Oh What of That!

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 8^th, Year of Our + Lord 2012

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

Mark 6:1-13 and Ezekiel 2:1-5

The work of salvation is entirely done by God, from start to finish.  From deciding to save sinners before the foundation of the world, to sending the Son into human flesh, to the Sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the Empty Tomb, to the ongoing, current day work of the Spirit, converting and saving sinners by the Word of forgiveness, all of the saving work is done by God.  This is very good news, because this means your salvation is not put into doubt by your weaknesses, but rather is guaranteed by God’s faithfulness.  But it also creates some strange realities and real difficulties for us limited, fallen creatures, living in this dying world.  We heard some of this strangeness in our readings today, in particular the jarring news that at a certain point, after He has sent His Word to stubborn, rebellious sinners, God may say enough is enough, and move on, taking His Word to others. 

To Ezekiel the LORD said: , "Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to nations of rebels, who have rebelled against me. They and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day.  The descendants also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God.'  And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that a prophet has been among them.  As our hymnwriter sings:  Oh what of that, and what of that?

Jesus Himself, God in the flesh, comes to His own, to His hometown of Nazareth, preaching the Word about Himself, preaching the Good News that God’s plan of salvation was coming to fulfillment, right now, in the next few months and years.  How did the people of Nazareth respond?  “Eh, what could Jesus know? Why should we listen to this one we have known since he was a child?”  No matter that His Word was true to the words of the prophets, no matter that His Word came accompanied by miracles and wonders, the people of Nazareth disregarded Jesus and His message.  So Jesus marvels at their unbelief, and moves on!  Oh what of that, and what of that? 

Salvation is entirely God’s work, done by Him through His Word, and if we, as we naturally do, reject or ignore His Word, God may move on to others, leaving us in order to preach to them.  Yikes.  That God does it all in salvation is good news in view of our sinfulness, in view of the reality that we cannot do what it takes to please God and save ourselves.  Since I would only muck up anything that I was required to contribute, it is very good news that God is doing all the work.  But the ‘God aloneness’ of salvation is also scary news, because we have no control, and in our sinfulness, which we can’t overcome on our own, we might reject God’s Word and miss our chance.  Oh what of that, and what of that? 

If this warning from Ezekiel and Mark wakes you up this morning, good.  It should.  Pray fervently “Thy Kingdom come,” that is, pray that God will keep you from despising His Word, but rather cause you to gladly hear and learn it.  Pray that the Spirit would keep you strong in faith, so you live a godly life, both now, and in eternity. 

And, if these readings give you freedom in proclaiming Christ in the callings of your daily life, if you realize that all you are called to do is confess the truth of God’s Word and that the results are, thankfully, in God’s hands, then rejoice.  Rejoice, and go forth in gladness, ready to give the reason for the hope that you have. 

But I was reminded this week that there is another way we poor sinners can hear this news, a much more difficult and painful way.  I started this week simply marveling at the “that’s that” nature of our readings.  If they hear, or if they refuse to hear, they will know a prophet has been among them.  Shake off the dust from your feet, if they don’t listen to you, and move on to preach elsewhere.  Oh what of that, and what of that? 

But then on Wednesday, a friend called me.  He apologized for ruining my Fourth of July, but needed to talk a bit, because last Saturday he attended the memorial service for a young friend of his, who had committed suicide. 

I was immediately struggling for words.  And I hesitated to include this in my sermon, knowing it would be very hard for some of you to hear.  But then I remembered that we give more power to any difficult topic we refuse to interpret under God’s Word.  Worse yet, we leave it to Satan to use against us.  So, with God’s grace we can talk about suicide, too. 

Suicides bring extreme sadness, and feelings of helplessness and loss.  I could tell that this suicide had changed my friend, and I hurt for him.  Oh what of that, and what of that?  I know nothing of the situation of the young man who ended his own life.  My friend who called didn’t want to share many details; he just wanted to touch base, just needed to tell me it had happened, just needed to include me in his struggle. 

But we don’t need to know the details to know more than enough, do we?  I have never, and I pray never will have someone close to me kill himself.  I am sure many of you have suffered through this, for it is all too common.  But whether you’ve seen it up close, or only from a distance, when we are forced to deal with suicide, the hopelessness is suffocating.  Oh what of that?

Now we need to be clear, suicide is not the unforgiven sin.  The unforgiven sin is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit, that is, denying the Spirit’s witness to Jesus Christ.  It is, in a nutshell, hardened unbelief.  And who but God can say where a person’s heart is at that utterly alone moment of suicide?   Is mental illness a factor?  Is there truly no faith, or is it an act of extreme emotional distress and spiritual confusion?  Did God grant repentance and faith even in the moments before death? 

These are questions we should not presume to answer, and of course, we are called to put the best construction on everything.  Never the less, suicide is very frightening, and rightly so, because it certainly casts doubt on faith, it surely seems like an act of unbelief.  We will take care to only say what we have been given to say, and to rely on the grace of God.  But still suicide is a frightening and sobering thing.  And suicide is far too common a problem, one which makes wrestling with our readings this morning all the more difficult. 

Because the “that’s that” aspect of our Lord’s Words might easily be taken by someone struggling with despair to mean that God doesn’t care.  This is not true.  God cares more for each of us than any of us care for ourselves.  I know this.  And yet, when my friend called, I was immediately assaulted by all the questions of “Why God?”  It’s a frightening thing, to live as a Christian while still wrestling with doubt and unbelief, and we all struggle with doubt and unbelief.  It’s a difficult thing, trying to reconcile our confession of faith with the harsh realities of life.  Oh what of that, and what of that?

And yet, even in the midst of grief, we all want to speak “hope” to the hopeless.  We may be afraid, we may not know what to say, but, as my friend who called me Wednesday now knows in his gut, after a suicide, we desperately wish we could have said something to make a difference.  In the face of a life cut short, a life that everyone else saw as good and valuable, in the face of the tragedy and sadness of the aftermath, those who loved the dead have a tremendous desire to prevent the next one, to somehow reach out and give hope to everyone they love, just in case they too might unexpectedly be at risk of hurting themselves.   

And so it should occur to us that trying to give hope to a person who is despairing of life and contemplating death is very much like evangelizing, very much like trying to give sinners hope through the death and new life of Jesus.  In fact, in the end, whether the person who faces death apart from Christ does so through ignorance, through stubborn, hard-heartedness, or through despair, evangelizing is all about giving hope to dying people through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  For, while we may turn someone from suicide today with any number of hopeful ideas, at the end of all things, there is only one true source of hope, only one God who gave Himself for us, only one Savior who has conquered all our sin, so that we might live with Him forever.  This is what evangelizing is, this is what preaching is, whether done from a pulpit, over the phone, or over a cup of coffee.  Evangelizing is to speak hope to people who do not know or who are doubting the one true hope that God has given to us.  Oh what of that, Lord, what of that!

There is no short cut way to preach Christ crucified for the salvation of sinners.  It’s difficult.  Satan assaults us with self-consciousness.  The message is resisted.  Preaching the Gospel of forgiveness requires also preaching the Law that points out and condemns sin.  Evangelizing takes time, and patience, and repetition.  And even as we forgiven, believing sinners try to confess Christ to others, we will not have all the answers, because God has not given us all the answers.  When the Lord might turn from our land, because we have scorned His Word too long; why some believe, but others angrily turn away; why death still seems so powerful, even though Jesus has risen; for these and many other hard questions we have no answers that completely satisfy our troubled minds. But we do have the Word of the Cross.  We do have Jesus.  Oh what of that, Lord, what of that!

We have the Word of the Cross, so we can say this:  God has not yet turned away from us, not today, not by a long shot.  God is still actively reaching out, by His Word and Spirit, to draw sinners to Himself by the forgiveness of sins, even right here, in Fairview and Sidney, Montana.  We have the Word of the Cross, so we can say this: every sin, every sadness, every failure, yes, even every suicide, God already knows, has already suffered over, has already atoned for on the Cross at Golgotha.  We have no guarantee that when we carry the word of Christ to hurting people that we will see the results we hope for, but we can speak His Word anywhere, for it is God’s Word, and God’s promise, not ours.  We are just messengers. 

That’s what we have, at the end, the remarkable good news that God’s Son, Jesus Christ, has truly taken all the pains and sufferings of the whole creation upon Himself, draining them of their power over us, even as His life blood drained out of Him.  We are afraid, and confused, but joined to the resurrected Christ we are also alive, and ready to speak, to speak the truth that life is worth living, because Jesus died, to declare that death is not the victor, because Jesus rose.  And so we live, and speak, and look forward in hope, to that day when Jesus will return, the dead will rise, and Christ will gather His Church into everlasting joy in His presence.  Oh what of that, Lord, what of that!  Amen.

Christian Giving: Who Benefits?

Fifth Sunday after Pentecost, July 1^st, Year of Our + Lord 2012

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

2nd Corinthians 8:1-15

It is more blessed to give than to receive.  That is, you are blessed when you give; Paul even calls it a grace for you.   

I thank the LORD for our financial health.  I’m glad we don’t face an ongoing budget struggle which might drive me to preach, teach and talk about money all the time.  It happens, including here, in the past, but not during my ministry, not yet at least.  It doesn’t sound fun.  But perhaps these days of abundance really aren’t the best time to talk about giving.  Perhaps a bit of a crisis would sharpen our minds and open our hearts.  Perhaps we’d learn the LORD’s lessons about money and Church better if we were struggling to make budget.  Indeed, Paul mentions the strange combination of an abundance of joy and extreme poverty, overflowing into a wealth of generosity.  Great giving comes from extreme poverty, mixed with joy?  What is this?  More about that later.  Today our circumstances are what they are, our finances good, and this text in front of us.    

You might be surprised I’m not preaching on our famous Old Testament text – great is Thy faithfulness, LORD – or on the double miracle for the woman and the dead little girl in our Gospel – if only I can touch the hem of His garment, I will be made well.  Talitha cum, little girl I say to you, arise.  Great passages, both, but several things struck me as I studied this passage from 2^nd Corinthians. 

First, Paul is bluntly asking for money to support the Christians in Jerusalem and Judea, who are suffering from a famine, but he doesn’t care how much the Corinthians give.  Fundraising experts will tell you to always be specific with dollar amounts, but the Apostle asks for no particular level of giving.  No tithe, or tenth, is required or even suggested to them, no amount at all.  Paul simply isn’t concerned with how much they give, but rather with why they give, and what giving will do for them. 

For Old Testament Israel, God did give specific percentages, the tithe or tenth offering.  Under Moses, no option was offered; along with various other occasional offerings, you gave a tenth, period, no options, that was the Law.  But Paul is an Apostle to the New Israel, the New Testament Church which is free in Christ, and so no suggested giving levels are to be found in our text.  Give what you want.    

The why of what you might want to give is found in the second thing that struck me in these verses, especially verse 4.  Paul uses some unexpected words to discuss the financial giving he is calling the Corinthians to complete.  Unfortunately, much of the impact is lost in translation.  Our verse 4 goes as follows:  Paul reports how the Macedonians were “begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints.”   Now, that is impressive.  Who among us has ever begged for the opportunity to give money to help people far away, whom we do not know?  Willing to give, ready to give, sure, but begging to give?  Impressive.  But wait, there’s more. 

First of all, the Macedonians’ begging was with paraclesis, or exhortation, translated ‘earnestly’ in our reading.  Paraclesis is a word usually associated with the Holy Spirit, indeed Jesus calls the Spirit the Paraclete, the One who does paraclesis.  Paraclesis means to exhort, comfort, encourage, entreat.  The Macedonians begged like the Holy Spirit works.  And what they begged for was the charis, the grace, the gift from God, of giving.  And they begged like the Spirit for the grace of giving, not just to take part in a good cause, but to have koinonia, that is fellowship, or communion, in this giving.  The same word, koinonia, is used for our communion with God and each other in the Holy Supper.  Finally, this act of giving, this relief of the saints, is actually a diakonia, that is a ministry, or service, to the saints. 

Paraclesis – exhortation, the work of the Holy Spirit.  Charis – grace, a free gift from God.  Koinonia – fellowship or communion in the things of Christ.  Diakonia – ministry or service.  Giving a financial contribution entailed all of these holy things, all done for the saints, the holy ones of God.  As Paul describes Christian giving, it sounds like a lot more that a nice thing to do.  It sounds fundamentally entwined with the life of the Church of Christ. 

Indeed, Paul goes on to say the Corinthians excel in all sorts of other Churchly things, like faith, and the word, the ‘logos’, and in knowledge and earnestness, and in love.  Here again, our translation misses a bit, for in our verse 7 the list of things the Corinthians excel in concludes with “and in our love for you,” which, if you think about it, sounds funny.  How do I excel in your love for me?  A more literal translation again will help.  Paul says the Corinthians excel in the “from us to you ‘agape’,” that is, they excel in “the selfless love, ‘agape’, which Paul brought to the Corinthians.”  What selfless ‘agape’ love is Paul referring to?  The love of Christ poured out on the Cross, of course, the love of Christ Paul had delivered to them through the preaching of the Gospel.  They excel in ‘agape’ love by eagerly gathering to receive it, again and again. 

Finally, and most importantly as it relates to the topic of stewardship, as they excel in all these clearly divine things, like faith, word, knowledge, earnestness, and ‘agape’ love, so also Paul wants them to be completed by excelling in the grace of giving.  Why does Paul want this grace of giving to be completed in the Corinthians?  Not out of obedience to any commandment, but to prove, or demonstrate, that the ‘agape’ love amongst them is genuine.  That is to say the completion of their giving will bear witness to the truth that the living Christ dwells among them. 

Which brings me to the third, most striking thing about this passage.  The beneficiary of Christian giving, at least as Paul describes it in this passage, is first and foremost the one who gives.  Doesn’t that seem odd?  I mean, Paul is raising funds to take to Jerusalem to help the Christians there who face a desperate famine.  It is clearly true that the Christians in Judea will benefit from whatever generosity the Corinthians or anyone else offer.  That’s what we still do with our Mission Sundays, isn’t it?  We choose three causes a year to support with a portion of our giving.  Sometimes we can only get some display items and some materials to describe the work being done, for which they need our money.  Far better is when someone from the mission or ministry can come and speak directly to us, as the Saville’s did when they were missionaries in Venezuela.  We hear, we learn, we enjoy fellowship, we give, and the ministry or mission benefits.  Seems kind of obvious, the receiver of a gift is the one who benefits. 

But as we look closely at what Paul says, the need and plight of the saints in Jerusalem are hardly mentioned.  Paul spends much more time describing the joy of the Macedonians, who gave beyond their means, giving first to the LORD, that is, maintaining their support of their local congregation and pastor, and then also to Paul and his special cause.  Paul wants the joy of the Macedonians to also be the joy of the Corinthians.  It’s almost as if Paul knows God will take care of the Christians in Jerusalem, somehow, with or without the Corinthians. Great is His faithfulness, after all.  But the reason he gives for the Corinthians to give is that they have grace and joy and be complete, for these are a sure sign of Christ’s agape love among them.   

Paul’s concern in this passage is all about the benefit of the giver.  It’s not that he’s not concerned for the starving saints in Judea, but in his encouragement of the Corinthians, Paul never describes their desperate plight, no images of smiling but oh-too-skinny-children to tug at their heartstrings, no questions about who will  help them if you don’t, in summary, no guilt whatsoever.  Instead of using guilt, Paul instead talks about the joy of giving, of how the Macedonians combined extreme poverty and joy to produce an overflowing wealth of generosity.  Strange economics here, for overflowing generosity to come out of extreme poverty.  How does that work? 

Well, to put it simply, Paul is talking about Christian giving.  That is, the economics of Paul’s fundraising are fundamentally different because this is giving by and amongst the followers of Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.  The poverty of God’s Son changes everything, for His poverty was caused by the debt of all humanity’s sin.  Jesus, for the joy set before Him, left all of the richness of glory at His Father’s throne, and took on all your sins.  All your petty meanness, all your laziness, all your selfishness and greed, all your lust and deep, hidden wickedness, all these, Jesus took on Himself, becoming by your debts the ultimate Poor Man, paying once for all on the Cross, so that you might, through Him, become rich.    

The poverty of God’s Son changes everything, because for Christians, that is for sinners who believe their sins are washed away in Jesus’ blood, giving now benefits you, the giver.  Now, in Christ, to give is more blessed than to receive.  Why?  Because to give is to imitate Christ, and in all things, the closer we are to Jesus, the better for us.  The woman with the flow of blood was healed just by touching His garment.  The little girl was raised to life when Jesus went personally into her room and took her by the hand and commanded new life into her.  And so also, when you as a Christian give in a way that reflects the giving nature of Jesus, you are blessed by this imitation of Him.    

To better understand, let’s go back to that list of special words Paul use to describe the blessing the Macedonians found in giving.  Paul says they begged with exhortation for the grace of fellowship or communion in this financial ministry or service to the saints in Judea.  Exhortation is a Holy Spirit word, which fits, as their desire to give was a work of the Holy Spirit in them.  Grace of course is the attitude of favor that God has towards us, and this giving was a concrete example of God’s grace among them.  Fellowship or communion is the close relationship God has re-established with sinners through the Cross and Resurrection of Jesus, fellowship we enjoy again and again in Word and Sacrament, fellowship which then creates a bond between all Christians, a communion which we rejoice to visibly participate in, both at the altar, and in mutual support. 

Ministry or service is then the act of delivering the good things God has given to another person, be that the ministry of the Word and Sacrament, delivering the Gospel of Jesus Christ to sinners, or ministry to the needs of the body, joyfully done to support another saint, another sinner who, like you, has been declared to be holy by God, for Jesus’ sake. 

So you see, giving to support fellow Christians is an integral part of being Church.  Our giving does not create the Church, any more than our fellowship with each other creates our fellowship with God.  No, everything starts in God, and most particularly, in the grace of Jesus Christ, who, though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.  Christian giving is a natural outflow of the new richness we have first been given in Christ Jesus.     

So, Christian giving is good for you, the giver.  Paul praises the Corinthians for their beginning, their commitment to take an offering for the saints in Judea.  A good thing, to start.  Even better is when a God-given desire begins to motivate your plan to give.  And best of all is when the desire to give reaches completion, so that you and the Church around you get to see the visible proof of God’s grace and ‘agape’ love among you.  It doesn’t matter how much you give, but rather that you desire to give, from the joy you have, because Christ has given Himself to you. 

In my eight years of ministry to you here, it has been a great joy to see how God has provided for all our needs.  Financially, the LORD has made use of fire and flood and oil wells and many other earthly things, to create the circumstances for our opportunity to rejoice in the grace of giving.  Through it all, of course, the key has been God causing His Word and Sacrament to go forth, bringing forgiveness to sinners like you and me, grace and mercy abounding and giving us hearts that desire to give. 

Perhaps in years to come the LORD will give us tougher times, as He has in the past.  Or perhaps our earthly bounty will continue.  No matter, as long as we are centered on the One who, though he was rich, yet for our sake became poor.  We have everything we need, for ourselves, and for others, in the poverty of Christ crucified, and in the riches of Christ resurrected and ascended, ruling right now at the Father’s right hand.  God grant us ever to find our poverty, our wealth, and our joy, in Jesus, Amen. 

Zechariah’s Blessing

The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, June 24^th, Year of Our + Lord 2012

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

Luke 1:57-80

The silence of the law is finally over.  Today we celebrate the birth of John the Baptist, six months and a day before the celebration of Jesus’ birth.  John’s father, Zechariah, had borne the burden of God’s law through nine months of silence.  Zechariah was a priest and a faithful Israelite, along with his wife, Elizabeth, with whom he had also endured another burden of the law, the burden of barrenness.  That is, through many long decades of marriage, they had never received the blessing of a child, yet another consequence of human sinfulness, not the parents’ particular fault, just the sad fact that some marriages are not fruitful, even though God created marriage in order that we might fill the earth with more and more people for God to bless. 

Who knows how many words of mourning, how many cries and tears came from Zechariah and Elizabeth, because they had no child.  But then, near the end of their lives, during the reign of King Herod, while Zechariah was taking his turn in the priestly service rotation, burning the daily incense at the altar of the LORD, the angel Gabriel appears to him with great news: Zechariah and Elizabeth will have a son!  And this son would be special, bringing joy to many, being filled with the Holy Spirit from the womb, a prophet sent before the Lord to prepare His Way. 

Despite the visit by the angel, and despite the promised blessing, Zechariah doubts the Word which Gabriel declared to him.  Consequently, to prepare Zechariah to receive this promise with gladness, God’s messenger announced a silent law.  Nine months Zechariah would be mute, unable to speak, nine months of daily reminder that he had been given a special message of good news from the LORD, but doubted. 

But now, today, a son is born, and his name will be John.  With this acknowledgement of the Word of God that had been spoken by Gabriel, Zechariah’s tongue is loosed into a tremendous blessing, an expression of purest gospel, a burst of singing given by God to Zechariah, and recorded by Luke for us to hear and sing, the good news of the LORD’s salvation, coming to Israel, right now.  Zechariah had suffered through nine months’ of silence, but now his unique blessing is to sing this song, called the Benedictus, a song of great joy and promise, a song about the coming Christ child, and about John, who would go before the LORD to prepare His way, to give His people knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of their sins.  What a blessing.  In fact the name Benedictus means blessed, from the first line of the song: Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, for He has come to His people and redeemed them. 

What a blessing for Zechariah.  Nine long months of tough discipline were a burden, no doubt, but in this song a wonderful privilege, to proclaim such sweet Gospel.  This is also God’s blessing for Zechariah’s son John, to proclaim good news to God’s people, to comfort Israel by telling her that her warfare is ended and her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins.  And this double back gift is Jesus Christ, the One whose way John came to prepare.  Yes, John’s blessing was in the end just like Zechariah’s, the blessing of being called to tell forth the Good News of Jesus Christ.  John’s blessing was the same, only different.  John too, is given to preach good news, but the Law and the Gospel are more intertwined for the Baptist.  Zechariah suffered through nine months of silent law, but then broke forth in pure good news, the only public proclamation that we can for sure say Zechariah ever made. 

 Not so John.  John preached for years, day after day.  And like any life time preacher, he was not given just one period of law preaching, followed by a long straight shot of only joyful Gospel.  No, John had to keep coming back to the Law, over and over again, in the harshest fashion.  Repent, John cried, repent, again and again, proclaiming the bitter truth of human sin, in order that the Law could prepare sinners to hear and believe the Good News that in Christ Jesus, the Law is fulfilled and our sins are forgiven. 

Preachers don’t get to choose the path of their ministry.  If they could, I think I would choose Zechariah’s path.  Nine months of silence?  I’m sure that would be difficult.  But then, to be given such a sermon to preach, to sing even, a sermon song that the Church would take up and continue to sing, until Christ returns.  That sounds wonderful to me. 

We should be more watchful for opportunities to proclaim pure Gospel, pure Good News about Christ and His salvation.  Pastors and people together should be on the lookout for opportunities to declare the utterly surprising and joy-filled message of God’s love for the world, poured out in Jesus Christ.  Because most people still think the message of the Christian Church is shape yourself up, or you’ll go to hell.  That Christ came to forgive sinners because we can’t shape ourselves up, that He gives the gift of forgiveness totally free, apart from any works on our part, this is good news that by and large most people don’t know or don’t understand.  So we should watch for opportunities to speak of Christ’s forgiveness, watch for and seize them. 

We should seize them when we can, because, more often than not, the proclamation required by any given moment in our lives is more mixed, more like John the Baptist, less like Zechariah.  This is because the Gospel is good news only to those who know their predicament, their sin and the punishment deserved, their impending death and the eternal hell they lives have earned.  Without an understanding of our guilt and God’s wrath, sinners may hear the message of good news, but doubt that they need it.  Very rarely do we come across people in open desperation, eager to hear of the Savior.  No, more often than not, there is a glaring problem that must be addressed, before the hearer is ready for the Gospel. 

All too often, the problem is a callousness, a hardening toward God and His Word, a seared conscience that feels no guilt.  People are dwelling in darkness and the shadow of death, and yet want nothing to do with the Way of Christ, because although salvation is by the free gift of forgiveness, Christ does call His people to a life of love toward God and neighbor.  God’s Law does not save us, but it still stands.  Christians are called to reject the passions and desires of sin.  But these are what so many people spend every waking hour trying to fulfill.  Sexual fantasy, psychotic escape through drugs or alcohol, the thrill of material gain, the sadistic pleasure of hurting and dominating others, for the person caught up in such sins, the conscience is very nearly dead, and must be awakened by the condemnation of God’s threatening wrath.  The wages of sin is death, and not some peaceful escape to nothingness, but rather death leading into a real place of real punishment, gnawing pain from a fire that does not go out.  Brood of vipers, cries out John, who warned you to flee the wrath to come? 

Ironically, these famous words from the Baptist were directed at those who appeared the most moral, the most religious.  This should frighten us most of all, that the hardest hearts, the most deeply seared consciences can belong to those who actively portray themselves as good, Godly people.  There is a great irony here, for those most obviously disobeying God’s Law are oftentimes ready to admit their guilt, like the tax collectors, prostitutes and sinners who were always clamoring after Jesus.  Meanwhile the outwardly religious close their ears and harden their hearts, pretending that God can’t see how they act when no one from Church is around, how they behave in their own home, what wicked thoughts and desires they cherish in their hearts. 

How do we know these things are true?  Well, we know from our own lives, from our hearts, from our memories, and from our thoughts right now, don’t we?  We all know people who are hardened against God’s Word, people who seek after the thrills and pleasures of the flesh, who beat down and ignore their consciences till almost nothing’s left.  And we all know people who put on a show of religiosity, but who privately are full of pride and bitterness.  We all know such people, for such people are we.  This is a fearsome thing, that even after we have been claimed by and called to follow the One whom John proclaimed, still we don’t live righteously, as the Baptized should. 

So yes, we know from our lives.  But not quite fully.  No, God’s Word declares that our sinfulness is so deep, we cannot even understand it, that while our conscience can become more aware of sin, still there are yet deeper sins of which we do not know.  God’s Word declares that we sinful through and through, even when we are doing our very best not to be sinful. 

And so, in order to give comfort, true, eternal comfort, the true knowledge of salvation, first John and every preacher must proclaim the condemnation of the Law.  So John’s task was often difficult, for the sinner in each of us hates to be condemned.  John’s calling was difficult, and dangerous, eventually costing him his head.  But John did it for joy, from a confident hope, proclaiming the bitter Law because John knew the Gospel was even sweeter.  Because God, finding no one who could fulfill His will for mankind, and even less finding someone who could shoulder the burden of mankind’s debt for sin, came Himself.  Six months after John the Baptist, the LORD God Himself was born into His Creation, the eternal Son sent by the Father, to redeem the world with His own life, death and resurrection.  Look, said John, look you sinners, behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.  Watch Him, and see your salvation, dying and rising again. 

You and I will never get past our need to hear God’s Law, not until the LORD calls us to Himself.  And we don’t just need God’s Law as a guidebook for living, as if we have got this Christianity thing under control.  No, we will always need God’s Law to point out our own sinfulness, that we be reminded daily to flee to Jesus, bringing Him our sins, for this is what He truly wants from us.  And that we never doubt we can run to Jesus, we would do well to remember Zechariah’s song.  We might even memorize this sermon song about the blessed LORD who saves His people, who gives knowledge of salvation by the forgiveness of sins.  Yes, even more we need to hear and proclaim God’s Way, of how He forgives the iniquity of His people, by covering all our sin in the blood of Jesus, withdrawing His wrath, turning from His anger and showering us with blessings, declaring our warfare to be ended and our iniquity pardoned. 

The sunrise from on high has risen upon us, because Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and is with His Church unto the end of the age.  Jesus is God’s gift to you, double back for all your sins.  So preached Zechariah.  So preached John.  So declares God.  Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, and blessed are you, Amen.