Peter’s words this morning come at just the right moment! “Cast all your anxiety on Him, for He cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7 ESV) These words lift our spirits and remind us that we are not alone. God is with us in the midst of each and every challenging situation, fiery trial and moment of suffering. These words are Peter’s final encouragement to you and me, “the Christian,” to find our strength in Jesus whose reign is forever and ever.

Peter understood encouragement. Jesus encouraged Peter that very night when Peter would turn away in fear and deny his Lord before the next morning. Jesus’ words were meant to give him the courage to encourage others once Peter had returned to the Overseer of his faith – Jesus. But how can God’s word encourage us when we know that we too are so apt to fall and fail?

Peter’s answer is not found in his faith, but rather the object of his faith – Jesus. For under the mighty hand of God, Jesus suffered the punishment of murderers, thieves, evildoers, and meddlers upon the cross, yet now is exalted above all thrones. Jesus, who was denied by both His own followers as well as the Father whom He loved, is now confessed as worthy to receive all honor praise and glory. Jesus lives! This, Peter says, is what gives us strength to face each other and every day knowing that He cares for us. Though the devil growl like a prowling lion, we are called to stand firm in our faith established in the living One.

Just a few days ago (Thursday, May 14^th), the church around the world remembered our Risen Lord’s Ascension to the right hand of God the Father. Next Sunday, May 24^th, is Pentecost when we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Comforter who leads us into all truth. For a little while, we are again in this in-between time devoted to watching and praying. We have ten days to contemplate the reality of the “now and not yet” of our faith. As Christians we live in hope. But this hope is not wishful thinking. Our hope is the assurance of things unseen, and a life trusting in the God of all grace.

As we gather this day to hear God’s Word and receive the gift of His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the encouragement of our faith, we are reminded that He is our strength for this very hour so that we too would encourage one another.

Pastor Carl

We have been reading through the Apostle Peter’s first letter to the church in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). We have seen that Our Living Hope is a central theme to this letter. Peter makes it clear that this hope is based on the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Today we see how this living hope prepares us for daily living as it attracts an audience from those who see our lives lived in a sure confidence of God’s presence and activity in our everyday lives.

Chapter 3 of 1 Peter begins with “apostolic” instructions for daily life. Specifically, our living hope guides us in how we live in gentleness together in a family as husbands and wives. This gentleness then extends into our relationships with others outside the home. Peter is aware of how life is not always easy and that suffering, even for doing what is right, can be a real experience that we may face. This suffering is connected directly to our faith and the hope it creates. “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.” (1 Peter 3:18 ESV) Here is the foundation of our hope. This is not wishful thinking but the rock-solid fact of Jesus’ death and resurrection for us. Each and every experience that we have is an opportunity for us to draw upon this living hope and “honor Christ in our hearts.” While it is true that some suffering can bring about a positive result (such as rigorous exercise or even a medical procedure), the kind of result that Peter is talking about, namely life from death, honor from humiliation, righteousness from unrighteousness, etc., is only possible in Christ. His death in the flesh brings about an eternal result for you and me. As Jesus says in John 14:19, “Because I live, so also shall you live.” This is the hope that Paul shared on Mars Hill to the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers of his day (Acts 17:16-31).

Peter goes on to remind us of this as he explains how in Baptism we are connected to this good news - “the righteous for the unrighteous.” Just as Noah and the seven other people – his family – were rescued from the flood as they rested in the Ark, so “baptism now saves you.” (1 Peter 3:21) This is not a mere superficial removal of dirt, but rather the flood of forgiveness of all of our sins and the clearing of our conscience. Our salvation and victory in Christ does not come from our superior behavior but rather brings a change of heart, a gentle spirit and a sure confidence that God is with us and working in the events that we face today. We are not orphans! Jesus is risen from the dead! Our sins are gone! In the gentleness of a Lord who bears our sin in His body on the tree, God won us and saves us so that we would be prepared to speak into the lives of others with this same gentleness and respect.

God has prepared us for this very moment to share with any and all who ask for the reason we have hope. He has even prepared these moments when our hope in Him can be a gentle reminder and invitation to all of His love for them. As we give thanks to God for the way He works in our lives through the women in our lives, especially our mothers, we ask that God would make them a blessing to many. God grant us His Holy Spirit, His gentle Spirit as we rest in this hope today and every day!

Pastor Carl

Last week we explored Peter’s theme of Jesus as our Risen Shepherd and Overseer of our souls that came at the end of 1 Peter 2. Today we return to the beginning of chapter 2 and plumb our new identity and the new calling we have as followers of Jesus – the Stone that the builders had rejected.  In fact, Peter builds on the salvation themes of the Old Testament as he creates an image for us of our new identity in Jesus as living stones. Just as the pastoral images of green pastures and still waters in the 23^rd Psalm give way in the end to the Shepherd-King motif of dwelling in the House of the Lord forever, so the Old Testament Garden gives way to a more urban setting, or perhaps we should say “capital structures” found at the center of the City of God - the very Temple of the Most High. The identity of God’s people as “a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation” is built on the establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. This structure is critical to the very blueprints of how God shows His mercy and dwells in the midst of His people.

The radical announcement that Jesus – the “Stone the builders had rejected” – has now become the capstone or cornerstone of God’s construction is revolutionary.  Jesus – the Temple which is destroyed by sinful man but raised by God in three days – is what makes us now living stones! But what does Peter mean by living stones? Peter gives us a hint and Stephen in Acts 6:51-60 gives us an example. We are now “a chosen race, a royal priesthood and a holy nation… that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called us out of darkness and into His marvelous light!” (1 Peter 2:9) We are the stones made alive and incorporated into the descendants of Abraham through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Our lives now share the story of God’s grace and mercy in us. We are the very temple in which His Spirit dwells. Stephen, the first Christian martyr or witness, is filled with this Spirit and proclaimed that amazing vision and truth of our Ascended Lord and Savior standing at the right hand of God even as he was stoned. Even as his life slipped from him, he prayed for those standing there that God would not hold them to account but forgive and renew them. Jesus did answer that prayer in and through one young man named Saul, named after the famous Benjamite and first king of Israel. Later he was often called by his Roman name - Paul.

In Jesus, you and I are also a result of Stephen’s prayer as we have been made alive and are being built together to make known His mercy in our world today. Today we are witnesses of this in the life of Jinny and JT as she is baptized into Christ and together they make the good confession of their faith in their Redeemer, Jesus through their Confirmation. Each day is also an opportunity for us to be a living witness of His mercy in our lives. Sometimes this witness is evident in what we say, but much of the time it is shown in the very simple ways we care for one another. This is the beautiful part of being His living stones. Our witness is of His grace to us. God give us strength to make known through our lives the excellencies of His Name! He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

The Fourth Sunday in Easter is Good Shepherd Sunday. Every year at this time we read or sing the 23^rd Psalm – some of the most beloved words of Scripture repeated at almost every Christian funeral. We also hear in John 10 the words of Jesus that He is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep. In the Epistle reading from 1 Peter chapter 2, Peter concludes with this important reminder for us to return and follow the “Shepherd and Overseer of our souls.” The example that Peter reflects on, though, is maybe not what we would expect – namely how Jesus suffered in silence.

These words come after a very important section on our new identity in Jesus through Baptism into His Name. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, called to love not only the brothers, but even those in authority over us. Peter tells us that in our following our Savior and living in the new identity we have in Him we should not be discouraged by suffering, especially the suffering that comes as part of our service to God and neighbor. Peter simply reminds us that Jesus gave us this example – a literal “over-writing” or a “stencil” to serve as a pattern for our lives – namely that just as He suffered for doing what was right, so we will also suffer. We are aliens, exiles, and sojourners in this place. Our words and actions may even be seen as evil, just as Jesus’ words and actions were twisted and seen as evil. This does not mean that we should look for ways to provoke those in authority, but rather when we suffer, we do not need to turn away, but rather return to Him who suffered for us.

Consider the source of this pastoral admonition – this gentle guidance. In a moment of daring devotion and with nerves of steel, Peter entered the very courtyard where his Lord was being tried. While his Savior was silent in the face of false testimony, Peter’s mouth repeated again, again, and again for all to hear, “I don’t know the man!” Peter failed and fell just as Jesus had warned Peter how he would deny his Lord not once or twice but three times. How is it that one can return? How is it that we, the unjust, can be justified? How is it that we, the unrighteous, can be made right again? How is it that shifting sand can become solid ground? Peter knew. Peter saw. Peter heard His Lord ask him three time by the post-Easter shore, “Peter, do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15-19) In Jesus, Peter too became a living example, a stencil of God’s grace and love. Jesus suffered to bring us back, all His sheep, to Himself. His gracious act not only changed Peter, but even you and me. “He himself bore our sins upon the tree... by His wounds, you were healed.” (1 Peter 2:24) Just as Peter was forgiven, so too, God forgives you and me.

Our Living Shepherd brings to us a Living Hope. Our Loving Shepherd restores our souls. His Resurrection brings us back to Himself and makes us His living examples of hope today even as He works in you and me through suffering to the glory and praise of His Name. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

While change can sometimes be welcome and refreshing, at other times it can be very stressful and disheartening especially when that change includes loss. The downcast-journey of Cleopas and his friend to Emmaus (Luke 24:13-35) reflect this as they meet a visitor to Jerusalem seemingly oblivious to the events of Jesus’ crucifixion. “We had hoped that he was the one to redeem Israel.” While their hope had seemingly become overinflated and burst with disillusionment, the Risen Jesus walked with them and explained from the scriptures just how the Messiah must first suffer before entering His glory. This truth of the cross and the empty tomb is what sets faith in Jesus apart from all our attempts to find permanence in this world or in ourselves.

For Peter the suffering and Resurrection of Jesus is what redemption is all about. This pattern of the cross and empty tomb sets us apart and makes us exiles or strangers in the world in which we live. We don’t belong here because we belong to Him who died and rose again. In the Small Catechism Luther uses Peter’s words to explain what it means for Jesus to be my Lord. “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom...” (Luther’s Small Catechism, the explanation of the second article of the Apostles’ Creed)

Our redemption does not mean that we are here just waiting around to go to heaven. Rather we live here, even under the most difficult of situations, with the living hope that our permanence is in Him who made us and redeemed us. The cross declares that our lives as exiles and “withering grass” serve our neighbor. Like Peter, we are a living testimony to God’s grace and love to all as we grow in our appreciation of His love for us and all people. We share His love with one another. We use the gifts and talents He has given us to bless our neighbor. While the flower fades and decays, and our lives grow dim, His Word - His spoken message of grace and forgiveness - only grows brighter and brighter. From falling flowers to His Eternal Word, this is our Living Hope! He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

In general, we don’t usually like tests. Even when we know that they bring a positive result, we try to avoid them. Perhaps as kids and later as young adults we dreaded test day, mid-terms, or finals and the pressure we felt on us to perform. The idea of getting anything but top marks seemed to loom as a hidden expectation. Perhaps even as adults in the working world we stress over giving or receiving an annual evaluation. The negative feelings created even at the suggestion of areas for improvement during a review seem to be counterproductive. Yet, tests and trials are the only way something can be proven to be genuine, true, and beneficial.

In fact, the Apostle Peter begins his letter with a strong and bold embrace of the various tests and trials that our faith goes through. His ministry to “strengthen the brethren” after he had been “sifted as wheat” (cf. Luke 22:31-34), speaks to how trials can prove our faith to be genuine and true. But our ability to believe or our ability to maintain our faith is not the focus of these trials. Instead, the focus is the object of our faith – the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, Peter declares, God has “caused us to be born again … through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” (1 Peter 1:3) This is not because of us or our faith but all out of His great and abundant mercy. Peter unpacks for us the benefits of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead in a threefold outline with the simple word “to” or “for.”

First, on his list is the impact it makes on our current situation as we are brought into a “living hope.” (v.3) Jesus’ resurrection creates the faith that holds on to God in His mercy that He has forgiven our sins and restored us to a right relationship with Him. Peter had denied his Savior and yet God had forgiven him. This faith, this birth, this new start, that Peter is given emboldens him to confess his Savior even in the face of opposition and threat of punishment as we read in Acts 5:29-42.

The second benefit is the sure and certain treasure, the “inheritance” (v.4) that is now ours through Jesus’ resurrection. At His death, all that was His became ours as a gift. We are thus stored away in Him and preserved as His priceless treasure, guarded and kept until that last day.

The third benefit is then this very “salvation” (v.5) that is to be revealed and at the same time is being produced in our very lives and souls even now. While we don’t see, we still believe in Him. (cf. John 20: 19-31) While we are under many trials, we still love Him as He has loved us.

Each Lord’s Day we celebrate the living hope we have in Him as the benefits of His resurrection are made manifest in our very lives in and through the trails and tests we face. God strengthen you and remind you today that He is working in you to the glory and praise of His name. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

Many odd and not so normal things are happening in John’s gospel account on that early morning so long ago. Like we have seen before, John’s gospel takes us on a very personal journey into the heart of the resurrection. Like Nicodemus, the woman at Jacob’s well, the man born blind or Lazarus, John specifically narrows in on Mary’s account of her experience of the resurrection of Jesus. This is a very personal testimony of faith that John tells as Mary Magdalene sees the Lord. Mary, in fact, was a common name. A derivative of Miriam, Moses’ sister, many woman shared this name of faith. In fact, at the tomb there were at least three women named Mary. But John wants us to hear how this Mary, this Mary who experienced the deliverance from seven demons (Mark 16:2; Luke 8:2), experienced the news of Jesus’ resurrection.

We begin with her testimony to Peter and John that her early morning trip to the tomb, and likely the other women, resulted in seeing the tomb was open and empty. She returns a second time and engages the angels sitting where Jesus’ body had been seen by her only three days earlier. While she is simultaneously weeping and talking, she sees Jesus but does not recognize Him.

They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). John 20:13-16 (ESV)

What moves Mary from tears of sorrow and despair to tears of joy and exaltation is the simple but profound call of her name. Jesus says to her,“Mary!” Just her name. Yet in just this simple expression all of God’s promises come true for her and for you and me. Jesus’ resurrection is a personal experience. It comes not as a mysterious fact but as a personal revelation of not only who Jesus is, but now who you and I are in Him. Mary’s response “Rabboni!” is also personal in nature. Not only are we personally known to Him, but now He is personally known by us.

We observe this truth again today at International Lutheran Church, as we gather as the baptized children of God and witness what God is doing in and through us. Jesus’ death and resurrection is a living call and claim on each of our lives. Jesus sees us – you and me. He knows us even more than we know ourselves. In Him, you and I now know His grace and mercy, His forgiveness and love. He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Pastor Carl

“Hosanna” or “Save now!” is the word used in the Old Testament to welcome the King of Israel – God’s Anointed One (or Messiah). These very words of faith from Psalm 118:25-26 have always prayed “Save us now” and “Blessed is He who comes in the Name of the Lord!” This was the same word shouted by the crowds and children on that amazing festive day when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a humble colt, the foal of a donkey. But how does God save me? In the Small Catechism we turn today to the Sacrament of the Altar, also known as the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion. Here, Luther explains its meaning by simply focusing on the clear words of Jesus Himself that carry for us the greatest promise we could ever hear – “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” As we read these simple questions and their answers, we are encouraged to ultimately ponder what Sacrament of the Altar means for each of us personally and collectively as the body of Christ in this place:

What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under the bread and wine, instituted by Christ Himself for us Christians to eat and to drink.

Where is this written?

The holy Evangelists Matthew, Mark, Luke, and St. Paul write: Our Lord Jesus Christ, on the night when He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to the disciples and said: “Take, eat; this is My body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of Me.” In the same way also He took the cup after supper, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.” (Matthew 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:17-21; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

What is the benefit of this eating and drinking?

These words, “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins,” show us that in the Sacrament forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation are given us through these words. For where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation.

How can bodily eating and drinking do such great things?

Certainly not just eating and drinking do these things, but the words written here: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” These words, along with the bodily eating and drinking, are the main thing in the Sacrament. Whoever believes these words has exactly what they say: “forgiveness of sins.”

Who receives this sacrament worthily?

Fasting and bodily preparation are certainly fine outward training. But that person is truly worthy and well prepared who has faith in these words: “Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” But anyone who does not believe these words or doubts them is unworthy and unprepared, for the words “for you” require all hearts to believe.

Like Baptism, the Sacrament of the Altar brings the events and blessings of Jesus’ cross and passion directly to you and me, here and now. Here our King comes to us in order to save us. He gives His own Body and Blood under the simple and ordinary means of bread and wine that our sin would be forgiven. Here and now He fills us with His life and salvation!

The fact that each week we sing “Hosanna” – this simple prayer of faith of children – in the midst of our communion liturgy, and right before we hear again the words of Jesus spoken to His disciples on the night when He was betrayed, urges us to receive Him with childlike faith. As Luther reflected on the question of who is well prepared to receive such a high and holy gift, the simple and basic truth is only found in Jesus’ words “for you.” Only by faith can we see in our hand and taste on our lips His own love for us, just as those words “for you” call for us to believe His promise to save us.

Yes, this week we will ponder again our Savior’s cross and passion. On Maundy Thursday we will hear His command that we are to love one another as He has loved us. On Good Friday, we will leave our worship in solemn silence having reflected on what our salvation cost Him. So as we reflect on the immediacy (the here and now) of His act to save you and me, hear His words again that night when he was betrayed – “For You.” Yes, our King has come to save! Hosanna – Save now!

Pastor Carl

Lent is a special season of contrition and repentance. This is visualized for us in the color of purple – the mixture of blue and red. For forty days we consider our Savior’s passion. His death and crucifixion were no accident but the result of God’s plan to remove our sin. In the Small Catechism, Luther takes up Confession as an ancient practice and expounds on the part that was and sometimes continues to be left out when we think about confession – the centrality of absolution!

What is Confession? Confession has two parts. First, that we confess our sins, and second, that we receive absolution, that is, forgiveness, from the pastor as from God Himself, not doubting, but firmly believing that by it our sins are forgiven before God in heaven.

What sins should we confess? Before God we should plead guilty of all sins, even those we are not aware of, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer; but before the pastor we should confess only those sins which we know and feel in our hearts.

Which are these? Consider your place in life according to the Ten Commandments: Are you a father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, or worker? Have you been disobedient, unfaithful, or lazy? Have you been hot-tempered, rude, or quarrelsome? Have you hurt someone by your words or deeds? Have you stolen, been negligent, wasted anything, or done any harm?

What is the Office of the Keys? The Office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ has given to His church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent.

Where is this written? This is what St. John the Evangelist writes in chapter twenty: The Lord Jesus breathed on His disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” (John 20:22–23)

What do you believe according to these words? I believe that when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command, in particular when they exclude openly unrepentant sinners from the Christian congregation and absolve those who repent of their sins and want to do better, this is just as valid and certain, even in heaven, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.

For Luther, confession consists of not only confessing our sins but especially that we believe the good news of absolution – that our sins are taken away, that we are unbound! Like Lazarus we are dead and worse than being dead and unable to do anything. We have an odor. Our sin wraps us like grave clothes from the moment we are born. This is the leveler that makes everyone even, but the kind which no one longs to see. Indeed, our sin and death consume us all, no matter our station in life. Yet, when Jesus commands the dead man, Lazarus, to come out of the tomb, there is a rattling, like that heard by Ezekiel (Ezekiel 37:7), and a movement that brings Lazarus to stand again. Jesus commands them to “unbind him” because death cannot hold us any longer. This is the power of the Spirit and the purpose of confession – that we hear that our sins are gone. For we, too, are bound by many things and yet God’s Word and Spirit breathes into us a new life and vigor.

Thus, absolution is the main part of confession. When Luther explains what sins we are to confess, the enumeration and our effort to call them up are not the point, but rather believing what the servants of God’s Word are to declare – the full and free pardon of all our sin. Our confession, our action, does not earn God’s forgiveness, but instead it is the free and unbound promise of God to forgive to which we cling. He says we are free and so we are free just as certain as Lazarus is moved from his death as if it were a mere sleep. You may be wondering how this can be. How can God’s word and command free us from our sin? We must not forget that Jesus’ wept. Not only is this the shortest verse in the Bible, but it reflects in the most profound way not only Jesus’ deep love for this family but His love for each of us, even those who would seek to turn this miracle into a pretext to His death. Jesus weeps with us in solitude even as our pain and loss in death becomes His own. For Him to remove our guilt on the cross, the Father who always hears His Son will turn away in silence and He who knew no sin would become sin for us. In His tears our sin is consumed, that we would know for certain that our Father hears us and that we are unbound to live in Him!

Pastor Carl

As we noted last week, Lent is a special season of prayer and spiritual preparation. For centuries Christians have used these forty days as a special time of preparation for Baptism. In the Small Catechism, Luther takes up the Sacrament of Holy Baptism and its meaning for the strengthening of our faith. He presents four key questions and God’s Word that is related to each so that our eyes would be opened to what God is doing in us through Baptism.

What is Baptism? Baptism is not just plain water, but it is the water included in God’s command and combined with God’s word.

Which is that word of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Matthew: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” (Matthew 28:19)

What benefits does Baptism give? It works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, as the words and promises of God declare.

Which are these words and promises of God? Christ our Lord says in the last chapter of Mark: “Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.” (Mark 16:16)

How can water do such great things? Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God in the water. For without God’s word the water is plain water and no Baptism. But with the word of God it is a Baptism, that is, a life-giving water, rich in grace, and a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul says in Titus, chapter three: “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by His grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying.” (Titus 3:5–8)

What does such baptizing with water indicate? It indicates that the Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.

Where is this written? St. Paul writes in Romans chapter six: “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:4)

The Word of God - His command and promise - is the only basis for our faith. This is clear in Luther’s answers to what is Baptism, its benefits, how it can do this, and what it means for us every day. Like the man blind from birth, we can do nothing to change our situation. This is why it was so astounding, and everyone kept asking how it was that he could now see. In one way or another, we are all born “blind.” We can be blind to God’s goodness and grace; blind to the brokenness of our own condition; or even blind to ways in which we add to this brokenness. Yet Jesus sees in all this the reason and purpose for His coming. In His words and actions, He opens our eyes to the good and gracious work of God to bring light into the darkness. As Jesus spit in the dirt, He made a healing balm to display the work of God in this muddied masked man. Just so, Jesus was made to be a healing balm upon the cross to wash away our guilt. Jesus is broken to break our brokenness.

While certainly Luther reflected on the “how” of baptism, he also saw his own need and ours to consider and see its significance - God’s work in our lives. Ordinary water connected to the promise and word of God is no longer ordinary, but a life-giving flood. Baptism saves, brings healing, forgiveness, and eternal salvation – not because of our acts or works but because of God’s acts and works in Jesus. Baptism connects us to the Sent One who now sends us. After the seeing man born blind was put out of the synagogue for giving his testimony about what Jesus had done, Jesus went to find him. John tells us that the man believed and worshiped Jesus. Daily, we, too, rise to give glory to God. Our lives become a living testimony of God’s gracious work in Jesus and how we are connected to that personally in Baptism. We, too, are sent so that others can see the One who was sent for them!

Pastor Carl