4/26/09 - Easter 3 - Luke 24:36-49

TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE
- It's hard to believe the unbelievable
- The Lord makes the unbelievable undeniable

There’s a portion of today’s gospel reading from the book of Luke that has always puzzled me. The story itself is straightforward enough: Jesus appears to his disciples after he has risen from the dead, he shows them his hands and his feet so they can see the nail marks, he eats a piece of fish in front of them, and then he explains to them that Scripture had to be fulfilled by his death and resurrection. The events of these verses are easy to follow. But there is a detail in this story that has always left me a little confused. And the detail is this: After Jesus showed his disciples the nail holes in his hands and feet, Luke writes, “They still did not believe it because of joy…” Because of joy? They didn’t quite yet believe that Jesus could be alive again because of their joy? If Luke had written that they didn’t believe because of their doubt, I could understand that. Or if Luke had written they didn’t believe because of their ignorance or because of their fear, then I wouldn’t have even thought twice about it. But instead this inspired writer of the Holy Spirit says that it was because of the disciples’ joy that they did not fully believe Jesus had truly risen from the dead.
It seems that joy would be a strange thing to keep the disciples from believing. You would think that the disciples’ joy would prompt them to believe or at least be the result of believing. But the more times I read through the story and the more the Lord’s own words worked in my mind to help me understand, it started to make a little more sense: I think it was just too good to be true. The disciples were of course overjoyed to see their Savior once again! They were happier than they had ever been to be able to look at Jesus in the face after he had died three days earlier. But it was too good to be true. They were starting to be filled with an incredible amount of joy with Jesus standing right there, but they just couldn’t believe it yet. It was so wonderful, it was so amazing, it was so beyond the realm of possibility that it just couldn’t be true. And so “They still did not believe it because of joy…” And they even tried to explain it away. “It must be a ghost!” they thought. “It must be a vision of some kind! It must be something other than what it seems.” This event would be so spectacular that it was just too good to be true.
And that makes sense to me because we experience the same things in our lives - things that seem too good to be true. It happens with the trivial things in life: an ad you see on tv might seem too good to actually be true. But it happens with the very serious things in life as well: Think of a man contaminated with cancer. It has infected his entire body and the doctors tell him that he only has a few more weeks to live. But as he sits in the waiting room to hear back about yet another test, the doctor rushes into the room and says, “It’s gone! It’s all gone! There’s not a trace of cancer anywhere in your body! Somehow it all went away! You’re perfectly healthy!” And the man replies, “What are you talking about? How can that be? I’m supposed to die in a few weeks! Are you sure?” The man is certainly filled with joy, but he doesn’t quite yet believe the good news because it’s too good to be true.
A family has a son in the military. But while he is overseas fighting in the war, they get news that his entire company has been killed by the enemy and the bodies of all the soldiers have been lost in the explosion. The family holds a military funeral. They place a tombstone on a plot of ground without their son’s body. They mourn the loss of this young man and try to cope with life without him. Suddenly, weeks later, the doorbell rings. And when the mother opens the door, there is her son standing on the doorstep. She gasps. She stares. She violently embraces her son and then holds him back out in front of her to see if he really is there. “What are you doing here?” she says. “You’re supposed to be dead! Your whole company was destroyed! We had your funeral! We have the flag that they gave us sitting in the living room! You’re not supposed to be alive!” The mother sees her son right in front of her. She can physically touch him and hold him. But although she is filled with joy and amazement, she still doesn’t quite yet believe that it’s all real. Because it’s too good to be true.
These are obviously some extreme situations, but so was the resurrection. And I think they suffice to show how the disciples were unable to believe because of their joy. It was too good to be true. It was too unbelievable to believe. It’s hard to believe the unbelievable. When something happens beyond your wildest imagination or your most optimistic expectations, it’s hard to believe it’s true. Think of what happens with Christianity. People have a hard time believing in grace. Why? Because it’s so unbelievable! Jesus died on the cross to forgive the world’s sins. And so now whoever believes in Jesus as their Savior will go to heaven. “That’s it?” someone might think. “That’s all there is to it? I don’t have to do anything? I don’t have pay back anything? That’s too easy! There must be something more to salvation than this man-God simply dying on the cross and rising from the dead!” Grace and salvation are too unbelievable to believe for many people. And of course the same thing happens with baptism and the Lord’s Supper. “Really?” someone says. “Forgiveness is freely given to us through this water coupled with some words from the Bible? Forgiveness is offered in this bread and wine that are supposed to also be Christ’s body and blood? Really? That doesn’t make any sense! It seems so simple, so ridiculous!” But the gospel is that simple and that wonderful. In fact, it is sometimes rejected for those very reasons. It is so unbelievable that it is hard for people to believe.
But those thoughts are not just restricted to non-Christians. Christians too can have a hard time believing the unbelievable truths of Scripture. How many promises of the Lord do you find yourself struggling to fully trust because they are so unbelievable? How many teachings of Scripture have you had problems with over the years because although the words are clear, they just don’t make any logical sense? How many times do you wonder if the Lord really does forgive every one of your sins every time because it’s just too good to be true? Even God’s children have a hard time believing the unbelievable gift of forgiveness. Maybe it’s a sin you never thought you’d commit that you now have. Maybe you’ve done a horrible thing, said some horrible words, or thought some horrible thoughts. Or maybe you’ve committed a sin again - a sin that you promised the Lord you would never again do - but one that got the best of you anyway. And the thought runs through your mind, “I don’t know if God is really going to forgive me this time! I know he promises that he forgives the sins of all people in every way by his death on the cross, but I’ve just done something horrifying! I’ve just said something or thought something that is beyond appalling; it’s dirty and inexcusable. Or I’ve just committed the same sin again that I’ve committed a thousand times before. I don’t know if the Lord is going to put up with that anymore. I don’t know how much longer the Lord will show me his grace if I keep messing up. I don’t know how the Lord could forget what I’ve done to him!” Even the best of Christians have these thoughts. Even the strongest of Christians are harassed by the guilt of their sins so much at times that it is hard for them to believe the unbelievable, to believe the Jesus really did forgive all of their sins on the cross - even the most atrocious - and that he will never take that forgiveness away. If you have a hard time believing the unbelievable at times, you are not alone. In fact, you fit right in. And also know that the Lord does not leave you to try to come to terms with it yourself. Instead, whenever you struggle to believe the unbelievable, he makes sure the unbelievable becomes undeniable.
He made the unbelievable undeniable for his disciples that night. As they stood in front of their risen Lord that evening, unable to believe because of their joy, what did Jesus do? He didn’t leave and let them figure it out on their own. He showed them his hands and his feet. They could see with their own eyes the holes of crucifixion. They could reach out and touch with their own hands the puncture wounds left by the crown of thorns - if they dared. They could hear with their own ears Jesus words and encouragements. And when this visible demonstration didn’t work to convince their hearts, Jesus took a piece of broiled fish and ate it in front of them to prove that he was not some kind of ghost or vision. And if that wasn’t enough, he began to explain to them from the pages of Scripture that what he had just done was what Scripture had always said he would do. Luke writes that Jesus even opened their minds so that they could understand exactly what he was saying! Jesus made the unbelievable undeniable. He gave them indisputable proofs that he truly was alive. And he also appeared to them on multiple occasions in multiple places so that they could not believe anything else except that their Lord had truly risen from the dead.
And Jesus does the same for us. He knows that we have a hard time believing the unbelievable too. He knows that it is natural for us to think his grace and forgiveness and salvation are sometimes things that are too good to be true, that they might not be for us. And so he makes those unbelievable things truths that we cannot deny. And he does that in the same way he did it for his disciples: by coming back to us again and again and again in his Word, repeating his promises to us in different ways at different times. He comes to us in baptism, giving us that same forgiveness in a visible and tangible way. He comes to us in the Lord’s Supper, granting us that same beautiful gift of forgiveness once more in a way we can see and taste and touch on a regular basis. He showers us with promises, he showers us with blessings, he showers us with his full forgiveness numerous times over so that we cannot believe anything else. He has forgiven us by his death on the cross and his life from the tomb. That is a fact. That is undeniable. That is an unbelievable act of grace that is completely believable because the Lord himself says that it is true.
It took the disciples a little while to figure that out - that Christ’s resurrection and all of his promises were not too good to be true - that they were exactly what God had planned all along. But with numerous reminders and irrefutable proofs from Christ himself, they were finally convinced that it was all real and that it was all for them. We may need some reminding too at times. We may need some reassurances and some comforts from our Lord that the things he promises are not too good to be true. And so when doubts or fears or worries arise in your mind, go back to his Word. Let him talk to you there. Let him remind you and reassure you and comfort you there. Dive into the deep waters of his inspired Scripture and submerge yourself in his love. He will convince you. The Lord will open your mind to believe. Because he wants you to understand that his grace and his forgiveness and his salvation that he won for you on the cross are not too good to be true - but that they are too important not to be.
Amen.

“Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.” - Romans 11:33,36

4/19/09 - Easter 2 - Acts 3:12-20

FAITH-HEALING
- Not from the strength of our faith
- From the source of our faith

It was a day he would never forget. Because it was a day that would change his life forever. He didn’t know that at first, of course. He woke up in the morning like he usually did and a few of his friends carried him to the temple gate as was his routine. They carried him there because this man couldn’t walk. In fact, he had been born crippled, and so he sat at that temple gate every day begging for anything the people walking into the temple could spare. On this particular day, however, the apostles Peter and John happened to be walking by his regular spot as they went into the temple to pray. And instead of walking past the man without so much as a glance as most people did, Peter actually looked down at this invalid and spoke to him! And Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk” (Acts 3:6). And immediately this man who had been crippled from birth jumped up, started walking around, and clung to Peter and John while he thanked and praised the Lord. The people at and around the temple were so astonished that Peter had to explain to them what had happened. “Why do you stare at us as if by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk?” Peter said. “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” Peter made it clear that this healing wasn’t something he or John had done on their own. In fact, they didn’t really do anything at all. This miracle that had changed this man’s life forever was really a faith-healing.
What we have here in our Scripture reading for today is a good old-fashioned faith-healing! Of course, it’s much different than the faith-healings we hear about in this country at this time. You’ll notice that in this story of Acts 3 there was no congregation praying over the sick man. There was no mention of the Holy Spirit filling his heart to such an extent that he burned with a holy fire. Peter and John did not speak in tongues; they did not wave their hands in the air or make any outrageous visible demonstrations that afternoon. And the man who couldn’t walk didn’t come looking for a miracle either, he didn’t expect to be healed on that day, nor did the Lord give him some supernatural revelation that he should go to the temple for a special reason at that specific time. This certainly was a faith-healing, but it was just that: a faith-healing. This man believed that God could do just what Peter told the man to do. And that was it. The man believed in God’s love and power and he was healed. Not because of the strength of his faith, but because of the source of his faith.

This is one of the problems of the so-called “faith-healings” in our culture. The healings are thought of as being largely based on the strength of a person’s faith. And if that person who comes to be healed is not healed - or not healed completely - that is supposedly due to the individual’s faith not being strong enough. That person is then asked to pray harder, to dig deeper, to accept and receive and feel the Spirit more than they ever have. And he is told that if his faith is strong enough then the Lord will bless him with the healing he wants so badly. Of course, it doesn’t work like that. Nowhere in Scripture was a healing based on the strength or weakness of a person’s faith. Not to mention that nowhere in Scripture does the Lord promise that the miraculous healings recorded for us in the Bible will happen in the same way today.
But that attitude, that misconception that the strength of a person’s faith is the catalyst to a complete healing, shouldn’t surprise us. Because that stems right from the sinful nature. It comes from the same delusion common to every person in this world: that we have inside of us what it takes to do great things. That is really the “American Dream” when it is whittled down to the core. We have inside us what it takes to do great things. I hear it at hospitals and rehab centers and funeral homes all the time. “Oh, you’re strong. You’ve always had an unwavering positive attitude and I’ve always respected your determination. You can pull through this.” Or “She’s a fighter. She’s not going to let this illness get the best of her. I know she can beat it. She’s a rock.” Or “He’s tough. He’s gone through so much in his life that he’ll know how to deal with this. He’s got that inner strength and that personal resolve to handle anything.” Haven’t you heard some of these things before? Haven’t you said some of these things about others or even thought some of these things about yourself? I’ve had that attitude about myself plenty of times in my life! I’ve often thought about myself, “I’m strong enough to get through this. I’ve got the experience to handle that problem. I have the personality needed to deal with this particular person in this particular situation. I’ve got the ability to manage this, I’ve got the know-how to fix that, I’ve got what it takes to do what needs to be done.”
But whenever those thoughts crossed my mind, where was my trust? On whom was I leaning during those moments of difficulty and decision? It wasn’t on the Lord; it was on my determination to get things done, on my abilities, on my inner strength and personal fortitude. Things that are unreliable. Things that have let me down in the past and will again. Things that I should know better than to trust in. It’s OK to be confident, but my confidence and your confidence should only and always rest on the Lord. On what he does. On what he can do. Even on what he can do through you.
We see this correct placement of confidence in Acts 3. “By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see.” The man in our story today wasn’t made strong because of his own strength, because of his own willpower, or because of his own personal resolve. He was completely healed because of the strength and the will and the resolve of the risen Lord. The one whom this man believed. The one who gave him the faith in the first place so that he could believe.
And we were once in a very similar situation as this crippled man was in while he sat at the gate of the temple. This man couldn’t stand because his legs wouldn’t work. We couldn’t stand in the presence of the Lord because our attempts at reconciliation didn’t work. This man couldn’t walk because he was born without the strength to do so. We couldn’t walk perfectly in the laws of the Lord because we were born without the strength to do so. This man needed to be completely healed by someone who cared and by someone who could. We needed to be completely healed by someone who cared and by someone who could. Different situations, but the same the Lord. And the same power. And the same love. And the Lord has completely healed us just as he completely healed the man born crippled. And he performed that healing in the same way: through faith in the unmatched power and love of our risen Lord.
And this faith that both the crippled man had and we now have is something very special: “It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing.” Not only is it faith in Jesus, it is faith that comes through Jesus as well. He is the object of our faith as well as the source of our faith. That’s an amazing act of love, isn’t it? The Lord knew we needed to be completely spiritually healed and he knew the only way that could happen was if we would believe in him as our Savior. And so he gave us the faith to believe in him! We didn’t ask for it, we weren’t looking for it. We didn’t expect it or deserve it. We were sitting right along side that crippled man at the temple, unable to do anything to cure ourselves. We were hopeless and helpless and oblivious to the Lord’s love. Until Peter and John walked to where we were lying. Of course, the Lord didn’t send Peter and John to us in person as he did to the crippled man, but he sent them to us through their words he had them write down in Scripture. And as we read or heard or where baptized with the words of Peter or John or Paul or Matthew or Luke, the Lord worked faith in our hearts through those words so that we might believe in him and be saved. It was a miracle! It was a complete healing. It was a faith-healing.
Biblical faith-healings happen in a spiritual way every day in many different countries to many different people. The Lord works faith in people’s hearts through his written and spoken Word or through his Word matched with the waters of baptism. And those people who were once spiritually crippled are immediately healed in full. It is not a process at all. This type of healing is not a slow rehabilitation of any kind. That young, immature, inexperienced, almost naïve faith is a real true healing. It is complete and sufficient for salvation. Because it’s not the strength of the faith that saves. It’s the source of the faith that saves.
And I’m stressing that point again this morning because it is a crucial truth to keep in mind for your own comfort and peace of mind. You can be absolutely sure of your forgiveness and salvation because the Lord himself has given you that faith to believe in him. Your faith was not conjured up on your own and it wasn’t a decision you decided to make at some point in your life. And so you do not have to ever worry if your faith is valid or not. You don’t have to ever wonder if you made a mistake or if the faith that you somehow have is good enough or strong enough or dependable enough to hang on until the end. Because the Lord is good enough! The Lord is strong enough! The Lord is dependable enough to keep you in the faith that he himself gave you. The crippled man in Acts 3 understood that concept well. He didn’t question the reality of his healing, he didn’t wonder if it was complete or not. He was jumping up and down in praise because he knew this miracle didn’t come from himself; it came from the crucified and resurrected Lord in whom he believed.

You may not ever experience a physical healing of the magnitude that this crippled man in our Scripture lesson experienced, but don’t forget that you have experienced a true “faith-healing” of even greater worth. You have been healed from the wounds of your sins. You have been healed from the pains and the fears of death. You have been healed from the attacks of Satan and the onslaughts of your own sinful nature. You have been healed through faith in the name of your Lord. It is a complete healing. It is a sure healing. You are whole again. You are well. In fact, you are healthier than you have ever been before. And so jump to your feet with the man at the temple gate. Praise the name of your Lord. Cling to his Word and thank him for everything he has done. Because you truly have received a faith-healing. Forgiveness was the cure. Salvation is the result.
Amen.

“You turned our wailing into dancing; you removed our sackcloth and clothed us with joy, that our hearts may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord our God, we will give you thanks forever.” - Psalm 30:11-12

4/12/09 - Easter Sunday - John 20:1-9

THERE IS NOTHING TO FEAR
- Even those things we do not know
- Because of the things we do know

John was right there. One early Sunday morning “the disciple whom Jesus’ loved” was right there looking into an empty cave where his Savior had been buried three days before. The burial linens still remained, the cloth that had once covered up Jesus’ head was folded and placed aside, but the body of Christ was nowhere to be seen. And John was the first out of Jesus’ eleven remaining disciples to see it. Mary Magdalene had run back to tell Peter and John about the empty tomb after she had gone there early in the morning intending to treat Christ’s body with spices. And so these two disciples immediately ran to the tomb after they heard the news. John got there first and peered inside. Peter arrived after him and rushed past John into the vacant grave. And John writes about himself, “Finally, the other disciple who reached the tomb first also went inside. He saw and believed. But they still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.” Interesting words, that John writes about himself and about Peter, aren’t they? John was right there to see the proof of Jesus’ resurrection with his own eyes. He was one of the first people to arrive on the scene. He even had the advantage of hearing Jesus predict that this very thing would happen! But he still did not understand. He couldn’t figure it out. And because he didn’t understand, he was afraid.
John was afraid about what he didn’t know. And he wasn’t alone. John himself writes that on that very evening most of the disciples were gathered together in the same room “with the doors locked for fear of the Jews” (20:19). And it sort of makes sense that they were afraid because remember what the Jewish people had done. They had just falsely arrested, tried, accused, condemned, and crucified the disciples’ teacher and Savior. And so the disciples now didn’t know what would happen. Would the Jews come after them? Would they be arrested and condemned and crucified too? Would they be able to survive without the Lord by their side guarding and protecting them every step of the way? The disciples didn’t know what was going to happen to them. They didn’t even understand what had just happened at the empty tomb. And they were confused and worried about how it would all play out in the end.
Of course, they had nothing to worry about at all. Jesus had told them on numerous occasions that he would be handed over to the chief priests and elders, that they would murder him, and that he would rise from the dead after three days. Jesus promised them just a few days before on Maundy Thursday evening: “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you” (John 14:18). And then again, “Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy” (16:19). And still another promise that night: “In this world you will have trouble,” Jesus told them. “But take heart! I have overcome the world” (v.33). Throughout his life, and especially during the few days before his death, Jesus had been preparing his disciples for what they going to have to experience by repeating his promises to them over and over again. And so even if the disciples didn’t understand what was going on at the moment, and even if they were confused about how things would work out, they should have at least trusted that Jesus knew what he was doing and that he was completely in control at all times and in every way. They should have believed God’s clear words regardless of whether or not they knew exactly how and where and why and when they would come true.
But that’s a pretty typical reaction of anyone, isn’t it? All of us get a little worried about the things we don’t know, about the things we don’t understand, about the things we can’t figure out. When a loved one is seriously ill and we don’t know how it’s all going to end, we get a little nervous. When our financial future is up in the air and there’s nothing we can do about it, our stress level rises a couple notches. When a tragedy strikes and we simply do not know what to do or where to turn or how we’ll be able to handle it, we get a little frustrated and anxious about the uncertainty of it all. But why should we? We have received exactly the same promises that those disciples received. Jesus has promised that he will not leave us as orphans, no one will take away our joy, and no matter how many troubles we face in this world we don’t ever have to worry because Christ has overcome the world! Have we somehow forgotten those promises? Do we just ignore them? Do we agree with them on paper, but when it comes down to living “real life” we suddenly aren’t so convinced that what Jesus said can actually be true? Fear and apprehension are universal! But they are not just undesirable character traits or unpleasant feelings; they are products of doubting God’s Word! When we are afraid or apprehensive or worried about what may or may not happen, we are saying in effect, “Lord, I know what you say to me in your Word, but I’m not completely convinced that you can pull it off. Because it doesn’t look too good for me right now. It’s doesn’t seem like your promises are going to pan out. I’m going to have to wait and see if it all turns out well before I fully trust your Word.”
Now I know that is not what you consciously think or say to the Lord, and I’m sure that’s not what John and the rest of the disciples consciously thought or said to him either. But their actions and thoughts and our actions and thoughts definitely convey that attitude. And it’s a sinful attitude, not a Christian one. It’s a demeaning attitude to God, not one of praise and thanks. It’s an attitude that we should be ashamed of showing, as I’m sure those disciples were.
But as those disciples were hiding in that locked room on Easter evening overwhelmed with fear and apprehension and worry, do you remember what happened? Jesus miraculously appeared and stood in front of them. And he the first thing he said was, “Peace be with you” (John 20:19)! He didn’t criticize them for being afraid. He didn’t point out their sins or chastise them. He simply said, “Peace be with you!” Because he was alive! He had risen! And this was the very first time he appeared to his disciples after he had come out of the tomb! They didn’t have to worry anymore! They didn’t have to wonder or hide or be afraid! They could be at peace because their Lord and Savior lived! Yes, he had died, but now he reigned! And his life proved that what he said was true. His resurrection solidified all of the promises he had ever made to his disciples and to us. His victory over the grave confirmed that he had the power to do everything he said he would do in every way. The disciples did not have to be afraid. And we have nothing to fear either. We do not have to fear even those things we don’t understand because we are comforted by the things we do know.
And that’s why we are gathered here this morning like we do every year on Easter Sunday. To celebrate what we do know: Christ died, he was buried, and he rose from the dead. And he did all of those things for us. For our forgiveness and for our salvation. He did it to release us from the punishments of our sinful attitudes and actions. He did it to guarantee us a spot in heaven forever. He did it to give us joy and comfort and, most importantly, peace. Jesus has risen from the dead. Jesus has risen from the dead! This should be a day of fireworks and festivals because this is our Christian Independence Day! We have been released from the eternal sentence of sin and the awful finality of death. We are free. We are free because Christ lives. We are free to live with Christ forever.
John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, finally understood that. As he was confronted with the living Lord right in front of his face that Easter evening, I’m sure he recalled the empty tomb he say earlier that morning. I’m sure he was reminded of the empty tomb of Lazarus after Jesus had raised him from the dead years earlier. I’m sure John thought of the words Jesus spoke at Lazarus’ tomb: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). I wouldn’t be surprised if John remembered some of those words of his Savior because with Jesus standing in front of him alive again, those promises would be able to come true. And they will come true for us as well. Christ’s resurrection from the grave means that we who believe in him will rise from the grave as well. We will live with him. We will enjoy a paradise of perfection with our Lord in his heavenly home. Why? Not because we’ve earned it. We’re too sinful. Not because we deserve it by the way we have tried to live. We’re not good enough. Not because we’ve done our best and the Lord will give us an “A” for effort. That’s not how it works! We will live forever with our Savior because of what he did for us on earth. On the cross, in the grave, and out of the tomb. Our eternal life is secure because of his life. And so you don’t have to be afraid. You don’t have to be apprehensive. You don’t have to worry. Because no matter what happens here, no matter what troubles or tragedies or sicknesses or losses you have to face in this life, God promises he has already taken care of everything. Your living Lord promises he will always take care of you.
Amen.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope though the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead!” - 1 Peter 1:3

4/10/09 - Good Friday - John 19:26-27

THE LORD IS NEVER TOO BUSY TO LOVE
- He took the time to comfort John
- He takes the time to comfort you

John was right there. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” was standing right there at the foot of the cross watching his Savior bleed. He was close enough to see the nails and the thorns. He was near enough to hear Jesus’ cries of agony as well as the cruel words of mockery from his enemies. In fact, out of the eleven remaining disciples, John is the only mentioned as being present on the hill of Jesus’ crucifixion. This disciple decided to risk the persecution and possible imprisonment in order to be as close to his Savior as he could in the last hours of his life. Of course, it must have been hard for John to watch - it would have been difficult for any Christian to see the Lord himself dying so brutally - but John was there anyway and he was there to stay until the end. Because he was not only the disciple whom Jesus loved, he was a disciple who loved Jesus.
It was John who records for us a few words of Christ on the cross that no other gospel writer mentions. And for good reason. Because these few words of Christ during the crucifixion were spoken to John himself. “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Dear woman, here is your son,’ and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on this disciple took her into his home.” These words must have surprised John! And these words should surprise us! Jesus was hanging there on a cross, in the process of dying, with thorns in his head and stakes through his hands & feet and open wounds on his back… In just a few more moments he would be suffering the punishments of hell and the rejection from his Father. Jesus was in the middle of paying for the sins of the entire world! But here, at the apex of his sacrifice and suffering for all mankind, he looks down from the cross, he catches the eye of the disciple whom he loved, and he speaks to him: “Here is your mother.”
But let’s pause here for a moment. Because these words were not only a beautiful observance of the 4th Commandment; these words were an announcement of forgiveness. These words were laced with forgiveness because remember what John had done in the previous hours before standing at the foot of the cross. The night before Jesus had pointed out to all of the disciples in the upper room that Judas was the one who would betray him. But John, along with the rest of the disciples, failed to understand what was going on and so didn’t do anything to stop Judas from carrying out his plans - and now, because of Judas’ actions, Jesus was dying on a cross! Later on in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to stay up with him and pray. But John fell asleep with the rest of them. When Jesus was arrested by the mob, all the disciples fled in fear, including the disciple whom Jesus loved. And while Jesus was on trial in front of the Sanhedrin, John seemingly failed to speak up for Jesus even though John himself writes that he accompanied Christ into the high priest’s courtyard because the high priest knew John personally. John had been ignorant, negligent, cowardly, and weak. And now he was standing in front of the one he had sinned against, watching him die. John was surely loaded down with guilt as Jesus looked down at him. John had to have been embarrassed to stand there in front of his Savior after what he had done. But notice that Jesus didn’t ignore him or chastise him for his sins. Instead he instructed, “Dear woman, here is your son… Here is your mother.” Jesus was not too busy to love. At the climax of his indescribable pain and misery, Jesus took the time to comfort John and to offer him those simple words of forgiveness.
I don’t think any of you have ever had your hands nailed to a piece of wood before, but I’m sure you’ve had a couple of splinters in your life. I doubt that you’ve had an iron stake driven through your feet, but you’ve probably stubbed your toe once or twice. I would guess that you haven’t had a crown of thorns pressed into your skull or have experienced a flogging of 39 lashes, but you’ve had headaches and back pains and various other physical discomforts. And when you are faced with a throbbing pain or an excruciating ache, how does that change your attitude towards other people? In the middle of that intense pain do you want to talk to others? Do you want them to talk to you? Do you want to carry on a conversation with them and go out of your way to help them? Or do you simply want to be left alone for a moment? Don’t you want to shut out everything around you and just deal with the pain you are experiencing at the moment? In that moment of physical difficulty, aren’t your thoughts completely absorbed by the desire to find some relief? Usually, when we are in pain we are a little mad, a little cranky, a little impatient, a little frustrated, and a lot selfish. Pain most often brings out the selfishness of a person if anything does. We turn in on ourselves and we find it hard to think of anything else or anyone else until the pain that is bothering us has somewhat subsided.
Of course, selfishness is not love. In fact, it’s just the opposite. And I’m sure you can bring to mind any number of instances when you failed to love as truly as you ought because of the physical pain you were personally experiencing at the moment. And if we’re being truthful, we don’t even show that kind of love on our best days, let alone our worst! And then when we place those instances next to what Jesus said to John while he was on the cross, our selfishness is that much more evident. When we compare Jesus’ love to our selfishness we should be embarrassed. We should be completely humiliated of our actions. We call ourselves Christians but our Christian love is thrown out the window when even the most minor of pains affects us. As if a physical aliment gives us an excuse to be self-centered. As if pain and suffering give us a good reason to feel sorry for ourselves instead of feeling love for others. Our love is sporadic at best and almost non-existent at worst.
Those of you who have not always loved as a Christian should love, come stand at the cross with John and watch your Savior bleed. Take the guilt and the remorse you have over your sins and let that blood from the nails and the thorns wash them away. Look up at the face of Christ as he looks down at you. Hear his words: “Here is your mother.” Words that were not spoken to you, but words that that you can also take to heart. Because they are powerful words of Jesus’ forgiveness. They are words of Jesus’ love. Jesus was basically saying to his disciple: “I don’t hold those sins against you. I am not hanging your guilt over your head. I forgive you. Look! I’m paying for those very sins right now on the cross! Your sins are washed away in this blood! And now I have some very important work for you to do.” And just as John was completely relieved of his sinfulness through that simple declaration, so are you. Jesus forgives you. He pardons you. Because he paid for you with his blood. He doesn’t ask questions. He doesn’t make accusations. He doesn’t wait to see if you will prove yourself worthy of his love. He just forgives you. Because that’s the kind of God he is. And that’s the kind of God he is every day.
The Lord still shows you that same kind of love. God is obviously busy. He controls the world and everything in it. He reigns in the devil and guards his children from harm. He is constantly working and strengthening faith through the Word and sacraments, spreading his gospel throughout the world, and answering every prayer of every Christian every time. God has things to do. But he still takes time to love you. He took the time to show his love to John as he was suffering on the cross and so he will definitely take the time to show his love to you as he sits on his throne. That is what his words on the cross mean. Not just the words “Here is your mother” that he spoke to John, but the words he spoke soon after that: “It is finished” that he spoke to you. It is finished means that he paid the price, that his sacrifice was enough, and that his love for you would last forever. It is finished means that there is nothing left to be done for your salvation, that Jesus did it all. It is finished means that no matter how many times you may fall back into the selfishness of your sinful nature, the Lord will never take his love away from you. He will always make time to welcome you back. He will always make time to hold you in his arms. He will always make to time to remind you of what he did on that cross. Because that’s where his love is. And that is where you can always go. That is why we are at the cross tonight. That is why we stand on the hill of Calvary and watch our Savior die every year before Easter. Because the cross is the bloody battlefield of our forgiveness. It is the greatest expression of the Lord’s never ending love. Take some time tonight watching your Savior bleed on that cross. Because on the cross is where he spent his most important time for you.
Amen.

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” - Rev. 5:12

4/9/09 - Mauny Thursday - John 13:21-30

THE LORD IS AWARE
- He is not fooled by your sinfulness
- He knows exactly what you need

John was right there. “The disciple whom Jesus loved” was reclining on his elbow right next to the Lord there at the supper table. The twelve disciples were celebrating the annual feast of the Passover together with Jesus that night and John happened to be placed right next to Christ. And so John was right there when Jesus said that someone in that very room would betray him. John was right there when Peter motioned to him so that he would ask Jesus the all-important question that was on everyone’s mind: “Who is it?” John was right there when Jesus said it was the one to whom he would give the piece of bread after dipping it into the dish. And John was right there when Jesus handed that piece of bread to Judas Iscariot. John was right there, front and center. He saw it all. He heard it all. But he still didn’t understand. None of the disciples did. None of them knew what was happening. Even though that scene seems pretty clear to us, the only person in that room that truly understood what was going on was Jesus himself. In fact, when Jesus told Judas, “What you are about to do, do quickly,” some of the disciples thought Jesus wanted him to buy supplies for the remaining days of the Feast or that he was supposed to give something to the poor out of the treasury. Neither John nor Peter nor any of the other disciples knew what Judas had planned.
Judas must have been a very sly man! He was in charge of the money, he was the treasurer for this group of missionaries, and he had been stealing from the collection all along. But none of the disciples knew! Judas had also been sneaking behind their backs to talk to the chief priests about handing Jesus over to them. And none of the disciples knew! Judas had even planned that very night to lead the mob out to the Garden of Gethsemane so that they could arrest Jesus. And none of the disciples knew! Judas’ plans and his actions and his beliefs were hidden from his fellow disciples and his treachery went undetected until it was far too late. No one knew the extent of Judas’ sinfulness that was lurking just below the surface. Except for the Lord.
The Lord was aware. Jesus knew all along what Judas was up to, what Judas had planned, and what Judas thought. Jesus was perfectly in tune with what Judas had tried to hide so well from the very beginning. Judas’ intentions didn’t surprise Jesus. Judas’ actions didn’t throw him off guard. In fact, Jesus continually gave him opportunities to repent because he knew exactly what was in Judas’ heart and mind - even before Judas himself thought of it. Judas should have known better, but he didn’t. And the disciples should have seen it, but they didn’t. Only the Lord was aware. Only he understood what was happening that night as well as what would happen because of it.
I have a feeling that you are pretty sly in hiding your sins, too. I know I am! I think every person on this earth is able to hide their sins well! Because we’ve had so much practice! As kids we don’t want our parents to see what we’re doing. As adults we don’t want others to hear what we’re saying about them. And as people infected with a sinful nature we definitely don’t want anyone to know what we’re thinking! And so we’ve gotten good at hiding our sins. We pretend that we never thought those things about the person and go on as if nothing were wrong. We are careful to say those derogatory comments about that person only to those who we know will not get us in trouble. We do those things we aren’t supposed to do only if we’re out of sight and out of the way. We usually take great pains into making sure that as few people as possible know about our sins because we don’t want to deal with what they might say or what they might think or the jab of a guilty conscience once other people find out what really goes on in that mind of ours. And we’re usually successful! Just like Judas we are able to trick and to fool even those who are closest to us. Your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends, your co-workers, your fellow Christian brothers and sisters don’t know the depth of your sins, do they? And not many know the depth of mine.
But the Lord knows. He is aware of everything we do, everything we say, and everything we think no matter how many other people do not. The Lord sees your hidden sins just as clearly as he saw the hidden sins of Judas. Jesus is not surprised. He is tricked. He is not fooled. He even knows about those sins that you have somehow managed to hide from yourselves. The Lord is aware of them all. And he doesn’t excuse any of them. In fact, he hates every one of your sins just as much as he hated the sins of Judas. And isn’t it a scary thing to know that Jesus knows what he knows?
But take a look again at how Jesus dealt with those sins that night in the upper room. Although he knew about Judas’ sin, he did no immediately condemn him. He did not immediately damn Judas to hell for even thinking about betraying the Lord. Nor did Jesus ignore Judas’ sin; he publically announced it to all of the disciples before it happened - giving Judas another chance to repent. And Jesus didn’t try to avoid embarrassing Judas; he dipped the bread in the dish and gave it directly to Judas - letting him know that there were no secrets with the Lord and it was still not too late to admit his guilt. Jesus didn’t even prevent Judas from carrying out his sin either; he allowed him to carry it out to its awful completion. And Christ did all of those things because he knew that what Judas was going to put into action would be the very way he would save his people. Jesus was fully aware of Judas’ sin and all of the suffering that would result because of it. But Jesus was also fully aware of what the world needed.
The world, you and I and even Judas, we all needed forgiveness. And this was how Jesus was going to accomplish it. And so he let Judas leave the upper room that night so that the mob could be gathered. Jesus voluntarily went out to the Garden of Gethsemane in order to meet his captors there. He let the fake trials and the harsh beatings and the false accusations take place. And he made sure that all of those events would eventually lead him to the cross. Because he was aware that this was exactly where we needed him to be. He knew the sins that each one of us would commit and he knew that we would never be able to handle the punishment. And so as our loving Lord and merciful Savior, he went to that cross to pay for those sins so that we would never have to. That means: he knows our sins personally! He is not only aware of them on an intellectual level, he is aware of how much punishment each one of those sins deserves because he experienced it! He suffered it! He died from it! Christ died from our sins because that’s what we needed him to do. And he was glad to do it. He didn’t like to do it, but he was glad to do it for our salvation.
The disciple whom Jesus loved, the apostle John, didn’t understand that right away. John didn’t know what was happening at the moment it was happening. He didn’t perceive who Judas really was, he didn’t comprehend what Jesus meant when he predicted his death, John didn’t even realize at first that Jesus would rise from the dead. But John would soon figure it out. Because he was right there every step of the way. He was not only in the upper room on Maundy Thursday evening, he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, he was in the courtyard of the high priest while Jesus was on trial, he was at the foot of the cross during the crucifixion, and he was the first of the 11 remaining disciples to look into the empty tomb on Easter morning. John was right there. And later on in life as he pondered what he had seen and heard, he undoubtedly realized that the entire time Jesus had not only been aware of his sins, but also of what he needed - forgiveness and salvation and peace. And so throughout his life John continued to spread and preach that gospel to the world. Tonight, that gospel is preached to you. Take John’s words to heart. Know that the Lord is aware of your sins. But also know that he is aware of what you need. And because of the cross, the grave, and the empty tomb, what you really need has really already been given it to you.
Amen.

“Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” - Rev. 7:12

4/5/09 - Palm Sunday - Phil. 2:5-11

BOW DOWN
- At the feet of the humbled Servant
- At the feet of the glorified King

Palm Sunday is the peak before the plunge. Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem that morning was one of the highpoints in his life before he reached the lowest. It was really the only time in his 33 years that he allowed a large public display of praise and thanks to occur on his behalf, but just five days later those same people who were shouting “Hosanna to the Son of David” were shouting “Crucify him! Crucify him!” On that Sunday palm branches and robes were thrown down at Jesus’ feet. But in less than a week his own robe was torn off of him and divided among the soldiers. On the first day of that most holy week he came into the city riding on a donkey. On the fifth day of the week he would leave the city with a cross on his back. This event of Jesus’ life that we celebrate this morning is the peak before the plunge. It is the entrance of the Lord himself but only to his death. It is the arrival of the King but only to be a Servant.
The paradox between Christ as our Servant and Christ as our King is made clear on a day like today. And that is why Philippians 2:5-11 is often paired with this Palm Sunday gospel. Paul’s words to the congregation in Philippi demonstrate how low the Lord went for our salvation but also how high the Father glorified him in honor. They show us that we are to bow down - both at the feet of the humbled Servant as well as at the feet of the glorified King. Allow me to repeat these famous words that you have not only heard earlier this morning, but that you have heard many times before: “Our attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
As Paul’s words indicate, even though Christ came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday as a King of sorts, his entrance wasn’t all that kingly. He came, “taking the very nature of a servant.” Our King didn’t come on horses and chariots; he came on a foal of a donkey. He wasn’t flanked by his army and his riches, but by a handful of ordinary disciples. He wasn’t surrounded with banners and flags and the colors of war, but by palm branches and robes at his feet. He wasn’t welcomed by trumpet blasts and lavish festivals, but by the shouts of children and commoners. Jesus arrived in Jerusalem that day as gloriously as he ever had in public, but it still didn’t look like much from a human perspective. Jesus, the King, still entered the city as a servant. And the people rejoiced! They shouted! They sang! The quoted Scripture! They tore off branches from the trees and threw their own clothing on the ground as a red carpet! These people were excited to see their Savior! They were overjoyed to meet the Messiah who had been prophesied about for centuries! And they were more than happy to bow down at the feet of this unlikely and rather modest looking Servant-King.
When you came into church this morning, I didn’t see anyone jumping up and down in excitement to worship this humble Servant on Palm Sunday - and I didn’t either. And next week I doubt that many of you will lose much sleep on Saturday night because you are anticipating with such eagerness the celebration we’ll have here on Easter Sunday. In fact, there is very little visible enthusiasm on any Sunday we join together here for a worship service. And I wouldn’t expect there to be! Outward emotions and visible zeal aren’t necessary to display as a Christian, and there are not always natural either. We aren’t called on to demonstrate the same external and physical happiness that those crowds on Palm Sunday displayed for the Lord. But our attitude should not be any different at all. There isn’t any reason why we shouldn’t be overjoyed and absolutely thrilled to worship our humble Servant whenever we get a chance. Especially on a day like Palm Sunday! Especially at the peak of his praise before the plunge into his Passion! But it’s so easy to treat Palm Sunday like any other Sunday. And what’s worse: it’s so easy to treat any Sunday like any other Sunday…
Because we get so used to it, don’t we? We come in a little before 9AM, sing hymns out of the same red hymnals, use one of the four regular liturgies from the front of the book, follow along with the same organ, listen to the same pastor, sit with the same people, worship in the same place, and see the same Christ. The joy of seeing and worshiping Christ, the humble servant, loses its shine over time. Christ gets too familiar. It’s nothing we haven’t heard about before; it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. And many of the worship services become an hour that just happens without anything really happening at all. You may walk out the doors on a particular Sunday morning and not even remember what it was that you had just done in there! And other Sundays are those that you just seem to get through without much of a second thought.
Palm Sunday is sometimes one of those Sundays for me. I’m tempted to just “get through” Palm Sunday each year so that I can get to the three upcoming festivals with the three special services I have to write for them and three important sermons I have to prepare for them that all fall within a four day time frame. Palm Sunday almost becomes an expected hassle to deal with before I can really get to the intensive work of Holy Week! Of course, I should never treat Palm Sunday in such a way! We should never treat any Sunday in such a way - as just something to get through or to be at or to check off the “to do” list. It’s a terrible thing when our Sunday worship ceases to be anything special. When it becomes just one more thing on the schedule or something that isn’t even worth putting on the schedule at times. I wonder how happy the Lord is with our worship every week especially if we aren’t overly happy to be here ourselves.
When Jesus entered Jerusalem as a humble servant on the first Palm Sunday, who did he come into that city for? He certainly came for his disciples who accompanied him. He certainly came for the children and the men and women who sang his praises. He certainly came for all those believers in the Old Testament who had waited their entire lives for his coming. But he also came for the people there who changed their minds a few days later and joined in the crowds chanting for his death. Jesus came for the Pharisees who demanded that he prevent his praises from being proclaimed. He came for the chief priests who would condemn him, for Pilate who would pervert justice in a disgusting act of cowardice, and for the soldiers who would ravage his body with scourges and thorns and nails. Jesus came for those who were his true followers and for those who were his outright enemies. Jesus came to forgive and to save those who worshiped him with true hearts that day, and those who didn’t worship him at all. Jesus came for me and Jesus came for you. Not because we worship him correctly every time we come to church, but because we don’t. He came to forgive those very sins and all others. He knew that some of those people there on the first Palm Sunday would turn on him for no good reason. And he knows you and I will not always worship him as we ought. But he entered the city walls of Judea’s capital city anyway. And he left those city gates with a beam of wood on his shoulders because we aren’t perfect. Because we are sinners. Because there was nothing else left for him to do if we were to be saved. Jesus didn’t come riding on a donkey as a humble Servant because we deserved it, but because we don’t and we can’t and we never will. Jesus forgave us because we don’t deserve it. And we are forgiven because we believe we don’t deserve to be.
And what our humble Servant did for us on this earth not only saved us, it earned him the right to be a glorified King in eternity! “Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” That sentence starts with the beautiful word “therefore.” Therefore - because Christ humbled himself and became obedient to death on the cross, God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name. Christ is our glorified King because he first was our humbled Servant. And what a backwards way of earning honor and praise! Usually, a person receives honor and praise because of the great things they have accomplished. David was given honor and praise because he was a mighty warrior and defeated many of the Israelite’s enemies. Solomon was given honor and praise for his great wisdom and his unending riches. Alexander the Great for conquering so many peoples and nations, Constantine for the promotion and spreading of Christianity, George Washington for his defeat of the British army. These men, these rulers, were given honor and praise and fame for the great things they had done. But Christ, this King, our King, is given honor and praise by his Father because he made himself nothing, because he took on the form of a servant, because he humbled himself to death, because he died on a cross. A strange way to earn honor and praise, but that’s exactly what his Father wanted him to do. So that now at the sound of Jesus’ name every knee will bow in heaven and on earth and under earth because this humbled Servant is now the glorified King! He was a servant, but he now rules. He had humbled himself, but now he is glorified. He died in such a humiliating way, but now he lives as the one who is exalted to the highest place. In the end, Christ got exactly what he deserved. And we will get exactly what we don’t. Which happens to be the very same thing: honor and glory on account of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We will share in Christ’s honor because we believe in him as his children and we will share in his glory as we live in his presence forever. And Palm Sunday gives us a hint of that glory and honor to come.
Palm Sunday is a great time of year. Don’t move on to Easter quite yet! Pause for a moment, look at the humbled Servant, marvel at the glorified King, and bow down to both. Because on this Sunday Christ gives us a little taste about what next Sunday is going to be like. Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday are two great mountain peaks with a dark and miserable valley in between. We can see Easter from here. We can kind of make out what it is going to be like from over here - but we’re not there yet. Spend some time up here on the Palm Sunday peak before you descend into the depths Holy Week. Enjoy the sunshine of the servant and the brief reflection of the coming King. Because one day we will come back to this hill. When Judgment Day arrives and we all gather on the hill of Zion in heaven, we will have another Palm Sunday. Christ will enter the city gates, we will jump for joy, quote Scripture, glorify his name, and sing his praises with palm branches in hand. “After this,” John writes in the book of Revelation, “I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’” (Rev. 7:9-10)! What a Palm Sunday that will be! A Palm Sunday to end all Sundays! A Palm Sunday that will last forever. Enjoy a smaller version of that today. Look at the humbled Servant. Bow down now at the feet of the King. And keep a hold of his glory as you climb down into these darker days of Christ’s Passion that are just a few steps ahead.
Amen.

“Now to the King immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” - 1 Tim. 1:17

3/29/09 - Lent 5 - John 12:20-33

FULL-TIME SERVICE
- We are to be where Christ is
- Christ comes to where we fall

It’s not a surprise to me that people are turned off by Christianity. Not only because the teachings of the Bible are completely contrary to a logical mind, but also because Christianity demands commitment. Even most unbelievers realize that being a Christian would mean that they would no longer be able to do all of the things they like to do because those things wouldn’t match up with what the Bible says. They understand (in an intellectual way) that being a Christian would mean that Christ would have to take over the number one priority in their lives instead of themselves. They are even vaguely aware that being a Christian would mean that they might have to start doing and saying things that they are uncomfortable doing and saying. This world knows that Christianity is commitment; and you know that is true by experience. You realize that being a Christian is being a committed servant. You are to listen to the Lord; you are to follow the Lord; you are to serve the Lord. And it’s not just a part-time job. It’s full-time service. Being a Christian is a 24/7 responsibility. And you’ve learned throughout your life that it’s not always easy either!
During Holy Week, just a few days before Christ’s betrayal and crucifixion, Jesus spoke about this full-time service. A few Greeks in Jerusalem wanted to see Jesus in person. And so Jesus’ disciples told him about the request of these men to meet him face to face. In reply, Jesus explained to Philip and Andrew what being a servant of Christ was really all about. “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.” It was a good thing that these Greeks wanted to see Jesus, but the Lord wanted to make sure that they knew exactly what they were getting into! “Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be.”
Now I don’t know if Jesus’ words scared off those men from Greece, but they sure scare me. “Where I am, my servant also will be.” That scares me when I think of all the places Jesus went and all of the people that he talked to! Jesus once walked into the temple at Jerusalem as a young boy and debated with the teachers of the law there for three days. Jesus went out onto the boats of rugged and experienced fishermen whom he had never met before in order to call them to the faith. He went to the homes of Pharisees who knew the Old Testament law backward and forward just so that he could convict them of their sins. He went out of his way to speak to prostitutes and extortionists, to those who were homeless and to those who were plagued by disease. Jesus spent countless hours on his knees in the dark, both late at night and early in the morning, praying to his Father. He walked into his home town of Capernaum knowing that he would be rejected. He traveled out to the Mount of Olives intending to be betrayed that night. He allowed himself to be arrested by the mob and tried and condemned in Jerusalem so that he could hang on the cross outside the city walls. Jesus purposely put himself into awkward positions and uncomfortable situations so that he could talk to the people no one else wanted to talk to and do the things that no one else wanted to do. Throughout Jesus’ life we find him in places like the edge of a cliff because people wanted to throw him off. We find him in the middle of a desert being tempted by Satan himself. We find him lying in a tomb completely void of life. Those are the places where we find Jesus at. And Jesus says, “Where I am, my servant also will be.”
That scares me! Because I don’t want to be in all of those places and in all of those situations that Jesus was in. I don’t want to do those things that Jesus did or speak to those people that Jesus addressed or pray as often as Jesus prayed or preach as boldly as Jesus preached or love as passionately as Jesus loved - because that’s too much for me! Those situations are too stressful! Those people are too intimidating! That work is just too hard! I don’t want to put in the full-time service it takes to follow the Lord! I want to leave the effort of Christianity here at church when I go home. Because if I take it home with me that means I’d have to constantly be talking to my neighbors and co-workers and friends. That means I would always have to be looking for ways to love and care for and teach and be patient with my children and my wife. That means I would have to continually be in prayer - almost to the point of exhaustion. That means I would no longer be able to think about myself first, but everyone else instead. That means I could never avoid an opportunity in which I could share the Word of God with someone - even if that might result in hatred and rejection. I don’t want to be a full-time servant! I want to be a half-time servant, maybe even a most-of-the-time servant. But being a servant every minute of every day in every way? That’s too much commitment. That would leave no time for me. Being where Christ is at all times is more than I can handle. It’s more than I want to handle.
And don’t tell me you haven’t struggled with that as well. I may not know you as well as you know yourself, but I am very familiar with what lives inside you. I know that nasty little sinful nature, that old rotten self you were born with, is just like mine. I know you look at these words of Christ and you cringe a little because you realize what they imply. They imply a full-time service. They demand that you take no days off, no 15 minute breaks, no vacations from following the Lord. And we know ourselves well, don’t we? We know that’s not going to happen! We can’t do it! Because we’ve never been able to do it before! Even though our new self, our baptized and redeemed Christian nature wants to do it, even though we truly and genuinely want to be Christ’s full-time servants because we are his adopted children… that sinful nature, that old self, is always there with us. It is continually harassing our Christian heart. It will never leave as long as we live on this earth and it will always prevent us from being the servants we ought to be. And the servants that we ought to be are servants that are right where Christ is at all times. But we just can’t keep up. We would rather stay outside as Jesus goes in to talk to the Pharisees and teachers of the law. We would rather hang back while the Lord enters the presence of prostitutes. We’d rather avoid the persecution as Jesus boldly faces his enemies. We don’t follow him every step of the way. We stumble. We fall. And we, the sorry pathetic servants that we are, cannot catch up to the perfect Master.
And so Jesus turns around. Our Master doesn’t continue on and leave us behind. In an incredible turn of events, the Master becomes the Servant of his servants! In an inexplicable exchange, Jesus comes down to where we have fallen! And he comes as a real human being. He comes as a man who is able to be tempted, a man who cries in sorrow over a lost friend, a man who is troubled by a sinful world and distressed by unbelief. He comes to us in the dirt and mud not only to help us up, but really to step in our place. He comes to receive the penalty of our failures. He steps before the judge for us. He steps in front of the executioner for us. He comes to the cross. “The hour has come,” Jesus said, “for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces much fruit.” Jesus was talking about himself. He was the seed. He was going to die. He had to. And he was going to die for his servants who had fallen behind him.
And don’t think of this as Jesus simply lending a hand to those in need. It was much more than a simple act of kindness! This decision meant full-time service for the Lord! This act of grace was all-encompassing for Christ! He had to give himself up for his servants; he had to give up everything! And it wasn’t an effortless and painless think for Jesus to carry out either. He really truly made a complete sacrifice for us. Listen to his words of inner struggle and intense agony, “Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? ‘Father save me from this hour?’ No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.” As Jesus looked ahead to the horrors of his death and humiliation, he knew it wasn’t going to be pleasant. In fact, he knew how much it would hurt. He knew how much he would have to suffer. But that is what he had come to do. He was not going to back down from the pain. He was not going to run away from the finale. He was not going to tell his Father that he had changed his mind. Because Christ was completely dedicated to us. He had made a promise to us and he was not going to break it. “For this very reason” he came into this world - to suffer and die for his servants. And nothing was going to stop him from accomplishing what he had set out to do.
Jesus never took a day off from serving his servants. From the day he was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger until the day he was wrapped in strips of linen and placed in a tomb, he served us full-time. There was never a day he took for himself. There was never an opportunity to spread the Word he didn’t take advantage of. There was never a moment to bow his head in prayer that he let slip by. There was never a second he wasn’t thinking about you. He was a full-time Servant in every sense of the word. The cross proves it. The blood proves it. The tomb proves it. The resurrection proves it. Jesus, the Master, served you, the servant. And he still does.
Jesus still serves you. Even though Jesus has risen from the dead, ascended into heaven, and has made full use of his divine powers once again as he did before he came to this earth, he is still dedicated to serving you. He guides the events of this world for your benefit. He listens to your every prayer. He intercedes for you whenever you sin. He guards you against all temptations and provides you with everything you need in this life and the life after. Jesus, that glorious King, is still acting as your servant! He is still putting in full-time service for you! He still never takes a break! Isn’t that shocking? Isn’t that almost beyond belief? The same God who created you is the same God who is keeping constant vigil so that you will one day be with him in heaven. And so although as servants we have fallen down from following our Lord and we have failed to always be where Christ is, Christ will always be where we are. And Christ himself will make sure that we will always be where he is once we reach that place of perfection is he preparing for us. There we will always be by his side. There we will never have to worry about coming up short. There we will have been permanently drawn to Christ just as he promised, and he will never let us go.
And that motivates us to be the best servants we can be, doesn’t it? That overflowing love and dedication that the Lord shows to us moves us to be as dedicated to him as we possibly can. And he will help us do that. He will strengthen our resolve through his Word and sacraments to follow him to the places where there might be persecution and to talk to the people who might not want to hear it. He will urge us on with his gospel to bend our knees in prayer and to love and care for every person we see with the same kind of grace that he shows to us. He will exhort us to be his servants based on the fact that he was our Servant first. And so although we will never be perfect servants, we can be faithful ones. We can strive to give our full-time service to the Lord out of thanks for his full-time service to us. It is an incomplete appreciation. It is nowhere near the gratitude that he deserves. But he will be pleased with our efforts. Not because they are good enough, but because they flow freely from our faith in him. That is the thankful attitude of a Christian servant: one of thankfulness and praise. And as servants of the Lord, why would we not want to faithfully serve the Master who still is faithfully serving us?
Amen.

“May the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” - Heb. 13:20-21

3/25,4/1/09 - Midweek Lent - Luke 23:26-31

FATHER, FORGIVE US FOR OUR UNREPENTANCE

The words of Jesus on the cross are well-known. Those seven sayings of Christ while he was being crucified are etched into our minds because they are the focus of many Good Friday services and they are even the basis for some midweek Lenten themes. In fact, the first words of the Lord on the cross serve as the title for our midweek Lenten theme this year: “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they are doing.” And the other six phrases are just as familiar: “I am thirsty.” “Woman, here is your son; here is your mother.” “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise.” “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” “It is finished.” “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” These famous words are powerful words. Touching words. Words that are filled with meaning and words that strike the heart.
But Jesus also spoke some meaningful and striking words before he ever arrived at the cross. On his way from Pontius Pilate’s palace to the hill of Calvary, he spoke some very powerful and important words that we might not know so well. They are only recorded for us in the book of Luke, and this portion of Luke is not found in any of the gospel readings within our three year lectionary. You’ll never hear this story read on a regular Sunday, Lent or otherwise, because it just doesn’t happen to be one of the chosen Sunday lessons. And so I’m glad we have it as our focus for tonight. Because this story really encapsulates what Lent is all about - and what it’s not about. Listen to what Luke writes in chapter 23: “As they led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. Jesus turned and said to them, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. For the time will come when you will say, 'Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!' Then “ 'they will say to the mountains, "Fall on us!" and to the hills, "Cover us!" ' For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?"
These are the only words that we know Jesus spoke in between the death sentence passed by Pilate and the nailing to the cross on Calvary. And they are strange words, aren’t they? They are a little confusing at first, too. Why would Jesus say such a thing to women who were publically mourning at the sight of his suffering? Wouldn’t he have appreciated their compassion? Wouldn’t he have commended their behavior? Because we can see why the women would want to do what they did. We would have probably done the same thing! Just think of what Jesus must have physically looked like at that point. Remember he had been punched in the face by the Jews the night before. He had been clubbed on the head by soldiers - not by little boys - but by full-grown men who hated him. And they beat him with a staff, with a wooden baseball bat more or less. Jesus’ face must have been black and blue and swollen by the time of his crucifixion. Of course, he also had that crown of thorns pressed into his head, which certainly sent blood streaming down his face. He was also flogged by the Roman soldiers with a metal-tipped scourge - Jesus was undoubtedly bleeding profusely from those open wounds. And then, to top it all off, a wooden cross was placed on that same back and he was forced to drag it through the city. Not to mention he hadn’t had any sleep now for well over 24 hours. And so Jesus must have looked wretched and pitiful at that point. “He was,” as Isaiah described him hundreds of years before, “Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not (Isaiah 53:3). Jesus surely was a sad sight to behold. And so the women of Jerusalem come out and physically and audibly wept over the march to the hill of his execution. And that makes sense to us! We can understand why! Whether these women personally knew who Jesus was or not, the mere sight of this beaten and ridiculed man would have moved almost any Christian to sorrow and tears.
But while these women were wailing alongside him, Jesus turned to them, and instead of thanking them for their pity, he says, "Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children.” Jesus didn’t want their pity. Jesus didn’t want their sympathy. Jesus didn’t want their comfort. That was not why he was there. That was not why he allowed so many people to see his suffering nor why he died such a public and humiliating death. Jesus was not battered and bruised so that they could feel sorry for him, but so that they would feel sorrow over their sins. Jesus’ suffering and death, and therefore the entire season of Lent, is not about an emotional sadness over what the Lord had to go through. Lent is about a deep and real distress over our own sins and their awful consequences.
Now, it’s not wrong to be sorry for what Jesus had to suffer. Don’t feel guilty for feeling upset during Lent. As Christians it’s OK to be a little emotional when it comes to what Jesus had to experience because that’s a natural reaction when someone we love has to suffer so much. But that is not the reason for Lent. It’s a side effect, but it’s not the reason. The main goal of Lent is not to stir up in us the sentiment: “Oh, poor Jesus.” Rather, it is to stir up in us the realization: “My sins are serious. My sins are deadly. My sins deserve that kind of punishment. And look! that is exactly what Jesus had to go through to satisfy my penalty.” The stories of Lent are not so much to move us to melancholy, but to move us to repentance - that is, to move us to confess our sins to him and believe in him for our forgiveness.
But too often we come into Lent and follow along with it just like those women were following along with Jesus on the road to the cross. We cry and we sigh at Jesus’ wounds, but we are ignorant of our own. We shake our heads in heart-felt agony at the nails and the thorns, but our own consciences are pricked only ever-so slightly. Because we know what’s coming afterwards! We know Easter is right around the corner. We know everything is really going to be OK once that stone is rolled away from the empty tomb again this year. And so instead of falling on our knees in repentance - a place these stories in Lent ought to drive us - we try not to think about our sins at all. And as long as we have to deal with this season called Lent, we concentrate on the terrible things others did to Jesus instead of the eternal consequences that our own sins deserve. Jesus turns to us, just like he turned to the daughters of Jerusalem, and says, “Don’t grieve for me. Don’t mourn for me. I don’t need it! Grieve for yourselves because your sins deserve this. Repent of your sins and believe that I have now taken the punishment for you.”
And that is an important part of repentance: not only acknowledging your sins, but trusting that Jesus has completely forgiven them. And this very story shows that what Jesus did all enough was enough for our forgiveness. Because take a look at who was walking down that road. Was it you? Was it me? No, it was Christ and Christ alone. Even Simon of Cyrene who was forced to carry the cross behind Jesus was simply making sure that Jesus got to Calvary faster so that he could be crucified sooner, which would result in him suffering longer. Simon didn’t help Jesus; Simon didn’t even want to be there. It was just Jesus walking down that path - under guard, under the sentence of death, and, most seriously, under the wrath of God. Jesus alone traveled that road to the Place of the Skull - and although our sins were there, we were nowhere to be found. We can sometimes get close. We can crowd around the words of Scripture and immerse ourselves in the events of that week. But we cannot walk with Jesus. We cannot be with Jesus there at the precipice of his death. Because he didn’t need us to be. Jesus needed to do it alone. He had to take all of our sins all at once for this sacrifice to work. Jesus himself had to be the Lamb and nothing else could be on the altar - not our noble attempts at reconciliation, not our desire to do good, not even our sorrow over sin. Jesus was the sacrifice. And that was it. Jesus was the offering. And nothing more. Jesus completed the punishment. And it was done.
It was done. And just think how nice that is. We aren’t required to do a thing. We aren’t asked to stand by Jesus on trial; we aren’t asked to take the flogging, to walk the road, to adorn the cross, or to experience hell. We aren’t even called on to hold Jesus’ hand while he does those things. We can contribute nothing to our salvation even if we wanted to. Our forgiveness and eternal life depend completely and totally on Christ’s work on our behalf. And since Jesus himself promises that his life has paid the price, we can be sure that our salvation is secure. We do not have to doubt. We do not have to wonder. Jesus did it all. Jesus did it all! You are saved! And that is as trustworthy as the word of the Lord himself - because it is the word of the Lord himself!
Do you think the women of Jerusalem understood that? That Jesus was traveling to the cross for their sins? I wonder if the women of Jerusalem stopped wailing after what Jesus said to them. I wonder if they were caught off guard and maybe even a little offended at Jesus’ words. Or I wonder if they were made aware of their sins and repented as the Lord had intended. I wonder if this story and the other Lent stories with it will motivate us to fall to our knees in repentance as well. Because Lent definitely shows us that sin is serious, doesn’t it? There is no arguing that. And the consequences of sin are all too real - especially during this time of year. But so is Jesus’ sacrifice. In fact, Jesus’ sacrifice is never clearer than it is during this season of the church year. And so as these last few weeks before Easter come to a close, and as we move through Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and even after we leave the glorious celebration of the resurrection behind, keep these stories that you have heard on these six Wednesday nights close by your side. Collect them in your thoughts from time to time. Review them in your hearts. And bring them to mind in the quiet of your own room. Not so much so that you can lament over Jesus’ physical pain and suffering, but so that you might shed a tear of joy over the victory his suffering has won. Because here in the stories of Lent are where the sins commit all year are forgiven. Here in all of the blood you find all of the peace. Here in the suffering is your salvation.
Amen.

“May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.” - 2 Thess. 3:16

3/22/09 - NELHS 30th Ann. - John 3:16

LOVE IN UNLIKELY PLACES
- From God
- To the world

The world has been against God ever since mankind fell into sin. The moment Adam and Eve ate from that infamous tree, the people of the earth became God’s enemies. Those first two people hid from God, they lied to God, and they even blamed God for what they had done. Later on, their first son, Cain, defiantly went against God’s will and killed his brother Abel - even refusing to repent. And as the years went by, more and more people fell away from the faith and turned away from their Lord. In fact, by Noah’s time, there were only eight people left on this earth who believed in the one true God. The world was so wicked and so filled with unbelief that the Lord completely destroyed the world and started all over again with those eight people on the ark.
But things did not get any better after the Flood. The world again grew into an intense hatred of their God. The next story after the Flood account in the book of Genesis is the Tower of Babel. A situation in which the people of the world directly disobeyed God’s command to inhabit the earth and decided to build a great city with a tower that reached to the heavens instead. And because of their blatant disregard for his Word, the Lord spread them out over the earth anyway by confusing their language. But even that act of judgment did not bring the nations of this world back to repentance. And by the time of Abraham the world was filled with unbelievers; and the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob constantly dealt with peoples and nations who did not care about the Lord or his will. And not only was the world against the Lord, they were against the Lord’s people. As Jacob’s descendants began to grow - and the Lord chose the Israelites as his own people - the world hated them from the beginning. The Lord’s people were oppressed in Egypt, attacked on their way to the Promised Land, harassed while they lived there, and taken into exile by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. The world hated the Israelites just as much as they hated the Israelites’ God.
Of course, it wasn’t just the foreign nations who proved to be God’s enemies. The Israelites themselves rebelled against their Lord time and time again! They grumbled, they complained, they turned away, they even worshiped other gods! And it got to be so bad that when Jesus finally arrived on the scene, the Jews were by and large the most vehement of unbelievers. The Lord’s chosen people hated Christ for claiming that he was the Lord! And the Gentiles weren’t much better. There were very few people on the earth that believed in Jesus while he was here; and the same is still true today. There are many more unbelievers than believers in this world, and it will remain that way until the end. The world has always been against the Lord. The world has always tried to thwart the Lord’s plans and go in the opposite direction of the Lord’s will. The world hates the Lord. The people of this world despise the Lord by nature. And you and I are part of that world. We don’t hate the Lord now. We don’t despise the Lord now. But we did. Scripture makes it clear that we were God’s enemies just as much as any unbeliever is now. Scripture makes it clear that the sin we were conceived with separated ourselves from God. Scripture makes it clear that as part of this world, we are constantly sinning and constantly going against what God demands. Even as believers in Jesus as our Savior we fail to live as we ought to live, think what we ought to think, and say what we ought to say. We are conceived sinners, born sinners, live as sinners, and we will die sinners. And so will everyone in this world.
Now with that in mind I want you to consider a passage of Scripture that you know well. A verse from the Bible that many of you memorized as a child: John 3:16. “God so loved the world…” God loved the world? Is that right? God loved the world? That shouldn’t be! God should hate the world because the world hates him! God should forget the world because the world has forgotten him! God should despise the world because the world despises him! But no, God loved the world to such an extent that he gave up his one and only Son that whoever believes in him will not be destroyed, but will have eternal life. God loved the world, he cared for it, he felt so passionately about the people of this world that he was willing to give up his own Son so that every person of this world would be saved. That is an amazing kind of love! That is love from a very unlikely place. It would make sense for the world to love itself. It would not be a surprise to find that the people of this world love each other. But for God to love a world that has rebelled and hated him since the Garden of Eden is beyond comprehension.
And not only does the Lord love this world for unlikely reasons - the Lord also shows his love for the world in unlikely ways. He shows his love to the people of this earth not by displaying his majesty in visible and impressive form - rather he points this world to the simple words of the Bible spoken in the world’s own languages, to historical facts and future promises that were written over a period of 1500 years. What an unlikely way for the Almighty God to demonstrate his power and love to sinners! With a book? With a Jewish man? With a cross? And then again, when water is used together with the words “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” God instantly grants the forgiveness of sins to the recipient of that event. What an unlikely way to show his love to the world! With normal every day water? With something a child is able do? And then still again, when we gather in front of the altar, and those dry frail wafers and little cups of wine are met with the words, “This is my body given for you… This is my blood of the new covenant, shed for the forgiveness of your sins,” God once again blesses thousands of people with his mercy and grace. What an unlikely way to show his love to the world! With food and drink? In a gathering that is so quick and common and nondescript? But that is exactly how the Lord shows the world his love: through the gospel in Word and sacraments. And it is a powerful love. It is a saving love. And he offers it to the world without exception.
Of course, the whole world doesn’t accept that love. Not everyone believes in that love or even wants that love. Throughout history the appreciation of God’s love has shifted from place to place and country to country. It moved from the Garden of Eden to a boat floating on water. It went from a nomad called Abraham to the land of Canaan. It went from Egypt back to the Promised Land. It went from Jerusalem to Constantinople and then to Rome.
And as the love and the Word of God was slowly and steadily suppressed by the papacy over the centuries, who would have ever guessed that the renewal of the truth of God’s Word would be championed in a little town called Wittenberg or spearheaded by a former Roman Catholic monk? Who would have ever guessed that this true Word of God would eventually leave Germany and be sent to a relatively new and arrogant group of people called “Americans”? Who would have ever guessed that the hub of Christian orthodoxy for the 20th century and now for the first part of the 21st would be found in a little Lutheran synod begun in Wisconsin? Who would have ever guessed that more scripturally accurate preschools and grade schools and high schools would be built here than in any other country during our time? Who would have ever guessed that God’s love would remain in this part of the world for so long? Who would have ever guessed that the Lord’s love would allow this small group of Christians not only to spread coast to coast and border to border, but beyond the seas? Who would have ever guessed God’s love would be found someplace like Waco, NE?
Nebraska Evangelical Lutheran High School in Waco, NE is a quintessential example of God’s love in unlikely places. If you’ve ever been there, you’d know why I say that. It is a small Nebraska farm town of a little over 200 people. It doesn’t have a gas station. It doesn’t even have a stop light. It’s in the middle of corn fields on the side of a two-lane highway. But God’s true and eternal Word and his teaching of young men and women and his never-failing love have been there now for 30 years. For three decades students of different ages and backgrounds, teachers, pastors, and tutors have gone in and out of those doors feeding and being fed with the Word of God. And from that small town in the middle of Nebraska, the Word of God has been spread throughout the world. There have been over 40 called workers to come out of Nebraska Lutheran over the years, not including those currently in our worker training system. And that’s not to mention the rest of the 550 graduates, most of whom have gone on to be solid Christian men and women in their respective congregations. Waco was and remains an unlikely place for a Lutheran high school, an unlikely place for a concentrated shower of God’s love. But there it sits. And there it strives to reach out to the lost by training and sending and growing and praying. Nebraska Lutheran, as well as the other 25 high schools in our Synod, has been a valuable blessing to our work as a church body and the Lord has used that institution to further his kingdom in many different ways.
Don’t forget to thank the Lord that he has shown his love to us in so many unlikely ways and in so many unlikely places. Don’t forget to thank the Lord for that school. And I’ll admit: it has been a long time since I have thanked the Lord for Nebraska Lutheran - and I went to high school there! In fact, I went to grade school in those buildings from kindergarten on! I spent 13 years of my academic life on that campus and I rarely thank the Lord for it. Isn’t that sad? Isn’t it sad that I don’t on a regular basis bring to mind the place and the people that the Lord used to show me his love in so many ways? But I suppose that’s the great thing about the Lord’s love: it’s not dependent on my faithfulness; God love depends on his own faithfulness. And, of course, he will never let me down. And he will never let you down either.
Because “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” What a fitting passage to use as the sermon text of an anniversary service. Because that is the theme of our salvation. It is the theme of our lives. And it is the theme of every congregation and preschool and grade school and high school of our fellowship. “God loved the world.” That means God loved us. God loved you. And God loved me. He loved us so much that he sacrificed his Son to die in our place so that we who believe will go to heaven. What a beautiful message! It frees us from guilt. It releases us from sin. It guarantees our home. Continue to help this message be taught to young men and women and to be spread to a world that by and large doesn’t even know God loves them. Support the work of his kingdom with your prayers and with offerings, with your talents and with your time. For Nebraska Lutheran, for the Synod as a whole, for all of the Christians you share fellowship with on this earth, and also right here at home. It is a noble and consuming undertaking. But is an eternally important one. “God so loved the world.” What beautiful thing. What an unlikely thing. And so let us make sure that it does not go unknown.
Amen.

“May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” - 2 Cor. 13:14