“God, our Heavenly Father” Romans 8.12-17, Pentecost 6A, July ‘20

 

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.  The message from God’s Word on this 6^th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Romans 8:12-17, it’s entitled, “God, our Heavenly Father,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                I’d like to begin by considering two pictures: one an etching and the other a painting. They’re both by the same artist. They are both of the same subject. But there is a world of difference between them.  The artist is Rembrandt and the subject is: The Return of the Prodigal Son. In 1636, Rembrandt created a small etching of this scene. Then, 32 years later, he returned to the subject and painted a larger masterpiece, The Return of the Prodigal Son. When you contrast these two studies, one an etching and the other a painting, you notice a world of difference between the two. 

3.                In the etching, Rembrandt focuses upon action. The scene is filled with movement. People are descending a staircase. Some are watching their steps, one looks to the side, another looks downward, but all are rushing to join the father who has rushed out before them to lean over and embrace his son. The father is moving forward. Rembrandt catches him in mid-stride, as he rushes to reach out and grasp his son.

4.                But, the painting is different from the etching. Here, Rembrandt creates a sense of stillness. He focuses on presence rather than action. No one is moving. And all of the people, whether standing or sitting, are gazing on one experience. The father, leaning over his son; the son, leaning into his father. These two people, locked in an eternal embrace. This is a moment of sonship. Of being claimed as somebody’s child and Rembrandt sought to capture that moment and freeze it upon your memory.

5.                I begin with that image, because, in our reading from Romans 8:12-17, Paul does something similar. He has revealed to us Christ, our Deliverer. Now, he focuses our eyes upon God, our Heavenly Father. Rescued by Christ from the power of sin, we are brought into the kingdom of God, where we live by the Spirit as children of God. We are children of God. That’s the main point Paul wants to communicate to the church at Rome and to us today. In Christ, God claims you as his son. God is our Father and we are his children. But what does it mean to be claimed as God’s son?

6.                To answer that question, Paul creates a contrast. The contrast between slaves and sons. Paul writes, “For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Romans 8:15) Notice how Paul turns our attention to a moment of prayer. He asks asks the church to stop and consider what happens when we pray. Our words are suspended in mid-air – “Our Father” – and Paul wants us to hear them. Paul freezes that moment and asks us to consider what it means to be God’s son.

7.                If you look closely at Rembrandt’s painting, you can see what this looks like. Rembrandt places the son’s head on his father’s chest and the father uses his hands to draw the son closer to himself. What is strange, however, is that the son looks less like a son and more like slave. His head is shaven. His eyes are closed as if he were exhausted. He brings all of his slavery there before his father. And the father reaches down to claim this slave as his son. He hovers over him in love. He places his hands upon his body and draws him to himself. This child is no longer a slave but a son, not a prisoner but a child of God.

8.                This is what the apostle Paul is celebrating in our letter from Romans. By nature, our sinful passions consume us and take us far from the kingdom of God. If we live according to the flesh, we will die. Exiled, imprisoned, thrust far from God’s kingdom. But, God, has brought us to life in the death of his Son. God, the Father, sent his Son Jesus out of love for his people. In dying, Jesus took upon himself the exile of our sin. And, in rising to life, Jesus brings us into the kingdom of his Father. Today, in Jesus, we bring our slavery before God. We confess the ways we have been less than God’s children. The ways we have been enslaved to the experiences and rule of this world. God, however, comes to us in Jesus. He places his hands upon us and draws us near to his heart in love. Today, you are once again claimed by God to be one his beloved children. As Paul writes, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” The Spirit cries out with your spirit, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:16).

9.                The church has a way of reminding us of this moment. It’s hidden away in our hymnals. I’d like you think about two moments in life, captured in the liturgy: the moment of baptism and the moment of dying. In the Service of Baptism and the Commendation of the Dying, the pastor does one simple thing. He places his hands on the person, whether that person is being baptized or dying, and he asks everyone who is gathered around that person to pray the Lord’s Prayer. If you were baptized as an infant, you couldn’t say the Lord’s Prayer, but the congregation said it for you. If you are lying there, unconscious and about to die, you cannot say the Lord’s Prayer but again the pastor and the church say it for you. Why?  Because God in this moment is coming and claiming you as his child. In baptism, as you are brought into the kingdom, the church offers you the Lord’s Prayer. This is your prayer, your language to use to speak to God your Father. As you depart this world in the moment of death, the church gathers again to testify that you are God’s child. Because you are in Christ, you can call God your Father and nothing, not even death, can take that away from you.

10.             Later in this service, we will pray the Lord’s Prayer. I’d like you to think about that moment. This is not just a repetition of a prayer that we say every week. This is the working of the Spirit. Even now, God is reaching out and placing his hands upon you, drawing you close to Himself, and the Holy Spirit is testifying with our spirit that we are children of God. From baptism to the grave and every moment in between, we cry out “Abba, Father” and rejoice that we are children of God.

11.             When Jesus taught us to pray to God, our Father, he also taught us to pray, “Thy kingdom come.” Paul’s words in our text remind us of this petition, as he writes, “The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16-17). Heirs of God. These words are so necessary in our world.

12.             Daily we are bombarded by messages that try to take God’s kingdom from us. Open any magazine and take a moment to stop and look at the advertisements. The pictures that draw you away from the things of God to the things of this world. Hair care products and cell phones, fine clothing and fine food, vacation get-aways and luxury cars. The riches of this world are set on display before you. As you glance through the pages, the life you have seems less significant than the life you could have.

13.             Words of God to his people to not covet the things of others, to love one’s spouse and one’s children, to be content with the calling into which you have been called, to rise and labor for the good of others, and to draw near to one another in the household of God – these words, this life, this church that God has made seems so outdated. It pales in comparison to the life that is promised us as we turn another page in the magazine. America becomes the promised land. The place where we can indulge our desires, make something of ourselves, get ahead in this world, and, if we keep a little bit of religion in our back pocket, trust that we will be blessed in the world to come.

14.             But, being a child of God, means something other than accomplishing the American dream. Consider a moment in the history of Israel. Moses stood there before God on the mountain. Israel had sinned against God, aroused God’s anger, and God had threatened to destroy his people. Moses prayed for them and God listened to Moses. But, God, offers Moses a strange vision of life for the people of Israel. God says that they can have the Promised Land.  They can have all of it. They just will have it without him. God won’t go with them into the Promised Land.  But, Moses, puts the magazine aside. He knows that without God, they have nothing. What good is it to gain the whole world and lose your soul? So, Moses relies on God’s mercy and prays, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here” (Ex. 33:15). Moses won’t have the kingdom without the presence of God.

15.             If you listen to Paul’s words, notice how he focuses upon our relationship to God rather than things in this world. We are heirs of God. Not just heirs of a kingdom. God himself has promised to go with us. He has called us together as his people and sent us forth to live in this land. Our lives will look different than those of the people around us. We will bless and not curse. We will be content with the calling into which God has called us. We will rise and labor for the good of others and draw near to one another in the household of God. Such lifestyles won’t indulge in all the pleasures that America has to offer. No, we will be content with what God gives us knowing that, in his kingdom, his presence is enough. 

16.             If you look at Rembrandt’s painting of the Prodigal Son, you will notice that he has frozen the story just at the moment before the son receives all of the gifts from his father. The son doesn’t have a robe placed over his shoulders, he doesn’t have his father’s ring on his finger, he doesn’t have good shoes on his feet. But, what the son does have is his father. In the presence of his father, he is led to trust that he shall not want anything else.

17.             So, too, our Lord has called us to live as his people in faith. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, he encouraged them to take up their cross and follow him. Life in this world won’t be easy. It will not be filled with the best that this world has to offer. But it will be filled with God’s love. Jesus’ Heavenly Father’s work will continue, after he rises from the dead and ascends into heaven, and we have the privilege of being called into God’s mission.

18.             Notice how Paul closes this section of the text. He writes, “we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him” (Romans 8:16- 17). Paul calls to mind the suffering of Christ. We follow his way in this world, suffering with Christ, knowing that we will be joined to him in glory at the revelation of God’s kingdom.

19.             I mentioned earlier that 32 years had passed between the first and last times Rembrandt worked with the Prodigal Son. Much happened in Rembrandt’s life during those 32 years. He lost his wife, his wealth, three of his four children, and his reputation. He then lost his last and only surviving son. “In the world, you will have tribulation,” our Lord says, “but take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). After losing all that our world would say gives life meaning, Rembrandt chose to focus upon the one thing that Jesus gives that this world cannot take away. The Spirit of adoption.

20.             Jesus makes us children of his Heavenly Father. We bring our slavery to sin before God and in Jesus we’re forgiven. Our fears are silenced and our future is secure. We are made children of God. Children and heirs. Heirs of a new world and a new kingdom to be revealed when Jesus returns. The apostle Paul paints the picture for you in his letter to the Romans: God the Father claims all of you as his children. He loves you, forgives you, embraces you, and claims you as his people, because of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus his Son.  Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen. 

 

“Christ, Our Deliverer” Pentecost 5A July ’20 Rom. 7.14-25a

 

 

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 for this 5^th Sunday after Pentecost is taken from Romans 7:14-25 and is entitled, “Christ, Our Deliverer,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                Sometimes the smallest thing can tell a greater story. Your great grandmother’s hope chest. Stone markers telling of Civil War battles. The smallest things can tell much greater stories, extending over time, involving many people.  Consider a well-used silver cup, about the size of a chalice. It was buried in the homestead of a once prosperous Roman family. When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, it was valuable enough to be buried in a wine cellar but not valuable enough to be taken along as the family fled for safety. This one small cup belonging to one family told of a much larger story.  The story of Rome and what it was like to live under the rule of Caesar Augustus.

3.                On one side of the cup is the image of Caesar Augustus, surrounded by the mythological Roman gods. He is seated and being handed the world by Venus and winged Victory, while Mars, the god of war, brings before him many conquered nations. On the other side of the cup is the image of Augustus, ruling over people. Here, the image is one of mercy and not of war. Augustus is seated, people are coming before him, and he extends one hand out to the people while in the other hand he holds a spear.

4.                This image of the emperor was common throughout Rome at the time when the Apostle Paul wrote his letter. It was carved into marble friezes, printed on coins, and molded into cups. It helped people understand what it meant to be a faithful Roman citizen. Faithfulness was the word used to describe the relationship between the conqueror and the conquered. The Roman Emperor held both power and mercy. In power, he would protect his people – so you see him with a spear in his hand – in mercy, he would rule his people – and so you see him reaching out with an open hand. Power and mercy in this one figure, ruling over people.

5.                When the Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Church at Rome, he offered another story of another conqueror who ruled over people in power and mercy. This God and man was Jesus Christ.  The small portion of the letter that we have before us today is well-known among Lutherans here in Romans chapter 7. It names the struggle between sinner and saint.  Martin Luther said that we are simul iustus et peccator, simultaneously sinners and saints. This struggle is real and hidden in the heart of every person. Some people confess this struggle openly, asking others to help them in relationships of accountability; other people hide this struggle, putting on the best face they can. But, all people, suffer this struggle and it’s not something, like that Roman cup, that can be left behind. Until the day when our conqueror, Jesus Christ, returns, we will be involved in this struggle of being  sinner and a saint.

6.                Paul’s description is personal here in Romans 7. It tells the story of one man and one struggle that never seems to end. Paul knows the good that God desires and Paul agrees with this desire. He acknowledges that what God wants is good. But Paul also discovers that he’s “sold under sin” (7:14). Paul uses the language of slavery and of captivity. His members “wage war” and he is “captive” to the law of sin (7:23). Paul knows the good that he wants to do, but he’s unable to do it. Instead, he finds that what he doesn’t want to do, that he does. A slave to sin, a captive to his flesh, Paul cries out for deliverance.

7.                But, Paul’s story, isn’t the story of only one man. This is the story that touches all people. Paul’s cry is that of Cain from the Old Testament, knowing the good that God wants him to do and yet also knowing the evil that’s close at hand in desiring to kill his brother Abel. Joseph’s brothers in the Old Testament, knowing the good care and concern they should show their brother and yet also knowing the evil judgment and sale of Joseph into slavery that eventually overtakes them. King David, knowing the good rule of his kingdom and protection of his people that God desired and yet also knowing the evil pleasures of adultery and the murder that he could use to cover it up. From individuals to families to nations, this captivity continues through the ministry of Jesus. (The Apostle Peter, knowing the good that he wanted to do in following Jesus to death and yet knowing the evil that he does in denying his Lord in the courtyard) to our own lives today. 

8.                Paul’s one small story, his one small revelation of this personal private experience, is the larger story and experience that we all know so well.  But, this isn’t the only story that Paul wants to tell. In fact, there’s a much greater story, the story of God that Paul wants to highlight for all people. This story of God is a story of faithfulness. Not our faithfulness to God but God’s faithfulness to his promises to his people through His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ.

9.                As early as man’s fall into sin in the Garden of Eden, God had begun telling this story of his love. As Adam and Eve stood there, naked before God, ashamed of themselves, and yet unable to hide, God began to speak of his love. They overheard it, in a conversation he had with that snake, the Devil. God said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Here, was the first glimpse of God’s promise. The greater story of God. He would send one, an offspring of a woman, who would bruise the head of Satan and conquer in the fight. Adam and Eve lived in hope. The individuals, the families, the nations that followed them lived in hope of this story of God coming true. And the apostle Paul writes this letter to proclaim that it did come true, in Jesus Christ our Savior. “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” Paul cries out. “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” In this section of the letter, Paul lets his one small story become part of a much larger story. The story of Jesus Christ, our Lord. He’s the one who came as our deliverer. We delivered him up to death as Satan worked through us to bruise his heel and yet he delivered us from death and from the kingdom of the Devil as he revealed his power in his resurrection and called us into the kingdom of God. This Jesus loves us, dies for us, and rises from the dead through His resurrection to give us new life.

10.             “Jesus Christ is Lord” Paul proclaims and, with those words, he invites everyone into God’s greater story. Jesus Christ is the one who rules, the one who is greater than Caesar and Caesar’s gods. He himself is God, he has come as our deliverer, and he is at the heart of God’s greater story of the rescue of his people from our slavery to sin and the redemption of all people in the world.  An artist once captured this rule of Jesus in a painting. The painting is called, “Christ and the Four Evangelists” and it depicts Jesus as Salvator Mundi, the Savior of the World. In 1516, Fra Bartolommeo was asked to paint this piece for a chapel. In it, Jesus isn’t depicted engraved on either side of a cup, with one side telling the story of the gods and one side telling the story of humans. Instead Jesus stands on top of the cup, both God and man, ruling over the world. His one arm holds a scepter with the globe at the top. Jesus truly holds all power and rules over all creation. But, Jesus’ other hand, is raised in blessing. Through his death and resurrection, Jesus has accomplished salvation for all people and now rules over all things in love and offers his blessing to the world.

11.             For some, this image has lost the intimacy of the silver cup of Caesar Augustus. There Augustus was seated among the people, extending his hand in mercy to them. Here, Christ is above the people, even the evangelists appear small when compared with his higher and larger figure, and his hand is raised in blessing not extended to one individual person in mercy.

12.             But, if you look closely at the image, you can see how Christ has chosen to rule through his people. The men who surround him are the evangelists who have written his message that’s now still being read to the world. They each hold their books, their gospels. The men in the back are looking at Jesus, while the ones in the front are engaging with the world. Matthew looks up at Jesus and Mark points his finger toward Jesus while conversing with John. Luke stares out over the people who are gathered and John points his finger downward. There we see two angels holding a disk. In that disk is just one place in the much larger world.

13.             When this picture was placed in the altar of a chapel, an amazing thing would happen The Pastor, facing the altar, would lead the worshipping community in communion. At this celebration of the Lord’s Supper, then the Pastor consecrated the bread, he would raise the body of Christ above his head and there it would appear in that one small window on the world upheld by angels. That body of Christ is the place where God’s people meet Jesus. Yes, he has ascended into heaven. His left hand holds his scepter. He has all power and he rules over the world. His right hand is raised in blessing over all. But this same Jesus is found among his people today. Jesus is present with us, close and near, as He comes in His body and His blood in the Lord’s Supper, the chalice and the host, to be your deliverer from sin, your Savior. Today.

14.             The evangelists proclaim this message. They want us to hear it and to have eyes to see this much larger story. Listen today to the words of Matthew. Here, in our gospel reading, Jesus invites you to see and to come to him. “At that time, Jesus declared, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:25-28).

15.             Here, in a very personal way, Jesus brings you once again to the heart of this greater story of God. As we gather for the Lord’s Supper, we’re connected to the much larger story of God’s loving rule over his world. This is the story of Jesus, our Deliverer, now come among us. The one who rules the world has lifted his hand in eternal blessing and we now come and receive His body and blood for the forgiveness of our sins. Yes, we come with our smaller private stories, the moments when the good that we wanted to do, we did not do and the evil that we didn’t want to do we did. That struggle is there and it is real and we come today confessing our sin. But we also come trusting in our deliverance. Jesus is faithful. He remains faithful to his promises. “Take eat. Take drink. This is my body. This is my blood. Given for you. For the forgiveness of sin.”

16.             Our Lord rules. Jesus is our Deliverer. In his hand is power and blessing and here, this day, we find mercy in his body and blood given and shed for you. At the Lord’s Supper we are joined to this much larger story. The story of God saving the world in Jesus. As we lift the cup of salvation to the Lord, his power, his blessing, his mercy extend to us and he continues to rule until the end of the world. Amen.  Now the peace of God that passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life everlasting.  Amen.