Christ Makes You the Camel

Twenty-first Sunday after Pentecost

October 18, 2015

Mark 10:25

Christ Makes You the Camel

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

What sounds do camels make? I'm not sure either, but I think something like this:

“Dear, can you help get the groceries out of the car? There are too many bags.”

“Honey, we have to get both cars in for oil changes.”

“Why are all toys on the floor?! We have too much stuff!”

We make these sounds. We are the camels that Jesus is talking about.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:23-25)

We're programmed to think that two things about being rich. First, that the rich those with more than us. And secondly, that being is bad.

But we are rich. We have plenty. We're never hungry. We smell good. We have soft beds and warm houses.

And none of this is bad. Christ Jesus gives you all your plenty, and nothing that Christ gives you is bad. He can't give you bad gifts.

But we are sinners, and so we worship the gifts that God gives instead of the God who gives them. And so Jesus tells us that those who are rich are hard to get into heaven. It is hard because the rich can cushion themselves away from their own sins, and thus cushion themselves away from the Savior from our sins.

Let's look at the sins Jesus mentions.

Don't murder. A rich man who plows into a pedestrian can hire lawyers, arguing that it wasn't his fault.

Don't cheat on your wife. A rich man who commits adultery can entice his wife to look the other way, or rather, look at his money and pretend that he is a good husband.

Don't steal or defraud. When most men steals or rips somebody off, they often are caught and sent to prison. When a rich man defrauds his company or a union boss skims the dues, they are often able to use their influence to walk away with a slap on the wrist.

Don't bear false witness. When a rich man bears false witness his children or his wife, he can avoid an apology with a iPhone 6s.

Honor your father and mother. A rich man can avoid his elderly parents by thoughtless placing them in a posh old folks home and feel good about not visiting them because he's working to earn the money to pay their rent.

These examples probably don't apply to you.

But these sins still cling to us. We hate each other and hold grudges. We lust after the bodies of others. We are lazy at work and lazy with our families. We lie to ourselves constantly. We are rude to our parents when they deserve our respect. All these and more cling to us, so yes, Jesus is talking to the rich young man and us today.

Why does this matter?

For much of human history, hatred, lust, laziness, and lying held tough consequences. These sins often meant you didn't get to eat. But our wealth insulates us from much of the fallout from our sins, so much so that we can come to think that we are without sin. If you can keep your sins from coming back to bite you, pretty soon you can start to think that you don't sin, or at least, they aren't that bad.

This is why Jesus said:

It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” (Mark 10:25)

Rich people like us can pretend that we aren't sinners. And since Jesus came for sinners only, we end up treating Jesus on the margins of our lives. Sure, He's there, He's around, we go to church mostly, but the center of our lives? No, and that's why it's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for us to enter God's kingdom.

But Jesus has wonderful news: we are the camels that He's talking about.

Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” But the disciples were astonished at His words. Again Jesus said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” So they were even more astonished, saying to one another, “Then who can be saved?” Looking at them, Jesus said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God, because all things are possible with God.” (Mark 10:23-27)

Christ makes us the camels that pass through the eye of the needle. Christ speaks us camels into the kingdom of God by becoming the camel who

was pierced for our transgressions . . .

crushed by our iniquities . . .

the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.

(Isaiah 53:5a,6b)

And so

the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed. (Isaiah 53:5b)

He is the Camel of God, or rather and better, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, including the sins of people who have plenty.

What does a camel sound like?

“Lord, have mercy on me, sinner, a poor, miserable creature.”

“Lord, forgive me all my sin.”

“Lord, thank you for Your mercy and love.”

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

The Two Will Become One

Twentieth Sunday after Pentecost

October 11, 2015

Mark 10:7-9 & Ephesians 5:32

The Two Will Become One

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Can someone get a divorce from the Church? No, because when someone deserts the Church, they are really walking out on Christ Jesus. Listen to how Paul laid it out:

In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church―for we are members of His body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery―but I am talking about Christ and the church. (Ephesiasn 5:28-32)

The whole discussion in the Bible about marriage and divorce are extensions of a much deeper reality. The uniting of one man and one woman in marriage is a reflection of Christ's uniting with His Church.

The prophets repeatedly spoke of God's faithfully caring for His chosen nation, the Jewish people, like a devoted husband. And sadly the prophets rebuke God's people for their adultery and desertion from the one true God to chase after the more handsome idols created by men (Jeremiah 3).

“The house of Israel and the house of Judah have been utterly unfaithful to me,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 5:11)

This unfaithfulness is heard in the questions of Jesus' enemies. Since they were always looking for a way out of their marriage to one true God, their hard hearts had no problem carrying this lust for adultery into their own marriages to their wives.

Some Pharisees came and tested Him by asking, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?"

"What did Moses command you?" He replied.

They said, "Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away."

"It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law," Jesus replied. "But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.'

'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Mark 10:2-9)

Jesus rebuked their hard hearts and called them to see that marriage and really every good gift is a gift from our dear Lord. To seek ways to destroy what God creates is sin, plain and simple.

So Paul wrote words of encouragement to the Ephesians to treat marriage with holy joy and reverence. Marriage is to be a living parable of Christ's mercy and sacrifice for us. Not just love, but far more―works of mercy and sacrifice that deliver to us the opposite of what we deserve.

When someone deserts their spouse, this is a grievous sin. Not unforgivable, but a grievous sin that wounds the consciences of all involved: the other spouse, the parents, the children, the pastor, but above all, the unfaithful spouse. The Devil will use this awful decision and heinous deed to work on the minds of those involved:

they caused this,

they should have done that,

God is mad at me,

I'm mad at God,

and perhaps worst of all, I don't care what God says.

And so it goes. The Devil delights in divorce because so often the snake uses it to drag or lure the Bride―the Church―away from the Bridegroom―Jesus Christ.

But there is hope for those who have been deserted. And even hope for the villains who have deserted their families. Jeremiah passed along these stunning words from the Lord to His people:

“Return, faithless Israel, I will frown on you no longer, for I am merciful,' declares the Lord, 'I will not be angry forever. Only acknowledge your guilt―you have rebelled against the Lord your God . . . Return, faithless people," declares the Lord, "for I am your husband. (Jeremiah 3:12-14)

Dear friends, the Devil is delighted to sponsor the ongoing assault on marriage. He's been doing it for centuries. And now he gains much from the current battle. Obviously he destroys many souls of those who advocate the un-marriage of the day, but he is also happy to use our frustration to keep us from seeing our own desertions and adulteries. We have looked at awful things, read awful things, and watched awful things. They used to come in VHS, now they stream online.

But maybe you've never looked at that smut since you don't know how to operate a VCR or turn on your email.

But you treated your spouse with anger. You've counted their faults and used them to wound when you needed to win. Or perhaps you've laughed at the shows that make husbands look like incompetent idiots and wives like shrill screamers or objects of lust.

But there is still hope for us, because of the words of Christ: “I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.” He, the Bridegroom, faithfully chases us with these words, His wandering Bride. And He finds us, again and again.

Praise Him for true marriages, where husbands sacrifice for their brides and wives serve their husbands. For in their faithfulness, their repentance and forgiveness to each other, we see the deeper truth and joy. This is what Christ is for us. And instead of the wedding reception at the beginning of the marriage, He saves it for eternity.

“The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' But they paid no attention and went off―one to his field, another to his business. The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. (Matthew 22:2-10)

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!

Christ Alone Gives Us Credit for His Work

Nineteenth Sunday after Pentecost

October 4, 2015

Mark 9:38-40

Christ Alone Gives Us Credit for His Work

In the name of the Father and of the ☩ Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Kids, you draw lots of pictures. Pictures of dogs, houses, clouds, pictures of lots of different things. If you draw a picture of an elephant, would it be okay if your brother wrote his name on the paper and then he gave it to your mom and pretended like he drew the elephant. No, that wouldn't be okay. He'd be taking credit for your work and you'd be probably be sad or even a little mad that he stole your picture.

In the Bible this morning we heard about a different kind of stealing that made Joshua and John mad.

A young man ran and told Moses, “Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”

Joshua son of Nun, who had been Moses' aide since youth, spoke up and said, “Moses, my lord, stop them!”

But Moses replied, “Are you jealous for my sake? I wish that all the Lord's people were prophets and that the Lord would put His Spirit on them!” (Numbers 11:27-29)

“Teacher,” said John, “we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about Me, for whoever is not against us is for us.” (Mark 9:38-40)

Joshua and John were mad because they thought that someone was taking credit for God's work. But they shouldn't have been mad. Moses told Joshua and Jesus told John not to be mad. They told them that only believers can do God's work. And gladly believers can be found anywhere.

And even more, God's work will always be known sooner or later as God's work. To put it another way, you can't plagiarize God or steal from Him for long.

Before Moses led the Exodus out of Egypt, he faced off with Pharoah's magicians. These sorcerers actually had power from the Devil that could perform a few of first plagues of Egypt, but they quickly were overwhelmed by God's strength. Soon everyone knew that only the one true God has power that endures for the good of His people.

Christ is the Prophet who surpassed even Moses. Christ delivered all of His people out of slavery to sin using His own life. Moses was given power from Jesus to do the work that helped one small group of people for a small amount of time; Jesus used Himself and Himself alone to deliver salvation to all mankind. He delivers us from evil and casts away demons with His name. His name saves us and He gives His name to us to speak when we baptize sinners, preach the Gospel, and feed the hungry with His holy supper.

John was worried that a man who wasn't following Jesus was driving out demons in Jesus' name. But Jesus told John that this man was following Him. He wasn't stealing from God. The man was using Jesus' name. He was giving credit to the only true powerful God.

Our catechism teaches us over and over that we're saved not because of the group to which we belong, but because of His hallowed name. Which group you gather with on Sunday morning and the pastor you learn from matters. But we rejoice when we see other Christians doing good in the name of Christ.

We rejoice when any Christian speaks truth about life to a mother who

thinks there are no alternatives for her living unborn baby.

We rejoice when any Christian pastor speaks and baptizes a baby.

We rejoice when any Christian suffers for speaking the truth about

marriage to their family and friends.

We rejoice when any Christian does good in Jesus' name.

We rejoice that whoever is not against is for us.

All of this good is evidence of Christ's choosing to use His people and giving us the credit. He shares His goodness with His people and we are everywhere.

What kind of man buys his wife a present and lets his children sign their names on the card? A good man. Jesus is the best man, God in the flesh, who gives us credit for His work.

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners―of whom I am the worst. Alleluia! Amen!