A Life Worth Living Speaks the Truth

The third sunday of easter

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

1 John 1:1 – 2:2

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (NIV)

CIR HIRI! (Christ Is Risen; He Is Risen Indeed!) A life worth living lives on the promises of God.  It dismisses doubt.  This morning we see that it speaks the truth.  Speaking of truth, please be honest with me, does this alb make me look fat?  Husbands, perhaps such a question conjures up painful memories of having been asked a similar – albeit much more terrifying – question by your wife about an outfit she was trying on.  The most horrifying thing about being helplessly pinned down with that question in that situation is not determining the truth, which is generally pretty easy; rather, it is determining whether your wife wants to hear the truth, or if you are in one of those situations where you’re supposed to tell her what she wants to hear (hint: your wife always looks good).  Of course we’ve all been brought up being told always to tell the truth, and sometimes it leads us to see the reality of the expression, “the truth hurts.”  True as that might be, the alternative – not telling the truth – hurts much worse.  It almost always tends to bring a whole lot of extra baggage and problems with it as well.  That’s one of the reasons we speak the truth.

Another reason we speak the truth is because spiritually speaking, the difference between eternal life or eternal death hangs in the balance of truth.  Man must know and acknowledge the truth of who he is and what his natural state before God truly is.  More importantly, he must come to know the truth about what God has done in Christ Jesus to forever change that status before God.  Only one place shows both truths:  the Word of God, so in order to know and speak those two truths of who we are and what God has done for us, we look to the words of John in God’s Word this morning, and in so doing, we find a life worth living.

Why should the words of John have any merit when it comes to looking for guidance in speaking the truth?  Yes, his Gospel and three letters are included in the inspired Scriptures, cementing the reality that, through the Holy Spirit, John’s words are every bit God’s Words.  That is sufficient for us, but nonetheless, John goes further and explains why he should be qualified to speak to the issue at hand: he was an eye witness, experiencing Jesus first hand.  He explains, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v.1-3).  John didn’t hear it from a guy who heard it from a guy, who heard it from a guy, etc.  He didn’t have to draw on some other individual’s description or experience.  He was with Jesus.  He saw him with his own eyes and touched him with his own hands.  So when John wants to share what he saw and heard while with Jesus, we do well to listen.

The truth that John speaks has much to say about Christian living.  John clearly connects right believing with right living in his letters.  That is to say, a person lives what he believes, and believes what he lives.  Belief and behavior are two sides of the same coin.  As one commentator put it, “orthodoxy of doctrine is no substitute for righteousness of life” (Bruce).  To draw the wrong conclusion that “I may live in whatever way I please because I have pure doctrine” is no better than the false assumption that “it doesn’t matter what I believe because I live a pure life.”  Right believing is right living.

That brings us to the first of three truths spoken by John: “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (v.6).  If God is light, having no darkness whatsoever, as John had just established, then how could a person claim any degree of fellowship with God while at the same time walking in darkness?  It’s an impossibility.  A light is either on or off.  While some may be dimmer than others, finally, even if only dim, it’s either on or off, light or dark.  Ask the unbelieving world about the criteria it has for determining whether or not a person is a Christian.  The unbeliever cares little what the Christian believes; rather, he will make his judgment based on how the Christian lives.  In his mind, walking in the light is how he identifies a Christian.  It would seem that his assessment of who is and who isn’t a Christian isn’t so far off from John’s.  It’s a sobering reminder for us that it is necessary for us not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk of light as well.

Why?  “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (v.7).  It almost sounds contrary to every thing we’ve learned, doesn’t it?  It sounds like in order for us to be purified from all sin, we must first walk in the light.  But if we recognize that John is simply writing in the same spirit of James, who pointed to our lives and works as evidence of saving faith, then it isn’t such a difficulty.  Walking in the light is a fruit of faith, and if we have faith, then we have fellowship with one another and with Jesus, whose blood purifies us from all sin.  We don’t walk in the light to bring about purification from sin; rather, we walk in the light because we have been purified from sin.  Where’s the proof of such purification? CIR HIRI!

The second truth John establishes has to do with the reality of sin in our lives.  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (v.8).  Though they may be rare, there are some this side of heaven who claim to be perfect; to be without sin.  We know that many strive to achieve such a state of sinlessness, indeed believing that they can, but few are those that would actually make such a claim.  To such people, and any of us who have bought into that notion, John says, “ we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 

Equally as bad as those who believe sinlessness is a state than can be achieved are those who believe it’s not something that is needed to be achieved, because they were never sinful in the first place.  These are the people who subscribe to the “man is basically good” philosophy, people who apparently ignore the evening news and countless headlines over the course of a day.  Rather than the picture of being steeped in sin before birth, as the Bible paints us, they believe in man’s inherent capacity for good.  They deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them. 

In either case, the futility of pretending to be without sin, or pretending that such a state can be achieved, will be met with about the same success as efforts to rid a naval ship of yellow fever. Some time ago a naval ship that had had a case of yellow fever break out among its crew returned to the naval yard for repair and fumigation.  After the ship had been scraped and repainted, and all the proper procedures had been endured, the ship was put back to sea again.  However, not even a full month later, yellow fever appeared again on the ship.  More drastic action was to be taken this time.  Since it was said that yellow fever spores could not live through the cold weather, the ship was to be opened up and exposed to freezing weather during the winter.  When spring arrived, the ship was repainted and made ready for sea again, but again the fever broke out.  Finally it was determined that, although a most noble naval vessel, death was in it, so it was eventually towed to sea and sunk.

So it is with all of us by nature: try as we might, sin naturally clings to us, and no matter how hard we try, no matter the method, we cannot rid ourselves of it. It has been passed down from generation to generation, threatening a fate that would sink us spiritually and eternally into the depths of hell.  To avoid such a fate, only one remedy can rid a person of the effects of that original/inherited sin: the blood of Christ.  Only the blood of Christ can fully and completely purify us inside and out, so that not a trace of such sin remains.  That purification is applied by the Holy Spirit, either by means of the cleansing waters of baptism or through the Word of God alone, but always through the Word of God.

What a difference there is for those who confess their sins!  John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (v.9).  We’re sinners – that’s the truth!  Don’t claim otherwise, or you reject the very forgiveness that is received following that confession of sins.

The third and final truth of which John speaks may not appear all that different from the previous one.  He writes, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (v.10).  It sounds nearly identical, but there is a subtle difference: the difference between having sin and the act of sinning itself.  The one is a lie that man can be without sin this side of heaven; the other is a lie that refuses to identify sin when it is being committed.  This lie refuses to call sin, sin.  Sin is either watered-down (“a little white lie”), euphemized (living in sin is called “cohabitation”), or outright denied (homosexuality is acceptable).  To deny our actual sins is to call God a liar and to show that the Word is really no part of our lives.

With these truths it is clear that John is serious about helping his readers connect the dots between belief and behavior.  Speaking the truth means not trying to hide or ignore our sin, but confessing it freely.  For when we have that truth down, then John wants to lavish us with the most important truth: “if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (2:1,2).  There simply is no greater truth than knowing that the One interceding on our behalf has made us at one with God, paying for the sins of the entire world.  But one cannot and will not appreciate that life-altering truth unless he first speaks the truth of his own sin.  Yes, we sin daily, we sin much.  But dear friends, that sad truth cannot begin to snuff out the bright Easter joy that reminds us that God the Father fully accepted his Son to be our atoning sacrifice.  Even if we forget all other truth while here on earth, may we never tire both of hearing and speaking that truth, a truth of which we can be certain  because… CIR HIRI! 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)

A Life Worth Living Dismisses Doubt

The second sunday of easter

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

John 20:19-31

19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. 21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” 26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. (NIV)

CIR HIRI! (Christ Is Risen; He Is Risen Indeed!) Easter Sunday reminded us that a life worth living is one that lives on the promises of God.  How true!  Lewis and Clark received that huge promise that was backed by President Thomas Jefferson and the United States government: take anything at all you need for the journey from anyone at all you need to, and we’ll pay it back. Yet that promise pales in comparison to the promise given us by our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who said, “Because I live, you also will live” (Jn 14:19).  The one who assured us that we need not have any fears because he has overcome all the troubles in the world (Jn. 16:33) is also the one who proved it with his resurrection.   Truly, a life worth living is one that lives on the promises of God…

…which sounds so nice and simple and easy – and perhaps it would be – if it weren’t for doubt.  But doubt can be crippling.  Every ounce of us may wish to believe, to trust, but just the slightest amount of doubt can creep in and spoil everything.  And so this morning, while we continue with our eyes focused on the empty tomb, we pray that we might be led to recognize that a life worth living DISMISSES DOUBT.

Shakespeare wrote, “Our doubts are traitors, and make us lose the good we oft might win.” The world sees doubt as an impediment to one achieving his or her dreams.  Junior didn’t make the free throw because he doubted himself; he didn’t have enough confidence that he could make it.  She didn’t get the job because she doubted herself doubted herself in the interview and wasn’t sure she was cut out for it.  He would have gotten the main role in the play if he had only auditioned instead of second-guessing his talent.  The world sees doubt as a hindrance to personal success, and indeed, it certainly can be.  However, a distinction must be made between how the world views the pitfalls of doubt and how the Christian views the pitfalls of doubt.  While we recognize that doubt can certainly play a role in impeding a person in certain areas of life, we are well aware of the much more serious danger that doubt presents in the spiritual realm.

That was the kind of doubt Thomas was experiencing.  His doubts carried eternal implications, for if he refused to believe that Jesus had indeed been raised, as his fellow disciples claimed, then Thomas was still in his sin and without any hope whatsoever, just as Paul reminded us in our Second Lesson this morning from 1 Corinthians.  For a time, Thomas was in that very state of unbelief.  “The other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it’” (v.25). 

It is quite easy for us to become frustrated with Thomas, isn’t it?  We find ourselves on the border of being furious with him for refusing to believe the testimony of eyewitnesses.  But I challenge you to think of Thomas differently: rather than being filled with frustration, isn’t pity in order?  After all, don’t you think Thomas wanted to believe Jesus had risen?  Surely we cannot imagine him choosing to continue on throughout Easter week with a heavy and depressed heart over the death of Jesus.  Surely he would not prefer that each day be covered by the bleak disappointment stemming from loneliness without Jesus.

Such behavior would hardly mirror the Thomas we see elsewhere in Scripture.  After having relayed to the disciples that their friend Lazarus had “fallen asleep,” Jesus explained that he needed to go and wake him up.  Thinking Jesus was referring to physical sleep, and not death, the disciples tried to dissuade Jesus, thinking it best for him to sleep if he is sick.  Then Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus had died, and Thomas replied, “Let us go, that we may die with him” (Jn. 11:16).  Does such zeal in support of Jesus sound like it’s coming from someone who would later on willfully choose to deny that Jesus had risen from the dead? Surely not!  Certainly Thomas must have hoped in his heart of hearts that what the disciples were speaking was the truth.  It’s just that he couldn’t bring himself to believe it; he couldn’t overcome his doubt.

Furthermore, Thomas by no means cornered the market on doubt, did he?  Did you notice what the first reaction of virtually everyone was on that first Easter morning?  Almost all doubted!  It wasn’t just Thomas, but all those who heard word of a resurrection doubted its reality until their own eyes laid hold of the risen Jesus.  Initially the women were terrified and didn’t know what to do after the angel had told them Jesus rose.  The disciples and Peter and John didn’t believe the women’s story at first.  The two on the way to Emmaus recounted all the details, but even they didn’t believe that he had risen.  Thomas wasn’t alone; doubt seemed to be the reaction of the day!

If that was the case on the very day of Jesus’ resurrection, then it should not surprise us that we who are so far removed from the momentous event experience doubts of our own.  Ask the Christian who just found out that a loved one is dying if he’s ever doubted the reality of eternal life or a resurrection from the dead.  See if the Christian parents who raised their children faithfully under the shadow of the cross, only to see their adult children make one spiritually immature decision after another if they’ve ever doubted the Proverb “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he’s old, he will not depart from it.”  Does the recent convert ever have doubts about the Trinity?  Does the still unemployed father ever doubt that God will provide?  Doubt abounds in our lives, and most would agree that a doubt-filled life is not the ideal life worth living while here on earth.

And the real danger is that such sinful doubt really serves as the building blocks of unbelief itself.  Doubt stacked upon doubt stacked upon doubt has the potential to erect a barricade of separation from God that no hardened heart ever has or ever will be able to scale.  Before long, what had started out as a little doubt here or there has turned into full-blown unbelief.

So what is the answer for those plagued by doubt?  It is the very same answer it was for Thomas: Jesus.  After what must have been the most agonizing of weeks for Thomas, Jesus returned to visit the disciples again, this time reaching out to Thomas and giving him exactly what he needed.  Remember that Thomas refused to believe unless he could see the nail marks and put his finger into his side?  Jesus didn’t need to be told what Thomas needed; in his omniscient divine wisdom, Jesus appeared to Thomas and said to him, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe” (v.27).  And with that, the teetering faith of Thomas was strengthened, leading him to confess, “My Lord and my God!” (v.28). 

A life worth living dismisses doubt, but not a one of us has any innate ability whatsoever to overcome our inclinations toward doubting.  It is no use to look inward, to look to self and presume that a change here or there will get rid of doubt.  Like Thomas, only seeing Jesus will fortify our faith.  If you struggle with doubt, then look to Jesus.  Visit with him more frequently in Scripture.  Daily recall how he washed you in baptism.  Come to his table to be fed forgiveness as often as possible.  Let him be more prominent in your life, so that your faith might be built up and you will stop doubting and believe.  How do you know if it will work?  Follow the advice of the British poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, who when asked if Christianity was true, responded by saying, “try it.”  Or learn from a Hindu convert to Christianity, who once declared, “If I were a missionary, I would not argue the question of religions; I would give people the New Testament and say, ‘Read that.”  Try it.  Read it.  Stop doubting and believe.  You cannot on your own overcome doubt.  But Jesus did, so look to him.  CIR HIRI!

The effigies of a crusader knight and his lady lie side by side in a cathedral in England.  The right hand of the lady is missing.  History indicates that the knight, fighting in a crusade under Richard the Lion-Hearted, was captured.  The knight begged Saladin, the sultan of Egypt and Syria, to set him free.  He appealed to the love and devotion his lady in England had for him.  At this Saladin scoffed, assuring the knight that it wouldn’t take too long for the lady to forget about him and marry another.  The knight refused to believe it, stating with utmost confidence that she would always remain faithful to him as long as there remained any hope that he might still be alive.

Demanding evidence for such a claim, Saladin agreed that if the knight’s lady were to send her right hand to prove her devotion, he would release the knight.  When the request reached the lady back in England, she promptly had her right hand removed and sent to the Muslim conqueror.  When Saladin saw the hand, he allowed the knight to go free and return to England.  The amputated hand served as proof of the lady’s devotion to her husband.

Nail marks and a pierced side served as evidence of the dying devotion Jesus had for Thomas.  Along with that appearance, we also have other numerous proofs and undeniable evidence of Jesus’ devotion for us recorded in the Scriptures.  The Lord God knows how inclined we are to doubt and to question, so he provides ample evidence of his love and devotion for us in the Scriptures, ultimately with one purpose in mind, as John reminds us: “these [miraculous signs] are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (v.31).  Or, we might just as well say, “these are written that you may find a life worth living, a life that dismisses doubt.”  We can be sure of it.  CIR HIRI!  Amen. 

Make Way for the King of Glory

The sixth sunday in lent – palm sunday

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Psalm 24

Of David. A psalm.

1 The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it;
2 for he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place?
4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.
5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior.
6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob.  Selah

7 Lift up your heads, O you gates; be lifted up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
8 Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.
9 Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory? The LORD Almighty— he is the King of glory.  Selah

Years ago a yacht landed at a wharf in Scotland.  Two of the men in the yacht left the boat to take a walk and tour the area.  It didn’t take long before they were lost.  It became late at night, and they came to a farmer’s cottage.  They knocked on the door and pleaded to the farmer that they were hungry and cold.  But it didn’t matter; the farmer would not let them in.  A mile or more away, they approached another cottage.  Though past midnight by now, the farmer willingly took them in.  Much to his surprise, he soon found out that one of the young men was the prince who would later become George V, the beloved king of England.  Now imagine the regret and shame the other farmer must have felt upon hearing that he had unknowingly shut the door in the face of the king!

The Bible tells us that many people will do the same to the Savior King.  To reject Jesus is to shut the door in the face of the King!  There is no middle ground here; in each man’s heart, Jesus Christ will either register as King, or he won’t.

On this Palm Sunday, as we remember his triumphal entry into Jerusalem amidst swaying palm branches and hollered-out Hosannas, we want to consider how we still Make Way for the King of Glory today.  To assist us we take a closer look at the psalm we sang this morning, Psalm 24.  This Psalm was written by King David.  We cannot determine the precise use for this psalm, but it seems very likely that it was used in some sort of procession to the Lord’s Temple.  Some speculate that it may have been used when the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the Temple, but there is no definitive evidence to support this thought with certainty.

Regardless, how might the Holy Spirit use this Psalm to guide people both to see and receive Jesus as their King today?  The tone is set in the very first verse: “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”  How can we know the Lord is the only one who can rightly be called “King?”  How can we know that there is no one greater or that no one else is more deserving of our hearts?  Because God made everything that exists – all of it.  He drew up the design, carried out the production, and brought everything into existence.  As David wrote, “he founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters” (v.2). We confess it in the First Article: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth.”  The Lord deserves our acclaim as king because we, along with everything else in this world, would not exist apart from his having created us.

Realize it or not, we make way for the King of Glory on a regular basis whenever we properly manage the blessings he’s entrusted to us (stewardship).  If I remind myself regularly that every last possession I own is really God’s and that he has simply entrusted it to my care for as many years of life as he has measured out for me, then I start to see how I can honor my King with my (his!) belongings.

Imagine living as a peasant in the Medieval Ages and being so dirt poor that you barely have enough to scrape by and provide for your family.  Then, out of nowhere, and for no good reason that you could possibly fathom, you are called in to an audience with the king.  Not knowing whether good or bad will result, you enter into the king’s presence.  Then he explains why he has called you.  He has a significant portion of land that has gone unused, and he would like you to be responsible for farming the land for him.  While it is the king’s land, you and your family are allowed to take as much as you need to live comfortably off it, and the rest of whatever the land yields belongs to the king.  Will you not faithfully and diligently work the land to get as much from it as you possibly can?  Yes, and not just because you know that you get to live off a portion of it, but also because you want to show honor and respect to the king for his generosity toward you.

So it is with all that we have.  Our King brought it into existence, and he has been gracious enough to trust a portion of it to our care for a certain time.  Are we using what he has given us to show honor and respect to our King?  Are we making way for the King of Glory by seeing possessions first and foremost as means by which we serve him?

The Lord rightly deserve to be called King on the basis of his creating work, but he is deserving for another reason as well: he went a step further for us after his perfect creation became stained by sin: he redeemed us.  “The earth is the LORD’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it” because Jesus bought us back from Satan.  He paid the full price – there was no discount or bartering on our behalf – nothing but the full price of Jesus’ innocent blood would do.  And that buyback certainly included each of us, but it also included all mankind.  Nobody was excluded; however, not everyone is aware of it.

So… we can make way for the King of Glory when we acknowledge his having bought us back by making every effort to win others to Christ.  They’ve already been bought and paid for, they just need to know it.  They just need to hear about what the King of Glory has done for them to make them his own.  They need to hear that the transaction has already been made and that Satan no longer owns them.  So we make way for the King of Glory by faithfully carrying out the work of evangelism, for in so doing, we’re merely trying to gather souls that already belong to the Redeemer.

As you stand in line behind others waiting at a store to benefit from a one-time free giveaway and you notice others starting to slow down as they walk by, wondering what the line is for, what is your reaction?  Aren’t you inclined to let them in on the news and tell them to jump in line so they can benefit from this great deal?  Don’t we enjoy being “in-the-know” and sharing useful information with others so that they can come out ahead as well?

There is nothing greater to pass along to others than to be able to tell them of a free giveaway that has an impact on their eternity; to be able to let others in on the news that they’ve been redeemed and are under God’s love and protection, because through Christ they now belong to him.  They have been brought into the family and are heirs to the priceless and limitless fortunes of God’s grace, the riches of his forgiveness, a new and guilt-free life, and one that is full of meaning and purpose. We get to tell others that, and in so doing it is as if we were there in Jerusalem with the crowds, waving our palm branches and shouting our hosannas as we make way for the King of Glory.  We rightly receive him by relaying him to others.

We make way for the King of Glory because he created and redeemed us.  Without his redemption, we never would have stood a chance.  That is the only conclusion that can be drawn as David asks and then answers the question in verses 3 & 4, “Who may ascend the hill of the LORD? Who may stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false” (v.3,4).  Who has clean hands and a pure heart? No one. The expectation is not only that such a person would refrain from the outward actions (“clean hands”), but also that he wouldn’t even entertain wicked thoughts in his heart (“pure heart”).  We might fool ourselves into thinking we’ve accomplished the former, but we don’t begin to qualify for the latter.  Our hearts are corrupt inside and out.  They needed to be cleansed.

That brings us back full circle to why Jesus willingly strode into Jerusalem on a donkey.  His mission was to launder unclean hands and impure hearts.  How hard it must have been to ride in to the wonderful procession, the type of welcome truly fit for a king, only to know that some of the very same voices shouting “Hosanna” would be the same screaming “Crucify!” in a matter of days.  Yet those were the ones he came to save.  Those who were just like you and me, with no inherent redeeming qualities of our own; like lost and wandering sheep, helpless, and needing salvation.  He came so that we could benefit, as David described: “He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior” (v.5).

That vindication wouldn’t come on our own merits, but by his victory.  Up to this point Jesus had always been victorious.  He had been victorious over sin by his perfect life.  He won the battle against Satan when tempted in the desert.  He had been victorious over death when raising the dead back to life.  He overcame nature itself.  Finally, the ultimate battle against Satan was what brought him to Jerusalem.  And Good Friday and Easter morning were the convincing proofs of his victory in that most important battle for our salvation.  The King came to die and rise again.  “Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle” (v.8).  He is the One who created us and the one who redeemed us.  He is the King of glory.  So then, “Lift up your heads, O you gates; lift them up, you ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in” (v.9).  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)

Your King Rules

What if, instead of polarizing politics, political parties, and a president, the United States of America had a king?  What if this king quickly earned the respect of U.S. citizens by demonstrating that his greatest concern was taking care of the people of this nation?  Would this king, having shown a genuine and generous heart in providing for you and your fellow citizens, have your support?  If so, how would you show it?  How would you show your support and give him the respect that he earned by putting you, his people, first?

We don't have a king... at least here on earth in the United States of America.  But we do have a King, and he is indeed ruling all things on your behalf from his throne in heaven.  This Sunday, Palm Sunday, we see Jesus our King as he processes into Jerusalem for his coronation, a coronation that will not end in his being adorned with a crown of gold and jewels, but a crown of thorns.  We have the benefit of knowing what he came to do, and knowing that he successfully carried out all that was expected of him, all of which was on our behalf.  We have a King, one who lived, died, and rose for us, and so is deserving of our devoted hearts and dedicated lives.  Does he have yours, and if so, how do you show it?

Dying to Forget

The fifth sunday in lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Jeremiah 31:31-34

³¹ “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. ³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ³⁴ No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (NIV)

The number of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease may be as many as 5 million.  Many more are expected to suffer from it in the next several decades.  Even though it cannot be officially diagnosed until after death with an autopsy, there are many conditions and symptoms that are so commonly associated with the disease that they allow doctors to quite accurately diagnose a person with it.  These symptoms most often involve a loss of cognitive functioning in the brain, leading to decreased abilities in the area of thinking, remembering, and reasoning.  While no symptoms of Alzheimer’s are desirable, it might be assumed that the greatest fear people often associate with the disease is the loss of memory and recognition.  We’ve all heard tear-jerking stories about loved ones who have gotten to the point of being unable to recognize family members or friends.  It’s frightening for us to consider the prospect of having to live in an isolated world in which we have no recollection of cherished childhood memories or significant events in life; one in which we cannot remember what happened in the last thirty years, let alone the last thirty minutes.  What a terrifying thing to forget everything.  Most of us would do just about anything we could if it meant avoiding a life of chronic forgetfulness, a life of not being able to remember.

But God took measures to do exactly the opposite.  He wanted to forget.  He didn’t want to remember.  Why?  Because more tragic than the onset of any disease is the reality of sin in every human being’s life, and God simply couldn’t stand an eternity of such sin on his mind and filling his every memory.  So he was willing to do whatever it took to ensure an eternity of amnesia when it comes to sin.  He revealed through the prophet Jeremiah the very steps he would take to erase iniquity from his memory, or, as Jeremiah wrote, to “remember their sins no more” (v.34).

Jeremiah’s prophetic ministry was not an easy one.  In fact, he is often referred to as “the weeping prophet,” and perhaps that characterization is best described early on in his book, in the first verse of the ninth chapter: “Oh, that my head were a spring of water and my eyes a fountain of tears! I would weep day and night for the slain of my people.”  Decade after decade Jeremiah faithfully preached the word of the Lord to his people, warning against backsliding and impenitence, and promising judgment and defeat at the hands of enemies.  With the exception of King Josiah early on, all the kings that followed loathed Jeremiah and his consistently depressing message.  He was persecuted by his own people for it.  Nevertheless, Jeremiah had such a heart for his fellow people that it crushed him to see them fail to heed the Lord’s warnings.  It tore him up inside to see his fellow countrymen destroy themselves by their sinful straying and refusal to take his preaching to heart.  It wasn’t unlike the family member of a person who suffers from alcohol addiction having to watch it slowly destroy a loved one’s life.  No matter how many warnings the family member gives – and all of them out of sheer love – he or she is helpless to force the alcoholic to get help.  So Jeremiah was helpless in forcing his people to repent and get the help they needed from the Lord.

So what does the Lord do?  Does he write off his people in their stubbornness?  Does he completely wipe them out and erase them from the pages of history?  No, that wouldn’t be the God we’ve come to know from Scripture, would it?  Such courses of action wouldn’t be becoming for Yahweh, the God of free and faithful love.  No, instead of completely cutting ties with his people, the Lord unveils a new plan, a new covenant, though really no different from what he had established all along back in Eden.  However, it was different from the old covenant he had established with Israel after delivering them from Egypt.  “‘The time is coming,’ declares the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah’” (v.31).

Now normally most people don’t do well with change.  We don’t always like different or new stuff, because it’s not what we’re familiar with or used to and it can be unsettling.  Change for the sake of change is often times unwelcome change.  But it’s different when something hasn’t been working, or never worked in the first place.  When the car we’ve had for as long as we can remember stops running, as much as we’ll miss it, it’s time for a change; time to get a car that runs.  If we open the box we just brought home from the store and the newly-purchased item doesn’t work at all, it’s time for a change.

The covenant the Lord established with his people was broken from its inception, not because there was anything wrong with the covenant itself, but rather because there was something wrong with the people with whom the covenant was established.  Remember the covenant promise God had established with his people at Mr. Sinai? 

Then Moses went up to God, and the LORD called to him from the mountain and said, “This is what you are to say to the house of Jacob and what you are to tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’  These are the words you are to speak to the Israelites.” So Moses went back and summoned the elders of the people and set before them all the words the LORD had commanded him to speak. The people all responded together, “We will do everything the LORD has said.” So Moses brought their answer back to the LORD (Exodus 19:3-8).

The covenant failed to work because the covenant involved an obligation from Israel’s end.  They were to keep the laws God would lay out for them, and as long as they did so, they would remain treasured in God’s sight.  But God through the prophet Jeremiah was reminding his people that they hadn’t kept their side of the covenant.  Speaking of the new covenant in light of the old, God said, “‘It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,’ declares the LORD” (v.32).  So the Lord desired to establish a new covenant, because his people had broken the old one.  It was time for a change.

The people of Israel weren’t the only ones who needed a change in that established covenant; so do we.  Our daily lives serve as all the evidence necessary that we do not fare any better.  In fact, if one wishes to major in minors, it’s easier to understand how difficult it would be fore the Israelites to keep the covenant, since in addition to the Ten Commandments, they had hundreds of rules for how they were to carry out even the smallest details of daily life at home, in the community, and in worship.  What do we have?  We have Ten Commandments, and we can’t even keep those.  We fail to show perfect love to God in breaking the first three Commandments; we fail to show perfect love to others by breaking the rest.  That, dear friends, would be enough to disqualify us from the old covenant.

So God established a new one. Unlike the old covenant, the new one would be one-sided – all God’s doing.  Unlike the old, law-based covenant, the new one is grace-based.  The old was conditional; the new, unconditional.  The old covenant was for the Israelites; the new covenant is for all people.  Moses relayed the terms of the old covenant; Jesus put into effect the new covenant.  The old covenant had to be passed down to each generation by meticulously teaching every detail of every custom, practice, and ceremony; the new covenant is passed down by telling each generation about Jesus. 

Only through Jesus could God pronounce the blessed closing words from Jeremiah this morning, “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (v.34).  Yet that promise could only be put into effect on one condition.  Something had to happen in order for God to forgive wickedness and remember sins no more.  Both of our other two Lessons this morning pointed it out: as our perfect high priest, Jesus had to offer himself as the ultimate one-time sacrifice and die for our sins.  In order for the old covenant to be replaced with the new, Jesus kept our side of the covenant for us.  His was the perfect obedience God demanded at Mt. Sinai.  So in Jesus the old covenant has been fully replaced with the new covenant, a covenant which allows God the Father to do what he has always wanted to do with regard to our sins: forget them.

One can’t help but notice how different God’s forgiveness is from man’s.  When we speak of forgiveness, it is so often conditional or temporary.  We forgive “if such and such happens,” or we forgive “until it serves our purpose to resurrect somebody’s past offense against us in a future argument.”  We’ve all heard it, and have probably also thought it or said it ourselves: “I can forgive, but I won’t forget.”

How different is God’s forgiveness!  His forgiveness isn’t conditional; it isn’t partial; it isn’t temporary.  It is neither given nor withheld based on who we are or what we’ve done – it is fully applied because of who he is and what Jesus has done.  How intent was God in forgiving our sins?  He forsook his own Son so that forgiveness could be ours.  Jesus suffered the anguish of hell itself for us and was willing to die a convicted criminal’s death in place of the real culprit – you and me.  How intent was God in seeing that our sins were forgiven?  You might say he was dying to forget them.  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)

Grace from Beginning to End

The fourth sunday in lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Ephesians 2:4-10

⁴ But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, ⁵ made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. ⁶ And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, ⁷ in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. ⁸ For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹ not by works, so that no one can boast. ¹⁰ For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)

It might be among the most despised words in a child’s vocabulary that a parent ever has to hear.  Fingernails scraping across a blackboard would be music to one’s ears in comparison to having to hear this one three-letter word over and over and over.  This one little word, especially when repeated in quick succession in a conversation with a parent, can magically drain mom or dad of every ounce of patience in no time flat.  If I could strike one word from my children’s vocabulary, never to be spoken again throughout their toddler and adolescent years, it would easily be the word “but.”  “Clean up your toys and get ready to go.” “But…”  “Wash your hands; it’s time to eat.” “But dad…”  “Why is your brother/sister crying?  Did you hit him/her?”  “Well yes, but…”  “Get your pajamas on and get ready for bed.”  “But mom…”  “Get your socks and shoes on and get into the van.”  “But…”  When I hear it from my children’s mouths, it makes my blood pressure rise instantly and I cringe just thinking about it. 

How very different it is when we come across that word as the very first word in verse four of our Second Lesson from Ephesians.  In fact, one could make a very strong case for it being the most beautiful “but” in all of Scripture!  In order to fully appreciate it though, one has to be familiar with the words that precede it. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath” (v.1-3).  You were dead; a pale, chalky corpse, lifeless and powerless to do a thing about it.  That’s not good news, given that such dead bodies have only one thing coming: the full measure of God’s eternal wrath. 

That picture of God’s wrath hasn’t been lost on us, has it?  Consider what horrific tortures men have come up with to cause other men to suffer: impalement, the rack, being flayed alive, fed to wild animals, burned at the stake, being sawed in half, etc.  Those are just a few of the ideas men have come up with.  Now, if man’s wisdom/ingenuity is nothing more than God’s foolishness, then what kind of unimaginable suffering and wrath must hell truly involve when God himself – who established hell for the devil and his evil angels – warns us in Scripture of its horror?  One shutters to comprehend it, and yet even the least offensive of our sins condemn us to such wrath, to say nothing of the most wretched, unspeakable sins of which we’re also guilty.  We were dead in sin and “deserving of wrath,” wrath the likes of which we cannot imagine suffering.

I. Grace Saves

“But…,” Paul writes, as if to emphasize “this is what you were; here is what you deserved, but… all of that has changed.”  You were deader than dead, “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” (v.4,5).  Just as impossible as it is to grasp the depths of the wrath we deserved, so also is it impossible to imagine the extent of God’s grace that forever changed our status; furthermore, it is impossible to imagine that grace apart from Christ, where it is shown most clearly!  Paul does his best in trying to explain that grace, and trying to underscore that such grace is completely one-sided; our being saved has everything to do with God.  He loved us with a great love.  He is the one who is filthy stinking rich in his mercy toward us.  He is the one responsible for giving us what Paul later refers to as a “gift.”  It is that great love, that rich mercy, that gift from God that saves.  It is, as Paul sums it up, grace that saves.

And to clarify that grace alone saves, Paul takes the time to rule out any human element in obtaining that grace.  Doesn’t he know the mind of man so well?  Aren’t we so inclined to take some measure of credit for ourselves whenever possible?  But Paul says there is no place for that here – none whatsoever.  Listen to how he so thoroughly rules out our taking any credit at all: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast” (v.8,9).  Not from yourselves, not by works, no one can boast – is there any wiggle room for us to slip in and take just a little bit of credit for our being saved?  No – nothing we do saves; only grace saves.

A drowning boy was struggling in the water. On the shore stood his mother in agony of fright and grief. By her side stood a strong man, seemingly indifferent to the boy’s fate. Again and again the suffering mother appealed to him to save her boy. But he made no move. By and by the desperate struggling began to abate. He was losing strength. Presently the boy rose to the surface, weak and helpless. At once the strong man leaped into the stream and brought the boy in safely to the shore. “Why did you not save my boy sooner?” cried the now grateful mother. “Madam, I could not save your boy as long as he struggled. He would have dragged us both to certain death. But when he grew weak and ceased to struggle, then it was easy to save him (James H. McConkey).

So it is with grace.  Struggle as we will, grace is not grace if we should attach our best efforts to it.  Only when we recognize the futility of our best efforts, our finest works, our noble intentions, only then can grace save.  Our efforts do not belong anywhere in the equation.  Once they are removed, then Christ steps in; then grace saves.

II. Grace Shows

Could you imagine God wanting to keep something so marvelous and unfathomable as grace to himself, wanting to keep it hidden so that it is never realized or discovered?  Perish the thought!  No, God wants nothing more than his grace in Christ Jesus to be known and seen in every place and every space all over the world.  “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” (v.6,7).  Let there be no missing how God has made his grace shown in Christ Jesus.  Three times in these two verses Paul emphasizes Christ – there is no such thing as grace without Christ.  In fact, Christ Jesus is how God has chosen to show his grace.  So we can say not only that grace saves, but also that grace shows.  It is put on display for all to see in the life and righteousness of Jesus, revealed to all in the pages of Scripture.

Furthermore, we are also evidence of that grace, right now and in the future as well.  Grace shows itself in every Christian, having been brought from unbelief into a personal relationship with Jesus.  The product speaks for itself – grace works, and Christians are proof of it!  There is no explanation for how a person can come to the Father, but through the Son and his grace, so when we see believers, we also see God showing his grace.

And one day that grace will be even more clearly displayed.  Paul wrote, “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”  Paul speaks in the past tense, as if this has already happened. Yet, how can this be if we’re still physically here on earth?  Think of it in terms of how a wedding reception is planned.  Typically, long before the day of the reception arrives, the seating arrangements have already been made.  Weeks, maybe even months beforehand, where each and every guest will sit has already been determined.  Though the day may be off in the distance, the engaged couple speaks in the present tense of this guest is sitting here, and that guest is seating over there.  The guests won’t be physically seated until the day of the reception, of course, but it’s only a matter of time before the present plans and the future reality mesh into one.  So it is with our seats at the banquet table in heaven – your seating arrangements have already been made, but only in the future when welcomed into the banquet halls of heaven will you actually be seated.  Grace shows itself right now in Christ and in each convert to Christianity, but grace will also be displayed and shown for all to see in heaven.

III. Grace Serves

Until that day comes, we recognize another purpose of grace in our lives while here on earth: it seeks to serve.  Grace goes to work in our lives as we carry out the service God has already planned for every last one of his children.  Paul explained it by writing, “For we are God’s workmanship (“handiwork” in the NIV 2011), created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (v.10).  We can – and should! – be unafraid to say that one of the significant reasons God’s grace has saved us is so that his grace might also serve through us.  God already pre-determined any and all good that you and I would do; now it is simply a matter of carrying those tasks out.  And since grace has saved us, grace can now continue to go to work through us.  Let us be unafraid to do good to each other, and in the world around us, always keeping in mind the important relationship between grace and works, that is, salvation is for works, not by works.

A little boy stood mesmerized, watching a caterpillar spinning its cocoon.  The minister approached him and said, “God has given that little caterpillar a task to carry out, and so he carries it out diligently until it is finished.  In the same way, God gives each of us good works to perform throughout our lives.  Yet, imagine what would happen to that caterpillar, if after finished spinning its cocoon, it were to remain inside.  Eventually, instead of a temporary home, it would become his tomb and he would die in there.  No, he doesn’t rest in what he’s done, but eventually forces his way through it, and as a newly-winged creature will enjoy the light and sunshine.  Impressive as his work of art is, he must leave behind his cocoon so that he can enjoy true freedom.  So it is with our works.  We carry them out faithfully and with diligence, but we must always leave them behind, for true freedom comes only through Christ and by his grace.”  Grace saves, grace shows, grace serves; it’s all grace, from start to finish, from beginning to end. May we never take that grace for granted. 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)

Temple Turmoil

The third sunday in lent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

John 2:13-22

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. ¹⁴In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. ¹⁵So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. ¹⁶To those who sold doves he said, "Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father's house into a market!"

¹⁷His disciples remembered that it is written: "Zeal for your house will consume me."  ¹⁸Then the Jews demanded of him, "What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?"  ¹⁹Jesus answered them, "Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days."  ²⁰The Jews replied, "It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?" ²¹But the temple he had spoken of was his body. ²²After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. (NIV)

Please permit a few housekeeping items before we get going this morning.  I know some feel that the padding on the pews isn’t all that comfortable, so I want to make sure everyone was aware of the opportunity to rent a pew cushion for the service.  They’re only five dollars, and trust me, your backside will thank you.  Also, if you find it tedious to have to turn the pages of your worship folders and find the hymns and the psalm in your hymnals, for five dollars more, we’re happy to have one of the ushers assist you with that in order to enhance your worship experience.  Please also keep in mind that, starting this morning, coffee will be sold for $1.50 a cup, with free refills.  Refreshments are $.75 each, or two for a dollar.  Oh, and another new change being implemented pertains to your offerings.  We are slowly transitioning to electronic offerings only.  We won’t be taking cash or checks any longer, but will be accepting automatic withdrawals from an account of your choice, or you will be able to simply swipe your card in one of the card readers that will be installed in all of the pews.  While the automatic withdrawals will be free, there will be a slight fee each time you swipe your card.  I assure you, the main purpose behind all of these changes is to make worshipping as easy and convenient as possible.  We want you to be able to focus on what’s important when you’re here, and not have to concern yourself with all those other things that can be such distractions.

I. Jesus’ Frustration

We certainly don’t know this for sure, but do you think it is possibile that everything that Jesus saw that day at the temple, which made his blood boil, was actually initially begun with good intentions?  Maybe it had become a frustration for out-of-town guests to show up at the temple only to find out they didn’t have the correct currency that was required to pay the temple tax.  So they’d have to make an extra trip to the marketplace and exchange currency and then come back to the temple to pay the tax.  “Why don’t we just provide that service right here at the temple, so that people don’t have to make an extra trip to the marketplace just to exchange currency?” the priests may have wondered.  “And what of those poor folks who were told in their own hometowns that a particular animal was acceptable for sacrifice, only to arrive here and find out, upon further inspection, their animal isn’t up to the temple standards after all?  Why not just make the pre-inspected animals for sacrifice available right here for purchase?”  In many ways, what had been going on at the temple seemed very pragmatic.

Maybe the initial intentions were good, maybe they weren’t, but either way, what they had become over time was an aberration. These services that were provided had become the very distraction they may originally have been intended to avoid!  Once money came into the picture, the sinful nature quickly sprang into action and greed was on the lookout to get its foot in the door and get a piece of the pie.  History tells us that the business being conducted at the temple – all the buying and the selling – had a reputation for being mired in corruption and greed.  There was price gauging, there were exorbitant fees, and worst of all, it was all being done under the guise of religion, at the very temple of the Lord, no less.  The preeminent place of worship had become a money-making emporium.  The worshipper had been replaced by the consumer.

And it was all too much for Jesus.  It was enough for the Prince of Peace to demonstrate his uncharacteristically indignant anger.  We’re so used to seeing Jesus calm, cool, and collected in every situation.  He didn’t panic when others rushed to him with news of a friend or family member in need of urgent care.  He didn’t lose it when the wind and waves threatened to capsize his boat.  He didn’t flinch when betrayed, or when standing trial, face-to-face with his wretched accusers; he didn’t even snap when, on the cross in excruciating pain, people still derided and mocked him.

But he lost it at the temple, no doubt about it.  He was absolutely furious with what he saw.  Unsettling as it might be, Jesus had every right to be furious, for what he was seeing was inexcusable; it was a gross and sinful abuse of God’s house.  And God has never tolerated sin, of any kind.  You think it’s such a shock to see Jesus act this way as a result of sin?  Review the many examples in the Old Testament where God made it very clear how much he hates sin. If you want to see an even more shocking image of God’s fury unleashed as a result of sin, look at no further than the cross.  God won’t tolerate sin.  Jesus gave us a visible reminder of that on this day in the temple.

Furthermore, we can especially understand Jesus’ reaction in light of the personal connection he had with the temple.  As he was overturning the money changers’ tables he said, “Get these out of here! Howe dare you turn my Father’s house into a market! (v.16).  Whose temple was this?  Not man’s, but God’s.  Jesus referred to it as his Father’s house.  Indeed, the temple was God’s dwelling on earth with man.  The whole thing infuriated Jesus because it was his Father’s house.

Suppose you are watching the news at night and you see a home that is damaged extensively by vandalism.  Seeing a place trashed like that, you might feel for those who live there.  But, as the story features several more close ups of the damage done, you quickly recognize the house is familiar to you: it is your parents’ home.  How do you feel at that point?  After initial concern about their safety, you’d likely find yourself increasingly irritated and that irritation would eventually give way to sheer rage.  How could anyone do that to your parents’ house?  So it was with Jesus and his Father’s house.

You’ve also felt the same way about your Father’s house, haven’t you?  When we see pictures of the inside of churches these days that seem to be lacking any Christian identity – no symbols, no cross, no ties to the Christian church whatsoever – we wonder if that reflects an emphasis in that church other than Christ crucified.  Then we hear messages that replace Christ with Christian living as the emphasis, and our fears are confirmed: Christ is taking a back seat in his Father’s house.  So in that respect we can relate somewhat to what Jesus was experiencing as he saw the abuses going on at his Father’s house.

But we can also just as easily be the source of the same frustration Jesus was feeling that day.  We come into God’s house unprepared for worship, with extra baggage and concerns filling our cares and thoughts instead of giving our undivided attention to the Word as it comes to us.  It’s as if we’re here in body only, and our hearts and minds are busy somewhere else.  We let other distractions – a hymn I don’t care for, a particular individual who rubs me the wrong way, or whatever else it might be – deflect from the one thing that is important.  Is it really all that different than if we’d just set up tables and conduct business?

Did you happen to catch the two completely different responses to Jesus’ actions that day in the temple?  On the one hand, you had the disciples, who saw Jesus’ fervor as fulfillment of the Psalmist’s words, “Zeal for your house will consume me” (v.17).  Faith allowed them to see Jesus’ passion for his Father’s house at work.  But the Jews were agitated, wanting to know just who Jesus was and what power he had to come in and make such a scene at the temple, of all places.  “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” (v.18) they asked.  And then Jesus gave them one, but the blindness of their unbelief wouldn’t allow them to see it as a sign.

 

II. Jesus’ Foretelling

“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days’” (v.19).  Jesus could have really laid into the Jews for daring to ask him about authority, but instead he gave them a promise, a predication as the sign for which they had asked.  Only, contrary to what they were thinking, Jesus’ statement had nothing to do with bricks and mortar, and everything to do with flesh and blood.  And though the flesh and blood of Jesus would be destroyed through scourging, punching, slapping, beating, and finally through crucifixion, it would all be restored again beautifully three days later at his resurrection.  If only they could grasp the beauty and wonder and life-changing reality of what Jesus was telling them!  If only they could fathom the implications Jesus’ words had on their eternal welfare!  But as they often do, signs have a way of hardening the hearts of unbelievers even further.

They do, however, strengthen the faith of believers.  Even if it wasn’t immediate, these words of Jesus were faith-building for the disciples, who only understood them after Jesus’ tomb had been deserted at his resurrection.  “After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said.  Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken” (v.22). 

What an encouragement for us to continue in Jesus’ words.  No, we may not always initially grab on to the meaning of a particular passage or section of Scripture.  But, over time, as we continue in the Word, the Holy Spirit works in our hearts, as if helping us with a connect-the-dots picture.  Gradually a few random dots start to take shape and become a splendid picture of salvation.  The more we start to see the picture, the more eager we are to find the next dot, and the next one, and so on, until what was once nothing but a bunch of jumbled dots becomes the work of art that is our salvation.  We see how the intricacies of the Old Testament so wonderfully tie into the realities of the New, and how all along, throughout history, God was preparing his people and the world for his greatest gift of life eternal through Jesus.  At the temple that day, people saw Jesus’ zeal, but they zeal most fully showed itself on Good Friday, when our gracious Lord willingly became the perfect sacrifice for sin, and again on Sunday three days later, when that zeal overcame the tight grip of death itself, forever releasing us from sin’s condemnation and our bondage to the devil.  What zeal our Savior has! – and it’s all for you. 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)