1.
In the name of Jesus. Amen. The
message from God’s Word as we continue our sermon series on our “Life Together”
as the body of Christ comes from 1 Peter 1:6-9 and is entitled, “I Can’t Believe in a God Who Would…” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.
2.
“Aha! You would
destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save yourself, and come down
from the cross!” (Mark 15:29-30). Crowds had once hung on Jesus’ every word,
but now these onlookers had turned on him. The teachers of the law pointed out
the folly of this “Son of God” when they said in Mark 15:31-32, “He saved others; he cannot save himself!
Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down now from the cross that we may
see and believe!” And then the
criminals, crucified on either side of Jesus, started mocking him as well. Here
Jesus hung on the cross utterly alone. His followers had deserted him the night
before, and except for his mother, the two Marys, and John, all his people
seemed to have turned against him. Intensely Jesus looked into the heavens,
searching for a sign from God. But even the sky closed itself to him. The
clouds were thick and the sun was nowhere to be found—all he saw was darkness.
Desperately Jesus gazed into the abyss and cried out in Mark 15:34, “My
God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Jesus’ cry echoed into the darkness. How could he trust in a God
who would abandon him in his time of greatest need?!
3.
On January 12, 2010, Odinel, a mother of six, was preparing
for her family’s dinner. One moment, it
was a day like every other day—the next moment, the world itself shook,
bringing the six-story building down upon them. Stunned, Odinel was still able
to dig herself free, but she feared the fate of her five children. Odinel said, “I was screaming out for the
children as I threw pieces of concrete off me but heard nothing.
I could see layers of concrete lying on the spot where [they] had been doing homework. I was sure they were dead.” The silence Odinel faced was deafening.
She could never move that kind of rubble by herself. She faced the harsh
reality that her children were dead. In a matter of moments, five of her
precious children were snatched from her.
4.
The 7.0 magnitude
earthquake that struck 16 miles west of Haiti’s capital city and killed an
estimated 230,000 people has left our world staring into the abyss like many
catastrophes do. The reality is that this world is a dark place. We’re pressed by the brutality of this world.
From everyday struggles to wars to terrorist attacks to natural disasters to
broken families to lost jobs to tragic car accidents to long battles against
disease. In these moments we come face to face with our utter helplessness. We
cry out for help looking for answers. And we especially pray to God. But what
do our cries get? Often the same thing that Jesus got—silence. How many
Christians have prayed to be delivered from the clutches of cancer or another terrible
illness to no avail? How often do people cry to God over failed relationships?
How many people cry out of the despair of unemployment? Does God ever hear us?
5.
Did God ignore the
cries of the 230,000 people who were killed in Haiti’s earthquake? Is God dead?
As the dark clouds swirled over the head of Jesus, he faced his greatest trial.
In a matter of hours he would be dead. What could Jesus possibly be waiting
for as death reached out to embrace him? How could this be the arrival
of God’s kingdom that he’d so forcefully preached? How could Jesus be
the Messiah? Had he been mistaken? Now was the time for Him to give up! But
defiantly, Jesus pressed on. He resolved to patiently wait on his Father in
heaven. He refused to give up his hope that God’s kingdom was at hand. He
didn’t fight to bring himself down from that cross. He didn’t call on an army
of angels to intervene. He didn’t curse God.
Instead, Jesus continued to bless and love those who stood against him.
Following the way of love, he persisted till the end. He threw himself into the
path of death itself. And to the despair of those who stayed and watched, death
didn’t yield—it pushed forward crushing Jesus under its feet.
6.
Under 6 stories of
broken building, seven-year-old Kiki, his ten-year-old sister Sabrina, and
their little brother were buried alive. Tucked away in the rubble with the
corpses of their other two siblings, these three had amazingly been spared from
death. But now they were trapped. The days passed and there was no sign that
rescue would come. Kiki and Sabrina’s little brother cried out to them, begging
for water. Powerlessly they were unable to help him. And as the days went on their brother died of
thirst in their arms. Surrounded by the dead bodies of their brothers and
sisters, Kiki and Sabrina clung to each other and waited. Though
it would have been easy to surrender to death like they continued to hope that
they would be rescued. They found their solace in the fact that they had each
other.
7.
In this world death
also stands on your doorstep—diseases, disasters of every sort, wars,
and violence rage all around threatening to tear your life apart. Will you continue to look to God in hope or will you walk away in despair? Like
Kiki and Sabrina, it’s important that you and I face the harshness of reality
in the company of one another. If you and I try to go it alone, then we won’t
make it. God has given us a community that we might build each other up in the
face of the world’s darkness. Peter’s first letter was written to Christians
facing persecution, people tempted to give up on God. 1 Peter 1:6-9 says, “Now for a little time you may have to suffer
grief in all kinds of trials. These come so that your faith—of greater worth
than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may be proved genuine.”
Peter wrote about facing despair as part of a community in Christ.
Without community gathered around the cross the task ahead of us would be too
much. When you and I stare death and despair in the face we need each other. The
hymn writer put it this way. “When all
things seem against us, to drive us to despair, we know one gate is open, one ear will hear our prayer” (LSB 915, v. 4).
8.
On Friday they laid
Jesus’ body in the tomb. He’d stared into the abyss and it swallowed him up. It
looked like the kingdom he preached never came and now he was just another dead
Messiah. Scoffers said his trust in a god who would let him face rejection,
suffering, and crucifixion was a joke. How could he have thought that such a
god was real? His god had been too late. In a world where the strong conquer,
he’d been weak. In a world where wisdom ruled, he’d been a fool. In a world
where death had the final say, he was dead. This dark world once again asserted its strength. But as it pressed down on this weak and
seemingly foolish Jesus, its iron grip began to slip. On Sunday morning, the world that everyone thought
they knew was completely turned upside down. Jesus, was bodily raised to life! His
foolishness was proved to be true wisdom—his weakness, true strength!
Everything the world thought it had figured out began to crumble.
9. A week after the
disaster, Kiki and Sabrina’s aunt, Devinal, returned to the family’s apartment
to look for some belongings. As she looked through the rubble she heard what
she thought were muffled cries. Immediately she started to dig. Amazingly, a
team of 20 American rescue workers from New York and Virginia stumbled onto the
scene to help. They began to dig. After 4 hours of digging through layers of
concrete they came upon Kiki. Huddled next to the corpse of one of his siblings
they were able to pull him free. Then they released Sabrina who was trapped
behind a chair. After 8 grueling days without food or water the two
children were reunited with their mother. Their foolish hope was
answered, and a small window into another world was revealed.
10. In the story of Kiki
and Sabrina, and in countless others throughout the world, we’re given small
reminders that our natural understanding of what is good or evil, right or
wrong, wise or foolish, strong or weak, has been turned upside down in Jesus
Christ, the crucified. The humble ways of faith, hope, and love are shown in
him to be God’s way. Peter says in 1
Peter 1:8, “Though you have not seen him,
you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and
are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, though
you don’t see God, you know you’ll be saved from the evil clutches of a world
of disease, disaster, war, and broken relationships. Cling to God in all things
and you’ll be raised from the dead, just like Jesus! As you lie on your deathbed,
and even now, you can be certain that Jesus acts on the other side of death to
bring you to eternal life. The eyes of faith, given by the Spirit of Jesus,
reveal to us that the true God of this world is found in the midst of the
fearful abyss—our God resides in the crucified Jesus. Peter tells us in 1 Peter 1:8-9, “You believe in him and are filled with an
inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith,
the salvation of your souls.” Amen.
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