God Exceeds Our Expectations - Apr 24, 2011

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THE EASTER HOMILY:

This homily has been arranged on the basis of the resurrection accounts found in the following Scriptures: Matthew 28:1-10, Mark 16:1-8, Luke 24:1-12, John 20:1-10.
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Grace and Peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Risen, Living and Powerful Savior, Jesus Christ.

On the first Easter Sunday, two disciples of Jesus decided to make the seven mile trip from Jerusalem to a little town called Emmaus. Along the way a stranger joined them. At first they were prevented from recognizing Him, but the Bible tells us that the stranger was actually Jesus risen from the dead.

As they walked, they talked about the terrible events that had just taken place in Jerusalem. The stranger surprised them when He asked them what they were talking about. They were astonished that this guy didn’t know what had happened. After all, it had shaken up the whole city!

Luke 24, verse 18…

“18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, “Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?”
19“What things?” he asked.
“About Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel” (Luke 24:18-21 NIV).

These disciples were sad because they had had such great expectations. They had seen Jesus perform miracles of healing, even raising a man named Lazarus from the dead! They had expected that soon Israel would be free from Caesar’s rule for good. They thought that Jesus would redeem the Jewish people from the rule of Rome.

But the Savior sent from God had not failed. He had come to set the people free alright, but not from the temporary rule of an earthly government. He had come to set them free from their sins, and to give the gift of eternal communion with God to all who believe.

As human beings, our attention is often drawn to the temporary. What we ask God to do, or expect Him to do is frequently insignificant next to what He actually does. God exceeds our expectations.

This is seen over and over in the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. So, lets turn our thoughts to the events that took place in the early morning on the first Easter Sunday. May the Holy Spirit help our minds to see the greatness of God’s wisdom and power as we see Him exceed the expectations of everyone.
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It was early in the morning. Still dark in fact. But Mary Magdalene had gotten up anyway. She and a group of women had made plans to visit the tomb of Jesus. Mary had seen Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus take the Master’s body from the cross. She had followed them to the little garden that was near the hill of crucifixion. She had seen them bearing the linens and the spices that they would use to wrap His body for burial. She had watched as they exited the tomb and rolled that massive stone in place that served as the tomb’s door.

No doubt they had done as good a job as they could in the short time before Sundown and the beginning of the day of rest. But Mary and the other women would make sure that nothing had been done too hastily. They had bought burial spices and made plans. They would ensure that their beloved Master’s body was honored properly with one last act of devotion.

They had spent so much time with Jesus. They had served Him, providing for His needs in any way they could while He was doing the work of His ministry. Mary Magdalene remembered well why she had followed Jesus from place to place. She had been possessed by seven demons, and He had cast them out of her. Such loving concern He had and such great power.

But He hadn’t used that power at the end. And His end had come oh, so quickly. Betrayed. Imprisoned. Tried, condemned and crucified - all in less than twenty-four hours.

Grieving for a loved one was hard enough. It was made harder by how swiftly He had been taken from them. In a way, the women were going to the tomb for themselves. As hard as this last task might prove, it would help them to say goodbye.

They expected to find a dead Jesus. But God smiled and gave them a resurrected Lord.

They had expected one last goodbye. But God showed them that this was only the beginning.

As they approached the tomb in the early morning darkness, they had been talking quietly. But then one of the women stopped and looked startled. How could they have forgotten! The door! Who would roll away the massive stone door from the mouth of the tomb?

At the entrance to the tomb there was a channel carved in the rock. In that channel was set a large, flat, circular stone. With enough force applied, the stone would roll up the slight incline in the channel and allow entrance to the tomb. It wasn’t locked, but the door was heavy. To heavy. Perhaps one of them would have to return to Jerusalem to fetch someone who could help. Mary Magdalene could make the trip if it came to that. She seemed to have enough energy this morning. The rest could wait if necessary.

The women didn’t know that the chief Priests and the Pharisees had spoken to Pilate the previous day. They had requested that guards be posted at the tomb. They thought the disciples might come steal His body away and claim that He had risen from the dead. Pilate had given them a guard of soldiers and had commanded them to seal the tomb with his own seal, so that any who broke that seal would know they would face the wrath of Rome. If the women had known about the guard, perhaps they would not have come.

But they would not see any soldiers at the tomb that day. For earlier that morning the soldiers had been startled. Below them the ground had begun to shake. Above them the sky had lit up as an angel in brilliant white descended from the sky. The angel hadn’t spoken a word to them, but setting his feet down on the earth, he had strode up to the door of the tomb and had calmly flicked the massive stone out of the track and flat onto its side. That done, he turned toward the path leading to Jerusalem and sat down on the stone like he was waiting for someone.

When the soldiers had recovered enough of their senses to move again, they moved on out of that place! Rome didn’t pay them enough to fight with angels. And it was clear that this angel wasn’t waiting to speak with them.

The soldiers expected a rag-tag band of disciples to attempt an opening of this tomb. But God smiled, and sent a single, mighty angel to show the world that Jesus needed no disciples to open His tomb. The risen Christ had already left.

Up the path the women had come in the hazy morning darkness. The sun was warming the horizon, but in the leafy garden it was still dim. But even in the early morning gloom the women noticed that something was not right up ahead. Where the tomb should have stood all white and solid, there loomed the dark, black hole of a doorway. And the stone was not neatly rolled up the channel and locked in place with a wedge – No! That massive stone was cast haphazardly on the ground in front of the tomb! Had Jesus’ enemies come here to desecrate His grave? Hadn’t His murder been enough?!

Running footsteps startled the women, and they turned to see Mary Magdalene striding back down the trail toward Jerusalem. Going for help no doubt. But the other women did not follow her. But they could not merely stand and wait either. Even fear of what they might find could not keep them back from the door of the tomb. It beckoned to them. Their love for the Master pushed them forward. They must see what had been done.

But what they found inside the tomb did not horrify them, it puzzled them! The grave clothes were here, but Jesus’ body was gone. And as they stood there wondering what had happened, two men appeared in the tomb. Or at least they looked like men. They wore dazzling white robes. Their appearance was so dazzling that the women were filled with fear! They melted to the ground in front of these two visitors, and as they did the visitors spoke:

“…Why do you look for the living among the dead?” (Luke 24:5 NIV).

“…Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay” (Matthew 28:5-6 NIV).

“6He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again’” (Luke 24:6-7 NIV)

“7But go, tell his disciples and Peter, ‘He is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you’” (Mark 16:7 NIV).

When angels give you a message to deliver, you move quickly. And the women did. Exiting the crowded tomb, they hurried toward Jerusalem with both fear and great joy. Jesus was alive. Raised from the dead. The message had come from angels. The tomb was open and empty. And the angels had said that they would see Jesus in Galilee like He had told them before! Oh, what else had He said that they had forgotten so quickly? The minds of the women raced with their feet.

But around a corner they came to a halt. No doubt every mouth opened in awe and every set of eyes widened, and their lips all curled into huge smiles. There in their path stood Jesus Himself. He greeted them as they fell at His feet in worship.

The women had expected the worst when they approached the broken open tomb. But God smiled and sent them two gentle angels to explain the mystery before them.

And then the women had expected to see Jesus in Galilee, some 75 miles to the north. But Jesus smiled and met them before they even reached Jerusalem.

By this time, Mary Magdalene had reached Peter and John and told them what she had seen. The tomb was broken into, and no doubt some enemy had stolen Jesus’ body away. Winded and in fright she said,

“…They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!” (John 20:2 NIV).

Peter and John wasted no time. Leaving Mary to catch her breath, they left together, bound for the garden tomb. As they ran John’s stride outdistanced Peter’s putting John at the door to the tomb first. But stepping up to the shadowy door, John stopped. He saw the grave clothes lying there. Empty. And even though Jesus had told them of His coming death AND His resurrection to follow, John stood puzzled at door of the tomb. Perhaps Jesus’ words were finally coming back to Him,

“…We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. 32He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. 33On the third day he will rise again” (Luke 18:31-33 NIV).

As Peter reached the entrance to the tomb he barged right past John. And there apart from the grave clothes Peter found the cloth that had been used to wrap Jesus’ head. But it was not cast aside in haste. It had been neatly folded like a person might fold a hand towel. It had been set aside like something that had served its short lived purpose and was now of little use.

Finally John entered the tomb and stood there with Peter.

No grave desecrators would have left things like this. They either would have fled with everything, or they would have left a mess. They certainly wouldn’t have folded the head cloth into a neat little square! Why they blew the door away and then carefully folded this little cloth was beyond explanation. Unless…

And there standing in the tomb, perhaps John finally realized that it was true. The Master had risen, just as He had said He would.

Whatever John had expected to find, it was not this. A tomb was not the usual place to find life. Not the usual place to find a beginning. But God smiled when His Son finished suffering the punishment for the sins of the world. In the empty tomb of our Risen Savior, we find that God greatly exceeds our expectations.

For our daily sins of thought, word, and deed with might well expect God’s judgment. But by God’s grace, and the work of the Holy Spirit we are led to repent of these sins. And in Christ we find complete forgiveness.

United to Christ Jesus through the powerful waters of baptism, and held together to Christ by faith, we are not only guaranteed newness of life after our earthly death, we are also given newness of life now. Romans 6, verse 4…

“Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We 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.
5If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin—7because anyone who has died has been freed from sin” (Romans 6:4-7 NIV).

By Christ’s suffering and death your sins have been atoned for. Through faith in Jesus you are raised from spiritual death, to life. Expect that God will raise you on the Last Day, and will place your gently by His side. But also expect that even in this, God will exceed your every expectation.

In Christ Jesus our Risen Savior, AMEN.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

He Hung Forsaken, So We Stand Forgiven - Apr 22, 2011

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SERMON:

The apostle John penned these words in the first century AD:

“Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1 NIV).

Whenever someone claims to be speaking on God’s behalf, it’s a good idea to test that person. Throughout history, men and women have manipulated million by claiming THEIR message was God’s.

When Jesus appeared on earth some 2,000 years ago, He claimed that His message was from God. To validate His claim, His message came was accompanied by three things. First, He performed miracles. He healed the sick and the blind and even raised the dead to life. He walked on water, cast out demons and fed thousands with an armload of food. Second, He fulfilled Old Testament prophecies. When examined, the details of His life matched up with what the ancient prophets had said the Savior would be like. Third, when Jesus spoke, His sermons fit perfectly with what the Bible said. In fact, His words illuminated the Scriptures, bringing His listeners to a clear understanding of what the Bible really meant.

When Jesus died on the cross, we find these same three things illuminating that dark event. At the cross we find miracles happening, prophesies being fulfilled and the words of Jesus illuminating not only what the Bible meant when it foretold the coming Savior, but also what that Savior’s life and death means for us today.

The theme of our meditation on this Good Friday is: He hung forsaken, So we stand forgiven.
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In this reading from Mark, Jesus has been hanging on the cross since nine in the morning.

Mark 15:33-39 (NIV)

33 At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 34 And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” (which means “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”).
35 When some of those standing near heard this, they said, “Listen, he’s calling Elijah.”
36 Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. “Now leave him alone. Let’s see if Elijah comes to take him down,” he said.
37 With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
38 The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, “Surely this man was the Son of God!”
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Let’s quickly look back through this text and explain the simple details.

Darkness came over the land from noon till three. Obviously, darkness at noon is not typical. It was certainly a local darkness, since we’re told that it covered the whole land. Some believe that the sun stopped shining altogether as a supernatural sign to the whole world that something historic was happening.

At three o’clock, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” To this point, Jesus had said little from the cross. Like a body builder attempting his heaviest lift, this was not a time for idle chit-chat. Yet, here Jesus was moved Him vocalize His agony.

The Roman soldiers below misunderstood Jesus. They thought He was calling for mercy and asking the Old Testament prophet Elijah to save Him.

These soldiers were hard men of war and professional executioners. Jesus’ words aroused no pity from them. Instead, they thought that perhaps that encouraging this man to speak might provide some amusement to pass the time on this grim assignment.

So, they lifted up a sponge full of sour wine (probably from their own lunch) up on a hyssop reed. This would wet the lips of the crucified and help Him to speak. It worked. Jesus cried out one last time, and died.

Mark doesn’t include what Jesus cried out, but thankfully, the apostle John does in his Gospel. Jesus’ last two statements were, “It is finished” and “Father into your hands I commit my spirit” (John 19:28, 30).

At this point, we’re told that the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom. This curtain was a huge thing, as thick as a person’s hand and hung between the two innermost rooms in the Temple. It closed off the room called the “Most Holy Place” from the rest of the Temple. This room represented God’s presence.

Last, we’re told that at the foot of Jesus’ cross stood a Centurion. A typical crucifixion detail assigned four soldiers to each man to be crucified, and one Centurion to oversee them.

Centurions were the backbone of the Roman army. They were hard men who earned their positions not merely through strength and toughness, but through cunning on the battlefield.

No doubt this Centurion had seen a lot of suffering and death through the course of his service to Rome. But at the death of Jesus he saw something else: truth. Upon hearing the roar which Jesus sent up when He chose to die, the Centurion testified, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”
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Earlier I said that at the cross we find three things illuminating this dark event. Things which show us it’s meaning. We find miracles, prophesies fulfilled and Jesus’ Words. Let’s take at look at these things.

The miracles aren’t hard to find. There was the supernatural darkness that cloaked the land. There was the huge Temple veil torn in two by the hand of God. And Matthew’s Gospel tells us of others. At Jesus’ death an earthquake shook the land, and many tombs were opened. Many followers of God were resurrected from the dead and later appeared to people in Jerusalem. (Matthew 27)

The prophesies fulfilled aren’t hard to find either, thanks to the Gospel writers who point them out to us. The Old Testament prophets foretold first of all, that He would be crucified. That He would be mocked by those below. Prophecies foretold how the soldiers would divide up Jesus’ remaining possessions, His clothes. The prophets even speak of how they would give him sour wine to drink.
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The miracles surrounding the cross were meant to grab the people’s attention. To show them that God was at work here.

The prophesies were meant to show that Jesus was the Savior that God promised would save sinners from hell.

Both the miracles and the prophesies fulfilled were simply not things that could have been faked, or fulfilled by human ingenuity or planning.

When the Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate presented Jesus to the mob he said, “This is the man”. Through miracles and prophesies fulfilled on mount of Crucifixion God said the same thing, “This is the man. This is the Christ whom I promised”.
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With His own words from the cross, God’s Son said the same thing. When Jesus said, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He was doing two things. He was expressing the depths of his suffering. He was cut off from all God’s goodness. He was suffering the punishment that all mankind’s sins had earned. AND, He was also quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, the Psalm which most clearly depicts the suffering Savior.

With Jesus’ final words from the cross, He testified once and for all that His work of redeeming sinners was finished. He said, “It is finished… Father into your hands I commit my Spirit”.

He hung forsaken, so we stand forgiven. There is nothing left for us to do. Forgiveness has been earned by Jesus, and is given as a gift wherever this Good News is proclaimed.
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He hung forsaken, so we stand forgiven. This is the meaning of the cross. EACH Gospel brings this theme out clearly by the details they record about Christ’s crucifixion.

Matthew, Mark and Luke all include the detail that the curtain before the Most Holy Place was torn in two, showing that the way to God was no longer blocked by our sins. Now it had been opened through Christ’s sinless sacrifice.

Matthew and Mark both record Jesus crying out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Expressing the fact that Jesus experienced the full punishment for human sin – separation from God – Hell.

In Luke we’re told of a conversation between Jesus and one of the robbers crucified next to Him. After the robber expressed his faith in Jesus, Jesus told Him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise”. Jesus didn’t give him any penance to do, no assignment through which the robber could earn forgiveness. Jesus simply told this man who believed, The way is open and I’ll see you there TODAY.

In John Jesus’ precious and final words are recorded. He says, “It is finished”. Our suffering, He suffered. Our forgiveness He won. He hung forsaken, so we stand forgiven.
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Was Jesus really the Son of God? Did He really suffer for me and you? Are your sins really forgiven without any effort on your part? That’s the testimony of Scripture. That’s the testimony of all the details surrounding Christ’s cross.

And that’s the testimony of God the Father too. For three days after Jesus died on the cross, the Father raised Him from the dead and restored Him to glory.

He hung forsaken, so we stand forgiven. And He rose on Easter, so we can be certain that this is true.

But I’m getting ahead of myself. That’s what we get to celebrate on Sunday.

May the God of grace and forgiveness watch over your hearts on this day, and forever. May you always take shelter in Christ Jesus, our crucified, risen and living Savior. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Our Savior King Rides to Victory - Apr 17, 2011

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SERMON:

When it’s Oscar time they roll out the “red carpet”. When it’s wedding time they roll out the white runway. When Jesus rode into Jerusalem for the last time before His crucifixion, the people welcomed Him in a similar way.

Instead of bright white flashes from camera bulbs, there were bright flashes of green from palm branches. The people quickly cut branches from the surrounding trees and laid them down before the little donkey that Jesus rode upon.

Palm branches were more than just something to cover the dusty ground, though. They were symbols of victory. They were used to greet kings, deliverers, and distinguished visitors.

It was fitting that Jesus be greeted with symbols of victory, for He had come to wage war, and to triumph. On this last Sunday before His death, Jesus rode into Jerusalem as a powerful warrior king.

But the animal that He rode in on showed what kind of King He was. Not a brutal dictator, not a self-centered politician but a gentle, ever approachable Savior King.

In our sermon meditation for today, we consider the words of…

John 12:12-19 (NIV)

12The next day the great crowd that had come for the Feast heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem. 13They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting,
“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!”
14Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it, as it is written,
15 “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion;
see, your king is coming,
seated on a donkey’s colt.”
16At first his disciples did not understand all this. Only after Jesus was glorified did they- realize that these things had been written about him and that they had done these things to him.
17Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. 18Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him. 19So the Pharisees said to one another, “See, this is getting us nowhere. Look how the whole world has gone after him!”
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Grace and peace be to you from God our Spiritual Father, and from His Son Jesus, our Eternal King and Savior.

On Friday of this same week Jesus would ascend a throne as king. The unlikely throne of the cross, showing the world that He was the Savior King whom the ancient prophets had foretold.

On that throne our King would not drink the sweetest wine of the country, but instead he would drink down the bitter cup of God’s wrath over the sins of the world.

Jesus would do this to win what these palm fronds symbolized: victory. Victory over sin, victory over death and victory over the Devil. The forgiveness of sins secured by His triumph on the cross has been given to us, and to sinners like us.
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The people who surrounded Jesus with their songs and praise on that first Palm Sunday recognized that Jesus was A Powerful King.

This parade had begun in a little suburb of Jerusalem called Bethany, where Jesus was staying. The little donkey on which Jesus would ride had been secured and the crowds started out on the short journey to the holy city. It was less than two miles away.

Bethany was the town where Mary and Martha lived. And more notably, where their brother Lazarus had lived, and died, and where Jesus had raised him back to life.

Jesus had performed this miracle recently. So when He started out on His way to Jerusalem, the crowd that followed Him was a crowd that had seen that Jesus was more powerful than death itself.
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The Apostles who followed at Jesus’ side had seen Him do many other such miracles throughout His ministry. Since these miracles had been foretold by Old Testament prophets, these miracles also showed that Jesus was the Christ – the Savior sent from God.
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Some people must have ran ahead to Jerusalem and told the crowds there that Jesus was coming. Upon hearing this they too went out to greet Him.

They welcomed Jesus by shouting out a portion of Psalm 118.

Parts of Psalm 118 were used in worship at the Temple during the Passover celebration. Parts were also sung at the dinner table before and after the Passover Lamb was eaten. Verses 25-26 were used to greet people coming to Jerusalem for the Passover. They would shout:

“Hosanna!” (Which in Hebrew means, “Save now!”)
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

But when they shouted these words to Jesus they added some words which are not found in Psalm 118. They added the words,

“Blessed is the King of Israel!”
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The praise that they offered shows us that they believed He was the promised Messiah, the Chosen One of God. Jesus was the King of Israel coming to ascend His throne.

It’s pointless to speculate on what exactly they thought Jesus was going to do. We know that not even Jesus’ disciples really understood what the Christ would have to endure in the coming days.

What kind of King they thought He was going to be matters little. For we know what kind of King Jesus is. We know that Jesus was no earthly King. We know that He came to rule hearts, not lands. Jesus is A Spiritual King.
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About a year previous to the first Palm Sunday, Jesus had fed more than five-thousand people with five loaves of bread and two small fish. John 6, verse 14 informs us,

14After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” 15Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. (John 6:14 NIV)

Before the Son of God was born as a little Jewish baby, He had existed in eternal glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. He had no need whatsoever of an earthly kingdom. So when the people wished to make Him king by force, Jesus simply withdrew from them. This was not why He came to earth.
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But as Jesus rode toward Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He accepted their praise. He allowed them to call Him King.

He let all eyes be turned to Him with eager expectation, for they would soon see just what kind of a King He was. Jesus had come to suffer and die in the place of all sinners, to set us free from sin’s horrible consequences once and for all.
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Jesus’ outward appearance shows us that He came to be a Spiritual King. No other King would have humbled himself and entered Jerusalem like this. While the people’s praise was worthy of a King, look at all the other details of this parade.

As God the Son, Jesus could have called for detachment of Angel warriors to march around Him in gleaming glory. But instead, Jesus’ attendants were a handful of fishermen, a tax-collector and some other nobodies from the backwater district of Galilee.

We see no army of soldiers around this King, only crowds of wide-eyed commoners singing and shouting their praise.

Certainly a blazing white stallion would have been a more Kingly animal for Jesus to enter Jerusalem on. But in humility He rode on a donkey instead. And not even a full grow one! He rode on the back of a baby donkey.
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Of course, all these humble details are understandable when we remember that Jesus did not come to establish an earthly kingdom. He came to suffer and die to in order to do His Father’s will and to save sinners. As it says in 1 John 3, verse 8.

“…The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.” (1 John 3:8 NIV)

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Details about this Savior King had been foretold long ago. He would be born in Bethlehem, born to a virgin, a descendant of David.

Details about His ministry had been foretold. He would heal the sick, the blind, the lame and the deaf. He would bring comfort and hope to those weighed down by their sins.

The fact that this Savior King would ride on the little donkey had even been foretold. Zechariah 9, verse 9 says:

9 “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9 NKJV)

And the events of Jesus’ crucifixion were also foretold long before they occurred. How He would be betrayed. How they would mock Him. How He would be pierced for our transgressions. How none of His bones would be broken. How he would be laid to rest in a rich man’s tomb. And how He would rise on the third day proving His victory over death. Proving the Father’s acceptance of His sacrifice. Proving that His mission to pay for our sins was finished and successful. Proving that He was indeed the Savior King foretold.
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God Himself had spoken the first prophecy. In the Garden of Eden He said to the Serpent…

15 And I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your seed and her Seed;
He shall bruise your head,
And you shall bruise His heel.” (Genesis 3:15 NKJV)

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Jesus was that head-bruiser. As He rode out to Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday, He was riding out to battle, for us.

Not on a might steed, but on a little donkey.

Not wielding a sword of forged steel, but wielding the sword of God’s Word which could not be broken.

Not with a war cry, but in silent obedience to the Father’s plan.
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The people greeted Him as King, though they didn’t fully comprehend how great a King He was. Even the disciples didn’t understand how even these things which they were doing were fulfilling the words of the prophets.

And this can give us strength and comfort today. Jesus went to a Jerusalem which was filled with people, some who hated Him, some who loved Him, but NONE who completely understood Him and His mission.

Jesus went to Jerusalem with disciples, some who loved Him dearly, one who would betray Him, but NONE who really understood Him and how His battle must end. NONE who would stay by His side and love Him perfectly.

And which one of us would have done differently? Which one of us would have stayed by Jesus’ side never to flee in fear?

But here we find strength and comfort from our Powerful Savior King. For the victory does not depend on our faithfulness to Him, for we have continually failed our King.

Our victory depends on Him and on Him alone.

Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

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Those palm branches that the people laid before Jesus are always pointed to as a symbol of victory. But the people of desert lands have long seen them are symbolic of something else as well.

The palm tree of Palestine is a tall tree with deep roots. It can survive as long as 200 years in dry lands where other plants wither and die.

While most see the palm as a symbol of victory, it is also a symbol of life and immortality.

That is what that Great Savior King came to win for all sinners: forgiveness of sins, life and immortality.

On that first Palm Sunday, the people shouted with their mouths, and greeted a King they could see. Today, may our hearts shout out our spiritual praise, to the King we cannot see, but whom we love and trust in all the same.

“Hosanna!”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the King of Israel!” Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

A Man Forsaken - Apr 13, 2011

Throughout this Lenten season we’ve been trying to burn images on your mind. Images of Christ’s love for you illustrated by the things He went through to take your sins away.

We’ve seen Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, sweating blood as He thought of all that He would have to endure. A real struggle.

We’ve seen Jesus step boldly forward and meet the mob who would arrest Him and set Him on the road to the cross. A willing Savior.

We’ve seen Jesus stand before the Sanhedrin, accepting all their false accusations and coached witnesses without a word. An innocent man.

We’ve seen Jesus exchange places with a known murderer named Barabbas. An unbelievable exchange.

Tonight we see Jesus nailed to a wooden cross. A man forsaken.
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Mark 15:25-32 (NIV)

25It was the third hour when they crucified him. 26The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. 27They crucified two robbers with him, one on his right and one on his left. 29Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, “So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, 30come down from the cross and save yourself!”
31In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said, “but he can’t save himself! 32Let this Christ, this King of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe.” Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
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Over 650 years before Jesus was born, a prophet by the name of Isaiah penned these words about Him.

“ 1Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:1-3 ).

Jesus was a man forsaken. A man abandoned by those around Him.

Judas gave up on Jesus. Decided He wasn’t going to do the great things Judas had hoped. Decided to sell Jesus out for the relatively small price of thirty silver coins. A mere four month’s wages.

In the garden of Gethsemane, all of Jesus’ friends abandoned Him. They ran away, fearing for their own lives.

Peter turned back to follow Jesus to the palace of the High Priest. He even gained entrance into the courtyard of the High Priest. But there Peter ended up abandoning Jesus too. In what some would call a worse way than running. With heated, oath stained lies Peter denied even knowing Jesus.

The Jewish people abandoned the Savior when they gave Him over to the Romans. They HATED the Romans, and here they were – giving one of their OWN over to the Roman governor and requesting He be EXECUTED. The Roman Governor himself was puzzled over this. Pilate asked Jesus,

“…It was your people and your chief priests who handed you over to me. What is it you have done?” (John 18:35 NIV).

For a while, Pilate sort of sheltered Jesus. He recognized Him as being an innocent man. Even pronounced Him innocent. But in the end, Pilate gave Jesus up too as too much of a danger to protect. The crowd was getting restless, and He couldn’t afford another bad report set to Caesar.

Even the death that Jesus was condemned to die was a proclamation of abandonment. Everybody knew that crucifixion was reserved for only the worst criminals. For the murderers and enemies of the state. Crucifixion said, “You’re a lost cause. You can’t be rehabilitated. You’re no longer worthy of anything except to be a grotesque warning to others”.

Yes, Jesus was a “man forsaken”. But not only by his enemies in life, and his friends in death. He was forsaken by us also, for it was our sins that made His suffering and death necessary.
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But look again at those ancient words of Isaiah. For Isaiah tells us of another who forsook this man of sorrows. Another who abandoned Jesus.

“ 6We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6 NIV).
“…it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer…” (Isaiah 53:10 NIV).

The Father abandoned the Son too. Left Him to suffer the pain and punishment of Hell, in the place of sinners like you and me. He let Him endure our sentence. If the full penalty for our sins was to be lifted from us, someone had to feel it. God’s justice demanded it be so.

What Isaiah foretold, Jesus experienced and announced when He cried out from the cross,

“…My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34 NIV).

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Isaiah answered Jesus’ question nearly 700 years before it was asked. Isaiah answered WHY Jesus was forsaken by the LORD. The answer is found in Isaiah 53…

“ (v5) But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed…

(v11)...my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities…

(v12 …he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isaiah 53:5, 11, 12 NIV).

Jesus was a man forsaken. Forsaken by enemies. Forsaken by friends. Forsaken by His own God the Father.

In a sense, Jesus had been abandoning HIMSELF His whole life long. He covered His eternal glory as the Son of God. He didn’t use His unlimited knowledge for His own advancement. He got up early in the morning to pray to the Father, and stayed up late to heal the sick and the sinful. He restricted Himself to the human frame so that HIS SINLESS LIFE would be valid as a substitute payment for the rest of us SINFUL HUMAN BEINGS.

Like Paul wrote in Philippians 2, verse 5…

“5Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
7but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death—
even death on a cross!” (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV).

Jesus never married, because His one Love was the sinners He came to die for.

He was forsaken, so WE are accepted.

He was abandoned, so WE are adopted into the family of God. Sinners made saint. The filthy, cleansed. The sinful, forgiven.

He was given up to hell and death, so that WE could experience forgiveness and renewal, every day of our lives and into eternity.

In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 21 Paul says it like this…

“21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

I’ll say it again, He was forsaken, so WE are accepted. THAT’S why the cross of Christ is GOOD NEWS.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you the unspeakable horror you faced in our place. How can we ever speak enough thanks or express in words what this means to us? I don’t think we can. Accept our pitiful thanks, and all our other acts of service which fall SO short of Your love. Jesus, help us NEVER to live like we are forsaken by God. Every time we feel the pressures of life, or the guilt of sin weighing on our minds, come back to our hearts by Word and Spirit and show us again why you were forsaken – so we are accepted. Reign in our hearts Jesus. Amen.

An Unbelievable Exchange - Apr 6, 2011

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Our guest preacher tonight was Pastor Paul Naumann, pastor of our sister congregation (Ascension Lutheran) located in Tacoma, WA. This sermon is only available in audio download (see above).

Free in Christ Jesus - Apr 3, 2011

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Sermon:

Yesterday, I was sitting in the office thinking about how to approach preaching today’s message, when I got a call from my wife. An old school friend of ours had died in a motorcycle accident. He wasn’t even thirty years old yet.

When someone you know dies, it has a sobering effect. It reminds us that sooner or later, we too will “exit stage left” to stand before the Creator.

Will I be ready? That’s the question that arises when we think of our own death. Will I be ready to stand before God?

In today’s sermon reading, the apostle Paul has an immensely comforting message for us mortals, doomed to die.
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Romans 8:1-4 (ESV)

1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
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In the beginning, the first two human beings didn’t say or do anything God didn’t want them to. Adam and Eve lived according to God’s will, according to His law.

God’s law is simply defined as everything that is right and good to do or not do.
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After Adam and Eve sinned, they no longer had the ability to live according to God’s law. Even if they had lived the rest of their lives without sinning, the one disobedience of taking from the forbidden tree would have would have remained on their record - making it impossible for them to live with God.

The human race today is still incapable of living according to God’s law.

Because we sin against God, God’s law condemns us. It’s not that the law is evil, it’s that we are. The law merely points out the evil we have done, and the eternal punishment we deserve because of it.
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It’s hopeless to think we might be able to earn our way back into Eden by doing good things. As soon as sin infected the human race, we were doomed. For even a single failure, a single sin, disqualifies us.

In a sense becoming sinful is like being dropped in the middle of the ocean. You can paddle around a bit, but there’s no way you’re going to make it out unless someone comes to rescue you.

And that’s exactly what happened.

The Son of God was born into the human race. He took the name “Jesus”. Because God was His Father, Jesus was born without sin. He was able to do what no other human being had done since Adam and Eve – He lived perfectly according to God’s law.

Jesus lived His life without ever sinning. At the end of His life He offered His perfect self as a sin offering for the human race. Jesus voluntarily suffered the punishment for everyone’s sins while He hung on the cross.

Because He did this, all who trust in Him are no longer under the condemnation of the law. Our punishment has been used up on Christ. It no longer hangs over our heads. Instead of being under the law, the Bible says we are now under GRACE (God’s undeserved love).

In Romans 6 Paul reminded his fellow Christians…

“…sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14 NIV).

And here in Romans 8, Paul repeats this thought.

“1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2 ESV).

Are you ready to meet your Creator? In Christ you are. For in Christ, you stand above the law, with nothing to condemn you.

I want to point out very clearly what God does not say here. He does not say Christ died for some of our sins, and we have to pay for the rest. That would not lead to a life of freedom and peace. That would lead to continual uncertainty. Have I done enough? How much is enough? What if I die tomorrow?
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When the Spirit of God leads a sinner to trust in Christ Jesus for forgiveness, they are no longer under the condemnation of the law. That’s why Jesus could say to the thief on the cross,

“…today you will be with me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43).

That man had come to trust in Jesus. He could no longer be condemned to hell because of his sins. He was free to enter heaven at the end of his life, and Jesus said He would.

We also have been moved to trust in Jesus. We believe that He died for our sins too. We stand above the law. So long as we remain in Christ, we cannot be condemned to hell because of our sins.
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Now, this doesn’t just have an impact on our FUTURE. Paul says that Christ changes our final destination, AND the whole way we look at life now.

Romans 8:5-8 (ESV)

5For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 6To set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. 7For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. 8Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
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Paul points out two ways of living, the flesh way, and the Spirit way. When Paul talks about the “flesh” here he means “the SINFUL flesh” or the “sinful nature” within us.

This is the sinful nature we received from our parents, and which was passed down to them all the way from Adam and Eve.

If God’s Spirit isn’t guiding our hearts and minds, then the sinful flesh is. And all that the sinful flesh does is laced with sin and leads to all sorts of pain and suffering.

The people Paul was writing to knew all about living with the sinful flesh as their leader. That’s what they had done all their lives before coming to faith in Christ. In Romans 6 Paul asked them…

“When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death!” (Romans 6:20-21 NIV).

The “flesh” tries to drag us back into self-destructive habits and damaging behaviors toward others. All you have to do is read the newspaper to see the wonderful things that the sinful flesh leads people to do.

Yesterday I read about three guys who broken into a man’s home and beat him with a hammer, stabbed him with a knife and shocked him with a tazer. They did this so they could steal his stuff, and they did it to him because they knew he was confined to a wheel-chair and would be an easy target.

The way of the sinful flesh leaves a trail of destruction through our country every year. A trail of broken homes, dead children, emotionally and mentally damaged people, emptiness, disappointment, guilt and sorrow.

Of course the flesh always promises wealth or happiness or something good, but it fails to deliver.
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Even after the Holy Spirit brings a sinner to trust in Jesus for forgiveness, the flesh still holds on and tries to destroy. That’s what Paul is mainly writing to combat here in the book of Romans.

The sinful flesh tries to get Christians to see themselves as still under the law. The flesh knows that if we see ourselves as still under God’s law, then we’ll try to seek a way out – a way out from under our guilt and sorrow than the one way already given through Christ!

Our flesh tries to get us to see ourselves as under the law to suggest to us that Christ DIDN’T REALLY save us. We’re still condemned. We still need to find some way out of this mess. The flesh tries to unravel our faith in the one Savior.

That’s why Paul repeatedly reminded the Christ followers of Rome that their salvation was already complete. At the beginning of our text today Paul said…

“1There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2 ESV).

And he closes our text by repeating that thought.

Romans 8:9-10 (ESV)

9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.
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Paul says to the Romans, “IF indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you”. When he says this, he isn’t questioning whether the Romans were really Christians. He’s trying to invoke a response from them.

We can imagine the Christians in Rome responding like this, “IF the Spirit of God dwells in us? Of course He does! IF Christ is in us? Of course He is. He is the great God and Savior we trust in! So, Paul you mean to say that if God is in us through faith in Christ, THAN our spirits are alive because of His righteousness? Even though our lives are spattered with sin, dead with sin, we are made alive to God by Christ’s righteousness? Remarkable!”

Let that be your response to Paul also. IF God’s Spirit dwells in us? Of course He does, He’s why I believe in Christ! IF Christ is in us? Of course He is. He is my great God and Savior. That means that even though my live is filled with sin and failure, because Christ is in me I’m alive to God and covered with Christ’s righteousness? Remarkable!

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This text from Romans is packed with meaning. And we may not understand everything that Paul is saying here. But we can understand his most important point. No matter what sins you’ve done, in Christ they are forgiven. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Our friend who died in the motorcycle accident trusted in Jesus. He knew that because of Christ, he was above the law, no longer under the threat of condemnation. Now he knows that fact by experience.

Let this same truth give you hope for the future. In Christ you are above the law. Let this freedom empower you as to live a confident and joyful life as God’s child. As Paul wrote in Romans 6…

“…consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11 ESV).

Amen.

And the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

An Innocent Man - Mar 30, 2011

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Sermon:

In the early 90’s, Steven Spielberg directed a film about the holocaust called “Schindler’s List”. The film tells the story of a German business by the name of Oskar Schindler. During World War II, Schindler saved over a thousand Jews from being slaughtered by employing them in his factories.

For various reasons the film was shot in black and white with only a few instances of color. One such moment of color appears in the form of a red coat worn by a little Jewish girl. Later in the film, Schindler sees the same red coat, this time lying among the piles of the dead.

The horror of the holocaust and the stark redness of that coat blend together and make this an image that does not soon leave the memory.
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Tonight I would flash burn another image in your minds. Not an image of brilliant red, but of gleaming whiteness.

We do not know what color Jesus’ actual garments were as He stood, hands bound, before the religious high court called the Sanhedrin. But in one sense He stood there in white. The gleaming white of a clean conscience.

The image I would burn on your memory tonight is of an innocent Jesus. He is on trial, accused of many dark things, but He stands innocent.

Mark 14:53-65 (NIV)

53They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, elders and teachers of the law came together. 54Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
55The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any. 56Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
57Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: 58“We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this man–made temple and in three days will build another, not made by man.’” 59Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
60Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 61But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
63The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64“You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death. 65Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
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Courtrooms do not make people innocent or guilty. Those on trial enter already innocent or guilty. It is simply the job of the court to try and discover which is the case.
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This black, night-time trial was completely illegal according to the Sanhedrin’s rules of operation.

But that does not MAKE Jesus innocent.

The whole Sanhedrin had not gathered to try and discover whether Jesus was guilty of some crime or not. They had come there for the purpose of trying to quickly find some evidence that could be used to get Jesus put to death. Some evidence that they could point to in order to justify murdering Him.

But that does not MAKE Jesus innocent.

They had recruited men who were willing to lie for a price. And they had coached these witnesses to try and incriminate Jesus.

But that does not MAKE Jesus innocent.

We are told that many witnesses came forward to lay crimes at Jesus’ feet, but their testimony continually clashed in impossible ways. Their lies were obvious in their conflicting testimony.

But that does not MAKE Jesus innocent.

And then there was the silence. Through all the false testimony about Him, Jesus stood silent. He would not speak a word to correct their lies, defend His character or persuade them to let Him go.

But that does not MAKE Jesus innocent.

Many a guilty man has sat in the front of the court in utter silence. In fact, it sometimes seems that silence is more of an indicator of guilt than anything else. But just as Jesus’ silence did not make Him innocent, neither did it make Him guilty.

I suppose their repeated attempts to incriminate Him does at least suggest Jesus’ innocence. I mean, they were grasping at the wind when it came to finding something wrong that Jesus had done. As for finding something that would make him worthy of the death penalty, well, they had nothing anywhere near that.

And then there’s the abuse that Jesus suffered at their hands. We are told that they spit on Jesus and mocked Him. It was all darkly funny to them. But even the physical beating and the mockery that Jesus endured do not MAKE Him innocent.
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Jesus was innocent when He walked in the courtroom that night, and He was innocent when He walked out. But the evidence of THAT truth is not found in the courtroom.

Any who truly desired to know what Jesus was like, could have simply asked those who knew Him. They could have asked the mother who raised Him. They could have asked the blind men and the lepers whom He had healed. They could have asked Mary and Martha, or their brother Lazarus whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They could have asked any of the countless people who followed Jesus around if they had EVER heard a word from Jesus that was spoken in hatred. Who had EVER seen Jesus do something in carelessness, or with selfish intent, or with arrogant pride.

Today, we can also look to the testimony of Scripture to see the evidence of Jesus’ innocence. In 2 Corinthians 5 it says…

“21God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

In Hebrews 4 we read…

“15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin” (Hebrews 4:15 NIV).

In 1 Peter 2 it says it plainly,

“ He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth” (1 Peter 2:22 NIV).

And for those who want more proof of Jesus’ purity, proof that He wasn’t just innocent of any great crimes, but that He was completely pure in EVERY way before God the Father, there is the empty tomb of Easter morning.

God would not have raised a lying prophet from the grave. God would not have accepted the sacrifice of a dirty sinner on behalf of all the sinners of the world. No! Only a pure lamb of immeasurable value could be offered to atone for sins like the human race has committed.

No, if Jesus had been even the slightest bit dirty with sin, He would have remained in the grave. The women would have found Him (as they expected to) in the early morning hours of that first Easter Sunday.

But they didn’t. He had risen.
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I said earlier that the image I want to tattoo on your minds tonight is that of the gleaming white, innocent Jesus standing before the Sanhedrim.

Why this image? Not to prove the innocence of Jesus by the events that took place in that courtroom. No, the greater mass of evidence for Jesus’ purity is found outside that courtroom.

The fact that Jesus was silent in the face of all those false accusation didn’t prove His innocence, and neither did the abuse that was heaped on Him. But, all of this done to an innocent man DOES show us that Jesus CHOSE to go to the cross for us.

In a way He had to help the Sanhedrin overcome His innocence so that they would move Him along to the Romans who would eventually approve His execution.

Jesus was innocent to be sure, but He was no victim. He willingly went through this trial, on the way to our cross. He gave Himself to the wolves, in order to give us the gift of His innocence.
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In the movie “Schindler’s List” the image of the red coat is so shocking because you see it on a precious little girl, walking along in the land of the living, and then the next place you see it is in a place of the dead, among bodies piled for the burning.

With Jesus, we see the opposite happen. We see Him in His gleaming white coat of innocence standing before the Sanhedrin, as good as dead, on the way to pain and suffering and death on the cross. But then, the next place we see this gleaming coat of sinlessness is on ourselves. It is Jesus’ innocence, but it’s on US, placed there by the Holy Spirit by the hands of faith!
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Whenever you read about Jesus’ goodness in the Bible, remember, THAT PERFECT GOODNESS is now yours. Christ’s perfect purity is all that God sees when He sees YOU.

May that image warm your faith, your heart, your life. May that image give confidence and joy.

Let that image linger, and give you peace.

Amen.

And the Peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Sin Blinds Mankind - Mar 27, 2011

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Sermon:

Grace and peace be to you from God our Spiritual Father, and from our Leader and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Our Scripture readings for this Sunday have a unifying element. God leading people out of darkness into the light.

It’s a simple metaphor, and we still use it today. “I was completely blind” means I didn’t know something. “I’ve seen the light” means now I understand.

The Bible says that all of us are born blind to spiritual truth. We don’t know who God is, or what He is like. We’re born sinners, and sin make us blind to the truth.
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Think about Adam and Eve in the garden. We preached about Adam and Eve’s first sin just a few weeks ago. Of course you remember what the Devil promised – eat from this forbidden fruit and you’ll be as wise as God. But when they did, the opposite happened. They became blind to the obvious.

When they heard God walking through the garden, sinful Adam and Eve tried to hide from their all-knowing creator. You could say sin made them stupid, or blind. It amounts to the same thing.
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Maybe you’ve done the same. I have. Done something that was wrong, and tried to hide it. Covered your tracks. Hid the evidence. Lied to people who suspected something. But God knew. Just like Adam and Eve, we can try to hide things from God. But He knows.

In the Bible God makes it clear that He knows what we’ve done. He wants us to know that He knows, not to rub it in our face, but to move us to come to Him openly. Holding up our sin for Him to see, and to forgive.

God is in the business of making the blind see. He leads us see our sins and abandon them. He leads us into the light of forgiveness that Jesus won for us on the cross of Calvary.
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In today’s sermon reading we’re going to see examples of spiritual blindness. And we’ll see Jesus make a blind man see in more ways than one.

John 9:1-7 (ESV)

1As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 4We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6Having said these things, he spat on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud 7and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
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This story gives us some insight into the way the Jewish people thought. The disciples asked why this man had been born blind. In their view, there were two possible answers: either the man had sinned, or his parents had sinned. They figured that a curse like blindness from birth had to be a specific judgment from God because of some “particularly bad” sin.

This wasn’t the only time Jesus came across this flawed way of thinking. Turn to Luke 13, verse 1.

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish” (Luke 13:1-5 NIV).

Preachers today level the same condemnation on others whenever some great calamity comes along. When Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans they said it was because of the horrible sins of Bourbon Street. Or more recently, I’m sure there have been accusations that the people of Japan were being judged by God when the ocean waves crashed over their shores and wreaked havoc.

It’s a good idea to let God tell you when He’s acting in judgment and when He’s not. And it’s a good idea to remember what Jesus said about local tragedies in His day – these people weren’t more guilty than all the others living. Not at all. We’re all guilty of falling short of God’s standards, and unless we realize that, we too will perish – eternally.
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But back to the blind man and the disciples. They figured there were only two possible reasons this man had been born blind. Some sin of his, or some sin of his parents. But Jesus said “none of the above”. This man had been born blind so that Jesus could heal him, and bringing glory to God.
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Again, remember the garden of Eden. Satan presented Eve with two possible options – don’t take the fruit and remain stupider than God and under his thumb. Or, take the fruit and be just as wise as God. Satan took care not to hint that there just might be a third option: Remain faithful to God and see what blessings He has in store.

Satan does the same thing to us today. He presents only the choices he wants us to see, colored the way he wants them to look. And in our sin we remain blind to the best way – God’s way. When it seems like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place, pray that God would open your eyes to His way.

Before we move on, I’ve got to mention one more delightful detail that we find here. Jesus used spit-mud to convey His healing to the blind man. I like this detail because it’s just like God to use the worthless to accomplish miracles.

God’s word often teaches us to do what the sinful world say is worthless. He says to love our enemies. He says to lend without expecting to be repaid. He says to repay evil with good. He says to forgive others not once, or a few times, but unlimited times. Or think of what the Father told the Son to do. In order to defeat death, He was to die. In order to save sinners, He was to die at their own hands. When God calls you to be foolish in the eyes of the world, remember that God’s foolishness is wiser than man’s greatest wisdom.

And what do you know, it worked. The man washed Jesus’ spit-mud off in the pool of Siloam, and for the first time saw the world of color and light. That was a good day for him. And you can almost hear his happiness in our next reading.

John 9:13-17 (NIV)

13They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
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It’s not hard to see the cataracts of sin covering the Pharisees eyes here. Jesus has healed a man who was blind from birth. That was utterly unheard of. And the man himself had told them how Jesus did it, with mud. Mud! Obviously this was no natural remedy. But in their spiritual blindness, all the Pharisees can see is Jesus failing to rest on the Sabbath.

Maybe they considered making mud to be “working”. Maybe they classified any kind of healing as “work” not fit for the day of rest. Really, it doesn’t matter. They missed the whole point. This miracle was a sign that Jesus was from God.

The light of this revelation was dimly glowing on the horizon for some of them. We’re told that there was a division among them. Some said Jesus couldn’t be from God because He was working on the day of rest. Others couldn’t get over the magnitude of this miracle. How could any man do this without God being with Him?

In an action very unlike the Pharisees they turned and asked the formerly blind man what he thought. His response glows with admiration. “He is a prophet”, he said.

Jesus had brought this blind man vision, and spiritual insight.
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Now, let’s not move on before taking an important lesson from the Pharisees. Remember, they were the religious elite. They knew their Old Testament Bibles like the back of their hand. Their best friends were the Scribes, the people who painstakingly made copies of the Old Testament by hand, and who were the Bible scholars of their day. And yet, the Pharisees were as spiritually blind as everyone else because they didn’t accept Jesus.

There are Bible churches all over this city. All over this country. All over this world. But when the teachers and pastors from those churches don’t know sin and grace – they’re just as blind as everyone else. Is it remarkable that we find all sorts of strange teachings in churches that don’t focus on the message of free grace given through Jesus? Jesus Himself once said,

“22“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. 24For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it” (Luke 10:22-24 NIV).

Only through God’s Son can we know God. Only through tracing the Words of the Bible carefully can we truly learn spiritual truths in this world.
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Our last little reading shows what it takes for a blind sinner to become a seeing saint.

We skip ahead to verse 34. The Pharisees have been interrogating the formerly blind man, and he’s gotten a little tired of their repeated questions. He’d already told them what they wanted to know, but they wouldn’t accept it. Finally he sarcastically asked them if they were asking all these questions because they wanted to become Jesus’ disciples. Well, that was too much for the Pharisees.

John 9:34-38 (NIV)

34They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
35Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” 38He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him. 39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
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If you read the part we skipped over, you’ll find that the Pharisees interrogated the blind man’s parents before him. His parents played dumb because they knew that the Pharisees had decided that anyone who said Jesus was the Christ would be kicked out of the synagogue.

So, when it says that they “cast him out” it probably means two things. One, that they were done talking to him, and that they were kicking him out of the synagogue.

So, Jesus hears that he’s been kicked out, and He seeks him out to have a conversation. And in this conversation Jesus simply tells the man that He is the “Son of Man” from the Old Testament.

How crazy this must have sounded to the formerly blind man. The Son of Man?! Really? The passages in the Old Testament that talked about the “Son of Man” were all about glory and authority and grandeur, and here was Jesus talking to him, a guy that just got booted from the church by the big shots in the church!

Imagine how this man must have gone home and pondered over everything he had ever been taught by the Pharisees. Maybe they didn’t see everything quite so clearly as they let on. This Jesus was the Son of Man. The Christ from God.
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Did you notice what had to take place before this man came to faith? Jesus had to tell Him the truth. That’s what it takes for a blind sinner to become a seeing saint. Jesus’ message is heard, and faith takes hold.

Like Paul later wrote…

“For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:12-15 NIV).

Sin makes us blind to God and all His goodness. But the Gospel message makes us see again. Through the Bible we see God’s high standards clearly, and His higher grace in Christ Jesus our crucified and risen Savior.

You’ve heard this message before. You’ve believed. So take one more lesson from our text. Speak the message! You might mess it up. You might say the wrong thing. But this much is guaranteed, if you don’t say anything they won’t have a chance. Sinners are blind, just like you were.

But what should you say, you ask? Well, say something. Better yet, say something that speaks of Christ’s love that YOU have felt personally. Say something, and let Jesus make the blind see.

Amen.

Consider the Source - Mar 13, 2011

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SERMON:

I think I remember the first time I heard the phrase, “consider the source”. I had returned to my dorm room with some bit of rumor that had been told to me by some underclassman. This underclassman didn’t have the best reputation for being truthful. But, I WANTED to believe what he had told me.

When I finished re-telling the details to my, he just looked at me with a knowing grin and said, “Yeah, but consider the source”.

That’s really all it took. Consider the source. The house of rumor cards that I had just built in my mind, fell down. I realized that there might be a BIT of truth in what I had been told, but it would be quite naïve to believe the whole thing. Consider the source. Wise words.

We all have to constantly do this, don’t we? Parents are told all sorts of conflicting stories by children. Teachers are told conflicting stories by students. Adults are told conflicting stories by co-workers. Even the various news sources that offer up our headlines can’t be trusted. Everyone is filtering reality through their own particular lens of perception. We MUST consider the source if we are to know the truth.

We even have to apply that phrase to ourselves, don’t we. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that WE TOO filter our experiences with others through our own preconceived ideas and prejudices.
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Our sermon reading for today comes from the early chapters of Genesis. Here in the first few pages of human history, we find the source of all the lies that make it necessary for us to filter our reality carefully. Here we find the headwaters of all the sin and suffering that has since flowed into the life of man.

Genesis 2:7-9, 15-17, 3:1-7 (NKJV)

7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.

8The LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom He had formed. 9And out of the ground the LORD God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
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15Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”
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1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?”

2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’”

4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
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When we say, “consider the source” what we’re really saying is, what do you know about this person’s character? How trustworthy are they? What might their motives be? Can you take their word at face value?

When we examine the character of Jehovah God here in Genesis, we find nothing but good. For clarity sake, this is Jehovah God we’re talking about. The God of the Bible, not the gods of other religions. When you see the capital L-O-R-D in the Old Testament scriptures, that means that at that point in the text is found the Hebrew name for God. Sometimes pronounced Ya-weh or Je-ho-vah. This name is not like the word “god” which can be applied to the true God or to false ones. Jehovah is the proper name of the God of the Bible. It is never used of any other.

So what do we see Jehovah doing here? We see Him taking special care with mankind. Look at verse 7. Jehovah had formed the rest of the living creatures by simply speaking them into being. But when it comes to man, He takes a handful of earth and personally fashions it into the form of man. In this way God was subtly showing that mankind was on a different level than the animal kingdom.

For this most special of His living creations, God planted a garden. He called it Eden. In this garden paradise God placed everything that man would need, not only to live, but to fully enjoy living. We are told that Eden contained every tree that was pleasant to look at, and that produces fruit that is good to eat.

Jehovah even planted an education tree. There in the middle of Eden was a tree called the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Now, some would say that the reason God told man not to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil was because He never wanted man to know what evil was.

That’s possible. But, I disagree. I think the name of the Tree tells us what it was there for. Adam and Eve could learn what evil was through the simple command attached to this tree. Eating from it would be evil. It would bring death. Obeying God and not eating from this tree would be good, and their life of intimate communion with God would remain intact. They COULD learn these lessons without ever actually taking from the tree. Without ever experiencing evil for themselves.

That Jehovah wanted man to remain sinless is shown by God’s clear command concerning the tree. He didn’t mince words when it came to the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and evil. He told man openly NOT to eat from it, and He told man exactly what the consequences would be if he did – DEATH. The rest of the Bible makes it clear that God was not just talking about physical death. He meant the whole package. Physical death, spiritual death and separation from Jehovah God forever.

God had good plans for man. There’s a tree in the garden that shows us that too. The Tree of Life. God had an eternal existence planned for man, an eternal existence of happiness and enjoyment.

So, let’s consider the source. Jehovah took special care of man. He provided everything needed and wanted for him. He gave him a living paradise as his home. He provided for his education and planned an eternity of joy for man and their descendants. Concerning the one danger in the garden, God gave clear and fully explained warning.

God is good.
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Now, when we examine the character of Satan, we find nothing but evil and deception.

For clarity sake, Satan is a fallen angel. He was created good, but chose to betray Jehovah God and to lead a rebellion of angels against Him. Satan is not the embodiment of evil, no story-book personification, he is a real entity. A real, individual, spirit being.

Here in Eden, Satan has taken possession of a serpent. Like those demons during Jesus’ day that took control of human beings and controlled their words and actions, here Satan has chosen a serpent as his vehicle.

And we’re told why Satan chose this creature. It was the smartest of the land creatures that God had made. In this way, Satan borrowed the serpent’s reputation and used it to his own advantage.

Satan still does this today, when he uses the highly educated men and women of prestigious universities to raise doubt about the trustworthiness of God’s Word. The most deceptive and effective temptation never comes from the people we consider foolish, or our open enemies. The most deceptive temptation comes from those who appear smart. People who just want us to be free from the manipulative influences of organized religion, or of the sadly outdated and oppressive ideas of the Bible.

This story from Genesis is so precious for understanding Satan’s character and methods. It’s no wonder he’s done his best to make people consider it some sort of tribal fairy-tale. It we think that, we’ll miss the detailed description of Satan’s tactics that we find here. And when history is forgotten, it is bound to be repeated.

In this case, Satan starts by appearing wise. He took the form of the wisest creature next to man. Then he asks Eve a simple, innocent looking question. Verse 1…

“…And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1 NKJV).

It’s just a question, but in this question Satan has nestled the implication that God isn’t taking care of Adam and Eve. Here you are in the middle of all this goodness and God has told you NOT to eat from it?!

Eve quickly corrects Satan. No, they can eat from all the trees, there’s only ONE that is forbidden. And it’s forbidden for a good reason, it causes death.

And that’s when Satan moves in for the kill. You see, he can’t actually hurt Eve. She’s sinless and invincible to him right now. If he’s going to do anything to her, he’s got to separate her from God. He’s GOT to get her to sin. And so Satan leaves sneaky questions behind and moves on to DIRECTLY assault Jehovah’s character. Verse 4...

“4Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:4-5 NKJV).

Satan suggests two ideas to Eve. FIRST, that God is tricking you. He’s lied about the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. It’s REALLY a good tree to eat from. And SECOND, but you can rise above Jehovah God. You can defeat Him. The fruit that will make you AS WISE AS HIM is within your reach right now.

So, let’s consider the source here. So far Satan has borrowed the reputation of the serpent to make himself look wise. He’s used questions to make Eve question God’s goodness. He’s used lies to make the worst possible course of action seem like the only wise one.

Satan is evil.
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Now, I want to take a second here to talk about Satan’s favorite tool – the lie. Lies distort reality. That’s what they do. Lies alter the way we see people around us. And the worst thing about lies is that they last. They continue to distort our view long after they’re told.

Look at the world from Eve’s perspective BEFORE Satan came along. She was happy. She had the world’s greatest husband. She lived in a perfect climate. Never had to fold clothes. When she was hungry, she just ate. Every once in a while God would stop by and they’d all go on a walk together. EVERYTHING was perfect.

Then Satan came along and offered a set of eye glasses to Eve. Glasses which distorted the way she saw the world around her, and most tragically – glasses which distorted the way she saw God.

For just a moment, assume that Satan’s words were true. See it from Eve’s perspective: God is tricking you. He actually wants to keep you under His thumb. But right here, hanging from this tree is fruit that will make you just as wise as God! Just as wise as the one who made everything good around you!

Viewed through the lens of Satan’s lies, Eve’s action of eating the fruit was not only SAFE, it was the best choice she could possibly make! She could even do a favor for her husband by sharing this great gift of God-wisdom with him.

The reality that Satan presented was a distorted reality. A lie. But once the deed was done, there was no going back. No way for Adam and Eve undo what they had done. All they could do was try to cover it up.
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This is the same thing that Satan does today. He sets up a façade of lies to trick us into doing what God has clearly told us NOT to do. He still teaches the same lesson to humans that he taught our first mother – Disobedience to God leads to pleasure, knowledge and promotion. But when we finally do what Satan has led us to, we find the same thing. The distortion of reality falls away and we see that there is no going back. No way for us to undo what we have done.

How many times has that happened to you? It’s happened to me a billion times. There’s something that I know God doesn’t want me to do, but I begin to see it in a different light. This COULD be good for me. It could lead to pleasure, or popularity, or some kind of advantage. But when the deed is done, my conscience reveals the truth. It was wrong. Sin. And now it’s done, with no way of undoing it.

If only I would have considered the source. God is good. Satan is evil. What God tells me can only lead to my joy and benefit. What Satan suggests can only lead to my ruin.
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So, who should we trust today? Well, when you consider the source, the answer is pretty obvious.

Satan’s leading has made our world into a world where mothers kill their own children. A world where pain and sorrow surround us instead of peace and happiness. A world where governments oppress the people they’re meant to serve. A world where earthquakes destroy, and tsunamis obliterate. Because of Satan’s lies, our lives will all terminate in frailty and death.

Some ask the question: If God is so loving, why is our world so messed up? It’s not a hard question to answer when you consider the source. God is good, Satan is evil. The headwaters of all our suffering is not God, but Satan’s lies, and our sin.
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Thankfully, God remained good after Adam and Eve became evil. And in His goodness and mercy, Jehovah has provided a door through which we can escape the dead end that this world has become.

Shortly after man’s first sin, God found Adam and Eve and the Serpent. And He promised that one day a Man would be born who would face the temptations of the Serpent, and would not give in to his lies. The Bible tells us that this Man was Jesus. The Son of Mary, and the Son of God.

Instead of listening to Satan, He listened to God. Instead of seeking pleasure and knowledge and promotion through disobedience, He considered the source, and trusted in God. And by giving Himself to suffer hell and to die in man’s place, He defeated the serpent and re-opened the door to Eden for all mankind.

Romans 6:23 says…

“23For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23 KJV).

In Isaiah 53:11 God talks about our Savior saying…

“ 11After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light ‹of life› and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities” (Isaiah 53:11 NIV).

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The season of Lent is forty days long, not counting Sundays. The ancient Christian church didn’t consider the Sundays during Lent part of that season. Lent was about seeing the sufferings of Christ that were done in our place. The SUNDAYS were viewed as “little Easter’s”. Little calms in the storm on which to see the final event in the story of sin and grace.

Today we’ve mostly seen the source of sin in Eden. But let’s close by thinking about the source of our salvation. Jesus. The Savior that didn’t sin. The Savior that died for us. The Savior that left the tomb on Easter, resurrected from the dead.

Satan led the human race into a world of sin and suffering and death. Jesus Christ gives the gift of forgiveness, and lead us out of sin and suffering and death – to be reunited with Jehovah God.

Disobedience leads to death, but faith in Christ to real pleasure, true knowledge and the ultimate promotion.

Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.