Jesus Is Our Sabbath Rest

Jesus Is Our Sabbath Rest

Hebrews 4:9-13 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.  Over the course of six days, he spoke his almighty and powerful Word and called this world into being from nothing.  He created the stars and the planets.  He created the oceans and dry ground.  He created the plants and animals.  And he created mankind.

            And not only did he create man—he established a relationship with them.  Man was made in the image of God—male and female he created them to have fellowship with him.  They knew God face to face.  They walked with him and talked with him.  They ruled over the rest of creation and their love for one another created new life.   

Day after day, God spoke- and what he spoke- came into being.  At the end of each of the days of creation, God looked out upon all he created and called it good.  And on the seventh day he rested.

God did not rest because he was tired.  He did not cease from his creative work which continues to this day as he speaks that ongoing “yes” that sustains the universe. 

The seventh day was a day in which he took a step back to admire the perfect world he had brought into existence and the loving relationship he had established with man.  Can you picture that scene in your mind where all is right in the world?

If you can, you know what a tragedy it was when man rebelled against God and destroyed the world he created and the relationship he established with man.  And yet God promised that he would re-make what man’s sin destroyed and re-establish that right relationship that existed between God and man in the beginning.

From then on, the Sabbath Day was set aside by God for man, not only so that man could rest from his labors, but so that he could feast his eyes of faith on that first, seventh day vision of a perfect creation and a right relationship with God—set aside so that he could worship and praise God for his goodness—set aside to lay hold of God’s promise that he would make things right, just like they were in the beginning. 

Every Sabbath day existed for that purpose:  to give thanks for what God’s Word accomplished in the beginning and to be renewed in faith and hope at what God’s Word promised was still to come.  And yet, the Bible says:  There remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God.  In other words, there was still more than those Sabbaths.

For thousands of years God’s people observed the Sabbath—that seventh day of remembrance and promise.  But as joyful and hopeful as those celebrations were, there was still a shadow over them.  They remembered something that no longer existed because of their sin.  They looked forward to a promise that had not yet been fulfilled.

But that shadow disappeared when the Light of the World took on human flesh in Jesus of Nazareth.  The Bible says that the Sabbath days were “a shadow of things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.”  What the Sabbaths longed for and hoped for was fulfilled in Jesus.

Jesus Christ re-established the fellowship that existed between God and man in the beginning.  He did away with the sins that keep us from God by washing them away in his blood on the cross.  And his resurrection was the beginning of a new creation in which death and sin have no part.

Jesus Christ is the true Sabbath-rest of the people of God.  He is the certainty that there will be a new heaven and a new earth just like there was in the beginning.  He is the guarantee that we will once again dwell in God’s presence. 

All of this has been accomplished by the saving work of Jesus and to enter into his Sabbath rest—to take our own place there—it is necessary to rest from our labors and receive in faith what he has done.  The Bible says:  Whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his works as God did from his. 

Let’s go back for a moment to that first, seventh day Sabbath—the one from the beginning.  What did God see as he looked out upon his world?  He saw a creation that was perfect.  He saw a world in which there was only life.  He saw mankind as his children.  He saw that his work was complete.

To enter God’s Sabbath rest is to look to Jesus Christ and know that the same is true for through faith in him.  Once again we are counted as God’s children.  There is a life for us that death cannot end.  And there is nothing that needs to be added to Jesus’ work-- by our own work. 

How foolish and faithless it would have been for Adam and Eve to look at the beauty of the creation around them and regard it as the work of their own hands!

They were the creatures—God was the creator.  They were the recipients of his creative work.  They had status as children that God simply bestowed upon them of his grace.  So it is with us and Jesus!

How foolish and faithless to look at Jesus’ holy life and bloody death and glorious resurrection and count even a part of our salvation the result of what we have done.  How sinfully presumptuous to believe that our status as God’s children is anything other than our identity in Christ that the Holy Spirit has bestowed on us in Holy Baptism! 

Jesus has done it all and when we gaze upon his re-creating work all that we can do-- is what God did in the beginning when he looked upon his original creation—call it good.  The Bible says:  Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience.

That we are to strive to enter the Sabbath-rest of God may seem like a contradiction when we can do nothing but receive what he has done—but it is not. 

God speaks these words about striving to enter his rest because throughout salvation history, there have been countless millions who did not enter his rest because they rejected what he had done.

In the verses before our text today, the author reminded his congregation about the people of Israel who came out of slavery in Egypt—how they were delivered and set free—how they saw their enemies die in the waters of the Red Sea—how they were led by God and fed by God and received his Word at Sinai and yet when it came time to believe in what he said and trust in his promise to take them safely into the Promised Land, they refused to go—they would not enter his rest. 

They fell in the wilderness because of their lack of faith.  Their enemies seemed more powerful than their Savior.  They didn’t like the hardships of the journey.  They preferred the life they knew as slaves over their freedom as God’s children.   

The same thing can happen in our life of faith.  The dangers of failing to complete our faith journey are real.  The temptations to return to slavery to sin are powerful.  To adopt the values of the unbelievers around us is easier than holding fast to God’s ways.  The hardships and challenges we face seem much more real than God.  We face the same temptation as God’s ancient people to fall back and turn away rather than trusting in God. 

That is why the Bible tells us we are to strive to enter the Sabbath-rest God has provided in Jesus Christ by believing the promises of his word and trusting the guidance of his Word to lead us to heaven.  The Bible says that:

The word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

            From the very beginning of the Bible we see clearly the power of God’s Word.  God said let there be light and there is light.  God called this world into being by the power of his Word and where before there was only darkness and emptiness, when he spoke-- there was light and life. 

God’s Word has the same power when it comes to spiritual life and light.  When Jesus says “Father, forgive them” from the cross we are forgiven.  When Jesus says “take, eat this is my body, take drink this is my blood shed for the forgiveness of sins”—so it is and so we are.  When the Bible says that we have died with Christ and been raised with Christ in Holy Baptism—so we have.  The Bible says that we have been born again by the living and abiding word of God. 

Just as Adam and Eve received their life from God calling them into existence- and just as Lazarus was raised from the dead at Jesus’ word- so we have been given spiritual life by the Holy Spirit working through God’s Word. 

God’s Word is living and active and has accomplished the saving purpose for which God sent it by bringing us to faith in Jesus who is our Sabbath rest.

But the Word of God has not only brought about our spiritual life, it is the enduring source of that life—the word is means by which God works in our lives to sustain our faith so that not only do we begin in faith but we finish our life in faith.

God speaks to us in his Word as it is read and studied and proclaimed and received in the Sacrament.  It speaks into those deep places in our lives where there is sin that needs to be confessed and fears that need to be confronted and a faith that needs to be strengthened so that we can enter into the fullness of what Christ has won for us.  It lays bare the truth about our life of faith.  The Bible says:

No creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

            When Adam and Eve sinned, it wrecked their relationship with God.  They realized they were naked and experienced guilt and shame for the first time and hid from God in fear.  But God sought them out—calling out to them so that they could acknowledge their sin and receive his forgiveness and have their guilt and shame covered by his bloody sacrifice. 

            So God continues to do.  His powerful words of law tell us the truth about ourselves—that we have sinned and fall short of his glory.  His powerful words of the Gospel tell us that there is forgiveness for us in Christ.  He calls us to himself again and again so that we can acknowledge our sins and have our guilt and shame covered by Christ’s bloody sacrifice on the cross.  That is our true Sabbath rest and we enter it by believing in Jesus.  Amen.

Loved by Jesus

Loved by Jesus

Mark 10:17-22 Most of us have heard the old expression that “God loves us just the way we are but he loves us too much to let us stay the way we are”.  That’s what we are going to learn about ourselves in our Gospel lesson for the day. 

We see a perfectly nice young man who was the apple of his parent’s eye—a young man who possessed every earthly blessing--and yet he wasn’t all that God wanted him to be because his life with God did not come first. 

The key to the whole passage is that Jesus looked at him with love.  He loved him just as he was—right then and there with his very real sins and failings--but Jesus wasn’t content for him to remain as he was.  So it is for us.  The Bible says that:

As Jesus was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, "Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"  And Jesus said to him, "Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. 

Then and now, when you give a compliment to someone it’s a way of greasing the wheels socially for what is about to follow between the two of you.

But Jesus wasn’t going to let him think that this was just some ordinary discourse between a traveling rabbi and someone who wanted a religious opinion.  Jesus loved the man too much to let him escape from that encounter without having to come to grips with who Jesus really was-- and who he was by comparison.  And so…

Jesus reminded him that only God is good.  People then and now forget that.  We say that this man or that lady are good folks but what we really mean is that they are better than others—maybe even better than us if that were possible! 

But only God is good in the way that the Bible talks about goodness.  He is perfect and holy and righteousness and the difference between him and us is not a matter of degree-- but of kind. 

That is what Jesus wanted the young man to come to terms with that day and he wants the same for us.  Jesus is not merely a good man in that he is better than others.  He is not merely a wise teacher in that he is smarter than others.  He is not merely an inspiring example to follow in that he is more heroic than others. 

Jesus is God in human flesh and his goodness is the goodness of God himself.

Jesus wanted the man to set aside pious-sounding speech that really didn’t mean anything and to confess Jesus for who he truly is:  not just a man who offers an opinion that can be taken or rejected as the young man saw fit—but as the one true God who can command all that is about to follow and who expects obedience.

There is a lesson here for us too.  We call Jesus our Lord and Savior and that sounds very pious.  But is he really our Lord?  Does he have the final say in our lives?  Do we live our lives in his service?  Do we gladly set aside the things he forbids and do the things he commands?  Is his purpose and mission our purpose and mission? 

We call Jesus our Savior but do we recognize him and him alone as our only hope from sin and death or are we still trying to do our part to earn heaven?  Do we truly believe that he has saved us from sin, death, and the devil or are we still walking around with a load of guilt, fearful and worried, and giving in to the devil?  Is Jesus our peace in life or do we find comfort somewhere else like our possessions?

The young man didn’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior-- that is why he asked the question that he did!  “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”  That is the question of all human flesh.  What do I need to do to make my own place with God?  And every human religion except for true, biblical Christianity--gets the answer wrong because they don’t know the truth about themselves or God.  Jesus wanted to open his eyes and our too

And so, in effect Jesus says, “fine, you want to know what YOU have to do to life forever:  keep the commandments”!  With the voice and authority of Sinai, Jesus said:  

'Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.' "   And he said to him, "Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth."   

That is the answer to what we must do to inherit eternal life!  Jesus says that we must keep the law.  But not according to our abilities.  Not better than the guy next door.  Not as best we can.  We must keep the law with the same degree and kind of holiness and perfection and righteousness as God himself. 

That is what the vast majority of the world, then and now, does not understand about God’s expectations for us.  But Jesus is very clear on it. 

Jesus says that it is not just the act of adultery that is the sin-- but also the lust of the heart.  It is not just the act of murdering that is the sin-- but the anger in the heart that preceded it.  It is not just the unkind word to others-- but the way we feel towards them in our heart.  Sin clings to our flesh even when it is not seen or heard by others.

And it is here that outwardly pious people—people like the man that day and people like us —fail.  You see, we are not called to be better than our neighbor-- we are called to be holy just exactly God-- and failure at just one point of the law makes us guilty of all of it.   When it comes to being saved by the law—when it comes to what I must do-- the standard is not “plenty good enough”—but perfection that is required

I have absolutely no doubt that the young man was just exactly the kind of young man that every parent would want for a child—that he stood head and shoulders over his peers.  (He thought he did anyway)!  But that was not the standard.  The Good One who stood next him-he was the standard.  And so then with perfect justice Jesus could have judged him, chastised him and brought him up short.  But he didn’t.  The Bible says that: 

“And Jesus, looking at him, loved him.”  And in that one little phrase we hear the most wonderful teaching of all of Holy Scripture—that God loves us just the way we are.  In our self-centeredness, in our self-righteousness, in our selfishness—God loves us. 

The Bible says that “this is what love is—not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as the atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world”.  The Bible says that “while we were still sinners Christ died for us”.  The Bible says that “God loved the world and sent his Son that whoever believes in him would have everlasting life.”

Christ lived a holy life for all of us who are caught up in the delusion that we can please God on our own and earn salvation.  He died on the cross for all of us who think God ought to reward us rather than punish us as we deserve.  Christ rose from the dead for all of us who think that eternal life with God is simply the result of having lived an outwardly decent life.

Christ loved that young man (and he loves us) just the way we are—but he loved that young man (and he loves us) far too much to let us remain as we are, living apart from God in the blindness and delusion of sin. 

That is why Jesus was there that day—to change that young man—and that is why he speaks to us through this lesson this day—to change us too.  The Bible says that: 

"Jesus said to him, You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me."   

Jesus knew exactly what the man’s problem was and that was the place that God had—or rather didn’t have-- in his heart.  The young man was careful to keep commandments regarding his neighbor, but he had forgotten the first commandment—that we are to have no other gods than the one true God.

Jesus knew just exactly what came first in that man’s heart just as he knows what comes first in our hearts.  The love of money filled that man’s heart-- and Jesus’ LOVE for him demanded his repentance and a radical change of heart. Jesus told him:  Go, sell all you, and give to the poor. 

With these words, we have come full circle when it comes to who Jesus is.  A wise rabbi has absolutely no right to ask anyone to go and sell all his possessions—but God does.  No matter who he thought Jesus was when he came to him, now he knew the truth—and so do we.

Jesus was and is and always will be God.  He is the One to whom we will bow the knee to in love in this life as our Lord-- or in abject fear in the life to come—and he calls each one of us to repent of all those things that come before him in our life.

And it’s important for us to see what true repentance involves—not just sorrow over sin—not just some words on a page that are spoken while our minds are elsewhere--but a concrete change that truly shows we have turned from sin, to God, in faith.

With that command to repent comes the greatest invitation of all—to come and follow Jesus—to be a part of his kingdom-- and enjoy all of the blessings of peace and joy and hope that he bestows through faith. 

That is what Jesus wanted for the young man that day and it’s what he wants for us.  You see dear friends in Christ, Jesus is not primarily interested in our having enough money or being in good health or having a worry-free, struggle-free life. 

He is perfectly willing to let us go into the kingdom missing an eye or hand or wallet that sins because he knows that there is no comparison between the things of this world and the eternal treasures of a life with God that only he can give.

But in that moment, on that gracious day of salvation, the rich young man turned his back on those treasures.  The Bible says that:   Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.”    

I pray that our response today would be different.  That hearing Jesus’ invitation to come and follow him—that seeing the feast of love and forgiveness that is set before our eyes in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Body and Blood--we would gladly, willingly repent of our love for the things of this world and follow Jesus by faith into eternal life.  Amen.

Have Salt in Yourselves

Have Salt In Yourselves

Mark 9:38-50 Jesus said that we Christians are the salt of the earth-- but he also warned us that we can lose our “saltiness”.  That is, we can lose the distinctive effect that we are supposed to have on the world around us so that we give no distinctive “flavor” of Christ to our relationships—no distinctive “purifying” effect to the world around us because our lives are no different than those who do not believe in Jesus.

But the “well-seasoned” disciple is different.  These disciples know that they are called to be salt and light in a dark and decaying world by letting the purifying work of the Spirit do its work in their hearts and by letting the “salt” of the Word give a distinctive Christian flavor to the way they live their lives.

As we consider what it means to be filled with salt from God’s Word we will see that this kind of Christian:  1. supports the mission of Jesus Christ 2.  is careful to cause no one to sin (not even themselves) and 3.  is filled with the Word so that their lives always have a distinctive Christian “flavor.”  The Bible says that:

John said to [Jesus], “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in your name, and we tried to stop him, because he was not following us.” 

The Bible says in 1 John that “The Son of God appeared to destroy the works of Satan.”  In other words, the saving mission of Jesus Christ was being accomplished by that man who was casting out demons-- but the disciples wanted to stop it because they weren’t the ones doing it. 

Perhaps there was some jealousy in their hearts because not too long before this conversation the disciples had failed at this very task of casting out a demon.  But Jesus quickly set them straight.  He said: 

“Do not stop him, for no one who does a mighty work in my name will be able soon afterward to speak evil of me.  For the one who is not against us is for us.

            The “well-seasoned” disciple takes the Lord’s words to heart and understands that the mission of Jesus is much greater than our own little group--even if that group is the original twelve disciples. 

Jesus has destroyed the power of the devil and broken the bonds of death and he wants every Christian everywhere to have a part in that mission of setting people free from Stan’s dominion by sharing the Gospel.

Far beyond the walls of our own congregation are fellow Christians who are working in the harvest field of souls and we are glad to support the mission of Jesus beyond our own congregation and want to make sure that we ourselves are a part of that mission through our own works of mercy and witness.  Jesus says:

Whoever gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ will by no means lose his reward. 

            Compared to driving our demons, giving a cup of water to fellow Christian may not seem like such a big thing.  But the Lord’s accounting is very different than ours!  Every work of mercy done in Jesus’ name is remembered by him and will be graciously rewarded by him on the Last Day.

And so when we gather food for the poor and serve meals to the homeless and welcome women in the midst of troubled pregnancies and take a stand for the sanctity of human life, we are doing a work that pleases the Lord. 

The “well-seasoned” disciple knows that they are called to support the mission of Christ through gifts and service.  We also know that we are called to holiness of life so that we do not undermine the salvation of those who are brought to faith. Jesus says:

“Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 

            When a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ a great spiritual battle has been fought and won.  The forces of death and hell that reigned over that person’s life have been conquered by the Lord of Life.  A prisoner bound by chains of sin in Satan’s kingdom has been set free.  Hell has lost a soul and heaven gained one.

But from that moment on, there is another battle for that person—the battle against sin—the battle of faith.  The “well-seasoned” disciple knows they have been called to walk in newness of life so they do not undermine the faith of a fellow disciple. Let me explain. 

Imagine for a moment a person who has just come to faith.  They know that the way they lived their lives in the past was outside of God’s will and deserving of his eternal punishment.  They want to live a new life. 

But there are Christians around them who engage in the same sins that once afflicted them.  Christians who don’t take seriously the call to live a holy life.  Christians who are cavalier about making use of the means of grace. 

And seeing this poor example in the lives of those who have been Christians for years, their own, new lives of faith are undermined.  They return to the sins that they left behind.  They don’t feed their new faith with God’s Word and Sacraments.  And having little root, they fall away from faith in Christ. 

Jesus says that it would be better to be drowned in the depths of the sea than destroy the faith of a fellow Christian by our sins. 

“Well-seasoned” disciples are called to preserve the faith of those around them rather than cause it to decay by unholy living.  And that is true about our own lives too—we are called to holiness of life for the sake of our own faith journey.  Jesus says that:

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.  And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.’

            If these words of Jesus do not convey to us just how seriously Jesus takes sin and how seriously he calls us to holiness of life—nothing will! 

We are to let absolutely nothing lead us to sin—not even the members of our body.  We are to be willing to sacrifice everything if it is leading us to hell—even the members of our body.

Living in sin will destroy our lives eternally.  Hell is real.  It is eternal.  It is terrible.  It is unending, unquenchable, fiery torment—and it is the final destination for all of those who live in unrepentant sin.  We must fight against sin all our days so that we do not fall from faith.  Now, having said that…

Jesus, of course, knew perfectly well that cutting off our hands and feet and eyes and ears will not cure our sin problem because our broken-ness goes to the very center of our being.  But he wants us to see the same-- and so he uses this vivid language about a sacrifice for sin so great that we cannot provide it. 

But he can—and did.

To set us free from sin, his hands and feet that never sinned were pierced for our transgressions.  His lips that never spoke an unkind word were beaten and broken.  His eyes that never looked upon evil filled with blood from a crown of thorns pressed upon his head—and he died for us, in our place—every member of his body an instrument of righteousness for our salvation.

It is not necessary to cut off our hands and feet and pluck out our eyes to be free from sin.  Something much more difficult is required—and that is to be born again into a new life—something that must be done for us by God through his Word and Spirit.  Jesus says:

Everyone will be salted with fire.  Salt is good, but if the salt has lost its saltiness, how will you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”

            At the beginning of this morning’s sermon we hear our Lord tells us that we are the salt of the earth.  He also said that we are the light of the world. 

Both of these images convey the distinctive difference the Christian is to have on this dark and decaying world.  But what accounts for that difference?  What makes us the salt of the earth?  What gives a Christ-like “flavor” to our lives? 

            The difference is the Holy Spirit working new life in us through Word.  James said that we have been born again through the Word of Christ.  John the Baptist said that we have been baptized—not just with water—but with the fire of the Spirit.  Our lives are shaped and guided by that same Sprit who brought us to life by the Word.

The “well-seasoned” disciple knows the importance that the Word of God plays in the life of faith and how a faith that is not fed by Word and Sacrament can lose its distinctive “flavor”.  And so the “well-seasoned” disciple makes sure that they stay connected to Jesus through the Word so that they are “salted” for service again and again.

We make it a point to study God’s Word and attend church and Sunday School so that the Word of God can have it’s purifying, enlightening effect on their lives and on the lives of those we touch through our service and witness.  Amen.

True Greatness in the Kingdom