Sermon for The Seventh Sunday after Trinity, 2025

Are there not times when your spirit is weak? And are there not times when you try to hide this fact? When you try to pretend that you haven’t done wrong? When you hide your sin from others, and even from yourself? The Lord is not so easily fooled. He sees your sin. He sees your weakness. He sees that, in and of yourself, there is no good in you. 

Thus, He speaks His Word of Law to you, that you might recognize your sin; that you would not pretend that you are perfectly fine. He does so, not because He is cruel or unkind, or because He wants to pick on you; far from it. He does so because He sees that you are weak, and He does not want you to hurt yourself; indeed, He does not want you to smother the faith He has engendered in you in your own weakness. That is why He calls you to repentance by His Word. 

And then, when you see your sin, He lifts your eyes and shows you something else. The Lord has compassion on you. He lifts up your eyes—lifts up your hearts—and what do you see? You see God in the flesh, come down from heaven; you see Christ Jesus, the Lamb of God, the One who knew no sin, standing there amongst sinners. You see Him, having taken on a body, a body like yours. And although He has done no wrong, you see Him suffer all the trials and tribulations of this world. You see Him hungry and tired. You see Him battered and bruised. All the ravages of sin in this world, you see Him patiently bear. You see Him boldly take upon Himself your sin, the sin which you are ashamed of, and lay it upon His own shoulders and carry it to the Cross, where He looks upon you with utter love and compassion, cries out for forgiveness for you, and pours out His very life for you. You see water and blood stream from His pierced side, which are the water of Holy Baptism and the Blood of His Supper; they pour out from His side towards you: that you might live, that you might be provided for. And then, after three days, He rises from the dead and comes forth from the tomb. 

And in all of this, you see that His care for you is not just about this body, where sin ravages; His care for you extends beyond this life into all eternity. 

Readings:

• Old Testament: Genesis 2:7-17

• Epistle: Romans 6:19-23

• Holy Gospel: Mark 8:1-9

Sermon: