Monday, January 24, 2022

Sermon - Epiphany 3 - Luke 4:16-30


Luke 4:16–30

"Rejecting or Receiving the Words of Life"

Just exactly what did Jesus say to make them try and throw him off a cliff?

In the book of Nehemiah, we see Ezra reading from God’s word and preaching to the people (giving the sense of it).  And they all received it well- showing contrition for their sins, and even great patience at attentiveness to the word.  When Jesus read the Word and preached about it in Nazareth – things didn’t go nearly as well.

Here was the hometown hero – the preacher who was making all the stir – going about Caparnaum and the north, but not just preaching.  He was casting out demons and healing all manner of sick and suffering people.  Signs and wonders.  Miracles.  Now our boy had come home.  Isn’t this Jospeh’s son?  This is going to be great.

At first, they politely listen to him as he reads from Isaiah and preaches about it – but you have to wonder if they were really listening.  Something something about being fulfilled.  Something about good news.  Sounds good, isn’t he a nice speaker?

But you get the sense they’re not really listening.  For Jesus is making a bold claim that he is the fulfillment of Isaiah – that he, Jesus is the Messiah!  Today, here, in the flesh.  But they barely blink about this.

But then he really gets their attention.  He starts to make it personal.  “Doubtless you will say, Physician, heal thyself!”  Do the kinds of miracles here you were doing in Capernaum.  Let’s see the show, Jesus!  We’ve got some sick people here too, I’m sure.  I mean, we’re your people, right?  You’re one of us!  We’re sure you’ve got something special in store.

But no.  The rude awakening from Jesus is that he already knows they will reject him.  And it’s no different than with the prophets of old.  Elijah and Elisha came preaching too – but some of their most notable signs and wonders were for the outsiders from Syria and Zarapeth.

How dare you, Jesus!!  How dare you liken us to the unbelievers!  How dare you show more regard for them than for us!  Who do you think you are, anyway!  And in a show of fury and self-righteous indignation – they become an angry mob and try to push Jesus off the cliff.  The hometown hero becomes the object of their wrath.  Old Joseph the Carpenter’s son is now the enemy, and they must do away with him.

Of course, Jesus’ time had not yet come.  And so they can’t kill him.  He just passes through the crowd. But it is an early indication – a sort of foretelling of the cross.  For a time will come soon when he will lay down his life, willingly.  And his enemies will do away with him in much the same vein.

And just like so many of the prophets before him, Jesus would meet a prophet’s reward.  Death.  When it was the proper time, they arrested him and convicted him and killed him – primarily – because they didn’t like what he was saying.

Dear friends in Christ, the church of Christ can relate.  We are not Jesus, but we are the Body of Christ (as Paul mentions in 1 Corinthians).  And so as it is for Jesus, so also it is for his body, the Church.  As Jesus was rejected by the unbelieving world, yes even his own home-town, so the people of Christ are rejected by the unbelieving world. 

Jesus knows this, he warns us of this, he even tells us “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”  And he tells us that the world hates us because it hated him first.

But also like Jesus, the church is mostly despised for what we say.  It should be no surprise, since the faithful church says what Jesus says.  We speak the law of God, and pull no punches in calling a sin a sin.  We preach the word of Christ, the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  And while for us it is the very power of salvation, the Gospel of Christ crucified is a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to gentiles.

If you are like me, you have perceived the growing intolerance of the unbelieving world around us for the truth of God’s Word.  And perhaps you feel it has become ever more difficult even to say what is true for fear of reprisal. 

But here in this pulpit, and here at this church, let the truth ring out clearly regardless of the world’s squealing.  Sometimes certain things must be said clearly and simply.

Especially on this Life Sunday we consider the church’s prophetic voice of calling for repentance against the sin of abortion.  And yes, let’s call it a sin. 

Not only those who commit the act, but those who condone it and support it as a viable choice, who twist reason and morality into knots to somehow claim that the destruction of the most helpless human lives is somehow justifiable.  This too is sinful, and of the devil.

Whether it’s before our leaders and politicians or with your family and neighbors, in every circle and in whatever ways we can, Christians ought to confess that God’s gift of life is sacred, and that he alone gives life, and we should not usurp his right to end life when he sees fit. 

And if we confess this truth, we better be prepared for the blow-back.  And yes, they may even throw us off a cliff (metaphorically or physically).  If they’d do it to Jesus, even in his hometown, they would do it to you, Christian.

But let this truth also ring out from our midst.  It’s not just those people over there that ought to repent.  Repentance starts at home.  With you and me.  The self-righteous citizens of Nazareth would have been happy with a sermon that condemned other people for other people’s sins.  But they got mad when Jesus shined the light of the law on them.  May it not be so among us!

Our condemnation of abortion, homosexuality, greed, fornication, pornography, gender-bending, adultery, selfishness, slander, hatred and violence – or whatever other sins we can and should identify – it must always come from a place of humble repentance for our own sins, whatever they may be.  And yes, maybe even some on that list. 

In other words, let the law offend you, for that’s what it’s supposed to do.  Let it accuse you and expose you and your unclean heart and hands and mouth.  Don’t shut your ears and harden your heart, and don’t throw the messenger off a cliff.  But instead repent.  Confess your sins and let Jesus, the Lord of Life do what he does best – bring the good news.

The one anointed to bring good news to the poor, healing to the lepers, freedom to the captives, and all other good remedies, is the Great Physician for what is ailing you – sin.  And the physician comes to heal, not himself, but you.

That yes, there is grace and mercy in Christ, even for those who have spilled innocent blood.  There is life in him, and only in him, for those who have embraced death. 

For the one who they tried to murder at Nazareth, they crucified at Jerusalem.  They killed the Author of Life, but God raised him from the dead.  And believing in him, we have life, and abundantly so.  He is the way and the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father but by him.  But by him we do come to God, and in him we do have life, even though we die.  For whoever lives and believes in him will never die.

Who knows what the future holds for our country and will we ever put aside the state-sanctioned killing of the unborn?  Who knows if God will turn hearts and heal our nation, or will death’s shadow continue to grow?  We pray for our nation, for the unborn, and for repentance to do what is right and protect these little ones. 

But we do know what the future holds for us who are in Christ – life.  Abundant, glorious, eternal life.  Good news for us poor sinners, indeed. Receive his gracious words in repentance and faith.  And your eternal home will be with him.  In Jesus’ Name.

 

 

Monday, January 10, 2022

Sermon - The Baptism of Our Lord - Luke 3:15-22

 


Luke 3:15-22

The Baptism of Our Lord

The Baptism of our Lord Jesus Christ is one of those events that becomes more and more profound the more closely we look at it.  Every year we revisit this important marker in our Lord’s ministry.  The first Sunday after Epiphany, we come to the banks of the Jordan and remember our Lord Jesus is baptized at the beginning of his public ministry.  It’s his inauguration, his ordination, if you will, as the Messiah.  The public recognition that this one, Jesus, is the Christ, the Son of God sent to save.

Matthew, Mark, and Luke all record this for us, and each gives a slightly different description.  This year, we hear from Luke, who focuses a bit more on John the Baptist’s role.  But since we’ve considered that recently in the Advent Season, we will focus more of our attention today on the last portion of this reading,  the final paragraph:

21 Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also had been baptized and was praying, the heavens were opened, 22 and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son;3 with you I am well pleased.

Three key elements stand out:

the heavens are opened,

the Spirit descends,

and the voice comes from heaven.

The Heavens are Opened

Heaven, the place of God’s presence, as we normally think of it.  We consider it as Scripture speaks of it as “up”, but not in a purely physical way.  God is above us, if you will, in every way.  And we are below him.  The great separation between creator and creation – a distinction that is built into creation and is very good – testifies to this reality.

But there is also a sense in which that division, that separation, is intensified by sin.  A healthy distinction becomes instead a disastrous alienation between God and man, creator and creature.  No longer are we in right relationship with him.  No longer are we fit for paradise, or even for life.  The doors to Eden are shut.  The seal of the grave is strong.  Man cannot bridge this gap to God, cannot ascend, cannot attain to heaven.  Heaven is shut, closed, the gate barred to sinful man.  In sin, we are like the foolish virgins who are locked out of the great wedding feast – doomed to pine away, looking on from the outside.

But then comes Jesus.  He’s already bridged the gap by his incarnation and birth.  No work or effort of man brought him here.  No force of human will.  But he himself stooped down from heaven’s high throne to be born among us, as one of us.  When the Angel Gabriel spoke the announcement to Mary, heaven was opened and the Son of God came forth.  When Mary gave birth, heaven was opened, and the angelic host sang of his birth.  But now, in his baptism, heaven is opened again – and in Christ – opened to us.

Access to God – a way back to our Creator – this is what Jesus brings.  This is what Jesus accomplishes for us.  Like the stairway to heaven in Jacob’s dream, only Jesus can get us from the here of our sins to the there of paradise the blest.  And it is shown to be so, publicly, at his baptism.

Heaven would again be opened when Jesus ascended there.  And it received him again not only as God but also as man.  In the person of Jesus, humanity has already attained to heaven. 

And in the return of Jesus, his second coming from heaven, all eyes will see him, all ledgers will be balanced, the living and the dead.  We will meet him in the clouds, go home to our eternal rest, paradise will be restored, and his kingdom will have no end.

All of this is hinted at, in his baptism, with the words, “the heavens were opened”.

The Spirit Descends

Next we see the descent of the Spirit.  And Luke mentions the detail, “in bodily form”.  Luke’s extra detail here shows that it wasn’t just a spiritual vision but a physical reality – and one that could be seen.  There’s a part of this event that is meant for us to see – to show us the true reality of what is happening!

Why does Jesus need the Spirit?  Doesn’t he already have the Holy Spirit? (Surely, yes!) But now the Spirit comes upon him with a special purpose – to empower him for his public ministry.  And not just the preaching and healing and miracles he is about to accomplish.  The Spirit will be with Jesus every step of the way to the cross.  And the Spirit will begin that process soon as he drives Jesus into the wilderness, where he will do battle with Satan (and win). 

The same Spirit who empowered Jesus is the Spirit who calls us to faith in Jesus by the good news of the Gospel.  The same Spirit who descended on Jesus in his baptism, we receive in our baptism.  The same Spirit who empowered Jesus for his work, empowers us for our good works that he has prepared for us to do.  Of course we need that Spirit even more than Jesus does.  But Jesus freely and abundantly sends us his Spirit, who calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies all Christians.

Interesting that the Spirit appears as a dove.  Recall the other dove of note in Scripture – the one that Noah sent forth, and that came back with the olive branch.  That’s a sign of peace today even among the biblically illiterate.  How much more does the Spirit of Peace bring us peace with God through the baptism and saving work of Jesus, himself the Prince of Peace?

The Voice of the Father

And then finally we have the voice of the Father declaring, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”  This declaration forms the first half of a divine set of bookends – as we hear the voice from heaven again at Mt. Transfiguration.  There the message echoes, “This is my son” and the command is then added, “Listen to him.”

But for now it’s enough to know the Father is pleased with his Son.  This Christ, this chosen one, is up to the task.  He is an acceptable champion, a fully capable representative who will accomplish salvation on behalf of all people.  He was appointed to this task, even from the foundation of the world, but now in his baptism, Christ is made know publicly as such.  The tearing of the heavens, the descent of the Spirit and this booming voice from heaven agree and declare it.  A Trinitarian testimony of the Christ as he is set forth on his great mission.

Many have said, and it’s true of course, that the declaration of the Father applies equally to all who are in Christ.  That through Christ, the Father accepts us as beloved sons and daughters.  That through Christ, and only through Christ, is the Father pleased with us.

This is true, because Christ has another baptism to be baptized with.  It is the baptism of the cross.  There, the Son cries out to the Father – “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?”  But the voice from heaven does not answer.  He is not pleased.  Because God made him, Jesus, who knew no sin, to become sin for us.  And there on Calvary’s cross, that sin was put to death in his body.  There, all the warfare and violence of sin raged to its fullest in the suffering of Christ, until only by his death did he bring peace.  There, the heavens scowled and the sun was darkened as the Son of Righteousness died for the sins of the world.  And only when “it is finished” does Jesus peacefully commit his spirit to the Father once again. 

All of this is running in the background at Jesus’ baptism.  The entirety of Christ’s messianic work and the mystery of his two natures.  The identification of Christ with sinful humans, so that sinful humans may be pleasing to God in Christ.  The great exchange of our sin for his righteousness.

Ponder today, Christian, the Jesus who was born for you, baptized for you, died and rose for you.  The Christ Jesus into whom you are baptized!  Give thanks that in him, heaven is opened to you.  That his Spirit is also upon you.  And that in him, the Father makes you his own dear child, and with you he is well pleased.