The Show Is Over

Text: Mark 12:38-44 

In the name of Jesus: Amen.

The word hypocrite comes from an ancient Greek word that means, “play-acting.”  It was a word that was used of stage actors, those who performed on stage in front of others. 

Now, as you already know, stage actors are one way in real life, but on stage are completely different.  That is how it goes with hypocrites as well: acting in front of others, while being a different person in real life. 

In today’s Gospel Reading, Jesus has some pretty harsh words for hypocrites.  He actually reserves His hardest condemnation for them because hypocrites should know better.  That is to say, in order to be a hypocrite, you need to know how to play the part.  To be a hypocrite involves knowing how to fool others so that one can successfully cover up the real person with polished and respectful acting.  This means that no one becomes a hypocrite by accident, but is something done deliberately. 

The sad reality is that hypocrisy demands that a person lives two lives.  For example: a life in the church and a life at work; or a life at work and a life at home; or a life on social media and a life offline.  Basically hypocrisy happens when there is a double life: one before the public eye and another in private. 

Now, if the two lives of a hypocrite are left unchecked, hypocrites can wear down their consciences to nothing and the dividing line between acting and real life can erode away to nothing. 

“As a chameleon changes colors with the seasons, so the Christian who wants to be well thought of by everyone [by playing the part of a hypocrite], attunes and adapts to each new personality and situation.  Without a stable and enduring self-image, a woman may offer radically different aspects of herself to different men; she may be pious with her pastor and seductive with the office manager.  Depending upon company and circumstances, a man may be either a sweet-talking servant of God or a foulmouthed, bottom-pinching boor.”[1] 

There is no doubt about it that the world is full of hypocrites.  More specifically and a bit closer to home, “As Christians, individuals and whole congregations, we are often accused of hypocrisy, of failing to live up to what we believe.  It’s painful, to be accused of hypocrisy [as Christians], to be accused of not walking the walk, of being a sham.  It’s painful, especially because it’s too often true.  The people in the pews and the man behind the pulpit are all in some respect hypocrites, every last man, woman, and child”[2]

This ongoing battle with hypocrisy leads all of us to fluctuating between our real self and the person we pretend to be.  If not careful, we can become deluded and develop a sense of security from our hypocritical self; the part of us that is putting on a good show, or at least trying to put on a good show.  Our halo can get too tight, as our carefully disguised pious and polished attitudes of superiority come forth and take center stage. 

When our hypocritical acting becomes front and center, something else tragically happens.  What happens is that in public life and in front of others, we appear respectful, good, and true, while underneath the play-acting - the façade - wickedness runs rampant.  These tactics conceal sin, destroy reality, hurt others, and damn us while we are attempting to say, “Everything will be alright!”    

This is exactly what Jesus condemns in our Gospel Reading from this morning.  The religious leaders were responsible to teach the people but they “used their knowledge of the legal system to obtain the property of widows.  They used their positions of trust and authority to prey on the   helpless.  Their status and prestige were false fronts for predatory behavior behind the scenes.  They lived their whole life for themselves and no one else.”[3]  They were crooked crooks who liked to walk around with their long robs and to be greeted and adored in the market place, while they were rotting with evil underneath their stage-acting.

In our Gospel reading we also read that Jesus, apparently exhausted by his own frustrated passion, sits down across from the treasury and looks at the scene over which He has just pronounced judgment. He sees many rich people putting in large sums, but his eye fastens only on a poor widow who puts in two copper coins. It is possible that this woman was one of the victims of the hypocrites that Jesus condemned.  Regardless though, Jesus calls his disciples and says to them,

Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box.  For they contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. 

In contrast to the hypocrites, Jesus focuses on this one woman and her actions.  The woman placing two cooper coins into the treasury – giving all that she had – stands in stark contrast to the religious leaders, thus her actions condemn the religious leaders and all of us here today.  

You see, “the poor widow who cast two small copper coins into the temple treasury may have just as well cast two large stone tablets onto our heads.  Given the choice between her nonverbal sermon and a tongue-lashing from Moses’ [Ten Commandments], I’m not sure which I’d choose.  Neither one of them leaves me unscathed, nor you either.  The effect is the same.  Both brand the word guilty on the skin that thinly veils our self-seeking, self-preserving, attention-loving hearts.”[4]

Indeed, the poor woman who gave everything she had exposes my hypocrisy and yours too.  Her actions condemn those who stand idly by and do not assist her and her actions.  Furthermore, her actions are not hypocritical; it isn’t like she is parading around with flashy show and only giving a small portion.  No, she offers her whole life at that offering box and we stand in awe, condemned.  In other words, her actions do not really urge us to give more, but reveals to us that the best of our works are not worth two pennies. 

Thinking about today’s Gospel story, we learn that we like to act like the polished religious leaders, obtaining respect and adoration from others, but we do not like actually doing what the widow did.  The Lord gives us everything – everything that we have is a gift – and we abuse these gifts and talents putting them to use for our shameful gain, while trying to play the part of a good ol’ Christian and an upright citizen of Gwinner.  As they say, we have the cake and we eat it too. 

May God through His word today expose each of our hypocritical tactics, for we are all hypocrites.  “We can be considered hypocrites because we are sinners.  We say one thing and do another.  We say we want to love our enemies, but we fail to do so.  We say we want to follow the Ten Commandments, but our thoughts, words and deeds fall short.  We are called by Christ to love our neighbors, but we struggle with anger, evil thoughts, and jealousy.”[5]

And so, the Lord is constantly trying to remove our masks, to rip us off of the stage of performance, and to destroy this hypocritical self that we create for ourselves. 

Hypocrisy - whether we know it or not - is actually prison and we have grown accustom to prison.  Regardless, hypocrisy needs to be destroyed and crucified. 

All of this is frightful to us, because we struggle being honest with ourselves.  We struggle confessing that we are poor miserable sinners, and actually meaning it.  However, this is exactly what the Lord does to us when we are confronted by the Law and when we come to the Divine Service.  My friends, do you realize that when you come through the doors of this Church, the first thing that happens is that we confess our sins before God and man?  Through our confession and absolution, we are admitting our hypocrisy, and the hypocrisy is being crucified.     

With that said and as it was previously stated, it is terrifying to be stripped of hypocrisy, for we are laid bare in our nothingness before God.  However, do not fear.  For when we accept ownership of our powerlessness and helplessness, when we realize that we are poor widows with nothing in our hands, when we realize that our halos are tilted, something beautiful happens.  What happens?  Freedom!

To be stripped of all our stage-acting and to stand broken and in need of grace is a beautiful transparency.  To be honest that we are poor miserable sinners and to not pretend to be anything else, is truly a gift.  It is a gift for the Gospel proclaims to us that we are forgiven, baptized, claimed, loved, redeemed, and captured people unto the Lord!  Dear friends, hear this! The Lord does not despise a broken heart.  He does not recoil in horror of our broken spirit.  He did not come to die for the hypocritical you, the stage-performing you, but He came to die for the real you, the you underneath the mask of hypocrisy.    

Being in Christ - your good, the bad, and the ugly – means that you are free.  Free from peer pressure, free from people-pleasing, and free from the bondage of human respect. 

“The tyranny of public opinion can manipulate our lives.  What will the neighbors think?  What will my friends think?  The expectations of others can exert a subtle but controlling pressure on our behavior.”[6]  However, this is not so of you, for you are baptized into Christ!

Blessed Baptized Saints, you are in Christ.  What you are is who you are in the sight of the Lord.  Nothing else matters. 

And who is Christ?  Christ is like that widow who offered her whole life at that offering box.  He is the Holly One who offered His whole life on the cross – for you.  He is the one who never played the role of the hypocrite, but died for hypocrites and considered it well-worthwhile. Like the widow who gave all her wealth, the Savior gave all of His life, for you. 

Baptized Saints, you need not pretend.  You need not cover yourself with stage-acting for the Savior did much more than merely act.  He died to forgive you and clothe you. 

You are hidden in Christ. Who you are is what you are in your Baptism.  And what you are given in your baptism is forgiveness, life, and salvation. 

You are baptized in the name of Christ who entered the center stage of earth to bleed, die, and resurrect – all for you!    

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel: Good News for the Bedraggled, Beat-Up and Burnt Out  (Multnomah Books, 2005), page unknown.

[2] David Warner, “They’re All A Bunch of Hypocrites,” www.pastormattrichard.com/2011/12/theyre-all-bunch-of-hypocrites.html (Accessed 7 November 2015).

[3] James Batchelor, “Sermon for Third-Last Sunday in the Church Year,” http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=434 (Accessed 6 November 2015).

[4] Chad Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons (Chad Bird, Copyright 2014), 110.

[5] David Warner, “They’re All A Bunch of Hypocrites.”

[6] Brennan Manning, The Ragamuffin Gospel. Page unknown.

It's 'Good' Friday, Not 'Bad' Friday

Text:  John 19:17-30

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We are here tonight to arrange a funeral.  The altar, pulpit, lectern, and so forth are stripped and decorated in black.  The lights have been dimed.  Your pastor is dressed in black.  It is a most sobering time. 

That is the way that it is with funerals.  They tend to be sobering.  They carry with them the feelings of heaviness, grief, sorrow, and sadness.  They are not good, but are bad. 

Even though there are those times when a dying person is spared from further suffering through an early death, the death of a beloved one is still never a good thing, but bad. 

The reason why this is so?

Death is our enemy.  Death is your enemy.  The Lord does not delight in death, and we do not as well.

Thus, when we come to funerals, we come with reluctance.  We even shy away from funerals that attempt to put the ‘fun’ in funeral through celebrating a person’s life.  Otherwise stated, we shy away from these so-called uplifting funerals, these “Celebrations of Life,” for no matter how hard these Celebration of Life Services attempt to downplay death, everybody still recognizes and feels the gloom of death that shines through forced smiles and the forced laughs. 

Undeniably, no matter which way you approach a funeral and no matter how much one tries to strip the funeral of the sting of death, funerals always have a dead body.  Funerals always have a dead corpse, a lifeless body that speaks to the living about mankind’s brokenness, sin, and demise. 

Funerals are bad, for death is our enemy.

This is the reason why most people would rather attend a wedding than a funeral.  Furthermore, people would rather suffer through hours of excruciating painful noise with fifteen birthday children at a Chuck E. Cheese Family Fun Restaurant than go to a funeral.  Give us weddings and birthdays, but not funerals

With all of this said, tonight we gather together to arrange not a wedding or a birthday party, but a funeral.  Not a funeral for a family member or community member; not a funeral for some community hero.  No, we gather together to arrange a funeral for the only-begotten Son of God, Jesus Christ.

Unlike every other funeral that you have ever been to, we are actually here to celebrate the death of Jesus.  The reason why we are here to celebrate?  We are here to celebrate because today is ‘Good’ Friday.  That’s right, today is good.  It is a good day and a good night.  Not bad. 

This seems strange, does it not, that we call the death of the Son of God, good?  There seems to be so many more things in Christianity that we could hoist up as the center of our faith, other than this bloody death.  Maybe one the many healings or a profound teaching could be the pinnacle of good?  Counterintuitively though, today is good, today is the climax and pinnacle of the Christian faith.  Today and tonight we proclaim Christ-crucified as good and true and salutary—as the center of our faith.  But why is this Friday so good?  Did we not just establish that death is an enemy?

By faith we call this day good, when it seems like there is nothing positive and good about it.  Good Friday is the exception to the rule though.  Yes, even though it seems like a bad day—a day when the devil strikes the heal of Jesus, a day where the devil seems to have the upper hand, a day when the power and darkness of evil seem to triumph—it actually is ‘very’ good. 

Very much, even though it seems like a day when faith should die, not arise, today is that historic event that our whole being hinges upon and is sustained.  Today is the day we can hang our body and our faith upon. 

Painting by Stephen Dawson

My friends, today is good because on this day many years ago the “Most Holy [Lord] died the death of the sinner in order that the sinner might live.”[1]  Today is good, for on this day the Almighty Lord was conquered by the power of darkness, so that blind sinners might be delivered from darkness unto radiant eternal life.  Today is good, for on this day the source of life dried up in order to give life to the dead dry hearts of all sinners.  Today is good, for on this day God in the flesh died on the cross, reconciling the sinful world to Himself. 

Today is Good Friday, not Bad Friday.  Today we celebrate the death of the Son of God—for us.  Today, we cry out, “Worthy are You Lord Jesus for You were slain, and by Your blood You ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation!”  Today and for all eternity we will praise the Christ for His sacrificial death on our behalf.

Today we do not cover our eyes and bow our heads to that, which is bad, but rather we stand boldly with our eyes and ears open to behold that, which is good. 

Dear Baptized Saints, “Behold this Good Friday the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, and yours, the very God of Very God who dies to give you life, to rise and build you up the third day as His house of living stones.”[2] 

“Behold the death that poured forth blood and water [—for you], the death into which you are baptized, that you might with Him come forth and arise, walking now and ever in newness of life.”[3] 

“Behold, the righteousness of God, the only [gift of] righteousness that counts for anything before His judgment seat.”[4]

“[Behold,] this pure righteousness this world will ever see [that] is poured out for you as a gift on this Good Friday, to be your life, your trust, your hope, your joy, your peace that passes all understanding.”[5] 

Baptized Saints, Good Friday’s cross is “your sanctuary in the agony of sin, your hope’s anchor in affliction, your victory banner in the battle with sin, world, and Satan, your heavenly ladder in the hour of your death.”[6]

Baptized Saints, behold this Good Friday the death of the Son of God and say,

“What is death?  What is hell?  Christ, the Son of God, placed himself under God’s laws and died.  But Christ’s death defeated death and gave us life.”[7] 

Behold the death of Christ and say,

“The Law cannot condemn me!  Death will not keep me in the ground!  I will not be left alone with my sins in this life or when the dark shadow of death encroaches on me.” 

Behold the death of Christ and say,

“It is finished.  It all done.  It has all been completed for me on that Good Friday long ago.”

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

---

[1] C.F.W. Walther, Gospel Sermons: Volume 1 tr. Donald E. Heck (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2013), 219.

[2] John Sias, Sermon for Good Friday from Mount Calvary Lutheran Church, Colstrip, MT (29 March 2013).

[3] Ibid.

[4] Ibid.

[5] Ibid.

[6] C.F.W. Walther, Gospel Sermons: Volume 1 tr. Donald E. Heck, 225.

[7] Martin Luther, Source Unknown.

We Want Glory; We Have Glory

Text: Mark 10:35-45

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I am addicted to glory my friends!  There is no doubt about it that I want glory and I am pretty convinced that you want it too. 

Glory, it is great honor or fame; it is being in a position of adoration, receiving attention, receiving splendor, and being exalted! 

Who wouldn’t want this?   Who doesn’t fight and at least strive for this?

For men it is awesome to be in a place of honor and fame is it not?  It is good to be king of the hill.  Climbing the hill is all worth it, if you can have glory as a trophy.  For women, it is wonderful when you are a princess and it is exhilarating when the whole world bows to your magnificence and serves you.

The thoughts of glory intoxicate us in euphoric bliss.

Not only do we long for glory, we are also told in our culture that we deserve glory.  Listen to some of these marketing slogans,

“Have it your way.  Because You’re Worth It.  You deserve a break today.  We do it all for you.  You deserve the best.”

The desire for glory is nothing new though, for all of mankind has this innate addiction for that which is glorious.  We want to bask in glory, possess it for ourselves, and then display it as something that we have accomplished. 

The desire for glory is also present as a theme in today’s Gospel reading.  Otherwise stated, just before today’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells His disciples the supposed non-glorious news that He is going to Jerusalem where He is going to be handed over to the religious rulers and authorities, so that He can be flogged, spit upon, beaten, and crucified.  He reveals the news that He has revealed before; however, it just seems as if the disciples don’t hear Jesus and are fixated on their own perceptions of glory. 

“Jesus, grant us to sit one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.” 

The disciples were pretty convinced that Jesus was someone special.  They witnessed His miracles, they saw Him transfigured like the sun, they knew His authority, and they dreamed of how He was going to make things happen; put things into action if you will.  They anticipated, like many others, that Jesus would arrive in Jerusalem, fireworks would go off, the fight would be on, and Jesus would overthrow the Roman Empire and usher in an independent Jerusalem with a powerful reign like King David’s.  Pure glory! 

They wanted to be ‘in’ on ‘this’ glory.  They wanted a piece of the glorious pie.  They even wanted this glory so bad that jealous tension arose about whom gets the right hand spot.  Who gets to sit closest to glory!

When we see this kind of stuff going on, it makes us sick.  You know what I am talking about—this nepotism, influence-peddling, heads rolling, you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours, corporate ladder climbing, kissing up to authority to get a favor—this glory snatching and glory grabbing.  All of this stuff is really the same, people wanting to get that position of honor, fame, and glory and doing whatever it takes to get it.  Like I said, it makes us sick and makes us want to puke. 

“Jesus does not puke [though].  He continues on His way to Jerusalem.  And He draws us along with Him, which means leaving all that putrid and enslaving stuff behind.”[1]  Otherwise stated, Jesus is not distracted by these requests of the disciples, He does not rebuke the disciples.  He doesn’t even condemn their request.  You see the disciple’s request for glory—believe it or not—actually springs forth from faith.  That’s right, they realized that glory was attached to Jesus and this is a good thing.  It is a good thing that they want to be on Jesus’ right and left.  It is good when we want to be with Jesus in His adoration, fame, honor and splendor, rather than finding glory in ourselves.  It is a good thing for us to want to rub against Jesus in His glory.  The problem is not that the disciples sought glory from Jesus, the problem is that their motives and their understanding of glory needed to be purified; it needed to be refined.  The same is true for us. 

The disciples wanted to sit with Jesus at His right and left in glory.  As previously mentioned, this is good; nothing wrong with this.  However, Jesus challenges them and says, “You do not know what you are asking.”  In other words, they didn’t understand what it meant for Jesus to obtain glory.  They were ignorant of what their request involved.  They didn’t understand the real kingdom that Jesus was building.  They wanted glory but didn’t understand the pain that Christ was about to go through.  They wanted glory without the pain.  Give us a bit of your glory Jesus along with comfort, honor, prestige, special handouts, and respect, but hold the pain and humiliation.  Let us go upward in glory, not downward!

Jesus corrects them and asks,

“Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized.”

Painting by Stephen C. Dawson

Now, this isn’t merely drinking a strong cup of coffee or a strong drink or getting a little wet.  The phrase “drinking the cup” was a phrase that communicated pain and suffering.  Furthermore, when Jesus talked about “baptism” here, He is not referring to water over the head, but rather He is talking about being submerged in death.  In other words, He is asking James and John if they would be able to go through suffering and death as He was about to.  Could they truly be on His right and left sides in glory?  Do they know what they are asking? 

We know who gets those places when Jesus is crowned, proclaimed king, and enthroned.  Those at His right hand and at His left are those who are crucified with Him.  Thus, are the disciples able or do they understand what it means to drink the cup of suffering? 

The same can be asked of you and me.  When we want to cozy up to the glory of Jesus, do we realize what we want to cozy up to?  The crown is thorny; the cross gives slivers.  Are we really able to drink the cup that Jesus drank; are we able to be baptized in the baptism of suffering that Jesus endured? 

Truth be told, we are not.  We are not able.

Jesus points out to James and John that the way to glory and greatness is not through overthrowing the Roman Empire and being in victory.  Rather, the way to glory is through the cross, through suffering and through humiliation.  The kingdom of God is not like the ways of this world. 

My friends, if we think that we are able to obtain spiritual glory, we are severely mistaking ourselves.  Furthermore, even though it is good that we may want to be at the right and the left of Jesus in His glory, our faith is still misguided, for we do not understand what glory completely entails. 

You want glory at Jesus right or left?  Are you able to drink the pain of a thorny cross?  You want to be in a position of glory?  Are you able to drink the pain of flogging?  Are you able to drink the pain of God’s wrath?  Are you able to bear the sins of the world on yourself?  It is good that we want to be with Jesus in His glory. However, we are not able.  The whips are too frightening, the pain is too great, the weight of sin is too heavy, and death is too powerful for us.  We are not able.

Christ is able though. 

Yes, Christ Jesus was able.  Jesus drank the cup of suffering.  Jesus was baptized in a drenching of death.  Jesus suffered the pain.  Jesus went to the cross.  This is why Jesus is glorious.  He is not a glorious savior because He conquered a mere feeble earthly kingdom, but rather, He is glorious because He conquered darkness, He conquered sin, and He conquered death itself.  Jesus obtains glory, honor, splendor and fame, through losing on the cross, which is ultimately victory.  The way to glory in the kingdom of God is through suffering. 

This idea of glory is climaxed in the thoughts that Jesus became last, He was made sin and He became a slave of all—which means He did this all for you and me too.

Dear friends, glory comes not by being first, but by being last. Glory is found not in your sacrifices for Christ, but in His sacrifice for you. Jesus did not come to be served, but to be a slave for all, a servant for you.  The purpose of Jesus’ life was to give, not to take.  He did not come to take earthly kingdoms, but to give you the kingdom of God.  Jesus paid what you should’ve paid but simply could not.  “God did the judgment on you when He did the judgment for your sins on Jesus.”[2]

And so, after all is said and done, you who are not able to acquire glory are given glory.  You are given Jesus.  “He gives you a baptism with which to be baptized.  He buries you into His flesh and resurrects you via that same flesh to a new life.  He places a cup to your lips and bids you drink of the blood given and shed for you.  He has given His life as a ransom for you, so that you are now His own.  He has bought you at a price.  You are His.  You are His, His beloved child.  And nothing in heaven or on earth can change this.”[3]

Your debt became His debt.  Your sin became His sin.  His righteousness is your righteousness.  Jesus was able; Jesus was willing.  That is your glorious Savior, glory given to you. 

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1] Norman Nagel, Selected Sermons of Norman Nagel (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2004), 102.

[2] Ibid., 103.

[3] Chad L. Bird, Christ Alone: Meditations and Sermons (Copyright 2014), 107.

Hallmark, Rambo, Jesus, And A Messy Temple - For You

Text: John 2:13-22

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

I did a Google search of Jesus this week.  Yes, I googled Jesus on the internet in order to see all of the pictures of Jesus.  I was curious how the internet portrays Jesus. 

From this basic Google search, what I found was that the majority of the pictures on the internet portrayed Jesus with long brown feathered hair, a well groomed beard, holding a shepherd’s staff, and embracing a small lamb.  If He wasn’t holding a lamb, His hands were reaching out while He was smiling, as if He wanted a great big hug. 

There is no doubt about it that our modern day pictures of Jesus have been influenced by the art of the High Renaissance Age, where Jesus was depicted with ideal human beauty.  Furthermore, there is no doubt about it that our modern art of Jesus often portrays a more feminine side of Jesus; a Jesus with perfect complexion, a gentle smile, bright compassionate blue eyes, and nicely combed hair. Yes, many pictures today tend to portray Jesus as a little more feminine than the picture on the front of today’s bulletin. 

Is this tender and gentle portrayal of Jesus wrong though?  Technically, we don’t know for sure what Jesus looked like, so it is difficult to critically judge any picture of Jesus.  But is it wrong to portray Jesus as compassionate and tender? Actually, it is not wrong to portray Jesus in a tender and compassionate way at all, for there are countless scenes in the Bible where Jesus does go the way of sympathy and kindheartedness.  For example, during His Sermon on the Mount, we get the impression that Jesus was gently teaching.  We also read in the Four Gospels the countless stories where Jesus embraced children and showed considerable compassion and sensitivity to the poor, sick, and dying. 

All of this said though, the problem that arises is when the church promotes the feminine side at the expense of Jesus undeniable masculinity.  Yes, the church errs when we only portray a Hallmark Jesus and never portray the Rambo Jesus.  For example, at the death of Lazarus, Jesus not only wept at Lazarus’ tomb, but He snarled and ground His teeth in anger towards death as well.  Both the weeping and snarling at Lazarus’ death portray the full range of Jesus’ emotions and disposition.

Only portraying a Hallmark Jesus may have long-lasting consequences too.  For starters, most men will not respect or worship a Savior who they could beat up.  A man will not respect a frail, passive, and feeble Savior who is simply a male version of the Mother Theresa.  Furthermore, only portraying a Hallmark Jesus can communicate that we have a Savior who is far too nice and simply too timid to condemn anyone to hell. This plays right into our culture, a culture that wants a Jesus that would never offend anyone and wants a Jesus who is tolerant of everything.  In point of fact, our culture wants a Mahatma Gandhi type Jesus that simply wants everyone to get along and be happy. 

Contrary to the wishes of our culture, today’s Gospel reading does not give us a wimpy-sissy Jesus, but it shows us a Rambo Jesus who wants to cause chaos in the temple.  Yes, in our Gospel reading from today we get a glimpse of Jesus as the Son of God with divine righteousness and holiness.  We heard from our reading that Jesus does not lose control nor explode in sinful anger, but demonstrates a righteous wrath and zeal against the people and circumstances in the temple.

More specifically, Jesus makes a whip out of some cords and begins to drive everyone and everything from the temple.  He drove out the cattle and the sheep along with the marketers.  He scattered the coins, overturned the tables and ordered those who sold the doves to, “Get these out of here!  How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!”

We can hear the responses of the people in our minds, “Who is that man?  Who does he think he is?  Is he possessed, or what?  Did you see his eyes?  They were aflame!  He sure wasn’t very loving!”  Not only were the Jews offended by Jesus’ perceived reckless actions, you might be a little taken aback too. 

As Christians, I believe we have come to terms with a compassionate and tender Jesus, as well as a suffering and crucified Jesus, but we may find ourselves struggling with what to do with this Jesus of our reading.  This Jesus seems a little too rambunctious; this Jesus seems a little too intense.  Like Aslan, the great Lion, in C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe,” this Jesus in the temple with a whip is not tame; He’s wild, can’t be tied down, and one would not dare press Him. 

The Jesus in the temple overturning tables certainly does not fit into our preconceived molds of love, compassion, forgiveness, and goodness.  Or does He?

Dear friends, we must keep in mind that Jesus’ love for the people of God includes righteous anger and yes, hatred for anything that would separate a single child of God from the love of His Father. 

You see, during the time of Jesus in the first-century, people across the land would come and gather at the temple in Jerusalem for worship and to receive gifts from God through participating in the sacrificial offerings.  Instead of bringing the animals for the sacrifices, it was a whole lot easier to just purchase the animals right on site.  This was a good thing; however, because of the sinful nature of mankind, the prices for the sacrificial animals were exploited and the business side of the temple began to be an obstacle as the market overtook the temple.  The main thing wasn’t the main thing anymore.  The temple was obstructed by the market place.  A layer of obstruction developed between the gift giving God and His people.  This layer was the market, thus we now understand the reason for Jesus’ anger.

What this means is that selling baked goods in the church or having a fundraising benefit for a person struggling with cancer or taking an offering for a Lent Meal is certainly not sinful, but rather, anything that detracts from God’s gifts or anything that obstructs and cheats God’s children of His gifts should be driven from the church like the cattle from the temple. 

Truly, “One of the many things we can learn from the Bible is that God takes action when someone or something prevents His people from receiving His gifts.  Well, Jesus is God.  We should expect Jesus to take action when His people are not able to receive His gifts.  Jesus spoke against the scribes and Pharisees for giving people their opinions instead of God's gifts.  Jesus scolded Peter because Peter was trying to stop Jesus from giving the greatest gift of all.  Jesus took action in the temple because His people were not able to receive His gifts.”[1] 

Keep in mind, the clearing out of the temple in our Gospel reading was not the first time or the last time that God took action against things and people that blocked His gifts. 

The Lord working through Hezekiah, the king of Judah, removed the pagan sacred sites and broke down the pillars of the pagan god Asherah, for the sake of the Israelites.

During the sixteenth-century, the Roman Catholic Church obstructed God’s grace through indulgences.  As a result, God raised up our Lutheran forefathers to drive out the abuses of the sixteenth-century church, so that the children of God might be able to receive the free message of the Gospel for the forgiveness of sins. 

Even today, instead of selling sacrificial animals and profiting from the exchange of dirty money, we have many religious leaders selling religious programs, pushing ten-step man-centered books, pedaling religious lucky charms, and so forth; stuff that obstructs the simple Gospel from people just like you. Furthermore, there are even parishioners in our day and age across America and even in our very own Synod that push faithful pastors to actually add layers.  In other words, some parishioners, who are bored with God’s gifts, are pressuring pastors to introduce layers of meaningless obstruction. 

Dear friends, beware!  When God's people are not able to receive His gifts, the Lord has historically taken action against those who block His gifts.  You and I need to be reminded of the words of Jesus in Matthew 18:6,

“If any of you put a stumbling block before one of these little ones who believe in me, it would be better for you if a great millstone were fastened around your neck and you were drowned in the depths of the sea.” 

What all this means in regard to today’s Gospel reading is this, Jesus’ zealous aggression against the market place, even though it can be perceived as an act of hatred and uncompassionate, is really compassion and love in action.  Jesus’ zeal to uproot whatever obstructs God’s gifts is an aggressive masculine love, is it not?

As we take a step back and contemplate today’s Gospel reading, what we see is that “Jesus is not an anemic, effeminate, namby-pamby sort of God—He was anything but.”[2] 

The picture we receive from today’s Gospel reading illustrates to us the unselfish, sacrificial, and voluntary quality of the crucifixion He underwent in our place and for our salvation.  In blunt terms, we get a picture that the same Jesus who righteously drove out that which obstructed God’s gifts in the temple is the same Son of God who laid down His life on our behalf in order to deal with that which attempts to obstruct us from the Father, namely, sin, death, and the devil.  That’s right; the crucifixion was not a result of a powerless, namby-pamby, anemic, Savior who couldn’t defend Himself and was overtaken by the religious leaders and Pontius Pilate.  No way, the “Son of God who laid down His life on our behalf was not one given to lying down and rolling over.”[3]  Jesus who is Lord; Jesus who walked on water; Jesus who brought people back from the dead; Jesus who was transfigured; Jesus who exorcized demons, zealously went to the cross not because He had to but because He chose to.  He chose to—for you.

You, who have ears, hear!  The same zeal that we see in Jesus at the temple driving out obstructions is the same zeal that took our Lord to Calvary in order to defeat that which obstructs us from the Father.  Yes, Jesus zealously went to Mt. Calvary, to the grave, to hell itself and back again to the right hand of the Father to not merely drive away the condemnation of sin, the devil, and death, but to actually put an end to them—all for you. 

Every one of you—can be sure that Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, is zealous for you and all your household. You can rejoice that your Lord and Savior has zeal for His Father's house. Because you are of that house, "The LORD will fight for you, and you have only to be silent." [Exodus 14:14] You belong to Him, and nothing "shall be able to separate [you] from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:39] You are God's beloved children, residents of His house. And Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God has zeal for His Father's house, zeal for every one of you; forgiven of all your sins, baptized into His household, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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[1] James T. Batchelor, “Third Sunday In Lent Sermon” (11 March 2012) http://lcmssermons.com/index.php?sn=2658 (7 March 2015).

[2] Francis Rossow, Gospel Handles (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Publishing House, 2011), 278-279.

[3] Ibid.

The Gift Of The Fourth Commandment

2015 Zion Lutheran Lent Series

God's Ten Word's - For You

Part 3 of 6 

Text: Exodus 20:1-17 Romans 13:1-7

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

We have learned about the first three commandments over the past two weeks.  In these first three commandments, we have learned about the Lord’s will for us in regard to: Himself, His name, and His Word for us. 

These first three commandments, which deal with our relationship to the Lord, lead us to the final remaining seven commandments.  More specifically, these seven remaining commandments do not primarily deal with our relationship to the Lord but how we ought to relate to our neighbor, while we fear, love, and trust the Lord. 

Among these final seven commandments is the first and the greatest, the fourth commandment:

“You are to honor your father and mother.”

As you have just heard, in the fourth commandment God gives us a very unique word.  He says, “Honor” your father and your mother. 

Now honor is more than love.  God wants us to love all people, but when it comes especially to parents and other people in authority, He wants us to ‘honor’ them because they are a gift of authority to us.

Honor is the opposite of rebellion.  Thus, to honor someone means to give them great respect, address them with humility, and give the highest place second only to God Himself. 

But why are we to honor?  We honor because God gives parents and authorities a certain hidden majesty.  Parents and other authorities are God’s representatives on earth, given by God for our protection and good.  These authoritative persons are gifts to and for us, for our well-being.  That is to say, God has instituted judges, police officers, soldiers, presidents, congressmen, and teachers to punish wrong, keep order, and uphold justice.  This is good. God has also instituted and given each of us parents, parents who took care of us while we were lying helplessly in our cribs, dirtying our diapers, and needing to be cleaned and fed.  Through parents God takes care of children, He took care of you and me.  This is good as well.

Police, governors, teachers, soldiers, moms, and dads, they are all for our own good.  Dads ‘father’ families; Mayors ‘father’ cities; Governors ‘father’ states; Presidents ‘father’ countries; but God fathers all of creation.  This is the divine gift described in the fourth commandment.

This means God wants you to view your parents as your most precious treasures on earth.  Even if parents seem odd or old fashioned.  Indeed, God commands you to honor your parents, but also for you to honor your teachers, police, politicians and all other authorities He has placed over you for your protection and good. 

With all that stated, I believe it is safe to say that we all can use a lesson in the fourth commandment, because even as adults we anger our parents and especially other authorities.  We are rebels at heart and do not like authority above us.  In fact, if I told you that all politicians were to be honored no matter how justified you may be in your dislike of them, what would your response be?  It’s kind of difficult to honor someone you dislike isn’t it?  Yet, this is what the fourth commandment calls us to do.  Indeed, there are no conditional statements or exceptions clauses in the fourth commandment that state we don’t have to honor democrats or that we don’t have to honor parents who are not hip and with the times.  No, the fourth commandment says to honor parents, to honor those in authority; period!  Even our Epistle reading from this evening, we hear the Apostle Paul calling the Christians in the city of Rome to honor their governing authorities, authorities who were persecuting them as Christians.  This is difficult for to process, is it not? 

This brings up a very interesting point though.  What is one to do when the governing authorities act contrary to God’s will?  Shall a citizen keep silent, embrace the fourth commandment, and honor the erring governing authority by sinning with them?  May this never be!  Rather than honor sin, as American citizens—who are also baptized saints—you are to work diligently and faithfully to correct the problems of the state through running for office, demonstrating, debating, and voting.  In other words, when the governing authorities enforce laws upon us as citizens that purposely cause us to violate conscious and violate the Word of God, with all tactfulness we obey God rather than man and thus oppose the state.[1]  We must find ways to be respectful to the offices that individuals were called to; however, we must refrain from the evil that may be commanded by an erring governing authority.  The bottom line is our loyalty to God is always first; we must obey God rather than men.

That makes sense in regard to governing authorities; however, what should one do when parents violate the Word of God and impose sin upon or cause their children to sin?  Are children and youth to honor their parents by sinning with their parent? If a child is asked to do something sinful, must they respect their parent and fulfill the evil deed?

Keep in mind that parenthood is also an office given by God and God wants you parents to carry out the duties of that office faithfully, so that you can bless and gift your children.  That means providing for your children, putting your children’s physical needs, not their wants, before your own desires.  It means training your children in God’s Word, teaching them the faith and making sure the church holds a prominent place in their lives.

But as previously mentioned, too often, and especially in the church, parents don’t want to take responsibility for their own children.  They prefer to pass off their religious instruction to someone else. 

Regrettably, parents sin and fail consistently in thought, word, and deed; children also consistently fail in thought, word and deed.  Parents fail to live up to their calling as parents towards their children and children fail to honor their parents as they should.  Otherwise stated, parents were not called to the high office of parenthood to neglect or spoil or be cruel to their children.  They were not called to parenthood to lead children down the dark path of sin.  God did not bless a man with fatherhood so that he could abusively dominate and neglect his children.  A woman was not called into motherhood to abort her child.  Child abuse, mental cruelty, spiritual neglect, cold-heartedness, domestic fighting, provoking children—these things have nothing to do with God’s intentions and the role of parenthood, for they are sins against the calling and vocation of parenthood and sins against children and youth.

  

As a result of sin in families, children can rebel against their parents and parents will blame their children or someone else.  And around and around the dysfunction goes.  Pointing fingers, complaining, rebellion, and on and on and on and on… No confession of sin and no absolution and no healing.

This brings us to a very important crossroads.  It is clear that God has instituted governing authorities for the purpose of punishing wrongdoers, so that we might have order in our society and nation.  It is also clear that parenthood is a role that people are placed into, where parents are to be vehicles in which God brings forth life, and how the Lord intends the life of children to be sustained.  Otherwise stated, it is clear that the family is a kind of mini-church unto itself.  The father is kind of like a mini-pastor to his family; leading, teaching and sharing the Word with his family.  Fathers and mothers create, nurture and shape their children, both physically and spiritually.  This is how God works through parents. Furthermore, it is clear that we are to honor these parental and governing authorities, because in honoring them, we honor the Lord.  Finally, it is clear that we are to obey God, rather than man when parents and governing authorities violate the Word of God and attempt to lead us into sin.  Yes, we are to respectfully avoid the sin commanded by authorities and parents, while respecting the office and working for change.  This is all very clear and frankly somewhat common–sensical. 

What hasn’t been covered yet and what may not be clear to us is what are we to do when parents, governing authorities, children, and citizens fail?  What shall we do with our failures?  Shall parents suck it up and just try harder when they fail?  Shall children pull themselves up by their small boot-straps and just be more diligent to honor mom and dad?  As citizens shall we attempt to be more disciplined to watch our tongue?  Or, maybe we should just pretend that things are o.k., hide the abuse and sin—sweep it under the rug and act like all is well!

My friends, while determination, discipline, endurance, and so forth are all noble endeavors that may help externally uphold the fourth commandment in our lives as children, parents, and citizens, it has to be stated that the fourth commandment needs to lead us to Mt. Calvary where confession of sins and forgiveness happens.  For apart from Mt. Calvary, we are left with no absolution to our rebellion against the fourth commandment; we are left with no way forward or out.  No Calvary means no hope; damned.

Indeed, we must be driven to Calvary’s Cross, for the fourth commandment not only shows us the way things ought to be from our gift giving Lord, but it also reveals to us that we do not respect authority as we ought, nor do we properly fulfill our authoritative roles towards those who we are charged to oversee.  Yes, the fourth commandment not only shows us the gifts of authority, but it also reveals our sin against those people in authority.  It reveals your rebellious heart.  It reveals a heart full of anarchy.  It reveals a much deeper problem of a heart that rejects the gift of authority. 

Lord, have mercy on our rebellion towards authority.  Christ, have mercy on us and the wounds that we have received from abusive authority to us.  Lord, have mercy.

Take comfort my friends.  Be of good cheer though.  God has gifted you a gracious promise in response to your rebellion.  Receive Jesus and His authoritative Word of forgiveness, life, and salvation—for your rebellion against authority. 

“I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit.”

Be washed and healed from the authoritative abuse that you have received in the forgiveness of His cross delivered to you in your baptism,

“I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” 

Be refreshed by His salutary gift of His Holy Meal,

“The body and blood given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of your rebellion.”

Be strengthened in faith towards the authoritative Lord by His Word and Sacraments—for you.  Be strengthened in love for those in authority by His Word and Sacraments—given for you.  Be nurtured in the knowledge of the Lord and His will by the Holy Spirit working through the Word—for you.  Be strengthened, gifted, forgiven, and loved in Christ’s church, as you are returned to your baptismal identity.

The Lord, create in you a clean heart to see the gift of the fourth commandment.  The Lord, renew a right spirit within you to walk in the fourth commandment honoring those in authority.  The Lord, restore to you the joy of your salvation and the comfort of seeing the gifts of authority from the Lord. 

May the peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

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[1]  See Acts 5:29.