Don’t Give Up on Christ. Eat Up.

The Thirteenth sunday after pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

John 6:51-58

51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” 52 Then the Jews began to argue sharply among themselves, “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” 53 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. 54 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. 56 Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. 57 Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. 58 This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” (NIV)

It’s become a familiar routine for many of us, especially the parents of over programmed children: sports practice is over, and with so little time before the child’s next event is scheduled, a quick trip through the drive-thru becomes the norm.  The orders are taken from the back of the car and spit out back into the microphone and in mere minutes the meal is ready and waiting at the next window.  The last step is to “pull ahead,” and dinner is served. 

           

In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food. By 1997, that figure had ballooned to $100 billion. Today — who knows?  It has been figured that we Americans now spend more money on fast food than we do on higher education, personal computers, software, new cars, movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos and recorded music — combined.  Suffice it to say, the more we continue to give in to our fast food weakness, the amount of money we spend on it won’t be the only thing that balloons – so will our waistlines! What a way to live! High cholesterol, high fat, high calorie… It’s a trap many of us fall into from time to time, even though the nutritionists say it’s no good for us and the evidence of how unhealthy it is is undisputable.  We know we should do more to avoid it, but it’s so easy, so convenient, and yes, of course it tastes good. However, in the long run, such a diet certainly is not going to contribute to a longer, healthier life.  In fact, such a diet will more than likely contribute to future health complications and may even be a factor in shortening one’s life.

It’s one thing to discuss and debate the repercussions of a poor physical diet; it’s quite another to recognize the much more serious consequences of a poor spiritual diet.  Consider the difference: what is the worst that can result from a poor physical diet – that it may lead to a premature death?  But how does a premature physical death compare with a permanent spiritual death?  The one cuts short my time here on earth; the other cuts me off from the grace of God and the goodness of heaven for eternity.  Can we really afford to feed ourselves anything but the proper spiritual food?  Do we really fail to see the serious damage that will be caused by eating spiritual junk food?

We need to open our eyes.  We need to stop pretending that all that’s wrong with the world is due completely to how wicked and corrupt and evil unbelievers are and start recognizing that we Christians are as much a part of the problem as we are the solution.  “Shame on the world” we lament, as we lie down in bed, sleeping in on Sunday morning. We Christians say, “See, we told you this would happen if you took prayer out of schools and ignored the Ten Commandments,” while conveniently ignoring how pitiful our own prayer lives actually are, and how we would be utterly embarrassed if someone actually asked us to list all Ten Commandments in order!  We will dig in our heels and stand our ground when it comes to traditional one-man-and-one-woman marriage, while not giving a second thought to the fact that a God-designed marriage isn’t just about sexual orientation, but is also about sexual purity, which even Christians seem to have forgotten in the wake of premarital sex, affairs, pornography, and divorce.  We balk at those who accept the word of science over the Word of God when it comes to a discussion of creation and evolution, but miss the irony of how little time we actually spend reading the very Bible on which so many of our firm convictions are supposedly based. 

Can we be open and honest with each other this morning and admit that our spiritual diets leave a lot to be desired?  Can we confess that sin before God?  Can we confess that too often we feed ourselves spiritual fast food and neglect that which provides the true sustenance and nourishment that our souls need?  And then, on this Christian Education Sunday, can we commit to doing something about it?  Will we actually leave church this morning with a conviction, and then a plan, and then the follow through either to tweak or to completely overhaul our spiritual diet?  I pray that we will.

But in order to make that happen, you need to know something, you need to hear something.  You are forgiven.  Your sins are paid for.  Your guilt has been removed, as has your shame.  Let your baptism serve as a daily reminder that you have been washed and cleansed in Christ.  Jesus did all that he did – his pristine record of obedience and righteousness, including his dedication and devotion to his Father’s Word and his Father’s will, and his completely innocent and undeserved punishment and death – he did all that he did to remove every possible doubt about our forgiveness and to give complete assurance that no rift remains between God and us because of our sin.  We are at peace with God because we are forgiven in Christ.  You are at peace with God because you are forgiven in Christ.

Isn’t that wonderful news, no matter how often we hear it?  Can we ever tire of it?  Doesn’t it fill our souls with delight and our hearts with a thirst for more and an earnest desire to eat up, to feed ourselves with more of what matters?  And what matters most?  Jesus reminds us, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (v.51).  See how Jesus doesn’t simply recommend this bread because it promises to improve one’s life or somehow to make it better; he says to eat this bread because this bread is what gives life.  In other words, this is not optional, but essential.  This bread isn’t self-help or self-improvement bread; this is life.  Without it no one can live.  Do you hear Jesus?  Without him, no one can live.

So what does a healthy spiritual diet look like?  It bears several similarities to a healthy physical diet.  First of all, it’s not just about what you eat, but about what you don’t eat.  The patient who desires to lose some weight will hear from the doctor that he needs to cut way down on the fatty and fried foods and the sugar and sweets.  Trying to maintain a healthy diet while at the same time indulging on those kinds of food will only work against a person.  In order for the body to start getting on the healthy track a person has to avoid the stuff that’s not healthy.

It is no different with a spiritual diet.  Maintaining our spiritual health means limiting the junk that we consume.  While it doesn’t mean we have to go to extremes and cut out all secular music, movies, television, and internet, not a one of us can disagree with the honest assessment that we could certainly stand to be more discerning in each of those areas.  Too much of it simply goes against everything for which Christ has sanctified and set us apart.

We also must be more discerning about what passes itself off as the bread of life.  Because a polished speaker claims the title of “Reverend” or “Pastor” does not necessarily justify listening to what he says.  If any message doesn’t fall in line with God’s Word, then it isn’t a message worth listening to.  Another example walked into my study recently.  She was a former non-member student of Shepherd of the Hills who is entering her Senior year at the Lutheran High School of San Diego.  She was with her boyfriend, who had just graduated from there last year.  After talking a bit with her about her spiritual health, I finally asked both of them if they knew they’d be in heaven.  His response was that he was generous and kind to others.  Her silence dragged on, until eventually she asked more than she did respond with any sort of confidence, “Jesus?”  Sadly, nowadays one still has to be very discerning even with when the label “Christian” or even “Lutheran” applies, for if the Bread of Life is not clearly preached or taught, then it’s nothing more than moldy bread that is being offered.  And, even if thousands of others approve or rave about it, it doesn’t matter: moldy bread is still moldy bread, and the only thing we should do with moldy bread is spit it out.

In addition to avoiding the wrong food, which is harmful to our spiritual diet, a second similarity between a healthy physical diet and a healthy spiritual diet is that it’s important that we also eat the right food.  It’s no secret that fruits and vegetables are essential to a healthy diet.  They provide the vitamins and nutrients that our bodies need to function properly. 

Such spiritual nutrition is provided for us through Jesus, who said, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.  For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink.  Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them” (v.53-56).  There is plenty that claims to be good nutrition for the soul, so how does one determine not only if it’s harmful, like moldy bread, but also if it’s actually of any benefit to me?  The criteria is quite simple, really.  If it is good food for you, then the most notable ingredient will be Jesus.  He will be clearly proclaimed as Substitute and Savior, who came into this world to bear our sin so that we could be labeled “forgiven.”  That is nutritious food that lasts.

It is spiritual food that has substance, unlike that which was eaten by civilians in the worst siege in history, the siege of Leningrad, during World War 2.  As their food source was incredibly scarce, the people were making bread out of anything they could find, including wallpaper paste and sawdust.  Thousands starved to death because their meager diet afforded them no nutrients to maintain life.  How different with the Bread of Life!  Eat Up!

A physical diet avoids junk food.  It also includes significant portions of nutritious food.  Finally, eating healthy means eating regularly.  A diet that is based on cutting back by cutting out meals altogether may work for a while, but that lost weight jumps back as soon as the dieter returns to eating three square meals a day.  It’s actually said that snacking on something healthy between meals will have a better effect.  Eating regularly makes a difference.

So it does when it comes to the Bread of Life.  Eat up, and eat up regularly!  The soul that hungers for spiritual health is not one that cuts corners, but seeks a steady diet of Jesus.  It stands to reason that worship is a great start to the weekly meal plan, but that’s once every seven days.  That’s not eating regularly enough.  So we seek to add to that diet.  What will it be?  A midweek Bible study?  Sunday morning Bible study?  Reading your Meditations on a daily basis?  Having devotions at the supper table?  Opening your Bible when you wake up in the morning or go to bed at night?  How can you become more regular in your spiritual diet?  In what ways can you eat up?  This week, this year, this time, establish a regular spiritual diet of Jesus, and friends, Eat up.  Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Don't Give Up on Christ. Look Up

The Twelfth sunday after pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Ephesians 4:30-5:2

³⁰ And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹ Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. ³² Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. ^5:1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ² and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (NIV)

You came out of theater and you were disappointed because the movie wasn’t as good as you had hoped.  You finished the book and you were disappointed because the ending was a let down.  You were disappointed after the game because your team came up short.  You were disappointed when you finished your meal at the restaurant that everyone had been raving about, because you just didn’t care for it that much.  We’re not strangers to disappointment.  We’re used to facing it on different levels on a regular basis. Sometimes, we’re even the cause of it.  I recall while growing up that about the worst thing I could imagine hearing were the words “We’re disappointed in you” from my parents.  It was one thing to do something wrong and get scolded or punished for it – that’s fair enough.  But to know that you let your parents down was crushing.  It’s a horrible feeling to know that we’ve let anyone down; it’s especially hard when the people we let down are our parents. 

Or God.  If parents are disappointed in the disobedient behavior of their children, how much more so must God be disappointed with our sin?  Why?  Because remember what he’s done for us in the first place.  Paul spent the entire first half of his letter to the Ephesians reminding them of God’s grace to sinners.  Listen to some of the pictures and descriptions he used – pictures and descriptions that apply to you as well: “saints” and “faithful” (1:1), “he chose us… to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ” (1:4), “In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us” (1:7,8), “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved” (2:4,5), “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household” (2:19).  All this God has so graciously done for us, so how does Paul discourage us from disappointing God?  He says, “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God” (v.30).  Can you imagine God lamenting?  Can you imagine him being overcome with sorrow?  Can you imagine him being crushed?  Now, can you imagine him feeling this way because you caused it by your sin? Perish the thought.

Instead, let us strive to live according to the new man in each of us, the one cleansed and fed by the gracious promises of God’s forgiveness.  To do that, as we continue to grow up and shape up, let us always remember to Look Up.

There are two reasons that one person will tell another to look up.  We usually assume it is because there is something to see, as most often that is what is intended when the command is given.  But the other reason can be just as important.  Sometimes, when a person says, “look up,” the one speaking is trying to divert the other person’s attention away from something that could cause harm.  The person terrified of heights is discouraged from looking down when there is a significant drop below him, so someone else tells him to be sure to look up and keep looking up.  When there’s a sketchy commercial on TV while a child is watching, a concerned parent might call for the child’s attention so as not to see the commercial. 

Paul applies the encouragement the same way.  To look up is to divert our attention and energy away from the moral filth all around us and in us.  It simply isn’t in keeping with the type of transformed believers Paul describes in the first three chapters of Ephesians.  To look up is to “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (v.31). 

But we also are told to look up when there’s something else we shouldn’t miss.  That is, other times “look up” is intended not to draw our attention away from something, but toward something else.  A shooting star or a quick glimpse of rare wildlife might be reason to look up.  A teacher losing her patience with a daydreaming student might firmly tell him to look up at her when she’s showing the class how to do something.  A coach, noticing that his player is about to get smacked by a ball headed right for him, yells at the player to look up and catch the ball so that he doesn’t end up with a black eye or a goose-egg on his forehead.  So we are encouraged to look up, not just so that we avoid one thing, but so that we don’t miss another.

When it comes to living the righteous lives which in Christ we have been set free to live, it is not only important that we look up to Christ, but essential.  “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (v.23).  You know what’s easy?  Bitterness, rage and anger… slander, etc.  You know what’s difficult? Kindness, compassion, and forgiveness.  You know why?  Because it’s easier to look laterally than it is to look up.  There’s not a person here this morning that doesn’t know that the staple of Christianity is forgiveness.  It is the centerpiece, it is what sets it apart from all religions, and it is impossible on our own.  Because by nature we’re like pigs who prefer to wallow in the muck, even after Christ has made us clean.  We wallow in the muck when we harbor hate and bear grudges against others, because we prefer to look laterally and focus on how rotten that person is or how terribly wronged we were.  And we can go on like that for a long time.  And we will go on like that for a long time… unless we look up.

For then we see the model of forgiveness.  When I look up at God and his unconditional forgiveness toward me, I am slapped in the face with the reality that I have no business whatsoever withholding forgiveness from others.  That is why Paul attaches that example of Christ’s forgiveness to us when he encourages our own forgiveness.  When we struggle with how to find it in ourselves to forgive others, he says to not bother looking at ourselves – we won’t find anything; instead, look up and see how gracious God is to you.  If he does not count your most vile and shameful sins against you, then who are you to count the sins of another against him?  Christ has forgiven him.  Will you not?

A missionary once taught that very lesson.  He noticed a convert to Christianity speaking unkindly of a third party.  “Is she a Christian?” asked the missionary. “Yes, I believe so,” replied the convert.  “Well then, since Jesus loves her in spite of that, why it is that you can’t?”  The gossip ceased immediately when the stinging rebuke was felt.  A short time after, the same individual was speaking to the missionary with the same unkind spirit about some other individual.  Again the missionary asked the question, “Is she a Christian?”  Thinking himself to have learned his lesson previously, he thought he knew just how to answer.  He said, “Actually, I am quite certain she is not.”  “Oh, then,” responded the missionary, “I should think that we must feel such sorrow and pity for her lost soul, that it would be impossible for us to have any worse feelings about her, no matter what she did.” 

Only Christ can allow us to see things so simply.  The brother or sister in Christ who sins is forgiven by Jesus himself – how can we do otherwise?  Or, in the case of the unbeliever who sins, how can we sit and stew and slander, when the soul in question is one that is currently on the path to eternal damnation in hell?  How can we do anything but forgive?  Can we forget about the one who didn’t just show us forgiveness, but earned that forgiveness for us by having the life sucked out of him through the agonizing cruelty of the cross?  He died for you and me.  How could we possibly be so arrogant as to presume that only we deserved that forgiveness and not this other person who has done wrong?  No, his sacrifice for us commands our respect and begs us to pay that forgiveness forward.  His sacrifice deserves to be recognized, as was the sacrifice of a slave for his Roman master.

This slave, who knew that there were some who wanted to put his master to death, dressed himself in the clothes of his master, so that he would be mistaken for him.  It worked.  The slave was taken, and he was put death in place of his master.  The master was compelled to recognize his servant’s sacrifice, and had a brass statue of the servant raised in his memory.  The sacrifice of Christ for you and me was far greater.  The difference it makes is eternal.  How can you recognize and commemorate that deep, deep sacrifice?  You can forgive, “just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Would you like for it to become easier and easier to forgive others?  Then continue to look up, not just once, not just here and there, but always, continually, throughout life.  Do it over and over and over, until it sinks in how your Savior endlessly forgives you.  “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (v.1,2).  Imitate him (NIV 1984).  Follow his example (NIV 2011). 

When you struggle with forgiving others – and you will, for you are not Christ, but seek merely to imitate him – remember the lesson a grandfather taught his grandson.  When his grandson came to him full of anger at a classmate, the old grandfather said, “Let me tell you a story. I, too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do. But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die. I have struggled with these feelings many times.”

He continued, “It is as if there are two wolves inside me: One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will fight only when it is right to do so, and in the right way. But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will send him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.” The boy asked, “Which one wins, Grandfather?” The grandfather said, “The one I feed.”  That is the key: to feed the new man in you; to make sure he is properly nourished, so that he wins the battles in your heart.  To accomplish this, yes, look up, but also be sure to come back next Sunday morning as conclude our series and focus on how necessary it is to Eat up. Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Don't Give Up on Christ. Shape Up

The eleventh sunday after pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Ephesians 4:17-24

17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed.

20 That, however, is not the way of life you learned 21 when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (NIV)

Paul’s characterization of life without Christ in our verses this morning provides plenty of reason not to give in and give up on Christ no matter what the situation.  One could hardly imagine that anyone – believer or unbeliever – would find his description of those without Christ to be flattering.

He begins by discouraging the Ephesians from having any resemblance to the unbelieving Gentiles of the world.  “So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking” (v.17).   The thought process of one without Christ is futile, or empty.  The mind without Christ cannot think straight, but is wandering around aimlessly.  It doesn’t matter how brilliant one might appear to be; without Christ, all thoughts are in vain.

Paul goes on to write, “They are darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts” (v.18).  A common refrain from the unbelieving world against Christians is that they are ignorant on this issue or that; too blind to be able to see anything clearly.  Paul turns the table on them, clarifying that in reality it is those separated from God who are in the dark and are ignorant.  

Finally, “Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, and they are full of greed” (v.19).  With consciences oblivious to any sense of right or wrong and a moral compass that could not possibly be any further out of whack, nothing is off limits.  If a person can imagine it, then it’s fair game, and who is anyone else to say otherwise?  What’s more, since inevitably this or that indulgence will cease to bring satisfaction, the bar of immorality will be raised, in an ever-increasing but never-satisfied lust for gratification. 

Last Sunday, through the pen of Paul to the Ephesians, we were reminded of the need to Grow Up in God’s grace, using his gifts of pastors and teachers and all called leaders to guide us in that grace, so that ultimately we do not forfeit the goal of our salvation and eternal life with Jesus.  It’s only as we grow up in Christ that we then recognize the need to Shape Up as well.  After all, a child does not necessarily know why there is a need to shape up, but an adult does.  An adult knows why it is important to stay healthy and in good shape.  An adult knows how one should behave properly.  But a child does not. 

So it is with the spiritually immature Christian.  Unless he first takes the time to grow up in Christ, he will not see the need to follow through with God’s call to shape up, nor will he be empowered to do so, if God’s grace has not been continually at work in him.  We do not have to look far to see what life that rejects that grace by giving up on Christ looks like.  Sadly, all of the descriptions Paul gives in the first three verses of this morning’s text are all-too familiar in the world around us.

If you have ever tried to reason with an unbeliever, then you know what Paul meant when spoke of “the futility of their thinking.”  That word “futility” has this idea of aimlessness to it, which very much describes the impression one gets from those without Christ.  Priorities are mixed up.  The stuff that shouldn’t matter is all that matters.  This life with its treasures and trinkets takes precedence over everything, and the life that follows doesn’t even receive a second thought.  Getting noticed is what matters more than anything, so it’s not uncommon to be covered nowadays with tattoos of shocking images, or to post some obscene statements or video online, or, God forbid, even to resort to extreme violence to garner attention.  In their futile way of thinking, since this life is all there is, the only thing that matters is leaving one’s mark somehow.

But such a mindset is to be expected from the individual who is in the dark and separated from God “because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts.”   Given that American Christians are growing increasingly biblically illiterate, what should we expect of our unbelieving neighbors and coworkers?  Yet, we should take note that it is one thing simply to lack knowledge in a particular area, and another thing to have no desire to attain that knowledge.  When Paul refers to those living in ignorance, he’s speaking of those very people in our networks of friends and acquaintances who willingly choose to remain in spiritual darkness.  They are in ignorance because they choose to ignore Christ.  They don’t know a lick about God, and they don’t want to know a lick about God.  Their hardened hearts wouldn’t have it any other way.  But, as so many choose to remain ignorant of Christ and his Word and will for their lives, there will be consequences.

It’s why there is so much moral decay in our world and a desire “to indulge in every kind of impurity.”  Examples abound.  We’re long past the era in which it was shocking to have a gay character portrayed on any given sitcom; now it’s shocking not to, despite the fact that such visibility is a gross misrepresentation of the actual percentage of homosexuals in the overall population.  Regardless, it’s not like heterosexuals fair any better at all when it comes to sexual immorality. The new order of things happens to be sex first, baby second, with marriage a distant third, if even on the radar at all.  And let’s not look to politicians for examples.  Infidelity almost seems to be a prerequisite for political office these days.  Then there’s the all-you-can-eat buffet of consumerism and materialism, at which society gorges itself, spurred on by subtle (and not so subtle!) marketing everywhere we turn. 

As depressing as it all is, what’s sadder even still is when these realities apply indistinguishably to both believers and unbelievers.  One can understand why the world lives this way, in such darkness, but when the Christian looks no different, something’s wrong.  Not only is the reputation of Christ’s church tarnished, but the reputation of Christ himself is sullied.  “If this is how his followers live” reasons the unbeliever, “then how is that any different than my life?”  It’s why Paul takes the time in these verses to remind believers that there is a difference between believers and unbelievers, and it ought to be reflected in their lives.  It would be unreasonable for anyone to expect the heathen world to shape up, but that’s not the case for believers.  Believers have every reason to shape up and be what God has made them.

The biggest reason starts with Christ.  Paul reminds us that we were taught differently than those of the world.  “That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus.  You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires” (v.20-22).  Though you might see garbage and filth all around you everywhere you look, it’s not what you were taught when you learned about Jesus.  You were taught, not to give into such sin, but to put it off, as if taking off a coat or a jacket that has an unsightly stain on it.  And remember, Christian, Christ has made that possible because he now dwells in you.  The old self is no longer a dictator who governs your every thought, word, and action; he must now contend with Christ, and friend, Christ is stronger.  He is more powerful.  He has already won.  The cross and tomb are the banner under which he enters the fray on a daily basis against your old self.  Continue in Christ and you will continue to shed the old self more and more each day.  Continue in Christ and he will shape you into what you are to be. 

That is because through Word and Sacrament he is at work in you to make you “new in the attitude of your minds” (v.23).  Have you noticed that as we age, we are not as inclined to engage in the same sinful vices of our youth?  Is that only because we are older and wiser?  Hardly!  It is because the Lord Jesus is constantly renewing our minds, making them more like his, so that the new man in us is able to put down the old self with more frequency.  Yes, Satan will most assuredly switch things up and come at us with new and fresh temptations, but we continue to counter with Christ and trust him to guide us and grant us victory.

As that happens, as our Savior continues to shape us, we identify less with the world and more with the Word.  We don’t as often find ourselves slipping in Satan’s footsteps, but stepping in sync with our Savior.  That is what happens as Christ’s love compels us to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness” (v.24).  True righteousness and holiness is more than a trendy bumper sticker with the letters N-O-T-W (Not of This World).  True righteousness and holiness is more than waiting in line at a chicken franchise just “to show them.”  True righteousness and holiness is humbly adorning ourselves with Christ’s righteousness and holiness, that Christ might be glorified, not us.

Such a call to righteousness can be a daunting task, especially because we know our sinful inclinations better than anyone else.  We need to remember what God has done with us…  After fishing all day in Scotland, a man stopped to get a bite to eat and something to drink in a local inn.  While there, he couldn’t help but share his fishing stories.  Describing the size of the one that got away, he motioned with his hands to demonstrate the size of the fish, and as he did, in his excitement his hand smacked into a server about to set down a cup of tea on a nearby table.  The cup of tea splashed against the wall and instantly left an ugly brown stain against the otherwise white surface of the wall.  Feeling terrible, the fisherman began to apologize at length.  But then a guest at a table nearby got up and told him not to worry about it.  As he did, he pulled out a pen and began to sketch around the unsightly brown stain.  Before long, the image of a majestic stag with an magnificent set of antlers appeared from the stain.  As it turns out, the other guest was Sir Edward Landset, an English painter known for his portrayal of animals.

Doesn’t that represent what our merciful God has done with us?  At times the stains of our sin make it so that we look no different than anyone else in this world.  Covered in the shame of our unsightly sin, we are far from anything beautiful to behold.  But then our gracious God paints over us with the blood of Christ and makes us into a work of art, perfect in every way.  In Christ we are flawless.  We have no blemish.  We are pleasing in God’s sight.  May that reality be reflected in our lives as God continues to shape us in Christ.

It is far too easy to dwell on the world’s wickedness and be inclined to throw our arms up in the air in defeat.  How absurd!  Have you forgotten that in Christ we’ve already won?  Don’t waste another second lamenting the world’s wickedness.  Rather, focus on living as Christ enables you to live.  Why curse the darkness when you can light a candle instead?  Let the light of Christ shine in your lives, for though the world around us may be shrouded in darkness, we live in Christ’s light.  Let it show.  Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)

Don't Give Up on Christ; Grow Up

The tenth sunday after pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Ephesians 4:1-7, 11-16

1 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called ; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 7 But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it. 11 So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (NIV)

It doesn’t matter if the athlete is male or female.  It doesn’t matter what sport it is.  It doesn’t matter which country the athlete represents.  It doesn’t even matter what color the medal is.  It’s safe to say that any athlete of these Olympic games who’s had the distinct privilege of having a medal placed around his neck is not a quitter.  Such athletes didn’t quit when the training and the practice got tough.  They didn’t give up when challenges or obstacles surfaced that appeared to threaten their goals. 

Sometimes that’s the difference between those that finish with a medal and those that don’t.  Certainly natural ability has a lot to do with it, but when considering athletes who compete at the same level with very comparable abilities, often times the difference is that those determined not to give up when training and preparing are the ones who end up on the podium.

The devil wants you to give up.  It’s no secret.  He wants you to give up on Christ and rely on something – anything – else as you go through life.  And he has an alarming success rate.  He has his tricks of the trade to lead us to give up on Christ.  Pain and suffering.  Loss.  Doubt.  Materialism.  Apathy.  Indifference.  The devil isn’t picky – he doesn’t care if it’s the believer who falls away completely and gives up on Christ or the casual Christian who routinely neglects God’s Word and worship for so long that his actions essentially show that he too has given up on Christ.  Either case is a success for him.  This morning though, and in the next three weeks that follow, we’re going to put up a fight against the devil and his attempts to get us to give up on Christ.  Armed with the weapon of his Word, we’ll seek to take Satan seriously and equip ourselves to defend against him.

How do we respond to the devil?  We don’t give up on Christ.  We grow up.  That’s what Paul encouraged the Ephesians to do as he wrote this letter from prison.  He spent the first half of this letter reassuring the Ephesians that even though they used to be dead in their sin, they had been made alive in Christ by grace, and not by works.  Now that they were brought to faith in Christ and made alive in him, Paul wanted to encourage them to continue on the joy-filled ride of Christianity by growing in that faith which Christ had gifted to them.

And, just as we were made alive in Christ, Christ is also the one who gives us all that we need to grow up in him. More than anything else, there is something that is absolutely essential to growing up in Christ.  In fact, growth cannot and will not occur without it.  The very same thing that made us alive in Christ is what keeps us growing in Christ: grace.  Paul reminds us – each and every believer – that we have just that.  “But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned it” (v.7). 

Everyone here this morning is different.  We’re different ages, we have different features, different names, different abilities, and so on.  But everyone here this morning has something in common: each of us has received the grace of Jesus Christ.  We’ve received it to different degrees as far as our spiritual gifts are concerned, but as far as eternal life is concerned, we’ve all received God’s gift salvation by grace through faith.  No one’s on the bubble.  Nobody’s status is “pending.”  No one still has work left to do before his salvation is a sure thing.  Your room in heaven has already been booked.  All of the “one’s” Paul wrote about are yours – one body, Spirit, hope, Lord, faith, baptism, God – and all are yours by grace.  And Paul wants that gift of grace to continue working in you as you grow up.

A bride and groom receive gifts from guests on their special day.  They didn’t do anything to deserve the gifts.  They didn’t buy them or earn them.  They just got married and they received gifts.  Those gifts are like God’s grace, freely given.  The couple enjoys opening the gifts together and they appreciate what they’ve freely been given.  But inevitably – and most of us can relate to this – there are at least a few gifts received on a wedding day that get put on the shelf, or in the closet, or in the garage, never to be used.  That’s not what God had in mind for his grace when he gave it to you.  Yes, he wanted to bring you into his family of believers by grace, but he wanted that grace to continue blessing you as it enables you to grow up.  Don’t stick God’s grace in the back of a closet somewhere and assume that it’s done all it needs to do because it brought you to faith.  God gave it to you and continues to give it to you so that you grow through it.

If you want proof that God wants you to grow up in his grace, then consider this: he not only gives you grace to grow up, but he also gives you the gifts to grow up. Yes, each Christian has been given unique and special spiritual gifts to benefit the body of Christ, which Paul speaks about in the twelfth chapters of 1 Corinthians and Romans.  But here Paul is speaking about different kinds of gifts.  Here he is speaking about the gifts God gives to his church to see that his grace continues to equip and train the saints as they grow up.  He gives us the gifts Paul lists in verse 11.  “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service” (v.11,12).

What does Paul mean when he says that Christ gave such individuals to his church “to equip his people for works of service so that the body of Christ may be built up?”  That’s another way of saying that Christ gives these gifts to the church to help us grow up.  Christ is so invested in his church – in all believers – that he gives it the gifts of pastors and teachers to make sure that his grace continues to be put to work and that God’s people continue to grow up.

But like any gift, it is only effective if a person makes use of it.  We have teachers in our elementary school who have received some of the best possible training for teaching children about Jesus.  The training they’ve received is the envy of many other church bodies.  They are very well qualified to educate children in the most important area of life, that of Jesus and his love for them.  But how valuable are these gifts, our teachers, when they aren’t used?  Our Sunday school teachers work hard to prepare Christ-centered Bible lessons each week, but how valuable are these gifts, our Sunday school teachers, when they aren’t used?  God gives his church pastors who have been trained to teach, to preach, to counsel, to shepherd, etc., but how valuable are the gifts of pastors if your seat in Bible class, church, or even the pastor’s study on occasion remains empty? These gifts are so valuable because they assist us in tapping into the grace revealed through God’s Word.  God gives the gifts for you to grow, but if you are neglecting those gifts, then who’s to blame for your lack of growth?

In addition to the grace and the gifts, God also gives us the goal to grow up.  God doesn’t call us to grow up just to kill some time while we’re waiting to get to heaven.  He calls us to grow up because he doesn’t want anything to stand inff the way of our getting to heaven.  That’s his goal.  He wants us to make use of his grace and his gifts so that ultimately the goal can be realized and we don’t end up losing out because we were led astray by some distraction all because we failed to grow up.  Paul points out that God gives the gifts to his church so that “the body of Christ may be built up… Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming” (v.12,14).

I’ve been able to be at the bedside of a dying believer who clearly spent the better part of life growing up in God’s grace.  That believer had no fear and could not wait to go home to Jesus.  I’ve also been at the bedside of a dying believer who had clearly neglected the means of God’s grace for the better part of life.  That believer was uneasy.  That believer struggled with guilt.  That believer wasn’t so sure of what would come next.

I can tell you which individual I want to be, if I should ever be found at that point in life.  I can tell you which one God desires us to be, too.  He’s made it clear through the words of Paul.  Giving up on Christ is not the answer.  Growing up in Christ is.

A master sculptor just finished his masterpiece.  He looked it over, examining it carefully.  He didn’t find any flaws.  He saw nothing that needed improvement.  It was complete.  Then he started to cry.  He cried because there was no more opportunity for him to grow as far as that unique sculpture was concerned.  So long as the sculpture was a work in progress, the sculptor grew in his abilities and the techniques needed to sculpt, but when all was finished, there was no more opportunity to grow.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, that isn’t the case for us when it comes to our walk with Jesus.  Our whole lifetime is an opportunity to grow up in Christ.  From the first infant cry to the last wheezing breath, God calls us to grow up.  He gives us what we need with his grace and his gifts, and he gives us the goal: that nothing would sway us and deter us from inheriting the eternal life graciously won for us by Christ.  Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)