Peace Lutheran Church
2025 Sermons
Pentecost 18
October 09, 2025
Text: 2 Timothy 2:1-13
Theme: Endure!
Outline
1. We undergo suffering because of the Gospel
2. Endure because of Christ
3. Endure unto life everlasting
Sermon
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the second letter of Saint Paul to Timothy the second chapter verses one through thirteen.
Boys and Girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you know what is in this ring? It is a diamond. Diamonds are formed deep in the earth. Coal is pressed and pressed by the earth until eventually they cannot be pressed any more. They turn hard and eventually sparkle into beautiful diamonds. Did you know that the same thing happens to you? We are pressed when bad things happen to us. We have pain in this life. Friends and families die. We become sad and angry. Yet, in our text, Saint Paul calls on us to endure steadfast in the Gospel because all of this suffering will get us something far greater in the end. What awaits us at the end? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
1. We undergo suffering because of the Gospel
How many of you undergo suffering in this life? We have a lot of suffering in this life. We have the suffering of the fallen world that we live in. All of the lusts and passions of the world that entice us into world pleasures. The fancy cars, the big televisions, the most up to date phone or computer. Eventually, it will all fade away into dust and brokenness. Yet, the pleasures of the world still pressure us to look, not towards things eternal and permanent, but towards things temporary and transient.
We have the suffering of our sinful flesh. Just as the world is temporary, so too is our flesh. Because of Adam and Eve and the Fall into sin, all of us are sinners by our very nature. We sin in our thoughts, our words, and our deeds. We break the Law of God over and over again. Because we sin, we encure the price of death. As the Lord told Adam, “You are dust and to dust you shall return.” Unless our Lord comes again, every single one of us will face that reality. This means we face the suffering, not only of our flesh decaying, but the reality of the death of friends, of family members, of loved ones no longer with us. This was not the reality that the Lord created us to live in. He created us to live with Him forever. Because we see the effects of sin and death, we mourn. We become saddened and crushed as we face what should never have been, but we are powerless to change it.
We face the pressures of the devil and all his temptations as he rages against us because we follow Jesus Christ. The devil knows that he has been defeated eternally. Yet, still he rages against God and His Anointed. The devil has one goal, cause us to lose our faith in Jesus Christ. If we no longer trust in Jesus, we no longer look to Him for salvation, forgiveness of sins, and every good thing, then the Devil has won and our faith has been lost.
The Devil, our flesh, the world, all of these add constant suffering, pain, and anguish to our lives. They do not desire to hear the Word of God. They do not listen. They stick their fingers in their ears like toddlers not wanting to listen to their parents and go lalalala. They cause us to suffer for the gospel, as hidden as it may be in our nation today, we have been blessed that is it not as overt as in many countries today where Christians are bound in chains, imprisoned, and killed for their faith. That is what Paul is experiencing. As he writes this letter to young Timothy, he is chained twenty-four seven to a Roman soldier. He says I am in chains for the Gospel.
2. Endure because of Christ
We can almost hear him yell the next part, “Yet the word of God is not bound!” In the midst of his pain, suffering, and imprisonment, Paul encourages Timothy, and us, to be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus in and though faithful men preaching the Word. Paul may be bound in chains but the proclamation of the Gospel continues through Timothy and others. Timothy is called here to keep preaching the Gospel, as well as instructing other men into continuing that proclamation.
It is a proclamation that continues today as the Lord continues to send out faithful Pastors into His Church. Through their faithful preaching of Christ, believes are given forgiveness and strength to endure the pains, hardships, and trials of this world. You are given strength that comes from the divine grace that Christ Jesus has shown to us. “Timothy himself is encouraged to draw on divine strength to sustain him in the difficult situation where ‘everybody’ has deserted Paul and in order to emulate the good example on Onesiphorus. The motif is linked to the concept of grace and strength being given to a person who is being installed as a successor, like Joshua to Moses… The life and service of the Christian believer should be characterized by the strength and power to do what God requires, by contrast with that of apostates who profess religion but lack the spiritual force that should be associated with it (3:5).”
We are strengthened to endure because of what Christ Jesus Himself endured. Paul continues, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering ” Remember Jesus, the promised Messiah. A King of royal blood, who entered this world as a true human being, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. Remember, and be strengthened by your Lord who has undergone all suffering, to the point of death upon a cross, for you. Remember Jesus who is not dead. He has risen from the dead!
By His death and resurrection from the dead, Jesus gives you mercy without end. He gives you every single one of God’s riches thought His Word and Sacraments. Jesus gives you forgiveness of every single one of your sins. He gives you everlasting peace with God. He gives you strength to endure whatever the devil, the world, and your flesh can do, that you may withstand steadfast in faith unto the end.
3. Endure unto life everlasting
What a joyous end awaits steadfast and faithful believers in Christ!
We endure the same as an athlete, soldier, or farmer. Work is hard, the labor can see monotonous and mind numbing, the same routines, the same fields, the same training, over and over again for seemingly no reward or profit. Yet, all that endurance, all that training and labor, does indeed carry with it a great reward at the end when the battle is won, the race is over and the gold medal is yours, the crops, so painstakingly cared for, grow up in harvest of thousands plentiful.
“Among the Romans crowns were the highest distinction for service in war. The corona triumphalis of laurel was presented to a triumphant general; and the corona obsidionalis was awarded to a general by the army which he had saved from a siege or from a shameful capitulation. It was woven of grass which grew on the spot, and was also called corona graminea. The corona myrtea or ovalis, the crown of bay, was worn by the general who celebrated the lesser triumph or ovatio. The golden corona muralis, with embattled ornaments, was given for the storming of a wall; and the corona castrensis or vallaris, also of gold, and ornamented in imitation of palisades, was awarded to the soldier who first climbed the rampart of the enemy’s camp.”
Great rewards indeed for the pain of enduring the suffering of battle and training.
Even greater than a wreath that fades is the reward awaiting us! What awaits us is not a wreath but a crown. A crown that will be given to us, not by fellow believers, but by the loving hand of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. A crown of everlasting life with Him that will never fade away. A crown that we shall wear as we reign with Him in everlasting blessedness forever (Revelation 3:21).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, continue to endure steadfast in the grace of Christ Jesus. Endure the pain and sufferings of the world, your flesh, and the devil, secure and steadfast in the work of Christ Jesus done for you. Until that glorious day when your Savior gives you the crown of life everlasting.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus. Amen.
LWML Sunday
October 05, 2025
Text: Luke 24:44-53
Theme: WHEN WILL WE MEET HIM AGAIN?
Outline:
1. Jesus with Disciples
2. Jesus with us today
Grace, mercy, and peace, be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the twenty-fourth chapter verses forty-four to fifty-three.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever had an important meeting? I am sure that mom and dad have had important meetings with your principal and teachers as you begin the school year. Meeting new friends for the first time is certainly important. As you get older there are meetings that have great impact. That moment when you met your spouse, or that person who gave you a new insight, or maybe that one person who by their witness moved you to change the direction you were going in life. After these meetings, we are often wondering when you will meet that person again. In our text for today, we see a similar event. Jesus is ascending into heaven and the disciples are left wondering when they will see Jesus again. When, how, do we see Jesus today? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
1. Jesus with Disciples
In the Gospel reading for this day, we are at the scene of the Ascension of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Think of what has happened here. Forty plus days earlier the Lord was on the cross. He was suffering and dying. He had cried out in anguish, “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” The Father forsakes the Only-Begotten Son.
Jesus hangs His face toward the ground, so great is the weight of what He was bearing, the agony and horribleness of the whipping, beatings, and crucifixion. The strain it put upon His body. Even more so than all of these was the wrath vented upon Him by His Father in heaven over sin which was not His own. Jesus in the midst of deep agony breathlessly states, “It is finished,” then as the Gospel of John records, “and He bowed his head and gave up his spirit.” It is then Jesus’ side is pierced by the spear, blood and water pour forth signifying fully and completely the Lord Jesus Christ had died. God had died. Jesus’ body then is taken down from the cross, hurriedly wrapped with linen and spices and laid lifeless in a tomb that was not His own. He was buried with a rich man in his death as the Psalmist prophecies.
Jesus’ followers must have wondered when they would meet with Him ever again. But then, praise be to God three days later, the first day of the week, the first Easter Sunday occurs as Jesus steps forth from the tomb alive! Jesus had conquered death and the grave. He had risen victorious! Jesus had defeated death not only for Himself but for you the believer.
Then, in the time between Jesus’ resurrection and His ascension, Jesus meets with His followers opening to them the Scriptures, They see plainly with their own eyes that Jesus is alive! He is resurrected! Jesus had conquered the grave, stating for believers, stating for you who believe today, it’s a reality, it is truth, you shall not die but you shall live with Christ eternally! Then we come to this day, the day of the Ascension. Those forty days before this event must have been wondrous and inspiring, meeting with the Lord. Those there that day though must have left wondering, “Where will Jesus meet us next? What joy awaits us! This is great!”
2. Jesus Today
Jesus brought teaching and blessings when He made those appearances, and people rejoiced at His meeting with them. Then this day. Jesus now ascends into the heavens, “He parted from them.” Now, they may have thought, “Well, that was a little different than His other times of leaving, but He has always come again. I wonder though where we will meet Him next?’
You through Scripture’s witness have read that Jesus didn’t appear to them again bodily on earth. But, as you know, Jesus didn’t leave them without His presence; He didn’t leave them without Him being a part of their lives. It is as Jesus promised, “I will not leave you as orphans” (John 14:18a).
At His ascension, Jesus had given the disciples an assignment to carry out, one which would occupy their time, their talent, and their treasure for the rest of their lives. The assignment which Jesus gave them has effects down to this very day. For you are the recipients of their work, you are those who have heard the proclamation, “that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his [Christ’s] name to all nations.”
Just as the disciples wondered, when they would see the Lord Jesus again, so too have we. In the midst of sickness, the death of loved ones, the loss of income and work, the constant changes of life, we often wondered just where the Lord Jesus is for you. You question how God could love you, if God will meet with you, care for you. Where is this Jesus of promise? Where will Christ meet me, come to my aid? You are called to repent and recognize there is much over which you need to repent and know the reconciling peace with God. For of your own efforts and your own ways there is no ability in you to reconcile with God Almighty. By your works there can be no peace with God. That is why this proclamation of repentance and forgiveness in the name of Jesus is so vitally important.
This very proclamation of repentance and forgiveness has been given to the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ. You, hear the forgiveness of your sins in the blessed words of Holy Absolution as I, as the called and ordained servant of Christ and by His authority, forgive you all of your sins. As the body of Christ, as His church, you have the responsibility to proclaim the message of Christ, to be that body which proclaims repentance and forgiveness, which shows forth the merciful Christ in what you do and say.
This merciful heart is what Christ wants people to hear and know, that they may know and live in His gracious hand, just as you and I do.
After our Lord’s Ascension, the disciples did not mourn or weep. Rather, they returned to Jerusalem with joy. They met together, gathered around, and, recalling the glorious gifts which this Lord Jesus had given them! Jesus came to them in the breaking of bread. He joined with them through the waters of Baptism. He came to them through the Word. Jesus was present with them for He came to them in the Means of Grace. Dear believer, the same is true today. You do not have to wonder where the Lord Jesus is, you don’t ever have to search for Him. You don’t ever need to wonder if He is present here with you in this life to lead and guide you, to comfort you.
Why?
Because the Lord Jesus comes to you as He has promised! He comes to you in His body and blood in the Holy Supper. Yes, Jesus meets with you! He meets you in the waters of Holy Baptism, the Lord Jesus comes to you in this sacred act as He places His name upon you. In the blessed waters, you are baptized into the Lord’s death and raised into the Lord’s life, there you are granted a new life. (Romans 6:3–4) Yes, the Lord Jesus meets with you. For even through the Word of God the Lord Jesus meets you as He who is the Word made flesh, gives to you Himself in and through that Word. Your life is tied to Christ, for He gives to you the words of eternal life.
As the Lord meets with you, He brings to you all of His gifts. He gives to you His life. He gives to You forgiveness. He gives to you His peace. He gives to you His promises. He gives to you freedom! Freedom to live and express Him in the world. He meets you here in this world that you may know this God and Lord, now and today and to do so with great joy.
But as you know dear people of God there are many who do not meet with this Lord to know Him as their loving and gracious Savior. You are those who are blessed to know the forgiveness of sins. You are blessed to know this Jesus Christ who has done all things necessary for your salvation. You are blessed to know you have a glorious home to which you look forward, where you know you will meet with the Lord for an eternity.
It is a monumental but vitally necessary task that the Lord has given to His Church. You as believers are not alone. The whole Synod, but especially the ladies of the LWML works to carry the Gospel to those very people who need to meet our Lord Jesus Christ. They are involved in so many ways the world over, gather blankets to take to those who are going through tragedy, putting meals into the mouths of those who have gone through disasters as they aid relief efforts, gathering mites on behalf of people in Africa and around the world, granting them access to the Word of God. They are the ones who become for you, in numerous places, the very heart and hands of the compassionate, merciful Lord who saves, who meets people where they are and grants them life eternal.
Where is our Lord? He is here, in the heart, hands, and voice of His people. He is there in the LWML that as they in their efforts may reach others with the message of repentance and forgiveness in His name.
The Lord is where His Word is preached, and His Sacraments are rightly administered in His name.
Yes, you are blessed, for the Lord continues to meet with His people, to meet with you, and you have forgiveness and life in His name. How blessed and enriched you are!
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry
of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. The ESV text may not be quoted in any publication made available to the public
by a Creative Commons license. The ESV may not be translated in whole or in part into any other language. Used by permission.
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Saint Michael and All Angels (Observed)
September 28, 2025
Text: Luke 10:17-20
Theme: Rejoicing
Outline:
1. Rejoicing over Satan’s defeat
2. Rejoicing over Angels
3. Rejoicing over Jesus, that we are written in heaven
Sermon
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke, the tenth chapter, verses seventeen through twenty.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Today we celebrate a special feast day. A feast day is the day when we celebrate and honor someone. Today, we are celebrating Saint Michael and all the angels. What does an angel do? An angel protects you. It is why one of the angels is called Michael. He is a really strong angel called an archangel. The angels fight battles that we cannot see. Spiritual warfare happens and we may not even realize that Michael is fighting with the angels to protect us from harm. God loves us so much, and he commands his angels to protect believers. How can we join the angels and the disciples in rejoicing in the work
that God gave them to do? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
1. Rejoicing over Satan’s defeat
As we gather today for the feast of Saint Michael, our text really does not say a lot about angels. The only angel it mentions is Satan falling like lighting from heaven. It seems a bit of an odd text for this feast day. Yet, it has much to tell us about angels, what they do, and how we can rejoice with them.
Just before our text, seventy-two disciples had been sent by our Lord to go out two by two to all of the surrounding towns and villages. They went out proclaiming that the Kingdom of God was coming. They healed the sick and proclaimed the gospel as they went. They probably didn’t think about it at the time, but when Jesus gave them the authority to heal the sick, that included the authority to heal those physically and spiritually sick from demon-possession. It’s probably better that they didn’t think about it beforehand, because they might have been reluctant to go if they knew they were going to be dealing personally with demons and fighting directly on the front lines. But having dealt with them, and having driven them out, they were filled with joy: “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name!“
Jesus rejoices in the disciples rejoicing. He confirms that as they went about their ministry, the enemy’s kingdom was toppled. “I saw Satan fall like lighting from heaven.” Satan falling points to one of the jobs of Saint Michael and all the angelic host, make war against Satan for our defense and protection. Which is another cause to rejoice.
2. Rejoicing over Angels
Saint Michael and the angelic host make war against Satan, to the point that Satan, and all who followed, were kicked out of heaven and imprisoned in Hell. This is a fight that was not even close. Satan knows that he was defeated. He will never win, yet he keeps trying over and over to drag down to Hell with him more and more people.
We could think of it like a football match today. Two teams going head to head, battling it out for supremacy. The score is not even close, 40-0. The losing team keeps sending a running back. He runs the football up the middle, only to get clobbered by a linebacker out of nowhere. Then replay is shown from multiple angles, and one of the announcers would remark, “Man, he just keeps getting clobbered. Why does he keep getting back up? He’s going to be have to be taken off the field on a stretcher soon!”
Something similar happens to the devil in a very real way. He is defeated, not by sword or force of might, but purely by the Word of God. Consider when Saint Michael and Satan in Jude are fighting over the body of Moses. Michael simply states, “The Lord rebuke you.” Satan flees defeated.
The same still happens today. Angels stand with the pastors God has placed in His church. God’s angels do battle with the devil’s forces through the Word of God, the sword of the Spirit, wielded by pastoral soldiers. Just as Gandalf and his fellow wizards, who in Tolkien’s mythology were god-like figures with supernatural power. Yet, they were forbidden to engage the enemy Sauron in direct conflict, and match power with power. In order to fight, they were required to support the humble efforts of mortal men, elves, and hobbits. Similarly, the angels are forbidden to use their mighty power in open battle, but are placed by God into the service of His church.
When the gospel is shared and people believe it. Then and there the power and influence of the devil is overcome. When we listen attentively to the gospel and take it to heart in faith, whether here or at home, whenever another baby is baptized and brought from the devil’s kingdom into the family of God, whenever we receive our Savior’s body and blood for the forgiveness of sins, whenever God’s Word takes root in the heart of another through a Christian’s conversation, Michael and the angels advance, and the devil moans, “Oh no, not again!” Down he goes, like lightning from heaven. Thud, he lands. Thud, he loses.
This is not the only thing that angels do. Yes, they protect us from Satan. But they have other jobs as well. One of their jobs is to rejoice and worship God. They are continually in the presence of the Lord, giving Him the honor and glory due to His holy name. As His people, we are late for the grand celebration. The angels have been worshiping since the very moment of their creation. As the Psalmist says, “When the foundations of the earth were laid, the morning stars sang together. We might call to mind the angelic Host worshiping the Lord in Isaiah’s vision in chapter six or announcing the Birth of Jesus to the shepherds ending in a wonderous songs of praise. We are indeed late, but they welcome us in and deign to join our meagre words and praises with theirs. As we state in the Proper Preface, we worship with Angels, archangels, and all the Host of Heaven, joining in unending praise. Join them in singing the praises of God in the Gloria and the great feast of victory of the Lamb. We cry with them, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, Heaven and earth are full of your glory.”
There is an even greater cause for rejoicing than driving the devil and his demons far away through God’s word and sacraments, so that he falls like lightning from heaven again and again. There’s a greater reason we join with them in unceasing praise.
3. Rejoicing over Jesus, that we are written in heaven
What is that greater reason? As our Lord says, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” That is the cause of intense rejoicing.
We rejoice that the very Word of God became flesh in Jesus Christ, that our names would be written in heaven. Because of Jesus, we have been saved. Saved, not by a mighty display of power and authority through a myriad of angels, but saved by meekness and humility in a small, tiny infant who was laid in a manger. If Jesus had wished to use the way of power, He could simply have called on His Father to send twelve legions of angels against His enemies (Mt. 26:53).
Jesus defeated every single one of the assaults of Satan with the Word of God, which proceeded like a sharp, two-edged sword from His mouth (Rev. 1:16). Jesus defeated the devil by seeming to be defeated Himself, by suffering and dying, by shedding not the enemy’s blood but His own blood upon the Cross of Calvary, for us men and for our salvation. Through this seeming defeat Jesus caught the devil entirely off guard. The devil, who was rejoicing to see his foe laid in a tomb, was suddenly struck silent by the glorious appearance of the resurrected Lord in His prison.
Jesus descended into Hell that He might declare that He has indeed fulfilled the promise given in Genesis 3:15, I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring[e] and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Jesus heel was brused upon the cross but the head of Satan has been crushed. That is why Jesus makes the reference in our text. He has tread upon the serpents and scorpions heads. Because of the work of Jesus, sin, death, Satan, and Hell have been eternally defeated. Because of Jesus and His death and resurrection, your sins, my sins are forgiven. Your name, my name, the names of all believers are written in heaven.
Dear beloved flock, rejoice! Rejoice in the work of the holy angels for your protection and good. Join with them in praise unending of the Lamb who was slain, slain that we are His forever and ever. Until the day when we join the angelic host in endless praise forever at the great marriage feast of the lamb which has no end.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep, your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Fifteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 21, 2025
Text: Luke 16:1-15
Theme: Just Stewards
Outline:
1. Unjust Steward parable
a. What’s going on? Steward erases some debt knowing master is merciful
2. JC erased our whole debt
3. Through Christ we are made just stewards of what God has given to us.
Sermon
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Holy Gospel according to Saint Luke the sixteenth chapter verses one through fifteen.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Have you had to take care of something that was not your own? Maybe you had to help take care of kittens or puppies. You have to feed them, water them, clean up after them. They are not yours, they belong to mom and dad, but you help to care for them. That is an example of what a manager or a steward is, they care for something that their master gives them. Do we always do a good job of this? Not always. How does Jesus help us to make the best use of what God has given to us? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
1. Unjust Steward parable
Today we are presented with some very difficult texts. Whether it is our epistle lesson with women being silent in church or our Gospel reading with this most difficult to understand of parables, this is a Sunday of difficult understandings. As you know a parable is an earthly story with a heavenly meaning, so let us unpack this parable to see what our Lord is telling us.
At first glance this parable is easy to understand. There is a rich master who has given control of his possessions and management to a manager, a steward in the old King James Version. He finds out that this man is wasting away his possessions and not making the best use of them. How would you feel if you gave control of your house to a friend for the weekend and came home to find it an utter mess? Dishes piled up in the sink, clothing everywhere, trash overflowing. You would be pretty angry. So too with this rich master. He calls the man and says, “You are fired. Hand everything over for review.” The man does so but before his termination, he calls people that own his master money and tells them, “Hey, lower the amount that you owe.” He cuts one man’s debt in half and another’s by twenty percent. They do not know that he is facing termination for wasting the master’s possessions earlier. These men rejoice because they think that the steward is acting on the master’s behalf because of his goodness and graciousness. They had 16 months of debt payments completely canceled.
The master’s reaction comes as a surprise. Rather than being angry at what the manager has done, he praises his shrewdness, his wisdom in this matter. The reason the manager was now commended, though he had previously acted dishonestly, may be that he had at last learned how one’s worldly wealth can be wisely given away to do good. Good for the master, such a forgiveness of debts would probably have helped the master’s own reputation for being merciful and kind. Good for the manager because he knew his job and reputation were gone because of his previous mishandling of funds. He needed friends; and, by foregoing the customary interest, he won friends among the creditors. Therefore, the master admires the manager’s shrewdness. Then comes the hard to understand part. Jesus uses this parable to show that the “people of the light” could also accomplish much by wisely giving up some of their “worldly wealth.”
2. JC erased our whole debt
It is in being people of light that we find both the meaning as well as the application. How do we become “People of the light”? Because of a reduction of debt. Whereas the manager canceled a small fraction of the debt that was owed, how much greater has our Lord canceled our debt?
We owed God a massive debt that we could never repay because of our sins. Our sins, no matter how large or small we may think they are, show how imperfect we are. Our anger, our frustration, our words hastily spoken that we wish we could take back, much less our sins of thoughts and actions. The misuse of our time for our own pleasure. The misuse of our money or possessions for our own glory and gain. The debt just keeps adding and adding up, and we cannot even begin to pay the interest on it.
Yet, God in His love, has mercy upon us. He sends His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to pay what we could never pay. Jesus took upon Himself all our sins. He bore all our punishment upon the cross. There, the Father turns His face away from His Son as He who knew no sin became sin for us. Jesus bore the full wrath of God that you and I would never have to. He took our great debt, covers it with His precious blood, and says, “It is finished.” Every single cent is washed away and you are forgiven.
3. Through Christ we are made just stewards of what God has given to us.
Because of the forgiveness given to us by Jesus through His death and resurrection from the dead, we view our possessions and income differently than the world. Rather than using the possessions that we have unjustly, for our own increases and our own desires, we can indeed use them justly. We can learn from this unjust steward how to use the things we have been given for good, for such a time as we have them.
We realize that everything we have is not our own. We are merely managers, stewards, of what our loving Father has given to us. We are given life every moment our heat beats, every time our lung fill with air. We are given food, clothing, a roof over our heads, husbands and wives who love and care for us, the blessing of children. We have friends, animals, pets, and much more. None of this is anything that we deserve. All of it is, as we confess in the 1st Article of the Creed, “purely out of Fatherly divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me.”
As we live upon this earth, we merely manage what we have been given until the time when our management is at an end, when death occurs. We manage not for our own praise and glory, but as children of light, we strive to manage everything for God’s glory and praise. We look not for earthly gain but to be joyfully welcomed into eternal dwellings. With His Holy Spirit living with us, we strive to use our time wisely, doing the work that He has given to us while it is still day (John 9:4), we use our possessions and wealth, not to make ourselves richer, but to help those around us. As Saint Basil once remarked, “If you begin to guard wealth it will not be yours. But if you begin to distribute it, you will not lose it.”
May the Lord grant that we can indeed be wise and just managers of everything that He has given to us, using them for the praise and glory of His name and bringing others to saving faith in His wonderous works.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost
September 11, 2025
Text: 1 Timothy 1:5-17
Theme: “Steadfast in Honest Faith”
Outline
1. Paul encourages Timothy to remain steadfast in the faith in face of those who would wander away into false theology
2. Christ keeps us firm and grounded in the faith
3. How do we remain steadfast?
3a. Holy Baptism, Absolution, and Holy Communion!
Sermon
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Especially to you Jayden and Cole as you celebrate your confirmation today.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our mediation today is the Epistle lesson of the First letter of Saint Paul to Timothy chapter one verses five through seventeen.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. Do you know what I have here? Right, I have a tape measure. They are used to measure how long or how big something is. For example, your hands measure small. My hands measure large compared to yours. This communion railing measures the biggest of all, same with the pews. Our sinful natures like to do something similar. We like to compare ourselves to others as a means of justifying our own sins. We like to say Chief of sinners though I be, that guy is worse than me.” How does Jesus help us to view our sins rightly? How does He keep us steadfast in honest faith unto the end? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
1. Remain steadfast in the faith: Don’t measure yourself!
Saint Paul encourages young Timothy to remain steadfast in honest faith. He encourages him to not wander away into vain discussions about genealogies or the traditions of the Mosaic Law. What are is the temptation? The temptation of the Devil is to take us from the true and honest faith into things that really serve no purpose. There were people in Ephesus who wanted to be Teachers of the Law. They wanted to constantly discuss the Law and traditions of Moses. They wanted to spend all their time pouring over family trees and genealogies to see exactly how close one could get to Abraham and his family line. They constantly compared themselves to each other, thinking one was better than the other because they knew this obsure detail of the Law or were one generation closer to Abrahm than the other person. It was a constant game of measuring each other. For what? For no good purpose. Saint Paul says that they have missed the mark. They have aimed for the Gospel and fallen far short of it. They have missed the forest for the trees we might say.
Yet, how often do we still measure each other today? Our sinful nature constantly likes to measure each other in order to justify itself. We love to take the parody of our office hymn, “Chief of sinners though I be, that guy is worse than me.” I am not that bad of a person. I am not as bad as Hitler or Stalin. I at least did not cut off that person because I wanted to go faster on the highway. I did not ride their butt to get them to move faster as they were going forty in a seventy-five. I have not messed up that badly. Measuring sticks are ridiculous when it comes to measuring our holiness, our righteousness, our justification, or our sanctification. They set me at odds with my neighbor as I am constantly trying to keep up with the Jonses and show that I am so much better. It sets me at odds with myself as I realize that I can never excel at perfection. Our measurements are always skewed anyway (another word for fallen!)
Yet what does Saint Paul say? Chief of sinners though I be. Paul does not say that He was only a sinner in the past. He says “formerly I was a blasphemer, persecutor, and insolent opponent.” He was a murderer. He constantly sought people’s harm and death, merely because they followed Christ. He was a liar and used His words not to honor God’s name but to profane it. Paul does not limit himself to only his past actions. Paul uses a present tense verb, a continual action now that continues into the future.
Paul says do not measure each other. Do not compare yourself to another. It does no good. A comparison of sins cannot save you. All it can do is continually damn you. A sin is a sin. There is no room is left to quibble about greater or lesser sins. My own sins are the worst, for only those can damn me.
2. Christ keeps us firm and grounded in the faith
Indeed, my sins do damn and condemn me. The Law is Good. It condemns the Old Adam within me that would constantly do nothing without bit or bridle. I, you, and the entirety of the world stand damned to Hell without the Gospel.
The sweetness of the Gospel. “Jesus came. “ God took on flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin. He was given the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins. He saved sinners like Paul, yes, and Timothy, and all the bozos I compare myself to, but translated to me, personally and individually as part of that group, Jesus came to save sinners like me. Jesus came to save me. Jesus saves at the cross. The sinner who soberly faces her sin has no place to run but to a savior, and the savior to run to is at the cross. The cross is where sin goes to die.
The Christ who faces the sinner with law faces him from the cross and says the law is for sinners. So, come to me at the cross. I will kill your sin, as the whole weight of the law for sinners comes down on me. The cross is where sin goes to die, and sin indeed died there. It is in Christ’s dying that your sin is gone. You are counted just in His atoning death, personally and individually (and the world of sinners universally).
Jayden and Cole in just a few moments, you will confess that fact in your confirmations. You will confess as individuals and as brothers that you believe that what Jesus did, He did entirely for you. You will promise that according to His great riches shown in mercy and grace, you will remain steadfast in this faith and suffer all, even death itself, rather than fall from it.
3. How do we remain steadfast?
How do you remain steadfast in this true faith without wavering? How do you suffer even death rather than give up the honest faith? How do you live holy lives without constantly measuring yourself to others? Because of what Jesus continues to do for you. Not only has Jesus died your death, killed your sin. He has raised you to newness of life. Here and now, even with your sinful Old Adam clinging to you, you have His Holy Spirit living within you. You are counted righteous, as one of His saints.
To that end, Jesus constantly gives you His very self to strengthen you in your faith and grant to you the forgiveness of your sins. How? His very body and His very blood, given and shed for you! The forgiveness of sins given on the Cross for the world, here is given specifically, personally to you. Not only are you given the forgiveness of your sins, but as Saint Ignatius of Antioch put it, “The medicine of immortality and the antidote to prevent us from dying.” A food that feed to eternal life, a foretaste of resurrection from the only body to raise triumphant from the tomb on its own. It nourishes our souls and works in them a mighty power. This blood drives away devils, calls the angels and Lord of angels to us. The bread may have tasted like stale cracker but the devil knows it was the very body he was unable to keep in the tomb. The very body that descended not hell to proclaim victory, the very body given as the propitiation for our sins. It may only be a drop of sweet wine, but the devil knows that this is the blood of Christ, the blood by which he was eternally defeated, the blood at which the demons run back to hell in terror, the blood with which we were redeemed.
Dear Saints, loved by God, continue steadfast in the honest faith, not wavering into delusions or idolatry, but steadfast in what Jesus Christ has done for you.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.