A Different Kind Of Love

Text:  Matthew 22:34-46

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

In your opinion, what is the greatest commandment in the Bible? 

Take a moment and think back to all your Sunday School lessons, think through the Ten Commandments, think through all the laws directed at the nation of Israel, think through all the teachings of Jesus, and think through all the words of the Apostle Paul.  Now, which one is the greatest commandment?  Which one is the supreme command?  Which one rises to the top?  Are you thinking about the First Commandment: you shall have no other Gods?  Maybe you are thinking of the Third Commandment: remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.  Or how about the Fifth Commandment: you shall not murder?  What about one of Jesus’ teachings from the Sermon on the Mount or one of the Apostle Paul’s statements in the Epistles?  What is the greatest commandment?

In today’s Gospel reading we heard that Jesus was asked the same question by a scribe.  You see, the religious leaders were testing Jesus with the question of which commandment was the greatest.  That is to say, they had murderous hatred for Jesus and were testing Him, trying to trick Him up with this question.    

So, how did Jesus answer?  He answered them by simply saying that the greatest of all the commands is to ‘love’ the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with your entire mind and to ‘love’ your neighbor as yourself. 

Did you catch that?  He answered that the greatest commandment is to ‘love’ God and to ‘love’ mankind, for love fulfills the Law of God. 

Jesus did not go about ranking the Ten Commandments and He certainly did not go through and rank the 613 Rabbinic Laws that were present at that time.  But rather, Jesus summarized the Law as being about love; love for God and love for one’s neighbors.  Jesus was showing that love is the fulfillment of the moral Law.

Dear friends, what this means is that when we properly love God, we are fulfilling the first three commandments and when we properly love our neighbor, we are fulfilling commandments four through ten.  The reason why this is so?  Love is the key; love is the fulfillment of all the Law.  In other words, Jesus is saying that when we properly love we are fulfilling God’s commandments.  Therefore, to love God and to love our neighbor is the greatest because love is at the very center of God’s commandments! 

There is a very big problem with this though.  That problem is that it seems like everyone loves love; however, very few people actually understand what love is.  In other words, Hollywood and television speak about love, but they do not completely understand it.  Social media quotes and memes are constantly talking about the importance of love, but they rarely understand what love is.  Wedding cards and high profile weddings gush about love, but have no idea what really constitutes love.  Tragically, we live in a time where everyone from Hollywood to Washington D.C., from musical artists to celebrities, from motivational speakers to misinformed pastors, are talking about love, while not having the foggiest idea of what love really is. 

To complicate things even more, not only are many talking about love, but they are also imposing their view of love upon the masses.  We are being told that we must learn to love more and more, for love is that which offsets hate.  In other words, we are told that we need to love in order to make this world a better place for everyone, as if love will make a perfect utopia.  As previously mentioned though, those who are pushing the campaign to love more do not understand what real love is.  They teach us that love is all about avoiding offense to someone else; however, this is not love.  They tell us that love actively approves of what others are doing; however, this is not love.  They share that love is quick to agree with our friends and neighbors; however, this is not love.  They express that love makes sure our friends can have their way at all costs; however, this is not love.  They impress upon us that love seeks to be inoffensive and glorifies diversity; however, this is not love. They gush that love is an intensity of feeling; however, this is not love.  They say love is what makes us feel happy and fuzzy and warm inside; however, this is not love.  They assert that love allows us to be free from hurt feelings and displeasure; however, this is not love.  They tell us that love blindly validates and approves of another person’s dreams and aspirations; however, this is not love. 

It seems that there is a great confusion about what love is in our culture.  It is indeed true that everyone loves love; however, very few actually understand what it is. 

So what is love? 

Well, love does not act the way that we might think – it does not typically operate the way that it is portrayed in Nicholas Sparks movies or sung about in Beyoncé and Katy Perry’s music or talked about on Oprah’s Super Soul Sundays.  For example: love does its works secretly and hides its actions from the applause of others – it does not do its acts of charity to be seen or known by others.  It is not boastful or arrogant.  It does not seek to gain but seeks to give.  It does not insist on its own way and it is not irritable or resentful.  Love does not make a lot of noise rejoicing in the evil of others, but it rejoices and works for the truth – it pleads with people who are in error, it risks the possible offense in order to restore a neighbor in the freedom of truth. And finally, love does not hold on to its actions towards a neighbor as if it is keeping score, but rather, it acts for others free of charge.[1] 

A little more specific though, love is not the same as tolerance.  It is not a floaty feeling.  It is not a romantic emotion.  It is not a self-serving.  It is not sourced in ourselves.  But rather, love seeks to honor God and Him alone for our good and joy.  Love seeks the proper teaching about the Lord in accurate doctrine.  Love seeks to remember the Sabbath and God’s Word.  Love seeks to respect those in authority like parents and governing officials.  Love seeks to preserve life, especially those that are weak and insignificant – those unable to protect themselves in the womb or at the end of life.  Love seeks to protect marriage from pornography, divorce, and adultery.  Love seeks to defend our neighbor’s possessions and it seeks to defend our neighbor’s reputation.  Love seeks to rest in contentment. 

What does this mean?  The Law is not just a bunch of empty commandments, but rather, it is the essence of what love looks like.   And love is not some floaty emotion or an abstract buzzword on social media or some empty word on a church’s mission statement, but rather love involves all the powers of our body and soul and it involves all of our senses outwardly and inwardly.  It involves all of our intellect and all of our reason, with all of our thoughts, words, and works.  It involves all of these dimensions focused on God and our neighbor – love is ready to cherish God and serve our neighbor. 

Now, with all of that said, if we are truly honest with ourselves at this point, we need to confess that none of us here today always keep the Law of God perfectly.  The reason why?  Because none of us properly love; none of us perfectly love God and perfectly love our neighbor.  Sure we might talk about love, but in all truthfulness, we do not love the way in which the Bible talks about love.  Who among us loves God perfectly?  Who among us loves our neighbor perfectly?  Instead of loving God and loving our neighbor, more often than not, we talk about a pretend superficial love and then proceed to love ourselves.  When God calls us to love Him and to love our neighbor, we desire to love ourselves.  This is how it is with our human nature.  Instead of loving God and our neighbor in the ways that the 10 Commandments express, we use our minds to dismiss the 10 Commandments and then invent silly ideas of what love is and what love is about.  Maybe that is why our culture talks so much about love, because it knows so little about it.  Either that or we are trying to convince ourselves that our own ideas about love are actually true, when they actually are not. 

Even though we do not love the way that we ought to, God does not lower the bar.  In other words, loving God and our neighbor is not optional.  A life of love for God and neighbor is what it looks like to be a Christian; it is the calling of all of humanity.  God commands this, He commands us to love Him and our neighbor – no exceptions, no lowering the bar.  We are called to do this perfectly and all of the time.    

But who of us loves perfectly?  Who does this perfectly?  No one!

Well, this is not exactly true though.  There was one who loved God the Father perfectly and loved His neighbor perfectly.  That person was Jesus Christ.   Jesus fulfilled the commandments perfectly, because unlike anyone else who has ever lived, He loved perfectly.  Jesus’ love was so perfect before God and mankind that His love led Him to go all the way to the cross and grave for you and for me. 

Dear friends, we do not properly keep the commandments because we do not properly love.  And because we do not properly love, we need to be properly loved.  And how are we properly loved?  We are properly loved by Jesus Christ. 

Dear Baptized Saints, perfect love for God and for mankind does exist, but it does not exist within you and within me, but rather, it exists in Jesus Christ who is for you and for me.  It exists in our Savior who pours this love out on you.  Hear this today: your sins and lack of love have been completely forgiven, for Jesus has fulfilled the Law of God in your place and has loved you to the point of the Cross.  We know what love is, that He gave Himself for us.

There is more though, you and I cannot properly love until we have first been loved.  And the good news is that we are loved, the Lord has promised to continually create in us a clean heart and renew a right spirit within us as He comes to us with the Word and Sacraments.

Do not despair, the Lord has promised to strengthen our faith towards Him and our love towards one another by delivering us His love, mercy, grace, forgiveness, life, and salvation through the Word and Sacraments – Word and Sacraments that are especially for every one of you.    

In the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.

---

[1] See 1 Corinthians Chapter 13.

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Sundays: Sleep In, Work, Or Church?

Text: Luke 14:1-11

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

There is a habit among those of us in the church to either add to God’s Law or subtract from God’s Law.  That is to say, we take God’s Law and expound on it in such a way that we make God’s Law do all sorts of things that it was never intended to do, by adding our own manmade human traditions to it.  If we are not doing this, then we are taking God’s Law and deconstructing it – we are excusing it away.  Yes, we either add to God’s Law or we subtract from God’s Law, so that God’s Law has no application or relevance in our lives or the life of the church.

But why are we so prone to do this? 

Well, we like to take God’s Law and add our own human traditions overtop of it, because we want God’s Law to work for us.  That is to say, we do not dismiss the Law, but we take ahold of it and then build human traditions and opinions over top of it in order to impersonate it.  More specifically, the goal is to make sure our manmade rules look like, sound like, and act like God’s Law, when they actually are not.  Once we have successfully constructed our manmade rules, we then neglect God’s original commandments and then proceed to condemn those who do not follow our made up laws, whereas, those who honor our new manmade laws are congratulated and accepted as our equal.  It is true, those who do not honor our human traditions, we condemn them as being rebellious, liberal, and sinfully evil, when often times they are not.

If we do not go this route, we then try to excuse God’s Law away by deconstructing it or writing it off as if it is not relevant.  We will say things like, “Well, Jesus never specifically spoke about that particular Old Testament Law, so he obviously saw that as a non-issue.”  Or, we say things like, “Well, that was true for people in the New Testament, but it is the twenty-first-century and surely we have evolved to be more sophisticated than these old backwards individuals.”  Then there are those other times that we will simply not talk about God’s Law at all – it gets buried underneath all the sappy talk of tolerance and love. As a result, we subtract from God’s Law – we actually reduce it to nothing more than some mere guidelines that are kind of there for us if we want to follow them.  Tragically, this way dismisses God’s Law and puts it off to the side as well.  We reason in our mind that those who challenge our dismissal of the Law are nothing more than legalistic religious nitpicks who have exchanged so-called Christian love and tolerance for mean-spirited hate and bigotry.  

With all of this said so far, we still have yet to identify the reason why we try to add to God’s Law or subtract from God’s Law.  Why do we do this? 

Jesus, in today’s Gospel reading shows us what is going on with this kind of thinking.  Jesus is in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, where He is a guest.  While in the house, a sick man heard that Jesus was nearby, so wanting to be healed, the man went into the house without being summoned, not really caring whether people gave him harsh looks or not.  You see, the man had dropsy; it was a condition that caused swelling when water pockets collected in the body tissue.  Here is the catch though; it was the Sabbath, the day of rest, which means: was it legitimate for Jesus to heal on the Sabbath? 

It seems that there are only two options for Jesus.  If Jesus honors the supposed Sabbath by not healing the man with dropsy, then Jesus would be accused as being an unloving and ungracious jerk who refused to help the poor sick man.  Equally, if Jesus goes the way of showing grace to the sick man and healing him, then Jesus would be charged as doing work on the Sabbath.  He would be accused as one who was trying to destroy the Law of the Sabbath.  Either way, Jesus would be damned by the Pharisees.  Should Jesus not do a miracle, not do supposed work on the Sabbath and uphold the Law of the Sabbath?  Should Jesus be a supposed jerk?  Or should Jesus heal the man and be considered radical liberal who apparently breaks the no work rule on the Sabbath?    

Jesus knowing that He was in a poisonous plot turned the tables on the Pharisees.  He asked them, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?”  Jesus was putting the pressure on them to answer the question; however, they would not give Jesus an answer.  They were put to shame before Jesus. 

So, in front of the silent and shamed Pharisees Jesus took the man and healed him and sent him away.

This might cause you and me some confusion today.  Did Jesus violate the Law of the Sabbath?  Is Jesus some radical liberal who rejects God’s Law for the sake of love and grace and compassion?  No, this is not the case. 

Dear friends, Jesus did not break the Third Commandment by healing this man, but He did break the Pharisee’s traditions and manmade laws that they had applied overtop of the Third Commandment.  You see, the Pharisees had numerous traditions attached to the Sabbath day.  For example: they had specific categories of work that one could and could not do on the Sabbath.  To the point though, the Pharisees were acting like they were fulfilling the commandment of the Sabbath by doing no manual work whatsoever. 

Oh, how they were so mistaken!  How easy it is for all of us to fall into the same trap as well.  Mankind was not created for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was created for mankind!  In other words, the Sabbath is not some sort of mean-spirited command that is given in order for you and me to check it off the list and prove to God that we are worthy.  Furthermore, the Third Commandment is not some sort of oppressive command that is imposed upon us, where God punishes you and me by making us get out of bed early to come to church.  It is not some sort of command that we need to diminish or explain away in order to prevent it from ruining vacation plans or weekend lake trips.  No, this is not the case.  God’s Law is not evil, but it is good.  Dear friends, we must repent of making God’s Law out to be as if it is evil and not good.  The Law is God’s way of protecting His gifts to us.  We though, make it into something evil – something that we either need to resist and escape from or overcome by putting our own twist on it.  We must repent. 

Dear friends, too often God’s Commandments and especially this Third commandment about the Sabbath are misunderstood.  That is to say, we fool ourselves when we think the Third Commandment is speaking only about a certain day of the week when we have church, or that it is speaking only about not doing any physical work at all on Sunday, or that it is speaking only about the day of the week which the old Blue Laws did not allow businesses to be open on Sundays.  It is not about this. 

We need to grasp that we do not keep the Third Commandment –honoring the Sabbath – by restraining from work on this day, as if our inactivity somehow earns us kudo points before God.  Furthermore, we do not dismiss the Third Commandment as if it is some irrelevant command that is not applicable in our 18 trillion dollar economy that runs 24/7.   But rather, we can correctly confess this day that the Third Commandment is a gift from God, it is God’s way of protecting us from physically overdoing ourselves – it is a calling to us to physically rest at least one day a week, so that our bodies can be refreshed.  It is a gift for us to rest from our labors, just as God rested on the seventh day from all His work in creating the world.  Simply stated, the Lord gives us this Third Commandment as a gift because he does not want us utterly worn out with constant work. 

With this stated, even though rest is needed and provided by this Third Commandment, it is not the main point of the Third Commandment.    So, what is the main point of the Third Commandment?  The main focus is really on God’s Word, His Word for you and for me.

Every day is intended for hearing God’s Word; it isn’t limited to just Sundays.  And every day is holy because God’s Word makes every day holy.  But we set aside certain days, mainly Sundays, for the purpose of hearing God’s Word.  We do this so that everyone may have the time and opportunity to attend public worship.  And that’s the main point of the Third Commandment.  It teaches us that public worship services are ultimately about hearing and learning God’s Word, receiving His gifts of life and salvation.

The Sabbath day of rest is the day for you and me to receive from the Lord.  It is a day of rest in which we are given the freedom and time to attend divine services, so that we can come together to hear and receive God’s Word and Sacraments, and then to praise God, to sing and to pray. (LC I:84)

Keep in mind that on that Sabbath day some two-thousand years ago the Lord Jesus’ grace and mercy and healing were applied to the man with dropsy.  It was a day where the man with dropsy received Jesus and Jesus’ gifts.  The same is true for you and for me today.  Today is a day set aside for you to receive Jesus and Jesus’ gifts in His word of Absolution, in His proclaimed Word, in His sung Word, and in the Body and Blood, which are given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins. 

Today is not about restricting any work that comes up, which cannot be avoided, and it is not a day that we can casually write off and sleep in. But rather, it is about a God who wants nothing more than to come to you and me to serve us, heal us, and give us true rest in His gifts of life, love, and forgiveness. 

Calling you to rest, so that the Lord can give you gifts, this is what it is all about!  This is what it’s always been about.  This is why church exists.  This is why you are here today. 

Baptized Saints, nowhere else in the world are you called to rest, in order to receive free gifts, except right here in Christ’s church. 

Baptized Saints, rest this day.  Receive this day, for this is the day that the Lord has made to give you His forgiveness, life, and salvation.   

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Why We Go To Funerals

Text:  Luke 7:11-17

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Death: it is our great enemy.  It seems to bear its nasty head constantly, slowly attacking our bodies while we age each and every day. Death also seems to strike with big attacks weekly, for every week the obituary column in the paper has death’s victims listed.  Indeed, death comes along and strips life out of family members, friends, and neighbors, putting them in the grave, one by one.  It shows absolutely no mercy. 

Sometimes death is fairly predictable though; sometimes we can see it coming, when it seizes people who have been battling cancer.  We can also see it coming with the continual decline of people in the nursing homes.

Then there are those other times, where it pounces without warning.  Those times when it comes and bites down on beloved people in our lives, when we least expect.  You know what I am talking about, those freak car accidents or sudden heart attacks. 

Regardless if death acts predictably or not, death always gets the TKO on us, for death is the most powerful force to reckon with in this life.  Nothing compares to the power of death.  People can survive tornadoes, earthquakes, plagues, famines, and droughts, but when death strikes, it applies a tremendous amount of force, putting our loved ones in the grave and then inflicting sorrow and grief into everyone around – with no mercy.  Despite our best efforts, death seizes people and then it causes fear and sorrow and doubt to set in.  Death takes us out of our 9 to 5 routines and pulls us into its grips of helplessness. 

So, when death strikes, we find ourselves pulled into its grasp and end up going to a funeral service where hundreds of others come as well.    

At funerals though, there is a temptation in our modern day and age to deny death its victory – to downplay death.  In other words, there is a temptation to pretend like death is not as powerful as it is.  So, pastors and parishioners of the loved one who has passed away, will attempt to turn the funeral service into a celebration of the deceased person’s moral achievements.  They will talk about how good of a person the dead person was.  They will gush on and on about the deceased person’s accomplishments, how they were such a good farmer or good father or overall good person, as if this will offset the nastiness of death. 

If this does not happen, then there is a temptation to downplay death’s power and victory by talking about the apparent good news of how God has another angel.  The only problem is that we do not turn into angel when we die and God has enough angels already and this does nothing about the reality of death in the coffin.    

If the dead person’s moral achievements are not celebrated or if the dead person is not turned into an angel then another temptation can come over pastors and families, and that is to spit into the face of death’s sorrow, by making the funeral into a celebration of life.  Instead of acknowledging death’s victory of claiming another person, the dead person’s past life is dragged out of the past and presented at the funeral service and a celebration takes place where life is celebrated and death is toned down. 

To make matters even worse, the temptation in these celebrations of life is that we are told not to cry.  We are told that the deceased person would not want us to cry.  We are told that the dead person would not want us to experience sadness or grief, but happiness and joy. 

Truth be told though, all of these scenarios are nothing more than tactics that we use to pretend that death is not as serious as it is.  They are mechanisms that we use to downplay the power of death and to keep ourselves from the blunt reality of death’s finality.  These strategies attempt to keep us distracted from the painful reality that death’s destination is the grave.  We do not like the grave and we do not like death.  They both freak us out. 

If this is the case then, how should we respond to death?  Is it o.k. to grieve?  Is it o.k. to cry?  Is it o.k. to feel unsettled?  Is it o.k. to be swept up into a funeral with emotions of insecurity and hopelessness?  Is it o.k. not to pretend that we are unaffected by death?  It is o.k. to admit that death is powerful and that we are powerless to do anything about it?  Is it o.k. to admit that with all of our technological advances that we do not have a cure for death?  Yes, it is.  In fact this is completely natural, for death is not our friend, but our great enemy. 

Consider today’s Gospel reading.  A man had died and was being carried out of the town of Nain.  He was the only son of his mother.  The mother was a widow, which meant that with her son’s death that she was left with nobody to support her financially – she was helpless. 

As the mother and her dead son were being taken out of the town of Nain, they were surrounded by a very large crowd.  The crowd too was grabbed by death, as they were heading to death’s lair, the cemetery.   

So, the picture is this, death struck the widow’s son.  As a result, death led the mother and a large crowd, with its most recent claim, out to the cemetery.  There was no celebration of life, no moralistic eulogies, and no smiles of hope, as if the dead son had just earned his angel’s wings.  Nope; death seized this son and then grabbed a hold of the crowd and was taking them to the cemetery where death would swallow the dead son into the cold 6 foot grave.  That is… until death came face to face with life.

There was another group that was approaching the town of Nain.  At the head of this other group approaching the town of Nain was the Lord of Life – Jesus Christ. 

Two great crowds approached one another on the road to Nain.  One was full of grief and sorrow and fear, with death at its lead.  The other crowd was a group of people who had gathered around Jesus Christ, who had just healed a man with a demon, healed a leper, healed a paralytic, and healed a sick servant.  Two crowds approached each other: one with death and one with life. 

And then, the unthinkable happened. Instead of Jesus and his crowd stepping aside out of respect of the dead son and the mourning widow and grieving crowd, they actually collided.  You see, the funeral procession expected Jesus and the crowd to step to the side and respectfully allow the body of the dead man to pass by.  This was the proper thing to do.  Death had claimed another person; death was about to swallow this person up in the cemetery.  Therefore, it was proper to let death have its way.  No use prolonging the grief!  However, Jesus did not do the expected; Jesus did not bow to death.  He did not move to the side of the road, but rather, He went right towards death. 

As Jesus approached the dead son and the widow, He had compassion on her and said, “Do not weep.”  Under ordinary circumstances, this would be a very heartless thing to say.  Ordinarily these words would be downright cruel, but in this situation things were different.  They were words of hope.  The reason why? 

Jesus’ ached with the woman’s pain.  He felt her grief to the fullest.  Her pain pierced His insides so that He felt it with her.  He was not about to let this funeral pass by uninterrupted.  He was not willing to let death have its way with this woman and this crowd.  He was not willing to let the grave gobble up this son.  He was not willing. 

And so, Jesus came up to death and its victim and touched the dead body.  Jesus did not bow to death, He did not ignore death, He did not back away from death, and He did not cringe, but rather, He approached death, touched death, and spoke to death, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” 

Dear friends, consider what is happening here.  Death had no choice but to listen to Jesus.  Death had no choice but to release its jaws from this widow’s son.  Death had no choice but to bow to the Christ. 

At Jesus’ word, life returned to the widow’s son.  Jesus reversed the crowd of death, so that it became a true celebration of life.  The depth of tragedy becomes the height of triumph.  Dancing replaced mourning.  Hope replaced despair.  Assurance replaced doubt.  Life replaced death. 

The same is true for you and for me and for those who die in Jesus’ name.  You see, this world is a valley of tears.  It is a huge morgue and cemetery, for we are all in the process of dying.  And funerals are simply the culmination – the end result – of this life of death.  Therefore, as we go to funerals we do not need to hear about the deceased person’s moral achievements, for this accomplishes nothing.  We do not need to have our grief masqueraded by celebrating the person’s life, for this accomplishes nothing.  We do not need to try and comfort ourselves pretending that the deceased person has become an angel, and we do not need to stuff our tears within, for all of this accomplishes nothing.  No, may this never be!  We go to funerals, so that we may collide with Jesus in His Word.  Like the crowd at Nain going to the cemetery, we go to funerals with our grief, with our despair, with our sorrow, with our anger, with our fear, and with our doubt, so that the Lord in His compassion can reach out and touch our hearts, minds, and souls with His Word of comfort, “Do not fear dear Saints!”  Indeed, we go to funerals to hear about the Lord’s answer to death.  We go to hear that Christ has resurrected from the grave and that those who have died in Christ will resurrect unto life as well.  We go to hear that at the great resurrection that there will be no more tears and that there will be no more death; there indeed will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain, for Christ Jesus is the victor over the enemy of death – for  you, for me, and for our loved ones in Christ. 

Dear Baptized Saints, we go to funerals so that we may collide with Jesus in His Word.  And as Jesus reaches out and touches our ears with His Word, we hear that the body in the coffin is the body of our loved one who was baptized, who ate the saving body of Jesus, who drank the forgiving blood of Jesus, so that by these precious Sacraments their body will burst out of the grave as a gloried body being reunited with their soul, when the great trumpet will sound.    

Indeed, as we go to funerals and church services, just like this, so that we can collide with Jesus in His Word and hear the good news that the jaws of death have been broken, that the grave has been shattered, and that neither death, nor life, nor anything else in all creation, can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ, our Lord, for He is our resurrection and our life. 

We go to funerals and come to church services, just like this, so that we might be given comfort in our sorrow, assurance in the midst of our doubt, and hope in our despair, for Jesus is the resurrection and the life. 

He who believes in Him shall never never die.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

The Lord's Lasting Gift For Frenzied And Worried North Americans

Text:  1 Kings 17:8-16

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

We confess as Christians that we trust the Lord.  We say that we can trust Him to provide for our daily physical and spiritual needs.  We acknowledge that we trust Him to keep us through death and into the kingdom of heaven. 

With that said though, we also worry.  Yes, because we Christians are also tainted with sin in this life, we are full of worry, distrust, and unbelief, which then leads us to ask if God will actually take care of our bodies and souls. 

So, we spend hours upon hours feeding our worry and distrust.  From morning to sundown we spend time pursuing and worrying about what ‘we’ need to do in order to make it in this life: we watch the stock markets, try to give our kids a good start in life, save our money for retirement, buy health insurance and home insurance. And we cannot forget our other forms of worry; we try to outdo our own friends and family, trying to rise above them with our houses and vehicles.  We think to ourselves that if we have better houses and more stuff, we will surely outlast our neighbors if the economy fails.  Furthermore, our worry drives us to be competitors in business or the workplace to see who can make the best living, accumulate the most stuff, become the most secure, and wield the most power in an effort to feel secure.

Once we shore up all these provisions, you would think that our worry would subside; however, nothing changes.  In fact our actions basically create more things for us to worry about.  Dear friends, just think how much of our daily lives are spent in the pursuit of eliminating worry? 

In the midst of our frenzied North American worry, we are confronted by the Old Testament lesson from today.  Look at the widow of Zerephath.  Did not she have a reason to worry?  She had no husband, she was caught in a drought with no means to provide for her house, and she was trying to raise a son as a single mother.  This was a person who had absolutely no control at all.  There was nothing that she could do to change or improve her situation, and she knew it.  The only thing she had control of was accepting that she and her son were going to die. 

Her awful situation stares us in the face and it humbles us.  Should we really be so consumed with worry, when things could be so much worse like the widow of Zerephath?  However, the widow of Zerephath did not have worry.  Yes, she was not worried, for her worry and doubt had given way to hopelessness and despair.

We can hear it in her words to Elijah when he asked her to make him some bread, listen again and hear how helpless and hopeless she felt.  She said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. And now I am gathering a couple of sticks that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son that we may eat it and die.”

These are not the words of hope and control.  She was getting ready to make a last meal for herself and her son; just a little bit of bread.  That is certainly not much of a last meal.  She had come to the realization that this was the end.  There was not going to be a government program to help her, there was not anything more she could do to change what was about to happen.  Her pagan gods had not listened to her cries.  And she believed that Elijah’s God – our God – would not listen to her for she was a gentile and not a Jew.

But God had looked upon her situation and had mercy on her, for He had not chosen a woman of Israel but this widow to send His prophet to.  With that stated, we have already heard the rest of the story, she made the bread for many days but the flour and oil never ran out as God promised through the prophet Elijah.

As we consider the Old Testament lesson, I want you to consider the true miracle that we are given here this day.  In other words, it is tempting to look at the flour and oil that is always replenished and marvel.  We might even like to use this passage to offer comfort and say, “See God will always provide.”  However, this is not the miracle!  Yes, it is amazing that God used a little bit of flour and oil for food.  Furthermore, God provides for all of His creation every day; however, the real miracle in today’s Old Testament lesson is that this poor widow who was given into hopelessness and despair – who basically accepted the reality that she was going to die with her son in her arms – was given faith. 

When the prophet Elijah came to the woman he said to her, “Do not fear . . . the Lord God of Israel will see to it that your jar of flour and your jug of oil shall not be empty.” 

Indeed, the real miracle is that the woman was taken from hopelessness and death to faith in the Lord God.  That is the miracle; faith in the promised Word of God is the miracle! 

The widow went in and shared what was to be her last meal with Elijah believing that the flour and oil would not be used up.  This is amazing!

As we consider all of this, I believe it would be fair to say that In the midst of our busy worry, the story of the widow of Zerephath actually shames us.  Does it not?  She has nothing and then when the Word of God comes to her through the prophet of Elijah, she gladly – by faith – cooks up the last of her flour and oil knowing that the Lord was going to take care of her and her son, for the Lord told her not to fear.  She gave the leftover food – everything she had – to Elijah trusting that the Lord would provide and knowing that even if the flour and oil ran out that the Lord had her eternal good taken care of as well. 

Does this describe us this day?  Are we like the widow or do we give of our left overs like the Pharisees, putting whatever we decide we can afford forth without cutting into our pockets too deep?  Do we trust that the Lord will provide for us, even if the check looks small or the farming prices look to low?  Do we trust God above all things?  Do we really believe and understand what is provided for us here in the Word and Sacrament?

The truth is that we are all sinners here today who are consumed with worry.  We are in need of repentance and forgiveness.  And that is where the Gospel comes in for you.  While we are shown our shortcomings in the story of the widow of Zerephath, we are also shown our comfort in this story, for we see the faith of the woman. In other words, apart from the gift of the Spirit the woman could not believe in the true God, let alone have faith in His promise.  Therefore, the faith that we see in the woman is the same faith given to you in your baptisms.  In those waters you have been given true and saving faith by the Holy Spirit.  In those waters you are covered with the blood of Jesus who had perfect faith for you.  He trusted perfectly for all of the times that we do not, and those times are many in this life.  Yet as we come and confess our sins and repent, we stand forgiven anew.  That is the true and lasting gift that God has given you this day.  Forgiveness, life, and salvation that will never run out or will never become empty.  In Christ and His bloody death on the cross you are freed from sin, death, and the devil.

This is what moves the Christian in this life.  This is what frees us from the snare of worry.  This is what moved the widow.  She did not give so that God would reward her and give her even more than she gave.  The widow of Zeraphath did not get 10 jars of flour and 10 jugs of oil because she gave what she had.  We do not give to our Lord because we have to, but because we are blessed to and are freed from worry through the Gospel.  And when we give of all that we have in faith, we can be assured that God will take care of us.  He has promised to care for us!  As a matter of fact He has taken care of you, because God has already given all that He has to you!!!  It is kind of humbling think about and at the same time so wonderful.  We owe everything to God we are the debtors.  We are His enemies by birth, and we often sin against Him in every way.  Yet God has been the most generous giver of all, because He withholds nothing from you, not even His one and only Son.

He gave it all to buy you out of slavery, not to make you His own slave, but to make you His own free child.  In doing so God our Father has already provided for our every need we shall not worry or fear.  Even if all things fail in this world you and I still have the everlasting joy of salvation in Jesus.  There is nothing that can separate you from Him.  You have been crucified with Christ and in Him you have been fed the true bread of Heaven, and also have a part in His resurrection.

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Note: this sermon is highly indebted to Rev. Kurt Hering’s sermon, “The Best Seats and Places of Honor), preached at Christ Lutheran-Elkhart and Faith Lutheran-Hugoton.  

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What is the Christian Life Really Like: Luxury or Struggle?

Text: Galatians 5:16-24 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

It is easy for us to take the bait.  When we turn on the radio, flip the television channel, or go online, we can hear preachers or authors telling us that if only we would turn our life over to God, life will be easy.  Their claims make it sound like becoming a Christian cures all our troubles.  They make the Christian life sound like a sure ticket to easy street.  They say, “When you become a Christian your life becomes magical and wonderful and stress-free and better. Becoming a Christian will turn your can’ts into cans.  As a Christian your life will be in a bed of roses.” 

It is easy to believe this for a while; however, sooner or later things break down.  In other words, the longer we are Christians, the more we realize that our lives are not a life of ease that we once thought or were promised. Beneath these preachers’ fake delightful smiles and underneath the pious sounding clichés about comfort, extravagance, and leisure, a different reality emerges – a reality that is much unlike the life of ease that was promised from the preacher-man on television or from that book promoted on the Oprah network. 

And what is that reality?  That reality is this: the good that we want to do and the good that we talk about, well… we don’t always do it.  And that very evil that we don’t want to do, well… we end up doing that; we find that our hearts betray us and we secretly want to do evil, when we know we should be doing good.  So, instead of finding ourselves as Christians, who are living a life that is a lap of luxury and comfort, well it is quite the reverse, we are living a life that is conflicted. 

On the one hand we rightly act and talk about our affection for others and our exuberance about life. Thankfully we develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, and being able to direct our energies wisely.  However, on the other hand and at the same time, we try to get our own way all the time, which results in dreams of loveless cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; a desire for trinket gods and magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; and uncontrollable addictions, to name a few.[1] We find ourselves doing that which is good and that which is bad, at the same time.

And so, the life of the Christian is not one of ease like so many preachers and popular so-called Christian books say, but rather, the life of the Christian is the exact opposite – it is a life in conflict.  

Dear friends, what the Apostle Paul describes in our Epistle Reading, from this morning, is that there is a conflict and struggle between the flesh and the Spirit.  We can also call this the conflict between the old Adam and the new man.  In other words, the Christian life is not experienced as luxury, comfort, or paradise, but a daily battle between your old Adam and your new man in Christ. You see, you have a dual identity.  You are fully saved and righteous and forgiven in Jesus Christ’s sacrificial death (this is what we call our new man) and at the same time you are still the same old sinner that you have always been (this is what we call our old Adam).  This means that the Christian’s life is a daily battle and conflict between the old Adam and the new man. 

During World War II there was a famous battle called the Battle of the Bulge.  It lasted some six weeks.  The Allies would push forward a few miles and hold their position for several days.  Then in a new series of events, the Germans would then counter attack and push back and reclaim any lost ground and maybe even gain a little bit.  This went back and forth in this battle.  Now, this Battle of the Bulge is an excellent picture of the Christian life.  The Christian experiences this war between the old Adam and the new man.  They are at constant war, back and forth, with constant tension.  But unlike the six week Battle of the Bulge, this internal war of the Christian begins at Baptism ‘continues’ for a whole life.  This battle for the Christian only ends at death. 

There are some Christians though that do not appreciate or agree that the Christian life is a lifelong battle.  They reject this idea of the Christian battle and would rather believe that the Christian life is all milk and honey.  You and I may be tempted to do this as well, for it is easy to get tired of the ongoing battle.  And so, there is a temptation to do one of two things. 

First, as we heard in the introduction portion of today’s sermon, we can downplay the sinful nature – the old Adam.  Either we don’t talk about our sinful nature or we pretend that it isn’t as big of a problem that it is.  If someone does talk about it, well… they are too negative or too pessimistic.  So, the plan is quite simple, if we can downplay the sinful nature, we can then supposedly remove the old Adam from the equation and eliminate the battle within.  So we say to ourselves and others, “The more you talk about negative things in your life, the more you call them in. We are going to speak victory not defeat. I’m going to start believing today that things are going to change for the better. The best days are still out in front of me.”[2]  I am o.k.  I am good.  I am at peace with myself.  No struggle with me!

The second way to try and eliminate the civil war within is to make the enemy our friend.  In other words, if the old Adam is our friend, then there will be no war within the Christian life and we can supposedly live in peace.  What happens is that we can take any sin that we are currently struggling with and then change it from the category of sin to the category of holiness.  That is to say, that which is clearly evil according to the BIble, we call good.  Therefore, if sin is moved from the category of the enemy and considered a friend, then the Christian supposedly no longer has this internal struggle, the ongoing tribulation will cease and the good life can be lived.

Beware of this!  Not only are these two temptations completely unbiblical, but they are straight from the devil himself.  You see, if we eliminate the sinful nature – the old Adam – and eradicate the war within, we have not accomplished anything except our own demise and fulfilled the plans of the devil. 

Dear friends, the devil wants to give you fake comfort – he never wants you to be shown your sin.  The reason why, if you never see your sin, then you will find righteousness and comfort in yourself. If you never experience this war with your old Adam, you will never have a need for Jesus. On the other hand, Jesus wants you to be continually shown your sin, so that you may find righteousness in Him.[3]

The reality is that this Christian life will ‘always’ have this struggle.  In secular wars, there are times for rest, such as when it is winter but here in this Christian life we will battle daily. 

This ongoing battle though is not a reason for concern. The reason being, understanding the war within is not only a mark of a Christian, but it is evidence that the Holy Spirit is at work within you.  Indeed, Christians are not those who stop sinning and live a cushy life, but Christians are those who recognize their sin, begin to despise it, and seek the grace of Jesus Christ for forgiveness and strength. 

What does this mean?  As long as the war within continues, you can be assured that the Holy Spirit is present and actively warring against your old Adam.  The time to worry is when the struggle against sin ceases, when you no longer care whether you are sinning or not.

So today, you and I can confess that we are struggling Christian – struggling Christians who belong to Jesus. 

Confessing that you and I are struggling Christians though shall not bring us to despair, for the Lord does not forsake us in this battle.  Oh no, we are not abandoned, but the Lord continually comes to us.  The Lord continually comes to you in His Word and Sacraments to daily slay your old Adam and forgive you of all your sins. 

Truly, you are daily and richly forgiven all of your sins as the old Adam is continually crucified – daily drowned in repentance and then the new man emerges in faith. 

Furthermore, while you battle with the old Adam, you await the time when your old Adam will finally be put to death and buried.  You await for the promise of the day when you will arise out of the grave with a new body that is complete and perfect, with no sin.  Yes, you and I wait for a new body that is holy and a new life in eternity, where we will be completely freed from sin, death, and evil. 

Dear Baptized Saints, you are buried deeply in the wounds of Christ.  There is no doubt about that you and I struggle in this life, but we do so in hope, knowing that despite the ongoing war with our sinful nature – the old Adam - that Christ’s grace is sufficient for you and for me and is ours forever.  

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

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[1] This section is an adaptation of Eugene Peterson’s “The Message” on Galtians 5:19-21.

[2] Two Facebook quotes from Joel Osteen Ministries Facebook Page.

[3] An adapted Facebook quote from Mark Harrison.

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