Author: nfuller

Unless the Lord builds our house…

Posted on by nfuller

“Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.” Psalm 127        There are two ways to look at what can be built and established in this world.  What God establishes and what man establishes.

The tower of Babel was built by people in the years after the flood, so that they could make a name for themselves. The Lord did not build this tower and the only reason we even know the tower ever existed is not that it was built so well that it remained as landmark in architectural achievement, but instead we know about this tower because it caused the scattering of the nations and confusion of languages.

As the church we don’t try and build a Tower of Babel 2.0, we recognize the folly in trying to build a name for ourselves.   No building committee would ever put forward such an ill- fated design concept.  It is self evident, that if you try and build something that is opposed to God’s design, something that tries to compete with God- it will certainly fall with a great crash!  

We don’t try and remake the tower of Babel, we know our house needs to be built on the foundation of rock- not on sand. Yet if we are honest with ourselves, we are very often in the business of building our own house.  After all we live in a world that rebuilds the tower all of the time.

Part of our American culture is that we often expect that whatever plans we make in life, they will come true because we work hard and stay determined in life. As if we are entitled to have our wishes for success come true.

We often come up with an idea of what is going to work out in life, or what we would like to see happen.  And we may pray about decisions we are going to make in life, but so often our minds are already made up. We have a good handle on what is going to work in our lives, and too much deliberation on God’s Word very well may slow us down from where we are going.

And what happens as we move forward so quickly in life with our own plans? We are of course humbled. God’s ways are not our ways. We face disappointment and failure as we see for ourselves how difficult life in the fallen world can be as we try to chart our own future.  Some of our plans may come together, but if the motivation for our plans is for our selfish gain or material pursuits, we will find empty results.

The imagery of a house does not only describe our future plans, but also our very lives, body and soul. If our house is built on something other than the foundation of

Christ the cornerstone, our labor is in vain. Apart from Christ you may build and rebuild and redesign things in your life, but there will not be a maturation of purpose and identity.

There will be no central thread of purpose or hope. Think of those who live life apart from the Lord’s promises. What gives life meaning for people who do not ‘seek first the kingdom of God’?

Maybe an inspirational quote on a calendar here and there. Some good times with family and friends from time to time. Some favorite programs or stories perhaps.  Some achievements and recognitions in society.  But what ties a life together if only for this world you have hope? What is life from one year to the next? From one day to the next even?

Our gospel reading begins with people that doubt Jesus, and in fact accuse him of being crazy. Out of contempt for what Jesus is able to accomplish, they accuse Jesus of building his foundation with Satan as the driving force for his miraculous works.

Unless the Lord builds the house… how could Jesus perform any of the works he does without the power of the Lord? What would it really accomplish? Maybe a few moments of popularity or 15 minutes of fame? But by this time in Mark chapter 3 we hear about how Jesus has cleansed a leper, cleanses a man with an unclean spirit and helps a paralyzed man walk, and healed many others. 

Of even greater significance than the healings and expelling of demons, Jesus accomplished the obedience to God’s Word that all mankind before were unable to achieve. For forty days after his baptism, Jesus took our place in the wilderness and faced temptations by Satan.  And Jesus overcame the temptations through the power of God’s Word. Clearly the labors of Jesus were built by the Lord.

Jesus answered the scribes who came down from Jerusalem, he refuted the logic of their claim that He was possessed by Satan.  “How can Satan cast out Satan?”  If Jesus was really drawing on the power of Satan, how would Satan possibly stand for Jesus casting out demons and tearing down Satan’s kingdom?

The only possible answer is that the power of Jesus is of God.  Only as the Son of God could Jesus have the power to drive out demons.  This is what Jesus means when he talks about how the strong man must be bound in order to plunder his goods.  How could anyone take Satan’s minions down a notch if Satan himself is there defending the house?

The Lord built the house of salvation in Israel through the promises of a Savior. Genesis 3:15 shows us the first promise of the Savior. Adam and Eve’s descendant will crush Satan’s head at the cost of a devastating blow to the heel.

This house was built not on human logic- it was built with a genealogy, and people who were imperfect and marred by sin. Patriarchs like Jacob who gained an inheritance though deception and greed.  The genealogy even includes the scandalous mention of Tamar who was so let down by her family that she wrongfully committed incest with her father in law Judah, as we see in Genesis chapter 38. 

The house of salvation was built by the greatest scandal of all- that the Son of God should suffer and die on the cross.

On this house of salvation, on the rock who is our Savior Jesus, nothing can harm or destroy.  Listen to the words from our gospel lesson about the forgiveness Jesus promises:  “Truly I say to you, all sins will be forgiven the children of man, and whatever blasphemies they utter.”

After the Fall Adam and Eve were afraid to be in the presence of God. They did not believe their sin could be forgiven by God. Adam tried to save himself, not by appealing to God’s mercy, but by blaming Eve.  It is hard for us to believe that our sins are forgiven, even the blasphemies we may utter such as blaming others or blaming God for our own sin.  Yet this forgiveness is exactly what Jesus is promising.

In the context of talking about how He alone is powerful enough to bind Satan- the strongman who tries to occupy our house, Jesus talks about the sin against the Holy Spirit, which alone cannot be forgiven.  

This sin is to exclude Jesus from your life, reject the confession that He is your Lord and Savior, and open the door for the strongman Satan to be unbound and be the ruler of this world to you.

As believers we cannot commit this sin against the Holy Spirit unless we become firm that we no longer wish to follow Jesus, that God’s salvation is not for us. We pray for those who become confused in their thinking to conclude that somehow building your own house is the better option than what the Lord delights to build for them.

As we journey to the last day, the Lord does indeed build our house, and our labors of faith are never in vain. Amen.

The Trinity is the truth of God’s love for us.

Posted on by nfuller

Why is it important that we are here this morning? It is Memorial Day weekend, and there are many places people like to visit to get a first taste of Summer travel and activities. Here in Indianapolis, I was reminded this week it is less often called Memorial Day Weekend, but instead Race Weekend.  Our very city the epicenter of the sports world for a day.

I remember when I was young there was a Simpsons episode that showed a nearly empty worship space on Superbowl Sunday. The church sign outside the building for First Church of Springfield had the message to the public of “Every Sunday is Super Sunday.”

Rev. Lovejoy begins to speak to a few ladies near the front and a man in the back: “Well I’m glad some people could resist the lure of the big game.” The punchline of the scene is that the man in the back stands up and says, “Oh no! I forgot the game.” And then runs out….  How important is it to be here to celebrate Trinity Sunday?

We have had Easter, Ascension, and Pentecost. Isn’t Trinity Sunday a bit of an afterthought? A chance to think about the Trinity and see the big picture of scripture, that is all it is- right? Maybe in some ways this is just another Sunday.

I can imagine there have been plenty of Trinity Sundays in years past here or in other places where the temperature outside is warm and maybe there is not A/C working very well and it is easy to dose off a little bit in the warm almost stale air as the pastor talks about illustrations of the Trinity and what it means for us. The longer than usual Athanasian Creed might be confessed, and the different terminologies might also instill a bit of drowsiness. So how important is it?

Let’s take a look at the Athanasian Creed on page 319 of the hymnal. Let’s read together the first four verses:

“Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally. And the catholic faith is this, that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confusing the persons nor dividing the substance.”

How important is it that we are here today, that the church celebrates the Feast of the Holy Trinity? It is as important as our salvation. If you wish to be saved you must hold the catholic faith. And if you don’t worship one God in Trinity, you have something else than the one true faith and you have no hope.

It is important that we gather here today because many in history have tried to call themselves Christians, but they do not believe that Jesus is truly God. When people depart from the scripture on the Triune nature of our God, they inevitably err in ways that either elevate man and works righteousness as being their God, or err on the side of denying God’s love and compassion to us- such as is the case with Islam.  

I saw a headline on the news yesterday that now as the seating capacity to sports events has opened up again, fans at some of the games are getting into some ugly fights and arguments with one another. One star basketball player even had popcorn dumped on him as he was walking from the court to the locker room after being injured.

I bring this up because it makes me think how in these days of societal chaos and divisiveness stoked by the mainstream media, the passions of Americans are misguided. We have strong feelings about who is wearing a mask and who is not, but we do not have strong feelings of the importance of protecting the truth of what the scripture teaches about our God.

Certainly, Satan wants us to downplay or ignore Trinity Sunday so that we are ripe to be misled by false teachings that lead to pride or complete despair. It is good that we are here to worship and receive our Lord’s gifts, and reflect on the clear teaching of our God’s Triune nature.

Here on Trinity Sunday, it is an important activity that we worship the God who has called us by the gospel. Listen to these Liturgical texts:

“To You do we call, You do we praise, You do we worship, O blessed Trinity.”  Glory be to You, coequal Trinity, one God before all worlds began, and now forevermore.”

And from Revelation chapter 4 “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

Our LSB editors summarize the feast of the Holy Trinity: “Certainly the essence of God is beyond our weak comprehension, but He has graciously revealed Himself to us as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. When we want to summarize all the Holy Scripture says about God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, we call Him the Holy Trinity. One title, Holy Trinity and we are confessing all of the things the scripture says about our God.”

To worship God is to celebrate and affirm the work of salvation given to us.  We repeat the deliverance God has provided for us as we remember God as our Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier.

From the beginning of Genesis we hear about God creating our world from the expanse of heaven and to the close of scripture in Revelation chapter 22 we hear about the promise of Jesus: “Surely I am coming soon.” Our worship sees together all at once the beginning and the end, Jesus the Alpha and the Omega.

The doctrine of the Trinity is about God’s action in the world just as much as it is about a theology of identity of who the LORD is as one God and three persons.  The phrase actions speak louder than words holds true in many circumstances, and none more so that in the process of describing God’s love for us.  

Chapter 1 of Genesis  makes clear beyond all doubt God’s love for us in the goodness of creation.

“And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good. And there was evening and morning, the sixth day.”  At the end of six days what God created was delightful, and without qualification good.  The goodness of creation is a fixed truth, we cannot add to it or take away from it. 

We are part of the goodness of creation and the most beautiful of cathedrals and works of architecture and art are a continuation of the goodness of God’s creation.

Genesis chapter 1 not only teaches us that creation is good, but also that creation is the specific way in which God shows His love and care for us.  We see God’s love for us in countless ways from the food we eat, to the sunshine and morning breeze that gladdens our hearts, to the design of our bodies that allows us to accomplish so many things within this creation.

We know a great deal about God’s nature and order through what we can see of creation.  A God who created the world is a God who loves the world enough to order days and seasons in perfect balance. 

We also learn from Genesis chapter 1 that mankind was created distinct from all of the rest of creation.  We are in a class all by ourselves. We alone have been created in God’s Image and given the breath of life. 

Man was created out of the earth and has been given the specific task of caring for the earth. The account of God’s creation of the world is an account of our purpose in the world as caretakers of the earth. “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

God speaks about our dominion over every living thing on earth.  Not dominion for the purpose of reinforcing our own pride and self centerdness. Instead dominion for the purpose of serving God through serving those we have been entrusted to care for in creation.

We are caretakers of God’s creation, and we are also a part of His creation. In fact we are even joined in Christ with God’s Spirit. The Spirit gives us life, and unites us together as one body.  In Holy Baptism God’s Triune name has been placed upon us. We serve God not as a people who are distinct and distant from our Triune God, but as people who have been joined into God’s kingdom through Christ, a people who have all been baptized into one Spirit.                                   

 Blessed indeed be the Holy Trinity and undivided Unity, let us give glory to him, because he has shown his mercy to us.”

Pentecost is good news for us.

Posted on by nfuller

The Day of Pentecost is an historical event we celebrate. But it is not about the one day in history that our focus is on today. The details may be important to learn about the divided tongues of fire resting on each disciple and people speaking in other languages as the Spirit gave voice to, and Peter’s interpretation to the assembly of people that this is a fulfillment of the scripture: “In the last days I will pour out my Spirit to all flesh”

What is most important about our celebration of Pentecost is that we celebrate that this day is for us.  On Christmas we celebrate a Savior is born onto us. On Easter we rejoice that Jesus has overcome death for us. Today we celebrate that we as the church have life through God’s Spirit.

Jesus called the Holy Spirit the Helper.  The Greek word used in the scripture is Paracletos , the one who stands along side us, and advocates for us and comforts us.

The role of the Helper is to testify about Jesus “When the Paracletos comes, He will bear witness to me.”

Throughout the Old Testament the Spirit inspired prophets to speak about the coming of the Savior. Now instead of speaking through one prophet at a time or one king at a time such as David- The Holy Spirit has been poured out on all flesh.

We heard from the reading from Acts: “In the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.”

 The coming of the Holy Spirit to the church makes visible the reign of God’s kingdom among us in Jesus. It is not just Moses or Elijah, or Isaiah that now point to God’s salvation to the world- it is now us as well.  Not just in Jerusalem is the Lord present, but in Indianapolis too- because Jesus has ascended into heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to us.

And not just here in this building, but in our very hearts. Consider what Romans chapter 8 teaches about the Holy Spirit in or life…

9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. 10 But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

 Through Holy Baptism we have the gift of new life in Christ, where the Spirit dwells in us instead of the flesh which brings only sin and death. With the Spirit we walk in newness of life.  We are given life from the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead.

And as a result we have the ability to do something that is truly amazing. We as the church can bring life to others. The Holy Spirit that dwells in your heart can work in your life in such a way that what you do and what you say to others can give them this gift of life.

It is like you have a superpower- not one that lets you turn to goop and ooze through the cracks in the floor to get somewhere else- but one that lets you share the light of Christ to others through the gift of the Holy Spirit in you.

Because of the day of Pentecost you have the gift of the Holy Spirit, the Helper that Jesus sent, who has come to us to convict the world concerning sin, and righteousness, and judgement.

The Spirit helps us to see the truth of our sin and the need for judgement to the false idolatry and evil of this world. The Spirit helps us to understand through the scriptures that in Christ alone is our Righteousness.  

Although Pentecost is the day when the church received the Holy Spirit in full as Jesus promised, the Spirit was already present and working in the world from the start. We might say the seeds were already planted.

The Spirit was there at creation and there as the first promise of the Savior was made,  The Spirit was present as Jesus was born unto us, and when Jesus was baptized by John in the Jordan River and the Spirit descended on Him.

It was the Spirit who drove Jesus out to be tempted so that Jesus could fulfill righteousness where we failed.  The Holy Spirit was there as Jesus was betrayed and scourged and nailed to the cross, and finally it was the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead. In the birth, life and ministry of Jesus, the seeds were already laid for the Spirit of God to be poured out on all flesh. 

Our Old testament Reading represents a ready made sermon for our church. In fact a powerful sermon- Ezekiel is transported to a valley of dry bones in the middle of a valley and asked the question:  “Son of man can these bones live?” 

The answer to the question is a resounding yes- after the breath of the Lord enters them.  I have based sermons on this reading before and the sermon really writes itself- as you reflect on how dry the bones of the church can come together, and through the Lord’s breath have life.   

But here in this day of Pentecost, the focus of our worship is not so much how the Lord brings life out of the ruins of our fallen world. Instead, we can see a bigger picture of how the life the Lord brings to His church has been there all along. The Spirit of God has been at work in the church since the beginning of creation, and since Adam and Eve received the promise of the Savior.  And Pentecost is the icing on the cake where the Holy Spirit became specifically present in the church gathered that day in Jerusalem.

The reason for the long vision of resurrection is not simply to amaze the hearts of us who are slow to believe- not only to change to outlook for the people of Israel from despair to hope. In fact the most important reason of all for this miraculous vision shown first to Ezekiel and shared to the church in God’s Word- is that we would know that Jesus is our Lord.  Verse 6, “..and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Verse 13 You shall know that I am the LORD, and then to close the reading:  “And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the LORD; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the LORD.”

The purpose of the great sign is to help us to know that Jesus is Lord. Everything the Holy Spirit does, points to Jesus. The Day of Pentecost was so that we would know that Jesus is not only Lord of the world, but my Lord as well. Amen.

In the church we are a new creation in Christ.

Posted on by nfuller

So Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every situation everyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”  Peter opened his mouth and spoke God’s truth. Peter who on many occasions was known to act before thinking, Peter who was so often impulsive.  Who said he would die with Jesus and then days later denied Jesus three times, who even at the Transfiguration interrupted the holy conversation Jesus was having with Moses, and Elijah. This same Peter spoke after the resurrection of Jesus about God’s love for all people- Jews and Gentiles alike.

Something changed in Peter’s life. How he saw things, what life meant to him, and how God’s mercy is manifested in the world- all of these looked different to Peter. 

The month of May is for some a month that is rich with emotion. There is mother’s day, which we celebrate today, which brings awareness of change and relationships we are grateful for. 

In the month of May High school and college students typically close out their school year and about a quarter of college students are finishing a degree program. From first steps to first day of school.  First lost teeth, to first day with a driver’s license. And now walking across the stage a young man has graduated high school and is now starting a new direction in life – leaving behind the years of life with family. 

So much changes when a young man or woman goes off to college.  From mom’s kitchen to a college dorm cafeteria. New routines in life abound in this context, when you sleep and when you rise, who you spend your time with, new friends and social settings, novel class subjects and many possibilities for change in identity.

Many college students must chose for themselves to continue attending a church and abiding in Jesus. Going along with what your family does is no longer an option. How can you really know what you believe until you can choose things for yourself?

Family loyalty can be a strong thing. Yet Jesus teaches that following his commands is a choice a person needs to make apart from the tradition of family: 26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.

Apart from the tradition of Israel, Peter learned to welcome Gentiles.  Earlier in Acts chapter 10 Peter is on a roof top praying and the Lord put him into a trance where he sees the heavens opened and a great sheet being let down by four corners. The sheet holds and abundant array of animals that are not part of the designated clean foods outlined in the law- including birds and reptiles.  Accompanying this great sight Peter receives a voice that says: “Rise Peter, Kill and Eat.” Right on cue Peter answers with the obedience of one who follows God’s law: “By no means, Lord: for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean.” Now Peter receives a more clear statement with the same message: “What God has made clean do not call common.”

Peter grew up knowing the difference between what was clean and what was unclean. He knew well what things you can eat and who you can eat with.   What once Peter knew and experienced about life is now changing rapidly before Peter’s eyes.  Next Peter has a gentile visitor, Cornelius. Peter catches on that where in the past it would be unlawful for him to receive him in his home- now this is God’s good and perfect will.  Peter learned a lesson about God’s love to all people. Jesus has made everything clean. Jesus has made everything new.  On the cross as Jesus paid for the sin of the world all of the old distinctions between clean and unclean no longer mattered- for in Christ all is made clean.

Ephesians chapter 2 talks about the change Jesus brought to the world: “Therefore remember that at one time you Gentiles in the flesh, called the uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision, which is made in the flesh by hands- remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise , having no hope and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

Peter experienced this change- where the separation from God was bridged, and hope now abounded.

Peter preached this change to all who would hear, including the gentiles he is addressing in our reading from Acts.  He could never go back again to the old way of seeing everyone as either clean or unclean, Jew of Gentile- all he could see instead was the righteousness of Christ adorning his people with gladness and joy.

When you have reached the next step in your life- when the movie posters come off your walls and Ramen noodles are no longer a staple-  you move on to the next things the Lord has planned for you. 

It is amazing how much you can accomplish in a new role in life. Whether you had that experience of change in going away to college or if there have been other milestones of change that have come to your mind- in either case, the novelty of a new place in life has a way of bringing clarity of purpose in life. Good intentions abound, and motivation is usually in a good place.

Sure you may look at the past and remember how things used to be- and the past does shape the person you have become, but you do not find the same purpose in the past because you have changed. In Christ you are a new creation.

Jesus knew ahead of time the changes that were coming in our lives and in the lives of the twelve disciples. In our gospel lesson Jesus is speaking with the twelve at length for the last time before his arrest and crucifixion. Jesus knew it was time to prepare them for this change where their lives would never be the same again.

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Jesus asked them to remain in His love and to keep his commandments- these are one and the same things. To remain in Jesus’ love is to forsake old family loyalties for the sake of following Jesus, it is to remain as a new creation in Christ, leaving behind our sinful nature, leaving behind all of those old outdated and useless ways. Keeping Jesus’ commandments requires that we accept that he is one with the Father’s commandments.

And Jesus gives on specific example of following his commandments- of walking in the way of His love. “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”

  The love of Jesus changes us to the point where the meaning of love is much different than we may have been raised to think living in our culture. Love is no longer a feeling of infatuation that comes and goes, but instead it is an enduring commitment to sacrifice for one another- to look for the good of the other even to the point of laying down your life to protect another.

One of the most enduring instances of sacrificial love described in the scripture is that of marriage. “Husbands love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,”  This calling to love so selflessly is not done of our own power, but through the power of Christ.

Marriage changes us to where we leave mother and father and the two become one flesh. And this change St. Paul teaches us, is a change that points to an even more profound mystery – the marriage between Christ and the church- a relationship we are all in whether single, widowed or divorced. We are the church, we are the bride of Christ, and thanks be to God, our lives will never be the same. 

The Church has life only when connected to the One True Vine.

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ, here in the 5th Sunday of Easter, we begin to transition our focus from how the resurrection of Jesus changes our lives, to a focus on his Ascension and promised return. In John chapter 15 we hear the unforgettable illustration of Jesus as the Vine from which we all have life as the branches.

 And in chapter 15 we also hear about the world’s hatred of us when we abide in Jesus.

“If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world , therefore the world hates you.”

 The world out there is hostile and spiritually dangerous to us. If we are separated from Jesus, we are far more vulnerable to attack.   A branch cut off from the vine is destined to wither. It cannot live on its own, the fallen world we live in is far too desolate to support life on its own. 

The picture of Jesus the true vine nurturing and leading us to bear fruit sounds like such a simple path for us to follow. “I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

This is a scripture verse worth meditating on during times when we feel overwhelmed by the challenges of the world. Reminding ourselves of the order of God’s creation, I am the vine you are the branches. Jesus says it so simply, “I am the vine” Jesus does it all. 

Every good fruit we bear, is simply accomplished by staying connected to the Savior who has called us to be His own through the waters of Holy Baptism.  Without Jesus we can do nothing. With Jesus we bear much fruit.  

What does it look like to bear much fruit? This is where the contrast between life abiding in Jesus and life lived in the world is helpful for us as the church to consider.  Jesus is not speaking about bearing the type of fruit that brings popularity and acceptance for us in the world.

If you are of the world you can bear the type of fruit that the world is looking for. Bearing this type of fruit means things like fitting in with the latest cultural winds and doing and saying things that make people whose god is this world feel good about themselves.

But what does Jesus mean by good fruit?  Jesus is describing the results of faith in Him. Verse 7: “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.”  What do you imagine God’s people ask for when the words of  Jesus abide in them? Do they ask for riches and fame? Do they ask for humiliation and shame toward their enemies? Do they ask for dishonest gain, wasteful pleasures, and empty entertainment experiences? No, when we abide in Jesus we ask for the things of God’s kingdom to come into our lives.

We bear good fruit in Jesus when we break down the walls we put up and talk to our neighbors about the love of Jesus. We bear good fruit when we patiently pray for the well being of our neighbor. We bear good fruit when we humble ourselves and lift up our neighbor.

If you ask of the Father that you can learn to get more out of your experience of worship and listening to God’s Word- this is a wish that Jesus promises will be done for you. You will grow in your love and appreciation of hearing the Word so that you will want more and more of the gifts of the Lord-  in the words of Psalm 119 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”

If you abide in Jesus you will want to ask for wisdom to walk in the way of the Lord and to not be led astray by the world. And this too the Father will answer for you, and grant you to know the way of Life through a journey of repentance.  “Every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

We bear more fruit as we allow the master gardener to prune us. To transform by His Word our pride into humility, our envy into contentment, our fear into love. Those areas of our life where we struggle to follow God’s law, we can pray that the Lord would humble us and bring us to repentance, refine our faith, even if it is by means of trial by fire.

Often we go our own direction in life too much, we may begin to think that it is only through this world that we have hope and lose sight that Jesus is returning. 

The Father prunes us so that our focus in life does not become too distracted on an offshoot direction.

As we start the worship service with Confession and Absolution, our true and sincere confession for our sins brings a cleansing repentance to our lives.  One of the treasures of the Lutheran church is the understanding that every day is an occasion for repentance of our sins and remembrance of our baptism. 

Our fallen sinful nature is such where we cannot get by with only one pruning per season as a grape vine would require. We need daily maintenance. We need to have all of the things that weigh us down lifted from us, so that we are free to not just follow Jesus in an intellectual sense where we tell ourselves Jesus is first in our life, but to find all of our strength in Him, to depend on his body and blood to make us whole.

This is what it means to abide in Jesus, to draw near to Jesus and there find the perfect love and unity of the Trinity. The world would tell us that such a devotion to Jesus is foolishness.  The world sees our connection to Jesus as a threat and will hate us for how closely we abide in Jesus. The world wants to refute the truth that Jesus is from God.

Jesus is risen from the grave and the hatred of the world cannot touch the joy we have in Christ. Abiding in Jesus, we have much joy, for we are part of the most beautiful design of all of the Father’s creating hand- the true vine of Israel that is the church.

Sometimes we can over focus on the details in the parables and illustrations Jesus uses to teach, and read into them things that are.  Those of you who enjoy gardening may notice that branches are much more fragile than the main vine. An animal may come and chew of a branch. A hard frost could put a small branch out of commission. The intent of the illustration of us as branches connected to the vine is not to emphasize how fragile we are, or how arbitrarily we may be trimmed off just for appearing a certain way.

Instead the primary image for us to see is that the Father is the master gardener, and that the beauty with which the vine is tended and shaped is beyond what we can see. Throughout the scripture we see that Our Lord is patient with us, cultivating us into a beautiful design- even when we insist on going our own sinful way.

I am not the center of the world, and neither are you. But what a blessed state it is, to be part of the church, the true Vine with which the Master gardener has planned for us to be IN His presence in eternal dwellings. Amen.     

The One Shepherd Strong Enough to Protect Us

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“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.  In recent weeks I have been emphasizing how the resurrection of Jesus changes our lives. 

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. It would be foolish for us to ask for protection from a man who is in the grave.  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.

My son Isaac had his first little league baseball game yesterday. One of the players on the other team was big and strong for his age, and he threw the ball fast as a pitcher for the first inning. That is a little scary to be seven years old and face a pitcher who throws like he is 9 or 10 years old.  

It reminded me of my freshmen year in High School when a stocky teammate of mine named Jason ______ was a linebacker. His name even sounded scary. When he was going to make a tackle, he hit hard. I wished he was not on our team during the first few weeks of practices as we scrimmaged against each other.  But then I realized it is good if he is on my team, someone you can count on to scare the players on the other side. You want people on your side who have shown that they can accomplish a lot in practice.

The time to play little league sports comes and goes, and then there is instead the game of life to focus on. Who do you put your trust in? Who do you want on your team? Who can really save you when your life is in the balance?

The imagery of the shepherd is found throughout the scripture. Already in Genesis chapter 4 Abel was a shepherd, a keeper of sheep.  The LORD had regard for Abel’s sacrifice of the firstborn of his flocks. Cain rose up against his brother in envy and killed him.  The sheep lost their shepherd and the Lord heard the cries of Abel’s blood from the ground.  Death could not silence Abel. 

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 it was all in the Lord’s hands.

We know from the scriptures that David experienced the very poetic scenes used in Psalm 23, 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.

We can look at Jesus in the same way, the Savior who is with us in the time of difficulty. The Lord who we can call to in our greatest time of need- the Shepherd who has overcome death.

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 popular Psalm.  Sometimes even 3 and 4 year old children may memorize this Psalm.  But often people may miss that this is a Psalm that is fulfilled in Christ.  Jesus is the Shepherd who the Psalm speaks to and clings to. 

Earlier this week I was filling in for Religion class in my family and the appointed lesson covered how 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. If only it were simpler for us to have an Evening Worship service during the middle of the week to hear God’s Word and sing hymns of faith- how much easier would our weeks be.

Hearing God’s Word, being reminded of the gift of life in Christ we have in Holy Baptism- these are the still waters the Lord leads us to comfort in. The paths of righteousness we are led on come from hearing Jesus’ forgiveness and undying love to us.

How different is the fruit that listening to the theater of our current world brings!  We live in a time where Cultural Marxism is fast becoming one of the most prominent world views of our nation.  The messages we are hearing all of the time on the news is that our country is built to oppress the weak, that there is a systemic racism that explains everything about our daily life, and that the only salvation so to speak is to tear down the system.

The goal of all of this rhetoric is to pit one citizen against another and create not unity, but division. From the Christian perspective the evil in this is that cultural Marxism requires people to reject the teaching of scripture that all people are created by God, that we are one human family- what I also learned in public school when I was a child- that there is one human race. Now the message we hear in society is that we are different races and one race will always subject the other.

Would that people who live in such torment to want to see in everything cause for division, could hear God’s Word as balm to their troubled spirits! Would that people would 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. And the amazing this is that as we listen to His voice we become one body so that there is one voice and one Shepherd over us all.

We are not going to get very far talking about explosive issues with people in this day and age. But talking about how Jesus unites us in love is a different thing. There we have the promise that God’s Word does not return without result. Regardless of the persecution we face, 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 men by which we must be saved.”

In an uncertain time in this post lock down world we live in, 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 do you want to be your Shepherd at the hour of death? Lord to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life. Amen.

The Easter Feast

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We ended our service on Friday with words of lament from Psalm 22. Verse one containing the words our Lord used on the cross: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, from the words of my groaning? We also heard specific details of persecution and suffering including verse 14 and following:

 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; 15 my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws;  you lay me in the dust of death. 16 For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet— 17 I can count all my bones— they stare and gloat over me; 18 they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots. 

In this fallen world we live in, we can relate to these words and understand them. As we reflected on in the Good Friday message, we know what it can be like on account of life in this fallen world to feel forsaken by God. However, above all else Psalm 22 and Good Friday as a whole is not about our suffering, but about our Lord’s suffering on the cross.

Jesus spoke the opening words of Psalm 22 from the cross, as he took on the sin of the world and despaired of his state of abandonment- as the Father turned his face from Him.  But Jesus also knew how the rest of the psalm goes. He knew how the rest of the great salvation story was to unfold. 

In our gospel reading the angel described as a young man reminded Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James of what Jesus had told them about his resurrection. “And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Just as he told you. Jesus knew the ending of Psalm 22 when he suffered the full wrath of God against sin on the cross, Jesus knew that the Father hears the cries of the afflicted and acts in mercy to save. Listen to these words of Psalm 22 that come after the lament of despair, listen for how these words are fulfilled by the Father’s saving role in Jesus’ resurrection.

But you, O Lord, do not be far off!  O you my help, come quickly to my aid!
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him! All you offspring of Jacob, glorify him, and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!  24 For he has not despised or abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, and he has not hidden his face from him, but has heard, when he cried to him.

We heard from Mark chapter 14 last Sunday, the whole chapter. In all of the descriptions of betrayal and the Institution of the Last Supper, Peter’s denial of Jesus three times, the agony of prayer in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus before the council- it is easy to forget about what Jesus promised to the disciples about his meeting them in Galilee.

Immediately following the Institution of the Lord’s Supper Jesus begins to speak about the future: 5 Truly, I say to you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”  26 And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. 27 And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ 28 But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.”

The two Mary’s where looking for Jesus in the wrong place. They should not have expected to find him dead lying in a tomb, but instead, they and the disciples should have known to look for him in Galilee, because that is where Jesus told them he would be.

And Jesus also made a promise to the disciples in instituting the Lord’s Supper. He spoke about not drinking the fruit of the vine again until He would drink it new in the kingdom of God. In Matthew chapter 8 Jesus celebrates the faith of the centurion and describes how people all over the world like the Centurion will believe in Him and join the victory feast of salvation. “Truly I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith. I tell you, many will come from east and west and recline at the table with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven.”  

 The disciples were to look for Jesus to be in Galilee and to look for Him to feast with them, where His glory is the center piece of the feast. And just as we heard in our Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 25 this feast would also be to celebrate how the veil and covering of death has been vanquished forever. 

Even as the angel reminded them of Jesus’ words, they were not ready to feast with Jesus in the kingdom of God as he promised.  They were instead terrified. “And they went out and fled from the tomb, for trembling and astonishment had seized them, and they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid.” 

That is how our gospel reading in Easter 2021 ends. Fear and trembling, paralyzed with speechlessness.  Jesus has overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us, and yet we are often afraid. The Holy Spirit works faith in our hearts and where once

We were weak, now we are strong in Christ’s mercy.  As was the case for Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of James, and the disciples, fear turns to faith and hope and joy.  This ending to the gospel lesson was the end of the gospel of Mark in some of the earliest manuscripts. It is a challenge to us as the hearer, are we ready to let everything we hear about Jesus in the gospels sink in and change our lives? Are we ready to leave behind the fears of holding back and playing it safe in life so as to join Jesus in the heavenly banquet?

Listen to the details of the heavenly banquet that Isaiah chapter 25 gives us a glimpse into: where our God has provided us with a “feast of rich food, a feast of well aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”  The feast is because Jesus has overcome death for us all. And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all of the nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.

As we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we celebrate that death has been swallowed up by life, by the power of Jesus’ life.  The Lord’s Supper is the comfort given to all of us who wait on the Lord through the trials of our life.   “Behold this is our God; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.” 

That is what the Lord’s Supper is, rejoicing in salvation. Some denominations think of the Lord’s Supper as a memorial meal for Jesus’ death on the cross. After all Jesus says ‘do this in remembrance of me’. Kind of like a solemn funeral occasion.

However, it is not Good Friday that is most closely associated with the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but Easter.  Our Communion distribution Hymn for this morning makes this clear: “At the Lamb’s High Feast We Sing Praise to our victorious King. Who has washed us in the tide flowing from his pierced side Alleluia”.  

 We are celebrating verse 24 of Psalm 22, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, “but he has heard when he cried to him.”   Through faith in Jesus we are heard and we are given new life. Just as Jesus was heard and raised, so also God hears our cries and provides us a feast where “Now no more can death appall, Now no more the grave enthrall; You have opened paradise, And all Your saints in You shall rise. Alleluia!”

Every Sunday morning, every Lord’s day is a feast and celebration of Christ’s victory over death.    There have been times in the history of the LCMS where churches became quite superstitious about counting the Sundays of the month. 1st and 3rd  but not 5th Sundays we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper. The depth of the reasons and history of this change from the practice of the early church and the time of the Reformation are more complex than I can share today.

In simple terms the trend was for Lutheran churches in America to focus on inner feelings as the route to genuine faith over and above the objective gifts we receive in worship. Lutherans were so influenced by American Protestantism that in the 1930s a historical survey suggests that the average LCMS congregation celebrated the Lord’s Supper between 4 to 6 times a year.

Gradually over time the frequency increased, but often stalling to a fixed number in many congregations to the point where the only reason for the chosen frequency was “Well that’s what we always have done.”

 As most of you know this cautious distribution of the Lord’s Supper was the practice of Christ Lutheran as well until a young pastor who likes to shake things up at times prayerfully asked for the congregation to prepare to receive the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis.

We are now eleven months into this change and the extra work to prepare for the Lord’s Supper by a select few members of our congregation is greatly appreciated by me. Deeply appreciated. This extra work that is put in, twice as much of a time commitment as before allows our congregation to taste and see that the Lord is good each Sunday. 

This change has allowed us to celebrate in the victory feast with Jesus just as the scriptures describe and the early church describes. Here on Easter Sunday, it is fitting that we remember and think of those celebrations of faith in the risen Jesus of generations before us.  

We hear in Acts chapter 2: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and prayers.”

Or Acts 20:7 “On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and he prolonged his speech until midnight.”  I do not plan to have this service go on into midnight, but notice how the description of gathering for worship on the first day of the week is to break bread together- the Lord’s Supper.

A Christian writing from the first century called the Didache present by 70AD which was an instruction manual for practicing the faith, records the following in chapter 14:

“On the Lord’s Day of the Lord come together, break bread and hold the Eucharist, after confessing your transgressions.”  Confessing our sins and receiving Christ’s Body and blood for forgiveness- this is how the church celebrates the resurrection of Jesus.

Unlike some liberal churches lost in the spirit of modernity, we do not talk about the Resurrection of Jesus as an illustration of wishful thinking and positivity, where the resurrection of Jesus was real because it is real in the believers heart. The theologically liberal based Christians focus on how the story of Jesus’ Resurrection is all about what the believers felt by their feelings, that they had hope, even though Jesus died on the cross and that hope would live with them for the rest of their lives.

In contrast, we teach Jesus rose, not because we feel it in our hearts, but because he told the disciples he would rise and he appeared to them and commanded them to make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching, feasting together as believers.

Our inner spiritual prayer life is important, we can know God’s love as we read the scripture and as we pray each day- But our Lord has promised to be present in the Lord’s Supper and that is amazing! Just as Jesus appeared to the disciples after the resurrection, The risen and glorified Jesus appears to us in the form of his body and blood in the sacrament, and gives us his eternal life.

This is part of the amazing message we can share with the world, we can tell people about our feelings of faith and security in the lord and that is all well and good- but how much more powerful to tell people about how we feast with God every Lord’s Day: Behold this is our God, we have waited for him that he may save us. This is YHWH we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation!   

We live in a world that involves a whole lot more trial and tribulation than attending worship a few times a year can make up for. We live in a world where we no longer have the freedom to speak about our faith in our workplace, to voice unpopular views on social media without fear of censorship. 

Yet we do have freedom to worship each Lord’s day, freedom to celebrate the Lord’s victory over death, to celebrate the Easter triumph each Lord’s day.  In a world full of trials and temptations we desperately need the basics of Holy Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  Jesus is risen and he brings the victory feast to us. Alleluia.    

The resurrection in our life and conversation

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The Collect Prayer for this the Second Sunday of Easter presents an amazing challenge to us: Almighty God, grant that we who have celebrated the Lord’s resurrection may by Your grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God.

Last Sunday we began our celebration of Jesus’ resurrection. After the long wait of Lent and Holy Week, after the two year period since we last gathered in person for an Easter Sunday- at last we celebrated Easter with all of the bells and whistles so to speak.

Now a week later, we are still celebrating Easter, and we are looking in our scripture readings at how God’s people respond of this glad news.  ‘Grant that we who celebrated Jesus’ resurrection may by God’s grace confess in our life and conversation that Jesus is Lord and God.’

‘By God’s grace confess’:  This response of faith of joy and gladness does not come through our own power. Our own hearts are empty and depraved with sin. Remember last Sunday in the resurrection account from Mark, The woman who encountered the empty tomb were at first terrified. They did not confess in their life and conversation that Jesus is Risen or that Jesus is Lord and God, “They did not say anything to anyone for they were terrified.”

The confession of our faith in a world where God is the enemy is no light undertaking. It comes through God’s grace, through the work of the Holy Spirit in convicting us of our sin and leading us to say, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.”

The confession of our faith is much more than knowing a few phrases for how we speak to people about our faith or about who we believe Jesus to be. It comes down to who we are at the core of our being. How do we respond to Easter Sunday? Do we feel a let down that the celebration is over? Wait until next year.  

Or do we live a new life in Christ? Do our very words we speak to ourselves and one another, does our conversation confess that Jesus is our Lord and our God?

“Life and conversation”, who we are, what we say, and feel, and think. All of these aspects of life are by God’s grace transformed by the victory Jesus won for us on the cross, by the greatest triumph in all of history- Jesus’ resurrection from the grave.

In confirmation class last week the lesson over the close of the commandments asked students to reflect on each of the commandments one by one and examine, ‘have I broken them, have I kept them?’ 

Have I taken the Lord’s name in vain, have I spoke words of envy over what my brother has and I do not? Have I carried on as if I alone matter, or that my wants are more important than what God wants? Have I gladly heard God’s Word, keeping the Sabbath, and sought opportunities to rejoice in Jesus’ victory won for me? ‘Our life and conversation’, only by God’s grace can we confess Jesus is Lord by what we believe and by what we say and do.

Consider our reading from Acts chapter 4. The full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul. They had everything in common as a way to confess that it all belongs to the Lord. They cared for one another, there was not a needy person among them. What a great testimony to the confession of the early church that Jesus is risen.

With great power the Apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.  They spoke with great power, God’s power. 

Speaking with great power sounds difficult doesn’t it? You may think, I am not a distinguished public speaker. Nobody has put me on the radio or on tv. Don’t you need a big strong voice to speak with great power? Don’t you need all the confidence in the world?

Our church today, just like the church described in the book of Acts, has the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Through the Spirit we are able to be of one heart and one soul because we all have the same Savior at the center of our lives.

The Introit for this Sunday speaks of the beauty of remembering God’s Word to us and celebrating them, and longing for more of the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word:

2 Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! 2 Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  3 Glory in his holy name;  let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice! 

We confess with joy the resurrection of Jesus by remembering God’s works that he has done for His people and making known his deeds.  We have just as much to say as those in the early church.

Here at Christ Lutheran we have not celebrated the service of Easter vigil on the Saturday before Easter.  However, the LCMS has included this Service in its hymnal and Altar books for quite some time now. Many congregations do not celebrate this day most likely because Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Sunday feels busy enough.  Regardless of why some churches celebrate this day and others do not, I believe it is worth looking at the scripture reading and themes this service contains as an extra perspective in what it means to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus in our life and conversation. 

The service begins outside of the church in darkness following the somber tone of Good Friday. A candle is lit or a fire is kindled outdoors to represent a preview of the light that the resurrection of Jesus will bring. One of the blessings said by the pastor in the begging of the service is: “May the light of Christ, who is risen in glory from the dead, scatter all the darkness of our hearts and minds.”  

I like the connection this sentence makes, the light of our risen Lord scatters the darkness in our hearts and minds!  It is hard to imagine what darkness we would be in without the resurrection.

The opening Easter proclamation as the congregation enters the nave recalls the connection between the Passover in Exodus and Christ’s resurrection in terms of victory and deliverance from bondage:

“For he is the very paschal Lamb who offered himself for the sin of the world, who has cleansed us by the shedding of his precious blood. This is the night when you brought our fathers, the children of Israel, out of bondage in Egypt and led them through the Red Sea on dry ground. This is the night when all who believe in Christ are delivered from bondage to sin and restored to life and immortality.

     This is the night when Christ, the Life, arose from the dead. The seal of the grave is broken and the morning of new creation breaks forth out of night. Oh how wonderful and beyond telling is your mercy toward us, O God, that to redeem a slave you gave your Son. How holy is this night when all wickedness is put to flight and sin is washed away. How holy is the night when innocence is restored to the fallen and joy is given to those downcast. How blessed is the night when man is reconciled to God in Christ.”

Indeed how holy is the night when Jesus brought us from death to life. The scripture readings for the service cover themes of God’s gift of life and our covenant relationship:

Including the Creation account from Genesis, The Flood, Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, Israel’s deliverance at the Red Sea, Faith strained but Victorious from Job chapter 19,     A new Heart from Ezekiel chapter 36. At the close of the service is a Remembrance of our baptism and then the resurrection account from the gospel of Mark. 

Can you picture how this series of readings ties together our faith history and points to the resurrection of Jesus as the ultimate purpose of all of the Scripture! We don’t have time to explore much more of our readings today, but I will leave you with words from our Epistle reading from 1John which describe the Apostles reaction to what they have heard and seen with their eyes and touched with their hands concerning the risen Jesus:  “But if we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Christ’s entrance into Jerusalem:only the beginning

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Brothers and sisters in Christ, here on the occasion of Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week, there is so much to say, so little time. We began our worship service with the narrative of Jesus’ triumphal entrance into Jerusalem from the gospel of John.  Here the multitudes that came to Jerusalem for the feast have received word that Jesus is coming and they are beyond excited. They waved palm branches to signify that Jesus is the king who is coming to them.

Like any time in the scripture, the reactions to Jesus were mixed. Some thought this was a conquering king come to free Jerusalem, others saw Jesus as someone who came to inspire them, and still others looked with concern and worry on what everything would lead to, was a revolution at hand? 

But this entry into Jerusalem is only a beginning. The events of Mark chapter 14 which we heard in our gospel lesson described many more events that reveal who Jesus is as king.

Less memorable than the entrance through the city gates riding on a donkey with shout and cheers was the semi private visit to the home of Simon the leper in Bethany.  While Jesus is reclining at the table a woman breaks an alabaster flask and pours it on his head.  

Some people are taken a back by this lavish excess, but Jesus puts things in perspective, “she has done a beautiful thing for me.”  Jesus states that she has anointed His body ahead of time for burial.  Jesus has begun his reign as king through being anointed for his own death and burial.

In our Old Testament reading we hear from Zechariah who prophesied in a time when Israel needed to rebuild after its destruction. The time period was around 520 BC. Zachariah and Haggai are a few of the last of the Old testament prophets. Although the Old Testament era was coming to a close, a new beginning was on the way.

Zechariah spoke God’s Word in a time after the Babylonian captivity, a time to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple, and bring a scattered people together. Although the time was coming when the prophets would cease to hear a word from the Lord and cease to speak, Zechariah was prophesying about a new beginning, Israel’s king would come soon.

“Rejoice greatly O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is He.”

Israel’s king is coming, Zechariah announced.  But this is not just any king, this is a king who is completely righteous and holding salvation, this is the Son of God Himself.  This announcement of coming salvation is a preview of the time when God’s people will celebrate their God coming to them in all fullness. The book of Revelation describes this reunion with God and His people

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”

As Zechariah described the coming of the King riding on a donkey, it was only a beginning to the sequence of events where God and man once again will be united. Zechariah in verse 10 prophesied of the Messiah that He would speak peace to the nations and His rule would be from sea to sea.

The coming of the King meant that all who are under the imprisonment of sin and the curse of the law would be freed once and for all through the blood of the covenant as we see in verse 11.  

The King came to Jerusalem but the entrance was only the beginning.  In chapter 11 of Zechariah there is the mention of 30 pieces of silver, the wage of a slave, the amount that Judas was paid for betraying Jesus.  Our King came to us and laid down His life for us, Christ’s blood has given us eternal redemption, freedom from sin’s legacy of death.

We have young people here today, those who are youngest among us might be hearing about Jesus’ triumphant entrance into Jerusalem for the first time.  It is only a begging in learning about Jesus for all of us, as we grow more fully into a knowledge of the Lord Jesus, we realize that each year as we hear the events of our Lord’s passion and resurrection, we are drawing closer toward when Jesus will return or when we meet the Lord at our death.

Yet although it is another Holy Week, one year later, the best is yet to come for all of us.  We will one day participate in the ultimate celebration of Christ’s passion, with all of the heavenly host. We will one day sit in the court of our king, we will know then the full meaning of Jesus as our king who comes to us righteous and having salvation.

As we heard from Mark chapter 14, many people ask Jesus to identify himself as king, yet He is silent through these events.  Jesus is calculating in not revealing his identity through this time of trial.

Jesus is silent about Pilate’s question toward him, “Are you the king of the Jews?”  He only answers, “you have said so” Jesus was not in the business of proclaiming himself king.  Pilate asked him a second time and again Jesus was silent.  Pilate was amazed at his silence. 

Jesus never needed to proclaim himself king.  Jesus’ enemies proclaim him king without even realizing it.  Even as the soldiers thought they were increasing his humiliation by mocking him for claiming to be king, they were in their actions of bowing down to him and saying  “hail king of the Jews” actually saying the words of truth- Jesus was and is the king of not only the Jews, but of all.

The people wanted him to say for himself that he was a king so they could refute him and mock him.  But Jesus didn’t play along with their intended trap.  Instead he shared the truth by his actions, by his resurrection.  Now he reigns as king. He reigns in truth and power and does not need to proclaim himself as king. It is evident for all to see. 

Even as it is very evident that Jesus reigns as king, people try and put words into Jesus’ mouth and answer about who he is.  People want him to mean and stand for things in accordance with their own interests.  

There is one instance in the trial of Jesus as recorded in the gospel of Mark where Jesus does break his silence: From Mark chapter 14, “Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the blessed? And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming with the clouds of heaven.” Jesus is speaking of the redemption he will bring on the last day!

Jesus was not willing to defend himself against false charges in the trial in order to make things go well for him, but when it came to the question of if he is the Christ- , Jesus spoke the truth, knowing it would bring the greatest outrage he could possibly provoke in the trial.  The High Priest tore his garments and the people condemned him as deserving death.

Sometimes we are called to break our silence and speak the truth of our faith- even as it may cause us to be rejected and hated by others.  The noise of the world wants Jesus to prove he is king.  The trusting silence of faith does not need to have proof but instead confesses in faith that Jesus is king, Lord , Messiah. 

As we continue into Holy Week, as we journey toward the day of Good Friday, we remember that Jesus is King. We remember that the suffering and death on the cross that we will mediate on was all a result of the King’s willingness to lay down his life for us. We remember as we progress through holy Week that the best is yet to come- Easter and the fulfillment of our salvation is just around the corner. Amen.

Christ our Servant, our Friend, our Savior

Posted on by nfuller

“He came from His blest throne salvation to bestow; but men made strange and none the longed for Christ would know. But Oh My friend, My friend indeed, Who at my need His life did spend!”

We are already looking forward to Easter. We have a general idea of who is making which breakfast casserole. The choir has started practicing, the Easter egg hunt supplies are hidden away ready for the big day. Yet we are still in Lent.

The hymn “My Song is Love Unknown” is the perfect Lent hymn. It calls us to reflection, repentance, sorrow and wonder at this unheard of love to the loveless shown.  We are still in Lent, and the rich color purple is at the focal point of our altar. It is good to look forward to Easter and the joy of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, but there is much gain when we are able to live in the moment here of Lenten preparation.

“He came from His blest throne salvation to bestow.”  We do not have a king in our nation. We have a division of leadership between congress and the presidency.  Part of the American character is to view kings and royalty as a system of privilege that excludes the common person and probably also involves injustice.

Even in the scripture, when the people of Israel asked for a king to lead them and fight  for them like the other nations, the LORD warned the people of the cost to have a king over them instead of YHWH as their king. 1Samuel chapter 8: The prophet Samuel was given this message from the LORD to the people .

“These will be the ways of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and appoint them to his horsemen and to run before his chariots. And he will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and commanders of fifties, and some to plow his ground and to reap his harvest, and to make his implements of war and the equipment of his chariots. 13 He will take your daughters to be perfumers and cooks and bakers. 14 He will take the best of your fields and vineyards and olive orchards and give them to his servants….18 And in that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you in that day.”

 These are cautions about the earthly nature of kings. History is full of stories of imperfect kings who tragically lead others astray because of their selfishness.  Yet during the season of Lent, the royal color of purple means something different.  The richness and honor of a king comes from the authority that is given to him from God.  

     Western culture contains a rich heritage of seeing kings as noble and selfless and honorable- such as the stories of King Arthur who alone was worthy to pull the sword out of the stone.

Psalm 45 uses imagery of Christ the Son of God as king: “My heart overflows with a pleasing theme; I address my verses to the king; my tongue is like the pen of a ready scribe. You are the most handsome of the sons of men; grace is poured upon your lips; therefore God has blessed you forever.”     

From this throne which last forever Jesus our king came to us.  The purple paraments remind us of this unheard of love of a king who left his throne for us. The Son of God took on our flesh, Jesus born to serve us and to die for us.

Our Epistle reading from Hebrews records this work of Jesus:

In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. 8 Although he was a son, he learned obedience through what he suffered. 9 And being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all who obey him

Jesus entered into our world in the days of His flesh. Although the King, he experienced pain and suffering as we do. He entered into what the church has called the sate of humiliation, where although the Son of God he took on our limitations and turned off his divine nature so as to serve us as a man.

Hebrews chapter 5 describes the loud cries and tears that Jesus underwent as he faced His betrayal and arrest and suffering on the cross. Jesus would not have felt such deep emotions of desperation if he were relying on his divine nature all throughout. These emotions are the experiences Jesus could only have through his human nature.

In our gospel reading from Mark we get a preview of the suffering according to His human nature that Jesus faced, as Jesus predicts his death on the cross with great detail.  In fact this is the most lengthy prediction Jesus makes in all four of the gospels: 

“See we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”

It was just as the prologue to the gospel of John described: “He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him.” Or as we sang:

“But men made strange, and none the longed- for Christ would know”

Even after Jesus spoke of his upcoming destiny the disciples did not know him as he was revealing himself as a servant to all. Instead they knew him as a ticket to power and greatness. They had not yet learned: “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

“Grant us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” James and John were looking for recognition and glory. They were not ready to know Jesus as a man of sorrows, and as Jesus warns them, they were certainly not ready to drink the cup of suffering or the baptism of fire that awaited Jesus.

And if we are honest we realize we are not ready to drink such a cup either.  We would rather have people recognize us for what we have accomplished, we would rather feel proud of who we are than to empty ourselves and consider ourselves as a servant to all.  Although we wanted something else from Jesus, although we did not know him, He still continued unwavering in His love for us. Jesus said greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends.”

 “But oh my friend, My friend indeed, Who at my need His life did spend.”

Jesus saw our need all the way to the cross. And now as He reigns at the right Hand of the Father he guides and directs His church, He is a friend to all who are lowly and heavy laden. As we come before him as a servant to all- he will continue to bless us.

It is a difficult thing for us as a congregation to deal with the loss of so many loved ones in the church over the years and to experience some of the diminished community as Christ Lutheran has gradually transitioned from 2 Sunday services and attendance numbers that would always be over 100 if not 200.  It seems so hard to live up to the past and carry on a ministry potential with so much less right now.

Yet Jesus still reigns as King over the world and over our congregation. Nothing about His servant love for us has changed.  With greater challenges as a congregation, there are greater opportunities for growth for each one of us as a servant to one another and a servant to the unbelieving world that we live in. 

There were 27 in attendance last Sunday and the average age for all of us who attended. I wrote down from memory everyone who was here last Sunday and approximate age and by my rough estimate calculation the average age was 43. We are getting younger as a congregation.

There was a time a few years ago I understand that there were no children on many a Sunday. How much greater now is our potential to serve the least among us, the youngest among us, and in our community the neediest among us- those who do not know the life giving good news of Jesus crucified for them.

Today we celebrate in worship that Jesus is our servant. He came from His blest throne, salvation to bestow.  There is no better example for us in our life as servant in the church and for our life as servants in our family.