St. Paul says in Romans, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷ For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” (Romans 1:16-17).  When you're not ashamed of something, you aren't quiet about it. When you have confidence in an individual, in yourself, in a restaurant, in basically anything, you shout it out and won't keep silent.  Being loud about something means you love it. When you're driving in the car and your favorite song comes on the radio, what do you do? Do you turn the volume down? Do you make a phone call? Do you stop the car and get out and walk around for a few minutes? No. You turn the dial all the way up, roll the windows down, and blare those tunes and sing along at the same decibel. You turn the volume up, sing along, play the air guitar, and bang your head along with the drum beat. Why? Because you love the song, you've memorized the lyrics, and your attitude improves as you sing along. 

We, the baptized, are not ashamed of the Gospel, for it is the power of God, the means of our salvation. It is the good news that we sinners are absolved, acquitted of all our transgressions against God the Father. We are forgiven, rescued, and declared righteous forever according to the mercy of Jesus the Christ. We are not holy in and of ourselves, but rather we are holy because Jesus covers us in His righteousness and declares us holy in the forgiveness of our sins. This is our favorite song. This is our jam. This is music to our ears. What do we do when we hear the good news of our salvation? Do we turn it down? Do we walk out of church and take a lap and come back in when the offering plate is being passed around? Do we start up a conversation about the current juicy news going around church and community? No. We turn everything else down and crank up the volume. We shout out the forgiveness of sins, in our reading of Scripture, in our preaching from the Pulpit, in our singing of the hymns supported by loud Organ music. We don't sing softly, but rather belt out that our God is our Mighty Fortress who is near us with His cheer to save us in the forgiveness of our sins. let us not be quiet then. Let us not turn the volume down, but instead turn it up. Let us shout out our Amens and sing with gusto the hymns of old. Let us yell out the confidence we have and the assurance we are given in the Blood of Jesus. let us yell it out and silence the devil, the world, the Old Adam, and death itself. The Gospel should always be played loudly, that we may hear it and find solace in the reality that Jesus has done all things well for us and will continue to do so. 

Peace be with you. May the devil be silenced, the world be hushed, and the Old Adam be drowned anew so that you may hear only the peaceful voice of your Savior Jesus who says, "I forgive you. I love you. I claim you as My own forever," Amen.

Jesus' Sheepdog