Two Malefactors - Mar 17, 2010

Due to server issues, only the text version of the sermon is available today.

Sermon:

May God’s love for you rest on your hearts. And may the undeserved mercy of Christ fill you with peace. Amen.

The part of the Bible that we meditate on tonight takes place during Jesus’ crucifixion. Turn to Luke 23, verse 39.

Luke 23:39-43 (NIV)

39One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”
40But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43Jesus answered him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”

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In the Bible, God uses “darkness” as a symbol for a lot of different things. Ignorance is called darkness. Sorrow is darkness. Evil is darkness.

In our culture, we do the same thing. He’s in the dark concerning this matter. He’s ignorant. 9/11 was a dark day in American history. A day of sorrow. The heart of a murderer is full of darkness. Full of evil.

When “darkness” is used metaphorically we’re almost always talking about EVIL appearing in one form or another.
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The Bible says that God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all. He’s all goodness, love and justice. He’s not evil in any way.

On the other hand, the Bible says that beings who live their lives with no connection to God are living in darkness.

The Bible says that Satan and all the evil angels are reserved for judgment in darkness. In His parables, Jesus spoke about people who will be condemned in the final judgment. He said they would be cast out of God’s presence into the outer darkness. In this sense, darkness is separation from God.

This becomes particularly significant when we think about those last three hours that Jesus spent on the cross. The Bible tells us that the sun was darkened from noon to three. It was then that Jesus experienced separation from all the Father’s goodness. That indescribable hell was what we deserved because of our sins. Jesus was paying the price to set us free.

But tonight, we consider the darkness that came before that. As our Savior hung from the cross, darkness hovered at His side in the form of a mocking, crucified man.

This man was no mere sneak-thief, but a violent robber. He was a child of darkness whose own crimes had brought him to this shameful and terrible death. Rome had decreed that he would go from a dark life of sin, to the darkness of death -with a nice long interlude of excruciating pain in between.

On the cross, this robber continued his evil ways. He heard the religious leaders of the people below. They hadn’t gathered there at the foot of Jesus’ just to see Him die. A busy road passed by this place and Pilate had put a sign above Jesus’ head that said this was the king of the Jews. They had come there to convince the passers by that this wasn’t the Messiah.

They called out to Jesus, but really, they were talking to the travelers who passed by. “He said He was the Christ? Well then why doesn’t He have the power to get down off that cross? The Christ wouldn’t have gotten Himself crucified in the first place! He claimed to be God’s Chosen One? Well then why isn’t GOD doing something to save Him? We’d believe Him if He’d just climb down off that cross. We would! But He can’t.”

The robber heard all these words, and the darkness in his heart smiled. He would join them in this fun. And he did. He echoed their words right into Jesus’ ear. “Aren’t you the Christ! Save yourself and us!”

His sinfulness was a dark veil that covered his mind. Blind to the truth, he didn’t see that Jesus was innocent. Or perhaps he just ignored that fact, which would have been worse. In his ignorance he didn’t realize that he was screaming his insults at Son of God, who indeed was the Chosen Savior of the world. The Savior who was even NOW suffering to redeem him from HIS sins.
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Satan must has smiled at this. He might have even chuckled to himself as this son of darkness railed at the light of the World. Satan had this man firmly in his grasp.

And not only this man. There was another robber hanging there on the other side of Jesus. And like a twin thundercloud he was thundering the same things at Jesus.

Let me make this clear: there was nothing good in this other man. He too was a child of darkness. His own crimes had brought him here as well. Rome had decreed the same fate for him. He too would go from a dark life of sin, to the darkness of death -with a nice long interlude of excruciating pain in between.
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But somewhere along the way something changed.

And God was the one who changed it. The robber stationed to the other side of Jesus had a change of heart.

We aren’t told all the details that caused this change of heart. One moment he was spewing out insults, and the next moment he was rebuking the other robber.

Had this man grown up learning about God in the Temple? Had he studied the Bible in the Synagogue on Saturdays? Had he somewhere drifted away from the truth and into the darkness of unbelief?

What was it that brought him back? Was it something that Jesus said? Did he see how Jesus never returned evil for evil? Did he see the love that Jesus had for everyone around Him no matter what they were doing to Him? Did this robber notice the way Jesus prayed for the men as they slid shanks of iron through His wrists, attaching Him to the cross?

What was it that convinced Him that Jesus was innocent? What was it that convinced Him that Jesus really was the Messiah, the King of Israel? How could he be so confident that this Man who hung in the middle, looking so powerless, would later rule over the Kingdom of God?

I can’t tell you all the details, but I’m guessing the Holy Spirit had something to do with it. We know from the Bible that only the Spirit can turn the heart of sinful man around. Only the Spirit can show a person their sinfulness and their great need of God’s forgiveness. Only the Spirit of God can give the gift of faith, wrapping the fingers of that faith firmly around Jesus.
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When the Holy Spirit got through to that robber, the darkness on that side of the cross was swallowed up in light.

Listen to these verses from Micah 7, verse 8.

“8 Do not gloat over me, my enemy!
Though I have fallen, I will rise.
Though I sit in darkness,
the LORD will be my light.
9 Because I have sinned against him,
I will bear the LORD’S wrath,
until he pleads my case
and establishes my right.
He will bring me out into the light;
I will see his righteousness” (Micah 7:8-9 NIV).

That’s what God did for this robber. This robber recognized that the crimes he had committed had brought this end on him. He understood that his suffering was right. It was justice for all he’d done in life.

But then he saw Jesus. Not just with his eyes, but with his heart. And He knew that through this Man, He would be drawn out of the darkness of sorrow and suffering and judgment, into the light of righteousness. His sins would be forgiven through Jesus.

That’s the hope he expresses when he says to Jesus, “Jesus remember me when you come into your kingdom”.

During His ministry, Jesus once said,

“…I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12 NIV).

This robber had seen the light, and with Jesus He had the light of life.
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Jesus had remained silent for so long that day. So few word had passed His lips. But He couldn’t remain mute in the face of one of His own faith-children. He strengthened this infant Christian’s faith with these words: “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise.”
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The apostle Paul once encouraged his fellow Christ followers by saying:

“…[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:14).

I say the same to you tonight. God has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom WE have redemption, THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS.

Just like the robber who came to trust in Jesus, we started as dark thunderclouds of sin. There was nothing special about us. Nothing good in us. In the estimation of other sinners we might have seemed like nice enough people, but in God’s eyes we were just as lost as every other sinner born into this world.

But the Spirit of God changed all that.

Through the Word in our Baptism, or through the Word shared by a friend, the Holy Spirit changed us. Brought the light of Jesus to burn in our hearts.

The apostle John said it like this:

“5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:5-9 NIV).

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The theme for our midweek messages has been, “Lenten Shadow and Light”. And this is a perfect title for this reading in Luke. That second robber was in the deepest shadows of sin when he was raised up on that cross next to Jesus. But before his lifeless corpse was taken down, the light of faith and forgiveness had overtaken him. He confessed his sin, He looked to Jesus, and Jesus assured him that he was forgiven. He would be with Jesus in Paradise before the sun set on that day.

When we come here on Sundays, let’s think of that. When we confess our sins together with the congregation, and hear God’s representative proclaim us forgiven, think of that cross to cross absolution. And thank God that His Spirit is so great, and so powerful and so gracious that he sought us out like He sought that robber.

And let’s not ONLY think of this on Sunday. Let’s live our lives in with this in mind. It’s as if the cross of Christ has opened up a hole in the clouds above. And through this hole God’s light shines on each of us. Following us wherever we go. Bathing us in forgiveness, and chasing the shadows of evil away.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, walk in the light of our God and Savior, with peace, confidence and joy.

Amen.

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

Ugly Becomes Beautiful - Mar 14, 2010

SERVICE INTRODUCTION:

Today’s worship is all about ugly becoming beautiful. It’s about things that we would cringe at, becoming things we cherish.

SERMON:

Our first reading from Isaiah was all about feet. There are plenty of vain people in the world. But there are few people who would pry off their shoes to show off their feet. Oooh, look at those beautiful toes. See how I got that little bit of fungus on that one. And I got some dry skin and some calluses there. Wow, these are beautiful feet.

Feet just aren’t pretty. And yet they become beautiful when those feet bring you what you need. When you’re starving, the feet that bring you food, THOSE FEET are gorgeous. When you child is missing, the feet that return her to you are precious.
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In our New Testament reading we see ugliness turning to beauty also. We heard about a harsh letter that the apostle Paul had sent to the Corinthian Christians. A letter that rebuked them for their bad behavior.

Paul was sad to have to write such a letter. He didn’t enjoy pointing out his friends’ sin and making them feel remorse.

But Paul didn’t regret sending the letter either. When Paul showed them their sin, that led them to hate their sin. To turn away from that sin. To turn back to God, trusting in Him for forgiveness. Paul’s letter led them to repentance in the full sense. Sorrow over the sin that they had done, but also confidence that God forgave them because of Jesus. Their ugly sorrow was turned to joy.
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In our sermon reading we’re going to see an ugly scene from the life of Jesus. It takes place on morning of His death. He has been brought to Pontius Pilate to be judged. It is one of the darkest, ugliest events that took place before His crucifixion.

We’ll see REASON AFTER REASON why they should have let this innocent man go free. We’ll see a PARADE OF OPPORTUNITIES to release Him, shunned.

Yet this ugliness becomes beautiful when we see that IT WAS JESUS who ignored each reason for His release . IT WAS JESUS who shunned each opportunity to escape.

He knew somebody was had to suffer for sin, and He didn’t want it to be you and me. He wanted us to live with Him and the Father and the Spirit - forever. THAT is what makes this ugliness beautiful. He experienced this for YOU and ME.
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Matthew 27:15-31 (NIV)

15Now it was the governor’s custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. 16At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. 17So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, “Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him.
19While Pilate was sitting on the judge’s seat, his wife sent him this message: “Don’t have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him.”
20But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.
21“Which of the two do you want me to release to you?” asked the governor.
“Barabbas,” they answered.
22“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?” Pilate asked.
They all answered, “Crucify him!”
23“Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, “Crucify him!”
24When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “It is your responsibility!”
25All the people answered, “Let his blood be on us and on our children!”
26Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
27Then the governor’s soldiers took Jesus into the Praetorium and gathered the whole company of soldiers around him. 28They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, 29and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head. They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him and mocked him. “Hail, king of the Jews!” they said. 30They spit on him, and took the staff and struck him on the head again and again. 31After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

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The Roman Governor knew Jesus was innocent from the beginning. Pilate’s own intelligence sources told him that the religious leaders wanted Jesus dead out of envy.

When Pilate personally interrogated Jesus, His innocence became more obvious. He simply wasn’t a robber, a murderer, or a revolutionary. The kingdom Jesus talked about was a spiritual one, which in Pilate’s estimation, didn’t constitute a threat to the Jewish people or to the Roman government.

Pilate also had the unusual testimony of his wife. There he was, sitting on the judgment seat for goodness sake, and a note comes from his wife? She told her husband not do anything he might regret, because this man was innocent.

Now, it’s my guess that the Governor’s wife didn’t frequently send notes to him telling him who was guilty and who was innocent. Yet, in this case she did. Even though this case was being considered unusually early in the morning, she did. This would have caught Pilate’s attention for sure.

And the REASON she believed Jesus to be innocent should have stopped Pilate dead in his tracks. It wasn’t because she was the close friend of Jesus, or one of His followers. It was because she had a painful dream. This was a supernatural warning, not to be ignored.

The testimony in Jesus’ favor was heavy. Their envy, Pilate’s interrogation, his wife’s testimony and the strange dream - all suggested this was an open and shut case. Jesus was innocent. That’s why throughout the proceeding we see Pilate attempting to get Jesus set free.
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First, Pilate simply says, I don’t find this man worthy of the death penalty. But the angry crowd doesn’t accept his verdict. So, Pilate tries to force their hand.

There was an old tradition of letting some condemned criminal go during the Passover festival. The people usually got to pick, but Pilate figures he can get Jesus set free with a little trickery. He says, Okay, I’ll give you two choices, Jesus, you know the guy who’s been healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, feeding the five thousand, casting out demons, etc. OR I’ll release a violent murdering robber. What do you say?

But that doesn’t work either. They actually pick the murderer. Numerous times. What’s really unusual here is the Pilate gives them chance after chance to do the right thing. This is out of character for Pilate.

This Roman governor didn’t like the Jews and they didn’t like him. He was routinely cruel and hurtful to them. History says that Pilate went out of his way to offend the Jews when he could. Eventually, that’s what got Pilate called away from Palestine. But here, he’s strangely kind. Well, kind when compared with his usual tactics. History tells us that Pilate would keep riots under control by dispersing armed, disguised soldiers throughout a crowds. If the blood of Jews had to be spilled in order to make an example – so be it, thought Pilate.

But here, Pilate is shaken. He’s not being a bully at all. And that’s strange especially since HE was being bullied by the religious leaders. You would think he’d respond to their manipulation with a lesson teaching flex of his military might. But instead Pilate tries to lobby the Jews into letting Jesus go. This should have gotten THEIR attention. Should have made them back up a step and examine again why they were pushing so hard for the brutal killing of one of their own.

Pilate’s hand washing is an moving example of how he was appealing to the Jews. This was a Jewish thing to do, a Jewish symbol, not a Roman one.

Turn to Deuteronomy 21. This is what the people of Israel were instructed to do if they found the body of a murdered person.

“1If a man is found slain, lying in a field in the land the LORD your God is giving you to possess, and it is not known who killed him, 2your elders and judges shall go out and measure the distance from the body to the neighboring towns. 3Then the elders of the town nearest the body shall take a heifer that has never been worked and has never worn a yoke 4and lead her down to a valley that has not been plowed or planted and where there is a flowing stream. There in the valley they are to break the heifer’s neck. 5The priests, the sons of Levi, shall step forward, for the LORD your God has chosen them to minister and to pronounce blessings in the name of the LORD and to decide all cases of dispute and assault. 6Then all the elders of the town nearest the body shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, 7and they shall declare: “Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our eyes see it done. 8Accept this atonement for your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, O LORD, and do not hold your people guilty of the blood of an innocent man.” And the bloodshed will be atoned for. 9So you will purge from yourselves the guilt of shedding innocent blood, since you have done what is right in the eyes of the LORD” (Deuteronomy 21:1-9 NIV).

And there are other places in the Psalms that speak of washing your hands in innocence. This wasn’t a typical Roman custom. Pilate was trying make them see they were murdering this man, through their own symbols. But they didn’t care. They said, Let His blood be on us, and on our children.

Pilate tried one more thing to get the crowd to release Jesus. He appealed to their compassion. This doesn’t come out so much in our reading from Luke. Luke ends by saying that Pilate had Jesus flogged and sent Him to be crucified. After that Luke records the details surrounding Jesus’ flogging, that the soldiers also mocked Him, dressing Him up as a pathetic king.

But this wasn’t merely one last act of cruelty done to pass the time while others prepared the needed implements for crucifixion. John’s Gospel informs us that Pilate had the soldiers do this so that he could show the crowd a broken man. A pitiable creature who had certainly endured enough.

Pilate pronounced Jesus “not guilty” one last time and then presented the scourged and bleeding Christ to the crowd saying, Behold the man.

And there He stood. Dripping blood. With a rough, castaway soldier’s cloak on His shoulders. A sharp crown of thorns pressed into His head. His face puffy and battered from numerous fists. There was a silly reed placed in His hand as a scepter. It was all meant to show them this was enough. It was one last opportunity, in a parade of opportunities, for the crowd to say, Fine, let this pathetic king go.

But their response was to yell, Crucify!

Finally, Pilate gave in. And still, here was ONE MORE opportunity for Jesus to escape. For all his manipulation and arguing and pronouncing and appealing, Pilate STILL had the power to release Jesus. And he should have, with all the evidence stacked on Jesus’ side. He should have, for that’s what judges are supposed to do! Let the innocent go free!

But Pilate turned to the soldiers and echoed the crowd saying, Crucify Him.
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And still, there was one more person who could have ended this ridiculous abuse of justice. One other person who could have declared Jesus’ innocence and removed Him from danger.

Jesus Himself could have done this. He had walked safely through murderous crowds before. He had walked on water. He had still storms at sea. He could have escaped at any moment He chose. But He didn’t. And here is the beauty of this ugliness. He didn’t walk away. He didn’t abandon the HARD road to His HARD death because He loved sinners. All of them. You and me and everyone we know.

And through the ugliness of His deliberate suffering and death, we are made beautiful in God’s sight. In Christ’s blood our repulsive words and disgusting deeds are WASHED CLEAN. He was made ugly so that we might become beautiful. God the Father looks on all those cling to Christ, all of us scrabbling sinners, and what does He see? Precious, beautiful people, because they were bought by the death of His precious, sinless Son.
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In 2002 pop star Christina Aguilera released the hit single, “Beautiful”. In the song Aguilera implies that beauty is found in our own self-perception. If we love who we are, than we are beautiful people no matter what anyone else might think or say.

Now, beauty may be in the eye of the beholder, but we don’t merely want to be beautiful in the eyes of other sinners. Nor merely beautiful in our own estimation. We want and need to be beautiful in the eyes of our Creator.

As we continue to look at Christ this Lent, we’re going to see more ugliness. We can’t escape it. Betrayal, crucifixion and death are hideous things. But let’s also see the beauty. This was done for our benefit. And through Jesus, because of Jesus, and only because of Him, we are beautiful.

Amen.

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

Two Chance Acquaintances - Mar 10, 2010

Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen. The two texts that we'll consider this evening both come from the 27th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew. The first is verse 26:

Then released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered him to be crucified.

The second text is verse 32:

And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

Here end our texts.

In Christ Jesus, with Whom we wish to become better acquainted during this Passion Season, Dear Fellow-Redeemed,

One day a young gas-station attendant was driving his pickup down a lonely stretch of highway in the desert southwest. He came upon a dusty-looking man hitch-hiking by the side of the road. Being a friendly sort of guy, he stopped and gave the man a ride to the next town. He didn’t give the brief incident much thought. Not until later, that is -- when he found out that the stranger had died and left him an enormous amount of money. The stranger's name? Howard Hughes - the famous multi-billionaire!

You've probably heard a few stories like that. Stories about obscure small-town people who, by sheer chance, became acquainted with someone very important. Our text this morning is about two such people. Two men who would have been completely forgotten by the history books. -- except for the fact that chance circumstances tied them to the death of the most famous person in history - Jesus Christ! Return with me now to those hours of Jesus' passion, as we contrast --

TWO CHANCE ACQUAINTANCES

I. - A guilty criminal who was set free
II. - An innocent bystander who carried the cross

We Americans are a people who love justice. Nothing seems to make us angrier than to see a guilty criminal go free. It’s fifteen years ago now that a famous athlete and movie star went on trial for murder in California. Police had conclusive forensic evidence that placed him at the scene of one of the most gruesome crimes in that state’s history. The evidence seemed overwhelming and conclusive. And yet, after just a short time spent deliberating, the jury came back with a verdict of acquittal. Many considered this verdict to be a terrible injustice - that such a man, clearly implicated in so savage a crime, should walk away scot free. But tonight I'd like you to consider a worse injustice. The case of the arch-criminal Barabbas!

The scene is the public square outside the Imperial Courtroom of Pontius Pilate. Although it's barely eight o'clock in the morning, the heat is beginning to build in the dusty square. An angry crowd has gathered, whipped into an emotional rage by the Jewish elders. They have blood-lust in their eyes, and only one thought in their minds - a thought put there by the elders - Jesus of Nazareth must die! Any charge will do, so Jesus is indicted on the trumped-up charge of rebellion against the government. It's all the same to the mob, as long as it gets them what they want. "Crucify Him!," they scream, over and over. "Crucify Him, crucify Him!"

Meanwhile, in a nearby prison building, a criminal lies in chains. His name is Barabbas, and he really is guilty of rebellion. Mark tells us, "And there was one named Barabbas, who was chained with his fellow insurrectionists; they had committed murder in the insurrection." Mark 15:6. A very rough character, this Barabbas! He's a hardened criminal, who's used revolt against the Romans as an excuse for the worst crime of all - murder. He's already been tried and convicted. Everybody knows about Barabbas - he's as guilty as the day is long!

Back in the courtyard, Pilate is feeling the pressure. He knows Jesus is innocent, but he can't quiet the screaming crowd. So he tries a desperate gamble. "Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. And they had then a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, 'Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ'" Instead of letting them choose anyone, Pilate gives them a choice between two. Surely they wouldn't allow the terrible criminal Barabbas to go free. Given this choice, they simply had to let Jesus go! "The governor answered and said to them, 'Which of the two do you want me to release to you?' They said, 'Barabbas!' Pilate said to them, 'What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?' They all said to him, 'Let Him be crucified!' …Then he released Barabbas to them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified.'"

And so it happened. The height of injustice. The innocent Jesus is sentenced to death, and the guilty criminal Barabbas walks free! Imagine the scene as Barabbas sits in his cell, mulling over the death sentence that he so richly deserves. All of a sudden the guard appears, unlocks his chains and points him toward the door! Amazed, he wanders out into the sunlight, squinting against the glare. An incredulous smile begins to play at the corners of his lips - he's barely able to believe the good news! --He must have asked people why he had been released. He must have been curious about the innocent Man who was condemned in his place. I think Barabbas must have been drawn to Calvary. I can see him standing there, gazing in wonderment at the cross, staring open-mouthed at the Man who was taking the brunt of the punishment that should have been his!

Are we "gazing in wonderment at the cross" this Lenten Season? We should be - because we're just like Barabbas in many ways! For one thing, we were all death-row criminals. Yes we were! Because in God's book, any sin - the smallest sin - brings with it an automatic sentence of death. God says plainly, "Be ye perfect, for I the Lord thy God am perfect," and "The soul that sinneth, it shall die!" And you and I are guilty of many sins - not all of them small! We richly deserved to be bound in chains in everlasting darkness -- and yet, here we find ourselves walking free in the warm sunlight of God's favor. What happened to our death sentence? I’ll tell you what happened to it – it was transferred, from us to Jesus! Paul tells us, "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus." Rom 8:1. For Jesus’ sake, we’ve been set free! No further accusations can be brought against us. Even in our American legal system, a person can't be tried twice for the same crime. God's justice is far greater. Since He has declared us not guilty for Jesus’ sake, you and I are immune from further prosecution. Sin and Satan have lost their power! Paul says, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God justifies. Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God." Rom 8:33-34.

And that brings us to our second example for the evening. Justice did a different kind of turnaround in the case of Simon of Cyrene. He was truly a "chance acquaintance" of Jesus. He had nothing to do with Jesus' trial, and he hadn't been part of that angry mob screaming for His blood. Simon was just an innocent bystander who was all of a sudden thrust into the middle of the most important event in history!

Cyrene was a city in northern Africa which had a large population of Jews. Those who could afford it would try to make the yearly pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the most important Jewish festival, the Passover. Simon was probably just such a pilgrim: a pious Jew, just minding his own business. He had probably found a place to stay somewhere outside the city (Jerusalem was very crowded at that time of year. It just so happened that he was on his way into town, just as the soldiers and the angry crowd were taking Jesus out. Mark tells us, "Now they compelled a certain man, Simon a Cyrenian, the father of Alexander and Rufus, as he was coming out of the country and passing by, to bear the cross." They didn't give Simon a choice - they forced him to pick up the cross where the exhausted Jesus had stumbled under its weight. Simon was probably like a lot of people in our day - he didn't want to get involved! He had nothing to do with Jesus -- perhaps he never even heard of Him. But like it or not, he was involved now! Suddenly he found himself turned around 180 degrees. Instead of a quiet walk to the Temple, now he was part of the dreadful death-march of Jesus of Nazareth.

Well, Simon must have asked a few questions of his own. After he delivered his grim burden to the top of Calvary, he must have wanted to know Who this bloody, beaten Man was. What terrible crime had He committed to earn this awful death? Someone may have sneered to Simon, "Why, He claims to the Christ - the promised Messiah! But just look at Him now!" And Simon did get a good look at Jesus. An innocent man, suffering terrible pain, and the cruel jokes of the crowd, without a word of complaint. And then Simon's life really made a turn. There's good evidence in the Bible that Simon later came to faith in Jesus! Simon came to believe that that Man on the cross really was the promised Messiah, and that His suffering had a purpose - to free the world from the guilt of sin!

This chance acquaintance on a street of Jerusalem changed Simon's whole life. And the same kind of change is still happening in our world today. It's happened to you, and it's happened to me. When a person makes the acquaintance of Jesus Christ, things change! Sin isn't any longer the driving force in your life - God is!

Slavery has been abolished in this country for almost 150 years now. Or has it? The Bible tells us that every human being is a slave - either to sin or to God. Most of those around us are slaves to their own lust and greed and pride -- But you've become acquainted with Christ, by the grace of God, and that makes you a different kind of slave. Paul says, "But now having been set free from sin, and having become slaves of God, you have your fruit to holiness, and the end, everlasting life." Like Barabbas, God has freed you from the dark dungeon of sin. Like Simon, God has taken hold of your life and turned you around 180 degrees. Now you're going a different direction; now you're bearing the cross of Christ. Jesus Himself urges us, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." This is what freedom and life are all about! Freedom from the tyranny of sin, and the abundant life of faith. Plus, the promise of never-ending life at the end of the line. Truly, the turning to faith is a good turning, and the cross of Christ is an easy burden to bear!

Being “in the black” means different things to different people. I was a volunteer firefighter years ago, and I’ll never forget the advice I got at my first grass fire from an old veteran of the department. He said if you’re going to park the fire truck, always park it “in the black.” That is, in an area where the fire has already been. It’s a safety zone, because no matter how the wind shifts, the fire can never come back over a place that's already burnt. “Park it in the black.” My Christian friends, during this Lenten season, the best spiritual advice I can give you is to “park it in the black!” Park it at the cross of Jesus Christ, for that cross is our safety zone. There at the cross the judgement of God upon sin fell, once and for all. It fell upon our Savior, and it can never come again! Anyone who takes his stand at that cross can never be condemned, for he is in God's safety zone! God grant that, during this Lenten Season and throughout our lives, we may make our stand right there, under the cross of our Savior! In His blessed Name, AMEN.

Why are we here? - Mar 7, 2010

To LISTEN to this week's sermon online click here. To DOWNLOAD an MP3, first right click here then choose "save link as" or "save target as".

Sermon:

People go to church for a million different reasons. They’ve got a great choir and I like to sing. They really active in the community and I want to be part of that. I feel guilty cause I have gone for a while. It’s the church I grew up in, I know everyone there. I’d guess you could think of some other reasons to go to church too.

There are good reasons, and bad reasons to go to church.

People who work for churches do so for lots of different reasons too. And just like going to church, there are good reasons and bad reasons to work for a church.

Today’s reading from Luke has a lot to do with a group of men who were very involved with the church of Jesus’ day, but were involves for all the wrong reasons.
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The events in our reading begin during the night before Jesus was crucified. Jesus had been arrested in the garden where He had come to pray. His disciples had been scattered like flock of frightened sheep.

Jesus was taken to the palace of the High Priest, Caiaphas, to appear before the Sanhedrin. On a normal day, the Sanhedrin was a gathering of 71 of the most important and influential religious leaders of Israel. It was basically the Jewish version of the Supreme Court. We don’t know how many of their number were present for this first “trial” of Jesus.

Matthew and Mark tell us about this first night meeting. Luke tells us about a second and final morning meeting.

Luke 22:63-71 (NIV)

63The men who were guarding Jesus began mocking and beating him. 64They blindfolded him and demanded, “Prophesy! Who hit you?” 65And they said many other insulting things to him.
66At daybreak the council of the elders of the people, both the chief priests and teachers of the law, met together, and Jesus was led before them. 67“If you are the Christ,” they said, “tell us.”
Jesus answered, “If I tell you, you will not believe me, 68and if I asked you, you would not answer. 69But from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the mighty God.”
70They all asked, “Are you then the Son of God?”
He replied, “You are right in saying I am.”
71Then they said, “Why do we need any more testimony? We have heard it from his own lips.”

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Why did the members of the Sanhedrin gather here? Well, it’s clear that they weren’t there to have a real inquiry into the matter of Jesus and His teachings. They certainly didn’t have real charges to consider against Jesus.

The Sanhedrin had meet before Jesus had come to Jerusalem this last time. Right after Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. At that meeting they had decided the Jesus needed to go. They plotted how to have Jesus murdered.

The different groups of the Sanhedrin had their own reasons for wanting Jesus dead. The Pharisees and the teachers of the law hated him because He had pointed out their hypocrisy to the people. Their precious reputation as religious men had been severely damaged.

The chief priests hated Jesus because he had threatened their lucrative Temple sales. Twice Jesus had cleared their salesmen from the court of the Gentiles on the Temple grounds.

Some of these men were afraid that Jesus’ popularity was growing too rapidly. Turn to John 11, verse 47. This is right after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. There it says…

“47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation”” (John 11:47-48 NIV).

This is why the Sanhedrin had gathered one last time on the morning of Jesus’ murder. They had come to protect their prestige, their money and their power. And these happen also be the reasons that they were involved with the church in the first place.

Their meetings on this night and morning were supposed to look like an official inquiry, sort of. Even though they broke just about all the rules surrounding such an inquiry. In a capital case there was supposed to be two meeting with the space of a full day in between. That didn’t happen.

And there were all sorts of other things that make it perfectly clear they weren’t there to seek out justice. They paid Judas to betray Jesus. They coached witnesses to incriminate Jesus, though that didn’t work out the way they intended. During the night the men who kept Jesus under guard also kept Him under a hood, so they could mock the idea that He was a prophet and beat Him with thug-like brutality.

No, they had not come together for the good of the people. Not for justice. But to tack down some charges against Jesus that would make their murder more acceptable to the people, and some charges that would lead the Romans to do their dirty-work for them.

These were religious men, to be sure. But they were certainly not men of God.

The first charge that they finally settled on was this: Jesus claimed to be the Christ, who the Bible said would be a king. They hoped this charge would be enough to force the Roman governor to get involved.

The second charge was this: Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, which to the Jews meant He WAS claiming to actually BE God. Turn to John 5, verse 18. There it says…

“18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:18 NIV).

Their hope was that by pointing this out they could claim Jesus was blaspheming, and the people would see that Jesus had to die for that.

The Sanhedrin’s trial of Jesus was a mock trial, and not a very well orchestrated one at that. And their personal devotion to God was also a mock devotion.
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We’ve seen the reasons why these men were there. And why they were leaders in the church. There might have been other reasons too. Probably were. But one thing is clear, these men weren’t involved with the church to actually know the God of the Bible.

Some people of our time like to talk about how they don’t have time for “organized religion”. In fact that term “organized religion” has come to stand for all that’s not good in churches. But the problem isn’t “organized religion” The problem is when religion becomes “faithless religion”. Religion that isn’t about getting to know who the true God is and what He’s like. Religion that is just about business. Religion that is all about a show and a reputation. Religion whose purpose is to keep things arranged the way they have been.

The men of the Sanhedrin came together for all the wrong reasons. Let’s not follow their example here at Redemption. When you come here, come to know God. Come to grow.
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Let me restate the two charges that the Sanhedrin came to cling to. 1) Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Savior chosen by God. 2) Jesus claimed to be God, God’s own Son.

In their mock trial, the Sanhedrin missed the point. They established that Jesus had definitely made these claims. Well, duh! The more compelling question is: were these claims TRUE? Because if they are, that means something big for you and me and everyone we know.

The members of the Sanhedrin sat in the outward church of God for all the wrong reasons. You and I come here for a different reason: because we believe Jesus’ claims. We believe He really is the Christ, who took the penalty for our sins away by suffering it in our place. He did that when He died on the cross having suffered hell at the hands of men, and hell at being separated from God the Father.

We also believe Jesus second claim: that He is the Son of God, through who we sinners have gained access to the Father. Turn to First John 2, verse 23.

“23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also” (1 John 2:23 NKJV).

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Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. I’m not tooting our horn. We’re not here today because we’re better people than the men who made up the Sanhedrin. If God hadn’t brought us the message of sins forgiven through Jesus, we wouldn’t KNOW it. If God’s Holy Spirit didn’t convince us that it’s true, we wouldn’t BELIEVE it. If not for God, we’d be here for all the wrong reasons too. We’re sinners for goodness sakes! We know all about doing things for the wrong reasons!

Ultimately we’re here because Jesus was true. After He died on the cross, God the Father raised Him from the dead. He had succeeded in His mission to provide salvation for sinners. Then, after forty final days of teaching His disciples how to carry this message to the world, Jesus returned to the Father’s side in Heaven. And from that highest place of authority and power, Jesus now orchestrates the people and events that lead other people to trust in Him as Savior and God.

That’s where Jesus is today. Yes, He’s also here with us invisibly. He promised that He’d never leave His followers right up to the end of history. But He’s also with the Father, directing and guiding His people’s sharing of the Good News with others.
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You know, we’ve met people like the Sanhedrin crowd. And we’re going to meet more. People who are religious in some way, but who don’t know the true God.

They may be like the Pharisees, all wrapped up in thinking religion is about reputation. They may be like the guards of Jesus, violent toward everything Jesus stands for. They may be concerned that things are going to change for the worse if those Jesus people are allowed to continue.

But here’s what we need to do when we meet people like that. We need to be like our Savior. We need to speak the truth about His claims. He is the Chosen one of God, now here’s what that means… He is the Son of God, now here’s how I know that’s true…

We need to speak the truth like this because even the hardened enemies of God can be changed by the Spirit of God. By the message of Christ Jesus communicated in ways that our neighbors can understand.

If you think that people like those in the Sanhedrin can’t be changed, just open up your Bible. Crack open the second half of it - the New Testament. Chances are you’ll land in a book that was written by a man named Paul. At one time he was a Pharisee to the core, and a murderer of Christ followers. But that changed when he met Jesus.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. I’m talking about SHARING Jesus. First we just need to BE WITH Jesus. So, when you come to this place, 20120 24th Avenue West, Lynnwood, WA, come here to meet with God, and for no other reason. I have no doubt that He’ll lead you from there.

Amen.

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

Two Types of Sorrow - March 3, 2010

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Sermon:

May God’s love for you rest on your hearts. And may the undeserved mercy of Christ fill you with peace. Amen.

Sometimes laughter and crying can be nearly impossible to tell apart.

Perhaps you’ve approached someone with an inquisitive smile on your face, curious at what they found so funny, only to realize that the laughter that you thought you heard was actually sobbing.

Maybe you’ve experienced the opposite. Maybe you’ve rushed through the house to see what terrible thing had happened, only to find that one child was simply tickling the other.

Our message for tonight focuses on Two Types of Sorrow. Like laugher and crying these two sorrows might seem the same from the outside, but they are very different. Night and day different you might say.

One is like the evening darkness, which is followed by the blackest of nights. The other is like the morning darkness, which comes right before the dawn.

Luke 23:27-31 (NIV)

27A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the barren women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30Then
“‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!”
and to the hills, “Cover us!”’
31For if men do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)

10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

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Plenty of people from the condemning mob followed Jesus as He plodded and staggered toward Calvary. But not everyone followed Him out of hatred. A group of women from Jerusalem followed Jesus out of pity.

These women knew where the soldiers were taking these men. They knew that there was no escape. While they could not free them, they could at least show them their sympathy. And so they followed with tears and loud crying attempting to lend some comfort before the excruciating end.
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But, even though they meant well, Jesus did not want their tears. Their wailing expressed worldly sorrow. Sorrow that sees no hope.

He turned and told them to stop. Other men who walked this path did so because Rome forced them to. Jesus walked this path by choice. He would not have His march to the cross seem as if it had been forced upon Him.
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It must have been shocking to hear Jesus’ words. Jesus told them that if they wanted to cry, they should instead cry for THEMSELVES and for their CHILDREN.

The Jewish people considered motherhood a great honor. They viewed the inability to have children a disgrace to a woman. Even a curse from God. But Jesus said that a horrific day was on its way when their world would be turned upside down.

In the days to come their thinking would be completely turned around. Instead of looking on the childless woman as disgraced and cursed, they would long to be her. A woman who carried her own sorrow only, what a blessing! What a blessing over the those who had their sorrow doubled by each child who lay starving, dead or dying.

Jesus spoke of the coming destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD when the Roman army of Titus would surround the rebellious city and then settle in to wait them out.

At this time the prophesy would come true, “they will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ and to the hills, ‘cover us!’”. The inhabitants of Jerusalem would long for a quick end, but life would linger until it was no longer life, but living death.

This horror come upon Jerusalem as God’s judgment for rejecting the Messiah He had promised for so long, and had at last sent to take the people’s sin away.

When Jesus came it was the spring time of salvation. Life sprung up from His words of grace like green growth. Faith flowered in the hearts of many through His preaching. But in the height of this springtime Jerusalem murdered the Messiah.

The days to come would be like a drought to Jerusalem. And finally the fire would be sparked which would consume it altogether.

If there was something to cry about, it was not here on the road to Calvary. Worldly, hopeless sorrow did not belong anywhere near the Savior. That kind of dark sorrow dwells only on the road which leads away from Jesus.
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But there is another kind of sorrow. One which Paul speaks of in Second Corinthians: Godly sorrow.

2 Corinthians 7:10 (NIV)

10Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

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Worldly sorrow is like the evening shadows which lengthen into the blackest and longest night. But Godly sorrow is like the morning shadows which retreat and disappear in the light of the sun.

Godly sorrow is sorrow related to God. While worldly sorrow can come from thousands of sources, Godly sorrow comes from one place. From realizing that all our sins are really done against our Creator.

King David knew about Godly sorrow. He wrote about it in Psalm 51.

“1 Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are proved right when you speak
and justified when you judge” (Psalm 51:1-4 NIV).

Against you, you only have I sinned. David realized that every one of his sins was a double. It was done against some person, but also against God.

Godly sorrow is focused on God. But Godly sorrow is followed by a change of mind. What we sometimes call “repentance”. It is best described as “a turning around”.

Often this change of mind is revealed by an action that matches. The repentant liar finally tells the truth. The repentant thief returns what was stolen.

Where worldly sorrow leads only to hopeless despair, Godly sorrow leads to salvation. For Godly sorrow drives us to God, to trust in His promise of forgiveness. And through Jesus we are given that forgiveness.
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Worldly sorrow may cause people to seek release like Judas did – through personal action. Making things right somehow. Judas sought to escape his sorrow over betraying Jesus by bringing the money back to the Chief Priests. But his action didn’t take his sorrow away because He didn’t look to Jesus for help. Worldly sorrow is a dead end because it doesn’t look to Jesus for help.

Godly sorrow is not a dead end, but a beginning. It brings the feeling of “I shouldn’t have done that” along with the feeling of “I don’t ever want to do that again”. It not only sees God as the one sinned against, but it also sees God’s Son as the one who takes all our sins away.

To the Christian, Godly sorrow is the only way to go. And like Paul says, Godly sorrow is never regretted. Godly sorrow is sadness sent from God to open our eyes. It leads us back to Jesus and to life. As Jesus Himself said,

“4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted” (Matthew 5:4 NIV).

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In Jerusalem, you can still walk the path that Jesus did on the way to the cross. They call it the “via dolorosa” – the way of sorrow. Many visitors to Jerusalem do this, pausing at each of the stations to meditate on the events that happened there so long ago. Meditating on the sufferings of Jesus.

Sadly, some teach that pity for Christ’s pain gets you points with God the Father. What a sad thing. They’re doing the same thing that the women of Jerusalem did.

Jesus did not suffer and die to get your pity. He did not suffered and died so that we can dwell on His suffering and beat ourselves up about it. He carried our sorrows so that we don’t have to! He carried our guilt so that we don’t have to!

Look at the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ crucifixion. They’re pretty short. They don’t linger on the gore of Christ’s crucifixion. They leave out the details and just tell us the simple fact – they crucified Him.

The brevity of the accounts of Christ’s crucifixion shows us that God wants us to know what happened, but He doesn’t want us to torture ourselves with our Savior’s suffering. Don’t make Lent YOUR time of suffering. It was HIS.

Luther said it like this:

“The fruit and use of the sufferings of Christ is this, that in them we have the forgiveness of sins”

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Confess your sins to God, but don’t dwell on them long. They are forgiven. When sorrow of any kind takes hold of your heart, look to Christ and to nothing else for release. Drop your sins like the putrid things they are, and just look to Jesus your Savior as to the rising sun that breaks the darkness, and brings the green growth of spiritual life.

Amen.

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

Pride is Poison - Feb 28, 2010

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“Two roosters who lived on the same farm constantly quarreled over who was the lord of the yard. Finally, they agreed to settle the matter by combat. Bright feathers flew and dust swirled in clouds. At last one of the roosters begged for his life to be spared.

The victor flew to the top of the henhouse and let out a loud triumphant crow. “I am the king!” he proclaimed. But an eagle who was soaring overhead heard him. With a sudden swoop the eagle dived down, snatched the rooster in his claws, and carried him away.

Pride goes before a fall” (Aesop’s Fables, retold by Jerry Pinkney).

Human pride and sin go hand in hand. In a sense every sin is an example of pride. For at the heart what is sin other than placing what we want above what God wants? That’s pride.

Aesop tells us that pride precedes a fall. Today’s sermon reading shows us that pride is like poison to the human soul.

Luke 22:54-62 (NIV)

54Then seizing him, they led him away and took him into the house of the high priest. Peter followed at a distance. 55But when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and had sat down together, Peter sat down with them. 56A servant girl saw him seated there in the firelight. She looked closely at him and said, “This man was with him.”
57But he denied it. “Woman, I don’t know him,” he said.
58A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
59About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
60Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. 61The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” 62And he went outside and wept bitterly.

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Pride is found in each one of us. And pride is poison to the Christian soul. Pride does not kill instantly. It’s like one of those poisons which must build up before it becomes deadly.

But pride has side-effects. One of the first side is stunted growth.

Jesus had tried to strengthen and prepare the disciples for His arrest and crucifixion. He had told them numerous times that He would soon die.

On this very night Jesus had told them that He would be betrayed by one of their own. They would all desert Him. Peter would disown Him three times before the rooster crowed.

But pride prevented the disciples from taking Jesus’ warning to heart. Jesus’ warning should have driven Peter to pray and prepare for the temptation that was coming. But Peter thought that he knew better. And when the storm descended on Peter there in the courtyard of the High Priest, Peter was totally unprepared to face it.
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Jesus had told Peter what to expect in Luke 22, verse 31.

“31“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. 32But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers”” (Luke 22:31-32 NIV).

And we have received much the same warning. From 1 Peter 5, verse 8.

“8Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings” (1 Peter 5:8-9 NIV).

The Devil does not parade around in a red spandex suit with a pitch-fork and a handlebar mustache. He is real, not a caricature. If we don’t take this warning seriously and arm ourselves with the Word of God, we will not be ready when he comes to shake our faith.

Put on the armor of God’s Word daily. Come to His house. Follow the example your fellow Christians who you look up to. Heed God’s warning and be ready for Satan’s attack. Be ready with a practical understanding of God’s Word. With a good habit of continuous prayer. With a network of Christian friends that can support you when Satan attacks. Be ready by standing at the side of Christ in faith.
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In Philippians 2, verse 3 Christians are told…

“3Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3 NIV).

In Ephesians 5, verse 21 we are told…

“21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21 NIV).

Another side-effect of pride is harshly judging others while making exceptions for ourselves.

Peter did this right in the face of Jesus. When Jesus warned the disciples that they would abandon Him, Peter said, No way Lord, maybe these guys, but not me. Pride leads us to an “I’m the exception” attitude.

There’s been some controversy lately about cities using cameras to issue traffic tickets. You’ve seen these cameras flash at intersections. Apparently these cameras are very effective and can bring in substantial revenue for a city. Some people have complained that this isn’t right to make money by busting people for traffic violations.

When I first heard people grumbling I thought, “You got a ticket didn’t you? Serves you right. If you ran the red light, you deserve it. It doesn’t matter whether it was a cop in a patrol car or a cop behind a desk – you deserved it.”

Then I got a $120 ticket in the mail. My first response was, “No way. I’m sure I must have stopped. I don’t make a habit of running red lights. There’s gotta be some mistake.”

The letter I received in the mail directed me to a website where I could go to view the pictures which supposedly proved my traffic violation. So, I went to the site thinking I’d be able to prove my innocent.

It wasn’t just photos, it was video. There was the family station wagon coming to the corner. But it wasn’t slowly down much. There it was turning right at the red light with barely a tap on the brakes. GUILTY.

How many other times have I been guilty of judging others but excusing myself – for the same sin? And how many times does my blinding pride hurt the people around me? I’m reminded of Psalm 130.

“If you, O LORD, kept a record of sins,
O Lord, who could stand?” (Psalm 130:3 NIV).

Thank God I’ve got a Savior who died to take away all my sins, including the ones I don’t even realize I do.
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Peter’s pride didn’t just hurt his friends. His pride hurt the Master.

Peter found himself in the courtyard of the High Priest. He had come in secret, following the detachment of Roman soldiers and temple guards that had arrested Jesus. He didn’t want to be found out. It was better to be anonymous among the servants gathering there in the courtyard.

But he couldn’t remain unnoticed for long. He had nearly killed someone when Jesus was arrested. He had swung his sword and cut off a man’s ear. And some of the people who had seen him do this were there in the courtyard. Even a relative of the man whose ear had been sliced off.

At first they weren’t quite sure that this was the same man. But their confidence grew. This man was not one of the servants. Not a regular visitor to the palace, and yet he was familiar. And the sound of his voice, that was definitely a Galilean accent. This HAD to be one of the followers of Jesus.

At first, Peter tried a casual lie. Nope, I don’t even know that guy. But as his accusers grew bolder, so did Peter’s lies. In the other Gospel accounts we’re told that he SWORE to them that he didn’t know Jesus, and that he even called down CURSES on himself in an attempt to bolster his lies.

When pride controls us, the only tools we have at hand are our instinctive, sinful reflexes.

Ever been around someone caught in a lie? If they’re caught sharply enough they’ll sometimes spurt out a bigger, more ridiculous lie. Maybe you’ve been that person. Or found yourself in a similar situation. Ever put your foot in your mouth real deep?

You know, said something unkind about someone you didn’t think was listening? But then you realized they were. And you panicked, “Oh, I didn’t mean that like it sounded” you say, but yeah, you did. They know it. You know it. And there it is out there for everyone to see. A hurtful word and an accompanying lie. Thanks pride, thanks.
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That exactly the situation that Peter found himself in. There he was swearing up and down that he didn’t know who in the world this Jesus was, and then Jesus turned. Perhaps being taken from place to another. Perhaps standing on a balcony above. Jesus turned, and looked Peter right in the eye.

The piercing crow of the rooster was in the air. And Peter felt the talons of guilt sink into his soul. All his anger and frustration drained away, and deep regret flooded in to take their place.

Seeing the Master’s face was like seeing a mirror. Peter saw his own reflection in the Master’s eyes. And there Peter was, all spattered with ugly pride and foolish sin. And Peter was so sorry.

That’s where our text ends. But thankfully, that’s not where the story ends. Later, after the cross and after the resurrection, Jesus looked on Peter once again. But this time, Jesus’ look and His words were not to convict Peter of his sin, but to reassure Peter that his sin was forgiven. The Master’s terrible suffering and death had removed all of Peter’s sins, including those three fervent denials.
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When we look to Jesus’ cross we should see these two things. First we should see what our sins have done. Our sins made this necessary. But by God’s grace we see more. When we look to Jesus’ cross we see what our Savior did so that our sins of pride stand forever forgiven.

When we are confronted by someone about a particular sin, we may feel judged by them. But don’t let your pride blind you. If you’re guilty of what they’re pointing at, perhaps it is the eye of Jesus that is looking at you, convicting you through His messenger. Convicting you in order to open your eyes to your sin. Convicting you in order to save you.

When Jesus sent out His disciples to preach He told them,

“16“He who listens to you listens to me; he who rejects you rejects me; but he who rejects me rejects him who sent me”” (Luke 10:16 NIV).

May we NEVER reject our Savior’s rebuke. No matter who it comes through. No matter how hard our prideful hearts try to excuse us. May the Holy Spirit shine Jesus’ light on us, the light which reveals sin and forgives it (Psalm 119:105).

Proverbs 3:11-12 says…

“11 My son, do not despise the LORD’S discipline
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:11-12 NIV).

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Pride is poison to the Christian faith, because pride is confidence misplaced. Our hope is in Christ alone. Not in our own experience. Not in our own character. Not in our own strength, but in His strength and character alone.

He, the eternal Son of God, humbled Himself in order to take our sins away. Let us humble ourselves before Him in every way. Looking to Him alone for strength, guidance, wisdom and on-going forgiveness.
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The Bible says...

“5Young men, in the same way be submissive to those who are older. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,
“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”
6Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you” (1 Peter 5:5-7 NIV).

You know who wrote that? Peter. The same Savior that lifted him back up after his fall, has lifted us up also on the wings of forgiveness.

Amen.

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

Jesus is Our Great High Priest - Feb 21, 2010

To LISTEN to this week's sermon online click here. To DOWNLOAD an MP3, first right click here then choose "save link as" or "save target as".

Sermon:

May God’s love for you rest on your hearts. And may the mercy of Christ fill you with peace. Amen.

I’m holding in my hand my call letter. That’s the letter that you sent me when you asked me to become your pastor. It lists all the things that you have asked me to do.

Let me summarize some of it for you.

In extending this call to you we solemnly charge you…

…To preach the Word of God.
…To administer the holy sacraments.
…To watch over our souls using law and gospel.
…To instruct the young.
…To always serve as a good example.
…To gather people into the Kingdom of Christ.

I’m to be a preacher, a minister, a shepherd, a teacher, a reverend and an evangelist. One thing that I am not, is a priest.

A priest offers sacrifices before God, on behalf of other people, for their sins. I am NOT a priest.
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I’m talking about priests because today’s sermon reading from Hebrews calls Jesus our High Priest. It describes what kind of High Priest Jesus is.

The book of Hebrews was written to people who were Jewish by birth, but Christian by faith. These people knew what the Temple in Jerusalem looked like. They were familiar with the Old Testament priesthood that God had set up. Daily sacrifices for sins were ordinary to them.



But we’re not Jewish. And even if we were, we’re not Old Testament Jewish. Temple sacrifices are not part of our worship. The only High Priest we’ve ever seen, if we’ve ever seen one, was in a movie.

So we need to review a few things in order to understand what God’s telling us in Hebrews.
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The first thing we need to understand is sin. Sin is the reason a priest was necessary . Sin is disobeying God. Doing what He forbids. While people like to joke about sin, God doesn’t think sin is funny at all. Sin is completely foreign to who God is. In fact, God will not allow sin to remain in His presence.

Here’s how serious God is about sin. God created the Angels to serve Him. They are spirit beings of great power. But He also created them as free creatures. Some of them used their freedom to rebel against God.

Led by Satan, these angels failed to overthrow God and were removed from their high positions of glory and authority. Their sin divorced them from God, forever.

Forever. Did you catch that? Forever. There was no going back. No way of returning to God. Eternity apart from God and all His goodness was now their fate.

In Revelation 20, verse 10 John saw a vision of Satan’s destiny.

“10And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Revelation 20:10 NIV).

This is how serious God takes sin. This is why sinful human beings NEED a priest to go between them and the Holy God.

When the first two human beings rebelled against God, God did something that He hadn’t done with the angels. He had mercy us. He told Adam and Eve, Trust me, I will rescue you. Where the angels had no Savior, God promised the human race a Savior. Someone who would go between God and us, and would bring a sacrifice for us.
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We’ve talked about how the seriousness of sin, and how it makes a priest, or a “go-between” necessary. Now we need to talk about the Old Testament priesthood.

People can be easily confused by the Old Testament priesthood. God told the Israelites to set up a worship center and have priests who tended to all that went on there. God then also commanded all sorts of sacrifices to be presented there.

But these sacrifices couldn’t actually remove the sins of the people. Hebrews 10, verse 4 says…

“…those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, 4because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins” (Hebrews 10:4 NIV).

The sacrifice that WOULD actually do something was yet to come.

The sins of Old Testament believers were forgiven because of their faith in God’s promises. That’s what it’s always been about. When they brought the sacrifices God commanded, they were offering them in faith. With trust that if God said I should bring this offering to be purified, than I’ll do it. The sacrifice itself didn’t do anything, it was the trust in God that mattered.

If an Old Testament person didn’t really trust in God’s promises but brought animals to the temple to be sacrifices anyway, those sacrifices had no value in God’s eyes.

If an Old Testament BELIEVER was enslaved and taken far away from the Temple in Jerusalem so that they couldn’t offer the sacrifices that God commanded, but he still looked to God in faith, praying for forgiveness – that person was forgiven. It’s always been about faith in God’s promises.
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Much of the Old Testament way of worship was meant not to actually take away sins, but to foreshadow the Messiah who would. Each animal offered on an altar for sins was a picture of how Jesus would offer Himself on the Cross.

The priesthood itself was a picture of the Messiah. Only descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron could serve as priests.

God’s Great High Priest couldn’t be just anybody. He had to be a descendant of King David, born in Bethlehem, born to a virgin in order to fulfill the ancient prophesies. Only God’s chosen could serve as the Great High Priest.

Priests had to prepare themselves in very specific ways before they offered sacrifices for sins of the people. On the Festival day called, “The Day of Atonement” this meant the High Priest had to take a special bath, put on pure white under clothing, pure white priestly robes that were reserved for this day only. Then he had to had to offer a certain sacrifice for his own sins, and only after all that had taken place could he then offer the sacrifice for the people’s sins.

All these things pictured how God’s Great High Priest would need to be clean. Holy. Sinless.

Above all, the Old Testament priests had to offer the proper sacrifice. The one God had commanded for the situation. And they had to offer that sacrifice in the way that God had prescribed it to be offered. To see how serious God was about the correct offering being brought, turn to Leviticus 10, verse 1.

“1Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu took their censers, put fire in them and added incense; and they offered unauthorized fire before the LORD, contrary to his command. 2So fire came out from the presence of the LORD and consumed them, and they died before the LORD” (Leviticus 10:1-2 NIV).

If you weren’t a descendant of Aaron, you didn’t approach God’s altar. If you weren’t prepared, you didn’t approach God’s altar. If you didn’t have the necessary commanded sacrifice properly prepared, you didn’t dare approach God’s altar.

That’s why there is no other way to God than through His Son Jesus. Only Jesus is God’s Great High Priest. He was chosen by God for this work. He was sinless and therefore able to approach God with our sacrifice. He came with the sacrifice of His own sinless life given freely and wrapped in His fervent love for sinners. And His sacrifice for sinners was accepted.
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And now, we’re finally ready to peak at our sermon reading. Turn to Hebrews 4, verse 15.

“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. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Hebrews 4:15-16 NIV).

Guilt sometimes drives people to think of some sin as being too big to be forgiven. Have you ever felt that way? THIS SIN is too much for to be forgiven. Maybe it’s a GROUP of sins: these sins that I’ve done are too much. They’ve crossed the line. Or maybe it’s a certain CATEGORY of sins that weighs heavy on you own conscience.

But our High Priest knows what it is like to be tempted, and He is compassionate. There is no sin that we could tell Him about that would come as a surprise. He knows everything that we have done because on the Cross of Calvary, He suffered for each and every sin that you and I HAVE EVER or WILL EVER commit!
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When Judas realized that Jesus was going to be executed because of his betrayal he was overcome with guilt and regret. Judas tried to undo what he had done. He went to the chief priests and tried to give them the money back saying,

“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood” (Matthew 27:4 NKJV ).

But Judas didn’t get any relief for his conscience from these priests. They didn’t comfort him by telling him they’d appeal to God and offer the right sacrifices on his behalf. They said,

“What is that to us? You see to it!” (Matthew 27:4 NKJV).

They his sin back in his face. It’s your problem, you take care of it. THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF HIGH PRIEST WE HAVE!

Our High Priest is merciful and loving. When we open our hearts to Him and speak of our darkest sins, He says, “Be at peace! Your problem was my problem. I made your sins mine and by my suffering in your place, your sins have been removed forever.”

That’s why the writer of Hebrews encourages us to KEEP COMING to the throne of Christ, because it is the throne of GRACE! The place where were receive mercy and forgiveness.
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I AM NOT YOUR PRIEST. I have no sacrifice to offer God in your place. Jesus has already done that. YOU ARE NOT YOUR OWN PRIEST. Don’t try to approach the throne of the Holy God without Jesus. You can’t succeed.

Instead leave the Savior’s work to the Savior. Let the High Priest ordained by the Father from eternity do what He does. Let Him stand as the one who was tempted and found without sin. Let Him stand as the sinless sacrifice that sets you free.

Just go home, singing with joy in your heart that Jesus is your High Priest. And whenever your sins poke and prod at your faith, return to His throne of grace in prayer with complete openness. He is YOUR HIGH PRIEST, and His promise is clear.

Turn to 1 John 1, verse 8. There our High Priest has recorded His eternal promise:

“8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9 NIV).

Amen.

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

Two Fallen Disciples - Feb 17, 2010

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, and the beginning of Lent. Pastor Paul Naumann joined us for soup supper and shared a message. His message was the first in a sermon series titled: Lenten Shadow and Light. Here's the whole series...

-Two Fallen Disciples
-Two Masters of Israel
-Two Types of Sorrow
-Two Chance Acquaintances
-Two Malefactors
-Two Romans

Please join us next Wednesday:

6pm Soup Supper
7pm Worship

To LISTEN to "Two Fallen Disciples" online click here. To DOWNLOAD an MP3, first right click here then choose "save link as" or "save target as".

We Have Seen His Glory - Feb 14, 2010

To LISTEN to this week's sermon online click here. To DOWNLOAD an MP3, first right click here then choose "save link as" or "save target as".

Sermon:

The Transfiguration of Jesus: A harmony of Matthew, Mark and Luke (NIV)

“I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God.”
About eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John and James with Him and went up onto a high mountain, where they were all alone, to pray.
As He was praying, the appearance of His face changed, His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became as white as the light. Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.
Peter and his companions were very sleepy, but when they became fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him. As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to Him, “Master, it is good for us to be here, if you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.)
While he was speaking, a bright cloud appeared and enveloped them, and they were afraid as they entered the cloud. A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” He said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.

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The account of Jesus’ transfiguration is found in Matthew, Mark and Luke. But none of these men were actually present at the transfiguration. They had to be told what happened up there on the mountain. Only Peter, James and John saw it with their own eyes.

John wrote his Gospel a number of years after Matthew, Mark and Luke and he leaves the transfiguration account out altogether. I suppose John didn’t feel the need to rehearse it again. The description found in the other Gospels was sufficient.

Still, John hinted at the transfiguration in the first chapter of his Gospel. Turn to John 1:14. There we read…

“14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14 NIV).

We have seen His glory.

That’s what the season of Epiphany is all about, seeing Jesus for who He really is. Seeing His glory as the Son of God. Seeing Him as the Savior who came to rescue sinners like you and me.

Of all the snapshots of Jesus that we’ve seen throughout this season of Epiphany, perhaps no picture of Jesus is so complete as this one we see on the mount of transfiguration. In fact, here we see a whole handful of snapshots, each from a different angle, each helping us to see His glory.
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First we see His appearance change from the ordinary face of a Jewish carpenter, to the dazzling brilliance of a god. Of THE God actually. Throughout His life, Jesus had stowed His visible glory away. It’s hard to teach everyday farmers, soldiers and fishermen when they’re all terrified because your skin is shining like the sun. But here in the privacy of the mountain wilderness, Jesus let the curtain fall away and the magnitude of His identity shine out: this is God the Son.

That He is also the promised Messiah becomes clear as two figures join Him. Two men who had not made the hike that morning appear beside Jesus: Moses and Elijah. These men represent the whole Old Testament, Moses who wrote the first five books of the Bible at the direction of God’s Holy Spirit. Elijah was the greatest of the ancient prophets.

But while these men represent God’s Old Testament message, they were also ACTUALLY THERE. The same Moses who had been raised in Pharaoh’s court. The Same Elijah who had hidden from King Ahab in the wilderness.

And lest we get distracted by the presence of such great men, their conversation directs us back to Jesus and His importance. They are talking about “His departure, which He was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem”.

Jesus’ departure from this world would not be through the customary door of death. Jesus would indeed suffer and die to win forgiveness of all sinners. But then He would rise from the grave three days later. His departure would happen forty days after that. From the Mount of Olives He rose up into the air, taking His visible presence away from earth.

Jesus’ “departure” would happen, but only AFTER He had succeeded in redeeming the world of sinners. He would depart only AFTER God the Father had trumpeted His success to the world by raising Him from the dead.
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Everything about Jesus on the mountain is remarkable. His appearance, brilliant. His company, outstanding. Their conversation, confident concerning the salvation He was about to accomplish for sinners.

But everything about the disciples on the mountain, is fear.

We’ve almost forgotten about Peter, James and John. Jesus had taken these men with Him, to pray. And like the weak men they were, they had fallen asleep.

When they woke to see Jesus in glory, with Moses and Elijah standing beside Him, they were both filled with fear, and with confusion.

Peter begins to ramble away about setting up shelter so that they can stay a bit longer. They’re amazed, afraid and distracted. But then God the Father re-centers their attention back on Jesus.

As Peter rambles a bright cloud envelopes them and the voice of the Father Himself speaks from the mist. He says,

“This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5 NIV).

Jesus’ glory surges again. This time His glory is the approval of God the Father. Of the rest of the human race God has declared,

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way…” (Isaiah 53:6 NIV).

But of His Son, the Father says, “with Him I am well pleased. Listen to Him!” This is the highest endorsement that anyone could ever receive.

And it’s all to much for these simple, ordinary sinners to take in. They fall face down to the ground, terrified in the presence of the Almighty.

And once again, the focus falls back on Jesus. This time, by His own kind consideration. He reaches out to touch His disciples, and to tell them not to fear.

These men did not understand. Though they trusted in Him, they did not understand what lay in store for Jesus in days to come. How He would suffer. How He would be degraded and spit up so that they could be elevated and forgiven. Jesus knew they didn’t understand, and He was patient with them. He is still patient today when we fail to understand what He so clearly lays before us.

We too have seen His glory. We have seen His glory through the Word of God recorded by sinners like us. Sinners forgiven through the Cross of Christ. And now, as we leave the season of Epiphany and enter into the season of Lent, we will see His glory in greater detail.

We will see His glory as we travel toward jeering Jerusalem. Toward Pontius Pilate and Caiaphas. Toward the road to Golgotha and our Savior’s cross. So let’s keep the focus of the Transfiguration in our minds.

Lent IS about seeing our own sins and turning away from them. It IS about looking inside to see the unworthiness and the failures of heart and soul which stain us on a daily basis. But above all, Lent is about the Savior who came not only to show us our sin, but to remove the punishment for those sins.

Above all, Lent is all about seeing His glory, and not being afraid anymore.

I’d like to close our meditation today by reading from John one last time.

“16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” (John 1:16-18 NIV).

Amen.

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

Jesus the Powerful Healer - Feb 7, 2010

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Sermon:

During this Epiphany season we’ve been meditating on the Gospel of Mark. Mark is the shortest of all the Gospels. For example, Matthew is 28 chapters long, Mark is just 16. Mark’s Gospel is short and punchy, presenting Jesus to us in a series of snapshots.

So far we’ve seen Jesus the teacher. Jesus the enemy of demons. Jesus the chooser, selecting His representatives and not the other way around. We’ve seen Jesus stilling the storm and His disciples doubts about God’s love. Last week we saw Jesus feed the 5,000 illustrating that God wants to give to us, not take from us.

Today Mark presents Jesus as the Powerful Healer.

Mark 7:31-37 (NIV)

31Then Jesus left the vicinity of Tyre and went through Sidon, down to the Sea of Galilee and into the region of the Decapolis. 32There some people brought to him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged him to place his hand on the man.
33After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus put his fingers into the man’s ears. Then he spit and touched the man’s tongue. 34He looked up to heaven and with a deep sigh said to him, “Ephphatha!” (which means, “Be opened!”). 35At this, the man’s ears were opened, his tongue was loosened and he began to speak plainly.
36Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone. But the more he did so, the more they kept talking about it. 37People were overwhelmed with amazement. “He has done everything well,” they said. “He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

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May the Spirit of God open now our ears to hear and our minds to comprehend. May our hearts be led to trust Him more firmly, and may our mouths sing praise to Him. Amen.

It’s quite obvious that Jesus healed people because He loved people.

“14When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14 NIV).

“32Jesus stopped and called them. “What do you want me to do for you?” he asked.
33“Lord,” they answered, “we want our sight.”
34Jesus had compassion on them and touched their eyes. Immediately they received their sight and followed him.” (Matthew 20:32-34 NIV).

“40A man with leprosy came to him and begged him on his knees, “If you are willing, you can make me clean.”
41Filled with compassion, Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” 42Immediately the leprosy left him and he was cured” (Mark 1:40-41 NIV).

Jesus did these healings in a personal way. He was there. The sick were there. He healed them with a touch. But there were other times when Jesus healed with just a word. Did you notice from our reading today how Jesus did this strange thing, He put His fingers in the man’s ears and put His spit on the man’s tongue? But that wasn’t what healed the man. When Jesus said, “Be opened” THEN the man was healed. It was the word that did it there.

And sometimes Jesus healed at a great distance, without a word. In the section immediately before our sermon reading Jesus cast a demon out of a woman’s daughter. The daughter isn’t present. Jesus just tells the girl’s mother, “…you may go; the demon has left your daughter” (Mark 7:29 NIV).

So, if Jesus could heal at will, why didn’t He just heal all the sick people in Israel, or the world, (snap) just like that?

An here’s another odd thing. Jesus actually told people NOT TO SPREAD THE WORD about His healings! Didn’t He want people to know what He was capable of?

I would suggest to you today that Jesus didn’t heal people in a “wholesale” way for a very important reason. HIS MINISTRY WASN’T ALL ABOUT HEALING THE SICK. That was PART of His ministry, but it was not the main point. Jesus’ ministry was all about the MESSAGE that He was preaching. Above all He wanted people to know how heaven is reached – through the Savior that God sent.

Jesus’ miracles of healing were done out of love for the sick and needy, but the main purpose of these miracles was to validate THE MESSAGE that He preached. The message of sin and salvation.
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Look at it this way. When Adam and Eve sinned the first time, the ANCIENT DISEASE CALLED SIN entered the world. With sin came symptoms like blindness, deafness, paralysis, aids, flu, muscle pain, back aches, allergies, etc.

Sometimes Western medicine gets black labeled as “only treating the symptoms”, not the inner physical breakdowns that cause the symptoms. But really, all human medicine is only treating the symptoms, the symptoms of sin. Eventually the disease of sin brings us all to the grave.

Every time Jesus healed someone’s illness or deformity, He was treating a symptom. But Jesus wasn’t only interested in treating symptoms. He came to kill the disease.

Now, if we were writing the story, maybe we’d have the Son of God invent a time machine so that He could go back and stop Adam and Eve from sinning. But God’s plan was different.

The problem with sinners is that the God of Justice has to punish them. If He didn’t He wouldn’t be just. He’d be like a corrupt judge that lets a case go without justice being served. The sentence for our sins couldn’t just be dismissed.

So, God the Son became Human so He could take the punishment for our sins on Himself. While Jesus was being crucified He was also experiencing the horrific punishment due for every sin. The ones you committed yesterday. The one’s you’ll commit tomorrow. All have been suffered for already, by God’s sinless Son.

During His ministry, Jesus treated the symptoms of sin so that people would believe that He was here to kill the disease.
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Jesus once said,

“26What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26 NIV).

We could also say, what good is it if I live a healthy life, free from hunger or disease, only to die and spend eternity in Hell, separated from God?

The snapshot of Jesus that I see here is “Jesus the Powerful Healer”. But if we only see Him as a physical healer, we’ll have missed the point. He released many from the symptoms of sin, but He provides release from sin itself FOR ALL PEOPLE through His sinless sacrifice on the cross.
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As individual Christians we can set people free from the effects of sin by giving. We can give to food banks and feed the hungry. We can give to charities that support the poor. Many have supported relief efforts in Haiti by simply text messaging ten bucks with their phone.

We can also set people free from the symptoms of sin directly. We can help someone to find a job. We can give someone who is homeless a place to stay. Or we can simply lend a listening ear and an encouraging voice to someone who needs it. We can pray to God for people we want to help. We can do these things, just as Jesus did, out of compassion.

But we must not fail to also treat the greater disease of sin. We can’t only treat the symptoms. Jesus didn’t come to be our Aspirin. He came to be the cure for sin. He came to lead us to Heaven, where symptoms and sin have no place.
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The apostle Paul once wrote,

“16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith” (Romans 1:16 NIV).

Through faith in Jesus, the antidote to sin courses through our veins. Your sins stand forgiven because of Christ. Let’s share that medicine with our family and friends.

Amen.

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