The Promise For You

Overview

We Are Promise Breakers; God Is Not

We make promises constantly—to ourselves, to our spouses, to our children, to our coworkers, to God. And many of those promises, we break. We know the weight of that failure. Psalm 38:3-8 describes the physical, mental, and spiritual heaviness of sin: "There is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation… my iniquities have gone over my head; like a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me." That is the same cut-to-the-heart conviction that fell on the crowd as Peter preached at Pentecost, when they cried out, "What shall we do?"

Repent and Be Baptized

Peter's answer in Acts 2:38-39 is the same answer given to us: "Repent and be baptized." Repentance itself is a gift—a divine grace that turns us away from sin and back toward God. And baptism, far from being one more promise we are tasked with keeping, is a promise made by God to us. We cannot break our baptism, because the promise of baptism does not rest on our ability to live as a baptized believer. It rests on Jesus.

In baptism we are saved from judgment, reconciled to God, forgiven, and made members of the new people of God. Romans 6:3-5 tells us we are united with Christ in his death and resurrection. When the Lutheran confessions say baptism is "necessary," this is not law hanging over our heads like a threat. The sacraments are not law—they are gospel. They are God's tangible word and will toward sinners, the seal and guarantee that the inheritance of Christ is ours and our children's.

A Promise God Always Keeps

Scripture is full of promises God has made and kept—to Noah, marked by the rainbow; to Abraham, that through him all nations would be blessed; to David, that his offspring would establish an everlasting kingdom. The promise spoken through Peter is the same kind of promise: "For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself." That includes you. Whether you were called as an infant, as a child, as an adult, or this very day, you are among the "far off" whom God has drawn to himself.

Living in Your Baptism

Three thousand souls were added to the church that day, and the growth has never stopped. You are part of that ongoing story. Baptism is not a one-time event left behind in a font; it is the ongoing reality in which we live and move and have our being—at work, at play, and at worship—because the reality of baptism is Christ himself, always present with his saints. So when you stumble under the weight of your own broken promises, return to the one promise that never fails. Jesus secured it on the cross when he cried, "It is finished," and he keeps it for you still through his word, his water, and his supper. When Jesus says, "I promise," it is a promise kept for you for all eternity.

Transcript

How many times in your life have you heard the words I promise? 0s

And how many times in your life have you said the words I promise? 7s

I was thinking about what promises we make in our lives every day. 17s

We make promises to ourselves. 21s

I'm not going to eat the bag of Oreos today. 24s

I'm not going to eat that. 26s

I'm going to go for a walk. 27s

I'm going to spend more time reading my Bible. 28s

I'm going to do this. 30s

We make these promises to ourselves. 32s

We make promises to our parents from the time we're able to walk and talk. 33s

We make promises to our friends. 39s

We make promises to our teachers. 42s

We make promises to our spouse. 44s

We make promises to our children. 47s

And we make promises to our co-workers and bosses. 49s

And I made promises to you, the amazing congregation of living Word just this morning. 52s

We make promises every single day. 60s

I promise to fill in the blank. 65s

We make promises every single day. 69s

And I won't say that every single day, but many of those days, most days, we break our promises. 72s

We break those promises that we make. 82s

And there are those of us who really view promises from the outset as the piecress promise. 86s

Easily made, easily broken. 90s

I learned that from the great Mary Poppins. 92s

The fact of the matter is that no matter how many times we promise ourselves 95s

that we will keep our Word, we often break our promises. 102s

My kids don't let me forget if I break a promise to them. 107s

Maybe you have someone that tries to hold you accountable to the promises that you make. 111s

Do you ever feel guilty? Do you ever feel guilty when you break a promise? 118s

My thought is that you, like most people, do you feel ashamed? 125s

Or you feel guilty when a promise is broken? 131s

And we certainly feel hurt or angry when a promise made to us is broken. 135s

But we feel guilty when we break our promises. 143s

In the text that we heard today, the acts text, we pick up right at the end of Peter's sermon 146s

after which the Jewish people were really made aware of their sin. 151s

Just as a quick reminder, we're going to open our Bibles to page 104, the scripture, the Bible in the 156s

New verse 36 sums it up for us. 162s

So this is the verse right before where we picked up today. 166s

It says, therefore, let the entire house of Israel know with certainty that God has made him both 170s

Lord and Messiah, this Jesus whom you crucified and the Jews that were hearing Peter's sermon 178s

worked cut to the heart. God's law has a tendency to do that. 190s

The law of God is the word that is a sword and they were cut to the heart. 199s

They found themselves guilty. Guilty of breaking the promises that they had made to Yahweh. 209s

And they immediately asked, what can we do? How can we make this right? 218s

Now, I want to take a little side note here. These men have need. They are desperate 224s

looking for a way to make this better, to try to write the wrong that they have done. 230s

There is a literal physical and spiritual and mental response to sin. 237s

If you open your Bible again to page 475, we're going to open up to Psalm 38, verses 3 through 8. 246s

It says, there is no soundness in my flesh because of your indignation. 257s

There is no health in my bones because of my sin. For my equities have gone over my head 265s

like a heavy burden they are too heavy for me. My wounds stink in 272s

fester because of my foolishness. I am utterly bowed down and prostrate all the day I go about 278s

morning. For my sides are filled with burning and there is no soundness in my flesh. I am fable 285s

and crushed. I groan because of the tumult of my heart. 293s

I draw attention to this because we know the heaviness, the weightiness of the guilt and shame 300s

when we sin. When our sin is before us, we are also cut to the heart and we ask, 313s

what shall we do? What is Peter's answer? Repent and be baptized. Repent and be baptized. 321s

So I don't know all of you yet. I don't know how many visitors we have. I don't know if any of you 335s

are unfamiliar with the Lutheran denomination or new to it. But I'm going to tell you right now 340s

in the Lutheran church we talk a lot about baptism. But scripture talks a lot about baptism. 345s

Repent and be baptized. Repenting is a gift from God. It was seen as a divine gift to the Jewish 359s

people and it really remains a gift to you and I. It allows us the opportunity to repair the 369s

relationship with God. It allows us the chance to deny sin and to turn to please and honor God 378s

with our lives. Repent and be baptized. And we have promises in baptism. But if you recall, 385s

we are promise breakers. So do we break our baptisms? No, no, because the promises that are made 397s

in baptism are from God to us. The promise of your baptism does not rest upon you or your ability 409s

to live as a baptized believer. The promise of your baptism is the promise of Jesus for you. 421s

What does this promise entail? Well, in baptism we are saved from judgment. We're brought to God. 432s

We're reconciled. We're forgiven. We're made new members of the new people of God. In baptism, 439s

we are united to Christ's death and his resurrection. Roman 6, starting in verse 3 says, 448s

do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 456s

We were buried therefore. By baptism into death, in order that just as Christ was raised from the 463s

goodness of life, for we have been united with him in a death like his. We shall certainly be united 476s

with him in a resurrection like his. What about those who aren't baptized? What about my neighbor 483s

that has never had the washing of the water? When you read the confessions of the church, 493s

you see you will read that we confess, we believe that baptism is necessary for salvation. 501s

But we can't get hung up on the word necessary because the word necessary to our ears rings like 509s

law. It's like a consequence hanging over our heads. If you don't wear a coat, you will be cold. 517s

If you don't breathe, you will die. If you aren't baptized, you are doomed. 523s

But the sacraments, the sacraments aren't law. They're gospel. It's good news. The sacraments 530s

are God's promise to you and God's promise can never be law. It is always good news. Baptism 539s

and communion are used to strengthen and sustain faith. They're used to confirm it and grow it, 551s

even to create it because the sacraments are the word and the will of God towards sinners 561s

saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus. So baptism is the promise of God 569s

that the blood of Jesus washes away your sin and makes you righteous. Baptism is God's mercy 576s

toward us. In it, we are promised with his seal and guarantee that we are among the blessed 586s

and that the inheritance of Christ is ours and our childrens. Peter told the Jewish people that this 594s

promise is for them. He said, this promise is for you and it is for your children and it is for all 602s

who are far off for all whom the Lord our God will call. That's you. You are the far off for all 610s

for whom the Lord our God has called. Whether you were called as an infant or a child or an adult 623s

or this very day perhaps, perhaps you are called in this moment as the Lord called the Jews 632s

through Peter in our acts reading. So when we confess that baptism is necessary, we aren't saying 639s

that anyone not baptized can't go to heaven. Instead we're confessing and insisting that baptism 648s

is not our doing but it's God's promise for us and it's that tangible grace of God. In the small 656s

salvation to all who believe this as the words and promise of God declare the mercy and grace 678s

in Christ Jesus is the only thing necessary for salvation and that does not rest on you or I. 688s

If we look again at our acts reading, we read that Paul or Peter, 701s

excuse me, Peter testified with many arguments and exhortations. But Luke doesn't tell us exactly 706s

what he said. The only specifics that we have from Peter regarding salvation here is that 713s

there is a promise for all through repentance and baptism. God made a lot of promises. We can read 723s

them from Genesis all the way through Revelation. There were promises made to Noah, to Abraham, 732s

to David, to the disciples, to Paul. And we know that the Lord carried through on those promises. 739s

When he told Noah that there would never be a flood covering the entire earth again, 746s

he carried through on that. We have the rainbow even today to remind us that that will never happen. 751s

God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many, that his descendants would be as numerous 758s

as the stars and that he would be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. He promised that through 764s

Abraham all the nations of the earth will gain blessing. And the promises to Abraham are the 770s

foundation of Israel, but they are also the foundation of the New Testament. The promise to David 776s

was that the Lord would make for him a great name, appointing a place for Israel, planting them 784s

in their own land. The Lord promised David that through his offspring, a house and a kingdom 789s

would be established forever. God carried these promises out. And the promise that God has made to you 796s

is absolutely no different. We may be promise breakers. But that's exactly why we don't rely on 805s

ourselves to keep the promise of baptism. Jesus kept that promise for you when he shed his blood 813s

on the cross. Jesus secured that promise for you when he cried out. It is finished and gave up his spirit. 821s

Jesus continues to keep that promise through his church here on earth, through his word, 834s

his water, his supper. In the promise of our baptism, we are given the promise of living 840s

free in Christ. I was talking with Steve this this week and he said, why don't we take that and run with it 850s

when it comes down to it, we are living in our baptisms every day whether we're at work, 860s

or at play, or we're in church. Baptism is the ongoing reality in which we live and move and 868s

have our being since the reality of baptism is Christ who is always and everywhere living with 877s

and among his saints. That day when Peter called the people to repentance and baptism, 887s

there were 3,000 souls added to the church and that was just the start. It has never stopped 895s

growing and it's so exciting that we get to be a part of bringing this good news. We as those saints 904s

added get to be a part of sharing the life and salvation through Jesus Christ to our little corner 914s

in this world. Are we adding 3,000 souls right now in this moment? Well, there are 3,000 people in this room, 924s

but that's okay. You're here and you are called into a life saving, a life giving faith, 933s

founded and kept through the promise of Jesus blood for you. That's the promise that Peter announced 945s

to his Jewish brothers causing them to repent and be baptized and it's the same promise that we 955s

have the joy and the privilege of sharing with our neighbors. So regardless of how many times you break 961s

your own promises, know that when Jesus said, I promise it is a promise that is kept for you 968s

for all eternity. Amen. 978s