Inaugural Sermon - Pentecost 18, 2024 - James 3:13-4:10

Taken From: The life of Luther in forty-eight historical engravings. König, Gustav Ferdinand Leopold. 1900. 

The ministry of heavenly wisdom draws us near to God

1. The ministry of the pastor delivers heavenly wisdom and gifts

2. The pastor’s goals are to lead the congregation to:

1. Resist the devil

2. Draw near to God

3. Live forever in unceasing joy before the throne of God

Let us pray:“O Lord God, dear Father in heaven, I am indeed unworthy of the office and ministry in which I am to make known Your glory and to nurture and to serve this congregation. But since You have appointed me to be a pastor and teacher, and the people are in need of the teaching and the instruction, be my helper and let Your holy angels attend to me. Then if You are pleased to accomplish anything through me, to Your glory and not to mine or to the praise of men, grant me, out of Your pure grace and mercy, a right understanding of Your Word and that I may also diligently perform it. O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, Thou shepherd and bishop of our souls, send Your Holy Spirit to work with me to will and to do through Your divine strength according to Your good pleasure. Amen.”

Greetings to you my brothers and sisters in Christ! It is with great joy and zeal that I come before you today in my inaugural sermon. Over the course of the coming years (if the Lord tarries) I will proclaim to you the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, whereby our sins are forgiven for the sake of Him who died and rose for us. I will absolve your sins in the stead and by the dominical command of our Lord. I will wash you in the blessed waters of Holy Baptism. I will feed you the medicine of immortality from this altar in Jesus’ body and blood. In summary, I am engaged in the Office of the Holy Ministry, whereby means of heavenly wisdom I will seek to draw you near to God.

It is as St. James writes: “The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” Wisdom from above. The ministry into which Jesus has placed me is to deliver to you God’s wisdom from above, to give you God’s heavenly gifts. Frankly, I have nothing else of value to give you except that wisdom from above. Could I be your friend? Certainly. Could I teach you how to grow a garden or tan a hide or how to read? Sure. But that’s not why God called me to be your pastor, and you should expect much higher things than these. Namely, you should expect me to teach you heavenly wisdom.

To this end, I have made public vows not only at my ordination, but before you at my installation last week, to preach and teach only the Word of God, as revealed in the inerrant Holy Scriptures, and confessed in the doctrine of the evangelical Lutheran church through our creeds and confessions. Those confessions are my own personal confession and conviction. I may do no other than to preach this heavenly wisdom to you in whatever situation we might be.

This may not always be the popular or easy thing for me to do, or for you to receive. It’s always tempting for pastors to be well-liked, to be people pleasers, to avoid declaring the full counsel of God in order to make people like me. May God preserve me, and protect you, from this temptation! “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” 

I am responsible for your souls and must give an account for you before the throne of God on judgment day, therefore I am compelled to admonish you with God’s heavenly wisdom to avoid friendship with the world. In many ways my job shelters me from having to personally deal with this worldly friendship, since no one here asks me to declare my pronouns or work alongside homosexuals or furries. However, this may be your lot in life, and your temptations to succumb to the world may be legion, therefore I will do what I can to give you heavenly wisdom as you deal with all of these worldly temptations.

Therefore my goals for you, and what you should expect from me and pastor Matheny, is that we will lead you to resist the devil, draw near to God, and eventually live forever in unceasing joy before the throne of God.

Thus, my first goal is as James says: “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” More and more the devil is becoming obvious to us, and he is less hidden than he was earlier in our lives. Drug addictions are becoming more common, and with that comes demonic possession. Today too many young people don’t know whether they’re boys or girls, doctors are mutilating bodies with surgeries and hormones, not to mention the children killed in the womb. Pagan religious beliefs are becoming more common, with crystals and witchcraft becoming very popular, and a growing belief in pagan gods like Thor and Odin.

The devil is becoming more obvious and more common in our lives. But how are you supposed to deal with the devil? That seems too hard and frightening! You resist him! This is fantastic! You resist the devil and he flees from you. You don’t have to be some incredible saint to scare away the devil, you just have to resist him, and he will run away from you in terror. 

St. John Chysostom has a great quote in line with this, he said: “The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil.” When you receive the sacrament, you are actively resisting the devil’s influence over your life, and it makes you become like a fire-breathing lion who terrifies the devil! In order for you to fight the devil you just have to be an ordinary Christian and do ordinary Christian things.

The second goal I have for you is that you: “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.” A basic definition of sin is being separated from God. For example, when Adam and Eve sinned they no longer wanted to walk with God, in fact they hid themselves from Him. Being righteous, or being saved, is therefore being nearer to God. So when I want you to be near to God, my desire is for you to be saved. The way by which you are brought into God’s nearer presence is by drawing nearer to Him. A lot of this is very obvious and simple to do, just like resisting the devil. You draw near to God when you are in the presence of God, for example when you read and meditate on the scriptures, when you pray, when you receive the sacraments, when you attend the divine service.

However, as simple as this may be, it is not easy, some of this can also be very challenging. James says to “Submit yourselves therefore to God… Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded… Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” Instead of seeking the sinful desires of our hearts, the Lord instructs us to submit ourselves to God. Instead of my will, I pray against myself, saying: Thy will be done. This goal I have for our congregation is very difficult, because it means that we all have to admit our own faults and change our lives, so that we might draw near to God.

My final goal is very straightforward: I want you to live forever in unceasing joy before the throne of God. Would it be great if Our Savior was the most faithfully vibrant Lutheran congregation in the state of Minnesota, and one of the strongest in the nation? Yeah! That is my hope for the future. But much more importantly, my goal is that when we die we will be together in paradise. So while this is the final goal I mentioned, it’s my chief goal for you; above all I want you to live forever in paradise.

Finally, as you have heard the goals which I have for you to be drawn into God’s presence through His heavenly wisdom, I hope you also see my heart towards you, which I hope can reflect God’s heart toward you. Namely, a heart filled with compassionate love toward you. I pray that you would also share all good things with me, specifically your love. I have already been blown away by your love, compassion, and generosity towards me and my family as you’ve helped us move and start settling in.  I know we do not really know one another too well yet, I only know a few of your names, and those just barely. Nevertheless, I know that you are God’s beloved Children, people for whom Christ has bled and died, and if He loves you so powerfully, my heart shares in His love for you. I hope that in the days, months, and years to come that we grow in fervent love and trust towards God, and in fervent love towards one another. By the grace of God, I pray the Lord will forge a strong brotherhood between myself and pastor Matheny, so that together we may do the work of the ministry among you, leading you into all righteousness and heavenly wisdom.

Let us Pray:

Oh  Jesus, Lord of the church, who commanded that men shall preach salvation in Your name, we pray for our pastors who are Your servants. through the Holy Spirit's enlightenment give them true understanding of Your Word and sanctified wisdom to handle it correctly. Let them never become guilty of believing and teaching false doctrine. Lend them boldness to take a firm stand against all that is false and sinful: to reprove, rebuke, admonish, and exhort the hearts and souls of sinners. Fill Your servants with a holy fervor to feed the flock under their charge with the precious gospel, which alone can comfort sinners and save those who believe. Fire them with the enthusiasm of true missionaries, that they may be compelled to go out into the highways and byways of this godless world to call sinners to repentance, and invite them to the feast of salvation. Bless their labors with much fruit that many hearts may be strengthened and many souls won through the word they preach.

And as we ask Your grace through the spirit for the pastors, so we plead a similar blessing for the members of this flock. Cause them to be receptive to the word the pastors preach, setting their hearts aglow with faith and love for You, their Savior. May they never act contrary to Your word but always live in harmony with it, thus giving an honest profession of a sincere faith. Cause them to be a continual source of inspiration and encouragement to their pastors in their divine callings. Promote peace and harmony, together with mutual love and understanding, between God's servants and God's people.

Dear savior, we, both pastors and flock, humbly acknowledge our many sins and ask to be forgiven for the sake of Your suffering and death on the cross. In Your own good time, take us to our eternal rest in heaven where, together with the angels and saints, we will serve You with endless, pure devotion and be filled with wondrous glory. Hear us for the glory of Your name. Amen.