Sermon for Holy Cross Day

1 Corinthians 1:18-15

September 14th, 2025

"For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."

A 31 year old man is dead. A son. A husband. A father of two young children. A Christian man who spoke the truth. You’ve seen it, you know it. It’s dominated every form of media every hour of every day since Wednesday. This one hit hard. The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shaken this country to its core. It silenced the 24th anniversary of 9/11. If you didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was before Wednesday, you do now.

There is sadness, there is weeping, there is anger. I’ve never seen so many posts on social media of people trying to express with words the impact of this death. And then there are those who are publicly rejoicing that Charlie Kirk was killed. Martyred for speaking the Truth. Why does the killing of Charlie Kirk matter to so many people?

The horrific tragedy 24 years ago on September 11th, 2001, forever stands in history as one of the defining moments that changed this country. Things have never been quite the same since the towers fell 24 years ago and thousands died.

And now the event of Wednesday, September 10th, 2026, will be forever etched in the fabric of this nation. Not the death of thousands, but the death of just one Christian man, Charlie Kirk. This one death will have a profound impact on this country for years to come. Why is that?

Some people believe this is a turning point for our nation. What that means, I don’t know. Time will tell. But today, this is a wake-up call for you and me.

The assassination of Charlie Kirk is a stark and brutal reminder that the world hates the Truth. Charlie Kirk was boldly speaking the Truth, and he was killed for it. Are we willing to face death for speaking the Truth?

Truth is not subjective as the world and satan would like you to believe. Truth is not dependent on what you think or feel. Truth doesn’t ask for your opinion. Truth isn’t subject to change based on the culture or society or government policy. Truth is objective, it stands outside of us and yet it defines who we are and everything in this world around us that we can see, feel, and touch. And it guides and directs our thoughts and our beliefs. Absolute truth is only from God. It is true for everyone at all times - even if you don’t believe it you can’t undo it.

God’s truth is eternal and unchanging. God’s truth is revealed in the Word of God. God’s Word is Truth. And the Word of God is Jesus. Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” And Jesus said, “For this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come into the world—to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.”

Those who refuse to listen to Jesus follow satan, the father of lies. Satan is anti-truth. Satan wants you to listen to his lies and follow him.

Listen to Jesus. Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” The Truth, God’s Word, if confessed in its fullness, will divide. The Truth will separate.

The Truth separates good from evil. The Truth exposes the lies by bringing them out of the darkness and into the Light of Truth. The Truth brings division to families and friends. Jesus said, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword.”

Jesus is clear, His truth, if confessed and lived in its fullness - it will bring division. You will be hated and persecuted for speaking the Truth. And on the Final Judgment Day the Truth will separate the sheep from the goats.

This evil world seeks to silence the Truth along with anyone who is bold enough and brave enough to stand up and confess it. Are you? Charlie Kirk was. Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

May we be so bold as to speak the truth like Charlie Kirk, even if it means death. There is life after death in Jesus.

Evil tried to silence Charlie Kirk but all it did was bring to light the Truth he was speaking in a much greater way. People who would not have heard the Truth he confessed are now hearing it. And now more people are going to speak it. Evil loses again. The Truth always prevails.

Many people would like to make the killing of Charlie Kirk out to be just a political thing. A republican or democrat thing. A conservative or liberal thing because what Charlie spoke out against was often labeled as political issues. Right wing vs left wing. Republican vs Democrat.

Charlie Kirk’s death is not a political thing even if the things he spoke about were often political issues.

At the heart of what Charlie Kirk confessed with boldness was a worldview that was informed and shaped by God’s Word which is eternal Truth. His bold confession was a right vs wrong thing. A good vs evil thing. Things that all Christians are called to make a bold confession of in this world. Even in the face of extreme opposition. Even in the face of death and a sudden bullet.

Charlie Kirk is a martyr for the Christian faith.

The things Charlie was confessing as a Christian that led to his martyrdom are the things that you and I and every Christian should be speaking boldly without fear, and yet with love for our neighbor. But do we?

Let’s consider some of the things Charlie was confessing as a Christian in public. First and foremost he confessed faith in Christ alone. He didn’t fear death. He knew Jesus died for him, that His sins were forgiven and that he had eternal life in Jesus.

With that confidence and hope he then spoke the full Truth that one must confess if you call yourself a Christian.

Charlie spoke against abortion, the murder of the unborn child in the womb. There is no justification for abortion, ever, period. It is murder, God hates it. Life begins at conception, no exceptions.

Charlie spoke against homosexuality. Homosexuality is a sin. No exceptions. Men are not created to have sex with men and women are not created to have sex with women. This is a perversion of God’s good creation. Marriage is between one man and one woman as God designed from the beginning in creation. No exceptions.

Charlie spoke against the evil delusion of transgenderism where the body is mutilated in an attempt to undo what God created. Boys cannot be girls; girls cannot be boys.

Charlie spoke about the unique and beautiful qualities God has given specifically to men and specifically to women. Qualities that make them different for a purpose from creation. Qualities that are needed to make strong families, safe and vibrant communities, and well-functioning societies. Qualities that lead parents to raise stable and well-grounded children who grow to be adults who cherish the qualities assigned to them at conception in the womb as either male or female.

We cannot undo what God has created. We cannot undo or change God’s will for men and women.

These are just some of the things Charlie confessed as a Christian. He did it without apology. He did it in the face of extreme hatred and the threat of violence. The result: vitriol was spewed at him in the media and on college campuses around the country. And then he was killed for it. And now in his death, his martyrdom, that same vitriol is being spewed by those rejoicing in his death.

It’s disgusting, but not surprising.

Evil hates the Truth. Evil wants Truth silenced. We should expect nothing less. Jesus said, “You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.”

“We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”

These are not political issues that Charlie was confessing. They are eternal truths that are revealed in God’s Word, and they stand opposed to the evil lies that surround us. You cannot call yourself a Christian if you support things contrary to God’s Truth revealed in His Word. Abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, transgenderism. These things are not compatible with Christianity, ever. You cannot be a Christian and support these perversions of God’s will, ever.

Truth is not something you can divide up into different pieces and choose which works for you and which doesn’t. You can’t define your own truth based on your feelings or experience. Truth is absolute. It’s eternal and unchanging. To confess faith in Jesus is to confess the whole, undivided, absolute truth. To believe in Jesus is to believe that abortion, homosexuality, gay marriage, transgenderism and anything else contrary to God’s will for His creation is a sin.

Charlie believed that and he confessed it with boldness and yet with love for his neighbor. He truly hoped that those caught in such sin would see their sin, repent and turn from it and receive the grace, love, mercy, and forgiveness of Jesus. That is the hope we as Christians have for anyone caught in any sin.

Our sin does not define us. Jesus does. For those who’ve had an abortion, who are caught in or struggle with homosexuality or confusion over their gender, Jesus loves you and wants to save you. He wants to take your sin from you. He wants to be your identity. He wants to pull your from the darkness and into His light. He wants to forgive you. It's never too late on this side of eternity.

We are God’s creation, created in His image. We lost that image when we fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. But that image is restored through baptism into Christ with faith in Christ. Imperfectly in this world but one day it will be fully restored in the life of the world to come. We look forward to that day when all things will be as they should. Perfect again just as God intended.

Come, Lord Jesus. Come quickly.

There is hope for all people. We are God’s creation; we are redeemed through the blood of Jesus. Homosexuality, transgenderism, abortion, are sins that go against God’s will for His creation. But sins that Jesus shed His blood and died for on the Cross. There is forgiveness for all people through the Cross of Jesus.

We have much to learn from Charlie Kirk. He’s dead because he spoke God’s Truth. But Charlie lives because He died in Jesus. His soul is with Jesus in paradise until the resurrection of his body on the last day.

Charlie Kirk was fearless in the face of the evil insanity that infects this world because He had faith in the bloody Cross of Jesus. The same reason we have to be fearless and bold in the face of the evil that surrounds us. The Cross of Jesus is the reason Charlie’s wife and children can move forward without a husband and a father, and yet have true, eternal peace. They know they will see him again at the resurrection. The Cross guarantees it. Such wisdom and truth is foolishness to this world. But for Charlie, his family, and for you and me it is the power of God.

Holy Cross Day is all about boldness in the face of evil. It’s the hope and courage in the midst of a dying and broken world that emboldens us to face the evil and speak the Truth without fear. The Cross of Jesus empowers us to face anything that satan, the world and our broken flesh can throw into our path. Jesus has overcome all of it on the Cross.

Jesus said, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.” The Cross of Jesus has defeated everything that threatens us in this mortal life. We have victory today through the Cross of Jesus. In the Cross of Jesus we find our true eternal identity. The Cross of Jesus is the place of the new creation in Jesus. In baptism you were knit to Jesus on that Cross. You died with Jesus on that Cross and then rose to new life. You are now empowered, emboldened, and enlightened with the Holy Spirit and the Word of God to walk in newness of life and speak the Truth.

Through the flesh and blood of Jesus the Cross has forever undone the corruption of sin that infects this world and these bodies of flesh that God created. The Cross has stripped the power away from your suffering, sickness and death. Suffering, sickness and death die in Jesus.

Jesus has absorbed your fears, your mental anguish, your addictions, your failings, your perverted sexual lusts and desires, your confusion over your gender, your rash decisions in the heat of the moment, all of your sin and failings Jesus has taken into Himself on the Cross. All of it put to death. We cling to the Cross of Jesus, and we live.

When the evil wisdom of this world seems too great to overcome, remember the world’s wisdom is foolishness to God. For the word of the Cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. Take heart, your faith doesn’t rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God which is the Bloody Cross of Jesus.

Charlie Kirk is a hero of the faith, a true martyr. Such heroes of the faith are rare in this life. We thank God for them and the work He does through them and then we learn from them. And then we get to work. The training ground is right here in the Divine Service where we feast on the fruit of the Cross every week.

Don’t think for an instant you will stand strong out there and confess the Truth in the face of evil if you aren’t in here feasting on the fruit of the Cross every week. In here you are equipped for the battle. In here you are strengthened and clothed with the full armor of God. In here is the training and strength you need to confess and fight the battle of faith under the Cross of Jesus in an evil world.

Leave here today and speak the Truth. If you die for speaking the Truth, you have nothing to fear. The Truth is the Cross of Jesus, it is the power of God, and it’s already saved you. Thanks be to Jesus. In Jesus name. Amen.