He Grabbed Not For Power, But For Sinners

Text: Philippians 2:5-11

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

Over the last 300 years, we have witnessed the tragedy of power – brute force imposed on people to secure power. 

In the eighteenth-century we saw how Europeans enslaved Africans, putting them into slavery by force.  In the nineteenth-century we witnessed the conflict with Native Americans, resulting in many Native Americans being uprooted by power.  And who can forget the twentieth-century?  In the twentieth-century, Nazis Germans declared the Jews as disloyal to the modern nation, superstitious, and irrational, leading to some 6 million Jews executed, while Hitler and his regime rose to power.  And there was Stalin and Mao, along with the millions of dead victims who stood in the path of their power.      

Now, this quest for power, dominance, and majesty was not just a phenomenon in the past centuries but continues even to this day.  For example, we see ISIS attacks, North Korean missile tests, international currency wars, and so forth.  All of this is the mad rush of mankind to be king of the hill, to have power, control, and majesty at all costs.    

There is no doubt about it; mankind has a large appetite for power and majesty.  Instead of fearing, loving, and trusting in God above all things, a person will attempt to get everybody and everything to fear, love, and trust themselves.

And so, we humans grab for power.  We have an appetite for majesty.  We look out for ourselves – we are number 1, and everybody else is number 2.

But this is not how it is with Jesus, though. Praise be to God that Jesus is not like mankind.  You see, according to our Epistle lesson from Philippians, Jesus took the form of a servant by ceasing to use His powers as God. 

We must pause a moment and be careful to note that Jesus never ceased to be the Son of God, not even on the Cross.  But He did abstain from using His full powers as God, while He was on earth.  For example, sometimes, Jesus did not know certain facts, even though at any time He could have used His unlimited knowledge as God.  And sometimes, Jesus was tired or hungry or thirsty, even though God by nature is never tired or hungry or thirsty.  And get this, God does not bleed.  God does not suffer.  God does not die.  But Jesus, who is true God ‘and’ true Man, bled and died for you because He took the form of a servant.

You see, unlike humanity, Jesus does not have some unhealthy appetite for majesty.  While walking this earth, Jesus did not grab at power, for He already had power  Indeed, instead of grabbing for power, what Jesus did was to abstain from using His power, as He came in humility to serve mankind.  He acted as if He were not God by laying His majesty down so that He could carry the heavy burdens that belonged to us.  Specifically, those burdens of sin, death, and damnation.  That is to say; Jesus did not need to suffer. These burdens were not His to carry.  However, He chose to carry these burdens; He chose to suffer.  Christ Jesus, the only Man who could choose not to die, chose the worst death possible, to save you and me.

What a contrast from sinful mankind! Instead of stomping upon sinful mankind in a selfish pursuit of power, Jesus claimed sinful mankind, even though mankind would stomp on Him.   Yes, even though He was holy and sinless, Jesus still claimed us.  Jesus willingly made Himself one of us.  In other words, Jesus lived among us for about thirty years.  He was one of us, even though His divinity was incredibly far above us.  And on the Cross, Jesus embraced all of mankind, so that all of our sins and the weight of our guilt fell upon Him. 

But what does all of this mean though, concerning Palm Sunday? 

Today we heard in our Gospel reading that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  However, this was Jesus as a servant.  This was Jesus coming in humility, just like we heard in our Epistle lesson from Philippians.  Yes, when Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey, He was abstaining from His power and majesty, for He could have ridden upon the backs of mighty angels into Jerusalem. 

Furthermore, Jesus also rides into Jerusalem to present Himself to God the Father as the sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  In other words, Jesus lowers Himself to the level of a dumb animal whose only purpose is to be slaughtered.  Jesus lowers Himself – humbles Himself to death – to be slaughtered for you and me.    

And there is more. At the same time that Jesus suffers at the hands of sinful men, Jesus is also preserving their lives and the lives of all living creatures. As the nails and thorns are driven into His holy flesh, the Son of God is keeping the universe from collapsing into chaos.

The lowly Son of Man who looks like nothing but a pathetic, dying carpenter's son, is the great God who protects and defends the world, even when that world turns upon Him and kills Him. 

Dear friends, Jesus did not grab for power because He was already all-powerful.  And yet, even though He was all-powerful and majestic, He laid it all down to serve you and me.  And because of this, God the Father exalted Jesus. 

Now resurrected from the dead, Jesus is seated at the right hand of the Father.  Yes, Jesus remains a Man, and also remains the Son of God.  That is how He will be forever. 

And so today, we hear about our humble servant coming into Jerusalem to accomplish our salvation, while at the same time knowing that Jesus is no longer in the form of a servant.  That is right; Jesus is now highly exalted. 

As highly exalted, the saints and angels in heaven bow before the glorious Him, as Jesus shines before them in the unveiled form of God.  And we too, here on earth do the same.  We come before the Lord in His sanctuary, confess our sins, bow our heads, sing praises to Him, and receive Jesus’ presence in the Holy Supper because He is out mighty, majestic, and powerful Lord.    

Dear Baptized Saints, Jesus could have remained as He was before the Creation of the world: the glorious Son of God who had no flesh and no sufferings.  Even when He became Man, Jesus did not have to suffer or diminish His glory in any way.  He could have remained in majesty and power.  But He chose the form of a servant.  He chose weakness, pain, and death.  He chose all of this for you and for me.  He grabbed not for power, but He grabbed sinners.  He grabbed sinners like me and you to redeem and give us His majesty – the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

This sermon has been borrowed in part from Rev. Andrew Eckerts sermon, titled, “The Form of a Servant.”

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The End Of The War: Death

An apology for the audio quality.  Due to technical difficulties, the audio from the Facebook Live-stream had to be used for this sermon podcast.  

Text: Philippians 1:19-26

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

At your baptisms, all of you entered a war. Yes, at your baptisms you were made children of God, given the Holy Spirit, and called into warfare against the sinful nature within you.

Now, some of you have been at war for a very, very, long time. And some of you are just beginning to get a taste of this war against your old Adam. Regardless of how long you have been at war with your sinful nature, though, one thing is for sure, and that is this, this war is a persistent fight. Yes, it is a persistent fight where you daily “beat back the forces of indwelling sin and win victories over the habits and practices of the old [Adam].”[1] It is a persistent fight that continues every single day of your life. It is a fight where you struggle to keep the faith and fight back the attacks of the world, the devil, and your sinful nature.

So, considering all of this, the obvious question is: When do we see the end of the war? When does this persistent battle stop? When will the white flag of surrender be waved? When will the attacks end? Dear friends, the answer is this, this war stops at death. Yes, the Christian’s war against the old Adam ends at death.

It is like this, death removes you and me “from the temptations, the troubles, turmoils, trials, and tribulations of this life. . . . death puts the believer in possession of his full inheritance of eternal life. . .”[2] This is why the Apostle Paul could say in our Epistle Reading, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” “Paul knows that he belongs to Christ. For him, to live means Christ, that is to constantly work with Christ, and to always be in his hand. Should he die then he still gets to be with Christ.”[3]

You see, being a Christian is having a life that is bound up with Jesus. Being a Christian, we are connected to Jesus by faith, and we live our lives being led by the Holy Spirit. And even though we have this persistent battle with the sinful old Adam, it cannot change the fact that we belong to Jesus. So this life that we live from the cradle to the grave is good because it is a life lived by faith in Jesus. This life that we live is good because we fight the old Adam and serve people around us by the Lord’s grace. However, when death comes upon us, something profound and amazing happens, the sinful nature no longer hinders us.[4] That is to say, when we are alive, we belong to Jesus and get to serve our neighbors in need (which is good); however, when we die, we will still belong to Jesus and are freed from the war within (which is good as well). Therefore, we technically cannot lose either way.

We must pause here a moment and back up, just to make sure that we are understanding this clearly.

When the shadow of death draws upon us, we acknowledge that it is not a good thing for the body and soul to be ripped apart. However, even though the body and soul are torn from each other in death, we know that our soul leaves this vale of tears and we enter into paradise with Jesus. And with Jesus we wait for the resurrection of our bodies. In other words, we are not left for dead, but the Lord takes us unto Himself, and the Lord promises us that we will be put back together again – we will someday have resurrected bodies, which is good.

And in this resurrection something even better happens, there will be no more death. Death will be gone for good – tears gone, crying gone, pain gone, fear gone, and sin… all gone. Yes, God will banish the pall of doom hanging over all people. He will banish death forever. Every sign of disgrace – gone.[5]

And so, in this earthly life, we live by faith in the Son of God, who loves us and has given Himself to us. This is so very good; to live is Christ. And yet, to die is gain. Yes, when we die in Christ, it is even better because we still get to be with Christ but without the old Adam. So whether we live or die, it is good because Christ is good.

Practically speaking, it looks like this: while we live this life, we have been given the gift of the Lord’s Prayer to pray against the devil, the world, and especially our old Adam, which is good. However, when you die, it is even better! After death, you will no longer pray the Lord’s Prayer ever again against the old Adam. The reason why? At death, the old Adam stops clinging to you.  

Here is another circumstance to consider: while we live this life, we have been given the gift Absolution (the forgiveness of sins), which is good. However, when you die, it is even better! After death, you will no longer need to hear the Absolution ever again. At death, you will be with Jesus, which means that you will no longer have to fight the good fight against sin to finish the course.[6] At death, you will be done with the course of your earthly life – you will be done with the fight against sin. You will not need forgiveness, for after death, the old Adam will be no more. There will be no sin to confess.

Dear friends, when we die, the war with our old Adam – the sinful flesh - is over. At death, the reign of sin, death, and the old Adam are terminated. Death serves this purpose of putting an end to this old Adam that we may rise absolutely new.[7]

Think of it this way. You are God’s creation. He has created your inmost being, knitting you together in your mother’s womb.[8] And at the cross Jesus redeemed you, purchasing and winning you from all sins and death. And at the Last Day, the Holy Spirit will raise you and give you eternal life.[9] But what will not happen and what cannot happen is this, the Lord will not redeem or raise your old Adam! The old Adam was not the Lord’s creation to begin with, so the Lord has no interest in bringing the old Adam back to life again. Why would the Lord bring the corruption of our sinful old Adam back to life, when the devil and we were responsible for it in the first place?[10]

Dear Baptized Saints, the old Adam – the sinful nature – is buried in the wounds of Jesus. It is left for dead at death but we are not. We are given the promise of the resurrection where the old Adam is utterly destroyed, while we are given new bodies and life everlasting.[11]

The war against our old Adam ends at death. And so, we will endure by walking by the Spirit, turning outward to Jesus in faith, and constantly receiving the Word and Sacraments. We will also fight the good fight, executing the deeds of the old Adam in repentance and faith. And finally, we will rest in our baptisms for we have been buried deeply in the wounds of Jesus and promised the great resurrection.

This is the Christian’s war – a war that lasts only a little while. A war that has an end. A war where the radiant dawn of Jesus will fully come over the darkness of sin. A war where there is hope in captivity, victory in Jesus, and a future in eternity... without the old Adam.

   

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Jonathan Grothe, The Justification of the Ungodly: An Interpretation of Romans (St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada: 2012), 350.0

[2] Wendland, E. H., & Trapp, J. A. (1986). Sermon Studies on the Epistles (ILCW series A) (p. 322). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Publishing House.

[3] Bo Giertz, Unpublished Commentary on Philippians, tr. Bror Erickson.

[4] The Lutheran Study Bible (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2009), 2032.

[5] See Revelation 21:1-5 and Isaiah 25:8.

[6] See 2 Timothy 4:7.

[7] See the Apology of the Augsburg Confessions, VI:56.

[8] See Psalm 139:13.

[9] See the Small Catechism: The Apostles’ Creed.

[10] See the Epitome of the Formula of Concord, I:6.

[11] Ibid. 

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