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We are clothed with garments of salvation

Posted on by nfuller

I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exalt in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness. 

Our readings this morning bring to mind how wonderful it is to be invited and prepared to join in on the great banquet. The provisions the Lord gives to his people are incomparably greater than what man can find on his own.   The contrast between the two helps us to appreciate more and more how precious is the invitation the Lord gives.

Have you ever not received an invitation? Have you ever come to a realization that something could be going on in your life and it is not.  You learn about a gathering some of your friends have held, and you were not invited this time, or perhaps some other times as well.  Have you ever thought you knew someone fairly well and you wonder why you were not invited to their wedding? Have you ever spent a holiday alone wondering how it came to pass that nobody else made the effort to reach out to you?

Some people experience the lack of an invitation in the form of a dating relationship that does not work out, you never received the invitation to keep getting together, or the invitation to make further commitment in the relationship. Some people even get “left at the altar” on a wedding day. In our fallen world the odds of feeling left out  and alone are pretty good.

Yet looking back on all of the times you may have felt left out in life, as we are gathered here in church, as you see the jeweled cross above the altar signifying Christ’s victory over death and everlasting reign, as you see on the altar the elements for the Lord’s Supper, as you hear this morning words from Your Savior together with the body of Christ here in this congregation, it sinks in doesn’t it, that all other forms of belonging pale in comparison to the belonging we have in Christ.

As the church sign out front now says, “Visitors welcome, everyone needs a place to belong.”  The invitation stands to whoever will receive it, as the parable we heard in the gospel lesson specified, the good and the bad are all welcome. 

Our congregation has a gift of hospitality and we follow a Savior who has invited us to join him with the richest of feasts.  The hospitality comes, not just because we want to be welcoming to people who may not know Jesus, but above all because we love because he has first loved us. Because of the faith that the Holy Spirit brings to us.  We all belong here because of the gracious invitation our Savior has sent out to all.  An invitation to the wedding feast of the Lamb and the bride.

Psalm 23, we hear it so much we lose track of how profound its message, not just about comfort and relief from fear, but today we can hear these words especially in terms of invitation to a wedding feast. 

“The LORD is my shepherd I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures, He leads me besides still waters. He restores my soul.” These are images of fulfillment and plenty because Jesus is beside us at every step.  We have been invited to this fulfilment and relationship with Jesus, we were not forgotten or left behind or seen as lacking.  

Instead we have been blessed beyond our imagination with a rich feast: You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”

 As the psalm ends there is a future direction: “I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”  Who is in this house? Jesus.  Weddings have lasting authority for as long as we live.  The church is the bride of Christ, this is an enduring reality forever.  

We tend to focus on the metaphor of the Lord caring for us as a shepherd. But the Psalm focuses on provision beyond what a shepherd provides for sheep. The psalm provides image after image of provision of waters and food. The LORD is providing us everything we need freely and with abundance.

This is the focus of the parable Jesus tells about the wedding banquet. Come to the feast, the feast is ready, and what a feast it is.  We can’t help but ask, who would not want to come to this feast and this banquet?  What would be more important for those who decline the invitation?

In the gospel lesson we hear of those who paid no attention to the invitation, some to work on their farms or businesses and still others who reacted to the invitation with violence.  Have you ever received a wedding invitation in the mail and wanted to kill the mailman who delivered the invitation? What could be threatening about an invitation to a feast? 

This is the age old opposition to God’s kingdom, people oppose Christianity, they don’t just decline the invitation but they seek to persecute Christians.  They refuse the idea that a King could love his servants enough to give such a lavish feast.  To them the promises of God made since creation have been drowned out by the sounds of men’s independence and pride. They do not seek to belong to the Lord.

A hymn writer from the LCMS, Martin Franzmann wrote a hymn about this parable. One of the stanzas begins: “O lavish love that didst prepare A table bounteous as thy heart, that men might leave their puny care and taste and see how good thou art.”

People sometimes chose to stay with their puny care instead of tasting and seeing how good God is.

And just as in the last parable we heard last week of the wicked tenants, it is not just anyone they are rejecting in rejecting the invitation to come to the banquet, they are rejecting the king.  This is no case of a last minute pity wedding invitation where you get the announcement weeks before the event and you probably would not be able to come at the last minute very easily. 

This is an invitation that has been extended since the beginning: This is the invitation that God made in Isaiah chapter 25 the feast of all feasts on the mountain of Zion, a feast of celebration with the finest of meats and wines with the main event of this feast where on this very mountain the covering of death over all of the land is swallowed up in victory! This is the feast of all fests, the wedding of the lamb and the church.  

 Almost beyond comprehension, people reject the invitation to this feast. They are rejecting the message of Jesus who calls to us from the cross and from the empty tomb, who announces to us: the feast is ready, come to the feast. 

As we wait for this feast of all feasts in all its fullness when we shall be with Jesus in eternity, we see already that the LORD provides for us by faith.

In St. Paul’s letter to the Philippians we see an illustration of what the Lord’s abundance looks like on this side of eternity: “I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

When things are going very well and we have what we need can be grateful that the Lord has provided for our needs. And when things are difficult, when we face needs and hardships we know Jesus sustains us with his Word and promise- never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.

Jesus is with us and he clothes us with the garments of righteousness. To be without clothes is to be in need and vulnerable.  Without clothes we are not protected  from the elements, the cold in the winter and the effects of the  sun in the summer.  If we needed to provide our own spiritual clothing, if we had to dress ourselves up to be worthy before God, how difficult a task that would  be.  Of course we cannot do this, we are clothed in the righteousness of Christ.

As we look to Jesus in all times of need we are in fact ready for the wedding feast.  We see the folly of being too busy to attend because other things are more pressing in our lives.

Attending worship has a great deal of similarities with the feast in the parable Jesus tells.  If enough things distract a person in life from attending worship, or of abiding with Jesus, then how ready is a person to receive Jesus.  The robe of Christ’s righteousness, when we wear it, other things like sports and the comforts of home are not so important.

We are here for the feast this morning.  We have been clothed in the garment of righteousness through Holy Baptism.  And we will continue the feast, week by week year by year until we are with the LORD forever Amen.

The last word belongs to Jesus

Posted on by nfuller

Why is it so important to us to have the last word? It’s true isn’t it? We want the last word in any conversation. You see it on TV shows where rivals compete who can say the  last thing to go out sounding on top.  Certainly the last word is highly sought after in political debates.  I’m sure whether it is the vice president debate coming later this week or later presidential debates, that you will see plenty of attempts of each party’s candidate to have the last word. 

But we know it is also true within ourselves. When we have the last word our opinions and self worth are validated- even if it is at the expense of others.  Even if it is in our speaking to ourselves, when we have the last word in our minds, it helps us feel better  about ourselves or maybe helps us to convince ourselves that we  are not that far off the mark, we’re right  and don’t need to change.

Of course, there can be times when we regret insisting on the last word. Maybe a time where we see how much it has hurt someone else. I have noticed with couples counseling that sometimes the cycle of blame can seemingly go on all session. “You think that is bad, but did he tell you about who he talked to on his facebook page last summer?

Perhaps it’s a lack of forgiveness through bringing up the past: ‘what about the time when you didn’t ask for directions and we drove the wrong direction for hours.”  ‘But what about the time you took your parents side and made me the bad person?’ However eventually a couple realizes that blame and the last word only causes more problems.  We realize it does not get us much if we win through making someone else the loser.

Most important of all we regret times when we insist on the last word in our relationship with God.  For to have the last word with God, is to want to have God in our lives on our own terms. We may fool ourselves into thinking that we can have the last word with God, but the truth is that Jesus is the last Word. 

We see in our gospel reading today, the parable of the tenants about how God has given his word for our benefit, for us to prosper and be grateful for the last word we ever need in life.  

God spoke to Israel, calling them his special people, giving them His unlimited goodness.

Psalm 80 describes this creation that God spoke into being:

“You brought a vine out of Egypt; you drove out the nations and planted it.
9 You cleared the ground for it; it took deep root and filled the land.
10 The mountains were covered with its shade, the mighty cedars with its branches.
11 It sent out its branches to the sea and its shoots to the River”

This imagery of Israel as a majestic vine helps us to see the care in  which Israel was established. This care in establishing Israel in which no expense is spared is the meaning of the master of the house who leaves his precious vineyard to tenants.   

He plants it, fences it in, digs a winepress, and builds a tower. This was no small effort. Everything that can be done for a successful vineyard was secured.

Then he leaves the whole operation to his tenants, giving them the benefits of his labors, trusting them to give a portion of the fruit in due season.

This is a vivid picture of what God has done for Israel.  This was God’s Word, God’s promise that He would shower blessings on them for all eternity.

God is the giver and creator of every good thing. He has given to us the same blessing that he has given Israel.  He has raised us in the faith where we have come to know our heritage as God’s people and we have come to learn from Jesus the way of righteousness in Him.

God has made the same promise to us, he will be our loving giving God, and we will be his beloved people to all eternity. We are like the vine whose branches cover the mountain and whose roots reach into the sea.

Even when God’s people rebelled, refused to bear fruit, he sent His word again through  the prophets.  34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them.

The master sent one servant after another to receive fruit.  If only any of these could be the last word, all would be forgiven, the fruits of the vineyard would be collected, the vineyard would be a model of perfection. Israel could be celebrated as it once was, the treasured possession of God: you are still mine!

None of the servants who were sent made the difference. One after another was treated worse. Finally, God sent his Son. Surely this could be the last word and all will be well.

But we are all too determined to have the last word. The significance of God sending his only Son to us was lost on us.

Israel was determined to have the last word.  When the master sent his servants to collect his share, they are beaten, stoned, and killed.  Time and time again Israel, the tenants, insisted on having the last word. 

In Acts chapter 7 Stephen asks: “Which of the prophets did not your fathers persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the righteous one, whom you have now betrayed and murdered.”  In the sermon on the mount Jesus said: “Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

You can see it coming a mile away, nothing good is going to come by the vineyard owner sending his son. Look how they treated the other representatives. 

I remember listening to this parable in a different light after becoming a father. How completely not worth it, I thought, to send your son to those wicked tenants, to see if after so many bad results that maybe they would treat the son differently. What a tragedy to lose your son over such ungrateful workers! Why not just give up on the tenants and drive them away and find new tenants to work the vineyard, but by all means don’t send your son!  What justification could there possibly be to put your son at risk after all that they have done?

Yet that is just what the Father did in sending us Jesus. He loved us against all reason or justification. This is the love our hymn of the day celebrated: “O Love How Deep, How broad How High, Beyond all thought and fantasy!”

It’s beyond our imagination how God could love us so much even after all of our rebellion. It’s beyond our understanding how Jesus respond to unrequited love from us.

As we heard in the Introit, God’s steadfast love endures forever. “Give thanks to the LORD for his steadfast love endures  forever.”

In the parable the master’s last gracious invitation is rejected. His act of supreme love is scorned.  They believe they have the last word by killing the son, they think this will allow them to claim the vineyard as their own. 

Obviously, this is not how property rights work.  You can’t just have what you want because you have torn down and destroyed the local structure of government, there is always a higher authority of law which determines possession of property. In the case of Israel killing the Lord’s prophets and then killing Jesus- it did not get them anywhere other than the false belief that they are in charge and have gained the last word. 

Today many generations later, even we in the church want to have the last word in our conversations with God.  Yes Lord, I know your word says in the Seventh Commandment, but I really need this extra amount of money that otherwise would go to taxes if I reported this income. 

‘Yes Lord I know I should love everyone, but how can I forgive those people who hurt me?’ The young couple says I know we should not live together before marriage, but we are really in love. 

Yet although we want to have the last word Jesus always does have the last word: 40 When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will put those wretches to a miserable death and let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”

42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures:  “‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord’s doing,  and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people producing its fruits. 44 And the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”

    They spoke the word of judgement against themselves in condemning the tenants. Jesus quotes to them a Psalm about His enduring steadfast love beyond our rejection, Psalm 118:22  “The Stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.  This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.”

Jesus the stone was rejected and killed. But in that moment he spoke the last word: “It is finished” His resurrection proved that death cannot be the last word. By his death and resurrection He offers the kingdom to all who believe in Him.

As Christ as the cornerstone of the church we have been called by Holy Baptism to be the faithful tenants who do produce good fruit.  We do not need to have the last word because Jesus has finished it all on the cross. How refreshing to not need the last word. How wonderful and marvelous that we are built on His amazing love.   

Our authority comes from Jesus alone.

Posted on by nfuller

According to the world’s leading authorities on… you fill in the blank.  With enough experience, training, education, and public connection with a topic matter and people may respect what you have to say on a matter, and might actually listen.  You might be asked to give a TED talk.

Rock skipping. You can find world champions and people who love stone skipping so much that they practice daily and the record skips are usually over 10 skips in the water for a length near 100 yards. The results are self evident, these rock skippers are in a class all by themselves, the championship winner is the authority on rock skipping. If you really want to know what makes for good skipping, you would want to listen.

People listened to Jesus closely.  It was self evident how well he taught. Already on the one day that Jesus taught in the temple as a boy as recorded in the gospel of Luke, all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers.  Already in Mark chapter 1 Jesus is teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum on the Sabbath, “And they were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one who had authority, and not as the scribes.”

In the gospel of Matthew following the Sermon on the mount, the “crowds were astonished at his teachings, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, not as their scribes.”

But it was not just in teaching that Jesus displayed authority, in Mark chapter 2 while Jesus was teaching in a home it was crowded. Four men carrying a paralytic were trying to get the man to Jesus to be healed. They could not make it in through the door so they gently removed a piece of the roof from the house and found a way to lower the bed down to Jesus in which the paralytic lay. Seeing their great faith, Jesus , said “My son, your sins are forgiven.”

As some of the scribes questioned in their hearts how Jesus could speak like that and what blasphemy it was, “Who can forgive sins but God alone?” Jesus perceived their questioning of him :

 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? 10 But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— 11 “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” 12 And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

It was not just in teaching that Jesus showed authority, but over sin, to the point that he had the authority to forgive the sins of others.

This authority to forgive sins was connected with something more than practice or background and identity. It was connected with submission to the will of the Father, it was all about Jesus’ journey to the cross.

Our gospel reading for this morning takes place on the next day after Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. This is the Monday before Jesus’ crucifixion. Already at this point the pharisees and chief priests are a little out of their mind with anger at Jesus after the crowds cheered his coming into the city and after he cleansed the temple. In response to their anger and jealousy, they turned their thoughts to the idea that Jesus has no authority to do any of the things he does.

And when he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?”

They thought they were trapping him by asking this question. If he answers he is doing the things he is doing by human authority, he is outmatched. By their positions they were of higher authority according to the rules of the land, they had positions in the temple and Jesus did not.  Jesus’ authority from this vantage point would be like  Wikipedia- As in long in words and reputation, but short in documented credibility. 

If Jesus says he is doing these great works by divine authority, they can accuse him of blasphemy, of attributing God’s authority to himself. They can accuse him of claiming to be God, a position beyond the imagination of the temple authorities and their understanding of the scripture.

Jesus does not fall for their trap, but instead asks them to answer a similar question about authority- was John the Baptist’s authority from man or from God?  They see that no matter how they answer they would make for themselves enemies; so they refuse to answer.

Jesus asked the authorities about what they thought about John the Baptist to draw out they really believed about the role of prophets sent by God.  Were they willing to acknowledge the truth right before their eyes, that an unlikely candidate was God’s prophet, not a well groomed student in the temple, not a high priest, but John wearing camel’s hair and preaching repentance out in the wilderness.

As the authorities in the temple sacrificial system they believed Jesus had no right to do any of the things he did, unless they gave the right to him. They felt they held all the authority and Jesus was trying to take it from them. 

Jesus condemns the scribes and pharisees frequently throughout the gospels, as their teaching was putting unrealistic and heavy yokes upon people, in a way where the authorities were above everyone else and could brag about their superiority. They were teaching for their own personal benefit and not for the kingdom.

Sadly, there are people today who call themselves Christian authorities who are in it for their own personal benefit and not to advance the kingdom of God. There are people would not be able to answer the question of whether the baptism of John comes from heaven or man.

Think of some of the so called Biblical scholars who have books in the Christianity section of Barnes and Nobles or the library. They have academic degrees and use them as their authority to repeat a tired old heresy of the church, historical criticism, that you can know more about God’s Word from historical or sociological speculations about the past than from taking the actual content of the scripture at face value.  

The fruits of this discipline pushed by secular Universities is always some story of how the Jesus of History was very different than what picture we see in the scripture.

If such a scholar was asked whether Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, they would use a lot of words to talk about this, sayings about what faith is or community beliefs that grow and develop over time-  but they would not simply say yes. 

If you can’t say yes to the truth of God’s work in the world in dying on the cross and being raised on the third day you have no authority. The chief priests could not say yes about John the Baptist and likewise too many who claim to be Christian authorities could not say yes about Jesus.

“For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him. And even when you saw it, you did not afterward change your mind and believe him.”

Even when you saw it, you did not believe.  They did not afterward change their minds, perhaps they reasoned, ‘Those outcasts of society, those sinners, what do they know?’

Their credibility is gone, it’s shattered.  So what if a drug addict is now free of addiction because of Jesus?  So what if someone now serves Jesus instead of opioids?

Where some look at the last becoming first as a marvelous testimony of the power of Jesus to bring light out of darkness – others see and do not believe. “It just goes to show only crazy people follow Jesus.”

 Even though Jesus had all authority in the world, He submitted to human authority so that we could be saved. And in a short number of days his divine authority was evident for all, as he was raised from the dead. Because of his resurrection He was given all authority over heaven and earth and he opened the door to all believers, no matter how great their past sins. By God’s grace we have seen this and we have believed!

Because Jesus has authority, we go forward with courage and purpose, belonging, authority.  “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me.  Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.” 

Real authority in this world comes from following Jesus, living with a servant’s heart, and loving others with the love and truth of Christ. 

This is how authority works in families, instead of parents saying “do it because I said so”, it is through care and unconditional love and respect of other family members that healthy Christ centered relationships form.

Christ shows us the way of leadership in family relationships with a servant’s heart, with a willingness to lay down our lives for others. Real authority is not in saying I am more powerful than you so you must follow me.  “The Lord lifts up the humble, he casts the wicked to the ground.”

This is not natural for us, we must pray for the Holy Spirit to work repentance in us to renew us so that we stop trying to claim our own authority in this world.  We sang in our hymn of the day: Renew me O eternal light, and let my heart and soul be bright, illumined with the light of grace that issues from Your Holy face.  As Jesus’ truth shines in us we can start to let go of the authority we want to have as one who is in charge and take hold instead of the authority we have as a follower of Jesus.

High above yet near to us

Posted on by nfuller

At a certain point high up in the air is no longer high.  A spacecraft launched out into orbit goes from being very high above the land to simply outside of the earth. Once outside of the atmosphere your perspective would change from being high above the land to far beyond the earth- out of the atmosphere, out of this world.  If you keep going in this spacecraft the earth itself becomes smaller. If you keep going eventually you can no longer see the earth.

Who is like the LORD our God, who is seated on high, who looks far down on the heavens and the earth? (Psalm 113:5-6)  This perspective from the spaceship is only a momentary glimpse of the Lord’s perspective on creation.  God does not only look down on the earth, but on the whole universe. The universe is itself is as a tiny speck of the earth to our God.

Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple: “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth?  Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built!”  To us the earth seems vast, but the LORD has a different perspective.

Yet the prophet Isaiah says “Call upon him while he is near.”  He is near us. The one who the heaven’s cannot contain, who looks from so far above is near to us.  We know our God is near to us as the unrighteous man is called to forsake his thoughts and return to the LORD.  How far away can God be when He has compassion on us, and He promises to abundantly pardon our sins?  

We may think the Lord is distant because his thoughts and ways are not our thoughts and our ways.   “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the LORD.”  However, the reason our thoughts are so different from God’s thoughts is because of our sin.

Because of sin our ways are very different.  They may involve trying to know God through speculation about how the weather is or how well our year is going, or even how well life seems to be going- instead of what God says to us in His Word.

Our ways may involve glorifying ourselves for being such good Lutherans.  We argue we have put in so much careful attention to our faith, where is our extra recognition? We are like the workers in the vineyard who have been working since the morning and we look at the world around us and think maybe we are deserving more compared to what work others are doing and when they started to work. 

This may also include anger and envy at the good fortunes of others. As we look at the world around us through the eyes of our sin- seeing the fortune of others as competition or as potential testimony to God showing favoritism against us.

Our ways may also involve negotiation with God.  “I have lived my life well and been going to church, so please bless me with many years of health.”  Or: ‘I promise not to keep holding hate in my heart toward others if I can just get this job opportunity in life.’

God’s ways are beyond what we can understand.  As Jesus told the parable of the laborers in the vineyard he portrayed how differently God sees things than we do.  When it comes to the work we do, we cannot help but notice if other people should do far less work than us and be recognized and compensated just as much. 

In the parable once those workers who came out at the eleventh hour and the ninth hour were paid the full wage the  workers who came out early in the morning began to expect they would be paid more than was promised them- as they saw the full denarius paid to those hired at the end of the day.

Where once they were content to work for the one denarius wage and felt blessed by the opportunity to work, now their attitude has shifted. They complain how they worked through the scorching heat and they feel the master is insulting their work by means of the compensation to those who came at the last hour. 

God’s ways are not our ways. The gift of work and a wage represents in the parable the provision God gives to us in salvation in Christ. The fact that others could come to faith in the last days of their lives and receive the same reward could make us angry. Yet God’s ways are so generous that salvation is a gift to all of us- whether we have believed and lived out our faith year after year, or if we have come to faith later in our life.

God’s ways are not only beyond what we can understand but they are also beyond what we can obtain.  “For by grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God.” 

God’s Ways are not our ways, someone can be a believer who calls on the name of the Lord day after day- and is still persecuted and killed for his faith.  “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.” The death of believers is precious because the last are first, because Jesus has cared for and redeemed the life of the saint who has died. Because the gift of life in Christ is of ultimate worth and everything else is rubbish in comparison. As  we heard in our Epistle lesson: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

The Lord’s infinitely higher thoughts and ways are to be compassionate and to pardon. He forgives our inability to understand him.  He forgives our inability to live according to his commands.

He accomplishes this in a way that we never could have thought: The God who is as far above us as the heavens are higher than the earth became one of us. Then this God humbled himself to death on a cross.

The Lord is near to be present with us.  In Christ he does allow himself to be found. This is why Isaiah chapter 55 can talk about seeking the Lord while he may be found.  His Word is present to us and calls us to repentance. The Lord has compassion to forgive us.

Although God is infinitely higher than us, high ceases to be high as He becomes in Jesus as near to us as the ground we walk on us in Jesus.  We do not look at envy for how much higher God is to us. Instead we look with gratefulness for what God has accomplished for us in the gift of Jesus.

As we live our lives abiding in Jesus, with Him near us, our thoughts are Christlike. Instead of envy or resentment, the gifts the Lord presents to others are for us causes of joy and rejoicing. In Christ we have the freedom to live not according to our sin, but in  a manner of life worthy of the gospel.     

How many times should I forgive my brother?

Posted on by nfuller

“Lord how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”  Peter asked about what is a reasonable amount of patience and mercy to extend to others. What is a good amount of kindness to share with others before you put up a wall and say ‘enough is enough’ you are no longer open for forgiveness? 

We can understand what it means to put limits in place in life. How many second chances can you really give someone?  How can you stay friends with someone who cancels at the last minute your lunch meetings one too many times?  How can you tolerate a family member who speaks in anger without a proper filter far too often?

How long could you put up with a pastor who speaks dismissively to people at board meetings? How many times could you forgive an enemy of the faith who persecutes Christians for their faith anytime the opportunity presents itself in our culture today?

Some things you can’t really forgive can you? Consider the experience of Joseph in our Old Testament reading from Genesis. Outside of our youngest here, you all probably know the background of what Joseph had been through at the hand of his brothers.    

Imagine the disbelief and fear and despair Joseph must have felt as he was conspired against by his brothers to where he was left in a pit and exposed to slave traders. In time he eventually would even learn about how they lied to their father, showing the blood stained garment to him, so that his father would not even know to look for him, because of their implication that he was devoured by a wild animal.

Joseph’s only contribution to this fate that he spoke with pride about the dream that the Lord gave him describing his future greatness, and also his father’s designation of him as a favorite. In times of injustice, what role can forgiveness have?

We put limits on what can be forgiven in our minds, in our emotions, but our God does not. The sin of Adam and Eve, and all of the sins throughout history, Joseph’s brothers sins and all other sins including our sins, Jesus died on the cross for all of these.

Not seven times but seventy times seven.  A number signifying an eternal scale of completeness.  That’s how often Jesus told Peter to forgive his brother. How is this possible? Where is the fairness in this? Jesus tells a parable to illustrate how God’s unconditional love matches up with our sin. 

The debt of 10,000 talents is higher than the disciples could have imagined. One talent alone represented more than most people could make in a year. The debtor had no hope of  ever paying back  his master, all he could hope for was maybe a delay in the collection, so he gets on his knees and asks for patience, promising to pay back what is owed.” The  king has pity on him.  Against all reason or expectation this debt is forgiven by his king.  Nothing is owed at all.  It is all the doing of the master, nothing can be done to deserve the erasing of such a great debt. This undeserved mercy and grace changes everything in  his life. If not for the king’s mercy he would have been sold along with his wife and children.

Joseph experienced for himself what role forgiveness can have through God’s long term plan for his life.  imprisonment from a false accusation of Potiphar’s wife, a dream pharaoh could not interpret and eventually a position at Pharoah’s right hand second to none but Pharaoh in power. Joseph saw God’s mercy put in place through him, as he supervised the preparation and provision of a seven years of famine.  

When his father Jacob died and his brothers were afraid about the past, Joseph seems to forgive quite easily. God’s forgiveness has changed him.  “Do not fear, for am I in the place of God? As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.”

This passage in Genesis was further expanded upon in the book of Romans where in the 8th chapter St. Paul writes “We know in all things God works together for the good to those who love him and have been called according to His purpose.”  

What did those words Joseph spoke on that day mean to his brothers? Did they hear and understand for the first time that Joseph really did forgive them, and a greater purpose of the Lord was going on?  Perhaps they came to the humbling realization of how needlessly they carried for all these years since the reunification with Joseph their doubts and fears about how Joseph really felt. 

Maybe you can identify with Joseph’s brothers. Have you ever found yourself doubting whether God’s forgiveness could apply to you? Have you ever doubted if someone could really forgive you for what you said or did to them?  Part of spiritual maturity is that you begin to see your past behavior in a different light and have a better appreciation for how hurtful past statements or actions toward others may have been.

What I have said in the spirit of sinfulness, God can turn into good, whether through my learning and maturity or through some other means.  Opportunities for forgiveness abound.

The forgiveness Jesus won for us is for those very events and circumstances that have the greatest effect on our lives.  Sometimes instead of talking things through in our families and in relationships we have the idea that past sins and hurts in relationships will go away if we simply don’t think of them anymore or try to ignore them. When hurts are deep, real confession and forgiveness needs to take place.

Today’s reading from the gospel of Matthew demonstrates how vital it is that we forgive others considering that God has first forgiven everything of us. We have been forgiven the great debt of our sin.  We are in this way just like Joseph’s brothers, we have been shown mercy and forgiveness when we know we deserve none of it.  In fact we are not only like Joseph’s brothers, we are more specifically Jesus’ brothers. 

As humans we badly mistreated Jesus in a way that even exceeds the mistreatment of Joseph.  We rejected Jesus and inflicted onto Jesus the completely undeserved punishment of death on the cross.  Despite our great offense Jesus has forgiven us completely. 

It is hard to say exactly how Joseph’s ten brothers lives changed following the message from Joseph that they were forgiven, and had been already forgiven all those years ago. How many of the brothers also made the connection that if Joseph forgave them and recognized God’s providence in turning evil into good, then it is even more certain that God forgives them? 

Did they come to realize that each day they are also now called to forgive others because of the great debt forgiven them? Did they understand that they are called to forgive even if no apology was given to them- as they never apologized to Joseph in a way that would show their repentance?

In this fallen world we live in we can expect the experience of being hurt deeply by others. God’s word tells us that our life is not defined by the hurts we experience in life.  Instead our lives are defined by the healing Jesus brings to our lives. 

Forgiving others is not simply an exercise in proving that you are a mature Christian or the more mature person in a relationship.  Forgiveness means that you believe the ways of God’s kingdom are bigger and greater than the ways of this world.  Forgiveness means that you value and choose God’s abiding presence in your life over your own sense of pride. Forgiveness also frees us from everything that oppresses us and has a hold over us in our life today. 

Valuing God’s kingdom more than your sense of pride or fairness means that you forgive before or regardless of whether a person is repentant over the sin against you. Forgiveness is a freely given gift that is not earned. 

This is the liberating work of the gospel in our lives.  We are free to love our neighbor unconditionally and offer unconditional forgiveness regardless of what our neighbor’s behavior is like.  We are not stuck always reacting to what others have done to us.  We are free to set our own level of peace in life from the foundation of Jesus. 

It is a belief that as we have the gifts of the gospel found in the preaching of God’s Word and the administration of the gifts of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper we have everything we need to give and receive forgiveness.

In the Lord’s Supper we receive in response for our failures and our sins not judgement, but lavish forgiveness. We taste and see the Lord is good to us.

The calling to forgiveness is a lifelong calling to all of God’s people. The stern warning that ends our gospel lesson is an important reminder that we dare not skip this calling to forgive.   May the Lord bless us with a living faith that abounds with unconditional love to others. And may this eternal gratefulness of God’s mercy to us truly set us free. Amen.

The Greatest in the Kingdom

Posted on by nfuller

Who is the greatest? We like to compare ourselves with others. Many popular television shows focus on identifying who is the best singer, the best dancer, baker, or cook.  It is hard to play a friendly game of pick up basketball without comparing who is better than me, who am I better than, and most importantly, of all of us gathered who is the greatest. 

Have you ever been at a dinner party and found yourself comparing the furniture and the feel of the home you are visiting with your own? Maybe you even think about who is the better cook?  Sometimes we can’t help but ask: ‘Who is the greatest?’   

“Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” The disciples wanted to know where they stood, how high up were they on the rankings for the hall of fame voting committee? They wondered how does their fasting and prayer compare with others? Perhaps they wanted reassurance that the purity of their hearts, the devotion they had to their LORD was above average and healthy.  Or maybe they just wanted to feed their pride. 

Jesus turned their expectations upside down in the moment the child Jesus called appeared next to him. No doubt the child now in their midst was smaller, less learned, and far less versed in good manners. In the ancient world it was unheard of to look at children as the model for excellence. They were less educated, far less rational and logical, and far less independent and self resourceful. It wouldn’t make sense to people to see children as role models for faith.  

Jesus was emphasizing not the innocence of children, nor the virtue of children- because children like adults are corrupted by sin. Instead Jesus emphasized the complete dependence children have on their parents. The greatest in the kingdom of heaven are the ones who are most dependent on their Heavenly Father for every need.

I once saw a Peanuts comic strip where Linus describes to Charlie Brown that some of the most secure moments in life are when you are a child in the back seat on a long summer night ride home. As children you don’t have to worry about if the car is going on the right highway, or if there is enough gas in the car or anything like that. You are secure and content because you are part of a family.

We have this same security and peace throughout our lives in God’s kingdom, we do not need to know all of the details of how God is working in the world. We trust in faith we will arrive safely to our final destination with Jesus. And Jesus gives us this reassurance as He nurtures us with his body and blood throughout our lives- reminding us, you are forgiven, I have made you my own.

“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” The greatest are those who turn away from self reliance, self pride, and spiritual self sufficiency.  The greatest are those who trust in faith in what God provides.

We trust in Jesus completely dependent on him, we seek to be like children who just take it for granted that our parents will care for all of our needs.  This is not easy for us.  Everyday we need to repent of our own sin and remember that Jesus provides. We need to accept this amazing truth that Jesus is indeed the bread of life.

Earlier when Jesus gave the sermon on the Mount he already gave a preview of this important teaching about childlike dependence on God with the first of the Beatitudes. “Blessed are the poor is spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.”  Poor in spirit are those who have little to say to defend or justify themselves, it is a position of humility, it is faith like a child.

Holy Baptism helps us to see the folly of trusting in our own spiritual strength.  We receive baptism as a gift, nothing that we have earned. Jesus comes to us even as infants and makes us His children.

 Those Christians who make Baptism about their own decision to follow Jesus are caught in the trap of viewing the dedication and character they have toward following Jesus as what carries them through. They are not depending on God’s promises but instead on their commitment to be faithful.

The greatest among us can never be those who are proud of how accomplished they are in the faith or in the church.  Those new to the faith, those uncertain in the faith, have the greatest honor among us. When people visit our church, we do not look down on them as being less because they are less familiar with Lutheran theology or the history of our congregation. They are greatest priority for they are more vulnerable to the attacks of Satan, less secure in God’s Word. 

And just as Jesus warns about the grave danger of causing one of the little ones who believe in Jesus to sin, we also do not want to cause others to sin through how we interact with others.  If we talk about our faith in a way where we come off as though we think we are better people we can cause people to have a negative view of church participation, as if it is all about having a higher status compared to others and trying to be the greatest.

Divisions within a congregation can cause people to sin. Sins of pride and selfishness no doubt have played a role when conflict has occurred in the congregation where people no longer wish to attend because of misunderstandings about how decisions are made in a congregation or as to why a pastor has not continued in the pastoral office here.

The role of spiritual mature believers is to weather through difficulties and model to those who are newer in the faith what it means to continue to trust in God’s promises even through a storm such as occurred here with pastors leaving or mishandling their duties of the pastoral office.

We may be tempted with the warning that we should not let little ones stumble to the point where we become cautious about how we practice our worship service or how we talk to visitors who may not have grown up in the Lutheran church.

Our culture today has a common sentiment that we should go out of our way to make sure we do not offend others and make them feel accepted no matter what.  Often this amounts to the idea that everything starts with being nice to others.

We might wonder if starting the worship service with confession of sins would be intimidating for a visitor unfamiliar with what confession is. We might wonder how we can talk about the gifts of baptism, even for infants when many Americans have grown up in churches that portray infant baptism as a strange tradition.

Some have wondered whether we are causing little ones to stumble simply by being Lutheran, by practicing closed communion and telling people they are not welcome to commune with us if they are unfamiliar with the meaning of the Lord’s Supper and do not share in our confession of faith.  Do we cause others to stumble by being Lutheran as opposed to a non denominational presentation that a church like New City might use?  

Living out our faith with conviction is never a contribution to the spiritual harm of others. If we were to take a position of apologizing for how we follow God’s Word, we are doubting the power of God’s Word working through us. We are sharing God’s Word  whether in the practice of Confession, or Baptism or practice of the Lord’s Supper, or in the hymns we sing, and in the liturgy- we are sharing God’s Word to the world.  We are called to play the role of watchmen to the world, telling the full counsel of God’s Word to the world, the truth of sin, and the truth of Jesus’ victory over our sin.

We must always chose proclaiming the truth of God’s Word over the belief that we must be nice at all costs and never confront sin in others.  Jesus never demonstrated in his earthly ministry the approach of being nice to the pharisees and scribes.

Last week the church received a letter from Lutheran High School asking our partner churches to not overreact to any media stories with negative press toward the school. It turns out our own Lutheran High School was in a position where it was necessary to terminate employment with a teacher due to that teacher’s lifestyle which was contrary to God’s Word. This is not a popular position to take in our culture, but it is the position of God’s Word which we follow without hesitation.

In our Old Testament reading Ezekiel is made a watchman for the house of Israel, he is to give Israel warning from the LORD.  Think about what watchmen do in the ancient world.  They are up in a tower spending their time watching for signs of danger. When they see danger they report right away what they see- otherwise they would not be serving any benefit. The advance warning of danger can make all the difference in giving people enough time to seek safety or enter into fortifications.

Ezekiel was to serve as a spiritual watchmen.  While some people were assigned to watch for danger from enemies attacking the camp, Ezekiel watched for signs of the enemy from within- sin and disobedience of God’s Word. 

We are warned in the same way by Jesus that we must turn and be like children.  The danger is ever present in our world today to fall into sins of spiritual self sufficiency.   The advance warning goes out to the whole church to be aware of the trends in our culture that would tempt us to put our trust in ourselves instead of the LORD.

But Jesus does not just warn us from a distance about impending dangers. He is here with us in the encampment, in the church. “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.”  Knowing He is with us, we don’t need to ask and wonder who is the greatest among us. Instead we proclaim, “How great are your works O LORD!.”  Amen.

From that time on: the cross

Posted on by nfuller

Last Sunday we left off in our gospel reading with Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.  We continued in our gospel reading this morning with the introductory sentence “From that time Jesus began to show his disciples..”  From right after Peter’s Confession, Jesus began to show his disciples what it means to be the Christ, the destiny that awaits him as the Savior. 

Clearly Jesus did not want the disciples to become too comfortable with the status that they were with the Son of God, without understanding the purpose for why Jesus came. He did not want them to become distracted by their allegiance to Jesus as a King for this world only. 

In just a short time after Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke Jesus.  In Peter’s mind God’s Son was wrong. Wrong for saying that he would be betrayed and die on the cross.  Peter struggled to accept that Jesus should be betrayed. He thought that he would die defending Jesus so that it would never happen. “This shall never happen to you.”

It is our human nature, like Peter demonstrated, to want Jesus to be a Savior on our own terms, a king who we follow and protect.  We would like to fight for Jesus and fight for the cause of our faith and our church, rather than receive God’s gifts. That way we feel we have advanced the cause of righteousness, that we have opposed evil with good.

But this is not God’s will for us to vanquish all the enemies of the Lord and His Christ.  Jesus did not come to be a conquering king.  That was in fact the third temptation Satan brought before Jesus, “All the kingdoms of the world and their glory I will give to you if you fall down and worship me.”

In that moment Peter wanted honor and splendor and recognition for Jesus and all of the disciples. Perhaps he thought Jesus deserves all of the luxury and comforts available in this world.   In response Jesus commanded to Peter, “get behind me Satan”  He was setting his mind on the things of man instead of the things of God.

To set our minds on the things of God is difficult, we tremble to consider the cross as God’s plan and our road of discipleship.  We have so many desires of our human nature we would like to follow instead of picking up the cross.

We would like to find the right balance in life where we are comfortable in our life circumstances, where we find fulfillment and enjoyment in all of the good things the world has to offer. We would like to always have sunshine, carefree days, and the freedom to live life without worry or responsibility toward others.

Picking up the cross can be a confusing phrase to us. What does Jesus mean when he says, “if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  It sound so familiar to us, that Christians follow Jesus and carry our own crosses in life. 

How different it must have sounded to the disciples who were just wrapping their mind around Jesus talking about how he must be killed and on the third day rise. How strange it must have sounded to be asked to pick up a means of execution, a cross and carry it wherever Jesus leads- like Jerusalem where people are waiting to persecute them.

For us Christians to take up the cross can mean two things, it can mean to reject what is comfortable in our life and exchange it for hardship for the sake of the kingdom or helping others.  It can also mean to follow Jesus despite the persecution from others.  So bearing the cross is both our taking up hardships upon ourselves in the choices we make for the sake of others, and also suffering that may be inflicted on us for simply being Christians that is our cross to bear.

It is hard for us to willing take up crosses in life where we care for others first, where we face the persecution for our faith that sometimes comes with following Jesus. We feel we are giving up quite a bit of what we would like to do when we deny ourselves and follow Jesus.

Yes, we do appear to give up a lot when we take up our cross and follow Jesus, but in Him we gain everything that is of worth and value, in Him we gain God’s kingdom.  For we know that if we have died with Christ we certainly shall rise with Christ. 

The Lord has blessed us with his presence through the difficult moments we face day by day as we endure the crosses of this world. He has prepared us for these moments through the work of the Holy Spirit, through the ministry of the church.

Every Sunday we are given the opportunity to confess our sins and then receive the assurance that Jesus forgives us of our sins. The result is that each week the Holy Spirit is working in us through the words of confession to bring us to repentance.

And just as God turns our hearts so that we die to our old sinful nature, God also gives us new hearts through the words of absolution.  In worship we take up our cross and die to our old sins and we are given new life as we receive his complete forgiveness for all of our sins on account of Jesus.

In the Lord’s Supper as we come to the Lord’s Table empty and defeated by our sin and the sin in the world, we are given new life.  His body and blood brings us fulfillment and satisfaction in a way that nothing else in the world can. His gift of life and mercy fills our cup to overflowing, so that day by day the promises of the world sound less as and less appealing.

We heard from Psalm 37 in our Introit: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” 

When our heart’s joy is in Jesus, the desires of our heart are going to be much different than that which comes out of our human nature. We find our life and our true desires of our hearts when we die to our sinful nature and leave it at the cross. 

In Christ our hearts seek to lift others up, to pray for those in need and those struggling with spiritual distress.  In Christ we find the desires of our hearts met as we wait for him and trust in faith he will act to bring deliverance to his Church.

With our fallen human heart we could never follow the directive from our Epistle reading in Romans chapter 12.  For our love to always be genuine, to always hold fast to good over evil. To love one another with brotherly affection and to always be fervent in spirit to serve the Lord. 

In taking up our cross and following Jesus we learn how freeing it is to bless those who persecute us, we learn how to put aside our selfishness so that we are free to live peaceably with all.

Today we will find many circumstances in our lives where following Jesus will bring the cross of persecution.   Through our defense of the sanctity of all life, especially the unborn we face derision in our culture. Through our firm confession that Jesus is the only way of salvation we will be accused of a cultural imperialism where we do not support and affirm the spiritual views of others. 

Now more than ever we will face ridicule for our defense of God’s design for family rooted in the bond of marriage between one man and one woman. We will be called dinosaurs in a world with ever evolving ethics and codes about how to be respectful to people’s sexuality.  

But the ridicule and the persecution that is on the horizon means little compared to the joy of walking with Jesus.  There is nothing that man can do to us to change God’s love toward us.

Our gospel reading began proclaiming from that time on. From that time on Jesus spoke of the cross and the resurrection.  That time has not ended, God’s Word continues to proclaim this to us, that whatever the challenge set before us as the church, we have the answer in the cross and the resurrection. Jesus tells us today I died for you and I am risen for you. Amen.   

We confess together- Jesus is the Christ

Posted on by nfuller

“I know my own; My own know Me. You not the world, my face shall see. My peace I leave with you. Amen.”  What beautiful words we just sang about how Jesus sees us.  

“Built on the Rock the church shall stand.” What is the Rock the hymn is describing, what Rock holds together even when building are falling down around us? The Rock is the confession of faith that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

This confession first revealed by the Father to Peter is a confession that is shared by all of us, the church throughout the world.  This Rock, the truth of the gospel is the foundation that helps the church to stand no matter the storm we face.  We are secure because Jesus knows us, and we know Jesus.

Jesus set up the confession of faith Peter spoke by asking the disciples “who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Many in the world at that time saw Jesus and came to their own conclusions of who he is.  The same holds true today in our world and even within the church, it all depends on how you look at things, what you confess about who Jesus is.

On one extreme people see Jesus as a friend who agrees and supports any decisions in life they make, who is always on their side and would never judge or condemn them for how they spend their time, their priorities in life, or what sins they commit. Some in the church can choose to believe that Jesus is their personal cheer leader even if they rarely if ever come to Jesus in repentance and come to worship to receive His gifts of forgiveness and salvation.  

On the other extreme, some people see Jesus as the unforgiving judge who is disappointed in their efforts at living the faith, whose laws and standards you can never live up to and who brings much guilt.  In either case, people can miss seeing Jesus through discarding the law so much that there is no need for a Savior, or in pushing so hard to follow the law that there is no sense of hope in knowing Jesus.

If you don’t see Jesus for who he is, then you miss the peace Jesus brings to His church.  The Confession of faith of Peter, the Rock on which the church stands is to see Jesus for who he is, the Savior who stands in our place and carries us through.

How we look at Jesus makes all the difference.  We prayed in our Collect prayer: to “know Jesus to be the way the truth and the life so that we can boldly confess Him to be the Christ and steadfastly walk in the way that leads to everlasting life.”   

In knowing Jesus for who he is for us, our Way, Truth and Life- we have the focus and clarity to confess His name and walk in the way of discipleship in a hostile world. In seeing the world through eyes that know His mercy and love to us, we change how we view our life in this world.

In our reading from Romans we have a picture of how God’s mercy brings about a changed perspective. The reading begins with complete wonder at God’s ways.  

“O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”  God provides us mercy when we deserve none, Grace when we expect punishment, love when we expect judgment or disdain. Mercy changes our perspective on life.

In Romans chapter 12 the vision of life lived in response to mercy is described in greater detail.  “I appeal to you therefore brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a as a living sacrifice holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.  Notice that phrase “by the mercies of God” It is saying in view of, or in light of God’s mercies to us, we should live our lives differently.

The foundation of God’s mercy to us is the sacrifice of Jesus’ life to us.  Through eyes that see God’s mercy to us, the scripture invites us to see our own lives as prospects for sacrifice, our spiritual worship as a living sacrifice to God. Presenting our bodies as living sacrifices means that we give first unto the LORD in love. 

We are not conformed to the view of the world that our lives are only for ourselves and we should do whatever we want. Instead we begin to see that sometimes God’s will is found through making sacrifices in life.  The Holy Spirit transforms us and renews us to live in love for God’s will.  Listen again to those words from Romans: “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

The pattern of this world is filled with much folly, much running in circles in pursuit of popularity, wealth, pride and selfishness. The world’s pattern is everywhere we look, on our phones, in the things people say to us- it is all around us. We need spiritual reality checks on a regular basis, we need our mind’s transformed by God’s Word, we need to see that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

But we don’t only read about God’s different perspective, we experience it for ourselves as we experience God’s particular mercy to our own lives.  As we reflect on how Jesus has extended us mercy, we can begin to imagine how God sees all people with that same mercy.

A story is told of a seminary student in Chicago who took a part time job driving a bus to help pay his way through school.  One night he had the misfortune of being mugged while on his route.  He received bruises and cuts and even some damage to his teeth.  In time the police caught these men who mugged him. He was called to identify them as a witness and he attended the trial. The criminals stared at him coldly when they saw him in the courtroom and he returned the favor.  The verdict of guilty was reached and the judge read the sentence of prison time for each of the men.

The seminary student began to feel compassion for these criminals.  He remembered that Jesus died on the cross for their sins as well as for his. The judge asked him if he had anything to add. “Yes I do your honor. I have a request to make. I would like to serve the combined prison sentence of these men who hurt me in their place.” 

The judge was startled by such an unusual request.  “I don’t believe that is possible, there is no legal precedent for such action. The seminary student replied: “Actually your honor there is.  Almost 2,000 years ago a man from Nazareth named Jesus who was guilty of no offense, willingly took the punishment for all people by dying on the cross.”

   The judge did not grant the seminary student’s request.  But the young man managed to visit the men in prison in order to tell them more about Jesus who took our place on the cross.  God’s mercy helps to transform us to see people and situations differently.

Responding to the mercy given to us does not need only involve something as drastic as offering to take the punishment for others. 

Think of how different a variety of situations in life can be experienced with this view.  If you are grocery shopping these days it is usually something of a tense experience.  You may wish you could simply get in and out as fast as possible.  It is easy to view all the people at the store as a burden to what you want to get accomplished. 

    But through our response to God’s mercy we can see people in a crowded store differently.  They are not people who are in the way, but God’s creation who Jesus also died for. From the perspective of the mercy we have in Jesus how differently we might see the congested traffic on the way to work or the co-worker who is always getting under your skin.   “For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than he ought to think.”

In the scripture there is no shortage of examples of how God’s mercy changes the outlook toward others. We all know Zacchaeus as the wee little man who climbed up the sycamore tree to get a good view of Jesus.  He also was not a well respected man.  He was a chief tax collector, a despised man an outcast and a sinner. 

Nobody wanted to associate with him. Jesus, however saw him up in the tree and singled him out for attention, inviting himself to dinner at Zacchaeus’ house.  By these merciful actions toward Zacchaeus, Jesus covered the scandalous and offensive life with his own reputation and righteousness. His merciful kindness gave mercy to a poor sinner. 

At the dinner Zacchaeus stood up and offered to give half of all his goods to feed the poor.  He promised to restore fourfold to those he cheated.  He now saw those he cheated through the eyes of mercy for the first time.  Jesus declared him to be a son of Abraham, a child of mercy.  He was indeed justified by Christ through faith.  What stands out about him was how by Christ’s gift of mercy to him, he learned to be merciful to others in return. 

May our Lord grant us courage to confess His name before the world.  May the Lord fulfill his purpose for us in the church, as His steadfast love endures in our lives forever. Amen.

Crumbs from the table: Jesus’ mercy abounds

Posted on by nfuller

The large stones of the temple built up by King Herod did not impress Jesus. While the disciples looked at the construction in wonder, He warned the disciples that not one stone would be left on another.  The size of the Roman empire or the authority of Pilate to condemn or release him did not impress Jesus. In every direct encounter between the disciples and Jesus we hear about in the scriptures, we never hear about Jesus being particularly impressed by the disciples in their response of faith.  Often Jesus is telling them, “O you of little faith.”  

The faith of the Canaanite woman certainly caught Jesus’ attention: “O woman great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly. Jesus seems to have reacted in a similar way as he did to the faith of the Centurion in Matthew chapter 8: When Jesus heard this, he marveled and said to those who followed him, “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith.

The Canaanite woman came to Jesus in a time of great need, seeking help for her daughter oppressed by a demon.  She appealed to Jesus with recognition that he is a descendant of David, that he is of the people of Israel.  She acknowledged in her appeal to Jesus her position as an outsider. She communicated by her speech that she was out on a limb in her appeal to Jesus, depending completely on the mercy of Jesus. 

Jesus celebrated her faith knowing that she represented one of the first of many who would come to faith as gentiles- grated into the vine of Israel.  God’s word rejoices in the plan of salvation that through the way Israel was given to know God, the gentiles would also come to know God, as crumbs from the table of Israel. 

these I will bring to my holy mountain,  and make them joyful in my house of prayer;  their burnt offerings and their sacrifices  will be accepted on my altar;  for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”8 The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts of Israel, declares,  “I will gather yet others to him besides those already gathered.”

Just as Israel has its outcasts who need gathering back in, so also the LORD promised to gather the nations back to Him. It was never the plan to only provide salvation to Israel and leave everyone else out. Abraham was called to faith so that all nations would be blessed through him.

The promise is there in the scripture. Yet just before Jesus praises the faith of the woman, it appears by our modern sensitivities that Jesus was insensitive to the Canaanite woman, that he was closing the door on her faith in an unloving and unrespectful way.  Can you imagine how it would sound in today’s world for someone to tell a woman from another culture that giving to her is like taking food from children and giving it to dogs. This would be prejudice of the worst kind. 

But Jesus is not talking abrasively to her because she is a woman or because she is of another culture- he is addressing the fact that she is not an Israelite, she is a gentile- and gentiles did not at that time have a share in the covenant. They were without God’s law in their lives.

Jesus sounds insensitive to our ears because the world we live in struggles with the scandal of particularity, that Jesus alone is the way of salvation.  Jesus’ short response served to illustrate that there is a way to have a relationship with God, and it is through the covenant, through the temple. If salvation were dispensed to anyone who came up to Jesus, regardless of what they believed, then where would God’s Word be?

The disciples preferred that Jesus would just help her and send her away so that she would not be a bother anymore. They missed the big picture that Jesus had come for more than quick fix solutions, but instead to bring people back into the fullness of God’s love and care.

This woman was a very unlikely candidate for God’s mercy. The people of Canaan were ordered driven out of the promised land for their false idol worship. As a Canaanite woman she would not have grown up following the law, participating in the sacrificial system as a means of receiving God’s mercy and love. The disciples would not have expected her to know much about who Jesus is and what he could do for her.

When Jesus turned her down, it would be human nature for her to plead her case and say how she was deserving of the same bread as everyone else in Israel, or to say all of the good things she had done in her life to deserve what she is asking for- and to tak about how great her daughter’s need was and how innocent her daughter was in this possession that afflicted her.

 But she did not try and advance herself before Jesus- instead she stayed focused on His authority to provide for her needs in abundance.

We are all like the Canaanite woman, very unlikely candidates for God’s Mercy. We have done nothing to deserve God’s mercy. We are full of sin, any case we make for our deserving mercy falls flat.

We heard in our Epistle reading from Romans: 32 For God has consigned all to disobedience, that he may have mercy on all.   By disobedience St. Paul is describing Israel’s rejection of the gospel as going against God’s law, and those who are gentiles were in disobedience already before the gift of the gospel.

The result is that nobody can say that they deserve mercy more than another. We cannot say that we deserve mercy more than the people of Israel who rejected the gospel, or more than those people in our neighborhood who would never consider coming through the doors of a church. We are not entitled to God’s mercy as our birthright. It is a gift given to us, which we gladly receive.

The gift sometimes seems to take longer than we would like.  “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers them out of all of them.” What must it have felt like for the Canaanite woman to work up the courage to ask Jesus for mercy only to be told he has not come for her people?

Did her heart sink for a moment, did she think all was lost?  It seems her faith kept her from doubting, so that she could look past rejection and instead keep making the case for the deliverance she knew Jesus was able to give.

We will never be in the same situation as her where our identity as gentiles provides uncertainty if we will be able to receive God’s mercy. But we do face situations where we do not see deliverance as soon as we would like. 

Here we are in the middle of August and most of us are weary of five months and counting of hardships and sacrifices we must make because of the spread of the virus.  We wonder when life will feel like it used to.  Like most American, we may even experience more moments of despair and depression than we other wise would have.

When relief does not seem present to us, when we feel darkness holding us in its grasp, we need to see that Jesus’ mercy does not run out. Mercy to Israel and mercy to the gentiles, mercy that abounds for all.  Even the mere crumbs from the table are all we need for a living faith and hope in Jesus.

And Jesus provides us with much more than crumbs. He provides his very body and blood for us.  There is more than enough of God’s mercy to go around to us as we approach the Lord with humility and repentance.

As we have been receiving the Lord’s Supper on a weekly basis, we are asking in faith for the Lord’s mercy, repentant of our sins, examining ourselves and seeing that we have once again done nothing to deserve God’s mercy. We taste and see that the Lord is good to us, that even as unworthy as we are the crumbs fall down to us and supply us with all that we need. 

The scripture does not explain how this woman held a living faith in Jesus.  However the scripture does tell us in a general sense how she trusted Jesus as her Savior.  She knew  in the same way, we all do- because the Father revealed it to her through the message of the gospel. She knew that the Messiah had so much to give that even the crumbs left over where all that she needed.   We are reminded of the parable of the sower a few Sundays back where we were taught that the seed is sown generously.

We are here, part of a church at worship because the Father revealed Jesus to us.  Maybe you grew up in the church from as early as you can remember, or maybe you came to know Jesus as an adult. 

In either case it was through very unlikely circumstances that you received the gift of faith- much of the world is designed to keep you away from faith. It was only because of the grace of God in your lives that you have been given the gift of hearing God’s Word with your ears.

Jesus was amazed at the faith of the Canaanite woman, and Jesus sees our faith and is greatly pleased as we confess that what He provides is more than enough for our needs. Amen.

Peace, Be Still

Posted on by nfuller

“Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind and said: “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge? Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.”

Do these words sound familiar? “Who is this who darken counsel by words without knowledge.” The very beginning of Job chapter 38.  With all of the suffering Job went through, he said many things. He cursed the day he was born and wondered why he was not a still birth.   He lamented all of the wrongdoing and evil the unrighteous commit.  So many people live their lives as an insult to God’s law, and yet the LORD prolongs their life.

Job closes out his speech describing the punishment he would deserve if he had knowingly transgressed God’s law, using the phrase: “If I have.”

If I have walked in falsehood, and my foot has hastened to deceit, If my heart has been enticed toward a woman and I have lain in wait at my neighbors door, if I have withheld anything from the poor, if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, if I have rejoiced at the ruin of him who hated me, or exulted when evil overtook him. 

Could you picture yourself saying these things to the LORD? Have you ever thought to yourself, but I am a good person and wickedness is not ruling my heart? How could these troubles be upon me now? If I have done something to deserve this than so be it.

What have I done to deserve this trial? We know that the wages of sin are death.  Yet still we wonder why now, why this trial.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways declares the LORD.” Isaiah chapter 55.   The answer is that God knows why we face such pain and suffering and we cannot understand.

We want to make the case for ourselves and put a lot of thought into what we have done right- ways we have followed God’s law. But in the end what is most important is not how much effort we have put into living our life well, not what case we can present before the judge, but only the righteousness of Christ. 

Can you imagine if the LORD asked you to dress for action and provide all of the answers to the mysteries of creation? The law hits very hard and deep in these words, “Who is this who darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” Do we ever question why things are the way that they are and why do the wicked prosper and we dry up? Have you ever questioned God’s love and care for you in the midst of a long suffering problem or struggle?  Yes. In our state of sin, we all have.  

“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding. Who determined its measurements- surely you know!”

The reading continues with further details of God’s creation, beyond what we can possibly know.  Yet at this point through our faith we do not need to feel worse and worse as we hear more and more evidence that we know less than nothing as compared to God.

Through faith we can see that through hearing about the unsearchable majesty of God’s creation we can Be Still and know that The LORD is God. As we hear these words about the foundations of the world and the morning stars singing together and start to let go of the burden and pressure we put on ourselves to make sense of things in our life and in our world.

We can let go of thinking we need to have everything in order or else our lives would fall apart- because Jesus holds the world in his hand and reigns at the right hand of the Father.

Consider what it means that the LORD measured the length of the foundation of the earth and laid the cornerstone.  The earth was built exactly how it needed to be in order to stay together for as long as needed, through the flood, through seasons and years and centuries, through a time period of thousands of years and counting until the time when the new heaven and earth will be created when Jesus returns. 

Science has identified numerous factors that all needed to be fine tuned in the right way in order for life to be possible. Water is different than other liquids in that it is more dense in liquid form than in solid. As a result ice floats to the top of rivers and lakes and artic ocean areas. We may not think of this much, but if ice sank instead, more and more surface water would be exposed to the cold leading to more and more frozen lakes and streams making life uninhabitable.

If Saturn and Jupiter were not so incredibly large compared  to earth it appears comets would make life on earth continually in peril.  The strong gravitational pull of these large planets pulls in the most dangerous comets that would threaten life, like a mighty defense shield circling our planet.

If the moon were not the right size the earth would not be tilted by gravity to have 4 seasons.  If the earth were smaller there would be a weaker magnetic field that would result in solar winds stripping away our atmosphere.  If our electromagnetic force were smaller or larger atoms would not hold together and no chemical bonds could occur.  Only God knows the exact measurements that make our world hold together.

We have not been there day after day as the LORD has commanded the morning and caused the dawn to know its place- each new day a miracle of creation.  

 No, we were not there, but God’s Word is telling us about it, and the fact that Jesus holds all of creation together is a tremendous cause for relief and security.  Pondering the wonder of creation and God’s perfect design can heal our troubled hearts and give us reassurance that no human words or knowledge can. We were not there, but we did not need to be, God took care of it all.

The LORD took care of it all for us.  “Immediately Jesus spoke to them saying: “Take heart it is I. Do not be afraid.”

When the disciples saw Jesus walking on water, it was far beyond what they could ever imagine or expect.  The one who shut in the sea with doors and said ‘thus far shall you come and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed.’ He who was there from the beginning told the disciples, “It is I, do not be afraid.”

We are no more righteous than Job, we also like Job need the forgiveness of Jesus that comes to us not through knowledge of how the universe is made, but through the gift of faith.

Like Job who looked to the promise of the Savior and said “I know that my Redeemer lives.” , we look to the cross and see that no matter how difficult the circumstances of our life, God is certainly for us. God sent His Son to die for us. 

No matter the hardship we need not fear as God’s Word tells us that Jesus is here with us: “Take heart It is I, do not be afraid.”  By our human wisdom we often try and find security through the knowledge we can obtain. We look at weather forecasts, we read about economic outcomes and certainly as of late about virus recovery plans.

Yet our knowledge is always imperfect, and our knowledge is not what we need to put our hope in.  We need a Savior who reaches out his hand for us, who commands the winds and the waves, who has known us from the womb, and will see us through. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all.