Sermon for November 22nd

Can I let you in on a little bit of irony? Today is Christ the king Sunday and yet most of us have no idea what a king really is. We don’t know what a king does? We don’t know what makes a king a king! And yet we say that Christ is our king even though we don’t have the foggiest concept about what having a king means for us or what being a king meant for Jesus.

Here are some things a king is not. A king is not a president for he is not democratically elected. You don’t get to choose a king. A king is chosen for you from the moment you and he are born. If you don’t like your king, tough luck, you can’t recall him, you don’t get a vote, because a king is a king for as long as he lives.

God chose the Israelites first king, Saul, not because God thought it was a great idea, but because the Israelites demanded that they have a king. Like any good father, sometimes giving your children exactly what they want is the best form of punishment. Up to that time, the Israelites were unique because they had no King. God was their King. And even though God explained that a king would reign over them, put their children in the army, demand shares of their best crops as a tax and take away their slaves, the Israelites still wanted a king. God even explained that when they became unhappy with their king, He wouldn’t do anything about it. But still, the Israelites wanted a king, so that’s what they got.

There were a couple of kings in Jewish history, like David and Solomon, who, despite their many sins were, for the most part, able to follow in the footsteps of God. They were good kings. But most of the Israelite kings were really, really, really bad. You see, being a King doesn’t mean you are a good person, or that you are the smartest, or that you are the strongest or that you are the most faithful to God. Being a king was either something you were born into or a position that was chosen for you by God. What does it mean, to call Jesus your King? That’s what I hope that you find out this morning.

Jesus was descended from king David as the gospel of Matthew points out, “An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” But while having royal blood was important for Jesus, it was his second qualification that made him the greatest king of all. The gospel of Mark points this out, “The beginning of the good news of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.” Remember that before God chose Saul as the Israelite’s first King, God was their only king. Now, in Jesus Christ, Israel once again had God as their king as well as a king from the royal line of David. Jesus was the perfect king.

But what does it mean for us to have a king? This is so difficult for us to understand since we have all grown up in a Democracy. It’s hard to imagine. But let me try to give you a taste of what having a king would be like. When a king made his decision there was no further debate. You didn’t get a vote. When a king determined a course of action, it was done. The policies of a king affect the entire kingdom: no if’s, and’s or but’s. If you disagreed with a king, you either kept quiet or you risked the king’s wrath. And the king could do anything he’d like to do to you, whether it was justly deserved or not, and his decision could not be appealed. The king received the best of the best: the best food, the best land, and the best living conditions of anyone in the kingdom. And the king didn’t work for any of it, he just deserved it.

That meant that if you had a king you were at the king’s beck and call. You did what the king told you to do. You gave the king the best of your children to fight in the army or to work in the castle and you gave the king the fruits of your labors, whatever they might be. If the king was benevolent, merciful and gracious, you might be happy. If the king was evil and malevolent, you might be sad, but whatever the case, the king was the king and you were not. That was your lot in life. There was no loyal opposition party. There were no anti-war demonstrations. There didn’t need to be any “transparency” in this type of government, it could be corrupt or not because it was none of your business if you were not the king. You did not simply respect the king: you worshipped your king.

Today is Christ the king Sunday. What does it mean to call Jesus your king? It means that you are loyal to no one else but to Jesus. It means that you worship only Jesus. To call Jesus your king means that you are at his beck and call. To call Jesus your king means that when he gives you a command, you are expected to follow it. To call Jesus your king means that he deserves your best and that the fruits of your labors belong to Him. To call Jesus your king is to admit what Jesus puts so plainly in the gospel of John, “You did not choose me, I chose you.” To call Jesus your king is something that is true for as long as you live and as long as He lives.

If any of us really knew what calling Christ our king meant, for our lives, we would have probably all run the other way as fast as we could. We are progressive people! We live in a democracy for goodness sake! It’s the 21st century! We want life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. But the decision is not yours to make: God, your creator has made Jesus your king. I’m just letting you know what that means for you.

In the book of Revelation, we read that Jesus is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. He is truly the king of kings and lord of lords. But a few chapters later, we see this king of kings for what he truly is, “Then I saw . . . a lamb standing as if it had been slaughtered.” King Jesus’ is not known by His glory, but by His suffering. He is called the Lion of Judah, a name reflecting power and majesty, but he comes as the weakest of animals, a lamb, but not only that, a lamb who looks as if it had been slaughtered. Jesus shows his glory in a much different way than a normal king would; not through power, but through suffering.

Your king is weak. Your king is foolish. Your king suffers. Your king died on a cross. Paul explains why in his first letter to the Corinthians, “Not many of you were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, things that are not, to reduce to nothing things that are, so that no one might boast in the presence of God.” God undermines the greatest, the wisest and the strongest by dying a weak, suffering fool on a cross and then doing what the greatest, the wisest and the strongest king could never do: be raised from the dead. Many Americans were upset recently when President Obama, on a trip to Asia, bowed respectfully to a foreign diplomat. Because the President of the United States shouldn’t bow! It’s a sign of submission! Now, imagine if your king—your king!—allowed himself to be beaten, spit upon and got crucified without defending himself or even fighting back. Would you have been inspired by Jesus Christ as your king?

Pilate asked Jesus, “So you are a king?” Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice.” Jesus was born a king, with all the special rights and authority that comes with that title, but he shows his power by simply speaking the truth. Jesus was killed for speaking the truth: that he had come to save the world from sin and that he had the authority to forgive sinners. He was killed NOT because people were threatened by his royal blood, but because he spoke the truth to their faces and then offered them forgiveness. The lion of Judah might have been accepted, but the Lamb of God was slain. What does it mean to call Jesus your king? What does it mean to live under him in his kingdom? It means to listen to the truth.

Pilate asked Jesus, “What is truth?” It is the very same question we are asking ourselves still today, isn’t it? “What is truth?” And the question doesn’t simply pertain to the few hot topics that have caused the church so much grief lately, it is a question that has stretched across cultures, times, continents and generations. “What is truth?” Is there only one truth or can each person make it up as they go along? Do you want to know what the truth is? Listen to the words of Jesus Christ, “For this I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to my voice” If you are looking for truth, look for Jesus who is the same today, yesterday and tomorrow. There will always be new controversies. That is why, throughout them all, as Christians we are called to trust in God’s Word to lead us into the truth.

What does it mean to call Jesus your king? To follow his voice. To be loyal to His words. To trust in a king whose truth will NEVER be up for a vote. You did not choose him, he chose you. Jesus is your king. He is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth, the Lamb who was slain to forgive your sins. No, you didn’t get a vote in all this, but would you really want one? Jesus has chosen you to live in his kingdom and that, my friends, is the truth. You may trust in God. You may trust in HIS truth. Amen.

Sermon for November 15th

If I were to ask you what was going to happen in December of the year 2012, you might think that I was asking a lot. How are you supposed to know? But some of you might actually respond with what you believe is a reasonable answer: On Dec. 21st, 2012 the Mayan calendar is going to run out and the apocalypse might begin.

The ancient Mayan civilization made many calendars, and one of them, called the “Long Count” calendar, has been marking time for 5,126 years . . . and it runs out on Dec. 21st, 2012. And some believe that this is a sign that the world will end. You don’t know what I’m talking about? Well, lucky you, because a lot of people not only know what I’m talking about but they are studying it, talking about it and getting quite worried.

There have been lots of books talking about the possibilities, lots of bloggers expressing their opinions about it, lots of opportunities to spend your money and stock your fallout shelter just in case you need extra supplies on December 22nd 2012. Ann Martin, from Cornell University, manages a website called, "Curious? Ask an Astronomer”. She says that people are scared, "It's too bad that we're getting e-mails from fourth-graders who are saying that they're too young to die," Martin said. "We had a mother of two young children who was afraid she wouldn't live to see them grow up.” Of course, some people aren’t afraid, they are excited! In fact, enough people are interested in all of this that there was a major motion picture that came out this weekend starring John Cusack. The title: 2012. Will you be going? Just in case you’ll get a glimpse into the future?

A reading from the gospel of Mark, chapter 13. “As Jesus came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, “Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!” Then Jesus asked him, “Do you see these great buildings! Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down.” When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John and Andrew asked him privately, “Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?” Then Jesus began to say to them . . . “Go, look to the ancient Mayan calendar and, behold, in the year 2012, the end of the world will come! Lucky that you’ll all be dead by then.”? No, that’s not what Jesus said.

The first thing he says is probably the most important part, so pay attention. Don’t miss this or you might regret it. Are you ready? Here goes, “Beware that no one leads you astray.” Beware that no one leads you astray. When I went off to college, my dad told me this good piece of advice: He said, “If anyone tells you that they have all the answers . . . run!” Run. Beware that no one leads you astray. There have been many people led astray as they “prepared” for the end of the world. The followers of David Koresh, the Branch Davidians, in Waco Texas who believed that they had found the Messiah and ended up dying tragically. Or how about the group, Heaven’s gate, who committed suicide in 1997 because they believed that the earth was about to be destroyed by the comet Hale-Bopp. Beware that no one leads you astray.

But you don’t have to belong to a cult to be led astray. It’s easier than you might think. You and I are led astray whenever we are led away from God’s Word into the dreams, speculations and imaginations of others. Or when we leave God’s clear words behind and choose to follow our own self-chosen opinions. We are called to test our own viewpoints, and the views of others, even when they are Christians, and compare these views to what has actually been revealed to us in Scripture. So many wish and hope and pray for God’s guidance to overcome their fears, not just about the end of the world but in lots of situations, but they never look to His Word where he has revealed himself for us. People sometimes say that the Bible is “irrelevant”, but isn’t it is that the Bible is TOO relevant and TOO clear for us. Perhaps this is really why we ignore it: so that we can choose our own path through life’s uncertainty without having to face a truth that might be contrary to what we want to hear.

Jesus says, “Many will come in my name and say, “I am he!” and they will lead many astray.” There are many churches, even many Christians, who talk about the end times, who say the name of Jesus or mention God for good measure, but when you start hearing about what they mean about the second coming, or by God and Jesus, you find a picture that is alien from what you would find in the Bible. The greatest heresies are usually hidden beneath good intentions and half truths. And while persecution from outside forces have always been a threat to the Christian church, it has been this internal strife, caused by the rejection and unbelief in God’s Word by Christian’s themselves, that has done the most harm. Beware that no one leads you astray. Jesus does not teach you to fear the apocalypse, but to fear and love God. Jesus does not teach you to trust in your own speculations, but to hold fast to the words God has given to you.

As Christians, we do not trust in the Mayan calendar, as interesting as it may be. There is no reason we cannot study it, learn from it and appreciate the culture that made it, but if it causes you to fear the end of the world, you are free to throw the Mayan calendar in the trash and trust completely in God’s Word, where Jesus does not warn about the end of the world, but warns about life apart from God. If Jesus Christ came today, not in 2012 or in some distant year, but right now, the question will not be how much fresh water you have stored for yourself in some underground shelter, but “Do you believe in the Son of Man, in Jesus Christ your Savior.” If you do not believe this, you have a bigger problem than losing your life in the world, you will have lost your life in Christ.

The future can create a lot of fear for us. We do not know what will happen. The important issue is not that you are ever afraid, fear is a normal part of life, but WHAT are you afraid of and what fears take priority over others. We are called to fear the right things. According to the author Jerry Sittser, “We should fear the loss of a child more than failure in a job, sickness more than pain, hell more than death. And we should fear God most of all, because only he has ultimate and final authority over life and death. Jesus explained, “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that can do nothing more. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!’ As we fear God more, we will fear everything else less.” When you worry about death, are you worried more about losing the joys of this life, your family or your career, or about losing the joys of heaven—how you will be seen in the eyes of God? The danger of worrying about the apocalypse and such things is that we are tempted to put our fear in the wrong place-in this earthly world rather than in God himself.

Jesus said, “When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birth pangs.” Consider the future with all its possibilities. You could spend your life worrying and being afraid of what might happen in 2012 or even next week at your job. Or, you may trust that God has that future, whatever will happen, good and bad, in the palm of his hand. You are free. Free to trust him to deal with that. Leave it in His hands.

You are free to spend YOUR time and YOUR thoughts in this present day, living each moment that you are given by following God’s will for your life. What is God’s will? It’s not so much about WHAT you are going to do, but HOW you do it. God wills that you follow his commands and trust in his promises in whatever you are doing, in your everyday actions, thoughts and relationships. God’s will is not hidden from you to make you afraid. He has revealed His will in his Word, in the person of Jesus and in Scripture. Because no matter what has happened in your past, no matter what will happen in the future and no matter what is happening right at this very moment, Jesus Christ promises that he will be here with you, claiming you as his own, forgiving you for your sins, and calling you to a new life with Him—giving you peace to cast out all fear. And that’s as true today as it will be in 2012. Amen.

Sermon for November 8th

“Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.”

When I read the assigned text from the book of Hebrews for this last week, it reminded me of some pretty heated theological arguments made back in the 15th and 16th centuries in the Roman Catholic church. Church reformers were being killed and excommunicated; much blood and ink was spilled. And what were they all arguing about? The Lord’s Supper. Some maintained that the Catholic church was sacrificing Jesus again and again each week during the Mass. They argued that Jesus’ sacrifice was once and for all and that the Mass had made that action unclear. However, the Catholic church argued back: a “re-sacrifice” was never the intention. Jesus died only once, but they maintained that believers celebrate this sacrifice, mystically, each week—giving thanks for what God has done. People have been killed for what they taught and believed about the Lord’s Supper, but do you even know what you believe?

What is the Lord’s Supper? The Lord’s Supper is the body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ given with bread and wine, instituted by Christ himself, for us to eat and drink. Those are the words that Martin Luther wrote down in the Small Catechism, a book used to teach both young and old about the basic tenants of the Christian faith. But how often do YOU think about what you are doing when you walk up here? Is it just a tradition that you go along with? Is it necessary to think about it in a particular way for it to work? If you don’t agree with what I say in this sermon today, should you even bother coming up to take a nibble or a sip? Does it really matter WHAT you believe?

When people begin talking about the Lord’s Supper, someone usually starts using fancy words like transubstantiation and consubstantiation even though few people care or can quite remember what all that means. So, for today, let’s not get too arrogant about trying to describe what WE think is actually happening and, instead, talk about why it is important to have the Lord’s Supper in the first place. First off, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper because Jesus told us to do it, “Do this in remembrance of me.” But, more specifically, we celebrate the Lord’s Supper in order that you might believe that your sins are forgiven: As Luther pointed out, whoever believes these words, “given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” has exactly what the words say, “the forgiveness of sins.”

You and I have a great temptation: we want to make faith something WE do, something WE are in control of, something WE hold onto. But then, when hardship comes, when things start falling apart, when things go wrong, it’s easy to despair. We lose confidence in ourselves and our choices, we lose control and, then, almost as a second thought, we realize that we have also lost our grip on faith. We want to trust in ourselves and in our ability to believe in Jesus no matter what, but we are often not strong enough to trust God when everything seems to be against us. We throw out the commandments if they don’t sound good to us. We begin to believe that Jesus has failed us when our lives get turned upside down.

But the Lord’s Supper comes at you from outside of yourself. No matter how you feel. No matter what you have done. No matter how weak you are. “Thinking” internally that you are a sinner is much different than having another person tell you that you are one and then start listing off what you have done to deserve that title. Understanding that you are forgiven is a fleeting experience until you have a little bit of that forgiveness stuck in your teeth to wiggle around with for the rest of the worship service. The Lord’s Supper is a way for you to believe in something other than yourself. To cling to God’s promise given to you with a word attached to the things of this earth. As some theologians have put it: In the Lord’s Supper, you eat the drink the words. You swallow the promise whole and it becomes not just something you “know about”, but it becomes a part of you.

“In the night in which he was betrayed our Lord Jesus took bread, broke it, gave thanks, and gave it to his disciples saying, “Take and eat. This is my body, given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.” The words seem so simple, but there are many disagreements about what they actually mean. Believe it or not, the problem lies with one very little word: “is”. “This is my body given for you.” I’d like to quickly give you three examples of how churches understand that word “is” and what each can mean for your faith.

Roman Catholics believe that when a properly ordained priest speaks these words, the words of institution, the bread becomes the body of Jesus Christ. It is no longer bread at all. It IS Jesus’ body. This happens in spite of what you may think or what you believe. One moment, Jesus is absent, sitting at the right hand of the throne of God. In the next moment, the priest makes Jesus present. The common term in the Catholic church for the Lord’s Supper is “The Eucharist” which means, to give thanks. According to this tradition, giving thanks to God is the primary purpose of the sacrament.

The church reformers were right, there IS a sacrifice occurring each week in the Mass, but it was not Jesus that’s was being re-sacrificed, it is the community of believers giving their sacrifice of thanksgiving to God . . . unfortunately, that still creates a big problem. The Lord’s Supper becomes more about your prayers going up to God rather than God’s forgiveness coming down for you. The whole direction gets reversed and your faith pays the price. Sinners won’t get very far by being motivated to great acts of virtue, they need to be saved from the bondage of sin.

But other churches see this little word “is” in a different way. For them, “This IS my body” means this “symbolizes” my body. The argument is quite simple. At the last supper, Jesus is standing right there, so how could he possibly mean that he is giving away his body! It’s not like he ends supper with little nibbles out of his arms and legs. Furthermore, 2000 years later, now that he has ascended into heaven, how could we possibly be eating away at him! It’s preposterous! According to this understanding, the purpose of the Lord’s Supper is to remember Jesus and the importance of his sacrifice. But I hope that you see the problem. Once again, the action has changed directions to the detriment of faith. The Lord’s Supper becomes about how well you can “remember” the story or how much you “appreciate” Jesus’ sacrifice, rather than just receiving Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior.

As usual, Lutherans have always been the odd little ducks in this story, but I hope that you will see that it is for a good reason. Lutherans believe that when Jesus said, “This IS my body” he meant it. On that point, we agree with the Catholics. He wasn’t being symbolic. God does what he says. On the other hand, Jesus didn’t have to magically change the bread into something else in order to use it to give you faith. After all, he came down as a human being to forgive your sins. Not just as God, not just as a human, but as both, completely. When you taste the bread and hear the words, “The body of Christ given for you,” it’s only bread unless you trust that Jesus is telling you the truth. Apart from your faith it’s just bread and wine. If you don’t hear the words, you can’t believe them. You are chewing on the muscles, the bones, and the very sinews of your Lord . . . ONLY when you believe the promise that is spoken not with your head, but with your heart, by faith alone. Jesus is not a magician, he is a Savior. Faith in the words of Jesus makes all the difference.

Why is this so important? Not because you are have to pass a test. But because only by trusting in Jesus words can you discover that Christ is not absent here, he is present in the Lord’s Supper. You don’t have to pray for him to be there. You don’t need a special kind of priest to bring him there. He is there already. You don’t need to be reminded of what Jesus has done, but given your Savior to save you. In the Lord’s supper you are given Jesus Christ. God doesn’t need you to DO anything, just believe what he has promised. He is yours. What you need is faith and the Lord’s Supper gives you something to believe in.

So then, do you need to understand all of this in order to get the goodies? No. Do you need to think about the right things in order to be forgiven? No. The Lord’s Supper is not about how thankful you are, how smart you are, how mature you are or how religious you are. But when you come forward, realizing that you are a sinner in need of forgiveness, then you will find something most astounding: Jesus Christ, your Savior and Lord is here for you. For the sake of your faith, he has promised to place himself in bread, in wine, and in words so that you might not simply hear about your forgiveness, but eat it and drink it. Jesus came down so that he might give you all that he has everything, withholding nothing—his body, his blood, and his life to save you. “Christ has appeared once for all at the end of the age to remove sin by the sacrifice of himself.” All of you are welcome at His table, for by faith alone you are saved. Amen.

Sermon for November 1st

I'd like to begin today by reading for you some excerpts from a story found in the book, "The Hammer of God" written by Bo Giertz.

In the corner to the right stood a pull-out bed. It was filled with blankets and pelts in wild disarray. The sick man lay with one knee drawn up. Beyond it only an arm was visible, an unnaturally thin and white arm reaching upward. It was crowned by an abnormally large hand with black pores in the rough skin cracked with calluses. The bony, knotted fingers seemed to be grasping at something. They were thrust apart with wild intensity, only to close again on nothingness; they curled like the claws of a bird of prey and then opened again, ceaselessly repeating the painfully meaningless maneuver. For the second time, Pastor Savonius pulled himself together.

For a while he sat in silence, not knowing what he should say. Then words came to his lips, he hardly knew from whence; "I wish you God's peace, God's eternal peace and blessing."

"Not for me! Not for me! Eternal damnation, punishment according to the measure of my sin, the judgment of wrath, and the everlasting flames--that is for me. To me he will say, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!"

"But God is good," said Savonius quietly.

The sick man looked straight up at the ceiling. Yes, God is good, very good. It is just for that reason I am in such a bad way. Pastor, you do not know how good God has been to me. He has sought my soul and bidden me walk the way of life. But i have not done so. He has shown me heaven's purity, but I shall never win it. I sat in Ravelunda church and heard the angels sing. Then I saw my mother in the women's pew, and I thought: Mother has aged, this winter she may die; then I shall inherit the farm. And my heart wept, for I saw that, more than I loved Mother, I loved the filthy dollars. Then the pastor came to the pulpit. Potbelly, I thought. You can play cards and fish for trout, but you cannot feed God's poor little lambs with the Word. But I had not prayed for him. Was that love? That is how it is with me, Pastor. Day after day, moment upon moment, it is sin added to sin, and nothing but sin. For thirty years God has given me the opportunity to turn and repent. Thirty years I have been on that way. But I shall never reach the goal. Have I turned from the evil way? No! I have lamented and called upon God. But the heart is just as evil. Falseness and darkness within, pretense and hypocrisy on the surface.

"But confess yours sins, and God will forgiven you." Savonius tried to give his voice the ring of authority.

"Confess?" said Johannes, and his head fell back with infinite weariness. It was not terror that showed on his face now, but a dying despair that seemed almost more unendurable. "For thirty years, as Thou knowest, Lord, I have confessed my sins. And Thou didst forgive everything--the salt I stole, the grouse I snared, adultery and profanity--all was forgiven. Twenty times, fifty times I came; but I was still no better. Then the door of grace was shut. He who repents and believes will be received into the kingdom. But I did not repent."

"But you are a better and a more upright soul than anyone I have ever met." Savonius said.

But the man said, "The Judge will not judge the soul by others souls, Pastor. The book will be opened, and the dead will be judged by what is written in the book. And my doom is already sealed."




Earlier this week, on NPR, there was a discussion about the spiritual lives of people between the ages of 18 and 29. One of the people invited to discuss the topic was Greg Epstein, a humanist chaplain from Harvard who has recently written the book, “Good without God: What a Billion Nonreligious People Do Believe.” What’s a humanist chaplain you might ask? Someone who supports humanists, atheists, agnostics and the nonreligious in their search for meaning in life. Humanists, like this author, make the argument that you don’t need religion to be good, to be moral, or to make the world a better place. In fact, as many atheists would argue, religion has caused or at least been used, to start most of the wars that have happened in the world.

So, during this discussion, a woman in her twenties called in and explained that she had just found out that she has a genetic disease and was considering the risk that she had now passed it on to her child. She was asking questions like, “What’s the point of life? What’s the point in trying to be good? Was it worth producing a child that would suffer throughout their life? Should she seek out a church to help her deal with this? Why would God let this happen to her so early on in her life? And now in her child’s life?

Here’s what the chaplain had to say. First off, e explained that he would acknowledge and recognize that this woman was dealing with difficult and painful issues. He would admit that there was nothing he could do or say, nothing that anyone could do or say in fact, that would magically get rid of this pain. Knowing that life is imperfect and unfair can be very liberating, he said, since it acknowledges our pain, our humanity, and that each of our fears are very real. We don’t have to try to be so perfect! He explained that while some people talk about needing to feel God’s presence during a tragedy, what he thinks people really want is the presence of another human being—a loving community. Life can be very unfair, but what can’t be taken away is our sense of dignity and that we are doing all that we can for ourselves and others; that we’re doing something for the sake of the world and you don’t need God to do that!

Today is All Saints Day, where we remember those who have died in the faith. But the question is, how do you know who has died in the faith and who has not? Does it really matter anyway? One billion non-religious people would argue that we need to get past the myth of God and start appreciating this life and this world without fanciful ideas about something that hasn’t and cannot be proven. What will happen when you die?

Like humanists and atheists, Jesus also says life is imperfect and that you are imperfect as well. Jesus would agree: life is unfair. There is suffering and pain and, yes, your fears are real. So far so good. Appreciate this life and this world to the fullest? Once again, Jesus would agree! You are dust and to dust you shall return? No arguments here. Same old same old. But now, now hear the difference. A humanist accepts death as the natural order for things. Jesus says, “Lazarus, Come Out! See! I am making all things new!” You know what’s missing from the humanist argument? Hope. Faith. Power. Jesus would agree with everything except that this old world is all there is. At that moment, Jesus would give you a promise: that is old, I am new. And it is only as true as a man dying on cross and being raised from the dead. The resurrection makes all things new. While some would argue that the new atheist movement is “modern” and “contemporary”, the truth is that it is as old as ever, as old as this fallen world.

A couple of days ago, I watched the movie “The Great Debaters” about an African-American college debate team during the 1930’s at Wiley College. After beating the odds again and again, the team eventually was able to debate the best of the best at Harvard and win, a momentous occasion for a black college at this time in America. But they had their share of trials. In one particular scene, the debate team and their coach are traveling through Texas at night when they came across a dreadful scene: A dead black man, hanging from a tree, cold, charred and disfigured, surrounded by a angry group of white men. The team escapes being attacked themselves just in time. One of the debaters, the young son of the town preacher, asks what the man could have done to deserve such a fate, but it didn’t matter what he had done! He was black and THAT is why he was burned. That is why he was hung! The young man, the preacher’s son, the happy one of the group, the idealist, has an epiphany about the man hanging in the tree: “It didn’t matter how good he was.”

“Good without God”, that book I spoke of before, is quite correct. You can be good without believing in God. You can be moral. You can be nice. You can help others. You can love and serve others in a community. But being good is NOT what being a Christian is all about. That is old. Being good is very important, but it is still a part of this old world. To be a Christian is to realize you are old and that if being “good” is your only hope, then you have no hope. Christians get their name, not because of what they do, but because of what Jesus Christ has done. You can be good without God, but, today, we are not celebrating the lives of good people. We are celebrating the promise of eternal life given through faith in Jesus Christ. All that other stuff is one day finally going to be old, dead and gone. Only Jesus is new.



Let's finish that story from the Hammer of God:

"Is Johannes already dead, Pastor?" Savonius looked up, startled. This was an altogether new voice, a woman's deep, warm alto voice. The stranger must have come from down the road. She wore a kerchief over her black hair, which was combed straight back. The face was middle-aged, wise, with soft and gentle lines under the tan. "Johannes, wake up! Katrina is here. It's Katrina, do you hear?"

The sick man was in his right mind again, "Katrina, it was good of you to come. You are kind, Katrina. God will reward you. And me, he will punish. So will He be exalted and declared righteous in all his judgments. But it will go badly for me. Katrina, I am a sinner, a great sinner."

"Yes, that you are, Johannes. But Jesus is a still greater Savior."

The sick man breathed heavily before answering. He seemed to be going over something in his mind. "Yes, he is a great Savior for those who let themselves be saved. But my heart is not clean, my mind is evil; I do not have the new spirit."

"They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. He came not to call the righteous, but sinners."

"Yes, Katrina, but it read 'to repentance." It is repentance that I lack.

"You do not lack repentance, Johannes, but faith. You have walked the way of repentance for thirty years."

"And still not attained to it!"

"Johannes," said the woman, almost sternly, "answer me this question: Do you really want your heart to be clean?"

"Yes, Katrina. God knows that I want that."

"Then your repentance is also as true as it can be in a corrupt child of Adam in this world. Your danger is not that you lack repentance, but that you have been drifting away from faith."

"What, then, shall I believe, Katrina?"

"You must believe this living Word of God: 'But to him that works not, but believes on his that justifies the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.' Up to this day you have believed in works and looked at your own heart. You saw only sin and wretchedness, because God anointed your eyes with the salve of the Spirit to see the truth. Do you have sin in your heart, Johannes?"

"Yes," answered the sick man timidly, "much sin, altogether too much."

"Just that should make clear to you that God has not forsaken you," said the woman firmly. "Only he who has the Holy Spirit can see his sin."

"But why, then, have I not received a clean heart?"

"That you might learn to love Jesus," said the woman as calmly as before."

"What do you mean Katrina?"

"I mean, Johannes, that if you had received a clean heart and for that reason had been able to earn salvation--to what end would you then need a Savior? If the law could save a single one of us, Jesus would surely not have needed to die on the cross."

"Have you anything more to say, Katrina?"

"Yes, one thing more, Johannes. 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world."

"Do you mean? Do you really mean that he takes away also the sin that dwells in my unclean heart?"

"Yes, he atoned for all that sin, when he died in your place."

"But I still have it with me, don't I? Yes, that's how it is," whispered Johannes.

"That is the way it has always been for us, and for all others. 'By His stripes we are healed.'

The sick man lay breathlessly quiet. Then he whispered, "One word more, Katrina, a sure word, and I will believe it."

The woman got up quietly, took the Bible that lay on the table, and sat down again. Opening the Bible she read: 'For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus."

"Amen. I believe!" said Johannes, in a voice that could barely be heard.



Today, as you consider those who have died. Those whom we have loved so much. When you consider your own life and death and the lives of those you love most dearly. Do not look at how good you are or what great things they did. When you are looking death in the eyes, it doesn’t matter how good anyone was or is. Look to Jesus Christ, your Savior. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. For only in Him is there hope, faith and power for old sinners like us. “He will dwell with us, we will be his people and God himself will be with us. He will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more. Mourning and crying and pain will be no more. For the first things will have passed away. And the one who is seated on the throne will say, “See I have made all things new.” Amen.