Good Friday Tenebrae 2012

Second Commandment:  You shall not misuse the Name of the Lord

     Your God

Bible Narrative:  Luke 23:46

Jesus:  bitterly betrayed. Judas and we use our mouth to cut that dastardly deal for some cash!  Jesus:  disappointingly denied.  Peter and we use our mouth to curse and swear in order to lie!  “I swear to God I don’t know this Jesus!  I’ll be damned if I’m one of His followers!”   Jesus:  appallingly abandoned.  By the rest of His disciples and all the rest of us!  “Let’s high tail it out of here!  We could be arrested too!  We can’t be seen with Him anymore!  It’s just too risky!”  With friends like that who needs … … … enemies?

Well, they show up too!  In spades!  Hurling insults!  Mocking!  Sneering!  “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”  “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  “Aren’t you the Christ?  Save yourself and us!”[1]  All these are huge satanic temptations!  “Think about yourself for a change Jesus!  Good grief!  Go ahead!  Hop off the cross!  You don’t deserve this!  You don’t need to suffer like this!  Show these people that you really are the Christ!  That you truly are who you say you are!  Save yourself!”     

His enemies desperately looked for a way to lay their hands on Him![2]  Jesus predicted that He would be given over / betrayed / handed over to the “hands” of sinful men![3]  Well, their hands, our hands, get what we all want!  Judas’ treason!  Hands over Jesus to His enemies!  He is given into the hands of sinful men!  Our hands.  Clenched.  Tightened.  Opened.  Shaken.  Too many to count!  With their hands, with our hands, we all slap, beat, pummel, flog, and pierce Him and pin Him with hammer and spikes! 

In the midst of His enemies, the evil powers of death, Satan, and sin and horrific suffering – in the midst of bearing the sin of the world – facing death -- suffering its damnation – (and this is the finale of Luke’s passion narrative) -- Jesus PLACES HIMSELF … INTO … HIS FATHER’S … HANDS!  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  Incredible trust!  Faith!    

He Prays!  Calls upon not just some generic god – but to God the Father – His Father and our Father!  Calls upon Him by Name! In every trouble!  He was always going off and praying to His Father during His life.  “Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”[4]   When everything heats up and He’s in Gethsemane he prays:  “Father, if you are willing take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.”[5]  As He hangs on the cross between two terrorists He prays:  “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”[6]  

Now, Holy One Jesus, in the midst of utter agony and the most immense trouble – facing death and damnation as THE SINNER by bearing all sin for the sake of sinners – He prays to His Father at the placed named Skull!   “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” 

That’s Psalm 31:5.  Jesus probably prayed the entire psalm of which we are only given a snippet.

This may have been the very first prayer Jesus learned as a boy.  Taught to Him by Mary.  It was the “Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Prayer” of all Hebrew families.  The prayer that flows from faith!  Prayer that relies on God the Father for all help!  For everything!  Even at the moment of death! 

Jesus dies with prayer on His lips:  “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”  Even then He uses God’s name properly.  He looks to His Father for all help in every need.  For all consolation!  For all deliverance! 

After all Jesus learned another prayer from the Psalter:  “Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me,” (Psalm 50:15)!  From such a promise Jesus lives!  And dies!  His unwavering trust in His Father continues in the moment of His death for sinners.  And for you!  And for your salvation – the salvation He earned, won and accomplished in His bitter suffering and death on Good Friday.

His death for you has born fruit in your life.  You are baptized into His death – the only death that counts against all your sin, death, and hell!  Faith in Jesus leads to the proper use of your mouth:  calling upon the Father in every trouble -- praise and thanksgiving.  And that’s every day.  Every morning and evening.  In the evening, right before you go to bed, which is a rehearsal for lying down to die, you too pray like Jesus.  You pray the Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep prayer of Psalm 31:5: “into your hands, Father, I commend myself, my body and soul and all things” in the sure and certain hope that because of Jesus, death doesn’t have the final word.  Jesus does!  He defeated death!  He rose from the grave.  And He will raise your body on the Last Day. 

More on that this Sunday!  Until then, a blessed Good Friday!

In the Name of Jesus.    

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     [1]Luke 23:35-39. 

     [2]Luke 20:19; 22:53.

     [3]Luke 9:44; cf. 24:7.

     [4]Luke 2:49.

     [5]Luke 22:42.

     [6]Luke 23:34. 

Tre Ore 2012

First Word:  Luke 23:32 Two others, who were criminals, were led away to be put to death with him. 33 And when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left. 34 And Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  And they cast lots to divide his garments.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.  Christ’s first words as he bleeds and dies nailed to a cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.”  The first words that Jesus speaks from the cross are words of forgiveness.  Father, forgive them.  These words echoed out from the cross, even to today.  The reason we are here today is because we know we need forgiveness.  We know we need forgiveness, because there is so much sin within each one of us.  So much sin that separates us from God.  So much hurt and pain and so much anger.  The vast chasm that our sin creates separates us from God.  It is so large and so unwieldy that we can do nothing to change it or to overcome it. 

Murder, hate, lust, adultery, gossip, selfishness and pride.  Friends, we don’t know what we are doing.  So often our sin does what we know is wrong, what we know we shouldn’t do.  So often do we know that we are guilty, just as guilty as those who hammered nails into the hands and feet of Jesus, the Son of the Living God, who pierced His side with a spear.  But friends, Jesus’ first words are as much a prayer for you as they are for those who were there that fateful day.  And Jesus’ prayer isn’t only a request or a plea.  Jesus’ prayer is one that is answered.  For it is in Jesus’ own blood poured out that Good Friday from His body, in His own death, that He earns forgiveness for you.  “Father, forgive them, even though they don’t know what they do” Jesus’ prayer says, “and punish me in their place.”  We have full and complete forgiveness in the death of Jesus. 

Second Word:  Luke 23:39 One of the criminals who were hanged railed at him, saying, “Are you not the Christ? Save yourself and us!” 40 But the other rebuked him, saying, “Do you not fear God, since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 41 And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds; but this man has done nothing wrong.” 42 And he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” 43 And he said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”

Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.  Today!  Right now!  Jesus makes a promise to that man on the cross.  He doesn’t say, “Maybe you will be with me in paradise.”  He doesn’t say, “Perhaps”, or “Tomorrow”, or “when I get around to it”.  Jesus says “today”.  It isn’t something that is in doubt.  It isn’t something that you need to worry about.  It is something that we have Today!!  Right now!  Today Jesus has suffered for me.  Today his blood covers me.  Today I am his holy precious child in the faith He pours out on me.  Today. 

Jesus is with me.  Jesus is here and nothing can separate me from His love.  It’s here for me Today, and all the Todays that are to come.  Salvation is now, salvation comes right now.  Salvation is yours today, because of the holy blood of Christ that spilled from his very side as he said, “Today, you will be with me in paradise.”  Today.  Amen.

Third Word:  John 19:25 but standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27 Then he said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.

Jesus thinks not of Himself, but of others.  Even as he is bleeding and dying on that Old Rugged Cross.  Even as he suffers torture and crucifixion, Jesus is thinking of others.  Here he fulfills the Fourth Commandment, “honor your father and your mother”, by instructing John to take care of Mary as John would care for his own mother.  Jesus’ concern is not with what is happening to himself, but rather how to care for you.

By doing this, Jesus is fulfilling the entire Law.  From the moment of His birth until the moment of his death, Jesus is fulfilling what we cannot.  He has kept all Ten of the Commandments, where as we have kept none.  He has obeyed God perfectly and totally, and has even now submitted himself to suffering and death on the cross.  And Jesus does it all because he is concerned with you.  Jesus does it all because He wants you to be in that same relationship with God the Father as He is in – perfect love.  As Jesus suffers in your place, he says to you, “Behold, your heavenly Father, who has adopted you in my blood.”  And to His Father He says, “Behold your son, purchased and won with my holy precious blood and innocent suffering and death.”  Amen. 

Fourth Word:  Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.  46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  These words from Psalm 22 are more often than not our words.  When we feel abandoned.  When we feel alone, or betrayed.  When we are angry or frustrated, what are our first words?  God, how could you have let this happen?  God, how could you have done this to me?  Why have you forsaken me?  Friends, in our sin, that is exactly what we deserve.  Doesn’t it make sense that if we have so blatantly and utterly turned our backs on God that He should do the same?  As we have confessed by our actions that He doesn’t exist, as we have said, “I know what scripture says, but I am still going to do my own thing.”  We have done these things, so shouldn’t God abandon us, shouldn’t He leave us alone and bound for the Hell that we deserve?

But your God does not forsake you.  Even as so many times we feel like God doesn’t care at all.  Your God has not abandoned you.  Your God has not left you alone or betrayed you.  Rather your God took on your human flesh, and was Himself forsaken in your place on a cross.  He Himself was abandoned; He himself suffered the punishment of Hell apart from God.  God turned his back on Jesus.  He was forsaken so that you yourself might not be, and might live with Him forever in His kingdom.  There you will never be far from God.  There you will never be abandoned or forsaken.  There you will never be alone, for surely your God is with you always, even to the end of the age.  Jesus was forsaken so that you might always be in palm of your God’s hand, even forever more.  Amen. 

Fifth Word:  John 19:28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said (to fulfill the Scripture), “I thirst.

I am Thirsty.  I need a drink.  I Thirst.  Jesus said during the Sermon on the Mount, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.”   He told the woman at the well, “I will give you water to drink which you will drink and never thirst again.”  Jesus is the river of life.  Jesus has water that will satisfy.  Jesus has water that is good.  But so often, we thirst for other things, hoping that in them we will have satisfaction, that in them we will have peace, in them we will finally have our thirst quenched.  But when we partake of them, they still leave us feeling thirsty for more.  

But there is only one thing that can satisfy.  There is only one thing that can give us hope, only one thing which really will quench our thirst.  And that thing is the very love of Jesus.  The love that is so great that he will even give up his life for you, His beloved friend.  The love of Jesus which is so great that he would go to Calvary and drink the cup of God’s wrath so that you might drink the cup of God’s blessing and tenderness. 

What do you thirst for?  What things do you thirst for?  Friends, in faith we thirst for Jesus.  We thirst for His love.  We thirst for His forgiveness.  And as we do, we know that those springs of living water well up within us to everlasting life.  Amen. 

Sixth Word:  John 19:29 A jar full of sour wine stood there, so they put a sponge full of the sour wine on a hyssop branch and held it to his mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

It is finished!  It’s all done.  The war our own sin began so long ago in the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve first disobeyed God, has now been completed.  Now the battle’s o’er, the victory’s won.  The battle has raged in each one of us.  The battle raged as we fought against our God and our Lord.  So often we deigned to be our own God.  So often we claimed to be in charge of ourselves.  We’ve made our own decisions, and in them so often spit in the eye of God and told Him, “I don’t need you!  I don’t want you!  Leave me alone!”  But now the battle is o’er.  Now “It is finished.” 

It is finished because your sin has been taken on Jesus.  All of it.  Every single thing wrong, those you know about, and those you don’t know about.  It is all on Jesus.  You cannot keep any for yourself.  He has taken it, and carried it up the hill called Golgotha, and there He has killed it once and for all.  It is FINISHED!  It is finished in the past as Jesus died.  It is finished now as that grace and forgiveness come to you in the precious means of grace.  It is finished because Christ has died for you, so that you may have new life in faith and hope and love.  No longer need you be burdened by your sin – it is finished.  No longer need you worry about your guilt – it is finished.  No longer do you have to ask, “Is what I have done so wrong, that I can never be forgiven?”  It is finished, period!  Everything necessary for your salvation is FINISHED!  You cannot add or subtract from it.  It is finished.  In Jesus, you are forgiven. Amen. 

Seventh Word:  Luke 23:46 Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!” And having said this he breathed his last.

Father into your hands, I commit my spirit.  Jesus again praying the psalms.  Jesus praying a prayer we can offer up every day.  Into your hands, I commit my spirit.  It makes sense, doesn’t it?  After all, we are in His hands.  Nothing or no one can snatch us out.  As Christians, we live in faith toward God, and love for neighbor that says, “I belong to God.”

But so often this is not our prayer.  So often we forget we are in God’s loving hands.  So often we would like to commit our lives, or at least the moment, to something much less than God.  Sometimes we commit ourselves to that which is downright evil and sinful.  Because of that, we are so often afraid, afraid of getting caught, afraid of consequences, afraid of the unknown.  And we can be honest, we are afraid of death. 

But no child is ever afraid to go where the leader has already gone.  We have seen the game, Follow the Leader.  But no matter how bold or daring that leader might be, over the fence, through the yard, across the street, the others may follow their leader without fear. 

Today, in our last word from the cross, Jesus teaches us how to live, and he teaches us how to die.  Don’t you know that all of you who have been baptized into the death of Jesus have already died with him?  You have died in the waters of Baptism, sharing in the death that Jesus dies right here, right now in our text.  And if you have died with him, you also follow him through death into his resurrection, into his everlasting life, into heaven. 

Father into your hands, I commit my spirit, for now I follow your Son boldly into new life with you forever.  Amen.  

Maundy Thursday 2012

Third Commandment:  Remember the Sabbath Day by Keeping It

     Holy

Bible Narrative:  Mark 14:12-26

God made the Sabbath Day holy.  That’s a given.  That’s Genesis 2!  And yet the Commandment:  Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy!

What’s up with that?  Here’s the deal!  “God wants it to be holy for you.”[1]  The Sabbath Day is holy in itself but in the Third  Commandment God wants it to be holy FOR YOU!  Incredible! 

How then is the Sabbath Day kept holy FOR YOU?  The answer is this:  “when … [you] make use of God’s Word and exercise … [yourselves] in it.”[2]  The Sabbath is about you being all ears!  Being all ears to God’s Word!  I.E. it is about hearing God’s Word!

For in, with, and under His Word God talks.  God speaks.  God speaks to you through Jesus the Word made flesh!  And He speaks to you through His written Word – the Bible.  The Bible, as God’s Word is to be preached, taught, and pondered!  God’s Word is to be HEARD WITH YOUR EARS! 

It is to be heard because God’s Word is a living, dynamic, vigorous, energetic, efficacious Holy Spirit-filled act of speech!  God’s Word is vibrant and all creative.  “Let there be light!”  “Be fruitful and multiply!”  “Lazarus, come out!”  “I baptize you in the Name …”   The Lord’s Word proclaimed does exactly what it says.  It gives precisely what it commands.  The Lord does and gives what His Word says!    

I have to go on extolling!  There’s even more!  Where the Lord’s Word is going on – being mouthed – preached – proclaimed, the Holy Spirit is going on!  I.E. where the divine Word -- there the Holy Spirit bestows and grants divine holiness – sanctifies!  Hallows! 

Did you hear that?  God’s Word hallows!  God’s Word holies!  God’s Word sanctifies!  All because His Word is most holy![3]  The Word bestows and gives the very holiness of the Triune God Himself!  TO YOU!  AND FOR YOU!  Through your ears!

Any day from the New Testament on, in which God’s Word is preached, taught, proclaimed is a holy day – a Sabbath Day for you!  For in that Word God is speaking to you!  In and through that Word the Lord deals with you!  And by His Word He hallows, holies, and sanctifies you the sinner.  The Third Commandment is about being occupied with God’s Word!  Hearing the preaching!  Holding it sacred!  Gladly hearing and learning it!  Not blowing it off!  Or treating it as a nothing!    

Tonight you are given to hear!  The Lord Jesus!  He does a Passover like none ever before!  He speaks words that were never ever spoken or heard at any Passover meal in the history of Israel! 

On the very day on which it was “customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb,” the Lamb is provided.  The Lamb is there!  The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Himself!  He is THE Lamb of God!  The Lord provides!  The perfect and without blemish Lamb!  The divine Lamb – the only One that takes away the sin of the world – that atones for all sin and for every sinner!  And Passover Lamb Jesus will be sacrificed.  That’s tomorrow.  Good Friday.

This evening is the night on which He is betrayed.  Judas!  Hands the Lamb over to sinners.  To be bound!  To be crucified on the altar of the cross!  “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me – one who is eating with me … It is one of the Twelve … one who dips bread into the bowl with me.  The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him.”  

It is according to the Word!  The Word – the prophecies – are doing what they promised!  What they predicted!  “Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me,” (Psalm 41:9)!  The divine Word from that Psalm is doing what it says.  Giving what it says!  To the Word made flesh Jesus – on the night in which He was betrayed! 

In the midst of this Passover meal Jesus takes bread.  He gives thanks and breaks it.  He takes a cup.  He gives thanks for it.  Then, as He hands out the bread and the wine to His disciple there are more words!  LORD Jesus speaks!  From His mouth!  “Take this bread.  It is my body.”  “This [cup of wine] is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many.”

What?  Is He serious?  Yes, deadly serious!  Has He lost His mind?  No.  He is of very sound mind!  The Lord says what He says.  Means what He says.  Does what He says!  Gives what He says.  THIS IS HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT. 

This is what He bequeaths!  This is the inheritance!  The gifts!  The bread IS His Body!  The wine IS His Blood! It is His Body born of the Virgin!  He doesn’t have another one!  It is His Blood that flows in His arteries!  He doesn’t have any other kind of Blood!  Both are to be received with your mouth!  Eaten.  Drunk. 

With His words Jesus makes a covenant!  Or a promise!  “This is my blood of the new covenant.”  This is the language of Exodus 24:6-8! Moses took the blood of the animal sacrifices and sprinkled it on the Israelites and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you …” 

Here, on the night He was betrayed, the LORD – the LORD Jesus takes the cup of wine and declares:  “This is my blood of the new covenant.”  Not the blood of animals!  BUT “MY BLOOD!”  BUT THE BLOOD OF THE GOD-MAN HIMSELF!    With these words Jesus suffers Himself to die!  As THE ONE AND ONLY SACRIFICE FOR SIN!  THAT IS WHAT IS “NEW” HERE!

His Blood is divine Blood that purifies from all sin!  Divine Blood for cleansing!  Divine Blood for forgiveness and salvation!  The Blood of God Himself in the very Body in that man Jesus that is given into death on the cross once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin!

With the bread He gives His Body to eat.  With the wine He gives His Blood to drink.  “This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many!”    FOR MANY – AND FOR YOU!  HE IS GOD THE LORD FOR YOU!  IN THIS WAY.  THE SACRAMENT OF THE ALTAR WAY! 

In the Sacrament tonight Jesus holies you, hallows you, sanctifies you!  His most holy Word hooked together with the bread and wine bestows what He promises.  Jesus Himself speaks to you tonight.  Into your ears go His Words!  Into your mouths goes what His Words say!  “Take this bread.  Eat it.  It is my Body.  Drink the cup.  It is my Blood.  It is the new covenant in which I prove that I am God for you!” 

It is a Holy Communion!  He comes.  He gathers.  He speaks.  He takes your sin!  He clothes you with His holiness!  It is holiness -- His – for you!  And with His Words that you hear tonight at the Sacrament  you have forgiveness – the forgiveness He won for you at Calvary!  With His Good Friday forgiveness bestowed with His Words “given and shed for you,” you also are given life and salvation! 

Jesus is the LORD.  He is LORD God for you!  And you are His holy, hallowed, sanctified people!  All bestowed with His Words!

Happy hearing!  Happy eating and drinking according to His Words! 

In the Name of Jesus.    

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     [1]LC, 398:87.

     [2]LC, 398:88.

     [3]”For the Word of God is the true holy object above all holy objects,” LC 399:91.

Neat Video on the Site of Christ's Death and Resurrection

For all those who like history out there, the following is an interesting video.  For more detailed information Martin Biddle's Book, "The Tomb of Christ" details the supporting evidence of these structures clearly.

Biddle's book below.

There is historical evidence that the events recorded in scripture actually happened.  Enjoy!  Blessed Holy Week and Good Friday.

Palm Sunday - G - 2012 - Ride On In Majesty To Die

Palm Sunday
April 1, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Zechariah 9:9-12         Philippians 2:5-11       Processional: John 12:12-19         Gospel: John 12:20-43

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today is the Gospel processional lesson read earlier, along with the Old Testament Lesson, especially these words, “Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion!  Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem!  Behold, your king is coming to you; righteous and having salvation is he”.  Thus far our text.

Rejoice, your king is coming.  Rejoice, your salvation is riding boldly into Jerusalem today.  He goes to be lifted up.  Ride on, ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die!  He who prepared the world for you and me, he who has given us all we have and know, even the very breath of our lives heads into Jerusalem to what we have prepared for him.  Death on a cross. 

And yet, those people cheered him on as he entered.  A large crowd, who had entered for the Passover feast, shouts to Jesus, “Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”   With those words, the Son of God rides towards his suffering and death.  He boldly rides on the back of a donkey.  The crowd watches, smiling and rejoicing. 

How can it be?  The people who today shout “Hosanna” will shortly shout “Crucify him, crucify him.”  The people will force the hand of their Roman governor to kill their Jewish King.  It doesn’t make sense, how could they turn so quickly?  We judge them, we criticize them for their change of tone. 

And yet, our faces are in that crowd.  We too, today shout hosannas as Jesus rides into Jerusalem.  We too stand as Jesus rides by.  Jesus, who knows all your sin, who knows all the things you’ve done wrong.  After all he is God.  As he rides by, we know that he knows, and we wonder if he will tell.  Will he share my deepest darkest secrets with those I don’t want to know them?  He’s got to die!  It’s either him or me, and I would rather it be him, wouldn’t I?  We turn on a dime, just as those people so long ago did. 

Hosanna Jesus!  Get on to that cross, before you reveal that I struggle with alcohol!  For you know, that I always have a slight buzz, that I can’t quit drinking.  You know that it has affected my entire life, my job, my family, my friends.  Go to the cross Jesus!  Go to the cross and die!

Hosanna Jesus!  You know that my family life is falling apart.  You know that there are difficulties between my wife and I, you know that my brother won’t talk to me.  You know that I have mistreated my children, you know that I despise my mother and father every day for what they told me what right and wrong.  Go die Jesus, for I have no place for you here in my life.

Blessed be he who comes in the name of the Lord!  Blessed is he, even as I am not, as I have despised God’s word.  I don’t really care for Bible Study.  I don’t really spend time in God’s Word.  I have more important things to do.  I don’t really believe in all this Christianity stuff anyways, but I have to be seen in church.  I preach sermons to myself, sermons that say I am not good enough, that I am not forgiven, that I cannot be forgiven.  Sermons that do not actually match what God’s word said.  I create my own religion on my own terms, so die Jesus for being all “holier than me”. 

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel!  Or so shout our lips, the same lips that just moments ago were putting down John Doe because of the situation in his life.  So shout the same lips that curse, swear, that lie and deceive.  Blessed be God is our shout one moment, and the foulest language imaginable is on our lips the next.  Sinful dogs that we are – so die Jesus!

We murder!  We steal!  We lie!  We covet!  And Jesus does none of it!  So go on Jesus and die!  Go to the cross, for you think you are better than we are!  You think you can control our lives here and now.  You aren’t the God I want, you aren’t the God I create for myself.  So go and die!  Suffer!  Bleed!  Thirst!  Go and do it, for I do not want to, and it is really what I deserve.  For it is I lord that am guilty, not you.  It is I who deserve punishment by my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault.  And you Lord Jesus go where I dare not, to die for my sin.  Ride on, ride on to die.

And Jesus does.  Today, dear friends, he rides past us, knowing our sin and guilt.  Today he rides on, knowing our pain and suffering, and still he rides boldly on.  He carries the sin of those who rides past.  He carries the sin of those who in a few days will not shout, “Hosanna!” but “Crucify him!”  He carries the sin of you, of me, even as he knows you will turn on him.  He knows it, and he will not turn aside from it.  He won’t forget it, but he will die for it.  And he does all of this in your place, for you, for your forgiveness.  The death you deserve, today Jesus rides into Jerusalem to deal with. 

This most holy week, have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus,  who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,  but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.   And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  And all of this is for you. 

Dear friends, now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.  No longer will you be slave to sin.  No longer can you give into the horrible way of the world.  Satan does not rule you today, nor will he ever again.  He is weak, he is destroyed, he is defeated forever.  For Christ has shed his blood on the cross.  And so we rightly shout, “Hosanna Jesus!  Hosanna to the king, he rides on to die for the sins of the world.  To be lifted up. To take away my sin!  Hosanna!  Blessed are you Jesus” 

Christ goes to die, and he does it for you.  He goes to forgive your sin, to take it away as far as the east is from the west.  On Friday, it is finished.  On the cross, you are forgiven.  Jesus rides in to shout, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”  Ride on, Ride on in majesty, in lowly pomp ride on to die.  O Christ, they triumphs now begin, o’er captive death and conquered sin.  Amen.

Holy Week Greetings from Matthew Harrison, our Synod President

See the Holy Week greetings below from LCMS President Matthew Harrison.

Remember our Holy Week Schedule, beginning with Maundy Thursday.  God's Blessings!

April Newsletter - Love does not rejoice in wrongdoings.

In light of some conversations with friends from my younger years, I have been pondering lately what the word “love” really means.  It seems that in our world today, the common understanding of love is extreme “tolerance”.  To show love is to tolerate the things another person is doing, no matter what the thing is, or whether it is “good” or not.

We see this in a variety of issues today.  We have talked about abortion, with many people tolerating it in the name of “loving” women.  I have even had a conversation with a friend in the last month who said it was more loving to abort a baby than to let it live in poverty. 

However, even besides the logical fallacy this argument presents, this is not really love.  Real love doesn’t just “live and let die”, but has genuine concern for what happens in a person’s life. 

Think of parents who love their children.  When a child wants to go to a party, the parent asks for details out of love.  “Who will be there?  What time will you return?  Will there be a chaperone?”  These questions are asked out of love, because the parent doesn’t want the child to end up in a bad situation.  Or think of a parent whose child uses drugs or who has a toddler that runs into the street.  A loving parent does everything in their power to stop these events from happening to their child, to keep them safe. 

This is the same way Christian love works.  We as the church ask questions about what is happening in a person’s life and show true concern for a person, even when it is not popular.  We can’t, and won’t, just let people assume their actions are ok when it is not in their best interest in the long term, or when it goes against God’s Word. We love them too much to let others continue in their sin and destructive habits.   As St. Paul writes in his famous passage, “love does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.” (1 Corinthians 13:6)

So when a person falls into a sinful action, we in the church are to show love – true love.  This means we don’t just stand by while sinful actions go on.  It means we can’t say “It’s ok, they were born that way and they can’t help it”.   That answer cannot excuse true love.

When we stand up and say something, we show real love.  “Abortion is killing a baby, no matter how you justify it.”  “God’s Word proclaims the truth: it is not ok to live together outside marriage.”  “Scripture is clear: homosexuality is a sin.”  “God wants more for your life than for you to drown in a bottle of liquor.”   As we say these often unpopular things, we actually show love behind them. 

The way we say these things is important too.  If we were to say these things harshly and derogatorily, they are not said with love.  We must speak these truths in such a loving way as to not lose our platform to speak to the person.  We have all had a discussion in which the other person got so angry at us that we no longer spoke to them at all.  We should strive to avoid this, all while understanding that we cannot control how the other person responds to our words of love.

Love is not always easy.  Sometimes it is not popular.  Sometimes it hurts us immensely to do the loving thing, to tell our loved ones what is best for them.  Yet, that is the very message of Christianity. 

For this is love, “not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10).  Christ came and died for all our sins.  He takes away guilt for each of those sins above, and for countless more that you deal with.  He did this all by His own death on the cross, which we celebrate in only a few short days. 

So, dear friends, what do we say to these things?  St. Paul tells us in Romans, “Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound?  By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?  Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?  We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.”

“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His.  We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.  For one who has died has been set free from sin.  Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.  For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.” 

We are forgiven, and so cannot continue in our sin any longer.  We no longer can “live and let live”.  Instead, let us leave our sin behind, and dwell in the love that Christ gives to us.  It’s a cross-defined love that shows real concern about us and what goes on in our lives. 

So in conclusion, I would encourage you to show true love to those around you.  It’s a love that forgives wrongs, even while we admit that they are wrong.  It’s a love that does not begin with us at all, but begins with the grace and mercy earned on the cross of Christ.  That is true love. 

In Christ,

Pastor

Lent 5 - G - 2012 - We Don't "Get" Glory

The Fifth Sunday of Lent
March 18, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  Our text today comes from the Gospel lesson, especially these words, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ, Jesus tells the disciples exactly what was going to happen.  “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and deliver him over to the Gentiles. ³⁴ And they will mock him and spit on him, and flog him and kill him. And after three days he will rise.”  Dear friends, it doesn’t get much clearer than that.  Jesus is entering his glory.  Jesus is going into Jerusalem to begin his reign, to be crowned with thorns, enthroned upon a cross, the king dying for sin. 

And yet, even as Jesus tells his disciples this is what is happening, they miss the point entirely.  That’s not the type of glory that they are used to.  They have seen kings enter Jerusalem before, they have heard of the way a Triumph was truly celebrated, and it didn’t involve crosses. 

In ancient Rome, when a king came into his glory, he rode a chariot in a parade into town.  Before him went all his troops, and all the spoils of war.  He entered through a special gate in the city, used only for showing forth the glory of a king.  He rode through the town as all its citizens came out to cheer and the trumpets blasted as they hailed this king, this Caesar as God on earth. 

That is the glory the disciples wanted.  They wanted Jesus glorified.  They wanted him shown as almighty.  They wanted him paraded around, and they wanted a piece of the action.  In our text, James and John come to Jesus and say, “O great teacher, may you live forever, give to us what we ask.  Let it be that one of us may sit on your right and one at your left in your glory.”  In other words, let us share with you in fame and wealth and praises.  Let us be a part of your power and kingdom.  Let us sit in the place of honor.  Let us share, because Lord, we have earned it.  We have followed you since the very beginning.  We were some of your very first disciples.  We have left all we have, and now, Jesus it is time for payback, especially if you expect us to support you when you enter Jerusalem.  We want reward, and we want it now.

Jesus, who had to have been disappointed by the question, responds, “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink, the cup of God’s wrath?”  Can you take the brunt of God’s punishment for sin?  Because that is the glory of Jesus – to save sinners.  And you disciples of Jesus are no longer to live in the glory of the world, the parades, the pats on the back, the accolades.  But instead, you are to serve.  For “whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all.”

Dear friends in Christ, to be great in the church, you must be a servant.  To have glory, you have to turn everything upside down on its head, and take up your cross and follow Jesus.  But yet that is not what we want.  How often do we want the glory associated with Christianity?  I am a Christian, and so I am holier than you?  I am a Christian, so I deserve some sort of payment here on earth!  I am a Christian, so Lord give me a little more money, a nicer home, a faster car, and a healthier family and life.  Give me what I want here, and now!  Give me worldly power!

And yet in reality, we have nothing worth talking about.  We have nothing to glory in, for our lives are full of sin.  They are full of failures.  Even those small glories that we do have fade away with time.  Yes Caesar may have had his parades, but he is dead now.  Yes we may feel glad at one we have done, but it doesn’t save us.  Even with all the glory-full things we do, we are left without hope if we only look at ourselves. 

We want people to notice when we do something good.  We want someone to notice us, hoping that we will be elevated in their eyes.  To give us just a touch of glory here on earth.  And yet, when we look inwardly like that, when we seek to glorify ourselves in our neighbors eyes, to receive the rewards of this world, we lose sight of the glory of Jesus.  We take our eyes off the cross and eternity, instead looking at something that seems closer, more attainable, but fleeting. 

“You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.  But it shall not be so among you.”  No, it shall not be so upon you, for you have no glory on earth to be found, your glory is greater.  You already have something more wonderful.  And to see it, you can’t look at yourself, your own desires, your own wants and goals, to see the glory that awaits you, you must look to Jesus. 

He explains it all, The Son of man must be lifted up, he must be turned over, spat upon and killed, and then, crucified.  In that, and only in that is true glory, revealed in the Son of God.  For as Jesus dies on the cross, he takes your sin away.  As Jesus is lifted up, he glorifies you.  As Jesus is pierced with nails, you are given new life and hope. 

You are glorified in Jesus.  IN him alone, you have something to look towards.  

Midweek Lent 4

Wednesday of Lent 4

21 March 2012

Fifth Commandment:  You Shall Not Murder

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. 

Bible Narrative:  Genesis 4:1-16

4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore Cain, saying, “I have gotten^[a] a man with the help of the Lord.” ² And again, she bore his brother Abel. Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain a worker of the ground. ³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell. ⁶ The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry, and why has your face fallen? ⁷  If you do well, will you not be accepted?^[b] And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for^[c] you, but you must rule over it.”

⁸ Cain spoke to Abel his brother.^[d] And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” ¹⁰ And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. ¹¹ And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. ¹² When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.^[e] 14 Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. ¹⁶ Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod,^[f] east of Eden.

You shall not murder

What does this mean?

We should fear and love God so that we do not hurt or harm our neighbor in his body, but help and support him in every physical need. 

Anatomy of a murder.

You’re minding your own business and then all of a sudden …

News alert!  It’s scrolls along the bottom of the TV screen. Before you can read it brunette bombshell anchor Mona Cohen interrupts regular programming:  “This just in to Paradise Lost Network!  We have received disturbing news!  It comes from one of the western farm fields.  We’re hearing unconfirmed reports that one of Adam’s sons was found dead a short while ago.  Let’s go live to our ace on the spot reporter Biff Bernstein.  He’s there with the latest.  Biff, can you confirm what we’re hearing?”

“Mona, yes the dead body has in fact now been identified by officials as Abel.  Mona, this is a grisly scene.  I’ve never seen any thing like this!  It’s sickening!  I can’t believe this has happened!  This is no accident!  It is criminal!  Abel’s head has been crushed in!  It is the goriest and most gruesome incident I’ve ever covered… [Biff gags].  As you can tell Mona, I’ve lost it.  Who could have done this?  Who could have done this Mona? Back to you.”

“Thanks Biff.  For those who have just joined us, we have confirmed that Abel, the younger twin brother of Cain, has been found dead from substantial blows to the head.  It is a gruesome criminal scene.  A massive manhunt has now begun for the world’s first ever killer.  More breaking news as it happens.”

While you’re still in shock – still is dismay – another breaking news alert from Mona Cohen of Paradise Lost Network!    “This just in!  More dreadful news!  Authorities have confirmed that Abel’s killer has been apprehended!  The killer is … are you ready for this ladies and gentlemen? … Abel’s older twin brother Cain!”

Double tragedy!  Double punch to the gut!  Not just the world’s first murder!  Not just a homicide -- BUT FRATRICIDE!  Abel, viciously slaughtered by his very own brother! 

The very brother we all believed to be the ONE! The ONE to bring back the paradise Adam and Eve lost by their rebellion.  The ONE to put an end to all the pain and agony that Satan brought into the world by our parents’ sin.  Cain!  Cain!  Cain! 

Cain’s no messiah!  Far from it!  We were all foolishly mistaken on that one!  We just all assumed! 

Cain had us all fooled.  Both boys went to church.  Both heard sermon after sermon.  Both offered their sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise.  All the neighbors said Cain was a quiet boy.  A good neighbor.  Always on time.  Reliable.  A hard worker.  What went wrong?  Why would he do such a heinous deed?

Then another news flash!  “Mona Cohen here again with more breaking news.  We have been told that Cain was a very angry young man.  He had a very, very dark side.  Hated his brother Abel!  Had something to do with their offerings at church.  His intense anger appears to have begun when the LORD favored Abel’s offerings but not Cain’s.  Here to give us some perspective on why all this happened is doctor Ruth Bernbaum.  Dr. Bernbaum, what triggered all of Cain’s anger and the savage attack of his brother?  Why couldn’t Cain master the sin that was crouching at his door?”

“Well, Mona, it could be a number of factors.  One, perhaps God likes ranchers more than farmers.  Another explanation may be the way Eve potty-trained these boys in combination with Adam’s laissez-faire attitude.  That probably didn’t go so well. One more factor could be that Cain skimped with his offerings.  Maybe the grain he offered wasn’t the best or possibly he only offered chaff instead of wheat.  Or, and this is the most likely explanation, you did this to him! The pressure was too much for him!  All the messianic expectations you all put on him led him to this!”      

And with that you shut off your TV.  You’ve had enough of this rubbish!  There’s got to be some other explanation! 

Well, there is.  I’ll tell you.  It’s called sin.  Both brothers were sinners.  But the difference between the two was spelled:  F-A-I-T-H!  Cain doesn’t believe that he is a sinner. He’s full of himself!  First-born and all that!  Cain doesn’t fight against his anger and hatred.  Cain, therefore, doesn’t believe in God’s promise to send the Savior.  Cain refused to believe the sermons that the LORD is gracious and merciful.  Cain does not and would not repent!  No wonder the LORD DID NOT look with favor on Cain’s offering.  No wonder the LORD DID LOOK WITH FAVOR ON ABEL’S! 

If you doubt any of this Hebrews 11:4 clearly explains the discrepancy between the two brothers.  Listen.  “By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did.  By faith he [Abel] was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings.  And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.”  Again, the difference between the two brothers was FAITH!

Cain’s unbelief, his impenitence, fed his hatred.  Hated his brother.  Hated God!  He did not fear, love, or trust in the LORD.  His heart was at odds with the LORD.  Therefore, his heart was also at odds with his brother.  “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15; Matthew 5:21-22)! So Cain did what was in his heart.  He lured Abel into the field with a hypocritical act of brotherly love.  When Abel turned his back Cain bashed in the back of his brother’s head!  Calculated, cold-blooded murder!  Colossal carnage!

When Adam sinned the ground was cursed (Genesis 3:17).  Now here Cain, for the spilling of Abel’s blood, for just standing there and letting Abel bleed out, is directly cursed!  He has desecrated the ground with a murderous blood bath!  Cain refused to be his brother’s keeper!  So the earth opened up its mouth to receive Abel’s blood from Cain’s hand.  Cain can only be a restless wanderer now because the earth will refuse to bear any crops for him!  He can till and till and till – plant, plant and plant – BUT THE EARTH WILL GIVE HIM NOTHING!  For Abel’s “blood cries out the LORD from the ground!”  

In addition, Cain must live the rest of his life with eyes in the back of his head.  He won’t be able to sleep very well at night.  After all, everyone is outraged!  It is highly probably that someone will try to avenge Abel’s murder!  Therefore the LORD puts a mark on Cain to show that he’s off limits to a human executioner – an avenger of blood!

Life in any stage is a gift from the LORD.  The LORD wants your neighbor’s life protected.  Always!  Thus the Fifth Commandment!  The LORD forbids the taking of life in any way.  From abortion to euthanasia!  From shooting someone in cold blood to slitting someone’s throat or putting poison in their food!  The LORD forbids the taking of your own life too.  Judas did that, you remember, when he despaired of the LORD’s forgiveness. 

You shall not murder!  That’s God’s categorical personal address to you!  No “ifs,” “ands” or “buts!”  Do not hurt or bring harm to your neighbor in any way!  Instead help and support him/her in EVERY physical need.

And we have failed!  Our tongues are instruments of death!  We ruin reputations!  We destroy lives with our angry words and hate-filled discrimination. 

We sit quietly and do nothing when our neighbor needs help.  We care about ourselves first.  Our needs.  Our wants.  Our desires.  Our hopes. 

We stand by and do nothing as our neighbor drinks himself to death, starves herself to death, forces his child to live in a cage like an animal, or as 1.2 million of unborn innocent lives are cruelly destroyed each year in this country. “Am I my brother’s / sister’s keeper?” we ask!  With that question we incriminate ourselves just like Cain!

So it is time to repent!  It is time to “love one another” and “not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother,” (1 John 3:11-12) It is time to give up something during this Lent and all of our lives!  And what is that?  Your sin!  Time to confess your sin.  All sin against God’s will to protect and preserve life.  Life that He alone gives.

Abel’s murdered blood cried out to the LORD for revenge!  But the Blood of Jesus – that’s different!  A whole different ball game!  His Blood speaks and proclaims just the opposite:  FORGIVENESS!  For sinners!  For you.  For me.  “Father, forgive them – they don’t know what in the world they’re doing!” 

Exactly!  We sure didn’t!  We falsely believed that we were doing God a favor!  That everything would be so much better if we would get rid of Blasphemer Jesus!  He can’t be God!  We are! (At least we pretend to be!)  So we too shouted:  “Crucify Him!  Crucify Him!  Be rid of Him!  We’re in charge here!  His Blood be on us and our children!”     We “killed the author of life” (Acts 3:15)!

“Father, forgive them!”  Yes, Jesus’ Good Friday, Lamb of God, Mount Calvary Blood for your forgiveness pleads!  His sacrificial Blood shed on the cross atones for all your sin!  For His life – His divine life is given in, with and under His Blood!  Bloodied – sacrificed on the cross Jesus – sprinkles His Blood on you!  That Blood speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.  Abel’s blood cried out for revenge!  The shed Blood of Jesus proclaims FORGIVENESS!  “But the blood of Jesus for our pardon cries!”  (Hymn #433 LSB stanza 4).

So here’s the truth!  You, the sinner, are redeemed!  You, the sinner, are sanctified!  For the Blood of Jesus is on you and your children.  In a saving way:  FORGIVENESS!   You, like the murderer Barabbas are set free!  Jesus, the Holy One, willingly gives His life and allows His divine Blood to be shed!  Your sin is His!  His holiness is yours!  The Blood of Jesus purifies you from all sin! 

It is His Good Friday Blood that He puts into your mouths in the Sacrament for your cleansing.  For your purification!  For the forgiveness of all your sin.  In the Lord’s Supper the Blood of Jesus speaks!  It says:  “given and shed FOR YOU!  FOR YOU AND FOR YOUR SALVATION!” 

Faith trusts this Word from the Good Friday Jesus!  Now He has good use for you in this world as His instrument.  He now uses your body in this life to help and support your neighbor in his/her body!  And that is quite a sacrifice or offering of thanksgiving and praise in response for all that Jesus’ Blood has given you!

In the Name of Jesus    

Lent 4 - E - 2012 - Dead Man Walking

The Fourth Sunday of Lent
March 18, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline

Numbers 21:4-9          Ephesians 2:1-10         John 3:14-21

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.  Our text today comes from the Epistle lesson just read, especially these words, “it is by grace you have been saved.”  Thus far our text. 

Dear friends in Christ.  We have all heard of the phrase, “Dead man walking.”  It’s a phrase reserved for those who live on death row, awaiting their turn to be punished for their crimes of murder and rape.  They are dead men walking, because though they are still alive, in fact they are as good as dead, and will never see the outside of a prison again. 

Dear friends, St. Paul says the same thing about you in our text today.  You were once dead in your trespasses.  You were once a “dead man walking.”  You once were judged, found guilty and deserving of death.  Only your judgment was even worse than that of a man on death row.  For your punishment, your judgment of death wasn’t just the ending of your earthly life, but eternal death, death beyond this world, death that means the fires of hell, with weeping and gnashing of teeth, and where the worm does not die. 

That was your verdict.  That was your judgment.  So the question arises, what was your crime?  Why did you deserve such a sentence?  For the trespasses and sins in which you once walked following the prince of this world, Satan.  Your sin was great, your trespasses were enormous, and you did commit it, by your fault, your own fault, your own most grievous fault.  As our text today says, you “lived in the passions of your flesh, carrying out the desires of your body and the mind”.  That means you gave in to all those lusts of your body.  You wanted more drinks than your body could handle and became drunk in a stupor.  You wanted more money and things that you could use.  And when you got something, it was yours, you didn’t want to share it with fellow members of the body of Christ, but selfishly took it for yourself.  You wanted porn, sex, and excitement because of the way it made you feel for a few minutes, even as it damaged you for your whole life. 

Oh and there is more.  You have hated someone who was your neighbor.  You spoke poorly of them to your friends, and laughed at their faux pas, making sure that everyone knew about them.  You have held a grudge, you have acted with rage and malice, you have failed to forgive and love as God would have you do.  And when the table’s were turned, you have complained and whined, you have grumbled against them, vowing to get your “just revenge”.

Oh by the way, this is just the tip of the ice berg.  For you know that if God could read your thoughts and follow you around all day, that He would not like what He sees.  He would be ashamed of some of those things that you have done.  He would know about you hurting yourself in the quiet of your own room, and your drowning your sorrows in a glass.  And so you are judged.  You are guilty.  Guilty as charged, and the punishment is death forever in the fires of hell.  And you are nothing more than a “Dead man walking” awaiting the fulfillment of your punishment. 

But God so loved the world, that he gave his only son so that whosoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved! 

And this is not your own doing.  It’s grace!  Grace means freely given to you.  Grace means you didn’t earn it.  Grace means you didn’t do anything to appeal your verdict.  But rather you were forgiven without any merit or worthiness on your part.  But it was given to you – a great big Christmas present that you didn’t deserve – all to set you free from the punishment you deserve.

Yes, a Christmas present, for unto you a child is born, unto you a Son was given.  All for your forgiveness.  All for making you alive.  All to set you free from you prison.  For this Christmas present was the gift that keeps on giving.  Even today, as we stare woefully at the cross, at Golgotha.  Even today as we examine the old rugged cross, cleft for our own sin and punishment, we see that gift hanging upon it.  For Christ has come to save you by Grace.  Christ has come to go to your death.  To go to your cross, to shed his blood in your place.  He saves you, not by works that you have done, but by the ultimate work, the death of God for you. 

So all those sins are forgiven.  All those crimes which you committed are gone.  The verdict of death is thrown out, and instead a promise of life is given.  As the text says, “raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, ⁷ so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”  You are not a criminal in God’s eyes, but a citizen of heaven receiving grace and richness. 

Dear friends in Christ, you are no longer a dead man walking.  You are alive in Christ.  Sanctified by his blood.  You are saved by Grace, and now receive all he has to offer.  Amen.