Sermons
"So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the Word of Christ." (Rom 10:17). While it's preferable to hear the sermon in person, those who could not attend, or would like to review the sermon again, can do so here.
Sunday June 15, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF THE MOST HOLY TRINITY Text: Isaiah 6:1-7; Romans 11:33-36; St. Matthew 28:18-20 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. If one were to visit most any American Christian congregation today one might be hard-pressed to determine what it is they truly believe about the HOLY TRINITY. Contemporary Christian worship found in many, if not most, congregations today (and sadly even those who have inherited the faith and traditions of the Lutheran Reformation) certainly does not reflect the prophet Isaiah’s vision of what goes on in the throne room of God both day and night. This sad truth calls into question what it is that contemporary Christianity truly believes and confesses about our TRIUNE GOD, for as it is said, “Lex orandi, Lex credendi” or “how one worships shapes and reflects what one believes and what one confesses.” The so-called “Worship Wars” have been going on for decades now with no real end in sight, and while there is really no prescription in Holy Scripture that the Church of CHRIST must worship thus and so or include this and that, I submit that contemporary worship reflects a lack of faith, or perhaps a serious ignorance, that when we gather together as the people of God to receive God’s gifts of faith, forgiveness, and eternal life, we are truly in His awesome presence. Any argument that the form our worship takes is not clearly prescribed in Holy Scripture is not a valid argument for devotional license, such that, we can do whatever it is we choose to do. God is still God, and though times change, He does not. The TRIUNE GOD is the same yesterday, today, and forever. I am not arguing that we, as the seraphim, should necessarily cover our faces and our feet in God’s presence, after all, we have the very Icon of God in the flesh of JESUS CHRIST, our brother as well as our LORD and SAVIOR, and upon whom we may gaze without fear. Even so, JESUS is still God and not just some guy off the street. That very fact alone demands reverence. Thus, our prayer in Psalm 95, “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” Knowing this, it has always perplexed me when Christians become greatly excited over earthly kings and queens, such as we witness at every coronation or royal marriage, and yet, they refuse to even bow their head, never mind their knees, in the presence of their God. “It is an adiaphoron!” they claim, “It is not necessary.” Yet, who can claim to know the mind and will of God, whose thoughts are not our thoughts and whose ways are not our ways? No one knows the mind and will of God except the SPIRIT of God. Therefore, what we know of the HOLY TRINITY must, needs be, that which has been revealed to us by God the HOLY SPIRIT through the Word of God alone, as interpreted by the Word of God alone. Thus, what man, in his arrogance, speaks in opposition to God’s revelation of Himself in the Words of Holy Scripture, is nothing less than unadulterated fantasy and even outright blasphemy or heresy. There can be only one truth no matter what philosophers may imagine or so-called scientists or theological experts may propose. All else must then be a lie and pure heresy. The question is, “Which is it you believe—the Truth or the lie—orthodoxy or heresy?” If we try to define God by placing Him in a box according to human wisdom and understanding, it will not be long before we stray into heresy. This is so because our knowledge of the TRIUNE GOD is not a matter of human logic or reasoning at all; it is, rather, a matter of faith, and that faith must be based only on what God has revealed to us by His SPIRIT through His Word lest we fall prey to the superstitions of pagans, creating and worshiping gods of our own imaginations and assigning to them a plethora of traits, qualities, and motivations that are far more human fantasy than divine reality—and that, if we acknowledge the existence of God at all. Thus, when it comes to our knowledge of God, all human speculation, conjecture, and mysticism must be excluded. Admittedly, what we know of God in this life is only a mere fragment of what we will know of Him in the life to come when all things are to be revealed. As Saint Paul writes: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.” Yet, what we now know of God and His will is more than enough for our salvation. So, what is it then, that we do know about the TRIUNE GOD, and what then, shall we confess? In Moses fifth book, Deuteronomy, Holy Scripture tells us, “The LORD our God, the LORD is one!” Any other god, then, is by definition no god at all and nothing more than an empty and worthless idol. To worship an idol is analogous to worshiping a demon—even the devil. Therefore, there is no other God to worship except the ONE TRUE GOD—FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT—and to worship anything or anyone else is to worship Satan himself. This confession is the most fundamental doctrine of the “catholic (or universal) faith.” It is the confession and faith of the One Holy Christian, and Apostolic Church, which preserves, preaches, and teaches the true doctrines of the Christian faith. It is a faith that confesses and worships “one God in TRINITY and TRINITY in UNITY.” It is a faith that confesses the TRINITY as uncreated, infinite, coeternal, almighty, coequal; that “none is before or after another; none is greater or less than another.” The True Church confesses the “catholic faith” boldly proclaiming before tyrants and presidents, before kings and heretics, and the entire unbelieving world: “whoever does not believe [this] faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” Within this TRINITY is the FATHER, “neither made nor created nor begotten by anyone.” This is He who has “made [you] and all creatures,” who has given you “[your] reason and all [your] senses.” Indeed, this is He who has given you all things—“all that [you] need to support this body and life. He defends [you] against all danger and guards and protects [you] from all evil. All this He does only out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in [you]. For all this it is [your] duty to thank and praise, serve and obey Him.” This too, is the “catholic faith.” So also, do we find in the TRINITY the HOLY SPIRIT—one with the FATHER and the SON from whom He proceeds; coming to speak not His own Words, but the Words of the FATHER and the SON who send Him in JESUS’ Name. Thus, He is the SPIRIT of Truth; He testifies of JESUS that you may have faith and bear witness of Him. By this enlightenment He sanctifies you and keeps you in the One True Faith. By this Word and the blessed and Holy Sacraments He sanctifies you and “daily and richly forgives all [your] sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise [you] and all the dead, and give eternal life to [you] and all believers in CHRIST.” This too, is the “catholic faith.” However, this TRIUNE God is not SPIRIT alone, for begotten of the substance of the FATHER is the SON, whose Name is JESUS—JESUS who is God incarnate. Fully God and fully man He is the Emmanuel, that is, “God with us” in human flesh. Begotten of the substance of the FATHER before all ages, He is true God; and born in this age of the substance of His Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary, He is true man. “Perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh; equal to the FATHER with respect to His divinity, less than the FATHER with respect to His Humanity… [True God and True man,] one altogether, not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person.” This is JESUS who has “redeemed [you,] a lost and condemned sinner… [who has] purchased and won [you] from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with His holy and precious Blood and with His innocent suffering and death.” All this, “that [you] may be His own and live under Him in His Kingdom in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.” This JESUS is the SON of the living God, who, in obedience to His FATHER’s will, assumed human flesh that we would be saved. This too, “is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” This is the revealed knowledge of God as God has willed to reveal Himself to the world. This means that our knowledge of God may only be found in the means by which our God chooses to reveal Himself. Therefore, our knowledge of God may only be found in the Words of Holy Scripture; Words which are God-breathed and inerrant; Words which are the faith and confession of God’s holy people and the language of His Church. “What of the Sacraments?” you may ask. Yet, what are the Sacraments if they are not earthly elements infused with God’s will and Word of command as revealed in the Words of Holy Scripture? JESUS said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the Name of the FATHER, and of the SON, and of the HOLY SPIRIT.” For what purpose? That “He who believes and is baptized will be saved…” and may enter the Kingdom of God. JESUS also said, “Take, eat; this is My Body… Drink from it, all of you. For this is My Blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Therefore, it is the Word of God that makes of the earthly elements a Sacrament. These are the things we know of God and it is for this reason that today we come together as one Body in CHRIST basking in the divine light of the majesty and mystery of our TRIUNE GOD. This God, and no one else, and nothing else, is our only reality. In Him, our mortality is absorbed into His immortality. Without God, our time and lives are nothing more than dust in the wind, mere passing shadows and fleeting moments which can never be recovered. Without God, our life, indeed all life, has absolutely no meaning. Even the greatest of us, those remembered by history and celebrated by men, even the combined glory of all human history is no more than the flowers and grass of the field, which are here today, and tomorrow thrown into the fire. So, we see that for the Christian, even as for all creation, God is everything! He is the FATHER who provides all that we need for this body and life. He is the SON, through whom all things are made and by whom we are redeemed. He is the HOLY SPIRIT, who proceeds forth from the FATHER and the SON and is the holy breath of God who preserves all things in Heaven and Earth and keeps His Church in the one true faith. He is the Wind that blows “…where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes.” The HOLY SPIRIT is the very breath of God spoken into the darkness of every unbelieving soul in order that that soul may hear and believe and live. This is the same God who, in CHRIST JESUS, ascended into Heaven and in human flesh sits at the right hand of the FATHER. All this, He did while we were yet His enemies. This is the God who sent His SPIRIT among us that we may have faith. At the death cry of this God who died on the Cross of Calvary, the HOLY SPIRIT rushed forth in Blood and water from His side so that in Baptism the Name of the TRIUNE GOD, the God whose awesome Name shakes the very foundations of Heaven and Earth and destroys the pillars of hell, could be printed on your forehead. Thus, you are marked by the sign of the Holy Cross in your Baptism and the Name of the FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT is imprinted and engraved upon your forehead and upon your heart to mark you as a child of the TRIUNE GOD and one redeemed by CHRIST the Crucified. This TRINITY is the same God who places a burning coal from the sacrifice of His Flesh and Blood upon your lips and your sins are forgiven. In this way, you have been made holy like the angels, for you have partaken of that which was sacrificed in your place. It is put into your mouth making you clean. Therefore, all our knowledge of God may be compressed into the moment of CHRIST’s Cross and crucifixion, and that moment of JESUS’ Cross and crucifixion compressed into the Holy Sacraments of JESUS’ Body and Blood and Holy Baptism. Thus, it is in the LORD’s Supper and Holy Baptism that you meet the TRIUNE GOD. In this way, the TRIUNE GOD whom you confess, is revealed not in Heaven, but in the humiliation of the crucified CHRIST by way of His Holy Word and Sacraments. CHRIST JESUS is the only Icon of God and His Cross is our only door to heaven. He who sees JESUS sees the FATHER and has already received the HOLY SPIRIT. Therefore, on this day, as one body, we put everything aside and contemplate the God who gives us all good things, who created and redeemed us with His Flesh and Blood and through the HOLY SPIRIT has made us His own. We are here as God’s people in God’s Holy Church. We are gathered with all the saints and angels, Prophets, Apostles, and martyrs—all who have gone before us in the faith and all who will follow us long after we are gone. Here we gather around the altar of God singing the threefold “Holy, Holy, Holy.” With the whole company of the heavenly hosts, we sing the Gloria in Excelsis lauding and magnifying God’s glorious Name. We hear the angels sing, and we, who stand at the very edge of Heaven, respond, “Blessed be the HOLY TRINITY and the undivided unity; let us give glory to Him for He has shown mercy unto us.” Today and every LORD’s Day we are here to worship our TRIUNE GOD and receive from Him life and salvation. This “is the catholic faith.” Whoever believes this faithfully and firmly will surely hear Him say, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/15/25 AD
Sunday June 8, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF PENTECOST (WHITSUNDAY) Text: St. John 14:23-31 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. I believe in the HOLY SPIRIT, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in JESUS CHRIST, my LORD or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with JESUS CHRIST in the one true faith. In this Christian Church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in CHRIST. This is most certainly true. If you have been a Lutheran all your life you learned, memorized, and confessed these words in your youth before you were confirmed as a full member of the Church of the Reformation. If you are an adult convert, you may not have memorized these words but you did confess them as you were welcomed into membership in this communion. Your believing and confessing were not done by your “own reason or strength,” your believing and confessing is due to the HOLY SPIRIT calling you “by the Gospel,” and enlightening you “with His gifts” even as He has “sanctified and kept [you] in the true faith.” And as Martin Luther writes and I reiterate: “This is most certainly true.” Today, we celebrate the coming of the HOLY SPIRIT, without whom we would still be lost in our sins. Without the prompting and teaching of the HOLY SPIRIT we would know nothing of our salvation in JESUS CHRIST, and we would still be worshipping idols of wood or stone who can neither hear our prayers nor save us from Hell and eternal death, for the SPIRIT of God is not in them. The HOLY SPIRIT is the Comforter promised by God the FATHER through our LORD, CHRIST JESUS, to His apostles on the night in which He was betrayed, and again at His ascension. JESUS told His apostles that they were to stay in Jerusalem and await the HOLY SPIRIT whom the FATHER would send in JESUS’ name to teach them all things and bring to their remembrance all things that JESUS told them. Yet, not only the apostles, but the whole Christian Church on earth. For these are the words our LORD left with them at His ascension: “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you....” The apostles were ordained to be “witnesses to [JESUS] in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The apostles, and by extension CHRIST’s Church, were and are to teach nothing but JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified for the life of the world. Thus, the HOLY SPIRIT did not come for His own glory but that of JESUS CHRIST. He did not come to reveal Himself but to reveal the glory of CHRIST which includes our salvation! This, the Church is to do without compromise! The Word of God and the story of our salvation cannot be separated from our faith in JESUS CHRIST. Faith in JESUS through the divine inspiration of the HOLY SPIRIT cannot be ripped apart such that the Word and promises of God become alien to our understanding of Holy Scripture and whom our SAVIOR is and just what He has done to save us. Indeed, without Holy Scripture as the foundation of our faith, Christianity becomes nothing else than one more self-help program doomed to abysmal failure and destined for the trash heap of all human endeavors devoid of faith in CHRIST. Without the HOLY SPIRIT to teach and guide the people of God, Holy Scripture would be just one more fairy tale or pagan myth, for human reason could not comprehend it. The HOLY SPIRIT speaks only the words spoken by the FATHER through His SON, JESUS. These words are the source and foundation of Christian faith even as they are the sole rule and norm of Christian faith and life, and thus, the life of the Church. Even the Holy Sacraments of the Church, instituted by God Himself, would be nothing more than dramatic re-enactments empty of any power to save or forgive sin. As Saint Augustine wrote and with whom Martin Luther agreed, without the Word and command of God added to the water of Baptism, it is no Baptism. In like manner, without the Word and command of God added to the bread and wine of the Eucharist, they remain bread and wine and there is no body or blood of CHRIST, leaving the celebration of the Eucharist as nothing more than an empty ceremony devoid of salvation. It is the Word of God that gives the Sacraments of God their power. Indeed, without the Word and command of God even the words of absolution would be impotent and useless, leaving us dead in our sins and condemned to eternal Hell. Therefore, the HOLY SPIRIT does not speak words foreign to Holy Scripture. He speaks, and therefore, creates faith through the Word of God alone. That means that when it comes to our salvation, “Whatever is not of the Word of God is of Satan” (Martin Luther). The HOLY SPIRIT proceeds from the Father and the SON to conform the tongues of God’s faithful to the language of the Gospel; to undo the confusion and evil caused by our sin that we may confess with one heart, with one mind, and with one voice, that JESUS is the CHRIST, the SON of the Living God. Therefore, we Christians are united in one Holy Communion—the Communion of God and mankind—made eternal in the Blood of CHRIST JESUS. We kneel in humility as one family in CHRIST, eating of the One Loaf and drinking of the One Cup as members of the one holy Christian and Apostolic Church, such that we are one Body in JESUS CHRIST. In this faith and confession, we are neither black nor white, neither brown, red, nor yellow. Nor in this faith and confession are we Americans, Mexicans, Britons, Germans, Chinese, Arabian, Persian, Palestinian, nor any other nationality; we are one family united by Blood; the Blood of CHRIST. Thus, the true Church of CHRIST knows of no divisions. In the Church, as instituted by CHRIST and nurtured by the HOLY SPIRIT, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, there is neither Lutheran nor Baptist, nor Roman Catholic, nor any other division. In the true Church there are only children of God, the FATHER, brothers and sisters of God, the SON, JESUS CHRIST, all saved by His holy Body and Blood sacrificed on Calvary as a propitiation of God’s wrath for all sin. In this we rejoice, for the Blood of CHRIST binds all who confess the Christian faith, as a bride bound to her husband. We are thus bound to JESUS with the wedding promise to suffer all, even death, rather than fall away. Therefore, we confess and witness today what we witness every LORD’s Day—the conversion of our sinful hearts through the preaching of the HOLY SPIRIT—literally a calling by the HOLY SPIRIT through the blessed Gospel unto faith in JESUS CHRIST—the confession that JESUS alone is LORD and SAVIOR; that He alone is the CHRIST, the true and only begotten SON of God. This means that it is the HOLY SPIRIT and nothing within you that gives voice to your confession of JESUS CHRIST. It is the HOLY SPIRIT who sets us apart from the world. For this confession is a language which your hearts do not know of themselves. This confession comes in words that your tongues cannot, by themselves, express. We cannot of our own reason or strength believe in JESUS CHRIST or come to Him, or confess Him as our LORD and SAVIOR. That must come by the teaching of the HOLY SPIRIT who comes with Words not His own, but with the Words given Him by the FATHER from whom He proceeds, and of the SON who sent Him. These are Words which animate the soul and wake it from its sleep of sin and death giving it life. These are the Words of eternal life—Words which animate your tongue and teach it the language of faith that you may make a true confession. It is from this that we know that the Church is born of the Word of God, and because it is born of the Word of God it cannot be created and improved upon by the plans of men. No passion, no heart-felt emotion of man could have given birth to the Body of CHRIST. Nor can any passion or heart-felt emotion of man cause it to flourish and grow. No, the Church of CHRIST is not dependent on man for its survival! The Church of CHRIST is dependent upon the HOLY SPIRIT who creates faith when and where it pleases God, not by human merit, but for the sake of Jesus Christ (Augsburg Confession art. V, The Ministry). The Church of CHRIST is born of the Word of God and is sustained by the life-giving, faith-creating utterance of His HOLY SPIRIT. It is by this Word alone that we live, and breathe, and have our being. It is this Word, breathed by the FATHER, enfleshed in the SON, and brought to our remembrance by the HOLY SPIRIT, that we are to believe, teach, and confess and no other. The Apostle, St. Paul, declared that His message would be JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified, nothing more, but nothing less. It is this Word, and nothing more, but nothing less, that converts the hearts of men from dead works to serve the living God. Thus, the one true Church has loved CHRIST JESUS, clinging to Him even as a loving wife clings to her loving husband; and keeping His Words in Her heart, she has pondered them and confessed them. For that is what JESUS CHRIST meant when He said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.” Therefore, JESUS and the FATHER have loved the Church and cared for Her, and made their home with Her. Through the Church, God, the FATHER, has revealed to the world, God, His SON, by the speaking, preaching, and teaching of God, the HOLY SPIRIT. God has shown His love for His creation through His Holy Bride, the Church, who speaks not Her own words, but the Words of her Husband, JESUS CHRIST whom She loves and serves. As member of God’s Church we know that this speaking was not reserved simply for the time of the Apostles. It is no dead letter. It is the Living Word of the Living God transcending all time and all space. The SPIRIT of God opens the mouths of the faithful to declare His SON to the four corners of the earth. Therefore, I, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, take not of what is mine and declare it to you, “for I received from the LORD [JESUS] that which I also deliver to you.” I only give to you that which I have received: “that CHRIST JESUS came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” Through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God you receive faith, and with this faith you receive what JESUS has to give to you—forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. For JESUS has said, “Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!” and “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word; and My FATHER will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” Remember, we “keep” JESUS’ Word, not in the sense of obeying a command; JESUS CHRIST is no new Moses giving new Law. You keep the Word of JESUS in the sense of keeping His Words in your heart, pondering them, praying them, and confessing them, and God, FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT, takes up residence in your heart. With that same Word, the HOLY SPIRIT teaches you the language of faith in CHRIST so that you can speak back to God in prayer and with songs of faith, thanksgiving, and praise, that very same Word, and when you cannot find the Words, the HOLY SPIRIT Himself, prays for you, interceding “with groanings that cannot be uttered.” JESUS’ Word is not only delivered to your ears, it has been poured over you in the bloody waters of Holy Baptism where you received the white garment of CHRIST’s righteousness which covers your sinfulness with the purity of our LORD. The SPIRIT also delivers JESUS’ life and salvation into you through the gift of JESUS’ very Body and Blood delivered into your mouth in and under the simple elements of bread and wine in God’s Holy Supper. With this incredible mystery of JESUS’ true Body and Blood given and shed for you and joined to humble elements of bread and wine, the HOLY SPIRIT cleanses and purifies your body and mouth for service to CHRIST, forgiving your sins while strengthening, nourishing, and sustaining your faith that you may resist Satan, the world, and your own sinful flesh; that you may bear up under the weight of suffering in this life all for the sake of CHRIST. Therefore, the celebration of the Feast of Pentecost is as relevant today as it was all those years ago. The HOLY SPIRIT was sent on the day of Pentecost: to put the Word of God on your lips and in your heart, the Word that says, “JESUS died for you and for His sake you are forgiven all your sins and have eternal life in His name.” This is the same Word that brings us to our knees crying out, “LORD have mercy, CHRIST have mercy, LORD have mercy,” and it is the same Word that gives us ears to hear our LORD’s loving response as He absolves us with these words, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/8/25 AD
Sunday June 1, 2025
JESU JUVA EXAUDI / THE SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD Text: St. John 15:26-16:4 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. What does it mean to be a child of God and brother or sister of our LORD, JESUS CHRIST? What does it mean to be Christian? There has long been a misperception among unbelievers that we Christians are hypocrites who do not practice what we preach. But they are under the mistaken belief that Christians believe they are somehow better than other sinners. But I submit that there is a dangerous and ever-growing misperception among Christians about what it means to be a member of the Body of CHRIST. That misperception is this: once one has been brought to faith, suffering and pain of any kind should cease—that every malady and irritant in life will pass away and whatever one puts his hand and mind to will be successful—that we have come from glory and we are bound for glory. This misperception believes that even though we have lost our way, this is only a temporary inconvenience. If we can only find the right Scripture passage and apply the appropriate level of religious effort, we can make all things right again. Just as one can find a myriad of books that teach one how to attempt to manipulate God with one’s prayer, so too, one can walk into nearly any Christian bookstore and find even more self-help titles that mislead one into believing that success in life is nothing more than a matter of faith, but not necessarily faith in CHRIST. Therefore, if one only believes something hard enough, if one only prays for something sincerely enough, if one is only “faithful” enough, he or she is bound to succeed in this life having received God’s blessing for his or her effort. After all, God owes it to you, right? But is this faith in God and His goodness or is it, in fact, nothing more than faith in oneself? So, what is your problem? Is it family? Weight? Money? Employment? Career? Complexion? Health? Whatever your problem, whatever your desire, you can probably find a Christian self-help title to fit your needs. From making your family your focus, to diet books that guarantee you will lose weight and maintain your health if you only eat like Jesus, to “The Management Techniques of JESUS CHRIST,” to CHRIST as a master salesman, or even titles to help you improve society by following the techniques of JESUS, the Divine Social Worker; look and you will find a book that will teach you how to use God for your own health, wealth, and happiness, however you might measure them. And if you cannot seem to make the techniques of these self-help books work? Well then, you must not have prayed hard enough, you must not have believed hard enough, you must not be “faithful” enough. 2 Now please, do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that God does not have anything to say to us about how we should live our lives. Of course, He does! Holy Scripture can and should shape our values and lives. It should shape the way we look at our world and the culture and society around us. But that is the key. God’s Holy Word shapes us and conforms us to His plan of salvation in His Son, JESUS CHRIST. No amount of spiritual gymnastics can ever conform God to our individual ideas as to what life is or what life should be about. So, how have Christians come to this? The problem lies in the way we look at God and the Bible. When we twist the Words of Holy Scripture to fit our idea of what is meet, right, and salutary, we will always come up short. None of our ideas ever seem to work out quite right, nor do the various self-help panaceas ever really do what they claim and promise to do. If this were not so then there would be no need for some new spiritual process for happiness and success to be discovered and pandered to the Church every couple of years or so. But they are nothing more than snake oil pandered by wolves in sheep’s clothing to their unsuspecting victims who place their trust in men rather than God—victims who are left just as empty as they were before they decided to take God’s message of salvation and twist it into a formula for personal success—and perhaps even more so. Martin Luther called this kind of self-aggrandizing, success-centered, power spirituality “the theology of glory.” Of course, the attraction of such a theology is understandable. Naturally, we want success, victories, and happiness. We will do almost anything to avoid failure, defeat, and sorrow. Any religious scheme that seems to offer relief from any kind of pain or suffering is far more attractive to our sensibilities than one which points only to the Cross and the suffering CHRIST. If a religion’s doctrines can offer prosperity, happiness, and spiritual power, we jump at the chance to buy a ticket on that glory train. Why else do you think cults are so successful at deceiving so many people—even those who call themselves Christian? Yes, that is what we want, but that is not Christianity. We want comfort and success, but instead, we are disappointed because God calls us to take up a cross. You see, true spirituality and true salvation, which are offered through faith in CHRIST JESUS alone, run counter to the spirituality so popular in the world of today. True spirituality and true salvation in CHRIST are diametrically opposed to the shallow, misguided, and self-centered spirituality of this world. They are opposed to the “theology of glory” because the Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is not about your success or your prosperity. It is not about social programs. The Gospel of CHRIST is not about you or anyone else living the good life or their best life now. The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is about God in the flesh and God on the Cross for the life of the world. It is about your salvation. The Gospel of JESUS CHRIST is about our God who emptied Himself of all glory. The HOLY SPIRIT tells us through the pen of St. Paul: “Have this mind among yourselves, which is 3 yours in CHRIST JESUS, who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” The Holy Scriptures do not tell us of a SAVIOR who manifested Himself among us in glory. It tells us of a Messiah who was born in what appears to be a rather scandalous way; conceived by all appearances of a poor, unwed, young, Jewish virgin, not in a king’s palace wrapped in fine silks and linen, but wrapped in rags in a stable meant for animals. His life did not get any better either. JESUS, Himself, tells us, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the SON of Man has nowhere to lay His head,” and as the Prophet Isaiah prophesied, “He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, There is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” It does not sound to me like JESUS would make today’s list of the world’s sexiest men. You will not find Him on the cover of GQ magazine. To top everything off, He was betrayed by His friends, tried by a bloodthirsty mob, beat nearly senseless, and nailed to a cross. Isaiah goes on to tell us, “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.” You see, JESUS’ way is the way of the Cross. The way of the Cross is the way of glory—the only way—for the story does not end on that lonely way. No, the way of the Cross leads to JESUS’ resurrection from the dead and His ascension back to glory. He shall come again with glory, to judge both the quick and the dead. And His Kingdom shall have no end. Therein lies our glory. When CHRIST returns to claim us we will live happily ever after, but until that time, we live here in this place under the Cross. JESUS said, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” He also said, “And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.” This does not mean that we are somehow to suffer all that our LORD did. Nor does it mean that we are to look at suffering as some sort meritorious act or payment for our sins. JESUS already accomplished that for us. What it does mean is that the spiritual life, your spiritual life, has to do with suffering, defeat, and weakness—not simply the experience of “glory” as we might like and desire. The way of the Cross means being broken by the Law and recognizing that without CHRIST everything else is meaningless because without JESUS all is hopeless. It means 4 recognizing that salvation lies not in optimistically assuming success and glorifying the power of success in this life, but in clinging to the Cross, trusting in JESUS to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. This is the spirituality that saves because it is saving faith in JESUS. Today, the popular assumption is that real Christians do not suffer, that if one has enough faith, God will grant healing, prosperity, and success. This idea is so fashionable that entire churches and their theology and practice are built around promises of good health and financial success, not only through following biblical principles, but from the “theology of glory” and “name-it, claim-it” acts of faith. True acts of faith, however, believe in the Words CHRIST JESUS has given us, “This is my Body, given for you. This is my Blood, shed for you.” True acts of faith cling to the feet of JESUS where we wash His feet with our tears and dry them with our hair. True acts of faith say to JESUS, “LORD forgive me for I have sinned.” True acts of faith desire nothing more than to hear JESUS’ reply, “I forgive you all your sins.” Therefore, it is God’s love that saves you. It is God’s grace that calls you. It is the FATHER’s mercy through the death of His SON and preached by His SPIRIT that claims and sanctifies you. It is His Word of peace that absolves and forgives you, making of you a true child of God and brother or sister of our LORD, JESUS CHRIST. IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 6/1/25 AD
Thursday May 29, 2025
JESU JUVA THE FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF OUR LORD Text: St. Mark: 16:14-20 IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. His work of salvation complete, our LORD, JESUS CHRIST, has ascended to the “right hand” of His FATHER, and ours. Yet, in ascending to God’s “right hand,” it is not as though He returned to a spatial location such as a throne fixed at God’s “right hand.” He is not seated as though glued to His throne. Nor did He ascend to a member or part of God’s body such as a foot, leg, arm, or hand. Our LORD’s Ascension to the “right hand” of His FATHER is a divine metaphor, symbolizing God’s glory, power, majesty, authority, dominion, and divine rule, of which, none are created or lowly, but are lofty and divine (Martin Chemnitz); these, and all things, God the FATHER has placed beneath CHRIST’s feet even as JESUS said, “All authority has been given to Me in Heaven and on Earth.” Therefore, having fulfilled His Father’s will, the time of the humiliation of our LORD and SAVIOR is complete, and He, reclaiming His glory, has ascended to the “right hand” of power. “CHRIST sits at God’s right hand, His saving work complete, to reign till ev’ry foe will lie Beneath His feet— All that the FATHER planned, The SON sought to fulfill, When first He said, “LORD, here am I To do Your will.” (LSB 564, stz. 1) Thus, we are not to think of the Ascension of our LORD as though His bodily presence is restricted to a single solitary location. To ascend to the “right hand” of God describes CHRIST’s exaltation. His Ascension is the exaltation of not only JESUS who triumphed over sin, Satan, and death, it is the exaltation of man and God’s creation. In His ascending, JESUS is not some disembodied spirit. He is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. He is true God, begotten of the FATHER before all worlds, the Second Person of the Holy Trinitarian Godhead, even as He is true Man, conceived by the breath of the HOLY SPIRIT, the very Word of God, spoken into the ear of a young virgin Jewish maiden. He is very God of very God, begotten and uncreated, being of the same substance as God the FATHER. JESUS is true God begotten before time and true Man born in time—eternally inseparable and indivisible. In CHRIST JESUS, man is exalted in Heaven. JESUS has ascended and returned to His FATHER but He has not left us to be idle. His work here is done. It is complete. In our place, God provided for Himself a Ram; a Divine Substitute to be sacrificed for our salvation. He has offered Himself up upon the altar of the Cross. Then, rising in triumph over Satan, death and the grave, He has returned to the “right hand” of power that the HOLY SPIRIT, the Comforter, may proceed forth from the FATHER and the SON, teaching us all things that JESUS has commanded. 2 In His place, our LORD has sent the HOLY SPIRIT that the Church would continue JESUS’ work here on earth—that as His people, we would continue to preach, teach, and administer the Sacraments, “confirming the Word” of CHRIST, in His Name. These are the labors of the Church, a holy calling for a royal priesthood whom God has called to be His holy people. Therefore, though now ascended to the “right hand” of power, your LORD remains with you “even to the end of the age.” The SPIRIT of God brings with Him CHRIST, the Word of God and the Peace of God, dispensing the gifts of forgiveness of sin, salvation, and eternal life in Word, Water, Bread and Wine, Body and Blood. With these blessed “accompanying signs,” we, God’s people, are united to Him and exalted with Him in the heavenly realms. With these blessed means, CHRIST, working with us and through us, offers to the world what it cannot have on its own, nor can it even comprehend such treasure, for it is a treasure it cannot attain on its own nor even desire. So, the people of God, the Church, the Bride of CHRIST, go forth, sent by the Spirit of God, in conformance with the command of God, to preach the Good News of salvation in JESUS to all people. We go forth to preach JESUS CHRIST and Him crucified for the life of the world. We preach His ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the FATHER. Yes, we preach Him ascended but not gone—He is omnipresent and with us to the very end of the age. He is with us giving of Himself, taking of what is His, and giving it to the world. We preach that He has not left us as orphans but remains with us as He has promised that we may proclaim all that He has done, even as we look forward to the end of the age when He will return to raise His people from the darkness of the grave, resurrected body and soul, to be with Him forever. The Feast of the Ascension of Our LORD is not about JESUS leaving us alone, it is not even about His going away; it is about Him preceding us that He may prepare a place for us and return and take us with Him, that where He is, so may we be also. He has gone to prepare a place for us, even though all the while, He is still here with us, still here for us, still here in us. JESUS, who has broken down the gates of hell to free us, has gone on before us to open the gates of Heaven to receive us. In JESUS, God and Man, has ascended and is seated on the Throne of Heaven. In Him, man and all creation are exalted with Him. Our Brother, our Savior, our LORD, and our God, has established His Kingdom. Death is dead. The enemy is defeated. JESUS lives, and because He lives, so do you. He has gone on before you but He will return to claim you. “Then let us now draw near, Washed in that precious flood And enter the Most Holy Place By JESUS’ blood. From hearts that are sincere, Let tongues our hope profess, and trust anew God’s faithful grace That we confess.” (LSB 564, stz. 5) He has opened Heaven to all who will believe with the words: “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. 3 SOLI DEO GLORIA Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 5/29/25 AD
Sunday May 25, 2025
JESU JUVA ROGATE / THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER Text: St. John 16:23-33 ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. What could be more fundamental in the daily faith-life of a Christian than prayer? Prayer is the Christian’s opportunity to spend one-on-one time with our God. In prayer, we communicate our hopes, our needs, our sorrows, fear, frustration, anger, and joy to our triune God. In prayer, we repent of our sins and God answers with His merciful word of absolution. Saint Paul tells us in his letter to the Christians in Thessalonica, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in CHRIST JESUS for you.” And as we have heard even this very morning from what we call Paul’s first letter to the young pastor St. Timothy, wherein it is written, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men... For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our SAVIOR....” There is, therefore, no denying the centrality of prayer in the life of a Christian. Prayer is a wonderful gift from God, our FATHER. In prayer, we communicate back to our FATHER in Heaven, that which He has revealed to us through His holy Word and blessed Sacraments which are the means of God’s grace. Prayer is an unequaled opportunity for the people of God to offer up to Him thanksgiving and praise for all that He has accomplished for us through the all- availing sacrifice of His SON, JESUS. Prayer, then, is as much a part of our Christian life as the air we breathe; indeed it is evidence of the faith that exists at the very core of our being. If this were not so, then why bother to pray to God at all? In prayer, we speak to our FATHER in Heaven as His own dear children, for again, as St. Paul has written, “You received the SPIRIT of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘Abba, FATHER.’” Praying to God, then, is not a meaningless exercise. Nor is prayer reserved only for those who hold the office of the Holy Ministry. Prayer is the first language of a Christian heart, and whether it is a prayer of joyful alleluias or sorrowful kyries, it speaks in faithful hope to the one true God who promises, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.” Our prayers to God and His answer to those prayers give us access to the very heart of God whose most heartfelt desire is for our salvation. What is prayer then, if it is not being in dialogue with God? The answer is quite simple really; prayer, no matter how pious, no matter how sincere, no matter how profound, no matter its length or quality, if not addressed to the One True God, is prayer to demons. For we have only one God, in three Persons, FATHER, SON, and HOLY SPIRIT, and we have only One Mediator and Advocate before God, our LORD, JESUS CHRIST, who is Himself God and God’s SON. 2 For this reason, we do not pray in the name of popes, saints, or earthly kings, but in the Name of JESUS, for it is upon this Name, the Name, JESUS, that our prayers must rest, and it is in this Name, and for the sake of this Name alone, that God hears us. Therefore, prayer is not made perfect in our speaking. Prayer is not made perfect in flowery words nor their quantity, nor quality; prayer is made perfect in faith, by the Name of JESUS. So it is, then, that we are to ask for all things in JESUS’ Name, and all we ask in His Name and according to God’s will, His Father and ours will provide. Yet, I would caution you. Our God is not to be treated as though He is the great sycophant in the sky who tremulously stands by ready to fulfill your every whim and desire. Requests made of the FATHER in the Name of the SON are not to be frivolous or worldly, as such things can only serve to hinder our salvation, and therefore, cannot be rightfully requested in our LORD’s Name. Instead, when we pray, our FATHER in Heaven desires that we should seek all good things from Him, things that will help us and not harm us. He is truly pleased when we approach Him in confident prayer seeking from Him peace and comfort knowing that He loves us and grants our requests based, not on any good thing in us, not on our own worthiness or merit, but simply because He loves us for the sake of His SON, our LORD, and SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, even as an earthly father loves his children for no other reason than they are his children. Through faith in Christ, we are given access to our FATHER in heaven. By faith, we pray the FATHER to give us all the things needed for this body and life and our FATHER hears our prayers even as JESUS has promised. He hears them and answers them because we have loved His SON, JESUS, and believe in Him. We, therefore, come before the FATHER praying with confidence born of the HOLY SPIRIT with the conviction that God, the FATHER, hears and will answer our prayers for the sake of God the SON. We pray in JESUS’ Name because we, of ourselves, are truly unworthy to approach our FATHER in Heaven in prayer. Our worthiness, our righteousness, means nothing before God. For this reason, we pray in the Name of JESUS; the Name above every name; the Name every tongue will confess and at whose speaking every knee shall bow; of those on the earth and those under the earth. We do not pray in any other name but the Name JESUS, the SON of the living God. Such prayer then, that is, prayer in JESUS’ Name, is the distinguishing mark between Christian prayer and all other prayer, for not all prayer among us is God-pleasing or even Christian. St. Paul tells us in our Epistle text appointed for this day, that there is only one way to truly come to the FATHER: through JESUS CHRIST alone, by faith in JESUS CHRIST alone. Any other way only leads down spiritual blind alleys and dead-ends. “For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man CHRIST JESUS, who gave Himself a ransom for all.” To pray in JESUS’ Name, then, means to pray with faith in JESUS as your only access to the FATHER. To pray in JESUS’ Name means to pray with faith in what He has done to save you, to 3 know that it is only because of His merits that you can even approach the heavenly throne of God with your petitions and prayers. To pray in the Name of JESUS means admitting that there is no merit within you that brings your supplications to the ear of God. Thus, without the Name of JESUS, our prayers avail us nothing. Such prayer would make us out to be hypocrites, like men who killed an only son and then stretched forth our blood- stained hands seeking the right hand of fellowship and peace from the murdered son’s father—which truly is what we once were. However, for the sake of His SON’s redeeming death, God no longer sees us as we once were, rather He sees us as what we have become in JESUS, what JESUS has made of us: righteous, holy, innocent. So, it is then, that when we come before the throne of God, we come as penitent sinners with contrite hearts and our prayers are nothing less than pitiful cries for God’s mercy. For as sinners, we have no choice but to throw ourselves on God’s mercy. In this, our prayers echo the penitential cries of King David: “Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight— That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom.” Even so, we also pray with confidence born of faith in God’s mercy: “Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your HOLY SPIRIT from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous SPIRIT… Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. O LORD, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart— These, O God, You will not despise.” Thus, true Christian prayer is based not on the content of one’s heart but on the richness of God’s mercy and love as it has been revealed through God’s Holy Word by His HOLY SPIRIT. Godly prayer is shaped by God’s Word. Prayer in JESUS’ Name is prayer that proceeds from faith in Him. Therefore, faith never prays “My will be done,” but “Thy will be done.” Faith trusts that God’s will in JESUS is always good and gracious. So it is, for it is by God-given faith in JESUS’ sacrificial death and His victorious resurrection from the grave, that God the FATHER showers His grace upon you. You are sprinkled with the atoning Blood of CHRIST’s sacrifice and buried into His terrible death in your Baptism, to be raised again to new life as a child of your FATHER, God, Most High. 4 Indeed, it is only because God has come to be your FATHER and JESUS your Brother, that you can pray to Him. Only because CHRIST JESUS has taken your sins on Himself and suffered your death on the Cross may you approach God in prayer. Only because CHRIST JESUS has taken your sins on Himself and wiped them out by His victorious death can you stand before God, forgiven—eternally His child in CHRIST. Only as you are bound to CHRIST may you come before God as His child, for then God sees you through CHRIST, wearing not the filthy rags of your own merit, but arrayed in the pure garment of CHRIST’s righteousness. So it is, that all contact, all prayer, indeed, your entire relationship with the FATHER is in CHRIST your SAVIOR—in the Name of JESUS, through faith in JESUS. Pray then for what you will, knowing your FATHER in Heaven will hear you. You do not need to worry about forming the perfect request. Even before you ask, your Father knows what you truly need, and as your FATHER, He lovingly provides it for you. He provides what you need not because you pray, but because as your FATHER, He loves you. Therefore, you pray, “LORD, have mercy,” and God the FATHER pours His mercy over you, absolving you by the Blood of God the SON for all you have done or left undone. You pray, “Create in me a clean heart O God,” and He does, with JESUS’ own Body and Blood, strengthening you against the assaults of the evil one, against the world, and your own sinful flesh. You may pray, “Our FATHER,” because CHRIST JESUS has made Himself your Brother. In CHRIST JESUS, God is your FATHER and He, Himself, loves you with a love beyond all imagination. This is true comfort for a lost and hurting soul. This is true comfort for a dying world! This is the message your FATHER in heaven wants so desperately for you and all mankind to hear, the message that your God is your true FATHER who does not ignore your prayers, but who welcomes the petitions of His children that come before Him through His SON and in His Name! Therefore, pray and listen, for God’s answer to your prayers is not silent. God speaks in His Word. With that Holy, inspired, inerrant Word, your prayer to God is not a one-way conversation. In Holy Scripture, God reveals His will for you and to you. He reveals to you His loving mercy and infinite compassion. In the death and resurrection of JESUS, the FATHER has revealed His will and love for you. Your God of grace who speaks in His Word, answers your prayers. He provides friends, family, food, all things needed for this body and life. Most significantly, however, He who provided the ram in the thicket to Abraham that Isaac would go free, has provided His SON as a perfect sacrifice in your place, and delivers that same SON to you in His Body and Blood upon the altar. By His Word, in the Name of His SON, JESUS, He provides. He forgives. He renews. He strengthens and restores. God hears your prayer and He answers, “I forgive you all your sins.” IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER, AND OF THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. AMEN. SOLI DEO GLORIA 5 Rev. Raymond D. Parent II Our Savior Evangelical Lutheran Church Crestview, Florida 5/25/25 AD