God asks you the same question today as he asked Peter so long ago, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” For those of you familiar with this gospel story, it is usually mentioned that Jesus asks Peter this question, “Do you love me?” three times in order to negate Peter’s threefold denial of Jesus previous to the crucifixion. Unfortunately, Peter doesn’t seem to get the symbolism, does he. Instead, by the end, he gets offended. Perhaps you feel the same way when God asks you this question, “Do you love me?” You are at church after all. Doesn’t that count for something?
At seminary, I remember taking a class my second semester with a wonderful teacher for whom I have a lot of respect. It was a history class on the Reformation. I loved this class because this professor really knew how to lay out God’s promises in front of me so that I knew God’s forgiveness was for me, a big sinner. The only problem I had was that he kept telling me that God had forgiven my sins. Again and again he would say this. Class after class. Week after week. Now that was fine, I thought, but what was I supposed to do? I mean, now that my sins were forgiven. What was I in charge of? What was my part to play. I had heard all the rest of that before! Yes! I get it! I’m forgiven already! I didn’t need to hear it again and again and again!
Usually, there are two ways that we respond to God, when the forgiveness of sins is announced. We either say, “That’s nice, but no thanks. I don’t need it.” Or we say, “Yes. I know. I’ve already heard that.” When Jesus is presented before us we either decide that we can live without him or else we wonder why he’s back when we already are Christians. When it comes to love, or forgiveness, or faith, we either don’t want it or think we’ve already got enough of it. The apostle Peter gives us an example of both responses in the gospel of John.
Peter is most famous, of course, for his denial of Jesus before the crucifixion. He explains to Jesus how all the rest of the disciples might run away and abandon you, but not I. Not Peter! But Jesus tells him, “Very truly, I tell you, before the cock crows you will deny me three times.” Peter thinks that he is above all of that. Peter thinks that he has got this disciple thing down pat! Peter says that he will lay down his life for Jesus, not the other way around. Peter doesn’t need Jesus to tell him how to be faithful, Peter can do it all on his own . . . that is, until he realizes he can’t, or even more interestingly, he won’t.
Peter did deny Jesus three times, not because he didn’t have the opportunity to confess his faith, but because he chose not to. We never think we need something like the forgiveness of sins until we actually need forgiven. Until we’ve done something so horrible, our egos have to take a nosedive back into reality. We have such high regard for ourselves that we figure we are doing just fine on our own. Forgiveness? Who needs it? Not us! Not yet.
We either think we don’t need it or we think we’ve already got it. The second example Peter provides for our edification is in today’s gospel lesson. “When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” he said to him, “Yes Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” A second time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him. “Feed my sheep.” By the third time, Peter must have wondered whether Jesus’ eardrums didn’t get resurrected properly or else that, maybe, Jesus just didn’t believe the answer. Peter figured that his first answer was good enough. Making him confess this over and over seemed a little over the top. A bit redundant. A bit rude.
One of my favorite musicals is Fiddler on the Roof. In this musical, there is a wonderful song that I would like to present for you as an illustration of what is going on here with Peter and Jesus. It’s a bit quiet at the beginning, so I’ll let you know the question the man, Tevya keeps asking: he asks his wife, “Do you love me?”
“Do you love me?” “Do I what?” I love that. At first, Golde, Tevya’s wife thinks this whole, “Do you love me?” question is completely pointless doesn’t she. She doesn’t care! She doesn’t need this interruption into her daily life. As I’ve said before, this is the first way we respond to love.
But, in the movie, her husband, Tevya keeps at her. Asking her and asking her. Then, that second response comes barreling down the road, “I do this for you. I do this for you. I do this for you. I do this for you!” In other words, “Haven’t I already told you I love you! Why are asking me again!?” When it comes to love, or forgiveness, or faith, we always seem to think we either don’t need it or that we’ve already got enough of it.
You can see these two responses to love over and over again in our lives. We either think we don’t need it or think we’ve already got it. And we don’t have to look at dead apostles or movie clips to understand what is going on here.
“I can be just as spiritual in my garden.” I worship God when I go hiking.” “I don’t believe in organized religion.” “I don’t go to church, but I’m very spiritual.” These are variations on the theme of, “I don’t need Jesus.” Maybe you respect Jesus, or think church people are nice, or maybe even you’d like to “just be friends” with Jesus, but when it comes down to the nitty gritty, you think you can live without him.
However, for many of us, the problem isn’t that we think we don’t need God. Our problem is that we think God is a little too annoying. A little too insistent. A little too touchy feely when it comes to loving us. He says it a few too many times for our comfort. He’s always asking us, “Do you love me?” Doesn’t he already know?
One of my favorite stories from the Bible is from the book of Exodus, where the Israelites eat manna in the wilderness. God, through Moses, tells his people that they are to gather enough of this bread from heaven to feed themselves for each day. However, if they take more than they need, the leftovers become rotten. In other words, they must rely on God each and every day for their physical needs. They can’t ever have too much of what he has given them.
This story, from Exodus, gives us a good view of how God works in our lives. You can never have enough faith. You can never have enough forgiveness. You can never have enough love from God. As soon as you think you have received all you need, you’ll find that your faith isn’t strong enough, or you do something wrong again, or you feel depressed and in despair. God asks you again and again, day in and day out, “Do you love me?” “Do you love me?” “Do you love me?” Why? Well, because he loves you again and again. He loves you day in and day out. He loves you no matter what. Whether you think you need his love or think you already have it, God wants you to confess your faith in him over and over. God never gets tired of telling you that he loves you and he never gets tired of hearing that you love him. So that you never forget that you are his child. So that you never forget that he is your heavenly Father. Even when you sin. Even when you deny him. Even when you come to church.
God asks you this question, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? Follow me for I love you. I love you. I love you. ” Amen.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Sermon for June 22nd
I once led a memorial service for a guy I had met only once or twice at church but never really knew at all. It really wasn’t until his funeral preparations that I got to know this man and his family. But once I got to know him, I just couldn’t believe all the things this guy had done! The family started telling stories and memories about him and they just got worse and worse and funnier and funnier. This man was a real sinner. Everybody there knew it. He pulled some of the most horrific pranks and freaked people out constantly in his life. I just kept looking over at his wife, with this look of amazement on my face, as family members recounted event after event—any of which could have led to a divorce just based on the sheer danger recounted, or selfishness exhibited, or stress involved. How had this nice lady ever been married so long to such a crazy guy like this?
Now, at most memorial services that I have attended, people don’t often mention the dead person’s favorite sins; instead, they often try to build up their good deeds, their positive traits and their Christian attributes. But this memorial service was very different in that regard. While most people miss loved ones because of how sweet and loving they could be; it seemed that many family members and friends at this memorial service might miss this guy partly because of what a jerk he could be at times. And by the end of the service, people were saying the same things. Well, but, he’s gone now, and won’t be able to do that crazy stunt any more. Or they might say, I wish that he would just get up and start yelling at me, but, he can’t.
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” These words, written by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans, reflect the same experience people had at this memorial service. Could this man, remembered at the service, a father, a husband, a friend, and a brother continue all the crazy and horrendous acts he had done in his life? “By no means!” Paul says. Put into more modern language, we might say, “Well no. Duh! He’s dead. He can’t do much of anything now can he?”
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here, but when you are dead, all your expectations and your plans, whether they are virtuous or not, come to an end. Even if you want to do something good. Even if you desire to do something bad. Tough luck. You are dead and it aint gonna happen.
There is a book called The Hammer of God. In it there is a story about a young pastor in Sweeden named Fridfeldt who goes to visit Frans, a man who is dying. The pastor, Fridfeldt knows that this man, Frans, is a godly man and a true believer. But on arrival Frans is only halfway conscious and begins relating sin after sin from his youth as well as his contemporary naughty thoughts and desires. All the while, Fran’s daughter cries beside the bed as her father relates one embarrassing detail after another. I’ll continue the story from the book:
“Friedfelt could not help thinking how alike we all are within, after all. The same jealousy, the same pride, the same unloving heart. He also thought about how it would now go for Frans. As long as he was conscious he had faith. That seemed quite evident. But beneath the thin shell of his conscious faith this evil still dwelt within the heart. ‘Just as it is with me’, mumbled Fridfeldt. The only difference was that he was still in possession of his full senses, and in the interest of his good reputation must cover tightly all the uncleanness within. As for the poor old man, his lid had fallen off, and everything lay bare.” The man later dies and his daughter asks, “Tell me Pastor, do you believe he died a blessed death?” What do you think?
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have somehow separated himself from God’s love long ago? Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have sinned a little too much in later life? Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have let his lid fall off a little too soon and lost his faith? “By no means!” Paul says. Again, using more modern language. “Well no. Duh! He died. He was buried into with Jesus at his baptism! He couldn’t do anything about that. He died!
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here again, but when you are dead, all your expectations and your plans, whether they are virtuous or not, come to an end. Even if you want to do something good. Even if you desire to do something bad. Tough luck. You are dead and it aint gonna work. This is true the day you die as well as sixty years after you have died. This is true when you have died with Christ at your baptism.
This last week was a week full of graduations. I feel rather knowledgable about graduations because I have done it four times if you include high school and college. This is what I know. You have to go to school until you graduate and, while you are at school, you have to go to classes and do the work and do it well or else you won’t get your diploma. That’s just how school works. But what if, on your first day of elementary school, or high school, or college, or medical school, or seminary, the president, or superintendent told you that you didn’t need to worry about graduating anymore. It was all taken care of and he, or she, handed you your diploma saying, “Congratulations!”
It didn’t matter how hard you worked in school, how many classes you went to, how much you sucked up to the teachers, you were going to fail this school miserably. This president, or superintendent, expected no more than a 0.0 grade point average from you. But, the superintendent loved you. They loved you and gives you your diploma, free of charge, as a gift, before you could ever succeed or fail. How would you feel about this? Cheated? Offended? Guilty? Unbelieving? Thankful? Free?
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Your baptism was your graduation. You received your diploma, your promise of eternal life, free of charge from God who loves you. Jesus understands that in this life, you will sin against him again and again. Jesus understands that in this life, you will sin against one another again and again. In the school for the salvation, you will all be given a 0.0 grade point average. He knows all this, but he loves you and he forgives you. Therefore, you may consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When this passage from Romans, that you heard today, is read, we often think that Paul is trying to guilt trip us into becoming better people. We like to believe that the jury is still out on us and God is watching for us to succeed or fail in this Christian thing. That way, if you really wanted to, you could sin enough and thwart God’s decision that has already been made for you. We want that choice! We want that freedom! Not to choose God, no, we know what would happen then. But how far would we have to go to reject him! “Shall we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”
The apostle Paul says, “By now means! Well no. Duh! How can you, who have already died, go on living in sin? It doesn’t work that way. Jesus Christ has already made his decision about you. When you were baptized in Christ Jesus you were baptized into his death. You didn’t just die, you were buried! Buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
Your lid has already popped off and everything was laid bare. You died. Your memorial service is over. Jesus has already handed you over a promise of eternal life. “We know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin.” You have died and your life now hidden with Christ in God.
Does this mean that you’ll still make bad decisions and sin against God and one another. Yes. In this life on earth you can count on it. But. In God’s eyes you have already died. Just like his son Jesus. Everything is accomplished already. “And since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Now, at most memorial services that I have attended, people don’t often mention the dead person’s favorite sins; instead, they often try to build up their good deeds, their positive traits and their Christian attributes. But this memorial service was very different in that regard. While most people miss loved ones because of how sweet and loving they could be; it seemed that many family members and friends at this memorial service might miss this guy partly because of what a jerk he could be at times. And by the end of the service, people were saying the same things. Well, but, he’s gone now, and won’t be able to do that crazy stunt any more. Or they might say, I wish that he would just get up and start yelling at me, but, he can’t.
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it?” These words, written by the apostle Paul in the book of Romans, reflect the same experience people had at this memorial service. Could this man, remembered at the service, a father, a husband, a friend, and a brother continue all the crazy and horrendous acts he had done in his life? “By no means!” Paul says. Put into more modern language, we might say, “Well no. Duh! He’s dead. He can’t do much of anything now can he?”
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here, but when you are dead, all your expectations and your plans, whether they are virtuous or not, come to an end. Even if you want to do something good. Even if you desire to do something bad. Tough luck. You are dead and it aint gonna happen.
There is a book called The Hammer of God. In it there is a story about a young pastor in Sweeden named Fridfeldt who goes to visit Frans, a man who is dying. The pastor, Fridfeldt knows that this man, Frans, is a godly man and a true believer. But on arrival Frans is only halfway conscious and begins relating sin after sin from his youth as well as his contemporary naughty thoughts and desires. All the while, Fran’s daughter cries beside the bed as her father relates one embarrassing detail after another. I’ll continue the story from the book:
“Friedfelt could not help thinking how alike we all are within, after all. The same jealousy, the same pride, the same unloving heart. He also thought about how it would now go for Frans. As long as he was conscious he had faith. That seemed quite evident. But beneath the thin shell of his conscious faith this evil still dwelt within the heart. ‘Just as it is with me’, mumbled Fridfeldt. The only difference was that he was still in possession of his full senses, and in the interest of his good reputation must cover tightly all the uncleanness within. As for the poor old man, his lid had fallen off, and everything lay bare.” The man later dies and his daughter asks, “Tell me Pastor, do you believe he died a blessed death?” What do you think?
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have somehow separated himself from God’s love long ago? Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have sinned a little too much in later life? Could this man, who had been baptized in Christ Jesus, have let his lid fall off a little too soon and lost his faith? “By no means!” Paul says. Again, using more modern language. “Well no. Duh! He died. He was buried into with Jesus at his baptism! He couldn’t do anything about that. He died!
Perhaps I am stating the obvious here again, but when you are dead, all your expectations and your plans, whether they are virtuous or not, come to an end. Even if you want to do something good. Even if you desire to do something bad. Tough luck. You are dead and it aint gonna work. This is true the day you die as well as sixty years after you have died. This is true when you have died with Christ at your baptism.
This last week was a week full of graduations. I feel rather knowledgable about graduations because I have done it four times if you include high school and college. This is what I know. You have to go to school until you graduate and, while you are at school, you have to go to classes and do the work and do it well or else you won’t get your diploma. That’s just how school works. But what if, on your first day of elementary school, or high school, or college, or medical school, or seminary, the president, or superintendent told you that you didn’t need to worry about graduating anymore. It was all taken care of and he, or she, handed you your diploma saying, “Congratulations!”
It didn’t matter how hard you worked in school, how many classes you went to, how much you sucked up to the teachers, you were going to fail this school miserably. This president, or superintendent, expected no more than a 0.0 grade point average from you. But, the superintendent loved you. They loved you and gives you your diploma, free of charge, as a gift, before you could ever succeed or fail. How would you feel about this? Cheated? Offended? Guilty? Unbelieving? Thankful? Free?
“Should we continue in sin in order that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin go on living in it? Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead, by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.” Your baptism was your graduation. You received your diploma, your promise of eternal life, free of charge from God who loves you. Jesus understands that in this life, you will sin against him again and again. Jesus understands that in this life, you will sin against one another again and again. In the school for the salvation, you will all be given a 0.0 grade point average. He knows all this, but he loves you and he forgives you. Therefore, you may consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
When this passage from Romans, that you heard today, is read, we often think that Paul is trying to guilt trip us into becoming better people. We like to believe that the jury is still out on us and God is watching for us to succeed or fail in this Christian thing. That way, if you really wanted to, you could sin enough and thwart God’s decision that has already been made for you. We want that choice! We want that freedom! Not to choose God, no, we know what would happen then. But how far would we have to go to reject him! “Shall we continue in sin in order that grace may abound?”
The apostle Paul says, “By now means! Well no. Duh! How can you, who have already died, go on living in sin? It doesn’t work that way. Jesus Christ has already made his decision about you. When you were baptized in Christ Jesus you were baptized into his death. You didn’t just die, you were buried! Buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”
Your lid has already popped off and everything was laid bare. You died. Your memorial service is over. Jesus has already handed you over a promise of eternal life. “We know that our old self was crucified with Jesus so that the body of sin might be destroyed and we might no longer be enslaved to sin. For whoever has died is freed from sin.” You have died and your life now hidden with Christ in God.
Does this mean that you’ll still make bad decisions and sin against God and one another. Yes. In this life on earth you can count on it. But. In God’s eyes you have already died. Just like his son Jesus. Everything is accomplished already. “And since we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God. So, you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Sermon for June 15th
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave his twelve disciples authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to cure every disease and every sickness. Then, he gave them instructions to actually go out and do it. And we say, good for them. But do we still have to deal with things like that? At Saint Peters? In Northwest Connecticut? In the year 2008? In other words, is there still a need to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” Do we even expect those things to happen? Is it still essential to do this when we have doctors, psychologists and psychiatrists? And even if there is a need, do we really have the abilities, the call, the knowledge, the power and the authority to do any of these things?
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” The first question to ask is, do we still have to deal with these things? Yes. I assume that we can all agree on the relevance of at least the first three. People still get sick, people still die, there are still diseases including leprosy that we have to deal with. But as for casting out demons? I am sure that there is much disagreement in the room about whether we still have to deal with that. But I hope that you realize that it is exactly on this point where the power of this passage stands or falls. To put it quite simply, if Jesus is just some religious nutcase, out of touch, or scientifically ignorant about what he calls “casting out demons”, then it is difficult to believe anything else he is talking about either. In other words, if Jesus can’t cast out a demon, or if there were never demons to cast out, how can we really believe that he could cure diseases or raise the dead. They are all about as likely.
Perhaps you have heard the following quote before, “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” Take a moment to consider that statement. “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” And yet, as my advisor at seminary, who was also the president of Luther Seminary at the time, as he told me once, “I don’t believe in the Devil. I believe in Jesus Christ who has defeated the Devil for me.” In other words, while it is important to know that there is indeed an evil enemy you are in combat with, it is even more important to know where to turn in order to defeat that enemy. That is finally, in fact, what Jesus is speaking about in the gospel today. Where can you turn to deal with sickness, death, disease and demons when they affect you in your daily life?
In my life, I have dealt primarily with two groups of people when it came to talking about the phrase “casting out demons”. I hope that you will find these two groups familiar from experience in your own life.
The first group considers evil spirits to be an antiquated and uncivilized labeling of psychological maladies. For instance, in my first “pastoral care” class, the teacher read about a time when King David was said to have a spirit in him that made him sad. She explained that nowadays we would probably just call him depressed and get him on some medication. In the New Testament, there was a little girl who had seizures and would foam at the mouth. Jesus cast an evil spirit out of her, but my teacher explained that she probably just had epilepsy. At the end of class, it seemed clear that, as a pastor, there was very little I could do for these people. I could only send them off to a hospital or psychiatrist while praying that God would find a way to help them someday. .
The second group of people I have seen or dealt with talked about life in a very different way than I did. Many times I have watched this group of people on T.V. For them, every event in life is being affected by either angels or evil spirits. If they almost get in a car accident, their guardian angel must have been watching out for them. If congress passes a particular law they disagree with in Washington, they might maintain that the Devil has gained a foothold in some government official. Every hurricane and earthquake is a sign of Christ’s second coming. What do I get out of these conversations? I should be a better Christian. I must do more, speak out, fight against temptation, accept Jesus into my heart, get ready for Armageddon and call my congressman. Everything, finally, is left in my hands. I’ve got to constantly be on guard against the Devil.
It is easy to think and worry about demons and evil spirits all the time. It is also easy to believe that they have never existed in the first place. If you focus on them too much, you can become anxious and fearful, on the other hand, ignoring their existence can lead to anxiety and fear as well. Jesus does not call us to be a part of either of these two groups I just mentioned, but instead calls us to himself where there is finally peace. We cannot take Christ’s power away from him and place it in science alone, nor can we take Christ’s power away and put it in our own hands.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave his twelve disciples the authority to deal with suffering whether it came from evil spirits, from sin, or from germs. The most important point to realize is that the power and the authority comes from Jesus alone. By themselves, the disciples have absolutely nothing to deal with sin, death and the devil. It is the power of God that heals. His power that casts out. His power to cleanse. His power to raise. His power to cure.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus not only has the power to give eternal life through the forgiveness of sins, but here, he is also pointing out that he has the power to sustain life. And just like his gives us the ability to forgive sins in his name, he also gives us the ability to sustain life in his name. Either way, the power, the ability and the authority comes from God, but he finds a way to get people forgiven, healed and at peace by using your hands, your feet and your mouths.
Martin Luther called Christians a “priesthood of all believers.” A priest isn’t a special kind of a person, but they do know something very important: you know who to look to guidance, who to pray to and on whose authority you speak. What I want to impress upon you is that you do have the authority to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons” because, and this is very important, because you know who is really doing it. You know who really has the power to do it. You know who is in charge of healing and sustaining life. You are just the tool God uses to do it.
My goal in telling you all this is to give you faith. Faith to believe that Jesus alone has power over all these things and you can look to him for healing and deliverance whenever you come in contact with sickness, death, disease and demons. This is true when you are praying for healing with people on your own. This is true when you are taking them to a doctor’s appointment. This is true when you are admit someone into a psych ward. This is true when you are sitting with a loved one on their death bed. This is true if you are the one needing help. You may trust that Jesus is loving enough to heal, able to heal, faithful to heal and wise enough to know when and how to heal.
But, before you leave today, I need to do one more thing. I need to equip you to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” Even if you know that there is suffering and are called on to do something about it in Jesus’ name, you might not have a clue how to do it. So let me give you a few ideas.
First, listen to people. Listen to their pain and listen to their hopes. Just listen to them even if you don’t like what you are hearing. And while you are listening to them with one ear, listen to God with your other ear to see if you are encouraged to pray with them.
Second, pray with people. Even if you think it might not make a difference and even if you don’t know what to say. God has promised to listen to your prayers just as a loving Father listens to his child. You can demand a hearing from God knowing that it is always his will to heal and to deliver people from evil even if the healing looks different than we expect. Ask to pray with them. If you want, you might even ask to hold their hand or touch their shoulder. Let them know you care for them just like God cares for them.
Take as much time as you would like to pray. Sometimes your prayer might be short and to the point, at other times it might take longer than you expect. There is no reason to heap up empty phrases just to sound like you know what you are doing, but if you think of something else to pray for, or just want to be silent for a little while, go ahead and take the time.
Finally, leave healing in God’s hands. Perhaps your prayer will have already been answered as soon as you open your eyes. Maybe it will happen days later. Maybe years later. Maybe you’ll never know, but, finally, you are not responsible to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons,” God is responsible and you are only doing what you have been asked to do. The authority comes from God and the power is God’s alone.
When you hear that your sins are forgiven, you can be assured that God himself has promised you eternal life. When God heals you or delivers you from evil, you can only be assured of a longer or fuller life. However, both are important, one for this life now and one for eternal life.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” There is a lot of suffering in this world, God knows that we go through much each and every day. But as a member of God’s family, you know where to look for healing and deliverance while many others do not know where to place their hope. So listen to people. Pray with them. And leave the healing and deliverance in God’s hands. Amen.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” The first question to ask is, do we still have to deal with these things? Yes. I assume that we can all agree on the relevance of at least the first three. People still get sick, people still die, there are still diseases including leprosy that we have to deal with. But as for casting out demons? I am sure that there is much disagreement in the room about whether we still have to deal with that. But I hope that you realize that it is exactly on this point where the power of this passage stands or falls. To put it quite simply, if Jesus is just some religious nutcase, out of touch, or scientifically ignorant about what he calls “casting out demons”, then it is difficult to believe anything else he is talking about either. In other words, if Jesus can’t cast out a demon, or if there were never demons to cast out, how can we really believe that he could cure diseases or raise the dead. They are all about as likely.
Perhaps you have heard the following quote before, “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” Take a moment to consider that statement. “The greatest lie the Devil ever told was that he didn’t exist.” And yet, as my advisor at seminary, who was also the president of Luther Seminary at the time, as he told me once, “I don’t believe in the Devil. I believe in Jesus Christ who has defeated the Devil for me.” In other words, while it is important to know that there is indeed an evil enemy you are in combat with, it is even more important to know where to turn in order to defeat that enemy. That is finally, in fact, what Jesus is speaking about in the gospel today. Where can you turn to deal with sickness, death, disease and demons when they affect you in your daily life?
In my life, I have dealt primarily with two groups of people when it came to talking about the phrase “casting out demons”. I hope that you will find these two groups familiar from experience in your own life.
The first group considers evil spirits to be an antiquated and uncivilized labeling of psychological maladies. For instance, in my first “pastoral care” class, the teacher read about a time when King David was said to have a spirit in him that made him sad. She explained that nowadays we would probably just call him depressed and get him on some medication. In the New Testament, there was a little girl who had seizures and would foam at the mouth. Jesus cast an evil spirit out of her, but my teacher explained that she probably just had epilepsy. At the end of class, it seemed clear that, as a pastor, there was very little I could do for these people. I could only send them off to a hospital or psychiatrist while praying that God would find a way to help them someday. .
The second group of people I have seen or dealt with talked about life in a very different way than I did. Many times I have watched this group of people on T.V. For them, every event in life is being affected by either angels or evil spirits. If they almost get in a car accident, their guardian angel must have been watching out for them. If congress passes a particular law they disagree with in Washington, they might maintain that the Devil has gained a foothold in some government official. Every hurricane and earthquake is a sign of Christ’s second coming. What do I get out of these conversations? I should be a better Christian. I must do more, speak out, fight against temptation, accept Jesus into my heart, get ready for Armageddon and call my congressman. Everything, finally, is left in my hands. I’ve got to constantly be on guard against the Devil.
It is easy to think and worry about demons and evil spirits all the time. It is also easy to believe that they have never existed in the first place. If you focus on them too much, you can become anxious and fearful, on the other hand, ignoring their existence can lead to anxiety and fear as well. Jesus does not call us to be a part of either of these two groups I just mentioned, but instead calls us to himself where there is finally peace. We cannot take Christ’s power away from him and place it in science alone, nor can we take Christ’s power away and put it in our own hands.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus gave his twelve disciples the authority to deal with suffering whether it came from evil spirits, from sin, or from germs. The most important point to realize is that the power and the authority comes from Jesus alone. By themselves, the disciples have absolutely nothing to deal with sin, death and the devil. It is the power of God that heals. His power that casts out. His power to cleanse. His power to raise. His power to cure.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons.” Jesus not only has the power to give eternal life through the forgiveness of sins, but here, he is also pointing out that he has the power to sustain life. And just like his gives us the ability to forgive sins in his name, he also gives us the ability to sustain life in his name. Either way, the power, the ability and the authority comes from God, but he finds a way to get people forgiven, healed and at peace by using your hands, your feet and your mouths.
Martin Luther called Christians a “priesthood of all believers.” A priest isn’t a special kind of a person, but they do know something very important: you know who to look to guidance, who to pray to and on whose authority you speak. What I want to impress upon you is that you do have the authority to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons” because, and this is very important, because you know who is really doing it. You know who really has the power to do it. You know who is in charge of healing and sustaining life. You are just the tool God uses to do it.
My goal in telling you all this is to give you faith. Faith to believe that Jesus alone has power over all these things and you can look to him for healing and deliverance whenever you come in contact with sickness, death, disease and demons. This is true when you are praying for healing with people on your own. This is true when you are taking them to a doctor’s appointment. This is true when you are admit someone into a psych ward. This is true when you are sitting with a loved one on their death bed. This is true if you are the one needing help. You may trust that Jesus is loving enough to heal, able to heal, faithful to heal and wise enough to know when and how to heal.
But, before you leave today, I need to do one more thing. I need to equip you to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” Even if you know that there is suffering and are called on to do something about it in Jesus’ name, you might not have a clue how to do it. So let me give you a few ideas.
First, listen to people. Listen to their pain and listen to their hopes. Just listen to them even if you don’t like what you are hearing. And while you are listening to them with one ear, listen to God with your other ear to see if you are encouraged to pray with them.
Second, pray with people. Even if you think it might not make a difference and even if you don’t know what to say. God has promised to listen to your prayers just as a loving Father listens to his child. You can demand a hearing from God knowing that it is always his will to heal and to deliver people from evil even if the healing looks different than we expect. Ask to pray with them. If you want, you might even ask to hold their hand or touch their shoulder. Let them know you care for them just like God cares for them.
Take as much time as you would like to pray. Sometimes your prayer might be short and to the point, at other times it might take longer than you expect. There is no reason to heap up empty phrases just to sound like you know what you are doing, but if you think of something else to pray for, or just want to be silent for a little while, go ahead and take the time.
Finally, leave healing in God’s hands. Perhaps your prayer will have already been answered as soon as you open your eyes. Maybe it will happen days later. Maybe years later. Maybe you’ll never know, but, finally, you are not responsible to “cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons,” God is responsible and you are only doing what you have been asked to do. The authority comes from God and the power is God’s alone.
When you hear that your sins are forgiven, you can be assured that God himself has promised you eternal life. When God heals you or delivers you from evil, you can only be assured of a longer or fuller life. However, both are important, one for this life now and one for eternal life.
“Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers and cast out demons.” There is a lot of suffering in this world, God knows that we go through much each and every day. But as a member of God’s family, you know where to look for healing and deliverance while many others do not know where to place their hope. So listen to people. Pray with them. And leave the healing and deliverance in God’s hands. Amen.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Sermon for June 8th
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Martin Luther explained that there are two ways looking at the world. Two ways of reading scripture. Two ways of talking about God. Two ways of talking about ourselves. These two ways, or two paths, though similar, lead us in very different directions. One path leads up to heaven. One path leads down to earth. One path is the way of glory. The other is the way of the cross.
The way of glory is quite magnificent. It is the way we are taught in school, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Till your good is better and your better is the best.” We pray that God will bless us and our families with health, wealth and opportunity. We want to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments. Even our country is founded on these basic principles: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are always in pursuit of glory.
The way of the cross is not magnificent. It is awful. This is the path that we are taught to avoid. When you walk down the streets of New York—not the streets you are supposed to walk down, the streets that haven’t been cleaned up—that’s where you find the people who are pointed at and whispered about because of their lack of glory. “I don’t want to end up like them,” people. “I feel so bad for them,” people. “Don’t stare at them honey,” people. “They’ll just spend it on booze,” people. We all learned somewhere that those kinds of people got themselves into that mess, or their parents did it to them, or they are sick in the head. Either way, none of us wants our kids or grandkids near them because they are dirty, dangerous and sick. We pray that never happens to us. It is a pitiful life. It is a shameful life.
There are two ways of looking at the world, the way of glory and the way of the cross. There are also two ways of reading scripture. The way of glory and the way of the cross. Beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, this is how the story is usually told.
God created a perfect man and a perfect woman in perfect relationship to God. But they were tempted. They sinned. They fell from grace. Sin and suffering entered the world. From that point on people got sick, they fought with each other, they had to wear clothes instead of fig leaves, and, most distressingly, they died. According to this story, Jesus’ death on the cross is thought to be God’s answer to all this sin, suffering and death. To get rid of sin. To make us perfect again just like we were back in the garden of Eden. It’s like one big repair job and God is the master mechanic who restores creation to its original glory. A fall from glory and then a return to glory. It is finally a story of glory.
But in the shadow of the cross, the story sounds different. In fact, from this perspective, it sounds like an altogether different tale. According to the actual words written in Genesis Adam and Eve don’t appear that glorious. They are created to take care of the earth. They are made to take care of each other. They are told to be fruitful and multiply. They simply rely on God for everything. Not glorious enough, it seems, for they wanted to become more. Become like God. Become creators rather than creatures. Just being creatures was not enough.
This is not so much a story of lost glory, but of a desire for more glory. There was no fall at all. It was more like a leap! Adam and Eve competing for the gold medal in the high jump. Seeking a way beyond the high bar of God’s authority. They wanted to be on top. And we have been seeking that very same glory ever since.
Jesus’ death on a cross looks very different according to this story. The cross is not a repair job for fallen creatures. The cross is an attack against sin and sinning creatures. Jesus dies on a cross not to make you more like God, but to make you more like a creature. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your salvation. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your healing. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your daily bread.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Because there are two ways of looking at the world and because there are two ways of reading scripture, there are also two ways we talk about how God works in our lives. The way of glory and the way of the cross.
There were two stories of healing spoken of in the gospel today. The healing of a young child, who was dead, and the healing of a long suffering woman. When the focus is on the way of glory, we can only see that Jesus powerfully works in these peoples’ lives to restore them to health. That is the miracle. He gives them the ability to live fuller lives or to try and believe in him. But, remember, Jesus only did ministry for three years. That’s it. Not long at all. So the cross becomes to look a little bit disappointing in our eyes. Just imagine all the good Jesus could have done if he could have just lasted a little longer! The cross becomes the problem. It gets in the way of all the glory Jesus was doing. We’d rather look past the cross instead of looking at it.
But when the focus is on the cross, these two healings are not finally where we can place our hope. Can you imagine that poor little girl after she was raised from the dead! Her Father probably never let her out of the house again for fear that she might die again! Would Jesus be within walking distance the next time? Jesus’ acts of healing finally force us to realize that we cannot place our trust in those healings alone. We must place our trust in the God who is the power behind these healings—God who has the power to heal, the power over both death and life. Even when we are healed miraculously, the fear of death remains.
After Jesus has healed, after Jesus has cast out demons, after Jesus has fed five thousand people, after Jesus calms the storm Jesus hangs from his hands and feet, because there is still that problem of sin. Real sinners placed Jesus on the cross, not just people who needed a little help improving themselves. Jesus said that it was necessary that he die for the sake of the world; not just to fix us up, but to destroy our hopes of finding glory anywhere else. We can only find our glory in Jesus’ death on the cross. The last place we would think of looking. The last place we want to look.
Jesus finally has to save us even from healing. He needs to save us from a life of sin and suffering where people need to be healed of their sicknesses. He needs to save us from a world the Devil still runs rampant and destroys peoples’ lives. That means that we are left in a very inglorious position. As creatures—nothing more and nothing less. And so we go to the doctor, and pray for the healing of depression, and visit psychiatrists, and go to chiropractors because we are doing what God has created us to do. We are taking care of one another. We are taking care of God’s creation, knowing that even God’s healing finds its completion at the cross.
As I said at the beginning, there are two paths to take. One path leads to heaven. One path leads to earth. Of course, our first reaction, our natural tendency, is to take the path that leads to heaven and leave the earth, our relationships, our bodies, and our sufferings behind. To say good riddance. That is the road to glory; the road we all choose to take. However, it is only the path of the cross that leads to eternal life. The path where Jesus dies very ingloriously at our hands. The path where your feet are securely on the ground and God comes down to show you the depths of his love.
The way of glory assumes that people are doing fine on their own, but that they just need a little boost from God to make that final step to glory. The way of the cross assumes that people are sick and cannot get better by themselves. They are in need or more than a boost into heaven . . . they need a savior.
“For those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
Martin Luther explained that there are two ways looking at the world. Two ways of reading scripture. Two ways of talking about God. Two ways of talking about ourselves. These two ways, or two paths, though similar, lead us in very different directions. One path leads up to heaven. One path leads down to earth. One path is the way of glory. The other is the way of the cross.
The way of glory is quite magnificent. It is the way we are taught in school, “Good, better, best. Never let it rest. Till your good is better and your better is the best.” We pray that God will bless us and our families with health, wealth and opportunity. We want to be proud of ourselves and our accomplishments. Even our country is founded on these basic principles: life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We are always in pursuit of glory.
The way of the cross is not magnificent. It is awful. This is the path that we are taught to avoid. When you walk down the streets of New York—not the streets you are supposed to walk down, the streets that haven’t been cleaned up—that’s where you find the people who are pointed at and whispered about because of their lack of glory. “I don’t want to end up like them,” people. “I feel so bad for them,” people. “Don’t stare at them honey,” people. “They’ll just spend it on booze,” people. We all learned somewhere that those kinds of people got themselves into that mess, or their parents did it to them, or they are sick in the head. Either way, none of us wants our kids or grandkids near them because they are dirty, dangerous and sick. We pray that never happens to us. It is a pitiful life. It is a shameful life.
There are two ways of looking at the world, the way of glory and the way of the cross. There are also two ways of reading scripture. The way of glory and the way of the cross. Beginning with the creation of Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden, this is how the story is usually told.
God created a perfect man and a perfect woman in perfect relationship to God. But they were tempted. They sinned. They fell from grace. Sin and suffering entered the world. From that point on people got sick, they fought with each other, they had to wear clothes instead of fig leaves, and, most distressingly, they died. According to this story, Jesus’ death on the cross is thought to be God’s answer to all this sin, suffering and death. To get rid of sin. To make us perfect again just like we were back in the garden of Eden. It’s like one big repair job and God is the master mechanic who restores creation to its original glory. A fall from glory and then a return to glory. It is finally a story of glory.
But in the shadow of the cross, the story sounds different. In fact, from this perspective, it sounds like an altogether different tale. According to the actual words written in Genesis Adam and Eve don’t appear that glorious. They are created to take care of the earth. They are made to take care of each other. They are told to be fruitful and multiply. They simply rely on God for everything. Not glorious enough, it seems, for they wanted to become more. Become like God. Become creators rather than creatures. Just being creatures was not enough.
This is not so much a story of lost glory, but of a desire for more glory. There was no fall at all. It was more like a leap! Adam and Eve competing for the gold medal in the high jump. Seeking a way beyond the high bar of God’s authority. They wanted to be on top. And we have been seeking that very same glory ever since.
Jesus’ death on a cross looks very different according to this story. The cross is not a repair job for fallen creatures. The cross is an attack against sin and sinning creatures. Jesus dies on a cross not to make you more like God, but to make you more like a creature. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your salvation. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your healing. Not so that you will look more glorious, but so that you will look more to God for your daily bread.
“Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. For I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.” Because there are two ways of looking at the world and because there are two ways of reading scripture, there are also two ways we talk about how God works in our lives. The way of glory and the way of the cross.
There were two stories of healing spoken of in the gospel today. The healing of a young child, who was dead, and the healing of a long suffering woman. When the focus is on the way of glory, we can only see that Jesus powerfully works in these peoples’ lives to restore them to health. That is the miracle. He gives them the ability to live fuller lives or to try and believe in him. But, remember, Jesus only did ministry for three years. That’s it. Not long at all. So the cross becomes to look a little bit disappointing in our eyes. Just imagine all the good Jesus could have done if he could have just lasted a little longer! The cross becomes the problem. It gets in the way of all the glory Jesus was doing. We’d rather look past the cross instead of looking at it.
But when the focus is on the cross, these two healings are not finally where we can place our hope. Can you imagine that poor little girl after she was raised from the dead! Her Father probably never let her out of the house again for fear that she might die again! Would Jesus be within walking distance the next time? Jesus’ acts of healing finally force us to realize that we cannot place our trust in those healings alone. We must place our trust in the God who is the power behind these healings—God who has the power to heal, the power over both death and life. Even when we are healed miraculously, the fear of death remains.
After Jesus has healed, after Jesus has cast out demons, after Jesus has fed five thousand people, after Jesus calms the storm Jesus hangs from his hands and feet, because there is still that problem of sin. Real sinners placed Jesus on the cross, not just people who needed a little help improving themselves. Jesus said that it was necessary that he die for the sake of the world; not just to fix us up, but to destroy our hopes of finding glory anywhere else. We can only find our glory in Jesus’ death on the cross. The last place we would think of looking. The last place we want to look.
Jesus finally has to save us even from healing. He needs to save us from a life of sin and suffering where people need to be healed of their sicknesses. He needs to save us from a world the Devil still runs rampant and destroys peoples’ lives. That means that we are left in a very inglorious position. As creatures—nothing more and nothing less. And so we go to the doctor, and pray for the healing of depression, and visit psychiatrists, and go to chiropractors because we are doing what God has created us to do. We are taking care of one another. We are taking care of God’s creation, knowing that even God’s healing finds its completion at the cross.
As I said at the beginning, there are two paths to take. One path leads to heaven. One path leads to earth. Of course, our first reaction, our natural tendency, is to take the path that leads to heaven and leave the earth, our relationships, our bodies, and our sufferings behind. To say good riddance. That is the road to glory; the road we all choose to take. However, it is only the path of the cross that leads to eternal life. The path where Jesus dies very ingloriously at our hands. The path where your feet are securely on the ground and God comes down to show you the depths of his love.
The way of glory assumes that people are doing fine on their own, but that they just need a little boost from God to make that final step to glory. The way of the cross assumes that people are sick and cannot get better by themselves. They are in need or more than a boost into heaven . . . they need a savior.
“For those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have come to call not the righteous but sinners.”
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