Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 30, 2009
Mark 7:14-23
There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
Mark says the disciples asked Jesus about His little parable. I wonder what they asked. They had just seen the Pharisees go down in flames, Jesus upholding the action of the disciples in eating with unwashed hands. Now Jesus speaks to everyone within earshot this little parable. Were the disciples embarrassed to ask Jesus what He meant by that? Or did they maybe want to preserve Jesus’ honor by challenging Him in private: Jesus, You’ll have to convince us of that. Whether they were honestly trying to understand or they simply recoiled at the notion Jesus put forth, the result was the same: they were without understanding. As if that weren’t enough, they now came to find out that there was nothing within them consonant with the will of God—there was only their own depravity.
Jesus had made clear that even stellar actions on the part of the Pharisees could not cover up their hearts which were far from God. They placed their own ideals above the Word of God. They sought their righteousness in themselves, not in God and His Son Jesus Christ.
The disciples? They were still hangin’ with Jesus. Jesus had not blasted them as He had the Pharisees. But then Jesus had to go on talking, this time to the disciples; and to everybody else. He now made clear to them that they understood no better than the Pharisees had. There was nothing within them that was any better than what was in the hearts of the Pharisees. The disciples maybe were now wishing they hadn’t asked.
We don’t know how this episode ended. Did Jesus continue on with His explanation? Did He immediately leave the house, giving the disciples a chance to mull His words over? Did the disciples continue to question Him, trying better to understand this major blow to them? We don’t know. All we’re left with are the words He spoke to them, and they don’t exactly make us feel warm and fuzzy. We’re left simply with this: we are utterly corrupt from our hearts, and left to ourselves we design and conspire to feed our sinful flesh whatever the cost.
We’re not only left hanging—Jesus blasting us away and our utterly depraved hearts—the very next thing we find is that He goes away from there to another place. And He was specifically trying to get away from people. As you might expect, His plan failed. A woman came right on in where He was and pleaded for help for her daughter who was demon possessed. It’s apparent why she was doing this. She knew she was powerless over the grip Satan had on her daughter. Her daughter was powerless, she was powerless. Her only hope was in Jesus. He had power over Satan. He alone could release the girl from the grip of Satan. He shows us how He exercises this power over Satan, with His Word. He declares to the woman that her daughter is freed from the demon.
What could help us understand what Jesus is getting at when He says three times in our Gospel reading that it is what comes out of our heart that defiles us? That our sinful flesh has a grip on us as Satan did on that little girl. That we are in fact without understanding, even thinking that we can’t be all that bad. Aren’t there some things that come from our heart that are good? Or are we really as corrupt as Jesus makes us out to be?
In seeing the hold Satan had on that little girl we see the hold our sinful flesh has on us. With Jesus showing the power of His Word over Satan, to release her from Satan, we see the power of Jesus’ Word over our sinful flesh, to release us from it.
Jesus doesn’t leave us hanging, after all. He is intent on getting the message across. How much would we see the need for His death and resurrection, His Baptism He washes us with, His Body and Blood He gives us for forgiveness, without understanding the depth of our depravity—which is total.
The Old Testament reading draws the line in the sand in the same way: “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.” When obvious examples are known to the world, it’s easy for us to understand that some, such as the church body the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have departed from the Word of God; thrown it under the bus for the sake of the tradition of being tolerant and nonjudgmental and working toward compromise and consensus. Declaring something to not be a sin—namely, homosexuality—when the Word of God plainly declares it to be a sin comes from the depraved heart of man. We rightly see this as a travesty.
What may not be so clear to us is that we also are without understanding when it comes to such things. That it is out of our hearts that come the very same things. Jesus makes it clear that there aren’t some who are virtuous while others are in the doghouse. Look at His list. You can’t read it and escape the truth that you’re included. It all begins with our evil machinations within us, scheming to fudge the rules. Waiting for the chance to park your car in front of your neighbor’s house because you’re sick and tired of him parking his five cars in front of your house. Scheming for a way to get an undue advantage over your coworker in order to get a raise or a promotion. Jesus’ list isn’t just for those people out there who have publicly disdained the Word of God, but also for those of us in here who have disdain for them and haughtiness of ourselves, glad that we are not like them. This is the foolishness Jesus is talking about to close out His list, that we are somehow exempt from all the rest. He asks of us today: Are you also without understanding?
May we answer in humility, Yes, Lord, we too are without understanding. We too have thrown Your Word under the bus. We need to be here. To hear Your Word and trust in it alone. We need to approach Your altar in meekness but also expectancy, with a hunger and joy to receive Your very Body and Blood as food to our soul. We confess to You, O Lord, that out of our heart comes nothing good and everything evil, but as You, as we prayed earlier in the Collect, are the source of all that is just and good, we pray You to nourish in us every virtue and bring to completion every good intent that we may grow in grace and bring forth the fruit of good works.
Jesus did this for a little girl right after the words He spoke in our Gospel reading. He does this for you today and each day, as you are Baptized—given a new heart, a new mind, a new life. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Sunday, August 23, 2009
got water?
Twelfth Sunday after Pentecost
August 23, 2009
Mark 7:1-13
Our retreat theme last week was “got water?”. It was a take-off on those commercials for milk in which someone would be eating, for example, chocolate chip cookies, only to find out that the milk jug was empty. Each commercial would close with the words “got milk?” on the screen. Water may not go as well with cookies as milk does, but water is essential to life. We can picture a commercial about a person who just finished exercising only to find their water bottle empty. The words “got water?” would then be put up on the screen.
This is what the Pharisees were saying to Jesus. Water was essential to living according to God’s will. When the disciples ate with unwashed hands, they should have seen that it was the same as if they had no water after exercising. Or no water when they needed to take a bath. Or no water to clean their dishes after a meal. It’s inconceivable to not drink after exercising or not to keep yourself clean or wash your dishes. It was inconceivable to them to disobey the tradition of the elders.
How many hurt feelings have been caused in families because certain beloved traditions were thrown out in favor of something new or different? How many factions have sprung up in churches because concern wasn’t taken for the way things had always been? A husband thinks it’s not a big deal at all to visit his in-laws on a regular basis, when the wife is set to do it for the rest of their lives. One group has always taken care of the Christmas decorations in a church which were donated by founding members of the congregation when another group comes along and decides that different decorations should be used. It is not hard for us to understand where the Pharisees are coming from at all. Traditions have a way of becoming law to us. Traditions are the way it is; the way it should always be; the way it must be.
This where the Pharisees were coming from. Why couldn’t Jesus see it? Jesus, don’t you have any water for your disciples? It’s an easy enough thing to do, to wash before you eat. Why do you let them defile themselves by not abiding by God’s will?
This is where the Pharisees tip their hand. If they were to exhort the disciples to a salutary practice, that would be fine, even laudable. If they were to show them the benefits of this, both physical and spiritual, they would be helping the disciples. But that is not what they do. They force upon the disciples something that is not God’s will. Something that is their own will. They seek to control others by what they think is right.
Jesus does not speak out against traditions. He knows traditions are beneficial. He knows they can provide physical and spiritual guidance and grounding. But He does speak against placing traditions over the will of God. And this is where water comes in. God is not afraid to use physical things to do His spiritual work. He is not above using common things to bless people in a heavenly way.
The Pharisees were all too ready to seek their justification in washing. Washing their hands before eating, washing of cups, of pots, of copper vessels, of couches. By following this strict code, they knew they were purified—not just physically, but also spiritually. They could look into their own hearts and see that they had done what was necessary to cleanse themselves inside and out.
But Jesus shot down such a notion. Washing yourself with water does nothing more than washing the outside of yourself. Washing a cup does nothing more than make it clean so that when you use it you won’t get sick. There’s only one thing that can cleanse you inside. Only one washing that will purify you spiritually. That’s the washing God gives you.
Amazingly, He uses water. But the key in His washing is not the water. It’s what the water is connected with: His Word. That’s the thing the Pharisees were missing: the Word of God. The Tradition of their own elders, laudable as it was, was more important to them than the Word of God. It had for them replaced the Word of God. They had come to put their trust in the tradition of the elders rather than keeping their trust in the Word of God. Jesus comes along and says, Yeah, use the water, but not just by itself. Wash your hearts. Wash your minds. This can only be done by the washing of water with the Word. God’s Word tells us what His will is, not any tradition or any other human source.
God’s will is that everyone be saved. Jesus died for every person. God’s will is that we be cleansed of our sin. That’s why He’s all for the washing idea the Pharisees proposed to Him. Just not in the way they proposed it. They proposed a righteousness in themselves. He proposed a righteousness outside of themselves but applied to them. They proposed a washing they could see, He proposed one that would cleanse what they could not see, their sinful hearts.
The Pharisees come at Jesus with a challenge. It’s really an attack. They see themselves as righteous in themselves. They don’t need Jesus, they have themselves. They are righteous in their own eyes because they have their tradition they keep, and therefore they are certain God is pleased with them. Jesus responds with a counter attack. An attack on their undeniable unrighteousness, their wholehearted sin against a holy God. But we ourselves miss the point of Jesus’ words if all we see is an attack on them. His point is not to tell them they’re wrong so much as it is to free them from their bondage. In attempting to be holy they have placed themselves in the place of God and have bound themselves in their sin and therefore eternal damnation.
Jesus wants to give them true freedom. A washing that will free them up not just to follow salutary traditions, but to serve others, to rejoice in God’s grace, to live under the favor of God rather than their own attempts at self-righteousness. Baptism is life giving water. It is a doing away of all that is inborn in us, the sin, the curved-in-on-ourselves nature we bear, and the incessant drive to convince ourselves that we’re okay as we are. Baptism purifies us. It cleanses us. The words Jesus speaks to the Pharisees are as true for us as they were for them.
Next time you drink a cold glass of water, think of the refreshing waters of your Baptism. Next time the waters flow over you when you take a shower, be reminded of the cleansing and purifying waters you were washed with in your Baptism. Know the will of God for you. It is in His Word. It is in the washing that is connected to His Word. He cleanses you so that you may be clean. He washes you so that you may rejoice that what He desires of you He grants you in Baptism and forever. Amen.
SDG
August 23, 2009
Mark 7:1-13
Our retreat theme last week was “got water?”. It was a take-off on those commercials for milk in which someone would be eating, for example, chocolate chip cookies, only to find out that the milk jug was empty. Each commercial would close with the words “got milk?” on the screen. Water may not go as well with cookies as milk does, but water is essential to life. We can picture a commercial about a person who just finished exercising only to find their water bottle empty. The words “got water?” would then be put up on the screen.
This is what the Pharisees were saying to Jesus. Water was essential to living according to God’s will. When the disciples ate with unwashed hands, they should have seen that it was the same as if they had no water after exercising. Or no water when they needed to take a bath. Or no water to clean their dishes after a meal. It’s inconceivable to not drink after exercising or not to keep yourself clean or wash your dishes. It was inconceivable to them to disobey the tradition of the elders.
How many hurt feelings have been caused in families because certain beloved traditions were thrown out in favor of something new or different? How many factions have sprung up in churches because concern wasn’t taken for the way things had always been? A husband thinks it’s not a big deal at all to visit his in-laws on a regular basis, when the wife is set to do it for the rest of their lives. One group has always taken care of the Christmas decorations in a church which were donated by founding members of the congregation when another group comes along and decides that different decorations should be used. It is not hard for us to understand where the Pharisees are coming from at all. Traditions have a way of becoming law to us. Traditions are the way it is; the way it should always be; the way it must be.
This where the Pharisees were coming from. Why couldn’t Jesus see it? Jesus, don’t you have any water for your disciples? It’s an easy enough thing to do, to wash before you eat. Why do you let them defile themselves by not abiding by God’s will?
This is where the Pharisees tip their hand. If they were to exhort the disciples to a salutary practice, that would be fine, even laudable. If they were to show them the benefits of this, both physical and spiritual, they would be helping the disciples. But that is not what they do. They force upon the disciples something that is not God’s will. Something that is their own will. They seek to control others by what they think is right.
Jesus does not speak out against traditions. He knows traditions are beneficial. He knows they can provide physical and spiritual guidance and grounding. But He does speak against placing traditions over the will of God. And this is where water comes in. God is not afraid to use physical things to do His spiritual work. He is not above using common things to bless people in a heavenly way.
The Pharisees were all too ready to seek their justification in washing. Washing their hands before eating, washing of cups, of pots, of copper vessels, of couches. By following this strict code, they knew they were purified—not just physically, but also spiritually. They could look into their own hearts and see that they had done what was necessary to cleanse themselves inside and out.
But Jesus shot down such a notion. Washing yourself with water does nothing more than washing the outside of yourself. Washing a cup does nothing more than make it clean so that when you use it you won’t get sick. There’s only one thing that can cleanse you inside. Only one washing that will purify you spiritually. That’s the washing God gives you.
Amazingly, He uses water. But the key in His washing is not the water. It’s what the water is connected with: His Word. That’s the thing the Pharisees were missing: the Word of God. The Tradition of their own elders, laudable as it was, was more important to them than the Word of God. It had for them replaced the Word of God. They had come to put their trust in the tradition of the elders rather than keeping their trust in the Word of God. Jesus comes along and says, Yeah, use the water, but not just by itself. Wash your hearts. Wash your minds. This can only be done by the washing of water with the Word. God’s Word tells us what His will is, not any tradition or any other human source.
God’s will is that everyone be saved. Jesus died for every person. God’s will is that we be cleansed of our sin. That’s why He’s all for the washing idea the Pharisees proposed to Him. Just not in the way they proposed it. They proposed a righteousness in themselves. He proposed a righteousness outside of themselves but applied to them. They proposed a washing they could see, He proposed one that would cleanse what they could not see, their sinful hearts.
The Pharisees come at Jesus with a challenge. It’s really an attack. They see themselves as righteous in themselves. They don’t need Jesus, they have themselves. They are righteous in their own eyes because they have their tradition they keep, and therefore they are certain God is pleased with them. Jesus responds with a counter attack. An attack on their undeniable unrighteousness, their wholehearted sin against a holy God. But we ourselves miss the point of Jesus’ words if all we see is an attack on them. His point is not to tell them they’re wrong so much as it is to free them from their bondage. In attempting to be holy they have placed themselves in the place of God and have bound themselves in their sin and therefore eternal damnation.
Jesus wants to give them true freedom. A washing that will free them up not just to follow salutary traditions, but to serve others, to rejoice in God’s grace, to live under the favor of God rather than their own attempts at self-righteousness. Baptism is life giving water. It is a doing away of all that is inborn in us, the sin, the curved-in-on-ourselves nature we bear, and the incessant drive to convince ourselves that we’re okay as we are. Baptism purifies us. It cleanses us. The words Jesus speaks to the Pharisees are as true for us as they were for them.
Next time you drink a cold glass of water, think of the refreshing waters of your Baptism. Next time the waters flow over you when you take a shower, be reminded of the cleansing and purifying waters you were washed with in your Baptism. Know the will of God for you. It is in His Word. It is in the washing that is connected to His Word. He cleanses you so that you may be clean. He washes you so that you may rejoice that what He desires of you He grants you in Baptism and forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Submerged
Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost
August 16, 2009
John 6:51-69
The life of faith is daily taking a plunge, often wondering if you’re going to drown, even though you know that through it you’ll be saved. Being a Christian is being submerged when the world and your own brain tell you that you’re done for. The life of faith begins with Baptism. One becomes a Christian when the waters rush over him and drowns the Old Man that was born in sin.
And while we have gathered for our retreat under the theme of “got water?” and are seeing how God saves us through the waters of Baptism, in seeing this we are seeing nothing less than the salvation God gives for a life of faith. Jesus preaches that life of faith in the Gospel reading. It could appear that Jesus’ words with all of its imagery of eating His flesh and drinking His blood have nothing to do with Baptism and being brought through the waters to salvation.
But Baptism doesn’t just concern water. It doesn’t just concern what happened to you that day when you were Baptized. It concerns your entire life. It has everything to do with your daily life. It is not only the entrance into eternal life but also at the heart of the daily life of faith.
Living the life of faith is as difficult for the Christian as believing in Christ is for the non-Christian. The people in the Gospel reading heard the words of Christ and couldn’t wrap their minds around an individual who would use such grotesque imagery for believing in Him as eating His flesh and drinking His blood. But is what happens in Baptism any less unnerving? Where one is actually drowned in the waters of Baptism? Where the sinful flesh is crucified with Christ?
Many on that day turned away from Christ. He turned to His twelve disciples and asked them if they would go too. “Lord, to whom shall we go?” was their response. “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” This is what we have. We have what our Lord gives to us and not a carefree existence in which we don’t have to think about what it means to believe in Jesus and live in the trust that He brings us through the waters even when they rise.
What Jesus says in the Gospel reading may have nothing to do with water but it has everything to do with the life of faith. He already laid the groundwork for this in John chapter 3 where He says that unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. The is where you are submerged. Daily you take the plunge and realize that the beginning of life begins with death. Death to the Old Man. The drowning of our sinful nature. The crucifixion of our sinful flesh. And the life of faith only brings you deeper and deeper into waters that seem increasingly to rise.
Your sinful flesh hangs on, not wishing to drown but to thrive. To get a hold of you and seek ways for that carefree existence. Where we can blame our difficulties on a God who obviously doesn’t care or evidently is not powerful enough to prevent problems and financial hardships and illnesses and doubts.
It’s no wonder so many people walked away. Who wants to hear about eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking His blood when it can be a challenge to put food on the table? When it’s hard to get out of the cycle of eating each other up with our snide comments and impatient demands. When it seems that our time is consumed just keeping our head above water with all the demands on our time and energy in daily life.
It’s no surprise that those who left Him were also disciples. Jesus is preaching the life of faith, preaching Himself as the substance of faith, driving His point home with the reminder that “it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Remember His words to Nicodemus in chapter 3?: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
If you are submerged at the beginning of this new life and throughout the life of faith and you feel like you’re barely able to keep your head above water, then know that it is your Lord who daily drowns you so that daily you may arise to new and eternal life. That when the waters rise it’s not a reason to give up hope but an opportunity to be washed anew and renewed through those trials.
The people of God at the Red Sea thought that they had come to an end but God brought them through those waters. The flood meant destruction for every person but in His mercy God brought eight people safely through those flood waters. In this same way Baptism saves you. As a Baptized child of God daily you eat of the flesh of Christ and drink of His blood as you recall your Baptism and repent of your sins; as you read and meditate on the word of God. A torrent of sins flooded Jesus on the cross, the mercy of God overflowing to you, that you may bathe in the promise that He will bring you through the waters that rise up in your life to bring you safely to the shore, where He will welcome you into the eternal rest of heaven. Amen.
SDG
August 16, 2009
John 6:51-69
The life of faith is daily taking a plunge, often wondering if you’re going to drown, even though you know that through it you’ll be saved. Being a Christian is being submerged when the world and your own brain tell you that you’re done for. The life of faith begins with Baptism. One becomes a Christian when the waters rush over him and drowns the Old Man that was born in sin.
And while we have gathered for our retreat under the theme of “got water?” and are seeing how God saves us through the waters of Baptism, in seeing this we are seeing nothing less than the salvation God gives for a life of faith. Jesus preaches that life of faith in the Gospel reading. It could appear that Jesus’ words with all of its imagery of eating His flesh and drinking His blood have nothing to do with Baptism and being brought through the waters to salvation.
But Baptism doesn’t just concern water. It doesn’t just concern what happened to you that day when you were Baptized. It concerns your entire life. It has everything to do with your daily life. It is not only the entrance into eternal life but also at the heart of the daily life of faith.
Living the life of faith is as difficult for the Christian as believing in Christ is for the non-Christian. The people in the Gospel reading heard the words of Christ and couldn’t wrap their minds around an individual who would use such grotesque imagery for believing in Him as eating His flesh and drinking His blood. But is what happens in Baptism any less unnerving? Where one is actually drowned in the waters of Baptism? Where the sinful flesh is crucified with Christ?
Many on that day turned away from Christ. He turned to His twelve disciples and asked them if they would go too. “Lord, to whom shall we go?” was their response. “You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that You are the Holy One of God.” This is what we have. We have what our Lord gives to us and not a carefree existence in which we don’t have to think about what it means to believe in Jesus and live in the trust that He brings us through the waters even when they rise.
What Jesus says in the Gospel reading may have nothing to do with water but it has everything to do with the life of faith. He already laid the groundwork for this in John chapter 3 where He says that unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter the Kingdom of heaven. The is where you are submerged. Daily you take the plunge and realize that the beginning of life begins with death. Death to the Old Man. The drowning of our sinful nature. The crucifixion of our sinful flesh. And the life of faith only brings you deeper and deeper into waters that seem increasingly to rise.
Your sinful flesh hangs on, not wishing to drown but to thrive. To get a hold of you and seek ways for that carefree existence. Where we can blame our difficulties on a God who obviously doesn’t care or evidently is not powerful enough to prevent problems and financial hardships and illnesses and doubts.
It’s no wonder so many people walked away. Who wants to hear about eating the flesh of Jesus and drinking His blood when it can be a challenge to put food on the table? When it’s hard to get out of the cycle of eating each other up with our snide comments and impatient demands. When it seems that our time is consumed just keeping our head above water with all the demands on our time and energy in daily life.
It’s no surprise that those who left Him were also disciples. Jesus is preaching the life of faith, preaching Himself as the substance of faith, driving His point home with the reminder that “it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is of no avail. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.” Remember His words to Nicodemus in chapter 3?: “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”
If you are submerged at the beginning of this new life and throughout the life of faith and you feel like you’re barely able to keep your head above water, then know that it is your Lord who daily drowns you so that daily you may arise to new and eternal life. That when the waters rise it’s not a reason to give up hope but an opportunity to be washed anew and renewed through those trials.
The people of God at the Red Sea thought that they had come to an end but God brought them through those waters. The flood meant destruction for every person but in His mercy God brought eight people safely through those flood waters. In this same way Baptism saves you. As a Baptized child of God daily you eat of the flesh of Christ and drink of His blood as you recall your Baptism and repent of your sins; as you read and meditate on the word of God. A torrent of sins flooded Jesus on the cross, the mercy of God overflowing to you, that you may bathe in the promise that He will bring you through the waters that rise up in your life to bring you safely to the shore, where He will welcome you into the eternal rest of heaven. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, August 9, 2009
No Better than My Fathers
Tenth Sunday after Pentecost
August 9, 2009
John 6:35-51
Elijah was in despair but he was right, he was no better than his fathers. How many times had he seen the hand of God in his life and in the life of the people of God, and yet, there he was, wanting to give up on it all.
The people in dialogue with Jesus in the Gospel reading did a pretty good job of showing that they, too, were no better than their fathers. They just couldn’t get their minds adjusted to the fact that this man they knew, the son of Joseph and Mary, was God and the only one in whom there is salvation.
It would be easy for us to sit here today and content ourselves with the notion that we know better. We have seen with our own eyes the Scriptures which tell us of the death and resurrection of Christ for salvation. We have been Baptized, we have the assurance that we are a new creation in Christ. We believe what our Lord tells us in the Gospel reading “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Does this mean that we are better than our fathers? Have we come to a point where we can say that we are better than those who have gone before us? It’s easy enough for us to look around us and compare ourselves to those we know, thinking of ourselves as better because we don’t use profane language like they do, and we don’t treat others condescendingly like they do, and we are here every Sunday, unlike them. And, well, we could go on and on, couldn’t we?
We do think we’re better than others, don’t we? But how does Paul talk to the Ephesian Christians in our Epistle reading? They are distinct from those who “are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. [Those who] have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Why then does Paul go on to exhort the Ephesians to live like they are distinct? Why does he have to tell them to live the way God commands us to live and not live in the way He commands not to?
The answer is simple: they are no better than their fathers. And we must hear the words of Paul in the same way they did, as the Word of God to Christians who are always on the verge of despair as Elijah was, because there is never any hope of ourselves but only hope in the one who has made us a new creation. That’s why we must continually confess that we are no better than our fathers.
Jesus is blunt because He tells us what we need to hear. He says in the Gospel reading: “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” I don’t mean to sound morbid, but this is a great verse. They were fed bread from heaven. God gave them manna so that they could live. And yet, they all ended up dying, didn’t they? Food will keep us alive only in this world. The Bread of Life will ensure life without end. There’s really no point in trying to fool ourselves. Elijah was right. He was no better than his fathers. The people in the Gospel reading were no better than their fathers. All those in the church at Ephesus who thought they could be Christians and keep living in the way of the world were no better than their fathers.
Jesus has no interest in helping us get better than those who have gone before us. He has one goal in mind and that is to slay our sinful flesh. Beat it down and bring it to an end. His work is to bring us to life eternal. To give us life in which we are a new creation. To free us up so that we may freely serve.
All this talk in the Gospel reading about fathers was going nowhere so Jesus turned things in a new direction. He would talk to them about the Heavenly Father. Jesus is equal to the Father. His claim to be so irritated them to no end. And yet, Jesus’ claim to be God, His declaration that He and the Father are one, did not detract Him from submitting to the will of His Heavenly Father. He did not consider Himself slighted in the least that He would give Himself up for the life of the world.
He had no problem stating straight out that He is God and that salvation is only in Him. He’s not simply better than our fathers, He is the only one born of a woman who is without sin. The only one in whom there is no guile. The only one who has lived in accordance with the perfect and holy will of the Heavenly Father. The only who can stand and not need fear to fall.
His purpose is not bragging rights, as if to say, we’re no better than our fathers and He is better than we are. No, His purpose is simply to make clear that it’s not that we’re no better than our fathers, it’s that we stand before God condemned, in a state of spiritual death. That our only hope is in Him but that our life is wrapped up in Him so that we may have hope. That He who is without end chose to die so that we who deserve eternal death may live forever.
Today, take a page from the life of Elijah, and realize and confess that you are indeed no better than your fathers. You are by nature sinful and unclean. But realize also that you need not despair as he did, because confessing your sin is for the purpose of repenting. Your confession is responded to by your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with Absolution. He forgives you all your sins. Elijah needed to be lifted up, to be fed. So that’s exactly what God did for him, He fed him.
It’s what He does for you as well. He forgives you. He feeds you with His Body and Blood often in His Holy Meal. He strengthens you for the journey ahead, which ultimately leads to eternal life in heaven. Amen.
SDG
August 9, 2009
John 6:35-51
Elijah was in despair but he was right, he was no better than his fathers. How many times had he seen the hand of God in his life and in the life of the people of God, and yet, there he was, wanting to give up on it all.
The people in dialogue with Jesus in the Gospel reading did a pretty good job of showing that they, too, were no better than their fathers. They just couldn’t get their minds adjusted to the fact that this man they knew, the son of Joseph and Mary, was God and the only one in whom there is salvation.
It would be easy for us to sit here today and content ourselves with the notion that we know better. We have seen with our own eyes the Scriptures which tell us of the death and resurrection of Christ for salvation. We have been Baptized, we have the assurance that we are a new creation in Christ. We believe what our Lord tells us in the Gospel reading “that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
Does this mean that we are better than our fathers? Have we come to a point where we can say that we are better than those who have gone before us? It’s easy enough for us to look around us and compare ourselves to those we know, thinking of ourselves as better because we don’t use profane language like they do, and we don’t treat others condescendingly like they do, and we are here every Sunday, unlike them. And, well, we could go on and on, couldn’t we?
We do think we’re better than others, don’t we? But how does Paul talk to the Ephesian Christians in our Epistle reading? They are distinct from those who “are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. [Those who] have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity.” Why then does Paul go on to exhort the Ephesians to live like they are distinct? Why does he have to tell them to live the way God commands us to live and not live in the way He commands not to?
The answer is simple: they are no better than their fathers. And we must hear the words of Paul in the same way they did, as the Word of God to Christians who are always on the verge of despair as Elijah was, because there is never any hope of ourselves but only hope in the one who has made us a new creation. That’s why we must continually confess that we are no better than our fathers.
Jesus is blunt because He tells us what we need to hear. He says in the Gospel reading: “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.” I don’t mean to sound morbid, but this is a great verse. They were fed bread from heaven. God gave them manna so that they could live. And yet, they all ended up dying, didn’t they? Food will keep us alive only in this world. The Bread of Life will ensure life without end. There’s really no point in trying to fool ourselves. Elijah was right. He was no better than his fathers. The people in the Gospel reading were no better than their fathers. All those in the church at Ephesus who thought they could be Christians and keep living in the way of the world were no better than their fathers.
Jesus has no interest in helping us get better than those who have gone before us. He has one goal in mind and that is to slay our sinful flesh. Beat it down and bring it to an end. His work is to bring us to life eternal. To give us life in which we are a new creation. To free us up so that we may freely serve.
All this talk in the Gospel reading about fathers was going nowhere so Jesus turned things in a new direction. He would talk to them about the Heavenly Father. Jesus is equal to the Father. His claim to be so irritated them to no end. And yet, Jesus’ claim to be God, His declaration that He and the Father are one, did not detract Him from submitting to the will of His Heavenly Father. He did not consider Himself slighted in the least that He would give Himself up for the life of the world.
He had no problem stating straight out that He is God and that salvation is only in Him. He’s not simply better than our fathers, He is the only one born of a woman who is without sin. The only one in whom there is no guile. The only one who has lived in accordance with the perfect and holy will of the Heavenly Father. The only who can stand and not need fear to fall.
His purpose is not bragging rights, as if to say, we’re no better than our fathers and He is better than we are. No, His purpose is simply to make clear that it’s not that we’re no better than our fathers, it’s that we stand before God condemned, in a state of spiritual death. That our only hope is in Him but that our life is wrapped up in Him so that we may have hope. That He who is without end chose to die so that we who deserve eternal death may live forever.
Today, take a page from the life of Elijah, and realize and confess that you are indeed no better than your fathers. You are by nature sinful and unclean. But realize also that you need not despair as he did, because confessing your sin is for the purpose of repenting. Your confession is responded to by your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with Absolution. He forgives you all your sins. Elijah needed to be lifted up, to be fed. So that’s exactly what God did for him, He fed him.
It’s what He does for you as well. He forgives you. He feeds you with His Body and Blood often in His Holy Meal. He strengthens you for the journey ahead, which ultimately leads to eternal life in heaven. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, August 2, 2009
This Is the Work of God
Ninth Sunday after Pentecost
August 2, 2009
John 6:22-35
Are you weary? Then be renewed in the grace and mercy of Christ. This is the work of God.
Are you hurting? Then receive the healing balm of Christ. This is God’s work He does for you.
Are you weak? Then be strengthened by the power of Christ. God is at work for you.
You are in need and yet you continue to labor in vain. The work of God is to bring about what it is you need. What you need is faith. So believe in God. Trust in Him. Rely solely on His grace, mercy, and power.
Take comfort in this, that it is not of you or from you. It is you doing it because God is at work in you. What He requires of you He accomplishes in you and for you because of and in His Son Jesus Christ.
The people in the Gospel reading couldn’t wrap their minds around this kind of religion. What kind of religion—what kind of God—tells you that you don’t work to gain the favor of God? To get yourself out of the trouble you’re in. To get what it is you need. Doesn’t God want us to work hard rather than let Him do all the work for us?
This is why we have such a skewed view of our Christian lives. Do we think of ourselves primarily as Christians, or merely as people like everybody else but who happen to be Christians? God is the only source for our lives. Do we think of ourselves as people who deserve more from God or as people who are endlessly blessed by a God who for all we know could have better things to do than help us out in our own little world?
The simple truth is the God of heaven and earth loves you. The eternal God helps you out in your day to day affairs. He heals you, is compassionate to you, strengthens you, and is with you.
How does He do this? Jesus. What does Jesus say in our Gospel reading? God gives us the eternal blessings we need by giving us “the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Everything we need is given us in the man Jesus. Because Jesus is God in the flesh. All we could ever ask for is answered in the work that He accomplishes. Because all the power of God is concentrated in what Jesus has done and does.
But we live in the real world, don’t we? We don’t think of the spiritual realm as being as real as the physical world we live in. But it’s very real. In a sense it’s even more real in that it will last, whereas this world will not. But this world we live in is the one we tend to set our sights on for what we need in this life. Not that that doesn’t necessarily make sense. It’s just shortsighted if that’s all we want. God wants to take us to heaven. He wants to give us those blessings that last forever.
The people in the Gospel reading had been fed by Jesus in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Wouldn’t it be great if He kept it up? That’s what, after all, God did for the Israelites in the wilderness as they wandered around for forty years. But is that why Christ came? To feed people bread?
No, He came to bring life. He came to feed people with the Bread of Life. To give Himself to people. Yes, the manna was bread from heaven—God was the one who gave them the bread. But Christ is truly Bread from heaven—heaven is His dwelling place and He came down from heaven to bring to people on this earth true life.
Have you ever thought about what a person who is dying needs? One who perhaps is slipping into an unconscious state and cannot rationally understand what is being said when the Gospel is proclaimed to him or her? If that person’s salvation depended upon them doing something to show evidence of their faith how could we be sure that they have any?
That’s where the work of God comes in. He accomplishes the faith in that person. We speak to that person of their Baptism. What God accomplished in that person when the refreshing waters flowed over him. When their sinful flesh joined in Christ’s death only to be raised up to eternal life. We speak to that person the Gospel, which sustains them in faith.
Let this be our comfort, that there is a purpose in any adversity we may face, whether we be weary, or hurting, or weak. Such adversity must cause us to look even more so to the Gospel. This is the work of God, that even in those times we are spiritually depleted, or physically, or emotionally, that God is at work. That it is in our weakness He is most powerful. That when our flesh and blood is not enough we may eat and drink of His flesh and blood. That we may draw deeply from the well of everlasting life and be refreshed in His abundant mercy. His forgiveness and His comfort. His strength and His power.
There’s plenty of room for us to work. We will help others. We will be there for them, serve them, and comfort them. But we will do this because it is the work of God at work in us. This is what Paul means when he exhorts us in Philippians to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.” He goes on to say: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)
Otherwise we simply labor in vain. What Christ rather wants is for us to draw deeply from His well, to feast sumptuously on Heavenly Bread, Christ Himself. He delights in working for us, helping us in our need. It was joy that brought Him to suffering at the hands of sinners as we are. Joy that drew Him to the cross to suffer on behalf of the world. Because this is the work of God, in Christ, for us. Amen.
SDG
August 2, 2009
John 6:22-35
Are you weary? Then be renewed in the grace and mercy of Christ. This is the work of God.
Are you hurting? Then receive the healing balm of Christ. This is God’s work He does for you.
Are you weak? Then be strengthened by the power of Christ. God is at work for you.
You are in need and yet you continue to labor in vain. The work of God is to bring about what it is you need. What you need is faith. So believe in God. Trust in Him. Rely solely on His grace, mercy, and power.
Take comfort in this, that it is not of you or from you. It is you doing it because God is at work in you. What He requires of you He accomplishes in you and for you because of and in His Son Jesus Christ.
The people in the Gospel reading couldn’t wrap their minds around this kind of religion. What kind of religion—what kind of God—tells you that you don’t work to gain the favor of God? To get yourself out of the trouble you’re in. To get what it is you need. Doesn’t God want us to work hard rather than let Him do all the work for us?
This is why we have such a skewed view of our Christian lives. Do we think of ourselves primarily as Christians, or merely as people like everybody else but who happen to be Christians? God is the only source for our lives. Do we think of ourselves as people who deserve more from God or as people who are endlessly blessed by a God who for all we know could have better things to do than help us out in our own little world?
The simple truth is the God of heaven and earth loves you. The eternal God helps you out in your day to day affairs. He heals you, is compassionate to you, strengthens you, and is with you.
How does He do this? Jesus. What does Jesus say in our Gospel reading? God gives us the eternal blessings we need by giving us “the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Everything we need is given us in the man Jesus. Because Jesus is God in the flesh. All we could ever ask for is answered in the work that He accomplishes. Because all the power of God is concentrated in what Jesus has done and does.
But we live in the real world, don’t we? We don’t think of the spiritual realm as being as real as the physical world we live in. But it’s very real. In a sense it’s even more real in that it will last, whereas this world will not. But this world we live in is the one we tend to set our sights on for what we need in this life. Not that that doesn’t necessarily make sense. It’s just shortsighted if that’s all we want. God wants to take us to heaven. He wants to give us those blessings that last forever.
The people in the Gospel reading had been fed by Jesus in the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand. Wouldn’t it be great if He kept it up? That’s what, after all, God did for the Israelites in the wilderness as they wandered around for forty years. But is that why Christ came? To feed people bread?
No, He came to bring life. He came to feed people with the Bread of Life. To give Himself to people. Yes, the manna was bread from heaven—God was the one who gave them the bread. But Christ is truly Bread from heaven—heaven is His dwelling place and He came down from heaven to bring to people on this earth true life.
Have you ever thought about what a person who is dying needs? One who perhaps is slipping into an unconscious state and cannot rationally understand what is being said when the Gospel is proclaimed to him or her? If that person’s salvation depended upon them doing something to show evidence of their faith how could we be sure that they have any?
That’s where the work of God comes in. He accomplishes the faith in that person. We speak to that person of their Baptism. What God accomplished in that person when the refreshing waters flowed over him. When their sinful flesh joined in Christ’s death only to be raised up to eternal life. We speak to that person the Gospel, which sustains them in faith.
Let this be our comfort, that there is a purpose in any adversity we may face, whether we be weary, or hurting, or weak. Such adversity must cause us to look even more so to the Gospel. This is the work of God, that even in those times we are spiritually depleted, or physically, or emotionally, that God is at work. That it is in our weakness He is most powerful. That when our flesh and blood is not enough we may eat and drink of His flesh and blood. That we may draw deeply from the well of everlasting life and be refreshed in His abundant mercy. His forgiveness and His comfort. His strength and His power.
There’s plenty of room for us to work. We will help others. We will be there for them, serve them, and comfort them. But we will do this because it is the work of God at work in us. This is what Paul means when he exhorts us in Philippians to “work out [our] own salvation with fear and trembling.” He goes on to say: “for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.” (Philippians 2:12-13 ESV)
Otherwise we simply labor in vain. What Christ rather wants is for us to draw deeply from His well, to feast sumptuously on Heavenly Bread, Christ Himself. He delights in working for us, helping us in our need. It was joy that brought Him to suffering at the hands of sinners as we are. Joy that drew Him to the cross to suffer on behalf of the world. Because this is the work of God, in Christ, for us. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, July 19, 2009
The God of Conflict
Seventh Sunday after Pentecost
July 19, 2009
Mark 6.30-44
No one likes conflict. Okay, there are some who thrive off conflict. But most people try to avoid it like the plague. People have different ways of dealing with it, they’ll get angry, subdued, or defensive, but most people would do almost anything to avoid it.
God is not one of those people. God actively engages in conflict. He seeks it out.
How do I say this? The Bible gives ample description of God’s engaging in conflict with a host of things—but they really boil down to two things: Satan and our sinful nature.
Galatians 5 says that the Holy Spirit opposes the flesh and the flesh opposes the Holy Spirit. This is God actively engaging in conflict with us, opposing our sinful nature.
The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are filled with God’s active engagement with people and Satan in conflict in the Person and Work of Jesus, God in the flesh. The Pharisees and other religious leaders are well known examples of this. They sought to destroy Jesus, and Jesus did not shy away from the conflict. He actively engaged in it with them.
There are a number of examples of Jesus fighting with Satan and the demons in His healings of people’s various infirmities. There are the conflicts He had with His own disciples; perhaps the most famous one when He called Peter Satan. You can read the four Gospel accounts with an eye toward Jesus engaging in conflict with Satan and the sinful flesh of man and you’d have a good understanding of what Christianity is all about.
So why did I choose this as the theme for the sermon this morning when the Gospel reading is the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, rather than one of those examples I just mentioned? There doesn’t appear to be much, if any, conflict here. It really appears to be the opposite, speaking of Jesus’ compassion for all and His action in serving them; of His power and love at work.
But this passage is precisely a clear example of God’s conflict with us, His people, who are by nature sinful and unclean. It is a great example of God’s continuing war against Satan who actively seeks to destroy us and against the world which wants to have nothing to do with God and His salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel reading picks up where we were two weeks ago when Jesus had sent His disciples out on a mission. “The apostles returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught.” Jesus sending them out to proclaim the Gospel and heal people produced some conflict, with some rejecting their message. Now the apostles had returned to Jesus “and He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.”
We know how these things go. At the moment there was no conflict. They were on a high. They had much to report to Jesus. They were excited to tell Him about all that had happened. They were also glad to have some downtime. Time where they could be by themselves, to rest, to get away from some of the pressure. But while they were feeling good now, could they hope it would last? Serving can drain a person. Did they know in the back of their minds that Jesus was expecting more of this from them, and their rest would be brief?
As if on cue, guess who showed up? The curiosity seekers. Along came the crowd that had seen and heard about the mighty things that had been done. “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” That was Jesus for you, always having compassion on people, especially ones that didn’t seem to deserve it or that most people wouldn’t give even a glance to.
And this certainly is the opposite of conflict, but have you thought about how this affected the disciples? What did they think about Jesus ignoring them after He had planned to have some downtime with them? We can imagine that Jesus’ actions here were in conflict with the disciples’ need for rest and rejuvenation. But that’s exactly why Jesus came, to produce this conflict in our lives. Where we would like to sit comfortably with Jesus and He wants to get us up off of our seats and keep serving others—even when they barge in on our times of needed rest. How many times have you declined to help people in need because it wasn’t convenient for you? How many times because you yourself were in need of someone serving you?
Well, no rest for the weary. Jesus welcomed the crowd gladly. “And He began to teach them many things.” He had compassion on them. He saw them and His heart went out to them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So what did He do? He taught them. He gave them what they needed. They came seeking a Jesus they had seen and had heard about, He gave them what would benefit their souls. He taught them many things.
I’m one of those people that wants to know what’s not said. Mark says Jesus taught them “many things.” I wonder, what things? How many things? Did He cover a bunch of the main doctrines of Christianity? Did He open it up for a question and answer session? We don’t know the words of what Jesus said that day when He taught them. But we do know what He taught them. We have ample passages in the Scriptures of Jesus’ teaching that we know what He taught them. He taught them God’s love for them in Him. He called them to repentance and proclaimed the Gospel of salvation in Himself. You can bet that there were many people there that day who were conflicted with His message that they were sinners in need of salvation—and that it could only come through Him.
What was their reaction? Speculation can take us only so far. Were there some who got up and left because they were offended? Perhaps. We know it happened on other occasions. We know that there were a lot who stayed because we’re told there were five thousand men in addition to the women and children who there. So even if no one or a few people left, we can imagine some sitting there the entire time taking issue with Jesus and not taking His teaching to heart.
“…It grew late, [and] His disciples came to Him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?’” There Jesus goes again with more conflict. To the crowds He’s all about serving them. To His disciples, however, He’s an enigma. Why aren’t you just sending them way so they can get food for themselves and get home? But no, Jesus needs to stir up conflict. He needs to get the disciples out of their mode of serving people on their own terms and doing it on God’s terms.
You give them something to eat. How in the world are we supposed to do that? Now, what do you think is the kind of answer Jesus was expecting? Was He expecting the common sense answer that they obviously could not do such a thing? Or was He expecting some creative thinking on their part of how they might attempt to accomplish such a thing? No, what Jesus was expecting is what He always expects from us and that is the answer of faith. He was expecting them to acknowledge that while it was indeed impossible for them to do such a thing, He could indeed accomplish it through them and so they would trust that He would bring it about.
Why didn’t Jesus just do what He had planned to do? Because then there’s no conflict. And with no conflict there is no growth in faith. Have you ever noticed that it’s easy to believe in Jesus when things are going well but hard when it seems that you have no time for the rest and rejuvenation you need? This is why He is intent on being in conflict with us, because our sinful nature is all too eager to take the easy way out rather than the hard way of serving even when it’s inconvenient.
Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands and thousands of people. This doesn’t seem to be much in the way of causing conflict in the lives of the people. It is in fact pure Gospel, Jesus feeding people who are hungry, feeding those He has just fed spiritually with His teaching. But Jesus is also doing much more than feeding people food for their stomachs. The language used to describe Jesus feeding the multitude is sacramental: taking the loaves “He looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.”
Jesus hadn’t yet instituted His Holy Supper. But He knew what He would do. He knew He would be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He knew that He would suffer at the hands of sinners. He came to suffer and die for those very sinners, for every sinner. He came into the world to save the world. He came to produce conflict. It is the Gospel the Bible says is an offense. God brings conflict into our lives by bringing the Gospel into our lives.
Jesus coming to be our Savior means that we need to be saved. Calling us to eternal life means that we have no life of eternal value apart from Him and only eternal suffering without Him. Feeding us with His Body and Blood means that we need to be fed. It means that He calls upon us to respond to Him with the answer of faith, not of convenience or self-centered needs. This is the conflict He brings into our lives, always in opposition to our sinful flesh. But always to save us from our sinful flesh and Satan. Always to feed us and finally to bring us to that eternal Home where is no conflict but only eternal glory. Amen.
SDG
July 19, 2009
Mark 6.30-44
No one likes conflict. Okay, there are some who thrive off conflict. But most people try to avoid it like the plague. People have different ways of dealing with it, they’ll get angry, subdued, or defensive, but most people would do almost anything to avoid it.
God is not one of those people. God actively engages in conflict. He seeks it out.
How do I say this? The Bible gives ample description of God’s engaging in conflict with a host of things—but they really boil down to two things: Satan and our sinful nature.
Galatians 5 says that the Holy Spirit opposes the flesh and the flesh opposes the Holy Spirit. This is God actively engaging in conflict with us, opposing our sinful nature.
The Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are filled with God’s active engagement with people and Satan in conflict in the Person and Work of Jesus, God in the flesh. The Pharisees and other religious leaders are well known examples of this. They sought to destroy Jesus, and Jesus did not shy away from the conflict. He actively engaged in it with them.
There are a number of examples of Jesus fighting with Satan and the demons in His healings of people’s various infirmities. There are the conflicts He had with His own disciples; perhaps the most famous one when He called Peter Satan. You can read the four Gospel accounts with an eye toward Jesus engaging in conflict with Satan and the sinful flesh of man and you’d have a good understanding of what Christianity is all about.
So why did I choose this as the theme for the sermon this morning when the Gospel reading is the account of the Feeding of the Five Thousand, rather than one of those examples I just mentioned? There doesn’t appear to be much, if any, conflict here. It really appears to be the opposite, speaking of Jesus’ compassion for all and His action in serving them; of His power and love at work.
But this passage is precisely a clear example of God’s conflict with us, His people, who are by nature sinful and unclean. It is a great example of God’s continuing war against Satan who actively seeks to destroy us and against the world which wants to have nothing to do with God and His salvation in Jesus Christ.
The Gospel reading picks up where we were two weeks ago when Jesus had sent His disciples out on a mission. “The apostles returned to Jesus and told Him all that they had done and taught.” Jesus sending them out to proclaim the Gospel and heal people produced some conflict, with some rejecting their message. Now the apostles had returned to Jesus “and He said to them, ‘Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. And they went away in the boat to a desolate place by themselves.”
We know how these things go. At the moment there was no conflict. They were on a high. They had much to report to Jesus. They were excited to tell Him about all that had happened. They were also glad to have some downtime. Time where they could be by themselves, to rest, to get away from some of the pressure. But while they were feeling good now, could they hope it would last? Serving can drain a person. Did they know in the back of their minds that Jesus was expecting more of this from them, and their rest would be brief?
As if on cue, guess who showed up? The curiosity seekers. Along came the crowd that had seen and heard about the mighty things that had been done. “Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they ran there on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When He went ashore He saw a great crowd, and He had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd.” That was Jesus for you, always having compassion on people, especially ones that didn’t seem to deserve it or that most people wouldn’t give even a glance to.
And this certainly is the opposite of conflict, but have you thought about how this affected the disciples? What did they think about Jesus ignoring them after He had planned to have some downtime with them? We can imagine that Jesus’ actions here were in conflict with the disciples’ need for rest and rejuvenation. But that’s exactly why Jesus came, to produce this conflict in our lives. Where we would like to sit comfortably with Jesus and He wants to get us up off of our seats and keep serving others—even when they barge in on our times of needed rest. How many times have you declined to help people in need because it wasn’t convenient for you? How many times because you yourself were in need of someone serving you?
Well, no rest for the weary. Jesus welcomed the crowd gladly. “And He began to teach them many things.” He had compassion on them. He saw them and His heart went out to them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So what did He do? He taught them. He gave them what they needed. They came seeking a Jesus they had seen and had heard about, He gave them what would benefit their souls. He taught them many things.
I’m one of those people that wants to know what’s not said. Mark says Jesus taught them “many things.” I wonder, what things? How many things? Did He cover a bunch of the main doctrines of Christianity? Did He open it up for a question and answer session? We don’t know the words of what Jesus said that day when He taught them. But we do know what He taught them. We have ample passages in the Scriptures of Jesus’ teaching that we know what He taught them. He taught them God’s love for them in Him. He called them to repentance and proclaimed the Gospel of salvation in Himself. You can bet that there were many people there that day who were conflicted with His message that they were sinners in need of salvation—and that it could only come through Him.
What was their reaction? Speculation can take us only so far. Were there some who got up and left because they were offended? Perhaps. We know it happened on other occasions. We know that there were a lot who stayed because we’re told there were five thousand men in addition to the women and children who there. So even if no one or a few people left, we can imagine some sitting there the entire time taking issue with Jesus and not taking His teaching to heart.
“…It grew late, [and] His disciples came to Him and said, ‘This is a desolate place, and the hour is now late. Send them away to go into the surrounding countryside and villages and buy themselves something to eat.’ But He answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ And they said to Him, ‘Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give it to them to eat?’” There Jesus goes again with more conflict. To the crowds He’s all about serving them. To His disciples, however, He’s an enigma. Why aren’t you just sending them way so they can get food for themselves and get home? But no, Jesus needs to stir up conflict. He needs to get the disciples out of their mode of serving people on their own terms and doing it on God’s terms.
You give them something to eat. How in the world are we supposed to do that? Now, what do you think is the kind of answer Jesus was expecting? Was He expecting the common sense answer that they obviously could not do such a thing? Or was He expecting some creative thinking on their part of how they might attempt to accomplish such a thing? No, what Jesus was expecting is what He always expects from us and that is the answer of faith. He was expecting them to acknowledge that while it was indeed impossible for them to do such a thing, He could indeed accomplish it through them and so they would trust that He would bring it about.
Why didn’t Jesus just do what He had planned to do? Because then there’s no conflict. And with no conflict there is no growth in faith. Have you ever noticed that it’s easy to believe in Jesus when things are going well but hard when it seems that you have no time for the rest and rejuvenation you need? This is why He is intent on being in conflict with us, because our sinful nature is all too eager to take the easy way out rather than the hard way of serving even when it’s inconvenient.
Jesus takes five loaves of bread and two fish and feeds thousands and thousands of people. This doesn’t seem to be much in the way of causing conflict in the lives of the people. It is in fact pure Gospel, Jesus feeding people who are hungry, feeding those He has just fed spiritually with His teaching. But Jesus is also doing much more than feeding people food for their stomachs. The language used to describe Jesus feeding the multitude is sacramental: taking the loaves “He looked up to heaven and said a blessing and broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.”
Jesus hadn’t yet instituted His Holy Supper. But He knew what He would do. He knew He would be betrayed into the hands of sinners. He knew that He would suffer at the hands of sinners. He came to suffer and die for those very sinners, for every sinner. He came into the world to save the world. He came to produce conflict. It is the Gospel the Bible says is an offense. God brings conflict into our lives by bringing the Gospel into our lives.
Jesus coming to be our Savior means that we need to be saved. Calling us to eternal life means that we have no life of eternal value apart from Him and only eternal suffering without Him. Feeding us with His Body and Blood means that we need to be fed. It means that He calls upon us to respond to Him with the answer of faith, not of convenience or self-centered needs. This is the conflict He brings into our lives, always in opposition to our sinful flesh. But always to save us from our sinful flesh and Satan. Always to feed us and finally to bring us to that eternal Home where is no conflict but only eternal glory. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Here’s What Will Happen
Sixth Sunday after Pentecost
July 12, 2009
Mark 6.14-29
On the TV show Monk, the main character is a homicide detective who is on psychiatric leave and works as a consultant for the police department. He is called upon when there are particularly difficult murder cases and he always figures out the crime even though each one is done in some ingenious fashion. He has several idiosyncrasies stemming from phobias and compulsive behaviors. He has certain memorable sayings he uses over and over, such as when people marvel at his uncanny abilities, he will say, “It’s a gift …and a curse.” Or when he does something that makes people scratch their heads he’ll say “You’ll thank me later.” At some point in the show before he’s figured out what happened he’ll know who did it and he’ll say, “He’s the guy.” But his best line is what he says at the end when he has solved the case—he says: “Here’s what happened,” and then proceeds to lay out every brilliant detail of the plan.
Now Adrian Monk is no prophet. He’s a detective and tells what happened after the fact. The remarkable thing about him is that he’s the only one who’s able to figure it out, but he nevertheless can only tell you what happened after it has happened. Prophets in the Bible do that but also speak of what will happen. They won’t just say, “Here’s what happened,” they will also say, “Here’s what will happen.” But what about when people today make these kind of predictions? The Bible says that we aren’t to add anything to the Bible, so if anyone is making predictions that go beyond what the Bible has already said will happen, then that person is a false prophet. There’s nothing to make known beyond what is already given to us in the Word of God.
That’s why it intrigued me on November 3 of last year, the day before the national election of president, when a Lutheran pastor made this proclamation: “Tuesday’s Winner Prophesied.” There’s nothing wrong, of course, with predicting who will win a political race; people do it all the time, just as they do in sports and many areas of life. But if a man who is called by God to proclaim God’s Word makes such a prediction speaking under the authority of God, then that man is a false prophet. So, intrigued, I read what he had to say. Here it is:
John the Baptist did likewise. You think he wasn’t a little bit nervous telling, in his case, a pagan king that he was sinning against God by committing adultery with his brother’s wife? But God didn’t call John to tell King Herod what he wanted to hear but what God clearly says in His Word. Amos said to the king, Here’s what will happen. That’s what God had given him to say. John said to the king, Here’s what you’re doing, and it’s wrong. It’s what God had given him to say. What the Lutheran pastor said in his “prediction” was right on. No matter who was to win, or what happens in this lifetime, the Christian Church always wins. God sustains His Church.
He has given us His Word and we have no predictions to make. We simply have the Word of God to proclaim and make known. That’s what the pastor was doing, just like Amos and John the Baptist. That’s what we do in our lives. We are all called by God to make known His Word in our neighborhoods and places of work and our families.
But here I will make a prediction. I will tell you straight out: Here’s what will happen. But it is really simple proclamation. It is a stating of what the Word of God says will happen. So it is not a prediction on my part but on God’s. What will happen to you is what happened to Amos and to John the Baptist. The faithful making known of the Word of God will do its work. The Holy Spirit will work on the hearts and minds of those who hear it.
But it’s not all that appealing how things turned out for Amos and John. When you share the Word of God with people, some, perhaps even many, will be resistant to it. Some will persecute, even to death. What will happen is that God will take you out of your comfort zone and into the lives of others. Just as God came into the lives of the people He created in the person of Jesus, He sends you into people’s lives. King Jeroboam needed to hear the Word of God and Amos proclaimed it to him. King Herod needed to hear God’s truth and John the Baptist spoke it to him. You know the people in your lives. They need to hear the Word of God. Bring it to them. Don’t worry about your life. God will guard you and guide you.
You don’t need to worry about if people will act like they’d sooner read the phone book than listen to what you have to say about God and His love for them in Jesus Christ or if they begin to hate you as Herodias did John. The Holy Spirit will work on their hearts and minds just as He did with Herod, when he was perplexed by John’s message and yet enjoyed listening to him. You don’t have to worry about what the world says, as Herod did, when he let his pride get the better of him rather than doing the right thing and not make his foolish vow in the first place or after he did to not carry out such a gruesome act.
You do not need to worry about what may happen because although it could turn out as badly as it did for John the Baptist it can’t turn out worse. God will guard you in your life even to death, even as He did John. Although the tragic story for John’s disciples ended in them laying their teacher in a tomb, this was the beginning of life without persecution or imprisonment or hatred or pain for him. They laid him in a tomb, even as a stranger did our Lord and Savior. John has not yet risen from his tomb. But he will on the Last Day. We know this because we know what happened to our Lord and Savior. He rose from His tomb. He is alive and lives forever.
Here’s what will happen. We will too. Amen.
SDG
July 12, 2009
Mark 6.14-29
On the TV show Monk, the main character is a homicide detective who is on psychiatric leave and works as a consultant for the police department. He is called upon when there are particularly difficult murder cases and he always figures out the crime even though each one is done in some ingenious fashion. He has several idiosyncrasies stemming from phobias and compulsive behaviors. He has certain memorable sayings he uses over and over, such as when people marvel at his uncanny abilities, he will say, “It’s a gift …and a curse.” Or when he does something that makes people scratch their heads he’ll say “You’ll thank me later.” At some point in the show before he’s figured out what happened he’ll know who did it and he’ll say, “He’s the guy.” But his best line is what he says at the end when he has solved the case—he says: “Here’s what happened,” and then proceeds to lay out every brilliant detail of the plan.
Now Adrian Monk is no prophet. He’s a detective and tells what happened after the fact. The remarkable thing about him is that he’s the only one who’s able to figure it out, but he nevertheless can only tell you what happened after it has happened. Prophets in the Bible do that but also speak of what will happen. They won’t just say, “Here’s what happened,” they will also say, “Here’s what will happen.” But what about when people today make these kind of predictions? The Bible says that we aren’t to add anything to the Bible, so if anyone is making predictions that go beyond what the Bible has already said will happen, then that person is a false prophet. There’s nothing to make known beyond what is already given to us in the Word of God.
That’s why it intrigued me on November 3 of last year, the day before the national election of president, when a Lutheran pastor made this proclamation: “Tuesday’s Winner Prophesied.” There’s nothing wrong, of course, with predicting who will win a political race; people do it all the time, just as they do in sports and many areas of life. But if a man who is called by God to proclaim God’s Word makes such a prediction speaking under the authority of God, then that man is a false prophet. So, intrigued, I read what he had to say. Here it is:
It’s been several months now since then and it’s easy to think about the political ramifications of what happened on election day and what has happened since then. But the reason I bring this up is not to talk politics, because that’s not what prophets do. Prophets proclaim the Word of God. And they don’t do it by involving themselves in the political realm. They do it, simply, by proclaiming the Word of God whenever and wherever they are called to do it. Amos was minding his own business as a shepherd when God called him to prophesy. The priest Amaziah didn’t like what this country boy was prophesying to the king and those in power so he told Amos to take a hike. It would have been very easy for Amos to cut and run but instead he said that he was simply doing what God had called him to do.Here is what will happen…
the Church will win. The Lord will provide. All things will work together for good. The Lord’s man will win the election tomorrow. It will be for the good of those who love God.
That is not to say that the winner will be good. I don’t think that is an option in our system. But what will be good is the will of the Lord that He will work for His Church.
Think on the good the Lord did through Caesar, through Leo X, through Napoleon and Hitler and Sadaam Hussein. Sure, I’d prefer restful days of peace. But the reality is that restful days of peace are dangerous. They lull us into complacency. The Church militant does not have the option of resting or suing for peace or finding a compromise. She fights until she is relieved of her burden. And when she is too weak to fight, when she gives in to temptation, when she tries to make her own way, then the Lord in His mercy brings the fight to her in the form of persecution—from within and without.
[He goes on to describe this persecution and then continues] I don’t see any easy days ahead. But I do see good days. I see days when men confess the Truth and learn to love not their lives to death, days when priorities become clear and the Word of God is cherished.
Trust not in princes. Empires fail. The Word of the Lord endures forever. He will provide. One way or another, there is always a Ram in the thicket, Our Lord in the wrath of His Father that we be spared and inherit the Kingdom for free. That Kingdom will not be overcome or cease. So cast your ballot tomorrow and then cast your cares away. It does not matter if your candidate wins or loses. The Lord will provide.
John the Baptist did likewise. You think he wasn’t a little bit nervous telling, in his case, a pagan king that he was sinning against God by committing adultery with his brother’s wife? But God didn’t call John to tell King Herod what he wanted to hear but what God clearly says in His Word. Amos said to the king, Here’s what will happen. That’s what God had given him to say. John said to the king, Here’s what you’re doing, and it’s wrong. It’s what God had given him to say. What the Lutheran pastor said in his “prediction” was right on. No matter who was to win, or what happens in this lifetime, the Christian Church always wins. God sustains His Church.
He has given us His Word and we have no predictions to make. We simply have the Word of God to proclaim and make known. That’s what the pastor was doing, just like Amos and John the Baptist. That’s what we do in our lives. We are all called by God to make known His Word in our neighborhoods and places of work and our families.
But here I will make a prediction. I will tell you straight out: Here’s what will happen. But it is really simple proclamation. It is a stating of what the Word of God says will happen. So it is not a prediction on my part but on God’s. What will happen to you is what happened to Amos and to John the Baptist. The faithful making known of the Word of God will do its work. The Holy Spirit will work on the hearts and minds of those who hear it.
But it’s not all that appealing how things turned out for Amos and John. When you share the Word of God with people, some, perhaps even many, will be resistant to it. Some will persecute, even to death. What will happen is that God will take you out of your comfort zone and into the lives of others. Just as God came into the lives of the people He created in the person of Jesus, He sends you into people’s lives. King Jeroboam needed to hear the Word of God and Amos proclaimed it to him. King Herod needed to hear God’s truth and John the Baptist spoke it to him. You know the people in your lives. They need to hear the Word of God. Bring it to them. Don’t worry about your life. God will guard you and guide you.
You don’t need to worry about if people will act like they’d sooner read the phone book than listen to what you have to say about God and His love for them in Jesus Christ or if they begin to hate you as Herodias did John. The Holy Spirit will work on their hearts and minds just as He did with Herod, when he was perplexed by John’s message and yet enjoyed listening to him. You don’t have to worry about what the world says, as Herod did, when he let his pride get the better of him rather than doing the right thing and not make his foolish vow in the first place or after he did to not carry out such a gruesome act.
You do not need to worry about what may happen because although it could turn out as badly as it did for John the Baptist it can’t turn out worse. God will guard you in your life even to death, even as He did John. Although the tragic story for John’s disciples ended in them laying their teacher in a tomb, this was the beginning of life without persecution or imprisonment or hatred or pain for him. They laid him in a tomb, even as a stranger did our Lord and Savior. John has not yet risen from his tomb. But he will on the Last Day. We know this because we know what happened to our Lord and Savior. He rose from His tomb. He is alive and lives forever.
Here’s what will happen. We will too. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Love Is Patient, Love Is Kind… Love Offends
Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
July 5, 2009
Mark 6.1-13
It’s a common mistake. One we all can easily slip into. We want to be loving. We want to care for others. We love the words of 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind. We want to be patient and kind. But in these good intentions we end up avoiding telling people what they need to hear, telling them rather what they want to hear. But this is not love. This actually is not caring for the other person. What we ought to do is ask ourselves how we can humbly tell others what they need to hear even though they may get offended and even cut us off.
And what about when we’re offended? Do we immediately assume the other person is being unloving or judgmental? Rather, what we ought to do is ask ourselves if the reason we’re offended is because the other person is trying to hurt us or if we just don’t want to admit that we need to hear what they have to say.
Jesus has no such issues. He simply does what needs to be done. He tells us what we need to hear. It’s not surprising that people are offended by Him. Who He is. What He does. What He has to say. We don’t want it to be that way. We want His being loving toward us and caring for us to make us feel comfortable. We don’t want to be offended by Him.
In the Old Testament reading God told Ezekiel to tell the people what they needed to hear. He also told him that they wouldn’t like it. They would, however, know that a prophet had been among them. Did the people of Nazareth know that a prophet had been among them? When Jesus had returned to His hometown they knew that someone had been among them—someone who wasn’t the person they were wanting to be among them. They wanted their own Jesus back. Not some miracle worker. Not one who presumed to be a wise man.
To them, Jesus was not a prophet. He was just Jesus. The kid down the street they used play with in the street. The kid they had walked to school with all those years ago. The kid who had helped His dad make the end table still sitting in their house. The kid who was, well, just like them. Only now He was different. But different in a way they didn’t like. Different in a way in which they were still the same old people they used be and He was now suddenly different. Preaching to them. Doing all kinds of miracles. Who was He to preach to them? Who did He think He was that He could do that kind of stuff?
They were offended. They wanted nothing to do with this man who was no longer just Jesus, the kid from down the street. The kid who would have made a great carpenter if He had just stuck with it. He might have thought they needed Him but they would show Him that they were just fine, by themselves. They would be fine being the way they always were. They way He had been once. Now He was different.
So there was nothing for Him to do there, except marvel. Marvel at their unbelief. Marvel at their unwillingness to hear the Word of God, even from a source that was admittedly unexpected. But is that so different from us? Are we satisfied that Jesus comes to us in ways that are different from what we’d expect? How are we given the vault of heaven in simple water that is connected with God’s Word? Why is Jesus saying that He gives His very self, His true Body and His true Blood in a piece of bread and a drink of wine that is consecrated by His Word? This can’t be the way the God of the universe operates. And so we’re offended that we have to rely on our Baptism, that we need to receive the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins.
But Jesus is not deterred that we’re offended. He wasn’t deterred that the people in His hometown were offended. He just continued on. He kept on doing what He does. He comes to bring to people what they need, not what they want to hear. And so He sent out His apostles. Do you think maybe they had a few questions themselves about Jesus? Why was He sending them out with nothing but a staff, a tunic, and sandals? How could they be sure people would take care of them? And why did He send them out knowing that they would be rejected by some? Well, maybe it’s because He sent them out with another little thing called authority. He gave them authority over all kinds of things people have no business having authority over: unclean spirits and diseases and things that human beings are powerless against.
They also were given authority to do something else. To walk away. To shake the dust off their feet. To testify against those who were offended. To not change the message to what people would want to hear so as to keep the peace. To to preach the message of repentance. To preach that they are lost in their sins and dead in themselves.
We’re not comfortable with the way Jesus comes. Whether it’s in water or bread and wine or His servants. People don’t want what Jesus offers, because they prefer their comfort zone. The people from His hometown had gotten comfortable with the Jesus they knew. That’s the Jesus they wanted. Not the Jesus that came to them with what He had in mind. Some of the people the apostles preached to had gotten comfortable with preachers that affirmed them for who they were.
We Christians tend to get comfortable with Jesus. Why do we need to rely on our Baptism? Why do we need to wake each morning with the knowledge that we are by nature sinful and unclean, that we deserve nothing good from God? That daily we need to drown to our sinful flesh and repent of our sins? Why do we need to examine ourselves and acknowledge our need for Christ and His sacrifice of His Body and Blood, His giving of His very Body and Blood to us in His Holy Supper?
Jesus has no interest in just offending us. His purpose is not to tick us off. He wants to wake us up. He wants us to see. He wants us to know that we’re in a world of hurt in our comfort zone. The only way He can do that is by telling us what we need to hear. That’s what brings us to repentance. Jesus isn’t just any old person. He’s not just a person we can feel comfortable with. He’s our Lord. He’s our Savior. He comes to take us out of the comfortable life we have and give us new life.
Life in which we serve one another and care for one another. Caring and loving enough to risk offending them. That doesn’t give us license to needlessly offend others. We aren’t to be harsh with others just because we’re right. Speaking the truth is loving, but we must also do it in love. The only way this can be done is in humility, knowing that we ourselves deserve nothing but judgment from God for how we act and the wicked thoughts that flow through our mind.
On this weekend in our nation we give thanks for freedom, with our celebration yesterday of Independence Day. We enjoy a wonderful blessing in being able to live in a country where there’s dynamic interchange of ideas and the privilege of having a say in how things will be run. We give thanks to God for this gift. But especially as Christians we see that any freedom given to us is ultimately an opportunity to serve others. And there is no greater freedom we have than that which comes not through living in a free country but through repentance. If we stay in the comfort zone of our sinful flesh we are bound up in sin, we have no freedom at all. But in repentance, in dying to sin, and being raised up to new life in forgiveness, we have freedom in which we are not bound by our sinful desires.
We see Jesus for who He is. He is our Lord and Savior. He loves us. He is patient and kind. And His love is so far-reaching that He is willing to offend us. He is willing to call us to repentance so that we may see our sin and turn from it. He is ever willing to do this so that we may then see our Savior, Himself. When we look to the cross we will see there the Savior who was not offended by any means by His Father but was forsaken by Him. Eternal love for the world drove Him to suffer in such a way and the Heavenly Father to condemn His Son in our place. When we daily live in our Baptism we see the Savior who is bound up in our life, giving us His righteousness to live. When we partake of His Body and Blood in His Holy Meal we see the Savior and indeed receive Him, participating in His very life so that we may serve Him and live forever. Amen.
SDG
July 5, 2009
Mark 6.1-13
It’s a common mistake. One we all can easily slip into. We want to be loving. We want to care for others. We love the words of 1 Corinthians 13, love is patient, love is kind. We want to be patient and kind. But in these good intentions we end up avoiding telling people what they need to hear, telling them rather what they want to hear. But this is not love. This actually is not caring for the other person. What we ought to do is ask ourselves how we can humbly tell others what they need to hear even though they may get offended and even cut us off.
And what about when we’re offended? Do we immediately assume the other person is being unloving or judgmental? Rather, what we ought to do is ask ourselves if the reason we’re offended is because the other person is trying to hurt us or if we just don’t want to admit that we need to hear what they have to say.
Jesus has no such issues. He simply does what needs to be done. He tells us what we need to hear. It’s not surprising that people are offended by Him. Who He is. What He does. What He has to say. We don’t want it to be that way. We want His being loving toward us and caring for us to make us feel comfortable. We don’t want to be offended by Him.
In the Old Testament reading God told Ezekiel to tell the people what they needed to hear. He also told him that they wouldn’t like it. They would, however, know that a prophet had been among them. Did the people of Nazareth know that a prophet had been among them? When Jesus had returned to His hometown they knew that someone had been among them—someone who wasn’t the person they were wanting to be among them. They wanted their own Jesus back. Not some miracle worker. Not one who presumed to be a wise man.
To them, Jesus was not a prophet. He was just Jesus. The kid down the street they used play with in the street. The kid they had walked to school with all those years ago. The kid who had helped His dad make the end table still sitting in their house. The kid who was, well, just like them. Only now He was different. But different in a way they didn’t like. Different in a way in which they were still the same old people they used be and He was now suddenly different. Preaching to them. Doing all kinds of miracles. Who was He to preach to them? Who did He think He was that He could do that kind of stuff?
They were offended. They wanted nothing to do with this man who was no longer just Jesus, the kid from down the street. The kid who would have made a great carpenter if He had just stuck with it. He might have thought they needed Him but they would show Him that they were just fine, by themselves. They would be fine being the way they always were. They way He had been once. Now He was different.
So there was nothing for Him to do there, except marvel. Marvel at their unbelief. Marvel at their unwillingness to hear the Word of God, even from a source that was admittedly unexpected. But is that so different from us? Are we satisfied that Jesus comes to us in ways that are different from what we’d expect? How are we given the vault of heaven in simple water that is connected with God’s Word? Why is Jesus saying that He gives His very self, His true Body and His true Blood in a piece of bread and a drink of wine that is consecrated by His Word? This can’t be the way the God of the universe operates. And so we’re offended that we have to rely on our Baptism, that we need to receive the Lord’s Supper for the forgiveness of our sins.
But Jesus is not deterred that we’re offended. He wasn’t deterred that the people in His hometown were offended. He just continued on. He kept on doing what He does. He comes to bring to people what they need, not what they want to hear. And so He sent out His apostles. Do you think maybe they had a few questions themselves about Jesus? Why was He sending them out with nothing but a staff, a tunic, and sandals? How could they be sure people would take care of them? And why did He send them out knowing that they would be rejected by some? Well, maybe it’s because He sent them out with another little thing called authority. He gave them authority over all kinds of things people have no business having authority over: unclean spirits and diseases and things that human beings are powerless against.
They also were given authority to do something else. To walk away. To shake the dust off their feet. To testify against those who were offended. To not change the message to what people would want to hear so as to keep the peace. To to preach the message of repentance. To preach that they are lost in their sins and dead in themselves.
We’re not comfortable with the way Jesus comes. Whether it’s in water or bread and wine or His servants. People don’t want what Jesus offers, because they prefer their comfort zone. The people from His hometown had gotten comfortable with the Jesus they knew. That’s the Jesus they wanted. Not the Jesus that came to them with what He had in mind. Some of the people the apostles preached to had gotten comfortable with preachers that affirmed them for who they were.
We Christians tend to get comfortable with Jesus. Why do we need to rely on our Baptism? Why do we need to wake each morning with the knowledge that we are by nature sinful and unclean, that we deserve nothing good from God? That daily we need to drown to our sinful flesh and repent of our sins? Why do we need to examine ourselves and acknowledge our need for Christ and His sacrifice of His Body and Blood, His giving of His very Body and Blood to us in His Holy Supper?
Jesus has no interest in just offending us. His purpose is not to tick us off. He wants to wake us up. He wants us to see. He wants us to know that we’re in a world of hurt in our comfort zone. The only way He can do that is by telling us what we need to hear. That’s what brings us to repentance. Jesus isn’t just any old person. He’s not just a person we can feel comfortable with. He’s our Lord. He’s our Savior. He comes to take us out of the comfortable life we have and give us new life.
Life in which we serve one another and care for one another. Caring and loving enough to risk offending them. That doesn’t give us license to needlessly offend others. We aren’t to be harsh with others just because we’re right. Speaking the truth is loving, but we must also do it in love. The only way this can be done is in humility, knowing that we ourselves deserve nothing but judgment from God for how we act and the wicked thoughts that flow through our mind.
On this weekend in our nation we give thanks for freedom, with our celebration yesterday of Independence Day. We enjoy a wonderful blessing in being able to live in a country where there’s dynamic interchange of ideas and the privilege of having a say in how things will be run. We give thanks to God for this gift. But especially as Christians we see that any freedom given to us is ultimately an opportunity to serve others. And there is no greater freedom we have than that which comes not through living in a free country but through repentance. If we stay in the comfort zone of our sinful flesh we are bound up in sin, we have no freedom at all. But in repentance, in dying to sin, and being raised up to new life in forgiveness, we have freedom in which we are not bound by our sinful desires.
We see Jesus for who He is. He is our Lord and Savior. He loves us. He is patient and kind. And His love is so far-reaching that He is willing to offend us. He is willing to call us to repentance so that we may see our sin and turn from it. He is ever willing to do this so that we may then see our Savior, Himself. When we look to the cross we will see there the Savior who was not offended by any means by His Father but was forsaken by Him. Eternal love for the world drove Him to suffer in such a way and the Heavenly Father to condemn His Son in our place. When we daily live in our Baptism we see the Savior who is bound up in our life, giving us His righteousness to live. When we partake of His Body and Blood in His Holy Meal we see the Savior and indeed receive Him, participating in His very life so that we may serve Him and live forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Vanity and Dignity
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Commemoration of Irenaeus of Lyons, Pastor
June 28, 2009
Mark 5.21-43
There it was, on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune, two stories side by side that put together say a lot about us. I doubt the editors purposely put the two stories right next to each other as a statement about ourselves, but I couldn’t help but think that they were perfectly juxtaposed. One story was about a new trend in the world of technology, which is quickly becoming the world of just about everybody, even people who don’t know, or even don’t even care, much about technology. But with hundreds of millions of people who are on Facebook and Twitter and other social networking web sites like it, all kinds of people are part of a technological revolution in which they are socializing with people they know and don’t know all from the comfort of their own home or in the comfort of Starbucks on their laptop or their cell phone.
That’s what made this story so interesting, though. Because no matter how much things change the more they stay the same. And it’s true in the ever expanding world of technology. There’s a huge rush to have your own web site address, which people usually want to be their own name. They call these web site addresses “vanity addresses.” It’s all about getting people to your web site so that they can find out more about you. So even though the technological means for doing this didn’t exist for most of history, let alone even ten years ago, vanity is as old as anything.
Right next to it was an interesting story about the White House being inundated by flies. It was so bad that during an interview of the president, a fly was bugging him. President Obama was able smack it so that it couldn’t bug him anymore. Now here was the part that struck me: PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, complained about the president’s action. Since flies are living creatures, what right do we have to take their life in such a way?
These two stories, present us with a picture of ourselves of the two extremes in how we view ourselves as humans. On the one hand, there’s vanity—good old-fashioned pride. On the other hand, there is false humility, a debasement of the crown of God’s creation—people. Pride is taking God’s creation of us and placing that very creation, ourselves, above the Creator, God. False humility takes what is a command of God—that we are to be good stewards of God’s good creation, the environment and animals—and place it on a par with the crown of His creation, people, as if plants and animals are equal to the people God made to be in relationship with them.
Ironically, these two extremes, though they seem the opposite of each other, are at essence the same thing. So we can put whatever name we want on it, but it really all comes down to going against the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. In our pride, we want to put ourselves first, above God. In our false humility, we actually do the same thing, because we are taking the way God has made His creation and saying that, no, it needs to be the way we make it; and in so doing, we place ourselves once again above God.
When vanity rears its ugly head, humility takes a beating. We don’t acknowledge that we are truly humble before the Almighty God and Creator. When false humility steps in, dignity gets crushed. We don’t acknowledge that, while all of God’s creation is wonderful, human beings hold a special place in it and in the eyes of God the Father.
So how do we beat down our pride? How do we lift ourselves up from our false humility to the dignified place God wants us to see ourselves in? The Gospel reading gives us its own picture. It shows us what our sinful flesh considers extreme—our utter deficiency of ourselves and our total sufficiency in Christ.
You can’t get more helpless than watching your twelve year old daughter getting sicker and sicker before your eyes. You can’t get more in need than twelve years of different doctors, different treatments, different medications, only to find your condition hasn’t improved. And when your twelve year old girl ends up dying, we see that ultimately there are things that are out of our control and ability and we are simply left deficient.
But you can’t be in a better position than being utterly deficient of yourself. Because when Jesus comes into your life you can see yourself for who you really are: one whom the eternal Creator, Almighty God, loves and cares for. You have no dignity of yourself, but you have dignity in Christ. He created you and He loves you. He helps you in your need. Pride gets you nowhere but left in your deficiency. False humility leaves you with yourself, and with yourself is only ultimate deficiency.
With Christ there is nothing you need to try to bolster yourself with. There’s nothing you need to convince Him of of how unworthy you are. He knows you. He knows your need. He knows where you stand before Him. He knows you can manage your 401K, or hire someone to do it. He knows you can drive yourself to the doctor and the store to get your medication. He knows you can fill out an application and beat the bushes to try to get a job in this tough economy. He knows you can fight for the rights of those less fortunate than you. He knows you make hundreds of little decisions each day in which you control what you do and how you do it.
But He also knows that at the end of the day you know yourself, that you have no control over your life, whether you will live or die tonight or thirty years from now or live but end up in a coma. He knows that you know that while you may not think about it a lot, you cannot convince yourself that you are really fine without Him. That you really are deficient of yourself, that you are completely dependent upon Him in what will happen to you when you die.
Our pride wants to be in control. It wants to dictate. It wants to hear what’s good about ourselves. If offended or made to feel bad about ourselves we turn against those who tell us what we don’t want to hear about ourselves. Or we simply turn them off. But the Word of God is not interested in telling us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear. Our pride will scoff at it. The Word of God will chop off any notions we have of false humility. This is the irony that God presents us with: we are nothing of our own selves and everything in Him. We are the crown of His creation and yet deserve eternal damnation because of our sin. We are by nature sinful and unclean and yet loved by God so much that He comes to rescue us, giving His very own life on our behalf.
God’s Word is like a hammer, breaking down our pride in order to bring us to repentance. It brings to us the truest humility there is, the ultimate humility—God Himself becoming a man. God Himself suffering as if He were the sinner. God Himself taking upon Himself the eternal punishment we deserve, all because of His eternal love for us because He created us and wants nothing more than to restore us to the eternal relationship He has with us.
We don’t need to puff ourselves up with pride or worry about our dignity or have any pretenses of humility. Our sufficiency is in Christ. Our life, our hope, our eternal care is in Him. Gladly boast of your deficiency in and of yourself. Humbly confess your sins before Him. Rejoice in His total sufficiency. Full and free forgiveness is yours, now and forever. Amen.
SDG
Commemoration of Irenaeus of Lyons, Pastor
June 28, 2009
Mark 5.21-43
There it was, on the front page of the San Diego Union Tribune, two stories side by side that put together say a lot about us. I doubt the editors purposely put the two stories right next to each other as a statement about ourselves, but I couldn’t help but think that they were perfectly juxtaposed. One story was about a new trend in the world of technology, which is quickly becoming the world of just about everybody, even people who don’t know, or even don’t even care, much about technology. But with hundreds of millions of people who are on Facebook and Twitter and other social networking web sites like it, all kinds of people are part of a technological revolution in which they are socializing with people they know and don’t know all from the comfort of their own home or in the comfort of Starbucks on their laptop or their cell phone.
That’s what made this story so interesting, though. Because no matter how much things change the more they stay the same. And it’s true in the ever expanding world of technology. There’s a huge rush to have your own web site address, which people usually want to be their own name. They call these web site addresses “vanity addresses.” It’s all about getting people to your web site so that they can find out more about you. So even though the technological means for doing this didn’t exist for most of history, let alone even ten years ago, vanity is as old as anything.
Right next to it was an interesting story about the White House being inundated by flies. It was so bad that during an interview of the president, a fly was bugging him. President Obama was able smack it so that it couldn’t bug him anymore. Now here was the part that struck me: PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, complained about the president’s action. Since flies are living creatures, what right do we have to take their life in such a way?
These two stories, present us with a picture of ourselves of the two extremes in how we view ourselves as humans. On the one hand, there’s vanity—good old-fashioned pride. On the other hand, there is false humility, a debasement of the crown of God’s creation—people. Pride is taking God’s creation of us and placing that very creation, ourselves, above the Creator, God. False humility takes what is a command of God—that we are to be good stewards of God’s good creation, the environment and animals—and place it on a par with the crown of His creation, people, as if plants and animals are equal to the people God made to be in relationship with them.
Ironically, these two extremes, though they seem the opposite of each other, are at essence the same thing. So we can put whatever name we want on it, but it really all comes down to going against the First Commandment: You shall have no other gods. In our pride, we want to put ourselves first, above God. In our false humility, we actually do the same thing, because we are taking the way God has made His creation and saying that, no, it needs to be the way we make it; and in so doing, we place ourselves once again above God.
When vanity rears its ugly head, humility takes a beating. We don’t acknowledge that we are truly humble before the Almighty God and Creator. When false humility steps in, dignity gets crushed. We don’t acknowledge that, while all of God’s creation is wonderful, human beings hold a special place in it and in the eyes of God the Father.
So how do we beat down our pride? How do we lift ourselves up from our false humility to the dignified place God wants us to see ourselves in? The Gospel reading gives us its own picture. It shows us what our sinful flesh considers extreme—our utter deficiency of ourselves and our total sufficiency in Christ.
You can’t get more helpless than watching your twelve year old daughter getting sicker and sicker before your eyes. You can’t get more in need than twelve years of different doctors, different treatments, different medications, only to find your condition hasn’t improved. And when your twelve year old girl ends up dying, we see that ultimately there are things that are out of our control and ability and we are simply left deficient.
But you can’t be in a better position than being utterly deficient of yourself. Because when Jesus comes into your life you can see yourself for who you really are: one whom the eternal Creator, Almighty God, loves and cares for. You have no dignity of yourself, but you have dignity in Christ. He created you and He loves you. He helps you in your need. Pride gets you nowhere but left in your deficiency. False humility leaves you with yourself, and with yourself is only ultimate deficiency.
With Christ there is nothing you need to try to bolster yourself with. There’s nothing you need to convince Him of of how unworthy you are. He knows you. He knows your need. He knows where you stand before Him. He knows you can manage your 401K, or hire someone to do it. He knows you can drive yourself to the doctor and the store to get your medication. He knows you can fill out an application and beat the bushes to try to get a job in this tough economy. He knows you can fight for the rights of those less fortunate than you. He knows you make hundreds of little decisions each day in which you control what you do and how you do it.
But He also knows that at the end of the day you know yourself, that you have no control over your life, whether you will live or die tonight or thirty years from now or live but end up in a coma. He knows that you know that while you may not think about it a lot, you cannot convince yourself that you are really fine without Him. That you really are deficient of yourself, that you are completely dependent upon Him in what will happen to you when you die.
Our pride wants to be in control. It wants to dictate. It wants to hear what’s good about ourselves. If offended or made to feel bad about ourselves we turn against those who tell us what we don’t want to hear about ourselves. Or we simply turn them off. But the Word of God is not interested in telling us what we want to hear, but what we need to hear. Our pride will scoff at it. The Word of God will chop off any notions we have of false humility. This is the irony that God presents us with: we are nothing of our own selves and everything in Him. We are the crown of His creation and yet deserve eternal damnation because of our sin. We are by nature sinful and unclean and yet loved by God so much that He comes to rescue us, giving His very own life on our behalf.
God’s Word is like a hammer, breaking down our pride in order to bring us to repentance. It brings to us the truest humility there is, the ultimate humility—God Himself becoming a man. God Himself suffering as if He were the sinner. God Himself taking upon Himself the eternal punishment we deserve, all because of His eternal love for us because He created us and wants nothing more than to restore us to the eternal relationship He has with us.
We don’t need to puff ourselves up with pride or worry about our dignity or have any pretenses of humility. Our sufficiency is in Christ. Our life, our hope, our eternal care is in Him. Gladly boast of your deficiency in and of yourself. Humbly confess your sins before Him. Rejoice in His total sufficiency. Full and free forgiveness is yours, now and forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, June 21, 2009
God Is Our Father In His Son Jesus Christ
Third Sunday after Pentecost
June 21, 2009
Mark 4.35-41
The festival of Pentecost is the festival of the Holy Spirit. And the Nativity of Our Lord, Good Friday, and the Resurrection of Our Lord are high festivals of Jesus. But is there a special festival of God the Father? The Church Year is designed around salvation history centered in the life of Christ. There is only one God, of course, and the Triune God is at work when the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father are individually at work. But that God shows Himself to work in distinct ways in the distinct Persons of the Godhead shows us that it’s more than just an interesting phenomenon. His work as Father, His work as Son, His work as Holy Spirit mean things for us and our salvation. Since today is Father’s Day, it’s as good a day as any to examine the work of God the Father and what that means for us.
But the Gospel reading shows us the work of God the Son, Jesus Christ. It also show us, however, the work of God the Father. The Father is not mentioned, but His work is accomplished in the Gospel reading. As in everything He does Jesus is carrying out the will of His Heavenly Father. But in a specific sense, Jesus’ action brings about exactly what God was saying to Job in the Old Testament reading: “Or who shut in the sea with doors… and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?”
God is speaking to Job of His work of creation. He tells Job of it for the purpose of making known His work of re-creation. The God who is the Creator of the earth and the seas is the God who re-creates. He restores His fallen creation. In the Gospel reading the disciples need immediate salvation. Jesus saves them by exhibiting His power over His very own creation. He brings about the very thing God the Father stated to Job, what He did at creation and what God the Son is doing now in the boat. Just as at creation the seas came into existence at the speaking of His Word, now the waves halt at the speaking of His Word. Just as He set boundaries for them at creation, so now He stops them in their tracks.
Upon seeing this display of power the disciples are afraid. Who is this? Who is this who commands even the wind and waves to obey Him? He is the very creator of the wind and the waves. And He’s the Savior. When God the Father spoke to Job about the salvation He would accomplish, His work of re-creation, He had in mind the giving of His only-begotten Son. The power God exhibited to Job in coming out of the whirlwind was nothing compared to the re-creating, saving work of giving up His Son. The power Jesus exhibited in stilling the storm was a cloak, the ultimate exhibition of His power coming in giving Himself up on the cross—power over the forces of sin, death, and the devil.
This is where we see how God the Father is who we need to look to in order to obey the Fourth Commandment—Honor your father and your mother. It’s where we see how those who are fathers learn what it means to be a godly father. Honoring our father and being a faithful father is possible in God the Father’s giving of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ.
Can a person honor their father if he is not a Christian? Yes, they can. And not only that, they must. God gives you your father. If he’s not a Christian the highest way you honor him is to pray for him and speak the Gospel to him so that he may know the eternal love of the Heavenly Father. Is it hard at times to honor your Christian father because he falls short at times as a father? Yes, but the Fourth Commandment isn’t dependent on how good of a father you have.
And how is a Christian man who is a father to be a faithful father, exhibiting the love of God the Father, when he himself continually falls short of exhibiting unconditional love; when he himself is every much of a sinner as his children? Only by and through the love of his Heavenly Father as exhibited in His Son Jesus Christ. A father’s children are commanded to honor him, but a father must wake up each morning and strive to live in such a way that it is a joy for his children to honor him.
How do we do these things? Through the love of God the Father in Jesus Christ. The love of God the Father is not a generic love. It is not simply that He loves us. It is His specific grace and mercy toward us in His Son Jesus Christ. You honor your father because of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is how God the Father loved you. How much more, then, can you honor your father? You are a faithful father when you love your children with the full and free forgiveness your Heavenly Father has given to you and your children.
God told Job that He had created the universe. He then pointed him toward the greatest of all His power and work, His work of re-creation. It is His work in giving His Son. We see that work being brought about in the Gospel reading. God the Father is at work there on the lake, in the boat, in the stilling of the storm. He loves His creation, He loves His children. That’s why He gave His Son. This is how we can live each new day as obedient children of our earthly father, how we fathers can love our children not simply with our own love but the eternal love we ourselves have received.
This week dozens of children will be roaming the halls and rooms of our church for VBS. Some are here every week. Some attend their own church. Some will be hearing the Gospel for the first time. All are in need of it, though, just as we all are. May our prayer be that each one of them hears that Gospel and receives the blessing promised through it, the forgiveness of their sins. May our prayer be that the father of each one doesn’t simply send them here for the week but daily blesses them with the love of the Heavenly Father in His Son Jesus Christ. That each father loves his children by reading the Word of God to them, praying with them, bringing them to God’s House each week to be renewed in the gracious presence of the Triune God and His never-ending love for them.
May this prayer be for us as well. When your dad would rather spend time doing his own thing rather than be with you, his child, honor him. Do not despise or anger him, but honor him, serve and obey him, love and cherish him. Forgive him, he’s a sinner just like you are. And why should you honor him even in those times he’s not faithfully carrying out his duties as a father? Because of the love God the Father has for him and for you. Because He sent His own Son to forgive him and you.
When you as a father provoke your children, repent and ask for forgiveness. Pray your Heavenly Father to give you the strength and selflessness you need to be a godly father to your children, loving them as your Heavenly Father has loved them and you—in His Son, Jesus Christ.
As Christians we cannot talk about honoring our fathers and about being godly fathers apart from Jesus Christ. We must look to God the Father to know how we are able to honor our fathers and to be godly fathers. In the same way, we cannot talk about God’s love apart from the love of God the Father in His Son Jesus Christ. Receive gratefully the care of your earthly father, the food and home he provides. Fathers, feed your children not only daily bread but also God’s Word. Your Heavenly Father gives you His own Son in the Gospel and in His Son’s Holy Supper. You love with this love He has loved you with, love in His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
SDG
June 21, 2009
Mark 4.35-41
The festival of Pentecost is the festival of the Holy Spirit. And the Nativity of Our Lord, Good Friday, and the Resurrection of Our Lord are high festivals of Jesus. But is there a special festival of God the Father? The Church Year is designed around salvation history centered in the life of Christ. There is only one God, of course, and the Triune God is at work when the Holy Spirit, the Son, and the Father are individually at work. But that God shows Himself to work in distinct ways in the distinct Persons of the Godhead shows us that it’s more than just an interesting phenomenon. His work as Father, His work as Son, His work as Holy Spirit mean things for us and our salvation. Since today is Father’s Day, it’s as good a day as any to examine the work of God the Father and what that means for us.
But the Gospel reading shows us the work of God the Son, Jesus Christ. It also show us, however, the work of God the Father. The Father is not mentioned, but His work is accomplished in the Gospel reading. As in everything He does Jesus is carrying out the will of His Heavenly Father. But in a specific sense, Jesus’ action brings about exactly what God was saying to Job in the Old Testament reading: “Or who shut in the sea with doors… and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors, and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?”
God is speaking to Job of His work of creation. He tells Job of it for the purpose of making known His work of re-creation. The God who is the Creator of the earth and the seas is the God who re-creates. He restores His fallen creation. In the Gospel reading the disciples need immediate salvation. Jesus saves them by exhibiting His power over His very own creation. He brings about the very thing God the Father stated to Job, what He did at creation and what God the Son is doing now in the boat. Just as at creation the seas came into existence at the speaking of His Word, now the waves halt at the speaking of His Word. Just as He set boundaries for them at creation, so now He stops them in their tracks.
Upon seeing this display of power the disciples are afraid. Who is this? Who is this who commands even the wind and waves to obey Him? He is the very creator of the wind and the waves. And He’s the Savior. When God the Father spoke to Job about the salvation He would accomplish, His work of re-creation, He had in mind the giving of His only-begotten Son. The power God exhibited to Job in coming out of the whirlwind was nothing compared to the re-creating, saving work of giving up His Son. The power Jesus exhibited in stilling the storm was a cloak, the ultimate exhibition of His power coming in giving Himself up on the cross—power over the forces of sin, death, and the devil.
This is where we see how God the Father is who we need to look to in order to obey the Fourth Commandment—Honor your father and your mother. It’s where we see how those who are fathers learn what it means to be a godly father. Honoring our father and being a faithful father is possible in God the Father’s giving of His only-begotten Son Jesus Christ.
Can a person honor their father if he is not a Christian? Yes, they can. And not only that, they must. God gives you your father. If he’s not a Christian the highest way you honor him is to pray for him and speak the Gospel to him so that he may know the eternal love of the Heavenly Father. Is it hard at times to honor your Christian father because he falls short at times as a father? Yes, but the Fourth Commandment isn’t dependent on how good of a father you have.
And how is a Christian man who is a father to be a faithful father, exhibiting the love of God the Father, when he himself continually falls short of exhibiting unconditional love; when he himself is every much of a sinner as his children? Only by and through the love of his Heavenly Father as exhibited in His Son Jesus Christ. A father’s children are commanded to honor him, but a father must wake up each morning and strive to live in such a way that it is a joy for his children to honor him.
How do we do these things? Through the love of God the Father in Jesus Christ. The love of God the Father is not a generic love. It is not simply that He loves us. It is His specific grace and mercy toward us in His Son Jesus Christ. You honor your father because of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is how God the Father loved you. How much more, then, can you honor your father? You are a faithful father when you love your children with the full and free forgiveness your Heavenly Father has given to you and your children.
God told Job that He had created the universe. He then pointed him toward the greatest of all His power and work, His work of re-creation. It is His work in giving His Son. We see that work being brought about in the Gospel reading. God the Father is at work there on the lake, in the boat, in the stilling of the storm. He loves His creation, He loves His children. That’s why He gave His Son. This is how we can live each new day as obedient children of our earthly father, how we fathers can love our children not simply with our own love but the eternal love we ourselves have received.
This week dozens of children will be roaming the halls and rooms of our church for VBS. Some are here every week. Some attend their own church. Some will be hearing the Gospel for the first time. All are in need of it, though, just as we all are. May our prayer be that each one of them hears that Gospel and receives the blessing promised through it, the forgiveness of their sins. May our prayer be that the father of each one doesn’t simply send them here for the week but daily blesses them with the love of the Heavenly Father in His Son Jesus Christ. That each father loves his children by reading the Word of God to them, praying with them, bringing them to God’s House each week to be renewed in the gracious presence of the Triune God and His never-ending love for them.
May this prayer be for us as well. When your dad would rather spend time doing his own thing rather than be with you, his child, honor him. Do not despise or anger him, but honor him, serve and obey him, love and cherish him. Forgive him, he’s a sinner just like you are. And why should you honor him even in those times he’s not faithfully carrying out his duties as a father? Because of the love God the Father has for him and for you. Because He sent His own Son to forgive him and you.
When you as a father provoke your children, repent and ask for forgiveness. Pray your Heavenly Father to give you the strength and selflessness you need to be a godly father to your children, loving them as your Heavenly Father has loved them and you—in His Son, Jesus Christ.
As Christians we cannot talk about honoring our fathers and about being godly fathers apart from Jesus Christ. We must look to God the Father to know how we are able to honor our fathers and to be godly fathers. In the same way, we cannot talk about God’s love apart from the love of God the Father in His Son Jesus Christ. Receive gratefully the care of your earthly father, the food and home he provides. Fathers, feed your children not only daily bread but also God’s Word. Your Heavenly Father gives you His own Son in the Gospel and in His Son’s Holy Supper. You love with this love He has loved you with, love in His Son Jesus Christ. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, June 14, 2009
What You Don’t Understand Is What You Know
Second Sunday after Pentecost
Commemoration of Elisha
June 14, 2009
Mark 4.26-34
Do you know what November 26 of this year is? You might be able to guess. If I tell you that it’s the last Thursday in November you’ll know that it’s Thanksgiving. But how about November 22? It’s a Sunday, and therefore is a specific day in the Church Year. If you don’t know the Church Year well, you probably won’t know that it’s the Last Sunday of the Church Year and will mark the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. That’s five months from now and twenty-three Sundays from now. The season of Pentecost is a long one compared to the others, which usually last a few weeks. But whereas there’s usually a lot of action in the other seasons because they’re concentrating on the life of Christ, the Pentecost season can seem like it’s going nowhere with each Sunday simply growing in number after the festival Pentecost: the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the Third Sunday after Pentecost, and so on, all the way down to the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost on November 22.
But there’s a reason for that. It’s because it is the season of growth. That’s why the color has now turned to green and will stay that way, with the exception of a couple festival days, until we change it for the season of Advent. Green is the color of growth. When there is abundant growth a lush green usually marks that.
But if the season of Pentecost seems like it’s going nowhere slowly so does actual growth itself. A seed planted in the ground doesn’t sprout the next day. For a long time it seems like nothing is happening. But growth is occurring. Early into this Pentecost season it’s good for us to know that this is what this season is all about. It may not seem like much is happening, but in hearing the Gospel week in and week out you are growing.
The Gospel reading today orients us on this path of growing. It does it with two parables, one which we know well, the Parable of the Mustard Seed. Jesus is specific in how this growth takes place. The Old Testament reading and the Epistle also lend assistance to the process by which we grow as Christians.
Simply put, it is by faith. It is not by sight, as the Epistle reading says. It is not by power or strength as the Old Testament reading alludes to with its symbolic language. It is not by understanding as Jesus makes clear in the Gospel reading. It is, simply, by faith.
This doesn’t mean it’s simple. It doesn’t mean, either, that no understanding is involved. It means that the Triune God is the one who brings about the growth. When the seed is sown, it grows. The man who planted the seed didn’t understand how the seed grew into a plant, but it grew. You don’t understand how you grow in faith, but you do. You do because God creates the faith. He causes the growth. The man didn’t understand how the growth was taking place but he knew there was growth.
We don’t usually think about the process of growth. We see the flowers and plants and trees and their beauty. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, that these beautiful things come from tiny seeds? But it doesn’t seem all that remarkable when they’re actually growing. If you look at the place in the ground where the seed was planted you’ll get bored quickly if you’re waiting to see an actual sign of growth. It’s over the long term that you see the results. When you plant the seed, in addition to watering and ensuring sunshine, you have to take it on faith that the seed will grow into a plant and that the plant will keep growing.
How does one grow in the faith? How do you and I grow as Christians? How do we grow in sanctification, more and more living as God would have us live? What does God say? “I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” Most of us aren’t biologists or botanists. If we want a garden we’ll plant the seeds and tend the garden, but we won’t concern ourselves with how in the world those seeds and plants are growing. We simply want to enjoy the fruits of the garden. When it comes to our growth as Christians, God is clear that He is the one who brings it about. He causes the growth and sustains the growth.
If you are dried up spiritually God will cause you to flourish. If you are down in the dumps God will lift you up. This is what God says: “I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” If you don’t understand how He does it, well, He doesn’t say anything about you understanding it, does He? He simply says, I will bring it about. I will do it. I am the Lord. He is the one who plants the seed of the Gospel and causes you to grow and flourish.
God says that He brings low the high tree and dries up the green tree. Those who put their faith in how much they do for their Lord and Savior raise themselves up and come to the point, perhaps without realizing it, where they don’t need Him. So He brings them down. So many times we hear the Scriptures and when they don’t comport with the reality of our reason or even common sense we try to explain them away, or even dismiss them. God goes to work to dry up this ungodly reason.
The growth He brings is not through our understanding or through how good we are, but through the humble ways of the Gospel. He doesn’t tell us to chuck our minds and reason, but to let His Word stand as the final say. The mustard seed isn’t much, but grows into something beyond what you’d expect. The Gospel, also, doesn’t seem like much, but produces things greater than we could ever imagine.
Do you think about your Baptism much? That’s because you think that not much can really come of it. But if you walk by faith, rather than sight, you will see that the waters of Baptism actually bring new life and life that never ends. This is something you can never understand, but you do know, because the Holy Spirit has given you the faith to know it and believe it. Does it seem that simple bread and wine sitting on this altar isn’t much? Yes. But though you can never understand how Jesus Christ delivers to you His very Body and Blood in and with that bread and wine you know He does.
Faith is not understanding. Faith is not what you do. Faith is not sight. It is not reason, explanation, or anything that can be quantified. It is, simply, faith. It is what trusts solely in the one man who was born of Mary and suffered in the place of the world. The one man who conquered the grave by raising Himself from it. The one man who ascended into heaven and even now brings Himself to you in His Gospel and His Sacraments. Why? So that you may be forgiven. So that you may grow. So that you may be sustained in faith. So that you may know that He is the one who sustains you in your growth.
He doesn’t insist that you understand but invites you to hear. What you hear, then, is not what you understand but is what you know. You are forgiven. You grow in faith. He creates it and causes you to bear fruit. He gives you life in which you will continue to grow and life in which you will live forever. Amen.
SDG
Commemoration of Elisha
June 14, 2009
Mark 4.26-34
Do you know what November 26 of this year is? You might be able to guess. If I tell you that it’s the last Thursday in November you’ll know that it’s Thanksgiving. But how about November 22? It’s a Sunday, and therefore is a specific day in the Church Year. If you don’t know the Church Year well, you probably won’t know that it’s the Last Sunday of the Church Year and will mark the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost. That’s five months from now and twenty-three Sundays from now. The season of Pentecost is a long one compared to the others, which usually last a few weeks. But whereas there’s usually a lot of action in the other seasons because they’re concentrating on the life of Christ, the Pentecost season can seem like it’s going nowhere with each Sunday simply growing in number after the festival Pentecost: the Second Sunday after Pentecost, the Third Sunday after Pentecost, and so on, all the way down to the Twenty-Fifth Sunday after Pentecost on November 22.
But there’s a reason for that. It’s because it is the season of growth. That’s why the color has now turned to green and will stay that way, with the exception of a couple festival days, until we change it for the season of Advent. Green is the color of growth. When there is abundant growth a lush green usually marks that.
But if the season of Pentecost seems like it’s going nowhere slowly so does actual growth itself. A seed planted in the ground doesn’t sprout the next day. For a long time it seems like nothing is happening. But growth is occurring. Early into this Pentecost season it’s good for us to know that this is what this season is all about. It may not seem like much is happening, but in hearing the Gospel week in and week out you are growing.
The Gospel reading today orients us on this path of growing. It does it with two parables, one which we know well, the Parable of the Mustard Seed. Jesus is specific in how this growth takes place. The Old Testament reading and the Epistle also lend assistance to the process by which we grow as Christians.
Simply put, it is by faith. It is not by sight, as the Epistle reading says. It is not by power or strength as the Old Testament reading alludes to with its symbolic language. It is not by understanding as Jesus makes clear in the Gospel reading. It is, simply, by faith.
This doesn’t mean it’s simple. It doesn’t mean, either, that no understanding is involved. It means that the Triune God is the one who brings about the growth. When the seed is sown, it grows. The man who planted the seed didn’t understand how the seed grew into a plant, but it grew. You don’t understand how you grow in faith, but you do. You do because God creates the faith. He causes the growth. The man didn’t understand how the growth was taking place but he knew there was growth.
We don’t usually think about the process of growth. We see the flowers and plants and trees and their beauty. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, that these beautiful things come from tiny seeds? But it doesn’t seem all that remarkable when they’re actually growing. If you look at the place in the ground where the seed was planted you’ll get bored quickly if you’re waiting to see an actual sign of growth. It’s over the long term that you see the results. When you plant the seed, in addition to watering and ensuring sunshine, you have to take it on faith that the seed will grow into a plant and that the plant will keep growing.
How does one grow in the faith? How do you and I grow as Christians? How do we grow in sanctification, more and more living as God would have us live? What does God say? “I bring low the high tree, and make high the low tree, dry up the green tree, and make the dry tree flourish. I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” Most of us aren’t biologists or botanists. If we want a garden we’ll plant the seeds and tend the garden, but we won’t concern ourselves with how in the world those seeds and plants are growing. We simply want to enjoy the fruits of the garden. When it comes to our growth as Christians, God is clear that He is the one who brings it about. He causes the growth and sustains the growth.
If you are dried up spiritually God will cause you to flourish. If you are down in the dumps God will lift you up. This is what God says: “I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it.” If you don’t understand how He does it, well, He doesn’t say anything about you understanding it, does He? He simply says, I will bring it about. I will do it. I am the Lord. He is the one who plants the seed of the Gospel and causes you to grow and flourish.
God says that He brings low the high tree and dries up the green tree. Those who put their faith in how much they do for their Lord and Savior raise themselves up and come to the point, perhaps without realizing it, where they don’t need Him. So He brings them down. So many times we hear the Scriptures and when they don’t comport with the reality of our reason or even common sense we try to explain them away, or even dismiss them. God goes to work to dry up this ungodly reason.
The growth He brings is not through our understanding or through how good we are, but through the humble ways of the Gospel. He doesn’t tell us to chuck our minds and reason, but to let His Word stand as the final say. The mustard seed isn’t much, but grows into something beyond what you’d expect. The Gospel, also, doesn’t seem like much, but produces things greater than we could ever imagine.
Do you think about your Baptism much? That’s because you think that not much can really come of it. But if you walk by faith, rather than sight, you will see that the waters of Baptism actually bring new life and life that never ends. This is something you can never understand, but you do know, because the Holy Spirit has given you the faith to know it and believe it. Does it seem that simple bread and wine sitting on this altar isn’t much? Yes. But though you can never understand how Jesus Christ delivers to you His very Body and Blood in and with that bread and wine you know He does.
Faith is not understanding. Faith is not what you do. Faith is not sight. It is not reason, explanation, or anything that can be quantified. It is, simply, faith. It is what trusts solely in the one man who was born of Mary and suffered in the place of the world. The one man who conquered the grave by raising Himself from it. The one man who ascended into heaven and even now brings Himself to you in His Gospel and His Sacraments. Why? So that you may be forgiven. So that you may grow. So that you may be sustained in faith. So that you may know that He is the one who sustains you in your growth.
He doesn’t insist that you understand but invites you to hear. What you hear, then, is not what you understand but is what you know. You are forgiven. You grow in faith. He creates it and causes you to bear fruit. He gives you life in which you will continue to grow and life in which you will live forever. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Preaching to the Choir (and Everybody Else)
The Holy Trinity
First Sunday after Pentecost
June 7, 2009
John 3.1-17
One thing you’re not supposed to do when you’re preaching is to tell how you came up with the sermon, you just preach it. But you know what’s coming, don’t you? I came up with the idea for this sermon two Sundays ago, about twenty minutes before the worship service. Someone was telling me about a Lutheran church that has decided to skip a day of worship and go out and help people instead.
Another thing you’re not supposed to do is think of an idea for a sermon and then fit it into the Scripture passage you’re using. But as you can see, I felt compelled to address this situation long before I sat down to prepare for this sermon. However, I already knew it would be Trinity Sunday and had a pretty good guess that John 3 would be the Gospel reading, so I did have a pretty good idea already of how it would fit.
Yet a third thing you’re not supposed to do is preach to the choir. Preaching to the choir goes something like this: Murder is wrong. You are committing great evil when you unlawfully take the life of another person. When you preach this way the people of God sitting in the pews rightfully disdain those who would do such a thing. The problem, however, is that most Christians haven’t done this and have no intention of doing it, so they also quietly congratulate themselves for not doing such a horrible thing. Preaching goes to the heart of the matter to the people being preached to. When it comes to murder, all are guilty. Every one of us has harmed others in our actions and our thoughts. The one who murders a doctor who aborts babies is every much of a murderer as the abortion doctor. Likewise, the one who hates or wishes ill upon that abortion doctor has sinned against God’s fifth commandment even as the abortion doctor has. Preaching is for sinners. Preaching to the choir is not really preaching.
So if I stand here and rail against that church that decides to skip out on worship, I’m simply preaching to the choir. You’ll agree with me that they should be in worship as you are, and you’ll be feeling really good about yourself that you’re here.
So what can we say about this? It makes no sense for me to tell you that you should be here, you’re here. But it’s also true that if your living out of your Christian life consists of being here in the House of God but you’re also not out there helping others and sharing the Gospel, then there’s really not much to your Christian life.
Well, if you were to decide that today would be a good day to skip out on church because it’s just as important to help others, what you’d be missing out on is the Festival of the Holy Trinity. Now, would this cause you to lose your salvation? No. Would it make a deep impact, negatively, on your faith? Not necessarily. Is it essential as a Christian to celebrate Trinity Sunday? Certainly not.
But what you would be missing out on is God helping you. Notice I didn’t say you’d miss out on how God wants to help you, but on His actual helping you. And you know what happens when God helps you? You help others out. There is something tragic about pitting worship and serving others against each other.
One of my professors pointed out that Trinity Sunday is the only festival in the Church Year that observes a doctrine, not an event—and, if you’re going to do that, then shouldn’t the doctrine you celebrate be the doctrine of Justification, the chief doctrine of Christianity? But at the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity is justification. The doctrine of the Trinity is not an abstract theological concept—it’s the teaching that God is dynamic, living, eternal, incomprehensible, relational, the one true God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one and the one in three. The One true God, not three parts of one God and not three distinct Gods, but one holy God in three distinct persons.
The festival of the Holy Trinity is not about God, it’s about who God is and what He does for humanity. Some mistakenly believe that we can chuck worship and go out and meet people where they’re at, meet their needs. The Lutheran church I heard about that was doing this was now the second time I’ve heard of this kind of thing. The first was with a non-Lutheran church who had people at a house over on Eldridge St., so that when our members were driving here to church they saw what was going on. And how did they know that that was what was going on? Because they were wearing shirts that said: “Don’t go to church, be the church.”
But I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I? You’re the ones who are here, aren’t you? You’re not skipping church for the good cause of helping people. So why am I preaching to the choir? Because that’s who needs to be preached to. And there’s another group of people that needs to be preached to, and you can see from the title of the sermon who it is: everybody else.
I will not for a minute discount the intentions of those who say, We can’t just go to church, we need to be the Church. Their intentions obviously are good. But the real question is not, Which one do you do? The real question is, How do you do both? The way you do both is by being here. Here is where what happens that needs to happen for you to go out and serve and help others. If you are not served and helped by God, what will you be able to offer others?
When Jesus was preaching to Nicodemus He wasn’t preaching to the choir, He was preaching to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a faithful believer in God. But what did he need? He needed to be born from above. He needed God. He needed Jesus. He needed the Holy Spirit to bring him new life in the waters of Baptism.
God the Father loved the world in this way: He gave His only-begotten Son to die on the cross for the sin of the world so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. This is who God is. This is how He works. He gives Himself. He serves. He forgives. He gives new life. He does this because we need it. Not just those people out there. Us. You and me. We need it. We may be the choir but it’s the choir that needs to be preached to.
And yes, there’s everybody else. All those people out there. They need it to. So, yes, we do need to get out there and help, and serve, and bring the Gospel to everybody out there. Not instead of, but because we have been served by our Lord. Because He has washed us with the waters of renewal and regeneration. Because He has fed us with the very Body and Blood of Christ in His Holy Supper. Without these, we have no forgiveness, and therefore, nothing to bring people.
Oh, we could help them. But don’t we want to give them what they really need? We want to give them Christ, just as our Heavenly Father gave Him to us. The helping people in their physical needs is a wonderful way to be in their lives, to manifest the love of Christ in a way that they can tangibly experience. This is not just a way to bait them and then start preaching to them as if that’s really all you wanted to give them. Helping others is a natural outgrowth of the eternal help that God gives to us. Why would we not help those who are in need? And in the same way, why would we not share with them the Good News that God loves them in this way, He gives them His only-begotten Son so that they may have eternal life.
Nicodemus was having a hard time letting God do His work in him. How can a man be born when he is already old? We, too, need to let God do His work in us. We need to be in the place where He works in us new life through the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. The new life He accomplishes in us produces in us the desire to serve others. We who have born again need to be sustained in the grace and mercy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the hearing of the Gospel and partaking of the Lord’s Supper. God loves us in this way and by His grace we love others in Him. Amen.
SDG
First Sunday after Pentecost
June 7, 2009
John 3.1-17
One thing you’re not supposed to do when you’re preaching is to tell how you came up with the sermon, you just preach it. But you know what’s coming, don’t you? I came up with the idea for this sermon two Sundays ago, about twenty minutes before the worship service. Someone was telling me about a Lutheran church that has decided to skip a day of worship and go out and help people instead.
Another thing you’re not supposed to do is think of an idea for a sermon and then fit it into the Scripture passage you’re using. But as you can see, I felt compelled to address this situation long before I sat down to prepare for this sermon. However, I already knew it would be Trinity Sunday and had a pretty good guess that John 3 would be the Gospel reading, so I did have a pretty good idea already of how it would fit.
Yet a third thing you’re not supposed to do is preach to the choir. Preaching to the choir goes something like this: Murder is wrong. You are committing great evil when you unlawfully take the life of another person. When you preach this way the people of God sitting in the pews rightfully disdain those who would do such a thing. The problem, however, is that most Christians haven’t done this and have no intention of doing it, so they also quietly congratulate themselves for not doing such a horrible thing. Preaching goes to the heart of the matter to the people being preached to. When it comes to murder, all are guilty. Every one of us has harmed others in our actions and our thoughts. The one who murders a doctor who aborts babies is every much of a murderer as the abortion doctor. Likewise, the one who hates or wishes ill upon that abortion doctor has sinned against God’s fifth commandment even as the abortion doctor has. Preaching is for sinners. Preaching to the choir is not really preaching.
So if I stand here and rail against that church that decides to skip out on worship, I’m simply preaching to the choir. You’ll agree with me that they should be in worship as you are, and you’ll be feeling really good about yourself that you’re here.
So what can we say about this? It makes no sense for me to tell you that you should be here, you’re here. But it’s also true that if your living out of your Christian life consists of being here in the House of God but you’re also not out there helping others and sharing the Gospel, then there’s really not much to your Christian life.
Well, if you were to decide that today would be a good day to skip out on church because it’s just as important to help others, what you’d be missing out on is the Festival of the Holy Trinity. Now, would this cause you to lose your salvation? No. Would it make a deep impact, negatively, on your faith? Not necessarily. Is it essential as a Christian to celebrate Trinity Sunday? Certainly not.
But what you would be missing out on is God helping you. Notice I didn’t say you’d miss out on how God wants to help you, but on His actual helping you. And you know what happens when God helps you? You help others out. There is something tragic about pitting worship and serving others against each other.
One of my professors pointed out that Trinity Sunday is the only festival in the Church Year that observes a doctrine, not an event—and, if you’re going to do that, then shouldn’t the doctrine you celebrate be the doctrine of Justification, the chief doctrine of Christianity? But at the heart of the doctrine of the Trinity is justification. The doctrine of the Trinity is not an abstract theological concept—it’s the teaching that God is dynamic, living, eternal, incomprehensible, relational, the one true God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, three in one and the one in three. The One true God, not three parts of one God and not three distinct Gods, but one holy God in three distinct persons.
The festival of the Holy Trinity is not about God, it’s about who God is and what He does for humanity. Some mistakenly believe that we can chuck worship and go out and meet people where they’re at, meet their needs. The Lutheran church I heard about that was doing this was now the second time I’ve heard of this kind of thing. The first was with a non-Lutheran church who had people at a house over on Eldridge St., so that when our members were driving here to church they saw what was going on. And how did they know that that was what was going on? Because they were wearing shirts that said: “Don’t go to church, be the church.”
But I’m preaching to the choir, aren’t I? You’re the ones who are here, aren’t you? You’re not skipping church for the good cause of helping people. So why am I preaching to the choir? Because that’s who needs to be preached to. And there’s another group of people that needs to be preached to, and you can see from the title of the sermon who it is: everybody else.
I will not for a minute discount the intentions of those who say, We can’t just go to church, we need to be the Church. Their intentions obviously are good. But the real question is not, Which one do you do? The real question is, How do you do both? The way you do both is by being here. Here is where what happens that needs to happen for you to go out and serve and help others. If you are not served and helped by God, what will you be able to offer others?
When Jesus was preaching to Nicodemus He wasn’t preaching to the choir, He was preaching to Nicodemus. Nicodemus was a faithful believer in God. But what did he need? He needed to be born from above. He needed God. He needed Jesus. He needed the Holy Spirit to bring him new life in the waters of Baptism.
God the Father loved the world in this way: He gave His only-begotten Son to die on the cross for the sin of the world so that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. This is who God is. This is how He works. He gives Himself. He serves. He forgives. He gives new life. He does this because we need it. Not just those people out there. Us. You and me. We need it. We may be the choir but it’s the choir that needs to be preached to.
And yes, there’s everybody else. All those people out there. They need it to. So, yes, we do need to get out there and help, and serve, and bring the Gospel to everybody out there. Not instead of, but because we have been served by our Lord. Because He has washed us with the waters of renewal and regeneration. Because He has fed us with the very Body and Blood of Christ in His Holy Supper. Without these, we have no forgiveness, and therefore, nothing to bring people.
Oh, we could help them. But don’t we want to give them what they really need? We want to give them Christ, just as our Heavenly Father gave Him to us. The helping people in their physical needs is a wonderful way to be in their lives, to manifest the love of Christ in a way that they can tangibly experience. This is not just a way to bait them and then start preaching to them as if that’s really all you wanted to give them. Helping others is a natural outgrowth of the eternal help that God gives to us. Why would we not help those who are in need? And in the same way, why would we not share with them the Good News that God loves them in this way, He gives them His only-begotten Son so that they may have eternal life.
Nicodemus was having a hard time letting God do His work in him. How can a man be born when he is already old? We, too, need to let God do His work in us. We need to be in the place where He works in us new life through the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. The new life He accomplishes in us produces in us the desire to serve others. We who have born again need to be sustained in the grace and mercy of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through the hearing of the Gospel and partaking of the Lord’s Supper. God loves us in this way and by His grace we love others in Him. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, May 31, 2009
When the World Comes to You
Early on, the people got together and said, We can do anything. We don’t need God. We’ll build a tower and reach the heavens.
But God knew that their attempt to reach the heavens would only land them in hell. He wiped out their plans. He then scattered them. The way He did this was by causing them to speak different languages.
Is it any wonder we have trouble communicating? The world is full of people who speak different languages, have different cultural customs, different needs. Oh, and that little thing about being sinful.
Nothing has really changed since the Tower of Babel. There will always be miscommunication with our sinful minds and hearts at work. The only difference is that now we’re all over the place.
It’s interesting how the Pentecost account begins—they were all together in one place. (Acts 2.1) Kind of like back with the Tower of Babel. But this time they weren’t trying to reach up to heaven, God was coming down to them. The Holy Spirit descended upon them in a display of power that shook them up a bit (read the account in Acts 2).
What happened then was the apostles began speaking in many different languages. That’s because the world had come to them. People from all over the world were there and were now hearing the Gospel proclaimed to them in their own languages.
Whereas God had used at the Tower of Babel the creation of different languages to confuse them, He now was using different languages to bring different people to Him.
We’re in a similar situation in the world today. In America we don’t have to go to far off countries to bring the Gospel to people of other languages and cultures—people from all over the world are coming here. Even in your own home you have the world at your fingertips with access to the internet.
We of course continue to send missionaries all over the world, but the world has in a real sense come to us. What we continue to communicate to the world is what the Christian Church has always communicated to the world: the Gospel. It began in a bunch of different languages at Pentecost in Jerusalem and continues in far-flung countries around the world, in our own country, and even in our homes, where we can interact with people from all over the world.
At Pentecost Peter’s proclamation was of Christ crucified for the world. That continues to be our proclamation today to a world that is increasingly diverse but at our own doorstep.
But God knew that their attempt to reach the heavens would only land them in hell. He wiped out their plans. He then scattered them. The way He did this was by causing them to speak different languages.
Is it any wonder we have trouble communicating? The world is full of people who speak different languages, have different cultural customs, different needs. Oh, and that little thing about being sinful.
Nothing has really changed since the Tower of Babel. There will always be miscommunication with our sinful minds and hearts at work. The only difference is that now we’re all over the place.
It’s interesting how the Pentecost account begins—they were all together in one place. (Acts 2.1) Kind of like back with the Tower of Babel. But this time they weren’t trying to reach up to heaven, God was coming down to them. The Holy Spirit descended upon them in a display of power that shook them up a bit (read the account in Acts 2).
What happened then was the apostles began speaking in many different languages. That’s because the world had come to them. People from all over the world were there and were now hearing the Gospel proclaimed to them in their own languages.
Whereas God had used at the Tower of Babel the creation of different languages to confuse them, He now was using different languages to bring different people to Him.
We’re in a similar situation in the world today. In America we don’t have to go to far off countries to bring the Gospel to people of other languages and cultures—people from all over the world are coming here. Even in your own home you have the world at your fingertips with access to the internet.
We of course continue to send missionaries all over the world, but the world has in a real sense come to us. What we continue to communicate to the world is what the Christian Church has always communicated to the world: the Gospel. It began in a bunch of different languages at Pentecost in Jerusalem and continues in far-flung countries around the world, in our own country, and even in our homes, where we can interact with people from all over the world.
At Pentecost Peter’s proclamation was of Christ crucified for the world. That continues to be our proclamation today to a world that is increasingly diverse but at our own doorstep.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Lord, Teach Us to Pray
Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 24, 2009
John 17.11-19
John the Baptist was a faithful teacher. He taught his disciples the Word of God. He preached the Gospel to them. He guided them spiritually, fed them spiritually. He taught them to pray. His disciples were fed by the Word of God because John carried out his calling to feed his followers with the Word of God.
Jesus taught His own disciples. On one occasion His disciples asked Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. Jesus’ answer was the Lord’s Prayer. This is how you should pray. We learn how to pray from the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we not only pray, we learn how to pray. Jesus is our teacher.
You can well imagine that John the Baptist spent time in prayer for his disciples. He was their teacher, their spiritual shepherd. Spiritual shepherds not only teach their flock, they pray for them.
This is what Jesus did also. Today’s Gospel reading gives us one of Jesus’ prayers for His disciples. He not only taught them to pray, He prayed for them. But in praying for them, He didn’t simply pray for them, He also taught them to pray. We learn from Jesus to pray. We don’t just tell God stuff and then call it prayer. We pray in the way Jesus has taught us to pray.
Jesus has given us His prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus Himself prays to His Heavenly Father. His praying isn’t any different. What He has given us to pray for is what He Himself prays for. Jesus said, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’” In the same way, He prays to His holy Father. And whereas He teaches us to hallow His name He prays that His Heavenly Father would keep His disciples in His name. His teaching us to pray that our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom come is coupled with His own prayer that His disciples may be one even as He and His Heavenly Father are one.
All of that sounds wonderful and exactly the kinds of things we’d like to be praying for. It’s when He begins teaching us to pray according to the Heavenly Father’s will that we become uncomfortable with prayer. We pray it all the time in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done. In Jesus’ prayer He Himself prays that His Heavenly Father’s will be done. What is this will? He prays: “Now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” We can live with this will of our Heavenly Father, but Jesus goes on: “I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
This is usually where our prayers break down. It’s that constant struggle between our will and God’s will. Our will often is to be removed from trouble—our Lord’s will is that we stay right in the midst of it. He has no illusions about this. He doesn’t tell us that just because we’re Christians smooth sailing will come our way, that everyone’s going to love us. There will be trials and there will be those who hate us. His will is not to remove us from this but to keep us in it. Why is this? We know His will for us is good, so why is it so difficult to swallow?
Because His will is the way of the cross, not the way of glory. Adam and Eve had grace and they threw it away for the sake of perceived glory. We, too, have grace but often seek the way of glory. How? By wishing that God’s will would conform to ours. By seeking His care for us as removing us from difficulty rather than by preserving us in the midst of difficulty. His will is the way of the cross because it’s the only way we will see our need for His eternal care. The way of glory—in other words, our way—would only cement us in our belief that we’re better off without God.
So we constantly need to learn to pray. And not only this, but Jesus Himself is constantly praying for us. His prayer here for His disciples is shortly before His departure, which He alone fully understood. It was His own cross. Bearing the cross for the sin of the world. He would be departing from the disciples because He alone could go to the cross for them and the world. But He would also depart after it. He would rise from the grave and then He would ascend into heaven.
All of this He knew, but they didn’t, really. They knew the Scriptures and Jesus had been teaching them, but they didn’t really understand what the way of the cross was all about. Their prayer was that He would remain with them, that everything would continue on as it was going. But He had come for this purpose, to go to the cross. Those who serve in the Armed Forces are prepared for the real possibility of laying down their lives for their country. But you can’t fully understand what that amounts to until you actually experience it. For the many of us who haven’t served our country in this way and who will never know what it is like to lose a brother in arms, we are grateful for their sacrifice and honor them on Memorial Day. Those who serve know that there may come a day where Memorial Day will be observed to include them. But that doesn’t stop them from serving. They are willing to lay down their lives in service to our country.
In a similar way, Jesus prayed on another occasion. Shortly after His prayer for His disciples which we have in our Gospel reading, Jesus found Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying again to His Heavenly Father. His prayer is well known due to the intensity of it. It might seem that this was a last ditch effort to get out of this whole dying thing. But His words tell differently. He wasn’t praying, Father, please get Me out of this. He was saying, rather, If there is another way, let it be so. His prayer was consistent with what He taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer and in what He prayed regarding His disciples in our Gospel reading: Thy will be done. Jesus wanted what His Heavenly Father wanted.
Our prayer is often, God, get me out of this. Our Lord teaches us to pray the opposite: If there is another way, let it be so, but Thy will be done. The God who went to the cross will bring you through yours. The God who endured the cross will strengthen you to bear yours. Through it all we have prayer. Not just our own prayer, but Jesus praying for us. We have His words in the Scriptures, not just of Him teaching us to pray, but of Him praying for us.
In the book The Hammer of God an elderly man is on his deathbed. He was a faithful, godly Christian throughout his life but as his daughter watches him dying he is in great distress and not in his right mind. Episodes from his youth are coming to his thoughts and he is spewing forth profanity and other inappropriate things. His daughter is horrified and thinks that if he dies in this state he will go to hell. In a moment where he is lucid she pleads with him to think of Jesus. He is weary and responds to her that he cannot. But, he says, “I know He is thinking of me.”
This is the basis of our prayers. The Scripture even says that we do not know how to pray as we ought. But we have an intercessor. One who prays on our behalf. One who has interceded on our behalf for our sins and the sins of the world. One who sends the Holy Spirit to express groans that words cannot express. One who constantly brings us back to that eternal Word, the Word made flesh, who suffered, died, and rose so that we may be in the eternal care of our Heavenly Father, including the trials we experience now. Our Lord ascended on high and yet continues to come to us in His Holy Supper.
Have you ever noticed what is said in the liturgy right before the Words of Institution are spoken? The Lord’s Prayer. We pray the Lord’s Prayer right before we hear our Lord’s Words. We pray His will be done and then we are recipients of His will, receiving His very and Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. We are not removed from the world, we’re not taken out of it. We’re sent into it so that the joy we have in Christ may overflow to others as well. Lord, teach us to pray that this will becomes our own. Amen.
SDG
May 24, 2009
John 17.11-19
John the Baptist was a faithful teacher. He taught his disciples the Word of God. He preached the Gospel to them. He guided them spiritually, fed them spiritually. He taught them to pray. His disciples were fed by the Word of God because John carried out his calling to feed his followers with the Word of God.
Jesus taught His own disciples. On one occasion His disciples asked Him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples. Jesus’ answer was the Lord’s Prayer. This is how you should pray. We learn how to pray from the Lord’s Prayer. When we pray the Lord’s Prayer, we not only pray, we learn how to pray. Jesus is our teacher.
You can well imagine that John the Baptist spent time in prayer for his disciples. He was their teacher, their spiritual shepherd. Spiritual shepherds not only teach their flock, they pray for them.
This is what Jesus did also. Today’s Gospel reading gives us one of Jesus’ prayers for His disciples. He not only taught them to pray, He prayed for them. But in praying for them, He didn’t simply pray for them, He also taught them to pray. We learn from Jesus to pray. We don’t just tell God stuff and then call it prayer. We pray in the way Jesus has taught us to pray.
Jesus has given us His prayer, which we call the Lord’s Prayer. Jesus Himself prays to His Heavenly Father. His praying isn’t any different. What He has given us to pray for is what He Himself prays for. Jesus said, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’” In the same way, He prays to His holy Father. And whereas He teaches us to hallow His name He prays that His Heavenly Father would keep His disciples in His name. His teaching us to pray that our Heavenly Father’s Kingdom come is coupled with His own prayer that His disciples may be one even as He and His Heavenly Father are one.
All of that sounds wonderful and exactly the kinds of things we’d like to be praying for. It’s when He begins teaching us to pray according to the Heavenly Father’s will that we become uncomfortable with prayer. We pray it all the time in the Lord’s Prayer: Thy will be done. In Jesus’ prayer He Himself prays that His Heavenly Father’s will be done. What is this will? He prays: “Now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves.” We can live with this will of our Heavenly Father, but Jesus goes on: “I have given them Your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that You take them out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”
This is usually where our prayers break down. It’s that constant struggle between our will and God’s will. Our will often is to be removed from trouble—our Lord’s will is that we stay right in the midst of it. He has no illusions about this. He doesn’t tell us that just because we’re Christians smooth sailing will come our way, that everyone’s going to love us. There will be trials and there will be those who hate us. His will is not to remove us from this but to keep us in it. Why is this? We know His will for us is good, so why is it so difficult to swallow?
Because His will is the way of the cross, not the way of glory. Adam and Eve had grace and they threw it away for the sake of perceived glory. We, too, have grace but often seek the way of glory. How? By wishing that God’s will would conform to ours. By seeking His care for us as removing us from difficulty rather than by preserving us in the midst of difficulty. His will is the way of the cross because it’s the only way we will see our need for His eternal care. The way of glory—in other words, our way—would only cement us in our belief that we’re better off without God.
So we constantly need to learn to pray. And not only this, but Jesus Himself is constantly praying for us. His prayer here for His disciples is shortly before His departure, which He alone fully understood. It was His own cross. Bearing the cross for the sin of the world. He would be departing from the disciples because He alone could go to the cross for them and the world. But He would also depart after it. He would rise from the grave and then He would ascend into heaven.
All of this He knew, but they didn’t, really. They knew the Scriptures and Jesus had been teaching them, but they didn’t really understand what the way of the cross was all about. Their prayer was that He would remain with them, that everything would continue on as it was going. But He had come for this purpose, to go to the cross. Those who serve in the Armed Forces are prepared for the real possibility of laying down their lives for their country. But you can’t fully understand what that amounts to until you actually experience it. For the many of us who haven’t served our country in this way and who will never know what it is like to lose a brother in arms, we are grateful for their sacrifice and honor them on Memorial Day. Those who serve know that there may come a day where Memorial Day will be observed to include them. But that doesn’t stop them from serving. They are willing to lay down their lives in service to our country.
In a similar way, Jesus prayed on another occasion. Shortly after His prayer for His disciples which we have in our Gospel reading, Jesus found Himself in the Garden of Gethsemane, praying again to His Heavenly Father. His prayer is well known due to the intensity of it. It might seem that this was a last ditch effort to get out of this whole dying thing. But His words tell differently. He wasn’t praying, Father, please get Me out of this. He was saying, rather, If there is another way, let it be so. His prayer was consistent with what He taught us to pray in the Lord’s Prayer and in what He prayed regarding His disciples in our Gospel reading: Thy will be done. Jesus wanted what His Heavenly Father wanted.
Our prayer is often, God, get me out of this. Our Lord teaches us to pray the opposite: If there is another way, let it be so, but Thy will be done. The God who went to the cross will bring you through yours. The God who endured the cross will strengthen you to bear yours. Through it all we have prayer. Not just our own prayer, but Jesus praying for us. We have His words in the Scriptures, not just of Him teaching us to pray, but of Him praying for us.
In the book The Hammer of God an elderly man is on his deathbed. He was a faithful, godly Christian throughout his life but as his daughter watches him dying he is in great distress and not in his right mind. Episodes from his youth are coming to his thoughts and he is spewing forth profanity and other inappropriate things. His daughter is horrified and thinks that if he dies in this state he will go to hell. In a moment where he is lucid she pleads with him to think of Jesus. He is weary and responds to her that he cannot. But, he says, “I know He is thinking of me.”
This is the basis of our prayers. The Scripture even says that we do not know how to pray as we ought. But we have an intercessor. One who prays on our behalf. One who has interceded on our behalf for our sins and the sins of the world. One who sends the Holy Spirit to express groans that words cannot express. One who constantly brings us back to that eternal Word, the Word made flesh, who suffered, died, and rose so that we may be in the eternal care of our Heavenly Father, including the trials we experience now. Our Lord ascended on high and yet continues to come to us in His Holy Supper.
Have you ever noticed what is said in the liturgy right before the Words of Institution are spoken? The Lord’s Prayer. We pray the Lord’s Prayer right before we hear our Lord’s Words. We pray His will be done and then we are recipients of His will, receiving His very and Body and Blood for the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith. We are not removed from the world, we’re not taken out of it. We’re sent into it so that the joy we have in Christ may overflow to others as well. Lord, teach us to pray that this will becomes our own. Amen.
SDG
Sunday, May 17, 2009
The Onslaught Against the Gospel
Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 17, 2009
John 15.9-17
You may not have noticed it. There comes a certain point where people don’t notice what is commonplace. So you may not have noticed that there’s an onslaught against the Gospel. Further, you may not have noticed it because you’re a part of it.
Now, you may be thinking I don’t know what I’m talking about. That I’ve got a lot of nerve. You love the Gospel! You’re not against it, you’re for it! Who am I to tell you that you’re against the Gospel? I am one who is part of this onslaught against the Gospel as well.
Don’t we latch on to the words of Christ of what we must do? Don’t we tend to take for granted the parts He has done for us? Don’t our ears hear the parts that command us as what must come first before He will bless us? This is the onslaught against the Gospel.
We can’t help it. We are by nature stuck on ourselves. We say we love the Gospel, but what we really love is some sort of command of Jesus of what we have to do to content ourselves with. Our sinful nature is so corrupt that we twist this into thinking that that’s the main thing, that we should not only want to do what Jesus has commanded but also focus on it. We feel better when we have a certain amount of control to being in God’s favor.
Why are we in an onslaught against the Gospel? Because by nature we are turned in on ourselves. The Gospel comes from outside of ourselves. Jesus brings this out in the Gospel reading. His words are dripping with Gospel. But it doesn’t seem that way to us because there are those words in there where He points out to us what we must do. These are the ones that really seem to jump out at us.
You hear this all the time in Christianity. You must obey God’s Law. You must believe and have more faith. The people who say these things are the ones who latch on to these phrases in the Gospel reading: “Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.” “This is My commandment, that you love one another.” “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” “You should go and bear fruit.” “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Many Christians hear these things and the case is closed. They hear Jesus saying what we must do and then they set out to do it. And they set out to exhort other Christians to do them as well. And they lay a guilt trip on those who say we can’t do anything to gain God’s favor, that we’re saved by grace. And don’t we ourselves feel pangs of guilt that we’re not doing enough for God?
This is the assault of Satan and the world and our own sinful flesh on the Gospel. It is an onslaught, because until the day we die we’re going to gravitate toward those things that say to us what we must do rather than those things that tell us who Christ is and what He has done and what He continues to do for us.
What is more relevant to you in your eyes: being exhorted to live in a godly way in the coming week or being exhorted to come to this altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in His Holy Supper? Are you looking for some way to get a handle on how you can bear the fruit Jesus calls you to bear or are you realizing that you have nothing to offer God but your sin and need the forgiveness of your sin He delivers to you in and with His Body and Blood in His Supper? Do you think that what is done here in worship is all well and good but where the real work of being a Christian is done is in living out the Christian life during the week, the bearing of fruit Jesus was talking about, the keeping of His commandments He was referring to? It seems subtle, but this kind of Christianity is nothing else than an onslaught against the Gospel.
Now the words of Jesus are plain. No one can deny them. Jesus is clear as to what He is saying. The problem is that we are taking them on their own and ripping them out of the context in which Jesus is giving them to us. We do this because we want the starting place to be ourselves. That’s why and how we go against the Gospel. We convince ourselves that we know we’re saved by grace, but that faith without works is dead, so we still have to do something. We can’t just sit around and bask in grace.
But that isn’t the way God works. And it isn’t the way He speaks. We just think He does because we impose our own sinful flavor on His words. This is all part of our relentless onslaught against the Gospel. We want to take the good things of God and turn them into the things by which we can feel good about ourselves.
So do we obey? Yes. Do we bear fruit? Yes. But is that what Jesus is really getting at? Isn’t He getting at how these things are accomplished? And it’s in the words themselves that they’re accomplished. It is by His very speaking them to us that bring them about. You see, God has this little onslaught of His own going on, and it’s an eternal assault against the devil. The devil’s voice is the voice we like to hear because his voice tells us to latch on to those things that tell us what we are supposed to do. But God has given us His Holy Word to tell us about what He has done.
The eternal Word of God breaks through the void and brings into existence the universe. The eternal Word of God creates life, living breathing beings who are fashioned in His image and who enjoy the eternal fruits of His blessings. It’s when His creation seeks what they have been told not to do that all hell breaks loose. Why is this? Because they want to do something. They want to be able to control their destiny. They’re not content with just basking in the glory and grace of God. They see the green grass on the other side and think God is holding out on them. They had everything but it wasn’t enough for them to enjoy the eternal blessings God poured out upon them.
But God is all about grace. He is all about mercy. He is all about love. He didn’t let them go their own way but reached out to them. His work of creation has turned into His creating work of redemption. All our attempts to gain favor with God are attempts in the same vein as Adam and Eve’s attempts at going against the pure grace of God. Had Adam and Eve done anything in the Garden of Eden to gain God’s favor? No, they simply enjoyed all His blessings. That’s what He loves to do and that is why He has called us to eternal salvation. Everything we do flows from that.
All His commands and exhortations are in light of the fact that He has created us, that He has redeemed us, that He sustains us. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.” Love is never about what you must do for another, otherwise it isn’t love. Love is pure unconditional grace given to another, because the one who is loving wants to, not because an obligation has been fulfilled. We are able to keep His commandments because He gives us Himself, the one who alone is able to keep them in the only way they can be kept—perfectly. He speaks His Word of cleansing to us so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be full. We who consistently attack the Gospel with our notions of attempting to turn His Word into a morality lesson are the recipients not of rules and commands but of Him laying down His life for us. He calls us His friends. We did not choose Him, He chose us.
All this He has done so that we may live in the way God created it and planned it: to enjoy His eternal blessings and bear the fruit that naturally comes from being connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ. Amen.
SDG
May 17, 2009
John 15.9-17
You may not have noticed it. There comes a certain point where people don’t notice what is commonplace. So you may not have noticed that there’s an onslaught against the Gospel. Further, you may not have noticed it because you’re a part of it.
Now, you may be thinking I don’t know what I’m talking about. That I’ve got a lot of nerve. You love the Gospel! You’re not against it, you’re for it! Who am I to tell you that you’re against the Gospel? I am one who is part of this onslaught against the Gospel as well.
Don’t we latch on to the words of Christ of what we must do? Don’t we tend to take for granted the parts He has done for us? Don’t our ears hear the parts that command us as what must come first before He will bless us? This is the onslaught against the Gospel.
We can’t help it. We are by nature stuck on ourselves. We say we love the Gospel, but what we really love is some sort of command of Jesus of what we have to do to content ourselves with. Our sinful nature is so corrupt that we twist this into thinking that that’s the main thing, that we should not only want to do what Jesus has commanded but also focus on it. We feel better when we have a certain amount of control to being in God’s favor.
Why are we in an onslaught against the Gospel? Because by nature we are turned in on ourselves. The Gospel comes from outside of ourselves. Jesus brings this out in the Gospel reading. His words are dripping with Gospel. But it doesn’t seem that way to us because there are those words in there where He points out to us what we must do. These are the ones that really seem to jump out at us.
You hear this all the time in Christianity. You must obey God’s Law. You must believe and have more faith. The people who say these things are the ones who latch on to these phrases in the Gospel reading: “Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.” “This is My commandment, that you love one another.” “You are My friends if you do what I command you.” “You should go and bear fruit.” “These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Many Christians hear these things and the case is closed. They hear Jesus saying what we must do and then they set out to do it. And they set out to exhort other Christians to do them as well. And they lay a guilt trip on those who say we can’t do anything to gain God’s favor, that we’re saved by grace. And don’t we ourselves feel pangs of guilt that we’re not doing enough for God?
This is the assault of Satan and the world and our own sinful flesh on the Gospel. It is an onslaught, because until the day we die we’re going to gravitate toward those things that say to us what we must do rather than those things that tell us who Christ is and what He has done and what He continues to do for us.
What is more relevant to you in your eyes: being exhorted to live in a godly way in the coming week or being exhorted to come to this altar to receive the Body and Blood of Christ in His Holy Supper? Are you looking for some way to get a handle on how you can bear the fruit Jesus calls you to bear or are you realizing that you have nothing to offer God but your sin and need the forgiveness of your sin He delivers to you in and with His Body and Blood in His Supper? Do you think that what is done here in worship is all well and good but where the real work of being a Christian is done is in living out the Christian life during the week, the bearing of fruit Jesus was talking about, the keeping of His commandments He was referring to? It seems subtle, but this kind of Christianity is nothing else than an onslaught against the Gospel.
Now the words of Jesus are plain. No one can deny them. Jesus is clear as to what He is saying. The problem is that we are taking them on their own and ripping them out of the context in which Jesus is giving them to us. We do this because we want the starting place to be ourselves. That’s why and how we go against the Gospel. We convince ourselves that we know we’re saved by grace, but that faith without works is dead, so we still have to do something. We can’t just sit around and bask in grace.
But that isn’t the way God works. And it isn’t the way He speaks. We just think He does because we impose our own sinful flavor on His words. This is all part of our relentless onslaught against the Gospel. We want to take the good things of God and turn them into the things by which we can feel good about ourselves.
So do we obey? Yes. Do we bear fruit? Yes. But is that what Jesus is really getting at? Isn’t He getting at how these things are accomplished? And it’s in the words themselves that they’re accomplished. It is by His very speaking them to us that bring them about. You see, God has this little onslaught of His own going on, and it’s an eternal assault against the devil. The devil’s voice is the voice we like to hear because his voice tells us to latch on to those things that tell us what we are supposed to do. But God has given us His Holy Word to tell us about what He has done.
The eternal Word of God breaks through the void and brings into existence the universe. The eternal Word of God creates life, living breathing beings who are fashioned in His image and who enjoy the eternal fruits of His blessings. It’s when His creation seeks what they have been told not to do that all hell breaks loose. Why is this? Because they want to do something. They want to be able to control their destiny. They’re not content with just basking in the glory and grace of God. They see the green grass on the other side and think God is holding out on them. They had everything but it wasn’t enough for them to enjoy the eternal blessings God poured out upon them.
But God is all about grace. He is all about mercy. He is all about love. He didn’t let them go their own way but reached out to them. His work of creation has turned into His creating work of redemption. All our attempts to gain favor with God are attempts in the same vein as Adam and Eve’s attempts at going against the pure grace of God. Had Adam and Eve done anything in the Garden of Eden to gain God’s favor? No, they simply enjoyed all His blessings. That’s what He loves to do and that is why He has called us to eternal salvation. Everything we do flows from that.
All His commands and exhortations are in light of the fact that He has created us, that He has redeemed us, that He sustains us. “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you.” Love is never about what you must do for another, otherwise it isn’t love. Love is pure unconditional grace given to another, because the one who is loving wants to, not because an obligation has been fulfilled. We are able to keep His commandments because He gives us Himself, the one who alone is able to keep them in the only way they can be kept—perfectly. He speaks His Word of cleansing to us so that His joy may be in us and that our joy may be full. We who consistently attack the Gospel with our notions of attempting to turn His Word into a morality lesson are the recipients not of rules and commands but of Him laying down His life for us. He calls us His friends. We did not choose Him, He chose us.
All this He has done so that we may live in the way God created it and planned it: to enjoy His eternal blessings and bear the fruit that naturally comes from being connected to the Vine, Jesus Christ. Amen.
SDG
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