The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

June 24, 2012; Nativity of St. John the Baptist; Texts: Ps 85 (1-6) 7-13; Isaiah 40:1-5; Acts 13:13-26; Luke 1:57-80; Title: The Light Will Shine; Rev. Tim Beck

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Have you seen a gray, overcast day suddenly become a glorious theatre of sunbeams and color? Have you seen how Scripture’s saints for the most part led ordinary lives, until into the daily routine heaven breaks in like a sunrise? Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. What could be more normal than that? Only, it wasn’t so simple. Pregnant Elizabeth was past childbearing years, and her husband was mute by divine cause: he doubted an angel’s God sent message, so was clap-trapped. Things were not ordinary, even if carried along in ordinary ways; nevertheless, people got used to mute Zachariah and pregnant Elizabeth, like we too get used to going to church, hearing God’s Word, receiving the Holy Sacraments. How dull can we be when we have reason to rejoice! And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 

          For what reasons did they rejoice? Consider the importance of childbearing in that age, in most ages. Not only did your future depend on it, children are a blessing. Children are a blessing, not a curse or inconvenience. Those with many children were not shunned like today, but respected because children are God’s blessing. People wondered about Zack and Liz, “why don’t they have kids, what’s wrong with them, what sin in them, and her husband’s a priest?”  Then after giving up hope, she has a child. But this is not just about having a baby, there’s more. The “more” is the real reason to rejoice. The Lord magnified Elizabeth. He showed great mercy, he made her conspicuous… which is what this word for “show” means. Beyond the size of her tummy, beyond her safe birth is the show of mercy attached to this birth like an umbilical cord never meant to be cut. Folks couldn’t imagine what was really taking place. But the grey clouds were bursting with color and majesty. (I wonder how many happenings in our lives are actually divine appointments. How does the Lord use the tangled skein of our days to embroider his tapestry?) So Zechariah and Elizabeth act in the ordinary fashion, yet a fashion full of promise… And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called.

          Elizabeth is not only delighted with the child, she sees the babe through God’s promise. How do we know that? The couple had the boy circumcised on the eighth day. They believed the promise attached to circumcision, as did all true Israelites. Further, they called the boy by the name given by God. Ordinarily he’d be named after his father; and Zechariah is a good name. Zechariah means “the Lord remembers.” That’s a mighty message, a clear confession and a powerful anticipation.  When we wait for the Lord’s promises what do we say to each other? Do we stare at the wall with blank looks? No, we say “the Lord remembers.” When we are in need we say He remembers. He remembers to save when we go down with the ship. He remembers to give life when we are dying. “Zechariah” means the Lord remembers so that we remember the Lord remembers, so that we remember to say the Lord remembers and to say what the Lord remembers.  In your needs, what is it the Lord remembers? He remembers you according to the promise. As for the child’s name, Elizabeth obeys Zechariah and says what the angel said “His name is John.”  Actually, she said “His name shall be John.” She said it in the future tense, not because the ceremony was about to happen; rather,   the future points out the name is a promise. In a future way she “remembers” what this child shall be, what he shall accomplish in the wilderness before his head is lopped off into a basket.  He shall be called John because the Lord remembers; He remembers the meaning of the name Zechariah. The child shall be called John - from the Hebrew word “God has been gracious.” God has been gracious, past tense. The promise is fulfilled in John.

          From our Lord’s perspective, everything is taken care of. He’s done it all, taken care of it all.  For example, when our Lord’s last word was uttered, “tetelestai,” meaning “it is finished,” it was    finished.  Our redemption was complete, and we in God’s eye are complete. As to the claim that John’ s day reached into the past and into the future, folks had their doubts, so they asked the head of the house, Zechariah, “what is your will?” Zechariah remembers and he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. In part, they wondered because Zechariah gives up naming his son after him. That was really important in those days. That’s how family lines kept going. They wonder more because Zechariah gives up an ordinary good for the extraordinary, something only faith can see. He writes “God has been gracious.” The folks wonder not only at breaking custom, they marvel at the promise. The Lord God has fulfilled the covenant to Israel… so Zechariah prophesies. Has he really done that in the hour of baby circumcision blood? Is the Lord really so near in what looks so ordinary but is attached to a promise, like baptism and the Lord’s Supper?  Is the Lord near to you always? In His gifts is heaven closer to you than earth? Is He really dwelling in you who believe? That is indeed extraordinarily gracious.

          And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God.  And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him. Who understands the fullness of that promise, of the eternal surrounding us in our day to day struggles? There is a glimpse through clouds now and then. There is the resurrection, there is the crucifixion, and Zechariah spoke. We notice that miracle in our text. But the Scripture’s grammar points to something other than the miracle as most important. Namely, He blessed God. Zechariah announced God’s grace is here; he lifted up the name of the mighty one. He remembered Him who remembers. In that ordinary moment faith saw heaven and earth united, as in the song of the Sanctus, the Triune God’s eternal praises before the Throne. It’s like the glory of the Lord shining round about and the shepherds trembling. It’s like the glory of the crucifixion and the disciples trembling behind locked doors. It is a holy fear. This fear Zechariah mentions literally, it “dwells on those about.” Where is the rejoicing now? Is it overcome by our unworthiness – by sin’s shadow revealed by the light of God’s glory?  Yes and no.

          Being blessed by God is not easy. Perhaps for sinners to be blest by God is like having a child (so I’m told)? The pangs, the pains, the moments of agony from the law’s condemnation, then the great joy when a new life is laid upon the mother’s breast. Yes, God has been gracious – “John.”  God has been gracious so that we do not fear. Yes, we pass through trials, including the pangs of death to say “the Lord remembered. He has been gracious indeed!” He blesses us and we rejoice – we are blessed, and through our trials we learn to bless God in holy fear that turns to joy. That’s why we listen attentively to the promise, to what the priest Zechariah prophesied about the God who remembers to be gracious.   We listen to an ordinary gray-bearded mouth sent by the Ancient of Days, the everlasting, the Alpha and Omega. And his father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying, “Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David, as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old…

          He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was to put it rather strangely, literally, “accomplished” by the Holy Spirit. He delivered exactly what God intended to say. He prophesied… giving words that continue forever… so the grammar implies. He remembers to praise the Lord God of Israel because God visited His people. That could be terrifying! Only Zechariah remembers the name John. The Lord remembers our need of grace. There is joy. He redeemed His people, simple past tense. Heaven is opened, the glory revealed, the clouds beam, gleaming. He redeemed, that is ransomed, washed the guilt away, opened the mercy seat and atoned for His people. We hear the words, do we realize how extraordinary? The words are wonderful, to us who know the slavery of sin, the bondage to the devil, the things you do you that do not want to do. The worlds are marvelous, to us who know mental anguish, fear death, and are mortal, fallible, often troubled; for God remembers. He is gracious. He has done everything for you, “tetelestai,” it is finished. He has raised up a horn of salvation, of deliverance for us. This is announced in John’s birth. He completed what was promised to David about a shoot of Jesse that is yet the root of Jesse: As he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old… Literally from of ages, from eternity, forever.

          It’s not just that the prophets spoke long ago; they spoke from of old… from the Alpha, even as Elizabeth says “shall be” speaking in reference to the Omega, the beginning and the end. The Word of God has always been and is always being and shall be. At times it appears like light through the clouds, a sun burst, the Son’s death, the blinding resurrection, the ascension light, our Lord’s rule, “tetelestai.” God remembers all this – His graciousness from Zechariah, to John, to you, to the Second Coming... that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us; to show the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.   

          You are promised paradise, and though at times in this life crushed; you shall be built up and established.  He “shows” mercy. In this expression He literally “does mercy”… to all who trust the promise past, believe the promise present and await the promise future. He remembers his holy covenant; God remembers to fulfill every promise from Adam to the end of time. He delivers us from our foes to deliver us to serve Him. Think on that a minute. It is fulfillment and joy… because it is service without fear. Where the law holds no threat, we are whole, having the righteousness of Christ. Where we are declared righteous, we are promised to see God’s face and beam in reflection. Clothed in Christ’s imputed righteousness, we shall be made truly righteous. Eden will be restored. This is what we celebrate in John’s nativity. And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High; for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways, to give knowledge of salvation to his people in the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, whereby the sunrise shall visit us  from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was in the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.

          So the Lord’s promises are fulfilled in the flesh.  So deliverance came with a child named John. He was the last prophet of the former covenant, pointing to God made man, our Saviour. John grew up as an ordinary child, disappeared into the wilderness, wore clothing unmistakable as Elijah’s and preached the final Old Testament sermon. His message becomes the new, repentance for the forgiveness of sin. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he prepared the way and gave knowledge. He declared “God remembers” and “God has been gracious,” preparing us for the name “Jesus,” which means Saviour.  John’s cousin according to the flesh broke open the gray clouds to let in heaven’s light and life, through the forgiveness of sin. Through the tender mercies of our God, sins are dismissed, prisoners released, the guilty pardoned, the bound liberated, and peace restored. This He has done for you, in ordinary ways joined to the promise that give the extraordinary.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Amen)

The Third Sunday of Trinity

June 17, 2012; 3^rd Sunday of Trinity; Texts: Ps. 1; Ezek. 17:22-24; 2 Cor. 5:1-10 (11-17); Mark 4:26-34; Title: Time to Trade in Your Clunker; Rev. Tim Beck

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

Let’s talk about aging. As Mr. Flores says, “It ain’t for sissies.”  You might even say, oh, that I was just a half-century old again. Meanwhile I say, if only my body was like my children. But they talk about physical hurts and weakness too, although they’re so young. This life’s a one way street.  From the day we are born we slowly pay the terrible price of sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, they brought death and futility into the world. Oh, That Adam and Eve! They bit the apple and our teeth ache. That is, those of us who still have teeth. Adam and Eve bit the apple, or whatever fruit it was, and we go on a munching too, children of Adam as we are.

          Being a child of Adam, the Apostle Paul knew about dying too. He also knew Jesus – and wished Jesus would return in his lifetime, so Paul would not die in the body.  On the other hand, Paul accepted decline unto death, not because it is so-called “natural,” since as God created the world death was un-natural; Rather, Paul viewed it through the central event of all history. He understood our universal weakness by that central event. He saw the healing of our weakness in that same event. He knew that event proves time is not a meaningless repetition of life to death, but moves toward a grand finale that is grand and final. Do you know what event I mean? Christ’s death and resurrection changes everything. It gives meaning to the darkest corner, 6’ under. We too shall rise. That’s why Paul confidently said if our earthly body should be destroyed, we have a building made by God.  If Christ returns while we live, he shall transform our bodies. If we die before He returns, He shall provide a body made not by Detroit but by God.

          That’s a wonderful promise, a promise originating not in myth or human opinion but in a divinely revealed truth grounded in a divinely powerful event. Jesus Christ died and rose. He promises we too shall rise, and He shall give us transformed bodies, heavenly buildings made by God, cured from sin’s curse… from death’s futility. New bodies await us, eternal in the heaven, like a new car in the showroom waiting for an owner to drive it off the lot. (Vs 2)  We still drive the old clunker. It rattles and shakes, coughs and lurches. Who knows if it’ll start in the morning?  As accustomed as we are to the old model, maintenance is not enough. We need a new car and a new kind of car. So we groan for the eternal model. (Vs 3) We wait for that day. We wait to be swallowed up by life. (Vs. 5) 

What a picture… death swallowed up by life, like a big bass gulping a minnow. That is God’s plan for those who trust in Him. It is going to happen! We will be swallowed up by life, by something bigger than death.  Like Jonah and the whale, like Jesus and the grave, like drowning in baptism, like nothing we’ve known yet like all we believe by faith, life will swallow death… so faith clings to the event: the defining event in all history, the purposeful event, the transforming event, the reconciling, redeeming and restoring event.

Faith clings to Him who swallowed up death by dying to proclaim this truth: if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. Faith clings to Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, who with the Father and the Spirit, one God, has a plan for our future, a restorative plan, a new life plan.

          Christian, even now while our body is receiving it’s punishment due to sin, he swallows up our dying with His life…  while we suffer afflictions in our body, and while we bear the cross of denying   our fleshly desires, our Lord renews us day by day, giving us life through the Holy Spirit, enlivening our spirit. He who forgave our sin also gives the benefits of that forgiveness. Or did He not fulfill the just requirement of the law for us? Or did He not declare us righteous because of the death of His Son? He did indeed justify sinners like you and me freely, so that we live. He works faith in your heart, hearing this marvelous word.         And faith receives salvation. Salvation gives many benefits, including the beginnings of spiritual renewal, participation in the righteousness of Jesus Christ our Lord. Sinners justified, blest with faith, are supplied with peace and life, God’s peace giving us confidence that He is our dear Father; our life-giver. To say it again, we were declared righteous while yet sinners, and then are given a share in the righteousness of Christ, a share in His life.  That means, not only do we share in His death in dying to sin, we also share in the power of His resurrection. The Holy Spirit abides in us. We have a promissory note in the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in us, a guarantee that the loan will go through, the new car will be ours. He’s like the title to the vehicle. We know this because the Word of God says so. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us by God.  Which things we also speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches: (I Cor. 2:12, 13a)

          There are other indicators too that the Holy Spirit works within us… chiefly, faith. There is also faith’s fruit of love. These, like frosting, indicate the cake is underneath. We thank God for faith and love, hope and joy, these being His gifts. We know He is working in our lives because these are present. At the same time, if we want confidence we don’t say the whole is in the frosting. We don’t pat ourselves on the back because faith and love are present. If we trust in the frosting, we’ll give into the temptation to say, “Ah, look what I’ve done” and the sin of pride is manifest. Or, we’ll look too closely at the quality of our faith and the quality of our love, the devil will point out the percentage of insect specks and hair in the frosting. And we’ll be downcast because of the impurity of our character and life. The law will condemn us. That’s the problem with being Adam’s offspring.  So let us daily repent our sin and return… to what? Not to ourselves for comfort, but to Christ crucified, risen and ascended. Listen to Him who says “forgiven.” Call on Him who gives life. We are simultaneously sinner and saint. In that condition we’re never good enough… but then again, we don’t have to be. Christ has done it all.

          That’s why we come to this Divine Service as often as possible, because we need to hear Him, the law for repentance and especially the gospel for faith. In our falling-apart bodies bearing the curse of sin we need to receive the cleansing of that curse through the life-giving Word with the Holy Spirit’s touch. We need to receive our Lord’s ascended body and blood in a Holy Communion with Him, hearing the promise “for the forgiveness of sin.” Here we are strengthened in faith, as He promises to be present and to help us. We are renewed with hope in the resurrection unto eternal life. Then despite, and to spite sin in us, we walk through faith, not through appearance.   Faith hears God’s Word in Baptism say we drowned to the Old Adam and his ways, raised to new life (see Rm. 6).   Faith tastes heavenly things from the altar of the Lord, sharing in fellowship with our Saviour; we who are His body, participating in His body and blood. And for the sake of Christ’s sufferings, our Father supplies hope through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. Both faith and hope are more than a longing for something better. They are a confidence that what we yearn for shall take place as promised. For example, what we cannot see today we shall see; namely we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is.

          That is why we wait eagerly for the Day of the Lord, and if we’re lucky, before we pass through the shadow of death into the brilliance of His light. Meanwhile, as saints who are also sinners, when discouraged, anxious or pained for resisting sin, we know where to look… to Christ crucified and risen. How do we look to our Saviour? How can we count the ways laid out for us in Scripture? Consider what we receive in the Divine Service:  we confess our sins and are absolved. We sing the Psalms that are both the church’s cry and promised help. We pray the creeds… confessing what we believe as we lay hold of Scripture’s promises.  We pray the Lord’s Prayer, knowing each petition is not only a request, but what the Father promises to answer. We hear the Word of the Lord that gives what He promises. The Holy Spirit applies that word to us. We remember the promises given us by God in Holy Baptism, and call upon our Lord to fulfill them. We confess Christ’s death, receiving His very body and blood under bread and wine for forgiveness of sin, life and salvation. In these ways we receive what the Son of God made man accomplished; He who shares all our afflictions and temptations, made like us in His death and raised from the dead.

          We shall follow Him, raised in the same way. When He visibly returns in glory, we will receive new bodies, incorruptible, eternal. Death will be swallowed up in life. The Holy Spirit assures us God’s promises are yes and yes when baptism placed the title of life into your hands. You’re almost to the showroom now! (Vs. 6) Believer, you will pass through mortality to receive the fullness of life. 

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Amen)

The Second Sunday of Trinity

June10. 2012; 2nd Sunday of Trinity; Texts: Ps 130; Gen 3:8-15; 2 Cor 4:13-5:1; Mark 3:20-35; Title: the refutation refuted for the promise preserved. Rev. Tim Beck

Grace, Mercy, and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ

For those of you who know Pastor Jordan, he sent me an editorial from his local paper. He was called a religious terrorist. Why? He said only those who believe in Jesus Christ as the Savior will be saved. For that he was called a terrorist, along with “small minded, odious, repugnant, offensive and proud.” Rev. Jordan laughed, because he’s in good company, sharing company with Jesus. Jesus was called crazy… by his family. They said “He is out of his mind.”  That’s what his mother and brothers said when He didn’t take time to eat while caring for others, his face set toward Jerusalem.

Does being called crazy ring a bell? Do any in your family think you’re off-kilter because of a Jesus-thing? Have you suffered a blow to your reputation because you’re a Christian? And reputation is important. For example, a legal delegation from Jerusalem came to speak about Rabbi Jesus. They gave an official verdict into the ears of the people. “He is demon-possessed. He is in league with the devil.”  That’s a classic approach to destroy someone. For example, we know elections are near by the degree slander is spat out. If you convince enough folks the opponent is mad, immoral, or a liar you win - though the winner loses before God. What had Jesus done to be called mad, immoral, and a liar like the devil? What has Mark’s gospel told us about Jesus so far?

          When Jesus was baptized the Holy Spirit descended on Him and the Father said, “You are my beloved Son.” Soon after He was tempted by the devil, remained faithful, and began preaching “the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent and believe in the gospel.”  He called the disciples to become fishers of men. He taught with authority and commanded unclean spirits to depart. His fame spread everywhere.  He healed Peter’s mother-in-law of a fever. He healed many of diseases. He healed a leper, and could no longer enter public places without being thronged. He healed a paralytic, saying “My son, your sins are forgiven;” and was called a blasphemer by the scribes (the religious attorneys). He ate with sinners as the Great Physician, for which the Pharisees’ scribes condemned him. He didn’t fast according to their traditions, or follow their scribal impositions upon the Torah. And He claimed “the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Then He healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath; and the Pharisees and Herodians counseled how to destroy him. Now they try to destroy Him… by destroying His reputation.  You’ve seen this happen.

          Did you read in the papers about 4 years ago, Alaska’s Representative Stephens was charged by the Feds with corruption and his reputation ruined? Did you hear a few months ago it came out the prosecution knowingly withheld evidence that Stephens was innocent… but too late for Stephens, he lost the election on the basis of that ruinous charge (and died in an airplane crash some months after). Reputation matters if you want to be believed, if you want contribute, to be useful and be thought worthy of living. (Oh Lord, help us keep the 8^th commandment!) Now a powerful group of men set out to destroy Jesus by destroying his reputation. (From this Lord, deliver us!) After all, who wants to follow the devil?

          Does Jesus allow those in his hearing to believe the scribes? Does He allow the scribes to believe their accusations? What does Jesus do? He refutes the refutation for a good reason: He wants the promise preserved for faith in the promise. Because it matters to Jesus if those hearing Him get disenchanted and think He is enchanted by Beelzebul.  It matters to Jesus that people believe him, and follow him even if they too will be called the same names. It matters not for popularity’s sake – though Jesus is out to win followers, ones who do his will because His will is right.  It matters because His will is God’s will. His will leads to life.  The will of those who want the wrong lead to death; injustice exacts a terrible cost… always.

          Why does Jesus refute error? His will is that all come to the knowledge of the truth. Therefore He defends the truth. He speaks the truth. (By the way, contrary to this generation’s worldly motto, there is truth.) How does He deal with a lie? He refutes error by applying the law, by applying the law for the purpose of repentance. That’s why He refutes the refutation of His character, his purpose, and person. He does not want any to go to hell. He knows to be saved one must believe in the truth. And Jesus said “I am the way, the truth, the life.” How does he refute? “You say I’m demon possessed? If I cast out demons that means Satan is against himself. The devil destroys his kingdom? How foolish is that? You say I’m under the power of the Liar? Then why do I destroy the destroyer? How can I cast out demons? Just whose side are you on?” Jesus points out what the slander of these attorneys imply. He points out whose side they are on. They are in league to destroy Jesus. The scribes refute Jesus by calling Him the devil’s ally. Then Jesus refutes their refutation to preserve faith in His promises… to preserve the faithful He sustains faith in those listening to Him.

          And Jesus’ confession agrees with what He does. All agree: He casts out demons; He sets captives free. He casts out those set against God, set against the human race, whose goal is to bind, to hurt, to murder. And all admit the devil is strong. Yet who casts out demons, setting the children of our fallen race free?  Who alone has power over the devil except the Creator, the Living God? Who, when he was baptized was announced by the Father as His only Son, and who in becoming man, took our sins upon Him to justly forgive them? Who came to give life? The crowd around Jesus came to receive healing, freedom from demons, and peace with God; and they did. Jesus preaches the kingdom of God. “Repent and believe in the gospel.” Jesus is the gospel, releasing the captive, setting the slave free, forgiving the sinner because God in the crucified flesh is our redeemer, our deliverer. That’s why Jesus refutes the refuters, for the sake of faith in the promise, for faith in the gospel, the gospel which the Holy Spirit applies to our hearts, saying, “This gift is for you.”

          And that tells us what blasphemy against the Holy Spirit is. It is what the scribes do, along with the reason they do it – to reject faith in Jesus as the Christ. Who proves he is under the power of the devil except all who reject the one who freely delivers us from the devil? Who blasphemes the Holy Spirit’s work, but like the devil, the one who persists in hostility toward God? To be against Jesus is to be against the Holy Spirit and to be for the devil. That sounds intolerant, but it is the truth. You know where this kind of talk got Jesus. Yes, he ably refuted the slander against him, refuting those who called Him a liar, immoral and mad. Nevertheless, those same people put him on a cross… so that His mercy might extend to all, including these scribes; for there the Father forgave them. Jesus’ family called Him mad because of His great love for sinners. And He was mad with love… to die for all, to forgive the children of our fallen race… except one sin: continually, consistently, until death, rejecting Jesus as the Redeemer; saying “I have no need of your forgiveness!”   That’s why Jesus clearly says what is true, and by the truth invites the scribes to repentance and faith.

They know right from wrong, but will they believe it? Or will they continue to call Jesus “small minded, odious, repugnant, offensive and proud?” That’s what Pastor Jordan was called because he spoke the truth. Jesus is the only Saviour of the world.  So like Jesus, the faithful are called bad names. Yet we will be saved if we hold fast to Jesus, the world’s redeemer. And Jesus, who refuted the refuters to preserve the promise, fills the faithful with hope. Jesus holds fast to us. He remains faithful.

          To the people who so crowded him that his family couldn’t get close enough to rebuke Him for His mad love - He says, “Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does the will of God, he is my brother and sister and mother.” And what is the will of God? What were these folks doing? They were sitting at the feet of Jesus. They listen to him and they believe Him. That is the will of God, faith in Jesus is the fulfillment of God’s will on earth.  We are saved by grace through faith alone. Those who believe the gospel are those whom Jesus calls “my mother, my brothers.” That’s why Jesus refutes the refuters, so that those who believe the promise are joyfully, until we receive all that belongs to faith. That’s also why the church refutes errors until Christ returns; and is called small minded, not to mention legalistic and other superlatives.

          The Liar, the immoral and fighting-mad devil is to be refuted, though it means the faithful share in Christ’s sufferings.  As our Lord is blasphemed, so those who sit at his feet share the same reputation in the world. Like Master, like servant. For example, did you read April’s edition of the Lutheran Witness, especially the Synodical President’s report? Testifying before congress, Rev. Harrison spoke for the church against government agencies aiming to force religious institutions to violate conscience. Harrison said “The bologna came fast and furious… My photo (with four other clergy on the panel) was shown far and wide and used by political opportunists with the most vile of rhetoric.  The caption: ‘The Church does not care about women.’ No argument in the hearing was truly heard. In fact, our antagonists weren’t even in the room. They were busy running out and grabbing the next sheet of talking points to lob the next grenade. Regrets? None… (he said) I was delighted to be ridiculed by the world. And I am especially delighted to know that precisely through cross, trial and ill-report, God works His good things. Count on it.” (LW April 2012, p1)

          Rev. Harrison refuted the refutation in the fashion of our Redeemer.  As our Lord suffered and died to win the victory over the devil then rose from the dead to insure our eternal life, so the church follows in the way of the cross... unto life.  The church that believes follows, confident the promises of our Lord are true, relying on Him who died for sinners.  What follows, as in our Epistle reading: Since we have the same spirit of faith according to what has been written, “I believed, and so I spoke,” we also believe, and so we also speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence. Following our Lord, the church refutes those who refute her Lord to preserve the promise, and by the work of the Holy Spirit, faith remains with hope. The faithful will live forever with our Saviour. Jesus Christ is the Redeemer and Saviour of the world.

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus our Lord.