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Sermon for Michaelmas 2 / Trinity 21
Hosea 13:14 + Ephesians 6:10-17 + John 4:46-54
As you heard St. Paul warn us today, we Christians are at war. But not like the Muslims are at war who seek to kill and compel and destroy. What did Paul say? We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. We are at war with the devil, and lives are at stake. You can’t ward off the devil with holy water and crucifixes, nor can you protect yourself with your own will power or with your own strength. There is only one shield that can quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one: the shield of faith. Not just any faith, but faith in Jesus Christ, true God and true Man, who bore your sins to the cross and earned for you everlasting life.
Faith can be weak and faith can be strong. Weak or strong, where there is faith in Christ crucified, you are protected. You are safe. You are righteous before God. Because you are clothed in Jesus. A weak faith has Christ just as much as a strong faith does. He is the treasure that faith holds. A strong faith holds onto Him firmly. A weak faith holds onto Him loosely. A strong faith holds onto Christ when the world crumbles around you. A weak faith crumbles in the face of adversity.
The question is, who is it who strengthens your faith? It isn’t you. It’s God the Holy Spirit. He does it through His Word. He speaks and causes your grip on Christ to grow tighter, firmer. He strengthens your faith because He knows the enemies you face from without and the enemy from within who would turn you away from trusting in God. He strengthens your faith so that, in the hour of trial, you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Now, maybe you think you already have a really strong faith. Good! The Israelites, too, thought they had a strong faith—until a few days passed with no food in sight and they turned against God and Moses. The apostles thought they possessed a great faith, too, until the storm came up on the sea and they almost despaired. Indeed, Peter thought he had a strong faith as he walked on the waves—until he saw the waves and began to sink. Then their supposedly strong faith showed itself for what it was: a faith supported by sight rather than a faith supported by God’s Word.
The fact is that we are in constant need of God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, and the strength that only comes by God’s Word. And the good news is that God is ever ready and willing to give you grace, and forgiveness, and strengthening through His Word. He does this very thing through the inspired words of John’s Gospel today, just as He did for the nobleman we hear about in the Gospel.
The nobleman in the Gospel had a son who was near death. He had heard a little bit about Jesus’ power and goodness. Word of Jesus’ miracle of changing water into wine at Cana had spread in Galilee, even as His miracles in Judea had become widely known. That good report about Jesus convinced the nobleman that Jesus would help. Fine so far.
But his plea for help betrays the weak point of his faith. He implored Jesus to come with him down to his house in Capernaum where his dying son was. He believed Jesus could do something—if Jesus were close enough to his son!
Does this remind you of another parable? Remember the parable of the Roman centurion who sent envoys to Jesus to ask Him to heal his servant? Jesus even offered to go to his house, but the Roman centurion said, “No, Lord, I’m not worthy to have you come, and besides, it isn’t necessary. I know that all you have to do is say the word, and my servant will be healed.” Jesus praised the faith of that centurion highly. It was just where it needed to be at that moment, putting all his trust in the word of Jesus.
The nobleman wasn’t there yet. He didn’t yet trust the simple word of Jesus. So Jesus tests him, and not just him, but all the people, and you and me as well: Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe. Well, that’s what it comes down to, isn’t it? It’s easy to believe God will provide—as long as you see Him providing! As long as you have the safety net of a decent job, or a full pantry, or a little bit saved away in your bank account. But take that all away, and you find out what the source of your faith was. Was it the word of Jesus that “all these things shall be added to you,” or was it the stuff in your pantry or the money in your bank account, or the job you thought was stable? It’s easy to believe God is good when you and your family are healthy. But take away the health of a loved one, and you find out what the source of your faith was. Do you find yourself still relying on God’s promise to work all things together for good to those who love Him, or do you find yourself panicking or even cursing God?
The nobleman in the Gospel still thought that the Lord wasn’t powerful enough to help Him by His Word alone, but would only be powerful enough if He came with Him in person to heal his son: Sir, come down before my child dies! Less talk, Jesus. More action. Less talk, Jesus. More doing things that actually help me. How many people don’t think that way still today? How often have you thought, “It’s not the Word of Jesus I need to hear. It’s His actual help in my life. His Word isn’t relevant. His Word isn’t enough. His Word won’t help me.” But they’re wrong. They’ve got everything backwards. Their faith is weak for the very reason that they do not listen and pay attention to the Word of Jesus.
But then, if anyone will listen, the Word of Jesus comes along to keep faith from dying and to build it up stronger than it was before. Jesus said to the nobleman: Go your way; your son lives. Just a word. Just a promise. Jesus doesn’t hold his hand and walk with him to his home. He sends him away with a promise. And what did that promise produce in the nobleman who just a moment ago was desperate and afraid? So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.
Oh, for such a promise from Jesus! “Your pantry will be full! You’ll get the position you want on your team, at your job! Your cancer, your illness will go away! Your loved one will not die.” No, these are not the promises Jesus has made. You cannot have faith in things that God hasn’t promised, not real faith. But that doesn’t mean He has left you with no promises. Every petition of the Lord’s Prayer is a promise from Jesus that your Father will hear and grant it. Or these: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. Cast all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. He who believes in the Son has everlasting life. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.
Sometimes you don’t get to see how God keeps His promises to you. In some cases you will not know until you get to heaven how God was working faithfully to keep every promise He ever made to you in His Word. But sometimes you do get to see, like this father did in our Gospel. Sometimes you do get to see how God moved history to keep His promises to you.
The nobleman got to see his son healed at the word of Jesus. And he himself believed, and his whole household. There, you see? Jesus promised, then the nobleman believed. Then the nobleman saw with his eyes that Jesus had kept His promise. And then he believed even more, and not just him, but his whole household. Believed—what? That his son was healed? No, he didn’t need to believe that. He could see that for himself. What did he now believe? He believed in Jesus—that He would continue to help, that He was the Savior sent from God who would help with him in his every need.
Words. Promises. Faith. They’re important. Because there is still one promise of God that you will not see fulfilled until after you die. You heard today of a promise God made in the Old Testament that no one could prove, a promise that had to be taken on pure faith, because there was no evidence for it at all. I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O Death, I will be your plagues! O Grave, I will be your destruction! If your faith is based on sight, if you only believe in Christ when you can see Him keeping His promise, then you are lost. Because He has made a promise of resurrection and eternal life, but all you see in this world is death. Yet, for as unbelievable as God’s promise of resurrection and victory over death may be, there were some in Israel who believed it without ever seeing it, because the power of God’s Word strengthened their faith in the face of death.
You and I have something more. We have the Word and promise of God, as Israel did. We also have the fulfillment—just one fulfillment of His Word and promise. One resurrection. One victory over death. Our Lord Jesus Christ was the first proof, the first fulfillment of that promise of resurrection. He was the first, but He won’t be the last. He is the firstborn among many brothers. All who believe in Him will be raised as He was to live eternally, even as all who believe in Him have already been raised to new life through the waters of Baptism, by the forgiveness of our sins.
Jesus’ victory will be the victory of all who run the race of faith and cross the finish line. Are you worried about strengthening your own faith so that you can finish the race? The answer is to look away from yourself. Instead, listen to the writer to the Hebrews: Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Jesus is the author and the finisher of our faith. Let us look to Him for help. Let us look to Him, in His Word and Sacraments, to grant us each day a stronger faith than before. Amen.
