Sermon for Life Service - Mk 10:13-16

                                                                                                Life Service

                                                                                                Mk 10:13-16

                                                                                                3/24/19

            Amy and I have been blessed with four children.  We have a son, Timothy, who is a senior in high school.  We have a son and a daughter, Matthew and Abigail who are twins, and are in eighth grade.  And our youngest son, Michael, is in fifth grade. 

            Once in awhile, one of them will ask about the baby who died.  There is a curiosity because it happened before Matthew, Abigail or Michael were born.  Timothy was only two at the time, and says that he has nothing but a vague recollection that something happened.

            Amy’s pregnancy with Timothy was exciting because he was our first child, and things went well.  At the end it was necessary to induce labor, and two attempts at this failed.  The third one finally succeeded and after a very long labor Timothy was born.  The duration of labor meant when he came out, his head was a long cone.  My first impression of our son was that Amy had given birth to an alien. The nurse saw the look on my face and assured me that everything was fine, and sure enough we brought a healthy baby boy home from the hospital.

            After the experience with Timothy, we were joyful when Amy became pregnant again.  Timothy was going to be a big brother.  Things moved along and the pregnancy entered into the second trimester.  Amy had taken on the beautiful appearance of a pregnant woman.

            But while we are at my brother’s house, she saw signs that concerned her.  My brother is a family practice doctor, and he helped to get her in to see an Ob/Gyn right away.  As the ultrasound began, I knew exactly what to expect as we listened to the heartbeat.  But instead, there was the most deafening silence I have ever heard.  It quickly became clear that our baby had died.

            I did not understand at the time how common miscarriages can be.  Sometimes, like with Amy, they are events that family and friends know about.  At other times, only a wife and husband know that it has occurred. Under any circumstance, they are a source of grief because a death has occurred – a baby has died.

            As Christians, we mourn when a baby is lost in miscarriage.  We do so because we know that a life has been ended by death.  We know that God established the one flesh union of marriage to create life.  In the union of husband and wife the wonder of God’s creative action is present, for his work of creation did not end on day six in Genesis chapter one.  Instead his creative work continues as he gives life in the womb.  Indeed, the psalmist wrote: “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

            The culture of death around us on the other hand is schizophrenic when it comes to the unborn. Refusing to acknowledge life as the gift of the Creator, it plays god by “deciding” whether a life exits or not.  According to the world, a woman bestows the status of life through her own choice.  If she wants the baby, then the unborn baby is a life.  If she does not want the baby, then the unborn baby is not a life, and instead is something to be eliminated. 

            Of course, there is no difference in the baby between the former and the latter outcome.  The baby can be celebrated on Facebook as the most wonderful new life.  The baby can be killed and thrown away – or perhaps sold off as spare parts for research. According to the world, it all depends on what status the woman chooses to confer.  In fact, recent comments by politicians and legislative action in our country have made it clear that this status of “not life” extends even after birth for a baby that survives an abortion.

            As God’s people, we in the Church know that life begins at conception.  We know that life is God’s gift that is to be nurtured and protected.  In our vocation as citizens of this state and country we seek to bring about change which will end abortion and protect the lives of the unborn.

            Because we know that life in the womb is God’s precious gift, the loss of a baby in miscarriage is a source of profound grief.  The joyful expectation of knowing this little one abruptly ends, and we are left with nothing but sonogram images.  Where a miscarriage occurs in the setting of ongoing fertility problems, it can be particularly crushing.

            Yet it is not just the grief of a life lost. Our knowledge from God’s Word about the nature of man since the Fall also means that miscarriage presents us with troubling questions.  Our Lord Jesus told Nicodemus, “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.”  We know from Scripture that sinful, fallen man produces sinful, fallen man.  It matters not how cute that sinful, fallen man is.           

           For this very reason Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  Our Lord has given us Holy Baptism as the means by which babies receive a washing of the new birth in the Holy Spirit, and become saints forgiven because of Christ. What then are we to say about these babies who were never born alive, and so never could receive rebirth in Holy Baptism?

            Our text from Mark chapter ten provides encouragement to think about these things on the basis of our Lord’s word.  It does not provide an exact answer. But it sends us to Christ in faith and hope.  Mark begins by telling us, “And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them.”

            Presumably parents were bringing their children – and the term used here includes very young children – so that Jesus could touch them.  Now in Mark’s Gospel, every other time that Jesus touches someone it is order to provide healing. The saving power of the kingdom of God – the reign of God – was present in Jesus.  People recognized this.  On three different occasions in the gospel, Mark tells us that people in need of healing hoped to touch Jesus, or even just to touch his clothes.

            Why did these parents want Jesus to touch their children?  They did because Jesus came proclaiming, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” They did because Jesus healed the sick, the blind and lepers with his touch.  They did because the demons cried out, “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God,” before he cast them out.  They wanted Jesus to touch their children because Jesus and his touch brought God’s saving reign.

            However, we learn that when this happened “the disciples rebuked them.”  Since the text never actually mentions who brought the children, I think we have to assume that the “them” refers to the children themselves.  This fits with an important piece of cultural background that we need to understand. 

            In our world children are revered.  They are viewed as pure and untainted sources of wisdom.  “Listen to the children” we are told.  However, in the ancient world children were viewed as inferior because they were helpless and not able to work like adults; they were physically weak; they were likely to get sick and die; they were not guided by reason.  They were looked down upon and were not held up as role models for adults to imitate.

            But in response, the Lord Jesus was indignant about what the disciples were doing.  He commanded them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And then Jesus took children in his arms – he embraced them - and blessed the children, laying his hands on them.

            Jesus says in our text that the kingdom of God – the saving reign of God – was meant for those children.  It was his will for them to receive it.  He did not want them hindered from being brought to him.  In the experience of miscarriage these words give us comfort and hope.  Jesus wants these children in the womb to receive the reign of God. When Christian parents are prevented by miscarriage from bringing a child to baptism, we take comfort in the knowledge that our Lord does not want children to be hindered from receiving his saving reign.

            Jesus Christ was so intent on bringing the reign of God that he suffered and died on the cross for you; for me; for every child we have lost in miscarriage.  It is in this same chapter that our Lord says, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Christ offered himself up in the suffering of the cross as the sacrifice for our sin.

            But God’s reign in Christ could not be defeated by death.  Instead, Jesus passed through death in order to defeat it.  On the third day God raised Jesus from the dead. In his resurrection Christ has conquered death – even the death of infants in the womb.  He has begun the resurrection of the Last Day that he will bring to completion for us when he returns in glory.

            We entrust the little ones we have lost to the crucified and risen Lord.  He has said that the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.  He has said that he does not want them hindered from being brought to God’s reign.  We know that he has bound us to the Means of Grace.  But as God he knows no limitations.  Indeed, it is immediately after our text that in response to the disciples shocked question, “Then who can be saved?”, that our Lord says: “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” We know the kind of Lord that Jesus has revealed himself to be in his death and resurrection, and so in hope and faith we entrust these little ones to him. They rest in his hands. That is all we need to know, because we know him.

            And because we know him, we find comfort in the midst of our grief.  In our text Jesus says, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.”  Our Lord declares that the kingdom of God – the reign of God – belongs to children.  It belongs to those who were considered weak and helpless – those who had nothing to offer.

            That is what we are.  We are weak and helpless.  We are not in control. The loss of a child in miscarriage unmasks all of these realities.  But Jesus Christ came to bring God’s saving reign to just such people.  He came to bring forgiveness and life.  He came to bring comfort. He came to bring hope. Sin, sorrow and death do not get the last word. They do not because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead.

            The Holy Spirit raised Christ on the third day, and now through baptism Jesus has given you the same Spirit. The Spirit helps us in our weakness. Sometimes it is Spirit himself interceding for us with groanings too deep for words. But always it is the Spirit sustaining faith in Christ. In his love we find   

forgiveness, peace and comfort. It is the Spirit directing us in faith toward Jesus Christ the risen Lord.  For in his resurrection we have the living hope that will sustain and carry us to the Last Day when grief, sorrow and death will be no more. Instead, there will be only resurrection life with our Lord and all his saints.   

           

  

                

                       

           

              

Sermon for the Third Sunday in Lent - Oculi - Eph 5:1-9

                                                                                                Lent 3

                                                                                                Eph 5:1-9

                                                                                                3/24/19

            I knew when I came down to Marion that there was a prison here.  In fact, when members at my previous congregation heard that I had received a call to Marion the first thing several people said to me was: “You know there is a prison there, right?”  It was as if the prison was right in the middle of town and posed a constant danger.

            Of course, that’s not quite the situation.  In fact it was more than a decade before I even saw the prison. When I finally did, it was only because some unusual circumstances resulted in my visiting a prisoner there for a period of time.

            On the other hand, when I drove down to Marion I saw a billboard and was surprised to learn that there was a lion’s den here.  I certainly did not expect to find any lions in southern Illinois.  I could tell from the billboard that these were not mountain lions, but rather lions like you have in Africa.  In fact there was a lion and a lioness pictured.  It was remarkable to find a lion in Marion, much less a den of lions.

            It was quite some time before I finally passed by the lion’s den.  My travel patterns take me north and south on 148, but never through that particular section.  I was surprised when I did happen to drive by.  What I saw was a building with no windows.  You could not see inside.  It was all very puzzling.  Didn’t the lions get any sunlight?  Where were they able to roam? I had so many questions….

            Of course, as you all know, the Lion’s Den is not a place where lions live.  It is instead an “adult bookstore” that definitely wants travelers to know it is there. I mention it, because our text from Ephesians this morning is talking about precisely that topic.  Paul addresses the various ways that people abuse God’s gift of sexuality.  He leaves no doubt that this is a matter of the greatest importance for Christians.

            Paul says in our text, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”  Let’s start with the end of that sentence.  The apostle is describing life that is fitting and proper for the saints.  When he refers to saints, he’s talking about you.  He’s talking about every Christian. This is not a status that we have earned or deserve.  We are certainly not holy in ourselves.  Instead, it is something that we have received because of Christ.

            Paul says in the first verses of our text: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”  You are loved by God.  Because he loves you, he sent his Son, Jesus Christ.  Because Christ loved you he offered himself on the cross as the sacrifice in your place.

            By his sacrifice and resurrection he has taken away your sin.  He has made you holy in God’s eyes.  What Paul says later in this chapter about the Church is true of each person who is in the Church: “Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”

            You have been given rebirth through the work of the Holy Spirit.  He has sanctified you – he has made you holy through faith in Christ.  But this is not just a status you have received. The Spirit’s sanctifying work is present in the way we live. He strengthens us with power in our inner being and leads us to live and act in ways that are true to God’s will.

            In this portion of the letter, the apostle focuses on God’s will for sex.  It not surprising that he does.  It’s actually a topic he addresses on many occasions in his letters.  He does so because sex is a remarkably important and powerful gift of God.

            God created us as male and female.  He created woman from man as the perfect complement for him. The complementary character is expressed in the union of marriage and sexual intercourse.  Later in this chapter Paul quotes the words of Genesis chapter two: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”

            The one flesh union of sex has a purpose.  It is meant to produce children; to produces families.  God blessed the first man and woman and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.”  We were created with a profound and powerful drive to have sex in marriage.  In itself, this is good.  In fact it is very good because sex is God’s good gift for marriage.

            The problem is what sin has now done to the gift – the ways the devil perverts the gift and uses it to harm us.  Paul says, “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”  He says that every form of the abuse and misuse of sex has absolutely no place among Christians.  In fact he goes on to add that we shouldn’t use crude language that is sexual in nature. We hear in our text, “Let there be no filthiness nor foolish talk nor crude joking, which are out of place, but instead let there be thanksgiving.”  So that word that rhymes with “luck” – don’t use it even if people around you do.

            The sexual drive is still a profound and powerful force.  But now sin has twisted it in every possible way.  St.Paul could look around his world and see it everywhere.  The Roman government actually ran public brothels that provided prostitutes for the poor. It was assumed that wealthier men had sex with their slaves. Under Roman law, for a husband to have sex with an unmarried woman was not adultery.  Pornography could be seen not just in a brothel or a tavern, but on the wall in someone’s dining room.  Cultic prostitution was practiced at temples.  Religious processions carried a giant phallus through the streets.

            During the last seventy years our world has become one that looks very similar. Sex outside of marriage is now considered normal. Sex is part of dating.  Living together is just what people do.  Our culture is saturated with sexual imagery. And the one place for sure we have the ancient world beat is pornography, because through the wonders of technology people have constant and immediate access to visual content that blows a wall fresco away.

            In his letters, just as in our text, St. Paul was constantly addressing the subject of sex so that Christians understood that faith in Jesus Christ meant that they were to use sex in God’s way and not in the ways of the world. This was so because the Sixth Commandment expresses the truth about the way God has ordered this world.  God is the Creator.  He set up how it is supposed to work. To reject this; to do things your own way, is to reject him as God.  It is to make sex a god because you value lust and pleasure more than his will.

            To do so is sin. And Paul leaves absolutely no doubt about what this means.  He says, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.”

            Let no one deceive you with empty words.  God will damn people who engage in unrepentant sexual sin.  And I can’t give you a clearer example of unrepentant sexual sin than and a man and woman living together when they are not married.  Cohabitation is the willful choice to enter into and remain in a sinful state.  Apart from repentance, Jesus Christ’s apostle tells you this morning exactly what that means for a person’s eternal welfare.  And let’s be clear, simply getting married after cohabiting does not change the fact that you have committed sin that brings God’s judgment.  Only in confession to God that it was sin and faith in Jesus Christ can there be forgiveness.

            What does this mean for us?  Paul says, “Therefore do not become partners with them; for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true).”  He says that we are not to share in the sinful ways of the world.  We are to separate ourselves from those settings and influences which promote sexual sin.

            At one time you were darkness. You were conceived and born as a slave of the devil.  He was your lord. But through his word and baptism the Spirit of Jesus Christ has made you a new creation.  You are now light in the Lord.  And so we need to live as what God has made us to be. We need to walk as children of light.

            Now to be sure, this is not an easy thing to do.  If it was, St. Paul wouldn’t be talking about it!  The devil wants to drag you back into darkness.  He wants you to lust for a body that is not your spouse.  He wants you to look at pornography.  He wants you to have sex with your date, or with your girlfriend or boyfriend.  He wants that to become your normal way of doing things.  He wants you to move in together. He’s working overtime through our culture to make that happen.

            If the devil and the old Adam trip us up; if we look at something we should not or do something we should not, this becomes a crucial moment. The nature of sexual sin is that it tends not to remain where it is. Instead, it grows and advances.  After a person starts looking at pornography, it takes more of it and more explicit content in order to generate the same reaction.  To begin having sex outside of marriage, leads to having more regular sex outside of marriage, and makes cohabitation the obvious next step.

            If we sin in these ways, we need to admit what is.  We need to repent, confess the sin and stop it before it gains momentum.  We confess our sin to God, knowing that Christ loved us and gave himself up for us on the cross. We approach the heavenly Father who wants to forgive because of Jesus.

            When we face temptation, and when we begin anew to live according to God’s will we find the strength for doing so in the Holy Spirit’s work through baptism.  In the previous chapter, St. Paul urged the Ephesians “to put off your old man, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new man, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”  We believe God’s promise that in baptism the Spirit has joined us to his ongoing work in our life – a work that continues to provide strength for the struggle against sin.  This means that you need to be willing to fight against sin.  You can’t just let it have its way because it feels good.  But God’s promise is that he is leading and supporting in that struggle.

            After all, God’s Spirit has made you saints.  He has sanctified you. In Christ you are God’s beloved children, because our Lord loved you and gave himself up for you as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.    

             

             

  

           

           

             

Sermon for second mid-week Lent service - Dt 6:1-25

                                                                                                Mid-Lent 2

                                                                                                Dt 6:1-25

                                                                                                3/20/19

            If you picked up this book and looked through it, you would find that it is 197 pages of rules. This is the Handbook of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod.  It was issued as a result of the convention that was held in July 2016.  After the convention this summer, another one will be issued to incorporate any changes that are made at the convention.

            This is the most boring book ever written.  It describes in minute detail the Regulations for Corporate Synod and Agencies of Synod, the Dispute Resolution of the Synod, the Membership in the Synod, the process for Expulsion from the Synod, the function of elected and appointed officers and boards of the synod … the list goes on and on.  It’s one mind numbing page after another. 

            If you asked me, “What is the meaning of the statutes and rules that are in his book?”, I would say, “Well, as an organization the Synod has to have rules that govern how it operates. This book tells you how things have to be done.”  Honestly, there is no way that my response would start with Gospel.  I wouldn’t begin by saying, “Well, we were slaves to Satan, sin and death, but God sent his Son to redeem us by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.”

            When you read through Deuteronomy, you will also find a lot of rules about how Israel was to do things.  The name “Deuteronomy” means “second law.”  It derives this name from the fact that in this book we find the second occasion the Ten Commandments are listed. Along with this you find many other rules and laws that govern things like what food to eat, what festivals to celebrate, how cities of refuge are to work, how to atone for unsolved murders … the list goes on and on.

            In tonight’s text Moses take up the question about what the content of Deuteronomy – the Torah – means.  He addresses the question: “When your son asks you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the LORD our God has commanded you?’”  He tells the Israelites what to say.  But unlike my answer about the Synodical Handbook, Moses does begin with Gospel. 

            He says, “then you shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh's slaves in Egypt. And the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the LORD showed signs and wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his household, before our eyes. And he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers.’”

            Moses begins with Gospel.  The exodus is the great Gospel event of the Old Testament.  With good reason, the language of “redeeming from slavery” that is used to describe the exodus is then taken up in the New Testament and applied to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ.  Moses says that the starting point for understanding the Torah is Yahweh’s saving action. Then he goes on to say, “And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the LORD our God, as he has commanded us.”

            Notice how for Moses doing these statues, fearing Yahweh, receiving good and receiving life go together.  The God who had rescued them from slavery and was giving them the land of Canaan as a home, had commanded these things for their good. He had commanded them in order to keep them alive.

            Yahweh was about to bless them very richly.  But there was a danger in this.  Our text says, “And when the LORD your God brings you into the land that he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you--with great and good cities that you did not build, and houses full of all good things that you did not fill, and cisterns that you did not dig, and vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant--and when you eat and are full, then take care lest you forget the LORD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.”

            Like Israel, God has blessed us richly. We live at a level of comfort that surpasses anything the world has ever seen.  Our “hardships” are the fact that we can’t take as many vacations as we would like, or we can’t do all the improvements we want to our house, or we can’t get the latest technology right now: my goodness, my phone is so old.

            Just as Moses warned Israel, this abundance leads us to forget God.  We forget that he is the Giver of all these things. He is the One who had blessed us with them.  In our sinfulness we end up loving the blessings more than the One who blesses.  Yet in our text Moses says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”

            Moses tells Israel, “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear. You shall not go after other gods, the gods of the peoples who are around you-- for the LORD your God in your midst is a jealous God--lest the anger of the LORD your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.” 

            Yahweh commanded Israel that they were not to worship the gods of the peoples around them.  Yet we must realize that this involved more than just religion.  In the ancient world, religion and life of a society were interwoven.  To be involved in one was to be involved in the other.  Again and again Yahweh warned the Israelites not to intermarry with the pagan people around them because this would lead them into idolatry. Instead, they were to remain separate as God’s people.

            In our world today to remain faithful to Jesus Christ increasingly means separation from the world.  The world - its ways and beliefs - encroach more and more.  How many demands on Sunday morning does youth sports have to make, before we are forced to say that Christ must come first?  Is there a point when we are willing to say this, or will Jesus just continue to lose in the competition for our time?  Are we willing to be alienated from the world because we say that sex is not part of dating?  Are we willing to incur the world’s wrath by confessing that homosexuality is sinful and a rejection of God’s will?

            In our text, Moses says that when a son asks, “What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?”, the Israelites were to begin the answer with God’s saving action of the exodus.  As we consider how we are to live as God’s people, our starting point is God’s saving action in Jesus Christ.

            We begin with our Lord Jesus who redeemed us from sin and the devil by fulfilling the law in our place and dying on the cross for our sins.  We begin with Jesus Christ who defeated death by his resurrection on the third day.  We begin with Jesus Christ who as the risen and ascended Lord, poured out the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

            We begin here because in Jesus Christ we receive forgiveness for the ways we have allowed the blessings to supplant the One who blesses us with every good gift.  We begin here because through the Gospel we receive not only the power of salvation, but also the power and strength to live in ways that are true to God’s will.  It is through the Gospel that the Holy Spirit has made us a new creation in Christ.  We have born again of water and the Spirit, and the Spirit continues his work in us as he daily renews and strengthens us to say no to the world and yes to God. The Gospel – the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ for you – enables us to live as the people of God each day.