“God’s Impossible Love Made Possible” Luke 6.27-38 Epiph.7C Feb ‘25

 

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 on this 7^th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Luke 6:27-38. It’s entitled, “God’s Impossible Love Made Possible,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      Here in Luke chapter 6, at the close of what we see as impossible commands, Jesus leaves His disciples with a picture of God’s impossible love made possible in Him. A Christian woman has a small cardboard sign she keeps in her office. It offers a simple schedule for the day. The schedule reads “Wake up. Be kind. Repeat.” Now we may all think to ourselves, waking up isn’t hard. But being kind? That can be challenging. And repeating this kindness, day after day, regardless of what is happening in our lives, well, that seems impossible. But I love the sign. I’m just not sure I would put it in my office.

3.      In our text from Luke 6, Jesus offers a vision for His disciples. His idea is even harder to accomplish than that Christian woman’s sign. Jesus calls His disciples to love their enemies. Now, this call for love might not be so bad if we could make up our own definition of what was loving, but Jesus goes into concrete detail. Jesus foresees His disciples in situations of distress. People will hate you, curse you, and mistreat you. They will strike you on the cheek or take away your clothing. And for each situation, Jesus counsels His disciples with a specific act of love. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. Turn the other cheek when people strike you. Give when people beg and do not ask for anything to be returned. It is exhausting and, to be honest, quite impossible.

4.      I’m sure it seemed impossible to the people then as well, but, in our culture, it is almost inconceivable. We have learned to stand up for ourselves. From confronting bullies on the playground to navigating scheming employees at work, we have learned you can’t let people walk all over you. If you want people to respect you, you have to respect yourself. You have to set boundaries. Tell people they can go this far but no farther. Otherwise, you will be taken advantage of. And everyone assumes that being taken advantage of, being played for a fool, being treated with disrespect, being the object of hatred, or simply being dismissed is the ultimate failure in life.

5.      But Jesus knows differently. In His Kingdom, ultimate failures flourish ultimately. Peter who denied Him ends up feeding His sheep. Paul, the enemy Paul who imprisoned His followers, became His apostle, proclaiming His name throughout the world. Paul tried to put this mystery of the cross into words. Like a treasure hidden in a jar of clay, like glory which is made known only in weakness, Jesus transforms suffering and self-sacrifice into salvation and life. St. Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5, “For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our mortal flesh” (2 Corinthians 5:11).

6.      Jesus was hated, cursed, beaten, abused, stripped, abandoned, and crucified. Yet, this suffering was the triumph of God’s love. Followers of Jesus know God’s love is powerful, that in the resurrection Jesus has overcome cursing and abuse and even death itself. But disciples of Jesus not only know this as something to be thought of, conceptualized... but also as something to be lived, every day, of every month, of every year. Our suffering is our service as we take up our cross to follow Jesus.

7.      Remember that Christian woman who kept her sign in the office I spoke about earlier? She was once asked by her coworker why she kept that sign in her office. After all, she knew it was hard to always be kind. She just looked at her coworker and smiled. She said a friend had given it to her. Her friend used to come over to watch her dogs and she was dying of cancer. She fought hard. She fought long. Finally, she was overcome. But what that Christian woman remembers most was her friend’s kindness, her simple, honest, sweetness and the way she showed love, even when she was suffering from cancer. So, when that Christian woman sees that sign, she does not see something to do, she sees something which was done. Not just an act but a person, a friend who woke up with cancer, was kind, and then repeated as long as she could. For her, the words do not tell her something she needs to do, they remind her of someone kind and the things her friend had done.

8.      I wonder if something like that could happen with these words of Jesus. Did you notice how Jesus closes the words in our text? He says to His disciples, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for He is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-26).

9.      Do not be afraid. God took the initiative for you so you can be reconciled back to God for your sins. Yes, your sins are put on Jesus on the Cross but look at His empty tomb. Jesus is alive with full assurance and forgiveness of sins for all who believe in Him. Hear these words of Joseph as he confronts his brothers and forgives them years later after they sold him into slavery from Genesis 50:20: “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” You are alive with Jesus. God is at work to preserve life in you through reconciliation, the forgiveness of your sins. You live on account of God’s only begotten son, Jesus’ death for your sins and resurrection for your reconciled relationship with God.

10.   At the close of what we see as impossible commands, Jesus leaves His disciples with a picture of God’s impossible love made possible in Him. God the Father is kind to the ungrateful and the evil. He is merciful. And when we hear these strong words calling us to strange action, we remember the One who showed us love, strong and strange, in His death on the cross. These words  call us to do something, but, first, they recall for us what has been done and who did it... all... for us: Jesus. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.

“The God of Surprises” Luke 5.1-11 Epiph5C Feb. ‘25

 

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 on this 5^th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Luke 5:1-11 and is entitled, “The God of Surprises,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.      In our Gospel lesson from Luke 5, Peter asks Jesus to please go away. But Jesus is the God of surprises and, rather than go away, He comes closer. In 2003, Stephen Prothero wrote a book called American Jesus: How the Son of God became a National Icon. In it, he offered a cultural history of Jesus in America.

3.      Rather than study the writings of theologians, he looked at the daily life of God’s people. He observed their Jesus bumper stickers, their Jesus movies and musicals, their Jesus figurines and bobble-head dolls, their Jesus inflatables, and their Jesus car air fresheners. Wherever Jesus appeared, Prothero observed Him and chronicled His following. From the sagely Jesus of Thomas Jefferson to the Lord of Judgment of the Great Awakenings to the Sweet Savior of the sentimental novel, Prothero recorded the changing figure of Jesus that people encountered in their daily life.

4.      I thought about Prothero’s book when I read our gospel reading for today. Luke is recording the call of the first disciples. What struck me from this narrative is the way in which Jesus appeared to the disciples the day He called them to follow Him. Remember, this is not the first time the reader of Luke’s gospel has met Jesus. Throughout his account, Luke has given us many different pictures of Jesus.

5.      In the annunciation, Jesus is announced by the angel Gabriel that Mary is to be the Mother of the Son of God in terms of His rule. He will sit on the throne of David and deliver people from their sins. Mary responds with a song that celebrates God dethroning the powerful and lifting up the lowly, feeding the hungry and sending the rich away empty. In the nativity, Jesus is revealed as the Lord of Hosts by an army of angels who break out in song. They celebrate the birth of the Savior and send shepherds to confirm their word. The shepherds respond by hastening to see these heavenly things that are hidden in earthly wrappings and then share what they know with the world.

6.      In the presentation in the Temple, Jesus appears in the arms of Simeon as the long-promised Messiah. He will deliver Israel from oppression and open the Kingdom of God to the Gentiles. He is like a sigh of relief after you have held your breath in anticipation. After seeing this, Simeon is prepared to die in peace.

7.      The appearances continue. In the Temple, in the Jordan River, in the wilderness, in the synagogue in Nazareth, again and again, Luke offers us visions of Jesus. Each revelation brings a different quality for us to see. So what quality is emphasized the day Jesus calls His first disciples? What kind of a Jesus do they follow and what might they expect from Him?

8.      This Jesus is a God of surprises. While the disciples are cleaning their nets from a long night of fishing, Jesus gets into one of their boats and sits down and starts teaching. A failed night of fishing is followed by a surprising proclamation.

9.      Then, Jesus directs His words straight at Peter and to the other fishermen with him. He instructs them to put out into the deep water and lower their nets for a catch. Surprisingly, Jesus this carpenter has expertise in fishing. Although it goes against common knowledge and his own experience as a fisherman, Peter obeys Jesus. The fishermen see a surprising abundance of fish. Their boat is suddenly capsizing because of the miraculous number of fish that are brought in. This Jesus is a God of surprises.

10.   But maybe the most intimate and powerful surprise is the last one that is recorded. Peter realizes he is in the presence of someone holy, this Jesus. His words are powerful, and His works are full of wonder. Suddenly, Peter is overwhelmed, not by the miraculous catch, but by his own sinfulness. He knows he is unable to stand in the presence of the holy Lord. So, he stops gathering fish and falls to his knees in front of Jesus and begs Him to go away. Peter knows that the holy cannot abide with the sinful and, in an appeal to Jesus’ mercy, Peter asks Jesus to please go away.

11.   But Jesus is the God of surprises and, rather than go away, He comes closer. He sees Peter and the other fishermen and asks that they come closer to Him, that they follow Him. He will make them fishers of the Kingdom. Imagine how surprising this is. Jesus is a Lord who calls sinners into His presence and promises to transform them for service in His Kingdom.

12.   This is the image of Jesus we have when people are called into discipleship. Not a Jesus who demands that you earn your spot in His Kingdom by displaying your righteousness before Him. Not a Jesus who looks at your qualifications and sees if you can make it into His Kingdom. Not a Jesus who sends you away to clean up your life before you come and follow Him.

13.   No. We have a Jesus who calls and gathers sinners into His Kingdom through His Word and Sacraments. This is what we learn the day Jesus calls us. And this is what we see as His most surprising work in the gospel. On the cross, He takes an instrument of torture and uses it to bring about deliverance from our sins, death, and the power of the devil. He dies under the judgment of sin that He might rise and bring forgiveness to all sinners. This is His mission, and this is how and why He calls you and me to follow Him. Jesus has come to be our surprising Savior. Even though He sees our sin, He gathers us into His Kingdom through an act of forgiveness and sends us forth in service to God and to the world. Amen. Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting. Amen.

“Glimpses of God’s Goodness” Luke 4.31-44 Epiphany 4C Feb. ‘25

 

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 on this 4^th Sunday after Epiphany is taken from Luke 4:31-44 and is entitled, “Glimpses of God’s Goodness,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Jesus will return in glory to bring the fulfillment of God’s grace to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. But, until that time, we are given one day in the life of Jesus and comforted by the elaborate nature of God’s grace. When it comes to gifts, are you a ripper or an unwrapper? I have a friend who carefully unwraps her gifts. Unlike her children who rip the paper apart and get as quickly as they can from the wrapping to the gift inside, my friend slowly unwraps her presents. First, she takes off the bow and sets it aside. Then, she removes the ribbon and rolls it up. She tackles the tape, piece by piece, and unfolds the paper to reveal what is inside.

3.                Sometimes, God’s gifts are torn open suddenly and sometimes they are slowly revealed. To shepherds in the fields watching their flocks, God tore open the skies and revealed a host of angels singing “Glory to God in the highest.” (Luke 2:14) To the apostle Paul, God took him to the third heaven and revealed things Paul could not put into words. (2 Corinthians 12:1-10)

4.                But, in our text for today, we watch as the gift of God in Jesus Christ is slowly revealed. Luke records the events of just one day in Capernaum, but the time he takes to describe that day gives us an occasion to think about the many facets of God’s grace. The text begins with Jesus preaching in the synagogue in Capernaum. Unfortunately, for some of us, we have heard enough preaching in our lives to be underwhelmed by a sermon. Just ask my wife and kids. They have heard many sermons from me over the years and they often wonder if I am preaching to myself as well when I preach to the congregation. They often warn me to check with them first if I use them for sermon illustrations. My father-in-law once began a sermon saying that, “He was a macho man,” (referring to his being very athletic when he was growing up) and my wife’s family almost couldn’t hear the rest of the sermon after that. After that they would often sing to him in the words of the music group, Village People, “Macho, macho dad, I want to be a macho dad.” Faced with so many different people telling us so many different things, the sermon can become just one more talking head. It blends into a world filled with people sharing their ideas.

5.                But, when Jesus preaches in Capernaum, Luke reveals something more. This One who is handling the Scriptures is the same One who handles the power of demons. He is more than another teacher. This is the cosmic Christ who rules over all creation. Demons know Him and fear His destruction. Jesus finds those assaulted by demons and delivers them from Satan, so they suffer no harm. By recording this event, Luke gives us just a glimpse of the power of Jesus which comes to us in His Word. The very One who spoke creation into existence, who has the power to rebuke evil spirits and they obey, this One comes to us in the words of the sermon and brings us security in His powerful grace.

6.                Then, after preaching in the synagogue, Jesus goes to eat at the home of Peter, His disciple. Here, we see another side of God’s gracious reign in our midst. Jesus, who has just cast out a demon, heals Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. The one who controls the gates of Hell cares about the common cold. Here, we see the amazing extent of the compassion of Jesus. He is a God who cares about the smallest thing. He cares enough to enter your house and bring you recovery from a cold. With this small event of healing, God throws open His throne of grace for you. Regardless of how small your concern, you can bring it before Jesus. He sees and cares about the smallest moments of suffering in your life.

7.                Later that evening, people from the city gather at the door. They bring their sick, their suffering, their demon possessed loved ones, and Jesus lays His hand on each one of them. His love is specific, personal. He doesn’t merely speak a word and bring about healing for all. Instead, Jesus interacts with each person individually. When Jesus is your Savior, you don’t get lost in the crowd. He knows your sorrows and He comes to bring healing, forgiveness, and life for you.

8.                In reference to later that evening, Luke 4:40 records, “When the sun was setting …” This is the time at which people bring their sick to Jesus. This is significant because the day drawing to a close is a Sabbath, so no work can be done. But now the day has ended. And at sunset’s stroke, the people storm Jesus. But then Jesus leaves. And so the people seek Him and come to Him. But Jesus has further work to do. “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to other towns as well,” Jesus says (Luke 4:43). The Greek word for “preach the good news” is euangelizo, a verbal form of the noun “Gospel.”

9.                In the morning, Jesus then announces He must leave to continue His mission. There are other towns which need to hear His good news, and He is traveling to them. This love of God that is so powerful, so compassionate, so personal, is also missional. God’s grace in Jesus Christ extends to the farthest country, bringing salvation to the entire world. A visit to Capernaum that began in the synagogue with preaching, ends on the edge of the city with the expanse of the entire world in view. Jesus will journey to the cross and from the cross to the tomb and from the tomb to the heavenly realms, from which He will return in glory to bring the fulfillment of God’s grace to all who believe in Him as their Lord and Savior. But, until that time, we are given one day in the life of Jesus and comforted by the multi-faceted nature of God’s grace.

10.             Jesus must literally Gospel-ize other towns, for He has come to do the Gospel through His work on the cross. But the people at Capernaum are concerned that Jesus’ travel to others will somehow result in them missing out. This is a strange fear, especially since Luke says that Jesus does His Gospel for “every one of them” (Luke 4:40). It’s not as if Jesus withholds His Gospel from anyone. In a famed line from Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Tiny Tim exclaims at Christmas dinner, “God bless us, everyone!” This is the promise of the Gospel—that God blesses us, every one, with what His Son has done on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins. This is why Jesus must continue His journeys so that He can Gospel-ize everyone in other towns even as He has Gospel-ized everyone in the town of Capernaum.

11.             Martin Luther once noted that the Gospel is only the Gospel when it is “for you.” For the Gospel to do you any good, you must believe not only that Jesus died, but that Jesus died for you. And He has. Jesus has died for everyone. And the “everyone” includes you.

12.             Some night this week, I would encourage you to slowly unwrap the gift of your day. Come before God and pause for a moment of prayer. Basically, review what happened during the day and keep your eyes open for the glimpses of God’s goodness. You packed the kids’ lunches, dropped the youngest one off at school, met clients, got gas, texted with your daughter, had a phone conversation with your mom, made dinner, put the kids to bed, and watched TV. Slowly unwrap the gift of that day and see how the Lord of all creation was there, caring for you and caring through you. One day in Capernaum, we discovered God’s love is powerful, compassionate, personal, and missional. What does one day in your life reveal? Now the peace of God that passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, until life everlasting. Amen.