Stare at Jesus' Verbs

Christmass Morning

December 25, 2016

Isaiah 52:7-10

Stare at Jesus' Verbs: Born, Died, Rose, Coming Back

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

Don't try and read the whole Bible. Don't make it a New Year's resolution. Don't starting reading Genesis 1 on January 1.

Instead, take a baby step. Read one of the Gospels. Gospel means good news and this is why the life story of Jesus Christ is called collectively, the Gospels. About 2/3 through the Bible you'll find them: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

Read a chapter a day. Whatever day of the month it is, read that chapter number. So on January 13, read Matthew 13. When you run out of chapters, start in on Mark. Or go back and pick up the ones you missed.

When you're reading these stories of Jesus' life, you'll see Jesus walk, talk, die, and rise from the dead. Before and after His death, you'll hear Jesus condemn sinners, forgive sinners, and help desperate people.

Reading Jesus' life and death repeatedly won't get boring. But by hearing the words and deeds of Jesus, beginning with His conception by the Holy Spirit and His birth by the Virgin Mary, you will grow in your joy of your sinners forgiven by our merciful Lord. He gives you the opposite of what you deserve. Instead of death and hell, which you deserve because you are a poor miserable sinner, He gives you life and heaven because of His death and resurrection. This is good news!

The prophet Isaiah preached 700 years before Christ was born in Bethlehem. Sometimes Isaiah is called the fifth Gospel writer, along with Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Isaiah's preaching, inspired by the Holy Spirit, was filled with good news. He foresaw the events that have led to our salvation.

How beautiful on the mountains

are the feet of those who bring good news,

who proclaim peace,

who bring good tidings,

who proclaim salvation,

who say to Zion,

“Your God reigns!”

ISAIAH 52:7 NIV 1984

Isaiah is describing Christmas—the shepherds coming down from the hills where they had been watching their flocks at night, to see the Prince of Peace for themselves. And after seeing the Christ Child, they spread good tidings to Zion, another name for God's people.

Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices;

together they shout for joy.

When the Lord returns to Zion,

they will see it with their own eyes.

ISAIAH 52:8

By baptizing you Jesus made you one of His people. And ever since then you have been one of His watchmen. You watch and wait for His return.

One of the most basic habits of wise night watchmen is not to be blinded by light. Watchmen who smoke on duty or face the warm fire with their back to the darkness aren't going to last long. The passing lights steal away their night vision. If Hollywood has taught us anything, it's that the guard who stays snug in his shack won't last long. So these blinded watchmen can't see what's really happening.

Christians watch wisely when we do not become blinded by the passing “lights” of this world. Many grown-ups think that children or spouses or family or community or humanity will provide true warmth for living, but they are staring at the wrong lights.

By faith we stare at Light of the World, Jesus. A most important way to stare at Jesus is to read His story again and again. And His good news will not blind us. With His words shows us the way things really are. And this makes us laugh and sing.

Burst into songs of joy together,

you ruins of Jerusalem,

for the Lord has comforted His people,

He has redeemed Jerusalem.

ISAIAH 52:9

When Isaiah preached, Jerusalem wasn't destroyed physically. But spiritually the nation of Israel was already ruined. It is similar to our situation today. Our nation is still strong on the outside, but whether our best economic days are behind or ahead of us, we live in ruins. The world sees things backwards. Always. They trust what they can see. But remember they are blind. It is their imagination, like a blind man trying to imagine an elephant.

We don't imagine; we know. We fear, love, and trust in the one true God above our collective imagination. We know Jesus has redeemed Jerusalem, another name for God's people. He did with His bare hands.

The Lord will lay bare His holy arm

in the sight of all the nations,

and all the ends of the earth will see

the salvation of our God.

ISAIAH 52:10

Usually baring your arm means using your arm to kill and smash your enemy with your club, sword, or hand. But here God conquers for us not with violence, but by suffering violence. On the cross the Lord exposed His holy arm and hands and legs to all the nations. Pilgrims from every nation on earth passed Him by as He hung on the cross of Calvary. His true identity was displayed above His head in all the major languages of the time. They all saw Him die. And in His death is our victory. Jesus' death is God's way of saving us.

We were born dead in sin;

He was alive and was born without sin.

Because of our hatred of God we deserved to die;

God died so that we won't.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Christ’s Coming Blossoms Deserts

Third Sunday in Advent

December 11, 2016

Isaiah 35:1-10

Christ’s Coming Blossoms Deserts

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

The prophet John was in jail. He was the man sent by Jesus to prepare the world for His coming advent. John had spoken truth to power and jail was his reward. And so John sent some of His followers to make sure Jesus was really the One for whom they had been getting ready.

²When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent a message by his disciples ³and asked Him, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” ⁴Jesus replied to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵the blind see, the lame walk, those with skin diseases are healed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor are told the good news. ⁶And if anyone is not offended because of Me, he is blessed.”

MATTHEW 11:2-6 HCSB

Jesus' reply is basically, “I do impossible things. Yes, I am the One.”

Using striking images, another prophet of God, Isaiah, pictured a future where impossible things took place. Isaiah prophesied:

¹The wilderness and the dry land will be glad;

the desert will rejoice and blossom like a rose.

²It will blossom abundantly

and will also rejoice with joy and singing.

The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,

the splendor of Carmel and Sharon.

They will see the glory of the Lord,

the splendor of our God.

ISAIAH 35:1-2 HCSB

Speaking in images that we would understand, Isaiah tells of deserts being transformed into fertile land. Roses blossom and cedar trees grow big. Lebanon is where you go for cedar; King Solomon went to Lebanon to get beautiful cedar timbers for the Temple in Jerusalem. Carmel was a range of hills with lush vegetation; Sharon was on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea and was famous for its flowers.

This transformation from dry desert to lush gardens of plants, trees, and roses is a good way to think about your conversion.

Before Jesus blessed you, you belonged to yourself. And you had nothing. You tried to create artificial green in your desert, but it was fake. Think Las Vegas. Like Vegas, the only thing we can think to do is to take pride in being fake.

Faking is the sinner’s way of life. We pretend to be good when others are watching, but when we think no one is watching . . . Just think about your Google searches during this past month.

We usually try to put up a good front, but on our own it's fake. It isn't real. Even kids are fake: If you are led to believe that a Kit Kat bar is in your near future, you will be very good, until said candy bar is or is not delivered.

We are deserts, who try to look green. Let us say what this is: Sin, trying to save ourselves. Repent, stop faking, and turn to Jesus.

Jesus is the One who has the water of life and He gladly waters you. Isaiah described Jesus taking a desert and making it into a lush garden. That's you! Psalm 1 described Christians like trees drinking up water, which is the Word of God.

¹How happy is the man

who does not follow the advice of the wicked

or take the path of sinners

or join a group of mockers!

²Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,

and he meditates on it day and night.

³He is like a tree planted beside streams of water

that bears its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither.

Whatever he does prospers.

PSALM 1:1-3 HCSB

Out in the wilderness John was free. John preached in the desert and baptized fakers of all ages in the River Jordan. He boldly preached that we are sinners who needed the Savior. But when he was in jail, it must have like being put out into the desert. But then the words of Jesus came back to him and these promises poured out over John like rich clean beautiful water. Jesus is the One.

³Strengthen the weak hands,

steady the shaking knees!

⁴Say to the cowardly:

“Be strong; do not fear!

Here is your God; vengeance is coming.

God’s retribution is coming; He will save you.”

⁵Then the eyes of the blind will be opened,

and the ears of the deaf unstopped.

⁶Then the lame will leap like a deer,

and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy,

for water will gush in the wilderness,

and streams in the desert;

⁷the parched ground will become a pool of water,

and the thirsty land springs of water.

ISAIAH 35:3-7a HCSB

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Jesus' Unexpected Birth Foreshadowed His Unexpected Work

Second Sunday in Advent

December 4, 2016

Isaiah 11:1-10

Jesus' Unexpected Birth Foreshadowed His Unexpected Work

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

I.

The promise of the Jesus the Savior coming into the world was under threat from the very beginning. Around 2000 years before Jesus was born, Isaac, Abraham's son and Jesus' ancestor, was almost murdered. Jacob's sons and their families proposed in Egypt for a time, but soon the pharaoh tried to exterminate the Hebrew people. Around 1500 BC God rescued them and sent Moses to deliver them and things went well for quite some time.

But around 600 years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem calamity struck the nation of Israel: the Babylonian Empire and its king Nebuchadnezzar invaded and destroyed Jerusalem. It probably seemed to many Jews and Gentiles that the promise of a Savior Messiah coming true was slim to none. God had promised that the Savior would be a descendant of David's dynasty of kings. But the Babylonians put an end to David's dynasty. It's a good bet that many assumed that this coming Messiah would be an actual king, born in the palace at Jerusalem, amid pomp and circumstance. But now after the devastation of Jerusalem and the exile of her people and kings, things looked bleak.

But others read the writings of Jesus' prophet Isaiah. Isaiah predicted that the Messiah would have unexpected beginnings.

Then a shoot will grow from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

ISAIAH 11:1 HCSB

Jesse was the father of King David; his stump meant that the line of David would be chopped down. But Isaiah also added that a Branch would spring up from Jesse' roots. This meant that David's descendants wouldn't be kings or queens, but lowly people. Like a shoot that grows up from the trunk of a tree, Jesus' birth would look like an afterthought or accident. But instead the reality was the opposite of appearances: Jesus' birth happened at just the right time.

And so this brings us to the blessed Virgin Mary and her betrothed Joseph, lowly descendants of David. The angel spoke God's Word into her ears and the Spirit of the Most High overshadowed her and she was with the Child. And this Child would be born and grow up. And His grown-up life began like this:

¹³Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan, to be baptized by him. ¹⁴But John tried to stop Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and yet You come to me?” ¹⁵Jesus answered him, “Allow it for now, because this is the way for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him to be baptized. ¹⁶After Jesus was baptized, He went up immediately from the water. The heavens suddenly opened for Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming down on Him.

MATTHEW 3:13-16 HCSB

And so just as Isaiah predicted:

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him

ISAIAH 11:2 HCSB

II.

Then this Jesus who had an unexpected beginning would go on to do strange and unexpected things.

He will not judge by what He sees with His eyes… and He will kill the wicked with a command from His lips.

ISAIAH 11:-3b, 4d HCSB

This judging and killing sum up the unexpected things that unexpected Jesus does. He does not judge by what He sees. This is what we humans do. We judge by seeing. We see what we want to see. This goes for how we judge our fellow human beings and how we judge God.

But Jesus doesn't judge like we do. He sees what we try to hide. And what we try to hide is our false expectations, which is another way of saying our sins. And so Jesus sends preachers to expose our sins to the light of day, as we hear in the preaching of John the Baptist:

“Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Therefore produce fruit consistent with repentance. And don’t presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I tell you that God is able to raise up children for Abraham from these stones! Even now the ax is ready to strike the root of the trees! Therefore, every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.

MATTHEW 3:7b-10

John's preaching was meant to kill the hearer's false expectations. They thought they were good and going to heaven because Abraham was their father. This is as foolish as our expectation today that our grown children will go to heaven because they once years ago recited some lines in a Christmas program or that they still show up for their annual trip to the Christmas Eve service.

The truth is that if they can't be bothered to come to their nearest faithful church and receive Christ, they aren't Christians. That's the simple truth. Like the Pharisees, we try to make God fit into our expectations. Abraham is our daddy, so we're good. My parents took me to church, and I don't hate Jesus, and I try to be a good person, so I'm comfortable in my despising of Christ and His Word.

We judge by what we can see. We look like good people. Our children look like good people. And God should be content with how we look on the outside.

III.

We are tempted to believe these lies, and sometime we actually believe them. So Jesus sends preachers to chop down the whoppers with the ax of His Law and kill us. He does this to bring you back to real life and bring us to His holy mountain. We heard last Sunday how Isaiah spoke of God's holy mountain of Zion, which is a way of speaking about His Church here on earth and of our future with Him in heaven. This is how Isaiah pictures it.

The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the goat. The calf, the young lion, and the fatling will be together, and a child will lead them. The cow and the bear will graze, their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. An infant will play beside the cobra’s pit, and a toddler will put his hand into a snake’s den. None will harm or destroy another on My entire holy mountain, for the land will be as full of the knowledge of the Lord as the sea is filled with water. On that day the root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His resting place will be glorious.

ISAIAH 11:6-10 HCSB

For now these are unexpected pictures of our unity in Christ. In the Church here on earth we spend time with people whom we might not otherwise expect to spend time. And I think Isaiah might be pointing us back to the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden to show us what our everlasting future might be like. But whether little kids are actually play patty-cake with cobras or not, we know that our Savior-God, born as Man in Bethlehem, will gather us to Him, just as He does now.

So even though now it might seem that our future looks like a tree stump—our nation is divided, our children are abandoning the church—we judge by whom we cannot see: Jesus. And in Jesus our stump shall be the tree of life.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

A Mountain that Won't Kill You

First Sunday in Advent

November 27, 2016

Isaiah 2:2

A Mountain that Won't Kill You

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

Most mountains try to kill you. You could fall. You could freeze. You could suffer from acute mountain sickness and have trouble breathing or worse. I always get a kick out of Christian-ish posters that show Mount Everest or K2 with a line from the Psalms overprinted: “Our God is an awesome God!”

God is everywhere, this is true, but He only wants to be found in Christ through His Church where is Gospel is heard and eaten. And so the prophet Isaiah describes a mountain that won't kill you:

²It shall happen in the latter days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house will be established as the chief of the mountains. It will be raised above the hills, and all nations will flow to it. ³Many peoples will come and say, “Come, let’s go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. Then He will teach us from His ways, and we will walk in His paths.” For from Zion the law shall go out, and the Lord’s word shall go out from Jerusalem.

Isaiah 2:2-3 + Evangelical Heritage Version

This mountain is Mt. Zion and it is alternate name for the city of Jerusalem. Zion at first specially meant a certain part of the city, a rocky hill near where the Temple was built. In the Psalms, Zion's meaning shifted to mean the Temple mount itself. And over time, Zion became another name for Jerusalem.

And here Zion and Jerusalem go beyond the Old Testament and show us the future. Here is God's city, because His Word is there. And it go out in the world calling God's chosen people home. In our home war and weapons will be out of place because Jesus will rule all His people.

This prophecy shows us our everlasting life in heaven, but it also shows us how things are now. This is a prophecy of the Church on earth. In the Church force and coercion are out of place; our “weapon” is the Word of God. The Law of God accuses us of our wickedness and shows us our sin: carousing, drunkenness, sexual sin, wild living, strife, and jealousy (Romans 13:14).

And our sin quickly crops up because you are thinking, “I don't carouse . . . at least not anymore.” We sin as much as we can or at least as much as we can get away with, so the fact that you like to go to bed at 9:30 instead of 2 am doesn't say much that is good about us.

Others may be thinking, “I never caroused.” But it's only because no one would carouse with you, yet you secretly were jealous of those who partied hard and never seemed to suffer any ill effects.

The Law shows us that we sin as much as we can. The answer to sin isn't to run away from it; the answer is Christ. He is coming to be our judge, but for those who live on Zion, in the Church now, who do not despise preaching and God's Word, but gladly hear and learn it, there is fear and there is love. Just outside Jerusalem Christ was crucified, the fearful punishment for our sin and wonderful mercy of our Lord that washes our sin away.

The Law: we sin as much as we can;

the Gospel: Jesus forgives all our sin.

Most mountains kill you, if you give them enough time. But not God's mountain, not Zion, not His Church, because there is where He wants to be found. There is where He comes and speaks to you, His accusing Law and His forgiving Gospel.

Advent means that Jesus comes. He comes in three ways. He has come in Bethlehem, God in the flesh. He comes to you now in Baptism, Absolution, and Communion, washing, speaking, and eating. And He is coming again at an hour when you do not expect Him. It is true that we should expect His final advent today, but whether or not He comes today, we are one day closer to the everlasting mountain because we are already on the Mountain. Jesus is with us.

It is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed.

Romans 13:11 + Evangelical Heritage Version

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Fighting over the Scraps

Thanksgiving

November 24, 2016

Luke 12:13-15

Fighting over the Scraps

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

Jesus is not a probate judge. He is the judge of the world, but on the Last Day He won't be probating your will, He won't be dividing up who gets what stuff. Frankly, He doesn't care about your stuff.

¹³Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” ¹⁴Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or an arbiter between you?” (Luke 12:13-14)

But He does care about you. So when a man asked Jesus to help him get a fatter chunk of his dad's inheritance, Jesus wasn't interested.

It's true that Jesus always helps those who are desperate: terrified Jairus, sinking Peter, the humble Canaanite mother. But He didn't help Inheritance Man. He answered him essentially, “Man, this isn't My job.” And He went on to identify the sin that so often drives disputes over inheritance: greed. Jesus said:

“Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15)

Jesus doesn't want us to fight over the scraps of this world. And although there are lots of good things in this world, anything that pushes Jesus and His death and resurrection to the side is a scrap. Anything of this world that we hang on to for hope instead of Jesus' cross is a scrap.

Some scraps are easy to identify. But many scraps are in our blind spot.

America isn't going to save you.

The President isn't going to save you.

Lots of toys for Christmas isn't going to save you.

Cheap gas isn't going to save you.

A good harvest isn't going to save you.

A great house isn't going to save you.

The joy of family togetherness isn't going to save you.

A treasured family recipe isn't going to save you.

America, presidents, toys, energy, crops, houses, families, and food are all gifts from Jesus. But He didn't give them to us to save us; He sent Himself. And even though He knows that we turn these scraps into idols, He still gives us these things because He knows that we need them.

So don't fight over the scraps of this world. Use them; enjoy them, but don't hold on to them.

Instead cling to Jesus, the Giver of all good things. And above all the things He gives us, He gives us Himself. He gave His life on the cross to be punished for our love of scraps. He rose to life and left the tomb to speak peace to us. And even now He continues to serve us. With His water. With His words. With His body. With His blood.

For the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Ready for the Return of Our King

Last Sunday of the Year

November 20, 2016

Luke 12:35-40

Ready for the Return of Our King

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

When some of you were being born or still watching Blue's Clues, one fine December afternoon I drove from our Seminary north of Milwaukee to Madison's finest and only IMAX theatre. I met my brother there for an event: watching all three Lord of the Rings movies in one sitting. This took about 10 hours.

As the hours rolled by and the first movie ended and then the middle movie began, I began to get sleepy. I had already gone to classes in the morning, worked my part-time job, and driven a couple of hours to get to the movie event. And I had already seen these movies before. But I wanted to stay awake for the very first minute of the third and new and final film of the trilogy. If I missed that arrival of the King of Middle-earth, the whole night would have been a failure.

In a very small way, this waiting for the big moment is like our wait for our Savior Jesus. So many of the days are our waiting seems like we're watching the same day over and over, so we get bored and sleepy. The big moment of our Master's return seems far away, so it seems like time for a nap. But Jesus said:

³⁵“Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶like men waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him.” Luke 12:35-36 NIV 1984

Jesus is coming back and He always wants us to be ready. This is why it's wise to assume that today will be the day of our Master's return, the return of our King. How do you stay ready for service? The key to this question is that the greatest good work there is isn't what we do for our King, but what we receive from Him. Jesus said:

“It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. I tell you the truth, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table, and will come and wait on them.” Luke 12:37

He comes and waits on us. This is what heaven is, Jesus serving us. But it is also our lives now. Jesus said:

“For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45

What do you receive when you come to a table and are waited on? Food. And Jesus' food is His own body and blood.

So how do you stay dressed and ready for service? Receiving Jesus, listening to the Words He has left for us, eating and drinking His body and blood under bread and wine. And Jesus makes us strong to keep our lamps burning, that is, to stay awake.

All those years ago, I did fall asleep, but I didn't miss the beginning of The Return of the King. Can you guess why? My brother woke me up. In the same way, one of our greatest ways to serve others is to keep them awake for Jesus' return by talking Jesus to them. Every day you think about Jesus, you talk Jesus, you discuss Jesus with those close to you, your brothers and sisters in Christ, which are your parents and your kids or your actual siblings.

For example, when you call your Mom or your Daughter, talk Jesus with her. Ask her about what her pastor talked about in Bible class. Ask her what “Honor your father and mother” means. Ask her how she knows she saved. She'll either help you or you'll help her. Or both! It might be the last time you speak to each other, because Jesus is probably back today. This isn't scary, but rather wonderful news! Jesus said:

³⁸It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the second or third watch of the night. ³⁹But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into. ⁴⁰You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him.” Luke 12:35-40 NIV 1984

Jesus is the Son of Man crowned King with a crown of thorns, who saved His subjects by dying for them on a cross. And then three days later He rose to proclaim His kingdom, which has now come to you. And He's coming back, which is wonderful, because you belong to Him.

When's the very last time you'd expect our King to return? Right now, right! So today you receive and speak Jesus. Today.

For the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many. Amen.

Christ Gives Us More Than a “Better Place”

Festival of All Saints

November 6, 2016

Revelation 21:4

Christ Gives Us More Than a “Better Place”

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

There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. (Revelation 21:4)

These are beloved words that we cling to when someone we know and especially someone we love dies. This promise from Jesus is the foundation for the words often spoken about the dearly departed to the grieving survivors: “They are in a better place now.”

It's better because they aren't dying anymore. They aren't sick anymore. They aren't tired anymore.

But to tell the whole truth, they also aren't grumpy anymore. They aren't insensitive anymore. They aren't lazy anymore. In short, they aren't sinners anymore.

This sinfulness that afflicts the lives of every human being from the very beginning of life must be talked about at the end of life. If it isn't, than heaven is just a better place. 

“Better place” funeral sermons that don't explain why your grandfather or mother or brother is dead is a bad sermon. And in a sermon like that, if and when Jesus is mentioned, He is only making a cameo.

Our loved ones are dead because they were born sinners. And they proved it with empirical evidence that was their lives. They spent their lives sinning in public and private ways. And these sins are very close to home. They held grudges, just like you. They gossiped, just like you. They were greedy, just like you. They lived most days without stopping to examine their sin and the wages of their sin, which is death.

However, every now and again, they would. They didn't have a choice. These days were days when they went to church on a Tuesday morning for a funeral. And there they saw it: Death.

If the preacher was bad, Death and Sin were never mentioned. The preacher would try to flower over the stink of Death, and praise the dead with their good deeds and their place in the community. But this kind of preaching only kills us more. What good are our good deeds before God? He demands perfect deeds with perfect intent and perfect execution all the time, not good deeds once in a while and always tainted with selfish interest. Preaching like this is like trying to mask the stench of overflowing garbage filled with dirty diapers and rotting fruit with a pumpkin candle. You can pretend for a while, but the rot is always there.

So to continue this smelly picture, you can't take out your trash. But Jesus does. He goes through your whole house—your heart and soul—and finds all the hidden garbage—your sin and your sins—and picks it up and takes it all outside and dumps it on Himself. All those dirty diapers, rotting food, and every other old and disgusting thing. He is covered and smeared with our sin. On the cross Jesus was our sin and He was punished for our filth by His heavenly Father. He did this for you; He did this for your dearly departed.

Good Christian funerals always are about our sin and Jesus' mercy. Good funeral preaching is always about His sacrifice on the cross and His washing of the sinners in Holy Baptism. In short, good preaching is about God's deeds, not yours. And because Jesus' good deeds are credited to you as though they are your own, your death will usher you into heaven. So our dearly departed saints are saved by Jesus and live and sing at this moment.

Indeed in our liturgy it is rightly said that when we sing “Holy, holy, holy Lord God of heavenly host: heaven and earth are full of Your glory. Hosanna!” we are joining with all the saints on earth and the hosts of heaven. The hosts of heaven are our sainted grandfathers, grandmothers, aunt, uncles, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, babies, cousins, friends, and others, sainted, made holy by the blood of Christ. They are not in a better place, but they are in the best place, because forever with Jesus is the best place to be.

For even the Son of Man did not come to be Served, but to Serve, and to Give His Life as a Ransom for Many.

Mark 10:45

Christ Is the Truth that Sets You Free Indeed

Reformation Sunday

October 30, 2016

John 8:31-36

Christ Is the Truth that Sets You Free Indeed

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

Today is an accident. We shouldn't be here today. I don't mean that we shouldn't remember the Reformation, but rather that the actual day that became “Reformation Day” isn't a day Lutherans picked. (Ask me about this accident at the potluck.)

The proof's in the pudding that we never actually eat, so to speak, since you have never read the 95 theses, today or any other day. Now maybe this because we are Americans, who have been taught to disdain the actual happenings and documents of the past. For example, how many of us read the Declaration of Independence on Independence Day? (Or have ever read it?)

We are lazy Americans and like to keep things simple: the British were bad, George Washington was good, we won, fireworks. We are also lazy Lutherans: the pope was bad, Martin Luther was good, we won, trick or treat and/or potluck.

Jesus didn't set us free to be hazy about what truly happened in the past. In fact Jesus sent His Holy Spirit and His unworthy pastors and parents and grandparents to speak the Truth to us. This Truth—which isn't a what, but a who—is Jesus.

³¹To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, "If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. ³²Then you will know the Truth, and the Truth will set you free.” ³³They answered Him, “We are Abraham's descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” ³⁴Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:31-36 NIV 1984)

Just before this back-and-forth between Jesus and the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus explained their big problem: they loved the big lie that the Devil had planted in their hearts. This lie said that they were going to heaven because they had the right family tree: Abraham was their father! (Abraham lived 2000 years before Jesus was born. The Lord promised that the Savior of the world would be born as one of Abraham's descendants. We call the family tree of Abraham the Jewish people and the Jewish baby born in Bethlehem, Jesus.)

These Jews speaking with Jesus thought they were protected from hell by Abraham's biological blood flowing in their veins. They thought they were the chosen sons, the princes who would inherit heaven simply by momentum.

Jesus exposed this big lie and He told them that He is the always-existing God. His holy blood would save them, not Father Abraham's. And so they tried to murder Him right then and there:

⁵⁸Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was born, I AM!” ⁵⁹At this, they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid Himself, slipping away from the temple grounds. (John 8:58-59)

Whenever Jesus as the God who dies for sinful humans is preached, either by Jesus Himself or by one of His followers, suppression of this Truth, sometimes by the attempted or successful murder of the Truth-tellers, always follows. But these attempts to stop the Truth always fail. The Word always remains and the preaching of Jesus' bloody dying and then His rising from the dead will endure on earth until Jesus returns, hopefully sometime later today, but you never know.

Just as the Devil twisted the fatherhood of Abraham—a good thing—into a false sense of security for Abraham's lazy children, so the Devil also twists Luther into something he is not. The world hates and loves Luther, but they are always hating or loving a Luther that they have fabricated.

Let me offer an example by way of explanation. George Washington is someone who tells the truth. How do you know this? Because he cut down the cherry tree and when confronted by his daddy, little George confessed: “I cannot tell a lie—it was I.”

This story is completely made-up. It was invented by one of Washington’s first biographers, Mason Locke Weems. After Washington’s death in 1799 people were anxious to learn about him, and Weems was ready to supply the demand. Weems’ biography, The Life of Washington, in its fifth edition (1806) included this completely made-up story. (mountvernon.org/digital-encyclopedia/article/cherry-tree-myth/)

Luther did actually post these 95 theses on the door of the Castle Church. These theses were 95 logical points against selling God's forgiveness for money. And as Luther's preaching and teaching declared in the years that followed, God's forgiveness is a free gift to us that Jesus earned with His blood and death on the cross. And then this forgiveness is given freely to sinners of all shapes and sizes—sinful babies, sinful kids, sinful grown-ups, and sinful seniors—through God's Word with water, with speaking, and with Jesus' true body and blood.

The Devil and the unbelieving world tries to use Luther to proclaim anything, but Jesus. They demand that Luther symbolize freedom from Jesus. Next year you will hear much about Luther as a genius who introduced the modern era. Don't buy it. Luther cared about Jesus, the One who first cared about him and died for him and rose for him and baptized him as a little baby in a little church over 500 years ago.

The Reformation was not about making it easier to get to heaven. No, if anything the Reformation showed us just how hard it is. For man, it is impossible. Not an indulgence or offering, not a pilgrimage or mission trip, not circumcision or uncircumcison, not a monk's prayer or prayers of prayer warriors, not an active life in the church or just having your name on a membership directory, no, nothing you do can improve your standing before God.

But if God's Son sets you free, you are free indeed. These words are Christ's words and He is the one who inspired Paul to write the little word “indeed.” Everything needed for forgiveness is in deed done, for our dear Lord has done it, not on accident, but on purpose for you.

God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. Alleluia! Amen!