Midweek Lent 5 – Pr. Anderson sermon
Isaiah 53:7, ELH #331 v. 9 “Of Death I Am No More Afraid”
March 25, 2026 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Of death I am no more afraid, New life from Thee is flowing; Thy cross affords me cooling shade When day’s hot sun is glowing. When by my grief I am oppressed, On Thee my weary soul shall rest And o’er grief’s ills so conquer. And when beneath life’s stormy woe My ship is driven to and fro, So art Thou then my Anchor. Amen (ELH #331 v. 9).
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
If you have ever been out on a boat on a windy day, to fish a certain spot, you are going to need to have an anchor in your boat because the anchor will hold you in place. This is a great tool and it is hard to believe its small size can hold a boat in place. As Paul Gerhardt wrestled with the storms of war and disease, there was a storm that was trying to uproot his anchor completely. Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg was his elector and this elector was hoping to find peace between two groups, the Lutherans and the reformed. Wilhelm was a Calvinist and like what was happening with all of the areas of Germany, the religion would be based on who was ruling those lands at that time. In this greatest storm of all, and with an edict disallowing the Formula of Concord, Gerhardt had to make a choice if he would hold onto his anchor. An anchor that was more than, “let’s look past these differences so we can all get along.” In the storms whether physical, or spiritual, it is this anchor of doctrine found on Scripture that holds firm. So, When day’s hot sun is glowing. When by my grief I am oppressed, On Thee my weary soul shall rest And o’er grief’s ills so conquer. Through compromise, Gerhardt could have given in. By holding onto his anchor, the anchor with the chief, most important doctrine of justification, he could confidently write, Of death I am no more afraid.
In the latter days, this will be one of the hardest statements to confess. It may even feel as though it is hard to confess already. From the beginning, to Luther and Gerhardt, to today, death will continue to be unnatural and we will continue to see it. The devil also is out, pushing any lie he can when it comes to death and the life to come. In his battle to lie to the nations, to cause people to be afraid of death, he takes aim at the anchor. If it appears as though the anchor won’t be able to hold, then why would you have any faith in the anchor? Knowing who the anchor is, and knowing that this anchor is not a boat anchor that can be moved, but is solid to its foundation, when it comes to the fear or lack of fear of death as Gerhardt wrote, he believed this anchor with its comfort and strength is witnessed in the Word and sacraments. Gerhardt was oppressed and removed from his station by the elector. Being tossed out and with his wife passing away, it is hard to imagine how Gerhardt could remain faithful to his anchor.
Where are the new life and cooling shade? All of the goodness that Gerhardt has written in his hymn seems out of reach. Anyone in this situation would most likely feel like Job. As Job took on great losses of possessions and family, there was nothing else for him to do as he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes (Job 2:8). In the theme of Ash Wednesday, sin and ashes, all we can do on our own is reflect on our problems and life choices. Some problems may be because they were self-induced. Some may be because of the sinful world. And some may be because our God is testing us to bring us closer to Him. No matter what is taking place, this is where the devil will hope he is able to launch us into self-pity. For the worse, he may try to convince us that God is limited to what He can do.
And maybe he wins out in one of these thoughts. But the Lord points out just how much his lies are worth. God says through the Prophet Isaiah, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD (Isaiah 55:8). Like in Job’s instance, this must be a humbling experience for us. There will be times where we can struggle with the problems of life, but we will never be able to tell God how He should or shouldn’t fix them. As hard as life will get, the question is, why would our anchor be solid with this belief? Of course, we are witnessing the glory of God, but if this is God’s glory, then it looks as though He is only going to provide us with partial relief if any. This is the glory of God revealing there is more. There has to be more otherwise we would just be condemned. In this life of suffering, and anguish, even if we think it is Job level, will never be like the One who was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth.
At times where we have begun to complain, the Servant points us to the anguish He experienced. An experience like Israel’s hardship in Egypt before the Exodus. During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescues from slavery came up to God (Exodus 2:23). The Servant does not open His mouth. And from prophecy, with death on the line, when [Jesus] was accused by the chief priests and elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate said to him, “Do you not hear how many things they testify against you?” (Matthew 27:12-14) And alone with Pilate, he said to Jesus, “Where are you from?” But Jesus gave him no answer (John 19:9b).
The anchor could have opened up His mouth as the most holy and perfect judge. He could have declared how unjust it was for Him, the very Son of God, to suffer the sins of all people. Instead, He follows the will of the Father. He silently carries the sin of the world and as a lamb led to the slaughter, He goes in silence to pay for your sins. And because of this winning faceoff with death, your death, this is why you will not be afraid of it. The proof that you no longer have this fear is found in your anchor, keeping you firm in your belief. As the storms thrash and crash the waves on all sides, your anchor reveals the ways of the Lord, ways that reveal His glory, and ways that reveal how He is among you now. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles (1 Corinthians 1:22-23). Christ crucified who is found in the Word and who you see, in the sacraments because His Word says so, every single time you receive them.
And how powerful is this Word? The very Word of our text is the same Word that brought the Ethiopian eunuch to faith. And the eunuch said to Philip, “About whom, I ask you, does the prophet say this, about himself or about someone else?” Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus (Acts 8:34-25). As the Lord comes to the eunuch in holy Baptism a time after the Lord’s ascension, here you are receiving this same gift. A gift that though it comes through great oppression and affliction, yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand (Isaiah 53:10). His days are prolonged as He continues to go out in the Means of Grace, and through its true and anchored, reception, no matter if it is emperors, kings, or electors, your weary soul finds rest from the fear of death.
The world’s complaint is there is no relief from any of this. This is true outside of God and His love. A love that sees God oppressed, afflicted, and not opening His mouth to accuse the world of its sin. A love that sees to it, that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot (1 Peter 1:18-19). And this love is now with you forever. The worst suffering in the world has been faced and it’s not on you. The Means of Grace continue to bring you back to the cross. The storms won’t break over the bow of the ship. The anchor holds you firm. And with this anchor and in the Word and sacraments, you not only find your weary soul rest, but you find the antidote to death. A death turned to only sleep, and a new life that is flowing forever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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