Ash Wednesday - 2012

This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman, or Trinity Lutheran Church Murdock NE.

Ninth Commandment:  You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s House

Tenth Commandment:  You Shall Not Covet Your Neighbor’s Wife …

Bible Narrative:  2 Samuel 11:1-4

Tonight, 2 Samuel 11 is used in conjunction with the Ninth and Ten Commandments.  This Bible story is writing for your Lenten – repentant - learning.  For your warning AND for your repentance!  “Let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall,” (1 Corinthians 10:11)!  The Law of God is good and wise.  The Ten Commandments describe what your life before God and before one another should look like. 

But you and I are sinners.  Children of Adam and Eve! Our sinful flesh does not do what the Law requires.  The commandments say:  “You shall not covet” and, because of our sinful nature, we are off to the races COVETING!  We profusely covet what doesn’t belong to us. 

And so the Commandments reveal our sin.  Point them out to us.  Like an X-ray or CAT scan machine!  It’s really ugly!  Brutal!  Shocking!  We really didn’t think we were that bad!  We could have never imagined this sin sickness to be so deep!  Corrupt to the core!  Lost and condemned persons we are due to our sinful condition!

In addition, the Commandments silence all our flimsy fig leaf excuses of self-justification before God and hold us accountable.  The Ninth and Tenth Commandments that say:  “You shall not covet,” expose us for who we really are:  SINNERS!  And this Word of God kills us!  And that’s very good.  Because that’s the only thing you can do with the old Adam / Eve!  You can’t rehab old Adam / Eve!  You can’t salvage old Adam / Eve!  The old Adam / Eve by daily contrition and repentance is to be drowned and die with all sin and evil desires!   

In addition, tonight’s Scripture is also written for our comfort.  There is forgiveness for sinners.  Every sinner!  For every sin.  No matter how heinous.  There is free and total pardon for you, me, King David, and the world through Jesus Christ our Lord and His holy week innocent suffering and Good Friday dying!  Consequently, there is a promise from Jesus Himself!  And it is this:  “I forgive you!”  This is very good too.  For all you’re left with here is faith – faith alone – in Jesus and His absolution.  And that faith is the new creation – the new creature – that lives before God now only by faith in Jesus! 

Now to the text.     

King David.  Doesn’t do his kingly vocation.  “In the spring when kings go off to war” David farms it all out to General Joab.  It’s up to General Joab to fight Israel’s enemies and defend Israel’s borders while King David loafs.  Joab ravages and besieges.  David dawdles.  Joab and all Israel are fighting in the field.  David loafs at home. 

And so one night when David can’t sleep he spots her.  He can’t believe his eyes!  She’s taking a bath!  Right out in the open!  What kind of women would do that?  It is as if she wants to be seen on purpose!  Perhaps she has something on her mind!  Hmm?

He can’t take his eyes off her.  She’s gorgeous!  Stunning!  What a body!  Kim Kardashian or Jennifer Anniston have nothing on her!  She could be the cover girl for GQ or the centerfold for Playboy every month for the next ten years! 

Who is she?  This naked bathing beauty?  As if David didn’t know. 

Her name is Bathsheba.  Daughter of Eliam.  And she has a wedding ring on her finger!  She is wedded to Uriah the Hittite!  Eliam is the son of one of David’s counselors, Ahithophel.  And both Eliam and Uriah are both members of the king’s personal bodyguards (2 Samuels 23:34, 39).  Beautiful Bathsheba:  Eliam’s daughter – Uriah’s wife.  They all know each other!  Very well!       

And King David covets her.  Doesn’t give a rip that she’s married.  He wants her.  And he wants her now!  Badly.  No low “T” with this man!  He will satisfy his desires no matter what.  No matter who he hurts.  No matter whose lives he destroys.  Now matter who he has to kill.  HE WILL have what he covets!  He will have her!  He is the king!  And what the king does is right!                                                

So he barks out orders:  “Go fetch her for me!  Chop!  Chop!”  “And don’t forget to sneak her through the back door!  I’ll have the lights dimmed, the candles lit, and the romantic music playing softly!”  Off go David’s servants.  To her house.  Right across the street no doubt! 

“Good Evening Madam Bathsheba, daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah.  My, don’t you look ravishing tonight.  The king requests your …. presence.  Please follow us.”    And they escort the ravishing bombshell directly to the king’s bedroom.  The one-night-stand is consummated!  Underneath the canopy and between the sheets of his majesty’s royal bed!  His coveting led directly to physically adulterating his marriage and Bathsheba’s.  And David could care less.  He got what he wanted!  He got what he coveted! 

What or who is it that you covet? 

What’s that?  You say you don’t covet?  Nonsense!  Of course you do!  You are no better than King David.  You are just as bad as King David.   

Your coveting knows no bounds!  It ranges from another person’s spouse all the way to your neighbor’s land, home, or investments!  You name it.  Whatever your neighbor has – you want it!  You’re never content with what God has given you!

Taking people to court is the usual way to extend and bring to fulfillment the coveting!  All under the cover of legality!  “See I have the title!  It was awarded to me!  The inheritance is mine!  The court said so!”  The tentacles of coveting extend into everyday business transactions.  In these tough economic times – your neighbor out of work – his 401k tanked – deep in debt – has property and possessions.  With all the cunning you can muster and with an eye for more profit you harass and hustle him into selling his stuff for only half of what it is worth.  And you justify the purchase by saying:  “I got a super deal!”  And like David you could care less.  Because it’s all about you Baby!  First come first serve!  Look out for numero uno!  Survival of the fittest!

You see how deep the sin is?  It’s really bad.  “You shall not covet!”  The last two commandments reveal our sin, indict, convict and condemn us.  God is not pleased!  These commandments show God’s wrath against our coveting!  Lost, dead, and condemned you and I are in our sin!

But here is the good news!  Really, really great news!  His name is Jesus.  God was in Christ Jesus reconciling the world to Himself – NOT COUNTING YOUR SINS AGAINST YOU!  Imagine that!  God forgives.  He forgives you!  Because of Jesus!  And only because of Jesus!    

How can this be?  Here’s how!  God made Jesus, the sinless and perfectly holy one, TO BE SIN!  “He who knew no sin was made to be sin.”  And to be cursed (Galatians 3:13)!  Yes, that’s right!  Jesus was determined to go all the way for your salvation.  He wouldn’t stop until He took all that is yours – including and especially all your sin!  “God has laid on him the iniquity of us all,” (Isaiah 53). 

Perfect and holy Jesus is made to be sin by bearing all your sin, all my sin, all the world’s sin in His body.  So much so that Jesus is MAXIMUM SINNER!  He willingly goes under the Law and endures His Father’s wrath against all sin and every sinner!  In your place.  Vicariously!  The greatest and only sacrifice that atones for sin:  Good Friday’s Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Now that the Law has accused Christ on the cross, it looks all around.  It looks at you.  But you are baptized into Christ’s death.   Jesus gives you His Good Friday Body and Blood to eat and drink sacramentally.  In Christ the Law is fulfilled for you.  All the Law’s accusations are used up in Christ and His promises.  And what does He promise:  Te absolvo!      You are forgiven.  All you sin -- all your coveting is answered for!  And you have peace with God through Jesus Christ!

Have a happy Ash Wednesday! 

In the Name of Jesus. 

Lent Midweek 4 - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Not with Gold or Silver

This year's Lenten midweek sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman, of Murdock, NE.

High treason! Charged with perverting the nation, forbidding people from paying their taxes, and claiming to be a king! Paint the preacher as a radical! An agitator! A menace! Against all law and order! He’s a threat to society!


False charges of course. Jesus was innocent. Completely. But the hatred against Him was so heated. So immense. Let’s see if the governor will fall for it. Especially the charge that the preacher claims to be a king. Make the preacher out to be a danger to the Roman government. The governor will have no choice. And then we’ll eliminate that Jesus fellow once and for all!

But Jesus is innocent! And Pilate knows it. Five times the governor says it. “I find no fault in this man. You don’t have a case against this man.” “I have examined him … and have found nothing in this man guilty of any of your charges against and neither did Herod.” The splendid white robe, although done in jest by Herod, was what Romans put on a man elected to the office of mayor. Even the governor’s wife knew the truth. “Don’t have anything to do with this preacher! I’ve had a horrible dream about shedding innocent blood!”

Governor Pilate knows that Jesus is innocent. And he knows that there are absolutely no legal grounds to sentence the preacher to death! So he plays another card. All right then, bring out Barabbas. You know, the Benedict Arnold. Yes, criminal Barabbas notorious for his treason and murder in the rebellion. The governor will play the odds. Surely the chances are in Jesus’ favor. These Jews, given the choice, will certainly pick the

preacher and send the real Benedict Arnold Barabbas packing to his solitary cell on death row. After all, the real criminal is Barabbas, not the preacher! So, “which of the two do you want me to release for you?”

The governor’s gamble doesn’t pay off. He played the wrong card. Outrageously the chief priests and elders shout: “Put the preacher to death! Let Barabbas off the hook! We’re willing to let Barabbas walk our streets! But not this Jesus! He’s an absolute peril to our children and society!”

Shocked, the governor tries to reason with them. “Look folks. Calm down for a second! Take a deep breath. The preacher may be a little weird. I’ll grant you that. But legally He’s done nothing wrong. He doesn’t deserve the death penalty at all. How many times do I have to tell you?” But the shouts grow louder and louder: “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”

The governor tries another approach. Maybe a flogging will satisfy the crowds. Surely when they see such a brutal and bloody beating, the intense humiliation and mockery at the hands of the soldiers, they will have had enough, drop all the false charges, and go home. Not hardly! They’re at the point of rioting. “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!

And then Jesus’ enemies pull out the biggest trump card of all – the religious one! “We have a law. And that law is from the Bible. Moses, the greatest prophet of God says this Jesus must die because He claims to be God’s Son!” If you can’t get rid of Jesus through the civil statutes, then pull off a clincher: divine law! It certainly gives Pilate pause. Even frightens him. “Where are you from Jesus? Why won’t you speak to me? Don’t you know who I am? I have the power of life and death over you!” Jesus finally speaks up: “The power that you have over me comes from above. And he who has trumped up all these charges against me and handed me over to you has the greater sin.” And Pilate keeps on trying to have Jesus released. But to no avail.

“If you let this preacher go, you’ll be asking for trouble with a capital T. Caesar won’t like it one bit that you allow a pretender king to walk freely on the streets! So get rid of Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him! We have no king but Caesar!”

And then the unthinkable! The governor shirks his duty to set the completely innocent Jesus free. He washes his hands of the whole affair. He sets Barabbas free and orders Jesus to be crucified! In order to satisfy the riotous crowd the governor buckles. The innocent of everything Jesus is sentenced to death by crucifixion!

“Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” You said it too! You too desperately wanted the preacher dead. You didn’t want Him. He was a threat to your sovereignty. Just like our first parents Adam and Eve that wanted to kill God and make themselves into little deities! “His blood be on us and our children! We’ll take full responsibility! Hand me those nails! Give me that hammer!” Our last-ditch attempt to dethrone God and install and crown ourselves as His replacement! What evil! What treachery! What villainy! What monstrous sin!

And Jesus suffers all of it innocently! Takes it all! Completely! Totally! For you! For your salvation! Scripture puts it this way in Psalm 118: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. The Lord made this happen and it is a miracle before our eyes.”

Yes, this is God’s plan. His magnificent, miraculous way of saving the lost -- those offended by Stone Jesus – those that put Him to death so calculatingly, cunningly, and coolly! That’s you. That’s me.

The Small Catechism puts is this way: Lord Jesus, true God and true man, has redeemed me a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, death, and the power of the devil, not with gold or silver BUT WITH HIS HOLY PRECIOUS BLOOD AND HIS INNOCENT SUFFERING AND DEATH!

Innocent Jesus suffers. Not because He has sinned. He suffers on account of all our sins. Yes, our sins. All of them. Every last one of them. He leaves none out. And He bears them in His body all the way to the cross. “The Lord laid on Him the iniquity of us all,” (Isaiah 53:6). “He was crushed for our iniquities,” (Isaiah 53:5). “Numbered [counted] with sinners,” (Isaiah 53:12). He who knew no sin became sin for us (2 Corinthians 5:21)!

Jesus was flogged to set you free from the whipping of God’s eternal wrath and damnation. Jesus endured the crushing fists and stinging reed to His face so that you will never have to experience the forevermore beatings of Satan’s angels in hell. Jesus was crowned with thorns for you in order to crown you in heaven. Jesus was wounded for you in order to heal you. Jesus died for you so that death is now changed to the doorway to heaven. Your sins are His. They don’t belong to you. All your sin was counted against Jesus. God doesn’t count them against you anymore. All is forgiven! Because of Jesus’ innocent suffering and death on your behalf!

“Behold the man!” He has redeemed you. Purchased and won you from all sins, from death, from the power of the devil. How? Not with gold or silver but with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death. His innocent blood is on you and on your children. In this way: to purify and cleanse you from all sin. You are no longer guilty. There is therefore no condemnation for those who are covered with the Good Friday blood of Jesus. That is the absolute truth!

In the Name of Jesus.

Lent Midweek 3 - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Redeemed Me a Lost and Condemned Person

This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE.

“Peter! What are you doing? Tell the truth! You are the Lord’s disciple! Don’t deny it. If there ever was the time to ‘man up’ and confess Jesus as Lord, then now is the time! Look, Peter! It’s all a set up. They’ve brought in false witnesses! They’re spitting in His face. Pounding Him with haymakers. Mocking Him. Peter! Do something! Speak up man! Stand up for Jesus!”


Instead, he is offended and ashamed. Doesn’t want to be caught dead as one of Jesus’ friends. While he warms himself by the fire of wood and charcoal his inner fire of love for Jesus grows very cold! Three times when asked, “You’re one of Jesus’ disciples?” he denies it!

Outright! Bold! Daring! Audacious! Shouting! In denying Jesus! Peter the denier! With oaths and curses! “I swear to God I don’t Him!” “I’ll be damned if I ever knew that accursed man who’s going to His death! I don’t have anything to do with Him!”

And then the rooster crows a second time. A thousand roosters could have screamed themselves to death and yet Peter remains defiantly un-offended by his words and actions. Doesn’t even know his great fall into sin.

And that’s when Jesus looks at Peter. Finally, his sin hits him like a ton of bricks. He’s a lost and condemned sinner on his own. Yes, that’s right, Peter – lost and condemned sinner! He breaks down. Runs away. And weeps uncontrollably.

We too are lost and condemned sinners. Do not begin to believe that we are any better than Peter. We are Christ’s disciples. His Christians. And yet how often do we in our words and lives deny that we are Christ’s? How often are we offended by this poor, beaten, and mocked Jesus?

“Aren’t you a Christian? I thought you are baptized?” And you say: “I swear to God I’m not! I’ll be damned if you think I’m a Christian! I don’t know that Jesus! I’ve never had anything to do with Him!”

Lost and condemned sinners we are. No better than Peter. Just like with Peter the Lord Jesus gives us loads and loads of rooster-crowings as we are stuck in the mud of sin. To show us our sin. To reveal how far we have fallen. And then to lead us to repentance. He breaks our hearts. Shatters them. Tears us away from trusting in ourselves to clinging to Him.

And when He looks on He has pity -- mercy. “Poor Peter. Poor Kuhlman. Poor Reggie. Poor Alice. How they have fallen into the deep slime of sin. And they can’t get out. I’ll get them out. I’ll save them.”

Jesus, you remember, told Peter that He would pray for His disciple. So that Peter’s faith in Jesus would not cease. Even in the midst of such naked, ugly, self-absorbing sin! Peter ran away and then after the resurrection (John 21) he confessed Jesus three times just as he denied Jesus three times:

Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”

Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Feed my lambs.”

Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you truly love me?”

Peter: “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Take care of my sheep.”

Jesus: “Peter, son of John, do you love me?”

Peter: [hurt] “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”

Jesus: “Feed my sheep.”

Unlike Peter, there was Judas. He despaired of such a Jesus. Oh, he too was very sorry. The betrayal was wrong. Very wrong. He betrayed an innocent man! The God-man Jesus! He confesses his sin – but not to Jesus. And so he receives no mercy. He is thrown back on and to himself by the religious experts of the day: “That’s none of our business!” they clamor. “Take care of your problem by yourself!” Bad advice. Deadly advice. Judas did just that. Hung himself. Without Jesus and His mercy Judas remained a lost and condemned person.

Not so for Peter or for you. Oh, yes, lost and condemned persons we are. But Jesus has not abandoned us. All is forgiven. You are died for by Jesus! Good Fridayed and washed in the blood of the Lamb that takes away all sin. The world’s and yours! Redeemed. Bought back. Restored. Living in God’s favor. Forgiven sinners. All for Christ’s sake. He will never turn away from you. He will never deny you.

You are His! He’s marked you and branded you with His Name at the font. Buried you with Him into His death for all your sin. And He extends the benefits of His atoning death that counts for you when He says: “Eat this bread. It’s my Body. Drink from that cup. That wine is my body. And I promise you that your sin is forgiven.” So, as often as you come to the Supper to eat that bread and drink that wine you proclaim His death – that it truly counts for you – until He comes in glory on the last day!

And at the Sacrament of the Altar the Lord Jesus gives you the opportunity to confess. Confess what? This: “Yes, I know that Jesus! He’s the Savior! He died for me a lost and condemned person. And for you too! He’s everything! I’m nothing!”

In the Name of Jesus.

Lent Midweek 2 - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Jesus Christ - Who Is My Lord

This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE.
 
Passion Reading: Gethsemane
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – Who Is My Lord!

Dear Friends in Christ, Jesus is Lord. There’s no getting around that fact. This is the clear teaching of the New Testament. You remember Thomas’ reaction to the risen Jesus: “My Lord and my God!” St. Paul writes to the Philippians: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of the Father.”

And when we confess that Jesus is Lord – Lord means SAVIOR! Yes, that’s right, Lord means SAVIOR!

Newsflash everyone! “Lord” does not mean tyrant! “Lord” does not mean master. Jesus has not brought you a new and improved Law to follow. He’s not a new and improved late night cable TV motivational Moses who teaches you what you have to do in order to reach your potential, become self-fulfilled, and self-reliant!

“Lord” means that Jesus is Redeemer / Savior! Savior of sinners. You. Me. The world.

Jesus is Lord means that He lives not for Himself. He gives Himself completely to you. He withholds nothing of Himself as He goes to the Cross in order to atone for the sin of the world, your sin, and mine.

And note the enormity of His being our Lord! He’s in a garden. Gethsemane. To begin to undo the carnage and catastrophe that Adam and Eve brought to all through their selfish sin in the Garden of Eden. The promise that the Savior would crush Satan’s head was made in Eden. And so now Jesus, in Gethsemane’s Garden, undergoes to restore what was lost, do battle with Satan, and endure the damnation that all sinners deserve.

This is a gargantuan task He undergoes. The task to accomplish and win the salvation of the world. To turn away God’s eternal ire against your sin. Against the world’s sin. And to turn it to Him. By taking in His Body all sin. Yours. Mine. Like a huge roaring flood! And it will crush Him! Kill Him! Damn Him! He will drink the “cup” or “chalice” of God’s wrath against every sinner and against every sin. And there He will cry out: “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

No wonder He shivers to the bone. No wonder He’s in anguish and agony. No wonder He sweats great drops of blood. After all, He will carry all sin and be punished for it all. Jesus on the cross will be counted as the greatest of all sinners because the iniquity of us all is put on Him. That means suffering the wrath of God, death, and the damnation of hell.

Would the Father save the world and you in some other way? Perhaps not Him. Perhaps not the cross. And so the Lord Jesus prays: “Abba, Father, all things are possible to you. Take this cup from me. But I don’t want my will to be done. Let yours be done.”

Peter, James, and John, all who proclaimed they’d never be offended by Jesus -- who pledged their loyalty to Him until death, do not see the absolute seriousness of what Jesus will endure. For them. And for every sinner. And so they sleep. They snore. They can’t even offer a word of encouragement. They can’t even offer a small prayer for Jesus.

And so Jesus must go it alone. “Abba, Father, is there another way? Do I really have to do this? Your will be done, not mine.” Jesus received no answer. And yet He did. The silence indicated that it could be no other way. If you, the world, and me are to be saved, then all this must overtake Him!

Do you now see how serious this is? What it cost Jesus to save you? Your sin will do this to Him! You put Him on the cross! You are responsible! Look at the Lord Jesus as He is stapled and suspended! Behold, what God does to the sinner and all sin there!

And yet Jesus does this all for you. For your salvation. You are rescued from the eternal damnation of hell because of Him! Because of Jesus all your sin is answered for in that Body that hangs on the tree.

And it all begins in this garden named Gethsemane. Jesus will do it. He must. For He is the Lord. In other words, He is the Savior.

He suffers Himself to treachery. The unleashing of hell’s dark hour of fury. Judas betrays Him with a kiss. He suffers Himself to be manhandled. The soldiers grab Him. They bind Him. He will not fight. Neither with Peter’s swinging sword or twelve legions of angels. And soon He will suffer the disgraceful kangaroo court of the high priest, the governor, the cruel death sentence by crucifixion, and then finally His bloody, excruciating death.

In all this Jesus is Lord. That is to say: Savior! Lord the most for you. He gives Himself entirely for you. For your salvation. What a Lord! What a Savior!

In the name of Jesus.

Lent Midweek - 2011 - 2nd Article of the Creed - Jesus the God/Man

This years Lenten Midweek Sermons are from a series prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman of Murdock, NE. 

Passion Reading: The Lord’s Supper
Apostles’ Creed / Second Article: Jesus Christ – True God & True Man!

Who is this Jesus? The Small Catechism answers the question this way: Jesus is true God. And He is true man. Begotten of the Father from eternity. Born of the Virgin Mary.

Strange God – this man Jesus. Inconceivable to speak of God this way, isn’t it? After all, shouldn’t a God be a God only when He stays put way up in heaven. When He doesn’t concern Himself with all the messy stuff down here in the rough and tumble of this broken world. God is God when He stays in eternity – speaks to Himself – gazes at Himself – thinks only about Himself – THAT’S A GOD! He wouldn’t be God if He gets involved in the rot, filth, and gunk of our lives and planet.

And yet the Small Catechism confesses that this man Jesus, born of the Virgin Mary is God - begotten of the Father from eternity! Yes, this man Jesus –flesh and bones – arms and legs –eyes and ears Jesus IS GOD. God in the flesh. Who came down from heaven. Who was incarnate – enfleshed by the Holy Spirit-filled Word spoken into Mary’s ears by the angel Gabriel.

Dr. Luther in one of his Christmas sermons hammers home this point: Jesus, Immanuel, God with us, is “with us in the muck and work of our lives so much that his skin smokes” (WA 4:608,32-609,1). In other words, the body of Jesus is just chuck full of God! So much so that His skin smokes with divinity!

And yet look how it goes with the God-man Jesus whose skin smokes with divinity! During the meal the Twelve have a scrum. Peter says he’s the greatest among them. After all, didn’t Jesus give him the keys of the kingdom? Matthew objects. He’s able to keep all the kingdom’s finances in order. James and John lose their tempers with all kinds of talk of calling down fire from heaven. And then Simon the Zealot ready to throw a few punches. And if that isn’t enough, Satan has taken advantage of all this chaos. Devilishly, he infiltrates one of their hearts. Judas Iscariot who held the moneybag.

Imagine that! An apostle’s heart possessed by Satan! In order to be the red dragon’s instrument! To betray God-man Jesus into death!

Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you that one of you will betray me.” And even though the prospect of this betrayal pains Him immensely, He doesn’t seem too concerned to put a stop to it! He will let himself be handed over and killed. Is that how God should act?

Can you really have a God like that? What God would allow such fighting among His followers? What God would suffer like this? To die? What God speaks of such deceit and demise in this strange way: “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and in Him God is glorified”?

Not a God we would picture! It doesn’t makes sense. Such a God repulses many in this world. People are disgusted by the picture of a crucifix, and the understanding that our God came specifically to die for you and for your sins. The world hates that Jesus could be found in a wretched, sweaty human body that is susceptible to sores and colic, has to stuff itself with porridge and go to the bathroom like we do. It is blasphemy.”

Would you have a God like that? A God that is born of a woman? Who coughs, hungers, and defecates? A God who is betrayed? You don’t have a choice. He is who He is -- this man – this God-man Jesus. He makes the choice. He interrupts our lives. The time and space in which we live in order to redeem it. To recreate it.

And look at how all-the-fullness-of-the-Godhead-dwelling-bodily-in-Jesus does it! He takes off his clothes. Wraps Himself in a towel. And then does the unthinkable! He washes and dries each one of the apostles’ grimy, filthy, feet! He hosts the Passover like a Servant. God Jesus – the Servant! Not for Himself. But for sinners!

God Jesus lives not for Himself – but for you! He’s all about your wellbeing – not His! His concern is for you! He sees you. His heart goes out to you. To save you. From sin’s pollution, from death’s icy grip, from hell’s forevermore damnation!

And so He goes deep into our world, taking on our flesh. True God begotten of the Father from eternity is also true man born of the Virgin Mary. In Jesus, God is a man and that man Jesus is God! For you!

Friends, that’s Calvary. There, God-man Jesus does the unthinkable! He dies. He dies because He carries all your sin and all its condemnation. Yes, that right, God-man Jesus endures the damnation that all sinners deserve. And by doing so He rescues you from God’s eternal wrath. In short, you are saved, in the Good Friday dying of that God who is a man and that man who is God!

And even today, he is among us as one who serves. Servant God-man Jesus! He put His name on you at the font. He cleansed you with the water and Word of Holy Baptism. In that washing Jesus purified the whole lot of you: body and soul. In baptism, you’re now part of Him. One with Him. Behold how far He comes to save you! Calvary.

So that as Jesus lived for others, you too do the same. Wrapping yourself in a towel, if you will, and washing the feet of others as a servant. The fruit of the Lord’s Supper’s forgiveness is that you live as little, servant “christs.” Having hearts that love the neighbor in need. Not shying away from those that are hurt, unloved, or despised. But going deep -- deep down in service for such people.

That is His good use for you now as you trust His promise that He died for you.

What a God! What a Savior! That’s Jesus!

In the Name of Jesus.

Ash Wednesday 2011

This years Lenten Midweek sermons are prepared by Pastor Brent Kuhlman from Murdock NE. They are examining the 2nd Article of the Creed. This is the sermon for Ash Wednesday.


Joel 2:12-19

The Lord has created you. Given you your body and soul. Eyes and ears and all your members. Your reason and all your senses. And He still takes care of them. He’s the Creator. You’re His creation. Everything that you have comes from God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. He defends you against all danger. Guards and protects you from all evil. Why? Because of His fatherly mercy and goodness. That’s right! ONLY because of His fatherly divine mercy and goodness! Incredible!

And what do you do? You’re not satisfied being the human being He’s created. You insist on being in control. Self-made men/women! In control of your own destiny! You fear, love, and trust in yourself above all things. Curved in on yourself! A god unto yourself! Yes, that’s right I said it: A GOD UNTO YOURSELF! And so like Adam and Eve we wannabe deities end up running away and hiding! Don’t want to the Lord to find us. Because if He does … well … it all might end sulfurically and hellaciously!

So the Lord sends a pastor. Joel. Pastor Joel comes to you with the Lord’s words. So when you hear Joel – you’re hearing the Lord Himself through His words. You’re squared up to the Lord as Joel speaks the Lord’s words to you.

Joel doesn’t mess around. No chit chat. No talk about the weather today. He goes right to the heart of the matter. And what’s that? Your relationship with the Lord. Or – the Lord’s relationship with you! And that just might surprise you. Shock you!

“Return to me,” says the Lord. In other words, “repent!” Turn from your sin. From your idolatries. From your wicked ways. From your self-centeredness. That’s the way you were going: the road to damnation. Now it’s time to go a different direction. A new course -- the path of salvation. And that’s the turn back to the Lord. “Return to me with all your heart.” That’s a new heart. A heart that confesses: “I’m a filthy rancid sinner. Rotten to the core. I have sinned against you Lord. I have done what is evil in your sight. I have lived only for myself. I have not loved you Lord, or my neighbor. I only love myself. I’m so, so self-absorbed. I deserve nothing but your temporal and eternal punishment.”

That’s so true. Finally, the truth comes out. It’s about time. The Lord has shined the lamp of His Word into the light of our darkness. We are sinners. And what we deserve from the Lord frightens the your know what out of us. We’re scared …

But now we come to the biggest question, the biggest issue in your life, both now and forever. It’s the eternal life or death question. What will God do with you? His creature that has rebelled? His creature that runs away and hides? Will He damn you as you deserve?

Only if YOU insist on it.

But the Lord’s cup of tea is “mercy.” He is very bullish on NOT giving you what you deserve. Pastor Propet Joel categorically proclaims to you this day: “Return to the LORD your God.” God the Father Almighty the maker of heaven and earth! God the Father Almighty who created you! “Return! Repent!” Why? Because … (newsflash everyone!) … the Lord, “is gracious and compassionate. Slow to anger. Abounding in steadfast love.”

WHAT A SHOCKER! A MAGNIFICENT SURPRISE! The Lord isn’t who you thought He was! All along you believe falsely about Him. You feared that He was only out to get you. That He couldn’t wait to get in your face and give you a piece of His mind. And then give you precisely what you deserve. But none of that with the Lord! He’s overflowing with love for you! The very person He created.

He sticks with you – His creature -- through thick and thin. He’s in this relationship with you for the long haul. He remains faithful. Ever faithful. Forever faithful. Just as He’s promised. Genesis 3:15. The covenant He made with Abraham. And with Israel at Mount Sinai.

But what about God’s anger? What about God’s judgment? Where did all that go? If you’re not on the receiving end of damnation for your sin, who got stuck with it?

The answer is: JESUS. Who took on our human flesh. Conceived and born without sin, of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Jesus: Your suffering Servant. Who willingly endured all of God’s damning wrath. Where? As he hung suspended between heaven and earth! Stapled to the Tree of Calvary!

What? Jesus damned? Jesus condemned? Yes. Absolutely. Because He who knew no sin was made to be sin as He was numbered with the transgressors. There at Calvary -- He carried all your sin. The world’s sin. In His body. He made satisfaction and answered for all of it. He left none out. Laid on Him was the entire load of your filthy, rotten iniquities! And when all your sin was heaped on Him the Law came and said: “You must die! You are cursed – damned!”

What joy! The Father damns Jesus as the “greatest thief, murderer, adulterer, robber, desecrator, blasphemer, ect. there has ever been anywhere in the world.” Jesus clothed and wrapped Himself in your sin on the Cross. It all belongs to Him. Your sin is His. He took it away from you so that the Law attacks and kills Him.

And since all your sin is laid on Him -- it is no longer on you! Jesus dies – He is damned -- as the guilty one – with all your sin! And so, for Jesus’ sake, you are forgiven. Absolved from all your sin and set free from all its damnation.

Jesus has done the salvation job! All for you.

So, “return to the LORD your God.” Why? “Because He is gracious and compassionate. He is slow to anger. And He abounds (overflows) with love.” That’s Jesus. The Good Friday Jesus who dies for you. The Good Friday Jesus who sheds His sacrificial Blood on the Cross in order to answer for all your sin and its damnation. The Good Friday Jesus who says tonight: “Eat and drink. Do you see that bread? It’s my Body. Do you see that cup? It’s my Blood. The Good Friday Body and Blood that answered for all your sin.”

What a God! The complete opposite of what you would expect. Mercy! Forgiveness! Life! Salvation! For sinners! For you! Given in and through His Son Jesus!

“Return to the LORD your God for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding is in love.”

In the Name of Jesus.