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Traveling Companions of the Cross. Lesson 3: YOU Are Created for Companionship
Travelling Companions of the Cross
Lesson 3: You Are Created for Companionship
Genesis 2:18–25
† I.H.S. †
May you become more constantly aware of the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, for they are the proof of His presence.
It’s not good…
If you read the first chapter of Genesis, you would hear God talking to Himself as He created the heavens, the earth, seas and all the creatures.
Then as He creates man and woman, He notes, this is very good!
But there is more to it than that, between the last “this is good” and the “this is very good”, there is one more phrase, the phrase that we hear in chapter two. When the Lord God notes there is something that is wrong in creation. Something that is not good.
Hear the words again,
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
Not good at all, but there is a solution
“I will make a helper who is just right for him.”
A Helper, a companion, the one who works alongside….
Remember that one, the one who works alongside.
For it is not good that we live life alone. We need to have companionship, without it, creation is screwed up.
A simple summary, everything was good, then man had no companionship and it was not good, then man did, and it was very good.
They knew no barriers… and there was no guilt/shame
As we look at the end result, what chapter 1 calls very good, we see why in chapter 2.
23 “At last!” the man exclaimed. “This one is bone from my bone, and flesh from my flesh! She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken from ‘man.’ ”
24 This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one. 25 Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.
What an incredible blessing, the fact that there was no guilt, no shame that divided them. No embarrassment, no division, nothing that created a barrier between them. Of course, they didn’t have a toilet seat to leave up, or trash to forget taking out.
Seriously, the Hebrew word there for naked meant there were absolutely no barriers between them, there was nothing that stopped them from seeing each other the way they truly were.
Sin of course, created those barriers, and the need for something to cover, to hide, a defensive mechanism. It is there because we don’t want to see people the way they really are, and we don’t necessarily want them to see us.
You are probably thinking just in the physical sense, but it is true for most of who we really are.
They lived perfect, sinless lives for that time, and it was very good.
Exitus-Reditus
There is a old theological thought, is Exitus-Reditus – that which leaves, returns. Theologically speaking, what returns is always that which completes, and by God’s power, it is more than what left.
A rib is taken out and it returns a helper, a companion, That action made what was not good, very good. The fellowship, the communion, the companionship that was formed ws greater than the loneliness that preceded it. That is the power of reconciliation, the power of God’s mercy, forgiveness and healing, the power of God drawing back together that which is supposed to be one.
It’s more than just the couple – they were representative of all humanity
This is true more than in the sense of husband and wife, for example that same kind of language is used as men join David’s army
1 All the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron and said: “Here we are, your bone and your flesh. 2 Samuel 5:1 (NAB)
Though it is a different bond than that between husband and wife, all od God’s creation was meant to live together, companions of God, companions formed at the cross, when Christ’s side was opened…and because of the blood that was spilt, a new relationship – the companionship of Jesus and His bride the church was formed.
At the pastor’s conference, our district president made mention of this when he was talking about the church. One of his major points was this, “Servant leaders live in Intimate Community” He was teaching pastors that in order to be effective pastors, we can’t be apart from our people, shepherds are companions, He even used the idea that we have to know each other in a way that sounds scary, Intimately.
Not intimate as in husband and wife, but intimate because there is no division, not barriers, no shame that divides us. That we work together because we realize that God has brought us back to each other.
Another speaker made mention of it this way, “The idea of the nuclear family being the cornerstone of society has become a 100 year failed experiment” What he meant is that society is more than a dad, mom and children. That prior to 100 years ago, the extended family, that included blood relations an even long term neighbors was the cornerstone of the family. Not less intimate relationships in depth, but deeper relationships and more numerous ones. That writer noted the amount of young people striving to live in micro-communities, what we in the church sometimes refer to as small groups. But groups that live like in Acts, where the group survives together. The broken world is looking for something they can’t find, yet it is what we know so well.
It is not good that man should live alone….
Followed by God saying, “I got this, you will not be”
Adam was given Eve, and humanity was born, and one day, the ultimate Companion for each of us was born, as Mary would give birth to Jesus.
So how do we get reconcile?
Not long after that, and ever since, most of us have put up barriers that frustrate our desire for companionship. We drive away those we are called to love in Christ, As we have come alive in Christ, that doesn’t have to happen anymore. Reconciliation is not just a good idea, it is how God desires we live. Reconciled to Him, reconciled as a family.
I kind of wish it could be like Adam, where God caused sleep to fall on him, and then took the bone away from him. He then woke up, and knew the person standing before him, who would stand beside him was literally, part of him.
He recognized the work of God, that what was taken was return to make him complete, but in a way far beyond anything ever expected.
Adam was complete – he had his helper, he had the one who completed Him.
When our companion died and rose on the cross, He took away the barriers, He destroyed the things we stop us from seeing each other. Not the physical barriers, not the clothes. But God destroyed the sin, and gave us a new life, made us a new creation. He forgave all sin. The sins we’ve committed against Him and each other. And He reminds us of that each time we remember our baptism, or commune at the altar as His family, or hear those words, your sins are forgiven.
Because of Christ our companion. Because of the cross, where our companionship was forged in His blood. For He reconciles us to God, and the in Christ, we are reconciled to each other.
That is why there is peace, a peace that passes all understanding, that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
Traveling Companions of the Cross – Lesson 1 Become Okay with being Last
Travelling Companions of the Cross
Lesson 1: Become Okay with Being Last….
Mark 9:30–37
† In Jesus Name †
As we travel through life, may you be aware of God’s grace, of His mercy and love that rubs off on you, transforming your life, and the lives of your family.
The Theory
For the next 10 weeks, the lessons in our sermons are going to work on a theme.
It is based on the truth, that the longer you spend with someone, the more they rub off on you. You parent of our preschoolers will notice this over the next 10-15 years, as your children will pick up behaviors they observe. You might have already seen this, if they watch one particular show a lot and pick up on the verbal phrases of their favorite character. It’s one of the reasons you will have to get used to handy many, doc McStuffins, Dora the Explorer, and movies like CARS, UP, and Frozen as the kids watch them 475 times each!
Part of our role as a school is to help you help them pick up the good behaviors, attitudes and phrases and discard those not so good.
Picking up behaviors, phrases, and attitudes is something we will do all of our lives. To put it simply – we rub off on each other! Without realizing it, we begin to act like those we admire, those we care about, and sometimes, those who antagonize us!
That’s the nature of the sermon series, the behaviors we pick up – as Christ’s companions In life.
The First Lesson – The First Lesson
In our second reading, we are going to see the first lesson, that we can be okay with being last, with being the servant of all. Jesus gets the disciples – basically a term for apprentice or people who master something through on-the-job training, Jesus gets them alone for a while. He knows his crucifixion is near, so he wants to explain to them again what will happen. This is what he taught them
“The Son of Man is going to be betrayed into the hands of his enemies. He will be killed, but three days later he will rise from the dead.”
there is a problem, though, as we keep reading
32 They didn’t understand what he was saying, however, and they were afraid to ask him what he meant.
He couldn’t get to the point where he would explain to them that caring about people means this is the length you go to, to show them, love. That is part of His lesson for them throughout scripture. Paul does a great explanation of that in Philippians 2, and in Romans and 1 Corinthians 12. It is what he means by, imitate me, as I imitate Jesus.
They don’t understand yet that He has to die, or that He has to die so that they can live, so they can be free of the punishment their sins deserve.
Rather than ask, they keep quiet – they decide the lesson is too overwhelming… but they will learn, as will we
The First Quiz
The second part of the lesson occurs as the disciples argue who is the top student, the assistant to the rabbi-master. That is what they are asking, “Jesus, who is in authority if you leave?” For the greatest student always succeeded the master in that day.
As they are arguing about it, Jesus gives them the lesson again,
“Whoever wants to be first must take last place and be the servant of everyone else.”
And Jesus will show them what that means, as He heads to the cross, to die for them, and for us. He does it because He is the greatest example of God’s love we have ever known. He does it because the love of God drives him to do something no one else ever could. He dies, as Isaiah prophesied said he would, 700 years before the cross,
5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. 6 All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6 (NLT)
The Refresher
Which brings us to the third lesson, as Jesus takes time for the youngest, the weakest, those that society would think aren’t worth the time of a master teacher.
Imagine a seminary president, taking the time to show an unknown preschooler around a university. Not with television crews and thousands following him, but just the child and a few friends. Or think of computer CEO, playing some chutes and ladders with the 4-year-old daughter of one of his stockroom clerks. Again, not in the limelight, but because he valued them. Or a superstar taking the time to visit a senior home, or a President or international religious leader, who would spend time, without the cameras with someone in the hospital, or a forgotten convict in prison.
The lesson is to love the least, and that is what the disciples of Jesus need to learn.
Note I didn’t say they learned it – for we are disciples as well.
That is the example Jesus gives the disciples, and yet takes it even deeper with these words,
37 “Anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf* welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes not only me but also my Father who sent me.”
Here is the key to learning this lesson. It is found in welcoming Christ, in welcoming the Father’s presence in their life. Because Christ did exactly what He is teaching us, as He comes to us. He loves those who everyone else says are not worth the time. When we hear that by His authority, our sins are forgiven. When He invites us to pray to the Father, and gives us the words for when we don’t have the words.
We show we’ve learned not just the lesson of not being first, and the value of serving others because we’ve realized that He is how He loves us. As we realize that love for us, it changes us, to use a modern phrase, His character rubs off on us. We reflect the nature of God, the God who loves us, who comes to us, who put our salvation, our eternity before his own pleasure, and served us by dying for us.
It is because of this, that we know the peace of God that goes beyond all understanding, that guards our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. AMEN!
The End that Justified the Means
The End that Justifies the Means
John 6:51–69
May the grace of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, may that love and mercy be revealed to you, and may it assure you that in His presence you will remain!
Is the Journey more important than the destination?
Four years before Martin Luther would nail to the door an invitation to discuss indulgences, a man in Italy, the man who would become the father of political science, and the first to write on political ethics finished his best known work.
Though not in the book as a direct quote, a summary of it gave us one of the best known proverbs that is not contained in the Bible. A proverb many a businessman and many a politician see as foundational.
The end justifies the means.
Basically, Machiavelli held that, “a ruler must be concerned not only with reputation, but also must be positively willing to act immorally at the right times.” (Wikipedia)
One example given on Wikipedia of that is this, “Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of power and introduction of new legal institutions.”
As odd as it sounds, there is one example of that proverb, that you and I must be grateful, one time in history where the end justifying the means was not only appropriate, but a blessing.
As the Jewish people struggle with Jesus teaching that they must eat His body and drink His blood, they will struggle even more that in order to receive the promises of God, in order to be His people, they would have to depend upon the greatest injustice in history.
The Journey
There is a part of me that wants to preach on this passage from the safety of focusing on the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. After all, there are theologians who say this passage where Jesus demands us to eat His Body and drink His blood as being primarily about the Lord’s Supper. And there are some that say it is not. Fascinating arguments on both sides.
It is safe, it would help you comprehend what we do during communion, and it would miss the point.
This passage isn’t about communion, in the way that a journey isn’t about the journey, it is about the destination. Because the Jewish people were worrying about the journey, they missed the message of the destination.
That God would remain in us, and we in Him.
We’ll get back to that in a moment, but we need to see that we are no different than the Jewish people, who though knowing God’s law, struggled with what Jesus was saying, struggling so much that they would say,
“This is very hard to understand, how can anyone accept it?”
It was so hard to understand, that most of the disciples would leave.
Because they were focusing on the means, rather than the end.
We do the same thing today, when we toss aside God’s word. Maybe we consider it out of date in the moral standard. Or when we dismiss something because those rules were okay back then before people were educated, but they don’t apply to us smarter and more sophisticated people today. We argue with God, we try to define what is right and what is wrong. We try to change the rules, rationalize our way out of things, or create a different standard.
A great example is how we treat our enemies, adversaries and those who are a pain in the butt.
Do we really love them? Do we really pray for them? Do we really want to forgive them and welcome to commune with us?
Or do we try to find a loophole, an exception to God’s desire that we love all our neighbors?
Or what about when God says to embrace persecutions and suffering, for the sake of the gospel. He just means pastors and worship leaders and elders. Not bass players and sound men, and ushers, right?
We don’t get it, it seems too hard to understand. We don’t like it when God confronts us and challenge our agendas, or rules out what we like and what we dodo. Sometimes, confronted by God’s wisdom and unable to get it, sometimes we walk away. Just like the disciples did.
John’s gospel shows how hard it is, as it records Jesus’ words, “The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.”
We need it, we need a God we can relate too, trust in, depend upon…
for our very lives.
Remaining in Christ Jesus
One of the things that we look at, when studying the passage, is the frequency something is mentioned. For example – if a thought is repeated, even if a little different, that is called a parallelism – and it is important. Especially if it followed by AMEN! AMEN! or “This is True!” Three times is even more critical to understand.
We know this well. If our parents or our wives or our bosses repeat themselves, it is critical we are listening.
In this passage, the body and blood being sacrificed is mentioned frequently. But even more frequently is something else. Here it is….
“will live forever”
“so the world may live”
“have eternal life within you”
“has eternal life”
“I will raise that person at the last day”
“remains in me, and I in him.”
“will live because of me”
“will not die”
“will live forever.”
“The Spirit alone gives eternal life”
“Very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life”
68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.”
This is what it is all about, this life we have with God. That we are His people, that He is our God. That we are fixed to Him, we remain in Him, and He in us. United from the very moment of our baptism, united by a promise, the very new covenant, a promised renewed as He sustains us with His body and blood.
A life given, and shared.
A glorious eternal life.
That is our destination, that is the end that justifies the means that seem beyond unfair.
For one of Nicollo Machiavelli’s summaries became true, at the cross.
Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of power and introduction of new legal institutions.”
Or let me phrase it a little differently
Violence may be necessary for the successful stabilization of God’s reign and introduction of a new covenant.”
The violence of a Cross, the creation and stabilization of a righteous people of God, gathered in His presence, by the enactment of a new law, a new covenant.
That is what this is all about… it is why we know Jesus words are true.
Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is my flesh.”
So eat, be nourished, understand the gift of life in Christ and remain in Him, for there is His peace. AMEN.
Imitate God – Live a Life filled with love
Imitate God
Live a Life Filled With Love!
Ephesians 4:17–5:2
† In Jesus Name †
This is my prayer for you, that because of the mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, you would desire to live a life filled with His love, and imitate Christ Jesus in everything you do.
The Difference Between Playing God.. and Imitating Him
It was once said that the sincerest form of compliment was for someone to imitate you.
Well, it is a compliment as long as they imitate something you like about yourself.
For example, a lady asking another lady for a recipe.
That’s a compliment.
Another pastor asking if he can use a sermon, or learn Chris’s liturgy music, those are compliments.
Someone choosing to become a teacher, or a doctor or even a pastor, because of the impact that a teacher, doctor or pastor had on their life.
Those are compliments as well!
Is someone trying to duplicate my golf swing?
That’s not a compliment; that is insanity!
In today’s epistle reading, there are two different models to imitate, to mimic. One is insanity; the other seems impossible, but it is actually rather simple.
One is imitating the Gentiles.
The other is imitating God.
One possible, the other insanity….
Imitating the World is Simply Playing God The Sin of Self Idolatry
Let’s deal with imitating the Gentiles. Or as Paul says, living like the Gentiles, following the patterns and lifestyles of the world.
It doesn’t require a Ph.D. in Psychology to see how crazy the world is.
Paul describes it well by saying that those living without a relationship with God are hopelessly confused, that their minds are lost in a darkness that consumes them. Paul goes on to describe them as close minded to God and having no sense of shame. They are people that live for whatever seems pleasurable, chasing after whatever is popular, no matter how degrading, how filthy, how degrading, how evil.
As long as it meets what they consider their needs….
Need for pleasure, for fun, for comfort, for approval. Or simply if it helps them get what they want. It is narcissism, self-centeredness Or put more simply, it is telling God his guidance is worthless, and replacing his rules with your own. Don’t worry about those ten commandments, or loving our neighbor, the world says. Scripture isn’t relevant or real! Do what seems right in your own eyes, and if peopled question you, tell them to not judge you.
That was the gGentilesattitude, it is definitely the world’s attitude today.
But there is a problem here… one we need to think through.
Lest we only judge those out in the world, I need you to recognize what Paul is telling this church, perhaps the most mature of all the churches he ministered to.
Look at this carefully
17 With the Lord’s authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do,
Now, let’s think about this. You don’t have to tell people to not do something, unless they are doing it!
And if you are an apostle, you don’t have to add, “with the Lord’s authority”, unless you know they are really going to struggle with you on the matter.
The people in the church in Ephesus struggled with living like the world.
If we are honest, we struggle with it as well. It’s not that we really want to, but some habits are hard to break. Temptations can be hard to overcome.
Paul lists a bunch of sin, buts the key is in verse 22. Sin is the result of lives corrupted by two things, the first is lust, desiring things that aren’t yours. The second thing that corrupts our lives is what is translated as deception, but is more like seduction. The things that distract us, attract our attention and cause us to hunger for them.
The sin dominated one is a insane life, for we don’t have the wisdom to choose wisely. It is crazy to say we know better than God. That we know what is good for us.
But there is an option to imitating the world.
Imitating God The life of the Transformed
We need to make sure we understand the difference between playing God, and imitating God.
The gentiles and the world, and yes often we play God. That is sin.
But Paul calls us to imitate God, to follow the example of Jesus. That requires something important. You see a hint of it on the cover of the bulletin. It is a transformation as incredible as that which occurs when a hungry caterpillar becomes a majestic butterfly.
A transformation that begins when you were baptized.
A transformation that happens as Paul describes, in verse 23,
let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
and
Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption.
Unlike the butterfly, our transformation is started, empowered and completed by Christ. It occurs as we spend time realizing His presence in our lives, the promise of our Baptism. It happens as we contemplate how much He loves us, and the freedom that gives us.
For the old controlling forces that corrupted our lives have been broken and we are free to see God’s reconciliation spread, even as Paul describes
31 Get rid of all bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, and slander, as well as all types of evil behavior. 32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
This is not a command as we think of it, and imperative you must. It is more like discovering something incredible, a blessing of proportions!
Bitterness, rage, anger, harsh words, gossip, all evil behavior can be stripped off of us, and as we are united to Jesus, we find ourselves being dressed with God’s love, with His mercy, even as we begin to resemble Christ…even as we are being healed.
Because we are imitating God.
Like a child, wanting to be like his dad…
This is what happens when you trust in God, when you depend on Him.
We are changed, we are transformed… and instead of being locked into a life shaped and modeled by the world, we find something incredible, a journey through life, that as we mature, as we are drawn deeper and deeper into a relationship with Jesus… causes us to resemble Him more… and these words become our life
Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love,
AMEN!
The Transformation of Easter: Part 1 The Change to Our Church
How Easter is Transforming Our World!
The Change to Our Community
Acts 4:31-35
† IHS †
May the Grace of God our Heavenly Father and our Risen Lord Jesus strengthen you, even as it transforms us.
Change versus Transformation:
I am about to tell you something is coming, and I want your reaction to the word I use.
What is coming, what will happen to us here at Concordia is “change”. You will not be able to resist it, you can’t stop it. Resistance is futile.
If you are like 90 percent of the population, hearing that might make you a little anxious, or you might wonder if there is anything that can be done to stop it.
Some of you might even begin to wonder what is changing. Some will automatically look and think of negative changes. Some of you might be thinking of things that could change for the positive. And what is ironic – you might be thinking of the same exact thing!
For the rest of Easter, we are going to be looking at the changes that happen to a church, matter of fact that are happening at our church.
But to alleviate the stress, the worry, the concern, how about if I use the word transformation instead? A transformation so complete, we might not even recognize ourselves, or our church, when God is through with us!
Today’s observed transformation
In our reading from the Book of Acts this morning, we see an incredible description of the change that will, no, the change that is happening to us.
It talks there of a church, the people that trusted in God that became united in both their heart and their mind. In every part of their existence. They were one in the way they felt, in the ways they thought. They desired the same thing; they reacted together to what was going on, and they identified themselves, all 8000 of them or more, as sharing the same life.
Luke tells us the uniqueness of this church; they were of one heart and mind to the extent of sharing everything they had with each other. I love the way the word pictures describe this; everything is held to be common, nothing special and set aside.
Therefore, if there were people in need, the rest of the people found a way to meet that need. No one lacked, because how can you let your people go without?
What a transformation we see happening to the people who trusted God! Who continually heard that Jesus Christ has risen from the dead! (wait…)
I mean, what kind of people would liquidate their wealth, to help others, people they barely know?
The Change to our Norm
If we look at what God does to his people from the perspective of “before” the cross, the change seems frightening, and the description of the early church doesn’t make sense.
Give up what is precious? Trust people with what I treasure? Give up my security, to make sure others feel secure?
We talked about this when we talked about the Lord’s prayer, and the idea that we trust God to provide everything we need. It takes faith to live like this, an incredible amount of faith.
You can’t listen to the questions that would raise doubts about our fellow man. You can’t wonder if people need, or if they will abuse the blessing, or whether someone will be there for you, when you need the help, instead of being able to provide it.
You need to reach out and trust rather than be cynical, you have to have the wisdom to discern need, and the compassion to meet the need.
Our nature, even on the good days hears this and takes it as an obligation. That God requires us to change our hearts, to reach out with this kind of love, making the sacrifices as proof of our faith.
And if that is our belief, we shall surely fall short. We need to change…
Our old nature that was once in bondage to sin, Satan and feared death calls for us to protect ourselves, and what we’ve earned, what is ours by right. That leads to sin, as we struggle to get what isn’t ours, or we overlook our neighbors, and what they need.
The change is not so much in what is individually ours. Instead, we see what is God’s, and treasure that more than anything else.
The Beauty of the transformation…
Though the vision cast here in Acts is that what it looks like financially to be of one mind, I think we’ve seen here, at Concordia, what it means to be emotionally of one mind.
Paul talked of this too, when he told the church in Rome,
Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. 16 Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Romans 12:15-16 (NLT)
We’ve become “of one mind” here. We share deeply in each other’s joys, the moments when someone is baptized, or when someone has good news. We’ve shared as well in each other’s sorrows and griefs, stood beside each other in moments of grief. We’ve cried with each other often; it seems as often as we laugh together over meals we have shared.
That is the transformation that God works in His church, in His people. That we respond to each other. To meet each other’s needs before thinking about ourselves.
It’s come about not by force, but rather by focusing on God’s love for us, the love seen in the cross, and reflected as we share in His body and blood. By sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
It’s what happens when we look to Christ, and as Paul says in 2 Cor 3, the Holy Spirit changes us, transforms us into Christ’s image, as we reflect His glory.
This change that happens isn’t our work, just as it wasn’t the idea of the apostles. It happens when we realize the love of God, revealed in the death of Christ for your sins, in his burial, and in the fact He is risen from the grave.
He has given us life, now and for eternity, living in the glory of His love, with one heart, with one mind. AMEN.
We Cry our Hosanna (save us!) Because our World is Upside Down!
We Cry Out, Hosanna
Because Our World Is Upside Down!
Zechariah 9:9-12
† IHS †
As we adjust from living in a world that is upside down, may the grace of God turn our world right side up, and help us be at peace with the change!
Discomfort and the Poseidon Adventure
Vicar Mark made a comment in Bible Study the other night that made so much sense. Talking about Palm Sunday, (aka the Sunday of the Passion) he compared it to an old movie, the Poseidon Adventure.
He indicated that Palm Sunday is like the few hours after the people on the upside down ship were rescued. When they were still so disoriented because what had been upside down, was now right side up. Where what had sadly become normal, was not normal any longer.
It is like trying to adjust to the sermon being the very first thing in the service.
It’s odd, and we aren’t comfortable with it.
Yet when God comes into our lives, it is to put everything back the way it should be.
We have to get used to it as well! Even as we have to get used the paradox of this being both Palm Sunday, and the first day of Holy Week; also known as Sunday of Christ’s passion.
The world shifts back to normal, but will we recognize it? Will we adjust to God making everything right?
Our Discomfort with the Meek Ruler
When in a few minutes, you hear the words of Zechariah read, I want you to think through the words,
Look, your king is coming to you. He is righteous and victorious, yet he is humble, riding on a donkey— riding on a donkey’s colt.
That was why the people of Jerusalem were so happy, this was the King, their King that was entering Jerusalem, the one to whom they cried out Hosanna. By the way, that isn’t just a cry of victory, it is a cry asking for it, a cry of despair, a cry for Jesus to go out and win.
Even as they recognized and cried out to Jesus, knowing this, they didn’t see what the salvation they cried for entailed.
For instance, instead of coming on the White Warhorse, proud and ready to lead, he comes on donkey’s foal – a young ass barely able to carry him.
That’s not what we want as our leader, we want someone strong, ready to take on everything, ready to go to war, ready to conquer everything. The kind of King we can follow in triumph.
But that Is upside down thinking. If our God is God and nothing can stand against Him, then Jesus doesn’t have to come decked out for war, He can come humbly and peacefully. He can come in a way that is relaxed, in a way everyone can reach out to Him.
That is how it would be, if sin didn’t rule over people. Jesus knew why He came, and the kind of kingdom He would establish. Confident of the Father’s love, and their plan to set everything right side up, He comes with that in mind.
Our discomfort with the Peace He Brings!
We see the same disorientation, when you start to think about the peace this prophecy about Jesus’ promises. Usually we think of creating peace by disarming the enemy, making them submit to us.
Look at the verse again.. and hear this when it is read later,
10 I will remove the battle chariots from Israel and the warhorses from Jerusalem. I will destroy all the weapons used in battle, and your king will bring peace to the nations.
The prophecy wasn’t about God disarming the world, it was about God disarming Israel! That doesn’t sound quite right! It sounds quite upside down in fact! At least from the perspective of living in a broken, sinful world, we want a country well armed! After all, isn’t It the world against us? Shouldn’t we make it submit to us?
As God moves to set make everything right, Jesus shows us the greatest victory through dropping the defenses, and loving and serving those who would be our enemy. His example isn’t from forcing them to obey, but by giving us the confidence to obey.
A confidence that realizes that we don’t have to be offensive in dealing with our enemies, for Jesus will provide them a level of peace, even as His kingdom spreads throughout the world.
As Israel, under the watchful eye of the Roman military as well as the religious authorities calls out for Jesus to save them, Zechariah’s prophecy should point them to the paradox of the cross, where Jesus brings the Father glory, where He wins us the victory, by disarming himself.
They never saw it coming. They couldn’t see it right, for their world was upside down. The question is will we see it here.. And now?
Or has sin disoriented us too much?
He is our answer, our place of Safety.
Zechariah saw it coming. Perhaps it is a better to say the Holy Spirit inspired His perception, and led Zechariah to write this prophecy.
Here some more of it,
11Because of the covenant I made with you, sealed with blood, I will free your prisoners from death in a waterless dungeon. 12 Come back to the place of safety, all you prisoners who still have hope!
Even as the Vicar and an Elder process this morning, you will note that the procession moves towards the altar, toward the place where you will be given Christ’s body and blood this morning, the place where you cry of Hosanna – God save us! Is answered.
Before a cross, remembering that it was at the cross where the blood of the covenant was poured out, even as the wine and blood will be poured out this morning.
Everything turned upside down. A Kingdom won by surrender, peace gained by allowing violence, leadership found in humility, Life created in death, freedom found in submission. Saints found as sinners are revealed to be in Christ.
A life lived in safety and security, for eternity.
Because of God’s passion, because of the peace He came to bring, riding on a donkey.
So we celebrate that Christ, the one who flips everything, making it right, making life the way it was supposed to be. We celebrate Jesus, who sends the Holy Spirit to dwell in us, to give us the strength to deal with the disorientation is revealed to be something need to know – the peace that passes all understanding.
AMEN!
Assistance We Need to Endure Part 1
The Assistance to Endure
Hebrews 5:1-10
May the grace of God our Father and our High Priest Jesus Christ sustain you as your endure, waiting patiently for His return
If Life Were Only Like a Commercial
Wouldn’t it be great if life were like the way it is pictured in commercials? For example, if we get ourselves into trouble wouldn’t it be great to be able to sing a little tune, and in a split second an angel would appear! He would be ready to cut a check, to do whatever it took to make things appear like new?
Wouldn’t it be great to have someone to act as our agent, our friend? Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone act our advocate, and to intercede with everything involved, till everything was restored as best it could be?
It would be an amazing thing if such were possible.
It would make life a lot easier when we got into trouble, we knew we could call out, and we would be heard. Knowing that, we could simply rest, confident in the one God sent to take care of us, to make everything work out for good.
As the author of Hebrews describes the high priesthood, he is describing such a role. The High priest who is our advocate, the intercessor, the one assigned to be the mediator who would make everything work.
That is the role of Jesus, for He is who the Father chose to care for us, to help us endure this life.
He deals gently… yet
In the job description of the high priest, our intercessor, our mediator, there is an interesting comment. It is both a bit challenging and yet, very comforting. Let me read it again,
2 And he is able to deal gently with ignorant and wayward people because he himself is subject to the same weaknesses. Hebrews 5:2 (NLT)
Hmmm. How many of us like to be described as wayward or ignorant?
It is hard to admit we are ignorant. That we don’t know what is good, or what is best for us. After all, who knows us better than us?
Well, yes besides our wives.
And yeah, God too!
That’s the point, it isn’t too easy to admit that we don’t know. We like to be the experts, seen as the experts, We are not, and when we act in ignorance, without God’s counsel, we often find ourselves sinning.
We do things we don’t know are wrong or we don’t want to admit are wrong. We fall prey to sin, and to Satan. We need to admit that, acknowledge that we don’t know it all and let our high priest intercede.
The other challenge is that we do go astray. The word is a passive very, we are led off course, we find ourselves lost, unable to go the way God would have us go.
Neither ignorance nor getting lost is a valid excuse. Being separated from God is being separated.
It is hard to admit that, for most of us are quite proud of our knowledge, or that we don’t need to ask for directions. Some of us are stubborn, and the more we see that we need help, the more stubborn we get.
Ignorant and lost, we need someone to help. Someone wise enough to bring us back on track, someone we can trust, someone who has been through what we’ve been through. Someone who can find us, and gently show us the way back.
Someone who is able to deal with us gently, even when we are caught up in our ignorance, even when we are wayward and lost.
Someone God qualifies and equips to do that very thing; who is precise as He compassionately works on our behalf. Someone who will intercede and is willing to pay the cost.
Do We Realize the Cost He paid?
I think we need to take time to read another part of the passage again,
7 While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God. 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:7-8 (NLT)
We know Jesus cried, for he cries over Jerusalem, and at the death of Lazarus.
Yet to realize that He would cry out to the Father, is more challenging. To see him escape the crowds from weariness, from knowing the suffering, He would pray, crying out to the Father. And He would endure, for them. Even more perhaps for us, who understand what the cross is, and why he would cry in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Jesus heard the Father’s desire for us to become the Father’s. He knew the desire of God, and lived it out, fully man, and fully God, caring gently for those broken by disobedience, and ever those who wondered off, distracted by life.
Even as he cries in the garden, for the Father to take away the trauma that was coming yet was as sure to him as Judas’s betrayal. As sure as our own betrayal. He still endured.
For the joy set before Him, this letter to Jewish Christians will tell us. He endured all the pain, all the suffering. He endures and
9 … became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey him. Hebrews 5:9 (NLT)
The Arch-hierus… a Testimony to His Assistance
It is amazing to see how complete Christ’s rescue is, to see how great this salvation is.
For God takes the ignorant and the wayward, and binds them to Christ.
We will talk about it more in our Bible Study; for in that rescue, in our being joined to Jesus, we are given the gift of the Holy Spirit. And as God cleanses us in baptism, we take on the priesthood with Him.
You see, the title high priest, is actually “first priest” or lead priest, the one from whom all other ministry is given.
You and I, and now, little Jason, are to follow Jesus’ lead as God’s priests. We will learn to deal gently with those who are ignorant of God’s love and mercy, and with those who have wandered off, and been led away from God. We may even embrace some suffering in order to accomplish God’s will. We will learn to love as Jesus love’s, to hear God’s desire to bring others into the family, as Jesus heard.
That is the transformation of the Gospel, the work of our high priest, the one anointed by God, to be our Savior, our Lord, our High Priest. To bring us into the peace of God and make our hearts and minds safe, for we dwell in Him.
AMEN!
The Attitude of Endurance Part I
The Attitude of Endurance Pt 1
John 2:13-22
As You Journey through this life, may the grace and mercy of God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ convince you of the God’s passionate care for His people!
Nothing will stand in the way
Attitude is often the difference between victory, and failure.
For a student, it is necessary, in order to master the material. Determination makes the difference, far more often than intelligence does. For some things can only be learned through slow repetition. Attitude matters then because a determined attitude will see you through the boring times
For an athlete, an attitude of determination can be the difference between victory and defeat. When an inch matters, determination can stop your opponent.
What about a husband and wife? Do they need to have the correct attitude to see their marriage survive?
What about a believer? Does our attitude help us endure, trusting in God
Or an elder or a pastor? Does attitude have anything to do with how we minister to those around us?
What about our Savior?
If we are to endure this life, and the challenges to our faith, does Christ’s attitude matter?
As Jesus clears the temple courtyard, we see His dedication to seeing us endure. An attitude we need to imitate, that we all need to model for those who need to know His love.
Why was this wrong? Some background
As the Passover nears, people gathered from all over the Mediterranean Basin. They traveled from Rome, from Greece, from Alexandria Egypt and Babylon. Two parts of their journey that mattered were paying the temple tax, and offering pure; unblemished sacrifices, as important to them as our sacraments are to us
Without doing these things, they weren’t included in the people of God. Not by their choice, by God’s rules.
So people provided what they needed, the bulls, the sheep and pigeons, and others provided the special coins needed to pay the temple tax and offering. In the process, a business came up, and some people thrived on it, some even made quite a prophet, as people had to offer these sacrifices.
It wasn’t just the extraordinarily high-profit margins that bothered Jesus. Far more critical was the location for these religious businesses.
The Courtyard of the Gentiles, also known as the courtyard of prayer.
The place set aside, the holy place where the people who were not in Covenant could come and pray. The people Solomon prayed for at the dedication of the temple, centuries before:
41 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation. 42 People are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonder-working power, who come to pray at this Temple. 43 Listen from your home in heaven. Honor the prayers of the foreigner so that people all over the world will know who you are and what you’re like and will live in reverent obedience before you, just as your own people Israel do; so they’ll know that you personally make this Temple that I’ve built what it is. 1 Kings 8:41-43 (MSG)
Imagine the noise of the animals of those people running the coin exchange and the negotiations.
Imagine the noise of Walmart at Christmas time, going on here, as we celebrate the Lord’s Supper!
People, who’ve journeyed days and weeks are trying to cry out to God, and they so need to hear him. While bath’s and moo’s and the high-pitched cry of the birds and the all the talking is going on.
Don’t you see people trying to pray amid all the distractions?
They will be able to pray soon, for Jesus will make it peaceful, just as soon as He cleans house.
Bring it home
As I read this, I wonder how Jesus would clean up the church today. It is easy to answer that for the church throughout the world, but how would he clean house here?
What things do we do, that get in the way of people knowing they are forgiven children of God? What here at Concordia would make it difficult for someone who isn’t yet a believer, find it hard to hear His voice, and see His love revealed?
Maybe these aren’t things we do for money, but that we do for our comfort. Or things we don’t do, because they would make our lives uncomfortable?
If you think about the church in Luther’s time, it’s easy.
The church did everything in a language that people didn’t understand. And in order to find complete forgiveness, there was always something attached. You needed to purchase this indulgence, go on that pilgrimage, be blessed by this relic or that.
They blocked the people from having access to God’s love, to His comfort, to knowing they were forgiven. We do the same thing, perhaps without realizing it, as we cherish our practices, without realizing why they are precious. We want to keep them, but do we realize they might get in the way of someone searching for God?
The church at large could have a myriad of examples, and that is perhaps the biggest. We don’t speak with one voice about our World’s need for God, their only hope to deal with the brokenness of sin in their lives.
Some hide the brokenness, others simply condemn it, without sharing the hope God has given us, in our brokenness. We do the same thing, depending on the sin. Some we treat as unforgivable, without knowing the person sitting next to us is dealing with brokenness because of that sin. Other sins, we overlook, knowing that we are struggling with it, or someone else we love is.
And our house needs to be cleaned out. We need God to come through, and break down the barriers we set up. We need Him to help us realize that this place is a place of prayer, for Christians, and for those He is calling to, desire that they come to repentance!
Endurance – loving God, loving those around us
This is where attitude and endurance come into play. It is not our attitude and endurance rather it is our Lord’s.
He will do whatever it takes to bring people to the Father. He will humble the proud and lift up the weak. He will comfort those who need it, come alongside those who are mourning, confront the hard-hearted believers, who believe in God, yet need their hardened hearts broken and cleansed. He will forgive those who confess their sins and cleanse them from all unrighteousness. He will also challenge those whose sin is so controlling them, that only He can free them from it.
He will hear our prayers! The Spirit will reveal God in all His glory, in all His mercy, in all His love.
As we are transformed into His image, this becomes our lives, as we struggle with those things that stop people from knowing His love, His grace, His peace. Those things will come to bug us, and we will struggle with them but realizing His grace and what it means, and that others know it,
We will endure, we will ask Him to cleanse our spiritual homes, we will ask Him to know His love. His attitude will become our attitude…
And it will happen. As we treasure His peace, they will come to know it, and know that He hears their prayers, even as He does ours!
AMEN!
