The Ascension of our Lord
May 13, 2010
Doing It By Hand
Luke 24:50-52
His hands were so small when he was born. Small little hands that easily fit into the hands of Mary and Joseph. When they took Him to the Temple to be circumcised eight days later, Simeon and Anna must have marveled that these little hands were the hands of the Savior who would save the world.
Twelve years later His hands were in the Temple again. He was teaching the Jewish Bible experts with His insightful questions and piercing answers.
18 years after that trip to Jerusalem those same hands were in His hometown, unrolling a scroll of the prophet Isaiah, which pointed out the identity of the promised Savior.
Then those hands went to work.
They healed a leper.
They drew in the dirt.
They broke five loaves of bread that feed over 5,000 people.
They took a dead girl by her hands and woke her up with powerful words.
They grabbed Peter when he began to sink.
They made mud and put it on the eyes of a blind man so that he could see.
They hugged little children.
They healed a crippled woman on the Sabbath.
They washed the feet of His disciples.
They broke bread and poured wine that was His own body and blood.
They prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
They healed the ear that Peter cut off.
And then they were nailed to a cross. Then He died and His hands grew cold. His friends took down the cross and then removed the nails from His hands and then wrapped them up in linen burial clothes. Then they put Him in a tomb.
But His hands weren't finished. Blood flowed back into those hands early Easter morning. Those resurrected hands broke bread in Emmaus. Then they were in Jerusalem, nail marks and all, being shown to the apostles.
And finally, forty days later, those hands blessed His friends before He went up into heaven.
When [Jesus] had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven. Then they worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. (Luke 24:50-52)
And now everything is in Jesus' hands as He rules in heaven.
As your hands works to make useful products, as they create delicious food, as they type and send helpful information, as they wipe away dirt from behind your child's ears, your hands are serving Jesus. For you see that after He went home Jesus has chosen to hide His hands from us, and so now Jesus serves us by using our ordinary hands in our ordinary lives to serve ordinary people.
But this doesn't mean Jesus is not busy. By no means!
Jesus washed away your sin when your pastor used his ordinary hands to pour ordinary water on your head as he spoke Jesus' extraordinary words. Jesus washes away sins that you can't stop thinking about when your pastor forgives you on a Tuesday afternoon, and then you are reminded of the tree that earned this forgiveness as your pastor signs the holy cross with his hand.
Jesus' hands used to be so small. But even at Christmas they were perfect. Jesus' hands grew and then went up to heaven 43 days after they are nailed to the cross. Those perfect hands saved us. And now our hands are busy in service to Him by serving others.
We are in His hands.
Amen.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
The Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 2, 2010
Moses' Mother Made a Choice
Exodus 2:1-3
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
Last Sunday we talked about the kind of love that makes sacrifices for the ones that they love. This kind of love makes choices that seeks the best interests of the one who is loved. This is the kind of love that Moses' mother had for Moses.
Moses' mother was named Jochebed. And she found herself in a tight spot. She had a baby. Giving birth to a child is tough enough, but she was a Hebrew mother living in Egypt. The problem was that the king of Egypt had ordered that all Hebrew boy babies were to be killed.
The reason for this horrible law was that the king of Egypt was afraid of the Hebrews. He was scared that they might get tired of being his slaves and try to kill him. So he made it a law that whenever someone had a baby boy, they had to throw that little baby into the Nile river so that he would drown.
Moses' mother, Jochebed, loved God and she loved her baby boy. So she broke Pharaoh's law. She did not kill her son. She chose to hide him for three months and then she put him in a water-tight basket that she placed in the Nile river. She risked her life to save her son.
Mothers make important choices for their children. Mothers work very hard to provide every last toy and piece of tech for their kids. But sadly, many of these same mothers make the choice to keep their kids away from Baptism and Jesus.
This is sad because while those children will never know a trace of hunger—maybe for five minutes before dinner—and while they always have the best shoes, they won't know their friend, Jesus.
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have Him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:15-17)
Bless you, dear mothers, for bringing your children to Jesus. During the time you feed them milk, baby food, peanut butter sandwiches, and hamburgers, you are also feeding them with the Bread of Life.
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
There is nothing as important as bringing your children to Jesus. If your children have Him, they will have the one thing that they need. Those who trust in Jesus as the only Savior from sin have nothing to be afraid of. This doesn't mean that your children's lives will be easy or pain-free. It means that when they face tough situations, they will know that Jesus is with them, even in a situation that involves death!
Just look at Moses' mother. When Jochebed put Moses into the Nile, she could have been caught. The Egyptians hired Hebrews to spy on the other Hebrews. Then she had her daughter, Miriam, watch the basket. This was risky, but Jochebed trust in her Lord to protect her whole family. And He answered her prayer. The basket went down the river and was found by, of all people, the daughter of Pharaoh!
Then Miriam goes up to the daughter of the king who wanted her brother dead and asked her if she wanted a Hebrew woman to take care of Moses. We look at Miriam and we think that she must have had some nerve. Maybe, but consider who her mom was. Miriam learned about her Lord from her mother, just like her brother Moses would, because Pharaoh's daughter said yes. Jochebed brought her children to Jesus.
Blessed mothers, you choose to bring your children to Jesus. And you do much more than teach them the important difference between right and wrong. You teach them about sin and how everyone is born sinful. This sin makes everyone a natural enemy of Jesus. But you explain to them that when they were baptized as babies a few days or a few weeks after their birth, Jesus made them His friend by forgiving their sinfulness.
When children grow up, they often forget the Jesus that they sang about at Christmastime. Dear mothers, don't let them forget. As they grow up, remind them of the importance of gathering around the Gospel every week. Sports, recreation, and hobbies that consistently take place on Sunday are not healthy for them or you.
You show them how important Sunday is by your joyful body language on a Sunday morning. When the one-year old decides to throw oatmeal on her older brother, Sunday morning can be frantic. But more often than not, they're going to see a mom who rejoices when she goes to the house of the Lord (cf. Psalm 122:1).
They also see a congregation that supports the calling of mothers. We do this by not staring at a mother struggling with a noisy child. We support mothers by letting their children see us treating Sunday as a special day by dressing up, each according to our means. We support mothers when we show their children that Sunday School doesn't stop when you turn 15.
Jesus isn't just for kids. Dear mothers, they do see you studying your Bible at home. They hear you singing good hymns that preach the Gospel with specific details about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. When they ask you questions about Jesus and you answer their questions with enthusiasm and joy, boy, that says more than you can know.
Thank you, mothers. Your vocation is one of the highest callings there is. Whether you have no children, lots of them, or they've all left the nest, Jesus is serving people through you. Like Moses' mother, you make some many choices everyday that serve others. Your faithful choices honor Jesus and we thank Him for giving you to us.
Amen.
May 2, 2010
Moses' Mother Made a Choice
Exodus 2:1-3
Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him for three months. But when she could hide him no longer, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it with tar and pitch. Then she placed the child in it and put it among the reeds along the bank of the Nile.
Last Sunday we talked about the kind of love that makes sacrifices for the ones that they love. This kind of love makes choices that seeks the best interests of the one who is loved. This is the kind of love that Moses' mother had for Moses.
Moses' mother was named Jochebed. And she found herself in a tight spot. She had a baby. Giving birth to a child is tough enough, but she was a Hebrew mother living in Egypt. The problem was that the king of Egypt had ordered that all Hebrew boy babies were to be killed.
The reason for this horrible law was that the king of Egypt was afraid of the Hebrews. He was scared that they might get tired of being his slaves and try to kill him. So he made it a law that whenever someone had a baby boy, they had to throw that little baby into the Nile river so that he would drown.
Moses' mother, Jochebed, loved God and she loved her baby boy. So she broke Pharaoh's law. She did not kill her son. She chose to hide him for three months and then she put him in a water-tight basket that she placed in the Nile river. She risked her life to save her son.
Mothers make important choices for their children. Mothers work very hard to provide every last toy and piece of tech for their kids. But sadly, many of these same mothers make the choice to keep their kids away from Baptism and Jesus.
This is sad because while those children will never know a trace of hunger—maybe for five minutes before dinner—and while they always have the best shoes, they won't know their friend, Jesus.
People were also bringing babies to Jesus to have Him touch them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to Him and said, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Luke 18:15-17)
Bless you, dear mothers, for bringing your children to Jesus. During the time you feed them milk, baby food, peanut butter sandwiches, and hamburgers, you are also feeding them with the Bread of Life.
Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me will never go hungry, and he who believes in Me will never be thirsty.” (John 6:35)
There is nothing as important as bringing your children to Jesus. If your children have Him, they will have the one thing that they need. Those who trust in Jesus as the only Savior from sin have nothing to be afraid of. This doesn't mean that your children's lives will be easy or pain-free. It means that when they face tough situations, they will know that Jesus is with them, even in a situation that involves death!
Just look at Moses' mother. When Jochebed put Moses into the Nile, she could have been caught. The Egyptians hired Hebrews to spy on the other Hebrews. Then she had her daughter, Miriam, watch the basket. This was risky, but Jochebed trust in her Lord to protect her whole family. And He answered her prayer. The basket went down the river and was found by, of all people, the daughter of Pharaoh!
Then Miriam goes up to the daughter of the king who wanted her brother dead and asked her if she wanted a Hebrew woman to take care of Moses. We look at Miriam and we think that she must have had some nerve. Maybe, but consider who her mom was. Miriam learned about her Lord from her mother, just like her brother Moses would, because Pharaoh's daughter said yes. Jochebed brought her children to Jesus.
Blessed mothers, you choose to bring your children to Jesus. And you do much more than teach them the important difference between right and wrong. You teach them about sin and how everyone is born sinful. This sin makes everyone a natural enemy of Jesus. But you explain to them that when they were baptized as babies a few days or a few weeks after their birth, Jesus made them His friend by forgiving their sinfulness.
When children grow up, they often forget the Jesus that they sang about at Christmastime. Dear mothers, don't let them forget. As they grow up, remind them of the importance of gathering around the Gospel every week. Sports, recreation, and hobbies that consistently take place on Sunday are not healthy for them or you.
You show them how important Sunday is by your joyful body language on a Sunday morning. When the one-year old decides to throw oatmeal on her older brother, Sunday morning can be frantic. But more often than not, they're going to see a mom who rejoices when she goes to the house of the Lord (cf. Psalm 122:1).
They also see a congregation that supports the calling of mothers. We do this by not staring at a mother struggling with a noisy child. We support mothers by letting their children see us treating Sunday as a special day by dressing up, each according to our means. We support mothers when we show their children that Sunday School doesn't stop when you turn 15.
Jesus isn't just for kids. Dear mothers, they do see you studying your Bible at home. They hear you singing good hymns that preach the Gospel with specific details about Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. When they ask you questions about Jesus and you answer their questions with enthusiasm and joy, boy, that says more than you can know.
Thank you, mothers. Your vocation is one of the highest callings there is. Whether you have no children, lots of them, or they've all left the nest, Jesus is serving people through you. Like Moses' mother, you make some many choices everyday that serve others. Your faithful choices honor Jesus and we thank Him for giving you to us.
Amen.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
The Fifth Sunday of Easter
May 2, 2010
Christian Love Make Choices
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
In just over a month my family will head to Wisconsin for a wedding. When I go to weddings, I like to keep a mental checklist of things that will happen: everyone will rise when the bride walks down the aisle, the pastor will talk about love during his sermon, the best man will tell some embarrassing stories about the groom, and they will play the Chicken Dance at the reception. Today I'd like to discuss No. 2 on the checklist: love sermons.
I've been to some of our churches where the sermon about love was very good; I've also been to some of our churches where the sermon about love was very bad. The bad wedding sermons weren't bad because they contained heresy. No, they're bad because they talked about the wrong kind of love.
Those bad sermons talked about the kind of love that is sentimental and sugary. It's the love that gushes and bubbles often with very real affection. But it is love that wants be loved in return. That's why is gushes and bubbles—to get as good as it gives. It is conditional love. In an honorable relationship, this kind of love is a fine thing.
But this kind of love is not mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. And that's what makes a bad wedding sermon—to talk about the sugary kind of love and then quote 1 Corinthians 13, which talks about a very different kind of love.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
The love that St. Paul expresses here is love that seeks the best interests of the one who is loved. It's the love that God has for sinners. It's the love that forgiven sinners have for one another. This kind of love is not headquartered in our emotions; it lives in our will. Therefore, this kind of love isn't about attraction, but action. This is love that makes choices.
God the Father has this kind of love for sinners. His love acted. He chose to love us. He chose to seek out our best interests. He sent His Son to be perfect for us. Jesus did exactly that for 40 weeks plus 33 years. And then He died for us. Jesus lived and died as our replacement. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus' self-sacrificing love reached out and yanked us out of hell.
John summed up the kind of love that Jesus has for us: This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10-11)
Jesus' love for us is also expressed in Ephesians: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
So now I want to you to go out and love your enemies. Go out and love that jerk at work. Go out and love that bully at school. Go home and love that mean sibling. But how? How can I love someone that hates me?
Great question. I'm not asking you to like your enemy. I'm not asking you to have affection for your enemy or to create a warm fuzzy feeling for them in your heart. Nope. Jesus wants us to look out for the best interests of everyone, even people who detest you. What is in everyone's best interest? To repent of their selfish ways and be baptized into the family of Christ.
So love your enemy. And remember that this kind of love is also kind and patient. This assumes that people in our lives put our kindness and patience to the test. And they do. Maybe your husband is a hit-or-miss listener, who can't recall your conversation from just yesterday. Being kind and patient is hard when your spouse does this for 673 yesterdays.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. The apostle is not telling us that love is indifferent to wrong. Earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul sharply rebuked the congregation for its indifference toward a man who was living with his father's wife. Paul is speaking about love that forgets about self and seeks out the best interests of the one loved, even when that requires discipline.
A wise parent knows that love and discipline go hand in hand. But they also know that they should never discipline while they are angry. But they also know that that love without discipline isn't love. So discipline without being rude!
A friend who's been wronged by another friend often enjoys the process of yelling at his friend, especially if the offender is guilty of a repeat offense Then “discipline” becomes self-seeking and becomes unloving because the best interests of the offending friend are forgotten. Discipline without dredging up the past!
Paul continues: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Yes, there are many in our society who love being bad. But you can delight in evil without even doing it! Some take perverse pleasure in watching others do evil things. But there other ways to delight in evil. We delight in evil when seeing someone do something bad gives us an excuse to boast of our own innocence: “Well, at least I don't do that!” The whole truth is that we might have wanted to do that evil, but the fact that no one wanted to do that evil with us isn't mentioned. The whole truth is that we have done other evil things isn't expressed.
But the whole truth is that Christ died for all our sins. No matter how great the evil, Christ carried it on His cross. In the case of a fallen Christian caught in a sin, we rejoice with Jesus who came to live in that Christian by the message of grace and pardon.
This is love. Do newly-weds need to hear about this kind of love on their wedding day? Of course. What they don't need to hear is a counterfeit version of 1 Corinthians 13, which the pastor has sugar-coated it with sentiment.
Whether you're married or single, seeking the best interests of others is hard. Without Christ taking our place in life and in death, it would be impossible. But He live and die for us. He did rise from the dead for us. This is love.
Amen.
May 2, 2010
Christian Love Make Choices
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
In just over a month my family will head to Wisconsin for a wedding. When I go to weddings, I like to keep a mental checklist of things that will happen: everyone will rise when the bride walks down the aisle, the pastor will talk about love during his sermon, the best man will tell some embarrassing stories about the groom, and they will play the Chicken Dance at the reception. Today I'd like to discuss No. 2 on the checklist: love sermons.
I've been to some of our churches where the sermon about love was very good; I've also been to some of our churches where the sermon about love was very bad. The bad wedding sermons weren't bad because they contained heresy. No, they're bad because they talked about the wrong kind of love.
Those bad sermons talked about the kind of love that is sentimental and sugary. It's the love that gushes and bubbles often with very real affection. But it is love that wants be loved in return. That's why is gushes and bubbles—to get as good as it gives. It is conditional love. In an honorable relationship, this kind of love is a fine thing.
But this kind of love is not mentioned in 1 Corinthians 13. And that's what makes a bad wedding sermon—to talk about the sugary kind of love and then quote 1 Corinthians 13, which talks about a very different kind of love.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
The love that St. Paul expresses here is love that seeks the best interests of the one who is loved. It's the love that God has for sinners. It's the love that forgiven sinners have for one another. This kind of love is not headquartered in our emotions; it lives in our will. Therefore, this kind of love isn't about attraction, but action. This is love that makes choices.
God the Father has this kind of love for sinners. His love acted. He chose to love us. He chose to seek out our best interests. He sent His Son to be perfect for us. Jesus did exactly that for 40 weeks plus 33 years. And then He died for us. Jesus lived and died as our replacement. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us that God made [Jesus] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God. Jesus' self-sacrificing love reached out and yanked us out of hell.
John summed up the kind of love that Jesus has for us: This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:10-11)
Jesus' love for us is also expressed in Ephesians: Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1-2)
So now I want to you to go out and love your enemies. Go out and love that jerk at work. Go out and love that bully at school. Go home and love that mean sibling. But how? How can I love someone that hates me?
Great question. I'm not asking you to like your enemy. I'm not asking you to have affection for your enemy or to create a warm fuzzy feeling for them in your heart. Nope. Jesus wants us to look out for the best interests of everyone, even people who detest you. What is in everyone's best interest? To repent of their selfish ways and be baptized into the family of Christ.
So love your enemy. And remember that this kind of love is also kind and patient. This assumes that people in our lives put our kindness and patience to the test. And they do. Maybe your husband is a hit-or-miss listener, who can't recall your conversation from just yesterday. Being kind and patient is hard when your spouse does this for 673 yesterdays.
It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. The apostle is not telling us that love is indifferent to wrong. Earlier in 1 Corinthians Paul sharply rebuked the congregation for its indifference toward a man who was living with his father's wife. Paul is speaking about love that forgets about self and seeks out the best interests of the one loved, even when that requires discipline.
A wise parent knows that love and discipline go hand in hand. But they also know that they should never discipline while they are angry. But they also know that that love without discipline isn't love. So discipline without being rude!
A friend who's been wronged by another friend often enjoys the process of yelling at his friend, especially if the offender is guilty of a repeat offense Then “discipline” becomes self-seeking and becomes unloving because the best interests of the offending friend are forgotten. Discipline without dredging up the past!
Paul continues: Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. Yes, there are many in our society who love being bad. But you can delight in evil without even doing it! Some take perverse pleasure in watching others do evil things. But there other ways to delight in evil. We delight in evil when seeing someone do something bad gives us an excuse to boast of our own innocence: “Well, at least I don't do that!” The whole truth is that we might have wanted to do that evil, but the fact that no one wanted to do that evil with us isn't mentioned. The whole truth is that we have done other evil things isn't expressed.
But the whole truth is that Christ died for all our sins. No matter how great the evil, Christ carried it on His cross. In the case of a fallen Christian caught in a sin, we rejoice with Jesus who came to live in that Christian by the message of grace and pardon.
This is love. Do newly-weds need to hear about this kind of love on their wedding day? Of course. What they don't need to hear is a counterfeit version of 1 Corinthians 13, which the pastor has sugar-coated it with sentiment.
Whether you're married or single, seeking the best interests of others is hard. Without Christ taking our place in life and in death, it would be impossible. But He live and die for us. He did rise from the dead for us. This is love.
Amen.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Commemoration of St. Mark, Evangelist
St. Mark, Evangelist
April 25, 2010
How God Used a Quitter
Acts 15:36-41
Mark was a quitter, from a long ling of quitters in the Bible.
There was Moses who was desparate to quit before he even began... the work God commanded him to do. When the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses tried to excuse himself from leading the Hebrews slaves out of Egypt. For example Moses' fourth excuse, which was quite clever, went like this: “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)
We read about the prophet Elijah who was on the run from Queen Jezebel who was trying to kill him. Elijah ended up in the desert under a broom tree and said, ”I have had enough, Lord” (see 1 Kings 19:4).
And who can forget Peter quitting Jesus not once, not twice, but three times? Peter pretended that he didn't know Jesus while Jesus was been introgated by the Jewish leaders. [Peter called] down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don't know this man you're talking about” (Mark 14:71).
Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark. Mark abandoned Paul just before Paul headed off to southern Turkey to tell people about Jesus there. Instead of going with Paul, Mark (also known as John) went home: From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Mark quit.
We know a few things about Mark. His family in Jerusalem must have been rather well-to-do because their home was used as a church, a place for early Christians to gather and pray. We learn of this house church when an angel of God broke Peter out of prison. (Peter had been thrown in jail because he was telling people about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.) When Peter finally realized this jail break was real and not a dream, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying (Acts 12:12).
So we're pretty sure that Mark was a rich young man. Dr. Peter Scaer thinks that perhaps Mark was the infamous rich young man in Mark 10. Here's what happened:
As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call Me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:17-22)
Dr. Scaer also thinks that Mark is the young man who ran away from Jesus after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized Him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. (Mark 14:51-52)
Bottom line is that we don't know if Mark really was the rich young man or the young man in Gethsemane. But we do know that Mark quit on Paul when Paul was counting on him.
Mark reminds us of ourselves. He is a man who lived a comfortable life. If he was the rich young man, he wasn't a dilettante. He didn't dabble in religion. He took it seriously. But his involvement was at his own pace and leisure. As long as he decided what commandments he wanted to follow, he did well. When Christ asked him to take all of God's Word seriously, then he walked away.
As long as I ask you to do things I already know you are doing, everything's fine. As long as I encourage you to do things that are easy, no problem. We can go about our business of “church” and everybody's happy.
The devil is delighted when the sermon never probes too deeply into the Ten Commandments. As people set free by Christ's blood, are you being faithful to God and putting Him as the priority above everything and everyone else? Is one hour and 10 minutes the limit of our time in God's Word every week? The question needs to be asked, and only you can answer that question. But please be honest with yourself when you answer it.
If Mark is the rich young man and the young man in Gethsemane, then Mark abandoning Paul was the third time that Mark had bailed on Jesus. Mark kept quitting when he was asked the hard questions.
Jesus said, not to Mark in particular, but to all who follow Him: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:34-36)
Mark was a quitter. But here's the thing that's really amazing. God used this quitter to double the spread of the Gospel. What happened? Paul and Barnabas were planning another trip to tell people about Jesus.
Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41)
Instead of just going to the island of Cyprus or just to Syria and Cilicia, they split up and did missionary work in both places! This wouldn't have happened without Mark's history of quitting. Time and time again God uses quitters to serve His purpose of telling people about the Savior from sin. Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark—quitters who served God's purpose.
Moses took God's people to the Promised Land. Elijah stood up to evil pagan kings and queens. Peter confessed Christ to the Jews and Gentiles. And Mark wrote one of the Gospels, one of the historical accounts of the life of Christ.
And later in life, Mark left his quitting ways behind, and was a faithful helper to Paul and to Peter.
Paul wrote:
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (Colossians 4:10)
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11)
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. (Philemon 1:24)
And Peter wrote:
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. (1 Peter 5:13)
Mark gave up. So do we. To our great shame, we all quit, we all run away from our crosses when it suits us. But Jesus never quits. Remember the hidden glory of the cross? Jesus walked to His cross and never ran away from it. He didn't quit so that He might wash your sins away in Baptism, Communion, and Absolution. Through these Means of Grace, He sends His Holy Spirit to bring us into and keep us in His family, along with Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
April 25, 2010
How God Used a Quitter
Acts 15:36-41
Mark was a quitter, from a long ling of quitters in the Bible.
There was Moses who was desparate to quit before he even began... the work God commanded him to do. When the Lord spoke to Moses from the burning bush, Moses tried to excuse himself from leading the Hebrews slaves out of Egypt. For example Moses' fourth excuse, which was quite clever, went like this: “O Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.” (Exodus 4:10)
We read about the prophet Elijah who was on the run from Queen Jezebel who was trying to kill him. Elijah ended up in the desert under a broom tree and said, ”I have had enough, Lord” (see 1 Kings 19:4).
And who can forget Peter quitting Jesus not once, not twice, but three times? Peter pretended that he didn't know Jesus while Jesus was been introgated by the Jewish leaders. [Peter called] down curses on himself, and he swore to them, “I don't know this man you're talking about” (Mark 14:71).
Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark. Mark abandoned Paul just before Paul headed off to southern Turkey to tell people about Jesus there. Instead of going with Paul, Mark (also known as John) went home: From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). Mark quit.
We know a few things about Mark. His family in Jerusalem must have been rather well-to-do because their home was used as a church, a place for early Christians to gather and pray. We learn of this house church when an angel of God broke Peter out of prison. (Peter had been thrown in jail because he was telling people about Jesus' crucifixion and resurrection.) When Peter finally realized this jail break was real and not a dream, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying (Acts 12:12).
So we're pretty sure that Mark was a rich young man. Dr. Peter Scaer thinks that perhaps Mark was the infamous rich young man in Mark 10. Here's what happened:
As Jesus started on His way, a man ran up to Him and fell on his knees before Him. "Good teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"Why do you call Me good?" Jesus answered. "No one is good—except God alone. You know the commandments: 'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, do not defraud, honor your father and mother.'"
"Teacher," he declared, "all these I have kept since I was a boy."
Jesus looked at him and loved him. "One thing you lack," he said. "Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me."
At this the man's face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth. (Mark 10:17-22)
Dr. Scaer also thinks that Mark is the young man who ran away from Jesus after Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane. A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized Him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. (Mark 14:51-52)
Bottom line is that we don't know if Mark really was the rich young man or the young man in Gethsemane. But we do know that Mark quit on Paul when Paul was counting on him.
Mark reminds us of ourselves. He is a man who lived a comfortable life. If he was the rich young man, he wasn't a dilettante. He didn't dabble in religion. He took it seriously. But his involvement was at his own pace and leisure. As long as he decided what commandments he wanted to follow, he did well. When Christ asked him to take all of God's Word seriously, then he walked away.
As long as I ask you to do things I already know you are doing, everything's fine. As long as I encourage you to do things that are easy, no problem. We can go about our business of “church” and everybody's happy.
The devil is delighted when the sermon never probes too deeply into the Ten Commandments. As people set free by Christ's blood, are you being faithful to God and putting Him as the priority above everything and everyone else? Is one hour and 10 minutes the limit of our time in God's Word every week? The question needs to be asked, and only you can answer that question. But please be honest with yourself when you answer it.
If Mark is the rich young man and the young man in Gethsemane, then Mark abandoning Paul was the third time that Mark had bailed on Jesus. Mark kept quitting when he was asked the hard questions.
Jesus said, not to Mark in particular, but to all who follow Him: “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?” (Mark 8:34-36)
Mark was a quitter. But here's the thing that's really amazing. God used this quitter to double the spread of the Gospel. What happened? Paul and Barnabas were planning another trip to tell people about Jesus.
Paul said to Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches. (Acts 15:36-41)
Instead of just going to the island of Cyprus or just to Syria and Cilicia, they split up and did missionary work in both places! This wouldn't have happened without Mark's history of quitting. Time and time again God uses quitters to serve His purpose of telling people about the Savior from sin. Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark—quitters who served God's purpose.
Moses took God's people to the Promised Land. Elijah stood up to evil pagan kings and queens. Peter confessed Christ to the Jews and Gentiles. And Mark wrote one of the Gospels, one of the historical accounts of the life of Christ.
And later in life, Mark left his quitting ways behind, and was a faithful helper to Paul and to Peter.
Paul wrote:
My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (Colossians 4:10)
Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. (2 Timothy 4:11)
And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke, my fellow workers. (Philemon 1:24)
And Peter wrote:
She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. (1 Peter 5:13)
Mark gave up. So do we. To our great shame, we all quit, we all run away from our crosses when it suits us. But Jesus never quits. Remember the hidden glory of the cross? Jesus walked to His cross and never ran away from it. He didn't quit so that He might wash your sins away in Baptism, Communion, and Absolution. Through these Means of Grace, He sends His Holy Spirit to bring us into and keep us in His family, along with Moses, Elijah, Peter, and Mark.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Third Sunday of Easter
Third Sunday of Easter
April 18, 2010
Why Is Everybody Singing?
Revelation 5:1-14
John is crying.
In this vision that Jesus reveals to him, John, the last remaining apostle, sees a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). (These seals made out of wax served to keep out unwanted readers, like a lock on your diary or a password to your email.) John is crying because no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it (Revelation 5:3).
What does scroll represent? It represents the future. And that is why John is crying. He is crying because no human can predict the future.
No one can see the future. But many try. There are harmless meteorologists and Vulcanologists who use science to guess when the volcanic ash over Europe is going to settle down. Their guess: no idea. Then there are palm readers who crop up in every town, making money off of desperate people and people who think it's harmless fun. Then there are daily horoscopes, whose vague guesses can be “correct” most of the time—you will meet someone new on Tuesday.
On the Galilean seashore the disciples tried to predict the future: Peter turned and saw that [John] the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (John 21:20-23) The disciples were trying to predict the future by saying the John was immortal. While John lived longer than any of them (since almost of them were killed for following Jesus), John eventually died. Yet another failed prediction.
But we try to predict the future, too. We do this by assuming that everything is going to stay the same or get better. So when a business plan that we thought couldn't fail, fails, we cry. When we retirement fund goes in the tank, we cry. When we attend the funeral of someone we cared about, we cry. When our congregation always seems to be shrinking, we cry.
When we predict the future today, we'll only hurt ourselves tomorrow. Why? Well, why was John crying? No one could open the seals and read the scroll. That is to say, no human being can predict the future. This made John sad.
But then what happened? Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." (Revelation 5:5)
Who is this Lion? Aside from the immediate context, we also have other clues from the Scripture. Moses recorded Jacob's words to one of his sons: “You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” (Genesis 49:9-10) And in Hebrews 7:14 we read, “For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah.” The Lion is Jesus.
Who is the Root of David? Isaiah recorded it first and later Paul quoted Isaiah's prediction: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit... In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1,10 qtd. by Paul in Romans 15) This prediction helps us when we note that Jesse is David's dad. Jesse, then David, skipping down to Josiah, then Hezekiah, down to Mary and Joseph. The Root of David is Jesus.
And Jesus is able to open the scroll. He is able to predict the future because the future has been given to Him by His Father: He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne (Revelation 5:7).
The future is in Jesus' hands. Remember how Jesus sums up our Easter joy: Don't be afraid! (Matthew 28:10) Though we still will cry when a believer we care about dies, our tears are not hopeless ones. We can predict the future because Christ has predicted the future for that dearly departed believer. He told Nicodemus that whoever believes in Him is not condemned (John 3:18).
When a business plan or retirement fund goes bust, we may cry. But our hope in the future will help us to not be afraid because we know that even if we end up living in a shack down by the river eating a diet of government cheese, Jesus has died for you. His Holy Spirit has washed your sins away.
We trust in Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb in this vision. This is imagery with which we are familiar. Isaiah described Jesus in this prophecy: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And who can speak of His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:7-8)
God's Lamb was sacrificed to save us. This is the good news that washes our sins away. So instead of crying that never ends, we cry and then we join in the song of praise to our Savior.
This song that sings of what Jesus has done for us gets bigger all the time. Every time a new believer is baptized, we thank Jesus. Whenever we hear a young believer confess their trust in Jesus, we rejoice in Christ. Whenever a believer dies in the Lord, we cry out our praise to the Lamb of God.
The chorus started small. Just the repentant Adam and Eve and the faithful angels. But throughout the course of history, which belongs to Jesus, the chorus is a little louder. With every re-birth, with every birth into eternity, it get louder. And it'll keep getting louder and louder until at the end of history, every creature will bow down before God's Lamb and sing:
"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)
Amen.
April 18, 2010
Why Is Everybody Singing?
Revelation 5:1-14
John is crying.
In this vision that Jesus reveals to him, John, the last remaining apostle, sees a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals (Revelation 5:1). (These seals made out of wax served to keep out unwanted readers, like a lock on your diary or a password to your email.) John is crying because no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it (Revelation 5:3).
What does scroll represent? It represents the future. And that is why John is crying. He is crying because no human can predict the future.
No one can see the future. But many try. There are harmless meteorologists and Vulcanologists who use science to guess when the volcanic ash over Europe is going to settle down. Their guess: no idea. Then there are palm readers who crop up in every town, making money off of desperate people and people who think it's harmless fun. Then there are daily horoscopes, whose vague guesses can be “correct” most of the time—you will meet someone new on Tuesday.
On the Galilean seashore the disciples tried to predict the future: Peter turned and saw that [John] the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them... When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?" Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow Me." Because of this, the rumor spread among the brothers that this disciple would not die. But Jesus did not say that he would not die; He only said, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (John 21:20-23) The disciples were trying to predict the future by saying the John was immortal. While John lived longer than any of them (since almost of them were killed for following Jesus), John eventually died. Yet another failed prediction.
But we try to predict the future, too. We do this by assuming that everything is going to stay the same or get better. So when a business plan that we thought couldn't fail, fails, we cry. When we retirement fund goes in the tank, we cry. When we attend the funeral of someone we cared about, we cry. When our congregation always seems to be shrinking, we cry.
When we predict the future today, we'll only hurt ourselves tomorrow. Why? Well, why was John crying? No one could open the seals and read the scroll. That is to say, no human being can predict the future. This made John sad.
But then what happened? Then one of the elders said to me, "Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." (Revelation 5:5)
Who is this Lion? Aside from the immediate context, we also have other clues from the Scripture. Moses recorded Jacob's words to one of his sons: “You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his.” (Genesis 49:9-10) And in Hebrews 7:14 we read, “For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah.” The Lion is Jesus.
Who is the Root of David? Isaiah recorded it first and later Paul quoted Isaiah's prediction: A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit... In that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his place of rest will be glorious. (Isaiah 11:1,10 qtd. by Paul in Romans 15) This prediction helps us when we note that Jesse is David's dad. Jesse, then David, skipping down to Josiah, then Hezekiah, down to Mary and Joseph. The Root of David is Jesus.
And Jesus is able to open the scroll. He is able to predict the future because the future has been given to Him by His Father: He came and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne (Revelation 5:7).
The future is in Jesus' hands. Remember how Jesus sums up our Easter joy: Don't be afraid! (Matthew 28:10) Though we still will cry when a believer we care about dies, our tears are not hopeless ones. We can predict the future because Christ has predicted the future for that dearly departed believer. He told Nicodemus that whoever believes in Him is not condemned (John 3:18).
When a business plan or retirement fund goes bust, we may cry. But our hope in the future will help us to not be afraid because we know that even if we end up living in a shack down by the river eating a diet of government cheese, Jesus has died for you. His Holy Spirit has washed your sins away.
We trust in Jesus. Jesus is the Lamb in this vision. This is imagery with which we are familiar. Isaiah described Jesus in this prophecy: He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth; He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth. By oppression and judgment He was taken away. And who can speak of His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was stricken. (Isaiah 53:7-8)
God's Lamb was sacrificed to save us. This is the good news that washes our sins away. So instead of crying that never ends, we cry and then we join in the song of praise to our Savior.
This song that sings of what Jesus has done for us gets bigger all the time. Every time a new believer is baptized, we thank Jesus. Whenever we hear a young believer confess their trust in Jesus, we rejoice in Christ. Whenever a believer dies in the Lord, we cry out our praise to the Lamb of God.
The chorus started small. Just the repentant Adam and Eve and the faithful angels. But throughout the course of history, which belongs to Jesus, the chorus is a little louder. With every re-birth, with every birth into eternity, it get louder. And it'll keep getting louder and louder until at the end of history, every creature will bow down before God's Lamb and sing:
"To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)
Amen.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Second Sunday of Easter
Second Sunday of Easter
April 11, 2010
To Forgive Or Not To Forgive
John 20:23
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear friends of Jesus,
On the first Easter evening Jesus appeared to His friends to assure them that He indeed was alive. Because He died and rose, all of His friends have the guarantee that their sins are forgiven. His death is actual payment to God that pays for our sins; His resurrection is the confirmation that the payment was accepted.
In addition to this joyful news, He gave this command to all of His friends:
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:23)
Is Jesus talking to you? Are you His friend? Absolutely! He made you His friend through your Baptism, which washed away your sins. And as Jesus' friends, you belong to a church that takes Jesus' words seriously. Jesus gave His church some special jobs to do. One of them has to do with the forgiveness of sins. Sometimes we'll forgive someone's sin. Other times we won't be able to forgive them. How do we know when to do which?
Derek is 25 years old. (Please note that Derek could be 55 or 85 or 15.) He was confirmed here when he was 14. During his confirmation he promised to take God's Word seriously, including God's Third Commandment to honor God by coming to church regularly to hear about Jesus. For several years no one has seen Derek in church. So we know that Derek is sinning against God by not taking His Word seriously.
As a church we have three options:
(1)out of indifference or fear, ignore Derek's sin;
(2)out of spite, talk about Derek's sin, but do nothing;
(3)or out of love, find Derek and rebuke him.
Too often we ignore sin or gossip about it. Not so often do we do the hard thing and rebuke sin wherever it shows up.
We are pretty good at rebuking our children's mischief. Our motive for warning our children is love. They need boundaries and lines that they can't cross. This is for their own good.
But why is mischief against God so different? I think we are mostly terrified that when we rebuke clear cases of sin by others, they will rage out at us and accuse us of being judgmental. (Being judgmental is the only dirty word left in our culture.) They will claim that their outrage is based on the Bible and they'll probably quote the one verse of Scripture they know, namely Matthew 7:1.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
But when you keep reading what Jesus is saying and you see this verse in context, you'll realize that to use this verse as some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card is ridiculous.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you... first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:2,5)
What is Jesus doing here? He's rebuking sinners!! He's judging them! He's telling them to stop being smug self-righteous lovers of sin. And Jesus is clear that we are to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Here the word “speck” means sin and the word “brother” means the people in your life.)
The devil's trick is make everyone think that any sort of judging is automatically judgmental. That is a lie, and a very good one. Jesus commands us to judge out of love and that is what we do. Rebuking sin does not make you a hypocrite, because even though you are indeed a terrible sinner, Jesus has forgiven you with His death on the cross and confirmed this forgiveness with His empty tomb!
Back to Derek. We want him to cling to the forgiveness that Jesus won for us on the cross. So out of love we find him and listen to him. He tells us that he still wants to be a member, but he doesn't have any interest in church. Although he doesn't work on Sundays, he tells us that he isn't going to gather around God's Word and Sacraments on Sunday morning.
In this made-up example, we absolutely positively cannot forgive him because we care about him. If we tell him that what he is doing is okay, then we've stamped his ticket to hell. By refusing to call sin what it is is the devil's job. Our job is to call sin what it is. If we don't, we are doing the work of the devil.
In the months and years ahead, your elders and I will continue to do God's work. When someone hasn't been to God's house for a long time, we'll try to find them and ask them what's wrong. Perhaps there is a legitimate reason for their situation. We will help them.
But if there is no good reason for them to stay away from church, then in a respectful tone I have to tell them that they are sinning and they are not forgiven as long as they refuse to repent and continue in their sin. If they continue to despise God's Word and worshiping Him, we must discipline that person and in the end we may have to end their membership in our church.
All of these steps are meant to wake them up. We want them to see how seriously we take their sin, so that they will wake up and take their sin seriously and repent and then we will joyfully forgive them and no longer remember their sin. We want them to turn away from the hell's road and return to the narrow road to heaven, as Jesus says:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
This is the road to life that Jesus earned for us on the cross. Often our cross is suffering the hate of those we rebuke and sometime the hatred of their friends and families. But we suffer for Jesus out of love for Him and for them, for we want them to be with us in the presence of Jesus, not for 40 days, not for 3 years, but for ever and ever.
Peace be with you!
Amen.
April 11, 2010
To Forgive Or Not To Forgive
John 20:23
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear friends of Jesus,
On the first Easter evening Jesus appeared to His friends to assure them that He indeed was alive. Because He died and rose, all of His friends have the guarantee that their sins are forgiven. His death is actual payment to God that pays for our sins; His resurrection is the confirmation that the payment was accepted.
In addition to this joyful news, He gave this command to all of His friends:
If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven. (John 20:23)
Is Jesus talking to you? Are you His friend? Absolutely! He made you His friend through your Baptism, which washed away your sins. And as Jesus' friends, you belong to a church that takes Jesus' words seriously. Jesus gave His church some special jobs to do. One of them has to do with the forgiveness of sins. Sometimes we'll forgive someone's sin. Other times we won't be able to forgive them. How do we know when to do which?
Derek is 25 years old. (Please note that Derek could be 55 or 85 or 15.) He was confirmed here when he was 14. During his confirmation he promised to take God's Word seriously, including God's Third Commandment to honor God by coming to church regularly to hear about Jesus. For several years no one has seen Derek in church. So we know that Derek is sinning against God by not taking His Word seriously.
As a church we have three options:
(1)out of indifference or fear, ignore Derek's sin;
(2)out of spite, talk about Derek's sin, but do nothing;
(3)or out of love, find Derek and rebuke him.
Too often we ignore sin or gossip about it. Not so often do we do the hard thing and rebuke sin wherever it shows up.
We are pretty good at rebuking our children's mischief. Our motive for warning our children is love. They need boundaries and lines that they can't cross. This is for their own good.
But why is mischief against God so different? I think we are mostly terrified that when we rebuke clear cases of sin by others, they will rage out at us and accuse us of being judgmental. (Being judgmental is the only dirty word left in our culture.) They will claim that their outrage is based on the Bible and they'll probably quote the one verse of Scripture they know, namely Matthew 7:1.
Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
But when you keep reading what Jesus is saying and you see this verse in context, you'll realize that to use this verse as some sort of get-out-of-jail-free card is ridiculous.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you... first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:2,5)
What is Jesus doing here? He's rebuking sinners!! He's judging them! He's telling them to stop being smug self-righteous lovers of sin. And Jesus is clear that we are to remove the speck from your brother's eye. (Here the word “speck” means sin and the word “brother” means the people in your life.)
The devil's trick is make everyone think that any sort of judging is automatically judgmental. That is a lie, and a very good one. Jesus commands us to judge out of love and that is what we do. Rebuking sin does not make you a hypocrite, because even though you are indeed a terrible sinner, Jesus has forgiven you with His death on the cross and confirmed this forgiveness with His empty tomb!
Back to Derek. We want him to cling to the forgiveness that Jesus won for us on the cross. So out of love we find him and listen to him. He tells us that he still wants to be a member, but he doesn't have any interest in church. Although he doesn't work on Sundays, he tells us that he isn't going to gather around God's Word and Sacraments on Sunday morning.
In this made-up example, we absolutely positively cannot forgive him because we care about him. If we tell him that what he is doing is okay, then we've stamped his ticket to hell. By refusing to call sin what it is is the devil's job. Our job is to call sin what it is. If we don't, we are doing the work of the devil.
In the months and years ahead, your elders and I will continue to do God's work. When someone hasn't been to God's house for a long time, we'll try to find them and ask them what's wrong. Perhaps there is a legitimate reason for their situation. We will help them.
But if there is no good reason for them to stay away from church, then in a respectful tone I have to tell them that they are sinning and they are not forgiven as long as they refuse to repent and continue in their sin. If they continue to despise God's Word and worshiping Him, we must discipline that person and in the end we may have to end their membership in our church.
All of these steps are meant to wake them up. We want them to see how seriously we take their sin, so that they will wake up and take their sin seriously and repent and then we will joyfully forgive them and no longer remember their sin. We want them to turn away from the hell's road and return to the narrow road to heaven, as Jesus says:
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:13-14)
This is the road to life that Jesus earned for us on the cross. Often our cross is suffering the hate of those we rebuke and sometime the hatred of their friends and families. But we suffer for Jesus out of love for Him and for them, for we want them to be with us in the presence of Jesus, not for 40 days, not for 3 years, but for ever and ever.
Peace be with you!
Amen.
Monday, April 5, 2010
The Festival of the Resurrection of our Lord
Resurrection Sunday
April 4, 2010
Behold the Hidden Glory of the Cross!
It Is Hidden Even in the Savior's Triumph
He's risen! He's risen indeed! Listen to the report of the resurrection and let your heart be filled with undiluted joy and unmixed gladness:
Luke 24:1-12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
All throughout Lent we have been looking for the hidden glory of the cross. Today that glory reaches it climax. But, as we noticed throughout Lent, the glory is hidden. It is hidden even now.
Do we see Jesus shining in glory at the tomb? No. It's two of His angels. Jesus' glorious moment of resurrection is hidden from sight. No one sees it. Even when Jesus does appear to His followers He graciously doesn't appear in His glory. The reason is why is Jesus' love for His friends.
See how the women reacted to the angels at the tomb. Remember how the Peter, James, and John were scared out of their wits on Transfiguration Mountain. If Jesus had appeared to them in His glory, they would have died of fright. So again Jesus displays His love by hiding His glory.
And see how Jesus sums up the joy of Easter with a few simple words: “Don't be afraid.” Because Jesus paid for our sin on Friday and the Father acknowledges that payment today, we never have to be afraid again.
See how gentle Jesus is with us. Instead of blasting into the disciples' hide out without warning, He has the women report what they saw and heard at the garden tomb. He has the two men who were on their way to Emmaus return to Jerusalem after He speaks with them on the road.
Jesus wants all His followers to depend on His Word. That is where you uncover the glory of Easter. You find it in the Word. You find it in the Sacraments. Jesus' Words tell us that He forgives us and Jesus' and Sacraments forgive us.
So don't be afraid, dear brothers and sisters of Jesus, for HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! AMEN!
April 4, 2010
Behold the Hidden Glory of the Cross!
It Is Hidden Even in the Savior's Triumph
He's risen! He's risen indeed! Listen to the report of the resurrection and let your heart be filled with undiluted joy and unmixed gladness:
Luke 24:1-12
On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.
While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, "Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.' " Then they remembered his words.
When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles.
But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.
All throughout Lent we have been looking for the hidden glory of the cross. Today that glory reaches it climax. But, as we noticed throughout Lent, the glory is hidden. It is hidden even now.
Do we see Jesus shining in glory at the tomb? No. It's two of His angels. Jesus' glorious moment of resurrection is hidden from sight. No one sees it. Even when Jesus does appear to His followers He graciously doesn't appear in His glory. The reason is why is Jesus' love for His friends.
See how the women reacted to the angels at the tomb. Remember how the Peter, James, and John were scared out of their wits on Transfiguration Mountain. If Jesus had appeared to them in His glory, they would have died of fright. So again Jesus displays His love by hiding His glory.
And see how Jesus sums up the joy of Easter with a few simple words: “Don't be afraid.” Because Jesus paid for our sin on Friday and the Father acknowledges that payment today, we never have to be afraid again.
See how gentle Jesus is with us. Instead of blasting into the disciples' hide out without warning, He has the women report what they saw and heard at the garden tomb. He has the two men who were on their way to Emmaus return to Jerusalem after He speaks with them on the road.
Jesus wants all His followers to depend on His Word. That is where you uncover the glory of Easter. You find it in the Word. You find it in the Sacraments. Jesus' Words tell us that He forgives us and Jesus' and Sacraments forgive us.
So don't be afraid, dear brothers and sisters of Jesus, for HE IS RISEN! HE IS RISEN INDEED! ALLELUIA! AMEN!
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