Sermon, Sunday December 8, 2013

Isaiah 11:1-10,  Romans 15:4-13, Matthew 3: 1-12

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

The word “hope” is a word that, some might say, has become over-used in the American vernacular. For example, we have all seen it used in connection with political campaigns where politicians try to convince you that electing them would mean great hope for the future. And of course this time of year is no stranger to this talk of “hope”. The days of Advent leading up to Christmas are a time when you might hear the word “hope” used very frequently.

    In fact it has been said that “hope” is perhaps the one characteristic that has always most strikingly distinguished the authentic Christian from their pagan neighbors. Secular or worldly visions of hope are always fickle and subject to daily human circumstances. The politician who promises “hope” could end up being just another crook who’s first loyalties are always to the power-players who got him elected.

    Even this time of year, as filled with hope as it seems, for some will be a time of great sorrow and pain. For some someone near and dear has died and there is an empty place at the dinner table. For some the images of family harmony around a Christmas tree remind them that their lives are not like that at all. And being a Christian does not make you immune to these experiences of great sorrow.

     Each day has it’s share of sorrow and grief because of sin. The struggles you experience do not just come to you from the outside; often they are things of your own creation, resulting from your sin. With every lie you tell. With every curse word out of your mouth; every time you so much as get angry at someone-in all of those you rebel against God. The great shortcoming of worldly human hope is that it relies on humans.

   Worldly hope is only one bad-decision away from becoming sorrow or disillusionment, which sin and the devil try to use to push you away from God. Sin and the devil try to get you to doubt that God is even with you at all. They try to get you to turn away from God and inward to yourself. From this, John the Baptist calls you to repent

     To repent means to turn from yourself, to look at your behavior and feel regret and contrition over how your behavior has offended God and to seek forgiveness. And this is where real Christian hope begins; in repentance. John the Baptist is the prophecied voice in the wilderness chosen by God to prepare the way for Christ Jesus-the One who comes with real Christian hope. And the preparation for the coming of Jesus begins with a call to repentance: “Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” John says.

     With this call to repentance John is giving you a picture of the entire Christian life. The first of Martin Luther’s famous 95 theses said   “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, ‘Repent ' (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance.”  Repentance is a call for you to look beyond all the trivial and superficial elements of this world to true preparation for the coming of the Savior. Repentance is the stripping away of everything that keeps you from Jesus. In our narcicistic society, a call to repentance is pretty much counter-cultural. We are constantly bombarded with false new-age teachers telling us that we find truth, salvation and enlightenment within ourselves. Consequently repentance is something we tend to associate with fanatical street-preachers. Our culture would tell us repentance is oppressive; that it inhibits us from expressing ourselves. But the reality is, repentance is the removal of that which would prevent you from receiving the true and eternal hope that you receive only in Christ: the One who brings you the Kingdom of Heaven.

    Your Lord Jesus wants to protect you from the attacks of the devil. He has claimed you as His own and loves you infinitely. To repent is to turn from the devil who only wants death for you, and to turn to Christ who gave His life that you would have life eternal in His kingdom. So He draws you away from that which would become an obstacle between you and Him.

      The hope that Paul speaks of when he refers to Jesus as the root of Jesse is a hope that transcends this world. It is not a hope that comes from you. It is not a hope that you have to will through positive thinking; it is not a pious sentiment. It is a promise of the righteousness of Christ, the resurrection and eternal life in God’s Kingdom. A call to repent, is a call away from death and to life.

   You see any hope that you fabricate for yourself is always subject to the conditions around you. It can vanish in the blink of an eye. But the hope that Paul speaks of is different. For one thing it’s for everyone. It is not limited to the Jewish Christians but it is for all people thus Paul says that even the gentiles will have hope in Christ. It is a hope that is revealed to you in the Word of God, written for your instruction and encouragement. It’s hope that enables you to move forward in the promise that the hope that you have in Christ Jesus has already transcended the sin and brokenness of this world.

    Your hope is found in the root of Jesse-which is Christ. The title-Root of Jesse-is itself an expression of this very hope that transcends the world. Long after David’s family had been all but wiped out God brings forth from this old dead stump of Jesse a new branch and new hope. In Christ Jesus the promises to the Old Testament patriarchs are fulfilled. It was through the fulfilling of those promises that the gentiles were engrafted into Israel.

    The eternal hope you have in Christ Jesus is a gift the Holy Spirit delivers to you through the Word of Christ. For in the pages of scripture the Holy Spirit assures you of God’s abundant love and care for you. In the Gospel, heard from the mouth of a sinful preacher proclaiming the Word, or administering the sacraments, the God Who created you re-affirms to you the promise made to you over the waters of baptism, that He is the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods; and that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

    I am sure most of you are aware that Nelson Mandela died this week. For countless people in South Africa and all over the world, he was a symbol of great hope. But he was also a sinner. In the early 1960s he joined the African National Congress, when it was what can only be described as a terrorist organization. This is not to be-smirch his good name. He is seen as a hero by the people of South Africa for good reason, just as George Washington is seen as a hero by us. But if Washington’s efforts had failed he would have likely been hung as a traitor and history would likely remember him as a terrorist. What we called revolution, the British called treason. 

   Human history must be looked at with a courageous honesty that recognizes even those we lift up as heroes have morally complicated backgrounds. Of course they do, because like every one of you they are sinners. Everything humans do is stained by sin. Through Nelson Mandela, much great work was done, and for that we should rejoice and praise God. People in South Africa were freed from apartheid largely through his efforts. But all the people in South Africa and all over the world are still in bondage to sin. Nelson Mandela freed nobody from death. No human hero can save you from death; thus the hope they symbolize is ultimately only temporary.

    You see, now that Mandela’s earthly journey has finished, what matters to him is not his efforts to fight oppression, nor his nobel peace prize. That was all left behind. What matters now is that, when he was very young, in a Methodist Church, he was claimed by Christ Jesus against the forces of sin and the devil in the waters of baptism. It is only in Christ that you have eternal hope. Only Christ Jesus brings you a hope that overcomes even the darkest of times.

    There is no question. It is done. It’s an accomplished feat. Christ Jesus entered this dark and stormy world to give His life for your sins. The risen Lord Jesus comes to you today bringing you new life in the midst of the sin and brokenness of this world. The root of Jesse springs forth in your lives. He is your hope-for comfort in grief, for harmony in brokenness, for forgiveness of sin.

    This hope opens you up to welcome and love one another so that together you abound in hope. Christ is the hope of all people so He calls you to welcome and embrace all people. And so abound in this hope!! It is real and it is for you. And it points you forward to a day beyond this dark world when all will be made new and there will be no tears or pain. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard with the young goat, the cow and the bear and the calf and the lion will all lie down together. It will even be safe for a nursing child to play with a cobra. Sin, the devil and this world will try to convince you this hope is not real, but it is real and it is your’s in Christ alone. It is free for the taking and it is a priceless treasure drawn from God’s redeeming and abounding love. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, and by the power of the Holy Spirit may you abound in hope!

Amen

                    

Sermon, Sunday Dec. 1, 2013

Isaiah 2:1-5, Romans 13: 8-14, Matthew 24: 36-44

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone which means we can no longer complain about seeing Christmas decorations on houses or in stores or on the street. Many of you will soon start getting ready for Christmas as you make travel plans, cook all kinds of food, and of course go shopping. And on this first Sunday in Advent your Lord Jesus declares a word of warning to make sure that you are ready for His coming not 2000 years ago but when He returns in glory. Your Lord Jesus warns you to  stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.  

       He is not talking about Christmas, though many of you would probably say that you were not ready for Christmas. Plans need to be made. Shopping needs to be done. But even after doing all that will you truly be ready for Christmas? For that matter are you ready for Jesus throughout the year? Do you come here with an open heart and mind and a repentant spirit, yearning to hear a Word from Christ and hungering and thirsting for righteousness? Or are you content with simply going through the motions every Sunday but not really giving any thought to Christ Jesus or His church during the week?  Christ Jesus comes to you this time of year, the same way He always does; in Word and sacrament. But do you come to worship to hear a divine Word of hope and the promise of the forgiveness of your sins in Christ Jesus or do you just put in your time? Do you come to receive the blessed gift of the body and blood of Christ Jesus in the Lord’s Supper or is it merely a ritual to you?

    And what about the day that Jesus tells you to stay awake for? Would you say that you are ready for the day of the Lord? Are you ready to meet Christ Jesus when He returns at the end of time? Most of you would probably say you are. Most of you would probably be perfectly content with your readiness for the day of the Lord. And if you come to worship with an open heart and mind and a repentant spirit hungering and thirsting for righteousness and ears to hear then you likely are. But if you do not then will you be truly ready to stand before the Lord on the day of judgment?

    In the Gospel lesson Jesus warns that the coming of the Son of Man will be “…as were the days of Noah.” He is speaking of the people who did not believe Noah’s warnings, who did not take Noah seriously, and were instead focused on themselves and their own instant gratification. So when the flood came they were unaware and the flood swept them all away. Their real problem was not their wickedness but their spiritual indifference.

   I saw an article on Friday about Ron Reagan; son of the late President Ronald Reagan. In this article Ron Reagan declared himself to be an atheist and said that he was not afraid of burning in hell. Well this is the very picture of spiritual indifference. Just as those people who lived during Noah’s time were not afraid of God’s wrath of the flood, Ron Reagan is not afraid of God’s wrath of eternal torment. But what he and many others fail to realize is that hell is filled with people who were not afraid of it. And you need not be an atheist to be caught up in spiritual indifference. There are people who, if asked, would profess themselves to be Christians who are spiritually indifferent.

     Simply calling yourself a Christian does not make you immune from the attacks and temptations of the devil. The devil is all around, planting seeds of doubt, unbelief and spiritual indifference. And so this morning St Paul gives you a word of warning telling you that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep and that salvation is nearer to you now than when we first believed. I cannot tell you on which day the Lord Jesus will return, but I can tell you that we are one day closer to that day than we were yesterday; one month closer to that day than we were on Halloween and one year closer to that day than we were on the first Sunday in Advent last year.

    Paul says the hour has come for you wake from sleep. There is actually a genetic condition that affects the way a person reacts to sunlight.  In other words, being a morning person is a real thing. A true-blue morning person has a natural sleep-cycle that depends on a bright light source arriving at the proper time. If the person does not receive the light cue during the early morning hours they may feel just as groggy as a night-owl forced to wake up too early. Well St Paul tells us in the epistle lesson that as believers we are morning people.

    As a believer you have been woken up. The Light of Christ Jesus has broken through and woke you from the darkness of your spiritual slumber and indifference. But the day of our Lord has not arrived. The devil is still around and you still daily do battle with the devil and your inherent love for spiritual darkness. The devil would love to lull you back into a deep state of spiritual sleep and to convince you that burning in hell is not something that you need to fear. The devil would love to deceive you with the lie that all paths go to heaven; the lie that it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely. The devil would love for you to be spiritually indifferent.

   Martin Luther describes the contrast between the spiritually dead and the spiritually alive in this way: He says “The ungodly individual sleeps. He is in a sense dead in the sight of God. He does not recognize-is not sensitive to-the real spiritual blessings extended him through the Gospel; he regards them as valueless. For these blessings are only to be recognized by the believing heart; they are concealed from the natural man. The ungodly individual is occupied with temporal, transitory things, such as luxury and honor, which are to eternal life and joy as dream images are to flesh and blood creatures.”

     All those things that we by default love and desire; money, power, status, prestige; all those possessions of our neighbors that we covet; all of it is-in the grand scheme of things-like images in a dream. When Christ Jesus returns, your love for spiritual darkness will be no more and you will be fully and completely woken from your spiritual slumber. All of those earthly and temporal things will be exposed by the same eternal and glorious light that will shine your pathway from the grave and you will see them as the truly fleeting things that they are; like images in a dream.

    And so as you continue to struggle and toil in this dark world and endure the attacks of sin and the devil, our Lord calls you to continue looking forward to the day of the Lord; like Judah heeding the call of Isaiah in the Old Testament lesson may you keep looking ahead to THE latter day when Christ returns and all things will be made new. Isaiah’s message to the people of Judah is simple and just as relevant today for you as it was for the people of Judah in Isaiah’s day; and the message is “Walk in the promise of the Light of the Lord during these dark days; the latter days will come.” And those days did come.  

    Those latter days began some 700 years after Isaiah wrote those words down, when Jesus-the Light of the world came down to earth from Heaven above. When Jesus was born the angels sang “Peace on earth” and so peace came, as Isaiah declared,  people streamed from all over, as Isaiah said they would,  to listen to Jesus when He gave the sermon on the mount.

   And Jesus entered the dark times for you. He entered the despair of this fallen world for you. Jesus went to the cross, and on the cross He took all of your sin upon Himself, all of your idolatry, all of the greed and selfishness that you see so much this time of year; much of which could be seen on Black Friday. He took your injustice and hatred and jealousies. He took whatever you do to cause the spiritual darkness of this world and He died for it. And He was placed in a tomb with a stone rolled in front of it and surrounded by the darkness of sin and death. But three days later that tomb was empty and the darkness was shattered, Jesus came walking out and the promise made by God through Isaiah was kept. The call to walk in the light of the Lord is simply the call to walk in the light of Christ.

     And so today people around the world worship Jesus, as Isaiah said they would. On any continent, people attend Sunday services to listen to God’s Word. Preaching and Bible-studies are carried out in hundreds of different languages and people want to do what is right. When you come up and partake of the Lord’s Supper and receive the body and blood of Christ Jesus, the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled.

     Of course we still wait. We are in the latter days, but THE latter day of the Lord when Christ returns has not yet arrived. We still wait for Isaiah’s prophecy to come true in all of it’s fullness. We wait for all nations to worship Jesus without competition or persecution. We wait for swords to become plows, for war to become the time to feed the hungry. We wait for the Last day when Isaiah’s prophecy will be completely fulfilled when Jesus returns in all power and glory. But in the meantime, the dark times in which we find ourselves call for us to walk in the light. And so we walk in the light of the empty tomb which promises you that our Lord keeps His promises. So come and worship. Come to the Lord’s table. Come and hear His Gospel. Come and find peace for the depths of your soul when you hear of Jesus’ glorious resurrection. Come to the light of Christ Jesus because dark times call you to walk in the light of the Lord Jesus.

Amen

Sermon-Thanksgiving Eve

For much of this I borrowed from Norman Nagel's sermon on Philippians 4:5 from "Selected Sermons from Norman Nagel"

Deuteronomy 8:1-10 , Philippians 4:6-20, Luke 17: 11-19

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Paul praises the virtues of letting our reasonableness be known to everyone. This seems like an odd behavior to commend to Christians right after exhorting us to rejoice in the Lord always. Chances are if you saw someone who seemed to constantly be in a state of rejoicing; reasonable would not be the first word you would use to describe the scene. I believe we can get some insight into this type of joy measured by reasonableness that Paul is referring to, by looking at the concepts of “new money” and “old money”.  

    To clarify what I mean: according to the Urban Dictionary the expression “new money” refers to Someone who is rich but does not come from a weathly background or family history.  Examples would be celebrities, or people who won the lottery, or someone who invented a product that became a national or international phenomenon. On the other hand “Old Money” refers to people who have managed their money carefully over many generations and increased the value of their holdings by careful financial management. It also says of “Old Money” They do not follow the popular fashion fads and wear good quality clothing that has a timeless look. Everything about them may be summed up in a few words GOOD TASTE and QUALITY.

   So what does this have to do with joy that is tempered by reasonableness? Well Paul is sort of saying that when it comes to the riches we receive in Christ we should look more like those who come from Old Money. You see something that separates Old Money from New Money, in addition to having had wealth for a longer period of time is that with those from New Money there can often be a tendency to want to show others and themselves that they have money. It has been suggested that this excess of demonstration comes from an uncertainty that they are not equally accepted by those who have always had great wealth.

     Consequently those from Old Money would likely consider such displays of excess as being in pretty bad taste and not dignified; thus the assertion that those from Old Money are considered to reflect good taste and quality. And so with those from Old Money there is an ease and a carefree attitude. They don’t feel the necessity to parade their wealth to convince themselves and others of their worthiness.

       When people have a confidence of possessing something they have no need to convince themselves and others with a lot of over-the-top assertions. They don’t need to do anything to earn recognition and assurance. And so, reasonableness, as it is used in Philippians refers to a quiet confidence of being God’s child who possesses God’s riches and truth and lives in this confidence awaiting the promised fulfillment.

    And because of what Christ Jesus has done for you, you have what Christ possesses. What Christ possesses He possesses for you. And so chief among these possessions is that you have a Savior in Christ Jesus Himself. Christ Jesus lived the faithfulness and obedience that God demands of you, though you are incapable of it. But in Christ Jesus that faithfulness is given to you as if you did accomplish it. In Christ Jesus you have the forgiveness of sins. In Christ Jesus taking your sins upon Himself for you, becoming sin on your behalf and laying down His life for you, you have the atonement of your sins. In Christ Jesus you have the righteousness in which you will be clothed on the day of the Lord when you stand before God.

   You also have the Holy Spirit through whom you have the inspired scriptures that speak the life-giving Gospel into your hearts. You have the Holy Spirit as your guide and comforter. He empowers the Word of truth in you so it transforms you and your lives. And you know yourselves to be God’s people and that your lives have their achievement and meaning in being lived toward the fulfillment of Christ’s promised return.

   These are great possessions indeed, but are you sure that you have them? If you look to yourself then you will find only doubt. Within yourself is not where you will find certainty. Your certainty is in Christ alone. In Christ Jesus you have the unshakable confidence of possessing the riches of the children of God and you are called to live in the confidence of possessing these riches. This is the reasonableness that Paul speaks of.

   Now don’t confuse this with a lukewarm attitude. We see this same certainty in the one leper who came back to Jesus after having been healed from leprosy in the Gospel lesson. Luke writes Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; ¹⁶ and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.  There he is rejoicing in the Lord as Paul commends to us. We don’t know why the nine other lepers did not return to Jesus but we know that the one did. And we know that he did immediately upon seeing that he had been healed. So in other words he is certain that Jesus is the One who healed him. He is certain that there is something truly remarkable and infinitely humbling about Jesus.

    And we do not really know why it is that the other nine lepers did not come back but we do know that Jesus wondered why they did not return. Maybe the idea of simply receiving the healing from Jesus in faith just seemed too simple for them. Maybe they  found themselves explaining it away; believing that there had to be some sort of rational explanation; that it couldn’t have been as simple as being healed by the healing touch of Jesus. 

   In 2 Kings Naaman was in need of healing and was told by the prophet Elisha to wash himself in the Jordan seven times and he would be healed. But he resisted. He thought it should perhaps be in a different river. He thought Elisha would call on the name of the Lord and Naaman would be healed, perhaps in a grand display. God delivered the healing that Naaman wanted but it didn’t come in the way Naaman wanted or expected and so Naaman resisted. And perhaps that is what happened with the nine lepers who did not return. Or perhaps they simply figured what they had gotten what they needed from Jesus so there was no need to go back.

       Faith is always simply receiving what God bestows to us through what He has done for us. But the call to faith is not simply a call for immediate and instant gratification. It is not just a call to go to Jesus when you need Him, but otherwise leave Him alone. The call to faith is a call to be close to Jesus. It’s a call to be daily renewed, strengthened and restored in Christ Jesus. It is a call to be daily renewed in the reconciliation with God that comes only through the forgiveness of your sins that comes in Christ Jesus.

   Christ Jesus has brought you close to Him by His healing and forgiveness and by laying down His life for you and rising for your justification. He gives the full richness of all of these gifts to you in Word and sacrament, what a shame when instead you choose to go on with your business; by forgetting to worship, by not reading scripture, by not making prayer a regular practice, by not returning to Him even one dollar out of every ten that He blesses you with.

   But still the distance between you and Jesus is closed in the forgiveness of your sins that He pours out to you in Word and sacrament. When you receive His forgiveness in faith you receive the forgiveness of all of your sins; even the sin of neglecting His promises to you. When you receive the promises of Christ Jesus in faith you can be absolutely confident and joyful that He is with you always. You can have that certainty that brings forth joy tempered by reasonableness.

   And this certainty of the riches you have in Christ enables you to live a life truly in thanksgiving through generous service to your neighbors. You don’t have to strive for the recognition of your place in God’s Kingdom. All that is secure in Christ Jesus and is beyond question. You are free to act as servants, confident in Christ.

   In quietness and confidence you have been freed to serve your neighbors, for your confidence and strength are in Christ. There is no need for over-the-top displays or strutting. There is no need to constantly be looking for pity or sympathy, you have reasonableness toward everyone; the reasonableness of those who are confident in being God’s people for the sake of Christ. You have the patience and generosity of those who live from God’s resources. You have the cheerful acceptance of whatever Christ puts you through now because you know the meaning and purpose.

   In Christ Jesus you have the eternal sonship. You have the victory because Christ’s resurrection guarantees the victory of His brothers and sisters. When Christ returns He will bring final fulfillment. But even now, Christ our Lord, is at hand.

Amen

Sermon-Sunday Nov, 17 2013

Malachi 4:1-6 ,  2 Thessalonians 3:1-13 , Luke 21: 5-36

Brothers and sisters,

Grace be unto you and peace from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

You have just heard what may very well be the most offensive thing that Jesus ever said. He and the disciples are walking past the temple. As the disciples marvel at the temple and everything that it was adorned with Jesus says that the days will come when the temple will be destroyed; that not one stone will be left upon another. He was pointing forward to the destruction of the temple that would come in 70 AD. Today that would be akin to someone predicting something even worse than 9-11;  9-11 as if it had taken out the White House.

   But Jesus’ words about more than simply the destruction of the temple. You see these prophetic words of Jesus are not just words of warning for the disciples. The destruction of the temple is a foreshadowing of the coming destruction of all earthly material. It’s not just the temple in Jerusalem that God promises to destroy but all of the earthly things that you turn into your personal little temples; whether it’s your job, or your house, or your business, your farm, or your sports teams, whatever. Even the US constitution will be no more. They are all temporary.

     And praise God for that. For they will all be part of the old that will be done away with so that all things will be made new in Christ Jesus. The day will come when all of these things that the devil uses to take your focus off of Christ Jesus will be no more.

   But still it may be hard to hear these words of destruction  from Jesus as good news. Well if you didn’t like that then you’re really not going to like what else Jesus says about your future. For Jesus promises that there will be a time of intense persecution for you for the church.

    Jesus says before His return nation will rise against nation and kingdom will rise against kingdom, there will be earthquakes and famine and pestilence and there will be terrors and great signs from Heaven. But before this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.  This persecution is not coming, it is here and now.

     It took me less than a minute to find several examples of this sort of persecution of Christians going on all over the world. In the country of Eritrea this week 185 Christians were arrested for praying. They were not praying in public. They were not making a public display. They were holding a prayer meeting and the meeting was raided. When 83 of those arrested were released they were warned against meeting with other believers in the future. The “offense” was not just praying but even gathering with other Christians.

    In another incident in Egypt, 4 people were killed and 18 were injured when they were shot by two masked gunmen when they opened fire on the crowd of people at a wedding held at the Virgin Mary Coptic Church.  These are just two incidents. But this is happening all over the world and often in ways that are even more disturbing than either of those incidents.

    And so maybe you think, “Well that’s sad and I’ll certainly pray for those Christians enduring those oppressive conditions, but we don’t have to worry about anything like that here.”  And granted we might not see anything as extreme as people being gunned down at weddings here in the US but don’t fool yourself, persecution of the church is already here.

   I recently heard about a Mennonite couple in Grimes that owns a business which serves as a gallery, bistro, and a wedding facility. They are being sued by a male homosexual couple because the Mennonite couple would not allow the two men to hold their “wedding” at their facility due to their religious convictions. The Iowa Civil Rights Commission is supporting the two men and trying to force the Mennonite couple to plan, facilitate and host same-sex wedding ceremonies at their facility. And this is just one of many incidents like this all over the country.

   But there need not be violence or legal proceedings for you to see where Jesus’ prophetic words of  His church being hated for His name are being fulfilled. You see it in the way Christians are negatively portrayed in movies and television. You see it in the fact that publically confessing your belief in Jesus as the only way to salvation is seen by and large in our culture as narrow-minded, unenlightened and even hateful. You have all experienced this. If this weren’t the case then you would share the Gospel with others with more enthusiasm than you would have when telling others about a new car or a new house or a new job or your own child getting straight A’s or even if you had found out that you had been saved from a deadly disease.

    If the Gospel was not offensive to sinful ears than you would not be able to stop sharing it with others. But what does Jesus say of the inevitable rejection of the Gospel that you are confronted with? How are you to respond to those who hate you because of the name of Christ? Jesus says that it is your opportunity to bear witness. And He promises to give you a mouth and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. 

     And so what is it about the Gospel that people reject and scorn so much? Well listen to what Malachi says For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The Gospel is offensive because there is nobody who does not need the Gospel. All have sinned and all fall short of the glory of God and so all need the Gospel. And that means that all need to hear that they are sinners in rebellion against God. That is offensive; true but offensive.

     You see without Christ Jesus all you would have is this sinful world. This broken and sinful world would be all there is for you. Without the abundant and radical graciousness of Christ Jesus giving Himself for you as the atoning sacrifice for your sin then you would be among the arrogant and evildoers whom Malachi alludes to because you would be left in a state of rebellion and you would be subject to God’s wrath.

     And so when you are hated because of the name of Christ-no matter how subtle or extreme it might be-just know that it is not you who is being hated and rejected but Christ Jesus. And so those who scorn, ridicule, reject, persecute and hate you because of the name of Christ are to be thought of as prisoners who have been taken captive by sin and the devil, and you as a believer in Christ, as one who has been claimed by Christ in the waters of baptism have the very means, in the Gospel to free them, for the Gospel is the very power of God unto salvation.

    Of course so often you might feel scornful toward them; you might want to give non-believers the same scorn and rejection that they give to you. You might want to look down on them feeling smugly satisfied that you will be among the righteous who will be wrapped in the healing wings of Christ Jesus, and that non-believers will be among the wicked who will be set ablaze. But were it not for Christ, among the wicked is exactly where you would be.

     And when you scorn non-believers, and look down on them you exalt yourself above them. You become as one of the idle whom Paul spoke of. Failing to share and proclaim the Gospel is to walk in idleness for it is withholding the very Word of Christ from those who need it. It is hoarding the peace that surpasses all understanding to yourself. I know sharing the Gospel with your neighbors is not easy, but Paul says “Do not grow weary in doing good”.

      If you had a cure for cancer you would most certainly share it with those who needed it. Well you have more than that. You have the means by which death is swallowed up. Yes, it is offensive. Yes people reject it. But it’s not you they are rejecting. Jesus tells you to love your enemies because He died for them just as He died for you and so He sends you to them that they would hear what Jesus has done for them.

    And Jesus promises that He is faithful to you in the face of the opposition you will face; that He will establish you and guard you against the evil one; and that even though some will even be delivered to death in defense of the Gospel not a hair of your head will perish.  The signs of the end are all around but you belong to Christ in Whom the victory is already won. Look at the example that Paul set and do not become idle; pray for those things that Paul prayed for; that the Word of the Lord would be honored and received well by those whom the Lord Jesus calls you to bear witness to. And answer the call yourself.

    As baptized Christians claimed by Christ and saved from God’s wrath you should ask yourself every day what you are doing as you wait for Jesus’ return. Once Christ has claimed you as His own you can no longer ask “What do I matter?” for you know that in Christ you are infinitely loved by your Creator. You have a place, value and meaning and Christ Jesus has given you eternal rest for your soul. You can heed Jesus’ words to straighten up and raise your heads because your redemption is drawing near. May you grow in His Word and promises so that you will be encouraged not to grow weary in doing good.

Amen