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In the name of Jesus. Amen.
On March 4, 1933, in his first inaugural address, Franklin D. Roosevelt said the immortal words: “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” In that address, FDR described that fear as a “nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” But consider the historic context of that address. People had real fears that were not “nameless” or “unjustified.” Their fear was real and understandable. Later in his address, Roosevelt admitted: “Only a foolish optimist can deny the dark realities of the moment.” Dark realities indeed. I remember in my childhood my grandparents and great-grandparents recounting living through that staggering economic crisis, which came to be known as the Great Depression.
Earlier in the context of today’s Gospel, as we heard last Sunday, Jesus sent His disciples out to proclaim His kingdom coming to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Vv 6-7). Jesus was fully aware and even acknowledged that He was sending them out “as sheep in the midst of wolves” (V 16). Yet in our text He repeatedly tells them to “have no fear.” But like Roosevelt’s address these very words confirm that He knows that there is much to fear, at least from an earthly point of view.
Today’s Gospel challenges us to face our fears but also to rejoice in confessing and proclaiming the Christ. On the basis of the Holy Gospel and with the aid of the Holy Spirit, we consider the theme: “Joyfully Confessing Christ in the Face of Opposition.”
Again, note that Jesus says “have no fear” (V 26) … “do not fear” (V 28) and “Fear not” (V 31). But just prior to this Jesus gave the warnings which we heard last Sunday: First, rejection: V 14 – “And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.” Second, intimidation: Vv 17 – 18 – “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles.” Added to those warnings was a third & fourth, persecution: Vv 21 – 22a – “Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.” Fourth, execution: Jesus was clear in warning the disciples that they needed to be prepared to be “put to death” as they encountered sinful opposition to the Gospel (v 21). History records that all but one were executed. So then, how can they and we not be afraid?
Remember that all of the hostile opposition that Jesus described He himself endured: rejection, intimidation, persecution, and execution. If our Lord and Savior faced these things, why should his servants and disciples expect to be exempt from them (Vv 24 – 25)? But precisely because Jesus did face and overcame them, the disciples had no need to fear.
The devil, the world, and our sinful flesh are all behind our fear, and therefore our hesitancy to give testimony to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Do we only fear “those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul” (V 28a)? Or do we “fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (V 28b)? Do we take these words of Jesus seriously “whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven” (V 33)? How will we escape not only temporal death but also eternal punishment from God which we deserve for these sins, for our sinfulness, and for all our actual sins? The place to begin? Repentance! Confession and forgiveness!
Because God does not want us to perish spiritually and eternally, He calls us to repent. And when we do repent it is by God enabling us to do so. The Augsburg Confession teaches: “True repentance is nothing else than to have contrition and sorrow, or terror, on account of sin, and yet at the same time to believe the Gospel and absolution (namely, that sin has been forgiven and grace has been obtained through Christ), and this faith will comfort the heart and again set it at rest. Amendment of life and the forsaking of sin should then follow” (AC XII.3-6).
When we repent, then God forgives us of our sinful nature and all our actual sins regardless of what those sins might be. He forgives us for the sake of Jesus Christ. How? The divinely-inspired St. Paul states that at God’s appointed time “Christ died for the ungodly… while we were still sinners Christ died for us” (Rom 5:6,8). This expresses Christ’s substitutionary death for sinners. All we bring to the table is weakness, ungodliness and sinfulness. Sin is a horribly messy business and understanding God’s dealing with our sin is crucial.
By inspiration of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul also writes: “God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21). Sin was destroyed at Calvary even as Christ carried all of it for all of humankind in His own body. At the cross Jesus is your substitute. He suffered and died in your place to pay the penalty for your sins and satisfy the wrath of God. And every Sunday we proclaim the Easter message that Jesus rose again from the dead … victorious over sin, Satan and death … bringing us new life in the face of death. And so, forgiveness, life and salvation are available through faith in Christ Jesus.
Christ now strengthens our faith, even in the face of rejection, intimidation, persecution, and execution through the Gospel in all it’s forms. This Gospel is read, spoken, expounded and prayed individually and in groups as in this Divine Service. This Gospel is connected to the water of Holy Baptism which drowns the Old Adam and raises us to new life. This Gospel in Holy Absolution gives comfort and consolation in having the forgiveness of sins applied personally and individually. This Gospel is connected together with bread and wine nourishes us with the true body of Christ given for us and His true blood shed for us. By these means pf grace, the Word and the Sacraments, we are strengthened to “Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses” (1 Tim 6:12b) as we heard in today’s Epistle.
The divinely-inspired writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us: “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Heb 4:15 – 16). Indeed, Jesus already faced and conquered every enemy that causes us fear. Therefore, we can be confident that He understands our fears, that He sympathizes with all of our temptations to be afraid, and that He will provide grace and mercy to help us at all times.
The crucified and risen Jesus who says that “Even the hairs of your head are all numbered” (V 30) and that a single sparrow falls without His notice, and that we “are of more value than many sparrows” (V 31) … is with us in every joy and sorrow, every gain and loss, every healing and illness, every triumph and temptation! He will never leave us “harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36), as we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel, but He sends men with His authority, the pastors of the church, to proclaim His Word and administer His Sacraments so that we might receive His forgiveness of sins (Matt. 10:1). Even when we succumb to fear, the Holy Spirit leads us to repentance, sorrowing over the sin of fear and being renewed in the faith that desires to do better.
Today we commemorate that day when the Lutheran confessors stood boldly before the emperor at Augsburg. They considered there was no greater threat than that the Word of God be taken from them. And they would rather die. In the face of great opposition, these men risked their lives in remaining steadfast to the truth of the Gospel, above all the declaration that we are justified by grace through faith and that sins are forgiven freely for Christ’s sake. Jesus promised that whoever “acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32). In today’s Epistle Christ Himself “before Pontius Pilate made the good confession” (1 Tim. 6:13); so we also make “the good confession” about the “eternal life to which [we] were called” (1 Tim. 6:12) despite earthly fears. By faith, our confession is as the divinely-inspired David’s in today’s verse “In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me?” (Ps. 56:4).
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.`
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.