May 26, 2024

 Sermon for 05.19.24 

 Jesus’ Star Witness

  By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 15:26-27 26 “When the Counselor comes, whom I  will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth,  who proceeds from the Father—he will testify about me. 27 And you also are going to testify, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 16: 4-11b 4 But I have told  you these things so that when their time comes, you  may remember that I told them to you. I did not tell  you these things from the beginning, because I was  with you. 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. 

Whether we like it or not, we are hearing a lot, maybe too much, about  testimony these days. The Donald Trump trial is fodder for the newscasts  as they talk about the courtroom testimony of Stormy Daniels, or Michael  Cohen. Analysts dissect what was said. And defense lawyers claim the  testimony wasn’t the truth. 

Testify–that’s legal language, courtroom language. And testifying in a  courtroom is about speaking and confessing what is true. That’s what’s  supposed to happen in a court of law. 

So when Jesus was about to leave his disciples through his death and  ascension, he told them he would send one who would testify to them,  and through them to the world. He would testify the truth about Jesus.  The Holy Spirit is Jesus’ Star Witness.  

That is the Holy Spirit’s job, if you will, to shine the light on Jesus, to  glorify Christ. Sometimes we might wonder why the Bible doesn’t say too  much about the Holy Spirit, certainly not nearly as much as we read  about Jesus. But actually that is just fine with the Holy Spirit. He wants  Jesus to get that kind of attention. The Holy Spirit wants people to look  upon Jesus and be saved.

Think of it this way: Your car is out somewhere in a big parking lot. But  it is night, it is dark, and you do not know where to your car is. So the  security guard comes alongside you, with a flashlight, and leads you to  your car, shining the light on it, not on himself. So you see the car, but  you do not notice the person holding the flashlight, even though you  couldn’t have found the car without the person holding the flashlight. 

That is how the Holy Spirit works. We do not notice him much, but all  the while he is pointing the flashlight at Jesus, so we can see our Savior  clearly and find him, so to speak. As we say in the Catechism: “I believe  

that I cannot by my own reason strength believe in Jesus Christ, my  Lord, or come to him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the gospel.” The Holy Spirit will guide us into all the truth about our Savior.  

We live in a world today where nobody seems to be sure that there is  such a thing as truth. Truth, we are told, is whatever happens to be true  for you. But that is all so subjective and shaky and uncertain. Yet there is  such a thing as absolute truth. Truth is what God says in his Word. That is what we can be sure of.  

So if you want to know how things really stand between God and man; if  you want to know what is right and wrong in this world from God’s  perspective, which is the only one that counts; if you want to know the  things that are to come, where this world is headed–then the one place to  find that out is in God’s Word. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, will guide you  into that truth. He will open the Scriptures for you. As you grow in the  grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ, as you continue to come to  church and Bible class and grow in your understanding of God’s Word, it  will be the Holy Spirit, the Counsellor, who will be guiding you into all  the truth. 

It was that way for the disciples. And so it is and will be for us also. The  Holy Spirit is with us. The Holy Spirit will go with us, throughout our  lives, to keep us in the Christian faith, to guard and guide us, to sanctify  us and help us grow as Christians. The same Holy Spirit, whom Christ  poured out on the church on the Day of Pentecost, was given to each one  of us on the day of our baptism. That was our own personal Pentecost. The Holy Spirit will go with you, as your Helper, the rest of the way on  your Christian journey.  

And so He will enable us to be witnesses as well. Not just repeating  hearsay but repeating the truth. He will give us the words of truth to  speak. It is not about us and our abilities. The Spirit does not do his work  because we speak, but through our speaking. The Spirit, working  through the truth of the Word, never fails to accomplish God’s will! 

 Maybe you are thinking, “If God empowered me with tornado sounds, a  flame on my head, and the ability to speak fluent foreign languages,  people would probably let me tell them about Jesus too, but I have got  nothing like that.” No! You have everything! Those signs did nothing but  signal the arrival of the powerful, transformational Holy Spirit who did  all the converting, empowering, and emboldening. God fills you with the  exact same Spirit, to equip and empower us for our purpose—to  faithfully, and fearlessly proclaim the resurrected Christ to the  unbelieving world. We simply “proclaim the wonders of God” and the  Spirit does the rest! It is about the Spirit testifying to the truth through  us. 

But why us? Why did not God use angels instead? I mean, they were  pretty top notch at Christmas and Easter! Why would God choose fearful,  stumbling messengers who so often quit, grow apathetic, or lose courage?  Why sinful messengers like us and the Apostles to share Jesus with the  unbelieving world? 

Why us? Because we are living the message we proclaim! Because we have felt the sting as the Spirit crushes us with our failures to keep God’s  law. Because we have felt the utter joy of the gospel as the Spirit reminds  us that our salvation and forgiveness are certain through faith in Jesus.  Because we have lived a life of hatred and blind ignorance towards God,  only to have the Spirit shatter our stony, unbelieving hearts and giving us  spiritual sight through hearts of faith that fully grasp God’s perfect love  for the world in Christ. Because only people who know the pain of  starvation can fully appreciate being fed, and the joy of pointing others to  the one who can fill them. 

And the Holy Spirit will convict the world about sin, as Jesus said,  “because they do not believe in me.” The Catechism teaches us to look to  the 10 Commandments as the mirror which shows us our sins. (Romans  3:20) Why didn’t he say “because they do not obey the 10  Commandments”? Two reasons. Is the difference between Christians and  everyone else that Christians obey the Law and everyone else does not?  No. The difference is not obedience vs disobedience; it is faith vs.  unbelief. The second reason is that humans are very skilled at distorting  God’s Law. But the Holy Spirit shows us Jesus so that we see the truth  about sin. God is so serious about sin that he crucified his own Son to pay  for it. The truth about sin is that a person either believes Jesus paid for it  on the cross or he/she will spend eternity in hell paying for it. 

The Holy Spirit will convict the world about righteousness. Whenever the  world tries to minimize the severity of sin it simultaneously replaces  God’s standard for righteousness with its own standard. The Holy Spirit defends the truth that we are to be perfect, as our heavenly Father is  perfect (Matthew 5:48) and the result: that no one will be declared  righteous in God’s sight by observing the law. (Romans 3:20) 

And so He will convict the world…about judgment, because the ruler of  this world has been judged. Jesus called Satan the prince of this world  (John 12:31) meaning that most of this world’s institutions, ideals and  

philosophies are under his influence. He rebelled against God and he  leads the world to do the same. He tempts us to live according to our  wants, feelings, and desires – instead of according to God’s holy will. And  he defends it by lying that there is no judgment by God. But the Holy  Spirit testifies that this is a damnable lie – and the evidence is that Satan  has already been judged. He has lost the war. His eternal fate in hell is  sealed. What God vowed to Satan in the Garden of Eden: he will crush  your head and you will strike his heel (Genesis 3:15) was accomplished by  Christ on the cross. So that we can sing with Luther: this world’s prince  may still, scowl fierce as he will, he can harm us none. He’s judged; the  deed is done! One little word can fell him. (CW 863:3)  

Satan has been defeated and damned to hell for all eternity and all who  believe his lies will suffer the same fate. That’s a terrifying thought. But  you don’t have to be afraid because Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit to  guard and keep you from Satan’s lies with the Gospel truth that because  Jesus was condemned in your place there is now no condemnation for  those who are in Christ Jesus. (Romans 8:1) That is the truth about  judgment. 

Pentecost is the promise that today someone is standing with you  whispering in your ear, knocking at the door of your heart, and taking  you by the hand. By the power of the Holy Spirit, we are drawn closer to  Jesus. When the Church in conflict He shows us the truth of the word. When suffering takes our words away, the Spirit continues to speak for us  (Romans 8:26). He gives us the very words to testify about him. When  we feel lost in the world, the Spirit lives in our hearts reminding us that  we are the children of God (Galatians 4:6). The Spirit speaks to us  through the Scriptures, brings life through the water and the Word, and  gathers us together around the table of Jesus where we remember Him  and receive Him in His body and blood. 

Thank God for the Holy Spirit and his work of testifying to the saving  truth of Christ. Amen.


April 14, 2024

The Resurrection Means God’s Light is Our Delight 

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

1 John 1:5–2:2 –This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice. 7 But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus  Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we  deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is  faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all  unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him out to be  a liar, and his Word is not in us…. My children, I write these things to you  so that you will not sin. If anyone does sin, we have an Advocate before  the Father: Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice  for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the entire world. 

This past Monday, parts of the United States were able to witness an  awe-inspiring sight – the total eclipse of the sun. Isn’t it amazing that the  universe is laid out so perfectly that we can calculate the exact time down  to the place, day, and minute that such phenomena occur? That could not happen if the universe was just a random accident. It is another proof of  the divine majesty of the Creator. By the way, the next full solar eclipse  will come right over mid-Michigan … in the year 2205. I’m keeping my  eclipse glasses. How about you? 

People travelled from all over the United States and the world to see the awe-inspiring sight of moving from daylight into darkness. The birds  stop singing. The temperature drops. And there is an eeriness that falls  upon the land. Then as the moon keeps moving, light begins to shine  again and warmth, and life begins to stir from its unnatural sleep. 

Most of these folks, however, miss the real darkness and the real light  they should be paying attention to.  

How can some not see the darkness in this world? The violence?  Shootings in our schools, threats of terror, bombings, wars? Do we not  see the collapse of the family and the embrace of an “anything goes”  sexuality? Do not we witness a world where neighbor has turned on neighbor for even the most foolish of reasons, including that they belong  to the “wrong” political party. Many of you know of someone who  wrestles with a personal darkness. Drugs, porn, alcohol, depression?  There is darkness out there! But before we get too caught up in the  darkness out there in the world, let us remember the darkness that is in  here, in us. 

That darkness is our own sin, our own failure to live up to God’s  standard. This is not just an occasional eclipse of God’s will. It is  continual darkness trying to obscure the light of God’s will. At times we  may even embrace it. We embrace the idea of getting even with someone  who has wronged us. We willingly gossip and spread the rumors we have heard. We let our eyes feast on the images that lead us into sexual sins of  thought and deed. We turn our backs on God’s expressed will so that we  can do what we want.  

It is death that shows us that there is darkness within us. Death is proof  that we are not perfect, that salvation is not something we can obtain on  our own. That darkness points us to a need for light.  

The resurrection of Jesus proves that Jesus is the light we need. God’s  light is our delight. 

This light John writes about is not simply some warm, fuzzy feeling. It is the light of God’s glory – glory that shows itself in diverse ways at various  times. In the Old Testament, God would reveal his glory in flames and  smoke. In the New Testament God’s glory is seen in Jesus. Today we see  that glory in His word and sacraments.  

God is light. I think John chose the word light because it carries a  positive connotation. Light helps you avoid danger. When you walk in  darkness, you may stumble over an obstacle, or fall off a cliff or down the  stairs, or worse. Darkness is full of threat and fear. But light changes all  that. It exposes dangers and frees you from fear. It is full of hope and  promise.  

This is the gift that God gave to each of us. He looked at us and saw how  broken and how lost we were in the darkness of sin. He saw how sin  eclipsed the relationship He wanted to have with us. He saw the shadow  of death that hung over us all…and he loved us. He loved you. He came  into our world with a bright beaming light and placed it in a manger.  That light, Jesus, then lived among us, he was what you and I could not  be, he was perfect, he never sinned. He did what you and I could never  do, he offered his life as a sacrifice for all sin, everyone’s. He did this to  save you and me from darkness, from death, and from hell. This is the  light we needed. This is the Savior we still need. He shines upon us lighting the way, being our guide in the darkness leading us home to be  with him always, forever, in heaven. 

But not everyone wants God’s light to illumine their sin. Satan works  hard to get people to sluff off sin as a joke, narrowminded, outdated  thinking or the way the church controls simple minded people. Scripture  says they hide their sins in darkness because it would shame them if they  did them in the light. 

But John writes in our text: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive  ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”  

For most of us saying we have no sin is not our problem. God’s light has  revealed our sin, and we admit it. Yet our problem may be that we tend to  generalize our sinfulness. “I’m a sinner, forgive me.” But do we honestly  look at our specific thoughts, our specific actions, and specific words and  compare them to God’s law? We admit we are generalized sinners. But  our sin tries to eclipse that we are also specific sinners.  

But does not John also write here, “My little children, I am writing these  things to you so that you may not sin.” We know not only that we have  sinned, but will still sin today, tomorrow and for however long our Lord  allows us to live in this broken world. The mark of the saint is not  sinlessness but sin-consciousness! In this life we never get beyond the  awareness of remaining sin. Therefore one of the great signs of maturity  in Christ is a deep and abiding awareness of one’s brokenness in sin. 

Yet no one who remains united in fellowship with Him—deliberately,  knowingly, and habitually practices sin. A believer will struggle with sin  and sometimes give in, but giving in to sin is no longer the norm. As we  grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord we are growing in holy  living. The light returns daily in our lives through repentance. As the  Spirit leads us, we will walk increasingly in the light of God’s word.  

Only through that awareness can we find the cure, the light that shines  into our hearts. Not only to show our sin, but to lighten us with God’s  grace, mercy, and peace. God’s light is also His love. A love that  transcends our understanding. A love that knows no limits or conditions.  The love of God shines the light of his forgiveness into our hearts.  

And when we do sin, through faith in him, Jesus is our Advocate, who  does speak in our defense. He does not claim that we are innocent of the  charges against us. Rather He declares that He has appeased the eternal  wrath of God by becoming the sinner for us and being punished with our  deserved punishment. He paid our debt. 

Think of sin as snow that falls in April. In a day or two the powerful sun  melts it, and it disappears! The powerful Word of God assures us that  Jesus paid for our sins in full. In Christ’s forgiveness, God no longer sees  our sin. The Son has taken them away. As Christians, God sees us as  saints through Christ’s perfect life no matter what we do! What great  news this is for us! 

So, we daily fight against our sins in Christ’s strength! How do we get  that strength? John wrote, “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we  have fellowship with one another…” (v.7) John pictures Christians  gathering together around the Light of God’s Word. If a group of people  are camping on a cold April day and someone lights a large campfire, it  does not take long for everyone to gather to it to get warm. We gather together here around the light of Jesus to warm ourselves and each other  in His love.  

Miraculously, the light of Christ is enlarging God’s kingdom. We see it in  baptism. It happens as you listen to God’s Word and take it to heart. We  reflect his light as we patiently wait for the Lord’s deliverance in dark and  trying times. Sometimes sin will try to eclipse the light of God. But it will  not happen. God’s light keeps shining and breaks through the darkness  with the aura of his grace and mercy.  

As extraordinary as an eclipse is, it is simply the natural world behaving  in the way the one and only God who created it set it up to behave. But I  think anything that can give us a little jaw-dropping awe and wonder to  stop us in our tracks — to quiet the din and buzz of everyday busyness — can be a terrific opportunity to reflect on God’s grandeur. 

God’s light is our delight. The grandeur of God’s light causes us to quiet  the din and buzz of everyday busyness and so we say with the psalmist: 

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! Set this glory of yours above the heavens. (v.1) 

Amen


April 7, 2024

Proofs to Confirm our Faith

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 20:19-31 On the evening of that first day of the week, the disciples were together behind locked doors because of their fear of the Jews. Jesus came, stood among them, and said to them, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. So the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 Whenever you forgive  people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not  forgiven.” 24 But Thomas, one of the Twelve, the one called the Twin, was not  with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples kept telling him, “We have  seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands,  and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will  never believe.” 26After eight days, his disciples were inside again, and Thomas  was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among  them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger  here and look at my hands. Take your hand and put it into my side. Do not  continue to doubt, but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my  God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed.  Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” 30 Jesus, in the  presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written 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. 

There are times that we need a boost of confidence and a lone voice rings  out to give you that boost. Perhaps it is when we are standing at the free  throw line in basketball and your team needs only one point to win the  game. And you hear the coach shout from the sideline, “You can do it!”  Or when you are facing the congregation on your confirmation to give  witness to your faith and you think you are going to fail. But then the  pastor says “you got this!” Or maybe when you have heard that a dear  friend was seriously ill and you give them a call just to hear their voice to  regain your confidence that they will be alright.  

On this Second Sunday of Easter, the Risen Lord Jesus comes to you and  to me to confirm our faith. That’s confirmation we all need. For you four  young adults about to be confirmed, you have been listening to Jesus’  voice these past years in Sunday School and confirmation instruction.  Jesus was speaking to you through the voice of your teachers and through my voice. He was confirming that your faith isn’t a matter of  opinion but God’s revelation. He was confirming that what you are  confessing this morning isn’t a matter of your choice, but God’s will.  

This is what we read in this morning’s Gospel. After Mary and the other  women told Jesus’ disciples they had seen the Lord, the disciples did not  really believe. By Sunday evening the disciples are behind locked doors huddled in fear. This is the Church at its absolute worst. Hunkered down,  huddled together, letting fear rather than faith control their every thought and action. 

Then suddenly, Jesus comes and stands among them. It’s Jesus who  speaks the first word. And just as was the case at the sound of God’s voice  in creation, the sound of Jesus’ voice creates something wonderful and  new: “Peace be with you,” he says (v 19). 

This is not a wish or a hope. It is his gift to them. This was the whole  point of what Jesus had just been through. Jesus’ death on the cross was  to reestablish the peace between God and man that had been shattered when we first sinned. Sin will always stand as separation, conflict, between two parties. In sin, we live for ourselves, not for the other. In sin,  we cannot be in harmony, gladly yielding for the sake of others. In sin, we  could never be with God, because his holiness cannot be in relationship  with unholiness. But by taking our sin to the cross, Christ removed the  separation and reconciled us to God, bringing us back into peace with  him. 

The whole scene repeats a week later when Thomas, at last, is with the disciples. He speaks the same word. “Peace be with you.” Rather than  scolding, Jesus encourages Thomas to touch and see the wounds. “Do not  disbelieve, but believe” (v 27). 

Even though two thousand years have passed since that first Easter evening, the church still struggles to get out from behind locked doors and into the world. The fear that kept the first apostles locked up is as  crippling in the twenty-first century as it was in the first century.  

You young adults have lived in relative safety until now. Soon you will  move into high school and college and later the working world. You will  be confronted by those who think Christianity is silly or narrow minded.  You will be encouraged to open your minds to new ways of thinking, new  morality, a new way of living. Some will be subtle, and some will be  forceful, even violent. Fear can make you huddle behind the closed doors  of not speaking up or even giving in.  

For example: A while back there was an article in which a Florida State  University professor claimed that Jesus did not walk on water as the Bible maintains. Rather he speculated that some mysterious  meteorological phenomena caused the Sea of Galilee to freeze over so  Jesus actually walked on ice. Nothing miraculous about that! Would you  have the confidence to stand up to a university professor and tell him  that he’s wrong? Would your children? Your grandchildren? 

Example number two: Have you ever heard of the “Gospel of Judas”?  The “Gospel of Judas” was written long after Judas ended his own life  after his betrayal of Jesus. This document contends that Jesus told Judas  to betray Him as a part of some clandestine scheme to “manipulate” the  Old Testament Messianic prophecies to make it look like He was the  fulfillment of those prophecies. Would you have the confidence to stand  up and say that’s why the book of Judas was discovered in a garbage  dump, because that’s where it belongs? 

The irony of the disciples’ locked doors is that they weren’t really keeping  out the soldiers. The One they were locking out was Jesus. They locked  out the word he had so clearly spoken to them about dying and rising  again. And in locking out that word, they locked out Jesus. When fear  becomes our focus, we fall into the same trap; we lock out the Lord, who  time and again tells his Church, “Do not be afraid!” 

Jesus will have none of it! And so, he comes and stands among them and  among us and speaks words that brings the very thing they say: “Peace be with you.” “Peace, your sin is forgiven!” “Do not fear the world. I have  overcome the world. Peace be with you.” 

That word comes to you and me today, with exactly the same power as it  came to those first disciples on the first Easter and to Thomas a week later. With his resurrection, Jesus barges through our self-made doors  that don’t provide us the peace and security we thought they would.  Jesus gives us what we most desperately need, but have only failed to  find on our own – peace; true, lasting, blood bought peace with God. The  peace of Easter is the peace to know that because Jesus lives, the holy  God is not an angry ogre waiting to squash you into hell forever – because Jesus has paid the debt of your sin. The peace of Easter is to  know that because Jesus lives, you don’t have to be afraid of that day  when it’s you who’s lying in the casket – because Jesus has defeated your  death with his resurrection. The peace of Easter is to know that the  anxiety and the worry and the fear that drain joy from your life, peace  from your heart, and sleep from your eyes – to know that all of those  pressing concerns that seem to smack you in the face as soon as you wake  up aren’t the final word. Instead, with his resurrection, Jesus promises,  Peace be with you! The peace of Easter is to know that Jesus lives, and he  is alive for me. 

This peace is for all of us even if we ran away from Jesus like the  disciples, if we denied him like Peter, if we doubted him like Thomas.  And we all have at times. Perhaps more than we want to admit. Jesus  speaks his reassuring words of peace to even us. 

Jesus spoke his peace to us in the water of our Baptism, where we were  joined to his death and resurrection and we died to sin and rose to new  life. That peace is spoken to us every time we return in repentance to our  Baptism, and he says to you through your pastor, “I forgive you all your  sins.” That peace is spoken to you at his table, where in, with, and under  bread and wine, he comes through space and time to feed you his body  and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and to lift from you your fears.  There his voice speaks peace. “This is for you,” he says, “for the  forgiveness of sin.” 

And we rise from the table at peace, ready to go into the world. “As the  Father has sent me, even so I am sending you” (v 21). The Lord cannot be  bound; his word will not be bound; and his followers do not live behind  locked doors. He sends us out into the world, but we do not go empty handed. 

He breathes his Holy Spirit upon his disciples, and to his Church, he hands the keys to the kingdom of heaven. And so we have confidence that  our message isn’t make-believe. It is the very word of God that stands  opposed to the foolishness of this age that pretends to be wisdom. Our  voices, our human voices, become voices of power, not because they are  louder, wiser, or more entertaining than other voices, but because  through our voice, Jesus himself speaks. 

“Peace be with you.” And our confidence soars! Amen


March 24, 2024

Sermon for Palm Sunday

Rethinking Real Strength

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

Hebrews 12:1-3 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us get rid of every burden and the sin that so easily ensnares us, and let us run with patient endurance the race that is laid out for us. 2 Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, who is the author of our faith and the one who brings it to its goal. In view of the joy set before him, he endured the cross,  disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of God’s  throne. 3 Carefully consider him who endured such hostility against himself  from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose heart. 

Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, arrested by a mob, humiliated by  the Sanhedrin, brutalized by the soldiers, and nailed to a cross. If we did not  know the back story to these images, we would have to agree that these are pictures of weakness not strength. Yet through the words of our text we see  real strength as Jesus entered the week of his passion 2000 years ago. It  was a marvelous show of strength because He had his eye on the goal – your  salvation and mine.  

When Jesus arrived in the city to shouts of “Hosanna to the Son of David, he  was fulfilling Zechariah’s prophecy. This was about making a statement! And  the people knew what he was doing. Thousands of hands stripped the palm  trees bare on the ascent to Jerusalem to hail the new king who had come to  set them free at Passover, the original Independence Day. 

The Passover Feast was to Jews what the fourth of July is to Americans only  much bigger. It was a rallying point for intense, nationalistic zeal. That is  what the palm branches symbolized. Two hundred years before Palm  Sunday, there had been a successful revolution led by a man named Judas  Maccabeus. He even minted coins with the symbol of a palm tree. This  became the symbol freedom for Israel. The people surely hoped for another  Maccabean-like revolution. Perhaps they thought Jesus had just been buying  time with his teachings but now his intent was clear: to throw the Romans  out! And here at the time of festival he had around 2 million zealous Jews  gathered in pilgrimage from every corner of the empire. All Jesus had to do was just make the slightest move to revolt—and he would have had massive  popular support. 

But then, only four days later, we see Jesus arrested, tortured, and crucified.  The crowds turned against him. They felt their dreams betrayed. They hoped he was strong enough to throw off the Romans. But now he looked so weak.  

Palm Sunday shows us an example of something that happened often in  Jesus’ ministry: People give Jesus an identity that is not his, an agenda that is not his, and a schedule that is not his. Then they get upset when his plan is not their plan, when he does not serve them the way they want him to.  

From a human perspective, Jesus made all the wrong moves between Palm  Sunday and Good Friday. But from his perspective, it was all part of the plan.  All the details had to be right, fulfilling prophecy. The place had to be right.  The timing had to be right. Even the method of execution had to be right. 

Do people still today force Jesus into their personal agendas? Sure we do. We all try to fit Jesus into our own molds. We imagine our priorities must  also be his. We praise God when we think our prayers will be answered the  way we want. But then we get frustrated when it does not turn out that  way. We always try to use things, even God, for our own personal  advantage. But thankfully, Jesus refuses to fit into anyone else’s agenda. 

It took real strength to not give in to the popular but false notions of who He  was supposed to be. It took real strength to endure the scorn, the beatings, and the pain of crucifixion. It took real strength, the strength of divine love  to hold him to that cross for sins he did not commit, but for which he was  being punished. It was the strength of his divine love for you that helped him  endure. He kept his eye on his real purpose-winning the world’s forgiveness  and our salvation. His strength was not to be sidetracked or deterred from  that goal. 

That is why he is our Savior. That is why the writer of the Hebrews tells us to  take courage for our own sufferings by fixing our eyes on Jesus and drawing  from his strength. “Carefully consider him who endured such hostility  against himself from sinful people, so that you do not grow weary and lose  heart.” 

It is easy for us to lose heart and grow weary, isn’t it? Let us face it, we battle  our sinful natures every moment of every day. We battle the sin around us.  We battle the effects of sin on our bodies, souls, and minds. Our  expectations and agendas for our life and our faith are often derailed. So we  need to refocus our attention on Christ and the great crowd that surrounds  us. It is not the Palm Sunday crowd, cheering one moment, condemning the next. It is the crowd of witnesses, who have run the same course as we are  running. 

This cloud of witnesses is our encouragement to stay faithful. It is through  their lives, weaknesses, and struggles that we see what a great God we  have. Encouraged, not just because they got through their troubles, but also  encouraged because we can see that by placing faith in Christ in each and  every circumstance we too will be delivered. 

You have been placed into this cloud of witnesses by God’s grace through  seemingly weak things. But they actually have God’s strength for you behind  them. Though some see baptism as a mere tradition, you know that through  the strength of God’s promise your whole life has been placed in Christ. You  are forgiven of all of your sins and recreated in the image of God. Your body is now a temple where the Holy Spirit lives, the guarantee of eternal life. That is real strength! 

Though some see only bread and wine, you know that through the strength  of Jesus’ words you are given his very real body and blood for your  forgiveness. And where there is forgiveness there is also life and salvation.  There is God’s strength, still focused on you and your eternal life.  

In times of stress, trial, and fears the Spirit enables you to focus not on  yourself but on your God who is an ever-present Help in times of trouble.  Your strength lies in the God who strengthens you through these Means of  Grace. Just as He has helped sinners in the past, so too He will deliver you as  well. Do not focus on your sinfulness or inability, focus on Christ. Jesus who  for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,  and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. He has authored all of  your days, as clouded and complex as they may seem. He is in the midst of  your life giving you strength and hope for each day. In and through all of  these trials you are made more like Him. And in the end, you will fully realize  this on the Last Day when Jesus comes again to make all things new. 

That is why we need to keep our focus on him. Because when we see Jesus  as he really is, not just one to make us comfortable now, but one to secure  us safely for eternity, everything else starts to fall into place. We will bear  crosses in this life and suffer tremendous sorrow and hardship. But we have  the strength to endure. Because of Christ’s victory our struggles will not last forever. A time is coming when we will bid this world’s problems, and  sorrows farewell and join our Savior in the perfection of eternal life. Will that  problem in your life still be troublesome? Yes. Will things still need to be  worked out? Yes. But if our focus is on Jesus, we will continue to have  eternal perspective. No temptation will overwhelm us. Nothing will separate us from his love. We can trust him today and for eternity that He will be  there to save. 

Difficulties which make unbelievers surrender in despair can be the means of  bringing us closer to God strengthening our faith, deepening our trust,  purifying our love. Jesus is the assurance of your victory. Because of his  strength the Easter conquest of the grave has given you a title to a room in  the heavenly mansions. The decay of the grave gives way to the resurrection  of the body. The separation at Christian funerals prepares for the never ending reunion in our better homeland. 

In short, let all the enemies of your soul stand in formation against you! Let  the devil whisper that there can be no pardon for your sins! Let your  conscience protest that you have sinned too often to be restored! Let the  world mock and scoff—and it will! As you clasp your Savior's hand more  closely, cry out in this triumph of trust: “The Lord is my strength and my  song. Of whom shall I be afraid!” 

As we journey through this Holy Week, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. See  him give his very body and blood with bread and wine for you. See him allow  himself to be betrayed for you. See him allow himself to be condemned for  you. See him suffer not just crucifixion, but hell on the cross for you. See him  conquer sin by his death and conquer death by his resurrection.  

Keep your focus on him. He is your real strength! 

Amen.


March 17, 2024

 Rethinking Commitment

– It’s What Changes Transforms a Promise to Reality

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 12:20–33 

Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the Festival. 21 They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell  Andrew. Andrew came with Philip and told Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. 24Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it continues to  be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain. 25Anyone who loves  his life destroys it. And the one who hates his life in this world will hold  on to it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, let him follow me. And  where I am there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father  will honor him. 27 “Now my soul is troubled. And what shall I say? ‘Father,  save me from this hour’? No, this is the reason I came to this  hour. 28 Father, glorify your name!” A voice came from heaven: “I have  glorified my name, and I will glorify it again.” 29 The crowd standing there  heard it and said it thundered. Others said an angel talked to him. 30 Jesus  answered, “This voice was not for my sake but for yours. 31 “Now is the  judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown  out. 32And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to  myself.” 33 He said this to indicate what kind of death he was going to die. 

No other human power can match that of determination or commitment.  It has the potential to create heaven or much worse not just for oneself,  but also for the world. It is the ultimate terminator, unstoppable and  invincible; nothing can stand in its way – not obstacles, not dangers, not  even death. Nations rise and fall on the backs of a few determined souls.  The most glorious as well as the most heinous pages of human history  belong to individuals, who are totally committed in their single-minded  pursuit, regardless of the costs. 

Commitment. Determination. We see it here in this reading about Jesus.  And this tells us so much about how Jesus is committed to you. 

We meet up with Jesus during Holy Week after his Palm Sunday entrance  into Jerusalem. Some people from Greece had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. They had heard about this Jesus from Nazareth.  Perhaps it was about the miracles. Perhaps it was because he openly loved  the Gentiles. Regardless, they want to check him out and understand what  he was about. So, they track down Philip and make a simple request, “Sir,  we want to see Jesus.” 

We don’t know if Jesus met with these Greek people to talk with them. But  he does take the opportunity to point ahead to what is coming. In the  future, this will be his disciples’ job—to show Jesus to those who need  him. But for now, Jesus is set on what is coming in the near future: “Amen,  Amen, I tell you: Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it  continues to be one kernel. But if it dies, it produces much grain.” Jesus  uses this agricultural analogy to point to what he is going to do in just a  few days. These Greeks really did not need to see and meet with him; they  needed the work he was going to do. He, one person, would be sacrificed,  so that all people would benefit from it—many seeds from one seed. 

Jesus knows what is going to happen to him in Jerusalem, the suffering, and the cruel death. Yet he goes through with it anyway. Christ is  committed and determined to carry out his mission, knowing full well  what it will involve. That will mean a cross. There Christ will shed his holy  blood. There, on the cross, the Son of God will suffer and die. For you. To  atone for your sins including your lack of commitment to him. To lift the  burden and the guilt off of your shoulders and place them on his own. To  put you right with God, even as he, the sinless one, experiences the utter  abandonment that we sinners deserve. That is how committed and  determined Jesus is for your salvation. 

But this was no easy commitment. This is weighing heavily on Jesus. We  will see it clearly in the Garden of Gethsemane just 4 days later. But even  now Jesus is showing the pressure and the hardship that his work is  putting on him, “Now my soul is troubled,” Jesus says. But there is no  other option. “And what shall I say? ‘Father, save me from this hour’?”  Jesus asks, as if it is the most ridiculous thing anyone has ever said. “No,  this is the reason I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name!” Should  Jesus retreat from what is ahead of him? Should the Father change the  plan at the eleventh hour? No! This was the whole reason that Jesus came  into the world in the first place. He came to be the seed that dies in the  ground which then produces a gigantic harvest!  

The Father is as committed to our salvation as His holy Son is. Every step  of the way from the fall into sin in Eden to this moment has revealed his  determination to save us. Despite mankind’s sin, he promised a Savior.  That Savior would be his only-begotten, eternal Son. God worked to mold history to bring about Jesus’ arrival. Even when Israel repeatedly lost their  commitment and dedication to Him by worshipping false gods, God  stayed committed to them. When the baby was born in Bethlehem, and  nobody except some shepherds cared, God stayed committed to his plan  of salvation. As Jesus spoke the things the Father gave Him to say, and  people rejected his words, he stayed committed to proclaiming the  kingdom of heaven. And now, as Jesus talks about his impending death  and the disciples were slow to understand, Father and Son showed an unswerving commitment and determination for our salvation. 

It continues to happen repeatedly over the coming days. When the Father  tells Jesus that he cannot take the cup away from him, they stayed  committed. When Jesus submits to the abuse of the Sanhedrin, the High  Priest, and Pontius Pilate, he stays committed. When Jesus is tortured, humiliated, and stretched out over the cross, the Father does not change  his mind. Would we be so committed to ungrateful people that we would  let our child suffer like that and not change our minds? Would our hearts  not break, and we change our minds? God stayed committed. When Jesus  suffers hell itself, over your sins and mine, there, too, God stayed  committed to you and your salvation.  

Here is the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. This news of Jesus’  work is for all people. That is exactly what Jesus said, “Now is the  judgment of this world. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out.  And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself.”  Jesus’ death would hurl Satan from any position of power that he might  have thought he had and proclaim Jesus as King of kings and Lord of lords.  And in doing so, He will become the Savior for all people of all time.  Because he committed to the cross, all people, you and I included—are  forgiven. 

Now, let us take it from there. If Jesus was so determined and committed  for you, will he not see you through your life? Of course he will. Your risen  Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is committed to see you through, all the way.  He is determined to get you home safe and sound. Christ your Lord will do  whatever it takes to keep and preserve you in the Christian faith so that  you make it home. How can I be so sure? Because in your baptism you  were sealed with the Holy Spirit, the guarantee of eternal life. 

Do you doubt, do you worry? Jesus will see you through. Are you weighed  down with a guilty conscience? Hear the freeing words of the gospel  preached into your ears. Do you struggle with a lack of commitment and  dedication to God? Come to the Lord’s Table today and hear Jesus say to  you, “This is my body, this is my blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Jesus will do whatever it takes to bring you home  safely.  

How is your commitment to following Jesus? Determination is the ability  to make tough decisions and accomplish God’s goals based on the truths  of God’s word, regardless of the difficulty. It is the ability to set ourselves toward Godly pursuits, and not allow ourselves to be distracted or  discouraged. Is your commitment total and complete? Or does it have  weak links? Are there things that, at times, are more important to you  than Jesus? Jesus expects the same dedication to him that he has for me,  but does he find it? Hardly. When my frustration with other things leaks  out and negatively impacts my family, I am committed to my frustration  or anger, not Jesus. When laziness leads us to prioritize leisure over  responsibility, we are committed to recreation, not Jesus. When we let our focus and energy be on money, we are committed to our greed, not Jesus. 

The athlete who fails his carefully regimented diet and spends a day eating junk food is not disqualified as an athlete. But he needs to recommit  himself to following the training plan. Likewise, you and I are not rejected  by our Savior because we have had poor commitment today, this week,  this month, this past year, or even the past decade. Jesus solves our lack of  commitment to him by his total commitment to us. And then, in turn, his  total commitment to us is what produces our total commitment to him.  

So strengthen your feeble knees today, be refreshed and encouraged by  means of what Christ gives you.  

He is totally committed to you. 

Amen


Written Sermon March 10, 2024

Rethinking the Solution for Sin

 By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

Numbers 21:4-9

Number 21:4-9 They set out from Mount Hor along the road to the Red Sea to go around the land of Edom, but the people became very impatient  along the way. 5 The people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt  to die in the wilderness? Look, there is no food! There is no water! And we are disgusted by this worthless food!” 

6 The LORD sent venomous snakes among the people, and the snakes bit the  people. As a result many people from Israel died. 7 The people went to  Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against  the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD to take the snakes away from  us.” So Moses prayed on behalf of the people. 8 The LORD said to Moses,  “Make a venomous snake and put it on a pole. If anyone who is bitten looks  at it, he will live.” 9 Moses made a bronze snake and put it on the pole. If a  snake had bitten anyone, if that person looked at the bronze snake, he lived. 

Have you ever been told to do something or believe something so bizarre  that you thought somebody had lost their mind even suggesting it? The whole snake-on-a-pole thing must have sounded bizarre to some of the  Israelites. Stare at a bronze serpent and you’ll be healed? That sounds  ridiculous. It must’ve sounded just silly enough that some Israelites started  looking for more reasonable solutions for the snake bites. 

God finally had enough. His divine patience with the Israelites’ constant  whining had run out. They complained about having to wander in the  wilderness, they complained about the heat, they complained about not  having enough water, they complained about Moses being their leader and  they even complained about God’s miraculous food that appeared on the  ground every morning.  

What would you expect God to do with those ungrateful Israelites? What do  you do with your children when they whine, complain, and talk back to you?  You need to get their attention so that they understand that what they are  doing is not acceptable. It is disruptive. It is contagious. But, above all, it is a  

sin. A sin against you. And especially a grievous sin against their holy and just  God. 

How do we handle their sin? A time-out. A not-so-stern-talking-to. Taking  away electronics. Most often they just back to their sinful ways once the  discipline is over. That’s because we haven’t gotten to the root of their problem – sin. Our discipline didn’t lead them to repentance, and, ultimately,  forgiveness. 

Let us take a journey back in time to see how some of the Israelites might  have mimicked us if we were in the same situation.  

Some might have tried to ignore the snake bite. They called it by other  names. They made it a joke. They claimed it wasn’t real. And to look at a  snake on a pole-ridiculous! They died. Today many don’t admit there is such a  thing as sin. They laugh at the idea. And to look at a man hanging on a cross  as a cure that’s even more laughable than suggesting they are dying from  sin’s bite. Like the ancient Israelites, they die.  

Others didn’t dream of telling the people that these poisonous vipers were  the result of God’s judgment on their bad behavior. They didn’t want to  wound people’s self-worth. So instead of directing people to the snake on  the pole, they tried to make people feel better about themselves. But they  still died. Self-esteem thinking has its place, but it doesn’t deal with the root  cause – sin. If a person never sees that they’ve been bitten by sin and are  dying they will not look to Jesus on the cross--to be saved.  

Others suggested that if the people believed hard enough or worked hard  enough that they would recover from the snake bit, they would. So instead  of looking at the snake on a pole they looked to their own faith and works. They died. It isn’t the amount of faith that saves, or the amount of work or  mindless repetitions that save, it’s what one believes in.  

Others denied that God really had said to Moses to do this snake-on-a-pole  thing. Any healings that might have taken place could easily be explained by  natural causes. So some people looked to other cures. And they died.  Denying God’s solution to sin doesn’t spare anyone from dying from sin’s  curse.  

Another solution was that each person had to decide for themselves if  looking at the snake on a pole was the way to go. Everybody’s choice was of  equal quality. There was no right way or wrong way. All paths lead to the  same cure. Those that chose to not look at the snake on a pole died.  

We could go on, there are many more modern-day snake oil cures, but I think  you get the picture. When the poisonous snakes attacked, God had set up  only one way for the children of Israel to survive. Everything else had to be  rejected. They had to look up at the bronze snake that Moses made and  placed upon the pole. If they were bitten and did this, they would live; if not,  they would die. It didn’t matter what else they did, how they felt, how  spiritual they seemed. If they didn’t look at the bronze snake, they would die. For that snake on the pole was how God said He would come to them  and save them. 

Let’s bring this home. There are many different ideas about how to deal with  the venomous bite of satan. His bite injects sin into our lives. And sin kills. It  kills a person’s life, the lives of people around them, and it kills their eternity with God. And try as hard as some do to ignore sin, to explain it away, to  look to counseling, education or other religions to deal with it, they will die.  All who sin will die. It’s time to rethink the cure for sin.  

There is only one cure God has given – His Son hanging on a cross. This is  how much God loves this snake-bitten world. He doesn’t simply love it  abstractly: “Oh, nice world, I love you.” He loves the world in a very specific  and personal way. He sent His Son Jesus, who provided the cure by being  made in the likeness of that which was wounded. Though He was perfectly  free from sin, yet He was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh (Romans 8:3).  

Jesus, who knew no sin, was made sin for us so that in Him we might  become the righteousness of God. God laid the sin of the world--your sin and  my sin--on His Son made Man. He nailed Him to the wood of the cross and  raised Him high--not on a pole, but on a cross--for the entire world to see.  Here we see the image of our sin and God’s wrath. The Son hangs dead,  forsaken by His Father, cursed and damned in our place. How despicable He  looks!  

On the cross, Satan’s serpentine fangs sank deep into Jesus’ flesh, pumping  the poison and venom of sin into His divine blood. But on that cross, Jesus  absorbed the serpent’s strike against His heel so that He might step down  hard crushing the Ancient Serpent’s head (Genesis 3:15). 

As the bronze snake was lifted up and people could fix their eyes on it and  live, so Jesus Christ was lifted up on the cross, so all may fix their eyes on  Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, and receive life in Him (Hebrews  12:2). Jesus was lifted up and became a spectacle to the world so that the  world might be saved through Him.  

Jesus is the anti-venom for the snake-bite of the Law; the cure resembles the  sickness. Why did God put that snake on the pole? Not just to save the  Israelites from death, but to show us how He was going to save this world from death. The snake on the pole pointed forward to Jesus’ crucifixion for  our sins. As John 3 says, “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,  so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have  eternal life.” (John 3:14-15). That’s this story with a New Testament twist! 

On the pole, the Israelites saw their healing and God’s mercy. On the cross,  we see our healing and God’s mercy. As Isaiah the Prophet wrote, “By His wounds we are healed” (Is.53:5). There but by the grace of God go we. There  but by the grace of God goes He for us! 

Just as God told the Israelites to look at some bizarre bronze snake hanging  on a pole for life, so He tells us to look to seemingly foolish things to find  Christ hanging on a tree, and so live. 

God says look for the crucified Christ in Water, Words, Bread, and Wine. For  as many of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves  with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27). You see Christ crucified every time I absolve  you of your sin. You see Christ crucified every time you receive the body and  blood of the Christ in His holy supper.  

In Baptism, the Absolution, and the Lord’s Supper, your pastor makes the  sign of the cross over you. I don’t do this because I’m superstitious. I make  the sign of the cross to remind you that the forgiveness you are receiving all  flow directly from the Christ who hung on the cross for you. 

Through such seemingly bizarre ways, God gives to you--not a snake on the  pole--but His Son on the cross. Through these means of grace, God gives to  you His anti-venom, His medicine of immortality, for the forgiveness of your  

sins. For where there is the forgiveness of sins, there is also life and  salvation.  

When you are tempted by that ancient serpent to deal with your sin by  ignoring it, forgetting it, or trying to work it off, rethink the cure for sin. Let  nothing--nothing!--turn your attention from your Savior on the cross.  

He is the only cure for sin.  

Amen.

Written Sermon March 3, 2024

John 2:13-2228

Rethinking the Worth of Worship

By Pastor John Eich Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Alma, MI

John 2:13–22 

The Jewish Passover was near, so Jesus  went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple  courts he found people selling cattle,  sheep, and doves, and money changers  sitting at tables. 15He made a whip of  cords and drove everyone out of the  temple courts, along with the sheep and  oxen. He scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their  tables. 16 To those selling doves he said, “Get these things out of here! Stop turning  my Father’s house into a place of business!” 17 His disciples remembered that it was  written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 So the Jews responded, “What  sign are you going to show us to prove you can do these things?” 19 Jesus answered  them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up again.” 20 The Jews  said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple! And you are going to raise it in  three days?” 21 But Jesus was speaking about the temple of his body. 22When Jesus  was raised from the dead, his disciples remembered that he had said this. Then  they believed the Scripture and what Jesus had said. 

What gets in the way of your worship? You can probably come up with a  long list. How we feel, whether we had an argument in the car on the way  to church, if our kids are rambunctious during the service, if the pastor or  the subject that Sunday isn’t interesting. All of those things and so much  more can get in the way of worship. 

I wonder about our commercialization of faith and worship. The church  with the slickest advertising, the most throbbing music, the most dynamic  preacher, or the most delicious coffee and donuts seems to attract the  most attention.  

I wonder about the personalization of worship. Some complain: “I don’t  get anything out of worship at your church.” I get that. Everybody has  different tastes. Others are even more blunt, “Worship doesn’t do  anything for me.”  

Are those ideas of worship Jesus would shake up? Would he say “wait a  minute you’ve got it all wrong. You are missing the focus and purpose of  worship?”  

So I come back to the question, “What gets in our way of truly worshiping  God?” What cleansing do we need to do this Lent that will free us to more  fully worship God? 

In our text, Jesus enters the temple to celebrate the Passover. Instantly he  is surrounded by the commercialism which had become a part of the Jews daily worship. During Passover, moneychangers and merchants did big  business. Those who came from foreign countries had to have their money  changed into temple currency because this was the only money accepted  for the temple tax and for the purchase of the sacrificial animals used  during Passover. 

Now selling animals and exchanging money was not wrong. Normally, you  bought animals and exchanged money outside the temple’s outer court,  called the Court of the Gentiles. Since the Gentiles were not allowed to  enter into the inner court and worship with the Jews, there was an outer  area for them to worship. But now these peddlers set up shop right there  in the Gentiles’ worship space. Can you imagine what that did to the  Gentiles’ worship? 

Imagine someone bringing a barn into our church. As you pray, a cow  steps on your foot. You lift your eyes up to heaven in prayer and cannot  help but notice a sheep butting heads with another sheep. The lemony pine smell of your incense blends in with the pungent odor of manure.  You try to sing, but someone shouts over you: “Exchange your money  here!” 

Jesus was angry because all of that had caused something to get lost in the  shuffle. That something was the most important thing of all. The  forgiveness of God. So in anger Jesus overturns tables and scatters the  money. He makes a whip out of cords and drives men and animals from  the Temple. 

This is not the Jesus we’re used to seeing! It is not gentle Jesus, wrapped in  swaddling clothes and lying in the manger. It is not the Jesus who dines  with tax collectors and sinners and touches untouchable lepers. And yet  this is not a different Jesus. This is Jesus still acting out of love and caring  for His people. This is Jesus’ love that cannot stand by and watch people  lose worship’s true blessing - forgiveness. 

It's easy to lose the purpose of worship. Our lives can become so  commercialized with the ideas of this world that we have little or no desire  to pray, or study God’s word. They can become so busy that we can’t  imagine being still before the Lord. Our lives can become so personalized  that the thought of serving God or others seems an interruption. Worldly  filth can spoil our worship - Greed. Pride. Arrogance. The stubbornness to  refuse admitting that you are wrong. Refusal to admit that your lifestyle  actually does not match up to God’s commandments. Thinking that your  cursing and swearing is acceptable; that your thoughts are yours to think. Your heart can get filled up with all this filth.

If this spiritual filth remains there, then, like these Passover-marketers,  you find no reason for Jesus, even if you go through the motions like so  many of the Jews of Jesus’ day did. Worship is no longer a hunger for the  forgiveness you need, but a desire to get what you want. It’s an empty  habit. So many of those who say “I don’t get anything out of worship” are  looking for the wrong thing. They are looking for fast-food in a gourmet  restaurant. 

We don’t go to worship looking to be comfortable. Sometimes the  sanctuary is too hot, or too cold. Sometimes there are crying babies or  someone has a coughing fit. The reason we attend worship is not to be  comfortable, but to be comforted by receiving God’s precious gift of  forgiveness. 

We don’t go to church to get rules for a better life. We already have those  anyway – the Ten Commandments. If we could keep those we wouldn’t  need any other rules. But we can’t even keep those simple commands, so  why add to the burden of more rules we can’t keep? We worship to be  assured of forgiveness for every commandment we have break – which is  all of them. 

We don’t go to church to get excited. Many want God to be their  cheerleader. They want to hear how proud he is of them. But if hearing  about the forgiveness of your sins doesn’t excite you, then you don’t  realize the severity of your sin. The Jewish offerings pictured that.  Constantly the scream of dying animals, the smell of burning flesh and the  pools of blood causing them to slip as they walked, reminded them how  serious sin was and how much they needed forgiveness. Or at least it  should have. Unfortunately the rush of daily living, the lure of money, and  the apathy of self-righteousness took the meaning out of their worship.  

Many Christians assume that the word “worship” is the same as the word  “praise.” This is why many churches, even Lutheran, have a “Praise  Service” or a “Praise Team”. The first word for worship that occurs in  Genesis actually means to “bow down.” Bowing down is quiet and reverent  and submissive. But the lure of the exciting can rob us of being still and  knowing God. 

Look at Jesus in bloody sweat in Gethsemane’s garden. See the torment of  body and soul of God’s perfect Son dying for your sin on the dark  enshrouded cross. To pay for your sin God had to die. No animal sacrifice  would cut it. Not even your eternal torment in hell would pay for your sin.  The sinless, perfect, and holy God had to sacrifice himself willingly for  your forgiveness. How could that not bring comfort and passion.

St. Paul wrote, “we preach Christ crucified.” Not a God we can control to  hand out the blessings we want. Not a God who is content to let us go our  own ways, or who ignores our wrongful actions. We proclaim the holy  Son who worshipped His Father in perfect obedience that lead to him  sacrificing himself on the cross. He is holy, unstained, while you are  stained with the guilt of your sin. Your lack of holiness and perfection is  covered by Jesus. This means that when you feel condemned by your sins,  when you know you deserve temporal and eternal punishment, when you  feel shame, guilt, sorrow, Jesus stands with you before His Father and  speaks on your behalf. You are forgiven! You are saved!  

When we are confronted by our sins and accused by satan, we need that  assurance. That’s why we worship!  

As much as we know that worship is about God, we somehow manage to  make it about ourselves: how we feel, how passionate we are. We tend to  measure worship by crowd size, volume, or how attentive others are. What  we are missing is that our desires, planning, and actions aren’t the essence  of worship. The essence has been taking place from time eternal. The work  of our salvation. 

Acceptable worship does not start with human intuition or inventiveness,  but with the action of God. In worship, God invites us to join him in what  he is already doing. Our response, initiated by God, grounded in the  reconciling work of Christ, and enabled by his Spirit, is to gladly  participate in the perfect worship of Jesus, who through his once-and-for all sacrifice has made all our offerings acceptable to God (1 Peter 2:5). 

Far from being a moment in a Christian meeting God-honoring worship is  the natural state of our hearts when we seek to “do all to the glory of God”  (1 Corinthians 10:31). That’s real worship, whether in this building, in your  home or on the street.  

The season of Lent is an opportunity for us all to rethink our worship, to  be sure that God’ grace is why we are here. Amen.