.

While these questions cause the students to pause and reflect on their time at Immanuel, no matter how short or long it was, they also reveal a great deal in terms of what or who has formed them while at Immanuel.

My friends, the experiences you have had, the stories you have shared, the trouble you’ve found, the joy, the classes, the teachers, and the chapel have all formed you into who you are today. So tonight, as you prepare to leave the halls of this school, it is good to prepare yourselves for what might form you in the future.

The verse of the year was Romans 12:2, where the Apostle Paul writes, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

As you embark on the next stage of learning, I want you to especially take these words of Paul with you, “Do not be conformed to this world.”

The word “conformed” here means to be formed according to a pattern or mold. The idea is that when you are molded into a pattern, you take on its shape and all its characteristics.

So, to begin this endeavor, you must first ask, what forms or molds you into who you are today?

Like many of your answers in the “Meet us Monday” blogs, you can probably also look to the great memories you have had outside of school, the coach who inspires you, the music you sing, the television you watch, the technology you play on, the books you read, the parents who love you and the home you live – all of these things impress their image upon you too.

In fact, the reality is that where you spend the most time, the gadgets you use the most, the voices you hear the most, and the people you are surrounded by will have the greatest impact in forming and molding you today and into the future.

Over the past few years, I pray that you have been formed and molded, more than anything, in the Word and wisdom of God, so as you prepare to depart, you are ready for the world that awaits you.

But as you venture out and into the world beyond Immanuel, I want to remind you, as the Apostle Paul reminded Timothy in the first reading this evening, that you, too, have been prepared to discern and test the things of this world. Paul wrote;

But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood, you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:14-17

Isn't this comforting? Like Timothy, you are to continue in the things of the Holy Scripture you have already been taught from childhood. But, if anything, you are to continue learning God's Word and wisdom beyond tomorrow when you leave this school as a student for the last time.

But why is this all comforting? Well, because the faith you receive is from God. God gives you the word to speak in the next chapter. The good works you are to give to your neighbor are from God.

Do you see where I am going?

When you are formed and molded in the pattern of God's Word, He lives and dwells within you. So then, when people look at you and see you, they know you are His by the fruit of your words and actions toward them.

Now, none of this means leaving Immanuel will be easy. You will be missed, and we will continue to pray for you because high school will be more challenging.

Not only will you have increased challenges in your studies, but you will experience new cultures and new friends. These new adventures will challenge many of you (and by the way, being challenged isn't bad; it can also help you grow and mature).

As you enter this new chapter, my friends, you must remember, “Do not be conformed to this world.”

But instead, be renewed and formed in the image of Jesus Christ.

As we heard at the end of the second reading, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” (John 1:14)

The incarnate Word, Jesus Christ, became flesh, meaning, He took upon Himself the image, the mold, and pattern of man – to be your Savior.

This is your great joy, that as you might feel peer pressure, your Jesus died for you. If you feel bullied, your Jesus died for you. If you feel alone as you walk through the doors of your new school that first day, your Jesus died for you. And He also rose again that you might have life in His name.

So as you depart this place, remember what you have been taught; God has used His servants here to form you in the pattern of His Word.

He did this so that you would never forget you have a Savior, and He is your Immanuel, God with you.

He is your comfort and defense throughout this life, even unto life everlasting.

+INJ+

Trinity Sunday

Text: John 3:1-15

In the Gospel reading, Nicodemus comes to Jesus at night. He’s an intelligent and insightful man. Yet, like us, he still walks in darkness. He has the knowledge of this world, and he even has knowledge of the Old Testament, but he struggles to understand God's ways.

On Trinity Sunday, we pause to observe this struggle in our own faith.

One of the traditions of Trinity Sunday is that many congregations use the Athanasian Creed to confess the mysteries of God that are beyond our understanding. All three of the Church's creeds reveal God in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. They all call us not only to confess but to sit at our Father's feet and grapple with how His compassion is revealed in His Son and delivered through the work of the Spirit.

So grapple with this thought, a father's love does not depend on a child's understanding. Think of raising a child; the child receives the food, clothing, and shelter he or she needs. Yet, they take it for granted. Even as a child has a temper tantrum in the backseat of the car, even as they grow and one day wrecks the car, even as they go off and depart as the prodigal son from the home of the father, the father continues to love the child.

The great Proverb says, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it." The child receives everything needed for this life, even among the tantrums. Yet, the history of the world is that of a child raging against his Father, even as he lives off his inheritance. Reflect on the Prodigal Son; it's the story of a man who takes his inheritance and runs. He lives recklessly, wasting everything he has to the point of death.

Yet, the father still loves the son. The Father waits patiently. The Father urges repentance and grants forgiveness upon the son's return. This beautiful truth is revealed through the well-known passage that follows today’s Gospel, John 3:16, “That God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.”

All of this is set against the opening lines of the Athanasian Creed, which says, “Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith (That is, the universal Christian faith). Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally."

Notice this statement reveals that knowledge does not deliver eternal life to you. Instead, the aspect of childlike faith we have been granted trusts the Word of God and leads us to salvation in Christ.

Again, reflect on the passage of John 3:16; this death and resurrection of Jesus was foreshadowed in and recalls the manner God saved the people of Israel as they journeyed through the wilderness to the Promised Land, “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” It's faith in this truth that saves; it's faith in Jesus that gives eternal life. This faith propels you to good works that move you to care for your children and, in turn, for children to care for their parents. Our faith is not based on our knowledge or abilities to solve God as a rubrics cube, but rather, our faith is based on trusting Him. A trust that your sins are forgiven because of Jesus on the cross. A trust that you will be raised in the resurrection because Jesus rose from the grave.

Today, Jesus teaches Nicodemus this faith as it is set forth for you in the creeds. Jesus teaches Nicodemus about the Trinity and Baptism, the new birth from above.

The new birth from above is a birth of water and Spirit. The gift from God the Father brings us into His Holy family, receiving the Holy Spirit so that when we hear the Words of Jesus, we would joyfully believe in His Father’s mercy.

However, Nicodemus doesn’t understand and wonders, how can these things be? So Nicodemus struggles with understanding God. But what is fascinating is that even as Nicodemus comes into the darkness to Jesus, he keeps listening and struggling. He keeps struggling even to the end when he comes with Joseph of Arimathea to the tomb to help bury the Lord's body after the crucifixion.

This comforts us today because it reveals how the Christian faith is a struggle. In many ways, our path is the same as Nicodemus'. We struggle, fight, and stumble under the weight of the crosses of this life as we journey to the grave. Our lives are full of darkness. Although we have been born from above and received new life in Baptism, our flesh is weak and sinful. Our passions wage war against the Holy Spirit; the war breeds resistance to God's Word and leads us to live for ourselves.

Examine how you have been delivered from the bondage of sin in your life - the pride and bitterness, the allure of other religions and gods, and the ways you begin to rely upon your own reason and knowledge.

The deliverance you have received begins in the darkness of the font’s grave. This new birth spoken of isn’t a metaphor. Instead, it’s a gift that is received and makes you a child of God. The font of Baptism now calls you to place your trust in God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Think back to the Prodigal Son. Even while being wrapped up in sin and inclined to trust in himself rather than his father, the father continued to wait for him, his dear child.

Even as you wander, your heavenly Father also waits for you.

So take note that as you walk in the darkness of this life, the words of Christ continue to be spoken into your ears so that the light of Christ shines on you and within you. His words now give you the truth and knowledge you need in this life so that you will not wander after the things of this world but rejoice that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. Faith in him now gives you eternal life in heaven.

Honestly, my friends, Trinity Sunday is not about figuring out the Trinity; instead, it's about adoration and praise for the Trinity and how you are given a gift no one can snatch away in Baptism. You are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. This name makes you a child of God. This name shines light into your darkened world and leads you in the way you shall go, the way of God. This light will bring you into eternal life with the blessed Trinity forever. Amen.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA

Seventh Sunday of Easter + Exaudi

Text: John 15:26-16:4

+INJ+

Growing up in the Church, I often found these Sundays leading to Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit challenging to comprehend. To a child, the Holy Spirit might appear to be an inanimate object or an imaginary friend.

For these reasons alone, the beginning of today’s Gospel can also be challenging to fully comprehend as Jesus says to His disciples, “But when the Helper comes…."

The “Helper” sounds nice, doesn't it? One might think that Jesus and His Father are sending someone to assist and support you in your endeavors. Like a mommy's helper who gives a mother aid around the home or an administrative assistant to keep your schedule and life straight. In some ways, sending a helper might lead you to believe you are the one driving the verbs of life, which isn't helpful in this situation at all.

Another translation Luther liked was “When the Comforter comes.”

This isn’t wrong either, but what does it mean that He will bring you comfort? What does comfort look like in this world today? Money? Great jobs? Flexible leave and retirement benefits? Well-behaved children? Schools without homework?

A more literal and fitting translation would be “when the Paraclete comes…." But this isn’t familiar to our way of speaking. A paraclete sounds more like a parrot-cleat, and while the Holy Spirit is often depicted as a dove throughout Scripture; I'm unsure many of you are looking for or would welcome a parrot into your lives.

But in all seriousness, to be the Paraclete means that Jesus is sending you an advocate to defend and protect you. He is to be “the legal advisor of the accused or defendant, who takes on, to defend the accused, [or] get things in order.” (Martin Luther)

In some ways, as I take on more responsibilities for the care of my aging parents, I see the role of an executor or fiduciary the same – one who will defend those who are now unable to protect themselves, to give protection where it is needed, to help keep their lives in order.

But why would you need an advocate in your life?

Jesus said, “These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service.”

Well, this sounds just splendid, doesn’t it?

Jesus speaks here of the hour or time when the witness and testimony of the disciples will have them being cast out of the Church as heretics.

Notice Jesus says it will be the Church that will reject the disciples’ witness of Him. For this reason, one should carefully examine any confession of faith they might be led to believe is true. Because Jesus says again today, the stumbling block and scandal of the sin of unbelief is His Gospel – it’s Him.

As we heard in the Gospel for the Ascension of our Lord this past Thursday, Jesus said to His disciples,
Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. (Luke 24:46-48)

Again, the big scandal is preaching Jesus' death and resurrection (in which the disciples were eyewitnesses). The preaching of these things, along with a message of repentance and the remission of sins, was enough to continue causing a stir among Jewish leaders of the infant Church.

Just as Jesus was chased from the synagogue of His hometown, His disciples would now endure the same fate to their death.

A similar situation occurred for the Belgian Augustinian monks Heinrich Voes and Johann Esch during the Reformation. Their crime was they refused to recant the glorious truths of the Gospel – they believed in the doctrine of the Reformation and a return to the teaching of Jesus Christ. For their confession, they were burned at the stake. In response, it is widely believed Martin Luther wrote his first hymn in their honor, “A New Song We Raise.”

While the times are changing, the Church today must continue to hold fast to her teachings as she is penetrated by a culture gone woke or the idea that God’s Word can be mutable – that is, easy to change as the world does.

For your unchanging faith in Jesus, He tells you to be prepared to suffer and defend your faith throughout all the hours of this life.

In fact, the confirmands will be asked next week, “Do you intend to live according to the Word of God, and in faith, word, and deed to remain true to God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even to death?”

As we have heard, this is a serious question with significant ramifications. Therefore, it should not be discounted or taken lightly. But it is required of any disciple or faithful student of Jesus Christ.

In his book The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.”

The life of true faith is a struggle, and your own flesh and human nature are the greatest enemy. For one, because you wrestle with the idea that forgiveness could be entirely God's work applied to you, the devil leads you to believe you must somehow contribute to His sacrifice to earn His forgiveness.

But the book of Hebrews clearly states,
And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. (Hebrews 10:11-12)

What a mic drop, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God.”

Atonement has been made upon the cross, Jesus has ascended, and now He sits at His Father's right hand, the place of power and authority.

From here, Jesus says, “When the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.”

I love it; the Holy Spirit will not only testify and give witness to Christ Jesus, “who is the way, the truth, and the life,” but through this testimony, create an enduring faith within you – the hearer, His disciple.   

A significant challenge the Church must wrestle with today is how to confess the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ – how do we teach and support not only ourselves but the young people among us in the struggle of faith as they go off to various schools and colleges and are exposed to competing worldviews and religious traditions?

Some would say we (the Church) need to change and adapt. Maybe we need a more prominent social media presence or a hip Twitter account (or whatever the kiddos are on today). But I believe the encouragement by the Apostle Paul to his pupil Timothy remains an incredible help to us.

Paul writes, “Follow the pattern of the sound words you have heard from me, in the faith and love in Christ Jesus.” (2 Timothy 1:13)

The pattern of sound and words calls for Timothy and us to rely upon what was established by Jesus Christ and handed down to us today in Holy Scripture.

Again, as we learn from the book of Hebrews, “In many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son. (Hebrews 1:1-2)

The words and testimony of Jesus are what the Holy Spirit delivers to you and the means to gather God's Church on the earth and in heaven.

So, we are simply called to repeat the sound words and teaching of Jesus Christ as we do within the Church every Lord’s Day, but also within our homes.

My friends, today is like a bit of an awkward stage in the life of the Church Year, Ascension Day has occurred, but Pentecost won’t come for another week. So now we are in a time of anticipation for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

Isn't this an image of life? We're here, but we're constantly waiting and anticipating our Lord's return, the day we will be gathered into His eternal kingdom.

While we wait, take comfort that you have not been abandoned, but Jesus has sent you the Helper to keep you in the one true faith. Through His Word, He will also be your comfort in times of trial, your advocate and defense against the false teachings that permeate the Church on earth.

So come and remain witnesses of Jesus’ death and resurrection through the continual hearing and preaching of the apostolic Word of God. And as you strive to keep on the narrow way of faith, have the confidence to raise your voice with the martyrs of old in the confession of Jesus as the Christ. +INJ+

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Associate Pastor, Immanuel Evangelical-Lutheran Church
Alexandria, VA