Sermon for Pentecost 6: "Holy Hospitality"

 + 6^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 20^th, 2025 +

Series C: Genesis 18:1-14; Colossians 1:21-29; Luke 10:38-42

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Don’t just do something, sit there! 

 

No, that’s wasn’t a slip of the tongue. You heard that right. Don’t just do something, sit there.

 

You and I are used to hearing, perhaps even saying, the opposite… “There’s no time for lollygagging, dillydalling, or thumb-twiddling. Get off your duff. Don’t just sit there, do something.”

 

But then along comes Jesus. Martha invites him into her home. Mary and Martha are both good friends. Beloved disciples. And sinners and saints like you and I. Jesus enters as a welcomed guest, but honestly, he’s really the Host, the Divine Visitor. Jesus comes as the Holy Hospitality Worker serving up a gracious surprise for Mary and Martha and you. Jesus throws all our plans out the window. “Don’t just do something. Sit there. Rest. Receive. Rejoice.”

 

For when Jesus comes, he comes as a gracious host full of good news for Mary and Martha and for you. Jesus is the Son of Man who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many. When Jesus shows up, he brings with him a holy hospitality.

 

Just ask Abraham and Sarah. When the Lord, the Malak YHWH, the Angel of the Lord, Jesus before his incarnation, pays them a visit under the oaks of Mamre, he comes bearing gifts. Yes, Abraham prepares the BBQ. Sarah prepares some cakes of grain. But YHWH delivers the main course. A promise. “Don’t just do something, sit there and watch me do what sounds impossible and too good to be true, but it is…By this time next year, you’ll be changing diapers on a little bundle of joy.” And a year later, YHWH delivered on his promise and Sara delivered a son. Isaac – laughter – was born.

 

Is anything too hard for YHWH? Not at all. Don’t just do something. Sit there. “If you thought that was wild, just wait and see what I’m going to do when I send my own promised Son from the family tree of Abraham’s son…to a Virgin named Mary.”

 

When YHWHW takes on human flesh, he does for you what he did for Abraham and Sarah. He comes with holy hospitality to serve and save and sanctify you. This is what Jesus, the Divine Visitor does when he steps into the home of Martha and Mary. “I come with holy hospitality, to satisfy your anxiousness by my presence and word. To fill your emptiness with the bread of life. To bear you burdens. To serve you by my sacrifice. To clear away all your distractions and give you with my divine, steadfast love. I give you the good portion of my grace and goodness that will never fade away.”

 

Luke draws our attention first to Mary. Mary, we are told is sitting at Jesus’ feet, listening to his teaching. This is the posture of the disciple in the Scriptures. At the feet. Hearing the Word. Continually. Ongoing. 

 

Then, Luke shifts the camera around to Martha. She’s a gracious hostess. Welcomes the Rabbi. Prepares the food. Pours the wine. Shows hospitality. She serves (literally diakonia). But there’s a problem. Well, two problems really.

 

Martha brings the first problem to Jesus’ attention. “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 

 

Seems like a reasonable request, especially to any of you who have worked hard or grown weary serving others, and we’ve all been there. “Come on, Mary, don’t just sit there, do something!”

 

And this is where Luke reveals the second problem. Martha is distracted (overburdened, feeling dragged or pulled around) by much serving. Pay close attention to the words used here. The problem isn’t Martha’s service (her diakonia). That’s a good thing. A holy thing. Jesus doesn’t rebuke her loving service and hospitality, but he does remove her distractions. So that he can give her what is most needful…his word. His life. His teaching. His good news. His gracious promises. 

 

Martha isn’t alone in her distractions. You and I are right there with her. Daily life overwhelms you in a Jenga tower of distraction upon distraction. Always looking to distract from the pain or the joy or the sorrow or the silence. Your sinful flesh is like Labrador, always chasing the next squirrel. Breaking news alerts. Scrolling phones. Checking emails. Notifications. Texts. Wifi. Radio. It’s not that these are all bad things…much of it can be good, but never at the expense of God’s Word. 

 

Distraction has been Satan’s greatest tool against the Word of God since the beginning. Is the fruit good for eating? Is it desirable for making one wise? The ancient dragon is an expert distractor. Even distracting us with good things in order to keep us away from the Word of Life. But there’s one man he cannot distract or deter or defeat. The Son of Man. 

 

Remember, Jesus loves Mary and Martha. Jesus comes to their home as Rabbi, Teacher, but also their friend, the friend of sinners, and as the Gracious Host full of divine hospitality for them and for you. 

 

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary.  Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

 

In other words, Jesus tells Martha… “There is time for serving. But now is the time for hearing. To serve the Lord you must first be served by me. So, don’t just do something, sit there.  Rest. Receive. Rejoice in my holy hospitality for you.”

 

Jesus is gentle in his reply to Martha. He doesn’t rebuke her service, but he does seek to calm her anxious heart with his holy word, same is true for you. Jesus comes to make your burdens his own. To clear all your distractions and deliver you his divine goodness and grace. Jesus leads you, as he did Mary and Martha, to the good portion of his Word, his life, his steadfast love.

 

You and I are a lot like Mary and Martha, sinners and saints, visited by the holy hospitality of Jesus. Jesus cares for Mary and Martha. Visits them in their home with his presence. Fills their ears with his teaching and proclamation of good news. Brings Mary and Martha true rest in his rescue. 

 

So it is for you. “Here in my house, where I am host and guest, I care for you. I visit you in my word and supper. I fill your ears with my teaching and proclaim to you, I forgive you all your sins. I bring you rest in my redemption. I bring you life from the dead. I give you the good portion, my promises as you hear, listen, sing, pray, meditate, kneel. Here I am serving you. forgiving you. blessing you. I am your gracious host and today I come bearing gifts.”

 

And today, Jesus, your Holy Hospitality Worker has prepared everything for you. The table is set.

So, don’t just do something. Sit here. Rest. Receive. Rejoice.

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost 5: "Jesus the Good Samaritan"

 + 5^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 13^th, 2025 +

Series C: Leviticus 19-9-18; Colossians 1:1-14; Luke 10:25-37

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Whenever you watch a movie or read a story a little game begins in your imagination. You imagine yourself in the story. You see Sherlock Holmes and imagine yourself as a clever, witty detective hunting down the villain. You see Superman and picture yourself leaping tall buildings with a single bound to rescue the child from certain danger. You and I picture ourselves, indeed we long to be, the hero or heroine of the story, the good guy, the Oscar winner for best actor/actress.

 

Jesus’ parables are no different. When you hear Jesus tell the story of the Good Samaritan – one of his most famous and familiar stories - who do you imagine yourself to be? Well, I sure don’t want to be that priest and Levite, unwilling to get their hands dirty and bloody and ritually unclean. And no one wants to be a bloodied and bruised, half-dead mess of a guy in the ditch. So, your answer is probably the same as mine; it’s gotta be…the Samaritan. 

 

And it’s tempting…easy even…to cast ourselves in the lead role of this parable. To put ourselves in the spotlight at center stage of this story and come out with a great moral lesson on helping others and being a neighbor to others around you – whoever that may be. And there is a place for you and I in this story…but it has to be as understudies, not the lead role. Jesus does instruct you and I to “Go and do likewise”, to be the compassionate neighbor you are in Him. But this comes only after Jesus is the neighbor to you. Only after Jesus has completely destroyed all our attempts to justify ourselves, and bound up our wounds, charging everything to his account, and places us in his holy inn.

 

You see, Jesus, the director, writer and producer of this divine drama, has the lead role of this parable set aside for someone else…and I’ll give you a hint, it’s not the lawyer; it’s not me; and it’s not you. It’s Jesus. He’s the Good Samaritan for you. But we’re getting ahead of the story.

 

Remember that this whole story begins with a conversation – really, an interrogation, a testing, a cross-examination. A lawyer, a teacher of the Law of Moses comes up to Jesus and asks him, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answers his law question with a law-answer. What is written in the Law? The Torah. The books of Moses. The lawyer answers correctly. Love God. Love your neighbor. Do this and live. 

But the lawyer pressed his case. Luke gives us an insight into the lawyer and this story. Desiring to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

This is how the old Adam – your sinful flesh and mine – thinks. That God’s Law is doable. Achievable. Manageable. That it’s like a checklist you can mark off as you go. Well, I haven’t murdered anyone today. I haven’t looted any Nike stores this week. And who is my neighbor anyway? I’ll help that person out and mark them off my list too. You and I treat God’s Law like the tax code, always looking for loopholes and exemptions. That’s good for taxes, not so good for theology.

 

So, Jesus answers the lawyer not with a dictionary or a DIY list, but with a story. 

 

There was a man who fell among thieves on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Jesus knew this road well; it was known as the Way of Blood. A popular pilgrim highway ripe for robbers and thugs. The man is stripped, beaten, and left for dead on the roadside.

Three travelers come across the man. The first, a priest, passed by on the opposite side of the road. No sense becoming ritually unclean by touching a dead body. Hard to do priestly things if you’re ritually unclean. Wouldn’t be safe or prudent or pure. 

 

Along comes a Levite, a priestly assistant. Second verse same as the first. He passes by the man. Finally a third man comes along. Jesus’ hearers would’ve expected someone like a Jewish layman to be next. Priest. Levite. Layman. But no. There’s a shocking, scandalous surprise. 

 

The third man stops. He’s filled with a gut-wrenching compassion. He jumps down into the ditch. Cleans the man’s wounds. bandages. First aid. Oil and wine. Sets him on his own donkey. Travels to a local village, where he’s probably hated and considered an outsider by everyone in town, pays for the man’s room and board, and tells the innkeeper to charge any additional costs to his account. 

 

And who was this kind stranger? We call him the good Samaritan. But this word doesn’t hit our ears the same way it would’ve hit Jesus’ hearers in the 1^st century. We hear Samaritan and think Good Sam Hospital or being a Good Samaritan. But in Jesus’ day, Samaritans were good for nothing. Half-breed heretics. The lowest of the low. Samaria was a place of outlaws and fugitives and idol worshippers.

 

We come back to the question…who are you and I in this story? Are you the nearly-dead man in the ditch? Or are you the lawyer and the priest and the Levite? The answer is yes. You and I are both the lawyer and priest and Levite – always looking to justify ourselves, and you and I are the nameless, lifeless half-dead, bloody, broken man in the ditch. There’s a little lawyer in each of us…who loves to stand in the courtroom with all the cameras on and argue your own case and present all the evidence. “At least I’m not as bad as others.” Deep down I’m really a good person. Truth is, there’s no end to the ways you and I attempt to justify ourselves. 

 

But you and I are also the man left for dead along the roadside. Broken by sin. Dead in trespasses. Wounded. Weary. Bruised and beaten by the world. Bloodied and left for dead by griefs. Sorrows. Aches and pains. Chronic diseases and cancers. Broken families. Broken bodies. Broken lives. 

 

Your story needs a hero. You need the Good Samaritan. One who has born your griefs and carried your sorrows. One whose wounds heal you and words give you life. Where you and I keep a check-list of our greatest and worst accomplishments, Jesus holds no records of wrongs and cancels your debt. Where you and I fail to love God and our neighbor, Jesus loves you with a perfect, sacrificial love.

 

Jesus is the Good Samaritan who travels the Way of Blood all the way to the cross for you. He pours out his gut-wrenching compassion to justify sinners. He is despised and rejected for you. He jumps down into the ditch and gets his hands and feet and whole body down in the mud and the blood and the uncleanness your brokenness and sin for you. He binds your wounds and heals you with his own. He charges every one of your expenses and debts to his own account. 

 

Jesus, the Good Samaritan, is also the one who also brings you and keeps you safe in the sacred inn of his holy Church. Here, He gives you food and drink and fellowship. A safe haven. A place of rest and restoration in the blood of Jesus. A place where you are given to bear one another’s burdens. A place where weary, broken sinners are also blessed to be innkeepers and stewards of the Good Samaritan’s gracious gifts. 

 

And as you travel the road of this life, Jesus is your Good Samaritan, and in him, you are good Samaritans too. Your life and faith and story are safe in the wounded, crucified and risen hands of Jesus your Good Samaritan.

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost 4: "Thy Kingdom Come"

 + 4^th Sunday after Pentecost – July 6^th, 2025 +

Series C: Isaiah 66:10-14; Galatians 6:1-18; Luke 10:1-20

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. ⁹ Heal the sick in it and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ 

 

Jesus says these words to his disciples as he sends them out – literally chucks them out like fish at Pike’s Place market. Jesus’ words are the church in an acorn shell. Everything he gives his disciples to do he gives his you, his bride, the church to do as well. 

 

So, there’s food and fellowship. A table and teaching where Jesus dwells with and for sinners. Healing and peace. Preaching and promise. All in the name of Jesus. All by the grace of Jesus. This is how Jesus rules…not with a show of force, but by sins forgiven. Not in the ways we would think: God reveals his glory and power and kingdom in hidden, ordinary, seemingly weak and lowly ways and words…words and actions which are at the same time creative, sufficient, and for you.

 

Jesus is the King after all, and he is good. And so is his reign. His rule is peace for rebels. Healing for the broken. Rest for the weary. Calm for the anxious. Hope for the despairing. Honor for the shamed. Pardon for the guilty. Life for the dead. Outrageous forgiveness for undeserving sinners. A King who is crucified and risen all so that he can bring you into his kingdom.

 

But what exactly is the kingdom of God? Jesus says it quite a bit. Preaches about it all over Judea and Galilee. Sends his disciples out to preach the good news that “the kingdom of God has come near to you.” We hear it and sing it; we even pray it – “Thy Kingdom Come”. But what does that mean? What does this kingdom and rule and reign of Jesus look like? Where is it found?

 

In the Old Testament the kingdom of God is seen in God’s creating life out nothing: a whole cosmos, creatures and all creation simply by saying the words: “Let there be…” The kingdom of God is seen in God sharing his rule and reign with Adam and Eve as they work the garden.

 

The kingdom of God is seen in the ark, that flagship of YHWH’s salvation navy, that delivers Noah and his family out of the old and into a new creation. Or in the dove that YHWH sends bearing good news of an olive branch in its beak.

 

The kingdom of God is seen when YHWH makes a promise to Abraham and Sarah that’s so wild she laughs out of joy and later calls this promised son, Isaac (laughter). 

 

The kingdom of God is seen in a tiny, woven basket, floating down the Nile River out of the wreckage of Pharaoh’s slaughter of the young Hebrew boys. And then through the waters of the Red Sea. And later the Jordan.

 

The same river…not coincidentally, many years later…where the Son of God in the flesh steps into and the Father speaks that this is his beloved Son with whom he is well pleased. And through whom he is well pleased with you too. Where the Spirit descends in the form of a dove to bring rest and peace and shine his holy spotlight on the King and the coming Kingdom there in the water.

And so the kingdom of God is seen in the New Testament too. In Peter making a fool of himself yet later restored by Jesus.

 

You see the kingdom of God in a sycamore tree where Jesus tells Zaccheus, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”… “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.¹⁰ For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

 

You see the kingdom of God when Jesus heals the sick, makes the lame walk, raises the dead, feeds the hungry, and washes his disciples unclean, filthy feet. When the Lord of all becomes the servant of all. When the Rabbi reveals that he is also the Redeemer. That the Holy One of Israel comes in great humility to save you. That the King prefers to wear a crown of thorns to bring you into his kingdom. 

 

There on the cross, that’s where you see your King and his kingdom most clearly. That is where everything he says, everything he does, every sermon, teaching, and conversation points to. To miss this leads only to sadness and rejection. Not because he rejects you. No he doesn’t work that way. But because you will have chosen your kingdom over his. That’s the thing about this King and Kingdom. You don’t come to him; he comes to you. You don’t find the kingdom, the kingdom finds you. You don’t deliver yourself; your King delivers you. 

 

This is why Jesus teaches his disciples that, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace be to this house!’” Peace… because you and I are a mess of broken, weary, wild, wicked sinners. Our sinful flesh is kaleidoscope of transgressions spinning in rebellion against the King. Our lives are spent living in a world of hurt, sorrow, suffering, pain, and despair. One gut-punch after another. You and I are bruised reeds. Fainting wicks. Sinners in need of forgiveness. The sick in need of the Physician. Traitors in need of a true and good and gracious King.

 

So what does King Jesus do? He quells our rebellion with his own blood. He makes peace for you by his pain and agony. He brings you healing by being humbled unto death on the cross. King Jesus rules and reigns and brings his kingdom to you in humble, hidden, yet holy ways and words.

 

What does the Kingdom of God look like? Where is your King found? Right where he promises to be for you. The kingdom of God comes to you in a flood of forgiveness. In the font where the Spirit-dove brings you something better than an olive branch. He brings you Jesus, the righteous branch who died on the tree to save you. And he plops you in the ark and ferries you over the raging waters.

 

The kingdom of God comes to you in words spoken by a sinner to fellows sinners, a word that opens heaven for you, sets you free from sin, and makes you whole and holy in Jesus. The same Jesus who said “Let there be light” in creation, now says “Let there be forgiveness” and makes you a new creation.

 

The kingdom of God comes to you, as it did for Jesus’ disciples: at the table and in the teaching. Supper and Scriptures. Body and blood and promise. Given and shed for you. the kingdom of God comes to you in humble, yet holy words that give you what Jesus promises: peace, healing, life.

But there’s more. Jesus not only gives you his kingdom, he sends you out to proclaim his good and gracious rule. 

 

So you see the kingdom of God when you pray with your neighbor who just got off the phone with their oncologist and the news isn’t good. You see it when you offer a word of hope to someone who’s despairing: Jesus died for that too. He is for you. You see it as you bear one another’s burdens, Paul says. You see it as you tell your friends and neighbors, come and see. Come to our Lord’s house. For The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ Jesus, the King, is here with all his peace, pardon, and promise for you.

 

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

Sermon for Pentecost 3: "Facing Jerusalem"

 + 3rd Sunday after Pentecost – June 29, 2025 +

Series C: 1 Kings 19:9-21; Galatians 5:1, 13-25; Luke 9:51-62

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

 

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

 

Family road trips are full of questions. “Are we there yet?” “Where are we going?” I imagine the disciples asked the same questions. But while the disciples didn’t know where they were going…Jesus knew exactly where they were headed. Luke tells us…

 

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem.

This was Jesus’ purpose. That’s why Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary. Why He obeyed and fulfilled the Law. Jesus came to be “taken up” on the cross for you in order to take you up together with Him. And so He set His face to Jerusalem. For you.

 

On his way, Jesus traveled through Samaria. And the Samaritans refused Him. Why? Because His face was set toward Jerusalem. Samaritans worshipped on Mt. Gerazim – in the old Northern Kingdom from the Old Testament, not Jerusalem in the south. The Samaritans in Luke 9 did not understand why Jesus set his face towards Jerusalem. Ironically, neither did his own disciples.

 

James and John, the “sons of thunder,” wanted to call down a little Sodom and Gomorrah style airstrike. “Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?”

 

But that’s not the message Jesus calls his church to proclaim to all nations. Didn’t they get it? Didn’t they see who Jesus was? It’s easy to point the finger at the disciples and forget that you and I are no different. 

 

James and John admit the truth about all of us. God’s fire from heaven is not ours to call down. The same fire and brimstone you call down on others, could very well be called down upon you. No, this kind of judgment, thankfully, hasn’t been given to you and I. Just ithe destruction you could unleash if you had that power?

 

What’s truly remarkable is that God doesn’t judge you and I as we judge others. The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Jesus sets his face towards Jerusalem. God judges the world by sending Jesus to be judged in our place. God desires to seek and to save the lost, even Samaritans, even you and me. And he goes to the greatest length possible, even death on a cross, to be judged in your place, to rescue you from sin and death forever. For all the times you’ve set your face in the opposite direction of your heavenly Father, Jesus set his face to Jerusalem for you. 

 

Jesus set His face to Jerusalem for the Samaritans too - those who turned Him away and slammed the door in His face. You can walk down the streets, any street at any time of any day, and look in the face of any random person, be they rich or poor, young or old, well-dressed or not, and you can truthfully say to yourself, “Jesus gave His life on the cross to save that person.” He set His face to the cross of Jerusalem to save this person. There is no fire from heaven for the Samaritans or for you, only for Jesus. That’s the way of the cross. And the way of the cross is also the way of life for you his disciples.

 

As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.”  And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.”  To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”  Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

 

Tough words aren’t they? Jesus’ claim on his disciples is total. It’s all or nothing. No halfway, half-hearted disciples. To follow Jesus is to go to Jerusalem with him; to the cross. To follow Jesus is to die and rise with Jesus. To lose your life in order to save it. 

That’s what Jesus saw when He set His face to Jerusalem. He saw the cross. He saw his suffering. His death. But above all, he saw you. His focus was like that of a lifeguard venturing out into the rip currents with only one thing in mind. Saving you. 

 

And so, the disciple’s focus is on Jesus, the author and perfector of your faith. Don’t look to yourself. Rather, look to Jesus Crucified for you.

 

Remember Elijah. When he looked to himself and started whining about how he was the only faithful one left in all of Israel and how everyone was trying to kill him, that’s when he got it wrong. He had his little pity party at Mt. Horeb. Queen Jezebel had issued death threats against him. And he expected God to flex some muscle…you know, call down some fire. He thought he was the only faithful Israelite left on the face of the earth. It’s called an “Elijah complex” today, when you think you’re the only one who sees it, the only one who has it right.

 

Elijah quickly learned that it wasn’t about him. The kingdom didn’t rest on his shoulders. And he wasn’t alone. Seven thousand in Israel had not bowed the knee to the idol Baal. The Church is the same kind of hidden mystery. You can’t see it in its fullness. You can only hear Jesus’ Word and see the activity of Christ in the sacraments. God’s kingdom doesn’t rest on your shoulders or mine…thank the Lord, but on Jesus crucified for you.

 

Elijah learned that God works hiddenly. Elijah saw the power and glory as fire rained down from heaven on the prophets of Baal. But he also learned that fire from heaven was not God’s ultimate purpose. Instead, it is to justify the ungodly. Forgive sin. Save you. Show mercy. God wasn’t in the strong wind, the earthquake, or the fire. God was hidden in the soft voice - in his word. You expect God to shout, and He whispers. You expect a show of lights and action…and he comes hidden and humble. It’s no different today… in simple ordinary words, water, bread and wine. Here’s Jesus for you.

 

Come, fix your eyes, hearts, and minds on Jesus. For it was Jesus who fixed his eyes on Jerusalem for you. 

 

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

 

 

Sermon for Pentecost 2: "The Gerasene Great Reversal"

 + 2^nd Sunday after Pentecost – June 22^nd, 2025 +

Series C: Isaiah 65:1-9; Galatians 3:23-4:7; Luke 8:26-39

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

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

 

 

Most stories you read or movies you watch have what’s called a character arc; the change that happens in any given character from the beginning to the end of the story. Like how Han Solo goes from being a greedy, stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking, nerf herder to a selfless hero of the Rebel Alliance. Or Ebenezer Scrooge, who is changed from being a cold, cruel, curmudgeon full of humbugs into a warm, joyful, gracious giver full of happiness.

 

You see this in the true stories of the Scriptures as well. Peter goes from being stubborn, foolish, and denying Jesus three times, to being restored, reconciled, and boldly confessing Christ. Saul goes from being a zealous persecutor of the church to being a steadfast preacher of the Gospel. 

 

There’s a Gospel, Christ-centered character arc in today’s reading from Luke 8 as well. Luke is a good journalist and historian, and storyteller as well. He carefully sets the scene: Then they sailed to the country of the Gerasenes,^[c] which is opposite Galilee.²⁷ When Jesus^[d] had stepped out on land, there met him a man from the city who had demons.

 

When you first meet this man you don’t know his name, but you know he’s not an Israelite. He’s from the Gerasene region, opposite Galilee. He’s an unclean man held captive by unclean spirits…He has demons. Not one. Plural. Legion. He’s enslaved. A captive of darkness. In bondage to the beast. To make matters worse, he has no clothes, no home except the quaint comforts of the graveyard, and the chaos that clouds his heart and mind. 

 

By the end of this story everything has changed for this man. It’s a great reversal. The Gentile becomes a disciple and student of Jesus. This non-Israelite becomes a member of the true Israel who believes in and confesses Jesus as Lord. He goes from being unclean to being cleansed. From captivity to freedom; from bondage in sin to and darkness to liberation and new life. At the end, Luke tells us, this man is no longer naked and full of raging madness. He is clothed and in his right mind, siting at the feet of Jesus. He went from living in gloom, chaos, and paranoia to heading home proclaiming throughout the whole city how much Jesus had done for him.

 

What could possibly bring about such a dramatic change? Was it his moral improvement? Fortitude? His good behavior, positive attitude, or his good feelings? No. This man brought the same thing we bring to our conversion and Christian life and salvation…nothing but the shackles of our sin and the darkness of death. 

 

So what was it? Not a what. But a who. A Voice. A Person. A Healer and Preacher of Good News who is the Good News in the flesh. This man is changed not by something he does but by what Jesus does and says for him. 

 

Jesus speaks and wickedness and darkness are undone. The God who broke the darkness of creation by his word of “Let there be light” does the same for this Gerasene man. Jesus commands the unclean spirits by his word. Jesus casts out and conquers the demons by his word. Jesus restores this man and gives new life by his word. Jesus teaches and sends this man home healed, cleansed, and holy by his word. Jesus gives this man a vocation. Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.

 

And this same Jesus, whose word and life brought about this great reversal for the Gerasene man, speaks his healing, saving, death conquering, demon destroying, sanctifying word to you. The Gerasene man in Luke 8 isn’t the only one with a character arc that ends with the Gospel. This is your story as well.

 

Jesus comes to make you who are unclean clean. Jesus come to make you who are unholy holy. Jesus comes to set you, who are enslaved to sin, set free. Jesus comes to you in your dead, naked and shamed life in Adam, clothed in your own flesh, hanging naked on the tree of the cross, hanging out in the place of the dead, resting in the tomb, surrounded by the chaos and darkness of sin all so that he can raise you up from the dead. Clothe you in his righteousness. And bring you home to him. And fill your mouth with his word, that you too would declare how much God in Christ has done for you.

 

This is what our Lord Jesus did for David this morning. What he did for you and does for you all, not in the waters of the sea of Galilee, but in the waters of baptism. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

 

When that water came pouring over you, as it did for David this morning, all of Christ’s promises come with it. What Jesus did in the fullness of time flows over you in the font. Jesus is born of woman so you are born again from above. Jesus is born under the Law to redeem you who were under the Law and unable to keep the Law. Jesus, the Son of God is also the Son of Mary so you can receive adoption as sons. 

 

Everything has changed for you, as it did for that Gerasene man. Jesus brought a great reversal in the Gerasenes, and he does so for you too. And he does it in the same way. All by his word and promise delivered and given to you.

 

You are no longer slaves but sons and daughters of the King. You are cleansed. Holy. Set free. Raised from the dead. Clothed and in your right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus here in his house. And in our Lord’s house the gifts always keep on coming…like Christmas morning with Ebenezer Scrooge. Like Paul proclaiming the Gospel. Like this Gerasene man returning home rejoicing in all that Jesus had done for him. As it was for him, so it is for you.

 

Jesus speaks and the darkness flees. Jesus speaks and chaos and unclean spirits are conquered. Jesus speaks and delivers you by his word. Jesus speaks and you are cleansed and washed and brought to his table, where once again he speaks and delivers healing to you. By his word bread holds his body broken for you to make you whole and holy in him. By his word a cup of wine holds his blood shed for you that overflows and gushes with grace and goodness and good news, for you.

 

And having sat at Jesus’ feet, having been clothed by Christ, having received his word, having been fed in forgiveness, having the author of the story step into history and rewrite your ending in his grace, he says to you as he said to the Gerasene man.

 

Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you.

 

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

 

 

 

Sermon for Concordia Tacoma Baccalaureate: "Christ With Us"

 + Concordia Baccalaureate – June 7^th, 2025 + 

Deuteronomy 31:8; Psalm 139:1-14; Matthew 28:16-20

 

 

In the Name of + Jesus.

 

In one of the lesser known stories of the Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy, C.S. Lewis tells the story of Shasta. A boy who was about to be sold into slavery but ran away and makes his journey headed for Narnia and the north. He befriends a fellow runaway, and eventually is met by Aslan the great lion of Narnia who tells him…

 

“I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.” 

 

What Aslan does for Shasta is a picture of what Christ promises to you throughout his word. 

 

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

When YHWH called Abraham to leave his own country and travel to a new country, the Lord promised Abraham, “I will be with you.”

 

When YHWH called Joshua to lead his people into the promised land, he promised Joshua, “Just as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not leave you or forsake you.” 

 

When YHWH called his prophet Isaiah to preach his word of judgment and promise to his people, he promised, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”

 

And when YHWH takes on human flesh, he comes with promise. His name is Immanuel. God with us. 

 

Our Lord Jesus is like the great hound of heaven in the famous poem by Francis Thompson. He chases and pursues and follows you like a sheep dog, always at your heels with his grace and mercy. The Lord who promised to be with Abraham, Joshua, Isaiah and his disciples, promises to be with you. When our Lord makes you a promise he keeps it.

 

And this is good news. For there will be days when you’re afraid. Days when you’ll feel lost. Alone. Confused. Uncertain. Days that no matter how hard you try, the memories and moments you want to last forever feel like they won’t. Days that feel like the only thing that sticks with you is the guilt and shame of sin, the fear, the pain, and the haunting shadow of death. 

 

For these kinds of days, Jesus hung on the cross and was forsaken in your place, so that you will never be forsaken from him. Jesus was crucified and risen for you, and not just for dark days, but to bring you good days and good gifts. A good school and teachers and joy of learning; the gifts of family and friendship; and blessings too many to count. And through it all, Jesus makes you the best promise of all. A promise that lasts. “I am the Lion who will be with you always.”

 

Today as you graduate, as you go on into the next chapter of your story, wherever our Lord calls you…It is the Lord who goes before you. And he promises you… “I will be with you; I will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”

 

In the Name of + Jesus. Amen.

Sermon for Trinity Sunday: "The Triune God of Abraham"

 + Trinity Sunday - June 15th, 2025 +

Series C: Proverbs 8:1-4, 22-31; Acts 2:14, 22-36; John 8:48-59

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad.

 

This is what Jesus says to the Jews near the end of their rather lengthy debate over his identity and divinity, a debate that takes up a better part of John 8, until Jesus lays down his final arguments in the debate by claiming to be YHWH in the flesh, the Great I AM incarnate. 

 

And it makes you wonder…what was it that Abraham saw about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, that would cause him to rejoice and be glad. After all, Abraham saw many things.

 

Could it have been when YHWH called Abram to leave his father’s house and go to the land God would give him? Or when he promised…I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you and make your name great? Or when YHWH caused a deep sleep to come upon Abram and made his covenant with him and promised to send him a son through whom all nations would be blessed? 

 

Could it have been when Abram and Sarai were given new names or when YHWH delivered on his promise and gave Abraham and Sarah their beloved son, Isaac? Or when YHWH rescued Abraham and Lot and their families from the destruction of Sodom, or on the mountain where YHWH told Abraham to bring his only son, Isaac, whom he loved, for a sacrifice but the Lord provided another sacrifice?

 

Yes…all of the above.

 

Your father Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day. He saw it and was glad. Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the God who called him also calls you, out of this dark and dying world into the new creation in Christ ushers in on the cross and out of the grave.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the same God who promised to bless him and make his name great has a greater name which is above all names: the Name of the Holy Trinity, which we confess and rejoice in today: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And because the God who made his covenant with Abraham, is the same God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who brings you out of the sleep of death, and the darkness of sin, in the covenant and promise of Holy Baptism. There he places his eternal, holy, Triune name upon you.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad, because even though his sin, and yours and mine is as numerous as the stars in the heavens, the steadfast love of the Lord is far greater; and in his mercy he calls us children of Adam to be children of God. The same Lord who gave him and Sarah new names, has also given you a new name: saint, baptized, beloved, heir…all by the work his saving name accomplishes for you. The name that we confess today: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because the same Lord who promised the birth of Isaac himself was delivered, born of the Virgin Mary, a child of promise born to save Abraham and you. And this beloved Son of God, born of Mary, is also the only begotten Son of the Father, …and one substance with the Father. He and the Father are one. And the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son to you. For the same Lord who rescued Abraham and Lot and their families, came to live, suffer, die, be buried, and rise again to bring you into his family and make you members of his holy household by grace. The Father sends his Son for you. The Son gives his life for you. The Spirit is poured out for you to bring you back to the Father through the Son.

 

Abraham rejoiced and was glad because he saw from afar the dawning day of the greater Isaac, the only begotten Son of the Father, who was not spared on the mountain of sacrifice but gave his life for Abraham, Isaac, and for you. Abraham saw who Jesus is. The Jews in John 8 do not. Standing before them was the one who was before Abraham, who is and who was and who is to come, the great I AM incarnate who declares to you…I AM the resurrection and the life.

 

There’s no middle ground when it comes to Jesus’ words here in John 8. Either they are the height of blasphemy and the Jews were right to pick up stones and hurl them in his direction…or Jesus is exactly who he says he is…that he and the Father are one, and he is God in the flesh to save you, sent from the Father and sending of the Spirit. 

 

This is the holy confession we echo in the Creeds today and every Sunday. That we worship the Trinity in Unity, and the Unity in Trinity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance. 

 

The question isn’t about whether or not we can perfectly understand this mystery. We can understand it no better than the Jews in John 8 ready to stone Jesus. The question isn’t whether or not  you can explain Jesus’ words or the mystery of the Trinity, but do you believe this confession? Do you trust his words? Do you believe him when he says that he and the Father are one? Do you believe him when he says, before Abraham was, I AM? Do you trust that he - and he alone - is the one whose words are life and whose life is given to you that you would never see death (the big D, everlasting, Death)? 

 

And with those famous father’s words, we confess…Lord, I believe, help my unbelief. I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him. But the holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps me in the faith, just as he did for Abraham. The Lord Jesus gives you what you lack, just as he did for Abraham. The Lord Jesus gives you a righteousness that is not your own, just as he did to Abraham. For what does the Scripture say? “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.”

 

As it was for Abraham, so it is for you. Today you confess and rejoice and are glad in the work and mystery and saving rescue the Holy Trinity brings to you in Jesus. Today you confess that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is also the God who is the Holy Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - to save you by grace. Rejoice and be glad, for with Abraham and all the saints you confess and live in the saving name of the Holy Trinity, and the undivided unity.

 

 

A blessed Trinity Sunday to each of you…

 

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