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June 25, 2007 by admin.
In the name of Jesus, whose love for us is indeed boundless, dear fellow redeemed,
A couple weeks ago we talked about a faith that Jesus himself called great, the faith of the centurion who believed Jesus could heal his servant even if he wasn’t present to do so. That kind of faith realizes what a wonderful thing our Savior has done for us and for our salvation. And with that in mind, there’s no way to keep that kind of faith dormant – it will be living and active, displaying in our lives the joy that lives in our hearts. That’s the kind of faith we have before us this morning. Let’s see how:
“Saving Faith Reacts to Grace”
I. It’s active
II. It’s thankful
III. It’s trusting
You won’t find Jesus turning down many dinner invitations while he was here on this earth, but it wasn’t because he liked to eat. In most cases, he would be found dining with “sinners” and others who were looked down upon by society with the intent of reaching out to them with the gospel. But this time it was different. Notice who extends the invitation on this occasion (v 36), “Now one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, so he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.” The Pharisees weren’t big fans of Jesus. They put a great deal of emphasis on the outward observance of the law, even adding a number of their own laws to those God had given to Israel. We’re not told why this Pharisee (later called Simon) invited Jesus into his home that day, but we might get a hint from the previous chapter of Luke’s Gospel (Lk 6:7), “The Pharisees and the teachers of the law were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely.” They wanted to find a way to discredit him, to destroy his reputation among the people. Whether or not this was the reason behind the dinner invitation of this Pharisee, by his acceptance we see Jesus’ loving concern for all people, even for those who may have wanted to do him harm.
Word got out that Jesus was in town, and someone not on the guest list made an appearance (vv 37,38), “When a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar of perfume, and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” We’re not told who this woman was and what type of sinful life she had lived, but the people of the town knew. She was a local woman with a bad reputation. And what a scene she made! According to the custom of that time Jesus and the others were “reclining” on a couch while eating instead of sitting on chairs as we do. Then, out of the blue, here comes this woman. She picked a spot behind Jesus and began to cry her eyes out, letting her tears fall upon Jesus’ feet, and then wiping his feet with her hair. Not only that, but she kissed his feet (over and over again, as the Greek verb shows us), and then poured out this precious perfume which she had brought with her on Jesus’ feet. What was going on here? What was this all about?
Jesus knew. Notice that he didn’t object. He didn’t try to stop her. He didn’t move at all. Quietly he accepts everything this woman does, for he knew that it was her offering of love and gratitude. He knew that the tears she shed were tears of repentance. He could see that the actions of this sinful, uninvited guest were done as a result of her faith. This woman saw in Jesus her Savior from sin, and the faith in her heart spilled forth in these actions of love. Hers was an active faith!
A couple of weeks ago my son came across a snake in our backyard, almost stepping on it as he did so. He knew it wasn’t just a stick, and he knew it wasn’t dead, because it was moving. Movement indicates life. An active snake is a living snake. So it is with our faith. An active faith is a living faith. The opposite is just as true (Jas 2:17), “Faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.” Certainly our actions do not save us, but they do serve as proof that ours is a saving faith. Saving faith reacts to God’s grace. Ask yourself, “Is my faith active?” Do we just talk a good game, or do others see that we back up what we say by living a God-pleasing life? Do we allow our faith to lie dormant, or do we give it a regular workout with church attendance and daily Bible reading? Calling ourselves a “believer” isn’t enough. Living our faith is what assures us that ours is also a saving faith.
The sinful woman’s actions for Jesus were not done to earn his favor. She already knew that because of him, because of his grace, her sins were forgiven. Her actions were proof of her saving faith, because they proved that she was thankful.
Simon the Pharisee wasn’t happy at all by this turn of events. Surprisingly, he was more upset with Jesus than with the woman who had crashed his dinner party (v 39), “When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, ‘If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is — that she is a sinner.’” The Pharisee’s judgment of Jesus is pretty harsh. If he really was something special, he should’ve known what kind of undesirable person this woman was and he should have gotten rid of her. This man believed that God loved and accepted the good people like himself and his friends and rejected and condemned the wicked people like this woman. But Jesus shows this man how hypocritical his unspoken judgment really is.
Not a word had been spoken up to this point. All eyes were on Jesus. What would he do? How would he react? Jesus’ response is directed to his host, to Simon the Pharisee (vv 40-43), “Jesus answered him, ‘Simon, I have something to tell you.’ ‘Tell me, teacher,’ he said. ‘Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?’ Simon replied, ‘I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.’ ‘You have judged correctly,’ Jesus said.” Jesus tells the story of two debtors. They each owed the same man some money. One owed ten times what the other owed, but neither of them could come up with the money needed to pay off their debt. And yet both their debts were canceled. The point of Jesus’ story? Even if this woman had been “more” of a sinner than Simon, they both had a debt which neither of them could pay. Big or small, none of us is able to pay off our debt of sin. James tells us (Jas 2:10), “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” Sin is like a deadly virus. Whether you’re just a little sick or a lot, you still have the virus. Both the woman and Simon the Pharisee were sinners. The woman knew it. Simon did not.
Jesus pointed out this difference between the two (vv 44-47), “Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.’” Simon offered no water for Jesus’ feet, failed to greet him with a kiss, and brought no oil for his head. Instead of water the woman gave him her tears; instead of a towel, she offered him her hair; instead of a kiss of friendship, she showered his feet with kisses of respect and devotion; instead of ordinary oil for his head, she poured out a far more costly perfume on his feet. This woman loved Jesus more because she knew just how much she had been forgiven. Simon’s love was lacking because he didn’t think he really needed forgiveness. Thinking he had little need for Jesus, he had little love for his Lord. The sinful woman was well aware of her great debt, and so her thankfulness for her Savior and for his forgiveness was very much on display.
Don’t misunderstand Jesus’ words, “her many sins have been forgiven — for she loved much.” Her love wasn’t the cause of her forgiveness. It was the result. If we said that it rained last night because the ground is wet, that doesn’t mean that the ground being wet was the cause of the rain. It’s the result, the proof that it rained last night. In the same way, as Jesus pointed out in the parable, the woman’s actions were acts of love and thanksgiving for the forgiveness she had already received. Another translation of this verse makes this point clear (NEB), “Her great love proves that her many sins have been forgiven.” God’s forgiveness comes first. As Scripture proclaims (Ro 5:8) “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The fact remains (1 Jn 4:19), “We love because he first loved us.” Our acts of love are just proof that our sins are forgiven. A saving faith is thankful for the Lord’s forgiveness.
The apostle Paul once wrote (1 Ti 1:15), “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the worst.” If we sing (CW 385:1), “Chief of sinners though I be” and truly feel that way, then we truly realize the debt which God has forgiven. Then our faith will be a thankful faith. The more we realize the enormity of our debt, the more we’ll love our Savior and appreciate his forgiveness. But the more we minimize our debt, the less we’ll love our Savior and the less we’ll appreciate what he has done. That’s why it’s so important for us as a church to preach not only the gospel, but also the law. We need to be reminded of our sinfulness, to realize how lost we are on our own, so we can be led like David to proclaim (2 Sa 12:13), “I have sinned against the LORD.” Then we can show the genuineness of our repentance by forsaking our sin and living a life that shows how thankful we are to have a Savior who died to wipe those sins from our record. Yes, like the sinful woman, we’ve been forgiven much. Acknowledging the magnitude of our forgiven debt will help us love our Lord all the more with a faith that is thankful.
Saving faith is active and thankful. It’s also faith which takes Jesus at his Word. Saving faith reacts to God’s grace by believing and taking to heart the wonderful news that our sins are truly forgiven.
The woman who anointed Jesus had that kind of faith (vv 48-50), “Then Jesus said to her, ‘Your sins are forgiven.’ The other guests began to say among themselves, ‘Who is this who even forgives sins?’ Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you; go in peace.’” A more exact translation of the Greek would be “Your sins have been forgiven.” The act of forgiveness had already been accomplished. Forgiveness was hers as a free gift. Jesus’ words were meant to make her all the more aware of this wonderful fact. As the Son of God, he had all the authority he needed to make this pronouncement. In Hebrews it says (9:22), “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” But Jesus did shed his blood for us, giving up his life on the cross, so there is forgiveness! This woman had saving faith, faith which had accepted Jesus as her Savior from sin. Her salvation was an accomplished fact. She could “go in peace,” not with peace being a goal for her to shoot for, but with peace as a reality, a possession which was already hers. As Paul reminds us (Ro 5:1), “Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” When we trust that our sins are truly forgiven, our heart is at rest. The devil can no longer accuse us. We are at peace.
Is your faith a trusting faith? Do you take Jesus at his word? Do you believe your sins are forgiven, that it’s a done deal? A trusting faith believes Jesus’ words, “It is finished.” We don’t have to earn God’s favor, hoping that he “might” forgive us. It’s already done! What a difference that makes for our lives! What a difference that makes in the message we share with others! The guilt is gone! The debt’s been paid! Our faith tells us so! By faith we trust our Lord! We know that our salvation is complete!
So, do you have a saving faith, a faith that reacts to God’s grace? Take the test. Is your faith active, thankful, trusting? While living in this world we’ll never score a perfect “100” when it comes to our faith, but our faith will grow the more time we spend with our Lord and with his Word. Then we’ll be truly blessed, for each day we can hear Jesus speak to us the comforting words, “Your sins are forgiven. . . . Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
Amen
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June 18, 2007 by admin.
Luke 7:11-17
“God Has Come to His People”
Several weeks ago I had the pleasure of being able to preach on Mother’s Day. That day we talked a little about separation anxiety and the natural, unbreakable bond that exists between mother and child. Today, a little over a month later, we celebrate Father’s Day. A special relationship exists between father and child too – special, but different.
Girls love their mothers dearly, but you really don’t see a whole lot of young women saying, “When I grow up, I want to be just like mom.” In fact, sometimes the opposite is true – there’s a desperate attempt not to turn into their mothers. Maybe it’s just because it makes them feel older. The situation is a little different with boys though. There are a lot of boys that desire to be just like dad. There’s often a tremendous amount of respect and admiration there. Dad is often perceived as the provider, the protector, the stability of the family. He may very well be the biggest hero in a young boy’s life.
Remembering my prayers when I was young, I distinctly recall praying that God not let any harm come to my dad. “God, please don’t let my dad die” was a regular nightly prayer along with “Now I lay me down to sleep.” Certainly I prayed that God would protect all of my family and let no harm come upon them. And I loved my parents equally. But it felt like if something happened to dad, the rock of the family, we all would be doomed. It’s not an exaggeration to say I was terrified of losing him.
Maybe you didn’t have the same relationship with your father that I did. I know I was one of the lucky few in today’s society. Unfortunately, it almost seems more common today that dad is a word that is associated with things like desertion, abuse, irresponsibility, unfaithfulness, and resentment. If that sounds more like you’re situation, you likely still had someone in your life, a mother or grandparent, whom you were then all the more afraid to lose, because they were all you had.
Losing a loved one is a scary proposition that inevitably becomes a scary reality for all of us. But Christians won’t see it as a loss. God willingly, our loved ones know their Savior. To lose something means to not know where it is. We know exactly where our fellow Christians are when they depart from this world. And the amazing thing is that we get to see them again. That is made possible solely because
“God Has Come to Help His People”
We’ll see what that means as we study God’s Word this morning. Our lesson for consideration today, from Luke 7:11-17, is found right after the lesson Pastor had as a sermon text last week, the story of the healing of the Roman centurion’s servant. And both of these lessons fit well under the theme of Luke’s gospel message, which is that “Jesus is the Savior of the Entire World.” He showed no discrimination against a Gentile in last week’s lesson and today he shows no discrimination against a woman. I know it sounds a little funny, but Christianity was very culturally progressive in its founding. Luke emphasizes the fact that Jesus came for all people – men and women, Jew and Gentile, slave and freedman alike.
After the miracle of healing the centurion’s servant, which took place in a city called Capernaum, on the north side of the Sea of Galilee, Jesus travels south and west to a city called Nain, a name which means “Vale of Beauty.” It was located on the slope of a mountain toward a valley – probably a breathtaking view. But a sight had never been seen in Nain more beautiful than the one which would be revealed on this day.
Jesus, traveling with his disciples, had developed an enormous crowd of followers. Undoubtedly some were tagging along because they wanted to see more magic, another head-scratching “illusion.” They were in it just for the excitement. Undoubtedly some were following just because they wanted to get something out of Jesus, like he was some sort of wish-granting genie. In addition to these though, many were beginning to understand that this man was much more than a public stunt. All his works seemed to confirm the words he’d been speaking and the outrageous claims he’d made about himself.
This procession of Jesus and his followers was about to enter the gate of the city of Nain. At the very same moment, they ran across another procession about to enter the city gates. This procession was of an entirely different nature though. It was a funeral procession. In those days funerals were held outside the city. In fact, archaeologists have found numerous burial sites in this very location just to the southeast of Nain.
This 2nd procession was obviously a little less exciting and exuberant than the first. As if the fact that it were a funeral procession weren’t sobering enough, notice the circumstances of the funeral. The funeral was for the only son of a widow. This woman had been through losses that most of us cannot begin to comprehend. She had already buried her husband. Now she is going through one of the more heart-breaking events that life can offer, a parent burying their child.
Before we dive into the words of the lesson though, make sure you see the interesting scene that’s developing. We have two processions. One is headed by a corpse – death. The other is headed by Christ – the author and redeemer of life. In a symbolic way the two will cross paths, only to have one be victorious.
When Jesus witnessed the woman mourning the loss of her son, we’re told “his heart went out to her”. The Greek word that’s used here is a unique one that refers to the innermost fibers of a person. The closest thing we can probably come to it today is when we use the expression that we “feel something in our gut”. It means he was extremely, wholly affected by what he saw. Jesus feels for us. When we hurt, he knows and his heart goes out to us and he wants to help us. He is compelled, out of love, to help us in the way he knows is best. That’s what he did for this widow.
He said to her, “Don’t cry.” Don’t think of this quite so much as a command, like he’s yelling at her to be quiet. The KJV has a good way of putting it – “weep not”. We might say, “Dry your eyes.” Jesus immediately then takes away the cause of this woman’s tears.
He walks over to the coffin, which really wasn’t so much of a coffin in this day and age as it was a stretcher of sorts. He touches this apparatus that the corpse is laying on and he says, “Young man, I say to you, get up!”
What do you think was going through everyone else’s head at this point? Jesus raised several people from the dead throughout his ministry. You might remember the raising of Jairus’ daughter or the raising of Lazarus. But up until this point in his ministry, there is no precedent for it. Yeah, the crowd had seen some amazing things up until now, but this man was dead. Jesus had cured the sick and healed the lame and blind. But even today we give medicine to the sick and they can be healed. Today we can sometimes perform surgeries to cause people to walk or perhaps even receive sight. Maybe Jesus had simply been pulling a fast one on the crowds up until this point – elaborate street magic. But even in modern medicine we have nothing that can touch bringing someone back to life. And it wasn’t that this young man had been misdiagnosed. This woman had been through death before; she knew death. This would have to be a miracle. Who did Jesus think he was to perform such an unprecedented stunt?
If you read our lesson carefully, you noticed that in verse 13, Luke shifts to calling Jesus “the Lord.” It is the Lord whose heart goes out to this widow. Earlier in the Gospel of Luke we learn that Jesus is the Lord who had authority to forgive sins (5:24). He is the Lord of the Sabbath (6:5). Here he shows himself as the Lord, the master even of death itself. He is the Lord who governed these remarkably “coincidental” events of two processions meeting together at precisely the right time to provide this fantastic teaching opportunity. It is the Lord who tells the young man to get up. Others still doubted, but Jesus knew without a shadow of a doubt that he was the Almighty Lord.
Verse 15 simply states that “The dead man sat up and began to talk, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.” Science and reason don’t hesitate at God’s command. They bow in the presence of the creator of all things, including science and reason. The young man fully alive and giving evidence of his life, Jesus hands him back to his mother. Notice the uncanny similarity between this event and the event of our Old Testament lesson today. If you recall, Elijah had been at the house of a widow whose son became ill and then died. Elijah threw himself on the body of the son and cried out to God, “O LORD my God, let this boys’ life return to him!” (1 Kings 17:21). The boy’s life did return to him and Elijah gave him back to his mother. In fact, it’s the exact same words used here by Luke. There is one distinct difference in the accounts though. Elijah cries out to the Lord for help. Jesus cries out to no one to work his miracle, because he himself is the Lord – the master and ruler of life.
The crowd watching these miraculous events unfold had the reaction that would be only natural for being spectators of such events – “They were filled with awe and praised God. ‘A great prophet has appeared among us,’ they said.” They knew they were in the presence of greatness. A man of God stood before them, a man like Elijah. But they knew this one was an even more special man – a man with authority in and of himself. Not only did they recognize he was a prophet, but they proclaimed, “God has come to help his people.”
This is a powerful story showing both Jesus’ power and compassion, but don’t let it stop there. Unquestionably there are all sorts of things to learn from the story, but we must understand what this account means for you and I personally. We ask ourselves what is the dilemma in this story, the problem at the heart and core of it? The problem in the story is that the young man, one of the story’s main characters, at the beginning of the story, is dead. Well, why is he dead? You might say, “The Bible doesn’t tell us.” He could have died from some tragic accident. He could have contracted some communicable disease. He could have had some genetic weakness from birth. What specific means brought about his death really isn’t important. We all know what ultimately brought about his death – sin. Romans 6:23 says, “The wages of sin is death.” It makes no difference how he got there, that young man was dead because he was a sinner living in a sinful world.
It may sound a bit cold and matter-of-fact, but he had it coming. Every human alive descended from Adam and Eve has had it coming. We “all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). That’s one of the reasons why death can become such a scary thing for humans. When we come face to face with our own mortality, we come face to face with the cause of our mortality – our sinfulness. Consequently, many people just choose not to think about death. You could probably say young people in particular don’t want to be inconvenienced by morbid thoughts that might detract from the good time they’re having right now. But it’s coming. Death is coming. A day from now or seventy years from now that inevitable last word, last beat, last breath is coming. We need to think about it.
Our sinful nature wants to look at death and see God as a condemning ogre who only wants to punish us for our sins. Maybe, in righteous fury over sin, he just wants death upon us because he likes to rip loved ones away from each other and show them whose boss. But our new self knows better. As Christians we see death as one of the most loving gifts of a merciful Lord. You see, when God put gates protected by angels in front of the Garden of Eden, after he had banished Adam and Eve, he was doing a compassionate thing. He no longer wanted mankind to eat of the Tree of Life, because he didn’t want mankind to live forever in a sinful, painful world. He wanted us to live for eternity in peace, so he allowed for physical death.
By nature we were spiritually dead in our transgressions and sins (Ephesians 2:1). But “God Has Come to Help His People” and made us alive. When our funeral procession crossed paths with his procession of life, Jesus switched places with us. As he died on the cross for our sins, he climbed into our coffin. And he was taken to a tomb that could not hold him. In this charitable switch he awarded us the leadership position in the procession of life, which proceeds unyielding from this world into the next.
We now fear death no longer – either for ourselves or for our loved ones who share the certainty of salvation that we have in Christ Jesus. Instead, we look forward to the day our Heavenly Father calls us home. The Apostle Paul mocked death in his first letter to the Corinthians. He said, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Corinthians 15:55). In today’s lesson, Jesus proves his power over death. Like Christ and because of Christ, no tomb can hold us either, but instead, on the Last Day the Good Lord will raise our glorified bodies.
Christ makes an unmistakable point in our lesson for today – he is the Lord of Life. If God brings us or our loved ones home to heaven this very day, praise be to God! There is no place we would rather be than the incomprehensible glory of eternal paradise. If God says today we continue to live on this earth, praise be to God! He has graciously blessed us with this time of grace – seize the moment and make the most of this day in service and glory to the Almighty. Either way, the Lord Jesus Christ is in control. He has conquered sin. He has conquered death. He has announced us not guilty of every last condemning sin. That news has brought us to life. Why fear what Christ has already defeated for you? Amen.
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June 13, 2007 by admin.
Luke 7:1-10 6/10/07
In the Name of Him Who Makes Us “Sure of What We Hope for and Certain of What We Do Not See,” Dear Friends in Christ Jesus,
It’s time to test your Old Testament history: What did Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham have in common? What did they have that Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph had? What characteristic did they share with Moses, with Rahab, and with Gideon? How were they similar to Samson, David, and Samuel? Actually, this is a take-home quiz. The answer is found in the 11th chapter of Hebrews. All of the people mentioned had in common what we might refer to as “fabulous faith.”
That phrase by itself contains a little bit of irony. By dictionary definition, faith is “belief that is not based on proof.” Fabulous means something that is “almost unbelievable.” So when we read about all the Old Testament “heroes of faith,” we have before us examples of people who accepted as true things which they had no real way of proving. We marvel at such faith, such fabulous faith, because humanly speaking it’s difficult to imagine anyone being able to believe so strongly in something or someone without having any proof to support their convictions. But that’s exactly what God’s definition of faith is all about (Heb 11:1), “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” That’s the only way we can understand how Abraham believed that he would be the father of a great nation, even when he and Sarah were past the age of bearing children. That’s the only way we can understand how Noah went ahead and built a big boat and waited 120 years for God to send a flood. That’s the only way we can understand how Moses was able to part the Red Sea so the Children of Israel could cross over on dry land. They all did it by faith!
This morning Luke tells us about a man who displayed a “belief that was not based on proof,” a man whom even Jesus himself points out as an example to be followed. Let’s take a closer look at this man, a Roman centurion, who shows us what it means to have:
I. It humbly turns to Jesus
II. It confidently trusts his Word
Jesus had just finished preaching his famous “Sermon on the Mount.” Now we find him withdrawing to one of his favorite spots in Galilee (v 1), “When Jesus had finished saying all this in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.” It was quite common to find Jesus in Capernaum whenever he was up in Galilee. He used this city as his northern headquarters, perhaps because it was also the hometown of some of his disciples. Capernaum was a busy city, serving as an important link for the trade route which connected Jerusalem to Damascus. For that reason there was usually a large number of Roman soldiers in town, making sure that traveling traders had a safe passageway from one city to the next. One such soldier plays an important role in the account before us this morning.
The man Luke mentions was a centurion, meaning he was in charge of 100 men. But we find this man in need, for someone whom he cared for was ill (v 2), “There a centurion’s servant, whom his master valued highly, was sick and about to die.” From the following verses we’re going to see that this man, though not a Jew, had come to embrace the Jewish faith. Here we’re told that he was in danger of losing a very important person in his life, a servant of his whom he “valued highly.” The prognosis wasn’t good, for this servant is described as being “sick and about to die.”
Didn’t this centurion have other servants to meet his needs? Sure, but notice here that he wasn’t just concerned for his own welfare. He wanted to help this man who had so faithfully served him, and he knew where to turn (v 3), “The centurion heard of Jesus and sent some elders of the Jews to him, asking him to come and heal his servant.” A Roman asking a favor of some Jewish elders? Why not? After all, he now shared their faith in Jesus, the one God had promised as the world’s Messiah. If this Jesus had power to save the world, surely he could save his sick servant from death. It was his faith which led him to turn to Jesus for help.
The Jewish elders thought a great deal of this Roman captain. In their eyes, he was deserving of a favor from Jesus (vv 4,5), “When they came to Jesus, they pleaded earnestly with him, ‘This man deserves to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’” Again we see examples of this man’s faith. For Jews to speak so highly of a Roman was pretty rare. But this man had put his faith in action by showing his love for the Jews, even building a synagogue for them to worship in. The Greek wording says that “he himself” built it, implying that he did so out of his own pocket. No wonder these Jewish leaders had no problem going to Jesus on his behalf. Surely this Roman centurion was deserving of a favor from Jesus!
We’re told that “Jesus went with them” (v 6), but it wasn’t because he owed this man a favor. The centurion himself knew that, and he exhibits the humble nature of his faith by what he does next (vv 6,7), “He was not far from the house when the centurion sent friends to say to him: ‘Lord, don’t trouble yourself, for I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. That is why I did not even consider myself worthy to come to you.’” Did you notice the phrases he used? “I do not deserve” and “I did not . . . consider myself worthy.” Even with his wonderful track record of love and good deeds toward the Jewish people, he still realized that he didn’t deserve any favors from Jesus. His humility was a fruit of his faith. No demands were made. No deals were proposed. The centurion was even hesitant to approach Jesus and didn’t even think he deserved to have Jesus enter his house. He didn’t turn to Jesus because of his own merits or because Jesus “owed him one.” He turned to him, humbly, because of his faith!
A great faith is a humble faith. It makes it possible to turn to God in every time of need. How does our faith stack up to that of the centurion’s? Ours isn’t so fabulous, is it! All too often, we try and handle things by ourselves first before we even think about letting God take care of our problems. Or when we do go to him, our selfish nature shows its ugly head as we usually put our own needs first and pray for others last, if at all. When we turn to God, do we feel that he “owes” us something, just because we’re “good, church-going” people? Do we grow impatient with him if his answer isn’t what we expected, or if we don’t get an instant solution to our problem? Have we ever questioned God, or even blamed him, when troubles do come into our lives? Fabulous faith? Hardly! We can learn much from the centurion. We can learn to pray for others and not just for ourselves. We can learn to humbly turn to our Lord and to trust that whatever answer he gives us will be what’s best for us. We can learn that God doesn’t owe us a thing, but in his great love for us he still blesses us and watches over us daily. We can learn that the same God who provided a Savior to assure us of eternal life will also provide all we need until we join our Savior in heaven. We can learn that when we humbly turn to Jesus, then we too can have a fabulous faith — not because we’ve earned it, but because it’s given to us as a gift of God’s grace!
Such a faith is vital for our spiritual welfare. Someone once wrote that “faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible, and receives the impossible.” That’s a good description of what the centurion must have been thinking. After humbly turning to Jesus for help, his faith allowed him to confidently trust his Word.
That’s all the centurion needed (vv 7,8), “Say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” This centurion certainly knew what it meant to have authority. He could tell soldiers to jump, and they would ask, “How high?” But how much greater was Jesus’ authority, as God’s promised Messiah, God’s own Son! All Jesus had to so was “say the word” and the centurion knew that his servant would be healed.
A confident faith which trusts the Word of the Lord is never disappointed (vv 9,10), “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd following him, he said, ‘I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel.’ Then the men who had been sent returned to the house and found the servant well.” How fabulous was this man’s faith? It even amazed Jesus! It was so great that Jesus declares that he hasn’t found anyone in all of Israel with faith equal to that of this Gentile. The centurion came to Jesus with a request for somebody else other than himself. He came in great humility. But he came with confidence, fully trusting that Jesus could answer his prayer. And he wasn’t disappointed. Not only was this man’s servant still alive when the messengers returned home, but we’re told that he was “well.” When the centurion confidently put his trust in Jesus’ word, the Lord delivered!
How important is faith, to be able to confidently trust in God’s Word? It’s our only answer for the future. We don’t know what tomorrow may bring. Crystal balls won’t tell us. Reading our palms doesn’t reveal anything except that we’re getting older. And horoscopes are usually found on the funny pages for a reason. The future is supposed to remain a mystery. God wants us to leave it in his hands, to take him at his word. And what does his Word promise us? “In all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Ro 8:28). “You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance” (Ps 32:7). It’s faith that trusts God when he tells us (Ps 50:15), “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you” and “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt 11:28). Why can we have such assurance? Because Jesus promised to never leave us (Mt 28:20) “And surely I am with you always.” Faith gives us confidence to trust the Word of our Lord.
So often today people won’t believe something unless they have proof. They have to see for themselves that big fish you caught before they’ll believe your story. But with God proof isn’t necessary. That’s what faith is all about. Paul puts it this way (2 Co 5:7), “We live by faith, not by sight.” That means that we take God at his Word, even if our human reason tells us otherwise. You might say that we have to learn to trust God the same way an airplane pilot trusts the instruments of the airplane. It would be foolish and dangerous for a pilot to simply trust his own instincts and ignore what the instruments were telling him. In the midst of a storm a pilot might feel that his plane is taking a dive, but if his instruments tell him he’s flying level, he better believe them. A pilot needs to know that his feelings may betray him. He has to instead trust in his instruments for a safe, successful flight.
If you want a safe, successful flight through life, don’t be too quick to trust your feelings. They can betray you. We can’t just do what we “feel” is right. We need to trust the instruments, God’s instruments. His Word tells us (Pr 3:5), “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” The sure Word of our God will never fail us. It always leads us to do what is right, to trust in him, to let him guide our decisions and our actions. Human reason and human emotions often leave us lost in the storms of life. The Word of the Lord will always see us through safely to the other side, to our eternal home in heaven.
We don’t need proof of God’s faithfulness to his promises, but he gives it to us anyway. Why should we trust his Word? Just look at his track record! He promised a Savior, and he delivered! He promised to send us his Spirit, and at our baptism he delivered! He promised to keep us in the faith and to guide us with his Word, and we’re still here today, assembled in his house to sing his praises! Why doubt him now? For a fabulous faith, confidently put your trust in his Word!
Today we’ve heard of a great miracle, but I’m not talking about Jesus healing the centurion’s servant. That in and of itself was indeed an awesome display of our Savior’s divine power, but the even greater miracle that day was the faith of the centurion. Dear Christian friends, your faith is the greatest gift God has given to you. It’s a miracle of the Holy Spirit. Don’t ever take it for granted! Instead treasure it as your greatest possession by strengthening it with Bible study and regular attendance at the Lord’s house and at the Lord’s Supper! Model your faith after that of the centurion, the faith which Jesus called “great”! Then, like the centurion, you too will have a truly fabulous faith!
Amen
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June 4, 2007 by admin.
Romans 5:1-5 6/3/07
In the Name of Our Triune God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – Dear Friends in Christ,
Teamwork. It’s essential for any group that wants to be successful. It’s essential in the business world, whether it’s the small “mom and pop” store being run by members of the same family or the huge corporation made up of people from various backgrounds and nationalities. Teamwork is also essential in the sports world, whether it’s the athletes making millions of dollars on the professional level or just the teenagers that I help coach playing summer baseball down at the local Y. This year’s group of kids presents a little bit more of a challenge.
This year the local sports director decided to merge two teams from last year, so this year I’m “co-coaching” with another guy. He’s got about five kids from his team last year, and I’ve got five from my team last year, plus you can throw in another five or six new kids. See the challenge? From just a couple of practices, it’s become evident that we have to teach these kids how to play together. We have to teach them the importance of teamwork!
We have before us this morning the perfect example of teamwork. It’s presented to us in the form of our “three-in-one” God. Today let’s consider the blessings that are ours as we discuss:
“Trinitarian Teamwork”
I. Justified by the Father
II. Redeemed by the Son
III. Sanctified by the Spirit
The group of Christians who made up the church in Rome contained both Jews and Gentiles. But although they may have had different nationalities and different backgrounds, they did have two things in common. Paul reminds them that they, too, had a universal affliction (Ro 3:23), “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” But the good news is that they, too, had been given the antidote (Ro 3:24), “[All] are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Paul spends another chapter (Romans 4) explaining this act of justification in which God declares us “not guilty” because of Christ. Now in the words before us this morning from Romans 5 he’s ready to present the blessings that come with this declaration, illustrating how all three members of the Trinity work together as a team.
Listen to the difference it makes, being declared “not guilty” by God the Father (v 1), “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” One of the Trinitarian blessings in our life is “peace” – the peace of God that surpasses all human understanding. Now we no longer have to run and hide from God, like Adam and Eve did. They were afraid of God and afraid of what he would do to them because they had sinned. You and I have no reason to hide, no reason to be afraid. We have peace with God, the same peace that came to Adam and Eve when they heard the promise of a Savior and received that promise through faith. That peace is ours also because God the Father has justified us.
Take note that justification is something God did to us. He declared us righteous. He issued that life-saving decree, rescuing us from the eternal death row. It was all his doing. Just as a defendant cannot proclaim himself “not guilty” in a courtroom, so also there’s no way we could issue this proclamation to save ourselves. It had to come from God. He’s the one who justified us “through faith.” Our part in all of this? Just believing that the shackles of sin have been unlocked, that we have been set free from sin, death, and the devil’s power. The theologian Franz Pieper describes faith this way, “Faith is the instrument, or receptive organ . . . , for apprehending the forgiveness of sins offered in the Gospel.” Think of it this way: Faith is cashing the check that God writes out for us. It’s simply believing that what God says is true, that we are justified!
Our declaration of innocence was possible only because of the second member of the Trinity’s arrival into this world. In another example of Trinitarian teamwork, God the Father sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to redeem us – to buy us back from the devil.
When sin entered into this world, mankind switched camps. Created as children of God, sin branded us as children of the devil. But Jesus brought us home and reintroduced us to our heavenly Father (vv 1,2), “We have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.” In the subdivision where our house is located, there’s a community pool. But you need a pool card to open the gate in order to have “access” to the pool. Think of Jesus as our spiritual “pool card.” Through him we are able once again to have access to our Father in heaven, to stand in his grace. No other “card” will do, because “salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Ac 4:12).
The price Jesus paid for us was a steep one – his very own blood! But think of where we’d be if the ransom price had not been met. We’d still be lost in sin, children of the devil, with nothing but this life to live for. We’d still fear death, because death would only mean the beginning of an eternity in hell. With no hope of heaven, we’d sink deeper and deeper into depression. The only joy we’d have would be hollow and empty. Without a Savior, there would be no redemption. And with no redemption, there’d be no peace.
But Jesus did pay the price of our redemption. Listen to how Martin Luther describes it in his Explanation to the Second Article: “He has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.” And the blessing in it for us? “All this he did that I should be his own, and live under him in his kingdom, and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he has risen from death and lives and rules eternally.” Jesus bought us back from the devil and brought us back to our Father in heaven! Our redemption is further evidence that, because of Jesus, Trinitarian blessings abound in our lives!
But even as justified, redeemed children of God, we still live in a world of sin. We still have problems. We still suffer. And yet we don’t lose hope, because God the Holy Spirit has sanctified us – he’s set us apart for the kingdom of heaven. With his guidance, we’ll continue to be blessed here on earth until we reach our final destination. We’ll continue to benefit from the teamwork of the Trinity!
Because the Holy Spirit has worked saving faith in our hearts to believe that we are justified and redeemed, we now have in our possession an eternal hope (v 2), “And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” The word “rejoice” actually means “boast.” We can boast in the hope of someday living in the presence of God’s glory. We can say, “Look at what great things my God has done for me!” As we live in a world of people who so often want to boast in themselves and their own accomplishments, Paul encourages us to do just the opposite. When it comes to our salvation, there’s no reason to promote ourselves – we had nothing to do with it! Boast in the Lord! When so many are afraid to speak out about God and what he has done for us, we cannot be silent. We can’t help but speak of the hope that we have, hope that is ours because of the Holy Spirit working in our hearts.
It’s that hope that allows us to keep boasting in the Lord, even in the midst of earthly woes (vv 3,4), “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” Yes, as Christians we can boast in our sufferings. “Sufferings” can also be translated “pressures.” We often feel the pressures of living in an imperfect world. We suffer for our faith. So how can we still rejoice?
These pressures produce “perseverance.” They drive us back to God and his Word, causing us to dig in as we seek a solid foundation. Suffering reminds us of how much we need God. It teaches us how to persevere, knowing that God is always with us, always by our side. It’s been said that while the last straw may break the camel’s back, all the rest are meant to strengthen him. God keeps the last straw away from us, but the rest he uses to strengthen us, to teach us how to persevere.
When our perseverance is built up, our “character” increases as well. This word was used to describe the testing of metals and coins for weight and quality. These metals were tested by fire to see if they were genuine. The fires of this life are used to test us as well, to see how well, with God’s help, we can stand up to what the world throws at us. And when we come out of the furnace as tried and tested children of God, then we’re able to look to the future with “hope” – the hope of life eternal!
The hope we have as Christians is a sure and lasting hope (v 5), “And hope does not disappoint us.” Why not? “. . . because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Trinitarian blessings abound in our lives because “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit.” The fact that we have faith, that we have the Holy Spirit working in our hearts, is proof of God’s love. I’m reminded of what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 1:22, “[God] put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” When you put a deposit down on a house or a car, you’re stating that you’re going to be back for what you’re buying. When God put the Holy Spirit into our hearts, he was assuring us that his promise was good, that he would come back for us. That’s a deposit you can take to the bank!
Knowing that through the Holy Spirit God’s love has been “poured out . . . into our hearts,” you and I have a totally different outlook on life than the rest of the world. When things don’t go our way, instead of despair we can still exhibit a calm confidence. When unexpected calamities disrupt our lives and we’re tempted to panic and think, “What am I going to do now?” we can instead have the confidence of Paul and believe that in all things God is working for the good of those who love him. And when the day of our death draws near, we can rest assured that we have no baggage of our own to dispose of – it was all taken care of at the cross. Now for us death is no longer the end but just the beginning. This is our new attitude, our new confidence – all because the Holy Spirit has sanctified us and set us apart for heaven! Through the eyes of faith we can see the teamwork of the Trinity at work. And because of that, Trinitarian blessings abound in our lives!
It’s all a matter of how you look at things. One of our neighbors had a garage sale over the weekend. Garage sales are fascinating events. They serve as proof that “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” To one person, a certain item might be ready for the dumpster. To another, it’s seen as a cherished collectible. Life can be that way. We can look at it with clouded glasses and pessimistically lament our lot in life, or we can look at things through the rose-colored eyes of faith and see the blessings that have been given to us by our triune God – justification, redemption, and sanctification! With the hope of heaven in our future, how can we not live life with a smile on our faces? And when it comes to that smile, remember who put it there!
Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
Praise him, all creature here below;
Praise him above, ye heav’nly host;
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! (CW 334)
Amen
– Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff
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