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+ In Nomine Jesu +

Just who is today’s epistle about?  Is it about us Christians?  Or is it about Jesus?  On the one hand, you and I, the baptized, are the ones told to throw off every hindrance to our faith.  We’re the ones told to get rid of the sin that so easily entangles us.  We’re the ones encouraged to run with perseverance the race [God has] marked out for us.  It all seems to be about us, doesn’t it? 

But notice we’re told to do these things as we fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith.  Saving faith is always anchored in Jesus.  It’s anchored in His work of keeping the Law on behalf of us poor sinners.  It’s anchored in His work of dying on the Cross for the sin of all mankind.  Through the Gospel of Christ crucified and resurrected our Lord engenders faith; by means of that same Gospel, He perfects our faith, that is, brings it to its goal of forgiveness, salvation, and life eternal. 

As Christians, therefore, we don’t fix our eyes on ourselves.  True, we examine ourselves by the standard of God’s holy commandments so we can recognize, confess and be absolved of our sin.  But then, confessing that “we are by nature sinful and unclean,” we fix our eyes upon Jesus.  We look to Him alone for the forgiveness of sin we need.  And we do this because according to 1^st John 2.2,  He is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.

Never, ever think that your life in Christ is based upon your devotion, zeal and dedication. That’s a sure way to trip and stumble in your faith. It’s based on Jesus – on His devotion, on His zeal, His dedication.  He had to be devoted, zealous and dedicated to endure the scorn and hostility of sinful men, the shame and agony of the Cross, and the damning wrath of God on your behalf.  He endured the Cross, scorning its shame, today’s epistle says-- that’s concrete evidence of His dedication to His heavenly Father and His love for you and me.  Jesus’ devotion, zeal and dedication are what save us from the hell we each deserve.

For example, think of how our Lord was tempted in the wilderness.  If He hadn’t faithfully thrown off every temptation Satan enticed Him with, it wouldn’t do you and me an ounce of good to throw off every hindrance to our faith. 

Think of how Jesus became sin for us, so that in Him we could become the righteousness of God.  If He hadn’t graciously taken our sins away by His death on the Cross we’d have no place to throw our sins when we confess them before God. 

Think of how Jesus was plotted against and persecuted by King Herod, the citizens of Nazareth who tried to throw Him off a cliff, the Pharisees and leaders of the Jews, and the Roman soldiers who flogged, mocked and crucified Him.  If He had not run with perseverance the race set before Him during  His earthly life, from the manger to the moment He cried out, It is finished!,  you and I could not run with perseverance the race of faith set before us now.  Jesus makes it possible.  He makes it possible by His active obedience to the will and commandments of His heavenly Father.  And by the things He gladly suffered to pay for the sin of the whole world.

Jesus ran the course for the thirty-three years of His earthly life.  It was the work of a lifetime.  In today’s epistle and elsewhere in the Bible, the life of faith is portrayed as a race.  It’s not a sprint.  It’s not a hundred yard dash.  It’s a marathon, with need for all the endurance and stamina that the term marathon suggests. 

The marathon began for you at the Baptismal font where you were born again into the kingdom of God .  It continues through a lifetime of daily contrition and repentance, of struggle against the sin and unbelief of the Old Adam within, and a constant turning to the grace and mercy of God in Christ Jesus.  The marathon ends only when our Lord God calls you out of this world into His heavenly presence to receive the goal of your faith – resurrection and life eternal for the sake of Jesus Christ.  And we run this marathon, you and I, with eyes fixed upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Not upon ourselves.  Not upon those running the race around us.  But upon Jesus.

But how do we do that?  How exactly do we fix our eyes on Jesus?  How do we focus upon Him as both the Giver of faith and the goal of faith?  After all, we can’t see Him, can we? So if the Scripture tells us to fix our eyes on Jesus, and we can’t see Him with our physical eyes, then what are we to do?

We do exactly what we have come to the Divine Service this Lord’s Day to do.  We come to have our sins absolved by the called and ordained servant of the Word who speaks in the stead and by the command of our Lord Jesus Christ. We come to participate in the liturgy which directs us to Christ as surely as a compass points to magnetic North.   We come to hear in the sermon the Good News of Christ’s mercy, love and forgiveness, for what is the preaching of the Gospel but the power of God to the salvation of all who believe?  And finally, having been instructed in all the articles of the Faith and confessing that Faith as members of Mt. Olive Lutheran Church , we come to receive the Sacrament of the true Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.

To do these things in humble penitence and faith is to fix your eyes on Jesus.  It’s to be equipped and strengthened to run the race set before you, a race already run and won by our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.  Other Christians have run this race before you, of course, following Jesus as you now do.  Who are these other Christians?  The disciples of our Lord.  The four Evangelists: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.  St. Paul and St. Timothy.  The holy martyrs.  Blessed Martin Luther.  Your grandparents, your parents, all the members of Mt. Olive who have died in the confession that Jesus is Lord and Savior.  These are the great cloud of witnesses that surround us, spoken of in today’s epistle.

And if they could speak to you to encourage you as you run the race, what they would tell you is this:  Jesus is faithful.  He will stand by you in His Word and Sacrament and will not disappoint you.  He will be present with you in good times and bad.  He will shelter you when you are beset by temptation and when you suffer for your faith.  He will strengthen you when you are weak, He will encourage you when you are disheartened, He will forgive you and comfort you when you are oppressed by your sin. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoking flax He will not quench. He will bring you to the goal of your faith just as He has promised.  For He has run the race and attained the victory.  And He will be with you as you run it too. 

So, to return to the question which began this sermon: Who is today’s epistle about?  It’s about Jesus, who has fulfilled all righteousness and has done all things necessary for your salvation.  And it’s about you, for whom He died and was raised again.  You, whom He brought to faith through Holy Baptism.  You, whom He feeds and nourishes with His Word and Sacrament.  You, who run with confidence the race set before you, knowing that Jesus has run and won that race first.  With your eyes fixed on Him in faith, you will win it too.