5/29/11 - Easter 6 - 1 Peter 3:15-22

LIVE IN THE WATER

The Water of the Flood

The rain had come down like it had never come down before. 40 straight days, in fact, the rain didn’t let up. Which was a little strange because the people of that time who experienced this massive amount of precipitation all at once had never even seen a raindrop before - let alone the destructive floods that it produced. Fortunately, the handful of people that lived to tell about it were sitting on a huge wooden boat called an “ark” along with a bunch of different animals that had miraculously made their way to a man named Noah over a month before. And as Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives, floated on top of the water, the Lord flooded the entire earth for 150 days. Every animal that was not safely stored away on that ark was gone. Every person that was not included in Noah’s immediately family was gone. Every bird, every insect, every living creature that needed solid ground to survive didn’t survive unless they had found refuge on that homemade, tar covered, 450 foot long floating device designed by God himself.
The Flood was the single most destructive disaster ever to be sent on this earth and it will continue to hold that title until the final and full destruction on Judgment Day. But the waters that covered this earth did not just end life, it also saved life. Those same waters that sent unbelievers to their graves lifted Noah and his family far away from death. Those waters that God used as a punishment upon millions if not billions of unbelievers separated God’s children from the evil place that this world had become; those waters truly were the means through which God showed his grace to those who believed in him.
This positive saving effect of the Flood waters was not lost on the apostle Peter thousands of years later. He clearly saw God’s love in this supernatural disaster and he used the waters of the Flood in Noah’s day to explain what the waters of baptism do for us now. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit, through whom also he went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the request for a good conscience to God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.”

The Water of Baptism

“Baptism… now saves you also,” Peter writes. And that is clear, isn’t it? It is direct. What Peter says about the power of baptism is unmistakable. Just as the waters of the flood saved eight believers from inescapable death, so too the waters of baptism save us from death through the power of God’s promise. Baptism isn’t just a rite or a ritual of the church. It is not just a tradition that we perform simply because that’s what we’ve always done. And it’s not symbolic either; it’s not merely an outward indication of something more important. No, “baptism now saved you.” It truly saves you. And that means baptism gives you the real forgiveness of sins. It gives you the real gift of faith - the gift of the Holy Spirit himself - so that you can believe in that forgiveness. And it gives you heaven. Baptism is one of those precious few ways in which the Lord comes to you with his love. It is a means through which God shows you his grace. And there’s nothing else really quite like it in this life.
We’ve been blessed with three baptisms so far this year at Living Word. Three infant baptisms, in fact. And why would we go about baptizing infants? Because baptism saves! It’s not a reminder about salvation or a reconfirmation of salvation. Those three children have faith in their Savior Jesus right now because of the promise God made to them at their baptisms - even though they don’t understand it and even though they can’t explain it. They are God’s children as we speak, not because they are so good and not because they were able to consciously decide they wanted to be; they are God’s children right now because God promised forgiveness and faith and salvation in baptism, and we believe that his promises never fail.

Living in “Baptismal Grace”?

Whenever we have a baptism here we follow the order of worship found on page 12 in our hymnals. And after the actual baptism is performed I say to the one who has just been baptized, “The Almighty God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - has forgiven all your sins. By your baptism, you are born again and made a dear child of your Father in heaven. May God strengthen you to live in your baptismal grace all the days of your life.” “Your baptismal grace” - something we say outside of this special worship setting, but an important phrase nonetheless. It is the unending and unparalleled love that the Lord just demonstrated to person through that water and the Word of baptism - may they live in it; may they remember it and find comfort in it and be motivated by it as they live their lives out of thanks to him for as long as they remain on this earth. Baptism is certainly a one-time event, but the “baptismal grace” all of us have experienced should continue to have a profound effect on the rest of our lives. We should always have baptism in the back of our minds. We should always go back to baptism whenever our faith falters. We should always be moved by baptism to live like Christians to the glory of God. In other words: we should live in the water. We should wash ourselves in the waters of baptism every day and never dry off. It is the means of our salvation, after all. It is the point at which Christ himself affected us like he has never done before. As Christians, it is essential that we live in that water. As God’s children, why wouldn’t we want to?
And yet, despite that fact, I don’t know if I could realistically describe myself as one living in the water of “baptismal grace.” That would be far too flattering a description of the way I have lived. I have been wallowing in the sludge of my sinful nature maybe… Or I have been wading through the cesspool of spiritual sicknesses and diseases… Or I have been drowning myself underneath the slime and the grime of thousands upon thousands of disgusting words and thoughts that I can’t take back. “Living in the water of my baptismal grace” is hardly an accurate illustration of the majority of my life. Even now, even as a pastor, my life cannot be completely characterized by the clean blue waters of baptismal grace. I muddy those waters up. I contaminate them. Or I forget that they’re even there as I look for other dirty puddles to splash in for a while.
I’m sure that many of you visit the crystal clear waters of your baptismal grace more often than I have. I hope you do. I pray you do. Because it is such a sad thing when we leave it behind. It’s really unfortunate when baptism is nothing more to us than the first step we took as a child or the memorable birthday present we received as a kid - something that happened in the past, something that seemed like a big deal then, but something that we have now moved on from to bigger and better things. What could be bigger and better than your baptism? Even if it did happen a long time ago, even if you can’t remember exactly what happened, isn’t it something worth keeping in mind? Isn’t it an event from which you should never move on?

“Spiritual Tether” to the Resurrection

Because baptism is our “spiritual tether” to Christ’s resurrection. It is the cord, the golden chain that ties us to what Jesus did so long ago for our salvation. It is our connection with the tomb and the forgiveness that it guaranteed. Baptism saves because baptism puts us into contact with the only way we can be saved: Jesus’ death on a tree and his rising from the rock. The cross is where Jesus earned our salvation; the tomb is where he sealed it; and baptism is one of those very special ways he gives it to us. And so there is the irony: when we realize that we have not been living in our baptismal grace as we should, when we notice that we have kind of left our baptism behind us as if it didn’t mean anything anymore, we can jump right back into those same pure waters to be forgiven again. Not “rebaptism” of course, but a renewed sense of appreciation for the forgiveness that your baptism offered. And it’s not a new forgiveness every time we jump back in; it’s the same forgiveness we received the first time around. And it wasn’t ever taken away from us either; we were the ones who had left its shores; we were the ones who failed to enjoy its refreshment for a time. Baptism is never removed once it’s been given. Baptism is never gated to those who have been washed in its waters. That cleansing pool is always open. It always forgives. It always saves. It never runs dry.
And maybe that’s why the Lord decided to use the water in baptism as one of the ways through which he would distribute his blessings. Because water in general is necessary for the preservation of life. It is said that human beings could go without water for maybe 3-5 days if they are in a cool, humid climate and not doing anything at all. Horses can perhaps go without water for only two to three days. Camels during the winter months in the Sahara Desert, have been observed to go without drinking water for 6-7 months, surviving only off the moisture from the plants that they eat. But no matter how long (or how short) a living creature can survive without water, it will eventually die if it does not receive that essential ingredient of life. Water preserves life; it renews life; it saves life.
How much more do the waters of baptism mean to the preservation, the renewal, and the salvation of the life that you have been given? Baptism is irreplaceable. It is the one event that you can pinpoint without a doubt when the Lord gave you forgiveness and an eternity of perfection. If you were baptized later on in life, you very well may have been brought to faith in your Savior before baptism. If you were baptized as an infant, then probably not. Either way, the date of your baptism was a monumental event. More important than your anniversary. More important than the day you were physically born. Because your baptism is that day on which you were spiritually born again. So do you know that date? Do you know what day on the calendar marks your baptism? Maybe it’d be worth finding out. Maybe it’d be worth writing down. Maybe it’d be worth celebrating each year. Because you know that the Lord remembers that date and certainly considers it special! That was the day he washed you clean, after all. That was the day he adopted you as his child. That was the day he introduced you to his bloody cross and his vacant tomb. And since then, the relationship you have had with your Father has never been the same. Your life has never been the same since you were cleansed in the water and the Word. And so continue to live in those waters. Bask in those waters. Thrive in those waters as you live this life in praise to your God. There’s nothing better you could do. There’s no place better you could be.
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 through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” - 1 Peter 1:3

5/22/11 - Easter 5 - 1 Peter 2:4-10

STAY ON THE STONE

Leaning Tower of Pisa

When work began on a free standing bell tower next to a European cathedral in 1173 AD, the construction crews thought that they were building on solid rock. But that didn’t prove to be the case. As they continued to add additional stories to the base of this large marble structure they soon found that instead of building on a foundation of solid rock, they were building on a mixture of clay and water. And because of that engineering mistake the soon-to-be famous Tower of Pisa began to sink to one side. The architect of the project immediately left town and then construction was put on hold for more than a century because of a war with Florence, and so the eight story bell tower wasn’t completed until 1319. But it was still tilting. Each year it would sink about .03 inches off of perpendicular. And so in 1930 Benito Mussolini tried to straighten the entire tower once and for all by pouring concrete into the foundation - but that quick fix just made it sink all the more. And so in the 1990s a large restoration project was undertaken by the city in which they removed several tons of soil from the base of the tower and replaced it with lead weights. They took 17 inches off of its famous tilt and stabilized the structure at a 13 ½ foot lean. It’s supposed to be done sinking, at least for another 300 years or so. But with a foundation like the one it has and with the history of structural problems that they have had to deal with over the past 838 years, who knows?
The Tower of Pisa is a clear example of how important a solid foundation is to any building. If it doesn’t have a stable base on which to rest, the structural integrity of the rest of the building won’t matter. It will tilt. It will lean. It will sink. It will be unsteady and uneven and unpredictable. And there is nothing that can ever be done to the top that will fix the problem at the bottom. This is true in the construction world just as it is in the spiritual world. If we do not have a solid foundation on which to rest, the structural integrity of the rest of our lives won’t matter. We will tilt. We will lean. We will sink. Our lives will be unsteady and uneven and unpredictable. And there’s nothing that we will be able to do at the top that will fix the problem at the bottom.
In his first letter the apostle Peter talks to us about this very thing. He speaks about a solid foundation; he gives us a picture of a spiritual structure; and he encourages us to stay on the Stone. “As you come to him, the living Stone — rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him — you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For in Scripture it says: ‘See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.’”

Faith’s Solid Foundation

In this life there is only one solid foundation: the living Stone, the Cornerstone, Jesus Christ. And he is the only solid foundation because he is the only source of our comfort, our hope, our joy, our peace, our forgiveness, and our salvation. Where else are you going to find true comfort? Your own pillow might give you a sense of relief at the end of the day and a particular food might make you feel at home, but true comfort and relaxation can only be found in the cross of Christ. Where else are you going to find true hope? The circumstances in any given situation may give you some insight into what might happen in the future so that you look forward to what is to come, but true hope can only be found in the unchanging and unbreakable promises of Christ. Where else are you going to find true joy? Your family might bring you some happiness and the various blessings in this world can supply you with little bits of pleasure at times, but true joy can only be found in the empty tomb that Christ left behind on Easter morning. And where else are you going to find true peace or true forgiveness or true salvation? You might find flimsy replicas of peace and forgiveness and salvation in this life, but you and I both know that the “real thing” can only be found in the words of our Lord and the waters of baptism and the body and blood of his Supper. There is no substitute for that solid foundation. There is no alternative to that Cornerstone. And there’s a good reason why Christ is called our “Cornerstone.”
A cornerstone, of course, meant more back then than it does today. Today a cornerstone simply sits at the bottom corner of a building and is oftentimes inscribed with the dedication date or a name or a saying. But that special stone has no bearing on the stability of the structure itself. It can be taken out or replaced and no harm is done. Back in Peter’s day though, the cornerstone was the stone on which the entire building was constructed. If that stone was removed or started to deteriorate, everything else was in danger of falling apart.
But this word can also mean the “capstone.” The capstone or the head stone was used in the construction of arches. After the two sides of the arch were assembled, the final stone, the middle stone, was hoisted up and hung in place so that it could serve as the capstone. It would fit in between at the top of the arch and everything would lean against it. And so that middle section had to be a solid rock or a compact stone that wouldn’t crack or break under the pressure. No wonder Isaiah and Psalm 118 both use this imagery to describe Christ. He is our Capstone and our Cornerstone. Without him everything would fall apart. With him everything is secure.

Unstable Stones

The man who quoted these two Old Testament prophecies for us, the apostle Peter, was not originally named “Peter” of course. His birth name was “Simon.” It was Jesus who had given him the name “Petros” because of the confession Peter had made about his Savior: “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). “Petros” means “rock” and Jesus promised that on this “petra” (this rock of his confession) he would build his Church. And so it’s interesting that the man whom Jesus called “Rock,” the disciple who made that rock-solid confession on which Jesus would build his Church, would refer to us in with same terms. “You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house.” And so Christ is not only our living Stone, we are his living stones as well! We, along with all other Christians, are continually being placed upon this foundation, one on top of the other, to form this incredible living stone tower as part of the holy Christian Church at large. We are placed together in local Christian congregations but we are also part of a much larger structure that carries Christ’s name and carries out Christ’s mission. And we work together for the same purpose, the same goal: “to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” We live on the Cornerstone and we live for the Cornerstone so that more and more people can be brought to the Cornerstone.
Around 1800, a man named Frederick Mohs developed a system that is now called the Mohs Scale. It is used to test the basic hardness of a mineral. Ten familiar minerals, each with a known hardness, make up this scale of 1 to 10. Talc is the softest at number one and diamond is the hardest at number ten. The basic process then is to take a mineral or an item with a known hardness and scrape an object whose hardness is not known. For example, a penny has a hardness of 3.0. And so if you scrape a penny on a rock and it leaves a mark in the surface of that rock, you know that the mineral is softer than three on the Mohs Scale and you can then start to categorize it. It’s not a precise measurement, of course, but it is a starting point to see what kind of rock the one you have might be.
We are “living stone” in the spiritual house of Christ. If you were to perform a spiritual Mohs Scale test on yourself as one of the “living stones” in this spiritual house, where would you fall? Sorting back through the way you have lived your life and recalling all of those things you have said and the myriad of thoughts that have gone through your head, would you be closer to the extremely soft Talc at the bottom of the scale or would you perhaps be closer to the hard and indestructible diamond at the top? Have you proved to be a dependable member of God’s house who has continued to unwaveringly “offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” or have you instead offered up lame excuses at times for why you weren’t doing what you should have been doing or thinking what you should have been thinking? Have you been reliable in your duties as a Christian, faithful in your responsibilities as a child and parent and spouse, completely responsible as a brother or sister of the spiritual family that is all around you? Or have you faltered in different ways? Have you intentionally or unintentionally let someone down? Have you skipped over a few of the commands of your God because they weren’t all that fun to carry out at the time?
God’s Word is the object with which you are to test yourself, of course. God’s Word is that which should be used to scrape your life to see how “hard” and solid you may be. And we all have plenty of scratches, don’t we? We have gouges! We have gashes and fractures in us that show how brittle and fragile we really are! We are not the smooth unblemished stones that look no worse for wear; we are crumbly porous pebbles with thousands of chips and cracks that look like they might fall apart any second. But listen to the details of this building plan: you are not part of this spiritual house of Christ because you are so strong. You have been placed upon this solid spiritual foundation because you aren’t strong enough.

The Stone is Stable

The living stones that make up this tower resting upon the main living Cornerstone are all crumbly! They are all porous pebbles! They all have thousands of chips and cracks! None of them can stand on their own. None of them can claim to be impenetrable or immovable. But the Capstone can. He is impenetrable. He is immovable. He doesn’t crumble. He doesn’t break. He doesn’t scratch. The Stone - the capital “S” Stone - is stable. And he stabilizes all who rely on him. He polishes the scuffs; he repairs the cracks; he caulks the crevices; and he bonds everything back together again. And he does that with his blood. His blood fixes that which is broken off. His blood makes us whole and new and strong. His blood solidifies us as living stones in the spiritual house he is building. And so the Cornerstone doesn’t just support us; he isn’t just a passive platform on which we have to try to build ourselves up; no, he is the foundation, the skeletal structure, the support beams, the siding, the roof, and everything else in between. And he uses us as a small part of that house. Not really to hold it together, mind you, but to build it up. And what an honor it is to be included in this grand tower of God’s love and power! What a privilege to be part of this architectural masterpiece!
Out at the new property the dirt work has been done and the micro piles have been set and the foundation work for the actual building is in the process of being put into place. Lord willing, our church building won’t be a Learning Tower of Pisa in a few years. It should be solid; it should be stable. But as you continue to watch the progress of this church building over the next few months, let it remind you of God’s Church and the foundation on which it is built. And think of this congregation and the living Stone on which we stand. Christ is the basis of what we do and why we do it. Not a building itself, not an attitude, not an opinion or a personality. But a Savior. A Savior and his Word. That will always be the foundation and the basis for the existence of this congregation. And I would pray that it will always be the foundation and the basis of your life. Stay on that Stone. Stay in his Word. He will always support you. He will not let you down. He will never let us down. Amen.

“To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy - to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” - Jude 24-25

5/15/11 - Easter 4 - 1 Peter 2:19-25

DO WHAT A LAMB DOES BEST

An Example to Follow

Different animals are endowed with different gifts. A cheetah can run, a rooster can crow, a penguin can swim, a monkey can climb. The Lord has blessed all of his creatures with different skills and attributes that he uses to beautify the world, to keep things in order, and to benefit the people living on this earth. And because of all the different qualities that the birds and the fish and the animals of this world possess, the Lord oftentimes uses compares them to human beings. For example Jesus tells us in the book of Matthew to be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. The book of Proverbs encourages us to work hard like a colony of ants. Jesus even describes himself as a hen who longs to gather her chicks under her wings. But out of all the animals in this world, the one creature that Scripture uses the most to illustrate who we are and how we should act in this life and the way in which Jesus himself functioned while he was here on this earth is the lamb.
You know very well that Jesus is called the Lamb of God and the Passover Lamb in the Bible, mainly because he was the fulfillment of the many lamb sacrifices that were performed in Old Testament times. Along those same lines he is also described as a Lamb led to the slaughter and in the book of Revelation he is pictured as a Lamb who has been killed. In other parts of Scripture the Jewish people were referred to as the lost sheep of Israel and some of the crowds that Jesus came across in his travels he thought of as sheep without a shepherd. The apostle Peter too picks up on this familiar analogy in his first letter. And as he continues to talk to us about Christian living today he urges us to live like a lamb. Specifically, he asks us to do what a lamb does best. And that is: follow.
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. ‘He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.’ When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly.”
The Lamb of God committed no sin; he did not retaliate; he made no threats. Instead, he handed everything over to his Father who would judge those who hated him. That’s the example that the Lord has laid out for his lambs. And lambs follow. That’s just what they do. They follow their leader and, as our gospel reading in John 10 said, they listen to his voice. And the way that we are to follow our leader and listen to his voice is to act how he acted and have the same gentle attitude that he had.

Wandering Sheep

Of course, realize the implications of that example. That means when someone gets mad at you, you don’t get mad back. And when someone yells at you, you don’t yell back. And when someone hurts you, you don’t hurt them back. And when someone doesn’t like you, you actually like them back. You love them. You forgive them. You open your heart to them and do everything you can for them as if they were the most important person in the world to you. Because that’s the kind of care and devotion and patience Jesus showed. That’s how he acted. That was his attitude while he lived on this earth. He was like a gentle Lamb. No matter how many people hated him and no matter how many pains he unjustly suffered, he remained a gentle Lamb. And he asks us to do the same.
But I’ve got to tell you: I don’t normally like being a gentle lamb. I don’t like to just “take it” without retaliating. I don’t like to be wronged only to drop it. I don’t like to be nice to those who aren’t nice to me. And I would doubt that you like to do that either! Because acting like a gentle lamb makes us “weak” in the eyes of others. That kind of attitude makes us seem like “pushovers” who lack the confidence to stand up for ourselves. And we don’t want that, do we? We don’t want to be perceived as timid or even cowardly.
And so what do we do? Instead of doing what a lamb does best and following Jesus’ example of compassion and mercy and love, we act like a snapping turtle or a crocodile or a snake and strike back. We want to hurt those who hurt us and unnecessarily argue with those who disagree with us and talk against those who aren’t like us. Because then we’re “strong.” Then we’re bold and self-confident. Then we can show people that we have a high self-esteem and we aren’t going to let anyone just walk all over us. And that’s more impressive to the people around us, isn’t it? Not to mention that it makes us feel good. It makes us feel good when we can get the upper hand. It makes us feel good when we can get back at that person or “win” in some way.
That doesn’t sound much like a lamb to me. It doesn’t sound very gentle or caring. It doesn’t sound a whole lot like Christ, the Lamb of God. On the other hand, it does sound a little bit like a lamb in a negative respect. Because listen to how Peter describes us, “You were like sheep going astray.” Instead of being lambs that follow, we are lambs that go astray. We wander off. We go our own direction other than the way his Word is pointing. And that’s very fitting description of the way we sometimes live, isn’t it? It’s a very apt illustration of what we normally do: instead of doing what lambs do best, we end up doing the worst thing possible because we just don’t feel like “following” our leader today.
Now I would never accuse of not wanting to follow Jesus. But I think you would agree that we as Christians can sometimes theoretically agree with what the Bible says, but then act in a completely different way. We all agree that we should follow Christ’s example and act like he acted, right? But to walk out these doors and actually plan to incorporate that into your life? That’s a little different, isn’t it? Because it’s no fun being a lamb. It’s difficult being a lamb. It’s self-deprecating being a lamb. And so when it comes down to it, we like the fact of following Christ in theory, but not in practice.

The Shepherd’s Sacrifice as a Lamb

And if there was anyone that understood the difference between theory and practice, it was the author of this letter: the apostle Peter. Think about all the things that happened in his life: In theory he was going to follow his Lord and stand up for him on pain of death; in practice he denied that he even knew who the Lord was when Peter was pressured in the courtyard of the high priest. In theory Peter was going to follow his Lord and walk on top of the water to Jesus because Jesus said that he could; in practice Peter was overwhelmed by the sights and the sounds of the winds and the waves and began to sink. In theory Peter would follow his God everywhere he went; in practice Peter ended up reprimanding Jesus when the Lord told him that he was going to Jerusalem to be handed over to enemies for crucifixion. And so when Peter wrote this letter later on in his life, he understood that promising to follow Jesus was one thing; actually taking the steps to do so was another.
And because Peter understood this concept so well, he also understood that we would have trouble with it too. And so right after he informs us that we are supposed to do what lambs do best and follow Jesus’ example, he immediately reminds us about what the Lamb of God did for us when we fail to do so. “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
This is not the example we are supposed to follow as his lambs. This is the source of our forgiveness when we don’t follow his example. The Lamb of God died. But he didn’t just die; he took all or our sins with him and suffered the consequences of their punishment. But the result wasn’t just that he suffered either; what resulted from that sacrifice was that by his wounds we are healed. Jesus was the Lamb that we could never be because Jesus was the offering that we could never be. He gave up his entire being for us. He let his blood fall for us. When we wandered, he did not close the gate. When we refused to follow, he did not turn away. No, instead he turned to us. He reached out to us. He called us back. He pulled us in. Because Jesus is not only the Lamb of God; he is also the Good Shepherd. And the Good Shepherd will do anything for his sheep.

Follow the Shepherd

And that is still true today. Our Good Shepherd will do anything for the good of his sheep. He guards us when we are in trouble. He guides us when we are lost. He feeds us when we are hungry. He comforts us when we are sad. He warns us about the dangers. And he forgives us when we fall. And that is what makes it easy for us to live like lambs: Our Good Shepherd has done everything for us; why wouldn’t we want to follow him? He has not just set an example that we are supposed to keep; he is a God who has provided for us in every way imaginable so that now we want to stay close to him every step of the way. He does not use the whip and demand that we live up to a godly standard or else; he uses his staff and pulls us closer to his cross on which he forgave us for not keeping that standard. Jesus is not a business man. He is not someone who will fire you or replace you or get rid of you if you do not reach your production levels. He is the Shepherd and the Overseer of your soul. He actually cares for you. He longs for you. He died for you! What greater proof of his love do we need? And with that in mind we know that we can follow him not to get where we’re going but because he has already promised to take us there! We live like lambs not because that earns us the right to be part of his flock but because he has already brought us into his fold.
And so continue to do what lambs do best: follow your Shepherd. Lambs don’t lead; lambs don’t advise; lambs don’t help out. Lambs follow. And that’s just what your Shepherd wants you to do. He wants you to follow his Word through faith and, out thanks for what he has done, he want you to follow his example through life. And what an exciting thing that is for us to do! We get to be lambs of the Lamb of God! We get live free of consequences hanging over our heads. We get to live full of peace. We get to live with our Shepherd always over us and we get to live with other sheep all around us. What a blessing it is to be a part of the Good Shepherd’s flock. And what a joy it is to have the privilege to do what lambs do best.
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.” - Hebrews 13:20-21

5/8/11 - Easter 3 - 1 Peter 1:17-21

YOU DON'T BELONG HERE

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I had a conference in Omaha this past week and I took my family with me. And since I grew up in the southeast part of Nebraska it was nice to get back and see some of things I hadn’t seen in a while and to resurrect some of those memories that hadn’t crossed my mind in a couple of years. My family and I even drove by the house that I grew up in as a kid. But it’s not my house anymore. And that part of the country isn’t my home any longer either. We certainly had a good time: the conference was worthwhile and we had an opportunity to see the new church building that my childhood congregation just built and we were even able to get together with Jessica’s side of the family for a few days at her sister’s house - but it still wasn’t “home.” And so the whole time we were there we were looking forward to getting back here and sleeping on our own pillows again and relaxing in our own house again and functioning as a family in this town again because this is “home.” This is where we live; this is where we are comfortable; and no matter how nice things can be in other places at other times, we just don’t belong in other places right now; we belong here - at home. And so it was nice to get back to the place where we belong.
As the apostle Peter writes to us about Christian living in his first letter, he wants us to have that same kind of attitude as we live on this earth: He wants us to remember that we don’t quite belong here. This life might be nice at certain times and enjoyable in certain places, but it’s not quite “home.” This isn’t where our permanent residence is; we’re just here for the time being until we can go to the place where we really belong.
“Since you call on a Father who judges each man’s work impartially, live your lives as strangers here in reverent fear."

“Sojourning”

Peter says that we are to act as if we are strangers in this world, foreigners, sojourners. And if you’re not familiar with that word, “sojourners” are people who live in a place only temporarily or people who are traveling through areas that are not their home. They aren’t wanderers exactly - it’s not as if they don’t know where to go - it’s just that the place they are in at the moment isn’t where they came from and it isn’t where they will end up either. They haven’t permanently settled down because they are just passing through.
But this isn’t the only time that Peter mentions this. At the beginning of his letter Peter addresses this writing to “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia” (v.1). These Christians had been scattered from Jerusalem all over the world because of the persecution that happened after the stoning of Stephen. But no matter where they currently lived, Peter calls them “strangers in the world” as if they didn’t truly belong where they happened to be. And later on in chapter two Peter again calls his readers “aliens and strangers in the world” (2:11). And so along with the portion of Scripture we are looking at today, Peter makes mention of the fact that Christians are foreigners in this world and don’t really belong on this earth three separate times in the first couple chapters. Why would he do that? Why would Peter emphasize this point so often to his fellow Christians? Probably because it’s easy to forget that we’re strangers here, isn’t it?

Don’t Get Too Attached

It’s easy to forget that this world is a foreign country to Christians. And it’s easy to forget that no matter how comfortable we may be in this life, this life isn’t what we’re living for! Because we enjoy spending time with some of the people here and we like to get the new and the better things that make our lives more pleasant and we appreciate the different blessing we have as we live here. But we can get so absorbed in the hectic nature of our day to day living and the multitude of options that this world offers that we start acting like we’re actually going to stay here, that we almost belong here - as if this is our permanent home!
Don’t get too attached. Don’t get too attached to the things that you have and the things that you can get and the things that you do in this world. Because they aren’t going to last. And they don’t much matter anyway, do they? The house that you have? Just a pile of sticks and bricks. The relatives that you love and the friends that you’ve made and the people that you care about? Just other foreigners in a foreign place. The vacation you’re planning and the activities you are involved with? Just things that will soon pass away places through which you will only be passing through. The “stuff” here can be nice of course; the “stuff” can be enjoyable at times; but the “stuff” doesn’t matter. It is passing; it is simply provisional. It’s not meant to last. It’s not meant to be what you live for.
When we were coming back from Omaha this past week, we brought along plenty of snacks for the kids, but those snacks weren’t supposed to serve as their main meals. We gave them their blankets and their pillows from home so that they could take naps in the car, but their car seats were not going to be their actual beds each night. We stopped on occasion to let them run around in the grass at rest areas or to spend some time on the playgrounds along the way, but those small breaks in the trip and those hiatus’ from the monotony of travel were not our final destination. And so when they asked for even more snacks we would remind them that we were going to eat supper soon. And when they wanted to get out of their car seats we would tell them to be patient because they would be able to stretch out once we arrived. And when they wanted to stay and play a little longer at the rest areas we would have to direct their minds back to where we were ultimately headed. We were headed home; they just forgot that fact every once in a while. Kids in general have a hard time focusing on what is to come. Instead, what is in front of their faces at the moment is what they want and what they crave and what they care about.
We can be spiritual children sometimes like that as well. We want and we crave and we care about what is right in front of our faces at the moment… and we forget about what is to come. And so we get a little selfish because we want a lot of things for ourselves and we get a little greedy because we want more and we get a little frustrated and disappointed when we don’t get the things we want right now. We would like to gorge ourselves on the snacks while forgetting the feast that awaits us in the future. And we desperately cling to the passing playgrounds we have a chance to visit while forgetting that we’re going home - longing for those temporary joys that are empty and pointless and futile, trying to hold on to those things that won’t make us truly happy anyway and that won’t be able come along with us in the end.

The Blood of the Lamb

It’s a good thing that this life isn’t all there is. Think about all of the disappointment and the despair that would come from losing the things that you like the most and failing to get whatever you wanted. What a sad life that would be! How unfulfilling and hopeless! Think about what a blessing it is that you don’t really belong here and that you don’t have to stay. “For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.”
In the worship life of the Old Testament, every male - both man and animal - was to be “redeemed” or “bought back” when they were one month old. The ransom price was five shekels of silver. This was the price set to dedicate them to the Lord in remembrance of the firstborn sons that he had saved at the Passover in Egypt when the angel of the Lord “passed over” the houses with blood on their door frames. And even though the Jewish Christians had stopped that practice by the time Peter wrote this letter, they were certainly aware of the command that their forefathers had received and carried out in the past. And so Peter’s words here in his first letter meant something very important to them: “It was not with gold or silver that you were redeemed from this empty way of life… but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.” Peter wanted them and us to understand: This life means nothing in the end. It can offer nothing. It can gain nothing. Even if you do good things and lead a good life and be a good person, it is “empty” because your “good” won’t get you through. But Christ’s blood will. Christ’s blood will take you from this life into the next. Our Lamb’s blood dedicates us to the Lord and makes this unstable world just the countryside we are passing through to get to our final destination. As that precious blood of the pure unblemished lamb saved the people of Israel in the land of Egypt at the first Passover celebration, so the precious blood of the pure unblemished Lamb of God saves us. It redeems us. It buys us back. It guarantees us that we don’t have to live for this life, that there is something more, that there is something better.

There’s Something Better

And there is something better that awaits us, isn’t there? What awaits us after this life is another life, a life without loss and a family without fights and a body without pain and a day without night. What awaits us is a home. A real home. A place we belong even though it’s a place we have yet to see. And it’s kind of exciting, isn’t it? Aren’t you looking forward to this Paradise in which the Lord himself lives? Aren’t you anticipating a place that you will not only enjoy, but a place that you will never have to leave? The trip there may be long and the road may be bumpy. This world may offer appealing detours and the scenes that pass outside your window can be a distraction at times. But the Lord will keep turning your gaze back to the road ahead. He will keep reminding you about his blood. He will keep comforting you with his forgiveness. And he will keep calling you home. Because you don’t belong here. This is not where you live; this is where you are staying for the time being. You belong up there. And Jesus is already preparing for your arrival.
Amen.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.” - Psalm 33:12

5/1/11 - Easter 2 - John 20:19-31

DON'T LEAVE THEM IN YOUR POCKET

Wittenberg Altar Painting

On the south side of the city of Wittenberg, Germany stands the oldest building within the town: The City Church, St. Mary’s. The first portions of the existing structure were built in the 1200s and it was the center of worship life for the people all the way through the time of the Reformation. Martin Luther himself was married in this church to Catherine, all six of their children were baptized at its bronze baptismal font, and Luther often filled in for its pastor, John Bugenhagen, by preaching from its pulpit multiple times a week.
Above the altar inside this huge gothic style building is a four paneled painting by the famous Reformation artist, Lucas Cranach the Elder. There are three panels on the top and one on the bottom. The lower section depicts Luther preaching to the people with Christ on the cross standing in between. The far left panel portrays a baptism, the middle painting illustrates the Lord’s Supper, but on the far right there is a scene that might require some explanation and it is also the focus of our attention this morning. In this panel Pastor John Bugenhagen is shown with two men on either side of him. The man on his right is kneeling while Bugenhagen holds a large key over his head. But on the other side a different man is being pushed away, his hands bound, as Bugenhagen holds another large key turned the other way at the man’s back. Do you know why Cranach would paint something like that? Well, he depicted the gospel in the spoken Word at the bottom of this altarpiece, the gospel through baptism on the left side, the gospel in the Lord’s Supper in the middle… And so the gospel is also displayed in this last section as well, pronounced in the painting by Pastor Bugenhagen through the use of “The Keys.”

The “Office of the Keys”

Do you recognize that term? I’m sure some of you remember what “The Keys” are from your catechism days. Others of you might vaguely recall that phrase being used but don’t exactly know what it means anymore. And still others of you might not have ever heard that term used before in your life. “The Keys” is the responsibility and privilege given by the Lord to every Christian to forgive or to not forgive the sins of another. The visual picture of “The Keys” then is that you “lock” someone to their sins if they are unrepentant and you “unlock” a person from their sins if they are sorry for what they have done. And we call this responsibility “The Office [or duty] of the Keys” because that is the term used by Jesus himself in Matthew 16:19: “I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will be released in heaven.”
What Jesus said to his disciples earlier in his ministry was also repeated by Christ after he rose from the dead. This second post-resurrection explanation of “The Keys” is what our sermon text is based on this morning in John 20. And although Jesus doesn’t use the word “keys” in this instance, he is talking about the exact same thing: “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’”
Forgiving and not forgiving, binding and releasing, locking and unlocking. “The Keys” was a privilege and responsibility that Jesus repeated to his disciples when he appeared to them for the first time after his resurrection. But “The Keys” is a privilege and responsibility that he has given to every one of us as well.
They have not just been given to the disciples and they have not just been given to me simply because I’m a pastor. I use these keys in a very visible way every week, but I’m not the only one who is allowed to use them only because I stand in front of you every Sunday and say, “God our heavenly Father has been merciful to us and has given us his only Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Therefore, as a called servant of Christ and by his authority, I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” That is a familiar and very real way that “The Keys” are put into use. I pronounce the real forgiveness of sins to all of us who confess our sins before our Lord. But these keys that I publically make use of during a worship service are keys that are sitting in your own pockets every day. You have the same privilege. You have the same responsibility. And so how often do you take them out of your pocket and use them?

The Releasing Key

We have to deal with the sins of others all the time, don’t we? If you are parents then you have to deal with the sins of your children. If you are children then you have to deal with the sins of your parents. If you are a brother or sister then you have to deal with the sins of your siblings. If you are married then you have to deal with the sins of your spouse. If you are a neighbor then you have to deal with the sins of those living next to you. If you are a Christian then you have to deal with the sins of your pastor and the sins of your spiritual brothers and sisters all around you. But how do you deal with those people when they confess their sins?
When someone says that they are sorry to you or when someone apologizes to you for the way they have acted or the things they have said, how do you respond? “Oh, that’s OK… No big deal… Don’t worry about it… Think nothing of it… No harm done… I know you didn’t mean it…” Is that about right? Are those the normal responses you give? How about, “I forgive you and the Lord does too.” Have you ever said those words to someone who has confessed their sins to you? Maybe? At least a couple times in your life? Or not at all? Those are the opportunities that the Lord has given you in this life to pull out those keys from your pocket and use them! He wants you to pronounce what he has already done! He wants you to proclaim to that person his full and free forgiveness! He doesn’t want them to hear that their sins were no big deal or that no harm was done! He wants them to be reminded that he has died on the cross for that sin and so now the punishment is completely taken care of! Why would we not use that key? Why would we not want to comfort that person with the incredible promise of God’s forgiveness?
My wife and I have been trying to do that with our children. If one of them does something wrong against the other, not only do we have our kid say “I’m sorry” but we also have the child who has been sinned against say, “I forgive you.” And we as parents try to say that too. When one of our children says “I’m sorry” for whatever they have done, we oftentimes respond with, “I forgive you and Jesus forgives you too.” But I don’t always say that. Because sometimes I’m still angry. Sometimes I’m still disappointed in what they have done and so in response to their apology I say, “Don’t do it again. You should know better than that.” And how terrible it is when I respond in that way! That is not the releasing key; that is the binding key! That is not the forgiveness they need to hear; that is conveying the message: “Well, I’m glad you’re sorry, but you’re going to have to behave a little better before everything is alright.” No! That is not the place to use the binding key. A confession of sins needs the pronouncement of forgiveness. And no matter how difficult it is to use that releasing key sometimes, it has to be used. Just as the binding key must be used on those who don’t repent.

The Binding Key

It’s hard to “bind” someone to their sins, isn’t it? When someone you know is clearly sinning or one someone you are related to is unabashedly living in a sin, it’s hard to take that binding key out of your pocket and say, “You are sinning. And because you don’t care and don’t plan to stop, Jesus does not forgive you. Your sin is being counted against you. And it is a serious, serious thing.” That is really difficult to say, isn’t it? Because people will get mad and people will be offended. But people will be saved. And that’s the point: We bind them to their sins so that they will be brought to repentance. We point out their sin so that they will admit their guilt and cling to their Savior for the forgiveness he has already died for. We take that binding key out of our pockets and use it because we care for their souls. And we want them to experience the sweet refreshment of forgiveness that we have experienced firsthand.

You Have Been Unlocked from Your Sins

Jesus repeated the importance of using “The Keys” to his disciples on the very day he rose from the dead. And there was a good reason for doing that: He had just finished their salvation. He had just fulfilled everything that he promised to do for their forgiveness. And now he wanted them to share that forgiveness with the world. They had seen it with their own eyes; they had heard it with their own ears; and they had experienced it in their own hearts. They were eye witnesses and direct recipients of this forgiveness that “The Keys” possess. What better keepers of “The Keys” and what better distributors of “The Keys” could there be than those whose sins had personally been forgiven by their resurrected Lord?
What better keepers of “The Keys” and what better distributors of “The Keys” could there be than you? We are only one week removed from the celebration of Jesus rising from the grave. And I would hope that you are still basking in that Easter Sunday glory. You are in the same position as those disciples were that day: You too have been personally forgiven by your resurrected Lord. You have seen it with your own eyes in the waters of baptism; you have heard it with your own ears as the pronouncement of forgiveness is given in a worship service; you will even tast it with your own tongue at the Lord’s Supper! The Lord has used the unlocking key on you! He took that key out while on the cross and released you from your sins and set you free from that eternal punishment. You are no longer bound to your mistakes and your faults and your failures; Jesus was bound for you. He was killed for you. He rose for you. And that is why he has the authority to forgive you; as well as the authority to give you those keys of forgiveness.

The Importance of Using the Keys

Jesus has placed those keys in your pocket. You are to use them. Now that doesn’t mean you have the ability to forgive; but you do have the authority to announce forgiveness. Although we as sinful human beings do not have the power or capability to actually wash someone’s sins away, we have been given the responsibility by our Lord to proclaim what Jesus has already done. We announce forgiveness to those who are sorry for their sins and we announce a withholding of forgiveness to those whose sins don’t bother them. We are the official messengers of the Messiah. We are the key bearers of the King. Do you realize how important that job is? There is a reason Lucas Cranach painted that picture on the far right side of the altarpiece at the City Church in Wittenberg: It is essential that we tell others what our Lord has done. It is crucial to the faith of others that they know about their sins and especially about their forgiveness. And it is damaging when we keep those keys hidden in our pockets. You have been given the weighty responsibility of binding someone to their sin. And you have been given the unparalleled pleasure of releasing someone from that same sin with the words of forgiveness. Those keys that lock and unlock the gates of heaven are in your pocket. Take them out and use them for the sake of souls and to the glory of the Lord.
Amen.

“Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ.” - Rev. 12:10