Grace, mercy, and peace be with you all, from God, our heavenly Father, and Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen. The text for our consideration is the Gospel reading from St. John. May the Holy Spirit bless us to be patient . . . as we wait just a little while longer . . . for the coming of Jesus Christ.
It was Spring of 1993. I was working on a final paper for one of my classes at Seminary. The paper was worth at least 1/3 of my grade. My five year old son, Doug, came up to me and wanted me to do something with him. I told him, “Not right now, son. I have a paper to write. But I’ll be able to do something in just a little while.”
Not more than two minutes later, Doug came up to me to ask again for my time and attention. I said a bit more firmly, “Not now, son. I have to get this paper done. And it’s going to take more than just a few minutes.” Maybe about 5 minutes later, Doug came up one last time. This time I lost it. Stress from approaching finals, stress from having procrastinated on the paper, and my own sinful weaknesses thrown into the mix . . . and I yelled at my son. I told him how I had already told him . . . and asked him if he hadn’t listened to what I was saying. As I yelled, the tears started rolling down his cheeks . . . and I was justly humbled and convicted of my sinful failings at being a father.
I learned something from that situation, though. I learned that the definition of “just a little while” in a person’s mind varies. To an adult, a little while might be anywhere from a half an hour to maybe an hour or a little more. To a small child, anything over 5 minutes seems like a long time. Or, when a family is going on a vacation . . . mom and dad may say, “Oh my, we will be leaving in less than a month!,” while the children say, “It’s more than three weeks before we leave!”
In the Word of God before us, this morning, Jesus tells His disciples that He is going to be leaving them. He tells them that, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” The disciples are confused. Jesus says His disciples will mourn while the world rejoices. The disciples don’t understand. Among themselves the disciples asked, “What does He mean by ‘a little while’?”
There is still some theological debate regarding the answer to this question. For it could mean a couple of things. Certainly, the next day the disciples would see Jesus die. His body would be laid in a tomb. The corrupt religious leaders and the evil world would rejoice at His crucifixion; the disciples would grieve . . . deeply. Yet, on the third day they would see the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ . . . and they would rejoice . . . filled with the joy of seeing Jesus alive again . . . filled with the hope of life after death for themselves as well.
But was Jesus simply talking about the time between Good Friday and Easter morning? Or was Jesus talking about a longer “just a little while.” Two different things move me to believe that Jesus was talking about a much longer, “just a little while.” First of all, the Words that our Lord Jesus spoke prior to our text, He spoke of sending the Counselor, that is, the Holy Spirit, because Jesus was going to the Father. And the outpouring of the Holy Spirit did not happen on Easter, but 50 days later on the Day of Pentecost. Jesus taught that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, would guide God’s people into all truth. The sending of the Holy Spirit was a part of God’s plan precisely because Jesus was going to return to the Father. Thus, this “little while” had to be more than just the three days.
Secondly, and just as important, if Jesus was only speaking of the three days, His Words would have no application to us. Without a doubt, these words of our Lord have a huge message for us, God’s people living nearly 2000 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection. So, when Jesus says, “In a little while you will see me no more, and then after a little while you will see me.” The little while must include all the time between Jesus’ first coming and His second coming. You and I, we are still living in that “little while” before Jesus returns in glory.
Now you might say, “but clearly, over 2000 years is not a little while.” However, I would remind you of my opening illustration regarding time when you are a child and time when you are an adult. It’s vastly different. So, what about when you are an eternal being, with no beginning or end?? What’s two thousand years to God??? A couple of days . . . just a little while. The apostle Peter proclaims this very thing in his second epistle:
But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Jesus said that during this “little while,” that the world would rejoice at the very same time God’s people would be grieving. This remains true in our own generation. The world rejoices in immoral lifestyles; God’s people grieve. The world rejoices in greed and selfishness; God’s people mourn. The world rejoices in the freedom to choose to end a pregnancy; God’s people mourn the destruction of the unborn. The world actually rejoices in sinful deeds and sinful attitudes; God’s people grieve over sin . . . the world’s sin . . . and even their own.
And I’ll tell you something that grieves me to the depths of my heart and soul: young people falling away from Jesus Christ. A recent survey done by a Christian research firm reveals some startling statistics. The survey was given to 18-29 year olds; here are some of the statistics. 65% said they rarely or never pray with others. Almost 40% said they never pray at all. 65% said they rarely or never attend worship services; 67% said they don’t read the Bible at all. A full 50% said they don’t think that Jesus is the only way to God. And of those surveyed who do believe in Jesus, only 17% read their Bible daily. In another study, 70% of Christians who attended regularly growing up, quit attending church altogether in their mid-20’s.
Jesus said that our grief would turn to joy. It’s hard to be joyful faced with the spiritual challenges of living in this world and the spiritual apathy among so many of God’s people. Where is joy to be found. Jesus said that grief would be turned to joy . . . when His disciples saw Him. The grief of Jesus’ death on the cross was turned to joy when the first disciples literally saw Jesus resurrected from the dead. Joy still comes . . . only as we see Jesus . . . in His Word and in His sacraments. And spiritual resurrection still takes place in the lives of people in our generation. One reason to rejoice is that the Lord is patient. That’s why He hasn’t returned yet. There is still a “little while” left in Jesus’ “just a little while” statement. There is hope for those who have fallen away . . . to be restored to Christian fellowship.
If you know a loved one that has fallen away, write them a letter, tell them how much you love them . . . and tell them that trusting in Jesus is the only hope for this sinful world. If you know someone who has quit coming to church, invite them back . . . offer to pick them up on Sunday morning . . . share with them the joy of God’s grace, mercy, and forgiveness. There is a whole world out there . . . going to hell in a hand-basket. Share with them the hope you have even in the midst of a troubled world. Let them know that Jesus came to save them . . . and that He’s coming again.
For the joy we have in our hearts is the joy of knowing that Jesus died and rose again . . . and that He’s coming again, just as He promised. And the day WE get to see HIM face to face, we will experience a joy that will be undiminished and unending. Unending joy . . . or as Jesus said, “. . . no one will take away your joy.” As John heard in the Revelation:
And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true."
That’s all going to be ours . . . “in just a little while.” As we patiently wait for that grand day of resurrection . . . and the joys and glories that follow, let’s share our hope with others . . . because we only have . . . a little while left. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Pastor B
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Made One in Christ (John 17:20-26)
Anyone who has ever played or watched sports knows that there is more to a successful team than talent. Now, obviously talent is important. I mean, no matter how hard they try, a team of high school kids isn’t going to a game against any major league baseball team. Though, with the way my White Sox have played this year, they might not want to risk it. But when you have a number of teams all comprised of people more skilled at what they do than over 99% of the population, the team with the most talent doesn’t always win. This fact is what allows sports movies to keep getting made. From The Longest Yard to Major League to Hoosiers, the halls of sports cinema are full of films about scrappy underdogs defeating bigger, faster, stronger, more talented opponents.
In most of these movies, an initial lack of talent and cohesiveness is overcome through the course of a long season. Usually, some big event serves as the turning point for their season, after which the team gels into a tight-knit, fun-loving group who learn to play together and maximize their respective skills. In the end, it’s the unity and all-for-one and one-for-all mentality that helps them win the day. Rick Vaughan comes out of the bullpen to strike out Clue Haywood. Paul Crewe decides he doesn’t care what the dishonest warden threatens to do to him. Jimmy Chitwood hits the shot that wins the state title for tiny Hickory High.
What rarely gets shown though, is what happens next. Few sports movies get sequels. There’s a reason for that. There’s a saying in sports that winning the first championship is easy; it’s the second one that’s hard. After winning for the first time, many teams experience a “post-championship lull.” What happens is that after winning a title or championship, many players and coaches begin to take their success for granted. They start to buy into their press clippings. They get caught up in the accolades and fame, and focus on themselves rather than the team. The chemistry, the unity that was there the year before disappears. Sometimes it can be recaptured. Often, it can’t.
It seems so obviously self-defeating. From the outside, as a fan, it’s easy to criticize. It’s easy to question how they could forget about what worked the year before so quickly and so easily. It’s so easy to think that you wouldn’t fall into the same trap if you were in their shoes.
Problem is, everyone says that. No politician promises that if you elect him, he’ll go to Washington and be as divisive and partisan as he can possibly be. Nobody tells a new girlfriend or boyfriend that they’re going to put their own wants and desires above the other persons. No one tells the person interviewing them for a new job that they’re going to back-stab and scheme their way to the interviewer’s position.
Everyone says that they want unity. Everyone says they want harmony. Everyone says they want to be a part of the team. And yet the workplace is full of resentment. The republicans and democrats in congress always seem more intent on deriding the other party’s plans than working together to find the best solutions. Families feud and rotate between hurling insults at each other and not speaking at all. Even the church of God is split into numerous denominations, to say nothing of the divisions within individual congregations.
In thermodynamics, scientists study and deal with the concept of entropy. Simplified down to the point that I can understand it, the idea behind entropy is that when left to itself, anything will decay into disorder. To see entropy in action, look at my desk a couple days after I clean it. Or your child’s room a couple hours after their last toy has been put away.
Intellectually, everyone wants unity. In our heads we know it makes sense. We know it makes life easier. We know it makes life happier. And yet we can’t help ourselves. Because of our sinful natures, because we live in a broken and sinful world…discord reigns. As much as we want unity, we can’t help ourselves. We get selfish. We put our own desires first. We put our own careers first. We resent others who are more popular or more successful. We want what they have. While we want unity and team-work, we end up with division and resentment.
All of this makes Jesus’ prayer here at the end of John 17 all the more imposing. In our gospel reading for this morning, we find ourselves again in the upper room on the night of the Last Supper. Chapter 17 of John is commonly known as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. In the course of it, he prayed for himself, he prayed for the 12, and he prayed for those who would know him through them. That is, he prayed for us. And his prayer for those of us who would call on and believe in his name is that we might be united as he and the Father are united.
Think about that means. Jesus’ prayer is that we, flawed and sinful as we are, might be as united as he and his Father. The Father and the Son have been united since the before the beginning of time. Jesus himself says in verse 24, “You loved me since before the creation of the world.” Not only did the Father and the Son love one another, but as we confess in the Nicene Creed, they were and are of the same substance. Meaning, both are equally true God, the first two persons of the Trinity. Two distinct persons, yet one God. The level to which the Father and the Son are one, are united, goes beyond what our human minds can fully comprehend. And yet it is that level of unity that Jesus prays his followers might have.
It seems impossible. As mentioned, you probably don’t have to look far to find signs of division in your life. Even in happy, loving relationships the level of unity and oneness pales in comparison to that of the Father and the Son. And no constructs we might create, no rules we might put in place are capable of creating that level of unity.
Thankfully, we are not expected to create this unity on our own. Instead, it has already been given to us. Jesus says in verse 22, “the glory that you have given to me I have given to the, that they may be one even as we are one.” The glory that Jesus has given to us was himself. Though it didn’t look like it to the world, Christ’s glory was fulfilled and our glory was won as he hung on the cross and died. And this glory which was won through his death and resurrection has been made sure for us through the waters of Holy Baptism. Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
Because the Son is one with the Father, and because the Son has made himself one with us through the shedding of his body and blood, we have been united both to the Father and to one another. By the grace of God the whole church of God is united through Christ and His Word. As Ephesians 4 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” What Christ won through his death and resurrection was won for all believers throughout all ages.
Jesus’ desire and prayer was that his people would be united in all times, and in all places. But because of sin, that unity is not always evident. We have been given the Word of God to be the one truth around our lives and faith our built. It has been given to us to be the one truth by which the church is united and God is glorified, and yet many alter or reject it in order to suit their own desires. Of these people Paul writes in Romans, “"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised." And in 2 Timothy he writes that “the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
So what are we to do when we see these false teachings make their way into the church? Paul’s instruction to Timothy, to other pastors, and to other believers in the church is “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
We in our lives and in our church must seek to not “agree to disagree”, but rather to always speak the truth in love. We must always seek to remain firm and trust in the saving power and grace of God, and pray that His will be done.
When we see division in our lives, when we see division in God’s church, our response should always be to return to God’s Word. To pray to God that he may continue to dwell in us and make his love known to us. To pray that we might have and see the unity that he desires for us. When we fail to live with the unity that Christ desires, we fall at the feet of the one who saves us, thankful that God’s grace and truth are bigger and more powerful than our imperfections. And we look forward to the day that Christ returns, when our unity with one another and with our heavenly Father will be made complete. Amen.
In most of these movies, an initial lack of talent and cohesiveness is overcome through the course of a long season. Usually, some big event serves as the turning point for their season, after which the team gels into a tight-knit, fun-loving group who learn to play together and maximize their respective skills. In the end, it’s the unity and all-for-one and one-for-all mentality that helps them win the day. Rick Vaughan comes out of the bullpen to strike out Clue Haywood. Paul Crewe decides he doesn’t care what the dishonest warden threatens to do to him. Jimmy Chitwood hits the shot that wins the state title for tiny Hickory High.
What rarely gets shown though, is what happens next. Few sports movies get sequels. There’s a reason for that. There’s a saying in sports that winning the first championship is easy; it’s the second one that’s hard. After winning for the first time, many teams experience a “post-championship lull.” What happens is that after winning a title or championship, many players and coaches begin to take their success for granted. They start to buy into their press clippings. They get caught up in the accolades and fame, and focus on themselves rather than the team. The chemistry, the unity that was there the year before disappears. Sometimes it can be recaptured. Often, it can’t.
It seems so obviously self-defeating. From the outside, as a fan, it’s easy to criticize. It’s easy to question how they could forget about what worked the year before so quickly and so easily. It’s so easy to think that you wouldn’t fall into the same trap if you were in their shoes.
Problem is, everyone says that. No politician promises that if you elect him, he’ll go to Washington and be as divisive and partisan as he can possibly be. Nobody tells a new girlfriend or boyfriend that they’re going to put their own wants and desires above the other persons. No one tells the person interviewing them for a new job that they’re going to back-stab and scheme their way to the interviewer’s position.
Everyone says that they want unity. Everyone says they want harmony. Everyone says they want to be a part of the team. And yet the workplace is full of resentment. The republicans and democrats in congress always seem more intent on deriding the other party’s plans than working together to find the best solutions. Families feud and rotate between hurling insults at each other and not speaking at all. Even the church of God is split into numerous denominations, to say nothing of the divisions within individual congregations.
In thermodynamics, scientists study and deal with the concept of entropy. Simplified down to the point that I can understand it, the idea behind entropy is that when left to itself, anything will decay into disorder. To see entropy in action, look at my desk a couple days after I clean it. Or your child’s room a couple hours after their last toy has been put away.
Intellectually, everyone wants unity. In our heads we know it makes sense. We know it makes life easier. We know it makes life happier. And yet we can’t help ourselves. Because of our sinful natures, because we live in a broken and sinful world…discord reigns. As much as we want unity, we can’t help ourselves. We get selfish. We put our own desires first. We put our own careers first. We resent others who are more popular or more successful. We want what they have. While we want unity and team-work, we end up with division and resentment.
All of this makes Jesus’ prayer here at the end of John 17 all the more imposing. In our gospel reading for this morning, we find ourselves again in the upper room on the night of the Last Supper. Chapter 17 of John is commonly known as Jesus’ High Priestly prayer. In the course of it, he prayed for himself, he prayed for the 12, and he prayed for those who would know him through them. That is, he prayed for us. And his prayer for those of us who would call on and believe in his name is that we might be united as he and the Father are united.
Think about that means. Jesus’ prayer is that we, flawed and sinful as we are, might be as united as he and his Father. The Father and the Son have been united since the before the beginning of time. Jesus himself says in verse 24, “You loved me since before the creation of the world.” Not only did the Father and the Son love one another, but as we confess in the Nicene Creed, they were and are of the same substance. Meaning, both are equally true God, the first two persons of the Trinity. Two distinct persons, yet one God. The level to which the Father and the Son are one, are united, goes beyond what our human minds can fully comprehend. And yet it is that level of unity that Jesus prays his followers might have.
It seems impossible. As mentioned, you probably don’t have to look far to find signs of division in your life. Even in happy, loving relationships the level of unity and oneness pales in comparison to that of the Father and the Son. And no constructs we might create, no rules we might put in place are capable of creating that level of unity.
Thankfully, we are not expected to create this unity on our own. Instead, it has already been given to us. Jesus says in verse 22, “the glory that you have given to me I have given to the, that they may be one even as we are one.” The glory that Jesus has given to us was himself. Though it didn’t look like it to the world, Christ’s glory was fulfilled and our glory was won as he hung on the cross and died. And this glory which was won through his death and resurrection has been made sure for us through the waters of Holy Baptism. Paul writes in Romans chapter 6, “Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.”
Because the Son is one with the Father, and because the Son has made himself one with us through the shedding of his body and blood, we have been united both to the Father and to one another. By the grace of God the whole church of God is united through Christ and His Word. As Ephesians 4 says, “There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to one hope when you were called— one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” What Christ won through his death and resurrection was won for all believers throughout all ages.
Jesus’ desire and prayer was that his people would be united in all times, and in all places. But because of sin, that unity is not always evident. We have been given the Word of God to be the one truth around our lives and faith our built. It has been given to us to be the one truth by which the church is united and God is glorified, and yet many alter or reject it in order to suit their own desires. Of these people Paul writes in Romans, “"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised." And in 2 Timothy he writes that “the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.”
So what are we to do when we see these false teachings make their way into the church? Paul’s instruction to Timothy, to other pastors, and to other believers in the church is “devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to preaching and to teaching. Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.”
We in our lives and in our church must seek to not “agree to disagree”, but rather to always speak the truth in love. We must always seek to remain firm and trust in the saving power and grace of God, and pray that His will be done.
When we see division in our lives, when we see division in God’s church, our response should always be to return to God’s Word. To pray to God that he may continue to dwell in us and make his love known to us. To pray that we might have and see the unity that he desires for us. When we fail to live with the unity that Christ desires, we fall at the feet of the one who saves us, thankful that God’s grace and truth are bigger and more powerful than our imperfections. And we look forward to the day that Christ returns, when our unity with one another and with our heavenly Father will be made complete. Amen.
The Best is Yet to Come (John 16:23-33)
There’s a story about a young boxer from Oklahoma who moved to Chicago to train. He arrived in the big city with nothing but optimism and a suitcase under each arm. Upon departing the bus, he put down his suitcases, stared up at the Sears Tower and said to himself “I am going to conquer Chicago.” When he looked back down, his suitcases were gone. I imagine we’ve all had days like that. Days or weeks were it felt like nothing goes your way. Feeling like everything was stacked against you. Those times that it feels like no matter what you do, it’s wrong. That whatever you do, you just can’t win.
I imagine that’s how the Cumberland College Bulldogs felt one October day back in 1916. Cumberland was a small Presbyterian college in Tennessee. Though they fielded a strong baseball team, the school had decided to disband the football team prior to the 1916 season. There was one small problem, however. Back when they had a team, a game had been scheduled against Georgia Tech, a team coached by John Heisman.
When Cumberland asked about cancelling the game, it was made clear to them that this was not an option. Perhaps partly as payback for Cumberland having defeated Georgia Tech 22-0 in baseball earlier that year, the Bulldogs were told that cancelling the game would require full payment of the terms agreed to when the game was scheduled. That is, it would cost Cumberland $3,000; about $60,000 in today’s prices.
So, with few options remaining, Cumberland scraped together a 14-man team and headed to Atlanta to take on their powerful foes. Were this a Disney movie, the scrappy underdogs would have fought bravely before ultimately succumbing in the end.
However, this was no Disney movie. Georgia Tech started scoring early, and didn’t stop until the clock struck zero and the scoreboard read 222-0.
Have you ever had a day like that? A day where you try and try, where you push yourself to do the best you can, for no apparent reason? Maybe you’ve had one of those days where days, weeks, or even years of work seemingly disappear in the blink of an eye. Maybe you know what it’s like to suddenly be rendered numb and speechless by a phone call bearing bad news. Perhaps you’ve found yourself weeping over the sudden loss of a loved one.
Horatio Spafford knew all about those days. In 1871 Spafford was a successful lawyer in the city of Chicago. Early that year, his only son died. Later that fall, the Chicago Fire tore through his city, burned its way through his building, and left him near financial ruin. Two years later, he planned to take a holiday with his wife and four daughters to England. When business issues came up that looked to delay their departure, he sent his family ahead of him, planning to meet up with them a couple weeks later. However, while crossing the Atlantic, the boat they were on was struck by another vessel and sank. His wife survived, but all four of his daughters were lost to the sea.
When Spafford was able to set out and join his wife in England, his ship passed over the place his children had lost their lives. In the midst of his heartbreak, he went to his cabin, and wrote these words… “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.” The words that Horatio Spafford wrote in the midst of profound heartache has since gone on to become a dearly beloved hymn sung by others during their own times of grief and mourning.
There are some churches, some pastors out there who will tell you that God wants you to have your best life now. That if you believe in God, good things are going to happen in your life. That being a Christian, that being a child of the heavenly Father means you are going to be blessed with a better job, better behaved kids, a bigger house, and a newer truck. The bad times, it is implied, are the result of a not fully realized trust or faith.
If that’s true, what then do we make of the apostle Paul? In 2nd Corinthians, Paul runs through the list of the trials and hardships he had faced up that point. Just a sampling of his list says, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.” Paul knew trial and hardship. Was it because his faith wasn’t strong enough?
What about Jesus himself? Who was ever more faithful than Jesus? Who deserved a life of comfort and peace more than him? And yet look what he endured. Three years of religious leaders trying to trap him in his words. No bed to call his own. Disciples who would deny even knowing him. Being beaten and mocked. Having nails hammered through his hands and feet, killed for sins he never committed.
Our Savior was intimately familiar with the truth that life is hard. That things aren’t always fair. And it’s going to continue to be that way. At least for a while. Jesus knew this, and told his followers to be prepared to face pressure and persecution. Sin prevails upon us every day, and in every way.
St. Peter writes, “Satan prowls like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour.” The evil one comes at us however he can. He wants us to be completely overwhelmed by our times of struggle. He wants us to feel overburdened. He wants us to wallow in the darkness of despair. He wants us to lose hope. He wants us to feel abandoned and alone. He operated this way in Jesus’ time, and he works that way today. And left on our own in a sinful world, he would break us. We would have no hope.
But the good news we have been given is that we aren’t alone, and we aren’t without a sure hope. The last verse of our reading for today quotes Jesus as saying “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Christ spoke these words to his disciples in the upper room a few short hours before he was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Pharisees.
He knew what was coming, both for him and for his disciples. He knew they were going to be tested in the coming hours and days, and he knew they were going to fail. But his message to them was to take heart. That he was bigger than their trials. That he was bigger than the forces that sought to kill him. That he was bigger than death, bigger than the world. He was in control.
The reason that Horatio Spafford was able to write those words, the reason that we can hope to find peace in the midst of the chaos and tribulations of our own is because of the one to whom we look for comfort. We find peace not in the things of the world, but in Christ. Christ, who took the sins of the world upon himself. Even more, who took the punishment for those sins upon himself. So that we might have peace, he faced the full wrath of God. So that we might live with the hope of life in God’s eternal kingdom, the Son was abandoned and forsaken by the Father. By his wounds, you have been healed.
In our lives, we will face hardship. But in our trials, we are not facing the punishment of God. Jesus has forever removed from us the divine wrath. Instead, we are simply experiencing the effects of living in a sinful, imperfect world. A world in which pain , death, and struggle still exist as it waits for Christ to return again. But all things, we are assured, work out for our good. Every sorrow is used by God to benefit us. These sorrows though cannot compare to the glory that is to be revealed in Christ.
When we feel do feel beaten down by the world, Christ promises to carry us through. He tells us to remember and rejoice in knowing that he has already overcome the world. In our day to day dealings in the world, we might not always feel his presence. We might not immediately feel any less tired or beaten down. So you might wonder what that leaves us with. What we are left with is hope. We are given hope in the knowledge of Christ’s ultimate victory over death and the devil. We are given the hope that comes from knowing that even the good times in this life don’t hold a candle to what is to come.
This isn’t the hope that your request for vacation time gets accepted. This isn’t the hope that your husband remembered to stop at the store and get milk, or to put gas in the car before the price went up again. This isn’t even a hope that we do. It’s a hope that we have been given. It’s an object we can hold on to, not a feeling that may fade away. This is a hope that can only be given to us by the one who makes us and calls us his own. It’s a hope that comes from the one person who has never failed to deliver on a promise. A hope in the promise that when we feel weary, he takes our burdens off of our shoulders and takes them upon his own. A hope in the promise of eternal salvation, and in the promise of eternal peace before the throne of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
I imagine that’s how the Cumberland College Bulldogs felt one October day back in 1916. Cumberland was a small Presbyterian college in Tennessee. Though they fielded a strong baseball team, the school had decided to disband the football team prior to the 1916 season. There was one small problem, however. Back when they had a team, a game had been scheduled against Georgia Tech, a team coached by John Heisman.
When Cumberland asked about cancelling the game, it was made clear to them that this was not an option. Perhaps partly as payback for Cumberland having defeated Georgia Tech 22-0 in baseball earlier that year, the Bulldogs were told that cancelling the game would require full payment of the terms agreed to when the game was scheduled. That is, it would cost Cumberland $3,000; about $60,000 in today’s prices.
So, with few options remaining, Cumberland scraped together a 14-man team and headed to Atlanta to take on their powerful foes. Were this a Disney movie, the scrappy underdogs would have fought bravely before ultimately succumbing in the end.
However, this was no Disney movie. Georgia Tech started scoring early, and didn’t stop until the clock struck zero and the scoreboard read 222-0.
Have you ever had a day like that? A day where you try and try, where you push yourself to do the best you can, for no apparent reason? Maybe you’ve had one of those days where days, weeks, or even years of work seemingly disappear in the blink of an eye. Maybe you know what it’s like to suddenly be rendered numb and speechless by a phone call bearing bad news. Perhaps you’ve found yourself weeping over the sudden loss of a loved one.
Horatio Spafford knew all about those days. In 1871 Spafford was a successful lawyer in the city of Chicago. Early that year, his only son died. Later that fall, the Chicago Fire tore through his city, burned its way through his building, and left him near financial ruin. Two years later, he planned to take a holiday with his wife and four daughters to England. When business issues came up that looked to delay their departure, he sent his family ahead of him, planning to meet up with them a couple weeks later. However, while crossing the Atlantic, the boat they were on was struck by another vessel and sank. His wife survived, but all four of his daughters were lost to the sea.
When Spafford was able to set out and join his wife in England, his ship passed over the place his children had lost their lives. In the midst of his heartbreak, he went to his cabin, and wrote these words… “When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll; Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, It is well, it is well, with my soul.” The words that Horatio Spafford wrote in the midst of profound heartache has since gone on to become a dearly beloved hymn sung by others during their own times of grief and mourning.
There are some churches, some pastors out there who will tell you that God wants you to have your best life now. That if you believe in God, good things are going to happen in your life. That being a Christian, that being a child of the heavenly Father means you are going to be blessed with a better job, better behaved kids, a bigger house, and a newer truck. The bad times, it is implied, are the result of a not fully realized trust or faith.
If that’s true, what then do we make of the apostle Paul? In 2nd Corinthians, Paul runs through the list of the trials and hardships he had faced up that point. Just a sampling of his list says, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move.” Paul knew trial and hardship. Was it because his faith wasn’t strong enough?
What about Jesus himself? Who was ever more faithful than Jesus? Who deserved a life of comfort and peace more than him? And yet look what he endured. Three years of religious leaders trying to trap him in his words. No bed to call his own. Disciples who would deny even knowing him. Being beaten and mocked. Having nails hammered through his hands and feet, killed for sins he never committed.
Our Savior was intimately familiar with the truth that life is hard. That things aren’t always fair. And it’s going to continue to be that way. At least for a while. Jesus knew this, and told his followers to be prepared to face pressure and persecution. Sin prevails upon us every day, and in every way.
St. Peter writes, “Satan prowls like a roaring lion, seeking whom he will devour.” The evil one comes at us however he can. He wants us to be completely overwhelmed by our times of struggle. He wants us to feel overburdened. He wants us to wallow in the darkness of despair. He wants us to lose hope. He wants us to feel abandoned and alone. He operated this way in Jesus’ time, and he works that way today. And left on our own in a sinful world, he would break us. We would have no hope.
But the good news we have been given is that we aren’t alone, and we aren’t without a sure hope. The last verse of our reading for today quotes Jesus as saying “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” Christ spoke these words to his disciples in the upper room a few short hours before he was betrayed by Judas into the hands of the Pharisees.
He knew what was coming, both for him and for his disciples. He knew they were going to be tested in the coming hours and days, and he knew they were going to fail. But his message to them was to take heart. That he was bigger than their trials. That he was bigger than the forces that sought to kill him. That he was bigger than death, bigger than the world. He was in control.
The reason that Horatio Spafford was able to write those words, the reason that we can hope to find peace in the midst of the chaos and tribulations of our own is because of the one to whom we look for comfort. We find peace not in the things of the world, but in Christ. Christ, who took the sins of the world upon himself. Even more, who took the punishment for those sins upon himself. So that we might have peace, he faced the full wrath of God. So that we might live with the hope of life in God’s eternal kingdom, the Son was abandoned and forsaken by the Father. By his wounds, you have been healed.
In our lives, we will face hardship. But in our trials, we are not facing the punishment of God. Jesus has forever removed from us the divine wrath. Instead, we are simply experiencing the effects of living in a sinful, imperfect world. A world in which pain , death, and struggle still exist as it waits for Christ to return again. But all things, we are assured, work out for our good. Every sorrow is used by God to benefit us. These sorrows though cannot compare to the glory that is to be revealed in Christ.
When we feel do feel beaten down by the world, Christ promises to carry us through. He tells us to remember and rejoice in knowing that he has already overcome the world. In our day to day dealings in the world, we might not always feel his presence. We might not immediately feel any less tired or beaten down. So you might wonder what that leaves us with. What we are left with is hope. We are given hope in the knowledge of Christ’s ultimate victory over death and the devil. We are given the hope that comes from knowing that even the good times in this life don’t hold a candle to what is to come.
This isn’t the hope that your request for vacation time gets accepted. This isn’t the hope that your husband remembered to stop at the store and get milk, or to put gas in the car before the price went up again. This isn’t even a hope that we do. It’s a hope that we have been given. It’s an object we can hold on to, not a feeling that may fade away. This is a hope that can only be given to us by the one who makes us and calls us his own. It’s a hope that comes from the one person who has never failed to deliver on a promise. A hope in the promise that when we feel weary, he takes our burdens off of our shoulders and takes them upon his own. A hope in the promise of eternal salvation, and in the promise of eternal peace before the throne of our Lord Jesus. Amen.
Instruments of God (Acts 9:1-22)
One thing you quickly learn when you get to the seminary is that would-be pastors come in all shapes and sizes. A lot of guys are in their early 20’s, straight out of college, with degrees that run the liberal and fine arts gamut. And then you have the 2nd career guys. Guys who have spent years, sometimes even decades in the workforce who have now decided to once again become full-time students. Teachers, mechanics, army captains, policemen, undertakers, college administrators. All successful in their previous fields, many with wives and children, all now sitting next to you in class, taking notes and writing papers.
As varied as the background of pastors and future pastors might be, as unexpected as some of their entries into the ministry might be, I doubt that any of them can hold a candle to Saul of Tarsus. We’re first introduced to Saul during the martyrdom of Stephen, guarding the clothes of those hurling the stones, approving of their actions. We know that Paul was a Pharisee. By his own definition “Pharisee of the Pharisees.” His zeal and adherence to the Law were without question. Though a Jew, he was also a citizen of Rome. He was well educated. And above all, he sought to destroy the growing group of people who followed and believed in the man known as Jesus of Nazareth.
Saul was in the Christian-hunting business, and business was good. In Acts 8:3 we read these words, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” And then, at the beginning of our reading for today we’re told, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”
Saul was not someone you would ever expect to meet on a seminary campus. Not as a student, anyway. And yet, God chose this man to be His chosen instrument. To be the evangelist to the Gentiles. To be the author of 13 books of the New Testament. To arguably be the most prolific and important witness to Jesus Christ that the world has ever known.
But why? Of all people, why Saul? Why would God even let this man continue to live, never mind be His servant? Certainly from a human perspective it was a choice that makes less than zero sense. If faced with making the decision to choose someone to be a missionary to the nations, most people would go with the well-trained, passionate Christian. At the very least they’d choose someone who wasn’t actively seeking to kill those who believed in the very message the person was going to be sent to proclaim. And if Saul had been required to apply to the seminary before being sent out, he never would have made it. Putting “Christian-hunter” as his previous occupation would have had his application tossed in the trash in no-time flat. Why would God choose him?
Of course, before we can answer that question, there’s another question that needs to be asked. Why would God choose us? After all, each of was born sinful. Each of us was born an enemy of God. This truth is highlighted for us in Romans 5. I’m going to highlight a few relevant snippets, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--...For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,...The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation,....For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man,...Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men.”
All of us were sinful. All of us are guilty of sinning each and every day. Perhaps we aren’t guilty of the same sins as Saul, but we are equally as guilty. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” And of course the punishment for breaking God’s Law is death. So whether we want to admit it or not, we’re really no better, no more deserving of being chosen and used by God than Saul.
So as Paul traveled along the road on his way to Damascus, he did so blind to the truth of Jesus Christ. But as he traveled he was brought to his knees as he was surrounded by light and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul had a very natural response. “But Lord, who are you?” Imagine the shock, the dread that must have seized him when he heard the response. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” When he got up he discovered he was blind, this time literally. And for three days he was alone with his thoughts, not even eating as he considered what had happened to him, and what he had been told.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had an experience anything close to what Saul had on the Damascus road. Rather, I should say that I’ve never had an experience as dramatic as what Paul had, because at its root level, I have had a similar experience. And so have you. As many of you likely were, I didn’t have much say in the matter as I was brought to the baptismal fount. In fact, some of us might have been quite vocally against it, crying and screaming over the pastor’s words, wailing as cold water was suddenly poured over our heads. When you get right down to it, this is essentially the same thing that happened to Saul.
Saul wasn’t ready for the role God in mind for him. He was quite content doing what he was doing. He was happy going along, blind to his sin and need for forgiveness. When Jesus spoke, he didn’t give Saul any say in the matter. He didn’t make any arguments for why Saul should listen to him. He didn’t provide evidence for why Saul should believe in him. He didn’t dialog with Saul about whether he was the Christ. He simply appeared to him, made himself known, and sets him on a whole new path.
Indeed, God did essentially to us the very same thing that He did to Paul. He simply called us His own by His own very clear and straight-forward declaration. "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” It was by His work, by His grace that we have been lifted up out of the curse of sin and made his children. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are brought out of our own spiritual blindness and into faith in Jesus Christ.
In Saul’s moment of conversion and in our own, we see that there is no human action involved in coming to Christ. There is no decision of faith to be made. After all, our Lord himself says rather clearly in John 15:16, " You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit." There was no decision of faith on the part of Saul. God just simply informed him that he was His child, and that from now on, he had a new job, and a new boss.
Why did God choose a man like Saul? For the very same reason He chose us. Because He loved Saul. And he loves us. And because of that, he has called each of us not just by our own name, but by His.
The great heroes of scriptures weren’t great because they were great men and women. They were ordinary, sinful people through whom God did things. If God can take a mortal enemy like Saul and turn him into the greatest Christian evangelist in history, then there is no limit to what God can do with the likes of those who occupy these pews or this pulpit this Sunday. God can and does do amazing things!
Always and only, Saul would grow to point to the grace of God which was his in Christ Jesus. Saul of course would change his name to Paul, and he would eventually write in his letter to the Galatians, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.” It was not men who empowered him, but God! And that is precisely the way it works with us. We would have no light shine on us as personal individuals as we are about the work of the kingdom of God. But always, and only like Saul, we must point to Christ. Christ who is all and who does all through the power of his grace.
Everything is done by the impetus of God. Not by decisions of human will. Just like Paul, we are the product of grace alone. Like Paul we are former enemies of God who have been washed clean in the blood of the lamb of God. Solely by his grace our sins are no longer an outstanding debt which we cannot possibly replay. Instead, the repayment has been done by the one who offered His life, and sacrifice, for our sin. And there is no sin that you have that is strong enough to overcome the power of his grace and love.
We have done nothing. Christ has done everything. It is His full payment for sin, not anything we offer, that brings us the salvation that is ours. And once more, like Paul, we shouldn’t stop talking about it. We can’t stop talking about it! Like Paul, our very lives can be nothing but instruments of God for the building up of His kingdom.
It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. I don’t care if you’re a contractor, a banker, a counselor, a homemaker, or a retiree. It makes no difference. Anything that accomplishes God’s purposes in any of those roles are things which God is working in your life in order to expand His kingdom. Because of that, everything that we do in life is sacred. Because God is at work, and he has chosen us to be instruments of making His love known.
In Paul we see how a former enemy of God was obedient. How he was a servant of Christ. An instrument at the disposal of the Almighty one through His good works and to bring about His will. Not because he was great, but because God is great.
You and I are not great, but God is great in us. And I pray that we too may be willing servants like our brother Paul. That we too may be instruments of sharing the grace and mercy we have been called to know with others, so that they too may hear and believe. Amen.
As varied as the background of pastors and future pastors might be, as unexpected as some of their entries into the ministry might be, I doubt that any of them can hold a candle to Saul of Tarsus. We’re first introduced to Saul during the martyrdom of Stephen, guarding the clothes of those hurling the stones, approving of their actions. We know that Paul was a Pharisee. By his own definition “Pharisee of the Pharisees.” His zeal and adherence to the Law were without question. Though a Jew, he was also a citizen of Rome. He was well educated. And above all, he sought to destroy the growing group of people who followed and believed in the man known as Jesus of Nazareth.
Saul was in the Christian-hunting business, and business was good. In Acts 8:3 we read these words, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off men and women and put them in prison.” And then, at the beginning of our reading for today we’re told, “Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.”
Saul was not someone you would ever expect to meet on a seminary campus. Not as a student, anyway. And yet, God chose this man to be His chosen instrument. To be the evangelist to the Gentiles. To be the author of 13 books of the New Testament. To arguably be the most prolific and important witness to Jesus Christ that the world has ever known.
But why? Of all people, why Saul? Why would God even let this man continue to live, never mind be His servant? Certainly from a human perspective it was a choice that makes less than zero sense. If faced with making the decision to choose someone to be a missionary to the nations, most people would go with the well-trained, passionate Christian. At the very least they’d choose someone who wasn’t actively seeking to kill those who believed in the very message the person was going to be sent to proclaim. And if Saul had been required to apply to the seminary before being sent out, he never would have made it. Putting “Christian-hunter” as his previous occupation would have had his application tossed in the trash in no-time flat. Why would God choose him?
Of course, before we can answer that question, there’s another question that needs to be asked. Why would God choose us? After all, each of was born sinful. Each of us was born an enemy of God. This truth is highlighted for us in Romans 5. I’m going to highlight a few relevant snippets, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned--...For if the many died by the trespass of the one man,...The judgment followed one sin and brought condemnation,....For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man,...Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men.”
All of us were sinful. All of us are guilty of sinning each and every day. Perhaps we aren’t guilty of the same sins as Saul, but we are equally as guilty. James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” And of course the punishment for breaking God’s Law is death. So whether we want to admit it or not, we’re really no better, no more deserving of being chosen and used by God than Saul.
So as Paul traveled along the road on his way to Damascus, he did so blind to the truth of Jesus Christ. But as he traveled he was brought to his knees as he was surrounded by light and heard a voice say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?” Saul had a very natural response. “But Lord, who are you?” Imagine the shock, the dread that must have seized him when he heard the response. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” When he got up he discovered he was blind, this time literally. And for three days he was alone with his thoughts, not even eating as he considered what had happened to him, and what he had been told.
Now, I don’t know about you, but I’ve never had an experience anything close to what Saul had on the Damascus road. Rather, I should say that I’ve never had an experience as dramatic as what Paul had, because at its root level, I have had a similar experience. And so have you. As many of you likely were, I didn’t have much say in the matter as I was brought to the baptismal fount. In fact, some of us might have been quite vocally against it, crying and screaming over the pastor’s words, wailing as cold water was suddenly poured over our heads. When you get right down to it, this is essentially the same thing that happened to Saul.
Saul wasn’t ready for the role God in mind for him. He was quite content doing what he was doing. He was happy going along, blind to his sin and need for forgiveness. When Jesus spoke, he didn’t give Saul any say in the matter. He didn’t make any arguments for why Saul should listen to him. He didn’t provide evidence for why Saul should believe in him. He didn’t dialog with Saul about whether he was the Christ. He simply appeared to him, made himself known, and sets him on a whole new path.
Indeed, God did essentially to us the very same thing that He did to Paul. He simply called us His own by His own very clear and straight-forward declaration. "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” It was by His work, by His grace that we have been lifted up out of the curse of sin and made his children. It is by the power of the Holy Spirit that we are brought out of our own spiritual blindness and into faith in Jesus Christ.
In Saul’s moment of conversion and in our own, we see that there is no human action involved in coming to Christ. There is no decision of faith to be made. After all, our Lord himself says rather clearly in John 15:16, " You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit." There was no decision of faith on the part of Saul. God just simply informed him that he was His child, and that from now on, he had a new job, and a new boss.
Why did God choose a man like Saul? For the very same reason He chose us. Because He loved Saul. And he loves us. And because of that, he has called each of us not just by our own name, but by His.
The great heroes of scriptures weren’t great because they were great men and women. They were ordinary, sinful people through whom God did things. If God can take a mortal enemy like Saul and turn him into the greatest Christian evangelist in history, then there is no limit to what God can do with the likes of those who occupy these pews or this pulpit this Sunday. God can and does do amazing things!
Always and only, Saul would grow to point to the grace of God which was his in Christ Jesus. Saul of course would change his name to Paul, and he would eventually write in his letter to the Galatians, “But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man.” It was not men who empowered him, but God! And that is precisely the way it works with us. We would have no light shine on us as personal individuals as we are about the work of the kingdom of God. But always, and only like Saul, we must point to Christ. Christ who is all and who does all through the power of his grace.
Everything is done by the impetus of God. Not by decisions of human will. Just like Paul, we are the product of grace alone. Like Paul we are former enemies of God who have been washed clean in the blood of the lamb of God. Solely by his grace our sins are no longer an outstanding debt which we cannot possibly replay. Instead, the repayment has been done by the one who offered His life, and sacrifice, for our sin. And there is no sin that you have that is strong enough to overcome the power of his grace and love.
We have done nothing. Christ has done everything. It is His full payment for sin, not anything we offer, that brings us the salvation that is ours. And once more, like Paul, we shouldn’t stop talking about it. We can’t stop talking about it! Like Paul, our very lives can be nothing but instruments of God for the building up of His kingdom.
It doesn’t matter what you do for a living. I don’t care if you’re a contractor, a banker, a counselor, a homemaker, or a retiree. It makes no difference. Anything that accomplishes God’s purposes in any of those roles are things which God is working in your life in order to expand His kingdom. Because of that, everything that we do in life is sacred. Because God is at work, and he has chosen us to be instruments of making His love known.
In Paul we see how a former enemy of God was obedient. How he was a servant of Christ. An instrument at the disposal of the Almighty one through His good works and to bring about His will. Not because he was great, but because God is great.
You and I are not great, but God is great in us. And I pray that we too may be willing servants like our brother Paul. That we too may be instruments of sharing the grace and mercy we have been called to know with others, so that they too may hear and believe. Amen.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Come to the Feast! (Amos 9:11-15)- An Easter Message
“The Party ‘s Over!”
It can mean, “Wow, it’s 2:00am and I've got to go to work in six hours!” It can mean, “There’s nothing left to eat or drink. Time to go!” Or it can mean, “It’s all over, the Fat Lady has sung, the curtain has gone down, and Mighty Casey has struck out!”
It ‘s this third sense of “The Party is Over!” that coincides with the context of Amos 9:11-15, namely God’s judgment of the temple in the prophet’s fifth and final vision. Hear the word of the LORD from Amos 9:1, “I saw the LORD standing beside the altar and he said, ‘Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake.’” Make no mistake about it, the party is over!
And yet, after God’s judgment in our text from Amos 9 God states, “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” What God is directing Amos to proclaim to the people is that judgment will give way to mercy. Death will give way to resurrection. God’s promise is that he will raise up the falling tabernacle of David!
This blessed Easter morning we celebrate that he has done just that! You see, there is nothing dead about Jesus. John’s gospel is full of verses tying Jesus to life. In John 1:4 he writes “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 6:35 quotes Jesus saying “I am the Bread of Life.” Later in that chapter we find Peter saying “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Chapter 10 again quotes Jesus saying “I have come that they may have life.” And then in chapter 11 “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” And yet again in chapter 14 “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” Even outside of the gospels we find Paul capping things off as he throws a triumphant fist up in the air while he proclaims to the people of Corinth, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Friday night we remembered Christ’s being hung to die on the cross. For those who were there, watching as their teacher, son, and friend suffered and died, things surely seemed bleak. Things seemed hopeless. It seemed as though the party was over. But as testified to by our gathering here this morning, we know that far from being over, this party has just begun. And without a doubt, the very same Jesus of Nazareth who was put to death on Good Friday is the life of this party. He’s not some fable or fairy tale that we’ve made up inside our head. He’s God and Son, he’s risen from the dead!
But every party brings a certain set of questions. The first question is, who is invited?
John Carlson is a Lutheran pastor in Minnesota. A few years ago he noticed that in his town on the night of the Senior Prom only the preppy, powerful, and popular kids went to the party. So he came up with the idea of holding a celebration for kids who couldn’t get a date because they weren’t a part of the in-crowd and felt like they didn’t belong. This prom was for them. Now Timex gives out watches to the kids who attend, other companies have joined in, and now it's more popular than the real prom! Carlson calls it the Reject Prom.
Been rejected lately? Told you don’t belong? Feeling second rate? Do you know about partner rejection? Peer rejection? Parental rejection? Parishioner rejection? Do you know about deep running personal-rejection? All are invited.
Amos stresses this when he speaks of including “the remnant of Edom.” For the people of Israel, this would have been shocking! The people of Edom were some of Israel’s most ancient and hated enemies. Inviting Edom to the party would be like the Cardinals or White Sox inviting the Cubs to join them in celebrating a World Series victory. Nevertheless, the Lord promises that a remnant of Edom, along with peoples of all nations will be made a part of the restored kingdom and invited to the eternal celebration.
The next question, what about my appearance? Answer, come as you are. But, you say, “My face bears the marks of worry. My shoulders are stooped from burdens. My lips are dirty from slander. My heart is hardened toward my spouse and children. My fingers are stuck accusing my brother. My arteries are clogged with bitterness and resentment.”
A hen-pecked husband was advised by a psychiatrist to assert himself. “You don’t have to let your wife bully you,” he was told. “Go home and show her you’re the boss.” The husband decided to take the doctor’s advice. He went home, slammed the door, shook his fist in his wife’s face, and growled, “From now on you’re taking orders from me. I want my supper right now, and when you get it on the table, go upstairs, and lay out my clothes. I’m going out with the boys tonight, and you’re going to stay at home where you belong. Another thing, you know who’s going to tie my bow tie?” “I certainly do,” said his wife calmly. “The undertaker.”
Our sin shows up most in marriages and in families when we foolishly attempt to manipulate, bully, and control each other.
So you’re thinking, “What do you mean? Come as you are? I'm a spiritual mess!” So am I. So were Jesus’ disciples. So was Israel. Israel of Amos’ day was clothed with this same disgrace of sin. Most of Amos’ ministry, and really most of the ministry of the rest of God’s prophets, was one of judgment. Of calling for the people to repent for their sinful ways, and announcing God’s punishment on them for failing to do so. No doubt about it, Amos was preaching to a sinful, disgraceful group of people. But in spite of their sin, he is still called to proclaim that “God will restore the fortunes of his people.” His people who had rejected Him and His Word time and again. His people who would see their nation taken away from them and be taken into captivity. It was to His sinful children that he promised restoration and eternal prosperity.
What we have lost in sin, God restores in resurrection. This is what allows you to come as you are! In the parable of the prodigal son, the Father eagerly and lovingly welcomes his son home by proclaiming, “Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet let's have a feast and celebrate!” The Father, our Father provides the proper attire for prodigals and sinners. He provides us with Easter baptismal robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. Come just as you are. By His love those who are dirty and stained are made clean and spotless.
The third question is, what about party gifts? How often are you invited to a gathering or dinner and ask the host, “What can I bring?” In every church I’ve ever been to, potlucks have been something of a way of life. It’s no secret that Lutherans love a good meal. And I have yet to attend a potluck that wasn’t bursting at the seams with tasty treats. Everyone brings something. Usually, you can count on many people providing their same signature dish. It’s a fun, delicious time in which everyone provides something for the feast. But when it comes to this feast, when we ask what it is that we can provide, God’s response is “nothing.” For this celebration we can bring nothing. He provides it all.
Luke 14:17 says, “At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited,’ Come, for everything is now ready.’” Amos speaks of a coming day when the harvest would be so plentiful that there would be no break in the cycle of plowing-seeding-and harvesting. He says that the mountains will drip sweet wine, pointing to how the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom will be overflowing. Truly, as we celebrate the empty tomb, as we gather together to eat our Lord’s supper we celebrate that abundance is ours!
We bring nothing but ourselves because our great God puts everything on the table. These gifts which he so richly pours out on us His people were purchased at the cost of spitting, mocking, whipping, nailing, bleeding, sweating, and dying. And now the resurrected and victorious Jesus lives to give the gifts on this table. And what awesome gifts! What a magnificent feast! True body and true blood through which we receive washing, cleansing, healing, and the gift of eternal life!
It’s common to say at the end of a party something like, “All good things must come to an end.”
Not today! Not this party! This is a feast which will never end. Amos says it this way, “I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them.” God promises that his people will live securely. Though we may face fierce opposition and challenges, we shall not be moved. The prophet Isaiah writes of those who are called into a relationship with the Savior, “they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Christ our Lord was dead, but now he lives! And he is sitting at the right hand of His Father in His eternal kingdom. A kingdom which has no end. A kingdom into which he calls and welcomes all of His children, so that we may join Him in eternal glory.
The feast is ready! Come to the feast, just as you are. Come and be made clean. Come and be robed in the righteousness of God! Come and be glad. Greatest and least, come to the feast! Amen.
-Pastor L
It can mean, “Wow, it’s 2:00am and I've got to go to work in six hours!” It can mean, “There’s nothing left to eat or drink. Time to go!” Or it can mean, “It’s all over, the Fat Lady has sung, the curtain has gone down, and Mighty Casey has struck out!”
It ‘s this third sense of “The Party is Over!” that coincides with the context of Amos 9:11-15, namely God’s judgment of the temple in the prophet’s fifth and final vision. Hear the word of the LORD from Amos 9:1, “I saw the LORD standing beside the altar and he said, ‘Strike the capitals until the thresholds shake.’” Make no mistake about it, the party is over!
And yet, after God’s judgment in our text from Amos 9 God states, “In that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old.” What God is directing Amos to proclaim to the people is that judgment will give way to mercy. Death will give way to resurrection. God’s promise is that he will raise up the falling tabernacle of David!
This blessed Easter morning we celebrate that he has done just that! You see, there is nothing dead about Jesus. John’s gospel is full of verses tying Jesus to life. In John 1:4 he writes “In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” John 6:35 quotes Jesus saying “I am the Bread of Life.” Later in that chapter we find Peter saying “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” Chapter 10 again quotes Jesus saying “I have come that they may have life.” And then in chapter 11 “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” And yet again in chapter 14 “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.” Even outside of the gospels we find Paul capping things off as he throws a triumphant fist up in the air while he proclaims to the people of Corinth, “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”
Friday night we remembered Christ’s being hung to die on the cross. For those who were there, watching as their teacher, son, and friend suffered and died, things surely seemed bleak. Things seemed hopeless. It seemed as though the party was over. But as testified to by our gathering here this morning, we know that far from being over, this party has just begun. And without a doubt, the very same Jesus of Nazareth who was put to death on Good Friday is the life of this party. He’s not some fable or fairy tale that we’ve made up inside our head. He’s God and Son, he’s risen from the dead!
But every party brings a certain set of questions. The first question is, who is invited?
John Carlson is a Lutheran pastor in Minnesota. A few years ago he noticed that in his town on the night of the Senior Prom only the preppy, powerful, and popular kids went to the party. So he came up with the idea of holding a celebration for kids who couldn’t get a date because they weren’t a part of the in-crowd and felt like they didn’t belong. This prom was for them. Now Timex gives out watches to the kids who attend, other companies have joined in, and now it's more popular than the real prom! Carlson calls it the Reject Prom.
Been rejected lately? Told you don’t belong? Feeling second rate? Do you know about partner rejection? Peer rejection? Parental rejection? Parishioner rejection? Do you know about deep running personal-rejection? All are invited.
Amos stresses this when he speaks of including “the remnant of Edom.” For the people of Israel, this would have been shocking! The people of Edom were some of Israel’s most ancient and hated enemies. Inviting Edom to the party would be like the Cardinals or White Sox inviting the Cubs to join them in celebrating a World Series victory. Nevertheless, the Lord promises that a remnant of Edom, along with peoples of all nations will be made a part of the restored kingdom and invited to the eternal celebration.
The next question, what about my appearance? Answer, come as you are. But, you say, “My face bears the marks of worry. My shoulders are stooped from burdens. My lips are dirty from slander. My heart is hardened toward my spouse and children. My fingers are stuck accusing my brother. My arteries are clogged with bitterness and resentment.”
A hen-pecked husband was advised by a psychiatrist to assert himself. “You don’t have to let your wife bully you,” he was told. “Go home and show her you’re the boss.” The husband decided to take the doctor’s advice. He went home, slammed the door, shook his fist in his wife’s face, and growled, “From now on you’re taking orders from me. I want my supper right now, and when you get it on the table, go upstairs, and lay out my clothes. I’m going out with the boys tonight, and you’re going to stay at home where you belong. Another thing, you know who’s going to tie my bow tie?” “I certainly do,” said his wife calmly. “The undertaker.”
Our sin shows up most in marriages and in families when we foolishly attempt to manipulate, bully, and control each other.
So you’re thinking, “What do you mean? Come as you are? I'm a spiritual mess!” So am I. So were Jesus’ disciples. So was Israel. Israel of Amos’ day was clothed with this same disgrace of sin. Most of Amos’ ministry, and really most of the ministry of the rest of God’s prophets, was one of judgment. Of calling for the people to repent for their sinful ways, and announcing God’s punishment on them for failing to do so. No doubt about it, Amos was preaching to a sinful, disgraceful group of people. But in spite of their sin, he is still called to proclaim that “God will restore the fortunes of his people.” His people who had rejected Him and His Word time and again. His people who would see their nation taken away from them and be taken into captivity. It was to His sinful children that he promised restoration and eternal prosperity.
What we have lost in sin, God restores in resurrection. This is what allows you to come as you are! In the parable of the prodigal son, the Father eagerly and lovingly welcomes his son home by proclaiming, “Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet let's have a feast and celebrate!” The Father, our Father provides the proper attire for prodigals and sinners. He provides us with Easter baptismal robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb. Come just as you are. By His love those who are dirty and stained are made clean and spotless.
The third question is, what about party gifts? How often are you invited to a gathering or dinner and ask the host, “What can I bring?” In every church I’ve ever been to, potlucks have been something of a way of life. It’s no secret that Lutherans love a good meal. And I have yet to attend a potluck that wasn’t bursting at the seams with tasty treats. Everyone brings something. Usually, you can count on many people providing their same signature dish. It’s a fun, delicious time in which everyone provides something for the feast. But when it comes to this feast, when we ask what it is that we can provide, God’s response is “nothing.” For this celebration we can bring nothing. He provides it all.
Luke 14:17 says, “At the time of the banquet he sent his servant to tell those who had been invited,’ Come, for everything is now ready.’” Amos speaks of a coming day when the harvest would be so plentiful that there would be no break in the cycle of plowing-seeding-and harvesting. He says that the mountains will drip sweet wine, pointing to how the blessings of the Messiah’s kingdom will be overflowing. Truly, as we celebrate the empty tomb, as we gather together to eat our Lord’s supper we celebrate that abundance is ours!
We bring nothing but ourselves because our great God puts everything on the table. These gifts which he so richly pours out on us His people were purchased at the cost of spitting, mocking, whipping, nailing, bleeding, sweating, and dying. And now the resurrected and victorious Jesus lives to give the gifts on this table. And what awesome gifts! What a magnificent feast! True body and true blood through which we receive washing, cleansing, healing, and the gift of eternal life!
It’s common to say at the end of a party something like, “All good things must come to an end.”
Not today! Not this party! This is a feast which will never end. Amos says it this way, “I will plant them on their land, and they shall never again be uprooted out of the land that I have given them.” God promises that his people will live securely. Though we may face fierce opposition and challenges, we shall not be moved. The prophet Isaiah writes of those who are called into a relationship with the Savior, “they will be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.
Christ our Lord was dead, but now he lives! And he is sitting at the right hand of His Father in His eternal kingdom. A kingdom which has no end. A kingdom into which he calls and welcomes all of His children, so that we may join Him in eternal glory.
The feast is ready! Come to the feast, just as you are. Come and be made clean. Come and be robed in the righteousness of God! Come and be glad. Greatest and least, come to the feast! Amen.
-Pastor L
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