Advent Midweek 3
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Luke 1:26-38
The Gospel reading for tonight is more like what we would traditionally use for Advent, being as it’s a text which points toward the birth of Christ. The ones we’ve looked at so far were of what happened after His birth. And yet both have been very helpful in our preparation of our celebration of Christ’s birth. They have given us a better grasp of why Jesus was born. This is helpful in this season of preparation.
Now tonight we have the announcement to Mary of the coming birth. The angel Gabriel is the one bringing the news. The word angel actually means messenger. But there are many kinds of messengers. In the Gospel readings for our Sunday worship services we’ve been hearing a lot about one of the most famous messengers, John the Baptist. Last week we heard about some very interesting people bringing the news of the birth of the new king to the current man in power, Herod. The Magi had themselves heard the message and made their way to see the newborn king. And of course before that we had angels again, the well known messengers of the Good News to the shepherds. After they saw Jesus, the shepherds themselves became messengers.
Gabriel has something in common with all the others and that is the words that he speaks. He speaks words that have been given to him by God. That’s what messengers do, they bring a message from one and speak it to another. In the case of these messengers, the one that gave the message was God. Look at all the different places and the people the messengers were sent to.
John was sent to the masses. The Magi came to the king. The angels came to shepherds out in the fields. The same shepherds then went out and told people. Gabriel was sent to Mary. God’s message is sent out to all kinds of people in all kinds of places. The messengers may vary, but the message remains the same. That’s why Mary could say to Gabriel, “let it be to me according to your word.” What she was saying was, “let it be to me according to the Word of God. (In other words, I believe that the message you are speaking to me is the very Word of God.)”
And this what this Advent has been all about. It has been about Christ. Every season of the Church Year is about Christ. Every message in the Scriptures is about Christ. The word Advent means “coming”. In Advent we prepare for our celebration of the coming of Christ. The messengers we’ve heard about were preparing the people of God for the very coming of Christ. He has now come. He came at Bethlehem.
And now that He has, what do we do? What is the significance of our preparation now that He has come? Well if we go back to the messengers and their message we will see. They not only spoke that Christ was coming, but why He came. It was to forgive sins. But He never intended to come at Bethlehem, to live, suffer, die, rise, and ascend into heaven only to leave us be. When He forgives sins He does it completely. And that’s why when the messengers say that Christ is coming, they mean that He’s coming and that He’ll keep on coming.
He came at Bethlehem, He continues to come today. John the Baptist foreshadowed this in His preaching that Jesus would come to Baptize. That’s exactly how He comes to us today—He comes to us in our Baptism. When Gabriel spoke the message to Mary he was giving us words which direct us to much more than just the conception, nine months of being in the womb, and birth of Christ. He was declaring the very message of God coming in the flesh. Living on this side of the ascension, we see how Christ continues to do that today, in His Holy Supper. He comes in the flesh, His very body and blood bound up in that bread and wine of the altar.
Mary spoke the words of humble faith to Gabriel: “let it be to me according to your word.” We are like Mary, we speak words of humble faith to our Lord: “let it be to me according to Your Word.” When He tells us that He comes to us in the flesh in that bread and wine, we might respond like Mary and question, “how can this be?” But by the grace of God, and according to His Word, we respond in faith, believing that the very Son who gave His life on the cross gives Himself to us in the Supper.
We have seen that all the messengers have something in common: they speak the Word given to them by God. They have something else in common: when they speak their message it is never about them, it is always about Christ. Because while messengers deal in words, the messengers sent by God deal in the Word, the Word made flesh, Jesus Christ. The messengers of Christ proclaim a message of the Word, Christ, given and born for us; suffered and died, for us; risen and ascended, for us. Always coming to us in His Holy Word and His gracious Sacraments. We rejoice God has sent these messengers to us so that we may hear them again and again, hearing more and more of Christ and His salvation. Amen.
SDG
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Hear and See
Third Sunday in Advent
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Matthew 11:2-15
There are times you come to a Scripture passage and you see good reasons to interpret it one way but also good reasons to interpret it another way. What makes it especially difficult to determine is that both interpretations have value to them. Today’s Gospel reading is one of those passages. Either way you go you’ll be well served because neither interpretation goes against the rest of Scripture. So what do you do?
With today’s Gospel reading you have the question, Is John the Baptist having doubts holed up in that prison and so asks his disciples from Jesus Himself if He really is the one? Or is John holed up there in prison but the consummate teacher of his disciples, having them go to Jesus to find out for themselves that Jesus is in fact the one? There is so much here for us either way. On the one hand, it’s comforting to know that even someone like John falls into times of spiritual crisis and that Jesus is always there for him. How much more so for us! On the other hand, it’s a comfort to know that even when someone like John is in dire straits even that can be used to point to the one who is our only hope. How much more will our Lord continue to send us leaders who will point our way to Jesus!
But there may be a third option. Why can’t it be both? Or maybe another way of saying it is, Maybe God put it in the Scriptures this way so that we are enriched beyond just seeing a passage of Scripture, hearing the interpretation, and learning the lesson of it. Maybe God put it that way so that we must wrestle with it. So that when we come to the conclusion of what the interpretation is we’re forced to see that there’s a lot going for the other one and that we ought to study it more.
But not just study the particular Scripture passage more—study the Bible more. What’s really happening here is that we’re seeing that we need to be in God’s Word, ever more, ever deeper. If John is having doubts and can’t quite see straight, he’s at least sending his disciples to the right place. If he’s more convinced than ever, despite his situation, he’s seeing for himself and guiding his disciples to get into the Word of God, going straight to the source. Each interpretation accomplishes the goal, just from a different perspective. What the third option does is move us beyond just looking at this passage on its own and coming to a decision and moves us to the rest of the Scriptures.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been preparing for a sermon and in my own personal devotions or in studying for something else I have come to an insight on the particular passage I’m going to preach on. That’s because the Word of God is the Word of God. He’s the Author and He’s got it all working together.
He didn’t just give us a simple little booklet that shows us the path to salvation and we’ve got it all figured out, thank you very much. He gives us the Bible that is challenging and at times difficult to understand. But isn’t that exactly what was going on when John was in prison? Whether with John or with his disciples. Or maybe a little of both? John was as certain Jesus was the One as he was that he was in prison; even as there may have been some nagging doubts in the back of his mind there. On the other hand, John may have been genuinely in spiritual distress. It all seemed so clear. He knew Jesus was the One. And yet, now things weren’t seeming quite so clear. Nevertheless, in the back of his mind, there was that still small voice of clarity, of peace, of certainty. He did know that Jesus was the one.
Haven’t there been times when we ourselves have felt one way and at other times the other way? Aren’t there times when we’re not even sure which way we feel? This passage is for you, right where you’re at. Because you don’t necessarily have to have it all figured out. But you do need to keep studying. You do need to go directly to the source. And this is why you need to hear Jesus’ answer to the question: “Tell John what you hear and see.”
The question was asked of Jesus, but the question was asked in doubt, whether by John or his disciples. You know what Jesus does when we’re approaching Him in doubt? He points us to what we hear and see. And what is it we hear? What is it we see? We hear Him. We hear Him when His Holy Word is read. We hear Him when we read it ourselves. We hear Him when the absolution is spoken by His servant. We hear Him when His Gospel is proclaimed or taught by His servant.
When we hear Him in these ways it may not seem as dramatic as when He spoke to the deaf and the blind and the lame. But we hear the same message. We are healed of our infirmity. We are forgiven our sins.
What do we see? We see people at this font before us being Baptized. We see at this altar the bread and wine that is given to us by our Lord Himself, in which He also gives to us His very self, His body and blood. We see our Lord at work. We see our Lord coming to us in His Sacraments.
What was proclaimed in the wilderness in the Old Testament reading is a description that fits us today, with what we hear and see: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Your God… will come and save you.’” Jesus pointed John and his disciples to what they were hearing and seeing, His marvelous acts of compassion and healing. When we hear Him and see His work in His Word and Sacraments we too are strengthened and comforted and healed, forgiven of our sin.
We are feeble. We are weak and often falter. Why did James in our Epistle reading have to say this to Christians: “Do not grumble against one another”? It’s because we’re prone to not see Jesus for who He is and live like it. We have heard and seen, and yet we grumble and doubt. We act as if Jesus isn’t really who He says He is. As if he really didn’t do all those things promised in the Old Testament and accomplished by His own voice and hands. As if He really hasn’t Baptized all those people we’ve seen Baptized. As if the bread and wine on the altar and that we receive is only bread and wine and not the life giving and sustaining Body and Blood of Christ.
What we need to do is what John did. Whether out of doubt or the confident showing of his disciples, we like him need to go to the source. To Jesus Himself. This is where we hear and see. It’s not just stuff we hear “out there”. It’s not just what we see in our day to day life. It’s what we hear and see of Jesus as He is in action. The one who healed the sick is the one who carried our sickness of sin upon Himself in His suffering and death. He continues to act, to do, to deliver His healing to you in His Holy Word. In Holy Baptism. In His Holy Supper.
So hear and see. Your Lord comes to you. You receive Him because He gives you ears to hear and eyes to see. Even when your body is decaying in the ground this hearing and seeing will remain. And when that very body is raised in glory you will hear and see face to face. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, December 16, 2007
Matthew 11:2-15
There are times you come to a Scripture passage and you see good reasons to interpret it one way but also good reasons to interpret it another way. What makes it especially difficult to determine is that both interpretations have value to them. Today’s Gospel reading is one of those passages. Either way you go you’ll be well served because neither interpretation goes against the rest of Scripture. So what do you do?
With today’s Gospel reading you have the question, Is John the Baptist having doubts holed up in that prison and so asks his disciples from Jesus Himself if He really is the one? Or is John holed up there in prison but the consummate teacher of his disciples, having them go to Jesus to find out for themselves that Jesus is in fact the one? There is so much here for us either way. On the one hand, it’s comforting to know that even someone like John falls into times of spiritual crisis and that Jesus is always there for him. How much more so for us! On the other hand, it’s a comfort to know that even when someone like John is in dire straits even that can be used to point to the one who is our only hope. How much more will our Lord continue to send us leaders who will point our way to Jesus!
But there may be a third option. Why can’t it be both? Or maybe another way of saying it is, Maybe God put it in the Scriptures this way so that we are enriched beyond just seeing a passage of Scripture, hearing the interpretation, and learning the lesson of it. Maybe God put it that way so that we must wrestle with it. So that when we come to the conclusion of what the interpretation is we’re forced to see that there’s a lot going for the other one and that we ought to study it more.
But not just study the particular Scripture passage more—study the Bible more. What’s really happening here is that we’re seeing that we need to be in God’s Word, ever more, ever deeper. If John is having doubts and can’t quite see straight, he’s at least sending his disciples to the right place. If he’s more convinced than ever, despite his situation, he’s seeing for himself and guiding his disciples to get into the Word of God, going straight to the source. Each interpretation accomplishes the goal, just from a different perspective. What the third option does is move us beyond just looking at this passage on its own and coming to a decision and moves us to the rest of the Scriptures.
I can’t tell you how many times I have been preparing for a sermon and in my own personal devotions or in studying for something else I have come to an insight on the particular passage I’m going to preach on. That’s because the Word of God is the Word of God. He’s the Author and He’s got it all working together.
He didn’t just give us a simple little booklet that shows us the path to salvation and we’ve got it all figured out, thank you very much. He gives us the Bible that is challenging and at times difficult to understand. But isn’t that exactly what was going on when John was in prison? Whether with John or with his disciples. Or maybe a little of both? John was as certain Jesus was the One as he was that he was in prison; even as there may have been some nagging doubts in the back of his mind there. On the other hand, John may have been genuinely in spiritual distress. It all seemed so clear. He knew Jesus was the One. And yet, now things weren’t seeming quite so clear. Nevertheless, in the back of his mind, there was that still small voice of clarity, of peace, of certainty. He did know that Jesus was the one.
Haven’t there been times when we ourselves have felt one way and at other times the other way? Aren’t there times when we’re not even sure which way we feel? This passage is for you, right where you’re at. Because you don’t necessarily have to have it all figured out. But you do need to keep studying. You do need to go directly to the source. And this is why you need to hear Jesus’ answer to the question: “Tell John what you hear and see.”
The question was asked of Jesus, but the question was asked in doubt, whether by John or his disciples. You know what Jesus does when we’re approaching Him in doubt? He points us to what we hear and see. And what is it we hear? What is it we see? We hear Him. We hear Him when His Holy Word is read. We hear Him when we read it ourselves. We hear Him when the absolution is spoken by His servant. We hear Him when His Gospel is proclaimed or taught by His servant.
When we hear Him in these ways it may not seem as dramatic as when He spoke to the deaf and the blind and the lame. But we hear the same message. We are healed of our infirmity. We are forgiven our sins.
What do we see? We see people at this font before us being Baptized. We see at this altar the bread and wine that is given to us by our Lord Himself, in which He also gives to us His very self, His body and blood. We see our Lord at work. We see our Lord coming to us in His Sacraments.
What was proclaimed in the wilderness in the Old Testament reading is a description that fits us today, with what we hear and see: “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong; fear not! Your God… will come and save you.’” Jesus pointed John and his disciples to what they were hearing and seeing, His marvelous acts of compassion and healing. When we hear Him and see His work in His Word and Sacraments we too are strengthened and comforted and healed, forgiven of our sin.
We are feeble. We are weak and often falter. Why did James in our Epistle reading have to say this to Christians: “Do not grumble against one another”? It’s because we’re prone to not see Jesus for who He is and live like it. We have heard and seen, and yet we grumble and doubt. We act as if Jesus isn’t really who He says He is. As if he really didn’t do all those things promised in the Old Testament and accomplished by His own voice and hands. As if He really hasn’t Baptized all those people we’ve seen Baptized. As if the bread and wine on the altar and that we receive is only bread and wine and not the life giving and sustaining Body and Blood of Christ.
What we need to do is what John did. Whether out of doubt or the confident showing of his disciples, we like him need to go to the source. To Jesus Himself. This is where we hear and see. It’s not just stuff we hear “out there”. It’s not just what we see in our day to day life. It’s what we hear and see of Jesus as He is in action. The one who healed the sick is the one who carried our sickness of sin upon Himself in His suffering and death. He continues to act, to do, to deliver His healing to you in His Holy Word. In Holy Baptism. In His Holy Supper.
So hear and see. Your Lord comes to you. You receive Him because He gives you ears to hear and eyes to see. Even when your body is decaying in the ground this hearing and seeing will remain. And when that very body is raised in glory you will hear and see face to face. Amen.
SDG
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Giving Gifts to the Giver
Advent Midweek 2
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Matthew 2:1-12
The Gospel account of the Magi is always designated for the festival of Epiphany, which comes after Christmas. The event occurred after Christ was born, so that makes sense. But since our Midweek Advent worship services are based on the Quempas Carol, we have this passage before us now.
It’s actually a very helpful thing for us to take a look at it before Christmas. One of the foremost things on people’s minds at this time of year is gift giving and receiving. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. But it can be a distraction. If presents become more exciting than what we’re celebrating at Christmas then we’ve got a problem.
We learn from the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus about gift giving and receiving. There are two key ideas here which help us understand what gift giving and receiving is all about. The first is “worship” and the second is “gifts”.
Both of these ideas seem pretty straight forward, and I suppose, when it comes down to it, they really are. What makes them stand out in the Word of God is who is doing the giving and who is doing the receiving. Or maybe another way of saying it is, why is there giving and receiving going on?
When the Magi come to Jesus to worship Him they are giving something to Him, right? They are worshiping Him. They are in a sacrificial position, of kneeling, of bowing down before Him as King. When they give Him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they are giving Him gifts, right? So Jesus is the one receiving here. He’s the recipient of worship and gifts.
So far so good. They recognized that He was a very special king and so they acted accordingly. They paid homage to Him and presented Him with gifts.
The problem is that we tend to think of this whole situation in the same way that we do with our giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas. It’s completely different. There are similarities. But we’re giving gifts to people that are just like we are, ordinary human beings. The Magi were honoring and giving gifts to a human being who was God. He was not even just a king but the very King of Kings.
The Magi weren’t the primary gift givers here. Sure, their gifts were more immaculate than what most of us could give. But the point in all of this isn’t what the Magi were doing, but what they had received. They were first and foremost the recipients of a gift from the very one they were honoring. It might seem odd that the baby Jesus would be able to give a gift to these men. He, after all, was truly a newborn human being; in need of a lot of care and attention from His parents. But the gift was there in the flesh—Jesus Christ is Himself His gift to all people.
While here at the beginning of His life Gentiles recognized the Gift that was before them, so at the end of His life, while hanging on the cross, another Gentile, the Centurion, also worshiped Him, proclaiming at Jesus’ death: “Truly this was the Son of God.” And there’s your gift, all wrapped up in this one package of the flesh of Jesus Christ. Born and suffering. Laying in a manger and hanging on a cross. Receiving the worship of men because they received His life-giving Spirit.
We are first and foremost recipients of the Gift of Gifts. Jesus is the King of Kings and does deserve our worship and honor. But He didn’t do what He did because we have honored Him so. He did what He did because He is the Giver of good gifts. He gave life at the creation of the world, He gave new life at the cross. He gives us sustaining hope, even as He has risen from the grave, in our Baptism, in His Supper, in the spoken Absolution and the proclaimed Gospel.
In our giving of gifts to each other we can get a sense of what we receive from God. When someone who loves you gives you something you have a tangible measure of that in the gift they gave you. And that hopefully is why we also give gifts to those we love. So our gift giving and receiving is a good thing because ultimately it’s a reminder to us of the tangible way God loves us. He gives us His Son. He gave us His Son at the first Christmas, He gives us His Son in our Baptism, and He gives us His Son in His Holy Supper.
This is why we worship Him. We know who Jesus is. The Magi knew He was a king. We know that He is the King of Kings. We know He is the King of every good gift, especially of Himself. The Magi had spectacular gifts to bring Him. So do we. Ourselves. He created us, after all. He, after all, gave us new life. In Him we live and move and have our being. We love because He first loved us. So also whatever we offer Him is because He has first offered Himself to us so that we may live with Him forever. Amen.
SDG
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Matthew 2:1-12
The Gospel account of the Magi is always designated for the festival of Epiphany, which comes after Christmas. The event occurred after Christ was born, so that makes sense. But since our Midweek Advent worship services are based on the Quempas Carol, we have this passage before us now.
It’s actually a very helpful thing for us to take a look at it before Christmas. One of the foremost things on people’s minds at this time of year is gift giving and receiving. There’s nothing wrong with this, of course. But it can be a distraction. If presents become more exciting than what we’re celebrating at Christmas then we’ve got a problem.
We learn from the visit of the Magi to the baby Jesus about gift giving and receiving. There are two key ideas here which help us understand what gift giving and receiving is all about. The first is “worship” and the second is “gifts”.
Both of these ideas seem pretty straight forward, and I suppose, when it comes down to it, they really are. What makes them stand out in the Word of God is who is doing the giving and who is doing the receiving. Or maybe another way of saying it is, why is there giving and receiving going on?
When the Magi come to Jesus to worship Him they are giving something to Him, right? They are worshiping Him. They are in a sacrificial position, of kneeling, of bowing down before Him as King. When they give Him the gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, they are giving Him gifts, right? So Jesus is the one receiving here. He’s the recipient of worship and gifts.
So far so good. They recognized that He was a very special king and so they acted accordingly. They paid homage to Him and presented Him with gifts.
The problem is that we tend to think of this whole situation in the same way that we do with our giving and receiving of gifts at Christmas. It’s completely different. There are similarities. But we’re giving gifts to people that are just like we are, ordinary human beings. The Magi were honoring and giving gifts to a human being who was God. He was not even just a king but the very King of Kings.
The Magi weren’t the primary gift givers here. Sure, their gifts were more immaculate than what most of us could give. But the point in all of this isn’t what the Magi were doing, but what they had received. They were first and foremost the recipients of a gift from the very one they were honoring. It might seem odd that the baby Jesus would be able to give a gift to these men. He, after all, was truly a newborn human being; in need of a lot of care and attention from His parents. But the gift was there in the flesh—Jesus Christ is Himself His gift to all people.
While here at the beginning of His life Gentiles recognized the Gift that was before them, so at the end of His life, while hanging on the cross, another Gentile, the Centurion, also worshiped Him, proclaiming at Jesus’ death: “Truly this was the Son of God.” And there’s your gift, all wrapped up in this one package of the flesh of Jesus Christ. Born and suffering. Laying in a manger and hanging on a cross. Receiving the worship of men because they received His life-giving Spirit.
We are first and foremost recipients of the Gift of Gifts. Jesus is the King of Kings and does deserve our worship and honor. But He didn’t do what He did because we have honored Him so. He did what He did because He is the Giver of good gifts. He gave life at the creation of the world, He gave new life at the cross. He gives us sustaining hope, even as He has risen from the grave, in our Baptism, in His Supper, in the spoken Absolution and the proclaimed Gospel.
In our giving of gifts to each other we can get a sense of what we receive from God. When someone who loves you gives you something you have a tangible measure of that in the gift they gave you. And that hopefully is why we also give gifts to those we love. So our gift giving and receiving is a good thing because ultimately it’s a reminder to us of the tangible way God loves us. He gives us His Son. He gave us His Son at the first Christmas, He gives us His Son in our Baptism, and He gives us His Son in His Holy Supper.
This is why we worship Him. We know who Jesus is. The Magi knew He was a king. We know that He is the King of Kings. We know He is the King of every good gift, especially of Himself. The Magi had spectacular gifts to bring Him. So do we. Ourselves. He created us, after all. He, after all, gave us new life. In Him we live and move and have our being. We love because He first loved us. So also whatever we offer Him is because He has first offered Himself to us so that we may live with Him forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, December 9, 2007
How Do You Like Your Christianity?
Second Sunday in Advent
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Matthew 3:1-12
If Christianity were like a buffet you could go and pick and choose. You could go back for more of what you like and ignore what you don’t like. Out in the desert John the Baptist was delivering a Christianity that was anything but a buffet. He was the cook serving up three items on the menu: repentance, Baptism, and Jesus Christ. He didn’t ask them what they would like. He didn’t ask them how they would like the items prepared. He simply dished them out.
To be certain, there were some who showed up that didn’t like the way this restaurant was operating. Maybe they didn’t like the cook, or what was on the menu, or simply how it was being served. What is clear is that they would have nothing to do with what John was offering out there in the desert.
This points out to us something very important. How do we want our Christianity? Do we prefer buffet style, where we can pick and choose? Or do we go to the restaurant and simply receive what is dished out? There’s a sharp contrast drawn between those who took the menu as it stood and those who would just as soon have stayed at their own restaurant in Jerusalem. Maybe that’s why John delivered the items on his menu out in the desert—away from Jerusalem and the restaurant of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
There’s no doubt the religious leaders wanted to have their religion their own way. But did all the people who came out to John accept the Christianity John served up exactly as it was on the menu? Three years of Ministry of Jesus show us that they either rejected Him themselves, or simply ignored Him, or at the very least didn’t fully grasp exactly what Christianity was.
Assuming we’re in the category of the crowds and not the Pharisees and Sadducees, we shouldn’t simply assume that we can relax because we don’t fall under the judgment pronounced on the Pharisees and Sadducees. We’re always in danger of falling under it because our Old Adam is always hungry. Our sinful flesh is never satisfied with only what’s on the menu. It always sees something else at the buffet table that looks more appealing.
That’s why the words of John to all the people there—the crowds and religious leaders alike—are words we need to hear for all time. How is this? Because his words never come to a point where they’re no longer applicable in this life. When John said, “Repent”, he meant that this is something we’re continually in need of doing.
We can see how this is so when we look at another command in the Bible: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We don’t hear that and say, “Oh good, I just have to love my neighbor this one time God tells me to love him.” No, we hear it and realize that He is calling us to love our neighbor and keep on loving him. Same here with repent: we don’t just repent the one time we hear this command of God—we repent and keep on repenting. That’s because we’re in continual need of repentance.
John was pointing people to Christ. He was paving the way for the Savior. While John was still out in the wilderness Baptizing and preaching Jesus came on the scene. It’s telling that when Jesus began His Ministry He preached exactly the same thing John did: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven is always at hand. The good new is that it is always at hand in the wilderness, the desert. In other words, the spiritual desert of our lives. “Heaven” comes to earth in the midst of the wilderness, our spiritual need; right in the middle of our sin and guilt.
So how do you like your Christianity? Do you want to check out what else is on the menu when you are served up a strong dose of Law? When you are called on your sin, do you want to pile on heaping portions of rationalization? When you are called to repent of gossiping and saying things of people that will harm their reputation, do excuse yourself to make another trip to the buffet so that you can find some good reason why you need to talk about people behind their back? This is really the kind of Christianity we prefer, isn’t it? Maybe we’re not so far different from those Pharisees and Sadducees.
Our Old Adam is ravenously hungry for anything that’s not on the menu. Our sinful nature feeds on its own desires. We truly are dead in our trespasses and sins. What can be done? John shows us: Baptism. The old man needs to die. In Baptism our Old Adam is drowned. The Holy Spirit gives us new life in Baptism. While repentance is a continual need, Baptism, like birth, is a one-time occurrence. It’s very much like birth, in fact, in that when you’re born you then grow. We grow in faith by repenting of our sins and being forgiven of them.
Notice how immanently practical John is. He’s not giving some sweet mush that’s palatable to them, but concrete actual stuff. Repentance, Baptism, and what it all is wrapped up in, Christ. What Christianity really is is the serving up of Christ. The Old Testament reading did exactly what John the Baptist was doing, turning our vision toward Him: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” This is a promise of the Messiah, the Savior, in whom we have forgiveness and life. John’s calling us to repentance is repentance that is in keeping with bearing fruit. How this happens is through Jesus, He is the vine and we are the branches. We can do nothing apart from Him.
Our Savior Jesus, as the Old Testament reading also shows us, judges us with righteousness. This is the promise to the Christian. Why would we want anything else served us? We are too often caught up in our version of Christianity that we at times engage in things like gossip and not putting the best construction on other people’s actions. A very different picture of the Christian Church is given by Paul in the Epistle: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is nothing less than a description of the “bearing fruit in keeping with repentance” of the Gospel reading.
The kind of Christianity served up in the Word of God is Christianity that is centered in Christ and comes from Christ, as Paul further goes on to say:
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.
It was to the glory of God that Jesus took on human flesh in His birth. What results in this, our God and Lord serving us by becoming a man, is Paul’s concluding thought in the Epistle: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
You are a child of God. You are a member of His Household. You dine at His Table. You receive abundant portions from His hand. Never think that it is because you are holding on to whatever brand of Christianity you have. John’s warning to those who think they’re in apart from what’s on the menu is sobering: “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”
Repentance is not something we can bring about of our own will or power. That God can raise up children from stones shows us that He can raise us up from our stony unbelief. “He separates the chaff from the wheat and gathers His wheat into the barn.” This is pure Gospel. It is Jesus serving up what only He can serve. He calls to repentance so that He can make alive.
So how do you like your Christianity? How about the way Jesus serves it up to you? He doesn’t give you what you want or what you think you need. He simply gives you what He has: Himself. And that, dear friends in Christ, is Christianity. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Matthew 3:1-12
If Christianity were like a buffet you could go and pick and choose. You could go back for more of what you like and ignore what you don’t like. Out in the desert John the Baptist was delivering a Christianity that was anything but a buffet. He was the cook serving up three items on the menu: repentance, Baptism, and Jesus Christ. He didn’t ask them what they would like. He didn’t ask them how they would like the items prepared. He simply dished them out.
To be certain, there were some who showed up that didn’t like the way this restaurant was operating. Maybe they didn’t like the cook, or what was on the menu, or simply how it was being served. What is clear is that they would have nothing to do with what John was offering out there in the desert.
This points out to us something very important. How do we want our Christianity? Do we prefer buffet style, where we can pick and choose? Or do we go to the restaurant and simply receive what is dished out? There’s a sharp contrast drawn between those who took the menu as it stood and those who would just as soon have stayed at their own restaurant in Jerusalem. Maybe that’s why John delivered the items on his menu out in the desert—away from Jerusalem and the restaurant of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
There’s no doubt the religious leaders wanted to have their religion their own way. But did all the people who came out to John accept the Christianity John served up exactly as it was on the menu? Three years of Ministry of Jesus show us that they either rejected Him themselves, or simply ignored Him, or at the very least didn’t fully grasp exactly what Christianity was.
Assuming we’re in the category of the crowds and not the Pharisees and Sadducees, we shouldn’t simply assume that we can relax because we don’t fall under the judgment pronounced on the Pharisees and Sadducees. We’re always in danger of falling under it because our Old Adam is always hungry. Our sinful flesh is never satisfied with only what’s on the menu. It always sees something else at the buffet table that looks more appealing.
That’s why the words of John to all the people there—the crowds and religious leaders alike—are words we need to hear for all time. How is this? Because his words never come to a point where they’re no longer applicable in this life. When John said, “Repent”, he meant that this is something we’re continually in need of doing.
We can see how this is so when we look at another command in the Bible: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” We don’t hear that and say, “Oh good, I just have to love my neighbor this one time God tells me to love him.” No, we hear it and realize that He is calling us to love our neighbor and keep on loving him. Same here with repent: we don’t just repent the one time we hear this command of God—we repent and keep on repenting. That’s because we’re in continual need of repentance.
John was pointing people to Christ. He was paving the way for the Savior. While John was still out in the wilderness Baptizing and preaching Jesus came on the scene. It’s telling that when Jesus began His Ministry He preached exactly the same thing John did: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” The kingdom of heaven is always at hand. The good new is that it is always at hand in the wilderness, the desert. In other words, the spiritual desert of our lives. “Heaven” comes to earth in the midst of the wilderness, our spiritual need; right in the middle of our sin and guilt.
So how do you like your Christianity? Do you want to check out what else is on the menu when you are served up a strong dose of Law? When you are called on your sin, do you want to pile on heaping portions of rationalization? When you are called to repent of gossiping and saying things of people that will harm their reputation, do excuse yourself to make another trip to the buffet so that you can find some good reason why you need to talk about people behind their back? This is really the kind of Christianity we prefer, isn’t it? Maybe we’re not so far different from those Pharisees and Sadducees.
Our Old Adam is ravenously hungry for anything that’s not on the menu. Our sinful nature feeds on its own desires. We truly are dead in our trespasses and sins. What can be done? John shows us: Baptism. The old man needs to die. In Baptism our Old Adam is drowned. The Holy Spirit gives us new life in Baptism. While repentance is a continual need, Baptism, like birth, is a one-time occurrence. It’s very much like birth, in fact, in that when you’re born you then grow. We grow in faith by repenting of our sins and being forgiven of them.
Notice how immanently practical John is. He’s not giving some sweet mush that’s palatable to them, but concrete actual stuff. Repentance, Baptism, and what it all is wrapped up in, Christ. What Christianity really is is the serving up of Christ. The Old Testament reading did exactly what John the Baptist was doing, turning our vision toward Him: “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” This is a promise of the Messiah, the Savior, in whom we have forgiveness and life. John’s calling us to repentance is repentance that is in keeping with bearing fruit. How this happens is through Jesus, He is the vine and we are the branches. We can do nothing apart from Him.
Our Savior Jesus, as the Old Testament reading also shows us, judges us with righteousness. This is the promise to the Christian. Why would we want anything else served us? We are too often caught up in our version of Christianity that we at times engage in things like gossip and not putting the best construction on other people’s actions. A very different picture of the Christian Church is given by Paul in the Epistle: “May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This is nothing less than a description of the “bearing fruit in keeping with repentance” of the Gospel reading.
The kind of Christianity served up in the Word of God is Christianity that is centered in Christ and comes from Christ, as Paul further goes on to say:
Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy.
It was to the glory of God that Jesus took on human flesh in His birth. What results in this, our God and Lord serving us by becoming a man, is Paul’s concluding thought in the Epistle: “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”
You are a child of God. You are a member of His Household. You dine at His Table. You receive abundant portions from His hand. Never think that it is because you are holding on to whatever brand of Christianity you have. John’s warning to those who think they’re in apart from what’s on the menu is sobering: “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham.”
Repentance is not something we can bring about of our own will or power. That God can raise up children from stones shows us that He can raise us up from our stony unbelief. “He separates the chaff from the wheat and gathers His wheat into the barn.” This is pure Gospel. It is Jesus serving up what only He can serve. He calls to repentance so that He can make alive.
So how do you like your Christianity? How about the way Jesus serves it up to you? He doesn’t give you what you want or what you think you need. He simply gives you what He has: Himself. And that, dear friends in Christ, is Christianity. Amen.
SDG
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Our Preparing Is Our Preparation
Advent Midweek 1
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Luke 2:8-14
Some things need just as much effort in preparation as they do for the thing itself. If you’re going to mop the floor, you first need to move everything out of the way and then sweep the floor. If you’re going to play a sport you can’t just go out onto the field and play, you first have to practice and work hard. If you’re going to make a presentation at work it’s best not to wing it. Preparation will go a long way toward a good presentation.
Have you ever wondered why we have midweek worship services during Advent and Lent? It’s because they are seasons in the Church Year that are seasons of preparation. We don’t just up and celebrate Christmas because the date on the calendar says December 25. We prepare for our celebration of it. We don’t suddenly rejoice in the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. We prepare our hearts and minds for the observance of Holy Week and the suffering and death of Christ before we celebrate the Resurrection.
We know the story. We know the events of Christ’s life. We know what He has done to accomplish our salvation. Is all this extra preparation necessary? Well, it would be easy to never show up to practice, but playing in the game would show you that you’re not ready to be there. You might know all about your sport. You might know everything you need to do. You might even have tremendous skill and be able to get by to a great degree on that. But ultimately you would find that you really don’t know what it’s all about after all. It’s in the preparation that you are formed for what you do on the field.
In our preparation during Advent we are being prepared. Our preparing is our preparation. This is shown to us in the Gospel reading. Why is it that we need to know about the birth of Jesus? Why didn’t God just have His Book, the Bible, be short and sweet? He could have simply told us that God came down to earth and suffered and died in our place. Why is it necessary to go through the details of His birth and even his Ministry? Why not go right to the heart of things?
Because in giving us these things He’s preparing us. When we are in Advent to prepare for our celebration of Christmas we are actually being prepared by God. He’s doing something a little like what the angels did for the shepherds. The angels were preparing them. Giving them the firsthand news that there was a Savior and He was for them. Could those shepherds just have waited like everyone else until Jesus died and rose and then they’d know they had a Savior? Yeah. But God doesn’t operate that way. He doesn’t just do things for us. He prepares us for them.
That way we don’t just go along thinking we know what we need to know, and isn’t that just dandy? Can you imagine a coach telling his team how excited he is to have guys like them on his team so practice isn’t necessary? The coaches I know expect the team to be there for practice and to work hard. But the athletes aren’t just preparing. They are being prepared. The coach is preparing them. He’s guiding them. He’s stirring them on. He’s giving them the big picture. He’s pointing out small but important things they might have missed otherwise. Their preparing is their preparation.
The collect for the First Sunday in Advent focuses us on this preparation: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds.” We ask Him to stir up our hearts. It is by His coming we are enabled to serve Him with pure minds. Our prayer is not simply that we would have the mind to prepare for the celebration of His first coming and that we would continue to prepare for His second Coming in glory. But that He would prepare us through this so that we may see and hear and know what the shepherds did: there is salvation wrapped up in that baby of Bethlehem. There is life in that suffering and death of the Suffering Servant. There is deliverance from all our sins in that Savior who loves to keep coming to us.
Your life in Christ has been one of preparation. Because in your preparing you are being prepared. In your Baptism you are living a new life, one in which you are sustained by Christ Himself in His Word. You confess your sins. You examine yourself. You see where you have fallen short of His glory and His will. You long to receive again and again the food that forgives you and sustains you. And in His Holy Supper your Lord prepares you for new and trusting life in Him by feeding You with Himself.
Just think about it—if you simply rest on “what you know” you’re content to rest in that knowledge. Now, that might sound like a good thing, but it’s really not. It’s really resting in your knowledge. You might think this is splitting hairs, but listen to what the angels were telling the shepherds: Christ has come to you. He is your Savior! It’s not about knowledge, it’s about Christ preparing our hearts and minds for His amazing work of salvation. There can never be enough preparation that takes place. We can never be prepared too much.
That’s a good thing. Because Jesus loves to give. He loves to work for you. He loves to serve you. That’s why we see that the more we sin the more we need Him. The more we live in this world and in our flesh the more we’re tempted to delight in our wants and desires. Spending time in the Word of God; meditating on your Baptism and what it means that you have new life in the midst of this sin-filled world and your Old Adam that hangs on; pondering the mystery that God, who cannot be contained, has chosen to box Himself into the packages of human flesh and bread and wine so that we know exactly how He comes to us.
These are not only the glorious things we prepare for, but are also and always the very things God uses to prepare us for eternal life with Him. Amen.
SDG
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Luke 2:8-14
Some things need just as much effort in preparation as they do for the thing itself. If you’re going to mop the floor, you first need to move everything out of the way and then sweep the floor. If you’re going to play a sport you can’t just go out onto the field and play, you first have to practice and work hard. If you’re going to make a presentation at work it’s best not to wing it. Preparation will go a long way toward a good presentation.
Have you ever wondered why we have midweek worship services during Advent and Lent? It’s because they are seasons in the Church Year that are seasons of preparation. We don’t just up and celebrate Christmas because the date on the calendar says December 25. We prepare for our celebration of it. We don’t suddenly rejoice in the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. We prepare our hearts and minds for the observance of Holy Week and the suffering and death of Christ before we celebrate the Resurrection.
We know the story. We know the events of Christ’s life. We know what He has done to accomplish our salvation. Is all this extra preparation necessary? Well, it would be easy to never show up to practice, but playing in the game would show you that you’re not ready to be there. You might know all about your sport. You might know everything you need to do. You might even have tremendous skill and be able to get by to a great degree on that. But ultimately you would find that you really don’t know what it’s all about after all. It’s in the preparation that you are formed for what you do on the field.
In our preparation during Advent we are being prepared. Our preparing is our preparation. This is shown to us in the Gospel reading. Why is it that we need to know about the birth of Jesus? Why didn’t God just have His Book, the Bible, be short and sweet? He could have simply told us that God came down to earth and suffered and died in our place. Why is it necessary to go through the details of His birth and even his Ministry? Why not go right to the heart of things?
Because in giving us these things He’s preparing us. When we are in Advent to prepare for our celebration of Christmas we are actually being prepared by God. He’s doing something a little like what the angels did for the shepherds. The angels were preparing them. Giving them the firsthand news that there was a Savior and He was for them. Could those shepherds just have waited like everyone else until Jesus died and rose and then they’d know they had a Savior? Yeah. But God doesn’t operate that way. He doesn’t just do things for us. He prepares us for them.
That way we don’t just go along thinking we know what we need to know, and isn’t that just dandy? Can you imagine a coach telling his team how excited he is to have guys like them on his team so practice isn’t necessary? The coaches I know expect the team to be there for practice and to work hard. But the athletes aren’t just preparing. They are being prepared. The coach is preparing them. He’s guiding them. He’s stirring them on. He’s giving them the big picture. He’s pointing out small but important things they might have missed otherwise. Their preparing is their preparation.
The collect for the First Sunday in Advent focuses us on this preparation: “Stir up our hearts, O Lord, to make ready the way of Your only-begotten Son, that by His coming we may be enabled to serve You with pure minds.” We ask Him to stir up our hearts. It is by His coming we are enabled to serve Him with pure minds. Our prayer is not simply that we would have the mind to prepare for the celebration of His first coming and that we would continue to prepare for His second Coming in glory. But that He would prepare us through this so that we may see and hear and know what the shepherds did: there is salvation wrapped up in that baby of Bethlehem. There is life in that suffering and death of the Suffering Servant. There is deliverance from all our sins in that Savior who loves to keep coming to us.
Your life in Christ has been one of preparation. Because in your preparing you are being prepared. In your Baptism you are living a new life, one in which you are sustained by Christ Himself in His Word. You confess your sins. You examine yourself. You see where you have fallen short of His glory and His will. You long to receive again and again the food that forgives you and sustains you. And in His Holy Supper your Lord prepares you for new and trusting life in Him by feeding You with Himself.
Just think about it—if you simply rest on “what you know” you’re content to rest in that knowledge. Now, that might sound like a good thing, but it’s really not. It’s really resting in your knowledge. You might think this is splitting hairs, but listen to what the angels were telling the shepherds: Christ has come to you. He is your Savior! It’s not about knowledge, it’s about Christ preparing our hearts and minds for His amazing work of salvation. There can never be enough preparation that takes place. We can never be prepared too much.
That’s a good thing. Because Jesus loves to give. He loves to work for you. He loves to serve you. That’s why we see that the more we sin the more we need Him. The more we live in this world and in our flesh the more we’re tempted to delight in our wants and desires. Spending time in the Word of God; meditating on your Baptism and what it means that you have new life in the midst of this sin-filled world and your Old Adam that hangs on; pondering the mystery that God, who cannot be contained, has chosen to box Himself into the packages of human flesh and bread and wine so that we know exactly how He comes to us.
These are not only the glorious things we prepare for, but are also and always the very things God uses to prepare us for eternal life with Him. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Get Out of the Way
First Sunday in Advent
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Matthew 21:1-11
You don’t need to wait a month to start the new year, it has come today. Granted, it’s a different kind of year, that of the Church Year. Today’s Gospel reading directs us how to begin it properly.
Very simply, it is that we need to get out of the way. What we learn today on the first day of the Church Year is that it is all about Christ. Not only at the beginning of the year, but throughout our lives and through all eternity. Because it’s all about Christ, we need to get out of the way.
This is shown to us by the Gospel reading that has been designated for the beginning of the Church Year. It’s the account of Palm Sunday. We’re normally used to hearing this Gospel reading at the beginning of the most solemn week of the Church Year, Holy Week. So what’s it doing here at the beginning of the Church Year?
Just this: When we see what Jesus is doing here in riding into Jerusalem we see what it is all about. We see what Christ is all about. He is all about the cross. That’s why He came. He came to go to the cross, and so that’s how we begin. And that is what will be our focus throughout the Church Year and on throughout our lives. It is only through the cross that we have eternal life in Christ.
On the one hand Jesus is specific—He calls on two disciples to go get the donkeys. On the other hand, we’re not told which disciples they were. Why? Because that’s not important. We need to get out of the way.
When the guy asks them why they’re taking the donkey, he lets them go because “the Lord needs it”. That’s enough, the guy has to get out of the way. He’s not the important person here, Jesus is.
Even the donkeys are to get out of the way. Whatever they were doing, whatever they were going to be used for is not important. Jesus needs them and so He’ll use them.
Even a guy who wasn’t there on Palm Sunday is quoted, Zechariah. God inspired him centuries before to prophesy of this event. Zechariah didn’t have a clear picture of how this would come about. He didn’t know the name of the Messiah, that it would be Jesus. But he prophesied it anyway. He knew he simply needed to get out of the way—it was all about the Messiah; which we see here on Palm Sunday is Jesus.
The disciples go get the donkeys for Jesus. They did exactly what He had directed them to do. It wasn’t about them. It was all about Him. They needed to get out of the way.
So they brought the donkeys to Him. And they got out of the way. They put their cloaks on the donkeys. Many put theirs and also branches on the road before Him. Because it wasn’t about them, but Him. And so they acclaimed Him. They shouted their praises to Him.
The only thing about it was that they were the ones doing everything. All Jesus was doing was sitting on a donkey and riding into Jerusalem. Not very stately. Not exactly awe-inspiring or kingly. Rather, what Zechariah had prophesied was coming about: Jesus was beginning His path to the cross humbly. What do you think everyone would have thought if they knew why Jesus was entering into Jerusalem? What do you think they would have done?
They didn’t seem to notice that He was riding in humbly. He made Himself of no reputation. He is the one who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Christ becomes lowly Himself so that no burdened sinner is driven away.
Still, who was doing all the work? Was it really all of them? Jesus had it all planned out. Everyone else simply needed to get out of the way. He alone knew why He was there. He alone knew that it was all about Himself—but for quite a different reason than they had all expected: it was to go to the cross.
What a contrast to the picture of the Old Testament reading: “All the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’”
This is a joyous trek, to the Mountain of the Lord! To be in the presence of the glory of God! With Jesus’ trek into Jerusalem He’s going to be brutally treated and suffer death. But it’s only through this tragedy that we may see what it means when the people of God setting their sights on God’s glorious presence seek to be taught by Him and walk in His paths.
It’s only by getting out of the way. We have to let God be God. If we want to begin the Church Year on a note other than the cross then we may as well go home, because we will not make it to the Mountain of the Lord and into His presence. We must get out of the way and hear what He has done for us. That He chose to go the way of the cross. That He chose to come in humility so that we may receive glory.
It’s through the lens of the cross, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, that Paul says in the Epistle: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law... the commandments are summed up in this Word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.”
Another way he might have said this is: “Get out of the way.” Let Christ rule in you. Because He does not rule in power but in love. He comes gently and humbly. He comes that we may begin to see that there really is a serious need we have. We prayed it in the Collect: “Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance.”
It’s loss beyond compare if we can’t get out of the way and see that our sins truly threaten to imperil us to eternal torment in hell. It’s glory beyond compare when we begin to see our sins in the same way Christ does: as brought to their end in His suffering and death on the cross.
Get out of the way. Let Christ be Christ. He is the Lord of all, and yet was content to be hailed simply as the prophet from the backwater town of Nazareth in Galilee. He’s never too proud to simply come to us right where we are, in our need. Don’t get in the way. Confess your sins. Think not on yourself and what you want, but on Him and His grace. On His body and blood which He gives to you to eat and drink. On His death and life which He joins you to in your Baptism. On His simple Word: “Come into the eternal Kingdom My Father has prepared for you.”
He wants you with Him. That happens when you get out of the way and look to Him and His cross. Your risen Lord is humble and powerful to save. He has done so. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Matthew 21:1-11
You don’t need to wait a month to start the new year, it has come today. Granted, it’s a different kind of year, that of the Church Year. Today’s Gospel reading directs us how to begin it properly.
Very simply, it is that we need to get out of the way. What we learn today on the first day of the Church Year is that it is all about Christ. Not only at the beginning of the year, but throughout our lives and through all eternity. Because it’s all about Christ, we need to get out of the way.
This is shown to us by the Gospel reading that has been designated for the beginning of the Church Year. It’s the account of Palm Sunday. We’re normally used to hearing this Gospel reading at the beginning of the most solemn week of the Church Year, Holy Week. So what’s it doing here at the beginning of the Church Year?
Just this: When we see what Jesus is doing here in riding into Jerusalem we see what it is all about. We see what Christ is all about. He is all about the cross. That’s why He came. He came to go to the cross, and so that’s how we begin. And that is what will be our focus throughout the Church Year and on throughout our lives. It is only through the cross that we have eternal life in Christ.
On the one hand Jesus is specific—He calls on two disciples to go get the donkeys. On the other hand, we’re not told which disciples they were. Why? Because that’s not important. We need to get out of the way.
When the guy asks them why they’re taking the donkey, he lets them go because “the Lord needs it”. That’s enough, the guy has to get out of the way. He’s not the important person here, Jesus is.
Even the donkeys are to get out of the way. Whatever they were doing, whatever they were going to be used for is not important. Jesus needs them and so He’ll use them.
Even a guy who wasn’t there on Palm Sunday is quoted, Zechariah. God inspired him centuries before to prophesy of this event. Zechariah didn’t have a clear picture of how this would come about. He didn’t know the name of the Messiah, that it would be Jesus. But he prophesied it anyway. He knew he simply needed to get out of the way—it was all about the Messiah; which we see here on Palm Sunday is Jesus.
The disciples go get the donkeys for Jesus. They did exactly what He had directed them to do. It wasn’t about them. It was all about Him. They needed to get out of the way.
So they brought the donkeys to Him. And they got out of the way. They put their cloaks on the donkeys. Many put theirs and also branches on the road before Him. Because it wasn’t about them, but Him. And so they acclaimed Him. They shouted their praises to Him.
The only thing about it was that they were the ones doing everything. All Jesus was doing was sitting on a donkey and riding into Jerusalem. Not very stately. Not exactly awe-inspiring or kingly. Rather, what Zechariah had prophesied was coming about: Jesus was beginning His path to the cross humbly. What do you think everyone would have thought if they knew why Jesus was entering into Jerusalem? What do you think they would have done?
They didn’t seem to notice that He was riding in humbly. He made Himself of no reputation. He is the one who said, “Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” Christ becomes lowly Himself so that no burdened sinner is driven away.
Still, who was doing all the work? Was it really all of them? Jesus had it all planned out. Everyone else simply needed to get out of the way. He alone knew why He was there. He alone knew that it was all about Himself—but for quite a different reason than they had all expected: it was to go to the cross.
What a contrast to the picture of the Old Testament reading: “All the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths.’”
This is a joyous trek, to the Mountain of the Lord! To be in the presence of the glory of God! With Jesus’ trek into Jerusalem He’s going to be brutally treated and suffer death. But it’s only through this tragedy that we may see what it means when the people of God setting their sights on God’s glorious presence seek to be taught by Him and walk in His paths.
It’s only by getting out of the way. We have to let God be God. If we want to begin the Church Year on a note other than the cross then we may as well go home, because we will not make it to the Mountain of the Lord and into His presence. We must get out of the way and hear what He has done for us. That He chose to go the way of the cross. That He chose to come in humility so that we may receive glory.
It’s through the lens of the cross, the suffering and death of Jesus Christ, that Paul says in the Epistle: “Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the Law... the commandments are summed up in this Word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the Law.”
Another way he might have said this is: “Get out of the way.” Let Christ rule in you. Because He does not rule in power but in love. He comes gently and humbly. He comes that we may begin to see that there really is a serious need we have. We prayed it in the Collect: “Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come, that by Your protection we may be rescued from the threatening perils of our sins and saved by Your mighty deliverance.”
It’s loss beyond compare if we can’t get out of the way and see that our sins truly threaten to imperil us to eternal torment in hell. It’s glory beyond compare when we begin to see our sins in the same way Christ does: as brought to their end in His suffering and death on the cross.
Get out of the way. Let Christ be Christ. He is the Lord of all, and yet was content to be hailed simply as the prophet from the backwater town of Nazareth in Galilee. He’s never too proud to simply come to us right where we are, in our need. Don’t get in the way. Confess your sins. Think not on yourself and what you want, but on Him and His grace. On His body and blood which He gives to you to eat and drink. On His death and life which He joins you to in your Baptism. On His simple Word: “Come into the eternal Kingdom My Father has prepared for you.”
He wants you with Him. That happens when you get out of the way and look to Him and His cross. Your risen Lord is humble and powerful to save. He has done so. Amen.
SDG
Thursday, November 29, 2007
When Will Jesus Come?
We all know the most famous prayer of the Bible, the Lord’s Prayer. But do you know what the last prayer of the Bible is? If you don’t know, it’s easy to find because it’s at the very end of the Bible: “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20). This is the response of the apostle John—and the entire Church—to Jesus’ words Himself, “Surely I am coming soon” (Revelation 22:19).
These words might be familiar to us as the opening words of the “common table prayer”: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.”
The Lord’s Prayer is the preeminent prayer of the Christian Church. But the last prayer of the Bible is not a bad one to keep in mind in our daily life. It is even found in the Lord’s Prayer as the second petition (“Thy kingdom come”).
This prayer really captures the Work of God in bringing salvation to human beings. He does it by bringing Himself to people. Jesus, who is God, comes to earth. He comes as a baby/man. He comes to His people in His Holy Supper. He comes to His people in the Gospel, spoken and proclaimed. And He will come again in glory on the Last Day.
The answer to the question “When will Jesus come?” is really a “now/not yet” answer. When it’s asked when Jesus will come again on the Last Day, the answer is that we don’t know, but it’s not yet. But when the question is asked, when does God come to save His people, the answer is that He has already come and continually comes to His people.
God has come to you in your Baptism. He comes to you at His altar when you receive His Body and Blood. He comes to you when you hear that word of forgiveness spoken to you by His servant in the absolution. He comes to you when you hear the Gospel proclaimed to you in all its comfort.
“Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?” (Jeremiah 23:23). That’s why He has given us the prayer He has given us. We pray to Him to come to us because He has promised to come to us.
We are weak. We need His help. “But You, O Lord, do not be far off! O You my help, come quickly to my aid!” (Psalm 22:19). He has come to us in our need. He comes to bring help:
“I bring near My righteousness; it is not far off, and My salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” (Isaiah 46:13)
We know Christ will come again in glory because He has been faithful to His promises. He has always come to His people. He will come again.
These words might be familiar to us as the opening words of the “common table prayer”: “Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest, and let these gifts to us be blessed. Amen.”
The Lord’s Prayer is the preeminent prayer of the Christian Church. But the last prayer of the Bible is not a bad one to keep in mind in our daily life. It is even found in the Lord’s Prayer as the second petition (“Thy kingdom come”).
This prayer really captures the Work of God in bringing salvation to human beings. He does it by bringing Himself to people. Jesus, who is God, comes to earth. He comes as a baby/man. He comes to His people in His Holy Supper. He comes to His people in the Gospel, spoken and proclaimed. And He will come again in glory on the Last Day.
The answer to the question “When will Jesus come?” is really a “now/not yet” answer. When it’s asked when Jesus will come again on the Last Day, the answer is that we don’t know, but it’s not yet. But when the question is asked, when does God come to save His people, the answer is that He has already come and continually comes to His people.
God has come to you in your Baptism. He comes to you at His altar when you receive His Body and Blood. He comes to you when you hear that word of forgiveness spoken to you by His servant in the absolution. He comes to you when you hear the Gospel proclaimed to you in all its comfort.
“Am I a God who is near,” declares the LORD, “And not a God far off?” (Jeremiah 23:23). That’s why He has given us the prayer He has given us. We pray to Him to come to us because He has promised to come to us.
We are weak. We need His help. “But You, O Lord, do not be far off! O You my help, come quickly to my aid!” (Psalm 22:19). He has come to us in our need. He comes to bring help:
“I bring near My righteousness; it is not far off, and My salvation will not delay; I will put salvation in Zion, for Israel My glory.” (Isaiah 46:13)
We know Christ will come again in glory because He has been faithful to His promises. He has always come to His people. He will come again.
Sunday, November 25, 2007
The Path to Life Goes through Death
Last Sunday of the Church Year
Sunday of the Fulfillment
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Luke 23:27-43
We have to change the way we think about death. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is on the path that leads to death. We usually don’t spend our time thinking about the end of the world, but today in the Church Year we are reminded that it is coming. On the Last Sunday of the Church Year we are reminded that this will all pass away. We will all one day die. The question is, what does that mean?
We don’t want to die, but we will. We don’t want to think about death, but we should. Jesus here helps us not only to think about death but to prepare properly for death. Part of thinking about life is thinking about death.
But not just our own death. Jesus’ death. This is what it is all about, really. That’s why this passage has been chosen for the Last Sunday of the Church Year. It’s always about Christ’s death. The apostle Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified.” And, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.” It is always about that, here in this life, and in eternity.
What is the vision the apostle John receives in the Book of Revelation? The Lamb who was slain. Eternal life comes through death. Our life eternally with God in heaven is through the death of God’s Son on Calvary. Our life is like a path. The path is leading to life with God, but it goes through death.
On this last day of the Church Year there are people with Jesus on the path to death. A multitude, in fact, and women who are mentioned in particular. The path to death is never without sorrow. How could this be happening to Jesus? The women expressed what all decent people would, it was wrong for an innocent man to be treated this way and to have to march the path to death.
But Jesus doesn’t see it this way at all. If you think this is bad, brace yourselves. Don’t weep for me but for yourselves and your children. Be aware that there will come a time when the fortunate ones will be those who don’t have to fear the loss of their children because they had none in the first place. Prepare for the time when you will long to be overtaken by a quick and painless end to the suffering.
This is truly remarkable that Jesus has no thought for Himself as He walks the path of death. Always with His eyes on others. With His thoughts toward those who are not in the dire condition He is in. Jesus shows us here, even before He dies, why He did. Why He chose that path to death. He was always looking out for us.
There were also two particular individuals on that path to death with Jesus. Two criminals. These two men represent all mankind. This is our warning to us what Jesus was talking about when He spoke to the women. If you think it’s bad now, just wait and see. Here we see this in the flesh. These two men are going to die. They are on the path to death. We are told why—they are criminals. They deserve it.
But we also see something remarkable from one of them. One of them realizes that there’s something very different from the one in the middle to the ones on each side of Him. They are there because they deserve it; Jesus is there but is innocent. One of them joins in reviling Jesus. The other criminal rebukes the criminal who’s reviling Jesus. Luke doesn’t tell us which one, the one on Jesus’ left or right, but in the great picture Jesus gives elsewhere of Judgment Day He separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep on His right, the goats on His left.
In that picture there’s a difference between what each say to Jesus. Those on His left, the goats, are stunned that Jesus the Judge would condemn them to eternal judgment. Those on His right know that they have no appeal to make for themselves. They are surprised that Jesus is not giving them the same judgment as the goats.
We seek glory without judgment. Life without death. The rulers and soldiers could not be convinced of Jesus’ claim of being God since He was hanging there on a cross. But if He came down! That would be a whole different ballgame! But there is one small light in the midst of this scene. The one who realizes he’s there because he deserves it. He has nothing to offer Christ. He simply sees that in this dying man’s grace and mercy is something beyond what you and I know so well: this life. This life will end in death, just like those criminals.
And yet it was in that very death of Christ that that man’s prayer was granted. “Remember me in paradise.” “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Because of Christ’s death and the Holy Spirit’s bringing us to new life in Baptism our Lord’s words apply to us as well at the close of our life: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
The path to life goes through the death of Jesus Christ. A seed does not sprout to life without dying. There is no life without suffering. There is no eternal life without the suffering of Christ. He died that we may live. He walked the path of death so that we may go through it to life eternal. Amen.
SDG
Sunday of the Fulfillment
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Luke 23:27-43
We have to change the way we think about death. In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus is on the path that leads to death. We usually don’t spend our time thinking about the end of the world, but today in the Church Year we are reminded that it is coming. On the Last Sunday of the Church Year we are reminded that this will all pass away. We will all one day die. The question is, what does that mean?
We don’t want to die, but we will. We don’t want to think about death, but we should. Jesus here helps us not only to think about death but to prepare properly for death. Part of thinking about life is thinking about death.
But not just our own death. Jesus’ death. This is what it is all about, really. That’s why this passage has been chosen for the Last Sunday of the Church Year. It’s always about Christ’s death. The apostle Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified.” And, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel.” It is always about that, here in this life, and in eternity.
What is the vision the apostle John receives in the Book of Revelation? The Lamb who was slain. Eternal life comes through death. Our life eternally with God in heaven is through the death of God’s Son on Calvary. Our life is like a path. The path is leading to life with God, but it goes through death.
On this last day of the Church Year there are people with Jesus on the path to death. A multitude, in fact, and women who are mentioned in particular. The path to death is never without sorrow. How could this be happening to Jesus? The women expressed what all decent people would, it was wrong for an innocent man to be treated this way and to have to march the path to death.
But Jesus doesn’t see it this way at all. If you think this is bad, brace yourselves. Don’t weep for me but for yourselves and your children. Be aware that there will come a time when the fortunate ones will be those who don’t have to fear the loss of their children because they had none in the first place. Prepare for the time when you will long to be overtaken by a quick and painless end to the suffering.
This is truly remarkable that Jesus has no thought for Himself as He walks the path of death. Always with His eyes on others. With His thoughts toward those who are not in the dire condition He is in. Jesus shows us here, even before He dies, why He did. Why He chose that path to death. He was always looking out for us.
There were also two particular individuals on that path to death with Jesus. Two criminals. These two men represent all mankind. This is our warning to us what Jesus was talking about when He spoke to the women. If you think it’s bad now, just wait and see. Here we see this in the flesh. These two men are going to die. They are on the path to death. We are told why—they are criminals. They deserve it.
But we also see something remarkable from one of them. One of them realizes that there’s something very different from the one in the middle to the ones on each side of Him. They are there because they deserve it; Jesus is there but is innocent. One of them joins in reviling Jesus. The other criminal rebukes the criminal who’s reviling Jesus. Luke doesn’t tell us which one, the one on Jesus’ left or right, but in the great picture Jesus gives elsewhere of Judgment Day He separates the sheep from the goats, the sheep on His right, the goats on His left.
In that picture there’s a difference between what each say to Jesus. Those on His left, the goats, are stunned that Jesus the Judge would condemn them to eternal judgment. Those on His right know that they have no appeal to make for themselves. They are surprised that Jesus is not giving them the same judgment as the goats.
We seek glory without judgment. Life without death. The rulers and soldiers could not be convinced of Jesus’ claim of being God since He was hanging there on a cross. But if He came down! That would be a whole different ballgame! But there is one small light in the midst of this scene. The one who realizes he’s there because he deserves it. He has nothing to offer Christ. He simply sees that in this dying man’s grace and mercy is something beyond what you and I know so well: this life. This life will end in death, just like those criminals.
And yet it was in that very death of Christ that that man’s prayer was granted. “Remember me in paradise.” “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” Because of Christ’s death and the Holy Spirit’s bringing us to new life in Baptism our Lord’s words apply to us as well at the close of our life: “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise.”
The path to life goes through the death of Jesus Christ. A seed does not sprout to life without dying. There is no life without suffering. There is no eternal life without the suffering of Christ. He died that we may live. He walked the path of death so that we may go through it to life eternal. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Look Up and See Your Redemption
Second-Last Sunday of the Church Year
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Luke 21:5-28
In the Church Year we’re in the last part, with our focus on the end times. The Chargers this year were supposed to be better than last year. Last year looked like it was going to be their year to go all the way until it all suddenly vanished before their eyes in the playoffs. This year looked like an even better chance of being their year since they looked even better. But this season has been looking more like it’s the end times for them.
Well, sports are just sports when all is said and done. For fans, they’re entertaining, but they don’t ultimately matter. Even for those who are really into sports, there are things that are more important in life.
Some things come out of the blue like the fires we experienced not long ago. Things like sports pale in comparison. The war against terrorism continues to rage on and the horror of war is especially felt in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Even in our free country there’s enough crime and pain and misery to go around to remind us that things could always be worse than not playing well on the football field.
Thinking about even a few of the tragedies around the world is discouraging. If we were to take all the suffering on the global scale upon our own shoulders we would be crushed under the weight. There are people tortured by their own leaders, people ravaged by natural disasters, people that are starving to death. Sometimes it’s easier not to think about all that stuff.
But things even hit us close to home, don’t they? The wars and the rumors of war might seem tame in light of the sting of harsh words our loved ones speak to us. The loss of our possessions in a disaster might pale in comparison with the loss of respect of someone you love or being deceived by someone you trust. Not having enough to eat might seem a small thing when held up against a longing, a searching for real meaning in life. When you’ve tried everything and come up short, the despair is like a hunger that can never be satiated.
All of this brings us to today. Though it’s not part of the Church Year, in our congregation it’s Commitment Sunday. Commitment Sunday may for some of us be one of those days we think about on the day of it and that’s it. It doesn't seem to come into play in day to day life. We’ve got a lot going on in our lives. We have all the struggles in the world and in our lives weighing on us. What does Commitment Sunday have to do with all of that?
It never struck me until this past week, but our Commitment Sunday always coincides with the end of the Church Year. I wonder if this tells us something about it. What does Jesus talk about in His dissertation on the end times? That it’s going to be tough. The odds not only will be against us but will be severe. He who endures to the end will be saved.
It’s easy to be committed to something that brings you great satisfaction. But our commitment wavers when the seas get rough. That’s why Jesus doesn’t tell us about the end times and simply leave it up to us to be the tough that get going when the going gets rough.
What He does is first tell us that it’s going to be tough. And yes, He does tell us that we better put our cammies on because this won’t be a walk in the park. But the main thing He tells us is that the very fact that all this stuff around us is happening is a sign that He is still God. That He is at work. That our redemption is at hand.
God didn’t look down upon the world and just shake His head that it was going to pot. He didn’t pour out His wrath upon all, putting an end to it all. No, He came down into the midst of it all. The sadness, the tragedies, the wars, the famines, the family struggles. Jesus placed His hands on the lepers. He comforted the bereaved. He ate with the prostitutes and the outcasts. He spent time with the hardened sinners, caring enough for them not to give up on them.
He himself took upon our human flesh. He Himself suffered—being reviled, being threatened, going hungry. He Himself was brutally beaten though every act He did and word He spoke was out of kindness and compassion. He himself suffered the effects of guilt, though He was guilty of nothing. He Himself suffered the punishment for sin, though He is without sin. He Himself took on a servant’s heart though it was the way of difficulty.
God never snaps His fingers and makes everything bad go away. Our world and often our lives are in a world of hurt. He comes to us in our hurt. He doesn’t magically take all the troubles away. But He does meet them head on. When the world is going to pot, Jesus is in the midst of it. When all these things are happening, He says: Look up, and see that your redemption is drawing near.
When His disciples and loved ones looked up and saw Him hanging in a bloody mess on the cross they didn’t see salvation. They saw sorrow. They saw their loved one moments away from lifelessness. We can look now at that cross and see life. Redemption. Salvation. Joy out of suffering, eternal pleasure out of pain.
Look up, and see your redemption. Here at His very altar your Lord comes to you in the midst of your sin-filled and burdened life to give you redemption. As His disciples and loved ones looked up and saw His body hanging on the cross and His blood being poured out, so we see in Him our salvation, His very body and blood given and shed for us. He has taken away your sin and guilt and sorrow and gives you instead forgiveness, life, and salvation. This isn’t instead of all those trials going on in the world and in your life—it’s in the midst of them.
When you see them; when they happen to you, look up and see your redemption. Your salvation has come to you. Your Lord and Savior is your life and salvation. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Luke 21:5-28
In the Church Year we’re in the last part, with our focus on the end times. The Chargers this year were supposed to be better than last year. Last year looked like it was going to be their year to go all the way until it all suddenly vanished before their eyes in the playoffs. This year looked like an even better chance of being their year since they looked even better. But this season has been looking more like it’s the end times for them.
Well, sports are just sports when all is said and done. For fans, they’re entertaining, but they don’t ultimately matter. Even for those who are really into sports, there are things that are more important in life.
Some things come out of the blue like the fires we experienced not long ago. Things like sports pale in comparison. The war against terrorism continues to rage on and the horror of war is especially felt in places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Even in our free country there’s enough crime and pain and misery to go around to remind us that things could always be worse than not playing well on the football field.
Thinking about even a few of the tragedies around the world is discouraging. If we were to take all the suffering on the global scale upon our own shoulders we would be crushed under the weight. There are people tortured by their own leaders, people ravaged by natural disasters, people that are starving to death. Sometimes it’s easier not to think about all that stuff.
But things even hit us close to home, don’t they? The wars and the rumors of war might seem tame in light of the sting of harsh words our loved ones speak to us. The loss of our possessions in a disaster might pale in comparison with the loss of respect of someone you love or being deceived by someone you trust. Not having enough to eat might seem a small thing when held up against a longing, a searching for real meaning in life. When you’ve tried everything and come up short, the despair is like a hunger that can never be satiated.
All of this brings us to today. Though it’s not part of the Church Year, in our congregation it’s Commitment Sunday. Commitment Sunday may for some of us be one of those days we think about on the day of it and that’s it. It doesn't seem to come into play in day to day life. We’ve got a lot going on in our lives. We have all the struggles in the world and in our lives weighing on us. What does Commitment Sunday have to do with all of that?
It never struck me until this past week, but our Commitment Sunday always coincides with the end of the Church Year. I wonder if this tells us something about it. What does Jesus talk about in His dissertation on the end times? That it’s going to be tough. The odds not only will be against us but will be severe. He who endures to the end will be saved.
It’s easy to be committed to something that brings you great satisfaction. But our commitment wavers when the seas get rough. That’s why Jesus doesn’t tell us about the end times and simply leave it up to us to be the tough that get going when the going gets rough.
What He does is first tell us that it’s going to be tough. And yes, He does tell us that we better put our cammies on because this won’t be a walk in the park. But the main thing He tells us is that the very fact that all this stuff around us is happening is a sign that He is still God. That He is at work. That our redemption is at hand.
God didn’t look down upon the world and just shake His head that it was going to pot. He didn’t pour out His wrath upon all, putting an end to it all. No, He came down into the midst of it all. The sadness, the tragedies, the wars, the famines, the family struggles. Jesus placed His hands on the lepers. He comforted the bereaved. He ate with the prostitutes and the outcasts. He spent time with the hardened sinners, caring enough for them not to give up on them.
He himself took upon our human flesh. He Himself suffered—being reviled, being threatened, going hungry. He Himself was brutally beaten though every act He did and word He spoke was out of kindness and compassion. He himself suffered the effects of guilt, though He was guilty of nothing. He Himself suffered the punishment for sin, though He is without sin. He Himself took on a servant’s heart though it was the way of difficulty.
God never snaps His fingers and makes everything bad go away. Our world and often our lives are in a world of hurt. He comes to us in our hurt. He doesn’t magically take all the troubles away. But He does meet them head on. When the world is going to pot, Jesus is in the midst of it. When all these things are happening, He says: Look up, and see that your redemption is drawing near.
When His disciples and loved ones looked up and saw Him hanging in a bloody mess on the cross they didn’t see salvation. They saw sorrow. They saw their loved one moments away from lifelessness. We can look now at that cross and see life. Redemption. Salvation. Joy out of suffering, eternal pleasure out of pain.
Look up, and see your redemption. Here at His very altar your Lord comes to you in the midst of your sin-filled and burdened life to give you redemption. As His disciples and loved ones looked up and saw His body hanging on the cross and His blood being poured out, so we see in Him our salvation, His very body and blood given and shed for us. He has taken away your sin and guilt and sorrow and gives you instead forgiveness, life, and salvation. This isn’t instead of all those trials going on in the world and in your life—it’s in the midst of them.
When you see them; when they happen to you, look up and see your redemption. Your salvation has come to you. Your Lord and Savior is your life and salvation. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, November 11, 2007
"The God of the Baptized"
Third-Last Sunday of the Church Year
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Luke 20:27-40
The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. You may know someone like that. When you die, that’s it. You cease to exist. The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus: So if what you’re saying is really true, that there’s life after death, then how will this woman be the wife of all seven men since she was married to each of them?
We believe in the resurrection. We believe in heaven. But we have questions, too, don’t we? Why would God give us marriage for this lifetime only to take it away in the age to come? Why do we love and cherish our spouse only to have that end at death? What will our relationships with each other be in heaven?
God established marriage so that humanity could reflect the communion of God—He is a relational God. Marriage was also given to multiply and fill the earth. Because of the fall, God also established marriage so that we may receive the promise of a Savior in the seed of the woman. Specifically for Christians, marriage reflects that spiritual union of Christ and His bride, the Church, who now waits for His return in glory.
Even though we don’t deny the resurrection and heaven, we can’t comprehend its glory. Even if we were to think of the most spectacular thing we could imagine, that wouldn’t come close to describing the perfection of heaven. Spouses who are sad that they won’t be married in heaven are sad because of their love for each other, even as they are not realizing that in heaven their love for each other will be even better than it is now because it will be perfect. God hasn’t made it this way to take away our joy and love for each other but to increase it.
Similar to marriage, we rejoice that God gives us parents. We certainly aren’t aware of the care they give us when we’re infants. But when we grow up, especially if we have our own children, we are grateful for all the energy our parents spent in caring for us. Tatum and Noah don’t know anything that’s going on today or since they’ve been born, but they sure are being loved and cared for by their parents.
Yet, when they’re in heaven, their immediate relationship with their parents will not be as daughter and son but as brother and sister in Christ. What would we do in this life without our parents? Who would take care of us, especially in those first years where we’re unable to take care of ourselves? Not only does God provide for us by giving us parents, as Christians He also gives us a picture of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. How He provides for us spiritually and eternally. We are sons and daughters of the eternal God.
You see, the resurrection from death changes everything. We weren’t created to die. Sin brought about our death. Sadly, we live in that spiritual death by continuing to sin. We need to be delivered from that. That’s why God will raise us from our grave on the Last Day. That’s why Jesus conquered the grave in His resurrection.
Though we may not like to admit it, we too often are like the Sadducees when our thoughts are more on the things of this world rather than the life of glory to come. When we’re born, we’re born into sin. That’s why God gives us new birth. That’s why rejoice today with Tatum and Noah. They’ve been given new birth in Baptism. The way Jesus says it in the Gospel reading is this: “those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead.” Baptism is how we are considered to be worthy by God and how we attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What Jesus said is true: God is not the God of the dead but of the living. We could say it this way: He is not the God of the dead but of the Baptized. You once were dead—dead in your sins. Now you are alive! Alive in Christ. Alive forever. Because God is eternal and has given you life that is eternal. You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob face to face. You will see your Christian parents face to face. You will see all your loved ones in Christ face to face because death cannot hold you. Your sin cannot hold you. Christ put it all to death. And death could not hold Him. He is alive forever and that’s why true life is in Him.
There’s quite a contrast to these two babies here today and those Christians who have lived a long life on this earth. Growing comes with trials and struggles against sin. In other words, we Christians are facing death every day until we get to heaven. The struggle against our sinful flesh is a struggle against spiritual death.
Part of the problem is that it may not seem like such a serious matter. Today in our country we observe Veterans Day. Talk to a veteran who has come face to face with death. When you’ve come face to face with death the rest of your life takes on a whole new meaning. When we begin to see that our struggle with sin is coming face to face with death our Baptism takes on a whole new meaning.
That’s what we need to see in our Baptism. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Since we have new life—eternal life—in Baptism, He is the God of the Baptized. When you wonder what is to come beyond this life, look to your Baptism—God is the God of the Baptized. When you struggle with the things of this life—sin, trials, doubts—remember your Baptism, God is the God of the Baptized.
Once you were dead in sin. Baptized into Christ you have life and are His child forever. He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are Baptized. He is your God forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Luke 20:27-40
The Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead. You may know someone like that. When you die, that’s it. You cease to exist. The Sadducees tried to trap Jesus: So if what you’re saying is really true, that there’s life after death, then how will this woman be the wife of all seven men since she was married to each of them?
We believe in the resurrection. We believe in heaven. But we have questions, too, don’t we? Why would God give us marriage for this lifetime only to take it away in the age to come? Why do we love and cherish our spouse only to have that end at death? What will our relationships with each other be in heaven?
God established marriage so that humanity could reflect the communion of God—He is a relational God. Marriage was also given to multiply and fill the earth. Because of the fall, God also established marriage so that we may receive the promise of a Savior in the seed of the woman. Specifically for Christians, marriage reflects that spiritual union of Christ and His bride, the Church, who now waits for His return in glory.
Even though we don’t deny the resurrection and heaven, we can’t comprehend its glory. Even if we were to think of the most spectacular thing we could imagine, that wouldn’t come close to describing the perfection of heaven. Spouses who are sad that they won’t be married in heaven are sad because of their love for each other, even as they are not realizing that in heaven their love for each other will be even better than it is now because it will be perfect. God hasn’t made it this way to take away our joy and love for each other but to increase it.
Similar to marriage, we rejoice that God gives us parents. We certainly aren’t aware of the care they give us when we’re infants. But when we grow up, especially if we have our own children, we are grateful for all the energy our parents spent in caring for us. Tatum and Noah don’t know anything that’s going on today or since they’ve been born, but they sure are being loved and cared for by their parents.
Yet, when they’re in heaven, their immediate relationship with their parents will not be as daughter and son but as brother and sister in Christ. What would we do in this life without our parents? Who would take care of us, especially in those first years where we’re unable to take care of ourselves? Not only does God provide for us by giving us parents, as Christians He also gives us a picture of the love our Heavenly Father has for us. How He provides for us spiritually and eternally. We are sons and daughters of the eternal God.
You see, the resurrection from death changes everything. We weren’t created to die. Sin brought about our death. Sadly, we live in that spiritual death by continuing to sin. We need to be delivered from that. That’s why God will raise us from our grave on the Last Day. That’s why Jesus conquered the grave in His resurrection.
Though we may not like to admit it, we too often are like the Sadducees when our thoughts are more on the things of this world rather than the life of glory to come. When we’re born, we’re born into sin. That’s why God gives us new birth. That’s why rejoice today with Tatum and Noah. They’ve been given new birth in Baptism. The way Jesus says it in the Gospel reading is this: “those who are considered worthy to attain to that age and to the resurrection from the dead.” Baptism is how we are considered to be worthy by God and how we attain to the resurrection from the dead.
What Jesus said is true: God is not the God of the dead but of the living. We could say it this way: He is not the God of the dead but of the Baptized. You once were dead—dead in your sins. Now you are alive! Alive in Christ. Alive forever. Because God is eternal and has given you life that is eternal. You will see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob face to face. You will see your Christian parents face to face. You will see all your loved ones in Christ face to face because death cannot hold you. Your sin cannot hold you. Christ put it all to death. And death could not hold Him. He is alive forever and that’s why true life is in Him.
There’s quite a contrast to these two babies here today and those Christians who have lived a long life on this earth. Growing comes with trials and struggles against sin. In other words, we Christians are facing death every day until we get to heaven. The struggle against our sinful flesh is a struggle against spiritual death.
Part of the problem is that it may not seem like such a serious matter. Today in our country we observe Veterans Day. Talk to a veteran who has come face to face with death. When you’ve come face to face with death the rest of your life takes on a whole new meaning. When we begin to see that our struggle with sin is coming face to face with death our Baptism takes on a whole new meaning.
That’s what we need to see in our Baptism. God is not the God of the dead but of the living. Since we have new life—eternal life—in Baptism, He is the God of the Baptized. When you wonder what is to come beyond this life, look to your Baptism—God is the God of the Baptized. When you struggle with the things of this life—sin, trials, doubts—remember your Baptism, God is the God of the Baptized.
Once you were dead in sin. Baptized into Christ you have life and are His child forever. He is not the God of the dead but of the living. You are Baptized. He is your God forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, November 4, 2007
A Good Place to Be
All Saints’ Day [Observed]
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Matthew 5:1-12
Are you hurting? Has someone you love spoken words to you that still ring in your ears and sting as if you were hearing it for the first time?
Are you feeling low? Are things so far out of your control that you wonder if God is in control?
Are you struggling with a particular sin? One that is on your mind a lot? One that racks you with guilt when you do it but that finds its way back into your desire?
Do you feel like your growth as a Christian is more like taking three steps forward and two steps back? Do you read the Bible and the words seem to fall flat?
Do you just go through the motions in life? In your faith? Are you so caught up in the day to day things that have to get done that you wonder where the meaning is to all of it?
If any of these things resonate with you then you might realize that you have an even more serious problem than these things that are disconcerting to you:
Why is it that you’re a Christian if you’re having these struggles? Isn’t being a Christian supposed to be better than not being a Christian? Doesn’t God promise to bless His people?
And yet, here we are with all kinds of struggles; with sins we continue to commit; with envy of some of those who aren’t Christians and yet who seem to not have all the problems or cares that we do.
So where is our answer? If we compare our ourselves and our situation to those in the world who don’t have a care for God then we’ll find ourselves wondering if they might really be better off.
Or, we could do what God’s people have always done: listen to the Word of God. It’s true, God’s people haven’t always done this well. At times they’ve neglected the Word of God or disobeyed the Word of God. But the Word of God has always been there.
Certainly before you and I were around. In fact, before anything that exists came into being, the Word of God was in existence. But not only is the Word of God words that are spoken or written, but Jesus Himself is the Word made flesh. He is the eternal Word and in today’s Gospel reading He speaks in one of the more famous parts of the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount.
When Jesus speaks, He brings about what He says. He is not just imparting information. The Beatitudes are not just beautiful sayings. It’s telling that you could go into a gift shop, or even the house of worship of a religion other than Christianity, and see the Beatitudes shown as inspirational material.
These words are not just telling us what we need to be like so that we may be blessed. They are telling us who Christ is and how we are blessed in Him. We are blessed because He brings it about. He blesses us through His speaking the blessing to us and placing it upon us.
How He does this is by showing us Who He is, not how we are to be. We already know how we are—we fail miserably at trying to be who Jesus calls us to be. Rather, when we see the Beatitudes, we see Christ.
And when that very Christ speaks His words to us He speaks into existence His righteousness in us. By His speaking His blessings to us we are blessed. God did not become human flesh just to tell us what to do. He did it to give us Himself.
When He speaks of the poor in spirit He speaks of who we are in Himself. It’s one thing to be poor. It’s another to be poor in spirit. Those of us who struggle as we do as Christians struggle because our sinful nature is powerful. It’s constantly trying to get the upper hand in our lives.
But we also struggle because because it’s tough to be a Christian. Christ didn’t save us to take away all our problems, He saved us to deliver us from our sin. And just as He saved us because we needed to be saved He likewise helps us because we need help!
We have no claim on God of ourselves, as shown by our struggle with sin and our struggles in general. He alone can provide all we need.
Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” If you look at all the Beatitudes you will see the common theme of being poor in spirit. Of being humble and lowly.
Jesus is showing us that though He is God He has become poor for our sakes. Paul says in 2 Corinthians: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”
This really puts a different perspective on our struggles! While we find ourselves wishing to be free of them our Lord embraced them! He became as we are yet without sin. And even more, He died for our sin!
Isaiah points us to our Savior: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted.” We are blessed because Jesus has come to us in our need.
We truly are poor. We are truly in need. Christ comes to us with His blessing. Namely, He comes to us with Himself. In our Baptism. In His Holy Supper.
Are we at times down and out? Do we struggle with sin? Are we at times not happy where we’re at as Christians? Christ comes to us where we’re at.
That’s a good place to be. Amen.
SDG
Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Matthew 5:1-12
Are you hurting? Has someone you love spoken words to you that still ring in your ears and sting as if you were hearing it for the first time?
Are you feeling low? Are things so far out of your control that you wonder if God is in control?
Are you struggling with a particular sin? One that is on your mind a lot? One that racks you with guilt when you do it but that finds its way back into your desire?
Do you feel like your growth as a Christian is more like taking three steps forward and two steps back? Do you read the Bible and the words seem to fall flat?
Do you just go through the motions in life? In your faith? Are you so caught up in the day to day things that have to get done that you wonder where the meaning is to all of it?
If any of these things resonate with you then you might realize that you have an even more serious problem than these things that are disconcerting to you:
Why is it that you’re a Christian if you’re having these struggles? Isn’t being a Christian supposed to be better than not being a Christian? Doesn’t God promise to bless His people?
And yet, here we are with all kinds of struggles; with sins we continue to commit; with envy of some of those who aren’t Christians and yet who seem to not have all the problems or cares that we do.
So where is our answer? If we compare our ourselves and our situation to those in the world who don’t have a care for God then we’ll find ourselves wondering if they might really be better off.
Or, we could do what God’s people have always done: listen to the Word of God. It’s true, God’s people haven’t always done this well. At times they’ve neglected the Word of God or disobeyed the Word of God. But the Word of God has always been there.
Certainly before you and I were around. In fact, before anything that exists came into being, the Word of God was in existence. But not only is the Word of God words that are spoken or written, but Jesus Himself is the Word made flesh. He is the eternal Word and in today’s Gospel reading He speaks in one of the more famous parts of the Bible, the Sermon on the Mount.
When Jesus speaks, He brings about what He says. He is not just imparting information. The Beatitudes are not just beautiful sayings. It’s telling that you could go into a gift shop, or even the house of worship of a religion other than Christianity, and see the Beatitudes shown as inspirational material.
These words are not just telling us what we need to be like so that we may be blessed. They are telling us who Christ is and how we are blessed in Him. We are blessed because He brings it about. He blesses us through His speaking the blessing to us and placing it upon us.
How He does this is by showing us Who He is, not how we are to be. We already know how we are—we fail miserably at trying to be who Jesus calls us to be. Rather, when we see the Beatitudes, we see Christ.
And when that very Christ speaks His words to us He speaks into existence His righteousness in us. By His speaking His blessings to us we are blessed. God did not become human flesh just to tell us what to do. He did it to give us Himself.
When He speaks of the poor in spirit He speaks of who we are in Himself. It’s one thing to be poor. It’s another to be poor in spirit. Those of us who struggle as we do as Christians struggle because our sinful nature is powerful. It’s constantly trying to get the upper hand in our lives.
But we also struggle because because it’s tough to be a Christian. Christ didn’t save us to take away all our problems, He saved us to deliver us from our sin. And just as He saved us because we needed to be saved He likewise helps us because we need help!
We have no claim on God of ourselves, as shown by our struggle with sin and our struggles in general. He alone can provide all we need.
Jesus said, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” If you look at all the Beatitudes you will see the common theme of being poor in spirit. Of being humble and lowly.
Jesus is showing us that though He is God He has become poor for our sakes. Paul says in 2 Corinthians: “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, so that you by His poverty might become rich.”
This really puts a different perspective on our struggles! While we find ourselves wishing to be free of them our Lord embraced them! He became as we are yet without sin. And even more, He died for our sin!
Isaiah points us to our Savior: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor; He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted.” We are blessed because Jesus has come to us in our need.
We truly are poor. We are truly in need. Christ comes to us with His blessing. Namely, He comes to us with Himself. In our Baptism. In His Holy Supper.
Are we at times down and out? Do we struggle with sin? Are we at times not happy where we’re at as Christians? Christ comes to us where we’re at.
That’s a good place to be. Amen.
SDG
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Seeing Yourself As Others See You
We see ourselves differently than others see us. If we saw ourselves as others see us we might be embarrassed. We might not even like what we see. A popular talk show host suggested setting up a video recorder by the dinner table and letting it roll for several days. He said that if you watched it you’d be amazed and would probably make an effort to change some of your habits.
It’s important for us to realize that what people see is not necessarily what we think they’re seeing. It would be enormously helpful if we were to have an awareness of how we come across to others.
Not that we should be full of ourselves. In fact, I think one of the reasons we’re so unaware of how we come across is that we are so absorbed in ourselves. This is a dangerous way to live. Jesus shows us that the danger is not only real but also eternal—He says in John 8:34, “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
You know how we see in others unkindness or simply immaturity? Odds are, people are seeing the same things in us. Do we really see ourselves for what we are? As slaves to sin?
Jesus shows us who we really are. But then He does something important—He shows us Himself. He shows us His sacrifice for our sin. He shows us His mercy in dying for our guilt, our selfishness, our actions that are much worse than we at times see them for.
He shows us this especially so that we can see ourselves as He sees us. And how is that? Jesus also said: “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Yes, we’re slaves to sin, but He has set us free! We are sons in the household of God! We are part of His family forever.
As children in the household of God we are going to be living with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And you know how siblings get along! They’re not always acting in the way they should toward each other.
But we have been set free from acting in accord with our sinful flesh. We have forgiveness. Not only from Christ but forgiveness that we can give to each other.
Then we will not only see each other as fellow human beings but as brothers and sisters in Christ. Then others will actually see Christ in us.
It’s important for us to realize that what people see is not necessarily what we think they’re seeing. It would be enormously helpful if we were to have an awareness of how we come across to others.
Not that we should be full of ourselves. In fact, I think one of the reasons we’re so unaware of how we come across is that we are so absorbed in ourselves. This is a dangerous way to live. Jesus shows us that the danger is not only real but also eternal—He says in John 8:34, “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.”
You know how we see in others unkindness or simply immaturity? Odds are, people are seeing the same things in us. Do we really see ourselves for what we are? As slaves to sin?
Jesus shows us who we really are. But then He does something important—He shows us Himself. He shows us His sacrifice for our sin. He shows us His mercy in dying for our guilt, our selfishness, our actions that are much worse than we at times see them for.
He shows us this especially so that we can see ourselves as He sees us. And how is that? Jesus also said: “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”
Yes, we’re slaves to sin, but He has set us free! We are sons in the household of God! We are part of His family forever.
As children in the household of God we are going to be living with our brothers and sisters in Christ. And you know how siblings get along! They’re not always acting in the way they should toward each other.
But we have been set free from acting in accord with our sinful flesh. We have forgiveness. Not only from Christ but forgiveness that we can give to each other.
Then we will not only see each other as fellow human beings but as brothers and sisters in Christ. Then others will actually see Christ in us.
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Where Is Help from God?
Reformation Day [Observed]
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
Simon and Jude, Apostles
Sunday, October 28, 2007
John 8:31-36
Things bigger than us tend to put things into perspective. When we find ourselves powerless against such a destructive force as a natural disaster or other tragedy we’re humbled a bit. Each time it happens we’re struck by how little we can do. In the seven short years of this millennium we’ve had our share of catastrophe in our nation, with 9/11, Katrina, and in our part of the country our second round of devastating wildfires. The assault on homes, businesses, and, sadly, even several lives was relentless. When you can lose everything in an instant you re-evaluate what is important to you.
Severe strain such as we’ve endured in San Diego and all of Southern California also brings out the best in people. It’s hard to overstate the heroism of the firefighters who have endured extreme conditions to save lives and homes. It’s gratifying to see the thousands of people who have given of their time and gifts to help out those who suddenly found themselves without a home or possessions. We’re thankful that in times of crisis government leaders band together for the common good.
But there’s the other side, too, isn’t there? Twisted people who start fires. Self-indulgent people who loot at others’ expense. Low-lifes who take advantage of people’s desire to give by ripping them off with false charity schemes. It’s a tragedy on top of an already tragic situation.
It’s at times like these we’re looking for ways we can get help. Whether it’s a home if we’ve lost ours. Or some peace of mind in knowing that our loved ones who are in harm’s way are okay and will be able to recover from their losses. Oftentimes, in these situations we look at our immediate needs, and there’s something to that. It’s kind of a natural reflex to make sure we’re taking care of our needs. But there’s also an important need for us to reflect on how we can learn from these kinds of situations.
What I mean is this. The firefighters are showing the model of what is best in humans. But do they act that way in their day to day lives? Are they always ready to sacrifice for others, even in little things? Those who have volunteered and helped out those in need, are they ready and willing to do that when people are not faced with a severe disaster? We say we trust in God, but have we throughout this crisis? Do we in our day to day lives in even small challenges?
This week our state has been facing a crisis. We’re all trying to deal with it and pick up the pieces. We’re being comforted by loved ones and being a comfort to loved ones. We know we’ll get beyond it, like we did four years ago. But we also know it won’t be easy. We do wish, don’t we, that it could be easier? We wish even more that things like this never have to happen. It’s at times like these that we are granted a gift, however.
It’s hard to see in the midst of it. But it’s here and we’d do better to recognize it. It’s the hand of God in the tragedy we experience. It’s in little things that don’t seem so little, with God’s protection given through the lives and actions of brave men and women who fight the fires. It’s in the opportunity God gives us to help those who are in need or are suffering. And those things are wonderful, because they help people where they’re at in their need.
But there’s even something larger that God is doing in all of this. It’s something that we need to know for beyond this time that we’re experiencing. Because life will continue beyond this tragedy. We will go back to living our normal lives with a look toward the Day our Lord returns to deliver us from this at times dismal existence. And how will we live it? Will we go on as we so often do, not recognizing who we are in Christ as we ought?
God gives us a blessing in a way we might not expect. It’s in the sameness of being here. It’s in this place, the House of God, that we receive His blessing. It’s in the things that are done here that we find stability. Our homes may be here today and gone tomorrow. Many have experienced this firsthand or are grieving with those who have. But there is something that cannot be taken away. And that is what we receive here.
What is it? In a word, it is Christ. There’s a reason we come here to God’s House and follow a calendar that does not go by months or years. It is the calendar of the Church Year. And if we don’t see how that applies to us, especially in the midst of our suffering in this moment, then we need to sit back and hear how this gift of God is for us in our time of need. Because this calendar is not like the one you have next to your fridge where you mark down what everyone in the family is doing and when. This is one that marks what Christ has done for you and the world.
There is no more relevant and timely calendar than the one we go by in the Church. Because what Christ has done for the world meets us where we’re at—no matter what is happening to us. The Scripture readings for each Sunday of the Church Year were designated long before we were ever hit with this disaster. And yet, they are more timely than ever.
What does the Church Calendar say to us today? The festival of the Reformation is a celebration of the Gospel. To some it might seem odd to celebrate the Reformation, something that grew out of the actions of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century in Germany. It might even seem out of place when it seems there is the the more pressing matter of coping with the devastation and recovery. But the need is still the same. The Church is always in need of reformation. Why? Because the Church is made up of sinners. God didn’t pick out the people who are free from sin to make up His Holy Church, but sinners. That’s because there are only sinners in this world. We may experience different degrees of tragedy but we’re all in the same boat in our sinfulness.
This might not seem all that earth-shattering. It might seem like a dull theological point that’s better thought about when we’re not facing such dark days as we are now with all the devastation. But it couldn’t be more pertinent! God takes us where we’re at! Even while we were sinners Christ died for us! Even though the inferno that blazes around us is seemingly unstoppable, God looks down on us in mercy and lifts us up. Christ suffered the fire of eternal torment on our behalf. We are sinners who stand before God forgiven.
One of the problems we have as human beings, and as Christians, is that we tend to be shortsighted. Right now we’re caught up in the emotion and exhaustion of what we’ve all gone through and are still experiencing. And that’s understandable, and even good. We need that. But we also need to look ahead. Jesus was talking in the Gospel reading to those who believed in Him. And yet, they didn’t like what they heard from Him. That’s troubling.
What they were questioning Him about doesn’t relate to what we’re going through, but isn’t the intent the same? To question God? Haven’t we had moments where we’ve wondered why God is allowing us to suffer in such a way as we have this past week? And don’t we so often want to look at the good that is within us that shines through in moments like these so that we can feel good that there’s still hope in this world? Isn’t the last thing we want to hear today the message that we are sinners? Isn’t what we want to hear comfort and good things about ourselves in the midst of all the bad that we’ve experienced?
We don’t want to hear Jesus’ judgment upon us as sinners because we don’t want to admit that we’re no better than those who have gone before us, but Jesus’ message to us is the same: “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” If we think we’ve had it rough with what we’ve gone through this past week and simply want relief from that, we are terribly shortsighted. Jesus wants to give you relief from so much more!
We will recover from the fires. But how will we be delivered from our slavery to sin? Jesus said: “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Just as we pray God to deliver us from the fires we especially pray Him to deliver us from our sin. What He does is send a flood. It doesn’t look like a flood, but it drowns us just the same. In Baptism we are dead to sin and raised to new life in Christ, free and in the House of God forever.
Those who were spared the loss of their homes helped out those who were forced from their homes or even lost their homes. They offered comfort, food, a place to sleep. That’s what Jesus does to us. He offers us Himself. He gave Himself not just to save us from a natural disaster but eternal damnation. He endured the fire of God’s eternal judgment on sinners. He suffered on the cross to become sin so that we may be free, a member of God’s Household. He feeds us with His very body and blood given and shed for us for our forgiveness.
Where is help from God? Here at His Table. Here you receive His forgiveness. Here He sets you free. And if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Amen.
SDG
Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost
Simon and Jude, Apostles
Sunday, October 28, 2007
John 8:31-36
Things bigger than us tend to put things into perspective. When we find ourselves powerless against such a destructive force as a natural disaster or other tragedy we’re humbled a bit. Each time it happens we’re struck by how little we can do. In the seven short years of this millennium we’ve had our share of catastrophe in our nation, with 9/11, Katrina, and in our part of the country our second round of devastating wildfires. The assault on homes, businesses, and, sadly, even several lives was relentless. When you can lose everything in an instant you re-evaluate what is important to you.
Severe strain such as we’ve endured in San Diego and all of Southern California also brings out the best in people. It’s hard to overstate the heroism of the firefighters who have endured extreme conditions to save lives and homes. It’s gratifying to see the thousands of people who have given of their time and gifts to help out those who suddenly found themselves without a home or possessions. We’re thankful that in times of crisis government leaders band together for the common good.
But there’s the other side, too, isn’t there? Twisted people who start fires. Self-indulgent people who loot at others’ expense. Low-lifes who take advantage of people’s desire to give by ripping them off with false charity schemes. It’s a tragedy on top of an already tragic situation.
It’s at times like these we’re looking for ways we can get help. Whether it’s a home if we’ve lost ours. Or some peace of mind in knowing that our loved ones who are in harm’s way are okay and will be able to recover from their losses. Oftentimes, in these situations we look at our immediate needs, and there’s something to that. It’s kind of a natural reflex to make sure we’re taking care of our needs. But there’s also an important need for us to reflect on how we can learn from these kinds of situations.
What I mean is this. The firefighters are showing the model of what is best in humans. But do they act that way in their day to day lives? Are they always ready to sacrifice for others, even in little things? Those who have volunteered and helped out those in need, are they ready and willing to do that when people are not faced with a severe disaster? We say we trust in God, but have we throughout this crisis? Do we in our day to day lives in even small challenges?
This week our state has been facing a crisis. We’re all trying to deal with it and pick up the pieces. We’re being comforted by loved ones and being a comfort to loved ones. We know we’ll get beyond it, like we did four years ago. But we also know it won’t be easy. We do wish, don’t we, that it could be easier? We wish even more that things like this never have to happen. It’s at times like these that we are granted a gift, however.
It’s hard to see in the midst of it. But it’s here and we’d do better to recognize it. It’s the hand of God in the tragedy we experience. It’s in little things that don’t seem so little, with God’s protection given through the lives and actions of brave men and women who fight the fires. It’s in the opportunity God gives us to help those who are in need or are suffering. And those things are wonderful, because they help people where they’re at in their need.
But there’s even something larger that God is doing in all of this. It’s something that we need to know for beyond this time that we’re experiencing. Because life will continue beyond this tragedy. We will go back to living our normal lives with a look toward the Day our Lord returns to deliver us from this at times dismal existence. And how will we live it? Will we go on as we so often do, not recognizing who we are in Christ as we ought?
God gives us a blessing in a way we might not expect. It’s in the sameness of being here. It’s in this place, the House of God, that we receive His blessing. It’s in the things that are done here that we find stability. Our homes may be here today and gone tomorrow. Many have experienced this firsthand or are grieving with those who have. But there is something that cannot be taken away. And that is what we receive here.
What is it? In a word, it is Christ. There’s a reason we come here to God’s House and follow a calendar that does not go by months or years. It is the calendar of the Church Year. And if we don’t see how that applies to us, especially in the midst of our suffering in this moment, then we need to sit back and hear how this gift of God is for us in our time of need. Because this calendar is not like the one you have next to your fridge where you mark down what everyone in the family is doing and when. This is one that marks what Christ has done for you and the world.
There is no more relevant and timely calendar than the one we go by in the Church. Because what Christ has done for the world meets us where we’re at—no matter what is happening to us. The Scripture readings for each Sunday of the Church Year were designated long before we were ever hit with this disaster. And yet, they are more timely than ever.
What does the Church Calendar say to us today? The festival of the Reformation is a celebration of the Gospel. To some it might seem odd to celebrate the Reformation, something that grew out of the actions of Martin Luther in the sixteenth century in Germany. It might even seem out of place when it seems there is the the more pressing matter of coping with the devastation and recovery. But the need is still the same. The Church is always in need of reformation. Why? Because the Church is made up of sinners. God didn’t pick out the people who are free from sin to make up His Holy Church, but sinners. That’s because there are only sinners in this world. We may experience different degrees of tragedy but we’re all in the same boat in our sinfulness.
This might not seem all that earth-shattering. It might seem like a dull theological point that’s better thought about when we’re not facing such dark days as we are now with all the devastation. But it couldn’t be more pertinent! God takes us where we’re at! Even while we were sinners Christ died for us! Even though the inferno that blazes around us is seemingly unstoppable, God looks down on us in mercy and lifts us up. Christ suffered the fire of eternal torment on our behalf. We are sinners who stand before God forgiven.
One of the problems we have as human beings, and as Christians, is that we tend to be shortsighted. Right now we’re caught up in the emotion and exhaustion of what we’ve all gone through and are still experiencing. And that’s understandable, and even good. We need that. But we also need to look ahead. Jesus was talking in the Gospel reading to those who believed in Him. And yet, they didn’t like what they heard from Him. That’s troubling.
What they were questioning Him about doesn’t relate to what we’re going through, but isn’t the intent the same? To question God? Haven’t we had moments where we’ve wondered why God is allowing us to suffer in such a way as we have this past week? And don’t we so often want to look at the good that is within us that shines through in moments like these so that we can feel good that there’s still hope in this world? Isn’t the last thing we want to hear today the message that we are sinners? Isn’t what we want to hear comfort and good things about ourselves in the midst of all the bad that we’ve experienced?
We don’t want to hear Jesus’ judgment upon us as sinners because we don’t want to admit that we’re no better than those who have gone before us, but Jesus’ message to us is the same: “everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.” If we think we’ve had it rough with what we’ve gone through this past week and simply want relief from that, we are terribly shortsighted. Jesus wants to give you relief from so much more!
We will recover from the fires. But how will we be delivered from our slavery to sin? Jesus said: “The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Just as we pray God to deliver us from the fires we especially pray Him to deliver us from our sin. What He does is send a flood. It doesn’t look like a flood, but it drowns us just the same. In Baptism we are dead to sin and raised to new life in Christ, free and in the House of God forever.
Those who were spared the loss of their homes helped out those who were forced from their homes or even lost their homes. They offered comfort, food, a place to sleep. That’s what Jesus does to us. He offers us Himself. He gave Himself not just to save us from a natural disaster but eternal damnation. He endured the fire of God’s eternal judgment on sinners. He suffered on the cross to become sin so that we may be free, a member of God’s Household. He feeds us with His very body and blood given and shed for us for our forgiveness.
Where is help from God? Here at His Table. Here you receive His forgiveness. Here He sets you free. And if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 21, 2007
How to Pray
Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Luke 18:1-8
I’ve always admired those people who say straight out that they don’t know how to pray. There’s good Biblical precedent for this. What request did the disciples come to Jesus with? “Lord, teach us to pray.” And what does Paul say? “We don’t know how to pray as we ought.” I suppose it’s kind of depressing that we don’t even know how to pray. But it’s also a very freeing experience. It’s a relief to know that even as we are unable to do it of our own ability, the Triune God is the one who makes it possible for us to pray.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray He gave them the Lord’s Prayer. When the apostle Paul said that we don’t even know how to pray as we ought he didn’t leave us without comfort but told us that the Spirit intercedes for us with groans which words cannot express. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus tells a parable where He teaches us that we should be persistent. We shouldn’t give up.
His parable is striking—He compares God with a pagan. Jesus shows us that no matter what, God is going to hear our prayer. The judge in Jesus’ parable heard the widow every time even though he didn’t do anything about it. So God hears us every time even though it may seem like He doesn’t do anything about it. And just as the judge finally got tired of the widow’s pleas and granted her request God will give us what we need when we persist in our plea.
This sounds great, doesn’t it? If we’re persistent enough God will grant us our heart’s desire! If we don’t give up, God will give us whatever we ask for! So does this mean that we haven’t been persistent enough? Is this why God hasn’t answered all our prayers in the way we have asked for? That could be part of it. But the Bible makes clear that He doesn’t give us everything we ask for or always in the way we want it. Our desires are tainted by our sinful flesh and He’s not going to give us something we ask for that’s actually damaging to us.
Jesus isn’t just teaching us to be persistent. He wants us to be persistent in God’s Word. His closing words are chilling: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Isn’t it easy to get lackadaisical? If there is the possibility of losing faith we’re more inclined to be vigilant and not take lightly the Word of God.
So to the Word of God we go. This is where He teaches us to pray. The words of the Lord’s Prayer that we pray—they are His Words. The Psalms are words He inspired to be written. Don’t rely on your own words when you pray. You can pray using your own words, of course. But don’t rely on them. Especially when you have the very words of God at your disposal. He knows a lot better what you need to pray for than you do. Go to the Scriptures themselves.
When you pray the Lord’s Prayer you don’t just have to pray it straight through. You can meditate on each petition. Think on each one. Pray to God to help you understand each one. Read and meditate on each portion of the Lord’s Prayer with the meanings in the Catechism.
The great portion of the Scriptures for prayer is the Psalms. Pray the Psalms. You can do one a day or some other pattern. You can read a Psalm and have that be your prayer, or read it verse by verse and meditate on each verse.
The key in all this is that we want to pray according to God’s will and in going to the Scriptures we are being guided by Him as to His will. The Word of God itself is where we find God’s will. So we need to read the Scriptures. The more we get into the Word of God the more He will form our prayers and our minds will be conformed to His will.
We too often take the Word of God for granted. He has given us His very Word. Do we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it? One of the reasons we don’t get into the Word as much as we ought is that it’s a daunting prospect. It’s long and some of it is tough to understand. But there is a way to help us navigate the Word of God as well as take it to heart. The Christian Church in its wisdom drew up the Catechism over the years. We Lutherans tend to think of the Catechism as the writing of Martin Luther. But Luther just took the Catechism that had already existed for about 1500 years and wrote meanings to each portion. When Luther came along the Catechism consisted of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. These three teachings are the essence of the Christian faith.
But the Christian Church didn’t have the Catechism just to learn and memorize, but to pray. Luther talked about praying the Catechism. In our daily prayers we don’t have to limit ourselves just to the Lord’s Prayer. In praying the Ten Commandments we learn repentance. In praying the Apostles’ Creed we learn faith. And in praying the Lord’s Prayer we learn holy living. The reason this is the case is that each part is not the writing of Luther, or any other man. It is the Word of God. The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer are directly out of the Bible. The Apostles’ Creed is also Scriptural, with each phrase taken from or based directly on the Bible. When we pray the Catechism we’re praying the Word of God!
Or we can put it another way. When Jesus is talking about prayer He’s doing nothing other than laying out the life of the Christian. The life of the Christian is a life of prayer. Prayer is us saying back to God what He has said to us. We go to His Word to be formed by Him in what we say.
The life of prayer begins when He Baptizes us. Anna is only a few days old and the sounds that come out of her mouth are not intelligible speech. That’s because she’s unable to to use reason. But she is living the life of prayer even as we are. Because prayer is all about hearing and receiving the Word of God and responding back to God with that very same Word. When the apostle Paul exhorted us Christians to pray constantly, he wasn’t just talking to adult Christians, but to Baptized Christians. We should have no more incomprehension at how Anna can pray constantly than we should about ourselves praying constantly.
Prayer can become ritualistic. We sometimes go through the motions. That’s why we need the Word of God. His Words are living, breathing expressions of His will. Baptism isn’t just a ritual either. It’s not a magic wand over a person in which now they’re good to go. It’s a one time event but a life-long growth in the Christian faith. It’s very much like our physical birth. When you’re born you have life. But that life left alone will quickly be snuffed out. A baby needs to be fed and nurtured. That’s how the baby grows and is sustained in its new life. Baptism is new life that has no end. That’s why we take it so seriously with the vows that Alan and Kristen took this morning in the Baptism of little Anna. They promised to instill in their daughter the Scriptures. They promised to continue to bring her here to the place where she has been Baptized, the place where the Word that was connected to the water of her Baptism continues to forgive her and sustain her.
In Jesus’ little parable this morning we see what a remarkable God we have. If Jesus has the guts to compare God with a man who cares nothing for God or men we know that there’s more to this God than meets the eye. He’s a God who’s not afraid to step out over the edge to draw us in. When Anna was Baptized this morning it was as if God was reaching down to her right where she is. And now, not only are all her sins washed away, she is raising up prayers to her gracious God!
Right now, from what we can hear, Anna is busy making cute sounds; and even some that are not so cute! As she grows, she’ll find as we all do that it’s tough living in this world. And that it’s tough being a Christian. And on top of all that, we don’t even know how to pray as we ought. But we can take heart. Not only in the Word of God, the Bible, but in the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ. He knows what we’re going through. He Himself suffered. And His prayers ascended to His Heavenly Father. He prayed that His Heavenly Father’s will would be done.
The Good News for us is that it was! Jesus Christ did suffer and die on the cross for the sin of the world. He has given us His eternal salvation in Baptism. He delivers us from all evil and into His eternal Kingdom. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Luke 18:1-8
I’ve always admired those people who say straight out that they don’t know how to pray. There’s good Biblical precedent for this. What request did the disciples come to Jesus with? “Lord, teach us to pray.” And what does Paul say? “We don’t know how to pray as we ought.” I suppose it’s kind of depressing that we don’t even know how to pray. But it’s also a very freeing experience. It’s a relief to know that even as we are unable to do it of our own ability, the Triune God is the one who makes it possible for us to pray.
When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray He gave them the Lord’s Prayer. When the apostle Paul said that we don’t even know how to pray as we ought he didn’t leave us without comfort but told us that the Spirit intercedes for us with groans which words cannot express. In today’s Gospel reading Jesus tells a parable where He teaches us that we should be persistent. We shouldn’t give up.
His parable is striking—He compares God with a pagan. Jesus shows us that no matter what, God is going to hear our prayer. The judge in Jesus’ parable heard the widow every time even though he didn’t do anything about it. So God hears us every time even though it may seem like He doesn’t do anything about it. And just as the judge finally got tired of the widow’s pleas and granted her request God will give us what we need when we persist in our plea.
This sounds great, doesn’t it? If we’re persistent enough God will grant us our heart’s desire! If we don’t give up, God will give us whatever we ask for! So does this mean that we haven’t been persistent enough? Is this why God hasn’t answered all our prayers in the way we have asked for? That could be part of it. But the Bible makes clear that He doesn’t give us everything we ask for or always in the way we want it. Our desires are tainted by our sinful flesh and He’s not going to give us something we ask for that’s actually damaging to us.
Jesus isn’t just teaching us to be persistent. He wants us to be persistent in God’s Word. His closing words are chilling: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” Isn’t it easy to get lackadaisical? If there is the possibility of losing faith we’re more inclined to be vigilant and not take lightly the Word of God.
So to the Word of God we go. This is where He teaches us to pray. The words of the Lord’s Prayer that we pray—they are His Words. The Psalms are words He inspired to be written. Don’t rely on your own words when you pray. You can pray using your own words, of course. But don’t rely on them. Especially when you have the very words of God at your disposal. He knows a lot better what you need to pray for than you do. Go to the Scriptures themselves.
When you pray the Lord’s Prayer you don’t just have to pray it straight through. You can meditate on each petition. Think on each one. Pray to God to help you understand each one. Read and meditate on each portion of the Lord’s Prayer with the meanings in the Catechism.
The great portion of the Scriptures for prayer is the Psalms. Pray the Psalms. You can do one a day or some other pattern. You can read a Psalm and have that be your prayer, or read it verse by verse and meditate on each verse.
The key in all this is that we want to pray according to God’s will and in going to the Scriptures we are being guided by Him as to His will. The Word of God itself is where we find God’s will. So we need to read the Scriptures. The more we get into the Word of God the more He will form our prayers and our minds will be conformed to His will.
We too often take the Word of God for granted. He has given us His very Word. Do we read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest it? One of the reasons we don’t get into the Word as much as we ought is that it’s a daunting prospect. It’s long and some of it is tough to understand. But there is a way to help us navigate the Word of God as well as take it to heart. The Christian Church in its wisdom drew up the Catechism over the years. We Lutherans tend to think of the Catechism as the writing of Martin Luther. But Luther just took the Catechism that had already existed for about 1500 years and wrote meanings to each portion. When Luther came along the Catechism consisted of the Ten Commandments, the Apostles’ Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. These three teachings are the essence of the Christian faith.
But the Christian Church didn’t have the Catechism just to learn and memorize, but to pray. Luther talked about praying the Catechism. In our daily prayers we don’t have to limit ourselves just to the Lord’s Prayer. In praying the Ten Commandments we learn repentance. In praying the Apostles’ Creed we learn faith. And in praying the Lord’s Prayer we learn holy living. The reason this is the case is that each part is not the writing of Luther, or any other man. It is the Word of God. The Ten Commandments and the Lord’s Prayer are directly out of the Bible. The Apostles’ Creed is also Scriptural, with each phrase taken from or based directly on the Bible. When we pray the Catechism we’re praying the Word of God!
Or we can put it another way. When Jesus is talking about prayer He’s doing nothing other than laying out the life of the Christian. The life of the Christian is a life of prayer. Prayer is us saying back to God what He has said to us. We go to His Word to be formed by Him in what we say.
The life of prayer begins when He Baptizes us. Anna is only a few days old and the sounds that come out of her mouth are not intelligible speech. That’s because she’s unable to to use reason. But she is living the life of prayer even as we are. Because prayer is all about hearing and receiving the Word of God and responding back to God with that very same Word. When the apostle Paul exhorted us Christians to pray constantly, he wasn’t just talking to adult Christians, but to Baptized Christians. We should have no more incomprehension at how Anna can pray constantly than we should about ourselves praying constantly.
Prayer can become ritualistic. We sometimes go through the motions. That’s why we need the Word of God. His Words are living, breathing expressions of His will. Baptism isn’t just a ritual either. It’s not a magic wand over a person in which now they’re good to go. It’s a one time event but a life-long growth in the Christian faith. It’s very much like our physical birth. When you’re born you have life. But that life left alone will quickly be snuffed out. A baby needs to be fed and nurtured. That’s how the baby grows and is sustained in its new life. Baptism is new life that has no end. That’s why we take it so seriously with the vows that Alan and Kristen took this morning in the Baptism of little Anna. They promised to instill in their daughter the Scriptures. They promised to continue to bring her here to the place where she has been Baptized, the place where the Word that was connected to the water of her Baptism continues to forgive her and sustain her.
In Jesus’ little parable this morning we see what a remarkable God we have. If Jesus has the guts to compare God with a man who cares nothing for God or men we know that there’s more to this God than meets the eye. He’s a God who’s not afraid to step out over the edge to draw us in. When Anna was Baptized this morning it was as if God was reaching down to her right where she is. And now, not only are all her sins washed away, she is raising up prayers to her gracious God!
Right now, from what we can hear, Anna is busy making cute sounds; and even some that are not so cute! As she grows, she’ll find as we all do that it’s tough living in this world. And that it’s tough being a Christian. And on top of all that, we don’t even know how to pray as we ought. But we can take heart. Not only in the Word of God, the Bible, but in the Word made flesh—Jesus Christ. He knows what we’re going through. He Himself suffered. And His prayers ascended to His Heavenly Father. He prayed that His Heavenly Father’s will would be done.
The Good News for us is that it was! Jesus Christ did suffer and die on the cross for the sin of the world. He has given us His eternal salvation in Baptism. He delivers us from all evil and into His eternal Kingdom. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 14, 2007
A Very Practical Question
Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Luke 17:11-19
For those who pay attention to sermon titles, you’re probably wondering what the “very practical question” is that we’re met with in today’s Gospel reading. It is this:
What do we do?
There are Christians who ask this all the time. For some, it’s the main thing they’re concerned with. Some want to know what we need to do in order to be saved. Others emphasize this aspect: now that God has saved us, what do we do? Lutherans get uncomfortable with talk of what we do. Isn’t it about what Christ has done for us? Aren’t we to focus on the works of Christ and not on what we do?
But are we Lutherans playing fast and loose with the Words of God in the Holy Bible? Doesn’t today’s Gospel reading show us that we play a part in our salvation? The lepers cried out to Jesus. Can we deny that that was an action on their part? They also did what Jesus told them to do, go to the priests. Isn’t this something they were doing? And then of course we have the one leper who praised and thanked Jesus. Those were actions on his part, were they not? And Jesus commends him for them, does He not? Conversely, He questions why the others didn’t. Shouldn’t that tell us that we ought to do those things? And then there’s the clincher: Jesus statement to the man, “Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.” This is pretty clear, isn’t it, that it’s the man’s faith that saved him? And Paul himself says that we are justified by faith.
Well let’s take a look at exactly what those lepers did so that we can find the answer to our question, “What do we do?” Let’s look at what Jesus shows us as the way so that we may know what it is we are to do.
It may seem like it’s just a detail, a part of the account of Jesus and the ten lepers, but it’s telling that the episode begins with Jesus Himself. Luke inspired by the Holy Spirit is telling us straight off that this account, and what we are to gain from it, is about Jesus. It’s not just an account about the lepers. It’s first and foremost about Christ. He was the one who entered the village. He sought out those lepers. They didn’t do anything to meet Him. He entered into their wretched lives.
One thing we can’t know is what was going through their minds or what was in their hearts. But that’s the way it is with everybody. We shouldn’t read into the words they spoke to Jesus, but we can see them for what they are as recorded in the Word of God. They are words the Holy Spirit inspired to Luke to set down on paper. And for what reason? To show us that they wanted help? Could be. Very possible, even. But could it also mean that their words as Luke has recorded them point us to something greater than deliverance from leprosy? After all, was Jesus entering that village only for the sake of those ten lepers? Or also for you and me? And even for everyone? After all, did they not have a greater need than their leprosy? Did they not have the same need that we all have, which is deliverance from sin? Is their cry for mercy really just a request for deliverance from their leprosy?
We wouldn’t be able to empathize with those poor men. The condition they lived in was horrible. But whether they knew it or not, it was the condition of their soul that gave them their greatest need. Here were men that weren’t able to carry out an ordinary life. How do you think they felt? Ostracized? Left for dead? Do you think they wanted more than anything to be delivered from their miserable condition? Not only did they endure pain and suffering from their skin condition, they experienced loss of community and friendship because they weren’t allowed in the everyday life of society.
None of us here suffers from the horrible disease of leprosy as those men did. But we can look around and see the effects of sin, can’t we? There are plenty of people in the world suffering from some ugly diseases; some in our own neighborhoods. Some of us ourselves are facing severe illnesses or medical conditions. Is there anything we long for more than relief from that pain and emotional turmoil? I’m sure the lepers would scoff at the notion that we share the same condition they did, but we can in fact identify with those men. That’s because we are diseased not on our skin but in our heart. Our sinful flesh is rotting ourselves away. We are just as much in need of crying out for mercy to Christ as they were.
Here we learn a very important thing about what we do, since that’s our question of the day. What does Jesus direct them to do? Go show themselves to the priests. And what do they do? Exactly what Jesus tells them to do. It’s not what saved them from their leprosy, of course, it’s the Word of Christ that He spoke. But nevertheless, they obey His Word and go. All, that is, but the one. He came back. He had something else he needed to do, even though Jesus was clear in His command. The Samaritan came back to praise God and give thanks to Jesus.
It is in this that we see there is nothing we can do. It appears the lepers are doing all this doing. But whereas the nine go to the priests to get that work done Jesus had talked about the one can’t see anything but the mercy that has been poured out upon him. Whereas the nine are busy with the question, “What do we do?” the one is filled up with relief, gratitude, and thanksgiving. The priests will have to wait, because Jesus is the source of salvation, of life, of healing, of mercy. This one man realized there was indeed nothing He could do—Christ had done it all! That there is indeed no sense anymore in trying to figure what can or should be done when the one who is crying out for mercy is crying out for mercy because he is unable to do anything to save himself!
I wonder why Jesus made a big deal about the nine? Was it because He wanted everyone to know they blew it and others should learn from their ungratefulness? Or was it because they had asked for mercy and really missed the point of it—to bask in it! To stand and be awash in the renewing flood of His compassion, grace, and salvation! To not be caught up in what it is they felt they were constrained to do!
That’s what Jesus is getting at when He tells the man that He may go in peace, that his faith has saved him. Jesus here shows us what faith is all about. That our answer to our question “What do we do?” is not about what we do but completely about what Christ has done for us. Here we come to the crux of the matter. The word “crux” comes from the word “cross”, and that my friends is the crux of the matter—the cross. Where does Jesus meet us? The cross. Where is our cry for mercy met? The cross. Where does our faith save us? The cross. The cross saves us. Christ saves us.
What do we do? Receive His forgiveness. It is given to us. We are met by Him. Here we are in life when Jesus comes to our village. We stand afar off. Dare we come to Him? Can we? But what does He do? He cleanses us. He Baptizes us, removing the sin that clings to our flesh as the leprosy clung to the lepers’ flesh. Our cry for mercy reaches His ears and ours are met with His Word, “Take, eat, this is My body, given for you. Take, drink, this is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.”
What do we do? Thank God He has done it all in His Son Jesus Christ! Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Luke 17:11-19
For those who pay attention to sermon titles, you’re probably wondering what the “very practical question” is that we’re met with in today’s Gospel reading. It is this:
What do we do?
There are Christians who ask this all the time. For some, it’s the main thing they’re concerned with. Some want to know what we need to do in order to be saved. Others emphasize this aspect: now that God has saved us, what do we do? Lutherans get uncomfortable with talk of what we do. Isn’t it about what Christ has done for us? Aren’t we to focus on the works of Christ and not on what we do?
But are we Lutherans playing fast and loose with the Words of God in the Holy Bible? Doesn’t today’s Gospel reading show us that we play a part in our salvation? The lepers cried out to Jesus. Can we deny that that was an action on their part? They also did what Jesus told them to do, go to the priests. Isn’t this something they were doing? And then of course we have the one leper who praised and thanked Jesus. Those were actions on his part, were they not? And Jesus commends him for them, does He not? Conversely, He questions why the others didn’t. Shouldn’t that tell us that we ought to do those things? And then there’s the clincher: Jesus statement to the man, “Rise and go your way; your faith has saved you.” This is pretty clear, isn’t it, that it’s the man’s faith that saved him? And Paul himself says that we are justified by faith.
Well let’s take a look at exactly what those lepers did so that we can find the answer to our question, “What do we do?” Let’s look at what Jesus shows us as the way so that we may know what it is we are to do.
It may seem like it’s just a detail, a part of the account of Jesus and the ten lepers, but it’s telling that the episode begins with Jesus Himself. Luke inspired by the Holy Spirit is telling us straight off that this account, and what we are to gain from it, is about Jesus. It’s not just an account about the lepers. It’s first and foremost about Christ. He was the one who entered the village. He sought out those lepers. They didn’t do anything to meet Him. He entered into their wretched lives.
One thing we can’t know is what was going through their minds or what was in their hearts. But that’s the way it is with everybody. We shouldn’t read into the words they spoke to Jesus, but we can see them for what they are as recorded in the Word of God. They are words the Holy Spirit inspired to Luke to set down on paper. And for what reason? To show us that they wanted help? Could be. Very possible, even. But could it also mean that their words as Luke has recorded them point us to something greater than deliverance from leprosy? After all, was Jesus entering that village only for the sake of those ten lepers? Or also for you and me? And even for everyone? After all, did they not have a greater need than their leprosy? Did they not have the same need that we all have, which is deliverance from sin? Is their cry for mercy really just a request for deliverance from their leprosy?
We wouldn’t be able to empathize with those poor men. The condition they lived in was horrible. But whether they knew it or not, it was the condition of their soul that gave them their greatest need. Here were men that weren’t able to carry out an ordinary life. How do you think they felt? Ostracized? Left for dead? Do you think they wanted more than anything to be delivered from their miserable condition? Not only did they endure pain and suffering from their skin condition, they experienced loss of community and friendship because they weren’t allowed in the everyday life of society.
None of us here suffers from the horrible disease of leprosy as those men did. But we can look around and see the effects of sin, can’t we? There are plenty of people in the world suffering from some ugly diseases; some in our own neighborhoods. Some of us ourselves are facing severe illnesses or medical conditions. Is there anything we long for more than relief from that pain and emotional turmoil? I’m sure the lepers would scoff at the notion that we share the same condition they did, but we can in fact identify with those men. That’s because we are diseased not on our skin but in our heart. Our sinful flesh is rotting ourselves away. We are just as much in need of crying out for mercy to Christ as they were.
Here we learn a very important thing about what we do, since that’s our question of the day. What does Jesus direct them to do? Go show themselves to the priests. And what do they do? Exactly what Jesus tells them to do. It’s not what saved them from their leprosy, of course, it’s the Word of Christ that He spoke. But nevertheless, they obey His Word and go. All, that is, but the one. He came back. He had something else he needed to do, even though Jesus was clear in His command. The Samaritan came back to praise God and give thanks to Jesus.
It is in this that we see there is nothing we can do. It appears the lepers are doing all this doing. But whereas the nine go to the priests to get that work done Jesus had talked about the one can’t see anything but the mercy that has been poured out upon him. Whereas the nine are busy with the question, “What do we do?” the one is filled up with relief, gratitude, and thanksgiving. The priests will have to wait, because Jesus is the source of salvation, of life, of healing, of mercy. This one man realized there was indeed nothing He could do—Christ had done it all! That there is indeed no sense anymore in trying to figure what can or should be done when the one who is crying out for mercy is crying out for mercy because he is unable to do anything to save himself!
I wonder why Jesus made a big deal about the nine? Was it because He wanted everyone to know they blew it and others should learn from their ungratefulness? Or was it because they had asked for mercy and really missed the point of it—to bask in it! To stand and be awash in the renewing flood of His compassion, grace, and salvation! To not be caught up in what it is they felt they were constrained to do!
That’s what Jesus is getting at when He tells the man that He may go in peace, that his faith has saved him. Jesus here shows us what faith is all about. That our answer to our question “What do we do?” is not about what we do but completely about what Christ has done for us. Here we come to the crux of the matter. The word “crux” comes from the word “cross”, and that my friends is the crux of the matter—the cross. Where does Jesus meet us? The cross. Where is our cry for mercy met? The cross. Where does our faith save us? The cross. The cross saves us. Christ saves us.
What do we do? Receive His forgiveness. It is given to us. We are met by Him. Here we are in life when Jesus comes to our village. We stand afar off. Dare we come to Him? Can we? But what does He do? He cleanses us. He Baptizes us, removing the sin that clings to our flesh as the leprosy clung to the lepers’ flesh. Our cry for mercy reaches His ears and ours are met with His Word, “Take, eat, this is My body, given for you. Take, drink, this is My blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.”
What do we do? Thank God He has done it all in His Son Jesus Christ! Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Raising the Bar
Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading have something for everyone. If you’re a lazy bum and think being a Christian is a cakewalk, then Jesus’ message for you is: Get of your duff and act like a servant of the Most High God. For those of you who are enterprising, up to a challenge, and don’t want to sit around on your duff all day, Jesus’ message to you is: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. If you think it’s hard being a Christian then you’re right.
He starts off innocuously enough, stating something we all know to be true: unfortunately, temptations will come. We’re all tempted. But His point here is not in how to stand up under those temptations. He’s here giving a warning. They’re going to come—but you’d better not be the source of them!
I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to look at others and see where they fall short. It’s easy to judge them. But each of us needs to watch ourselves. Yes, we should be concerned if others are causing people to sin. But we dare not think that we don’t fall into this category. And even more so, that we shouldn’t think it’s not a big deal. Jesus doesn’t say here, It’s better if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were cast into the sea than that you should cause one of these little ones to lose their faith. That would indeed be tragic and you should rightly see the severity of it with a severe judgment upon yourself. His statement is even more severe than that! If you even cause one of them to sin!
There’s no room here for error! Jesus doesn’t deal in, well, what you did wasn’t that bad, so don’t sweat it. Do you so blithely go on with how you act and what you say when others may fall into sin because of your actions or your words? How often do you interpret others’ actions in the worst possible light rather than the best? How often do you assume selfish motives in others rather than innocent ones? Be fearful—because if you’re not now, you will be when it will be too late. There’s a reason Jesus is telling us these words after His parable of the rich man who found himself in hell for eternity. Jesus will not stand idly by while we cause children or the young in faith to sin. We ought not to either. We must be much more aware of how we act and what we say and how it affects others. There are eternal consequences at stake. We must not think that others must not be so sensitive or easily offended. We must be circumspect in how we act and what we say.
Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Even when we’re cut to the heart we look for things within us that we can take comfort in. We are convinced we’re not all that bad. So the next words of Jesus come as sweet music to our sore ears: “If your brother sins, rebuke him.” Blessed Jesus doesn’t even say, if he sins against you. He just says, if he sins. Now this is a role we can see ourselves in. We see a lot of sinners out there. A lot of people doing a lot of things they shouldn’t do, living in ways they shouldn’t live. They need to be rebuked, and we’re the ones to do it! Jesus here is right on the mark. We are the ones to go to those wretched sinners and rebuke the daylights out of them. Get them to see their sin. How utterly in the wrong they are in living in ways that Christians ought not to live.
But Jesus here is not talking about those other people. He’s talking about you. He’s raising the bar. He’s not giving you a way to get your kicks. Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians that when we call others to repentance we must take heed to ourselves so that we don’t fall into sin. It’s the easiest thing in the world to become a Pharisee. To see the sin in others but not in yourself. To appoint yourself as the one to remove the speck in another’s eye while not seeing the log that is in your own.
Are you to rebuke? Yes, Jesus makes that clear. But we shouldn’t get all excited, because the purpose is not to bring shame upon the person. It’s to bring the person to repentance. That’s why we must do this in humility. Who needs to repent but us? Who are we to rebuke when we, ourselves, are in need of rebuke? Jesus’ next words show us just how much in need of that we are. What do we do when the person repents? We are to forgive him. We’re not supposed to psychoanalyze him. Give him advice. Remind him of how damaging what he did was. Forgive. See him as one who has not committed the sin.
Is this easy to do? Not when what they did is still lingering in our memory. Not when we still deal with the effects of what they did. Not when the Pharisee in us still holds on to the notion that what they did really was far worse than what we ourselves do. Not when we want to hold a grudge against them. Why does Jesus tell us to forgive? Because it’s not what we would first want to do. How did Jesus teach us to pray? “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” If you’re like me, you love the first part and kind of gloss over the second part. But especially those two words, “as we”. Our prayer is for God to forgive us. But does Jesus’ prayer stop there? Nope. Forgive us as we forgive others. Forgive us in the same way we forgive others. Do we want God to hold a grudge against us? Then why are we holding a grudge against others? Do we want God to remind us of exactly how wrong we were in what we did? Then why do we do that to others?
Okay, so we ought to be more forgiving. I can forgive someone once. After all, God is merciful to me. But some of these people don’t know when to quit. We forgive and they sin against us again. When is enough enough? Two times? Three? Four? Nope, again and again. Even seven times in one day. It would probably seem ridiculous to keep forgiving a person for sinning against you that many times in one day. But isn’t that what we do against God? Have you ever gone a day and sinned against Him fewer times than that?
There’s no way for us to attain to the level Jesus has raised for us. We can’t measure up to the standard He has set for us. What can we do? The disciples seemed to see their helplessness in what their Lord was calling them to. They cried out, “Increase our faith!” That’s really all we can hope for. It’s really our only hope. But what does Jesus say, what kind of hope does He give us? “Hey, look what you’ll be able to do—you can say to a tree, ‘Be uprooted.’” And then, even more spectacularly, “Be planted in the sea.” There’s no possible way you could do that without faith. So Jesus says all you need is just a little; say, like a mustard seed.
But wait a minute, we have faith don’t we? And we still can’t do what He said we could do if we had the faith of a simple seed. So that means we have even less than that? Yes, we’re really that pathetic. And yet our cry continues to go out to our Lord, “Increase our faith!” And you know what? It’s enough. It’s enough because God never gives in short supply. What seems little to us is abundant in the measure of God. We don’t need faith that fills the whole world. We just need faith. When God gives us faith, it’s what we need. It’s how much we need. He sustains us.
What does the master do after the servants have had a long day of work? “Here, take your shoes off. Sit up at my table so you can rest and be fed. In fact, let’s switch! I’ll feed you!” Of course not. If he did, the servants might think their master is out of his mind. They might think it’s too good to be true. They would most certainly think that they could never expect such a grand gift from their master. In an amazing reversal, this is exactly what Jesus does. He is the Master. We are His servants. We are to do what He has called us to do. We should not expect for Him to serve us. And yet, He does. He wraps the towel around His waist. He washes our feet. He the Master becomes the servant. We the servants are served by the Master.
Jesus has not only raised the bar for us, He Himself was raised up on the bar of the cross. The Judgment Seat where the sins of the world were dealt with. The great reversal. The Lord Himself receiving the punishment all deserve for every one of their sins. For every word and action that falls short of the bar Jesus has set. He became as the one who is guilty, though He Himself is innocent.
Jesus didn’t come to tell you to get your act together. He came to suffer and die in your place. He came not to be served but to serve. He prepares for you His rich banquet of love, mercy, and grace. The waters of Your Baptism overflow into every hour of your life to sustain you in the forgiveness He first brought upon you in that Baptism. His body given and blood shed on the cross are given to you once again each time you come to this altar. What He says here is indeed for you. And what He gives you—Himself—is indeed in abundance, for He cannot give less than Himself fully and freely. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Luke 17:1-10
Jesus’ words in today’s Gospel reading have something for everyone. If you’re a lazy bum and think being a Christian is a cakewalk, then Jesus’ message for you is: Get of your duff and act like a servant of the Most High God. For those of you who are enterprising, up to a challenge, and don’t want to sit around on your duff all day, Jesus’ message to you is: You ain’t seen nothin’ yet. If you think it’s hard being a Christian then you’re right.
He starts off innocuously enough, stating something we all know to be true: unfortunately, temptations will come. We’re all tempted. But His point here is not in how to stand up under those temptations. He’s here giving a warning. They’re going to come—but you’d better not be the source of them!
I don’t know about you, but it’s easy for me to look at others and see where they fall short. It’s easy to judge them. But each of us needs to watch ourselves. Yes, we should be concerned if others are causing people to sin. But we dare not think that we don’t fall into this category. And even more so, that we shouldn’t think it’s not a big deal. Jesus doesn’t say here, It’s better if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were cast into the sea than that you should cause one of these little ones to lose their faith. That would indeed be tragic and you should rightly see the severity of it with a severe judgment upon yourself. His statement is even more severe than that! If you even cause one of them to sin!
There’s no room here for error! Jesus doesn’t deal in, well, what you did wasn’t that bad, so don’t sweat it. Do you so blithely go on with how you act and what you say when others may fall into sin because of your actions or your words? How often do you interpret others’ actions in the worst possible light rather than the best? How often do you assume selfish motives in others rather than innocent ones? Be fearful—because if you’re not now, you will be when it will be too late. There’s a reason Jesus is telling us these words after His parable of the rich man who found himself in hell for eternity. Jesus will not stand idly by while we cause children or the young in faith to sin. We ought not to either. We must be much more aware of how we act and what we say and how it affects others. There are eternal consequences at stake. We must not think that others must not be so sensitive or easily offended. We must be circumspect in how we act and what we say.
Jesus knows us better than we know ourselves. Even when we’re cut to the heart we look for things within us that we can take comfort in. We are convinced we’re not all that bad. So the next words of Jesus come as sweet music to our sore ears: “If your brother sins, rebuke him.” Blessed Jesus doesn’t even say, if he sins against you. He just says, if he sins. Now this is a role we can see ourselves in. We see a lot of sinners out there. A lot of people doing a lot of things they shouldn’t do, living in ways they shouldn’t live. They need to be rebuked, and we’re the ones to do it! Jesus here is right on the mark. We are the ones to go to those wretched sinners and rebuke the daylights out of them. Get them to see their sin. How utterly in the wrong they are in living in ways that Christians ought not to live.
But Jesus here is not talking about those other people. He’s talking about you. He’s raising the bar. He’s not giving you a way to get your kicks. Paul tells us in the letter to the Galatians that when we call others to repentance we must take heed to ourselves so that we don’t fall into sin. It’s the easiest thing in the world to become a Pharisee. To see the sin in others but not in yourself. To appoint yourself as the one to remove the speck in another’s eye while not seeing the log that is in your own.
Are you to rebuke? Yes, Jesus makes that clear. But we shouldn’t get all excited, because the purpose is not to bring shame upon the person. It’s to bring the person to repentance. That’s why we must do this in humility. Who needs to repent but us? Who are we to rebuke when we, ourselves, are in need of rebuke? Jesus’ next words show us just how much in need of that we are. What do we do when the person repents? We are to forgive him. We’re not supposed to psychoanalyze him. Give him advice. Remind him of how damaging what he did was. Forgive. See him as one who has not committed the sin.
Is this easy to do? Not when what they did is still lingering in our memory. Not when we still deal with the effects of what they did. Not when the Pharisee in us still holds on to the notion that what they did really was far worse than what we ourselves do. Not when we want to hold a grudge against them. Why does Jesus tell us to forgive? Because it’s not what we would first want to do. How did Jesus teach us to pray? “Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.” If you’re like me, you love the first part and kind of gloss over the second part. But especially those two words, “as we”. Our prayer is for God to forgive us. But does Jesus’ prayer stop there? Nope. Forgive us as we forgive others. Forgive us in the same way we forgive others. Do we want God to hold a grudge against us? Then why are we holding a grudge against others? Do we want God to remind us of exactly how wrong we were in what we did? Then why do we do that to others?
Okay, so we ought to be more forgiving. I can forgive someone once. After all, God is merciful to me. But some of these people don’t know when to quit. We forgive and they sin against us again. When is enough enough? Two times? Three? Four? Nope, again and again. Even seven times in one day. It would probably seem ridiculous to keep forgiving a person for sinning against you that many times in one day. But isn’t that what we do against God? Have you ever gone a day and sinned against Him fewer times than that?
There’s no way for us to attain to the level Jesus has raised for us. We can’t measure up to the standard He has set for us. What can we do? The disciples seemed to see their helplessness in what their Lord was calling them to. They cried out, “Increase our faith!” That’s really all we can hope for. It’s really our only hope. But what does Jesus say, what kind of hope does He give us? “Hey, look what you’ll be able to do—you can say to a tree, ‘Be uprooted.’” And then, even more spectacularly, “Be planted in the sea.” There’s no possible way you could do that without faith. So Jesus says all you need is just a little; say, like a mustard seed.
But wait a minute, we have faith don’t we? And we still can’t do what He said we could do if we had the faith of a simple seed. So that means we have even less than that? Yes, we’re really that pathetic. And yet our cry continues to go out to our Lord, “Increase our faith!” And you know what? It’s enough. It’s enough because God never gives in short supply. What seems little to us is abundant in the measure of God. We don’t need faith that fills the whole world. We just need faith. When God gives us faith, it’s what we need. It’s how much we need. He sustains us.
What does the master do after the servants have had a long day of work? “Here, take your shoes off. Sit up at my table so you can rest and be fed. In fact, let’s switch! I’ll feed you!” Of course not. If he did, the servants might think their master is out of his mind. They might think it’s too good to be true. They would most certainly think that they could never expect such a grand gift from their master. In an amazing reversal, this is exactly what Jesus does. He is the Master. We are His servants. We are to do what He has called us to do. We should not expect for Him to serve us. And yet, He does. He wraps the towel around His waist. He washes our feet. He the Master becomes the servant. We the servants are served by the Master.
Jesus has not only raised the bar for us, He Himself was raised up on the bar of the cross. The Judgment Seat where the sins of the world were dealt with. The great reversal. The Lord Himself receiving the punishment all deserve for every one of their sins. For every word and action that falls short of the bar Jesus has set. He became as the one who is guilty, though He Himself is innocent.
Jesus didn’t come to tell you to get your act together. He came to suffer and die in your place. He came not to be served but to serve. He prepares for you His rich banquet of love, mercy, and grace. The waters of Your Baptism overflow into every hour of your life to sustain you in the forgiveness He first brought upon you in that Baptism. His body given and blood shed on the cross are given to you once again each time you come to this altar. What He says here is indeed for you. And what He gives you—Himself—is indeed in abundance, for He cannot give less than Himself fully and freely. Amen.
SDG
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