Seeing God's Salvation

            Today, I would like for us to put the 11^th Commandment on hold as I begin my sermon.  You do know what the 11^th Commandment is, right?  It was a commandment written specifically for Lutherans in worship. It reads, when worshiping, thou shalt do nothing except stand, sit, sing hymns, and occasionally laugh and clap.  I know that some of you life long Lutherans are wondering about that laugh and clap part, but it was discovered that German scribes omitted that last part to purposely make worship more somber.  Recently archaeologists dug up some very old manuscripts to show that laughing and clapping were actually in the original text.  Okay.  Enough of the fiction.  But on a serious note, I would like to ask you to do something a little different because I am going to put my preaching to the test this morning, and I need your help to do it.  I am going to ask you a question at the beginning of my sermon, and then I am going to ask you the same question at the end of the sermon.  I will be able to measure the effectiveness of my preaching if there is a difference.  Can you please help me?  Here is the question: do you believe that you have seen the salvation of God? Please raise your hand if you believe that you have seen the salvation of God.  I’m not going to criticize you or anything.  I am not going to judge you or anything of the sort.  Please, again, raise your hand if you believe you have seen God’s salvation.  Thank you (describe at 8 a.m. for radio audience).

            You may be wondering why I asked that question, and I will tell you.  For years, I understood that our Christian faith was focused on what I was supposed to do.  I thought that it was about me being a good person.  I thought it was about me following the commands of God.  I thought it was about being nice and kind and generous.  I thought it was about me telling others to do the same—to believe in Jesus and work hard to be a good person.  But over time, I came to see that first and foremost, Christianity was not focused on me and my actions.  Those things come into play, don’t get me wrong, but they are not primary.  What is primary; what is central and core to Christianity is not what I do, but what God has already done in Jesus Christ.

            This is one of the reasons we set aside four Sundays to prepare for the arrival of Jesus at the very beginning of the church year.  We focus our attention on what is happening as God comes to earth as that babe in Bethlehem, and we remember that He will come again to judge the living and the dead.  Traditionally, we spend a couple of weeks hearing about John the Baptist and his ministry because he was the one who prepared the way for Jesus’ when Jesus first came. Our Gospel lesson brings this forward to us this morning from the third chapter of the book of Luke.

            And Luke begins with this list of powerful people in the Roman Empire.  He begins with Emperor Tiberius and then narrows it down to Pontius Pilate.  He then talks about Herod, the puppet king of Israel, and then Philip and Lysanias.  Finally, Luke lists Annas and Caiaphas the high priest of the Temple.  At first, this might seem like just a list of the powerbrokers of the day, but Luke is telling us something important.  Luke is telling us that when God acts, He is not removed from history.  God moves within human history working in the world that He created.  God is not distant, set apart, just watching things transpire.  God looks into our world and moves!  No matter who is in power.  No matter who is in control.  It doesn’t matter who controls the House or the Senate or the Presidency.  It doesn’t matter who is on the Supreme Court.  Despite what these folks might be doing, they are not the ones who truly are calling the shots.  They are not the ones with ultimate authority.  There is someone who is more powerful, more important, more diligent moving in the course of history.  God’s power and might, when they are revealed are much more important than all of humanity’s rulers.

            And God’s power is revealed in the Judean wilderness as it falls upon a very interesting character—a 30ish young man who is dressed in camel’s hair and who eats grasshoppers and wild honey.  But this man’s dress and diet aren’t what gets the attention.  What is getting the attention is that for the first time in 400 years, God has raised up a prophet.  The people were longing and yearning to hear God speak.  God had been silent for all this time, and finally, finally God was once again speaking!  God was once again communicating through a prophet!!  The people went out to hear John with anticipation and hope.

            And John called them to repentance.  John called them to be purified by the waters of baptism.  Perhaps Pastor Casey will go into this in more detail next Sunday as John’s teaching is fleshed out, but for our purposes today, for our purposes today, we are only given the reason why John was calling people to repentance.  We are only given the reason why John was baptizing. 

            Luke quotes the Old Testament Prophet Isaiah.  He quotes Isaiah to make it very clear what is happening in John the Baptist’s ministry.  John is a herald.  John is someone who is preparing the way.  John is, “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. 5Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. 6And all people will see God’s salvation.”

            When you read further down in the 40^th Chapter of Isaiah, it becomes even more clear what John was doing.  Verse 9 and following says, “Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good tidings; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings, lift it up, do not fear; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Here is your God!’  ¹⁰ See, the Lord God comes with might, and his arm rules for him; his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.  ¹¹ He will feed his flock like a shepherd;  he will gather the lambs in his arms, and carry them in his bosom, and gently lead the mother sheep.”

            John is heralding the arrival of the Lord God.  John is telling people that the Lord is arriving!  And there is only one appropriate path for the Lord.  It cannot have any dips or hills.  It cannot have any curves.  Everything should be straight and level!  Nothing must stand in the way of the Lord!

            Oh, for years how I thought that the most important part of this passage was the thought that we needed to be making those paths straight.  Oh how I thought that it was the church’s job to level the hills, raise the valleys, and straighten the paths.  Oh how I thought it was the church’s job to transform the world—to save the world.  Oh, how misguided I was.  Because to save the world—to make all the hills level and to bring up the valleys; to straighten out the curves would be more difficult than trying to figure out what is in several boxes of canned goods that someone had taken all the labels off of—not that anyone would intentionally do that, would they?  (For those of you who didn’t get that reference, talk to me later.)

            And so, I was very thankful for Pastor Casey’s words last week when he said, “It’s not our job to save the world because Jesus already said that He will save the world.  Our job is to tell of Jesus, to see the beauty of the work that Jesus is already doing…”  And I would like to add this morning—to see the beauty of what Jesus has already done.

            For, you see, my brothers and sisters, that is the key.  Salvation has already been revealed.  Salvation has already come.  Salvation isn’t something that is far and away to be experienced at a future date.  Salvation isn’t something that we have to scrounge around and look for.  Salvation isn’t something mysterious hidden away that we have to uncover.  It is right before each and every person, and all you have to do to see it is look at the cross.  All you have to do to see it is look at the empty tomb.

            “For it was on that old cross that Jesus suffered and died to pardon and sanctify me.”  On the cross, Jesus saved you. On the cross Jesus redeemed you.  On the cross Jesus gave you salvation.  On the cross, He bought you not with silver or gold but with His holy and precious blood.  When Jesus said from the cross, “It is finished,” He was letting us know that He has brought salvation to us.

            And, the empty tomb shows what will happen to us in the end.  We have a preview of what will happen to us.  All the evil that has ever been done will be unmade.  All of the suffering that we have undergone will be transformed.  All darkness will turn to light.  All hatred will turn to love.  All sadness will turn to joy.  This is no secret.  Because of Jesus, this is something we can count on; this is something we can trust in.

            Salvation, my brothers and sisters, has been revealed.  Salvation has been accomplished.  “For God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.”

            When you look at Jesus, you are seeing salvation.  You are like Simeon in the temple holding up the Christ child and singing, “my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 

            Oh, and now, and now I must put my preaching to the test.  I must see whether or not the Spirit was using me this morning.  For now, if every hand is not raised, then I have much more work to do to become more effective.  If every hand is not raised, then I have failed to show you Jesus—for in Jesus you see the salvation of God.  Please now raise your hand if you have seen Jesus.  Raise your hand if you have seen His work on the cross.  Raise your hand if you have seen the glory of his resurrection.  Raise your hand if you have been saved by His wondrous and glorious grace. 

            And let us pray: Holy God, you have worked to bring salvation to the world through Jesus.  He has bought us with great priced and saved us from our sin.  Help us to see this each and every day.  Help us to hold onto this with a sure and certain hope.  Help us to find great joy in your love for us, and encourage us to prepare a way so that others may see Jesus as well.  We ask this in His holy and precious name.  Amen.

Seeing the Truth

               At my last service at St. John of Cat Spring, I asked for prayer requests just before the prayers of the church.  One of my congregation members raised his hand and said, “I’d like to pray for Bethany Lutheran Church.”

                I wasn’t exactly sure what to make of that prayer request, so I started thinking about it. And suddenly, I put two and two together.  You see, right before church, one of our youth met me in the hall as I was heading to worship, and the little tyke said, “Pastor, I hate to see you go.  I want to make sure and get your address so that I can keep up with you because when I grow up and get a job, I’m going to send you some money.

                I was touched by this child’s comment but also a bit perplexed, so I asked the little guy why he was going to send me money.  He replied just as innocently as a child can, “Because my daddy says you are the poorest preacher he’s ever seen.”  Did I mention that my congregation member wanted me to pray for Bethany Lutheran Church?

                And maybe, just maybe history will bear it out that I am the poorest preacher that some of you have ever seen.  But if I am to be the poorest preacher that you have ever seen, let it be because I was not able to help you understand complicated theological concepts.  Let it be because I was not able to provide illustrations that brought the biblical passages to life.  Let it be because I am a sinner who falls far short of what God has called him to be.  Let it be because of these things.

                But if I am the poorest preacher that you have ever seen, let it not be because I didn’t work day after day to tell you about what God has done for you through Jesus Christ.  Let it not be because I didn’t try to convey to you how much God loves you and what He was willing to do to redeem you.  Let it not be because I failed to preach the Truth.

                Perhaps at this point there are one or two of you who are scratching your head and thinking, “Wait a minute. I was with you right until that last statement you made.  Are you somehow suggesting that you know what the Truth is?  Are you starting off your first Sunday sermon here somehow insinuating that you know the Truth and the rest of us don’t and that we are just a bunch of ignorant folks who you are here to enlighten?”

                No.  I am not suggesting that at all.  For the Truth I am here to proclaim is Truth that is readily accessible to each and every person.  The Truth that I am here to proclaim is very, very near to each and every one of us.  The Truth that I am here to proclaim is actually with us right here, right now for all to see.  How so, you might ask?

                Well, let’s turn now to our Gospel lesson for today to find the answer to that question.  This is actually quite a funny text to have before us on Christ the King Sunday, for our King, King Jesus is standing before Pontius Pilate as a criminal; bound; awaiting trial.  Jesus doesn’t look like a king at all.  And this is probably what is behind Pilate’s initial question.  It’s likely a contemptuous question.  “Are YOU the king of the Jews?”  Pilate knows the answer is a flat out “NO!”  Jesus is from the wrong part of the country.  He only has a hand-full of close followers, and they have all deserted Him.  He is poor; all alone; with seemingly no power or authority.  This is no king, but if he is harboring delusional thoughts of grandeur—of overthrowing the Roman presence in Judea, then, then this Jesus might just be a threat.  Better to be safe than sorry.  Better to make sure.

                Jesus responds to Pilate’s question with a question.  “Are you asking me this on your own or are you just believing the rumors that everyone is spreading about me?”

                Pilate isn’t too thrilled with Jesus’ question.  “Am I a Jew?” Pilate strongly responds.  You see, Pilate had nothing but contempt for the Jews.  He was assigned to keep the peace.  He had no use for Jewish customs or Jewish beliefs.  He didn’t care about their religious politics.  This is what is behind his response to Jesus.  In other words, Pilate is saying, “I am not a Jew.  I don’t care about your religious squabbles.  Your people handed you over to me for some reason that I really don’t care about.  I just want to keep the peace here in Judea.  Now, what have you done to make them angry?”

                Jesus responds, “My kingdom is not from this world. If my kingdom were from this world, my followers would be fighting to keep me from being handed over to the Jews. But as it is, my kingdom is not from here.”  This is such an important statement.  We could spend all morning unpacking it, but for now, let us be content to hear Jesus admit that He is a king. Let us hear that Jesus has a kingdom, but it is not like any kingdom of the world.  It is not founded in power or prestige or violence.  It is not tied to any geographic area.  It is not from or of the world, but it is for the world.  Let me say that again, Jesus kingdom is not of the world, but it is certainly for the world.  “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that all those who believe in Him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save it.”

                Ah, but Pilate can’t hear such a thing.  Being a politician and a puppet of the emperor, he knows he must squash rebellion.  Jesus’ words sound rebellious!  “Aha!  So, you are a king!”

                In so many words, Jesus says with some amount of reluctance, “Yes. I am a king, but hear again that my purpose is a bit different from most kings.  I am a different sort of king.  For this I was born and for this I have come into the world: to testify to the truth.  Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.”  Oh, let us hear Jesus’ words to Pilate.  Oh, let us understand them deeply, for in them is an invitation not only to Pilate, but to us as well.  Everyone who belongs to the Truth listens to Jesus’ voice.  Do you hear Jesus’ voice?  Do you belong to the Truth?  We will come back to this shortly.

                Pilate responds with the most ironic question in the whole Bible—at least it is ironic if you are a Christian.  If you are not a Christian, the question makes perfect sense.  I mean, indeed, what is Truth?  Does anyone really know what the Truth is?  You have your truth.  I have my truth.  Democrats have their truth.  Republicans have their truth.  If I don’t like what you say, I’ll just go find someone else who has a different understanding; a different insight; a different thought.  No one really knows the truth.  Pilate’s question ultimately is a rejection of what Jesus said.  Pilate cannot hear Jesus’ voice.  Pilate does not belong to the Truth.

                Ah, but what is Truth?  I said it was an ironic question if you are a Christian, because the answer is this: the Truth is standing right in front of Pilate.  For you see, my brothers and sisters, the Truth is not an idea; it is not a concept; it is not a philosophy; the Truth is a person—the God made flesh.  The Truth is Jesus.  Remember the story of when Jesus and His disciples were gathered in the room and Jesus told them, “Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe in God.  Believe also in me.  In my Father’s house there are many rooms.  If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?³And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴And you know the way to the place where I am going.’ ⁵Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going. How can we know the way?’ ⁶Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

                Jesus is the Truth.  Do you belong to the Truth?  Do you hear His voice?  Pilate could not. Pilate was blinded because He believed that truth was found in power, in prestige, in wealth, in privilege.  Pilate’s heart was captured by these things, so he could not see Jesus for who he was: the one who had come into the world to save it.

                And it is so easy to be blinded to Jesus.  It is so easy to have our hearts captured by other things.  It is so easy to miss the Truth and become enslaved to the cares and worries of the world.  You may ask how?  Well, let me offer up this little illustration.  You see, my previous home was pretty close to that other NFL team in Texas.  Sorry, life-long Cowboy’s fan here.  But that’s not the point.  What is the point is this: there were a few folks in the community who would comment that it was too difficult to drive 10 minutes to church; it was too much of a problem to sit for an hour in worship; it cost too much to put $20 in the offering plate.  And yet, and yet, these same folks would drive an hour and a half and fight Houston traffic to attend a Texan’s game.  They’d spend hundreds or thousands of dollars on a ticket for themselves and their families.  They would spend hundreds of dollars on food and souvenir items.  They’d devote three hours to watching the game, and then fight traffic to get out of the stadium and drive back home.  Their hearts were captured by their team.  Their king was athletics.

                And do you see how demanding that king was?  Do you see how much their king too of their time and energy and money?  Do you see how much their king took from them?  And what did they receive in return?  Momentary pleasure in a win.  Disgust in a loss.  The hope of another season.  A souvenir jersey that will fall apart.  A few memories to hold in their heads. Things that will all pass away and fade and leave them with absolutely nothing.  Such is the case with all false kings.  Such is the case with anything that your heart is captured by that is not Jesus.  And…here is the kicker…even though we essentially get nothing from those kings, what do they continue to do?  What do they continue to demand?  More time, more energy, more money.  They continue to make demands of you while giving you nothing in return.  Keep serving these kings, and you end up empty, restless, joyless, angry and frustrated.

                And so, let me now ask, about Jesus.  What does it mean when Jesus is your king?  What does it mean when your heart is captured by Him as the Truth?  How demanding is Jesus?  In one way, He is absolutely much more demanding than any other king.  For Jesus demands total allegiance.  He demands our entire life.  He demands that we honor and love Him with our heart, our mind, our soul, and our strength.  He demands that we love our neighbors as ourselves.  His demands are above and beyond what any other king would ever demand.  They are so great that we can never fulfill them.  And while most other kings would look upon us as failures and dismiss us for not being loyal enough; not being good enough; not being the subjects that we should be.  While most kings would cast us out of their kingdoms or punish us for our failure, our King, the Way, the Truth, the Life, instead lays down His life for us.  Our King, King Jesus redeems us with His holy and precious blood.  Our King sacrifices Himself for us to show us mercy and love.  Our King pours Himself out for us and then pours Himself into us so that we can become children of God and inheritors of eternal life.  Our King, in spite of our failures, loves us with a love beyond measure, and He shows us this sheer grace so that He may establish His kingdom in our hearts. For He longs to capture our hearts and reign in our hearts each and every day.  And once we see that; once we see the Truth standing there before us; once we see Jesus in our hearts as the Lord and King who loved us while we were still sinners; we become full of peace, love, joy, and hope.  What is Truth?  It is Jesus; King Jesus.  May He be king of your  heart this day and everyday.  Amen.

Why Are We Here?: Preaching the Word

Good morning, my brothers and sisters in Christ.  Today, I am going to continue my sermon series on “Why Are We Here?”  Last week, I laid the groundwork by talking about my experiences in a couple of large non-denominational churches and the importance of having a unified mission–a unified understanding of why we are here.  I promised that I would not give you a mission because that was something that we had to arrive at together, but I also promised that I would share with you several things that I believed were non-negotiable when it came to why the church was here.  These things must inform our mission as we move into the future.

Today, I must begin by asking for your forgiveness because as a good Christian, particularly as a good Lutheran Christian, I should begin with the Scriptures and then move into other avenues in regards to why the church is here.  But I am not going to do that.  We will most definitely get to the Bible and what it has to say about the church, but I wanted to start in a bit of a different place today.  I wanted to start with the Lutheran confessions, particularly the Augsburg Confession.

Now, how many of you have even heard of the Augsburg Confession?  Not many.  That’s not surprising.  It’s not a document that we generally reference much in our worship or even our Christian Education.  The Augsburg Confession was written during the time of the Reformation in the 1500's as Protestants were trying to define themselves and their beliefs to the civil and church authorities.  They were trying to help those authorities see how their stance was in accordance with the Bible and how they were not a threat to civil order.  The theology and practice is rich, and it has stood the test of time.  How so?  Because we and most every other Lutheran congregation directly reference it in our Constitution and By-Laws.  Did you know that?  Did you know that it serves as one of the foundational documents for what it means to be a Lutheran church here in Cat Spring?  Let me read to you what our Constitution says about it:

C2.05.This congregation accepts the Unaltered Augsburg Confession as a true witness to the Gospel, acknowledging as one with it in faith and doctrine all churches that likewise accept the teachings of the Unaltered Augsburg Confession.

C2.06. This congregation accepts the other confessional writings in the Book of Concord, namely, the Apology of the Augsburg Confession, the Smalcald Articles and the Treatise, the Small Catechism, the Large Catechism, and the Formula of Concord, as further valid interpretations of the faith of the Church.

C2.07.This congregation confesses the Gospel, recorded in the Holy Scripture and confessed in the ecumenical creeds and Lutheran confessional writings, as the power of God to create and sustain the Church for God’s mission in the world.

Did you catch all of that?  Did you catch and see how the Augsburg Confession, while not on the same level as Scripture, is a very, very important document in helping us understand who we are and why we are here?  It is indeed central to our identity as Lutherans, and it has something to say about why we are here as the church.

In article seven, these words appear, “It is also taught among us that one holy Christian church will be and remain forever.  This is the assembly of all believers among whom the Gospel is preached in its purity and the holy sacraments are administered according to the Gospel.” So we see two reasons for the church’s existence in this statement: the preaching of the Gospel, and depending upon which translation you use, this is also stated as the preaching of the Word, as well as the administration of the sacraments.  Today, we are going to try and cover the preaching of the Word.

We are here to preach the Word.  Now, when you hear me say preach the Word, what do you automatically think?  The Bible.  Right.  That’s what we mostly think when we hear someone say that we preach the Word, but let me try and expand your thinking just a bit because the Word doesn’t simply mean the Bible.

Do you remember the beginning words of the Gospel of John?  Let me remind you.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was in the beginning with God. 3All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being 4in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. 5The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”  Now, we are going to skip down a few verses where we then read, “14 And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.”  So, what is the Word, or better yet, who is the Word here in the book of John?  That’s right, it’s Jesus.  Jesus is the Word.

But, we cannot stop there.  It might make it easy if we did, but we’ve got to go one step further.  We’ve got to understand something more about the Word of God because the Word of God is incredibly rich.  When you read through the Bible, you see something quite incredible about God.  You see that God is a God who speaks.  God is not silent.  He has spoken in the past.  He speaks in the present.  And in the future, there will be a time when He will intimately speak with those who love Him.  One of the tasks for the church today is to discern the Word of God as it is spoken to the world today and bring that word to the world.

And so, we have outlined what the Word of God is, and this matches what is in our Constitution as a church: The Word is the Holy Scriptures; The Word is Jesus Christ; the Word is God’s Word spoken through the church to the world today.  And it is our job; it is our calling; to preach that Word: to preach the Bible; to preach Jesus; to preach God’s message to our community.

This is not a calling to be taken lightly.  It is of infinite importance.  Why?  I don’t know if you know this or not, but there is a suicide epidemic in our nation right now.  Those who study the numbers tell us that there has been a huge up-tick in the numbers of people taking their own lives.  I have noticed this on a real personal level because in the past three years or so, I have counted at least five of my friends on Facebook who have committed suicide.  These folks all come from a town of about 2300, and to me, that is a huge disproportion.  Why so many suicides?  Why the increase?

Now, it is true that chronic depression can lead to suicide, but the statistics that I have read indicate that this accounts for just about half of suicides.  What about the rest of those?  Two articles that I have read helped give me a bit of insight into this.  In the first one, Clay Routledge, professor of psychology from North Dakota State University argued, “that the suicide crisis in the USA is in part a crisis of meaning. Recent changes in American society, greater detachment and a weaker sense of belonging, are increasing our existential despair. Although we try and distract ourselves (most of the time nowadays successfully) we realize that everyone we know and care about, including the person we care about the most, ourselves, will die. Despite our best attempts at avoiding it, we understand that pain and sorrow is part and parcel of life. But what is the point of life? One way in which we keep this existential anxiety quiet, Routledge argues that we “must find and maintain perceptions of our lives as meaningful”. We seek not only to live, but to have a meaningful existence. And when we don’t feel like our lives matter, then we are psychologically vulnerable.”

So, if you don’t feel like your life is meaningful, you are vulnerable.  The second article I read was in Sports Illustrated.  It had to do with budding star quarterback Tyler Hilinski’s suicide and the family’s desperate attempts to understand why it happened.  There is a lot in the article to take in, but one thing struck me because it was repeated over and over and over: Tyler thought he was Superman.  Tyler thought he was supposed to pull off the spectacular play every time.  Tyler thought he should lead his team to victory and be heroic.  But, he found out that he wasn’t Superman.  He found out that he couldn’t always pull off the victory.  After one particularly difficult game where he suffered a huge hit and a crushing loss, folks said he wasn’t the same.  The fact that he couldn’t be what he wanted to be seemed to have a profound effect on him.  Faced with limitations, he had a difficult time coping.

It seemed to me that Tyler was finding his meaning in things that were beyond his capability to grasp.  It seems to me that a lot of folks are trying to do such things.  I understand very well what is behind that.  I had a lot of hopes and dreams about what my life would look like at this point and time, but very, very few of those things have come to fruition.  If I were basing the meaning of my life on those things, I would probably be very depressed as well, but fortunately, I have found meaning elsewhere.  I have found meaning in Jesus.

The Greek word used in John chapter 1 is logos.  It is a word with deep, deep meaning in the ancient world.  The ancient Greek philosophers oftentimes used it when talking about the meaning of life; the meaning of existence; the reason for everything.  It is no stretch to think that John, when he was writing the introduction to this gospel had this in mind.  So, let’s read that introduction once more with that understanding.  “In the beginning was the reason for everything.  The reason for everything was with God.  The reason for everything was God...The reason for everything became flesh and lived among us.”  Jesus is the reason for everything.  Jesus gives meaning.  Jesus gives hope.  Jesus gives assurance.  The question is: how?

And this goes directly to the understanding of the Gospel.  Now, I know it is fashionable in some circles to use the saying attributed to St. Francis of Assisi, “Preach the Gospel at all times.  Use words if necessary.”  I used to believe it.  But I don’t any more.  Because I know now that the Gospel is news.  You cannot do news.  You can only share news.  Now, this doesn’t mean you can’t package the news up in doing good deeds.  You don’t tell a hungry person that Jesus loves them without giving them food, and you don’t just give them food and expect them to understand that Jesus loves them.  Proclaiming the Gospel involves loving our neighbors, but too often these days much of the church is guilty of either/or instead of both/and.

I mean, face it, anyone can and does acts of kindness.  The Hindu does acts of kindness.  The atheist does acts of kindness.  The Muslim does acts of kindness.  If the Gospel is simply acts of kindness, then everyone is proclaiming the Gospel.  And it would stand to reason, if everyone is proclaiming the Gospel, then why is there a lack of meaning?  Why is the suicide rate continuing to climb?

The answer is because the Gospel isn’t just about doing nice things for others.  It’s about God’s redemption of our fallen condition through Jesus’ death and resurrection.  You see, the Gospel tells us that we are all corrupted by sin.  We are not Superman.  We cannot be Superman.  We fall far short of the glory of God.  This means that we will never be like Tyler Hinski.  We will never believe that we have the capacity of doing everything right and making our team win all the time.  We know we are limited.  We know we are not perfect.  We can grapple with and understand the trials of life including losing.  Now, if we stopped here, that would be a recipe for despair.  Imperfection rules the day.  Sin actually wins.  But that is not the case because Jesus acts to redeem our sin.  Jesus acts to redeem our imperfection.  On the cross, Jesus takes our sin into himself and defeats it.  And then Jesus gives us His righteousness.  Jesus gives us His glory.  We are clothed with Christ.  Now, this doesn’t mean that everything turns out perfectly for us in this life.  No.  We know this all too well, but what this does mean is solidified in the resurrection.  For in the resurrection every evil that was done is undone.  Every wound is healed.  Every evil is made good.  Darkness is changed into light.  Sickness is changed into health.  We are reminded that God will work to do this in our lives.  God will transform everything in His time and bend everything toward our good.  This means we have hope.

Yet, there is a bit of a caveat to this, but it is an important caveat.  This only happens for those who trust in Jesus and His actions and not our own.  This only happens for those who do not try to work out their own salvation, but for those who believe their salvation is won for them on the cross.  For when we put our trust in God, we change allegiances.  We no longer live for ourselves, we live for God.  We seek God and His will in all that we do.  And this gives our lives meaning.  We know what our purpose is.  We know that we are to seek God and His will in our lives.  We know that we seek to grow in our faith.  We know we are to grow in our knowledge of God.  And we know that we are called to bring as many people to Jesus as we possibly can.  We know we are to share the good news of Jesus.  We are to preach the Gospel.

And so you see, I hope, why I started with the preaching of the Gospel.  One of the fundamental reasons and non-negotiable reasons the church is here is to proclaim it because through it we come to understand our limitations.  We come to understand our imperfections.  But we also come to understand the love of God. We come to understand what He has done in Jesus in the cross and resurrection.  We come to place our trust in Him and seek His will in all things.  We come to understand through Him how we have purpose and meaning, and in a society that is fast losing meaning and seeking perfection, we have a very, very important message to bring.  May we remember how important proclaiming the Gospel is to our mission.  Amen.

Fruits of the Spirit: Self-Control

Today, we come to the ninth and final fruit of the Spirit found in Galatians 5:22-23, self-control.  I hope that you have found this sermon series as fruitful as I have, pun intended.

Now, most of us, I think have a pretty good idea about what self-control is.  Even if we don’t have a formal definition of self-control, we have heard stories like the following: During the early years of aviation, a stunt pilot was selling rides in his single engine airplane.  One day, he got into an argument with an old farmer who asked to take his wife along for the ride at no extra charge.  The pilot finally said, “Fine, I’ll take you both up for the price of one if you promise me not to say one word during the entire flight.  If you make even one sound, the price is doubled.”  The farmer agreed, and they flew off.

The pilot flew upside down, making twists and turns that would scare most people.  However, the farmer didn’t make a sound.  The pilot finally landed his plane.  As the farmer climbed out, the pilot said, “I made moves up there that frightened even me, but you never said a word!  You fear nothing!”  The old farmer said, “Well, thank you.  But I must admit you almost got me when my wife fell out!”

That, my brothers and sisters, is self-control, but for those of us who like specific definitions, self-control is the ability to have mastery over one’s self to the point that there is no desire that can distract you from your ultimate desire.  Again, self-control is the ability to have mastery over one’s self to the point that there is no desire that can distract you from your ultimate desire.

You know, when I first started researching self-control, I was confronted with the early Greek philosophical definition of self-control.  It was similar to the one I just gave you, but in one important way: the ancient philosophical definition of self-control was a complete mastery over any desire.  In other words, if you had self-control, no desire would impact you at all.  You were free from desire and want.  Now, believe it or not, there is actually one religion that has this as its basis for belief: Buddhism.  Buddhism strives for a complete and total lack of desire.  But as I thought about this, and reflected upon things that I have learned and heard, I realized that this is an impossible definition to adhere to. Why?  Well, think about it.  If you try to practice self-control, you desire to have no desire.  Let that sink in for just a minute. :-)

And so, as I reflected on the Christian faith and I thought about how this word is used in the New Testament–it is rarely used, by the way, I came to the conclusion that self-control isn’t simply a lack of desire.  Self-control is making sure that nothing distracts us from our ultimate desire.  So, let’s contemplate this fruit by seeing how Paul talks about self-control and then by talking about what our ultimate desire is as Christians.

First, let’s look at what St. Paul says about self-control in the book of 1 Corinthians.  We have this passage in our second lesson.  It’s short, so I will read it again.  “24 Do you not know that in a race the runners all compete, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. 25Athletes exercise self-control in all things; they do it to receive a perishable garland, but we an imperishable one. 26So I do not run aimlessly, nor do I box as though beating the air; 27but I punish my body and enslave it, so that after proclaiming to others I myself should not be disqualified.”

When I was studying this passage, I found out some very interesting things about what Paul was saying here.  You might not find them so interesting, but I really did because they showed how Paul was using the context surrounding this community to bring home his point about self-control in the Christian life.  You see, the city of Corinth was a major sponsor of the Isthmian games.  These games were one of four major sporting events in Greece, the other three being the Olympics, the Pythian, and the Nemean games.  Thousands of people would travel to and through Corinth to go to these games, so they were a very, very big deal. 

With this as the background, Paul uses a sports analogy regarding athletes.  What he says about athletes then is true of them today as well.  “Athletes exercise self-control in all things.”  We know this about dedicated athletes.  They eat special diets.  They train year round.  They do all the little things which make them excel at their sport.  They do not slack off lest they lose their competitive edge.  They walk right past the Coke, Sprite, and Dr. Pepper.  They avoid donuts, pizza, and hamburgers.  You know, all the stuff that tastes good.  They may be tempted.  Their mouths may begin to water when they see or smell such goodies, but their discipline kicks in.  They remember what they are training for, and they exercise self-control.

And Paul reminds the Corinthians about that.  “They do it to receive a perishable garland.”  When I heard the background on this one, I actually chuckled a little bit.  Do you know what this garland was in the Isthmian games?  It was wilted celery shaped into a crown.  Yes, you heard right.  Wilted celery shaped into a crown.  Paul brings home his point by finishing with these words, “But we, an imperishable one.”  Sometimes, you find a quote by a biblical scholar that you absolutely have to share, and I thought the following one was priceless.  This scholar wrote, St. Paul is basically saying “If these athletes push themselves to the limit in training to win that pathetic crown of withered vegetables, how much more should we maintain self-discipline for the sake of an imperishable crown.”  I thought that comment was priceless.

And it makes the point that I was trying to say earlier.  Self-control isn’t a freedom of all desire.  No.  Self-control is the ability to stay laser focused on your ultimate desire so that anything that will distract you or lead you away from it will be left in the dust. 

Three pastors went fishing together in northern Canada.  As they began to get to know each other better, they shared their innermost thoughts.  One confessed certain sins he was guilty of.  He named them and then asked the other two to confess their weaknesses.  The second pastor confessed his sins in detail. The third pastor, however, remained silent for quite a while.  Finally, when asked to reveal his weaknesses, he said, “Friends, I don’t think you want to know my weaknesses, but since you’ve asked, I am going to tell you.  I just love to gossip, and I can’t wait to get home!”

I’m sure the other two pastors were tempted to dump that last one in the lake!  But I told that joke to ask, “What would self-control entail there?  What would the ultimate goal be?”  Of course, confidentiality in the confessional.  Mutual understanding in helping one another overcome sin.  If that is the ultimate goal in building Christian relationships through confession and forgiveness, then this pastor who loved gossip, would not commit it for the sake of his relationships with his friends!  Do you see how that works? 

And that now brings us to the important question.  What is our ultimate goal as Christians?  This is not such an easy question to answer because there are a lot, and I mean a lot of important things that Christianity teaches.  Christianity teaches that we should love our neighbor.  Christianity teaches that we should care for creation.  Christianity teaches that we should live a moral and upright life.  Christianity teaches that we should be generous with our time, talent, and treasure.  Christianity teaches that we should work for peace and justice in the world.  Christianity teaches that we should make disciples of all nations.  Christianity teaches that we must pass down the faith to another generation.  These are all important and worthy goals.  But what is the ultimate goal?  What is the priority above all priorities?

Perhaps Jesus can give us the answer.  For Jesus was once asked which commandment was the most important.  Does anyone remember which commandment he said was the most important?  Does anyone remember which command Jesus listed above all others?  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”  That is the most important commandment of all.  That is the most important goal of all.  Loving God is the ultimate desire we Christians are called to have.

And, of course that love is based upon what Jesus has done for us on the cross.  As God incarnate, he lived the blameless life.  He was completely righteous and deserved salvation and glory.  But instead, he chose the cross.  He chose pain and suffering in an act of sheer grace.  “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, but they are now justified by grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus whom God set forward as a sacrifice of atonement effective through faith.”  Christ took our sins upon himself and put them to death, and he then gave to us his righteousness.  He took our filthy, dirty rags of sin, and gave us garments of pure white.  When we are moved by this love; when we encounter this love; we cannot help but long to love Him in return.  We cannot help but want to live for him in return.  We cry out, “Jesus gave all for me, so I give all to Jesus.”

Ah, but how easy is it for us to get distracted?  How easy is it for other wants and desires to encroach upon us?  We live in a society that encourages self-indulgence.  We live in a society that encourages us to live our lives to the fullest–to experience everything.  We hear over and over again that we should push our limits.  We should test the boundaries.  Our kids these days are over-extended.  They have a toe hold in ten activities at once, and we parents are rushing all over the place trying to hold down our jobs, get to our kids’ activities, spend time with our spouses, and have a moment or two of fun along the way.  Over extended kids lead to over extended parents.  And those of you who are retired aren’t immune either.  You know it.  Do you know how many times I have heard retirees say, “I’m busier now than when I was working.”  Have you heard that too?  We feel like we have to do this and we have to do that.  We want to do this.  We want to do that.  And we work ourselves to a frazzle because we want to do everything.

Self-control means we limit ourselves.  Self-control means we focus on the main thing, and we orient our lives around the main thing.  So, let me ask you this: if God is supposed to be the main thing for Christians, then what would that look like.  I mean, let’s push that athletic imagery that most of us are familiar with.  If an athlete avoids certain drinks and certain foods to keep his or her health: what things do we need to avoid to keep our spiritual health in shape?  If an athlete takes time to train his or her body on a weekly basis: what things do we need to do as Christians to train ourselves to live lives for God?  If an athlete studies his or her sport, learning the nuances of his or her position and studying his or her opponent to best find out how to win: what things to we as Christians need to study to learn the nuances of our faith and learn how to live it out in the world?  If serious athletes eat, sleep, and breathe their sport, can anyone say that about those of us who are Christians?  Can anyone point to us as having such self-control that we are not distracted by all the things of this world and that we focus on our relationship with God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

My purpose in sharing this is not to put us on any guilt trips.  If you are convicted and shown that, like me, you are not exercising the self-control that you should; if you are convicted, like me, that we are way too distracted and that we allow all sorts of other things to draw us away from our ultimate desire; then let me suggest that changing things is not a matter of trying harder.  You know what that is like just like I do.  If you’ve ever had to lose a few pounds, you know how easy it is to give in and eat that last slice of pizza.  You know how easy it is to drink that can of soda. If you’ve ever decided you needed to cut back on your use of curse words, you know how easy they slip off the tongue.  If you’ve ever tried to tell yourself you need to attend church more, you know how easy it is to snuggle under the covers or give in when someone close to you says, “Let’s go do this together on Sunday.”  Exercising self-control is no easy task.  It’s downright impossible at times.  This is why it is a fruit of the Spirit.

And like those other fruits, they do not emerge because we try to make them grow.  They do not emerge because we say, “I will produce those fruits myself.”  They emerge out of our trust in God.  They emerge when our hearts are captured by the love of God in Christ Jesus. They emerge when we come to grasp what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross and in his resurrection.  If you desire self-control in your life; if you desire an end to the hectic pace; if you desire things to be more simple but you dread saying no; turn to Jesus.  Turn to the cross.  Ask God to reveal to you the reality of grace.  He will, and when He does, you will find yourself longing to love Him more. You will find yourself longing to serve Him more.  You will find yourself setting Him as your ultimate desire, and you will produce the fruits of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  Amen.

Fruits of the Spirit: Gentleness

Today, we come to the eighth fruit of the Spirit listed by St. Paul in Galatians chapter 5 verses 22-23, gentleness.

I don’t know what you think when you hear the word gentleness, but I tend to think of someone who is kind, mild-mannered and tender.  I conjure up images of doves and little lambs.  I decided to do an image search on Google about gentleness, and you see pictures of babies hands being held by adults; puppies, kittens, feathers, and adults holding little babies.  You see things that make you go, “Aw! How cute!  How precious!”

And so one might think, “Ah, this is how we are supposed to be as Christians.  We are supposed to be gentle.  We are supposed to be like doves; like lambs–cute, cuddly, and basically harmless.  But as I have found so often during this sermon series on the fruits of the Spirit, what I first thought was not necessarily the case.

Prautas, the Greek word for gentleness, can be translated gentle strength.  There is no hint of weakness in this word.  Rather, it is a term that is used for someone who indeed is strong; someone who has power; yet, does not use that power abusively. Instead, he or she uses it in a very restrained manner.

I can remember when Kevin, Jr. was born.  Of course, Kiera, being three years old at the time, wanted to hold her baby brother.  She was much bigger and much stronger than he was, and so when we laid him on her lap, we told her over and over again, “Be gentle.”  She could have easily used her superior strength to hurt her baby brother, but instead, we had to teach her to restrain her strength and hold her brother in a way that wouldn’t hurt him.  This is the kind of gentleness that Paul lists here as a fruit of the Spirit.  It recognizes that we have power.  It recognizes that we have strength.  And it calls upon us to restrain that strength for the sake of others.

Now, what does that mean?  We get a good grasp of this from our Gospel lesson from the 11th Chapter of the book of Matthew.  Jesus has been teaching a crowd of people, and he has just finished railing against a couple of cities that he has been in.  He performed many deeds of power and might, but they did not believe in Him.  He told the crowd that it would not turn out well for these cities in the long run.

Turning his focus from these cities, Jesus then thanks God for doing something quite unexpected.  Instead of “opening the eyes of the wise” which one would expect God to do, God chose to open the eyes of “infants”.  This is a not so subtle slam against those who claimed to know who God was and how God acted in Jesus’ day.  These are the folks who rejected Jesus as Messiah and Lord. They couldn’t see God at work through Him because Jesus didn’t meet their expectations.  And so it was those who had been cast off by the religious elite who could see Jesus as the Messiah.  It was those who were cast off by other rabbis because they were considered unworthy to continue their religious education who came to believe in Him.  Jesus rejoices in this.

And then, Jesus utters these words which, if you have been raised in the church, are very familiar, “28 ‘Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Now, there were two types of yokes used in Jesus’ day. The first was a yoke used to harness two animals together so that they could plow, pull a cart or what have you.  But there was also a yoke that human beings would use.  This was placed on the shoulders to help carry or pull a load.  I’m a hunter, and generally, every time I go into Academy or some other similar store, I walk through the hunting section.  On several occasions, I have noticed shoulder harnesses that can be worn in the event that you shoot something and have to drag it quite a distance.  This is a modern day yoke.

The question is: what kind of burden needs to be borne?  What needs to be carried that would require a yoke?  Quite simply put, it is obedience to God. It is discerning and following God’s will.  It is making sure that I do what God tells me to do.  Now, there are some folks these days who would say that they don’t have to worry about that yoke because they don’t believe in God.  To them, I reply, like I did last week, it just depends upon what you mean when you say God.

Remember, last week, I set forth Luther’s definition of a god that he set forth in the Large Catechism.  A god is anything that we look to that we believe will provide safety, security, and to which we give our whole heart to.  I took a bit of time to show that you can basically make anything into a god.  If you think government will solve every problem, your god is government.  If you believe having money will solve all your problems, your god is money.  And so on and so forth.  What Jesus would say to this is that whenever you put your ultimate trust in something–you take on its yoke.  You take on its demands.  You become obedient to your god, and your god has power over you.  Your god makes demands of you.  You must bow to these demands or face the consequences.  And, eventually, you will see that any false god will destroy and humiliate you.

What do I mean by that?  A newspaper reporter who interviewed an old rancher asked him what attributed to his success.  With a twinkle in his eye, the man replied, “It’s been about 50 percent weather, 50 percent good luck, and the rest is brains!”  At that moment, a young, cocky cowboy rode by and saw the old rancher sitting on his mule.  Deciding to have a little fun, the young cowboy drew his six shooter and told the rancher to get down off his mule.  Then he asked him if he had ever danced.  The cowboy laughed as he emptied his revolver at the man’s feet!  Obviously unamused, the old man slowly turned back to his mule and pulled out a shotgun from his pack.  He aimed it at the bulletless young cowboy and said, “Did you ever kiss a mule?”  The young cowboy said with a trembling voice, “No, but I’ve always wanted to.”

You could argue that the young cowboy in that story was worshiping humor.  He tried to satisfy his god at the expense of an old rancher, but his obedience wasn’t good enough.  His tactics did not result in conversion.  Instead, they resulted in the tables being turned.  Now, the question is: what will that god of humor demand of that young cowboy?  What will that god of humor tell him?  It would tell him this, “Well, you messed up royally this time.  So, next time, you’d better try harder.  You’d better take a different approach.  If you want to serve me and laugh and have fun with life, you’d better be more careful and do things right!”

And things might go okay for a time, but there will be another time when someone else doesn’t find things funny. There will be another time when someone else takes offense.  There will be another time when the tables will get turned, and the same spiral will occur with more and more demands being made.  Now, I know I stretched things just a little bit with this example, but hopefully you can see how false gods operate.  They are very demanding with those whom they put in their yokes.

Jesus says, however, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”  Here is that word: gentle.  What is Jesus saying here?  He is saying that when it comes to the demands of satisfying the true God, the only way you will find peace is through Him.  The only way you will find that you can satisfy the demands of God is through Jesus Christ.  The only way you can have obedience to God is through Jesus Christ.  The only way your soul can rest in knowing that you have met God’s demands is through Jesus Christ.

And it’s not because Jesus is a weakling.  Remember, oftentimes we think of gentleness in this fashion.  No.  You don’t calm a storm if you are a weakling.  You don’t cast out demons if you are a weakling.  You don’t bring dead people back to life if you are a weakling.  Jesus embodies the power of God.  Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth.  But the question is: how does He use it?  How does He put it into practice?  Does He bring condemnation and damnation?

No.  He brings quite the opposite.  He brings love and reconciliation.  Knowing that we could never satisfy His demands; knowing that we fall far short of the glory of God, Jesus saved us by grace as a gift by redeeming us as He gave Himself as a sacrifice of atonement effective through our trust in Him.  That’s a short paraphrase of Romans chapter 3, by the way.  In other words, when we could not be obedient to Jesus; when we failed to follow His commands and were deserving of His wrath. When Jesus had every right to unleash the same power He used to calm the storms on the sea upon us for failing Him, instead, He held us as children in the palm of His hand.  Instead of punishing us and making us pay for our failure; He paid that price for us and gave Himself up for us.  And then, He clothed us with His righteousness.  He clothed us with Himself.  He reached into the depths of our hearts to change us from within.

And because He did this, our hearts respond with gratitude.  Because He did this, our hearts leap with joy.  Because He did this, we know that nothing can ever separate us from our God.  We know His tremendous love for us, and so we strive for His will.  We long to please Him.  We long to fulfill His commands, not because we have Jesus looming over us filling us with fear lest we fail, but because He was gentle with us.  He could have used His overwhelming power to condemn, but instead, He used it to save.

And when our hearts are grasped by this, we do likewise.  This is St. Paul’s point in Galatians chapter 6.  You see, too often, we Christians are like the lion who one day decided to walk through the jungle.  He was taking a poll to find out which animal was the greatest of them all.  When he saw the hippopotamus, he asked, “Who is the king of the jungle?”  “You are,” said the hippo.  Next, he met a giraffe.  “Who is king of the jungle?” he asked.  “You are,” said the giraffe.  Then he met a tiger and said, “Who is the king of the jungle?” “Oh, you are,” said the tiger.

Finally, he met an elephant.  The lion gave him a good rap on the knee and said, “And who is the king of the jungle?”  Immediately, the elephant picked him up in his trunk and flung him against a large tree.  As the lion bounced off the tree and hit the ground, he got up, dusted himself off, and said, “You don’t have to get so mad just because you don’t know the right answer!”

I think we’ve all heard the stories about Christians who walk around thinking they are morally superior to everyone else.  We’ve all heard stories of Christians who walk around wearing their salvation on their sleeves and looking down their noses at anyone who doesn’t believe as they do or who they see as immoral.  We’ve all heard stories about Christians who think that being saved gives them license to point out everyone else’s flaws and rain down God’s condemnation upon others.  Somehow, it is thought that this is effective evangelism.  But it only serves to infuriate others.  It only serves to make them angry at us and turn them away from God.  Paul’s response in Galatians six: if you see someone who is sinning: be gentle.

This means, we have power.  This means we do have a sort of moral high ground.  We recognize the sin.  We recognize that someone is doing the wrong thing, but instead of using our power to condemn, we become gentle.  We recognize that the person who is sinning or who has sinned must be treated in a manner that will bring them to repentance instead of harden their stance.  We must recognize that our role is to bring them to the foot of the cross where they see the God who died for them so that they are willing to put His yoke upon themselves.  We must hold back our desire to yell out “Thou shalt not or you will face God’s wrath!” and instead lead them in holy conversation to meet their Lord and Savior.  We must confront their sin in a manner that helps them see how they have fallen short, but does not condemn them or make them think we hate them.

Booker T. Washington traveled to a city to make a speech.  As the story goes, his train was late, and he was in a hurry.  So he left the station to take a cab, but the driver yelled out, “I don’t drive blacks.”  Washington said, “All right, I’ll drive you.  You get in the back.”

Do you see the gentleness in that response?  Do you see the ability to show the sin without condemning the sinner?  This is the fruit of the Spirit alive and well.  This is the fruit of the Spirit that we produce when we first experience Jesus’ gentleness toward us.  This is the fruit of the Spirit that issues forth from the church and from us as Christians.  May we produce it in abundance.  Amen.

Fruits of the Spirit: Goodness

Today, we come to the sixth fruit in St. Paul’s list of the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23: agathōsunē.

Now, there is a reason that I spoke the word in Greek instead of giving you an English translation.  Because when I started work this week, I realized that different Bibles translate this word differently.  Most of the Bibles translate agathōsunē as goodness–like the NIV, ESV, and King James Bibles, but the NRSV, which is the Bible we have in our pews as well as the Bible from which we print our bulletin readings translates the word generosity. 

And so, I very much felt like the two moving men who were struggling with a big crate in a doorway.  They pushed and pulled until both were completely exhausted.  Finally, the man on the outside said, “We might as well give up.  We’ll never get this thing in.”  The man on the inside yelled back, “What do you mean get it in?  I thought we were trying to get it out!”  You know, which way are we supposed to go?  Which translation is most accurate?  It was also like someone coming up to me and asking me: where do you want to go eat: at your favorite Mexican food restaurant or your favorite steakhouse? I’m like: do I really have to choose?

I’m giving you this background information for a reason, because I think it relates to something that most of us experience from time to time.  I mean, I’m not the only one who has had to make a difficult choice, am I?  I’m not the only one who has had two paths before me, and both look to be correct?  I’m not the only one who has had to wrestle with having to choose one or the other of those paths knowing that once I started down one of those paths, I was committed?  Have you ever been there?  Have you ever had to make that choice and have it effect everything else that you would do?  Have you ever studied it and thought: well, either way seems good, but I’m not sure which one would be better?  Don’t get me wrong, some of those decisions are much more important than how you translate the word agathosune, but the experience rings true for just about everyone.

So, here is how I chose to resolve the problem that I had before me.  When you are studying language, you can oftentimes learn more about the definition of a word by studying the root words, and in the case of agathosune, there is a definite root word: agathos.  Now, agathos is normally translated as “good.”  And I thought to myself, “Well, that might be helpful in helping me to figure things out.”  There was one particular story that crept into my mind immediately, and that was the story of the rich, young ruler.  We have that story before us from the 10th Chapter of the book of Mark.  A young man comes up to Jesus and bows down before Him.  This is a major show of honor and respect.  Some might even call it worship.  But what is then striking is what the young man says.  He says to Jesus, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Now, the question isn’t necessarily striking: it’s how the young man addresses Jesus.  He calls Jesus “good teacher.”  This was a huge no-no in that time and place.  The Jewish rabbis had argued greatly about whether or not anyone should be called good, and they had come up with a resounding, “NO!”  It was unanimous as far as we can see from the literature.  Jewish rabbis believed that only God was good.

And that’s exactly what Jesus says to this young man.  “Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.”  Now, some scholars believe that Jesus is somehow indicating that he isn’t good; that he is somehow less than God, but I don’t think so.  I agree with other scholars who think that what Jesus is doing here is telling the young guy, “Be careful in what you say.  Do you really want to call me God?  Because by falling on your knees and calling me God, you are saying that you will follow everything I say.  Do you really want to go there?”  The implications of those questions are still quite staggering for anyone who calls Jesus Lord and Savior of their lives.  But that is for another sermon.  What we must take away from this teaching right now is the fact that only God is considered good.

Now, for some of you, this might settle what the translation should be.  It should be goodness; however, I did discover why the translators of the NRSV used the word generosity.  And I think it also helps us shed some light on what this fruit of the Spirit truly is. 

I’d like to ask you to turn in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 20. (It’s on page 19) We are going to read the first sixteen verses of this chapter.  ‘For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. 2After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. 3When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the market-place; 4and he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.” So they went. 5When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. 6And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, “Why are you standing here idle all day?” 7They said to him, “Because no one has hired us.” He said to them, “You also go into the vineyard.” 8When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, “Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.” 9When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. 10Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. 11And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, 12saying, “These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.” 13But he replied to one of them, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? 14Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. 15Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?” 16So the last will be first, and the first will be last.’

Now, please pay particular attention to the end of verse 15.  Do you see the tiny v in italics at the end of that verse.  If you drop down to the bottom of the page, you will see the footnote which says that the literal translation of the Greek is “is your eye evil because I am good.”  Generosity seems to fit the context of the parable, and this is why they use it later on.  I’m not convinced they were right because if we remember that Jesus says, “No one but God is good,” then this parable is saying, “Are you envious–do you have an evil eye–because I am good–because I am like God?”

After I put these two things together–these two parables, I stopped and thought about it for a moment and realized just what this fruit of the Spirit is.  Generosity doesn’t cut it; neither does goodness, in my estimation.  Agathosune, seems to mean godliness–showing forth the nature and person of God; imitating God; being like God.

It’s no wonder then, that Paul pens the opening words of our second lesson this morning from the book of Ephesians, “Be imitators of God.”  In other words, produce agathosune!  Produce goodness.  But how easy is this?  How easy is it to show forth the nature and person of God?  I mean, don’t we tend to be more like this little anecdote that Mark Twain shared? 

Twain writes, “When I was a boy, I was walking along the street and happened to spy a cart full of watermelons.  I was fond of watermelon, so I sneaked quietly up to the cart and snitched one.  Then I ran to a nearby alley and sank my teeth into the melon.  No sooner had I done so, however, than a strange feeling came over me.  Without a moment’s hesitation, I made my decision.  I walked back to the cart, replaced the melon–and took a ripe one.”

Oh, and even when we aren’t falling to temptation, do we not find ourselves much like the young pastor who, while spreading the good news, was making hospital rounds for the first time.  Visiting an elderly parishioner, he walked in and plopped himself down on the side of her bed.  He began aggressively questioning her about her surgery.  Before leaving, he asked, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”  The sweet old lady replied, “Well, if you don’t mind, would you please take your foot off my oxygen hose?”

It is extremely difficult to produce goodness.  It’s extremely difficult to be like God.  And I used to think that getting people and churches to be like God–to produce goodness–was just a matter of explaining to them the command.  I used to think, “You know, if I get up in front of the church at explain why this is commanded; if I put together a few cute stories and give a bit of reassurance, then people will go out and try to be like God.  The church will work together to be like God.  People will begin producing love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, etc.”  Of course, I assumed that I was already doing such things–certainly not perfectly, but I thought I at least was on the right track.

But then reality smacked me in the face.  Then I came face to face with what often happens in churches and with pastors.  After our congregation experienced a time of rapid growth, we stagnated.  We didn’t grow, and we started declining.  Oh, I was still preaching the same sorts of sermons.  I was still putting together cute stories and words of inspiration, but we stopped growing.  And this made me take a hard look at myself.  A real hard look at myself, and what I saw wasn’t pretty.

Sure, I was preaching God’s word.  Sure, from time to time, there were some fruits of the Spirit present, but deep down in the bottom of my heart, I found that God was not at the center.  I found that I was working for what I wanted in my life.  I was striving after the things of this world.  Confronted with this, I realized that not only did I simply commit some sins, but that I was a sinner.  I needed a Savior, and I found myself looking up at the cross at the One who bled and died for me.

And suddenly, the goodness of God became real to me.  The goodness of God shined deep within the recesses of my heart.  I knew that I deserved condemnation for trying to use God to get what I wanted.  I knew I deserved God’s anger and wrath for not putting Him at the center of my life, but instead of getting that wrath, I received mercy.  The God in flesh, Jesus, took my sin upon himself, and he paid the price for that sin.  He died for me.

And then He gave me a new status.  He gave me a new position.  He gave me his righteousness when I did not deserve it.  He gave me His blamelessness when I didn’t deserve it.  He clothed me with Himself so that when I stand before the Father in Heaven, I am deemed worthy; justified; a child of the most high God.  “For I have been crucified with Christ, and yet I live, not I, but Christ that lives within me.”

And things started to change in my life.  Oh, don’t get me wrong.  I’m far from being a perfect imitator of God.  I’m far from producing goodness in total.  I’m still growing and learning and being transformed.  But I know that I don’t get as upset as I used to.  I’m much more slow to anger.  I laugh more.  I see the goodness in others more.  I’m quick to give to those in need, and I don’t need anyone to know about it.  I’m more grateful for the little things.  I appreciate the people who are in my life, and I don’t expect them to live up to my expectations of how they should act.  I’m quicker to forgive because I have been forgiven. 

And I now know that I can’t simply tell people to be like God.  I know I cannot stand up here and tell you, “The Bible says, be imitators of God; here’s why you should be an imitator of God; it’s hard; you will likely fail; but just try harder.”  That didn’t work for me.  It will certainly not work for you.  If we truly want to be imitators of God, we all must experience the love of God in Christ Jesus.  We all must experience standing at the foot of the cross.  We all must experience being forgiven of our sins.  We all must experience being clothed with the righteousness of Christ.  We all must experience the grace that is poured out through the blood of the Lamb of God.  For it is grace alone that transforms us. 

A desert wanderer found a spring of cool fresh water.  It was so pure he decided to bring some to his king.  Barely satisfying his own thirst, he filled a leather bottle and carried it many days in the desert sun before reaching the palace.  He laid his offering at the feet of his noble king.  Over time, however, the water had become stale in the old container. But the king wouldn’t let his faithful subject think his gift was unfit to drink.  He tasted it with gratitude as he sent his loyal servant away.  After the servant left, others sampled it and were surprised the king had pretended to enjoy it.  He said, “It wasn’t the water I tasted but the love that prompted the offering.”

That is what comes forth from us when we are producing goodness–when we are imitating God.  We don’t act the same.  We drink bitter water with gratitude.  We look upon others with different eyes because God has looked upon us with different eyes.  We have tasted the goodness of God, and it has transformed us from within so that we may offer that goodness to the world.  Amen.