​WHERE DOES LIFE COME FROM?
 
 
In the United States, we have our Thanksgiving feasts,  along with traditional Christmas & Easter dinners,  but those invitations go out mainly  to family & friends.  In Middle Eastern & African cultures,  food is often used as a symbol of hospitality  & for the welcome of a stranger.  For them,  what the devil is doing in this text from Matthew  is so  very  wrong. 
Instead of providing hospitality,  Satan uses food to begin his attack on Jesus.  Instead of welcoming a stranger to his home, the Devil brings temptation   deception.  Even our cat,  when he catches a mouse,  brings it to us  & offers to share.    Satan,  as he did in the Garden of Eden,  uses food  to destroy, “...command these stones to become loaves of bread.”  (Matthew 4:3 ESV) 
In spite of having fasted for 40 days & nights,  recognizing the deadly intentions,  Jesus answered Satan, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone,   but by every word  that comes from the mouth of God.’”      So,  where does your life  come from?   
During this season of the church year,  it’s a tradition to give up something for Lent.  A purpose in that  is for helping us realize  that our life does not come from whatever earthly thing it is  that we value so highly.   If we give up chocolate for 40 days & 40 nights,  hopefully we realize  that we do not live by chocolate alone.   Chocolate is not  where our life comes from. 
Evolutionists believe that life evolved out of a random combination of chemicals & mutations.  The current consensus  is that the earth is around 4.5 billion years old.   However, some evolutionists are now admitting  that’s nowhere near long enough  for all the living creatures we see today  to have evolved into being.  So, a theory gaining traction lately is that alien civilizations came to earth & planted life here.  In their mind  that’s where life comes from.  In asking us to trust their theory,  essentially,  the evolutionists are asking us to “...command these stones  to become loaves of bread.”  (Matthew 4:3 ESV)  They are literally tempting us to find the source of our life  in something other than  “every word that comes from the mouth of God.” 
We don’t actually need any help in doing that, because, as sinners,  it comes to us naturally.  Sin, & doubting God’s Word,  is what sinners do.  Apple trees bear apples.  Sinners bear sin,  corruption,  bitterness  & self-righteousness.  Satan is only too happy  to prod us along. 
After a long hard day of work,  or school,  or raising children,  where do you find life again?  Where do you turn for renewal  & rest  & re-creation? 
As a child,  growing up where auto factories dominated the employment landscape,  it always struck me how many bars & liquor joints there were around every plant.  My parents had to explain that a lot of men spent time there to unwind  after each day’s shift at the factory.  In a way, for those workers,  it’s where they found life again. 
Samson was searching for life in his relationship with Delilah.  King David sought life in his affair with Bathsheba.  King Solomon sought life in the 700 wives & 300 concubines that he kept.  Plantation owners used to seek life in the number of the people they enslaved.   It’s estimated that over a million people in the US are seeking life in using methamphetamines. 
You name it, human beings are searching for life in it – sports & exercise,  sexual identity,  whom to affiliate with in politics.  Sinners are very adept at separating themselves into differing tribes,  as the saying goes, ‘There is strength in numbers.’  We attempt to find security by joining with others who share our beliefs, democrat or republican, UM or MSU,  & so it goes. 
We believe  that in strength  we will find life.  You may never have thought those exact words,  but you have  lived them.  We all do, especially when we are forgetting  that life actually comes from our heavenly Creator.  It is sin that brings weakness & death.  Trying to find strength in numbers is folly  when everyone you are joining with  is also a sinner.   It is God’s presence, here & now,  that gives us life,  strength  & peace. 
Life always comes from God  wherever we may be.   So, God’s children pray before their meals,  because we recognize that our heavenly Father is blessing us, & sustaining our very lives, through the food that He provides.  Even unbelievers recognize that they need to eat, & eat in a healthy manner in order to survive, but they refuse to recognize where that life comes from. 
In the sermon text, when Satan focuses Jesus’ attention on how hungry He is,  & Jesus’ human body is no doubt ‘screaming’ for food,  even then,  Jesus focuses on the Word of God.  Praying before you eat certainly won’t make you holy like Jesus was,  but it will help you to retain your appreciation for the true source of life. 
Jesus elaborates on this truth a bit later in Matthew, “Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’  For the Gentiles seek after all these things,  & your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.  But seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness,  & all these things will be added to you.”  (6:31-33 ESV) 
That text really gets us to the point of “What do we do with this?”  Jesus answered, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”  (Matthew 4:4 ESV)   So how do we put that into action?   How do we live  that way?   What does it mean for our day-to-day decisions, hopes & dreams? 
The late Henri Nouwen described Lent as a time to re-focus & to re-enter  a place of truth.   Here in the house of our heavenly Father is where we find our true identity.   Until we know that,  we cannot know  how to live,  how to hope  or how to dream.   That’s why Jesus taught us not to be anxious about what we eat or drink or wear.  And when we feel anxious, what did He say we should do?   “Seek first the kingdom of God  & His righteousness,  & all these things will be added to you.”  (Matthew 6:33 ESV)   If you’re feeling anxious  it’s because you are drifting away from the presence of your heavenly Father.  So turn back to Him.   If you’re afraid, it’s because you’re drifting away from your heavenly Father, so turn back to Him. 
In all the things of life   we should first seek the kingdom of God.  In His righteousness we will not be anxious, not be afraid.  In God’s righteousness we are holy & without sin.  In God’s righteousness, we do “…not live by bread alone,  but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”  (Matthew 4:4 ESV)   That is our saintly nature, given to us by our Creator. 
It’s just that,  for now,  you & I  also have a sinful nature  & much of our time here on earth is spent feeding that nature.  Lent is about recognizing & confessing  that.   Lent is about acknowledging that in feeding our sinful nature we are simply feeding dust  & to dust  we shall return.   Feeding our sinful nature truly is a dead end. 
But Lent is also about realizing that our saintly nature needs to be fed as well.   After baptism, our saintly nature is our true & eternal identity,  & it lives by every word that comes from the mouth of God.   But that is not easy to see with our physical sight,  so Lent is a season that is meant to refocus our mind & heart  upon our spiritual sight & our saintly nature. 
In Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness, Satan is trying to get Jesus to make His own path through life.  The devil wants God’s Son to become independent of the Father.  Effectively, Satan tells Jesus, “Your father sent you here into this wilderness to die.  He has abandoned you.  Just look around & see where following him has gotten you?  Turn these stones to bread & live.” 
All of us have faced similar temptations & rejected our heavenly Father’s plan.  Jesus knew that we would so He defeated Satan’s temptations for us.  Jesus kept the heavenly Father’s plan.  Now, Jesus offers the credit for that to you, & He does so through every Word that comes from the mouth of God.  This reading from Matthew is not about teaching us how to defeat the Devil.  God already knows that you & I cannot defeat the great deceiver.  This reading about the temptation of Jesus  is about reminding us that God’s Holy Son has taken our place here on earth in every way, in every temptation,  & He remained Holy on our behalf. 
When our courts allow a violent & unrepentant murderer off the hook,  how is that justice for the victim & his family?  Because Jesus was tempted & did not fail, His crucifixion in our place allows the Holy & Almighty God to give us eternal life without violating perfect justice.  That justice was paid for by the death of the innocent Son. 
The nation of Israel, in their travels through the wilderness, & later in the Promised Land, often failed to trust their heavenly Father to provide for them.  They sought to serve their own needs rather than wait for the Lord.  This was exemplified by the Golden Calf incident, where they thought Moses would never return from Mt. Sinai, so they made a new god to worship. 
Life in this sinful world is frustrating.  We too become impatient with God.  Then we forget that we are His children,  & we forget how to live like His children.  It doesn’t take long & all we know  is forgetfulness.  Being a sinner is basically spiritual Alzheimer’s.  No matter how often we are told that God’s loving plan is best,  we instantly forget  & try to make our own way. 
At Jesus’ baptism, which occurred right before His temptation, the heavenly Father spoke, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  In the wilderness temptation, Jesus obeyed His Father perfectly.  Then, at our baptism, the heavenly Father said to you, “This is my beloved daughter or son, & because of Jesus,  in you I am well-pleased.” 
Thus, St. Paul wrote, “…by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.”  (Romans 5:19 ESV)   Though many things cause us to be anxious, we have no godly reason to be.    Yet, Jesus knows that we still suffer from it, in spite of all that He has done.  And our anxiety is just another reason for Jesus to take our place & pay for our sins.  As the angels came & ministered to Jesus once His temptation was complete, so will they come to us.  Remembering that we are dust & to dust we shall return helps us to realize that we need God’s angels to minister to us, especially when we have sinned. 
All of God’s children have all of God’s promises & Yahweh, the Lord of heaven & earth will keep them.  No one, not even Satan, can snatch us out of the Father’s hand.  In the name of Jesus.  Amen.
 
 
O Christ,  You walked the road our wandering feet must go.   You faced with us temptation’s power & fought our ancient foe.    No bread of earth can fill our hungering hearts.   Lord, help us seek Your living Word,  the food Your grace imparts.   When lures of easy gain  with promise brightly shine,  Lord, help us seek Your kingdom first;  our wills with Yours align.  O Christ, You walked the road  our wandering feet must go.   Stay with us through temptation’s hour  to fight our ancient foe.  Amen.  LSB 424:12, 4-5.  

​Transfiguration – A                                                                          LSB #’s 913, 589, 540:1, 3, 5-6
Text – Matthew 17:5
 
He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, & a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”
 
LISTENING TO JESUS
 
 
In the wake of the tragedy this past Monday night,  at the MSU campus,  a lot of people are facing a new & real sense of fear in their lives.  A friend of mine, a fellow pastor, was at Ft. Hood in 2009, when an Army major killed 13 people.  The last time I saw this friend, ten years after the massacre, he still had not been able to overcome the anxiety caused by that experience. 
For those of us who grew up in the Midwest, cloudy weather is part of the normal routine.  We may not appreciate the lack of sunshine, but it’s part of life as we know it.  Another friend of mine grew up in the desert of southern Idaho.  During our time at the seminary in Ft. Wayne, he just could not comprehend how people choose to live with so little sunlight. 
Those may seem like two rather disconnected paragraphs, but the place they both lead to introduces us to the point of Jesus’ transfiguration.  This life is difficult & the world around us is not our friend.  It isn’t just weeks or months of constant cloudy weather that can drag us down.  It’s not only a tragic killing & wounding of students at a university that causes fear in our lives. 
Violence, sexual sins, materialism, drugs & a culture of almost complete dishonesty run rampant around us.  A poll conducted by Gallup in 2022, considering 14 major American institutions, found that only 27% of us have a great deal of confidence in our own American institutions.  That was a 5% drop from just the year before. 
Confidence declined for all categories – which included newspapers, big business & television news – except for organized labor, which remained at 28% from 2021 to 2022.  Confidence in the US Congress came in at the low of 7%.  Confidence in the presidency was at 23%, having dropped 15% in just that one year.    All of us know that in our efforts to follow Jesus, living by faith & not by sight, is far from easy.   Confidence in our own ability to manage the challenges & sorrows of life is something that few of us boast about.   Daily, you & I face multiple sources of anxiety, & Russia has not even invaded our nation. 
No matter how healthy or wealthy anyone is, life in this sinful & broken world is a struggle – day in, day out.   As we hear it read, Matthew’s description of Jesus’ transfiguration may seem rather pointless.  His glory is revealed for a brief minute or two, then it’s gone.  When His disciples “…lifted up their eyes, they saw no one but Jesus only.”  (Matthew 17:8 ESV) 
Though only a few minutes long, the display of glory was so dazzling & amazing that it scared the daylights out of Jesus’ disciples.  Then, “…as they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, ‘Tell no one the vision, until the Son of Man is raised from the dead.’”  Peter, James & John didn’t even understand what Jesus meant by ‘raised from the dead.’ 
In the chapter before today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus told the disciples He would, “…be killed, & on the third day be raised.”  Proving they don’t believe it, or comprehend what Jesus means by it, Peter rebukes Him, “Far be it from you, Lord!  This shall never happen to you.” 
So, before the transfiguration, Jesus predicts His death & resurrection.  The disciples do not understand.  After the brief but awesome revelation of His glory as God, Jesus commands the disciples not to tell anyone   until after something they do not comprehend.  Then Jesus instructs them that John the Baptist & He Himself will suffer rejection & death at the hands of evil men. 
Now,   it’s time to ask you a question: What did God the Father say just before the transfiguration ended?  It was in the sermon text, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”   I would hope   you don’t find that too earth shaking.    If you’ve gotten this far in your Christian faith without realizing you should be listening to Jesus, you really have missed the big picture.   But it is the much more detailed picture that Matthew points to as He is now telling people about the transfiguration of Jesus.  What is that detailed picture?   Let me say this, it is exactly what Jesus said to the three disciples while they’re on the ground cowering in fear.   Do you remember those words?  
“Jesus came & touched them, saying, ‘Rise, & have no fear.’”   Right there & then,  right here  & now,  God,  the Father almighty,   maker of heaven & earth,   of all things   visible & invisible,  as a voice from the cloud says, “This is my beloved Son… listen  to Him.”  And Jesus says, “Rise, & have no fear.”   A more exact translation says, “Get up & stop being afraid.” 
Following Jesus means death to our sinful fears.   Jesus   is God of the living   & if you believe in Him as your Savior from sin then the ultimate death cannot touch you.    Once the heavenly Father has claimed you as His own, there is nothing in this life of which to be afraid.  Is that one of the easiest lessons we have to learn?    No!    Yet, that is why Jesus came to earth. 
God, the almighty heavenly Father says, “Listen to Him.”  Jesus says, “Get up & stop being afraid.”  Expanding then, on that message, the reason that none of God’s children need to be afraid is because Jesus came to die   the ultimate death on our behalf   &   in our place.   He endured hell on the cross. 
As they descend from the mountain Jesus tells them that John the Baptist & He Himself must suffer & die at the hands of evil men.  Without this understanding of Jesus’ person & work, there can be no true understanding of Jesus at all.   Without that understanding of your life of discipleship,   you can be no disciple at all.    It’s not one of the easiest lessons we have to learn! 
When Jesus first began to show the necessity of the cross, Peter refused to receive the truth.  Jesus told him, “Get behind me, Satan.”   The glory & power are coming.   Now, via the transfiguration, Peter, James & John have experienced a taste of the glory & power.  However, if they refuse to reckon with the cross, with the suffering & tragedy of this life, then the glory & the power of living by faith will elude them.   As difficult as it is for you to hear, the same is true for us, for those you love, & for everyone here on earth.   We are to listen & believe & accept the necessary sequence of suffering before glory, for Jesus, for you,   for me. 
The recent tragedy at MSU, the much less recent tragedy at Ft. Hood,   & all the suffering that God’s people & creation endure can only be overcome as we live by faith & not by sight.  The transfiguration shows us that God’s glory & power are real & they are right before our eyes.  We just can’t see them by sight for now.  God is hiding them for our good. 
In a similar way, no matter how cloudy the days & the weeks & the months may be, the sun is always shining.  It’s right there on the other side of the clouds, sending the energy for life here on planet earth.    In heaven, the brightness of God’s glory & power will be so great there will be no need for the sun or the moon.  (Revelation 21:23) 
The transfiguration teaches us that God’s bright glory & amazing power is always around us even when we cannot see it.  And because they are with us even now we can learn to stop being afraid.  The Holy Spirit empowers us, as well as teaches us, how to live by faith & not by sight.  His glory is to show mercy to sinners.  His strength is to stoop down to help the weak.  
In all our trials & in all our struggles, we can learn, by leaning upon Jesus, to stop being afraid.  Yes, we need to remain in Christ.  We need to tap into the power of God’s Spirit.  Learning to put our confidence in God’s love for us is not the easiest thing to do.  Yet, even if we fail, & we will fail often, God’s strength is in stooping down to help the weak. 
God will not snuff out the smoldering wick & Jesus will not abandon those who turn to Him after suffering tragedy.  Christianity is the Good News of a God who did not remain in the glories & power of heaven while we suffered & died because of sin here on earth.  Jesus took on the dust of His creation & became a human being in the womb of His mother.  He was born into poverty & grew up having to learn the lessons of life just as we do.  And He did this not for Himself, but for you & for me   & for each of the people who are murdered every hour of every day across the world.  Like Jesus, they too shall one day be raised from the dead. 
And since there is a resurrection to everlasting life, we have no need to be afraid of dying.  That is merely the beginning of the life of power & glory on the other side.  Jesus taught that, & so listening to Him you & I can stop being afraid.  Amen. 
 
 
 
Speak, O Lord, Your servant listens, let Your Word to me come near;   newborn life & spirit give me, let each promise still   my fear.    Death’s dread power,  its inward strife,  wars against Your Word of life;  fill me, Lord   with love’s strong fervor  that I cling to You forever!  Oh,  what blessing to be near You  & to listen to Your voice;   let me ever love & hear You,  let Your Word be now my choice!   Many hardened sinners, Lord,   flee in terror at Your Word; but to all who feels sin’s burden   You give words of peace & pardon.     As I pray, dear Jesus, hear me; let Your words   in me   take root.   May Your Spirit ever be near me that I bear abundant fruit.   May I daily sing Your praise,  from my heart  glad anthems raise,  till my highest praise is given  in the endless joy of heaven.  Amen.  LSB 589:1-2, 4.  

​6th Sunday after Epiphany – A                                                                LSB #’s 704, 556:1-5, 707
Text – Matthew 5:30
 
And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off & throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.
 
IS HELL FOR REAL?
 
 
A Shepherd Boy tended his master’s Sheep near a dark forest not far from the village. Soon he found life in the pasture very dull.  All he could do to amuse himself was to talk to his dog   or play on his shepherd’s pipe. 
One day as he sat watching the Sheep & the quiet forest, & thinking what he would do should he see a wolf, he thought of a plan to amuse himself. 
His master had told him to call for help should a wolf attack the flock, & the villagers would drive it away.  So now, though he had not seen anything that even looked like a wolf, he ran toward the village shouting at the top of his voice, “Wolf!  Wolf!” 
As he expected, the villagers who heard the cry dropped their work & ran in great excitement to the pasture.  But when they got there,   they found the boy doubled up with laughter at the trick he had played on them.    A few days later the shepherd boy again shouted, “Wolf!  Wolf!”  Again, the villagers ran to help him, only to be laughed at once more. 
One evening as the sun was setting behind the forest & the shadows were creeping over the pasture, a Wolf really did spring from the underbrush & fall upon the Sheep.  In terror the boy ran toward the village shouting “Wolf!  Wolf!”  But though the villagers heard the cry, they did not run to help him as they had before.  “He cannot fool us again,” they said. 
The Wolf killed a great many of the boy’s sheep & then slipped away into the forest.  The moral of the story: There is no believing a liar, even when he speaks the truth.  It’s a well-known fable of Aesop.   In the Gospel reading, Jesus mentioned hell three different times, & the Word of God does not play games.   Yet, depending on the survey you look at, as few as 32% of Americans believe that hell is an actual place of torment & suffering.  That raises a few questions.  Is Jesus a liar?  And if He is lying about hell, can we believe anything He says? 
 In the reading from Matthew 5, Jesus warns us about hell with a radical illustration.  He says it would be better to cut off your right hand & throw it away than that your whole body go into hell.  So, if hell is not real, isn’t Jesus simply crying wolf?  In Aesop’s fable, the boy cried wolf three times.  In the Gospel text, Jesus warns us about hell three times. 
In verse 22, Jesus says, “…whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; & whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.”  Which of us here today has never called someone a fool?  You & I are walking on treacherous ground.  The hell of fire is not a figure of speech.  It is an actual place of torment & suffering. 
Jesus is trying to warn us of the danger that all of us are in.  We live in a very corrupted & broken & sinful world, but His warnings also cause fear.  Consider this analogy: Why are people afraid to hear the doctor say the “C” word?    Cancer has been a painful, disfiguring & deadly disease for a long time.  It strikes fear into the heart for anyone diagnosed with it. 
Yet, if the oncologist is afraid to scare you with the diagnosis, then, not realizing you have cancer, you are not likely to seek treatment.  Sin does bring death & unbelief is what brings hell.  Jesus shares that diagnosis out of love because He knows that if we do not reject His treatment there is a 100% cure rate.  His forgiveness will create within us a clean heart. 
In the OT reading from Deuteronomy, Moses warns the people who were about to enter the Promised Land: “But if your heart turns away, & you will not hear,   but are drawn away to worship other gods & serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish.”  (30:17-18a ESV)   Moses doesn’t use the hell word, but he’s giving the same warning as Jesus.  He’s cautioning the people not to reject the treatment for unbelief that Yahweh offers to them.   He’s warning them not to reject the Promised Land, which is a foreshadowing of heaven.  In Matthew 5, Jesus expands the warning beyond that of the 6th commandment to say:
“…everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.  If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out & throw it away.  For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell.”  (5:28-29 ESV)    To our sinful heart & mind, God’s plan looks radical to the extreme. 
Our culture no longer considers adultery to be sin, let alone just looking at a woman lustfully.   Yet, Jesus tells us that tearing out your eye, if it causes you to sin, is better than having your whole body thrown into hell.  Is Jesus crying wolf, or is hell for real?  
To our culture, all of this is a joke, but in hell, there will be no room for the lie – that there is no God.   On the Last Day, even this world’s atheists will come to know & experience God for real, & that will be as their righteous judge.  They will acknowledge Him then, & they will pay an eternal price for refusing His love & forgiveness. 
Even believers can find God’s teaching on hell to be daunting & unsettling.  The horror of eternal suffering makes all people afraid to consider hell as real.  It’s a fate far worse than cancer & all of us know how people are tempted to deny that they have even that disease.  Jesus warns us about hell because of the serious nature of what lies before us for eternity. 
Consider how seriously people take the Super Bowl game?  Literally, billions of dollars change hands because of one football game being played today.   Guess,  for a moment, how much production just the Frito Lay company  cranks out  in the 6 weeks leading up to the Super Bowl?      The answer = 600 million pounds.  That alone is over a billion dollars in retail sales. 
Do people take heaven & hell that seriously?     Do you?    Do you think Jesus is simply
“crying wolf” when He mentions hell three times in one Gospel reading from Matthew?    Our culture today is all about certain types of justice, & rightly so in some cases.   Yet, much of the world denies God the right to administer true justice, & He alone is without sin.  If He does not punish wrong doing, how is He just? 
If we don’t correct our children for their rebellion they instinctively recognize our failure to uphold justice & they disrespect us for it.  God does not fall into that temptation of failing to uphold justice.  He laid the price of it upon His Son who willingly accepted death on the cross. 
Likewise, the more we minimize our sin, & the punishment it deserves, the more God’s grace & mercy decline in value.  It’s partly true that heaven is so glorious & filled with bliss exactly because hell is so horrific & filled with suffering.  They are polar opposites.  There is zero overlap between them.  There is no gray area where justice slips & slides. 
Living in the sinful world that we do, there is nothing here that is remotely close to heaven or to hell.  You & I have nothing to compare them to.  To lose an eye or a hand is no small thing; neither will it be painless to turn aside from the temptations & habits of sinful lust.  Left unchecked, thosevcx desires do lead down the road to damnation. 
In this reading from Matthew, Jesus is making the point that now, today, is always the time to repent.  Without turning back to our heavenly Father, we cannot know how far down the road to hell we have gone because we do not know the day of our death. 
Jesus submits the doctrine of hell to Holy Scripture as an incontestable fact which the Church should preach to us & to the world without reservation or apology.  This is just as a doctor should tell the patient of the very unpopular cancer diagnosis.  The purpose of this shocking doctrine is to warn against unbelief & carnal security & thus to save from damnation. 
The doctrine of hell is given to serve the main message of John the Baptist & of Jesus,
“Repent, for the reign of heaven is at hand.”  Our true hope is found in the fact that God is present in our conflicts, even with teachings like eternal damnation.  That is God’s teaching & He will be there as we struggle to accept it.  Jesus came to earth to struggle & suffer & die along with us.  Through His flesh, Jesus connects to His immortality especially in our suffering. 
As Moses wrote, God is our life & length of days.  Without Him, we have no life at all.  Yes, hell is for real, because some choose not to accept the love of their heavenly Father, & He will not force them to love Him. 
Jesus is not a liar, & He did rise from the dead after suffering hell in our place, so that all who follow Him can live with Him forever in the resurrection to life everlasting.  Amen. 
 
 
 
Fast bound in Satan’s chains I lay; death brooded darkly o’er me.  Sin was my torment night & day; in sin my mother bore me.    But daily deeper still I fell; my life became a living hell, so firmly sin possessed me.       My own good works all came to naught, no grace or merit gaining;   free will against God’s judgment fought, dead to all good remaining.   My fears increased till sheer despair left only death to be my share; the pangs of hell I suffered.     God said to His beloved Son: “It’s time to have compassion.  Then go, bright jewel of My crown, & bring to all salvation.    From sin & sorrow set them free; stay bitter death from them that they may live with You forever.  Amen.  LSB 556:2-3, 5. 

​Life Sunday – 2023                                                                                       LSB #’s 904, 849, 814
Text – Matthew 5:14-15
 
You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do people light a lamp & put it under a basket, but on a stand, & it gives light to all in the house.
 
LIGHT & LIFE
 
 
The theme for this year’s Life Sunday, “Blessed for Life,” is based on the opening verses of Psalm 41.  There, the psalmist declares that the one who “considers the poor” will be blessed by God.  He will be “protected & kept alive in all things,” for He did not give him up to his enemies.  (41:1-2) 
It’s an appropriate theme because it speaks of the calling we share to be protectors of life, to be advocates & voices for the poorest among us, for the ones who have no voice & cannot advocate for themselves.  We are called to proclaim & affirm the “Sanctity of Life,” which lies at the core of who we are as people created in the image of God. 
The ability to share in this calling with other partners in the Gospel is a high & a noble opportunity.  Although there are many life-related issues needing to be addressed in the society & culture in which we live, the one most often thought of & central to any serious discussion of life issues is tied closely to the question of abortion.  
Roe versus Wade, as we all know, was a landmark decision of the U. S. Supreme Court.  It ruled that the Constitution of the United States protects a woman’s freedom to choose to have an abortion without excessive government restriction.  
That Supreme Court decision also became the fuel for an ongoing debate about whether, & to what extent, abortion should be legal, who should decide the legality of the abortion decisions, & what role ethical, moral & religious views should play in the political sphere.   Part of the challenge is that there are diverse & passionate opinions in the political realm & within the Church as to how we should proceed as a nation in addressing this crucial & defining question.  Not one of the many Christian denominations in our country would be able to claim that all their members are of the same opinion & speak with the same voice. 
What place should be given to the parents of the yet-to-be-born child,  when it comes to the ultimate decision of whether anyone has the right to take the life of another human being, yet-to-be-born  or not? 
Many people struggle with doubts about when, in the pregnancy, a child truly becomes a child,   & whether the so-called “unborn fetus” has the same inherent rights & deserves the same protection as a child that has left the mother’s womb. 
Those discussions & debate make ultimate decisions on the political front only more complex.  All the differing opinions of human beings challenge us in our thinking & raise the bar on the significance of the decisions. 
Add to this God’s Word in the Bible, & the fact that our ultimate allegiance as Christians is,  as Peter declared,  to “obey God rather than men” (Acts 4:19 RSV),  & there’s little room for doubt that the questions in front of us & the ensuing answers are of ultimate & eternal   concern.  Thus, we come to words from our Lord that are as pointed & powerful as they are familiar.  
“You are the salt of the earth,” Jesus said.  “You are the light of the world.”  (Matthew 5:13-14).   In the abortion discussion & debate what do those words mean to us, that we are called   & have been declared   & have become, in Jesus, this world’s salt & light? 
As followers of our Lord, you & I have the opportunity & the responsibility to have an impact on the world in which we live.  It’s not because we are so salty in & of ourselves; not because our light is any brighter or more important than that of anyone else.  It is because we are connected in our calling to the One who salts all things in this life, & whose light, from the
beginning of time, is the only real & lasting hope for anyone, pregnant or otherwise. 
Looking back on history & considering some of the critique thrown at the Church from the outside world, that we have not been aggressive enough, or involved & relevant enough, in addressing human need,   we have to confess that there is an element of truth to the criticisms that are shared.  
An honest assessment of what has been done & what has failed to be done,  where & in what ways the Church has fallen short,  will lead us to an acknowledgement, if not a confession, that so often we have come up short.  In more ways than we care to admit, all of us are in need of God’s forgiveness & grace. 
At the same time,   there is a long & growing list of ways in which the Church has, throughout history, been a motivating force &, more often than not, been the primary force behind nearly every significant social advance that has happened. 
Go down the list & it’s consistent: the care of the sick, the elderly, the orphan; movement toward a public education system at the primary, secondary & college levels; advancement of the status of women in society; cultivation of the arts & the humanities; concern for the physically & mentally handicapped; the whole concept of welfare, the dignity of work, the elimination of slavery; the idea of a constitutional government & of democracy itself. 
In every case, it’s the same.  In these & many other areas of life, the Christian Church as such, or the leadership of individuals with a Christian motivation behind what they have done, have been instrumental, if not responsible,  for these things we consider to be humane  & good. 
Don’t let anyone ever tell you that the Christian Church has ignored the needs of this world, or failed to address its challenges.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Though the ultimate reality of the Christian Gospel has to do with forgiveness & the promise of life eternal, because of Jesus’ death & resurrection, that message, nonetheless, has unavoidable & immediate implications for this life, here & now.  Over the course of the world’s history, the witness & the actions of the Christian community have been significant & profound. 
It’s as true today as it was when Jesus first said it: “You are the salt of the earth… You are the light of the world.”  (Matthew 5:13-14)   Those words were not only given to the Church as a whole, but to each one of us within the Church, who have been called & claimed by Him.  
This is not only an “us thing” as we think about the calling we share within the body of Christ.  It is also a “you thing” & a “me thing” as we consider the calling Christ laid upon each of our lives. 
Our Lord created us to make decisions, yet, because of sin we make ungodly decisions & have to live with the consequences of those decisions.   As hard as it is to hear, the truth is   that abortion takes a life.  Abortion brings an end to God’s creation.   The life it takes, & the end it brings, is   a choice Yahweh does not give us the right to make.  
The protection of the unborn, who have no voice of their own, is not going to happen in this country without the witness of the Church.  Collectively & together, each one of us is called by God to do our part.  To get this right, will take a great amount of forgiveness & grace.   If we’re going to make this right, it’s going to take a lot more than we have on our own to give.  
The North American Lutheran Church has a statement taking a strong stance in support of the unborn.  It’s not a social statement, declaring what we need to believe.  It’s a word of counsel to the Church on what we hold to be true & how the conversation & decisions need to be framed.  
“The Lord Is with You” is the title of the document – “A Word of Counsel to the Church on the Sanctity of Nascent Life.”  I printed a few copies & will email it to our congregation, so I encourage you to read it.  Think of it as a way to put into words what we believe as children of God.  It must be more than just a document on paper or a website if it’s going to take hold & change lives to have the impact the authors are hoping & praying for.  
It should be our witness, individually as believers, in our churches & to our communities, to a world that is confused & does not have a moral framework with which to start, let alone the ability to come up with answers that last & make sense. 
“You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of the world.”  (Matthew 5:13-14)   Let your light shine that the world might see.  Let the salt that is yours in Christ give flavor to that part of the world in which you live.  That’s one of the realities, if not the beauty, of how the Christian faith is meant to be lived & played out.  
I can’t change the world any more than you.  You can’t change it any more than I.  Thankfully, that is not our call.  Yet, I can have an impact on the lives of those I know as I witness to Jesus & offer the light & salt that He gives to me.  You can have an impact as well. 
Let your light shine, that the world may see.  Harsh & condemning words are not light.  Lines & judgments drawn so straight & absolute that there’s no room for forgiveness only serves to deepen the divide that’s already there.  Shine Christ’s light in love, with grace & a recognition that all our lives come up short, that each of us needs a Savior, every day.  
The good news is that we have one, & He loves not only the child who never had a chance at life, but also the one who made the choice to bring an end to that life.  For all of us,  which is the witness we need to give,  there is life  & there’s hope  & there’s forgiveness  in what God has done for, & promised to,  you & me  in Christ. 
It’s a complicated web, this whole question of who has the right to choose.   Pro-life or pro-choice?  Pro-choice or pro-life?  Situations involving incest or rape or the life of the mother are ones we cannot avoid, let alone quickly & easily dismiss.  Decisions have to be made by someone, & choices are not always those where everyone wins.  
If we are to make choices that are godly & life-affirming,  if we are to bear witness to the God who creates & sustains all of life,  then our voice, our witness, our decisions  need to be consistent  & in alignment with  the calling we’ve been given in Jesus. 
From the beginning of time, from that moment God created the first human beings & placed them in the garden, He gave the ability to choose.  There’s a tree in the middle producing beautiful & enticing fruit.  Stay away from it & you will live.   Eat of it & you will die.  Adam & Eve made a choice & all creation has lived with the consequences ever since. 
It was the same with Moses.  Not long before he was to die & hand over the mantle of leadership to Joshua, he gave the people a choice: “I call heaven & earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life & death, blessing & curse.   Therefore, choose life that you & your offspring may live…”  (Deuteronomy 30:19) 
All kinds of choices in life.  All kinds of choices we need to make.    Not every one leads to life, as much as we try to convince ourselves that it does.  That’s why the salt & the light of the Christian community, & each of us in it, need to be the seasoning that brings true life, & the light   that dispels even the darkest of situations, fears & troubles this world brings. 
Let your light shine in the choices you make.  Let your salt do its “salting the world” thing by allowing your choices, offered in a spirit of love & of grace, to add the flavor that people in this world are longing to taste. 
We could talk a long time about the complexity & the seriousness of the abortion debate.  We could talk equally as long about all of the related salt & light decisions concerning life & death  that each of us are confronted with.  It’s not simply about the beginning of life, but also the end of life, different, yet just as sacred.  The decisions concern a child born when a single mother has made that difficult choice & needs help.  Salt & light do not allow us to let her struggle with the decision & then go it alone once the child arrives. 
The stance for life & its sanctity goes far beyond the focus of today’s message.  It goes infinitely beyond what any Sanctity of Human Life Sunday may highlight.  Our stance in favor of life needs to be one in favor of all of life.   In Christ it is consistent, even when that consistency forces us to stand out or sometimes even stand against. 
As Christians, we know the Author of life & we know His will.   He has called us & forgiven our sins so that we are able to be the salt & the light this world so desperately needs. 
“You are the salt of the earth … You are the light of this world … Let your light so shine before others, that they may see your good works & give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-14, 16)  Amen. 
 
 
Let us praise the Word Incarnate, Christ, who suffered in our place.   Jesus died & rose victorious that we may know God by grace.   Let us sing for joy & gladness, seeing what our God has done; let us praise the true Redeemer, praise the One who makes us one.  Amen.  LSB 849:3.