M Thursday

Maundy Thursday
April 5, 2007
Luke 23:13-16
The King conquers evil with goodness

Thus we observe Pilate’s confession of Jesus’ innocence.

The innocence of Jesus - Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. Luke 23:14 If He were innocent why wasn’t He released?

The injustice of the trial, - Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. Luke 23:15 Double jeopardy Herod found nothing against Him so why proceed with a trial?  A prosecutor without a case can not go to trial. Any judge would know this. Pilate proceeds to trial knowing there isn’t a case in which to convict Jesus.

The Lamb without spot will become a sacrifice for sin - Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.’” Luke 23:16 He who knew no sin became sin for us that we might become the righteousness of God through Him. That great exchange – our sin for His righteousness – by His stripes we are healed.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday
April 1, 2007
Luke 19:27
The King conquers a city with Love

When He came near the place where the road goes down the Mt. of Olives the whole crowed of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen.

The Lord’s Passion according to Luke’s Gospel will be observed throughout the week. Here we observe the total drama of God’s love for His people. .Palm Sunday is an easy scene to recreate. It is so very familiar, but what really is going on here? The reaction of the crowd was bound to have happened as it did.

I.        Raising of Lazarus

A.     Had just taken place just a few days at most. It was “breaking news” something unheard of had just happened.

B.     Was well known to all – How could you keep this news a secret. A man who had been dead for three days had been risen to life. This sort of thing does not happen. If it had happened what could this mean? Who is this Jesus?

C.    Brought things to a head. The hostility between the leadership and Jesus was at its breaking point. The people concluded that Jesus must be the promised prophet predicted by the prophets of old. Could this be the long expected Messiah, the one who would deliver them of all their woes? To the leadership this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. He was at the height of popularity. They could feel their power and influence slowly slipping away. Naturally Annas would counsel his peers “It is expedient that one man die for the sake of the nation.”

II.     The crowd’s reaction

A.     The leaders completely missed the point (they asked Him to quiet the crowd!) They feared a riot. The last thing then needed was an uprising during the holiday.  They could loose everything.  

B.     The people no less miss the point also. They too were clueless.

1.      They linked Him to the Psalms the one who would come in the name of the Lord. (qt)

2.      They should have linked Him to the rest of the Old Testament – the suffering servant – the one who would come to visit His people and bear their sin.

III.   An explanation of the crowd’s turn

A.     They were fickle as most are even to this day. If they don’t get immediate satisfaction they will turn. e.g. political leaders, sports teams, athletes, etc.

B.     They expected a political Messiah one who would care for their every need. They could care less for his spiritual musings they had little use for Him in that respect – He was not a Savior capable of saving, so they turned on Him.

1.      He showed He was not such - “My kingdom is not of this world”

2.      They became disillusioned – “then save/heal Thyself!”

The problem of the Palm Sunday crowd was one of misunderstanding. The people, the leadership of the people thought He was something He wasn’t because they didn’t know who He was. If He were to come to our community today, might the same thing happen? Do people really understand who He is? Our mission; proclaim a changeless Christ to a changing world.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Mid-week Lent #6

Mid-Week Lent 6
March 28, 2007
Zachariah 9:9-10
The Savior leads in times of opportunity

INTRODUCTION: What sort of king do we want to rule over us? Twenty-eight years ago; in the year 1979 the people of Iran banished the Shah for an Islamic holy man. Are we content with the ruler of our lives? Who shall govern us in the years to come? Although the next national election is a year and a half away people still ask – who shall lead us? As we close out our mid-week Lenten meditations we need to ask this pressing question - who then shall lead us? 

On Palm Sunday came to lead His people. There He was hailed as Lord and King. Yet His popularity would last but a season. By the end of the week He would be tortured and killed.

1. Your King comes to you humbly – “humble and riding on an ass” -  

The Messiah comes on an ass, not on a mighty horse. As ass is a humble animal and symbolizes peace. The ass carried the Christ to the people.

Today He gives us opportunity to be a witness; as we observe the Savior’s Passion He gives us an excellent opportunity to tell our friends and neighbors “we are eye-witnesses of these things”   

2. A victorious king – “triumphant and victorious is He” –

Here is a “sacramental” view of God’s dealing with us. We do not come to the King. To the contrary, the King comes to us to bless us. We do not “decide” to follow Christ – Christ decides for us. We do not choose Christ – Christ chooses us. God initiates the act of grace.  He bids us to come – thus He gives us the opportunity to be received into His eternal kingdom. The Lord’s greatest triumph was in His death – His victory came in the scandal of the cross.

3. A peaceful king – “he shall command peace to the nations” –

Holy Week with its horrors and tragedies begins this Sunday – Palm Sunday – with a shout of joy – “Rejoice”…”Shout aloud for your King comes to you!

Even in the depth of pain and gore there is joy. Jesus endured the cross for joy that was set before Him. The joy is that the Savior came to die for me and my sins – to assume kingship over our lives.

CONCLUSION:  Our Savior leads in times of opportunity – This night He has given us the opportunity to hail Him as Lord and King. This is cause for loud rejoicing.  

In fulfilling the prophet Zechariah’s foretelling of the coming Holy One of God Jesus rides into Jerusalem on an ass and presents Himself to the nation as their king to the waving of palms and to the tune of hosannas. Tonight is an opportunity to rejoice as the Lord’s holy one comes to us.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Mid-week Lent 5

Mid-Week Lent 5
March 21, 2007
Jeremiah 31:31-34
The Savior leads in times of sacrifice

INTRODUCTION:  “The Days are coming” when God will make a new covenant with His people. If this is only a promise of a future new relationship with God, where is the good news other than hope for the future? Christians have more than a promise; they have the fulfillment in Christ who affected the new covenant. The days are not coming; they have come in Christ. This is the good news for this day!

Because of Christ and His sacrifice…

1.                  A new covenant has been made v. 31 "I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah and with the house of Israel."

What is new about a covenant between God and man?  After all, there had been a number of covenants made in the past between God and His people. There was Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses. 

The making of a covenant is nothing new, but this promised covenant would be new - brand new! 

This covenant would not be one like those of the past.  The covenants of the past were only renewals. Here is a whole new deal. God is going to give Israel another chance to be His own people. This new covenant will be made through the blood of God's own Son Jesus Christ.

2.                  A covenant in which we know God in Christ v. 34  " And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother saying 'Know the Lord' for they shall all know me from the least of them unto the greatest of them says the Lord…"

The people are told you will know God. When God is loved with the whole heart, there is no longer any more need to teach someone who God is or anything about God.  They will know Him intimately. That person will know God instinctively.  To know God is not a mere intellectual exercise or a mere understanding of the concept of God. To know God is to have a relationship with Him, a personal, deep, personal experience with God, which is based on trust. This new covenant is what brings us back to God when God instructed us to fear, love and trust in God above all things.  This knowledge of God comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

3.                  We experience forgiveness through Christ v. 34 “…for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more."

Here we find the effect of this new covenant.  God must forgive the people past sins that they may begin anew in their relationship with God.  To have this new relationship with God there must be the forgiveness of sins. The sins and misgivings of the past must be removed so that God and man can begin anew in their relationship with God as though nothing had happened.

God not only promises to forgive but to forget!  He tells us that He will remember our sins no more. This is wonderful news!  This good news is that when we confess our sins and are forgiven, those sins are blotted out and will no longer be brought up at judgment day.  God keeps no record of wrong. There are no tapes for playing back all of our sins.  He buries them in the sea of forgetfulness and remembers our sins no more!

Conclusion; This new covenant is given to us in Baptism, and is lived each and every day our lives. We live under this new covenant; it's based on trust, on love and on hope. It's God's final word to us.  It is a word that He will not break.  Thank God for this amazing mercy and grace.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Mid-week Lent 4

Mid-Week Lent 4
March 14, 2007
Numbers 21:4-9
The Savior leads in times of believing

INTRODUCTION:  Our lesson for today gives the ingredients of a people’s fall and their restoration.  It all happened by the grace of God.  Our lesson is not merely the pattern for a nation; but it also serves as a model for an individual.

True, we may be tempted to look down our nose at the children of Israel and think to ourselves that we would never fall for such a pitiful attitude as Israel. But if we would be honest with ourselves we might find a lot in common with these restless folk.  If the truth were known the children of Israel haven't quit cornered the market on complaining against God…it keeps happening all the time!  Thanks be to God that He always restores us as His people.  In contrast to man’s impatience, we have the amazing patience of God with sinful humanity. That's what we see in this amazing story of God's people.

 Today, let's consider the pattern of man’s fall and his restoration.

1.      Sin – impatience and rebellion v. 5 "And the people spoke against God and against Moses.  'Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in this wilderness? There is no bread, neither is there any water and our souls loathe this light bread'."

Under Moses the children of Israel left the comforts and the conveniences and the luxury of Egypt.  Although they were slaves, conditions were not half bad compared with the hardships of wilderness living, or so they thought.  They soon forgot about their sufferings, the hard service, and the oppression that they felt under the yoke of oppression. Yet, that was all soon forgotten once they encountered life in the open wilderness.

They complained about the food, they got tired of eating the same food month after month and cried to Moses "if only we had died in Egypt!" Their sin was their complaining, which not necessarily pointed at Moses, it was directed at God. Their complaining insinuated that they deserved something better; in effect they questioned the sovereignty and the providence of God. This showed a lack of faith and confidence in God, which is at the heart of sin. They could no longer trust the promise of life in a Promised Land.  When we complain, or show lack of respect for God we are doing one in the same thing. We are showing a lack of faith and confidence in God our provider. We are demonstrating a lack of confidence in Him who has given us a much better promise and a much better Promised Land.

In this season of Lent we are called to return back to the Savior who has promised to direct and sustain us. His providence will surly lead us.

2.      Suffering – snakes of punishment v. 6 "And the Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people; and many died."

It was a serpent that beguiled the human race way back in the Garden of Eden. Likewise, it is a serpent, which inflicts the children of Israel as punishment for their sin of rebellion. This should not surprise us.  The Scriptures clearly remind us that "the wages of sin is death".  But the passage goes on to say "but the free gift of God is eternal life".  By a serpent death came to the children of Israel. But by a serpent risen up on a pole came life.

As strange as the command must have appeared all those who looked in faith to the raised brazen serpent were spared. Likewise, at the cross, the Son of God, Jesus Christ was raised up, and all who looked to Him in faith are spared of a far more serious and most lethal and fatal sickness…that is the sickness of sin. And as we know with this sickness the condition is always terminal! As by one-man sin entered the world, so likewise, by one man came life everlasting. Jesus came to bring life and immortality to light through the gospel.  "Today Thy mercy calls us to wash away our sin" the old, old, hymn reminds us. In faith turn to Him to live!

3.      Salvation – confession, prayer, deliverance. Vv. 7-9 "The people came to Moses and said; 'we have sinned for we have spoken against the LORD and against you. Pray to the LORD, that He take away the serpents from us…The Lord said unto Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole; and it shall be that every one that is bitten, when he looks upon it, shall live'. Moses made a serpent of brass and put it upon a pole; and it came to pass that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived."

The healing of forgiveness comes simply in a look at the upraised serpent and at the cross. True, preceding the look was a confession of sin and a request for prayer to be relieved of the punishment - the two go hand in hand - you can't have one without the other! You can't have absolution without first having confession and without one you can't have the other!

The people were saved when they looked at the snake on the standard. People today are redeemed from sin when they look in faith to the cross. Just a look is all it takes - that is, if it is the look of faith.  This is what this week's emphasis of Lent is all about. Lent is an attitude of believing. We are made right with God; we are healed of our brokenness with God; we are forgiven our sin by simply look to God for mercy. By grace, and grace alone we are save through Jesus Christ our Savior.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Mid-week Lent 3

Mid-week Lent #3
March 7, 2007
Genesis 28:10-17
The Savior leads us through times if suffering
The story of Jacob  & Esau
“Surprised by God”

INTRODUCTION:  Jacob was surprised that God was present. He thought he was alone and far from God because God, he thought, was restricted to his geographical area. Are we surprised to find God in places other than in a church?  Would you be surprised to find God in a cocktail lounge, in a jail, in nature, in a hospital?  God comes to people wherever they are in need, regardless of the place.

When God comes to you…

I.        Be aware of His presence v. 16  “Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, "Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it."

A.     God is truly with us always! I will never leave you. I will never forsake you.  I am with you always.

B.     Especially at those times when we did not expect it or recognize God’s presence in our lives.  He comes in Word & Sacrament to sustain and forgive.

II.     Be reverent v. 17 “And he was afraid and said, How awesome is this place!”

A.     Are we respectful of the holy?  What is our reaction once we have encountered God? Are we changed? Are we different?

B.     This was a life changing moment for Jacob.  What are those life-changing moments in our lives? They ought to be awesome for us as they were for him.

III.   Be cognizant of its significance v. 17 “ This is the house of God… the gate of heaven”

A.     Jacob grasped what God was doing in his life. He would never be the same.

B.     Likewise, in those encounters with God may we walk away changed and different people.

Conclusion:  “Let us ever walk with Jesus, Follow His example pure Flee the world which would deceive us, And to sin our souls allure. Ever in His footsteps treading, Body here, yet soul above. Full of faith and hope and love, Let us do the Father’s bidding, Faithful Lord, abide with me; Savior, lead, I follow Thee.” {TLH #409 stanza 1}

+ Soli Deo Gloria +

Mid-week Lent 1

Mid-week Lent #2

February 28, 2007

The Savior leads in times of cleansing

Exodus 20:1-17

INTRODUCTION: The Ten Commandments; “The Big Ten” have received a lot of notoriety in recent years. Congress is considering whether these laws ought to be posted inside the school house door and within the halls of our governmental buildings.  Some contend that these laws our outdated and too restrictive. Still others maintain that they are given for our every day living.  A recent billboard simply read “What part of Thou Shalt Not can’t you understand?” signed –God.

What is the purpose for such laws in our society today?  They all boil down to three.

1.    What to do – These commandments were given for our practical living.

As a result, God has told us plainly in His Word what we are to do. Have no other gods, remember the Sabbath day, honor your father and your mother. By following these laws we are given a better way of living.

God calls us to live a life that is higher and nobler then we would dare to go.  Like an athletic trainer or a demanding teacher God calls us to become what we, of ourselves, could never obtain.  The gracious pupil gives the greatest compliment saying “I could have never done it without you” Likewise, we benefit by following the particulars of God’s directives that we might live better and more productive lives.  These commandments are given to us that we might live a better life.

2.    What not to do – Left up to our own devices we would each perish.

Therefore, God has given us restrictions. They are not meant to fence us in. To the contrary, by following these restrictions we avoid the trappings and the temptations of this sinful age.  Man is his own worst enemy therefore God has given us these 7 commandments to avoid the pain and the misery of sin’s consequences. Do not take God’s name in vain, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness, and do not covet.

In actuality, these restrictions do not limit us. To the contrary, they free us so that we do avoid the pain associated with sin. It would do us well to heed these commands of God as a means of avoiding the demons of our own fallen nature that would rob us of a life that is pleasing to God.

3.    How to live – “That man a godly life might live God did these commandments give.”  {TLH #287 stanza 1}

These commandments were never intended to help us gain salvation. Our fallen nature prevents us from obtaining moral perfection. Yet, God has given us a standard by which we can measure our conduct as well as obtain a clear perspective by which we see the need of a Savior who followed the will of the Father and was obedient- obedient unto death.  Jesus Christ followed the Father’s will perfectly for us. He exchanges our sinful way of life for His own perfection and goodness. Follow Him and the standard that He gives you, to be His dear children as He is our loving and gracious Father who loves us enough to discipline us and direct us. 

CONCLUSION: The Lord has given us His law as a means of teaching us. Lent is a time of cleansing – a time of cleansing which comes from His Law.

+ Soli Deo Gloria +