Monday, May 28, 2018
Wednesday, May 23, 2018
To the Glory of God!
Romans 11:33-36 The words of Scripture that we have
before this morning as the text for our meditation stand as the dividing line
between the two major sections of Paul’s letter to the Romans. They are praise and thanksgiving for what has
come before in this letter—and they are the foundation and motivation for what
follows.
What comes before
these words is the whole story of our salvation: our sin—the impossibility of saving ourselves
by works of the law—the sacrifice of Jesus that has reconciled us to God—the
gift of Word and Sacraments that the Spirit uses to bring us to faith—the peace
and comfort that comes from knowing that we are saved-- and the promise that
nothing can separate us form God’s love.
These words of
praise and awe are the voice of every Christian who sees and understands just
exactly the greatness of God’s love for us in Jesus Christ: Oh,
the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
What follows these
words is the call to Christian living—that we do the things that God asks of
us—not out of fear or some sense of burdensome obligation—but out of profound,
heartfelt gratitude for what God has done for us-- and so these words are the
motivation and foundation for the Christian life: Oh,
the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
The words of our
text are perfectly suited for Trinity Sunday—the only Sunday of the church year
devoted to a doctrine-- because they
call us, not so much to probe the inner workings of the Holy Trinity, but to
praise him and stand in awe and wonder at the greatness and goodness of our
Savior God. Inspired by the Holy Spirit,
Paul wrote: Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
In the first few
chapters of Romans Paul sets out the human condition: the poverty of our spiritual resources—our
foolish trust in ourselves—and our blind ignorance of those things that really
matter—just the opposite of God’s riches, wisdom, and knowledge.
He doesn’t do this
to drag us through the mud or to destroy our humanity—but to show us our great
need for a Savior God whose riches and wisdom and knowledge far exceed our own—a
Savior God who is the LORD.
Out of the riches
of his grace he showers us with blessings of both body and soul. He has given us our lives and everything we
need to support them. He has given us
his Son Jesus Christ who saved us with us with something much more precious
than gold or silver and that is his own blood.
And he continues to bless us out of the riches of his grace with the
forgiveness and peace and hope we need.
He has wisely
ordered the affairs of all creation so that all things work together for our
good. That we have life—that we have
faith—that we have an eternal future-- is only because of God’s loving wisdom
that has guided our lives each step of the way to bring us to faith and keep us
in faith and deliver us to our eternal home.
And when it comes
to knowledge, he knows us better than we could ever know ourselves. He listens to our prayers with a wise and
loving Father’s heart, granting us only those things that he knows are for our
good. He knows the plans he has for us,
plans to bless us and prosper us. And he
knows the plans of those who are opposed to him and his people and the perfect
way to work all things for our eternal good.
When we consider
the poverty of our own resources and
the riches of God’s gracious love how
can we not join our voice to that of the Apostle Paul and proclaim the praises
of the LORD, our Savior God:
Oh, the depth of the
riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How
unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
After
reviewing all that God has done for our salvation—after carefully detailing
God’s perfect plan to rescue us from sin and death—it seems odd to hear Paul
says that God’s judgments are unsearchable and his ways inscrutable. After all…
Aren’t the mighty
judgments of God matters of the historical record? The flood- and the deliverance of Israel out
of Egypt- and the rise and fall of Assyria and Babylon- and the death of Jesus-
and the destruction of Jerusalem. These
mighty judgments of the LORD are historical fact.
And aren’t the
ways of God clearly revealed in the pages of Holy Scripture? How God had a plan for our salvation from the
very beginning—how God deals graciously with men, not treating us as our sins
deserve—how God has carefully ordered salvation history over thousands of years
to bring us to a crib in Bethlehem and a cross
and an empty tomb in Jerusalem ? His saving plan is anything but hidden!
And so what does Paul mean that God’s judgments
are unsearchable and his ways inscrutable?
He means that we would never in a million years ever be able to devise
anything like it—that God’s work of creation and salvation are completely his
own and stand in stark contrast to the ways of men.
He means that we
would never in a million years be able to figure it out if God had not written
it out in the pages of Holy Scripture—that we could never know any of it if he
had not revealed it to us.
And finally he
means that we could never in a million years believe it-- if he did not work
that faith in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
We can know God
and believe in God and have a life with God—not only because God the Father has
created us-- and not only because God the Son has redeemed us-- but also
because God the Holy Spirit has done his work to cause the scriptures to be
written- and then worked in our hearts so that we can believe them and build
our lives upon them.
From beginning to
end, we are utterly dependent upon the greatness and goodness of our Savior God
for our life in this world and in the world to come and in the words that
follow, Paul wants to make sure that we recognize this important truth: that our life with God is wholly dependent
upon his gracious love for us. He
writes:
“For who has known
the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him that he might
be repaid?”
Paul
asks us three rhetorical questions with one obvious answer: Who has known the mind of the Lord? Who has been God’s counselor? Who has ever given something to God so that
God is in his debt, beholden to him? And
of course the answer to each of these questions is: No one!
The greatest
scientists who have ever lived can only discover what they can observe and
measure in God’s creation. The wisest
philosophers and smartest scholars can only hope to think God’s thoughts after
him. And there is nothing—absolutely
nothing-- that we can offer up to God that he has not first bestowed upon us as
a gift of his gracious love.
This does not mean
that the achievements and accomplishments of man do not matter—it simply means
that we recognize our limits as creatures so that we can stand in awe of the
greatness of our Creator and the goodness of his love for us and understand that: the story of God’s love for the world and for
us begins and ends in him—not in us.
Paul said: For from HIM and through HIM and to HIM are all things.
In the beginning,
when God called forth the world into existence and created man, it was his own
love—the love that existed between the three person of the Holy Trinity- that
brought us forth. True love is always
creative and life-giving!
It was love that
caused God to send his Son into the world to be our Savior and it was love that
caused the Holy Spirit to take us (who were God’s enemies by nature) and make
us God’s children.
Our life with God
has come from him and through him and (thanks be to God) it is
leading back to him.
When Adam and Eve
sinned the very first thing they did was flee from God and that was the
direction of sinful man and a broken creation from then on.
But that all
changed when Jesus rose from the dead.
The entire direction of the cosmos has been changed from destruction and
death-- towards a new heaven and earth and life everlasting for God’s people.
When we look at a
broken world, and when we see the suffering around us, and when we experience
our own frailty, we don’t have to despair because we know the direction that it
is all going and that is back to God—back to the way it was in the beginning
where God and man lived together in perfect fellowship—back to a beautiful,
untarnished creation, back to life without end.
All things are
from God the Father and have been redeemed through God the Son and are going
back to God by the power of the Holy Spirit and that perfect plan is what
inspired Paul to write these words of praise to give the LORD, our Savior God all
the glory for his great goodness. He
said: To him be glory forever. Amen.
As Christian
people we are called to glorify God in all that we say and do. This means that first of all we believe in
him and trust him and confess him truly.
When we confess
our faith in the creeds, like we do today in the Athanasian Creed, it is not
some burdensome duty. Instead, it is our
chief delight to confess that we know who God is and what he has done for us. There is nothing more important or meaningful
in our lives than these two things!
That we give him
the glory means that our entire lives are given over to his service—our worship
first of all-- but also our work and our leisure and our family and our
marriages—all of our day-to-day life is lived out in such a way that God is
given the praise and adoration and thanks that are rightfully his,
Trinity Sunday is
not set aside for the explanation of some dry doctrine with little connection
to our lives. It is set aside for the
praise and worship and confession of the one true God who has made himself
known to us as our Creator and Redeemer and Sanctifier so that we might live
with him forever. Amen.
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Wednesday, May 16, 2018
Taught by the Spirit, We Keep Christ's Words
John 14:23-31 Each
week we confess our Christian faith in the words of the creed. We confess that we believe in one, holy,
Christian and apostolic church. When we confess that the church is “apostolic”
we are saying that we believe what the apostles believed. But there is even more to being apostolic than
that!
The root of the word “Apostolic” is
the verb “to send”. From the very
beginning of the Christian church, believers in Jesus were sent out into the
world with the Good News of salvation.
That was true of the apostles and it is also true of every Christian
since then. Each of us have a part in
the mission of the church for the sake of the world’s salvation.
The words that we have before us for our meditation this morning
were spoken by Jesus in the Upper Room after he instituted the Lord’s
Supper. As meaningful as that moment
was, it was not meant to be an end unto itself.
After the supper was ended Jesus said:
“Rise, let us go from here!” Forgiven of their sins, instructed by Jesus,
fed by the body and blood of Christ, the apostles were ready for their mission
to the world.
So it is for us. Worship on
the Lord’s Day is blessing but it is not an end unto itself. Instead, it is the preparation and
strengthening we need to take our place and do our part in the Lord’s mission
by keeping his Word, sharing his peace, and confronting evil. Jesus said:
“If anyone loves me, he will keep my
word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our
home with him. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that
you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. “These things I have spoken
to you while I am still with you. But the Helper, the
Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things
and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.
We are going to hear this theme
again next week—that a big part of Christian discipleship, of following Jesus
as Lord and Savior, of our life with God—is keeping and guarding the words of
Jesus. Our faith and the Lord’s mission
depends upon it!
Faith
comes from the Holy Spirit working through the Word. We believe in Jesus and have a life with God
because the Holy Spirit has brought us to faith through the preaching of the
Gospel. The Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the
Word of God. Our saving faith in
Jesus comes through the Word of God.
Faith
is maintained in the same way—by the word.
To continue in faith we need to know what God’s will is for our life and
the direction he wants us to go and the forgiveness we have when we fail. It is necessary for our salvation to keep and
guard the words of Jesus.
But
it goes much farther than that! Keeping
and guarding the words of Jesus is necessary for the salvation of the world so
that others can hear of Jesus and come to faith!
Just
as those who keep and guard Jesus’ words are his disciples and have a life with
God—those who don’t know his Word cannot have a life with God until someone
shares Jesus.
It
was not enough that the disciples around that table in the Upper Room kept the
Word of God and were saved by faith in Jesus.
He told them, “Rise, let us go
from here” because he came to save not only them-- but the world-- and so
to every generation of Christian including us here today, he says the
same: “Rise, let us go from here.”
He
wants us to take his words of life out into the world around us and yes, we do
that in places where we cannot go through our mission giving, but we also do it
through our own personal witness. The
words of Jesus that we have kept are to be upon our lips so that those around us
can have the peace with God that we have.
Jesus says:
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give
to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be
troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will
come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to
the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I
have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place you may
believe.
I don’t have to tell you that we
live in a world that is filled with anything but peace. Instead, there is turmoil and conflict and
hatred. And that is not just true among
the family of nations—it is true among the family of man—because the nations
are merely people in a certain place who share a common language and
culture.
There
is no peace among nations- because there is no peace among men- and there is no
peace among men- because the great majority of people in the world do not know
Jesus.
So
it has always been. Jesus came into this
world in the midst of violence. A tyrant
killed dozens of babies trying to get to him.
His own people tried on numerous occasions to murder him and finally
succeeded and by the time the last apostle died, Jerusalem and its temple were
rubble. A violent world is nothing new.
But
Jesus came to bring peace—peace with God and peace between men. He did that by offering up his life as an
atoning sacrifice on the cross, his shed blood removing the wrath of God over
sin that kept us from God’s presence—so that now we have peace with God-real
and lasting- even in the midst of a violent world.
Jesus
intends that his blood-bought peace would make us agents of peace in the
world. As his disciples sat around the
table in the Upper Room, experiencing the peace that comes from knowing that they
were right with God through Christ’s body and blood—he told them: “Rise,
let us go from here!”
Let
us go from here to the garden where I will be betrayed and captured by an armed
mob. Let us go from here to the cross
where I will die a violent death. Let us
go!
And
what were the words that were spoken by the Prince of Peace in each of those violent
places? Put away your sword! Father, forgive them! Words of peace and forgiveness shared with
the world so that men could have peace with God and peace with one another.
Very
quickly in the life of the church we see how the peace that Jesus gives makes
for peace among men as Jews and Gentiles—enemies for generations—were gathered
into one church, united in the body of Christ.
In
the same way, part of our mission as disciples is to be agents of peace in the
midst of violent world in which we live.
Paul says that if possible, so far as it depends upon you, live
peaceably with all. The writer to the
Hebrews says that we are to strive for peace with everyone. And Jesus says that peacemakers are blessed.
We
become agents of peace in a violent world, first of all, by sharing the Good
News that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ. The peace that Jesus gives—the peace that
comes from knowing that our sins are forgiven and that we are right with God—is
the only peace that can heal troubled, fearful hearts.
Second
of all, we extend Jesus’ peace by living with others in ways that are gentle
and humble and caring—putting flesh and bone on the peace we have in our
hearts.
When
those around us see that kind of peaceful life in our marriages and families--
and the humble way we conduct ourselves in the workplace and school and
community—it is a compelling witness to the power of Christ to change lives for
the better—a witness that is desperately needed in this broken, evil world in
which we live. Jesus says:
I will no longer talk much with you, for the
ruler of this world is coming. He has no claim on me, but I do as the Father has
commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us
go from here.
One of the many blessings that come
with being a part of Christian congregation is that there are people around us
who share our values and concerns and priorities. We share the same understanding about what is
right and wrong and that is a comfort because often times when we look at the what
the world around us values, it seems like we are the last sane person on
earth. And so to discover that there are
others who see the world as we do is a blessing.
That night in the Upper Room the
disciples must have felt the same way.
They believed in Jesus when the vast majority of their friends and
family didn’t. They believed what Jesus
said about what is important and lasting.
It must have been a blessing to gather around that table in the Upper
Room in safety and peace.
But they weren’t allowed to stay there. Jesus said, “Rise, let us go from here!” and he said that knowing full well the
evil they would encounter from the ruler of the fallen world.
But that is exactly why Jesus sent them from that place—to confront
evil with the goodness of God!
Christians have always faced the temptation to remain a holy
huddle—people cut off from the world, content to by surrounded by others like
themselves. It certainly seems easier
and less dangerous (and it is!) if our only concern is for ourselves.
But Jesus loves the world and wants to save the world and so he sends
us out into the world to confront evil—not conform to it! Evil had no claim on Jesus and it must have
no claim on us. Our lives as his people
are to be set apart and different from the world around us as a witness to the
world. Jesus said, I do as the Father
commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father.
So it is for us! Our Christian
witness is not just the words that we say, it is how we live. Holy lives, obedient to God are our testimony
that we have a Savior who can change human lives and there is no more powerful
support to the words we say about Jesus- than the witness to give to Jesus- in
the holiness of our lives.
Before long our worship will be over but our witness will being: keeping Jesus’ words, sharing the peace of
Christ, and confronting the evil of our world with the holiness of the Lord. May God the Holy Spirit bless our witness to
Jesus! Amen.
Monday, May 14, 2018
Stewards of God's Grace
1 Peter 4:7-11 If you have your bibles open you
will see that the editors of the ESV bible have called this section of the
Bible “Stewards of Grace”—a nice little summary of what we have before us and
the title of my sermon this morning. But
what do these words mean?
A steward is
someone who manages what belongs to another.
The thing itself does not belong to the steward-- but they are free to
use it and manage it according to the values and guidelines of the owner.
That is what we
are when it comes to the gifts that God has entrusted into our hands: money, health, time, life itself—all of those
things that we call “mine”—really belong to God who has given them to us to use
and manage according to his will.
Today God tells us
of a special kind of stewardship that we have—that we are stewards of his grace. Grace is the attitude that God has towards us
on account of Jesus—his undeserved favor and love on account of his Son’s
redeeming work.
That we are stewards
of God’s grace means that God has entrusted to our hands the love that he has for
the world so that we can use that grace for the sake of others. And so then, how does that stewardship of
God’s grace takes shape in our lives in our attitudes and actions? The Bible says that: The
end of all things is at hand;
Peter
knew that Jesus could return in glory at any moment—but he also knew that with
the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousands year like a day—and
so when he wrote that the end of all
things was at hand, he wasn’t setting a date-- but he was saying that there was nothing left in the redemption story except the Lord’s return.
Everything has
been accomplished for our salvation:
Jesus has died upon the cross, risen from the dead, and ascended to the
Father and has promised to return. That is
what we are waiting for and looking forward to-- and as we wait and watch for
our Lord’s return, the Bible talks about what kind of attitude we are to
have as stewards of grace--that we are to be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of our prayers.
To be
self-controlled means that we tell ourselves “no” when it comes to doing those
things that are wrong and we must learn to “make” ourselves do what is
right. And secondly, to be sober-minded
means that we must learn to think clearly and carefully about life, guided by
God’s Word.
Just think about
the scandals that we see all around us—public and private—and how many of those
could have been avoided if the people involved had learned how to tell
themselves “no” –thought clearly and carefully about the consequences of their
actions BEFORE they did them—and made themselves do the right thing.
As stewards of
God’s grace, our will ought to be self-controlled—our thinking sober-minded—and
our hearts filled with love for others.
The Bible says: Above all, keep loving one another
earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
God’s undeserved
favor and mercy flows from Jesus’ love for us shown at the cross. And as his stewards, that same love of Christ
is to flow from us to others.
We live in a world
that needs the love of God. There are so
many hurting people—so many broken families—so many sad situations that we may
not even know about—where the love that has been given to us in Jesus would
make all the difference in the world if we would only share it with others.
The Bible says
that love covers a multitude of sins
and we see how true that is first of all in Jesus’ love for us. It is his sacrifice, given on the cross that
has covered all our sins with his blood.
That same kind of
loving sacrifice on our part is what causes us to overlook the frailty, faults
and failings in others that are a part of our common life together.
Our faith in Jesus
conforms our will to his in that we
live lives that are self-controlled. Our
faith informs our intellect in that
we are sober-thinkers. And our faith transforms our emotions so that our
hearts are filled with love for others.
It is this Christ-like attitude that shapes our actions as stewards of
God’s grace. The Bible says:
Show hospitality to one
another without grumbling. As each has
received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied
grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks
oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God
supplies…
This
list of ways that we can serve as stewards of God’s grace is not exhaustive but
it is representative of grace-filled living:
hospitality—serving—and speaking.
And so, we are going to look at those three in detail—both from
the perspective of God acting in these ways towards us-- and then us sharing
these same graces with others.
Being hospitable means that our hearts and homes are open to
others—that we are willing to make a place for others in our lives. But the root of the word in Greek means to
especially welcome a stranger—to make a place for someone who is not naturally
a part of our circle.
That of course is
what God did for us. We are not
naturally his children but his enemies.
And yet God’s heart was open and loving and he made a place for us in
his family through Jesus’ reconciling work.
When we are
hospitable to others we share this grace of welcome. In our homes and congregations and our circle
of friends we are not closed off to others but make a place for them in our
lives so that they can know there is a place for them in God’s life.
And then there’s serving. Jesus once told his
disciples that he had not come into the world TO BE served—but TO serve and to
give his life as a ransom for others.
The Bible says that we are to look out for the interests of other and
count others better than ourselves. Jesus
service cost him his life and there is a cost to us in serving others—a cost to
our pride—a costs to our wallets—a cost to our time.
But it is
especially in serving that the world can see Christ in us. All over this world today there are
Christians who are feeding others and teaching others and healing others and
caring for others in the name of Jesus Christ.
These works of
mercy help the world around us to know the Savior we follow. And the same is true much closer to
home. When mom feeds the family and dad
works overtime to support the family and the kids help out around the house—in
other words when they serve one another-- they show something very real about
the faith they have in their hearts and they allow God’s grace to bless others
around them.
And
finally the Bible talks about our speech
as a vehicle of God’s grace—certainly in telling others about Jesus in our
homes and community—but also in how we talk to one another in day-to-day life. The Bible has plenty to say about our
speech.
It instructs to
ask three questions about what comes out of our mouth: is it true?
We are forbidden by God to tell lies about our neighbor and gossip about
our neighbor and ruin his reputation.
And then, is what we’re saying loving?
Even if something is true, is it loving for us to mention it or bring it
up. Would we be embarrassed to have
friends hear how we talk to our family members?
And finally, do my words edify—that is, do they build up that other
person or tear them down? Is our speech
true and loving and edifying like God’s Word to us?
Our speech is a
powerful means of bestowing the grace of God on the lives of others when we
speak in loving, honest ways that mirrors the loving words that God has spoke
about us in his Word, encouraging, praising, and thanking others.
When we welcome
others into our home and congregation and circle of friends—when we serve those
around us to meet their needs—when we say kind things about others that build
them up rather than tear them down—we are exercising our stewardship of the
grace of God and witnessing to Jesus Christ and bringing glory to God. The Bible says that we are to do this so
that:
In everything God may
be glorified through Jesus Christ. To
him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
In
the upper room, the night before Jesus went to the cross, he lifted up his eyes
to heaven and prayed: Father, I glorified you on earth, having
accomplished the work you gave me to do.
So it is to be with our lives as stewards of God’s grace—that our lives
are dedicated to bringing glory to God by sharing his gracious love with others
just like Jesus did.
We
ought to make it our life’s goal to able to say those same words at the end of
our life: Father, I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work you gave
me to do.
The Bible says
that we who believe in Jesus Christ are God’s workmanship, created in Christ
Jesus FOR good works. This is why the
grace of God has been poured out upon us so richly in Jesus Christ—so that our
own lives would be like his, bestowing his gracious love upon others—so that they
could come to know and love him as we do.
May God bless and empower our lives as stewards of his grace. Amen.
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Our Ascended Savior
Acts 1:1-11 In the
introduction to his Gospel, Luke tells Theophilus that he is writing his
account of Jesus Christ so that Theophilus may know with certainty the things he has been taught concerning
Christianity.
We don’t know who
this Theophilus was except that in the way he was addressed as “the most
excellent Theophilus” he was very likely a person of influence. Luke is also the author of the Book of Acts
from which tonight’s text is taken and we see that this book is also addressed
to the same Theophilus, but this time his title is removed.
So what you
ask? Well just this, early Christians
did not address one another with titles such as “Most Excellent” which means
that Luke’s Gospel was the instrument that the Holy Spirit used to bring this
Theophilus to faith in Jesus--and now with his next book, Act, Luke wants to make
sure that Theophilus knows the rest of the Gospel story from the ascension onward--
which is the story of the Holy Spirit and the church.
Through these same
words, written nearly two thousand years ago, the Lord speaks to us on this
Ascension Day about those things that he wants us to know with certainty and
believe with all our heart: 1. that
Jesus is just exactly who claimed to be:
the Savior of the world—2. that this Good News of salvation is for all
people, in every place and time—3. and that Jesus will return as he
ascended: as the King of Kings and Lord
of Lords. Luke writes:
In the first book, O
Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the
day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit
to the apostles whom he had chosen. To
them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing
to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
In
these opening sentences you have a brief little summary of the contents of
Luke’s “first book”—his Gospel: the
things that Jesus did and taught—his choosing of the apostles—his suffering,
death, resurrection and ascension—and the promise of the Holy Spirit.
This is the story
of Jesus, inspired by the Holy Spirit, written down by Luke, and read by us
tonight for exactly the same purpose as it was originally written to
Theophilus: that we may know with
certainty that Jesus is who he says he is-- and that his ascension is the
visible demonstration that he has accomplished what he was sent by the Father
to do—and that knowing these things, the Holy Spirit would give us the same
measure of faith that he gave to Theophilus who was the first person to read
Luke’s history of the early church.
By profession Luke
was a doctor—but he was also a very fine historian. Besides being inspired by the Holy Spirit, he
gathered sources and weighed evidence and interviewed first hand witnesses-- to
make sure that what he wrote about Jesus was true and reliable and could be
counted on to lead people to faith in Jesus.
The story of Jesus,
written in the pages of Sacred Scripture, is grounded in a particular point in time--
with Roman and Jewish leaders we know from the historical record. The story of Jesus is grounded in particular
places that you can still visit today.
The story of Jesus is grounded in particular cultures for which there is
rich archeological and anthropological evidence.
Luke’s biography
of Jesus and history of the early church is accurate. But even more than that—his inspired words
are the power of God unto salvation through which the Holy Spirit worked faith in
Theophilus’ heart as he read the story of Jesus—just as the Spirit works in our
hearts the same way tonight to bring us to faith.
Theophilus didn’t
get to see the many convincing proofs of the resurrection that the disciples of
Jesus saw. He read about them in Luke’s books. But as he read about them, the Holy Spirit
worked faith in his heart and he became one of those blessed ones of whom Jesus
spoke who did not see-- and yet believed.
We are a part of
that same blessed group. We look back
over the last six months of the church year and see through the Gospel story
the birth of our Lord and the Magi’s visit.
We walked with Jesus on the road to the cross and we saw his suffering
and death. During this Easter season we
have also seen that death was not the end for Jesus—but that he rose again and
appeared as the risen Lord to over 500 of his faithful followers.
This biblical picture
of the Lord has been revealed to us for one reason: that just like Theolphilus, we might know
with certainty and believe with all our heart that Jesus is just exactly who he
claimed to be: the Savior of the world who
has brought us into God’s kingdom through his death and resurrection—and who
desires that others would have a place there through our witness in word and
deed. Luke writes:
While staying with
them Jesus ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the
promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John
baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days from now." So when they had
come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the
kingdom to Israel?" He said to
them, "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has
fixed by his own authority. But you will
receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the
earth."
It
is necessary that each of us believes that Jesus Christ is our Savior from sin
and death if we are to enter into the kingdom of God. Luke wrote his Gospel for that very
purpose. But much too often, we stop
there-- and our own personal salvation becomes the pinnacle of God’s work in
the world.
But just as much
as God loves us and works for our salvation-- so he loves the world
and works for the salvation of the world.
This Good News about who Jesus is and what he has done- -is for all
people. That Christians forget this at
times-- is nothing new.
Even after all
they had seen and after all they had been taught--the disciples still thought
that the goal of the Messiah’s work was about restoring the fortunes of
physical Israel . They still didn’t understand that Israel had
always been—at its heart—a spiritual kingdom comprised of all those who had
faith in God’s promised Messiah. But at
Pentecost they were about to get a powerful, visible demonstration of that
wonderful truth that the kingdom of heaven is open to all people through faith
in Jesus.
Just as he
promised, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit upon the apostolic community-- and in a
miracle that made it clear that the Good News of the Gospel was for all people--pilgrims
from all over the world who had traveled to Jerusalem for Pentecost heard the Good News
of Jesus proclaimed—each in their own language.
As they took this message back to their own countries, more and more
people—both Jews and Gentiles-- came to faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and
Savior.
The Holy Spirit
was given by the ascended Christ for that very purpose of inspiring and
empowering the proclamation that Jesus of Nazareth is the Savior of the world--
so that those who believe in him-- can share him with others.
The words that we
hear Jesus says tonight, “You will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the
earth” were not just spoken to those present at the ascension-- but they are
spoken to every Christian, in every time and place—right down to this moment. YOU
ARE MY WITNESSES!
There is much that
we do not know in life—there are times and seasons and circumstances and
situations in our lives where the Lord gives us the same answer that he gave to
the disciples who asked about the restoration of Israel: it is not for you to know the Father’s
business.
But what Jesus does
want us to know tonight, is that our lives have meaning and purpose no matter
what our situation or circumstance-- and that divine purpose is to bear witness
to God’s love for all people in Jesus Christ to every corner of the world.
The apostles never
travelled to San Angelo or Wall or Miles or Cristoval—but we have—and this
little corner of the world is our mission field—and the Holy Spirit has been given
to us by the ascended Lord so that we would bear witness to Jesus in our daily
lives.
We are: who we are-- and what we are-- and where we
are-- so that through our witness as many people as possible might come to know
Jesus as their loving Savior before they meet him on the Last Day as the Mighty
King and Righteous Judge—for that is how he ascended and that is who he will
return. Luke writes:
When Jesus had said
these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him
out of their sight. And while they were
gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,
and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This
Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you
saw him go into heaven."
At
his ascension, our Lord did not go up into heaven as the Babe of Bethlehem—he
did not return to his Father’s side as the poor, itinerant rabbi who had no
place to lay his head—he was not lifted up from human view as the Suffering
Servant.
Our Lord ascended
into heaven as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords who conquered the enemies of
sin, death, and the devil that had ruined his Father’s world and wrecked our
lives-- and he took his rightful place at the throne of Almighty God from
whence he had come. That is the way that
he will return—as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords-- and at his return every
knee will bow to him—either in love or in fear.
That
is why it is so important for us on this Ascension Day to learn these things
that the Lord wants us to know: that Jesus
is the one and only Savior whom God has provided to the world--and that because
his salvation is intended for all people, he gives us the Holy Spirit so that
we might bear witness to him and bring others to faith in him. And that united together with all who believe,
we look for him to come again the same way he ascended: as the most highly exalted King of Kings and
Lord of Lords. Amen.
Tuesday, May 8, 2018
Friday, May 4, 2018
Grumbling or Gratitude?
Number 21:4-9 Grumbling or gratitude? That is the choice that we have to make each
and every day even before we throw off the covers and our feet hit the
floor. Grumbling or gratitude? Which will it be?
For you and me and
for all who are privileged to be called the people of God and enjoy his
blessings and tender mercies--it ought to be gratitude. That we woke up—that we have a bed—that we
have feet to hit the floor with--ought to engender in us profound gratitude to
Almighty God. And yet the truth of the
matter is that it is grumbling, not gratitude, that is natural to our sinful flesh.
The
Israelites came to know the same about themselves during the years of their
sojourn in the wilderness. The Bibles
says, “From Mount Hor they set out by
the way to the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom.
That they were
making this journey at all was of course a miracle of God’s grace. They had been delivered from hard bondage in
Egypt and made the free people of God—carrying with them the wealth of the
nation that had previously enslaved them—all of it by an act of God’s merciful,
powerful redemption.
For
forty years--as they were led by God through a wilderness that should not have
supported them for forty hours—they were given food and water by the Lord—their
clothing and sandals never wore out—they were never alone. They had all they needed for life and what’s
more they possessed what they had no right to have: a relationship with the one true and living
God of the universe whom they could address as Father.
We
can say the same about our lives. That
we are sitting here today, living and breathing, is an unmistakable sign (for
those with the eyes of faith to see it) that we have a God who protects and
provides. For all the years of our lives
we have been fed and clothed and sheltered.
And what is much more important, we are blessed to be able to call God
our Father through faith in Jesus Christ.
We have been baptized into Christ and fed with his true body and
blood. We can talk to God in prayer and
hear his Word. Despite the faithless
worries that afflict us at times—God has been, and will always be,
faithful. People blessed like this ought
to be grateful, right? The Bible says:
The people became
impatient on the way. And the people
spoke against God and against Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of
Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no bread and no water! And loathe this
worthless food!"
This wasn’t the
first time that the Israelites showed this kind of grumbling, rather than
grateful, attitude. Almost immediately
after having been delivered from slavery they told themselves that it would
have been better to die in slavery in Egypt than live as the free people
of God in the wilderness.
They
grumbled about what they didn’t have and weren’t grateful for what they did
have. What was particularly shameful about
their attitude is that the food they detested—the manna--was not just meant to
nourish their bodies- but was a spiritual food meant to nourish their souls as
they gathered just enough for each day to teach them to trust God’s ongoing
provision and protection.
When
we reflect upon our lives we see that we have some of those same kinds of
spiritual struggles of grumbling rather than gratitude—and it is just as
unwarranted. The bible says,
We brought nothing
into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be
content with that.”
God has provided that to us and much more and
yet we know how often our thoughts are filled not with satisfaction but with
wanting—always wanting more.
What
is particularly shameful is that, like the Israelites, we don’t always hold in
high regard the spiritual gifts and provision of the LORD.
We watch
television many more hours than we read the Bible. We worry about our problems rather than
meditate on God’s promises. We find
ourselves going through the motions as we come to the Lord’s Table rather than
really reflecting on what is present there and resolving to amend our lives in
the strength that we find there. Our prayer
life is filled with many more “please give me’s” than “thank-you’s”.
What we
learn today is that grumbling rather than gratitude demonstrates a lack of
faith--and is deadly to our life with God.
God loves his people too much to let them continue like that. The Bible says,
“Then the LORD sent fiery serpents among
the people and they bit the people and many people of Israel died.”
The
snakes that the LORD sent among the people as a punishment seem to us very
harsh—and it was. But not as harsh as
letting the Israelites continue in the direction they were going—a direction that
would lead to their eternal damnation--more terrible by far than anything that
could happen to them on earth.
God always had their eternal welfare as his first
goal and so he disciplined them—even harshly—so that they would not continue
along the broad and easy road that leads to eternal death. That biblical truth, that God disciplines
those he loves, is important for us to remember as well for it stands to this
day.
Now we
have all kinds of goals and hopes and dreams that we want to accomplish. There are all kinds of things that we want to
possess. But God has just one: that we would possess eternal life today and
forever and he will do whatever it takes—even if it is painful-- to bring us
safely to our heavenly home.
And so
God uses hardship and suffering and loss to break the hold that sin has on our
life—to get our attention—to bring us to our senses-and drive us to our knees
just like happened with the Israelites. The
Bible says that,
“The people came to Moses and said,
"We sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD and against you.”
It is
when we see our marriage on the rocks that we realize we haven’t been following
God’s model for men and women. It is
when we are sick that we realize that we have been living as if this life would
go on forever. It is when we suffer “want”
that we realize that we haven’t been generous with God and with others. It is when we are alone that we realize that
we haven’t been a friend to others. It
is when our faith is weak and God seems far away that we realize we haven’t
made use of God’s gracious gifts of Word and Sacrament-- and that it is us—not
God—that has moved.
But I
want you to know today dear friends in Christ-- that even in the late hour of
the Lord’s discipline—it is not too late.
The bible says, “A bruised reed
he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”
God disciplines
us in love so that we will despair of our own sufficiency—so that we will
call out to him in our need—so that will look to him in faith and live. That’s
what the Israelites discovered that day of the Lord’s hard discipline. They cried out:
“Pray that the LORD that he take away the
serpents from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
In the hour of their deepest need, the Israelites
discovered that in Moses they had an intercessor—one who would stand between
their sinful grumbling and God’s wrath-- and plead to God for mercy and healing
on their behalf.
That of
course was not just Israel ’s
need that day--but a picture or a type of humanity’s need throughout history—to
have someone who will serve as an intercessor and mediator between our sins and
God’s wrath. That person is Jesus
Christ.
Jesus
Christ was sent into the world, not to save us from a desert serpent’s sting,
but to save us from the eternally deadly sting of the satanic serpent who has
been leading people into death every since Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
God
promised them that a deliverer would come—one who would indeed be wounded by
Satan but would have the victory by crushing him completely. And that is what God did in his Son Jesus
Christ. Even though he was mortally
wounded on the tree of the cross—suffering the full poison of the sins of the
world which he bore in his own body—Christ was not defeated—his death was
victory and he showed that victory to the world on Easter morning as he rose
from the dead.
The
person and work of Jesus Christ was the Lord’s antidote from the deadly sting
of sin, death, and the devil--the fulfillment of what he showed to the people
of Israel in the desert.
The LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery
serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it,
shall live." So Moses made a bronze
serpent and put it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would look at the
bronze serpent and live.”
The LORD
provided a cure from the sting of the deadly serpents—a cure that was for all
the Israelites—a promise that anyone—young, old, rich, poor, male, female—anyone
who listened to the promise of God and looked to it in faith—would live.
In
exactly the same way, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the God-given cure
for the whole world from the Satanic curse of sin and death—it’s blessings and
promise is for all people but just like then, we must look to it in faith if we
are to live.
The faith
which lays hold of the blessings of God that are in the cross and empty tomb comes
to us in exactly the same way as it came for the Israelites—when we, by the powerful
help of the Holy Spirit, believe God’s promises that are conveyed to us in his
Word and Sacraments.
There is
nothing miraculous in water anymore than there is in bronze but when God says
that in Baptism we have died and risen with Christ we really have. There is nothing miraculous in bread and wine
anymore than there is in snakes but when Jesus says take and eat my body and
take and drink my blood for the forgiveness of sins we really have it. There is nothing miraculous in the presence
of a pastor anymore than there is in a pole but when Jesus promises that when
we hear forgiveness spoken by those who are called to speak in his name we can
be sure that we have what they promise.
Today is the
day for us to recognize God’s gracious provision in our lives—to re-commit
ourselves to regular use of Word and Sacraments-- and to let gratefulness for
the gifts of God rather than grumbling always be foremost in our hearts—and to
look to Jesus and live. Amen.
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