Sermon-Sunday-June 3, 2007
Trinity Sunday
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know that this morning I can stand before you and tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt that today is a good day. And why do I know that today is a good day?? I know that today is a good day, because today, the devil, in spite all of his wiles, in spite all of his deceptions, in spite all of his trickery; the devil has been foiled once again. The devil has been defeated once again. Once again the devil has been left writhing and cursing in the agony of defeat at the hand of the Almighty God. And why do I know that this? Why do I know that today is a day of great agony and despair for the devil? Because today once again, in the waters of baptism, our Lord Jesus claims one of His children as His own. Once again, Christ Jesus snatches one of His children, Reign Noel Ledahl, from the clutches of sin, death, and the devil. Make no mistake about it, today the devil is not happy, because he has lost once again.
But the devil does not go quietly into defeat. The devil does not go quietly into the night and resign himself to his fate, as sealed as that fate might be. And for that reason, our Lord has seen fit to surround those whom He claims in baptism with sponsors and parents and grandparents and siblings, and friends, and spouses and congregations; communities of faith united in a common confession of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Indeed in the baptism ceremony the person being baptized is claimed by Christ when they are marked with the Cross of Christ, and then they are also sealed by the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit who has calls this community of faith to the baptized. Whether we are talking about the parents, sponsors, siblings, grand-parents, spouses, friends, or congregations, it is through this community of faith that the Holy Spirit works to expose the baptized to God’s Word, to teach them the creeds, to encourage them in their faith etc. This work of the Holy Spirit through this community of faith continues throughout the entire life of the baptized. It doesn’t end with confirmation. It doesn’t end with high school graduation. Baptism does not begin and end at the font. It is something that we live in every day.
You live in your baptism everyday. As Luther tells us in the small catechism, baptism "signifies that the old Adam in us, together with all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance and be put to death, and that the new man should come forth daily and rise up, cleansed and righteous, to live forever in God’s presence." Now maybe your thinking "Daily drowning and being put to death? What does have to do with new life in Christ?" It has everything to do with it.
Understand. When Luther speaks of the Old Adam, he’s talking about the sinful creature in each of us and the daily drowning and being put to death of the sinful creature and sin in general in each and every one of us. He is talking about the destruction of the sinful creature in each of us so as to make room for the new man or woman that our Lord promises each and every one of us who has been claimed by Him in baptism. It’s what Luther called the new man and it’s what Paul called the new creation in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 where he wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and that the old has passed and the new has come.
Again this is something that we experience daily. The "new," that Paul writes of comes to us daily in word and sacrament and in fellowship with other believers. And it is through these, word, sacrament and the community of faith whom your Lord has surrounded you with that the Holy Spirit comes to you and, as it says in our Gospel lesson today, guides you into all the truth.
Baptism is a calling to faith. In baptism you are called to faith. And today as another of God’s children is received into the family of God through the waters of baptism, the call to faith for Reign Ledahl will begin. And as Reign grows up, the Holy Spirit will speak to her through her sponsors and through her parents and through her siblings, and grandparents and through the community of faith whom our Lord has surrounded her with. And the faith that she has been called to will be cultivated, nurtured and sustained as she is exposed to God’s word, taught the creeds, brought to worship and experiences the love of God through those whom God has placed in her life.
Just as Reign will need the community whom God has placed in her life to plant seeds of faith, you also need the community of faith whom God has placed in your life to nurture and sustain you in your own faith. Because you see, baptism is not, as some would have you believe, about you piously professing your faith for all the world to see and be impressed with. God, is the actor in baptism.
The faith that you are called to in baptism, is brought to you by the Holy Spirit in Word and sacrament and in each other. God does not leave it up to you to piously make a faith decision, He sends the Holy Spirit to guide you into all the truth. Not part of the truth, not some of truth, all of the truth. And, as such, sometimes you don’t like the truth you’re exposed to.
You don’t like the truth that exposes your sin to you. You don’t like the truth that exposes the grudges that you refuse to let go of. You don’t like the truth that exposes the lies that you have told. You don’t like the truth that exposes your petty jealousies. In other words, you like hearing about forgiveness, you just don’t like hearing what you need to be forgiven of. But you must. Because as your sin is exposed to you, you are brought face to face with the reality of your own mortality; that hard as you might try, you can’t even come close to fulfilling the righteousness that God demands of you, and you are driven to you knees in repentance where all you can do is confess your sin and ask for the grace and mercy that you know you don’t deserve.
But praise be to God, through the faith that the Holy Spirit brings to you in Word and sacrament, and that you bring to each other, you are justified before God. You are forgiven, you are redeemed. As Paul writes in our lesson from Romans today, you are justified by faith and you have peace with God through your Lord Jesus Christ.
And we have this peace because the Lord Jesus who comes to us in baptism, and claims us as His own, took our sin upon Himself and bore the burden of it on the cross, and three days later walked victoriously of the tomb where He defeated death and left any claim that death had on you in that tomb, and the Holy Spirit comes to us in Word, sacrament and each other, and guides us in truth and gives us faith, and through that faith in Christ we are given the forgiveness that enables us to stand justified in front of God the Father, clothed in the righteousness that comes only from the one who claims us in baptism. And that is good news for us, and more bad news for the devil.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I know that this morning I can stand before you and tell you, beyond a shadow of a doubt that today is a good day. And why do I know that today is a good day?? I know that today is a good day, because today, the devil, in spite all of his wiles, in spite all of his deceptions, in spite all of his trickery; the devil has been foiled once again. The devil has been defeated once again. Once again the devil has been left writhing and cursing in the agony of defeat at the hand of the Almighty God. And why do I know that this? Why do I know that today is a day of great agony and despair for the devil? Because today once again, in the waters of baptism, our Lord Jesus claims one of His children as His own. Once again, Christ Jesus snatches one of His children, Reign Noel Ledahl, from the clutches of sin, death, and the devil. Make no mistake about it, today the devil is not happy, because he has lost once again.
But the devil does not go quietly into defeat. The devil does not go quietly into the night and resign himself to his fate, as sealed as that fate might be. And for that reason, our Lord has seen fit to surround those whom He claims in baptism with sponsors and parents and grandparents and siblings, and friends, and spouses and congregations; communities of faith united in a common confession of Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior. Indeed in the baptism ceremony the person being baptized is claimed by Christ when they are marked with the Cross of Christ, and then they are also sealed by the Holy Spirit.
It is the Holy Spirit who has calls this community of faith to the baptized. Whether we are talking about the parents, sponsors, siblings, grand-parents, spouses, friends, or congregations, it is through this community of faith that the Holy Spirit works to expose the baptized to God’s Word, to teach them the creeds, to encourage them in their faith etc. This work of the Holy Spirit through this community of faith continues throughout the entire life of the baptized. It doesn’t end with confirmation. It doesn’t end with high school graduation. Baptism does not begin and end at the font. It is something that we live in every day.
You live in your baptism everyday. As Luther tells us in the small catechism, baptism "signifies that the old Adam in us, together with all sins and evil lusts, should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance and be put to death, and that the new man should come forth daily and rise up, cleansed and righteous, to live forever in God’s presence." Now maybe your thinking "Daily drowning and being put to death? What does have to do with new life in Christ?" It has everything to do with it.
Understand. When Luther speaks of the Old Adam, he’s talking about the sinful creature in each of us and the daily drowning and being put to death of the sinful creature and sin in general in each and every one of us. He is talking about the destruction of the sinful creature in each of us so as to make room for the new man or woman that our Lord promises each and every one of us who has been claimed by Him in baptism. It’s what Luther called the new man and it’s what Paul called the new creation in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 where he wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a new creation, and that the old has passed and the new has come.
Again this is something that we experience daily. The "new," that Paul writes of comes to us daily in word and sacrament and in fellowship with other believers. And it is through these, word, sacrament and the community of faith whom your Lord has surrounded you with that the Holy Spirit comes to you and, as it says in our Gospel lesson today, guides you into all the truth.
Baptism is a calling to faith. In baptism you are called to faith. And today as another of God’s children is received into the family of God through the waters of baptism, the call to faith for Reign Ledahl will begin. And as Reign grows up, the Holy Spirit will speak to her through her sponsors and through her parents and through her siblings, and grandparents and through the community of faith whom our Lord has surrounded her with. And the faith that she has been called to will be cultivated, nurtured and sustained as she is exposed to God’s word, taught the creeds, brought to worship and experiences the love of God through those whom God has placed in her life.
Just as Reign will need the community whom God has placed in her life to plant seeds of faith, you also need the community of faith whom God has placed in your life to nurture and sustain you in your own faith. Because you see, baptism is not, as some would have you believe, about you piously professing your faith for all the world to see and be impressed with. God, is the actor in baptism.
The faith that you are called to in baptism, is brought to you by the Holy Spirit in Word and sacrament and in each other. God does not leave it up to you to piously make a faith decision, He sends the Holy Spirit to guide you into all the truth. Not part of the truth, not some of truth, all of the truth. And, as such, sometimes you don’t like the truth you’re exposed to.
You don’t like the truth that exposes your sin to you. You don’t like the truth that exposes the grudges that you refuse to let go of. You don’t like the truth that exposes the lies that you have told. You don’t like the truth that exposes your petty jealousies. In other words, you like hearing about forgiveness, you just don’t like hearing what you need to be forgiven of. But you must. Because as your sin is exposed to you, you are brought face to face with the reality of your own mortality; that hard as you might try, you can’t even come close to fulfilling the righteousness that God demands of you, and you are driven to you knees in repentance where all you can do is confess your sin and ask for the grace and mercy that you know you don’t deserve.
But praise be to God, through the faith that the Holy Spirit brings to you in Word and sacrament, and that you bring to each other, you are justified before God. You are forgiven, you are redeemed. As Paul writes in our lesson from Romans today, you are justified by faith and you have peace with God through your Lord Jesus Christ.
And we have this peace because the Lord Jesus who comes to us in baptism, and claims us as His own, took our sin upon Himself and bore the burden of it on the cross, and three days later walked victoriously of the tomb where He defeated death and left any claim that death had on you in that tomb, and the Holy Spirit comes to us in Word, sacrament and each other, and guides us in truth and gives us faith, and through that faith in Christ we are given the forgiveness that enables us to stand justified in front of God the Father, clothed in the righteousness that comes only from the one who claims us in baptism. And that is good news for us, and more bad news for the devil.
Amen
posted by Steve at 1:00 PM
1 Comments:
Nice baptism sermon. I liked the statement that today is a good day.
What texts did you use, might I ask? And, since you have 2 churches, did you preach the same sermon at both?
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