Don’t Miss Palm Sunday’s Point!

Palm Sunday, 4/13/25 Isaiah 42:1-4 Don’t Miss Palm Sunday’s Point! The who, what, and how. One of the laws of nature is, “Entropy always increases.” In other words, things naturally progress to more disorder, not more order. And that truth applies to the celebrations of our lives. Not quite sure what I mean? Follow me for a minute. Our original intent for celebrating tends to lose focus, not sharpen focus. What do I mean? Take Memorial Day for instance. My father used to refer to it by it’s original name, “Decoration Day.” It was the day on which US citizens decorated the grave sites of our military veterans. And, at the end of next month, you’ll still hear about such decorating taking place, but I’m certain that won’t be first and foremost on the minds of most US citizens. For many it marks the beginning of the summer months. And Memorial Day will be the first of three long weekends this summer. So, the original intent for the celebration is somewhat muddied. It’s no longer as clear as it once was intended to be. And the same thing happens with our Christian celebrations. The classic example is Christmas. As Christians we bemoan the fact that our world is willing to celebrate Christmas with us, as long as it doesn’t have to do anything with the birth of Jesus, the world’s only Savior from sin. And Christians have responded. They display the slogan about “the reason for the season.” They intentionally call attention to the name “Christ” in the word Christmas. And next Sunday won’t be much different. Easter isn’t the commercial bonanza that Christmas is, but it surely shares some of the same mis-focused attention. Too many people will celebrate Easter with new spring clothes, bunnies, eggs, and candy, but won’t give a thought the to resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It’s something far different for too many people. Entropy. Today marks the beginning of Holy Week—one of the highest Christian celebrations. It’s Palm Sunday, a celebration of the day that Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in order to complete his work of salvation—a work that would end with his death on Calvary’s cross. But is that it? Just a celebratory ride? Just a happy beginning on what would turn out to be a very sad, very tragic week for Jesus? Is it the observance of a week of contradictions—first popularity, then rejection; first defending him, then denying him; first his display of complete control, then a display of inhuman abuse and scorn; first washing feet with water, then washing sins with blood? And here we are once again this year at the very beginning of it all. Just what is our celebration of Palm Sunday? Why celebrate it? First, remember that Palm Sunday was no accident. It happened exactly according to God’s plan. And that means he must have had something in mind for us to focus on. So don’t miss it. Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! The Lord promises to bless you now and throughout your observance of Holy Week as you see what Palm Sunday is all about, as he shares with us this promise of the Savior in Isaiah 42. When it comes to other people, there are times when we just don’t know what to think about them. That can happen with someone we have known for quite a while. We had a good idea of who they are, but what they’ve said and done recently don’t fit our concept of who they are. Or, we’re meeting someone for the first time and we’re receiving information from them about themselves that doesn’t make complete sense. We’re not sure what to think. I suppose one solution to this dilemma would be to have a person hand us a brief written statement about themselves, but that would be weird, wouldn’t it? But that’s exactly what our God does for us regarding our Palm Sunday Savior. Listen again to that description in the opening words of Isaiah 42, “Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him.” This is our God telling us about our Savior 700 years before he was born. You may have read or heard these words before, and so, when you just heard them again, your response may have been rather mundane. “Yup. Sure. Got it, Lord. I hear you.” But take another look at them. They tell us things about our Savior that don’t easily fit together. “Servant?” Not the most complimentary of terms in our way of thinking. “Chosen one?” Sounds good, but chosen for what? “In whom I delight?” Now, that sounds better. “Put my Spirit on him?” Sure, whatever that means. Do you see what I mean? How do we make sense of all this and what does it mean as we celebrate Palm Sunday? Good questions. This description of God’s Servant is the first of four such sections in Isaiah. We’ll see another one this Good Friday—the one in which he will be pierced, crushed, and punished for our sins. Yes, describing Jesus as God’s Servant isn’t very complimentary in our way of thinking, but it’s a beautiful, saving truth. It means that Jesus came to do what the Father planned for him to do. To serve us by being our Savior. And he was the Chosen One. That was always God’s plan. What happened to Jesus wasn’t the result of conditions beyond God’s knowledge or control. He chose his Son to be the world’s Savior from sin before the creation of the world. And he showed Jesus was that One when he anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit at his baptism. Now that Servant, that Chosen One, rides into Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday in complete fulfillment of God’s plan to save all sinners. Palm Sunday is God’s way of saying, “Everything is a ‘Go!’ It’s all set. The Savior is here in Jerusalem to accomplish the work that I sent him to do.” Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point. The “who” is all set. But the “what” he’s here in Jerusalem to do—at least the way Isaiah tells it—doesn’t add up. It doesn’t seem to mesh with our focus. Isaiah speaks more than once about “justice” and, from what we recall about Holy Week, especially Good Friday, it was anything but justice. The passion account of Jesus is one horrible event of injustice after another. He was innocent! But he was still executed! But that’s the justice Isaiah speaks about in these words, “He will bring justice to the nations. He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets…In faithfulness he will bring forth justice; he will not falter or be discouraged till he establishes justice on earth.” Any thinking human being who reads this prophecy about Jesus would likely conclude that Jesus was a stunning failure. If he came to establish justice on the earth, then he wasted his time, because injustice rules in our world. Wouldn’t you agree? But Isaiah isn’t speaking about earthly justice. He’s speaking about heavenly justice, spiritual justice, God’s plan of justice. And that’s exactly what we celebrate this Holy Week. Make sure you focus on it. Sure, it’s ugly. The way that the Jews and Romans treat Jesus is inhuman. He’s innocent and everyone knows it, even Pilate, the Big Roman Cheese, and he states that very thing more than once. But the Innocent One dies? Why? For the guilty ones. For me. For you. For the whole world of sinners. That’s God’s saving justice. The Innocent One took the guilt of the world’s sinners on himself and exchanged it for his innocence. How loving! How beautiful! How saving! Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! See the “what!”—God’s saving justice. One more point. The world loves power. The more the better. Jesus possesses all power yet uses none of it. The world loves wealth. The more the better. Jesus possesses all things, yet lets go of them all. The world prizes life. The more glorious the better. Jesus is Life, yet he dies. Executed. What the world misses, we don’t. We see how Jesus seems like every bit of a loser to the world, but we see him as the Victor. We see the “how.” It’s right here in these words of Isaiah, “He will not shout or cry out, or raise his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” Jesus does not overpower anyone. The cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” will be deafening, but he doesn’t shout anyone down. They will beat him within an inch of his life, but he doesn’t beat anyone down. Doesn’t even try. Instead, he just stands there, or kneels there, and takes it. Not a word. He subjects himself to the will of the mob. But more importantly, he subjects himself to the will of his heavenly Father. Why? To accomplish the work he came to do. To be the Savior he was born to be. To be the Savior the world needs him to be. To be your Savior. Mine. And then he speaks. “It is finished!” he cries from the cross. And then more silence. Three days of it. And then he speaks, “Peace!” Peace between you and God. Peace between the sinful world and the holy God. That’s our Palm Sunday focus. That’s Palm Sunday’s point! I don’t need to remind you that this will be a busy week. Most of you will celebrate in some way over the next seven days. You have things to prepare at home. We have things to prepare at church. And, in the midst of it all, your daily life doesn’t slow down any. It used to be the case that people had time off this week, at least a little. Not so much any more. The world speeds on. It’s as if Easter doesn’t really matter. And Palm Sunday certainly doesn’t. At least to most people. But don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! This is the who, what and how of your salvation. If there is only one thing you celebrate, let this be it: A Savior who came to live for you, die for you, and rise again for you. It’s all here. In the next seven days. And it’s all for you. I have a problem. So do you. It’s sin. And there’s only one solution to it: Jesus! Don’t miss Palm Sunday’s point! Or Holy Thursday’s, Or Good Friday’s. Or Easter’s. It’s all here. This week. For you! Celebrate it! Observe it! And be blessed by it! Amen.

What’s Trash and What’s Treasure?

5th Sunday in Lent, 4/6/25 Philippians 3:4b-14 What’s Trash and What’s Treasure? Surely, you’ve heard this statement more than once in your life: One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. And I’m reminded of that statement during the opening days of every May here in warm and cheerful Centerville. During those days, the City of Centerville Public Works Department will pick up any amount of trash that homeowners put at the curb in front of their houses, excluding batteries and construction debris. And it’s quite the sight to see. The residential streets are busy with people in pickup trucks and vans cruising the piles of discarded items to see if there’s anything valuable. And I have no problem with that. If someone else can make use of or recycle some of the things I no longer want or need, that’s a win-win situation. It doesn’t end up in the solid waste landfill and someone can make use of it. One person’s trash is another person’s treasure. So, that means any particular item of trash might be disputed as being treasure. I might bid farewell to my old, worn-out, slightly odorous easy chair, but a college student might look at it as his throne for the next school year. So be it. Perhaps the only item which doesn’t get disputed is something that’s toxic, something that could cause you immediate or latent harm, a known carcinogen, or a substance that could leach into the ground water and contaminate it. To any thinking person, that’s only trash and it must be disposed of properly. But you didn’t come to worship this morning to hear your pastor talk on and on about worldly trash and worldly treasure and the differences of opinion that exist regarding both. At least I hope you didn’t. Instead, you came to be spiritually edified, spiritually strengthened, spiritually nurtured. And that’s where this trash-treasure discussion is appropriate, even vital. Think about it. It’s bad enough if you mistake toxic trash for worldly treasure. It can do you great physical harm. But it’s even worse when that mix-up between trash and treasure is in the realm of your spiritual life. What do I mean? It’s the difference between spiritual truth and spiritual lies. It can mean the difference between spiritual life and spiritual death. It might end up being the difference between heaven and hell. Am I exaggerating? Not a bit. Why do I say that? Because we’re living in a toxic spiritual dump. Too often people don’t even realize the spiritual trash that surrounds them. They’ve become so accustomed to living in it that they don’t realize the crisis. And it can happen to us. To me. To you. Really? Indeed. It’s nothing new. It’s been happening ever since Adam and Eve believed that Satan’s trash was treasure—something to be desired, something that would make them be like God. We’re happy to know that they repented of their sin. But sadly, one of their sons—Cain—fell for it hook, line, and sinker, and died in unbelief. Think about that. Cain spoke with God on more than one occasion, and he still lived in unbelief. How could that be? He knew who God was, he simply refused to trust that he needed a Savior whom God had promised him. Bottom line—he expected God to accept him for who he was. So, today we hear one of the accounts of Jesus dealing with the spiritual offspring of Cain—the Pharisees. They were the epitome of people who claimed to be God’s people but felt no need for a Savior, just as Cain did. Cain’s unbelief was blatantly obvious. The Pharisee’s unbelief was more subtle. After all, the Pharisees were leaders in the Jewish church during the days when Jesus was on earth. No one was foolish enough to think that there were not members of God’s kingdom. They looked every bit like a child of God. They lived more like a child of God than most other Jews did. But their problem? Self-righteousness to the core. They were certain they never sinned; therefore, they were certain they didn’t need a Savior from sin. They had nothing to be saved from. Their outwardly holy lives were their tickets to heaven, and they were going to ride that horse called “Sinful Pride” all the way up to and through heaven’s gates. Sad. Even sadder…they were emulated by the rest of the Jewish people. Can you hear the common Jewish person say, “If only I could be more like a Pharisee”? After Jesus ascended into heaven, this pharisaic attitude crept into the Christian church. During the time that the apostles were sharing the good news of Jesus with the known world, a group of “Christians” began believing and teaching that you had to believe in Jesus and live like a good Jewish person if you wanted to go to heaven. Theologians call them Judaizers. And the Apostle Paul delt with them extensively. And that’s where this morning’s sermon text from Philippians 3 comes in. Remember the trash/treasure distinction? Too many people were thinking that the teaching of the Judaizers was treasure. Paul calls it trash in no uncertain terms. Listen to Paul’s “trash-talk” once again, “If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage.” If you can get to heaven by being a good Jewish person, then Paul is at the head of the line. Did you hear his list of “accomplishments”? They might not mean much to you, but they were impressive to any and every Jewish person. If anyone could get to heaven by the good things they do, then Paul is it. It sounds like spiritual treasure. And yet what’s Paul’s opinion of it all? Garbage. Trash. Spiritually deadly. How could that be? For the first few decades of his life, Paul thought he had spiritual gold in his hands. He was sure he was filthy rich before God. But at this point in his life, he calls it garbage. Trash. What happened? Jesus happened. Jesus happened in his life. Recall the day. He was on his way to Damascus to persecute Christians—what he thought was more of his spiritual treasure—when the risen Lord Jesus appeared to him in his risen body and confronted Paul. In effect, Jesus informed Paul that his treasure was really trash. In what respect? All of Paul’s efforts to attain his own holiness before God were useless. He could not earn his way to heaven. No amount of his goodness could get him there. His efforts were trash! But that’s where Jesus comes is. He took our trash—our sins—with him to the cross. There he suffered the hell that my sins, your sins, the world’s sins deserve. He took our condemnation on himself. And gives us life with him—life with him now as his dear children and life with him in heaven forever. And that, my dear friends is priceless treasure. That’s eternal treasure. And it’s all yours by faith in Jesus as your Savior from sin. And that’s why we’re here this morning. We came to worship our Savior. We’re here to acknowledge the damning reality of our sins. That’s what we confessed at the start of worship. I hope your confession of sins isn’t some trite Sunday worship formality. I pray it’s sincere, from your heart. It’s a “come to Jesus moment” each Sunday, not so unlike the one Paul experienced on his way to Damascus. And there Jesus meets with us, announcing our forgiveness and the power of his love in our lives. We go from this place in the certainty that all is well with our God through Jesus. And we’ll come back in seven days to do it all over again. Why? Listen to what Paul states, “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” There’s spiritual treasure. We press on each day to attain the goal of heaven. Are you pressing on or just relaxing? Is your spiritual goal in life—heaven—clear, or is your route there littered with distractions and other points of interest? To put it into sharper contrast…Is your spiritual treasure gleaming in front of you, or is the trash of life scattered here and there, obstructing your view? Realize what you’re up against. There’s a world out there that thinks you’re wasting your precious time right now. The word’s smartest people consider this discussion we’re having right now to be utter foolishness. And realize, as well, that your sinful nature loves to hear that. But all that’s trash! How can you be sure? Jesus not only died for you, he also rose again and lives forever. When all the world’s wisdom comes to nothing, only Jesus and his saving wisdom will endure. You already possess that treasure. Hold it with all your might by faith in Jesus! Amen.

2nd Sunday in Lent, 3/16/25 Luke 13:31-35 How Can You Make Any Sense of This? I. It accomplishes God’s saving plan. II. It reveals God’s saving love. What’s your definition of “senseless”? Here’s Miriam-Webster’s definition: “destitute of, deficient in, or contrary to sense, such as unconscious, foolish, meaningless.” We’ve become accustomed to hearing and using that word perhaps more in the last decade or so than ever before. You hear it used almost every day to describe senseless acts of violence. And they’re not just happening in the mega-urban centers of our country; they’re occurring right here in the Miami Valley, daily, without interruption. I’ll spare you the details of some local, recent, senseless acts of violence. They’re heinous. Our society is thoroughly afflicted with them. To counter this disturbing reality, you have likely encountered the term “senseless acts of kindness.” And these acts often receive almost as much attention as the senseless acts of violence do. And that’s intentional. The media would much rather end their 30-minutes of news with a positive report on a senseless act of kindness, than another senseless act of violence. And they warm our hearts. In a cruel world, here’s a glimmer of hope. There are people who make a concentrated effort to do what is good and helpful for others, for no reason at all other than this—to help others. Senseless. That word or one close to it might have entered your mind a few minutes ago as you listened to this morning’s Gospel Reading. Just what was going on here? It’s one weird event in the life of Jesus, to say the least. There’s Jesus. There’s the Pharisees. And there’s Herod. None of those three have anything in common from an outward standpoint. We aren’t accustomed to hearing these three working together on anything. But it certainly sounds like they are—at least some of them—in this account. In fact, in a sense, they view each other as opponents. They all have different agendas. So why would they spend any time and energy even talking to one another, let alone working with each other? How do you make any sense of this? And even if you could, what does it have to do with you? Let’s spend a few minutes sorting through the details and then finding some meaning for this event in your life. So, it’s apparent from the text that Jesus is not in Jerusalem. He’s likely in Galilee. It’s toward the end of his three-year ministry. His popularity among the people is down, not even close to what it was when his ministry started. He has upset some people with what he says, and he has disappointed others by not doing what they want him to do. In short, he’s not the Messiah they were looking for. But that unpopularity doesn’t deter Jesus. He knows who he is, why he came to this earth, and what he must do to accomplish his mission—the saving all sinners from the depths of hell. The second players in this event are the Pharisees, the sworn enemies of Jesus. Throughout his three-year ministry they verbally assaulted him, detested him, tried to trap him and discredit him, and literally hated him. The Pharisees were a sinfully proud group of Jewish religious elites, who denied committing any sins and were confident that they were saved by their good works. They had no use for Jesus as their Savior and they considered his claims to be the Son of God as vial blasphemy worthy of a painful death. But they were centered in Jerusalem. So why would they make the trip to Galilee, which is a part of the Jewish nation they avoided and abhorred? Good question. Their presence in Galilee makes no sense. There are two options to explain their approaching Jesus in Galilee, and both have to do with this seemingly helpful advice to Jesus, “Leave this place and go somewhere else. Herod wants to kill you.” Now, why would they share beneficial information with Jesus about Jesus when they hated him? Good question. It makes no sense. Well, what they told him might have been a bald-faced lie. It’s possible Herod never spoke these words. So why would the Pharisees go out of their way to share a lie with Jesus? Perhaps simply to harass him. But what they told Jesus might have been the truth. But why would they share the truth with Jesus, if Herod wanted to kill Jesus as much as they did? Because they knew Herod would have more difficulty killing Jesus than they would. The Pharisees as a whole were convinced that they could get rid of Jesus (i.e. kill him), if they could just get him to their headquarters, which was Jerusalem. Personally, I think Herod actually spoke these words. Herod ruled Galilee. Jesus was causing trouble for Herod in Galilee. So, Herod threatened him to get him to leave Galilee. And there’s another reason I think Herod spoke these words. It’s in the fact that Jesus, in his response to these words, addresses Herod, not the Pharisees. Jesus certainly knew who was responsible for speaking these words. But that’s just my opinion. On the other hand, we know from what Luke writes previously, that Herod actually expressed a desire to see Jesus. The same thing is said about Herod a few weeks after this event when Jesus appeared on trial before him. We also know that Herod regretted murdering John the Baptist. He surely didn’t want a repeat of that mistake by murdering Jesus. And even though Jesus was causing some trouble for Herod as the ruler of Galilee, there was still a considerable number of residents in Galilee who simply wanted Jesus around them to perform miracles for them. So, did Herod issue this threat or not? And, if he did, did he really mean it? I can’t be absolutely certain. No one can. It just doesn’t make any sense. None of this does. I. Unless you pay attention to what Jesus says. His word. His holy word. Listen again to these words of Jesus, “Go tell that fox, ‘I will keep on driving out demons and healing people today and tomorrow, and on the third day I will reach my goal.’ In any case, I must press on today and tomorrow and the next day—for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” He called Herod a fox. And his opinion of Herod is divinely accurate and appropriate. Jesus immediately recognized what was going on here. It was a plan somehow in some way that was against the plan of his Father, and, thus, against his own plan. What do I mean? Well, Jesus perfectly understood why here was here on earth in the first place. He had known it already as a 12-year-old boy in the Temple. He was here to be the world’s Savior from sin. Right at that time, that plan determined that Jesus was to be in Galilee driving out demons and healing people. And that’s what Jesus was doing. Exactly. Without deviation. Perfectly. And with that divine power Jesus also revealed divine grace. His miracles were not an end in themselves. He wasn’t here merely to impress the people. He was here to save them. Every one of his miracles pointed to the fact that he was true God, and the world’s only Savior from sin. To carry that plan to fulfillment, Jesus was determined to go to Jerusalem, just as the Pharisees were suggesting he do. But on his own terms according to his Father’s plan. And only when his Father approved. How can you make any sense of this? Here’s your answer: it accomplishes God’s saving plans. II. And that answer leads us right into another one. Imagine being Jesus at this point. How would you respond to such a devious suggestion for your future? How would you react to people who want nothing more than to kill you, literally? I’ll let you form your own answer. Now, compare your answer with the reaction of Jesus. He didn’t speak curses upon these Pharisees or Herod, his government official. He didn’t even wish evil on them. Instead, we hear him say this, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing. Look, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.” Can you believe what you just heard?! He speaks words that are oozing with his own personal pain over their rejection of him. He speaks of his deepest desire to save his enemies, not damn them. He wants to spend eternity with them and the rest of the inhabitants of Jerusalem—indeed, every sinner who has ever lived and will ever live on this earth—in heaven. And to make it happen, he will head to Jerusalem to die. And then, on the third day he will rise again. And his overwhelming will and hope is that every single sinful human being looks at this death and his resurrection and believes the truth that saves them—that he is the Son of God and the world’s only Savior from sin. Whether they want him to be or not. He loves them. He wants them to belong to him by faith in him. How can you make any sense of this? It reveals God’s saving love. Four weeks from today, we will speak these words that Jesus spoke. On Palm Sunday, we will join Christians around the world in speaking these words of Jesus to Jesus as he enters the worst week of his life for himself but the best week of his life for us. That almost sounds senseless, unless you know the eternal love of God for you. That love drove Jesus to the cross for you. That was always his plan, a plan that revealed his saving love. So, you can spend time trying to make sense of the senselessness in our world and in your life, or you can spend time surrounded by the comforting love of God. I’d say that choice is a no-brainer. You don’t need a massive amount of sense to make it. Find peace in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Now that makes sense! Amen.

What Kind of Help Is Your God, Anyway?

1st Sunday in Lent, 3/9/25 Hebrews 4:14-16 What Kind of Help Is Your God, Anyway? I. He knows you. II. He shows you. III. He grows you. This first Sunday in Lent is a victory celebration. Not on the same level with Easter on which we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, but a victory celebration, nonetheless. As I mentioned in my worship greeting to you this morning, we celebrate the truth that Jesus won the victory over Satan’s temptations. It was the first victory in an undefeated ministry for Jesus. He faced Satan all along the way to Calvary’s cross during his three-year ministry on earth. Sometimes, as we heard in today’s Gospel, those attacks came from Satan himself. Sometimes they came from Jesus’ earthly enemies—the Jewish religious leaders. Most surprisingly, sometimes those attacks came from Jesus’ own disciples. And he never lost. He always came out on top. The Victor! As Christians, we know and believe that Jesus won that victory for us. His victory over Satan is our victory. We are victors with him. If only, right? If only we felt like victors. If only we were convinced we were victors. If only we enjoyed one victory after another. But that’s not what we experience. In fact, more often than not, we feel like losers, not victors. No matter how hard we try, things don’t seem to work out for us. We deal with disappointment every day. Our lives are an unending struggle. We don’t find ourselves coming out on top. Too often we’re buried on the bottom. And that has led more than one Christian to wonder. I’m guessing you have wondered, too. Wondered what? Wondered where your God is in all of this. If you’re a Christian—and I’m not doubting that—then why aren’t things going better for you? Why can’t you find the strength to live more like a Christian and find the happiness you deeply desire? Why can’t you count on your spiritual successes, instead of dealing too often with your spiritual failures? Why can’t you be more like Christ? Why can’t you come out on top like he did? And those questions lead me to this one, the one I want you to keep in front of you for the next few minutes, “What kind of help is your God, anyway? You’re not alone in asking that question. From the beginning of the Christian Church on earth Christians have been asking it. What good is your faith in Jesus when the rubber of life hits the road? What kind of help is your God, anyway? In this Letter to the Hebrews, our God gives us his answers. Let’s listen to them this morning. I. I’m not sure how popular blues music currently is, but I know country music is arguably the most popular. And it seems to me that those two forms of music have this in common: they both speak directly to the reality of the daily human existence. What do I mean? They both offer this assistance: misery loves company. Perhaps you’re thinking, “Pastor, that’s as overstatement.” Maybe so, but please hear me out. The title “blues” music is accurate. And many popular country music songs deal with the same thing—the blues of life, right? The lyrics describe how the singer lost his woman, his job, his truck, and maybe even his dog. And the only solution is to deal with it by letting others know how much life stinks. These words of the Letter to the Hebrews were written to early Jewish Christians. They had lived during that time when Jewish people both looked forward to the coming of the promised Savior and hearing that the promised Savior had come. His name is Jesus Christ. And, by God’s grace, they believed that saving truth. But life was still tough for them. They still faced the same problems and struggles in life now as they did before. To make matters worse, they now had the added problem of suffering persecution for their faith in Jesus. And one of their reactions was, “What good is my faith in God, anyway? He’s not helping me with all of this!” The writer of these words tells them, “He knows what you’re going through. He knows you.” Now, how can we be sure of that? How can God, who lives in endless glory with all power over all things possibly know and understand what a feeble, limited, suffering human being like me is going through? Are you ready for his answer? Listen to it, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Jesus shared your life, meaning, he knows what your human life is like because lived it. You might think you’re suffering like no one else. You might think that you are facing opposition as no one else has. But you’d be wrong. Your Hight Priest—Jesus—faced everything you’re facing and overcame them all. He came out on top. He never sinned. He never quit. He never gave up. He went all the way to the cross for you. Why? Because he knows you. And there’s the first answer to our question, “What kind of help is your God, anyway?” He knows you. II. The Lord has another answer for you, and it’s found in what Jesus already did for you. Right now I’m trying to think of a task in my life in which I only do it once and never have to do it again. I can’t think of one right now. Can you? Almost every task of life—if not all of them—must be done over and over again. It’s almost senseless. It’s one of the reasons I don’t wash my vehicles very often. It seems like I wash it one day and it rains or snows the next anyway. These Jewish Christians to whom the writer originally wrote these words were used to repeating tasks in their religious life—yearly, monthly, weekly, daily. And they weren’t the only Jews required to do so. Even the high priest was required to do the same. But not your Great High Priest, Jesus. The writer alludes to that fact with these words, “We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God.” Every Old Testament high priest was only allowed to enter the special presence of God in the Holy of Holies, a small room in the Temple where the Ark of the Covenant was located. God had indicated to the Jews that his special presence was there. But only the high priest could enter it, and only once a year, as he did his repetitive work. Jesus came to this earth to accomplish the work of redeeming us. He shed his own blood so that we could belong to him eternally. How do I know he finished that work? How do I know the Father accepted that work? How do I know that there isn’t something left for me to do to please God enough to have a favorable relationship with him? Jesus not only tells you, he shows you. He ascended into heaven because his work was finished and now he rules over every moment in your life to bless you eternally. What kind of help is your God, anyway? He shows you. There’s nothing left for you to do. III. I’m guessing that you join me in admiring people who work hard and accomplish great things in their life all on their own. They weren’t born with a silver spoon in their mouth, and no one handed them one golden opportunity after another. They worked tirelessly and earned it themselves. But that situation here in this life has nothing in common with our spiritual life—our life with Jesus. What do I mean? Well, we face daily opposition from three great enemies: sin, death, and hell. Think about it. No matter how hard you work, no matter what advantages you think you might have, no matter how many breaks you might receive, you’re no match for any one of those foes, let alone all three at the same time. But that’s where your Savior, Jesus comes in. He is your divine helper in your daily battles. That’s why the writer tells us, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” He tells us to lean on our God with confidence. Why? Because our God is the God of grace and mercy. Those are two beautiful words which describe two beautiful, saving qualities of our Lord. He is gracious. In other words, he gives us the blessings that we don’t deserve, whatever we need to have a life with him now and forever in heaven. He's also merciful. That means that, in spite of the fact that he has every reason to turn his back on us because we daily offend him with our sins, he is merciful. He does not treat us as our sins deserve. No, he treated his Son as our sins deserve. And that’s our focus in this season of Lent: Jesus doing everything we need for our God to be gracious and merciful to us every day. And today—today—is your blessed opportunity to grow in that grace and mercy, to live in the daily confidence that you are a dear child of God, to grow in your faith and in your confidence in the God of your salvation. What kind of help is your God, anyway? He grows you. He knows you. He shows you. He grows you. Are you open to his help? Of course you are. That’s one of the reasons you’re here today. Too many people in our society right now report that they feel like they aren’t winning; they’re losing. And even we feel like that, children of God that we are. And, at times, it’s nothing but our own fault. We’ve conveniently pushed Jesus to the side of our daily lives. We try going it alone. We forget, too often, the big picture of living this life always with eternal life in focus. We get all caught up in living and trying to succeed—whatever that means—and we fail, we get frustrated, tired, resentful. What kind of help is your God, anyway, in all of this? Just the kind of help you need. Jesus already won your life with him now and life with him forever. So, approach him with confidence in your daily struggles. He knows you. He shows you. He grows you. Amen.

See God’s Grace on Display!

4th Sunday in Lent, 3/30/25 Luke 15:1-3, 11-32 See God’s Grace on Display! I. When rebellion takes advantage of it II. When self-righteousness rejects it More than one confessional Lutheran theologian has quipped, “Our God is a hidden God.” Let me repeat that. Our God is a hidden God. And now, here’s a good Lutheran question, “What does this mean?” It means that we often don’t see the way God thinks, feels, and acts. For instance, we believe and confess that he is omnipotent or almighty, but how often do you see it? We also believe and confess that he knows all things, but we often wonder about that, don’t we? Does he really know what’s going on in our world? We believe and confess that he is absolutely just, but then why do good people suffer and bad people prosper? We know that God is present everywhere, but then why do we feel all alone at the worst time in our lives? Bottom line, we want to see God. We want to see who he is and what he does. We want to know what he’s thinking and feeling, especially as it involves me. You. Have you ever wondered those things? I’m sure you have. We all have. But so often God remains hidden. He doesn’t allow us to see and hear and know what we want to know. Instead, he calls for us to trust him as he reveals himself in his word—the Bible. And we have a golden opportunity to do just that this morning. Today’s sermon text is the most familiar parable Jesus ever spoke. It’s been called the Parable of the Prodigal Son. In this version of the Bible it’s entitled the Parable of the Lost Son. It’s also been called the Parable of the Two Sons, because it’s really about both sons, not just one. But, truth be told, the parable’s focus is not on one or the other son, nor both of them. The focus is on the father who represents our God. And the overwhelming divine characteristic on display in this parable is the father’s grace. There is absolutely no good reason why this father should feel and speak and act the way he does. And the same goes for our heavenly Father when it comes to his interaction with me, with you, with every sinful person. This parable highlights this hidden quality of our God: his grace. We just sang about his amazing grace. Now let’s see it. See God’s grace on display! Let’s put our eyeballs on it, shall we? I. I’ve been told that there’s a helpful book entitled, “Set Boundaries. Find Peace.” In other words, it’s completely up to you how much you will allow others to take advantage of you. And yes, it’s true that the Lord does call on us to turn the other cheek, but the 5th Commandment also demands that we protect our lives as well as our neighbor’s, that we take care of ourselves. That involves setting boundaries, doesn’t it? One quick reaction to the reading of this parable is that the sons mistreated their father. They abused his love for them and his goodness towards them. Does God set boundaries? That’s a different parable. In this parable, this one divine quality knows no bounds: his grace. And we see that grace on display even when his younger son’s rebellion takes advantage of it. That’s right. I called the younger son’s actions rebellion against his father. Let’s recall the details. First, he approached his father and requested his share of his father’s estate. Even for a parable, that’s more than a little rude. It’s unheard of! It completely disrespects his father. It all belongs to his father and he should have the opportunity to use it and enjoy it as long as he lives on this earth. But this son wants his share now, while his dad is still living and breathing. And his father obliges without a negative word. And what does the younger son do with his new wealth? He squanders it in wild living. His brother later fills in one of details. His father’s money went to pay for prostitutes. And it goes on until every last penny of his father’s money is gone. And that’s when it hits. Rock bottom. The sinful lifestyle abruptly ends and the suffering begins. He gets hungry. So he finds a job—feeding pigs with the hope that he can eat some pig slop on the side. But that hope doesn’t materialize either. And that’s when he comes to his senses. He realizes his father’s hired men are far better off than he is. So he changes his mind about his situation. In theological terms, he repents. He determines to return to his father, admit his guilt, beg for his father’s forgiveness, and offer to become one of his hired men, because he certainly has forfeited his claim on being his father’s son. Now, don’t miss the next detail. As he returns to his father, his father sees him a long way off. In other words, the father has been watching day and night for his son to return to him. He runs to him and embraces him. And when his son begins to tell him how sorry he is, his father cuts him off. He doesn’t let him finish. And instead of lashing out at him, he calls for a robe, sandals, and the preparation of a “welcome home” party. Think about that! We wouldn’t be surprised or judgmental if the father had said, “I’d like to serve you some food, son, but the fact is I barely have any, ever since you took away so much of what I had.” That’s what we would have expected. At least a look of disgust or even a little disappointment. But none of that! Instead, grace. All grace. Just grace. His undeserved favor. See God’s grace on display even when rebellion takes advantage of it. II. Since this is a parable meant to teach you something spiritual, can you see yourself in the younger son? Maybe not. You wouldn’t treat someone the way he treated his father. And I hope you wouldn’t. So, we don’t identify closely with the younger son. Should we stop right now? After all, if this doesn’t apply to us, why spend any more time on it? But wait. There’s more to this parable. It’s Part Two, and it presents to us the other side of the coin in the older son. You’d like to see yourself in the older son, wouldn’t you? After all, he’s the good son. He always did what was right and didn’t get into trouble, like his brother did. You might admire him. But not for long. Because the way he speaks to his father is not admirable. First, he refers to working with his father in the family business as slaving for him. Ouch! Suddenly he forgets that this enterprise is a father-son business from which he receives just as many good things as his father does. Next, he asserts that he has never disobeyed his father. The flip side of that is the statement that he has always obeyed his father. Really? Always? Never once slipped up? Never once disregarded his father’s wishes? Hard to believe, isn’t it? But that’s what he said. That’s what he thinks about himself. And he expresses his utter disgust for the party his father has thrown for his brother, as if the father needs his older son’s permission when to enjoy himself. Even worse, he charges his father with being unjust, preferential, showing kindness when severe punishment is called for. Bottom line—he calls into question every aspect of his father’s goodness. But his charges are baseless. Did you notice the detail? When the older son refused to come in to enjoy the party, the father didn’t shrug his shoulders and reply, “Fine. Have it your way!” No! The father went out to him just as he earlier had gone out to his younger son. He then reminded the older son of this indisputable truth, “All I have is yours.” There literally is nothing that the father can give him that isn’t already the son’s. Imagine the father raising his hands, palms up, and shrugging his shoulders, as if to say, “Son, what more do you want?” But the older son can’t see the truth about his father. Why not? Because the only thing in front of his eyes is his self-righteousness. In other words, he doesn’t want his father to treat him on the basis of who his father is; he wants his father to treat him on the basis of who he is. But his father won’t play that game. Instead, he showers the older son as he did the younger son—with his grace. See God’s grace on display when self-righteousness rejects it! So, can you see yourself in the older son and his self-righteousness? Probably not. Because if you did, you wouldn’t be here worshipping Jesus. You’d be at home worshipping yourself. As I mentioned earlier, it may be difficult to see yourself in the younger son. And now the same is true regarding the older son. We like to think that we aren’t like either of them. And that’s good—in this one respect. It’s good, because at every moment of our sinful lives we are somewhere on this sinful continuum between sordid rebellion or gross self-righteousness. Sometimes a little more one way, and then a little more the other. And BOTH of those extremes and ALMOST everywhere in between trash the grace of God. I say, “ALMOST” because dead center is where we need to be and where Jesus calls us to be. That dead center is in this honest confession, “Father, I have sinned against you. I’m not worthy to be called your daughter or your son.” BINGO! Whether it’s soul-sucking sin on one side or self-righteous asphyxiation on the other, they both result in death—spiritual death. True life, real life, life with you God, the only life that counts, is found only in a heart that repents of sin and trusts in Jesus for forgiveness. Do you have that heart? By God’s amazing grace by faith in Jesus you do! And see the amazing grace of God each day as he assures you of your forgiveness and eternal life with him! Amen.

Gaze at God’s Glory!

Last Sunday after Epiphany, 3/2/25 The Transfiguration of Our Lord Luke 9:28-36 Gaze at God’s Glory! I. Jesus reveals his glory to convince us. II. Jesus conceals his glory to save us. “Did you see that?” “See what?” Even if you’re the one who missed seeing whatever it was, you might still have an option or two to see it. If the image you missed was on a digital display screen, you probably have the option of pausing what you’re watching and reversing the video, giving you a second chance to see what happened. Another option might be to see if there are cameras in the vicinity that captured what you missed. You just need to access the footage. And that might be as simple as asking someone who was in that same location if they happened to take a picture or video of what you just missed. A couple of weeks ago a passenger aircraft landed on an airport runway upside down. And we saw video footage from one passenger as he or she departed the aircraft safely. Amazing! As I watched that video, I wondered if it would have occurred to me to do the same if I had been a passenger on that aircraft. And today—this Sunday—that makes me wonder: If the Transfiguration were to occur in our world tomorrow, do you think a video recording of it would be made? Do you think Peter or James or John would have had the presence of mind to grab their cell phone out of the pocket of their tunic and record what they were seeing and hearing? And if they did, how amazing would it be for you and me to see it? But that won’t happen. And it obviously didn’t happen 2,000 years ago when the Transfiguration occurred. And yet this morning we still have the opportunity to see it, not with the eyes in our heads, but with our eyes of faith. And that’s just what we need to do. We’re about to enter another Lenten season in which we’ll walk with Jesus to his death. Most of the scenes along the way are anything but glorious—misbehaving disciples, betrayal, denial, bald-faced lies, cruel treatment, inhuman beatings, an excruciating execution. Nothing glorious there! But there is right here! Right here on the pages of Holy Scripture! Right here in the account of the Transfiguration of Our Lord. Don’t miss it! See it! See what? The glory of God! Gaze at God’s glory! I invite you to do that with me right now. I. When you watch a person for a while—either in person right in front of you, or a video of recording of them—what do you usually see and pay attention to? Well, once you get past what they look like and how they’re dressed and what they might be doing, you begin to get to know that person, especially if you’re able to observe them for an extended period of time. At first you might appreciate who that person is as you’re getting to know them, but it probably won’t take long before you notice the opposite—their flaws, their less-attractive qualities, their shortcomings, the fact that they aren’t living up to the hype you expected. The people who experienced Jesus while on this earth had the same reactions. What did they see when they observed Jesus long enough to form opinions about him? Well, many of his fellow Jews at first were thrilled with him. They recognized him as a prophet of God who spoke to them with authority, instead of the opinions they were accustomed to hearing from their religious leaders. Others were simultaneously thrilled with him as a miracle-worker. They came from all around to see him perform a miracle, or—even better—for them to see him perform a miracle on them. They correctly connected him to the centuries-old promises of God to send the Messiah. And they wanted to believe that he was, until he wasn’t the kind of Messiah they were looking for and hoping for. In other words, they looked at him as a disappointment. And then there was the observation of his enemies. He was a fraud. A liar. A blasphemer. An agent of the Devil or the Devil himself. Think about that for a minute. All these people saw and heard the same Jesus say and do the same things and they went away with all of these wrong ideas of who he was. After three years of this, might their opinions be true, at least to a small degree? He claimed to be the Son of God but masses of people came to another conclusion about him. Could so many people be so wrong? And what if they were right about him? Even just a little bit right? Not a chance! How do I know? His Transfiguration! It’s no accident that this event occurred when it did—right before his sufferings and death. At this point there existed literally thousands of false opinions about him. Surely, they can’t all be wrong! Indeed, they can! How do I know. Transfiguration. In this event there isn’t even the smallest hint of divine discredit. What do I mean? Humans will always come up with various opinions about other people. That’s just the way it is. But at the Transfiguration we hear and see the only opinion that matters—God’s opinion. And it’s conveyed to us in God’s glory. Five humans witnessed it and they all were impressed with the same thing—the glory of God displayed in Jesus. The glory of God in Jesus as God! Can you hear or do you see any nay-sayers, any opposite opinions, anyone willing to challenge this glory? Silence! Crickets! Nichts! Nada! People of God, do what God calls you to do as you ponder the Transfiguration of Jesus. Gaze at God’s glory! Jesus reveals his glory to convince us! I’m guessing that you’ve lived long enough to be realistic about this life. Sure, there are great moments, but there are always disappointments, frustrations, heartaches. And that’s the way it is living in this sinful world. And that’s bad enough, but when it happens in your life of faith, it just about crushes you. What do I mean? Well, have you ever been disappointed with your relationship with Jesus? Has it ever seemed like he isn’t listening to you? He doesn’t seem to care about what you’re going through? He isn’t keeping up his end of the deal? Do you ever wonder if your life with him is really worth it? Like things would be going just as well in your life without him? The Transfiguration answers every one of those questions with a deafening, “Absolutely not!” Remember, at this point Jesus knew that he was about to face his crucifixion, and he knew what every sinner in the world needs to know and believe—that he is the true and eternal Son of God. And because he is, everything is OK, even his impending death on the cross. In fact, everything is perfect, with him and with you! Gaze at God’s glory! Jesus reveals his glory to convince us. II. Mics that are live are a great help when the speaker is aware of them and using them. But a live mic can also be an embarrassment. The speaker didn’t intend for others to hear that. There was a live mic of sorts on the Mount of Transfiguration. Let’s listen, “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.” The writer Luke lets us in on a heavenly conversation. Moses and Elijah are with Jesus, and they are talking with him. About what? His departure. Literally, his exodus. He’s making his way to the end of his work as the world’s Redeemer. That work would culminate in his being nailed to a cross and finally declaring, “It is finished.” His work as the Savior of the world is done! That means nothing more is needed for sinners to enter the eternal presence of the holy God. All sins are forgiven! Heaven is open to all people! Jesus knew all along that’s where he was headed. He had even told all of his disciples that very thing just prior to this glorious event. And that was the last thing his disciples wanted to hear. They opposed his plan. Peter, in a back-handed way, displays that opposition with his request for Jesus to allow him to build three tents so that they all can stay right there in divine glory, instead of facing a terrible death on the cross. But Jesus wouldn’t entertain that thought for a moment. He insisted on going down from that mountain so he could walk up another one—one called Calvary. And there’s his glory! He displayed his glory by humbling himself to death on the cross. When his glory is most hidden, it is most on display. Gaze at it, fellow Christians! Gaze at God’s glory! Jesus reveals his glory to save us. This Wednesday, Lent begins. Jesus calls you to walk closely with him. I hope you’ll accept his invitation to do so. But if you do, don’t expect your walk to Calvary with Jesus to make your walk through this life one joy-filled day after another. That’s not what Jesus is about. And if you walk with Jesus, don’t think that somehow you’ll avoid death. Unless Jesus returns first, your death will happen. But when you walk with Jesus this Lenten season, take each step with him confident that you have eternal life with him. Is there anything else that really matters? I can’t think of a single one. So, gaze at God’s glory now and be confident you will live in it with him! Amen.

Can We Talk About Your Thorny Issues?

6th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/16/25 2 Corinthians 12:7b-10 Can We Talk About Your Thorny Issues? I. What are they? II. What do you do with them? A few days ago, I researched the subject “positive thinking.” Of course, I encountered the incredibly popular self-help book The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vicent Peale, which was published in 1952. But I wanted something more recent, and I wasn’t disappointed. Virtually every respected health information web site had something to offer on the benefits of positive thinking: WebMD, Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, Psychology Today. But I didn’t spend much time reading the information those sites offered on positive thinking. I never intended to. I simply wanted to be able to confirm what you probably already knew: there is plenty of “help” out there if you want to think more positively about your life. But information on the opposite position also exists in abundance.What am I talking about? Dealing with the issues that are confronting you. I’ll admit that being negative about everything all the time is not healthy, but so is not dealing with the issues. Simply trying to be positive about the negative leads to pretensions, doesn’t it? We’ve all met people who let us know that their life is a dream, that things are going so well for them, and they want you to know just how well they are doing…ad nauseum. And all the while they’re telling you how wonderful their life is, you’re wondering what issues they’re covering up. Most Bible students have difficulty remembering all of Paul’s missionary journeys and what happened on them, but they probably remember what Paul reveals to the world in this portion of his Second Letter to the Corinthians. He had issues. Well, at least he had one issue, and it was a biggie. It was so big that Paul felt it was a hindrance to his being a better apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he didn’t hide it. He let the Corinthians know. In doing so he put it out there for the whole world to know. Paul had an issue. And he certainly had others; after all, he was a sinful human being just like we are. But I’d rather not discuss what may or may not have been Paul’s issues. This morning I’d rather discuss yours. Don’t worry, I’m not going to ask you to stand up and let everyone know what they are. You know them well enough yourself. And I know mine all too well. But let’s ask the question anyway. Please give me your permission to do so. Can we talk about your thorny issues? It’s my prayer that our Lord’s assistance in answering that question will lead us to him as our Savior and the solution to all our issues in life. I. If you are reluctant about sharing the truth about your thorny issues, you’re not alone. According to various studies, a significant portion of patients—often estimated to be around 70-80%—tend to withhold some information from their doctors, meaning they hide a large percentage of the truth, with common reasons including embarrassment, fear of judgment, and not wanting to appear difficult. And you know what? Jesus, your Great Physician, knows it! So, don’t play that game! It might appear at first that Paul did. As I stated earlier, when he wrote these words to the Corinthians Christians, he was letting the whole world know he had a thorny issue, but he never comes out and states what it was. The only thing he admits is this, “Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.” From these words we know that his thorn in the flesh wasn’t spiritual, psychological, or emotional. It was physical. It had something to do with his body. That tidbit of information has been enough for Bible scholars to speculate at great lengths just what his thorn in the flesh was. I won’t make this sermon unnecessarily longer by delving into any of them. It’s possible that the Corinthians Christians didn’t even know what Paul’s thorn was. So, why wouldn’t the Holy Spirit have caused Paul to let his readers and us know? I can think of several reasons and the best one for our purposes this morning is this: so that we can better identify with Paul. Every one of us can say, “Paul had a thorny issue in his life. So do I.” So, what’s yours? It’s likely something that you pray about, just as Paul did. It’s something that bothers you. It probably has for a long time. Maybe even your entire life. And you’ve prayed to the Lord about it far more than the three times Paul did. So, why doesn’t the Lord take it away? Why doesn’t he solve this thorny issue in your life? Why doesn’t he lift the burden this thorny issue is causing you so that you can live happier? If you didn’t have this issue confronting you each day, imagine all the good things you could accomplish for others and your Lord each day. But the Lord chooses to let you continue to deal with it…every day. And here’s the divine answer to all those questions about your thorny issue: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Your position is that your life would be so much better without your thorny issue. God’s perspective is that your life is so much better with your thorny issue. Why? Because it reminds you every day that you aren’t so great, so powerful, so wonderful. No pretenses. You really don’t have everything in your life in order. There’s at least one aspect of your life in which you need your Lord’s help. In other words, your thorny issue drives you to Jesus, your Savior. And there’s no better place to be. Let me repeat: Your thorny issue drives you to Jesus, and there’s no better place to be. So, it appears that Jesus intends for you to continue dealing with your thorny issue for the time being. Perhaps for the rest of your life on earth. That might be more than a little depressing. “You mean my thorny issue doesn’t get resolved this side of heaven?” Maybe not. And thank God for it! Yes, thank God for it. Why do I say that? Because the sinful human heart—mine included—has a wicked propensity to self-idolize. And you and I see it in others all the time. We meet and know people who think far too much of themselves. If your thorny issue prevents that from happening, then praise God! Let that thorny issue remind you every day of your natural sinful condition and your daily sins against your holy God. And may it drive you to Jesus, your Savior from sin, who went to the cross with thorns jammed into his skull in order to die for you on the hill called the Skull. II. Paul ends our text with this oxymoron, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” We think he wrote those words about 55 AD. Within 10 years, Paul would appear to be at his weakest. Paul might have been beheaded. That would have been “humane.” Perhaps on his knees or lying prone on his back, he faced one or more ferocious lions who tore at his flesh while masses of psychologically sick Roman spectators watched the carnage as a form of entertainment. And all because he refused to deny Jesus as his Lord and Savior. From almost any vantage point, the world would say Paul lost. He failed. He was a colossal disappointment. Not so. At that point Paul lived this truth: nothing in this world matters. The only thing that matters is my relationship with Jesus. And there it is—my confidence and yours as we deal with our thorny issues in life. Are you facing an issue for which there seems to be no solution? Is there something in your life that squeezes the joy out of your heart? Does daily and nightly pain drive you to wonder how much longer you can endure it? Are there times when your thorny issue causes you to dream of just throwing in the towel and giving up? Realize that’s when you—like Paul—are at your weakest. Weakest physically. But that’s also the moment when you can be the strongest. How? In Christ. In Christ. And that’s the way life is in God’s kingdom. It’s upside down. Jesus spoke about that very thing in today’s Gospel reading. In another portion of God’s word we read, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Cor. 4:17). And with that divine truth in front of us, we can join Paul in declaring, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” Can we talk about your thorny issues? I hope so. If so, here’s one more question: How do you react to them? For every time you have fallen apart spiritually, given up on God, blamed him for what you face, go to the cross of Christ. There’s the One who faced the thorny issue of your sins and the hell you deserve and came out on top. He died and rose again to assure you that no thorny issue in life can separate you from the love of God. Your Lord is using all things in your life to keep you close to him and to draw you to himself in amazing glory once your thorny life is ended. As you bear your crosses each day, keep your eyes of faith on the cross of Christ. There’s your hope. There’s your certainty. There’s your guarantee. Your life here in this thorny world and your eternal life are in the hands of your loving Lord Jesus. Can we talk about your thorny issues? Let’s do that as we remain under the cross of Christ. Amen.

How Should You Fish?

5th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/9/25 Luke 5:1-11 How Should You Fish? I. Impress them with Jesus’ power. II. Invite them into Jesus’ presence. “You wanna go fishing?” What’s your response to that question/invitation? Well, I can think of two extremes. On the one hand, fishing is one of your favorite past times. You would go fishing every day if you didn’t have other things that you had to do. You dream about being out on the water in your watercraft of choice, casting your baited line into the shimmering water, and just waiting for the bobber to plunge beneath the water’s surface and the accompanying tug on your fishing line. In fact, you love fishing so much, you wouldn’t care if you didn’t catch anything. You simply enjoy fishing. At the other extreme, you can’t imagine yourself fishing. The fact that you don’t particularly like to eat fish only fortifies your aversion to fishing. You consider it to be a waste of time and money. Just the thought of baiting a hook makes you nauseous, let alone cleaning a fish if you should be so horrified to actually catch one. You want no part of sweating in the sun or suffering through seasickness. Those are the two extremes I can imagine in answer to the invitation, “Wanna go fishing?” A few of you are on one end, and a few are on the other, and the rest of us are somewhere in between. This morning’s sermon text is the familiar account of the miraculous catch of fish and Jesus calling his disciples to fish for people. If you attended Sunday School as a child, this lesson was certainly in the curriculum. It might even be one of the most memorable accounts you can recall. And the application is always the same. Just as Jesus called Peter and the others to fish for people, so he calls you and me to do the same. And that calling is more than just an invitation, “Wanna go fishing?” It’s even more than an opportunity. There’s an expectation included. That expectation emanates from the will of our God who wants everyone to be saved by faith in Jesus Christ. He wants everyone to follow him. And that means he wants every one of his current followers to go fishing for others. So, the question before us this morning is not from the lips of Jesus asking us, “Wanna go fishing?” We know that he wants us to go fishing and even expects us to go fishing. And that’s why our question is, “How should I fish?” In other words, what should we do to fish for people as Jesus asks us to do? How should you fish? Keep that question in mind as we have the gracious opportunity to spend some time in God’s word this morning. I. Do I have your attention? If not, “Hey! Yoo-hoo!! Up here!” Why did I just do that? Because I know how difficult it is to cause someone to pay attention. And part of the reason for that is that I’m just up here speaking to you. There are no theatrics. No pyrotechnics. During this 15-minute sermon I can’t possibly hold your attention the way that this evening’s Super Bowl Half-Time Show will. And that’s the way it is every day all day long. The amazing things grab our attention. The mundane doesn’t even garner a glance from our eyes or a second of our time. But look again at the impressive events on this day in the earthly ministry of our Lord Jesus. It starts out in a rather familiar way. “One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat.” Jesus spends time preaching to the people. In last Sunday’s gospel reading, that’s exactly what we heard Jesus state that he came to do—to go and preach to as many people as possible. On this day he used the natural astounding acoustics of the water to reach the ears of a crowd of people. We don’t know exactly what he told them, but a good guess would be that he told them that he was their Messiah, their long-awaited Savior from sin. That’s an impressive message when you actually stop to ponder it. But from a human standpoint, that message doesn’t hold an impressive candle to what Jesus then did. I don’t need to re-read it. He told Peter to put out into deep water and let down his nets for a catch of fish. And that command seemed like nonsense to an experienced, professional fisherman such a Peter. You catch fish with nets in shallow water, not deep. And you don’t fish during the heat of the day. But Peter complied. He complied and was astounded. Our text states that he and James, John, and their other companions were astonished. If the crowd was still on the shore, I imagine they were as well. Nets breaking under the weight of the catch. Two boats full of fish. Impressive to say the least. And the miracle of Jesus wasn’t for nothing. It accomplished what Jesus desired. They were amazed. Impressed with Jesus’ power. And that answers our question, “How should you fish? How should you fish for other people?” Impress them with Jesus’ power. But what can you do? How will you impress people with the power of Jesus when you’re fishing for them? You can’t count on performing a miracle yourself, and don’t expect Jesus to do one either. At least not one like filling a net full of fish. Instead, let the fish you are fishing for see the miracle that Jesus has done for you and still does in you every day. Let others see Jesus through you. Let others see what Jesus has done for you. You don’t have to contrive an amazing story that every news media outlet would love to show. Instead, impress them with how much you’re just like they are regarding your faults and fears, your dangers and depressions, your sorrows and sins. Impress them by telling them you know what their life is like because you’ve been there. At times, you still are there. But Jesus used his power to transform you, to give you certain hope and a guaranteed future. He’s brought meaning and purpose to your life. You live each day surrounded by his love and filled with his inner peace and joy. When you go fishing for others, you don’t have to impress them with a net full of fish. Just share how Jesus has used his power to impress you. II. The world-famous Augusta National Golf Course was historically exclusive, and that didn’t sit well with many people. Only white men were allowed to be members. Then it opened its membership to all men. And just a few years ago it began welcoming women into membership as well. Telling someone, “You don’t belong here,” or “You can’t belong here,” is counter cultural, to say the least. But people still say or feel, “I don’t belong here.” It happens all the time, to all of us, if we’re honest. We find ourselves in a place or a situation which seems as if we don’t belong. And we’re compelled to leave…immediately. Peter experienced that same thing. After witnessing the miracle of Jesus, Peter exclaimed, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” The Greek word here for “sinful” is noteworthy. There are several words for “sin” in the Greek, and the one used here emphasizes the status of being an outcast. It’s used for the type of person who was shunned by society for their shameful life. Here Peter used it to describe himself. And he was correct. As a sinner, even if he wasn’t an outcast from society, he had no business in the presence of Jesus, the holy Son of God. Because he was sinful—like the rest of us—he deserved to be banished from the presence of God forever—in hell. But what does Jesus do instead? Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” He didn’t shun Peter; he accepted him. He invited him into his presence. He wanted to assure Peter that he was the solution to Peter’s sinful condition and his daily sins. Peter was washed clean—made holy—sanctified by Jesus. And as such, Jesus had plans for Peter. He invited—he called—Peter to follow him. Why? So that he could fish for people. He called Peter to the highest vocation any person can attain—to be in the service of Jesus, the Son of God, fishing for people. Jesus wanted to use Peter—even with his shortcomings—to carry out the glorious work of calling other people into the kingdom of God where there is full forgiveness, new life, and eternal salvation. And he does the same for you and me. He calls us to do the glorious work of calling other people into his kingdom. Fishing for people. So, how should you fish? Invite them into Jesus’ presence. “Acceptance” is a huge issue in our society. Too often it’s marked by the number of social media “friends,” likes, and having the most up-to-date information about that’s happening in your life available for others to enjoy. At least, that’s what we like to think. Or, we measure acceptance by our performance. As long as we’re going above and beyond what’s expected of us, we deserve to be accepted, and if not, then that’s their issue, not ours. I’m sure there are other methods of obtaining acceptance. Too many of them reside in our fragile psyche. And that’s not unique. I’m guessing it’s that way with every person. Every fish. Every person—every fish—longs for acceptance to one degree or another. So, how about knowing and then sharing this great truth: Jesus, the holy Son of God, brims with loving acceptance of sinful people. That doesn’t mean he tolerates sin; it means he loves each and every sinner. He loves me. He loves you. He showed it when he died on the cross for you. That’s right—he died to invite you into his holy presence for eternity. And he wants to do the same thing with every person. Every fish. And we are the ones going fishing every day. Again, if acceptance is a huge need for everyone in our world, then here’s a point of contact between you and others. Jesus invites them in. Jesus loves them. And he uses us to share his invitation and his love. So, go fishing this week! And next Sunday, let me know what you catch! May Jesus richly bless your fishing this week! Amen.

Here’s Some Timeless Christian Advice!

4th Sunday after Epiphany, 2/2/25 2 Timothy 3:14-4:5 Here’s Some Timeless Christian Advice! I. Hold on to God’s truth. II. Expect opposition. Can you identify with the following scenario? If not, trust me. Wait a few more years, and you will. You’ve been experiencing some physical issues. Let’s say your aches and pains now seem to be a part of your daily life. You try not to overdo it anymore, because you know that the next day you’ll pay for it. And it’s become annoying. You can see this is only going to get worse, so you decide to make an appointment with your primary care physician. The day of your appointment arrives, and you’re in one of the patient rooms. The nurse takes care of entering your vitals and going through a list of whatever medications and supplements you may be taking. When she’s finished, she leaves, promising that your physician will see you soon. Within a few minutes your physician enters the room. You exchange a few pleasantries, and then your physician asks you why you are here. And you proceed to describe what you’ve been feeling and experiencing. In the back of your mind, you’re hoping your doctor will come up with some medical magic that will quickly address your issues, and in short order solve them. You want to hear your physician say, “Here’s the problem. Do this or take this and everything should be fine.” But instead, your physician begins to address your unhealthy lifestyle, your diet, your exercise routine or complete lack thereof, and your sleep patterns. And you leave the doctor’s office with a set of instructions on changes you need to make in your life, all of them unwanted, some of them difficult. Your physician told you what you needed to hear, not what you wanted him or her to say. But you trust your physician. You know his or her advice is solid. Now it’s up to you. What will you do with it? The place wasn’t a pleasant doctor’s office; it was some sort of Roman room of confinement. A Roman prison perhaps. Nurses and doctors weren’t outside the room; Roman guards were. The purpose for being there was not to improve daily life; but to face a martyr’s death. The words before us this morning here in 2 Timothy are some of the apostle Paul’s final words. He wrote them to his young pastor friend, Timothy, knowing that his death at the hands of the Romans was near. In this situation, he knew there was no time for pious pleasantries. He didn’t waste time talking about the recent weather in Rome or about his own experiences, as dire as they were. Instead, he spent his precious time offering Timothy what Timothy needed to hear. He offered timeless Christian advice. And here it is—timeless Christian advice. It might not be what we want to hear but it certainly is what we need to hear. So, let’s pay attention. I. Do you read and pay attention to everything you should? Everything you want to? I don’t think it’s possible. I stated just the other day that I receive so much information—all of it good information—from our church body, that I can’t keep up with it. I used to read everything. Not any longer. Do you find the same thing happening with the information you receive as well? Paul sent Timothy this information and he wanted to make sure Timothy paid attention to it. Was that really an issue? I mean, Timothy didn’t have a mailbox at his home that got stuffed with junk mail every day. He didn’t have an email account that was flooded with junk hourly. There was no internet to go searching. So, what was the problem? The problem was that, just 30 years after Jesus ascended into heaven, the Christian church on earth was already being flooded with falsehood. In the verses that precede our text, Paul recounts for Timothy how viciously the truth of God had already been twisted. The evil horns of falsehood were goring countless people spiritually. And Paul informed Timothy that it was going to get worse. Brighter days for the church were not ahead. Satan would succeed in spreading his damning lies. And worst of all, they would be spread under the guise of Christianity. So, here’s Paul’s timeless Christian advice, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” That’s quite a mouthful of Christian advice. Just what was Paul saying? First, he tells Timothy that he already knew what God’s timeless information was. It’s the plan of salvation. Timothy knew that plan from infancy. Paul wanted Timothy to know that God’s truth doesn’t evolve. It doesn’t change. But how can we be certain? Because it’s God’s word. Right here is the clearest explanation of God’s word—the Bible. It is not a collection of the religious thoughts of fallible ancient human beings. It’s the timeless word of the eternal God. It’s eternal truth. And it makes sinful human beings wise for salvation. What’s your greatest problem? It’s sin. And I commit them every day. What’s the solution to sin? God’s plan of salvation in Jesus Christ. You know that plan. You trust in Jesus for your forgiveness and eternal life. And that’s the information—the advice—we need to share. Paul tells Timothy that it’s useful for pointing out to others their sins, their need for a Savior, and who that Savior is—Jesus Christ. And with faith in Jesus, this is what Christians do—they live for Christ. Paul tells Timohty and you and me that we have God’s truth. Don’t be fooled by falsehood. There you have it in a nutshell. Here’s some timeless Christian advice. Hold on to God’s word. II. Think about that for a moment. We have God’s timeless truth. It’s here on the pages of his word. It lives in our hearts by faith in Jesus. It’s the solution to every person’s biggest problem. And it’s free! There’s no monthly subscription to receive it! You would think the task of the church—to share the saving, timeless advice of the only true God would be easy, a cakewalk, like handing out free tickets to next Sunday’s Super Bowl. But Paul tells Timothy, Paul tells you and me, “If that’s what you think, be prepared. Be prepared for the opposite.” Here’s Paul’s timeless Christian advice, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” There’s another mouthful of apostolic advice. Let’s unpack it for a moment. Paul tells us to keep our heads. Literally, he wants us to look at what’s happening in our world and in the church properly. Assess things accurately, keeping in mind that the Lord of the Church is still the Lord of the Church. Don’t become overly pessimistic nor think that we can do nothing and still expect everything to be fine. Two, endure hardship. What?! You mean life in the church isn’t going to be easy? Problems are going to occur? Tragedies may happen? Exactly! Expect them and endure them with the strength that only Jesus can provide. And then, get to work. Do the work of an evangelist. What does that mean? Realize that the root of the problem with people is their sinful hearts. They don’t need behavior modification. They need a heart replacement. Only the good news of Jesus as the Savior from sin changes sinful human hearts. So, let’s get busy sharing that news! And leave nothing undone. Fulfill the work of the ministry. That work involves sharing the gospel with every single sinner. That work will not be done until the Lord Jesus returns. So, let’s get at it! Let’s get busy! But don’t think it’s going to be easy, Instead, as Paul says, expect opposition. Here’s some timeless Christian advice. As we live our Christian lives in this world and do the work of the church in this world, expect opposition. It never ceases to amaze me what people will think and believe is true. When I hear what someone thinks about their spiritual life or about their morality or about what they think God thinks, I’m often amazed. And negatively so. For instance, the vast majority of people in our world today think that whatever they think about their spiritual lives is truth. It’s good, It's fine. It works for them. They have no concept of, “Thus says the Lord!” which we have right here in his inspired, inerrant word. Timeless truth. Timeless advice. Advice we always follow, right? Truth we always maintain, right? Until it doesn’t suit us. Until we want to believe and do something else. Until we want to justify thinking, feeling, and speaking just the way we want to, no matter what God’s timeless advice tells us. And we take or leave that advice to our own peril. But in steps Jesus, the One who always followed God’s timeless advice, perfectly. In steps Jesus, who suffered the penalty for all the times we have violated God’s timeless advice. In steps Jesus, who covers us with his forgiveness and clothes us in his holiness. Jesus! Jesus! Always and only Jesus! Now there’s some timeless Christian advice! Eternal truth. Saving truth. Listen to it! Believe it! Hold on to it! Never let it go! Share it! Amen.

What Do You Expect from Jesus?

3rd Sunday after Epiphany, 1/26/25 Luke 4:16-30 What Do You Expect from Jesus? I. The ever-changing desires of your human heart? II. The eternal blessings of God’s saving grace? When it comes to the expectations in our lives, people—including you and me—tend to have a very narrow focus. We expect that our expectations will be met. Let me repeat: We expect that our expectations will be met. Almost as if our expectations are guarantees. When in reality there are three outcomes to our expectations. The obvious one is that our expectations are met. What we wanted to happen, what we worked hard to make happen, what we hoped others would make happen for us turned out exactly. And that’s what we expected. And that leads to another outcome. Our expectations aren’t met. And we were so certain that they would be—as if there were some guarantee—that we’re crushed. We had prevented the option of unmet expectations from entering our hearts and minds. We simply didn’t consider it and therefore made no plans for it. So now what are we going to do? And we invite the response, “Well what did you expect?” But there’s a third outcome. It’s likely one that we don’t often consider or experience. Our expectations have been exceeded. What happened was better than we had hoped for or imagined. We didn’t see this positive outcome occurring and we’re thrilled! In fact, that might even happen when we’re initially disappointed by the outcome until a little time passes and we come to realize that what we thought was a disappointment actually turned out to be a tremendous blessing. If you do a little reminiscing, I’m guessing you can recall expectations in your life that line up under each one of those categories. This morning’s sermon text takes place in town of Nazareth, the town in which Jesus spent his childhood, teen years, and the first and only decade of his adult life. It’s safe to say that Jesus was a known entity in Nazareth. On this day in his life Jesus entered the synagogue of Nazareth and the people recognized him as the son of Joseph. They also surely knew his mother, Mary. Perhaps some of the children from his childhood neighborhood were sitting in that synagogue that day. It wouldn’t be stretching it to assume that everyone there that day knew who Jesus was. They had seen him before. They had heard the recent reports of what he had been doing. And the result was that they all had expectations of him. They combined what they already knew about Jesus with what they had recently heard about Jesus to form their individual expectations of Jesus. And on this day their expectations were largely unmet. And it made them furious. They wanted to kill him. Imagine that! Being so disappointed with Jesus that you want to kill him! That would never occur with you, with me, would it? I hope not, but it still makes me wonder, “What do you expect from Jesus?” Obviously, what these citizens of Nazareth expected was incorrect; dead wrong, even. Could the same be said of your expectations from Jesus? Let’s find out. I. There’s another term that can be used for my expectations. It’s what I want. Think about that for a moment. My desires become my expectations. And it’s been that way for most of my life. When I was a boy, I wanted to be older. Now that I’m older than I want to be, I wish I were younger. What I desired was a realistic expectation. I gained in age. But when I did, I wanted the opposite. My desires change. And so do my expectations. These citizens of Nazareth faced the same affliction, to some extent. The Jews had waited for centuries for the Messiah to appear. They had their expectations, their desires. But when he appeared, they were disappointed. At first, it doesn’t sound that way. Jesus stood up in their synagogue, read a prophecy from Isaiah about the Messiah, sat down and declared, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” And this was their reaction, “All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” But they were conflicted. The asked, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” In other words, they expected the Messiah to appear. When he did, they expected him to speak to them. And Jesus exceeded their expectations. But largely because they only considered him to be the son of Joseph. Jesus knew what was in their hearts. They really wanted to see him do a miracle. They expected to witness a miracle. And that expectation flowed not from a heart of faith in him, but from a heart of unbelief. So, he vocalized their unbelieving expectations, “Do here in your hometown what we heard that you did in Capernaum.” They had heard about the miracles he had performed in Capernaum, a distance of about 15 miles. He had miraculously met the needs of the people there. Now they wanted him to meet their needs here. They had their expectations, which were really their personal wishes. And what they failed to realize is that their wishes were opposed to the will and plan of the Lord, their God. If given the opportunity, they would have directed Jesus to make their lives a heaven on earth. To put a horse in every stable and tender veal on every dinner plate. To heal whatever ailed them. To drive out the hated Romans and restore the glorious Jewish kingdom. That would be their heaven on earth. But it would still be a sinful heaven on earth which would be no heaven at all, just an extension of hell. To satiate the desires of the sinful human heart without completely cleansing and changing the human heart is only jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Hell’s fire. Did you catch the stunning rebuke Jesus fired at them? He told his fellow Nazarenes that they were just like the hardened Jewish unbelievers in the days of the prophets Elijah and Elisha, about 850 years earlier. They rejected the Lord’s word and his grace, so he sent the prophets to Gentile people. You talk about an insult to Jewish people! And the result was that those Gentile people, rather than God’s own Jewish people, appreciated the grace of God and believed his saving word. And that’s all that Jesus wanted his fellow Nazarenes to do. That’s what he wanted them to expect. II. And he made that statement with a miracle, just not one the people were expecting. Listen to these words of our text, “All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way.” He walked right through the crowd. And no one could stop him. It would even seem that no one touched him. A crowd wanted to murder him by throwing him to his death, but Jesus had complete control of the situation and prevented them from doing him any harm. And that’s because his work as the Savior had begun, but it wasn’t done. Jesus had just declared to them that he was the promised Savior. He told them that he was fulfilling Isaiah’s prophecy before their eyes and in their ears on that very day. This was the grace of God shining forth. He was God’s himself speaking God’s word to them. And he proved it by his deeds. The people of Nazareth had already heard about the miracles he had performed in Capernaum. They wanted to see him do one in Nazareth. And see one they did. He used his almighty power to avoid their murderous intent. How’s that for a stunning miracle?! The almighty God used his power to bring their intentions—their expectations—to nothing. And he didn’t stop there. He continued to perform miracles. He even raised the dead. I’m certain these people of Nazareth heard about them. Did they come to believe in him as their Savior? I’m not sure. But the Lord continued to reveal his grace to them. In spite of their rejection of Jesus, the Lord made certain that Jesus continued on his path to Calvary’s cross. That was God plan. That’s what he expected Jesus to do. And that’s what Jesus did. And when he did, he didn’t exclude the citizens of Nazareth from his work. Jesus died for the sins of all people, for the sins of these Nazarenes as well. In doing so, Jesus won eternal blessings for all sinners. Those blessings come to us solely by the grace of God. We don’t deserve them. We don’t earn them. The forgiveness of sins and eternal life in heaven are ours by faith in Jesus, not by anything we can do or pay. So, what do you expect from Jesus? Is it the eternal blessings of God’s grace? If so, then your God doesn’t let you down. He meets those expectations. In fact, he exceeds them. But we struggle with that truth, don’t we? We have expectations about the here and now, what’s right in front of us, and it doesn’t appear that Jesus is meeting them. The needle on our “life happiness meter” seems stuck at less than half. Anxiety creeps up on us and then traps us in its painful grasp. And it seems like we spend more of our time pondering our regrets in life than our successes. And yet we have before us the truth that Jesus meets our expectations? How so? It all depends on what you expect from him. If you expect him to dazzle your life with miracles, like the Nazarenes did, you’re going to be disappointed. If you expect him to make your life endlessly happy here and now, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you focus on the reason that he came to this earth, if you focus on his death on Calvary’s cross for you, if you focus on the astounding miracle of his resurrection from the dead and it’s meaning for your life here on earth now and your life in heaven eternally, you won’t be disappointed. Your expectations are met, realized, even exceeded. For, in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus you have every blessing that God has planned for you. You have life with him. Eternal life. If that’s what you expect from Jesus, you can count on it. You have it. Enjoy it! Amen.

Can You Draw the Epiphany Connections?

Epiphany Sunday, 1/5/25 1 Kings 10:1-9 Can You Draw the Epiphany Connections? I. The search for wisdom II. The response to wisdom History. We all studied history as part of our education. Did you enjoy it? I’m sure a few of you did and perhaps still do. It fascinates you. You’re good at remembering dates and series of events. You enjoy learning about the past because it helps you understand the present. It leads you to see this is how we got where we are today. But even if you didn’t enjoy the study of history, you’re still a student of it. What do I mean? Well, on a daily basis you recall what has happened and you strive to learn from it so that you proceed with your life at this moment in the best possible way. You take note of the mistakes of others and try to avoid them. You take note of the positive outcomes others have experienced by their wise choices and try to implement them in your life. Bottom line: you draw connections from the past to the present. This morning we’re celebrating an historical event—the Epiphany of Our Lord. It occurred very early in the life of Jesus. Magi—Wisemen—traveled from far away at the guidance of a star and came to worship Jesus. Contrary to our decorative manger scenes, the wisemen did not appear at the manger on the night Jesus was born. The star appeared in the east to them on the night Jesus was born, and then they made a journey of perhaps hundreds of miles to come and see and worship the Savior. By this time, Jesus was already months old, perhaps more than a year old. And we draw the line of connection. These men were not Jews. They were Gentiles, just as we are. They came to worship Jesus as their Savior, the Savior of Jews and Gentiles alike. We have come to worship that same Savior. We draw the Epiphany connections. But this morning’s sermon text is not from Matthew 2—the account of the wisemen coming to worship Jesus. It’s from 1 Kings 10. As such, it states nothing about wisemen coming to worship Jesus. It speaks about someone else—the Queen of Sheba. And she’s not coming to meet Jesus; she’s coming to meet King Solomon. So, why are we paying any attention to this account this morning? Because it’s a biblical, historical account. As such, it’s God’s word, and it tells us something important about our Savior and our lives as modern wise men and women who have come to worship the Savior this morning. In other words, there are connections to be made—connections for you to make. Can you do it? Can you draw the Epiphany connections? Would you like some help doing so? Then you’re in the right place at the right time. Let’s do just that. I. Perhaps you have heard of the Queen of Sheba prior to this morning. Then again, maybe many of you have not. Either way, how much do you know about her? Not much? You’re not alone. No one knows much about her. She’s one of those mysterious biblical characters. She appears and then disappears. And biblical historians don’t know much about her at all, but would you like to hear some good guesses? I’m going to assume you do. One guess is that she was the queen of an area known as present-day Yemen in southern Arabia. That guess would align nicely with all the expensive goods she brought with her, since that area was a world-renowned trading center at this time. But I think a better guess is that she was the queen of the area known today as Egypt and Ethiopia. In fact, some historians have linked her directly to the Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut. It’s also even possible that Solomon was married to her sister. In other words, Solomon might have been her brother-in-law. Regardless of who she was, we know this about her: she was highly interested in hearing about Solomon’s wisdom. Solomon. Wisdom. Do you recall that historical connection? Early in Solomon’s reign, the Lord appeared to him and gave him a blank check. He offered to give Solomon whatever he asked for. He could have asked for tremendous wealth or protection from his enemies. But he didn’t. He famously asked for wisdom, and God granted his request. Solomon was known all over the known world for his outstanding wisdom. Enter the Queen of Sheba. Our text states, “When the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon and his relationship to the LORD, she came to test Solomon with hard questions. Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon and talked with him about all that she had on her mind. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was too hard for the king to explain to her.” Solomon blew her away with how smart he was. But that’s not all. Our text states that she had heard about his “relationship to the Lord.” The Jewish faith was no secret. The nations around the Jews made it their business to know which God the Jews worshipped. That was a common point of interest and conversation among ancient people. Who is your god and how do you worship him? Ancient people were all too willing to worship any god as long as it might benefit them. But it seems that the Queen of Sheba’s interest in Solomon’s wisdom was connected to his faith in his God. Why do I say that? Because later in this text we hear her proclaim, “Praise be to the LORD who has delighted in you and placed you on the throne of Israel. Because of the LORD’s eternal love for Israel, he has made you king to maintain justice and righteousness.” That’s some high praise! She refers to the Lord and praises him. But how meaningful are her words? Are they just conventional royal politeness? Perhaps. But I also want you to consider this: The Bible tells us that she experienced the temple Solomon had bult for the Lord, took copious notes on its construction, and returned to Sheba and built a replica of it. Again, you might not be convinced that she did so out of devotion to the only true God, and I’ll give you that. But how about this? When Jesus was on this earth, this is what he said about the Queen of Sheba, “The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here” (Mt. 12:42). Jesus praises her for her spiritual wisdom. She will condemn those who reject saving wisdom. So, here’s your opportunity to draw the Epiphany connection. The Queen of Sheba came to Solomon searching for wisdom, and she found it. So have you. It’s right here on the pages of the Bible. God in his grace has already revealed to you everything you need to know—your Savior Jesus Christ. Don’t let go of that wisdom! Keep searching it! Mine the depths of the saving wisdom of Jesus! That’s what the wise men did. That’s what the Queen of Sheba did. Draw the Epiphany connection! II. I have one more Epiphany connection I’d like you to draw. It’s one that’s rather hidden in our text from 1 Kings. Here it is. “Arriving at Jerusalem with a very great caravan—with camels carrying spices, large quantities of gold, and precious stones—she came to Solomon.” She brought with her some REALLY expensive gifts. The verse right after our text tells us that she gave Solomon 120 talents of gold. Let me help you do the math. That’s 4.5 tons of gold. I did a little calculating. A ton of gold is roughly worth $55 million. She gave Solomon $250 million! Imagine that! Why did she do so? Some might say it was part of a treaty between them. After all, the text does say she gave it to Solomon. Others state it was a gift to Solomon for sharing with her his wisdom. And recall that she expressed her praise to the Lord for Solomon’s wisdom. She also built a replica of the temple in her own country. Finally, recall that Jesus commended her. I’m not sure enough about her motivation to state with certainty why she gave away $250 million. But at the very least, I think we can draw this connection: She was moved by everything she had seen and heard, and that included what she heard about Solomon’s God. Draw a line from her to the wisemen, who appeared and worshipped Jesus nearly 1,000 years later. We know from what Matthew tells us that they came and worshipped Jesus as their Savior. And part of their worship was to present him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. Now draw the Epiphany connection to you. You have saving wisdom. It was given to you by God’s grace through the working of the Holy Spirit. In a world of confusion and changing truths, you know and believe the eternal truth that Jesus is your Savior. God’s Christmas Gift is yours. He presented him to you to live for you, die for you, and rise again. He is yours and you are his. How will you respond? We call that “worship.” Our response to the tremendous grace of our God is our worship. And worship isn’t limited to what we do here in church for an hour on Sunday mornings. Your worship is your Christian life. Draw the Epiphany connection. How will your life be your worship in 2025? First and foremost, recall what the wisemen did. They knew how desperately they needed a Savior because of sin. Draw the Epiphany connection. You and I deserve nothing good from our God because we are poor, miserable sinners. But we have Jesus as our Savior from sin. That Savior is yours by faith in him. That truth stands no matter how wonderful or how awful your life happens to be at the moment. Now draw the Epiphany connection. How will you thank him? How will you serve him? What opportunities do you have to show your Epiphany connection to Jesus? Can you draw the Epiphany connection? You sure can! By God’s grace you can! With God’s power you do! Amen.