Sermon May 26, 2024
/How do you know that you are going to heaven? Isaiah had a moment of fear when he realized that he stood before Almighty God. He said; “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am 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!” He was uncertain of his place before God, and he was afraid. But when the coal touched his lips the seraph said “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” Sins forgiven, Isaiah knew that he could stand before God and serve him with joy.
Last Sunday at the centennial celebration service for the OK District, LCMS President Harrison related a story; He was visiting a parishioner on his death bed, a man who was a lifelong Lutheran. He confessed to Rev. Harrison that he was not sure he was going to heaven. Rev. Harrison said that he wanted to throttle him, because the man should have been absolutely sure of his place in heaven. Hadn’t he heard what his pastor had been saying all this time? Instead of anger though, Rev. Harrison gently reminded him of Gods promises in Christ Jesus, as any pastor would in that situation.
I have encountered this in my ministry as well. And the best approach is to gently teach and strongly assure someone of God’s promises in Christ Jesus, through the use of God’s own Word. Even though we may waver in our faith at times, God is faithful and keeps his promises made in Holy Baptism.
This type of death bed situation is a little bit like what Jesus encountered with Nicodemus. Only Jesus was not gentle with Nicodemus because Nicodemus was not on his death bed. Nicodemus was alive and well and a teacher of Israel. Nicodemus had the responsibility to study, understand, believe, and teach God’s word rightly. Jesus said; “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? 11 Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. 12 If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?
So we see here that Nicodemus was resistant to the truth that Jesus was speaking, even though he had come to Jesus in the first place. Like Luther said; I contribute two things to my salvation, sin and resistance. It is our sinful nature to resist God’s grace in Christ Jesus. It is our sinful nature to resist Gods love and His Word. It is in our sinful nature to desire to kill the Lord of Life, as Peter convicted his hearers of in the Acts reading.
Nicodemus had approached Jesus with a question on behalf of the other Pharisees; “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.” Let’s just call that a “feeler” question. Nicodemus was supposed to gather information to use to entrap Jesus, so they could arrest him and kill him. But Jesus was not having any of that. In fact, Jesus did not even answer the question directly. 3 Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” I wonder about the look on Nicodemus’ face. Consternation, confusion?
Certainly he was caught off guard by the abrupt change of topic. Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?” That seems like a logical question. How could that even work? But Jesus was leading him towards a correct understanding of how God gathers people in so that they will know for sure that heaven is theirs.
5 Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Now we know that Jesus is speaking of Baptism. But we also know that lots of people resist the correct teaching concerning baptism. In doing that, they give up the assurance God wants them to have, or they base their assurance on their own actions or commitments, which is no assurance at all.
All of our children have left and gone to other places, as I did many years ago. Even after I was married, for quite a while, when we would visit my parents in Ardmore, I said I was going home. Home was where my parents were. Now, home for our children is where my wife and I are, though that is changing as I speak. But no matter what, as time moves on, they will come to see us because they belong to us. Our family is home whenever and wherever we are together.
My great professor Peter Scaer at seminary has written, If they’re old enough to be in your family, they’re old enough to be in God’s family. I think that is a comment on the next verses of John 3. What is being said here is that infant baptism is the accepted and regular baptismal practice of the church from the mouth of Jesus himself. We all know that babies immediately and innately know and have the assurance of who they belong to. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ You did not cause yourself to be born of your mother, and you did not cause yourself to be born again in Baptism either.
Baptism imparts to you, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. You are taken into the Fathers family. This is where you belong, and where you are destined to be eternally. Where the Triune God is, your home is. The Holy Spirit comes to make his home within you. He does not want to leave. He wants to reside in your heart always, giving you the assurance and comfort that you can cling to on your deathbed.
The Gospel text for today contains the most famous verse in the Bible, John 3:16. That’s well and good. But 3:17 nails it down in the assurance department. Are you in the world? Jesus died for you in order that you would be saved. He baptized you in order that you would have the death bed confidence, assurance and comfort that you belong with Him forevermore. Amen
The peace that surpasses all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.