August 5 2012: Ephesians 4:1-16

August 5, 2012; 10^th Sunday in Trinity; Texts: Psalm 145:10-21; Exodus 16:2-15; Ephesians 4:1-16; John 6:22-35; Title: Called to the Caller; Rev. Tim Beck

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

          A portion of our text: I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, beseech you to walk in the calling to which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in one body and one Spirit; as you were also called in one hope of your calling:

          Unity! What a goal for the church in every age. Bound in peace! What joyous fetters these? A calling! What a privilege to live in Christ’s order for the church. Listen to this man, whom Christ called for our sake. The Apostle Paul says “You were called, so walk in your calling.” You were called into one hope: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one over all and through all and in all. It’s simple, and if it is difficult, that’s not God’s fault. You just heard who calls you, what joys you are called into, and do you remember what are you called for?  Let’s review the last two week’s readings: Eph 1:4 says: According as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him… In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace…  Eph. 3:19 says …to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. This is the destination of your calling.

          How do we walk in this calling? We walk by faith in the grace that named you holy and blameless. We walk by faith, trusting our sins are forgiven by Jesus Christ. We walk by faith in The Faith, in what Scripture reveals. We walk by faith, praying for strength to follow our Lord. Every step in Christ is a step of faith; and faith, that gift from God, your faith, is alive and active. The Holy Spirit stirred up faith to believe in grace, in Christ’s imputed righteous. The same Spirit dwells in you so that you walk as one called. For example, He teaches you humility and meekness when you are wronged, teaching you to commit yourself not to vengeance, but to God.  Likewise, you learn patience through affliction as you wait for your heavenly Father to supply your needs. Because of need we listen more closely to Paul’s encouragement that Christ redeemed us, and also to his teaching of how to walk. Yes, we get discouraged because we still sin, so we heed the calling to daily repentance. There we are encouraged by forgiveness (that’s the doctrine of justification). That encouragement returns us to living in Christ (the doctrine of sanctification).  And sanctification returns us to Christ crucified for us, that is to justification. The Ephesian Christians, justified, redeemed, called to be children of God and walk in the holiness of Christ, they needed correction and encouragement too. We all do. We need reminding to repent daily that the Father forgives our sins, and the Holy Spirit indwells us for hope in our calling.

          This doctrine matters for unity because it means we are joined to one another. Whoever has a living faith is in Christ, is His bride, the church. That’s reason to be eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace in one body and one Spirit; as you were also called in one hope of your calling: Into what are you called, into One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, the one over all and through all and in all. As one theologian put it, the true church is not “congeries of religious miscellanea.” (F.F. Bruce)  The true church is united in the one faith, in Christ’s teaching. This too is the           church’s calling, to receive the one faith in order to walk with one Lord. We were brought into the unity of one faith through one baptism, so we are taught the content of that unity in the one holy and apostolic church.

          So why do disagreements occur in doctrine and over the practices that teach doctrine? The Word of God is not muddy or unclear. The problem is in us, in our dullness, our readiness to jump ship, to discard what we don’t like or to add what we do. There is perpetual struggle in this life to keep the one doctrine; that’s why the Apostle said approach this with humility, meekness, patience and longsuffering. Watch yourself and others, since the church on earth must fight to preserve pure doctrine. The church militant marches on her knees, wielding but the sword of the Word. How did it happen that the early church evolved into the corruptions of the Middle-Ages, of peasants to lords flagellating themselves for forgiveness? How did it happen that a once sound Lutheran church in San Francisco became the Lutheran church of the goddesses? (Look it up on the web if you want a colorful example of apostasy.) Both examples didn’t happen overnight, but little by little, little compromise by bigger until it was no longer one faith, but false faiths and poly-faiths.  It happens if a church embraces a feel-good-about-myself pop culture and denies sin’s deep darkness. It happens if a congregation chooses to “keep up with the times by getting rid of what doesn’t work” and hides the ugly, bloody cross in a closet. You can think of many examples how boats get unmoored and drift downstream, the only direction boats drift.         If up-streamers say “give me a paddle!” They are called loveless and non-accepting, accused of schism, of de-uniting the church. But that’s a lie. Our calling is not to embrace many doctrines or even convenient ones, but the one doctrine that the true church has always taught.

          Into what and whom where you called? You are called to walk in your calling in one Lord, one faith, one baptism. That’s where we received redemption, forgiveness, the riches of grace, the love of Christ unto the fullness of God! We are called to walk in all humility and patience for a goal given by our Lord. What is the goal? The peace and unity of the church in the one faith Unity is possible because it is God’s will for us, and what we were baptized into… for grace was given to each of us according to the measure of the gift of Christ.  Christ has supplied His Church with all necessary to have unity; including this: And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors-and-teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. This does not necessarily mean if you have a pastor everything is OK. We recently read a Scripture about bad shepherds who misled sheep. Yet Christ gave the office of pastor/teacher for building up His body.  And the pastor/teacher is given tasks. By God’s help, he is: 2) to do the work of the ministry;  1) to equip the saints; 3) to build up the body of Christ.

          That’s why a pastor’s work is about declaring the word and administering the Sacraments. (Col. 4:7, 17; I Tim 1:12, II Tim 4:5, 11). That’s why a pastor teaches law and gospel, so that the body of Christ together grows in unity. That’s why Mt. Zion has Divine Service, Bible classes, catechism, to equip the saints. That’s why you come to receive from Christ, so that strengthened with His gifts you live as Christians in the world, serving Him in your vocations by serving your neighbor. Permit me some detail: Perhaps you noticed the Bible version we use says And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ… That’s different than And he gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, for the equipment of the saints, for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.

          The first translation appeared in the 1930’s, and by popular demand is now the version in some Bibles. But the second translation is what the text says. The first translation seems like a small alteration, a convenient change for the mindset of the day, for democracy and all that. Does it matter? Here’s the issue: Is everyone a “minister” who does the ministry; and the pastor’s job is to equip you to do the work of the ministry? Is the pastor a CEO rather than a shepherd, and your job is to publicly declare the word and administer the sacraments? The phrase “everyone a minister” distorts the relation of the priesthood of believers to the pastoral office. It also shifts the focus from Christ for you to what you do for Christ. Church quickly becomes law, what you must do. Scripture gives the church a divinely appointed office, setting stewards over the mysteries (sacramentum) of God, calling pastors through the church to preach and teach (see I Cor. 3:5; Ac 20:24; 21:19; Rm. 11:13; II Cor. 4:1; 6:3; Eph. 6:21). As Christ’s representatives, pastors feed Christ’s flock, even those who can do nothing, like infants or the infirm or the dying, and it’s OK they can’t do ministry. As the public office preaches and administers the Sacraments, you are equipped; so that as Christ’s body, called by grace, you are strengthened to live by faith, faith that Christ has done it all. Then in liberty, all Christians, the Royal Priesthood, the justified, are enabled to serve in your vocations sharing the hope that is within you. 

          You minister in the broad sense of the word, meaning a servant, a servant of Christ. In that general sense we all minister, or serve, everywhere our vocations take us in the world, for Christ’s sake. Christ has a goal for the church: that… we all arrive at the unity of the faith and of the full knowledge of the Son of God, to a complete (mature) manhood and to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. This is ours since the word of God is clear and living, and dwells in all who have faith. For this end the Lord created the offices of apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/teachers to provide what we need to receive such gifts. Pastors provide the Word and Sacrament in order that we no longer may be infants, being blown and carried around by every wind of doctrine, by the slight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive. You have enemies intending to deceive you with false doctrine, presented through slight of men with craftiness demonically driven. But your Saviour rescues you through His truth, building your faith through those appointed to offices created for your benefit. Through these, He calls you to faithfulness, strengthening you by the Word         that ministers to you, equipping and building you in maturity: (that you) may grow into him in all things, who is the head, even Christ; 16 From whom the whole body joined and knit together with which it is supplied, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, makes increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

          Such is the calling of the whole church, hearing Christ speak the truth in love so that you grow stronger in love. That is what truth does, truth spoken, heard, believed and lived. That is why you pray for your pastor, for those who influence the church, and for all in Christ’s body. That is why you give heed in your station in life as to your calling in the one faith, as to your life of faith. You are called, given Christ’s holiness through the redemption of His blood. We look forward to being filled with the fullness of God. And Christ, the head of the church, supplies grace according to the rich measure of His gifts. He works effectively in and through His church for the sake of unity and peace. He called you, calling you into one sure hope: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.  He is the source of unity and peace in the church, having united you to Him through one baptism in the one faith, in one Spirit, One Lord, one God and Father of all.

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

July 29, 2012: Ephesians 3:14-21

July 29, 2012; 9^th Sunday in Trinity; Texts: Psalm 136:1-9; Genesis 9:8-17; Ephesians 3:14-21; Mark 6:45-56; Title: Thy Kingdom Come; Rev Tim Beck 

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

If you want to succeed in life what does it take? Hard work, skill, and a little bit of luck… so it goes in the world. Even then, if you make a little measuring mistake the cake falls. If you go a hair too fast on a curve you slide off the road. You get the contract, unless someone doesn’t like your looks. And when it comes to spiritual matters, we don’t even get close to success. If we bake our own cake, it comes out devil’s-food.  If it is a rat race, we can’t find the track. If it is a contract, good looks don’t count, and thank God since salvation is not by works but by grace alone. Christ declared us righteous. There is nothing you need to bake, no race to the starting line, and no contract you must fulfill to be loved by God. He baked the cake; He ran the race; and He gives you His contract, His New Testament, where the terms are all in your favor. There you were made heirs of the Son, by grace.

          It is because of grace the Apostle Paul says “for grace, I bow in devotion before the Father (literally) the Pater, out of whom every patria in heaven and on earth is named.” Every patria comes out of the Pater, the Father. Because of that grace Paul worships; because the Father chose to be our Father, naming us with His name. That’s why we too worship as His patria, His family. That means something very real. The Apostle points out we will succeed spiritually, enabled and en-willed in a very real way, in every real way because we, the justified, the forgiven, the redeemed, are chosen by the Father to be His. The Apostle points out that our heavenly Father is willing and able to do good for us. He who named us as His strengthens us in the one Holy Christian Church. His willingness and ability to save and to impart his sanctifying life in us is clearly revealed in Scripture: “For you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Rev 4:11); And, He “desires all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth” (I Tim 2:4);  And, “Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him” (Heb 7:25); and “For nothing will be impossible with God” (Lk 1:37).

          Scripture is emphatic. Our Lord is willing and able to help. Consider our reading from Ephesians. Given salvation (the imputation of Christ’s righteousness as ours) Paul worships, and unfolds some implications of that salvation, of the Father having chosen us in Christ. He points out what riches of glory are given us, received by faith.  He points out that faith is a gift, rooted and grounded in the Triune God’s love. He points out this love is given that we know the fullness of God.  God’s love “surpasses knowledge,” surpassing even our ability to understand. His compassion literally “super-abounds” to strengthen us unto salvation. He “is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think,” so that we share in the riches of his glory. Remember that when troubles arise; remember who holds all things in His hand. Be encouraged when our loving Lord lets hell break loose, for a time.  Be assured that when the church is troubled, tested, tempted and seemingly forsaken, He will not leave us or forsake us.  The Triune God loves us beyond our comprehension and is doing super-abundantly for our good, right now.

          And it isn’t just in crisis we need to know that, and receive that. We need His strength in ordinary times, everyday. For an ordinary example, what do you say if a neighbor says “I’m a good person. Don’t talk to me about that Jesus stuff.” Will you shrivel up or confess the faith? What do you do when the world calls “good” what Scripture calls “evil”? At a company party, do you parrot the party line to hell or confess the faith?  What will we do when the government says “Church, you must violate your conscience?” Will we agree or pay the price of a clean conscience?  And the trouble isn’t just “out there.” Are you ever dry, spiritually?  Does going to church seem like one more thing to do when the alarm clock rings? Is the Bible too heavy to lift off the table, the words too difficult to ponder? We won’t mention sins that make us feel miserable or ought to; the failures, the attitudes and the faults we confess before God. We won’t mention all these because they are under the blood of Christ, forgiven. We confessed our sin, we are absolved, and now we ask “how is that superabundant love, that vibrant life, manifest as mine?”

          The Apostle answers that question with God’s words to you, for you. He gives words that inform you, for example, in your prayer life. We can ask of our Father, “You tell us of your superabundant love and promise to effectively empower us. So Lord, come!” (Maranatha!) Work in and through me. That’s a legitimate way to pray the Scriptures, exemplified by the prophets and apostles. Read some of their prayers, when Abraham, Moses or David ask the Lord to fulfill His world. And let us pray the Psalms. Let us pray, reciting our Lord’s promises, promises given for our benefit, relief, rest and rejuvenation. Remind God of his promises, for your sake. That’s also how we pray the Lord’s prayer, the one He taught us to pray, the one in which are hidden all the promises of God for us.     We pray asking, “Lord, you’ve promised me these things. I wait on you.”

Our willing Lord rejuvenates us with promises like “a bruised reed he will not break and a faintly burning wick he will not quench” (Isa 42:3). Into a desert He came, the water of life poured out in the love of Jesus Christ, poured out through His word with water, and poured into us in His blood to drink. So in Word and Sacraments Paul says “here is His willingness and ability to strengthen you,” the gifts of the Triune God are for you. The one God is willing and able to strengthen us. He sent His Son as the sacrificial Lamb, to name Himself “our Father,” applying that holy death to us in water in the name: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father chose us in Him before the foundation of the world as his family, calling us from among all tribes and tongues, by grace. As our loving Father, He gives us “riches of his glory.”

          You might think it an odd glory, but that includes as the Father was glorified by Christ lifted up, so the church glorifies Christ in like manner… and for the purpose intended by God.  From the beginning of the church, the tiny few who professed “the name” suffered for that name; yet grew in 300 years to fill the Roman Empire. So too in our day, Christians suffer for their faith, yet receive strength to endure with joy, because we belong to “the name.” And at the end of days, as Christ ascended we too will be raised to the presence of the Father. We shall in glory shine. Not only God the Father, also God the Son willingly and ably strengthens us. The chief evidence is His death for sinners and His resurrection for life. He is the source of absolution, who now dwells in us through faith. As His Holy Nation, He settles and governs you who receive far more than our reason can comprehend. (17) Likewise God the Holy Spirit is willing and able to strengthen us. He empowers our inner being (16). He gives you divine life that you are willing and able to resist sin and to live for God. The Spirit strengthens you through hearing, including when you received the word with water and when you receive the word with bread and wine.

          The Triune God’s willingness and ability has a purpose for your renewal and strengthening. You were born from above by water and the Word and are sustained in Christ’s life day by day for this reason: to live eternally with the Heavenly Father. You were named by the Name, made children of the Father, to inherit the riches of His glory. According to the Father’s will, the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ dwell in you, filling the church with the fullness of God.  What mystery this, that while we are still sinners we are being restored to the image of God? We shall be righteous. We shall enjoy unhindered fellowship in the Triune God. That is the definition of paradise. The church shall be fulfilled, united in Christ, one body, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all. For this eternal purpose, for a heavenly end we are being renewed by Christ today. Christ plants us in His abiding love, and enables us, telling us to grasp, lay hold of, to seize that love, by faith in His promises. And the Christ whose blood cleanses us from all sin strengthens us to believe what is ours in His love, so that today we are enabled to live in what He daily gives.  Jesus Christ renews our confidence, and although we don’t know what we shall know, we are growing in what we shall become; for the Triune God is willing and able to strengthen us, and in fact He is doing that very thing, “according to the power at work within us” (20).

          Although we struggle as sinners, our Lord works His power in us for good. Although we slip and slide in living the faith, our Lord teaches us the faith, by letting us share in Christ’s sufferings. Although we are weak and often trip, His power works in us, in the church of faith; and we who are called out of the world share His mercy in the world. Because the Triune God is willing and able He does far more than we know and ask. He is our justification and our sanctification, our imputed righteousness and our daily strength, our confident hope and the power in us to give glory to God. He will preserve us to the end, to His end purpose, to be filled with His fullness, to rejoice in Him and in the fellowship of the saints in glory. Therefore today, let us repent our sin and rely on His grace; let us call upon Him who hears and strengthens us through His Spirit in Christ. If you want to succeed in life it takes hard work, skill and a bit of luck… says the world. If you want to succeed in death, through death and into eternal life, it takes the Father’s pardon, Christ’s grace, and the Spirit’s presence. And you have received that success. Your sins are forgiven; and you are given the life of God in the love of Christ Jesus our Lord. You are named the patria of the pater.

         

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

8th Sunday in Trinity: Ephesians 2:11-22

July 22, 2012; 8^th Sunday in Trinity; Texts: Psalm 23; Jeremiah 23:1-6; Ephesians 2:11-22; Mark 6:30-44: The Best Broken Wall; Rev. Tim Beck

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

What does the Apostle Paul say matters? Peace matters. In the midst of war, soldier or civilian is glad for peace. When personal relationships are in turmoil through anger, bitterness and suspicion – we are glad for peace. And you were at war with God and each other, but through Christ received peace. There’s been an amazing change in and through Christ: you received peace. Some folks deny human history is a war against God; but who can explain the bizarre fight against the good law or the gift called grace? What explains those who say kill Christians, or burn Bibles or God doesn’t exist, or who bow to a pantheon of gods all-together like us? The evidence of the war against God is everywhere… from indoctrination masquerading as science to destructive ideologies pretending to be moral.

          Even if your war ended, even if baptized as infants and growing up believing the marvelous Gospel, all of us know the war in our evil desires. Even after Christ brought peace, simultaneously saint and sinner as we are, the battle continues in our flesh. Does your eye linger on the scantily clad? Does your ear tune in a tasty rumor? Does your tongue let slip unkind comments? Who feels no temptation but the dead? Feeling temptation tells us there is much in us against God that can be aroused. So we understand hostility and how wonderful its end; how blessed peace with God, and peace in relationships, families, churches, and one day, that Great Day, in the world. Wouldn’t it be great if the war in Afghanistan ended because everybody suddenly made peace and called the United States “Papa?”  Of course, that’s ridiculous.

          That sounds ridiculous, until we consider the context of our Epistle reading: The Jews called the non-Jews “You dogs!”  That’s the name for wild dogs that     roamed the city, hated by women, feared by children. These animals ate refuse, they stank and carried disease. That’s what Jews thought of non-Jews for their lawlessness to the ceremonial precepts. In return, Gentiles shouted, “You atheists,” because Jews refused to worship the local gods, sneering at the values that held society and commerce together. Jews were hated for offending local customs, treating those who lived their first like dirt, not even speaking to them. That’s the way of enmity. You’ve tasted it, like the savor of bitterness, prejudice and contempt. But something changed when the true God, the jealous God, the God who is jealous for us sent His Son… and when the Son, the Christ, fulfilled the law. Jesus died under the law, cursed on a cross for Jew and for Gentile, for all. Christ answered every accusation against Jew and Gentile in His body and with His blood, to make peace with God.

          Christ reconciled us, announcing peace so that our enmity against the Living God might be healed. Christ reconciled us, announcing peace so that all who believe in Him are adopted as children of peace.  Christ reconciled us, announcing peace so that by faith the terrible divisions between Jew and Gentile, between all sinners, can be cured. And in the early church unto today, we rejoice because the enmity was ended between us and God, and so between each other. Forgiveness does that. The two parties Paul lists now party together in the same Supper, sharing Christ’s       very body and blood in one confession. All believers share in one body, one Lord, one faith, one baptism in the peace of Christ, in a peace that can only be found in the church, the church bearing the fruit of that peace.  From the beginning of the church non-Christians noted the peace between Jew and Gentile, slave and slave owner, male and female, rich and poor. Christians were known for peace, unless persons fell to sin or heresy and then fell under law, and sparks flew until repentance and forgiveness restored them. Every Sunday the early church shared the peace of the Lord, not to chat or say hello to friends, but to reconcile where needed. At that place in the liturgy those offended or offending confessed their sins before God, and to each other, and were absolved. With the pastor’s absolution “the peace of the Lord be with you,” Christ’s body expressed that reconciliation with a holy kiss of peace. Then they communed together in that marvelous fellowship in Christ’s very body and blood.

          Christians today of all colors, ages, clothing styles, body piercing, collar stiffness have peace with God and each other, in the same way. We don’t live tit for tat. Tit for tat becomes rat-a-tat-tat.  Tats don’t tear down the wall of bad done and good undone, wrong attitudes and acts, the hurts and wounds that we use as mortar and brick to wall out heaven.  Such construction, earthquake reinforced with resentment, shuts out neighbors and a compassionate God. Thank God the law continues to show the ugly buildings in our soul. Thank God He aims to kill hostility, but not by executing you or me. Thank God, He paid our war damages Himself, to join us to Him.  It’s as if President Obama emptied his bank account to recompense the victims of Osama bin Laden, then reached out his hand into Osama’s dark hole to say, “You’re pardoned. Let’s be friends.” But you know what really happened and needed to happen according to the realm of law. Civil government isn’t the kingdom of grace. It is rule of law and must be. But if we demand God accepts us through the law, if we reject grace, we’ll get the treatment any terrorist deserves.

          That’s why Christ came to pull us out of a dark hole, and more. He bids us receive His death in our place, live in His forgiveness, and rejoice as His adopted heirs. How does that reconciliation come to us?  How is Christ’s forgiveness announced to those who dig deep holes, peeking out to shoot at God or man? Some messenger stands on the rim of that hole and shouts, “Hallo, you down there. I’ve got a message for you.”  Someone delivers good news that although the law condemns you God’s word of pardon forgave you, to raise you out of that pit. Whoever delivers good news risks getting shot; yet the news of God’s grace, mercy, and peace is welcome to many who are crushed by the law. So in their time prophets and priests proclaimed law and gospel. After Christ’s resurrection the apostles proclaimed, and now pastors are commissioned for the same.  In all times, all in the priesthood of believers share the same hope, as taught by the apostles and prophets. And the church need do nothing more than speak the words of The Word, to declare the message we received, to declare peace. Peace comes in the announcement of peace, while the church inevitably does more, in mercy and fellowship together, in living that peace.

          In contrast, Jeremiah describes shepherds who brought war. If you read the context of the Old Testament passage at home you might be surprised. It wasn’t failing to say peace. The bad shepherds said, “Peace, peace.” The problem was there was no peace.  Those shepherds didn’t point out the deep pits their people dug. They destroyed and scattered the sheep of God’s pasture when they said, “God won’t bother about the holes you dig; He loves you too much!”  They failed to say God is not pleased with your hostility to Him or to each other. Return to Him and be reconciled.  So the people of Israel became complacent in sin and patterned in hostility, except for a remnant that listened to Jeremiah. They cried out, “Lord have mercy!”  They confessed their sin before a righteous God and received not a slap, but forgiveness and reconciliation. Then they understood the promise that God would raise up a king called, “The Lord is our righteousness.”

          There cannot be peace without righteousness.  It won’t do for a government to overlook someone like Osama Bin Laden, someone who continues to blow innocent folks to bits.  Likewise before God, righteousness will be upheld. That’s why the Son of God became incarnate to bring a righteous peace. He didn’t ignore the law. He taught it, obeyed it, and suffered for it to fulfill it for you. He preached peace, a costly peace, a peace that cost Him, being buried in a deep hole, conquering hell’s pit for righteousness sake. But that war ended all wars, when the good shepherd became the sheep marked for sacrifice… when He abolished the ceremonial law that created a terrible barrier between Jew and Gentile; when He abolished the law’s demands against us, freeing us from the hostility of our sin and delivering us from a just condemnation. Like a ridiculous judge who wraps his arms around the convict and says “I paid the price; I can and will forgive you, you’re out of jail. Come home with me!”  Lawbreakers like us were reconciled to the Almighty, baptized into Jesus Christ’s death, and so joined to each other.  Lawbreakers like us are given a new identity, and given the Holy Spirit for a guarantee, for newness of life, to share in Christ’s resurrection.

          He makes us the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit, a holy sanctuary of the Lord, Jesus Christ Himself the Temple, we sharing in His peace; we sharing intimately          in the Holy God.  Consider days of old, when Gentile believers could only enter their court, farthest from God’s presence. Then Jewish believers entered their outer court, while only purified males entered the inner court.  In the temple proper, only the priests entered. Into the Holy of Holies where God’s presence dwelled, only the high priest entered once a year to offer sacrifice for sins. Consider the separation from the Holy God. But when our Lord died the curtain that separated the holy of holies from the people was torn in two. And the peace of God was announced for all flesh, so that He might dwell in you;      that you become like the holy of holies, the very dwelling place of God. But you say, what about the quarrels I start with my Maker, my family, my friends, my enemies?  How could God love me… and so purify me?”  He, not you, tore down the dividing wall of hostility. He built something righteous in its place that fulfilled the law. He built you into the righteousness of grace, imputing it to you.   And you who confess your sin receive the very righteousness of God in absolution, our Lord’s kiss of peace.

          Because of that, you receive the Holy Spirit who gives you holy desires; and you, declared righteousness in Christ; He builds into His habitation, a temple of peace. The Lord is building you, the baptized, through daily repentance and absolution, through hearing His peace-giving Word. The Lord is building you by feeding you the Sacred Lamb.  He bids you to a fellowship meal unlike any other on earth. It is his testament for you, a testament testifying you are reconciled to God. This testament declares sins are forgiven and heaven entered. It testifies all who rightly eat and drink share the same body, built into one body. It not only proclaims peace, it strengthens you to seek and speak peace. And faith receives Christ’s righteousness so that faith becomes a fit dwelling place of God. As Jeremiah prophesied, The Lord is our righteousness.  Like the remnant in Jeremiah’s day who repented their sin and looked to grace, you too by faith receive this peace: “The Lord is our righteousness.”

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

7th Sunday in Trinity: The Battle for Doxology

July 15, 2012; 7^th Sunday in Trinity; Texts: Ps. 85: (1-7) 8-13; Amos 7:7-15; Eph 1:3-14; Mark 6:14-29; Title: The Battle for Doxology; Rev. Tim Beck 

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

The Epistle lesson, what a marvelous doxology that shout of thanksgiving! The Apostle repeats Himself over and over (and over) to make sure you get the point. 10 times we hear the phrase, “in Christ” or “in Him.” 10 times we hear that the Lord Jesus Christ makes us complete. 10 times Christ is pointed out as the source of enduring hope and joy.  3 times God’s purpose, literally his “good pleasure” is highlighted. 3 times God’s “good pleasure” is named as the source of all our blessings. 3 times we hear God’s good pleasure is to save you. And 3 times we hear the reason that we received Christ’s great mercy – for the “praise of His glory.” The entire doxology, the form of the doxology, is filled with our Lord gifts, resulting in our contemplation of Him, with thanksgiving.  Paul puts contemplation of God where it belongs – not in speculation or sinful invention. A right contemplation of the Living God becomes doxology.

          Why do we praise our Creator and Redeemer? Not because God needs it, being somehow insufficient without our honors; and not because we must do it to be received by Him. We give praise because God is great and good, good to us, to His creatures, to His fallen, estranged, needy and broken-hearted creatures. Not only is He our Creator, for a fallen race He became our Saviour, forgiving our sins, bringing us back from the captivity of our rebellion. He is love, and justice, truth, holiness which He brings us into as sons. We are enabled to praise Him because He names us as His and unites us with Himself. It is a done deal in the Triune God’s eyes. It is His completed work, what He accomplished before He returns in glory, before our baptism, before our birth, before His resurrection or the cross, before the fall, before He created all things (He is eternal). This fact, the work completed before we even existed, this fact revealed in out   text, and by the prophets and apostles, ought to evoke our trembling praise.

          Sadly, few praise the eternal God for a terrible reason: our race is one of fools.  The world thinks this Trinitarian God too little or too big, too accusatory or too forgiving, too far away, too close, too frightening, too comforting. We prefer other gods. Our perverted natures are put on exhibition before the world especially in what calls itself church, what says it belongs to God. For example, six years ago the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted in national assembly to find “fresh ways to speak of the mystery of the Triune God” to “expand the church’s vocabulary of praise and wonder.”  Oh, that sounds like doxology. Oh, that sounds so good… if our ways are God’s ways. But they continued, our talk about God must be gender-inclusive, adapted to our needs (to our image). They said, the name Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is patriarchal, oppressive. We now call God “Mother, Child and Womb.” And doxology became blasphemy. What a tragedy, what tragedy when world and worldly church says jam the revealed God into a shoebox of antiquated doctrines and toss him in the attic. Treat him like second hand clothes too good to throw out, but not good enough to wear. Take what’s holy and sell it as dollar-store leftovers. So too we ask ourselves in our synod, our church, our personal life, do we act     as if the gifts of God belong to us (Lord, grant us to repent)?

          It has always been so among fools and will be until Christ returns. So the false priest Amaziah told Amos to no longer call for repentance, to warn rebels of their end. This is the world we live in, a world where most claim to believe in God but treat the 10 commandments as the 10 suggestions. And you, also born in sin, how often do you agree with this world? How often is the contemplation and doxology of God absent from your lips or heart? Is there a remedy for our hard hearts? Return to our Epistle reading, and marvel, wonder, that the True God chose you. He saves you. He gave you a new heart.

          That’s why we praise Him. For examples from our readings… how did a farmer named Amos come to speak God’s word? He was called, by God. How was the Baptist who lost his head the greatest OT prophet? He was called, by God. Consider that just a few years before Paul wrote this doxology a deceived Jewish leader named Saul attacked the Unity in Trinity and the Trinity in Unity.  His hatred for Jesus caused him to drag Christians to prison and to death. But you know what happened. Out of the blue, Christ appeared and called Saul to be His, and then to be one of His apostles. That rebel, the persecutor, that despiser of Christ became Paul the Apostle, and among other things, wrote this doxology of praise.

          The same Triune God found you. Perhaps your call wasn’t as dramatic, but with water and Word it was just as real. You left the foolishness of sin to see aright. You see the glory of God on a cross; you believe Jesus is the Savior of the world, that your sins are forgiven, that you have a future in Him… in Him. That is clear evidence that the true God found you, chose you in his good will for the purpose of His favor, and gives you doxology. In Christ, in the Beloved, He chose you and me, sinners like all other foolish sinners, for the riches of His grace. This grace is not “just get along with God.” Grace is not “stop being so hard on yourself.” Grace is not “love more.” Those misconceptions of grace are just a form of the law. Nor is grace an infusion of energy, like jump starting a battery so that after a jolt of God-power you can run on your own, you can run to please God. Grace is like this acrostic: God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.  G.R.A.C.E. is the Triune God’s unmerited favor, His undeserved love, His call out of the blue. Grace is radical, unasked for, unexpected interference by God on your behalf. Grace is God sticking His nose in your affairs to make you righteous in his sight. God’s grace is like a king forgiving the murderer of his only Son to adopt that killer, and then giving him an inheritance despite his cocky adolescent inability to grasp the value, meaning, and purpose of all that was done for him.  

          God’s glorious grace loves us precisely because we don’t deserve it. For knowing what sinners we would be, He loved us before we even existed. He blessed us with every spiritual blessing… He chose us in Him... He predestined us for adoption… according to His purpose of will.  He will complete His plan for the fullness of time… He works all things according to the counsel of His will. That’s how Paul, formerly a Christ-hater, now gives doxology, sharing all the blessings of son-ship. It wasn’t Paul’s choice. He was predestined for adoption as a son. Hearing that word “predestine” don’t make a wrong-headed conclusion. Don’t wonder “am I chosen for heaven or hell?”  Don’t foolishly think, “If I’m chosen, my faith doesn’t matter?”  Don’t sinfully imagine, “If not all are saved, then God’s a monster.” Predestination to damnation is not what Christ revealed on the cross for all to see. Scripture says God desires all to be saved. Further, if we get stuck on “why predestination,” the answer is not revealed. So don’t seek God’s hidden will because you will only find trouble and come to error.  Seeking what God has hidden ends in making a God of our own design. Seek the revealed will of God, the glory of Christ crucified.  Seek where we are told to look, to Christ lifted up. Third, even if our salvation is God’s choice and work, Scripture tells believers to contend for the faith. We are called to call upon Him to resist sin, to live lives of mercy, to live in fellowship with each other, even if He is the one who accomplishes all these things in us. Finally, the revelation that God choose you in Christ leads to doxology.

          When He takes estranged rebels, the living dead, enemies of God: forgives, reconciles, restores, and re-births us into Christ as adopted heirs, what is more natural than praise? We, who otherwise would stuff Him into a shoebox, call him mother, womb, child, and then accuse, “where is God when you need Her,” He names as dear heirs… and he opens our eyes to see the glory of God on a cross, in how He chose to reveal Himself for life. He did this before the foundation of the world, choosing us to be holy and blameless before Him.  In His plans for the fullness of time, He included us to be united to Christ our head and to break forth in thankful praise, in doxology.  By grace, by the gift of predestination, by the gift of adoption we are His. If you adopt a child there can be years of paperwork, interviews, home-inspections, thousands of dollars in fees, etc…  When God adopted you He paid an eternity of cost, an infinite cost. He paid by pouring his righteous wrath upon His beloved Son. The Son was deserted under our sins. And in that gift of His Son, we are blest with all heavenly blessings in Christ Jesus. He extended grace toward us... He forgave us… He redeemed us… He adopted us... He seals us with the Holy Spirit… He unites us all in Christ… He gives us an inheritance… so that through baptism into one revealed name, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we were joined to Christ. In Him we died to sin and share in His resurrection life.

          Do not run back to the old, cruel master. You were sealed with the Holy Spirit, who works through the Word to confirm and strengthen what He began. He brings you to join Paul in praise as one body, one faith, one Lord, one baptism, one doctrine. Today we share in Christ’s very body and blood, in a holy communion, sharing in the most holy things, in the most Holy God. We share the same spiritual life and eternal blessing. As the beloved children of God we will share in His glory.  How appropriate Sunday after Sunday we sing “Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit” and “Glory be to God on high and on earth peace, good will toward men” and “We praise Thee O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord” and “alleluia” and “For my eyes have seen Thy salvation.” This is our contemplation, our doxology, filled with the gifts of the Triune God, we who are in Christ because of God’s good pleasure for the praise of His glory.

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

A Definition of Success: Ezekiel 2:1-6

July 8, 2012; Trinity 6; Texts: Ps 123; Ezekiel 2:1-6; 2 Cor 12:1-10; Mark 6:1-13; Title: A Definition of Success; Rev. Tim Beck 

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

What is the definition of a prophet? The Old Testament prophets like Ezekiel, what were they called to do? Given a revelation from God, they replied, “Thus says the Lord.” That word, at times was for a specific event in the prophet’s day, or about something that already happened. Sometimes God’s word announced a future event, far away in time. Sometimes more than one event in time was included in the same message. Most often the theme of their message was “repent and believe in the gospel.”  The prophet’s ancient words are for God’s people of every age, because it is God’s word, eternal. Our question is how it applies now, how we are to receive it, how we are to be shaped by it.

          There is a related question, do we have prophets today? Not if that means an ongoing, progressive revelation. Scripture has been written. The Old Testament prophets spoke of the coming Christ. He was born, died, rose and ascended and is coming again.  The divinely inspired apostles taught all Jesus taught them. And Jesus is the full revelation. Yet the role of the prophet continues in the church, given to the Apostles and then to declare the apostolic faith, given to the pastoral office for the sake of the church… to declare God’s Word as it is written. Pastors are to declare the Word and teach how we receive it and are shaped by it. And all who receive the apostolic faith share the same because God’s Word is given to the whole church, to the priesthood of believers.

          There is a goal in all this – faith in the Word. And where there is faith there is the salvation of which we may all speak according to our vocations. But we are often reluctant to speak. For example, every called pastor, me included, is at times afraid to say what needs said, knowing what is likely to happen. Look what happened to Jesus who never stuck his foot in his mouth. So what about your foot? You’ve had opportunities to witness of our Lord, the Christ. Did you keep your lips shut thinking, “maybe the pastor will say it?” Or, “I pray that guy reads a Gideon Bible in a hotel room.” Do you think “I’m not a Moses, an Amos, a Jeremiah or a Jonah?” And by    the way, each of these prophets didn’t want to speak for God. They objected to that divine call, making excuses, as we may object to living as a Christian in our personal vocations.

          Today we consider Ezekiel; he was a priest, called to be a prophet, after he became a captive of war and was dragged off to Babylon. King Nebuchadnezzar took captive Judah deep into Babylon in 597 B.C., for one reason. God’s people refused to listen to God’s word, to repent and believe; so the Lord sent Babylon as a divine 2 x 4 against Judah’s hard head, for repentance sake. Ezekiel was surrounded by the same folks, who despite the exile still kept their old hearts. So he was reluctant to speak, knowing what would come his way. Then our Lord told Ezekiel what he needed to hear. That word opened his mouth, and it can open our mouths too, because it tells us who we are and what faith shall receive. Let me put it this way, do you want to be a success, a success before God, before the Eternal One, before the Almighty, before the King of Kings?

          Then we ought to consider what God calls success. What’s his definition? It’s not what the world of the flesh calls success. We live in the world, under the pressures of a culture, influenced by its values; tempted and troubled by what the world wants to make of us because we want the same from the world. For example, we like popularity. We like to be liked and thought special. We’re even glad if the dog wags it tail when we come home. How early did it matter whom you sat next to on the school bus, junior high, fourth grade, first grade, kindergarten?  What made someone popular?  And did you conform to worldly values to get to sit next to the popular person on the bus, the one who had 42 crayons in her box, not just the 12 pack?  As you know ungodly values happen in kindergarten. And how do you conform to un-godly values to be liked? - repent -

          For another example, is success fame? Even if no one here danced with the stars, does it matter how people esteem you? We’d like to be given the best table in the restaurant, the special treatment, and have a full house at our funeral.  We equate that with a life that matters; being honored and admired. So we create everything from Cub Scout badges to Moose Lodge ceremonies. We create rigid hierarchies in the butterfly collectors club and in civil war re-enacting more people want to put on a general’s uniform than a private’s. There are so many ways we try to validate ourselves.  I’m not against having fun, rewarding children, getting promotions at work, wearing uniforms or preserving a historical memory or living in the world. The issue is how do we validate ourselves before God?  That’s a vital question for each person, and for the life of the church.

          We might live in the world, but if we succumb to the world’s way, to a self-centered way of measuring success, what then? For one, we’ll think if the rich, famous and powerful go to a church, that one must be God’s church. And if they don’t go to any church, why should we? Or, we’ll sell out Scripture to one business program after another masquerading under religious jargon if it promises to fill the pews. Or we’ll not risk offending our neighbor by saying things they need to hear, of repentance and faith, about not their honor but Christ’s. And have you noticed that all of the world’s ways of success are those of the law, something you do? How quickly does that become a burden, needing the 42 crayon pack to be thought OK, and the 68 pack to be special? Thank God the gospel is contrary to the world’s values, although believing it creates situations like these: God said to Ezekiel…you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.  The Apostle Paul said therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. Our Lord Jesus said “A prophet is not without honor, except in his hometown and among his relatives and in his own household.”

          Too bad faith, faith in Christ, isn’t often admired in the world. Nevertheless, Jesus wasn’t ruined because his hometown rejected Him. That was but a step along the road to redeeming the world. Paul wasn’t broken by sufferings caused by proclaiming Christ. On the contrary, he finds his resulting weakness the very place where God reveals His faithfulness. Ezekiel preached God’s message, and those who listened were saved.  So too God didn’t require the prophets and apostles to spend their lives fighting for a big house, new cars, trips to Europe and the very best extended care policy for the end of life. They looked to what is eternal in the heavens, to where the Lord bids us look. They looked to what truly matters, and found contentment. So we look to the gospel; and with Paul see things so differently that we can boast about our weaknesses and troubles.

          Further, in Christ we succeed in our varied vocations, as father, mother, son, laborer, accountant, boss, friend, neighbor, pastor… by a life of faith. How so? Faith receives that Jesus declares us righteous, a success by God’s standard. And faith then looks to Christ to strengthen us in our every need. The plumber under the house in the crawl space, righteous in Christ, is free to pray for a solution when there isn’t space to move his hands to make parts fit.   And when they do fit, he gives thanks to God. So we don’t measure success in the same way as what the world values most; and even if it outwardly looks like the world’s definition, it won’t be. Even if a Christian’s business is fortune 500, her acting Broadway demanded, his ball throwing Super bowl sending... that’s not how he or she measures success. Our success has nothing to do with earning God’s approval, so that he likes you. Nor is it about the world’s approval. In fact, it’s not about you at all. God measures success by saving us. It’s about Him for you.  For you He preserved Ezekiel’s life when Babylonian armies blood-soaked Jerusalem.  For you the Lord brought Ezekiel safely to the river Chebar after walking chained with other captives through the terrible desert heat and cold. For Ezekiel and you He called Ezekiel to speak, sending the Holy Spirit to give the right words and strength to do it.  Even if no one listened, even if no one thought well of Ezekiel, he spoke. And if you read on in Ezekiel and see some of the totally weird things God asked Him to do, there’s only one conclusion. Ezekiel succeeds by faithfulness to the word the Lord. And the responsibility for the success of that word belongs not to Ezekiel, but to God.

          The Triune God takes upon Himself the responsibility to save, just as the Triune God takes upon Himself the measurement of our success. What’s the best example of God’s way of doing things? Consider the success of God’s Son made man. God became man and humbled Himself; and then was called mad, demonized, a bastard, a blasphemer, immoral, etc. By worldly standards Jesus of Nazareth was an utter failure. He lived in back-waters and never went to important places, like Rome. He didn’t own anything, except a seamless robe. He had no home, no wife, no children, no normalcy, no place to lay his head. Surrounded by grasping crowds, they fled when he was arrested by jealous men. Without cause He was beaten, mocked, and died as a criminal. Yet God’s foolishness is our success, the glory of God revealed on a cross. There Jesus received the Father’s approval, and gave the same approval to you in Holy Baptism. There is nothing more for you to do to be regarded by God as His beloved, adopted child. We but receive His enduring love, believing He did it all for us.

          Contrary to the world’s definition, the Triune God made you a success… when Jesus died for sinners.  Whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved. So Ezekiel proclaimed the same (repentance and faith) and some believed. So we speak of our Lord because He named us as His † having reconciled us by the cross, by the symbol of worldly failure but the sign of God’s approval. (That’s why our churches have images of Christ crucified, the last thing our sinful inclinations want, so that we see the Father’s definition of success.) And in Jesus’ success is the secret of fulfilling our calling, our vocation as a Christian. He gives us the power of open mouths... that receive His very body and blood. His grace is the answer to our every weakness, because He who washed us in water with the Word is stronger than the grave. So we live as God’s own, asking Him that the faith He creates in us by the Word bears the fruit of love and good works.  Then mindful of Christ, we rejoice to serve our neighbor for Christ’s sake. That’s what shapes the way we see our jobs, our family, life in the world.

          Now, how do you measure success? Will you think less of yourself if you don’t have a sporty car? Will you think less of Christ when your neighbor says you believe a superstition? Will you think on Christ crucified as the source of all good for you? And as a fringe benefit, consider how in Christ the burden of earning the world’s approval falls away. You succeeded before God through the death of Jesus Christ, so you don’t require the world’s popularity, fame and honor to be content. You don’t need to live beyond your means, to dress a certain way, to be a rat in       the rat race, to conform to what earns God’s wrath.  Before God, there’s no need to earn brownie points. The Father named you as His in Baptism, forgiven, justified, His beloved child. For this end He sent the prophets and apostles, calling men into the proclamation office so that through hearing, the Holy Spirit applies the Word to your life - for a reason - to free you from the world’s bonds, freed to be His for righteousness and life.

          So Ezekiel looked forward to the promised Christ, overcoming his fear to speak. He knew success depended on God, as does ours. So the Word of grace opens our mouths too because it informs us who we are and what we shall become and that some will believe. Jesus is the final and ultimate prophet. He puts His word in our ears and into our hearts, and it comes out of our mouths.  He who enters our mouths to commune with us will strengthen you for eternal life; for God measures success by saving us. It’s all about Him for you.

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

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Third Sunday of Trinity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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