To pray in Jesus' name is to pray on the basis of his merit and satisfaction. The resurrected Lord bid his disciples to pray in his name, and shortly after saying this, he died and rose from the dead, and  then after 40 days ascended into heaven, carrying our prayers with him to the ear of the Father. Sermon for Rogate, audio.

Jesus himself preached to convict the world of sin, to call men to himself, as he first called Adam back to himself in the Garden; and Jesus himself also was himself the righteous One, who made atonement in his righteousness for the sin of the world, that we may be saved. And Jesus rose from the dead, which utterly crushed the prince of this world. And the next phase of his work was to send forth his apostles to preach these things in his stead; and indeed this is none other than the work of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. And this work began on Pentecost and continues to  the present day, and time, and place: right here he preaches, he distributes the righteousness of Christ in the Sacrament, and he announces Jesus' resurrection from the dead. Sermon for Cantate, audio.

St Mark's symbol is a lion, and he preached and wrote the Gospel of the Lion of Judah, our Lord Jesus Christ. He reportedly wrote down the witness of Peter at the behest of the apostles at Jerusalem, and Peter himself approved. And he also went forth to Alexandria and preached Christ there and became the first bishop  there, at length giving his life for it, into martyrdom. Mark's self-characterization is as a young unnamed man who, when the authorities apprehended him as the disciples all fled, himself left the linen cloth in which he was clothed and fled away naked. For he learned, as we must know, that to flee away from Christ is truly to become naked and without salvation. Further, his depictions of the weaknesses of the disciples amplifies the fact that the Church lives and grows not because of us but by the grace of God alone. And this is a good thing to know as your pastor approaches retirement and a new man must step in. The Church is always dependent on the grace of God. Audio for the sermon.

The news of the resurrection turned the disciples’ sorrow into joy, just as Jesus had said. The world rejoiced to be rid of Jesus, whom they hated, at last, while the disciples were in utter despair; but just as he said, it was just for a little while; and then he appeared to the Emmaus disciples who rejoiced on Easter. But he vanished, until he appeared again in the upper room, and they were glad. And he vanished again. Each Easter appearance was not permanent, for he vanished after each, until the day of his ascension. And then, after another ‘little while’, came Pentecost, when now he would ‘appear’ again, this time through the ministry of the Apostles. And thus it has been every Sunday since then, every ‘little while’, he appears when we hear his preachers proclaim him and when we receive his very Body and Blood in the supper. And this, then, is the true source of joy—as joy is the meaning of Jubilate—the awareness that Jesus is risen from the dead; thus let us turn from the errors of despair and despondency by regular weekly worship when we ‘see’ him again in preaching and the Supper. Audio: Sermon for Jubilate.
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Jesus' discourse to the Jews in St John 5 indicates that he is himself the God of Israel who brought Israel out of Egypt. As they celebrated the Passover, and then crossed out of Egypt into freedom, so Christ is himself the true Passover Lamb and is also the God who spoke through Moses and led his people out. And he indicated that his people are those who hear his word, even as he had said through Moses, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord. So must all men honor him as they honor the Father, for he is himself the same God. And he warns his hearers, even as he had warned the Israelites, that they, being redeemed, must follow him. But many of the Israelites turned aside to false gods, idolatry, and immorality, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness, while the faithful who followed and heeded were at length brought into the Promised Land. So also, let us follow him and hear his word in this world filled with darkness and all manner of idolatry, that we may gain the eternal life he promised. The Audio: Sermon for Midweek of Easter II.

When Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd, he is asserting his divinity in three ways: He is the I AM, he is good, and he is the Shepherd of Israel, to which all former shepherds (such as Moses and David) pointed. And his shepherding therefore includes his laying down of his life for his sheep, for that was the price of their redemption. Yet there are many pretenders, who do not  represent the Good Shepherd. They do not call people away from  their sins, but affirm them in wickedness. And thus they see the wolf and flee. And the wolf, that is, the devil, wreaks havoc. Does he not? Consider the effects of his wickedness on this culture, which so many preachers do nothing to oppose: the millions of slaughtered infants by abortion, the countless deceptions by which people are deceived into mutilating their bodies and their children because they thought they needed to change their gender, and thought they could. So much wickedness; but the Good Shepherd not only laid down his life; he also arose from the dead (for what good is a dead shepherd?). And now, having risen, he sends forth his preachers, through which he actively shepherds his flock and calls them into newness of life, following his great example of humility and love, born anew through Baptism and the Spirit. So heed his call right now today and follow him away from the deceptions of this world and into his marvelous light. Sermon for Misericordias Domini.
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The Annunciation is an appropriate time to consider the piety of the Blessed Virgin. Her visit from the angel, and his greeting to her, troubled her, for she knew that she, being a member of the fallen human race, was unworthy. But the Lord had favor on her, even as he does on all those who receive him in faith and humility. And she became the Mother of God, the highest office on earth, yet she was not given to pride but accepted it as the Lord gave: “Be it unto me according to Thy word.” So let us all accept our stations in life willingly, and know that because her Son, the Son of God, has come to us to bring us eternal salvation through his worth and merit. Sermon for the Annunciation.
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Thomas was a thorough-going rationalist, which is why he declared that he would not believe without inspection. The dead do not rise; that is what the rationalist must conclude upon examination of all his evidence, until this day when new evidence is presented. Jesus stands before him, alive, and now he must admit that he was wrong, for Christ is risen. And this means that the dead do rise, in Christ, and his peace that he announced to his disciples at his resurrection is an eternal peace with cannot be taken away. Let us believe with the incontrovertible evidence that brought also Thomas to his conviction, saying, My Lord and My God. Sermon for the Easter Octave.
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Alleluia! Christ is risen!

And we have heard the sweet reports of his resurrection, we have heard them! Sweeter than honey to our taste are they! So let us recount these glad reports again on this glad Easter Day. And especially the report of the first witness to the resurrection, Mary Magdalene, as we recounted in the ancient Sequence Hymn for today: Dic nobis Maria, quid vidisti in via? That is, Speak to us, Mary, What did you see in the way? And that hymn continues, inferring from the Gospel’s account the words of her glad reply. She must have said something like this: The tomb of Christ, who is living, and the glory, I saw, of his resurrection; Bright angels attesting, the shroud, and the napkin. Yea, Christ my hope is arisen; He will go before you to Galilee. Ah, my Hope, my Joy and my Confidence! Mary saw the first evidence of his resurrection at the tomb. Bright angels brought tidings, that she might believe. They directed her gaze to the shroud and napkin. See, the shroud and napkin could not hold him; their captive corpse has sprung to new life, freed forever from their grasp. Mary, What did you see in the way? Yea, Christ my hope is arisen, she now tells his brethren, as it was told to her; He will go before you to Galilee. For from Galilee this trumpet of life and salvation must sound; from Galilee of the Gentiles, that is; for these tidings must now be spread by four Gospels to the four corners of the earth, that all may hear and believe, and likewise exclaim with Mary, Christ my hope is arisen! She was the first to know this, but not the last! For we ourselves know it, beloved! We know it now! And with the whole Christian Church in heaven and on earth we rejoice today, and say, Christ my hope is arisen!
 
But Mary, you saw more than this, did you not? For we have the words of your continued report, in the Gospel. What did you say? Speak to us again! For we know more fully that you actually lingered in the garden that morning, weeping, and then you saw him yourself, but at first you did not recognize him, when he spoke to you and said, Woman, why weepest thou? Whom seekest thou?; And you replied, supposing him to be the gardener, and asked him where he might have laid your Lord, that you may take him away. And then what? Tell us, Mary. O joy! Then what? Then he called out your name: Mary. And at once you turned yourself, and you recognized him, you knew him, you saw him; you were the first to see him, to lay your eyes on him. Rabboni!, you cried out, which is to say, Master! Ah Mary, What did you see in the way? You saw the Way! You saw the Way himself! With your very eyes, now through the traces of the tears you had just been so bitterly shedding. O Mary, you saw Jesus himself! The Answer for a pining soul and a sad countenance, whose prayer at last was answered! What prayer? The prayer of a longing heart, a prayer such as this one that David had first prayed: When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek. Hide not thy face far from me! Here, Mary, that longing prayer was finally answered; here, in the garden, you saw at last his face! And so you cried out, Master! Master!
 
For now you saw for the first time just how rich and complete is his mastery. He is Master in an absolute sense, not merely as others might be called master. He is master over all, for now he, having died, stands alive on earth before you. He lives! He is master over death and the grave. Death’s mightiest powers have done their worst, and Jesus hath his foes dispersed; Let shouts of praise and joy outburst, Alleluia!
 
And he is master over sin, too. For he rebuffed all of sin’s temptations, but bore all their penalties as well. He resisted every enticement to do evil, but suffered the consequences of all evildoing. He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. And so he is the Banishment of all guilt, however genuine; he was crucified for us, to take away our guilt, and he now here stands, alive again: Master!
 
And Satan is defeated and smashed. The source of all wickedness and lies and murder, the cause of all evil in every place, Satan, the very heart of darkness, is vanquished this day. His domain is stripped from him, and all his armor wherein he trusted. His lair has crumbled and all his legions have been crushed beneath the finishing blow of the Almighty, the Incarnate One, Christ the Crucified, risen from the dead. Master!
 
Master indeed, over the earth, for he is the living redeemer, the owner of all things. See, he holds the bill of sale: he made the purchase. Not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death. He stands alive here before Mary, on the very earth he once created, which was lost in sin and death, but no longer. Now he is owner: Master. All power in heaven and on earth is given to him now.
 
So now, Mary, speak to us again! What happened next? When you saw him you sprang to embrace him then in your trembling arms, and by your exultant heart! But he forbad it, saying, Touch me not! Touch me not? But why not? Because, he said, I have not yet ascended to My Father, but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father, and to my God, and your God. And what can this mean, but that you, Mary, may touch him then! When? When, he says, my brethren have seen me, and when they have received from my mouth the Spirit of their Apostleship, and when I then ascend to my Father and theirs. Then you may touch me, Mary! And you shall indeed touch me then, and share forever in the blessed touch of my living flesh, through their ministry; for when their absolving hands touch you, I will be touching you; and when their inspired lips preach to you, it is I who will be speaking; and when by their ministrations they distribute to you my very Body and Blood, it is I myself who shall be distributing these blessed elements, and because they are My own Body and Blood, then especially, Mary, as nowhere else, and in never a more personal or genuine way; then you shall touch me; and it is not only you that shall touch me; but throughout the whole world until the end of the age, wherever my people are gathered together in my name: they shall touch me too, for I am risen from the dead not only for you, Mary, whose tears have ceased, but for all of them, so that their tears might also be wiped away; for them, who like you have pined away and longed for me, for all of them who have all likewise been held captive in the clutches of sin and its certain wages of death, for them, who have all known sorrow and pain, and depression and grief, and the touch and sting of death; for them, that all of these things may vanish because now they may touch me.
 
Mary Magdalene, the first to witness the resurrection, and who therefore was the first to rejoice in its effects, is most assuredly not the last! And behold, now she has touched him, and is forever comforted in his eternal embrace! For now she rejoices in the Church Triumphant, now she touches him and is made alive; and now the same touch and life is here for all of you. For now is Christ risen from the dead, and the four trumpets of his glorious resurrection have sounded to the four corners of all the world, and still today are they heard! Do you hear them today? Do you see? Do you touch? Do you believe? Verily you must believe, for their sound is gone out in all the earth, and their words to the end of heaven. And the earthquake of that first Easter sunrise has now filled the words of the glad tidings, and so let the very earth quake again today, and let all creation now rejoice, and may every heart cry out, Master! And let us touch him, and eternally rejoice, and say, Christ my hope is arisen! Yea and amen:
 
Alleluia! Christ is risen!  The audio is here.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
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Behold, I tell you a mystery. Christ our Lord went out to do battle against our foes, and in the battle he fell.  But he is not fallen. He was bruised; he lost his life. But he lives. He was crucified, but he was not destroyed. He slept, but he is not sleeping. He died, but he is not dead. He was buried, but he is no longer buried. Today he is not fallen; he stands before the women at the tomb and says, All hail! Today he has awakened from the grave; he lives, and thus was the Scripture fulfilled: I laid me down and slept; I awaked. For the Lord sustained me.
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Our Lord’s crucifixion was not his demise; it was his victory. It was not the triumph of darkness, but the washing of the world in light. It was not the devil’s greatest moment, but his utter undoing. In the net which he hid is his own foot taken. For Christ is risen from the dead, and therefore has taken from him all his armor wherein he trusted, and divided the spoils. His ammunition is all spent; his armory is empty, he has nothing left, for he cast it all upon Jesus. Hell’s darkest powers have done their worst. All of his arrows have been shot, all of his missiles have been launched, they all fell on Jesus all at once, and caused him to be done in, killed, crucified, buried, dead, and gone. But he is risen. And the devil has nothing left, he is emptied, he is demolished!
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery. Your sins are also removed, because of this. You know them, do you know? You have not been ignorant of your sins. You have been pierced by guilt and shame. You have tried to free yourself, but you have failed, and you remain poor, miserable sinners, as you so often, rightly, confess. But your sins have been removed. For it was your sins that were the poison tip of Satan’s arrows against Christ. It was your fault that he was crucified. You did it. Not merely the Jews, or the Romans, or Pilate, or the riotous crowd, or the soldiers. It was you. Those punishments were yours. The crucifixion was yours, and the death, also yours. You killed Jesus, though it is a devastating thing to admit and own. He would not have needed to die if it were not for you. But see, he is risen. He is risen; and all those sins of yours that were placed upon him are now dead and gone forever. They are wiped away. As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. And all this is undeniable and incontrovertible, because Christ is risen from the dead.
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And why? Why must this be? Because Christ is risen, and has routed the devil; Christ is risen, and he has buried our sins in the grave from which he arose; Christ is risen, and our sins are therefore removed. And therefore we shall be changed, for, as we know, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. As Christ is risen, so shall we rise. As Christ came forth bodily out of the grave, so shall we come forth bodily out of the grave. As Christ took his stand upon the earth, so shall we take our stand upon the earth. In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. And why? Why must this be? Because Christ put on incorruption, and Christ is now immortal. For He is risen from the dead.
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery. All you who sorrow; today there is no cause of sorrow. All you who grieve; today there is no cause of grief. All you who are heavy laden with guilt and sin; today there is no penalty. All you who must die; today there is no death. Dearly beloved, in the name of the Crucified, in the stead of the risen One, I say unto you this day that your salvation is accomplished, and the mystery is made known. It is as real and revealed to us as is the Lord Jesus, standing alive before the women and saying, All hail.
 
Yet still we do call this a mystery, for our mortal eyes cannot fully see it, and our mortal minds cannot fully grasp it; and we remain on the corruptible side of things. But there it is, all the same: the undeniable, unassailable, infallible evidence before us today: Christ is risen from the dead. Let those words sink into your ears: Christ is risen from the dead. And therefore the mystery has been revealed and verified. It is true. And because it is true, we have already seen the very first part of that moment, that twinkling of an eye when the dead shall be raised, and we shall be changed. We shall be raised, and we shall live forever, in him.
 
Alleluia! Christ is risen. The audio is here.