Sunday, May 26, 2013

“Remember-We Are the Lord’s” Proverbs 8.1–4, 22–31, Trinity C, ’13, Memorial Day observed…

“Remember-We Are the Lord’s” Proverbs 8.1–4, 22–31, Trinity C, ’13, Memorial Day observed…
1.                  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word this Trinity Sunday is taken from Proverbs 8:1-4 & 22-31 and is entitled, “Remember, We are the Lord’s.”  We belong to the Lord. He designed, engineered, constructed, and repaired us. We belong to Jesus who bears nailmarks on his hands, the eternal reminder that love held him to the cross to buy us back. We are the Lord’s twice over. Once because he made us. Twice because he bought us back!  Here in Proverbs 8 we learn that in wisdom Jesus has made us. (vv. 24–30) and by wisdom He has rescued us. (vv. 22a, 23, 30b, 31)
2.                  Proverbs 8:1-4 says, 1Does not wisdom call? Does not understanding raise her voice?  2On the heights beside the way, at the crossroads she takes her stand; 3beside the gates in front of the town, at the entrance of the portals she cries aloud: 4“To you, O men, I call, and my cry is to the children of man.”   Here we can see that wisdom’s words are plain, spoken clearly and openly so that there can be no confusion. Of course, those who reject the Lord don’t understand what God is saying (1 Cor. 2:12–16), but this isn’t because the Word of God is confusing or unclear. It’s because sinners are spiritually blind and deaf (Matt. 13:14–15). The problem is with the hearer, not the speaker. Mark Twain is supposed to have said, “It isn’t what I don’t understand about the Bible that worries me, but what I do understand.”  There are certain things in the Bible that we are supposed to understand like the fact that we are sinners and that we need a Savior in Jesus, but in regards to the Trinity we will never be able to understand the fullness of God and who He is as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, but through Holy Scripture we are led to confess who He is and what He does for us to save us from our sins.
3.                  King Solomon through the Holy Spirit explains the purpose of Proverbs: “For attaining wisdom and discipline; for understanding words of insight; for acquiring a disciplined and prudent life, doing what is right and just and fair; for giving prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the young” (1:2–4). Wisdom in God’s Word is much more than an encyclopedia of facts. Wisdom is Christ. The apostle Paul says it this way: “We preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Co 1:23, 24).
4.                  Proverbs 8:22–30a says, 22“The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. 23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. 24When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. 25Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, 26before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. 27When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, 28when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, 29when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, 30then I was beside him, like a master workman.”  The Lord here is the subject. He’s powerful and active. He remains the same yesterday, today, and forever. Not changing is beyond all human understanding and experience. Everything changes. Things wear out. They run down. They are used up. They become rusty, moldy, or scratched. People change. Hair grows gray, then white. Our vision deteriorates. Bones grow brittle. Hands once sure become shaky. Knees become weak. Sometimes human change is sudden. Sometimes human change is unnoticeable. But it remains inevitable. Because of sin we change for the worse.
5.                  As sinners we grow old & our bodies deteriorate, but the Lord never changes. His anger burns as hot against sin now as when he scorched Sodom and Gomorrah off the face of the earth for all their godless and sinful acts. His justice today can be as swift as when Ananias and Sapphira lied and fell over dead! But God’s love never changes either. His love is as powerful this instant as it was the moment Jesus died on the cross. Jesus’ triumph over death is as certain now as the moment Jesus rose from the prison of the grave.
6.                  What did this Lord do? God the Father has bought us. In the Old Testament the good news for the people of God was that the LORD had bought the Israelites and that they were his possession. The Lord had delivered them from slavery in Egypt and made them a people. They were his. He had a claim on them.
7.                  So too Jesus our greater and better Moses has saved us not from slavery in Egypt, but slavery to our own sin and to the power of the devil.  Jesus our Savior claims that he had been with the Father “before the world began” (Jn 17:5). When we read John 1:1–4, all these things come into clear focus. Jesus, the Word, was with God and “without him nothing was made that has been made” (v. 3). Hebrews 1:2 and Colossians 1:15–17 proclaim the same truth.
8.                  As we marvel at the great plan of God in creating the world. Solomon asks us to consider the ocean, the mountains, the earth, the heavens, and the clouds. He tells us that the Lord has created them all. When we look at them, even in this world of sin, we’re impressed with the majesty of God’s created world. The ungodly can see that too, as Paul states, “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Ro 1:20). Yes, the Lord made the ocean. Only the Lord could make water so deep, so cold, so windblown and storm-tossed. Only the Lord could make the great lakes, the everglades, the marshes, and swamps—all of them full of wildlife. The Lord made the mighty rivers—the rushing white-water rapids, the gentle gurgling streams. He made the ponds full of frogs and lily pads. He made the puddles for stomping and splashing. He made the drops of moisture on the petals of a rose. Before there was a drop of water—the Lord was and is!
9.                  Solomon isn’t content to marvel at the created world. He forces our vision deeper. Before the oceans, mountains, earth, and sky, God in wisdom planned our eternal salvation. Out of the dust of the ground—out of soil and clay—God formed man and breathed into him the breath of life. Yet long before that, the Trinity had determined the Father would sacrifice his Son to redeem us. The Holy Spirit would work saving faith through the gospel.  I can’t help but think of the gospel of John:  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (1:1, 3, 10–12).
10.              Proverbs 8:30-31 says, “and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, 31rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man.”  “Delighting in mankind”? Read the newspapers—there seems little to delight in. There’s bloody conflict as nations invade nations and civil war and ethnic strife drag on for hundreds of years. There are battered spouses, abused and neglected children, newborns abandoned, and babies aborted. There is obscenity and pornography, rudeness, vile and gross hurtful wickedness with a lust and hunger for worse! Our holy heavenly Father hates all that’s ungodly. But by grace alone Jesus came to cover all our sin and guilt with his innocent blood. By grace alone we are forgiven. By grace alone the Lord delights in his people washed clean through and through!
11.              The Trinity designed, engineered, and built us from the miracle of conception to the present instant. The Trinity designed, engineered, built, and maintains the universe. God’s attention to detail is such that he knows the number of hairs on our heads. We race after the things and stuff of this world. Just stop and look—a little lower than usual. Look at the lady bug. There are no less than five thousand different species of lady bugs. Imagine the creative wisdom of the Lord to make so many sizes, colors, and little dot patterns on a bug just about everybody ignores.
12.              But then look deeper still. Imagine the greatness of God’s love. He doesn’t treat us like little insects to squash because of our sins. He loves us. When sin spoiled everything, the Trinity was there to undo the work of the devil, to overcome that ultimate enemy, death.
13.              Remember each day to look with awe and wonder at all your Father made. It’s not Mother Nature that rules the powerful forces of nature, the ever-changing weather. It’s your Father, who controls everything for the ultimate good of his people. It is the very Son of God, who became one of us—true God and true man. It is the Son of God, who never sinned and then died bearing all our sin. It’s the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, who works saving faith in our hearts through the means of grace. The Lord redeemed and adopted us. Rejoice in his creative wisdom and determined love in Christ!



Monday, May 20, 2013

“Pentecost Ended the Babble at Babel” Genesis 11.1–9, Acts 2.1-11, Pentecost C, May ’13




1.       Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Happy Pentecost to all of you this day! On Pentecost we see that God’s mission is to gather his people scattered over the the earth to the Church established by Jesus.  Pentecost is God’s way of ending the babble that occurred at Babel in Genesis 11. Within the Christian Church the Holy Spirit uses God’s Word and Sacraments to open our sinful eyes to see our sins against God and our neighbor and our need for a Savior. God’s will is the salvation of all men as we see in our reading from Acts 2.  The message is taken from Genesis 11:1-9 and is entitled, “Pentecost Ended the Babble at Babel,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.      The quest to build the world’s tallest building has an ancient history. For almost 4000 years the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt, held the title. Then there was the Lincoln Cathedral in England, finished in 1311. Much later, the Washington Monument, the Eiffel Tower, and then the Empire State Building. In recent years, the quest to be tallest has become so competitive that an organization, the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, has become the referee. This organization now recognizes title holders in several categories.
3.      In many ways human beings have sought to impress with their achievements often without giving credit where credit is due, to the Architect and Builder of all things, God our Heavenly Father. But towers come down, not only in New York, but also in England, where the spire of the Lincoln Cathedral was destroyed in a storm, and even in Egypt, where the Great Pyramid has lost more than 25 feet to erosion. Human achievements are always passing.  But, the work of 12 confused men and a handful of others not only brought 3000 to faith in one day but also built a Church that will stand until the end of time, because it wasn’t the work of men but of the Holy Spirit and of the Son and of his Father.
4.      After the flood God had commanded the peoples to be fruitful and multiply and to scatter across the earth, but they decided to move to Nimrod’s city of Babylon and settle there (11:8–12). This move was a rebellion against God’s command that the people scatter and fill the earth.  The “tower” that they built at Babel was what is known as a “ziggurat.” A ziggurat was like a pyramid. At the top was a special shrine dedicated to a false god. The people weren’t trying to climb up to heaven and dethrone God.  Instead, they hoped that the god they worshiped would come down from heaven to meet them.
5.      The tower of Babel was a declaration of war against the Lord. To begin with, the people were disobeying God’s command to scatter and repopulate the earth. Motivated by fear and pride, they decided to build a city, a great ziggurat, and stay together. But, they also wanted to make a name for themselves. Their mission was the devil’s lie in Eden: “You will be like God” (Gen. 3:4).  The people had several things in their favor. They were one people group (11:6) and spoke one language. They were motivated by one spirit of pride to make a name for themselves.  “Glory to man in the highest!” That’s turning God’s plan for us on top of itself. That’s rejecting God’s goal for our lives and substituting a goal of our own. Food and shelter, security, status—these were the life goals the descendants of Noah had adopted. Satan doesn’t have to persuade us to kneel down in front of an idol if he can get us to look at life only in terms of ourselves.
6.      God in heaven is never perplexed by what people do on earth. Babel’s conceited “Let’s go up to heaven!” was answered by heaven’s calm “Let’s go down!” “He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision” (Ps. 2:4, nkjv). Of course, God doesn’t have to investigate to know what’s going on in His universe.  The language is used only to dramatize God’s intervention.
7.      It doesn’t surprise us that the Lord came down. “I am the Lord,” he has told us. “I will not give my glory to another” (Isaiah 42:8). God’s judgment here, unlike the flood, wasn’t visible. God simply made some changes in the minds of the builders. They could no longer understand one another. That meant that they could no longer work together. Worse yet, they no longer trusted one another. The spirit of friendliness and confidence was replaced by ugly suspicion, and they had to move away from their dream home. The settlement they had hoped would bring them fame became known as Babel (“confusion”). It’s our Savior who says, “Do not be deceived: I will not be mocked.” He’s absolutely unwilling to let people wipe their feet on His great, good plan for this world.
8.      Martin Luther called God’s action at Babel a greater judgment than the flood. That judgment wiped out only a single generation of humanity. Confusing the languages at Babel has caused confusion, suspicion, and hatred in every generation since then, down to our broken, disorderly world. Why is nation pitted against nation and individual against individual? We have an answer here.
9.      The story of Babel isn’t just ancient history, because Babel and Babylon present a spiritual challenge to every believer today.  Babylon became a great city and empire. In 606–586 b.c., the Babylonian armies attacked and captured the kingdom of Judah, burned the temple and the city of Jerusalem, and took thousands of Jews captive to Babylon for 70 years. God used the cruel and idolatrous Babylonians to chasten His own disobedient people.  But in Scripture, Babylon symbolizes pride, moral corruption, and rebellion against God. The biblical contrast is between the earthly city of Babylon that rebels against God, and the heavenly city of Jerusalem that brings glory to God. Babylon represents the world system that opposes God, hates Jesus, and appeals to the baser appetites of human nature. Babylon is the opposite of the heavenly Jerusalem which is the city of the saints (Heb. 12:18ff).
10.   “Every generation builds its own towers,” writes psychotherapist Naomi H. Rosenblatt, and she’s right. Whether these are actual skyscrapers or mega corporations, the idea is the same: “We will make a name for ourselves.” God’s people can’t escape being in the world, because it’s in the world that we have our ministry, but we must avoid being of the world. We’re not here to build the arrogant towers of men.  We’re here to help build the church of Jesus Christ.
11.  What humanity can’t achieve by means of its “proud towers,” Jesus Christ has achieved by dying on a humiliating cross for us. All who trust Jesus Christ are one in Him (Gal. 3:27) and will share heaven together, regardless of race, nation, language, or tribe (Rev. 7:9). While the world is trying to bring everything into one, inwardly it’s tearing things apart. But the Holy Spirit is using the church as an agent of reconciliation to bring things together in Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:10; 2 Cor. 5:14–21). Pentecost ended the babble at Babel, for the people present in Jerusalem at Pentecost heard the praises of God in their own languages (Acts 2:1–12). And the day will come when people from every tribe and nation will worship Jesus Christ (Rev. 15:4) and the judgment of Babel will be done away (Zeph. 3:9).
12.  Will we identify with Babylon or Jerusalem, the worldly prostitute or the heavenly bride?  That’s where the greater outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost ended the babble at Babel. Where Babel brought about disunity through the different languages, Pentecost produced a unity among people of different languages by speeding the common message and language of salvation through Jesus Christ throughout the world.  At Pentecost God says to us, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool” (Isa. 1:18). Jesus says, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
13.  What’s the result when we who hear God’s invitation to come to him? Our sins are washed away. Our burdens are lifted. Our spiritual thirst is quenched. The effects of the curse are overturned and the proper desires of the human heart are provided for. The curse at Babel was the confusion of languages, but God brings blessing from the curse. He gives understanding in spite of the language barrier and even promises at Pentecost that the nations will worship together. The Babylonians wanted a city. Their city couldn’t stand. But God provides his people with an everlasting city of heaven. Nimrod’s people wanted a name. But to those who stand with God, the LORD promises in Revelation 3: “Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 3:12–13).  Pentecost ended the babble at Babel, thanks be to God.  Amen.

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

“Our Heavenly Homecoming” John 17.20-26, Easter 7C, Mother’s Day May ‘13



1.                  Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!  Moms are such a blessing to us aren’t they?  How could we ever make it without mom? A yearly survey by Salary.com called the annual Mom Salary Survey attempts to put a salary on the work of American mothers. First, they broke down motherly duties into the ten categories: Day Care Center Teacher, CEO, Psychologist, Cook, Housekeeper, Laundry Machine Operator, Computer Operator, Facilities Manager, Janitor, and Van Driver. Then they studied how many hours moms work in those categories and what the family would have to pay for outsourcing that duty. According to the 2012 survey, they determined the following:  The average stay-at-home mom should make an annual salary of $112,962 (based on a 40-hour per week base pay plus 54.7 hours a week of overtime); The average working mom should make an annual salary (just for her "mom" role) of $66,969 (based on 40-hours of mothering duties and 17.9 overtime hours per week).  The article concludes, "The breadth of Mom's responsibilities is beyond what most workers could ever experience day-to-day. Imagine if you had to attract and retain a candidate to fill this role?"  (Sources: Jenna Goudreau, "Why Stay-At-Home Moms Should Earn a $115,000 Salary," Forbes (5-2-11); Salary.com, "Salary.com's 12th Annual Mom Salary Survey,"). 
2.                  I would add one more job description that was left out on this list:  that mom is a prayer warrior.  Every mom I know prays that her children would be safe, that they do well in school, that they make friends, that they continue to keep the Christian faith that they were taught from infancy, and so much more.  Ultimately, I believe that every Christian mom prays that her children would not only come home to be with them from time to time after they have grown up and left the house, but that her children would have a heavenly homecoming with her, because of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection from the dead.  For this reason, Christian moms have a lot in common with our Lord Jesus Christ who prays for us His church here in John 17.  The message is entitled, “Our Heavenly Homecoming,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
3.                  Isn’t it a wonderful thought that your mother prays for you?  On this mother’s day thank your mom for that. Thank her for bringing you to Christian worship, to Sunday School, and confirmation class.  If your mom has gone home to be with the Lord, thank your Heavenly Father for working through her to teach you the Christian faith.  But, isn’t it an even more wonderful thought that Jesus was thinking of you and me when He prayed the closing petitions of His High Priestly Prayer here in John 17.  For after Jesus had pleaded with His Heavenly Father for the continued safety of His disciples, His vision swept across the coming ages and He could see the countless people who were yet to believe in Him through the Word of His disciples.  These, too would have to be kept, these, too would have to be sanctified, these, too, would have to be preserved unto His heavenly kingdom. 
4.                  Jesus prays here in John 17:20-26, “20[Jesus said:] “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word,  21that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
5.                  In the concluding words of His prayer, Jesus throws the doors of His Church open to the Gentiles, to all who would believe in Him as a result of the apostles’ preaching, as a result of their spoken and written word.  It’s just as though our Lord Jesus pointed His finger to each of us and said, “For you I am praying; I am praying for you!” 
6.                  Again and again, the Savior asks that “they may be one.”  This sounds familiar doesn’t it?  Our mothers I’m sure have prayed to God that “we would all get along,” especially when the whole family comes together for a special occasion.  Jesus says that all believers are united in Him.  In Jesus, St. Paul says in Romans 12:5, we as Christians are one Body.  So close is this fellowship of believers that Jesus compares it to the communion that exists between His Heavenly Father and Himself, “Even as We are one.”  But, are we always aware of the close ties that bind all believers into a fellowship of faith and love?  And does this awareness find expression in our lives?  The hymn says, “Blest be the tie that binds, Our hearts in Christian love; The fellowship of kindred minds, Is like to that above.” (LSB 649:1)
7.                  Every mother prays for the unity and harmony of her family and Jesus prays for the unity and harmony of His Church here in John 17.  But, as mother’s know, this doesn’t always happen in their families, nor does it seem to happen in our churches.  Centuries after Jesus’ death and resurrection, Christians remain deeply divided.  Churches act more like isolate islands rather than seeing themselves as one assembly of believers that comprise the Holy Christian Church on earth.  Congregations increasingly keep more and more of their resources to serve their own members rather than supporting missionary work around the world.  Fellow Christians view one another with distrust rather than as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
8.                  Often when the Church seeks out unity, the approach is misguided.  Churches claim they are one even with serious theological differences.  They agree to disagree.  Unity is coerced by a powerful church hierarchy or through binding resolutions.  But, this isn’t the unity that Jesus speaks about here in John 17.  True unity is always founded on the Word of God.  It’s not agreeing to disagree.  It’s not overlooking the truth so that churches can claim to be one when they really aren’t.  Instead, true unity is found as Christians confess the truths of Scripture together.  As we do here in worship every time we gather together in the Lord’s house. 
9.                  And, what is the result of this unity?  “That the world may believe that [the Father} has sent [Jesus]” (John 17:21).  True Christian unity gives a positive witness to the world.  The Holy Spirit works faith through the Word, and Christians are united by and speak the word of truth to the unbelieving world.  The Spirit is at work working faith in the hearts of those who hear the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who died the death that we deserve because of our sins and has given us the gift of eternal life.
10.              Jesus went to the Cross of Calvary because He says here in John 17, “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, may be with Me where I am, to see My glory that You have given Me.”  Only the equal Son, Jesus, would address the equal Father this way.  It’s Jesus our Savior’s will that we be with Him and His death on the cross for our sins assures us of that.  To be with Christ, that is heaven.  It is to be assured of our heavenly homecoming with Him, which is why our Christian mothers pray that we remain in the Christian faith that we were taught from our youth.  Our mother’s want us to remain in the faith of our Lord Jesus, because that is the only way we will have a heavenly homecoming with them and Jesus for all eternity.  The Apostle Paul says, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better” (Philippians 1:23).  “Forever with the Lord!  Amen! So let it be.  Life from the dead is in that word, ‘Tis immortality. (TLH 616:1).  To behold the glory of Jesus, what bliss!  This is the bliss that our Lord Jesus has asked His Father that you and I should have.  “We know not, oh, we know not, What joys await us there:  the radiancy of glory, The bliss beyond compare! (LSB 672:1) 
11.  It was many years later that the aged St. John the Apostle, remember this prayer and promise of Jesus our Savior, wrote in 1 John 3:2, “Little children we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”  Let us learn to cherish this High Priestly prayer of our Lord Jesus here in John 17.  Let us read it again and again.  Our earthly mothers pray for us, but how much more does our Lord Jesus pray for our unity and our salvation in Him.  Let us go to John 17 for comfort, for assurance, for joy, for spiritual communion with our Savior, and for its glorious promise of eternal life with Christ in heaven in that homecoming that will have no end.  Amen.


Thursday, May 9, 2013

“We Find Courage in Our Lord’s Ascension” Acts 1.1-11 Ascension Day ‘13



1.      Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  It should be a celebration! The house is full of kids. You’re the guest of honor, and you’ve got six candles on your cake to blow out. So what’s wrong? Maybe your brother or sister is playing with one of your gifts. Maybe Johnny swiped a finger across the frosting of your cake before you got to blow. Whatever it is, it’s suddenly all coming apart. The bigger picture of fun, games, and friends has been lost.  Because Jesus ascended into heaven, He’s now exalted over all things. He rules all things in heaven & on earth on behalf of His Church. This should bring us as Christians great hope and joy. But, too often we become discouraged by worldly cares. We become like the unhappy birthday child. Our sinful nature shuts our eyes to what God has done through our risen and ascended Lord Jesus. We see only with our physical eyes, focusing on the discouragements around us in this sinful world. In the life of our congregation, we may worry about financial challenges or the number of inactive members. We may become discouraged as we struggle to accomplish the things we feel are important or overcome the challenges we face. We may find ourselves in a state of despair because of our own sins or the sins of others. And as a result, we reel in self-pity brought on by our own disappointment and disillusionment. But, our Lord has ascended on high and rules over all things on our behalf. Let’s not lose sight of this wonderful truth and all that it means for us.  The message this Ascension Day is taken from Acts 1:1-11, and is entitled, “We Find Courage in Our Lord’s Ascension,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.      Ascension Day is important for us in our lives as Christians, but unfortunately many Christians on this day will miss it.  In between Wednesday and the middle of a busy work week and Friday’s promise of the weekend, Thursday hardly seems like a day to celebrate and have a festival when there’s still work to be done. So even though today is just as holy as Easter Sunday, most of the world will move through it unconsciously.  Even those who have confessed the lines of the Apostles’ Creed: “On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.”  Our Gospel lesson from Luke 24 for today records, “Then [Jesus] said to his disciples….’See, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.’  Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them.  While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.  And they worshiped him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy; and they were continually in the temple blessing God.” (Luke 24:49-53)
3.      The ascension of our Lord Jesus after His death on the cross and resurrection might seem somewhat anti-climatic. Maybe this is the reason that the resurrection and ascension statements of the Apostles’ Creed are essentially treated as one in the same: On the third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended to heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty. One might think that the one miraculous act flowed immediately into the other: that the death of the body of Jesus was answered in the resurrection of Christ, a presence who then floated spiritually into heaven. Unfortunately, the result of this impression is that many think that the ascension points to the casting off of Jesus’ human nature, as if Jesus is now a presence that only used to be human.
4.      But, this is far from the experience of the disciples, as we see here in Acts 1, to whom Jesus appeared many times in the days following His resurrection. To them it was clear that Jesus wasn’t any sort of ghost or phantasm. He ate with them. Jesus talked with them. He instructed them as to the ministries they would lead and the deaths they would face because of their belief in Him as their Savior. Jesus was more fully human than they had ever realized, and it was this holy body, this divine person that they held near as they lived and died to proclaim His kingdom. 
5.      As the disciples were watching and Jesus was taken up before their own eyes, a cloud hid Him from their sight. Our text in Acts 1:9-11 refers to them, “looking intently up into the sky as he was going” when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them: “‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go.’” In this resurrected body, Christ ascended to heaven, fully human, fully divine, and entirely glorified.  
6.      On the day Jesus ascended into heaven, the work God sent Him to accomplish was finally completed. The ascension was a public declaration of Jesus’ dying words on the Cross: It is finished. Ascending to heaven, Jesus continued the victory of Easter—the victory of a physical body in whom God had conquered death. Because of the ascension, the incarnation of our Lord isn’t a past event. Because of the ascension, we know that the incarnate Christ who was raised from the dead is sharing in our humanity even now. And just as the angels informed the disciples, so we carry in our own bodies a guarantee that Christ will one day bring us to Himself.  It’s for these reasons that the Christian scholar N.T. Wright affirms, “To embrace the Ascension is to heave a sigh of relief, to give up the struggle to be God (and with it the inevitable despair at our constant failure), and to enjoy our status as creatures: image-bearing creatures, but creatures nonetheless.” (N.T. Wright, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church (New York: Harper Collins, 2008), 114). 
7.      WE DO FIND COURAGE IN OUR LORD’S ASCENSION.  Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose. Jesus left for heaven.  There are six reasons we can find courage in Jesus’ Ascension.  First, Jesus’ ascension assures us that we can go home, too. Jesus tells His disciples a little later that he’s going to prepare a place for them in His Father’s house (John 14). Because Jesus returned to the Father, I can say with Paul that, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain,” when I die, I will be with Jesus. 
8.      Second, Jesus’ ascension assures us that He intercedes for us to God.  Jesus, the God-man, speaks on our behalf to God our Heavenly Father. He knows what it’s like to be human (Hebrews 4:14–16), but He’s not just asking God to give me a break. Jesus Himself was broken for my sin, and because of His perfect sacrifice on the cross, He sustains our right relationship with God (Hebrews 9:15). 
9.      Third, Jesus says we should rejoice in His ascension. Jesus says, “If you loved Me, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father.” This alone is reason to be glad. 
10.  Fourth, Christ’s ascension has given us the Holy Spirit. Jesus tells us that He must leave in order to send the Holy Spirit (John 16:7). The Spirit teaches, convicts, and comforts us while we’re here on earth. 
11.  Fifth, we have the inspired Gospels. Jesus promises His disciples that the Holy Spirit will teach them and remind them of all that He said (John 14:25–26). And that’s good for us, because the disciples were able to give accurate accounts of events they didn’t understand while they were happening (Matthew 15:15–17; 16:9; Mark 6:52; 9:32; John 12:16). 
12.  Sixth, my king is where He belongs. Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, has taken His seat in glory at the Father’s right hand (Hebrews 1:3). He obeyed, and at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord (Philippians 2:9–11).
13.  Jesus lived. Jesus died. Jesus rose. Jesus reigns forevermore.  We find courage in our Lord’s ascension into heaven.  On this Ascension Day we remember that our Lord Jesus hasn’t left us as orphans. In the same post-resurrection body He invited Doubting Thomas to touch, Jesus invites us to full humanity today. He ascended with a body, he shares in our humanity, and He’s coming back for our bodies. Christ is preparing a room for us in heaven, and we know it’s real because He Himself is real.  Amen. 





Sunday, May 5, 2013

“Come Over & Help Us” Acts 16.9-15, Easter 6C, May ‘13



1. Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  On this weekend of the Sixth Sunday of Easter we celebrate again the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. He, the living God and only-begotten Son of the Father, instructs us concerning his victory over death, sin, and the devil and that he has all authority in heaven and on earth. In our Bible readings for today we see that the Lord will enlighten all nations who bring their honor to worship him as Lord of lords.  The message from God’s Word for the 6th Sunday of Easter comes to us today from Acts 16:9-15 and is entitled, “Come Over & Help Us,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2. On December 7, 1941, the Japanese Air Force launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor and forced the United States into World War II. President Franklin Roosevelt described it as “a day which will live in infamy,” and the motto “Remember Pearl Harbor!” became a rallying cry for the rest of World War II.  In Great Britain, Prime Minister Winston Churchill received the news of Pearl Harbor differently. Churchill understood that this fatal mistake by the Japanese in underestimating the United States would now force full-scale U.S. involvement in the war. Upon grasping this consequence, Churchill reportedly said, “Now we will win.”  Throughout the course of history we find such decisions which move things in a different direction. Here in Acts 16 God’s plan to take the gospel into Europe rather than into Asia changed the face of evangelism and the march of the church for hundreds of years. When we think of Martin Luther and Philip Melanchthon we remember Europeans influenced by the decision Paul made to follow God’s leading against his own personal preferences.  God still changes history today. Not many years ago, we thought the Berlin Wall wouldn’t fall and expected the Cold War to go on forever. Who could have predicted in 1985 a united Germany and even Christian missionary activity all across eastern Europe?  God’s timing differs from what we would have planned. Like Paul, we must trust the leading of the Holy Spirit day by day.
3. Here in Acts 16 we see that after experiencing the vision of “a man of Macedonia” calling him to bring help to Europe, Paul and his companions reflected on their journey. God was leading them to Europe.  Luke the Evangelist writes in Acts 16:11-12, “From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.  Philippi was an ancient town, having been renamed in 356 b.c. by Philip II of Macedon after himself. With the expansion of the Roman Empire, it became a Roman possession in 167 b.c. But its greatest fame came from the fact that it happened to be the place where the armies of Mark Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius in the decisive battle of the second Roman civil war in 42 b.c. It was from this event that Philippi derived its character in Paul’s day because for its part in the battle it was awarded the status of a Roman colony that answered directly to the Roman emperor. Roman soldiers were encouraged to retire there, and its citizens were exempt from provincial taxes.
4. Rome didn’t know it, but the flag of Christianity was raised up in the Empire that day, and the reigning Christ was about to win many to himself. G. Campbell Morgan wrote:  “How little the world knows of the Divine movements. Rome had small idea that day, that the van of the army of its ultimate Conqueror had taken possession of one of its frontal defences. On the day when Paul hurried from Neapolis, over the eight miles up to Philippi—and came into the city and made arrangements for his own lodging… the flag was planted in a frontier colony of Rome, which eventually was to make necessary the lowering of her flag, and the change of the world’s history.”
5. Acts 16:13 says, “On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.” Paul and his companions went to the riverside on the Sabbath instead of a synagogue because there was no synagogue in Philippi. According to Jewish tradition, there had to be a quorum of at least 10 male heads of households before a synagogue could be formed. If these requirements could not be met, the faithful were to meet under the open sky near a river or sea. So Paul and company walked outside the city on the Sabbath, probably to the Gangites River, looking for some fellow Jews. They discovered a small group—all women—who met to recite the Shema, pray, and read the Law and Prophets. This was a divine appointment!
6. Acts 16:14-15 says, “One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.”  Evidently Lydia took her name from her native province—Thyatira’s ancient name was Lydia. Because she was “a worshiper of God”—a Gentile who saw truth in Judaism and wanted it, she came under the influence of the Jews. The majority of those accompanying this wealthy woman were probably family and servants. Lydia had been prepared for an encounter with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, and as she listened, “the Lord opened her heart.” Paul’s pharisaical prejudices, which in pre-Christian years had taught him to pray, “God, I thank you that I am not a Gentile, or a slave, or a woman,” had been altered by Christ and his growth in faith. Later he would write:  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Galatians 3:28)
7. As Lydia came to believe in Jesus, she experienced the wonderful news of her sins being forgiven by Jesus. Joy welled up within her and flowed over to her companions. Her entire household believed. They were all baptized right on the spot. God opened the heart of one woman in a colony of Rome, and that city became a mighty beachhead for God. We can’t assess a situation by the numbers. One woman’s heart in Philippi doomed the flag of Rome.  Dear Lydia then twisted the evangelists’ arms so they would stay at her home. The world translated “persuaded” in verse 15b is the exact word used to describe how the disciples prevailed upon Jesus to stay with them after their encounter on the road to Emmaus.  Philippi was destined to become one of Paul’s most beloved congregations.  Paul writes in Philippians 1:3 and 4:15, I thank my God every time I remember you. (Philippians 1:3)  Moreover, as you Philippians know, in the early days of your acquaintance with the gospel, when I set out from Macedonia, not one church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you only. (Philippians 4:15)
8. The apostles now had the wind at their backs. God’s grace produced Christlike spirits and sacrificial giving. Blown from the coasts of Troas to Samothrace to Neapolis, they now breezed right into Lydia’s heart and home. It was experiences such as this that caused Paul to write in Romans 1:16:  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.  At this point it may have looked like all their trouble was behind them. But from experience Paul knew better.
9. Some meeting! Imagine the joy at Lydia’s as Paul and his associates in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ recounted the events that led them to Philippi.  Some church! Lydia the merchant princess and her household were the beginning of the first European Christian church. The rich and poor, slave and free, male and female, were all one in Christ. The flag of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection from the dead was raised up on a continent that needed it desperately!  Some life! Through thick and thin, despite the whirlwinds of Satan’s opposition, the wind of the Spirit was always at the backs of Paul and his companions. Wherever they were they were serving an awesome God.  Some gospel!  I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of every one who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. (Romans 1:16)
10.                     Prayer:  O Lord, help us to raise up the flag of your Son Jesus wherever you desire to use us as your witnesses today and in days to come. Help us to know with whom you want us to share the gospel of life, and to do so wisely. Help us not to be mute because of fear, but to praise you always, even in the most difficult circumstances. May your presence in us draw others, even our enemies, to your salvation, found only in your Son. In Jesus’ name, Amen.



Wednesday, May 1, 2013

“The Gospel of Christ for All” Acts 11.1-18, Easter 5C, April ‘13




1.       Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word this 5th Sunday of Easter comes to us from Acts 11:1-18 and is entitled, “The Gospel of Christ for All,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.      Mahatma Gandhi shares in his autobiography that in his student days in England he was deeply touched by reading the Gospels and considered becoming a Christian, which seemed to offer a real solution to the caste system that divided the people of India. One Sunday he attended church services and decided to ask the minster for an understanding on salvation and other Christian doctrines. But when Gandhi entered the sanctuary, the ushers refused to give him a seat and suggested that he go elsewhere to worship with his own people. He left and never came back. “If Christians have caste differences also,” he said to himself, “I might as well remain a Hindu!”  Edwin Markham has said, “Some draw a circle that shuts men out;  Race and position are what they flout;  But Christ in love seeks them all to win, He draws a circle that takes them in!
3.      Bad news travels fast, and soon the Christians in Jerusalem called Peter on the carpet for fraternizing with the Gentiles.  Acts 11:1-4, 16-18 says, “1Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4But Peter began and explained it to them in order:  16 [near the end of his sermon Peter] remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”  18When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
4.      These Jewish Christians were not unhappy because the Gentiles received grace but because Peter had associated with them!  Peter had his hands full, but he answered admirably.  Acts 11:4–18 record his defense, which was so good that in the end, according to verse 18,  “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.”  The story of Peter’s preaching to the Gentiles was of great importance to Luke. He tells it three times, twice in Acts 10 and again in chapter 11. Luke was composing under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This story was not only important to him but to God also. If God tells us something once, we should listen. If he tells us something twice, we should pay strict attention. How then if he tells us something three times over? In that case, we must give God’s words the most intent and obedient notice possible.
5.      Here in Acts 11 we see that the Gospel of Christ is for All who believe in Jesus as their Savior regardless of race or social class.  Just like the circumcision party here in Acts 11 we too may be skeptical of God bringing to faith others outside our own circle.  The Jewish Christians in Jerusalem called into question Peter’s actions of going to Gentiles.  In the Old Testament, God himself had established a distinction of Israel from the Gentiles (Deut 7:1–6). Jews felt even eating with Gentiles would make them ceremonially unclean.  Likewise, God had forbidden Israel to eat many foods the Gentiles ate (Deut 14:2–19).  But note that Jesus ate with tax collectors and sinners.
6.      We may be unsure we can reach beyond our comfort zones.  This might include traditions in our congregation that could be stumbling blocks to those on the “outside” being welcomed.  It certainly does include any hesitancy about welcoming people into the Church because their backgrounds might be suspicious to us. For example, we may wonder whether Muslims can become Christian.  This reminds me of a moment in American history: after the Civil War the question rose whether free blacks and whites of the same denomination would make up congregations. Oh yes, said most white congregations: you can keep coming with us to the Lord’s house, as you did in slave days. Yes, we’ll reserve choice seats for you in the balcony. But commune with us at the Lord’s Table? And stay to eat with us at the tables in the church meeting room or on the church lawn, for a picnic? Never. Historians report that some of the segregation of Christian congregations in America resulted from African Americans’ “self-exclusion.” They knew where they weren’t wanted; it was at the communion table, where believers are intimate with their Lord, close to each other; or at the festive table, where they share their secrets and bare their souls as they feed their bodies.
7.      Thanks be to God that He leaves us no doubt about his purpose to include everyone into His heavenly kingdom through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and His cross and empty tomb.  God made it very clear to Peter.  He gave Peter a miraculous vision (vv 4–10).  Others helped affirm the message (vv 11–14).  Finally, God left no doubt (vv 15–17).
8.      Today, God affirms his promises to include all people by the testimony of his Word.  Scripture had always hinted at it.  Ps 148:11–13 says, 11Kings of the earth and all peoples, princes and all rulers | of the earth! 12Young men and maidens together, old men and children! 13Let them praise the name of the LORD, for his name alone is exalted; his majesty is above earth and heaven.”  Now we understand clearly.  Jesus tells us in John 16:13, 13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.”  For this is one of God’s new things as Jesus also says from His throne in heaven in Revelation 21:5, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
9.      This is the new covenant instituted with the shedding of Jesus’ blood.  Jesus’ death on the cross has paid for the sins of the whole world, that is, all people!  1 John 2:2 says, “2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”  By Jesus’ cross, the gifts of forgiveness and eternal life have been given to all who believe (v 17).
10.  In the end, God calls all to faith through the same Word and Spirit.  Whether it’s infant Baptism or adults coming to faith, all are by God’s Spirit through his Word.  The Gospel message itself is beyond our reason.  We think those who are “in” must somehow “rate” based on something in them (our)selves.  But we know better; every one of us is “in” because Jesus paid for our membership by dying for us—and only because he did.  We sometimes need to make sure not to stand in the Spirit’s way.  Our final response is praise for what God does in bringing others to faith (v 18).
11.  Our reading from Acts 11 today reminds us that our attitude toward the world—those who do not know God—is very important. That’s the whole point of the Old Testament book of Jonah. It was Jonah’s bad attitude toward the world that landed him in the belly of the great fish. God was saying to him, “Jonah, this is what I think of your self-will, your prejudice, your elitism. Take a good look.”

12.  In our Lord Jesus there is no basis for discrimination of any kind. Prejudice or elitism on the lips of a believer is an obscenity—whether it be racial, national, cultural, or social. James says, “My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don’t show favoritism” (2:1). If only there had been more love and less bias in that usher’s heart when he met Gandhi. The future world leader had read the New Testament and had even seriously considered Christianity, but his conclusion was, “I like the New Testament, I like your Christianity, but I do not like your Christians.”

13.  What a difference it makes when we look at others with attitudes that are inclusive, optimistic, and loving. Peter’s story reminds us that God wants to instill in us his attitude toward the world.  The gospel never changes. But we can become unchangeable, inflexible, and thus unusable. What are our attitudes toward others? Exclusive, pessimistic, passive? Or concerned, hopeful and loving? We need to regularly consider Peter’s vision and its meaning and implications for us today.
14.  Prayer:  Our gracious Lord, we want to have hearts that are inclusive and optimistic. We desire a blessed, merciful aggressiveness like Jesus’. Enlarge the circle of our lives, we pray, whatever the cost. Help us to be open to your leading and to not see ourselves as above those you want us to reach. May your love for everyone overflow from our hearts and draw others to the Savior who died for them as much as he died for us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.