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.

4th Sunday of the Resurrection. The Shepherd Eaten by Sheep

April 29, 2012; 4th Sunday of the Resurrection; Texts: Acts 4:1-12; Psalm 23; 1 
John 3:16-24; John 10:11-18; Title: The Shepherd Eaten by Sheep; Rev. Tim Beck

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

I don’t know how much time you’ve spent watching sheep. The folks in Judeasaw 
them all the time, in the fields, rounded up in the folds, and waiting at the 
temple. I saw sheep in big-city Madrid, shepherds brought their flocks down city 
streets to forage in the undeveloped park next to our apartment. Most of the 
critters were goats that knew where they were going; but of the sheep Handel 
rightly sang, “we like sheep have gone astray.” 

          Are we like sheep that need a good shepherd? Do we stray to bad 
shepherds, do we listen to their voices? In the 70’s the Hindu gurus were the 
rage. Those shepherds said, “Give me all your worthless material goods, meditate 
on peace and I’ll live unattached but lavishly.” In the 80’s the smarter sheep 
figured those shepherds out and marketed religious experience. “Pay me $20,000 
and I’ll teach you to walk on coals!” In the 90’s me-generation shepherds said 
“I’ll give you a piece of the action for a piece of your hide…and of course I 
care about you very, very much.” In the double zeros the shepherds of 9-11 said 
“Give me a suicide bomb and I know where to put it. You’re just the right size.” 
In our decade, are worldly shepherds different? We need a good shepherd; one who 
knows where to put us, to lead us, and how to protect us, especially from 
ourselves.
          Jesus said I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his 
life for the sheep.  That’s quite unlike what we’re used to. Who expects a 
shepherd to lay down his life for the sheep? Everyone knows sheep, and 
especially lambs, are good eating. But we the sheep are bid to eat and drink the 
Shepherd, the good one. This Shepherd is food and drink for sheep for abundant 
life. Who in the world is this Shepherd named Jesus? The folks who heard Jesus 
speak scratched their heads, amazed. Is he squirrelly, batty, a bird brain, 
playing possum? Or is what He says true? Dare we trust Him? In our text Jesus 
literally says “I, I am the Shepherd, the good one.” It is a definitive claim, a 
declaration of uniqueness and outstanding goodness. Notice the form of this 
saying… He literally says, “I, I am.”  That’s not the usual way to say “I.”  He 
is emphatic. And that’s not all, this “I, I am” saying from Jesus is but one of 
eight that the Apostle John records. Put them all together and we have a 
composite picture of what Jesus says about Himself. For example, I, I am the 
resurrection and the life;  I, I am the way, the truth and the life; I, I am the 
light of the world; I, I am the bread of life;  I, I am the vine, the true one. 
I, I am the door; I, I am the Shepherd, the good one and before Abraham was, I, 
I AM. Consider this example, “before Abraham was, I am.” When He said that, 
those around him picked up stones to kill him, because that meant “I am GOD.”  
“I Am” is a Hebrew name for the only true God.  

          It is exclusive, as there is only one God.  Jesus said the outrageous 
and the incomprehensible, God made man, full of grace and truth. God made man, 
God with man, God for man… to shepherd us, to be your Shepherd. That very good, 
exclusive approach is something us sheep bizarrely want to reject, to reject 
Jesus, true man and true God who laid down his life for sheep. For example, 
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, tells sheep: This Jesus is the stone that 
was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there 
is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among 
men by which we must be saved.” How many bristle hearing there is only one name 
by which we can be saved? Do you bristle when told, “You can’t save yourself. It 
can only be yours as a gift.” Some bristle just at the thought there is a God, 
even if He is for us. That explains why Christians are called intolerant bigots 
if we pray for those of other religions to repent and believe the gospel.  But 
why do folks bristle, that is, reject the Shepherd who lays down his life for 
the sheep? Why run off to the kind of shepherd who has lamb chops for lunch? You 
know why - we’re like sheep, prone to rebellion and random acts of stupidity. 
One takes off running and the whole herd follows head in the next one’s butt… 
off a cliff. That something wrong in us leads sheep on tortuous routes to get 
out of the pasture and up in the crags just to jump in the thorns of somebody’s 
bed. It’s why we follow Shepherds who take all our money, snooker us with 
compliments, or strap a bomb on our belly to be blown apart, promised a paradise 
of 400 virgins. 

          Without meaning to, the historian Arnold Toynbee described what drives 
sheep that way. He said all civilizations throughout the ages have a central and 
common feature: Self worship is the paramount religion of mankind.  Our 
philosophies and religions, despite the bowing down, despite making an idol 
      with gold, silver or other team colors, are all about self. “It’s all 
about you.” Sheep want to go their own way. So when sheep hear the first 
commandment “You shall have no other gods before me” we bristle, and find it an 
unattractive demand. If you doubt me, today do this: “I’m going to love God with 
all my heart mind and strength!” Then ask why you do it, if it isn’t really for 
you. That self-absorption makes sheep easy prey for an orthodontist with candy, 
or a loan-shark’s easy money, or the devil’s offer to give us exactly what we 
want. That’s why we need a good Shepherd who calls us out of self to Him, to the 
bread, the door, the way, truth and life, the resurrection, the light, and the I 
AM.
          And thank God, Jesus is all of that... for you. For this Shepherd, 
truly being for us saves us from ourselves. For you He interrupts the climb to 
the crags and a wooly leap into the briar patch. For you He sticks the comb of 
the law to your wool before destruction, to turn the direction of your hooves 
back to pasture. When the law does it work He pours out grace upon our 
self-inflicted wounds; forgiving us sheep and giving us a cross that we learn 
the meaning of His. He does this that we follow the only good Shepherd, the 
exclusive, incomprehensible, exceedingly generous and merciful Shepherd.
          He says, Truly, Truly… I am the door of the sheep.  All who came 
before me are thieves and robbers.  This shepherd is also the door… for example: 
shepherding hasn’t’ changed for centuries in parts of the Middle East. A tourist 
in Jordanwandered outside a village and found a circular wall with an opening.  
A taciturn shepherd sat in that opening watching the man.  The tourist, noting 
the sheep inside, asked “Is that a fold for sheep?” “Yes” was the reply.  The 
man said, “There’s only one way in.”  “Yes” said the shepherd. The tourist 
said, “But there is no door.”  The reposing fellow said “I am the door.” “What 
do you mean, you are the door?” “The sheep go inside, I lie here. No sheep get 
out and no wolf gets in.” Jesus is such a door, the shepherd-door.  His word 
preserves us from unseen enemies of the spiritual kind. His word protects us 
from all the misleading ideas of the world. His word guides us into all truth.  
His word forgives our sin and strengthens us to eternal life.  Jesus is the door 
through which the sheep go in and are kept safe. He’s no less a Shepherd for us 
than He is also door, bread, and life. He’s not a stranger who calls “here 
sheepy, sheepy” to fleece them.  He’s not at the religious seminars that charge 
the most money and naturally, have the most business. He’s not a hireling. He 
searched for you, found you, died and rose for you to call you by name. Your 
Shepherd named you as His in the waters of Baptism.  You are exclusively His, 
because He washed your guilt away with His blood. He won you from the devil. He 
conquered your death to give you His life. You no longer belong to yourself. 
You’re His sheep. And that’s good news. This Shepherd, the Good Shepherd, gave 
Himself for the sake of the sheep. 

          If you wandered Israel’s hillsides a couple millenniums ago, you’d see 
sheep-folds, living doors, shepherds, and another reason for the sheep.  The 
best sheep were sacrificed to pay for the sins of shepherds, and farmers, 
merchants, priests, and the whole of Israelite.  The sheep paid because we like 
sheep have gone astray. We are not worthy to be a sacrifice any more than we are 
worthy of a Saviour. But sheep could never make payment for our guilt. That’s 
why our Shepherd was sacrificed for us. “For our sake the Father made the Christ 
to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of 
God.” (II Cor. 5:21). This Shepherd suffered the wrath of God to save His sheep. 
Then this Shepherd, the “I, I am the life” rose from the dead and you live. The 
good Shepherd is not only door and sacrificial Lamb, His is the life. He is the 
I AM. He is the power of the resurrection.  This Shepherd calls you to 
abundance, into good pasture; into the life of the “I AM” made man, and we have 
fellowship with Him.      He calls us, His voice feeding us so that even while 
we are dying we live. He calls us to voice His praises and He calls many into 
His fold. He declares us forgiven through appointed under-shepherds, and we are. 
He feeds us His body and blood, and we are cleansed for eternal life.  He takes 
us out of ourselves and into Him to restores what we lost and cannot find apart 
from the Shepherd, the good one. The good Shepherd leads you to dwell in His 
pasture forever.  And you, His flock, follow the Shepherd’s voice. You go where 
He goes; out of the fold and into the fields where dangers lurk and enemies 
abound. Amid the dangers of this present darkness He keeps us safe. He says “I 
will never leave you nor forsake you.”  He guides you where you go saying “Take 
up your cross and follow me” as He takes us out of ourselves and into Him, into 
fellowship with God as our Father.  He is the Shepherd, the Good one;  the I 
AM,  the resurrection and the life, the way and the truth, the bread of life,  
the light of the world, the true vine, the door, the Shepherd, the good one.  


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

Second Sunday of the Resurrection: John 20:19-31

April 15, 2012; 2nd Sunday of the Resurrection; Texts Acts 3:13-15, 17-26; I Jn. 5:1-6; Jn 20:19-31; Title: From Doubt to Faith; Rev. Tim Beck

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

Have you heard Thomas, “doubting Thomas” associated with the phrase, seeing is believing? That was true, until Thomas’ faith went beyond seeing, receiving God’s approval.  Scripture says without faith it is impossible to please God. Yet with faith the size of a mustard seed, we can do all things… in Christ Jesus. For a moment, let’s look at unbelief, including Thomas’. Then we’ll look at faith.

          First, what describes unbelief? Many things can. There’s the rejection of what is seen; “I can’t believe what I just saw!” For example…some folks in mental hospitals and philosophy departments can’t believe their eyes; until someone with a gun demands “Give me your wallet.” Then we see       the difference between the schizophrenic and the philosopher. Another example is shock, as in the disciples’ reaction seeing the risen Jesus for the first time. They couldn’t believe their eyes until Jesus said more than once, “It’s me, I’m not a ghost. I’ll eat something in front of you.”
          There’s also the unbelief of the unseen.  That too has many shapes. Not many people believed in bacteria before the invention of the microscope.         Hung juries can happen for that reason too, when some reject the report of reliable witnesses for prejudice, or a stubborn trust in an idea or feeling. For example, materialists say: “dead people can’t rise.” Stuck on that idea, they refuse to even consider eyewitness accounts that Jesus rose from the dead. Then we get silly explanations like, “Jesus resuscitated and walked out of the grave on his own before wandering off to India unseen.”  After severe scourging, loosing how much blood, a spear thrust, the professional death-squad saying it was over, being wrapped in linen shrouds with about 60 lbs of spices, he revived? Then rolled a rock disk weighing around half a ton up and out a trough, from the inside of the tomb, without handles, with a Roman guard standing by? 

          That leads us to a third kind of unbelief, when what’s known as true is denied. For example, the religious chiefs paid the Roman guard to say “We fell asleep and the disciples stole the body.” That’s a silly explanation too, given the circumstances. Both parties knew the truth, and denied it. One for money and the other from hardness of heart toward the religion they professed. Take note that unbelief of the seen or unseen need not make sense. Very often it doesn’t. Likewise, at times faith doesn’t seem to make sense, even if what it believes is true. For example, we believe in the unseen-God, but cannot irrefutably prove His existence.  Stranger yet is believing that God is made visible, incarnate, and dying upon a cross.

          Unbelief has another complication too: Scripture says why we can’t see, namely, we were born sinners, hard wired against faith in the Christ. That best describes the unbelief after Jesus’ resurrection. Thomas isn’t the only one who doubts. Some doubt despite their own eyes seeing the risen Jesus. Others doubt the Apostles eyewitness accounts, for John said, “we touched Him” (see I John 1). And some who admit Jesus rose doubt what the resurrection means: our sins are forgiven and we are invited into fellowship with God as Father.  That’s marvelous news; but some find a gracious God is hard to swallow... saying “After all I’ve seen - Stalin’s purges, Hitler’s Auschwitz, the Old Testament wars.” Likewise Peter and John saw a kangaroo court convict Jesus; then John saw Jesus after he was beaten, whipped and crucified. He and the women watched him die and heard his last words, powerful words… “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” Then despite the promised resurrection, the women went to the tomb Easter morning to anoint a dead body while 10 disciples trembled behind locked doors.

          Did they really have reason for unbelief? As for you, what makes faith difficult? When Scripture promises joy and peace why do you get depressed? When    Scripture promises your Saviour’s abiding presence, why are you disheartened? When you look around this congregation and see mostly empty pews, do you think God’s Word can’t work?  Let us confess our unbelief, our faulty wiring, the short circuits, repent and call upon Him who cares for you… (or so He says).  Does He care for you? Consider Thomas, and ask how did God care for him, and hence will care for you?

          The 1^st evidence of care is he heard Jesus predict his death, resurrection and ascension. 2^nd, he hears the Lord appeared to Peter and to the 10 in that room, and to Mary Magdalene, and two followers on the way to Emmaus. They jubilantly say, “We have seen the Lord!” It is clear these formerly grieving people were not deceivers or mad. Yet Thomas rejects every reason to believe, resisting the Holy Spirit, denying the promise of God announced by reliable witnesses. That kind of unbelief ends in hell. (From this O Lord, deliver us!) Then 4th, something changes Thomas. Something happens for His sake and for our instruction. Something beyond facts happens, a divine work for faith. Thomas is transformed and empowered to live by faith. Thomas who at first refused faith now sees beyond seeing; doubting Thomas makes the deepest confession:  My Lord, and My God. 

          What Thomas found is our answer to unbelief too. What Thomas received goes beyond philosophical inquiry or the illusions of schizophrenia. It goes beyond. Thomas not only assents to the words and promises of Jesus, he trusts that Jesus is   God’s Son, he trust in Jesus. That change is everything for Thomas, as it is for us.  And Thomas, called to be an apostle, by faith left his familiar world, and eventually left His earthly life; for Thomas was martyred in India. Faith gave him a life to live, through Him who kept Thomas unto eternity.  Isn’t this the faith we desire, a faith when troubles arise, that despite anxiety and fear, you pray and believe the Lord hears and will do what is good. Isn’t this the faith we need to serve our neighbor joyfully, because of Christ’s love working through faith?  Isn’t this the faith that takes us to church, because faith is founded, nourished, and kept in the same way that Thomas was, namely, through Jesus’ real presence? Thomas believed because our Lord appeared, giving generously. You and I have the same Lord as Thomas, and therefore can have the same kind of faith.

          You might say, oh pastor, I’m not like that, except perhaps after a good night’s sleep, a good breakfast and a pay raise. I’m fearful, doubting, troubled, worried. I wonder if God really cares. I wonder if I have to believe everything in the Bible. My faith is small, like a mustard seed. Consider Thomas. Are your doubts bigger than his were? More importantly, is your God smaller than his is? When Jesus appeared did He say “it’s all up to you to find faith.” Contrary to almost every Disney movie and feel-good flick, Christian faith does not originate with your inner resolve. What happened? Jesus appeared and said “Peace be with you.”  Did He give that peace or not? Of course He did, even if the disciples didn’t always feel it.  Our present, Living Lord says exactly the same to you, “Peace be with you.” And it is yours, even when spoken by a pastor’s mouth it is His living word. Without your help, He conquered death and the grave. Without your assistance, He paid for your sins.         Without your arm, He delivered you from the devil and declares peace with God.  So He took Thomas to task for unbelief. “Touch my wounds, thrust your hand in my side…” And “be not without faith, but faithful.” For Thomas is given more than just reason for faith. Jesus assures Thomas of His presence, and gives what the other disciples just received, the Holy Spirit.

                   Yes, faith can be resisted. But faith is God’s gift. As in Eph. 2:8, For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God… As in James 1:17, Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth… (1:7, 8a) As in Hebrews 12: 2, …let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…(12:1b, 2) As in I Peter 1:3 …he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God’s power are being guarded through faith… (1:3b-5a)

          When Jesus spoke to Thomas, He spoke for faith. Therefore Thomas replied “my Lord and my God!” And that faith is a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ to you; for like Thomas, Jesus persistently seeks us. He finds us, saves and sustains us. He died for you. He rose for you. He comes to you. We have reason for faith. More than that, He is present for faith.

          Have we reason for faith? He provided faithful witnesses, as John says, these (things) are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. Is that writing reliable? For one example, when you read Plato or Aristotle, or that Caesar crossed the Rubicon, did your professor say, “probably not…  after all, our earliest manuscripts about those things date about 1,000 years after the events. Who really wrote Plato’s Dialogues? They must be made up stories.”  I’ll bet you’ve never heard that, even if that is the typical approach taught in our universities about the New Testament text. Yet, of the New Testament there are scads of manuscripts within 200 years of the events, others within 100 years of the events, and even a little fragment from about 60 AD, in the years of the events. We have the eyewitness accounts. We could say more, like the writings conform to the character of eyewitness testimony, and are vindicated by archeological finds. We could point out that the events of the NT were common knowledge in their day, so that the Apostle Paul, testifying in court before Herod Agrippa, said “these things were not done in a corner.”  Jesus walked with the people doing miracles. He died and rose from the dead as He said, and over 40 days after the resurrection appeared to many,    including Thomas. There is reason for faith.

          There is also His presence for faith. By that presence, Jesus overcomes our short circuits. He creates faith in those He calls, as in His disciples after the resurrection, including Thomas.  He creates faith that we are justified, declaring and distributing peace with God as Father. Jesus gives peace to you, healing and restoring you to fellowship with God. This gift is stuffed into your hands with the words, “for you.”  For example, Jesus not only showed the fact of the resurrection, He loved them to the end. He gave traitorous Peter absolution; He recreated Mary Magdalene’s faith; He ended Thomas’ doubts. Today He speaks to you in the same words. He is spiritually present in His Word. And He comes to you today in His bodily presence, in body and blood hidden under bread and wine. There He promises to apply forgiveness of sins. And where there is forgiveness there is life and salvation.

          That’s what Jesus Christ, your risen Lord and God, does for the sake of faith, your faith.  He has done it all, including rise from the dead. He supplies faith in what is seen and unseen, then calls us to a life of faith, the Holy Spirit working it in us by announcing His promises to us.  Thank God, this faith goes far beyond seeing! It carries us to heaven itself.  Thank God this faith is His gift to you through Christ crucified and risen. He died for you. He rose for you. He comes to you.

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

The Third Sunday in Lent, John 2:13-22

March 11, 2012; Lent 3; Texts: Ex 20:1-17; I Cor 1:18-31; Jn 2:13-22 (23-25); Title: The Wisdom Foretold, the Sign Revealed; Rev. Tim Beck

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

Lent directs us to Christ’s cross; and because of that, Lent invites us to trust Jesus the Christ. That faith has something it believes, including a background you know, although your neighbor may not. For example, in our day we cannot assume the person next door knows what repentance is, any more than whom the gospel is. We cannot assume someone believes there is a God, especially those who blandly say, “Oh, I believe there is a God, whatever.” We cannot presume folks who attend a “Christian church” know the difference between the law and gospel, two doctrines that take us to very different ends.  We may need to say things, like God is real, and is really known in Jesus. The Living God reveals Himself for faith, that you receive His life (and you can say that).

          These things underlie our text, that God is God and is good, and reveals Himself, the law calling us to repentance and the gospel creating in us faith. Yet these things, the wisdom of the cross, seem like folly to unbelief.  To worship the true God is not our natural spiritual inclination. So the wisdom of the cross needs explaining, from the first revelation of God’s mercy unto its end. Don’t worry; we won’t cover all that ground today. But how well do you know the book of Leviticus, or the Chronicles, or Exodus? The foolishness of the cross began a long time before Jesus’ birth, as far back as Genesis. Why not learn these books? That’s a Lenten journey better than fasting, a trip worth taking because it takes you to the journey’s end.

          Today’s trip begins in a conflict 2,000 years ago with roots 1,400 years before that, at the first Passover. The people in our account know about the Passover, they know its origin and at least they keep the festival. Roasted Lamb is tasty after all. Besides, remembering the Exodus was heartening. So too Jews and even some Christians keep the Passover today. Why Christians do, I don’t know, unless it is to show what Christ fulfilled. Also today, many Christians and Jews change what the Passover indicated. I’ve seen in Passover literature the deliverance from Egypt is about ending addictions, bad habits, economic oppression, and sexual discrimination. That’s blind to the point, astray from journey’s end. The Passover doesn’t start with our felt needs. It starts with God (with God!) and includes law, gospel, and faith.  In Moses’ day this deliverance was not understood as a geo-political event, but a physical event for a spiritual reality.

          The angel of death passed over all doors marked with the blood of a lamb, and those inside lived - for a reason. Do you know the reason? The first Passover delivered a people from bondage in Egypt for this reason: to worship God… to worship the true God. (This afternoon review what Moses said to Pharaoh as the reason for the Exodus.) The goal of the first Passover was spiritual freedom. The unbeliever’s first born died only because they refused that worship, they refused to mark their doors with a lamb’s blood. So the first Passover, a sign of eternal mercy, brought Israel (and many           Egyptians… read who left Egypt) to worship; and it looked forward to journey’s end… the heavenly Promised Land. Following Passovers looked back to that Exodus and looked forward to the final passing over of what causes slavery to death... our sin.       

          And that’s why the sacrificial rituals ended fourteen hundred years later when God’s firstborn, when His temple, His body, was destroyed and rebuilt. When Jesus, “Saviour” appeared, the time for substitute sacrifices ended. Jesus is the final Pass-over, the Lamb slain whose blood washed upon the lintels of our brow (+), frees us from the penalty of death and the power of sin. Jesus fulfilled the Passover, so on the night of His betrayal transformed it into His Supper. What Moses, by God’s voice commanded in perpetuity, Jesus does not abandon but completes.  It is His Passover, His body, His blood, His pardon from sin, His gift of life. He removed the law’s condemnation, joins us to His life and pledges that in the next life we shall be righteous as He is. This is what the wisdom of the cross does for the repentant to give us a living faith in a living God. That’s why Christians no longer celebrate what anticipated our Saviour.  Rather, we receive Christ Himself, God-with-us in His body and blood.  In the Lord’s Supper we are joined to Christ until we enter the marriage supper of the Lamb. That’s the wisdom of the cross in the eternal Passover.

          There’s another expression in our text to explain: Jesus goes up to Jerusalem. He goes up because everyone goes up to Jerusalem, even if coming down from Mt. Everest. Geographically, Mt. Sinai is higher than Jerusalem and so is Mt. Carmel. But one always went up to Jerusalem because it was the location of the Temple. Where the Temple is, God dwells. What is higher than God? God promised to hear his people in the Temple, to forgive and to give a true worship. Like the Passover, the Temple was about more than Solomon’s cathedral of stone, or Zerubbabel’s or Herod’s. When God gave the Tabernacle design to Moses, and when the Temple followed its pattern, it announced the Holy God would dwell with His people. Like the first Passover, the Temple invited faith in The Promise, and like the Passover, it foreshadowed the worship to come.  The Temple directed faith not to stone, gold leaf, and money changers but to the habitation of the Holy God with purified sinners. To fulfill that promise, God Incarnate goes up to Jerusalem. When God Incarnate goes up to Jerusalem He enters the icon, the picture of Himself. He is the real Temple. Herod’s building is but a shadow of Jesus. Jesus, in humility, goes up to die to unite us with His death and so unite us with his life. In the former testament, in the old temple, the Living God promised to forgive and purify sinners. Now in a building not made by hands, but in a body made by and for the Creator, we encounter God’s Holy Presence.

          Jesus knows who and what He is. He calls Himself the Passover Lamb and He calls Himself the Temple. Why? …He is God for us, and the Holy God with us who both forgives and cleanses us. But what does the living Temple, the Passover Lamb hear when He arrives in Jerusalem? He hears a cry not of faith, but of selling in the Temple grounds.  Apostle John uses a word for selling, a loud hawking of wares. In the court of the Gentiles, where the nations were to worship, money preached. You see oxen, sheep, and pigeons and hear the traders barking over animal noises. Gentile, what are you to believe? You see priests examine the animals the worshippers brought, and say “imperfect;” then require they buy temple animals at inflated prices.  You see worshippers go to pay for the Temple sacrifice, and hear their money isn’t acceptable. They must exchange it for Temple currency, for a fee.  You see the scam, greed, injustice, and abuse when the worship of God is reduced to a profit. Gentile, what shall you believe? You are angry, and tempted to deny the God so badly represented by these priests. While “your” temple animal is sacrificed, you feel resentment and doubt the sacrifice does any good. What is this? It’s the trickle-down economy that benefited lots of people in Jerusalem. It is the wisdom of man compared to the foolishness of God. Like our times, like all times, worship was reduced to human need and wants.  Who believed “Repent and believe in the gospel?”  Moses believed. He said to the people, “Do not fear, for God has come to test you, that the fear of him may be before you, that you may not sin. (Ex. 20:21)

          What happened when human interest in the temple perverted the worship of God? What happened is another cry heard in the Temple grounds. When Jesus walks into the Temple that foreshadows him, what does He do? Jesus walks the way of His cross, in the foolishness of God, in the mercy of the redeemer, and cares about the first commandment. He cares about the revelation of God through the Law and the Prophets.  He cares about the promised deliverance, the purpose of the Passover and the reason for the Temple because He is the Temple’s Passover Lamb. His zeal to save makes enemies. Nevertheless, Jesus applies the law. He violently casts out those who pervert worship with a whip. And the law points out the sin of the merchants up to the High Priest. But they reject repentance and demand a sign, blind to the fact that He is the sign.  Can you image that, these usurpers presume to own the Temple. They reject its real owner and its real presence. They’re like church leaders today who say the Law is too stern or grace isn’t enough; who say Baptism is just water or the Lord’s Supper is only our act of devotion. They’re like us, whenever we break the first commandment, preferring our will to that of the heavenly Father; so repent daily. But Jesus cares about the outer court of the Gentiles because He cares for all nations. He is the Lamb, the Lamb for all, including the merchants up to the High Priest. He is the Passover Lamb, He is the Temple. He is the fulfillment of what is past. He is the end of the journey, the groom, the Lamb who bids us to the eternal feast.   

          So to us sinners who demand “give me a sign, my kind of wisdom. God, submit to my requirements,” Jesus says, destroy this Temple. The faithless think Jesus speaks about a temple they built, like the gods they made. Destroy what took wicked Herod the Idumean 40 years to build? Herod built the beautiful thing to placate the Jews, this wonder of the ancient world. But it was only a shadow of the real temple, of the incarnate God. Listen carefully to Jesus’ words. God-en-fleshed says in the imperative, “Destroy this Temple.” He commands.      And this command they freely obeyed, crucifying the Incarnate LORD with a vengeance. Yet this command, like the command to sacrifice a Lamb and spread its blood on doorposts, is the foolishness of the cross. It is pure grace. True God became true man - Jesus, Saviour - to be destroyed by sinners like us. This is how He gives life to his enemies and how He creates faith in you. In effect, Jesus said “If you want your sign, if you want faith, if you want God’s presence for life and peace, kill me.” Does this sound foolish to you, that those hypocrites, who thought so much of themselves and their religiosity, enough to kill Jesus for it, are pardoned by Jesus’ death? Yet this death, foreshadowed by the Old Testament, is our forgiveness, pardoning our guilt and giving us a righteous received by faith. This promise cannot disappoint. Jesus arose, His Temple rebuilt in three days as He said. That is the wisdom of the cross; His wisdom for you, His death to give you life; His life to give you faith.

          Did not your Saviour conquer what we fear most? Does He not await you at journey’s end, at an eternal wedding feast?  That is to ask, did He forgive you? So Lent directs us to Christ’s cross and to Divine wisdom. Lent calls us to trust in Jesus the Christ, the Passover Lamb. Lent calls us to faith so that we dwell forever in the true Temple of God. Lenten disciples receive our Lord’s Divine Service and respond in worship’s true praise. This is the wisdom of God, our Savior’s bloody death for your life, eternal life. It is the power of God to save.

             

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

The Transfiguration, 2 Kings 2:1-12c

Feb. 19, 2012; The Transfiguration; Texts: Ps 50:1-6; 2 Kings 2:1-12c; 2 Cor. 3:12-4:2; Mark 9:2-9, Title: The Act that Follows

Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.: All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts. (II 7) Do you recognize the line?  William Shakespeare penned it in As You Like It.  It sticks in our minds because it begs many questions. Does this drama have a plot? What is your part, and does it matter?  Oh it matters, and not just because we momentarily stand on this life’s stage. There are clues how much it matters in one player’s exit, stage up.

          Even if Elisha didn’t want the day to come, that exit was remarkable. But the sons of the prophets (those faithful to the true prophets) knew the end an act neared. In Bethel the sons of the prophets told Elisha, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?”  “Yes, I know. Keep quiet.” In Jericho the sons of the prophets repeated the scene, “Do you know that today the LORD will take away your master from over you?” “Yes I know, keep quiet.” Elisha knew, but didn’t want to hear it; like we don’t want to hear some things. As of our own exit, do we say “I know, keep quiet?”  The normal exit isn’t stage right or left, it is stage down, six feet down, except for Elijah, and before him, Enoch. We will follow Adam’s dusty lead... unless our Lord returns very soon. As for Elijah, we’d think Elisha would be happy for him. They still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. And Elisha saw it and he cried, ‘My father, my father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!’ And he saw him no more (v11-12a.)

          That dramatic exit cracked a curtain to the greater theatre, an eternal theatre. There Elijah rejoices, though he had a brief, well-timed return.  Before his next appearance, generations performed their parts, many wandering lost on stage, many pretending their little show was the whole show. Some, knowing the script and believing the playwright, acted accordingly. They awaited one curtain drop in expectation of another’s rise. They waited while Israel continued in idolatry, and then waited through the consequent scattering of God’s people by the Assyrians and Babylonians. They waited through God’s silence when the Greeks took control of the stage. They waited when Rome grasped the holy city as if that stage belonged to Caesar, ignoring the script delivered by Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other prophets. Finally, one like Elijah came, as Malachi predicted: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the LORD comes.” (Mal 4:5). Backstage, a player enters though the womb of an ancient, barren woman. This predestined babe is pre-named. He started playing his part before birth. Still in his mother, he perceived the great Day of the Lord was near, as near as the babe in Cousin Mary’s womb. He leaped for joy.  We hear nothing more about John until as a man he recites prophetic lines, preaching repentance and baptizing for the forgiveness of sin. When his cousin drew near, the last prophet shouted “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn 1:29).  He announced a transfiguration for our blind and confused race, a transfiguration confirmed in Jesus’ baptism by the Father’s voice from above.

.         John acted his role dressed in camel’s hair and a leather girdle, unmistakably the costume of Elijah. People who flocked to the desert asked, “Are you Elijah?”  He said no, speaking as prophets do and exiting as most prophets did, through violence. What did his short act on this life’s stage mean?  What did it mean, Spirit-filled in his mother’s womb, calling us to make straight paths for the Lord?  His life meant much because the Author of life took center stage. The Son came for a reason, to set His drama right. What was beautifully conceived and written had been torn apart by uncaring, incompetent actors. What was meaningful and joyous was ruined by free-spirited improvisations, senseless and arrogant. Moses sought re-order. The prophets announced hope and one dressed like Elijah spoke for Elijah, “Straighten this out, the Author of life is nearly here, the one you’re waiting for. Then enter the Author dressed as man, compassionately playing his part. He did not imitate fellow players but humbled himself; playing our parts as they ought to be, as they might be. He spoke about his cousin, the one who declared Jesus to be the Lamb of God, the one who prepared his way. John’s cousin who came after yet before John, John’s king, spoke better than King Herod who ordered John’s head onto a plate. Jesus spoke “if you are prepared to accept it, that one is Elijah who is to come;” though not the literal Elijah who was in the wings awaiting a reprise on the old stage.  That Elijah appeared soon. We read about it in today’s gospel account.

          John’s act clued Elijah by announcing the eternal King who permanently wears our costume, who humbled Himself to become man to suffer and die. John’s act clued another mountain top experience, like so many important events. The covenant to Noah was given on Mt. Ararat; the offering of Isaac was on Mt. Moriah; the giving of the Law to Moses happened on Mt. Sinai; David’s holy city and temple was built upon Mt. Zion; and Elijah’s contest with the false prophets of Baal was atop a Mount too. But on this mount, when the cast arrived and the Author prayed His followers fell asleep. They failed to grasp prayer’s far grander theatre beyond our little stage. Like us, often weak and discouraged, Peter, James and John slept on that unnamed mount, until the reprise of Moses the lawgiver and Elijah the prophet. As for Moses who led God’s people out of slavery, and do you remember - in a divine revelation of stage eternal, his face glowed with the glory of God. But Moses veiled that glory to hide its earthly fading. He did not enter the Promised Land, because he sinned. Now, however, he shines without a veil. As for Elijah, the prophet who prayed, so came drought, then bread and oil multiplied, then life returned to a boy, and rain returned.  He prayed and fire fell on the true altar. He slew the priests of Baal and fled into the desert traveling 40 days on food given by angels. He came to the mount of the LORD and prayed to die. That’s why the LORD called Elisha, for neither Moses nor Elijah played well enough… in this life.

          Yet, both Moses and Elijah now shine in glory, because Jesus’ radiance that was and is, glows through his humanity, foreshadowing we too, weak as we are, will be filled with the glory of God. Jesus out-does Elijah’s departure on fiery chariots when from the cloud the Father says “This is my beloved son, listen to him.” Then another curtain rose “and suddenly, looking around they no longer saw anyone with them but Jesus only.” (Mk 9:8) The brilliance of Moses and Elijah spoke of one who did not fail –and the Father’s voice confirmed our hope – so too the exit of Moses and Elijah raised the curtain for the climax to the play. Moses’ and Elijah’s momentary appearance and final departure says their work is finished. “As for prophecies,” said the Apostle Paul, “they will pass away” (Cor 13:8).  As for the Law, Paul says it “was our guardian until Christ came, that we might be justified by faith” (Gal 3:24).  On the mount of transfiguration the Law and prophets rest, since the Father said “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him.”

          Center stage is the Author of life, the Son who assumed a human nature, who cures a ruined play, redeeming faithless actors and restoring paradise from chaos. The transfiguration prepares us for the highest mountain scene, high and lifted up, “the place of a skull.” Amid cat calls, spit, jeers, whip, nails, and spear Jesus prays “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.” He dies saying “it is finished.” He dies under God’s wrath, watched by smirking eyes; while perfect man shouldered our soul’s twisted evil, and our foolish, rebellious, hateful deeds. That mountain climax interprets the transfiguration. It justifies all scenes in the script, from Adam to Moses to Elijah to John’s head resting on a platter. In the transfiguration, Peter, James and John see what is to become of them - because their master was soon lifted up for all to see. On a bloody hill, God the Father received the Son when lifted up, so that you are lifted up by Jesus as a father lifts a dear child into his arms. You the baptized, you who believe in Jesus the Christ, will be transfigured like Him. His resurrection witnesses to it. He will never die again. He who triumphed will return in visible glory for His church. Until that Great Day, He descends in body and blood to sustain our life with Him, He who fills all things in heaven and earth… for what end? 

          If “all the world’s a stage and all the men and women merely players,” what is your part? That is to ask, “What part did Jesus play for you?”  Our part is we were called out of darkness and called into His story. We were made Christ’s body, and therefore we shall be like Him.  Until that day our lives play out in ordinary ways: in prayer, in witness, in living by faith under the cross. It is a difficult part and like Moses and Elijah, we are too weak to play it right. So our part           is to receive in water with Word, and in body and blood the Word, Christ Himself. Our part is to live in Christ, where we receive an eternal kingdom in His eternal purpose. When He was lifted up, Jesus Christ revealed his purpose for you. The Apostle Paul announced, In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will. (Eph 1:11).  Further, “(He has made) known to us the mystery of his will according to his      purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth (Eph 1:9-10). Even now we are being transformed. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Cor 4:6).

          He has shone into your hearts upon this life’s stage, Jesus Christ who suffered, died and rose. He called you to faith, granting you life through His means of grace. You are promised what is hidden under the cross, and so hidden in suffering, hidden in the likeness of Christ’s cross. You are promised to share in His glory. Moses and Elijah know that glory now. We too pray Maranatha, “Come quickly, Lord!” We pray because this life has a plot and you have a part. It matters, you matter. Because you live in Christ Jesus our Lord, you matter, called to something higher and greater than what we see under the veil of our stage. When that last curtain is lifted we will be transfigured like Moses and Elijah. With unveiled face, we will behold the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. So today you live for the praise of His glory, you who know that this master, will never leave you nor forsake you. We live in Him, He our glory.

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