LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 2013, Page 75

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Convention Sermon
❽ “Baptized for Life Together”
Acts 2:37–42 • Wednesday Morning

By THE REV. Dr. James A. Baneck, President, LCMS North Dakota District
65th Regular Convention of The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod | July 24, 2013

Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter
and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And Peter said
to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus
Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the
Holy Spirit. 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.” And
with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them,
saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day
about three thousand souls.
And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.

D

ear Baptized in Christ. Today we are talking about “Baptized
for Life Together.” What builds our “life together”? What
is the DNA of our Lutheran koinonia? What defines
“fellowship” among us in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod?
Well, let’s put some things to the test and see if these things build
true fellowship, true life together among us.
How about betraying, slandering, and hurting the reputation of one
another through our blogs, e-mails, and Web sites? Does this build
life together among us? How about despising preaching and God’s
Word by criticizing your pastor or pressuring him to practice things
like open Communion or allowing couples to live together outside
of marriage? Is that our koinonia at work? How about demonstrating
anger and insulting your brother when it comes to pitting missional
over confessional, or confessional over missional? Does this foster
our fellowship among us? How about mounting up a defense with
sympathizers in your own philosophical camp when you want to
prove yourself right rather than go to your brother, between him
and you alone, for the sake of the truth and each other’s soul? Does
this build life together in The Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod?
Sin can never create or build life together among us.
Our text is Peter’s sermon on Pentecost. Earlier in Peter’s sermon,
Peter says to the crowd, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of
Nazareth, a man attested to you by God … you crucified and killed
by the hands of lawless men” (Acts 2:22–23). And the sins we commit, that I commit, that you commit every day, our wrongdoing,
it shatters our life together, our iniquities crumble our koinonia,
our own lawlessness destroys our fellowship. And all the while,
we are putting to death the Christ, whom we have killed with our
own rebellious lives.
Is this not what Isaiah speaks of when he says, “But He was wounded
for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities” (Is.
53:5)? Is this not what St. Paul speaks of when he says, “For our
sake God made Jesus to be [our] sin who knew no sin” (2 Cor.

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5:21)? This is not the killing of just another man. This is not the
killing of some heroic human scapegoat: St. Peter said, “Let all the
house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made HIM
both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:36,
emphasis added). And earlier, Peter says, “This Jesus God raised
up … being exalted at the right hand of God” (Acts 2:32–33). God
has died in our place, and this same God rose from the dead. He is
the sacrifice for sinners and the payment for all of our lawlessness
and our lawless condition and deeds.
St. Luke then tells us, “Now when they heard this they were cut to
the heart” (Acts 2:37). Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, are you
cut to the heart today? Are you cut to the heart for your own sins?
Are you cut to the heart when you acknowledge the tremendous
sacrifice of God for your sin? The hearers of St. Peter were cut to
the heart. They were accused and they were guilty and they were
convicted. As we sit here this morning, and as we stand here this
morning, we indeed are accused, guilty, and convicted—with the
Pentecost crowd we should all be asking the same question, “What
shall we do? What shall we do?”
And the preacher, St. Peter, answers, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts
2:38, emphasis added). Indeed, we are here this day as repentant
sinners. In joyous confession, we cry out, “Have mercy on me, O
God, according to Your steadfast love; … Create in me a clean
heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Ps. 51:1, 10).
As we cry out our confession, we do indeed cry it out with great joy,
because we know that no sooner do we even think our confession,
even before the words pass our lips, this same Jesus who became
our sin, who knew no sin, utters those most gracious words as He
speaks them to you this day, “Your sins are forgiven.” And you are
now the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. In Christ, you this
day are pure, and you are holy. You are clean and you are radiant,
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