Seeing God's Salvation

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Seeing the Truth

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Why Are We Here?: Preaching the Word

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Fruits of the Spirit: Joy

We move today to the second fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22-23: Joy.

I will begin by letting you know that this is a fruit of the Spirit that I, myself struggle with.  I mean, I truly do want to be joyful.  I want joy to ooze out of all my pores.  I’ve encountered people who are full of joy, and they are a wonder to behold.  Perhaps you have met such a person before in your lifetime.  I am reminded of the story I heard about a man who was admitted to the hospital with a very serious illness.  After several days, one of the nurses wrote on his report, “This man suffers from too much joy given the circumstances around his illness.”  The world is bewildered by such joy.  Oftentimes, so am I.

Jesus once told the story of a woman who lost a single coin in her home.  The coin was a drachma, or the equivalent of one day’s wage.  She was probably rather poor since she had to light a lamp to try and find the coin–this means the house she lived in had no windows.  She swept the floor trying desperately to hear the clink the coin would make when hit.  In every nook and cranny she swept and looked until her efforts were rewarded.  She found the coin!  Now, here is where things get interesting.  Here is where things take a head-scratching turn.  The woman is so excited; she is filled to the nth degree by happiness.  She is so filled with this happiness, she calls all her neighbors to come and celebrate with her.  The nuances suggest that she literally throws a party for her neighbors to celebrate her finding this coin, and I guarantee you, the refreshments for that party cost her more than the coin she found.  Such was her joy.

Now, you see, I’ve got an awful lot of German blood running through my veins.  We Germans are not necessarily known for being demonstrative people.  Neither are we necessarily known for being lavish in our expenditures.  If I would have been the one who found that coin, yes, I would have been glad.  Yes, I might have been a bit excited, but probably I would have been more relieved.  I would have stuck that coin in my pocket and gone about my daily affairs.  I might have told my wife about it, but there would have been no dancing; no celebrating; no feasting or what have you.  I certainly would not have spent the coin to have a party in celebration. The response would have been quite different.  Why?

Oh, I have been thinking about that all week!  I have been mulling it over and over and over in my brain trying to wrap my head around this problem of joy.  And here are a few thoughts that have seemed to have settled.

First, I came to understand the difference between happiness and joy.  Happiness is a sort of fleeting thing.  It is dependent upon our surrounding circumstances.  It can come and go in a matter of moments.  Watch how it happens.

A pastor had just begun serving his congregation and had only been there a few weeks.  After worship one Sunday, an elderly woman approached him and said, “I’m deaf, and I can’t hear a word you say, but I still come to get my plate full.”  Hoping to console her, the pastor said, “Well, maybe you haven’t missed much.”  She replied, “Yes, that’s what they all tell me.”

As you laugh and smirk, please know that right now, you are experiencing happiness.

Now, did you know that in the next minute 14 people will die of preventable hunger?  And suddenly, your happiness is gone.

See how fleeting happiness can be?  See how it can be there one second, and then the next, it vanishes?  Joy is something different.  Joy is something that happens even when our external circumstances change.

A nine year old girl was diagnosed with leukemia, and she was given six months to live.  As the doctor told her parents the diagnosis outside the hospital room, she overheard his words.  However, she didn’t fully understand her condition.  To everyone’s surprise, her faith in Christ gave her an attitude of victory.  She talked freely and with hopeful anticipation about her death.  As she grew weaker, her joy became more radiant.  One day, before going into the final coma, she said to her family, “I am going to be the first to see Jesus!  What would you like me to tell him for you?’

That’s joy!  That’s something spectacular.  That’s something that comes from way down deep within a person–a person who has had their lives touched by the hand of God; a person who has experienced the transformation that the grace of God can bring.

Peter talks about this transformation in his book 1 Peter.  In fact, his opening words describe this transformation that leads to joy.  “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Those of you who were here last week know that I started off my sermon series on the fruits of the Spirit by talking about how Scripture compares us to fruit trees–fruit trees that have a rotten core.  That rotten core taints everything about us including the fruit that we produce.  Peter begins with telling us that we have experienced a new birth.  We are made new.  We know where this new birth happens.  It happens on the cross when Jesus takes our sin upon himself.  When Jesus who was spotless and blameless before God becomes sin–He literally takes your sin out of you and takes it into himself so that he can pay the penalty for your sins.  And then in a wondrous exchange, Jesus gives you His righteousness; he gives you his blamelessness; He gives you his spotlessness.  You who were once tainted and sinful are now clothed with Jesus able to stand before God without condemnation.  Your status is changed from someone who deserves God’s judgement to beloved child of God.

And since we are now children of God, we becomes heirs to the promises of God.  This means whatever happens to Jesus happens to us, and Peter is quick to point out what that entails as he looks at the resurrection and says, “This is the hope that we all share.  It is a living hope that envelops us right here and right now and helps us to understand that God has prepared for us “an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you.”  Since Jesus has been raised from the dead, we too will be raised from the dead.  Since Jesus’ unjust suffering and pain has been transformed into glory, so our suffering and pain will be transformed into glory.  We hold onto and grasp this by faith–we trust that what Jesus said was true.  We trust that what Jesus did on the cross was true.  We do not put our faith in ourselves or in any action that we can possibly do.  Instead, we trust in God and His action.

Peter then follows up with the results of this trust.  Peter then follows up and says, “If you trust in Jesus and His work; if you have faith in God and not yourselves, then ‘6In this you rejoice, even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials, 7so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8Although you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy 9for you are receiving the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.’” There’s not much I can add to these statements by Peter.  He’s pretty straight forward.  Even if you are in the midst of suffering, you stand on the promises of God.  This suffering is only temporary.  There is more to come.  Even if you are in the midst of trials, you stand on the promises of God.  There is more to come.  Even if you are hurting, you stand on the promises of God.  There is more to come.  There is hope.  A radiant hope.  A lasting hope.  A hope that does not disappoint.

And filled with that hope: filled with the knowledge of what Christ has done; what  Christ is doing; and what Christ will do–we begin to have something happen deep within us.  We begin to experience something that does not allow us to sink into the depths of depression.  Joy prevents us from ever going too low because we know that God is working.  Ah, but on the other hand, joy multiplies our happiness.  It makes us laugh louder.  It makes us sing with reckless abandon.  It makes us celebrate with more merriment.  It is why the woman in the parable was willing to spend more than what the coin she found was worth.  Her joy at finding the coin was worth more than the coin itself, and it demanded to be shared!  That joy made her happiness unbearable–she couldn’t keep it to herself.  She had to share it!

A little boy listened carefully one Sunday as his teacher explained why Christians give presents to each other on Christmas day.  She said, “The gift is an expression of our joy over the birth of Jesus and our friendship for each other.”  When Christmas came, the boy brought the teacher a special seashell.  The teacher asked, “Where did you ever find such a beautiful shell?”  The boy said there was only one spot in a certain bay several miles away where such beautiful shells could be found.  His teacher said, “Why, it’s gorgeous! But you shouldn’t have gone all that way to get a gift for me.”  The little boy smiled and said, “The long walk was part of the gift.”

Oh, and church, does our joy come forth in such a fashion?  Is it overflowing so much that we cannot stand to keep silent?  When we think of all that Jesus has done for us in the cross, and when we think of all that Jesus will do for us as we see the proof of the resurrection, are we filled with a indescribable and glorious joy?  When we see others hurting; when we ourselves are hurting, do we sense hope?  Do we trust that God will turn things around?  Are we willing to live in joyful expectation of these things happening?  And when we hear things that bring us happiness, does that happiness overflow?  Does it erupt?  Does it come bursting forth in song; in praise; in merriment; in fellowship and laughter?  Oh dear church, I struggle with joy probably because I don’t stay focused on Jesus enough.  I don’t keep what Jesus has done and will do for me in my thoughts enough.  Perhaps it is one of the reasons I keep bringing them up Sunday after Sunday after Sunday as I preach.  Not only is it to proclaim them to you, it is also a reminder to me.  For to focus on Jesus and His mighty acts; to focus on Jesus and His glorious promises; changes a heart, and from that changed heart, joy overflows.  May we all produce such joy.  Amen.

The Gospel Strengthens You

Whenever I begin teaching my confirmation students the Bible, I always start with Genesis chapter 1 verse 1.  That verse reads, “In the beginning when God created the heaven and the earth...”  I ask them, “Who is the subject of this sentence?”  Immediately, someone will yell out, “God!” 

And I say, “That’s right.  God is the subject of the first sentence of the Bible.  The first sentence of the Bible tells us who the entire book is about.  The Bible is about God.  Now, are we the subject of the Bible?”

The kids usually have to think about this for a moment or two, but the general consensus then becomes, “No.”

And I say, “That’s right.  We are not the subject of the Bible.  Now, we can certainly find ourselves in the story of the Bible.  We can certainly relate to things in the Bible. There are certain things in the Bible that apply to us, but at the end of all of this, the Bible is not about us.  The Bible is about God.”

As Paul finishes out his letter to the Romans, he wants to bring everyone back to this basic fact.  When all is said and done; when all the chips are laid on the table; when all the facts are made known, ultimately anything and everything about the Christian life comes back to God.  Anything and everything about the Christian proclamation is about God and his wonderful, marvelous, overwhelming, action in and through Jesus Christ. 

Paul finishes with a sentence that would have made his grammar teacher turn over in her grave.  Paul runs things on and on and on as he seeks to bring folks to a place where they will give honor and glory to God.  Listen to the words once again: “25 Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages 26but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith— 27to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory for ever! Amen.”

Paul indicates that God is working to strengthen us according to the Gospel and the proclamation of Jesus.  There are those who would like to say that Christianity is simply about enduring this life for a little while so that we can experience the true life of the world to come.  They accuse Christians of ignoring the here and now and simply focusing on heaven, but this is not what Paul is indicating here.  Paul is not talking about heavenly strength.  He is talking about a strength that takes place here and now; a strength that can embolden us in this world; a strength that empowers us to truly live a life of freedom and joy.  How is such a thing possible?  I mean, when you look at much of the world today–including the Christian world, do we see such freedom?  Do we see such joy?  Do we see such strength?  Maybe.  But mostly not.  Perhaps we need constant reminder of how the gospel of Jesus Christ strengthens us.

First, it says that we are sinners.  This is the fundamental, basic starting point of the Gospel.  We are all broken.  We all fall short of the glory of God.  We are all in need of a savior.  This doesn’t quite seem like it is a position of strength.  How can admitting that we are sinful be a position of strength?  It seems like we are admitting weakness.  It seems like we are admitting that we are flawed.  It seems like we are admitting that we are in need. 

And, indeed we are.  But this is actually a point of strength.  How?  I remember watching “Spiderman” long ago, and the main villain in the movie has a potent line.  The villain says, “The one thing people love more than a hero is to watch that hero fall, fail, die trying.”  There is some truth to that statement.  We admire someone who rises to the top, but we also become enamored in the drama of watching others trying to displace the person at the top.  Why do you think we become so enamored with what goes on in politics?  Why do you think we get so wrapped up in our candidates?  Who will become strongest?  Who will last?  And who will find your opponent’s fatal flaw?  Who will find the unforgivable sin?  What story of brokenness will be used to topple the king of the hill? 

But what if you are unafraid of your brokenness?  What if you are unafraid of your flaws?  What if you admit, honestly admit that you are a broken, flawed, sinful individual?  What if someone comes up to you and says, “Aha!  I heard you cuss the other day, and you shouldn’t do that!  I’m going to tell everyone about what you did!”  And you respond, “Yes, you are right.  I have failed.  I am flawed.  I acknowledge this beyond a shadow of a doubt.  Go ahead, tell everyone that I miss the mark.”  What does anyone have over you then?  What can anyone use against you?  You’ve already admitted your weakness.  You’ve already admitted your sin.  No one can use it against you!  When we admit that we are flawed, broken, sinful beings, we are free from the tyranny of having to be perfect people living perfect lives.  We are freed from spending time, energy, and money trying to hide our imperfections.  We are freed from hypocrisy for we readily admit that we do not do that which we ought to do.  There is great freedom in admitting that one is flawed and imperfect.

Yet, one must be careful–so very careful.  Because if you spend all of your time thinking that you are imperfect and flawed, you can become very, very depressed.  You can become so wrapped up in your weakness that you grovel and wallow in sorrow.  You can become so caught up in the doom and gloom that you think of yourself as a victim of karma, cosmic justice, or pure, bad luck.  You are like Charlie Brown having just hung that ornament on that scrawny little tree and watching that tree bend over unable to bear the weight of that glass ball.  You look up and say, “I broke it.  I’ve ruined Christmas.” 

Ah, but the gospel offers a strong corrective here.  It reminds you that in spite of your brokenness; in spite of your flaws; in spite of your failures; in spite of the fact that you have fallen short of the glory of God, you are deeply, wonderfully, marvelously loved.  For the God of the universe came down to earth to die for you.  The God of the universe took on human flesh and gave Himself in your place so that you would not receive punishment for your sin.  The God of the universe braved the fires of hell; braved the wrath of God on your behalf–certainly not because you were perfect and good, but because He is good.  When you remember this amazing grace, you ascend from the depths of depression, sorrow, and victim-hood to claim your status as a beloved child of God–a daughter or son of the Most High.  To know this status indeed brings strength!

Oh, and when you know that your worth and value comes from God and God alone, you find freedom.  You find glorious freedom.  I know that a lot of you Astros fans are still riding high from their first World Series win.  It’s an awesome feeling when the team that you support wins the championship.  But do you remember what it was like only a few short years ago?  Do you remember what it was like when the Astros were in last place?  What if you got your self-worth and value from how the Astros did?  What if your every emotion hinged upon whether or not they won or lost?  Sure, it feels good now, but what about when the cycle reverses?  You see, when your value and self worth is tied to anything, you stand a very good chance of finding yourself high one minute and down low the next minute.  If your value is tied to your stock portfolio, right now, you are feeling very good about yourself, but in 2009, you probably weren’t feeling very great.  And if you really, really think about it, you are enslaved to where you get your value.  You are completely dependent upon it for your satisfaction and worth.  But when you get your value from God–you are freed from such things.  Nothing in this world has control over you anymore.  Talk about amazing strength!!

And so, your ego finds itself going neither too high–because you know that you are flawed–nor too low–because you are deeply loved.  The good news of Jesus Christ makes you humble and strong all at the same time, and it brings you incredible freedom.

But we are not done yet!  For there is more to the story that must be told. There is even more strength that comes!  For we also know that we have a sure and certain hope!  We know that God has an ultimate destination for our lives!  This is very important to realize because, as C3PO said in Star Wars, “It seems to be our lot in life to suffer.”  Indeed, it is.  It is our lot in life to suffer.  Everyone sooner or later suffers.  We suffer the pain of broken relationships.  We suffer the pain of betrayal.  We suffer the pain of illness.  We suffer the pain of job loss.  We suffer the pain of broken expectations.  We suffer the pain of injury.  We suffer the pain of our bodies breaking down.  We suffer the pain of death.  Life is full of suffering.   Life is full of injustice.  Life is full of things that sometimes do not make any sense to us.

But God strengthens us through the power of the resurrection!  God strengthens us by showing that His kingdom is breaking into the world.  Jesus is the first fruits of that kingdom raised from death to life.  For the resurrection shows that God will unmake all the evil that has ever befallen us.  God will reverse all injustice, pain, suffering, and even death.  When God’s kingdom arrives in its fullness, we will have a new heaven and a new earth and a new body.  We will be in the presence of God, and He will wipe every tear from every eye.  Suffering no longer leads us to despair.  We may question it.  We may raise our fist in anger against it.  We will work to alleviate it, but it no longer devastates us for we now know God’s ultimate plan for our lives.  We know that God’s plan is to make all things new.  We have a sure and certain hope, and that hope gives us strength!

Put all of those things together.  Know that this mystery remained hidden for a long, long time, but now it has been revealed.  Now it has been made known to all the world.  It has now been passed down to us through the writings of scripture, and it comes to us–to our very hearts.  This is what God has done.  This is what God does for us through Jesus Christ.  It is nothing less than amazing.  It is nothing less than wonderful.  It is nothing less than fantastic!  This is the God we come together to serve and worship and give glory and honor to.  This is the one God who saves by grace.  This is the one God who reveals true wisdom–a wisdom that is so contrary to the way the world works!  This is the God revealed to us in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.

Have you been grasped by this Gospel?  Has this good news sunk deep down into your soul?  If it has, you know that there is only one thing to do.  Give glory to God!  Raise your voice in song to God!  Tell everyone what God has done!!  So ends the book of Romans–with a call for all of us to give such glory, praise and worship to our God.  May His work in Jesus Christ grasp us through and through.  Amen.

More than Just Greetings: Romans 16:1-16

At first glance, there doesn’t seem to be a lot to talk about in our lesson from the book of Romans this morning.  I mean, essentially all you have Paul doing is sending greetings.  Greet such and such.  Greet so and so.  Greet this person who is beloved.  Greet that person who is a member of that house.  Over and over again–27 people worth of greetings. I mean, if that is the sum and substance of Paul’s paragraph here, what more is to be said than simply getting up here and saying, “Greet one another.  Amen.?”  Short.  Sweet.  To the point.  Done. Let’s call it a day.

But let’s take a moment to dig a little deeper.  Let’s go beyond the superficial and look at some of the details and see what is revealed about what it means to live a life that is convicted by the Gospel.

The first thing that stands out to me is how many people Paul actually knew in the church that he had never visited.  Think about this with me for just a moment.   Remember, Paul has admitted that he has never been to the church in Rome.  He has yet to travel there, even though he has desperately wanted to.  If that is the case, how is it that Paul knows the names of so many people?  How is it that he somehow can ask for greetings for over 20 folks whom he has yet to see face to face?

This gives us some insight into the early Christian church.  It tells us that in the early Church, folks knew of fellow Christians throughout the Roman Empire.  They were not isolated in their little enclaves, thinking only about themselves, and connected to their small circle of friends and relatives in their communities.  No.  They had a much larger perspective of what the church was.  They had a much larger perspective of where the Gospel was supposed to go.  They knew that the church was struggling to gain a foothold in the Roman Empire.  It faced trials and tribulations.  It faced some persecution.  It faced shortage of resources.  So, people stayed in contact with each other.  People prayed for one another.  People in Achaia and Macedonia cared for the people in Jerusalem.  People in Jerusalem prayed for the people in Rome.  The early Christians knew that the church was much, much larger than their local congregations, and they made it a point to reach across the distances to get to know folks in other places.

I must confess that this is an area of growth for me.  I tend to be rather short-sighted.  I tend to focus right here on this community and neglect others throughout the world.  I tend to forget that the church is much, much larger than Saint John Lutheran Church of Cat Spring.  I tend to focus my prayers right here and forget about the rest of the world.  I do not know many people outside of this congregation and the congregations I served previously.  It is a challenge for me to think on a grander scale...to think about the larger church.  Perhaps this is also a challenge for our congregation.

The second thing that stands out for me is the diversity of people that Paul greets.  There are men and women.  There are Jews and Gentiles.  There are people who own houses, and there are slaves.  These early house churches cut across racial, gender, and socio-economic status.  When you walked into those churches, you did not see row after row of people who looked the same, had the same background, and had the same status in society.  The Gospel had broken down these boundaries and replaced them with a new set of boundaries.

For you see, the Gospel proclaimed that each and every person was in Christ Jesus.  Each and every person had been clothed with Christ Jesus. Each and every person had a new identity that went above and beyond any other identity conferred upon them in society.  People did not cease having a Jewish or Gentile background. They did not cease being rich or poor.  They did not cease being slave or free. They did not cease being male or female, but those identities were nothing compared to their identity in Christ.  Therefore, there was only one status that was important in the church: that you were a child of God.

That’s it.
Nothing else.

You were not given special privilege because you were wealthy.  You were not given special privilege because you were male.  You were not given special privilege because you were Jewish.  All of these things, which at one time did bestow privilege, were gone.  You were a new creation being made into the image and likeness of Jesus.

This too has implications for the church today.  For it is awfully easy to flip back into the distinctions of status and privilege.  It is awfully easy to believe that our job or our title or our bank accounts or our possessions or any other distinguishing mark gives us a special privilege.  This is something we must resist.  When the church begins allowing these distinctions, we fall away from the promises we have inherited in our baptisms.  We fail to remember how Jesus has claimed us and clothed us.  We fail to remember what Christ has done for us and instead focus on, well, us.  And we are not the focus of the church.  Jesus has been, is, and always will be.  When a church fails to focus on Jesus, distinctions get made, and we are another step further removed from the becoming the body of Christ.

Finally, in this passage, we see a deep, deep sense of love and respect between church members.  Paul’s initial words about the deaconess Phoebe are a recommendation to end all recommendations.  They are very, very flattering and are intended to paint her in the best possible light as she, in all likelihood, brings Paul’s letter to the church in Rome.  We then see just how far members in the church are willing to care for one another in the next statement.  “Greet Prisca and Aquila, who work with me in Christ Jesus, 4and who risked their necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.”

I must confess to you that I don’t think I had ever paid that much attention to this sentence the previous times when I had read through the book of Romans.  Prisca and Aquila literally “risked their necks” on behalf of Paul.  Whatever they did, it put them in great risk for their fellow brother in Christ.  Whatever they did, it could have cost them their lives.  In the early church, folks were willing to risk their lives for one another!!!  Chew on that for just a minute. 

Being a part of the early church literally could put your life in danger.  Much like being a part of the church in Iran today, or in the areas still controlled by ISIS.  Much like being a part of the church in China.  Christians in these parts of the world are apt to suffer greatly at the hands of the ruling authorities, and being a part of the church there could literally jeopardize your life.

And yet, the church is actually growing rapidly in these parts of the world just as it grew rapidly in the Roman empire.  There was something so deeply moving about the Christian faith that it led people to do things that were almost unthinkable.  It led people to take unbelievable risks for one another–risks that were not done out of any sort of self-interest or personal gain, but risks that were taken out of great love for fellow believers.

And why wouldn’t they take such risks?  They knew what Jesus had done for them. They knew what Jesus had endured for their sakes.  They knew that Jesus had come into this world as God-incarnate.  They knew that Jesus had lived the life that God desired of mankind.  They knew that Jesus was spotless and blameless before God.  They knew that Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice for their sins.  They knew that they didn’t measure up to God’s standards.  They knew that they fell woefully short.  They knew they deserved eternal punishment for their shortcomings before the Almighty Creator of the universe.  But instead of that punishment falling on their heads, Jesus took that punishment for them.  Jesus interceded on their behalf and faced hell for them.  Jesus faced rejection for them.  Jesus faced divine wrath for them.  And then He became the first fruits of a new creation as he was raised from the dead.  He became the first sign of God’s new kingdom breaking into the world and reversing all evil and hatred.  He became the unleashing of God’s rule in the world where death and the devil would be defeated.  These early Christians were grasped by this marvelous act of Jesus.  They were grasped by this undeserved love.  They were grasped by the wonder of God dying for them when they least deserved it, and their hearts were moved to love God and love one another so that they would lay down their lives for each other.  They would take great risks for one another.  They would sacrifice their time, their talent, and their treasure for one another.  The Gospel changed them deeply from within!

And O how desperately do we need this Gospel today!!  How desperately do we need to have Christ’s love poured into our hearts so that we are willing to have our lives changed again!!  How desperately does the church need an infusion of God’s love reawakened within it!  How desperately does the church need to rediscover its roots so that it has the energy, drive, and hope of the early church!  For as the rest of the world saw how different the church was; as the rest of the world saw the changed hearts and self-sacrifice of the church; the rest of the world noticed that this change was not brought about by self-will and determination.  The rest of the world saw that God had indeed touched the hearts and minds of the church.  The rest of the world saw that God was real and had come to earth as Jesus the Christ.  The rest of the world saw that God’s kingdom was breaking into the world, and they wanted to be a part of that kingdom as well.  The rest of the world’s hearts became changed because the Gospel captured them through the love, preaching, teaching, and risk taking of the church.

Oh, my brothers and sisters, this text has so much more within it than simply greeting one another.  It helps us see what the church can be when it loves God and then loves one another.  May God’s love find us so that we may be the Church!!  Amen.