“For you do not give me up to Sheol.” Repeat after me, “For you do not” “give me up” “to Sheol”. We don’t use the word Sheol nowadays much, do we. We hardly even know how to say it. But the word is used sixty six times in the Bible, so it deserves some attention. What does it mean? Sheol, the place of the dead. Not hell, but the grave. When the Bible talks about Sheol, it is not trying to make you think of devils, or fire or a place of torment; Sheol is the place where everyone went when they died. So my question for you is this: Have you ever been to Sheol? Have you ever died?
“Where can I go from your spirit? Or where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there, if I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” That’s what Psalm 139 says. God seems to be everywhere. But psalm 16, our psalm today, gives a little more information on what God actually does. He is not only present, but doing something in these places, “For you do not give me up to Sheol, or let your faithful one see the pit.” God is present in death, in the grave, in Sheol, but that in itself is not good news at all. The good news is that God will not stay silent there like all the rest of the dead people, but God actually has something to say.
Have you ever died? I’m not asking for you to give me an account of some out of body experience you had on a doctor’s table or anything where your heart stopped beating for an inordinate amount of time. I don’t want to know the five people you met in heaven. That death is an important one, and one that, finally, must be dealt with as well. However, the time when you heart stops beating and you take your last breath is what Martin Luther would call the “little death”. The easy one. I’d like to know when you have died and kept having to breathe through it. When you felt like everything was taken away from you except your heart beat. That’s what Luther would call a big death. And that big death is as much like Sheol as anything else.
A big death is when you wish you were dead, but you aren’t that lucky. Losing a beloved husband, wife or a child is one such example. They stop breathing, but you die. All your wonderful dreams and intentions are lost. We go through life expecting that the future is always there, but when someone dies it’s like the rug is pulled out from under us. It’s hard to realize how much of your life you have wrapped up in someone until you can’t share that life with them anymore. That is Sheol. That is the big death Martin Luther talked about.
As I walk to church down past the graveyard two or three days a week, it appears that death is a pretty natural part of life. Many people and movies refer to life like a circle so that we shouldn’t be so afraid of dying and things like this. At my seminary, some professors argued that death is no problem, but it is the fear involved with dying that is a result of sin. Death should be no big deal. But the fact is that we can only whistle in the graveyard as long as we don’t have to bury someone there.
Scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death. That seems about right. Even when death seems to be the best possible outcome for our loved ones, nobody likes the result very much. For those of you who have sat with someone who was dying, you might have prayed for death to come quickly. Of course, but that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t have wanted them to be with you longer. When we deal with death, we deal with the outcome of sin, and we die in this experience. That is why God does not keep silent, but interrupts with his promise of new life. “I am the resurrection and the life!” Even though our hopes die with our loved ones, we can only then hope in Jesus. This big death rips faith out of our hands and tosses it out into the darkness, but God speaks from Sheol and gives you Jesus to be your light and your salvation.
Big death happens to all of us in many different ways—not only at hospital beds and graveyards. There is a line from the movie Under the Tuscan Sun that I think really gets to this point well. One of my favorite lines is when Francis speaks about her divorce to a friend, “A divorce really should kill you. When the person who said they would love you forever says that they don’t love you anymore it should just kill you, like a swift bullet to the heart. You shouldn’t have to go on living through something like that.” Many of you have lived through this kind of death, when the very foundation of your life was shaken. Many of you have known people who have lived through this kind of death.
What is it about a divorce that rocks us all to our core? Marriage is not just about living in the same house, having kids or sharing a life together. Intertwined with it are many hopes and dreams. It means security and companionship. And when a marriage ends, or a separation begins, it feels like everything is taken away from you, like you have lost your direction, like you have died even though your heart keeps on beating. Even in our society where divorce happens so often, everyone feels the hurt somehow.
At seminary, I was asked if I thought it would be ok to preach about divorce since Jesus calls it a sin in different texts. Since so many people in the church are divorced, pastors often don’t want to make anyone feel bad or singled out. But here’s the thing, nobody likes divorce. Nobody wants divorce. I don’t think that this is a newsflash for any of you, right? Sometimes divorce is the best choice to make, but even then it is a result of sin. The question is not whether we sin, but what does God do with our sin? What does God do when we have lost everything? What does God do in Sheol when we have died? God forgives sin and speaks up even when we have lost the ability to speak. He says, “I will not give you up to Sheol. I will not give you up to this death.”
Sometimes this big death will involve your job. When you have worked toward a goal for years on end only to change direction midway through your life, this is a death. A death for all those dreams you had made. When you are expecting a job offer for months on end only to be rejected again and again, this is a death to all your plans. When your children leave home. When you retire. When you move into another home. This is death for us. Sometimes your heart aches even when you are experiencing new joy. But God does not expect you to deal with these times by yourself and he does not just sit idly by. God speaks into your darkness and gives you faith to see into a new light, “I will not give you up to Sheol. I will never leave you or forsake you.”
We don’t find much need of God in our day to day life. We plan our trips, we make out our schedules, we have our conversations and seem to do just fine on our own. When things are going fine, our prayer life fades. When we are boasting about our success, God’s voice seems distant if not non-existent. We choose not to listen to God. We choose not to look at God. We choose not to believe in God.
So God finds a way to get through to us when we least expect him to show up. In the dark, rainy day funerals where pastors speak a word of hope. In the care and consolation of a friend as we sign divorce papers. We are driven to pray to him when there is nothing left for us to do. We are driven to the scriptures when we can listen to nothing else. And here, when we wish we could just give up and go away, God speaks into the despair and promises you a new heart. Yes you have died, but your life is hidden with Jesus. Only when Jesus comes again will you finally stop dying and receive eternal life. Your life is hidden with Jesus and his promises. Promises of hope even in the darkest times. “For he does not give you up to Sheol; he never has and he never will.” Amen.
Sunday, March 30, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Sermon for March 23rd (Easter)
What is an obstacle to your faith? At the entrance to Jesus’ tomb, soldiers sealed the place where Jesus was buried with a rock, a large stone. That stone is not put there to keep Jesus in, but to keep people out. The soldiers were not worried about Jesus escaping. He was dead. They just didn’t want anybody stealing his dead body and making up some fantastic story. The stone was an obstacle for others, not for Jesus.
This is clear from the story you heard today. The story speaks of an angel that arrives, scares the guards around Jesus’ tomb and rolls away the stone in front of it. Then, when Jesus’ followers arrive at the tomb, the angel says, “COME AND SEE!” The stone is moved so that people can go in and see that Jesus is already raised from the dead. The stone is not an obstacle to Jesus, but an obstacle for us. We can’t see the hope of Easter morning with that big stone standing in the way.
What is an obstacle to your faith? When my family was driving across Pennsylvania, on our way to Cornwall, I remember seeing signs that said, “Watch for Falling Rocks!” I always think to myself, well, if a huge rock falls right in my path in front of the car, what could I really do? Depending on how big of an obstacle it is, I might just have to watch that falling rock smack right into my car. What could I do in the face of such an obstacle?
What is an obstacle to your faith? It may be very generic or perhaps very personal. Right now, many people in our country are wondering how they are going to pay their monthly oil bill, feed their families and pay off their home mortgages. Who has the time to trust in God when you have to work extra jobs and extra hours just to keep things afloat? If you gave some of your hard earned dollars to a charity or to a church, how would you pay your bills the very next month?
Money is a big obstacle to faith, but it has very little to do with whether you are rich or poor/ hard working or lazy. This issue is not about where you place your money, in a mutual fund, an offering plate, or in a slot machine. This issue is about where you place your trust. You start looking to money as the answer to all of your problems and trusting in your wealth to make you happy. This is true whether you have a little or a lot. So, for those of you who have allowed your pocketbooks to sit on God’s throne, I forgive your idolatry in the name of Jesus Christ your Savior.
Jesus has made you a promise, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” No amount of money you give to your bank, to your friends or to your church will make one bit of difference for your salvation. You have been given the gift of eternal life free of charge. There is nothing left for you to do.
There are some obstacles that you cannot move. No matter how much you’d like to. When there is an obstacle to your faith, God must get involved. Martin Luther said it this way, “I believe that I cannot believe.” He wrote this in the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel.”
What is an obstacle to your faith? For many people, it is the church and what it symbolizes in society. Maybe you are frustrated with how little churches and denominations do to get involved socially and politically. You want your church to stand up to oppression and “let justice roll down like waters” as the prophet Amos writes. Or, perhaps you are frustrated with how much churches and denominations are getting involved both socially and politically. You want your church to focus on teaching and preaching the faith, “to strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” as Jesus declares, “so that all these other things will be given to you as well.”
It’s understandable, in this world broken by sin and death, to expect better from your church and Christians in general. You start wishing that your church would be the symbol of what you wish you could be. To be a utopia where everybody is always getting better. For those of you who find the church itself to be an obstacle to your faith, I forgive you in the name of Jesus Christ. You are forgiven for your desire to be in a pure church where there are no sinners.
Jesus has a promise for you as well, “God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” What does this mean? Every church is full of sinners who actively sin against God and against one another. That is why you are welcome here. All of you. So what makes a church different than any other place? It is a place where God publicly forgives his enemies, teaches his laws to serve society and makes you a new creation. This means that a church has much less to do with a building or even other people and much more to do with hearing God’s words and God’s promises. God promises to use your hands and feet to get your neighbors loved and to give faith in Jesus Christ.
We might think that it is so easy to get faith sometimes. We just say, “Well, what are the problems in my life? Once I get them out of the way, everything will be hunky dory!” I don’t think that there is an “Idiots guide to believing in Jesus” or a “Faith for Dummies” book, yet. But if you are anything like me, self-improvement doesn’t usually help. My best efforts don’t usually make much of a difference when it comes to faith.
What is an obstacle to your faith? Maybe it’s just that faith seems too complicated to believe. It was easier when you were four and you just knew that Jesus loved you no matter what. Maybe you hate theology. Maybe you can’t stand Bible studies and sermons. Or perhaps you read some book or met someone that challenged your faith to its core. And now you can’t be sure that you could ever believe anything at all.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I forgive you for your doubt and despair. Jesus has a promise for you as well, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” If you can’t believe, then let Jesus believe for you. It’s not about what you know, but who knows you. Jesus knows you and has chosen you as his precious child. Even if you don’t understand why or how.
Obstacles to your faith are not going to keep God from searching you out and finding you. God sends people into your life to roll away the stones so that you can believe in Jesus Christ and his promises for you. Again and again. They might your mother or father who took you to confirmation even though it was the most boring time of your life. Or your children who get you out of bed so that they can go to Sunday school and see their friends.
What is an obstacle your faith? Come and see what God has done. The stone has been rolled away for you to see inside Jesus’ tomb. Come and see what God has done for you. Jesus is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! God has killed death. God has defeated the Devil. And God has forgiven your sins once and for all. And since Jesus is alive, God has moved the stone away from your tomb so you can come and see and taste and hear your hope of eternal life.
This is clear from the story you heard today. The story speaks of an angel that arrives, scares the guards around Jesus’ tomb and rolls away the stone in front of it. Then, when Jesus’ followers arrive at the tomb, the angel says, “COME AND SEE!” The stone is moved so that people can go in and see that Jesus is already raised from the dead. The stone is not an obstacle to Jesus, but an obstacle for us. We can’t see the hope of Easter morning with that big stone standing in the way.
What is an obstacle to your faith? When my family was driving across Pennsylvania, on our way to Cornwall, I remember seeing signs that said, “Watch for Falling Rocks!” I always think to myself, well, if a huge rock falls right in my path in front of the car, what could I really do? Depending on how big of an obstacle it is, I might just have to watch that falling rock smack right into my car. What could I do in the face of such an obstacle?
What is an obstacle to your faith? It may be very generic or perhaps very personal. Right now, many people in our country are wondering how they are going to pay their monthly oil bill, feed their families and pay off their home mortgages. Who has the time to trust in God when you have to work extra jobs and extra hours just to keep things afloat? If you gave some of your hard earned dollars to a charity or to a church, how would you pay your bills the very next month?
Money is a big obstacle to faith, but it has very little to do with whether you are rich or poor/ hard working or lazy. This issue is not about where you place your money, in a mutual fund, an offering plate, or in a slot machine. This issue is about where you place your trust. You start looking to money as the answer to all of your problems and trusting in your wealth to make you happy. This is true whether you have a little or a lot. So, for those of you who have allowed your pocketbooks to sit on God’s throne, I forgive your idolatry in the name of Jesus Christ your Savior.
Jesus has made you a promise, “I have come that you might have life and have it abundantly.” No amount of money you give to your bank, to your friends or to your church will make one bit of difference for your salvation. You have been given the gift of eternal life free of charge. There is nothing left for you to do.
There are some obstacles that you cannot move. No matter how much you’d like to. When there is an obstacle to your faith, God must get involved. Martin Luther said it this way, “I believe that I cannot believe.” He wrote this in the Small Catechism, “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort, believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to him, but the Holy Spirit has called me through the gospel.”
What is an obstacle to your faith? For many people, it is the church and what it symbolizes in society. Maybe you are frustrated with how little churches and denominations do to get involved socially and politically. You want your church to stand up to oppression and “let justice roll down like waters” as the prophet Amos writes. Or, perhaps you are frustrated with how much churches and denominations are getting involved both socially and politically. You want your church to focus on teaching and preaching the faith, “to strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness,” as Jesus declares, “so that all these other things will be given to you as well.”
It’s understandable, in this world broken by sin and death, to expect better from your church and Christians in general. You start wishing that your church would be the symbol of what you wish you could be. To be a utopia where everybody is always getting better. For those of you who find the church itself to be an obstacle to your faith, I forgive you in the name of Jesus Christ. You are forgiven for your desire to be in a pure church where there are no sinners.
Jesus has a promise for you as well, “God has imprisoned all in disobedience so that he may be merciful to all.” What does this mean? Every church is full of sinners who actively sin against God and against one another. That is why you are welcome here. All of you. So what makes a church different than any other place? It is a place where God publicly forgives his enemies, teaches his laws to serve society and makes you a new creation. This means that a church has much less to do with a building or even other people and much more to do with hearing God’s words and God’s promises. God promises to use your hands and feet to get your neighbors loved and to give faith in Jesus Christ.
We might think that it is so easy to get faith sometimes. We just say, “Well, what are the problems in my life? Once I get them out of the way, everything will be hunky dory!” I don’t think that there is an “Idiots guide to believing in Jesus” or a “Faith for Dummies” book, yet. But if you are anything like me, self-improvement doesn’t usually help. My best efforts don’t usually make much of a difference when it comes to faith.
What is an obstacle to your faith? Maybe it’s just that faith seems too complicated to believe. It was easier when you were four and you just knew that Jesus loved you no matter what. Maybe you hate theology. Maybe you can’t stand Bible studies and sermons. Or perhaps you read some book or met someone that challenged your faith to its core. And now you can’t be sure that you could ever believe anything at all.
In the name of Jesus Christ, I forgive you for your doubt and despair. Jesus has a promise for you as well, “My sheep hear my voice, I know them and they follow me. I give them eternal life and no one will snatch them out of my hand.” If you can’t believe, then let Jesus believe for you. It’s not about what you know, but who knows you. Jesus knows you and has chosen you as his precious child. Even if you don’t understand why or how.
Obstacles to your faith are not going to keep God from searching you out and finding you. God sends people into your life to roll away the stones so that you can believe in Jesus Christ and his promises for you. Again and again. They might your mother or father who took you to confirmation even though it was the most boring time of your life. Or your children who get you out of bed so that they can go to Sunday school and see their friends.
What is an obstacle your faith? Come and see what God has done. The stone has been rolled away for you to see inside Jesus’ tomb. Come and see what God has done for you. Jesus is Risen! He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia! God has killed death. God has defeated the Devil. And God has forgiven your sins once and for all. And since Jesus is alive, God has moved the stone away from your tomb so you can come and see and taste and hear your hope of eternal life.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Sermon for March 21st (Good Friday)
I would like to repeat just one verse again from the psalm we just read, “The Lord did not despise or abhor the affliction of the afflicted; he did not hide his face from me, but heard when I cried to him.” The Lord did not hide his face from me, the psalm says. And yet, hear what the prophet Isaiah wrote, a reading which is often understood to speak about Jesus’ death and crucifixion, “He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.” He was as one from whom others hide their faces.
Why do we hide our faces from Jesus on the cross? Why? Because we did this to Jesus. Jesus hangs from nails because of us. It’s probably the same reason that I have more trouble looking at a dead cow carcass than a dead raccoon on the side of the road—I know that cows are killed because I really like hamburgers. I realize that I am partly responsible for cattle yards and slaughterhouses, but racoons just die sometimes, and, at most, I might just feel sorry for them . . . or pity them. It is so easy to pity Jesus on the cross and forget that we are the ones that put him there. That we are responsible.
“He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.” We do not hide our faces because Jesus looks so awful, but because he makes us look so awful. He is disgusting to us, how he hangs there on the cross like a limp noodle. The Son of God, dangling from a piece of wood with no fight left in him. You can hear the soldiers mocking him to come down, “If you’re the Son of God then come down!” We all want him to come down, to prove us wrong, to forget that we just crucified him, Jesus our Savior. It’s our last chance at vindication, as if Jesus coming down off the cross would somehow save our rear ends in the sight of God.
But as psalm 22 says, while we hide our faces from Jesus’ suffering, God does not hide his face. And so, we even use this as our defense. We are only human, of course, we do some bad things. We sin sometimes, we swear sometimes, we gossip sometimes we nail people to crosses to die sometimes. Sure, ok, so we make mistakes! That’s just who we are! Thank goodness God is still there, so that Jesus doesn’t have to suffer all alone.
But we are all wrong. All wrong. God does not hide his face from this suffering, the suffering of his Son on a cross. But, with his mouth pointed directly at Jesus Christ, looking at his beloved Son face to face, God curses Jesus. He leaves him there to die. God forsakes him there. And so Jesus screams, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me!” Jesus dies alone. Completely alone.
Christ became a curse. He was cursed by God, his Father. “Christ became a curse for us. Chapter 23 in the book of Deuteronomy says it very clearly, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” That’s the law. And Jesus is condemned by that law. Jesus did not only suffer, but he was cursed by God. So, we hide our faces not just because of what we have done, but because of what God has done because of us. He has made our sin even worse. We did not just kill Jesus, but allowed him to be cursed by his Father.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Paul writes in the book of Galatians. This is the final reason we hide our faces. We realize that we are no different than Jesus. We realize that we have as little hope for salvation as Jesus does, hanging dead on that wooden cross. The light of the world has gone out. Hope has become despair. Jesus’ death means that all have died.
What is there left to do then? Only wait. We wait and hide our faces. We wait with the disciples behind closed, locked doors, scared that someone will find us out. We wait in the darkness with Peter, crying at our betrayal. We wait to find out what God will do. What will God do with a dead, cursed Jesus? Because in God’s answer, you will discover what he intends on doing with a dead and cursed you. Amen.
Why do we hide our faces from Jesus on the cross? Why? Because we did this to Jesus. Jesus hangs from nails because of us. It’s probably the same reason that I have more trouble looking at a dead cow carcass than a dead raccoon on the side of the road—I know that cows are killed because I really like hamburgers. I realize that I am partly responsible for cattle yards and slaughterhouses, but racoons just die sometimes, and, at most, I might just feel sorry for them . . . or pity them. It is so easy to pity Jesus on the cross and forget that we are the ones that put him there. That we are responsible.
“He was despised and rejected by others; a man of suffering and acquainted with infirmity; and as one from whom others hide their faces he was despised, and we held him of no account.” We do not hide our faces because Jesus looks so awful, but because he makes us look so awful. He is disgusting to us, how he hangs there on the cross like a limp noodle. The Son of God, dangling from a piece of wood with no fight left in him. You can hear the soldiers mocking him to come down, “If you’re the Son of God then come down!” We all want him to come down, to prove us wrong, to forget that we just crucified him, Jesus our Savior. It’s our last chance at vindication, as if Jesus coming down off the cross would somehow save our rear ends in the sight of God.
But as psalm 22 says, while we hide our faces from Jesus’ suffering, God does not hide his face. And so, we even use this as our defense. We are only human, of course, we do some bad things. We sin sometimes, we swear sometimes, we gossip sometimes we nail people to crosses to die sometimes. Sure, ok, so we make mistakes! That’s just who we are! Thank goodness God is still there, so that Jesus doesn’t have to suffer all alone.
But we are all wrong. All wrong. God does not hide his face from this suffering, the suffering of his Son on a cross. But, with his mouth pointed directly at Jesus Christ, looking at his beloved Son face to face, God curses Jesus. He leaves him there to die. God forsakes him there. And so Jesus screams, “My God! My God! Why have you forsaken me!” Jesus dies alone. Completely alone.
Christ became a curse. He was cursed by God, his Father. “Christ became a curse for us. Chapter 23 in the book of Deuteronomy says it very clearly, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree.” That’s the law. And Jesus is condemned by that law. Jesus did not only suffer, but he was cursed by God. So, we hide our faces not just because of what we have done, but because of what God has done because of us. He has made our sin even worse. We did not just kill Jesus, but allowed him to be cursed by his Father.
“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us.” Paul writes in the book of Galatians. This is the final reason we hide our faces. We realize that we are no different than Jesus. We realize that we have as little hope for salvation as Jesus does, hanging dead on that wooden cross. The light of the world has gone out. Hope has become despair. Jesus’ death means that all have died.
What is there left to do then? Only wait. We wait and hide our faces. We wait with the disciples behind closed, locked doors, scared that someone will find us out. We wait in the darkness with Peter, crying at our betrayal. We wait to find out what God will do. What will God do with a dead, cursed Jesus? Because in God’s answer, you will discover what he intends on doing with a dead and cursed you. Amen.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Sermon for March 20th (Maundy Thursday)
Jesus was crucified. Nailed to a cross. This is why we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. This might seem like an odd reason to celebrate. But Jesus’ death is the reason why the Lord’s Supper is not just some family meal that we share at home. Jesus’ death is the reason why this is more than just a memorial to remember some fancy dinner a long time ago. Jesus’ death helps us better understand what is happening in this sacrament and why it is so important anyway. Tonight we are celebrating the death of Jesus our Savior at the Lord’s Supper. And some of you, will be doing this, for the first time. But why is it such a big deal in the first place?
In the reading from 1 Corinthians tonight you heard these words, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” But what is a covenant?. A covenant is an agreement made between two parties, two people. For instance, when you go to a bank in order to take out a loan to buy a house, you sign a promissory note that you will pay back the money. You have made a covenant with the bank. When you go out for sports, you agree to show up for practices and for the games. You have made a covenant with the coaches and with the team. When we hear the word covenant, these are the things we think about. Agreements. . . and if either person doesn’t do what they said they would do, well the agreement is off. If you stop paying the bank, they demand the money from you. If you don’t show up for the practices, you get kicked off the team.
However, this word covenant tricks us. While you and I are used to understanding it in one way, there were other ways to understand the word when the books of the Bible were written. Sometimes,both parties were responsible but there were different rules involved. For instance, think about the covenant that is made with a child, with your own children. When they are born, as you are holding them and rocking them for the first time, you may whisper in their ear, “I am always going to love you. I am going to find a way for you to have a better life than me. You will get everything I couldn’t get. I’m always going to take care of you and give you the best.” This is also a covenant, but it is a little different than a bank note or being part of a team. Why? Because your little baby isn’t agreeing to anything? The covenant completely rests on you. You have promised to love your little one whether they are a perfect child or not. Whether they kiss you goodnight or slam the door in your face. In a parent-child relationship, the parent is responsible to fulfill their obligations, but the child is not.
Another way to understand this kind of one-way covenant is to think about a last will and testament. When you die, people will read your last will and testament to find out who gets your property. When you fill out your last will and testament, you say what you are going to give to people when you are no longer living. When Grandma says in her will that you are the owner of the farm when she dies, it’s yours. You can’t say to the lawyer, “Well, I can’t take it because I wasn’t nice enough to Grandma.” No. She’s dead. It doesn’t matter. According to her will it is yours. She’s given you the whole farm! All that is left to say is, “Thank you!”
The apostle Paul says that as often as we eat the bread and drink this cup in the Lord’s Supper, we are to proclaim Jesus’ death until he comes. Jesus’ death is not about an agreement between God and you. Jesus died for you. He forgives your sins, he gives you the whole farm, and doesn’t ask if you lived up to your part of the agreement. Since you are a sinner, Jesus knows that you haven’t lived up to your end of the deal. That’s the whole point! He had to do something about it!
The Lord’s Supper is not about a covenant, the way we usually think about it. It is about a NEW covenant. But I think that there is a better word to remember what this means. It is about a new testament. It is about Jesus’ last will and testament. So, in order for you to find out what happens in the Lord’s Supper, you need to hear Jesus’ will and make sure all the parts of his will are there so that you can hold him to it when you hear of his death.
So here we go. In making a will you have to have a testator, or will maker, who is anticipating his or her own death. Then you need the heirs. The people who get what is coming to them. Also, you need to make sure the will is announced publicly.
At the last supper, Jesus declared his intentions to his disciples. And today, we will again hear his will publicly announced. Jesus referred constantly to the fact that he would be betrayed by all people, even those closest to him. So, at the last supper, surrounded by his disciples who would betray him by abandoning him and denying him, Jesus names all of them and us, his betrayers, as the heirs of his estate. So the author of the gospel writes, "In the night in which he was betrayed."
Since we have a will maker, a public announcement and some heirs, it is necessary to find out what the estate is. What goodies is Jesus giving in this will? Listen to the promise, “This cup is given and shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins.” We say these words, we name the estate, every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is giving you the whole farm. The forgiveness of sins. And, as Luther points out in the Small Catechism, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Jesus hands out everything, withholding nothing.
But we still need a little more to make sure that this last will and testament is in proper order. We have the heirs, his very own betrayers, and Jesus has named what he is giving away, the forgiveness of sins. Now, we need to be sure he wants the will to actually happen. Usually this is done with a signature on a legal document; however, Jesus just gives his command to do it. “Do this,” he says. Do this in remembrance of me. Take eat. Take drink. Do this. So by his command, we do it.
But, of course, there is one last thing. One last thing that must happen before any of these benefits are handed over. Jesus has named himself as the will maker, he has named his betrayers as his heirs, he has named the estate to be handed over and he has commanded that it be done. But, in order for Jesus’ last will and testament to be carried out, what must happen first? What must happen? The willmaker must die. Jesus must die.
When I say the words of institution, tonight, you will notice that I use the word testament instead of covenant. This is the way pastors used to say it back in the days of the old Service book and hymnal, the red book. Why is this word so important? Because I want to make it perfectly clear to all of you, that this gift of forgiveness from Jesus Christ is for you on the basis of what God has done all on his own. It is not based on some agreement you have made with him. For God’s promise, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, does not require any outward preparations on your part, or some level of worthiness, but the words require simply a believing heart.
Jesus died on the cross a long time ago. Now, each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim Jesus’ death until he comes again. And we celebrate his death. Because, since Jesus Christ has died, now his estate can be properly handed over to you, his heir, once and for all. Jesus Christ gives you all that he has. He gives you his body and blood, given in bread and wine, and commands you to eat it and drink it. He died for you so that all he has might be yours forever. This is Jesus’ last will and testament and it is wholly and completely for you.
In the reading from 1 Corinthians tonight you heard these words, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.” But what is a covenant?. A covenant is an agreement made between two parties, two people. For instance, when you go to a bank in order to take out a loan to buy a house, you sign a promissory note that you will pay back the money. You have made a covenant with the bank. When you go out for sports, you agree to show up for practices and for the games. You have made a covenant with the coaches and with the team. When we hear the word covenant, these are the things we think about. Agreements. . . and if either person doesn’t do what they said they would do, well the agreement is off. If you stop paying the bank, they demand the money from you. If you don’t show up for the practices, you get kicked off the team.
However, this word covenant tricks us. While you and I are used to understanding it in one way, there were other ways to understand the word when the books of the Bible were written. Sometimes,both parties were responsible but there were different rules involved. For instance, think about the covenant that is made with a child, with your own children. When they are born, as you are holding them and rocking them for the first time, you may whisper in their ear, “I am always going to love you. I am going to find a way for you to have a better life than me. You will get everything I couldn’t get. I’m always going to take care of you and give you the best.” This is also a covenant, but it is a little different than a bank note or being part of a team. Why? Because your little baby isn’t agreeing to anything? The covenant completely rests on you. You have promised to love your little one whether they are a perfect child or not. Whether they kiss you goodnight or slam the door in your face. In a parent-child relationship, the parent is responsible to fulfill their obligations, but the child is not.
Another way to understand this kind of one-way covenant is to think about a last will and testament. When you die, people will read your last will and testament to find out who gets your property. When you fill out your last will and testament, you say what you are going to give to people when you are no longer living. When Grandma says in her will that you are the owner of the farm when she dies, it’s yours. You can’t say to the lawyer, “Well, I can’t take it because I wasn’t nice enough to Grandma.” No. She’s dead. It doesn’t matter. According to her will it is yours. She’s given you the whole farm! All that is left to say is, “Thank you!”
The apostle Paul says that as often as we eat the bread and drink this cup in the Lord’s Supper, we are to proclaim Jesus’ death until he comes. Jesus’ death is not about an agreement between God and you. Jesus died for you. He forgives your sins, he gives you the whole farm, and doesn’t ask if you lived up to your part of the agreement. Since you are a sinner, Jesus knows that you haven’t lived up to your end of the deal. That’s the whole point! He had to do something about it!
The Lord’s Supper is not about a covenant, the way we usually think about it. It is about a NEW covenant. But I think that there is a better word to remember what this means. It is about a new testament. It is about Jesus’ last will and testament. So, in order for you to find out what happens in the Lord’s Supper, you need to hear Jesus’ will and make sure all the parts of his will are there so that you can hold him to it when you hear of his death.
So here we go. In making a will you have to have a testator, or will maker, who is anticipating his or her own death. Then you need the heirs. The people who get what is coming to them. Also, you need to make sure the will is announced publicly.
At the last supper, Jesus declared his intentions to his disciples. And today, we will again hear his will publicly announced. Jesus referred constantly to the fact that he would be betrayed by all people, even those closest to him. So, at the last supper, surrounded by his disciples who would betray him by abandoning him and denying him, Jesus names all of them and us, his betrayers, as the heirs of his estate. So the author of the gospel writes, "In the night in which he was betrayed."
Since we have a will maker, a public announcement and some heirs, it is necessary to find out what the estate is. What goodies is Jesus giving in this will? Listen to the promise, “This cup is given and shed for you and for all people for the forgiveness of sins.” We say these words, we name the estate, every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper. Jesus is giving you the whole farm. The forgiveness of sins. And, as Luther points out in the Small Catechism, where there is forgiveness of sins, there is also life and salvation. Jesus hands out everything, withholding nothing.
But we still need a little more to make sure that this last will and testament is in proper order. We have the heirs, his very own betrayers, and Jesus has named what he is giving away, the forgiveness of sins. Now, we need to be sure he wants the will to actually happen. Usually this is done with a signature on a legal document; however, Jesus just gives his command to do it. “Do this,” he says. Do this in remembrance of me. Take eat. Take drink. Do this. So by his command, we do it.
But, of course, there is one last thing. One last thing that must happen before any of these benefits are handed over. Jesus has named himself as the will maker, he has named his betrayers as his heirs, he has named the estate to be handed over and he has commanded that it be done. But, in order for Jesus’ last will and testament to be carried out, what must happen first? What must happen? The willmaker must die. Jesus must die.
When I say the words of institution, tonight, you will notice that I use the word testament instead of covenant. This is the way pastors used to say it back in the days of the old Service book and hymnal, the red book. Why is this word so important? Because I want to make it perfectly clear to all of you, that this gift of forgiveness from Jesus Christ is for you on the basis of what God has done all on his own. It is not based on some agreement you have made with him. For God’s promise, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins, does not require any outward preparations on your part, or some level of worthiness, but the words require simply a believing heart.
Jesus died on the cross a long time ago. Now, each time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, we proclaim Jesus’ death until he comes again. And we celebrate his death. Because, since Jesus Christ has died, now his estate can be properly handed over to you, his heir, once and for all. Jesus Christ gives you all that he has. He gives you his body and blood, given in bread and wine, and commands you to eat it and drink it. He died for you so that all he has might be yours forever. This is Jesus’ last will and testament and it is wholly and completely for you.
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Sermon for March 9th
The prophet Ezekiel stands in the middle of a valley. He looks up and he sees high, rocky mountains or maybe there were green rolling hills all around him. The bright sky above his head creates a beautiful scene declaring the wonders of God, the greatness of the almighty. But then he looks down to the ground. And as he looks down, around his feet, he notices something. What is he seeing? Something unfamiliar. He takes a closer look, squinting to make sure that he’s not just hallucinating in the glare of the sun. Then he straightens up in a shiver. All around him, filling the valley, are bones. He is standing in the middle of a graveyard.
These are not just some dead cow skulls littering the ground that he has to step around. These are human bones. To his right, there are piles upon piles of dead, dry bones. Dry bones. Old bones. As he turns to his left there are more. Hundreds upon hundreds of femurs, skulls and ribs lying scattered on the ground. He quickly scans all around him and there are more and more, piles and piles of bones. Like some kind of unfathomable disaster destroyed an entire group of people and laid them waste in a moment. All around him, lying in piles or scattered on the ground. He stands in the middle of the valley. Surrounded. By bones. Dead people. Dry bones. He stands surrounded by the silence of death.
Then, God speaks, breaking the silence. God breaks the silence with a question, “Mortal, can these bones live?” But you know what I’d like to know if I were Ezekiel? Before I even thought, or imagined, or cared whether these dead dry bones surrounding me could live again? I’d want to know what happened. I’d like to know how they died. I’d like to know how a disaster, of this great a proportion, came to happen, leaving so many people to die and lie as a bunch of bones in the middle of a valley. And, more than that, how could God let it happen? So, before we follow this reading in Ezekiel to its end, and find out if these bones can live, I’d like to find out who is responsible for all these dead, dry bones in the first place.
In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is constantly being called on by God to proclaim judgment against the holy city of Jerusalem for the sin of its people. Remember that Jerusalem was the place of worship for an entire nation, it was the symbol of Israel and of the continued presence and favor of God for his people. I’ll read for you a little bit from Ezekiel, chapters 21 and 22, “Mortal, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; Thus says the Lord: I am coming against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.” “As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.”
Jerusalem was captured and destroyed in 587 BC, right during the time that Ezekiel was a prophet. And now, after the destruction of the temple. After many words of judgment from God, Ezekiel stands in the middle of a valley surrounded by bones. These bones are not the bones of dead Israelites from Jerusalem. However, they could just as well be. And for the Israelites, who had lost their homes, their place of worship, their families, their livelihoods and were scattered into exile, these bones strewn across the valley no doubt looked like a reflection of their experience and their lives. Who is responsible for all these dead dry bones?
Ezekiel chapter 5 says this, “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have set here in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. But she has rebelled against my ordinances and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries all around her. Therefore, because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not followed my statutes or kept my ordinances, I, I myself am coming against you; I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.”
Who is responsible for all these dead dry bones? There are two answers. When Ezekiel announced his words to the Israelites, they would have had two answers as well. God is responsible and we are responsible. We have sinned against God and God has punished us. God was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem, no doubt about it, but that also doesn’t get the Israelites off the hook.
So, now, back to that other question, the question that God posed to Ezekiel as the prophet is standing out in this valley of dry bones. The Lord asks Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “O Lord God, you know.” Now wait a minute. Why doesn’t Ezekiel just answer the question? Why does Ezekiel wait for God? Ezekiel must realize that the people who died and now lie there as dead bones were responsible for their sin and for their eventual destruction. Even if God did the punishing. Why doesn’t Ezekiel look to the dead bones of those people for any hope of new life? In fact, he could have even look to himself for an answer, he was a prophet. Couldn’t he have done something? Why does he insist on waiting for God’s answer? And what do you think? Can these bones live?
Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent. During Lent, we are called to repentance, asking forgiveness for what we do wrong in our lives. Lent is really no different than any other time of the year, but as a church we focus on our weakness so that we can find strength in Jesus’ death and resurrection is. So that, in our weakness, we can find strength in God. But it is easy to start thinking that the more we repent, the better off we become. The more guilty we feel, the more religious we look. We start looking at our dead, dry bones and expecting new life to just start popping out. If only we just worked a little harder. Do a few more good things. Give up chocolate or smoking or swearing for a few weeks. But dead bones just lie there on the ground, they can’t do anything else.
Can you actually live again when you die? Can you forgive the person that hates you and treats you like dirt? Can you stop your habit of getting drunk? Can you stop gambling? Can you be healed? Can you really trust God? The only answer I have for you is to join me in praying to our heavenly Father and say, “O Lord God, you know.” Or, as the psalm we read today says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope.” Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing.
There is no point in expecting your dead, dry bones to start living again. Even if you are really motivated. But listen to what God can do, this time, from the book of 1st Samuel, “The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and he raises up.” You can trust that God is just as compassionate about raising you from the dead as he is passionate to destroy your sin. And during Lent, you can find out just how far your Savior is willing to go to save you. All the way to death on a cross to defeat sin. All the way into a tomb to defeat death. All the way into hell to defeat the Devil. And all the way into this world to defeat you and bring your dead dry bones to life.
In the readings from Ezekiel that spoke of wrath and destruction, God kept repeating that the Israelites would know that it was the Lord that did these things. In today’s reading, God insists that the Israelites will know him now in a new way, He says, “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves O my people.” We do not know God only as a loving God, nor do we know God only as an angry God. We know him as both. God’s love and kindness is meant to lead you to ask forgiveness again and again. Jesus loves you, not so that you will rest confident in your sins, but so that you will repent of everything, so that Jesus can be all in all for you. So that you can rest completely in his arms, perfectly passive, like a pile of old bones. Waiting for the Lord of all to start speaking you back to life.
“O dry bones, hear the words of the Lord, Thus says the Lord God to your bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” Amen.
These are not just some dead cow skulls littering the ground that he has to step around. These are human bones. To his right, there are piles upon piles of dead, dry bones. Dry bones. Old bones. As he turns to his left there are more. Hundreds upon hundreds of femurs, skulls and ribs lying scattered on the ground. He quickly scans all around him and there are more and more, piles and piles of bones. Like some kind of unfathomable disaster destroyed an entire group of people and laid them waste in a moment. All around him, lying in piles or scattered on the ground. He stands in the middle of the valley. Surrounded. By bones. Dead people. Dry bones. He stands surrounded by the silence of death.
Then, God speaks, breaking the silence. God breaks the silence with a question, “Mortal, can these bones live?” But you know what I’d like to know if I were Ezekiel? Before I even thought, or imagined, or cared whether these dead dry bones surrounding me could live again? I’d want to know what happened. I’d like to know how they died. I’d like to know how a disaster, of this great a proportion, came to happen, leaving so many people to die and lie as a bunch of bones in the middle of a valley. And, more than that, how could God let it happen? So, before we follow this reading in Ezekiel to its end, and find out if these bones can live, I’d like to find out who is responsible for all these dead, dry bones in the first place.
In the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is constantly being called on by God to proclaim judgment against the holy city of Jerusalem for the sin of its people. Remember that Jerusalem was the place of worship for an entire nation, it was the symbol of Israel and of the continued presence and favor of God for his people. I’ll read for you a little bit from Ezekiel, chapters 21 and 22, “Mortal, set your face toward Jerusalem and preach against the sanctuaries; Thus says the Lord: I am coming against you, and will draw my sword out of its sheath, and will cut off from you both righteous and wicked.” “As one gathers silver, bronze, iron, lead, and tin into a smelter, to blow the fire upon them in order to melt them; so I will gather you in my anger and in my wrath, and I will put you in and melt you; and you shall know that I the Lord have poured out my wrath upon you.”
Jerusalem was captured and destroyed in 587 BC, right during the time that Ezekiel was a prophet. And now, after the destruction of the temple. After many words of judgment from God, Ezekiel stands in the middle of a valley surrounded by bones. These bones are not the bones of dead Israelites from Jerusalem. However, they could just as well be. And for the Israelites, who had lost their homes, their place of worship, their families, their livelihoods and were scattered into exile, these bones strewn across the valley no doubt looked like a reflection of their experience and their lives. Who is responsible for all these dead dry bones?
Ezekiel chapter 5 says this, “Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem, I have set here in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. But she has rebelled against my ordinances and my statutes, becoming more wicked than the nations and the countries all around her. Therefore, because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not followed my statutes or kept my ordinances, I, I myself am coming against you; I will execute judgments among you in the sight of the nations. Because of all your abominations, I will do to you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again.”
Who is responsible for all these dead dry bones? There are two answers. When Ezekiel announced his words to the Israelites, they would have had two answers as well. God is responsible and we are responsible. We have sinned against God and God has punished us. God was responsible for the destruction of Jerusalem, no doubt about it, but that also doesn’t get the Israelites off the hook.
So, now, back to that other question, the question that God posed to Ezekiel as the prophet is standing out in this valley of dry bones. The Lord asks Ezekiel, “Mortal, can these bones live?” Ezekiel answers, “O Lord God, you know.” Now wait a minute. Why doesn’t Ezekiel just answer the question? Why does Ezekiel wait for God? Ezekiel must realize that the people who died and now lie there as dead bones were responsible for their sin and for their eventual destruction. Even if God did the punishing. Why doesn’t Ezekiel look to the dead bones of those people for any hope of new life? In fact, he could have even look to himself for an answer, he was a prophet. Couldn’t he have done something? Why does he insist on waiting for God’s answer? And what do you think? Can these bones live?
Today is the fifth Sunday of Lent. During Lent, we are called to repentance, asking forgiveness for what we do wrong in our lives. Lent is really no different than any other time of the year, but as a church we focus on our weakness so that we can find strength in Jesus’ death and resurrection is. So that, in our weakness, we can find strength in God. But it is easy to start thinking that the more we repent, the better off we become. The more guilty we feel, the more religious we look. We start looking at our dead, dry bones and expecting new life to just start popping out. If only we just worked a little harder. Do a few more good things. Give up chocolate or smoking or swearing for a few weeks. But dead bones just lie there on the ground, they can’t do anything else.
Can you actually live again when you die? Can you forgive the person that hates you and treats you like dirt? Can you stop your habit of getting drunk? Can you stop gambling? Can you be healed? Can you really trust God? The only answer I have for you is to join me in praying to our heavenly Father and say, “O Lord God, you know.” Or, as the psalm we read today says, “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His Word I hope.” Jesus says, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, but apart from me you can do nothing.
There is no point in expecting your dead, dry bones to start living again. Even if you are really motivated. But listen to what God can do, this time, from the book of 1st Samuel, “The Lord kills and makes alive. He brings down to the grave and he raises up.” You can trust that God is just as compassionate about raising you from the dead as he is passionate to destroy your sin. And during Lent, you can find out just how far your Savior is willing to go to save you. All the way to death on a cross to defeat sin. All the way into a tomb to defeat death. All the way into hell to defeat the Devil. And all the way into this world to defeat you and bring your dead dry bones to life.
In the readings from Ezekiel that spoke of wrath and destruction, God kept repeating that the Israelites would know that it was the Lord that did these things. In today’s reading, God insists that the Israelites will know him now in a new way, He says, “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves O my people.” We do not know God only as a loving God, nor do we know God only as an angry God. We know him as both. God’s love and kindness is meant to lead you to ask forgiveness again and again. Jesus loves you, not so that you will rest confident in your sins, but so that you will repent of everything, so that Jesus can be all in all for you. So that you can rest completely in his arms, perfectly passive, like a pile of old bones. Waiting for the Lord of all to start speaking you back to life.
“O dry bones, hear the words of the Lord, Thus says the Lord God to your bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the Lord.” Amen.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Sermon for March 2nd
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” What does light do in the world? On the one hand, it brightens up dark places like streetlights do as you walk around at night, it can produce heat, and it makes things shiny and beautiful. But light is also known for other things. It is these other effects of light that we might not always think about in conjunction with Jesus Christ.
If you are lost on a desert island and a spotlight was scanning the shore looking for survivors, you would jump up and down so that the light would fall upon you and you might be saved. On the other hand, if you were a criminal hiding from justice, if you saw a spotlight, you might hide behind the nearest trash can so that the light would not shine on you. Light is beautiful only if you do not want to be exposed. If you do not want others to see what you are doing or what you have done. “As long as I am in the world,” Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” That sounds great, but what if Jesus has come to the world only to expose you.
All of us have our sins. Some are big and some are little, but they all separate us from God and from each other. Some people are better at hiding their sins than others. Some of you, I am sure, are pretty pathetic at hiding your sins. For instance, maybe you get angry easily, you like to shout a lot and swear like a sailor. Everybody in town knows that you’ve got a short fuse and that probably just makes you even madder. You know what it feels like to live your life in the spotlight of others’ criticism. Jesus’ light shines on your sin and just reminds you of what you already knew . . . you are a sinner through and through.
Some of you are much better practiced at hiding yours sins. Very few people in your life may know about your really bad behavior. Maybe only your spouse or your children realize that you even have a problem. Because if anyone else knew, you would be seen in a very different light. There was a woman, I was told about, who was beaten by her husband throughout most of their marriage, only to spend her old age taking care of him because he was too weak do anything. They had both hidden the abuse to protect their marriage in the eyes of society. Now she was also hiding years of pent up anger as she gave her former abuser sponge baths each week. Jesus’ light shines on these sins and it is scary. It is easy to be scared that someone else might find out . . . you are a sinner and you want to keep it a secret.
Finally, there are sins that are so hidden, so deep that you try to forget about them yourself. Maybe it is a temptation that you wish you didn’t have, or a temptation that went too far once upon a time. Back in college maybe, or during the war, or way back when. Perhaps you believe that you don’t even have any sins, well at least nothing back enough to mention. When Jesus’ light shines upon you perhaps you wish you were blind. Or perhaps you pretend to be because it is easier to deal with that way. Jesus’ light exposes you. It offends you. It scares you.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” These words are not only a promise, but they sound dangerous. They are not only a joy, they are a terror. To those of you who already realize you are stumbling around in the dark depths of your sin, it can feel like a relief. Jesus notices you! There is a glimmer of hope! A light full of promise that destroys the despair of a tortured soul. To some of you the light is as hot as a fiery furnace that threatens to engulf you if you don’t run away fast enough. The light is so intense you want to turn you face away before it blinds you.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus proclaims. Jesus came to end suffering. To bring heaven to earth. To make the blind to see right? That seems to be what the gospel story is about today. Jesus said that the blind man he and his disciples ran across was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. Then, Jesus heals the man’s blindness. And just like that, God’s works are revealed? Well, yes. But that’s only part of the story. If that was all, then the story should have ended right there at verse 12. Instead, the story doesn’t end until verse 41. Something else is happening in this text that it is easy not to see right away.
The blind man gets healed twice. Twice. Not just once but twice. The first time he gets healed quite quickly, right? Jesus puts some mixture of mud and spit on the blind man’s eyes, the guy takes a bath and voila, he can see again! Yeah Jesus! But that’s only half of the story. The most surprising miracle doesn’t happen until Jesus meets up with him again at verse 35.
“Jesus heard that the Pharisees had driven the man who had been blind out of the synagogue and, when Jesus found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘And who is he sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” I would like to propose to you that this man who was healed of his blindness is still blind. I mean, he can see trees just fine, and flowers, and his feet and the clouds in the sky, but he can’t see everything can he. He still can’t see Jesus for who he truly is. He can see just fine, but he is still blind to what is happening. He is spiritually blind. He has no faith.
“Jesus found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘And who is he sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, ‘Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.” And right there is where the blind man was healed of his blindness for a second time.
Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” He also said this, “I came into the world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” I want you to consider that there is a very good reason why the story today did not end at verse 12. The story did not end with the blind man being healed once. The question is, why?
Why is the blind man healed a second time? Because, even with his sight restored, the blind man would have gone blind again. Whether it was through natural causes like retinal degeneration, a freak accident, or at death when he was placed six feet under the ground. Jesus came into the world to be the light of the world, to destroy sin and the suffering it causes, but he didn’t just do it once, he did it for all time. That’s why he didn’t just heal the sick, but he became sick himself, to the point of death on a cross, to save the world from sickness and death.
If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you who have anger management problems might learn to be nicer to people, but you would still have all your other sins to deal with. If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you who have been hiding your sins would be exposed, but who would be there to heal your reputation. If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you terrified by the depth of your sinful condition would never know the glory of a forgiving and loving God.
I have no idea what amazing works of healing God will work in your life. I hope to be around here a long time so that I can see a lot of them. Think about the many diseases and injuries and aches and pains that you suffer with daily. Think about the many diseases and injuries and aches and pains that your friends and family suffer with in their lives. No doubt, many of these sufferings will be healed through the gifts of doctors and nurses, chiropractors and osteopaths; mothers and fathers. Some people won’t be healed at all. Some people will be healed miraculously. But everyone who is healed will eventually die. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And, “The wages of sin is death.”
That is why the blind the man is healed twice in the story today, and God’s work of faith is revealed in him. For those of you who have spent your life hiding your sins, Jesus has exposed you. And with your sins out in the open for all to see, Jesus Christ the light of the world, declares, your sins, which are many, are forgiven once and for all. You have been healed, in the sight of God, for all time. And for those of you who can’t find a way to hide your sins, Jesus has exposed you as well. And with your sins out in the open, for all to see, Jesus Christ, the light of the world, declares, your sins, which are many are forgiven once and for all. You have been healed, in the sight of God, for all time.
And, just in case you were wondering. Whenever, you find yourself suffering from hurts or diseases or aches or pains look to Jesus Christ. For he alone has the power and the compassion to heal you once, twice and again and again. Whenever your mistakes and sins have you in the pit of despair look to Jesus. For he alone has the power and the love to forgive you once, twice, and again and again to give you eternal life forever.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus said. So, for as long as you live in this world, with sin, suffering and death, you may look to the light of Jesus for forgiveness, healing and salvation. Jesus has come to expose your darkness, to expose your blindness and to create for you a new life of light and salvation. Amen.
If you are lost on a desert island and a spotlight was scanning the shore looking for survivors, you would jump up and down so that the light would fall upon you and you might be saved. On the other hand, if you were a criminal hiding from justice, if you saw a spotlight, you might hide behind the nearest trash can so that the light would not shine on you. Light is beautiful only if you do not want to be exposed. If you do not want others to see what you are doing or what you have done. “As long as I am in the world,” Jesus says, “I am the light of the world.” That sounds great, but what if Jesus has come to the world only to expose you.
All of us have our sins. Some are big and some are little, but they all separate us from God and from each other. Some people are better at hiding their sins than others. Some of you, I am sure, are pretty pathetic at hiding your sins. For instance, maybe you get angry easily, you like to shout a lot and swear like a sailor. Everybody in town knows that you’ve got a short fuse and that probably just makes you even madder. You know what it feels like to live your life in the spotlight of others’ criticism. Jesus’ light shines on your sin and just reminds you of what you already knew . . . you are a sinner through and through.
Some of you are much better practiced at hiding yours sins. Very few people in your life may know about your really bad behavior. Maybe only your spouse or your children realize that you even have a problem. Because if anyone else knew, you would be seen in a very different light. There was a woman, I was told about, who was beaten by her husband throughout most of their marriage, only to spend her old age taking care of him because he was too weak do anything. They had both hidden the abuse to protect their marriage in the eyes of society. Now she was also hiding years of pent up anger as she gave her former abuser sponge baths each week. Jesus’ light shines on these sins and it is scary. It is easy to be scared that someone else might find out . . . you are a sinner and you want to keep it a secret.
Finally, there are sins that are so hidden, so deep that you try to forget about them yourself. Maybe it is a temptation that you wish you didn’t have, or a temptation that went too far once upon a time. Back in college maybe, or during the war, or way back when. Perhaps you believe that you don’t even have any sins, well at least nothing back enough to mention. When Jesus’ light shines upon you perhaps you wish you were blind. Or perhaps you pretend to be because it is easier to deal with that way. Jesus’ light exposes you. It offends you. It scares you.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” These words are not only a promise, but they sound dangerous. They are not only a joy, they are a terror. To those of you who already realize you are stumbling around in the dark depths of your sin, it can feel like a relief. Jesus notices you! There is a glimmer of hope! A light full of promise that destroys the despair of a tortured soul. To some of you the light is as hot as a fiery furnace that threatens to engulf you if you don’t run away fast enough. The light is so intense you want to turn you face away before it blinds you.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus proclaims. Jesus came to end suffering. To bring heaven to earth. To make the blind to see right? That seems to be what the gospel story is about today. Jesus said that the blind man he and his disciples ran across was born blind so that God’s works might be revealed in him. Then, Jesus heals the man’s blindness. And just like that, God’s works are revealed? Well, yes. But that’s only part of the story. If that was all, then the story should have ended right there at verse 12. Instead, the story doesn’t end until verse 41. Something else is happening in this text that it is easy not to see right away.
The blind man gets healed twice. Twice. Not just once but twice. The first time he gets healed quite quickly, right? Jesus puts some mixture of mud and spit on the blind man’s eyes, the guy takes a bath and voila, he can see again! Yeah Jesus! But that’s only half of the story. The most surprising miracle doesn’t happen until Jesus meets up with him again at verse 35.
“Jesus heard that the Pharisees had driven the man who had been blind out of the synagogue and, when Jesus found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘And who is he sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” I would like to propose to you that this man who was healed of his blindness is still blind. I mean, he can see trees just fine, and flowers, and his feet and the clouds in the sky, but he can’t see everything can he. He still can’t see Jesus for who he truly is. He can see just fine, but he is still blind to what is happening. He is spiritually blind. He has no faith.
“Jesus found him, he said, ‘Do you believe in the Son of Man?’ The man answered, ‘And who is he sir? Tell me, so that I may believe in him.” Jesus said to him, ‘You have seen him, and the one speaking with you is he.” He said, ‘Lord, I believe.” And he worshiped him.” And right there is where the blind man was healed of his blindness for a second time.
Jesus said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” He also said this, “I came into the world for judgment so that those who do not see may see, and those who do see may become blind.” I want you to consider that there is a very good reason why the story today did not end at verse 12. The story did not end with the blind man being healed once. The question is, why?
Why is the blind man healed a second time? Because, even with his sight restored, the blind man would have gone blind again. Whether it was through natural causes like retinal degeneration, a freak accident, or at death when he was placed six feet under the ground. Jesus came into the world to be the light of the world, to destroy sin and the suffering it causes, but he didn’t just do it once, he did it for all time. That’s why he didn’t just heal the sick, but he became sick himself, to the point of death on a cross, to save the world from sickness and death.
If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you who have anger management problems might learn to be nicer to people, but you would still have all your other sins to deal with. If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you who have been hiding your sins would be exposed, but who would be there to heal your reputation. If the story ended with the blind man being healed once, then those of you terrified by the depth of your sinful condition would never know the glory of a forgiving and loving God.
I have no idea what amazing works of healing God will work in your life. I hope to be around here a long time so that I can see a lot of them. Think about the many diseases and injuries and aches and pains that you suffer with daily. Think about the many diseases and injuries and aches and pains that your friends and family suffer with in their lives. No doubt, many of these sufferings will be healed through the gifts of doctors and nurses, chiropractors and osteopaths; mothers and fathers. Some people won’t be healed at all. Some people will be healed miraculously. But everyone who is healed will eventually die. “For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” And, “The wages of sin is death.”
That is why the blind the man is healed twice in the story today, and God’s work of faith is revealed in him. For those of you who have spent your life hiding your sins, Jesus has exposed you. And with your sins out in the open for all to see, Jesus Christ the light of the world, declares, your sins, which are many, are forgiven once and for all. You have been healed, in the sight of God, for all time. And for those of you who can’t find a way to hide your sins, Jesus has exposed you as well. And with your sins out in the open, for all to see, Jesus Christ, the light of the world, declares, your sins, which are many are forgiven once and for all. You have been healed, in the sight of God, for all time.
And, just in case you were wondering. Whenever, you find yourself suffering from hurts or diseases or aches or pains look to Jesus Christ. For he alone has the power and the compassion to heal you once, twice and again and again. Whenever your mistakes and sins have you in the pit of despair look to Jesus. For he alone has the power and the love to forgive you once, twice, and again and again to give you eternal life forever.
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” Jesus said. So, for as long as you live in this world, with sin, suffering and death, you may look to the light of Jesus for forgiveness, healing and salvation. Jesus has come to expose your darkness, to expose your blindness and to create for you a new life of light and salvation. Amen.
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