Sermons

Lent 1, 2026

Lent 1, 2026

In the year 49 B.C., a Roman general named Julius led his army across the Rubicon river, thus declaring war on Rome. That’s where the saying, “Crossing the Rubicon” comes from. It refers to a decisive decision from which you cannot turn back.

Your life has “crossing the Rubicon” moments. A New Year’s resolution can be a “crossing the Rubicon” moment. Leaving one job for another can be a “crossing the Rubicon” moment. A surgery can be a “crossing the Rubicon” moment.

Throughout Scripture there are a number of crossing the Rubicon-type moments. When Adam and Eve ate, that was a Rubicon moment, though not a good one. When Cain killed Abel, that was a Rubicon moment, though not a good one. Noah and his family went into the ark and the door was shut, and they couldn’t turn back. In the presence of Pharaoh, Moses stepped into the Nile river and struck it, turning it to blood, a moment from which there was no turning back. The Israelites crossed the Red Sea, and they crossed the Red Sea to war. Many times in the wilderness journey, they set out to the words, “Arise, O Lord, and let your enemies be scattered before you.” The Israelites eventually crossed the Jordan river, and the crossed the Jordan river to war. First up was Jericho. The Lord Jesus stepped into the Jordan river to be baptized, and then crossed the Jordan river, going to war against the devil.

The Christian life contains Rubicon moments. Lent is your Rubicon moment again. You get to cross afresh and anew, waging war against the devil, the world, and your own sinful nature. Equipped with the whole armor of God, you fight the good fight against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Christ battled Satan with the sword of the Spirit; you follow suit, brandishing the written Word saying, “It is written.”

Jesus prepared for the temptations with fasting. After fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was hungry. We can also say that after fasting forty days and forty nights, Jesus was prepared. Ready. Tempered like steel. Stronger in the ways that mattered. While some aspects of Him may have weakened after fasting for so long, other aspects hardened.

The temptations weren’t close. The devil didn’t have a chance. For each temptation, the devil’s attempts are pathetic.

In the first temptation, the devil said, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” There’s an irony that the devil can’t offer Jesus food. It’s not like the devil held out a plate full of bread and fish. The devil cannot give anything; all he does is take. It’s like when a person is stuck in an addition and they know that the addiction only takes. Jesus hasn’t come to turn stones to bread. He has come to turn stony hearts to hearts of flesh, to turn sinners to saints.

In the second temptation, the devil took Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple and said, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you,’ and ‘on their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.’” The devil knows that the Father cares for the Son. The devil knows that the holy angels care for Jesus. The pathetic aspect is that no one cares about Satan. The Father doesn’t care about Satan, the Son doesn’t care about Satan, the holy angels don’t care about Satan. The demons don’t care about Satan; they’re entirely selfish. Even people who claim to worship Satan don’t care about him. They don’t love him. No one cares about or loves the devil.

Jesus knows the Father loves Him. Jesus knows the holy angels love Him. He doesn’t need to prove it by putting the Father to the test.

In the third temptation, the devil took Jesus to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.”

What is the glory of the world’s kingdoms? It is not glory of military might like stealth bombers, Abram’s tanks, or guns. It’s not glory of palaces and temples. It’s not glory of technology and money. The glory of the kingdoms is the people; you, who are meant to be in the image and likeness of God. The glory of the kingdoms that Jesus desires and loves is the people. And in order to have them, Jesus must not bow His head to the devil. He does bow His head on the cross and give up His Spirit.

The pathetic aspect of this temptation is that no one wants to worship the devil. People who claim to be Satanists don’t actually want to worship the devil. Yet people do freely worship Jesus. You freely worship Him, as you also freely love Him. And, even for those who reject Christ and want nothing to do with His atonement will one day bend the knee, for at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.

Our Lord Jesus Christ crossed over, not the Rubicon, but the Jordan, and waged war against sin, death, and hell. He won. He died and lives and the price is paid. Atonement is complete. You are reconciled to God the Father through our Lord Jesus Christ.

In Christ, you have crossed, not the Rubicon river, but the font. You have been brought from death to life, sin to holiness, defilement to purity. There is no going back. Your life is new. You belong to Christ.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Ash Wednesday 2026

Ash Wednesday 2026

Over the course of the year there are different seasons. A season of heat, a season of cold. A season of growing warmth and a season of growing cool.

There are also seasons of intensity and seasons of less intensity. The grain farmer’s time is more intense during harvest and planting. The livestock farmer’s time is more intense during calving, lambing, and furrowing.

The accountant is busier during tax season. The football player has his summer training camp and the basketball player has training camp as well.

Lent is a more intense time for the Christian. Advent is, too, but Advent is shorter.

Lent is your training camp. Each Lent is an opportunity afresh to intensify your struggle against sin, death, and the devil, and also to intensify your training in Christian righteousness. We practice Christian habits. We train. We discipline. We grow in self-control.

In today’s Epistle, St. Peter is very clear that the Christian must increase and grow in righteousness: “For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall.”

If you do not practice these qualities, you will fall.

Jesus expects Christians to practice righteousness. Jesus says, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other men in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” It’s also true, “Beware of not practicing righteousness, for if you do not practice righteousness at all, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

You must practice righteousness. Jesus mentions three areas of righteousness that you are to practice. These are not the only three, but they are an excellent beginning. Pray. Give alms. Fast.

When you pray, do not pray as the hypocrites do. Nonetheless, do pray. When you fast, do not fast as the hypocrites do. Nonetheless, do fast. And when you give alms, do not give alms as the hypocrites do. Nonetheless, do fast.

There are different ways to do these and there are different ways to grow in these. Everyone’s prayer life, almsgiving life, and fasting life does not need to be the same; yet every Christian is to have some form of prayer life, almsgiving life, and fasting life.

For prayer: One way of prayer is to pray once a day. Another way of prayer is to pray morning and evening. Another way is to pray morning, noon, and evening. You may pray “in your heart.” You may pray out loud. You may pray the Psalms. You may pray written prayers in the hymnal. You may pray “off the cuff.” You may pray prepared prayers. You may pray with thanksgiving, intercession, lament, complaint, for yourself, for others. There are many ways to pray; you may pray brief or lengthy. You must pray.

There are different ways of almsgiving, and these may vary depending on your stage in life. A general benchmark for almsgiving is to give 10%, or a tithe. Giving may be broader than giving money. If you cannot give money, you may be able to give garden or farm produce. You may give clothing. You may give time and service. The different ways you give can vary, but you must give.

And fasting. It is strange that in recent church history Christians have had a deep aversion to fasting. Our aversion to it is wrong. Fasting is a Christian discipline and you need to fast. Biblically, fasting always has to do with food. Which means that biblically, fasting isn’t about giving up video games or watching baseball.

There are different ways to fast. One simple way to fast is you eat three meals a day and nothing else; no snacks, no desserts. You eat your three meals and receive your bread with thanksgiving. Another way to fast is to eat two meals a day, and nothing else. Another way to fast is you eat one meal a day, and nothing else. There are extended fasts, such as a 36 hour fast, a 48 hour fast. I know some brothers who do a 60 hour fast during holy week.

In fasting, you learn that man does not live on bread alone, but on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. You can miss a meal and it won’t hurt you; you won’t die. But if you miss out on the Word of God, you will die.

You must pray. You must give alms. You must fast. These are not optional. Jesus requires you to do them.

A servant is not above his master. A disciple is not above his teacher. And so it is that our Lord Jesus Christ prayed. Gave alms. Fasted.

In part, He fasted because He didn’t have a pantry, fridge, and freezer full of food at hand. He relied on the generosity of others. Yet even though He could turn stones to bread, He would not, for man does not live on bread alone. Man lives on every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Hunger for the Sacred Scriptures. Let them satisfy you more.

Jesus gave alms, yet He was poor. He didn’t store up mammon for Himself, neither did He give mammon. He didn’t put two pennies in the offering box. He put Himself in the offering box, giving all He had. This is my body, given for you. This is my blood, shed for you.

He prayed. In season and out of seasons, with intercession and supplication and thanksgiving, He prayed. He prayed for Himself. He prayed for others. He prayed for enemies. He prayed for you.

If these things were good for Jesus and pleasing to His Father in heaven, they are good for us, too. Practice righteousness. Grow this Lenten season in godly discipline. Learn afresh and deeper to deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Jesus to Golgotha and empty tomb. Where your treasure is, there your heart is also.

I know a man who saw treasure where others saw none. Therefore, He treasured up for Himself you, His treasure of the Kingdom, where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. The heart of Christ is with you.

In Jesus’ name. Amen.