“Going the Extra Mile!” Matt. 5.38-48, Feb. ’14 Series A

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 for us this morning is taken from Matthew 5:38-48 and it’s entitled, “Going the Extra Mile!” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      “If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.” The humiliation that Jesus describes here had its origin with the Persians. In fact, the Greek word translated “forces” is of Persian origin. The Persians initiated a kind of Pony Express in which the mail-carrying rider simply “borrowed” horses. He started off with his letter riding one pony, and when that pony got tired he borrowed another, and when that one got tired he borrowed another, and he would do this over and over again … He sort of rustled his way across the land. During Roman times this custom was common. Also, whenever a Roman official or soldier asked anyone within the Empire to carry a burden a mile, that person had to do it regardless of who he was or what the circumstances were. Almost all Jews had been subject to this, and they hated the very mention of it.

3.      This form of persecution fell upon a believer because of his identification with Jesus. Some think that may be why Simon of Cyrene was made to carry Christ’s cross. The Roman soldiers knew he loved Jesus so they said, “You carry the cross!” (See Matthew 27:32).  What Jesus is telling us here is to have a willing cheerfulness if we find ourselves under this form of persecution. There are two ways to do any task. You can mow the lawn with a bad attitude, like you are mowing the Mojave desert. Or you can mow it with a good attitude and say, “There are birds in the sky, there are clouds above, it is not raining—this is a great day!” When you wash dishes, you can water them with your tears or you can sing hymns. Jesus calls for a revolutionary response in a difficult situation—cheerfulness. The kind that would cause a hardened soldier to say, “What’s with him? This person has something I don’t understand.” Ridiculous? Impractical? I don’t think so! This is the way Rome was won! Revolutionarily righteous people possessing revolutionary joy even when treated unfairly call everyone’s hearts upward.  This is what Jesus means when He calls us to go the extra mile.

4.      Many successful businessmen make a complete failure of their home life.  In public they appear very friendly, but while they’re with their family they are irritable and domineering.  At home, they reveal no nobility of character or kindness of heart.  Others are kind only to their kind.  They help only those who help them.  And we all know about getting even with those who’ve hurt us. We’ve all done it before, and we know how good it can feel. Sadly, it comes to us all too naturally, doesn’t it? Just think back to your childhood. You can only put up with the class bully stealing the dessert from your lunch tray so many times before you’ve had enough and begin to plot your revenge. Or that driver on the freeway who cuts you off not once, but twice—you’ll teach him a lesson.  We could go on, but what would be the point? All of our plotting—sometimes calculated, oftentimes instantaneous—meets its end in our Lord’s arresting statement, “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (v 44). But how? you ask. Where’s the fairness in that? Does Jesus mean to say that there should be no justice?

5.      The philosophy of the natural heart, untouched by the Gospel of Jesus, demands “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.”  “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.”  The Christian precept, however, asks that you overcome evil with good (Rom. 12:31).  Let’s listen to Jesus and how He calls us to go the extra mile.

6.      In Matthew 5:38–48—38[Jesus says], “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. 40And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. 41And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. 42Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. 43“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47And if you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? 48You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

7.      We can’t live peaceably with other people if we refuse to follow these Christian proverbs Jesus lays down for us in the Sermon on the Mount.  He gave five distinct commands to those who want to get along with other people.  1)  “If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”  Don’t seek revenge, but forgive.  2)  “If anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well.”  Yield rather than being stubborn and uncompromising.  3)  “If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.”  Do the extra.  Give with a smile.  4)  “Give to the one who begs from you.”  Do not live self-centered and selfish lives.  5)  “Love your enemies.”  Show kindness to those who are unkind.  But why should we go out of our way for those who are nasty and ugly to us?  To show that we are the children of God, always willing to go the extra mile.

8.      Jesus tells us that we as Christians are different.  If we’re thoughtful only to friends and show favors only to those who show us favors, then we’re no better than unbelievers.  The gangster does favors for his kind.  Thieves protect one another and are on good terms with their kind.  But, as Christians we go the extra mile and show kindness to the undeserving.  We are to love our enemies and be forgiving to those who show us no consideration.  This is one way we show the world that we’re different.  This will enable us to live successfully with difficult people.

9.      But, is this possible?  Can we be as perfect as our Father in heaven?  Can we really love our enemies?  We can love the unlovable and show kindness to the unkind only if we take to heart, “That while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).  God reconciled a rebellious world to Himself through His beloved Son.  Countless times, Gold shows mercy to us who day after day sin much.  He’s always ready to forgive sin and blot out our transgressions.  If God does this for us, shouldn’t we also ask Him for grace to do likewise with our neighbors?  Remembering what God has done for us in Jesus helps us to go the extra mile.

10.  Then too, we must remember that our enemy was redeemed by the same Savior who has loved us.  As we look at people who repulse us, we must not forget that Christ loves them as well and gave His life for them also.  If Christ loved and redeemed them, have we a right to treat them with contempt and arrogance?  At the foot of the cross, we learn to love disagreeable people.  We make hard lives easier as we strive to live with difficult people, knowing they are also forgiven and forgiving children of God.  This is what it means to go the extra mile with Jesus.  Please pray with me, “Heavenly Father, You know how difficult it is for us to be kind, thoughtful, and forgiving to those who make life hard and bitter for us.  Only Your grace can create in us a forgiving spirit and teach us to overcome evil with good.  Draw us closer to You as You forgive sin and make us gracious and merciful in Christ Jesus, our Savior.  Amen.

“Jesus Our Good Shepherd Hears Us” Psalm 23; Revelation 7,9–17; John 10:14–16; Psalm 145.18-19, Leo Schleifer’s Funeral Sermon… 2-16-14

1.                   In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  Today we will meditate on Leo’s confirmation verse, Psalm 145:18-19 and also the verses we have selected for his funeral service today.  Leo’s confirmation verse from Psalm 145 says, “¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  ¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”  Dear friends and relatives of our departed brother Leo, especially you, Leo’s children and all others who consider themselves close to Leo.  May Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us and knows our needs give you His comfort and hope in His resurrection from the dead at this time.

2.                   In Psalm 23 David says, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death . . .” (v. 4). Our whole life is lived under the shadow of the enemy called death. Life has its joys and celebrations—marriages and births, graduations and promotions, barbecues and banquets. But it’s also lived under the shadow of death that lies ahead and won’t go away even when we celebrate and laugh. Mark Twain said he would look in the paper each morning to make sure his name wasn’t in the obituaries.

3.                   Today we are here to remember our beloved brother in Christ, Leo Schleifer.  He was a loving and caring father, grandfather, and husband.   Many of us here today have some fond memories of Leo.    One of them was celebrating Leo's 90th birthday this past Dec. and seeing Todd and his great grandchild.  That made Leo very happy.  Leo’s family still remembers surprising him and his wife Juanita for their 25th & 40th wedding anniversaries.  There were many memories that were made having a family meal at Leo & Juanita's place on Sunday evenings.  Leo loved his black lab, Tisha, dearly and he also had a fondness for jelly bread, and since he loved his dog Tisha he also made sure that she had the jelly bread too.  He dearly missed his wife Juanita and would often visit her graveside.  One memory I have of Leo as his pastor is his pipe smoking. It reminded me very much of my Grandpa Taggatz, who also was an active pipe smoker.  Even up to the age of 90, Leo was an active church goer, in fact he worried about not being able to go to church, but I told him, "Leo, if you can't get to church, then the church will come to you,” and he took comfort in that, whether he was sick at home, in the hospital, or preparing for surgery. Leo would always stay in communication with me when he needed pastoral care.  He knew to call upon the Lord when he needed help and he would call on his pastor to proclaim the Word of the Lord Jesus to Him, to announce that his sins were forgiven, and to give him the medicine of immortality in Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper.  Leo knew his confirmation verse from Psalm 145:18-19, that when He needed Jesus his Good Shepherd that Jesus would hear him, “¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  ¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”   

4.                   Whether we’re 5, 15, 50, or 90 years old, our bodies suffer the effects of living in a world that’s in bondage to decay. God didn’t create this world and us to suffer in life. But, ever since the transgression of Adam and Eve, which caused this world’s fall into sin and death, human life—and all life on earth—is lived out in the valley of the shadow of death. And when that shadow of death creeps over a loved one, like our dear brother Leo, we who are left feel torn apart as one life is cut off from the rest of us who yet live. The hope of enjoying another day together and of doing things tomorrow is taken away. We feel an emptiness.

5.                   The journey through the valley of the shadow of death can seem like a lonesome walk that ends in isolation, defeat, and despair. But, we who are in Christ have God’s promise that we don’t walk alone, that Jesus our Good Shepherd Hears us and has come to save us.   Jesus is the Good Shepherd who stands beside us today in our grief.  And Jesus deliberately walked into the valley of death to save us and Leo. He left the brilliance of heaven, descended to earth, was conceived by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and took upon Himself our human form and became one of us, though without sin. His perfect life was a display of God’s merciful love and care for all people. He exercised His power to forgive sin and overcome death, disease, and the devil. Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, and cast out demons. His ministry led to the cross. There, the sinless Lamb of God was made to be sin for us. God laid on the Righteous One the iniquity of all humanity. He died in our place as a sacrifice pleasing to the Father. God accepted His sacrifice for us, and Jesus was raised to life. After showing Himself alive to His apostles and followers, Jesus ascended to heaven and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. He has stopped God’s anger for us because of our sin and brought us grace.

6.                   The psalmist’s prayerful poem in Psalm 23 is directed toward Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us. As we’re gathered here in His name, He’s present to hear our pleas for help in the hour of mourning. “Call upon Me in the day of trouble,” He said, promising, “I will deliver you” (Ps 50:15). Again He said, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28).  And Leo’s confirmation verse from Psalm 145:18-19 reminds us, “¹⁸The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  ¹⁹He fulfills the desire of those who fear him; he also hears their cry and saves them.”      We’re not alone as we walk in the valley of the shadow of death. The Lord Jesus has walked it before and is walking it with us today.

7.                   Jesus our Good Shepherd walked with Leo in the valley of the shadow of death and He took Leo from this vale of tears to paradise in heaven.  Let’s look at what this looks like from Revelation 7. We see a great multitude that no one can count, from every tribe and nation, people and language. They’re standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. And who are these people? They are those who have come out of the sufferings of this life, through the valley of the shadow of death, like our beloved Leo. They are those who have passed through and are now on the other side of the valley. We can’t see them, except in memory. But through the apostle John, God has given us a vision of their joyful glory. Leo has laid aside the burdens and stresses of life in this sinful world. He has joined the great multitude in the throne room of heaven.

8.                   And what is it that enables these multitudes to stand in the presence of God? Those who enter before the throne “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Rev 7:14). They, like our dear brother Leo, have been washed in Baptism. That washing applies to them the cleansing power of the shed blood of Jesus Christ. They’ve been given faith by the power of the Holy Spirit and with that faith they’ve received the forgiveness of sins achieved by Jesus on the cross for all humankind. They’ve received the Savior and His new resurrection life. Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us died in the valley of death so that we might live on the mountain of heaven.

9.                   If there were a window into heaven, we might see Leo standing there among the white-robed saints. He believed in Jesus as his Savior. Leo’s robes were washed in the blood of Jesus through his Baptism. Upon death Leo came out of the valley of suffering into eternal life on the mountaintop. And these white-robed saints are singing, because the Lamb at the center of the throne is their Shepherd. He leads them to springs of living water. Jesus wipes away every tear from their eyes. When we’re in the face of death it can cause us many tears, both by those who are dying and by those left behind. But Jesus, our Good Shepherd who hears us, will wipe away all tears with His love. Those before the throne sing because they’ve been freed from all pain and sorrow.

10.               And we can join them in singing. By God’s grace, our destination is with the white-robed saints. We’re confident in God’s promise that soon we, too, will join all of God’s saints, along with Leo, in glory and remain with them forever and ever. We look to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. His position is before the throne of His Father as our our mediator. He pleads for us. Jesus has prepared a place for us in heaven.  Jesus our Good Shepherd who hears us says in John 10, “I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to My voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd” (Jn 10:16). When Jesus first spoke those words, most of His followers were Jewish believers. Jesus spoke of a time when many from the rest of the world’s nations would be brought into His flock. Jesus removed the wall dividing Jews from Gentiles. In this age of the Christian Church, all people of every nationality are welcome in the flock of His followers.

11.               While on earth Leo listened to the Shepherd’s voice. And, we can look forward to seeing him again.  Jesus will come from heaven (1 Thess 4:16; Rev 21:2) with all His holy angels. In a moment, in a twinkling of an eye the dead will be raised with imperishable and immortal bodies (1 Cor 15:52), and all those still in the valley of death will be changed. And, all of us who believe in Jesus will be gathered into one flock, united with our Shepherd and Lamb, Jesus. Through Jesus we will see our dear brother Leo and all the saints who have gone before us in the Christian faith again.  I pray that these words of the Lord may encourage you in your Christian faith and also in your hope that we will all be together with the Lord Jesus forever.  Amen.

“Loving Enough to Be Hurt” (1 Corinthians 13:5) for COSLHS Chapel Feb. 11, ‘14

1.                   In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Well, we’re very close to celebrating Valentine’s Day aren’t we?  But, what is Valentine’s Day and why do we celebrate it?  Church tradition teaches us that St. Valentine was a physician and priest living in Rome during the rule of Emperor Claudius.  St. Valentine became one of the noted martyrs of the 3^rd century.  A martyr is someone who is willing to die for their faith in Jesus as their Savior.  Valentine’s Day is the day the church commemorates his death that occurred in 270AD.  Church tradition suggests that on the day of his execution for the Christian faith, Valentine left a note of encouragement for a child of his jailer written on an irregularly shaped piece of paper.  This greeting became a pattern for millions of written expressions of love and caring that now are the highlight of Valentine’s Day in many nations.

2.                   So, as we approach Valentine’s Day are you ready to give that special something to your sweetheart?  For this reason, in the message from God’s Word today we’re going to be looking at what it means to love as a Christian.  No, not the way that the world loves in a conditional manner.  If you do something for me, then I’ll love you back.  But, in a way of loving that’s unconditional, not asking for anything else in return.  We’re going to look at 1 Cor. 13.  The message from God’s Word is entitled, “Loving Enough to Be Hurt.”  Dear Brothers and sisters in Christ.

3.                   Tom told his wife right after they got married that he wanted no children. At the age of three he had a dog named Murphy. He loved Murphy very much, and he and Murphy were always together. When Tom was four years old, Murphy disappeared and never returned. Tom loved his dog so much that he was deeply hurt.  From that time on, Tom never loved anything like that again. So when Tom grew up and became married, he vowed he would never have children because he knew he had a great capacity to love and love would result in being hurt. Tom didn’t want his child to hurt him.

4.                   In one way, we can say that Tom was selfish. On the other hand, we can come to this very important conclusion: To really love, you must love enough to permit someone to hurt you. To give you an idea of how open one becomes to hurt, just listen to the words of 1 Cor. 13:4-5, “Love is patient. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is no proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered” and, “…it keeps no record of wrongs.”

5.                   The love that 1 Cor. 13 talks about opens us up to be hurt by the one we may really care about. I’m sure that there are some people here this morning who’ve built a wall around themselves because they were hurt by someone they loved.  You opened yourself up, revealed your true feelings, gave yourself to someone, and that person hurt you. And now, you won’t love again.

6.                   And maybe there are some people here this morning who just won’t love. Won’t let anyone get to know them too well.  People who put on a mask, but who are inwardly hurting. Why? Maybe, you got hurt by someone you loved, and it still hurts today, a boyfriend or a girlfriend broke up with you or you were betrayed by a really close friend. Maybe your mom or your dad never paid too much attention to you.  All this hurts so much that you’ll never really love again.

7.                   A woman says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and she gives up on her marriage. A teenager says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and he runs away. A father says, “I won’t be hurt again,” and clams up.  But, Paul says in 1 Cor. 13:5, “Love keeps no record of wrongs.” Love pays the price for being hurt. Love will go on loving regardless of what others do. Love will realize in advance that there will be hurt. True love is worth the hurt.

8.                   The Bible is the story of God loving people. God placed two people in the Garden of Eden. They weren’t placed there as robots. They weren’t mechanical. They had free wills. God said, “I’ll love you people enough to permit you to hurt Me. I’ll reveal to you My perfect plan. I’ll walk with you as your best Friend. I’ll love you with everything I have, knowing that you can hurt Me” – and they did!  And then God chose Israel and the Jewish people to be His own. He said, “I will be your God, and you will be My people. I will make you a nation above all nations.  You will be a royal nation, a holy people, and a delight to Me.” God said, “I’m going to love you with everything I have.”

9.                   So God opened Himself up to Israel, and they hurt Him! Then God came down to our earth and became a Man—Jesus Christ.  He opened Himself up to men and they hurt Him! Jesus laid aside His divine powers. He laid aside His authority, and opened Himself up to people. In doing so, He was hurt by those He spent so much time with, even by His own disciples.  He traveled to His hometown of Nazareth and spoke to the people He grew up with, and they hurt Him. They rejected His teachings. He opened Himself up to Judas and allowed Judas to hurt Him. He loved Peter, and Peter hurt Him. He loved Saul of Tarsus, and Saul hurt Him. He loved the teachers of the Law who resided in the Temple, and they hurt Him. My friends, the only way God could love people was to permit them to hurt Him, and everyone did, but He still loved.

10.               And so we see that we can’t love without being hurt. The Apostle Paul traveled from town to town because he loved people, fighting illness, storms, thieves and poverty just to bring the message of forgiveness. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9, “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” He loved, and got hurt!  Hurt people often run away. Hurt people fight back. Hurt people are bitter and angry. Hurt people quit. Hurt people call you names, blame you for their problems and give excuses. Hurt people will not allow anyone to get close to them. We live in a community of hurt people, yet God is giving the message clearly to all of us that we can’t love without being hurt.

11.               The songwriter, Jim Gilbert, wrote, “I love you with the love of the Lord.” That’s what God does in His people. God loves us and forgives all our sins even though we’ve hurt Him so many times. He loves and forgives us because His Son, Jesus Christ, made a supreme sacrifice on the cross to save us from our sins. Now we who have received that love are capable of loving others even when they hurt us.

12.               Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.  Yes, we love one another. We love one another because God has loved us and forgiven us all our sins for Christ’s sake. Like our heavenly Father, we love knowing full well that at times we will be hurt in the process of it all. And that is why St. Paul closes his love chapter with these words, 1 Cor.13:13, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”  May we love in such a way that Jesus Christ is showing His love through us to those we come into contact with not only this Valentine’s Day, but throughout the year.  Amen.

“Living a True Righteousness” Matthew 5.13–20, Epiphany 5A, Feb. ‘14

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.  In our Gospel lesson from Matthew today Jesus warns us that “unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:20), but He also calls His imperfect people “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matt. 5:13, 14). That’s because Jesus came not to abolish the Law or the Prophets “but to fulfill them” (Matt. 5:17) in perfect faith and love. Since He does and teaches all of God’s commandments, He’s “called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:19).  And through the cross and the empty tomb Jesus gives this perfect righteousness to us His people.  The message is entitled, “Living a True Righteousness,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.         Here in Matthew 5:18-20 Jesus demands a perfect righteousness for His people.  He wants us to live in a true righteousness.  Listen to what He says, “¹⁸For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. ¹⁹Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. ²⁰“For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

3.         Jesus upholds every letter of the Law.  These days, we’re getting W-2s, 1099s—or 1099-INTs or 1099-DIVs or1099-DIV SUBSTITUTES—1098s, in the mail. Which means we’ll soon start assembling deductions, exclusions, exemptions, seeing if we qualify for any credits. It’s complicated! A few years ago a billionaire businessman by the name of Steve Forbes was running for president, and he proposed a flat tax to replace the whole federal income tax structure: Here’s how much you made, now pay 17 %. Simple. The problem, critics say, is that it’s not that simple. It won’t work. At least not at a rate that low.

4.         In our text from Matthew 5 Jesus is trying to show that the law teachers and the Pharisees couldn’t be saved by what they did.  The law teachers were Israelites who interpreted and made laws and tried hard to live righteously according to them.  The Pharisees were an Israelite sect that zealously attempted to keep the law.  Both were proud of their own righteousness.  Their fellow Israelites considered them super-righteous.  But, their own righteousness was flawed with sin (Matthew 23) and far short of the perfection God requires.  Jesus says in Matthew 5:48, “⁴⁸You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”  The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were zealous to establish their own righteousness, not knowing the righteousness that comes from God (Rom 10:2–3).  They didn’t submit to God’s righteousness, and were found lacking for salvation, deserving death.  If they couldn’t be saved, who can? No one is saved by his or her own righteousness.

5.         Some people would like to simplify what God has to say. Some just flat out deny the truth of certain teachings of Scripture: Creation didn’t happen in six days. The Red Sea didn’t really part. Jesus wasn’t really born of a virgin. Others deny that certain teachings of Scripture still apply today: God’s word that only men may be pastors was relevant in the first century but not in the twenty-first. More often, people simplify God’s Word by ignoring passages that seem a little too tough when temptation strikes: “Those words about adultery, sex before marriage, or divorce can’t really apply to me. Everybody else is doing it. We’re really in love; we’re going to get married. There’s no romance anymore; we shouldn’t stay married.”   The problem, Jesus says, is that it won’t work, hear Him say again in Matthew 5, “Truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not [one jot or tittle] will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” (vv 18–19a)  Anything that lowers God’s standards won’t work.  17% of keeping of the Law won’t work. Neither will 97%.  But God doesn’t want any of us to be lost, but all to be saved (Ezek 18:23, 32; 1 Tim 2:4), and He has his own way to accomplish that.

5.         That’s why Jesus shows us here in Matthew 5 that to live in a true righteousness is to have it fulfilled in Him.  Jesus says in Matthew 5:17, “¹⁷“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.”  As a true human being, Jesus put himself under his own law. To redeem us and all humankind, who were under the law (Gal 4:4–5; 1 Pet 3:18), Jesus, the righteous one, joined all of us who are unrighteous.  He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets perfectly, establishing a perfect righteousness (Rom 5:15–19).   Our own righteousness won’t do (Rom 3:10–12; Ezek 33:12). It falls short and is tainted with sin (Phil 3:4–8; Is 64:6), making us unable ever to enter the kingdom of heaven (1 Cor 6:9).  We need God’s perfect righteousness, which surpasses that of the teachers of the law and the Pharisees. We obtain it as a gift through faith in Jesus (Rom 5:1, 2, 17; 10:4; 2 Cor 5:21; Phil 3:4–9).

6.         As we live in a true righteousness, that is in Jesus Christ our Lord, Jesus says that we have righteousness to share with those around us.  In Matthew 5 He says, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people’s feet. You are the light of the world… Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (vv 13–14, 16)  That’s not optional; it’s a command. We must be salt to season the world around us. We may not start tasting like the rest of the world. We must let our light shine—live like Christ, speak of Christ. We may not blend in. We must obey every letter of the Law. Jesus doesn’t give us the slightest leeway.  If it weren’t Jesus speaking, we’d probably think this was the worst kind of legalism. Pay attention to every tiny detail of the Law.

7.         On the other hand, Paul knows nothing except Christ crucified in 1 Cor. 2:1-2 he says, “And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.”  Paul says the cross is the whole message. Sounds as if Paul would have done great children’s messages—nothing fancy, always simple, and the answer to every question would be “Jesus died on the cross for our sins.” We say it every Sunday: Jesus died on the cross to save sinners. Jesus died for you. Jesus’ death saves me. Is that really all we’re supposed to preach every Sunday? Is it possible that says it all?  Know that Jesus was crucified for you, really know it in faith, and you’re in. That’s what Paul says, right?

8.         Yeah, but is that what Jesus said? “Until heaven and earth pass away, not [one jot or tittle] will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” Sounds as if Paul is guilty of reducing God’s Word to a few simple things, maybe one thing, like the cross of Christ, and then anything else goes: do whatever you want, live however you want, deny any other part of the Bible, especially that the Law is binding on Christians today.  It sure sounds as if Paul is contradicting Jesus, doesn’t it? How can the two be reconciled? The answer: . . . Christ crucified is the fulfillment of every letter of the Law.

9.         Proclaiming Christ crucified proclaims the whole Law. The cross shows how binding the Law is. That’s the Son of God hanging up there! That’s God the Father turning his own Son over to hell and damnation over one piece of fruit eaten in a garden long ago. Over one thoughtless word spoken yesterday. Over one word that should be spoken tomorrow to tell someone about Jesus, but won’t be. The cross shows that God’s standard can never be lowered. One 100% compliance—that’s it! No excuses. In Christ crucified we see that every transgression of every letter of the Law must and will be punished—and to the full extent of the Law.  This is why living in a true righteousness has to come through faith in our Lord Jesus who died on the cross for us.

10.       Knowing Jesus and Him crucified is knowing that the whole Law has been fulfilled: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (v 17). The full extent of the Law has been executed! Christ has been crucified! The demands of every jot and tittle have been met. Every letter has been fulfilled. Not by us, but for us.  Jesus is no legalist. He’s not driving us to keep the Law. He’s promising to do it for us. Paul was no Gospel reductionist. He wasn’t dismissing the importance of every other word of Scripture, including every demand of the Law. He was proclaiming them all when he said “Christ crucified.”  This is why we have our Lutheran schools.  We want to teach the whole counsel of God in our Lutheran grade schools and at our own Christ our Savior Lutheran High School so that our young people know what it means that Jesus is their righteousness.  That to be a Christian isn’t simply to follow a set of rules day by day and so earn God’s favor, that’s religion.  No, to be a Christian is to live in the righteousness of Jesus.  It’s knowing that we can’t achieve God’s favor on our own, that’s why Jesus died on the cross for our sins.  But, now that Jesus dwells within us and has given us His righteousness, we can be salt and light to the world to show others Jesus in our lives through our words and actions.  This is what our Lutheran schools are teaching our children and why they are so important. 

11.       Jesus teaches us that we don’t, mustn’t, can’t diminish the demands to let our lights shine, to be salt of the earth. It’s just that when we’re knowing Christ and him crucified, really knowing him, we will be fulfilling the Law too and living in a true righteousness that comes through Jesus. The more we know the one thing Paul knew, the more we’ll love doing everything the Law demands.  Paul was neither a poor student nor a bad teacher. Quite the contrary. So beautifully did he learn the whole message of God that he was able to teach it all in one phrase: Jesus Christ and him crucified.  Amen.

“Jesus, Our Suffering Brother” Hebrews 2.14-18 Presentation of Jesus & Purification of Mary Feb. ‘14

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.  Today the church observes the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus.  In today’s Gospel, we see Mary and Joseph present our Savior Jesus, who was promised from the fall of man into sin, born of a virgin’s womb. The true offering wasn’t the turtledoves or young pigeons. It was Jesus they carried. This Child has come to “destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery” (Heb. 2:14b–15). Set free by His coming in our flesh and the promise of what He would do “in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people” (Heb. 2:17b), Simeon and Anna rejoiced, and we with them, for we know that we can face death unafraid and “depart in peace” (Luke 2:29) when our time comes.  The message is taken from Hebrews 2:14-18, and is entitled, “Jesus, Our Suffering Brother,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.            Hebrews 2:14-15 & 17-18 says, “¹⁴ Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil—¹⁵ and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. ¹⁷ For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸ Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”

3.            In Jesus the holy and transcendent God became fully and truly human. Jesus shares in our humanity. I submit to you the traditional, moralistic religion has completely forgotten this whole idea. In fact, if we really understood the fact that Jesus shares in our humanity, we’d live differently.  What does it teach us that God has flesh and blood? What does that teach us about God and about life? What does that teach us about God?

4.            The passage says, “… he too shared in their humanity …” Why? First, that Jesus might destroy him who has the power of death, but secondly, “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.” “… that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest …” Do you know what that means? I suggest to you most of us don’t have the resources we could have as Christians to face life in this world because we functionally deny the real and true and full humanity of Jesus. The Bible tells us Jesus was completely physical. He was really human, and, therefore, Jesus our brother suffered for us.

5.            What does it mean that Jesus became human like us, consider this illustration.  There was an x-ray technician that worked in a hospital, and he put people up on the table. But, this x-ray technician came down with a kidney stone and had to be examined himself. When his pastor came and spoke to him, he was in the hospital now was a patient. He was in a lot of pain, and he had just been put on the table by one of his x-ray technician colleagues.  He’d just come back to his room, and his pastor said, “How’s it going?” He said to his pastor, “When I get out of here I am going to have a radically different bedside manner.” The pastor asked, “Why?” He said, “Well, I really never knew what it was like to be on the table myself. I will never be impatient with a client again. I will never treat them like cattle, because I know what it’s like. I’ve been changed. I’ve been on the table. Therefore, I will never treat people on the table the same way.”

6.            Jesus our suffering brother was really human.  Here’s someone who knows everything we know. Have you ever been betrayed? So has he. Have you ever been isolated or lonely? So has he. Have you ever been broke and in debt? So has he. Have you faced death? So has he.  Jesus our suffering brother has faced pain and rejection, homelessness and misunderstanding, isolation, grief, and loss.

7.            We’re told in the Bible in Hebrews 5:7, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” Not a little tear in the eye, but loud cries and tears. God not only came as a human being, but he refused to come as a human being with nerves of steel, somebody who was always crying, weeping over Jerusalem, weeping over his dead friend Lazarus, and sweating blood over his own doom.

8.            What does this mean that Jesus is our suffering brother? It means that if you have in your mind Jesus is fully human, but you really think of him the way the Sunday school books picture him, always beautifully tan, glowing, sort of porcelain-looking, his white clothes glistening, and always sort of hovering about six feet above the grass. That’s not the true Jesus of Scripture.  No, Jesus has been on the table, and He’ll never treat anybody else on the table in a way that’s inappropriate.

9.            If you believe this, let me show you what would happen to you. First of all, you would go to him when your life starts to break apart. I’ve been a pastor for almost 7 years. It’ll be 7 years by this July.  Over the years one of the most normal things I’ve found is when I notice somebody who was coming to church seems to have stopped coming to church and if I run into them and I see they’ve started drifting away and I ask what’s going on, so often the problem is problems, troubles, brokenness in their lives.  “Terrible things are happening to me, and it makes me feel far from God. I don’t want to pray. I don’t want to go …” That’s denial of something. It’s a denial of the humanity of Jesus. What do you want in a counselor? First of all, you want someone who knows what you’re going through. You want somebody who understands, but you also don’t want somebody in the same spot you’re in. You want somebody who has moved beyond it. Jesus was on the table, He sacrificed on the cross for you for the forgiveness of your sins, but he’s not there anymore. He’s risen from the dead. He’s at the right hand of God. He’s the wonderful Counselor. You have to go to him.

10.                    Somebody says, “Well, but when I go to God, I try to have prayers answered, and very often my prayers aren’t answered.” Jesus understands that too. He’s suffered in every way as you’ve suffered. He’s been tempted in every way as you’ve been tempted. He knows what it’s like to offer up a prayer and have it turned down. “… Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.…” Don’t you see?

11.                    You say, “Well, what I don’t understand is why is he letting this happen to me? That’s the reason why I’m not praying. That’s the reason why I’m not coming to church. Why is he letting this happen to me?” I don’t know, but here’s what I do know. For you to be mad at him because you’re suffering is to deny the humanity of Jesus. That x-ray technician doesn’t say, “I no longer will put people on the table.”

12.                    Did he say that? He knows as painful as it is for a person with a kidney stone to have to move around, it’ll be a lot more painful if we don’t do something about it. Therefore, what he has promised is he says, “I will never unnecessarily hurt somebody. I will be so gentle. I will be so careful, because I’ve been on the table. There won’t be a single needless jostle. There won’t be a single needless pain.”  If you’re suffering right now, remember that Jesus our suffering brother has been on the table.  There’s nothing happening to us that’s random. If you deny that, you’re denying the humanity of Jesus. What you’re really saying is, “You don’t understand.” Jesus does. That’s what Christianity means. Jesus our suffering brother knows the sorrowful.

13.                    What did Jesus accomplish by becoming our brother? The author points us first of all to Satan. “Destroy” here doesn’t mean to wipe out but to render ineffective. That’s what Jesus did to the devil, the one “who holds the power of death.” Death was the hold the devil had over man. Only God controls death. But, in bringing sin into the world, the devil brought death, on earth and in hell, as sin’s wage. As long as the devil can keep man sinning, he can demand that this horrible wage be paid. And the result for the sinner? Lifelong slavery spent cringing in fear as Satan cracks death’s whip.

14.                    But no more! Instead, we as Christians along with the Apostle Paul can say in Philippians 1:23, “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” Jesus, our brother, has nullified the devil and neutralized his ultimate weapon of death. To accomplish this, Jesus “shared in their humanity.” He took on our flesh and blood that he might die and with his death free us from our bondage. Jesus used that very thing with which Satan was bullying and battering man to defeat Satan. Like some vicious dog, Satan has been chained, and if some still die of his rabid bite, it’s because they have strayed too close to him and too far away from the Prince of life.

15.                    Through the centuries artists have attempted to depict Jesus’ human appearance. If you close your eyes for a moment, you will no doubt picture in your mind one of those depictions of Jesus, the God-man. Likely, you will see in him some sure sign of both his humanity and his divinity. What the writer to the Hebrews wants us to believe is this: knowing Jesus, the Son of God, as a human being is crucial to our Christian faith. That’s what we see in the temple presentation—the miracle of God as human as can be. We give thanks that God in Jesus came as one of us to save us. Amen.

“God Won’t Forget You”

Can you tell me who won the last three Super Bowls? Unless it was your favorite team in all three, you might struggle with an answer. Memories blur together. Only sports nerds obsess over the record books while the rest of us just plan to enjoy this year's game.  I’m glad that God's memory is better than mine. He tracks the rise and fall of nations, the growth and decline of cities, the rising and falling of population and wealth. He monitors rainfall and snowfall, remembering to keep the seasons in the rhythms He promised to Noah.

But most important of all, our Heavenly Father remembers every one of the promise that He’s made over the centuries. Not one will fail. Not a word will fall to the ground.  “The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Thy faithfulness” (Lam. 3:22-23).  When the priest Zechariah's tongue was finally loosed after his forced nine-month silence, he burst into praise to his God who had come "to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and to enable us to serve him without fear" (Luke 1:72-74).

God's infallible memory will ensure that He remembers to show mercy to you as well in and through the death and resurrection of His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. His memories of His baptismal covenant with you are vivid, and you too can serve him without fear. He will never forget you.  The Lord says through the prophet Isaiah, “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior” (Isaiah 43:1-3a).

 

“Jesus Lights Up Your Life” Isaiah 9.1-4 Jan. ’14 Epiphany 3

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 3^rd Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Isaiah 9:1-4 and is entitled, “Jesus Lights Up Your Life,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.       Isaiah 9:2 says, "The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined."  Dear fellow light-loving people.  Have you noticed it?  Can you tell that it's happening?  I'm referring to the amount of daily daylight that has been increasing day-by-day since December 21.  That's when the winter solstice occurred … the smallest amount of daylight (longest night of darkness) in the year.  It's amazing that we who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder can discern the very smallest increase in daylight!  That's how starved for it we are due to our SAD condition.

3.      Today, we focus our attention on a text that's largely identified with Christmas.  It's the Holy Spirit inspired prophecy that Isaiah recorded about what Immanuel would do when He entered this sinfully dark world clothed in our human flesh some 700+ years later.  To the Israelites then who were languishing deep in the dismal darkness of their Babylonian captivity, God communicated gracious reassurance.  He does the same to us today as we trudge through the doom-and-gloom darkness of this sin-filled life.  That merciful message is none other than …  Jesus lights up your lives.

4.      Through our Lord Jesus the gloom of our anguish is dispelled.  Isaiah 9:1 says, “¹ But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.”   For many people life is all about just coping and surviving.  Physical, emotional, mental, relational, and, especially, spiritual issues threaten to drown us in the abyss of this seemingly God-forsaken world.  Sin along with its consequences abounds as is evident by ugly things such as physical sicknesses, accident injuries, and increasing age that damage our bodies; emotional stresses and turmoils that bruise and break our hearts; mental illnesses and breakdowns that disturb us; relational disagreements that disconnect wives and husbands, parents and children, brothers and sisters, other family members, friends, and acquaintances at work, school, and church; and spiritual confusion and denial of God's holy truth that separate many from Jesus Christ.

5.      When you’re in the darkness of sin, when you can’t see where you’re going and are stumbling around in the dark, this can be a frightening thing.  Consider this situation.  Jane got lost while driving home in a blinding snowstorm. Then she remembered what her father had once told her, “If you are ever lost in a snowstorm, wait for a snowplow and follow it.” Pretty soon a snowplow came by, so Jane pulled behind it and followed it for almost an hour. Then the driver stopped, got out of his truck, walked back to her car, and asked what she was doing. She explained that her father had told her to follow a snowplow if she was ever lost in a snowstorm. “Okay,” he said. “I’ve finished with the Wal-Mart lot. Now you can follow me over to Kmart.”

6.      You see, Jesus lights up your lives in the midst of the darkness all around you.  Your situation in life isn’t as bad as your think.  Jesus says in John 14:6, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me."  Jesus is the light about whom King David pleaded in Psalm 4:6, "Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!", and Psalm 27:1, "The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?" and the Substance of what His disciple, the Apostle John, wrote in John 1:9, "The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world."

7.      So it was with His beloved Old Testament chosen Israelites, whom God allowed to be tormented and humiliated by world pagan powers in an effort to turn them back to Him.  So it is with us His New Testament baptized Israelites, whom He allows to experience sin-broken devastation in an effort to turn us back to Him.  And, so it will be when that same God who allows those seemingly bad things to plague us also securely carries us to future glory.

8.      The promise of God is a promise of light.  A promise that Jesus lights up your lives.  Light for those who walk in darkness.  Light for those who dwell in the land of the shadow of death.  This light, Isaiah says, will come upon Zebulun and Naphtali.  This light will come to Galilee.  And by God's grace, this light will shine upon you and me and all the people of God.

9.      About 700 after Isaiah makes his prophecy, Christ comes to live in Capernaum, precisely in the region Isaiah had foretold here in Isaiah 9.  And in his coming, Christ brings the Light of God to Galilee.  Matthew 4:14-16 says, “14 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, 15 The land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; 16 The people which sat in darkness saw great light; and to them which sat in the region and shadow of death light is sprung up.”

10.  Jesus is the light that lights up your lives.  Jesus says of himself in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”  As the Light for all who follow him, Jesus calls disciples to follow in his light.  "Follow me," he says to Peter and Andrew, "and I will make you fishers of men."  "Follow me," he says to James and his brother John, and they leave their nets and follow him.  "Follow me," says Jesus to each of us today, "and I will give you light.  Light that the darkness can’t comprehend.  Light that the darkness can’t overcome.  Come follow me, and I will make you children of the light."  So St. Paul says of us in 1 Thess. 5:5, “You are all the children of light, and the children of the day; we are not of the night, nor of darkness.”

11.  But we do like the darkness, don't we?  We may have a fear of the dark, but we all have that deep, dark place within our souls where we harbor the sins which we can’t, or will not cast off.  Physical darkness provides us with cover to do the things we know we ought not do.  And spiritual darkness hides our secret sins deep in souls.  These sins of darkness are common to us all.  Maybe the particular sins differ from person to person to person, but we all have our dark secrets.  Look in your own soul.  Down deep.  What sins hide in the darkness there?  You have yours.  I have mine.  And just as Christ came to shine light on the darkness of Zebulun and Naphtali, today, through his word he comes to shine light on the darkness of our sin-sick souls.

12.  This light of Jesus isn’t intended only to punish us.  Christ shines his light upon us to expose our sins, and remind us of their presence.  He shines his holy light into our sin-filled lives and says to us what he said to the folks of Capernaum and Galilee: Matthew 4:17 says, “Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  "Repent," he says, "of your works of darkness and follow in my light.  Repent of your sin and walk in the light of the kingdom of God.  Repent and believe the gospel.  Repent and receive God's forgiveness.  Repent and be saved from the darkness."  In response to such repentance, Christ pours out light the likes of which the world has never seen.  In our Gospel today we Jesus teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness all manner of disease among the people. . . and they brought unto him all sick people that were taken with diseases and torments, and those which were possessed with demons, and those which were lunatic, and those that were disabled; and Jesus healed them.

13.  Jesus brings light into your life.  He forgives our sins.  He heals our sickness.  He releases us from our captivity to Satan by the great and glorious light of God, shining its heavenly brightness everywhere he goes.  And yet, the darkness is still there.  Opposing him.  Threatening him.  And in the end the Devil, that Prince of Darkness seems to have his way.  As Jesus hangs upon the cross, bearing the dark sins of all the world, great darkness, black as night engrosses the earth.  St. Matthew tells us in Matthew 27:45, “from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour, as Jesus was crucified.” 

14.  But Jesus is Light that can’t be overcome.  The Prince of Darkness can’t win the day.  And on the third day after his death, our Lord rose from the grave, victorious over the powers of darkness and the devil.  Risen from the grave, Jesus shines his heavenly light on the people of Judea.  He shines his light on the people of Galilee.  And today, Christ shines his holy light on us. Christ's light is the light that flows upon us from the reading and preaching of the Word, opening our eyes and our hearts to receive God's grace and peace through His Word and Sacraments.  By his light, Jesus heals our diseases and cures our illnesses.  By his light Christ relieves our pain and delivers us from the power of this dark world into the light of the brightness of the glory of God.  Jesus lights up your life!  In this light we now live.  And in this light we will live forever.  Amen.