Lent 2 Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

    If you would understand the battle our Lord wages against Satan this Lent, indeed, if you would understand the Christian faith, you must abandon pride and be humble. This is what we see in our Gospel lesson today, for if you view your life and the world with eyes that are proud and self-focused, you will miss, you will fail to see your humble Lord Jesus and the salvation He wins for you. You see, our text is the second half of a comparison, a comparison between the pride of the Jews, on the one hand, and the humble faith of the Canaanite woman on the other.

    Before we look at our Gospel text, we need consider what happened before hand – after all, our lesson starts, “and Jesus went away from there…” Away from where? Well, Jesus was in Judea, and if you read chapter 15 from the beginning, you see that Pharisees and Scribes from Jerusalem had come up to Jesus and started grilling him about commandments and tradition. Now, we are not going to look at the first 20 verses in detail, but what we see in them is pride. You have this pride that these Jewish leaders show in their heritage, in the fact that they are Jews. You have pride in their works, how good they are, how wondrous they are. In fact, when Jesus responds to them and teaches them, they get offended – the disciples actually come up to Jesus all worried because He said something that offended such good, fine Jewish folks. The disciples too hold on to their ethnic pride a bit too much – they too view themselves as “the good people” because they are nice Jewish folks who try their best to follow all the commandments and rules.

    So Jesus leads them away from Judea, and He “withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region was crying, ‘Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.’” So they leave the Jewish lands behind, and suddenly this foreign woman shows up begging for mercy. First, let’s consider this. At that time Jewish men didn’t like non-Jews, by in large. Especally the Canaanites – the old villains of the Old Testament. Add to this that Jewish men didn’t like women, by in large. So basically there is no sort or type of person that a guy holding onto the old Jewish cultural pride would disdain and despise more than a Canaanite woman. Just would be repulsed by her. So here you have a contrast between the “Good” Jewish folks and the despised Canaanite woman. Bear this in mind. Now, this woman comes up and begs for Jesus to help her daughter who is possessed. And she asks beautifully. First, she calls Jesus “Lord” – calls Him God. Calls Him Jehovah. She calls Him “Son of David” – not only God but also the One who by rights should be the earthly ruler, the Ruler who should dominate and crush her own people. When she calls Jesus the Lord, when she calls Him Son of David, this is a powerful statement of who Jesus is. True God, true Man. So this gal is spot on theologically. And as Christ comes to fight Satan and destroy His power, casting out the demon that is bothering her daughter is right up His wheelhouse – simple, easy, knock this one out of the park.

    “But He did not answer her a word.” Jesus doesn’t say anything. Now, a lot of people will make this the focus of the text – and their sermons on this text will become sermons on how we should be persistent in prayer, how even when it seems like God doesn’t answer us we should keep on praying. And that is true – be persistent in your prayer. But I’m going to say that Christ isn’t quiet here in order to teach us to pray more – He’s quiet to drive home a point with the disciples, with us. So there Jesus is, just letting this woman wail at Him, and finally the disciples intervene. “And His disciples came and begged Him saying, ‘Send her away, for she is crying out after us.’” And the disciples fail miserably. Send her away. Not “please heal her quickly, Jesus.” Not, “Hurry Lord, and beat down Satan.” So strong, so powerful is the disciples’ self-pride, and so powerful is their disdain of this woman that they beg, beg Jesus to send her away. Send her away, cast her away from us as though she herself were a demon, not a mother pleading for aid against a demon.

    Jesus will now throw the disciples’ pride right back in their face. “He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel.’” Note, Jesus isn’t talking to the woman here – He’s answering the disciples. Alright disciples, you think you are so high and mighty because you are Jews, you think you are the only ones worthy of interacting with the Messiah – fine, I guess I can’t deal with her since she’s not as cool as you – you’ll just have to put up with her begging. Jesus just throws their pride and arrogance right back at them.

    Then something wondrous happens. “But she came and knelt before Him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’” The woman is adamant – she knows that Jesus is the One who can help her, and so she is going to Him to seek His help. Excellent on her part. But before He aids her, Jesus is going to have her help in teaching the disciples. “And He answered, ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.’” His answer is true – I mean, if any of you let your children starve because you gave their dinner to the dogs, well, that would just be horrible. But the answer, well, if you imply that a woman is a female dog, that was insulting in Jesus’ day just as it is in ours. And remember what I said earlier – the Pharisees had been offended by what Jesus had said earlier in this chapter – if anything then we should expect this woman to be offended, to say, “How dare you Jesus.” Her pride would surely be thoroughly cut by this statement.

    But it’s not. “She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ tables.’” Jesus says to this woman, “you are lowly and you do not deserve My help.” And the woman says, “You’re right, Lord, I do not deserve your help – I am a lowly dog, but masters care for their dogs, so I know You will care for me.” Do you see what happened? Because the woman isn’t trying to defend her own position, because the woman isn’t concerned with her status or how respected she is, because she does not act in pride, she can see Christ Jesus for who He is, the gracious master who cares even for one as lowly as her.

    And we know what happens next. “Then Jesus answered her, ‘O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.’ And her daughter was healed instantly.” The woman understands. When it comes to her faith, to her relationship with God – it is not determined by how wonderful she is. She can claim no noble birth – she’s not from the right family. She doesn’t point to her works. She doesn’t say that she’s been a good little girl who deserves blessings. Rather this – her eyes are focused in humility upon Christ and who He is. She simply confesses that Jesus is God and that He is gracious – and so she sees and understands. By faith she sees Christ.

    Dear friends, I cannot overemphasize how dangerous pride is, how dangerous a reliance upon works is. Whenever we start thinking prideful thoughts, be it pride in our heritage – why we were born and raised in this Church – or pride in our works – why, I’m a pretty good person and I do things pretty well – whenever we think along these lines we put our faith in jeopardy. Why? Because thoughts like these focus us upon ourselves. I was raised rightly, I’m from a good family, I do good stuff. I, I, I. And it’s such a false focus. Who cares if you were raised right if you are doing wickedness and foolishness now? Who cares if you came from a good family if you disdain God now? Who cares that you are nice – we’re supposed to be perfect – nice doesn’t cut anything. And yet, in sinful pride, we can want to focus on ourselves, and we can end up forgetting God, we write Him off, we don’t see our need for His mercy, for His forgiveness. This place, this service becomes less and less important – we start thinking we don’t get anything out of it… which is really saying that you think the forgiveness of sins is worthless, that you don’t need it. That you don’t need God, God who comes here to be present for you. And pride crushes and kills faith.

    Our pride is a problem, and so Christ Jesus calls us to repentance, calls us to humility. He calls us to not think highly of ourselves, but instead to confess that we are both lowly and in need. To confess that we do not deserve any benefits from God, that God doesn’t owe us anything. But rather, simply because He is good, because He is full of love, because Christ Jesus stands and pleads for us, because of these reasons we seek forgiveness and mercy from God, and God does give His forgiveness to us.

    It is a beautiful contrast we will see in Lent, in our Lord’s Passion. We can be so proud, we can struggle with this pride, we can easily disdain folks and applaud ourselves. But in contrast to this, in contrast to our sin and failure, consider Christ Jesus and His passion. Where does His pride enter in? It never does. Even though He is true God, God Almighty, the very Word which called forth all creation into existence – He lets Himself be arrested, even though legions of angels would come at His command. He lets Himself be mocked and beaten and sorely abused, even though lighting or brimstone could come at His whim and smite those who abused Him. He is not worried about His dignity, but is instead nailed naked to a cross, exposed to the elements and for all the world to see, and left to die. But there, His thoughts are not about His own pride and dignity – His thoughts are upon you, upon wining Salvation for you and forgiveness for your sins of pride and all your sins. This is our Lord’s great humility, His great love for you.

    With humility, humility God brings forth in us by the power of His Word and Spirit, we are taught to see this, taught to believe this. We learn more and more to call out to God, “Have mercy upon us” – knowing that He will have mercy, not because of our goodness, but because of Christ Jesus’ goodness. We know and believe that Christ does not hold Himself aloft and away from us, but He Himself comes down under humble, simple elements of bread and wine, and in His Supper He comes to give us His true Body and Blood for our forgiveness. Pride would have us ignore these mysteries and wonders; pride would have us complain and overlook them – but Christ Jesus is indeed Your Lord, and He has given you the gift of faith, and He forgives you your sin and gives you strength through His Word and Supper so that you might learn more and more to beat down pride and all sins, and rather to ever more see His love for you more clearly. Lord, have mercy upon us! In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

Lent 1

 In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

    Let’s start at the beginning. There it is, a garden, rich and luscious, full of every good plant, every good fruit imaginable. And there, into this wondrous garden, God places Adam and Eve, the pinnacle of His creation. Adam and Eve, made in the image and likeness of God – here is the garden, enjoy it, work in it, delight in it. But be content with who you are, be content with being God’s servant. And then, into that garden, slithers the serpent, bringing with him discontent and doubt. He hisses into Eve’s ears words of doubt – did God really say? He hisses words of envy and strife and discontent – eat this fruit, then you won’t be the servant anymore. When you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil. Eat this, and you won’t have to be merely the servant, merely the caretaker, merely one who cares for others. You’ll get to be the one in charge, you’ll be like God – because even today when we think of God our gut instinct is to think of power and control, to think of God as the big bully in the sky who gets to set the rules. And so Eve takes and eats, and then she gives Adam, and he takes and eats that most unholy meal, and it all falls apart.

    We know what happens. Adam and Eve – ruined. They will live lives now filled with strife and chaos and pain, son murdering son, so on and so forth, until they die. Life turns to death. But not just for Adam and Eve. . . life turns to death for the world. That perfect garden dissolves, the trees and plants fail, things dry up, good plants are replaced by weeds – the ground itself is cursed. Cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you. The world falls. . . the goodness of the garden is dashed. That is how it all starts – then this sinful globe kept on spinning and spinning and getting worse and worse. The man and his wife whom God placed in the garden failed. They ignored the Word of God, traded God's good gifts for the serpent’s poison and thus unleash death, and the world is consigned to ruin.

    Now, we move to our Gospel lesson. When we look on the setting, it is not in a good Garden. That’s dried up, gone, swept away. Instead, it is a wilderness, wild, untamed, unkept lands. The full effect of the fall has its sway. Thorns and thistles are it. It is dry, it is dreary, it is unlivable – it is a place of death, just like what in reality this entire fallen planet had become. And then we hear this – Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. Consider what this is. Jesus Christ, true God and yet also true Man, strides forth into this wilderness, this wild fallen place, this anti-garden of Eden, the precise opposite of what Eden had been. Jesus steps into this fallen domain of Satan. And why? Led by the Spirit, put there by God. God had put Adam in the garden, and so now Christ Jesus, the New Adam, the New Man is put into its fallen wreck. And why? To succeed and be victorious where Adam failed, to begin the work of fixing the fall and restoring creation. And so, God Himself takes up our weakness; He becomes man, stands with us – hungers and is frail, fasts 40 days and 40 nights. God is not some bully overlord, but He in love comes down and takes His place by our side. But whereas we sin, our Lord will not falter. And then – the tempter came and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” Do you see the temptation? Christ is there in the wilderness to fight Satan, to challenge the serpent and put him in his place. And Satan saunters up and says – You know what Jesus, You’re God. You should be taking care of yourself. You should be focusing on what You want. . . what You need. It should be all about You. Come, Jesus, it’s quite reasonable to be selfish here, and after all it’s not hurting anyone.

    But then our Lord rocks the powers of hell with His reply. “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Do you see what our Lord does? Satan had said, “look to yourself, tend to your own needs.” Christ smacks the devil down. “No, Satan, I will not look to My own wants. My belly, my stomach is not God. Rather this – Man lives by the Word of God. That is how man lived in the garden before you came along and tempted Him – the Word of God called forth that garden, and man listened to God, and he lived quite happily. And I too, as Man, will live simply by the Word of God – away with your temptations!” These are powerful words from Christ – of course they are powerful, they are the Word of God.

    Satan regroups. Figures he should try a slightly different approach. And the Devil took Him to the holy city and set Him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to Him, “If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down, for it is written, ‘He will command His angels concerning you,’ and ‘On their hands they will bear You up lest you strike Your foot against a stone.’” Alright – so You want to play nice with the Word of God, do you Jesus? Alright, well, here it is Jesus, bona fide Word of God. You can jump, Your Daddy will protect You. And note what Jesus says to him. “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” Do you see what Satan was trying to get Jesus to do? Use the Word against God! Use the Word to make God jump through hoops for you! If you do that, if you use God’s Word like Satan suggests – it is putting yourself in charge of God. Jesus will have none of it. No, Satan, we do not put God to the test like that – we live by the Word, not above it. Man is to be God’s servant, not God’s master.

    And so Satan tries one more trick, one more temptation. Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to Him, “All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.” One more temptation for you Jesus – yes, I know you think God should be the master, but really, aren’t I a better master than Your Father? Your Father has sent You here from heaven to win these people – to suffer and die for them. I mean, look at You Jesus, fasting in the desert for 40 days – You’re a mess! The Father’s way is so hard. Listen – I will give you what You want – You can have these people, you can have this world. . . just do things my way. And my way is much easier. There it is – the temptation – avoid the cross and still get what you want. And our faithful Lord says, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God and Him only shall you worship.” And Satan flees, and the angels come and minister to Christ.

    Satan came and he brought the three temptations that are so often our downfall. So often, we live by our passions and desires, by our wants. The eye sees something it wants, and we lust after it, we crave it, we do whatever we can to satisfy our desires. Christ does not give into that temptation. So often, we try to manipulate God, to abuse His Word, His Church, try to make God do what we want, say what we want. Christ does not give into that temptation. So often, we crave power and glory, and we will do whatever it takes to have our way. Christ does not give into that temptation. And something wondrous happens there in that wilderness, as Christ our Lord defies Satan. There you have Christ Jesus, true Man, turn His back upon Satan, and rather listen simply to the Word of God. And at that moment, the gates of hell begin to shake and tremble. Satan’s power lies in tempting man away from God – and so what is God’s response? Christ Jesus comes as the truly obedient Man, Man who does what Adam and Eve should have done – tells Satan to take a hike – and the power of the Serpent begins to crumble.

    You see, dear friends – the wages of sin is death. When God’s Law lies broken, there can be no life that endures. And so our Lord Christ Jesus comes down to become Man, and in our place He takes the Law of God, and He fulfills it, He does it. Man lives righteously because Jesus lives righteously. And the battle is on – God Himself invades Satan’s kingdom of death as a living Man. Jesus starts to undo, reverse the fall, paving the way for eternal life. This is what we see at our Lord’s Temptation – and this is what we continue to see. Every time our Lord shows love or compassion, every time our Lord does what is right – a bit more and bit more of Satan’s kingdom is defied and destroyed, whittled away.

    And our Lord Christ Jesus does this for you. The reason He defied Satan there, the reason why He was worn and weak was so that He might stand at your side and say to, even at your weakest and most worn, “I am righteous and holy enough for you – and you will have life in Me.” Christ is righteous, and by the power of His righteousness, you are forgiven. And Christ undoes the fall in you. Consider again Genesis – Adam and Eve ate, disobeying God, bringing death and violence and sin into the world. Do you wish to see how God makes things right? He says to you – “Come to My Table – and I will give you a meal much better than what Satan offers.” Satan gave Adam and Eve a meal of death, Christ gives you His own Body and Blood for eternal life and salvation. Christ takes bread that we must struggle for, the bread of death, the bread which by itself doesn’t satisfy, which doesn’t give life – He takes this bread and adds the Word of God to it – says, “Take and Eat, this is My Body, given for you.” And in this meal of forgiveness you are given the bread of life, you are given strength, His own strength to beat down Satan, to turn away from the temptations Satan throws at you. In this Supper, Christ undoes the Fall in you, in your life. His mercy takes hold of you and grows in you – the fight He fought against Satan takes place in you.

    And indeed, our Lord continues to struggle against Satan, continues to beat him down. The fight has started, the battle is on, and Jesus will see it through, all the way to the finish, even unto His own death upon the Cross, by which your life and resurrection are ensured. This is His great love for you, this is the struggle He wins for you. In the Name of Christ the Crucified +

Quinquagesima Sunday

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Lent is at our doorstep. This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, and our Lenten journey to our Lord's Cross will begin in earnest. And today, this final Sunday before Lent, we get a third Gospel lesson that is strangely uncomfortable but vital. We have heard that we are saved by grace – that our works don't merit us anything. We have heard that salvation relies upon the Word, and that we don't get to control how the Word works. One final uncomfortable lesson is left to us before we start Lent. Jesus mixes it up for us today, though. The last two weeks were parables, where there was an image, a story – and then an explanation that follows. Today things are reversed. Jesus will begin with a truth that the disciples deemed utterly inappropriate and wrong, and then we get a story, an event that show why Jesus is right in what He says. Listen.

    Taking the twelve, [Jesus] said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging Him, they will kill Him, and on the third day He will rise.” And Jesus spells it out. Alright, this is where we are going disciples – this is where Lent will lead to, O people of Trinity. As the Scriptures had told us, the Messiah will suffer – He will be the suffering servant that Isaiah said He would be, He will be the sacrifice of atonement that all the temple worship and sacrifices pointed to. He will be the Son that is sacrificed instead of Isaac so that Abraham rejoices. The Serpent's head will be crushed, but the Savior must be bruised and battered – and dying to atone for sin, He will rise to show forth victory over Satan and eternal salvation. This is the point, this has always been the point – the Scriptures, the tabernacle and the temple, worship, the history of Israel, they all drive to Good Friday and Christ Jesus there upon the Cross. That's where it all will end, that's where it will be finished.

    And the disciples, they don't want to hear it. But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. This is the third time Jesus had bluntly told them that in Jerusalem He would suffer, die, and rise again to fulfill the scriptures. And still they don't hear, they don't understand, they cannot yet, the seed does not yet take root (and it won't until after the resurrection). This isn't what the disciples want. This isn't what the disciples think that they need. They want a Messiah who will simply perform wonders to everyone's adulation – but not wonders that are too powerful lest it scare them. They want a Messiah who will be zealous and drive out the Romans – but not be too zealous in driving our their own wickedness. They want a Messiah who will do some good stuff – but be willing to leave them alone when there's too much divine glory and might around. And so, now, before hand, the disciples simply cannot tolerate or countenance or conceive of the full Jesus, the real Savior, the die and rise again to destroy the power of Satan and to usher in the new creation Jesus. And thus, Jesus' plan of salvation is hidden from them, they can't see it, they can't understand.

    This pattern holds true even to this day. So many people who speak about Jesus, so much of what you will hear about Jesus leading up to Easter will be a watered down, crossless, resurrectionless Jesus. You'll find churches where there is nary a cross. You'll hear preachers who flat out deny the resurrection, turn it into an allegory or a fable. You'll hear people treat Jesus as though He was just a wise teacher – a teacher whom we are utterly free to pick and choose what we learn from, a teacher who suddenly sounds exactly like my own personal hobby horse. You'll hear people turn Jesus into a victim of injustice and social oppression, and He'll be turned into a emblem or stand in for whatever social group they want to white knight for and defend. You'll hear so many things other than Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world – who takes it away by dying and rising. Even 2000 years later people are still desperately trying to avoid the truth of Jesus' death and resurrection – the truth that it is your sin and my sin that put Him on the Cross – the truth that the only way you and I get to live is for Christ Jesus, the spotless, holy One of God, to die and rise. We need Jesus – and the whole Jesus, the full Jesus, the real Jesus. We don't need just a little brush up on moral teaching and we are good. We don't need just a little pep talk and then we'll live our best life now. We don't need another symbol for our political movements. We need to be rescued and redeemed from the dire and drastic problems of sin and death and the devil – and the only way that rescue happens is with Jesus going to the Cross and suffering and dying, and rising on the third day – and there's no other way. Period.

    You see, my friends, if you think you are just a little sinner, you'll only want a little Jesus. A shoe polish Jesus, where He just covers up a scuff mark or two and then you're good to go. But what Jesus does, what the Cross does, it is makes us confront the utterly uncomfortable realities of our own existence, of our own sin, that we don't like to face. I'm stuck in sin. I don't need just moral teaching or instruction – because For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing... wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death! The problem is deeper than I can fix! And I don't just need advice, I don't just need 7 easy hints for a happier life, because my life is running out. Death is approaching, and all the health fads and cosmetics and surgery can't change the fact that some years down the road from now there's going to be a grave somewhere with my name on it and a start date and an end date – and I can't change that. That problem is beyond me! And in the world, if you look, you will see the powers of evil at work, you will see Satan stirring up strife and chaos and hatred that claims to be love and every sort of disdain – and I can't change the world, I can't free it, I can't stop the swirl out there. It's beyond me. The answer, the solution, has to be Jesus – it has to be Jesus taking away sin and dying and rising and giving new life and bringing about the last day and ushering in a New Heavens and a New Earth where Satan and sin and death are utterly gone and destroyed, and to do that, Jesus has to have Good Friday and He has to have Easter, just like He's told us from the beginning in His Word.

    But the disciples didn't see that yet, and so many today don't see it, and even we ourselves sometime get distracted and forget it. So, Jesus enacts a parable, a real, living parable to illustrate the point. Listen. As He drew near to Jericho – pause. If you hear Jericho, you might well think of the wall that comes tumbling down. Yes – because Joshua leads the children of Israel by Jericho on their way to the promised land, and now Jesus is on His way to the Cross to ensure that we get to the true promised land of the resurrection. And Jesus is goin gto break down some walls. As He drew near to Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. And hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” And he cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” And those who were in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” As Jesus gets to Jericho, there's a contrast. There's the crowd who wants to see Jesus – but they want a nice, quiet viewing of Jesus. They don't think they really need anything from Jesus – but He's nice, He's a spectacle. And their entertainment is interrupted by a blind man. And this blind man, he NEEDS Jesus. He calls out for mercy. Why? Because he knows that he has a problem that he cannot fix. He's blind. He cannot see. And he'll never see unless Jesus does something. He doesn't need a wise teacher Jesus, he doesn't need a good advice Jesus – He needs a mercying Jesus, a Jesus who undoes the effects of sin and death – who takes dead eyes and makes them live again. And the crowd hates this, tells the blind beggar to be silent.

    That doesn't stop Jesus from being Jesus. And Jesus stopped and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he came near, He asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” He said, “Lord, let me recover my sight.” Here's my problem – I want to see again. I would see again. And You're the One who can do that. And Jesus said, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” Not just made you well – your faith has saved you. You're going to see again now, but even more wondrously, because I'm on the road to Jerusalem and the Cross, even when your eyes close in death you will see again because you have been saved by grace through faith. I see your needs now, and I see your eternal needs – and I see them better than you, and I do what I need to do in order to take care of you both now and eternally.

    This is what Jesus does for you. Jesus knows your needs – He knows your needs right now and He tends to them. He gives you both your daily bread and He gives you His Body and blood under bread and wine for forgiveness, life, and salvation. And by His Word and Spirit He brings your attention to His Cross, to His death, to His resurrection, so that no matter what you encounter this week, no matter what comes, you know what He has done for you – that He has won you forgiveness and life everlasting, and there's not a thing that can undo what He has done. The world might try to ignore the Cross, or sell Jesus short, and our own sinful flesh will often wander off into the weeds wanting something else, but Jesus stays focused. Jesus stays Jesus, the real Jesus, the full Jesus, the Son of Man must go to Jerusalem and suffer and die and rise again Jesus, because that's the Jesus you need, we all need. And so Jesus will do all things well, and He will finish what needs to be finished, for He is True God and True Man, and He has come to work your salvation.

    And soon we will enter upon the battle season of Lent. In the Sundays in Lent we will hear Gospel lessons of Jesus taking the battle to Satan, as Jesus enters into this fallen world and wrecks havoc on Satan's kingdom, even as He marches to the Cross where He will destroy sin and death. In our midweek lessons, we will be focused on the whole armor of God, because Jesus knows this world is a dangerous place, and we will see how Jesus keeps you safe. And Jesus does it all for you, as He had promised He would in the Scriptures. Have mercy on us, O Jesus, and open our blind eyes that we would see this all our days! Grant this Lord, unto us all. In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World.

Sexagesima Sunday Sermon

 

In the Name of Christ Jesus, the Light of the World +

    Again this week, as we continue our preparations for Lent, we get another frustrating parable. Last week was the workers in the vineyard, where the master makes everyone equal – for salvation is based upon God's grace and generosity, not our works or efforts. And then today, we get the parable of the sower, and this one again can be frustrating, as it seems like so much of the seed is wasted. Between these two weeks I'm surprised our farmers don't have full blown conniption-fits over how poorly run this agricultural business seems to be by the Lord! 75% of the seed doesn't even end up in the good soil, what is the Lord doing? Well, in a parable demonstrating again His almost reckless generosity, Jesus reminds us that salvation comes about by the Word alone. Let's listen again.

    When a great crowd was gathering and people from town after town came to [Jesus], He said in a parable... Pause here. There's a great crowd listening to Jesus, following Him. You do realize that this parable is describing this crowd, describing the very preaching that Jesus is going to engage in. By the time we get to Good Friday and Easter, how many are still following Jesus? How many are still interested? How many, by that time, have left and forgotten Jesus because the spectacle was gone, or they just got caught up in something else, or they got ground down. It's not just a strange parable, but it's a sad one, a sad commentary on what happened in Jesus' own ministry. A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell along the path and was trampled underfoot, and the birds of the air devoured it. And some fell on the rock, and as it grew up, it withered away, because it had no moisture. And some fell among the thorns, and the thorns grew up with it and choked it. And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold. And there it is – there is the parable – the seed gets sown, but there are four distinct endings, and only 1 is the happy one that you would hope for. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

    And, of course, no one understands. Even the disciples have to go ask Jesus to explain it to them – and even then Jesus' explanation, while it connects the dots, leaves a lot to be desired. We find out what the soils represent. The path – the ones along the path are those who have heard. Then the devil comes along and takes the word away from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Sometimes, disciples, when you preach, people just aren't going to really hear a lick. Satan will snatch away the Word, it will be in one ear and out the other, you will be dismissed and blown off. And not to put too fine a point on it, we probably all know times and places where we've shared the Gospel, proclaimed God's Word, and it just got thrown back in our face. And none of us like that at all, and often it can be heart rending. But Jesus is honest here – it happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    And then we hear about the 2^nd type of soil. The ones along the rock are those who, when they hear the word, receive it with joy. But these have no root; they believe for a while, and in time of testing fall away. Sometimes people seem really excited, really all in on this Jesus thing, but then they just... fall out. Move on to the next thing, and then on to the next. The root doesn't grow, and they wither away and the wind sweeps them on to the next thing. And again, this is something we are familiar with. We all know people we love who have done this – where'd so and so go? And to put even a finer point on it – some of us have been here. If we went back to the days of our youth, I'd bet many of us could find times where we were really gung-ho and then just faded out, immature passion and excitement waning away and replaced by some other hip thing. Again, Jesus is honest here – it happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    Oh, and then we get to the third type of soil. As for those that fell among the thorns, they are those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature. And there are those who know, who should be solid and mature, and yet... just too busy. Got this going on and then that. And then time for the Word, for hearing the Word and proclaiming and the Word and being in the Word just gets... squeezed out. Again, we all know plenty of people like this... and to put an even finer point on it, I'd reckon that quite a few of us in this room know all entirely too well what Jesus is describing here – where right now we feel that pressure, that press, that pull of being busy and there's this and there's that, and some of it good and some of it bad – and perhaps many of those new years' resolutions we made about reading our bible have already been squeezed out and forgotten? And this isn't me picking on you guys here – a pastor has plenty of busywork task that can occupy his time and strangle out his time for study. There's a reason that room over there is called the Pastor's Study – and to let you in on a secret that I don't think too many pastors would be too scandalized over me sharing – every pastor's study is filled with books they have wanted to read and learn from, to dive on into the Word, but somehow just got too busy to get to it. Once more, Jesus is honest here – uncomfortably honest. It happens, and whenever you proclaim the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is.

    Now, if Jesus had ended the parable here, and if we were to end the sermon here, it would be quite dour, wouldn't it? And this is the thing, we don't like the dour, we don't like the down, the fizzles and failures. And we certainly don't like them when they are close to home, when they start to describe my family and friends, when they start to describe me. But the simple fact is that we are sinners in a sinful world, and Satan is prowling around like a roaring lion, and there is no shortage of trouble and hardship. And we can't pretend that there isn't, otherwise we will be caught terribly off guard. Not only will false hopes and dreams come crashing down, but we ourselves will fall swiftly into the same pitfalls and traps. But, my friends, I will assert that this parable is not meant to be dour or depressing, but defiant and hopeful. Now, it's depressing if we look at it like we sinful humans do, with our expectations, and our greed that puts limits on what we will do, what we will give. That's not how God operates – that's not how your wondrous Lord works. He's never scanty. A sower went out to sow his seed – now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. If there is to be any growth, any success, any harvest – the seed must be sown. And that happens – and a harvest comes. As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience. Sometimes the Word is heard, and it grows, and there is fruit – there is more seed, 30, 60, 100 fold of the fruit, the seed, the Word to be proclaimed, and then the Sower sows it out again.

    God keeps sowing the Word. And God keeps producing a harvest. And He does so even in you. The fear, the worry, the anxiety about failures that we have – they don't stop Jesus from sowing His Word. He keeps sending the Word forth into the world, and the Word does its job, and it reaches people and creates faith and forgives and people proclaim the Word and forgiveness again. And while we get frustrated, because this process isn't as smooth or successful as we want it or because this church isn't packed the way I might want it to be packed – that doesn't stop God at all. The Gospel of Christ Jesus – that He has died for your sin so that you are forgiven and there is no more guilt tied to you, and that He has risen, showing that Satan and death actually are defeated and you will rise again – this is proclaimed still! To this place, right here, right now – to you, this day, whatever the story of your life had looked like. The Sower still sows His seed.

    And you know what? I have no idea how this seed will play out. For some of you, this sermon might resonate; for some it might be in one ear and out the other. It happens, and whenever one proclaims the Word of Jesus, it will happen. That's the way it is. And as frustrating as you and I might find this – Jesus just takes it in stride as a matter of course. Jesus understands the power of sin and Satan – and Jesus neither downplays it nor overblows it. Jesus understands hardships and trials, but He is not so scared of them that He doesn't even start. He simply sees His Word sown, again and again and again. And we're in a rural community – we should get this. Our farmers could probably tell us a dozen ways this summer's crop could be devastated, things they'd have no control over. Still, you've got to go out and sow the seed otherwise there will be no harvest – and if one field fails, or one section goes bad – the seed still has to go into the ground or nothing good will happen.

    So God sends the seed into the ground. The Father sends the Son, and the Son is buried and planted in the ground on Good Friday so that His harvest of life and salvation would arise and bear fruit on Easter – and that fruit, that seed is proclaimed to you – and proclaimed to you over and over and over. And God is diligent in seeing His Word proclaimed, and He has it proclaimed even when many people would simply assume it does no good, when they'd focus on failures and the like. That's not God's approach, and it's not His approach to you. You hear His Word, He proclaims His Word to you, because He is persistent, and He is persistent to save you. He knows what is He doing. A sower went out to sow his seed – now the parable is this: the seed is the Word of God. In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +