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THE SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT March 1, 2026 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto OUR OPENING HYMN: 596 “All Christians Who Have Been Baptized” CONFESSION AND ABSOLUTION Page 184-185 THE INTROIT – Psalm 25:1-2a, 7-8,11; antiphon: Ps. 25:6, 2b, 22 6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Let not my enemies exult over me. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. 1To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 2 O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame. 7 Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! 11 For your name's sake, O Lord, pardon my guilt, for it is great. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen. 6 Remember your mercy, O Lord, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old. Let not my enemies exult over me. 22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles. KYRIE (Lord Have Mercy) Lord have mercy upon us. Christ have mercy upon us. Lord have mercy upon us. Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And with thy Spirit. OUR COLLECT PRAYER – O God, You see that of ourselves we have no strength. By Your mighty power defend us from all adversities that may happen to the body and from all evil thoughts that may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. OUR BIBLE READINGS Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9 Psalm 121 Epistle: Romans 4:1-8, 13-17 Gospel Reading: John 3:1-17 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 708 “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GK6TdX7QME4&list=RDGK6TdX7QME4&start_radio=1 THE SERMON – Grace, peace, and mercy be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text from John describes a nighttime conversation that reveals the light of the Gospel and the blessing of Baptism. A Pharisee named Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness. St. John tells us he is a ruler of the Jews, a member of the Sanhedrin, a teacher of Israel. He comes because he’s seen the “signs” Jesus has done. John calls them signs, not merely miracles, because they point beyond themselves. They point to, they reveal who Jesus is. Nicodemus senses that something divine is at work. “Rabbi,” he says, “we know that you are a teacher come from God.” He arrives at night, perhaps fearing what others might think. Maybe the darkness outside reflects the spiritual darkness within. Yet into that darkness Jesus speaks a word that shatters every human assumption. “Unless one is born again — or born from above in the original Greek — he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus is baffled. He thinks in earthly terms. “How can a man be born when he is old?” He can’t imagine a birth other than the physical one. But Jesus speaks of another. A birth “of water and the Spirit.” A birth from above. Here, our Lord speaks plainly of Holy Baptism. The water is not ordinary, but water included in God’s command and combined with God’s Word, as Christ later directs in Matthew 28:19. It is the washing of regeneration of which St. Paul writes. It is the dying and rising with Christ proclaimed in the Epistle to the Romans (Chapter 6). In Baptism, something happens. Not symbolically. Not merely emotionally. But actually. God acts. Jesus says, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We do not climb our way into the kingdom of God. We are born into it. And birth is not the work of the one being born. It is God’s work. This is where Nicodemus stumbles. And this is where so many still stumble today. Human reason, darkened by sin, resists the idea that God would use simple water and spoken words to accomplish something eternal. Surely there must be something more impressive. Something more spiritual. Or maybe something simply within our control. But Jesus says the Spirit works as He wills. “The wind blows where it wishes… so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Baptism is not our decision. Nor is it a public display of our obedience. It is not a mere symbol. It is the visible Gospel. It is the Spirit’s work. It is the moment when God applies the promise of Christ to the individual sinner. This is why we confess with the Church in the Book of Concord that Baptism works forgiveness of sins, rescues from death and the devil, and gives eternal salvation to all who believe this. In the Small Catechism, Dr. Martin Luther asks, “How can water do such great things?” His answer is beautifully simple. “Certainly not just water, but the word of God in and with the water does these things, along with the faith which trusts this word of God…” In the Large Catechism, Luther writes, “To be baptized in God’s name is to be baptized not by men but by God Himself.” That is the heart of it. Baptism is God’s act, His work in us. Therefore, we baptize infants. Because if Baptism depended on intellectual capacity or personal decision, none of us could be certain. But if Baptism is God’s work — His promise, His Spirit, His grace — then infants can receive it just as surely as adults. They can receive the Holy Spirit. They can believe. For faith itself is God’s gift. Nicodemus, the teacher of Israel, cannot yet grasp this. He can’t comprehend how God could bring about spiritual rebirth through such humble means. But that’s precisely how God works. He called Abram out of idolatry in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 12, not because of Abram’s merit, but by promise. He declared Abram righteous through faith, as St. Paul explains in the Epistle to the Romans, Chapter 4. “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness.” Salvation has always been by grace through faith in the promise. And that promise is now fulfilled in Christ. Jesus says something even more astonishing. “No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” Here, He declares His divine origin. He is not merely a teacher sent from God. He is the eternal Son who has come down from heaven. And then He speaks of how this salvation will be accomplished. “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up.” He is speaking of the cross. He is speaking of His crucifixion. Just as the Israelites looked upon the bronze serpent and lived, so whoever believes in the crucified Son of Man will have eternal life. And then comes the verse we know so well. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” This is the Gospel in a sentence. The motivation: God’s love. The gift: His only Son. The result: eternal life. Notice that it says “the world.” Not the worthy. Not the spiritually advanced. The world. The same world that sits in darkness. The same world that resists and doubts. The same world that crucified Him. God loves this world. And He gave His Son not to condemn it, but to save it. Dear friends, your Baptism ties you to this crucified and risen Christ. It is not an isolated religious ritual from long ago. It is your daily identity. As Luther teaches, the old Adam in us should, by daily contrition and repentance, be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever. That is the daily return to Baptism. Each day we fall. We sin. And each day we return to the promise: I am baptized. God has claimed you. You have been born from above. Psalm 121 declares, “The Lord is your keeper.” He who began this work in you will keep you. He does not abandon those He has reborn. In this Lenten season, as we travel toward Good Friday and the cross, we remember that our salvation does not rest on our understanding, our performance, or our strength. Nicodemus came in darkness. But Jesus met him there with light. And that same light has shone upon you. You have been born of water and the Spirit. You have been united to the Son who was lifted up for you. You believe because the Spirit has given you new birth. And so, as a baptized Christian, do not fear condemnation. When the devil throws your sins in your face, you can say with confidence: I know I deserve death and hell — what of it? For I have One who has suffered and made satisfaction for my sins. His name is Jesus Christ, Son of God. The Father did not send His Son into the world to condemn you. He sent Him to save you. In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Page 198 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 OUR CLOSING HYMN: 918 “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer”