God Gets Low

Christmas Day

December 25, 2012

God Gets Low

John 1:14

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

How does God dwell among us? We have bundled up Jesus so tightly in His super cute swaddling clothes that we are tempted to see God as cuddly and treat Him like a tame house pet.

Next year we will read and discuss the Chronicles of Narnia and one of the common themes of all the books is that God is not a tame animal. He is wild. His ways are His own and beyond us. But many of the characters in the books try to treat God like a tame animal. These attempts to “pet” God don't end well.

Unbelievers invite this tamed and counterfeit God into their homes during the holidays. This tame god is a harmless and jolly old man who gives you stuff. And their celebration of Christmas is entirely consistent with a harmless and tamed God—they care only about sentiment and food and things. A small and packaged God can only give you small and packaged things that will not last.

But even believers are tempted to treat God like a tamed house pet. Moses treated God as though He was a tame God. Only God's mercy kept Moses from being destroyed. After a request from Moses to see God in all His wild beauty and fullness, God protected Moses and told him,

“You cannot see My face, for no one may see Me and live… There is a place near Me where you may stand on a rock. When My glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with My hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove My hand and you will see My back; but My face must not be seen.” (Exodus 33)

God could not dwell with Moses, unless He took special precautions. A crude comparison would be a solar eclipse. Normally staring at the sun is going to destroy your eyes. But if the moon covers the sun and you are cover your eyes with special protective dark glasses, you can catch a glimpse of the sun's glory. Again, just a crude comparison, because the sun is a dim flickering Christmas light next to its Creator, who made it and every single other sun in the universe. If we can't even look at one of His trillions of stars in the sky, then how can we ever get close to Him?

The answer is that God dwells among us by getting low. By becoming one of us. By hiding His beauty and power and greatness in the lowly body of a man. Our wild God who created the universe by His Word sent that same Word into this ugly world and allowed His beauty to be wrapped up in human skin and bones, blood and flesh. The God who created all the galaxies in an instant allowed Himself to grow in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary for 40 weeks. He knit Himself together in His mother's womb and then for 30 year hid His dangerous wildness and power in lowly human flesh so that He might be near us. And in the end that flesh once held in the arms of His mother would be flogged and beaten and nailed to a cross where Christ was forsaken by all, even His holy Father, and then laid in a tomb. And then He got up.

How does God dwell among us? By getting low with His conception and at His birth, and then sinking to the lowest depths anyone can go. This is what our untamed God has done. And He did for you.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Bethlehem: Holy City

Christmas Eve

December 24, 2012

Bethlehem: Holy City of the Savior

Luke 2

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Rachel, the beloved wife of Jacob and ancestor of Jesus, is buried in this town. And thus ended a marriage that marked the beginning of the 12 Tribes of Israel.

And then in that same place, another marriage began. From a great distance Ruth traveled to this little village with her mother-in-law Naomi, and by Christ's mercy, she found her future husband Boaz. He was a native of this town and after he had married Ruth, they had a son named Obed. Obed grew up there and he got married and had a son named Jesse. Jesse grew up there and got married and he had a son named David.

The prophet Samuel traveled to this city and found King David living there, just as the Magi would travel to find the King there many years later.

This place had an ancient bloodline. This place whose name is literally “House of Bread” was chosen as the birthplace of the Bread of Life, Jesus Christ. This place is Bethlehem.

The Holy Gospel of St. Luke, chapter 2.

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a Child. While they were there, the time came for the Baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped Him in cloths and placed Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Gospel of the Lord.

A Messenger Before The Messenger

Second Sunday in Advent

December 9, 2012

A Messenger Before The Messenger

Malachi 3:1

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Jesus had a relative named John. They came from different backgrounds. John's family was a family with status; his dad Zechariah was a priest, who served at the Temple in Jerusalem. Jesus' family was not well off; Jesus' guardian Joseph was a carpenter. Jesus grew up around the villages of rustic Galilee up north; John grew up around the capital city of Jerusalem in the south.

They had different backgrounds, but their ministries both ended in worldly failure and death. And they both were messengers with the same message. John was a messenger for Jesus; Jesus was a messenger for Himself.

“Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming,” says the Lord of hosts. (Malachi 3)

John cleared the way before Jesus by preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke 3). A lot of spiritual clutter and theological debris has piled up on the way of salvation between the time of the first promise of Jesus and His arrival in Bethlehem. The biggest road block for John's congregation in the wilderness was the corruption of repentance and sacrifice.

The Lord had established a clear pattern of sacrifices and ceremonies that clearly pointed to Christ. He would be the Sacrifice that would please God forever. These sacrifices of lambs and goats and other animals all required their lifeblood be shed. This continuous blood and sacrifice in the Old Testament was a preaching of Christ's blood and singular sacrifice that was to come on the cross.

But these clear patterns were distorted by the priests and rabbis. They forced their own messages into the Message. Animal sacrifices of the Old Testament that were intended to point to Jesus, were curved back on themselves. These symbols turned into the reality—they became the means of salvation. The promise of the coming Messiah shifted from the Shepherd King who forgives sin based on His own blood to a Warrior King who would lead a rebellion against the oppressive tyrants of the land. The popular image of Jesus shifted from King David the kind shepherd to Judge Samson the incredible hulk.

So the sacrifices of lambs and goats and other animals became the Message. Repentance was being really really sorry and offering your best goat as proof that you were really really sorry. But the people and the priests couldn't even get this small sacrifice right.

“It is you, O priests, who show contempt for my name. But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’ You place defiled food on my altar. But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’ By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. When you bring blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice crippled or diseased animals, is that not wrong?” [says the Lord Almighty.] (Malachi 1)

To the unbelievers in the Church of Malachi's day (about 430 years before Jesus and John were born) repentance was at best sacrificing a fine choice animal. At worst it was offering an old diseased goat. The people and the priests of Israel approached God in the same way pagans approach God. Give Him something to tame Him. Noble pagans offer their best. Back then throw in some perfect lambs, gold, perhaps a virgin now and again; today billions of hours and dollars given to charity. And that should be good enough for God.

Cheap pagans give Him leftovers. Noble pagans give their best. But it is all given with the same pagan view of repentance: as a business transaction, a negotiation, a trade.

A different John, John the Evangelist, wrote in the first chapter of his Gospel,

For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. (John 1)

John was sent to clear away the cluttered belief that repentance was a two-way deal with God. He preached baptism and repentance for the forgiveness of sin. True repentance is rooted in baptism. And what is baptism? The forgiving blood of Christ delivered to sinners by way of water and the Word. Repentance is trusting in the promise of the holy cross, where Christ unilaterally chose to be punished for our sin. He declares:

“The time is coming when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time… I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more.” (Jeremiah 31)

This is the message of John about Jesus; this is the message Jesus Himself preached. For the sake of Christ's sacrifice on the cross and through faith created and kept alive through His promises and Sacraments, He remembers our sins no more. We all have different backgrounds from John the Baptist, but his message of his Savior is for us. Our covenant with God that He established is not about negotiation or goats or money. He clears away our clutter and says, “Grace and truth come through Me and Me alone.” All praise to You, eternal Son!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Delivered by Hand

First Sunday in Advent

December 2, 2012

Delivered by Hand

Genesis 19:16

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

It's a common theme in fiction: at the end of the story, the hero reaches out his hand to his friend, who is about to fall. They could be on top of a burning building or the edge of Mt. Rushmore, but the moment between the hand reaching and the hand grabbing is tense. Will the hands connect? Will they both make it out of danger safely?

What you don't see as often is the victim refusing to grab the hero's hand or the one in danger hesitating to be saved. But in the events of history, you see this all too often. We see it happen in the facts of Genesis 19. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah are about to be scorched, Lot lingers. Why?

Because he loved his home and life in Sodom. Even though he was probably considered very odd in that shameless city, Lot had a comfortable life and was a respected member of the community. I base this on the fact that he was sitting at the city gates when the angels come to town. The city gates were where prominent members of society conducted business.

Lot loved being respected. He was troubled by the depravity of his fellow citizens, but up to that point they had left him out of their sinful perversions. But then when even that changed, when they were trying to break down his door to attack his guests, Lot tried to appease these depraved men with a twisted offering. He was willing to sacrifice his own daughters, so that he could wake up in the morning in his same bed, in the same town, as though nothing had changed.

To sum up, Lot had no spine. He was a weak and foolish man who was bossed around his wife, not the woman he married, but the world. But in His mercy God sent His holy angels to deliver Lot from his unholy marriage.

Nothing's changed in 4,000 years. There are lots of Sodomites and lots of Lots and lots of Pharisees walking around. We have married our world. The world offers three basic convenient marriage packages.

(1) The first is the most obvious: you can marry your lust, hate, and greed in openly wicked ways. Augustana College just announced the logical conclusion of their marriage to the world: they will now allow gay civil unions in their chapel. The following is a quote from Augustana's head pastor, Chaplaain Richard Priggie.

"Since it follows with our values and the action of our church body [the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America], we felt it was important at this time to say yes. Yes, we do affirm [gay civil union] ceremonies and we're looking forward to having them in our chapel." (WHBF website, “Augustana College allows Same Sex Weddings on Campus,” Nov. 27, 2012)

(2) The second kind of marriage the world offers is less blunt. As we've seen, some marry the world by celebrating homosexuality. But most aren't that bold. Most are like Lot. They do not practice, but instead tolerate wickedness. They learn to live with it and keep their mouths shut because they don't want to risk losing what they have—respect from fellow humans.

Iowa has legalized gay marriage. And last month just over 640,000 Iowans voted to keep State Justice David Wiggins in his job, the man who handed down this decision (Muscatine Journal, “Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins is keeping his job,” Nov. 7, 2012). I'm not saying that voting to retain Wiggins was sinful, but I do know that many voted to keep him because they were in favor of tolerating the sin of homosexuality. So these “Lots” end up calling digusting things beautiful. They do this because they want to think of themselves as open-minded and tolerate. They care more about the opinion of their fellow humans than thus sayeth the Lord. They fulfill Jesus' prophecy,

Whoever tries to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will keep it. (Luke 17:33)

(3) But there is a third way in which we can marry the world—by finding our goodness in comparison. Many try to keep their lives by celebrating what they are not. Jesus told a story about a Pharisee who tried to keep his life by boasting of what he was not,

‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. (Luke 18:11)

We can hear how Lot lingered in Sodom, and think in our hearts, “Thank God I'm not like Lot.” We can hear the folly of Justice Wiggins and think, “Thank God I'm not like Wiggins and those who voted for him.” We can hear Pastor Priggie's boast that he is not like, well, us, and think, “Thank God I'm not like that liberal Lutheran ELCA pastor.”

Dear friends, be careful. Let us repent of our pride in what we aren't or haven't done. Christ doesn't care about who we aren't; He cares about who we are.

We are disgusting. We have done disgusting things. And if you think haven't, that's disgusting.

Lot was disgusting and did disgusting things. We would have let him die in the fire and brimstone. But Christ said no. He sent His holy angels to rescue Lot. When he lingered, what did they do? They grabbed him by the hand and physically dragged him out of that disgusting place.

Eternally and spiritually Christ drags us away from our disgusting selves and makes us beautiful. By hand His pastor poured water on your head and made you beautiful. By hand His pastor puts His very blood and body into your mouth and makes you beautiful.

This beauty lies in His promise to you that His beauty will cover you now and always. This is the beauty earned on His cross where all our disgusting-ness hung on Him and Him alone. And He delivers this forgiveness that makes you beautiful by hand.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Bridegroom Gives Wisdom to the Wise Virgins

Last Sunday after Trinity (Trinity 27)

November 22, 2012

The Bridegroom Gives Wisdom to the Wise Virgins

Matthew 25:1-13

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Kids, what do you when Grandma's coming to your house? You wait by a window and watch and wait… at least for a little while. After a while, you get bored and go and play. Then when the doorbell rings, you scramble to the door to say hello to Grandma.

When it comes to watching and waiting for Jesus, we are just like children and just like the virgins in Jesus' story.

Matthew 25:1-5

At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps. The bridegroom was a long time in coming, and they all became drowsy and fell asleep.

All ten virgins fell asleep. It's easy to forget that even the five wise virgins dosed off. Jesus' point? Just like all the virgins, we too fail to follow through on Jesus' words,

Matthew 26:41

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.

In other words we all sin. We all fall short of God's expectation that—among other things—we fail to live like Jesus is coming back today. This doesn't mean spending your day staring up at the sky, saying, “Now… now… no, now!” (One of your guesses could be right, but you'd still be surprised.) Living like Jesus is coming today looks like children obeying their parents. It looks like a younger sister listening to her older sister speak about trouble in her life and encouraging her. It looks like a manager at John Deere or the Arsenal making sure that their staff allowed to do their jobs efficiently.

In addition to the excellence we strive for in our many callings in life, we live like Jesus is coming today by listening to Him. Next Sunday, you will be receiving a resource called The Congregation at Prayer. Please take it home and consider its step-by-step suggestions. The over-arching principle behind this weekly resource is simple: set aside time to listen to Jesus' promises. Listen to His forgiveness from your Baptism every morning. Live like He's coming back today by clinging to His acts of love for you.

This is what was different about the foolish virgins. They lived like Jesus wasn't coming. They knew how lamps worked. But they didn't bother with oil because they had faith that Jesus wasn't coming at all. So when He does return, they scramble for a new faith, but it's too late. He's already arrived. And the door is shut.

Matthew 25:10-13

But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. Later the others also came. ‘Sir! Sir!’ they said. ‘Open the door for us!’ But he replied, ‘I tell you the truth, I don’t know you.’ Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.

The wise virgins trusted the promise of the Bridegroom: He's coming. They didn't know exactly when. They knew it'd be after dark. That's why they had the lamps. But they, too, were surprised when the cry when out at midnight: “He's here!”

We, too, have this oil, this faith in Christ, because He has given it to us through word and water. He keeps our lamps filled through His word, body, and blood. So even while we are asleep, we still watch and pray with Him perfectly, because He watches and prays perfectly for us and gives us credit for His constant vigilance.

Waking or sleeping, we trust Him. Like little children who trust that Grandma is coming to visit, we, too, trust our Father in heaven that His Son is coming back.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Thankful for Our Enemies

Thanksgiving

November 22, 2012

Thankful for Our Enemies

1 Timothy 2:1-4

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today Paul gives us some good advice: don't think about yourself all day long. Take time to consider the needs of other people and even pray for them. Paul tells us that

1 Timothy 2:2

requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made for everyone.

And the apostle singles out for our consideration kings and all those in authority. As Americans we are proud that we have no king, but this doesn't prevent many Americans from viewing many in our government as enemies.

As Americans we are generally proud of the freedom we give to our children, but this doesn't stop lots of kids from resenting their parents and grandparents.

As Americans we celebrate our individual choice in matters of religion, and this often leads many to see their pastor as an enemy.

You may have a lot of enemies. Not just a neighbor who likes to argue over the fence about politics, but genuine bona fide enemies, people with power who seem to be out to get you.

How are you supposed to give thanks for enemies like that?

First, consider why Christ allows you to suffer under enemies who have authority over you. He doesn't smote our enemies with laser bolts because He wants you to run back to Him for strength and comfort.

Psalm 102:8

All day long my enemies taunt me;

those who rail against me use my name as a curse.

Psalm 46:1

[But] God is our refuge and strength,

an ever-present help in trouble.

Suppose Jesus did eliminate your most stubborn foes: the IRS agent who collects what you render unto Caesar, the pastor who won't condone your private sins, the parents who won't cave into your sulking. You'd be filled to the brim with arrogance, “Watch out, everybody, God does whatever I tell Him!” Wouldn't you become the most insufferable donkey on the planet? You'd no longer have any real friends because who'd want to risk making you mad. In short, enemies prevent us from falling in love with ourselves.

Second, Jesus allows enemies into our lives so that we don't fall in love with this world. This world is filled with genuine friends, genuine enemies, and a lot of people in the middle. Keep in mind that to most people, you are one of these middle people. Interacting with friends, foes, and middles can be exhausting!

Heaven is so very different. It is a place of peace. It is a place where friendship that can always be seen, because we will see Jesus with our own eyes. Christians long for the next world over this world because of the reality of our enemies here and now and because of the reality of Jesus' friendship now and forever. Jesus' enemies had it right when they called Him a "friend of sinners "(Luke 7:34).

John 15:13-15

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.

As you give thanks today, take time to thank Christ for your parents and grandparents, for your bosses and managers, for your pastors and teachers, for those in the government, and yes, even for your enemies. The friends in our lives pull us back to their Source, our Forgiver and Provider of all good things, Jesus Christ.

And the enemies in our lives drive us back to our Refuge and Strength, our ever-present help when the whole world seems out to get us. Where else can we go, but to our Savior, Jesus Christ?

Dear friends, pray for everyone, even your enemies. Pray that they may be rescued from harm now and forever. Pray that you may be friends here and now. But also give thanks to the Lord for your enemies, because they keep you close to Him.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Our Funerals Proclaim Christ Not Doing What We Suppose Him to Do

Trinity 24

November 18, 2012

Death: Asleep in Jesus

Our Funerals Proclaim Christ Not Doing 

What We Suppose Him to Do

Matthew 9:24

ἔλεγεν· Ἀναχωρεῖτε, οὐ γὰρ ἀπέθανεν τὸ κοράσιον ἀλλὰ καθεύδει· καὶ κατεγέλων αὐτοῦ.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Twelve year old girls aren't supposed to die. They are supposed outlive their fathers. But sometimes what's supposed to happen, doesn't. Today we see the unthinkable happen—a little girl dies. But then we see the unthinkable happen again—Jesus brings that little girl back to life.

Mark and Luke tell us that Jairus' daughter was very sick and on the verge of death. But Matthew gets right to the point in his narrative. He doesn't even tell us the father's name; he just tells us that the little girl had died.

Jesus had compassion on this man and his family and He went to that home of heart-breaking sorrow. He did this at great personal expense. When He declared that the little girl was not dead, but asleep, the crowd laughed at Him. Some may even have thought Him cruel to toy with the emotions of the grieving parents by giving them false hope. They knew she was dead. And she was.

But they failed to see Jesus for who He truly is—the divine Author of Life who could heal with a touch up close or with a word miles away. The Creator could have saved Himself much mockery by simply ignoring the father or by healing the girl right then and there. He had just done this for the sake of the centurion's servant in the previous chapter.

Matthew 8:13

Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! It will be done just as you believed it would.” And [the centurion's] servant was healed at that very hour.

But for His own reasons Jesus went in person to the death bed of this poor girl. He ignored the hoots and jeers of the crowd, even though He could have easily stunned them into silence. He could have ordered the poor girl's body brought out into the street so that the crowd could have seen the miracle. Then Jesus would have had the final word. He could have had His moment to bask in laughing last and thus loudest. But He chose another way.

He went into the sad house and according to Mark and Luke only the mother and father and three disciples were allowed to witness this private moment of resurrection.

Mark 5:41-43

He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

Jesus only allowed six people to be astonished: the five witnesses and the little girl. The crowd was not invited. They were no doubt still outside cackling away. We would have sent the girl out. We would have had the girl immediately get up on her daddy's shoulders, and go out into the crowd, so that every one of those scoffers could see how foolish they were.

But instead of doing it our way, Jesus told the parents that the little girl needed to eat. (Nobody eats a lot when sick.) Jesus' compassion in the big things—resurrection!—and the little things—food for a little girl—silences know-it-alls.

Know-it-alls say, “Death is not sleep. It's absolute. It's the end.” Know-it-alls mock Christians who trust in Christ's promise, “She's asleep. This separation won't last forever.” Both promises wage war in our hearts and minds.

Know-it-alls win when funerals are reduced to simply a tour of the life that has ended. You see this at funeral homes and churches where family, friends, and even pastors spend most or all of the service praising the dead person, listing their good deeds, reciting a litany of their charity, ticking off a list of organizations that defined their goodness. They're many times and places to do these things, but it's not at a Christian funeral.

If a eulogy—a narrative of the dead person's good life—takes center stage at a funeral, then it is an unspoken admission either that death is permanent, so enjoy the memories, because that's all there is, or that life after death depends on the life that has just ended. These supposed celebrations of life are actually submissions to a culture of death.

But Jesus doesn't do it the way we suppose. Life after death depends on Him and the life and death He lived and died. He raised Himself off of His death bed in that new tomb cut into the side of the hill.

Therefore our funerals proclaim Christ, the One who paid for our sin of knowing-it-all, pride, arrogance, of claiming to celebrate life when we're really embracing slow death.

Little girls aren't supposed to die. We aren't supposed to go to heaven. But our Jesus rescues us from what's supposed to happen. He sent Death away from us and onto Himself and now sends us Life. Let our lives and our funerals proclaim our Savior's death and resurrection until the end.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The Church Listens Like Mary

Church Anniversary

November 11, 2012

The Church Listens Like Mary

John 17:17-21

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Mary and Martha were sisters. When Jesus came to visit, Martha was very active with the necessary preparations. On the other hand, Mary passively listened to Jesus. This upset Martha and she said,

Luke 10:40-42

“Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

“Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

In the same way, the Church is Mary, and not Martha. This means that the Church gathers around Jesus and listens to His Word of Truth through His called preacher in the sermon and in the Sacraments. Thus Jesus prays,

John 17:17-21

Sanctify them [believers] by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.

Look at the subjects and the verbs of Jesus' prayer. Who is doing what? God sanctifies believers. He is active; we are blessedly passive.

For example, we see this blessed passiveness in the baptism of infants. When they are baptized, they can be smiling and wide-awake or fast asleep or gassy and fussy. But that cute baby doesn't speak the promise of Christ or apply the warm water to their brows. They are passive—they receive what Jesus gives through His Church.

See this blessed passiveness again at the sick bed or deathbed of God's people. They cannot help themselves. They must be cared for by the blessed Marthas around them. The pastor comes and preaches the Gospel and administers the Sacrament and they receive the sustaining promise—Christ still loves them, He still has died for them, His body and blood in His Supper are still the antidote for the disease of sin.

Over the past 46 years here at Gethsemane, many babies (and children and adults) have passively received the promise of Baptism. Thousands have been forgiven by the pastor as by Christ Himself. Thousands have received the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of their sin. And the sick and the dying have heard the sure promise that, even after their bodies have abandoned them, Christ still stands with them to the very end.

God sanctifies believers—He makes them holy and set them apart in the Church. Church is a gathering of baptized souls who like Mary passively receive gifts from Jesus. But don't confuse passivity with deadness or apathy or sleep. Passive means that Christ saves us through His activity. And by His activity He makes us alive and alert and awake.

In the Church, we are like Mary.

We listen and receive. It makes us alive.

In the world, we are like Martha.

We give and serve. It helps others.

Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you… in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

God's mercy is what we hear and receive like Mary. And His mercy still flows through us as we like Martha serve others. Until Christ calls us home to heaven or until this world ends, in this meantime, God is keeping His Church and her members in this old world for a reason: as a sacrifice of the body for your neighbor.

Gethsemane's past is filled with the activity of the triune God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—in the lives of God's gathered guests on Sunday morning. This divine activity is the only reason we are alive and have hope. But our past is also filled with the activity of God's people in the world, offering their bodies as living sacrifices.

So, for five decades, the members of Gethsemane served others. Parents have cooked meals, changed bed sheets at 3 am, watched soccer games in bone-chilling weather, and patiently refused to give in to temper tantrums. Kids have taken out the trash, gone to bed without complaining, and stuck up for school friends. Others have labored with diligence in the workforce and have been God's salt in this tasteless old world.

Many have prayed together, praying for themselves and others. Next month you will begin to receive a document each Sunday called “The Congregation at Prayer”. It's a resource with readings from Scripture, prayers, and words from the Small Catechism. It's designed to assist you as you pray at home, so that you can pray along with your fellow members of our Gethsemane family, on any and every given day of the week.

Church is not primarily a place where we go to be empowered and become a busy Martha. Church and our homes where the Gospel is heard is primarily a refuge from the world and from ourselves.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus, even while we live in the world, we pray that for another year You will make us holy and set us apart from the world in Your holy Church, including Your congregation of saints here, where Your Word is the Truth that is heard from the pulpit and poured out from the font and distributed from the altar.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

After Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Trinity 22

November 4, 2012

After Forgiveness, Forgiveness

Matthew 18:35

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

When are you most likely to be generous towards other people?

After you hear that your first grandchild is born. After a good first date, that ends with plans for a second one. After you've opened all your birthday presents. After a delicious meal.

It's always after something, isn't it? After something good.

So it is with forgiveness, which is why the man in the middle of our story this morning catches us by surprise.

This miserable old man—by the way, he's us—has a huge debt owed to his king. He owed 10,000 talents. He'd have to work for 150,000 years to pay it off. But the king had compassion on this miserable man and canceled the debt.

Then this man is free. He no longer lives under a crushing debt. So he enjoys his new freedom by taking a walk. And he runs into a man who owes him about $5,000.

What do you expect him to do after something good has happened to him?

    Say nothing and wish him a nice day?

    Gently remind him that his debt is overdue?

    Tell him what the king just did for him?

He chose option number four: shake him down and throw him in prison.

Now here's the thing. That miserable man had every legal right to have his debtor thrown into prison. We might even expect this on the day before the king canceled his debt. Indeed this sort of thing happens every day. We might not like it, but it's predictable.

But his decision to throw someone into debtor's prison after the king's generosity toward him is unexpected. And it was noticed and reported to the king. His reaction is predictable.

Matthew 18:32-34

“You wicked servant,” he said, “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.

And then Jesus makes His point.

Matthew 18:35

This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.

Jesus' point is that He is serious and that you should take it to heart. He's serious about sin and He's serious about forgiving sin. He tells you to cling to what He has done for you, pictured by the king canceling the man's debt. And He warns us that being stingy with His forgiveness can lead to grave consequences. Believers who are stingy with forgiveness will finally begin to wonder if God will be stingy with them.

There have been groups of Lutherans who have been stingy with forgiveness. They tried to measure how heartily sorry—that is, from the heart—other Lutherans were before they would declare them truly forgiven. They insisted that certain inner feelings of sorrow should be shared and expressed to small groups of “real” believers. Soon the certainty of forgiveness based on Christ's generosity was replaced by the predictable human view of forgiveness: before you can have it, you have to earn it.

Christ destroys our before attitude toward forgiveness that insists on doing something before forgiveness is received. He replaces our stingy forgiveness toward each other with His blood dripping from the cross. His forgiveness comes from the heart, His heart that generously pumped blood out of His back that had been flogged to pieces and out of His hands and feet where the nails had been driven and out of His side where the spear pierced Him. His forgiveness is the true body and blood that He gives to His Church Sunday after Sunday in the Holy Sacrament. His forgiveness is the word of forgiveness that I speak, in my office as your called pastor, sent by Christ to you.

After all that goodness, how strange it is when we are so stingy with forgiveness. We love throwing others into jail. We love sulking and punishing parents for their inconsistent parenting. It can be so satisfying, yet so far away from Jesus.

Matthew 6:9,12

Our Father, who art in heaven… forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

Christ has forgiven our debts, our trespasses of hate, lust, greed, and stingy forgiveness. Instead of being tied down by our debts, He has sent them far away.

Let us forgive from the heart. How? Look at your heart? Try to summon superhuman feelings of pity and kindness and warmth toward your debtors? No! Never that.

Run away from your heart and run to your generous Master and His cross. See how seriously He takes your debts and how He takes them away from you and upon Himself. This is how we forgive from the heart again and again and again because we forgive after He has forgiven us again and again and again.

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Martyrs of the Church

Reformation

October 28, 2012

Martyrs of the Church

Mark 13:9

In name of Jesus. Amen.

You've heard of Martin Luther. But you've never heard of Robert Barnes.

Robert Barnes was an Englishman. He died 500 years ago. He met Dr. Luther in Wittenberg, heard his preaching, and became convinced that the true Gospel was a promise, not a demand.

He returned home and became the first Lutheran in England. From his pulpits in Cambridge and London, he preached justification by faith alone to his fellow countrymen. He preached the free forgiveness of sins on account of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. In the end Dr. Barnes was caught up in the political schemes of King Henry VIII and those around him. Dr. Barnes was burnt at the stake.

Jesus knew of Dr. Barnes when He promised the Church that many would become martyrs on His account.

Mark 13:9

You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses [martyrs] to them.

The English word witnesses is a translation of the Greek work martyrs. We usually think of martyrs as those who have given up their lives because they refused to betray the pure confession of Christ like sainted Dr. Barnes. But a martyr is also simply someone who speaks about what they have seen.

Dr. Barnes didn't see Christ hanging from the cross or His empty tomb like the martyred Apostles or the very first martyr of the Church, Stephen. But he did see and hear faithful pastors like Luther proclaiming the promise of forgiveness because of God's work on the cross for us. He saw and received the true body and blood of Christ for the forgiveness of his sin in the Sacrament of the Altar, just as you will see today.

In our country today, being a martyr or witness should not primarily be a matter of shouting to strangers or acquaintances, either by picketing a political rally or forwarding emails or posting religious/political items on Facebook. Shouting is easy to do and often does more harm than good or just nothing at all, other than making you feel as though you have done something.

Instead, speak softly and clearly to those whom Christ has placed into your life. For example, be a martyr of the Church by supporting your pastor when he tells your son that he is sinning when he defends his choice to live with his girlfriend. Fathers, Don't pretend that everything's okay. Have the courage to tell that impenitent son, who defends his sin and implicitly says that it's a good thing, that he is in grave danger. Perhaps your words will need to be reinforced with action. Perhaps your witness to the truth will include dis-inviting your son to your holiday table and festivities.

Being a martyr is painful and a lonely road. But let us carry our crosses and take a stand for the truth like Dr. Luther and Dr. Barnes. Let us seek what is in the best interests of your beloved child.

This is what Christ calls to do. He said:

Matthew 10:32-39

“Whoever acknowledges Me before men, I will also acknowledge him before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before men, I will disown him before My Father in heaven. Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn ‘a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law—a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.’ Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me; and anyone who does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.”

As things are now, we'll never lose our lives on account of Jesus. Thanks be to Christ! But we are martyrs, that is, we are witnesses to the acts of Christ in our lives that He promised to do. We see Him forgiving us as His promise creates and strengthens spiritual life through water, through words, through bread and wine.

Let us come to the Lord's Supper rejoicing as we give thanks and praise to Christ for the Reformers and Martyrs of the Church like Dr. Luther and Dr. Barnes. The Lord used them and many other faithful martyrs as they stood before the world and confessed their Savior and ours, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, who takes away the sin of the world.

In the name of the Father and of the † Son

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.