3/24/13 - Palm Sunday - Isaiah 45:22-25

WHERE'S THE POWER?

Palm Sunday Wasn’t All That Powerful

            The people had been waiting for a powerful King.  At least that’s what all of those Old Testament prophecies had predicted.  Those famed prophets who had lived in ancient times had all foretold a God who would come with power and authority and majesty.  Someone who would defeat all of their enemies, someone who would reign in justice and in truth, someone who would save them and guard them and protect them with his powerful right hand.  God himself even described what would happen when he arrived: “Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.  By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’”  All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be [vindicated] and will exult.”  This was the kind of God that the people were expecting: a God who allows no other gods but himself, a God who speaks irrevocable words, a God who would make every knee bow and every tongue confess, a God who would shame those who rage against him, a God who would vindicate (prove right) those who have trusted in him…  The Jewish people were expecting a mighty God, an impressive God, an imposing God.  And they could not wait for him to arrive.

            But then one Sunday afternoon around 33 AD, he did arrive.  It was just a few days  before the annual Passover celebration began and a man named Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey.  Palm branches were thrown into the street, robes covered the road, his disciples cleared the way, and little children sang his praises as he plodded through the city gates of the of Judea’s capital.  “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord!” the people shouted.  “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”  “Hosanna to the Son of David!”  Jesus was the King.  Jesus was the promised Savior.  Jesus was the God whom the prophets had predicted for so many years.  But Jesus didn’t seem to fit the bill on that Palm Sunday afternoon.

            Jesus didn’t seem to match up with who this Savior was supposed to be.  Jesus didn’t seem to possess any of the characteristics of this mighty heavenly being that the people had heard about for hundreds and hundreds of years.  “This can’t be the one!” they assumed.  “He isn’t making every knee bow down to him!  He isn’t punishing those who persecute us!  He isn’t raising up those who have been faithful to God for all these years!  Where’s the glory?  Where’s the splendor?  Where’s the power?”

            And because Jesus displayed no power that day, most of the people despised him.  They hated him.  And they refused to believe in Jesus because he wasn’t what they were expecting.  He wasn’t what they wanted.  And so they took things into their own hands and they tried to do things their own way because this Galilean riding on a donkey obviously wasn’t going to be able to solve their problems and fix their difficulties.  They were going to have to do that themselves.

We Take Things into Our Own Hands

            Sometimes God’s power seems to be absent in our own lives, doesn’t it?  We expect protection from our God and yet we experience all kinds of accidents and disasters and setbacks.  We expect guidance from our God but we find ourselves turned in the wrong direction on a regular basis.  We expect that our God will always be there right by our side but there are times when he doesn’t seem to be around us at all.  And we are prone to think: “Where’s the power, Lord?  Where’s your strength and your control and your influence, Lord?  Isn’t that what you promised?  Isn’t that who you are?”  And when we get tired of waiting for him to do something, we take things into our own hands.  And when we get tired of praying to him that he might make things right, we start to do things in our own way.  Because this is not what we were expecting from him.  This is not what we wanted.  And so we aren’t going to wait any longer; we are going to take charge ourselves because this man who rode on a donkey into Jerusalem obviously isn’t doing anything to solve our problems or fix our difficulties.  We’re going to have to do that on our own.

             We aren’t very patient with the Lord, are we?  We don’t like to wait for his might and his glory and his power to be displayed in our lives - we want immediate action and immediate results.  And when we don’t get them, we assume something has to change, someone else has to take the lead.  But do we really think we can take things into our own hands and come out any better?  Do we really think that we can do things our way and improve upon the Lord’s plans?

            Last summer, an elderly woman in Spain got fed up waiting for a 100 year-old painting of Christ to be restored in the church she attended.  And so she decided to take matters into her own hands.  When no one was around, she took out her paintbrushes and attempted to restore this beloved painting of the Savior.  Unfortunately, she was no artist.  And if you happened to see the finished result, you know how badly she butchered that painting of Jesus.  It went from a professional, albeit neglected, portrait to nothing more than a grotesque, misshapen face that looked like it was produced by a child with a handful of water colors.  The church had plans to restore it; in fact they had just received a donation to do so; but this 80-year-old woman couldn’t wait any longer and decided to try it herself, ruining the painting in the proces

            We may get a little impatient with our Lord to fix the things we think need to be done.  But whenever we try to take things into our own hands, we only make things worse.  Because we do not have the abilities to do what needs to be done; we do not have the knowledge to understand what is needed for the good of everyone else; and we do not have the insight to realize how and when and why things should happen the way they do.  And no matter how smart we think we are, we are not smart enough to handle things on our own!  That’s why Jesus rode into Palm Sunday in the first place!  Because we couldn’t get the job done!  We couldn’t fix the problem of our own sins!  We couldn’t manage to get ourselves out of the hole we dug with our own actions and attitudes!  We couldn’t do it.  That’s why Jesus came.  And so how could we ever think that we are capable of doing something better than the Lord can now?

Jesus’ Power is Sometimes Hidden in Weakness

            That doesn’t mean that it’s easy to wait for the Lord to do what he plans to do.  Because sometimes the power of the Lord is hidden in the simple.  The Lord’s power was hidden on Palm Sunday in a simple man riding on a simple donkey.  It was hidden in the branches on the road.  It was hidden in the voices of the children.  Jesus certainly didn’t seem powerful at that moment; it definitely didn’t look like he was the one true almighty God; but that’s exactly what the one true almighty God needed to do at exactly the right time.  And his power remained hidden in the simple until the end of the week.  It was hidden in a man arrested late Thursday evening in a garden.  It was hidden in a man who stood on trial before the high priest.  It was hidden in a man sentenced to execution by the Roman governor.  It was hidden in a man carrying his own torture device up a hill.  It was hidden in a man bleeding, in a man crying out, in a man dying.  There was no power there, just weakness.  His power was even hidden in a tomb for three days.  And I’m sure the followers of Jesus were wondering if they needed to do something themselves!  Because this Jesus certainly wasn’t going to be able to do anything anymore!  He was dead!  He was gone!  His body was wrapped up and lying cold in a cave!  Maybe it was time for someone else to step up and get the job done!  But the tomb was exactly where the one true powerful God needed to be at exactly the right time.  It probably wasn’t something that anyone else would have thought up; it probably wasn’t something that we would have planned; but that was the only thing that would have worked.  That simple scene in the darkness of a tomb was the most powerful thing the Lord could have done.  Because through that simplicity came our salvation.

            God’s power is still demonstrated in the simple things today.  In the simple water used in baptism, God’s powerful forgiveness is given.  Through the simple bread and wine used in the Lord’s Supper, Jesus’ real body and blood touches your lips and you are cleansed in a very powerful way.  Through the simple Word of God spoken out loud, the Holy Spirit powerfully works on our hearts.  Through the simplicity of a cross, through the simplicity of a drop of blood, through the simplicity of a nail, the powerful plan of our salvation is brought to mind once again and we are filled with peace.  God’s power has always been hidden in the simple.  And sometimes the simplest things are the most powerful of all.

Jesus’ Power Will be on Full Display

            But one day soon that all will change.  One day soon the Lord will unhinge his power and glory and might and all of those Old Testament prophecies will come true.  Even those words the Lord said through Isaiah will be fulfilled: “I am God, and there is no other.  By myself I have sworn, my mouth has uttered in all integrity a word that will not be revoked: Before me every knee will bow; by me every tongue will swear. They will say of me, ‘In the Lord alone are righteousness and strength.’”  All who have raged against him will come to him and be put to shame. But in the Lord all the descendants of Israel will be [vindicated] and will exult.”  Every knee will bow.  Every tongue will confess.  Every enemy will be destroyed.  Every believer will be proved right.  The Lord will be the one true God and he will allow no others.  His power is coming.  His full uninhibited power is coming.  And it will not be clothed in the simple any longer.  It will not be found riding on a donkey or standing on trial or hanging on a cross or lying in a tomb.  It will be seen for what it is: an overwhelming display of the divine might of God.  And you will never have to wait again.  You will never have to wonder or worry about when God will display his strength in your life.  Because you will be living in that majesty.  You will be reveling in that glory.  And so just like those believers during the time of Christ, you can look forward to and expect a powerful King.  But as you sing his praises with the believers in heaven just as those children did on the rode into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the power of God will not pass you by.  It will not ride on out of sight.  It will not fade away.  So hold on.  Be patient.  His power is coming.  And it will come at exactly the right time.

            Amen.

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

3/13,20/13 - Midweek Lent - Luke 22:54-62

THE LOOK

A Look Can Say A Lot

            A look can say a lot without a word being said.  A father rushes into the room after hearing a crash and finds that his children have broken a lamp; and they know just by the look he gives them that they are in some serious trouble.  A husband says something rude and out-of-place; and he knows just by the look that his wife gives him that he better apologize.  A woman is chatting with her friends during work when she catches her boss out of the corner of her eye; and she knows just by the look on his face that she should get back to work right away.  A look can say a lot without a word being said.  Especially when the person being looked at knows that they have done something wrong.

            The apostle Peter never would have imagined that he would receive “The Look” from his Savior because Peter had been bold about his faith from the very beginning.  Remember that Peter was the only one who asked Jesus to allow him to walk on water out to his Lord.  Peter was the only one who rebuked Jesus to his face when he didn’t agree with God’s plan.  Peter was always the first one to confess his faith in the Lord whenever the opportunity arose.  And on the night that Jesus was betrayed, Peter was the first one who swore to his Lord that he would never reject him - no matter what the cost.

            But then, later that night, things to a turn that Peter wasn’t expecting.  Judas Iscariot suddenly showed up in the Garden of Gethsemane with a mob of men and, with a hypocritical kiss on the cheek, Judas marked Jesus as the one they were to arrest.  Peter and the rest of the disciples ran away and Jesus was surrounded.  Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance.  But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them.  A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”  But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.  A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”  “Man, I am not!” Peter replied.  About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”  Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed.  The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”  And he went outside and wept bitterly.

            Jesus turned and looked at Peter but there was no reason for Jesus to say a word.  There was nothing left for Jesus to say.  Because Peter knew.  He instantly knew what he had done.  He remembered the promise he had made, now broken.  And he recalled with Jesus had predicted despite his own bold claims.  And with the face of the one whom he had just disowned fresh in his mind, Peter ran outside and cried in misery.

A Look of Disappointment

            I’ve received “The Look” once or twice in my life.  And I give “The Look” to my own children once or twice a week.  But I shudder to think about what kind of look Jesus could give to me every day.  My unwillingness to do what I know I should do, hesitation to say what I need to say, my general lack of love for others… I can almost see “The Look” on my Lord’s face up in heaven every single time: a look of pure disappointment, maybe a little shaking of the head, the raising of the corner of his mouth, a small sigh.  And although he doesn’t say a word, I say to myself, “Not again!  I didn’t just do that again, did I?  I thought I was better than that!  I thought I had fixed that problem.  I’ve repented of that sin dozens of times before, I’ve promised the Lord that I wouldn’t fall into it again, but here I am anyway.  The proverbial rooster has crowed and I have once again failed miserably.  I have let my Lord down.  And I have no excuse.”

            There is hardly anything worse than letting someone down you look up to so much.  And every day we let the Lord down time and time again.  We have good intentions, we are determined to stay true, but in the end we can’t follow through.  And the rooster crows.  And we know.  We instantly know what we have done.  We remember the promises that we have once again broken.  And we want to run outside and cry because we don’t want to have to face “The Look” that our Lord has every right to give us for being so stubborn and pompous and undependable.

A Look of Love

            But if we do lift our eyes to see Jesus’ face in those times of insufferable guilt, if we do dare to peek at the expression of our powerful God, we will notice that there is no anger in his look.  There may be a little bit of disappointment because of what we have done, there may be a little sadness, but there is also a glow of love in his eyes.  Because “The Look” Jesus gives sinners isn’t one of impending punishment; it is one of unending compassion.

            Jesus looked at Peter after the rooster crowed in the exact same way.  It must have been a look of love and mercy and compassion because even though Scripture doesn’t elaborate on the specific expression on Jesus’ face at that moment, Jesus’ subsequent actions tell us very clearly what his attitude towards Peter was.  While Peter ran outside with a feeling of overwhelming guilt, Jesus walked outside to the palace of the Roman governor to be declared guilty.  While Peter was wiping the tears from his face, Jesus was wiping the blood from his face from the beatings and the crown of thorns at the hands of the soldiers.  As Peter stopped crying, Jesus began dying.  And all of the remorse that Peter had been experiencing, all of the guilt that Peter had been carrying, was all at once placed upon the shoulders of Jesus as he carried it on the cross.  Which meant that Peter’s conscience could be soothed; his shame, shed; his guilt, gone.  Jesus carried it all so that Peter would never have to carry any of it ever again.

            Your conscience can be soothed - and it is; your shame shed; your guilt gone.  Because Jesus didn’t just carry those things for Peter.  And he doesn’t just give “The Look” to Peter either.  Whenever that rooster crows in our lives and we become aware of our sinfulness and we are once again thrown down to the ground by the weight of our guilt, our Savior gives us that same look of love and mercy and compassion.  He takes the guilt off our shoulders and he gently lifts us up.  He then points our eyes to his cross because on those bloody wooden beams our guilt has already been carried and we don’t ever have to worry about it again.  It’s true!  Even those deep dark sins that no one else knows about, those nagging feelings of shame that keep rumbling up inside, those awful self-inflicted humiliations that reemerge year after year, those moments of disgrace that you can’t seem to shake… they no longer exist!  Jesus has paid the full price.  And as far as he is concerned, there’s nothing left for you to feel guilty about.  “But what about that awful sin!” we cry.  “What about those hateful words!  What about those nasty thoughts!  I still feel guilty about those things!”  But what you feel and what is real are sometimes completely different.  And when we glance up at “The Look” Jesus is giving us, we start to understand why.  Because no matter what you’ve done, his look is a look of love and mercy and compassion.  And regardless of what you may feel, under the gaze of that look there is no doubt that you are forgiven.  “The Look” of your Savior says it all - without a word being said.  Amen.

3/17/13 - Lent 5 - Luke 20:9-19

I DID IT!

Denial That We Did It

            My brother who is a year and a half younger than I am bought an old Camaro when he was 17 years old.  He had it parked out front of our house on the side of the street.  One evening a kid from town that it’d be a good idea to drive down our residential street backwards, but he swerved too close to the curb and scraped the entire side of my brother’s Camaro.  But no one was around and no one immediately came out of their house to see what was going on, so this kid drove away.  Fortunately, one of our neighbors was looking out the window and saw what happened so she called the police.  When the police picked this kid up he denied ever doing anything of the sort.  But once they checked his car they found the tell-tall scrapes and dents where he had run into my brother’s Camaro.  They informed my brother that they had found the one who had run into his car - a kid that my brother vaguely knew from around town - he was reimbursed by the insurance comapny, and all was well. 

            The very next week my brother and I were working together at a pizza place.  And who should walk in but the kid who hit his car, accompanied by his girlfriend and grandmother.  My brother immediately goes up to the counter to take their order: “Hey, you didn’t hit my car on the way in, did you?” he asks.  “Uhh, I don’t know what you mean,” the kid replies.  “My blue Camaro, the one parked right out there on the street, you didn’t run into it, right?  Or didn’t you drive down the street backwards this time.”  His girlfriend and his grandmother both look at him and say, “What is this guy talking about?”  “Oh, you haven’t told them, have you?” my brother replies.  “Well, your boyfriend, your grandson was driving down the street backwards earlier this week, ran into my car, and then drove off.  I just wanted to make sure that he didn’t hit my car again tonight!”  And this kid’s girlfriend and grandmother start giving it to him on both sides.  I can’t imagine it was a pleasant night for that teenage boy as he rode home in between those two.

            But that’s what happens when someone denies what they have done: they get caught.  This kid fled the scene of a crime - pretending that he hadn’t done anything wrong, he denied doing it when the cops stopped at his house, he denied knowing anything about it when my brother brought it up, and even when he was caught and had to pay for it and was confronted with it, he still didn’t admit his wrongdoing to the people that were closest to him!  What a prime example of the way we as human beings think!  We deny that we have done anything wrong.  And then if it becomes clear that we actually did do something wrong, we don’t readily admit it because we don’t want anyone else to know about it.  Rarely are we going to voluntarily stand up and claim, “I did it!  It was me!  I was wrong!  I’m to blame!  I take full responsibility!”  More often than not, our mouths are filled with excuses and alibis and denials.

       
Denial That It Was a Sin

            Jesus told quite a few parables to people who denied that they had done anything wrong.  And the parable that we have in front of us today is no different.  Jesus was loving enough to point out their sin, but they refused to admit that they were at fault.  He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time.   At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed.   He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed.   He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.  “Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’  “But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’   So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. “What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them?   He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”  When the people heard this, they said, “May this never be!”  Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: “‘The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone’?   Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”  The teachers of the law and the chief priests looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them.

            “You have killed God’s prophets,” Jesus meant to say to the teachers of the law and the chief priests.  “And you will murder his Son.  And my Father is about to take the inheritance away from you and give it to somebody else.”  But the men to whom Jesus was speaking would not listen.  Instead, they “looked for a way to arrest him immediately, because they knew he had spoken this parable against them.”  They weren’t going to admit that they were wrong.  They certainly weren’t going to come clean and say, “We did it.  We were wrong.  We’re to blame.  We take full responsibility.”  Instead they wanted to get rid of the one who had pointed out their sins so that they could continue to convince themselves that they were OK.

            People have always been good at convincing themselves that they are OK.  We are good at doing that, aren’t we?  We are experts at convincing ourselves that what we did wasn’t really that bad because it didn’t hurt anyone and no one knows about it.  We are somehow able to trick ourselves into thinking that what we said was completely justified because that person deserved it.  We’ve gotten very proficient over the years at persuading ourselves that what we thought wasn’t out fault; it was the fault of the person who made us think what we did!  We deny and deny and deny and we do everything that we can from coming clean.

            Of course, no matter how many times you deny what you’ve done and no matter how deeply you can trick your own mind into thinking something else, your God still knows.  He saw what you did, he heard what you said, he was aware of what you thought, and he knows that it was wrong.  Your hand is in the cookie jar, so to speak, as he catches you in the act.  You can deny it all you want; you can try to talk your way out of it until you’re blue in the face; you can convince yourself that you are not wrong; but your hand is in the cookie jar and the Lord is right there watching you!  There’s nothing you can do about it!  You’re guilty!  But there’s something that Jesus could do about it.

Jesus Didn’t Deny Sin, He Accepted It

            In just over a week and a half we’ll meet here at night for what is called “Maundy Thursday.”  It is the night when we commemorate what Jesus did for us before he was crucified.  And on that night, when Jesus was arrested in the Garden and taken before the high priest, he was put on trial.  The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death.  But they did not find any, though many false witnesses came forward.  Finally two came forward  and declared, “This fellow said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”  Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”   But Jesus remained silent (Matt 26:59-62).

            I think I would have stood up for myself in that situation!  If false witnesses were coming forward and accusing me of things I never did, if other people stood up and misquoted me, trying to imply that I meant something that I did not, I think I would have said something in my defense!  “I didn’t do it!  I didn’t say those things!  Those are false accusations!  There’s nothing to support those claims!  I didn’t do anything wrong!”  But instead of saying any of those things “Jesus remained silent.”

            Later on Jesus was in front of Pontius Pilate on trial in a higher court of law.  When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer.  Then Pilate asked him, “Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?”  But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor (Matt. 27:12-14).  Again Jesus doesn’t say a word!  Wouldn’t you?  Wouldn’t you stand up for yourself?  Wouldn’t you deny that you had done anything wrong if you were the perfect, holy, Son of God himself?  “But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge.”  In fact, about the only moments he ever did say anything while he was on trial in front of either Pilate or the high priest was when they asked him if he was the Son of God or the King of the Jews.  “Yes, it is as you say,” Jesus said (Matt. 26:64; 27:11). 

            Why did Jesus act the way he did?  Why did Jesus remain silent when he was being falsely accused and only give a brief answer in the affirmative when he was asked about who he was?  It seems unusual for an innocent man to not say anything when being falsely accused.  In fact, silence in those situations oftentimes indicates guilt.  So why didn’t Jesus defend himself?  Jesus acted that way because what he was really saying was, “I did it!  It was me!  I was wrong!  I’m to blame!  I take full responsibility!”  Now Jesus hadn’t done anything wrong, of course.  Jesus didn’t deserve what he went through.  But he loved us enough to stand up and say “I did it” anyway so that we wouldn’t be caught.  So when Pilate brought out that murderer Barabbas and asked the people who they wanted to be released to them, Jesus didn’t say anything in his own defense.  And when they forced him to carry his own cross up the hill to Calvary, Jesus didn’t complain.  And when they were nailing him to that beam of wood he didn’t try to run away, but instead said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”  “I did it.  It was me!  I was wrong!  I’m to blame!  I take full responsibility!”  Jesus was not about to let you suffer.  Jesus was not about to let you undergo the agonies of hell.  And so he willingly took the fall for you even though he did nothing wrong.

I Did It But He Paid For It

            And his Father agreed with his Son’s decision.  God the Father actually sent his Son to do exactly that: to take the blame.  And so when Jesus was up there suffering on the cross, his own Father basically said, “It was you, Jesus.  You did it.  You’re to blame.  You are guilty.  And I will punish you accordingly.”  I can’t even imagine what the full wrath of God is like without restraint.  But that is what Jesus experienced there that Friday afternoon: the unharnessed, unchecked, righteous anger of an almighty God.  And I can’t help thinking that it should have been me.  Because I did it!  It was me!  I was wrong!  I’m to blame!  I should have taken full responsibility!  But Jesus wasn’t going to let that happen.  He loved me too much.  He loved you too much. 

            And so there is no use denying your sins now, is there?  There will be times when you are ashamed about what you have done and there will be times when you don’t want anyone else to know, but what good is it to deny those sins now?  The Father knows what you have done and the Son has already paid for what you have done.  So even if you are honest enough and bold enough to say, “I did it!”  Jesus has already said, “No, I have done it!  I have paid for it!  I have taken full responsibility and you don’t ever have to worry about it again!”  And so what is there left for us to say?  We did it but Jesus paid for it.  We sinned but Jesus suffered.  We were wrong but Jesus received the wrath that was meant for us.  What are we supposed to say, other than, “Yeah, he did it!  He did it!  Jesus did it all!  He took the blame, he took the pain, and he will one day take me home.  Jesus did it!  Don’t look at me!  Look at him!  Don’t come to me!  Go to him!  Don’t ask me!  Ask him!  Jesus is the one!  Jesus did it!”  And that’s exactly what Jesus wants you to say.  He wants you to know that he did it all.  And I’m glad he did.

            Amen.

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

3/10/13 - Lent 4 - James 4:7-10

THIS IS SERIOUS

A Serious Confession

            “We have come into the presence of God, who created us to love and serve him as his dear children.  But we have disobeyed him and deserve only his wrath and punishment.  Therefore, let us confess our sins to him and plead for his mercy.”  Those were some of the very first words I repeated this morning at the beginning of our worship service.  And they were a little heavy, weren’t they?  They certainly weren’t light, happy, carefree words with which we began our worship in this house of God!  Those words were a little more serious than that.

            But then after I said those words, we all responded together with something that was just as serious: “Merciful Father in heaven, I am altogether sinful from birth.  In countless ways I have sinned against you and do not deserve to be called your child.  But trusting in Jesus, my Savior, I pray: Have mercy on me according to your unfailing love.  Cleanse me from my sin, and take away my guilt.”  Those weren’t light, happy, carefree words either, were they?  They were serious words in a serious confession.  We admitted our guilt before our God, we verbally acknowledged that we are at the mercy of the one whom we have wronged.  What a way to start a worship service!  What a way to begin a gathering with brothers and sisters in Christ!  We just jumped right into it, didn’t we?  There wasn’t much lead up to that confession of sins.  No small talk.  No pointless clichés.  The moment we sat down in these chairs we got right to business.  We got serious right away.

A Serious Consequence

            But how seriously did you say that confession of sins?  Honestly, how seriously did you take it?  Were you even paying attention to what you were saying or did you just say those words out loud because they were printed on the page in bold type and that’s what you’re supposed to do when you come to those words in a bulletin!  Sometimes when I say those words with you my mind is not where it’s supposed to be either.  A lot of times I’m thinking ahead to what I have to say next: “OK, I’m going to have to turn around at that point and then say these specific words in this specific way, followed by the next song on the next page…”  And while I’m thinking that I may be saying those words of confession with you, but my thoughts are far from it.  But this confession of sins deserves a little more concentration than that, doesn’t it?  It’s worth a little more time and a little more effort.  This confession is not just a quick hello to someone in the parking lot.  This is not just a surface conversation you’re having with someone simply to pass the time.  This is not just another item to check off of the worship list so that we can move onto the next part.  A confession of sins is a little more serious than that.  Because God himself takes sin seriously. 

            James took sins seriously too.  James was writing to a group of Christians who apparently weren’t taking things very seriously.  They knew they were Christians, they knew that had been given a lot of freedom from their Lord, and so they used that to either do nothing at all or to do anything they wanted without fear of any consequences!  And so the Lord through James had to remind them that sin is dangerous!  Sin has consequences!  Sin is breaking God’s law and breaking God’s law is serious!  And it should not be taken lightly.  “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”

            Ten commands.  James gives us ten commands in four short verses: Submit yourselves, resist, come near, wash your hands, purify your hearts, grieve, mourn, wail, change, and humble yourselves.  Ten direct orders that all have to do with sin.  In other words: Wake up!  Start taking sin seriously!  Because sin has serious consequences! 

            James doesn’t say: “It’s OK if you mess up every now and then.”  Or “Don’t worry about your mistakes too much, everyone does it.”  Or “You don’t have to lose any sleep over what you’ve been doing; it’s not that big of a deal.”  Or “Just brush it off; no one is going to care.”  No!  James doesn’t say those things at all!  He doesn’t even come close to using that tone of voice!  Instead he makes the Lord’s will very clear: “Submit yourselves, resist, come near, wash your hands, purify your hearts, grieve, mourn, wail, change, and humble yourselves.”  This isn’t funny!  This is no laughing matter!  Confessing your sins in a worship service is not the time to be cute or comical or immature.  This is a time to be serious.  This is a time to consider what the consequences of sin really are.

            And we considered those consequences in our worship service already, haven’t we?  Remember what was said before: “We have come into the presence of God, who created us to love and serve him as his dear children.  But we have disobeyed him and deserve only his wrath and punishment.  Therefore, let us confess our sins to him and plead for his mercy.”  We deserve only his wrath and punishment.  And when you repeated the words with everyone else right after that you admitted to your God, “I do not deserve to be called your child.”  Sin excludes the sinner from God’s family.  Sin brings upon the sinner God’s wrath.  Sin earns for the sinner eternal punishment.  There is no getting around it: this is serious.  Sin is serious.

A Serious Sacrifice

            One of my favorite hymns during the season of Lent is hymn 127 in our red hymnals: Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted.  Not only do I like the melody because it fits the season and not only do I like the clear references to the prophecy about Christ in Isaiah 53, I especially appreciate the third verse.  “If you think of sin but lightly Nor suppose the evil great, Here you see its nature rightly, Here its guilt may estimate.  Mark the sacrifice appointed; See who bears the awful load - ‘Tis the Word, the Lord’s Anointed, Son of Man and Son of God.”  If you didn’t consider your sins all that serious before, all you have to do is look at the cross.  Your sin was so serious that the Son of God himself had to bleed to death in order to get rid of it.  Consider that for a second: The Giver of life had to give up his life; the Creator had to become a corpse; God had to die.  Why?  Because sin was serious.  The consequences were serious.  And Jesus took these things so seriously that he made a serious sacrifice.

            When Jesus came to this earth as a real human being he didn’t just come to lend us a hand.  He didn’t just come to teach us or lead us or point us in the right direction.  Jesus wasn’t here as nothing more than an example.  Jesus was here to take our place.  Jesus was here to receive our penalty.  Jesus was here to sacrifice himself so that the sentence of sin would fall on him and not on you.  And so, in the end, Jesus was the one excluded from God’s family because he was the sinner.  Jesus was the one who bore the brunt his Father’s wrath because he was the sinner.  Jesus was the one who went through an eternal punishment in hell while he was hanging on the cross because he was the sinner.  Jesus was blamed, not you.  Jesus was held accountable, not you.  Jesus was the sinner, not you.  That was a serious sacrifice Christ made for you.  Because he was serious about your salvation. 

            And that’s why we sing such serious hymns sometimes - just like the hymn we sung right before the sermon: With broken heart and contrite sigh, A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry.  Your pardoning grace is rich and free - O God, be merciful to me… And when, redeemed from sin and hell, With all the ransomed souls I dwell, My joyous song shall ever be: God has been merciful to me!  That is a serious song.  But it’s still filled with joy, isn’t it?  Especially that last verse.

A Serious Joy

            And that’s the natural reaction to the seriousness of Jesus’ sacrifice: an attitude of appreciation and thankfulness; a feeling of relief and overwhelming joy.  We are actually happy that Jesus died, aren’t we!  We are thrilled at what happened on that cross!  Because the cross means I am able to say to you every single Sunday: “God, our heavenly Father, has forgiven all your sins.  By the perfect life and innocent death of our Lord Jesus Christ, he has removed your guilt forever.  You are his own dear child.”  I love saying that!  And I hope you love hearing that!  Because it’s true.  It’s 100% true every single time: you are forgiven; you are his own dear child; and you can be happy about it!

            But it’s a serious happiness, isn’t it?  It’s a serious excitement.  You aren’t jumping up and down with a childlike giddiness; instead you bow at the feet of your Savior just like the sinful woman did who wet Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.  You aren’t shouting at the top of your lungs in an uncontrollable frenzy; instead you faithfully sing glories to the Lord like the little children of Jerusalem did to Jesus on Palm Sunday.  You aren’t losing control of your emotions and you aren’t unable to think straight because of your elation; instead you simply stare in awe at the Lord’s love just like those disciples’ did in the upper room when they saw Jesus’ alive for the first time after he rose from the dead and they didn’t know what to say.  It’s a serious happiness, a serious joy, a serious excitement that can get emotional sometimes, that can produce some outward reactions, but usually it’s subdued and quiet and respectful because of the seriousness of the sacrifice that made it all happen.

            And as we move through this season of Lent, that joy is growing, isn’t it?  During this time of year that joy is building more and more every week.  Because each week we get closer and closer to Easter.  That grand event of the Christian Church Year when we let lose a little bit more, when we sing a little bit louder, when we smile a little bit broader, when we revel in the glory of our Lord a little bit longer.  Because that day of resurrection guarantees our own.  It is the crowning achievement of our Lord’s love.  It is the proof that we are saved.  It is the moment when “Alleluia” is the word of the day and the darkness and the gloom of this life is completely gone.  It is a day of absolute celebration.  It’s my favorite day of the year.

            But before we get there, we have to go through this.  We have to go through Lent, through sin, through suffering, through death.  Because without the cross there is no empty tomb.  Without pain there is no healing.  Without sadness there is no joy.  Without the darkness there is no dawn.  And so we focus on the words of James during the season of Lent: “Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  And he will lift you up.  In fact, he already has lifted you up by lifting up his Son to make a serious sacrifice for some serious sins to win a salvation for you that is more serious than anything else in this life.  Nothing else is more important in this world than what we’re talking about right now.  Nothing else will affect eternity.  Nothing else gets to the root of the problem.  Nothing else gives us the peace and joy and comfort we so desperately need.  Nothing else matters other than the sacrifice Jesus made on that cross for your sins.  Take that seriously.  And thank the Lord that he did.

            Amen.

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

2/27/13 & 3/5/13, Midweek Lent - Mark 14:43-52

ALL ALONE

Abandoned

            Everyone wanted to be around Jesus.  From the moment he was born people were drawn to him.  The shepherds came to his barnyard nursery prompted by the angels.  The wise men traveled a long way to see him following a star.  Anna rushed up to the baby Jesus in the temple and Simeon held him in his arms.  Teachers of the law gathered around Jesus when he was only twelve years old, crowds of people flocked to hear him preach, and hundreds more brought those who were sick and suffering to him so that Jesus would heal them.  His disciples had left their jobs and families to follow him around, both friends and enemies invited him into their homes, and believers stood out on the roads and shouted his praises wherever he went.  And when Jesus tried to get away and find some quiet place to rest, the people found him; the people tracked him down; the people searched until they were able to locate Jesus and it was almost impossible to get them to leave.  Everyone wanted to be around Jesus.  Until things got ugly.  Until things got dangerous.  Until it wasn’t worth it any longer to be around this man they called the Christ.  Until that one infamous night in a garden called Gethsemane when Jesus was left all alone. 

            He wasn’t alone at the beginning of the evening, of course.  Eleven of his disciples were with him.  But they were actually sleeping while he was praying.  And when he came back to where they were, he chastised them for their inability to stay up with him and keep watch.  But just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.  Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.”  Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him.  The men seized Jesus and arrested him.  Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.  “Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me?  Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”  Then everyone deserted him and fled.  A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.

            Jesus was left all alone.  A young man even wanted to get away so quickly that he left his linen robe behind, running away naked!  Peter, who had just promised never to abandon Jesus, was gone!  John, “the disciple whom Jesus loved, was gone!  The rest of the disciples who had promised the same thing were gone!  And Judas, a man who had once been in Jesus’ inner circle, not only abandoned Jesus, but abandoned him in the worst way possible: he betrayed him.  And he betrayed him to his face!  There was no one left there at Jesus’ side that night.  He was all alone.

Loneliness

            Sometimes those you love let you down, don’t they?  Sometimes those you trust turn out to be not-so-trustworthy anymore.  Sometimes those who were once right there by your side are no longer there.  And a deep, dark feeling of loneliness can set in.  An emptiness on the inside and a vulnerability on the outside.  And it’s a little scary, isn’t it?  It’s a little frightening when you’re all alone.  There may be people all around you at the time; there may be a whole variety of neighbors and coworkers and family members that you talk to and interact with every day.  But you know that loneliness doesn’t have to do so much with the number of people around you as it has to do with the love and the loyalty and the reliability of those closest to you.  In fact, sometimes loneliness is at its worst when the most people are around.

               That’s exactly what Jesus experienced that night in the Garden of Gethsemane.  No one had loved him enough to stick around; no one had been loyal enough to sacrifice anything for him; no one had been reliable enough to keep their promise to him that they would never leave.  Jesus was abandoned by those people he had personally hand-picked.  Just like he still is today.

            Jesus has hand-picked each one of us.  He has made us into his children.  He has given us direct access to his powerful Word and has fed us with that Word for years.  But that doesn’t stop us from leaving him from time to time.  And we leave him by blaming him for things that happen in our lives instead of loving him.  We leave him by pushing him aside instead of being loyal to him.  We leave him by making excuses and making exceptions instead of keeping our promises to him.  And when he patiently invites us to study his Word, sometimes we leave him sitting there all alone because we have better things to do.  And when he happily bends his ears to hear our prayers, sometimes we leave him waiting there all alone because we were just too tired.  And when he opens up his arms to wrap us in his love, sometimes we leave him standing there all alone because we saw something else a little more enticing and a little more appealing.  And just like he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus is left alone by those who should love him, those who should be loyal to him, those who have every reason to keep their promises to him.  But we haven’t.  And we don’t.  And we won’t.

Never Alone Again

            That night in Gethsemane, when Jesus was physically abandoned by those closest to him, he remained alone until his death.  When he stood in front of the high priest in that kangaroo court that morning, who was there to defend him as the chief priests and the teachers of the law threw accusations against him?  No one.  He was all alone.  When Jesus stood in front of Pontius Pilate and was grilled by the Roman governor about who he was and what he had done, who was there to speak up on his behalf?  No one.  He was all alone.  When Jesus was thrown into the hands of the Roman soldiers and they beat him and hit him and crowned him and scourged him, who was there to fight for him?  No one.  He was all alone.  When he was there bleeding on the cross, who was there to ease his pain?  Some of his followers were there at that time but what were they going to do?  All they could do was watch.  Because no one could help Jesus.  He was all alone.  Even his own Father - God the Father - wouldn’t help him!  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus cried.  His own heavenly Father had abandoned him!  God himself had left him all alone.  And when Jesus did eventually die he was placed in a grave in which no one else had ever been laid.  So even in death, Jesus was all alone.

            But he had to be.  Jesus had to be all alone during those last few painful hours of his life on this earth so that we would never have to be alone again.  Jesus stood in the Garden without support, he stood on trial without an advocate, he stood on the steps of the Roman palace without sympathy, he hung on a cross without his Father, he died on that hill without a reprieve.  He suffered alone.  He died alone.  And he was buried alone.  But because he suffered alone, you won’t suffer alone.  Because he died alone, you won’t die alone.  Because he was buried alone, you will rise.  You are forgiven through Jesus’ loneliness.  You will live because of Jesus’ loneliness.  And you will join him in heaven forever along with the thousands upon thousands of believers and angels already there.  He did every for your salvation all alone so that you never have to be alone again.

            And that includes right now.  You are not alone right now and you never will be.  Because Jesus is right here.  He is sitting right next to you.  He stays awake in your bedroom while you sleep.  He bends his head down next to you while you cry in the corner.  He holds your hands in his while you pray.  He puts his arm around your waist and walks with you ever step of the way in this long, long life.  And he will never leave.  When no one else seems to love you, Jesus does.  When no one else can be trusted, Jesus can.  When no one else has kept their promises to you, Jesus will.  Because he knows exactly what it’s like to be left.  He knows what it’s like to be abandoned.  He knows what it’s like to be all alone.  And he will not let that happen to you.  No matter how you may feel at times, no matter what it might seem like at times, no matter what other people do to you at times, this fact will always remain: Jesus is with you.  Jesus has forgiven you.  Jesus will take you home.  You are not alone.  You are not alone.  You never were.

            Amen.

3/3/13 - Lent 3 - Luke 13:1-5

WOULDN'T IT BE NICE TO KNOW WHY?

Cracking the Code

            It was the year 1940.  The world was in the beginning stages of what is now called World War II and Hitler’s armies were trying to be held at bay by the Allied forces.  But as this war was going on, a group of Polish mathematicians were working in a place 50 miles north of London, England, far away from the fighting.  It was a top secret gathering of minds, unbeknownst to almost everyone else except for a handful of top officials.  Because these mathematicians were slowly breaking the code of the German’s “enigma” machines.  These devices were being used by the Germans to send and decipher classified communication in between their different armies throughout the world.  They thought the codes of their enigma machines could not be cracked, but through the hard work of a few individuals and a few more lucky breaks, the information that the German’s thought was so secret wasn’t anymore.

            And you can imagine how nice it was for the Allied commanders to know this information!  Troop movements, casualty counts, submarine placements, operation objectives… everything was starting to become known as the war went on and more codes were broken.  And because of this information the Allied forces were able to avoid some costly mistakes, they were able to steer clear of enemy ambushes, they were able to affectively see inside German headquarters and know what they were planning to do before it ever happened.  This valuable intelligence deciphered in the middle of the English countryside was given the code name “Ultra” - short for “ultra-secret” - and it revealed some very crucial information that the Allied generals would have never known otherwise.

            Wouldn’t it be nice if we had something like “Ultra” so that we could crack the code of the Lord’s enigma machine?  Wouldn’t it be nice to know what the Lord plans to do and how he plans to do it and especially why?  Wouldn’t you give anything to know why the Lord does some of the things that he does in this world, to look behind the scenes for a second, to take a peek into the Lord’s headquarters and see his plans and his strategies and the reasons behind them?  I don’t know anyone who doesn’t want to know “why” sometimes.  “Why are you letting this happen to me, Lord?”  “Why are you making that person go through that, Lord?”  “Why did you allow that terrible thing to happen, Lord?”  “I don’t understand… it doesn’t make sense… I can’t see why a loving and powerful God would let such an awful thing wreck so many good lives.”  It’d be nice to get some answers, wouldn’t it?  And even if we didn’t know everything, it’d be nice to know at least something!

Why?

            We’re not the first to have these kinds of questions.  Even people during the time of Jesus struggled with this issue.  They too wanted to know “why”.   Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.  Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

            “Why, Lord?  Why?  Why did God let Pilate kill those faithful Galileans and why did he allow that tower to fall down on those innocent people?  It doesn’t seem right!  It doesn’t seem fair!  It doesn’t seem to make sense!  Why, Lord?  Why?” 

            It’s understandable why these people took the opportunity to address these issues with Jesus.  I think we would have too!  If you had a chance to talk to Jesus personally, wouldn’t you ask him all sorts of questions about “why this” and “why that” and “why there” and “why now”?  I could probably come up with pages and pages of questions for Jesus that all started with the word “why.”  But do you know what Jesus could answer to every one of those questions?  He could answer: “Why not?  Why can’t I do those things?  Why shouldn’t I allow those things to happen?  You think I’m being unfair or cruel or unjust?  Think of what this world has done to me: I created a perfect universe for all people to live in at the time of Adam and Eve.  But they gave it all up for a bit of a piece of fruit.  But I was patient with them and I did not destroy them right away like I could have.  But then by the time I sent the Flood on this world there were only eight believers left!  But I was patient then too and started all over again with those eight Christians.  But then the Tower of Babel incident happened when the people of this world decided to ignore my command to spread out by trying to build a massive city.  But instead of wiping them off the face of the earth I spread them over the face of the earth by confusing their language.  And do I have to mention my own chosen Old Testament nation who rebelled against me time and time again?  Do have I have to mention the hundreds of nations throughout history that have been completely ungodly?  Do have I have to mention how bad the world is getting right now as it is spiraling out of control?  And I don’t have the right to do what I do and to allow what I allow?

            “And what about you?  You are Christians!  You are supposed to be the best of the best!  But are you going to stand there and tell me with a straight face that you have always been good and you have always been faithful and you have always been devoted to me in every way?  And now I somehow owe you a good life and I am obligated to make sure that nothing bad ever happens to and if it does I am being unfair?  And don’t tell me that you’ve tried your hardest.  I didn’t ask you to try, I asked for perfection.  And don’t tell me that you’ve done your best either!  Because if this is your ‘best,’ then your ‘best’ is nothing more than selfishness, laziness, anger, arrogance, and a general lack of respect for me and my Word.  And so whatever happens to you or anyone else in this life isn’t even close to what you deserve!  You ask me why I do these things and allow these things to happen.  I ask you ‘why not’”?

His Reason is Love

            Now, that’s what Jesus could say to us.  He would have every right to give us that kind of answer and he would be perfectly justified in doing so.  But that is not the answer he gives us.  And it wasn’t the answer he gave to that group of people who asked him about the murdered Galileans and the Tower of Siloam either.  Do you remember what he said?  “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.  Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem?  I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”  They weren’t worse sinners than anyone else.  They weren’t more guilty than anyone else.  They weren’t being punished by God for any heinous crimes they committed.  These things happened for the good of his children!  These things happened so that other people would wake up and see the seriousness of their sin!  These things happened to draw people closer to Christ.  And so in the end, the Lord allowed these things to happen because of his love.

             Isn’t that interesting?  “Why did you allow the Galileans to be murdered, Lord?”  “Because I love you!”  “Why did you allow that tower to fall on those people, Lord?”  “Because I love you!”  “Then why are you letting these things happen to me?  Why are you allowing these difficulties to affect my life?  Why are you letting these pains cause me so much trouble?”  “I know it’s hard sometimes,” your Lord quietly says.  “I know it’s not always easy.  I know that it might seem that you won’t make it out alive at times.  But I promise you that whatever I do and whatever I allow to happen, it’s only because I love you.  I love you more than anything in this world.  I love you like you were my only child.  And I would never do anything in this life that would not be beneficial for you and your faith.  Whatever I do I do for your good.”

            That’s tough to swallow, isn’t it?  That’s a difficult truth to be OK with.  Because experience tells you differently and what happens in this life makes you question the reality of Christ’s love.  But that’s always been the case: this sinful world makes it hard to see Christ’s love.  Think of Jesus’ disciples and his followers and his own mother on that late Friday evening: Jesus had been arrested, tried, tortured, executed, and buried all in less than 24 hours.  And there must have been at least a few of his followers that said to themselves, “Why, Lord?  Why?  I thought Jesus was the Savior!  I thought he was supposed to be the coming Messiah whom we’ve been waiting to see for thousands of years!  I thought he was God himself!  But now he’s dead!  He’s lying in a tomb!  How could that have happened?  It doesn’t make sense!  It doesn’t seem fair!  Why, Lord?  Why?” 

            But you know why that happened.  You know why those things occurred.  You know why Jesus was arrested and tried and tortured and executed and buried.  You know why he rose from the dead.  So you could be forgiven!  So you could be saved from the consequences of sin!  So you could look forward to an eternal life in heaven instead of an eternal death in hell!  These things happened for the good of the human race!  These things happened because God loves you.  You could even say that he loved you more than his own Son.

We Know Why but Not Always How

            And if God can take something so disastrous and so evil as the murder of the Son of God and turn that into something so spectacular as your salvation, what do you think he can do with the death of a handful of Galileans or the crumbling of a tower in Siloam?  What do you think he can do and is still doing with the crumbling of the twin towers in New York or the murder of Christians by Muslims?  What do you think he can do with natural disasters in third world countries or local disasters in our public schools?  What do you think he can do with the small and comparatively insignificant troubles and problems that you have to deal with on a daily basis in your own life?  Your God can use those different disasters and catastrophes and pains and problems in thousands of different ways for the good of his people!  And he does!  And whatever he decides to do you can be sure that he does it with you in mind.  Because he loves you.

            But it’d still be nice to get some of that WWII “Ultra” communication intelligence and crack the Lord’s enigma code, wouldn’t it?  It’d still be nice to look deeper into the mind of God because we don’t just want to know the “why,” do we?  We also want to know the “how”!  “How, Lord?  How?  If you are doing these things because you love me, then how are you working these things out for my good?”  But the Lord doesn’t always give us an answer to that question!  He simply says, “You’re just going to have to trust me on that.  I’m not going to give you all the details.  I’m not going to reveal to you all of my plans.  You’re just going to have to trust that I know what I’m doing and whatever I’m doing is for your good.  Trust me.”  And we can trust him, can’t we?  The Lord has proven his love to us for thousands of years and he has promised his love to us for the rest of eternity.  We have no reason to doubt him.  We have no reason to think anything different.  Because we know why he does what he does.  We know why he allows what he allows.  We know his reason is always love.  And that’s a nice thing to know.

            Amen.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!  For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.”  - Rom. 11:33, 36