Holy Cross Day

Good Shepherd

2004 Pass Rd, Biloxi, MS 39531

Draft Num 21:4–9; 1 Cor 1:18–25; Jn 12:20–33; Ps 40:1–11; antiph: v. 13   –     9/14/25

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Blessèd is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not turn to the proud, to those who go astray after a lie! Far from turning to the proud or trusting himself, Charlie Kirk of blessed memory by all accounts trusted in Christ Jesus the crucified. He not only argued politics with the many people he met, but publicly confessed faith in Jesus. He encouraged many college students to turn to the cross of Christ. Charlie was no enemy of any man, but rather an enemy of the ideology of the devil which the devil has used to blind so many to their sin and evil ways. Our temptation now is to respond with unrelenting anger and violence against those men and women who share the wicked ideology of Charlie’s assassin. But Paul warns, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” (Eph 12:19) Through His servants in the government, God will give Erika Kirk and her and Charlie’s children the beginnings of justice, but God’s full reward for this family’s suffering will only come at the Final Judgment.

In the mean time, every Christian who mourns the death of our brother in Christ must heed St. Paul’s admonition: Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. (Eph 6:11–13) We must equip ourselves with God’s Word as armor and weapon so that we will not be found wanting if God calls upon any of us to die for His name. This is the very reason I constantly admonish you to study your Bibles at home, praise you for attending Divine Service, and beg you to come to Sunday morning Bible Study, so that you may stand firm in the day that the devil, his demons, or his deluded humans come to attack your faith and the witness of the cross. St. Peter says, in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect (1 Pt 3:15). And Jesus said, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you (Jn 15:18).

Jesus was so effective a teacher because God’s Word was every moment His meditation during life and His prayer when He was crucified. The Pharisees could not contradict Him, any more than college students or professors could Charlie, but were constantly put to shame by the holiness of Christ, His calmness and straightforwardness in their discourses, and His grasp of God’s Word—Jesus of course had the advantage of being the author of the whole Bible, while fallible men like Charlie and the rest of us merely learn at the Master’s feet.

Ezekiel records this plea of God to His wayward people: As I live, declares the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn back, turn back from your evil ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? (Ezk 33:11) The same God who made that plea to unfaithful Israel some 25 hundred years ago is the God-Man Jesus Christ who also pled for the lives of the Israelites 2,000 years ago: O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! (Mt 23:37) Some few heard Christ’s condemnation of their sins and turned and repented. Most did not. Charlie, though himself imperfect, followed in Christ’s footsteps by reaching out to people misled by demons in the hope that through gentleness and respect, through faithful discussion and truth, he might turn them from the lies of the left and the devil. Some turned from the left, better yet, some turned from the devil, went to church, confessed before the cross and are now our brother’s in Christ. Many do not. We know Charlie is a Christian and though he has died yet he still lives in Christ because he publicly confessed Jesus, and he lived that confession in love toward his neighbor and even his enemy.

King David wrote, I waited patiently for the Lord; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon the Rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the Lord. Many are now free from the oppression of demons and the lies of paganism because of faithful men like Charlie who were and are unashamed to confess Christ, who are unashamed to direct their enemies to the cross where our Savior died so that even those in Jerusalem who killed Him would be forgiven of their sins and live. They waited patiently for the Lord, called out to Him, and were set upon the Rock who is Christ, and from that firm foundation in God’s Word gave witness to the saving work of God in Christ Jesus. Many saw, many continue to see and will see and believe.

Many men died because of their faithfulness to Christ. For Charlie it seems it was because he faithfully confessed God’s order of creation: from the beginning God created them male and female—so there is only male and female—, Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (Mt 19:4–5; Gn 2:24) so marriage can only be between a man and a woman; I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well (Ps 139:14), therefore the child in the womb cannot be murdered in abortion. Any one of us could likewise be called upon by God to make a faithful confession before the unbelieving world, even at the cost of your life. Therefore you must be prepared by knowing God’s Word, by having it ever on your lips and in your mind. You must know such passages as 1 Cor 6: do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God (9–10), therefore sex can only be within a marriage and thus cohabitation before marriage is damning, being a member of the lodges or practicing eastern mysticism, witchcraft or the like is damning, unfaithfulness in marriage is damning, sodomy and support of homosexuality is damning, theft, selfishness, drunkenness, excess, mockery, and lying are all damning. You must confess the truth of this statement even if it means your death, for only when sinners hear the consequences of their sin can they become remorseful, contrite, and so turn and live.

The devil’s doctrine teaches the opposite of all that I have just quoted to you from the Bible. He, his demons, and his followers teach the world that male and female are made up, he teaches this because he hates God’s creation of Adam and Eve. The devil teaches that marriage is about a feeling and thus any type of degenerate and any number should get married, he does this because he hates Christ the Bridegroom and the Church, Christ’s Bride. The devil teaches that sodomy and cohabitation and adultery are good because he hates women because in turn he hates that Jesus was born of a woman so that Jesus could defeat sin and death and the devil himself by dying on a cross. He encourages divorce because he loves to see the image of Christ and the Church broken. He teaches socialism and communism, greed and theft, lying and stealing, because he hates that God has promised the New Heavens and the New Earth, as well as all our daily needs to Christians. The devil teaches these so that people will not listen or believe the Word of the Bible but will hate and kill God’s servants whenever they confess the truth, and so that all deluded people will die in their sins and forever suffer in hell. We cannot compromise with the devil, with the demons, or with the people who are taught, led, or possessed by them, for to compromise means to abandon God’s Law and Word and join them in their sin.

It is precisely through the faithful witness to God’s order of creation, God’s Law, which shows unbelievers the lies of the devil, shows them their sin and their final judgment in hell so that they may be broken, despair of themselves and confess their sins, then it is precisely through the confession of the cross, the good news that Christ Jesus, true God and true Man, was born one of us so that He could take on the guilt of all our sins, our guilt for all the evils I read before, abortion, adultery, divorce, sodomy, theft, lying, greed, envy, and pay for that guilt in our place on the cross so that we would be forgiven. It is precisely that confession of faithful knowledgable men which brings the comfort of God’s grace to the hurting hearts of the repentant sinner.

Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him. Just as Christ did not love His life but gave it up that we might live, so Merle Golnick of blessed memory and Ruth Gilbert did not love their lives but loved Christ crucified more and therefore Ruth and Merle today live forever, so also Charlie Kirk of blessed memory did not love his life but loved Christ more and therefore Charlie today lives forever. So may each one of us be asked to hate our life for Christ’s sake so that we may save our life forever through faithful confession of the cross of Christ before a murderous world.

Augustine explains: “‘And he that hates his life in this world, shall keep it to life eternal.’ But think not for an instant, that by hating your soul, is meant that you may kill yourself. For wicked and perverse men have sometimes so mistaken it, and have burnt and strangled themselves, thrown themselves from precipices, and in other ways put an end to themselves. This did not Christ teach; nay, when the devil tempted Him to cast Himself down, He said, Get you hence, Satan. But when no other choice is given you; when the persecutor threatens death, and you must either disobey God’s law, or depart out of this life, then hate your life in this world, that you may keep it to life eternal. But what is it to serve Christ? The very words explain. They serve Christ who seek not their own things, but the things of Jesus Christ, i.e. who follow Him, walk in His, not their own ways, do all good works for Christ’s sake, not only works of mercy to men’s bodies, but all others, till at length they fulfill that great work of love, and lay down their lives for the brethren. But what fruit, what reward? you ask. The next words tell you: ‘And where I am, there shall also My servant be.’ Love Him for His own sake, and think it a rich reward for your service, to be with Him.” (Tractates on the Gospel of John 51.8f; Catena)

Why here during the last week of Christ’s life before He must ascend to the cross do the Greeks come and say, Sir, we wish to see Jesus? For the same reason the Gentile Magi came to see Jesus at the beginning of His life: Because they have heard word of Christ, and know that in Him is their life, their forgiveness, their salvation. God called upon Paul and eleven of the twelve Apostles to give up their lives as witness in martyrdom so that their enemies might see their love, might understand their confession of Christ, and so believe. Just so also with us. Even for our enemies, if we are truly to be Christians, even for Charlie’s assassin, we must desire and pray that they would hear the Word, repent, be forgiven, and so join us as our brothers in Christ.

Augustine commends this thought to you: “If you love [your soul], lose it. Sow it here, and you will reap it in heaven. If the farmer does not lose wheat in the seed, he does not love it in the harvest. … Do not love your soul so much that you lose it. People who are afraid to die seem to love their souls. If the martyrs had loved their souls like that, they would undoubtedly have lost them. … What good, after all, would it be to hold on to the soul on earth and lose it in heaven? And what does holding on to it amount to? Keeping it for how long? What you keep eventually vanishes from you. If you lose it, you find it in yourself. … The martyrs lost their souls at a great profit—losing straw, earning a crown. Earning a crown, I repeat, and keeping hold of life without end.” (Sermon 331.1) Amen.