5th Sunday in Lent – B LSB #’s 434, 433, 421
Text – Hebrews 5:8 Although He was a son, He learned obedience through what He suffered. LEARNING OBEDIENCE The author of Hebrews is preaching a sermon, & he has a congregation that is exhausted. They are tired of serving others, tired of worship, tired of Christian education, tired of being peculiar & rejected by their world. They’re tired of prayer & spiritual struggle. Their hands droop & their knees are weak. Attendance is down & they are losing confidence. The threat facing this congregation is not that they might charge off in the wrong direction. They do not have enough energy to charge off anywhere. Tired of walking the walk, many of them are giving thought to taking a walk, away from the community & away from the faith. Does any of that sound familiar? The author writing the sermon, we call the book of Hebrews, does not appeal to improved group dynamics, to conflict management techniques, the reorganization of mission structures or to snappy worship services. Rather, he preaches about the nature & the meaning of Jesus Christ. Jesus, & He alone, can generate surprise, wonder, gratitude & obedience.[1] Although He was a son, [Jesus] learned obedience through what He suffered. (Hebrews 5:8 ESV) What does it mean to learn obedience through suffering? We talk of learning things in the school of hard knocks & that’s heading in the general direction. Hopefully, you’ve heard of Job & know something of his suffering. He traveled a long way down that road. Each of us has known some form & degree of suffering. It’s the nature of being alive in a world broken by sin. However, living in a society with all the modern conveniences we have, it is possible to avoid much of the suffering of days gone by. Manual labor is something that many people no longer put up with. No matter how hot or cold it is outside, we have central heat & air conditioning to make our lives more bearable if not downright comfortable. We have heating pads or ice & ibuprofen or morphine if physical pain is too much to suffer. Death is something we have not been able to put off or cure. Could it be that in the past God used the lesser forms of suffering to help us prepare for the suffering involved in taking our last breath? Job learned obedience through his suffering, but all he had to treat the boils on his body was a piece of broken pottery. He scraped the sores with them. It was then that his wife compassionately told him, “Curse God & die.” (Job 2:9 ESV) Although Satan killed their children, apparently he allowed Job’s wife to live in order to cause him even more suffering. By chapter 3, Job is cursing the day of his birth & complaining, yet, by chapter 42, he has learned obedience & repents in dust & ashes. Our sinful nature is all too willing to bail out on the suffering God sends, or allows, into our lives. If we quit, we short-circuit God’s plan to teach us obedience. Jesus did not quit. He endured the suffering right down to His very last breath from the cross. And He did not learn that obedience for His own good, but for your good & for mine. God calls us to learn obedience not just for our own spiritual development, but for the good of our neighbor. You & I learn obedience for the good of our spouse & siblings, for our parents & children, for our coworkers & employers. We learn obedience in order that we can walk in the good works that God prepares in advance for us to walk in. As Jesus suffered & died so that you & I might be made whole, we suffer, & one day die as well, that God might bring blessings to the people around us, through us. All joking aside, it may seem strange to think of your death as a blessing to others. Nevertheless, I was able to be present for the death of each of my parents & I do count that as a blessing from God. To be with them, the moment they passed from death into true life, from this vale of tears into paradise, was a profound experience that is impossible to put into words. Suffering tends to strip away all the frivolous realities of life to focus our attention on what is eternal. Things that were so important to me during my teenage years became totally irrelevant once the navy locked me up underwater for months at a time. I have no doubt that you also can name once important issues which faded into oblivion as times of trial & tribulation came into your lives. The author of Hebrews stated in chapter 12: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness & peace for those who have been trained by it.” (12:11 NIV) Learning obedience is but another blessing that comes with righteousness & peace. If we would just be perfect in everything we do, there’d be so much less stress for us to deal with. Since we cannot be perfect in anything, the Holy Spirit calls us to repentance. He enables us to repent, & then teaches us obedience through what we suffer. Learning obedience means accepting & even rejoicing that God is good & He is allowing or even causing what we view as suffering in order to bless us. As the apostle Paul wrote: “…God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God…” (Romans 8:28 NASB) Just making the effort to hear a sermon is suffering for our sinful nature, but to those who love God, He works even painful sermons together for good. He works painful worship services together for good, & painful reunions, painful employers & coworkers, etc. Suffering is the nature of living in a world broken by sin. Why do ever think it should be otherwise? Certainly it was God’s plan for Jesus to suffer & die here in this world, but most of the world hated Jesus even though they knew nothing of God’s plan. They did not kill Jesus because they wanted Him to save the world. As grim as it sounds, we should expect to suffer in this life & not only because the world also hates us. Our own sinful nature hates God, hates the Word of God, hates the songs that praise God or lift up His name. We do not want to endure any sort of suffering in order to learn obedience, & for that reason God must allow us to suffer. How many of your parents or teachers taught you obedience by only giving you everything you ever wanted? Practicing the fruit of the Holy Spirit, that is translated as self-control, is all about denying ourselves some or all of what we desire. Jesus subjected Himself to the most horrific of suffering & denied Himself even life. We hear of His struggle: Jesus said to them, “‘My soul is very sorrowful, even to death; remain here, & watch with me.’ And going a little farther He fell on His face & prayed, ‘My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.’ And He came to the disciples & found them sleeping. ‘So, could you not watch with me one hour? Watch & pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.’ Again, for the 2nd time, He went away & prayed, ‘My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.’” (Matthew 26:38-42 ESV) The human nature of Jesus developed & learned just as we do, except without sin. We see a great contrast in that text between Jesus & His sinful disciples. Although I’m using the law to show us our sin, it is legitimate to ask, “What price are you willing to pay in order to learn obedience to God? What are you willing to suffer?” Looking at our lives, our answer is embarrassing! We know nothing of what the disciples suffered, let alone what the Son of God, our Savior, suffered. “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33 ESV) Was Jesus talking there about losing 5G cell service? He wasn’t even talking about losing electricity. Jesus was talking about being persecuted or killed for following His teachings. “But take heart; I have overcome the world,” means that Jesus has overcome the people who would persecute & kill Christians for what they believe. Since Jesus has overcome them, He certainly has also overcome all the lesser injustices we suffer & endure in this life. Jesus has even overcome sinners like us when our answer is embarrassing to the question, “What are you willing to suffer in order to learn obedience?” If you are going to take heart because Jesus has overcome the world, you’ll need more than snappy worship services to endure suffering. Our nation is not headed in the right direction according to the teachings of Jesus, regardless of what the polls say. If our people keep going that way there is plenty more suffering to come because that’s the only thing that causes sinners to take note. At times, God even brings the suffering into our lives specifically in an attempt to turn us back from our sins. If God’s children are going to live our lives in surprise, wonder, gratitude & obedience, it’ll take far more than snappy worship services or clever mission statements to empower us. Instead, we daily will need the power of God’s almighty forgiveness to strengthen us for the onslaught. Only God’s Word, Baptism & Holy Communion convey that power to sinners. There is nothing that we can do, on our own, to love being in the house of God, or to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Holy Spirit has to create that love within us each & every day, because each & every day our sinful nature goes with us everywhere we go. Here’s one last story to illustrate why Jesus needed to learn obedience. One December afternoon just before Christmas vacation, parents stood in the lobby of a preschool, waiting to claim their children. When the bell rang, the youngsters ran from the classroom, each child carrying in his or her hands a special “surprise” – a brightly wrapped package containing a project that each child had diligently worked on for weeks to give Mom & Dad for Christmas. One little boy was trying to run, put on his coat, & wave all at the same time. He slipped & fell, the “surprise” flying out of his hands & landing on the tile floor with an obvious ceramic crash. There was a moment of stunned silence immediately followed by the little one’s inconsolable wail of tears. The boy’s father tried to be strong & comfort the little guy, kneeling down & saying, “It’s OK, son. It really doesn’t matter. It’s OK.” The boy’s mother was wiser about such things. She swept the little boy into her arms & said, “Oh, but it does matter. It matters a very, very great deal!” And she wept with her son. The human nature of Jesus had to learn obedience, & one of the ways He learned it was through suffering. This learning through suffering also taught Jesus how & when to weep with us as you & I live in a world that is so terribly broken by sin. “But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world.” And He overcomes our sins as well. Amen. Glory be to Jesus, who in bitter pains poured for me the lifeblood from His sacred veins! Blest through endless ages be the precious stream which from endless torment did the world redeem! Lift we, then, our voices, swell the mighty flood; louder still & louder praise the precious blood. Amen. LSB 433:1, 3, 6. [1] Long, Thomas, G., Hebrews: Interpretation: A Bible Commentary for Teaching and Preaching, (Louisville, KY: John Knox Press, 1997), P. 3. Midweek 5 – 2024 LSB 420:1-3, 6-7; 432, 430:1, 5; 880
Text – Psalm 41:6 EMPTY WORDS David prayed in Psalm 41, “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” “He utters empty words,” said David. When people say empty words to you, they’re saying things that might seem appealing, important, & true – but ultimately they are not. Empty words are not necessarily lies, although they can be. Empty words can simply be evasive in what they say. Empty words have little or nothing behind them: no concrete truth, no commitment, no endurance. We Americans are comfortably accustomed to empty words. We routinely speak them, & never stop hearing them. Our everyday language uses empty words as standard speech. We include them in our conversations with friends & strangers alike: “How are you?” “I’m fine.” “I hope you have a good day,” & sometimes even, “I will pray for you.” Even if you sincerely mean it when you make such inquiries & pledges, how long do you remember? Does anyone remember their conversations, even thirty seconds after they are spoken? The lack of memory might indicate a certain emptiness to the words. It would be okay for us to admit (or to confess) that most of our conversational phrases actually mean very little. That’s why Solomon admonished, “Let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:2) It’s why James encouraged us to be “slow to speak” (James 1:19); & why he compared some of our conversations to forest fires. (James 3:5) In addition to using empty words, we regularly hear empty words by virtue of the fact that we are constantly immersed in advertising. We see empty words on every flat surface at the baseball stadium. We hear a stream of empty words every time we turn on the radio. We even wear empty words on our forehead & chest because of the way we like to dress. We ourselves have become walking billboards that tout empty words. Everyone, including the preacher, participates in this emptiness. We are so accustomed to the puffery, evasiveness, & false urgency of advertising that we don’t even notice empty words when we hear them. Pledges from politicians are good only for the chuckling entertainment of the moment, not for actual policy. Personal promises have come to mean very little, even in marriage & family relationships. Long-term commitments rarely endure the latest wave of emotion. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the very embodiment of God’s living Word. (John 1:1–4) He alone speaks “the words of eternal life.” (John 6:68) When you were baptized into the living Christ, you were individually drawn up & out from the cesspool of the world’s “empty words.” In Baptism, the blood of Christ did something more than wash you clean from every sin of empty words & “evil deeds” (Colossians 1:21). Through Baptism, you were relocated to that one, eternal place in which words still matter: “the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints.” (Apostles’ Creed, Third Petition) “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” As David prayed those words in Psalm 41, he was praying in the voice of Christ. All the psalms are about Christ. (John 5:39) Like us, Jesus of Nazareth had plenty of empty words around Him all the time. The empty words that surrounded our Lord proved to be deadly & there are no emptier words than those of the devil. That skeevy snake started in the Garden of Eden: “You will not surely die,” he hissed. “For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, & you will be like God.” (Genesis 3:4–5) Thousands of years later, the devil’s empty words focused their intent upon Jesus: “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down,” he said; “all these [kingdoms of the world] I will give You,” he said. (Matthew 4:6, 9) Empty words. Peter, despite his earnest desire & best intentions, likewise uttered empty words to God’s Son, & Jesus endured those words: “Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You!” swore Peter. (Matthew 26:35) Then to the servant girl, he declared “with an oath: ‘I do not know the man!’” (Matthew 26:72) Empty words. All the other disciples joined their empty words to Peter’s, making vacuous pledges that they also would never deny the Christ. (Matthew 26:35) Among the Twelve, the empty words spoken by Judas Iscariot stand out as the deadliest: “Is it I, Rabbi?” (Matthew 26:25) “Greetings, Rabbi!” (Matthew 26:49) Empty words. “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” (Psalm 41:6 ESV) Thus, the Lord of Life was sentenced to death on the testimony of those who spoke empty words: Now the chief priests & the whole council were seeking false testimony against Jesus that they might put Him to death, but they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. At last two came forward & said, “This man said, ‘I am able to destroy the temple of God, & to rebuild it in three days.’” ...Then the high priest tore his robes & said, “[Jesus] has uttered blasphemy. What further witnesses do we need?” (Matthew 26:59–61, 65) In these midweek Lenten sermons, two things have been emphasized: 1) that the Psalms speak about Jesus (John 5:39) & 2) that because the Psalms speak about Jesus, they therefore speak about you. In Baptism, you were “joined to the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 6:7) Through your Baptism into Christ, the Lord’s burdens have become yours, just as surely as your burdens have been fully taken up by the Lord. Jesus assured & promised you that His burden would not be too heavy for you: “Take My yoke upon you, ...for My yoke is easy, & My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:29–30) “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” (Psalm 41:6 ESV) Because David’s words speak the pious lament of Jesus, those same words are also available to you for your lament. Have you felt the urge & the need for such a lament? Has a dear friend betrayed you, allowing you to treat him as a confidant, only to turn around & tell it abroad, verbally or on social media? Has your marriage vow been broken & the marriage bed defiled (Hebrews 13:4), by someone who spoke “empty words” to you on your wedding day? Have you entered into a business contract with someone you thought you could trust, only to have your trust violated? If you have suffered such things as these, then David’s words, & our Lord’s words, are also yours: “When one comes to see me, he utters empty words, while his heart gathers iniquity; when he goes out, he tells it abroad.” (Psalm 41:6 ESV) When you pray those words, you can know & trust that you are not alone. The entire Church in this vale of tears, & all her Christians, have always had plenty of reasons to pray those words with you. Psalm 41 indicates that Jesus & David prayed those words before you. Take special comfort in the fact that your Lord Jesus prayed those words before you. He knows well the heartbroken feeling of betrayal. He knows personally the dismay that rises from a sense of exposure. He knows intimately the devastating pain that is caused by a close friend, “even my close friend in whom I trusted” (Psalm 41:9), as it is written later in the psalm. Jesus also said in another place, expressing personal familiarity with your pain, “I went about as though I grieved for my friend or my brother; as one who laments his mother, I bowed down in mourning.” (Psalm 35:14) Again, Jesus said in the voice of yet another psalm: “It is not an enemy who taunts me – then I could bear it; it is not an adversary who deals insolently with me – then I could hide from him. But it is you, a man, my equal, my companion, my familiar friend. We talked in sweet fellowship, & walked with a crowd into God’s house.” (Psalm 55:12–14) Believe the words of the Scriptures: Jesus knows the feeling of betrayal by empty words. He died for that betrayal & its shame. Jesus promises you, by the power of His glorious resurrection, that you will not be tortured forever by empty words. Amen. In silent pain the eternal Son hangs derelict & still; in darkened day His work is done, fulfilled, His Father’s will. Uplifted for the world to see He hangs in strangest victory, for in His body on the tree He carries all our ill. He died that we might die to sin & live for righteousness; the earth is stained to make us clean & bring us into peace. For peace He came & met its cost; He gave Himself to save the lost; He loved us to the utter most & paid for our release. Amen. LSB 432:1-2. 4th Sunday in Lent – B LSB #’s 555:1-2, 6, 9; 904, 703
Text – Ephesian 2:1-3 And you were dead in the trespasses & sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body & the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. CHILDREN OF WRATH I heard these words after a particular service: “Good sermon pastor. There were a lot of unbelievers here today.” I realize that it was meant to be a compliment, however, it also bothered me. What I found troubling is that it could also be taken as a condemnation of many of the people who were in God’s house that day. It did not strike me as love for our neighbor. Certainly, there are unbelievers in the world – multitudes of them. Yet, we need to be careful that in ‘labeling’ them as such we are not thinking less of them & more of ourselves. In the letter to the church at Ephesus, Paul writes that even believers were at one time “…children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (2:3 ESV) That we no longer are such people should inspire thankfulness & not pride, as Paul makes clear later in the Epistle reading, “And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” (2:8b-9 ESV) Paul warns us specifically against being prideful because it is such an easy, & deadly, trap to fall into. Complimenting a pastor on his sermon, does nothing for the lost. What might be a more Christ-like approach when you find yourself among a church full of unbelievers? Praying for them ought to be #1. It does not cost you much in the way of time & effort, but it does engage your heart & your soul in love for your neighbor. Prayer makes our heart & soul available to God for His use in serving our neighbor. Paul reminded us in the closing verse of the text from Ephesians, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (2:10 ESV) The God who creates all human beings also goes before us & prepares in advance opportunities to love our neighbor through good works. Striking up a conversation with an unbeliever & listening to their concerns is far more productive than labeling them. Unbelievers are not able to save themselves. Children of wrath will never pray that God would save them, unless they already have faith created within them by the Holy Spirit. And then, they are no longer children of wrath. The gifts of repentance & a heart that turns to God in prayer are received from the Holy Spirit along with faith. We can lose those gifts & once again become children of wrath. Giving counsel, St. Paul wrote: “This charge I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, holding faith & a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made shipwreck of their faith, among whom are Hymenaeus & Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.” (1 Timothy 1:18-20 ESV) Because Jesus can see the heart of all people, while speaking to a group of Jews, He said: “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God & I am here… Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil…” (John 8:42-44 ESV) Jesus makes it clear that children of wrath is equivalent to children of the Devil. They are unbelievers because they cannot bear to hear His word. Yet, Jesus dies for those very people & all others throughout human history, believers or not. John Fischer, in his book On A Hill Too Far Away, tells of a church in Old Greenwich, CT. It contains a one-of-a-kind cross. Not that the cross is overly unique; the positioning of the cross is what is truly unusual. It’s not behind or above the altar. It is bolted into the concrete floor in the middle of the aisle, between the pews & the altar. It’s a sturdy, 10 foot tall cross, made of raw, untreated wood. It is clearly an obstruction. The pastor’s words have to pass through it. The congregation’s eyes always have it somewhere in view. The cross of Jesus was an obstruction to those Jews who could not bear to hear His word. As you & I are called, to take up our cross & follow Jesus, there are times when we view our cross as an obstruction. When we see a church full of unbelievers do we shy away from loving our neighbor as ourselves? It’s all too natural for our sinful nature to do so. As followers of Jesus, we recognize that all of us are born children of wrath needing the work of salvation accomplished only by Jesus Christ. The irony of our secular culture is that it views all people as good when they are born. They only do bad things as bad parents, pastors & priests, or the narrow minded & bigoted church people label their actions as sinful. Yet, that same culture finds it perfectly okay to kill those good children before they are born. But once those good children have turned bad, through something like committing murder, then the culture is generally against capital punishment. It’s the irrational nature of sin to kill children while they are considered good, & to spare their lives once they’re considered bad. Unbelievers in any culture continue to be children of wrath. Believers in any culture are never far from returning to that state of unbelief. The gospel of John clarifies things as it says: “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light & does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.” (John 3:20-21 ESV) We can simplify that by saying, “Are your actions leading you towards God, or leading you away from Him?” A clear example was given in the OT reading. If those bitten by a fiery serpent only looked at the bronze serpent set upon the pole, they would live. Those who did not look would die. In the struggles & trials of living are you looking to the cross of Jesus? His death erased your sins & is able to transform you from a child of wrath to a child of the heavenly Father. Are your actions leading you towards God, or leading you away from Him? Are you a child of wrath or a child of the heavenly Father? It’s natural for us to focus our thoughts & energy on the things we do. It takes all of that in order to accomplish anything good in this broken world. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10 ESV) Those are great words straight out of Holy Scripture. God’s children love to hear them. However, when we study the text of Ephesians, V. 4 is God’s intended focal point. Verses 1-3 set up our dilemma. Then V. 4 delivers the punch line. Verse 4 delivers the real good news. “And you were dead in the trespasses & sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience – among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body & the mind, & were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” (Ephesians 2:1-3 ESV) Verses 1-3 deliver the bad news of our utter failure to be what God created us to be. Without God there is never a time that you or I or anyone else in the entire world is good. If Mother Nature is real, then she is evil, for all of us were by nature children of wrath. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…” (Ephesians 2:4 ESV) It is God, & Him alone, who is moving us from wrath & death to reconciliation & life. We were dead men walking in trespasses & sins. God’s grace transformed us into His children walking in good works. Just as Christ was physically dead, but God raised & exalted Him, so you & I were spiritually dead but God raised & exalted us in Christ. At the resurrection we will be raised & exalted with Christ, never again to follow the course of this world, or the prince of the power of the air. After the resurrection, our actions will always be leading us toward our heavenly Father. The words of V. 4, not V. 10, have the power to change us from children of wrath to children of light. In this life, none of us live up to the promise of verse 10. It is a statement of fact, but strictly speaking, it is not the Gospel. We all, like sheep, go astray. (Isaiah 53:6) But God, always lives up to His promise to make us alive in Christ. Have your actions been leading you away from God? Then remember the promises of your Creator & Savior. How do we get from the walk of the dead to the walk of the living? Since Christ died, due to our baptism into Christ, we also die, every day, even every hour. Paul’s claims about our existence are not based upon observable phenomena in you & me, but on observing the Christ in whom we live. Those daily deaths are also preparation for our final death at the end of our lives. The Law is meant to return us to our baptism by the daily drowning of the old man within. The Law is good, but sin causes our misuse of it, & our conflict with it. Sin works through the Law to bring death. Returning to our baptism reminds us of the life given to us by God’s Spirit. We believers used to be one thing – now we are another. We were dead, but now in Christ, we are a new creation. Our new life, our identity, our purpose & future is all the result of God’s action for us in Christ Jesus. That news inspires thankfulness & joy, not pride. None of us can see inside the heart of another person to know if they are an unbeliever. There are times when God calls us to make decisions regarding the faith of another person. We try to do that based upon that person’s own words, rather than upon our opinion. Satan loves to tempt us to elevate our opinions, & our sinful nature loves to wallow in them. Satan loves to divide us. It is God who has the power to unite us & make us alive together with Christ. The text from Ephesians gives us a picture of “the two kinds of righteousness.” The first portion focuses on the grace of God: dead in sin, made alive in Christ, because of His great mercy. That is passive righteousness; the righteousness of Jesus given in exchange for our sins. It is all God’s doing, God’s giving – God’s choosing of us that goes back even before creation & the beginning of time. This is the righteousness that defines our relationship before God, & because it is all God’s doing, we can rest assured in His word & promises. It does not depend on us or our good works, but depends entirely on Jesus & what He has done for us. In verse 10, St. Paul goes on to instruct us about the 2nd kind of righteousness, the active kind that is still God’s work in us. This active righteousness is the good works He wants us to do, & has prepared in advance for us to do. They are not necessary for our salvation. They do not define our status before God. But they are necessary in our lives for the good of our neighbor, & they do describe our relationship with our neighbor. Ephesians 5 & 6 describe how this work that God has planned in advance for us to do, shows itself in our relationships: husband & wife, children & parents, employee & employer. Secure in our relationship with God, by grace through faith, we are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live as His people in this world, loving our Lord, by loving our neighbor. No matter what the world may say, that is a far better life than living as children of wrath. Amen. All our knowledge, sense & sight lie in deepest darkness shrouded till Your Spirit breaks our night with the beams of truth unclouded. You alone to God can win us; You must work all good within us. Father, Son & Spirit, Lord, praise to You & adoration! Grant that we may trust Your Word, confident of our salvation, while we here below must wander, till we sing Your praises yonder. Amen. LSB 904:2, 4. Midweek 4 – 2024 LSB #’s 423, 439:1, 13-15; 430:1, 4; 877
Text – Psalm 41:5 SOON & NEVER David prayed in Psalm 41, “My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die, & his name perish?’” King David had plenty of enemies, which is why he wrote those words. After he was anointed by Samuel (1 Samuel 16:13), but before he finally attained the throne, David spent a long time being hunted by King Saul, who jealously made himself David’s enemy (1 Samuel 19). After David reached the throne, he was obliged to continue the war against Israel’s generational enemy, the Philistines. (2 Samuel 21:15–22) There was also David’s son Absalom, who staged a coup to remove his father from the throne. (2 Samuel 15) These are examples of the enemies who maliciously said of David, “When will he die, & his name perish?” Given the opportunity, David could have provided good & faithful answers to both of those questions: “When will he die?” fumed his enemies. David could have rightly answered, “Whenever the Lord God desires it. Maybe sooner, maybe later, but not a moment before I receive from the Lord every day written for me in His book.” The next question gets a one-word answer: “When will his name perish?” David could say, “Never. My name shall not perish.” Yahweh Himself promised to preserve & protect David’s name & memory forever. God chose David according to His own good pleasure, saying to the prophet Samuel, “You shall anoint for Me him whom I declare to you.” (1 Samuel 16:3) Later, the same God swore His eternal oath to David: “I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth... I will raise up your offspring after you... & I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever... Your house & your kingdom shall be made sure forever before Me. (2 Samuel 7:9, 12, 13, 16) “My enemies say of me in malice, ‘When will he die, & his name perish?’” Soon, & never sounds almost glib, so confident was David in the word & promise of God. As he prayed to the Lord in another place, “This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50) & again, “Your promise is well tried, & Your servant loves it.” (119:140) David also declared to all who would listen, “The word of the Lord proves true.” (Psalm 18:30) The Son of God spoke through David in Psalm 41, saying, “My enemies say of Me in malice, ‘When will He die, & His name perish?’” David’s words in the psalms are actually the words of Jesus because all the psalms were written about Him who is our Lord: they “bear witness about Me,” said Jesus. (John 5:39) Like His father David, Jesus also had – & still has – plenty of enemies. Our Lord’s most famous is “that ancient serpent, who is the deceiver of the whole world.” Death is an enemy of Christ, but He destroyed its power with His own death. Jesus accumulated many enemies during the days of His humiliation; men who feared His incarnation, hated His preaching, could not abide His authority & conspired to see Him die. Like His father David before Him, our Lord Jesus could likewise give good & faithful answers to the questions posed by His enemies: To their question, “When will he die?” Jesus could rightly answer His enemies, “I shall die at exactly the right time; not a moment before & not a moment after that time decreed from eternity by My Father in heaven! You may rest assured, My enemy, that I shall indeed die. The Son of Man must ‘suffer many things... & be killed, & on the third day be raised.’ (Matthew 16:21) But you, O enemy, you shall not take My life from Me. I voluntarily lay it down & have authority to take it up again! “This charge I have received from My Father,” (John 10:18) & not from an enemy! “You would have no authority over Me at all unless it had been given you from above.” (John 19:11) Nonetheless, I shall indeed soon die. As to the question asked in spite, “When will his name perish?” our Lord’s answer is the same as David’s: Never. After His entrance into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, Jesus prayed, “‘Father, glorify Your name.’ Then a voice came from heaven: ‘I have glorified it, & I will glorify it again.’” (John 12:28) Jesus is the name of God, & His name is glorious! The heavenly Father glorified His own, eternal, imperishable name when He placed that name upon Jesus of Nazareth, the child ‘conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary,’ of whom the angel said, He “will be called holy – the Son of God.” (Luke 1:35) The heavenly Father glorified His name when His Son was lifted up for the sins of the world, drawing all people to Himself. (John 12:32) The eternal name of God was glorified in the resurrection of our Lord, when God “highly exalted Him & bestowed on Him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:9), “far above all rule & authority & power & dominion, & above every name that is named.” (Ephesians 1:21) “My enemies say [of Jesus] in malice, ‘When will He die, & His name perish?’” Soon & inevitably never, says the Lord. In the days of His humiliation, Jesus’ answers to His enemies’ questions were firm & unshakable, as were David’s answers before Him, so confident was the Christ in His Father’s love. Like it or not, you also have plenty of enemies; the Small Catechism names them in the 3rd Petition of the Lord’s Prayer: “The devil, the world, & our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come.” You might have accumulated other enemies for yourself – enemies that you can name personally. Whomever your additional enemies might be, they all fit squarely into that group of three. Perhaps you have never had anyone directly say to you, “I wish you were dead; I wish your memory would disappear,” but if your child is on social media, he or she probably has heard at least that much, if not more. In the same way that Psalm 41 speaks of David & of your Christ, it speaks of you. It speaks about you because it speaks about Jesus, & you have been eternally united to Him in Baptism. Because of your baptismal connection to Jesus, & because of your participation in your father David’s confident faith, you are able to give the same confident & even glib answer to your enemies as both David & Jesus confidently gave before you: “When will he or she die?” You can answer by saying, “Soon enough – but not a moment too soon or a moment too late. My Lord’s ‘eyes saw my unformed substance; in [His] book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me.’ (Psalm 139:16) Like the stars are in heaven, so are my days on earth: ‘Not one is missing.’” (Isaiah 40:26) You, O enemy, can worry & fret about my death if you wish! I shall not! My Lord Jesus has promised: “Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” (Luke 12:24–26) Your enemies say of you in malice, “When will your name perish?” Your answer is “Never.” Said the Lord, “Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:20) “You shall be delivered …along with everyone whose name was written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” (see Daniel 12:1; Revelation 13:8) You are already part of “the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven.” (Hebrews 12:23) You shall not be forgotten, & the memory of you shall never cease. Through your Baptism into Christ, the Lord of hosts has engraved you on the palms of His hands. (Isaiah 49:16) Your life & your name shall always be before Him. Your enemies shall be the ones who come to nothing. Amen. O dearest Jesus, what law hast Thou broken that such sharp sentence should be spoken? Of what great crime hast Thou to make confession, what dark transgression? But worthless is my sacrifice, I own it; yet, Lord, for love’s sake Thou wilt not disown it; Thou wilt accept my gift in Thy great meekness nor shame my weakness. And when, dear Lord, before Thy throne in heaven to me the crown of joy at last is given, where sweetest hymns Thy saints forever raise Thee, I, too, shall praise Thee. Amen. LSB 439:1, 14-15. 3rd Sunday in Lent – B LSB #’s 451, 587, 427
Text – 1 Corinthians 1:21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. THE FOLLY OF WHAT WE PREACH Benjamin Franklin has been quoted as saying, “A learned fool writes his nonsense in better language than the unlearned, but still – ‘tis nonsense.’” From God’s perspective there are a lot of learned fools on earth. Some people recognize that & others do not. Many of our most educated people today believe that all life on earth evolved through random chance. From this they conclude that either, there is no God, or, if there is a god, he’s not all he’s cracked up to be. The wisdom of the world has been unable, even unwilling, to know the Triune God. Therefore, He breaks completely with the wisdom of the world. The world’s wisdom always goes off into its own proud, self-sufficient, self-glorifying paths & blinds itself to God’s wisdom which is spread around it throughout creation. Not even in one slight point does God accommodate Himself to the world’s wisdom. In fact, He runs directly counter to it, & it pleased God through the folly of the cross to save those who believe. God recognizes the need for mankind to completely surrender; to submit to His wisdom & to His will. As draconian as that sounds, keep in mind it is God’s desire that all people be saved from eternal death & come to the knowledge of the truth. (1 Timothy 2:4) He sent His only Son to take the punishment we deserve & to live the perfect life that we could not. It’s the perfect plan to save people who cannot help themselves. We do nothing. Jesus does everything. We get the credit. That people reject this plan shows the depth of man’s depravity & arrogance. People feel compelled to argue against the love our Lord demonstrated in His suffering & death for our sins. However, the good news of our reconciliation to God is not an argument. It is simply an announcement of great joy that is for all the people. What is astounding is the fact that it meets our hearts square on, in a direct clash. This good news aims to reverse man’s heart completely – to set it going in the very opposite direction. The Gospel proclamation fully intends to convert, to turn completely around; nothing less. That call to die to myself is what my sinful heart finds so repulsive. Every man, woman & child on this earth must come to grips with that revulsion to surrendering & submitting. We have no excuse. As St. Paul wrote in Romans 1: “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power & divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” (1:20 NIV) Yahweh’s power & godhead are on full display in every cell of the human body. There is no way that even one of us just occurred by random accident. In fact, God created every single human being for the express purpose of bringing us to eternal paradise. All that you & I have to do is to stop resisting & the Holy Spirit will gather us there. In light of the church leaders’ resistance, Stephen quoted God speaking of His creation: “Did not my hand make all these things?” (Acts 7:50 ESV) Then, due to the unfaithful response of the church leaders, Stephen said, “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart & ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit.” (Acts 7:51a ESV) A few words later, those leaders covered their ears, dragged Stephen out of the city & stoned him to death. That is a perfect example of how God’s plan of salvation often works. We do not preach a prosperity gospel here on earth; rather a theology of the cross. As Jesus said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33b-c ESV) Our ‘prosperity gospel’ begins with the resurrection of the dead on the Last Day. Now, that doesn’t mean God will not bless us in this life, but it is in heaven that we will be our best selves because sin & its corruption will be no more. The prosperity gospel on earth is simply an attempt to make the cross pleasant to our day & age. It’s an attempt to accommodate the Gospel to men & to their wisdom – their ways of thinking. God knows what happens if He allows us to remain on our own throne. We die for eternity. Out of love, our Creator designed a plan of salvation that calls us & empowers us to surrender our throne to His Son. Our sinful nature would never give up its throne on its own. First, our sinful nature must be revealed to us for what it is – pure evil, & be careful if that judgment strikes you as too extreme. Our sinful nature does not lead us to hell for nothing. God’s Word tells us that even our righteousness deeds are like a filthy garment. (Isaiah 64:6a NASB) Apart from Christ, we are certainly poor & miserable sinners. The good news then, is that God recognizes our helpless & evil condition, & He does not leave us there. Since none of us could know Him through human wisdom, “…it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:21 ESV) Once we recognize the evil of our sin, then God’s love empowers us to step off of our throne. God’s foolish love gives us a reason to put our trust in Him. In the crucifixion of His own Son, for our evil, we see a love that is unconditional & will stop at nothing in order to draw us back into the world of the living. It is a drastic process that is necessary for the inconceivable change that the Father, Son & Holy Spirit desire to work in you & in me. We do not get to God, or find the key to knowing God, through our efforts. Rather, God comes to us & establishes the terms of the encounter in the proclamation of the cross. Christ & Him crucified is good news whether a person likes it or not. Christianity is not principally about ethics, about how we live or the choices & decisions we make. It was the Cross at Golgotha rather than the Sermon on the Mount which produced the impact of Christianity on the world. The crucifixion is not only THE act of redemption, it is also the greatest moment of God’s revelation. This is Christianity... & this is Lutheranism. What Luther taught was not that God is somehow there, despite defeat, sorrow, humiliation, pain, anguish, failure, sin & death. Instead, Luther’s reformation taught that God Himself confronts us in person & makes His presence near, in & through defeat, sorrow, humiliation, pain, anguish, failure, sin & death. The contrary things of failure, sin & death constitute the raw materials which God personally transforms in the human heart. God reveals Himself through a contrary form. That form is Christ on the Cross, not glory as the world defines it. That is reality on this side of Heaven, because sin has turned God’s creation utterly upside down. St. Paul’s driving point is Christ & Him crucified for our sins. Christ & Him crucified is the victory of God over sin, death & the devil. If we do not have that good news, then the reading from Exodus gives us simply a treadmill religion of works: You shall have no other gods. You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. You shall not murder, commit adultery, steal, or bear false witness against your neighbor. (20:3-17 ESV) In Satan’s realm that treadmill never stops, no matter how exhausted you are. Jesus said, “Come to me, all who labor & are heavy laden, & I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28 ESV) Jesus’ death on the cross alone secures our pardon from the crucifixion we deserve individually & collectively. The cross is that graphic, that frightening, that glorious & good! The very existence of the Cross, & of the crucified Christ, forces us to make a crucial turn: Will we look for God somewhere else, or will we own what God Himself has presented as His self-disclosure? The crucified Christ, is the basis of our knowledge of God & how we live before Him. In the crucifixion & resurrection of Jesus, something is “given” over which we have no control. We may accept it, attempting to work out its implications for our understanding of God & the world. We may reject it & base our understanding on something else. But there it stands as a monument the world over. Christ, crucified for our sins, that we might truly live. The Christian faith is not primarily about ideas or concepts, a philosophy of ethics, or a way of life, though it may give rise to them. At its heart lies not an idea or concept, but an event in human history. It is an occurrence in which God was engaged in the most intimate endeavor between the Creator & the creature; a battle between life & death. From its very beginning to its end, the NT points us to the crucified Christ who is now risen & reigning from the power of the Cross. This is why He was crowned with thorns, restrained, & uttering those life-giving words: “Father, forgive them.” That is how God reigns, in forgiveness, & it is His present glory. We know of His love for us because of the crucifix. In 1 Corinthians 1, death & life, weakness & strength, suffering & glory, wisdom & folly, sorrow & joy are all interwoven in the fact of the crucifix. There, condemnation leads to justification, treason & betrayal effect vindication & friendship, alienation & violence bring about adoption & peace. There, the world was turned upside-down. The absurdity of the Cross epitomizes the remarkable & paradoxical way in which God works out the salvation of those He loves. That is the folly of what we preach! Amen. I know my faith is founded on Jesus Christ, my God & Lord; & this my faith confessing, unmoved I stand on His sure Word. Our reason cannot fathom the truth of God profound; who trusts in human wisdom relies on shifting ground. God’s Word is all sufficient, it makes divinely sure; & trusting in its wisdom, my faith shall rest secure. Amen. LSB 587:1. |
AuthorPastor Dean R. Poellet Archives
March 2024
Categories |