Peace Lutheran Church
2025 Sermons
Posts Tagged "Paul"
Third Sunday in Lent
March 22, 2025
Text: 1 Corinthians 10:1-13
Theme: A Life Preserver
Outline:
1. Preserver Lost
2. Preserved in Christ
3. Preserved still 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 meditation this morning is the Epistle Lesson from Saint Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth, the tenth chapter verses one through thirteen.
Boys and girls how are you doing this morning? I pray that you are doing well. How good of a swimmer are you? Could you swim for hours and hours? Maybe? or would you need help? You might need what’s called a life vest or a life preserver. It is something that you can hold onto when you get tired of swimming and will hold you afloat so you will not drown. Once there were two friends fell off a ship. A life preserver was thrown to each person. One was relieved, grasped the preserver immediately, and was saved. The other believed he could do better on his own, pushed the preserver away, and was lost. Which of these are you? And if you are the one hanging on to the preserver, will you keep hanging on until you are safely pulled up onto the ship? Or is there the temptation to let go? How do we hold onto our life preserver given to us in and though Jesus Christ? Ponder these questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
Preserver Lost
In our text for today, Saint Paul draws on the history of Israel and uses it as an example of how people who have seen great things still need to be careful that they do not lose the thing that they have been given.
The Israelites saw great and wonderful things. They were a privileged group of people. Graciously saved by God from slavery to the Egyptians. By God’s grace they saw and were a part of things that no people before or since have seen or been a part of. Israel had seen the Lord of the universe blazing a trail for them through the wilderness with a pillar of could in the daytime and a pillar of fire at night. Israel had walked through the center of the Red Sea on dry ground with the water stacked up on both the left and right. Every Israelites who went through that dramatic baptism had a reason to think: “I must be one of God’s people. Look at what great thing He is doing for me! To save me!”
They were certainly privileged people. God Himself was their Ruler, Shepherd, and Guide. Every year, the Israelites were to recall that saving event, called the Passover. The remembrance of Passover sustained and preserved the new life that they had been given. They were freed from the slavery and oppression in Egypt.
Christ Himself was present with them in the rock that provided water and in the manna from heaven. Daily, they were provided for by God Himself. Every single day God did wonders to provide for them. They saw manna daily on the ground before. They saw every evening flocks of quail for them to eat. Yet, in spite of all of this Israel rejected God. They fell into idolatry, sin, and eternal death. However, those who did not reject the rock, those who held into the promises of God, were saved through their faith. Out of all of the original Israelites who walked through the Red Sea, 600,000 plus men twenty years and older, there was only two who remained faithful, Joshua and Caleb, who entered the Promised Land.
Preserved because of Christ
If people as privileged as Israel could fall away from their God, what warning for us! Just as the people of Israel, the church in Corinth have graciously saved by God from bondage to the pagan idols. They are no longer slaves to false gods of wood, stone, and lustful passions. They have been saved by the wonderous work of God on their behalf.
They had seen the gracious works of God in and through Jesus Christ. Their reaction? One bordering on arrogance leading to eternal damnation. They took the mercy of God for granted, thinking that they could go back to their old ways. They could return to the worship of false idols, ways of ungodly living, and everything would be ok. Saint Paul warns them against this. He says, ‘do not be idolaters as some of them were…We must not indulge in sexual immorality… we must not put Christ to the test.’
Why? Because Baptism into Christ meant a new way of life. It means putting away forever former things. No longer going towards sinful ways but resisting them by standing firm in Christ Jesus. Indeed, given all of the enemies against them, they must be on guard and take heed lest they fall. Recalling their Baptism and salvation in Christ (including the Lord’s Supper, as Paul will explain later), they are sustained and preserved that new life that is granted to them.
Where the Word and Sacraments are, there Christ is present. He the same as He accompanied ancient Israel, so too He accompanied the church in Corinth. They knew that because Christ was with them, they were provided the way out of sinful dangers. They did not depend upon themselves, but upon Christ’s death and resurrection, and His strength. They knew that with Christ living in them through Holy Baptism, that they could resist sin. They heeded Saint Paul’s warning. They did not become arrogant and prideful. If that happened, then Christ is rejected and everything is lost. Those grasping him through faith are saved. It means repenting of sin, again and again, and living in the forgiveness of Christ.
Preserved in Christ still today
What was true of Isreal, and the church in Corinth, is also true of you. You have been graciously saved by God. You do not need to embrace our pagan culture. You have seen the great signs and wonders that God has done on our behalf, by sending His only Son, to suffer, bleed, and, die for you and me. We dare not become arrogant. We face the same weaknesses as Israel and Corinth.
Christ, our Shepherd, the Son of God, has mercy upon you by sending pastors as your undershepherd. It is the responsibility of a pastor to forgive you of your sins in the name and stead of Christ. By Word and Sacrament, to give you new life in the waters of Holy Baptism. To come along side daily, helping and strengthening you by the Gospel to live out that new life given to you in Christ. Living out this new life is not an easy task, we are daily tempted, we daily struggle.
Yet, we do so giving thanks for what Jesus has done for us. By the shedding of His innocent, holy, and precious blood, Jesus has taken away all of our sins. Rising again from the dead, we are given new life. Through the sending of the Holy Spirit, we are strengthened. Jus as Christ was with Isreal, and the church in Corinth, so Christ is present with us as well. Christ is present in the apostolic Scriptures. Every Word is about, and points to Christ. We are given Jesus’ very body and blood in, with, and under, the bread and the wine of the blessed Eucharist. As we live out our lives, Christ’s Word, and Sacraments, accompany us giving us strength and empowering us.
When we are tempted and threatened with sin that leads to death, to toss away our life preserver, Christ’s presence, through His Word and through the voice of your pastor, your under Shepheard, provides the way out. We draw strengthen from Christ’s temptation, His defeat of Satan, and Christ’s suffering for us. We do not take it lightly. We hold it close and highly value it. We constantly remind each other, “Christ died for you. By His resurrection, He has given to you newness of life. Live in Him. Resist sin, hold fast to Christ.”
One way that we can do so is every time we wake up and lay down for the evening. Luther recommends that one’s first words on rising and retiring for the evening be the trinitarian invocation, the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thus reminding us of our Baptism. Then he suggests praying the morning and evening prayers.
The Christian life is like a journey on a ship. From time to time, for a variety of reasons, we each find ourselves thrown overboard, swimming in a sea of temptations. We cannot swim long on our own. We need something to hold on to for our salvation. Continue to hold onto Jesus. Hold onto your Baptism into his name. Baptism into Christ is our life preserver. Grasp him and hold him tight, even when the seas roar and foam, dear Christian hold tight. Your Savior is present with you, hold fast to Him.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
Seventh Sunday after the Epiphany
February 22, 2025
Sermon Outline
Do Not Fear Living and Even Dying for Christ, Because While in Adam All Die, in Christ All Will Be Made Alive.
I. We all die like Adam because we all sin like Adam.
II. But Christ died our death for us, so in Christ all will be made alive.
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 meditation is the first letter of Saint Paul sent to the church in Corinth, the fifteenth chapter verses twenty-one through twenty-six and thirty through forty-two.
Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well today. How are you doing today? Are you happy to be alive? I pray that you are. There are many reasons that we can have joy over being alive. There is also a lot that we could be afraid of that might take our lives. Sickness, diseases, wild animals. There are many things that could kill us.
Paul tells the Corinthians he fought with wild beasts at Ephesus, presumably because he would not compromise his Christianity. Authorities threatened Paul repeatedly during his ministry. But Paul kept preaching Jesus, even when, eventually, he was killed for doing so.
Why do we die? To answer that question, 1 Corinthians 15 will help. Even if—or actually because—Paul is blunt. “As in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (v 22). There are only two possibilities. Are you dying with Adam or living with Christ? Ponder that question as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you.
I.
In Adam, all die. All. No exceptions. You have Adam as an ancestor. So the next time you’re at a funeral, take a good long look at the body in the casket. Unless Jesus returns quickly, the day is coming when that will be you.
You can put me in a solid gold casket, and I’ll be just as dead as if you bury me in a cardboard box. I can cover your grave with a blanket of beautiful bouquets. The flowers will hide the dirt. But they will not change the fact that you’ll still be a lifeless corpse six feet under the soil. Because you are connected to Adam. Like I am. In Adam, all die.
How does the triage nurse in the emergency room determine if the unresponsive body that just arrived is dead or alive? Feel for a pulse, right? And check for breath. If possible, maybe find out if there are brain waves. If you have a pulse and breath and brain waves, you have life, right?
No. You have death waiting to happen. You started dying the moment you were conceived. So did I.
But not Adam. Adam started with life that did not have to end in death. Adam enjoyed a carefree existence. And he could eat from apple trees, peach trees, mango trees, and especially from the life tree.
God wanted Adam to continue living. So God told Adam not to eat from one tree. From the only tree with deadly fruit. God was protecting Adam. God warned that eating that fruit would kill Adam. Maybe Adam did not believe the consequences could be that dire. God says ignoring his Commandments will kill us. But we’re tempted to believe the consequences could not be that dire. So we sin. And we die.
You can try to blame Adam. After all, you inherited sin from him. But Adam isn’t the one listening to the devil when you break one of the Commandments. You are. Adam isn’t the one who’s harboring anger in his heart toward the person who makes you mad. Adam doesn’t force you to curse. Or lie. Or covet. Adam is not the one afraid to live for Jesus. You are.
You and I are in Adam. And in Adam all die. There is nothing you can do to stop that reality or reverse that reality. We may as well eat, drink, and indulge all our sinful natures’ desires, because tomorrow we die.
II.
Unless we have another Adam. Unless there is a human like Adam but unlike us, an Adam who starts life without any of our sinful inclinations. But this Second Adam needs to do what the first Adam failed to do. Heed God’s warnings. And resist every enticement of the devil. And then this Second Adam would have to do something even more unlikely. He’d have to be willing to die for people who ignore his warnings.
Jesus is the Second Adam who volunteers to pay your debt in full. He willingly and joyfully obeys the will of the Father, even when you owe death. He takes the blame for the sin that kills you. Your sin kills him instead of you. In that great exchange, Jesus gives you, His perfection. That leaves you sinless.
That is why we clothe the newly baptized in white. It’s also why we cover the bodies at each Christian funeral with a pall. The pall is white, to tell you the body beneath it belongs to a purified, baptized child of God. Ours has a red cross covered over with gold in the center to say the body beneath it was washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb, the Second Adam. The cross shows you where that blood was shed. Someday that pall may cover your dead body.
Maybe the pall should also include an altar, where your Lord puts into your mouth his body that rose from the dead and his blood that pays the debt it would have taken an eternity for you to pay in hell.
In Adam, all die. But you have already died. With Christ. In Baptism. Now in Christ will all be made alive.
That’s why when Paul speaks of Christians who have died, he sometime calls them asleep. Oh, make no mistake; the bodies of Christians die. The wages of sin is death. We will collect our paycheck. But when you are in Christ, that death is not permanent. It is temporary. Like sleep.
One Greek word for resurrection means “to be awakened.” If you die before our Lord’s final advent, before the day Jesus returns, picture him reaching down into your grave, tapping you on the shoulder, and saying, “It’s time to wake up.” Then you will wake up from death just like you wake up each morning. You will get up out of your grave like you get up out of your bed. Because whether you’ve been dead only a few minutes or for a few centuries at his return, you still will be baptismally linked to the risen Christ. And in Christ, all will be made alive.
You no longer have death waiting to happen. You have life waiting to be lived, now in this old creation and fully in the new creation.
Death hurts. Death separates you from the people you love. Death is a blot on God’s good creation. So despise death. But do not fear death. Death has been conquered. Death will be undone. In Christ will all be made alive.
That is why Paul did not have to fear death when he faced the wild beasts. That is why you could say at your confirmation, “I am ready to suffer anything, even death, rather than compromise this confession of faith.” That’s why you can love your enemies instead of hating your enemies. Like Joseph did in our Old Testament lesson. His brothers sold him into slavery. But Joseph did not hold it against them. He believed in the God who uses evil to accomplish good, who uses the evil of death as the gate to life with him. You are in Christ. Even if they kill you for being a Christian, you won’t stay dead. Not permanently.
Maybe that’s why in, 1 Corinthians 15, Paul does not say the bodies of believers are buried. He says they’re planted, “sown” (v 42). Maybe we’ve been using the wrong word. We talk about burying Christian bodies. Maybe we should join Paul in saying we plant them. Because when you bury something, you put it in the ground and expect it to stay there. When you plant something, you put it in the ground and expect it to come out again. We plant the bodies of baptized believers in Christ. That’s why we do not need to fear living for Christ or dying for Christ.
It’s true that in Adam all die, but in Christ shall all be made alive.
The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard, and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.