Christ Has Set Us Free!

Jeremiah 31:31-34

10/26/2025 

SN: 0096

by Pastor Nathan Klusmeyer

On October 31st, 1517, a simple professor of theology named Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Luther had no idea that this action would shake the very foundations of the Catholic church and the political structures of his day. Luther did not set out to start a movement or form a new church. Luther simply wanted to restore the freedom of the Gospel. 

As Luther had read and studied the Word of God, he gradually came to realize that the teachings of the Roman Catholic church were wrong. Their teachings on indulgences, purgatory, and the necessity of good works were robbing Christians of the joy of the Gospel. The teachings of the church were once again enslaving the hearts and minds of Christians to the requirements of the law. God was viewed as a harsh and unloving judge who needed to be appeased with acts of devotion. 

Luther himself had fallen into this trap. As a young man, he was tormented by his sins. He knew that God was just and holy and demanded that we live our lives free from sin. Luther did everything in his power to try and appease God, including joining a monastery and torturing himself to earn God’s love. But the more he struggled, the more desperate he became. It wasn’t until he began reading and studying the very Word of God that he discovered the joy of the Gospel.  

God was not a harsh and unrelenting judge, but a kind and compassionate God who had sent his Son into the world to free his people from sin. Luther began to understand that he was not saved by his own works or efforts. Instead, the Bible clearly taught that we are saved by faith in Christ. We don’t have to earn the forgiveness of sins because Christ earned it for us by his perfect life and death on the cross. The glorious message of the Gospel freed Luther from his burden of guilt and shame. His troubled conscience could find rest and peace by fleeing to the cross of Christ. 

Each year we celebrate the Reformation not to venerate Martin Luther, but to remember the glorious message of the Gospel that he restored to the church. Luther brought to light again the beautiful truth that Christ has set us free! This is what the Prophet Jeremiah foretold when he said, “Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.” 

The first question we need to ask is, why did God need to make a new covenant? In the Old Testament, God made a covenant with the children of Israel at Mt. Sinai. He promised to be their God, and they would be his people, but they needed to follow all the commands, statutes, and ordinances that he decreed. God’s law was clear: be holy just as God is holy. If someone broke one of God’s commands, there were numerous rituals and sacrifices that needed to be performed to atone for the guilt of the offense.  

God’s law served one main purpose: to show us just how sinful we are. All of God’s laws in the Old Testament show that, as sinful humans, we cannot go a single day without breaking at least one of God’s commands. We can never achieve the standard of perfection that God demands. For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin. But one of the truly insidious tricks of the devil is that he likes to convince us that we can follow the law and achieve salvation by our works. But unfortunately, this leads to disaster. We either find ourselves foolishly thinking that we are actually good people, who don’t need a savior (like the Pharisees), or we become so obsessed with our own sinfulness that we soon are filled with despair. 

This is where Luther found himself. He tried to do everything within his power to satisfy the perfect demands of God’s law, but the more he tried, the more filled with guilt and shame he became. Luther began to despair that God could ever love someone like him. The work and effort, the pain and striving, never made the guilt and shame go away. The Old Covenant of the Law cannot save us because it was intended to be transitory and temporary. The sacrifices and commands of the Old Covenant pointed to something far better: a new covenant that would not be written on tablets of stone, but on the very hearts of God’s people. People would no longer need to approach God with fear and trembling through sacrifices that had to be offered again and again. Instead, they would be able to approach God with joy and confidence. No longer will each one teach his neighbor, or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their guilt, and I will remember their sins no more. 

This is the New Covenant that was given to us and sealed to us by the precious and holy blood of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. By his death, Christ has set us free from our slavery to sin and from the burdens of the Law. We are no longer bound by the requirements of the law because Christ has set us free. All our sins have been fully and completely paid for by the death of our Savior. We don’t need to do anything because Christ also suffered once for sins in our place, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.  

This is the glorious message of the Gospel that Luther restored to all Christians. The clear message of the Gospel had been obscured by all the laws and requirements taught by the church. People foolishly believed that they needed to do good works to earn their way into heaven. They believed that by living according to the law, they could earn their salvation. But the glorious message of the Gospel revealed in its truth and purity calls out that lie. We don’t have to do anything, and in fact, we can’t do anything to earn our salvation. Christ has done it all. Christ has set us free. Luther learned and preached the glorious freedom that the Apostle Paul wrote about in Galatians, which calls out the lie of Satan that we can do anything to earn our salvation. In fact, those who rely on the works of the law are under a curse. For it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the book of the law.” Clearly, no one is declared righteous before God by the law, because “The righteous will live by faith.” The law does not say “by faith.” Instead, it says, “The one who does these things will live by them.” Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. As it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” 

This is the legacy of the Reformation that we celebrate more than 500 years later. Christ has set us free! Our Savior fulfilled all the requirements of the law when he lived a perfect life and died in our place. His blood made a new covenant with God that we receive by faith. And God gave this glorious new covenant to us as a free gift of his merciful grace. We are free, and because we are free, we no longer need to fear God’s wrath and anger, because all his wrath was poured out on Christ on the cross. Jesus died so that we can live free from slavery to sin and free from guilt and shame. 

Because we are free, we no longer need to do good works in a foolish attempt to earn our salvation. Instead, we do good works out of joy and thankfulness for all that Christ has done for us. We don’t have to do good works; instead, we get to do good works as a way to show our love and devotion to our heavenly Father. The law is no longer a burden that must be fulfilled but is a guide for our lives as we seek to love God and love our neighbor. 

This is the lasting legacy that Luther gave to the church. He restored the freedom we have in Christ. This is what we celebrate and remember each year. We rejoice in the glorious message of the Gospel, the new covenant that was made in the blood of our Savior, who freed us from sin and destroyed the power of death and hell once and for all. Amen. 

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow anyone to put the yoke of slavery on you again. 

Teach Them the Love of the Lord

10/19/2025

Deuteronomy 6:1-9

SN: 0095

by Pastor Nathan Klusmeyer

Everyone in this room has something extraordinary in common. At some point in our lives, someone loved us enough to take the time to patiently teach us about God and all that he has done for us. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent who taught you to pray and sang cradle songs to you about Jesus’s love for his little lambs. Maybe it was a teacher who taught you the stories of the Bible and helped you memorize the hymns and passages that reveal the love of God. Maybe it was a pastor who patiently took you through the basic teachings of the Bible and showed you the blood of Christ that is spilled for you on every page of the Bible. For many of us, we don’t even remember the first time we heard about the love of Christ, and for others, that memory is vivid and precious.

Today, we take a moment to praise God for these faithful witnesses who took the commands of God seriously and taught us the truths of God’s Word. This is one of the most solemn duties we have as followers of Christ. Faith is created when the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God as it is shared with others. As Paul says in his letter to the Romans, “So then, how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one about whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news of peace, who preach the gospel of good things!’”

Moses knew the importance of teaching the next generation about the Word of God. He knew how quickly the truths of God’s Word could be lost if they were not shared with the next generation. After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness, the children of Israel are now ready to take possession of the land God had promised to them. Before they crossed the Jordan River, they made camp on the plains of Moab, and Moses reaffirmed the covenant that God had made with them at Sinai. The book of Deuteronomy can be thought of as the last sermon Moses preaches to the children of Israel before his death. Deuteronomy 6 is an encouragement to stay faithful to the Lord and keep his commands.

Moses sums up the entire law of the Lord by saying, “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God. The LORD is one! Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. These words that I am commanding you today are to be on your heart.” This is the same summary of the Law that Jesus gives to us in the New Testament, and this is what God desires from his people. Whole-hearted love and obedience. When we are confronted with these words, we are cut to the heart because we know that we do not always give God our full and complete love and devotion. We often allow other things to take the place of God in our hearts. We fall far short of giving our entire hearts to God.

God knows this. He knows that we are incapable of perfectly loving him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our might. We can never achieve that standard, and so God sent his one and only Son to be our substitute. Christ was perfectly devoted to the Father. He perfectly loved the Lord with all his heart, with all his soul, and with all his might. He never wavered in his commitment to keep the commands of his Father, even when he was in agony. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ prayed, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but yours be done.” Christ loved God perfectly in our place so that he could offer his perfect life as a sacrifice for our sins. On the cross, Jesus Christ suffered and died for all our sins. His blood has washed away all the times we have failed to love God with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength.

When we hear this glorious message of the gospel proclaimed, the Holy Spirit works through the Word of God to create faith in our hearts. By faith, we receive as a free gift the forgiveness of sins that was won for us on the cross and the certainty of eternal life that was won for us when Christ shattered the power of death by his resurrection from the dead. What joy and comfort this sweet message gives!

Moses on the plains of Moab reminded the children of Israel of all the mighty acts God had done to save them. He reminded them of the strong right arm of the Lord who brought the 10 plagues on Egypt and split the waters of the Red Sea so they could pass through on dry ground. Moses reminded them of the miracles in the desert of manna and quail and water from the rock that preserved them during their years of wandering. Moses

wanted parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors to talk about the salvation that was won for them by God and teach it to their children. “Teach them diligently to your children, and speak about them when you sit in your house and when you walk on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as a sign on your wrists, and they will serve as symbols on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your houses and on your gates.”

This solemn duty has been given to us as well. Jesus commanded all of his followers to “Go and gather disciples from all nations by baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and by teaching them to keep all the instructions I have given you. And surely I am with you always until the end of the age.” As parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends and neighbors, leaders of the church, and pastor and teacher, we have a duty to train the next generation that has been entrusted to our care about the love of the Lord.

This is a duty that should be a joy and not a burden. After all, we too know the mighty things that God has done to save us. We have experienced miracles just as amazing as the parting of the Red Sea. Water and Word that bring the dead to life, bread and wine, body and blood that give us the forgiveness of sins that was won for us on the cross. The crown of victory is given to each believer as they fall asleep in the Lord and awaken in the heavenly banquet that has been prepared for us.

A few weeks ago, I was able to participate in the 125th anniversary of my home congregation in Wautoma. As I sat in front during the service, I couldn’t help but remember and give thanks for the people who taught me the love the Lord. My parents, who raised me in the faith, my Pastor Sulzle, who instructed in the truths of God’s Word and gave me a love for history, and my Lutheran grade school and high school teachers, who demonstrated for me a love of God’s Word and encouraged me to grow in my faith and then share that faith with others.

As we celebrate the 175th anniversary of our Synod, let us give thanks to God for the faithful parents, teachers, pastors, relatives, or friends who taught you the love the Lord. Praise God for the amazing blessing of our grade schools and high schools that support our parents as they teach their children the Word of God. Praise him for our Synodical schools, which train young men and women to be faithful witnesses to train and equip the next generation of witnesses. And pray to God that his Word may ever be on our hearts. Amen.

A Lasting Legacy: Christ FOR Us

10/12/2025

Text: Romans 5:8-10

SN: 0094

by Pastor Nathan Klusmeyer

What do you want your legacy to be? People are going to answer the question differently depending on what their priorities are in life. Some people may want to be remembered for their wealth or the contributions they made to society. Some may want to be remembered for their accomplishments, and others may want to be remembered for the love and generosity they showed to others. As we spend the next few weeks celebrating the 175th anniversary of our Synod, we take some time to consider what our legacy is and what it will be like in the future. What does it mean to be a Wisconsin Synod Lutheran? As we consider that question, we may think of the many old and beautiful churches built by our ancestors, maybe we think of the rich history and deep roots that we have in Wisconsin, especially southeastern Wisconsin. Or we may think of the strong schools that continue to be the backbone of our Synod today.

All these things are well and good, but I don’t think they really capture what it means to be a WELS Lutheran. When I think of the lasting and enduring legacy of our church body, I don’t think of anything that we have accomplished; instead, I think of what God has done for us and through us. One of the things that makes us so unique among all the other Christian churches is our steadfast and dogged determination to stay firmly rooted in the Word of God. This is what defines us, and this is what gives meaning to our lives. I think that it is very fitting that the first of our Sunday themes is Christ for us. Without the selfless sacrifice of our Savior, we would be truly lost. Everything that we are, everything that we have, and everything that defines us as both individuals and a Synod flows entirely from what Christ has done for us.

The Apostle Paul beautifully describes this truth for us in our reading from Romans this morning with the simple but amazingly profound statement, “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” There is so much joy packed in those few Words. Our Old Testament lesson reminded us of the terrible reality of sin. Adam and Eve listened to the lie of Satan and disobeyed the very Word of God. By eating from the tree God had commanded them not to eat from, they condemned the entire world into the darkness of sin and death. Adam could no longer approach God in freedom and confidence but instead was ashamed and hid from the presence of a just and holy God.

God could have right then and there, in his righteous wrath, condemned all humanity to the eternal fires of hell. But instead, God sought out Adam and Eve. He led them to confess and repent of their sins. God then, in an amazing act of love and mercy, sought to repair the broken relationship with his fallen creatures by promising to send a Savior who would rescue them and all their descendants from the power of sin, death, and hell. As descendants of Adam, we are still under the curse of sin. Paul pulls no punches when he tells us in these few verses that we are weak and helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies of God. We are completely and utterly unworthy to receive anything from God except his wrath and anger. We deserve to be punished for our sins, and because we are weak and helpless and completely mired and tainted by sin.

This harsh and unrelenting preaching of the law sets us as Lutherans apart from so many others and is part of our lasting legacy. We cling to the bitter truth of Scripture that by nature we can do nothing to save ourselves. No amount of work or striving on our part can pay the debt that our sins deserve. The law of God holds nothing back and shows us the harsh and unrelenting truth that all we ever deserve is to be condemned for the sins that we commit every day of our lives.

I recently saw a YouTube video where someone was making fun of the differences in preaching emphasis that exist in different Christian churches. When he made fun of Lutherans, he said, “In this sermon I’m going to tell you about the Law and the Gospel.” While this man meant it as a joke, I saw it as something we should be proud of. Is this not the beating heart of Scripture? Is this not exactly what Paul is talking about here: While we were still sinners Christ died for us!

Who would you be willing to die for? Paul reminds us that it is incredibly rare for one person to offer their life for another. Sure, we hear stories about people who sacrifice themselves to save others. A mother or father who dies to save their child, a soldier who sacrifices himself to save his brothers, and very rarely, a complete stranger offering their life for another. But part of the reason we tell stories like that is because they are rare and heart-moving. Most people are not willing to die for someone else, and no one would likely willingly die to save their enemy.

But this is precisely what Christ did for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God saw the fallen and wretched state of his creation and sent his one and only Son to suffer and die for our sins. We did nothing and could do nothing to receive this amazing blessing of our Lord. He gives it to us as an amazing gift of his immeasurable grace and mercy.

Paul uses two different word pictures here to describe this amazing love of our God. First, he wants us to picture ourselves on trial before the throne of God, the holy and righteous Judge. We stand accused of being ungodly sinners who are the very enemies of God. But Christ himself steps in on our behalf. He offers himself as a willing substitute to be sacrificed in our place. Because of his sacrifice, we have now been declared innocent of all our sins.

The second picture that Paul uses is that of reconciliation. When we think of that word, we usually think of two estranged parties who want to be brought back together. This usually means that both sides must do something or compromise something to get what they want. But when it comes to our spiritual condition, we can bring nothing to the negotiating table. Instead, it’s God, the one whom we have done evil to, who comes to us and lovingly restores the relationship that we destroyed, and all of this is because of Christ for us.

This is the legacy we have as Lutherans. This is what we want to be known and remembered for. We want to be known as the church that preaches the truth that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. For 175 years, through good times and bad, we have continued to hold to the unshakeable truths of Scripture. We cling to the sure and certain promise that we are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Everything we do revolves around the truth of Christ for us. While we celebrate and remember all that our church and synod have done over the last 175 years, we always keep Christ as the focus. We remember that everything we do is in service to the proclamation of his Gospel. Let us rejoice in that beautiful message of the undeserved love of our Savior that, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us! Amen.

But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son to be born of a woman, so that he would be born under the law, in order to redeem those under the law, so that we would be adopted as sons.

Have a Little Faith

September 28, 2025

Luke 17 Sermon 

by Vicar Andrew Ronholt

“Have a little faith!” When was the last time you heard that phrase? Was it the last time the Packers were down in the fourth quarter? Did you say it when someone asked why the piece of Ikea furniture you just got done putting together had 6 leftover screws? People use iterations of the phrase “have faith” all the time. What do they mean by that? Generally, people are using it as a general encouragement, from unimportant to life-altering events. As Christians, we recognize that the word “faith” has a much different meaning for us than the rest of the world. In our Gospel lesson for today, the section hinges entirely on Faith. The worthy savior shows us unworthy servants that faith rooted uproots, and that by faith we can work in service of the worthy savior.  

Now if while we read the Gospel this morning, you found yourself thinking “Wow, Jesus is talking about a lot of different things here!” you are correct. Let’s talk about some of these heavy truths Jesus was bringing to the ears of the disciples and to us. Firstly, temptations, trials and troubles were bound to come. It was not a matter of if, it was a matter of when. And that hasn’t changed today. No matter how much you would like to be able to close yourself off from the trials and troubles of life, we all know that’s not possible in this life. And then Jesus charges us to not put stumbling blocks before his dearly loved little ones. That’s a huge responsibility. We get the firm “watch yourselves.” That’s a tall order when we hear in Scripture that the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And then Jesus goes on to reaffirm forgiveness. If someone in our lives sins against us, and they come to us in repentance, we are called to speaks words of forgiveness to them, time and time again? Who has the patience for that Jesus? And then we have this whole mini-parable about the servants and the master that we will get into in a few minutes. Jesus has laid out a laundry list of realities about our world. The disciples have one thing to say: “Increase our faith!” The disciples recognize that this is a huge burden to bear. They recognize that they aren’t going to be able to bear all these things that Jesus has reminded them of. And right there, we can see ourselves easily in the disciples. We experience trials and troubles in life, and we feel like there’s nothing we can do on our own. We’d be correct. On our own we just fall into temptation after temptation. On our own we can do nothing to save ourselves from the pitfalls that are bound to come. We can’t easily find the words of forgiveness easily for those who sin against use. So, we are left with the disciples saying “Jesus we can’t handle all this that you just threw at us. The faith we have is not sufficient. Increase our faith.”  

Notice Jesus’s answer. “If you have faith as little as mustard seed” you can uproot a tree and have it throw itself into the sea. And you might be tempted to make the logical conclusion “well, I certainly can’t do that, I must not have even that amount of faith.” But look at what Christ’s really saying there. He’s not saying “You have to look to yourself for the power to move that tree.” He’s saying “Look to the thing you believe in.” And what is the thing we believe in? What is the object of our faith? Well of course, because of the Holy Spirit working faith in our hearts, we recognize the object of our faith is Christ. Can Christ speak to a mulberry tree and uproot it? We’d say “Absolutely!” Can Jesus forgive you when you time and time again sin against him? Absolutely he can and does!  

Now we know this truth by faith, which comes from hearing the message about Christ. And we get to see the power of the one who loves us. So then why do we falter? Why are we constantly tripping over those stumbling blocks and falling into sin? Why are we constantly worrying about God’s providence? Well, that’s our old Adam, our old sinful nature trying to make us take our eyes of the promises and comforts we do have by faith, and focus on ourselves. And of course, when we focus on ourselves, we have doubts. These doubts come into our lives at all different times. But do those doubts change the fact that Jesus died to take away your sins? Do the feelings of “I’m not enough for God” change the reality that God declares to you “You are a dearly and beloved child whom I have bought back with his holy precious blood.”, Even that weak faith still clings to the promises of God, and receives life and salvation. It takes hold of the live-giving promises of God.  

Think about the words of Ephesians 2 “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” This gift of God, not from yourselves. This is an important thing we have to remind ourselves of time and time again. Faith rooted in Christ uproots. It allows us to recognize the temptations and troubles in life and yet recognize the life we have to look forward to. It brings us again the assurance that in the blood of Christ, all our sins are removed as far as the east is from the west. The disciples saying “increase our faith” was because they were looking to themselves for that faith, not the object and perfector of their faith. But we can properly pray "Increase our faith," focusing not on ourselves but on the one we trust, the one we have faith in. 

And the Lord answers this prayer. He gives us Word and Sacrament to strengthen our faith. If you were holding onto something precious, you would want the muscles you were using to be strong. We want the same for our faith. And God has given us these means of grace so that by his promises, he increases our faith. Sometimes we recognize times of trouble also increase our faith. Something that from a worldly standpoint seems bad can actually serve to focus our eyes on the loving promises of our savior. While comforts in this world are few and fleeting, the comfort of scripture is lasting. That is why we feed our faith and pray that God increase our faith.  

Yes faith makes us realize we are unworthy servants, but have a worthy Savior who gave his life to redeem us and win for us eternity. Now, by faith, we recognize that we can operate in service of the worthy savior.  

Let’s circle back to that parable that ends our section. It’s pretty straightforward. You wouldn’t expect a worker to expect above and beyond special treatment for doing his job. However, while it’s simple at face value, we recognize the problem we encounter: by our nature, we think we deserve more than we do. Sinful people love the law. They love to think that they can do something to earn eternal reward. It’s as if we are servants who walk into God’s house and say “Well God, I did my work for you today, how about you wait hand and foot on me?” Of course, the ironic thing is not only are we overstepping, but we never did the work God requires anyway. We did not uphold the law. We did not show love perfectly to God and neighbor, but Jesus did, and he promises that in him we are righteous, all our failures forgiven. Trusting in him, we call ourselves unworthy servants--because he did the work for us. So when we do good things and show love to our neighbor, we do not expect to be rewarded. And yet, here’s the twist, we are. And not only that, but we are rewarded so much more greatly than we could ever imagine. Us unworthy servants were first served by Christ. Our reward for what Christ has done, is eternal life. By faith, we recognize the gift that God has given us in all of our various vocations. No matter what your occupation is, your age, your background in life, you have the opportunity to serve God every day. And you have the gift of sharing Jesus with your neighbor. Through this message of salvation, the Holy Spirit can work the miracle of faith in a person’s heart. This miraculous faith can move mountains, not because of anything about the person, but because of how powerful Jesus is, the one who faith trusts.  So the next time someone tells you “Have some faith”, you can tell them “I do, and I would love to tell you about my faith, because the author and perfector of it changes peoples lives every day.”  

Money is Good, but It Comes with a Warning Label

09/21/2025

1 Timothy 6:6-10, 17-19

SN: 0093

Warning labels: they’re everywhere, aren’t they? If you get a new medication, it comes with a four-page list of warnings in a font so small you need a microscope to read it. Buy a new toy for a child or grandchild, and there are warnings all over it. Sometimes I look at the warning labels on my lawnmower and wonder what had to happen for that label to be there. Money is a good gift that God gives to us, but it also comes with a warning label. The Apostle Paul tells us, “For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.”

Notice that Paul doesn’t say money is the root of all evil, but rather that the love of money is the root of all evil. Money is good, but it comes with a warning label because Satan loves to use it as a way to have us wander away from the faith. Unfortunately, our sinful nature doesn’t want to heed this warning. We live in a culture that is obsessed with the idea of never being content with the amount of money we have.

Paul tells us that “godliness with contentment is great gain.” But we live in a culture that bombards us with messages that we should never be content. The ads we see on television, hear on the radio, see as we drive down the road, pop up on our computers, and are well-basically everywhere all scream at us that we absolutely need this, that, or the other thing to be happy. But God tells us something completely antithetical to this worldview: if we have food and clothing, with these we will be satisfied. God wants us to be satisfied with the good gifts he gives to us for our daily welfare as he fulfills our needs for life, not necessarily our wants and desires.

God wants us to be content, not because he wants us to be poor or to have to survive on the absolute bare minimum necessary to survive. Our God is generous and wants to shower us with good gifts, including wealth, but he also knows the danger wealth and money pose to our sinful natures. Those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge them into complete destruction and utter ruin. For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evils. By striving for money, some have wandered away from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains. Greed and the lust for money lead to a whole host of sins. Think of the character Scrooge in the famous story by Charles Dickens. Scrooge loved money more than he loved his fellow man, and because of this, he was an angry and bitter person who never showed compassion to anyone.

The love of money and lack of contentment with the gifts God has given to us lead to envying what God has given to others. Think of how our society views the rich. Now I’m not saying that many of the rich people in our society are good examples of how we should live our lives, but I’m trying to illustrate the danger of hating and despising someone because they have what we do not. This constant envy and strife lead to deeper evils as well. Look at the hatred and violence that have permeated our culture because of envy and a love of money. People are willing to do horrible and evil things to their fellow men for the sake of money. Some, filled with greed, are willing to trample on the less fortunate to increase their wealth, and others are willing to despise, slander, and hate those who have money out of envy.

This is why Paul gives us such a strong warning about the danger of loving money. Money is a good gift from our God, but if we let it consume us, we can very quickly wander from the faith. This is why Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters. Indeed, either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and mammon.”

As Christians, we understand the danger of money, and because of that, we sometimes veer too far in the other direction. We wrongly think that because of all the evils that money has caused, this must mean that having money must be wrong. But that’s not what God is teaching us here. Many good and godly people in the Bible were extremely wealthy. Think of Abraham, David, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimathea, and Lydia. They had great wealth and used their wealth to serve the Lord. Just because something comes with a warning label doesn’t mean we shouldn’t use it. We understand that we need to use it carefully and for the purpose it was intended.

This is true of money as well. Money is a good gift that God gives to us to use in his service and to use for our enjoyment. But God wants us to remember where our money comes from. It comes from him. The world wants us to believe that we need to put our trust in our own effort, but we know that everything we have comes from God. Paul says, “Instruct those who are rich in this present age not to be arrogant or to put their hope in the uncertainty of riches, but rather in God, who richly supplies us with all things for our enjoyment.” God richly and daily blesses us with everything we need for our bodily welfare, such as food and drink, clothing and shoes, house and home, land, cattle, money, and goods. We trust that God will richly and daily provide for us because we know that God is faithful to his promises. This is the hope and certainty that we have as Christians. We know that God will watch over and protect us and give us everything we need.

We trust that God will keep his blessing to provide for us because he has already provided for our greatest need by sending his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to suffer and die for our sins. All our sins of greed and envy have been paid for in full by the blood of Christ. We are forgiven and have been reborn as new creations who no longer conform to the pattern of this world. No amount of wealth or money can buy our way into eternal life. Only faith in Jesus Christ, who shed his holy blood that is far more precious than gold or silver, can open the door into eternal life. This is why God wants us to be careful with money. He knows that Satan uses our natural, sinful desire to be lovers of money to lead us away from the only thing that can give us that which is truly life.

God has already given us everything we need for our life in this world and, more importantly, for our life in the world to come. Therefore, we do not need to waste our lives chasing after wealth as the world does. Again, think of the story of Scrooge. At the end, he discovers that happiness comes from sharing our wealth with others. God wants us to use our money and the other gifts he has given us to serve him and to serve our neighbor. Paul commands, “Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and willing to share. In this way they are storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.”

Our wealth and money are gifts from God for our enjoyment and for our use to serve our neighbor. We use our money to support the work of his church, to help those in need, and to care for the needs of our families. God blesses us in different ways at different times in our lives. Sometimes we have an abundance of wealth and can give generously. Other times, we are lacking, but we can be a blessing to others because they can use their gifts to help us. God does command us to give a certain amount or to give in a certain way. Instead, he wants us to use what he has given for our enjoyment and to help and serve our neighbors.

Warning labels are there to remind us of the danger of using something in the wrong way. God gives us a warning label with our money, because the world wants us to value and trust money more than God. We understand that money is simply another gift that has been given to us by our heavenly Father. We put our trust in him because we know that he will richly and daily supply us with all we need. We trust that our God is wise with the gifts he gives to us, and so we are content with the blessings he has given to us. Let us rejoice in the good gifts God has given to us and use those gifts to serve him and serve our neighbor.

You Must Choose…But Choose Wisely

09/07/2025

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

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by Pastor Nathan Klusmeyer

As the movie Indian Jones and the Last Crusade reaches its climax, the heroic archeologist makes his way through a series of deadly obstacles to reach the end of his quest. Throughout the movie, Indy had been seeking the Holy Grail. As he enters the last room, he gazes upon a table covered with grails. Some are plain and simple, while others are rich and ornate. Guarding this treasure is an ancient knight who tells Indy that to complete his quest, he must choose the correct Grail and drink from it. The ancient knight warns him, “You must choose, but choose wisely.” Choosing the right cup will grant him health and long life, while the wrong choice will bring swift and terrible death.

In our Old Testament reading this morning, Moses gave the children of Israel a similar opportunity to choose wisely. See now, today I have set before you life and prosperity, death and disaster. After 40 years of wandering through the wilderness, they are camped on the plains of Moab, ready to enter the land of Canaan that God had promised would be their inheritance. Moses takes this last opportunity to preach a final sermon before his death and the beginning of the conquest of Canaan. Moses tells the people that they need to make a choice. The people can either choose to follow God or they can turn their hearts away from God. One of those choices will lead to joy and the other to disaster. This is what I am commanding you today: Love the LORD your God, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Then you will live and increase in number, and the LORD your God will bless you in the land that you are going to possess. Or they can choose to follow their own sinful desires and turn away from the Lord: But if your heart turns away, and you do not listen, and you are lured away, and you bow down to other gods and serve them, then I declare to you today that you will most certainly perish.

Moses and the children of Israel were well aware of the consequences of making foolish choices and disobeying the commands of God. They knew very well how not making wise choices could lead to terrible consequences. Moses had made a foolish choice when he chose to disobey God and strike a rock in the desert instead of speaking to it. For his disobedience, God had said that he would not enter the Promised Land. This generation of Israelites had watched as their parents had made a foolish decision 40 years ago, not to trust the Lord and enter the land he had promised. For 40 years, they had wandered through the wilderness as everyone from the generation had died except for Caleb and Joshua. Now they were being given an opportunity to make a wise decision. If they dedicated themselves to the Lord and kept his commands, God promised that he would bless them and give them the land he had promised to their ancestors. I call the heavens and the earth to witness against you today that I have set before you life and death, a blessing and a curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live by loving the LORD your God, by listening to his voice, and by clinging to him, because that means life for you, and you will live a long life on your land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

The rest of the Old Testament is a record of the events after Israel made their choice. They chose wisely and followed the Lord’s appointed leader, Joshua, and took the land that had been promised to them. They trusted the Lord and received their reward. But we also know that the Old Testament records the wise and foolish choices that their descendants made. Some chose wisely and followed the Lord, and some chose poorly and followed other gods. Ultimately, those decisions led to the complete and total destruction of Israel and the destruction, exile, and restoration of Judah.

As Christians, God asks us to make a choice as well. However, the first thing that needs to be emphasized when we talk about making a choice to serve the Lord is that we cannot choose to believe in God. Scripture is crystal clear; by nature, we are born dead in our trespasses and sins. We are completely incapable of making any decision to choose to believe in Jesus. We are brought to faith by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts through the power of the Word. This is what Luther means when he writes in his explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I cannot by my own thinking or choosing believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to him.”

However, after the Holy Spirit has brought us to life through the power of the Gospel, God does call on us to make choices each and every day. We are presented with the same choice that Moses offered to the

Children of Israel on the plains of Moab. Will we love the LORD our God, walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, or will we listen to the voice of the devil, the world, and our own sinful natures and fall into sin?

Unfortunately, just like the Children of Israel, we often try to do both. We have good days when we choose wisely. We resist the attacks of Satan and live according to God’s command. But on other days, and honestly on most days, we turn away from God and follow the desires of our sinful hearts. We know the good that we should do, and we choose not to do it. Or we willfully and eagerly sin because we know the instant gratification and pleasure that it brings. We know the consequences of our actions, we know how they displease God and often hurt others, but we love the feeling that sin gives us. We take the quick and easy path into temptation because it is so much easier to give in to temptation than it is to resist.

This is the wretched state that we find ourselves in. We want to choose wisely, we want to do what God commands, and yet so often we completely and utterly fail. We do not walk in God’s ways and keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances. Because of this, we are filled with guilt and shame. We know that we have not chosen wisely and should receive the death and disaster that our sins deserve. We make poor choices each day to sin, and because of that, we should be condemned to an eternity in hell.

But our heavenly Father also made a choice. When Adam and Eve listened to the lies of Satan and chose to disobey God’s command, he could have rightly condemned them. But instead, God chose to act in grace and mercy. God chose to send a Savior to this world to save us from our foolish decisions to disobey God. Think of the choices that Christ made as well, choices that seem completely foolish to our sinful human way of thinking. Christ chose willingly to leave the joy and splendor of heaven to live in this world. He chose to know what it was like to feel sorrow and pain, weakness, and hunger. The Creator of heaven and earth willingly chose to place himself under his own law and keep it in our place.

Think of how, when our Savior was presented with the opportunity to choose, he always chose wisely. When he was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, he chose to obey God. When he was tempted in Gethsemane, he chose to drink the cup of suffering that God had placed before him. Jesus, with all the power of God at his command, chose willingly to be humiliated and nailed to a cross. He willingly chose to endure all the torments of hell for you because he loved you so much that he wanted to suffer and die to save you.

We have not chosen wisely. We have often chosen to sin, but Christ has paid for our poor decisions with his death on the cross. By his death, he had removed our guilt and shame as far as the east is from the west, and by his resurrection, he has removed the eternal consequences of our poor and sinful decisions. Christ endured the punishment of hell that our sins deserved and has opened to us the promised land of eternal life in heaven.

You must choose…but choose wisely. God places the same choice before you that Moses gave to Israel on the plains of Moab. Will you live your life as God commands, or will you give in to the desires of your sinful heart? This should be an easy choice. We know where both paths lead. The path of righteousness leads to heaven, and the path of disobedience leads to death and destruction. And yet we know how hard it is to live as God commands. We know how quick and easy it is to listen to the never-ending voice tempting us to sin. And yet we also know the amazing love that God has shown to us. We know that we can resist the attacks of Satan because we have one who is far stronger fighting in our defense. And so, I urge you, dear Christian, choose to follow the Lord. Because even though the way is long and the battle is hard, God has promised you a rich reward. Amen.

Keep on Striving

08/24/25

Luke 13:22-30

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One day, a hare was making fun of a tortoise for being so slow. “Do you ever get anywhere?” he asked with a mocking laugh. “Yes,” replied the Tortoise, “and I get there sooner than you think. I'll run you a race and prove it.” The Hare was very amused at the idea of running a race with the Tortoise, but for the fun of the thing, he agreed. The Hare was soon far out of sight, and to make the Tortoise feel very deeply how ridiculous it was for him to try a race with a Hare, he lay down beside the course to take a nap until the Tortoise should catch up. The Tortoise, meanwhile, kept going slowly but steadily, and, after a time, passed the place where the Hare was sleeping. But the Hare slept on very peacefully, and when at last he did wake up, the Tortoise was near the goal. The Hare now ran his swiftest, but he could not overtake the Tortoise in time.

This well-known fable by Aesop teaches us about the danger of being overconfident. The hare thought that simply because he was a hare, he would win the race. He didn’t put any effort into the race, and because of this, he lost. The tortoise knew that he wasn’t as fast as the hare, but he was willing to keep on striving to finish the race. The story illustrates the same point that Jesus was making in our Gospel reading this morning.

As Jesus was continuing on his journey to Jerusalem, a certain man asked him, “Lord, are only a few going to be saved?” Like any good teacher, Jesus doesn’t directly answer the man’s question. Instead, he redirects the conversation to make a far more important point. Instead of wondering about what heaven is like or how many people are going to be in heaven, Jesus wants us to focus on whether we are going to be in heaven. Jesus says, “Strive to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able.”

As Christians, there is a very real danger for us to be like Aesop’s hare. We can be tempted to believe that because of our efforts or because of our association with Jesus, we will be saved. The entrance to heaven is through a very narrow door. The door is standing open, but only for a time. Nothing should hinder us from entering through that door while it is still open. But how shall we enter when it is so difficult for many to get through? There is only one way, and that is through Jesus Christ. He said, “I am the gate.” The only way to enter heaven is through Jesus Christ. Faith in him as our Savior gets us through the door to heaven. Every other effort is sure to fail. Many seek other ways to get through that narrow door to heaven. They refuse to accept Jesus Christ, and they try to enter heaven by their own efforts. They may even put forth what seems like a good struggle. But all these efforts are in vain. Attempts to get through on one’s own are useless.

This truth of Scripture runs completely contrary to the way we want to think. Nothing in this life comes for free. We must work hard for everything (the food we eat, the clothes we wear, and the money we use to buy those things), and so we wrongly assume that this applies to our spiritual lives as well. Satan wants us to doubt the promises of God and believe that we need to do something to save ourselves. But God is clear. We can’t save ourselves. No amount of our works or efforts can make up for a single sin. Everything we do is tainted by sin and is unacceptable in God’s sight.

This is why Jesus calls himself the narrow door. Our works can’t get us into heaven. Only faith in Jesus saves us. This is why Paul says, “For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law.” We can’t keep God’s law perfectly, and so our feeble efforts fall far short of the perfection that God demands. Only Christ, who kept God’s law perfectly in our place, has paid the price that we could never pay. We must set aside all our works and efforts and cling to the promise that Christ has paid for our sins by his death on the cross. Through faith in him, we can enter the narrow door.

It is bad enough that Satan tries to get us to rely on our own efforts to enter heaven, but often he switches to another tactic where he tries to use the very promise of the Gospel to rob us of its joy. Like the hare, Satan wants us to become complacent in our struggle. He wants us to think, “Since Christ has done it all for me and my sins have been paid in full, this means I can take it easy. I can do what I want and not worry about the consequences because after all, my sins have been forgiven.”

But what happened to the hare? He slept through the entire race, and by the time he woke up, it was too late. This is the warning that Jesus gives us as well. The door into heaven isn’t open forever. Eventually, that

door will close either at the moment of our death or when our Lord comes again on the Last Day. Once the master of the house gets up and shuts the door, you will begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open for us!’ He will tell you in reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’

Can you imagine a more horrible pronouncement of judgment than that our Lord doesn’t know us? But this is exactly what will happen if we become complacent in our faith and give up our struggle against sin. This is a danger that believers have struggled with since the Fall into sin. Satan wants us to believe that we don’t need to struggle and instead just trust that our association with Jesus is enough to save us. It is tempting to believe that just because we were baptized and belong to a Christian church, and go through the motions, this is enough. The people of Israel thought the same thing, and John the Baptist preached this message against them. So John kept saying to the crowds who came out to be baptized by him, “You offspring of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore, produce fruits in keeping with repentance! Do not even think of saying to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ because I tell you that God can raise up children for Abraham from these stones. Even now, the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and thrown into the fire.”

So how do we resolve what seems to be an incredible paradox? On the one hand, Jesus tells us that we are not saved by our good works and need to enter through the narrow door, but on the other hand, he says that we need to strive and struggle to enter through that door. This is the tension that exists in our Christian life. We are not saved by our works, and yet Scripture also teaches that faith without works is dead.

This is where the example of the tortoise is helpful. The tortoise understood that to win the race against the hare, he needed to be slow, steady, and diligent in his efforts. He needed to keep on striving, putting one foot in front of the other. This is like the picture of our faith that the Apostle Paul gives us in 1 Corinthians 9: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable victor’s wreath, but we do it for an imperishable one. That is why there is nothing aimless about the way I run. There is no pummeling of the air in the way I box. Instead, I hit my body hard and make it my slave so that, after preaching to others, I myself will not be rejected.”

The Christian life is not easy. Christianity asks for many things that are not easy for man: repentance, self-denial, denial of the world, sanctification, resistance to the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh. To be sure, one does not earn salvation by striving and fighting, but one may certainly lose the salvation one has by faith by not striving and fighting. Only too many look for an easy road to heaven, realizing too late that no such road exists.

Jesus wants us to keep on striving towards the narrow door. He wants us to be like the tortoise and keep on striving slowly and steadily on the narrow way to heaven. We know that this striving does not earn us entrance into heaven, because our entrance into heaven was paid for by the blood of our Savior as he offered his perfect life on the cross to pay for our sins. But Jesus wants us to continue our struggle. He wants us to resist the attacks of Satan and live our lives according to God’s will. He wants us to live a life of repentance. We will fail in our struggle; we are sinners and can’t help but fail. When we fail, we cling to the promise of the cross and know that Jesus paid for our failure with his holy, innocent blood. So little us continue our race just like the tortoise. Let us keep striving, knowing that our Savior will help us finish our race.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us. Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal.

God’s Word Divides

August 17, 2025

Text: Luke 12:49-53

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What do you think of when you hear the word division? Perhaps you think of the numerous problems in our world because people just can’t seem to get along with one another. Maybe you think of the bitter divisions that exist between different countries that lead to war and suffering. Maybe you think of the bitter divisions that mar our political system and lead to frustrating gridlock in Washington. Or maybe you think the far more important and irreconcilable division that exists between Cubs and Brewers fans.

But you probably don’t think of Jesus as someone who causes division. After all, one of Jesus’s titles is the Prince of Peace. We think of him as someone who came to heal strife and division, not cause it. After all, at his birth, the angels proclaimed, “Do not be afraid. For behold, I bring you good news of great joy, which will be for all people: Today in the town of David, a Savior was born for you. He is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger. Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude from the heavenly army, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward mankind”.

But in our Gospel lesson, Jesus makes a shocking statement to his disciples, “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” This statement of Jesus challenges us because it seems to run counter to how God wants us to live. God wants to show love and kindness to others. He wants us to mirror the love of our Savior. And while this is certainly true, we need to remember that we are also called to proclaim all of God’s Word in its truth and purity. We are proclaiming a message of absolute truth to a world that wants to make its own truth. The preaching of God’s Law and Gospel causes division because it is a message the world does not want to hear.

The message of the Law causes division because the world, and even our own sinful hearts, do not want to be reminded of the terrible division that exists between us and God. When Adam and Eve disobeyed the word of God in the Garden of Eden, they brought division into God’s perfect creation. Sin has divided us from God, and God’s Word reminds us of this terrible division and our inability to do anything about it. This is not a message that we want to hear. We don’t like hearing that we are sinners who deserve God’s wrath and punishment. We don’t like being told that there is absolutely nothing we can do to rescue ourselves. What our itching ears want to hear is that we are, in general, pretty good people, and if we just try our best, God will see that and reward us. This is the message that so many “Christian” churches proclaim today.

But this is not the message of God’s Word. God tells us that by nature we are dead in our trespasses and sins and are enemies of God. We are completely and utterly incapable of doing anything to save ourselves from this wretched state. But God, in his great love and mercy, did not want to leave us in this lost and pitiful condition, so he sent his one and only Son, Jesus Christ, to this world to save us. But even the beautiful message of the Gospel causes division. By nature, people want to believe they can save themselves. Surely it is too easy that all we have to do is believe that Jesus is our Savior, and we will be saved.

But this is exactly what God reveals to us in his word. In Ephesians 2, God says, “Indeed, it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.” God’s Word causes division because it breaks to pieces the false and prideful belief that we can in any way contribute to our own salvation. Our just and holy God demands complete and total obedience to his will. To earn our salvation, we would need to live a perfect life, 100% free from sin. This is impossible for any human being to do. Only God’s Son, who was both true God and true man, could do this. Christ came to this world and placed himself under God’s law to keep it perfectly in our place. Christ lived a life 100% free from sin and perfectly in line with God’s will.

Think of the temptation Christ faced every day of his life. He knew with perfect knowledge exactly what God’s will was for him. Jesus says, “But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is finished!” The baptism that Jesus is talking about is the suffering and agony he would endure on the cross. Imagine living each day with the knowledge that the physical agony of the cross and the spiritual agony of suffering all the torments of hell for the sins of the world was in your future. Yet Christ never wavered in his obedience to God’s will. Instead, as the end of his earthly life drew near, Christ resolutely set his face toward Jerusalem.

Our Savior loved you so much that he was willing to undergo the painful baptism of the cross to suffer and die in your place. He offered his perfect life to make full and complete payment for your sins. He was punishedin your place so that you could receive the forgiveness of sins. By his death, Jesus repaired the division thatexisted between you and God. This is the peace that the angels sang about on the night of our Savior’s birth. Itis a spiritual peace that was won for us by the death and resurrection of our Savior. It is a peace that is only available to those who have faith in Christ as their Savior.

This is why Jesus said, “Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” The message of the Gospel will always be opposed by Satan and his allies. While we await the glorious return of our Savior on the Last Day, we will live in a world that is marred by strife and division. Everywhere the Word of God is preached, Satan will stir up people against it. We should not be afraid of this division because this has been true for all of God’s people. We see how the prophets of the Old Testament faced opposition whenever they preached the truth of God’s Word. Christ faced opposition as he preached about the kingdom of God. And we, as his followers, will face hatred and division as we proclaim the message of the Gospel.

As we face division and hatred from the world, we must be careful to avoid the temptation to compromise on the truths of God’s Word. This is a very real temptation that Satan uses to undermine the Word of God. We want people to like us. We want people to speak well of us. But when we proclaim the unwavering truths of God’s Word, we will be hated and despised by the world. The world will tell us that it is unloving to call sin, sin. The world will tell us that it is wrong to say that there is only one path to salvation found through Christ alone. The world will tell us that a loving God would welcome people of all faiths who do their best, not just a few who believe in Jesus.

But we are not afraid to proclaim the truth of God’s Word because we are compelled by love. We are filledwith the love that our Savior showed us. We know all that he suffered and endured to free us from the slavery ofsin. As we proclaim the truth of God’s Word, we know that we will cause division. The world will hate us. We may even face suffering and persecution. But we also know all that Christ did for us, and so we are willing to endure the hatred of this world. Even if we suffer for our faith, we know that our reward in heaven is far greater than any suffering we will endure in this life. For I conclude that our sufferings at the present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.

We are also compelled by our love for others. Each of us knows someone who does not believe the message of the Gospel. And we know the harsh reality that those who do not believe in Jesus as their Savior cannot be saved. We want to tell them about Christ. We want them to know the peace that we have with our Savior. The peace that is ours because Christ has removed our sin, which divided us from God. And so, wecontinue to proclaim God’s Word in its truth and purity. We know that his powerful Word is like a hammer thatbreaks rock into pieces. We pray that by our preaching, the hard hearts of those who do not know the love of our Savior would be broken so that they may join with us in the eternal glory that was won for us by the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

We Walk by Faith and Not by Sight

August 10, 2025

Text: Hebrews 11:1-3, 8-16

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Our readings this morning talk about something that many of us, if not all of us, at one time or another, struggle with: worry. We worry about many things in our lives: will we be able to pay our bills, will we be able to find a job after getting laid off, will our loved one recover from their illness, will the test result I’m waiting on be good or bad news? We tend to worry and fret about things that we have absolutely no control over. And if you’re like me may be there are many nights that you wake up in the small hours of the morning, unable to sleep because you are filled with worry.

In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus says to his disciples, “For that reason I tell you, stop worrying about your life, about what you will eat, or about your body, what you will wear…And who of you by worrying can add a single moment to his lifespan?” It sounds easy, right…listen to Jesus and stop worrying! But what’s the problem? If you’re like me, then you’re probably worrying right now about how much you’re worrying. This is the tension that exists within us. On the one hand, our New Man wants to follow the command of our Savior and not worry, but our sinful nature likes to worry. Satan loves to fill us with worry because he knows that worry can erode our faith.

But, if you stop and think about it, isn’t worrying the opposite of faith? Because what is faith? The writer to the Hebrews tells us, “Faith is being sure about what we hope for, being convinced about things we do not see.” So often we worry about the things that we can’t see and have no control over. The danger is that worry can grow into doubt and fear that God is not going to keep his promises. We don’t see God keeping his promises in our lives, and so we doubt him. We want to live by sight, instead of by faith.

The writer to the Hebrews was addressing people who were filled with doubt and fear. Many of his early readers were Jews who had turned away from the faith they had been raised in, the faith of their ancestors, and embraced Christianity. But they were filled with fear. The Emperor Nero had outlawed Christianity and was persecuting Christians. There was a very real temptation to abandon Christ and return to the safety of Judaism to avoid the danger of persecution.

In Chapter 11, the writer to the Hebrews gives us powerful examples of believers from the Old Testament who went through times of trial and hardship in their lives. They had every reason to doubt the promises of God. And yet again and again they clung to those promises because they walked by faith and not by sight. They didn’t worry but trusted that God would be faithful to his promises. Imagine yourself as Abraham for a moment. Picture yourself standing under the sky filled with stars and hearing the promise that your offspring will be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. But there was a problem. Abraham and his wife were beyond the age they could have children. Yet Abraham did not worry; he trusted that God would be faithful and keep his promise.
By faith Abraham also received the ability to conceive children, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was past the normal age, because he considered him faithful who made the promise. And so from one man, and he as good as dead, descendants were born as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand along the seashore.

Abraham serves as an example of how we can live our lives. He knew that he would not see the complete fulfillment of God’s promise, and yet he trusted that God would remain faithful. Hebrews 11 is a wonderful chapter because it reminds us of the faithful believers who have gone before. This section is often called the “Heroes of Faith” because of the examples that are laid down for us in the pages of the Old Testament. But what is truly amazing is that these heroes didn’t have superpowers. They weren’t powerful beings from another planet. They were regular, flawed, sinful human beings who lived their lives by faith and not by sight. They knew that they were not saved by their own power, but by the power of God, who accomplished mighty things for them. Think of the example of David, a shepherd boy who killed a giant with a sling, or Joshua, who brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down with a trumpet blast. They trusted God and knew that God would be faithful to his promises.

All of Hebrews 11 is an encouragement for us to trust the promises of God and to know he is always
faithful. The heroes of the Old Testament saw God keep some of his promises, but they never saw with their own eyes the fulfillment of God’s promise to send a Savior. At the end of chapter 11, he writes, “And what more should I say? There would not be enough time for me to continue to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. By faith they conquered kingdoms, carried out justice, obtained things that were promised, shut the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edges of the sword, were made powerful after being weak, became mighty in battle, and caused foreign armies to flee. Women received back their dead by resurrection. And others who were tortured did not accept their release, so that they may take part in a better resurrection. Still others experienced mocking and lashes, in addition to chains and imprisonment. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were tempted; they were killed with the sword; they went around in sheepskins and goatskins, needy, afflicted, and mistreated. The world was not worthy of them as they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and holes in the ground. All of these were commended in Scripture by faith, yet they did not receive what was promised, because God had planned something better for us, namely, that they would not reach the goal apart from us.”

This, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, is why we can live without worry. We don’t need to doubt the promises of God because we have a record of everything he has done for his people. We can see on the pages of Scripture how much God did to save those who trust in him. And what is far better is unlike the believers of the Old Testament, we know the fulfillment of God’s promise that he made to Abraham, Issac, and Jacob. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell us the amazing truth. That when the time had fully come, God sent his one and only Son to suffer and die for us. In a mystery of mysteries, God clothed himself with human flesh and made his dwelling among us. He gave up the joy and glory of heaven to live a human life so he could place himself under the requirements of his own law and keep it perfectly in our place.

Jesus lived a perfect life, never worrying or doubting God’s promises but remaining perfectly faithful
and always trusting God so he could over his perfect life as a substitute for your sins. By his death, he paid the price you could never pay and freed you from your slavery to sin. By his resurrection, he gave to you the wonderful promise that death holds no fear for you. Christ has destroyed its power over you and given you the certainty of eternal life. Like the believers of the Old Testament, this is a promise that we have not yet seen. Like them, we live by faith and not by sight. Like them, we are longing for a better land—a heavenly one. For that reason, God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he prepared a city for them.

As sinners, there will be times when we are filled with worry and anxiety. There may be times when we are filled with doubt and fear. When we face times of hardship, suffering, and trial…when we face times of pain and loss, we can be tempted to wonder if God is being faithful. Will he keep his promises? At those times, we can look to the heroes of Old and see their example of faith. We can see clearly on the pages of Scripture all that God has done for his people. When we are plagued with worry and doubt, we can put our trust in God. As the Apostle Paul reminds us, “Do not worry about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

One of my favorite examples of this comes from another hero of the Old Testament, King Hezekiah.
King Hezekiah had received a letter from the King of Assyria telling him to surrender or Jerusalem would be destroyed. Hezekiah knew that he did not have enough soldiers to fight back, so he took the letter to the temple and laid it before the Lord. The Lord heard his prayer and sent his angel to destroy the army of Assyria. God hears the prayers of his people. God is faithful and keeps his promises. So free your minds from worry, knowing that your heavenly Father will watch over you and protect you. Lay your worries and concerns before the throne of God and let him take care of them in his way. Keep your eyes fixed on the city he has prepared for us and live by faith and not by sight.

07/06/2025 The Harvest is Plentiful Pastor Klusmeyer

Text: Luke 10:1-12, 16-20

SN: 0084 07/06/2025

Have you ever driven past a field of corn or grain that seems to go on for miles and miles? Look at the field on the screen and marvel at how many hours it must take to plow, plant, and then harvest a field like that. Now, imagine that you were given the task of harvesting that immense field by hand with just a few other workers. How would you feel about that task? What kind of attitude would you have toward your boss who gave you such an impossible task? You would probably feel overwhelmed, frustrated, and perhaps a little angry that you are not being given the necessary tools to do the job correctly.

But isn’t that a perfect picture of the task that God has given to his church? We have been called to be workers in his harvest field. But we have also been told that the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Thoughts of doing the work of God’s kingdom can often leave us feeling overwhelmed and frustrated. It seems like the task is too big for us to accomplish on our own. Not to mention all the hurdles we need to overcome as we go forth to work in God’s harvest field. This is why our Gospel lesson this morning is so beautiful. It reminds us to despair of our own efforts and success and instead to put our trust in the powerful work of our Savior, who destroyed the works of the devil and wrote our names in the Book of Eternal Life.

In our Gospel lesson for last week, we heard how Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem. He knew the time of his earthly ministry was drawing to a close, and so he appointed 72 disciples to go out and prepare the towns and villages in the surrounding area for his arrival. Jesus emphasized the urgency of this outreach effort with the list of commands he gave to his disciples. He told them not to burden themselves with extra items, but to take only what was absolutely necessary for their journey. They were to journey from town to town, healing the sick and preaching the message of the kingdom of God.

However, he also warned them that they would encounter opposition from some of the towns they visited. He warned them that he was sending them out like lambs among wolves. As Jesus entered this last phase of his earthly ministry, many people would reject his Word. The chief priests and elders of the people were actively plotting against him, and many of his followers had already deserted him. Jesus told his disciples that when they encountered resistance to his message, they were to leave that town and travel on. But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, “Even the dust from your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this: The kingdom of God has come near.”

The 72 followers of Jesus knew that they would face challenges and setbacks in their ministry, yet they went forth and carried out the command of our Savior. We know what it is like to face challenges in our ministry as well. Like those disciples, we have been sent as workers into the harvest field of the Lord. We also know how, at times, this can feel like a daunting and overwhelming task. There may be times when we feel like those workers who were asked to harvest an immense field of grain without the proper tools or help. When we face these challenges, we can be tempted to doubt the wisdom of our God. We may even grow resentful that God is not giving us the necessary support to carry out the work we have been commanded to do.

As workers in the harvest field of the Lord, we face many challenges. Perhaps we often feel as helpless as lambs who have been sent out among wolves. The forces of evil in this world are arrayed against us. Many people do not want to hear the message of our Savior. The view Christians as old-fashioned and unloving. When we face opposition, we can be filled with fear and doubt. As we look at all the evil in the world, we can be tempted to wonder if God is really in control. We can be tempted to wonder if many of the wicked people in this world even deserve to hear about God’s grace.

Or perhaps we grow frustrated at the lack of results from all our hard work and efforts. We want to carry out the will of the Lord, but we seem to always fall short. After all, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. You know the frustration of this very well. As we are entering into a new era in our congregation, some of you may be wondering how God will continue to bless our work at Water of Life. You remember the frustration as a few years ago you issued call after call for a second pastor, only to have those calls returned. Now we are in that same situation, and you once again may be wondering what God is thinking. You may be filled with doubt, fear, and uncertainty about the future of our congregation.

As we face these times of uncertainty, we can sometimes lose sight of the big picture. We can get so focused on the problems and challenges of our own little corner of God’s kingdom that we forget the glorious truth of our Savior. As the 72 disciples returned from their mission journeys, they were filled with joy. They had seen the power of God in action. Jesus praised them for their efforts but reminded them of the bigger picture. They were not to focus on the success of their mission, but instead were to focus on the success of Christ’s mission. He told them, “I was watching Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Look, I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy. And nothing will ever harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names have been written in heaven.”

This is the glorious truth of the Gospel! By his death on the cross, Jesus destroyed the work of the devil. This is why the Son of God appeared: to destroy the works of the Devil. Jesus Christ came to this world to live a perfect life in our place. Unlike us, who sometimes grow frustrated and question the plans and wisdom of our Heavenly Father, Christ was perfectly obedient to his will. Christ lived a life free from sin so he could offer that perfect life as a ransom to pay for the sins of the whole world. Wherever the glorious message of the death and resurrection of our Savior is preached, the plans and power of the devil are cast down. Satan can no longer accuse us of our sin because we have been declared not guilty by God himself. The holy blood of Jesus Christ has washed you free from all your sins and given you the certainty of eternal life. This is what Jesus meant when he said he saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. Whenever the Gospel is heard and believed, Satan loses his standing in heaven. He can no longer bring accusations against us who are God’s elect.

We will certainly face challenges as we go out to work in the harvest field of the Lord. The church on earth goes through seasons of change. At times, God’s Word will flourish in one place, and the church will experience rapid and amazing growth. At other times, the Word of God may fade out in a place. This is why it is so important not to focus on our own successes and failures. God will bless our work in his way and in his time. The numbers of a congregation may go up and down. There may be times in the church when, like now, it seems like the harvest fields are massive and there are nowhere near enough workers. At those times, we remember that the things of this world may pass away, but the Word of the Lord endures forever.

As we go through times of change in our congregation, we cling to that truth. The Gospel of our Savior endures. As workers in his harvest field, we have been called to share the message of Christ with others. We can do this in many different ways. The first is to do exactly what our Savior himself commanded us to do, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. So ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest field.” Pray that God would continue to send workers into his harvest fields. You can also support and encourage those who have been led by the Lord to serve publicly in his fields. Support the called workers in our congregation and pray for them. Pray for and encourage the young people in our congregation who are considering going into the public ministry, and encourage others to do the same. Consider supporting the work of our Synod as it trains and encourages others to work in the fields of the Lord. And even if you are older, consider that calling as well.

The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Just as Jesus gave his disciples an urgent mission to preach the kingdom of God in the towns and villages of Galilee and Judea, we too have an urgent mission to share the message of the Gospel with others. The Bible is clear. We are living in the Last Days of the Earth. At any time, our Savior could return again with all his glory and power on the Last Day. Only those who believe and trust in his name will be saved. Christ wants as many as possible to be gathered into his heavenly kingdom on the Last Day. So let us go forth and continue spreading the message of the Gospel so that near and far the power of the devil may be broken and the freedom of the Gospel proclaimed.

Swift as lightning falls the tyrant from his heav’nly perch on high, as the word of Jesus’ vict’ry floods the earth and fills the sky. Wounded by a wound eternal now his judgment has drawn nigh!