Resurrection Sunday: Job 19:23-27

March 31, 2013; Resurrection Sunday, Psalm 118:15-29; Job 19:23-27; I Corinthians 15:12-25; Mark 16:1-8; Title: The Hope that Conquers; Rev. Tim Beck

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

R: He is Risen, alleluia!         
C: He is Risen Indeed, alleluia!

Our text: Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:23-27)

           

What Christ accomplished is manifest. He is declared victorious. He rose, alleluia!  We who believe in Christ will rise to everlasting life as He promised. This is our hope, a confidence set against everything to the contrary.  And the contrary is all too common. Who wants to hear about the common on Resurrection Sunday?  We don’t want to hear about everyday life or should we say everyday dying? But it is our experience. We daily experience cost, loss, decline as much as we fight against it. Job’s cry comes to our lips, my heart faints within me! We try our best to not be fainting, beaten, broken. So we go to the gym, or buy a Red Bull, and when that doesn’t do it, we use cosmetics and liposuction. But Job’s heart is our heart even if we don’t want to admit it.  The odd thing about resurrection Sunday is, because you admit it, you’re here today.

            Today is the glad announcement that death does not get the victory shout. There is a louder trumpet, a sweeter sound, a full and rich tune. There is a liberating fanfare of joy, of life restored. Where sin, death, and the devil drove the Ford escort, we will be translated to a V-16, 9 liter engine. Even before that day, Job, a man who lost everything, had a song. His vast wealth was lost, his children dead, his body diseased, and his wife mocked “curse God and die.” Talk about problems at home. His best friends mourned his sorry lot with him, Job in rags, sitting in a pile of ashes, scrapping his sores. They wanted to comfort him, to explain things, to make it better. And when Job asked, why did this happen to me?  I fear God! They answered “It must be your fault. What have you done to make God so angry?” No wonder Job’s heart fainted within him… well almost, almost fainted. Something kept him going, someone, some hope, some sure promise.

            “Oh that my words were written! Oh that they were inscribed in a book! Oh that with an iron pen and lead they were engraved in the rock forever!” He had something worth writing down. Not the litany of his woes or the accusations of his friends, but a liturgy of hope. He has something to say, despite everything that said the opposite. His heart full, what will he write, and not just on the common materials of his day, on a clay tablet or papyrus, something that will crack, wash away, or rot? What does he want chiseled out of solid rock, the lettering filled in with lead, to last forever, as long as there are people to read it? What does Job want put on what reminds us of a tombstone? He wants something that will outlast his writing, even on engraved rock. For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!”

            This is what keeps Job going, why Job keeps waiting for his Lord’s help. This hope is for you too, what Job declared so long ago. He looked forward to events at which we look back. We don’t even know when this Old Testament man wrote his story, perhaps on cuneiform tablets, or papyrus, or sheepskin. Perhaps Job’s history is from the time of King Solomon, 1,000 B.C.; or perhaps earlier, in the days of Abraham, near 2,000 B.C. His story endured, coming to us from over 3,000, perhaps 4,000 years ago. And Job speaks of earlier promises made to our kin, near the dawn of time. Job speaks of hope given to real people beloved by their Creator, and not only beloved, also redeemed. Job knows, not by the sick feeling in his gut or by his failing sight or the trembling in his diseased hands. He knows by the promise, a promise only faith can receive.

            That word was enough to lift Job up. And we have so much more. We have not only Job’s clear words; we have the prophets, the history of Israel. We have the superb records of eyewitness, of the apostles, authenticated accounts telling us what they saw: He is risen!  Jesus Christ, the Lamb for sinners slain. He, who by the prophetic word, was born, suffered, and died as our redemption price, rose. You heard one eyewitness account this morning. The women who first saw it could not believe their ears or eyes. And if we read the other resurrection accounts, we discover his closest disciples, Peter and John, did not believe at first either. Then when Jesus appeared before the 12 disciples, they madly cried out “ghost!” That’s didn’t change the fact, He is risen as He said. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.  But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”  (Mk 16: 6, 7)

            Despite our unbelief, fears, cowardice, rebellion, and blindness, Jesus did all He promised to do for us, and sealed it with His living body.  Is there anything He cannot do for you?  So Job, told years before these things took place, believed the promises of God. And in his trouble, knew he had a future. What a difference that made! For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.  He, and you, have a Redeemer, one who bought us back from decline, from death, from the cause of death, from our common condition. We have a redeemer who exchanged our sin, our rebel stain with his righteousness, so that we might call the Living God “our Father.”  Our redeemer purchased our lives by spilling His blood. We have a redeemer who gives life in place of death.  This is Job’s hope, and the hope of every believer. Our Redeemer will again stand upon the earth, at the last. At the last of time, on the Day of Judgment, at the doorway to eternity, on the threshold of paradise, Jesus Christ will return to apply the Redemption.            He already completed all things, though we who believe wait a little longer to receive all things. With Job, our hearts may be full with the troubles of this life, but Christ will come. He will rule, He will vanquish death, He will banish evil, He will re-create and restore.  It will not be a cosmetic liposuction. It will not be back to the gym to combat what you cannot win.  Jesus, the Lamb of God, won, and will restore what you lost. He will give you the fullness of his righteousness. You will see God and live. You will live, no disembodied vapor, no spiritual glop, but your body will become what it was created to be, with the whole of you. Job rightly says, And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God. Job knows… Job believes he, who because of sin cannot see God and live shall see with his eyes, the Living God because of Christ.

            Sitting in ashes, having lost all near and dear, his faith mocked by his wife, his friends accusing and God silent: Job hopes. He has a Redeemer, one who lives and will impart life to him. Soon too the women who at first ran away were changed by the mercy of God. They too believed, by the power of the resurrection, by the work of the Holy Spirit opening hearts. Their emotions and earthly reasoning that the dead do not rise passed away. They believed that the death of Christ is the gift of eternal life. God is far more powerful than our despair. His promises cannot fail; they even win our hearts. The women heard what they soon believed: Do not be alarmed, do not be greatly amazed… He is risen. Christ cannot be conquered by the devil, death, or sin. His specialty is to do the impossible. Job believes so He receives. He looks forward to whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me!

            His heart is full. Yes, he feels grief over all he lost and suffers. But that is not the only thing filling his heart. There is also a confident hope, a blessed joy, a certain expectation of a glorious future. His Redeemer shall stand upon the earth on the last day, and Job shall see it with His eyes. And you will too. He is risen, alleluia. He is risen indeed, Alleluia.

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

Palm Sunday: Matthew 26:1-27:66

March 24; Palm/Passion Sunday; Texts: Psalm 118:19-29; Zechariah 9:9-12; Philippians 2:5-11; Matthew 26:1-27:66; Title: Hosanna, Lord, Save!  Rev. Tim Beck

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

Today we victoriously waved our palms because Jesus rode into Jerusalem.  He entered on a donkey as a king coming in peace. When he entered the people went wild. They hailed him as their king, their deliverer, shouting hosanna, Lord save! There is an attraction to Jesus, and there is also something we truly need him for. Today, so that we receive what we truly need, hear the Apostle John’s words: He came unto his own, and his own received him not (Jn 1:11).

          Receiving Him is not just accepting the facts of the historical Jesus; it is also to ask, do I receive him as He is?  In His day many people wished for a Saviour, a “Jesus” from Caesar and Herod. They wanted personal freedom and political independence. They resented a foreign emperor and the Idumean’s taxes. If only Jesus knocked them silly and took charge… imitating them.  Do we want this kind of Jesus? But Jesus did not enter Jerusalem on a war charger. Heaven’s king did not establish an earthly throne, even if Peter wished it when he cut off the chief priest’s servant’s ear four days later. Jesus served his servants and washed their feet like a slave, saying follow me. Is not Jesus the glorious king, the best king, who bids us into His holy kingdom? Let us repent living just for the temporal kingdom.

          He came unto his own, and his own received him not (Jn 1:11). Second, do we receive Jesus for what we want of him, not for what He wants for us, that is, for the best things? Shortly before Palm Sunday Jesus fed a multitude of hungry people; but when folks tried to force Jesus to be a bread king (Jn 6:35) they received him not.  Yes, we pray He supplies daily bread, house, home, spouse, fields, cattle, and all our goods; but life is more than what we eat, drink and wear. Life is much more than so called “quality of life.” Jesus fasted; we too may deny ourselves something of this world during Holy Week, to remember who gives daily bread, and to hunger for the bread of life. Is not Jesus the glorious king, the best king, who bids us to enter a holy kingdom? Let us repent our lack of trust that He cares for our earthly needs.

          He came unto his own, and his own received him not (Jn 1:11). Third, will we bear the cost of following heaven’s king? Pilate knew Jesus told the truth. He was no danger to the kings of this world. But Pilate rejected the eternal to preserve a short political career. Jesus gave His life for the world, that all might receive an abiding fellowship with God as “our Father.” Is not Jesus the glorious king, the best king who gives us His holy kingdom? Let us repent our fear to speak for God.

          He brought heaven’s peace to earth, God’s good will to sinners. He bids us enter the eternal, the whole, the pure. Jesus brought what transcends our sinful, temporal, and self-centered existence. Jesus brings the kingdom of heaven, the rule of love and life without end or measure.  Oh, what a glorious and good king! And Jesus, the crucified, the Pascal Lamb, the risen king of heaven also reigns over the things on earth; and He will see you through. Knowing how little our faith, He gives us crosses to bear in the earthly kingdom that we cry out to him, and lay hold of the promise of an eternal kingdom. Knowing how anxious we are about the necessities of daily life, He tests us to show where security lies. Knowing how easily we compromise, he teaches faithfulness and gives the means to strengthen us daily. The Son of God became man so that you and I inherit the kingdom of God even in our bodies.  Jesus said, for this I have come into the world.  Jesus is the glorious and good king who through obedient suffering was raised to the highest authority (Phil 2).

          King Jesus applies the healing salve of His death to you; for after He kills us by the law He raises us by grace. Grace is like monarchs of yore who extended their scepter to rebels that they might but touch it and live. Jesus’ scepter is forgiveness, and takes the form of body and blood, of water and word, of glad proclamation of pardon extended to you. The rightful king of heaven answers your cry, Hosanna, Lord Save! And He seats us at His feast, feeding us the bread of life so that we reign with Him, sharing His heavenly glory.

          Behold He who reveals the glory of heaven upon the futility of the cross. Behold, He calls you to faith, because He also reigns on earth.  On earth, He reigns in humility until His return, so that sinners receive divine pardon, to enter the enduring kingdom. On earth Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, the king coming in peace. He came for you, to answer this prayer, “hosanna, Lord save!”

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

5th Sunday in Lent: Hebrews 9:11-15

March 17, 2013: 5^th Sunday in Lent (Judica); Texts: Psalm 43; Genesis 22:1-14; Hebrews 9:11-15; John 8: 46-59; Title: No More Dead Works; Rev. Tim Beck

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

We continue our annual Lenten pilgrimage toward Christ’s passion and resurrection. Next Sunday is Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday. That week includes Passover Thursday when our Lord’s replaced one promise with its fulfillment - His own Supper, with Holy Communion in Him. The next day is Good Friday, when our Holy Lord took upon Himself all our pollution; and then the Resurrection. This is the destination of our Lenten pilgrimage.

          And we are not the first to walk toward the Promised Land. Take for example our Epistle reading from Hebrews. It returns us to the Egypt, then into the wilderness and then into the Promised Land. The book is well named “Hebrews.” It speaks to the tribe of Israel, the people of the book, those given God’s meeting place, the Tabernacle. This book connects us to what the Tabernacle signified and supplied. And what is that? The crucial issue back then, enduring to this day is: How can a defiled people become cleansed and sanctified? How can we be accepted by the Holy? That question our human race cannot answer apart from Divine Revelation; for who can speak for God unless sent by Him? Holiness does not start with man, but comes from God, even before we became a fallen race.

          Through the rituals of the tabernacle that gift was what the Living God provided the Hebrews, giving grace and yet promising something greater. As one commentator summarizes: by these rites “God purified and sanctified every common person and thing that was properly admitted into his presence… God’s holiness gave life to the ritually clean, but for the ritually unclean His holiness was death dealing.” (Kleinig, Leviticus, p7) Becoming uncommon, being cleansed, becoming holy are serious matters. They are matters a Living God solved for a common, unclean, polluted people. He gave them cleansing in complex rituals, a life for a life to wash away transgression, to purify, to enter God’s presence. That’s what the Living God did for the spiritually dead and dying, all the time planning something better, something complete.

          And Hebrews tells us Jesus Christ is better than all that was formerly given. He fulfilled and replaced all that foreshadowed him. He cleanses and makes us holy by His blood sacrifice. Our passage from Hebrews concludes: Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. To say it in a wordy-way: “He is and forever remains the Peace-restorer through a new testament, since a death occurred for ransoming and redeeming them from the transgressions committed at the time of the first testament, in order that, they who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

          The God-sent remedy is Jesus. He made peace between a holy God and a defiled people. Since the beginning of Creation no one has kept the law. Since nearly the beginning of the Creation the Holy God provided another way of righteousness. He promised the coming Christ, the gift of righteousness; and fashioned the Old Testament as a pattern to foreshadow Him. The former testament was never meant to be the final testament. So Jesus established a lasting peace between the Holy God and a polluted people. He completed the pardon of sinners that we become a purified, uncommon people. He established a New Testament by His death that gives the benefits of that death. So we gather to hear and receive His last will and testament, soon to eat from it. For Christ’s death bought us freedom from the law’s condemnation and all that separated us from the Holy. He gave us the New Testament, a fulfilled and fulfilling promise of holiness and life. His promise is not like the old, requiring constant repetition, but it is eternal, it is the inheritance of righteousness.  Yes, we gather each week and hear what was given us for all time, for we need to hear and re-hear the terms of the testament. We need to continually hear not because it is not ours, but we need continual encouragement to believe that eternal pledge. Like a wife who needs the husband to say again and again, “I love you,” or like the son, daughter, parent, needing to hear the same. So we weekly eat from a banquet spread out for eternity, a banquet of fellowship with God as Father.

          And this testament promising incomprehensible glory is for us now, for daily life, that we learn how God sees us. Due to our weaknesses, our many sins, our failures, we need so often to hear how our Lord sees us through the New Testament. Through Jesus Christ, the Holy God regards you as righteous. And He sends the Holy Spirit that you may begin to live in that righteousness. He disciplines you as sons that you learn to walk in what He has given you. And He returns you to the temple of His Son’s body, having forgiven all your sins.  Christian, does this help you deal with that crucial issue found among all peoples on earth? How can a defiled people be accepted by the Holy? And, how can we live as a holy people? …how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. To say it in a wordy way, “how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit, who sacrificially offered himself without blemish, clean and holy and on our behalf to God… cleanse, heal, and purify our conscience from dead works to a worshipful service of the living, the ongoing, the eternal God.”

          Consider well what Jesus did to cleanse your conscience, so that you are confident that you please the Holy God, and offer acceptable service through Christ. If God is like a fastidious house cleaner who wipes away any speck on a gleaming porcelain sink, what hope have we before the brilliant purity of God? If we look at ourselves apart from Christ, what hope do we have of cleansing? However, if we receive the washing Jesus Christ accomplished, what hope we have to in glory shine!  So don’t follow the pattern of our fallen race to cleanse the defiled conscience. Some run from conscience saying, “There is nothing is wrong with me.” Some try to kill the conscience as a remedy.  But our uncleanness finds us, even in dreams. Some try for peace by obeying God’s law, and failing that create substitute laws in a vain hope of purity. Some flagellate themselves, some try penance, or wish to earn God’s approval by cheering the present “pop” sound-bite, “100% commitment.” Some pastors use psychological manipulation to induce spiritual feelings as if that is holiness. Some forbid food, drink, and gifts God gave to be enjoyed; and outside what people call church can you count the methods to wipe away the stain? Not to depreciate their proper use not to deny their value for many things: why for guilt, the psychologist? Why for uncleanness the therapist?  Why for the stain, institutions that deny the name of God? Understand what I mean: for cleansing, these are dead works. They are dead because they cannot purify. They are dead because the Holy God does not receive them. The first testament told us so.

          “God purified and sanctified every common person and thing that was properly admitted into his presence… for the ritually unclean it was death dealing and detrimental. For the ritually clean, the effect of God’s holiness was life-giving.” Dead works still defile, as do all works apart from Christ. But one cleansed by the blood of Christ is restored to holiness and therefore life. You are freed from knocking on wood, from spilling salt over your shoulder; from self-inflicted wounds to make the darkness go away.  You are freed from being driven to earn God’s acceptance; you are freed from the tyranny of making a sow’s ear into a silk purse. Holiness is not yours, but it is Christ’s. For Christ’s sake God the Father regards you as holy, as cleansed, as sufficient. And those cleansed in Christ, God regards what we do in faith as a good work. The Creator regards even the smallest service to neighbor done in faith, your washing dishes, taking out the trash, paying your taxes, going to church… even after fighting with your spouse, as a good work.

          Although what we do is never pure in itself, the Holy God sees you as washed in the blood of Christ. And if you want a superior example of a good work, here it is: confession of sin is a good work, because it is not done to earn God’s favor but to receive it. In short, it’s not about you; it is all about what Christ did for you. And that is liberating. It is the message of Lent, why we confess our sins, for Christ was sacrificed on our behalf. His death ransomed and redeemed you, delivering you from the law’s condemnation, for freedom’s sake. He cleansed us by the water and the blood, restoring us by His real presence. Fellowship with the Living God is ours.

             

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

4th Sunday in Lent: John 6:1-15

March 10, 4^th Sunday in Lent (Laetare); Texts: Ps 132: 8-18; Ex 16:2-21; Gal 4:21-31; John 6:1-15; Title: How Fright Becomes Faith; Rev. Tim Beck

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

You’ve met Miss., Mrs. and Mr. Gullible. They believe anything if you say it with a straight face. Of course we know better. That’s why we believe the promises of attractive, articulate politicians. That’s why we favor a carefully advertised product. That’s why a defense attorney selects us for the jury box. That’s why we tell fishing stories and use statistics. But even a gullible has a limit, like when 12 year old Sammy discovers Santa’s outfit in dad’s closet. But when it comes to Jesus, we’re born skeptics even if it is painfully obvious who He is. When it comes to Jesus, not believing is the superstition, wish, and fantasy.

          When it comes right down to it, that’s the way we are… for who really wants the government to stop spending money it doesn’t have? When it comes to the Living God, who really wants to be told they are wrong, and that they are sinners? Who automatically says that the most beautiful scene and most powerful event ever - is Christ crucified? That’s the gullible nature of unbelief, what Scripture describes and the church calls “original sin.”  We’re born with a nature rejecting the true God.  We want to close our eyes to the obvious and say “it’s not for me;” for faith is more than knowledge; it is trust. 

For example, Judas confessed before the high priest that Jesus was          righteous, meaning he is the Son of God. But he didn’t trust Jesus was that for him. On the other hand, Peter betrayed Jesus and also felt bitter sorrow. Unlike Judas, Peter received the words of forgiveness spoken by His Lord. What a difference that made! Judas committed suicide. Peter fed Jesus’ lambs, serving Christ as chief among the Apostles. Peter believed Jesus, received what Jesus promised, and was enabled to bear a cross, enduring even crucifixion like his master.

          Mere intellectual assent won’t go there – only an abiding trust that Jesus is who He says He is for you, for me, can receive such strength. But this faith is what we by nature flee, misunderstand, fear, and doubt, saying, “How can anything so costly, so good be given me? How can this be true: For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Cor 5:21, ESV). I remember what I said to my wife an hour ago, or to my parents last night, or to my friend, or to myself... and what I’ve done. How can I be the righteousness of God?” Yet the Triune God declares it is true, for you. Through Christ’s death, you are declared the righteousness of God. Your sins are forgiven.  And so that you receive this gift, God works faith within you, His promises stirring up and strengthening us for a willing heart.      

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast (Gal 2:4-8, ESV).

          Faith is a divine work, by which you believe that He saved you and named you the righteousness of God. So you also believe that you are now seated with Christ in heavenly places. And that’s harder to believe then dad saying “Santa just leaves his beard in the closet until next December.”  But it is true, and that truth works faith within you. Christ rose from the dead, and so you believe by grace.

          It is not simply the facts, such as Scripture is reliable, the eyewitness accounts accurate and the ancient manuscripts exceptionally good. Even if Noah’s ark bumped against your eaves while the water was going up, up, up, mere facts are not enough to create a trust that boat was meant for you. Faith requires the Holy Spirit to work confidence in Christ for you. Faith is a divine work, and that fact is both frightening and very comforting. Let’s look at the context of today’s gospel reading. Context is important. Jesus just healed a paralytic on the Sabbath. In defending his act of healing against Pharisaic traditions he said something unbelievable, to sinners. He said in a Hebrew idiom that He was equal with God because God is His Father (John 5:18).  How did folks respond? Those who heard him planned to kill him. But what had he just done? What had he been doing? What had he been saying? What Scriptures had he been fulfilling?  There was plenty of evidence that Jesus is the Son of God, but folks chose unbelief. 

          Jesus said if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words (5:46, 47)?      Jesus spoke to folks who said they believed Moses. But they didn’t really believe Moses either, so dark is the human soul.  Then Jesus takes his disciples away and teaches them for the sake of faith. In the distance there’s a great crowd coming. They’ve seen Jesus’ signs. And some hours later Jesus says to Phillip, Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat? Jesus tests his disciples, showing them the nature of unbelief and the reality of faith. Do the disciples believe in Jesus? Yes!  They’ve acknowledged He is the Son of God. They call him the Messiah, the Christ. They left all and follow him. But, do they give the answer that proves they trust He can do all things? Do they say, “Lord, we shall see the glory of God?”  Instead we see an example that those who believe still struggle. We see an example of the sin that dwells in us, the darkness and blindness. The disciples answer reasonably, but not according to faith. They say even if Costco had a bakery here, it would cost more than we can pay. To feed them would take a miracle!  That is the weakness of our flesh, blind to what we confess, deaf to Jesus’ intent and mute in announcing confidence in the Lord.

          Jesus said, have the crowd sit down.  What will Jesus do, not only for the mouth but for the heart, for the whole person?  After Jesus feeds 5,000 men, not counting women and children, He stays behind and sends the disciples ahead in their boat. And when the disciples panic during a furious storm on the lake Jesus shows up. He’s walking on water and the disciples worship saying, “Truly you are the Son    of God!” No they don’t. They are terrified. Why should they fear after all that they just saw and heard?  As for the crowd, when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!”  They say He is the Prophet!  But what do they trust?  They want the Messiah to provide what Moses gave and more, manna with a kick. Popular Messianic expectation was for a political deliverer to kick out the Romans and restore a physical empire as in King David’s day, including lots to eat. As for food, in 2nd Baruch (29:8), a Jewish devotional writing penned near the time of Jesus, It shall come to pass … that the treasury of manna shall again descend from on high, and they will eat of it in those years.”  Folks wanted life, liberty and happiness; which of course includes lots to eat. But Moses said: Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, I am about to rain bread from heaven for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law or not. Did they pass the test?  Who hasn’t failed the test of trust in the true God? 

          On the other hand there’s something else in the context: Moses also taught about the Christ. And look what happened with the 70 elders of Israel: Sinners all, forgiven all, promised all, they received all. The covenant of grace was sealed with Israel by the elders eating in the presence of God.  Someone overcame faithlessness with grace, and there was faith, God’s miracle.  Do you believer, and I speak to believers now, do we not eat and drink Christ Himself? What does His word promise? We are children of the free woman - by faith, we who dwell in heavenly places, seated with Christ Jesus, who are in Him the righteousness of God.  We hear the promise, the Holy Spirit works trusts in the promise and we receive what is promised, even faith the size of a mustard seed. But unbelief is like the crowd of bread eaters who put their faith in bread, not the giver of bread. They aim to force Jesus to be King. Faith is not forcing God to be what you want Him to be. If only they listened to Moses. Then they would hear the law of God say what we’ve done to Santa Claus is make an idol of sentiment and greed. They would also hear what the grace of God did for sinners, forgiving that idolatry, so that we believe aright.

          For Moses leads us to repentance by the law, that we admit how blind we are to our own spiritual hopelessness, and how wrong. Perhaps then we will cry out for mercy. And what would we hear from Moses then? If only they listened to Moses. He then spoke of the Christ. Moses spoke of the pattern of the Christ to come in the 70 elders eating, in the sacrifices, in the Priesthood, and in the Passover for example. The Lamb’s blood caused death to pass over, by the grace of God. And the Passover lamb that the people ate marked those who ate as belonging to God.  By the grace of God we know the true Passover, the one of the cross. And by the grace of God we believe and eat and drink in the presence of God this very day. One God-given Passover freed Israel from slavery in Egypt. Now the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, and all of God’s gospel promises, free us from the slavery of unbelief. Christ the Lamb fed His people in the wilderness, and was a spring for the thirsty. He fed them manna and gave them drink not just for body, also for faith. He brought a remnant into a land of milk and honey, of wine and oil, those in whom He worked faith and sustained faith and who did not reject faith. So too He gives the church a sign of bread and wine by which the Lamb of God both tests and strengthens the faith of His people.

          Consider Jesus feeding the multitude. Did the crowds pass the test? They did not. Did the disciples pass the test?  They did not. Did Jesus do something about it? He did. He died as the Passover Lamb. And He did more. He applied His blood to us for faith, saving us by grace, working faith into hearts through His word. So He uses the promises of the Word with water for regeneration and daily renewal. So He uses the promises of the Word with bread and wine for life and salvation. So He uses the message of grace, mercy, and peace to save us. Faith is a miracle, beautifully manifest in the disciples after Jesus, the Son of God, died and rose. Then by His power, they believed aright.

          This means the law still reveals and condemns our in-born unbelief. It brings us to repentance so that we cry, “Lord have mercy.” This means the gospel still forgives our unbelief. Jesus overcame it so that you trust in Him for mercy and grace. That faith, even mustard seed size, has already seated you in heaven. These two things, law and gospel: one is very frightening and the other very comforting. By the command, by the law, we are slaves and nothing more. When the law tests your faith it reveals our darkness so that we cry out. By the gospel, we are forgiven, freed and adopted as the heirs of Christ Jesus. He names us the righteousness of God. And that is our comfort. Despite our struggles, like the disciples, Jesus is faithful to us. Jesus reveals again and again He is the one who re-created and sustains us. He, the Passover Lamb feeds us the bread from heaven. He seated us with Him, we who are the righteousness of God.

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

3rd Sunday in Lent: Luke 11:14-28

March 3, 2013; 3^rd Sunday in Lent (Oculi), Texts: Psalm 136:1-16; Exodus 8:16-21; Ephesians 5:1-9; Luke 11:14-28; Title: In Power We Trust; Rev. T Beck

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

If you go to the movie theatre, on the wall there’s a visible theme in the big ads. The theme is power: guns blazing, swords twirling, trains smashing, strong men plotting, aliens invading and you get the drift. Today’s text follows that line too, doesn’t it?  Who can bind the strong man and plunder his house?  Jesus is casting out demons, and what a Hollywood scene that would make. We’d want to see a big battle, lots of broken stuff and half of New York burn. Maybe it is better Hollywood leaves Jesus alone. Jesus just speaks and it is done… then the mute man spoke and people marveled. But then folks went squirrelly. “Jesus does this by the devil’s authority,” some said. Others say, “Jesus, show more powerful signs if you want us to believe in you.”

          What would you say if there? Would you accuse Jesus of being in league with evil, or demand He fit into your expectations to win your allegiance? We’re folks asking “Is He really powerful enough to follow?” That’s not even asking if Jesus is good enough to follow.  The answer to the question doesn’t lack evidence. The difficulty is what it means to admit where His actions come from and what His words reveal. What is revealed? Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God! That’s enough reason to follow Jesus. He is God, God incarnate. Then He’s’ going to come out on top one way or another. And that’s something sinners, sinners like us, don’t swallow easily. If I trust Him, how can I choose what I want above what He says? Shall I really be dependent on Him? Shall I trust His promises are true for me? That leads us to the question if He is good. These are not academic questions, but real ones, even in us redeemed sinners. They lead us somewhere, somewhere where the sakes are high.

          His word leads us who believe in Him, and not only to mountain tops. He leads His sheep into some dark valleys. He may lead us away from the security we crave, a comfortable life, healthy, wealthy, but not too wise; with excitement without real risk and without scars. He leads us away from idolatry in order to bring us to worship, to receive His gifts. He bids us to believe what He promises to give. He calls us to receive everything needful from Him. Faith is a challenging road, a Lenten road. Look what happened to the prophets, look what happened to Him! Look what happened to the apostles. The norm of the true church, the believing church, is a cross.

          It is easier to say “Jesus is of the devil. I don’t have to listen to him.” It is easier to say “Jesus, I want more proof before I trust you.” But there is a risk in that too isn’t there? Jesus warns us that unbelief ends in hell.  Is Jesus sufficiently strong, he who promises to lead us along a narrow, difficult          road? Can He really give eternal life and bring us into the kingdom of God? Can he really forgive our sins, including our doubts, weaknesses and wrong desires? How do we know He can? He cast out demons, among other marvelous things. He heals, restores, and re-creates.

          The Evangelist Luke reported another clue: Not only did Jesus know their thoughts; He knew what to do about them. Did He zap the doubters, the arrogant, the self-centered and the scared? Does He smash things and shatter the walls gloriously? He speaks common sense, and what’s powerful about that? If Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. That deceiver Satan will not destroy himself. And if the devil is cast out in the name of God by the sons of Israel, by whom does Jesus work? Jesus is stronger than Satan. Therefore, whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. Even the demons know that.

          Even the demons know if their former habitation does not repent from unbelief in the true God, they are free to return. If one is cast out, although the victim orders his life, but without the order of faith, the demon may bring more evil with it. Apart from faith in the strongest of the strong, we cannot resist the evil that is stronger than we. We cannot even resist the evil of original sin that resides in us. We need the one who binds the darkness with an everlasting light. There is someone who is strong, stronger, strongest.  There is one who cannot be bound but has power to bind. He is the one who let himself be bound for slaughter. He is the Lamb Slain who rose from the dead, who did that not for Himself, but for you.

          He is ready to bless, even more than His mother was blessed to bear the incarnate God. He is ready and powerful to bless you, to bless all who receive His word by faith. To believe in Jesus is to receive all He promises to give you. So why do we hesitate to trust in Him? That is to ask why some said he cast out demons by the devil, or why some asked for more signs, just one or two more… His power is not manifest where we naturally look for strength, but is hidden under the cross. Yet that answers not only questions about power, also about goodness. The issue is not simply power, although that is necessary for a real Saviour. The question is also if God is good, and good toward you.  So the answer about power is veiled under the answer of goodness; yet is revealed powerfully if we will receive it.

          What sign did Jesus promise the sign-hungry crowds?  He gave them the sign of Jonah. He gave them His death and burial, returning to life the third day. That’s the power that cast Satan down, Jesus’ sacrificial death for sinners. And He hides that power in other unadorned signs. What sign declares His power overcomes the sinner’s sin, the world and the devil? The sign of water with the Word. What sign declares He powerfully works life and salvation through forgiveness? A bite of bread and a sip of wine He said to be His very body and blood. What overcomes the world? Faith that is created by the word, by the word declaring the glory of Jesus’ death for sinners that overcomes the world. …he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”

          Blessed are those who hear and keep the word of God, of God! More literally, blessed are those who guard the word of God. That word works what it says because it is God’s word, and God always wins. That word is worth keeping, guarding, watching if you want to be blessed. We who receive it guard it like a night watchman in a bank, like a bank teller watching for counterfeit bills, like the banker who receives the deposits. We hear and guard what is given us, the Word that created the heavens and the earth. This is the Word that became incarnate for us sinners. Blessed are those who hear, who receive that word. Blessed is the Word born of Mary, God made visible, humble in a manger with dirty diapers. Blessed is the revelation of God’s mercy toward Adam’s fallen race; shown also when Jesus cast out demons. Blessed is the power of God revealed upon an instrument of shame and death, reconciling enemies with their rightful king.

          This is God’s Word, no deception of demons, no lunatic raving, and no unlivable philosophic speculation.  This Word holds the world together, it saves and it judges too. This Word sustains all who believe until the day of glorification. Who else can we trust ourselves to other than the Living God, the good God?  Blessed are those who hear. Blessed are those whom this word enters, for to hear is more than sitting in a theatre assaulted by the noise, lights, action. It is to ponder, to weigh, to receive what is spoken into you. Do not resist the Holy Spirit who says Jesus is powerful, and powerfully good. This word changes you. It remakes you. It will save you. It is a treasure. This reason alone tells you the word is to be guarded. Blessed are those who keep, or guard Jesus’ word. Blessed we are to be like someone with a winning lottery ticket held tightly all the way to          wherever winning lottery tickets go. We received a treasure. This treasure does more than a winning ticket. It bears all your burdens, giving you what is promised in due time.

          Take it for what it is. But do not take it lightly, as if it does not contain heaven and earth, as if He did not make heaven and earth. Let us repent our unguarded lives and hear again Jesus’ warning over the battle for your soul, for your life, your future. The devil wants you to share his punishment. But Jesus He bore your punishment to forgive you and give you life. Guard that powerful word, remembering that Jesus cast out the demons because He is stronger than the destroyer. Listen to that word, our hope, our confidence, our certainty of life. And here you are, listening, hearing, pondering, receiving, and believing. For that Word shall keep you, guard you, feed you, sustain you, protect you, provide for you even as it washed you and forgave you. It shall also resurrect you. The Son of God went forth to war, and conquered. We shall follow in His train. His strong word that created all, that bespeaks us righteous, shall bring us into glory.

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

2nd Sunday in Lent: Genesis 32:22-32

Feb 24, 2013; 2^nd Sunday in Lent (Reminiscere); Texts: Psalm 121; Genesis 32:22-32; Romans 5:1-5; Matthew 15:21-28; Title: Faith that Fights; Rev. Tim Beck

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

The second Sunday in Lent is called “Reminiscere.” We shall reminisce about the history of Israel, for faith’s sake. God’s ways can only be understood by faith. God promised Abraham that his Seed would bless all nations; and then God told        Abraham to sacrifice the only son of the promise, Isaac. Who could reason that out? But Abraham believed and so obeyed, and Isaac lived and was blest. Isaac believed too, though he favored Esau, his son who didn’t believe. So Jacob, who believed the promise, who wanted the promise, both bought and stole the birth right from his brother Esau, Isaac conferring it to him on his death-bed. But when Esau planned to murder him, Jacob fled. Then Jacob struggled 20 years under Laban, and had to flee his father-in-law too. When Jacob is finally freed from Laban’s threats, Esau is coming with 400 armed men. Jacob, believing the promise wrestles with God, is blest for faith’s sake and renamed Israel.

          So it is with faith. There’s always a fight, one where victory depends upon God. For example, Israel’s sons became a tribe and then a nation only to be enslaved away from the land of promise. After 400 years of exile, in a faith-fight Moses led Israel to the Promised Land, to Canaan and gave God’s command: kill every inhabitant there. Kill them all. Was that God’s way to bless the nations?  It doesn’t make sense to reason. It doesn’t make sense apart from faith; even if God warned the Canaanites not to abandon        the faith they received from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but they did. It doesn’t make sense even if the Canaanites went from bad to repugnant during those 400 years after forefather Israel left the Promised Land. Canaanite men fornicated with men, and women with women as a sacrifice of praise before gods shaped like sexual-organs. Canaanite parents burnt their babies to a crisp as a sacrifice. That’s where unbelief took them. (Today we’re hardly offended at Canaanite ways: in California school-children are forced to hear that modern versions of the same are perfectly normal behavior... and there’s saline baths to cause abortions.)

          But faith sees that God’s judgment made sense, since the Canaanites required all who lived in the land to worship their gods, to follow their ways. So God judged Canaan’s unbelief for the sake of faith, so that Israel could believe in the promised Seed. God’s ways are not our ways; they are hard to understand and they have to do with faith. God destroyed the nations of Canaan to preserve faith in Israel; to have a people set apart for the sake of all nations. God promised to keep faith in Israel, and when most of Israel turned from faith, He let enemies destroy the nation and preserved a believing remnant. God judges unbelief that there might be faith; and he does this in ways only faith can see. Who reasoned that all the trials Jacob endured were for the sake of faith? When Jacob heard Esau was coming with a small army, when his faith wavered, what did His Lord do but strengthen it in a fight? Keep that in mind this Lenten season. Not only are we called to repent our evil ways, we are called to faith.

          What are we called to repent? In part, all compromise with the values of the world, the devil, and our flesh; with the things that cut us off from the true God, things of unbelief. What are we called to believe? That through Christ Jesus all our sins are forgiven, we are God’s holy people. There is more to the holy History of God than judgment upon unbelief.  There is the promise, and the promise proclaimed that stirs up and sustains faith. “The faith” is for our faith. What is this “faith” that Scripture details? “The faith” means content. Faith is not mere sincerity, but faith in particulars, the revealed doctrines of Scripture. Yet faith in the faith is more than understanding and assent.  Faith is trust, dependence, reliance and confidence in what is revealed.  As to the content of the faith, you were taught the Ten Commandments, the Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, the Sacraments, in short the chief articles of faith as taught in Luther’s Small Catechism. You know the Old Testament histories. You know the life of Christ and of the Apostles. You can describe the difference between the law and the gospel can’t you? That’s the content of faith. And as for the nature of faith, of trust in God’s promises, you hunger after the Word. You want to be here to hear God’s word and receive the sacrament. Or, do you feel a bit guilty right now?  Lent is a season of repentance to confess our thick skulls and hard hearts, and receive forgiveness, life and salvation. God’s ways can only be understood by faith, and faith not only understands, it receives. 

          Let us reminisce about the history of a Canaanite woman.     Then Jesus went away from there, and departed into the region of Tyre and Sidon. Tyre and Sidon were by-words for paganism; it was Canaanite heartland. Good Israelites didn’t go there, but Jesus went there, for faith’s sake. And behold, a Canaanite woman came out of those borders, and cried unto him, saying, have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David: my daughter is badly demonized. What’s amazing is this woman left the center of pagan-country to find Jesus. She’s a Canaanite, yet she knew faith’s content. She heard about this man who cast out demons and healed the sick.  And she had heard about the promise made to Abraham. She knew about the Son of David who would come to save. She knew the faith. And she had faith in the faith. She cried out for mercy confessing the faith revealed to Israel, “O Lord, Son of David!” Unlike Israel’s religious elite this Canaanite woman cried out to Jesus as Lord and as Son of David. She is like Jacob. She wrestles with God. And for her sake the Son of God appeared in the flesh as to Jacob, to be her opponent…for faith’s sake. What does Jesus do? He answered her not a word. 

          When Jesus did not answer the woman a word… his disciples approached him and besought him, saying, Send her away; for she cries after us.  The Canaanite keeps shouting, Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! She makes a scene because she has a terrible need and knows Jesus can help. She shouts, but the disciples say scram. Did they think Jesus ignored her because Canaanites have no part in the kingdom of God? Look what God told Moses to do to the Canaanites! And it’s true she didn’t deserve to be in the kingdom, for who deserves that?  Or did the disciples mean “give her what she wants to get rid of her.” Like a child who shouts at her parents “give me a hot dog” over and over until she gets it. After she got it, my 3 year old niece said, “If you gave it right away I wouldn’t have to shout!”   However, Jesus does not give in. He is silent, but not because he only gives in if we shout enough.

          Jesus tested that Canaanite woman. But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.  The phrase is emphatic.  This is absolutely the way it is, although Jesus gives a clue for faith to this woman so desperate for help. Jesus said He came for the lost sheep of Israel. He came for those who have no faith, the unbelievers in Israel. He came to the faithless not to destroy, but to save. What does this tell the desperate Canaanite who knows about the coming Son of David? Does she reminisce that Abraham is to be a blessing to all nations? Does she remember why God’s wrath was poured out on Canaanites, for the sake of Israel’s faith? Does she think of Jacob and his wrestling? Does she know how God’s wrath was poured on unbelieving Israel to preserve a remnant with faith? Does she see that only through faith is Israel a blessing to the nations? Consider what’s going on between Jesus, the woman, and the disciples. When Jesus answered not and spoke of Israel’s unbelief the Canaanite woman was driven to cling to the promise given Abraham all the more. Driven to the promise that Abraham’s Seed would bless all peoples: Then she came and worshiped him, saying, Lord, help me. 

          That’s like us, isn’t it? Sunday mornings we don’t come to do something for God, but arrive with empty hands or even in desperation praying “Lord have mercy, you’ve promised me this.” Hearing the promises of God, needing the answers of God, we say, “Lord, me too!”          This faith is dependence and hope in the promise. This faith is sufficient because God works to create and sustain such faith… that we believe the promise in order to receive what is promised. This faith formed by testing, and like Peter’s, walks on water; and like Peter’s, cries out while sinking in the waves until Jesus drags us back into the boat, for the sake of faith. Jesus was full of mercy when he answered and said, It is not good to take the children’s bread and to cast it to dogs.     These words are not as cruel as they sound in English. There were two common words for “dog” in Jesus’ day. One referred to half-wild packs that roamed the city; dogs hated and feared by children especially. The Israelites called Canaanites by that name, “you scavenger-dog.” But Jesus used the word that means the child’s pet. Children loved these dogs. And children are messy eaters. They are sure to drop something for the dog. Jesus gave this word to win the battle for faith. He says “You’re invited into the household even if the Word of God comes from the Jews.” Jesus told the woman how to answer. Understanding the promise, she believed and said, Yes Lord, yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table. Then Jesus answered and said unto her, O woman, great is your faith: be it unto you even as you desire.   And her daughter was healed from that very hour. Do you see? Faith in the promise will be tested, yet by testing the promise will strengthen faith. By testing, this woman learned prayer, “please Lord, your promises for me too!” And Jesus met her need. He fulfilled the promise of the Messiah.  And, Jesus stirred the disciples to faith by her example, provoking them to believe, they who would suffer so much for the faith after Jesus’ ascension.

          Reminisce on this if God doesn’t give you that hot dog fast enough. Keep asking, but not because He needs to be convinced; rather for your sake, for faith’s sake. And you, clinging to the promise, will learn four things through wrestling with God: 1) That we might rejoice when our Lord brings us to the cry, “Lord, help me!”  2) That we take comfort knowing faith does not depend on your will, but His grace. 3) That the Saviour will mercifully answer your cry. 4) That the Lord Jesus will use your faith-struggles to provoke others to believe. God’s ways can only be understood by faith, and faith not only understands, it receives.      

The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.