Holy Cross Evangelical Lutheran Church
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Sermon for the 4th Sun. after the Epiphany
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This weekend many people in America will be sitting around the house watching a game on television. The game many people will be watching is called the Super Bowl. The New England Patriots and the St. Louis Rams are the two football teams that will be playing inside the Superdome in New Orleans tonight. Super Bowl parties are common during the game. People like to invite their friends over to watch the football game and eat some food together. One team will lose and one team will win. Some people will be disappointed when their team loses and some people will be happy when their team wins. Not everyone likes to watch sports, but we all know something about losing and winning. In life sometimes we lose and sometimes we win. Our spiritual lives include days when we feel like losers and days when we feel like winners. Sometimes our sins get us down and we feel like losers. We wonder how God can love someone who keeps committing the same sin over and over. We wonder if God will really forgive that big sin that we cannot forget committing. We wonder if God truly loves us sometimes and we cannot understand why that illness or problem was allowed into our life. Sin can give us a lot of headaches in life. When we realize how corrupted we are because of sin we can feel like big losers in life. The good news for Christians is that God declares us winners in His sight because of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ became like a loser for us. Jesus was spit upon, whipped, laughed at, and put to death on a cross. Normally, a cross was reserved for the losers of the world--those who had committed crimes against society. Jesus Christ never committed any crimes against the people of His time during His earthly ministry. Jesus Christ was completely and totally without sin. Out of love for us He carried a cross and gave up His precious life for us on that cross. Jesus Christ was not really a loser, but He allowed Himself to be treated like one for us. Because Jesus humbled Himself to the point of dying on a cross for us we are declared winners in God's eyes. Because Jesus died and rose again for us we are considered winners in God's sight. Since we are now thought of by God as winners thanks to Jesus Christ, God promises to help us out when we struggle in life. In Matthew 5 Jesus spoke a number of "Blessed are…" statements. Those statements, which are included in today's Gospel lesson, are sometimes called the Beatitudes. The word, "Beatitude," comes from a Latin word meaning "blessedness." Jesus says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." The poor in spirit repent of their sins before God and ask Him for His forgiveness. The poor in spirit realize the need they have to be saved by God's grace or undeserved love through faith in Jesus Christ. Those who are poor in spirit know and believe that without God's mercy they would be lost forever. The kingdom of heaven is given to the poor in spirit. Jesus also says, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Times of mourning are difficult to go through for most people. People are saddened and they mourn when loved ones die. People mourn in many different ways. Some have trouble going on in life and others seem to get over the time of mourning fairly quickly. Jesus gives a special promise to those who mourn and trust in Him. That promise is that they will be comforted. Jesus continues on with the words: "Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth." Being meek is not looked at as being a good thing in America. Being meek gives people the impression that the meek person is weak and can be walked on like a doormat. People in America are told to be tough and not let others take advantage of us. The meek simply trust in the Lord and count on the Lord to see them through difficult times. The meek do not rely on their own strength, but they rely on the Lord's strength. Jesus promises that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek will be around after the strong and mighty have fallen. The meek have the Lord on their side. Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Most people are satisfied with going to church occasionally and praying occasionally to the Lord. Most people are not too interested in studying the Bible and learning more about righteousness. There are those who do hunger and thirst for righteousness though. They love the Lord and they pray to the Lord regularly. They love worshipping the Lord in church. They regularly study the Bible to learn more about righteousness. Jesus says that people like that will be filled. They will not be left feeling empty inside. Jesus also says, "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God." Our world does not think too much of the merciful, the pure in heart, and peacemakers. Our world teaches people to get revenge and fight for what we want in life. Jesus says that the merciful will be shown mercy, the pure in heart will see God, and the peacemakers will be called sons of God. We are given mercy and peace with God through the sacrifice of Jesus in our place. Only through saving faith in Jesus can we be pure in heart. Jesus continues on to state, "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." We do not want to have a hard life or be persecuted because of our faith in Jesus. We do not want people to say evil things about us because we trust in Jesus. Those things can happen though for followers of Jesus Christ. We have a great reward waiting for us in heaven. That reward is a reward of grace--an unearned gift of God's mercy. The next time your sins make you feel like a loser remember that you are considered a winner in God's eyes for the sake of Jesus Christ. We might be treated like losers at times in our earthly life, but in heaven there will be a great reward for all God's faithful ones. Once we get to heaven we will be winners in Christ forever. Amen. The peace of God, which passes all understanding, will keep our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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