Perhaps you recognize the title of this post as part of the Gospel hymn “On the Wings of a Dove.” The entire verse is as follows:
When troubles beset us; When evils come
The body grows weak, and the spirit grows numb
When these beset us; well He doesn’t forget us
He sends down His love, on the wings of a dove.
I share this with you in the knowledge that many, many within our congregation have been beset with such troubles. There are many who are struggling with dealing with loved ones who are sick and dying. There are some who have lost spouses. There are some who are fighting illness themselves. There are some who are recovering from surgery. There are some who have had weird life circumstances cause stumbling and falling. One wonders why such things happen.
There is no perfect answer. Believe you me. If there was, I would write the book and sit back and enjoy the royalties. But I haven’t written that book because no answer is satisfactory. I can tell you a couple that are flat out wrong. Wrong answer number 1: “Jesus wants you to have victory over such matters.” One need be reminded, Jesus’ victory came on the cross–through suffering and persecution. The victory is won, no doubt, but not without a great cost. Wrong answer #2: If you just had enough faith, things would turn out right. Please, no one has enough faith. No one. This is why we are saved by sheer grace. We are dependent upon the mercy of God for all that we get. We don’t earn it by our faith. Wrong answer #3: God is causing this to test me. God knows you would fail. God knows we would all fail. Our human nature is weak. Furthermore, if you look at the life of Jesus, you will not see God testing Jesus (that would be a bit redundant). You will see the Enemy testing Jesus. It is the Enemy who tries to bring about our downfall by tests.
Which leads me to offer a few answers that I think help us grapple with trials and tribulations. Answer #1: When you are seeking to follow Jesus and the Gospel begins to take root in your heart, the Enemy works to steal you away. The Enemy sets up road blocks and trials to make you question your commitment to Jesus. Over and over again, we see this plainly in scripture. Answer #2: We cannot escape our choices. This is not a popular answer, but it is reality. It does not cover everything, but if you have lung cancer after smoking for 30 years, this is no surprise. One must make a distinction between things that we have some part in and things we don’t. Answer #3: I have no idea what-so-ever. This is the hardest one to accept because we want a reason. We want a clue as to why things are happening. Sometimes, there is just no good answer, and we must hope that God is in the midst of our trials and tribulations working to bring about a positive solution.
That last sentence is an important one because it demands trust in God. It demands that we have hope. It’s a hard thing to have at times, but it is central to our faith. The cross was the darkest day for the Christian, but it was followed by the light of the resurrection. Cross. Resurrection. Death. Life. God worked to bring hope from tragedy, and it is this that we hold onto desperately in the midst of our trials. May that hope find its way into your heart and mind. Amen.
Showing posts with label Theology of the Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Theology of the Cross. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Monday, October 26, 2015
Cutting Off Your Hand Doesn't Work
Last week, as we read through the book of Mark, we saw how Jesus coached His disciples in dealing with those who were not members of the “in” group. An exorcist was casting out demons in Jesus’ name, but this exorcist was not a part of the inner 12. Jesus sternly said, “Do not stop him for someone who does such a deed in my name will not soon turn against me.” These are powerful words as we deal with our fellow Christians who do not believe as we believe. Jesus name is what unites us, and doing what we do in His name renders most differences moot.
Then, Jesus spoke about those who do not follow Him as a disciple. “Truly I tell you anyone who gives you a cup of cold water because you bear the name of Christ, that person will not lose the reward.” Again, hearing Jesus’ words is important because this isn’t about the things we do–this is about how people treat Jesus’ disciples. If a non-believer gives YOU a cup of cold water, then they will not lose the reward. If Jesus regards even a non-believer this highly, the disciples should as well. For Jesus came to save the world, not just a select few. Only those who blatantly reject Jesus, whose hearts are consumed by other things, who seek their own satisfaction and self-preservation will bear some serious consequences.
This is why Jesus teaches what He teaches in our snippet from Mark chapter 9 this morning. Jesus shifts the focus from those who are outside the faith, from the outer life, so to speak, to the inner life of the believer. Jesus cuts through all external things and gets to the heart of the matter. This is extremely important to grasp, especially since today is Reformation Sunday–a special day for those of us who call ourselves Lutheran Christians–a day when we strongly emphasize God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves. How does this all come together? Let’s turn to the text.
Jesus begins with some powerful, strong words: 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
It is important to note that in the ancient Jewish world, people literally did blame their extremities for sin. William Lane in his commentary on Mark says, “It was not a Palestinian custom to refer to an abstract activity but to the specific member of the body which is responsible for it.” So, in the culture, it was acceptable to say, “My hand sinned. My foot sinned. My eye sinned.” Jesus confronts this thinking and says, “Well, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If you foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eyes cause you to sin, pluck them out.” Jesus pushes the culture’s logic to its logical conclusion. It’s better for you to be lame or blind than to be sinful. It makes perfect sense, but it is horrifying.
Not only is it horrifying, it’s also forbidden by Jewish scripture:
Deuteronomy 14:1 reads, “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.”
Deuteronomy 23:1 reads, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Bet you didn’t know that one was in there!)
There is a reason behind these laws for the Jews understood God to be holy and whole, complete. If you were incomplete. If you were not whole, you were seen as further away from God. You were seen as less than what you should be. For Jew to hear Jesus say, “Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Pluck out your eye.” would invoke absolute horror! The Jew would have thought, “You are asking me to separate myself from God–to become incomplete–to make myself less than I should be!”
But is Jesus doing such a thing? Is Jesus telling us to cut off our hands and feet or pluck out our eye. No serious scholar believes such a thing because of this pertinent fact: if you cut off your hand, you will still sin. If you cut off your foot, you will still sin. If you pluck out your eye, you will still sin. The cause of sin does not reside in your hand or your foot or your eye. The cause of sin is much deeper. Jesus knows this. Jesus has taught this. Unfortunately, it is not sinking in.
Remember way back in Mark seven, there was an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees where the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were eating with unwashed hands. There’s a lot that is happening in that exchange, but eventually, we get to the place where Jesus says this, “4 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
It is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Hear that one more time: it is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to get people past the absurdity of it. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to show that blaming hands and feet and eyes for sin is asinine. Sin is a condition, not of the extremities, but of the deepest recesses of the human heart.
It is easy to blame a hand for stealing. It is easy to blame a foot for walking into a house of ill repute. It is easy to blame an eye for looking at another person with lust in your heart. It is easy to blame the rich for all the world’s problems. It is easy to blame those on welfare for their unwillingness to work. It is easy to blame capitalism for poverty. It is easy to blame communism for destroying human rights. It is easy to blame Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. It is easy to blame teachers for kids failing to learn. It is easy to blame elected officials for failing to deal with the problems of a given community. It is easy to put the problem “out there”, residing in someone else. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that. The problem isn’t in the hand. It isn’t in the foot. It isn’t in the eye. The problem isn’t out there with any group or institution or form of government. The problem is in the human heart.
Now, most folks don’t like this. Most folks would like to blame circumstances that are out there. It absolves them of responsibility. However, the Christian faith is not about shirking responsibility. It’s about accepting it, and accepting the fact that each and every one of us is indeed sinful. We are not just people who do bad things–who are imperfect. No. We are much worse. We are rotten to the core. We are self-centered and seek our own self-preservation.
You may not like me saying that, but let me see if I can show you the depths of your own sinfulness. Why do you do most of the things that you do? What is your motivation for getting up in the morning and going to work or engaging in any sort of activity? What drives you? I am not asking you to give me a superficial answer to this question. I really want to know.
You see, I get up most mornings and exercise. I make two laps around Cat Spring doing interval training. Most of you know I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past couple of years, and I want to keep it off. Some of you know my motivation behind it. A couple of years ago, my kids and I were visiting my parents. We were going to go to the Texas State Aquarium, and my kids ran up to their grandpa and said, “Grandpa, are you going too?” Grandpa, my dad, said, “Sorry, I can’t. My knee is hurting too badly.” Now, my dad hurt his knee playing football. He is also on the heavy side. These two things came back to haunt him. I hurt my knees playing football. I was on the heavy side. I saw the future in an instant–a future that if I am blessed with grandchildren that I could face. And I did not like that picture. I did not like the idea of my grandchildren asking me if I could go with them and having to turn them down. I decided right then and there to lose the weight and hopefully save my knees. Now, who did I lose the weight for? You could say that I did it for my children and my hoped for grandchildren. But that is not the truth. I didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of my grandchildren. I didn’t want to deal with their hurt. I didn’t want to see that in their eyes because IT WOULD BOTHER ME. My reasons are selfish. They have nothing really to do with my future grandchildren. They have nothing to do with this body that was given to be by God. My motivations are purely selfish. Purely.
Do I need to give further examples? Do I need to delve into why you get up and drink a cup of coffee? It’s because you enjoy it, right? You like the taste. Would you drink it if you didn’t like it? Would you drink it if you got no benefit from it? Oh, here’s another story putting the crosshairs directly on me. When I was on internship at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Waco, I did a lot of visitation. I really enjoyed visiting the little old ladies who were all too happy to provide snack for me. They found out I liked to eat, and they were happy to spoil me. One day, I went to visit Emma. I was told that Emma tended to be on the depressed side. She hadn’t done well after her husband had died. I hoped to cheer her up. Emma and I visited, and then she said, “I have something for you. It’s some fresh banana bread.”
A little part of me died inside. I hate bananas. I really do, especially since the taste of a banana makes me gag. Literally. I will gag when I taste banana. So, here is this wonderful lady; who went out of her way to make me this bread, who was a little on the depressed side, who didn’t need her intern making any sort of negative comments; what was I to do? I choked down the bread. I did something I didn’t like in the least. Hiding my gags and chugging water, I got that darn bread down. Self-sacrifice? Hardly. I wanted Emma to enjoy the visit. I wanted her to think positively about me and what I brought to her. I choked that bread down for purely selfish reasons.
Are your motivations any different? Do you engage in activities that you get no benefit from; no enjoyment out of; no satisfaction at all, yet continue to do so because it is the right thing to do? Most of us don’t. Not in the least. In fact, most of us know the right things to do, but we don’t do them because it costs us. It costs us dearly.
Which is why Jesus says, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” Most scholars are perplexed by this saying, but interestingly enough most of them link Jesus’ saying with Leviticus chapter 2:13, “You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” These offerings were sacrificial offerings. They were offerings set forth showing a radical dependency on God. They were offerings saying, “Lord, we trust that you will get us through thick and thin, and we bring the first fruits of our grain to you to be burned in fire, with salt.”
But Jesus is taking this offering a step further. It’s not the first fruits that are offered and burned and refined and salted–it is us. We are refined and salted. We endure the fire and refinement as living sacrifices. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
This is the calling Jesus gives to His disciples. Don’t be superficial. Don’t look at your hand, your foot, or your eye. Look at the deep recesses of your heart and let the sinfulness of it be burned and refined. Offer your very self as an offering to God. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart.
Now, anyone who grasps this and understands this should be terrified. Really. If you understand what I have proclaimed to you to this point, you should be shaking in your shoes. For Jesus is demanding your entire being. He is asking you to walk away from all the desires of your heart. He is asking you to walk away from your own motivations and selfishness. He is asking you to forsake your identity and your well being to follow Him. It’s not a very good sales pitch. Most of us, if we were honest, would say no. We would say not a chance. None of us here this morning would accept such terms because they are just too difficult. The need for self-preservation and self-satisfaction is just too strong. We are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves.
But there is One who was willing. There was one who was able. There was one who did such a thing in our place. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it dozens of times, we must understand all scripture through the cross. We must understand all of Jesus’ teachings through the cross. The cross is the center of our faith and understanding, and Jesus knows you cannot and will not sacrifice yourself. Jesus knows the depths of your sinfulness. Jesus knows the hold that sin has over your heart. And He must break that hold. He must show you that following Him and trusting Him is worth the sacrifice.
And so when you could not sacrifice yourself, He sacrificed Himself. When you were afraid to face the fire, Jesus descended into Hell and faced that fire for you. When you were afraid of the pain of forsaking yourself, Jesus faced the ultimate forsakenness as the Father turned His back on Him as He hung on the cross. Jesus looked at you in the midst of your sin and in the midst of your selfishness, then looked at His Father and said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on your behalf.
When you could not do; when you were in bondage to your self, Jesus did. He saved you from yourself when you could not. This was not something you earned; rather it was given to you by sheer grace. And when you are moved by this, when those chains fall off your heart because you know you are deeply sinful yet deeply loved, you want to die to yourself. You want to become a living sacrifice. You want to be salted with fire. You want to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Your heart beats with a deep gratitude for the One who gave Himself up for you because He loves you.
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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. This is most certainly true. Amen.
Then, Jesus spoke about those who do not follow Him as a disciple. “Truly I tell you anyone who gives you a cup of cold water because you bear the name of Christ, that person will not lose the reward.” Again, hearing Jesus’ words is important because this isn’t about the things we do–this is about how people treat Jesus’ disciples. If a non-believer gives YOU a cup of cold water, then they will not lose the reward. If Jesus regards even a non-believer this highly, the disciples should as well. For Jesus came to save the world, not just a select few. Only those who blatantly reject Jesus, whose hearts are consumed by other things, who seek their own satisfaction and self-preservation will bear some serious consequences.
This is why Jesus teaches what He teaches in our snippet from Mark chapter 9 this morning. Jesus shifts the focus from those who are outside the faith, from the outer life, so to speak, to the inner life of the believer. Jesus cuts through all external things and gets to the heart of the matter. This is extremely important to grasp, especially since today is Reformation Sunday–a special day for those of us who call ourselves Lutheran Christians–a day when we strongly emphasize God’s grace and our inability to save ourselves. How does this all come together? Let’s turn to the text.
Jesus begins with some powerful, strong words: 43If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire. 45And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell., 47And if your eye causes you to stumble, tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell, 48where their worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched.
It is important to note that in the ancient Jewish world, people literally did blame their extremities for sin. William Lane in his commentary on Mark says, “It was not a Palestinian custom to refer to an abstract activity but to the specific member of the body which is responsible for it.” So, in the culture, it was acceptable to say, “My hand sinned. My foot sinned. My eye sinned.” Jesus confronts this thinking and says, “Well, if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. If you foot causes you to sin, cut it off. If your eyes cause you to sin, pluck them out.” Jesus pushes the culture’s logic to its logical conclusion. It’s better for you to be lame or blind than to be sinful. It makes perfect sense, but it is horrifying.
Not only is it horrifying, it’s also forbidden by Jewish scripture:
Deuteronomy 14:1 reads, “You are children of the Lord your God. You must not lacerate yourselves or shave your forelocks for the dead.”
Deuteronomy 23:1 reads, “No one whose testicles are crushed or whose penis is cut off shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord.” (Bet you didn’t know that one was in there!)
There is a reason behind these laws for the Jews understood God to be holy and whole, complete. If you were incomplete. If you were not whole, you were seen as further away from God. You were seen as less than what you should be. For Jew to hear Jesus say, “Cut off your hand. Cut off your foot. Pluck out your eye.” would invoke absolute horror! The Jew would have thought, “You are asking me to separate myself from God–to become incomplete–to make myself less than I should be!”
But is Jesus doing such a thing? Is Jesus telling us to cut off our hands and feet or pluck out our eye. No serious scholar believes such a thing because of this pertinent fact: if you cut off your hand, you will still sin. If you cut off your foot, you will still sin. If you pluck out your eye, you will still sin. The cause of sin does not reside in your hand or your foot or your eye. The cause of sin is much deeper. Jesus knows this. Jesus has taught this. Unfortunately, it is not sinking in.
Remember way back in Mark seven, there was an exchange between Jesus and the Pharisees where the Pharisees were complaining that Jesus’ disciples were eating with unwashed hands. There’s a lot that is happening in that exchange, but eventually, we get to the place where Jesus says this, “4 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 17 When he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18He said to them, ‘Then do you also fail to understand? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile, 19since it enters, not the heart but the stomach, and goes out into the sewer?’ (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20And he said, ‘It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
It is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Hear that one more time: it is from the human heart that evil intentions come. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to get people past the absurdity of it. Jesus pushes the cultural logic to its horrific conclusions to show that blaming hands and feet and eyes for sin is asinine. Sin is a condition, not of the extremities, but of the deepest recesses of the human heart.
It is easy to blame a hand for stealing. It is easy to blame a foot for walking into a house of ill repute. It is easy to blame an eye for looking at another person with lust in your heart. It is easy to blame the rich for all the world’s problems. It is easy to blame those on welfare for their unwillingness to work. It is easy to blame capitalism for poverty. It is easy to blame communism for destroying human rights. It is easy to blame Democrats or Republicans or conservatives or liberals. It is easy to blame teachers for kids failing to learn. It is easy to blame elected officials for failing to deal with the problems of a given community. It is easy to put the problem “out there”, residing in someone else. But Jesus won’t let us get away with that. The problem isn’t in the hand. It isn’t in the foot. It isn’t in the eye. The problem isn’t out there with any group or institution or form of government. The problem is in the human heart.
Now, most folks don’t like this. Most folks would like to blame circumstances that are out there. It absolves them of responsibility. However, the Christian faith is not about shirking responsibility. It’s about accepting it, and accepting the fact that each and every one of us is indeed sinful. We are not just people who do bad things–who are imperfect. No. We are much worse. We are rotten to the core. We are self-centered and seek our own self-preservation.
You may not like me saying that, but let me see if I can show you the depths of your own sinfulness. Why do you do most of the things that you do? What is your motivation for getting up in the morning and going to work or engaging in any sort of activity? What drives you? I am not asking you to give me a superficial answer to this question. I really want to know.
You see, I get up most mornings and exercise. I make two laps around Cat Spring doing interval training. Most of you know I have lost quite a bit of weight in the past couple of years, and I want to keep it off. Some of you know my motivation behind it. A couple of years ago, my kids and I were visiting my parents. We were going to go to the Texas State Aquarium, and my kids ran up to their grandpa and said, “Grandpa, are you going too?” Grandpa, my dad, said, “Sorry, I can’t. My knee is hurting too badly.” Now, my dad hurt his knee playing football. He is also on the heavy side. These two things came back to haunt him. I hurt my knees playing football. I was on the heavy side. I saw the future in an instant–a future that if I am blessed with grandchildren that I could face. And I did not like that picture. I did not like the idea of my grandchildren asking me if I could go with them and having to turn them down. I decided right then and there to lose the weight and hopefully save my knees. Now, who did I lose the weight for? You could say that I did it for my children and my hoped for grandchildren. But that is not the truth. I didn’t want to deal with the disappointment of my grandchildren. I didn’t want to deal with their hurt. I didn’t want to see that in their eyes because IT WOULD BOTHER ME. My reasons are selfish. They have nothing really to do with my future grandchildren. They have nothing to do with this body that was given to be by God. My motivations are purely selfish. Purely.
Do I need to give further examples? Do I need to delve into why you get up and drink a cup of coffee? It’s because you enjoy it, right? You like the taste. Would you drink it if you didn’t like it? Would you drink it if you got no benefit from it? Oh, here’s another story putting the crosshairs directly on me. When I was on internship at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in Waco, I did a lot of visitation. I really enjoyed visiting the little old ladies who were all too happy to provide snack for me. They found out I liked to eat, and they were happy to spoil me. One day, I went to visit Emma. I was told that Emma tended to be on the depressed side. She hadn’t done well after her husband had died. I hoped to cheer her up. Emma and I visited, and then she said, “I have something for you. It’s some fresh banana bread.”
A little part of me died inside. I hate bananas. I really do, especially since the taste of a banana makes me gag. Literally. I will gag when I taste banana. So, here is this wonderful lady; who went out of her way to make me this bread, who was a little on the depressed side, who didn’t need her intern making any sort of negative comments; what was I to do? I choked down the bread. I did something I didn’t like in the least. Hiding my gags and chugging water, I got that darn bread down. Self-sacrifice? Hardly. I wanted Emma to enjoy the visit. I wanted her to think positively about me and what I brought to her. I choked that bread down for purely selfish reasons.
Are your motivations any different? Do you engage in activities that you get no benefit from; no enjoyment out of; no satisfaction at all, yet continue to do so because it is the right thing to do? Most of us don’t. Not in the least. In fact, most of us know the right things to do, but we don’t do them because it costs us. It costs us dearly.
Which is why Jesus says, “Everyone will be salted with fire.” Most scholars are perplexed by this saying, but interestingly enough most of them link Jesus’ saying with Leviticus chapter 2:13, “You shall season all your cereal offerings with salt; you shall not let the salt of the covenant with your God be lacking from your cereal offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt.” These offerings were sacrificial offerings. They were offerings set forth showing a radical dependency on God. They were offerings saying, “Lord, we trust that you will get us through thick and thin, and we bring the first fruits of our grain to you to be burned in fire, with salt.”
But Jesus is taking this offering a step further. It’s not the first fruits that are offered and burned and refined and salted–it is us. We are refined and salted. We endure the fire and refinement as living sacrifices. St. Paul puts it this way in Romans chapter 12, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.”
This is the calling Jesus gives to His disciples. Don’t be superficial. Don’t look at your hand, your foot, or your eye. Look at the deep recesses of your heart and let the sinfulness of it be burned and refined. Offer your very self as an offering to God. Discipleship is not for the faint of heart.
Now, anyone who grasps this and understands this should be terrified. Really. If you understand what I have proclaimed to you to this point, you should be shaking in your shoes. For Jesus is demanding your entire being. He is asking you to walk away from all the desires of your heart. He is asking you to walk away from your own motivations and selfishness. He is asking you to forsake your identity and your well being to follow Him. It’s not a very good sales pitch. Most of us, if we were honest, would say no. We would say not a chance. None of us here this morning would accept such terms because they are just too difficult. The need for self-preservation and self-satisfaction is just too strong. We are unwilling to sacrifice ourselves.
But there is One who was willing. There was one who was able. There was one who did such a thing in our place. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it dozens of times, we must understand all scripture through the cross. We must understand all of Jesus’ teachings through the cross. The cross is the center of our faith and understanding, and Jesus knows you cannot and will not sacrifice yourself. Jesus knows the depths of your sinfulness. Jesus knows the hold that sin has over your heart. And He must break that hold. He must show you that following Him and trusting Him is worth the sacrifice.
And so when you could not sacrifice yourself, He sacrificed Himself. When you were afraid to face the fire, Jesus descended into Hell and faced that fire for you. When you were afraid of the pain of forsaking yourself, Jesus faced the ultimate forsakenness as the Father turned His back on Him as He hung on the cross. Jesus looked at you in the midst of your sin and in the midst of your selfishness, then looked at His Father and said, “Father, forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice on your behalf.
When you could not do; when you were in bondage to your self, Jesus did. He saved you from yourself when you could not. This was not something you earned; rather it was given to you by sheer grace. And when you are moved by this, when those chains fall off your heart because you know you are deeply sinful yet deeply loved, you want to die to yourself. You want to become a living sacrifice. You want to be salted with fire. You want to deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Jesus. Your heart beats with a deep gratitude for the One who gave Himself up for you because He loves you.
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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. This is most certainly true. Amen.
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
Pat Robertson, Texas Floods, and the Why Question
Okay, I know Pat Robertson really didn't say he was stuck in a quandary trying to figure out why God sent flooding to my home state. Snopes is a wonderful tool to help wade through some of the garbage which surfaces on the www. But Robertson and others have, in their history, made comments about natural disasters and God's wrath being administered through those disasters. There are those who both cheer and jeer such pronouncements, and with good reason.
At the heart of such matters is the question of why such disasters happen. From a atheistic perspective, the question is irrelevant. Such flooding is simply part of the way the world works. There is no rhyme or reason for the randomness. It just happens. Deal with it. Cope with it. Get over it. If you lost loved ones or property, grieve--we will help you get back on your feet, but don't ask about any greater purpose or reason behind such matters. There is none. This answer is satisfactory for some.
For people of faith, the rejection of a "why" answer is not satisfactory. We wrestle with the nature of such events. We want to know if there is a purpose behind them. We want to know whether or not hope springs eternal. For in the atheist answer, you have resolved the problem of suffering, but you have removed hope. What hope is there for those who lost loved ones in this flooding? What hope is there for those who have lost everything to flood damage--who believed they needed no insurance because they were high enough above the flood plain? Those seeking hope want and need answers.
They are not always easy to find.
The Punishment Answer
Robertson and others have used the punishment answer in regards to natural disasters numerous times. The idea is that society in general or some people in particular have committed grievous sin, and God is extending His wrath upon society with such disaster.
This answer is not without precedent. In fact, it is found in Scripture on numerous occasion. The great flood recorded in the Bible is one instance of divine punishment upon the evil of humanity. An earthquake swallowing up a great deal many Israelites for betraying the covenant is another instance. Venomous serpents in the desert is another. In all occasions, God punishes sin by natural occurrences.
This does raise a bit of a quandary for those of us who believe God is a God of love. Why would God punish people in such a manner--even "innocent" women and children? Sometimes, the response leaves one scratching one's head. "That's the God of the Old Testament, not the God of the New Testament." (That argument was rejected by the early Church long ago and was deemed heresy.) "God didn't really do those things. Those things just happened, and the bibilcal writers just theologized the event." (Well, you could do that to every single event in Scripture then. That would make the Bible just a bunch of human events that people projected onto God. Hello Freud.)
Punishment is a very effective tool for changing behavior. Just ask any parent. We use it all the time. "If you don't stop hitting your brother, you will get a spanking!" "If you don't clean your room, you will lose your ipod." "If you do not eat your food, you will not be allowed to go outside and play." And so on and so forth. The threat of punishment, and the subsequent follow through is still used by the legal system today. This is why we have speed limit signs, anti-discriminatory laws, and the like. There are behaviors which must be curbed.
Throughout the Old Testament, God effectively uses punishment to change the behaviors of people who are failing to follow His commands and live according to His will and His way. When people commit idolatry: God punishes. When people fail to live justly, God punishes. When people abuse the poor and downtrodden, God punishes. God cannot stand the sight of sin, and to get people back on the right path, He sent punishment.
One can effectively argue that with each and every disaster, natural and otherwise, that God is punishing society and individuals for their sin. For no one is innocent.
There are those who might dispute that last comment, but I would like to remind you of the biblical nature of sin. Sin is not simply the things that we do--it goes beyond that. It is the condition of the human heart, and the human heart is naturally turned toward itself. It naturally seeks self-preservation. It naturally seeks self-gain. It naturally seeks its own self-interests. As Nietzsche once put it: we all seek our own will to power. In this light, no one can escape guilt. As the reformer Martin Luther put it: we are in bondage to sin. It is the condition of our hearts. Therefore, God is justified in punishing such sin.
The Problem with Punishment
But there is a problem with simply punishing. For while punishment changes behavior, it does not change hearts. What do I mean by that?
Whenever the threat of punishment disappears, people go right back to doing whatever it was they were doing to begin with. Kids will wreck havoc when parents go away because the threat is gone. Their fear is gone. Therefore, they push through boundaries thinking they will not get caught. Behavioral change was only temporary. It was not lasting.
On the other hand, if someone loves and respects the ruling authorities, then following the rules is a joy. Following the law is a delight. Why? Because one knows that in following the rules, one is bringing delight to one's superiors.
But how do you get another person to love you? How do you get another person to see how much you care for them?
Jesus gave us the ultimate answer to that one, "No one has greater life than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Jesus wasn't the first one to say that. Others had said it before, but this was the first time in history when God took on human flesh and not only said such a thing, but did it. Every other time the gods came down to earth, it was to wreck destruction and mayhem or because they were interested in satisfying some sort of perverse desire. Jesus took on flesh to die--not only for His friends but for His enemies as well. No greater love has ever been shown.
The Cross
And, of course, that death took place on a cross. It was the worst sort of death. The Romans had perfected the art of killing someone so that a person not only died but died without dignity and in massive amounts of pain. This was the death that Jesus experienced--the same Jesus who did not deserve to die; who was completely and utterly innocent; whose heart was perfectly attuned to His Father's will.
There is a bastardized understanding of Christianity that flows around the world these days. It's the proclamation that if one just believes in Jesus and seeks to follow Him and has enough faith, then one will experience healing of every sort. One will be completely whole in finances, health, and relationships. God will grant victory in bank accounts, bedrooms, social relationships, and hospitals if one simply begins believing.
The cross destroys such ideology. Jesus' lived the perfect life, and He was crucified. The earliest disciples--who saw Jesus raised from the dead, met their demise in persecution, suffering, exile, and imprisonment. Christianity does not promise a life without suffering, but it does offer eternal hope. It offers consolation when suffering occurs. It offers the knowledge that when the worst happens, God will have the last say.
The Resurrection
For the cross was not the end of the story. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and proclaimed that all who trust in His work will share with Him in this resurrection. Two things are important: the work of Jesus and the future hope.
The Work of Jesus
The cross for Christians is not only the result of humanity's worst. It is not simply a man being hanged because He dared challenge the power structures of the day. Jesus certainly did that; however there was more to it; much more.
In the context of the Jewish sacrificial system, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice--the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world. Theological jargon, I know, but let's try and break it down a little. Mind you, there have been books written about this. I'm trying to get it done in a blog post.
Whenever sin occurred, one had to justify oneself toward God. Atonement had to be made. This isn't as foreign as it might seem to us living so far removed from the situation. How so? Well, whenever someone wrongs you, you demand justice. You demand recompense. You demand that things be made right. Whenever you pay for goods, and those goods do not meet specifications, you demand your money back or that the goods be fixed. Things must be made right. In relationships, if you are hurt by another person, you demand an apology. You demand that the person fix the pain caused.
Yet, if you forgive another person, you bear the cost of that forgiveness. You bear the cost of the broken goods. You bear the pain of broken relationships. On the cross, Jesus bore the cost of our brokenness with God. He bore the cost of our hearts being focused on ourselves. He bore the cost of our actions that break God's laws and commands. He took the punishment so that we do not have to fear it, and instead of fearing God's wrath, we can look toward God's love and promise.
The Future Hope
Being assured of God's love and freed from worry about His wrath, we can now live lives honoring God. We can be free of fear of death and destruction. We know Who holds our future, and our lives are built upon Him.
The reformer Martin Luther summarized this in one of the stanzas to the hymn "A Mighty Fortress:"
Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be swept away,
They cannot win the day,
The Kingdom's ours forever.
Wrapped up in this verse is the knowledge that suffering will occur. There is the knowledge that it is not God who brings such suffering upon us. We still don't have the answer for that; however, just because we don't have the answer to "why", we are free to ask the question, and we are free to know what the ultimate solution will be. We are free to know the ultimate and final say will be a new heaven and a new earth where all bad things will be undone. This is the promise of the cross and the resurrection.
As flood victims are striving to put their lives together, the outpouring of support and love will do wonders to bring healing. It is my hope that well intentioned people will not try to solve the why question, but instead will point to the God who suffers with and then turns mourning into dancing--the God who took suffering upon Himself and then transformed death into life.
At the heart of such matters is the question of why such disasters happen. From a atheistic perspective, the question is irrelevant. Such flooding is simply part of the way the world works. There is no rhyme or reason for the randomness. It just happens. Deal with it. Cope with it. Get over it. If you lost loved ones or property, grieve--we will help you get back on your feet, but don't ask about any greater purpose or reason behind such matters. There is none. This answer is satisfactory for some.
For people of faith, the rejection of a "why" answer is not satisfactory. We wrestle with the nature of such events. We want to know if there is a purpose behind them. We want to know whether or not hope springs eternal. For in the atheist answer, you have resolved the problem of suffering, but you have removed hope. What hope is there for those who lost loved ones in this flooding? What hope is there for those who have lost everything to flood damage--who believed they needed no insurance because they were high enough above the flood plain? Those seeking hope want and need answers.
They are not always easy to find.
The Punishment Answer
Robertson and others have used the punishment answer in regards to natural disasters numerous times. The idea is that society in general or some people in particular have committed grievous sin, and God is extending His wrath upon society with such disaster.
This answer is not without precedent. In fact, it is found in Scripture on numerous occasion. The great flood recorded in the Bible is one instance of divine punishment upon the evil of humanity. An earthquake swallowing up a great deal many Israelites for betraying the covenant is another instance. Venomous serpents in the desert is another. In all occasions, God punishes sin by natural occurrences.
This does raise a bit of a quandary for those of us who believe God is a God of love. Why would God punish people in such a manner--even "innocent" women and children? Sometimes, the response leaves one scratching one's head. "That's the God of the Old Testament, not the God of the New Testament." (That argument was rejected by the early Church long ago and was deemed heresy.) "God didn't really do those things. Those things just happened, and the bibilcal writers just theologized the event." (Well, you could do that to every single event in Scripture then. That would make the Bible just a bunch of human events that people projected onto God. Hello Freud.)
Punishment is a very effective tool for changing behavior. Just ask any parent. We use it all the time. "If you don't stop hitting your brother, you will get a spanking!" "If you don't clean your room, you will lose your ipod." "If you do not eat your food, you will not be allowed to go outside and play." And so on and so forth. The threat of punishment, and the subsequent follow through is still used by the legal system today. This is why we have speed limit signs, anti-discriminatory laws, and the like. There are behaviors which must be curbed.
Throughout the Old Testament, God effectively uses punishment to change the behaviors of people who are failing to follow His commands and live according to His will and His way. When people commit idolatry: God punishes. When people fail to live justly, God punishes. When people abuse the poor and downtrodden, God punishes. God cannot stand the sight of sin, and to get people back on the right path, He sent punishment.
One can effectively argue that with each and every disaster, natural and otherwise, that God is punishing society and individuals for their sin. For no one is innocent.
There are those who might dispute that last comment, but I would like to remind you of the biblical nature of sin. Sin is not simply the things that we do--it goes beyond that. It is the condition of the human heart, and the human heart is naturally turned toward itself. It naturally seeks self-preservation. It naturally seeks self-gain. It naturally seeks its own self-interests. As Nietzsche once put it: we all seek our own will to power. In this light, no one can escape guilt. As the reformer Martin Luther put it: we are in bondage to sin. It is the condition of our hearts. Therefore, God is justified in punishing such sin.
The Problem with Punishment
But there is a problem with simply punishing. For while punishment changes behavior, it does not change hearts. What do I mean by that?
Whenever the threat of punishment disappears, people go right back to doing whatever it was they were doing to begin with. Kids will wreck havoc when parents go away because the threat is gone. Their fear is gone. Therefore, they push through boundaries thinking they will not get caught. Behavioral change was only temporary. It was not lasting.
On the other hand, if someone loves and respects the ruling authorities, then following the rules is a joy. Following the law is a delight. Why? Because one knows that in following the rules, one is bringing delight to one's superiors.
But how do you get another person to love you? How do you get another person to see how much you care for them?
Jesus gave us the ultimate answer to that one, "No one has greater life than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." Jesus wasn't the first one to say that. Others had said it before, but this was the first time in history when God took on human flesh and not only said such a thing, but did it. Every other time the gods came down to earth, it was to wreck destruction and mayhem or because they were interested in satisfying some sort of perverse desire. Jesus took on flesh to die--not only for His friends but for His enemies as well. No greater love has ever been shown.
The Cross
And, of course, that death took place on a cross. It was the worst sort of death. The Romans had perfected the art of killing someone so that a person not only died but died without dignity and in massive amounts of pain. This was the death that Jesus experienced--the same Jesus who did not deserve to die; who was completely and utterly innocent; whose heart was perfectly attuned to His Father's will.
There is a bastardized understanding of Christianity that flows around the world these days. It's the proclamation that if one just believes in Jesus and seeks to follow Him and has enough faith, then one will experience healing of every sort. One will be completely whole in finances, health, and relationships. God will grant victory in bank accounts, bedrooms, social relationships, and hospitals if one simply begins believing.
The cross destroys such ideology. Jesus' lived the perfect life, and He was crucified. The earliest disciples--who saw Jesus raised from the dead, met their demise in persecution, suffering, exile, and imprisonment. Christianity does not promise a life without suffering, but it does offer eternal hope. It offers consolation when suffering occurs. It offers the knowledge that when the worst happens, God will have the last say.
The Resurrection
For the cross was not the end of the story. Three days later, Jesus rose from the dead and proclaimed that all who trust in His work will share with Him in this resurrection. Two things are important: the work of Jesus and the future hope.
The Work of Jesus
The cross for Christians is not only the result of humanity's worst. It is not simply a man being hanged because He dared challenge the power structures of the day. Jesus certainly did that; however there was more to it; much more.
In the context of the Jewish sacrificial system, Jesus became the perfect sacrifice--the perfect Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world. Theological jargon, I know, but let's try and break it down a little. Mind you, there have been books written about this. I'm trying to get it done in a blog post.
Whenever sin occurred, one had to justify oneself toward God. Atonement had to be made. This isn't as foreign as it might seem to us living so far removed from the situation. How so? Well, whenever someone wrongs you, you demand justice. You demand recompense. You demand that things be made right. Whenever you pay for goods, and those goods do not meet specifications, you demand your money back or that the goods be fixed. Things must be made right. In relationships, if you are hurt by another person, you demand an apology. You demand that the person fix the pain caused.
Yet, if you forgive another person, you bear the cost of that forgiveness. You bear the cost of the broken goods. You bear the pain of broken relationships. On the cross, Jesus bore the cost of our brokenness with God. He bore the cost of our hearts being focused on ourselves. He bore the cost of our actions that break God's laws and commands. He took the punishment so that we do not have to fear it, and instead of fearing God's wrath, we can look toward God's love and promise.
The Future Hope
Being assured of God's love and freed from worry about His wrath, we can now live lives honoring God. We can be free of fear of death and destruction. We know Who holds our future, and our lives are built upon Him.
The reformer Martin Luther summarized this in one of the stanzas to the hymn "A Mighty Fortress:"
Were they to take our house,
Goods, honor, child, or spouse,
Though life be swept away,
They cannot win the day,
The Kingdom's ours forever.
Wrapped up in this verse is the knowledge that suffering will occur. There is the knowledge that it is not God who brings such suffering upon us. We still don't have the answer for that; however, just because we don't have the answer to "why", we are free to ask the question, and we are free to know what the ultimate solution will be. We are free to know the ultimate and final say will be a new heaven and a new earth where all bad things will be undone. This is the promise of the cross and the resurrection.
As flood victims are striving to put their lives together, the outpouring of support and love will do wonders to bring healing. It is my hope that well intentioned people will not try to solve the why question, but instead will point to the God who suffers with and then turns mourning into dancing--the God who took suffering upon Himself and then transformed death into life.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
He Carried You
For the past several weeks, I have been leading a course on Timothy Keller's book The Prodigal God. This book centers on what many call "The Parable of the Prodigal Son" found in the Bible; Luke Chapter 15. In addition to the course I teach on Wednesday evenings, I have worked with the adult Sunday School class to delve deeply into Luke Chapter 15 to study the literary context of Jesus' parable.
(Henceforth, I will be referring to the parable as "The Parable of the Two Sons" for, indeed, the parable isn't just about one son. It's about both sons and their relationship with their father.)
As I was preparing for the next adult class session, I focused my attention and study on Luke 15:3-7. This is actually the first parable of two which lead up to the Parable of the Two Sons. It's a familiar one to most Christians who grew up in the Church:
I consulted four different commentaries and was pulling quotes from each that we might discuss said quotes this Sunday. One particular quote grabbed me as I finished typing. It was from Joel Green's commentary on Luke found in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
For a moment, I paused. Yes, the imagery is touching when you imagine that Jesus was 1) talking about God's seeking out of those who have gotten lost from the fold and 2) Jesus was defending His ministry of "eating with tax collectors and sinners." The thought of God seeking out the lost, and Jesus manifesting this has offered great comfort to many, many people throughout the years. But this is not what caught my eye. This did: for lengthy journeys, this is most easily accomplished by placing the sheep on one's shoulders.
Have you traveled a great distance with a load on your shoulders?
When my children were younger, oftentimes I would hoist them on my shoulders to walk around the store or the zoo or some other venue. Before too long, my back began to ache. My shoulders felt the weight of the burden, and they began to protest. My leg muscles began to let me they were not used to such added weight. I know some people train for such things--for long hikes with backpacks and the like, but most folks I know aren't deliberately walking around with burdens on their shoulders. Most folks I know begin to feel such burdens after only a few minutes.
The Good Shepherd puts the sheep on His shoulders and carries it long distances to bring it back into the fold. If this is a full grown sheep...do you know how much that weighs?
Now, if we are talking about a juvenile--that could be 20 lbs or so. Not terribly heavy, but after a while, even that starts to hurt. Minimum for an adult ewe is 90 lbs. Minimum for an adult ram is 100 lbs. Try carrying that for any distance.
Can you imagine the exertion?
Can you imagine the muscles crying out in pain?
Can you imagine trying to keep your balance and walk with this living thing on your back moving and perhaps struggling to get away?
Can you imagine the perspiration and heavy breathing?
All that work for the sake of a sheep.
To bring it back into the fold.
Without a second thought.
And then throwing a party when he gets back.
Oh, and it gets better.
For how is it that Jesus brings us back into His flock?
What burden did He bear on His shoulders?
What caused His muscles to cry out in pain?
What caused Him to perspire profusely and breathe heavily?
All for the sake of those who had rejected Him
Who had deserted Him
Who had mocked Him
Who had betrayed Him
Who had denied Him
So that even they might be united with the flock?
The cross.
God and sinners reconciled.
And a party is thrown!
Oh, I know that someone will point me toward verse 7. Believe me I am not ignorant of it. "7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance."
"The party will only be for those who repent!" you might say.
But I remind you of what John Nolland in his Word Biblical Commentary on Luke says:
For when you see the pains that the Good Shepherd endured for your sake
When you see He carried you to God through the cross
When you see His nail pierced hands and feet
When you see His sacrifice on your behalf
It changes you deeply.
There is no way you could ever live the same.
Once the Shepherd, at great cost to Himself, has brought you home.
And thrown a party because you were there.
(Henceforth, I will be referring to the parable as "The Parable of the Two Sons" for, indeed, the parable isn't just about one son. It's about both sons and their relationship with their father.)
As I was preparing for the next adult class session, I focused my attention and study on Luke 15:3-7. This is actually the first parable of two which lead up to the Parable of the Two Sons. It's a familiar one to most Christians who grew up in the Church:
3 So Jesus told them this parable: 4‘Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? 5When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. 6And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.” 7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
I consulted four different commentaries and was pulling quotes from each that we might discuss said quotes this Sunday. One particular quote grabbed me as I finished typing. It was from Joel Green's commentary on Luke found in The New International Commentary on the New Testament:
Because sheep are gregarious creatures, a sheep lost from its flock becomes quickly agitated and disoriented and must be carried back to the other sheep; for lengthy journeys this is most easily accomplished by placing the sheep on one’s shoulders.
For a moment, I paused. Yes, the imagery is touching when you imagine that Jesus was 1) talking about God's seeking out of those who have gotten lost from the fold and 2) Jesus was defending His ministry of "eating with tax collectors and sinners." The thought of God seeking out the lost, and Jesus manifesting this has offered great comfort to many, many people throughout the years. But this is not what caught my eye. This did: for lengthy journeys, this is most easily accomplished by placing the sheep on one's shoulders.
Have you traveled a great distance with a load on your shoulders?
When my children were younger, oftentimes I would hoist them on my shoulders to walk around the store or the zoo or some other venue. Before too long, my back began to ache. My shoulders felt the weight of the burden, and they began to protest. My leg muscles began to let me they were not used to such added weight. I know some people train for such things--for long hikes with backpacks and the like, but most folks I know aren't deliberately walking around with burdens on their shoulders. Most folks I know begin to feel such burdens after only a few minutes.
The Good Shepherd puts the sheep on His shoulders and carries it long distances to bring it back into the fold. If this is a full grown sheep...do you know how much that weighs?
Now, if we are talking about a juvenile--that could be 20 lbs or so. Not terribly heavy, but after a while, even that starts to hurt. Minimum for an adult ewe is 90 lbs. Minimum for an adult ram is 100 lbs. Try carrying that for any distance.
Can you imagine the exertion?
Can you imagine the muscles crying out in pain?
Can you imagine trying to keep your balance and walk with this living thing on your back moving and perhaps struggling to get away?
Can you imagine the perspiration and heavy breathing?
All that work for the sake of a sheep.
To bring it back into the fold.
Without a second thought.
And then throwing a party when he gets back.
Oh, and it gets better.
For how is it that Jesus brings us back into His flock?
What burden did He bear on His shoulders?
What caused His muscles to cry out in pain?
What caused Him to perspire profusely and breathe heavily?
All for the sake of those who had rejected Him
Who had deserted Him
Who had mocked Him
Who had betrayed Him
Who had denied Him
So that even they might be united with the flock?
The cross.
God and sinners reconciled.
And a party is thrown!
Oh, I know that someone will point me toward verse 7. Believe me I am not ignorant of it. "7Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance."
"The party will only be for those who repent!" you might say.
But I remind you of what John Nolland in his Word Biblical Commentary on Luke says:
This is a very important point...one that I didn't quite realize until John pointed it out. You see, Jesus' call for repentance comes as a response to what He has done. Repentance, for a Christian, comes as a result of contemplating the nature of what Jesus has already done for you. The cross leads to repentance. It was contrary to what the Pharisees taught then. It is contrary to what many, even within the Church, teach now.
The place of repentance here takes us right outside the framework of the parable, which focuses exclusively on the role of the shepherd. Studies often protest that this verse obscures the fact that Jesus scandalized the Pharisees precisely by his failure to demand repentance in the normal way...
For when you see the pains that the Good Shepherd endured for your sake
When you see He carried you to God through the cross
When you see His nail pierced hands and feet
When you see His sacrifice on your behalf
It changes you deeply.
There is no way you could ever live the same.
Once the Shepherd, at great cost to Himself, has brought you home.
And thrown a party because you were there.
Monday, April 27, 2015
Why the Cross? Part 2
Then Jesus said to them, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.
Last Sunday, I delved into the question: Why? Why was it necessary for the Messiah to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day? Why was the cross necessary? I took quite a bit of time to focus on the aspect of sacrificial atonement and the cost Jesus bore to forgive our sins. If you missed that sermon, it can be found on my blog. I will be happy to give you the web address for that.
However, there is another aspect we must consider when it comes to the cross. For there has been a long running criticism of those of us who preach that Jesus has given us our salvation–free to us, but costly to Him. In the early Church, there were those who thought that proclaiming grace then gave no incentive to people to change their lives and live according to God’s will and purpose. Centuries later, when Martin Luther, the namesake of the Lutheran church, called Christians back to the understanding of grace and the cross, there were even more calls that people would no longer seek to follow God’s commands. I mean, if your salvation does not hinge upon your performance, then why even attempt? Why change your life? Why do things differently?
The answer, we will see, is the cross, but let me start with this analogy.
I want you to pretend that you have just reached the age where you can legally drive. For much of your teenage years, you longed to be able to drive a car and experience the freedom of the road, but you wondered if you would ever be able to afford a car. You wondered if your parents would ever be able to afford a car.
On the day you came of age and completed your driver’s exam, a guy shows up on your doorstep. He comes up to you and congratulates you on passing your exam, and then he hands you a set of keys. They are the keys to a brand new car! He says, “This car is yours. We provide free cars to everyone here in this region. Enjoy driving!”
You are ecstatic! You tell your folks you are going driving, and you head out. You drive around and are exhilarated! You pick up several of your friends. Before long, you have the radio turned up as loud as it can go. You are yelling back and forth at your friends. You are on cloud nine. Then your cell phone buzzes. It’s a text. You reach down to look at it. You try texting back, and you run off the road. You manage to slow down, but you still run into a tree. The car is totaled. Luckily, you and your friends are not injured, but your beautiful, new car is toast. You cry. You wonder if you will ever get another chance to drive. A tow truck hauls your car away.
You wake up the next morning sore and bruised, and you are surprised by a knock on the door. You open it, and the same man who gave you the keys yesterday is there today. He says, “I know you had an accident yesterday and your car was totaled. You may be wondering if you can drive anymore. I have good news. You get another car. I told you. We provide free cars for the people of this region.”
You are excited beyond belief. This time, you are a bit more careful, but after several months, your cell phone buzzes again. You check it again. You wreck the car again. You have a bit of grief again, but you wonder if you will get another car.
Sure enough, you do. You can’t believe this! Even if you wreck your car, you are given another one. So, you become fearless. You begin to drive like the proverbial bat out of you-know-where. You speed. You run stop lights. You take chances. You have several more wrecks. Doesn’t matter. There will be a new car waiting in the morning.
After one such wreck, earlier than usual, there is a knock on your door. It’s not the car guy. Instead, it’s someone else. It’s someone driving an old, beat up car with all sorts of wear and tear. You wonder to yourself why this guy just doesn’t run the car into a tree and get a new one. He looks at you and says, “Bet you were expecting the car guy. I always try to get in before him. Come with me this morning.”
You hesitate. You don’t know this guy. But he is reassuring and there is a certain air about him. You trust him and climb in his old beat up vehicle. He drives you beyond the outskirts of town. You look out the cracked window and see a large factory up ahead. The man drives the car right toward that factory.
As you approach, however, you see something very strange. There are myriads of cars out front of this factory–cars that look just like the one’s you’ve been given. But the whole place is surrounded by fences with razor sharp wire at the top. There appear to be watch towers with armed guards in them. The man driving you has to go through several checkpoints just to get you in. A helicopter hovers above, obviously watching for something.
The man parks and leads you in. He says, “You know, I was once like you. I drove with a reckless abandon. But then someone showed me what I am about to show you. Have you ever wondered where your cars come from?”
With that, the man leads you forward. You walk into the factory, and you are stunned by what you see. Huge assembly lines first catch your eye, but then your eyes move to the workers. You are appalled! The workers are all wearing filthy rags. They look like they haven’t slept in weeks. They barely seem able to stand and walk. Supervisors constantly yell and scream at them to get busy. When someone stumbles or falls, physical force is used to motivate them. If someone is unable to get up, they are trampled upon, and someone else is forced to take their place. You can hardly watch.
The man then takes you to the lunch room. You see the ragged clothed workers hurriedly eating a meal. They are eating something that would make a billy goat puke. “They only get 10 minutes before they are forced back to their work stations,” the man tells you.
The man then motions you to follow. You go to the workers’ homes–if you can call them that. They look like jail cells. There are meager foam mattresses on the floor which look only an inch thick or so. Dilapidated tables and chairs litter the cells. These workers are literally slaves. And then it dawns on you! The reason the region can afford to give you free cars is because of slave labor! Your “free” care is bought with a great price!
The car ride back to your home is a quiet one. When you arrive, there in your drive way is a brand new car. The man looks at you and says, “Now, what will you do?”
What will you do indeed? Will you continue to drive recklessly? Will you continue to do things which would put the life of your car in jeopardy? Would you even have a desire to drive that car ever again? If you know the terrible price paid for you to have that “free” car, would you ever look at driving the same again?
Of course you wouldn’t. If you have even a smidgen of compassion in your heart, you couldn’t look at your car without seeing the faces and condition of those who built it. You might never even drive again! But why? Why wouldn’t you drive?
Because you would be acting out of guilt, and here is where the analogy breaks down when comparing to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Because Jesus was not being held against His will. Jesus was not bound to the cross by any force natural or supernatural. He could have walked away from it. He could have called a legion of angels down to rescue Him from it. He didn’t have to drink the cup. That was what the Garden of Gethsemane was all about. He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me, but nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” Jesus could have walked away from His sacrificial death, but He didn’t. He entered into it freely, willingly, but also with great terror and anguish. He didn’t have to hang on that cross to save you, but He did because He loves you.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”
And when you arrive at the foot of that cross...
When you see Jesus hanging there in pain...
When you see the pierced hands...
When you see the pierced feet...
When you see the crown of thorns...
When you see the blood flowing from the lashes...
When you see Him cry out in despair, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
When you see Him die the death that you deserved to give you the gift of salvation that you didn’t deserve...
When you see Him face abandonment from God so that you never have to...
When you see Him pay the price for your freedom...
Can you keep driving your life the same way? Can you keep doing things recklessly without any thought to God or to others? Can you willingly break God’s commands knowing what Jesus did for you? Can you go through life seeking your own will instead of the will of the Father?
When you arrive at the foot of the cross and you understand the size of the debt you owe; when you understand the nature of your separation from God; you understand that Jesus willingly paid the price to reconcile you unto God; when you see just what it cost Jesus to purchase your redemption; your heart changes. You feel horribly bad, and then strangely accepted. You feel like the dirtiest of worms, and then like the apple of God’s eye. You feel worthless, and then extremely valuable. And you know you can never look at the world the same again. You can never look at another person with anger and contempt again. You can never hate another person who is created in the image of God again. You can never hate yourself again. Your heart overflows with an abundance of love for what God has done for you, and with an incredible desire to share that love with others.
If you never saw the great cost paid by Jesus, your heart would never change. But because of His willing sacrifice, even the hardest heart is brought to its knees. It is at the cross where such change occurs, and it is why the Messiah had to suffer and die. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Last Sunday, I delved into the question: Why? Why was it necessary for the Messiah to suffer and then rise from the dead on the third day? Why was the cross necessary? I took quite a bit of time to focus on the aspect of sacrificial atonement and the cost Jesus bore to forgive our sins. If you missed that sermon, it can be found on my blog. I will be happy to give you the web address for that.
However, there is another aspect we must consider when it comes to the cross. For there has been a long running criticism of those of us who preach that Jesus has given us our salvation–free to us, but costly to Him. In the early Church, there were those who thought that proclaiming grace then gave no incentive to people to change their lives and live according to God’s will and purpose. Centuries later, when Martin Luther, the namesake of the Lutheran church, called Christians back to the understanding of grace and the cross, there were even more calls that people would no longer seek to follow God’s commands. I mean, if your salvation does not hinge upon your performance, then why even attempt? Why change your life? Why do things differently?
The answer, we will see, is the cross, but let me start with this analogy.
I want you to pretend that you have just reached the age where you can legally drive. For much of your teenage years, you longed to be able to drive a car and experience the freedom of the road, but you wondered if you would ever be able to afford a car. You wondered if your parents would ever be able to afford a car.
On the day you came of age and completed your driver’s exam, a guy shows up on your doorstep. He comes up to you and congratulates you on passing your exam, and then he hands you a set of keys. They are the keys to a brand new car! He says, “This car is yours. We provide free cars to everyone here in this region. Enjoy driving!”
You are ecstatic! You tell your folks you are going driving, and you head out. You drive around and are exhilarated! You pick up several of your friends. Before long, you have the radio turned up as loud as it can go. You are yelling back and forth at your friends. You are on cloud nine. Then your cell phone buzzes. It’s a text. You reach down to look at it. You try texting back, and you run off the road. You manage to slow down, but you still run into a tree. The car is totaled. Luckily, you and your friends are not injured, but your beautiful, new car is toast. You cry. You wonder if you will ever get another chance to drive. A tow truck hauls your car away.
You wake up the next morning sore and bruised, and you are surprised by a knock on the door. You open it, and the same man who gave you the keys yesterday is there today. He says, “I know you had an accident yesterday and your car was totaled. You may be wondering if you can drive anymore. I have good news. You get another car. I told you. We provide free cars for the people of this region.”
You are excited beyond belief. This time, you are a bit more careful, but after several months, your cell phone buzzes again. You check it again. You wreck the car again. You have a bit of grief again, but you wonder if you will get another car.
Sure enough, you do. You can’t believe this! Even if you wreck your car, you are given another one. So, you become fearless. You begin to drive like the proverbial bat out of you-know-where. You speed. You run stop lights. You take chances. You have several more wrecks. Doesn’t matter. There will be a new car waiting in the morning.
After one such wreck, earlier than usual, there is a knock on your door. It’s not the car guy. Instead, it’s someone else. It’s someone driving an old, beat up car with all sorts of wear and tear. You wonder to yourself why this guy just doesn’t run the car into a tree and get a new one. He looks at you and says, “Bet you were expecting the car guy. I always try to get in before him. Come with me this morning.”
You hesitate. You don’t know this guy. But he is reassuring and there is a certain air about him. You trust him and climb in his old beat up vehicle. He drives you beyond the outskirts of town. You look out the cracked window and see a large factory up ahead. The man drives the car right toward that factory.
As you approach, however, you see something very strange. There are myriads of cars out front of this factory–cars that look just like the one’s you’ve been given. But the whole place is surrounded by fences with razor sharp wire at the top. There appear to be watch towers with armed guards in them. The man driving you has to go through several checkpoints just to get you in. A helicopter hovers above, obviously watching for something.
The man parks and leads you in. He says, “You know, I was once like you. I drove with a reckless abandon. But then someone showed me what I am about to show you. Have you ever wondered where your cars come from?”
With that, the man leads you forward. You walk into the factory, and you are stunned by what you see. Huge assembly lines first catch your eye, but then your eyes move to the workers. You are appalled! The workers are all wearing filthy rags. They look like they haven’t slept in weeks. They barely seem able to stand and walk. Supervisors constantly yell and scream at them to get busy. When someone stumbles or falls, physical force is used to motivate them. If someone is unable to get up, they are trampled upon, and someone else is forced to take their place. You can hardly watch.
The man then takes you to the lunch room. You see the ragged clothed workers hurriedly eating a meal. They are eating something that would make a billy goat puke. “They only get 10 minutes before they are forced back to their work stations,” the man tells you.
The man then motions you to follow. You go to the workers’ homes–if you can call them that. They look like jail cells. There are meager foam mattresses on the floor which look only an inch thick or so. Dilapidated tables and chairs litter the cells. These workers are literally slaves. And then it dawns on you! The reason the region can afford to give you free cars is because of slave labor! Your “free” care is bought with a great price!
The car ride back to your home is a quiet one. When you arrive, there in your drive way is a brand new car. The man looks at you and says, “Now, what will you do?”
What will you do indeed? Will you continue to drive recklessly? Will you continue to do things which would put the life of your car in jeopardy? Would you even have a desire to drive that car ever again? If you know the terrible price paid for you to have that “free” car, would you ever look at driving the same again?
Of course you wouldn’t. If you have even a smidgen of compassion in your heart, you couldn’t look at your car without seeing the faces and condition of those who built it. You might never even drive again! But why? Why wouldn’t you drive?
Because you would be acting out of guilt, and here is where the analogy breaks down when comparing to what Jesus accomplished on the cross. Because Jesus was not being held against His will. Jesus was not bound to the cross by any force natural or supernatural. He could have walked away from it. He could have called a legion of angels down to rescue Him from it. He didn’t have to drink the cup. That was what the Garden of Gethsemane was all about. He prayed, “Father, if it is possible, take this cup from me, but nevertheless, not my will but Thine be done.” Jesus could have walked away from His sacrificial death, but He didn’t. He entered into it freely, willingly, but also with great terror and anguish. He didn’t have to hang on that cross to save you, but He did because He loves you.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world may be saved through Him.”
And when you arrive at the foot of that cross...
When you see Jesus hanging there in pain...
When you see the pierced hands...
When you see the pierced feet...
When you see the crown of thorns...
When you see the blood flowing from the lashes...
When you see Him cry out in despair, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”
When you see Him die the death that you deserved to give you the gift of salvation that you didn’t deserve...
When you see Him face abandonment from God so that you never have to...
When you see Him pay the price for your freedom...
Can you keep driving your life the same way? Can you keep doing things recklessly without any thought to God or to others? Can you willingly break God’s commands knowing what Jesus did for you? Can you go through life seeking your own will instead of the will of the Father?
When you arrive at the foot of the cross and you understand the size of the debt you owe; when you understand the nature of your separation from God; you understand that Jesus willingly paid the price to reconcile you unto God; when you see just what it cost Jesus to purchase your redemption; your heart changes. You feel horribly bad, and then strangely accepted. You feel like the dirtiest of worms, and then like the apple of God’s eye. You feel worthless, and then extremely valuable. And you know you can never look at the world the same again. You can never look at another person with anger and contempt again. You can never hate another person who is created in the image of God again. You can never hate yourself again. Your heart overflows with an abundance of love for what God has done for you, and with an incredible desire to share that love with others.
If you never saw the great cost paid by Jesus, your heart would never change. But because of His willing sacrifice, even the hardest heart is brought to its knees. It is at the cross where such change occurs, and it is why the Messiah had to suffer and die. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Only the Cross
I find myself in a bit of a pickle as I think long and hard about my relationship with the larger church (ELCA). I love my church. There is no doubt about this. I want her to grow and thrive. I want the God-awful state of decline she has been in to reverse itself and for people to fill her pews on a given Sunday morning. I long for the day when all of our congregation's pews: Lutheran, Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Pentecostal, and the like are filled to overflowing as people come from far and wide to worship.
I do not wish for any church body to decline and die.
And yet, many are. Some slowly. Some spiraling out of control.
Now, this is not some sort of "the Church must change or die" sort of post. God knows, I've heard so many of those lectures and read so many of those blogs that I have started tuning them out.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to become more moralistic.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to focus more on justice.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to change our doctrines.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to stop being so liberal.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to stop being so conservative.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to implement more programs.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to implement less programs.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to have more "contemporary"/modern worship.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to have more "traditional" worship.
In each and every one of these things, we are focusing on ourselves. We are trying to figure out what the surrounding culture wants and give it to them. It's as if we believe the Church is here to satisfy the needs and desires of the culture, and if we want our pews to be full, then we need to be giving the culture what it wants.
I can see the early Church trying to take such action.
"Well, you see those Jews over there. They expect a Messiah who will come and establish power and peace by military force. The Messiah will overthrow the Romans and free the nation of Israel. Let's shun the cross and what Jesus did and talk about such power and might. Let's give them what they want."
"Well, you see those Gentiles over there. They want comfort and security. They want a god who is omniscient and omnipotent who can favor them. Let's get rid of the cross where God dies and give them a god who allows them joy and pleasure in their lives."
"For the cross is a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles." --1 Corinthians 1:23.
Indeed, the cross still is foolishness. It must be. That's the only reason I can think of that it didn't make an appearance at the Synod Assembly I attended last week. Can you imagine a Synod Assembly whose focus was intended to be evangelism that didn't mention the cross? That didn't mention the acts of God on that cross? Can you imagine a Lutheran Synod Assembly whose focus was supposedly evangelism--whose founder espoused and coined the phrase the theology of the cross--who didn't spend a single minute asking the question, "How do we convey the message of the cross in this day and age? How do we talk about God's reconciling the world unto Himself in this postmodern age?"
So, what was the Synod Assembly focused on?
Essentially, it was one giant pep-rally trying to get us to do good things. Yep, that was it. Work hard at being especially nice. Work hard at listening to your neighbors. Work hard at loving everyone. That is evangelism. Your works are evangelism. What you do is evangelism.
So, you might ask, what is the problem with that? I'd like you to read the following quote from a young man who served on a panel of young adults at the Synod Assembly. He leans atheist/agnostic, and he offered this scathing criticism of the church:
What response can one give to such a scathing criticism IF the church's job is "doing good things?"
There is no response. The criticism stands, and the Church is convicted. (Although to be fair, in the omitted examples this gentleman listed in his screed where he asked "Where is the Church?", in all reality, the Church was already in all of those places. One can easily ask the question: why can't you see it there?)
In fact, as I was debriefing with one of my members, I was brutally honest. I said, "I don't want this guy in my church. He reminds me of myself not too long ago. Arrogant. Self-righteous. He'd be a troublemaker. But it doesn't matter if I want him in church or not. There is One who does want Him. There is One who wants His heart and soul."
Indeed, there is one part of the young man's criticism that is Truth: the Church should never try and make itself the center of everyone's world. Never. Ever! At the center of everyone's world should be a cross with a suffering God who is stretching His arms out to suffer and die to make sure the world is reconciled to their Heavenly Father. At the center of everyone's world should be Jesus.
If anyone in the Christian Church disputes this, then I simply think you cannot call yourself a Christian. (Read my extended quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer from a few days ago.) If at the center of your world is anything less than Jesus, then you are committing idolatry. You have a false god.
And so, the answer to the young man's question is Jesus. The Church doesn't want you, sir. Jesus does. The Church will go on without you too, but there is One who doesn't want to go on without you. There is one who was willing to die for you. I know you probably don't see that or get that. You are completely and totally focused on your actions and the actions of the world and the Church. You want to make a difference. I understand that. I really do. I wanted to change the world myself.
But I found out something. It was a hard lesson. A very hard one. I couldn't make that difference. I couldn't change people. I couldn't change the world. I might be able to feed a person for a day. I might be able to lobby government officials. I might even be able to lead a movement to change laws, but I can never, ever change someone's heart. I can't make people love each other. I can't make people get along and see each other a fully human. I can't convince people to stop looking out for their own interests and look out for the interests of another.
I know you are a studious sort of person. It came across very strongly in your presentation. Read Nietzsche? You understand, don't you, that if there is no transcendence, no God, then everything we do are simply power plays, right? You do understand that essentially we are all working out our own wills to power even if we say we are looking out for another? You could argue that you aren't looking out for yourself, but Nietzsche would scoff at you and say, "Yeah right. The only reason you are trying to help others is because you get some benefit.
You see, there is One who indeed came and lived for no benefit to Himself. Jesus didn't need anything from us. He was totally satisfied, loved, and glorified in His relationship with His Father and the Spirit. He needed and needs nothing from us. Yet, He came to us for a reason--to change our hearts that we might experience the same kind of love He knows living with the Father and the Spirit. He came that we might be able to love one another without any sort of contempt or anger towards those who are different than we are. And He showed that not with power and might but with a cross.
It's all about Jesus and the cross. If you can't get someone to the foot of the cross, then...well, you might be doing some good things, but you are not doing evangelism. And if the Church exists solely for doing good things, then we have no need of worship. We have no need for buildings and Bible Study. All we essentially need is to have someone urge us, remind us, sometimes whip us into submission to "Love our neighbors as we love ourselves."
But Christianity isn't about that. Evangelism isn't about that. It's all about Jesus. It's focal point is the cross.
Somehow, this has been pushed to the periphery. No longer is it at the center.
To our detriment.
What will it take to reclaim our cross-centeredness?
I frankly don't know, but I know what I will do from henceforth:
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-2.
If that message changed hearts then, it will still change hearts now. Here I stand...
I do not wish for any church body to decline and die.
And yet, many are. Some slowly. Some spiraling out of control.
Now, this is not some sort of "the Church must change or die" sort of post. God knows, I've heard so many of those lectures and read so many of those blogs that I have started tuning them out.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to become more moralistic.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to focus more on justice.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to change our doctrines.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to stop being so liberal.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to stop being so conservative.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to implement more programs.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to implement less programs.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to have more "contemporary"/modern worship.
That goes for those folks who say that we need to have more "traditional" worship.
In each and every one of these things, we are focusing on ourselves. We are trying to figure out what the surrounding culture wants and give it to them. It's as if we believe the Church is here to satisfy the needs and desires of the culture, and if we want our pews to be full, then we need to be giving the culture what it wants.
I can see the early Church trying to take such action.
"Well, you see those Jews over there. They expect a Messiah who will come and establish power and peace by military force. The Messiah will overthrow the Romans and free the nation of Israel. Let's shun the cross and what Jesus did and talk about such power and might. Let's give them what they want."
"Well, you see those Gentiles over there. They want comfort and security. They want a god who is omniscient and omnipotent who can favor them. Let's get rid of the cross where God dies and give them a god who allows them joy and pleasure in their lives."
"For the cross is a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles." --1 Corinthians 1:23.
Indeed, the cross still is foolishness. It must be. That's the only reason I can think of that it didn't make an appearance at the Synod Assembly I attended last week. Can you imagine a Synod Assembly whose focus was intended to be evangelism that didn't mention the cross? That didn't mention the acts of God on that cross? Can you imagine a Lutheran Synod Assembly whose focus was supposedly evangelism--whose founder espoused and coined the phrase the theology of the cross--who didn't spend a single minute asking the question, "How do we convey the message of the cross in this day and age? How do we talk about God's reconciling the world unto Himself in this postmodern age?"
So, what was the Synod Assembly focused on?
Essentially, it was one giant pep-rally trying to get us to do good things. Yep, that was it. Work hard at being especially nice. Work hard at listening to your neighbors. Work hard at loving everyone. That is evangelism. Your works are evangelism. What you do is evangelism.
So, you might ask, what is the problem with that? I'd like you to read the following quote from a young man who served on a panel of young adults at the Synod Assembly. He leans atheist/agnostic, and he offered this scathing criticism of the church:
But the part of me that lives on the edges has to stop and ask this...why? Why is the christian church trying to recruit "youths ages 18-35 who make up the blah blah blah??? What does having more people in church do?
The people I asked to help me with this do amazing things, why doesn't the church stop trying to pull them into their crowd and instead go out and be with them? ...The question I want answered is, when will the church stop trying to make itself the center of everyone's world and go out and do something like so many 18-35 year olds are doing, because I have to tell you, we are just waiting for the day the church joins us.
What response can one give to such a scathing criticism IF the church's job is "doing good things?"
There is no response. The criticism stands, and the Church is convicted. (Although to be fair, in the omitted examples this gentleman listed in his screed where he asked "Where is the Church?", in all reality, the Church was already in all of those places. One can easily ask the question: why can't you see it there?)
In fact, as I was debriefing with one of my members, I was brutally honest. I said, "I don't want this guy in my church. He reminds me of myself not too long ago. Arrogant. Self-righteous. He'd be a troublemaker. But it doesn't matter if I want him in church or not. There is One who does want Him. There is One who wants His heart and soul."
Indeed, there is one part of the young man's criticism that is Truth: the Church should never try and make itself the center of everyone's world. Never. Ever! At the center of everyone's world should be a cross with a suffering God who is stretching His arms out to suffer and die to make sure the world is reconciled to their Heavenly Father. At the center of everyone's world should be Jesus.
If anyone in the Christian Church disputes this, then I simply think you cannot call yourself a Christian. (Read my extended quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer from a few days ago.) If at the center of your world is anything less than Jesus, then you are committing idolatry. You have a false god.
And so, the answer to the young man's question is Jesus. The Church doesn't want you, sir. Jesus does. The Church will go on without you too, but there is One who doesn't want to go on without you. There is one who was willing to die for you. I know you probably don't see that or get that. You are completely and totally focused on your actions and the actions of the world and the Church. You want to make a difference. I understand that. I really do. I wanted to change the world myself.
But I found out something. It was a hard lesson. A very hard one. I couldn't make that difference. I couldn't change people. I couldn't change the world. I might be able to feed a person for a day. I might be able to lobby government officials. I might even be able to lead a movement to change laws, but I can never, ever change someone's heart. I can't make people love each other. I can't make people get along and see each other a fully human. I can't convince people to stop looking out for their own interests and look out for the interests of another.
I know you are a studious sort of person. It came across very strongly in your presentation. Read Nietzsche? You understand, don't you, that if there is no transcendence, no God, then everything we do are simply power plays, right? You do understand that essentially we are all working out our own wills to power even if we say we are looking out for another? You could argue that you aren't looking out for yourself, but Nietzsche would scoff at you and say, "Yeah right. The only reason you are trying to help others is because you get some benefit.
You see, there is One who indeed came and lived for no benefit to Himself. Jesus didn't need anything from us. He was totally satisfied, loved, and glorified in His relationship with His Father and the Spirit. He needed and needs nothing from us. Yet, He came to us for a reason--to change our hearts that we might experience the same kind of love He knows living with the Father and the Spirit. He came that we might be able to love one another without any sort of contempt or anger towards those who are different than we are. And He showed that not with power and might but with a cross.
It's all about Jesus and the cross. If you can't get someone to the foot of the cross, then...well, you might be doing some good things, but you are not doing evangelism. And if the Church exists solely for doing good things, then we have no need of worship. We have no need for buildings and Bible Study. All we essentially need is to have someone urge us, remind us, sometimes whip us into submission to "Love our neighbors as we love ourselves."
But Christianity isn't about that. Evangelism isn't about that. It's all about Jesus. It's focal point is the cross.
Somehow, this has been pushed to the periphery. No longer is it at the center.
To our detriment.
What will it take to reclaim our cross-centeredness?
I frankly don't know, but I know what I will do from henceforth:
When I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come proclaiming the mystery of God to you in lofty words or wisdom. 2For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified. -- 1 Corinthians 2:1-2.
If that message changed hearts then, it will still change hearts now. Here I stand...
Monday, April 20, 2015
Why the Cross? Part 1
(Sunday morning as I was preparing for worship and preaching the following sermon, I was struck with another set of thoughts which needed to augment this piece. Those thoughts will appear in my next sermon to be posted next week.)
Jesus said to the disciples, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.
The question that I want to deal with this morning in my sermon is this: why did the Messiah have to suffer and die? Why did Jesus have to go to the cross? Why is it that everything in Scriptures led up to that pivotal moment where Jesus had to die and then be raised from the dead?
This is more than just an academic question. It’s important because it cuts to the very heart of Christianity and our reason for existing as a Church. It’s important in our current day and age because there are a lot, and I mean a lot of people who still wonder why Jesus had to die. There are a lot of people who wonder why the cross was necessary.
The bewilderment is nothing new. The early Church had to deal with folks’ questions about the cross. St. Paul even says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 23, “23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” The cross was a stumbling block to Jews because in the Law it was written that anyone who was hung on a tree was cursed by God. If Jesus were the Messiah, then He was supposed to be blessed by God, certainly not cursed by God. The fact that Jesus was hung on a tree caused them to stumble. As for the Gentiles, it was utter foolishness that God would die. God was omnipotent, and omniscient, all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal and immortal. God certainly could not die. The idea that He would was utter foolishness. Even then people had a hard time coming to grips with the cross.
Today, there is much discussion about the cross as well. Some cannot fathom the idea that God would use such a brutal and bloody method to save the world. God could have chosen something different. Some believe the cross is some sort of divine child abuse and cannot grasp that the Father would send the Son to experience such a thing. Some only give the cross worldly implications and separate the cross from any sort of significance for salvation. Indeed the cross still spurs conversation in this manner.
Yet, in order to truly understand the Gospel, we have to come to grips with the cross. We have to come to grips with its significance and the reasons, as Jesus said, “it was necessary,” for these things to happen. Why was it necessary?
Well, first we have to understand the nature of God. Now, I know there are many who will say simply and truly, “God is love.” You are absolutely right. For the writer John says this very thing in 1 John 4. “God is love,” John proclaims. And some folks jump on this and emphasize love. They then see God in our understanding of love: compassion, kindness, pouring out Himself for us, making us feel good about ourselves–kind of like a Hallmark deity. Interestingly enough, I’ve been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics, and in this book, Bonhoeffer says something profound. He says, we read this all wrong. We tend to emphasize the word love when we should be emphasizing the word God. God is love–meaning, if you want to know what love is, you look to God and not vice versa. It makes perfect sense as the writer John continues in 1 John when he says, “for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. “
”Love is that God loves us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This is the reason the cross is necessary. You may still be wondering why?
Here’s why. If we need to understand love through God, then we need to understand the nature of God–and God we must understand that God is the One in whom ultimate justice and ultimate mercy come together. God must be a God of justice, and God must be a God of mercy. The two cannot be separated. Here’s why.
First, we must understand that God is a God of justice. He has to be. If God were not a God of justice, He would not be worth worshiping. I mean, let’s think about this for a moment. Many of you have heard about the atrocities that ISIS is committing in Iraq and Syria. You have heard the stories about how they have beheaded prisoners, burned prisoners alive, and raped and tortured women. Imagine if God in heaven looked down upon this and said, “Oh, this is wrong. You shouldn’t do such things, but hey, I’ll forgive you anyway. I will take you to be with me and perfect you so that you will never do this again. You will join me in paradise.” If you were a perpetrator of such crimes, you might be very comforted by this kind of God; however, if you have even a little sympathy for those who have been victimized by ISIS, you would recoil at such thoughts. You would recoil at such a God. A God who forgives without justice is a God who has no compassion on victims–who is not interested in fully righting the wrongs. Such a God might be forgiving, but such a God does not have love. There must be justice.
And in Scripture, it is revealed that God indeed is a God of justice. There is a promise of recompense and punishment for those who do wrong. God promises to look with kindness upon the widow and orphan; those who have been pushed to the edges of society. God promises to right the wrongs that have been committed against the poor and oppressed. God promises to let His wrath burn hot against such evil and destroy it–no matter how big or how small.
Now, that last statement should give us pause. God’s wrath and judgement will burn against injustice and evil no matter how big or how small. That might cause you to scratch your head for a moment for you might think, “God will also punish small sins? God will punish say, stealing a piece of candy or disobeying my parents when they tell me no and I do the opposite? God will punish me if I don’t give offerings to the church? God will punish me if I tell a little white lie to prevent pain on the behalf of another?” Why would God do such a thing. I mean, I’m not like ISIS and killing people or anything. Why would God’s wrath burn hot against a little sin?
Just this: on Easter I used the example of the Butterfly Effect or that one tiny change across the globe–a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan–could cause massive changes in Alabama by brining tornadoes. That illustration still stands, but perhaps it’s a bit abstract. Let me use another one which may hit closer to home, especially with all you hunters out there.
When you are sighting in a gun at 25 yards, and you are ½ an inch off, do you say, “Well, I’m close enough. No need to get things dead center.”? Of course you don’t. You can’t accept being off that much. Why? Well, because at 50 yards, you are going to be off even more. At 100 yards you will be off an even greater distance. At 200 yards you will be far away from the bull’s eye. At 300 yards, you may miss the target altogether. The further away you get, the further off you will be. You’ve got to hit perfection so that as time passes and distance passes, you will still hit the target. If you aren’t perfect, there will be consequences.
God knows this, and He demands perfection. This is why He treats anger towards another person like murder. This is why He treats lust like He treats adultery. You could say that this seems overly harsh, but in reality it’s not. Why? Because anger is a condition of the heart–it’s the same condition that leads to murder. Lust is a condition of the heart–which leads to adultery. It all starts in the heart as far as God is concerned. And if your heart isn’t tuned into God and His will, He will judge and let His wrath burn hot.
You might think two things at this point. #1. You might say, “Well, my heart is tuned to God, and He should give me a break on messing up.” I respond: If your heart is tuned to God, then why do you tell that white lie? Why do you not give an offering to the church? Why do you get angry at another person when you feel slighted? Here’s why: for those moments; for that time; something else was more important to you than the love of God. You were afraid of the consequences of telling the truth so your well being took precedence. You didn’t give because you wanted to hold onto your money, and it replaced God. You were more concerned with your own feelings of being wronged than offering forgiveness. In all of these things, God took a back seat, and He did not rule in your heart. The other thing you might say is this: #2. There is no way anyone can avoid the wrath of God. It is hopeless. Might as well give in and enjoy what we can before God burns us to a crisp. That would be an appropriate response if God were not a God of mercy.
For if God had no mercy, then we would all be in a pickle. We would all stand condemned and under His wrath for our failure to live the lives we should live. And we have no excuse. I mean, every culture in the world knows and has in its code of conduct that you should treat others as you would like to be treated. Every culture knows we should care for one another and be fair. However, just as true of every culture in the world is the fact that it is not done. We know what we should do, but we do not do it.
So, God, it seems might be in a bit of a pickle Himself. His wrath must burn hot against sin. It must burn hot against us missing the mark. In order for justice to be served, there must be recompense. There must be punishment to right the wrongs. However, if every wrong were righted; if every sin were punished, then all would be condemned and mercy could not be shown. How can this conundrum be resolved?
I would like you to now think about how you act when you are wronged by someone else. I am quite sure that everyone here this morning has experienced such a thing. You have had someone tell you that they would do something only to renege on their word. You have had someone say an unkind thing about you. You have had someone say something that cut you to the heart. You have entered into an agreement with someone for services or goods and had that person take advantage of you. How do you respond?
Most of us cut the other person off physically or emotionally. Most of us refuse to associate with that other person or institution any longer. Most of us say, “That’s it. You have hurt me, and I refuse to have anything to do with you.” And we don’t, unless an apology is issued–unless restitution is made. Unless someone acknowledges the pain they caused and feels bad themselves, we will not engage the relationship again. Unless there is repayment for abuse, we will stay away from the one who harmed us. Payment, either emotionally or physically is demanded. It’s the way we operate. It’s the only way we get justice. Someone has to pay.
Now, if you forgive a person who has harmed you; if you continue in a relationship with another who has treated you badly; who bears the cost. If forgiveness is extended, then you bear the cost yourself. You bear the emotional and physical burden. The other is forgiven, but cost is still borne. You just take it upon yourself and do not make the other person pay.
If you have this in your head, I would like you to think now about all the times you have missed the mark. Think about all the times you were off, even just a little bit. Think about all the times when you were a ½ inch off at 25 yards but then as time and distance happened you missed the target all together. Think about such things over the entire span of your life. Think about the vast population of the world and how they have all missed the mark. Think about how you have grieved your heavenly Father with such actions. Think about how much damage has been done because of how we have missed the mark in such a manner. Think about all that pain and frustration and anger. Add all of that up. If you multiply such things by the billions of people who have lived, can you possibly imagine how much wrath is built up? Can you imagine the amount of anger God must have for our failure to love one another? What could possibly pay for it? What could God possibly demand in order to make things right? What kind of restitution could satisfy the damage we have done? The price must be extremely high.
And if God forgives? If God bears the cost Himself? If God takes that wrath and absorbs it what kind of payment will make satisfaction? If God bears His own wrath on our behalf, what could it cost Him? If God took on human flesh and bore our sin and the cost for that sin Himself, what would that look like?
The answer can be found at Calvary on a cross.
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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
God incarnate, Jesus bore the wrath of God destined for us. He offered Himself as payment so that we didn’t have to face what we deserved. This is why Jesus had to die. This is why He had to hang on that cross. This is why the cross saves us.
Jesus said to the disciples, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.
Thank you, Jesus for what you have done. Amen.
Jesus said to the disciples, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.
The question that I want to deal with this morning in my sermon is this: why did the Messiah have to suffer and die? Why did Jesus have to go to the cross? Why is it that everything in Scriptures led up to that pivotal moment where Jesus had to die and then be raised from the dead?
This is more than just an academic question. It’s important because it cuts to the very heart of Christianity and our reason for existing as a Church. It’s important in our current day and age because there are a lot, and I mean a lot of people who still wonder why Jesus had to die. There are a lot of people who wonder why the cross was necessary.
The bewilderment is nothing new. The early Church had to deal with folks’ questions about the cross. St. Paul even says this in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 23, “23but we proclaim Christ crucified, a stumbling-block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.” The cross was a stumbling block to Jews because in the Law it was written that anyone who was hung on a tree was cursed by God. If Jesus were the Messiah, then He was supposed to be blessed by God, certainly not cursed by God. The fact that Jesus was hung on a tree caused them to stumble. As for the Gentiles, it was utter foolishness that God would die. God was omnipotent, and omniscient, all-powerful, all-knowing, eternal and immortal. God certainly could not die. The idea that He would was utter foolishness. Even then people had a hard time coming to grips with the cross.
Today, there is much discussion about the cross as well. Some cannot fathom the idea that God would use such a brutal and bloody method to save the world. God could have chosen something different. Some believe the cross is some sort of divine child abuse and cannot grasp that the Father would send the Son to experience such a thing. Some only give the cross worldly implications and separate the cross from any sort of significance for salvation. Indeed the cross still spurs conversation in this manner.
Yet, in order to truly understand the Gospel, we have to come to grips with the cross. We have to come to grips with its significance and the reasons, as Jesus said, “it was necessary,” for these things to happen. Why was it necessary?
Well, first we have to understand the nature of God. Now, I know there are many who will say simply and truly, “God is love.” You are absolutely right. For the writer John says this very thing in 1 John 4. “God is love,” John proclaims. And some folks jump on this and emphasize love. They then see God in our understanding of love: compassion, kindness, pouring out Himself for us, making us feel good about ourselves–kind of like a Hallmark deity. Interestingly enough, I’ve been reading Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Ethics, and in this book, Bonhoeffer says something profound. He says, we read this all wrong. We tend to emphasize the word love when we should be emphasizing the word God. God is love–meaning, if you want to know what love is, you look to God and not vice versa. It makes perfect sense as the writer John continues in 1 John when he says, “for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. “
”Love is that God loves us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” This is the reason the cross is necessary. You may still be wondering why?
Here’s why. If we need to understand love through God, then we need to understand the nature of God–and God we must understand that God is the One in whom ultimate justice and ultimate mercy come together. God must be a God of justice, and God must be a God of mercy. The two cannot be separated. Here’s why.
First, we must understand that God is a God of justice. He has to be. If God were not a God of justice, He would not be worth worshiping. I mean, let’s think about this for a moment. Many of you have heard about the atrocities that ISIS is committing in Iraq and Syria. You have heard the stories about how they have beheaded prisoners, burned prisoners alive, and raped and tortured women. Imagine if God in heaven looked down upon this and said, “Oh, this is wrong. You shouldn’t do such things, but hey, I’ll forgive you anyway. I will take you to be with me and perfect you so that you will never do this again. You will join me in paradise.” If you were a perpetrator of such crimes, you might be very comforted by this kind of God; however, if you have even a little sympathy for those who have been victimized by ISIS, you would recoil at such thoughts. You would recoil at such a God. A God who forgives without justice is a God who has no compassion on victims–who is not interested in fully righting the wrongs. Such a God might be forgiving, but such a God does not have love. There must be justice.
And in Scripture, it is revealed that God indeed is a God of justice. There is a promise of recompense and punishment for those who do wrong. God promises to look with kindness upon the widow and orphan; those who have been pushed to the edges of society. God promises to right the wrongs that have been committed against the poor and oppressed. God promises to let His wrath burn hot against such evil and destroy it–no matter how big or how small.
Now, that last statement should give us pause. God’s wrath and judgement will burn against injustice and evil no matter how big or how small. That might cause you to scratch your head for a moment for you might think, “God will also punish small sins? God will punish say, stealing a piece of candy or disobeying my parents when they tell me no and I do the opposite? God will punish me if I don’t give offerings to the church? God will punish me if I tell a little white lie to prevent pain on the behalf of another?” Why would God do such a thing. I mean, I’m not like ISIS and killing people or anything. Why would God’s wrath burn hot against a little sin?
Just this: on Easter I used the example of the Butterfly Effect or that one tiny change across the globe–a butterfly flapping its wings in Japan–could cause massive changes in Alabama by brining tornadoes. That illustration still stands, but perhaps it’s a bit abstract. Let me use another one which may hit closer to home, especially with all you hunters out there.
When you are sighting in a gun at 25 yards, and you are ½ an inch off, do you say, “Well, I’m close enough. No need to get things dead center.”? Of course you don’t. You can’t accept being off that much. Why? Well, because at 50 yards, you are going to be off even more. At 100 yards you will be off an even greater distance. At 200 yards you will be far away from the bull’s eye. At 300 yards, you may miss the target altogether. The further away you get, the further off you will be. You’ve got to hit perfection so that as time passes and distance passes, you will still hit the target. If you aren’t perfect, there will be consequences.
God knows this, and He demands perfection. This is why He treats anger towards another person like murder. This is why He treats lust like He treats adultery. You could say that this seems overly harsh, but in reality it’s not. Why? Because anger is a condition of the heart–it’s the same condition that leads to murder. Lust is a condition of the heart–which leads to adultery. It all starts in the heart as far as God is concerned. And if your heart isn’t tuned into God and His will, He will judge and let His wrath burn hot.
You might think two things at this point. #1. You might say, “Well, my heart is tuned to God, and He should give me a break on messing up.” I respond: If your heart is tuned to God, then why do you tell that white lie? Why do you not give an offering to the church? Why do you get angry at another person when you feel slighted? Here’s why: for those moments; for that time; something else was more important to you than the love of God. You were afraid of the consequences of telling the truth so your well being took precedence. You didn’t give because you wanted to hold onto your money, and it replaced God. You were more concerned with your own feelings of being wronged than offering forgiveness. In all of these things, God took a back seat, and He did not rule in your heart. The other thing you might say is this: #2. There is no way anyone can avoid the wrath of God. It is hopeless. Might as well give in and enjoy what we can before God burns us to a crisp. That would be an appropriate response if God were not a God of mercy.
For if God had no mercy, then we would all be in a pickle. We would all stand condemned and under His wrath for our failure to live the lives we should live. And we have no excuse. I mean, every culture in the world knows and has in its code of conduct that you should treat others as you would like to be treated. Every culture knows we should care for one another and be fair. However, just as true of every culture in the world is the fact that it is not done. We know what we should do, but we do not do it.
So, God, it seems might be in a bit of a pickle Himself. His wrath must burn hot against sin. It must burn hot against us missing the mark. In order for justice to be served, there must be recompense. There must be punishment to right the wrongs. However, if every wrong were righted; if every sin were punished, then all would be condemned and mercy could not be shown. How can this conundrum be resolved?
I would like you to now think about how you act when you are wronged by someone else. I am quite sure that everyone here this morning has experienced such a thing. You have had someone tell you that they would do something only to renege on their word. You have had someone say an unkind thing about you. You have had someone say something that cut you to the heart. You have entered into an agreement with someone for services or goods and had that person take advantage of you. How do you respond?
Most of us cut the other person off physically or emotionally. Most of us refuse to associate with that other person or institution any longer. Most of us say, “That’s it. You have hurt me, and I refuse to have anything to do with you.” And we don’t, unless an apology is issued–unless restitution is made. Unless someone acknowledges the pain they caused and feels bad themselves, we will not engage the relationship again. Unless there is repayment for abuse, we will stay away from the one who harmed us. Payment, either emotionally or physically is demanded. It’s the way we operate. It’s the only way we get justice. Someone has to pay.
Now, if you forgive a person who has harmed you; if you continue in a relationship with another who has treated you badly; who bears the cost. If forgiveness is extended, then you bear the cost yourself. You bear the emotional and physical burden. The other is forgiven, but cost is still borne. You just take it upon yourself and do not make the other person pay.
If you have this in your head, I would like you to think now about all the times you have missed the mark. Think about all the times you were off, even just a little bit. Think about all the times when you were a ½ inch off at 25 yards but then as time and distance happened you missed the target all together. Think about such things over the entire span of your life. Think about the vast population of the world and how they have all missed the mark. Think about how you have grieved your heavenly Father with such actions. Think about how much damage has been done because of how we have missed the mark in such a manner. Think about all that pain and frustration and anger. Add all of that up. If you multiply such things by the billions of people who have lived, can you possibly imagine how much wrath is built up? Can you imagine the amount of anger God must have for our failure to love one another? What could possibly pay for it? What could God possibly demand in order to make things right? What kind of restitution could satisfy the damage we have done? The price must be extremely high.
And if God forgives? If God bears the cost Himself? If God takes that wrath and absorbs it what kind of payment will make satisfaction? If God bears His own wrath on our behalf, what could it cost Him? If God took on human flesh and bore our sin and the cost for that sin Himself, what would that look like?
The answer can be found at Calvary on a cross.
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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
God incarnate, Jesus bore the wrath of God destined for us. He offered Himself as payment so that we didn’t have to face what we deserved. This is why Jesus had to die. This is why He had to hang on that cross. This is why the cross saves us.
Jesus said to the disciples, ‘These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you—that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms must be fulfilled.’ 45Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, 46and he said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day.
Thank you, Jesus for what you have done. Amen.
Wednesday, April 15, 2015
The Conundrum of Our Day
For the past few weeks, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching a class on Martin Luther and his vast influence upon Western history. There have been more than a few moments of fantastic discussion which have triggered some deep contemplations on my part including the following:
This past Sunday, one of the folks attending class asked, "How was it that the popes of that time were able to get away with all the extravagance and abuse?"
The answers were quite simple:
1. Folks were biblically illiterate. They had no access to the Scriptures in their own languages and had no way of seeing that such abuses were contrary to the commands of Jesus.
2. The Church at the time controlled most of the means of communication and could shut things down pretty quickly. If someone started raising complaints of abuse, the Church could and would put folks to death to silence them. There was no such thing as paparazzi to record everything that was going on and let the masses know.
3. There was a particular theology at play which said that such wealth and extravagance was a blessing of God. If I have arisen to such a position, then I am entitled to such luxury. Couple this theology with the fact that most Church positions were not given to those who exhibited great faithfulness or were steadfast in study and discipline but were rather awarded to the highest bidder, and you had a recipe for abuse.
Of course, this prompted comparisons to today where some "pastors" revel in such gross interpretations of theology. I mean, what pastor in his right mind says that they need a $60 million dollar jet?
However, this also points to a much larger problem in our society--one that I pointed out in class.
In Luther's day, people were highly, biblically illiterate because they did not have access to the Bible in their own language. They couldn't call out such behavior because they were ignorant. Today, people are highly, biblically illiterate even though they have unfettered access to the Bible, and even though there are those willing to call out such behavior, such calls fall upon deaf ears and make little difference.
Why?
This brings us to the conundrum:
In our technological age, everyone has a voice. Everyone has the opportunity to expound upon and interpret whatever text they choose. From Tolkein to Plato to the Bible, anyone can expound and give input to what is written and said.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. It is good to have free interchange of ideas. We certainly do not want to return to the days when you could be killed for offering up an interpretation outside the mainstream. Orthodoxy needs heresy to keep it on the right path, but heresy does not need to be met with destruction.
But neither does it need to be met with acceptance. And we are far too accepting of heresy today.
How so?
In this manner:
Someone decides they would like to learn more about Christianity and the person of Jesus. They pick up a Bible and begin reading. Before long, they stumble upon Jesus' teachings:
If you are angry with a brother, you are committing murder.
If you look at a woman with lust, you are committing adultery.
If you divorce and get remarried, you are committing adultery.
If you want to be a disciple, you have to hate family and life itself.
If you want to be a disciple, you must give up all possessions.
Many might quit right here. They might see the impossibility of such actions and throw in the towel, but others might just want some clarification. Others might want to understand why such teachings are given. They seek out advice from a pastor or a learned individual. They ask, "Did Jesus really mean what He said here?"
Of course, most pastors will try to soften Jesus' teachings. "No, you don't have to give up your possessions or hate your family or life itself. Jesus means, you must love Him more than you love your possessions and family and life. You can have possessions and be a disciple. No, you are not committing adultery if you look at a woman--that's a natural human instinct. God created you that way, so it isn't sinful. Getting angry is just a part of life. As long as you don't act on it, you are fine."
Do you see how in each of these cases there is an actual departure from the teachings' of Jesus? Do you see how in each of these cases, Jesus' actual words are disregarded and replaced with a different teaching?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, would have said, and it's a great quote, we are trying to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner.
And yet, Bonhoeffer, (and I) are simply regarded as one more voice out there; one more interpretation to consider; one more option to think about that may or may not work out for whoever is striving to understand.
With so many voices speaking and interpreting, it is nearly impossible to make any headway in discovering the Truth. With the ability to go and find someone who gives me comfort and lets me continue on in my merry way with no change or transformation; with so many interpretations at the click of a mouse; I can weed out anything that challenges me or calls me to reevaluate my own worldview.
How can the Gospel be proclaimed without sounding like simply "one more voice in a cacophony of voices?" How can someone stand and say, "This is the Truth," when the prevailing view is "what is true for you is true for you, but it's not true for me."? How can any true form of debate take place if that trump card is played? There cannot be any striving for truth if truth is that relative.
Hence the conundrum. Hence the struggle of the Christian Church.
Is it possible for the Church to proclaim to others, "Listen for God's voice" when we are drowning in a cacophony of voices?
This past Sunday, one of the folks attending class asked, "How was it that the popes of that time were able to get away with all the extravagance and abuse?"
The answers were quite simple:
1. Folks were biblically illiterate. They had no access to the Scriptures in their own languages and had no way of seeing that such abuses were contrary to the commands of Jesus.
2. The Church at the time controlled most of the means of communication and could shut things down pretty quickly. If someone started raising complaints of abuse, the Church could and would put folks to death to silence them. There was no such thing as paparazzi to record everything that was going on and let the masses know.
3. There was a particular theology at play which said that such wealth and extravagance was a blessing of God. If I have arisen to such a position, then I am entitled to such luxury. Couple this theology with the fact that most Church positions were not given to those who exhibited great faithfulness or were steadfast in study and discipline but were rather awarded to the highest bidder, and you had a recipe for abuse.
Of course, this prompted comparisons to today where some "pastors" revel in such gross interpretations of theology. I mean, what pastor in his right mind says that they need a $60 million dollar jet?
However, this also points to a much larger problem in our society--one that I pointed out in class.
In Luther's day, people were highly, biblically illiterate because they did not have access to the Bible in their own language. They couldn't call out such behavior because they were ignorant. Today, people are highly, biblically illiterate even though they have unfettered access to the Bible, and even though there are those willing to call out such behavior, such calls fall upon deaf ears and make little difference.
Why?
This brings us to the conundrum:
In our technological age, everyone has a voice. Everyone has the opportunity to expound upon and interpret whatever text they choose. From Tolkein to Plato to the Bible, anyone can expound and give input to what is written and said.
Now, this isn't necessarily a bad thing in and of itself. It is good to have free interchange of ideas. We certainly do not want to return to the days when you could be killed for offering up an interpretation outside the mainstream. Orthodoxy needs heresy to keep it on the right path, but heresy does not need to be met with destruction.
But neither does it need to be met with acceptance. And we are far too accepting of heresy today.
How so?
In this manner:
Someone decides they would like to learn more about Christianity and the person of Jesus. They pick up a Bible and begin reading. Before long, they stumble upon Jesus' teachings:
If you are angry with a brother, you are committing murder.
If you look at a woman with lust, you are committing adultery.
If you divorce and get remarried, you are committing adultery.
If you want to be a disciple, you have to hate family and life itself.
If you want to be a disciple, you must give up all possessions.
Many might quit right here. They might see the impossibility of such actions and throw in the towel, but others might just want some clarification. Others might want to understand why such teachings are given. They seek out advice from a pastor or a learned individual. They ask, "Did Jesus really mean what He said here?"
Of course, most pastors will try to soften Jesus' teachings. "No, you don't have to give up your possessions or hate your family or life itself. Jesus means, you must love Him more than you love your possessions and family and life. You can have possessions and be a disciple. No, you are not committing adultery if you look at a woman--that's a natural human instinct. God created you that way, so it isn't sinful. Getting angry is just a part of life. As long as you don't act on it, you are fine."
Do you see how in each of these cases there is an actual departure from the teachings' of Jesus? Do you see how in each of these cases, Jesus' actual words are disregarded and replaced with a different teaching?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, in his book The Cost of Discipleship, would have said, and it's a great quote, we are trying to justify the sin instead of proclaim the justification of the sinner.
And yet, Bonhoeffer, (and I) are simply regarded as one more voice out there; one more interpretation to consider; one more option to think about that may or may not work out for whoever is striving to understand.
With so many voices speaking and interpreting, it is nearly impossible to make any headway in discovering the Truth. With the ability to go and find someone who gives me comfort and lets me continue on in my merry way with no change or transformation; with so many interpretations at the click of a mouse; I can weed out anything that challenges me or calls me to reevaluate my own worldview.
How can the Gospel be proclaimed without sounding like simply "one more voice in a cacophony of voices?" How can someone stand and say, "This is the Truth," when the prevailing view is "what is true for you is true for you, but it's not true for me."? How can any true form of debate take place if that trump card is played? There cannot be any striving for truth if truth is that relative.
Hence the conundrum. Hence the struggle of the Christian Church.
Is it possible for the Church to proclaim to others, "Listen for God's voice" when we are drowning in a cacophony of voices?
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
Two Great Things that Go Great Together (Apologies to Reeces Peanut Butter Cups)
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
It is very good to see so many of you here this morning in worship. It is always great to see a church full of people. Easter is one Sunday when that normally happens because most know the importance of the day or many have their curiosity peaked and come to see what this Christian faith is all about. For whatever reason you are here, I give thanks to God that you are here, but I also would like to ask this question: where were you on Friday?
I mean, we also gathered together then to worship, but the church most definitely was not full. Where were you on Friday? Now, please do not think that I am asking you this to instill within you a sense of guilt or obligation. Far from it. The Church throughout history has been guilty of trying to motivate people through guilt and fear far too often. I do not want to add to that history. My question is one of curiosity as to why few show up for Good Friday services. I mean, I do understand some folks who say, “Pastor, I love coming to hear the good news of Easter. I love coming to hear that Jesus is risen from the dead because in a world like ours where we are constantly bombarded by bad news and news that makes us scared, I love hearing something positive for a change. I don’t like hearing about death and dying. I don’t like hearing about blood and torture. I don’t like hearing about nails and thorns. I’d much rather hear about life and abundance. I’d much rather hear about good news.” I understand where you are coming from, but I’d like to remind you this morning that there is a reason we call it Good Friday and not Bad Friday or the Death of God Friday. No. It is also a very, very good day.
At this point, you may be wondering why I am talking about Friday so much. You may be scratching your head thinking, “Isn’t this Easter. Aren’t I supposed to be hearing about the resurrection? Why this talk of the cross?” Let me answer in this fashion. You see, I am old enough to remember when Reeces Peanut Butter Cups used to do a lot of advertizing on television. I don’t know how many of you actually remember those commercials, but I do. Usually, there was a guy or gal walking down the street or sidewalk eating a bar of chocolate. Then there was another person walking down the street blissfully eating peanut butter. Both were oblivious to the world around them. Somehow, the two always managed to run into each other, and somehow, magically, the chocolate bar always ended up in the peanut butter. After a moment of complaining that the two things were mixed, the folks would taste the result of the accident and say, “It’s delicious.” Then the announcer would say, “Two great tastes that taste great together, Reeces Peanut butter Cups.” You see, Recees is making the argument that chocolate and peanut butter are better together than they are separately. It’s an important point.
Now, there was a part of me that wanted to put this together a little differently. I mean, part of me wanted to use part of the theme song to the television series, Married with Children. You know, the little song that went, “Love and Marriage; Love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage. Let me tell you brother, you can’t have one without the other.” I wanted to use that, but I wasn’t sure it was appropriate given the nature of the television show. ;-) But the point is this: the crucifixion and the resurrection go together. The two are inseparable. As they combine, we see the Gospel in all of its fullness–in all of its glory. The cross is God’s redemption of the world–truly good news. The resurrection is Jesus vindication and the revealing of the hope we share when we trust in Jesus’ action–again, truly good news. Both are great in and of themselves, but when you put them together, then you have something truly marvelous! You may wonder how it all goes together.
This past Lent, during our Wednesday evening worship services, I preached a sermon series titled, “What is the Gospel?”, and I spent time laying out the Christian narrative. It began with creation as God created a world where all was good, where everything fit. We have echos of that world in our midst today. In the recent past, I was visiting with someone who works in the medical field who said that our brains were hard wired for doing good things–for helping one another; for compassion and kindness. What a wonderful echo of the way God had created us. Imagine if we all functioned with kindness, compassion, and doing good for each other at all times. This is the way God intended it!
However, the story progressed because we know that none of us act with kindness and compassion at all times. None of us work fully for the good of another at all times. There is something deep within that is corrupt. There is something deep within that seeks our own well being; our own satisfaction; our own desires above the needs of another. Where did this come from? Christianity points to a particular point in human development when we decided to be like God. We decided we wanted to know good and evil and decide that for ourselves. We decided we didn’t want God’s guidance and instruction, but that we could handle such matters for ourselves. We looked to ourselves for our own well being and our own satisfaction. In short, we decided to be little gods ourselves, and the results were disastrous! Now, you might wonder how this might be a bad thing and whether or not this is still true of even yourself. You might wonder if we still want to be little gods in this day and age of marvelous technology and advancement. I would argue, yes, in every way this is still very relevant. Aside from much of the evil and greed we see happening in the world, there is this: who among you here this morning at some point and time hasn’t said, “If everyone would just believe like I believe and do the things I think are right, then the world would be great!” Do you see what you are trying to do in that statement? Do you see what your heart is actually getting at? If everyone would just do as you say they should, then the world would function great. You are trying to be a little god and pontificate to the world! Yes, this all rings very, very true.
And as I said before, such things prove disastrous for our relationship not only with God but with one another. “How?” you might ask. Well, think about it: if you think one particular way is the right way, and another person thinks the exact opposite is the right way, what is going to happen? Will you come to any sort of resolution? Will you be able to work things out and through if you are convinced in your own mind that you are absolutely and completely right? No. You will never be able to do so. You will work either through power or manipulation to achieve your goals and your desires no matter what happens to another. Convinced of your own rightness, you will end up stepping on those who disagree with you, and eventually seeing them as the enemy. Do you wonder why our political system is in gridlock? Do you wonder why Republicans and Democrats cannot get along? Do you wonder why liberals and conservatives spend time finger pointing and digging trenches instead of building bridges? It all goes back to thinking that I have all the answers and that I am a little god unto myself.
Of course, when we try to be little gods ourselves, not only are our relationships with one another strained, but what does that do to our relationship with our Creator? What does that do to our relationship with the one who desires to truly be God of our lives? Well, it strains it too, to say the least. It creates a gap between the true God and ourselves–a gap that cannot be crossed despite our best efforts. You may wonder why we cannot cross that gap. You may wonder why we can’t make things right with God. Here’s why: first off, God demands perfection. He wouldn’t be God if He asked for anything less. We must love Him above all things and then love one another as we love ourselves second. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we don’t do this. Secondly, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we only strive to follow the law when there is threat of punishment. My famous example of this is driving the speed limit. How many of us only slow down when we see the flashing lights ahead of us? How many of us only slow down when we see a DPS vehicle coming up from behind? What motivates us? Fear. Is fear a healthy motivation for living in a relationship with another? Of course it isn’t. And so, if we are living in relationship with God in fear of being imperfect and only following the commands out of fear, then we don’t have a relationship.
God realized this. God realized that living by the law only led to fear on our part. It only led to obedience by threat of punishment. It was not healthy. So God acted on His part to make things right. God acted when we could not fulfill the law and would not fulfill the law. While we were still living in our sin and disobedience, God sent Jesus into the world to live the life that we should live; to die the death that we deserved so that things might be made right between God and man. God, took on human flesh in the divine man Jesus to die for the sins of 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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
And where did God die the death we deserved? Where did God’s ultimate act of sacrificial love take place? Where did God redeem you and me? Where did God pour out His very life so that we might be made right with Him? On the cross. You were bought with a great price. A great price indeed. You were redeemed on the cross of Calvary. This is why Friday was so good–so very good indeed.
Yet, Friday would have not been so good if that was the end. I mean, sure, we would have been reconciled to God, but then evil would have triumphed. Death would have been the final say. Injustice would have gotten the upper hand. Perhaps I would be right with God, but then I would have no hope.
But that would not be the case. That would not be the case at all. For reconciliation with God now has a final result. The earth shook. The stone moved. Jesus emerged alive! It is a foretaste of the feast that you and I will share when we believe and trust in His actions! For no matter what befalls us in this life–no matter if we lose a child; if we suffer from cancer; if we lose our savings; if we win the lottery; if we have a successful business; if we fall on our face or rise to new heights. No matter if we experience loss or gain; God will have the final word. God will have the final say. God will bring life out of death; light out of darkness; hope out of despair. This is the resurrection promise!
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
And we must put the cross and the resurrection together. We must see what God has done to redeem the world in Jesus’ life and death. We must see what our hope is as Jesus rises from the dead. These two belong together. They cannot be separated, for in them we see the true nature of the Good News. We see the true nature of the Gospel. And it is meant to be shared. The women in the book of Mark today ran and hid in fear. They told no one. I think you know the better response. Tell the world what God has done in the cross and in the resurrection.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
It is very good to see so many of you here this morning in worship. It is always great to see a church full of people. Easter is one Sunday when that normally happens because most know the importance of the day or many have their curiosity peaked and come to see what this Christian faith is all about. For whatever reason you are here, I give thanks to God that you are here, but I also would like to ask this question: where were you on Friday?
I mean, we also gathered together then to worship, but the church most definitely was not full. Where were you on Friday? Now, please do not think that I am asking you this to instill within you a sense of guilt or obligation. Far from it. The Church throughout history has been guilty of trying to motivate people through guilt and fear far too often. I do not want to add to that history. My question is one of curiosity as to why few show up for Good Friday services. I mean, I do understand some folks who say, “Pastor, I love coming to hear the good news of Easter. I love coming to hear that Jesus is risen from the dead because in a world like ours where we are constantly bombarded by bad news and news that makes us scared, I love hearing something positive for a change. I don’t like hearing about death and dying. I don’t like hearing about blood and torture. I don’t like hearing about nails and thorns. I’d much rather hear about life and abundance. I’d much rather hear about good news.” I understand where you are coming from, but I’d like to remind you this morning that there is a reason we call it Good Friday and not Bad Friday or the Death of God Friday. No. It is also a very, very good day.
At this point, you may be wondering why I am talking about Friday so much. You may be scratching your head thinking, “Isn’t this Easter. Aren’t I supposed to be hearing about the resurrection? Why this talk of the cross?” Let me answer in this fashion. You see, I am old enough to remember when Reeces Peanut Butter Cups used to do a lot of advertizing on television. I don’t know how many of you actually remember those commercials, but I do. Usually, there was a guy or gal walking down the street or sidewalk eating a bar of chocolate. Then there was another person walking down the street blissfully eating peanut butter. Both were oblivious to the world around them. Somehow, the two always managed to run into each other, and somehow, magically, the chocolate bar always ended up in the peanut butter. After a moment of complaining that the two things were mixed, the folks would taste the result of the accident and say, “It’s delicious.” Then the announcer would say, “Two great tastes that taste great together, Reeces Peanut butter Cups.” You see, Recees is making the argument that chocolate and peanut butter are better together than they are separately. It’s an important point.
Now, there was a part of me that wanted to put this together a little differently. I mean, part of me wanted to use part of the theme song to the television series, Married with Children. You know, the little song that went, “Love and Marriage; Love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage. Let me tell you brother, you can’t have one without the other.” I wanted to use that, but I wasn’t sure it was appropriate given the nature of the television show. ;-) But the point is this: the crucifixion and the resurrection go together. The two are inseparable. As they combine, we see the Gospel in all of its fullness–in all of its glory. The cross is God’s redemption of the world–truly good news. The resurrection is Jesus vindication and the revealing of the hope we share when we trust in Jesus’ action–again, truly good news. Both are great in and of themselves, but when you put them together, then you have something truly marvelous! You may wonder how it all goes together.
This past Lent, during our Wednesday evening worship services, I preached a sermon series titled, “What is the Gospel?”, and I spent time laying out the Christian narrative. It began with creation as God created a world where all was good, where everything fit. We have echos of that world in our midst today. In the recent past, I was visiting with someone who works in the medical field who said that our brains were hard wired for doing good things–for helping one another; for compassion and kindness. What a wonderful echo of the way God had created us. Imagine if we all functioned with kindness, compassion, and doing good for each other at all times. This is the way God intended it!
However, the story progressed because we know that none of us act with kindness and compassion at all times. None of us work fully for the good of another at all times. There is something deep within that is corrupt. There is something deep within that seeks our own well being; our own satisfaction; our own desires above the needs of another. Where did this come from? Christianity points to a particular point in human development when we decided to be like God. We decided we wanted to know good and evil and decide that for ourselves. We decided we didn’t want God’s guidance and instruction, but that we could handle such matters for ourselves. We looked to ourselves for our own well being and our own satisfaction. In short, we decided to be little gods ourselves, and the results were disastrous! Now, you might wonder how this might be a bad thing and whether or not this is still true of even yourself. You might wonder if we still want to be little gods in this day and age of marvelous technology and advancement. I would argue, yes, in every way this is still very relevant. Aside from much of the evil and greed we see happening in the world, there is this: who among you here this morning at some point and time hasn’t said, “If everyone would just believe like I believe and do the things I think are right, then the world would be great!” Do you see what you are trying to do in that statement? Do you see what your heart is actually getting at? If everyone would just do as you say they should, then the world would function great. You are trying to be a little god and pontificate to the world! Yes, this all rings very, very true.
And as I said before, such things prove disastrous for our relationship not only with God but with one another. “How?” you might ask. Well, think about it: if you think one particular way is the right way, and another person thinks the exact opposite is the right way, what is going to happen? Will you come to any sort of resolution? Will you be able to work things out and through if you are convinced in your own mind that you are absolutely and completely right? No. You will never be able to do so. You will work either through power or manipulation to achieve your goals and your desires no matter what happens to another. Convinced of your own rightness, you will end up stepping on those who disagree with you, and eventually seeing them as the enemy. Do you wonder why our political system is in gridlock? Do you wonder why Republicans and Democrats cannot get along? Do you wonder why liberals and conservatives spend time finger pointing and digging trenches instead of building bridges? It all goes back to thinking that I have all the answers and that I am a little god unto myself.
Of course, when we try to be little gods ourselves, not only are our relationships with one another strained, but what does that do to our relationship with our Creator? What does that do to our relationship with the one who desires to truly be God of our lives? Well, it strains it too, to say the least. It creates a gap between the true God and ourselves–a gap that cannot be crossed despite our best efforts. You may wonder why we cannot cross that gap. You may wonder why we can’t make things right with God. Here’s why: first off, God demands perfection. He wouldn’t be God if He asked for anything less. We must love Him above all things and then love one another as we love ourselves second. If we are honest with ourselves, we know that we don’t do this. Secondly, if we are honest with ourselves, we know that we only strive to follow the law when there is threat of punishment. My famous example of this is driving the speed limit. How many of us only slow down when we see the flashing lights ahead of us? How many of us only slow down when we see a DPS vehicle coming up from behind? What motivates us? Fear. Is fear a healthy motivation for living in a relationship with another? Of course it isn’t. And so, if we are living in relationship with God in fear of being imperfect and only following the commands out of fear, then we don’t have a relationship.
God realized this. God realized that living by the law only led to fear on our part. It only led to obedience by threat of punishment. It was not healthy. So God acted on His part to make things right. God acted when we could not fulfill the law and would not fulfill the law. While we were still living in our sin and disobedience, God sent Jesus into the world to live the life that we should live; to die the death that we deserved so that things might be made right between God and man. God, took on human flesh in the divine man Jesus to die for the sins of 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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him.
And where did God die the death we deserved? Where did God’s ultimate act of sacrificial love take place? Where did God redeem you and me? Where did God pour out His very life so that we might be made right with Him? On the cross. You were bought with a great price. A great price indeed. You were redeemed on the cross of Calvary. This is why Friday was so good–so very good indeed.
Yet, Friday would have not been so good if that was the end. I mean, sure, we would have been reconciled to God, but then evil would have triumphed. Death would have been the final say. Injustice would have gotten the upper hand. Perhaps I would be right with God, but then I would have no hope.
But that would not be the case. That would not be the case at all. For reconciliation with God now has a final result. The earth shook. The stone moved. Jesus emerged alive! It is a foretaste of the feast that you and I will share when we believe and trust in His actions! For no matter what befalls us in this life–no matter if we lose a child; if we suffer from cancer; if we lose our savings; if we win the lottery; if we have a successful business; if we fall on our face or rise to new heights. No matter if we experience loss or gain; God will have the final word. God will have the final say. God will bring life out of death; light out of darkness; hope out of despair. This is the resurrection promise!
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
And we must put the cross and the resurrection together. We must see what God has done to redeem the world in Jesus’ life and death. We must see what our hope is as Jesus rises from the dead. These two belong together. They cannot be separated, for in them we see the true nature of the Good News. We see the true nature of the Gospel. And it is meant to be shared. The women in the book of Mark today ran and hid in fear. They told no one. I think you know the better response. Tell the world what God has done in the cross and in the resurrection.
Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. Alleluia! Amen.
Monday, November 17, 2014
What Can Be Taken Away From Someone Who Has Nothing?
Well, today we have a very interesting parable before us. For nearly a year, I have been laser focused on the Gospel: the early proclamation of the earliest disciples and the early church which said, “You have been saved by grace through faith in Christ Jesus. You did nothing to accomplish this. It was done for you by Jesus as He satisfied the wrath of God by facing it on the cross.” I have repeatedly inserted John 3:16-17 in every sermon since last November, and now we have before us a parable which seems to indicate the Gospel is not enough.
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 sent the Son into the world not to condemn the world but that the world might be saved through Him. (That’s the Gospel.) And God bestows upon His people immeasurable gifts, but if they do not use those gifts, then they will be cast into the outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth! Or so the Parable of the Talents seems to indicate. This teaching of Jesus has been used ad nauseum as a stewardship text for as long as I can remember. I have used it as a stewardship text. I’ve also used it as a text to promote risk taking in our daily lives and as a congregation. Maybe I was wrong. Because if this text is about stewardship and a failure to use our gifts as we should; and if this text indicates our salvation is dependent upon how we use the gifts given to us by God, then we are all in a lot of trouble. None of us use our gifts as we should. None of us. Furthermore, if indeed this text indicates that our judgement will be based upon the use of our gifts, then why does Matthew even bother to head to the cross? Every other world religion and philosophy judges a person based upon his or her works. Is Christianity just like every other religion after all?
Hardly. In fact, as I studied this parable this week and listened to numerous sermons and consulted several commentaries, there were some things that started jumping out at me–things that I had never considered before or tried to reconcile. Why? Well, because I was stuck in dealing with the interpretations I had been hearing all my life. I was stuck in hearing all the chatter about what we were supposed to do as Christians. I was stuck in hearing this parable as a commentary about what we were supposed to do instead of leading us and pointing us to what God has already done. And so, this morning, I would like to share with you some of the insights I came upon as I studied this parable. I’d like to perhaps help you see it in a different light, and then take us to its application–all the while being faithful to the certainty that Christianity is not primarily focused on what we do, but on what God has already done through Jesus Christ.
And so we turn to this parable. It begins innocently enough. A very, very wealthy man decides to go on a journey, and he summons his slaves. He entrusts his property to his slaves according to each slave’s ability.
Let’s stop here for just a moment. Let’s make sure we understand a few important details. First, the men the man summoned are slaves. They are not servants. They are not hired help. In the ancient world, slavery was an acceptable practice, and oftentimes a person sold himself into slavery. Why? Well, there was no such thing as bankruptcy protection in those days. If you found yourself deep in debt, you had to come up with the money somehow. To pay off the debt, you would sell yourself into slavery and gradually work your way out of debt. Slavery was not a life-long proposition, but it was a tool to pay off one’s debt. Slaves were also appropriated in military conquest. They also had the capability to work toward their freedom in such cases, and it is important to note that ethnicity was not a governing factor in such slavery. There were slaves taken from all over the world, of every tribe and color. So, at this point, do not associate the kind of slavery in this parable with the kind of slavery that happened in the history of our nation. They were two different things.
And yet, these men were still slaves. They were indebted to and completely dependent upon the master. He governed their lives and had control over them. As such, as slaves, they had nothing. Let that sink in a moment. The master allowed them to use his property, but the slaves had nothing themselves. Even in this story, the talents which are given to the slaves are not the property of the slaves! They are the property of the master! Are we clear so far? I hope so.
Each slave is gifted differently. They have differing ability, so the master entrusts his wealth according to the slaves’ ability. To one the master gives five talents. To another two. And to the last, one. The master is shrewd in his dealing, minimizing his risk.
However, the master is still risking a lot! A talent was a measure of weight. The talent could be silver or gold, and it was worth 15 year’s wages. You mathematical types are probably already calculating. If it were silver, you are talking about a million dollars. If you are talking about gold, you are talking about a whole lot more. So, in effect, the master is entrusting these three slaves with millions upon millions of dollars, and then he walks away. He leaves.
The next part of the parable is straight forward. Two of the slaves go out and begin working with their master’s money. They invest it. They trade with it. They put it to work, and each doubles what he was entrusted with. The third slave goes, digs a hole in the ground, and buries the talent.
Now, before we deal with the master’s return, let’s talk about how reasonable it was for the third guy to bury the money in a hole. The guy is obviously playing it safe–some might argue too safe. In our day and age we would argue that at least he should have put it in the bank, maybe in a CD and accumulated a bit of interest. We will see that the master even makes this argument later. However, we need to remember that during this time in history, there was no such thing as the FDIC. There were no checks and balances on banks. Investing in them was no certainty of keeping one’s money safe. The banks invested in caravans and other such things which could be wiped out, and then one’s money would be gone. Those who wanted to retain their money–wanted to keep it safe–did exactly what this third slave did: they buried it. It was the only way to ensure that one’s money would not be lost. So, the guy is simply doing what every other very wealthy person would do–keep things safe.
Now, after a long time, the master returns. He comes to settle accounts. He calls the first slave, and the slave says, “Master, you gave me five talents. I’ve earned five more. You now have ten talents.”
The master is overjoyed. He says, “Well done good and faithful slave. You have been trustworthy in a few things. I will put you over many things. Enter into the joy of your master.”
Let’s stop here for just a moment because in a sermon by D.A. Carson, I heard something I had never considered. Listen to what the master says again, “You have been trustworthy in a few things...” A few things? This slave was given millions of dollars!!! A few things??? The master considers millions upon millions of dollars a few things!!! This speaks perhaps both to the wealth of the master AND the master’s view of money. Millions of dollars are considered small fry to him. Think about that. Secondly, D.A. Carson points out, the idea of a master inviting a slave to enter into his joy is unreal. A slave’s purpose is not to share in the joy of his or her master. A slave’s purpose is to serve the master. Period. The slave is responsible for bringing his or her master joy, not entering into it. This says something rather profound about the master as well. This master is generous enough to bring a slave up to his level of joy. Quite an astonishing thing, don’t you think?
And the master doesn’t just do this to the one slave. He also does it for the second slave who accomplished the feat of doubling the master’s initial entrustment. “Well done good and faithful slave. You have been trustworthy in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.”
Now, the third slave comes forward. The exchange is quite different: “Master, I knew that you were a harsh man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed; 25so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. Here you have what is yours.” 26But his master replied, “You wicked and lazy slave! You knew, did you, that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter? 27Then you ought to have invested my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received what was my own with interest. 28So take the talent from him, and give it to the one with the ten talents. 29For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away. 30As for this worthless slave, throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”
I want to approach this snippet a little differently. We see what the slave says, and we see the master’s reaction. Everything seems to hinge upon what the slave has done, but I want to look at this carefully. I want you to look at it carefully and begin asking the question that I asked myself as I read this. What can be taken away from a slave who has nothing? “For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
Interestingly enough, as I listened to another sermon, it was pointed out that this is not the first time Matthew has used this particular phrase. Matthew also used this phrase in chapter 13. I had to look it up.
Matthew 13 actually begins with the parable of the sower. The parable where the sower casts seed all over the place. It falls on rocky ground. It falls among weeds. It falls among the path. It falls upon the good soil. Only the good soil produces fruit. After Jesus tells the parable, the disciples ask, “Why do you speak in parables?” Jesus says, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. For to those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.”
Let’s come back to the parable of the talents. Remember the slave’s initial response? “I knew you were a harsh man reaping where you did not sow and gathering where you did not scatter seed.” We are told that the seed in the parable of the sower is the word of the kingdom of God. Is God the only one who sows that seed? Is Jesus the only sower of the Word? No. Absolutely not. Yet, is God the only one who reaps? Is Jesus the one who comes and gathers the fruit? Absolutely. Do you see the connection?
And what is given? The secrets to the kingdom of heaven. What is the secret to the kingdom of heaven? Well, if we understand the Gospel, we know that the secret of heaven is that Jesus has come into the world as the Messiah to reconcile the world unto God. We know that Jesus has come to be the spotless lamb of God to be the perfect sacrifice of atonement satisfying the wrath of God because we could not do this. Jesus’ action has revealed to us that we are now free to respond to the acts of God without fear of punishment. We do not have to act out of our own self interest to please an angry God. We are free to seek the will of God instead of trying to save our own skin. This is the reality of the Gospel. This is why God sent Jesus into the world. For God so loved the world...
But what about that slave? Whose interest was he seeking? “I knew you were a harsh man...so I was afraid. I hid your talent. What you have is yours.” The slave was afraid. Afraid of what? The master’s wrath. The master’s anger. The slave didn’t want to endure it. He didn’t want to face it. He played it safe because he was seeking his own self interest! He didn’t care about the master; he cared only for himself! He was trying to save his own skin.
And what was the master’s response? Well, he wasn’t happy about it at all. Which leads us to that final question: what can be taken away from someone who has nothing? Obviously, the slave has nothing–nothing in the way of material possessions, but he does have something even more precious. He has a relationship with the master. The master who provides for him; who feeds him; who shelters him. Because of his self-interest and his self-centeredness, the master takes even this away from him and casts him out into the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth.
I have said before in sermons that hell is separation from God, and the way we end up in hell is not by doing all the wrong things, but by seeking something other than God. When our hearts are captured by our own self interests and our desire to save ourselves, then God will allow us to seek that from eternity. We will end up separated from Him, and there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. But if our hearts are captured by the Gospel–when we know that salvation has already been accomplished on our behalf, our hearts are changed. We are freed from our self interest in trying to satisfy God; we are freed from fear; and we are captured by the desire to seek the master’s goodness and expand the master’s kingdom instead of our own. Indeed, this parable takes us right to this place–it takes us squarely to the foot of the cross where we can look upon what Jesus did; lose our fear; and then act with reckless abandon as we too seek to expand the Master’s kingdom by spreading His word. Amen.
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