200328 Home Worship Service (Lent 5)

200328 Home Worship Service (Lent 5) Audio Recording <--click here for sound

200329 Lent 5 Home Worship Order of Service Document <--click here for order of service

Our Gospel reading today comes from John’s Gospel. John is one of the twelve apostles. His brother was named James. It is believed that John is the only one of the twelve who died a natural death after living to be an old man. All the others were killed for preaching that Christ is the Savior. This does not mean that John did not suffer. He did. But perhaps God wanted John to live out his days so that as an old man he could write a fourth Gospel in addition to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, which had already been written. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with the four Gospels knows that John is different than Matthew, Mark, and Luke. As an old man and as the sole survivor of the twelve apostles, I believe that John wanted to speak of the things that he had seen and heard as Jesus’s disciple that had not already been covered by the other three Gospels. If the other three Gospels had already said what needed to be said, then he left that be.

And so it is that we hear of many of the things that Jesus said from John who was an eyewitness. Something that comes out very plainly in John’s Gospel is that Jesus was very simple and clear in what he said about himself. Let’s hear some of these simple declarations.

You are quite familiar with this one: “God loved the world in this way, that he sent his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him.” God sent his Son to save, not so that the world would be judged and condemned. God sent his Son to save because the world already was judged and condemned.

Or consider this declaration from a couple chapters later. “Amen, amen, I tell you: Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He is not going to come into judgment but has crossed over from death to life. Amen, amen, I tell you: A time is coming and is here now when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live.” Whoever hears Jesus and believes that God has sent him has eternal life. There is no judgment. Such a one has crossed over from death to life.

Here’s another statement from the next chapter: “I have come down from heaven, not to do my will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me, but raise them up on the Last Day. For this is the will of my Father: that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life. And I will raise him up on the Last Day.”

I’m not out of passages. I could easily come up with some more plain statements that Jesus is the Son of God who was sent from the Father so that we may have eternal life in him. Those who believe will not be judged and condemned. They will not perish eternally. They will be raised up on the Last Day to a superabundant life where all evil has been put away. This is as plain as plain can be. John reports what Jesus said.

John also reports that in spite of Jesus being exceptionally clear, the Jews did not believe him—particularly the Jews in Jerusalem. Some people believed in Jesus in Galilee and even in Samaria, but the Jerusalem Jews were very hostile to Jesus. There were probably several reasons why the Jerusalem Jews did not like Jesus. I’ll mention just a couple.

First of all, he was not from the big schools and big names in Jerusalem. He was from Nazareth of Galilee. What good can come from there? Jesus’s hometown is so prominent that it even gets painted as a mocking title over his cross: “Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews.” Jesus was from the sticks. What would he know?

This is related to a second reason why the Jerusalem Jews did not like Jesus: He didn’t know his place. He drove the money changers out of the temple. That had to make some people angry. He healed people on Saturdays, even though that was the Sabbath and no work was to be done on the Sabbath. When the church officials told Jesus to stop doing this, he didn’t stop. If he saw someone needed help on the Sabbath he helped them. This convinced the Jerusalem Jews early on that Jesus was no good and he couldn’t ever be good. He didn’t follow their rules, so he must be a bad guy.

The reading we heard today comes from the eighth chapter of John. This means that we are a ways into the story. The Jews in Jerusalem are getting fed up with Jesus. You can hear that in the reading. They say, “Are we not right in saying that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?” They are disgusted and repulsed by Jesus. As you heard, they would have stoned Jesus if they could have. But the time was not yet right. Jesus hid himself and departed from them. This hatred would finally come to fruition, though. Soon the Jerusalem Jews would have enough. As you’ll hear in next week’s Gospel reading, they became afraid that the whole world was going to be deceived by Jesus. For the good of the nation he has to be killed. They conspire against him, falsely accuse and condemn him, and nail him to a cross. The Jews’ hatred of Jesus that we see in our reading today is a part of this larger narrative of hatred.

We’ve already considered a couple reasons why Jesus was disliked by the Jerusalem Jews. Our reading clues us in to the ultimate reasons. The fact of the matter is that Jesus and the Jews couldn’t be more different from one another. Jesus comes from God the Father. He is true. As Jesus says later, he is the way the truth and the life. Jesus says that the Jews’ father is the devil. The devil is a liar. He is also a murderer. And so we get three incredible contrasts. Jesus is from God the Father. He is true. He promotes life. The Jews are from the devil. They are liars. They promote death.

Let’s not be deceived here into thinking that because Jesus is talking to Jews that we, as Gentiles, are different. Jesus is speaking to Jews. That is why he calls them Jews. If he were speaking to us as Gentiles he would not change his tune. What applies to these Jews in Jerusalem applies to all people the whole world over, for that is what it means to be conceived and born in sin. All people, by nature, have the devil as their lord and master. All people are therefore chips off the old block. They are liars. They are murderers. Jesus is talking about you.

Perhaps you’d like to break in here and say, “Now you just wait a cotton picking minute! I’m not a liar! I haven’t killed anyone! Are we not right in saying you are a delusional religious fanatic?”

I’m not going to spend a lot of time trying to convince you. If people want to believe a lie, they will do what is necessary in order to continue to believe it. I’ll just point out one thing that might help you see the truthfulness of Jesus’s words about you. It has to do with what is advantageous to yourself. Perhaps you don’t always lie. But I’ll tell you when you do—it’s when your own welfare is at stake. If you have to lie to cover up some evil that you have done, then you will lie your head off. Nobody had to teach you how to do this. You’ve done it since you were a little kid. And perhaps you haven’t shot or strangled or poisoned anybody. Why? It’s because you’d have too much to lose. You might get caught. You might get sent to prison. You’d lose your good reputation. But how do you feel when someone you don’t like has something bad happen to them? Is there some secret satisfaction? What that shows is the violence that you’d like to do, but don’t, because you care about yourself and your own welfare too much.

But again, I’m not going to waste my breath trying to convince you if you don’t want to believe this about yourself. I’m fully aware that the message that the world offers is the exact opposite. The world says that people are basically good; that they are free, and have never been enslaved to anyone. That’s not what the Bible says though. The Bible says that all men are liars. It says that all people have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. No one is righteous—no not even one. This is why we are in such desperate need of a Savior who saves us completely without any merit or worthiness in us, without our contribution or cooperation. This, of course, is what Jesus has done. Whoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.

The Christian message is as stark as it is simple. There are two great truths. Truth number one: You are a sinner. Truth number two: God is the justifier of sinners in Jesus Christ the crucified and resurrected Lord. These two truths are under constant attack from enemies outside of the church as well as within it. And we should be aware of the danger within ourselves too.

Our reading today gives us the opportunity to see this. How do you feel when Jesus says, “Why are you not able to understand my message? It’s because you are not able to listen to my word. You are from your father, the devil, and you want to do his desires.” Doesn’t this make you cringe? It’s not very diplomatic. We’re all inclined to give Jesus some preaching advice. You catch more flies with honey than you do vinegar, Jesus. You’re just going to make them mad, Jesus. It’s better to just ignore them. You should just preach to an audience that is favorable to you.

But this is bad advice. Jesus is not inclined to take it, and here’s why: He isn’t looking out for himself when he says such things. Jesus is not an idiot. He knows what such harsh truths are liable to do to people who don’t want to believe it. He knows that there will be blowback and consequences. But he is not looking out for himself, but he does what he does out of his love for his Father and out of love for those he is speaking to. Because here’s the thing: Whosoever is a Christian is somebody who has heard God diagnose him or her and said, “My God, you are right. I am a child of the devil. I do love to lie and hurt other people if it somehow betters myself.” Or we could put this same sentiment into a more familiar form: “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto Thee all my sins and iniquities by which I have ever offended Thee. I have sinned against you by thought, word, and deed, by what I have done and by what I have left undone.”

Here we have the first simple truth of the Christian message. Blessed are you if you believe it about yourself. Grace has taught your heart to fear. Even more blessed are you if grace your fears relieve. You know this by familiar words too: “I pray Thee of Thy boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being. Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.”

The amazing grace of God is that he has not held our sins against us. He rather sent his Son, sacrificed him, and by his blood made atonement. All who believe in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.

This is the simple Christian message. Not everybody is going to believe it. Some people are going to revile it and persecute it. As we enter into Holy Week next week, it is good to realize that Jesus was killed because of the saving truths he spoke. They were unwelcome to those who heard them. The same thing is true with the apostles and martyrs who died. They did not die because they were evildoers. They died because they spoke the truth and those who loved the lie could not bear to hear it. This helps us know what we should expect for our own life. But we also know that all who have suffered or sacrificed for the truth have lost nothing. The truth wins in the end.

Home Worship Service March 22, 2020

200322 Home Worship Service (Lent 4) <--click for audio

200322 Lent 4 Home Worship Order of Service <--click for bulletin/order of service

Sermon manuscript:

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Our readings today sound different from the way that they would under normal circumstances. Under normal circumstances we know where our daily bread is going to come from. We’re going to go to the grocery store and buy it. In order to pay for it we are going to go to work and cash our paycheck. Our pay has enough left over that we can go to a restaurant or a movie or take a vacation every now and then. Everybody has abundant provisions.

Our second reading from the book of the acts of the apostles is the report of what happened right after Peter preached the Gospel on Pentecost. 3,000 were baptized. They met together and broke bread together. They had all things in common. If there was someone in need, they gave. If they didn’t have the means on hand, they sold.

When things are operating normally we have measures and procedures set up for taking care of the less fortunate. Since other people are taking care of these problems we don’t worry about it. With what is going on right now, we might very well be called upon to give away our toilet paper to those who did not hoard it. Giving away our food and supplies, holding thing in common, is much more of a real possibility today and going forward into the future than it was a couple weeks ago.

In our Gospel reading Jesus wants the disciples to feed the huge crowd of hungry people. Philip does the math and says that even if they spent 200 denarii, it wouldn’t even be close to enough, and to be sure, none of them had 200 denarii. 200 denarii is about 200 days’ wages. That would be over $20,000 in today’s money. How are these people going to be fed?

Today we are beginning to hear people wonder aloud how the economy is going to keep going if everybody is confined to their houses. How are people’s needs going to be met? Where is the money going to come from? Today everybody’s attention is on the virus and on the healthcare system. Tomorrow the news will be focused on the great changes that have taken place in the economy.

Perhaps we could sum up all these concerns by saying that we would like to know the future. We want to know where and how we are going to get everything that we need. When we don’t know how things will be in a month, or in a week, we become burdened and heavy laden with stress. There is stress when things are going normally, but that’s nothing compared to when things are uncertain. And if ever the situation should get to the point where we don’t know how we are going to eat tomorrow, then we would be greatly troubled.

This was the situation in our first reading from Exodus. Moses and the hundreds of thousands of people had left Egypt. They had crossed through the Red Sea. They are on their way to Mt. Sinai. They had already gone through the first crisis that would take place during a journey like this. They had run out water. Where are you going to find water in a desert? When they finally found some, they couldn’t drink it. But God made the bitter water sweet. He led them to a place that did have good water.

What is the thing that runs low after water? It’s food. The provisions that they brought along with them from Egypt had run out. What are they going to eat? They blamed Moses and Aaron for leading them into this terrible predicament. Here are the harsh and bitter words: “I wish we had died in Egypt. At least we had something to eat there. Now we have to watch our children starve in this miserable wilderness.” Reading these words can’t possibly do justice to the sights and sounds that had to have accompanied them. There had to be veins popping and screams and tears. If I said that they were stressed, you would probably say you can say that again. And why were they stressed? They were down to nothing. They didn’t know the future. Where were they going to get bread for tomorrow?

Have you ever noticed the redundancy in the Lord’s Prayer where it says, “Give us this day our daily bread?” The emphasis is on the day, as in “day by day.” This matches up with our Lord’s teaching elsewhere. He says, “Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Again he says, “Consider the birds of the air. They do not sow nor reap, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Consider the lilies of the field. They neither spin nor toil, but they are adorned with such beauty that even Solomon in all his glory cannot compare to them.” “So do not worry about what you will eat or what you will drink or what clothes you will wear. You have a God. You are more important and precious to God than many sparrows and all the flowers of the field.” “Come unto me all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

These are wonderful, tender, encouraging words. I want you to drink them up and satisfy your soul.

I also want you to notice something. Having been satisfied with trust in your heavenly Father to give you your daily bread, I want you to notice whom or what you otherwise can’t help but trust in. Times of scarcity and stress reveal in what or in whom we trust. We trust in some pretty silly things, when you really think about it. We trust in our bank accounts. What can dollar bills really do for you if you get right down to it? They are pieces of paper, or even just electronic bits of information. Under normal circumstances they work fine, but dollars are far from being infallible. I forget how many trillions of dollars have been wiped out of our economy in the last month, but it is a big number.

Or we trust in our well stocked pantry. This is what the Israelites trusted in too. They had brought along all that they could when they left their homes in Egypt. But what can butter and eggs and milk really do for you? These things are very poor substitutes for the real God. The real God can make bread rain down from heaven and make flocks of quail cover the whole camp. He can make bread and fish multiply miraculously in the taking, giving thanks, breaking, and giving.

And these are only the needs that have to do with our bellies. Nobody believes that money or food can rescue them from death and the corruption of the grave. These things that we make such a big deal about are quite limited in what they are able to accomplish. But your God sees to your every need—not just of body, but also of soul. Even if you lived to be a hundred and twenty, what would become of you when you are judged for how you have lived your life? Justice makes its claim on you, and justice will have its fill. But justice has already had its fill on Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The righteousness of life that is required of you has been lived by Jesus. The punishment for your sins that is required, because it is just, has been poured out on the spotless Son of God. Your redemption from death and hell was worked by the suffering and death of Jesus on the cross. Your God has not just seen to the needs of your body, but also of your soul. Through faith in Christ you have eternal life for both your body and your soul, just as Christ is risen from the dead, and lives and reigns to all eternity.

And so stresses and troubles are not altogether bad so long as they work together in making us more firmly trust in the one who works our salvation. If we were good people, if we were wise and pious, then we would fear, love, and trust in God equally in good times and bad. It wouldn’t matter to us if we had twenty years’ worth of bread stored up or just enough for the day. We would be of equally good cheer in both. But we’re not like that. We’re not good, wise, or pious. We are liable to despise God and fear, love, and trust in other things. It is only when these other things fail, and show us their true, impotent colors, that we are given the opportunity to wake up from our foolishness and trust in the God who will not fail us.

Stress and scarcity, when they are used appropriately, are very good for us spiritually. Have you prayed more this past week than you did the week before? I have. My flesh is no different than your flesh—it is just as lazy and cold. I can’t hardly be whipped into shape unless I’m forced to. I don’t know a good thing until it’s gone. But even though I do not deserve it, God gives me the opportunity to grasp him anew, to be cheered with his loving kindness, and to be able to pass this same thing on to you so that you may trust in God yet more firmly. Anybody and everybody who trusts in anything else will be disappointed, but you will never be disappointed when you trust in God and his promises. God is not a liar. What he promises will come true.

The peace of God that transcends all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

200315 Sermon on Exodus 8:16-21 (Lent 3) March 15, 2020

200315 Sermon on Exodus 8:16-21 (Lent 3) March 15, 2020

I’d like to begin today by speaking about the background to our Old Testament lesson. Moses was an Israelite who was born during the time that the Israelites were enslaved under Pharaoh in Egypt. This was a time of persecution. The Egyptians didn’t want the Israelites to become too strong, so all the baby boys were supposed to be killed right after they were born. But his mother loved him and hid him for three months. Eventually it was too hard to hide him, so she put Moses in a basket in the Nile. Pharaoh’s daughter found him, had pity on him, and raised him as her son.

When Moses grew up he learned that he was an Israelite and pitied his people stuck in slavery. One day he saw an Egyptian striking his slave. Moses became angry, killed him, and buried him. He thought that nobody knew what he had done, but soon learned that word of his slaying was more commonly known. Fearing that he would be caught and punished, he went to Midian, which is the land that is east of the Sinai peninsula. There he met his wife, Zipporah, had children, and worked for his father-in-law Jethro.

One day Moses was shepherding a flock by Mt. Horeb, which is another name for Mt. Sinai. God spoke to him there from the midst of a burning bush. What God said to Moses is that he should go back to Egypt and tell Pharaoh to let his people go into the wilderness to worship God. This was not something that Moses wanted to do. He would rather keep working for his father-in-law. He wasn’t a good speaker. God would not hear of his objections, but he did give Moses some help. His brother, Aaron, would help him.

So Moses went back to Pharaoh and told him what God had said. Pharaoh was not impressed. Not only did he not let the people go, but he wanted to show the Israelites who’s boss. He forced the Israelites to make bricks without straw, making their work more difficult.

Moses and Aaron eventually went back to Pharaoh again. They were going to perform signs to back up what the Lord had said through Moses. When they appeared before Pharaoh Moses told Aaron to throw down his staff and it became a snake. But then Pharaoh called for his own academics and intellectuals. They were able to do the same thing. The only thing was that Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Nonetheless, Pharaoh’s heart was hard and he didn’t listen.

Then God told Moses to warn Pharaoh about the first plague. All the water in the land would be turned to blood. Moses did as the Lord told him, and all the water was turned to blood. However, Pharaoh’s leading lights were able to do the same thing by their own arts and practices.

Then God sent the second plague—a plague of frogs. Frogs went everywhere. They were in people’s houses, in their ovens, and in their cupboards. The Egyptian scholars, though, were able to do this same thing. Pharaoh eventually had had enough of the frogs. He asked Moses to pray for him. Moses did this and the frogs all died. Great heaps of dead frogs were everywhere. But then Pharaoh changed his mind. He didn’t want grant any freedom to his slaves.

This brings us to today’s reading. The third plague was the plague of lice. Everyone and all the animals got infested with lice. Here there is an important change. Although the Egyptians magicians tried to produce lice by their occult practices, they were not able to do so. The magicians testified to Pharaoh, “This is the finger of God. We are not able to replicate this.” But Pharaoh’s heart was hard.

Then there is the swarms of flies. Maybe it was like those no-see-ums that we get from time to time. Here we also see a difference. God distinguished between where the Israelites lived and where the Egyptians lived. This plague struck the Egyptians, but not the Israelites.

I won’t go through plagues five through nine. I’ll just say that the pattern that has already been established continues. Pharaoh and his people suffer. Pharaoh relents to the Lord’s demands, but then he changes his mind. I’ll only speak briefly about the tenth and final plague. This was the death of the first born. Only those houses which were protected by the blood of the lamb were spared, because when the Lord aw the blood he passed over them. This inaugurated the first festival that the Israelites would observe from then on—the festival of Passover. With this last devastating plague, Pharaoh finally told the Israelites to leave and never come back. Eventually they would come to the mountain where Moses was first called—Mt. Sinai. But that is another story for another time.

What I’d like to focus on today is something into which our reading gives us some insight. God gave signs to Pharaoh by afflicting him with plagues. Why didn’t Pharaoh believe the signs to be genuine? Why didn’t he see God communicating through them?

At least part of the reason why Pharaoh wasn’t moved by these signs is that he had an entirely different way of understanding life. When Moses first comes to Pharaoh, Pharaoh plainly says that he does not know the Lord. He doesn’t know why he should listen to this God. Pharaoh understood life according to what he had been taught. What he had been taught is that the way to get ahead in life is to learn from the leading lights among the intelligentsia in Egypt.

This was by no means a foolish way to live. You have to understand that at that time Egypt was what America and the western world is today. The Egyptians were vastly superior to all the other people on the planet. They had the best military. They had the most sophisticated writing. They had the tallest and the largest buildings. They had the most money and the best technology. While other peoples were afflicted with famines, the Egyptians lived high on the hog with the fertile Nile river valley and all the innovative ways that they had figured out how to maximize their yields. If anybody wanted to know anything he went to the Egyptians to learn it.

It is very significant, therefore, that the first few signs that God did through Moses were imitated by the great men of Egypt. In order to better understand this we have to get rid of a powerful modern bias that makes it harder for us to see clearly. The signs that are done are strange to us—impossible, seemingly. When did you ever see a wooden staff become a snake? When have you ever seen water turned into blood? Who has ever produced a horde of frogs? So far as Moses is concerned, we can explain these phenomena by saying that God did them, but what about the Egyptians? How did they copy these things?

Note that I cannot tell you with any certainty, for we are not told how they did them. But perhaps it would be helpful if you considered an analogous situation. Put yourself in the shoes of a different people at a different time, looking in on what our great men and women are able to accomplish in our day. Folks living even a hundred years ago would be astounded that we are able to facetime instantaneously with someone on the other side of the planet. To them it would be quite unheard of and magical. However, to the Facebook executive who is well schooled in these things, it isn’t so mysterious. The electronic engineer understands what needs to be done to bring this about. Or our massive machines capable of doing tremendous work—to another people at another time these would be mind boggling. In a similar way, the great men of Egypt knew what they were doing. To us it is fantastical, because this knowledge has somehow been lost or forgotten.

This last bit of what I’ve said might be hard for you to swallow, because we have all been taught that we are the greatest. We have all been taught that nobody in history has been as good as we are, and so it is laughable to most people that somebody at another time and another place knew things that we don’t know.

You see, we understand ourselves to be vastly superior to all other people who have ever lived. We have the best military. We have the most sophisticated writing. We have the tallest and largest buildings. If anybody wants to know anything, they come to us to learn it. Who from the past would dare to say that they are more advanced in anything?

Perhaps you can start to see how Pharaoh was so deaf to the speaking of this Podunk sheep herder whose relatives were miserable uneducated slaves. It was inconceivable that anybody should know something that the Egyptians didn’t already know. The fact that the great men of Egypt were able to mimic the first few signs that God did through Moses only cemented this opinion in Pharaoh’s head. Moses wasn’t doing anything new or impossible. Pharaoh’s own scientists were able to cook up something similar in the labs of their day. It wasn’t until the terror of the signs reached a fever pitch that Pharaoh ultimately relented after the tenth plague. Even then, he changed his mind soon after and chased them down at the shores of the Red Sea. He didn’t stop in his rebellion against God and his signs until he was crushed by the crashing walls of water after the Israelites had safely passed through.

Let’s apply this to ourselves in our own time. God has not stopped sending his signs and wonders. These signs might be grand and awesome and affect the whole world. Or they might be rather small, known only to you. For example, what could we say about the invention of the atom bomb and then the hydrogen bomb? By just pushing a button a chain reaction could be set off that would essentially end life as we know it on this planet. Does this threat of doom make us repent? Do we change our ways? No, we don’t even think about it. This potential, terrifying plague has grown cold. It’s been around so long that we don’t even think of it anymore.

Or how about this latest disease? Who, in response, lifts up their eyes to the hills from whence cometh our help? Who fears God? Instead, this and all other signs that might come our way get interpreted according to the way that we were raised. Something very popular among us is a kind of stoic que sera sera. Nothing is going on here except a little biology. The same line of reasoning is used when unfortunate things happen to a person. The events are understood and interpreted in a way that does not include the action of the Lord God. This is the very same thing that Pharaoh did. He interpreted what was happening according to his own lights, his own understanding. He refused to believe that God himself was knocking at his door.

Jesus complained about the Pharisees and Sadducees once. They knew that if it is was red in the evening it meant fair weather, whereas if it was red in the morning storms might be on the way. He said, “You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times!” It is good to read the signs of the times.

Now it is true that there are some Christians who go too far with their interpretations. They read too much into them. They focus more on the signs than on God’s Word. Some might even focus almost exclusively on the signs instead of on God’s Word and they come up with wild conclusions as a result. Because these Christians go too far, many others understandably recoil in disgust. Many pastors and teachers are afraid to talk about it, because they do not want people to go off the deep end. I get that, but the truth remains that God communicates to us through things that happen in our life—especially when God’s Word is spoken in the midst of it, interpreting us and our condition before God.

To fear God is not a bad thing; it’s the beginning of wisdom. To despise God is not at all impressive; it’s the way that we all are by nature. Pharaoh was proud with the imagination of his own heart that he thought was so superior to humble Moses. The same thing can and does happen today.

Therefore, we should learn from his example. All the happenings of our life should be interpreted in reference to God. Stuff does not happen by accident. There is no such thing as luck. Therefore, when evil and trouble and calamity strikes, we should repent of our sins and draw near to the throne of grace for mercy. Just think of what would have happened if Pharaoh had done that. When we are blessed and enriched with goodness, do not just let these things pass by or give credit to yourself. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Everybody’s life is in God’s hand, and he gives us his Word so that we can know this and live in communion with him.

Learn this way of understanding your life. Although it is the truth, it is the road less traveled.

200311 Midweek Sermon on Genesis 39:1-21 (Lent 2 Midweek) March 11, 2020

200311 Midweek Sermon on Genesis 39:1-21 (Lent 2 Midweek) March 11, 2020

This past Sunday we heard Paul say, “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” I’d like to pull out two words from that quotation: faith and peace. Faith and peace go together. When we believe that we are justified before God through Jesus Christ, our Lord, then we have peace. We know that everything is going to be okay.

Faith and peace going together is not just a Christian thing. It is something that is true for everybody. Believing in something means that you think that it will work. When you believe that it will work, then you have peace. For example, when a thunderstorm approaches, you have peace when you believe that your house can withstand the wind. If you faith in your walls continuing to stand diminishes, so does your peace. If you hear the tornado siren going off, you suddenly do not believe that your house can withstand the wind as capably as you did before. You have less peace and you run to someplace that offers you more peace of mind—the basement. But if you hear that freight train sound that comes before the arrival of the tornado, perhaps your faith is diminished even in your basement’s safety. What has happened to the peace? It’s gone.

I think nearly every year I bring this up at the end of the church year and during advent. During those seasons of the church year we consider what the Bible says about the end of the world. The signs that the end is near are frightening because the things that used to be believed in as trustworthy start to fail. These things that are believed in are assumed to be so trustworthy that they are taken for granted. So when we take for granted that the earth won’t shake, and earthquakes come, then we are troubled. When the sea is supposed to stay within its banks, and it isn’t acting as it should, this would be frightening. Jesus says that even the heavenly bodies—the sun, moon, and stars—things that are renowned for their ability to be stable and predictable—will go strange and wobbly.

Here we get down to something that is so fundamental to us as human beings. Faith and gods go together. Whatever things a person puts his or her trust in—that thing is the person’s god. If your faith is directed towards the true God, then your faith is true. If your faith is in other things, then you are more or less an idolater.

This gets at what is so fundamental to us as human beings because after the fall into sin we have become hopelessly addicted to idolatry. This is certainly true of people who don’t know the true God, but it is also true for those who do know him. Alongside the true God, idols are propped up in the human heart. Think of the people of God in the Old Testament. These folks knew the true God. They had his Word. They had his ordinances and sacrifices. They even named their children very pious names that referred to God, his goodness, faithfulness and so on. Most of the names that we hear of in the Old Testament in some way refer to God. And yet they could never get rid of those high places. They were plagued by Baal and Asherah and Chemosh and a whole bunch of other things in which they put their trust. They never wanted to get rid of the true Lord God, but they also didn’t want to trust only in him. They wanted to cover their bases by worshipping other things too.

We Christians are no different. The reason why we find the prospect of the end of the world frightening is because all the old gods beside the true God are failing. These things in which we put our trust prove to be untrustworthy—they can’t help us. They can’t save us. Only One can do that. This is why Jesus says that when you see all these frightening things taking place, lift up your heads and look up, for your redemption is drawing near. When the old sources of peace can’t give you peace because they are untrustworthy, then have peace in the Lord God who is trustworthy. He is about to usher in a new heavens and a new earth where righteousness dwells.

But we do not have to wait until the end of the world for this kind of thing to happen. It happens at the end of our earthly life. All the other things that previously were relied upon for our health and happiness don’t work no more. We are left with one hope—the resurrection from the dead that has been promised to us through Jesus’s death and resurrection. But again, we don’t have to wait until then either.

Think about what happened to Joseph. The things that would give Joseph peace were taken away from him. You’d think that he should be able to trust his brothers. His brothers failed him. He thought he could live in his homeland. He couldn’t. You’d think that doing the right thing should be honored and rewarded. By the slander of a spiteful woman he is thrown into prison. The fall from peace and happiness is tremendous. He used to be the favorite son of his father. Eventually he finds himself in a prison in a strange land.

What makes Joseph different from an unbeliever is that he didn’t fall into despair. He didn’t murder himself. He also didn’t desperately do whatever he could to fix his fate. Those who do not believe in the true God have no other choice but to try to prop up the old gods. The unbeliever tries to find his peace in anything and everything besides the one true God. Joseph commended himself to God. He stood up straight and lifted up his head. He waited for his redemption to draw near. Either he would be delivered in an earthly way, or he would receive the final deliverance from all evil that comes with a blessed death, believing in Christ. Either things would get a little better in an earthly way, or they would get totally better in a way that is so good that it is beyond our imagination.

This lesson is applicable to us in our times. I’ve known some people who have been brought low. Earthly hopes for recovery are dim or practically nonexistent. Perhaps it’s a disease. Perhaps it is a financial failure. Perhaps it is a betrayal and a broken relationship. It is bitter—very bitter—when these things that used to give a person peace and happiness are taken away. It is frightening when the things that used to be trusted in to fix a person’s predicament have no more solutions. We may very well feel like Joseph, sitting in a dungeon in a strange land. We may feel  very lonely and helpless. But this may not be altogether bad. Good can come from it.

As I mentioned earlier, we have this congenital defect from our being conceived and born in sin where we are incorrigible idolaters. We find it easier to trust in all kinds of things rather than in the true God who has made himself known to us and given us his promises. Bitter experiences such as the ones I have just described can and do work as a cleansing fire to burn off the dross—to burn of the idolatry that we would surely hold on to if we were otherwise given a choice. Blessed is the man to whom the Gospel is preached when all other sources of peace and hope are taken away. Hear again how Paul puts it: “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also have gained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.”

To be sure, the fear around us has increased these past several days. If there isn’t fear of the disease, there may well be fear of what might happen to our money and the economy. I disagree with those who say that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. This is a popular philosophy, to be sure. It is applied not only to this specific case, but this is also the kind of philosophy that people are comforted by when death approaches. The saying is not true—pure and simple. There are things that we should fear. Those who do not believe in Christ most certainly have something to fear, because all their old gods are going to fail—including this philosophy.

To many ears it might sound as though I must be a person in favor of panicking. They think there are only two options—either stoically carrying on, come what may, or being terrified. Those are not the only options. You, as a Christian, have been fully equipped for such a time as this. You have been purchased by Christ’s holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death. You have already died the important death by being baptized into Christ’s death. You are awaiting your inheritance that is going to come either sooner or later. It might come sooner by the time that you have left on this earth being short. It might come later if your time on this earth is to be long. Either way, commend yourself to God and nothing can harm you.

Paul says in Romans chapter 8: “What then will we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also graciously give us all things along with him?”

He goes on to say: “Neither death nor life, neither angels nor rulers, neither things present nor things to come, nor powerful forces, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Paul gives us a powerful argument for why peace is always ours—even if the very world is falling apart. God did not spare his dearest treasure, his eternally begotten Son. The most precious thing in all existence was given to us for our benefit. How can it be, then, that God should not give us lesser things at their proper time? The love of God has been given to us and nothing can overcome that. It does not matter if we are sick or not sick, rich or poor, in prison or free, together with Jesus here on earth or together with Jesus in heaven—God doesn’t change. He will keep the promise of eternal life that he has made to you. Whatever happens between now and the fulfillment of that promise is of secondary concern.

200308 Sermon on Romans 5:1-5 (Lent 2) March 8, 2020

200308 Sermon on Romans 5:1-5 (Lent 2) March 8, 2020

Whenever you start discussing what life is all about you run the risk of immediately turning off a large segment of the population. Discussing what life is all about is what Philosophy majors do. “Normal” people don’t. Then, instead of discussing what life is all about, you end up talking about whether we should all be like the philosophy majors. Understandably, most people do not want to be one of those. They tend to get wrapped up in all kinds of silly questions and mental gymnastics. If that’s how they like to spend their time, then fine, but other people would rather spend their time watching football or NASCAR.

I don’t want you all to be philosophy majors. I don’t care what you enjoy spending your time doing. But I am going to press you on this question of what life is all about. Where did you come from? Why do you exist? What is going to happen to you when you die?

Before we get into your own answers, let’s talk about those around us. There is a very powerful force in our society that says these questions have already been answered for you. Over the course of time some very smart people have sorted this all out. For the question of where you’ve come from, they’ve discovered that you are the product of random chance. The universe has existed for billions of years.  This immense amount of time, that is impossible to understand, has allowed enough time for you and all other things to randomly develop. This creation story is extremely powerful. It is powerful enough to satisfy people’s religious urgings.

As far as what will happen to you when you die, this is something that doesn’t really get talked about much by our society’s teachers. Some say that you simply cease to exist. Your body breaks down to feed the circle of life. This is not popular with the common folk, though. The common folk like to believe that the deceased live on in those who remember them. Sometimes they look down from heaven. Sometimes they are busy in heaven doing their favorite hobbies.

As for why you exist now? The common response is that you exist to make the world a better place. By our advancements in all areas we now seem to have the power to fix whatever problem might come our way. This is linked up with that creation story I’ve already spoken about. Some really smart people have figured out that we do not need to think about any questions other than how we can make more and more progress. We should only think about how we can make more food, have more entertainment, have more money, and then we will all be blessed, that is to say, happy. In the meantime, don’t ask any big questions—that’s for philosophy majors to waste their time on. Instead, figure out a way to make lots and lots of money. Then you’ll have a good life. Otherwise, you will most certainly have a terrible life, because you won’t be able to buy all the entertainments you want to fill your time until you die.

In answer to this, I’d like you to notice how the keystone to this whole structure is faith. Our society would have you believe that some really smart people have somehow discovered that God does not exist, that we had to have been created by chance, that there is no sense in asking big questions about life, and that we should all just continue on making as much money as we possibly can. Our teachers would have you believe that smart people have discovered this and that there can be no doubt about it. This is the message that goes all the way up into the most prestigious universities and graduate schools in the world.

However, this is a lie. No such things have ever been discovered. There is no conclusive proof for our society’s creation story. But the only way that you can know that it is a lie is by studying the history of these things for yourself. The history of science shows that the way we think things are is by no means proven and certain. These so-called smart people of the past are not worthy of blind, unquestioning trust. You do not have to just take my word for it. You could learn these things for yourself. But this is a very large task. It takes many years. Not everybody is cut out for that kind of work. Plus, you’d have to have an independent spirit. You can’t just take for granted that whatever any professor says is true. Actually, this field of study is so large and challenging that no single human being master it all—even if they devote their whole life to it. This is why faith is the keystone for our society’s message of what life is all about. It is impractical for people to look into all the things that are taken for granted as true by our society’s teachers. It is much easier just to trust them.

For several generations now, young Christians have turned their faith away from the teachings of the bible to believe in the so-called smart people who have supposedly discovered that Christianity is untenable. It’s quite understandable why our young Christians have quit believing. The prestigious, powerful, rich people of the world all believe in the evolution creation story. They all believe that smart people have discovered that all the big questions have been answered, and all that’s left for us is to work and make money. If you compare the power and impressiveness of these mighty educational institutions with the average parish pastor who taught them confirmation, then they are much more likely to believe the one rather than the other.

Plus, if they don’t fall in line with what is popular and politically correct they will be called names like idiot, bigot, fool. Those who do not goosestep with the rest of the crowd are a danger to our technology and progress. They are intellectual dinosaurs who deserve to go extinct.

So, if you don’t want to be called names, then I recommend that you not be a genuine Christian who actually believes that the Bible is truthful. Either you should not be a Christian at all or you should pretend to be a Christian by joining the ELCA, the United Churches of Christ, the United Methodists, the Presbyterian Church USA, or a whole bunch of other mainline denominations. They reserve the right for themselves to pick and choose what is truthful and not truthful in the Bible. Whatever the Bible says that is unpopular, they can be sure that they will say that you don’t have to believe it. I say unto you, they already have their reward in this life. They are praised by unbelievers as being tolerant, inclusive, and generally all-around good people.

Christians have a different religion from the one that is popular in this world. The universe did not come about by chance. You did not come about by chance. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, knit together from your mother and your father in your mother’s womb. As creatures who have been made in God’s image, and who have a soul, you are responsible to God for all the thoughts, words and deeds, that make up your life. That is to say, you are judged by God now, and you will face your final judgment when you die. Unlike the world, Christians do not shy away from the question of what happens to us when we die. We will meet our Maker.

But there is a truth that is even greater than the way that we must give answer to God for the life that we have lived. Our God has not remained in heaven, waiting to judge all who come before him—impersonal and detached. No, he has entered into our world, even becoming incarnate in the womb of the Virgin Mary. The goodness required by God’s Law, which we have not done, Jesus did. The evil that we have committed, was placed upon him. He suffered and died in wretchedness as a result. Jesus did this in order that sinners should be justified before God when an answer is required of them for their life. Jesus has reconciled sinners to God so that we no longer need to ignore him, nor do we need to fear his eternal punishment in hell. Jesus was punished in our place. We have been made friends with God, through Jesus, so that we may be free and easy with God like Adam and Eve were before sin corrupted them.

Paul says in our Epistle reading, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we also have obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory of God.” This tells us what life is all about. We don’t live for making and spending money. We do not live for technological or scientific progress. We live as creatures who have obtained access to God himself, through faith in Jesus. The end point of our life is a life together with God in all his glory where every evil has been put away.

In the meantime we live together with him. God wants us to live in the callings he has given to us. We all have several callings such as father, mother, son, daughter, husband, wife, congregation member, worker, employer, sibling, friend, and so on. Within these callings you have been given duties. All of those duties may be summed up by self-less love. Do not look out for yourself, but consider how you may improve and protect your neighbor. The Ten Commandments are a great teacher and guide in this respect.

We do not live as slaves, though—separated from God and not knowing his councils. We are his friends, and we live in communion with God. God speaks to us with his Word and his sacraments. We speak to him in prayer. We live dependent upon him. He fills us with his grace. We do not submit to the popular religion that would have us believe what the rest of the world believes. God protects us from our enemies, and helps us when we are persecuted.

This trouble that we have while living openly and freely as Christians is the main thing that Paul is referring to in the second half of our epistle reading. Paul says, “We therefore also rejoice confidently in our sufferings.” Another way you could translate what Paul says here is that we boast about our trials and troubles. In a way, boasting about your sufferings, trials, or troubles is odd. Most people want to avoid suffering and difficulties. But Paul is free. He is free to suffer. He doesn’t have to live his best life now. He doesn’t have to suck every ounce of pleasure he can out of each waking moment. He is not living for money or power or progress. He is living for the inheritance that God has promised to him in Jesus.

Paul has a different religion than the world. He believes that a man who died miserably on a cross is the centerpiece of all existence. The reason why Paul had the difficulties that he had is that he exposed the lies that people trust in for the happiness—lies that cannot save eternally. People want to believe that they are smart, capable, and good, so when they hear that they are not these things, they become angry at the messenger. Hence both Jews and Gentiles punished Paul for speaking the truth.

But the truth cannot be defeated by anything except the lie. Beatings, imprisonments, exiles, slander, nasty looks, being abandoned by friends and family—none of these things undo the truth of Jesus Christ the crucified and risen Savior of the world. Not even being beheaded, as Paul eventually was, can undo the truth.

Therefore, not only is Paul not afraid of sufferings and difficulties, he boasts about them. The world wanted him to be ashamed and go sulk in the corner. Paul takes away the power of shaming by refusing to play by their rules. Difficulties suffered for Jesus’s sake are even beneficial. As Paul says, “suffering produces patient endurance, and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope, and hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.”

Resist the temptation to believe what everybody else believes. God has made known to you the truth of what life is all about. The good life is the one that is lived with faith towards God and fervent love for one another.

200304 Sermon on Genesis 37:12-36 (Midweek Lent 1) March, 4, 2020

200304 Sermon on Genesis 37:12-36 (Midweek Lent 1) March, 4, 2020

Since we will be looking at the story of Joseph during these midweek services, I think we should start with some background information.

Joseph’s father is Jacob. Jacob is the grandson of Abraham. Abraham was the man whom God chose as his own. God promised to bless him and his descendants. They would own the land of Canaan. They would be numerous. The world would be blessed through them. Abraham passed this inheritance down to his son Isaac. Isaac was tricked by his wife and by Jacob into giving it to Jacob instead of Jacob’s brother Esau. Because Esau was extremely angry at what Jacob had done, Jacob had to flee. He went to his mother’s home country and stayed with his uncle Laban.

Right away, when Jacob came to Laban’s territory he met Laban’s daughter, Rachel, and loved her deeply. He arranged to marry Rachel, but had to work seven years for Laban in order to get her. However, when the time was up, Laban tricked Jacob, giving him his other daughter Leah instead. Jacob had to agree to work for Laban seven more years in order to compensate him for Rachel again. This is how Jacob came to have two wives—Leah and Rachel. Jacob loved Rachel, who was pretty, more than Leah.

God had pity on Leah, since she was not as deeply loved as her sister. He caused her to be fruitful while her sister was not. Leah had four sons. Rachel had none. This made Rachel deeply unhappy and so she made an arrangement with Jacob. She told him to sleep with her maid, Bilhah, and that Rachel would claim the children produced by this union as being her own. Two sons were born to Rachel’s maid. Leah, though, only thought that it would be fair that she also have this opportunity to enlarge her number of offspring. She arranged it so that Jacob also had children through her maidservant, Zilpah. Two sons were also born to Leah’s maid.

So, in case you have not been keeping track of the race, here are the standings up to this point. Eight sons have been born. Leah has four. Leah’s maid has two. That makes six for Leah’s side. Rachel has none. Her maid has two. The score is six to two. The rivalry between these sisters was intense. Leah had more children, but Rachel had Jacob’s love.

It came about after this that Leah’s womb was opened once more. She had two more sons and a daughter. Leah now had six sons. That makes the score eight to two. Finally, God remembered Rachel and gave her a son of her own. This was Joseph, whom we will hear about during these weeks. I’d like to speak some more about Joseph, but before I do, I’d like to finish the story of Jacob’s sons. The twelfth son was also born to Rachel several years later. Unfortunately, Rachel died after giving birth. This son was Benjamin, who will enter our story towards the end of our midweek series.

Let’s speak a little more about Joseph’s family situation. There was a wide spread in age between the brothers. The four oldest were Leah’s sons. They were probably at least 10-15 years older than Joseph. Joseph was the only son from Jacob’s favorite wife, Rachel. He also was the youngest son for several years until his little brother, Benjamin, was born.

What we see here are the ingredients for jealousy and hatred. This is not unusual or surprising. Perhaps you’ve heard of what toddlers sometimes do when they get a new little brother or sister. The toddler used to have all their mother’s attention. Now with the baby, they have to share it. And so I’ve heard of little kids trying to push away their infant sibling, so that they get to be alone with mom instead of the baby hogging all her time and energy. You might think that we should outgrow stuff like that, but I’m not so sure. We might get better at hiding our hostility. We learn the social rules that we are supposed to follow. But there can be a lot of resentment from childhood that can plague families their whole lives.

Since we are all born selfish, rivalry and resentment is almost normal. With Joseph and his brothers the antagonism is greatly embittered by the circumstances. The whole family is consumed by jealousy. Leah’s boys, certainly, knew that their father preferred Rachel over their mother. Rachel was resentful of her sister. I am sure that she fought for the rights of little Joseph every step of the way. The older boys, Leah’s boys, bore the brunt of the work and trouble. Joseph got to lead a carefree life. Jacob doesn’t seem to be very good at hiding his favoritism either. Joseph is given a special coat, perhaps a multicolored coat or one that was richly embroidered. Every time Leah’s sons saw that coat they were reminded that they were not as loved by their father as Joseph was.

Immediately before our reading tonight we hear of the straw that broke the camel’s back. Joseph was given a couple of dreams. Dreams and the interpretation of dreams will be a big part of Joseph’s life. In the first dream he is shown to be the better of his brothers. They bow down to him. In the second dream his brothers are subservient to him again. Even Joseph’s parents are subservient to him. This was even a little too much for Jacob to swallow.

Here we see something unusual about Joseph’s character. He seems to be totally devoid of guile or duplicity. In a way, he is socially inept, because he doesn’t lie. Someone who was a manipulator would read the situation and hold back on making his mind known so that things would go better for him. Joseph just blurts it out, and he is going to pay dearly for it. This character trait is something that shows up throughout Joseph’s life. He is a straight shooter. He says what he means, and he does what he says.

This brings us to tonight’s reading. We will not go through it all again. All that we will say is that the brothers thought that Joseph got what was coming to him. But this is where the brothers are the most wrong. I think we all might have some sympathy for the way that the brothers were taken for granted and not loved as much as Joseph. But this was not Joseph’s fault. Joseph didn’t do anything wrong. Sure, he was the recipient of love and riches, but that doesn’t make him guilty of wrong-doing.

Jealousy is odd in a way. When we become jealous we attack the person to whom more has been given. But it’s not that person’s fault that they have what they have. Why shouldn’t we be happy for them? We should, but we aren’t. We aren’t because there is no body or no thing that we love more than ourselves. We’d just as soon cut the other person down to size, taking away their gifts, so that we can be more on par with them.

It is a devilish thing to wish harm upon somebody else so that you can feel better. And yet, this is not uncommon, especially within families. Perhaps nobody’s being sold into slavery or murdered, but their name may very well be dragged through the mud. Why do we gossip and inculcate hate with our words? It’s because it is harming somebody else, and mysteriously it makes us feel better. We are like hogs who root in the manure and couldn’t be happier while doing it. The stinkier thing we dig up about the other person, the better. There is nothing so delightful to us as to find out something scandalous about somebody else. If that somebody else happens to be somebody we dislike, then the joy is practically ecstasy. There’s really no pretending when we say, “I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess all my sins and iniquities.” The wickedness of our heart is beyond our own comprehension. I can’t understand how God puts up with us.

Think of the night when Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, as we heard about in our other reading. Jesus says that he very eagerly had looked forward to having this meal with them. It’s hard to think of a more solemn occasion than when Jesus gives them his own body and blood to eat and to drink. And what did the disciples end up doing? If the Gospels didn’t record this for us, black on white, I’d never believe they were capable of it. They were arguing over who was the greatest. They were in the business of tearing one another down, and it felt good to them to do so. I can’t understand how Jesus puts up with this. I would have told them all to get lost.

But what about you? What have you thought about while kneeling at the Communion rail? Jesus says to you, “This is my body, given for you,” “This is my blood, shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins,” but what mundane, self-serving thoughts have you thought about instead?

It is never child’s play to sin against God. Sin is always punished. Joseph and his brothers would have been much better off if they had never done what they did to Joseph. The apostles would have been better off if they had never quarreled over who is the greatest. Trouble and misery always follow as a result.

But we should also see that God did not give up on these people, even though they were so wicked. Jesus still means it when he says, “I have eagerly desired to eat this meal with you.” This is because the Son of God did not come into this world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. All who believe in him will not perish (even though they deserve it in spades), but have eternal life. We have been redeemed and justified, not because we are good people, but because of God’s strange love. It is as David says, “Thy mercy, O Lord, reacheth unto the heavens, and thy faithfulness unto the clouds.”

The bible is full of people who are just like us. We are shown examples of God forgiving them and blessing them in spite of their sins—although, we also see how those sins take their toll. Therefore we should believe that God has mercy on us, although we are sinners, for Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Our sin-sick hearts will not go on forever as evil. They will be healed and filled with love, even as the Holy Spirit works upon them even now by his Word and Sacraments.

One final word I’d like to leave with you: I’m sure that the family troubles that I’ve spoken about tonight apply to each of you in one way or another. Make it your goal to heal rather than harm. Mend relationships. Put the best constructions on one another’s actions. Be merciful and forgiving, just as you yourself are in need of mercy and forgiveness. These are God pleasing things and very beneficial.

200301 Sermon on God's punishment for sin (Lent 1) March 1, 2020

200301 Sermon on God's punishment for sin (Lent 1) March 1, 2020

Last Thursday the late night talk show host, Stephen Colbert, made a joke at God’s expense. He was riffing on the continued spread of the coronavirus. Then he went off stage, got a bell, started ringing it, and this is what he said: “Plague! Plague! A righteous cleansing to punish man for his lust and vanity! Oh, swing your scythe O angry God. Repent! Repent! Repent!” The audience laughed. Then he said, “Where was I?” and continued on with his monologue.

Jesus says that in the last days it will be like it was at the time of Noah and like it was at the time of Sodom and Gomorrah. At the time of Noah the people only grew more wicked continually. The people were very busy. They were padding their pockets. I believe that they reached a very high level of sophistication in their civilization. But they didn’t care about the God who had spoken to Adam and his descendants through Seth all the way down to Noah. This God had said that judgment was coming over the face of the whole earth. He was going to utterly smash and destroy all that he had made. He essentially said what Colbert joked about: “A righteous cleaning is coming to punish man for his lust and vanity. I’m going to swing my scythe because I am angry. Therefore, repent!” When the people heard about Noah’s God they thought Noah was coo-coo for believing in him. I bet you that there were jokes made about Noah.

At the time of Sodom, the rich people of that fertile plain had become so delicate in their tastes that natural relations were no longer enticing enough for them. They had to search out exotic, disturbing experiences in order to satisfy their sexual appetites. They gave up natural relations and burned with lust for the people of their own sex. This sexual perversion is what happens when cultures get rich and old and decadent. It happened at Sodom. It happened to the Greeks. It happened to the Romans. It happened to the British. It has happened to us. Not only is there this sin, which is bad enough, but what is much worse is that it will not be recognized as such. It is defended with such ferocity that those who will not go with the flow are denounced as deplorable. Those who are evil are regarded as good, and those who are good are regarded as evil.

Without even trying, Stephen Colbert sums up perfectly our horrible spiritual condition as a people and a nation. What he says is so true that it is basically a textbook, catechism answer. God punishes man for his lust and vanity. He swings his angry scythe. We should repent. But then he laughs. The audience laughs. There evidently is wide appreciation for this joke, because the way that I found about it was by watching the morning news on Friday. They replayed it as a kind of cute little joke to raise your spirits.

What happens when hearts become hardened is that people laugh at God’s threats and roll their eyes at God’s promises. They do not feel bad about how they regard God’s Word. It’s just a matter of course for them. If they feel bad about anything it might be that there are people like us who are so deluded as to believe that what God says in his Word is actually true. They hope that eventually we can be educated out of our medieval backwardness.

To be a Christian these days it takes a bit of a backbone. If you want to be liked by everyone, then I don’t recommend that you remain a Christian. If you want to be regarded as smart by everyone, then I don’t recommend that you remain a Christian. You must put aside the desire to be praised by men and strive after being praised by God instead. Only those who regard God as their friend, their mighty fortress can even begin to live in such a way where they seek God’s approval instead of being approved by our peers.

The Psalms in the Bible are instructive in this regard. The Psalmists are always praying to God and praising him as their defender, their rock, their strength, their hope. Very often the Psalmists speak to God about their loneliness. They are regarded as failures by their fellows. Family and friends abandon them—not because they have harmed them, but because they put their trust in God. Nevertheless, the Psalmists remain confident.

Psalm 27 says, “The Lord is my light and my salvation—whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid? When evildoers advance against me to eat my flesh, when my foes and my enemies come against me, it is they who will stumble and fall. If an army lines up against me, my heart will not fear. If war rises against me, even then I will keep trusting.”

This psalm encourages the Christian to not lose heart in the face of disappointments and dangers. Even if the stakes of the fight are a whole army against just you—keep trusting.

The Psalmist, David, goes on to say: “One thing I ask from the Lord. This is what I seek: that I live in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple.” The end point of your life is no earthly thing. The end point of your life is to see God in his glory, and not being afraid, because God has washed you in the blood of the Lamb and made you holy and righteous in his sight. No amount of mocking can take this inheritance away from you. No amount of violence can take this away from you. As Jesus says, “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Fear God, not men or the devil.

Speaking of fearing God, then, how should we regard the coronavirus or any other trouble that comes upon us? Are these things God’s punishment for sin? Here we are likely to run into a common problem where our reason would like to know more than what is given to us in the Scriptures. We’d like to have a kind of mathematical precision where we know precisely what sins trigger this or that punishment.

A portion of Scripture that is very helpful in teaching us how we should regard tragic events is the beginning of Luke chapter 13. It says there that some people told Jesus about a calamity. Pontius Pilate had mixed the blood of some Galileans with their sacrifices. That is, Pilate had killed them. Jesus responded, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered these things? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all perish too. Or those eighteen who were killed when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think that they were worse sinners than all the people living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no. But unless you repent, you will all perish too.”

From Jesus’s answer you see two important things: First of all, he would not have us inquire with mathematical precision as to who is a greater or lesser sinner and therefore receives a greater or lesser punishment. In our times, this is not a hard lesson for us to learn. Nobody has to be taught it, because practically everybody says, “Who’s to judge?” The second thing that you should notice is that Jesus urges repentance upon all who only just hear of the calamity happening. He does not deny that God punishes sin. He threatens them with God’s punishment when he says, “Unless you repent, you will all perish too.” That is to say, God will cause you to die. In our times, this second part is not understood well at all. It is so poorly understood that jokes are made about it.

So here is a foundational truth that we should all take in very deeply. At the close of the Ten Commandments in the Catechism the question is asked, “What does God say about all these commandments?” Then some Scripture is quoted—from within the account of the Ten Commandments itself: “God says, ‘I, the Lord, your God, am a jealous God. Punishing the children for the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.” Then the catechism asks, “What does this mean?” Answer: “God threatens to punish all who break these commandments. Therefore we should fear his wrath and not do anything against them. But he promises grace and every blessing to all who keep his commandments. Therefore we should love and trust in him and gladly do what he commands.”

The foundational truth is that God punishes sin and blesses righteousness. This foundational truth goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, which we heard about this morning. Adam and Eve were created as good, even very good, in the image of God. They had a glorious fellowship with God. All the trees and fruit and animals were given to them by God to enjoy. God said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and rule over it.” They were given a warning, though. They were not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. If they did, they would certainly die. God threatened to punish them for breaking his commandment. Paul, most likely thinking of this sin in the Garden, says, “The wages of sin is death.” We should have this equation firmly in our minds as a foundational truth: Sin = death. We should be as certain of this truth as we are of 2+2=4.

Therefore, when we see death or the things that lead up to death in ourselves and those around us, we should think of this equation. Our sin is at the root of it. This is why Jesus says that we should all repent when we hear of calamities. Likewise, when we sin, we should fear God’s punishment. That punishment is meant to lead us to repentance. Because we are so stubborn and unbelieving, it often takes God’s heavy hand upon us to make us turn to him, asking him to comfort us in our deep distress.

For God has not left us without comfort. He did not leave Adam and Eve without comfort. He promised that a seed of the woman would crush the old evil foe who has brought us into our misery. As you know, Jesus would defeat death by taking away its root and its source—which is our sin. The atonement that Jesus works for us by his holy precious blood and his innocent suffering and death has taken away God’s awful wrath of death for all people. All who have died with faith in Jesus have defeated death. The grave will eventually have to give them up to a new and more vigorous life with the resurrection from the dead.

What you see going on with the redemption that Jesus accomplishes is that the fundamental truth of the Law that we have spoken about—where God punishes sinners—has been swallowed up by a greater truth—God’s salvific, sacrificial love in Jesus Christ. Our sin cries up to heaven for our punishment, but Jesus offers himself as the sacrifice that rescues all sinners from the hell that we most certainly otherwise deserve. The truth of God’s love swallows up the truth of God’s justice, having carried out justice in punishing Jesus for our sins.

So when trials and afflictions come upon us, we should not laugh them away or think that God has nothing to do with them. We should regard them as God’s discipline. As you know, discipline is not carried out for doing what is good, but for doing what is bad. Therefore, we should fear God’s wrath because of the foundational truth of the Law and turn to him for our everlasting comfort.

It’s like it was when we were children. Our parents did not discipline us because they hated us, but precisely because they wanted good for us. When the discipline hit its mark and the child is humbled, he just might edge his way back to the one who had punished him. He wants to be comforted. He’s sorry. He wants to know that his parent still loves him. What father or mother can resist such a child? Do not all fathers and mothers want to take such a child up into their arms and comfort him? We want to wipe away every tear and assure the child of our love.

If we, who are evil, do this, how much more is it the case that God will receive and bless the one whom he has disciplined? The God of all comfort comforts us in our afflictions.

So when God lays his heavy hand upon you, do not reject him. Don’t laugh at him. Repent, confess your sins, and draw near to the throne of grace, that you may obtain mercy and find grace in the time of need.

200226 Sermon on 2 Peter 1:2-11 (Ash Wednesday) February 26, 2020

200226 Sermon on 2 Peter 1:2-11 (Ash Wednesday) February 26, 2020