Sermon -- HVL Chapel (April 21, 2023)

This sermon was preached for chapel at Huron Valley Lutheran High School in Westland, Michigan.  

As of this summer, HVL will be known as Hope Christian Academy, enrolling children grades 6-12.

PSALM 110:1

WE ARE CONQUERORS WHO HAVE A DIVINE INTERCESSOR.

In the name + of Jesus.

     Let’s begin with a pop quiz, shall we?

     True or False?  The one who rules over all creation is a man.

     True or False?  God died on Good Friday.

     If you are having trouble figuring out the answers to this quiz, it is because you are trying to unravel a mystery.  A mystery is different from a secret.  Once I tell you a secret, it is no longer a secret.  You know it.  But a mystery remains a mystery even after you know it.  The best example is the Holy Trinity.  We worship one God.  Our one God is three persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  That is not a secret; you know it and confess it to be true.  Each—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—is God, and yet there is only one God, not three.  Don’t try to figure it out.  It is a mystery.

     Another mystery is the two natures of Jesus Christ.  He is true God and true man—two natures in one person.  He is not half God and half man.  He is 100% God and 100% man.  Your math class teaches you that this is 200%.  But Jesus is not two people.  He is one.  Don’t try to figure it out.  It is a mystery.

     Now, God does not reveal these things to us for the sake of religious trivia or just to be theological stumpers.  Everything God reveals to us is for our salvation and for our comfort.  King David revealed to you that the one who is true God and true man serves you for your good.  We are conquerors who have a divine intercessor.

     David wrote, “The LORD says to my lord” (Psalm 110:1).  The first Lord is Yahweh, God Almighty.  He utters a divine proclamation.  But to whom?  David says, “my lord.”  This is not the divine name, Yahweh, but a word meaning master or superior.  David was not speaking about himself, as if God was giving David a place at the right hand of the Father.  He was speaking about his descendant.  Now, if this is David’s descendant, he is a man.  But if he is David’s superior, he is God.  So, he is both God and man.

     The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1).  Jesus is given a place at the right hand of the Father.  For most people, the right hand is the dominant hand.  Therefore, Jesus is given a place of dominance.  Jesus told his apostles after his resurrection, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matthew 28:18).  Now, that probably does not surprise you.  “God rules.”  Stop the presses, right?

     But what our Lord is revealing to us is much more.  Jesus of Nazareth lived in humility and weakness throughout his life.  He gave glimpses of his divine nature, mainly through the miracles he did.  But he came in humility and weakness and mortality so that he could die for you.  But Psalm 49 teaches us, “Truly no man can ransom another, or give to God the price of his life” (Psalm 49:7).  So, if a man dies for you, he does not save you.  But God died on the cross on Good Friday.  God himself makes the payment which takes away your sins.

     On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead.  “God has power over death.”  Stop the presses again, right?  But it was a man who has overcome death.  That means that you who are mankind, will also be delivered from death.  The grave cannot hold you.  Jesus will raise you up.  One man has conquered death on behalf of all mankind.  Then he ascended into heaven, paving the way into heaven on behalf of all mankind.  St. Paul wrote, “There is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5).  Jesus is God who has come to earth, and he is man who has ascended into heaven.  He is God who has died for the sins of all mankind, and he is the man who has conquered death for all mankind.  Thanks to Jesus, God will dwell with man and men will dwell with God.  He is your divine intercessor.

     The LORD says to my lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool” (Psalm 110:1).  Jesus of Nazareth, true man, united to you as your dear brother, lives and reigns for you.  He is at the right hand of the Father, which means that this man is making the full use of his divine abilities for your good.  He is your divine intercessor, guaranteeing that God’s favor rests upon you and that all things will work for your ultimate good—maybe not for your immediate happiness, but certainly for your eternal well-being.

     Every enemy will be destroyed and crushed under Jesus’ feet.  The last enemy to be destroyed is death.  On the Last Day, Jesus will raise you up to live forever in glory.  Jesus will guarantee your place there before the Father.  This does not mean that your Father in heaven is one big meany who is disappointed that he does not get to smite you.  Your Father in heaven loves you.  He is pleased that Jesus lived, suffered, died, and rose for you.  Jesus intercedes before him, and the Father delights to hear it and to call you his own.  He is pleased to give you the kingdom. 

     We are more than conquerors, for Jesus has rescued us.  Through Jesus, we have overcome sin.  Through Jesus, we will be delivered from death.  Through Jesus, we are destined for heavenly glory.  We have a divine intercessor who comforts us in our fears and sorrows and who strengthens and keeps us in the one, true faith until life everlasting.  He is our Immanuel.  Because he lives and reigns forever, he will bring us to live and reign with him.

In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.