The Wonder of It All

When the theme for our Children’s Christmas service this year was chosen several months ago, I appreciated the simple reminder it promised to provide for us as we look ahead to the celebration of the Savior’s birth yet again.  The theme, “The Wonder of It All,” seemed to be very appropriate for Christmas.  Every year, it seems, it becomes more and more of a challenge to keep our eyes transfixed on the manger.  The birth of the Babe in Bethlehem is so dangerously close to being the part of Christmas that is so familiar, so routine, so easily overlooked… that we can completely miss out on the wonder of it all.  Even the “Jesus is the reason for the season” and “Keep Christ in Christmas” car magnets and stickers can become more about outspoken opposition to anti-Christmas sentiments and less about sorely-needed personal reminders.  We can become so busy defending the attacks against Christmas that we fail to deeply ponder the meaning of Christmas.  So I was excited about this theme.

But then, since the tragic events of last week, I can’t help but see the theme from another angle, from the perspective of those who simply have no answers for how or why a young man could thoughtlessly murder innocent children and teachers at an elementary school.  For many, the wonder of it all is who could possibly do this, or why?  For others, perhaps both believers and unbelievers alike, the wonder of it all might be how could a loving God allow this to happen?  The lives of innocent children are over and gone.  But the wonder remains.  Presents had already been purchased by parents, but won’t be opened by the children for whom they were intended.  Our minds are numb and reeling with the kind of wonder that wants answers.

There have been attempts at explaining it, most of which have missed the point.  This tragedy didn’t strike because gun laws aren’t strict enough.  It didn’t happen because God has been taken out of schools.  It happened because the shooter was a sinner.  And what’s even scarier than that?  So are you and I.  Yes, the sin that Satan sequestered in that vile and cowardly killer to serve his wicked purpose is the very sin that God’s law reveals in each of our hearts as well.  Cold-blooded killers we may not be, but heaven’s “no vacancy” sign stays lit for liars, cheats, gossips, haters, pharisees, drunkards, and all other sinners as well.  You and I are destined to be right there with the gunman, standing on the outside of heaven looking in, unable to remove from ourselves the refuse of sin that clings to us and disqualifies us from entrance into heaven.

That would have been our lot, if not for the wonder of it all, the birth of the Son of Mary, the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  The wonder of it all could perhaps be summed up with these words from 1 John 3:8: “The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  The sinful, shameful acts of last week are not unlike many despicable crimes that have happened in the past.  And sadly, they will happen again… as will the equally shameful sins in our own lives.  But the wonder of it all is that in a helpless, defenseless infant, we see the conquering hero, the Savior God in the flesh, who came to overcome.  He came to destroy and decimate the most wretched and rotten works the devil could ever conceive and carry out.  And because Jesus did just that by virtue of his life and death in our place, he has pronounced us forgiven.  His resurrection guarantees it.  The Babe in Bethlehem was born to become the crucified criminal for us, so that the devil’s work would be undone and we would be welcomed into heaven not as the sinners we are, but as the sons God has made us through Christ Jesus.  Mind-boggling.  Beyond human understanding.  Incomprehensible.  But every bit the reality because of Christmas.  May you marvel at the wonder of it all this Christmas and always.  

Malachi 3:1-4 Sermon

second sunday in advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

 

Refined

Malachi 3:1-4

“I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty. ² But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. ³ He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, ⁴ and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years. (NIV)

Stroll around inside a jewelry store for a bit, and you’ll appreciate how stunning gold and silver can be.  Of course you know that it didn’t always look that way.  That ring wasn’t plucked out of a mine in a perfect circle which just happened to be sized for your finger.  Obviously it was formed into that shape somewhere along the line.  Even before it was ever shaped into anything however, the metal had to be refined.  Refining is the process by which a metal or some other substance is purified.  While this process today may very well be carried out using chemicals, it is also still done the way it was done in biblical times: with heat.  In the case of gold or silver, the temperatures must reach extreme heat, nearing 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.  As the metals reach such temperatures, they begin to melt, and eventually all the impurities burn off and what remains is the precious metal in its purest form.

But you know that in referring to the process of refining in his message through the prophet Malachi, God was not in the least interested in gold or silver, or any precious metal for that matter. No, he was interested in something much more valuable to him: souls.  And while precious metals can still retain a level of worth even if they aren’t 100% pure, that isn’t the case when it comes to souls.  No, the only soul that is acceptable to God is a pure soul, a soul without any impurities at all.  Only perfection will do; anything less does not pass the test.

This of course presents a big problem for you and me, as it did for Malachi’s audience.  You see, perfection’s not really our thing.  We’re kind of unqualified to achieve the whole “purity” thing.  It’s not that we don’t want to; it’s that we can’t.  And we know it.

So what does that mean?  Well, for people like you and me, who have been so firmly convinced by the Scriptures that we cannot achieve God’s standard of perfection by anything that we do, that can often result in our favoring one of two options.  One option is to believe that because we know full well that we cannot achieve perfection, that we don’t even bother to try.  In some way we may actually believe that we might offend God if we try to live a holy life, if we try to strive for the perfection that he demands.  We are further convinced that this off-the-wall idea finds additional support in the Bible’s teaching about justification, that is, that a person is forgiven, is declared “not guilty” on the basis of faith, not works.  Because we’re saved by faith alone, we want to keep obedience and righteousness completely out of the equation, as if we’re afraid that God might not know the difference between a person’s worthless attempts at self-righteousness and believing fruits of faith.  God wants us to know that we’re saved by faith alone, so we are content to leave many a good deed undone, as if to say to God, “see, my lack of good works serves as more proof that I know I’m saved by faith and not saved by works.”

The other choice we may be inclined to opt for is not so much an intentional avoidance of doing anything good, but a decreased concern about doing what’s wrong.  The reasoning – if you can call it that – takes the previous thought a step further.  In addition to the “I can’t be perfect, so why bother trying,” we take the gospel too far and it becomes a safety net for a life that is less concerned with the more frequent occurrences of sin and evil.   In other words, not only is trying to be perfect a waste of time, sin becomes less troubling and more welcome because “we’re forgiven.”  “I’m not accountable for my actions – I’m forgiven.”  “Telling the truth isn’t a requirement for heaven – I’m forgiven.”  “Let’s celebrate with yet another drink too many – we’re forgiven.”

Both approaches, “Since I’m saved by grace, I don’t have to do good works to strive for perfection,” and “I’m forgiven anyway, so what’s a little ‘whoopsie’ here or there” are both extremely dangerous from a spiritual standpoint.  Neither of them stems from faith.  Neither of those philosophies come from the new man in us, but from the Old Adam, still clinging for dear life, even trying to take the good that God does in our lives and twist and tangle it up.

God wants souls that are free from impurities.  Souls that buy into either of those two approaches demonstrate that they are anything but pure.  So what does God want?  What would he prefer instead?  Malachi spoke of a messenger God would send, one who “will prepare the way” (v.1).  During this season of Advent, one name comes to mind when speaking of a messenger sent to prepare the way: John the Baptist.  As we heard in this morning’s Gospel, which quoted another OT prophet, Isaiah, John the Baptist was the fulfillment of those prophesies.

It was really John the Baptist’s message that revealed God’s method for seeing to it that souls meet his standard of quality.  He spoke of preparing and straightening paths and crooked roads.  Those pictures of road repair are another way to depict the actions  referred to by Malachi, who said, “He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver” (v.3).  There it is, God’s preferred plan for purifying souls: seeing to it that they are refined. 

But what does that mean?  God isn’t literally going to put us through a fire in order to melt away the impurities; that much we know.  But it might feel that way as we endure the painful process that God is referring to: the process of repentance.  Only through the refining fires of repentance are souls made pure and right and presentable before God.

So why don’t we just go this route first?  Why instead to we sometimes default back to the previous to options we spoke of?  Because the process of repentance is painful.  It isn’t just a general awareness or acknowledgment of sin; that we “know we’re sinners already so let’s move on” type of things.  The refining fires of repentance are the coming face-to-face with the impurities of my sin – owning up to them and confessing them before God, admitting that we know how dangerously damning each sin is.  Repentance finds us open and exposed before God, with nowhere to hide and no one to blame but ourselves for our sin.  And that hurts.

But when we keep the end result in mind, we endure the pain so that we can be renewed entirely through the refining fires of repentance.  This process removes the impurities.  It cleanses.  It purifies.  It alone makes us acceptable in God’s sight, because it is an admittance that we wouldn’t be acceptable in God’s sight apart from Christ, who paid the ultimate price to remove the impurities of our sin.  He gave his life. 

The picture of being refined offers additional comfort if we carry it a bit further.  Malachi wrote, “He will sit as a refiner…” (v.3).  When the fire finally got hot enough for the metal to melt, the refiner had to pay close attention.  It wasn’t the type of job in which he attempts to multi-task.  No, just as the picture on the front of your worship folder depicts, he had to keep a close eye on things.  He needed to remain by the fireside throughout the process to ensure that the metal got hot enough to burn off the impurities, but also so that it wouldn’t be allowed to overheat, which could end up making the precious metal dull and lose its luster.

God, as we go through this process of refining, never leaves us or forsakes us.  He remains by our side.  As repentance forces us to come face to face with the harsh, ugly reality of our sin, it’s possible it might be too much for the Christian.  The devil may step in and attempt to convince us that our sin is too great, too serious, too unforgivable to bring before God and cause us to despair.  But God will remain by our side throughout as we are refined, that he might shoo the devil as needed by forcing him to recall the cross and the tomb.  God will continue to keep his eye on us, not about to lose one of his children through repentance, when it is that very method by which he seeks to purify his children in the first place.

Not only does he remain by our side throughout, never leaving us, but he also knows just how long we need to be in the fires of refinement.  You know how the refiner could tell when the impurities had burned away and it was time to remove the metal from the fire?  It was when he could see his shiny reflection in the gold or silver.  That was when he knew it was ready.  That is when it was pure.

So too, God is constantly observing us.  As he steadies and strengthens our faith through his Word and his sacrament, his reflection becomes more and more clear.  When he looks and sees his reflection with perfect clarity – when he sees Christ – dear friends, that is when the process of refinement has served its purpose.  And that is really what repentance does.  It leads us to look at ourselves and admit that we’re full of impurities, and to recognize that the only way that will ever change is through Christ and his forgiveness.  While here on earth, that process is ongoing, because the dross of our sin is always present.  But when the final Advent takes place, when Jesus returns to bring us home, the refining process will have served its purpose.  At that point the soul – your soul – so treasured by God, will be completely free of any impurities.  In Christ it will have been perfectly refined in the fires of repentance.  In Christ you are and you will on that day, be pure.  Come, Lord Jesus, come. 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 Look Now!

first sunday in advent

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Genesis 19:15-17, 23-29

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished." ¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. ¹⁷ As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!" ²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah— from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵ Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. ²⁶ But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD. ²⁸ He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. (NIV)

Did you see who just walked in?  Don’t look now, but she’s wearing the exact same dress as you.  Don’t look now, but I’m pretty sure that one of the ladies at that table over there has been checking you out ever since we arrived.  “Don’t look now” might also be good advice to the runner leading the race as he’s nearing the finish line and tempted to look behind him to see how close the next runner is. 

Now I don’t know that any of those situations would necessarily be considered life threatening if a person snuck a quick peek.  About the only thing being risked in each case would be an awkward social situation or regret.  But there are also be some cases in which ignoring the advice, “don’t look now” could have more serious consequences. “Don’t look now” is advice to be taken seriously while driving and being tempted to grab the phone to check the text that just came in or quickly send one back.  In that case death or serious injury could result.

But there’s a situation which runs more risk than all others when it comes to heeding the advice, “Don’t look now.”  When God demands that our attention and our focus be directed toward him to the extent that we let nothing else distract us, our eternal welfare may potentially depend on how seriously we take him.  Lot came dangerously close to not taking God’s command seriously enough.  God called for his undivided attention and through his angelic messengers told Lot to take his family and run away from Sodom, lest they be destroyed by God’s impending wrath.  “The angels urged Lot, saying, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished” (v.15).  Lot’s initial reaction?  “He hesitated” (v.16).  Why did Lot hesitate?  One might suspect that his hesitation was a reflection of his sinful attachment to the life he had made for himself in Sodom and that he wasn’t quite ready to give it up.  Or, we may put the best construction on Lot’s hesitation, as Luther did, and assume that it was the result of his compassionate heart that couldn’t bear to see his fellow citizens be on the receiving end of God’s divine punishment.  We could conclude that his hesitation was an outward expression of an inward desire to see God grant mercy to Sodom.  In other words, perhaps Lot’s hesitation was representative of his good intentions.

But even if that was the case, it didn’t matter, because God does not place good intentions over obedience.  He does not overlook disobedience, not even on the basis of good intentions.   Recall at another point in Old Testament history when the ark of the covenant was being moved and Uzzah reached out to steady it so it wouldn’t fall. He had good intentions, but he was struck dead instantly because God had given a clear command not to touch the ark, and that clear command was not followed (2 Samuel 6).  When God speaks, he expects his creatures to listen and obey.  When God said “don’t look now,” when he told Lot to take his family and run, he wasn’t presenting Lot with an option; he was giving him a command.  Nevertheless, in spite of his hesitation, the Lord God mercifully spared Lot and his family as the angels grabbed them by the hand and led them out of the city.

Then, just outside the city, we again see how concerned God is with obedience.  God’s message through the angel had been clear: “Flee for your lives!  Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!” (v.17).  But the urge for Lot’s wife was too great.  Maybe it was the thought of close friends perishing that tugged at her heart, or the loss of her dear home, or nagging curiosity at how the destruction was being carried out… whatever it was, it was too much for Lot’s wife.  “She looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” (v.26).  God had told her “don’t look now,” but she couldn’t help herself, and she suffered the consequences.

Speaking of consequences, remember that this whole ordeal was really about consequences.  God had had enough of Sodom and Gomorrah’s wickedness and was going to punish them by destroying them.  The reminder of that wickedness came earlier in the chapter when the angel guests arrived.  Lot offered to put them up as his guests, and his home was surrounded by men of the city demanding that Lot let the guests come out and have sex with them.  If such actions were representative of the kind of routine behavior that went on in the city, then it’s no surprise that God determined he was going to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah.  So are we to conclude that the primary purpose of this account being recorded in Scripture is to emphasize how much God detests the sin of homosexuality?  Is he, by raining fire down from heaven, providing a vivid visual aid to get the point across that he detests that sin more than others?  While there is absolutely no doubt in the Scriptures that God considers homosexuality to be a sin – in spite of even religious groups stating otherwise –  still it is going too far to draw the conclusion that this account is first and foremost about God’s loathing of homosexuality more than other sins.

It is, however, perfectly in line with God’s actions in this case to conclude that God loathes sin in general.  What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah is less about God’s vendetta against homosexuality, and much more about his intolerance of sin.  God reveals to us that he is very serious about sin.  He will not let it go unpunished.  Do not equate God’s patience in allowing wickedness in Sodom and Gomorrah to continue as long as it did with his indifference.  Sin may go on for a time, but it will never go unpunished.  There is no sin that has been committed since the Fall that has not gone unpunished.  God punishes sin.  God is very serious about sin.

Yet, this event is not just about God’s wrath and retribution against sin; it is also about rescue.  Not all of Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed.  Lot and his family with him escaped, or rather, were rescued.  Yes, God is very serious about sin, but he is also very serious about mercy.  You’ll appreciate God’s mercy even more if you spend time reviewing the chapter that precedes this one.  Remember that the angel guests of Lot were first guests of Abraham.  They first visited Abraham and told him of the ensuing destruction that would come to the wicked cities.  Abraham’s response?  He begged and pleaded for God’s mercy on the city, asking first if God would spare it even if only 50 believers were found there, then 45, 40, 30, 20, and even if only ten believers were found there.  God, longing to be merciful, even agreed to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten believers.  But even when ten believers couldn’t be found, and Sodom and Gomorrah were ultimately destroyed, God clearly showed his mercy by going to special lengths to rescue Lot and his family from the devastation, though they did nothing to deserve it.  God is very serious about mercy.

This you already know.  You know his mercy.  As remarkable as it was that God sent angels on a special rescue mission just for Lot and his family, it doesn’t begin to match the enormity of his rescue mission for you.  That was the greatest show of mercy ever.  He didn’t merely send angels, but his own Son.  And Jesus didn’t come to simply take hold of your hand and lead you out of harm’s way; no, the stakes were much higher.  You sinned, and God is serious about sin.  He demands satisfaction for it, even if it meant giving up his own Son.  Because God is serious about showing mercy, he sacrificed his only Son so that he could show mercy to you and me.  In return, he demands… nothing.  It was all carried out without any understanding of an obligation on your part.  God is so serious about showing mercy, that he willingly gives it away for free!

And though he demands nothing in return, with grateful hearts we long to give him everything.  Let us start with our hearts.  This morning marks the beginning of Advent – a time to sharpen our focus on Jesus and what lies ahead, instead of giving in to the worldly urges to keep turning around and looking back.  Flee toward God with all your heart.  Fall in love with God over and over.  Let his mercy move you to refuse giving into anything that would come between you and God.  Your eternal life with him is at stake.  Are those stakes high enough for you?

Then let us keep in step with the Spirit.  Don’t look now at whatever the devil puts in your path to keep you from Christ.  Be determined to stay focused on the One who shows you mercy.  Show the resolve that a man in India once did while tiger hunting.  Having missed his golden opportunity to take a shot at his prey, he soon found the tables turned and in an instant was helplessly in the clutches of a tiger, the rest of his hunting party nowhere in the nearby vicinity.  He had enough hunting experience to know that he had essentially one chance for survival: he could only lie quietly as if dead, no matter what.  Now lying still and motionless when terrified is difficult enough, but even more so when the tiger began slowly going to work on his meal.  The tiger took the man’s hand in his mouth and proceeded to chew his dinner.  The tiger had eaten down to the man’s elbow before help arrived from the rest of his hunting party.  Now had the man so much as whimpered or flinched in pain while quite literally being eaten alive, the tiger would not have hesitated to kill him instantly.  Think of the excruciating pain the man experienced – what would possibly enable a man to endure such a thing?  He feared for his life.  He knew his living or dying depended on it.

Dear friends, that kind of resolve, and not the longing, lingering glance of Lot’s wife, is the kind of determination needed to guard and protect one’s life from the spiritual threats that outnumber us every which way we turn.  Let us fear for our spiritual lives even more than we would our physical!  Eternity rests in the scales.  And, as we strive to stay the course, know that you are backed by a loving and gracious God, a God who has been and continues to be very serious about showing us mercy.  Let us also then be very serious in how we receive it. 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 Will Come

Christ the king sunday

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Daniel 7:13,14

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (NIV)

It is difficult for us to imagine how discouraging it must have been for faithful Jewish people around Daniel’s time.  The glory days of Israel certainly had not lasted long, and by now they were a thing of the past.  Division separated the once united monarchy into the Northern Kingdom of Israel and the Southern Kingdom of Judah.  The Northern Kingdom had already been defeated at the hands of the Assyrians, and now Judah was playing the role of punching back to Egypt and Babylon, both vying to take their place of prominence on the world’s stage.  Making it even more difficult to swallow was the fact that the majority of the kings who ruled in Israel and Judah were spiritually and morally reprehensible.  Eventually, just as he had predicted he would through his prophets, God allowed Judah to be delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

In an effort to assist in governing his defeated enemies, part of Nebuchadnezzar’s plan included taking some of them captive in order to assimilate them into the Babylonian culture.  “Then the king [Nebuchadnezzar] ordered Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility – young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace. He was to teach them the language and literature of the Babylonians. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. They were to be rained for three years, and after that they were to enter the king’s service” (1:3-5).  Daniel was one of those young men chosen to be transplanted from his homeland to Babylon, so that he might become familiar with all things Babylonian.

Daniel was faithful to the Lord.  He was a man of integrity and honor.  Even in seeking to remain faithful to his Levitical diet and avoid eating unclean meals in Babylon, he was always very humble and respectful.  The Lord blessed Daniel, so that he was looked upon favorably by the Babylonians.  They witnessed his devotion and trust in God when he was sentenced to a night in the lions’ den, and they saw first hand how Daniel’s God rewarded that trust by keeping him from any harm.  God also blessed Daniel with the gift of interpreting dreams accurately, something their own wise men were unable to do, which endeared him all the more to the Babylonian rulers. 

Daniel was used to being called on to reveal the meaning of dreams for others.  Now, God had given him a vision of his own.  “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (v.13,14).  Daniel had known wicked kings back in his homeland.  In Babylon he was able to witness how kings in foreign nations ruled and carrying out their reign.  But with this vision, God granted Daniel a glimpse of a King who would surpass them all.  With this vision, Daniel saw Christ the King.

While it may be difficult to say with any degree of certainty how much of this was clear to Daniel at the time (the context tells us the visions “troubled” and “disturbed” him), there faith worked in us by the power of the Holy Spirit reveals to us that Daniel’s vision is indeed depicting Jesus Christ.  We have the benefit of the New Testament Scriptures, where we again come across the phrase “son of man.”  Jesus himself used the title.  Often times when referring to himself as “son of man,” it was to emphasize his human nature.  When we connect Jesus’ use of the title to Daniel’s vision, we recognize what Jesus was truly revealing: he was the promised one, the Messiah.  He was the living, breathing, walking, talking, fulfillment of the very individual Daniel saw in his dream!  In Jesus, the hope revealed to and through the prophets of old had come. 

And that’s just the beginning.  It’s not just that Jesus is the fulfillment of the  “son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven,” but look at the manner in which he comes! “He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (v.4).  Do any of those descriptions sound like a rule that belongs to any earthly king?  Hardly!

Even earthly rulers recognize that Christ’s kingdom is unique.  Comparing Christ’s Kingdom to earthly kingdoms, Napoleon the Great said, “You speak of empires and power. Well, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires, but on what did we found them? Force. Christ founded His on love, and at this moment there are millions ready to die for Him… I see no army, no banner or battering-ram; yet a mysterious power is there, working in the interest of Christianity – men secretly sustained here and there by a common faith in the great Unseen. I die before my time, and my body will be given to the earth as food for worms. Such is the fate of him called Napoleon the Great. But look to Christ, honored and loved in every land. Look at His kingdom, rising over all other kingdoms. His life was not the life of a man; His death not that of a man but of God” (Encyclopedia of Sermon Illustrations, p. 36).

As Daniel’s vision made clear, Christ the King has all authority, glory, and power.  No earthly ruler has ever even come close.  Many claim authority on the basis of the number of books they’ve written or the letters P-H-D after their name.  Jesus wrote a book as well – the Bible – and when your name is spelled G-O-D, you don’t need any extra letters after your name to prove you’ve got authority; you simply speak and it immediately becomes evident.  At Creation he spoke, to the wind and waves he spoke, to the decaying corpse of Lazarus he spoke, and all could do nothing but bend to his authority.  Christ the King is the supreme authority. 

Christ the King has all nations and people of every tongue worshiping him.  Earthly kingdoms have boundaries; they may change over time, but they always exist.  Christ’s Kingdom has no boundaries.  No other kingdom is so expansive that it reaches the ends of the earth.

Christ the King’s dominion – his almighty rule – will continue into eternity.  Earthly rulers seek to grab power in any way possible, but the only certainty that exists when they come to power is that it will at some point be lost.  Nations rise and fall, but only Christ’s Kingdom extends to the heights of heaven, where it is unreachable to those who would oppose it.  It cannot and will not be overthrown.  It will exist forever, and so will its King.  And dear friends, the King who rules forever will return again. 

On the one hand it is beyond terrifying to think that Jesus will return again, knowing that he is coming to judge.  Think back to a time that you were given a task and you knew that someone – a parent, an unforgiving boss, a demanding officer – was going to return to meticulously inspect your task.  Almost worse than the actual inspection is the dreaded anticipation of it; the fear of what will happen if you’ve underachieved.  Now consider all that Christ has called us to do when he departed the first time into the clouds – love your Lord by loving your neighbor, loving the needy, loving the lost, loving your church – and he’s coming back to judge how we did?  We have every right to be terrified!  We’ve failed on all accounts!  When the King returns, we deserve to be treated as traitors who have consistently catered to ourselves at the expense of carrying out all that he has called us to do.  We don’t deserve to be cared for in his kingdom; we deserve to be cast out of it!

Ah, but Christ the King, when he comes, will not be coming to judge us on the basis of our failures, but on the basis of his merits.  And for that reason he cannot come again soon enough.  As we transition next Sunday into the season of Advent, that is our focus.  We long for the King’s return.  We want our Righteous Ruler to come back for us and make things as they should be.  We yearn for an eternity that knows no turmoil, that will not and cannot feel the emptiness of loss.

Christ the King, Christ our King will come.  Because he’s already made you his when he bled and died for you, he will come again for you.  They say there are no guarantees in life, but such a statement doesn’t apply with regard to our King’s return.  He will come again; he will come again because his kingdom is incomplete until all the souls he’s purchased are brought safely within the walls of the new Jerusalem. 

What difference does that make?  All the difference in the world!  When you woke up yesterday, in all likelihood there were a number of problems in your life – some relatively small; others looming large – that you would absolutely remove from your life if you could.  Chances are, when you wake up tomorrow morning, those problems will still be there.  Some of them you cannot do anything about, but dear friends, all of them Christ has done something about; he’s overcome them. He came to overcome – yes, your sin – but also sin’s lingering effects and all that it has touched and tainted.  Christ your King has overcome all.  He rules all, and his kingdom is incomplete without you.  Your King will come; he will come 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)

Maximizing Marriage with Love and Respect

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

Ephesians 5:33

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband” (NIV).

It’s hard to believe it was already eleven days ago.  That was the morning that I, like many others, woke up filled with a frustrated and heavy heart.  It was the day after the presidential election.  President Obama had been re-elected, and the next day I was crushed.  I was absolutely down-hearted.  

But I should clarify: it wasn’t President Obama’s re-election that had dashed my spirits; it was rather the embarrassing way so many Christians were responding to it.  For those who had cast their vote for another candidate, it provided a wonderful opportunity to let their Christian light shine by being absolutely gracious in defeat; by seizing the moment and communicating to fellow Americans that Christians respect and honor all who serve in the government – regardless of party affiliation – because they recognize that such authority is given them by God himself.  It was a unique chance to surprise others who didn’t share the same political leanings and blow their mind by actually wishing our President the very best and being eager to keep him in their prayers – even if they didn’t vote for him!  If anyone, after all, should be able to cope with political disappointment, should it not be Christians, who recognize that God is still steering the ship no matter who holds what office in the local, state, or federal government?  But unfortunately so many instead reacted with extreme negativity, whining and complaining as if the end of the world had come.

I am afraid that Christians have missed some special opportunities.  But I don’t think it’s too late.  I don’t think it’s too late for Christians to review and re-evaluate our priorities.  It’s not too late for us to remember that government, while it certainly plays a part in establishing the moral compass of our society, only plays a part.  Let us not forget the part that we play.  For I would say with utmost confidence that every Christian is armed with a much more powerful tool than any government law, any government act, any government tax; we are armed with the gospel, and dear friends, the good news about Jesus will change hearts in a way that no law, act, or tax ever can.  If we are faithful in our proclamation of that grandest news of forgiveness and salvation in Christ alone – which, mind you, is the heart and soul of what Jesus calls his blood-bought followers to do – then sighs of frustration and discouragement at the ungluing of society will be replaced with celebration of kingdom advancements that will inevitably follow in the wake of the all-powerful gospel.

We know what a difference Jesus makes in so many facets of life.  This morning we have the opportunity to focus on one area in which Jesus makes a world of difference.  With all that we are inclined to cry out against in society today, there is really this one area that impacts so much of it.  In fact, to ignore it is to ignore what a former President saw as the greatest threat to the USA.  Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family, recently recalled an exchange he once had with then-President George W. Bush.  When he asked President Bush what he thought was the greatest threat to the USA, he expected the President to respond with some sort of mention of terrorism, but the President opined instead that the greatest threat to the USA as he saw it was the deterioration of the family.

I am inclined to agree.  And if we agree on that, then we can also agree that you and I as Christians have perhaps more influence in society than we are aware.  If we recognize that Christ-centered families who live and proclaim Jesus can have a profound impact on the world, then Christ’s love compels us to model the best that families have to offer.  And if we are to do that, brothers and sisters, then we must recognize the importance of God-pleasing, Christ-centered marriage, on which every solid family is based.

“Christ-centered” marriage is the perfect description for what Paul covers at the end of Ephesians, chapter five.  In fact, in order for any marriage to find blessing in the verse on which we’re focusing today, Ephesians 5 verse 33, one absolutely cannot overlook the context which precedes.  The verses that come before verse 33 revolve completely around Christ.  The husband and wife who remember that Jesus Christ is the reason we even call it “Christian marriage,” are the husband and wife who stand to have a richly-blessed marriage together, as well as a faith-focused family.

That means first and foremost recognizing that Paul’s primary purpose in bringing Christ into the topic of marriage between husband and wife is not merely to lay him out as an example.  Christ cannot be relegated to being merely an example; he must rather be what Paul so clearly makes him out to be: our Savior. 

In verse 33 husbands are called to love their wives.  In the verses that precede (vss. 25-32), yes, Paul shows exactly what that love looks like in Jesus, but it’s more than that; he brings Christ into it because apart from Christ, the husband is incapable of loving his wife.  It’s not just that he needs in Jesus an example of how to love his wife, but he needs in Jesus a Savior who has removed his every stain, wrinkle, and blemish so that he even can love his wife.  It’s just not in a husband by nature to love his wife, or anyone else, for that matter.  All he cares about is himself.  Apart from Christ, he will love only himself and despise all others, slavishly serving himself all the way to his grave and beyond, into the eternal torment of hell, where all sin-ridden, self-serving souls are sentenced.  Husbands who are to love their wives need first to see that Christ’s love has rescued them from that punishment, washed and purified them with a new and pristine heart, and through that forgiveness has now made it possible for them to love their wives.

Wives are called to respect their husbands.  Again, in the verses that precede (vss. 22-24ff), Paul brings in Christ, but not primarily to serve as an example.  Wives too need to see that have had every stain, wrinkle, and blemish removed so that they even can respect their husbands.  Recall that immediately after the Fall, as a consequence of sin God had established that husbands would “rule over” their wives.  They would abuse their God-given roles as leaders, as heads of the family and lord it over their wives.  And guess what?  No one by nature wants to have anyone rule over them at all, and certainly not in a way that abuses such authority.  So the natural response for a fallen sinner is not to joyfully and willingly respect such a person and submit to him; it is rather to rebel and attempt to usurp that authority for self.  That is to say that apart from Christ, wives naturally desire to undermine the roles God gave to men and women, in rebellion they refuse to serve under or be ruled over by anyone, and will go kicking and screaming into the eternal torment of hell, where all such insubordinate souls are sentenced.  Wives who are to respect their husbands need first to see that Christ’s love has rescued them from that punishment, washed and purified them with a new and pristine heart, and through that forgiveness has now made it possible for them to respect their husbands.

So if spouses desire to maximize their marriage; if they long for the ability to give and receive love and respect with one another, which relationship is the most important relationship in their marriage?  Their relationship with Jesus Christ.  Jesus is not just an example for marriage; he’s the essence of it.  Without his redeeming work, without his meticulous life of perfection, his undeserved death, and victorious resurrection, we would still be in sin, uninterested and unable to show love and respect to our spouses.  But in Christ we have been forgiven – freed from sin and freed for a marriage that is characterized by love and respect. 

Now the husband with a holy heart lives for loving his wife the way he is called to.  He hears Paul write that “each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself” (v.33) and it starts to make sense.  Only the dullest, most clueless husband fails to see the tell-tale signs all around him that indicate that his wife longs to be loved.  Books and movies filled with romance and love aren’t marketed to guys – didn’t you ever notice that you never see a commercial for the latest Nicholas Sparks book during the football game?  Why can your wife talk with her mother or her girlfriend for an hour, when even a five-minute conversation between you and a buddy is pushing it?  It’s because your wife is wired to connect emotionally and relationally with others, and she is at her best when her love tank is full through such things.  But don’t make the mistake of assuming that just because you throw an “I love you” her way frequently, that she feels that love on her end.  You might be saying it, but that doesn’t mean she’s feeling it.  Take the time to clarify with your wife how you can express love to her in a way that she also receives it, whether it be words of affirmation, quality time together, gifts, or simply holding hands (cf. “The Five Love Languages”).  Husbands, you are in a unique position in that your wife wants your love more than anyone else’s in the world.  Your marriage will be richly blessed when you bend over backwards to show it to her.

Wives, Christ has replaced your rebellious heart with one that seeks to support and serve your husband.  But don’t make the mistake of assuming that because your greatest concern is feeling love from him, that that’s what he wants in return.  Again, no Nicholas Sparks commercials during the football game… why? Because being loved by you isn’t his greatest need.  More than anything else – and he may not even clearly communicate this to you – but more than anything else, he wants your respect.  Paul identified that when he called wives to “respect [their] husband(s)” (v.33).  Your husband needs to know that you are in his corner no matter what, that you look up to him and appreciate what he does for your family as a husband and father.  He needs affirmation that you know he works hard to take care of you.  Speak highly of him to your friends and family members.  Follow his lead, and where leadership isn’t his strong suit, help and encourage him to step up and be the godly leader Jesus has redeemed him to be.  Your marriage will be richly blessed when you respect your husband, even when his own actions don’t deserve it.

Husbands and wives will maximize their marriages the more they see that Christ has renewed them to be able to show love and respect to each other.  The beauty is that as the husband loves his wife, the respect tends to naturally follow, and when the wife respects her husband, the love from him flows all the more freely to her. Husbands, love your wives.  Wives, respect your husbands.  Lord Jesus, richly bless their marriages as a result.  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)

Called to Give our Best

end times 1 (CLOC year three – true riches)

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

1 Chronicles 29:1-9

1Then King David said to the whole assembly: “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great, because this palatial structure is not for man but for the Lord God. 2 With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities. 3 Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple: 4 three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings, 5 for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen. Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?”

6 Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. 7 They gave toward the work on the temple of God five thousand talents and ten thousand darics of gold, ten thousand talents of silver, eighteen thousand talents of bronze and a hundred thousand talents of iron. 8 Anyone who had precious stones gave them to the treasury of the temple of the Lord in the custody of Jehiel the Gershonite. 9 The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord. David the king also rejoiced greatly. (NIV)

She’s the woman of your dreams, so you want to make sure tonight, the night you ask her to be your wife, is memorable.  You both arrive at your place.  As you open the door for her, a wretched smell causes her face to wrinkle with disgust.  But she quickly forgets about the smell when she sees your roommate and his disgusting buddies lounging around and spread out all over a filthy living room, playing video games.  You proceed to the kitchen, where you eagerly pull out a Styrofoam container with some leftovers that you know she will love, and you throw them on a plate and toss it in the microwave.  While that is reheating you grab a cheap bottle of wine that was given to you years ago and pour it into two glasses.  The microwave dings, and dinner is served.  Before she’s hardly had a chance to dig into her delectable second-hand meal, you’re down on one knee, amidst the loud cheers of recent video game success in the other room, and you peel back the lid of a tiny black box to reveal… the most affordable cubic zirconia placed in a such a chincy, cheap setting that it looks like it would bend or break at even the slightest hint of pressure.  And then you ask her to be our bride.  How could she say no?  How could she refuse when you have so clearly shown her how much you treasure her by giving her your absolute best?

Now obviously that’s not giving your best.  In fact, that better not be anyone giving his best!  No, you would strive for something on a much grander scale if this was the woman you were going to spend the rest of your days with – you’d pull out all the stops and put your best foot forward in addressing every last detail of this special occasion.  You wouldn’t settle for mediocrity or anything that’s simply “good enough” in that case, and the same holds true when it comes to our relationship with God.  He deserves our absolute best – no shortcuts and no excuses will do – only the best for the one who has given us the best in Jesus.  He has given us true riches, and the only appropriate response is for us to give him our best.

King David recognized an opportunity to give his best to the Lord.   His life was coming to an end and David longed to build a temple worthy of the Lord, sparing no expense to construct a dwelling that would be set apart from any dwelling of man.  He could not stand to live in a luxurious palace while the Ark of the Covenant was stored in a tent (and the parking lot was in shambles, the lawn was dotted with circular patches of dead brown, the roof leaked, the windows needed replacing, etc…).  And even when God had revealed that his son and not he would be the one to build a temple for the Lord, David made the most of the opportunity to give his best to the Lord.  David was well aware of how richly God had blessed him throughout his life and his reign, and he wanted to express his thanks to God by building him a temple. But the Lord made it clear that it would not be him, but his son Solomon who would build the temple.  Not to be discouraged, David got everything prepared for the new king, his son Solomon, and collected the supplies for the project so all would be ready when Solomon assumed the throne.

A building project today is no small thing; imagine what all was involved in David’s day.  Building a temple was a serious undertaking, and one which David was eager to take on, even if it meant that his role was acquiring the necessary materials so that someone else would be responsible for the finished product. “With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God—gold for the gold work, silver for the silver, bronze for the bronze, iron for the iron and wood for the wood, as well as onyx for the settings, turquoise, stones of various colors, and all kinds of fine stone and marble—all of these in large quantities.  Besides, in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple:  three thousand talents of gold (gold of Ophir) and seven thousand talents of refined silver, for the overlaying of the walls of the buildings,  for the gold work and the silver work, and for all the work to be done by the craftsmen” (v.2-5).  David provided funds from the state treasury, but then added his own offering over and above the treasury, out of his own pockets.  How much?  The most expensive building in the world today is the Wynn Casino in Las Vegas, costing over $2.5 billion.  David gave enough to build almost two of them.  David gave his best.  As far as David was concerned, a cheap bottle of wine and reheated left-overs weren’t good enough for God.

This is the third of a four year stewardship focus under the theme, “Christ’s Love, Our Calling.”  The first year emphasized the management of our time as children called by Christ’s love.  The second year emphasized the management of our unique gifts and talents as children called by Christ’s love.  This year we emphasize the management of our financial blessings as children called by Christ’s love.  Whether it be time, talents, or treasure, Christ’s love calls for our best in each and every case.

I’ll leave it to you to answer: when we flip to month eleven out of twelve on the calendar and not so much as a penny has been recorded in our offerings to the Lord, is that giving our best?  Or is that a cheap bottle of wine and reheated left-overs?  Is it really worth anyone’s time to talk about tithing – giving 10% – when the sad reality is that Christian giving in this country doesn’t even scratch the surface of 3%?  Is that giving our best, or is that a cheap bottle of wine and reheated left-overs? 

When we talk about our giving, we rightly discuss it within the context of giving with a cheerful heart.  But have you ever stopped to consider that a person’s heart can give cheerfully for two completely different reasons?  One can thankfully give a generous amount to the Lord and be cheerful that God has blessed him to give so much.  But another could also be giving cheerfully because he knows that in his giving so little to the Lord, he’s got plenty in the bank to satisfy his out of control spending.  Both hearts are cheerful, but only one is pleasing to the Lord, while he despises the other.  Which kind of “cheerful” heart is truly giving God his best? 

And, while we do well to speak about giving in terms of percentages, it might be helpful to consider which amount of money strikes you as being “a lot” when it comes to giving: $20 a week? $50? $75? $100? Over $150?  Now do those same amounts still strike you as being “a lot” if they’re going toward your texting and data plan for your smart phone, or for cable, or NFL Sunday ticket, etc. – you get the point.  Does the amount of my offering reflect the best I can give to God, or am I keeping the best and giving him the rest?  Is my best going to the God of my salvation, or the god of spending? 

As Christians, part of the reason that materialism and greed are so important to talk about and warn against is that greed is a unique temptation in that it blinds people. What do I mean by that? Well, it’s fairly difficult to commit adultery and not know you’re an adulterer. It’s hard to steal and not know you’re a thief. But how many people legitimately consider themselves truly greedy? Bottom line, there’s never been a group of people as wealthy as we are here in the U.S., and yet we continuously pursue more. Do you know what is the number one determining factor for an undergraduate to declare a major in the U.S.?  The anticipated salary upon graduation.  And yet, you would be hard pressed to find too many people who categorize themselves as “greedy.” We relativize it. As long as we can find one person in our lives with a more lavish lifestyle, we are blind to our own luxury, and we want more.  We can’t see our sinful and damning greed, even though it’s right under our nose. 

Is that why our offerings are such a private thing to us?   Are we ashamed that others might clearly see what we refuse to, that our meager giving can sometimes be the result of greedy hearts not making God a top priority?  Notice that David did not hide his offering from anyone, claiming it was a private matter.  He let his offering be known before the entire assembly, not to boast in himself, but to lead by example. He then called on the other leaders to do the same.  It wasn’t a command or threat, but an opportunity for them to take ownership of the temple in a way that showed their love for the Lord.

The people responded by matching their king’s offering, and then some.  “Then the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king’s work gave willingly. The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.  David the king also rejoiced greatly.” (v.6, 9)  Like David, they recognized what the Lord had done.  Grace had brought this people from the prison of slavery to possession of the Promised Land.  God’s mercy gave them peace with their neighbors.  God’s undeserved love promised a Savior would come through their nation.  God’s forgiveness freely given for when they failed to give him their best or make him a priority allowed them to stand before him now and for eternity.  In response to him, they gave him their best. 

We find ourselves in much the same situation as the people of Israel.  Like them, we have been freed from slavery of sin and given possession of the Promised Land of heaven.  Our sin tormented us incessantly, owning us.  Even though we have robbed God of our best, he still offered up his best.   For every time he has fallen from our top priority and we’ve given him less than our best, Jesus came to be punished.  For the times we offer what we have deemed as “good enough,” Jesus came to be better than “good enough.” He came to be perfect in our place.  The debt of gratitude we owe for the love he has shown is immeasurable.  Suffice it to say, it calls for our best.  Giving our best starts with giving him our whole hearts in response for giving us pure hearts.  It’s possible to give your money away without giving yourself, but it’s impossible to give away yourself without giving away your money. God’s primary concern is where your heart is.  He knows that if your heart is his, everything else will reflect that, including offerings.  Hearts that belong to God long to give him the best, because his grace moves us to it.

Hearts redeemed by Jesus give with an open hand, not a clenched fist.  A clenched fist is unwilling to part with money, but an open hand is open both to give freely, but also to receive freely the blessings that God pours out abundantly.  The clenched fist, the miserly heart, is not ready to receive more from God.  How can God place more blessings into a clenched fist?  Instead, look at what happened when Jesus opened his hands and spread his arms wide to give you blessing, the blessing of forgiveness and peace with God, which in turn opened up the storehouses of heaven, where God lavishes on you true riches. Open your hands and let go to see what God accomplishes through your open fists as well as what God puts into your hands.

God doesn’t need your money, but he loves it when we find joy in saying thank you to him.  He loves it when we prioritize our lives around him by returning a portion – the first and the best – back to him.  The key to Israel’s offering was that it was freely and joyfully given in response to God’s goodness and grace to his people.  What a joy it is for the Church when God’s people respond to the encouragement to keep him their priority!  Let’s keep the cheap wine and leftovers at home, and give God our best. 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)