SPEAKER_00: Do not fear.
SPEAKER_00: You are worth more than many sparrows.
SPEAKER_00: Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, to him who loves us and has washed us clean from our sins with his own blood, and made us to be a kingdom of priests, to serve God and his Father.
SPEAKER_00: To him be all glory, honor, and dominion forever and ever.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: In today's Christian circles, there's a turn of phrase which says, It's easy to die for Jesus, but it's hard to live for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: How interesting.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe even a little catchy.
SPEAKER_00: But is it true?
SPEAKER_00: The thought behind this expression is that dying is easy, but living is hard.
SPEAKER_00: So let's take a poll.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't we?
SPEAKER_00: Who here has faced death before?
SPEAKER_00: Who here has had their lives threatened with almost certain and sudden death by another person, maybe?
SPEAKER_00: By gunpoint?
SPEAKER_00: By knife?
SPEAKER_00: Tied up, perhaps?
SPEAKER_00: Who here has been threatened with losing their life unless they renounce Jesus Christ as the one true God?
SPEAKER_00: Friends, the truth is living is hard, and dying is even harder.
SPEAKER_00: If we're honest with ourselves, this really is a false dichotomy.
SPEAKER_00: But arguably the thing that we're most afraid of is dying.
SPEAKER_00: Nobody wants to die.
SPEAKER_00: We're all afraid of death.
SPEAKER_00: This is where fear comes from.
SPEAKER_00: Fear comes from death.
SPEAKER_00: Why are we afraid of dying?
SPEAKER_00: Because it's the end of life as we know it.
SPEAKER_00: Because we can't see the other side.
SPEAKER_00: Even though we as Christians may know that we will be with Jesus, we still can't see it.
SPEAKER_00: We can only have faith in God's promises.
SPEAKER_00: We know that the reality either will be it's beautiful, all brightness, all peace, those who have fallen asleep in Christ have no pain.
SPEAKER_00: Or the wages of sin is death.
SPEAKER_00: Eternal death.
SPEAKER_00: In that case, it's horrible.
SPEAKER_00: It's hot.
SPEAKER_00: It smells like sulfur.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody's crying and gnashing their teeth.
SPEAKER_00: It smells like death.
SPEAKER_00: But death is the result of sin.
SPEAKER_00: And God never created mankind to die.
SPEAKER_00: And fear, fear is truly only the result of sin.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid because we're sinners.
SPEAKER_00: Only sinners are afraid.
SPEAKER_00: And we're all sinners.
SPEAKER_00: What St.
SPEAKER_00: Paul says is true.
SPEAKER_00: All have fallen short of the glory of God.
SPEAKER_00: No one is righteous.
SPEAKER_00: No, not even one.
SPEAKER_00: What happens when the sinner is confronted face to face with the most holy and perfect God is fear.
SPEAKER_00: And rightfully so.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid.
SPEAKER_00: It happened to the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: During the call of the prophet Isaiah, Isaiah sees heaven with the Lord on his throne.
SPEAKER_00: And he's so scared to death that he lays down on his face before God because he's a sinner in God's presence.
SPEAKER_00: He actually says, Woe is me, for I am lost.
SPEAKER_00: For I'm a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips, for my eyes have seen the king, the Lord of hosts.
SPEAKER_00: He's afraid he'll die.
SPEAKER_00: It's no different than St.
SPEAKER_00: John the Apostle, a true baptized believer in Christ, who wrote the book of Revelation, who was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and he turns around to see Christ in heaven on his throne, whose face is shining like the sun, and he falls down at his feet as though dead.
SPEAKER_00: This is what happens to people when they realize Jesus is God.
SPEAKER_00: There's real fear.
SPEAKER_00: There's trepidation.
SPEAKER_00: There's concern with being in the Lord's presence.
SPEAKER_00: In Luke's gospel, Saint Luke recalls Saint Peter coming to this conclusion while Jesus actually walked among them.
SPEAKER_00: After Peter's fishing expedition is unfruitful, Jesus tells him, put out into deep water and let down your nets.
SPEAKER_00: Peter's been fishing all night.
SPEAKER_00: He's a fisherman.
SPEAKER_00: He knows how and where to fish, and yet Jesus gives this command.
SPEAKER_00: So Peter concedes, throws the nets over.
SPEAKER_00: It's filled.
SPEAKER_00: It's filled with so many fish that the nets begin breaking and the boats begin sinking.
SPEAKER_00: And Peter's awestruck.
SPEAKER_00: He puts his face to the ground.
SPEAKER_00: He falls down at the knees of Jesus and says, Depart from me, for I'm a sinful man.
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't want Christ to look at him because he's sinful.
SPEAKER_00: He's afraid.
SPEAKER_00: There's fear because he knows whose presence he's in.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever a man is confronted with the most holy God, he realizes very quickly he's a sinner.
SPEAKER_00: It happened to Adam and Eve.
SPEAKER_00: Then what follows is a sense of reverence, of awe and fear.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe we should let this inform how we see ourselves in God's presence, in Jesus' presence.
SPEAKER_00: It shouldn't sound strange to us that St.
SPEAKER_00: Paul actually would instruct all of us in his letter to the Philippians that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
SPEAKER_00: Dear friends in Christ, we're not sinners because we sin.
SPEAKER_00: We sin because we're sinners.
SPEAKER_00: And because we're sinners, we have fear day in and day out.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid of all kinds of things.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid of dying, yes.
SPEAKER_00: But we're also afraid of losing our families, our loved ones, our homes, our jobs.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid of not making enough money.
SPEAKER_00: We're afraid.
SPEAKER_00: We're also afraid of being persecuted for the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And the reason we're afraid of being persecuted is because it means death to us.
SPEAKER_00: And if it doesn't actually mean death to these bodies, to this flesh, to our lives, well then it means death to our reputations.
SPEAKER_00: That means our reputations are at stake, or that it is as good as being dead in our own minds, because if we're dead to the world around us because we're no longer looked at with high esteem or held in good repute or held in high regard by our friends, then we feel dead in our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: As outcasts, as being ostracized.
SPEAKER_00: It's death from the community around us.
SPEAKER_00: Dear friends, it's death that we're really afraid of.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, Jesus addresses fear.
SPEAKER_00: He addresses fear in this morning's gospel text.
SPEAKER_00: He tells us, do not be afraid.
SPEAKER_00: In fact, he starts out by letting us know the reality of being part of him, of being part of his household.
SPEAKER_00: So he explains that brother will deliver brother over to death, that father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death.
SPEAKER_00: Because you will be hated by all for my name's sake.
SPEAKER_00: And yet he still says, Do not fear.
SPEAKER_00: And yet, if they call the master of the house Beelzebub, which is Lord of the Flies, or better yet, is to call him a demon, which is to berate him, to call him a liar, not of God, which makes this statement completely blasphemy.
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus is saying that if they blasphemy the master, how much more are they gonna malign those of his household?
SPEAKER_00: That means the disciples.
SPEAKER_00: That means us.
SPEAKER_00: He's talking to the apostles.
SPEAKER_00: He's explaining to them their situation and he's letting them know what's gonna happen in their future.
SPEAKER_00: He's letting you know what you might face in your future because you belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: And yet he still says, do not fear.
SPEAKER_00: How is it that our most gracious and loving Lord can tell us not to fear?
SPEAKER_00: It's easy.
SPEAKER_00: Because He is the one who conquered sin and death.
SPEAKER_00: Because He accomplished everything for us.
SPEAKER_00: He lives, and He has lived our life.
SPEAKER_00: He knows exactly what we feel, He knows all the temptations we encounter.
SPEAKER_00: He knows what our flesh goes through, all of our fears, and yet He lived the perfect life.
SPEAKER_00: He was crucified at the hands of men.
SPEAKER_00: He was pierced for our transgressions, all of our sins, the sins of the entire world, were laid on him by the Father.
SPEAKER_00: And the Father made him to be sin who knew no sin.
SPEAKER_00: And on the third day, after paying for our sins of the cross of Calvary, after dying for your sins and for mine, on the third day he rose again.
SPEAKER_00: And he rose again because death, death, which we're afraid of, could not keep him.
SPEAKER_00: Because he was the perfect sacrifice, the unblemished Lamb.
SPEAKER_00: Yet the Father raised him because he was perfect, having put sin and death to death in his flesh.
SPEAKER_00: He was perfect for you.
SPEAKER_00: He was perfect for me.
SPEAKER_00: Death no longer has a sting.
SPEAKER_00: Death no longer has dominion over him or any of those who belong to him.
SPEAKER_00: It's now a door, it's a gateway.
SPEAKER_00: So we need not fear.
SPEAKER_00: Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
SPEAKER_00: And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your father.
SPEAKER_00: But even the hairs of your head are numbered.
SPEAKER_00: Fear not.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, you are of more value than many sparrows.
SPEAKER_00: You are valuable because God made you his own child in Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Because those who are in him, those who have been baptized into Christ, those who belong to Jesus, those who have the name of God written on their foreheads and on their hearts, are baptized into Christ's death on the cross and into his resurrection.
SPEAKER_00: So we need not fear.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus because he chose you.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus because he gives his promises to you.
SPEAKER_00: Right there in the holy waters of baptism.
SPEAKER_00: Right in his word preached and confessed.
SPEAKER_00: You belong to Jesus because he comes to you and makes his home with you and unites with you in word and spirit and body and blood.
SPEAKER_00: So that you can stand before the most holy God and live.
SPEAKER_00: Dear baptized, do not fear.
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus comes to you right here.
SPEAKER_00: Today.
SPEAKER_00: Right now in this holy sanctuary, in his word and his sacraments.
SPEAKER_00: You have Jesus today because he's here in all the ways he promises to be.
SPEAKER_00: And because you have Jesus, you now can say, I will not fear.
SPEAKER_00: I do not have to worry if I walk out this door and something happens to me.
SPEAKER_00: I do not have to be afraid, even if I die at the hands of men.
SPEAKER_00: Again, hear the words of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.
SPEAKER_00: Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body and hell.
SPEAKER_00: He means himself.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one that holds the keys to death in Hades.
SPEAKER_00: He's the one we should rightfully fear.
SPEAKER_00: Not this world, not its people, not death.
SPEAKER_00: We should be able to say, when I speak the name of Jesus before people, when I'm willing to acknowledge Christ before a Christless world, a Christeless generation, and even die for it, I have confidence that he will not deny me, but acknowledge me before his Father who is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Friends, it's not about living for Jesus or just living for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: It's about living the cruciform life and being willing to die, to suffer all for Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: The apostles knew this.
SPEAKER_00: The early Christians knew this.
SPEAKER_00: And you, dear Christian, should be confident in this.
SPEAKER_00: Dear baptized, the Lord grant you the spirit and the strength to say, I do not need to fear, for I have Christ because He has me.
SPEAKER_00: He has made me God's own child.
SPEAKER_00: I need not fear.
SPEAKER_00: I need not fear dying because Christ has already died for me.
SPEAKER_00: I need not fear death of my reputation for speaking Christ in a Christless world, even though persecution springs up everywhere.
SPEAKER_00: I do not need to fear.
SPEAKER_00: You do not need to fear, dear beloved, blood-bought, baptized Christian.
SPEAKER_00: You have Jesus, the crucified and risen Lord, and he has forgiven you all your sins and delivered that promise to you, all of you, this very day.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.