What If You Were…

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 8, 2010
Luke 12:22-40

What if you were to not be anxious about your life? What if you were not so consumed with what you will eat, or if you’ll have enough money to take care of yourself? What if you were to live as if life is more than food, and the body more than clothing? What if you were to consider the ravens, that they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them? What if you were to believe wholeheartedly that you are much more valuable than the birds? What if you were to live without undue care for the things you need in this life? If you were to believe and actually live as knowing that worry cannot add a single hour to your life? What if you were to actually live with the conviction that if you are not able to do as small a thing as that, then there is no reason to be anxious about the rest? What if you were to consider the flowers of the field, how they grow; that they neither toil nor spin, and yet are more spectacular than even the glory of Solomon? And what if you were to realize and actually give no thought otherwise that if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will He clothe you?

What if you were to hear Jesus’ words to the disciples, “O you of little faith!” and take them to heart, acknowledging that you, too, are of little faith? What if you were to admit that it’s true, that you are more concerned than you should be about having enough to eat and that you worry that you might not have enough if things get worse? What if you were to simply realize that these are the things the nations of the world seek after but that your Heavenly Father knows that you need them? What if, instead, you were to seek His kingdom? What if, instead, you were to live in the simple comfort and trust that the things you need will be added to you?

What if you were to actually have no fear. Not like those bumper stickers and T-shirts you see that say No Fear. What if you were literally to have no fear for your life. That no matter what happened to you you would rest secure in knowing that you are in God’s care. That He is your Shepherd. That it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom. That when all is said and done you are the recipient of the eternal Kingdom of God Himself. That whether you have a lot or a little, you have all things in the eternal God who has given you His Son.

What if you were to actually sell your possessions, as Jesus says, and give to the needy? What if you were to actually live in such a way where it doesn’t matter what you want or need or have? Where your concern was with others and not yourself? What if you were to provide yourself not with the things you need in this life but with a treasure in heaven that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys? What if you were to wake up to the reality that where your treasure is, there will your heart be also?

What if, instead of being so focused on what you need and want you were to dress for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks? If you were so blessed as a servant whom the master finds awake when he comes? What if in those times where it doesn’t seem you have enough or there’s more that you’d like and you’re not content, that you were to ponder the reality, the truth, that your Lord will dress Himself for service and invite you to recline at table, and will come and serve you?

What if these things were really true? What if you lived this way? Thought this way? Acted this way? Really believed it? What if nothing were so important to you as what your Lord gives you? What if you really did live as if He will come back at any moment? That you lived at the ready, knowing you are blessed simply because He has called you to stay on the watch for His return in glory?

Now, what if you were to take all these questions and ask one more? What if you were to take it on faith that these are not what ifs, but rather that this is who you really are? You would think, well, it can’t be, because I don’t live this way all the time. I am anxious about the things in my life. I’m battling illness, difficult relatives, addictions, depression, a hectic schedule. I’m barely making it through each day, and you want me to think about eternity? God may think more of me, but I see myself for who I really am. I fall short of what He has called me to. I don’t deserve the Kingdom He has promised me. I’m not worthy of being in His eternal Kingdom now.

And this proves that it’s true. That you are exactly what Christ has called you to be. Because he doesn’t hold out a carrot and motivate you to run after it. He gives you all that is His. He welcomes you into His palatial estate of grace. He rains down in your life favor that washes away despair and fear and hopelessness.

So why do you still feel those things at times? Or even a lot of the time? Because His perfect peace and grace doesn’t empty your life of difficulty and sin. It is through those challenges, and trials, and temptations that your Lord tears you down so that He may lift you up. If you are content because you have everything you need in this life then why would you look to God for help? It is when we are without those things we need and want that we look to God for what we truly need.

That you are able to see that you fall short of God’s call to you to rely solely on Him shows you that His grace is sufficient for you. Otherwise you would not see your need for God and His grace and forgiveness and salvation. Instead of being anxious, rejoice. Instead of worrying, give thanks. Instead of being afraid, take heart, your Lord has given you the Kingdom. He dresses Himself for service and invites you to dine at His Table. Instead of wondering where you’ll find the strength to carry on, rest in the gift He gives you at this Table often, His very Body and Blood. In other words, He gives you Himself.

You know how it pleased your Heavenly Father to give you the Kingdom? He gave His Son. There on the cross you see God giving His Kingdom to the world. You know how the Holy Spirit actually delivers this Kingdom to you, personally? Here at the Table of your Lord. Here at the font, in Holy Baptism. When you were washed with the waters of Baptism you were given the Kingdom. Your Lord dressed Himself for service and gave you all His grace, mercy, and peace He secured in His suffering, death, and resurrection.

Next weekend, some of us in our congregation are going to be at our annual congregational retreat. The theme is “Be Who You Are.” The theme verse is “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation,” from 2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV). A retreat is a good opportunity to get away from it all. To be in a different setting, to have some time to ponder the blessings of God in your life where you’re away from the daily pressures of life. But what your Lord calls you to in today’s Gospel reading is a daily renewal. A daily walking in faith. A daily living out of the new creation He has given you in Baptism. When anxiety runs high, when worry overwhelms you, remember who you are. Be who you are. You are a new creation in Christ. It has pleased your Heavenly Father to give you the Kingdom. Your Lord has dressed Himself for service and serves you daily with all His grace and blessing. Seek His Kingdom. Everything else you need will be added unto you.

What if it were true that you could be as your Lord has called you to be? What if you were to be as your Lord describes? What if you were to not ask the question but rather rest in faith in Him? In the promise He has declared to you: it is true. You are a new creation. It is no longer you who live but Christ who lives in you.

Imagine a conversation among God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—going something like this: What if We were to deliver fallen man by doing it Ourselves? Not calling on them to make it happen. But delivering to them forgiveness, life, and salvation. What if it pleased Us to simply give them the Kingdom? What if we simply served them rather than expecting them to accomplish salvation?

Well, we know no conversation ever took place, because we know the heart of God: it is with us. It is with being gracious and merciful and loving. No conversation was necessary, just simply God being God. God being who He is. And that is how it is all true. That we are who we are as God has called us to be. Because He has made it happen. He has made it happen in what He has done: giving us His Kingdom in our Baptism; blessing us eternally in Holy Communion; forgiving us in the Gospel. As we go through life we at times have questions. Not God. He has only answers. His answers are His promises. Amen.

SDG

You’re Already a Fool, so Be Foolish

Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 1, 2010
Luke 12:13-21

Have you ever had to work with someone who is incompetent? It seems the harder you try to get them to do their job right the more frustrated you become. You wonder why they can’t or don’t learn. It took me a long time to realize it, but incompetent people don’t realize they’re incompetent.

That’s the way it is with a fool. A fool doesn’t realize he’s a fool. Does anyone want to be a fool? If he becomes aware of it, won’t he want to change so that he is no longer a fool?

But a fool doesn’t realize he’s a fool. What’s even worse is that it’s easier to see that someone else is a fool than it is yourself.

This is where Jesus is going with this parable. If you don’t see that you’re a fool then you’re in big trouble. This very night your soul may be required of you and then what? The Bible is clear: eternal separation from God and eternal torment. But the fool hears that as nonsense. The fool thinks it is foolish. The fool thinks God is a fool. And we know of plenty of people who think that Christians are fools for believing in God. After all, we believe in things like God being born a baby and rising from the grave and salvation as a pure gift without having to earn it.

If you look in a Bible that has headings you’ll see this parable designated as the “Parable of the Rich Fool.” But it would be foolish to say, I’m not rich, so I don’t need to worry about the message of this parable. It would also be a mistake to say, I’m rich, but thank God I’m not like that idiot in the parable.

This parable is about you. It’s about me. The parable of the Rich Fool is spoken by Jesus to turn the heart of every person from being foolish to trusting in Him for everything they have and need. The wise person doesn’t see himself as wise but as foolish. The wise person realizes he is a fool. It is the fool who doesn’t think he’s a fool.

So don’t play games with God and yourself. Stand before Him as you are. A fool. A beggar. A person with nothing you deserve. A person who wants what you want, not what God desires for you. Stand before Him and confess that you are a fool.

The man who came up to Jesus didn’t seek Jesus’ wisdom, he just wanted what he wanted. He may not have known Jesus was God but he nevertheless came up to God to get Him to get what he (that is, the man) wanted. It seemed like a fair enough request. He should get his fair share of the inheritance, right? But who deserves an inheritance? No one. An inheritance isn’t something that’s yours by right. If your parents choose to give it to you, great. But if not, be content without it. The man not only wanted it, he wanted God to get it for him.

This is not the way it works. We don’t dictate to God what we want so that He can get it for us. Well, we do, but that’s because we’re fools. The way it works is that God has everything and He gives us blessings beyond measure. It’s hard to imagine the kind of money Bill Gates has. But even so, for all that he has, how much is it, really? After all, the rich man in the parable had more than he could handle and what good did it do him? His life was taken from him that very night and so it was all as if it were nothing.

We can’t treat God as if we can just go up to Him and get Him to our bidding. God is God. We are, well, we are fools. We too often think of ourselves as our own god. Maybe we don’t go around thinking we’re God, but we sure act like it. We think like it. We talk like it.

Listen carefully to what the man was saying it Jesus. He was calling the shots. He was dictating to Jesus. He was wanting Jesus to do for him what he wanted. He didn’t go up to Jesus and seek help. Jesus, can you help me out with this problem? I’ll admit, I really want my share of the inheritance, but maybe I’m not seeing things clearly. Can you help me out? Too often when it comes to the things of this world, all we see are the things of this world. We see what we have and we want to hold on to it as if that’s what is most important to us. Or we see what we don’t have and we’re consumed with acquiring it. And hey, God, if you’re God and you love us, then why aren’t you getting it for us?

But don’t think of this in terms of just being a wealthy person. Many of us have no desire to have a yacht. But rich or poor, we all want things, don’t we? The question is, is what we seek according to God’s will or simply what we want? The problem with the rich fool wasn’t that he had wealth, the problem is that he was consumed with himself. The problem is that he had no regard for the fact that all he owned was a gift from God. He was a fool because he sought his contentment in himself and not in God.

If you are willing today to admit you are a fool then you will have wealth beyond what you can imagine. If you don’t admit you are a fool you will never know what you’re missing but you will be called to account on the Last Day. It may be tonight as it was with the man in the parable. But if you see that God really is God, that He is the one who owns everything and calls the shots, then you will see that He also did a very foolish thing. At least, foolish in the eyes of our sinful and fallen lives. He gave up everything for sinful fallen foolish human beings. We are fools because we lusted after what we could see that was not given to us. He created us in perfection. He created us, giving us everything we need and more. We seek more and more, God became less. We seek greatness, He chose humility. We want what we don’t have. He has everything and became a servant. He gave up all to suffer on the cross to restore us to eternity with Him and all the riches of His grace.

Listen to this contrast Jesus draws in His parable: “‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” We lay up treasures for ourselves and are not rich toward God. He, on the other hand, is rich toward us in the laying down of His life for us. So if our life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, in what does it consist? How are we to use what God has given us, whether we are rich or poor, to be rich toward Him?

The way is only through the treasure He has given us. Consider the treasure that I hold in my hand. The Bible is a book, but it is more than just words on pages. It is a treasure beyond compare because it contains what God gives you, not what you seek for yourself. You don’t do anything to receive the grace and mercy, the forgiveness and salvation of God. But if you do want to do something, then read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest the Word of God. Take refuge in your Baptism when you long for the things of this world. Hunger and thirst for the Body and Blood of your Lord and Savior for the forgiveness of your sin and the strength you need when you are dissatisfied with your lack of what you want.

God calls you a fool because He loves you. He is calling you to repentance. And if you hear this and are grateful for His mercy toward you, hear also His appeal to you to do something foolish. Trust in Him. For everything. In all things. If you have a lot of possessions and money, thank God. Enjoy them. Be content that it is a blessing from God and that He gives you the opportunity and call to use your money and possessions to help others. If you don’t have very much, thank God for what He has given you. Enjoy the small blessings He gives you and be content in Him. Rejoice in the opportunity that even with a little you can still help others and be a blessing to them.

Whether you’re rich or poor, if there are things you don’t have that you want, leave them in God’s care. Be so foolish as to keep reading His Word. Rest your soul in the new birth He has given you in Baptism. Approach the altar of your Lord often in humility and awe that He feeds you and gives you Himself in simple bread and wine. No storehouses can contain the wealth your Lord pours out to you in your life. You stand simply with an empty hand and are given it all. Amen.

SDG

It’s Okay to Ask Questions

Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
James the Elder, Apostle
July 25, 2010
Luke 11:1-13

The Ten Commandments teach us to confess our sin. The Creed teaches us to confess our faith. The Lord’s Prayer teaches us holy living. I have here a copy of a book that is familiar to us Lutherans: Luther’s Small Catechism. Our new confirmands may remember what I told them about this little book—we call it Luther’s Small Catechism simply to distinguish it from the many catechisms that are in various Christian Church bodies. The Catechism that we’re familiar with was around long before Luther came on the scene. It consisted of the Ten Commandments, the Creed, and the Lord’s Prayer. A Catechism teaches the way of the Christian life. It does this by asking questions and then giving the answers. As Lutherans we are familiar with the question asked over and over again in the Catechism: What does this mean?

The disciples have a question of their own of Jesus. It’s a request: Lord, teach us to pray. We can think of their request as a question: Lord, how do we pray? We have confessed our sins. We have confessed our faith. Now how do we pray? How do we live out the life we have received in Your forgiveness, the faith into which you have brought us?

Jesus responds with the words we have come to know as the Lord’s Prayer. He responds by teaching them and us to pray. He teaches us holy living. The life of the Christian is a life of prayer. In the Psalms the psalmist says he meditates on God’s Word day and night. In 1 Thessalonians Paul exhorts us to pray constantly.

Did the psalmist have an exaggerated sense of his holiness? How could he meditate on the Word of God day and night? Was Paul engaging in hyperbole when he suggests that we can pray constantly? How can we pray without ceasing? How are these things possible? God Himself in His Word teaches us that it is impossible of ourselves. He teaches us as well that nothing is impossible with Him. We sin even in our confessing of our sin. We are lacking in faith even as we confess the faith. That’s why our Lord teaches us with the Ten Commandments and the Creed. That’s why our Lord teaches us to pray and in holy living in the Lord’s Prayer. Our Lord teaches us to pray and teaches us holy living through a lifetime of praying the Lord’s Prayer.

Throughout your lifetime, as you pray, as you learn the holy living God has called you to I guarantee you you will have questions. That’s okay. Remember the Catechism? It’s a book made up of questions. It’s okay to ask questions. God has the answers. Just observe any child for a relatively short period of time and you will see a person full of questions. This is good. This is how they learn. We all can probably remember a time or two when we were growing up and embarrassed ourselves because we asked a stupid question. Well, for some of us it happens even when we’re adults.

Just two weeks ago our synod met in Convention, which is a major event in the life of our church body. It occurs every three years and makes decisions that affect who we are as a body of Christians and how we’ll go forward into the future. I was glad to be a part of it and was excited for the opportunity to possibly go up to one of the microphones to make comments regarding some of the important matters we were discussing and deciding. I’m here to tell you that I did make it up to one of the microphones. And I’m also here to tell you that in the presence of two thousand people I asked a question that left me making a fool of myself.

We were being taught how to use the electronic keypads to vote on elections of people to various positions. On the pretend ballot there were ten names and we were to vote for multiple names. The person next to me asked how we were to punch in number ten, if we should press 0 or 1 and 0, and I said I hadn’t heard how to do that so I would go up to the microphone and ask. I stated that there were some of us who wanted to know how we should punch in a two digit number. The response was simple: for ten you press 1 and 0. That brought laughter to the crowd and I was left walking back to my seat wishing I had never asked the question.

Even though I was embarrassed I did receive some vindication. The man sitting right next to the microphone said to me right after I asked the question, “I was wondering the same thing.” I have to think that out of 1200 delegates there were at least a few more who wondered the same thing. So I might have been the fall guy, but I think it was okay for me to ask the question.

I wonder how the disciple who asked Jesus how to pray felt? Was he embarrassed? Were the other apostles getting a good laugh at his expense? But I for one am forever grateful for that disciple who went up to Jesus and threw caution to the wind and asked the question: Lord, teach us how to pray. It may have been embarrassing, but his admittance that we don’t know how to pray brought forth some of the greatest words ever delivered from the mouth of Jesus. It’s okay to ask questions.

Imagine Abraham in the Old Testament reading. The holy God has made His decision. The evil before Him in Sodom had gone on too long, He would wipe out the city. Abraham in fear and trembling approached God: Lord, what about those who believe in You? Will You destroy them as well? Who was Abraham to question the holy and almighty God? He himself was a sinner. But God welcomed Abraham’s questions. Even though Abraham was bold to keep bartering God down God responded in patience and compassion. It was okay that Abraham was asking his questions.

In the Epistle reading Paul responds to those who would make those who are asking questions to grow in the faith feel small. We’ve all known those Christians who think they know it all. They will expound on theological matters as if they’ve memorized every word of the Bible and as if they themselves are such a theologian that no one should question them. And that since you are asking questions that seem so simple you obviously are not a very strong Christian. Paul says that no one should belittle you in that way. If you’ve got questions about God and the Bible and living as a Christian, ask away! Don’t be afraid. It’s okay to ask questions. Yes, you may embarrass yourself, you may feel funny, people may even laugh at you or look down upon you, but I guarantee you that there are others who will be grateful you asked because they will have wanted to know the same thing. Jesus never laughed at anyone who asked questions. He answered them. He didn’t look down on them or make them feel small. He responded in patience and compassion.

That said, the kind of questions we’re talking about are questions of seeking God in faith. God does not put up with self-seeking questions. James and his brother John on one occasion asked of Jesus a preposterous request. We would like to sit at your right and left hand in Your Kingdom. Jesus rightfully showed them that they were not seeking the things of God but of themselves.

But Jesus is glad to hear our questions of seeking His will. We’re all growing in the faith, and how will we grow if we don’t ask what we don’t know? Jesus even goes farther than that. He wants us to be bold:

And [Jesus] said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and My children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.”

If you had to do this you’d be embarrassed. You would kick yourself that you actually rang the doorbell. Your friends would laugh at you that you had the gall to bug your neighbor for such a reason in the middle of the night. But when it comes to God, ask. Be as bold as if you were to wake up your neighbor for something as little as food. God wants you to ask Him when there is something troubling you. It’s okay.

Sometimes Jesus is accused of being up in the clouds. He certainly isn’t here: “And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” It’s okay to ask questions. When you are struggling with a passage of Scripture, ask. When you’re facing an interview for a new job and you’re nervous, feeling not up to the task, ask. Pray to God for guidance and wisdom. When you’re at odds with your child, or your parent, or your spouse, ask God to help you see where you yourself are at fault so that you can talk with your loved one in humility and to seek reconciliation.

We grow up asking questions. Why should we stop once we become adults? Jesus says: “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!” It’s a pretty simple thing that if our child asks for what they need that we’ll give it to them. We love them and want to take care of them. And this despite our being sinful people. How much more will God hear our payers, listen to our questions, give us what we need? How much more will the one who is not evil, has no sin in Him, who is indeed holy and almighty and merciful and patient and compassionate give us the Holy Spirit when we ask?

It’s okay to ask questions. It’s okay to admit that you do not live as God has called you to live. It’s a joy to know that your Lord has given you what you need. He gives you what to pray for. In His Holy Prayer He lays out for you the holy life to which He has called you. When you go home and pray the Lord’s Prayer, don’t just pray it through. Spend some time meditating on it. Break out your Catechism and ask the question, What does this mean? after each petition. Take comfort in your God and Lord who is ready and willing to listen to your questions and even rejoices when you ask Him. He is your Heavenly Father who loves you and cares for you. How much more will He love you when He has given you all things in His Son who gave up His own life for you?

When He gives you His Son He gives you His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit intercedes for you with groans that words cannot express. The Holy Spirit loves to take your questions and deliver them up to your Heavenly Father. Ask and ye shall receive. Amen.

SDG

Re-Think Freedom

Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
July 4, 2010
Luke 10:1-20

We’re here today in a church. There are many Christians around the world who just like us gather in a church on Sunday. But we’re in this specific church, located in San Diego. Our city is in the United States of America. Just as it’s our city, it’s our country, our nation. On this day in our nation we celebrate independence. We like to call it freedom. And it is. We have freedom to believe what we want. We have freedom to come here on a Sunday morning without fear of being thrown in prison or brought to the firing squad. The fact that we are here on a Sunday morning, in church, in San Diego, in America, tells us a lot.

Across time zones, cultures, nations, Christians gather in churches for worship. Some gather underground because they live in a nation that doesn’t value freedom as we do in our nation. Some of you may have come from other countries. Some of you may end up living in other countries. Some of you may never travel outside of our own country. But no matter where you end up, gathering in a church on Sunday morning is a custom that crosses all barriers: time zones, cultures, nations. In our country we have a particular affinity for freedom. But we are here in God’s House because we are Christians and the freedom we enjoy in this country doesn’t get to the heart of who we are here in God’s House. The Christian Church has existed long before the United States of America. God’s Holy Church exists in free countries and the most oppressive ones. The freedom we enjoy in this country is something we can truly rejoice in. It’s most definitely a gift from God.

But what’s even better, is that God gives us the opportunity to re-think freedom. The freedom God shows us is even greater than what we Americans normally think of as freedom; that we are free to pursue life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The reason this is so is because of a thing that was around long before the Declaration of Independence. It is the Word of God. The Declaration of Independence is a great document of history, certainly one of the most cherished of our nation. And it no doubt stands the test of time and is timeless in its truth. But the Word of God truly addresses all people of all time of all cultures and nations. The Word of God was proclaiming freedom long before the founding Fathers of the United States began writing the Declaration of Independence. The Bible was written in times far different from our own, in times far removed from our own, to people of different cultures than ours today. Yet the freedom that rings out from the pages of Holy Scripture is not freedom that is bound to political regimes or certain societal structures. The freedom God proclaims in His Word is freedom that is intact no matter what country, culture, or time you find yourself in.

So even though we are Americans and we are grateful for the opportunity to live in a free country, we see from God’s Word that as Christians no matter what country we live in we have true freedom. Look at how Jesus teaches us this in the Gospel reading. It’s an isolated event but tells us so much about who we are as Christians in the world. Jesus sends out seventy-two men to make known the Gospel. Now, how would you like to be sent out in the way He sent them out, as lambs in the midst of wolves? I’m not crazy about the prospect. Maybe they weren’t either.

But we should be. We should be because in His way of sending out there is true freedom. Jesus sets the t0ne here, doesn’t He, for the kind of freedom He brings about. It is freedom in Him. It is freedom from sin and our sinful flesh. That’s why His sending out of His servants must be as lambs in the midst of wolves. If we are not sent out into a hostile environment then where is our freedom? We will seek it within ourselves. Or equally as bad, from the world itself. We will be left in our sins and separation from God. Being sent out into a hostile world is how we see that our freedom is in Christ. Freedom from oppressive governments or things like that is a blessing but is fleeting. Freedom in Christ is eternal.

Jesus drives this point home with His injunction to “Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road.” How will these men be sent on their task? With everything they need in Christ. He will provide for them. That is what their freedom is in. Freedom of knowing they don’t need to rely on themselves or on others or the things of the world in order to carry out the mission Jesus has placed before them. Jesus isn’t saying we shouldn’t make use of the things of the world. He Himself did and that should be enough for us to know that we are free to eat and have shelter and enjoy the wonderful creation God has given us. But in sending them on their way with nothing they see off the bat that their lives are entrusted to Him and in that there is freedom from being enslaved to their desires and what they perceive as lacking in their lives.

The freedom Christ gives is freedom that we have no matter the reception we get when we make known the Gospel to others. There will be those who are receptive to it. Others will respond in hostility. Jesus gives the words to say to each: blessing upon those who hear the Good News gladly and judgment upon those who reject the Gospel. But to each the message is made clear that “The kingdom of God has come near to you.” Just think about what freedom Jesus is offering us here. We do not have to be bound to our feeble attempts at bringing the Gospel to others. We rely only on Christ and the message He gives us. We rejoice when people hear it gladly and speak the solemn message of judgment to those who reject the Gospel. But in either case we entrust it all to God. He is the one who converts people. We are free to bring the Gospel to others without the bondage of wondering if they will be converted. We leave it God.

You are here today hearing the same Good News that was proclaimed on that day. You are receiving the same message of salvation that has been made known over the past two thousand years. As you hear it, you are hearing Christ. He is the one speaking because He speaks through His servants. As you have heard, you also go out and make it known. Not everyone will hear it gladly but you can rejoice that at the very least you have planted a seed. God can do far more with the planted seed of the Gospel than we can with all our abilities and ideas. There is freedom in simply being in the Word, absorbing the Word, growing in the Word, and making known the Word to the world. There is freedom in that because it doesn’t all fall on you. It falls squarely on Christ.

And that’s really where He has been going with this whole thing from the outset. He’s the one who was going. He sent some to prepare the way before Him. But they were simply servants. They were making known the Gospel. He is the Gospel. He is the one who was making His way to Jerusalem and the cross. He was the one on whom the sin of the world, the guilt of every person, the eternal punishment of all fell. He took it all upon Himself in His suffering and death.

And in that is freedom. True freedom because it is freedom that rings for all eternity. Freedom you can rejoice in whether you live in North Korea or the U. S. because you know that your name is written in heaven. Amen.

SDG

Jesus Is Always on the Way

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
Cyril of Alexandria, Pastor and Confessor
June 27, 2010
Luke 9:51-62

Jesus never looks back. He’s always looking forward. He’s always on the way. God doesn’t sit around and wait for things to happen, He makes things happen. He’s not counting on us to get it together, He’s bringing about what needs to happen to accomplish what needs to be accomplished.

What is that? Salvation. Restoration. He doesn’t want us to just to make it through life, He wants us to experience abundant life. He pours out all the wealth of His eternal blessings upon us and we too often miss them because we’re setting our eyes only on what is in front of us instead of what lies ahead.

I think too often we think of God as “up there.” As “out there.” He’s above everything and removed from everything but we’re down here in the trenches, in the thick of problems, sins, temptations, suffering, confusion. Does He understand what we’re going through? Does He care? Will He help us in our difficulties? Will He clear up our confusion?

Our problem is that we’re stuck. We’re stuck on ourselves. Instead of seeing an opportunity to help someone who’s in need we see someone who is disturbing us and is a burden on our time. While we could see others as people who are loved by God so much that Christ paid for all their sins, we too often are annoyed with them when they waste our time or don’t do things the way we’d like them to. Instead of realizing that God blessed us with many blessings in this life we wish for those things we don’t have but would like to have. We aren’t going forward into abundant life because we’re stuck on ourselves.

Jesus says in our Gospel reading: “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” We are not fit for the Kingdom of God. We look back. Like Lot’s wife, we long for what we left behind when we thought we could live without God. We don’t want to go forward. We want to stay right where we’re at. Yeah, we’ll serve God, but we want to do it on our own terms. That’s why we look back. That’s why we long for the fulfilling of our own desires rather than the things God gives us in our lives as opportunities to serve others.

We should understand Jesus’ statement—“No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God”—this way: everyone who puts his hand to the plow looks back and therefore is not fit for the Kingdom of God. None of us serves God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. We all look back. We all wonder what it would be like to be free of the constraints of God. We are not fit for the Kingdom of God.

There is one who is though. Jesus alone has put His hand to the plow and has not looked back. He alone is fit for the Kingdom of God. It’s because He’s God, of course. But it’s also because He is always on the way. Particularly, He is on the way of the cross. He is always moving forward, not looking back. In the Gospel reading He sets His face to go to Jerusalem. It is there He will go to the cross, and He knows it. But that is the specific reason He sets His face toward it. He is moving toward it because it is there He will pay for the sins of the world. It is there He will accomplish the task of being the servant of the world. He is always on the way toward this.

When there are some who would deter Him from that destination He will have none of it. He will continue to go forward. It is the same today. We preach Christ crucified. There is no other name under heaven by which people will be saved. So we continue to preach Him and Him alone. We continue to preach the cross, the one crucified for the sins of the world. When there are some who would deter us from that we continue to move forward, not looking back to a message that is kinder and gentler. A message that doesn’t tell people of their sins and that they are under the eternal wrath of God. A message that substitutes the cross for possibility thinking or simply all the ways you are good in and of yourself. Jesus saves people through this one thing, the Gospel. Not through anything they do or appeal to. The cross is where Jesus was headed and it is the cross we still preach today, no matter how many people reject it.

And when there are some who are on the way with Jesus who would rain down fire from heaven upon those wretched people who would have nothing of the Gospel, Jesus is just as insistent that they are seeking to prevent Him from being on His way as those wretched people were. James and John were the ones Luke tells us who were rebuked by Jesus. Interestingly, he says nothing about those Samaritans being rebuked.

One of the things the kids love the most about VBS is the skits. They’re simple and they’re silly, but they’re also meant to drive home a point. The point, as you probably guessed, is the Gospel. But the more we learn of the Gospel the more we learn that it’s not just Jesus died for you so you can rest assured that you’ll be in heaven. It is so much fuller and greater than that! One particular line and response that really struck me in the skits this past week was when the Queen Bee asked the hive manager why Christians don’t just stay safely in the Church where there is peace and security. The bees would be much more comfortable in the safety of the hive. The response given to the Queen was that there are a lot of people in the world who do not know of the peace and security of being in the Church so we who do know of it go out and tell them the Good News. We are not free to blast people out of the water. If they seek to deter the Church from the proclamation of the Gospel we don’t call down curses upon them but more ardently make known to them the Gospel. Anything less and we will be the ones who are rebuked by Jesus.

This is how we follow Jesus, by being on the way with Him. He is always on the way, because He is constantly bringing us out of being stuck in our own sinful prison. We want to follow Him but we don’t want to leave the hive. One person said to Him, “I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” It’s scandalous to think of God as not having a place of His own but Jesus willingly lays aside His own comfort and security, having no place to lay His head, so that we may rest in the eternal mansions He prepares for us. On the cross Jesus was out in the cold. No one there to help Him or bring Him out of His misery. No one to placate the wrath of God upon Him. He alone took the path to the cross and received the full brunt of eternal damnation so that we will not be left out on the Last Day.

To one person Jesus said, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” We are so ready to serve and follow our Lord. We don’t say no to Him. We say yes. But how pathetic are we that we can’t just simply leave it at that. Yes, Lord, I will follow You. I will go on the way with You. I will walk the way of the cross as You did. Instead it’s, Yes, I’ll follow You Lord …right after I take care of some important things. And note that these are truly important things. There aren’t many more important things in the eyes of God than being able to have a proper burial for your father. But we are so wrapped up in ourselves that even these godly things come before God Himself rather than the other way around. Following Jesus means going the way of the cross, not taking care of what we need to take care of and then getting around to following Him.

We want to look back. We want to follow Him on our own terms, not simply as He has called us to. Jesus simply says, Follow Me. Walk the way of the cross. He is always on the way. He’s never going back. He wasn’t deterred then and He won’t be now. You might wonder how it is that He still walks this way of the cross when He has already done it and it is the one time sacrifice for all time. He is never to suffer and die again. How is He still always on the way when the way He is always on is the way of the cross?

It is because it is always about the cross. We preach Christ crucified. We don’t preach Christ who tells us how we should live. We don’t preach Christ who tells us that He loves us because we sure are trying hard, and at any rate we’re not nearly as bad as some. We don’t preach Christ who is one of many ways of thinking about God who is not bound up in only one religion. The cross is what we preach.

Christ continues to be on the way because whereas from the moment He was born He was on the way to suffer on the cross, from the moment He rose from the grave He has been on the way to delivering Himself to you. He is not interested in the spectacular, the emotional, the convincing. He is interested in simply bringing to you Himself. That’s why He’s always on the way. Always coming to you in the proclamation of the Gospel. Always united with you as you have been Baptized into a death like His and a resurrection like His. Always bringing into your mouth Himself, His Body and His Blood for the forgiveness of your sins.

Just as He set His face toward Jerusalem back then He sets His face toward you today. He was on the way to Jerusalem back then, walking the path to the cross. He is on the way today, working through His Gospel and His Sacraments to forgive you, delivering to you in them what He accomplished on the cross and by rising from the grave. He needs no place to lay His head, He’s God. But He’s not interested in rest anyway, just the rest He gives to you in your Baptism and in His Holy Supper. He never looks back, He’s always looking out for you, sustaining you in His grace, lavishing His mercy upon you.

After all, wasn’t it on the cross, the place where He set His face, where He said, “It is finished”? What was accomplished there is for all time and eternity. In the proclamation of the Gospel, in your Baptism, as you partake of His Body and Blood in His Holy Meal, eternity is brought to you at a moment in time for all of time. It’s because He never tires of loving you, forgiving you, saving you. He’s always on the way, He being the very way, truth, and life. Amen.

SDG

Does Doctrine REALLY Matter?

Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
June 20, 2010
Luke 8:26-39

What goes through your mind when you hear the word ‘doctrine’? Rigid? Outdated? Not relevant?

We Lutherans are big on doctrine, aren’t we? We will talk with other Christians and they’ll explain to us that we believe what we do because we have our doctrine. They’ll exhort us to be open to the Spirit’s leading. We can’t be bound by certain teachings, God is perfectly capable of working beyond rigid boundaries. There’s much more to the Christian life than doctrine.

When you hear this you may find yourself agreeing. God is powerful. He isn’t bound by doctrine. We shouldn’t impose doctrine on the words of the Bible. Even if they’re our precious Lutheran doctrines.

Isn’t it the Law that binds us and the Gospel that frees us? But we want to be free on our terms. That is what binds us. We cannot break those chains. The man in the Gospel reading was strong enough to break the chains that bound him, but it was an other-worldly strength. It came from demons. We don’t have strength on our own to do this. But the other-worldly strength enabled him by the demons was strength that could break only chains. It could not break down the walls that separated this man from God. Even though he was possessed by demons, in distinction to you and me, he was bound in the same way you and I are in our sin.

The man was bound even as he was able to break the chains that bound him. He was not truly free. He was isolated from the community. He was tormented not only by demons but by a life in which his sin burdened his heart and mind. The man was not in control, the demons had control over him.

What breaks the bonds of his prison is the presence and word of Jesus. What the Bible is teaching us here is that Jesus has power over what controls us. Demons, sin, whatever. The word that Jesus has is the word of authority. Jesus is God and God speaks with authority. It begins and ends with Him. If you break the law and the judge hands down a sentence you may not like it. You may disagree with it. You may think it’s unfair. You may try to think of ways you can get out of the sentence. But you are bound by it. You are under the authority of the word spoken by the judge. He has no more standing under the law than you do, but when he speaks as a judge he speaks with authority that binds you. This is the way it is with God. When He speaks we are bound by what He says. Whether we agree, disagree, like, or dislike.

If you’d just as soon not go according to the word of God as He has set it forth in the Bible, you are still bound by it. But you are also now bound to a different doctrine. It is the doctrine of man. It is the doctrine that wants control.

The account of the man who was demon-possessed in our Gospel reading may seem irrelevant for us in our day. At least in our culture. I haven’t yet run across someone who is demon possessed, at least not that I was aware of. I don’t know if you have, but even if you have, I think we’d all agree here that it’s not a common thing here in the U.S.

What happens in this account is what happens today. What Jesus did then He does today. The names and details may have changed, but what’s going on is what we deal with today. A movie might portray the frightening nature of demon-possession but you still go away from it not getting a full sense of it because you don’t deal with it. You don’t know what it’s like, I don’t know what it’s like. That man did. The people back then did. They lived in a world where it was dangerous. A man could be roaming the streets and there was no telling what he might do. If you tried to prevent him from harming someone or causing havoc by binding him in chains and he snapped them off like toy handcuffs you could only hope and pray he would do as he did and remain outside the city limits, isolated from civilized society.

We wouldn’t want to walk out our front door and wonder if we’ll face a crazed man due to demon possession. But have we lulled ourselves into a false sense of security because we know something like that probably won’t happen? The world we live in may very well be more dangerous than it was back then. But I’m not talking about predators on the loose, which does happen every so often today. I’m talking about what Jesus is combating in today’s Gospel reading. He’s not trying to disarm a crazy man. He’s coming to engage in battle with Satan. A man may break into your house and hold you at gunpoint, but he can’t take your soul. Satan can. Continuing in unrepentant sin can. Fleeing the gifts of Christ can.

We live in a world today where false doctrine is rampant. I know, it sounds silly. But if it sounds scary to live in a world where people who are demon possessed can roam freely through the streets and there’s no telling what they might do, reset your thinking. False doctrine reigning free in the world, having a hold in your life, is the greater terror we face.

There are things you see and things you don’t. What you see tends to seem more relevant than what you don’t. If you see a crazy man on the loose you should be rightfully scared. If you’re not aware that the man is demon possessed you won’t be aware of the true nature of the severity of the situation. What demons can do to a person is much worse than what a person can do to harm you physically. Since you can’t see false doctrine it doesn’t appear all that harmful. But it’s deadly. It destroys the soul.

This doesn’t mean that if you’re talking with someone and they speak something that doesn’t jive with the Bible that they’re going to hell. Believing that itself is false doctrine. But false doctrine is insidious. It takes a hold of you and binds you in spiritual chains.

What do we want? We want a life as a Christian that has immediate results when the going gets tough. We want God’s power to break through in the midst of trial and temptation. We want to see the demons driven away just as they were two thousand years ago—very apparent, very real, very visible. Very relevant.

But it’s not so, is it? We know God does not operate this way today. Talk to the person who drives to the hospital every day to visit his six year old daughter who is struggling mightily against her cancer but whose body will eventually succumb to it. Talk to the man who was active and lived a fulfilled life in which he did so much good to help others but who is now depressed and feeling all alone in this world because he has lost his sight due to a wrong diagnosis. Talk to someone who has just become a Christian and the newfound joy in her life only to find that her husband is now leaving her. Talk to the woman who has been raped and is struggling with a God who tells us He is loving but is having a very hard time reconciling what a man did to her and a God who reveals Himself to us as a ‘He’. Talk to the person who has worked hard his whole life to get where he’s at in his career only to find that he’s now out of a job because the economy can’t sustain his position. Talk to the man who knows God loves him but is battling depression, not because he’s moody but because he’s suffering from a chemical imbalance. Talk to the mother who cannot seem to balance everything going on in her life with all the demands placed upon her, all the frustrations she has to deal with, and a schedule that never seems to let up. Talk to the father who desperately wants to live in a God-pleasing way but encounters every day temptations that seek to pull him away from God and he’s getting weaker and weaker, praying to God for strength that seems to be fading and fading.

Look in the mirror. Face the demons in your own life. What plagues you? How are you bound? When you look at God, who do you see? Do you see a personal God who sweeps into your life just when you need it to deliver you or do you see a divine being who is far off; powerful but irrelevant?

You and I are bound just as that demon-possessed man was. Is what we struggle with really easier than what that man lived with? We are in the world just as he was. This is the domain of Satan. We are living in a dangerous place, where the devil’s main weapon is false doctrine.

The doctrine of the world, of our own hearts, of Satan himself, says that when you have to struggle as all the people I described then you don’t have much of a god. That’s deadly. That will land you in hell without repentance. The doctrine we hold to says that we’re just not trying hard enough, we’re not trusting in God enough, we must do a better job of being faithful to Him, so that we can then be blessed by Him. This doctrine ultimately leaves you in despair. You will truly be on your own, you will have separated yourself from God. False doctrine binds you in your sin and your separation from God as surely as the demons bound that man.

The Bible counters this false doctrin with true doctrine. It tells us exactly what’s what. We are bound. We are unable to free ourselves. From our sin. From our corrupted hearts. From our ineffective efforts to free ourselves from our bondage. From the walls that separate us from God. And true doctrine tells us what’s what with God. He frees us. He drives away the demons that plague us. The demons that continue to say that we can do it on our own. If we just try harder. If we’re just more faithful. If we just trust God more. If only we will do what God wants then we can be freed from our plight.

God in His Word tells us that He alone does that. He alone drives away the demons; He frees us from our bondage. He comes into your life and Baptizes you. Doesn’t sound all that spectacular? Not all that relevant? Just think about this, when Jesus did do a spectacular thing, driving demons out of a man, restoring the man to where he was no longer a plague on society, the people were scared. They wanted Jesus gone.

That’s what true doctrine tells us. When Jesus acts—in the way He does it—people retreat. They want Him to leave because they want things done their way. Baptism? Great, but what does it do for me today when I’m struggling with sin? How does it help me when I’m at odds with my neighbor? The Lord’s Supper? Wonderful, but how does His body and blood give me the help I need when I just got notice that I’m losing my job?

When Jesus walked the earth He gave direct healing to people. He immediately delivered them from demons. He even brought people forth from the grave. He’s not walking around today doing those things as He did back then. Often we pray for healing and our loved ones get worse, sometimes even dying. There are miraculous recoveries from illness at times, but much of the time we don’t have anything like what happened when Jesus was around to physically touch a person, to speak in their hearing and provide immediate relief from whatever ailed the person.

But He does provide. Think about it, Jesus did those miraculous things two thousand years ago, but He didn’t do it for very long. It was actually for only three years, most of the other thirty years of His life spent either going to school or carrying out the trade of carpenter. And not only did He spend only about three years in His ministry in which He accomplished many miraculous healings, but He also spent those three years in a very small area in this great wide world. For all the people He healed, there were thousands, even millions, who received no such deliverance. A lot like today. False doctrine would say, What kind of a god is that? True doctrine says, God doing it this way is the best way. Not for Him, for us.

Doctrine is what you hold to. It is what you believe. You either hold to your own or you let the Bible have its say. You let it determine what is true and what you believe. It brings to the forefront the most miraculous thing of all. The thing that matters most. The one who with a word drove demons from a man is the very one who is Himself the Word made flesh. The one who suffered in intensity beyond what the demon-possessed man could have ever imagined. The one who carried all the demons in your life to His grave. The one who bore all your sins and guilt upon Himself. This is the truth that drives out false doctrine. It matters because false doctrine is our default position and separates us from God. His default position is mercy toward us. True doctrine carries us through when we are at a loss in how we’re going to get through.

You can hold on to the truth that you are Baptized. You are in God’s eternal care because He has said it. He has made it so. He has saved you in Baptism and sustains you in the Holy Supper of our Lord. These are the things that you can count on each day and forever. Amen.

SDG

Do You Know Who You Are?

Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 13, 2010
Luke 7:36—8:3

The Pharisee knows himself. He is worthy. He is a good man and rests assured in his worthiness and therefore is confident of his salvation. But he also knows who this woman is, or at least what kind of woman she is. She was obviously not a person of moral character.

So he assumes that Jesus obviously does not know what kind of woman she is. So He obviously cannot be a prophet. And here Simon the Pharisee was so willing to give Jesus a chance, inviting Him to his home and everything!

The woman also knows who she is, and she knows as well who the Pharisee is. He’s, well, a Pharisee. It took a lot of guts to come into the situation, knowing that the upstanding Pharisee, a spiritual leader of her people, would disapprove of her kind of people. But he allowed this charade to go on so that everyone could see what kind of man Jesus really was. That He obviously was putting on a charade, giving props to this sinner and disrespecting him, Simon, a Pharisee and leader of the people of God.

Jesus, as well, knows who He is and He knows who the Pharisee is and who the woman is.

We are able to see that the Pharisee didn’t know who he was after all. He didn’t know who the woman was. He saw himself only as he wanted to see himself. He judged the woman to be unworthy rather than realizing that he stood under his own condemnation of her. Consequently, he didn’t know who Jesus was.

The woman knew exactly who she was. She was a sinner. She was unworthy. She didn’t deserve favor from Jesus but He gave it to her anyway. That’s why she loved Him. She was grateful. She knew she stood under His condemnation but He gave her instead forgiveness. Her response was worship and gratitude.

Jesus’ favor and forgiveness is never like, It’s okay, don’t worry about your sins. We’re sinners, how can we ever be sure we don’t have to worry about our sins when we keep doing them? He says of the woman that her sins are many. In other words, Simon, you’re right, she’s a sinner, and quite a sinner at that. But where there is much sin there is much forgiveness. In fact, where there is sin, there is forgiveness. Jesus forgives sinners, great sinners or small. The little story he tells shows that both men who had a debt, one huge, the other not as much, both debts were cancelled.

The Pharisee was a sinner, just as the woman was. And yet, in his own eyes, he was right with God. After all, he was a morally upright person, unlike the woman. The woman was a sinner, just as the Pharisee was. She very well could have condemned him as a hypocrite. Did he live a more morally outward life than she did? Yeah, probably. But was he without sin? No way. So he was a hypocrite. But the woman doesn’t get caught up in that. She is caught up in her own sinfulness. Her own unworthiness is what she needs to deal with.

Do you know who you are? Are you like the Pharisee? Are you like the woman? If you will see it, you are like the Pharisee. And you are like the woman. If you will hear it from Jesus, you are just like them, because you, too, are a sinner. His hope for you is that you will see yourself through His eyes. You are a sinner. It is only then that you can see that what He does is forgive you. He cancels your debt.

You know you are a sinner. That’s what Jesus says, anyway. What does it mean that you are a sinner? King David was the king. He could do whatever he wanted. That’s who he was in his own mind, anyway. Much like the Pharisee, casting judgment on others—those sinners!—while merrily going on his own pristine way that actually carried with it the stench of death. Nathan called him on it. You are the one you have accused. You are the sinner. You are the one who deserves the very punishment you have declared on the one who has sinned.

And like the woman who came to Jesus David repented. He confessed his sin. He threw himself at the mercy of the court. No, he threw himself at the mercy of God. If David could fall into grievous sin you and I can. And we do and we will. King David and the woman who was the dregs of society were leveled, at the same plane. They were both sinners in need of grace.

What does it mean that you are a sinner, right along with them? It means that if you approach your life and your standing before God as the Pharisee then you stand condemned, even as you may convince yourself that your sin really can’t hurt you that much. After all, you’re the only one who is aware of the thoughts you have toward others: lust, envy, judging others in your heart. You hold on to your grudges and it doesn’t seem to cause you any harm. God still loves you, right?

Paul had successfully convinced himself he was a good man, even believing he was serving God by trying to wipe out the Christians who were popping up all over the place. He soon found out he stood on level ground right along with those Christians. He was no more righteous than they were, even as they were no less sinners than he was. And so he knew a thing or two about how the Law of God affects a person who thinks he is just fine continuing in his present course of ignoring God and what He expects of us. He knew that those who are under the Law are under a curse. The Law of God catches you in your sin. You cannot escape the reaches of God. You can attempt to go into the inner recesses of your mind and your desires and seek safe haven in your sins but God’s Law comes crashing down on you like a crumbling wall. You are under a curse. You are sinful to your core and if you convince yourself otherwise your words will be your condemnation.

Look to Christ. He is pure. He alone is without sin. But He is also something else that He wants you to see. He too is under the Law. Not because He is within its reach, because He submits to it. He not only comes under the Law, He is under its curse. He has become the sinner. He sat before Simon the Pharisee calling him to repentance so that Simon could see that Jesus, the one who sat before him, the one who was without sin, took upon Himself his own, Simon’s, sin. Simon couldn’t see that, he was too caught up in himself.

If only we could take our eyes off ourselves. If we could wake up each morning and say, today I will not seek what I want but who Christ is and what He has accomplished for the world. That as He has come to deliver the world from sin, He has delivered me from sin so that I may serve Him. So that I may see that being a servant of others is more fulfilling than relying on the fleeting nature of my desires, my wants, my sins that I hold on to.

This is who you are. Jesus knows who you are. He has Baptized you. He knows who you are, He forgives you your sin and gives you His Body and Blood in His Holy Supper. A Pharisee invited Jesus to dine with him. The man only wanted to confirm himself in his own fantasy world of being able to live and be saved according to his own law. Jesus invites you to dine with Him, where there is no Law, no hidden agenda, no strings attached, no holding your sin over your head. Only grace. Only pure mercy and forgiveness. His favor upon you not for who you are or what you have accomplished, but because He was cursed in your place, His body delivered over, His blood shed for you.

The Pharisee woke up that day not knowing that in justifying himself by inviting Jesus to his home he would actually be condemning himself. The woman who was an outcast and a scourge on decent society woke up that morning not knowing that she would have an opportunity to give thanks to the one who had released her from the burden of living a life that was all about herself. David never saw it coming that when he abused his office as king of God’s people that he would be held accountable to the King of Kings, the Lord Himself, and would be declared guilty of his sin against a man and his wife.

Do you know what will happen to you tomorrow? You’ll wake up and your thoughts may immediately gravitate toward yourself. You may give no thought to how you can help someone who is struggling and could use some comfort. You may, in fact, not wake up at all. Today may be your last day. No matter who you are, it could happen to any of us. You may be thinking about all the things you want and need and wish for and never see any of it because you won’t be breathing anymore. Now is the time for you to hear what you need to hear. And if you do wake up tomorrow that will be the time to hear it as well. Each day we live out the life God has given to us we need what God gives to us, not what we so often consider is of importance, and certainly not of our selfish and sinful desires.

Each day we have the opportunity to look not to ourselves but to Christ, to others whom we can serve. Where’s the compassion when the Pharisee looked on that woman? He had only disdain for her. He looked only to himself, not to helping her. Where is our compassion when we do not seek out others to help them, when we judge them in our hearts rather than seeking to share the love of Christ with them? May we see ourselves as the woman saw herself. A sinner in need of mercy. A sinner who gives thanks to their Lord for His unfailing mercy. God gives us the opportunity to look outside of ourselves and to others who are in need of mercy.

Know who you are. You are one who is known by God. You worship Him because He has given His Son as the Sinner in your place, His righteousness for your sin. You may go in peace. Amen.

SDG

How Jesus Deals with Death

Second Sunday after Pentecost
June 6, 2010
Luke 7:11-17

What if you had never heard of Jesus? What if you had never known Him, who He is, what He has done?

There are some who don’t. Some who never have. Some who are dead in their sins and go to their grave dead in their sins.

There are some who live but do not know life. They have never been raised to life that knows no death.

What if you had never known that you are dead, only to be without life forever, and death that knows nothing but torment?

There are many who do not know. Many who hope in many things but the one thing they need.

There are many who simply don’t know the one thing. Many who do not know Jesus. Once you die, that’s it. There is no more knowing, no more hope, no more opportunity.

But while you’re alive, the only requirement placed upon you is that you be dead. When you are dead even while you live you are ready for Christ to come to where you are and raise you from death.

We readily see the remarkable thing Jesus did in the Gospel reading: He raised a man from death. What is also remarkable is that He went to a town called Nain. Had you ever heard of it? Would we have ever known of the place except that Jesus decided to go there one day? And there He came across a man who could no more achieve eternal life than his pallbearers could or his grieving mother could. He was dead and he could only be carried away.

He then spoke to one of the people in the funeral. The mother of the dead man. A woman who was more like her son than she realized. She too was dead. She had no life within her that could ward off ultimate death. But that’s why He spoke to her. He comes to people who are bound in death to give them life.

He’s not bound by death. It can’t rub off on Him. That’s why He touches the coffin. He then speaks to the one person who can’t hear Him. He says to the dead man, “I say to you, arise.”

What happens then is what we need to see that happens to all who are dead in trespasses and sins and hear the Word of the Lord. The man hears. He is raised to life. He speaks. He has new life. We are just like him, we were dead and now we have new life. We are raised, we speak, we live.

As a congregation we do many things. They are offered because they’re for who we are as Christians. There are certain things we need to be encouraged to be a part of. If there’s no encouragement then we may miss the importance of being a part of it. One particular thing our congregation is doing is the Evangelism Workshop we’re having this Saturday. It’s not just for some people. It’s not only for those who are interested in Evangelism. It’s certainly not for those who have nothing else going on this Saturday. It’s for Christians. It’s for you and me. It’s for those of us who know who Jesus is and what He has done for the world.

If we had never known, we’d have no use for an Evangelism Workshop. But we have heard. We know. There are many out there who do not know and we’re the ones to tell them. If you’re like me you don’t always know what to say. If you’ve found yourself in the situation where a person takes the conversation in a different direction and you find you don’t know how to get it back to sharing the Gospel with the person, it’s for you. If you know people who don’t know who Jesus is, who don’t believe He is their Savior, it’s for you. Basically, if you’re a Christian.

You can’t go up to a dead man and tell him to get up. You can, but he won’t. But you can bring Christ to a person. What Jesus did to the man in the Gospel reading is what He does when you share the Gospel with another person. For Jesus, it’s the easiest thing in the world. He just goes up to a person and speaks life into that person. You and I aren’t quite there yet in our evangelistic abilities.

But we do have Christ. We do have His Word. We do have what He has given us. That is what we offer others. We let Jesus do the work.

Jesus was able to handle every situation that came His way. No matter what people said to Him, whatever turn the conversation went, Jesus always handled it in perfect divine wisdom. We do not have that luxury. But then again, it is never up to us to save others. We are simply called to make known to the world the Jesus who died for the world.

Maybe evangelism seems overwhelming to you. Perhaps living out the life God has called you to, where you are serving Him in everything you do, working toward giving more of your money as offerings to God, thinking that there’s not enough time for Bible Study, maybe it all seems like it’s too much. How can you handle it all? The world population keeps growing. Millions upon millions of people do not know Christ as their Savior. How can you as one Christian make an impact? How can our little congregation in Allied Gardens reach the world for Christ?

Let’s be brutally honest. It is overwhelming. It is more than we can handle. It is too much for us to accomplish. But we don’t need to give in. We need to repent. God hasn’t called you to bring the Gospel to every person on the planet. But He has given you a neighbor. He gives you a co-worker who is struggling in his life. God sent His Son into the world and on one particular occasion he came to one man. A man who was dead. A mother who needed comfort. On one particular occasion Jesus gave life to this one individual and we can see the opportunity God gives us to bring life to one person. How we do that is going to be different for each of us. It’s going to be challenging for many of us. But that’s why we offer help and guidance. Our Evangelism Workshop is exactly what we need so that we may bring to people the life they may not know.

You may think there’s not much you can do. But unless you’re a hermit, you come into contact with people in your life. When you talk with them you are not just yourself. You are Christ to them. You are a new creation, you have new life, because Jesus spoke it into you in your Baptism. When you interact with others they are interacting with Christ. You might wonder, how does that happen? That’s what the Evangelism Workshop is for. For some Christians this comes naturally. For most of us, it’s something we’d like to avoid as much as possible.

That’s because we ourselves are still daily struggling with our sinful flesh. We are dead. We daily need new life. If there’s anything we’re taught from that dead man at the funeral it’s that Jesus has a way of dealing with death. He gives new life to those who are dead in their sins. He speaks to us in our death and we rise to new life and begin speaking to others. Jesus deals with death by delivering us from it. He speaks life into us in our very state of being dead in trespasses and sins. Being dead is the only requirement for being alive in Christ. Because when you’re dead in sins there’s only one who can deliver you and bring you new life. He is Christ and He comes to do just that.

As He came to that man who was dead He has come to you in your Baptism. As He spoke comfort to the man’s mother He speaks comfort to you with His words: Take and eat, this is My body; take and drink, this is My blood. He comes into your life of being dead in sin and gives you His body and blood, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your sins. He gives you life and sustains you in the new life as you now live and speak and serve, even as you live forever with Him. Amen.

SDG

Who Do You Make Yourself Out to Be?

The Holy Trinity
First Sunday after Pentecost
May 30, 2010
John 8:48-59

The Jews in today’s Gospel reading ask this question of Jesus: Who do you make Yourself out to be? His answer is that He makes Himself out to be God.

Jesus was a man. He was a person who walked and talked and had a job. He interacted with people, He laughed, He cried, He loved, He got angry. He was one person among a world full of men and women.

And yet, He made Himself out to be God. He lived fully as a man just we are fully men and women. But His beginning wasn’t in the womb of Mary. Before Abraham was, He said, I am. He is, He was, and He always will be. He’s God.

If a particular person made himself out to be God, we might think he had a demon. It just doesn’t fit into our understanding of reality that one man among them all would be a man like every other one but also God. Anyone who makes himself out to be God has serious issues.

But this is precisely why this is such a serious issue. Why, if you’re going to deal with God, you have to deal with the person of Jesus Christ. That long creed we just got through confessing, the Athanasian Creed, goes into painstaking detail to confess the true God as the Triune God, the one in three and three-in-one. And yet, it is as if the Creed can’t wait to get to the heart of the matter, which is that the true God became incarnate. The one true God became flesh and dwelt among us. The details of the incarnation are given in all their glory as well, the reason God became flesh: to suffer, die, and rise.

It is because of who we have made ourselves out to be. We have made ourselves out to be God. No, we don’t go around telling others that’s who we are, we don’t seek for others to give us all honor and glory. But we live as if we ourselves are our own God. This is why God became a man. God, who created men, became a man in order to save man. God the Creator, became part of the creation in order to redeem creation. We, who make ourselves to be like God, who would like to be our own God, are eternally separated from God because of our sinful aversion to submitting to the one true God. The people in today’s Gospel reading were doing the very same thing the people in the Old Testament reading we heard last Sunday were doing in attempting to build a tower to the heavens.

We do the same thing in our lives as we don’t submit to God’s authority and will in every aspect of our lives. We covet things that belong to other people as if those things should belong to us. And the thoughts of our hearts betray us as we even design ways we might get those things, already breaking the commandment against stealing in our hearts. We put ways to gain more money ahead of ways to serve others in simple ways in our lives, or fear what will happen if there ends up not being enough. God is a nice religious thought but not a real and practical help in those times where things aren’t coming together in our lives. We make ourselves out to God.

In our country tomorrow we commemorate those who gave their lives in service to our country. This is a great gift of God. It is His design of having leaders who serve to protect our welfare. This includes those who serve to protect our welfare by serving in the military, their service often abroad. And sadly, their service at times includes giving their very lives. Now if God loves the people He created so much to give them gifts like leaders and people to serve in the Armed Forces, how much more does He love us in giving us His very own Son to give His life on the cross for the sin of the world?

The Triune God is the very essence of selfless love and giving. Those of us who haven’t served in the Armed Forces marvel at the cohesiveness of the fighting unit in which those who serve fight. Without that cohesiveness there would be no real service to country. It would be every man for himself. It wouldn’t be selfless serving but serving oneself.

Now with God you have a fascinating thing because God is not a created being. He is the Creator. He is God. He is one and yet has revealed Himself in three Persons. The three Persons of the Trinity, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, are not separate but are distinct. And to the point of who God is, the Person of the Trinity are not “every man for himself”, but selfless in their service to their creation—you and me and the whole world. We are the recipients of the selfless love of the Triune God, the love that brought Jesus to the cross.

Jesus does not balk at the prospect of being the one to become a man. Of being the one to suffer and die. The Holy Spirit does not have sour grapes that He is the one who is sent as merely a helper. The Father Himself does not shy away from the agony of giving over His only-begotten Son to suffer and die on the cross. The Triune God is the true God, the all-powerful God, the one to whom belongs all glory, and yet is the one who is humble and merciful. He is merciful towards us, we who would make ourselves out to be God.

Daily you will fall into this sin. But your merciful God has given you a gift. Instead of asking yourself, Who do I make myself out to be?, ask yourself who God has made you out to be.

You were Baptized into the name of the Triune God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You are of the devil except that God has saved you from that eternal corruption, making you His own child in Baptism. You were dead in trespasses and sins but have been joined in Baptism to the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, united with Him.

You are renewed by your merciful God often in the Holy Supper of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He gives you His body and blood, the Holy Spirit delivers to you forgiveness and strengthens your faith. It pleased your Heavenly Father to offer His Son as the sacrifice for all of your sins on the cross, even as it pleases Him to offer Him to you in Holy Communion.

God and the fact that He is Triune is not a doctrine to be understood or debated. God is God. He is the only God and He is at His essence merciful. God is the eternal being who wants to be in relationship with you. That’s why He restores your relationship with Himself through becoming flesh and dying for the sins of the world.

When in your daily life you often seek to make yourself out to be God, you can pause and give thanks that God, who is forever the Lord of all, made Himself out to be a man. To live under the Law and abide by it in perfect harmony with God’s will and to suffer in the place of sinful humanity so that we might share a place at the heavenly Banquet of God. He is infinite and all-glorious and yet desires nothing more than to come to us right where we’re at so that we may be with Him forever. We may rejoice that He makes us out to be worthy of His eternal love and mercy. Amen.

SDG

Going from Here

The Day of Pentecost
Confirmation Day
May 23, 2010
John 14:23-31

There are four people in this whole place who are sitting up here in front. That would seem to indicate that today is all about you. Since you, Allison, Savannah, Jeffrey, and Ryan, are getting confirmed today, that we’re here to celebrate you.

And that wouldn’t be wrong. Today is about you. We are here today to celebrate your being confirmed in the faith. We rejoice that today will be the first day that you will receive the Lord’s Supper for the rest of your life.

But you will walk away from here today when it’s over and drive home. Will you want to go away thinking that today is about you? During this week will you want your excitement to be about Prince of Peace having had a day where you were in the spotlight?

Or, will you go away from here knowing what you have learned for two years in Confirmation Class that it’s always and only about Jesus? What I would like to do today is encourage you to take your cue from Him. Jesus says in the Gospel reading today: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My Word, and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” You know this, that you love Jesus and abide in His Word.

But what I really want you to see is how Jesus takes this. He doesn’t say to His disciples, and to you: It’s all about ME. I’m Jesus, do what I tell you.

What He does is the opposite. He doesn’t sit in the place of honor, He goes to the back. He doesn’t say, I’m God, you must do what I tell you. In exhorting us to love Him and abide in His Word, He says: “the Word that you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me.” He submits to His Heavenly Father. For Him, everything is not about Him. It’s true that He doesn’t need anyone, or anything. He does have it all.

But God doesn’t act that way. He doesn’t go around making sure everyone knows that because He is God that it’s all about Him. Jesus instead defers to His Heavenly Father. That’s what I want you to know for today. That’s what I want you to remember the rest of your life. Jesus came, not for Himself, but for you. That’s why you’re here today. It actually is about you. In Jesus’ eyes, it’s all about you. Not Him.

God sees Himself differently than we would imagine ourselves to be if we were God. In two years of Confirmation Class you learned all about God. He’s almighty, He knows everything, He’s present everywhere. But that’s not what you really needed to learn about Him. You needed to know who He is. He can do anything—but He’s not wrapped up in Himself. What you learned about God is that He is humble. He stoops down to you and me, right where we’re at. Jesus defers to His Heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit, who is God, is also very happy to be called by Jesus the Helper, as Jesus says in the Gospel reading: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.”

The Holy Spirit doesn’t have issues that He is being sent as a helper. He is willing and ready to get out and help us. He rejoices in bringing forgiveness, life, and salvation to us in our Baptism and at this altar when we receive the Body and Blood of Christ. He will always work on your behalf to bring you renewal, to strengthen you, to bring to your mind those things you have been taught in Confirmation Class, and as you continue to grow in His Word.

There will be times where there’s a lot going on in your life. Times where you may be frazzled. You may not be able to concentrate on God and His Word. You’ll have a lot on your mind. In those times and at all times remember that to Jesus it’s not about Him but about you, which is why He gives you His peace. Peace not as the world gives. He says in the Gospel reading: “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.” In the world you can have peace of mind. You can relax, put your feet up, and get a little relief now and then from the pressures of life. But you cannot have true peace, not eternal peace. When you face death you cannot have certainty that you have measured up to God’s perfect will. You cannot look into your heart and find there comfort that doesn’t end.

Only Christ Himself can give you that. And only He does. For Him, it’s not about Him, but about you. He came not to be served but to serve. He came not to reap the rewards of His brilliant creation but to give His life as a ransom for the world. He came not to live it up but to offer up His life for the sins of the world. He offers Himself to you today also. He gives His very Body that was delivered on the cross, for you to eat and receive. He gives His very Blood that was poured out on Calvary for you to drink and receive. He died once for all, He gives His body and blood to you often. Receive it often. You’re going to need it, because for Him, it’s all about you and what you need.

You will go from here and forget that at times. You will wonder about it at times. You might have doubts about it at times. People will ask you why you believe “all that stuff in the Bible” and you’ll find yourself wondering if you learned anything worthwhile in two years of Confirmation Class because it all has suddenly seemed to be wiped clear from your mind. Some of your teachers in school will offer up compelling evidence of why the account of Creation in the book of Genesis is just a story, a myth for people who don’t think for themselves and don’t rely on the hard evidence of science. In those times you might find yourself wondering if the Bible really is true. You might wonder if God really is who He says He is and if everything you learned in Confirmation Class is the truth.

What I want you to remember today and when you hear those things is that you have learned from Christ Himself. It is His Word which in His eyes is never about Himself but about you. Many people are trying to just get through each day with all their struggles and pressures and problems. But going from here you will know and have one thing that the world cannot offer you: Christ Himself. You will go from here having received Him into your very mouth and heart in His Holy Supper.

In a few moments you will come to the altar for the first time to receive the Body and Blood of Christ. As you come up to the altar you will walk right by the Baptismal font. As you come forward God will know who you are. That’s because He made you His at the Baptismal font. Remember who you are. You are Baptized. Know that you come forward as a child of God. You don’t approach God’s altar with your mental list of how well you obey your parents and what a good student you are in school. Jesus isn’t going to give you His body and blood because you have done really well over the last two years in Confirmation Class. You come forward simply as a sinner. But a sinner who has been Baptized.

You may not remember it anymore, but two years ago I told you and your parents that Confirmation is not the end but the beginning. You are embarking on a lifelong walk with Christ. The Gospel reading today is all about going, being on the way. Jesus says: “You heard Me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.” We know exactly where He went, He went to the cross. He suffered so that we may not suffer eternally. He walked the path to the cross so that we may walk with Him in our lives as we bear our crosses and are strengthened by Him through them.

He says: “And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may believe.” You know what took place at Calvary, and if you know that, you can also know what took place at the font when you were Baptized: you were united with Christ in His death and resurrection and were given new and eternal life. Since you know that Christ suffered and died and rose and ascended into heaven, and that He sent His Helper, the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, you know what happens here at the altar: you receive the very Body and Blood of Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.

But you will go from here. You’ll go home today. You’ll be back in school this week. Someday you may move away, going to college or getting a job somewhere. You may not always be here. But you’ll always be in the Holy Christian Church. You’ll always be part of the Body of Christ. Jesus finishes speaking to His disciples by saying “Rise, let us go from here.” In a little while, you will rise and go from there to this altar to receive Christ’s Body and Blood and be strengthened in your faith.

After having received it, you will go from there back out into the world. You will be tempted, you will falter, you will fail, you will sin, you will struggle. Jesus warns that “the ruler of this world is coming.” But Jesus also says that he, that is, Satan, has no claim on Him, that is, Jesus. Jesus reminds us that He does as the Father has commanded Him. He is always God but always humble. Always reaching out to us, serving us. That’s why you will go from here having been strengthened. You will go from here having been given Christ Himself, for you, for your forgiveness, for your life. You will live in Him. You will live out the life He has called you to live, obeying your parents, being the best student in school you can be, coming faithfully to the House of God for worship and Bible Study. Someday you may have children of your own and you will raise them in a Christian home. You will realize what a blessing it is to serve God by serving others in whatever job you end up doing. You are hearing all this ahead of time so that you may know that this is not what you will accomplish, but what your Lord has called you to. So that you may know that as you go from here you go with the blessing of the Lord upon you. You go as a Baptized child of God, one who is strengthened often in His Holy Supper. One who is sustained by God Himself who always looks at you and believes in His heart of hearts that it’s always about you, which is why He has prepared a place for you in heaven forever. Go in this knowledge, hope, comfort, and grace. Amen.

SDG

All Theology Is Plagiarism—Part 3: All Theology Is Basic

Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 16, 2010
John 17:20-26

Most people upon hearing an in-depth scholarly presentation of an esoteric theological doctrine would cause their eyes to glaze over. They would wonder what it has to do with anything. It’s true that most people don’t need to hear or understand theology in such a detailed way. In fact, those who do might need to be reminded that all theology is basic. Coaches often need to remind their athletes that no matter how good they are and how far they’ve come, they always need to go back to the basics. The fundamentals can never be ignored or taken for granted because there’s always someone who will work harder at mastering the basics in order to achieve the highest level of accomplishment.

We have seen how all theology is repetition. You can never hear enough the Gospel, especially since your sinful flesh constantly wants to revert back to its own notions. We have seen how all theology is communication. Thank God He has made known to us the Gospel and that we may respond to Him in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

We must also know and remember that all theology is basic. It all comes down either to me or God. Your theology is going to come from yourself for from God. This is theology at its most basic and its most important. If you don’t get this right then you’re not going to get the rest of it right. If you don’t realize this fact then your theology is going to come from yourself.

When it comes to theology the way God does it, there’s no better place to begin than where it begins for us personally—at Baptism. This morning Whitley is the recipient of theology the way God does it. He brought her into His everlasting Kingdom through water and His Word. Water is the basic necessity for life. It is through this simple thing that God does His most basic work: He forgives our sins. Where there is forgiveness, there is life and salvation.

Whitley is a cute little baby. But she’s going to grow up like we all do. She will go through the challenges of life the way we all do. Things will seem very complicated at times. Theology won’t seem so basic when she’s faced with temptations and challenges to the Christian faith and hardships. But it’s in those times that she can take comfort in stealing from the pages of God’s Word. The Word that tells her she is a Baptized child of God. The Word that tells her that at the most basic level God loves her and has forgiven her of all of her sins. That’s why she can continue to go back again and again to the Word of God and take what He says and make it her own.

But if we’re having trouble with this notion of plagiarizing from God, and it’s only natural, because our sinful nature has big issues with taking its cue from God, then let’s take a look at how God Himself handles this situation.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Jesus did a very simple thing: He prayed. It was the hour He would be delivered over. It was already the time He began suffering on hour behalf, His soul sorrowful even unto death. His agony manifesting itself with drops of blood flowing from His brow. His weakness already apparent in needing angels to come minister to Him, just as at His temptation in the desert three years earlier at the outset of His Ministry.

He prayed there in that Garden. In the hour before being delivered over, hours before He would be hanging on a cross, He prayed. Did He know the words to pray? Yes, the petition He lifted up was that His Heavenly Father’s will would be done. Jesus was not concerned about His own will, which was sorrowful, weak. If there was any other way. But if that way were to go against the way—the will—of His Heavenly Father, then He wouldn’t want it. His will was His Heavenly Father’s will. It is this same petition He has given us to pray in His Holy Prayer, but not only in that Third Petition but in the entire Lord’s Prayer. We know what God’s will is for us because He has given us the things to pray for in the Lord’s Prayer and His entire written Word. We know what His will is because Jesus prayed that it be done in the Garden of Gethsemane and He landed on the mount of Calvary.

Jesus prayed there, too—on the cross. Among other things He said as He hung on the cross, He quoted Scripture. He plagiarized Himself, Him being God and the author of those very Scriptures He inspired. My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? That is straight out of Psalm 22. It was the cry of being the recipient of the wrath of the holy God. But it was also a prayer. Speaking the Scripture. Being in line with the perfect holy will of God. Even the merciful will of God, as in this very act of forsaking His Son, God the Father was reconciling the world to Himself. This is why Jesus prayed as He did, plagiarizing the Scriptures—it pleased Him to endure the cross, scorning its shame.

What about His temptation in the wilderness? Couldn’t He have come up with some impressive rejoinders to counter Satan? But no, He was content with simply quoting the Scriptures. In each instance Satan tried to seduce Him, Jesus did not concern Himself with speaking something original, He simply quoted what had already been written down in the Bible. (Of course, it was original with Him as He is God.)

We’ll notice that the devil caught on to this trick and began quoting the Scriptures himself. The problem of course is that he was plagiarizing not God but himself because he was twisting the Scriptures. All our prayers, as well as beliefs, that originate with ourselves end up being this, a twisting of the Word of God. We too often use the Scriptures in order to conform them to what we want rather than bending our will to them. But Jesus’ use of the Scriptures was perfect. He was quoting them because that’s all He needed. Man does not live by bread alone, but by the very Word of God. Keep that in mind the next time you’re struggling in your prayer life. Man prays not by the things he needs but by the very Word of God.

And what about Paul? What did he have to offer the Christians he was called to serve? Well, he had a lot going for him. He was very well-educated and talented. But in terms of being an apostle, in terms of proclaiming the Gospel—he had nothing of himself to offer. He had nothing except for what he himself received from the Lord is what he said to the Corinthian Christians. What I received is what I delivered to you. What do we have to offer God? Nothing. Nothing but what He has given us. Nothing but what we have received from Him. This is why our prayers must consist of what we have already received from Him, and we simply offer up to Him what He has already delivered to us.

All of this with Jesus and Paul is plagiarism of what God had His people do in the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:6-9 “…And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” [ESV]

They weren’t to teach their children what they dreamed up but what God had given them to say. How much more so with their prayers? How do you think they learned how to pray?

The Word of God teaches us that it plagiarizes itself. God submits Himself to His own Word and therefore we can be in no better position than to do the same. Our prayers are a natural outgrowth of that. Our beliefs, what we say to others, they also grow out of God’s Word.

This is an enormous consolation when you can’t think of what to say. Go to the Word of God. Be drawn in to what He has to say to you. Don’t worry about having to come up with spontaneous prayers or speaking from the heart. Let God’s Word take you through what is on your heart and mind, as you have a new heart and mind in Christ given you in your Baptism. Using the liturgy as a guide for prayer, using a prayer book of time-tested prayers that are formed by the Word of God, learning the Catechism, meditating on the Word of God, this is the pattern set forth by Christ Himself. Jesus took times out in His Ministry to pray to His Heavenly Father. His prayer that not His will be done but His Heavenly Father’s was the basis and substance of His prayers. Being in the Word of God, having a rich prayer life that flows from the Word of God, will then be the basis for what you say to others in their struggles. It will be the very basis for what you believe and take comfort in.

When Jesus hung on the cross He prayed, Father forgive them for they know not what they do. Isn’t that so true? We don’t even know how to pray as we ought! Paul says so much in Romans 8:26 “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” [ESV] So if the Spirit is interceding for us we may as well just go all the way and plagiarize every last iota of God’s will. He forgives us and forms in us a new will, one that seeks His and one that prays according to it.

WWJD is something you still hear now and then—What Would Jesus Do? In our circles we spend a lot of time pointing out how WWJD is not exactly where Jesus was going when He said, Follow Me. That He Himself did what we could not do and we don’t gain salvation by trying to do what Jesus would do. Nevertheless, when it comes to prayer it would be helpful to ask: What would Jesus do? Well, He would pray. That’s what He did. And if He did, we certainly need to. And not only that, but He would pray what His Heavenly Father would give Him to pray.

So, What Would Jesus Pray? The Lord’s Prayer. That’s what He would pray. What did He say? “When you pray, say OUR Father.” And before you want to catch me in the trap that He would never pray “forgive us our trespasses,” because He had no sins of which to confess—yes, it’s true, He didn’t. He is sinless and remained sinless in His walk on the earth and is forever the spotless Lamb of God. But He also took our place, remember? He hung on the cross as the Sinner in our place. He was stricken for our iniquities. He never sinned but He stood in our place as the Sinner who was condemned. He didn’t need to be baptized, and yet, He did need to in order to fulfill all righteousness. That would be His righteousness credited to us. It’s an amazing thing that Jesus submitted Himself to be humble. To be beholden to the will of the Heavenly Father. In Baptism our Lord gives us His righteousness. He gives us a new will. A will that desires to submit to the will of our Heavenly Father.

The Large Catechism says that “nothing is so necessary as to call upon God incessantly and drum into his ears our prayer that he may give, preserve, and increase in us faith and obedience.” [Tappert, T. G. (2000, ©1959). The Book of Concord : The Confessions of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (420). Philadelphia: Fortress Press] What better thing to drum into His ears than His own words?

You can’t outgrow the Word of God. You can’t come to the point where you have mastered it or where it is merely a simple thing to be understood. It is basic, and yet encompasses all of theology. Even if it were just a simple thing, there would be nothing greater in praying to God than saying to Him what He has given us in His Holy Word.

When you pray, take a bold approach. Hold God to His Word. Tell Him what He said. He loves to hear it. Be in His Word. Tell others what God Himself will give you to say. Pray what He Himself gives you to pray. If you wonder whether God answers your prayers, wonder no more. Praying to Him what He has given you to pray you are assured He not only hears but answers your prayers according to His good and gracious will.

If we look at this objectively, or maybe we should say, from God’s perspective, we will see that all theology is plagiarism. What you believe and the things you pray for are either going to be plagiarized from the sinful nature or from God. Jesus’ prayer in today’s Gospel reading is that all would hear the Gospel through the bold proclamation of it through the Christian Church. He died for everyone, He wants everyone to be saved, He provides for the Gospel to be made known to the ends of the earth, to all nations. There is nothing more basic than that. That’s why He wants us to fill our prayers, our thoughts, and the things we share with others with what He has given us in His Word. For what He will give us is eternity in heaven with Him. Amen.

SDG