Monthly Archives: August 2024

Nigh-Liver – Sermon on Luke 10:23-37 for the Thirteenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 10:23–37

23 Then turning to the disciples he said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.”

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

You need the right tool for the right job. If you need to fix your glasses, a hammer isn’t going to help you. Sure, you might need to insert a pointy piece of metal hardware into the frame of your glasses, but it’s going to be a screw and not a nail. In fact, when you’re trying to fix a pair of glasses, it isn’t even enough to have a screwdriver. You need the right kind of screwdriver – one that is tiny and difficult for my not-so-dexterous hands to manipulate. That’s why, for me, the right tool for fixing my glasses isn’t a tiny screwdriver; it’s an optician.

The lawyer who comes to Jesus is undertaking a worthy task – desiring to have eternal life, but he is using the wrong tool. Not only does he not have the right tool in his tool chest, he doesn’t even understand of what kind of tool he needs. He thinks salvation is something he can do and achieve for himself. That’s why his question is, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus gives him perfect, correct instructions for earning eternal life by pointing him only to the Law. Love God perfectly and love your neighbor perfectly. Do this, and you will live (Lk. 10:26-28; see also Ps. 15).

The lawyer’s response to this is interesting. He doesn’t ask, “Who is God?” That would be ridiculous. He also doesn’t ask, “How do I love God?” Instead, he asks, “Why is my neighbor?” That question reveals something. Apparently, the lawyer thinks that already loves God perfectly. It’s only the second part of the equation that befuddles him. He is looking for an ‘out.’ He wants a limit on the extent of the command to love others. But there is no limit on this command. You cannot love God whom you have not seen if you don’t love your neighbor whom you have seen (1 Jn. 4:20).

In the context of this conversation between Jesus and the lawyer, that question is absurd. The word ‘neighbor’ defines itself. In at least Greek, Hebrew, Latin, German, and English, the word for ‘neighbor’ has more to do with location than anything else. In each of those languages (probably in others too), ‘neighbor’ means the person close to you. The English word neighbor is spelled so weird because it comes from two middle-English words smooshed together: nigh – as in ‘near,’ and gebur which means ‘dweller.’ Your neighbor is anyone who dwells near you. Or, to explain the title of the sermon, your neighbor is the one who lives nigh unto you – a nigh-liver.

Now, the lawyer asks the question because he’s trying to get out from under the command to love his neighbor as himself. He wants a limit to the love that is required of him because, presumably, he wants to keep lying to himself about being worthy of inheriting eternal life. But in general, the question, “Who is my neighbor?” is something we Christians should have in our minds constantly – not because we’re looking for information or identification of our neighbor. Rather, we should be asking that question so we recognize all of the targets of love that God places in front of us. Because we don’t get to pick and choose our neighbors. God gives them to us.

In the parable, God ‘neighbors’ the robbed, stripped, beaten, left-half-dead man to three people. God plops this needy guy in the path of the priest and the Levite. However, both of them intentionally and deliberately try to un-neighbor him. They move to the other side of the road to create distance between them and the wretch in the ditch.

Of course, if the situation had been reversed and either the priest or the Levite had been robbed, beaten, and left for dead, they would have desired help from anyone who passed by. Everyone who gets into trouble or danger is glad to receive help from anyone. That’s the most basic meaning of the command, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

But the third guy, the Samaritan, is an outsider. Jews and Samaritans hated each other. But this Samaritan recognizes that God has neighbored this man to him, and he uses, what appears to be, unlimited resources to care for him. He binds up the man’s wounds and pours on oil and wine. He bears the burden of lifting the man onto his own animal and walking to town and cares for the man overnight. He pays for two more nights so the man can stay in the inn. And on top of that, he sets up an all-expenses paid account for any charges or costs the man would rack up between the time the Samaritan leaves and comes back. 

We misunderstand this parable if we think it is teaching us who our neighbor is. Sure, the lawyer had asked who his neighbor is, but Jesus uses the parable to show what it is to be a neighbor, a nigh-liver. To be a neighbor is to show mercy. The mercy of the Samaritan had no limits. And that is why the Samaritan is such a clear picture of Christ. Jesus proves to be a neighbor. The eternal Son of God descended from His heavenly throne, took on flesh, and dwelt among us in order to neighbor us and shower His mercy upon us.

Everyone gives you an opportunity to show love. But you aren’t called to love everyone the same way. If you try to feed every single person you come across (whether they need it or not) but that comes at the cost of feeding your own children, that’s a problem. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, “If anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Other portions of Scripture are helpful in this as well. Galatians 6:10 says, “So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.” Yes, you are to love everyone whom God puts along your path, but even in that there is a hierarchy. You are to care for those God puts closest to you first. And your closest neighbors are those in your immediate family – your spouse, your parents, your children. After that is the people in this congregation who have been made your brothers and sisters in Christ. Next come the people who live next to you on your block and your coworkers, boss, and friends. Finally, anyone else that God puts along your path and causes to live nigh to you.

When you think of those two great commands, “Love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself,” think of a dart board. What is the bullseye? You might think that God should be there, so you aim all your good works toward God. But that is wrong. God doesn’t need to be the center of your target. He doesn’t need anything from you, and you can’t give Him anything (Job 35:7, 41:11). Instead, it’s the people God places closest to you who are the center of your target. Think of God as being underneath the entire target. Christian, you love God by loving the neighbors that He has given you (1 Jn. 4:20).

Dear Banks, that brings me to you. Banks, in Jesus, God has neighbored you. Today, you are Baptized. Today, Jesus has joined you to Himself by placing His name upon you (Mt. 28:19) and clothed you in His righteousness (Gal. 3:27). Banks, you have been born of God; remain in the faith which overcomes the world (1 Jn. 5:4). Banks, God has neighbored you to us and us to you. As your brothers and sisters in Christ, we will share with you the mercy God has given us so that you can be filled with His mercy and share it with others as well.

Banks and all you saints, receive the mercy of Jesus who has neighbored you. He comes to your rescue. He binds up your wounds. He pours on the medicine of immortality. He sets up an all-expenses paid account for you in the inn of the Church. Everything you need is covered and paid for. So, let the mercy He has given you spill over to other nigh-livers that God places in your life. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Broken Bonds – Sermon on Mark 7:31-37 for the Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

Mark 7:31–37

31 Then he returned from the region of Tyre and went through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, in the region of the Decapolis. 32 And they brought to him a man who was deaf and had a speech impediment, and they begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 And taking him aside from the crowd privately, he put his fingers into his ears, and after spitting touched his tongue. 34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed and said to him, “Ephphatha,” that is, “Be opened.” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he spoke plainly. 36 And Jesus charged them to tell no one. But the more he charged them, the more zealously they proclaimed it. 37 And they were astonished beyond measure, saying, “He has done all things well. He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Imagine you’re being punished for something – it doesn’t matter what – and the punishment is that you will be sent to live on the moon, which has become a penal colony. (This is my analogy, so I get to make the rules.) You will never be allowed to return, and no one is allowed to visit you. You beg the judge for mercy, and he gives you a choice between two options.

The first option is that you can have a magic mirror, like the one from Beauty and the Beast, but it doesn’t transmit any sound. That mirror will allow you to see your spouse, kids, parents, siblings, and friends, but you can’t speak to them or hear them. And the mirror is on a ten second delay that doesn’t allow any communication. It blacks out if there are letters, so they can’t wear a shirt that says, “I love you,” or hold up a note; it also doesn’t allow any sign language, thumbs up, hand hearts, or anything like that. (Again, this is my analogy, so I can make the magic mirror do whatever I want.)

The second option the judge gives you is that you can have a magic phone that lets you talk to your family and friends whenever you want, but you will never be able to see them. Which option would you choose? I’d bet we’d all take the phone. We’d rather be able to have a conversation and communicate with our loved ones than simply look at or watch them because God created us for communion and communication – with Himself and with others. It isn’t good for man to be alone (Gen. 2:18). This is why God created us with ears to hear and mouths to speak. Besides the angels, humans are the only created things that interact with God and others through words.

In Genesis, God speaks to Adam before Adam says anything, and the first words Adam heard were, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Gen. 2:16-17). God promised to provide Adam with all the delightful food and nourishment he would need. You can think of God’s first words to Adam as a sermon, which is basically, “Listen Adam, I’ll take care of every need you have. I don’t want you to ever know what evil is. Just trust Me on this – evil is bad.” So, God created Adam to hear His Word and, by hearing that Word, Adam would trust and believe. But God also created Adam to speak.

The first recorded words of Adam in Scripture are his response to seeing the bride God made for him. “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man” (Gen. 2:23). However, we know that Adam used his voice prior to that because, before God created the woman, God had Adam give names to all the animals. Genesis would be a whole lot longer if it gave us all those details. “God brought Adam a four-legged, creature with black and white stripes, and Adam called it, ‘Zebra.’” By naming the animals, we have a concrete example of how Adam is created in God’s image. Like God did with Day, Night, Heaven, Earth, and Seas (Gen. 1:5, 8, 10), Adam joins with God in naming parts of creation.

That is why, when we consider this text, we know that this deaf and mute man’s condition is so pitiful. He isn’t what God created him to be. He can’t hear or communicate like he should. But Jesus releases this man to be what he was created to be and to do what he was created to do. Christ opens His ears to hear and releases his tongue to speak. Our translation there does a decent job by using the word “released,” but the Greek is even more vivid. In Greek, the text says, “the cords of his tongue are untied.” Jesus breaks the bonds that imprisoned this man to a lonely world without any communication. With one word, “Ephphatha,” Christ, the Word made flesh, restores this man to be what God had created him to be. A man who speaks rightly and plainly. (The Greek says that he speaks ‘orthodoxly.’)

Our Epistle reading today (Ro. 10:9-17) also highlighted the importance of hearing and speaking. “Faith comes by hearing” (Ro. 10:17). God’s Word goes into your ears, and the Holy Spirit creates faith in your heart. Then, with the mouth you confess and are saved (Ro. 10:10). We are created to first hear God’s Word which creates faith. Second, we are created to confess with our mouths, pray to God, and praise Him. This is what God intended for our lives. He speaks, and we respond. Over and over. Even now, after the Fall, prayer and faith is a continual conversation with God.

When we understand how sin has bound and imprisoned both our hearing and speaking, we can start to see how far we have fallen. The things that come out of our mouth should cause us extreme grief and shame (Mt. 15:11). James 3:8-10 says that our sinful tongue is a restless evil full of deadly poison that lives in contradiction. We use our tongues to bless our Lord and Father, but then we turn around and curse people who are made in the likeness of God. This should not be so. It doesn’t help that, most of the time, the damage our tongues do to our neighbor goes unpunished. You aren’t going to be fined or jailed for gossip or so-called “little white lies.” Christian, with God’s help, you need to control your tongue and ask for mercy for the havoc your tongue causes in creation.

You also need to guard the communication you have with yourself in your mind. Philippians 4:8 says that we are to think about whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, and worthy of praise. Your mind, and the minds of others, is never a vacuum. You’re always communicating something – even if it’s only with yourself. That is why we always need to put the most charitable construction on the actions of others. When we think they are doing things for wrong motives, we are more prone to think that they do the same toward us.

Here, Jesus tells this man and the people present to not tell anyone about the miracle. Jesus will periodically do this. We don’t always know why, but we do see in other instances that, when people disobey this kind of command, Christ’s ministry is hindered (Mk. 1:45). When Jesus tells you to be silent, be silent. But, and this is me speaking here, I think we Christians have adopted the attitude that this command is for everyone all the time. But that is wrong. There are other times where Jesus will tell people to return home and declare to others how much God has done for them (Mk. 5:19).

Yes, there are times to be silent but not always. The world needs to hear what God has done; the world needs to hear God’s truth very badly. There is a phenomenon in group communication called “the Abilene paradox” which is when a group of people decide on a course of action that is contrary to the preferences of all or most of the individuals in that group.

It was named that because of a story by a guy named Jerry Harvey where a family is comfortably playing dominoes on a porch in Texas. The father-in-law thinks everyone else is bored, so he suggests they take a hot, 50-mile drive to Abilene, TX to have dinner. His wife says, “Sounds like a great idea. I haven’t been to Abilene in a long time.” Their daughter goes along with it as does the son-in-law. So, the four of them hop in the car to Abilene. The drive is miserable, hot, and dusty. The food is as bad as the drive. When they return, one of them dishonestly says, “That was a great trip, wasn’t it?” But the mother-in-law says she only went because everyone else was so enthusiastic about it. Their daughter says she wanted to keep everyone happy. The son-in-law confesses he didn’t want to go either, and the father-in-law admits he only suggested it because he thought everyone else was bored. So, the four of them sit back perplexed that they collectively decided to take a trip none of them wanted to go on. They all would have preferred to sit comfortably playing dominoes. The only thing that needed to happen to spare them the misery of that trip was for one of those four to speak up.

I wonder – and, again, this is my own speculation – if that is part of the reason our world and culture is so crazy right now. We Christians are afraid to simply confess the truth. Many people are insisting on things that are completely contrary to what is so obviously true. Just think of how often people want to redefine marriage or call a baby in a mother’s womb a cancerous tumor (yes, I actually heard someone say that), and a whole host of other insane things. The world needs us Christians to confess the truth. But too often, we are cowered into the corner and keep silent because we don’t want to rock the boat or be offensive. Christian, God has given you a mouth and voice. If you don’t use it and let the culture dictate the conversation, the world descends into chaos.

Christian, Jesus has opened your deaf ears and broken the bonds of your tongue to speak what is right, good, and true. Do that. Do it boldly. Do it lovingly. Do it with conviction.

Again, in our Epistle reading we hear, “Everyone who believes in [Jesus] will not be put to shame” (Ro. 10:11). And remember that Scripture connects believing with confessing (Ro. 10:8-9). When you speak the truth, you might be mocked, ridiculed, and told to be silent, but speaking the truth in love will never end in you being ashamed.

Dear saints, the bonds of your mute tongue and deaf ears have been broken by the Savior. Bring Christ and His work into your conversations around the coffee pot at work and in the bleachers at your kids’ games. Talk about Jesus while you eat with your children and buy groceries. Praise Him in the doctor’s office and wherever you go (Dt. 6:4-9). This is what you have been created, bought, and cleansed for. God speaks. We listen, respond, and declare that He does all things well.

Jesus is here today. He has opened your ears to hear His Word of forgiveness and mercy. He opens your mouth now to receive His Body and Blood. And Christ sends you from here with His praise on your tongue. Confess His name, proclaim His work, and declare His truth to the ends of the earth. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Location – Sermon on Luke 18:9-14 for the Eleventh Sunday after Trinity

Luke 18:9–14

9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: 10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’ 14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Most of you are familiar with the phrase, “The three most important factors in real estate are – location, location, location.” A house here in East Grand Forks would probably be triple the cost if you moved it to Los Angeles County. For some reason, want to live there. I’ll gladly take winter.

A similar thing could be said about sin. The three most important factors about sin are – location, location, location. To be clear, I’m not talking about where sin is committed geographically. Speaking a lie to a massive crowd of people is just as damning as lying to yourself in your own mind without ever moving your lips. By referring to sin’s location here, I’m talking about where the sin resides. Sin has a place. Either sin is on you, or sin is on Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (Jn. 1:29).

We have this wrong tendency to think of sin as something abstract and floating around somewhere. There is no sin outside of the one who is committing it. Sin starts in the heart. Jesus says, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Mt. 15:19). A sinner isn’t simply a person who commits sins. All people, besides Jesus, commit sin. Being a sinner means to be a person who is outside of God’s fellowship, outside the kingdom of God, someone who belongs with the demons. That is why we need Jesus to be the Savior of sinners. He changes the location of the sin. He removes it from the sinner as far as the east is from the west (Ps. 103:12).

Now, with that in mind, let’s consider the parable, which is about as straightforward as it gets. We’re told that the audience is people who are sinners with sin residing in them but still trusted in themselves and their own righteousness while treating others with contempt. Jesus also gives a clear conclusion to the parable, “Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” But to get a fuller sense of what Jesus is teaching here we need to set the picture of what is going on in the parable. The people who originally heard this would have been familiar with what goes on in the Temple, but we probably aren’t.

Two men went up into the Temple, which is God’s house (1 Kgs. 8:13, 27), and they go for a specific purpose – to pray and worship. In English, we typically think of prayer as an individual thing. Sure, we will pray the Lord’s Prayer and say grace before a meal with others. But normally we think of prayer as an individual thing and worship as a corporate, communal thing. But the people in Jesus’ day had one word for both prayer and worship. These two men go to the place of worship at the same time. What kind of service are they attending?

They would have been at the Temple for the atonement offering, which was the only service that took place every day in the Temple, and it occurred twice each day – once at dawn and again at three in the afternoon. The service would begin by the altar for sacrifice. An unblemished lamb was slaughtered, and its blood was sprinkled on the altar following a precise ritual.

This sacrifice was a reminder of how God covered the sin, nakedness, and shame of Adam and his wife by providing garments of animal skins after they fell into sin (Gen. 3:21). It showed that God would accept the death of another in place of the sinner. As the atonement lamb was sacrificed, certain prayers were offered with the sound of silver trumpets and cymbals. The people would sing a Psalm. A priest would go into the Holy Place where he would offer incense, praying that the sacrifice would be pleasing to God. Then, when the priest entered the Holy Place with that incense, the people would offer their private prayers to God.

But the Pharisee’s prayer directly contradicted everything that was happening around him in the Temple. He thanks God that he is acceptable because of who he is and who he is not, what he has not done and what he has done. His prayer in that context would be like coming here on Good Friday and praying, “God, I’m sure glad I’m not like all these sinners around me who need Jesus to die for their sins.” It’s utterly blasphemous.

But the tax collector’s prayer harmonizes with the service in at least two very specific ways. First, when the tax collector prays, “God be merciful to me, a sinner,” he isn’t using the normal word for ‘mercy.’ Many times in the Gospels, we hear people with sickness, disease, or other affliction cry to Jesus, “Have mercy” (Mt. 15:22, 20:31; Lk. 18:38-39). That’s always a good prayer to ask God for blessings you haven’t earned and the relief that you don’t deserve. But the tax collector’s prayer uses a different word. We could translate his prayer as, “God, atone me. God, reconcile me. God, make me what I should be.” That’s the first way his prayer harmonizes with the service. He is praying that the atonement that is taking place there in the Temple and the sacrifice being offered would do what God had promised it would do and remove his sin from him (Lev. 4:35).

Second, his prayer harmonizes with the service because this tax collector recognizes that he is the sinner who needs atonement. He needs to be reconciled. He needs to have his sin, his shame, his guilt removed. Again, that’s precisely what that service was pointing to. That is what the tax collector looked to, and that is why he went down to his house justified.

Now, there is a danger in this parable. We know that the really good, moral Pharisee did not go home justified, but this sinful tax collector did. The danger that can arise for us then is to think that everything about the Pharisee is bad. Be careful with that. It is good and right to not be extortioners, unjust, adulterers. It is good to fast and give tithes. That is all good stuff. There is another side to the coin of the Pharisee’s prayer. We might be tempted to pray, “God, I thank You that I am not like other men, self-righteous, pretentious, holier-than-thou types, or even like this Pharisee. I’ve given You my heart, dedicated my life to You, and made You my Lord.” Do you see what that does? It locates our eyes off of Jesus – the One who atones for our sin (1 Jn. 2:2).

The location of your sin matches where you look. If you look to yourself, your sin is on you. If you look to Christ, your sin is gone, defeated, eternally removed.

Let me close with an analogy: Imagine you had to cross some terrifying span. Far below at the bottom of that span are all the things you fear most – snakes, rats, lava, rough seas, or sharks. You fill in whatever is scariest. But there is a bridge that spans that gap. What would you look to for confidence in crossing that gap? You’d look to the bridge. You’d see if it was well-built, sturdy, and strong. You wouldn’t look inward to see if you have enough confidence in the bridge. And you build confidence in the bridge by looking at the bridge.

So, dear saints, where are you looking? Are you looking toward things you have done – either good works or your own humility? If so, you should have no confidence whatsoever.

Look to Jesus. His sacrifice, His blood, His death, His resurrection is enough. Looking there, you go to your house justified by God’s sure and certain declaration. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

The Pattern – Sermon on Luke 19:41-48 for the Tenth Sunday after Trinity

Luke 19:41–48

41 And when [Jesus] drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

45 And he entered the temple and began to drive out those who sold, 46 saying to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers.”

47 And he was teaching daily in the temple. The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him, 48 but they did not find anything they could do, for all the people were hanging on his words.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

As the Bible traces through human history, a regular pattern develops. The pattern goes like this: God creates something. Sinful humans defile it. God cleanses it. Then, God refills it. Over and over this happens.

In Genesis 6, we are told that mankind had filled the earth (Gen. 1:28). But because of sin, mankind’s every intention was only evil continually (Gen. 6:5). But Noah found grace in the Lord’s eyes (Gen. 6:8). So, God told Noah that He was about to cleanse the earth with a flood, but Noah, his family, and the animals would be preserved on the ark. After that cleansing, God commanded Noah and his family to, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Gen. 9:1).

Of course, not long after the cleansing of the Flood, people defiled the earth again by not filling it. Instead, they built the tower of Babel (Gen. 11:1-9). And the pattern began again. God came down to cleanse by confusing their languages and dispersing them over the face of all the earth. God then filled the earth with His blessing to Abraham that Abraham’s Offspring would bless all nations (Gen. 15).

Later in Exodus, we see God creating a great number of people to be His own. God delivered them out of slavery in Egypt to be His chosen people and treasured possession (Ex. 19:6). But they repeatedly defiled themselves. They would grumble and complain about their lack of food (Ex. 16) and water (Ex. 17:1-7). They made the golden calf (Ex. 32). Again and again, God would cleanse them by sending punishment. And He would fill them with water and mana.

The whole book of Judges follows this pattern. People would defile themselves and the land with all sorts of sin. God would raise up their enemies and cleanse them through punishment. And God would fill them.

In our Old Testament reading (Jer. 7:1-11), we heard how even as God’s people were in the act of defiling themselves and God’s Temple, God sent Jeremiah to try to cleanse them through his preaching. Jeremiah warned the people about their sins of injustice, oppression, shedding innocent blood, and idolatry. But the people didn’t listen. They kept on defiling themselves, the land God had given them, and even of God’s house. So, God sent the Babylonians to cleanse the land by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple. Later, God allowed them to return, fill the land, and rebuild.

Creating, defiling, cleansing, filling. Over and over this happens. It’s almost like clockwork. But there is a danger with how often this pattern occurs in Scripture. That danger is this: we can too easily become complacent and nonchalant. We might be tempted to be indifferent and unconcerned about our sins and presume that God doesn’t care, “He’ll just cleanse and refill me.” Dear saints, be very careful about that kind of attitude. Don’t do it.

In our Gospel reading here, Jesus draws near to Jerusalem. If you look at the verses just prior to this text, you will see that Jesus is weeping over Jerusalem on Palm Sunday. This is one of only two times that Jesus weeps in the Gospels. The other time happened shortly before this in John 11:35 where Jesus sees the sadness and despair that His friends have over Lazarus’ death. There, of course, Jesus raises Lazarus and defeats death’s grip over His friends. And there is the sense there that Jesus goes to Jerusalem and to the cross to deal the deathblow to death.

But here, Jesus weeps over Jerusalem for an entirely different reason. Listen carefully again to what Jesus says, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” The only thing that would bring peace to Jerusalem, the only thing that would bring the cleansing they needed, was what Jesus would accomplish that upcoming Friday when He would go to the cross and shed His blood for the forgiveness of all their sin. But that peace was hidden from their eyes. You have to notice that. ‘Hidden’ is in the passive tense. It isn’t as though the people of Jerusalem were refusing to look for the things that made for peace. No, it’s worse than that. The things that make for peace were hidden, and they were hidden by Someone. God Himself had hidden it from their eyes.

This is what the theologians will call God’s ‘alien’ work as opposed to His natural work. Yes, God’s mercies are new every morning (Lam. 3:23). He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness (Ex. 34:6). By His very nature, God cleanses. He forgives and restores. He fills with good things (Lk. 1:53). That is who God is by His nature. But God is not mocked. To those who repeatedly and sinfully reject the cleansing He desires to bring, God will eventually hand you over to your sin (Ro. 1:24, 26, 28). Repent.

After weeping over Jerusalem, Jesus enters the Temple to cleanse it. And every day until He was arrested, Jesus filled the Temple with His teaching. Why would He do that? If the things that make for peace were hidden from the eyes of those people, why would Jesus bother to cleanse the Temple and fill it with His teaching? He did it for you. He wants you to hear and believe that He desires to cleanse and fill you. Jesus wants you to know and to have the things that make for peace so that you repent, believe, and have the peace that only He can give.

This pattern of God creating, us defiling, God cleansing and filling has happened again here this morning. Through faith in Christ, God has made you a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). Though you have sinned against God, He cleansed you through confession and absolution. And He is filling you with His teaching. But He is about to fill you with something even more.

Christ comes to fill you with Himself, with His Body and Blood. He comes to give you what you need to care for the people and places God has given you. Today, if you are hearing this message, the things that make for peace are not hidden from you. So, turn from your sin. Receive God’s forgiveness. Be filled with God’s Word, His mercy, and His grace. Daily hang on Jesus’ words.

In a world that is filled with the defilement of sin, receive God’s cleansing, and be filled with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.