241006 Sermon on Jesus's commands requiring faith (Pentecost 20) October 6, 2024

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Jesus’s commands can seem unreasonable and unrealistic. Let me give you an example. In Luke chapter 6 Jesus commands that we give to those who ask of us, and if our goods should be taken away that we should not demand them back. Upon hearing that we are to give to anyone who asks, and that we should not demand back what has been taken, there is a part of every one of us that rebels against this command. It doesn’t seem like it will work out very well for us. All our stuff will be taken away. So we don’t do it. We set Jesus’s command aside.

But there is another way of looking at it. A person could believe that Jesus’s commands are good. A person could believe that things will go better if we follow Jesus’s command, if we give to those who ask, and not demand back from those who take. God must be the biggest factor in this scenario. God would have to protect you. God would have to repay what was taken from you. Can you trust him? In order to accept Jesus’s command about giving and not demanding back we have to believe that God loves us and will take care of us. Jesus’s commands require faith. Hearing his commands with faith changes our perception of them.

We heard Jesus’s commands concerning the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce in our Gospel reading. Divorce is very emotional, painful, and complicated. Nobody gets married with the hopes of getting divorced. I won’t be covering all aspects of this topic in this sermon. Pastor Bertram and I would be happy to speak with you more about any questions or thoughts you might have one on one. For the purposes of our time together today, though, I’d like to look at Jesus’s commands regarding marriage and divorce as requiring faith.

When Jesus was asked about the permissibility of divorce I think his answer surprised both his opponents and his disciples. His opponents, the Pharisees, knew that Moses allowed for divorce. I think Jesus surprised them when he told them that that was an accommodation for their hardness of heart. A hard heart is an unbelieving heart. Husband and wife are not supposed to separate. From the beginning man and woman have been joined in marriage so that they become one flesh. What God has joined together, let not man separate.

It seems that the disciples were surprised by this command also. They asked Jesus about it afterwards. Jesus did not soften his stance on the irrevocability of marriage. If a husband divorces his wife and marries another, he is committing adultery against his first wife. If a wife divorces her husband and marries another, she is committing adultery against her first husband. Marriage, in God’s sight, is not ended by a certificate of divorce. It is ended by God when he brings about the death of one or the other of the spouses. If God ends the marriage, then the surviving spouse is free to marry another.

Upon hearing Jesus’s teaching our immediate reaction might be that all of this is way too black and white. What about this circumstance and that circumstance? And there might be validity to those circumstances. Not every divorce is sinful. Some divorces are justified. Jesus himself, in a parallel passage, says that divorce may be granted when adultery has been committed by the other spouse.

But we all know that not all divorces are because of adultery or abuse or abandonment. Many divorces happen because husband and wife do not get along. That is not unusual or surprising. We all have our sinful flesh that is as wicked as can be. We also have the devil who is always ready to blow any sparks he can find into a raging, consuming fire. Divorce is not irrational. It seems like it is a good solution to an all too common problem. Why should two people be chained together when they no longer want to be together?

Although this seems reasonable, it doesn’t seem to play out this way in actual experience. Becoming one flesh with someone is not merely biological or social or economic. As Jesus shows in our reading, God is involved in this union. God joins together. Divorce pulls apart. Those who divorce often feel lingering pains. Maybe some problems have been solved by the divorce, but new ones arise. The happiness that was hoped for doesn’t always come or doesn’t always last.

When Jesus teaches about the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce, he is actually showing us a way for happiness, for blessedness. If you have experienced difficulties in your marriage, or if you are currently experiencing difficulties in your marriage, then Jesus’s commands might seem to be offering the opposite of happiness or blessedness. It might seem as though Jesus is only making the situation worse. Now not only can you not have the hope of happiness from getting divorced, if you do get divorced, then you’ll have to feel guilty about it.

Although this might be a common way of hearing Jesus’s commands, it isn’t the only way. Consider again the commands that I began with. Jesus commands us to give to those who ask, and not to demand back from those who take. One could interpret those commands in such a way that Jesus intends to make us miserable. Jesus wants us to lose all our money. Jesus wants us to be abused by evildoers and have no recourse so as to defend ourselves.

But is this what Jesus really wants? Does he want us to be miserable? He wants just the opposite. He wants us to be happy and blessed. He promises that if we follow his commands that we will be blessed. Strangely enough, if we were to follow his commands we might end up with less money, but we will nevertheless end up with more. Undertaking Jesus’s commands with faith makes the scenario appear altogether different.

So it is also with Jesus’s commands about the irrevocability of marriage and the unsuitability of divorce. If you leave God out of the picture it can seem like the gloomiest of commands. It can sound like God is cruel and wants to take away all joy and happiness by keeping people stuck in miserable marriages. But that is not the only way it can be looked at. We can look at these commands with faith.

Looking at your marriage with faith is to realize that God has been and is completely involved. God has joined you together with your spouse. We know that because you have not just been dating or going steady. You have made your promises before God, to one another, and to society. You have promised that you will love and cherish this person for better for worse, for richer for poorer, and in sickness and in health until death parts you. Because God has put you together with this person, you know that that is where you belong. Because God has put you together with this person, you know that God will care for you even if you are going through some troubles.

Now, I wish that there weren’t any troubles. I wish that everyone always got along splendidly. I wish that everyone always had more than enough money so that they would never have to ask another person for money. I could wish for a lot of things along these lines, but my wishing wouldn’t make it so. We live in a broken world with much suffering. How should we respond to this brokenness? Jesus’s commands direct us in the way that we should go. His commands help to undo brokenness. We don’t have to sit idly by with brokenness, believing with the rest of the world that nothing can be done. We can demonstrate our faith by cheerfully giving when called upon to do so. We can demonstrate our faith by cheerfully looking to the future with the one to whom we have been joined by God to be one flesh.

I understand how what I have said could be painful for those of you who have difficulties in your marriage. To be cheerful about your marriage seems like something you gave up on a long time ago. You haven’t been looking forward with cheerfulness. You’ve only been trying to survive. But this is where Jesus’s commands can be the most helpful. Although you might not be able to see any light at the end of the tunnel or anywhere else for that matter, God is the creator of light. What might God do if you were to believe? What might God do if you joined yourself wholeheartedly to his teaching? There’s no telling what might happen—what adventures God might put you on—but I’m sure that it would be good!

There is no way for me to prove to you that obeying Jesus’s commands, being his disciple, will be good for you. The only way you can know that is by taking the plunge yourself. You have to believe that giving to the one who asks will do you good. You have to believe that not demanding back what was taken from you will bring you happiness and blessedness. You have to believe that Jesus will protect you and lead you in the way that you should go, even if that path might be filled with painful sacrifices and frightening challenges.

What is good for you to know, though, is that you are not stuck. Jesus’s commands and promises open up possibilities that are so often deemed to be impossible. Jesus is Lord. All things have been put under his feet. Therefore, there is always hope. Nothing that we do in faith will be in vain. Listening to Jesus brings us on the right paths that bring about love and healing.

Hopefully today you have seen that none of us believe as we ought. None of us are as convinced as we should be that Jesus’s ways. Therefore we can all change our ways. We can all repent and believe the good news that Jesus is Lord. Jesus forgives and will set right all that has gone wrong. In the mean time be led by Jesus’s good commands and promises.

240922 Sermon on being the greatest (Pentecost 18) September 22, 2024

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Jesus said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

Being recognized is a deep human need. Being recognized is when a person is accepted and appreciated for who they are. People can be recognized for all kinds of different things: “You are talented.” “You are hard working.” “You are funny.” It feels good to be recognized. Usually people cultivate their lives in such a way that they can continue to be recognized. Funny people enjoy being recognized as funny, and so they are always coming up with new bits. What do you want to be known as? Smart, successful, caring, hard-nosed, charming? You’ll do what’s necessary to continue to be known and recognized as such.

This is simply how we are. There would be no sense in trying to get rid of this impulse. We need to be accepted and appreciated. To try to do away with this would be as silly as trying to do away with sleeping, eating, or drinking. That said, the desire to be recognized can go awry.

For example, what often happens is that a person not only wants to be recognized, he or she doesn’t want others to be recognized. Let’s say a woman is pretty. Maybe she’d like to be the prettiest. That means she’d like it if nobody was even close to being as pretty as her. Or let’s say there are many children in the family. Which of them is the favorite? There can only be one favorite. To be the child that mom or dad loves most feels good. I think you can see where problems arise. Being the prettiest can bring about meanness and conceit. With favorites in families there can be lifelong resentment. It’s not hard to see how these things can be bad.

What is to be done? I think a lot of people believe nothing can be done. We have no other choice than to accept things as they are. The best will be the best and the worst will be the worst. Since that is the way things are, you should try your hardest to be the best. Then you’ll get that recognition you crave. If someone is not getting recognition, then it’s because they aren’t trying hard enough. If they tried harder, then they’d be recognized too.

This is a very powerful philosophy. It makes sense. It’s assumed to be correct. It’s everywhere. To learn something different, therefore, will require effort. You’ll have to learn new and different rules. Take Jesus’s statement in our Gospel reading. He said, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” To be first be last. It almost sounds non-sensical. Those are opposites of one another. If the first are last, then they can’t be first. The first are first and the last are last.

But Jesus helps us with what he says after that. “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” Being the servant of all throws a different light on things. It shows us a different way that we might use what has been given to us. What comes naturally to us is to use whatever we have to promote ourselves. We try to make the case that we are the greatest. But if we would serve, then we would use what we have for others—to lift them up, to do them good.

Consider something I’ve already mentioned—prettiness. It can seem to be something that is only good for the girl who has it, but it doesn’t have to be used that way. A pretty girl can give her prettiness to her man. She wants him to enjoy her prettiness instead enjoying her prettiness for herself or using her prettiness to distinguish herself from others. Or a pretty girl can love the girls who have not been given what she has been given. She can forget about her prettiness and associate with the lowly—not in some ostentatious, obnoxious, ugly way, but in a genuine, friendly way. Thereby she gives away her prettiness to those who are less so, and who might be somewhat shunned because of it.

Boys can do this too. Boys often value different things than girls. Athletic boys can hang out with non-athletic boys—bearing with them, not ridiculing them and demeaning them. Boys who know how to use guns or tools or other desirable things can take in those who don’t. In this way a boy gives cover to another.

You know how it usually goes, though, don’t you? A hierarchy is what comes naturally. The best are at the top. The worst are at the bottom. Those at the top differentiate themselves from the rest with their greatness. They are not like them. They are best. The rest are not. Those at the bottom should know their place and burn with envy. That’s the way it is—so so many say.

That’s not correct if Jesus is correct. Maybe Jesus is a fool. Lots of people don’t believe him. But he says that greatness is not when you use what you have for yourself. Greatness is when you are the last of all and the servant of all. Greatness is when you lift up others, when you help and improve others. The lowlier the people you can help, the better, because when you are helping really lowly people you are being like Jesus.

Think of the way that Jesus is. If ever there was anyone who is the best, then that would be Jesus. But how does Jesus use his greatness? Does he point at disappointing people and say, “Look at how much better I am than you!” “Look how sinful you are and how righteous I am!”

No. Jesus doesn’t do this. He could if he wanted. He truly is so much better and so much more righteous than we are. But he doesn’t use what is his to stare at himself in the mirror, admiring himself, comparing himself to those who do not have what he has. He uses what is his to help those who are without. He makes others better.

And there’s no one who’s too low for him. There’s no one about whom he says, “Ach! That one is too disgusting!” He rejects no one. The rejection is always on the other end. The sinner says he doesn’t want to associate with him. The proud one says, “I won’t have your condescension and charity!” But as far as Jesus is concerned, he is willing to be last of all. He is the servant of all. The word “all” means without exception. He will help you.

You can see how Jesus’s friendliness, Jesus’s reaching out, Jesus’s free acknowledgement, acceptance, and approval of people is beautiful, helpful, and good. Another word that we could use to describe all this activity of Jesus is “love.” Jesus loves us, therefore we should love others. The apostle John has written, “We love, because he first loved us.”

There are a lot of people who want to be recognized. They are aching for it. You can give them that. Now I’m sure you could come up with excuses for why you shouldn’t. I’m sure that if you used your eagle-eye glasses for fault-finding, you could find faults in anyone. Thank God Jesus didn’t do that to you. If Jesus were looking for faults in you, so as to excuse himself from help you, I’m sure he could have. But he didn’t. He loves you, so you should love others.

And, as I mentioned before, the lowlier the person, the better. The more like Christ you will be. So love that person whom you have found to be distasteful. Love that person from whom you will get no benefit in return. Jesus says that we should love even our enemies.

Jesus’s saying is a strange recipe for greatness: “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.” You might be saying to yourself, “That won’t make me happy. That will make me miserable.” Don’t be so sure. Loving and being loved are the highest things in life. The more you love the more you’re loved. There’s no limit to how much you can love. Jesus says that he can become the water of life in us so that we become like a spring. A spring of water just keeps going and going. Life and love bubble up even unto eternal life.

To do the opposite of this cannot turn out well. This is an important warning. People think it is neither here nor there if they are as vain and conceited as peacocks. Not so! James warned us in our Epistle reading that jealousy and selfish ambition are demonic. Demons hate and hamper and destroy life. So do the proud and cruel self-promoters. Hell, because it is the opposite of heaven, would seem to me to be the place where there is no love—a truly terrifying possibility. No love!

You know how good love is, so don’t shut yourself up away from it. Do not strive to be the greatest by comparing yourself. Greatness is when you use what has been given to you to make other people better. Greatness is being like Jesus. Love like him. Be the last of all and the servant of all.

240908 Sermon on being "opened up" to God (Pentecost 16) September 8, 2024

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If you can imagine what it would be like to be deaf and unable to speak, then you might understand why Jesus said “Ephphatha,” which means “be opened” in our Gospel reading. Deafness and muteness close a person in on himself. It is difficult to take in the thoughts of others because you cannot hear them speaking. It is difficult to communicate one’s own thoughts because the speaking is not clear.

Hearing well and speaking well can easily be taken for granted. We don’t know a good thing until it's gone. Restoring losses like blindness, deafness, lameness, or muteness dramatically improves people’s lives.

Our Old Testament reading from Isaiah 35 talks about changing lives for the better. Isaiah lived more than 700 years before Christ, but he talks about things that Jesus did: “The eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears of the deaf unstopped; the lame man shall leap like a dear, and the tongue of the mute will sing for joy.” Jesus did many miracles having to do with precisely these ailments. Think of how their lives were changed for the better.

There are several videos on the Internet that show something similar. Perhaps you’ve seen them. The videos show little kids getting glasses for the first time, or hearing aids or implants for the first time. These kids already know mom and dad, but they had never seen them clearly or heard them clearly. The first time they can see or hear they are filled with awe. Joy comes over their faces. Sometimes there are tears. The world opens up for them. That’s life and liveliness. It is as Jesus said, “I came so that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

Jesus’s bringing of abundant life is, again, fulfilling what Isaiah wrote. All of Isaiah 35 is about the restoration of life that the Christ brings about. Dry, dead, and barren places like the desert will come to life and bloom. Fraud, violence, and death will be no more. The redeemed will enter into Zion with singing. Everlasting joy shall be upon their heads.

What features most prominently in Isaiah 35, however, is life with God. It says, “They shall see the glory of the Lord, the majesty of our God.” We heard at the beginning of our Old Testament reading these words, “Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you.’” Those are bracing words if you have the guts to believe them. “You will see God,” and “God is coming for you.”

If you think about it, isn’t it the case that we need to be “opened up,” so to speak, to this reality of God—that we should see him, that he’s coming for us? Blind people need to be opened up to the reality of seeing. Deaf people need to be opened up to the reality of hearing. It’s not like sights and sounds don’t exist when someone is blind or deaf, it’s just that they cannot perceive what’s actually there. So it is with God. Our inability or unwillingness to acknowledge him doesn’t mean that he doesn’t exist. To no longer be severely hampered—to no longer be blind, deaf, lame, and mute when it comes to God—requires a miracle along the lines of the man whom Jesus helped in our Gospel reading. We need to be opened up, otherwise we won’t even know what we are missing.

So it can be also for those who are physically blind, deaf, lame, or mute. Those conditions can be lived with. They are not fatal. It’s just that large swaths of reality and joy are withheld. We can be that way with God too. In fact, that is our natural predisposition. We by nature are closed off from God, and we think that’s just normal.

Consider your daily routine. It’s so easy to go through an entire day without hardly giving a single thought towards God. We just follow our routine: Get up, make coffee, take a shower, go to work or school, come home, watch Netflix, go to bed. God is there the whole time, but we have nothing to do with him. It’s as though we were blind, deaf, lame, and mute towards him without even knowing it.

I could almost see Jesus groaning over us like he did with the man in our Gospel reading. “Wake up you sleepy head!” I could see Jesus saying to us, “Be opened.” Life is more than food and drink. Life is more than work and vacation. Life is more than amusing ourselves to death. We can be as unthinking and uncaring as livestock, consuming what’s given to us, oblivious to the coming slaughter. That’s not how we are to be. We are much greater than the other animals. We have been made in the image of God. That makes us capable of high and divine things that we should take in, consider, and interact with. We can know things like truth, justice, mercy, peace, sacrifice, hope. On top of all these things we can even know God.

Now, I can hear some critics saying that all that stuff about truth, mercy, and so on is a waste of time and money. There are a lot of people—the most powerful people in our society—who think that jobs, money, business, technology, and so on are the only things that matter. All that other stuff is too high-falutin’. These people usually pride themselves for their practicality and for living in the real world.

They’re wrong! They don’t live in the real world. They’ve made for themselves a world that doesn’t have a Creator in it who daily and richly provides me with all that I need. The real world has God in it. The real world has God’s commands and curses, his promises and blessings. Just because a person is unable or unwilling to acknowledge that, doesn’t make it so.

Imagine if there were a blind man who didn’t believe that such a thing as sight exists. He’s utterly convinced of that because he’s never experienced it. Thus this arrogant man would like to impose his lack and his poverty on everyone else. So it is with those who scoff at God’s Word, who scoff at Jesus’s sacraments, who scoff at truth, love, beauty, and so on. Why? Because it’s work that’s important. Or amusements are important. Or it’s simply a matter of being anesthetized and vegging out to pass the time.

I know a lot of people like this. I know myself. I know that I can very easily pass my days without much thought regarding God. I know, as another example, that I do not love God with all my heart, with all my soul, with all my strength, and with all my mind. A spiritually blind person might respond, “Well, no one can do that, so who cares?” But what if we really are supposed to? What if we really can? What if Jesus was sent to cure our blindness? What if Jesus is meant to open up in us a closed-off-ness that we just thought was normal?

Jesus says, “I came that you may have life, and have it more abundantly.” Jesus turns back the curses that hamper life. He heals physical blindness, deafness, and so on. Everyone can see the goodness of that. What is not realized as frequently is that Jesus opens us up spiritually to things we wouldn’t otherwise know. We wouldn’t otherwise know these things, because these things are only learned from the prophets, from Jesus, and from the apostles. Just as the blind man doesn’t know what it means to see until sight is given, so also we do not know what it is like to know God until Jesus opens us up to that.

We can know God by his Word. We can learn how to live with him in his creation from the Psalms. We can learn about our future from prophesies like Isaiah 35. We can begin to love God by the power of the Holy Spirit. We can think about God more often than never or twice a day. We can call upon him in prayer. We can restrain ourselves when we know that going further down the path of temptation would bring us into sin. We can begin to live a new life. What some can’t see or hear we can begin to see and hear.

But, as the apostle says, “Now we see in a mirror dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now we know in part, then we shall know fully, even as we have ben fully known.” Paul is talking about how we only get an inkling in this life. I suspect an experience awaits us that is something like those videos that I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon. Those little kids never knew that they could see so well until the first time those glasses were put on their faces. They didn’t know how beautiful Mom’s voice was until they heard it. So it will be also for us.

What will it be like to see God? What will it be like to look Jesus in the face? Jesus opens us up to this hope with his Gospel. No one has seen God except Jesus who came from God. And yet, because of Jesus, we will see God in his holiness and splendor. I suspect that just a moment of that will contain more living in it than our entire life here below.

Therefore, do not be deceived. Don’t be tricked out of this healing. Jesus warns us against following those who are blind: “If the blind lead the blind, they will both fall into the pit.” Do not be blind to God. Do not be blind to truth, love, righteousness, sin, justice, redemption, and many other spiritual things. Our world is full of people who say that none of that matters. They are blind. They are closed in on themselves. “Ephphatha!” Be opened to God and to one another. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!

240901 Sermon on Jesus's teaching concerning clean and unclean food (Mark 7:14-23) Pentecost 15 September 1, 2024

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Let’s begin by defining a couple words: defilement and sanctification. These words are opposites. Defilement is when someone is made unclean and unholy. Sanctification is when someone is made holy. Whether we are defiled or sanctified is of utmost importance for how God regards us. If we are defiled, then we are unacceptable before God. It’s like having something rotten in your home. It stinks. Put that stuff outside. It doesn’t belong in the house. That is how are we before God when we are defiled.

Being sanctified is the opposite. When we are holy, we belong with God. One of the ways that the Bible talks about holiness is by being properly dressed. When we are properly dressed we have no need to be ashamed. If we were found in our underwear, or naked, we would be ashamed. But when we are properly clothed we are acceptable. We can be seen. So it is for those who are holy.

Defilement describes a state of being where we have no business being together with God. Sanctification describes a state of being where we belong together with God.

Understanding defilement and sanctification is essential for understanding the religion that God gave to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai in the Old Testament. God wanted the Israelites to be holy so that they could be with him and he could be with them. To make the Israelites holy God instituted many laws, rituals, and practices. Moses wrote these down in Exodus, and, especially, in Leviticus. The entirety of Leviticus is God’s instructions for avoiding defilement and what is to be done if someone has become defiled.

One of the regulations that God gave at that time was about clean and unclean foods. Clean food could be eaten without defilement. Unclean foods would defile the eater. For example, beef and lamb could be eaten. Pork, shellfish, and several other animals would defile the eater. We won’t get into the whys and wherefores of this. You can read about that yourself in Leviticus 11. What I’d like to point out is that according to the laws God gave to the Israelites, there was such a thing as unclean food that would defile the Israelites if they ate it.

This is important background information for our Gospel reading. For the nearly 1,500 years, from Moses to Jesus, the Jews observed the distinction between clean and unclean food. But then in our Gospel reading Jesus says: “Hear me, all of you, and understand: There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

Let’s apply Jesus’s words to unclean food. Unclean food is something from outside. It defiles. Is Jesus rejecting the distinction between clean and unclean food? Yes, he is. Jesus is even clearer, later, with his disciples when they asked him to explain himself. He said, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus Jesus declared all foods clean.) Jesus said, “All foods are clean.”

There seems to be an obvious contradiction between what Leviticus 11 says and what Jesus says in our Gospel reading. Leviticus 11 says that there are several foods that what will defile you. Jesus says, “Nothing from the outside can defile a person. What defiles a person is what goes out from a person.” The Pharisees and scribes—always quick to point out any faults they find with Jesus or with his disciples—thought that Jesus was taking away from what God had commanded. We heard in our first reading that nothing should be added or taken away from what God has said.

But instead of thinking that Jesus is contradicting the Scriptures or taking something away, it might be helpful to think of what he is doing as fulfilling the Scriptures. The Law that God gave to the Israelites at Mt. Sinai was binding for a time, but that was not meant to be an arrangement that would last for all time. Something new would take its place. This was, in fact, already prophesied at that time.

In Deuteronomy 18, which is at the same time as Mt. Sinai, Moses speaks of a mysterious Someone who is to come, who will be like him, but even greater. Moses calls this one the “prophet.” He says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brother Israelites. Listen to him.” Jesus is the fulfillment of this prophecy. Moses says, “Listen to him.” The people had listened to Moses. Now we should listen to this Prophet. Moses says so. So if Jesus declares that all foods are clean, then we should believe all foods are clean. Jesus is Lord.

In order to do this, however, you must understand who Jesus is. You must correctly identify him as the prophet spoken of by Moses. The problem with the scribes and Pharisees was that they didn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe, that Jesus is this prophet. They didn’t want to listen to him even though Moses told them that they should. Because they didn’t want to believe that Jesus is Lord, having authority over all things in heaven and on earth, they instead saw him as an enemy. They thought that he was contradicting Moses, taking away from Scripture, leading people astray. They became convinced that they would be doing God a favor if they got rid of him, and eventually they crucified him.

This question, of who Jesus is, is important and highly consequential for every human being—not just for those scribes and Pharisees. We know what they thought of Jesus. What do you say about Jesus? Your answer is of eternal significance. The Catechism teaches us the correct answer for what we should say about Jesus. It says, “I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord.” That is the shortest creed in Christendom. What does it mean to be a Christian? Being a Christian is believing that Jesus Christ is your Lord.

When it comes to what we’ve been talking about today—defilement and sanctification—Jesus being your Lord makes all the difference. The Catechism goes on to describe Jesus’s lordship, what he does as my Lord: “I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and his innocent suffering and death.”

You can hear defilement language and sanctification language in that description of Jesus’s lordship. We hear defilement language when we are spoken of as lost and condemned persons. We are defiled by what is in us and what comes out of us. It is as Jesus says in our Gospel reading, “What comes out of a person defiles him… From the heart comes evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness.”

Does what Jesus says describe you? Do you have evil thoughts? Are you guilty of sexual immorality, which in the Greek is porneia, which is where we get the word pornography? Do you covet? Do you lie? Do you gossip? I, unfortunately, have done these things and more, which means that I am a lost and condemned person. As far as how I am in myself I am defiled and have no business being together with God. I should be swept out and put with the rest of the trash.

But there is sanctification language too—the opposite of defilement. The Catechism says that Jesus has redeemed me—a wonderful word! I am redeemed! I have been purchased. I have been won—not with gold or silver, but with the holy, precious blood and the innocent suffering and death of my Lord and your Lord. The sacrifice of this Lamb of God has brought about an eternal redemption so that all who trust in him will be clothed with holiness so as to live together with God.

In conclusion, defilement and sanctification might not be the most common words. But whether we are defiled or sanctified is of eternal significance. Whether we are defiled or sanctified determines our relationship with God. When we are living in sin and unbelief, we are defiled. When we call out to Jesus in faith and say, “Have mercy on me, a sinner,” we are sanctified.

The stakes have been raised, so to speak, from what was given at Mt. Sinai. Jesus reveals that our defilement is much deeper than we would otherwise think or imagine. It goes all the way down into our heart, the core of our being. But the remedy is also deeper. God has sent his Son to be the Lord who redeems us.  

Jesus is the one about whom Moses prophesied. We should listen to him. What he has to say is not bad for us sinners, but good and life giving. As Jesus himself says, “I have not come in order to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through me.” Listen to him.

240811 Sermon on how we must eat Jesus, the bread of life, to be saved (Pentecost 12) August 11, 2024

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Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

Our Gospel reading today is the middle of a conversation that turned into something like an argument. The conversation is between Jesus and some Jews who were seeking him. The reason why they were seeking him was because they had been fed with the five loaves and two fish. That impressed them. They were ready to get on board with Jesus. Why shouldn’t he be king? Then we’d have loaves and fishes aplenty.

But when Jesus had been found, he put a damper on their plans. He said, “You shouldn’t work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.” Jesus would not only feed their bellies, but their souls too. There is a food that does not perish in the eating of it, but endures to eternal life. Jesus is that food. He says, “I am the bread of life.”  

As you heard in the reading, this redirection of their intentions didn’t go over very well. They grumbled. They couldn’t understand him. They had liked the bread that they had eaten before. Why couldn’t he just make some more. That would make them happy. But Jesus as bread? What does that even mean and what are they supposed to do? Eat him? That’s ridiculous. They want bread made from barley, not bread made of flesh.

But Jesus’s goal wasn’t to do whatever needed to be done in order to be popular. When you understand that Jesus wasn’t trying to entertain the crowd, or seek their approval, but instead to speak the truth about his Father and about himself, then his words become more understandable. They become more understandable, but only to those who will believe. If you will not believe, then Jesus’s words will be strange at best but what is much more likely is that you will be repulsed by them. If you will believe, then what he says is simple and wonderful.

Let’s take his main statement, which begins our reading. He says, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” Jesus is the bread of life. Faith eats him. If you eat this bread, then you will not hunger and you will not thirst. This could be referring to physical hunger and thirst if need be. I wouldn’t put it past Jesus who fed 5,000 with five loaves and two fish. But physical hunger and thirst are not the only kind of lack we might have. Spiritual hunger and thirst are much more important. Spiritually we hunger and thirst after righteousness. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness is another way of saying that we haven’t got any. We aren’t righteous.

We are well aware how damaging it can be to lack food and drink. We can’t live very long without them. What about righteousness? Can we live without righteousness? In a sense we can, but it isn’t much of an existence.

If we are living without righteousness then we are always needing to live in delusions and under the cover of darkness. We have to hide, so we aren’t found out. We don’t want to be exposed otherwise people will know what we are really like. It is very important to delude yourself about God, or about what happens when we die. If you are not righteous, then you cannot enjoy the thought of meeting God or being judged by him unless you make yourself forget all the stuff that you have done. Without righteousness we do well to stay away as long as we can, until we can stave off death no longer. Then our fear begins in earnest.

If a person was righteous, then he or she would not need to worry. It would be nice to have no fear. But many people do not believe that becoming righteous is possible. That’s understandable. Consult your own experience. Who hasn’t done shameful, embarrassing stuff? Don’t we all need to hide from the light lest our evil deeds be exposed? That sounds right to me. We’ve all blown it one way or another. But this is where Jesus’s words in our reading today are so important. They address this need that can seem so impossible to do anything about. Be that as it may, Jesus still says what he says.

He’s the bread of life. All you who hunger and thirst for righteousness—because you haven’t got any—may eat him and be filled. Then you are righteous. Then you can stand in the judgement. You need not fear the light. Why? Because Jesus was punished in your place for your sins, and he gives you his own righteousness as the Son of God in the place of your sinfulness.

I admit that the picture is strange. Jesus tells us to heat him because he is the bread of life. The Jews grumbled among themselves. What does he mean when he says that he is bread? How are we supposed to eat him? Our brains work the same way as their brains worked, so I think we can understand their confusion. But Jesus does not back down. He doesn’t apologize. He presses forward with his points and, if anything, gets only more extreme.

Extreme actions are needed to cure our lack of righteousness. It is not just saying you’re sorry. It’s not trying harder. Those are some not so extreme actions that come to mind. We must eat Jesus, the living bread sent from heaven. Desperate times call for desperate measures. We desperately need righteousness. Every other attempt will leave us hungry. Then the best we’ve got to combat our lack of righteousness is deluding ourselves or trying to stay in the darkness.  

This is all completely unnecessary. Jesus lays out his Father’s will in such a simple way in our reading today. He says, “This is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

So simple: Look to the Son. Believe in him. You’ll have eternal life. Any sinner can grasp hold of that because he says nothing about making it up to God. He says nothing about paying for your own sins. If you know anything about yourself you know that you haven’t got that in you. Instead, it’s “Look to the Son. Believe in him.” That’s the Father’s will. You had no righteousness, but now, believing in Jesus, Jesus has fed you with himself as the bread of life. It’s as simple as that.

This reminds me of my favorite statement about evangelism. Evangelism is telling people the Gospel, which is the good news about Jesus. Someone has said that evangelism is like one beggar telling another beggar where to get bread. Beggars, as you know, don’t have any money. They can’t buy anything. No food. So when beggars get food they like it. They might even tell their friends where they found it.

So, also, with us Christians. We are beggars when it comes to righteousness. We haven’t got any. But then Jesus comes along and says, “I’ll be your righteousness. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven. Eat and be satisfied. Eat and live.” The beggar goes from hungry to full. Shouldn’t we beggars tell our fellow beggars where we got bread? They too may be forgiven. They too may be completely righteous through faith. Point them in the direction of Jesus who wishes to make himself known throughout the world by means of us beggars. We have tasted and seen that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.

Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”

 

240728 Sermon on the difference between imagined faith and true faith (Pentecost 10) July 28, 2024

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About a month ago we heard a reading that was similar to our Gospel reading today. In that reading Jesus and the disciples embarked in a boat to cross the Sea of Galilee. All of a sudden a great windstorm arose so that water was filling the boat. The disciples ran back to Jesus, who was sleeping in the stern, and said, “Don’t you care that we are dying?” And Jesus rose from his sleep, rebuked the wind and the waves, and there was a great calm. Then Jesus said, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

Our reading today is similar. The disciples are again in a boat, although this time Jesus was not with them. Jesus had sent them across while he went up on a mountain to pray. In our reading today a strong wind arose, but it was not so strong that the boat was in danger of sinking. It just made for terribly hard work as they rowed against it. They rowed for hours until Jesus came to them walking on the water. The disciples assumed that he was a ghost. No human being can walk on water. Jesus told them that it was him. Don’t be afraid. When he got into the boat, the wind ceased.

Then Mark says, “The disciples were utterly astounded.” But I think that’s lacking something. Perhaps a more colloquial translation might be: “The disciples were out of their minds,” or “Their minds were blown.” But not in a good way—at least according to Mark—because he goes on to say, “They were utterly astounded, because they did not understand about the loaves; their hearts were hardened.”

Mark brings up the loaves. He is referring to what we heard about last week—Jesus’s feeding of the 5,000. Jesus multiplied five loaves and two fish so that 5,000 men ate until they were full. The disciples didn’t understand this. Their hearts were hard. It seems that what Mark is saying is that after such a magnificent display of Jesus’s power nothing should surprise them—not even walking on water. The disciples didn’t get it. They were unbelieving.

The disciples’ unbelief is the aspect of both readings that I’d like to focus on. In both readings the disciples are identified as lacking faith. In the reading from about a month ago Jesus asked them, “Do you still have no faith?” And in our reading today the disciples’ hearts are described as being hardened. These twelve men were the people who were closest to Jesus. How could they have no faith?

Maybe they did—at least according to their own estimation. I suspect that if we could travel back in time to interview the disciples, we might find that they would not have agreed with Jesus’s and Mark’s characterization of them. I think if we were to ask them whether they had faith they would have said, “Of course we have faith!” That would be pretty convincing too. They had left their livelihoods behind. They had followed Jesus. They heard his teaching. They saw his miracles. These all seem to be very good reasons to believe that they had faith, and yet they didn’t.

This shows that there is a difference between saying you have faith or believing you have faith and actually having faith. I think these disciples would have said that they had faith and believed that they had faith, but when push came to shove they had no faith. This wasn’t the last time either.

When Jesus was arrested the disciples quit believing in him. The shepherd was struck and the sheep were scattered. This was despite their intentions and vows of allegiance. Just a few hours before, when Jesus was instituting the Lord’s Supper, all the disciples said that they would rather die than forsake him. Peter said that even if all the other disciples would leave him, Peter wouldn’t, but we know what Peter did a few hours later. When repeatedly questioned whether he was one of Jesus’s disciples, Peter finally said, “I blankedy-blank don’t know the man!” And the rooster crowed.

What we can learn from the example of the disciples is that even the “best” Christians, who have the best advantages, can fool themselves when it comes to the estimation of their faith. There’s no reason to believe that the disciples were being anything but sincere on Maundy Thursday when they said they were going to stick with Jesus no matter what. They believed their faith was very strong. What they believed didn’t matter. They lost their faith. They quit believing that Jesus could do anything.

The reason why I am focusing on the disciples’ unbelief is because we can be like them. We might like to indulge in thinking about the strength of our faith. We have our credentials just like the disciples. We’ve been members of this church for a long time. We’ve been taught. We’ve sacrificed. We’ve sent our kids to parochial school. And it’s not like these thoughts are altogether bad or untrue. The disciples had similar thoughts: They had left everything for Jesus. They learned from him. They didn’t give up following him. Certainly such actions are not bad or without fruit.

Where a disciple’s faith goes wrong, however, is when faith is put in anything besides Jesus. A false faith is a faith that’s in one’s own self, in one’s own actions, in one’s own feelings in one’s own estimation of faith. For disciples of Jesus the actions or feelings that we might believe in can be quite pious, having a lot to do with Jesus. Certainly the apostles’ thoughts and feelings were very much tied up with Jesus. But faith must be grounded in Jesus as the one who acts, as the one who saves. He can do anything. We don’t help him with our actions or feelings or estimations of our own faith. These things seem as likely to hurt as to help.

Therefore, as we see so often in the Bible, it is not uncommon for disciples to be humiliated. I know that’s a strong word. Being humiliated is related to being humble. Being humble is the opposite of being proud. Pride comes before the fall, so being humiliated is by no means the worst thing that can happen to us. It’s not fun, but if we will accept it, it can do us a world of good.  

It was good for these disciples. It probably stung when Jesus asked how it was that they still didn’t have faith. I’m sure they were ashamed by how they got scared and ran away. This couldn’t have been how they had envisioned their faith journey. But their dreams of grandeur were not as pious as they appeared. They were a subtle replacement of Jesus being the Savior. Their complimenting of themselves, and their measuring of themselves as to how they were so much better than others—all these pleasurable thoughts weren’t worth a hill of beans. They learned that by bitter experience. They were humiliated. They couldn’t trust in themselves. They hadn’t stuck with Jesus. What was wonderful, however, was how Jesus stuck by them. He stuck by them when they were so foolish and ignoble and had so thoroughly embarrassed themselves.

This is an important lesson. What does it mean and what does it look like to be a Christian? Having become Christians do we now soar into the stratosphere on eagles’ wings? That would be nice! If you can pull it off, then good for you! But don’t be surprised if your experience should be like the apostles’ experience.

Your experience could be along the same lines as we heard about in our Gospel reading. We can get worn out. The disciples had rowed against that miserable wind for hours on end. We’re not at our best when we are tired. I wouldn’t be surprised if the disciples well remembered who it was that sent them on that miserable journey. Why had Jesus done this to them? Why had he made them so miserable? The long and short of it was that the disciples were not looking to Jesus for their strength, for their renewal, for their comfort, for their peace. That is why they were out of their minds when he showed up. They hadn’t been thinking of him.

Can’t you sympathize with that? I sure can. I do not think on Jesus as much as I should. I am particularly bad at thinking of him when I’m tired, when I’m worn down, when I’m looking for comfort. I don’t really believe that Jesus can do anything.

So it goes. I am always repenting. I’ve disappointed myself countless times. I wish that wasn’t so, but it is, and it’s not the worst thing. It’s shown me over and over again that I am not trustworthy. I cannot save myself. I have not graduated from God’s forgiving grace. I go crawling back again and again: “Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner!” I’d like to believe in myself, but my weaknesses and sins teach me that this would be a very foolish thing to believe in. If I am to have any hope of being judged as righteous before God, Jesus must do it all.

Maybe this resonates with you too. We can be friends, sharing our common love and trust in Jesus who saves disciples who are all too often disappointing. Jesus, on the other hand, never disappoints. Trust in him, not in yourself.

240714 Sermon on following the example of John the Baptist instead of Herod and Herodias (Pentecost 8) July 14, 2024

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Be faithful unto death and you will receive the crown of everlasting life.

At the end of last week’s Gospel reading Jesus sent out the 12 apostles. They went out and did what Jesus told them to do. They proclaimed that people should repent. They cast out demons and anointed people who were sick with oil and healed them. The apostles were making a name for Jesus by doing the works Jesus had given them to do in his name.

Our Gospel reading today follows immediately after last week’s reading, and as you can recall, today’s reading was about the beheading of John the Baptist. Our reading today is linked in an interesting way with last week’s reading, even though they seem to be completely different topics. At the very beginning of our reading today it says, “King Herod heard of it.” The “it” that Herod heard of was the work of the apostles in Jesus’s name. When Herod heard of this, he immediately thought of what he had done to John the Baptist. His conscience was bothered, and understandably so.

Mark then goes on to tell the story of what Herod and his illegitimate wife, Herodias, had done. Theirs was a story of unbelief and unrepentance. They did not submit to the teaching that John the Baptist taught them. They resisted, each in their own ways. Herod might not have been quite so upset as Herodias, but he still put him in prison and was responsible for beheading him. Herodias was much more straightforward. She hated him.

She hated him because John had said that what they were doing was wrong. Herod and Herodias were not originally married to each other. Both of them were originally married to other spouses. Herodias was originally married to Herod’s brother Philip. But they wanted to be together, so they divorced their spouses and married each other.

John the Baptist told Herod that this was adultery. The 6^th commandment says, “You shall not commit adultery.” Marriage is a lifelong promise of love and faithfulness between husband and wife. God is the one who joins the two to become one flesh, and God is the one who ends marriages by bringing about the death of either husband or wife. Then the surviving spouse is free to marry another. When a person divorces their spouse without sufficient justification that is taking the place of God. God is supposed to decide when marriages end, not us.

I’d like to pause for a moment to take stock of our own understanding of these things in our time. God’s commands concerning divorce and remarriage are perhaps not well known, but they are certainly not well heeded among us. We have a problem also with fornication, which is having sex with someone to whom you are not married. Sexual experimentation with multiple partners is the norm. Living together with someone to whom you are not married is the norm.

Whether these things are normal or not is beside the point. God is clear. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not fornicate. You shall not have this special sexual relationship without promising lifelong faithfulness. God’s “no” to these things are so that he may say “yes” to a relationship that is deeper, healthier, and life-giving. Whether you or I like or dislike these commands, doesn’t change the fact that they are God’s commands. The appropriate response to God’s commands that we have not kept is to fear God and repent.

It is obvious that neither Herod nor Herodias feared God and repented. It is quite likely, in fact, that neither of them thought much about God at all. They justified themselves in their own sight, so that they could do what they wanted to do. When John the Baptist contradicted their justification of themselves, they probably didn’t think that God had anything against them. They probably thought that John was against them with some outdated, misplaced zeal for sexual purity laws. Thus they directed their hatred against John, when it was in fact God that they had a problem with. John was just the messenger. John was a faithful messenger, but Herod and Herodias punished him—first by imprisoning him, then by beheading him.

Such is the experience Christians will have who want to be faithful messengers of God. Jesus doesn’t keep this a secret. He says, “If they have hated me, they will also hate you.” If you want to be a disciple of Jesus, then you will take up his cross and follow him. The hatred of rebellious sinners that is really against God will be poured out on those who remain faithful to his Word.

The anger of rebellious sinners is understandable, if you will only consider how you yourself are. I don’t know of anyone, including myself, who likes to hear criticism of themselves. My first reaction is to strike out against the one who tells me I’m wrong. Although this is understandable as an immediate reaction, may God grant us grace so that we come to our senses. We should realize that we are not just dealing with flesh and blood. God is behind the faithful messenger. We should not be like Herod and Herodias, who did not come to their senses. They continued on in unbelief and unrepentance.

If we are looking for an example to follow, we should be like John the Baptist. He is an example of faithfulness. John loved God and Jesus. Because John loved God, he made it his ambition to please God. John was not ashamed of God’s commands or God’s promises. John believed that the surest way to happiness and eternal life was by following what God teaches in the Bible.

John was very brave. He condemned sin wherever it might be found regardless of the power or authority of the ones who were sinning. He called the highest leaders in the church at that time a “brood of vipers,” because they were a brood of vipers. He called Herod and Herodias adulterers because they were adulterers. This last diagnosis, even though it was true, resulted in his death.

John could have easily avoided death and a whole bunch of trouble if he would only have not cared about God’s commands or God’s promises or God’s kingdom. All that John would have needed to do was to say, “Never mind. No big deal. Let’s all just life and let live.” Immediately he would have been released from prison. If only John would have melted into the general population, who are quite baffled and cowardly when it comes to spiritual things, he wouldn’t have been opposed. John could have had a much more comfortable life.

But if John would have been like that, then he would not have been the bright and shining light that he was, leading people out of the devil’s kingdom into God’s kingdom. He would have left people just the way they were, lost in sin and unbelief. God’s Word would remain unused. John wouldn’t have accomplished anything that he did accomplish. John’s faithfulness to God’s Word helped an untold number of people to escape hell by repenting of their sins and believing in Jesus. John baptized an untold number of people for the forgiveness of their sins. He pointed to Jesus and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John was a good and helpful man.

You can be like John too. You are fully equipped with what John had. You have God’s commands. You have God’s promises. Those commands and promises bring about repentance and faith in those whom God has chosen. You can be a bright and shining light that helps people escape from the devil’s worthless lies and leads people to God’s truth in Jesus that saves all who believe in him.

But this will not necessarily be easy or painless. You will be tempted to please people rather than trying to please God. You must be brave in the face of opposition. There are so many ways that people might want to punish you for being different from the general population, for being proud of God’s commands and promises, which are the path to eternal life.

It is not beyond the realm of possibility that you could share a similar fate as John the Baptist. You could be thrown in prison. You could have your head chopped off. That wouldn’t be the worst thing. If that is the way that God would have you meet your Lord and Savior, then let that day come speedily. You will have lost nothing and gained everything by being faithful to Jesus.

Martin Luther says in his famous hymn, “A Might Fortress is Our God.” God is a mighty fortress fully sufficient to save us in uncertain times. With the troubles we heard about last night in our nation, God’s commands and promises are still our faithful guide which cannot and will not let us down. A mighty fortress is our God, and he remains that way no matter what happens. Martin Luther says as much at the close of that hymn:

And take they our life,

Goods, fame, child and wife,

Though these all be gone,

Our victory has been won;

The Kingdom ours remaineth.

Be faithful unto death, and you will receive the crown of everlasting life.