3/25/12 - Lent 5 - Hebrews 5:7-10

WE NEED HELP

Fully God and Fully Human

            There is no doubt that Jesus was, is, and will always remain the one true God.  Scripture makes that very clear from the very beginning.  Not only does it say that Jesus was involved in the creation of the world, but that he existed before creation.  Throughout the Old Testament Jesus appeared at different times to different people as “the Angel of the Lord” performing multiple miracles in that form to prove who he was.  When he was physically here on this earth during the New Testament times Jesus displayed his divine glory in a number of different ways: healings, exorcisms, power over the laws of nature, mind reading, predicting the future, and even a brief presentation of his majesty to a few of his disciples when he was transformed in front of them on top of a mountain.  The Bible gives Jesus the names of God; the Bible describes Jesus with the characteristics of God; the Bible attributes to Jesus the actions of God.  Jesus was, is, and always will be the one true God in whom we all believe.

            But there also is no doubt that Jesus was, is, and always will be a human being too.  At the very moment he took on the flesh and blood of a living being in the womb of his mother Mary, Jesus was just like us in every way.  And Scripture proves that too.  For example: Jesus had to sleep.  Jesus needed to eat.  Jesus was physically exhausted at times, he was susceptible to injury, he was affected by the weather.  Jesus learned things; he was exposed to temptations; he had a distinct personality.  The Bible calls Jesus a human being; the Bible describes Jesus with characteristics of a normal human being; the Bible attributes to Jesus the actions of a normal human being.  Jesus was, is, and always will be the man in whom we all believe.

            And although we would all agree that Jesus is both fully God and fully human at one and the same time, those two concepts are sometimes a little difficult to comprehend when we try to put them together in our puny little minds.  Because on the one hand we like to think of Jesus as someone who was so stable that he was unaffected by his emotions; but then we read that he cried at the gravesite of his good friend Lazarus.  We like to think of Jesus as someone who knew everything all the time, but then we hear that when he was twelve years old, Jesus “grew in wisdom and in stature” (Luke 2:52).  We like to think of Jesus as someone who didn’t have any problems, someone who was able to handle whatever was thrown at him, someone who didn’t need any help.  But then we read a passage like Hebrews 5:7-10:

Jesus’ Prayers and Petitions

            “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.  Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and, once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him and was designated by God to be high priest in the order of Melchizedek.”

            Jesus prayed to his Father - and he prayed passionately!  He offered up his pleas and his petitions with vehement cries and actual tears!  Was the writer of this letter to the Hebrews referring back to the prayers of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane when sweat poured off his face like drops of blood?  Possibly.  Was the author of this passage referring back to the many times Jesus stayed up all night praying or when he got up early in the morning when it was still dark to approach his Father’s throne with his requests?  Maybe.  Or do these verses refer to other incidents of private devotional time of our Savior that are not mentioned in the pages of Scripture?  Could be.  In any case, Jesus prayed with verbal sounds of anguish coming out of his mouth and real tears streaming down his face.  Can you imagine your Lord doing that?  Can you actually picture this God-Man pleading so vigorously with his Father that he physically and emotionally spent himself?  It sounds to me like Jesus was someone who was in some serious need.  It sounds like he was someone who needed help.

            But did Jesus really need help?  Our God?  Our mighty and powerful and immovable Lord?  Did he really need help?  Well, consider this: after he battled the devil in the desert for 40 days and 40 nights, “The angels came and attended him” (Matt. 4:11).  And near the end of his ministry when he was vehemently praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, “An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.” (Luke 22:43).  And then again here: “He offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”  It sure sounds like he needed help, doesn’t it?  Jesus was a real human being, after all.  And so he prayed to the one who could save him from death because while he was on this earth he faced a lot of terrible things and he knew he was going to have to undergo much worse by the time it was all over.  And as a real live human being, he needed some assistance from his God.  He needed some strength; he needed some assurance; he needed some courage; he needed life.  Jesus really did need help.  And his Father was ready and willing to give it to him.

Do We Need Help?

            Now if Jesus - the only person ever to live a perfect life, the only one who was able to keep every single one of God’s commands in every single way, the only man who not only came from the Father but was actually one with him - if this Jesus needed help while he was here on this earth, don’t you think we need his help even more?

            Of course we do.  I don’t think anyone here would claim that he or she doesn’t need help from the Lord in this life…  And so that means you often times pray with loud cries and tears streaming down your face just like Jesus did, right?  Well, you at least stay up all night long sometimes just so that you can go to your Father when you’re in need, don’t you?  Well, don’t you normally take a couple hours out of your busy schedule each week and go someplace by yourself just so that you can be alone with your God as you plead to him for his assistance?...  I don’t either.  I pray little prayers throughout the day for a variety of things, but I normally don’t block out a large amount of time to pray to the Lord on a regular basis.  Maybe if something is really going wrong or if someone I care about is on the verge of death or if I am physically sick for an extended period of time, then maybe I’ll pray for more than five minutes straight.  And I’m sure that most of you pray more often and more sincerely than I do, because on a normal day I usually just go about my life, figuring that I can handle a lot of the little things on my own.

            But do I really think that I would be able to even get out of bed each morning with the Lord’s help?  Do I really think that I could perform my duties as a father or husband or a friend or pastor without the Lord’s constant assistance?  Do I really think that I would be able to do something as simple as take a breath of fresh air without the Lord’s hand guiding me along?  We need help all of the time in every little thing.  Sadly though, sometimes it is not until we paint ourselves into a corner or find ourselves underneath an impossible load or run out of options that we realize how much help we really needed in the first place.  We didn’t ask our Lord for help going into it; we didn’t ask him in the middle of it; but now that we are at our wit’s end, now it’s time to pray to the Lord and plead for his intervention.  We didn’t “need” his help before, but now we sure do!

Jesus is Our Helpful High Priest

            I think we all realize how silly that is for us to do.  We act and talk and think like we can do plenty of things on our own, only to pray to our God after we’ve tried everything else because things didn’t work out like we had planned.  But when our Lord hears those prayers that we pray far too late and not often enough and only when we don’t know what else to do, he listens to them anyway.  And he gives us his full attention.  And he answers those prayers with his love.  Yes, we should have gone to him before.  Yes, we should have leaned on him the entire time.  Yes, we were wrong to have assumed that we could deal with it all on our own.  But Jesus doesn’t hold that against us.  He welcomes that prayer long overdue.  He is thrilled by it!  Because he knows exactly what you’re going through.

            He used to be in your very situation, after all!  He was the one who had been down on his knees!  He was the one who had his hands folded and head bowed and eyes closed!  He was the one who had prayed so hard he was sweating and shouting out and crying!  Jesus was the one who had needed help at some very critical times!  And so he knows exactly how he can help you.  He knows exactly how you feel.  He knows exactly what you need.  He knows exactly what to do.  And he is compassionate enough and forgiving enough to want to do it.

            Thank the Lord that “he was designated by God to be high priest.”  Jesus was the new High Priest.  Jesus was the High Priest unlike any that came from the tribe of Levi.  Because Jesus is the eternal High Priest.  And Jesus is your High Priest.  One who intercedes for you before his Father in heaven.  One who represents you.  One who defends you.  One who has been where you are right now and one who has gone to places you never want to be.  One who has suffered what you are suffering right now - and even more.  One who has been tempted in every way just like you are tempted right now - and to an even greater degree.  One who has gone through everything you have gone through and much, much worse.  Your High Priest isn’t distant or aloof, unconcerned and unaware of what you are suffering; your High Priest has felt every pain; he has faced every trouble; and he has prayed every prayer that you will ever have to send up to your Father’s throne.

            And so pray to him.  Go to your High Priest when you need help.  And you don’t have to sweat or shout or cry when you pray.  You just have to talk to him.  And he’ll hear you.  He’ll listen to you.  He’ll be more than happy to help you.  Because that’s what he’s there for.  He’s there just for you.  To remind you about his love and his sacrifice and his victory; to assure you that his death is now yours and his life soon will be.  And he never gets tired of it.  Our helpful High Priest never gets tired of hearing your prayers or helping you in your need.  Because he knows what it’s like.  He’s experienced it all.  He feels your pain.  He’s been there.  And one day, he wants you to feel what it’s like to be up there with him.

            Amen.

“Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me.” - Ps. 50:15

3/18/12 - Lent 4 - Numbers 21:4-9

LOOK & LIVE

The Israelites’ Impatience

            “But the people grew impatient on the way.”  That is how the very first verse of our Old Testament reading this morning ends.  “The people grew impatient on the way.”  But does it surprise you that the Israelites - God’s Old Testament chosen nation - became impatient with their Lord?  If you remember anything about the stories of that time, you’ll remember many instances when God’s people became impatient with the Lord’s plans.  They became impatient in Egypt when things started getting worse under Moses’ leadership instead of better.  They became impatient on the shores of the Red Sea as the Egyptian army was bearing down on them.  They became impatient while waiting at the bottom of Mt. Sinai as Moses talked to the Lord on top of that peak for 40 days and 40 nights.  And because of this past impatience they had complained to God, they had doubted God, they had even turned their backs on God at one point when they built that golden calf.  And here again in our story for today, these same people grew impatient with the Lord’s plans as they traveled around the country of Edom.  And so “They spoke against God and against Moses and said, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert?  There is no bread!  There is no water!  And we detest this miserable food!’” 

            God’s people seem a little whiney, don’t they?  Maybe an even harsher word for that would be “insolent:” a little disrespectful and ungrateful.  After all, earlier in this same book of Numbers we are told that the Lord had miraculously provided water right out of rock, he had not only given them those heaven-sent white wafers called Manna every morning but he also sent them such a large amount of quail in one night that they covered the ground three feet deep, and right before this story in chapter 21 the Lord rescued the Israelites from an attacking Canaanite nation - so much so that the Israelites completely destroyed them and every one of their towns.  The Lord had proven to them time and time again that he knew what he was doing.  The Lord had shown them time and time again that 1) he had a plan and 2) that he had the power to carry it out.  And so when they complained here, when they grew impatient once more with what he was doing for their good, the Lord plans included teaching them a lesson.

God’s Plan

            Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died.  The people came to Moses and said, “We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you.  Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.  The LORD said to Moses, “Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live.”  So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

            It was a hard lesson for the Israelites to learn; but it was a necessary lesson.  The Lord would not put up with their impudence, and at the very same time he would not hesitate to show his grace.  Because God’s plan at that time for his people was not only to allow many of them to die from the venomous snake bites, but also to provide himself an opportunity to save many of them as well.  And so they saw his wrath and his anger and his justice, but they also experienced his love and his mercy and his forgiveness first hand.  And you can be sure that those Israelites who had been bit and were lying on the ground and writhing in pain - but then were healed - never forgot that moment when they were so close to death.  I can’t imagine anyone forgetting something so traumatic or forgetting a Lord who was so patient.

            And it’s fascinating how the Lord healed them, isn’t it?  God could have healed them any way he wanted to, but he decided to show his grace with a bronze snake up on a pole!  Now I don’t know how long it would have taken Moses to forge a snake out of bronze in 1500 BC, but it had to take a little bit of time.  He would have had to find enough bronze to start with, the tools to build it with, the fuel, a furnace of some sort, and then however long it would take to heat the fire hot enough to actually form the snake itself.  And so if the Israelites had been impatient before, their patience was certainly tested now!  As many of them lay dying from those snake bites, longing for some sort of relief, they had to wait and wait and wait for that saving snake to be made and to be hung.  But once it was there, the Lord didn’t require them to do anything - only look and live.  He didn’t demand them to drag themselves over to the snake or kiss the snake or pray to the snake or to be really really sorry for what they had done before they dared come close to the snake.  Just look.  Look at what the Lord had promised.  Look at what the Lord had done.  Look at this wonderful sign of the Lord’s love and mercy and forgiveness.  Look and live.

God’s Ultimate Plan

            We have a wonderful sign of God’s love and mercy and forgiveness right here in this room - the cross.  And it’s not a coincidence that most of the congregations in our church body and even most of the congregations that truly are “Christian” have a cross at the center of their sanctuary.  Because we as Christians like to look at Jesus’ cross, don’t we?  We want to look at Jesus’ cross.  We need to look at Jesus’ cross.  And I don’t just mean to physically see something with your eyes when I say “look” of course.  What I mean by “look” is to know, to understand, to actually believe. 

            If I handed you a piece of paper and asked you to “look this over for me” - I wouldn’t be asking you to just glance at it for a second and give it back to me.  I would want you to read it and analyze it and formulate an opinion and get back to me with your thoughts about it.  That’s how the word look is used in Numbers 21 when the Israelites were to “look” at the bronze snake and live.  It wasn’t that they just caught it out of the corner of their eye and they were suddenly healed because of it.  It was that they “looked” at the bronze snake on the pole with the understanding of faith, trusting that God’s promise connected to it was real and sure and personal.  They needed to look at this snake with that guarantee of salvation in their minds.  Just like we need to look at the cross with the guarantee of salvation in ours.  And so it’s not a surprise that Jesus himself makes that connection.

            One night a man found out where Jesus was staying and came to see him.  His name was Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council - a group who hated Jesus.  And as Jesus was speaking to him about baptism and salvation in general, he points this Old Testament scholar back to our Old Testament story: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him will be saved” (John 3:14-15).  “Look and live” Jesus basically said to Nicodemus.  “Look at me, your Savior, the one who will be lifted up on a cross.  And just as those who looked at the snake in the desert lived, those who look to me will live too.”  It’s simple, isn’t it?  But that’s what the cross is: simple.  The cross is uncomplicated.  And that simple cross has always been God’s plan!  The cross is where we find our peace and our comfort, our forgiveness and our salvation.  And so the cross is not only for our eternal life; it is for our every-day life.  The cross is where we look when we are down, when we are struggling, when we are hurting.  The cross is where we look when we are sad or when we are angry or when we are frustrated.  The cross is where we look for the Lord’s promises.  The cross is where we look for the Lord’s love.  The cross is where we look for the Lord’s patience.  And when we look, we live.

Our Impatience

      
            But then, just like those Israelites, we sometimes “grow impatient on the way” and forget to look at that cross.  Because we get sick and we want the Lord to heal us now - not later.  And we face ongoing situations and we want the Lord to get us through them now - not later.  And we get overwhelmed with issues and problems of various sorts and we want the Lord to ease up a little bit now - not later.  And we get frustrated because we can’t figure out what the Lord has planned and we complain because we don’t like what the Lord has planned and we get a little disrespectful because we aren’t quite convinced that the Lord’s plan is working… 

            I’m glad that the Lord hasn’t sent venomous snakes among us lately.  Because if anyone would be bitten, it’d be me.  I’m very impatient.  And sometimes I’m impatient with the Lord.  I don’t always like to wait for the Lord to carry out his unknown plans; I don’t always like to wait for the Lord to produce results from my efforts; I don’t always like to wait for the Lord to give me what I think I need at the exact time I need it.  And so, I’m sure, sometimes the Lord makes me wait longer.  And longer.  And longer.  So that while I wait maybe, just maybe, I might catch sight of the cross again.  Because that’s where he wants me to look all along.  The cross is where he wants all of us to look all the time.  Only to the cross.

Keep on Looking

            And so take a look.  That’s where your sin is taken care of; that’s where your worries and fears and failures are taken care of; that’s where you are taken care of.  Look.  That’s where your troubles are really no trouble at all and your problems are no problem to the Lord.  Look.  That’s where everything in this life is brought into perspective and everything in the next life is guaranteed.  Look.  That’s where the Lord makes patience easy because that’s where we are reminded that his plans always work out.  Look.  There’s your comfort.  There’s your ease.  There’s your calm.  Look.  Look closely.  It’s simple, isn’t it?  Two pieces of wood.  But it sure is beautiful.  Look and live.  And keep on looking.

            Because there is no doubt that this life can be a mess at times.  It’s not always pleasant.  It’s not always easy.  It’s not always happy and fun and sunny.  But neither were those venomous snakes in the desert.  But without those venomous snakes, those Israelite people never would have had to look at that snake made out of bronze and the Lord’s promises attached to it.  They would have never recognized their need for a Savior.  And so when this life is a mess, use the troubles and problems and turmoil in this life as opportunities to look more closely at the cross once again.  Because that is always the Lord’s plan, after all, to draw you to his cross.  He does not want you looking anywhere else, to anyone else, for any other reason.  Because there he died; there you live.  And there’s nothing else, nothing else, that really even matters.

            Amen.

“Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.  Remember the wonders he has done.” - Psalm 105:4-5

3/11/12 - Lent 3 - Romans 8:1-4

WE CAN'T. HE COULD. HE DID.

Do You Know the Ten Commandments?

            Do you remember the 10 Commandments… in order?  And don’t cheat by looking back at the Old Testament reading in your bulletins!  1) You shall have no other gods.  2) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.  3) Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.  4) Honor your father and mother.  5) You shall not murder.  6) You shall not commit adultery.  7) You shall not steal.  8) You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.  9 & 10) You shall not covet.  These commands are laid out for us in Exodus 20 and repeated again in Deuteronomy 5, but more importantly, they are solidified for us to follow in various New Testament passages as well.  And even though the Ten Commandments aren’t a complete list of instructions, they do present a general overview of the way we are to live our lives out of thanks to God.  And so they are very important to keep in mind.  They are very important to keep.  Period.

Can You Keep the Ten Commandments?

            But can you really keep the Ten Commandments?  Whether you are able to remember them in order or not, the more important question is: are you able to carry them out?  Have you, are you, will you, can you follow these ten simple instructions from our Lord?  Now some of the commands may seem easier than others.  The first commandment for example: “You shall have no other gods” seems simple enough.  As long as we don’t build an altar to Buddha or perform a ceremonial rain dance to our dead ancestors or bow down to a golden calf like those misguided Israelites did, then we should be OK, right?  But we must remember that the first commandment also means that we love God more than anything or anyone at any time, that we trust in God for everything in every situation without worrying or complaining at all, that we respect our God and honor him for everything that he does for any reason.  Do we really keep the first commandment?  Do we really do all of those things all the time in every way?

            What about the 2^nd commandment?  “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”  Well, as long as we don’t use God’s name to justify some evil action or blurt out his name inappropriately, we should be OK, right?  But we have to remember that the 2^nd commandment also means that we pray to our Lord with confidence and joy at all times, that we praise him for everything that he gives us and everything that allows to happen to us, that we thank him with a heart of gratitude even at those times when he takes those blessings away.  Do we really keep the 2^nd commandment?  Do we really do all of those things all the time in every way?

            The 3^rd Commandment isn’t just fulfilled because we’re at church this morning.  It also has to do with our attitude while we’re here, our focus, our attention, our joy in studying his Word on our own, and our dedication to do so every single day of our lives.  The 4^th Commandment doesn’t just deal with parents but with all those in authority - requiring us to treat employers and government officials with the utmost respect - whether they deserve it or not.  The 5^th, 6^th, and 7^th Commandments are not only broken by committing the act itself, but by any thought that might cross our minds contrary to the Lord’s Word.  The 8^th Commandment has to do with all sins of the tongue and all of those unchristian comments we make about other people.  And the 9^th & 10^th Commandments demand of us an attitude of contentment and satisfaction with whatever the Lord has granted us - and with whatever he has not.  Do we really keep these Ten Commandments?  Do we really do all of these things all the time in every way?

      
The Impossibility of the Law

            It’s almost depressing, isn’t it?  When we start to look at everything that is covered by each of these ten simple commands, it’s disheartening to think of all the things we’d have to do and all the things we’d constantly have to be thinking in order to keep just one of them!  And so when we take these commands seriously and we don’t water them down and we don’t take shortcuts, then we begin to realize that we truly can’t keep them.  Not only have we failed to keep them in the past and not only are we probably going to slip up in the future, but we aren’t even capable of keeping one of these commands no matter how hard we try!  We’re too sinfully slanted!  We’re too riddled with the sinful thoughts and sinful wants and sinful inclinations that have plagued us ever since we began to exist.  And so when it comes right down to it: Keeping God’s law is an impossibility for us.  It is completely out of our reach.  Our Lord has actually demanded something of us that we cannot do.  But that’s the point.

            The number reason why the Lord gives us the Ten Commandments along with every other mandate in his Word is not so that we can reach some level of perfection by keeping them, but to point out that we cannot.  The apostle Paul says it in this way: “No one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law, we become conscious of sin” (Rom. 3:20).  God’s law reveals who we really are; and it’s not pretty!  God’s law is the standardized test to see where we stand; and we aren’t even close to a passing grade.  Because the “passing grade” is 100% after all; and we can’t get a single one of those commands right.  God’s law is meant to look us right in the eye and convince us over and over again: We can’t.  We can’t.  We can’t.  Because only then can we truly appreciate that Jesus could.  And Jesus did.

God Did What We Could Not by Sending Jesus

            “We can’t.  He could.  He did.”  That is the message of Paul in the book of Romans and that is the message of the entire Bible.  We can’t.  He could.  He did.  God the Father sent God the Son to this earth not just to suffer and not just to die and not just to rise from the dead; Jesus was also sent to keep every single one of those commandments that we could not.  Someone had to do it because that’s what our God demanded.  And so Jesus did it.  Jesus became a real human being and carried out everything that his Father demanded from human beings.  From front to back, start to finish, Jesus was actually able to keep each command, every directive, and all of the decrees laid out for us in Scripture.  And not only could he do it, he did do it.

            Jesus always honored, always trusted, always loved his Father above everything and everyone else; he kept the 1^st Commandment perfectly.  Jesus always prayed to, always praised, and always thanked his Father no matter what he was going through and no matter what he was about to face; he kept the 2^nd Commandment perfectly.  Jesus always gathered together with his followers to worship, he constantly studied the Scriptures, he joyfully immersed himself in the Word; Jesus kept the 3^rd Commandment perfectly.  And the 4^th and the 5^th and the 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 9^th, 10^th, and the hundreds of other specific commands required of us all.  And Jesus did not falter, he did not slip up, he did not forget, he did not even fail to carry every one of them out with joy.  Jesus could do what we could not.  And he did what we never will.

            Do you realize how difficult that must have been for Jesus?  Yes, he was and still is God himself, but while he was on this earth he put those powers away and was a real human being.  Can you imagine how much effort and concentration it must have took Jesus to constantly keep every one of his Father’s commands throughout his entire life?  And you can be sure that the devil was at him night and day trying to trip him up.  Jesus didn’t have it easy.  It wasn’t a walk in the park for him to keep every decree of Scripture.  It certainly took an incredible amount of dedication and a tireless resolve on the part of our Lord every waking moment of his 33 years on this earth.  But, unlike us, he could.  And, unlike us, he did.

What Jesus Did We are Credited with

            So what does all of this mean for us right now on March 11^th, 2012?  This is what it means: “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus… For what the law was unable to do because it was weakened by the sinful flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh.  And concerning sin, he condemned sin in that flesh, in order that the righteous requirements of the law would be fulfilled in us.”  The law was “weakened by the sinful flesh.”  It was weakened because it could not be kept.  Theoretically, if someone could keep the law perfectly in every respect, that person would be able to go to heaven.  But that possibility is not realistic at all because of our sinful nature.  And so God did what the law could not do: he saved us.  And he did that by sending his Son in the form of our human flesh so that our sin could be condemned in that flesh of Christ.  Jesus kept God’s law for us and then he took the punishment that we deserved for breaking God’s law.  And because he did all of that, “the righteous requirements of the law are fulfilled in us!” 

            To summarize Paul’s line of thought: We can’t.  He could.  He did.  We can’t keep the law as we should because we’re too sinful.  Jesus could keep the law because he came down to this earth not only as a real human being but also as the perfect God at the same time.  And Jesus did keep that law just as it should have been kept by us all.  And now, because of Christ, it is as if we kept those righteous requirements ourselves, it’s as if we were able to do what we needed to do.  Jesus gave us the credit while he took the blame!  It’s an amazing switch, isn’t it?  It’s an astonishing act of grace on the part of our Lord to do something like that for us!  That he would do all the work, that he would put in all the effort, but then he would give us all of the rewards of his sacrifice.  Our God is a wonderful God!  He certainly is a God of love.

            And that also puts the Ten Commandments in a different light for us, doesn’t it?  We know now that we do not need to keep them perfectly to get to heaven or to earn God’s favor; Jesus has done that for us already.  So now, for us as Christians, the Ten Commandments are not only a mirror that show us our sins but also a guide.  They have become opportunities for us to show our thanks and to give our praise to our Lord.  They are still commands, but they are not requirements for salvation.  They are still necessary, but not essential to keep perfectly for eternal life.  Instead, the Ten Commandments and the directives and the decrees of God’s Word are simply ways in which we can please our God.  And why wouldn’t we want to?  Why wouldn’t we want to try to do those things for our God who has done so much for us?  After all, we know: We couldn’t.  He could.  And he did.  That is the message of Scripture.  That is the basis of our salvation.  And that is the motivation of our lives every day.  We can’t.  He could.  He did.

            Amen.

“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.” - 2 Thess. 3:5

2/22,29/12, 3/7/12 - Midweek Lent - Zech. 3:1-4

CHARGES DISMISSED

Joshua’s Dirty Record

            What an interesting prophecy we have tonight from the pen of Zechariah!  The Lord gave this prophet an incredible vision of what would happen in the future, played out by three main characters.  First of all there was Joshua, the high priest, the spiritual leader of God’s people whose job it was to stand before the Lord on behalf of the nation.  There was the Lord himself, also called “the Angel of the LORD” in this vision, acting as the judge in a courtroom.  And finally there was Satan, the head of the evil angels, presenting himself as a lawyer with incriminating evidence against Joshua ready and waiting in his hands.  And with these three key characters on stage, here’s what Zechariah saw: Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the angel of the LORD, and Satan standing at his right side to accuse him.  The LORD said to Satan, “The LORD rebuke you, Satan! The LORD, who has chosen Jerusalem, rebuke you! Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?”  Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes as he stood before the angel.  The angel said to those who were standing before him, “Take off his filthy clothes.”  Then he said to Joshua, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”

            As high priest, Joshua was supposed to have the cleanest, the most ceremonially pure clothes of anyone.  Every Old Testament high priest had special clothes from head to feet that he was supposed to wear whenever he entered the temple, clothes that were designed to be pure and clean in God’s sight.  But in this vision Zechariah sees Joshua with dirty clothes, disgusting clothes, soiled clothes.  And so Joshua was not pure, he was not clean, he was not worthy to go into God’s house and stand before the Lord as he was supposed to do.  And, of course, since this was a vision, the dirty clothes weren’t just soiled because of mud or stains, they were soiled because of sin.  And, conveniently, Satan was right there by his side ready to accuse him.

            What do you think Satan could have accused Joshua of?  This vision doesn’t give us any details about what kind of accusations Satan had on hand or how many exhibits of evidence he was planning to present to the court, but I’m sure we could come up with some fairly accurate guesses.  Because the accusations that Satan could have brought against Joshua would be very similar to the accusations that he could bring against us.  And he wouldn’t even have to make anything up!

Charges Against Us

            Satan is a liar - there’s no doubt about that.  In the New Testament Jesus calls Satan “the father of lies.”  Satan does not like to tell the truth, does not want to tell the truth, he has no qualms about ignoring the truth.  But if Satan were to stand right be our side and accuse us of things in front of our Lord, he wouldn’t have to lie, would he!  He wouldn’t even have to stretch the truth!  Satan could be perfectly honest and entirely truthful about our sins without making up a thing - and we would be guilty!  There would be nothing we could say in our defense.  There would be nothing that we could argue against.  The evidence would be so overwhelmingly against us that there would be no plea we could make other than “guilty as charged.”

            I don’t even want to imagine what Satan could bring up if he were going to accuse me before my Lord.  All of those things that I have done…  All of those words that I have said…  All of those thoughts - those terrible, unChristinan-like thoughts that have wandered through my mind…  And not only could Satan speak about them for everyone to hear, but he could produce pictures of those offenses, recordings of those conversations, and transcripts of each and every one of my thoughts.  And if that case was actually being made against me, all I could do would be to sink down in my chair as far as I could go and hang my head in shame.  Because I would have to agree with every single charge.  I could give no excuse.  It would be the Lord himself judging the case, after all.  And what would I be able to say?  He knows what I’ve done already!  There’s nothing that I could hide from him!  There’s nothing that I could cover up or deny!  He knows!  He knows how dirty my clothes are without even having to look at them!

Charges Dismissed

            This was the situation Joshua was in as Zechariah watched this vision.  But as the high priest, Joshua represented the people.  And so it wasn’t just him standing there before the Lord with filthy clothes, he was carrying the people’s sins, the people’s faults, the people’s future.  And Satan was standing right there ready to accuse him.  But notice that Satan doesn’t even get a word out.  Not a single word.  Who is the only one who speaks in this entire section?  The Lord, the Judge.  And the first thing the Judge says is: “The LORD rebuke you, Satan!  The LORD who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!”  The Lord knew what Satan was able to accuse his people of.  The Lord was aware of all of the evidence stacked against them.  But it didn’t matter.  “The LORD rebuke you, Satan!  How dare you come before me and attempt to accuse my people of what they have done and who they are!  I know what you’re going to say.  I know about their filthiness.  But they are like a stick snatched from the fire.  And look what I’m going to do.  Take off his filthy clothes.”  And then to Joshua, “See, I have taken off your sin, and I will put rich garments on you.”  

            There was no doubt that Joshua was dirty.  There was no doubt that God’s people were filthy.  There is no doubt that we are covered in the muck and mire of sin and our spiritual clothes are stained to the point of ruin - and it’s all our fault.  But the Lord fixed the problem.  He took those disgustingly grimy clothes off of us and gave us some beautifully clean clothes from his own wardrobe.  But understand that the Lord doesn’t ignore sin.  And he doesn’t excuse sin either.  And so he didn’t just throw those nasty repulsive clothes away.  As a just God he cannot.  Instead, where did he put them?  He put those filthy clothes on Christ.  And in effect he turns to Satan and says, “If you’re going to accuse anyone, accuse my Son.  If you’re going to attack anyone, attack Jesus.  If you’re going to condemn anyone, condemn the Innocent One I love.”

            And that’s exactly what happened.  Jesus was the one who stood on trial before the Jewish leaders, not us.  Jesus was the one who was accused by none other than the current high priest of his time, not us.  Jesus was the one who was condemned by Pontius Pilate, not us.  Jesus was the one sentenced to the death penalty to be carried out on that same day, not us.  Do you remember when Jesus was stripped of his clothing so that the soldiers could throw a purple robe on his shoulders in mockery?  That happened because Jesus was carrying our filthy sinful clothes on his back.  Do you remember when he was naked as he bled to death on that cross?   That happened because he was covered in our sinfully saturated clothing so we didn’t have to be.  Do you remember when he was wrapped up in those burial cloths after he died?  That happened because he was still wrapped up in our spiritually stained clothes for which his own Father had condemned him. 

            This is what Lent is all about: our sickening sin and our sacrificial Savior.  It’s about Jesus taking it for us - and taking it all.  It’s about Satan not being able to accuse us of a thing because Jesus has already suffered the punishment.  Lent is about every charge against us being dismissed.  Enjoy this time of year.  Because Lent is the overriding theme of every Sunday, the undercurrent of every hymn, the foundational stone of your faith.  And know that as you walk through this life, you are have been clothed with new, clean, and beautiful clothes, washed in the blood of your Savior.  Because Christ wore those filthy clothes for you.  And then he left them behind in his empty tomb.  Amen.

3/4/12 - Lent 2 - Genesis 28:10-17

HE COMES DOWN WHEN WE MESS UP

Homeless

            Jacob was homeless.  The great patriarch of God’s people, the man after whom the entire nation of Israel would one day be named, was homeless.  Now, that doesn’t mean you should think of Jacob as a homeless man like you would see in Grand Junction or Denver: standing on the corner of the street with a sign in his hand asking for food or money.  Jacob wasn’t begging for handouts exactly.  But Jacob was homeless in a very real way: he did not have a home, he did not have a job, he did not have any friends with him, he did not have a wife or kids, he didn’t even have a place to stay the night at the time.  He was traveling alone through the countryside with whatever he could carry.  And so one day as he was moving north on foot a good 50 miles from where he had grown up, the Bible says that “he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep.”

            A stone?  Jacob used a stone for a pillow?  He didn’t have an extra blanket?  Another coat?  Something other than a rock to put under his head?  We can’t say for sure, of course, but if Jacob had to use a stone for a pillow, we could probably assume that he wasn’t traveling with a whole lot of belongings.  And even if were able to carry quite a bit of camping equipment and food and the other necessities of a long trip, Jacob’s destination was a place called Haran, 450 miles away!  And so no matter what he was bringing with him, he was not in the best of situations.  Even with good weather and a 20 mile walk per day, it would still take him the better part of a month to get to where he was headed without anyone else there to help him on the way. 

It Was Jacob’s Fault

            But it was Jacob’s fault.  It was Jacob’s fault that he was homeless at that point of his life.  It was Jacob’s fault that he was on a 450 mile journey.  It was Jacob’s fault that he was traveling all alone.  Because he had just deceived his own father, tricking Isaac into giving the birthright to him instead of to his brother Esau.  And when Esau found out about what Jacob had done, he wanted to kill him.  And so Jacob had run away.  A grown man had to run away from his home because he did not want to deal with the fallout from his actions.  Jacob had disobeyed the Lord by stealing the birthright that the Lord had promised to give him; Jacob had lied to his father’s face; Jacob had gone behind the back of his older brother.  And so as Jacob lay there that night with a stone for pillow, he had no one to blame but himself.  He was responsible for his actions.  And now he had to deal with the consequences.

            But it was at this point in Jacob’s life, after he had just disobeyed the Lord, after he had just mislead his father, after he had just made his brother so mad that Esau actually wanted to kill him… it was at this point in Jacob’s life when the Lord came down to him for the very first time.

            Jacob had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.  There above it stood the LORD, and he said: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying.  Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” 

A Gentle Reminder

            Jacob didn’t deserve to have the Lord himself appear to him, of course.  Or talk to him in this dream.  Or even acknowledge that he existed.  Jacob certainly had not been an exemplary Christian as of late.  But maybe that is why the Lord began his announcement to Jacob like he did: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.”  And although the Lord commonly refers to himself in this way, I’m sure that it struck Jacob a little differently considering the situation he was in: “I am the God of Abraham.  You know, your famous grandfather who would be very disappointed in your actions right now.  The man to whom I promised this land which you now have to run away from.  A man who had his faults, but a man who certainly never tried to steal things from his own family members.  In fact, he was known as a very generous giver, not a thief.  Oh, and I am the God of Isaac as well.  You know, your father whom you just lied to.  An old man who can’t see anymore and is close to death.  A man whom you will probably never see again because you know full well that you can’t go home anytime soon.  I am the LORD their God.  And you have not only disappointed them; you have disobeyed me.”

            Now the Lord obviously didn’t say all of these things to Jacob.  He simply stated who he was: “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac.”  But I’m sure that the proclamation of this name of his Lord was a gentle reminder to Jacob about what he had just done and why he was lying in the middle of the country with a rock as his pillow in the first place.  And Jacob needed that gentle reminder.  Before he began his new life up in Haran he had to be reminded about the sin he was trying to leave behind.  Because he had not only let down his father and his brother; he had let down the one who had promised him so much, the one who had been with him for so long, the one who had been with his father and grandfather for the last couple hundred years.  Jacob had let this God down.  And Jacob needed that pointed out to him.

            We need one of those gentle reminders every so often too, don’t we?  We need our own sinful actions and attitudes pointed out for us from time to time because we just don’t like admitting that we’re wrong.  We usually don’t have to be beaten over the head with God’s law, of course; and we normally don’t need to be vehemently reprimanded for our sins before we get the point either.  Sometimes it may just be your spouse who has to give you that “look” or a good friend who doesn’t let you get away with it or a parent who makes you walk the line or a few simple words of Scripture that you read or hear or remember that wake you up a bit.  Because those gentle reminders often times do the trick: they help us realize how unchristian we were really acting or how unloving we were really sounding or how selfish we were really being.  And the Lord is good about sending those gentle reminders our way.  Because he does not want us to overlook our sin.  And he doesn’t want us to overlook our Savior either.

The Lord Comes Down to Us

            And that’s exactly why he appeared to Jacob.  The Lord didn’t just give him a gentle reminder about the God he had sinned against; the Lord also reminded him about the God who would always keep his promises.  Isn’t it interesting to you how gracious the Lord is to Jacob here?  “I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying…  All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring.  I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  In spite Jacob’s disobedience, the Lord immediately reassured him with his promises.  He reminded him that this land would one day belong to his descendants.  He repeated his pledge that all nations on earth would be blessed through him.  He guaranteed Jacob that he would never leave him until all of these things were accomplished.  And so although Jacob had just committed some serious sins, the Lord readily showed him his grace.  Because that’s the way our Lord works: he shows his grace to sinners time and time again regardless of what we end up doing.  He forgives sinners time and time again regardless of how awful those sins are.  And he comes down to sinners time and time again regardless of how many times we mess up.  And that fact is clear not only from this entire story in Genesis 28, but also from the stairway in Jacob’s dream itself.

             The stairway, or “Jacob’s ladder” as it is sometimes called, is an interesting part of this dream that God gives to Jacob.  Angels are going up and down on this stairway as the Lord himself stands at the top.  But notice that this stairway isn’t there for Jacob to climb up.  He is not commanded nor invited to go up to heaven to meet his Lord.  That would be impossible for Jacob to do.  No, the stairway was there in that dream to show Jacob all of the angels that the Lord was sending for him and for rest of his believers.  That stairway was a symbol of the Lord’s love.  It was a sign of his care and dedication.  It was a visible reminder to Jacob that his God would continue to send his help and his protection to this earth even after Jacob had messed up.  And not only would he keep sending his angels, one day the Lord himself would even come down.  And that’s how this story hints about Christ: one day he would come down to this earth.

            The Lord never asks us to come up to him; he always comes down to us.  He doesn’t even require us to meet him half way; he meets us where we are: down in the trenches, surrounded by troubles, mired in the effects and consequences of sin.  That’s where he meets us: in a manger, in the house of a hated tax collector, on the side of the road with a pair of skin-diseased outcasts, next to a well with a promiscuous Samaritan woman, in an olive grove to meet his betrayer, on the steps of the Roman governor’s palace, up on the hill they once called the Place of the Skulls.  Jesus doesn’t wait for us to make our way up to him.  Because he knows we can’t.  And even if we could, he knows we wouldn’t.  And so he came down to us.  He met us there when we were homeless.  When we were at fault.  When we had a rock under our heads and didn’t know where to go.  And he gave us the promises of his love.  He reassured us with his grace.  And no matter where our path has led us, he has never left us since.

He Will Always Be with Us

            Just like he never left Jacob.  After the dream Jacob had about the stairway, he eventually made it to Haran.  He married there - a couple times - worked hard, had 12 sons, and finally made it back to his brother in the Promised Land.  And although Jacob certainly fell into quite a few more sins throughout his life, all of the promises that the Lord had given him there at Bethel were fulfilled.  The Lord did not let him down no matter how many times Jacob messed up.

            The Lord will not let us down either.  He will continue to come to us through his Word - whether it is the Word written, the Word in the waters of baptism, or the Word connected with the body and blood of the Lord’s Supper - and he will remain faithful to us no matter how many times we mess up in this life.  Because we will, won’t we?  We will inevitably sin!  And we will need that gentle reminder from our Lord about those sins that we must claim.  But the LORD, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, will also give us that gentle reminder about our Savior who came down to forgive us.  Through the thick and thin, the ups and downs, the good and bad, your Lord will not leave.  You may disobey him, you may forget about him and ignore him and lose sight of him from time to time, but the promise he gave to Jacob that night is the same promise he gives you every night: “I am with you and will watch over you… I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”  And with those words of the Lord ringing in our ears, we eagerly wait for the day when he will physically come down to us again to take us home.

            Amen.

“I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” - Gen. 28:15