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May 19, 2007 by admin.
In the name of our ascended Lord, dear fellow beneficiaries of his ascension,
Even though everyone of us realizes that you can’t change history, that still doesn’t stop us from speculating on how things might have been if we could. For example, history buffs might find it interesting to discuss what this country would be like if the American Revolution had not taken place. Would the most powerful nation on earth be Great Britain? Or what would changes would we see in the world if the Germans would have been victorious in World War I or if the Japanese would have succeeded in winning World War II? Some would think it’s a waste of time to consider any of these scenarios, especially since they never became a part of history. But we can still learn something by looking at things that didn’t happen, wondering about how things might have been.
That’s what we’re going to do tonight as we once again review our Lord’s return to heaven after his time on this earth was over. Let’s look at how things might have been by asking the question:
“What If Jesus Had Not Ascended?”
Luke is the inspired writer of the Book of Acts, and he’s writing to a man named Theophilus. This was the same man to whom Luke had addressed his Gospel, and it’s believed that he was most likely a Roman official or at least a man of high position and wealth. Here in Acts Luke begins with a brief summary of Jesus’ work here on this earth (vv 1-3), “In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.” We see the love of our Lord evidenced in the fact that he did spend 40 days here on this earth after his resurrection to give solid proof that he had indeed come back from the dead, as he had promised, and to teach them even more about “the kingdom of God.” We also see his love in the fact that he assured them that they wouldn’t be left alone once he had gone, but that he would send them the Holy Spirit. So why couldn’t he just stick around? Why did he have to go back to heaven? What if Jesus had not ascended?
Staying here on earth would have given the indication that Christ’s work was not yet done. Many could have assumed that his mission was not complete. After all, Scripture proclaims that “the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost” (Lk 1:10), and that’s what Jesus did on the cross. Our salvation is complete. Jesus accomplished what he came to do. When a student finishes an assignment for school, he turns it in to let the teacher know that it’s finished. Think of Jesus’ ascension in that way. He was “turning in” the assignment given to him by his heavenly Father – an assignment that received a perfect grade! It was important for Jesus to let the world know that his work was done, that the plan of salvation was complete, that it was time to return to heaven.
Jesus’ departure would actually enhance the disciples’ ability to witness. They would receive all they needed when the Holy Spirit would come (vv 4,5), “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: ‘Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus was talking about the Day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit would come in a very special way to empower the disciples for the work which lay ahead. But why couldn’t Jesus just stay with them? Why couldn’t he be there to empower them and to help them with their work? Why did he have to ascend back to heaven?
Remember when you were learning how to ride a bike, and you heard those intimidating words, “Let’s try taking the training wheels off”? You knew that time had to come, that you finally had to “go it alone,” even though you may have been a bit apprehensive. It was time for the disciples to “go it alone,” to head out without having Jesus there to steady them, without expecting him to do the bulk of the work. They had been taught and trained personally by their Savior, and now it was time for them to take the baton from Jesus and take his Word to the world.
I remember back when I was 12 years old and was going to start my first job – a paper route. For a week or two I went along with someone else, just riding my bike and learning the route. But then came the day when it was all my own, with no one riding along with me. Without question, I took things a bit more seriously when all the responsibility was placed on my shoulders. In the same way, if Jesus had not ascended, would the disciples have had the same sense of urgency in serving as his witnesses? Wouldn’t they have been able to just sit back and “let Jesus do it”? Now they wouldn’t have a choice. But don’t forget – they really wouldn’t be alone. They would be empowered by the Holy Spirit, having their faith strengthened daily as they witnessed the Spirit’s power in action. After all, isn’t that what faith is all about? Scripture proclaims (Heb 11:1), “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” With Jesus gone, is it too much of a stretch to believe that the disciples had their faith strengthened even more, as they became even more certain of what they did not see?
In the midst of Luke’s ascension account comes the reminder of how much the disciples needed the Holy Spirit to sort out the confusion that still existed in their understanding of the Messiah’s mission (vv 6,7), “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.’” Even after all that had happened, the nationalistic fervor for an earthly Messiah was still ablaze even in the hearts of Jesus’ own disciples. Sure, they should have known better. Give Jesus some credit for not ripping into them but instead only explaining that they shouldn’t worry about the plans his heavenly Father had in store for the nation of Israel. But just think what would have happened if Jesus had not ascended? Notice how confused the disciples were now with Jesus still with them If he would have remained on this earth, would they have ever been able to put off the thought of him being just a political Messiah? No, Jesus had to return to heaven to make it clear that his work was finished, his work of being a spiritual Messiah and Savior.
The disciples’ confusion over Jesus’ role here on this earth was one reason our Lord told them to sit tight and wait for the Holy Spirit before heading out into the world. After that, there would be no such restrictions (v 8), “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” There had been a couple of other times when Jesus had sent the disciples out on missionary trips, but they always knew they would be returning back to him. Notice that with him gone, they were to start out at home but would expand their mission field in ever-widening circles. If Jesus had not ascended, perhaps the disciples would not have been as anxious to be gone from the “home base” for too long. There would always be the pull to return back to him as their mentor and teacher. But with him gone, their witnessing became more widespread. Consequently, the church was able to grow and spread at a more rapid rate.
We know that Jesus did ascend back into heaven, because Luke tells us how it happened (vv 9-11), “After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.’” Don’t be too hard on the disciples as they stood there, staring up into the sky. You’d be doing the same thing, wondering whether or not Jesus was coming back. He would return, but not for a while. It took a couple of angels to snap the disciples back into reality, reminding them that they hadn’t seen the last of their Savior. He would return “in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
When Adam and Eve fell into sin and were forced out of the Garden of Eden, Scripture tells us that God “placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life” (Ge 3:24). God didn’t want his people to keep eating from the tree of life, because he didn’t want them to live forever in their sinful state. He had a much better life in store for his people, a life that could only be lived after leaving this world, a life that could only be entered through death. What if Jesus had not ascended? With Jesus here on this earth, who would want to leave? With his loving presence and power among us, who would want to be separated from him? No, Jesus wanted his disciples and all people to know that there’s something much better than this world to look forward to. He had already tried to explain to them why he had to leave (Jn 14:2,3), “In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going to there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.” Jesus wants us with him – in heaven! He doesn’t want us to think only about life on this earth, but he tells us (Col 3:2), “Set your minds on things above.” By not ascending and instead sticking around here on this earth, Jesus would have been giving a confusing message as to where we should want to be. But with him in heaven, we can now wholeheartedly agree with the apostle Paul and proclaim (Php 1:23), “I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far.” His ascension assures us that heaven is where we want to be.
Speculating on how things would have been if our Lord had not ascended won’t certainly change how things did take place, but I pray that it has afforded us an opportunity to appreciate what his ascension does mean for us today. Tonight take home with you the comfort that Jesus’ mission here on this earth was accomplished, that our salvation is secure. Be reminded that after the fall into sin God never intended us to live forever in a sin-tainted world, so Jesus’ departure reminds us how foolish it is to simply live for this life without keeping an eye on the life that is to come, without realizing that the best is yet to come. And never forget that while we await our eternal home in heaven, the best use we can make of our time is following our Lord’s directive and proclaiming his Word to all people.
Be thankful and rejoice that we have a Savior who did return to heaven. Praise be to our crucified, resurrected, and ascended Lord!
Amen
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April 16, 2007 by admin.
John 20:19-31
In Christ Jesus, the Life of All the Living, Dear Fellow Servants of the Lord,
I’m sure it’s happened to you. It doesn’t matter what it was — a stereo, your curling iron, the vacuum cleaner, the toaster, whatever. I’m sure at some time or other you went to use one of these modern conveniences, only to find that it wasn’t working. So you picked it up, maybe shook it a little, gave it the “once over,” before it finally dawned on you — it wasn’t plugged in! The reason why you couldn’t get a particular device to work was because it wasn’t plugged into its power source.
You and I can’t function correctly as Christians unless we’re “plugged in” to our “power source.” You might say the disciples found themselves “unplugged” on that first Easter evening. But they weren’t that way for long. They were given a source of power, the same source that is ours today. This morning let’s learn to make use of this power source:
“Receive Power from the Risen Christ!”
I. Power to forgive
II. Power to believe
III. Power to live
What were the disciples doing behind locked doors? It had been a pretty wild day. There were reports flying around that Jesus, the crucified Jesus, was showing up all over the place. Mary Magdalene, a group of other women, Peter himself, and a couple disciples on their way to Emmaus — they all had stories to tell about meeting Jesus. An empty tomb, angels, a living Lord–this was all coming too fast.
So the disciples needed time to regroup, and the locked doors would keep the Jews off their backs for a while, at least (vv 19,20), “On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.” Locked doors couldn’t keep everyone out. Walls offered no obstacle to the risen Lord. All of a sudden he was there! Obviously stunned by his sudden arrival, the disciples’ fear soon turned to joy. This was Jesus! “Look, there are the wounds in his hands and side! It is our Lord! He lives!”
Jesus wasn’t just making a social call. He had work for the disciples (vv 21-23), “Again Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.’” The Prince of Peace now entrusts his message of peace to his disciples–not only the eleven disciples, but to all his disciples of all time. Jesus was speaking to all Christians when he said “go and make disciples of all nations” (Mt 28:19). He even supplies the power needed to do so. He “breathed on” his disciples and gave them his Holy Spirit. This was a glimpse of what would take place fifty days later at Pentecost, when the Spirit would come down in great measure to turn these quivering disciples into vigorous proclaimers of his Word. By the power of that same Spirit Jesus instituted what we call the “Ministry of the Keys” (v 23), “If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” This is the part of the catechism most people forget. And yet it remains a great privilege and responsibility for us. God gives us the authority to forgive sins, to announce to people who repent that their sins are sent away and canceled, wiped off the books. And Jesus also instructs us to issue the warning to unbelievers that without repentance, without faith, their sins are not forgiven and will end up damning them to hell.
Martin Luther felt very strongly about the use of the Keys. In a public setting pastors have been called to announce forgiveness or to withhold forgiveness. But in a private setting all Christians have the responsibility of using the keys to forgive or not to forgive sins in the name of the Savior.
Keys are used for two reasons — either to open doors or to lock them. When believers repent of their sins, we can open the door to heaven by pronouncing such people forgiven. But those who wish to remain in their sin and who reject God’s forgiveness are locked out of heaven, and it’s our duty to tell them so. Are we doing our job? Are we using the keys Jesus has given us, or have we tucked them away somewhere? Make use of these Keys! Open heaven’s door to those around you who feel the guilt of their sins by telling them about the living Lord who has won forgiveness for them. And warn those who make light of their sins or think they can reach heaven on their own. Tell them they are still in their sins if they reject their Savior’s forgiveness. Use the Keys and receive power from the risen Christ to forgive others and to warn unbelievers to repent.
Jesus appeared visibly to his first disciples. It was hard to dispute the fact that he was alive. We, as disciples today, also believe that he lives. But he hasn’t appeared to us. And yet he still gives us power to believe!
One disciple was conspicuous by his absence that evening (vv 24,25), “Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.’” Thomas wasn’t going to fall for it. He insisted on visible proof before he would believe. This was more than just doubt–this was unbelief. It didn’t matter what the rest of the disciples said. Thomas wasn’t going to be swayed.
The Lord gave Thomas exactly what he was looking for (vv 26,27), “A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’ Then he said to Thomas, ‘Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.’” Jesus made an extra visit the following week, a trip made out of love. He came to banish all of Thomas’ doubts and to strengthen the faith of all the disciples. He gave Thomas what he had requested–a chance to see for himself the risen Christ!
What was Thomas’ reaction to all of this? “Thomas said to him, ‘My Lord and my God’” (v 28)! We’re not told if Thomas did actually touch the wounds of Jesus. The important part here is his confession. The Lord turned unbelief into faith by a pure act of grace. Thomas was given power to believe!
Then Jesus added important words for all future believers (v 29), “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Perfect faith does not depend on one’s feelings or senses. In his first epistle Peter tells us (1 Pe 1:8), “Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him.” Luther had another way of putting it, “I believe what God’s Word promises, if I feel it, or if I don’t feel it.” Faith doesn’t require visible proof (Heb 11;1), “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” As Paul says (2 Co 5:7), “We live by faith, not by sight.” But our faith is anything but blind. It’s solidly grounded on the pure Word of our God.
Thomas believed in the theory, “seeing is believing.” Sometimes when things aren’t going our way we’re tempted to behave just like Thomas, demanding that God give us proof that he’s still there for us. But Jesus tells us that “believing is seeing.” The sure Word of God is all we need. It points us to Christ and his promises for power to believe. Jesus said (Jn 5:39), “These are the Scriptures that testify about me.” They tell us all we need to know about our Savior. No matter what the circumstances, faith clings to that Word. Don’t just trust your feelings. They’ll betray you. The psalmist writes (Ps 42:5), “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God.” Faith is rewarded by sight. Abraham believed and was given a son. The Children of Israel believed and were delivered at the Red Sea and at Jericho. Gideon believed and with a very small army was given a great victory over the Midianites. We also receive that same power to believe from the risen Christ!
With that power we have all we need. We have power to live here on earth and hereafter in heaven.
The disciples were blessed not only with Jesus’ words but also with opportunities to see Jesus in action (vv 30,31), “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” What we have recorded for us in Scripture is but a small sampling of Jesus’ deity. But it’s proof enough that Jesus was who he claimed to be. The events recorded in Scripture give us the power to believe in “Jesus,” which describes who he is, his person, our “Savior.” We believe that he is “the Christ,” the title describing his office as our Messiah, the one who came as our Prophet, Priest, and King. We believe that he is “the Son of God,” the God-man who came to this earth to be what we could not be, and to die so that we could live eternally. From this risen Christ we receive power to live (Jn 3:16), “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
That’s what gets us out of bed each morning! Even though we know things are going to go wrong (because they always do!), even though we know we’ll never have a perfect day here on this earth, we still keep going because we receive power to live each day from our risen Savior. He never leaves us (Mt 28:20), “Surely I am with you always.” He’s always by our side, and because of that we know where we’re going after we leave this world. We also have power to live eternally through our Lord. For us life is not a mystery. We do have the answers! Death can’t beat us because Jesus has beaten death! He’s our power source for life eternal! Plug into him! Don’t let Satan disconnect you! Get into God’s Word and stay there! Put down that TV guide and spend a little less time with the daily newspaper. Open up your Bibles instead! Read all about the power that is yours through your Savior, how Paul writes (Ro 1:16), “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God.” The Word is God’s dynamite, able to shatter hearts of stone and to give power to live here and hereafter! That’s the power that is yours from your risen Lord!
Have you ever plugged an appliance into an electrical outlet but it still didn’t work? What was the problem? It’s possible that you were working with a “dead” socket. There may have been no life in your power source. That’ll never happen when you plug into Jesus. That’s because he’s a living Savior! So hook up to your power source, and receive power from the risen Christ, power to forgive, to believe, and to live. Hook up to Jesus!
Jesus lives! To him the throne
High o’er heav’n and earth is given.
I shall go where he is gone,
Live and reign with him in heaven.
God is faithful; doubtings, hence!
This shall be my confidence. (CW 145:2)
Amen
–Rev. Jonathan Rockhoff
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April 9, 2007 by admin.
4/8/07 Matthew 28:1-10
In the name of Jesus, the only Savior of any religion who died and yet still lives, dear Christian friends,
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Could there be a more glorious day than this? What about the first day of creation, when simply by saying “let there be” God began forming this world out of nothing? Or how about the fourth day of creation, when God again used just his spoken word to create the lights above – the sun, moon, and stars? Were those days more glorious than this one? Not at all! As glorious as all the days of creation may have been, still this world and everything in it will one day fade away. But this day is different! This day will always shine brightly. Brighter than even the Last Day, the day on which Christ himself will come back with all the angels to raise up all the dead for final judgment? Is this day even more glorious than the Last Day of judgment? In every way! If it wasn’t for today, the Last Day would only be filled with terror and dread, for we would have no Savior and instead be forced to hear God’s thunderous voice proclaim, “Depart from me, you sinful creatures, cursed to spend all eternity in the place prepared for the devil and his angels!” No, this day, the day of our Lord’s resurrection, is the most glorious day of all. It’s more glorious than your birthday, your wedding day, the day when your child was born, even the day of your death when you’ll experience your own entrance into glory. How come? Because this is the day that changed everything! This is the day we cry out, “Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!” This is the day in which the glory hidden on the cross reaches its peak.
But once again this morning we’ll see what we’ve been noticing all during this Lenten season. Every step of the way during Lent there was glory, but that glory was hidden. And even today, on this the most glorious day of all time and eternity, the glory of Christ is hidden.
“It Is Hidden Even in the Savior’s Triumph”
Did you notice that when we read St. Matthew’s account earlier this morning? Who appears as glorious in that report? It isn’t Jesus (v 2), “There was a violent earthquake, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and, going to the tomb, rolled back the stone and sat on it.” It’s an angel! God sends down one of his heavenly messengers who knocks open the grave and takes a seat on the throne that blocked its opening. Where is Jesus? His work is already done, and it was done hidden from sight. On Easter Sunday his body and soul were reunited in the grave. No one saw it. On Easter Sunday the risen Lord descended into hell – not to suffer (that was already finished on the cross), but to proclaim on the devil’s own turf his great victory over sin and death. No one on earth heard the shrieks of rage and howls of anguish of the demons that day. This, too, was hidden. Then, before the angel even reached the sealed tomb, Jesus let himself out. But again, the glory was hidden. The only one who comes across as glorious in Matthew’s report is the angel who rolled away the stone to let the world know that the tomb was empty. We’re told (v 3), “His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow.” And the visible effect of that glorious angel was hard to miss (v 4), “The guards were so afraid of him that they shook and became like dead men.” So much for those tough soldiers who were trained to stare death in the face! They were no match for the glory of this angel. Stunned and terrified, they fell to the ground “like dead men.”
By the time the women arrived at the tomb, the soldiers must have recovered and composed themselves enough to run into the city to tell the chief priests what had happened. But the angel stuck around. As the Lord’s messenger, he had news to deliver. The women came with plans to anoint their Lord’s dead body and thereby finish the funeral that had been left unfinished on Good Friday. But they had two surprises awaiting them when they got there. First, the tomb was open – someone had rolled the stone away! Then they met the “stone-roller” whose glorious appearance frightened them as well. But even more glorious than the angel’s appearance was the message he had for these women that day (vv 5-8), “The angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: “He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.” Now I have told you.’” “You’re looking for Jesus? You won’t find him here in the house of the dead, because he’s alive! Remember? He told you he would rise. Go and see for yourselves! But be quick about it, because you need to tell the disciples about what happened. Remind them that he’ll see them in Galilee, just as he told them.”
Are you a bit disappointed that the angel seems to be “outshining” our Lord in this account? After all, wouldn’t it be more fitting to have our Savior sitting there on the rock with his face shining like the sun and his garments white as the light? Shouldn’t we be expecting somewhat of a repeat of what the disciples saw up on the Mount of Transfiguration, or maybe a glimpse of the glory we’ll witness when Jesus returns for us on Judgment Day?
Don’t be disappointed, because the Lord’s glory is there, but it’s hidden even in his triumph. Notice how his glory is hidden as he appears to these women who are described as “afraid yet filled with joy” (v 8). “Suddenly Jesus met them. ‘Greetings,’ he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him” (v 9). If the glorious appearance of the angel had knocked soldiers off their feet and brought fear into the hearts of these women, imagine what the Lord’s resurrected glory would have done to them! They would have been frozen with terror and died of fright right on the spot! Jesus didn’t appear to them to make them even more afraid. He came to bring them joy! He came to make them happy! Jesus had no reason to flaunt his glory. He didn’t need to impress anyone. The next time he comes, on the Last Day, will be the time for him to display his glory and majesty. But now it was enough for him simply to let these women be the first to know that he truly was alive.
So even on Easter Sunday Jesus hides his glory. He appears to the women in the same humble form that they knew and recognized from before. Note how differently they reacted to the Savior than to the angel. No fear here! They run to Jesus, not away from him. They fall to their knees in worship, joyfully hanging on to his feet, trying to soak it all in. How they must have drenched the ground with their tears of gladness! Their Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! And he didn’t come back to terrify but to comfort and console. The work he declared finished on the cross truly was finished. Sin has all been paid for in full, covered in his blood. And now the day had come to proclaim the glory of his victory!
That glory is hidden, hidden in our Savior’s words. In just two short sentences he sums up the whole glory of Lent, of Easter, and of the gospel itself. He tells the women, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
“Do not be afraid.” Isn’t that what Good Friday and Easter are all about? The two go hand-in-hand. Without these two days, we’d be living with fear all around us. Along with Adam and Eve, we fell into sin and were separated from God. We, too, were staring death in the face, with a future in hell to follow. But then Jesus arrived, just as prophesied beginning already back in the Garden of Eden. And he did exactly what he said he would do. He went into battle for us on the cross, and he won! Easter Sunday proves it. Our sins are paid for. So don’t be afraid – he’s conquered hell. Don’t be afraid – he’s triumphed over the grave. Don’t be afraid!
Want even more proof? Look at what he says next, “Go and tell my brothers!” Isn’t that amazing! Jesus calls the disciples his brothers! These are the guys who fell asleep on him in Gethsemane. They were the ones who ran away like scared little bunnies when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. Their spokesman Peter even denied knowing Jesus when the pressure was on. None of these guys deserved to have Jesus call them his brothers, did they? No, they didn’t. And neither do we, because we’re no better than they are. And yet here we have the glory of Lent and the glory of Easter. All the disciples’ sins – and all our sins – are gone, buried in Jesus’ grave. With our sins covered and hidden away, there’s nothing that keeps Jesus from calling us his brothers. That’s just another way for him to tell us, “Don’t be afraid.” Once again we’re brothers and sisters in Christ, redeemed by our Savior, reconciled to God, and back in his family – all because Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!
In love and consideration for us, our Lord continues to hide his glory. Since we are still sinful human beings, we are unable to witness our Savior in all his glory. That day will come, but not until we’re with him in heaven. In the meantime we’re directed to where we can catch a glimpse of his glory – we’re directed to his Word! Did you notice that Jesus revealed his glory in that way in the words before us this morning? Jesus gave his Word that he would rise from the dead. He tells the women to report the news to his disciples. He didn’t appear to them right away, because he wanted them to depend on his Word. He also tells the women to remind the disciples of what he had told them earlier, that he would meet them in Galilee. Again, he wants them to depend on his Word. In a short 40 days Jesus would be leaving them – at least, physically – when we would ascend into heaven. But he would still remain with them always, even if they couldn’t see him. That was his promise. And the disciples would have to learn all the more to rely on his promises. They would have to learn to rely on his Word.
It’s no different for us as his disciples today. Do you want to find the true glory of Easter? You’ve come to the right place! This is where his Word is proclaimed – the Word that drives out our fears by proclaiming to us that our sins are forgiven and our salvation is secure. We have no reason to be afraid. Yes, tomorrow will come and with it there will still be problems and temptations as well. But in his Word we hear Jesus say, “Don’t be afraid. I have died to pay for your sins, and now I’m alive again, just as I promised. And I promise that I’ll never leave you nor forsake you. Even though the grave may still lie ahead, don’t be afraid. I conquered death for you. And because I live, you also will live. You have my Word on it.”
So “let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb 10:25). Let us rejoice with David who proclaimed (Ps 122:1), “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’” Jesus himself proclaims (Lk 11:28), “Blessed . . . are those who hear the word of God.” Just as he sent the disciples to Galilee to see him, so now our Lord sends us to his Word. Don’t make Easter one of the rare occasions you’re found here in God’s house. Don’t let your Bibles collect dust in your homes. Don’t let family devotions become something you talk about but never make time for. Listen to your Lord, and seek him in his Word. There we behold him with the eyes of faith. There we are called his brothers and sisters. There we see his glory – glory hidden in the cross, but glory that we will someday share with him for all eternity!
That’s his promise to you and to me. Believe it, for Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Hallelujah!
Amen
–Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff
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April 2, 2007 by admin.
Luke 19:1-10 4/1/07
In the Name of Jesus, Dear Fellow Friends of Our Lord,
A friend of mine in college named Tom once told me about how in high school he had been diagnosed with a brain tumor. As expected, he was told that he would have to have his head shaved before the operation. The surgery itself was enough to occupy his thoughts, but now he also had to come to grips with being without his hair for an extended period of time.
The surgery went well. But Tom still was wondering how his friends would react to his “new look.” It didn’t take long for him to find out. That afternoon his friends came for a visit–and they had all shaved their heads bald! They didn’t want Tom to feel uncomfortable, so they sacrificed their own hair as a sign of their love for their friend.
Tom’s friends wanted to identify with and experience the thoughts, feelings and attitudes of their friend. That’s one of the great blessings of friendship. It makes us realize that we are not alone in the battle of life. Far greater than this is having the “best Friend” of all, Jesus Christ. He not only knows what we’re going through, since he took upon himself flesh and blood and became one of us, but he actually took our place and suffered the death we deserved to die so that we might live with him forever in heaven. As we read earlier in our Epistle lesson (Php 2:7,8), “[Jesus] made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death–even death on a cross!”
There’s an Indian word for friend that means “one who carries my sorrows on his back.” If that is the definition of a true friend, then today we have every reason to take a closer look at Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate our friendship with the Lord:
“What a Friend We Have in Jesus!”
I. He’s not ashamed to seek out sinners
II. He comes to us to save our lives
It’s been said that if you really want to know who your friends are, just make a mistake. Zacchaeus, the man in our text, had made his share of mistakes. He was a tax collector, a profession that in those days went hand-in-hand with corruption. Whatever these men could get by overcharging the people went directly into their pockets, so we’re not surprised when we’re told Zacchaeus “was wealthy” (v 2), especially since he was “a chief tax collector” (v 2). He had heard that Jesus was passing through town, and he wanted to get a look at him. He was too short to look over the crowds (ever been in the back of the crowd at a parade?), so he found a sycamore-fig tree to climb up. Perhaps he was a bit timid in approaching Jesus, so at least for now he would be satisfied to catch a glimpse of him.
There are many today who are a bit timid when it comes to finding out about Jesus and what he has to offer. Perhaps they’re shy. But there are some who may be afraid of what Jesus might have to say to them. They’re afraid to hear about what their sins have done to them. Like Zacchaeus, they’re content to view things from a distance, to keep from getting too involved.
But Jesus looks for those who are afraid to look for him. He invites himself into our homes. Zacchaeus found out that he was going to have company that day (v 5), “When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, ‘Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.’” A true friend is one who can come up to you and talk to you about the problems you might be going through. A true friend is there to help when you need it. Zacchaeus had a real problem–sin. And he wasn’t doing anything about it. Untreated sin is fatal–it leads to eternal death and damnation. Zacchaeus needed a friend.
The people who knew him were not his friends–they were his critics (v 7), “All the people saw this and began to mutter, ‘He has gone to be the guest of a ’sinner.”” Others looked down on Zacchaeus and wanted nothing to do with him. But Jesus was not afraid to be seen with him. Jesus is not ashamed to seek out sinners.
The last verse of our text tells us why Jesus is so eager to seek out sinners (v 10), “The Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.” What motivates Jesus to be the friend of sinners? It’s his great love for us! Jesus once said (Jn 15:13), “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Jesus came to be our friend, to save our lives from sin. What a Friend we have in Jesus!
True friendship is more than just words. A young boy was carrying a basket of eggs down the street to sell at the market place when he tripped on the curb and tumbled to the pavement. In the process every single egg was broken. A small crowd of onlookers gathered around the sobbing boy to see if he was O.K. Some shook their heads and said, “That’s too bad.” Others offered similar words of sympathy. But one man said, “I care fifty cents’ worth,” and handed the boy two quarters. Soon another did the same, followed by one after the other. In just a few minutes the body had enough money to cover the cost of the broken eggs.
God doesn’t just say, “I love you.” He also shows us his love. Romans 5:8 tells us, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Jesus didn’t just talk about friendship–he lived as our Friend and he died as our Friend. He had to live for us because we couldn’t live the perfect life that God demands of us. Then Jesus had to die for us–he had to ride into Jerusalem on that first Palm Sunday even though he knew it meant death for him–because with his death we are given life. He died for our sins, giving us his perfection, his righteousness in the process. Jesus came to save our lives, and he did that by being our Friend. What a Friend we have in Jesus!
The result of his death? Our sins are wiped out. A friend of Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross, once reminded her of a very cruel thing that someone had done to her years before. But Miss Barton didn’t seem to recall the event. “Don’t you remember it?” her friend asked. “No,” Clara replied, “I distinctly remember forgetting it.” In the same way God intentionally forgets our sins for Jesus’ sake. Through faith in him we have full forgiveness and eternal life (Ps 103:12), “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” That’s the kind of love our God has for us!
The love of our Savior leads us to take great joy in being his friend. Notice Zacchaeus’ reaction to having Jesus come to him (v 8), “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.” There was a change in his lifestyle because there was a change in his heart. He now wanted to put away his sinful past so he could serve his Lord in love for all that his Lord had done for him. He now knew what it meant to have Jesus as his Friend.
Our life also changes when we see what a Friend we have in Jesus. We put away the things of the sinful nature, the things that are displeasing to God. Instead we are led to worship our Lord, to honor him with the way we live, to obey his Word out of love, to trust in him in times of trouble, and to thank him for all the blessings we have. How can we do anything else? To ignore our Savior would be like having someone sell all he owns to buy you a precious gem, only to have you turn around and say, “Big deal.” Jesus gave up everything just so that you and I might live with him in heaven. His gift comes to us with no strings attached. As our Friend Jesus gave up his life to give us life eternal. What a Friend we have in Jesus!
There is a legend that tells of a wealthy merchant who heard about the Apostle Paul as he traveled around the Mediterranean world. On one occasion the man’s business took him to Rome where he made arrangements to meet the Apostle while he was in prison. Through Timothy the man was able to get to the prison cell, and there he found the Apostle Paul, looking much older and more haggard than he had expected. And yet there was a sparkle in his eye, and Paul eagerly shared his message of hope and life with this man. When finally the merchant had to leave the cell, he turned to Timothy and asked, “What is the secret of that man’s power? He has nothing and yet he speaks as though he has everything.” Timothy replied, “Paul is in love.” The merchant looked puzzled. “In love?” he asked. “Yes,” said Timothy, “Paul is in love with the Lord Jesus Christ.” The businessman looked even more confused and asked, “Is that all?” Timothy smiled and replied, “That, my friend, is everything.”
What a Friend we have in Jesus! Your best Friend Jesus has given everything for you. Let us give our all for him!
Amen
–Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff
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March 26, 2007 by VicarHein.
Philippians 3:8-14
I always thought I wanted to be an expert. It didn’t really matter all that much in what. I just wanted to be the absolute best in something. Somewhere along the way as I’ve grown up and matured, I realized how impossible that is though. It didn’t seem to matter too much what avenue in life I traveled down or what I pursued, there always existed and will always exist somewhere in the world someone better. As I look back on it now and how miserable I had been at times in that empty pursuit to be the best, I understand that the majority of the time it was my pride that was pushing me. I’d like to say it was a sanctified desire to do everything I could with the talents that the good Lord had given me, which may have been the case some of the time, but in reality, it was mostly my pride. Personally, I thought I wanted to know more than anyone about movies. I thought I wanted to know more than anyone about psychology and human behavior. I thought I wanted to know more than anyone about current events and pop culture. Satan convinced me that somehow if I was “the best,” that would really validate my existence. Maybe some of you want to be the best – the best mom or dad, the best engineer or salesperson, the best teacher or nurse. There’s nothing wrong with the pursuit of maximizing the talents that we’ve been given by the Lord. But ahead of all those pursuits is one thing. And it’s interesting, because contentment with all those pursuits and everything else will fall in place if we follow the Apostle Paul’s example from our Lesson for today from Philippians. He makes up his mind that the most important thing for him to know, the number one thing he wants to be an expert in, the focus of his life he says, is:
“I Want to Know Christ”
I. The Saving Facts about Him
II. The Personal Experience of Him
III. The Life He has in Mind for Me
Philippians is a letter with one of the main themes simply being “Joy in Christ.” When you think about it, that’s really an interesting topic for Paul, the author of this letter, to be writing about. Remember Paul was a guy who, while on his missionary journeys, endured floggings five times from the Jews, beatings with rods on three separate occasions from the Romans, he was stoned, three times he was shipwrecked and left to die in the open sea. He often found himself hungry, naked, cold, weak and bloody. He was in constant danger from Jews, Gentiles, officials, false preachers, etc (2 Corinthians 11:16-33). And at the time he was writing this letter, he was in chains in prison. A simple understanding of human anatomy tells us that Paul, by all accounts, should not have been alive, and at the very least, according to the world, he should not have been happy. And yet Paul is the one who later in this letter to the Philippians has the ability to say, “I have learned the secret of being content” (4:12) and he meant it.
Would you like to know how Paul could be content in all of this? Bear in mind, “contentment” has long been considered by philosophers to be the key mindset to happiness in life, so this is an incredibly profound statement he’s making here. He tells us the secret in the opening verse for our lesson today, verse 8, so listen carefully: “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.” In comparison to knowing Christ, everything else is worthless. There you have it. It is that simple. If you wake up any day and say, “Man, I would definitely like to be happier than what I am”, push yourself to know Christ, his love, and his promises better.
Don’t buy into the lies that the various forms of media try to feed you – if you only have this car, if you only make this much money, if you’re only this attractive, if you only have this video game system, then you will be happy. No you won’t. They’re all lies. If only I were married, if only I’d married someone different, if only I had kids, if only my kids were better behaved, then I’d be content. No you wouldn’t. Those are lies too. Paul has the God-breathed answer right here for you – know Christ. Every day, strive to know him better than the previous day.
The first thing we need to know about Christ is The Saving Facts. Paul summarizes our justification, our being declared not guilty for sins quite beautifully in verse 9 of our lesson today: I want to “gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.” As Christians, we breathe a sigh of relief when we hear this message. Satan tries to creep into our lives every day and tell us what we need to do in order to continue to make God love us. “You better do this; you better not do that, or else……” No. That is not our motivation for keeping God’s commands. Our righteousness is not based on the law. Thank the Lord it isn’t, because James writes in his epistle, “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it.” (James 2:10) And there is not enough super-glue in the world to put those tablets of God’s law back together. Our righteousness is not found in ourselves, it is found in the cross of Christ. When he bore our sins, he placed his righteousness on us. Our faith receives that righteousness as we focus our eyes, our hope, our lives, our eternity, our everything, on our Savior’s cross. Now God looks at us through that cross and sees us as his righteous children. That is the simple fact. If we were on trial in a courtroom, God would look at all the evidence that’s been submitted and authoritatively judge “not guilty.”
Knowing those saving facts about Christ leads me to seek him out in a more personal way. I recently received a very generous gift from several people and I guess you’d consider maybe half of it, partially anonymous. But it wasn’t enough for me to just know that I had received the gift. I wanted to know who this person was and see them face to face. I needed to know what motivates someone to care so much and be so generous with someone that they hadn’t really met before. In a way, that is similar to our quest for knowing Christ. As Christians, we desire to Know the Personal Experience of Him who died for us to give us the most generous gift imaginable. The next verses in our lesson say, “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so somehow to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” How is this true man yet true God so powerful that he’s able to create the universe, raise the dead, including himself, wash away not only my countless sins but the sins of the entire world throughout history, and promise us heaven, not to mention walk on water, heal thousands, drive out demons, calm storms, feed the hungry, and so on. Honestly, who is this guy? How is this man so loving and so merciful that he was willing to put himself through tortures that don’t exist today because even the sinful world we live in deems them too cruel. Such humility in the face of those who were mocking and taunting him; such discipline in the face of those who beat him, flogged him, tortured him, and crucified him; such resolve in wrestling with himself, knowing that as God he could have stopped any time he pleased, but he didn’t. And it was all for my sake. Honestly, who is this guy? And after this all was complete, he rose from the dead and lives for eternity in heaven. Whoever this guy is, I want to be with him. I need to be with him. I need to know his every move in life, his every teaching, his every word, so that every move I make for eternity will be with him.
So, every day I press on toward that goal. Knowing the facts about Jesus, knowing all that Jesus did for me and what he continues to do for me, I learn What He has in Mind for My Life. As content as he was, Paul knew that what he was experiencing on earth was nothing, absolutely nothing compared to what was in store in heaven. He makes that point very clear in our lesson. In fact he mentions it twice in verses 12 and 13 because he knew that there were listeners then, just like there are now, who will continue to be disappointed when they don’t experience heaven on earth. Apparently there were false teachers amongst the Philippians who were claiming that perfection could be reached here on earth. Today countless self-help books exist that promise to give you you’re best life now. We’re not really supposed to experience our best life now. We’re supposed to experience heaven in heaven. We wouldn’t want to change that, because we may have 70, 80, 90 years now, but we have forever in heaven. Paul says, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.” Notice that picture here. Christ Jesus took hold of us with his cross. It’s as though with that cross, Jesus reached out his giant hands and like King Kong and grabbed onto us, looked us in the eye, and said “You’re mine.” In our Holy Spirit—led lives we grab on to that cross as tightly as we can as well, knowing, because of that cross, no matter if our arms tire on the journey, Christ still has us in his mighty grip.
Christ has grabbed hold of us. But we cannot be grabbed by Christ within the walls of this sanctuary and then head outside after the final hymn and live just as the heathens. With our understanding of Christ’s love and mercy, we consider everything else in this life a loss, complete garbage when compared with that knowledge. Included in that garbage that needs to be thrown out is our past lives of sin. Paul says this, “But one thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Imagine the joy that Paul had in Christ as he wrote these words. Remember that Paul, before his conversion on the road to Damascus, was the number one prize student of the Jews, rising up in their ranks, involved in persecutions and even murders of Christians. Imagine the weight of his conscience knowing that he was at least in part responsible for the death of these martyrs. And yet he says here that he presses to forget his past sins.
Now, we cannot be unrealistic about it, there is no way short of a lobotomy that Paul would have literally been able to forget about what he had done. But, through Christ he was able to forget about the consequences of such actions. The consequence was paid for in full. Paul uses the picture in these verses of a runner in a race. Paul seemingly was a guy who, living as a Roman citizen in the Roman Empire, was naturally interested in sports as many of the Romans were. In his writings he occasionally references boxing or races. Here he alludes to a runner in a race. If you’ve ever ran in a race competitively before, you know that looking backwards while running is not the ideal athletic position. Odds are, that kid on track and field day in Elementary School who is looking backwards while running to see who he’s all beating is not the kid who is going to win the race. Don’t look back on those past sins. Once you have repented of those mistakes Christ doesn’t want you look back at them any more. Satan does. Satan wants you to dwell on them, to try to earn God’s favor by atoning for them, to doubt God’s love because they are too great. God wants you to forget them and look forward, focusing on the prize that he has in store for you because of Christ. Set your sights on heaven. Every day run away from temptation and run towards the life that God intended you to live—one of peace and joy, one of hope and contentment, one of sharing that gospel message.
We have more opportunities than we can count to share that message of salvation. And it doesn’t have to be such a struggle to act on these opportunities. Sharing God’s gospel message of forgiveness and salvation is kind of like when you get off of a roller coaster that was the most exhilarating experience of your life. You run over to your friend and say, “You’ve got to try this.” Maybe you don’t like rollers coasters, maybe it’s your favorite movie or book, and you tell everyone you know to see it or read it. It would never cross your mind to hoard that joy or be stingy with it. You naturally are compelled to spread that joy.
You already know we have our Festival of Friendship Sunday coming up next week. You’ve been given the cards that tell all the pertinent information. You’ve been given the people in your lives to witness to. You’ve been given prayers to pray each day to ask God to grant you the strength and to open the hearts of those to whom you share that message. This is tee ball. It’s sitting right there for you. All you have to do is swing away.
But, admittedly, taking that swing can be scary. “What if I miss? What if they think I’m just a crazy Christian weirdo?” I’d be lying to you if I told you that I experience no apprehension, no fear of rejection when I talk to people about Jesus. When I walk up to the front door of prospects, there’s a part of me that is hoping no one opens that door. There have been times when people have said “No thank you” and shut the door in my face. And there have been times when some of my best friends have closed the door, removing me from their life because they simply don’t want to hear the message I have to tell them about God’s Word and his will for their lives.
But for the times that I have experienced some rejection in my life when evangelizing, you know the thing that bugs me the most – it’s that I haven’t had more doors closed in my face. What I mean is this – I have been too easy to get rid of, too easy to dismiss. Someone was probably ready and ripe to talk about God’s free forgiveness, but my fear grabbed a hold of me and I “politely” said something to the effect of, “well, I don’t want to bother you” or “take up any more of your time.” That’s what really bugs me – that I don’t take advantage of those opportunities that God places into my life.
Look at it this way, if you saw a little child playing out in the street, and a car was speeding down the street, the driver oblivious of that kid in its path, you’d run out to help that child and get them out of harms way, right? Let me ask you this, would you say, “Well, I don’t know that child, so his safety isn’t really my responsibility.” No, that’d be ridiculous. You’d run out there without thinking about it and help him. Would you say, “Man, that kid really looks like he’s having a lot of fun right now. Who am I to ruin his good time?” No, that’d be ridiculous. You’d run out there without thinking about it and help him. Would you say, “I’d like to help him, but I’ve got a lot going on right now. There’s enough to deal with at home. I’m not very good at rescuing people, I should probably leave that in the hands of someone who has the training, maybe I’ll call the fire department.” No, that’d be ridiculous. You’d run out there without thinking about it and help him.
Each and every one of us knows people right now out in that street who maybe today, maybe tomorrow, maybe 70 years from now are going to be run over by that car called “death” that would knock them straight to hell. Now, if they don’t budge when we try to help them, that’s their decision, but in the meantime we will make sure we do everything we can to get them out of harms way.
We do this because we know Christ. We know the facts of what he did for us. Very personally we know the experience he went through for us. We know that life that he has in mind for us. We know the eternal life that he has planned for us. Today we know Christ, and tomorrow we will know him better. Amen.
–Vicar James Hein
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March 6, 2007 by VicarHein.
Philippians 3:17–4:1
3/4/07
In Christ Jesus, the Savior whose work won for us our heavenly citizenship, dear fellow redeemed,
How many of you here this morning have at some time in your life picked up a bat and stepped in to face a pitcher throwing a baseball your way with all his might? Remember how scary that was the very first time you did it? When the pitcher reached back in his windup and hurled that little white sphere in your direction, it must have felt like every one of your brain cells was telling you to duck, dive, or bail – anything to make sure that you didn’t get plunked in the head.
As some of you know, for the last few summers I’ve done some coaching down at the local YMCA. When the first baseball practice rolls around, it’s inevitable that some of the kids assigned to my team have never faced live pitching before. It’s also inevitable that most of them, when that first pitch is thrown their way, will instinctively back out of the batter’s box to avoid any potential harm. One of the first things we have to teach them is to not be afraid, to stay in there, to keep their eye on the ball – to stand firm!
In our lives as Christians, we tend to have the same hesitancies when it comes to facing what the world throws our way. And yet instead of bailing out and giving in to our fears, the words before us this morning help us stand up and stand strong, with our eyes set on things that truly matter. Today the apostle Paul encourages us to:
“Stand Firm in the Lord!” I. Don’t be swayed by this world’s pleasures II. Look to Jesus and heaven’s treasures
The Philippian congregation was very dear to Paul. Although he truly loved all the churches he served, this group of believers had a special place in his heart. They seemed to have the same mission-mindedness, the same love for God and his will that Paul did. Just look at some of the terms he uses to describe them in the last verse of our text (v 1): “my brothers, you whom I love and long for,” “my joy and crown,” “dear friends.” And yet, even though these were some strong Christians, Paul knew that the devil works overtime on those who call themselves followers of the Savior. One thing Paul had seen happen in other churches was believers running with the wrong crowd, foolishly thinking that such a course wouldn’t cause them any spiritual harm. He didn’t want this to happen to the believers in Philippi. So he reminds them to keep embracing the spiritual and to avoid the worldly, to stand firm in the Lord.
Paul doesn’t ask these believers to reinvent the wheel when it comes to godly living. They had plenty of examples to follow, including his own (v 17), “Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” In effect, Paul was telling them, “Do as I say and as I do!” But he wasn’t bragging or tooting his own horn. Before he became a Christian he describes himself as “a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man” (1 Ti 1:13). But even after Jesus found him on that road to Damascus and the Holy Spirit worked faith in his heart, Paul still lamented the constant struggle against sin that was raging inside him. In Romans he admits (7:15), “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.” Make no mistake about it, Paul was a sinner – and he knew it! But he also knew what kept him and many other believers on the straight and narrow. In 1 Corinthians he writes (1:11), “Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.” Paul didn’t want the Philippians to think highly of what he had done, but to think highly of what God had done in him. It was the Lord who had turned him around, pulled him away from his life of sin, and set him on the path of righteousness. So instead of looking around at the world for examples, Paul urges these Christians, whom he calls “brothers,” to find their role models within the family of believers and “to take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.” Literally, they were to try and be “carbon-copies” of those Christians who had learned to stand firm in the Lord.
The temptation to be just the opposite was always going to be there. Paul warns them not to be swayed by the world’s pleasures (vv 18,19), “For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.” Keep in mind that many of these Philippian Christians had a pagan background, featuring a lifestyle that encouraged immorality and giving in to sinful appetites and desires. So the temptation to return to such a self-indulgent way of living must have been, at times, quite compelling. That’s why Paul speaks out against these “enemies of the cross of Christ,” against those who lived only for themselves and were so easily swayed by this world’s pleasures. Without Christ in their lives, they chose a new deity: “their god is their stomach.” They lived only to please the cravings of their sinful flesh, and instead of feeling ashamed of what they do, they actually flaunted what they did and boasted about their sins – “their glory is in their shame.” Without Christ, they had no reason to long for the life that is to come. Consequently, “their mind is on earthly things.” And if you only think about this life, you’re on a deadly path. “Their destiny is destruction.”
Last Sunday I spent some time talking about the god of materialism that can so easily sway us from letting the Lord be our guide through life. Today we hear Paul echoing much the same thing. Throughout the Scriptures we’re told repeatedly not to be swayed by the things of this world. And yet we constantly buckle at the knees and give in to the worldly philosophy that it’s O.K. to just “live for today,” it’s not wrong to “do your own thing,” and when it comes to right and wrong, “to each his own.” Instead of recognizing our sins and leaving them at the cross of our Lord, we revel in them and allow worldly pleasures to crowd our Savior into the background. We’re often like the seed in Jesus’ parable that was sown among the thorns. We “hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mk 4:18,19). We become too earth-bound and world-oriented when we allow ourselves to be swayed by the world’s pleasures.
There’s a cure for such a temptation. It involves finding a more solid base, putting our trust in something that will last instead of in things that will fade away. If we hope to plant our feet on solid ground, then it’s imperative that we stand firm in the Lord. Instead of being swayed by this world’s pleasures, let’s look to Jesus and heaven’s treasures.
It’s important for us to realize that as Christians we may live in the world but we’re never to consider ourselves permanent citizens of the world. We have a better place to call our own (v 20), “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” What a contrast between those who look to Jesus and those who are enemies of the cross! Here Paul echoes the old adage, “As Christians we live in the world, but we don’t let the world live in us.” We have no permanent address here on this earth. Our forwarding address is in heaven! Our homes are in the mansions of paradise, prepared for us by Christ himself!
That’s why we take our stand, a firm stand, in the Lord. Everything that counts, everything that matters, everything that is going to last is in heaven. That’s why we “eagerly await” our Savior’s return. Just think of how anxious you become for something special here on this earth, like the arrival of spring break or of that special trip you’ve been planning for some time. You find yourself thinking about it all the time, just waiting for that time to come. How much more ought we to anticipate the day we’ll be with our Lord in heaven! Unlike special events here on this earth, our citizenship in heaven guarantees an eternity that will never end!
And when we get there, we’ll experience a makeover second to none (v 21), “[Jesus], by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.” Sin has really done a number on our bodies. These things get sick, grow weak, and become tired. Someday they’ll wear out completely and stop working, and we’ll die. But then comes the ultimate rags-to-riches, sinner-to-saint, earth-to-eternity transformation! Jesus will redo, refashion, rejuvenate, and retool what sin and death have corroded and corrupted. He will victoriously and gloriously change us into the best we can be! Our sin-scarred bodies will be no more, replaced instead with a body that resembles that of our Lord’s! The righteousness won for us on the cross by our Savior will be in full view for us to display when our bodies are raised up in glory – all part of the treasures awaiting us in heaven!
That transformation will be possible only because of a transformation that has already taken place in each one of us. By nature, we all were born as spiritual misfits. We didn’t belong in God’s kingdom. We didn’t want anything to do with him, so instead we became citizens of this sinful world and residents of the devil’s kingdom. But God loved us too much to let us live as outsiders. Instead he sent his Son to make everything right — to “transform” us — so we could be adopted into his family. Jesus took care of all the paperwork by paying the price of our adoption, signing our names in the Book of Life in his very own blood, permanently granting us citizenship forever in heaven.
Citizenship in the United States is usually something that can take some time to acquire. But I read recently that in Brazil they have a lottery in which something like one out of every 1000 people who apply can be granted “free immediate” American citizenship. These people are considered to be the lucky ones.
You are one of the blessed. Jesus has done everything to make you a citizen of heaven. It’s almost as if you’ve won some kind of citizen lottery. Jesus did all the work, and you receive all the benefits!
So stay put, hang in there, and “stand firm in the Lord.” Don’t throw your citizenship away by being swayed by the world’s pleasures. Instead, keep looking to Jesus and heaven’s treasures. Then with joy and confidence you’ll always be able to rejoice and sing (CW 417:1), “I’m but a stranger here; Heav’n is my home!”
Amen
–Pastor Jonathan Rockhoff
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February 23, 2007 by VicarHein.
It’s not uncommon to hear the word “miracle” tossed around when referring to childbirth and children in general. In the delivery room, a new father or mother might refer to their newborn child as “our miracle.” A couple of an older, perhaps unplanned child, proud of the way that child turned out, might refer to him or her as the unexpected miracle in their lives. But, in actuality, childbirth is not a miracle. Make no mistake, it’s a wondrous occurrence. It’s an incredible blessing from God. But technically speaking, it is not a miracle. By definition, a miracle is an event that appears inexplicable by the laws of nature. God beautifully programmed the phenomenon of childbirth into the laws of nature. I would never be so insensitive to point it out to a young mother in the hospital, but physical birth, amazing as it is, is not a miracle. Nearly a decade ago, in 1997, you may recall that one of the largest news stories of the year was coming out of Scotland. Scottish scientists at a facility called the Roslin Institute claimed they were the first ones to successfully complete a process called nuclear transfer—that they had created the first successful clone, a sheep which they called Dolly. It was improbable and supposedly a major step forward in science, but still, this birth of a new sheep was not a miracle. It still came about as a result of the confines of the laws of nature and science which God himself created. Birth is not a miracle. A second birth, however, would in fact be a miracle. It is unnatural. A living being cannot by the laws of physics be born again. But what about spiritually? Spiritually, not only is it possible, but God tells us to do it. Jesus told Nicodemus in John 3:3-5, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” Then, while Nicodemus was puzzling over the impossible sounding notion of being ‘born again,’ Jesus explains, “No one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”
Today we will take a look at this miraculous regeneration by studying the words of Titus 3:4-7. We will see
“The Miracle of 2nd Birth”
I. Our Savior Appeared
II. Our Savior Brought Us to Life
Based on evidence from within the letter which our lesson is taken from today, the Apostle Paul’s letter to Titus, we find that Titus was introduced to Christianity by Paul and subsequently joined Paul on his third missionary journey. After Paul’s first imprisonment (60-62 AD), Paul and Titus joined up, working on the Island of Crete in the Mediterranean Sea, just southeast of Greece. Paul, needing to attend to other business, then left Titus on the island of Crete to serve as a “troubleshooter” or “problem solver” for the congregation there. When Titus had served there alone for awhile, Paul wrote to Titus to give him advice 1) on the administration of the church and 2) how to handle false teachers. These were some problematic areas for the church in Crete. Equally as large an issue though was the fact that these people Titus was witnessing to lived in the culture of the island of Crete. The name of the inhabitants of Crete, Cretans, over time has simply become an expression referring to anyone of low intelligence and questionable character. In the letter, Paul actually quotes a 6th century BC poet, Epimenides, a Cretan himself, who said, “Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.” (Titus 1:12). In NT times life in Crete had sunk to an even more deplorable moral level.
But as we analyze a culture that was somewhat of a laughing stock of civilization in New Testament times, we note the similarity between Cretan and American culture and it’s pretty embarrassing. Anyone who has been to a foreign culture has probably encountered the negative opinions that many people hold of our country. They see a country whose President can openly lie in court and the country is seemingly indifferent about it. They see a country that seemingly possesses such an arrogance that it refuses to accept the universal measurements of the world, but insists that everyone cater to us and speak our language. They see a country where, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, nearly two-thirds of all its adults (64%) are considered overweight, and it isn’t for lack of exercise equipment, gym memberships, and fad diets, at which we as a country casually throw billions of dollars per year. Likely related is the fact that the average American watches nearly 4 hours of TV per day and spends somewhere close to an hour of their free time on the Internet, not including the non work-related time they spend on it at the office. “Always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons”—Epimenedes may as well write for USA Today. And if we think that we are just nominally part of America in these areas, we are mistaken. I realize that some behaviors may be difficult to determine as sin. For instance, how much TV per day do we consider laziness? We cannot arbitrarily throw a number out there and say, “There, that’s laziness.” Nonetheless, we know that wherever the line is for these things, at times we have crossed it. Like it or not, everyone is a product of their environment and influenced by it. We face the same temptations that all Americans face. We have a sinful nature like everyone. But here is the particularly sad thing–despite the revealed knowledge of God’s Word prevalent in our lives, a luxury that not all have, we have fallen victim to sin just like everyone else. In the verse prior to our lesson for today, Paul says, “At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.” We had every opportunity not to sin, but we did it anyway, because, regardless of our ethnic background, we all were born as Cretans.
But, we are not to fear, because “the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared”. It takes a couple times reading this verse, verse 4, to realize it, but “God our Savior” here refers to God the Father. This is the clearest time in the New Testament where we see the person of the Father described specifically as the Savior. I mentioned briefly in my sermon on Christmas day that we aren’t always accurate in concisely describing the Father as Creator, the Son as Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as Sanctifier. It separates and limits the persons of the Trinity too much. Here, for example, we see the Father as the Savior. The Son is referred to here also, as the embodiment of “the kindness and love” of the Father.
Having just come through the Advent and Christmas season, there is no doubt in our minds that indeed the Our Savior, Appeared in the form of Jesus Christ. But why? Whenever anyone of importance makes a special appearance, it usually is for good reason. What prompted Christ to make the trip? Well, we’re first told what is NOT the reason he came—“because of righteous things we had done”. Despite what our pride would like us to believe, none of us is inherently good. Whether we are talking about the conversion process or eternal life, none of us by ourselves could come to God, so he came to us.
Our lesson speaks of four things that prompted God to come: 1) Kindness: the good will God has toward us; 2) Love: here, specifically, the love of mankind (the word used here is the Greek word from which we get “philanthropy”; 3) Mercy: God looked with pity on our wretchedness and reacted to it. He had compassion on us; 4) Grace: God’s love is generous, undeserved, and unexplainable. These attributes of God all describe why he came. But it wasn’t enough that he merely showed up. He had to save us. He did so on the cross.
Paul reminds Titus, a called leader of the church in Crete, how God bestows his saving act on us. “He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior.” This washing done by the Holy Spirit is a specific reference to the sacred act of baptism. Baptism is an act instituted by God for rebirth and renewal. We are born again. The Greek word used here for “renewal” carries a special meaning. It does not refer to something being new in time, but rather new in nature, the implication being that it is now better. In baptism, our old sinful nature is drowned. We die and are buried with Christ to sin. But then, we are raised with Christ to a new life, with a new nature. Baptism brings us into a faith-relationship with Christ. By faith we now wear the perfect righteousness and holiness that our Savior prepared for us through his life, death and resurrection. In his letter to the Galatians 3:27, the Apostle Paul puts it this way, “for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.” Baptism is a miracle. God did not create the world with the intention of sin. But he had the foreknowledge that sin would occur, and so he made plans to send his Son to die and wash those sins away. He made plans as to how he would bestow the Son’s forgiveness on his people, which we call the Means of Grace—the Gospel in Word and Sacrament, one of these sacraments being Baptism and the other, Holy Communion, which we will celebrate shortly. These sacraments do not make scientific sense. In Baptism, God pushed aside his previously created laws of nature in order to perform a miraculous feat—Our Savior Brought Us to Life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” This is the Miracle of 2nd Birth.
How can water and words really change us? How can they offer us gifts like the forgiveness of sins, deliverance from death and the devil, and eternal salvation, as the 6th-8th graders of the congregation have recently been learning in Catechism? Well, let me ask you this? How does physical generation begin? How does life begin? The natural response to that would be that a seed fertilizes an egg and life is born. But how? The most likely next response is??? It just does. God made it that way. Well, okay then, how does spiritual regeneration take place? Plain water is combined with the Word of God in baptism, assuring acceptance as a redeemed child of God. But how? Well, it just does. God made it that way. Why is physical generation (e.g. human birth) so easy for us to accept as fact and yet spiritual regeneration seems so complicated to so many despite the fact that ultimately we really cannot comprehend or explain either? I’d be willing to bet that Satan knows. He is constantly trying to cause us to fail to appreciate God’s gift of baptism. He would rather we never think about it during the day. He would rather get us to believe it’s merely a symbolic act with no real power and no real blessings. He would rather have us not even notice the baptismal font when we come to church or walk up to the Lord’s Supper. Why? Because the farther we are removed from our baptism, the farther we are taken from what makes us God’s beloved children. But the more fully aware of our baptism we are, the more we know where we stand with God—as ones “justified by his grace.”
We have just entered the season of Epiphany in the church year. In Epiphany we celebrate both the baptism of our Lord and the spreading of the gospel news to the Magi, which equates to the spreading of the gospel to the entire Gentile world. In our planning on the Board of Evangelism here at Messiah, we have decided to prepare for a “Baptism Sunday” in the near future, perhaps sometime around May to correspond with the lessons the children are being taught in the Child Care Center. At this time we will be inviting the families of children at the Child Care Center, as well as members of the community, to come, go through a law/gospel presentation, encouraging the adults into a Bible Information Class, and then be baptized. So tell everyone you know about what we are doing to see if they’re interested. But more importantly, tell them about the power of baptism—to forgive sins and grant eternal life. Tell them about the blessings of baptism—to be made a child of God forever. Let’s use this time to appreciate our own baptisms. And if for even a minute you think you’ve gotten to the point where your baptism does not mean all that much to you, come join us for the new Bible Information Class that we are starting on Tuesday evening. We will grow in our understanding and appreciation together. Don’t do it because Pastor and I would love to have a full class. Don’t do it because you’ll feel guilty if you don’t. Do it for yourself. Do it because you know that you will be edified by it. Do it because you are guaranteed to grow in your understanding of God’s will, love, and intimate involvement in your lives. We all need to feed our faith by means of Christian education. Here’s an opportunity. The New Year seems to be the time to make resolutions. Most are admittedly pretty self-centered. The ones I’ve made in the past have mostly been about self-improvement. Be selfish with this one. Do this for yourself. Say, “This year I am going to know my Savior better than I have ever known him before.” And if you pour yourself into understanding God’s Word and knowing your Savior through Christian Education and Worship and at the end of the year, you feel as though you have not valued your time spent or have not been edified by it, please, by all means, hold me personally responsible. I’m pretty confident that your time and energy will not return to you empty though. Because as we study God’s Word, we naturally grow in appreciation for what he has done for us and for what he has in store for us.
The final verse of our lesson informs us that we are “heirs having the hope of eternal life.” Understand the Biblical use of the word “hope.” It is not as we understand “hope” today. Someone might “hope” to win the lottery, or Miss America, or play in the NBA, but they know that the reality of it is quite slim. Biblical “hope,” though, is looking forward to something in confident expectation. We have the confident expectation of eternal life. Why? Because “When the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5 he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6 whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.” What we have as four verses in our lesson is just one sentence in Greek. It’s the Gospel—the Miracle of 2nd Birth. Amen.
The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. (Philippians 4:7)
–Vicar James Hein
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February 23, 2007 by VicarHein.
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February 23, 2007 by VicarHein.
Corinthians 12:12-21,26,27
In the name of Jesus, the church’s Head and our Lord and Savior, dear fellow members of his body,
If you haven’t noticed by now, your bulletin this morning is a little messed up. You probably found it a bit hard to read. Anyone figure out why? I replaced all the “a’s” with “x’s” – that’s all. I didn’t substitute for any of the other 25 letters of the alphabet – just the “a’s.” But even with just one letter being replaced, notice how the entire bulletin suffered because of it. It proves that every letter of the alphabet is important when it comes to putting something into print. Every letter has a part to play.
It works the same way when it comes to our role as members of our Lord’s church. Sure, we could get by with some of the members not working right, with some sitting on the sideline and not taking an active role in the Lord’s work. But how much better it is when all the members work together as one body, with Christ himself as the head.
Today let’s listen as Paul leads us in a discussion about:
“Body Parts”
I. You are part of the body of Christ
II. Do you part in serving the body of Christ
Not all the keys of the Corinthians’ keyboard wanted to work together. If you lived in Corinth back in the day, a city of wealth and opportunity, you were probably financially secure. You didn’t need anyone else’s help, and you looked at the mere thought of accepting help from someone as a sign of weakness. As a result, your own attitude about helping others suffered. You ended up caring only about yourself, priding yourself on being a “rugged individualist,” needing no one’s help and wanting to help no one. In the end you had become a pretty self-centered person, used to pursuing your own dreams and goals and not caring about those around you.
Then you became a Christian, and your “solo” act came to an end. You learned that you were not “an entity unto yourself,” but you were a part of a group, a significant part of something special. You were now a part of the body of Christ, a member of his church! So after hearing the apostle Paul talk about all the unique spiritual gifts given to members of the church (from our reading last week, verses 1-11 of 1 Corinthians 12), now your attention is directed to how all these gifts are to be used by members working together as the body of Christ.
To make his point that each of us is a part of the body of Christ, Paul uses the example of the human body (vv 12,13), “The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free – and we were all given the one Spirit to drink.” The many different parts of the human body all fit together to form one functioning unit. Every part of the body is useful. Medical science used to be believe that the tonsils, the appendix, and certain other body parts were expendable – mainly because of a false belief in evolution. But now it’s been recognized that every body part serves a purpose. And so does every part of the body of Christ.
You and I are some of those parts. We became part of the body when we were “baptized by one Spirit into one body.” The same Spirit worked the same saving faith in each of us, whether it was as an infant through the water of Holy Baptism or as an adult through the hearing of the Word. Regardless of our nationality or social status – “whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free” – we stand as members of one body. And it’s all because of our Savior, Jesus. Paul tells us in Galatians (3:26-28), “You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Because Jesus came into our world as one of us, now we are privileged to be one in him. So we can’t help but smile when we hear Paul say (v 27), “Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.”
The next time you’re tempted to think that your life doesn’t have any meaning or that you’re just taking another number in the long line of life, remember who you are – you’re a part of the body of Christ! That means that your life here on this earth has purpose, that because of Christ God wants you in his family and someday promises to take you home to heaven. Whereas this world has a knack for dragging us down and making us feel unimportant, our Lord tells us just the opposite. He’s made us his own, and while here on this earth, he has important work for us to do. Paul goes on to tell us that as part of the body of Christ, we are also to do our part in serving the body of Christ.
We never work alone as our Lord’s body parts (v 14), “Now the body is not made up of one part but of many.” That’s why God has given us all such unique gifts and blessed us in different ways. We’re not just an army of robots, cloned to all work in the same way and do the same things. And being different doesn’t mean that some are inferior to others. No, it was part of God’s plan that we be different and yet still able to come together to work with each other as the body of Christ.
So don’t expect to have the same gifts as everyone else, and don’t expect everyone else to have the same gifts as you. Respect the gifts that each part of the body has been given. Paul uses the human body to explain (vv 15,16), “If the foot should say, ‘Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, ‘Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,’ it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body.” Our feet and our hands, our ears and our eyes – you won’t find them quarreling and acting jealous of each other. Even if they could, they still couldn’t decide to not be a part of the body. And yet at times we see members of Christ’s body feuding and separating themselves from the rest of the body. Over the years I’ve had to deal with members who have stopped coming to church, maybe stopped contributing their offerings, and even some who have left the church altogether because in some way they no longer felt as if they were part of the body. How does this happen? Sometimes it’s the fault of the rest of the body if we, as a church, fail to make use of all the members and the talents they’ve been given. And yet it’s my opinion that the wounds are often self-inflicted as members fail to appreciate and respect the gifts and roles of other members, choosing instead to become jealous and to withdraw from active service in the church. Not only do these members end up becoming more and more disgruntled and upset, but they also end up hurting the body of Christ.
That’s because all parts of the body are meant to serve a role, great or small (v 17), “If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?” There are no giant eyeballs or ears rolling down the street. They don’t exist, because they’re not meant to stand alone – the human body couldn’t function that way. It’s the same with the body of Christ. No part stands alone. There are no giants in the church, at least not any members who are so great that they can snuff out the other members. Some may be meant to be leaders and some followers, but they’re all still necessary parts intended to play a part in serving the body of Christ.
Again, this is how God intended it to be. Just look at how he made the human body (vv 18-20), “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” Our bodies are made the way they are for a reason. We don’t have our eyes on our sides because then we’d always have to lift up our arms to see. Our hands aren’t attached to our ears because then we’d have trouble reaching things. God had a reason for making us the way we are, for putting the parts where he did, and he has reasons for making us different as parts of the body of Christ. Be thankful for the diversity that we have. Be thankful that everyone isn’t the same as you are, no matter how gifted you may be. There still may be some who are more compassionate, some who are better leaders, some who are more knowledgeable about Scripture, some who are better administrators, some who are better teachers. That’s a good thing, because it makes for a stronger body when we recognize that we are different and yet still needed for the good of the body. As Paul puts it (v 21), “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” The eye needs the hand to remove the speck of dirt. The head needs the feet to get it to the doctor when it’s sick. In the same way, the pastor needs the Sunday School teachers. The trustees need the church cleaners. The school board needs the volunteers at the child care center. The elders need the members to encourage each other to be faithful in hearing God’s Word. All have valuable functions as parts of the body of Christ and can’t work properly without the others.
When you have that kind of working relationship running on all cylinders, then the parts of the body can’t help but share with each other the joys and the burdens they each experience (vv 26,27), “If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” If you stub your little toe on the corner of the bed at night, doesn’t your whole body display the pain? Martin Luther describes it this way: “See what the whole body does when a foot is trodden on, or a finger is pinched: how the eye looks dour, the nose draws up, the mouth cries out, and all the members are ready to rescue and to help, and none can leave the other, so that it means, not the foot or a finger is trodden on and is pinched, but the entire body.” As the body of Christ, we all share the pain of a fellow member who’s suffering in the hospital or who is going through some other difficult situation. But the opposite is also true. When one rejoices, we all rejoice. We all share in the joy of a new baby being born or of new members being added to our church family. We recognize that we’re all here to do our part in serving the body of Christ.
A quick review of our membership list here at Messiah reveals that about 50% of our membership is involved in some form of ministry. That means that half of our body has a visible function or role in serving the rest of the body. The good news? That’s a fairly high percentage for a church. The bad news? It still means that the other 50% needs to have a way to put their gifts to use. As a church, we’re trying to do better. We recently had a “service opportunities” insert in the bulletin with areas in need of volunteers, and the Board of Stewardship will continue to try to match the talent