Monday, December 16, 2019
Thursday, December 12, 2019
Have Hope!
Romans 15:4-13 We Christians
ought to be people of hope. As dark a
day as was Good Friday, Easter Sunday changed everything. Living on this side of the resurrection we
know that darkness and death have no claim upon our lives.
The Bible says
that the one who began a good work in us WILL bring it to completion on the day
of our Lord Jesus Christ and that all things work for the good of those who
love God. In other words, no matter what
befalls us in life, no matter what we have to go through, the Lord who died and
rose for us is at work in our lives and will bring us to himself.
We Christians
ought to be people of hope. And yet when
we are caught up in some conflict with our fellow Christians, whether that is
in our congregation or family or marriage, we have a tendency to believe that
the dark cloud over our lives right now will never go away—and that robs us of
hope.
That is why the
Lord speaks to us in his word today—so that we might have the encouragement we
need to live as people of hope. The
Bible says that:
Whatever was written
in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and
through the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.
I
want to give you two word pictures that I hope will help you understand what the
Bible is talking about when it comes to endurance and encouragement.
First of all,
picture a weight lifter holding a barbell above his head. The weight is pressing down on him but he is
determined to hold it up. That is the
meaning of the word endurance—the strength to bear up under pressure that
weighs us down.
Now think about a
long trench full of soldiers in WWI.
Bullets are whizzing over head, bombs are raining down. The soldiers are scared to death. But there in the trenches with them, running
up a down the lines, is an officer who is calling upon them to be brave and do
their duty. That is the picture behind
the word encouragement.
Endurance and
encouragement are the spiritual resources that we need to live as people of
hope—especially when there are disagreements and conflict between us and our
fellow Christians in our marriage and family and congregation.
We are bound to
one another by a shared faith in Jesus-- but that doesn’t mean we are always
going to agree with one another about every little thing. There are going to be difficulties and
disagreements that weigh down upon us like a barbell that we have to hold
up. We need to be encouraged to love one
another even when there is conflict.
Endurance and
encouragement are going to be needed so long as we are in this world and Paul
says that we can count on God giving them to us. They are spiritual gifts that come through
hearing his Word so that we can grow in Christ-likeness and live in harmony
with one another. The Bible says:
May the God of endurance
and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord
with Christ Jesus…
The
scriptures which give endurance and
encouragement come from the God of endurance and encouragement. The God who inspired the words of Scripture is the same God who empowers our life so that we can live in
harmony with one another.
The word that Paul
uses there for harmony means like-minded—in other words: we think about things
the same way. But isn’t that that the
very problem so many Christians have with one another—that we don’t always see
things the same way?
That is why Paul
adds those important words: in accord with Christ Jesus. In other words, it is not so much that we think
about things the same way among ourselves-- but we make sure that we are thinking
about things the same way as Jesus Christ.
The true measure
of Christian harmony is not just that we get along with one another or put up
with one another or grit our teeth and get along--there are plenty of marriage
and families and congregations like that.
What does matter in our life together as
Christian people is that our harmony comes from being united by Jesus
Christ—his word and will having the final say in all that we say and do.
Where he has NOT
spoken, then it is his love that is to be evident in our lives as each of us
endeavors to put others ahead of ourselves—willingly laying aside our personal preferences
for the good of our brothers and sisters.
The Bible says that we are to live in harmony with one another so that: together we may with one voice glorify the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
When there is
division and discord among Christians in marriages and families and
congregations, what the world hears is not a united voice of praise to God or a
common witness to the goodness of Jesus Christ--but what they hear instead are
the complaints of one Christian against one another. Griping and complaining does not serve to
glorify God or extend the saving mission of Christ.
Instead, we should
follow the example of Jesus Christ and treat our fellow Christians as Christ
treats them. The Bible says: Therefore
welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God. And so the question is: how did Christ welcome us? Just as we were—spots and wrinkles and
blemishes.
He reached out to
the woman caught in adultery- and ate dinner with Zacchaeus- and made a place
for disciples who would fail him in his hour of need.
Our relationships
with fellow Christians becomes Christ-like when there is a place in our midst for
people who are different than us—people who have a different perspective from
ours—people from a different place in society.
If Christ has
welcomed them into God’s family by faith- we are to welcome them and make a
place for them in our lives. This is why
Christ came to earth—not only to reconcile us to God-- but to reconcile us to
one another. The Bible says that:
Christ became a
servant to the circumcised to show God’s truthfulness, in order to confirm the
promises given to the patriarchs,
When Adam and Eve
sinned it not only wrecked their relationship with God-- it wrecked their
relationship with one another-- and not only for them-- but for all their
descendants down to the folks sitting in these pews this evening. But Christ came to reconcile all people to
himself and all people to one another.
That reconciliation
was a promise that God made first to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and
then renewed again and again with his ancient people Israel
God’s faithfulness
was proved beyond any doubt in his gift of a Son whom the Bible says become a servant of the circumcised—that is
the Jews.
Just think of the
graciousness of God in that statement! The
people who abandoned the Lord—the people who in large measure stopped looking
for the Messiah—were given the gift of a Savior—and not only for them-- but for
the world. The Bible says that Jesus also
came:
in order that the
Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written, "Therefore I
will praise you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name." And again it is said, "Rejoice, O
Gentiles, with his people." And
again, "Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples extol
him." And again Isaiah says,
"The root of Jesse will come, even he who arises to rule the Gentiles; in
him will the Gentiles hope."
God
the Father sent his Son into the world to show his faithfulness to his covenant
promise to his covenant people, the Jews.
But from the very beginning, God intended to save all people.
The messiah would
come from the Jews but he would be for the world. He was sent so that we too might glorify God—so
that we too can rejoice in God’s salvation—so that we too can know his wise rule
and live with him forever. And so then…
What are our petty
differences compared to our unity in the Lord who has always wanted to unite us
into one body of his Son Jesus Christ?
What are our disagreements compared to the unity we have as fellow
believers in Christ?!
The encouragement
and endurance we receive from God through his Word is the power we need to get
past differences that don’t matter and turn our eyes of faith to the future and
the eternal life we will one day share with one another. The Bible says:
May the God of hope
fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy
Spirit you may abound in hope.
Just
as the God of endurance and encouragement gives
endurance and encouragement to his people-- so this same God of hope gives
hope to his people. We don’t have to
wonder or worry about what the future holds for us or for our fellow Christians
in our marriages and families and congregation because the joy and peace we
have right now as God’s children-- will also be ours in the future.
The same Holy
Spirit who has brought us to faith and made us a part of Christ’s body will
continue his work among us, drawing us ever closer to one another so that we
may, with one voice, glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Bear the Fruits of Repentance!
Matthew 3:1-12 Over the course of the last twenty some odd years of my preaching
ministry I have preached this text at least six or seven times because the
ministry of John the Baptist is always part of the Advent season. And the challenge: for me as the preacher-- and you as the
hearer-- is how we can we hear these familiar words in a new way?
What struck me this time around (in a way
that had not occurred to me before) is how violent these words are! Wrath to come! Brood of vipers! An axe laid to the root of the trees! Burning with unquenchable fire!
There is no other way to hear and read these
words than to understand that something desperately important is being
communicated by John’s message and Matthew’s record of it—something with
eternally important consequences. And of
course, it is!
The Kingdom of heaven is at hand! That is the way that John the Baptist began
his preaching and that is the way that Jesus began his preaching and that is
the way the apostles began their preaching:
the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!
It is John the Baptist who points to Jesus
and says: here in his presence, the
kingdom of heaven is at hand! Here in
his presence is your purpose on earth! Here in his presence is your eternal
future! Here in his presence is the way
to God!
And hearing these words in a brand new way,
our response cannot help but be: Lord,
show me what I must believe and do to take my place in your kingdom! The Bible says:
In those days John the Baptist came
preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at
hand.”
The very first of
Luther’s 95 Theses said that the entirety of the Christian life is found in
this word: repent--a change of heart and
mind that results in a change of direction in life. To repent means that we turn away from sin
and we turn in faith to the Lord Jesus Christ.
And that we do this, not just at the
beginning of our life of faith, but that we do this again and again throughout
our lives. The call to repentance was
the complete content of John’s ministry because he was the one called by God to
point the way to the Messiah who would open the kingdom of heaven to all
believers. The Bible says that John was
the one:
spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he
said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths
straight.’”
When you begin
reading in Mathew’s Gospel the thing that is going to leap out at you is how
much Old Testament is quoted in his writing—and there is a reason for this. He was writing to a primarily Jewish audience
and he wanted to make sure that they understood that Jesus was the Messiah that
God had been promising to his people all the way back to the Garden of Eden.
They knew the Messiah would have a messenger
who would go before him to prepare his way and with the arrival of John the
Baptist, that man and that message had come.
This is important for us to understand as
well! The faithfulness of God in keeping
his word and fulfilling his promises can be trusted and counted on down to the
smallest detail. We can trust in his
Word—and John and Jesus are the proof!
From the moment God promised Adam and Eve
that the Seed of a Woman would crush Satan, God was patiently, wisely,
powerfully working out every detail of our salvation so that we could enter
into his kingdom and with the arrival of the Messenger and the Messiah, that
moment had come. The Bible says that:
John wore a garment of camel's hair and a
leather belt around his waist, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
Have you ever wondered why, in the
midst of such a momentous message as, “Repent!
For the Kingdom of heaven is at hand!”, that the Holy Spirit inspired
Matthew to write down fashion and food details about John the
Baptist?
It’s because the people were expecting that Elijah the
prophet would come again to usher in the messianic age. Hundreds of years before this moment, Elijah
had prophesied in the same wilderness, dressed in the same clothing, eating the
same food, speaking the same stern message of repentance. So closely did John resemble Elijah that when
Jesus was asked about it later in his ministry he said that Elijah had indeed
come!
The point is this: Elijah
and every prophet up to and including John had one ministry and that was to
bear witness to the Messiah-- and Elijah and every prophet up to and including
John had one message and that was to repent!
And many people took that message to heart. The Bible says that hearing the message of
John:
Jerusalem and all Judea and all the region
about the Jordan were going out to him, and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan,
confessing their sins.
From this point on
in our lesson, even though there are many, many people around John—they are
divided into two, distinctively different groups: those who take his message to heart and
repent of their sins—and those who do not.
That division continued in Jesus’ ministry
and the apostles’ ministry and still continues today. The only thing that really divides the family
of man is their relationship with Jesus.
Here we encounter the first group who know that they are sinners, and
know they need forgiveness, and so they confess their sins and are baptized
with water.
Each week in the words of the Creed, along
with the whole Christian church on earth, we confess that we believe in one
baptism for the remission of sins. We
heed the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when he says that we are to make
disciples of all nations by baptism and teaching. And so we come to the waters of Holy Baptism,
men and women, young and old (for we are all Adam’s children without
distinction and need Christ’s forgiveness) and we are baptized.
The Bible says in Romans chapter six that in
Baptism we are buried with Christ in a death like his and raised with Christ in
a resurrection like his so that we can walk in newness of life. Newness of life!
That is what the people wanted who came
confessing their sins—a new life in the Kingdom of heaven. They knew that they were sinners and they
knew that they needed forgiveness. But
there were others there who didn’t—and that was the second group around John—many
of them very religious people. The Bible
says that:
when he saw many of the Pharisees and
Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “You brood of vipers! Who
warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our
father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for
Abraham.
There was nothing
wrong in and of itself in being a Pharisee or Sadducee. There was nothing wrong with being a physical
descendant of Abraham. In fact, they
should have been leaders and examples to the people of God. But they were not!
Their religion was merely in external
things: keeping the details of the law
and going through the formal motions of worship—none of it from faith in the
Savior, none of it from personal sorrow over their sins. It was merely outward, like their connection
to Abraham.
And so then, from this point on in Jesus’
earthly ministry, the Pharisees and Sadducees are emblematic of those whose
religion is for show—whose piety is external—whose worship and obedience have
nothing to do with a changed heart. And
in this external religion, they are enemies of Jesus, under the wrath of God.
There is a warning here for us. The Lord hates outward piety and religious
acts that do not flow from sorrow over sins and faith in Jesus. What the Lord wants from us is what he wanted
from the Sadducees and Pharisees: the fruits of repentance that show themselves
in a changed life before the day of grace comes to an end. The Bible says that:
Even now the axe is laid to the root of
the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire.
Those who believed
John’s message and repented of their sins and trusted in the Messiah were
children of God. Those who didn’t were a
brood of vipers. That was the judgment
of God upon them at that moment. So it
is in the world today. So it is even in
the visible church.
But even for the brood of vipers it was
still not too late. So long as they
lived and breathed, there was a day of grace for them to repent of their sins
and trust in Jesus. But it was a day of
grace that would come to an end. John
said:
“I baptize you with water for repentance,
but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy
to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in
his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor and gather his wheat into the
barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”
For many people
during this Advent season their hearts and minds have already moved to baby
Jesus in the manger. We love that image
of Jesus and we should! He is the Savior
of the world born into our flesh to die for us poor sinners! How can we not love baby Jesus?!
But he is also the
risen and ascended Lord who will come again to judge the world and this picture
that we have in John’s preaching, of Jesus as the Judge of all is also
true. For those who are his fruitful
people, he will gather us to himself like a farmer putting wheat into a
barn. But for those who are not, the one
who was the Baby of Bethlehem and the Suffering Servant of the Cross and the
Risen Lord will himself cast the unrepentant and unbelieving into the
unquenchable fire of hell.
That is what is at stake in the Advent
season—eternity itself! That is why John uses words in his preaching like: Wrath to come! Brood of vipers! An axe laid to the root of the trees! Burning with unquenchable fire! The Holy Spirit uses these stern warnings because
he wants us to repent and look to Christ for salvation-- and in this way, look
forward in faith to being gathered unto the Lord. Amen.
Saturday, December 7, 2019
Thursday, December 5, 2019
Wake Up!
Romans 13:11-14 If you attend the
adult bible class you can almost count on the fact that sometime during that
hour, a timeline will be drawn on the dry erase board. It reaches back to Adam and Eve and stretches
forward to Christ’s second coming with the cross in the middle. We find our own lives on that timeline somewhere
between Christ’s first and second coming—each day moving us closer to his
return in glory.
That progression of
salvation history to the second coming of Christ is what Paul is talking when
he says that: The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer
to us now than when we first believed.
Because Jesus will
once again enter directly into human history at his return in glory on the last
day, we understand that his return grows ever closer with each passing
day. Christ’s return is closer than it
ever has been! But why does Paul when he
says that salvation is nearer to us
now than it was in the past? Aren’t we
saved right now?
Yes we are! But there is still more good news to come
with our Lord’s return. Right now, we
have forgiveness for our sins and the strength to resist the devil and the
promise that when we die our souls will go to be with the Lord. We are saved!
But we also know
about ourselves that: our faith is not
all that it should be. We give in to
temptation. Our bodies die. We live in a world broken by sin. We have to walk by faith-- not by sight.
But there is a day to come when the fullness
of Christ’s redeeming work will be ours.
We will lay aside our sinful flesh forever. Our bodies will rise from the grave never to
die again. Evil will be punished- the
devil will be cast into the lake of eternal fire- and there will be a new
heaven and a new earth unstained by sin just like there was in the beginning where
God and man will enjoy perfect fellowship forever.
This is Christ’s salvation
that Paul is talking about that is getting closer and closer and we need to be
ready and awake and prepared to meet that new, eternal day. And so Paul says: the
hour has come for you to wake up from sleep.
Paul used the word
“sleep” to describe spiritual complacency.
We’re unaware of what’s going on around us—we’re cozy and comfortable
with the way things are—we’d just as soon stay where we are right now.
The consequences
of hitting the snooze alarm and going back to sleep may not be all that big a
deal when it comes to our earthly responsibilities--but when it comes to our
spiritual life and eternity: the world
is going to end- and spiritual complacency is deadly- and so we need to wake up
because Paul says: The night is far gone; the day is at hand.
For all who have
come to faith in Jesus Christ, the dark night of sin and unbelief has come to
an end--and so it is time for us to wake up, get out of our comfort zone, and
get to work preparing to meet the Lord when he comes again.
The rest of this
lesson from the Bible deals with that very thing—what the “work-day” of the
Christian looks like as we prepare to meet the Lord. Paul says:
Let us cast off the works of darkness
and put on the armor of light.
Paul’s message is
exactly the same as that of John the Baptist and of Jesus and the other
apostles and the whole Christian church down to this day and this pastor: to prepare for the day of the Lord we need to
repent of our sins and be renewed in our faith in Jesus—casting off the works
of darkness and putting on the armor of light.
We are going to
look at some of those works of darkness that we are to cast off in more detail
in just a few moments-- but suffice to say, works of darkness include
everything that flows from our sinful nature as it is tempted by the world and
the devil.
These works are
not “freedom”—they are not legitimate lifestyle choices—they are not things
about which Christians may agree to disagree.
They are darkness—that is, they flow from spiritual darkness and need to
be confessed as such and repented of.
As we cast off the
works of darkness we are to put on the
armor of light. Throughout his
letters Paul uses the image of armor so that his readers could visualize the
spiritual equipping the Holy Spirit does for those who are Jesus’
disciples.
There is the belt
of truth and the breastplate of righteousness and the shield of faith and the
sword of the Spirit which is the word of God.
Just as the works
of darkness much be cast off again and again, so the spiritual armor of light must
be put on again and again as we hear God’s Word and receive his sacraments and
are renewed in our faith by the power of the Spirit.
We would not be
ready to meet the Lord when he comes if the Holy Spirit did not equip us for
the spiritual battles we face as we wait for that day. We are fighting against spiritual forces of
darkness and evil in which we are to have no part. Paul says:
Let us walk properly
as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and
sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Each
of the sins mentioned by Paul—which are representative rather than exhaustive
of spiritual darkness—were prevalent in his day—they were part of the culture
and Christians were forbidden from taking part in them. They are still part of the world in our day
and Christians are still forbidden from taking part in sin.
Paul
puts orgies and drunkenness together because both are representative of sinful
excess and extravagance. It is not so
much the sexual element of an ancient orgy that Paul is thinking about (which
was certainly there and will be examined in more detail later) but about the
excessive eating and drinking and carousing that went on—all of it offered up
as worship to some pagan god.
Now this may seem
far removed from our place and time—but is it?
When people are mauled by an crazed mob of shoppers trying to get some
bargain—when holy days like Easter and Christmas and Thanksgiving can only be
celebrated by many of our fellow citizens with shopping baskets filled with
cases of beer—when we entertain ourselves with filth on TV—we should have no
doubt that there is a god who is being worshipped with this sinful excess and
extravagance-- and it is not the true God.
The same is true
when it comes to the sexual morals of our nation and its citizens. Divorce, children born out of wedlock,
couples living together, and pornography have risen dramatically over the last
several decades. The culture around us
is saturated by sexual images produced to sell some product.
And it’s not only
the actions of so many in our nation that have become corrupt—it’s their
attitudes—hearts filled with quarreling and jealousy. Politicians try to gain the upper hand over
their opponent by stirring up class warfare.
Marketers make it their goal to instill in us envy for that which is new
and improved. And our common life is
marked more and more by rudeness and hatefulness and coarseness.
The words that Paul
writes to us are not ancient history—they perfectly describe our culture and in
contrast to the prevailing custom—Paul says that we are to walk properly as in daytime.
The word that is
translated as “properly” means dignified and decorous. In other words, just because we live in a
culture that is filled with moral filth does not mean that we have to wallow
around in it. We are to have nothing to
do with the spiritual darkness of the world around us but we are to live our
lives in the light of Jesus Christ.
It doesn’t mean
that the Christian has to be stiff or uptight or a prude—but it does mean that
our lives as Christians are to be demonstrably different than the unbelieving
world around us--shaped by the Holy Spirit rather than the world around us.
Paul says that we
are to: Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to
gratify its desires. When we were
baptized, we were clothed in the righteousness of Christ—his death became our
own and we were raised in the power of his resurrection so that we could walk
in newness of life.
We are baptized
just once—but the power of God’s promise made to us in baptism goes on and on throughout
our lives so that we can put Christ on again and again, laying hold of his
righteousness by faith and turning away from sin and praying for the help of
the Holy Spirit so that we make no provision or place for sin in our lives.
This may mean that
we have to abstain from alcohol—it may mean that we have to avoid some TV or
movie that would incite lust—it may mean that we have to get a new set of
friends who will encourage us to live as Christians—it may mean that we have to
cut up the credit cards so that we are not constantly overspending—but whatever
the sacrifice—what is it, compared to being prepared and ready to meet the Lord
when he comes again?
As we wait for
that day, God calls us to wake up from spiritual complacency, put off the works
of darkness, and walk in the light of Christ.
Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)