My Father

Fifth Sunday in Lent - Judica - March 17th, Year of Our + Lord 2013

Trinity and St. John Lutheran Churches, Sidney and Fairview, MT

My Father – John 8:4-59                Vicar Jason Toombs

Last week, if you were fortunate enough to be at our 3rd midweek service, Pastor preached a wonderful sermon based on the Lord’s Prayer.  Beginning the sermon by calling God, “Father, Abba, Daddy,” he reminded us how Jesus addresses God the Father at all times.  It is only the Son, and those who are found in Him, who can call God, “Our Father.”  Apart from Jesus we have no right to call God, Father.  We can call Him: the Judge, the Righteous One, Holy, Lord, God Almighty, Jehovah, the Great I AM, but we cannot call Him Father except through the Son.  And the Son is the One who shows us who the Father is: the One who seeks us, the One who judges us.

The Jews tried to judge Christ, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father-even God.”  They claimed that Jesus was an illegitimate child, that Mary was an adulteress and was found to be with child.  In the Talmud, a second or third century Jewish writing, Jesus’ father is said to be a Roman Soldier named Pantera or Stada.  This was the oral tradition that was passed on from generation to generation among the Jews.  They thought they knew who Jesus’ father was.

They also thought they knew who they were, judging themselves and their actions.  “We have one Father-even God.”  They could track their genealogy back to the great father of the faith, Father Abraham.  They were sons of Abraham, sons of Isaac, sons of Jacob.  They were children of the promise, the promised son of Abraham was their father, Isaac.  They knew their family tree and said, “We are sons of Abraham.”  And through Abraham they could track their lineage back to the first man, the God breathed man, the son of God.  They thought they were sons of God.

But the Son of God, the Truly breathed Son of the Father, was standing in their midst speaking with them.  Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent me.”  It is as if Jesus told the Jews who spoke against Him, “You do not love God the Father because you do not love the One whom He sent, rather you are judging the Sent One.”  The Sent One, Jesus Christ, said, “I was sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24 Lent 2).  He was sent by God the Father to redeem Israel, to rescue and redeem the children of the promise.

Jesus came to rescue and redeem us from the devil.  Jesus rightfully judges the Jews and says to them, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires.”  The devil’s goal is to defeat Christ and he tries to align himself with anyone he can.  So he gets the Jews to do his bidding, all while thinking they are doing God the Father’s bidding. 

The Jews think that they will be judged gloriously by God, all while following the devil.  They are doing the will of the devil instead of the will of God. 

We also do the will of the devil.  When we speak evil of our neighbors, our family, and our friends, we are not obeying God’s law.  We all seek our own glory: on the field, in the classroom, at work, and at home.  We exalt ourselves over our teammates, our classmates, our coworkers, even our own family.  We look down at those who we perceive as lower than us: those dirty oil field workers, those lazy town dwellers, those people needing assistance, just barely getting by on handouts.  We have an us versus them mentality.  We are exalt ourselves, and those close to us, all while putting other people down. 

We judge one another on a sliding scale, “as long as I’m better than them,” “I may be a sinner, but I didn’t do that one sin they did.  That sin I’d never do.”  This is the way it is with fallen humanity, judging one another and not realizing that we are being judged likewise.  But our judgments are nothing compared to God’s judgment.

We all stand convicted; we are all guilty in His presence.  But before He can pronounce His eternal guilty verdict, in steps the Son of God, Jesus Christ.  Jesus is our only advocate, our only defender.  He alone can stand before the Father as the innocent party.  He was judged in our place.  He paid the punishment that we deserve: DEATH!

Jesus alone does the will of God, being sent down from heaven, traveling to the cross, face like flint toward Jerusalem.  This was why Jesus was sent, sent to die on the cross.  There, on that cross, He took God’s judgment, the full wrath of God, upon Himself.  God’s judgment has been poured out upon Jesus on the cross.  He took the judgment that we deserve, that the Jews deserved, and paid for it.

He shows the Father His nail printed hands, His pierced side, His empty tomb.  And the Father reads the verdict: acquitted because of Jesus.  Acquitted.  Not Guilty because Jesus has paid the punishment, taking the death sentence that we deserve.  All our punishments were paid for by Jesus on the cross.  Everything that we deserve, all of our sins, has been paid for by Jesus. 

The Father’s wrath toward sinful humanity has been fulfilled, fulfilled in His Son’s holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death.  The Righteous Judge’s wrath was paid for by Jesus.  He paid for our sin of judging others and we, we are judged innocent covered in His blood.

And so we discover the Father, the One who judges, the One who seeks us.  He doesn’t seek to harm us; He seeks to bring us back to Himself.  He sent His Son to call us back, calling us back to the loving arms of His Father.  The Sent One, Jesus Christ, said, “I was sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:24 Lent 2).

Israel is the Old Testament bride of God.  The Church is the New Testament bride of Christ.  The Church is the new house of Israel.  You are the house of Israel.  And the Father sends His Son to rescue you, to rescue me, and everyone who leaves the fold of the Church.

We are the sheep who have left the fold, “We like sheep have gone astray.”  We have wandered away from Christ and His saving action.  We have listened to the devil, the world, and our sinful selves.  We have gone our own way, heading further and further away from God.  Every time that we are directed toward ourselves, our faith, our keeping the law, our anything, we are heading away from the cross, heading away from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And in that moment God seeks you, sending out the Holy Spirit from the Father and the Son, calling us back to God, our loving God.  Calling us back to the cross where God’s judgment was poured out.  God is sending Himself out in His Word to call sinners like you and me back to Himself, back to His loving arms.  He is seeking to rescue and redeem us.

He has rescued and redeemed you in the waters of baptism.  Rescued and redeemed you in handing over His Body and Blood for the forgiveness of your sins.  And He is constantly rescuing and redeeming you, constantly acquitting you from His eternal guilty judgment, constantly seeking to save you.  So, no matter how ashamed, how big your sin is, the Father is always there for you.  Always loving you to the very end because you are in His beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

The Son is the One whom the Father sent, sent Him to not seek His own glory but your glory.  And He glorifies you before the Father, the One who is All Glorious.  The Great I AM is the one who judges us acquitted because of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  And the Great I AM is the one who is seeking to bring us to heaven where we will be gathered with all of the great fathers of the faith, gathered as His dear beloved children.

Bread King, or Eternal King?

Trinity and St. John Lutheran Churches, Sidney and Fairview, Montana

Laetare – The Fourth Sunday in Lent – March 10^th, Year of Our + Lord 2013

Bread King, or Eternal King?       John 6:1-15

Jesus will not be your bread king.  He will not be your spiritual Santa Claus to keep your tummy full.  Which might sound a little strange, after hearing how He fed the great crowds, 5,000 men, plus their families, serving this multitude through a miracle, from just five loaves and two fish, even ending up with 12 baskets full of leftovers.  Jesus performed this sign for a reason, but not for the reason the crowd wanted. 

Jesus will not be your bread king.  Neither will He be your medical king.  Nor your prosperity king.  It’s not that Jesus doesn’t care if you’re hungry, or sick, or poor.  But He has not come to merely rescue you from starvation, illness, or lack of money.  He will not be your bread king, because Jesus wants so much more for you than to just make this life a little easier. 

And so, even though we gather in the Name of the Miracle Worker, who fed the crowds and healed the sick and excited so many people, who were sure He had come to make Israel a great nation again, and even though we are members of His Church, the Body of Christ, with its 2,000 year history of influencing the whole world, changing culture from the inside out, and even though we are members of God’s victorious army, looking forward to our promised inheritance of matchless worth, even thought all these things are true, still, we suffer. 

Hunger is not much of a problem among us, these days, but our frantic lives and the exhaustion and depression we sometimes reap can make our food tasteless.  At the same time, it’s too easy to get by, too little effort is required in our daily callings, so most of us are worried about our weight, worried about eating too much, or eating poorly, despite the rich abundance we receive from God our Father. 

And of course, we are sick.  Cancer.  Heart disease.  Diabetes.  Dementia.  The list goes on and on.  And even when we’re not sick, we fret over our health, collectively demanding our “right” to healthcare, seeking out the best medical services, which are amazing, and which are great blessings, but increasingly expensive blessings.  Even still, for all our efforts and all we spend, medicine is only able to delay the inevitable.   We are dying, even though we are Christians. 

We are not poor.  Some of us are on tight budgets, relatively speaking, but many of us have more income than we’ve ever seen before.  We live in one of the economic hotspots of America.  But having more breeds wanting more, and working harder, and worrying through our nights, about what to do with our money, wondering how high the prices for everything around here can go, fretting about how to make it last, and what happens if the boom ends?  Whether times are tough, or booming, it seems our faith in Jesus does not take away our money troubles.  

Jesus will not be your bread king, or your medical king, or your prosperity king.  But He will use your fear of hunger, the pain of your illnesses, the shame of your poverty.  Jesus will use your focus on the things that worry you most, to get you to understand your real need, and His real gift.  That’s what He does at the feeding of the 5,000. 

It is certainly an amazing, wonderful miracle.  Imagine being there.  You’ve dropped everything and followed Jesus out into the wilderness, to hear Him teach, maybe to seek healing, for yourself, or a loved one.  But now your stomach’s growling and in the back of your mind you’re beginning to realize that you face a very long, hungry walk home.  You and your family and friends perhaps are beginning to talk about heading back, when the disciples, Jesus’ twelve chosen helpers, begin to tell everyone to sit down.  Find a seat, get into groups, so that the meal can begin.  The meal?  Jesus and His entourage don’t have any oxen drawn carts, full of provisions.  There’s no market here, at which to buy enough food for all of us.  So how can they say, “Sit down, so we can eat?” 

And yet, there is plenty, more than plenty.  Jesus blesses a few loaves, barely enough for Him and the Twelve, but as they begin passing them out, there are more and more loaves, more and more fish, good bread, prayed over by Jesus Himself, and fish, hearty food to feed hungry bellies.  Jesus performs a great miracle, a great sign of His power, before thousands and thousands of followers, a small army, with a mighty leader.  Surely, Jesus is the promised Prophet, the New Moses, who can do greater signs than even Moses did.  God through Moses taught the ancient people of Israel to gather manna, flaky bread that God gave, morning by morning, as the dew lifted, bread which the Israelites had to gather, morning after morning.  But Jesus takes all the work out of daily bread.  Simply sit, receive, and eat.  No wonder they decided to make Jesus their king; how great would life be under Jesus and His power?  

But when the enthusiastic crowd wants to make Jesus their king, He slips away.  The crowds, however, are determined.  It takes till the next day, but they find Jesus, hurrying to Him on the other side of the lake, in Capernaum.  But when they find Him, Jesus turns their world upside down.  He rebukes the crowd for only wanting to fill their bellies, for making free and plentiful bread into an idol, their new false god.  Jesus rebukes them for not understanding their real problem.  The true bread from heaven, given for the life of the world, this is what they need, this is what they must eat, if Jesus is to be their King, forever. 

The crowd is confused, discombobulated, by Jesus’ stern words.  What’s wrong with their excitement over the miraculous bread?  After all, Jesus had given it to them.  Why are they wrong?  Why is Jesus yelling at them?    At this moment, when we might expect Jesus to be nice, to become gentle, He instead sharpens His teaching even more.  I am the true bread from heaven, says Jesus, and the bread I give for the life of the world is… my flesh.  If you will not eat my flesh and drink my blood, then you have no part in me. 

What?  How can Jesus give us His flesh to eat?  And why?  And what’s wrong with wanting all the good things God offers in this life?  What’s wrong with wanting food and health and financial security for my family?  Nothing.  And you are free to focus only on these things, if you are ready to have all your good only in this life.  But remember, the food, the health, the money that we all desire and enjoy so much, these have no power to save us from the eternal hunger, illness and poverty that await sinners who die in their sins. 

Of course Jesus is concerned for this life, but He knows that this life is broken, this world is dying, the best things of this earthly existence last but a few years, and then are gone forever.  God gives us good things that we might recognize His grace and give thanks for all His blessings.  But we are enchanted by the taste of good food.  And we find it very hard to think past a growling belly.  We have little endurance for physical struggles, and we are afraid to be poor.  So we devote our energies to these concerns of today, all the while ignoring eternity. 

Our concerns are all about now, but Jesus’ concern is about now, tomorrow, yesterday, and most importantly, about forever.  He has a concern for your future beyond this life.  His desire is for you to enjoy the very life of God, the wedding feast that never ends, the tree of life which heals every disease, forever, the riches of Heaven, which flow from the glory and holiness of God.  

To give us His desires, Jesus has to start over.  He has to re-create the world, starting with that part of the Creation that caused all the problems: us.  Jesus became a man, in order to re-create humanity, so that in Him, in His flesh and blood, we can find eternal life. 

Jesus goes on, as recorded in John 6, to press His severe message, until most people turn away, and stop following Him.  Miraculous bread and fish, great.  To eat the flesh and blood of Jesus?  No thanks.  Jesus severely disappoints His fans, offending them and driving them away, all so that one day He could  infinitely exceed their expectations.  Jesus peaks in popularity at the feeding of 5,000, and then very soon starts losing followers, eventually losing every one, as He disappoints even the twelve disciples, who would not walk the way of the Cross with Him. 

All by Himself, then, while giving thanks to His Father, Jesus gave the Bread of Life to be broken on a Cross.  Jesus gave the New Testament poured out in scarlet on the ground.  Jesus died hungry, thirsty, wounded, and stripped of all His possessions, even the clothes off His back, all for the joy have having you for His very own, for the joy of telling you your sins are truly forgiven, and your future is incredibly bright, because He has died and risen, in order to feed you with forgiveness, life and salvation. 

Jesus works us over today the same way He did the Jews 2,000 years ago.  We’re not wrong to seek food, health and money, in order to care for ourselves and care for our families.  But, since we are so prone to make them into idols,  Jesus will take them away.  Jesus will, as needed, bring suffering into our lives, to break us from worshiping and trusting in earthly blessings, so that we can worship and trust in Him alone.  Jesus will use our sickness, our problems, our suffering, to break our focus on the things of this life, so that He can give true life, eternal life, to you, and all who believe in His Body and Blood, given and shed for the life of the world.  And then, because faith knows we have received every good thing in Christ, you and I might even begin to receive our daily bread with true thanksgiving, because it comes from the same God who has given us Jesus.   

Jesus is your bread from heaven, feeding you for eternal life.  His daily bread for you will include struggles and pain, but He is with you through it all, using these trials to bind you closer to Himself by faith.  So you can rejoice, even in your struggles, for Jesus is with you, Jesus, the King of eternity, ruling over all things, casting out all evil, forever, so that there is only joy and love in His presence.  This is His promise, the Words of eternal life.  Listen.  Repent of worshiping the things of this world.  Believe and rejoice, for Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven and restored to God’s eternal favor.  Amen. 

Marveling, Murmuring and Menacing

Third Sunday in Lent, Oculi, March 3, Year of Our + Lord 2013

Trinity and St. John Lutheran Churches, Sidney and Fairview, MT

Reactions to Jesus: Marveling, Murmuring, and Menacing (Luke 11:14-29)

Vicar Jason Toombs

 There are three kinds of reactions to Jesus: marveling, murmuring, and menacing. 

Upon healing a person many in the crowd would marvel at the healing and the healer.  Jesus has a healing ministry, through His Word and His touch people were healed.  With His Word, He casts out a demon that was mute from a man and the man was now able to speak.  The crowd marveled at what Jesus did for this mute man.  But not all of them.

There were some in the crowd who murmured amongst themselves, “He casts out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.”  Murmuring is constantly something that followed Jesus throughout His ministry.  The Pharisees, the Sadducees, the priests, the elders, and even the Romans murmured in hushed tones about Jesus. 

There were others who were menacing.  They couldn’t accept that Jesus was able to heal people through His Word and they tested him, they wanted to see a miraculous sign from heaven.  Later, others would be even more menacing, even trying to find a reason to have Jesus killed.

Marveling, murmuring, and menacing.  These three reactions are still with us to this day.  They are spoken of in hushed tones around us.  People sometimes snicker and make fun of Christians who believe that God came down out of heaven and died for the sin of the world upon the cross.  How can this be, they say.  How can this be?

The Sunday School answer: Jesus.  This is the churches message: Jesus.  Not Jesús the gardner, but Jesus Christ.  The betrayed, the scourged, the humiliated, the crucified, the buried, the resurrected, the ascended Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man.  The whole Jesus is our answer. 

Over the past few years the History Channel has rolled out “experts” who talk about Jesus at Christmas or Easter.  They try to capture the ratings with such marvels as “The Real Jesus Christ” from 2007 which presented the idea that there was another early Christian group who knew about the “real Jesus” that St. Paul and the New Testament authors tried to keep silent.  Or the Ancient Aliens piece that focused on the Ancient of Days, a piece of alien technology, which the Israelites stole from the Egyptian because it could convert dew into a bread like substance, manna, through a special algae.  I’m not making this stuff up, I’ve seen the footage.  These so called “experts” rely on antiquated research, outdated scholarship, and sheer blunders when they speak on the subject at the center of Christianity: Jesus Christ.

But this year a Christian group has put together a 10-hour mini-series on the History Channel, which begins tonight.  This mini-series promises to cover the whole Bible, from Genesis through Revelation, including the life of Jesus.  Many people will tune into this series because this series is said “to entertain and inspire the whole family!”  Is that what Jesus is about, entertainment and inspiration?  What do we need from Jesus: entertainment and inspiration or forgiveness, life, and salvation?

Jesus came forgiving people their sins and giving them life, not a better life, not a more abundant life, but eternal life.  Jesus came with healing, healing the sick, the deaf, the blind, and the mute.  The mute like the man in today’s reading.

Jesus cast out the mute demon from this man and some people in the crowd wanted a bigger sign from Jesus, a sign from heaven.  The sign they wanted was standing in their midst: Jesus Christ.  He came down from heaven, coming down as the babe born of Mary.  But they couldn’t, and wouldn’t, accept this sign.  They wanted a sign like Elijah gave on Mt. Carmel: fire coming down from heaven.  They wanted to see with their own eyes the sign from heaven that happened at Jesus baptism:  the heavens were opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on Him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are My Beloved Son; with You I am well pleased” (Luke 3:21-22).  These people wanted a miraculous sign appearing in heaven to prove that Jesus was sent by God.  And Jesus speaks to them, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah (Lk. 11:29) ... for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Mt. 12:40).

There are people today who want similar things.  They cry out, “God, if you are real, do something to prove that you are real.”  We sometimes feel like this, not believing that there is a God.  Doubt sets in and the devil seizes on this doubt, gets us to trust in the doubt.  Whispering to us that there isn’t a God who loves us, isn’t a God who is merciful, isn’t a God who is there.  The devil tries to get us to cast aside whatever belief that we had, that we still have. Sometimes our faith is like a wick that is smoldering, still barely holding on while the devil tries to put it out.  At this time it’s easy to look inward, to look to this faith, but that is always the temptation: to look to ourselves, our faith, anything but Jesus and His death and resurrection.  Rather we should be directed back to God, back to His sure and certain Word, back to what He has done for us.  In His Word, He has promised that He will never leave you nor forsake you, He will not quench the smoldering wick.  He has given you Himself, He has claimed you as His own, and He promises that He is there for you throughout your life.

Jesus, God in the flesh, who was there for this mute man is accused of casting out demons by Beelzebul, the prince of demons.  That’s a neat trick, a demon can cast out another demon rather than join him in possessing a person.  Jesus points out the folly to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls. And if Satan also is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? For you say that I cast out demons by Beelzebul. And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out?”

“Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.”  A kingdom, a nation, that is divided cannot stand forever.  A church that is divided cannot stand forever.  In recent years this has played out time and time again.  In 2009 the ELCA had a vote and congregations left.  In late 2010, throughout 2011, and even to this day many governments have been toppled throughout the Middle East in the Arab Spring: Egypt, Libya, and Yemen with other nations having protests and riots.  These nations were divided against themselves, the nation stands, for now, but it has been laid waste through wars, violence, and bloodshed.

Households are broken up every day through divorce, violence, and abandonment.  The household falls when husband and wife are constantly fighting, disagreeing with one another over everything.  Sometimes one of them takes a break, going to a hotel for the weekend to let things cool off.  A weekend turns to a week, then a month.  Pretty soon they have decided that it would be better for them to part company and get a divorce to move on with their life.  Households where parents and children are arguing all the time tend to split up when the children graduate from high school.  They strike off on their own because they can’t live another minute under their parents’ roof.  Divided households fall every day.  Surely this wasn’t the way it was set-up to be.

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”  This is the way marriage was set-up, this is how it is supposed to be.  But sin gets in the way.  The sin of the husband, the sin of the wife, the sin of their children.  Sin has a habit of getting in the way of things.  It turns what once was holy, what is blessed by God, into unholy things.  In marriage, with parents, with others, we are to repent of our sins against them and ask for forgiveness.  We are sinners who can do nothing but sin.  And we need forgiveness.  We need to be forgiven constantly, daily, hour by hour, and moment by moment for all of our sins.  And we should remember that we are forgiven sinners when someone comes to us repenting of their sins against us.  We are to forgive them of their sins as we have received forgiveness for our sins from Jesus because of His crucifixion on the cross and resurrection from the dead.

Our crucified and risen Savior cast out the mute demon from the man and some of the crowd marveled.  They marveled not only because Jesus has power over demons but also that He healed the mute man who could now speak.  Jesus has cast out the mute demon which made this man mute.  Now he was able to speak, speaking the good things that Jesus did for him.  The man is there, marveling as Jesus speaks to the others who murmured and were menacing toward Himself.  The formerly mute man, and those who with him marveled, hears everything that Jesus says and hears as the woman says, “Blessed is the womb that bore you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”

And Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the Word of God and keep it!”  The formerly mute man, the woman, the crowds, and you hear the Word of God.  And you keep it, you keep it close to your heart, you keep it in your ears and on your lips.  You keep the Word of God every time you read the Bible, every time you meditate on God’s Word.  You keep coming back to God’s Word every time you hear the forgiveness of sin, every time you remember your baptism where God has washed you clean of your sins, and every time that you receive the meal that Christ instituted on the night when He was betrayed. 

Marveling, murmuring, and menacing were ways the crowds reacted to Jesus.  People still marvel today when they hear that for their sake Christ died and rose again, defeating death and the devil forever.  Others murmur saying that Christianity is wrong and something else is right.  Still others are menacing who want to test God by requesting a great and amazing sign.  They would rather be mesmerized by David Copperfield, Criss Angel, Penn & Teller or any street corner magician than hear how much God loves them by sending His only begotten Son.

No matter your reaction, your emotions, your intellect, Jesus has done everything in your stead, for you.  In a few moments we will sing, “O Thou who, when we loved Thee not, Didst love and save us all, Thou great Good Shepherd of mankind, O hear us when we call” (LSB 569:3).  We walk in Christ’s love, “as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2), walking with Him along the path of our life.  And when life gets troubling we call out to Him and He hears us, forgives us, renews and strengthens us.  Just as He cast out the mute demon from the man and the people marveled, we too marvel, marveling that He should die for our sake and forgive us.