Oh, It's That Kind of Love!

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God, and we are! For this reason the world does not know us because it did not know him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. Now everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure (vv 1-3).

[Prayer]

O Lord, our God, in Holy Baptism, you have called us to be your beloved children, and granted us the remission of sins. Send your blessing upon the Word spoken to us, and by your Holy Spirit increase our saving knowledge of you, that we may be strengthened in your Divine Truth and remain steadfast in Your Grace, through Jesus Christ, your son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

[Introduction]

If you want to know what a particular church believes, teaches, and confesses, all you really need to do is attend one funeral service there. Of all the Divine Services in the church, there is nothing more comforting than attending one of our Lutheran funeral services. Our funeral services remind you of the most important teaching of the church ... the Gospel. They show us what kind of love the Father has given to us ... the Gospel of Jesus. Those who attend our funeral services should be able to leave with no uncertainty about the promises of God, which is the Gospel. We believe, teach, and confess that in the midst of overwhelming sorrow, there is no better word to be heard than the Gospel ... that we should be called children of God, because those who hear the Gospel are indeed!

The next time you attend a funeral service, ask yourself ... Are you being directed to the life and works of the deceased that tell you how much that person loved Jesus? ...

Or ... Are you hearing the proclamation of the one and only Gospel? ... of what kind of love the Father has given to us ... of how much Jesus loved you and your loved ones.

4. It is too important that you recognize what kind of love has the Father given to us.

True God became True Man, begotten without sin. True God became True Man to live without sin. True God did this for you, and in so doing he gives you refuge as one of his own.

As Saint John teaches, True God who became True Man was declared innocent (Jn 19:4), not just not guilty ... innocent. This is an important distinction. Not guilty and innocent are not the same thing. Saint Peter tells us, True God who became True Man did not sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth, who, when he was reviled, did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten but committed himself to him who judges righteously, who himself bore our sins in his body on the tree so that we might die to sin and live in righteousness (1 Pt 2:22-24).

By living for you without sin, and sacrificing himself for you ... by standing in your place at the whipping post and on the cross ... by humbling himself for you in his eternal Divine Service to you ... by becoming obedient unto death for you, even death on a cross for you (Pp 2:8), God has taken away all sins of the whole world ... yes, even yours. It is finished (Jn 19:31).

And because God is Just and the Justifier of the one who has faith in the atonement of Christ, he raised Jesus from the dead ... He is now risen! He is risen, indeed! Hallelujah!

Do you see what kind of love the Father has given to us?

Those of you who believe this Gospel and are baptized ... those of you who wear the robes that God washed white in the blood of the Lamb ... You are the children of God ... the Saints of God ... just like those who passed before us.

You can’t see these robes. Nobody can. This is why we are the invisible church. But our holiness is seen by God because he sees Christ living in us (Gal 2:20). And now that Christ has risen from the dead, he has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 1520-21). ... He gives us victory (1 Cor 15:57)! Life and salvation are your inheritance.

This is the kind of love the Father has given to us! Saint Paul tells he has removed all of our sin by giving us communion with him through holy baptism and the Lord’s supper. We were buried with him through baptism into death so that just as Christ was raised from the dead we might walk in the newness of life (Rm 6:4). You can have the confidence, therefore, to stand before the throne of God ... his altar ... knowing you will never hunger or thirst for righteousness ever again (Rv 7:16) as you receive his body and blood. All the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven will continue to join us in celebration of the forgiveness of sins, because as John told us in our first reading, The Lamb who is above the midst of the throne will be [your] shepherd, and he will guide [you] to the [eternally flowing] spring of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from [our] eyes (Rv 7:17).

3. Then we will see him as he really is, just like the Original Children of God once did.

Created in His image, Adam and Eve were the Original Children of God, united with God in all the ways we long to understand. They walked with God ... talked with God ... seeing God as he really is. They could see that they were just like him ... a true reflection of him ... Holy and Righteous. With him, life was so very good they rested with him ... free from hunger and thirst ... free from sweat and pain ... free of shame.

But then they decided to create a new image, their image. They coveted something of their own making. They desired to speak their own Word ... to do things their own way, not the Lord’s way. They ignored God’s Word. They added to God’s Word. It was unholy.

Now man tries to be woman, and woman tries to be man. Now men and women think that taking life is protecting life. As Isaiah declares, They ... call evil good and good evil, making darkness light and light darkness (Is 5:20a). Don’t accept excuses for abortion. Abortion is an abomination of man’s lust to control creation. Don’t make excuses for perverting God’s Word, redefining it to suit yourselves. Don’t accept the mutilation of children.

And just as importantly, don’t allow yourself to think that your righteous thoughts and conduct will make you a child of God. Emulating Jesus does NOT make you a child of God. Loving your neighbor does NOT make you a child of God. Living “like” Jesus does not make you a child of God. Going to church every Sunday does not make you a child of God. Giving generously to the church does not make you a child of God. Reading the Bible every day does not make you a child of God. Saying you are a Christian does not make you a child of God. These things are all good. But you are not saved by righteous works. That is what the world wants you to think. The world insists on having a role in their own salvation, making their own decision for Jesus.

Instead, repent and receive the Gospel. The Gospel makes you children of God.

2. [Augsburg Confession]

Let me remind you of what repentance actually is. Repentance is not simply turning away from sin, as if you can do something like that on your own. Instead, as the Augsburg Confession teaches us ... Strictly speaking, repentance consists of two parts. One part is contrition, that is, terrors striking the conscience through the knowledge of sin. The other part is faith, which is born of the Gospel (Rm 10:17) or the Absolution, and it believes that, for Christ’s sake, sins are forgiven. [The Gospel] comforts the conscience and delivers it from terror. Then good works are bound to follow, which are the fruit of repentance (Gal 5:22-23) (AC XII 3-6).

Brothers and sisters in Christ ...

1. See what kind of love the Father has given to us!

Repentance comes to you on account of the Gospel that your reward is great in heaven (Mt 5:12). Our Heavenly Father is always giving us these great gifts through Word and Sacraments ... which proclaim the Gospel that purifies us just as he is pure. He comes to us every Lord’s Day. This is the Gospel. He serves us in his Divine Service. This is the Gospel. He enables us to know that when he is revealed, we will be like him ... Holy Saints (Lev 19:2). This is the Gospel. He restores to us His Holy Communion. This is the Gospel. Christ’s body and blood given and shed for you is the Gospel.

Now that you are a child of God, should you not long for the gifts of God ... the Gospel?

You are baptized ... not “were” baptized. We declare this at the beginning of every Divine Service. In that font, True God sealed you as one of his redeemed. This is the Gospel. In that font, True God clothed you in the white stoles he provides and now opens your ears to hear true Absolution that the Lord is with you ... that peace is with you. This is the Gospel. True God then calls us into His Supper that delivers the Gospel through His True Body and True Blood given and shed for you.

So today and every Lord’s day, let us celebrate in communion ... true unity, the Gospel ... because God’s mercy in Christ triumphs over judgment. Let us celebrate in communion with all the saints who have gone before us ... notably this year, (in Appleton City) Doug and Linda Kennedy ... (or in Clinton) Sandy Huey, Eddie Roth, and Eldean Wachs. These are some of the dear Christians who were God’s instruments in bringing us to the font and joining us at the altar for what is Holy Communion.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, do you see what kind of love the Father has given to us?

WE ARE NOT ONLY CALLED CHILDREN OF GOD, WE ARE!

... in Jesus’ name.

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