Peace Lutheran Church
2025 Sermons
Posts Tagged "Forgiveness"
Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 15, 2025
Text: Revelation 21:1-7
Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!
Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and our Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation this morning is the Epistle Lesson of the Revelation according to Saint John, the twenty-first chapter verses one through seven.
Boys and Girls, How are you doing this morning? I pray that you are doing well today. Have you ever heard of a move titled Aladdin? It was one of my favorite movies when I was your age. It is about a boy that does not have a family. He does not have a mom or dad. Aladdin’s life is broken and he wants a new life. He does everything he can to find a whole new world , to find someone who loves him. When something is old and broken what do you do with it? You would throw it away, right? It is broken. It does not work anymore. You toss it away and get something new. In our text for today, we see what God does with old things. We see that God does not throw them in the trash. Instead, He makes them new again. How does God do that? Ponder this question, as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
Old has passed away, New has come
In our reading, Saint John sees the old earth and heaven dissolves and pass away. They are no longer there. They are replaced by a new heaven and a new earth. Does this mean that everything we see here and now will be completely and totally destroyed? That there will be no more buildings, no more plants or animals? That everything will look like something out of a post-apocalyptic wasteland, void of anything living and full of emptiness everywhere you look?
No, God does not utterly destroy the world. Rather, everything will be restored to perfection again. The voice of the Father, sitting on the throne declares, “Behold I am making all things new!” then He says, “It is done!”
All things are made new again, here and now. This can be hard for our minds to understand. Everywhere we look at this present moment we see death and pain. There are still wars ,killings, and the shedding of innocent blood. There are still arguments, hatred, and anger in thought, word, and deed. We still struggle against our sinful flesh, the temptations of the devil, and the pressures of this sin-filled world. Yet, in the midst of this chaos and death, the voice of the Father says, “I am making all things new.” How can everything already be made new?
New in and through JC
It is made new because of the One who is making all things new. Notice the tense of the Father’s statement. This statement is in the present tense, “I am making everything new.” This is the consummation of God’s work of renewal and redemption, on the Last Day. Yet, already seen here and now in our present time.
Everything has been made new because of the work of the everlasting Son, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. What did Jesus do? He came down out of heaven for us. What does Saint John see? He sees the Holy City, the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven! Our restoration is not a matter of us ascending to God, but of God descending to us! God entered His creation, took on our flesh, that through His perfect life, death, and resurrection, the crown jewel of creation, humanity itself, might be restored. With the crown jewel restored, all creation follows as well.
The voice says “It is done!” John must have been reminded of a word he had heard years earlier: “It is finished.” That’s what Jesus said on the cross, as he was hanging there, dying for the sins of the world. Because Jesus shed his blood and died for your sins and mine, our debt has been paid. The goal has been reached, and the deal has been sealed, with something more precious and more valuable than gold, the blood of the Lamb. Jesus’ “It is finished” on the cross guarantees the “It is done” of the new Jerusalem. The proof is in the resurrection of Christ, when he conquered the grave and opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers. “Because he lives, we shall live also.”
Jesus takes upon Himself all of the anger, guilt, and much more of our sins. Instead of destroying us as we deserve, He removes them from us by giving us His perfect righteousness. In Christ we are perfectly restored in a right relationship with the Father here and now. Our relationship with God is made perfect once again because of the shedding of Christ’s blood. Thus, why there is no longer any sea, not a reference to physical water but in terms of chaos and separation from God. There is no more separation. He is our God and we are His Sons and Daughters because of Jesus’ death and resurrection from the dead.
Sons and Daughters of God forever!
Jesus has made us new creations in the waters of Holy Baptism. There, God has washed us in the blood of the Lamb and made us His dear children, now and forever. At this present moment, we suffer and endure. We suffer because of our sins as well as the sins of those around us, still living in a sinful world. Yet, we endure, steadfast in repentance, constantly turning towards God in contrition, seeking His grace and mercy.
We endure our pain and suffering, not because we enjoy them, but because we know the end result. Because of Jesus Christ, there will be a whole new world. A new heaven and a new earth. What exactly that will look like, I do not know. What I do know is what we have seen in our text for today. The holy city, the new Jerusalem will come down from heaven on the Last day. We will be made new. A holy people, a new you, one that will never have to worry about sin or death ever again. The Triune God will be your Emmanuel, God with you forever.
Until that blessed day arrives, hold fast to the faith that you have been given. Your sins are forgiven in Christ. You have been made new. Until the day when we see the consummation of all things, stand firm in the faith because
Christ has Risen!
He has risen Indeed! Alleluia!
May the Peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Good Friday
April 18, 2025
SERMON OUTLINE
Brief recap of the series
The hands of the world
Our sinful hands
What can Christ’s hands nailed to the cross do?
“To whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
The Suffering Servant is the Lord’s will to bring us salvation
The will of the Lord will prosper in His hand
The One with pierced hands still reaches out to us today offering His mercy
SERMON
Let us pray: O Lord, may the words of my mouth, and the meditation of our hearts, be acceptable in Your sight our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.
Over the course of Lent, we have seen how the Lord’s hands have been at work for us.
He is the master physician who holds our broken, sin-stained hearts in His hands, and brings us to life. He pulls us from the depths of despair. He has bound the strong man, the devil, that he might have no power over us. Everything Jesus has done has been leading up to this very moment. For He was delivered into the hands of sinful men, indeed, even our hands.
What did the hands of this world do to Jesus? Judas, His betrayer, led a band of soldiers to arrest Him and take Him to Annas. One of the officers of the high priest struck Him with his hand when Jesus testified to the truth. Jesus was handed over to Caiaphas.
All the while, Peter was warming his hands by the fire and denying his Lord. Then Jesus was handed over to Pilate, who washed his hands of the whole matter. Soldiers used their hands to twist a crown made of thorns, press it into His brow, clothe Him in purple, and strike Him with lashes. But the cries of “Crucify Him” echoed all the louder.
Just like that, the Lord of glory—the one through whom are all the wondrous works of God, the one in whom all things were given—was crucified. Nails driven into the hands of the Lord of all Creation. This is the work of the world’s hands. This is what the world has to offer the Lord. This is what we have offered to Him. The world rejected Him, refusing to see the work of His hands as the hands of the King. So those hands were pierced with nails driven into a cross.
We put so much importance into the work of our hands. No matter what we do, we think that we deserve to be elevated and exalted for it. Our power grabs, wanting to place ourselves first in all things, even above God Himself. We think that we deserve to be the ones in charge. We want to make our own rules. Anyone else who claims to have authority over us must die. That is just what we have done to the King of kings and Lord of lords. The sinful work of our hands hoisted Him up on a cross and drove nails into His hands.
What can Christ do with hands nailed to the cross? It may appear that such hands are unable to do anything. To those who witnessed these events, it all looked like only the hands of sinful men were orchestrating everything. What can hands do when pinned to the cross?
Isaiah foretold it all. Isaiah writes of a Suffering Servant who “shall act wisely; He shall be high and lifted up, and shall be exalted” (52:13). But He will be “marred, beyond human semblance” (52:14). His exaltation is not what people expect, and people will be astonished with the great question “to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?” (53:1). Throughout Isaiah, the arm of the Lord carries much of the same meaning as the hand of the Lord in the Old Testament. The arm of the Lord displays His might, glory, care, judgment, and salvation. Upon looking at this Suffering Servant, how could this be the arm of the Lord?
He had “no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isaiah 53:2). “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not” (53:3).
Isaiah helps us see that Christ’s suffering and death was not only the work of our hands. He continues that this One whom we “esteemed . . . stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted” (53:4) has accomplished something that we could never do. Why is all of this happening? For “He was pierced for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities.” This “chastisement” was done to bring us “peace” and healing by “His wounds” (53:5). This world’s sin, our sin, “has [been] laid on Him” (53:6). It was the Lord who did it! “Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush Him; He has put Him to grief” (53:10).
This was the arm of the Lord all along! It is true that this sinful world did these things to Christ. However, it was the will of the Lord that this is how salvation would happen. “He . . . makes intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:12). Christ has atoned for every single one of our sins. In fact, He has atoned for the sin of the entire world across all of time and space. Every misdeed. Every hateful action. Every sinful thought. He has taken the punishment we deserve for the work of our hands. He willingly took our place to bring forgiveness and life and salvation to us sinners. Willingly remaining silent, like a sacrificial lamb, He took all our transgressions upon Himself (53:8). He took all of it to the cross and received in His holy flesh the full punishment that we deserved. The wrath of God, and condemnation, that this world has earned and deserved by its hands was poured out upon Jesus. It was all nailed to the cross.
What can those hands do while nailed to the cross? Those are not just any hands. Those are Jesus’ hands. When it is Jesus’ hands on the cross, they are the hands of the Lord. They are life-giving hands. Hands of the Lord who is strong to save. Even if it looks like weakness and foolishness. The cross is the powerful hand of the Lord at work.
For “the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand” (Isaiah 53:10). The will of the Lord prospers in the hand of Christ, who was nailed to the cross. Because, in Christ, we have the forgiveness of our sins! And with His hands and feet and pierced side, in this very act itself, He does what no one else can! And He has done it. For He cried out, “It is finished” (John 19:30)! All His work to atone for our sins was concluded on that cross nearly two thousand years ago. What can Jesus do with His hands nailed to the cross? He atoned for the sin of the whole world across all of time and space.
What can Christ do with hands nailed to the cross? He does what only He can do. This is the will of the Lord prospering in His hand. This is the power of God’s holy arm for salvation. It may not be what we would expect, but it is what we need. The One with the pierced hands is drawing you close to Himself to be with Him forever.
In Jesus’ Name. Amen.