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The heavens declare the glory of God

Posted on by nfuller

Brothers and sisters in Christ here in the thick of summer, I can’t help but think about the stars.  People have  been setting off fireworks in the night sky this past week, but the light show of God’s creation far surpasses anything we can light up the sky with.  It is just about unbelievable to consider the expanse of the stars, light years away and yet they still give off light that we can see.

We heard at the beginning of our worship service how God’s people see the stars through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: The heaven’s declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

In our modern science fiction obsessed world we may associate the stars as this frontier of the unknown.  If you research the stars and astronomy you get numbers beyond comprehension and estimates of the age of the stars that fit within the narrative of evolution and the theoretical big bang. 

Many a time in the past such views of the stars make me want to narrow my focus and just forget about the stars and all of the unknowns about space- after a while I become weary of things that are hard to understand and I get tired of filtering through in my mind which statements I hear that are following speculative philosophy instead of actual scientific observations. 

To me all of the evolutionary speculations that are stated as if they are fact makes me feel depressed, ‘this again, you can’t read anything without encountering the same tired stories about cataclysmic events that somehow bring order to the universe.’ 

Regardless of what speculative scientists write about the universe this expanse of stars beyond our comprehension declares the glory of God each day:

 Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.  Psalm 19 describes the stars as providing a tent for the sun, and celebrates that nothing is hidden from the heat of the sun and the stars. 

The stars not only give an illustration about the glory of God in creation, they also proclaim the power of God’s Word, the gospel.  Genesis 15:5 “And he brought him outside and said, look toward heaven, and number the stars if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” And he believed the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness.

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit St. Paul quotes both Isaiah chapter 52 and  Psalm 19 in his letter to the Romans chapter 10: 14 How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!” 16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?” 17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

18 But I ask, have they not heard? Indeed they have, for  “Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.”

These same Words were spoken in our Gradual:   How beautiful are the feet of those who preach good news, who publish peace and bring good news of salvation. Their voice has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world.

Instead of celebrating how heavens declare the glory of God, it is now the voice of the church, Jesus’ followers whose voice goes out to all the earth. Yes the stars are beautiful and awesome in their nature, but how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news- how beautiful is the work of the gospel – ringing out with power and might from one corner of the earth to another. 

The peace of the Lord extends from one corner of the earth to another.  Jesus sent out the 72 to proclaim this peace, and this peace has gone out to us.  We are far enough from Jerusalem to ourselves be the ends of the world.   The Word has gone out to us and the message we give to the world is the message of ultimate peace, God has reconciled the world to Himself through His Son Jesus. 

The voice of the gospel that we proclaim, both pastors, and congregation members alike, goes out to all the earth, and shines with a brightness beyond what we can comprehend.  This is such a thing of beauty because lives are transformed from condemnation to an inheritance in heaven.

If you were to try and think about all of the people in your life that have shared the gospel with you in word or deed.  All of the people who have encouraged you whether in person or through a book you read or a sermon address you heard on the radio, a movie, a podcast, all of the friends in Christ you have known, pastors, Sunday school teachers, your own family, classmates or campus ministry peers- why the list is so long you cannot really take in the scope of it. 

I imagine this list would include all of the hymn writers of your favorite hymns, the  seminary professors who taught your pastors or theologians in the history of the church who inspired the pastors you have known in your life, the authors who wrote your favorite children’s books like CS Lewis and Chronicles of Narnia, your favorite gospel song writers- and we cannot forget all of those saints in the Old and New Testament who inspire us by their examples of faithfulness, and saints throughout the church’s history, like Martin Luther or Dietrich Bonhoeffer or Henri Nouwen. 

The voice of the gospel goes out to all the earth, and it is just like the stars, we can hardly comprehend how beautiful God’s design is. 

Yet this message of unsurpassed beauty is not always heard as peace by the world.  Some hear the message of the gospel from the church as the Word of Jesus himself, while others want to imagine that somehow the proclamation of Christ Crucified is only the message of the church and not what God intends for people to know.  We heard in our gospel reading:

 16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Jesus clarifies that those who are sent by him are speaking for him and the Father as well.  The unbelief of this world is a daunting obstacle for believers.  It is too easy to second guess or doubt what business we have sharing the gospel with others as we realize many will not want anything to do with hearing God’s Word. 

Yet we need to remember we are not sharing our own message, but speaking with Jesus, speaking with the entire body of Christ this gospel that has been ringing through the world with glory and power.

As the disciples rejoiced that even demons submitted to their names, Jesus points out that the true reason to rejoice is not that they are instruments of such power for God’s kingdom- but that they themselves are saved through Christ. 

Our names written in the book of life is far more valuable to us than what we can accomplish in life through the power of God’s Word. We don’t proclaim the gospel to boast about how good we are at it, instead we are thankful above all else that this message applies to us as well. 

Those of us who are able to many things in God’s kingdom, and those of us who are able to do very few things, with little to boast about we all alike receive the same amazing gift of the our names written in the book of life.  Amen.  

Jesus, why do you not leave me alone?

Posted on by nfuller

What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, do not torment me.” 

The demons recognize and know who Jesus is more than anyone else.  They are the first to call Jesus the Son of God, not the disciples. But they say this in dread fear- recognizing the power of Jesus and their helplessness before Him.  “Jesus, do not torment me”- is not a phrase you could imagine any man or woman saying.  A bruised reed he will not break, a smoldering wick he will not put out. 

Only the dark forces recognize the true spiritual warfare at stake for which Jesus was born to fight.   They recognize the power of their enemy- Jesus. They see their end and beg for a delay to their demise.

What have you to do with me? Or in another translation of the original Greek, “Why do you not leave me alone.”  What does the Son of God, pure truth, the light of the world have to do with a legion of demons inhabiting this man?  What business does light have visiting the darkness? 

Was it the demons alone who spoke this phrase, ‘what have you to do with me’ or did the man possessed himself ask this question, what have you to do with me Jesus because nobody else had anything to do with him.  The account in this reading of this man’s isolation and suffering is staggering.  

We hear: For a long time he had worn no clothes, and he had not lived in a house but among the tombs. It is hard to picture a more pitiful and miserable existence than this man was in.  His depravity was so great that he was not even among civilization, sleeping in tombs, living among unclean pigs.  Naturally he would wonder what business Jesus would have talking to him.

The business is that Jesus has come to liberate us from the darkness.  What does Jesus have to do with this demon possessed man- everything.  Jesus has everything to do with these demons- for he has come to vanquish them.  He does not leave this poor man- separated from society, suffering with an inhabitation of thousands of demons if the name Legion is accurate.   This poor man, the lowest of low- Jesus has everything to do with him. I have not come to seek the saved, but the lost.

The demons begged Jesus to let them enter the pigs on the hillside. They drove the pigs over the cliff in order to destroy them.  They settled for destroying the pigs- destruction being their ultimate aim in life.   As a result of this dramatic scene the villagers and herdsmen were afraid, they asked Jesus to leave.  They feared Jesus when it was the demons who they should have feared.

The people feared to see the power that Jesus had healed this man- but they should have seen this as a cause for comfort and peace.  The man was experiencing peace and comfort, as he sat with Jesus, clothed and in his right mind. He wanted to stay with Jesus, but was told:   Return to your home and declare how much God has done for you. 

As we appreciate how much God has done for us, as we truly recognize how helpless we are on our own, we will want to declare to the world what God has done for us.

When I was first entering seminary after I graduated from undergrad I had many opportunities to tell people what I was pursuing for my career.  Often this would be one of the first time church or Christian faith was the center of the topic of conversation with some friends of my parents from my dad’s work place or riding Harley Davidson motorcycles. 

“If I ever entered church, flames might spontaneously erupt.”  “If I walked in the earth would tremble.”  People will make jokes about how unworthy they are to actually be in a church- its not for me, I don’t belong here, I would never fit in, It would be a joke.

How I wish I would have thought more of the man possessed with demons, who said to Jesus, what have you to do with me, have you come to torment me.  Well yes it is a wonder that the church doesn’t erupt in flames when I walk in too! Chief of sinners though I be, Christ laid down his life for me.  The man possessed with demons had plenty of cause to question how it is that Jesus came to him- and we have plenty of cause too. 

By all rights we should be just as afraid and perplexed about how vulnerable we are to the destructive agenda of the demons, with our fallen human nature, with our natural state of seeing God as our enemy who is coming to destroy us.

Yet while we were still sinners Christ died for us.  And Christ has come to vanquish all of the demons from our world, be gone and trouble my own children no more!   Psalm 139 puts it well:

Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!  If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning  and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,     and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;  the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

God has everything to do with us. Daily he has everything to do with us. We are reminded of this in the Small Catechism of Martin Luther,the 4th petition of the Lord’s Prayer.

Give us today our daily bread: God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, even to all evil people, but we pray in this petition that God would lead us to realize this and to receive daily bread with thanksgiving.

We often stress in the Lutheran church God’s great provision to us in the gift of salvation through Christ’s saving work on the cross. But we also see God’s provision in upholding creation and sustaining our daily lives.

What is meant by daily bread? Daily bread includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as food, drink, clothing, shoes, house, home, land, animals, money, goods, a devout husband or wife, devout children, devout workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors, and the like.

Daily God has everything to do with us, even unto the last day where God has everything to do with us through the cross and empty tomb and his kingdom forever. Amen.   

Pentecost, no limits in Christ

Posted on by nfuller

Have you ever wished there were not so many limitations to your life? A few years back there was a movie called Limitless.  The basic plot of the movie was that the main character gets a hold of a pill that unlocks the full potential of his brain. 

Through being able to access 100% of his brain he is able to live life as if it is moving in slow motion, several step ahead of everyone else to the point where he has seemingly limitless power in society.  If you are honest, you may admit that such a premise sounds attractive. 

In recent years I have probably become more aware of limitations in my life than ever before.  With three young children, limitations are self evident to begin with.  I can only stay out so late in the evening, I can only get so much house or yard work done in a day when I am also seeing to the needs of family time.  

Serving as a worker pastor has also brought to mind limits. The time commitment of a 40 hour work week can limit many other avenues of Ministry I would like to look into.

But what makes me aware of limits more than anything else are the limitless possibilities of how to approach outreach and evangelism.  I have talked with many brothers and sisters in Christ of what opportunities are present for community outreach and evangelism in this congregation and in the Irvington Community.

So many good ideas, it is simply not possible to carry out all of the promising approaches that are observed in various churches in our synod.  The more aware I am of opportunities for pastoral leadership, the more aware I am of the limits of our human nature.    

Perhaps you can relate to the feeling of limitations.  Maybe you feel your life has more limitations than others. One family you know has a vacation cabin on a lake, where your family is lucky if you even manage one weekend a year to travel somewhere different than your usual life activities.

Maybe you know some people who do so much through the course of a year that they seem to have energy to spare, where you feel you are lucky if you have enough energy to keep the house in reasonable condition and bills and deadlines caught up with.

The fact is that limitations are a characteristic of all of our lives.  Our human nature presents us with limitations about how much sleep we need, and a list of countless  things we need in place to be healthy.   Our society presents many limitations in the form of how much money we are willing or able to spend. 

The ultimate limitation of our lives is sin.  Sin limits how healthy and rewarding our relationships are.  Sin limits how big our hopes and dreams are.  Sin limits every good impulse we might have.

If only we could take some magic pill to remove those limiting effects of sin! But the truth is that no movie fantasy can overcome the effects of the Fall into sin. 

But there is one real life character who can overcome the effects of the Fall.  Our Lord Jesus Christ has come to us to remove the limits from our lives. No not the limits that keep us from being wealthy beyond our wildest dreams- as some televangelists would have us believe.

Nor has Jesus come to remove the limitations of our bodies and daily schedules that humble us on a daily basis.  Jesus has not come to give us an ultimate freedom to do whatever we desire or attain whatever we covet in life.   

Instead Jesus has come to make us perfectly free to have a relationship with our living God!  On the day of Pentecost Jesus sent His Spirit to His church so that his kingdom would come on the earth without limits. 

Pentecost was the day in history where the Holy Spirit was sent by Jesus to the church a gift without limits.  The day of Pentecost was seven weeks after the resurrection of Jesus- 50 days by the Jewish counting of days. 

We hear in Acts chapter 2 that when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. How is it that the disciples and countless others knew to be together in one place? Pentecost was already a day in it’s own right, the feast of Weeks  which marked 50 days after the Passover, the end of the Passover season- sort of like how today we think of Labor day as the end of the summer.

During the Feast of weeks or Pentecost, God’s people were to bring the first fruits of their harvest as an acknowledgement of God’s blessing to them. People might journey to Jerusalem for Passover and stay through Pentecost.  It makes sense why God would chose this day to give the church the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Beginning with Pentecost the Holy Spirit sends the church out to proclaim the message of Christ crucified and glorified.   Before the events of Christ’s passion the full story could not yet be told. 

Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven, the Spirit strengthened the church to tell the whole story.  The day of Pentecost, like the Old Testament counterpart of the feast of weeks was about the first fruits of harvest.  The 3,000 who were united by the Holy Spirit in faith were the first of many fruits of the harvest of Christ’s Passion. 

Jesus promised this gift, the Holy Spirit to be with us and lead us to the truth of Jesus’ love for us.  Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the helper, The word on Greek in is Paraclete, which literally means one who walks besides us. Other translations of the Bible use such varied terms as our advocate, our helper, our friend.  All of these words help us to see that since the first Pentecost, God has been assisting and strengthening the church to His purposes. 

These purposes of God are greater than what man can imagine.  Following Pentecost God’s design prevailed regardless of the limitations of human cooperation or imagination.   No limits to the Spirit’s work of proclaiming Christ crucified.

Prior to the time of Pentecost the church was largely confined to the immediate area around Jerusalem. Yet on the day of Pentecost travelers from all over the Mediterranean world where in Jerusalem for the feast of Tabernacles.  We hear the list of nations in verses 9 through 11 in our reading from Acts. The church would not be confined to one corner of the middle East, but spread throughout the world.  

Part of our sin is that we put limits on the designs of our God.  We limit the work of the  Holy Spirit to the church in our own minds through unbelief or doubt.  We may have doubt as to what power the Holy Spirit has in our and in the church. 

We look at the church and see limits in terms of what the church is as an imperfect human institution. Many in our society might even resent the church for such limits- as if it is keeping us from God’s love. 

One particular limit our society may put on the Holy Spirit is casting doubt on the clarity of the Holy Spirit to us.  Does the Bible really say what the church claims it is saying about how God’s kingdom works? Or even the question of, does the Bible really say what God intended for it to say, or has it been changed by human intervention?

But the clarity of the message of Pentecost is undeniable: Jesus is our risen and ascended Lord.  Jesus has taken on our sin on the cross, so that we might be reconciled back to God.  And Jesus has sent the helper whom the Father has sent in His name to bring us to remembrance all that he has said.

The legacy of Pentecost to us is that even though are lives are full of limits in every aspect- there is through the in dwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, no limit to our ability to access the grace of God in our lives! 

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, we now have a relationship with God that knows no limits.  When we pray, the Father hears us.  When we hear and receive God’s Word with joy, our faith grows- it’s a guarantee and promise of our Lord! With the Holy Spirit we pray:  Alleluia. Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of your love.

It’s a matter of First things First. Once we recognize that there are no limits to the love of God in our lives, then we can view the limitations of life differently. If we struggle with loving steadfastly family members when they try our patience- then the limitless love of Christ carries us through.

If we struggle with discouragement over the limits of which community outreach events we can carry forward, we do well to look to our Savior and see his limitless love.  Then we are reminded that the goal is not to fill up our church calendar with as many events as possible, but to share the love of Christ in whatever ways we can during the times when we plan activities.

The day of Pentecost helps us to see what is possible for the church because of the unity and power the gift of the Holy Spirit has brought to the church.  Where the Tower of Babel ended with the scattering of nations and dividing of tongues, the Day of Pentecost has united the church from people of all nations under a common language of the gospel.   21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved

Easter for us

Posted on by nfuller

After celebrating the resurrection of Our Lord the past five weeks we now focus on our own promised resurrection on the last day. In Revelation chapter 21 we are reminded of our resurrection through the imagery of a wedding, the wedding of the church as the bride of the lamb.

Jesus foretold this marriage feast at the Last Supper with his disciples:  “I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew with you in the kingdom of my father.”

In Ephesians 5:25-27 Paul describes how Jesus loves the church his bride, “that he might present to himself the church in all of her glory, having no spot or wrinkle or any such thing: but that she should be holy and blameless.”   This is imagery of a royal wedding.

Revelation chapter 21 describes not only a royal wedding, but a royal city- Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God: beautiful brilliant, magnificent. Earlier in chapter 21: “And I saw the holy city the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.”  

In this city 12 gates always open representing the Old Testament people of God. The 12 precious stones that are the foundation represent the New Testament People of God.

The city is described as a perfectly square cube, its length and width and height are equal-  with over 1200 miles from East to West, 1200 miles from North to South, and beyond comparison to anything we know of outside of science fiction-  1200 miles from the ground to its full height.  Denver is called the mile High city with its elevation of over 5,000 feet, surrounding mountains another 5,000 feet.  Which makes only 2 miles of elevation as compared to 1200. Beyond what we can comprehend.    

But the dimensions of the city are only one aspect of what we struggle to comprehend. Even more beyond our imagination is what it will be like to have no temple in this city, no place of worship- because it would be completely redundant to have a temple when God himself is at the center of the city. 

It’s beyond what we can imagine, no sun or moon because the glory of God gives its light and the lamb its lamp.   The glory of eternity with Jesus is beyond what our minds can grasp.   But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”  – 1Corinthians 2:9

No eye has seen, nor has the heart of man imagined, but yet we have this glimpse here in Revelation chapter 21.  

There was a best selling book  in 2010 called “Heaven is Real.”  Interesting story of a young boy named Colton Burpo who saw a few things resembling what appeared to him as Heaven when he was going through a near death experience.  But we do not need any accounts of what people see or dream about heaven. For any one person’s picture or imagination of heaven is going to be very cloudy and inaccurate as compared to what is revealed in scripture by God’s Hand.   We have the true picture of what is real about heaven here in God’s Word, here in Revelation chapter 21.

This true picture is important for us, because as of yet we still walk by faith in this fallen world. We are in the stage that theologians have called the church militant- we fight against the temptations of sin, the devil and the fallen world on a daily basis.  

Throughout history the church has believed Revelation was written by the Apostle John, inspired by the Holy Spirit. His life circumstances were far less reminiscent of the glory of the New Heaven and the new Earth; and far more resembling of the fallen world that we live in today. In the later years of his life John was exiled to the island of Patmos in the Mediterranean Sea on account of his faith in Christ. 

While on Patmos John certainly experienced the loneliness of separation from the church which was separation from those who shared with him the hope of new life in Christ, and separation from those who longed to see Jesus again. We know something of this isolation and loneliness every time we find ourselves aware of the unbelieving world around us and every time we experience the pressure to live by the wisdom of this world instead of the gospel.

John was the youngest of the disciples that Jesus called. Now at the time of the book of Revelation, John is on account of his longevity in life now the last living disciple- the oldest disciple. I can’t help imagine the loneliness of this situation.  All those who he was nourished together with in the faith by Jesus were now with the Lord in heaven.    

How easy it would be for John to look back to the past and long for the good ole days when he walked beside Jesus.  How far away must those memories of the Last Supper and the trial and the cross have been.  

Or memories of when Jesus rose and appeared to him and the rest of the disciples. Or the days of wonder where the church grew in the power of the Holy Spirit and John was even experiencing the Holy Spirit working miracles through him for the sake of the gospel. How many sweet memories of the past, and how much isolation in the present!

But if John was caught up looking back to the past while in Patmos he did not stay there long, as Jesus guided him to see a vision of the glorious future that awaits all of God’s people.  “Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

  The remainder of John’s exile on Patmos would not be spent looking back to the past, but instead eagerly looking forward to the redemption prepared for God’s people at the end of time. 

Even if circumstances should appear as if Satan is becoming victorious in the world, God’s Word in the book of Revelation helps us to see that God will be victorious in the end. “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 

In light of the certainty of victory at the end, we can see the challenges of the present in a different light. The glimpse of eternity lets us see the end in sight to start with.   We heard in our gospel reading this very truth, “In this world you will face trouble, but take heart, I have overcome the world.”  Jesus has already won the victory for us. Our names have already been written in the book of life. We have the assurance that we are his, we have been marked by the cross, He put His name on us in Holy Baptism and we belong to Him. We cling to His promise and cling to the glimpse of eternity.

Knowing the end of the story can make all the difference. Often it is more enjoyable to watch an action adventure movie the second time around. Because once you know the end you can relax and not be bothered so much by the difficulties and trials that come along the way. Once you know how it is going to turn out you can put whatever trial and tribulation in life in perspective.

Revelation chapter 21 as a whole gives us a marvelous picture of the new home that awaits us at the end of time- a concrete picture of what awaits us when the New Heaven and the New Earth is created.

 It is a wonderful picture of what Christ’s victory over the grave has secured for God’s people.  The description and imagery of this new home reminds us of where things began at creation.  In Eden God prepared everything for Adam and Eve, so that there was abundant provision, no sickness, and plenty of meaningful activity as caretakers of the garden.

And here at the end of the story as recorded in Revelation chapter 21 there is the river of life flowing through the center of the New Jerusalem and the tree of life for healing of the nations.  We are brought back full circle to the glory that God first brought to us in creation.

“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. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Jesus has promised us that he has prepared a new home for us, as we hear in John chapter 14 “I go to prepare a place for you.” And even as he has prepared a place for us, he comes to us now.  We have the privilege of sharing this good news with the world. Jesus has prepared a place for all of us. And what a wonderful place it is! Amen.

Sorrow to Joy

Posted on by nfuller

The gospel reading for the fifth Sunday of Easter was John 16:16-22.  We have transitioned from hearing accounts of Jesus’ resurrection to now hearing Jesus talk to his disciples about what it will be like for them to see him depart from them and then return.   Here is the reading:

A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” 17 So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” 18 So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” 19 Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? 20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Jesus spoke to the disciples as his private audience. “A little while and you will see me no longer and again in a little while and you will see me.”  They struggled to understand what he meant.  Jesus makes this clarifying statement in verse 20: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.”

Jesus had one thing in mind when he was talking this way, He is telling the disciples that they will witness his crucifixion while the world watches rejoicing.  But this great sorrow will then be replaced by the joy of his rising. This joy is for them- the world does not know or understand this joy.    

The world does not understand how Jesus willingly laid down his life so that he could take it up again.  The world cannot possibly understand that if Jesus had not risen, then we would still be in our sins.     

You may recall the theme for our sermon on Easter Sunday was “Jesus is risen, just as he told us, just as he promised.   This chapter of the gospel of John contains some of the promises Jesus made to his disciples about what His crucifixion and resurrection would mean for them from their vantage point. 

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth; it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away , the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.”

It was to the disciples advantage and ours that Jesus willingly went to the grave.  Once in the grave Jesus returned as he promised.   If Jesus had only died and not risen, then Satan would have won just like he had won with every death since the fall in Genesis chapter 3.  If Jesus had only died and not risen the apostles would not have had the Holy Spirit sent to them to guide them into all truth, preparing them to proclaim salvation in Christ.   They would not have had the Holy Spirit to take what belongs to Jesus and declare it to the nations so that what belongs to Jesus would also come to us. 

For the church the joy of the resurrection meant that the Holy Spirit would declare Christ’s righteousness to us.  The Holy Spirit has continued to do this in the church from one generation to another.  Through the message of the Apostles people rejoice in the good news of Christ crucified and risen for us all around the world.  In a very short time  the sorrow of this world has been changed to joy.  

The words Jesus spoke to the disciples in John chapter 16 were recorded for our benefit.  Jesus was speaking to the disciples about the specific events of his crucifixion.  As a result it would be an inaccurate interpretation of the scripture if we were to read this account of Jesus speaking about his departure and return and conclude that Jesus will leave us for a while, where we will feel sorrow and then he will return to us where we feel joy. 

The fact is that Jesus has returned from the grave once and for all.  He is not going away from us again. He has sent the Helper, the Holy Spirit once and for all. We do not need any special religious experiences in order to receive the Holy Spirit for the first time. Instead he has already given his church all that belongs to Him. Through Holy Baptism this gift has been given to us.

Yet Jesus knew these words he spoke to the disciples would be spoken to us as well.  And these words have great meaning to us because we do still face sorrow in this life.  The sin of the world and our own sin brings us sorrow that is quite heavy.

Jesus promises to us that our sorrow will turn into joy.  And when this happens, it is like the joy of childbirth, the pain and anguish is remembered no more.  Jesus was gone from the disciples a little less than three days- essentially two and a half days.  This was such a relatively short time in comparison to the joy that followed.

So also in our life, the sorrows of this life are but a moment as compared to the joy of eternity. We hear in our reading from Revelation:

   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.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things shall pass away.”  

The former things pass away.  The separation of man from God since the Fall has passed away.  The banishment from the garden of Eden, but a distant memory.

At that time when the former things pass away the sorrows of this life will indeed be a distant memory.  Yet now we can feel the sorrow of this fallen world all too vividly. We   witness the ways in which the world is against the church just as it was against Jesus.  We wonder how we can make it as a church when our younger generations are exposed to so many false teachings and indoctrinations against the truth of God’s Word.

Some Christian historians look at the state of our culture today and conclude that Western Civilization as we know it has already collapsed.  There may be pockets of our society where Christian values still prevail in the culture at large, but they only are expected to become smaller with each passing year.

Regardless of what outcomes occur in political elections, we cannot escape the trend that the values and beliefs of the church will continue to be attacked and hated by the world.  Yet the same promise of Jesus holds true, “the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn to joy.”  

The world cannot win. It thought it won when Jesus was on the cross. But Jesus Resurrection changed the script. And so also today, no matter how fallen our culture seems, no matter how disgraceful we see our society act the Resurrection of Jesus insures our sorrow will turn into joy.

One sorrow that I have experienced in my life went on for about 8 years.  In the Fall of 2010 my first call into ministry ended after 3 years as an Associate Pastor of Family Life and Youth.  Around the time I turned 30 I learned the congregation I was called to did not intend to continue my position as an Associate pastor for both financial reasons and ministry priority reasons. I found myself confronted with the dilemma of being a pastor without a call, a pastor without a home.

Although I may have found periods of time to serve as a vacancy pastor, year after year I struggled with understanding why my career as a pastor continued to be marked by the asterisk of what is called in our church body “Candidate Status”.   I struggled to see my wife, and eventually my children see me as a pastor without a call in which to focus my ministry priority around.

I came to believe that this particular sorrow could not change, that although I served with distinction in vacancy settings, although I developed training as a licensed counselor and learned to integrate Christian faith into counseling – it had simply been too long since my full time position was as pastor for a congregation to consider extending a call to me that would be appropriate for my abilities and my family’s needs. 

It was as if the promise of the resurrection for some reason would not apply to my career as pastor.  And now things are different.

 A now it seems these 8 years were but a short moment of time as there is an abundance of need and calling here in this place to serve the Lord’s church as a worker pastor, and it has become clear to me that the events of my career and personal life have put me in position to be more dedicated to serve as an instrument of Christ’s Church than I would if I never went through any of the sorrows of waiting.   Jesus’ Resurrection turns the sorrow of this world into joy. 

Although Jesus was talking to the disciples about the three days he would be in the tomb, in light of the joy of Easter, we can hear these words in faith to be a reminder of how short a time it will be before Jesus returns.  “In in a little while and you will see me.”  

In just a little while our own eyes shall see our Lord- we shall experience in all its fullness our sorrow turning to Joy.  In just a little while we shall be taken up in the sky with all believers, brought to the marriage feast of the lamb in his kingdom. In just a little while no more sorrow ever again- only joy. Only the Victorious Lamb eternally:   As the hymn Thine the Amen Thine the Praise puts it in verse 5, the closing verse:

Thine the glory in the night No more dying only light
Thine the river Thine the tree  Then the Lamb eternally
Then the holy holy holy Celebration jubilee
Thine the splendor Thine the brightness only Thee only Thee.

Hear The Voice of The Good Shepherd

Posted on by nfuller

What does it mean to trust in and rely on the protection of a shepherd?  What would it be like to be a sheep out in the countryside somewhere?  As a woolly fuzzy, simple sheep, what would it be like to have someone watch out for dangers and even anticipate ahead of time what protections and safeguards need establishing?  What would it be like to look up to a shepherd and be guided by a large hook in the right direction from time to time?

As a wooly, simple minded sheep, what would it be like to hear and learn and recognize what the voice of the shepherd sounds like- To know intimately the voice of the shepherd, and to mistrust and hold skepticism of the voice of a stranger?!

If only we could know what a sheep really thinks and how a sheep sees the world.  If only…  Or do we know more about what it means to be led by the protection of a shepherd than we realize?

We ourselves have been called to be watched over through Jesus our Chief shepherd.  Our Chief Shepherd lays out for us a rich pasture in which we can live in His Kingdom, guided to safety and led by the purest of sounds- his living voice revealed to us in God’s Word.

There are a few ways we differ from actual sheep. Unlike sheep, for better or for worse we have choices, many choices.  We can choose to follow in our Shepherd’s guidance and we can choose to delight in all of the protections He has established for us.  We can choose to share the Shepherd’s teaching with those we care about and find encouragement in the faith and trust other sheep also have for Our Shepherd.

Unfortunately we can also make ourselves to be Shepherds of our own making and listen to no one else – not even Jesus. When we make this choice we may even expect that others listen to our voice instead of listening to the voice of the Good Shepherd. 

If we should be enticed by a voice with seductive promises, we can follow the voice of many others besides Jesus. Unlike real sheep, we can make quick switches of allegiance. One day we are ready to listen to the voice of our Chief Shepherd, and another day our ears may not be as ready to listen.

Ultimately we really have one type of choice, one important question to answer- are we ready and willing to trust in the voice of our Shepherd? Can we trust in the safety of the Shepherd’s protection?  Which pastures will we choose to remain in to spend our days grazing in?

The great thing about trusting in the protection of the Savior is the more we listen to his voice, the more natural it is to follow. It is like developing well worn tracks in which to drive through.  The more you listen to the voice of Jesus, the more attuned your ears are to hear His voice- the more it fits right into your life.   

The more we hear God’s Word, the more we recognize that our Shepherd’s voice is not just theories and ideals to live by, not just rules and regulations that we try to follow to the best of our abilities, but the purpose and joy of our life itself.

 If you know the voice of the Shepherd, if you recognize it, you are safe.  The more familiar we are with our Shepherd’s voice, the stranger in our ears is the sound of the thief.   Knowing the sound of the shepherd’s voice is the great privilege of the church.

As I think about how we recognize the sound of our Lord’s voice, I am reminded of one of the great inventions of our modern times devoted to helping us recognize the sound of a voice… the baby monitor.  How great to have every giggle and sigh and moment of laughter transmitted into your bedroom in the evening after bedtime.  Every single cry and scream and protest that babies naturally make from time to time amplified by a 9 volt transmitter into your bedroom.

For if your baby girl is going to wake you up at night, you might as well hear the full impact of her cry as if you were inches away from her young vibrant vocal cords- so as to appreciate how much she wants to see you.   But of course we don’t really need baby monitors at all.

The truth is, parents can have an amazing ability to wake up in response to the slightest voice or cry of a child.  Out of love parents are tuned in to the sound of their children’s voice- even if through a few walls.  Would that our ears were just as finely tuned to hear the voice of God’s Word every chance we get.  

The thief may try to make his voice sound even sweeter than the Shepherd.  The thief loves it whenever we start to wonder if another voice will come along that will sound sweeter.  Because that’s when he has a foothold with us.  It’s a shame that the allure of Satan’s offer to us should ever seem appealing, considering that what we have in Christ is already so beautiful.

Jesus taught the disciples: “If anyone who comes in through me, he will be saved and go in and find pasture.”

Pasture provided by God is the greenest of all pasture.  Pasture is room to grow and thrive as God intended for us!  Green pasture leads to fulfillment, contentment, joy!

Jesus described how he is the only door to this pasture. To enter the sheepfold of His kingdom is the most important thing we can ever do in life.  Our faith is more than something that we learn the basics in Sunday school and confirmation class.  There is more than learning how it is that we are saved through faith and thinking ‘I will leave it at that.’  

Once we enter the door through our Savior we have green pastures to mature and thrive in.

When I was approaching college graduation, I was at a point in my life when I  considered my faith and my relationship with God to be quite healthy. I remember reading God’s Word at my parents house and having the thought, “What more is there to learn about my faith?”.  I felt a certain disappointment, “Now what?”

I had no idea about how faith means so much more than a mindset and knowledge. I had no idea how much I had yet to learn about living out my faith through career and family and many types of relationships.

Now I can’t imagine a time where I ever would ask “now what”, to believe that there is no growth left to occur, now potential to live up to.

Our faith can continue to develop through every season and stage in life.  The more we are conformed to Christ, the greater our joy.   

Jesus provides us in His Church green pastures in which to learn from one another, and even challenge one another.  Proverbs 27:17 declares: “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Part of the green pasture our Chief Shepherd has provided to us are faithful brothers and sisters in Christ all around us to refine our faith.  

We can grow so much more walking with brothers and sisters in Christ then we can on our own.  Sometimes we think of church as something we do with family. But even as we have family that we belong to we also have in a congregation a larger family in which to find nurture and belonging.  May the Lord of the Church shepherd us to the green pastures he has prepared from us since the beginning.  

The Resurrection Powers The Church

Posted on by nfuller

Greetings online readers!  A little over two weeks ago the church celebrated our Lord’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday. In those last 16 days I know there have been times where I have been mindful of the joy of the resurrection, and other times where I have simply been lost in my every day routines with little reflection on how the resurrection brings joy and gladness to our lives and to our earth. 

Fortunately the readings for the season of Easter keep the resurrection right in the forefront of our focus in worship.  Listen to the words of the gradual appointed for the season of Easter: “Christ has risen from the dead, God the Father has crowned Him with glory and honor, He has given him dominion over the works of his hands, he has put all things under his feet.”

This gradual reminds us how its not just that Jesus rose, once dead , now alive- but that Jesus is now crowned by the Father with the fullest of glory and honor- that Jesus now reigns over all of creation.

It is in this context that we are meant to listen to the gospel lesson of John chapter 21, what it calls the third appearance of the risen Jesus to the disciples. Jesus is appearing as He who the father has put all things under his feet.  Jesus is appearing to the disciples with a promise and hope of all things being granted to the disciples as well.

Just prior to this reading we hear about Jesus appearing to the disciples with this summary statement of the whole gospel reading: 

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

And yet now the gospel is circling back to describe one more thing.  The disciples are gathering together near the sea of Tiberius to go fishing.  It seems they are resuming a normal everyday activity of theirs, now that a certain number of days has passed since they last saw Jesus. Peter has the idea to go fishing and the disciples present agree to go with him. It’s almost like life has returned back to normal. 

They do not catch any fish that night. Sounds unusual to not catch any fish.  It almost makes you wonder if there fishing drought was caused by God’s guidance.  While they are out on the boat Jesus is on the shore and speaks to them about their fishing success. My study Bible suggests that people back then often directed fishing from the shore if they could see a school of fish that those in the boat could not see. 

They are far enough away from the shore that they can hear Jesus, but in the beginning hours of daybreak, they don’t quite see him well enough to recognize who is talking to them.  They listen to him and obey his command:   “cast the net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.”    

As I was reading this portion of scripture last week in preparation for Sunday I couldn’t help but feel curious about how necessary this reading is. Like I mentioned earlier, John’s gospel already talks about the previous appearances of Jesus as if they are the end of the story. 

And we certainly have heard about Jesus directing the disciples to a miraculous catch of fish before.  And we also have already had plenty of instances of the disciples not recognizing Jesus until he is revealed to them, at the tomb Mary mistakes the risen Jesus for the gardener until he speaks her name.  On the road to Emmaus Jesus is walking and talking to the disciples about how all of what he did fulfilled the scriptures, and they do not recognize him until the breaking of the bread.

It makes you wonder how many times would Jesus need to appear before he is recognized right away?  And after all of what Jesus did, after rising from the dead, what use is there in one more miracle? Almost seems a little anti climactic.  And why specify 153 fish, how important is that detail in relation to the fact that Jesus rose 3 days from the grave.

Yet as I looked more closely at the reading, and heard from resources within the church I began to see how this is a reading about our response to Jesus. 

Once Jesus provided them with a catch of fish that was so large that they could not pull in the net John puts two and two together that this direction about where to fish and the miraculous catch can only mean one thing: “It is the Lord!”   This was a post resurrection experience that provided the disciples with an opportunity for a response of action.  Peter’s response was to jump in the water and swim to shore faster than the burdened fishing boat could get back in. 

When they all were on the shore the disciples dared not ask if this was Jesus, but instead, as they ate breakfast with him they accepted in faith the gift of his presence with them.  

The reading specifies that the nets as burdened as they were with the large catch of fish did not tear.  It seems this was an important sign in of itself. The nets didn’t tear because they were up to the task to handle more than you would expect. Just like the disciples were now shaped and fashioned by Jesus to be fishers of men. 

We can remember the previous instance where Jesus led the disciples to catch fish, where he told them “from now on you will be fishers of men.”   The lesson is the same here.  A new level of meaning and purpose awaits the disciples now. In the verses following our reading Jesus implores Peter with the command “Feed my sheep.”  This was a resurrection appearance about action.

Biblical commentaries point out that in the ancient world there was a belief that there were 153 different varieties of fish in the sea.  Accordingly, 153 fish caught by the disciples as directed by Jesus could be understood to point to the fact that the disciples were destined to make disciples of all nations, leaving no fish in the sea unaccounted for.

The same power and authority in which Jesus directed the disciples to catch those fish would also be exercised by Jesus through the church as generation after generation has proclaimed His salvation to all nations.

Today things are no different. Just as Jesus prepared the charcoal fire and invited the disciples to contribute to the meal, and then dined with them – so also today Jesus prepares for us a meal of fellowship in which his body and blood unites us to Him through the Lord’s Supper. 

Our everyday routines are transformed into the joyful transformation of seeing life as filled with many opportunities for proclaiming the good news of the resurrection. As Christians who live by faith in the resurrection we can’t help but be excited to speak about how Jesus changes our lives.

As individuals, we are all here to live out this resurrection story. No matter how ordinary your daily life is, through faith in the resurrection of Jesus you can live in the richness of God’s kingdom each and every day.  The joy of Christ in your life can be contagious to others, evident not just through your words but through your very presence in whatever context your day brings you to.

As the church we should not overlook how fruitful with purpose Jesus makes us.  Like the disciples pulling the large net of fish, we can expect a greater harvest from the church than the world expects.   

The proclamation of the gospel has the power to change lives and change our world.  A people living in the hope of the resurrection of Jesus has this power.   May we rejoice at the presence of Jesus just as those disciples did, eating with him on the shore. May we watch for Jesus to come to us at break of day.

Just as He promised

Posted on by nfuller

“For behold, I create new heavens  and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. 18 But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness.

How markedly different these words from the Old Testament reading from Isaiah chapter 65 sound from words we listened to here on Friday.  Instead of my God, my God why have you forsaken me, we hear about a new heaven and a new earth, where the former things are not remembered.  Instead of darkness covering the whole land we hear about gladness and rejoicing forever. 

We might even say these words seem out of place. What about the betrayal and the mock trial and the scourging and the humiliation, and the complete forsakenness, darkness and death? 

Today in our culture these words seem out of place.  How can the former things not be remembered? For public figures, politicians, celebrities, and the like ‘What is written on your social media platform is written, You can’t take it back, someone will hold you accountable, fact check you or label you as public enemy for your prejudiced or misinformed views. 

In today’s world the promise of gladness and rejoicing is met with much skepticism because of the former things that have happened- wars, atrocities, emotional abuse, sexual abuse.  Wood Allen was able to generate laughs by commenting that ‘the lion will lie down with the lamb, but the lamb is not going to get a lot of sleep.’ 

There is skepticism that if things have not worked out so well in our world before, how could they work out so perfectly in the future?  How could a world that asked for Jesus to be crucified on the hill of Calvary have a predicted future where they shall not hurt or destroy in all of my holy mountain?     

There was this same spirit of skepticism about how the disciples might have motivation to fabricate a story about Jesus rising from the dead. In Matthew chapter 28 we hear: 62 The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, ‘After three days I will rise.’ 64 Therefore order the tomb to be made secure until the third day, lest his disciples go and steal him away and tell the people, ‘He has risen from the dead,’ and the last fraud will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “You have a guard of soldiers. Go, make it as secure as you can.” 66 So they went and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone and setting a guard.

No matter how skeptical, no matter how unbelieving the world can be, it cannot contain Jesus.  No matter how secure they made the tomb, no matter how many guards stood watch- the stone was rolled away because death could not hold Jesus.  Jesus did not need the guards to believe he would rise again, he did not need the disciples or anyone who followed him to believe. 

Because it is not our belief or our faith that makes Jesus alive, it is Jesus himself who death could not hold.  The Son of God begotten of his Father before all worlds, creator of all things- rose again according to the scriptures.  He rose with the Father and the Holy Spirit working alongside him.  He rose just as he promised!

He rose and lives forevermore just as was the plan all along. Where human skepticism says, it has never been like this, it’s too good to be true, God’s Word says it has always been like this, God’s love has always been this supremely good and beautiful- ever since the creation of the world.  

Our celebration of Easter is about more than just one isolated event in the life of Jesus.  If we focus only on the resurrection alone, we miss seeing the big picture of how everything about Jesus was for this purpose of winning our salvation on the cross and rising again to eternal life.

Ever since the first promise of the gospel in Genesis 3:15 God spoke to his people about the healing and the restoration of all that was lost through the Fall into sin.  The story of Job is thought to take place in the time period of the patriarchs of Genesis. The Holy Spirit spoke through Job about the New creation Jesus would bring:

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, 27 whom I shall see for myself,  and my eyes shall behold, and not another.  -Job 19:25-28   

In the book of Exodus the new creation was seen through the deliverance from bondage to Pharaoh in Egypt.  And through the institution of the Passover where the people of Israel were saved by the blood of the Passover Lamb.  This new Creation was celebrated by Moses and all of the people of Israel: “I will sing to the LORD for he has triumphed gloriously ; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God and I will praise Him, my father’s god, and I will exult him.”

Everything Jesus spoke and taught to his disciples spoke of this New Creation to come.    We hear in our gospel reading this morning from Luke that Jesus rose from the grave just as he promised.   “Why do you seek the living among the dead? 6 He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, 7 that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.” 8 And they remembered his words,9 It was indeed just as he told them.  Listen to just a fraction of the promises Jesus made to the world about his resurrection and the new creation He came to bring:

So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.  -John 8:28

 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.  -Matthew 16:21

“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 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”  -Matthew 20:18-19

Jesus spoke all along about his upcoming death on the cross and his resurrection. He came through on his word.  And so too today Jesus comes through in his word to us, as He gathers us as his church to receive his gifts of life and salvation.

It is just as Jesus told us, that we should be gathered as one body in Him receiving his boundless gifts, living our lives in a steadfast hope and promise and joy as the first fruits of His resurrection.  And so we can look at the scriptures promises from long ago and see that they are promises made to us.

When we face sadness and trials in life we can hear a Psalm like Psalm 30 in light of the new creation Jesus brings to our lives: 

   You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;   you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, that my glory may sing your praises and not be silent.

When we feel weary about the limits of our lives and the changes and chances of this world we can find in Psalm 16 a new perspective on life:

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;   at your right hand are pleasures forevermore. -Psalm 16:11

And listen to these promises made about us because Jesus has risen… these are promises of his Word, that we will see Him on the last day- yes it is so, just as he told us!

“When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory” Colossians 3:4

 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, -John 11:25

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also. -John 14:3

And it is not just on the last day, but already today that we walk in the New Creation: “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” -Romans 6:4

 Here we are Easter 2019, it is just as he told us, each congregation exists as a community of believers called together by him.  Each congregation a people of God’s own choosing set apart for great works in Him. In this season of Easter and in the months that follow, I pray for faith for all of us to see how God is calling you to be the  light of Christ for those in your neighborhood and those in your life- proclaiming the light of Christ into the darkness of doubt and skepticism.

I pray that when you doubt what difference you can make that you trust in His Word nonetheless and see the results- Just as He told us.

We all know what it is like to wonder if the failures of the past are only signs of what is to come.  When we are praying for loved ones fighting cancer, we can’t help but see how difficult life in this fallen world can be for us.  We wonder when we will be the ones others are praying for our health.  At these times we remember His promises to us, and we rest secure knowing that all things come to fulfillment in Him- Just as He told us.

Jesus is doing a new thing in your life!

Posted on by nfuller

“See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” Dear website blog reader these are words from the Old Testament Reading from Isaiah chapter 43 we heard in worship for the 5th Sunday of Lent.  In recent months (perhaps because of it being winter) I have often felt like there are not many truly new things around these days. From technology to movies, to music, to literature everything seems to be a revamping or modification of what is already around.   What is actually new?

If you haven’t heard these words from Ecclesiastes chapter one in a while, they certainly provide a sobering perspective of our limits as creatures.

1:8-9 All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing. 9 What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. 10 Is there a thing of which it is said, “See this is new”? It has been already in the ages before us….

I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind!”

I have come to appreciate this sense of self limitation as an individual especially in the last few years in my profession as a counselor.  There are some people I feel I have helped a good deal, and others I question how much I help. I see the same problems and the same struggles from one person to another. For some it is wounds from childhood, for others wounds from peers or school.   The solutions may provide relief or growth in wellness, but it is only a limited relief. There is no new way to live life where there is no longer stress, no way to live life where it is only happiness and vacation time.  Again, there is nothing new under the sun.

We try and imagine there is something new to be found. We eagerly look around the corner toward the next three day weekend or highlight event in life. But as much as we might look forward to and enjoy a three day weekend, a vacation, a day at the beach or an enjoyable social occasion- they all come and go without anything truly new occurring. 

They pass only to be replaced with the same routines of labor and toil. From the point of view of sinful man, there is no denying it, there is nothing new under the sun.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”

Through faith we perceive that there is a wonderful exception to the rule.  By the power of God’s Word you can forget everything you know about how things used to be or how things ought to work. Jesus brings us something new in a way that nobody else in today’s world or all of history could do.

Listen to the words from the parable of the wicked tenants in our gospel reading for further evidence of how new of a thing it is in this world that God sent his only son into this world to die for us.  “Then the owner of the vineyard said , What shall I do, I will send my beloved son, perhaps they will respect him. But when the tenants saw him, they said to themselves, let us kill him, so that the inheritance may be ours.’

How unbelievable that the master would send his own son into the vineyard, considering how they had treated all those who came thus far.  There was nothing new about their reaction, ‘let us kill him so that the inheritance may be ours!’  What was new was God’s unprecedented design of love for us.  “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” 

Never in all of history has it ever been the case that God himself would come down to earth and suffer on the cross for our salvation.  Never in all of human wisdom and reason has it ever been thought that salvation would all be a gift of the Lord. 

There is no mistaking that this is a gift. The tenants of the vineyard deserved only death for their actions. But instead through the love of Christ, through the love that existed from before the foundation of the world- what we meant for evil God turned to good, turned into the cornerstone of the church.

It was not new in terms of God’s planning for us. Already from the beginning, since Adam and Eve’s fall- God knew all along of this plan of salvation, and God told Adam and Eve of this promise of a Savior. But for us, it was a new thing to experience, our salvation through Jesus, the God man.  

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the dessert. The wild beasts will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches, for I give water in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my chosen people, the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”

The gift of our salvation is entirely new and unexpected, like nothing we could expect or even hope for, like a well defined path in the wilderness, like rivers springing forth in the desert.  This new thing, this salvation through Jesus is so clear that even wild beasts can see it. 

And we as the church have been joined to this new thing. Through Holy Baptism you have been made a new creation. “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold the new has come.”

Jesus brings to us this new creation.  We don’t just look back at what the Lord has done for us, but also see God as our present provider of all help.   John 4:14 “But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water I give in him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Jesus gives us life giving water throughout our lives. He brings to us in His Word and Sacrament all that we need.

Apart from faith, we do not see anything so special in Jesus that we would say, ‘here is truly a new and worthwhile thing.’  Some other religions see Jesus as merely one of many great prophets throughout history.  The historical scholar who is blinded by unbelief might convince himself that Jesus was one of many ‘miracle workers’ throughout history. 

In our own identity as Christians we may not question whether there is anything new about Jesus’ incarnation or his crucifixion and resurrection. We take this for granted that Jesus is the pivot point in all of history and the one in whom we want to put all of our trust. 

It is harder for us to see how Jesus makes all things new in our life.  We often struggle to see how because Jesus has saved us, everything, absolutely everything in our lives is new. 

As time goes by in our lives we tend to recognize what are the limits set before us.  We become all too familiar with how things tend to go for us in family relationships and friendships. We know which people push our buttons or which people we feel we disappoint.  Life becomes marked by predictable routines whereby we may feel a certain degree more isolated, alone and unfulfilled than we would have hoped for in life.  

Yet through our life in Christ, how things tend to go is the old, and the new is what Jesus leads us toward in our lives.  Through faith that Jesus makes all things new, we can approach stagnant routines with newfound purpose, courage, and hopefulness.

When we feel paths have been closed to us in life through hurts and disappointments we find in Jesus’ unconditional love and forgiveness the strength to ourselves forgive those who have let us down. Though the complete freedom of forgiveness in Christ we find a new thing in our life.

And as you are reading this sermon in faith there is by the power of God’s Word a new thing in your life.   Jesus makes you a new creation: perfectly forgiven, not stuck looking toward the past, but instead living by His provision day by day. You can look in hope for the next way in which Jesus will do a new thing in your life.   Like streams flowing forth in the desert, you can see that life in Christ is a marvelous thing. Amen. Pastor Fuller

Jesus Meets Us In A Far Country

Posted on by nfuller

Yesterday the church read in worship the Parable of the Prodigal son from Luke chapter 15 .  This brilliant parable Jesus told is perhaps one of the best illustrations in all of scripture of the gospel- God’s perfect love and forgiveness brought to us through Jesus.   There are many aspects of the parable that could be a singular focus for our spiritual growth between the younger son, the older son, and the father.  During this season of Lent I have elected to focus on the younger brother and the meaning of his journey to a far away country.     

A number of years ago a theologian named Kenneth Bailey set out on a venture to further elaborate the meaning of the parable of the prodigal son. He visited  small villages in several continents seeking to find the closest equivalent cultural parallel to the village Jesus had in mind in telling the parable of the prodigal son.

Bailey asked people of the villages he visited if they had any knowledge in their oral tradition or collective memory of anyone ever asking for their inheritance from a father.  The answer was the same everywhere he went.

Never! Unheard of! Nobody would dare ask this question of their father. Bailey asked why? To ask for an inheritance is to wish for your father to be dead.  This is the question that Jesus began the parable with. “Father give me my share of the inheritance that is coming to me.” 

Jesus was painting a picture of not just a young man hungry for adventure, but a young man who despised and rejected everything he ever received in life, including the love of his father.  A young man so self centered and selfish that he despised the very God who created him.   

It is hard to imagine a more offensive action than taken by the son in this parable to demand his inheritance ahead of time and then leave to a far away country. Leaving his family behind as if they were dead to him, never to be heard from again.

In the parable, when the younger son demands such unthinkable luxuries and considerations from his father, he is not met with resistance. Certainly we can imagine the other family members and people in the village looking down at this young man who is threatening the order of society by his selfish and destructive example.

Just picture other parents pointing him out to their children as he left town on a wagon loaded with all of the riches of his inheritance.  “Don’t ever be like this boy, look what he is doing to his family, look at how shameful he is.”  But the father lets him go freely. He does not begrudgingly give his inheritance to the young man.

This parable is very fitting for the season of Lent.  The discipline of Lent is recognizing by the correction of God’s Word the depths and extent to which we have departed to a far away country in our lives, and seeing that the Father is waiting for our return with an open embrace.

We are allowed to go by our Heavenly Father. When we make bad choices there are no lightning bolts or signs from the heavens trying to turn us back. Our heavenly Father lets us go in love, trusting that we will come back more able to understand and receive His love than ever before.

This departure could be as simple as losing touch with reading God’s Word in your daily life. Perhaps you experience being in the far away land when you struggle with contentment and live in a land of coveting material possessions and worldly markers of distinction and honor. Perhaps at other times a faraway land is arrived at through strife and conflict with others in your life, quarrelling and arguing to get your own way, as you give a little more allowance to your pride than at another time.

Henri Nouwen in writing about the parable of the prodigal son makes the distinction between the needs we have for family and friends and a home, and the needs we have for knowing the one true God personally.  In this way we can be in a far country even when we are right at home, whenever we are preoccupied with the comforts of home and family without a connection with Jesus. 

In another context in the book of Genesis, Abraham was asked to leave his people and travel to a far away land.  “Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to  the land that I will show you, and I will make of you a great nation, I will bless you and make your name great so that you will be a blessing.’   For Abram a far away country was not leaving God, but leaving the idolatry of his homeland and family.  Abram was called by God to leave.

In the parable of the Prodigal son, the younger son left to a far away  country to escape living according to the moral order of his homeland. He was not called by God to leave, he summoned within himself the mandate and purpose to leave.  He was running away from God by running away from family.  

For us running away from God could mean staying with the values of family and home- in the case where home is characterized by the idolatry of economic prosperity, happiness above faithfulness, or family pride above justice. 

Jesus comes to us in the far away land that we dwell in and brings us back to him.  Jesus is able to bring us back because he journeyed out of love for us to the far away country of betrayal, arrest, scourging, and crucifixion.  As he took on the sin of the whole world Jesus was forsaken and separated from God- a rift in the very essence of the Trinity. 

By his resurrection Jesus was restored back home within the community of the Trinity and Jesus brought us home again.  He brought us home from the long exile that we chose for ourselves beginning with the Fall into sin. Where Adam and Eve were exiled from the paradise of Eden, Jesus has opened the door of eternity to us.

And though we were away in a far country for so long, the Father was waiting for us all along:  Quick prepare a robe for him and kill the fattened calf, for this my son of mine who was dead is alive, he was lost and now is found.  In the parable the son was given a ring on his finger, with the family seal. Showing that he is just as much a part of the family now as ever before- as if he never had left.  The fattened calf was kept waiting all along- suggesting that the father never gave up and was preparing for his son’s return.

Even in the far away country we can never be truly separated from God.  We cannot imagine what it would be to be completely separated from God in this life- for that would be the suffering of hell.  Instead Jesus is with us throughout our life, so that no matter how alone we feel we may know that we are not alone.   When you feel God is far away, when the chances and changes of this life make you feel alone, May you know that God is with you even when we are not aware of it. May you know that Jesus has paid it all so that we would never be alone- so that we would rest securely in his family the church.  Amen.