4/28/13 - Easter 5 - 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

LOVE ISN'T SO EASY

Wedding Day: 1 Corinthians 13

            It’s Friday afternoon, someone you know is getting married, and you’ve been invited.  And so you show up to the church a few minutes before the ceremony and the room is packed.  You find a seat among friends and relatives and listen to the beautiful pre-service music being played as you wait.  The bride’s maids and the groom and his groomsmen are standing up front when finally the bride walks up the aisle and takes her place front and center.  The service begins, a few words are said by the one leading the service, and a reading from Scripture takes place.  And if you were to guess what part of the Bible is going to be read for this wedding service, what do you think it would be?  Inevitably, no matter what church you’re at, if it is at least a semi-Christian wedding, the part of the Bible that is picked to be read on this wedding day is probably going to be from 1 Corinthians 13: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

            And everyone there at the wedding thinks: “How wonderful!  How nice!  What beautiful words to spoken on a day like today!  Words about what love is supposed to be.  Words that explain to this young man and young woman how they are to treat each other throughout their marriage.  What a perfect part of Scripture for them to hear!  How fitting!”

            I’ve heard 1 Corinthians 13 at a lot of weddings.  But the more I’ve heard this section of Scripture being read at weddings throughout the years, the more I’ve thought to myself, “How depressing!  How discouraging!  What harsh words to read on a day like today!”  Because if the bride and groom actually listened to these words and thought about what they meant instead of gazing longingly into each other’s eyes, the potential bride or groom might be apt to say, “What a minute!  I’m not so sure about this anymore!  That is what love is?  That is what love is supposed to be?  Love doesn’t sound all that fun.  Love doesn’t sound like it’s too easy at all!”

Have We Ever Really Loved Anyone?

            Because look again at how the Holy Spirit speaks about love here.  He doesn’t say that love is a feeling - although feelings are a natural side effect love.  And he doesn’t say that love is happiness either.  The Holy Spirit says that love is hard work.  I’m going to read these few verses again from 1 Corinthians 13.  And when I get to a characteristic of  love that you find hard to carry out I want you to stop me, OK?  “Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud…”  Why hasn’t anyone stopped me yet?  Let me start again and I’m going to stop myself this time once I get to a part that I find difficult to carry out in my own life.  “Love is patient…”  I can’t go any farther.  I have to stop right there.  Because if love is patient, if love waits without getting irritated, if love puts up with ignorance and immaturity and incompetence without getting frustrated, then I’m not very loving at all!  The fact that real love is supposed to be patient means that I lack love and I can’t even get past this first description!  But for the sake of argument let’s assume I can actually do that and we can read on.

            “Love is patient.  Love is kind…”  I have to stop again.  Love is supposed to be kind: nice and caring and thoughtful.  I can think of a lot of people I have not been very nice or caring or thoughtful to in the past.  “Love does not envy.”  I envy.  “Love does not boast.”  I boast.  “Love is not proud.”  I’m unduly proud of myself all the time.  “It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”  I’m very rude, I’m perpetually self-absorbed, I’m constantly getting angry way too easily, and I’m always keeping a record of wrongs - especially against those people who I don’t really like!  “Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”  Wow.  True love, is not only difficult; it’s impossible!  There isn’t any way I have fulfilled even one of these characteristics of love, let alone all of them!  To love like the Bible defines love here would take every ounce of my energy and every ounce of my strength and every ounce of my concentration every second of every day and I still wouldn’t come close!  Love isn’t a fickle emotion.  Love is a hard choice.  Love isn’t so easy, is it?

            Maybe it’s a little easier for you than it is for me.  I would really like to think that you are better at this than I am.  I sincerely hope that you are able to fulfill these qualifications of love more often than I have been able to.  But if you are like me, if love isn’t so easy, where does that leave us?  Because God demands that we love with this kind of love.  “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22:39).  “Love your enemies” (Luke 6:35).  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34).  Throughout the Bible the Lord commands us that we are supposed to love everyone.  Not just put up with everyone, but actually love them with the kind of love God has shown to us.  And with the commands of our Lord ringing in our ears and the description of love from 1 Corinthians 13 staring us in the face, can we do anything else but throw our hands up in the air and say, “We can’t!  We can’t do it!”  And what about that bride and that groom on their wedding day who hear these very words just moments before they dedicate their lives to each other?  “I can’t love my spouse like that!  I’m too selfish.  I’m too hopeless.  I’m too backwards.  There is no reason that my future spouse should want to marry me!  Because I know I am not going to love the way I am supposed to love!”  And if we know from the outset that we are not going to be able to do what the Lord requires us to do, what is the Lord going to do?

This is Love…

            The Lord is not going to be happy, there’s no doubt about that.  He isn’t pleased when his commands are not kept.  But he has also planned for it too.  He knew that we wouldn’t live up to the love of 1 Corinthians 13.  He knew that we wouldn’t love others as he has loved us.  He knew that we wouldn’t even love him like we ought.  But instead of lowering the standard so that we could keep it, he sent his Son to keep the standard for us: “This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:10). 

            Our love is not that standard.  Our love does not set the bar.  God’s love sets the bar.  And the bar he has set is the crossbar on which his Son was crucified.  That is the kind of love that God has shown to us: he gave up his Son for sinners.  That’s the kind of love that Jesus has shown to us: he gave up himself up for sinners.  What Jesus did for us exemplifies every one of those characteristics of love in 1 Corinthians 13, doesn’t it?  “Love is patient.”  Our Savior of love was very patient as he lived among those who hated him in this world.  “Love is kind.”  Our Savior of love was extremely kind to those who didn’t deserve kindness.  “Love does not envy or boast or brag.”  Our Savior of love did not envy those who had more, in fact he gave it all away.  He did not boast about his power nor was he prideful about his position, instead he hid it in the form of a servant.  He was not rude when his enemies mocked him, he was not self-seeking when they taunted him to come down from the cross, he was not easily angered even in the middle of being tortured.  And there is no doubt that our Savior of love kept no record of wrongs because that was what the cross was all about: our “wrongs” were wiped off our record and placed on the record of Christ!  Our Savior of love didn’t delight in evil but rejoiced in the truth.  The love of our Savior always protected those who were his, always trusted his Father’s will, always kept a sure hope in the final outcome, and always persevered even through death itself.  The love of our Savior never failed.  Jesus fulfilled every one of these characteristics of love.  And this love wasn’t easy!  It wasn’t just a matter-of-fact kind of love.  It was a real love.  It was a strenuous love.  It was a bloody love.  But it was the love that his Father had commanded.  And it was the only love that could do what we needed him to do. 

Love is a Goal

            And what a relief that is!  What a relief to know that the love of our Savior covers over the lack of love from us.  That his love breaks through even when our love breaks down.  That his love stands strong even when our love falls on its face.  That his love never fails even when our love is nothing but failure.  And now our loving Savior says this to us whom he has loved: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34).  And as loved and forgiven children of our Savior we say, “OK!  I will gladly do my best!  Because you loved me with so much love, I will try to show that same kind of love to others.  I will attempt to be patient and kind.  I will not envy or boast or brag.  I will not be rude or self-seeking; I will not become easily angered or keep a record of wrongs.  I will not delight in evil but will rejoice in the truth.  I will always protect, always trust, always hope, and always preserve.  And if and when I fail to show that kind of love, O Lord, I know that your love will forgive me.  And being renewed and rejuvenated with your love, I will try again - and again and again - to show you how much I appreciate everyone you have done.”

            Love is the goal.  It’s not a fully achievable goal, of course.  None of us will ever reach that level where we can legitimately say: “I did it!  I’ve fulfilled every characteristic of love!  Finally I’m there!”  But it still is something we aim for because we know that it is God-pleasing and it is a wonderful way to thank our Lord for the love he has shown to us.  It’s still not easy, mind you!  Love isn’t going to be a walk in the park!  But it wasn’t a walk in the park for Jesus either.  Love was death on the cross for him.  But if he was willing to show that kind of 1 Corinthians 13 love for you, doesn’t that motivate you to show at least a little bit of that 1 Corinthians 13 love to others? 

Love is the Cross

            Chances are the next time you hear 1 Corinthians 13 being read, you’ll be sitting in a church at another wedding.  And everyone is going to be filled with a happiness and an energy and an excitement for the bride and groom standing up front.  And that’s OK!  Those words aren’t completely out of place at a Christian wedding.  Because as those words are read you know that although the bride and groom will not perfectly fulfill that kind of love, it will still be a God-pleasing faint reflection of the love of Christ.  And above their heads, above the altar, above the one reading from 1 Corinthians 13, will be a cross.  The center of the worship service, the center of their future marriage, the center of love.  Because only there is this love fulfilled.  Only there is love real.  Only there, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

            Amen.

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”  - 2 Thess. 2:16-17

4/21/13 - Easter 4 - John 10:22-30

SECURE IN HIS HAND

Security Breach

            Three killed.  176 injured.  Hundreds of thousands affected.  At 2:50pm last Monday afternoon, two bombs were detonated near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.  And it created instant chaos.  Because the security of both runners and spectators had been breached.  The safety of American citizens was in question.  And the confidence of millions of people was shaken.  And although the men who were responsible for this attack have been killed or apprehended, there are many people who still don’t feel as safe and secure as they once did.  So next year when the Boston Marathon is held once again, do you think that there will be extra security for that event?  You can count on it.  Next year do you think that there will be less spectators standing next to the finish line to watch the race in person?  Undoubtedly.  Next year do you think that those who actually do participate in the race will be a little more paranoid about what could happen again?  Probably.  And you can bet that steps will be taken by race officials to reassure both runners and spectators that everything is safe and they don’t have to be afraid.

            But we’ve gotten used to extra measures being taken for the good of the safety and security of people in this country, haven’t we?  When you go to the airport the TSA has one job: to make sure that no bombs, no weapons, and no terrorists end up on an American flight ever again.  And in order to carry out that goal, every bag is x-rayed; every shoe is inspected; every person is monitored.  But that doesn’t mean that air travel is completely secure, does it?  Because people still slip through, items still go undetected, incidents still occur.  And when they do the confidence of an entire nation is shaken once again.

            That’s true on a personal level too.  You can lock the doors of your car, but someone could still break in.  You can have a security system on your house, but that doesn’t guarantee robbers will always be kept out.  You can chain up a bike, password protect an online account, or place valuable items in a safe; but none of these attempts at security is able to supply you with complete confidence that nothing bad will happen.   Because bad things do happen, don’t they!  We live in a sin-filled world where there is no escaping the awful and the terrible and the horrific.  We are vulnerable.  Whether you want to think about it or not: you are vulnerable.  But bombs and break-ins and catastrophes are not what you have to worry about the most; there is a much nastier enemy that attacks you from within.

We Are Vulnerable

            You may be able to avoid disasters for a while.  You may be able to protect yourself from dangers from time to time.  You may even be able to safeguard yourself from various sicknesses.  But even if you can do those things, you cannot defend yourself against yourself.  You are vulnerable to that wicked inner disposition called your sinful nature.  You were born with it and you will never be able to get rid of it for as long as you live on this earth.  It is that corrupted character, that sin-laced personality that we received from our parents and from their parents before them and from their parents before them.  It eats away at good intentions and infects attitudes and contaminates thoughts.  It is sin in its most basic form and it permeates everything we do.  And not only are we vulnerable to this enemy - sometimes we don’t mind!

            Sometimes we allow our sinful nature to take over!  We open the door and let it take the lead!  We welcome it into our lives because sin is fun or exciting or easy or a release.  And it’s oh, so natural, isn’t it?  It’s so natural to give in.  Sometimes you don’t even realize it.  You just do it or say it or think it and, before you know it, you have gone against the Word of your Lord once again.  Now you may honestly want to do better at times.  As a Christian, you may honestly attempt to avoid doing what you’re not supposed to do.  But inevitably the attacks break through and the assaults break down and your determination wears thin and your resolve wears out.  And we cannot hold sin back.  We cannot keep our sinful nature at bay.  Our vulnerability is exposed time and time again.  Our spiritual security is breached.  And any confidence we have in ourselves is shaken to its very core because we know that we cannot do what we’re supposed to do or control what we are supposed to control.  We are weak and we are feeble and we are incapable.  We are a lot like sheep in a way. 

We Are Secure in Our Shepherd’s Hand

            Domesticated sheep are weak and feeble and incapable.  But most of all, they are vulnerable.  They do not have sharp teeth to fend off an attack.  They do not have claws to use in defense.  They do not have wings to fly away, strong legs to run away, or hands and feet to climb away.  And they don’t have a whole lot of common sense to find a way to protect themselves either.  They must completely rely on the one who watches over them.  They are totally at the mercy of their Shepherd.

            So it is no surprise that throughout Scripture we are compared to the sheep and Jesus is compared to our Shepherd.  Because he is the one who watches over us and we are at his mercy.  We need our Shepherd; we are dependent on our Shepherd; we would be lost without our Shepherd.  And so this is what our Good Shepherd says, “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.   I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.”  We are vulnerable on our own, but we are safe in the hands of our Shepherd.  We are weak on our own, but we are protected in the hands of our Shepherd.  We are defenseless on our own against the attacks of sin and Satan and the disasters of this world, but we are secure in the hands of our Shepherd.  In his hands we can rest easy.  In his hands we can breathe a sigh of relief.  In his hands we cannot be touched.  Because think about what Jesus did with those very hands he now holds you in:

            With those hands he healed the sick.  With those hands he held the children.  With those hands he touched eyes and ears and skin and made them whole again.  With those hands he prayed for you.  With those hands he poured out his blood for you.  With those hands he folded up the burial cloth and set it aside when he rose from the tomb.  The hands of our Good Shepherd have won our salvation - and there are the holes to prove it!  And he holds you in those same blood-stained hands as we speak.  He wraps you tight against him like a child with his teddy bear and never lets you go.  And according to his own promise: no one will be able to snatch you out of his hand.  No one.  He is loving enough to make that claim and powerful enough to keep it.  He will give you eternal life, you will never be destroyed, because your Shepherd says so.  And if your Shepherd says something, you know it will be true.

           

We Can Live in Complete Confidence

            From a very early age all three of our kids each found one blanket that they liked the most.  They had plenty of blankets to choose from, but each one of them gravitated toward a specific blanket that they liked better than the rest.  They have slept with those blankets almost every single night of their lives.  They have cuddled with those blankets, wiped their noses on those blankets, and have carried those blankets with them for years.  Whenever they would get hurt, their blanket was one of the first things they wanted.  Whenever they would get sick, their blanket was right there by their side.  Whenever they were tired, their blanket was instantly in their hands or under their heads.  In fact, all three of those blankets are still in use today.  It’s what people call a “security blanket.”  It gives them comfort and helps them calm down and allows them to sleep.  For other children they might find their security in a stuffed animal or a pillow or another special item in their room.  For most children it is also their parents.

            When the preschoolers arrive on Tuesday and Thursday mornings or when other kids arrive with their parents on Friday mornings for Mostly Music, I’ll say hi to the kids if I’m in the room.  And especially if the kids don’t know me that well they’ll hide behind their parents’ legs or they’ll grab their parents’ hands or they might even try to climb up into their parents’ arms.  There’s security there in the arms of a parent.  There’s safety and comfort there when holding a parent’s hand or hiding behind their legs.  Because a child knows that is where he or she is safe.  That is where everything is going to be alright.

            There will be times in your life when things get scary.  There will be times in your life when things get out of control and you don’t know what to do.  There will be times in your life when temptations get the best of you and your sinful nature overpowers you.  Where will your security blanket be at times like those?  What will be your stuffed animal or favorite pillow?  Whose legs will you hide behind?  Whose arms will you climb into?  Whose hand will hold? 

            Your spouse may be able to comfort you a little bit, your children might be able to offer some support at times, your own abilities and determination might be able to take the edge off, but the only real security you have is in the hand of your Shepherd.  He is the only one who can tame the scary.  He is the only one who can control the chaos.  He is the only one who can and already has conquered the temptations and the sinful nature that nag you ever day.  The hand of your Good Shepherd is the only one who can keep you safe.

            So don’t wander too far away from him!  Don’t venture out on your own!  And when you do realize that there is a little too much distance between you and your Shepherd, get back by his side as quickly as possible!   And that means getting back into the Bible.  Reading it, studying it, listening to it, singing it, praying it.  Because that is where your Shepherd is: in his Word.  That is how he comforts you, that is how he protects you, that is how he holds you in his hands.  And that is where he wants you when things get ugly.

            Where will you be when things get ugly?  Where will you be when the next bomb goes off in this country?  Where will you be when the next attack comes?  Where will you be when your life is in danger?  You don’t know exactly where you’ll be, do you?  Because you don’t know when something like that is going to occur or why it will happen or where.  But you do know this: no matter what bomb, no matter what attack, no matter what danger lies ahead of you in this life and no matter where you will be, you will be securely in the hand of your Shepherd.  Because he is holding you in his hand right now.  He will give you eternal life and you will never perish.  And no one will be able to snatch you out of his hand.  You can live this life in confidence.  You do not have to be afraid.  Because safely in the hand of your Shepherd, you cannot be touched.  Safely in the hand of your Good Shepherd, everything is going to be alright.

            Amen.

“May the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way.”  - 2 Thess. 3:16

4/14/13 - Easter 3 - Revelation 5:11-14

ARE YOU HAPPY?

What’s Important to You?

            Are you happy right now?  That’s kind of a tough question, isn’t it?  Because there are varying degrees of happiness.  You can be a little happy, kind of happy, fairly happy, really happy, or completely overjoyed!  And your happiness could depend a lot on what has already happened to you today, couldn’t it?  For instance: did you get a good night’s sleep or did you spill coffee on your pants this morning?   Your happiness could depend on what you are anticipating in the near future: are you looking forward to a nice relaxing afternoon or do you still have so much work to do that there aren’t enough hours left in the day?  It could depend what has happened in the past: have you already received a nice tax return check or are your taxes still spread out on the table waiting to be done?  There are a lot of factors that can play into how happy you are on any given day.  And it can change in an instance!  Unless, of course, your happiness is based on the most important things that never change…

              My wife and I were just reminiscing the other day about the weekend we got married.  It was the middle of June in Denver and people were coming in from out of town all over the country.  For many of them it was their first time in Colorado and so they were planning their summer vacations around our wedding.  Unfortunately, the weather that weekend ended up being really cold and windy and rainy the entire time - in fact it was actually snowing in the mountains in the middle of June!  And so when most of the guests arrived the day before the wedding, they couldn’t even see the beautiful scenery, much less enjoy it, and they were a little disappointed.  But I wasn’t.  It didn’t bother me at all because I was getting married!  The bad weather didn’t affect my happiness in the least because that wasn’t really all that important to me at the moment.  The next morning, one of my brothers who was my best man had planned on taking me sky diving - unbeknownst to me - on the morning of my wedding.  And it would have been great!  But the weather was so rotten that our outing was canceled and he was a little disappointed.  But I wasn’t.  It would have been fun but my happiness wasn’t affected because I was getting married later that afternoon!  The day after the wedding it was still terrible weather and some of our friends who had decided to go tent camping in Estes Park were snowed on and had to leave early.  They were obviously a little disappointed.  But I wasn’t.  The snow and the rain and the wind didn’t really matter too much to me because I had just gotten married!  No matter what was going on around me, no matter what turned out well and what didn’t, no matter how bad the weather was or how inconvenient it made other people’s travel plans, my happiness did not diminish in the least because there was something far more important that I was looking forward to.  I was happy.  And there was very little that could have changed it.

We Have the Celebration of Heaven Ahead

            There is plenty of bad “weather” throughout our lives: plans that don’t turn out as you thought they would, blessings you once enjoyed that are now taken away, events you anticipate that don’t end up happening, people you have enjoyed life with whom are no longer in this life.  But no matter what happens around you, no matter what snow and rain and wind may affect your life, there is something far more important that you can look forward to - something that fills you with the ultimate joy.  And that is heaven.  You have an eternity of glory with your God to look forward to, a festival of majestic proportions that dwarfs any moment of joy on this earth.  A place where hundreds of thousands of angels sing in one powerful choir, a home where every Christian who has gone before you now lives the life they never had here and worships in a way they never could before, a Paradise that has at its center Jesus himself in the flesh.  Can you start to visualize what this celebration in heaven is going to be like?  Can you begin to comprehend the overwhelming joy that will fill your heart when that day arrives?

            The book of Revelation gives us a sneak peek from time to time into what that experience will be like.  And no matter what it will be like, there is no doubt that we will be completely overcome with happiness.  Then I looked [John said] and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.  In a loud voice they sang: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”  The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

            A grand and magnificent celebration of our God.  A glorious victory party.  A festival of praises and cheers and angelic roars that will echo throughout eternity.  And you will be right there in the middle of it!  You will be caught up in that moment of unparalleled ecstasy with the almighty Lord himself!  And that moment will never end.  This is what is waiting for you.  This is what your God has prepared for you.  And through faith in Jesus you know it is true.

What’s More Important than Heaven?

            So why aren’t you always happy?  If that truly is what you have to look forward to, if heaven really has been secured for you by our God, why aren’t you perpetually happy on this earth?  How could anything possibly dampen your mood?  How could anything be more important to you than what God has already done?  How could anything be more meaningful to you than what he has guaranteed?  But we aren’t always happy, are we?  We aren’t always filled with joy.  Because sometimes our happiness is tied up in something other than our Lord.

            What happens when you get sick?  Are you happy then?  Are you still overflowing with just as much joy when you are sick as when you were healthy?  Or is your happiness directly proportional to how you feel that day?  What happens when you have a financial setback?  Are you happy then?  Are you still overflowing with just as much joy at that point as at those times when you had a little extra?  Or are you only happy when you are financially secure?  What happens when a Christian you love is no longer with you?   Are you happy then?  Are you still overflowing with just as much joy at their death as when that person was here?  Or is some of your happiness dependent on someone else other than Jesus?  Our happiness goes up and down, doesn’t it?  Our happiness is fickle and unstable.  Because our happiness isn’t always based on Jesus and his promises; sometimes our happiness is found in other things.

            “Do not love the world or anything in the world,” the Bible says.  “If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).  When anything in this life takes the place of our God and becomes the source of even some of our joy, our happiness, and our contentment, we have effectively broken the very first Commandment: “You shall have no other gods.”  And I will be the first to raise my hand and say that I have done just that.  I break the first Commandment every day because the Lord and his promises are not always the only source of my happiness in this world.  My mood and my attitude sway with the weather, results, opportunities, accomplishments, disappointments, plans, and people.  I do not have a joy that is constant and unchanging because my joy is not always and only found in Christ.  I look to other things and other places and other people and forget about the most important things of all.  And so it’s not a surprise that my happiness is not stable.  Because everything else changes, everything else fails or frustrates or fades away.  And I inevitably end up disappointed because I have not relied on my God.

There’s Nothing More Important to Jesus than You

            When the apostle John saw that scene in his vision and heard all of those angels and elders and living creatures singing to their God, do you remember what they sang?  “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”  Why were they singing that?  Out of all the songs they could have sung, why were they singing those words?  And why will you sing that with them one day soon?  Because you find your happiness in Jesus and Jesus found his happiness in you.  Jesus found his joy in your forgiveness, in your salvation, in your eternal life.  And so he did the only thing that he could have done: like a lamb led to the chopping block he was slaughtered for your sins.  Jesus grabbed you out of this world of pain and sorrow and sin and provided you a place in Paradise through his punishment.  He ensured you a life with him forever in heaven by leaving heaven.   Jesus became the sacrificial sheep for sheep like us who had wandered away.  Jesus displayed the pinnacle act of his love for us: self-sacrifice.  So now you don’t have to sacrifice a thing.  Because you are forgiven.  Your record is clean.  Your soul is saved.   And no matter how unfaithful we have been and no matter how many things we have placed above our God in the past, the Lamb who was slaughtered has marked our way to heaven with drops of blood from his own hands.  And because of the Lamb we get to leave this place one day.  Because of the Lamb we get to leave all of this pain and sorrow and sin behind.  Because of the Lamb we get to go home.  And we will be happy forever because Jesus found his happiness in us.

            “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!... To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”  One day we will sing that together in heaven and there will be hardly anything else we’ll want to sing.  Because by then our joy will be complete and we will remember with absolute clarity exactly what Jesus did to get us there, exactly what Jesus sacrificed to carry us there, and exactly who Jesus is to keep us there.  And there will be no more crying and no more pain and no more sorrow because the happiness we will have in Christ will never fade away.

Your Happiness is Secured Forever

            And there’s no reason why we can’t enjoy at least a little bit of that happiness right now!  I know that we live in a world filled with sin.  I know that there are plenty of setbacks and disappointments.  We will all certainly get sick again at some point.  We will all probably have financial difficulties of some kind.  We will all have to deal with the death and departure of those we love.  But those unpleasant experiences we have to go through in this life are nothing more than cloud cover on your wedding day, a stubbed toe on the morning your child is being born, a hangnail en route to a week-long vacation… Those little things don’t matter!  They don’t have to have any bearing on your happiness because the most important things in your life are secure!  Your forgiveness is firm, your salvation is solidified, and your eternal life is just as certain now as on that day your Lord will bring you to heaven for the very first time. 

            There is no reason not to be happy!  As a Christian there is no reason you shouldn’t be completely overjoyed!  Because you know where you’re headed.  You know who will take you there.  And you know who is watching over you until you get there.  Nothing can shake our happiness now.  Nothing.  Because our joy is in Jesus and he does not let us down.

            Amen.

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” - Rev. 5:13

4/7/13 - Easter 2 - Genesis 15:1-6

BELIEVING THE IMPOSSIBLE

We Can Understand Thomas

            Thomas just could not believe the impossible.  And it’s hard to blame him!  It’s hard to fault Thomas for not believing something so outlandish as a person rising from the dead!  Thomas had been the only one who wasn’t there that Easter evening.  He had been the only one of the 11 remaining disciples who hadn’t locked himself in an upstairs room hiding from the Jews.  But soon after that night he met up with the disciples again and they told him how Jesus had actually appeared to them and had proven that he was alive.  But Thomas was skeptical.  Thomas wasn’t buying it.  And, truthfully, I don’t think I would have either if I were him. 

            “So, let me get this straight,” I can imagine myself saying to them.  “While you guys were in a house, all crammed into one room with the doors bolted shut, undoubtedly working yourselves up with a bunch of conspiracy theories, after a long weekend of not getting hardly any sleep at all, and with various people filling your minds with stories about how they had apparently seen Jesus at different times and in different places earlier in the day, Jesus himself - the one whom we saw crucified, the one whose corpse was taken down from the cross, the one whose grave is within walking distance - that Jesus somehow magically and physically appeared inside the room you were in and talked to you?  Really?  Excuse me for being a pessimist, but I find that a little hard to believe.  Look, I know he raised other people from the dead when he was alive, but this is not the same thing.  No one can raise himself from the dead.  No one.  That is impossible.  The only way I’ll believe you is if I stick my finger into the actual nail holes in his hands and his feet and can slide my hand into the gash in his side.”

            I understand Thomas.  I get why he wouldn’t believe what the other disciples told him.  Because although I would like to think that I would instantly accept the greatest of God’s miracles, the fact of the matter is, I would probably be more like Thomas: skeptical, cynical, doubtful.  Because believing the impossible is… well, impossible.  It is impossible to believe the impossible if it is left up to us.

We Marvel at Abraham

            And so that’s why we marvel at a man like Abraham.  Unlike Thomas, Abraham believed the impossible and seemingly without missing a beat!  The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”  But Abram said, “O Sovereign Lord, what can you give me since I remain childless and the one who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”  And Abram said, “You have given me no children; so a servant in my household will be my heir.”  Then the word of the Lord came to him: “This man will not be your heir, but a son coming from your own body will be your heir.”  He took him outside and said, “Look up at the heavens and count the stars—if indeed you can count them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”  Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

            Abraham was a relatively old man by this time - probably in his mid 80s.  And not only that, but his elderly wife Sarah was physically unable to bear children.  The Bible says that she was “barren” which means that there was probably something physically wrong that prevented her from having a child.  And so you can see the dilemma Abraham was in.  He would never have a son who would inherit everything that the Lord had blessed him with throughout the years, including the Promised Land that he was standing on.  But the Lord had impossible plans in mind.  And he promised Abraham that despite his wife’s physical condition, regardless of their age, and no matter what experience had told Abraham was possible and probable in the past, Abraham’s physical descendants would one day number the stars in the sky.  And Abraham believed the impossible.

            Abraham believed even though it wasn’t anything Abraham could see.  It wasn’t anything Abraham could touch.  It wasn’t anything he could prove, logically satisfy, or intellectually comprehend.  God’s promise was impossible.  But Abraham believed the impossible anyway.  And we marvel at that, don’t we?  How could he believe the impossible to be true?  Because he wasn’t an idiot.  He wasn’t naïve or clueless or brainwashed.  Abraham was a very smart, a very intelligent, a very experienced, and a very thoughtful man.  And so how could he possibly believe that not only would he be able to produce a child in his old age, and not only would his wife be able to bear a child in her old age when she had never been able to before, but also that his descendants would rival the stars in the sky?  How could Abraham believe the impossible?  The short answer is: he couldn’t.  At least not on his own.

We are Incapable of Believing on Our Own

            No one is capable of believing the impossible on their own.  Because, contrary to popular opinion, we are not born with faith to believe the impossible.  Faith is not like your mind or your heart that you have from the very beginning and you can apply it to whatever you want.  “I like this or I want this or I feel this way or I’m going to decide to do this…”  Faith doesn’t work like that.  I know that’s how people talk in our society now, but it’s misleading.  Because you might hear someone say, “Oh, you just have to have faith that the weather will be good tomorrow.”  Or you might hear someone else say, “Believe in yourself; you can do it!”  But that kind of “faith” and that kind of “believing” is nothing more than wishful thinking and self-confidence.  Wishful thinking and self-confidence is not how the Bible describes faith.  Faith according to God is a sure knowledge that something God says or does is true even though you can’t see it, explain it, prove it, or logically figure it out.  Faith is sometimes directly contrary to your experience, your logic, your intelligence, and your common sense. 

            And so when the Bible says something like: Jesus was born from a virgin girl, our experience wants to step in and say, “What a minute!  That can’t happen!  That’s not physically possible so that can’t be true!”  And when the Bible says something like: When Jesus died on the cross, he took away every sin you have ever committed, our logic wants to interrupt and say, “No!  That doesn’t make any sense!  Someone else’s death cannot erase your faults!  That’s ridiculous!”  And when the Bible says something like: Jesus rose from the dead three days after he died, our intelligence wants to jump up and scream, “Impossible!  No one comes back to life after three days in a grave!  That is nothing more than a tall tale, a myth made up by fanatics two thousand years ago!”  And when the Bible says something like: Jesus is now in heaven, a perfect Paradise where everyone who believes in him will one day live forever, our common sense wants pull out its hair, “Are you kidding me?  Where is the proof that this place exists?  Where are the facts?  Where is the evidence?  Some ancient book can’t make an outrageous claim like that without backing it up!”  Our minds and our hearts and our feelings - all of those things that we have been born with - do not allow us to believe in Jesus or his Word.  Because those things do not believe; they think and feel and react.  Faith believes.  But we are born without faith; and without it, we are lost.

We are Given the Gift of Faith

            So how is it that Abraham believed?  If no one is born with faith, how could Abraham believe anything, let alone believe the impossible?  Abraham was able to believe the impossible because he was given faith as a gift by God.  That is the only way anyone receives faith: by God’s gracious gift.  And we know that is the way it is because the Bible says this, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves - it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8-9). Faith is a gift from God.  And how does he give you that gift?  “Faith comes from hearing the message” (Rom. 10:17), the Bible also says.  God gives people the gift of faith through the message about Jesus written down in his Word.  So when a person reads the Bible, hears it, studies it, or is baptized with its word and promises, God is able to give the gift of faith to a person’s lost soul.  He has given the gift of faith to your lost soul in the same.  And so through this gift of faith, you now believe the impossible.

            Your faith now says to your experience: I know someone can’t be born of a virgin girl, but the Bible says that Jesus was, and so it’s true.  Your faith says to your logic: I know that someone else’s death usually doesn’t have an effect on the sins of others, but Jesus’ death did, and so I am forgiven.  Your faith says to your intelligence: I know that the laws of nature make it impossible for someone to rise from the dead after three days, but Jesus did, and so I am saved.  Your faith says to your common sense: I know that I cannot prove the existence of heaven; there is no evidence; there are no facts outside of these pages of the Bible; but Jesus said there is such a place, and because of what he did for me, that’s where I will one day be.  The faith that God has given you believes.  It doesn’t just wish; it isn’t merely self-confidence.  Faith believes that Jesus is your Savior; faith believes in everything that he has done; faith believes in everything that he promises.  Faith believes in anything coming from God’s Word, even the impossible.

We are Credited with Righteousness

            And so as Abraham looked up into the sky that night and saw the thousands upon thousands of stars lining the heavens, he believed the impossible.  With that gift of faith from his God, he knew that what God promised was true despite with his experience, logic, intelligence, and common sense were screaming.  But he not only believed that his descendants would grow to that uncountable number, he also believed in another promise God had given him: that all nations on earth would be blessed through him.  Because from his descendants would come the Christ, the Messiah, the chosen Savior of the world.  This was another incredible promise that the Lord had given to Abraham.  A promise he would never see happen.  A promise he could only dream about.  But Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.

            Did you catch that?  This is the most mind-boggling part of this entire story!  Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.  God gave Abraham the gift of faith to believe in his impossible promises.  And because Abraham believed, God then considered him righteous - holy, blameless, sinless, perfect - in his sight on account of the gift God himself had given him!  God gave Abraham credit for the gift God had given Abraham!  The grace of God is astounding, is it not?  Not only does God give you the gift of faith to believe in your Savior, but then he counts that faith as perfection so that you can be accepted into heaven!  We can’t be perfect like we’re supposed to be!  We can’t be sinless, pure, holy, or righteous on our own.  But God counts the faith he has given us as just as good. 

            And so in the end we don’t do anything.  We are going to go to heaven and we didn’t do a single thing on our own to make it happen!  Jesus did it all!  1) He gave us himself as the sacrifice.  2) He gave us the gift of faith to believe it.  3) He counts that faith as our ticket to heaven.  The Lord’s love and his grace and his generosity seem too good to be true, don’t they?  In fact, it almost seems impossible.  But thanks to our Lord, we actually believe in the impossible because, through faith, we know that really nothing is impossible with God.

            Amen.

“May the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us, and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”  - 2 Thess. 1:12

3/31/13 - Easter Sunday - Luke 24:1-8

IT WAS ALL PART OF THE PLAN

Death was Part of the Plan

            Are you ready to die?  Is that a weird question to ask on Easter Sunday?  But I’m serious: Are you ready to die?  Are you prepared for death to come at any time?  Because it will.  It’s inevitable: one day you will die.  Whether it’s tomorrow or next year or in 50 years, chances are you are not going to avoid death.  Are you ready for it?

            Some of you may have made plans for that event already.  Some of you have probably picked out the plot of ground you’d like to be buried in.  Some of you may have even chosen your casket and have paid all of the mortuary fees.  But even then, it’s still hard to plan for death, isn’t it?  Because you usually don’t know when you are going to die and you usually don’t know how you are going to die.  And so it’s hard to plan for something like that.  You can make preparations to some extent, but are you ever really ready for the moment your life ends?

            Jesus was ready to die.  Not only because he was expecting it, but because he knew exactly when he was going to die and exactly how he was going to die!  In fact, he predicted it!  Time and time again in the months leading up to his death, he told his disciples and his followers exactly what would happen to him, exactly who would do it, and exactly what he would accomplish.  It was all part of the plan.  It was all part of God’s plan of salvation to win forgiveness for the sins of the people of this world.  And so Jesus was ready to die because his death was the plan!

Death is a Consequence

            Which is a little bit strange, isn’t it?  Death usually isn’t the part of anyone’s plan.  A doctor’s plan is not that his patient dies on the operating table; he’s planning to avoid death at all costs!  A child’s plan is not that his cousin is going to die that afternoon; death is not even going to cross his mind.  A woman does not plan to get into a car wreck in which her passengers suffer fatal injuries; instead she drives safely and alertly so that nothing as bad as death will happen.  The death of someone you care about is never part of the plan.  It is not something we want to happen because death is not only the end of life, it is the enemy of life.

            Death isn’t a pleasant experience to deal with.  It’s sad and scary and depressing.  Death can be frightening when someone is on the verge of it themselves and horrifying when witnessed by someone else.  Death isn’t naturally good because death, when it comes right down to it, is a consequence of sin. 

            At first, there was no death.  When God created this world and everything in it, death did not exist.  Adam and Eve and all of their descendants were supposed to live forever in this perfect world.  But then, of course, Adam and Eve sinned.  They disobeyed God and infected themselves and this entire creation with the effects of sin.  And suddenly there were pains and difficulties, troubles and disasters.  And in place of eternal life there was inevitable death.  Plants died, animals died, people died.  And up until this day that is still the way it is.  Death was not part of the original plan, but now it has become a normal part of this sinful world.  And the fact that you and I are going to die is proof that we are completely filled with sin - by our own fault - and must face the consequences.  Death is a direct result of sin.

            But if that’s true, then why did Jesus die?  If death is a consequence of sin and Jesus didn’t sin, then why did he have to face death?  Jesus had to face death because that was part of the plan!  Jesus came to this earth as true God in the form of a human being to take our place, to be our substitute.  Jesus wasn’t here to have a nice life or to gain fame and popularity; Jesus wasn’t here as a good example for us to try to follow; Jesus was here to step in front of the bullet for us.  Jesus was here to do what we could not.  Jesus was here so that he would be treated like the sinner.  He was here to shoulder the full effects of sin.  And so Jesus was here to die.  It was all part of the plan.  He came to die in a specific way at a specific time for a specific reason.  But his plan wasn’t just to face death; his plan was also to defeat death.  Jesus had always planned to rise from the dead.  Because not only had he predicted it, that’s what we needed him to do.

Life was Part of the Plan

            Life was part of the plan.  Life again.  And so on that first Easter Sunday morning, that’s exactly what happened.   On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb.  They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus.  While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them.  In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead?  He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee:  ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’”  Then they remembered his words.

            Jesus wasn’t there!  He had risen!  Just like he said!  He had planned to suffer, he had planned to die, he had planned to be buried, he had planned to rise.  But the women who went to the tomb that morning had forgotten the plan!  They didn’t realize that was what Jesus had to do for our salvation.  Because if they had found Jesus body lying in the tomb that morning, if Jesus body remained in that grave on Easter Sunday, then we wouldn’t be here today.  We wouldn’t be gathering together as believers at all because we would not have anything to believe in.  Our God would still be dead, the predictions he made would have proven false, and the promises he had given to us could never come true.  Jesus had to rise from the dead.  Jesus had to beat death, because if he didn’t, we wouldn’t.  But because he did, we will. 

Your Life is the Only Plan

            Jesus didn’t just rise from the dead just for himself.  This was not simply an act of self-preservation.  In a very real way he took your life with him down into death and back again so that when you have to face the day death, your life is waiting on the other side.  Jesus has already conquered that enemy; your substitute has already defeated that adversary; and he gives you the victory.  And that was always the plan.  Your life was always the only plan.

            The only reason Jesus came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died a horrible death, and then rose from the grave three days later was to win eternal life for you in heaven.  You were the plan!  You were the reason why Jesus did what he did, suffered what he suffered, and accomplished what he accomplished!  He died so that you could be with him when you die.  He lives so that you can live with him forever in heaven.  He reigns so that you can be right there beside his throne for the rest of eternity.  Everything that Jesus did, everything that he does, and everything that he will do is all for you.  Your life is part of the plan.  Your death is part of the plan.  Your life again is part of the plan.  You were the plan the entire time.

            So are you ready to die?  Are you prepared to face death whenever it may come and however it may be?  Maybe I should ask you this: Are you ready to live?  Because that’s what will happen when you die: you will live!  Death is life to a Christian because death was life to Christ.  And because “he lives, you also will live.”  Because he rose from the dead, you also will rise from the dead.  Because he enjoys perfection and majesty and glory in heaven right now, so will you forever.  Because of Easter Sunday, you will have your own Easter Sunday one day soon.  And that has always been part of the plan.  Amen.

3/29/13 - Good Friday - Matthew 27:45-46

THERE IS NO COMPARISON

The Load of Sin Was the Heaviest

            Christ carried everything for us.  During these past six weeks of the season of Lent we have talked about how Christ carried rejection for us, pain, hatred, loneliness, injustice, and guilt.  Last night we looked at how Jesus carried sorrow for us in the Garden of Gethsemane.  And tonight we once again focus our attention on something that Jesus carried on our behalf.  But tonight what Jesus took on his shoulders is far more devastating and a whole lot heavier than anything we have talked about so far.  In fact, there is really no comparison.  Because tonight he carries our sins.

            That is something difficult to picture in our minds though, isn’t it?  How do we comprehend Jesus carrying our sins?  Even the movie “The Passion of the Christ” doesn’t cover that topic.  I know that most of you have seen that movie about the suffering Jesus had to undergo at the hands of his enemies during the last hours of his life.  And it’s brutal, isn’t it?  It’s bloody and gory and horrifying.  In fact, it’s so graphic that you might not even like watching it.  The beating that Jesus received and the scourging and the crowning… it’s not a pleasant thing to think about your Savior having to go through.  But no matter how bad that physical torture was for him, no matter how excruciating the suffering Jesus experienced in those hours, no matter how heavy that cross was on his back as he trudged up the hill of Calvary, it was nothing compared to the sins he would carry while he hung on that cross.

            That movie just touches the tip of the iceberg.  It certainly shows some very explicit scenes of Jesus’ suffering, but that isn’t even close to the kind of pain Jesus underwent in the end.  Because the pain Jesus carried for us in the end was the punishment for sins of all people of all time on the cross; and that eternal sentence poured out on him by his own Father completely overwhelmed any cut or bruise or puncture leading up to it.  And how do we know it was that bad?  We know because of what Jesus said while he was hanging there on the cross: From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land.  About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?”—which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

            Jesus hadn’t cried out in pain when the Jewish leaders blindfolded him and struck him in the face.  Jesus hadn’t cried out in agony when the Roman soldiers tortured him.  Jesus hadn’t even cried out in terror when being nailed to the cross.  But once on the cross and after hanging there for hours, only then did Jesus cry out in misery: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  Because that is when he truly suffered.  That is when he really went through something that no one else could.  That was the point he was carrying our sins.  The punches and the beatings and the scourges and the nails certainly wasn’t pleasant; but they were nothing compared to the wrath of his Father.

            Wrath is what his Father had promised after all.  God promised that every sin had to be punished, every sin had to be accounted for, every sin deserved an eternal torture in hell.  And if Jesus was going to take our place, if Jesus really wanted to be our substitute, then the punishment was his too.  And so his Father left him on the cross.  His Father abandoned him in his darkest hour.  His Father turned his back on the Son he loved so that Jesus was forced to suffer the eternal torments of hell for every single sin ever committed all within the span of a few hours.  And so does it surprise you that Jesus cried out: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” at that point?  We may know pain; we may know misery; we may know what it’s like to go through some intense suffering for a long period of time, but when we consider the wrath of God that Jesus went through because of what we deserved, there is no comparison.

This Act of Love was the Greatest

            There is no comparison to what happened on Good Friday.  Not only because of what Christ carried for us, but also because of the extent of his love.

            Now there are plenty of ways that great amounts of love are shown by people to others in this world.  A husband and wife exchange rings on their wedding day as symbols of their life-long love; heart-felt gifts are given at various times for various reasons; kind words are said; time is spent; efforts are made to express love for another.  But rarely are those actions of love self-sacrificing.  On occasion you will hear of a woman spending every last ounce of energy and every last second of time and every last penny in their savings account just to care for her dying husband; that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in a way.  Every once in a while you might hear of a relative offering one of their kidneys to a family member who needs a transplant; that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in a way.  Every once in a while you will hear of a fireman or a soldier or an ordinary citizen who puts their life on the line to save the life of someone else; that’s a self-sacrificing kind of love in way too.  But when you consider the self-sacrificing kind of love that Jesus showed to us, there is no comparison.

            Because think of what he did: he hung on that cross and carried those sins not only for those who loved him, but for those who hated him.  He hung on that cross and carried those sins not for those who had earned it, but for those who didn’t even know him yet.  He hung on that cross and carried those sins not for those who had done something for him, but for those who had not done a thing and could not and would not - including us.  Jesus went into it knowing that the pain would be more intense than anything any person would ever have to experience; and he did it anyway.  Jesus went into it knowing that most people would despise him for what he would do; and he did it anyway.  Jesus went into it knowing that he didn’t have to do it; and he did it anyway.  Jesus was willing to put himself into the eternal torture chambers of hell - the place he prepared for those who disobeyed him - so that those who disobeyed him wouldn’t have to go there!  Try to wrap your mind around that act of love...  Do you realize what Jesus gave up for you?  Do you realize the sacrifice he made for you?  Do you realize how much Jesus loved you and how much he still does?

            We talk about Jesus’ suffering and death every Sunday.  We go back to his crucifixion and his sacrifice every single week to be reassured of our forgiveness.  But there is no comparison to tonight.  There is no comparison to the day on which our Savior died.  There is no comparison to the afternoon he carried our sins.  There is no comparison to the hour in which he was buried.  There is no comparison to the very moment of our forgiveness.  There is no comparison to Good Friday because there is no comparison to this single act of love. 

            But this night will pass.  Morning will come.  Weeks will roll by.  And if the Lord allows it: spring will turn to summer, summer to fall, fall to winter, and another year will come and go just like they always do.  And you will have ups and downs.  You will have moments of joy and periods of sorrow.  You will undoubtedly go through a range of emotions and a spectrum of experiences just like everyone does.  But no matter what happens - no matter how bad, no matter how good - Good Friday is the most important night in your life.  Because this night was the lowest point in the life of Christ, which means it is the highest point in yours.  This is it.  This night changes everything.  It is the night Jesus carried your sins.  It is the night he showed you the full extent of his love.  This is the night of your forgiveness.  And there is no comparison.

            Amen.

3/28/13 - Maundy Thursday - Mark 14:32-34

JESUS CARED SO MUCH

Overwhelmed with Sorrow

            Jesus cared a lot.  He cared for people - both good and bad - children, elderly, the sick, the suffering, the dying...  Jesus cared for everyone on this earth.  He cared for them so much, in fact, that he didn’t care about anything else.  He loved them with a love that only a perfect God could muster.  He took care of them with a passion that was deeper and more profound than any emotion that any person could ever experience.  He longed for them.  He ached for them.  He yearned for them because he wanted so badly to see them in heaven.

            And so when those he cared about so much rejected him and ignored him and even hated him, it broke his heart.  He wasn’t overwhelmed with anger when they didn’t believe him; he wasn’t overwhelmed with disgust when they turned his back on him; instead, he was overwhelmed sorrow.  A thick, dark, all-encompassing sorrow that penetrated to his very core.  And so he couldn’t just walk away.  He couldn’t simply brush it off and move on.  He had put too much time and too much effort into saving them.  He just cared for sinners too much.

            That sorrow of Jesus is never more vivid than on that infamous Thursday evening after he and his disciples had eaten supper together in an upstairs room.  Jesus was leading his faithful followers outside of Jerusalem that night as he had done many times before, but this time it was different.  This time Jesus’ mood was a little more somber and his temperament was a bit more restrained - not because of what had already happened but because of what was about to.  “They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.”  He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”

            Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled because he knew what was about to happen.  Jesus knew that one of his own disciples was in the process of gathering a mob of men to meet him in the Garden.  Jesus knew that he was about to be betrayed.  Jesus knew that all of his disciples would run away from him.  Jesus knew that his own countrymen would condemn him, that the government under which he lived with crucify him, and that his own Father in heaven would abandon him to the horrors of hell.  If you knew those things were about to happen to you, wouldn’t you be deeply distressed and troubled?  But Jesus wasn’t deeply distressed and troubled simply because he didn’t want to go through that physical pain; Jesus was deeply distressed and troubled because he cared so much for those people who would do it to him and for those he would do it for!  He was overwhelmed with sorrow because he cared so much for sinners.

Why Should Jesus Care about Us?

            Which must have been an item of interest to someone like the devil.  The devil was certainly there that night, undoubtedly tempting Jesus.  And I wouldn’t put it past him to have whispered into Jesus’ ear that evening: “Why do you care about them, Jesus?  They aren’t worth it!  You are about to be betrayed by one of your own and you know that your so-called children in the future will betray you countless times throughout their lives!  You are about to stand before corrupt courtrooms already set against you and you know that those you are doing it for will fail to stand up for you time and time again!  You are about to be scourged, beaten, mocked, hit, spit upon, and crucified!  Do you really think that those who will claim to believe in you someday would actually do that for you?  Come on, Jesus!  You’re smarter than that!  Those sinners aren’t going to be worth it!  Just walk away.  You don’t have to do this.  You don’t have to go through all of this pain.  Just walk away.  You don’t have to care for people like that because you know that they aren’t going to care for you.”

            If they devil would have said something like that, I would have a hard time arguing with his logic.  Because I do turn my back on God’s Word on a regular basis!  I do fail to stand up for Jesus time and time again!  I don’t sacrifice much of anything on behalf of my Lord!  I don’t always care for my God and what he wants!  I’m not worth it!  I’m not worth his efforts and time and love.  There isn’t really any reason why Jesus should care for me like that.  And so there is nothing I would have been able to say to convince him to go through with it that evening.  In fact, I might have agreed with Satan: “He’s right, Jesus!  I’m not worth it!  Don’t do this for me.  I don’t want you to go through all of that pain for someone who isn’t going to live up to your love.  I wish I could tell you that I’ll always be faithful and loyal and true, but I can’t.  There’s no way I can.  You shouldn’t care so much for me.  You’ll just end up being disappointed and overwhelmed with sorrow all over again.  You should probably just walk away now before Judas shows up and it’s too late.”

Jesus Cared to the Point of Death

            But Jesus didn’t walk away, did he?  He knew what was coming, but he didn’t leave.  Instead he knelt down in that garden and he prayed.  He prayed hard.  He prayed passionately.  And he waited.  He waited for Judas to arrive and to give him that hypocritical kiss on the cheek.  And he waited there because wasn’t there in that garden for himself in the first place; he was there in that garden for us.  And he stayed there even though his soul was “overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.” 

            What an interesting thing for Jesus to say.  This wasn’t mere hyperbole; this ended up being prophecy.  “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.”  Jesus knew where he was headed.  Jesus knew what was inevitably going to occur.  He was going to die.  And it was going to be a gruesome, bloody, horrific way to die.  But he was not going to shy away.  He was not going to back down.  He was not going to try to get rid of that deep, dark sorrow that was weighing on him in the Garden of Gethsemane; he was going to carry it all the way up to the cross and beyond.  Because he cared for sinners so much.  He cared for you so much.

            He had to care about you if he was willing to undergo all of that nastiness!  He had to care about you if he voluntarily shouldered that kind of sorrow!  Because that’s not a pleasant thing, is it?  To be immersed in a sadness and a depression that affects your entire way of being is not a fun thing to go through.  It’s miserable.  It’s almost insufferable.  Many of you know that kind of sorrow.  Many of you have gone through it.  Many of you may even be going through it right now.  But that is exactly what your Lord went through for you - and to a degree that even you can’t understand.  But that’s how much Jesus loved you.  It wasn’t just the physical pain; it was the emotional, the psychological, the mental, the inner agony of sorrow that no one else can see and no one else can truly know expect the person who is in the middle of experiencing it.  And Jesus experienced it in full.  And he did it because he loved you.  Because he cared for you.  Because he wanted to take you to a place where you will never have to feel that sorrow ever again.  And he will.  That’s what you have to look forward to.  While Jesus looked ahead to being surrounded by an angry mob that Thursday night; you get to look forward to being surrounded by believers and angels in heaven.  While Jesus looked ahead to his arms being stretched out on a cross; you get to look forward to being wrapped up in your Savior’s arms.  While Jesus looked ahead to death; you get to look forward to life.  And it’s all because he cared for you.  He cared for you so much.  Amen.