10/28/12 - Pentecost 22 - 2 Chron. 26:16-23

WHO HAS BEEN FAITHFUL?

Uzziah’s Unfaithfulness Despite Blessings

            King Uzziah had it all.  You may not remember much about this king of Judah.  In fact, you may not even recognize his name.  But from the small amount that is written about him in the pages of the Bible, it is clear: King Uzziah had it all.  First and foremost: he was the king of God’s chosen people!  His ancestor was the famous King David, which also meant that he carried on the line of Jesus.  And Uzziah became king at the age of 16!  From a very early age he was the ruler of an entire nation.  But he was a successful king as well.  The Lord allowed him to defeat the Israel’s arch enemies, the Philistines, and take over their capital city; the Lord gave Uzziah the means to construct towers in the city of Jerusalem, cisterns in the desert, and fields and vineyards throughout his kingdom.  He had over 300,000 men in his army and was able to provide spears, shields, helmets, armor, and bows for each one.  His craftsmen invented the catapult to use against enemy walls and he became so powerful that the Bible says “his fame spread far and wide.”  Uzziah had it all: power, success, accomplishments, fame, possessions, peace…  And he had all of those blessings because “As long as he sought the LORD, God gave him success” (v.5).  And so with all that the Lord had given him and with everything that the Lord had done for him, you would think that Uzziah would be the last person to ever be unfaithful to his Lord, right?

            “But after Uzziah became powerful, his pride led to his downfall. He was unfaithful to the Lord his God, and entered the temple of the Lord to burn incense on the altar of incense.  Azariah the priest with eighty other courageous priests of the Lord followed him in.  They confronted him and said, “It is not right for you, Uzziah, to burn incense to the Lord. That is for the priests, the descendants of Aaron, who have been consecrated to burn incense. Leave the sanctuary, for you have been unfaithful; and you will not be honored by the Lord God.”  Uzziah, who had a censer in his hand ready to burn incense, became angry. While he was raging at the priests in their presence before the incense altar in the Lord’s temple, leprosy broke out on his forehead.  When Azariah the chief priest and all the other priests looked at him, they saw that he had leprosy on his forehead, so they hurried him out. Indeed, he himself was eager to leave, because the Lord had afflicted him.  King Uzziah had leprosy until the day he died. He lived in a separate house—leprous, and excluded from the temple of the Lord.”

            The Lord had given Uzziah everything he could have ever wanted, but Uzziah ended up being unfaithful to the Lord by ignoring his Word.  Uzziah certainly had no problem taking the blessings from God’s hand, but he wasn’t about to take any orders.  And so his pride and his arrogance led him to be unfaithful to the one who had given him so much.

Our Unfaithfulness Despite Blessings

            The Lord has given you everything.  Now you might not be king of an entire nation, you might not have a powerful army under your control, you might not have vineyards and fields and cisterns scattered throughout the country, your name might not be world-famous; but look around!  You’ve been given everything!  Look at your home, not just the area of the country but the physical place in which you live.  Look at the thousands of things that fill up those rooms!  Look at the blessings of your family, your health, your congregation.  Look back at all of those little things that the Lord has given you over the years and all of those big things that have provided you with so much happiness. 

            If I had you write down all of the blessings that the Lord has given you throughout your life, where would you even start?  Would you start with a little thing like the sun shining or would you start with a big thing like the Son of God shining as your Savior?  A little thing like food on your plate or a big thing like the food of God’s Word for your soul?  A little thing like the shade from the tree in your backyard or a big thing like the forgiveness from the tree on which Jesus’ died?  There are so many big and little (and in between!) blessings from your Lord it’s almost overwhelming to try to think of them all!  And he keeps pouring them on you!  Day in and day out!  Whether you’re thinking about them or not; whether you’re praying for them or not; whether you’re thanking your God for them or not; these blessings just keep coming!  And so with all that the Lord has given you and with all that the Lord has done for you, you would be the last person to ever be unfaithful to your Lord and his Word, right?

            When I was grade school age, I spent a lot of time at the outdoor pool in town during the summers.  And just like any pool, there were a number of rules that you were supposed to follow.  One of the rules was that you could not play tag.  Because by playing tag kids would end up running around the outside of the pool, jumping sideways off of diving boards, landing too close to other people, and generally doing dangerous things in order not to get tagged.  But there were always plenty of kids each day that attempted to play tag anyway.  Because it was fun!  And it was against the rules!  And so the trick was to play tag without the life guards noticing that they were playing tag.  It’s not that the kids didn’t know the rules (everyone knew the rules!), it’s just that they ignored the rules when it suited them.

            We know the rules.  We know what God likes and what he doesn’t like.  We know what we should be doing and what we shouldn’t be doing.  We know we aren’t supposed to play tag.  But there are times when we flat out ignore God’s Word and play tag anyway, aren’t there?  We are unfaithful to our God when it suits us; we are unfaithful to God’s Word when we don’t “feel” like doing what he says; we are unfaithful to God’s Word when we don’t care enough to take his Word into consideration.  And so no matter how much our God has blessed us with, our pride and our arrogance sometimes lead us to be unfaithful to the one who has given us everything we have ever had.  We are willing to take the blessings from his hand, but we sure don’t like to take any of his commands…

The Lord’s Faithfulness for Nothing

            What do you think the Lord should do with people like us?  How many times does he need to catch us playing tag before he kicks us out of the pool altogether?  How many times are we going to ignore his Word before he starts to ignore us?  How many times are we going to prove to be unfaithful to him before he just gets too sick and tired of putting up with our ungrateful attitudes?  If the Lord were anything like I am, he would have abandoned us long ago.  He would have given up on us after the first few offenses.  Fortunately, the Lord is nothing like I am.  He’s much more patient.  He’s much more forgiving.  He’s much more faithful.  Because listen to what the apostle Paul once said to a young man named Timothy about the Lord: “If we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Tim. 2:13).  Even if we are unfaithful to our Lord, he will always remain faithful to us.  But why?  Why would our Lord remain faithful to a people so unfaithful to him?  “Because he cannot disown  himself.”  He promised to always remain faithful, so no matter what we do he cannot go back on that promise; he cannot disown his own words; he must keep them.  And so he will remain faithful and loyal and dedicated to us no matter how poorly we treat him!  Isn’t that almost unbelievable!  But it’s true!  He will remain faithful to us for the rest of eternity.

            Which means that every time our pride and arrogance get in the way of God’s Word, he picks up those obstacles, puts them on his shoulders, and pulls us close to him once again.  And every time we blatantly disobey his commands, he patiently takes some of his blood from the cross and forgives us once again.  And every time we turn our shoulder and walk the other way, he runs in front of us and welcomes us back with open arms once again.  He does not take the effects of his cross away from us.  He does not hide his tomb from our sight for even a moment.  He does not hold back the power and peace of his resurrection just to teach us a lesson. He will never despise you for despising his Word; he will never cut you off for cutting communication off with him; he will never disown you even at those times when you don’t want to have anything to do with him.  Your Lord will remain faithful.  You can always count on him.  Your Lord will remain faithful.  You don’t have to ever worry that your actions have somehow changed his mind.  Your Lord will remain faithful.  That is his promise.  And his promises never fail.

The Lord’s Faithfulness Might Mean Taking Blessings Away

            They didn’t even fail for Uzziah.  Even though Uzziah deliberately and unapologetically made his way into the temple and attempted to offer incense; even though Uzziah refused to listen to the rebuke of the priests; even though Uzziah reprimanded the priests in God’s own house; the Lord remained faithful to him.  But notice how the Lord remained faithful to this prideful and unfaithful king: the Lord took everything away.

            The Lord struck Uzziah with leprosy - a nasty skin disease that apparently was incurable.  And so Uzziah had to be rushed out of the temple immediately and from then on he was confined to a separate house, “excluded from the temple of the Lord.”  He lost his throne, he lost his power, he lost his ability to lead, he lost his fame, he lost all of those possessions that he once enjoyed so much.  Uzziah lost everything.  But that is exactly how the Lord remained faithful to him.  Because that’s what Uzziah needed!  He needed to have everything taken away so that he would learn from his unfaithfulness and trust once again in his God!  It may have been a punishment from the Lord, but it was a punishment for Uzziah’s good.  Because that’s how the Lord operates: when it comes to his children he will do everything and anything for the sake of their faith.  And if that means he must take blessings away, then that is exactly what he’ll do.

            The Lord may take blessings away from you from time to time.  You may not be ready for it, you may not be happy about it, you may not understand it at the time.  But know this: your Lord will always remain faithful to you.  And so if he takes a blessing or two away, that is because he is faithful.  Even if he takes away every blessing that you have ever known, that is because he is faithful.  And he knows that taking something away at that time is exactly what you need for the good of your faith and for the protection your eternal life.  He wants to see you in heaven.  And he will faithfully carry out that mission until you get there.

            We don’t know if Uzziah ended up in heaven or not.  It’d be nice to think that he learned from what the Lord did to him and clung to the forgiveness found in Christ as he had done before.  But whether Uzziah is in heaven now or not, we know that Jesus is: the Faithful One.  The One faithfully watching out for us, the One faithfully taking care of us, the One faithfully guiding us with is Word, the One faithfully forgiving us over and over again with his blood that he let drop to the ground so many years ago.  And so throughout the ups and downs of this life, throughout the problems and the difficulties, throughout the pains and the disasters, throughout the let downs and the disappointments, through sin, pride, arrogance, and death, Jesus will be your constant.  Because he will remain faithful to you, when nothing else is, and when no one else can.

            Amen.

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers and sisters. Amen.” - Gal. 6:18

10/21/12 - Pentecost 21 - 2 Kings 5:15-27

DID HE REALLY THINK HE'D GET AWAY WITH IT?

Gehazi Didn’t Get Away With It

            Years ago when I was in college, I worked with a big guy named Andrew for a couple of summers.  He was good natured and fun to be around, but he hadn’t always made the wisest of decisions in the past.  A few years before we starting working together, he had been a very accomplished high school wrestler in our home town.  In fact, during his senior year he ended up winning the Nebraska State heavy weight wrestling title.  And so, in order to celebrate his victory the following day, he decided to get a fake ID, go to one of the liquor stores in town, and attempt to buy some beer at the age of 18.  When he walked up to the counter with beer in his hand and  handed the clerk his ID, the man said, “Don’t I know you?”  “I don’t think so.”  Andrew replied.  “Sure I do,” the guy said.  “You just won the state wrestling tournament yesterday!”  Andrew, getting a little flustered at this point, responded, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.  You must be mistaking me for somebody else.”  “No, I’m not mistaken,” the clerk said.  “Don’t you remember me?  I was the referee yesterday for your championship match.”

            That’s a true story.  An eighteen-year-old, fresh off a very public state championship, tried to buy beer with a fake ID in his hometown of 5000 people.  Did he really think he would get away with it?  Did he really think that he could waltz right into a liquor store in the town the size of Delta and avoid running into anyone that might know him?  Did he really think that he would be able to pull this off without his parents finding out or his coach or the school?  Sometimes our sinfulness blinds us to the obvious.  Sometimes we are so intent on what we want that the sinful stupidity of what we are doing or saying or thinking doesn’t even register.  And we convince ourselves that no one is ever going to know; no one is ever going to see; no one is ever going to care.  But just like my former co-worker Andrew, no matter what our minds tell us, we aren’t going to get away with it.

            Gehazi learned that the hard way.  The servant of the prophet Elisha convinced himself that no one would know and no one would see and no one would care.  And so after a very wealthy Aramean general named Naaman left Elisha’s house without having to pay anything for the miraculous healing that Elisha’s God had graciously given to him, Gehazi came up with a fool-proof plan: Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”  So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.  “Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent of silver and two sets of clothing.’”  “By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi.  When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.  Then he went in and stood before his master Elisha.  “Where have you been, Gehazi?” Elisha asked.  “Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.  But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money, or to accept clothes, olive groves, vineyards, flocks, herds, or menservants and maidservants?  Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and he was leprous, as white as snow.

            Did Gehazi really think he would get away with it?  Did he really think he could trick a prophet of the Lord?  Did he really think that God would not let Elisha know about what Gehazi was up too?  But you can see why Gehazi might have thought that he could pull it off.  Naaman was from another country, after all.  And this general was leaving, he would probably never be back, and so there was no way that Naaman would ever be able to mention it to Elisha himself.  Plus, Elisha himself hadn’t been there to see Gehazi leave and so as long as he hid the clothing and the silver in the house, Elisha wouldn’t ever have to find out.  And just to make sure, Gehazi sent the servants away when they reached the hill about the house so that Elisha didn’t happen to see them and suspect that something was up.  But no matter what Gehazi’s plans were and no matter how secretly he carried them out, Gehazi was not going to get away with it.  In fact, even if Elisha never found out, even if Gehazi never did receive the punishment of leprosy, he still wouldn’t have gotten away with it because the Lord would know.  Because the Lord had been watching him the entire time!

We Can’t Get Away With It

            Do you really think you can get away with it?  Now, I hope that none of you have tricked someone into giving you a couple sets of clothes and 150 lbs. of sliver lately, but I’m sure that there have been any number of inappropriate thoughts and unchristian motivations and less-than-commendable attitudes that can be attributed to you.  Do you really think you can get away with those?  I might not be able to read your thoughts - and that’s a good thing!  I don’t want to!  I’ve got too many of my own thoughts to do deal with!  And I might not be able to figure out what your underlying motivation is for doing any particular thing in this life - and that’s a good thing, because I’ve got enough selfish motivations to fend off on my own!  And I might not be able to look into your heart and see what kind of attitude you have in different situations - and that’s a good thing, because my own attitude is not where it should be most days!  But even though I don’t always know what’s going on inside that head of yours, and even though most other people don’t know what’s going on inside that head of yours, the Lord does.  He is aware of every single one of the thoughts and the motivations and the attitudes that float inside your mind.  Even those that you are not aware of.  Even those that you have tried to forget.  Even those you have long forgotten.  The Lord is not tricked.  The Lord is not deceived.  The Lord is not fooled by you even if you are fooled by yourself!  You might not be called out on the carpet by a prophet like Elisha and you might not be struck with a flesh-eating skin disease like Gehazi was either, but make no mistake about it: you can’t get away with anything.  “The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;” Scripture says.  But “the LORD will not leave the guilty unpunished” (Nahum 1:3).  You can’t get away with it.  The Lord will not allow it.  He must punish every sin - that’s what he promised.  He sees everything.  He knows everything. You can’t get away with it.  You can’t get away with anything.

We Got Away With It!

            But you did!  You did get away with it!  Because look: you aren’t up there on that cross.  You aren’t the one with nails in your hands and nails in your feet.  You aren’t the one with thorns pressed down into your skull or gouges in your back from multiple lashes with a metal-tipped whip.  You aren’t the one whom they beat with a wooden rod or punched in the face.  You aren’t the one they blindfolded and slapped and spit on.  You aren’t the one who lost every one of his friends; you aren’t the one who took the eternal wrath of a righteous Father; you aren’t the one who was forced to cry out in complete terror: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me!”  You aren’t the one whose dead body was stabbed with a spear.  You aren’t the one who was quickly thrown into a grave-cave so that everyone else could get home before sundown.  You aren’t the one who laid there lifeless.  You aren’t the one who was murdered.

            You got away with it.  In fact, you got away with everything!  Every thought, every word, every action, ever attitude, every motivation… you got away with it all!  Because you aren’t suffering the eternal consequences of all your sins - and you never will.  That verdict isn’t being held against you.  It has already been held against someone else.

Jesus Didn’t Get Away With It

            You might have gotten away with it, but Jesus didn’t.  Jesus didn’t get away with any of the sins that he was carrying for us.  And so although he didn’t deserve anything bad to ever happen to him, he was the one that had to go through what we should have gone through.  And he knew coming down to this earth that he wasn’t going to get away with it either!  He knew he was not going to escape life on this earth without having to go through the worst possible pain - on this earth and in hell.  Can you imagine undergoing the eternal punishment of every fault and ever mistake and every sin of every person of all time all at once!  The wrath of the almighty God came down upon Jesus without mercy.  His Father did not let up for even a second.  There was no reprieve.  There was no chance to even catch his breath.  Because God the Father was not going to let his own Son get away with any of it.  Jesus was going to have to experience every single ounce of pain and torture and sheer misery that sin deserves.  Because that’s the way it had to be.  If we were going to be forgiven for our sins and saved from their consequences, Jesus wasn’t going to be able to get away with any of them.  Every single sin was going to have to be paid for.  And no other payment would do but his blood.  We got away with it because Jesus did not.

            Years ago my former co-worker Andrew got away with it too.  Remember that we left him standing there at the liquor store counter.  He knew he was in deep trouble because the clerk not only knew who he was but he knew exactly how young he was as well.  Andrew had been caught red-handed and there was really nothing he could do.  But then the clerk said, “I’m going to hold on to this ID and you’re going to leave.  I’m not going to call the cops but I don’t want to ever see you do something like this again.”  And so Andrew was able to walk out of that store no worse than when he walked in.  He wasn’t able to keep the beer, of course, and he had lost his fake ID, but the authorities had never been called, his parents had not been informed, and the school knew nothing of it.  Andrew was free to go his way purely on the basis of the mercy of the liquor store cashier.

            We are free to walk away from our sins purely on the basis of the mercy of our loving God.  A God who knew who we were and what we had done, but a God who lets us walk away free anyway.  But he doesn’t just hold onto our fake ID and send us on our way.  He took what we deserved and put it on someone he loved.  He called the cops and informed the parents and notified the school and handed out the death sentence and carried out the punishment on Jesus all at the same time so that no one could ever accuse us of anything again.  And then, of course, he raised Jesus from the dead, he placed him on his throne, and he set everything under his feet.  So now the one who didn’t get away with anything is ruling over us who have gotten away with it all.  Thank him for that today in your prayers.  Praise him for that today and every day throughout your lives.  Because you got away with it!  You actually got away with it!  And now you are on your way to heaven.  I hope that you would show him how much you appreciate that gift of his grace every day you have left on this earth.

            Amen.

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

10/14/12 - Pentecost 20 - Ephesians 5:21-6:4

GOD LOVES YOU... REGARDLESS

God’s Love is a Regardless Love

            God loves you… regardless.  That doesn’t mean he just looks over your sins.  In fact, he doesn’t like that you’re a sinner at all.  He hates that you’re a sinner!  But he loves you regardless of your sins and your faults and your inadequacies.  Just like he loved King David, a man who admitted, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”  And we’d have to admit the same thing.  Which means that we not only act sinfully and we not only worked our way into sinfulness over a period of time; but we have been filled with sin from the womb.  Which is why the apostle Paul said many years later that we were all at one time “enemies of God” (Rom. 5:10) and “by nature objects of [God’s] wrath” (Eph. 2:3).  The prophet Isaiah observed that “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” (Is. 64:6), and even the Lord himself all the way back during the time of Noah and the Great Flood lamented the fact that “every inclination of a person’s heart is evil from childhood” (Gen. 8:21).  So even a child from the moment it is born is riddled with sin.  Sin that condemns; sin that desperately needs to be forgiven.  And so that child is brought to the font.  Water is used.  And the words are said, “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  And what happens?  In one miraculous moment that child is forgiven - all of those sins it was born with are washed away.  Because baptism is “a washing of rebirth and renewal” according to Scripture.  It is a way in which the Lord connects that child with his death and resurrection; it is a physical means through which he clothes that child with Christ himself so that this child is seen by the Father as pure and holy instead of nasty and sinful.  What love!  What grace!  What power!  Regardless of the inbred sinfulness of that child; regardless of the fact that the child had been God’s enemy and an object of his wrath by the very nature of things; regardless of all of the evil that sin made that child to be and all of the evil that the child would do, God poured out his love on that child anyway.  God loves… regardless.  Because that’s the kind of love God has: Regardless Love.

            And, of course, these promises of baptism are not just for children; they are for all people, both young and old.  Because God’s Regardless Love is for all people.  Regardless of the terrible life someone has led, regardless of the reoccurring sin that is committed over and over and over again, regardless of the insolence and the rebellion of youth or the distain and the pessimism of the more mature, regardless of your guilt, regardless of your stubbornness, regardless of who you are, God pours out his love on you anyway - by his blood, by his cross, by the sacrifice of his Son.  And that forgiveness is given to you through ways and means that are simple and accessible and effective.  God loves you… regardless.  Because the only love the Lord knows is Regardless Love.  

Our Love is a Conditional Love

            The reason we are focusing on Jesus’ love for us is because that is the example he wants us to follow.  The Lord expects the same kind of love from those he loves!  But not just any kind of love.  Not an “I-like-that” kind of love.  Not a mushy feeling kind of love.  Not a conditional kind of love.  But a Regardless Love.  We are to show a love to others just like the love that Christ has shown to us.  So it’s a big love, isn’t it?  It’s a complete love, a self-sacrificing kind of love, an all-inclusive love.  And near the end of the book of Ephesians, the Lord gives us several directions on how we are to put that love into practice.

            “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” this section begins.  “Oh, but Lord,” we automatically say.  “We’re supposed to submit to others?  We’re supposed to step back and just go with what other people want as long as it’s not directly against your Word!  But other people are so annoying and weird and all they care about is themselves!  Maybe I’ll start showing love by submitting to them if they start acting a little more loving to me.  But not now.

            “Wives,” the Lord continues, “submit to your husbands as to the Lord… Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.”  “Oh, but Lord,” wives might be tempted to think.  “I have to submit to my husband?  I have step back and go with what he wants?  But he has had a history of making bone-headed decisions!  He doesn’t care about me; all he cares about is himself!  Maybe I’ll start showing my love to him by submitting if he starts treating me a little better.  But not now.”

            “Husbands,” the Lord addresses next, “love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”  “Oh, but Lord,” any conscientious husband might complain.  “That’s impossible!  I’m supposed to love my wife just like you have loved me!  But she’s so unlovable at times!  She doesn’t pay any attention to me and she cares only about herself!  Maybe I’ll start showing her the kind of love that you have shown to me if she starts to keep her end of the bargain.  But not now.”

            “Children,” the Lord continues, “obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”  “Oh, but Lord,” children have been saying for thousands of years.  “My parents don’t understand me!  They are so unfair!  They don’t really care about what I want and about what I think!  They only care about making me do what they want me to do!  Maybe I’ll start showing love to them by my obedience if they ever start listening to me.  But not now.”

            “Fathers,” the Lord turns to (and might we also add: mothers, aunts and uncles, grandmas and grandpas…), “do not exasperate (frustrate) your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  “Oh, but Lord,” adults have been saying as long as there have been kids in this world.  “These children are so frustrating to me!  They don’t listen!  They don’t care!  And being nice doesn’t work!  Maybe I’ll start showing a little more love to them by being patient and forgiving if they start to show me a little bit of respect.  But not now.”

            And we could go on and on, couldn’t we?  We could go on with all of the people that we are supposed to show love to but don’t.  Because sadly the type of love that we offer to others is conditional.  “If they love me or if they prove themselves to be loveable, then I will love them back.”  But that’s not the kind of love the Lord asks of us, is it?  He doesn’t ask of us a conditional love.  He asks of us a regardless love.  Regardless of who that person is, regardless of what that person does, regardless of whether that person loves you back or not: Love.  That’s it.

            And I don’t know about you, but my reaction to that is: “I can’t!  I can’t, Lord!  I haven’t done it in the past, I don’t do it right now, and no matter how hard I try I know that I won’t be able to do it in the future!  I’m incapable of loving with a regardless kind of love!  I’m not that self-sacrificing!  I’m just not that loving!”  And what does the Lord say to me in response?  How does he deal with my inabilities and my selfishness and my sinfulness?  All my Lord says is this, “I forgive you because I love you anyway… regardless.”

God’s Love is Not a Reaction

            That’s one of the most beautiful things about the Lord’s Regardless Love: it not a reaction.  The Lord’s love is not a reaction to anything - as opposed to our kind of love.  A teenager might say, “I love that roller coaster.”  But he wouldn’t say that before he ever rides on it.  Only after he rides on a roller coaster would he say that he loves it because that roller coaster was fun and thrilling and a rush.  His love is a reaction to what he received.  Or you might overhear a woman at restaurant say, “I love that soup.”  But she wouldn’t say that without ever trying it first.  Only after she tastes the soup will she say that she loves it because it is filled with flavor and pleasing to her senses.  Her love is a reaction to what she received.  Even with people our love is like that.  It’s easier to love someone who loves you; it’s easier to love someone who earns our love.  Our love is a reaction to something good that person or thing has supplied us with.  But not the Lord’s.  The Lord’s love for us is never a reaction.  The Lord’s love is an action that always comes first and always remains to the last.

            Consider what is said about the Lord’s love at the very beginning of the book of Ephesians: “In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ” (Eph. 1:5).  His love couldn’t be a reaction then because he decided beforehand to adopt us before we were ever born!  Or consider what is said about his love in 1 John 3:1: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  His love is not a reaction here either because remember that we were at one time God’s enemies and by nature objects of his wrath.  We had done nothing to make him want to love us and we can do nothing to make him want to love us either.  Or think of the words said just a few chapters later by the apostle John: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (4:10).  Before we existed, before we knew him, before we believed in him, he loved us.  And even now, after we have been brought to faith in our Savior and even though we still sin and we still mess up and we still fall flat on our faces at times, he still loves us!  His love is never a reaction.  It is his initial action.  And so it is always constant, steady, and never ending.  Our Lord will always love us… regardless.

Our Love is a Thankful Love

            Now we can look at a section of the Bible like Ephesians 5-6 in a different way: The Lord’s Regardless Love is the motivation for our attempts at a regardless kind of love: “Submit to one another out of reverence for the Lord… Wives submit to your husband as the Church submits to Christ… Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church… Children, obey your parents in the Lord… Parents, bring up your children in the training and instruction of the Lord.”  Notice whom this section keeps pointing us to: the Lord and his love!  That is our motivation.  That is the reason why we want to try to keep these instructions from our God: because of his love for us.  And so even if we cannot demonstrate a perfect Regardless Love, we can at least make it a Thankful Love!  Thankful for the Lord, thankful for what he has done, thankful for what he has sacrificed, thankful for the forgiveness that he has freely given, thankful for the means through which he makes it available to us, thankful for his grace, his mercy, his patience, thankful for his love.  Because when we practice a Thankful Love to our Lord, what that other person is or who that other person is doesn’t matter so much.  You are ultimately loving that person for the Lord’s sake and not theirs, for the Lord’s glory and not your own.

            Now I don’t want you leaving church this morning feeling guilty.  Because it is certainly true that a Christian’s love is not a perfect love, it’s not a reliable love, and it’s certainly not a Regardless Love.  But know this: at those times when you realize how unloving you have been, how mean-spirited, how cruel, how selfish, how out-of-line, how worthless, your God says this: I forgive you, you are still my child, and I love you anyway… regardless.

            Amen.

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”   - Rev. 1:5-6

10/7/12 - Pentecost 19 - Philippians 1:12-14

WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?

Saul Was Here to Destroy the Gospel

            A man named Saul had made it his life’s goal to destroy the gospel.  In the years immediately following Jesus’ death and resurrection, this Jewish man honestly thought that God wanted him to hunt down Christians and crush the spread of Christianity throughout the world.  And so that is what Saul attempted to do.  He supervised the murders of prominent Christians; he threatened many believers with death if they would not give up their faith; he traveled to different cities with official orders to round up those who held to the name of Jesus and throw them in jail.  The persecution of Christians was the entire reason Saul got up in the morning.  That’s what he did.  That’s who he was.  And he carried out this life’s ambition with a drive and a passion and a single-mindedness that made him very good at what he did.

            But then one day as he was traveling down the road in search for more Christians to capture, Christ himself physically appeared to him and stopped him dead in his tracks.  “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Jesus asked him.  Saul, of course, didn’t have a good answer to that question.  But from that day on everything changed.  Because that man named Saul became the apostle Paul.  And instead of hunting down Christians he was commissioned to make Christians.  Instead of gathering them up to throw them in jail he began gathering them up for worship.  Instead of threatening them with death he began to offer them life.  Which means that his life’s goal changed as well.  He was no longer here on this earth to destroy the gospel; he was here to preach it.

Paul Was Here to Preach the Gospel

            And preach it he did.  Arguably the greatest missionary that this world has ever seen or ever will see.  A tireless champion for the Lord.  A determined and relentless advocate of the gospel that he had once tried to silence.  But Paul had to go through a lot of trouble because of it.  “I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.  Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.  Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers.  I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked” (2 Cor. 11:23-27).  Paul probably suffered more for the sake of God’s Word than all of the suffering he had caused before he was brought to faith.  But it did not deter him.  All of those difficulties did nothing to slow him down or prevent him from preaching the Good News about Jesus.  Because that’s why Paul was here.  He was here to preach.  And so no matter the situation he was in, he was going to find a way to do exactly that.

            Of course, over time, the situation that Paul found himself in was prison.  He had been placed under house arrest for two years in the city of Rome and that’s where he had to stay.  He could no longer travel to different countries and preach the Word.  He could no longer start congregations from city to city.  He could no longer do something as simple as find a group of people standing around and share with them the promise of their Savior.  The great missionary of the Christian religion was confined to house a long way from home.  But his goal did not change.  And so what do you think Paul found to do there?  Paul did exactly the same thing there in prison that he had done outside of prison: he preached the gospel!  Because that’s why Paul was here; he was here to preach the gospel. 

            This is part of one of the letters he wrote while he was there in Rome locked down for the sake of the gospel: “Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.  Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly.”

            The apostle Paul’s resiliency amazes me!  There is no complaining from this man of God; there is no talk of how terrible it was being confined to a house in the middle of Rome; there is no hint of regret or despair or even restlessness.  Instead there is only optimism and opportunity and a genuine joy.  Because what Paul was here to do, he was doing!  He was spreading the gospel!  And because he was able to do that. the entire palace guard knew that he was there for the sake of Jesus.  And not only the palace guard of the Roman Emperor had come into contact with the gospel through Paul’s efforts, but Paul himself says that “everyone else” around him had heard it too!  And on top of that, many of the believers who knew of his situation were encouraged to speak the Word “more courageously and fearlessly” than ever before.  Whether in prison or free to walk the streets; whether getting together with locals down by a river or getting together with fellow inmates; whether conversing with those who were the poorest of the poor or conversing with those closest to the rule of the Roman Empire, Paul was here for only one thing: to preach the gospel.

What Are You Here for?

            What are you here for?  And I don’t mean: what are you here in this church building on a Sunday morning for…  What are you here on this earth for?  What do you live for?  Are you here to make yourself happy?  Is that your goal and your aim each day?  Are you here for your children?  Your grandchildren?  Maybe for your parents?  Are you here to enjoy life to the fullest?  Are you here to have fun?  Are you here to work as much as possible?  And you here just to survive?  Are you here for really no reason at all?  Are you here in this world for yourself or for something that’s a little more important?

            I wish it weren’t true, but a lot of times I find that I’m mainly here for myself and nothing more.  Because there are plenty of things that I want to do, that I want to have, that I want to get, that I want to enjoy.  And if something comes up that prevents me from doing what I want to do or having what I want to have or getting what I want to get or enjoying what I want to enjoy, I get a little frustrated and probably a little unpleasant because I start to feel sorry for myself.  And so I can’t imagine what I’d do if I were in the situation that Paul was in!  I’m sure I wouldn’t be that enthusiastic!  I’d probably be sulking and sour and sitting around in self-pity.  Because I’m that selfish.  I really am that self-centered.  And if I found myself under house arrest for two years without being able to do anything I wanted to do or going anywhere I wanted to go, I don’t think that I would be nearly as optimistic and happy as Paul was.

            We’re all a little bit selfish like that, aren’t we?  We might be kind and caring and thoughtful at times, but when it comes right down to it, it is fairly obvious in many situations that we are here only for ourselves.  And the way we spend our money and the way we use our time and the way we plan our schedules oftentimes is a good indication that this is true.  Which shouldn’t surprise us.  We were born that way, after all.  We were brought into this world as selfish little human beings who only cared about one thing: Me.  And it isn’t much different today, is it?  We might be a little more mature than we were back then, but still to this day if anything gets in the way of “Me”  it is going to get shoved out of the way pretty quickly.

Jesus Was Here to Be the Gospel

            And so how could someone like the apostle Paul overcome that natural sinful inclination and care only about the gospel?  How could he focus so intently on something else other than himself?  Paul was here to preach the gospel because he fully understood that Jesus had been here to be the gospel.  Jesus demonstrated that same drive and passion and single-mindedness that Paul did, didn’t he?  And to an even greater degree!  Remember when Jesus was in the desert for 40 days without food or water and the devil came to tempt him?  “If you’re hungry turn these stones into bread and eat!” the devil said.  But Jesus wasn’t here for himself; he was here for you.  Or think of how Jesus was so tired and exhausted one day that he had to go off with his disciples by themselves so that he could get a little rest.  But the crowds found out where he was.  And instead of sending them away he had compassion on them and began to teach them once again.  Jesus wasn’t here for himself; he was here for you.  Or picture Jesus down on his knees strenuously praying to his Father in the Garden the night before he would die.  He knew what was coming.  He knew what pain awaited him.  He knew what it was going to take.  “But not my will be done,” Jesus said to his Father, “your will be done.”  Of course, his Father’s will was that Jesus would die.  And so that’s what Jesus did.  Jesus allowed himself to be murdered.  Because he wasn’t here for himself; he was here for you.

            Jesus ended up bleeding to death on the cross - not because it was fun for him but because he was hanging there for you.  Jesus ended up suffering the real and eternal tortures of hell for the sins of all people while he hung up there - not because it was pleasant for him but because he went down there for you.  Jesus ended up lying as a corpse in a tomb - not because he had always hoped to experience that one day but because he was lying there for you.  And the same holds true today: now that Jesus has risen from the dead, he sits on his throne ruling over all things - not because he’s on a power trip but because he sits there for you.  Jesus is in control of all things at all times - not because he gets excited about playing with the toys he has created but because he’s there for you.  Jesus stands by your side holding your hand, deflecting attacks that might harm you, guiding you to safer places - not because he gets anything out of it but because he is right here for you.  Jesus will always be here for you.  Because that’s who he is.  That’s what he does.  And that’s how dedicated to you he will always be.

You Are Still Here for a Reason

            The apostle Paul cherished this sacrifice and commitment from his Lord probably more than most because he knew what kind of person he used to be.  And so Paul made sure that for the rest of his life he was only here for one thing: to preach that gospel about Jesus that had saved him.  And that meant if he was going to have to stay under house arrest, he was going to preach that gospel.  And if that meant he would ever be freed, he was going to preach that gospel.  And if that meant he would have to die for what he believed, he was going to preach that gospel.  Because there was nothing more important that he could do while he was still here in this life.  There was nothing more important he could do for the lives of others.

            What are you going to do while you are still here?  Live for yourself?  Find the things that make you feel good?  Do the things and get the things and keep the things that provide you with a fleeting moment of happiness?  Or are you here for a different reason?  Are you here for the same reason Paul was here: to preach the gospel?  To spread the gospel?  To share and offer and give the gospel?  There is really nothing more important that you could do while you are still here in this life.  There is nothing more important that you could do for the lives of others.

            Amen.

“May the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be gloried in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ.”  - 2 Thess. 1:12

9/30/12 - Pentecost 18 - Matthew 18:1-4

WHO IS THE GREATEST?

Criteria

            Who is the greatest?  It’s a question that has been asked by many different people for many different reasons.  Who is the greatest baseball player of all time?  Who is the greatest president this country has ever had?  Who is the greatest composer that this world has ever seen?  And we ask that question because we like to rank people; we like to know who is the best of the best.  But what criteria are you going to use?  Is the greatest baseball player going to be a pitcher or a position player?  It’s difficult to compare the two.  Is the greatest president going to be determined by what he was able to accomplish or by the outside situations that he was able to handle?  Is the greatest composer the one who is credited with the most ground-breaking innovations in music or the one who is considered the epitome of one particular style?  The question: “Who is the greatest” depends on the criteria people use to determine the answer.

            So who is the greatest Christian in the pages of Scripture?  That’s a tough question to answer, isn’t it?  We might be able to throw some names out there at least, but I don’t know if we could come up with an agreed-upon #1.  Was it Abraham?  Moses?  David?  Paul?  Ruth?  Esther?  Rebekah?  All of them could be considered in the running because they all had commendable qualities.  But how would you determine which one of these Christians was “greater” than the other?  It’s almost a silly question, isn’t it?

            Of course, Jesus’ disciples asked that very question.  And they were serious!  The disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  We don’t know if they were including people like Abraham and Moses and David in this question or if they just wanted to rank themselves, but they actually wanted to know whom Jesus considered the best of the best!  Jesus didn’t shrug off their question even though it was a little silly; instead he gave them the one criterion he was looking for: He called a little child and had him stand among them.  And he said: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

            I doubt this was the answer the disciples were looking for.  They probably wanted a specific name; in fact, each one of them probably wanted his own name to be called by Jesus.  But to be fair, when we look at the circumstances we can understand why they might have been arguing about this.  Because just before this story, Jesus had taken only Peter, James, and John up onto a mountain and there he was transformed in front of them to show them a little bit of his power.  But none of the other disciples had been allowed to go; they had to stay down at the foot of the mountain by themselves.  There could have been quite a bit of jealousy swirling around after that incident.  But only six days before that, Jesus had verbally rebuked Peter and had even called him “Satan” for speaking against God’s plans.  Were some of the disciples now thinking that it was time to move on to a new leader instead of this out-spoken disciple whom Jesus had just scolded in front of them all?  And so who was the greatest?  Was it still Peter?  Maybe James or John?  Or Judas Iscariot who had already been elected the treasurer of the group?  Maybe it was Andrew who introduced his brother Peter to Jesus or Philip who brought Nathanael to his Lord.  “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, Lord?  Come on, tell us!  We really want to know!”

            “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”  That must have crushed the disciples’ egos.  “Unless you humble yourself like a little child, you won’t even get into the kingdom of heaven, let alone be the greatest!”  The one criterion that Jesus gave them must have made them feel tremendously guilty for even thinking the question.  It makes me feel guilty.

Child-Like Humility

            I am supposed to humble myself as if I were a child in order to enter the kingdom of heaven?  I’m supposed to lower myself to a level that I haven’t been at for decades?  I’m supposed to give up my hard-earned status in life at those times it would be a benefit to others?  I’m supposed to surrender my rights as an adult and my freedoms as a mature human being at those times when doing those things would be for the good of somebody else?  What if someone takes advantage of me?   What if someone abuses my attempts at humility?  Do I still have to humble myself like a little child in situations like that and for the sake of people who won’t care?  If that’s what it takes to be the greatest, then I am far from it!  In fact, if we take God at his Word and believe that being a child is the criterion for entering the kingdom of heaven, then I’m pretty sure that I’m not going to get there.

            Maybe you will.  Maybe you like humbling yourself as if you were a little child.  Maybe you have no problem setting aside the respect you’ve earned over the years just to give that respect to someone else.  Maybe you are willing to take orders like a little child does from someone you could be giving orders to.  Maybe you voluntarily bend to the wills and wishes of other people as a child must bend to the wills and wishes of adults.  And if so - and you do it all the time and you do it because you are only concerned about other people and never concerned about yourself - then congratulations!  You’ve met the criterion.  You are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven because you have humbled yourself to be the lowest.

            I hope you caught my sarcasm there…  I don’t know anyone who wants to humble themselves like a little child.  Even children don’t want to be treated like children!  Because we like to keep our rights and use our freedoms; we like to voice our own opinions and do our own thing and if someone doesn’t like it, tough!  But “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Those are strong words.  Harsh words.  “Be a child or you don’t get in.”  And I’m sure the disciples realized it too.  The question was no longer: “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”  Jesus had changed it into: “Who is even going to make it there?” 

Christ-Like Humility

            If only the disciples had asked Jesus a different question.  And what I mean by that is the disciples should have asked Jesus about what he was talking about right before they got into the argument about who was the greatest.   If you look at this story in the book of Mark, immediately before the disciples got into the discussion that we are dealing with right now, this is what Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise.”  But they did not understand what he meant and were afraid to ask him about it (Mark 9:31-32).  They should have asked!  They should have followed up on Jesus’ comments and asked him to explain what he meant.  Because if they had, Jesus would elaborated on his betrayal, his death, and his resurrection.  He would have given them insight into their salvation and the price that he was going to have to pay.  If they had asked that question then they never would have asked “Who was the greatest” later on because they would have realized someone already was greatest: Jesus himself.  Because Jesus was the only one who could meet the criterion he required.

            Jesus was the only one who was able to humble himself like a little child.  Jesus was the only one willing to humble himself like a little child.  And he was the only one who actually did it.  Consider the fact that Jesus always was and will always remain true God.  But he decided to humble himself, not just like a little child but actually as a little child in the womb of a girl named Mary!  The God of this universe visibly confined himself to the body of a little baby boy!  And remember how Jesus humbled himself throughout this life: the King of everything did not even have a home to live in while he was on this earth; the Creator of everything did not have a means of income to buy his own food; the Ruler of everything did not have a single possession other than the clothes on his body.  And think of the kinds of things that Jesus did while he was here: he allowed Satan to tempt him for 40 straight days in the middle of the desert as if the devil had some sort of authority over him; Jesus asked John to baptize him as if he were the worst sinner in this world; Jesus got down on his hands and knees and scrubbed the dirt off of the feet of his disciples on the night before he would die.  And later that night: as the Knower-of-All-Things, Jesus allowed a betrayer to kiss him on the cheek; as the Great High Priest, he allowed the local high priest to accuse him of blasphemy; as the King of kings and Lord of lords he allowed a Roman ruler to decide his fate; as the almighty powerful God he allowed soldiers to manhandle him and make him bleed; as the Life-Giver he allowed death to overtake him.

            Everything that Jesus did to humble himself is really summed up beautifully in Philippians 2: “Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death — even death on a cross!”  Jesus humbled himself not just to the level of a child, but beneath a child: a servant.  And Jesus humbled himself to the point of death not just for the sake of those around him, but for the salvation of everyone who has ever lived.  Jesus met the criterion.  Jesus was the one followed the example of that little child he had stand before the disciples.  And because he did, we are now his children.    

       
We are Already Children

            Isn’t that an interesting twist in this story line?  We are not capable of humbling ourselves to the level of a child in order to get into the kingdom of heaven.  But Jesus was and Jesus did.  And because of that we are now considered children anyway regardless of our inability to humble ourselves that way.  It reminds me of that great Christmas-time passage in the book of Galatians: “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons…  So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir” (Gal. 4:4-5,7).

            We have proved that we cannot humble ourselves to the level of children, and so God made us his children through the humility of Christ.  And because we are his children - his first-born sons - we will receive the inheritance.  And that inheritance is heaven.  “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”  We are children of God.  And we will one day enter the kingdom of heaven.  Not because we are so humble, but because Jesus humbled himself for us. 

            And so who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?  Jesus is, certainly.  But because he is, so are you.  You are the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  Because you are a forgiven child of God, you have been washed in his blood, you have been given the name Christian, you are an heir of eternal life.  Through faith in him, Jesus considers you the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.  And who could be any greater than that?

            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— 25 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