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Jesus is the true Good Shepherd who lays down his life for His Sheep

Posted on by nfuller

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.” Every year During this stage of the season of Easter we listen to words from the gospel of John as Jesus describes how he is the one true Good Shepherd of Israel who willing laid down his life for his sheep so that he may take it up again for our sake. 

When Jesus says he is the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep, he is describing himself as unlike what any other shepherd can be. If another shepherd were to lay down his life for the flock of four legged sheep in his care, he would be foolish. If he lays down his life, his family no longer has his help, and he is of no use to the sheep in the future if he lays down his life for them.  

Jesus lays down his life for us because caring for us and other sheep in his charge is his chief purpose. He is entirely unlike the shepherds who are hired hands, who only have a certain investment of interest in the well being of the sheep. Jesus lays down his life for us so that we are carried to a better life, to eternal life with him.

He is the Good Shepherd who can help you in a way that no family member or friend can, he can forgive your sins and release you from death’s hold. So that you can say: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil for you are with me.

In today’s world there are more distractions than ever before, we are often rushing from one thing to another. Keeping busy and filling up life with a lot of things is often the liturgy of our daily life. The more we fill up our life with things, the less space we have to receive what the Lord does for us, that he makes us to lie down in green pastures and restores our souls.

We know from the scriptures that David experienced the very poetic scenes used in Psalm 23. King David tended sheep when he was a boy on Jesse’s farm.  As a shepherd he saw that although he cared for sheep and was like God to them- he was not the one who made life safe and pleasant for the sheep- he saw that all of creation is in the Lord’s hands.

He saw the Lord’s good creation of the green pastures and still waters of the pastoral life caring for sheep. The experience of oil running down his head as the prophet Samuel anointed David as king. And the experience of persecution and danger as foes sought his life.

As David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Psalm 23, he put into words the meaning of a Shepherd in terms of God’s care for his people.    In the first three verses David refers to the LORD in the third person, describing what YHWH does for him and  all of His people. 

But then as David reflects on the valley of the shadow of death He switches to the second person, “I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”  David is no longer just talking about what God does for him, he is talking to the God who is near to Him and with him.

Jesus is the one who is near to us. He is the Savior who is with us in the time of difficulty. He is the Shepherd we can call to in our greatest time of need- the Shepherd who has overcome death.

In our Collect prayer we prayed, Almighty God, merciful Father, since you have wakened from death the Shepherd of Your Sheep…  The Good Shepherd who lays down his life for His Sheep is himself raised up. Were Christ not raised from the dead he would not be powerful enough to shepherd and protect us.  Our lives are changed as we look to our resurrected Lord Jesus to be our Good Shepherd. The God who lives and has the power to give us life.

In our Introit the words of Jesus surround the words of Psalm 23- Jesus is the shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep.  Jesus is David’s greater son who was anointed with oil as the Messiah. Jesus is the true Shepherd who seeks after all the lost sheep. Who seeks even the sheep who are not of his fold- a reference to the Gentiles who are brought into God’s family through His unending love.

Christians all over the world pray Psalm 23. It is the most often memorized psalm.  But often people may miss the bigger picture that Psalm, like all other psalms. is fulfilled in Christ.  Jesus is the Shepherd who makes us lie down in green pastures and leads us beside still waters.   

In the book of 1st Samuel David was called to play the harp for King Saul to relieve his tortured Spirit. The harp or lyre was played by David and then King Saul would have relief from his personal torment. But it was not the music alone that helped King Saul, but the faith of David and the message of God’s Word that accompanied this music, the Psalms David would sing.  

Hearing God’s Word makes everything better for us. Singing Hymns of Faith makes everything better. In a simpler time the church could easily offer several worship services per week that people could walk to and attend to without missing work or school commitments, and thereby receive the comfort of hearing God’s Word and singing God’s Word more regularly.

Yet even now the Lord leads us besides still waters with the comfort of His Word. The paths of righteousness we are led on come from hearing Jesus’ forgiveness and undying love to us.

So many people today live in a tormented existence where their sense of worth comes from the values of this world. Their worth comes from self righteousness, whether they are Christians or unbelievers. More people than not in today’s world believe that you earn your place in the universe or in God’s kingdom through external good works, things you do to make yourself look good. People will even justify violence and murder as if they are good things, if they think their actions are part of a crusade against traditional Christian values.

  Even those who think they need to fight a holy war against the infidels need to hear God’s Word as balm to their troubled spirits! They need to hear the message of the gospel of John that Jesus did not come to exploit us or divide us, or to advance racism- but instead to lay down his life for us on the cross. 

And by that cross he gathers us all together, Just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I lay down my life for my the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock and one shepherd.     

Jesus alone can gather us all together as divided as our hearts are with sin. As we listen to His voice we become one body so that there is one voice and one Shepherd over us all.

This past year has brought times of sadness to our congregation as we have worked to come to an understanding of what it would mean to sell our building out of necessity and become renters. We have all in different ways looked back at periods in the past when our congregation was in a more prosperous state. Yet the time in the present is no less valuable than the past was to us. Here in the present Jesus is our Good Shepherd, and he has led us to this point in the present.

Here in the present, we are called to listen to his voice.  In God’s Word we hear his voice, there we have the promise that God’s Word does not return without result.

We know there is great profit to confess the words of our First reading today from Acts chapter 4 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among menby which we must be saved.”

In an uncertain time who can you put your trust in? Who can shepherd you through uncertain times. Who can stand by you even when all else is falling apart around you? Who is your Shepherd at the hour of death?  It is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for us. Amen.

We spread the aroma of Christ’s resurrection to the world.

Posted on by nfuller

When Jesus died on the cross, it looked like all was lost all. For the disciples who had believed in Him, all hopes were gone. To the mortal eye, it looked as if God had lost and the devil had won. There hung the world’s great Redeemer—dead, defeated, and humiliated.

That is where our gospel reading from Mark begins, the purchasing of spices once the Sabbath was over and the stores were open again. Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome had come to the tomb so that they could anoint Jesus with these spices- so that they could take away the stench of death during those initial days of the decomposition of a body.

If the story had ended there, Two thousand years of Baptisms, confirmations, sermons, Communions, and ordinations into the pastoral office would mean nothing. And we would all still be dead in our trespasses and sins. You would have no hope of eternal life. Death would hold just as much terror for you as it did for everyone else.

Opponents of traditional Christianity know how essential this piece of the puzzle is. They know that without the resurrection of Christ, the whole house of cards falls down. And that is why they do everything possible to call into question the truthfulness of this event. They do whatever they can to put Jesus back in that tomb, to say it was all a lie invented by later followers of Jesus to preserve His memory. They desire for the sting of death to fester and linger until the end.

Today we rejoice that this is not where the story ended. Death’s victory was short-lived. Its rule over the souls of men was brought to an end on the first day of the week, when early in the morning our Lord Jesus  Christ rose from the dead.

And now we continue to celebrate his resurrection year after. People are almost always in a good mood on Easter Sunday, it’s like all of the problems in life we contend with just go away in the joyous light of celebrating our Lord’s resurrection.

Things seem so clear in life when we meditate on Christ’s work for our salvation and how his resurrection has changed the course of our life. Instead of being just one person in chain of life, destined for death and decay and composition to the earth, In Christ I am God’s new creation of water and the Spirit. My life, like all Christians, is a fragrant offering before the Lord. In the words of Psalm 141:

“Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice.”

Our lives as God’s children are a fragrant offering before the Lord because death was not the end for Jesus. His body did not succumb to decay and the stench of death. The purpose of the tomb Jesus was laid in was for the flesh to decompose on the burial stone slab and then for his bones to be collected for a later time. The gospel’s describe how Jesus was laid in a tomb in which no one had been laid. It clarifies this because

Stone burial slabs were typically used over and over for different bodies to decay.

Jesus did not remain on that burial slab, death could not hold him. Ephesians calls his willingness to die for us a fragrant offering to God. “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

 Until Christ returns we live in a world still with the stench of decay, sin and death. This is a reality that unbelievers like to point out- how death always wins.  But especially today we see a bigger picture.  And not just that we see a bigger picture we smell a bigger picture. And what a sweet smell it is. This pleasant aroma is not just the lilies here adorning the church, or the fragrances we apply to ourselves in getting ready for church- or even the smell of Easter breakfast items wafting into the Nave here.

This is the aroma of Christ. From 2 Corinthians chapter 1: 14 But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. 15 For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, 16 to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.  

The risen Christ leads us in triumphal procession this Easter morning. Because he is risen from the grave we sing these songs of triumph, we process with the cross, and process to the altar later to receive his body and blood. And we go out and spread the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.

There are a few popular comedy movies I can think of with scenes where a character is ambushed by an overbearing department store employee, spraying a perfume with dramatic unsettling requests. I’m almost sure that the Seinfeld character Kramer was probably blown away by a perfume ambush in at least one episode. 

But that is not the type of spreading of the fragrance of Christ that we are talking about. St. Paul describes how we the church spread the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ. The knowledge of Christ permeates every aspect of how we live our lives, how we carry ourselves, how we react to difficult situations.

Just like a scent can quickly fill a whole room, so does our Lord call us to be the aroma of Christ to those who are being saved, and to those who reject Christ the scripture says they are going from death to death- as in they remain unmoved by the aroma of Christ sent to them.

The sense of smell permeates our being and teachers us things that words cannot express. Smells evoke unique places and memories.  And the aroma of Christ in us translates to the world in ways that transcend the words we can speak. 

When you think of all that we have been through in life, how hard you have to work to make it in this fallen world at time, and how often the sins we commit weigh us down, you would think we would give off more of a foul stench than the aroma of Christ.

When Lazarus’ tomb was about to be opened the people warned Jesus of the stench there would be after four days.  But there was no stench, Jesus had transformed Lazarus from death into life.

And he has transformed us as well. He has gives us the sweet aroma of the resurrection.  Everything we do is scented with this new life in Christ. As Colossians chapter 3 describes for us: 2 Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, 13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Jesus is the only one who can lead us through the journey through the wilderness.

Posted on by nfuller

We are on a journey through the wilderness.  On this journey we are challenged with temptations from many directions to follow a path of self deliverance- to find salvation within. Lutheran theologians have called this man’s worship- the attempt to justify ourselves by our actions without the help of God. Man’s worship is seeking to understand the world and somehow control our future destiny through this understanding. Man’s worship always ends in death. 

God’s worship contains the truth. The truth is that God so loved us that he gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall have eternal life. 

In our Introit we heard words from one of the favorite Psalms of God’s people Psalm 27.  “The LORD is my light and salvation, whom shall I fear”

 These words in the Psalm speak to the predicament we all face on this side of eternity, we walk through darkness and we are on a journey through the wilderness of a fallen world.

In our time of wilderness we ask for Jesus to lead us by the light of His truth. This is what Psalm 27:4 asks:

“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD an inquire in his temple.”   For this season of Lent it is especially meaningful for us to pray that we may gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.   

Lent is a time to look to Jesus and see the beauty of the LORD. “Come let us fix our eyes on Jesus the author and perfector of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame and is seated at the right hand of God.”  But as we fix our eyes on Jesus, what is the beauty of the LORD? Is it a beauty in the sense of a clean and perfect appearance? No, we are told in the book of Isaiah about the appearance of the Messiah: he had no form or majesty that we should look at him, and no beauty that we should desire him.  

Instead, the beauty is in Jesus’ selfless love toward us.  The beauty is seen in the gory picture of the Son of God humbled to the point of death on the cross. What revolts us, blood and gore- is also what shows the beauty of God’s love toward us.  When see him lifted up on the cross, we truly are gazing on the beauty of the LORD.

In our world today you cannot count on seeing beauty everywhere you turn, it seems more often you see ugly things related to the fallen nature of the world and man’s rebellion against God. Life on our wilderness journey often involves going forward without anything beautiful right in front of you to encourage you onward.

In our Old Testament reading we see a vivid image of the dangers of life in the wilderness and the means of salvation. The people of Israel grew impatient along the journey to the promised land. They questioned of Moses why should they even be there. Did you bring us out into the wilderness only to die?

They implied they were better off in slavery to Pharaoh.  They were ungrateful for the food that the LORD provided for them. Earlier in the book of Numbers we learn about the Manna that came from the sky in which they collected and ate.  “We loathe this worthless food.”

The people saw only their own complaints and did not see the deliverance that was right before them. In not seeing the promise of deliverance, in ignoring the promise of a Savior the people departed significantly from God’s favor. They were lost in their sin.

We see in our reading from Numbers that the punishment for their sin was quick and severe. They complained about bread from heaven from the Lord, and now they have something truly worth complaining about from the Lord.

The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and the bites were killing the people. This is a terrifying picture of the consequences of sin. The pain and the fear the people experienced was unbearable so that they asked Moses to pray to the LORD to take away the serpents.

There in the wilderness the people could no longer pretend they could save themselves. When they complained to Moses they thought they could make things better for themselves, but now they saw fully how perilous the journey is without the LORD’s help. 

The LORD was merciful to them and provided a unique means of deliverance. Moses was commanded to make an image of the very fiery serpent that was killing the people and put it on a pole, and simply looking at this bronze serpent the one who was bit would not die but instead live.

The visual symbol of the people’s sin would by God’s grace serve as the people’s deliverance.

Jesus himself verified this meaning when he spoke of how just as Moses lifted up this bronze serpent it was necessary that he be lifted up on the cross for people to live and have eternal life.  Jesus on the cross was a visual representation of the price of the sin of the whole world.

And looking at Jesus’ death on the cross in faith we live. We live because of God’s free gift of grace. As our reading from Ephesians highlights, we were dead in our trespasses and sins- we had nothing to commend ourselves before God that we should be saved. We were like the people of Israel overcome with fiery serpents with no way to protect ourselves.

“But God being rich in mercy, because of the great love which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ- by grace you have been saved- and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus.”

Because Jesus was raised up on the cross, and because Jesus rose from the dead we are also lifted up high. We are raised from the depths of our sin to the heights of heavenly places.

How do we make it through the journey of this life? We can see life as a struggle in which we must fight our way through tooth and claw day after day- or we can see our life as depending entirely on God’s mercy.  We can see our life as safe and secure in God’s faithfulness.  We can look to Jesus and see the path of life.

Yes, there are many things we can look upon with our eyes that cause us discouragement.  Whether it is neighborhoods in disrepair or the imperfections of our own lives that discourages us- what we see does not tell the whole story.

Although we see evidence of our fallen world all around us and evidence of the results of our sin- we also see clear evidence of God’s mercy and love toward us. We see that Jesus is for us as we sit in church and see the jeweled cross and see on the altar the elements of bread and wine through which we will see Jesus body and blood given to us.  

We see also that we are not alone on the journey. The inside of a church worship space has been called the Nave, which is a maritime name for the heart of the ship. We are traveling together in this ship of the church toward the glories of eternal life. And just like on a ship at sea during a storm, it is all hands on deck.  Everybody has a role to play in keeping the ship traveling the seas as well as it is designed.

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has prepared beforehand.  Because of the great news that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, because we can look to the Savior and be saved, we are free to do our best workmanship.

Instead of just trying to survive in life, as our perspective helps us see that we are already saved, we can relax and do the works God has made us to do. Works of kindness and patience, works of courage, works of creativity and hope, labors of love.

We are on a journey through the wilderness of this world, a journey where we support one another, as His workmanship. Looking to Jesus and believing in faith that He is our way, our truth and our life. Amen. 

Jesus is our anchor through the wilderness journey of this fallen world

Posted on by nfuller

Why me?  We have probably all said those words to ourselves at one point or another.  When a difficult situation or unbearable trial comes along in life, we often wonder why this should be happening to us now.  Why a car problem of this of all days?  Why this extra assignment at work, why this unexpected costly home repair?

Here in this first Sunday of Lent we are reminded of our state of walking in the wilderness, where hardship are to be expected.   

In our Old Testament reading for today Abraham faces a hardship directly of the Lord’s doing. Abraham would have been without doubt justified in asking God, “Why me?”  The Lord had asked him to give up his only son by means of a three day journey up to Mt. Moriah to sacrifice him.   

God tested Abraham with this request. Talk about walking through the wilderness of uncertainty, how could Abraham make sense of an action that had nothing to do with God’s love and faithfulness? In God’s order for creation, people are never intended to be sacrificed, especially not children. Child sacrifice was present in some false idol worship over history- but never from the God who created the world.

How strange this command must have also sounded to Abraham!  After all the years of waiting God had promised Abram that he would bear a son. How could this same promised heir now receive the fate of sacrifice on the mountain?  Why me indeed.

Isaac was a walking testimony to the miracle of God’s promise to Abraham and Sarah in their old age.  Isaac illustrated the gift and promise of God and carried with him the future promise as Abraham’s heir who would continue God’s covenant promise to Abraham.

We can only imagine how much Abraham loved Isaac with all of these promises of God wrapped up in Isaac’s existence.  And that is not to mention on top of all of that is the love a parent has for a child from the start.  The love that grows with everything from those first steps, and first words to those favorite activities and rituals that a parent and child develop together. Certainly at that time Abraham had a right to ask God, “why me?” He was in the middle of the wilderness with no clear direction home.

Abraham met God’s requests with faith and obedience all the way until God intervened to save Isaac.   Abraham obeyed despite the great love he had for his son.  He even obeyed through the three day journey to Mt. Moriah in which he had the chance to change his mind. Trusting in God’s Word to him was his anchor in the midst of the confusion of life in this fallen world. 

When Abraham thought why me, God said “I will provide.”  Whenever we want to ask “Why me” we have an example in scripture of how God is at work in the midst of life’s trials. 

The testing of Abraham preached a sermon about Jesus to God’s people. It was a message about God providing the sacrifice in our place which was fulfilled some 2,000 years later. This testing was not about seeing whether God could trip up Abraham, but instead this served as a means of strengthening Abraham’s faith. His son Isaac said it himself, the fire , the wood, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice. God will provide for himself the lamb for an offering.

While Abraham would have been justified in asking “why me”, God was answering “I will” provide the lamb.  God provided the lamb for Abraham, just as Abraham spoke in faith to Isaac, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering my son.”  God provided the lamb in the form of his own son, not on the mountain of Moriah but on the hill of Calvary.  The ram caught in the thicket served to illustrate that God always will provide through Jesus.

God sent the angel to stop Abraham from taking the knife to his son. Abraham was not permitted to make this sacrifice because God would do so instead in sacrificing his Son on the cross.  For as painful as it is to think of what it would be like for Abraham to take his son’s life, God provided his son Jesus to die on the cross as the sacrifice for us. 

This “I will” of God is a demonstration of His love for all sinners.  It gives us a picture of how God’s determination and love goes beyond what we could ever offer ourselves.  We look at the prospect of personal sacrifice and loss from the perspective of the “why me” personal cost. 

In contrast Jesus did not look to his own interests and carefully calculate the cost of helping others.  He willingly embraced the ultimate “why me” situation of dying on the cross for our sake.  Instead of asking the question why does this have to happen to me?, Jesus remained focused on what his sacrifice would accomplish for you and I, and the whole world.

Just as God provided for Abraham, He works in the midst of our “Why Me’s” to provide this great “I will” in our lives.  No matter the challenge we face Jesus provides for us with his “I will”.  His sacrifice for us has provided us with a forgiveness and grace that brings a lasting hope and renewal to our lives no matter the adversity or trial.

Jesus provides His “I Will” for us in the sense that He is faithful even when we struggle and fail to be faithful in trusting God through the trial of the moment.  We may chronically worry about how something in the near future will turn out, where we struggle to have faith and trust that God is in control and has our best interest in mind.  Yet Jesus remains just as faithful to us.  In response to this undeserved Grace, we can say “why me” as in, why am I so richly blessed with God’s love!

When we as Christians undergo trials and persevere in faith, we serve as invaluable examples to our brothers and sisters in Christ.  When we undergo difficulties of life with patience, trust and faith, we demonstrate and model to others what it means to live in faith in our Savior through the perils of this fallen world.    

In our gospel reading we are reminded of how Jesus overcame temptation for us. He journeyed from Nazareth to the land of Judea where he was baptized by John in the Jordan river. Next the Holy Spirit drove him to the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  After the forty days of testing he returned to Galilee, commenting on the meaning of his coming, his baptism and his victory over Satan’s first round of temptations: “The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and believe in the gospel.”

The time was fulfilled and the kingdom was at hand because of what Jesus was doing for us, living in righteousness where we failed, consecrating himself for his journey to the cross and the tomb.

In the midst of significant trials in life our first instinct certainly is to speak those words, “Why me”  But through faith we know that God is at work in the midst of those trials.  So perhaps a more appropriate response to the trials of life is to say, “Lord, what are  accomplishing in me through this situation?”

Christ has undergone testing and trials to restore paradise, he has overcome the devil for us.  Jesus overcame the temptations of Satan in order to fulfil what we could not do, in order to obey God where Adam and Eve failed. 

Now at the start of this season of Lent, we are called to live in courage not according to our sinful flesh, but according to the new life he gives us in our resurrection. In Christ we have already now a foretaste of the feast to come. As we draw near to Him in the Sacrament of the Altar, we experience in that moment the relief that the knife of the Father’s wrath has been held back from us, and in its place the Lamb of God is sacrificed for us. His life given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.  

May the Lord continue to bless us with faith and trust in his leading and guiding- safe through the wilderness of this world and into the joys of his eternal kingdom. Amen.

Jesus shines in glory unsurpassed and we share in His glory

Posted on by nfuller

We are completing today the season of Epiphany. The Transfiguration is a great close to the season with its majestic mountaintop revelation of the full glory of Jesus as the Son of God.  The vision of Jesus shining as bright as the sun transcends the worries of yesterday and today and tells us something about ourselves- that we are destined for a share in His glory.  

We sang a few moments ago:

“O Father with the eternal Son and Holy Spirit ever one, We pray Thee bring us by Thy grace to see Thy glory face to face.”  The transcendent glory of the transfiguration of Jesus is for us the church to share. He showed His glory to us so that we could know that our God is here for us, He has not left us alone, he has revealed his face to us.  As the Epistle reading describes, with the coming of Jesus into the world, the veil that covered the face of Moses and concealed the glory of God has been uncovered. 

In Christ we now can see the glory of God completely uncovered, shining as bright as the sun.  2Corinthians 3:18 celebrates this change: “and we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.”   We are indeed destined to share in the glory of the Son of God from one degree of glory to the next.

What does it mean to say that the scripture says we have unveiled faces?  Sin is the covering that keeps us from seeing Jesus. On account of the fallen nature of humanity the flesh cannot see the glory of God.

Yet in Christ we are unveiled as we look on the glory of Jesus without barrier- when we look with the eyes of faith, our sinful nature no longer clouds how we see Jesus.  By the power of the Holy Spirit, we can look at Jesus and see His glory.   

Sadly, a veil remains for many in this world on account of their sin.  Many people in the church have asked me how can people persist in unbelief with the countless ways that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the scripture and countless ways in which God’s Word has proven to be true?

 How could people hold onto a stubborn belief in evolution despite all of the evidence for an intelligent design in creation and all of the evidence throughout the earth of a Biblical flood? Instead of beholding the beauty of the Son of God they long to see a world where death rules.

In 1 Corinthians 2:14 we have an answer to these questions:

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”

The things of the Spirit of God are folly to the unbeliever. Each and every one of us came into this world turned away from God, and even an enemy of God.  This is why the gospel of John says : “He came to his own , and his own people did not receive him.”  But God in His infinite love and mercy called us as his own.   

The waters of baptism washed away the covering of sin so that we could be called as his own and actually see the glory of God. 

Often people who have struggled with addiction and learned how to obtain sobriety will talk about how difficult it was to think or do anything with clarity while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs. They could not see rightly.

Our church has hosted a weekly AA meeting for many years. Society may look down on those who have struggled with addiction, but we as the church can learn from the experiences of those who have struggled with addictions and made humbling mistakes of great magnitude in life, their experiences are a testimony of how thick and dark the veil of sin can be on our vision.

Even when Peter James and John first saw Jesus transfigured before them, the covering of sin shaped their reaction.  Just prior to the events of the Transfiguration Jesus begins to tell the disciples about the cross.  Peter tries to rebuke Jesus in regards to this fate.

“Far be it from you Lord! This shall never happen to you.” What Peter saw and wanted for Jesus was different than what was his purpose.  Peter needed a realignment of focus.  Jesus told him “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hinderance to me. For you are not setting your minds on the things of God, but on the things of man.”  

And as they made their way up a high mountain six days earlier Jesus was transfigured before them.  They recognized Moses and Elijah talking with Jesus.  Instead of simply marveling at how amazing it was to be able to recognize Moses and Elijah without ever seeing a painting or sculpture of either prophet, instead of marveling at the meaning of these great prophets of the past now talking with Jesus- Peter interrupts this magnificent meeting with his own agenda.

 “Rabbi it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents, one for you and one for Moses and one for Elijah. For he did not know what to say, for they were terrified.

Under the veil of sin we are terrified before the presence of God. Yet in listening to the Son, the Lord Jesus- there is no need for fear.  As the scripture teaches in 1 John  “Perfect love casts out all fear.”  In listening to Jesus there is no uncertainty in our life of who we are in this world and what is our purpose. 

Moses and Elijah as great as they were, they were only meant to point to Jesus. They faded away on the mountain and there was only Jesus. The majesty of Jesus, confirmed by the voice of the Father was something they could put their hope and faith in, something that they knew with complete certainty.

And we have this same certainty because we have God’s Word which shows us the glory of Jesus.  In the Old testament times people only had the law playing a role as a teacher and a guardian until Jesus came. Yes, they were shown the glory of God in Old Testament times, but it was always a reflected glory. 

Now as the church we see the full picture of the glory of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.

As the prologue to the gospel of John records: “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father full of grace and truth.”  This glory of Jesus- grace, truth, and perfect love.

And because we have seen this glory, we shall share in this glory. Though the body dies, like our sister in Christ Laura, it will be raised a spiritual body that is entirely without sin, raised not in imperfection but instead in the image of Jesus.

After the disciples heard and saw all they did on this mountain the scripture records: 9 And as they were coming down the mountain, he charged them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.

This revelation was only for their eyes and ears until after the crucifixion and resurrection. They were given a glimpse of the glory for a few moments to prepare them for the trials to come in the days leading up to their master’s betrayal and crucifixion. 

We know from church history that all of the disciples faced persecution in one way or another after Jesus ascended into heaven.  The Transfiguration gave them a foretaste of the eternal joys of heaven that awaited them. As we are gathered here this morning we also can rejoice at the clear revelation that the Son of God has revealed his glory to us, he has forever lifted the veil of sin.  No matter the difficulties we face in the coming days- may we always look to the glory of the Son.  Amen.

Jesus is the Everlasting God who does not grow weary in caring for us.

Posted on by nfuller

“Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”  What beautiful words from the prophet Isaiah chapter 40 verse 28 and following! The verse sums up so much about the difference between our short sighted life experiences and the Lord’s eternal outlook.  

Less familiar to our ears is the verse immediately preceding these words which indicates the attitude of doubt God’s people had which brought about the majestic pronouncement of verse 28, Verse 27 reads: “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right hand is disregarded by my God?”

We hear all of the time in worship how great and mighty is our God.  In our Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 40 we hear how God is the one who sits above the circle of the earth, and it’s inhabitants are like grasshoppers.  In the Psalm of the day we heard how God determines the number of the stars, ‘Great is our Lord, and abundant in power, his understanding is beyond all measure.’

In the midst of this greatness of the LORD we may feel small in comparison. Could it be that such a mighty God could ever notice us? How could my insignificant life make a difference to God?  Does the LORD almighty really care for me?  The people of Israel apparently felt this way, doubting whether the LORD really cares for them or is able to help them, as if their very way is somehow hidden from the LORD.  Their question of doubt was: “LORD can you really save us?”

In response to this lack of faith the LORD does not punish the people, but instead points them to the truth of how dedicated their God is in caring for them.

 Our God does not grow weary so that the humble and insignificant in this world are not forgotten. In our gospel lesson Jesus demonstrated this remembrance of the insignificant and the downtrodden as he healed many who were sick and cast out many demons.

Jesus who is the everlasting God, the creator of the world, He does not grow weary in his dedication in caring for us.  Jesus gives power to the faint and to him who has no might he increases strength.    

Jesus showed this ability to strengthen the weak as he healed all of the sick and cast out demons from those who were oppressed.

After Jesus went to a quiet place to pray early in the morning, Simon and others were searching for him.  “Everyone is looking for you.” But Jesus knew what was in the heart of man, that people can have their own motivations to seek him in a way where they are not seeking God’s care and provision, but instead their fill of what they want in terms of human needs.

In John Chapter 6 with the feeding of the 5,000 we hear of another instance where after Jesus gave attention to the needs of the multitudes of people, they want to take more from Jesus. The scripture says “Perceiving that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” Still the people pursued Jesus, even getting into boats to cross the sea of Galilee to find him. When they finally made it to Jesus he told them “Truly, truly I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves.”

Jesus made it clear that he has come not just to heal and set at liberty a few, but all.    “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is why I came out.”  That is why I came out.  Jesus came out to preach to all, to heal all.  He came for even the most insignificant among us- not on our terms of what we demand we need, but on His terms based on what we truly need, life and salvation in Him.

Like those in our Old testament lesson who felt “My way is hidden from the LORD” , We may feel like our needs are insignificant to the creator of this world. We may feel that nobody truly cares about our needs when our back is against the wall.    

It is our human sinful nature that we so quickly feel abandoned. We should not mistake it for the truth of how things are. The Father saw our great need ever since the Fall into sin and promised to send us the Savior. He does not faint or grow weary:  His understanding is unsearchable.  Our needs have never been too much for our God to handle. 

Even today in worship, as we confessed our sins and heard the words of absolution, Jesus was present with us.  He cares for us through the amazing authority to take all of the sins we have committed in the past week and count them all as forgiven because of his sacrifice on the cross.  Instead of seeing our sin the Father sees the Righteousness of Christ covering us.

How often do we look at problems in our life and see them as unsurmountable? When I was younger I used to think some people just have things easy. Now, especially doing counseling through the difficulties people face in life- I see that adversity and all maneer of trials comes to all of our brothers and sisters in Christ in this fallen world, likely just as much as we face ourselves.

We know our own limitations and we see with clarity that we do not have what it takes to meet the challenges before us. But we are not meant to take on the challenges of our lives on our own.  ‘Even young men grow faint and weary.’  It is with the help of the LORD that we can run and not be weary and walk and not be faint. 

Through Holy Baptism God’s people are called to a walk of life where each and every day we commit ourselves that we belong to the Lord and we desire to walk in a manner worthy of this calling as His people. 

I often hear people talk in terms of feeling like they do not do enough in their faith to please God- as if it is our role to impress God with how well we can live our lives.

But it is not the accomplishments we obtain that pleases the Lord, but our reliance and trust in Him.   As we heard in the Psalm of the day: “His delight is not in the strength of the horse, nor his pleasure in the legs of a man, but the LORD takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love.”

We often wish challenges in our life would come together and resolve themselves over night. Certainly, we would like to see a congregation’s  financial challenges resolved, and other barriers to a healthy church removed over night.

Yet it is in waiting for the Lord to answer prayer that we receive spiritual strength from the LORD.  If things come along easy we would easily boast in our own strength. When progress in life takes time and patience our faith grows as we wait to see how His kingdom comes among us.

Waiting on the LORD requires that we see that there are no other options- we cannot push through things to completion on our own.  It may not be easy for us, but we need to accept there are no other options for our lives to move forward in health and wholeness apart from waiting on the LORD.

Our fallen human nature leads us to the type of frantic worry that suggests we think Jesus may not come through for us, and that we better learn to fend for ourselves just in case.  

Instead, we wait on the LORD through a confidence that YHWH will come through for us exactly as he promises in his own time.

As we wait on the LORD we have strength.  The eagle uses the wind for its strength, this is part of the illustration God’s Word uses when it says ‘they who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength.’ 

Eagles soar after positioning themselves high on a rock and waiting for the wind to come and lift them. As we wait on the LORD through difficulties and hardships in life and wait in faith, we will with the LORD’s care for us in due time soar.

It is said that Eagles are the most committed of birds in protecting their young.  Deuteronomy 32:11 reads: “Like an Eagle that stirs up its nest, that flutters over its young, spreading out its wings, catching them, bearing them on its pinions.” 

This is a picture of the commitment Jesus has for us, that he will not allow one of us to perish and will cover us with His wings of protection.  May this care be known to you richly as you hear his word day by day and receive his forgiveness and wholeness. Amen.

“You will see heaven opened.”

Posted on by nfuller

The Winter can start to feel long right after the excitement and activity of Christmas is over. Other than watching for a snow storm, there is not a lot to look forward to this time of the year, not a lot to watch for.  And if you are watching for Spring, there is a long way to go before any sign of better weather.  Yet fortunately with God’s kingdom, there is always a lot to watch for, no matter the season.

In our gospel lesson from John chapter 1, the account of Jesus calling of Phillip and Nathanael, Jesus tells them exactly what to watch for.  By extension Jesus is also telling us what we are to watch for in our lives as Christians.

This Sunday in particular our worship contains themes of the mysteries of God’s kingdom revealed. First in our Old Testament reading the Lord calls Samuel by his name, and Samuel does not recognize it is the Lord calling him. He thinks it is Eli. He was  not expecting or listening for the voice of the LORD. Only after getting sufficient knowledge from Eli and through his faith and trust in the LORD could Samuel finally knows to respond: “Speak Lord, Your servant listens” 

And in our gospel lesson Jesus reveals to Nathanael that he saw him under the fig tree. And Nathanael goes from the skepticism of thinking nothing good can come from Nazareth to a confession that Jesus is the Son of God.  And then Jesus promises him an even greater mystery waiting to be revealed: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”   

Sometimes the body language and facial expressions seen in church can give the impression that worship, like our everyday life, is at times boring. It would seem we are not always seeing the big picture.  It makes you wonder if we are missing the full scope of what is going on in worship and missing the mysteries that are being revealed in our midst.

Perhaps we struggle to perceive how God reveals himself to us in worship.  We struggle to recall the promise Jesus made to Nathanael: “Truly, truly I say to you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of man?” What does it take to see what God is doing among us in worship?

Our church does not have a special effects department- sound, lighting and video. We believe what our forefathers believed, that worship is not entertainment. In fact we understand that what the Lord gives us in worship is far greater than even the best executed forms of entertainment. In worship we do not need the best man has to offer in order to know the mysteries of God.  Instead we are given what God has to offer.  In our worship God serves us, God comes to us in the person of his Only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  Jesus promises to Nathanael that he will show him heaven opened, and Jesus shows this to us as well- as long as we have faith to see. The background for understanding heaven opened is in Genesis chapter 28

Jacob is on a journey from Beersheeba to Haran, sent by his family to find a wife for himself of their people. That night as he is dreaming the LORD appeared to him with a vision of a ladder set up on the earth and the top of it reached to heaven.  Jacob saw a ladder bridging the gap between heaven and earth.

How amazing that there could be something like a ladder that could bridge the divide that which was broken since the Fall into sin!  This is such a different picture than the cherubim and flaming sword set up to bar Adam and Eve from returning to the garden of Eden.

The scripture in Genesis chapter 28 records: “And behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!”   This ladder was bringing the messengers of God’s kingdom, the angels up and down. What a change was present in this dream in relation to our standing before God. What could this ladder possibly represent?  

It was not a thing that the ladder represented, but a person. A God and a man, Jesus the Christ.  The ladder had to do with the promise made to Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, a promise that the LORD would be with them and their descendants and would make them great. The LORD would make them the fathers of a holy people set apart for the LORD. 

Nathanael was impressed that Jesus knew his name and saw him under the tree.  But Jesus was only just beginning, any prophet can see extra things and know extra things as revealed by the LORD. But only the Son of God can pay for the sins of the world and bridge the chasm between heaven and earth by his death and resurrection.

And Jesus is the only ladder that connects us to the Father.  Many in the world want to believe that their own efforts and diligent life disciplines connect them to God.  People believe in countless gods of their own making and believe that these gods will give them all things desirable.

Yet the scripture is clear that Jesus alone is the Way the Truth and the life and that no one comes to know the Father except through Him.  Jesus is, as 1 Timothy declares, the only ladder that connects us to the Father:  “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus.”

This is wonderful news for us. This means that we are not tasked with the mandate to earn our way up to God.  This means that our role in life is to be as a beggars who receive gifts and provision from the Lord day by day.

Like Nathanael we do not always see the full meaning of who Jesus is for us, of what it means to us that through the cross the gates of heaven are opened to us. According to our sinful human nature, we like immediate results.  We would find it easier to see heaven opened in the form of a company of radiant angels surrounded by a big flourish of colors and sounds that would amaze us and bring us sure knowledge of the Lord’s grace and mercy to us.

But instead, we see the gates of heaven opened through the ordinary activities of hearing God’s Word and receiving His gifts to us in worship, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper and the preaching of forgiveness in Christ. Just ordinary church activities most of us have seen since we were children.

But they are not ordinary at all.  These things we encounter in worship have the power to change our lives.  Heaven is opened to us in worship because Jesus rose from the dead as the first fruits of our resurrection. Heaven is opened to us because Jesus commissioned the disciples that “All authority on heaven and earth is given to me, therefore go and make disciples of all nations.”  

Every time we hear God’s Word we are participating in the putting away of our old sinful nature and the welcoming of new life in Christ. The ordinary activities of our faith bring an exceptional life marked by peace that the world cannot give.  A life of purpose and joy.

Jesus knows us inside and out and sees far more potential in our lives than we ourselves can.  “O LORD you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold O LORD you know it all together.”  That is the psalm appointed for today. A psalm that helps us to see that our own bodies have been fearfully and wonderfully made.   Our own bodies are made for the Lord. 

And as our Epistle reading from 1 Corinthians emphasizes our bodies are a temple of the Holy Spirit.  Whether it is issues of sexual purity or other ways we need to be careful in respecting our bodies- the message is the same, our bodies belong to the Lord, and it is through our bodies that we serve in God’s kingdom.

Often people in our culture today talk about spiritual matters in a way in which our bodies are inconvenient vessels to our soul that get in the way of our enjoying a certain communion with God.  If we do not value our bodies we are losing sight of the fact that Jesus is not only the Son of God, but also true man.  Jesus connects heaven and earth because he is both man and God. 

Jesus connects us with heaven through Water and the Word.  The ordinary activities for our bodies of hearing God’s Word and eating and drinking the Lord’s Supper, is actually the way that we see heaven opened to us. In seeing our Savior crucified for us and risen from the dead, we know we are beholding something more amazing than any of the disciples first saw in Jesus. 

And as the gates are open, we are united with a God who transcends all of the difficulties of today and tomorrow.  A God who will one day return to us in glory so that all things in heaven and earth will be united forever in the joys of eternal life. May we watch for this day always in anticipation and in hope. Amen.

How beautiful the first sign of Good news!

Posted on by nfuller

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given. What wonderful news. The best of all news. The most beautiful news the world has ever known. Our Old Testament reading talks about the beauty of this news in terms of the very first glimmer of good news coming to us:  “How beautiful upon the mountain are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says “Your God reigns”

In today’s world we have many ways to watch for the coming of good news. I have seen people check their phones for updates on a Colts or a Packers game in the minutes before an Installation to pastoral ministry, or at wedding receptions,  graduations  and recitals.  

People find themselves in situations waiting eagerly for an email or phone call with a high sense of urgency to find out news.  Maybe a notice of employment, or admission to a school, or perhaps to verify a paycheck has posted to a bank account in time.

Think of hospital waiting room as place to wait for surgery results or the news of the birth of a child. We wait for news with anticipation and the first indication that the news is coming can throw your stomach into butterflies.

In Isaiah’s time there was no instant means of transmitting messages.  “How beautiful the feet of him who brings good news”: The messenger is not really who is beautiful. Just his feet. Just the sign of him coming, the first spotting of the messenger running in the distance as he ascends past the peak of the mountain beyond the horizon and is now visible, moving ever closer to deliver the message.

In Isaiah’s time the message of good news was about the restoration of Israel, the end of their captivity in Babylon. The message was clear, “Your God reigns!” Not Babylon reigns or the gods of the many nations reign.   

This message of victory foreshadowed the reign of God in Jesus, where the captivity to sin of all people would be delivered with an eternal reign of Christ.  Jesus’s birth brought an end to the bondage to sin where people had no hope because they were separated from God in thought word and deed. 

Jesus brought a freedom that was more than a matter of which king or court ruled over the people. He brought a freedom to experience everyday of life here- with life and life to the fullest- connected with God’s purposes and entirely grounded in the future destiny of eternal life with Him in heaven.

The Lord Jesus reigns, and through faith in him we share in an everlasting kingdom!  That is the good news of Christmas, that is the meaning for us of the Word Made Flesh who dwelt among us and showed us his glory. 

How beautiful are the feet of those who bring this message to us!  The other details of what the person looks like does not matter. Whether elaborately dressed or dressed in tattered clothing – the message is going to be the same.  We do not want to get distracted by the details of the messenger himself- lest we lose sight of the message we are waiting for.

We are all in captivity to sin, living in a fallen world. That is why more than ever, we watch for the message of good news, the message that Jesus is here for us. The message that Jesus frees from our captivity to sin, giving us forgiveness, peace, wholeness. 

In recent years we have as a nation been enticed to follow news more than ever before. News comes in from countless avenues, leading many to look forward to catching up each day on what is going on, what there is to keep track of.  And of course these updates to our lives do not fulfill us, they only serve to give us reason for isolation from one another, and worry.

Far more important than watching for the latest news and updates in the faced pace world we live in, we wait and watch for Jesus’ message of forgiveness for us found in God’s Word- even as we watch for Jesus to return.  With this message of God’s Word we know for sure that God reigns in our lives, and what good news that is!  

Sometimes at Christmas we struggle with comparing present situations with the past.  How does this Christmas compare with years back when the church was more full? We think of family members who are not there anymore at Christmas.

Family gatherings at Christmas may change over time, yet the reality is that nothing changes about Christmas from one year to another. Every year we celebrate the same hope, the same beautiful good news delivered to us: Jesus is born.

The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. That is a message that is worth incomparably more than the message of instant gratifications of the news.

This is the message of the perfect grace of God’s unfailing love to us and the perfect truth of the unity of the Trinity.

Jesus is Full of grace and truth. This truth is only properly understood when we see God’s hand in all of creation and ongoing role in upholding our existence. Colossians 1:15-20 describes such truth:

5 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.

That is beautiful news worth coming together as God’s people to hear.  How beautiful it has been to see our congregation come together in recent months despite the losses in size compared to many years ago. How beautiful to see feet walking into church after overcoming many obstacles, how beautiful to see steady steps to the Communion rail, even with an imperfect gait.  

How beautiful to be the church and remain as the church no matter the challenges our culture throws at us. How beautiful to be the body of Christ and know we are not going anywhere because we have ‘seen His glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.’  Amen.

Jesus Brings us toward full restoration

Posted on by nfuller

Have you ever tried to restore something? Restoration is to bring things back to their original beauty and place of belonging in the world.  I am not the most skilled builder, but I have restored many items with sufficient sentimental value with super glue, including those items that were a causality of young children’s activity.  Some of the items you would never even know that they were ever dropped- or run through the spin cycle of the dryer.

To bring something back to its original state. There is something very appealing about restoration in our time today.  Many homes in Indianapolis have gone through restoration to make them closer to the original beauty and style that they were built with. Sometimes people find joy in restoring what was almost lost, not giving up on it, putting blood sweat and tears into the project.

Here in the second Sunday of Advent, Restoration is illustrated as God’s plan from the beginning. We heard in the Introit: “Restore us O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!  We know this restoration involves more than what superglue can fix. It’s more than a face lift or a new finish of paint. 

But just like the beloved home that is painstakingly preserved, just like teddy bear whose arm is carefully stitched back on- the beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  God looked in love at the vine that came out of Egypt and once filled the land with deep root and blossom, the vine that turned bad and lost all its glory and beauty – and God sought to restore His people. 

Even though the vine failed to produce good fruit, even though the people sinned and sought after false idols God set forth a righteous branch from the stump of Jesse.  The righteousness of Jesus, the Lion of Judah was sufficient to make up for the unrighteousness of all people. 

The Father set forth a master plan whereby the sin that runs as deep as every cell in our body could be cleansed. The plan was executed through His Son sent to die on the cross for us, so that we could be completely restored into the image of God as Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden before the Fall.

We who have been born of water and the Spirit, Jesus looks at us in love and says: “behold I make all things new.” Without doubt we were worth restoring. There never was any question, from the beginning the Father was willing to pay the price in blood for our restoration. 

Because of this great restoration, we have the promise of comfort, hope, and consolation.  These are the messages from God the prophet Isaiah brings to us.  Isaiah is proclaiming a redemption after the destruction sin and idolatry brought to Israel.  

As bad as things are or have been, something has changed in a wonderful way.  “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfareis ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins.” 

The gospel is a double blessing, it is not just that our sins are forgiven and we are spared condemnation, but because of God’s Word, we are also brought beyond the limitations of our lives to the glory of God.  “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

We are restored and brought back to our original state and then some.

We know who was the voice crying in the wilderness to prepare the way of the Lord- it is a particular person in history, John the Baptist.  Jesus says Elijah has come, and he means John.  Jesus described John as in a category above all other prophets: I tell you, among those born of women none is greater than John. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.”

Nobody born of woman is greater than John, and what does John say: “After me comes he who is mightier than I, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.”

John, who is greater than all who are born of woman was born to point to the one who was born of the Spirit.  His purpose was to stir up our hearts to repentance, to prepare the way for Jesus. And to prepare us to be born of Jesus, so that we also would be greater in glory than anyone born of woman who does not have the Spirit.

John brings a message of hope, as he speaks just like Isaiah, about the restoration our Lord has come to do in us.  To be sure he also presents a message of repentance that is quire stern and urgent, he even calls the pharisees a brood of vipers and talks about the coming separation of the chaff and wheat where the chaff is burnt up with unquenchable fire.  Although John calls us to first repent, his message is indeed one of hope as he is speaking tenderly about the One who is to come. 

John brings a message of sweet comfort, just as the prophet Isaiah foretold.  Isaiah spoke words of comfort in chapter 40 after many chapters of warnings of destruction because of sin.  The destruction was still to come for Jerusalem, in fact it was over 100 hundred years away.

But even before the destruction happened in history, Isaiah already pronounced God’s Words of comfort.  Their warfare has ended, their sin has been paid for.

God’s Word speaks comfort to us weary sinners troubled by the coming afflictions in our lives.  We know the time will come when the warfare is over, when we will rejoice in our part in the blessing of God’s kingdom. When the warfare seems too fierce, we do well to stir up our hearts toward repentance to see that no affliction is greater than God’s love.  To hear the sweeping truth about all of creation:  “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God will stand forever.”

The result of this comfort from our God is that we have peace.  “Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.”

We are waiting for the restoration of God’s Word to reach its completion. Right now we are troubled by the hardship life in our fallen world brings. We see people making choices to worship man rather than God more and more each generation. We wonder how long before relief, how long before Jesus returns.

When Isaiah was called into his prophetic role as recorded in chapter 6, he asked how long he was to continue preaching God’s Word. “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people and the land is a desolate waste.”

In other words the answer is to keep proclaiming God’s truth, no matter the destruction around. All through the stage of trials and tribulations this side of eternity the church will continue to point people to Jesus.  Indeed we may face diseases and other trials in coming days more trying than what we face today.

Our task as God’s people is clear, to live as those who have received the perfect comfort and consolation of the good news. To live as his restored people, waiting for the final restoration.  To wait in faith and behold that our God comes to us in might.   

The gates swing wide open for our King

Posted on by nfuller

Here as we begin the season of Advent we are waiting.  Our prayer is that our King would come to us.   We are in an in between state, a time of waiting and watching. This is part of the Christian life, we live in a time where Jesus has already won the battle on the cross, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven- conquering sin death and the devil. But we are still waiting for Jesus to return to bring us to the full completion of God’s plan for us, life eternal in heaven. As we wait for our king to come, we are in a place of transition.

How often in life do we find ourselves waiting for the next thing. Waiting for Christmas, waiting for the Spring or summer time, waiting to get a new pet, waiting for your child’s wedding day. And of course, here and now as a congregation we are waiting on my decision in regards to the Call extended to me.  

We are future oriented in this way for a reason- we know the best is yet to come.  Although sometimes waiting is simply hard.  Sometimes it feels just too much to keep waiting.  But the waiting for God’s kingdom is different than just waiting for holidays and life events to come. This waiting is the way in which we trust in God, have faith in him and worship him.  If we are not expecting, and waiting and hoping, then we are sleep walking through life.

Many of our hymns and songs for the season of Advent celebrate the end of waiting and the opening of gates and doors as our King comes.  “O Savior rend the heavens wide; Come down come down with mighty stride, unlock the gates, the doors break down; unbar the way to heaven’s crown.”

“Lift up your heads, you everlasting doors, and weep no more! O Zion daughter sing, to greet your coming King: Now wave the victor’s palm and sing the ancient psalm, “Lift up your heads you everlasting gates! Your king awaits!  God will now dwell with man- and never again be separated from us. After so much waiting Israel sees that Jesus’ reign as King has begun.

Psalm 24 provides to us this imagery of the king entering through opening of the everlasting gate: “Lift up your heads, o gates! And lift then up O ancient doors, that the king of glory may come in.”

The fact that doors are described as ancient and gates as everlasting implies that there has long been a chasm and division between Our God and His people, back to ancient times, back to the Fall into sin- when the entrance to the garden of Eden was so forcefully closed by angels.  The fact that ancient gates and doors should open is also amazing.

This world is so full of imperfection and sin, and Heaven is perfect and full of the glory of God.  How is it that the two can meet? How could it be that the ancient gates could swing wide open.  How is it that Jesus our king can come to us?  How can God come to us when there is a barrier and a chasm between heaven and earth? 

Our Old Testament Reading from Isaiah calls for this divide to be broken wide open: “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence.”  

Gates and great doors to ancient cities kept control over who could come and go.  The gates protected the city so that those who would bring harm would be kept out and those who would bring prosperity to the city could be let in.

The imagery in the scripture describes all of creation as the city, and in order for the renewal of creation to occur, the gate needs to be open to a visit from a realm beyond our creation, from heaven. Like opening the gates for a king, but with even more excitement and reverence than even a visit from a king would bring to a city.

One thing is abundantly clear, we cannot open the portal, we cannot raise the gates.  We wait for God to come to us and bridge the divide.

We cannot raise the gates, but our Lord Jesus has come to burst open the chains that hold us down in sin, to open the way for God’s kingdom to come among us. Isaiah chapter 64 longs for this coming of the Savior:  “Oh that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence- as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil- to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence.”

We continue reading in Isaiah chapter 64 with the next verse, 3  “When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence. From of old no one has heard or perceived by the ear, no eye has seen a God besides you, who acts for those who wait for him.”

Nowhere in the world has it ever been heard of where a God who acts for those who wait on Him- except for the God of Israel.  Who parted the Red Sea, who opened the flood gates of the waters to deliver His people from pharaoh’s army.  

Remember when Jesus was in Capernaum it was discovered that he was at a home and many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door.  And four men brought a paralytic to be healed by him, down through the roof.  And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “My Son, your sins are forgiven.”

The scribes questioned in their hearts: “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Indeed never since the beginning has anyone ever had the authority to forgive sins- to speak words and change someone’s standing from separation with God to peace, from condemnation to salvation.  

“But that you may know that the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins- he said to the paralytic, “I say to you rise, pick up your bed and go home.”  As he picked up his bed and walked before them all in plain sight, they said: “We never saw anything like this!”  The heavens were opened and God’s kingdom was coming.

We all need this healing for our sins. The unbelieving world does not understand this healing. The world says, we never saw anything like this and never will.  But you have seen.

You have seen the Lord’s work in your lives as the gates of heaven were opened to you in your baptism as the Triune name of God was placed upon your heart and your forehead. There the curse of sin was taken away from you, and every time you remember Your baptism you are reminded that heaven has been opened to you in Jesus.

You have the saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ there in your own life story. You have been healed and forgiven by Jesus just like the man who was lowered through the roof in that house in Capernaum. You have seen the most amazing work in your own life and in the life of your brothers and sisters in Christ here in this church.

The reading from Isaiah continues: “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” . As we recognize how unclean all of our deeds are we see that it is entirely in the mercy of the Lord that we put our hope.

Isaiah continues: “There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.” 

On account of our sin we are unable to actually call on God’s name, we cannot rouse ourselves to come to the Lord, instead we push away from God and turn toward ourselves.

But fortunately, we are not on our own, Jesus promised he would not leave us as orphans- but sent us the Holy Spirit. And Jesus told the disciples that when they face the trials of the last days, that they should lift up their heads because your redemption is near. And when this barrier is bridged, take your eyes off of anything else, lift up your heads for your redemption is near.

 We are to lift up our heads because of the promise that Jesus will return to us in the same way that he ascended. At that time He will complete the transformation that he started in us, giving us renewed spiritual bodies without sin.

And in preparation for this day Jesus has already begun to shape us as His own and transform us.  In this time of transition in our lives, we pray for faith to receive his shaping- faith to say Lord you are the potter, we are the clay. Even in this difficult time in our fallen world, even in this time of the summit of darkness Jesus creates us anew as vessels for His glory. We pray “Come to us in our time of waiting so that we see that even on the journey as we wait for the gate to open- you are already with us.”

Christmas decoration are a good thing and may bring joy to young and old alike.  But the decorations are not just there to give us a sense of awe over the moment of the birth of Jesus.  We need more than moments of feeling good and cheerful.  We need the presence of Jesus with us, the presence of the Savior who rends down the heavens and comes down.  Whose death on the cross brought the mountains and the whole earth to quake. 

Open the gates we pray. And as we wait for the gates to open we do not give up, we do not grow weary if we shall be delivered- for we have a God who acts in love. We wait in hope for his coming.  “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”