7/23/06 - Pentecost 7 - Mark 6:1-6: You Know Him Well

YOU KNOW HIM WELL
- You've heard his story
- You've experienced his compassion

There is a shut-in I used to visit in Wisconsin who was a very faithful Christian. This year she is 101 years old. I knew her when she was 100, and she stilled lived by herself in the same house, but she wasn’t quite able to physically make it to Sunday services. Fortunately, the church I was at broadcast their services over the radio. And so every single Sunday morning, she would get dressed in her Sunday best, grab her hymnal, sit on the couch by her radio, and worship. Now this woman didn’t necessarily know all the ins and outs of Scripture. She might not know Jesus as well as most of you do. But she loved him. She was eager to learn more. And by dressing up every Sunday just to sit on her own couch, she definitely showed him a lot of honor and respect.
Same year, different town, another shut-in. This woman’s mind was scrambled by a life of drugs in her early years. When I would go to visit her it would not be surprising if she swore, if she used crude language, or if she was convinced she had seen my mother, whom she had never met, at the supermarket. She was by no means a mature Christian. She wouldn’t be able to follow a Bible class very well. She probably didn’t know Jesus as well as you do. But she loved him. And every time I would start a devotion with her she would shut her mouth and quietly listen. Her knowledge of Jesus may not have been all that extensive, but she knew enough to give him honor and respect.
You have the privilege of knowing Jesus well. You know him better than either of those two shut-ins did. In fact, you had the privilege of growing up with him. A lot of you went to Sunday School where you learned about Jesus. A lot of you had Christian parents that taught you what he did. A lot of you went through catechism instruction that took you deeper into Christ’s life. And even if you didn’t get to know him all that well when you were young, you have been getting to know Jesus for years now! You’ve heard about him every week you’ve been here. You’ve heard his stories, you’ve heard what he’s said, you’ve heard what he’s done. You know him well.
If I told you that Jesus was born in a manger in the town of Bethlehem, you wouldn’t be surprised. You would probably say, “Yeah, I know that.” Because you’ve heard it before. If I told you that Jesus was in the synagogue as a 12 year old boy debating with the Jewish leaders while his father and mother were frantically searching for him, you’d say, “Yeah, I know that too.” Because you’ve heard that story dozens of times. If I mentioned some of Jesus miracles, or some of the famous things he said, or that he rose from the grave on the third day, you’d say, “Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know all that.” Because you’ve heard all those things many times before. You know Jesus well. There’s no doubt about that. But all that knowledge about your Lord doesn’t matter if you don’t honor him like your Lord.
I say that because the people in our text knew Jesus. They knew well! Jesus went back to his home town – to people who had lived with him! They had played with Jesus as children, they had worked with him and ate with him and watched him grow up. But when he came back and started preaching in the synagogue, they said, “Where did this man get these things? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joses, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” What they were saying was: who does this guy think he is? We know this guy! We know his parents. We know his brothers. His sisters still live here! He fixed my wooden chair 5 years ago. I played kick ball with him 20 years ago. And now he’s preaching to us in the synagogue? You gotta be kidding me! And these are the people that knew Jesus better than anyone! They knew the Lord personally. But they sure didn’t treat him like it.
“Only in his home town,” Jesus said, “among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor.” Have you been treating Jesus like this is his home town? Have you been failing to give him honor? I worry that sometimes we do. We know Jesus so well that sometimes we just take him for granted. Because we know he’s always there, we know he’s always with us, we know it never changes, and so we start to treat him like part of the backdrop – like part of the scenery. We do that to our own family members, don’t we? When you live with your brothers or sisters, you don’t pay attention to them any more. They are just there. They go about their business and you go about yours. And the same happens with your kids, or your parents, or your spouses. And that happens a lot, doesn’t it? When you live with someone every day for years and years, you stop going out of you way to help them, you stop going out of your way to be nice to them, you stop paying attention to them because they’re always there! And that’s just it: you no longer treat them as dear family members, you treat them as if they are just there.
Jesus, your brother and your Lord, deserves more than that. He deserves every ounce of respect and every drop of honor you can give. Does he get it? Do you honor him with the things you say to others? Do you honor him with constant prayer? Do you honor him with constant thanks? And that’s the one that gets me. I forget to thank him for almost everything! Because I take him for granted. And I fail to give him honor. As I’m sure all of us do. As I’m sure you do. And if you do know Jesus so well, you know that dishonoring him is a serious offense.
But the thing is: you do know Jesus well. So you know that he not only demands perfect obedience and honor from you, but that he also shows you compassion when you fall miserably short. Just take a look at our story today. This text is a wonderful example of Jesus’ compassion. Do you think Jesus knew what was going to happen in Nazareth before he got there? Do you think he knew how his friends were going to receive him and what they were going to say about him? Of course he did! He’s God! But he went anyway. And he didn’t only show up, he preached the Word to them. He gave them a chance to hear the law and gospel so that the Holy Spirit could work in their hearts. And when they did reject him, when they did “take offense at him,” as our text says, Jesus didn’t leave, he didn’t throw up his hands and walk away. No, did you notice? He laid his hands on some sick people and healed them. That’s compassion! That is grace regardless of sinners.
Tell me: If you went to a family reunion and you were ridiculed and you were mocked and your relatives took offense at you – would you stick around to see if you could help with anything? I doubt it. But that’s exactly what Jesus did. He went to a family reunion. He was among his own relatives and friends – and those people didn’t even want to see his face! But he stayed anyway and healed the sick. That’s compassion. That’s grace regardless of sinners.
And, of course, he did the same for us – on an even larger scale. Do you think Jesus knew what was going to happen to him before he came to this earth? You better believe he did. He knew exactly what was going to happen – and he came anyway! He didn’t have to! Nobody forced him to. He wanted to come and save us even though he knew what it would take. He knew he would have to suffer, he knew he would be rejected, he knew we wouldn’t give him the honor and the respect that he deserves – but he carried that cross to Calvary, he physically suffered the very pains of hell on that tree, and then he died, so that “by his wounds we are healed.” Those are words from the prophet Isaiah: by his wounds we are healed. And just as he stayed in Nazareth to heal the sick, he stayed on this earth to heal the sick. He stayed to heal you.
And to me the best part about that is: even though we dishonor him, he honored us. He said, “Because I died on the cross and rose from the dead, you are now my brother, you are now my sister, and I will always treat you like one. I will never forget you. I will never reject you.” And he lifts you up to his level. He places his perfectly brilliant robe on your shoulders, so that when God the Father see you, your sinful wounds are nowhere to be seen. It is you, healed in Christ’s blood, clothed in Christ’s robe, held in Christ’s arms.
That is what your Brother, your Savior, does for you. Because he knows you well. And that’s the most important thing, isn’t it? That Jesus knows you well. He even says to you in John, “My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” Jesus knows you and you know him. And it’s good to know him well, Jesus wants you to know him and to get to know him better. And I pray that he not only gives us knowledge, but also an attitude of respect so that we can honor him all the days of our lives. Thank the Lord that you know him so well, but more importantly, thank the Lord that he knows you ever better.
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

7/16/06 - Inaugural Sermon - 1 Cor. 2:1-5: "I Know Nothing but Christ"

I KNOW NOTHING BUT CHRIST
- The message is simple
- The message is powerful

I love first sermons. I like listening to them and I like preaching them. Because when a pastor preaches for the first time in a new place everyone is listening. Look at this, everyone is listening right now! No one is messing with their purse, no one is checking their watch, no one is looking out the window… everyone’s eyes are up here – because you want to see what I’ve got. And that’s natural, I do the same thing. When I hear a pastor preach for the first time I want to see if he knows how to speak, if he knows how to command the language, if he knows how to turn a phrase, if he knows how to captivate the audience. But I got to tell you: I know nothing but Christ.
Does that disappoint you? Do you find it boring that I know nothing but Christ? Because you’ve heard about Christ before – isn’t time for something more? Weren’t you hoping for a dynamic speaker? A pastor who was so energetic in the pulpit that he would simple draw visitors in by the way he preached? A pastor whom you could brag to your friends about? A pastor who could bring you to tears by the beauty of his words? I think we all hope for those kinds of things when we hear a pastor preach for the first time. We want to be “wowed.” But I’m not here to “wow” you. I haven’t come to you with a bag of eloquent words or an incredible amount of wisdom. And I wouldn’t call myself a “dynamic” speaker either. Because I know nothing but Christ. It’s a simple message I preach. And it’s all I’ll ever preach because I know nothing else.
And it’s to our shame when we want something more. That’s why the Davinci Code is so popular right now. Because people think there are hidden secrets waiting to be revealed! Mind opening revelations that will change the way they think about religion and faith and God himself! And we get caught up in that, don’t we? We sometimes get bored of talking about the same old Jesus, about the stuff we already know, about the things we’ve heard year in and year out. We sometimes want something new, we want something exciting, we want something different! But, my brothers and sisters, how dare we want something other than Christ.
Christ is our fortress, but we search for a castle. Christ is our rock, but we long for a mountain. Christ is our shield, but we look for an army. Why is it that we aren’t satisfied with simply hearing about Christ? Why do we constantly want something else? Why do we always think something different than Christ will be something more interesting? We are ungrateful sinners, aren’t we? The Lord gives us his clear message, his simple message to us in his word, and we get bored with it. In reality, we should thank the Lord that this message is so simple.
Christ, true God, saw that we could do nothing for our own salvation. And so he came to this earth and became true man. He lived a perfect life because we could not. He suffered hell itself so we won’t have to. He sacrificed himself on the cross in our place. And because of Christ’s work we have been given eternal life free of charge. That’s the message. That’s the simple message of Christ crucified. Simple enough for you to remember. Simple enough for me to preach. Simple enough to hear over and over again because we, as sinners, need to hear that reassuring promise of salvation over and over again. Thank the Lord for this simple message of salvation: Christ crucified for you.
Of course, this message is not only simple, but it is powerful. In fact, Paul says that it “is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes!” It is the power of God! The God who created the majesty of the mountains, the infinite reaches of space, and also something as simple as your taste buds, so that you could enjoy the many flavors of his creation. God is powerful enough to create the greatest and the least, and he grants this same power to this simple message: Christ crucified for you. Christ crucified so that your sins are no more. Christ crucified so that you will not have to suffer the pains of hell. Christ crucified so that your home in Paradise is forever secured. This is the powerful message. This is the simple message. The only message I will preach. The only message I’ll ever know.
When I initially read these words of Paul while I was getting ready to start my sermon work, I was struck by how fitting they were to my life. Paul says, “I came to you in weakness and fear, and much trembling.” That’s me! I’m coming to you in weakness and fear, and much trembling. Weakness – because I don’t know anything yet! I don’t have a system to fall back on, I don’t know the Bible classes that will work the best, I don’t know all of the ins and outs of counseling different people in different situations. I come to you in weakness from the simple lack of experience! And I come to you in fear because of my weakness. But most of all, I come to you with much trembling. Not because I’m afraid, but because I am overwhelmed with the honor and responsibility that the Lord has given me. I had been a student for 21 years, and within a days time the Lord said, “Here are 80+ of my children, take care of them.” I came from a classroom in Milwaukee to this pulpit in Montrose in a month and a half. And now I am responsible to feed God’s children with the Word, to guard God’s children from his enemies, to guide God’s children to his heavenly home. I tremble at that responsibility. I tremble.
But I’m also confident. I am confident because I know nothing but Christ. That message in and of itself gives me confidence, because just like Paul, “My message and my preaching are not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.” When I am in this pulpit, I am speaking to you the very words of God. These are not my thought or my opinions or my spin on things. When these words reach your ears the Holy Spirit himself is working in your heart because Scripture says that these words are the “sword of the Spirit.” He penetrates your soul, strengthening your faith, building you up as a light to the world. I can’t do that. I can’t motivate you to be a better Christian. I can’t strengthen you faith. But God can. The Holy Spirit can. And he does. And he does that only through this simple and powerful message: Christ crucified for you.
That should give you confidence to spread the message. Because if it’s the power of God, if it’s the sword of the Spirit, what do you have to worry about? God does all the work! All you are called upon to do is to take that sword out of the sheath so the Holy Spirit can get to work! All you have to do is repeat that simple message: Christ crucified for you. Christ crucified for you. Christ crucified for you. You know it. You’ve heard it hundreds of times before. Please, share that simple message with your friends, your co-workers, your family members, so that they may hear it and believe.
I love first sermons, but I dislike them too. It’s nice that everyone is listening, but a lot of times it’s for the wrong reason. People notice hand gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, but sometimes they forget to look at Christ. My job here, my hope and prayer is that you will always see Christ in this pulpit. Despite my flaws, despite my mistakes – I pray that Christ crucified for you is vividly on display each and every week. That’s my message. That’s God’s message. I know nothing else.
Amen.