Genesis 50:15-21
Amazing Forgiveness
Pastor Dennis Himm
Genesis 50:1-21
Amazing Forgiveness
September 3, 2023
Today's sermon was based on the Gospel reading today. Who do people say the Son of Man is? That question is as applicable today as it was in Matthew’s Gospel. The question remains, “Who is Jesus?” As the disciples rattled off the popular misconceptions, one is struck by how illustrious that list actually was. There were no slouches in that group. But they didn’t even begin to compare with the truth. Many people today give similar answers: they call Jesus a teacher, a philosopher, the founder of a religion, an agent of change. Their answers miss the mark as widely as the answers of the people in the Gospel. Only disciples of Jesus, through the work of the Spirit of God, can confess him as he truly is. Could Peter’s answer be any better? You are the Anointed One, the one set apart by God and prophesied by Scripture, the Promised Seed who would save us from sin. But even more than that, Peter showed that the disciples confessed him to be the Son of the living God. You, Jesus of Nazareth, are the Son of the God who is life and who gives life. This living God is the hope of every sinful man ever since Adam in the face of death named his wife “Life,” because through her womb would come the Seed who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Now here, in the flesh, stood the Son of the living God whose mission was to restore life to this world of death. This truth is the rock on which the Church stands. Because it stands on the rock and not on the pebbles of men who serve it, the Church will stand forever: its message is changeless; the ramifications of its work are eternal.
August 20, 2023
Preacher: Pastor Tim Redfield
Text: 1 Chronicles 29:1-9
Theme: Godly Giving is Contagious
Are you truly satisfied? Do you have enough to be happy? I suppose you might be thinking, “Well, that depends on what you are talking about.” In many situations in life, we convince ourselves that we need a little bit more in order to be happy. Even if a person has thousands of dollars in the bank, they want a little bit more. There is always something else that they can buy. Money doesn’t buy happiness because there is always a desire for more. Think about time. We feel like there are not enough hours in the day to get our tasks done. We want just a little more time. But then we would just find more projects to fill that time. We even wish that we had more energy to get our tasks done. We grab that extra cup of coffee to get a little boost of energy. What about relationships? If we have more friends will we feel more loved?
In so many areas of our life, we feel like we’re just a little bit short. It seems to be our default human condition. We’re never quite satisfied. We want a little bit more. Part of the problem is the focus on ourselves. By looking at the example of David and the Israelites today, we see that a focus on Godly Giving is a path to true satisfaction and happiness. When we give back to God with our time, talents and treasures and when we have a joyful attitude, it can be contagious in the family of God.
Part 1: Watch your heart for the proper attitude
It is interesting to think about the amount of money that David and the Israelites gave in this section. According to the information in my study Bible, it says that between David and the Israelite leaders, they gave 270 metric tons of gold. By the conversion numbers I found on a quick internet search, that came to around 18 billion dollars of gold. That is a huge amount of money. That is 3 times more than the amount of money that was spent to build SoFi Stadium in California for the LA Rams and LA Chargers. While you will find different estimates when you search for the cost of the temple, the point is that it was a large amount of wealth that the people put into that building. They wanted to give to the Lord.
We look at that huge amount of money and think that we could never give that much. We sometimes think that our resources aren’t enough or our wealth is scarce. That is not the way that King David thought. David wanted to give to the work of the Lord. He said, “With all my resources I have provided for the temple of my God… in my devotion to the temple of my God I now give my personal treasures of gold and silver for the temple of my God, over and above everything I have provided for this holy temple” (1 Chronicles 29:2,3). He then urged the people to give. He said, “Now, who is willing to consecrate themselves to the Lord today?” (1 Chronicles 29). The first response to his words is that the other leaders gave willingly to the project.
The temptation the devil puts in front of us is to make us think that we are not able to give. We look at those big gifts and we know that we can’t do something like that. We live in a culture which tries to push us to keep striving for more and more and therefore it is hard to be content with the blessings that we do have. We feel like we never have enough. First we feel like we don’t have enough money. Then we feel like we don’t even have enough time or ability to help with the work of the Lord. Our culture makes us extremely busy. We’re running to this event and that event. We struggle with many things going on. We are searching for one more thing to make us happy. We need more time to work to get the money to make that happen. Then next temptation is that God is getting in the way. “How am I supposed to give him an hour a week for worship when I need that time for work or other important events?”
The thought is that it hurts us to give to the Lord or to others. Generosity seems to be painful. This is when giving loses its joy. Is this thought tempting us? Ask yourself: how hard is it for you to give your money away? If it is hard and painful to give your money away – to anyone – you are living with an attitude of scarcity. We think we need a little bit more. We need that extra ten dollars for this or that. The devil has convinced us that we are a little bit short.
God wants to completely change our mindset. He wants to free us from the attitude of always being short. In our second lesson today it said, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6). We can see this idea in business. Sometimes you have to take a big risk to get a big reward. There are times when an investor backs a company or product without knowing for sure if it will be successful. Then when it becomes a huge success, they get a huge return on their investment. That takes trust on the part of the investor. God says that it is the same with him. He who gives, receives, He who sows generously, will reap generously.
Getting out of that scarcity mentality comes down to trust. Is God good for it? Can I count on him? 2 Corinthians 9:8 said, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” The devil wants us to have the “just a little bit more” disease. In contrast, think about how many times Paul uses the word “all” or “every”. “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” We don’t have a God of “just a little bit more.” We have a God who gives us “all.” God is not a God of scarcity. He is a God of abundance.
God’s abundance starts with grace. When we hear grace, we think about Jesus. God’s grace is his undeserved love for us in Jesus. How much of that love is there? God describes it like a flood – it’s abounding and overflowing. Romans 8:32 says, “Indeed, he who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also graciously give us all these things along with him?” God’s grace helps us to get past the “I need a little more” mentality.
With God, we don’t need a little bit more. We have it all! In chapter 8 of 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that although he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that through his poverty you might become rich.” Everyone who goes through life thinking that they don’t have enough is missing the big picture. Jesus has died for you. Jesus has forgiven you. Jesus saved you. Jesus loves you. You are rich – right now! We have a God of abundance!
Being rich isn’t about a number. You can have all the money in the world, but still be poor. Being rich is an attitude. It is the gift of God’s grace. You have something that the richest people in the world don’t have. You have God’s peace in your heart. Your worth isn’t determined by your bank account. It’s determined by Jesus blood. Your freedom isn’t a result of your constant struggling. It is the result of Jesus’ forgiveness. You are rich! You will leave church today without a single dollar more in your pocket. You’ll leave without a single hour more in your day. But you are not short. You have what you need the most. You are overflowing with the love of God!
Part 2: Through Jesus we give willingly and with joy
Sometimes people talk about different perspectives in life. The old question goes: are you a glass half-empty or glass half-full kind of person? When it comes to our faith, neither option is the right one. Our glass is full! When the scarcity ideas comes into our mind, we think about our God. He is able to make grace overflow to you. Because of him, I am rich. God has blessed us with abundance.
God’s abundance doesn’t stop with us. God has given us these blessings because he has a purpose for us. He wants to make us a blessing to others. The blessings don’t end when they get to us. God’s blessings are not meant to come to you and stop. He’s got a much bigger purpose for you than that! Isn’t that what we want to hear? We want a purpose in our lives. God gives that to us. You exist to be a blessing for others. God wants his abundance to flow through you.
Have you ever heard of “seed money”? It’s money that is used to start something bigger. You might put “seed money” into your child’s college account – and hope it grows. God’s blessings to us are like “seed money.” The money and time and possessions and talents that God has given you are seed money to sow generously. He doesn’t want us to keep our blessings to ourselves any more than a farmer keeps his seeds to himself. He gives us blessings to plant them so that they grow and flourish and bless even more people with God’s abundance.
Think about our attitude. 2 Corinthians 9:7 says, “Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Giving is connected to our heart. It is a decision that reflects faith in Jesus. This is why we don’t tell you a specific amount to give. As you decide, ask yourself: Do I have a God of abundance or scarcity? Do I have a God who leaves me a little short or gives me all?
The people of Israel were encouraged by their leaders. 1 Chronicles 29:9 said, “The people rejoiced at the willing response of their leaders, for they had given freely and wholeheartedly to the Lord.” They could see that their leaders had been blessed by God and were giving back to the Lord. We don’t personally proclaim the amount we give to the Lord but as a group, we can see when we accomplish a big financial goal. We can see that in our budget and in our special projects. It shows that God has blessed us when we accomplish those projects.
Jesus accomplished more than anyone in the history of the world. But even with all those things that Jesus did, look at how he carries himself. He finds time for it all. He is not too busy to help others. He finds time for prayer and meditation and even naps. He had the same 24 hour days that we have. He only lived 33 years. But he had enough time. We are not living in scarcity. God has given us exactly the right amount of time to serve him. God has given us exactly the right amount of money to serve him. God has given us exactly the right amount of talents to serve him. Don’t wish for more. Rejoice in what he has given you.
Conclusion
Even though it might seem like we always need more for ourselves in order to be happy, that is not the best way of thinking. Even though it might feel like we need more money or time or energy or love, we already have an abundance from our God. True happiness is not found in having a little bit more. True happiness is found in the fact that we have been satisfied through Jesus and his cross. We have enough. We don’t need more. This abundance of blessing makes us generous. Our generosity is motivated by the greatest love. Jesus gave us the greatest blessing. His love overflows to us. He has forgiven all of our sins. We are all forgiven. We gather together and praise our Savior. This generosity motivated by God’s grace is contagious among us.
July 23, 2023
6th Sunday after Pentecost It’s God’s Way or the Highway
Isaiah 55:6-11, July 13/16/23, 2023 1) Listen 2) Marvel
Introduction I remember when I was 10 years old walking through a public marketplace in Tijuana, Mexico, on vacation with my family. Vendors were set up right next to one another, all crammed together. The owners of the mini shops weren’t sitting in the back room; they were in front of the store attempting to get the attention of any passer-by. They were loud and pushy. They were even willing to barter with their customers, willing to negotiate the price of their goods. With the help of my mom, I was able to buy a marble elephant at a pretty decent price. You could tell that the owners were desperate to sell their merchandise. Not to enrich American tourists, but to enrich themselves. In the end, they were after our money. For the most part, salespeople try to make a sale in order to make money. They are all about making money. There’s a reason why Americans are skeptical opening their doors to solicitors, a reason why “no soliciting” signs are posted on doors – we are tired of being sold items or programs. We know it’s only going to cost us money in the end. In a way, it’s too bad we’re so skeptical of people coming to our door - ask our elder teams, work is much more challenging.
Context The nation God had chosen wasn’t much interested in spiritual matters. There were other influences, other voices, various distractions that made God’s message through Isaiah secondary in nature to the nation of Judah. Not much has changed today. There are still various distractions and voices that drowned out God’s voice. Or, people in general are so turned off by corporate religion and people trying to sell them the next best thing to slice bread, they are completely disinterested and hardened to what God has to share with them in the Word.
God isn’t trying to sell us anything. He’s not looking for your money or your favors; he’s not looking to take anything from you. If anything he’s trying to sell you on the point that he has something to offer you that will not cost you anything, while at the same time, offer you everything. He actually openly invites all to partake of the riches he offers in verse 6, Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. You can sense the urgency in God’s message. There is only a limited amount of time before we can call on God. And the other truth of the matter is – the unbeliever will not turn to God in unbelief. They do not have the natural ability to turn to God on their own. They need the gospel. In the gospel, God comes near.
Illustration If you’re a fan of board games, you know how important directions are. If you don’t have directions to a game, how are you going to know what to do in the game. Therefore, before the game is played, directions need to be read and shared. Some directions are simple; some are a bit more complicated. I read about the game called “The Campaign for North Africa”, which is considered the most complicated board game ever created. It’s a war game that involves a lot of strategy. The average time to complete the game is 1500 hours, and you need roughly 10 players to play. Why would anyone ever want to play this complicated game, that never seems to end?! For such a complicated game, directions are key. The directions to this game are written in a clear and entertaining way, with numerous notes to make it a worthwhile experience. In the end, b/c of the complexity, the game still received a lukewarm reception. People are lukewarm about this life at times. At times, the days seem long, as well as the weeks and months – like a complicated, never-ending game. Life at times can be overly complicated where the good and the righteous seem to suffer, while the wicked are flourishing. At times it’s hard to make sense of this life with all of it’s problems, with all the problems we have to face. It gets to the point where we are tempted to shake our fist at God and excuse him of poorly ruling this world and our lives.
Cure Hopefully if you ever feel overwhelmed, you don’t blow your top, but you “be still” it says in Psalm 46 and know who God is. In order to know who God is, in order for your nerves to be calmed and your fears to change to confidence, you need God to speak to you in his Word. Listen to what God has to say to you this day in Isaiah 55:8,9, 8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord.9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. God reminds us he is in control; he’s in charge. He created the world; he set the laws of nature in motion; he put the stars in the sky and the animals on the dry ground. Better than that though; God laid out for mankind his gracious plan to save the world from sin, death, and the devil. His son would see to it, by his perfect life and innocent dying and glorious rising, Jesus took care of the business of making us right with God. Thus, as Isaiah says in verse 7, we can freely turn to our God for mercy, for pardon.
Virtue God encourages us to acquire his gracious blessings, and he suggests an unexpected method for securing them: “Listen, listen to me.” It’s not a moment of listening to God tell us what to do, rather God wants us to listen to what he has done. He’s done it all, free of charge. Not only is that clearly communicated in the Bible; we’re told today it’s a unique message have the source being God Almighty. His message is so special no other sacred book or religion talks about a Savior God. Left alone and without God’s Word, no human can imagine that God would send a Savior to die for unworthy sinners. God’s grace remains a mystery to human intelligence and research. Mankind doesn’t possess the natural ability to devise such a message. God can and did. And in this special message of God’s holy Word where he tells us it’s all been done for us, despite us; we’re also told that it works results in people’s lives. God’s Word works.
Sometimes directions to board games take some patience before we completely understand the concept of the game. We may not understand it right away, but we can trust the manufacturers of the game knew what they were doing when they put together the game. God no doubt knows what he is doing. He tells us how to successfully navigate this life all the way to the next life – follow Jesus through the hearing and reading of God’s Word. We may not always understand the ways of the Lord, but we can trust his way is best. We can trust that his Word is true and will do what it says.
Context To help us have a better understanding of how God works through the Word, he explains it in his Word. 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. Sometimes we feel that the rain or snow can be an inconvenience. We forget the rain and snow is more than an insignificant nuisance – the water enriches and beautifies our planet. It plays a major role in our ecosystem, aiding in the growth of crops and plants. In a miraculous and mysterious way, water helps germinate the seed.
God works like a seed – miraculously and mysteriously. We see proof of God’s miracles in the Bible, out in nature, and in our lives. We see proof of how God works mysteriously, in the Bible out in nature, and in our lives. Maybe you’ve even heard the common phrase - “God works in mysterious ways.” The Bible talks this way, yet you are not going to find the passage with the exact phrasing – God works in mysterious ways – because the phrase comes from a poem by William Cowper (who lived 1731–1800), whose first stanza reads, “God moves in a mysterious way / His wonders to perform; / He plants His footsteps in the sea / And rides upon the storm.”
God is mysterious, and there is much we cannot comprehend about him and his ways; his ways are much higher, loftier than ours he tells us. At times he can make his presence felt; and other times he is a bit more discreet. In those moments it’s tempting to want to yell at God for not making his presence known in a more meaningful way; for not being there or helping us the way we want. Job had that issue for a while. Job suffered a whole lot, more than anyone else here knows. In his suffering, he felt justified in questioning God’s ways and criticizing his way of governing. Yet, in the final chapters of Job, we see God peppering Job with many questions which can all be summed up with the one question: does the creature have the right to sit on judgment against the Creator? The Bibles says no; in Romans 9:20,21, “20 But who are you, a human being, to talk back to God? “Shall what is formed say to the one who formed it, ‘Why did you make me like this?’” 21 Does not the potter have the right to make out of the same lump of clay some pottery for special purposes and some for common use?
Conclusion It’s God’s way or the highway. This shouldn’t be a point of contention, but a source of joy and comfort. God’s way is always best. All that God does is good and right because he’s God! He, after all, made it possible for you to live in this great world he created. He makes it possible for you to know his goodness and mercy through Jesus. He makes it possible for you to be comforted with a peace that the world cannot give. It’s all found here, in the Word. The Word that lasts…the grass withers and the flowers fall, kingdoms rise and go, people are born and then die, but the Word of God lasts forever. Thank God for the Word, listen and marvel at it. Amen.
July 9, 2023
Exodus 32:15-29
July 9, 2023
Text:
Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant law in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back. The tablets were the work of God; the writing was the writing of God, engraved on the tablets.
When Joshua heard the noise of the people shouting, he said to Moses, “There is the sound of war in the camp.”
Moses replied:
“It is not the sound of victory,
it is not the sound of defeat;
it is the sound of singing that I hear.”
When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.
He said to Aaron, “What did these people do to you, that you led them into such great sin?”
“Do not be angry, my lord,” Aaron answered. “You know how prone these people are to evil. They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!”
Moses saw that the people were running wild and that Aaron had let them get out of control and so become a laughingstock to their enemies. So he stood at the entrance to the camp and said, “Whoever is for the Lord, come to me.” And all the Levites rallied to him.
Then he said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Each man strap a sword to his side. Go back and forth through the camp from one end to the other, each killing his brother and friend and neighbor.’” The Levites did as Moses commanded, and that day about three thousand of the people died. Then Moses said, “You have been set apart to the Lord today, for you were against your own sons and brothers, and he has blessed you this day.”
You have been set apart to the Lord today
It can be quite hard to take a stand for what is right. The child who is outside during recess agrees with this statement as he sees a group of kids doing something that is not in line with the rules of recess. The right thing to do would be to intervene and explain to his peers that what they are doing is wrong, and they should consider some alternative forms of behavior instead. But he knows this will most likely bring some ridicule and mockery his direction from his classmates, so he simply looks the other way.
The parent whose older child is engaged in some sort of immoral behavior agrees with this statement, too. They recognize that what their adult child is doing is wrong and is hurting his or her relationship with God and also with their family. They recognize that they really should intervene, but they also don’t want to risk losing a relationship with their child. So, it becomes easier to look the other way.
The politician who also happens to be a Christian would agree with this, too. He truly feels that his Christian beliefs and morals could be a benefit to his work as a public servant, but he also knows that expressing such things could hurt his political aspirations. Thus, it becomes easier to remove such things from the conversation or hide such convictions amongst smooth political double-talk.
The college student agrees, too. She knows what the Bible says. She studied it for years. She believes it to be true. She fully trusts that Jesus is her Savior. And then those beliefs are challenged in the classroom or in the dorms or even in athletics. And she would love to take a stand for the truth. She would love to boldly proclaim what the Bible says about such things, but she also knows that it could affect the dreams that she had for her future, along with the goals that she has laid out for herself. So, it becomes easier to not say anything.
The Christian business owner agrees, too. He knows what the Bible clearly states about honesty and integrity, fairness and equality, priorities and humility, and even giving God the recognition and praise. But, it’s a cut-throat business world out there. You have to be shrewd and assertive or you’ll never make it. As a result, his Christian beliefs and morals are pushed to the side when he is at the workplace.
Now, these are meant to be hypothetical situations, but maybe you can relate to them to a certain degree. And I would submit to you that there is one thing at the heart of all of them: idolatry. You might remember that in catechism class you learned about two kinds of idolatry: open idolatry, which would be openly worshiping some sort of false god, and secret idolatry, pushing God out of first place in our hearts and replacing him with some earthly person or thing.
Thinking back to all those situations that we just mentioned, I do believe that secret idolatry is at the heart of each of them. Whether it is desiring to be accepted by your earthly peers, achieving success in earthly business, viewing earthly relationships as the most important thing, or looking to earthly people or things for your hope and confidence, what’s the problem here? Well, you may have noticed that I inserted the word “earthly” into each example. And that’s exactly the problem. We get too wrapped up in the stuff of this life that we quickly push God out of the picture. That’s how we get engrossed in secret idolatry.
For the Israelites, though, it was open idolatry. Three months after leaving Egypt, something that had been 400 years in the making, the children of Israel arrived at Mt. Sinai. In keeping with his promise, God brought his people out of Egypt and to this place, so that they could worship him as the true God and as the one who freed them slavery. The presence of God was so evident there because of the thunder, the lightning, and the thick cloud that covered the peak. Moses went up there to receive the law from God, so that he could share it with the people. There had even been a fellowship meal between God and the elders of the people. Moses lingered on the mountain a bit longer - forty days and forty nights in all.
This was a long time. People don’t like to wait more than an hour for something. Imagine waiting forty days?! So, the people grew impatient, and we all know what happened next. They talked Moses’ brother, Aaron, into building the golden calf, and they worshiped it. Now, that’s the Sunday school or Christlight version of the story, which certainly isn’t wrong, but the Bible is pretty descriptive in how they worshiped this golden calf. So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings. Afterward they sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry (v 6). Things that were supposed to be done for the true God, sacrifices, were offered to a false god. And things that have nothing to do with worship - eating, drinking, and revelry - were also given to this false god. The idea of the Hebrew word for “revelry” has a sexual meaning to it, so it is quite clear that this was not a healthy thing that the people were doing. Sadly, it mimicked the worship forms of the pagan nations that surrounded them.
And this is the scene that Moses walks into when he comes down from Mt. Sinai. You can understand his anger, can’t you? After all God had done to rescue them from slavery in Egypt, they resort to this?! And by making them drink that false god, Moses showed them how false and worthless that calf really was. What kind of god is it that you can melt it down and consume it? What could a god like that possibly do for them?
It’s a lot like the things we mentioned earlier. Things like money, power, success, acceptance, and relationships might be nice. They might look real good on the outside, but they could melt away at any time. Or, sometimes God makes you eat it in an attempt to humble you and reel you back in. And his point is the same: whether it’s a golden calf or something that you set up in your heart as god, it’s still false. It’s still powerless to do anything to save you. And God may very well do something in your life to make that very clear to you.
And that’s where the Levites come in. Such idolatry is not only ugly and sinful, but it also had the potential to ruin the very reason for which God had led them out of Egypt. They were on their way to the Promised Land. To the place where the Savior would be born one day. And idolatry only stands in the way of the work of the Savior. So, this had to be dealt with swiftly and strongly. The Levites grabbed their swords and plunged them into the hearts of those who insisted on following a false god. They put to death their own relatives and friends because they were willing to take a stand for what was right. They would not allow their fellow Israelites to make a mockery of the true God by worshiping this golden calf, and they would make a clear testimony to anyone else who might consider getting involved in this idolatry. Only God is to be worshiped!
That act of shedding blood that day set the Levites apart from their countrymen. They took a stand, and God blessed them for it.
And it’s the shedding of blood that has set us apart to the Lord, too. Thank God that the Levites did take a stand that day because it had eternal benefits for us. The Savior was born in the Promised Land. He did shed his blood there for the sins of all people, and that’s what has set us apart. The holy, precious blood of Jesus has forgiven all of our sins, even our sins of idolatry. Jesus allowed nails and a spear to be plunged into his flesh. He felt the stabbing pain of eternal death. He gave up the lifeblood from his sacred veins to wash each and every one of our sins. Through that sacrifice on the cross, and by faith in what he did, we have been set apart to the Lord, today and every day.
That’s what allows us to do what Paul said to Timothy: flee from all this [from the trappings of the things of this world - those things that so easily become idols in our hearts], and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. Living our faith is not something that we do in secret. It’s something that we do out in the open each and every day. That’s part of what it means to be set apart by the blood of Jesus. We are set apart, made holy, by faith, which means that forgiveness and eternal belong to us, but it also means that we are set apart to live as light in the dark world. We can do so boldly and confidently.
And the reality is that this might cause earthly difficulties for us. It might affect our personal relationships or our status in the world. But that’s all part of what Jesus said: Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. Everything in this world is fleeting, so we don’t put our hope in it. Instead, by faith, we follow Jesus, even as we go about our unique and individual callings in this life.
Which might mean that, at times, we do have to take a stand for what is right. But our weapon is different than the one the Levites used at Mt. Sinai that day. The weapon that we have is quite sharper and more powerful than their swords. We have the sword of the Spirit. We have the Word of God, which is sharper than any double-edged sword, and it plunges right into the heart. As we take a stand for the truth of the gospel in this evil world, we recognize that the gospel will take care of itself. We simply wield it when God gives us the opportunity, and we let God take it from there.
Yes, it can be hard to take a stand for what is right. But, when you do, you stand on the Word of God. And you wield the most powerful weapon there is - that very Word. And you have the promise that God will work through that Word. So, use it! By boldly sharing the Word of God with a family member who is wandering or a coworker who is confused or a friend or classmate who is in the wrong, you have plunged the sword of the Spirit into that person’s heart. And God’s promise is attached to it - whenever his Word is shared, he gets right to work. You have been set apart to the Lord for this. He will empower you, and he will bless you. Amen.
June 25, 2023
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Jesus came to save a world that could not save itself. We saw that in the Gospel for this Sunday. He could heal people of every disease and every sickness- something that no doctor on earth can do. He saw the people coming toward him and was filled with compassion because he saw that the people were troubled and downcast- like sheep without a shepherd- people incapable of finding their way to God. Then, he sent out his disciples into the world to bring people to God. But these men would show themselves as slow to learn and to be men of “little faith.” They would even run away from Jesus in fear when he was arrested, and Peter would deny ever knowing Jesus. Then, later, Jesus would call an enemy of the gospel and Christianity, a man named Saul, to become an apostle and one of the greatest Christian missionaries of all time and the man who wrote the epistle to the Romans.
Do you see what Jesus teaches us? He helps the helpless. He came to earth to die for his enemies. He calls sinners to bring the ungodly to God. It is this truth of Jesus Christ that the apostle Paul teaches us as well in our lesson for today from Romans 5, and by the grace of God we will see the ancient and enduring Gospel message that Jesus came to die for the ungodly.
Our lesson begins with these words: For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. This is the Gospel- Jesus came to die for sinners, and you qualify. Throughout this lesson, do you see the way that the Bible describes us in our natural, sinful condition? It uses the words “helpless, ungodly, sinners, and enemies.” We come into this world spiritually helpless- not able to do anything to change our own sinful condition. We are ungodly- not on God’s side but separated from him. We come into the world as sinners- guilty of not keeping the law of God and incapable of doing so. In our sinful condition, we are also enemies of God. Romans 8:7 tells us “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.”
This is how God sees our sinful condition. This is what the entire world is seen as apart from Christ. This is the evil that still lives in our sinful nature. But maybe you think this is a little harsh, or you’ve heard this truth so much that you lose track of what this means: We are not pretty good people who have some flaws. Apart from the forgiveness of Christ, we are ungodly, helpless, sinners and enemies of God. Just imagine for a minute if we had a screen here and your ten worst and most shameful actions were portrayed on the screen for everyone to see. Or imagine that all our words were recorded. At a summer job in college, a man with whom I was working was using a lot of foul language, and then he asked me what I was going to school to study. I said, “I’m studying to be a pastor.” He was shocked and said, “Why didn’t you tell me that! I would have cleaned up my language!” As if our words could somehow escape the notice of an all-knowing God. Or worst of all, imagine if all your thoughts were displayed above your head like a thought bubble in a cartoon book. What would people think of you? What harm would you do to others? What would happen to your relationships with your family and friends- with people that you even like! Hebrews tells us that the word of God judges the “thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
When the word of God calls us helpless, sinful, ungodly, and hostile to Him, he is not talking symbolically. This is reality. So, we need to hammer this truth home that Christ died for, or in place of the ungodly, in place of us. We need to hear this because it is so different from what we would expect. Listen to what Paul says, “It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. We love hearing stories from history about someone giving up their life for others. There are heroic stories of men jumping on grenades to save their fellow soldiers. There are parents or grandparents that have or would be willing to die for their children or grandchildren. We perhaps would die for someone that we loved or that we considered to be good. It’s rare. It’s not common, but we’ve heard stories about it, and we could imagine it.
But the love of God is different. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Could you imagine President Putin of Russia giving up his life for President Zelensky of Ukraine? No way! God’s own love is different than ours. Christ died for the guilty. Christ died for his enemies. Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, go to the cross of Calvary. Look at the darkness of that day. Hear the taunts of those crucifying Jesus. See the horror of the son of God gasping for breath, bleeding and finally dead on the cross. Hear Jesus crying out, “Father forgive them” or “My God, My God why have you forsaken me?” Do you think that he suffered this for pretty good people who just have a couple minor flaws? No! He died for sinners. He died for his enemies. He died for the helpless! He died for the ungodly. He died for you! He took all your wicked actions, evil words and disgraceful thoughts and paid for them with his death. You are forgiven. Your sin is gone in Jesus. This is the love of God for you.
Since Jesus died for the ungodly, since he died for us, what does this mean? Listen to what Paul says: 9 Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11 And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation. Did you hear the way Paul describes the blessings that we have through Jesus’ death? We are justified, saved, and reconciled. We are justified, declared not guilty. We can give up all the games of self-justification that we play to try to give meaning to our lives, our decisions or what we have done. We can stop the very tempting game of trying to get others to declare us righteous and innocent. The justification that matters and that will endure isn’t the justification that happens by our decisions or works, it’s the declaration of “not guilty” of justification that God won for us on the cross. It’s the justification that he has delivered to us in our baptism and through His Word.
Because we are justified, we are saved! Saved from what? God’s wrath! It’s not popular to talk about God’s wrath. But the fact is “being saved” means nothing if we don’t understand the wrath of God. God is immensely angry over sin and the way that people disrespect him by disobeying his law. God has every right to punish everyone with eternal punishment. This is our biggest issue. The biggest issue is not financial uncertainty in our lives, a health crisis, the threat of war or any other earthly calamity- as difficult as these can be. The biggest issue is that the wrath of God should still be hanging over every one of us. The biggest issue is that there is a hell with eternal suffering for those who do not believe in Christ. This is what Jesus has saved us from. On the cross, God turned away the wrath of God, so that all who believe in him will not only be saved from hell but be saved to eternal life in paradise with God forever. We are saved. Jesus keeps us in His salvation as he continues to serve us with his word, as he continues to bring us into his family in baptism and as he gives us his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper.
Finally, we are reconciled to God. In the death of Jesus Christ, God has restored our broken relationship with him. God’s anger against sin has been lifted. Usually, the one who commits the offense is responsible for restoring a relationship. But God, the offended, took on the work of bringing us to himself. So, we can call God our Father. Through faith, we are his children. We can go through our lives under the guidance, protection, and honor of having God as our Father, and Jesus as our Savior and brother.
This is certain. Since Jesus has died for us- the ungodly- this justification, this reconciliation are ours. As Paul says in verse 11, we can rejoice confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Dear Christian friend, this is good news: Jesus died for the ungodly. He helps the helpless. He came for sinners. You qualify. What a message that saves us! What good news we get to proclaim to others! There is no one for whom the son of God has not died- He died for sinners! He died for you! Through the proclaiming of the gospel, he turns enemies into his friends. This confidence is from God’s Word for us, not from our work for God. So, with the disciples, and with the sick who were healed by Jesus and with the apostle Paul, let us approach life in this world, in God’s kingdom as we live in this confidence of Jesus Christ, forgiven and loved by God. Amen.
June 18, 2023
Matthew 9:9-13 sermon
There is income tax, social security tax, Medicare tax that show up on your W2. But that’s not all there is. There’s sales tax, real estate tax, personal property tax, capital gains tax, excise tax, inheritance taxes, federal taxes, state taxes, local taxes. All of that adds up to a whole lot of money. It’s also a lot to keep track of. At the federal level alone, the IRS has some 80,000 full time employees. And then there are all the people who work in the private sector just to help businesses and individuals navigate the complexity of the tax code. And I’ll bet that’s a whole lot more than 80,000.
Does this topic stir up any emotion in you? If it does, I’m guessing it’s not appreciation or excitement. If anything, its probably more like frustration or resentment. -Especially if you aren’t a fan of how the government always manages those dollars. But count your blessings. At least we get a voice in electing the representatives who tax us. In first century Palestine in Jesus day, the people didn’t have a voice like that. Back then it would be more like if Communist China took over North America and then set up a puppet government of their choosing and then made us pay for it. In other words, they take our money in order to fund their ability to keep us under their thumb. That was the political situation between Rome and Palestine in Jesus’ day. And the Romans needed someone to administer all of this. Well, who better to do it than some of the Israelite’s own people? If you put a Jewish face on the taxation, it might not be so stark of a reminder that their dollars were going to fund their oppressors. So what do think Jesus’ disciples thought about the tax collector Matthew? A Traitor? A money-grubber?
There is a lot that we don’t know about taxation in the ancient world, but the bible tells this much, -that Matthew’s tax collecting booth was located in the town of Capernaum along the shores of the sea of Galilee. So it stands to reason that his tax collecting had to do with services and goods that were transported and exchanged along the Sea of Galilee. Maybe he collects a fee every time a fisherman takes his boat out. Or maybe he counted the fish every time they came in off the lake and took a monetary cut equivalent to the price of the fish. Whether or not Matthew was one of those who took a little bit extra to line his pockets at his countrymen’s expense, Scripture doesn’t say, but it would have been unsurprising. Tax collectors were known not only as traitors, but it was apparently common for them to cheat their countrymen.
And think about this: where Matthew set up shop was the same town that served as the home base for Jesus and his disciples. And on the shores of the lake that provided the income for at least a third of Jesus’ disciples who were fisherman, they weren’t strangers to Matthew. So what do you think they thought of him? Maybe, “this is the guy who is working hand in hand with our oppressors, -and he’s profiting off our oppression!”
So how about looking at it from the flip side. What do you think Matthew thought of Jesus and his disciples? Or what do you think Matthew expected when he saw Jesus and his disciples walking toward his tax collector booth? Maybe, “here’s another religious leader coming to chew me out for everything that I’m doing wrong.” But whatever Matthew expected, Jesus didn’t come up to him to berate him. Jesus came to him to change him. “Follow me,” Jesus said. And this isn’t “follow” in the sense of walking behind someone. This is “follow” in the sense of leaving your life behind and learning from someone else what real life really is.
So this encounter gives us a stunning picture of the kind of savior Jesus is. When Jesus casts his eyes out on the world, he doesn’t filter out the no-goods and undeserving and just set his eyes on the people who already at least mostly have their act together. If that were what Jesus did, that would be like a doctor who only does wellness checkups. Jesus isn’t like that kind of doctor. Jesus is like the trauma surgeon. The one that goes after the worst patients, who other doctors have given up on and moved on from. After all, what did Jesus say? “It’s not the healthy who need a doctor but the sick.” So Jesus went to the tax collector’s booth. And there was more than one tax collector at Matthew’s house so Jesus probably went to more than one booth. And he went to the other moral outcasts, people who everyone else figured were too lost to be found.
And so I’ll ask you just to think for a moment. Where do you think Jesus would go today to seek the sick? You know that there are as many right answers as there are people in the world. And it’s a useful exercise to look at people through Jesus’ eyes. But I wonder if any of you thought about yourselves. What’s your personal self-assessment spiritually speaking? Healthy or sick?
Now imagine looking out your front window and you see Jesus walking up your driveway. Just like Matthew saw him walking up to his tax collector booth. Do you suppose that “here he comes to tell me everything that I’m doing wrong,” or “I better get my act together before he gets to the front door.” Jesus doesn’t come to you for a wellness check up. It’s not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. And its not like the sicker you are the less interested Jesus is in you. No, the sicker you are, the more you need him.
And Jesus’ call to Matthew is the same as his call to you: “Follow me.” Not just in the sense of walking behind, but “follow me, and discover anew what real life really is, and that in me you really have it.” And even if every other person in the world were to react to Jesus’ calling you the same way that the Pharisees reacted to Jesus calling Matthew, (something along the lines of “why in the world would Jesus want someone like that?) that wouldn’t change Jesus’ mind. His call still goes out to you: “follow me. Follow me and discover what real life is like and that in me, you really have it.” And when you follow him, you know where he takes you don’t you? The same place where he took Matthew: to his cross. That’s where he shows you your life in his death. That your identity and your value to God and your hope in life and in death doesn’t come from how well you are able to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. That would be like a trauma surgeon taking a gun-shot victim and wheeling him into the operating room and then just standing there doing nothing because he thinks that the patient should be able to take care of himself. That’s not what surgeons do. They do surgery. They save. That’s what Jesus does. He took the record of your sin, -the record of everything that separates you from God and from life, -he took it all and put it on his own shoulders and put it into his own body and put his own name on it. And as surely as that killed him, its all gone. -Everything that separates you from God and from life is gone. That means God will never leave you. That means that you have a life that nothing can take away. That means you have purpose. Not mere existence, whiling away the time while you wait for Jesus to come again. That would be like a gunshot victim recovering from his surgery and then just staying in his hospital bed.
Look at what it was for Matthew. For Mathew this new life resulted in this huge transformation that everyone could see. He walked away from his tax collector booth and became one of Jesus 12 apostles. God used him to write the first book of the New Testament. These words about Matthew were written by Matthew. He was telling us what God had done for him.
God has a purpose for you too. It may not be as high-profile as apostleship. People might not be still talking about you 2,000 years from now. But lower profile does not mean lower value in the eyes of your God who died for you. If you are at home alone and you pray for someone who needs it, no one else may ever know about that besides you and God. But that prayer is heard and answered by the God who can move mountains. If you use your phone as a phone and call up someone who needs it, it probably won’t make the evening news: “Christian person calls another and says something nice.” But still that person will hear the love of God in the sound of your voice.
Let’s wrap up with this: the calling Matthew is recorded in three of the four gospels. And each one of those records the event in its own words. They aren’t photocopies of each other. But there is something at the beginning of each of them that is striking. They all tell us that Jesus saw Matthew. The story doesn’t being with Mathew looking up and seeing Jesus. Jesus saw Matthew. And when Jesus walked up to that tax collector’s booth, he knew what he was getting himself into. He didn’t have any illusions about Matthew’s character. But that didn’t stop Jesus. It didn’t keep Jesus away from him. In fact, it’s the reason Jesus went to him. Because Matthew was sick. And Jesus was a doctor. And let’s put aside the metaphor. Matthew was a sinner. And Jesus was his savior. Jesus went to Matthew because Matthew needed him. Desperately.
If you ever feel that you are too messed up ever to be made right again, then remember how the account starts every time it is recorded. Jesus saw Matthew. There wasn’t anything about Matthew that Jesus didn’t know. And there’s nothing about you that Jesus doesn’t know either. He knows what he’s getting himself into. That’s why he calls you. That’s why he made sure that you were baptized. Because you were sick and needed a doctor. A sinner that Jesus saves. Let these words my soul relieve, Jesus sinners does receive.
June 11, 2023
John Piper is a Christian pastor and author of a book called “God Is the Gospel,” and in it challenges Christians with this question: “If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Christ was not there?”
Of course there is no version of heaven without Christ, and heaven is perfect in every way only because he is there. And on the day we arrive we’ll have Jesus and everything else he has promised us. But strictly speaking, this question doesn’t have anything to do with heaven. It’s a question about here and now-where our hearts are. It’s a question of what we really want.
In the gospel today, the rich young man asked a salvation question, but at the heart of it, it’s really about here and now. It’s a matter of life and death, and he clearly wanted life. He wanted salvation. He wanted to know God. He was a man I think any of us would call “good.” He was involved in his church - the gospel of Luke calls him a ruler, that is, the man in charge of the affairs of his local synagogue, meaning he had the respect and trust of his community. Look at how he presented himself to Jesus, running to him, throwing himself down on the ground in front of him, addressing him as “good teacher.” He was uncommonly humble and respectful. Ever since his childhood he had worked to keep the law, to please God, and it seems he had a conscience sensitive enough to recognize that none of that was enough. He asked, “What must I do to inherit eternal life?”
The exact question we dream about hearing from our unbelieving friends. Have you considered how you would answer? Maybe your mind goes to the jailer at Philippi from Acts 16. Remember, a miraculous earthquake had flung open all the doors of the prison where Paul and Silas were being held. When the jailer saw, he assumed all the prisoners had fled. Terrified of the consequences, he was about to kill himself, but Paul cried out, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!” The jailer ran in, fell to the ground trembling and asked, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas gave this simple and beautiful answer: “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.”
Why didn’t Jesus say that? When the actual Redeemer of mankind was asked nearly the same question, “What must I do to inherit eternal life,” he pointed to the law. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t murder. Don’t steal. Don’t lie. Don’t cheat. Honor your parents. The answer was different, because the person asking the question was different. This man Jesus was talking to wasn’t afraid of God; he was confident. He expected God to be pleased with him and his efforts. He said, “All these I have kept since I was a boy.” Then, so that we wouldn’t think that Jesus would inflict unnecessary pain, we get a glimpse of Jesus’ heart. Mark wrote: “Jesus looked at him and loved him.”
Jesus’ love is what frames this whole account for us. Jesus’ overwhelming, unrelenting love for sinners is why he stopped to talk about the law with a man who had made the law his whole life. His love is why he isn’t content to be second place in our hearts, because love wants the best for the ones you love. And the best thing, the greatest good in the universe, is God. And his desire to bring us to God is behind every word, every action. His humble birth, his life of perfect obedience, (he really did keep all those laws from the time he was a boy). In love he put his disciples within earshot of this conversation with a rich young man, so they would learn this lesson too, that the law cannot save us. The only way for us to have the greatest good, to have God, is for Jesus to be good for us and for Jesus to die for us. And so he went on to Jerusalem, to a cross, and offered up his life to satisfy God’s wrath.
Everything he does is love. That’s how we know that what comes next is not cruelty, but kindness. Even though he knew it would make the man walk away, Jesus added one more law. Not one of the Ten Commandments, and not one applied universally to all of his disciples. This one was specifically for this man. Jesus told him to give it all away—everything he had—and then to follow. And it’s like this man understood the law for the first time in his life. He was appalled at the thought of it, and he walked away from Jesus, because he liked being rich. What Jesus asked seemed like too much.
Jesus placed a burden on his heart that was so heavy that he could no longer deny that an idol lived there, and when he had to choose between money and God, he chose money. Up to this point his idolatry had been a secret sin, hidden from everyone, maybe even to himself. But hidden idols are seen clearly by our God. We read in Hebrews 4: “no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
God could see his idolatry, but the disciples couldn’t. They watched all this happen, and if they were surprised that someone would refuse such a gracious invitation from the Messiah himself, the text doesn’t record it. They were surprised, but it was at Jesus. After the man left, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God.” That’s what surprised them, that this “good” man wasn’t good enough. And if he’s not good enough, what hope is there for anyone? They shouldn’t have been surprised. Jesus had said it from the beginning, “No one is good—except God alone.”
Our consciences tell us the same thing when we try to answer this question: Could we be satisfied with heaven if Christ was not there? Now, heaven, that’s off in the distance. That’s the future. This is a question that we have to answer here and now. Let me put it a different way: Could we be satisfied with earth, with this life, if Christ was not here? When we put it like that as a simple choice between, on the one hand, the Creator of all things, the Redeemer of mankind, along with all his blessings and promises, and on the other hand...stuff—it’s not a hard decision to make. But this isn’t a rhetorical question. We have to make that choice every day, every minute, and how we choose to spend our time, our energy, our money—each decision comes from a heart that is either satisfied with Christ and his promises, or is seeking satisfaction somewhere else.
And we come to the same terrifying realization that the jailer at Philippi did, and the same the disciples did: what God demands is impossible. He tells us to be good. And not in the way the rich man initially applied it to Jesus, but in the sense that Jesus applied it to God. He tells us to be perfect, to be as good as God. We ask with the disciples, “Who then can be saved?” Jesus’ answer: “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
It has been said that in God are oceans of love, and not a drop of it comes to us apart from the person of Jesus Christ. The young man thought he could go around Jesus, to go directly to God, and yet, here we see Jesus, with oceans of love flowing through him, directed toward this young man, toward his disciples, and even toward us. He looked at us, he loved us, and did what was impossible. He carried out God’s plan for salvation, every step something impossible for man. He took on our humanity so he could be good in our place by keeping every law, then he made satisfaction for God’s wrath by willingly offering up his life as the payment for our sin. He made us righteous. He made us good to God. Then, he rose from the dead, impossible for man, but possible for God. And now for us it’s not just possible, it’s certain. We will rise, and we will inherit the kingdom of God, and live there with him forever.
This is his invitation: to have all of the blessings that come from knowing him. This is his call. It’s not a call to poverty; it’s a call to discipleship. To know him, to follow him, to always want more and more of him, and never to be satisfied with anything less than all of him, even if it means giving up those things that compete for our devotion and our attention. And as Christ-followers, we can even do that joyfully, because he has given us true satisfaction, peace with God, forgiveness of sins, true righteousness, and the promise of eternal treasure in heaven. All this because, though we are law-breakers, we have a Savior who placed our salvation over his own good and sacrificed everything to forgive and save us. Jesus wasn’t satisfied with heaven without you and me there. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
June 4, 2023
CW-A Epistle Lesson - Holy Trinity - - K B Kuschel
II Cor 13:11-14
(11) Finally, brothers, goodby. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you. {12} Greet one another with a holy kiss. {13} All the saints send their greetings. {14} May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
Draw a triangle. Draw the intersecting circles. Triune/ Trinity is not in the Bible. Shorthand for
Today we want to discuss. Our Triune God’s Gifts to Us.
IA1 {14}May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. What is grace? Grace is God’s love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved. It is His desire to forgive sinners who deserve to be punished.
2 Grace is a characteristic of God. What God? The Triune God. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit God who is still only one God. Remember the whole idea of triune doesn’t fit our heads. According to mathematics how many is three? Three. How many is one? One. Three isn’t what? One. One is not what? Three. But the Bible teaches us that our One God has this Father, Son, Holy Spirit threeness about Him.
B1 Even though grace is a characteristic of the Father, Son, Holy Spirit God, in the words before us today Paul writes: “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.” Did God the Son love sinners who don’t deserve to be loved? Did God the Son desire to forgive sinners who deserve to be punished? Look at His life. He came into the world in order to take on Himself our humanity so He could be our Savior. What was one of the earliest recorded things that some humans did because He had come into our world? Tried to kill Him. Did they deserve to have Jesus take on Himself humanity among them? No. Did they deserve to be punished? Yes. How do people respond today to the concept that Jesus of Nazareth was God and Man in One person? They reject it. Do humans today deserve to have had God the Son take on himself our humanity in order to be our Savior? No. Why did God the Son take on Himself our humanity? Because of his grace - His love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved.
2 God the Son, who knew God’s truth perfectly, attempted to give God’s truth to people over the course of three years. How did the majority of people respond? They rejected him. How did the religious leaders respond? Accused Him of blasphemy. What happened on several occasions when He taught in certain towns and regions? People asked Him to leave. How do people today respond to the truth which Jesus taught? They don’t want to bother with it. Did/do humans deserve to have God the Son teach them God’s truth? No. Why did/does God the Son continue to teach God’s truth? Because of His grace - His love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved.
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3 God the Son lived a perfectly holy life as the God-Man so that He could give to us His holiness so that we could be acceptable to God. How did the people respond? They wanted a powerful kinglike Messiah, not a humble servant who lived to benefit others. How do people respond to Jesus’ lifestyle today? They continue to live their selfish, sinful lifestyles instead of striving to mimic His lifestyle. Do humans deserve to have God the Son continue to live a holy life among them? No. Why did He do so? Because of His grace - His love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved.
4 God the Son took on Himself the punishment of physical death and separation from God which we deserve because of our sins to rescue us from that punishment. How did the crowds respond? They laughed at Him for claiming to be God. They called on Him to come down from the cross. How do people today respond to the idea that somebody 2,000 years ago could do something to remove our guilt? They laugh at it. Did they deserve to have had Jesus die for them? No. Why did He do so? Because of His grace - His love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved.
C1 How does Paul urge us to respond to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ? {11}“Aim for perfection.” What does that mean? Try to do everything God tells us to do. Try to live the holiness Jesus has given you. Why? Not to earn eternal life by our perfection. We already have perfection & eternal life because of Jesus.
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2 Why? Why aim for perfection? Because of the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Trying to do what God tells us to do is the only way we have to thank God the Son for loving us even though we don’t deserve to be loved. Trying to do what God tells us to do is the only way we have to thank God the Son for forgiving us even though we deserve to be punished.
IIA1 {14}May the love of God be with you all. What is love? Sexual attraction? You make me feel good when you are around? The Bible defines love as the intent to live one’s life for the benefit of someone else.
2 What was grace? God’s love for sinners who don’t deserve to be loved. So what is the difference between grace and love? I suppose we would have to say His grace is a subcategory of His love. God’s purpose is to benefit His human creatures. That is God’s love.
B1 Love is a characteristic of God. What God? The Triune God. The Father, Son, Holy Spirit God who is still only one God. When you are reading your Bibles and you run across the term God, who is the Bible referring to? All three persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Unless it clearly states that the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit is the one under discussion.
2 In the verse under discussion right now, the term God is probably not referring to all three persons. Here it is probably referring to the Father. Why can I say that? Because the other two persons of the Triune God are clearly
4
mentioned. Sandwiched right between a reference to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit the term God here most likely is referring to the Father.
3 So, let’s assume we are talking about the love of the Father. In what areas of life does the Father benefit us other than those areas of life in which the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is primary? The Bible says the Father brings us into physical existence, provides us with what we need, protects us, and takes care of us in numerous other ways.
C1 How does Paul urge us to respond to the love of God? {11}“Live in peace.” How can we live in peace? “The God of love and peace will be with you.” When the Lord has led us to understand and believe that He exists to benefit us, that His love surrounds us, then we can be content in every circumstance of life. We won’t have to be using and abusing other people in order to achieve contentment. God’s love brings peace to our lives.
2 When the Lord has led us to understand and believe that He exists to benefit us, that His love surrounds us, then we can be confident. We are not facing tomorrow alone. The all-powerful One who made us is using that same power to benefit us. We won’t have to be using and abusing other people in order to achieve security. God’s love brings peace to our lives.
3 When the Lord has led us to understand and believe that He exists to benefit us, that His love surrounds us, then we can be comfortable communicating with Him, asking Him to bless us and thanking Him for blessing us. We won’t have to be overwhelmed with anxiety about knowing the right people and dealing correctly with the right people . God’s love brings peace to our lives.
IIIA1 {14}May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Fellowship. What is fellowship? Fellowship is being fellows, friends, good buddies. When you hang out with somebody you are expressing fellowship.
2 May the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you. May the Holy Spirit hang out in your life. May the Holy Spirit be present in your life. May the Holy Spirit be a part of your life. May the Holy Spirit become your good friend. May you find it comfortable to hang around with the Holy Spirit.
B1 What happens when the Holy Spirit hangs out in a person’s life? Since the Holy Spirit’s purpose is to bring people to faith in Jesus, when the Holy Spirit hangs out in a person’s life, the person is brought to faith in Jesus. When the Holy Spirit hangs out in a believer’s life through the Bible and the Lord’s Supper, He strengthens faith, so that the attacks of the devil, the unbelievers and our own human reason don’t drive a wedge between ourselves and Jesus.
2 When the Holy Spirit hangs out in a person’s life through Word and Lord’s Supper, He works in the person the desire to live a godly life. He gives us direction on how to live our lives in accord with God’s will. He strengthens our resolve so we are not taken in by the temptations of the devil, the unbelievers, and our own selfishness.
C1 How are we to respond to what the Holy Spirit does in our lives when He hangs out in our lives? Paul writes: {12} “Greet one another with a holy kiss.” Acknowledge that you are united with each other. Express your connection with each other. Indicate to each other that you are buddies, that you like to hang around with each other, that you like to be good friends with each other, that you like to spend time with each other.
2 How are we to respond to what the Holy Spirit does in our lives when He hangs out in our lives? Paul writes: {11}“Be of one mind.” Have a united focus. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus together. Study the Word together. Receive the Lord’s Supper together. Why? To express the oneness in faith we have. To say publicly to each other - we believe Jesus is our Savior. We believe the Scripture is true. And to strengthen the oneness that we have. To help each other focus on the importance of the spiritual side of our lives.
3 How are we to respond to what the Holy Spirit does in our lives when He hangs out in our lives? Paul writes: {11}“Live in peace.” Spiritual oneness can be destroyed by constant battling. Admit your sins to each other when you have wronged, slighted, or left each other out of your lives. Forgive each other when you have been wronged, slighted or left out of each other’s lives. Jesus has forgiven us. We forgive. That’s the only way to live at peace. That’s the only way to maintain spiritual oneness.
4 How are we to respond to what the Holy Spirit does in our lives when He hangs out in our lives? Paul writes: {13}“All the saints send their greetings.” If we are really good buddies, if we truly enjoy each other’s presence, then we will say so.
Conc. We cannot understand the concept of the Trinity. But His presence can be sensed by the gifts He gives. Grace, love, and fellowship.
May 28, 2023
John 16:5–11
5 “But now I am going away to him who sent me, and not one of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Yet because I have told you these things, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment: 9 about sin, because they do not believe in me; 10 about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me; 11 about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.
Pentecost is a Gift that Keeps on Giving
Today is dedicated to the Holy Spirit. He is the One who opens our eyes to see Jesus through the eyes of faith. If you think about it, it takes faith to believe in the Holy Spirit too. We can’t see Him. Throughout history he has appeared in the feathers of a dove and in fire and in water, but never apart from these physical elements.
The Bible doesn’t talk about Him as much, and He doesn’t want the attention in some senses. Jesus compared the work of the Spirit to the blowing of the wind. You can see what it does, but you can’t actually see the wind. So it is with the Holy Spirit. Perhaps we could think of Him as the unsung hero of the Trinity. Without Him we couldn’t have faith and we wouldn’t be Christians. He is integral to our lives as Christians.
Jesus promised the disciples that He would send the Holy Spirit, even though they had never seen Him, or much less heard from Him directly either at this point. The disciples would go from a face to face experience with God in the flesh to a behind the scenes verbal experience with God. If we had a choice, our sinful nature would probably say, “No thanks!” We’d prefer the personal relationship with someone who walks with us and eats with us and speaks on our behalf. We are physical creatures. We are visual creatures.
But some might argue that the Holy Spirit is even more visual than seeing Jesus face to face. They think that the Holy Spirit is measured by the excitement in the air, the volume of the song, the emotion of the preacher, or the ability to speak in some strange language that no one can understand.
What about Pentecost? The baptism was an amazing thing for those who were there, with a tongue of fire floating through the air and touching on their heads. There was a sound of wind, but no source from where it came and no trees moving or hair blowing. Those were visual and audible signs of the Holy Spirit. But after that, it was all a matter of speaking for them and for those who came. They spoke in INTELLIGIBLE human languages. They weren’t rolling around in the streets and being healed with fainting spells.
In today’s text, Jesus doesn’t point us to anything like speaking in foreign languages or tongues of fire in His prophecy. In John 14, just prior to this, Jesus said that the Holy Spirit would be the great REMINDER. “All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” This is how we received the entire Bible. The Holy Spirit is the One who would verbally inspire the Word of God. 2 Peter 1:20–21 says, “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” So also in chapter 16, our text for today, Jesus only points us to the Holy Spirit as the COUNSELOR, who comes by our side, as One who SAYS what we need to hear and reveals things we could never know.
The disciples were saddened by Jesus’ talk of departure, so saddened that they didn’t even want to talk about it. They ignored it at all cost. It was a tactic that my wife and I used in Mexico. We had to sit through a presentation, so we decided beforehand, “Don’t ask ANY questions.” That way the presentation would get over quicker and we could get back to the beach. It worked! But Jesus didn’t want this conversation to die. He said, Nevertheless, I am telling you the truth: It is good for you that I go away. For if I do not go away, the Counselor will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. There’s a progression here, isn’t there. Jesus has to go for Him to come. It’s the only way He CAN come, if Jesus goes.
Why is that? It wasn’t a matter of two people not being able to be at the same place at the same time. But if Jesus didn’t go, then the Holy Spirit wouldn’t have had anything to talk about. What good would the flames or the wind be but a sideshow magic act if they had no MESSAGE to go with it. If Jesus hadn’t died, their sins wouldn’t have been paid for. If Jesus hadn’t risen, there would be no resurrection from the dead. What good would it be for us to know that Jesus walked on water or healed the sick or raised the dead if we have NO forgiveness and no HOPE for ourselves? Jesus HAD TO go, for the Holy Spirit to come, right?
When he comes, he will convict the world about sin, about righteousness, and about judgment. First of all, we might note that the Holy Spirit doesn’t come with “opinions” or “thoughts” or “suggestions.” He comes to CONVICT. God’s Word is truth, and there’s no arguing your way out of it, especially on Judgment Day. Either you’re on the side of truth or you’re not. You can’t be wishy washy when it comes to these truths. They aren’t generic types of platitudes that mean basically nothing.
The Holy Spirit was sent to convict about sin, because they do not believe in me. This is an amazing thing if you think about it. What’s the one main sin that the Holy Spirit is being sent to convict people of? It’s not murder. It’s not adultery. All those since have been convicted from the time of Moses, and even before within the human heart. But what’s the ONE sin that the Holy Spirit with condemn? UNBELIEF - specifically those who don’t believe in Jesus. So when Peter preached at Pentecost, he mentioned how they KILLED God in the flesh! But that wasn’t even something that would damn them, in the sense that God WANTED Him to go to the cross. The only thing that would damn them would be if they REJECTED Him after having risen from the dead and offered them a free and full forgiveness. That’s it!
Think about what Jesus says in Mark 3:28–29 , “I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.” Did you catch the first verse there? ALL SINS AND BLASPHEMIES WILL BE FORGIVEN them. That’s an incredible statement. When Jesus died, He died for EVERY sin. You and I sin every day. We are sinning machines. Even our prayers and lack thereof are filled with sin in some sense. But those are ALL forgiven. Everything is forgiven that we do as Christians too! We need that forgiveness, don’t we? And even the blasphemies that people spoke against Him, calling Him a demon possessed man and a lunatic, those were paid for on the cross too. What a beautiful promise verse 38 is!
There’s only one sin that isn’t forgiven, and that’s the sin against the Holy Spirit. BUT WHAT IS THAT SIN? The Holy Spirit’s role is to enable us to cling to Jesus as our righteousness and our salvation. Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to convict the world about righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will no longer see me. The Holy Spirit points us to Jesus in the heavens and says, “Cling to HIM as your Savior. He has accomplished your salvation. He has died for your sins. He has risen from the dead. He is coming to judge the living and the dead. If you do not cling to Him, you will be damned! But if you believe in Him and are baptized, you will be saved!” How do you sin against the Holy Spirit? You say, “I don’t want that! I don’t believe that! I don’t NEED that. If there’s a heaven, I can get there just fine by myself. I’m not going to believe in this Jesus any more than I would believe in a flying spaghetti monster.” Out of ALL of the sins that are so offensive to our holy God, that the ONE sin that ultimately damns people. Unbelief.
As we wait for Jesus to come, the world has been captivated by Satan, and along with him, they have also been captivated by Satan’s idea of JUSTICE and FAIRNESS. How is it just for a policeman to kill a man on the road by putting his knee on his neck and mercilessly letting him choke to death as people are warning him to stop? That’s Satanic justice. How is it just for a crowd of people to go charging into a target store and steal things off the shelf in protest for a murder? How does that solve anything at all? That is Satan’s type of justice.
Satanic type of judgment also questions and challenges God’s judgments at every turn. “Who is God to tell me who I can marry and what gender I should be? I practice tolerance, not hate!” Satan views life with a constant cynicism and anger. Think of how Satan was ANGRY that Job was enjoying life and living with so many blessings. He accused Job of being a fair weather fan of God. He hated to see Job succeed and be blessed, so he got permission to attack Job’s family and Job’s honor. When given the chance, he inflicted Job with boils in order to get him to crack. This was his idea of justice, blind sided attacks and pain without any explanation or reason in simple hope to get Job to curse God and die. Never once did he apologize after the fact for all of the judgments he brought down on Job and all of the death he incurred on his family. This is how Satan is in this world. He’s constantly judging everything and everyone. And why? Not because he wants justice. He just wants vengeance on God. It is just plain Satanic how he is filling people with murder and violence and vengeance. Everyone wants to be his own judge and jury. Everyone wants to sit behind his or her computer and judge everyone and everything else, thinking that he or she is so much better than all of them. It’s a Satanic type of pride and anger that is filling our world. We too need to repent of it.
The Holy Spirit’s role is to remind us of something important. He has been sent to “convict the world . . . about judgment, because the ruler of this world has been condemned.” Don’t forget who gets the final say. Don’t forget what has already happened to Satan. When Jesus died for the sins of the world and rose from the dead, this is the final say of God. Sin has been paid for . Salvation has been procured. God has declared that the way of salvation is only through faith in Him. No matter what Satan has been saying and how he has been objecting to this truth, he will have nothing to say on Judgment Day. Those who refuse to repent will have their Day in court. When Jesus comes on Judgment Day, He will call us to the pleasures of heaven and give us brand new bodies to live in eternity with Him. Nothing can stop Jesus from doing this, not even the prince of hell. The Holy Spirit has to remind us of this: God’s Word is true. We don’t have to play God. We don’t have to be the judge and jury, because God’s judgments are right. God is the judge. Don’t be intimidated by Satan’s condemnation of the truth. Listen to the Holy Spirit’s convictions, for these are God’s convictions.
So let’s take this back to Pentecost again, and think about this wonderful promise that Jesus gave to His disciples. Think of the old Christmas Vacation movie, where Clark got the jelly of the month club for a Christmas bonus. He was angry about it. But Eddie said, “It’s the gift that keeps on giving!” Clark wasn’t impressed. So with the disciples, it may have seemed so much less to them to receive the Holy Spirit, but it was so much more. It wasn’t either/or. By giving them the Holy Spirit, Jesus was giving them Himself for ETERNITY!
Jesus basically says to us, “I’m giving you an invisible gift, the gift of a Person, the Holy Spirit. You can’t see Him. You can’t touch Him. But He can touch you. He will open your mind, to see Me through the eyes of faith. When I give you HIM, I also give you ME! He will enable you to run behind the cross and find full forgiveness and holiness. He will assure you that I am in control and working all things for your good. He will strengthen you and comfort you in the most trying times of your life. You won’t even let the fear of death consume you! He will continue to be with you, as long as you stay in the Word. He can’t be kept out by jail cells. He can’t be killed with chemotherapy. He won’t go running out when you question Him or doubt Him. He won’t beat you or abuse you. He will never be quiet as long as you keep listening to the Word.” What a precious gift this invisible Person is! It is more precious than gold, this gift of the Holy Spirit, because of what He SAYS to us, how He connects us to Jesus and He KEEPS us connected to Jesus!
About 3,000 people were added to the church that day as they were baptized and believed in the WORDS that Peter and the disciples spoke to them about JESUS. What a gift to them! Through simple words and water the Holy Spirit united them together, people from all over the country, under the blood and righteousness of Jesus. Pentecost still happens today through the same words and the same water, and the Holy Spirit unites us too! What a gift to us too! Without the Holy Spirit, we couldn’t have Jesus, and if we didn’t have Jesus, then we wouldn’t be forgiven, and we wouldn’t be in heaven. But with the Holy Spirit, we have Jesus, forgiveness, faith, peace, hope, and salvation. Some day, when Jesus comes again, we will all be united in heaven. What a wonderful gift, the gift of Pentecost, the gift of the Spirit, the gift that keeps on giving forgiveness, holiness, life and salvation, much more than the jelly of the month. Amen.
May 21, 2023
CW-A Ep Lesson(Partial)-Easter 7(PostAscension)- Kieth Bernard Kuschel-
1 Peter 5:6-11
( 5) Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. {7} Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. {8} Be selfcontrolled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. {9} Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings. {10} And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. {11} To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.
NOW THAT JESUS ISN’T HERE.
IA1 Your best friend moved away. Maybe her parents got new jobs in another city. Maybe he went to college. Maybe the family had to get a bigger house. That person is not going to be close to you anymore. What do you need? A replacement. At first you don’t want a replacement because nobody could possibly replace that person. Then you realize that you need a replacement. You start looking around for one.
2 Other people sense what is going on in our lives. People recognize when we are sad, when we are happy, and when we need somebody. All kinds of people suddenly start popping up in your life as potential candidates for replacing your friend. Some of them you wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Some of them are worth checking out, but don’t measure up. Some of them are potential candidates.
B1 Your best friend moved away. His name is Jesus. He was on this earth for 33 years. He lived and never sinned so He could cover you with His righteousness. He died on the cross so He could wash away all your sins and take away the threat of God’s punishment for your sins. He rose from the dead so that He could give you eternal life. He successfully completed His work as the Savior. Then He moved away. He ascended to reposition Himself as the Lord of Lord and King of Kings.
2 We need a replacement. Somebody who can give us comfort when needed. Somebody who can give us direction when needed. Some humans around us seem to be able to do some of those things. Some humans around us make themselves available to be the replacement we need. The devil offers himself as a candidate. In fact the devil tries to convince people that He should have been their friend in the first place.
C1 When St Peter wrote these words in the first century, he was writing to people who were being physically persecuted for being Christians. Look at the words he uses in the earlier verses of the Epistle lesson. Painful trial. Suffering. Insulted. These people were struggling with doubts. Was being a Christian worth it? The devil used the persecution. His solution for it was - stop being Christians. “Leave Jesus out of your life. Then you won’t be persecuted. I can replace Jesus in your life as your supernatural contact.”
2 Peter’s advice is: {8} “Be selfcontrolled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” How does the devil try to devour us today? He doesn’t use physical persecution on us. He uses apathy. His advice still is - “Leave Jesus out of your life.” But the reasons to do so are different from what he used on the Christians in the first century. “You have so many other things to do. You don’t have time to cultivate a relationship with Jesus. You have so many things to enjoy. You don’t want to be inhibited by Jesus. You are smart and capable. You don’t need to be dependent on Jesus.”
D1 Peter’s advice is: {9} “Resist him, standing firm in the faith,” We can resist Satan’s attempt to replace Jesus in our lives by standing firm in our connection with Jesus. It is true. Jesus is not physically here. But it is also true that He is here. Keep on trusting in Him for forgiveness. Keep on trusting in Him for direction. Keep on trusting in Him for protection. Then we won’t seek a replacement for Him even though He has ascended and physically left this earth.
2 How are we going to be able to resist the devil who is a supernatural power? How are we going to stand firm in our connection with Jesus when the devil is trying to disconnect us? We can’t on our own. But we can with the Holy Spirit’s help. He gives us that help as we use our Bibles at home, here in our worship activities, and in our Bible studies with our fellow Christians. Now that Jesus is gone, resist the devil. Use the Word.
IIA1 Your best friend moved away. You need a replacement. Why? There is nobody to talk to. Well - there are people to talk to. But you know. There is nobody to talk to. It takes a while to get a replacement with whom you have the right kind of rapport.
2 What do you do? You talk on the phone with that person. It seems as if he is right there. You write letters and you get letters. It seems as if she is right there talking to you. You read your email. Same thing.
B1 Your best friend moved away. His name is Jesus. You can’t talk to him face to face as his disciples did for the three years of His public ministry. He can’t physically put His arm around your shoulder as He listens to you.
2 What do you do? You can talk to Him. Just because He isn’t here on this earth physically doesn’t mean you can’t talk to Him or He can’t listen to you. Remember we are dealing here with Almighty God. The second person of the Holy Trinity who for thirty three years didn’t always make use of His power but who always had it. He has ascended. But He still is present everywhere, knows everything and is all powerful. He can hear you when you talk to Him. He can do something about the issues you talk about.
C1 Peter’s advice: Talk to him. {7} Cast all your anxiety on Jesus. What worries do we have to throw at the Lord. You name them. We have them. We worry that family members won’t recover from cancer. We worry that the conflict between family members will destroy our family. We worry that we won’t be successful in business, as students, or in whatever role in life we have.
2 The biggest worries are the ones which don’t seem to have a solution. How are we going to handle life now that we are permanently handicapped? No matter how hard we try there is apparently no way out of the financial hole which we have dug for ourselves. The relationship has been destroyed already. How can we interact with this person on a regular basis?
D1 Peter’s advice: Talk to the Lord. “Cast all your anxiety on the Lord because He cares for you.” How do we know that He cares for us? He has proven it in the past. He cared so much about us that He had Jesus live, die and rise to provide us with forgiveness, righteousness and eternal life. He cared about us so much that He had the Holy Spirit come into our lives through Word & Baptism to convince us that the Gospel is true so that all those blessings Jesus won and the Lord wants us to have could be ours. He has proven that He cares.
2 Peter’s advice: {6}“Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand.” Acknowledge you have something that is worrying you. Admit that neither you nor the other folks around you can solve this difficulty. Then turn to the Lord and say, “I can’t solve this. You have to. I don’t see what I can do. You have to show me. I don’t see anybody to help me. You have to lead me to them. I am letting You handle this whole thing because I know You are almighty and You care for me.
3 Did you notice the promise? {6}“That he may lift you up in due time.” God is going to give you a solution. But He is going to do it in due time. God’s sense of the proper time is not always our evaluation. Most of the time we think God takes too long to bring solutions. His timing is based on His understanding of the needs of our souls, not necessarily based on our emotions. He will do what needs to be done in the best interest of our souls at the proper time. Now that Jesus is gone, talk to the Lord. Cast your anxiety on Him.
IIIA1 Your best friend moved away. You got used to it. You even got a replacement. You have somebody to talk to. You don’t even miss the person so much anymore. You don’t think about that person much at all any more. Sometimes, it seems as if you have forgotten completely about the friend. But you haven’t really.
2 When your friend left, you promised to get together again. It hasn’t happened yet. You are confident that it will. Even though you are not an integral part of each other’s lives any more, it would be nice to renew acquaintances. That promise pops into your mind every once in a while.
B1 Your best friend moved away. His name is Jesus. You got used to it. You can talk to him even though He isn’t here to see. You do that. You can listen to Him even though He isn’t here. You do that by using the Bible. You seem to be coping with life without Jesus’ physical presence pretty well.
2 But you always remember His promise. “I will come back and take you to myself.” Peter reminds us of that promise when he writes: {10}“The God of grace has called you to eternal glory in Christ.” In Christ our sins have been washed away. In Christ we are covered with His holiness. In Christ God gives us glory. He says, “You are my holy people.” Peter reminds us that is eternal glory. That glory is going to last forever. After we die. When Jesus returns. Forever.
C1 Even though that is such an important promise of God to us, there are other ones we shouldn’t forget. “The {10}God of all grace will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.” The difficulties of our lives weaken us. Am I going to have the strength to stay close to Jesus until He comes and takes me to Himself? The attacks on our faith and godliness make us question whether we should hang in there or not. Am I going to have the stamina to stay close to Jesus if He doesn’t come and take me to Himself for a while? We need strength and stamina. Peter says, “God will restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast.”
2 God is promising to get you through your life and usher you into eternity as a member of His family. God is promising to get you through today as a member of His family. Why can you get up in the morning knowing that you are going to be subjected to attacks on your faith and godliness? Because God will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. Why can you get up in the morning knowing that you are going to fail in your faith and your godliness? Because God will restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
D1 Do I have any evidence that Jesus is able to do what He has promised. Peter says, {11}“To him be the power forever and ever.” Peter isn’t saying Jesus ought to have the power. He is acknowledging that Jesus has the power. How do I know that Jesus has the power?
2 That is what Jesus’ ascension is all about. No longer is He on this earth, limiting the exercise of His power to a few miracles here and there. No longer is He on this earth, limiting the exercise of His glory by taking on Himself flesh and blood in a localized place. He is the ascended Lord. He is ruling over all things for us. He can exercise His power to restore us and make us strong, firm and steadfast for as long a time as needed. Trust God’s promises because Jesus ascended. We have good reason to trust God’s promises now that Jesus is gone.
LORD JESUS, help me resist the devil, cast my anxiety on You, and trust in Your promises.
May 14, 2023
CWA- Gospel Lesson - Easter 6 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
John 14: 15-21
15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”
Somebody tells us to do something. Why do it?
IA1 Who was Jesus? A prophet. A Rabbi. A miracle worker. From God. Son of God. Promised One. The disciples were comfortable with those answers. So, were most of the people at Jesus’ time.
2 But when Jesus said, (John 10:30) “I and the Father are one,” the crowds (31) “picked up stones to stone him........(33) for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.” When He claimed to be God, (John 6:66) many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” When He claimed to be God, His disciples asked dumb questions like, (John 14:5) “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
B1 In the verses before us today Jesus was preparing His disciples for the time that He would no longer be there among them. 19 “Before long, the world will not see me any more.” He physically left this earth. With our physical, worldly eyes we cannot see Him.
2 But Jesus also says, “18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you........19, you will see me............20 you are in me, and I am in you.” Although Jesus isn’t here physically, He is among us and in us. We know He is here because of His promise. We see Him with the eyes of faith.
3 Why can Jesus make such a claim that He is with us even though we can’t see Him with our physical eyes Only a supernatural, spiritual being can be with us and within us, but not physically. That is what Jesus is claiming for Himself with these words, 20 I am in my Father.
C1 Who is Jesus? He is the Savior. Sounds right, but sometimes people mean Jesus shows us how to live to save ourselves. Then "Savior" is wrong. He is the Son of God. Sounds right, but sometimes people mean Jesus is a son of God just as we are sons and daughters of God. Then "son of God" is wrong.
2 Who is Jesus? “I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, is my LORD.” Jesus has a Father-Son relationship with another member of the Triune God. He always had it. Will always have it. That’s who Jesus is.
D1 Next question. Why do we obey Jesus’ commands? Jesus took my sins off me and put them on Himself. He suffered the death and hell I deserve to rescue me from those punishments. He lived and never sinned so He could give me His holiness. He rose from the dead so I might live forever. I obey Jesus’ commands to say, “Thank You” to Him for all that only He, because He is God, has done for me.
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2 Why do we obey Jesus’ commands? There is another answer.
Because Jesus has told us to. Lots of people tell us what to do. But Jesus is God. That means His orders take on special significance. Because He is God, He knows what is best for us. That is why He gives us orders. Because He is God, He knows what is best for our world. That is why He gives us orders. We trust that what He tells us to do is best for us because He is God. We do what He tells us to do because we realize who He is.
IIA1 When you look around and see the kind of things people in our world do, are they generally doing what Jesus commands? No. That shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus says, 16 “The world cannot accept this Counselor(the Spirit of truth), because it neither sees him nor knows him.” Since the Holy Spirit is the One who causes people to do what Jesus commands, it is impossible to do what Jesus commands if people don’t acknowledge or know the Holy Spirit.
2 Why? Because all of us on our own are sinners. When we think on our own, our thoughts are the opposite of God’s thoughts. When we act out what comes into our minds, we break God’s laws. If confronted with the differences between what we think and do and what God commands, we insist that we are right and God is wrong.
B1 Did you notice what Jesus called the Holy Spirit? Counselor. The word is used for anybody who stands with us. Mediator, Helper, Adviser. Defense lawyer.
2 The Holy Spirit can do that perfectly because He is the Spirit of truth. The advice He gives us is always going to be the correct advice because it is the truth. The advice He gives us is always going to be the correct advice because He is God and not affected by the confusion caused by the human view of things. Because we never know if the advice coming to us from the world and from our sinful selves is any good, isn’t it comforting to know that we can always rely on the advice coming from the Spirit of Truth.
3 Can the Holy Spirit be effective in our lives? Jesus says He can. Why? 17 “he lives with you and will be in you.” We are not alone. He is with us and in us. He doesn’t let our sinful self control our brain waves. He doesn’t let the world control the air waves. He is our Helper, Defender, Adviser. And it is an inside job.
C1 Jesus says, 15 “you will do what I command.” One of His commands is - use my Word. Use it at worship. Use it in Bible class. Use it to study for Catechism class. Use it for personal reading. Use it for family devotions. Use it by watching it on computer and bigger screens. Use it by listening to it from electronic media. Doesn’t matter how. Just use it.
2 Why does Jesus command us to “not despise preaching and His Word but regard it as holy and gladly hear and learn it”? Because He loves us. He wants to forgive our sins. He wants to cover us with His holiness. He wants to keep us in His family. Those gifts are given to us through the work of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit works through the Word. So, Jesus gives us a command that says, “Use My Word.”
3 What happens when the Holy Spirit leads us to follow Jesus’ command to use His Word? We get better and better at following Jesus’ commands. We obey Jesus’ commands because we get help from the Holy Spirit. 4
IIIA1 Jesus has some other commands. One is “Don’t steal.” My sinful self says: “Grab everything you can get. Enjoy yourself. Other people don’t matter. I can use my stuff any way I want to. Nobody has the right to tell me how to use my stuff.”
2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If we take other people’s stuff, how are they going to take care of themselves? If we use all our stuff selfishly, who will take care of those dependent on us and how will the gospel get proclaimed?
3 There is another reason we obey the seventh commandment. Jesus says, (15) “If you love me, you will do what I command.” Jesus is the most important person in our lives. Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the seventh commandment.
B1 Another command is, “Don’t murder.” The world says: “Life isn’t worth much. It all came out of the primeval ooze anyway. So, you can stop it before it comes out of the womb, when it gets old and nonfunctional, if someone gets in your way, or makes you upset.”
2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If you are in constant danger of losing your life, you can’t feel safe, lead a productive life or enjoy life.
3 There is another reason we obey the fifth commandment. 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. Jesus is the most important person in our lives.
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Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the fifth commandment.
C1 Another command is, “Among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality.”(Eph 5:3) The sinful self says: “Gratify yourself. Use other people to achieve climax for yourself. This is entertainment. There are no long term consequences.”
2 There are some practical reasons for following Jesus’ command. If there is no committed relationship, who will nurture any children produced? How can a human being relate to others after being emotionally and psychologically damaged by one “short term-no strings attached” relationship after the next?
3 There is another reason we obey the sixth commandment. 21 He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” Jesus is the most important person in our lives. Because He is so valuable to us, we don’t want to mess up our relationship with Him. So with the Holy Spirit’s help we keep the sixth commandment.
Conc: LORD JESUS, thank You for Your promise: “You will do what I command.” Through Your Word please keep reminding us whoYou are, and sending the Holy Spirit so we keep loving You and doing what You command.
May 7, 2023
CWA- Epistle Lesson - Easter 5 - - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
I Peter 2:4-10
(4) As you come to him, the living Stonerejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him {5} you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. {6} For in Scripture it says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame." {7} Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, "The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone," {8} and, "A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the messagewhich is also what they were destined for. {9} But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. {10} Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
IA1 In the ancient middle East there weren’t a lot of wooded areas. So, what were most houses made of? Mud brick or baked clay. What were the houses of the wealthy and the big buildings made of? Cut and quarried stone.
2 How do you know Peter is not talking about a physical stone house in the text? The first stone mentioned is called a {4}living stone. How did the living Stone get to be in its present position? God chose Him{4} to be the Living Stone. Who is Peter talking about? Jesus, true God from eternity, who has Life in Himself, who became human so He might take His position as the most important stone in the spiritual house.
3 This living Stone is precious{4} to God. Why? Sons are always precious to Fathers. But this Son was valuable enough to carry out God’s plan to be the payment for the sins of the world. Valuable enough to provide forgiveness for the world. Valuable enough to offer eternal life to the world.
4 What is the function of this living Stone? He is the {6}cornerstone or capstone. The cornerstone was the first stone placed on the foundation. The rest of the building rested on the foundation through the cornerstone. The vertical and horizontal lines of the building were run off the faces of the cornerstone. Thus the cornerstone provided support and guidance for the rest of the building.
B1 Who are the rest of the stones in this spiritual building? The people to whom he was writing. We are the {5} living stones being built into a spiritual house. Who makes us into the living stones in this spiritual house? God does. When do we become living stones built into a spiritual house? When He brings us to trust that Jesus lived and died and rose to give us forgiveness, holiness and eternal life.
2 Why can we be called living stones? Because Jesus, who has life as an innate characteristic of Himself, has given us two kinds of life. When He set up the ability of humans to reproduce, He gave us physical life. Because He lived and died and rose for us, He gives us forgiveness of sins, His holiness and eternal life. We are physically and eternally living stones.
3 Peter further says, {6}“the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.” When the Holy Spirit leads us to lean our whole spiritual weight on Jesus in the same way that the building leaned on the foundation through the cornerstone, the building will not collapse. Jesus won’t let us down. When the floods of sin, and the
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tornadoes of unbelief come smashing into us, our strength provided for us by our attachment to the cornerstone won’t fail, because the cornerstone is solid and unfailing. We won’t ever be embarrassed spiritually for trusting in Jesus our Cornerstone.
C1 Does everybody have this lofty opinion of Jesus? No. {4}He is rejected by men. If you would take a survey of the people in your life, what percentage of them would think Jesus is the God-man who lived and died and rose to provide all of us with forgiveness, holiness and eternal life? Not a very big percentage. Does that mean Jesus isn’t the Savior? No. He isn’t Savior because a majority voted Him into the job. He is our Savior because God put Him into the job.
2 Do all the spiritual leaders in our world have this lofty opinion of Jesus? No. {7}The builders have rejected Him, wrote Peter. The people who are in charge of building the spiritual house. If the message is: Allah is God and Mohammed is his prophet and, oh by the way, so is Jesus, they are not building on the Rock. If the message is: you can talk to John, Paul and Mary and they can get you to Jesus, they are not building on the Rock. If the message is: you’ll keep getting more chances to get intimate with god even if you don’t succeed in your present life, they are not building on the Rock.
3 What happens when we don’t build on the Rock? Then Jesus is {8}"A stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes them fall." They stumble because they disobey the message.” All human beings on our own are self oriented and non-spiritual. All human beings on our own react to Jesus with comments like: “What do you mean I have to trust in Jesus to be right with God. I am good enough on my own for God to be happy with me.” So, on our own we disobey God’s message to trust in Jesus but instead stumble over Jesus and fall away from the Lord rather than being united with
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Him. Lord, thank You for loving me so much, even though I don’t deserve it, that I haven’t stumbled and fallen over You, but You have made me a stone in Your spiritual house, built on a Rock.
IIA1 What does Peter call us living stones in verse 9? Chosen people. God picked us out to be living stones. Why? Because He loves us. Not because we are better at being spiritual than other human beings. We aren’t. Not because we are better at being godly than other human beings. We aren’t. Just because He loves us in spite of who we are and what we are like on our own. He chose us . That’s a good thing.
2 He calls us people belonging to God.{9} Why do we belong to Him? Because He created humans and gave humans the ability to reproduce. So He is responsible for our existence. But we belong to Him for another reason. He bought us. Jesus’ blood bought us back from the guilt of our sins. Jesus’ death bought us back from the punishment we deserve because of our sins. Jesus’ suffering hell when He said, “My God, why have you forsaken me,” bought us back from hell. Jesus’ holy life, lived as our Substitute bought us back from our lack of holiness. Jesus’ resurrection bought us back from an eternal existence apart from God. We belong to God. That is a good thing.
3 Peter calls us a holy nation.{9} Sinless in God’s sight. Why? Sins washed away in the blood of Christ. Covered with the holiness Jesus lived in our place. Acceptable to God. Able to belong to Him. Able to be in His family, His nation, His people. Able to be living stones in His house. We are holy in His sight. That is a good thing.
4 He calls us a royal priesthood.{9} We are kings. We are not controlled by anything. We are in control of everything because we
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are connected to Jesus who is the King of kings and Lord of lords. With His power active in our lives, our greed, our instant messaging, our sexuality, our anger, etc can’t control us. We are kings. That’s a good thing. We are priests. We have direct access to God. We can stand in God’s presence. That’s a good thing.
B1 In the Old Testament scheme of things, priests had two very specific functions. They were the mediators. In the worship activity they were the leaders. They took the prayers of the people to God. They declared God’s forgiving love in the Messiah to the people. Thus they led the people to see the relationship they had with God because of the Messiah and led them to praise Him for it.
2 They were also the sacrificers. They killed the animals for the daily sacrifices. Those sacrifices indicated the ongoing relationship which existed between God and His people because of the coming Messiah. They killed the animals which were part of the meals eaten as an expression of the family relationship which existed between God and His people. They killed the animals and offered those substitutionary lives to the Lord as a picture of the life of the Lamb of God the Messiah whose life would pay for the sins of the world.
C1 Who was the perfect fulfillment of the function of the priests? Jesus. He can take all our requests directly to God because He is God the Son, second member of the Holy Trinity. He brought through His preaching and brings through His Word the message that our Savior God gives us the gift of forgiveness, holiness and eternal life. That leads us to praise the Lord.
2 Jesus sacrificed Himself for our sins. He suffered our punishment. He made it possible for God to forgive our sins. Because Jesus perfectly completed all the work carried out by the Old Testament priests, God doesn’t assign those functions to a special class of people any more. 5
D1 That is why Peter says to all of us: You are a royal priesthood. Why? {9}That you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. We are to share with people God’s forgiving love. We are to share with people that Jesus gives forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life because He lived and died and rose for all of us. We are to take people’s spiritual needs to God. We are to give God’s solution for their spiritual needs to the people around us. We are priests. That’s a good thing.
2 We are to be sacrificers. We give ourselves back to God to thank Him for what He has done for us. We dedicate our mouths to speak to others about the sacrifice of Jesus and to teach people in our family and in our congregation about Jesus. We designate 10% of our income to sharing the sacrifice of Jesus with others. We use our time to help people who are distressed physically or spiritually to thank Jesus for solving our distresses. We are priests. That’s a good thing.
3 Our sacrifices are {5}acceptable to God. Jesus’ blood washes away the selfishness attached. Jesus’ holiness is attached. That makes the sacrifice and the sacrificers, us, holy to God. They are spiritual sacrifices because they are an outgrowth of our relationship with God. We are living stones, being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. That’s a good thing.
We are priests, placed in God’s house to offer spiritual sacrifices. There is no special class of
people to do that. It’s up to us.
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April 30, 2023
CWA - Epistle - Easter 4 - Good Shepherd - KBKuschel
1 Peter 2:19-25
19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” 25 For “you were like sheep going astray,” but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
What does a Shepherd do?
Why does Jesus call himself the Good Shepherd?
IA1 As Christians we focus on the sufferings and death of Jesus. Peter reviews that all for us in one phrase – {21}Christ suffered for you.
2 Peter is very careful to remind us why Jesus suffered. 24 “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross. Jesus was a real human being. He had a body just as we do. By having a body He was able to take our place, be our Substitute. He was perfect. He never sinned. But He took our sins in his body. That made Him a Substitute sinner for us. So, he was punished for us. That’s why He suffered.
B1 Peter further reminds us that when Jesus died on the cross, He {23}“entrusted himself to him who judges justly.” Jesus knew it was God’s plan to have Him die for our sins. He knew God’s punishment against us was carried out on Him when He died. So, He handed himself over to the LORD. Anybody remember the words? Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.” He was confident that the outcome was going to be successful. And it was. God raised Him from the dead. God had accepted His payment for our sins. Peter puts it this way: {24}“by his wounds you have been healed.” We are healed from the guilt of our sins. We are healed from the punishment we deserve because Jesus successfully took it on Himself. How do we know it was successful? Jesus rose.
2 Peter writes that Jesus did this {24}so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection we are dead to sin. It doesn’t make us guilty before God. It doesn’t burden our consciences. It doesn’t control us. We are freed to live our lives God’s way. We can reflect the righteousness, holiness that God has covered us with because of Jesus.
C1 That is not the way it used to be in our lives. The quote is: 25 For “you were like sheep going astray.” Sheep like to wander. If you let them, they just walk slowly without direction, stick their noses into everything, go from one thing to the next, and ultimately don’t know where they are. They end up away from the flock & the shepherd, isolated, and in danger.
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We are like that on our own. We walk through life without direction. We stick our noses into everything, no matter if it spiritually good or bad for us. We try this and try that to find direction & spiritual meaning. We end up leaving God and His truth out of our lives, isolated from Him and in spiritual danger.
2 But Peter reminds us {25}“but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” At some point in our lives God has turned us back to Himself. Maybe it happened when you were a little one through God’s special washing. Maybe it was as an older child or an adult through the Good News that Jesus lived and died and rose to give you forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. When God brought us to trust in Jesus our Savior, He brought us back into the flock of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, who oversees - watches over- our souls.
D1 How many of you have actually watched a shepherd work? How many of you have seen what a shepherd does on tv or a in movie or read about it in a book? What does a shepherd do? He lived with the sheep. He slept with the sheep. He guided them to food and water. He protected them from danger. He helped with the birth process when necessary. He was the close friend of the sheep. The sheep recognized his voice when they heard it. They trusted him to do all of the above.
2 Why does Jesus call Himself our Good Shepherd? He is with us always even when we are asleep. He provides us with food and water for our bodies through His created universe. He provides us with food and water for our souls, His forgiveness, holiness and eternal life through His Word. He brings us into His flock and keeps us in His flock by sending the Holy Spirit who guides us through His Word. He protects us from the devil and from unbelieving people. Jesus is the Good Shepherd for your salvation.
IIA1 Why do children not fight with brothers and sisters? Because you don’t want to get spanked. Why do adults not break the law? Because we don’t want to go to jail. If children do fight with their brothers and sisters and get spanked, the suffering you have to endure isn’t anything to your credit. It is something you deserve. If you go to jail because you broke the law, it isn’t anything to your credit. It is something we deserve. Peter’s words are: 20 But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it?
2 There is another reason for us to avoid sin besides not wanting to be punished. “Christ (was) leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22 “He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.” It is true that Jesus lived as a human being on this earth to be under the demands of God’s law, so that He might keep those laws for us and give us the holiness that we need to be right with God. But, Jesus is also the example of holiness after which we strive for our life style. His perfection is what we are trying to reflect in our lives as our way of thanking the LORD for the salvation which He has given us in Jesus.
B1 Sometimes we don’t suffer as punishment for doing wrong. Sometimes we suffer for doing things God’s way. Peter wrote: 19 For it is commendable if someone bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because they are conscious of God. {20} But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. Someone shared with me a while back that he was not going to be given any major assignments by his company. That would mean he would gradually fade out of his second level leadership position. Eventually he would be out of a job. Why? He expressed concern that the marketing of a new product was not accurate and would most likely mislead consumers. He was suffering because he was conscious of God.
2 Sometimes we suffer for doing things God’s way. In the state of WI where alcohol use and alcohol abuse lead any other state, what happens when you don’t participate in the alcohol culture because you know your body is a gift from God and you don’t want to put yourself into a situation where you have lost your sense of right and wrong? You know what is said. “What’s the matter, are you a chicken? You’ve go to learn to handle your booze if you want to live in WI. You think you are better than us? Real men drink. If you are just going to sit there and be judgmental, we don’t want you around. What’s the matter with you, don’t you like to have fun?” That is suffering because you are conscious of God.
C1 Why do we try to follow Jesus’ example? Because it is good for us. God made us. He knows what is best for us. He has told us what is best for us in His commandments. When He leads us to realize that, we follow Jesus’ example. Second reason. Jesus gives us forgiveness, righteousness, and eternal life. We thank God for those gifts by doing things that are pleasing to Him. We want Him to be happy with us, since He has made us happy by giving us His gifts.
2 23 When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats.” Jesus didn’t deserve to be punished. He didn’t retaliate. He didn’t punish the Roman soldiers or religious authorities for what they did to Him. 21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. Jesus is our example. Even though we would like to retaliate against people who hurt us, and even though we tell ourselves that it will make us feel better if we do, why don’t we? Because people will be attracted to somebody who wants peace and is willing to suffer and refuses to retaliate in order to have peace. If we live that way in imitation of Jesus, people will come to know Jesus from their contact with us.
3 Even though we would like to retaliate against people who hurt us, and even though we tell ourselves that it will make us feel better if we do, why don’t we? Because people will be attracted to somebody who speaks beneficially rather than destructively, and is even willing to suffer and be ridiculed in order to have a verbally loving atmosphere in place. If we live that way in imitation of Jesus, people will come to know Jesus from their contact with us.
Conc Why does God have us walk on our way following the Good Shepherd? So that we are saved and so He might use us as we imitate Jesus to attract more sheep into His flock. LORD JESUS, please keep me walking on the way of the Good Shepherd.
April 23, 2023
CWA- Gospel Lesson - Easter 3 - - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Luke 24: 13-35
13 Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. 14They were talking with each other about everything that had happened. 15As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; 16but they were kept from recognizing him. 17He asked them, "What are you discussing together as you walk along?" They stood still, their faces downcast. 18One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, "Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?" 19"What things?" he asked. "About Jesus of Nazareth," they replied. "He was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him; 21but we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. And what is more, it is the third day since all this took place. 22In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." 25He said to them, "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ[b] have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself. 28As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. 29But they urged him strongly, "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over." So he went in to stay with them. 30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" 33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.
Jesus rose. What does it mean for us?
Jesus rose. What does it mean He can do for us?
IA1 It was Easter evening. Jesus’ followers had been through a lot. Two of them decided to go home. They needed rest from all the emotional expenditures of the day. As they were walking home, they were discussing everything that had happened.
2 {19}"Jesus of Nazareth," "was a prophet, powerful in word and deed before God and all the people. 20The chief priests and our rulers handed him over to be sentenced to death, and they crucified him.”
3 Their disappointment comes out in the words: {21}“But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel.” They had trusted that Jesus was the Messiah who would free them from their sins and the punishment they deserved because of their sins. 4 Besides that, now they were on another emotional roller coaster. 22In addition, some of our women amazed us. They went to the tomb early this morning 23but didn't find his body. They came and told us that they had seen a vision of angels, who said he was alive. 24Then some of our companions went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see." Do you think these two believed the reports? Doesn’t sound that way.
B1 Why were they so disappointed? Because they thought God had accomplished salvation through Jesus of Nazareth. If Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, then that wasn’t true. That didn’t mean that the Lord wasn’t the Giver of forgiveness and salvation. But it did mean that they would have to wait longer for the fulfillment of God’s promises. They were also disappointed because Jesus’ death meant that He would no longer be with them. His presence among them had been a constant reminder that the Lord is the Source of forgiveness and eternal life. His presence among them gave them the strength to face life with all its difficulties. He was always there to listen to their problems. He was always there to give them the right advice and direction. The thought of life without Jesus was very distressing.
Jesus appeared to them on the road to Emmaus. After the discussion with them, they knew He had risen. He was alive. He was with them. When He disappeared, it didn’t stop their joy. They knew that because Jesus was alive, they could face life as they had faced it before. With Jesus. As Christians we view life assuming that Jesus is with us. When our selfishness takes over, Jesus is with us to apply to us His forgiveness which He won on the cross. When we have failed to do what the Lord expects us to do, Jesus is with us to cover us with the holiness which He lived for us.
When we face a terrifying circumstance in our lives, Jesus is with us to give us the strength that we need to say, “NO” to sin, to endure difficulties, and to keep on living in a world dominated with difficulties.
When we need somebody to talk to, Jesus is there to listen. When we have a specific need, Jesus is there to receive our request. When we need direction, Jesus is there to give it to us through His Word.
Why is it possible to take this view of life? Because He can be with us. It is true. Jesus rose.
Why didn’t they recognize Jesus? I think Jesus didn’t allow them to recognize Him until it was the right time.
How did Jesus get into the discussion? He asked a question. 17"What are you discussing together as you walk along?" Why did He do that? Because He wanted to have them hear from their own mouths what was in their minds. And they did.
Jesus reminded them of something very important, especially in view of the fact that they were so sad about Jesus’ death. 26"Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" Have to. The Christ, the Anointed One, the One commissioned by God, had to suffer. The Messiah wasn’t here for glory. He had to take the guilt of the world on Himself. He had to suffer the death and hell we deserve because of our sins. He had to rescue us from the punishment we deserve. He had to suffer thirty three years in a sinful world to provide holiness for us. The Messiah had to suffer if we were to have eternal life.
What did Jesus use to instruct His disciples? "How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! 26Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?" 27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures.” Jesus instructed them from Isaiah 53 to remind them that the Messiah had to suffer and die. He instructed them from Deut 18 to remind them that the Messiah was the bringer of truth. Jesus didn’t bring new revelations directly from the Father and the Holy Spirit. He instructed them from the Scriptures.
Did you notice I left out a very important two word phrase? “concerning himself.” 27 "And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.” He read the Scripture and then said, “This talks about me. Remember what I did. It matches what the Scripture said the Messiah would do. “
From what source do we learn that selfishness is sin? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that failure to benefit others is sin? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that taking advantage of others is sin? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that Jesus took our guilt? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that Jesus suffered death and hell to rescue us from it? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that Jesus covers us with His holiness? From the Scripture. From where do we learn that we will live forever because of Jesus resurrection? From the Scripture.
Sometimes we complain that we can’t sit down and get instructed personally from Jesus as His first disciples were. Sometimes we insist that we are at a disadvantage when compared to them for that reason. But then we look at a section of Scripture like the one before us today. What do we see? We are instructed by the Lord through the Scriptures. His first disciples were instructed by the Lord through the Scriptures. The disciples walking to Emmaus were instructed by Jesus through the Scriptures.
Jesus has promised us that through the written words of His apostles He is actually working and instructing us. Can He do that? Sure. How do you know? He is alive. It is true. Jesus rose.
Did you notice the change that took place in the two disciples on the way to Emmaus? 17 “They stood still, their faces downcast.” Change to. 29"But they urged him strongly.” Despondently purposeless to strongly purposeful. What was their purpose? To spend more time with this person. What was their plan that would accomplish that? "Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over."
Why did they want that? They had benefitted from His instruction in the Scripture. They wanted more. They wanted to become closer to this person who had instructed them. That is exactly what Jesus allowed to happen. “30When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. 31Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him.” Now they knew why He had done such a good job of instructing them from the Scriptures. Now they know why He was able to get right at their hearts with His teachings. 32They asked each other, "Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?"
What did they do next? 33They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together 34and saying, "It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon." 35Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.” They had to tell somebody that their skepticism was wrong. They should have believed the women.
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They went out into the dark to Jerusalem to the disciples whom they thought were probably still huddled in fear. Their heart burned within them. They had a purpose to carry out . And they did.
We, just as the Emmaus disciples, want to spend as much time as we can with Jesus. His presence fills our lives with His forgiveness, His holiness, His strength, His direction and everything we need in our lives. So we worship Him regularly. We have devotions at home regularly. We participate in Bible class. We talk to him. We spend a lot of time with Him. We try to increase the amount of time we spend with Him.
That increases our knowledge of the Scripture and our knowledge of Him. That has some personal benefit. It strengthens our faith. It gives us direction in life. But it also gives us the equipment we need to become spiritual resources for other people. How do we help people through their problems? By pointing them to the Scriptures. How do we help people recognize their sins? By pointing them to the Scriptures. How do we help people get over their guilt? By pointing them to the Scriptures. How do you give people direction for life? By pointing them to the Scriptures. How do we get equipped to do that? By being instructed in the Scriptures.
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Even if we are equipped with the Scriptures, are we going to share the Scriptures with others? There a lots of opposition forces fighting against us. The devil fills our lives with so many other things that we don’t have time to share the Scriptures with others. The sinful self gets us so inhibited that we get scared to share the Scriptures with others.
Jesus presence in the lives of the Emmaus disciples and His instruction in the Scriptures made their hearts burn within them so they ran to share with others what they knew. Jesus is present among us as the omnipresent Lord. He is present among us in a special way whenever we use His holy supper. He instructs us personally whenever we use His Word. Lord Jesus, please make our hearts burn within us so that we are eager to run to share with others what we know about You. Can He do that? Sure. How do we know? He rose. It is true.
April 16, 2023
CW-A - Gospel Lesson Easter 2- Kieth Bernard Kuschel
John 20:19-31
(19) On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" {20} After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord. {21} Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." {22} And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. {23} If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven." {24} Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. {25} So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!" But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it." {26} A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" {27} Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe." {28} Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!" {29} Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." {30} Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. {31} But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
What kind of Easter did you have? Happy. Jesus focused
Any Easter eggs for anybody? That is Jesus focused
Any flowers for anybody? That is Jesus focused
Any rabbits for anybody? That is Jesus focused.
That was a good Easter.
Today we are asking, “Did you have a peaceful Easter?”
I.A.1 Did you have a peaceful Easter? Well, let’s review what we did last Sunday? We got up early to get everything ready for Easter breakfast. Then we had to wake the family up early in order to get them to breakfast. Usually Sunday is much more peaceful and relaxing. We don’t have to be to church till much later. Everybody was pretty on edge. The children were cramming their lines in the car on the way over. It would have been more peaceful if they had learned them better earlier. The seventh grader started complaining about singing with the little kids. That caused some stress. Breakfast was good, but not very relaxing. Right after you got settled in, you had to start clearing the place and getting ready for church. Church was good but not very relaxing. It is always stressful singing in the choir and playing handbells and playing organ or trumpet. Was my Easter peaceful? Good question.
2. Then we got in the car and rushed home to get the food ready we were going to take to the gathering. We all had to change clothes. We had to battle with the desire to just relax at home and work out in the beautiful sunshine. The kids didn’t want to go visiting. We weathered all those storms. We made it to the gathering. It is always stressful to try to keep everybody on good behavior after a day of no physical activity. We finally got home about 5 p.m. Was my Easter peaceful? Good question.
B.1. Did the first disciples of Jesus have a very peaceful Easter? I doubt it. {19}“On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews.” They were still afraid. They still thought they were going to be killed next. Fear always robs people of peace.
2. Did the disciples have a peaceful Easter? I doubt it. They had another fear. An even worse fear. They were afraid that they had been wrong about Jesus. They thought He was God. Now He was dead. That meant they were dead wrong. They thought He was King. Now it looked as if Pilate was in charge. They thought He was the source of spiritual truth. Now it looked as if the Sanhedrin was right. They thought He was giving them forgiveness and eternal life. Now it looked as if they had to change their whole idea about eternity. All of this made them afraid of even thinking about tomorrow.
C.1. What robs us of our peace? Sin. The hostility of sinfulness of the sinners in the world around us causes fear in us just as it caused fear in the disciples. What is the criminal element in society going to do to me? That thought robs me of peace. What are the people who don’t like me, or maybe just don’t care about me going to do to me that will hurt me? That question robs me of peace.
2. What robs us of our peace? Sin. My selfish thoughts, words, and actions disrupt my relationships with the people around me. My laziness results in stress even about little things like singing in church. My pride causes conflict even about little things like reciting lines with little kids. My self-consciousness causes fear even when I am giving glory to God to the best of my ability. My sins rob me of peace.
3. What robs us of our peace? Sin. My lack of perfect trust in the Lord causes fear. Jesus didn’t seem to be God, or a King when he was crucified. What if He really didn’t rise? What if the disciples made all these stories up because they were good salesmen. What if all this was really just a bunch of hallucinations cooked up in the minds of grieving people? My doubts rob me of peace.
II.A.1. Did you have a peaceful Easter? If sins robs us of our peace, then forgiveness of sins should give us peace. Did you have a peaceful Easter? Yes, because Easter is the guarantee of the forgiveness of sins. Consider this scenario. Jesus says He is in the world to give His life up as a payment for sins. He says He is in the world in order to conquer the devil so He can’t control us. He says He is in the world to experience death and conquer it so it can’t hold us. He says He is in the world in order to experience hell so it can’t swallow us. So, He dies and that is the end of the story. That would be the end of the story about forgiveness for us through Jesus too. But that isn’t the end of the story. He rose. That means he conquered death and hell for us. That means God accepted His payment for our sins. That means we have forgiveness of sins. That means we are at peace with God, and therefore also can be at peace with ourselves. Yes, we had a peaceful Easter.
2. Did you notice that Jesus said, “Peace be with you,” to His disciples, and then said, {21}“As the Father has sent me, I am sending you,” and then He began immediately to talk about forgiveness. The Father sent Jesus into the world to make it possible for there to be peace between us and God by His life, death and resurrection. But the Father had also sent Jesus into the world to inform the world about the peace that belongs to it because of Jesus. With no information about that peace, people wouldn’t have it. Jesus won peace on Easter. He delivered peace to people throughout His ministry, including the ministry that began after Easter. We heard the message at Easter. Yes, we had a peaceful Easter.
B.1. “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” {22}And with that Jesus breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Jesus is giving us our job description here. It is our job to inform people. We are to tell them that Jesus died to take away their sins. We are to tell them that Jesus died to take away death as punishment for sins. We are to tell them that Jesus suffered hell so that hell can be escaped. We are to tell them that Jesus lived and never sinned so that they can be holy in God’s sight. We are to tell them that Jesus rose from the dead so that they might live forever with God. We are to tell them that if they don’t repent of their sins, they are guilty before God. When we tell people about Jesus, we have a peaceful Easter or any other day.
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2. Jesus is giving us our job description here. What is our job description? No. Not just to inform people. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” It is our job to bring peace into the lives of others as Jesus has brought it into our lives. That is important for us to remember. We are not just trying to get people to know the facts about Jesus Christ. We want them to have peace. We deliver peace to them when we deliver the message of Jesus and when the Holy Spirit whom the Lord breathes into people through us works. When we deliver peace to people, we have a peaceful Easter or any other day.
C.1. If my sins rob me of my peace, then forgiveness gives peace. If my sins disrupt relationships with other people, then I need to have their forgiveness to be at peace. If I am going to have their forgiveness, I need to repent to them. And when they announce forgiveness to us, we are forgiven, according to Jesus’ words. And then I can be at peace.
2. If the sins of other people rob me of my peace, then forgiveness gives peace. If their sins disrupt relationships with me, then I need to forgive them. And when I announce forgiveness to them, they are forgiven, according to Jesus’ words. And then I can be at peace. Notice, I didn’t say, they can be at peace, although that is true also. But I can be at peace. Because the book is closed. Their sin against me doesn’t need to bother me any more. It has been repented of and forgiven. End of issue. No gnawing at me. Peace. Forgiveness gives peace.
III.A.1 Did the disciples have a peaceful Easter? Depends what part of Easter you are talking about. After Jesus appeared to them, the answer to the question is: “Yes.” They didn’t have to be afraid for their lives. Jesus was alive and among them. He had already conquered death. They didn’t need to be afraid that they had been wrong about Jesus. He was alive and among them. He was God, and the King, and the source of truth. They had forgiveness and holiness and eternal life. They didn’t have to be afraid about tomorrow. Jesus was alive and among them. They could be at peace.
2. Did Thomas have a peaceful Easter? No. He didn’t believe what he had been told. He was amazed that the rest of the disciples would be saying such things. But a week later, when he was allowed to touch Jesus, to see the nail marks, and touch the wounded side, then he believed that Jesus was alive and with him. And then he too could be at peace.
B.1. Did we have a peaceful Easter? Did you notice somebody missing from our celebration here last Sunday? Did you see Jesus at Easter breakfast? I didn’t. Did you see Jesus at our worship service? There were lots of people here, but I didn’t see Jesus. So I guess we didn’t have a peaceful Easter as the disciples did, since He didn’t show up here as He did on that first Easter evening.
2. Did you have a peaceful Easter? While you were at your gathering in the afternoon, did Jesus show up? Were your doors locked? That didn’t stop him on the first Easter evening. Did he let you touch his hands and his side? No? Well I guess we didn’t have a peaceful Easter as Thomas had a peaceful week after Easter encounter with Jesus.
C.1. Jesus has a comment if we are feeling left out. {29}“Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And then notice John’s comment on this whole issue. {30} Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. {31} But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name. God knew that many, many people would not have the privilege which the disciples had on Easter evening, and which Thomas had on the Sunday night following Easter. They wouldn’t see the risen Lord Jesus. But, He had all of these things written down, so that all of us would know that they happened and are true. He uses the words of the Scripture to convince us of the truth of the message about Jesus. Thus we believe although we have not seen, except with the eyes of faith.
2. Did you have a peaceful Easter? Is Jesus present among us? His presence among His disciples gave them peace. He is God. He is present everywhere. His presence gives us peace. He is present in our hearts every time the Word is used by us. His presence gives us peace. He is present in a way that we can touch and taste in His holy Supper. His presence gives us peace.
Conc. Did you have a peaceful Easter? Even if you have to say, “No, it was a rush from 5:30 am to 6 pm. It was not peaceful.” Yet, because of Easter, because of Jesus’ resurrection, his forgiveness, and His presence, you can have a peaceful rest of your life.
April 9, 2023 Easter Sunday
CWA part Gospel - Resurrection of our LORD - KBKuschel
Matthew 28:8-10
8 So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. 9 Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”
Put yourselves into the sandals of the women. You believe you are a sinner. You believe God forgives sin. You believe you are acceptable to God because He promised a Savior who would do everything necessary to provide you with salvation and righteousness.
You followed Jesus. You listened to Him teach. You listened to Him answer questions. You listened to Him apply the Law to people’s hearts to show them their sins. You listened to Him apply the Gospel to people’s hearts to show them that they were forgiven because of God’s love. You are convinced that He is the Prophet promised by God. He is the Bringer of truth.
You watched Jesus work among the people. You saw Him heal people who were sick,. You saw Him make nature work under His directions. You saw Him raise people who had died. He had the power of God at His disposal. When He claimed to be using His own power, you considered that He might be the Son of God.
You were convinced that this Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ of God. The One promised by God to provide you with forgiveness of sins, holiness and eternal life. You got to be pretty comfortable with that conclusion.
But then He died. If He were the Son of God, how could He die? The crowds at Calvary reinforced those doubts in your mind. “If he was the Son of God, why didn’t He come down from the cross?” Why didn’t He just escape? How could He give eternal life if He is dead? And dead He was. You were there when they laid him in the tomb. You were going to finish the burial process on Sunday morning.
But when you went there, He wasn’t there. His body was gone. The angels said, “He has risen.” Could it be? Doubt again. Too good to be true. What really happened? More doubts. Then Jesus met you and greeted you. You grasped His feet to make sure that this wasn’t a ghost. You knew it wasn’t, so you worshiped Him. He was who He claimed to be. His resurrection proved it. You could on go on with the rest of the day and the rest of your lives without doubt. Jesus is your LORD and God.
Doubts. They are part of our lives as human beings, aren’t they? Doubts that get bigger as we grow up. When we as children learned about Jesus, there was no doubt who He was. He is God. No questions. But as we grow up, our intellect rebels. A person who was God and human? It doesn’t make sense. A person who does miracles? Miracles can’t happen. Doubts.
Doubts about the claim that Jesus is the only source of truth from God. What about all the other spiritual resources in our world. They all claim to have the truth. What if Jesus was only another prophet? What if Jesus was just another purveyor of a religious system? Don’t other spiritual resource people in other religious systems also do miracles? How do we deal with doubts like these?
Scripture always solves these doubts in the same way. It always points us to the resurrection of Jesus. Was Jesus the Christ? Only if He was God. Was He God? Scripture says “Yes.” Proof? He rose from the dead. Can you believe what He spoke and taught. If He was God. Was He God? “Yes.” Proof? He rose from the dead. Whose power was He using when He did miracles? Scripture says His own. That’s only possible if He was God. Was He God? “Yes.” Proof. He rose from the dead. Because Jesus rose, we are free to live without any fears about who Jesus of Nazareth is. He is our LORD and God.
Hymn 152:1-3
Put yourselves back into the sandals of the followers of Jesus. They had been with Him for three years. They had personally grasped the forgiveness and eternal life which He offered them. But He expected that they would share those gifts with others. For three years they had been soaking up the message they were to share.
They had been given some trial runs. Jesus had sent some of them out to take His message to other villages. They reported back. They had some success. They had some failure. They reported power over forces that opposed Jesus. They had a taste of what they were supposed to be doing with their lives after Jesus would depart from their presence, something He had promised to do.
B1 Their message was very clear. They had pointed to Jesus as the Christ. They had told people that Jesus was the One who had come to take the guilt of people on Himself. They told people that He would sacrifice His life to pay for their sins.
They told people that Jesus was their righteousness. He was living for them. Jesus was not sinning. Jesus was going to cover them with His holiness. That would make them able to be right with God.
Now Jesus was telling the women: “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.” Jesus’ followers were still under orders from Him to take His message to others. Why should they have confidence that the message they were bringing to others from Jesus was true? Why did the women eagerly and quickly go and tell the other disciples the message from Jesus?
Because He had risen. Jesus’ resurrection is the “Yes,” that God the Father gave to all the work Jesus had done. Was Jesus successful in taking the guilt of humans. YES. Proof? He rose from the dead. Was He a success in taking the place of humans and suffering death and hell to rescue us from it? YES. Proof? He rose from the dead. Was Jesus successful in supplying us with holiness so that we are acceptable to God. YES. Proof? He rose from the dead. Should the women be confident that the message from Jesus which they had for the other disciples was valid. YES. Proof?. He rose from the dead.
We are today’s followers of Jesus. Jesus hasn’t brought us into His family just so that we might be a part of His family forever. He has also given us a purpose. Our purpose is the same as that of the women in the verses before us today. Our purpose is to transmit the words and message of Jesus to others. We can do that through our congregation. But the LORD is interested primarily in having us be transmitters of His truth to others as we rub shoulders with them in our day to day existence.
The message is simple. I am a sinner. Jesus took my sins. Jesus suffered death instead of me. Jesus suffered hell instead of me. That frees me from my guilt and the threat of punishment. Jesus lived a holy life for me. That gives me His holiness. That makes me right in the sight of God. That’s the message.
Is it really true? Is there any portion of that message that should be doubted? Does God really say people are not guilty and acceptable to Him because of Jesus. The answer in the Bible is “YES.” Proof? He rose from the dead. Because Jesus rose, we are free to live without doubt about the Gospel.
Hymn 152 : 4-6
Put yourselves back into the sandals of the followers of Jesus. You had become quite used to having Jesus with you all the time. You traveled with Him. You ate with Him. You were like family. You couldn’t think of what life without Jesus would be like. You dreaded the time that He wouldn’t be with you, something He kept telling you about. Now it had happened. He wasn’t with you. He had died. Would you be able to handle the future on their own? It was doubtful.
But now He was alive again. Now he had shown Himself to you. Now he had told you to tell the disciples they too would see Him. This is very important. His death hadn’t stopped His presence among you. Nothing else would stop His presence among you either. You could go on with your lives without doubt about the future because Jesus was still with you.
Jesus’ followers had another very important issue to face. Death. Humans die. That’s just the way it is since Adam and Eve sinned. But Jesus had told you that even though you would die, you wouldn’t really die. He kept teaching you that He gives eternal life, a relationship with God that doesn’t end after one dies. You believed that. Now He died. What did that do to His promise? What did that do to your confidence? More doubt.
But now Jesus was alive again. He showed Himself to the women. He wanted to show Himself to the disciples. Jesus could conquer death. He could conquer the deaths of His followers. He could keep His promise. You would rise from the dead as Jesus had promised. Proof? He rose from the dead
How do we handle each new day of our lives? Life isn’t easy. We are unemployed. We are confronted daily with that unpleasant person at school. We have physical handicaps. People keep telling me to just do it, even though God says not to. Can I handle life? I doubt it.
We don’t have to. Jesus is with us. He gives us patience. He gives us wisdom. He gives us strength. He will lead us to do what we are supposed to do. Is Jesus really with us? “YES.” Proof? He rose from the dead. That gives us freedom to live without doubt about tomorrow.
How do we handle death? It’s scary, isn’t it? We watch people die. We don’t want to experience the pain. We watch people get killed. We don’t want to stop existing that suddenly. It’s scary because we don’t know what is next. But we do. Jesus told us. When we die, we go to be with the LORD. Then on Judgment Day, we continue to exist in perfection, body and soul, with Jesus.
Is that really true? “YES.” Proof? He rose from the dead. He conquered death for us. We will conquer it too. How do we handle the concept of death? With confidence, knowing where we are going, knowing what is going to happen next. How do we handle the concept of eternity? With confidence Why? He rose from the dead. Because Jesus rose, we are free to live without doubt about our eternal future.
Conc: LORD JESUS, please help us to celebrate Easter every day by living free from doubt about Jesus, about the Gospel, and about the future.
Hymn 152:7-8
April 2, 2023 Palm Sunday
CWA -Palm Sunday - Gospel Kieth Bernard Kuschel
John 12:1-11
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 Here a dinner was given in Jesus’ honor. Martha served, while Lazarus was among those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial. 8 You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him.
What do you remember most about the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus? Maybe that Mary sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him. Maybe that Martha was busy serving Jesus and upset with Mary. Maybe that Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. In the verses before us this family held a dinner. It was a special dinner. It was held (2) “in Jesus’ honor.” We are also reminded that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead. We are also told that Lazarus was present at the dinner. So, I think we could safely guess what the purpose of the dinner was. What? To honor Jesus for raising Lazarus from the dead.
Jesus had eaten at least one meal there before. I think we can assume that He ate there regularly. What does that say about His relationship with this family? They were comfortable having Jesus there. He was comfortable being there. Jesus was like a member of the family.
On Palm Sunday when Jesus rode into Jerusalem, His focus was completely on what He was going to be doing during the next week. Every year on Palm Sunday our focus is on what we are going to be doing this next week. On Thursday we are going to have a special dinner. Now I know that we are having the same dinner today. But Thursday, when we come to dinner, it is special. It is the day of the year when Jesus hosted this special supper for the first time. I remember when I was a boy on Thursday of Holy Week almost everybody in the whole church went to the Lord’s Supper. It took a really long time. But it was awesome, I will never forget it.
What is this Supper about? It’s all about Jesus. He gives us His body and blood together with the bread and wine. Because the Gospel is announced during the Supper, He delivers forgiveness of sins to us. It reminds us who Jesus is and what He did. We say to everybody who is watching us: Jesus is my Savior. He lived and died and rose for me. This Supper is to praise Jesus and proclaim His death. It is “in Jesus honor.”
What is this Supper about? It’s about family. All of us who share in the meal believe the same thing about ourselves. We are sinners. All of us who share in the meal believe the same things about Jesus. He is our Savior. All of us who share in the meal believe the same thing about the Supper. It is the body and blood of Jesus together with the bread and wine. All of us who share in the meal believe the same thing about the blessing. We receive forgiveness. All of us who share in the meal believe the same thing about the Bible. It is God’s truth. When we eat together, we are saying, “We are family in Christ.”
Jesus was headed to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover. He was also headed to Jerusalem on this particular Passover because He knew it was time for Him to sacrifice Himself as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world. He had told His disciples very clearly on numerous occasions that he was going to go to Jerusalem and die.
While He was at this meal in his honor in Bethany headed for Jerusalem to die, 3 Then Mary took about a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.4 But one of his disciples, Judas Iscariot, who was later to betray him, objected, 5 “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor? It was worth a year’s wages.” 6 He did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 “Leave her alone,” Jesus replied. “It was intended that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” In Jesus’ day bodies were prepared for burial by being washed, anointed with good smelling stuff, wrapped in cloths and then buried. Jesus’ statement is very clear. He considers what Mary is doing an early attempt to prepare his body for burial, which, of course, implies that He is ready to die.
When Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, and when He was at this meal in Bethany, he was completely focused on what was going to happen on Friday. His death. Every year on Palm Sunday our focus is on what we are going to be doing this next week. On Friday we are going to think a lot about and talk a lot about Jesus’ death. That is totally out of the ordinary. People usually don’t want to think about death. It is unpleasant. People usually don’t want to talk about death. Maybe they think it will go away if you don’t talk about it. Even when somebody dies, people say, “She passed. He is gone.” They don’t even want to use the word, “death.”
Christians talk about death a lot. We say, “Jesus died for my sins” all the time. That is weird to a lot of people - to be so open about death. If you really want to consider something strange, look at the name of Friday this week. Good Friday. A Friday that is the day on which somebody died is good? A day on which an innocent victim was crucified is good? Good Friday is a good name for this coming Friday. It’s good for us. Because Jesus died, our sins are gone. Because Jesus died, death isn’t punishment for me anymore. Because Jesus was separated from God while on the cross, I won’t ever have to be. On Palm Sunday we get ready for Friday. Because of the death that happened then. That is what makes it good.
Jesus’ presence in Bethany at this meal turned out to be a public event. People heard that Jesus was present. Throughout the three years of His ministry His presence attracted crowds. Some came to hear Him. Some came to see Him do miracles. In this instance they came to see the person who had raised Lazarus from the dead. But they came for another reason. Lazarus had become a media star by this time. 9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead.” They had heard about him, but they really wanted to see him. So they were there to see this dead man who was raised.
During Jesus’ three years of ministry there was another group of people who came to observe Jesus. This group was watching His every step. They were gathering evidence to prove that He was not who He claimed to be. They were gathering evidence on the basis of which they could get rid of Him. This group was present here also. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and believing in him. When they saw the results of Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus, they were driven to carry out their plan to get rid of Jesus. They hated it that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the death. It was ruining everything.
When Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, and when He was at this meal in Bethany, he was completely focused on what was going to happen on Sunday. He would rise as He had raised Lazarus. Every year on Palm Sunday our focus is on what we are going to be doing this next week. On Sunday we are going to see a risen dead Man. Jesus’ resurrection from the dead is the basis of Christianity. Because of that we know what He says is true. Because of that we know that He is God. Because of that we know our sins are forgiven. Because of that we know He can cover us with His holiness. Because of that we know we will rise from the dead one day. Without Jesus’ resurrection Christianity is nothing.
People know that. So people who oppose Christianity get angry about it. Just like the Jews did about Jesus and Lazarus. So they ridicule it. “When was the last time you saw somebody rise from the dead?” they say. “The disciples must have been on medical marijuana or something to think that Jesus rose from the dead.” Or they divert attention from it. Easter is about bunnies and eggs and flowers and springtime. No. It’s not. On Palm Sunday we are getting ready to see a risen dead man.
Palm Sunday is about getting ready- for a meal, a death and a risen dead man. On Palm Sunday we join Jesus in the parade to Jerusalem to get ready for Thursday and Friday and Sunday. For a meal, a death, and a risen dead man. Thanks for coming. I’m glad you like parades.
March 26, 2023
CWA - Psalm Lent 5 - Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Psalm 116
I love the Lord, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. 2 Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. 3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me; I was overcome by distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!” 5 The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. 6 The Lord protects the unwary; when I was brought low, he saved me.7 Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling, 9 that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living.10 I trusted in the Lord when I said, “I am greatly afflicted”; 11 in my alarm I said, “Everyone is a liar.” 12 What shall I return to the Lord for all his goodness to me? 13 I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord.14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.15 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. .16 Truly I am your servant, Lord; I serve you just as my mother did; you have freed me from my chains.17 I will sacrifice a thank offering to you and call on the name of the Lord.18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people, 19 in the courts of the house of the Lord— in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.
Something really important = a matter of life and death
IA1 I was overcome by distress and sorrow(3). Most of us have felt that way at one time or another in our lives. What caused you to feel that way most recently? Diagnosed with a terminal disease. Chronic health issue. Loss of capacity. Loss of job. Loss of a loved one. Not knowing what to do next. Coronavirus.
2 All of those cause distress and sorrow. But there is one that is behind many of those mentioned. It could be called the ultimate cause of distress and sorrow. What is that? Death. The Psalm writer knew that. He wrote this: 3 The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came over me. Why does any disease cause distress and sorrow? Because it could lead to death. Why do accidents cause distress and sorrow? Because they could lead to death. Why does loss of job or not knowing what to do next cause distress and sorrow? Because your life might end without accomplishing even the basic things like providing the necessities of life for your dependents.
B1 Is there any help for the distress and sorrow caused by death? The Psalm writer thinks so: 8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death. How does He do that? Jesus answers that question directly in the Gospel lesson: “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives believing in me will never die.” Jesus experienced death as punishment for our sins. We are rescued from death as punishment for our sins because He did that. Jesus rose from the dead. He conquered it for us. We will rise from the dead because Jesus did that for us. That is how God delivers us from death.
2 8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death. Does knowing that take away our fear of death? NO. Anything we haven’t experienced is scary. Does knowing that make it at least possible for us to handle the thought of death a little bit better? YES. Because we know we have been delivered from it even before we have experienced it.
3 8 For you, Lord, have delivered me from death. Does knowing that make it easy when a loved one dies? NO. It is always extremely difficult to think about facing life without someone who has been part of your life for a very long time, maybe your entire life. Does knowing that make it at least possible for us to handle the death of a loved one a little bit better? YES. Because we know that loved one who, when alive, trusted that Jesus lived and died and rose to give him or her forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life has been delivered from it. The Psalm writer reflects that thought when he wrote: 8 For you, Lord, have delivered .............. my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. I shed tears, but not forever and not out of despair. I don’t stumble and fall into believing the thought, whenever it comes up, that God must not love me otherwise He would not have allowed my loved one to die.
C1 God continues to love me even when I am dead. Did you hear what the Psalm writer wrote? (15)Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Well, I guess that leaves me out. I am a sinner. I am not a faithful servant. Not so fast. You are covered with Jesus’ holiness. You are a member of God’s family. God considers your life to be a thankoffering to him. He considers you to be a faithful servant. This verse is talking to you.
2 Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Precious. We are valuable to the LORD. What do you do with things that you consider to be precious? You protect them. You hold onto them tightly. We are so valuable to the LORD that He had His Son live and die and rise to give us forgiveness, holiness and eternal life. He is not going to let anything, including death release His strong grip on us. Maybe St Paul had this Psalm in mind when he wrote: “Neither death.... nor anything else will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our LORD.” (Rom 8:38-39). Does knowing that helps us handle death a little bit better? YES
IIA1 How do we respond to God’s deliverance? We 13 “will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord...19 in the courts of the house of the Lord— in your midst, Jerusalem. Praise the Lord.” When we can, we gather together in a public gathering place with others who believe what we believe about Jesus. We lift up for all to see the concept that God has granted us salvation through Jesus. Others hear that Jesus lived and died and rose to give them forgiveness, holiness and eternal life. The Holy Spirit leads them to believe that Jesus is their Savior. Our lives of calling on the name of the LORD help others have eternal life in Jesus Christ.
2 How do we respond to God’s deliverance? I utter “my cry for mercy.........I.will call on
him as long as I live. ......3 I was overcome by distress and sorrow. 4 Then I called on the name of the Lord: “Lord, save me!” When my life is filled with distress and sorrow because of terminal disease, chronic health issues, loss of capacity, loss of job, loss of loved one, not knowing what to do next, I cry out to the LORD for mercy repeatedly over the entire course of my life on this earth. Anyone who rubs shoulders with me hears those cries. They are informed that my Lord, “hears my voice, turns His ear to me, is gracious, righteous, full of compassion, protects the unwary, and saves.” The Holy Spirit leads them to believe the same. Our lives of crying out to the LORD help others have lives willingly dependent on the LORD. I
B1 How do we respond to God’s deliverance? 18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people.” Some of you have vowed to the LORD to love, be faithful to, cherish, support and help in sickness and in health another human being. When asked why you fulfill your vow, you indicate that you want to thank the LORD for the special person whom He has given to you as a life long companion. In doing so, your lives have directed others to the LORD who wants to bless their lives similarly.
2 Some of you have vowed to the LORD to live as if fitting for a child of God, and in faith, word and deed remain true to the Triune God, even unto death. When asked why you fulfill your vow, you indicate that you want to thank the LORD for giving you the ability to speak, the resources to live, the ability to reproduce, a wonderful body with almost limitless capacities, and the people through whom He blesses you. In doing so, your lives have directed others to the LORD who wants to fill humans’ lives with blessings.
3 Some of you have vowed to the LORD to shape your live with God’s Word, to hear the Word of God proclaimed every week, to use the LORD’s Supper whenever it is offered, to study the Word with your fellow Christians at every opportunity. When you fulfill that vow, you are directing others to realize that God’s Word is the tool He has chosen to dispense His blessings of forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life because of Jesus into people’s lives. In doing so, your lives have directed others to the LORD who is the source of those blessings for life.
C1 How do we respond to God’s deliverance? We “sacrifice a thank offering to” the LORD. If we would be living when this Psalm was written, we would literally be involved in sacrificing. We would bring animals and/or plants and have part of them burned by the priests on the altars at the worship location. The remainder of the animals and/or plants was used for the physical support of the priests and the operation of the worship location. What is the modern equivalent to the plants and animals which supported the worship of and proclamation of the true God? Money.
2 We sacrifice a thank offering to the LORD when we dedicate a percentage of our income each year to bring the message to others that Jesus lived and died and rose to give them forgiveness, holiness, and eternal life. You have the privilege of dedicating a percentage of your income to bring Jesus to others. We suggest 10% in keeping with God’s Old Testament directive. In doing so, your lives have helped others have life in Christ.
LORD Jesus, You are right. It’s matter death and life. Your death helps us handle death. Please use our lives to help others have life.
March 19, 2023
CW - A - Epistle Lesson - Lent 4 Kieth Bernard Kuschel
Romans 8:1-10
(Rom 8:1) Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, {2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. {3} For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, {4} in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit. {5} Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. {6} The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace; {7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God. {9} You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. {10} But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
What is inside of you?
What does it do?
Why is it in there?
What is inside of you? Jesus.
Why is He in there?
What does He do?
Today with Paul’s help we want to ask three questions?
IF CHRIST IS IN YOU
I. Are You Condemned?
II. Are You Hostile?
III. Who is in Control?
IA1 A former state probation officer accused of demanding sexual favors from young men under his supervision pleaded no contest to 31 counts. His plea came as jury selection was to begin.. Prosecutors had filed more than 220 criminal counts against him. The 31 counts include charges of second degree sexual assault, hindering prosecution, tampering and unlawful restraint and are applied to all 15 victims in the complaint. Several youths had told police that he threatened to return them to prison if they refused his sexual advances. The alleged assaults took place in his office and at his former home, according to court documents.
2 Did you read that article? How did you respond? Condemnation!! What an outrage! It is bad enough that people do that kind of thing in our society. But when someone who is supposed to be a representative of what is the right does it, it seems worse. When someone who is supposed to be helping people to get back on their feet do such a thing, it is awful. Throw the book at him. Throw away the key.
3 Why did you respond that way? Because this man had violated what you considered to be a standard. The law says you don’t do such things. The conscience says you don’t do such things. Our society which has abandoned many of the tenets of what is right and wrong at least still says you don’t do such things.
B1 A person who at one time in his life formally and publicly stated that he was a believer in Jesus Christ, stated that he would remain faithful to Jesus Christ, stated that he would use the Bible and participate in the Lord’s Supper regularly, and stated that he would live a godly life, doesn’t seem to be any different from anybody else in his neighborhood, never opens his Bible at home at all, and opens his mouth about Jesus Christ so infrequently that hardly anybody knows he is a Christian.
2 How should God respond? Condemnation. Anger. It is bad enough that the general populace is like that. But when someone who is supposed to be connected with Jesus Christ acts that way, it seems worse. When someone who is supposed to be leading others to Jesus acts like that, it is awful. Throw the book at him. Throw away the key.
3 Why could/would/should God respond that way? Because we have failed to do what God says we ought to be doing. The Law of God says we are to keep Jesus first in our lives, we are to use the Word regularly, and we are to act in accordance with the standard God has set up.
C1 Is that how God responds? Listen to Paul: “ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, {2} because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. {3} For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, {4} in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.” Our sinful nature made it impossible for us to be right with God on the basis of trying to keep the Law. I was controlled by sin and headed for eternal death. God condemned me and my sin, but allowed the punishment to fall on Jesus. In addition He puts the holiness of Jesus on me so that the requirements of the law are met in me. So there is no condemnation waiting for me.
There is also no condemnation now. My sins have been removed. I have been punished already when Jesus was punished. The accident I just had which broke my leg is not a punishment from God. Looks that way. Feels that way. Smells that way. But God says it’s not. The loss of my job is not a punishment from God. Looks that way. Smells that way. Feels that way. But God says it’s not. No condemnation.
Thank you Lord for giving me life. I don’t mean physical life. I mean real life. An existence that isn’t threatened with condemnation. Life that resulted when the Holy Spirit brought me to faith in Jesus. Life that resulted when the Christ took up residence in me. If Christ is in you, are you condemned? No way.
IIA1 You are standing in the check out line at the grocery store and you decide to make conversation. So, you say, “What do you think about God?” “Excuse me!!!” Since you took the plunge and approached the subject, you don’t let it go. “What do you think about God?” What is the answer, if the person is willing to talk? “I don’t think about him. Doesn’t cross my mind during the course of the day.” Is that a hostile response? It is not an overtly angry response. But it is a response that is hostile to the whole idea of God. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
2 Got another possible answer? “I think you should mind your own business. I wasn’t bothering you. What’s your problem? Just let me alone. The same thing goes for god. He should just go ahead and do his god thing whatever that is. I will do my thing. I really don’t like intrusions into my life. I know you are going to tell me god wants a relationship with me and I ought to be living connected with him. I don’t care. I want to live my life my way.” Another hostile response to the whole concept of God. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
3 Got a third possible answer? “I’ll tell you what I think about God. I think He is a vindictive, unloving, sadistic so and so. Look what he has allowed to happen in my life over the past few years. If he were loving and caring, such things shouldn’t happen to anybody. That’s what I think about God. You can take your whole idea of God and stick it in your ear.” That is a hostile response. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
B1 You are standing in the check out line at the grocery store and you decide to make conversation. So you say, “How are things going?” “They are going.” Since you took the plunge, you keep swimming. “Are the people in your neighborhood nice?” What is the answer if the person is willing to talk? “I don’t know. I don’t have much contact with them. I am pretty busy. I don’t think about them. They aren’t part of my life.” Is that a hostile response? It is not an overtly angry response. But it is hostile to the whole idea of loving relationships. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
2 Got another possible answer? “I am a pretty private person. I don’t seek out relationships with others. So I don’t know if they are nice or not. I kind of like being alone in our own little world. It is OK if we don’t get any intrusions into our lives from other people. Most of the time people have their own opinions which often are in conflict with mine. I don’t like to have to deal with that. I just like being by myself.” Another hostile response to the whole idea of relationships. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
3 Got a third possible answer? “Things are not going well at all. My neighbors are rotten. They go out of their way to make life miserable. I wish I were living on a desert island. People are all the same. They only look out for themselves. That’s what I think about life right now. You asked for it.” That is a hostile response. Paul tells us that is to be expected: “{7} the sinful mind is hostile to God. It does not submit to God's law, nor can it do so. {8} Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God.”
C1 How would you respond to your own questions? How about this for an answer? “I think about God a lot. I think He is important. I know He loves me. I know He cares about me.” That answer tells me something. It tells me you are at peace with the concept of God. Paul says that is to be expected. “ the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;”
2 How about this for an answer? “Things are going pretty well. My neighbors are busy. They have their own lives to live. So do I. I know they are all sinners as I am. I try to work at my selfishness. I try to remember they are just like me.” That answer tells me something. It tells me you are at peace with the whole concept of loving relationships with sinful human beings. Paul says that is to be expected. “ the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace;”
3 Thank you Lord for giving me life. I don’t mean physical life. I mean real life. An existence that isn’t driven by hostility. Life that resulted when the Holy Spirit brought me to faith in Jesus. Life that resulted when the Christ took up residence in me. If Christ is in you, are you hostile? No way.
IIIA1 As you were walking around investigating all the parts of the cruise ship, you saw that they had everything you could think of for entertainment. Even a casino. You walked through and observed. There was a nice little old lady sitting on a stool. She wasn’t smiling. Her hands were going rhythmically up and down, shoving in coins and pulling the handle. Her pile of coins depleted. She immediately got a new supply. Went back to the same machine and continued. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: {5} “Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;”
2 As you were walking around in the blocks around your hotel in the big city you noticed a man walking slowly, looking at everything. He picked up whatever he found. Then you noticed him going through the refuse containers. When people came by, he would run out to ask them for some money to buy food. A car drove up quickly. He ran over & pulled whatever money he had received out of his pocket. He received a little bag back. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: {5} Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires.
3 As you observe your office mate, you notice he comes in very early, and stays very late. He seems overly concerned that he might lose his job if he doesn’t put in all this extra time. He is always talking about getting security. He never mentions that there is anybody else looking out for him. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: {5} Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires;
B1 As you are walking through the different parts of the facility, you see a little old lady sitting on a stool. She isn’t smiling. She is intense. Her hands go rhythmically up and down. From the dish of pureed food to the mouth of the man. You assume it is her husband. It looks as if she has been doing this for years. When one bowl is depleted, she gets some more. Looks the same just a different color. She intersperses words about Jesus Christ in with her fast moving hands. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: “but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” {10} But if Christ is in you, your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
2 As you are counting the receipts for the fundraiser for the family who lost everything in a fire, you notice a check from a man who picks up cans off the street for the nickel deposit, who drives an old car, who lives in a modest home, and who is considered odd by most except those with whom he worships every Sunday. The reason his check caught your attention was - you never knew he had that kind of money. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: “but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” {10} But if Christ is in you, your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
3 As you observe your office mate, you notice that he is always busy doing things right after work. You hear him talk a lot about all the activity that he crams into his weekends. Most of the things he does seem to have a common denominator. He is interacting with a lot of people. He seems intense about rubbing shoulders with a lot of people. Rumor is that he thinks he might be able to steer them toward Jesus if he has ongoing contact with them. Who is in control here? Paul’s answer is: “but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.” {10} But if Christ is in you, your spirit is alive because of righteousness.
C1 “ {9} You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you.” God the Holy Spirit brought you to trust that Jesus died to wipe away your sins. He brought you to trust that Jesus lived perfectly so that He might cover you with His holiness, He brought you to trust that Jesus rose from the dead so that He might give you eternal life. But God the Holy Spirit also took up residence in your life at that time and is in charge of you.
2 How does He exercise His position? He works in you through the Word of the Lord. He works in you through the Holy Supper.
3 Thank you Lord for giving me life. I don’t mean physical life. I mean real life. An existence that is controlled by the Holy Spirit. “If Christ is in you, your spirit is alive.”