Given, Taken, Blessed – Sermon on Job 1:1-22 for the Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

In a sinful and broken world, no one escapes suffering (Jn. 16:33), and no one can make themself right before God. We clearly see that in the book of Job. But another thing that we see in Job is that God accomplishes His purpose, even in the midst of suffering.

Job was very blessed by God. Job had 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants. Job was the greatest of all the people of the east. Beyond that, Job had seven sons and three daughters. One of the things that makes Job great is all of these children. Our culture tries to make it seem like children a burden. It’s sad that today people will see parents with a lot of children and joke with them. “Oh, you must be so tired,” or, “Don’t you know about the birds and the bees?”

We need to stop that. If we are doing it ourselves or hear others doing it, we need to put an end to it. Children are a blessing; they are a heritage from God (Ps. 127:3-5). Don’t fall for the lies of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood. A blessed life does not mean that you’re free of obligation to children. Children are a blessing from God and are to be embraced.

Job was the also the spiritual leader of his family. He was careful to make sure his children were raised well. The fact that Job offered sacrifices for his children points to him being a father who is raising his children in the Christian faith. There is a good reason to see that all of Job’s children are following their father in the faith, but I’ll wait until the end of the sermon to say more about that.

So, Job was very blessed in every temporal way by God. And Job was also spiritually blessed by God. Three times in the first two chapters, we are told that Job is blameless, upright, one who fears God, and turns away from evil. Two of those times, that description comes from the lips of God Himself. And let’s consider each of those briefly.

First, Job is blameless. In Hebrew, that word can also mean ‘perfect’ or ‘pure.’ This does not mean that Job is sinless. Sinless and blameless are similar words, but they aren’t identical in meaning. Job himself will say that he’s sinful (e.g. Job 13:23). So how can God say that Job is perfect, that he’s blameless? Well, this is something that God Himself gives to Job. When God says something about you, it is true. When God says that you are blameless, that makes you blameless. This blamelessness, this purity, this perfection that Job has is a gift from God.

Second, Job is upright. This isn’t talking about Job’s posture. It’s not like he went to the chiropractor regularly. Job is upright. Most of the time this word gets used in Scripture, it’s referring to God. God Himself is upright. There’s no twisted or crooked way about him. God is without fault and without error. Job is too. Again, this characteristic is something that God gives to Job. Whatever sins Job had committed, God had forgiven.

Third, Job fears God. Throughout the Bible, fearing God is linked to trusting God. The 1^stCommandment in the Small Catechism is explained, “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.” Usually, when we think of being afraid, it means we don’t trust someone or something because it’s unsafe. But when the Bible talks about the fear of God, it is not to think that God is unsafe. It means if you turned away from God, then God becomes unsafe. When you turn to Him, then He is your Refuge and Strength (Ps. 28:8; 46:1). C.S. Lewis captures this really well in the Chronicles of Narnia. There’s a question about the character that corresponds to Jesus and if he is ‘safe,’ and the reply is, “Of course he isn’t safe, but he’s good.”

Fourth and finally, we’re told that Job turns away from evil. By the power of the Holy Spirit, Job turns away from evil things. Again, that’s what a Christian does. A Christian does not run headlong into doing sinful, evil things. Instead, a Christian turns away from them. Yes, we sin, and we sin often. But by God’s help, we strive to turn away from evil.

So, when God describes Job as blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil, God is saying that Job is a Christian. God says this about any of you who believe in Christ.

After this description of Job, we see him begin to suffer. And the cause of Job’s suffering is important. Satan is in heaven, and God starts to brag about Job to the devil. It’s almost like if a jewelry store was being robbed and the owner came out and said to the thief, “Hey, have you seen my rarest, most expensive diamond?” We don’t know why God draws attention to Job, but He does. And the devil doesn’t even bother arguing with God. The devil doesn’t push back or try to “fact-check” God, not at all. God is right. The devil and the demons have to agree with God when God says something. Make sure you recognize that.

Instead, the devil pushes back on Job’s faith. Satan says that the only reason Job is blameless and upright is that God is nice to him. The devil says that if God takes those things away that Job will curse God to His face. Notice how arrogant the devil is. He’s basically saying, “Let me have at him and I’ll make sure that he ends up the way that I want him to be.” For reasons that I don’t understand, God lets the devil do it. Through the rest of the ch. 1, we hear what the devil does. The devil sends different calamities that take away all the blessings God had given Job.

And how does Job respond to all this loss? It’s remarkable, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Who was it that destroyed all those things? We have to say that it was the devil, and yet who allowed the devil to do that? God did. God gave the devil a long enough leash to take all those things away. And who does Job credit? He credits God. The Lord gave. The Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

In ch. 2, which we didn’t read, the devil is allowed to go farther. Job hasn’t cursed God, so the devil asks God to let him go after Job’s body. And Job gets afflicted with sores all over his body. But still, Job does not curse God. You have to imagine how frustrated this made the devil. Satan figured he’d be triumphantly standing over Job while Job was groveling at his feet, but Job doesn’t even acknowledge Satan in any of his suffering. It’s absolutely remarkable. Job’s eyes, mind, and heart are fixed squarely on God even in the midst of suffering.

Job doesn’t go down the black hole of trying to figure out why he’s suffering. He simply recognizes that he is suffering, and in his suffering, Job places himself squarely in God’s gracious hands.

Christian, take note of this. Whenever you’re presented with trials, tribulations, and suffering, don’t bother with the why of your suffering. Instead, focus on Christ. 1 Pet. 4:12-13 says, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.”

Suffering and evil are definitely related to each other, but that does not mean that suffering itself is evil. In fact, suffering is good. If you didn’t suffer when you touched a hot stove, you wouldn’t remove your hand from it. If criminals and murderers didn’t suffer with time in prison, then there’d be a lot more theft and murder.

Suffering is meant to bring about repentance and faith in Christ. Suffering isn’t evil, but that doesn’t mean that God demands that you enjoy your suffering. You are right to hope for the end of your suffering. God sent Jesus to relieve you from suffering. Christ entered into our suffering in order to bring us into His kingdom where there will be no more suffering.

Comfort in suffering comes from seeing that God has come into our world to suffer alongside of us and for us. That’s the real comfort for anyone who suffers in any way. The world sees suffering and it tries to eliminate it. So much of our world today is focused on death as the only solution to suffering. They’ll see a poor, single woman who is pregnant and say, “That baby has no chance of being happy, healthy, or successful. So, abort the baby.” The world sees a person going through horrible medical problems and says, “It’ll just be better to end that life now with a doctor assisted suicide.” The world’s only answers to suffering are barbaric.

God’s answer to suffering is that He sends Jesus, not to bring an end to the sufferer, but to defeat suffering through His suffering (1 Co. 15:54). Jesus is the “Man of Sorrows.” In your suffering you find your Savior, who has died and risen again for you, to deliver you.

What we heard today isn’t the end of Job’s story. Job gets everything back. In Job 42, we see God gave Job twice as much as he had before. There, Job has double the sheep, camels, oxen, and donkeys. But then we’re told that Job also had seven more sons and three more daughters. I told you I’d come back to it.

Now, wait a minute. Seven sons and three daughters? That’s what Job had before, isn’t it? Shouldn’t Job have had fourteen sons and six daughters? No. Job’s first ten children aren’t lost to him. This points to Job’s first ten children being saved. Job still has them, even though they died. They’ll be united with Job in the resurrection, because Job knows that his Redeemer lives. Christian, your Redeemer lives too. And like Job, your eyes shall see him and not another (Job 19:25-27). Come quickly, Lord Jesus (Rev. 22:20). Amen.

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

As Christ Suffered, so Shall We

Mar21

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are
Psalm 119:65-72; Job 1:6-22; 1 Peter 4:12-19; and John 15:18-16:4.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Job didn’t know. In the midst of his suffering, Job didn’t have the information that we do. As servant after servant came to tell Job about the loss of his oxen, his donkeys, his sheep, his camels, and even his ten children, Job didn’t know what had happened behind the scenes. Job didn’t know about the conversation between God and that worm, Satan, where God bragged about how blameless and upright Job was. He probably didn’t know about the hedge of protection God had placed around him and all that he had (Job 1:10). And Job certainly didn’t know that God trusted Job’s faith enough to remove that hedge and allow Satan to take it all away.

The only thing Job knew was that he was suffering. He tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, and worshiped. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21).

Now, pause. Stop right there. Think carefully about everything we know about Job’s suffering. His suffering came about because God had given the devil a long enough leash to take all of that away from Job. But what does Job say? “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” And Scripture clearly says, “In all this,” which includes Job’s statement that the Lord had taken away, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.”

Well, that was “phase one” of Satan’s attack against Job. We didn’t read about “phase two” (Job. 2:1-10), but in “phase two,” nearly the same conversation plays out between God and Satan. God brags on Job and adds the fact that Job still holds his integrity even though, “you incited me against him to destroy him without reason” (Job 2:3). Satan says, “Let me go after his body and health. I’ll get Job to curse You to Your face” (Job 2:4-5). Again, God extends Satan’s leash allowing him to harm Job physically, but God still sets limits. God won’t allow Satan to kill him.

The devil strikes Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, leaving Job to sit in ashes while he scrapes himself with a broken piece of pottery (Job 2:7-8). Even Job’s wife, the only remaining member of his family, tells Job to curse God and die. But listen to how Job responds to her (Job 2:10), “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?”

Again, Scripture says, “In all this Job did not sin with his lips.”

Notice how neither in “phase one” nor in “phase two,” does Job even mention Satan. Use your sanctified imagination with me for just a minute here. Imagine Satan strutting around all cocky and proud after bringing all that destruction and suffering to Job. But in both phases, Job only talks about God. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away …. Shall we receive good from God and shall we not receive evil?” Imagine Satan’s jaw hitting the floor as he screams out, “Don’t I get any of the credit for this?”

The devil figured he would be triumphantly standing over Job while he groveled and tapped out. But Job doesn’t even acknowledge Satan – not one bit. It’s absolutely remarkable. Job’s eyes and mind and heart are fixed squarely on God as he endures his suffering.

Throughout this series, we’ve been considering Christ’s suffering. We began by considering how Christ’s obedience led Him to suffer in your place. We contemplated how His suffering was the payment and sacrifice for your sin. We meditated on the fact that God punished Jesus in your place. And through it all we have seen that Christ’s suffering is proof that God loves you. Now, tonight, we close the series by considering your own suffering.

Job’s story gives an important insight to enduring suffering, and that insight is this: In these first two chapters where Job does not sin (Job 1:22) and holds his integrity (Job 2:3), Job doesn’t go down the black hole of trying to figure out why he is suffering. He simply recognizes his suffering and places himself squarely in God’s gracious hands.

We can get all sorts of wrong ideas about God when we ask the question, “Why am I suffering?” We can wrongly think that God is distracted with other, more important things, so maybe He forgot to care for us or is neglecting us. We can also get all sorts of wrong ideas about ourselves when we look for an answer to the “why” of our suffering. We might wrongly think that we have some unknown, unconfessed sin that has made God angry toward us.

Both of those ideas are wrong – completely wrong! You are God’s righteous, holy, blameless, and upright children through faith in Jesus. Because of Christ’s death and resurrection, God loves you and couldn’t be more pleased with you.

Just as Job didn’t know why he was suffering, you typically don’t know the “why” of your suffering. The only safe way to consider your suffering is through the lens of Jesus’ suffering. That is how Jesus orients us toward suffering. In our Gospel reading Christ says, “If the world hates you, know it hated Me first…. If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you” (Jn. 15:18, 20). Jesus will even go on to promise, “In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). The only perfect person to ever live was Jesus, and He suffered in this fallen world. So, when you suffer in this world, what else did you expect?

As our Epistle reading (1 Pet. 4:12-13) said, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.” So, tonight, I want to share four assertions about suffering to help you not be surprised but rejoice in the midst of suffering.

First: Suffering and evil are definitely related to each other, but that does not mean suffering itself is evil. The truth is suffering is good. Now, hold your eggs and rotten tomatoes just a minute. I know that is counterintuitive to say that today, but it is true. Suffering physical pain is often good because it keeps us from doing things that harm us. It is good for a criminal to suffer for their crimes. A murderer and a thief should suffer a just and fair punishment. That suffering is good because it keeps others from committing similar sins against others. Yes, punishments cause suffering, but they do that in order to prevent further and greater suffering. Also, the suffering that comes through punishment will, hopefully, lead a sinner to repentance, to faith in Christ, and to eternal life. The thief on the cross suffered for his crimes, and it led him to being in paradise with Jesus on Good Friday (Lk. 23:39-43).

The second assertion about suffering is this: Even though suffering is good, that does not mean God demands that you enjoy it. In fact, you are right to yearn, long, and hope for the end of your suffering. God sent Jesus to save and relieve us from suffering. Again, sin brought suffering into the world, and Jesus came into this world to deliver us from sin. Christ entered into our suffering to bring us into His kingdom where will be no more pain, tears, sorrow, or suffering (Rev. 21:4; Is. 25:8; 35:10).

The third assertion is this: Even suffering unjustly for doing good is good. 1 Peter spends a lot of time talking about suffering other than in our reading tonight. 1 Peter 2:20 says, if you suffer for doing good and endure, that is a gracious thing in the sight of God. 1 Peter 3:17 says that it is better to suffer for doing good, if that should be God’s will, than for doing evil. Beyond those passages, Romans 5:3-5 says that we Christians rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance which produces character which produces hope. And James 1:2-4 says to count it all joy when you suffer trials of various kinds because the testing of your faith produces steadfastness and makes you perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Here’s the fourth and final assertion about suffering for tonight: Comfort in suffering doesn’t and can’t come from knowing the “why” of suffering; instead, comfort in suffering comes in seeing that God has come to suffer alongside of us and for us in Christ.

The world has no comfort to offer to those who are suffering. Instead, the world tries to end suffering by eliminating the sufferer. The world sees a poor, single, pregnant woman and says, “That baby has no chance of being happy and successful. Just abort her.” The world sees a person going through terminal cancer and says, “It would be better to end that life now with doctor assisted suicide.” The world’s answers to suffering are only barbaric.

Here’s what God does to answer suffering. He sends Jesus, not to bring an end to the sufferer, but to utterly defeat suffering by suffering Himself. On the cross, Jesus takes the suffering we should get because of our sin so that He can give us what we would never deserve – forgiveness, mercy, the resurrection of our bodies, and everlasting life.

Dear saints, you have a suffering God. Jesus is rightly called the Man of Sorrows (Is. 53:3). So, when you suffer – no matter the reason – don’t look for escape in asking, “Why?” Instead, look for comfort in asking, “Who else suffers?” because right next to you in your suffering, you find your Savior who has and who will deliver you. Amen.

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

Christ’s Suffering as Proof of God’s Love for Us

Mar14

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are
Psalm 85; Hosea 14:1-2; 1 John 4:17-21; and John 15:1-17.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

I was listening to a couple of pastors talk about sermons and preaching yesterday, and one of them said something that was as insightful as it was obvious; I just hadn’t heard it put so bluntly. The pastor basically said, “Every evangelical sermon is a commentary on Genesis 3 and the Fall.” Especially lately, it seems like my sermons keep referring back to Gen. 3. First of all, if you’re sick of that, I’m sorry that I’m not sorry. And second, tonight, rather than attempting to hide it, I’m just going to embrace it because it ties so closely to our Old Testament reading (Hos. 14:1-2).

After those fateful bites of forbidden fruit, Adam and his wife’s eyes are opened, and they knew that they were naked and exposed. When they heard the sound of their Creator walking in the garden, they hid themselves from His presence. God calls out to Adam, “Where are you?” God wasn’t looking for information; instead, He was giving Adam a chance to repent and return. But Adam says that he was trying to hide from God because he was naked. In other words, he had nothing. He was exposed and afraid because there was nothing He could offer God after disobeying the command to not eat from that one tree.

But the fact that he didn’t have anything to offer God didn’t stop Adam from trying. All Adam could come up with was to offer some pitiful, evil excuses for his sin. “The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me fruit, and I ate” (Gen. 3:12). With those words, Adam tries to blame his wife first, but ultimately, he tries to blame God. While I’ve always found that absurd, Adam did have some logic in trying that.

Think about this for a minute: When God created, He did it through words. Because Adam was created in God’s image, his words also had power over creation. God brought every living creature to Adam and whatever he called it, that was its name (Gen. 2:19). But when Adam fell into sin, that image of God and verbal power was lost. His lips and tongue had been infected with sin and were full of lies (Ro. 3:13-14). After eating the forbidden fruit, Adam’s words didn’t have the same power over reality that they had before. Blaming God didn’t work. Those pathetic excuses failed to rectify the situation. But with his nakedness exposed, Adam figured he had nothing else to offer God.

Now, here’s where the reading from Hosea comes in because God tells us what to offer Him when we have been separated from Him due to sin. God calls His people to return to Him because they had stumbled in iniquity and were completely exposed as sinners. But notice how they called are to return – not empty, naked, and bare. They to return with something. They are given words to take with them as they return. What words are given? “Take away all iniquity.” Those are bold words for sinners to place on their lips, but there is a reason they can and should.

First of all, those words are God-given. God gives those words and wants to hear those words. Second, those words recognize the presence of sin and iniquity and transgression that needs to be dealt with. And third and most importantly, those words recognize that sin can only be removed by God Himself. And this confession, “Take away all iniquity,” is, at the same time, both the confession of the existence of sin and the confession that God needs to remove that sin, which is exactly in line with who God has promised to be.

Right after the Fall, God promised that the Seed of the woman would come and crush the serpent’s head. He did the work of covering Adam and the woman’s nakedness and shame with animal skins. He had defined Himself as a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin (Ex. 34:6-7). God has promised to be the Sin Absolver.

Our Psalm tonight (Ps. 85) opens by remembering how God had been favorable, restored fortunes, forgiven iniquity, covered sin, and withdrawn His wrath and anger. Then, it takes those things God had done and says, “God, do it again! Give us your favor, restore our fortunes, forgive our iniquity, cover our sin, withdraw Your wrath and anger again.”

To ask God to do all of that again assumes that God loves us even though we are sinners. But that isn’t just an assumption. God has proven that love. Jesus said, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” Christ went a step beyond that. Jesus has shown and demonstrated God’s love for us, in that, while we were still sinners – not friends, but sinners and enemies of God – Christ came and died for us (Ro. 5:8). God sent His Son to suffer and be the atoning sacrifice for your sin (1 Jn. 4:10).

Dear saints, when you return to God, you are to return with these promises, these works, these demonstrations of God’s love for you. You remind and point God back to the suffering and death of Jesus, your Savior. In His suffering and death, you have been given full, undeniable proof of God’s love for you. His love was made manifest when He sent Jesus so that you might live through Him (1 Jn. 4:9).

And this love of God produces fruit that lasts and abides (Jn. 15:16). Go and tell others about this love of God. Jesus has suffered for sin of the world (1 Jn. 4:14). Teach them the words with which God wants them to return. He is ready to hear that they are sinners, and He is eager to forgive them for the sake of Jesus’ suffering which reconciles us, returns us to God, and gives us life now and forever. Amen.

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

God Punishes Christ

Mar7

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service
are portions of Psalm 22; Zechariah 13:1, 7-9; and Mark 14:32-41.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

One of the common objections that pagans have against Christianity goes something like this: The Christian god is nothing more than a spoiled brat. He gets upset when humans decide to eat a piece of fruit, and you silly Christians believe the only way to make him happy is for him to torture and kill his own child. The pagans will then say that if god were truly loving that he wouldn’t threaten us with eternal punishment simply because we don’t follow his contrived rules. They think that god should just love and accept us for who we are and not who he expects us to be. He’s simply too demanding and stubborn. If he wants to forgive us, he should just get over his rules, ignore our deficiencies, and move on.^[1]

That type of thinking is all the evidence you need to know that person has no clue what Christianity actually teaches. So, let’s try an analogy – just know this analogy isn’t a complete picture of Christianity either. The hymn we just sang, “Salvation Unto Us Has Come,” does a great job giving a fuller picture than this analogy does, but the analogy helps address that objection, so here it is:

Imagine a mom and dad who have a perfectly loving home with several children. In this home, there is no anger or selfishness. The children never fuss or complain. They all treat each other and with perfect, complete love and respect.

Then one day, a virus attacks the children, and it causes them to harm themselves and each other in horrible ways. They also fight against their parents. (Please know, the analogy already breaks down here because it doesn’t place any culpability on the kids for contracting this virus. We are entirely guilty for all of our sin. But, again, it’s not a full picture.)

In that instance, could those parents simply let that virus eat away at their children? Could they just decide to love their children the way they are while the virus progresses, and the conditions keep getting worse? Could those parents ignore how that virus mutates the genes of their kids and spreads to others too? Could they just let that virus fester and kill their kids along with all their descendants while the kids get more and more violent and dangerous? No!

The parents would hate the virus. They would be angry at the destruction and devastation it brought to their family. They would do anything they could to annihilate the virus. But those parents know two things. First, they know that the virus has run so deep that killing the virus would also mean the death of their children. Second, they know that only way to abolish the virus and stop the suffering it brings is for one of the parents to receive a treatment that sucks all the virus out of their children and puts it all into one of the parents. It means that one of the parents will have to die, but the children will live and be cured. So, of course, one of the parents, out of love for the family willingly volunteers to be the cure and die.

Now, this analogy doesn’t present all the aspects of what Scripture teaches, but it addresses the “God-is-a-child-abuser” objection against Christianity that I mentioned earlier.

Dear saints, the virus of sin is horrific. Sin isn’t just something floating around out there that periodically causes pain. No, sin is a completely devastating infection coursing through your veins. Your sin causes hurt and harm to others and to yourself. Sin kills you.

Yes, God loves you just the way you are. But it would not be loving for God to leave you just the way you are. Instead, He loves you in such a way that He will not allow sin to drag you into eternal suffering. In Christ, God came down to draw all the infection of sin from you. Jesus took all that sin and disease from you (Is. 53:4; Mt. 8:17). In 2 Cor. 5:19, 21, Scripture tells us, “In Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them… For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.”

When the virus of sin first infected humanity in the Garden of Eden, God promised to send the Savior (Gen. 3:15) and draw all the disease of sin out of you. In love for you, God kept that promise when, in the fullness of time, the long-promised and long-awaited Christ came to willingly suffer all the pain and torment that the virus of sin brings.

In Christ, God was at work keeping the promise He had made. But even though humanity first heard that promise in the Garden of Eden, Scripture teaches that even before He created all things, God knew that humanity would choose to contract that virus and He knew what it would take to cure you. So, Scripture comforts you by clearly stating that Jesus is the Lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Rev. 13:8 [KJV]; 1 Pet. 1:19-20).

When God poured out His just anger and righteous wrath against the virus of sin, He first placed it all upon Himself, on Jesus (Jn. 1:29; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 Jn. 2:2) to spare and rescue you from that punishment. And when Christ suffered God’s punishment for your sin, He knew exactly what He was doing (Mk. 14:36, 39). No one took Jesus’ life from Him. He had the authority to lay it down and to take it up again (Jn. 10:18).

He knew that He was the Shepherd who would be struck for your sake (Zech. 13:8; Mk. 14:27). He willingly took the blow of God’s punishment and laid down His life for you (Jn. 10:11). Christ did this so that you would call upon His name and be His people (Zech. 13:9).

It was not out of hatred for His Son, but out of love for you that God the Father punished Jesus on the cross. The Good Shepherd willingly took all of God’s wrath against your sin in order that you would be His forever. He was punished so that you would be restored and forgiven, brought back to your proper place as a child of God. Because of what Jesus has done for you, you can confess, “The Lord is my God.”

Christ has opened the fountain that cleanses you from the virus of sin and uncleanness (Zech. 13:1). Because Jesus has taken your punishment God is not ashamed to say, “[You] are My people” (Zech. 13:9). Amen.

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

^[1] I have intentionally used lower-case references to God here because this argument does not – in any way, shape, or form – represent who God truly is.

Christ’s Suffering as Payment & Sacrifice for Sin

Feb29

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are
Psalm 103:1-5, 8-14; Isaiah 53:10-12; Galatians 3:10-14; and John. 3:13-21.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

To a certain degree, everyone has the wrong belief that if they have done something wrong they can make up for it. Some believe that happens through Karma. If enough bad things happen to them, it will eventually be paid back in good things happening to them and will all balance out. Some believe they can make up for bad things through luck. If a black cat crosses your path, you spill salt, walk under a ladder, or break a mirror; you just have to find a four-leaf clover, a heads-up penny, or some other nonsense. Yes, even Christians fall into this wrong belief. When we feel the guilt of our sin, we think that if we do enough good works, pray the right prayers, redouble our efforts, or simply resolve to do better, then God will have no choice but wink, smile at us, and ignore our sins.

This type of thinking and belief is totally wrong! Across the board, it’s wrong. All of those false beliefs attempt to deal with the brokenness that sin brings to creation. And they all fail to bring relief. Because of sin, we are polluted and need cleansing. Because of our sin, we are out of step with creation. Because of our sin, we are banished from God’s holy presence. We can’t just climb a ladder up to heaven, no matter how well we think it’s constructed. We can’t wash away the defilement that clings to us. We can’t approach God in His holiness. We need something that those false beliefs can never give. What we actually need is atonement.

Atonement is one of those $3 theological words, so we need to define it. The way I will often teach my Confirmation students its meaning is to break down how it is spelled and change how it is pronounced – at-one-ment. To atone something means to cleanse it from the pollution of sin. But atonement doesn’t stop there. Atonement makes a person holy. And with this cleansing and infusion of holiness, atonement gives a person beneficial access to God’s presence (Dr. Kleinig).

This is why Christianity is completely different from any other religion. Christianity teaches that God Himself, and God alone, atones for the sins of the world (1 Jn. 2:1-2) through Jesus’ suffering and death. A good way to understand Jn. 3:16 is, “For God loved the world so that He sacrificed His only-begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” We need this because at the end of Jn. 3, Scripture says, “Whoever believes in the Son has,” present tense, “has eternal life; whoever [rejects],” more literal understanding, “whoever rejects the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him” (Jn. 3:36). Because we are born sinners, we stand under God’s holy and righteous wrath.

Now, God’s holy presence is both life-giving and death-dealing. It sanctifies and blesses everything that is clean, but it annihilates everything that is unclean and unholy. Since human impurity is incompatible with God’s holiness, getting close to the holy God is dangerous.

Think of gasoline and fire. The two cannot exist together. As soon as the two come into contact, the gasoline is completely burned up and consumed. Think of God’s holiness as the fire and, because of our sin, we are more combustible than gasoline. This is why we need God Himself to atone us.

Scripture records several instances where unclean, polluted sinners are instantly consumed in God’s holy presence – Aaron’s sons, Nadab and Abihu, when they offered unauthorized fire before God (Lev. 10:1-2); the clan of Korah, when they thought they could change the worship practices that God had given (Num: 16:1-36); or Uzzah, when he reached out and touched the Ark of the Covenant which was forbidden (2 Sam. 6:6-7).

So, to be in God’s holy presence, we need to be changed, and that change can only happen because of what Jesus has done as He suffered on the cross. He changes us. He doesn’t change God. Christ changes us so that we are cleansed from the pollution of sin, that we are granted forgiveness and mercy, and that we can safely enter God’s holy presence.

Each of our Scripture readings tonight talk about this change. Our Psalm tonight (Ps. 103) remembers that God forgives your iniquity, heals the pollution of your diseases, and redeems your life from the pit. But God doesn’t just stop there. Because you are cleansed and can come into God’s holy presence, He crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, and satisfies you with good so your youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Ps. 103:3-5).

Our Old Testament reading (Is. 53:10-12) says that it was God’s will to crush Jesus in your place. Jesus’ suffering and death makes an offering for guilt. Christ bears your iniquities and makes you accounted as righteous. And that text makes it clear that, even though Jesus will die in the place of sinners, He will have His days prolonged and see you whom He has made to be children of God.

The Epistle reading (Gal. 3:10-14) says that Jesus redeemed you from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for you as He suffered and hung on the tree of the cross. Christ did this so that the blessing God gave to Abraham might be given to you who are cleansed through faith in Christ like your father Abraham was (Ro. 4:16).

And our Gospel reading (Jn. 3:13-21) says that, in Jesus, God came into the world not to condemn you, but in order that you might be saved and atoned through Jesus’ work.

Jesus’ suffering has bought and purchased you so that you belong to God. He came, not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom price for you (Mk. 10:45).

Dear saints, your price has been paid. On the cross, Jesus cried out, “It is finished” (Jn. 19:30). But Jesus continues grant you access to God. 1 Jn. 2:1-2 says, “If anyone does sin, [you] have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is,” present tense – meaning He is and remains, “the propitiation,” (i.e. the one who makes atonement), “for not just your sins but also for the sins of the whole world.”

All the benefits of His suffering and death are continually delivered to you because He is your advocate with your heavenly Father, now and forever. Amen.

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

Christ’s Obedience – Sermon on Romans 5:19 for Midweek Lent 1

Feb22

The Scripture readings for tonight’s service are Psalm 16; Isaiah 50:5-10; and John 6:35-40.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Tonight, as we begin this series contemplating Christ’s suffering, we need to have a couple of things straight in our minds.

First, to contemplate Jesus’ suffering isn’t just about knowing facts, events, and details about Jesus’ Passion. For example, there are books and articles you can read about the horrors of what crucifixion does to a person. Doctors can tell you about what happens to the body and the pain that those who are crucified experience. There can be a benefit to those sorts of things because it can add shed light on certain Biblical texts like Psalm 22 which talks about being “poured out like water, all my bones are out of joint, … my tongue sticks to my jaws, … I can count all my bones,” etc. So, to be clear, the point of this series is not just to see how great Jesus’ suffering was or how much He suffered as He gave His life on the cross. Instead, the point of this series is to see that Christ’s suffering is for you and for your salvation.

The second thing we need to have straight is this: Tonight’s sermon is titled “Christ’s Obedience.” Obeying God does not cause Jesus to suffer. Not in the least! 1 Jn. 5:3 makes it clear that God’s Commandments, along with keeping and obeying them, are not burdensome. Yes, because we are sinners, we think God’s Commands restrict us. We don’t always want to do what the Commandments require of us and think they cause us suffering, but that’s not the fault of the Commandments.

The Commandments are simply how creation works. People who have never heard the Commandments know that murder, stealing, and lying is wrong (Ro. 2:14). All of the Ten Commandments are written into the fabric of creation just like the laws of physics. Think back to right after Christmas when we had a couple inches of ice on everything. You knew that you needed to be careful moving around because there wasn’t the normal amount of friction between your foot or tire and where you were stepping or driving. And if you didn’t compensate for how slippery everything was, the laws of physics meant that things could go wrong very quickly. The same is true for the Commandments. Whether a person recognizes them as God’s Commands or not, life goes so much better if the Commands are kept and observed because they keep us in line with how creation works.

Jesus perfectly kept God’s Commands and was completely obedient to them, and it was His delight to do so (Ps. 1:2, 119:113). Don’t get the sense that Jesus was groaning and complaining because He had to obey. Now, His obedience did bring Him to suffering because He was the Savior of us disobedient sinners. But Scripture is clear that Jesus wanted to be on the cross to save and rescue you.

Luther draws on this in his great hymn “Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice,” in two of the verses. “God said to His beloved Son: ‘It’s time to have compassion. Then go, bright jewel of My crown, and bring to all salvation. From sin and sorrow set them free; slay bitter death for them that they may live with You forever.’ The Son obeyed His Father’s will, was born of virgin mother; and God’s good pleasure to fulfill, He came to be my Brother. His royal pow’r disguised He bore; a servant’s form, like mine, He wore to lead the devil captive.”

In other words, it was Jesus’ obedience to God’s will and His desire to He deliver you from sin, sorrow, and death that led Him to suffering. But obeying God’s will wasn’t what caused Jesus to suffer. I know that is a little nuanced, but I hope you get the picture.

So, tonight what I want to highlight is that Jesus’ obedience to God’s will is what makes His suffering even more profound and precious because, again, He willingly does it for you. Php. 2:5-8 gives us some insight into this: Even though Jesus is the eternal Son of God, He, “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.”

Our Gospel reading (Jn. 6:35-40) sheds light on this. Jesus came and was born to do God’s will. Christ obeyed His Father’s will which was to be your Savior. Your heavenly Father’s will was that Jesus would win you for His own and raise you up on the last day. God’s will is that everyone who beholds Jesus and believes in Him would have eternal life. Doing all of this was Jesus being obedient to His Father’s will, and it was His delight. It was for the joy that was set before Jesus that He endured the cross despising its shame (Heb. 12:2).

So, when you think of Jesus’ obedience, remember that includes everything He suffered. And recognize that it was all for you. So, what did Jesus suffer, and how is it a benefit to you?

Jesus was born in a stable (Lk. 2:7) so you could be reborn as a child of the King of creation (Jn. 1:12-13).

Jesus was raised in the home of a poor carpenter (Lk. 2:40, 52) so you could have eternal riches (Eph. 1:18).

Jesus got tired (Jn. 4:6) so your soul could be refreshed and restored (Ps. 23:3, 5).

Jesus had no place to lay His head (Mt. 8:20) so you could live in a mansion that He has prepared for you (Jn. 14:2-3).

Jesus was arrested (Jn 18:12) so that you would not be eternally captive to the devil (2 Th. 2:26).

Jesus was bound (Jn. 18:12) to release you from the chains of sin (Mt. 18:18).

Jesus was forsaken by all His closest friends (Mt. 26:56) so you could be reconciled with God (2 Co. 5:18).

Jesus was falsely accused (Mt. 28:59-60) so that the Law could not accuse you before God (Ro. 8:1, 33).

Jesus was sentenced to death (Mt. 27:15-26) to release you from eternal death (Jn. 5:24).

Jesus carried His cross (Jn. 19:17) so you would not have to bear the burden of your sins for all eternity (Heb. 12:1).

Jesus was nailed to the cross (Jn. 19:18) so your sins could be cancelled (Col. 2:14).

Jesus was stripped (Jn. 19:23) so He could clothe you in His righteousness (Gal. 3:27).

And Jesus was forsaken by God (Mk. 15:34) so you would not be rejected by God (Ro. 5:10).

Dear saints, Romans 5:19 says, “As by [Adam’s] disobedience the many were made sinners, so by [Jesus’] obedience the many will be made righteous.” That is what Christ has done for you. His obedience, even through suffering, has made you righteous now and forever. Amen.

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

Fleshly Thorns – Sermon on 2 Corinthians 11:19-12:9 for Sexagesima Sunday

Feb4

2 Corinthians 11:19–12:9

¹⁹ You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! ²⁰ In fact, you even put up with anyone who enslaves you or exploits you or takes advantage of you or pushes himself forward or slaps you in the face. ²¹ To my shame I admit that we were too weak for that!

What anyone else dares to boast about—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast about. ²² Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham’s descendants? So am I. ²³ Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. ²⁴ Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. ²⁵Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, ²⁶ I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my own countrymen, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false brothers. ²⁷ I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. ²⁸ Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. ²⁹ Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?

³⁰ If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. ³² In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. ³³ But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands.

¹ I must go on boasting. Although there is nothing to be gained, I will go on to visions and revelations from the Lord. ² I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of the body I do not know—God knows. ³ And I know that this man—whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, but God knows— ⁴ was caught up to paradise. He heard inexpressible things, things that man is not permitted to tell. ⁵ I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. ⁶ Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say.

⁷ To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. ⁸ Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. ⁹ But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

This is a fairly long text, and Paul boasts about himself quite a bit here, but please notice he acknowledges that. He even calls himself a fool and madman (2 Cor. 11:21, 23) for talking like this. But still, to our northern Minnesota, Midwestern ears, a lot of this text can be a bit off-putting. Paul would probably be more ‘at home’ in a place like New York or New Jersey. But basically, all that bragging is Paul defending status as an apostle. That long list of things he endured – the beatings, lashings, shipwrecks, and dangers – all of that is Paul saying that he learned what Jesus meant when He said, “If anyone would come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me” (Mt. 16:24).

Then, Paul mentions this vision that he had fourteen years before he wrote this letter, but he does it in a roundabout way. He talks about a man who was caught up into the third heaven. We don’t know what this ‘third heaven’ is other than the fact that Paul calls it ‘paradise.’ While he was there, he heard things that he isn’t allowed to speak about; in other words, the vision was just for him. That isn’t unique. In the book of Revelation, John has a similar experience; he hears the voice of seven thunders, but he isn’t allowed to write what those thunders said (Rev. 10:1-4). Now, it’s clear that the man who had the vision is Paul himself. Notice how in 2 Cor. 12:7, Paul says that he was given a thorn in the flesh to keep him from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of that vision. God knew Paul’s weakness of being prideful, so to limit that pride, God gives Paul this thorn in the flesh to keep him humble.

We don’t know exactly what this thorn is. We can speculate, but we can’t say for sure. The possibility that I gravitate toward is that this thorn in Paul’s flesh was poor vision (see Act. 9:18; Gal. 6:11). But I also will admit that I lean toward that understanding because I can identify with it. I also think Paul is intentional about not saying exactly what this thorn is so that you can take his conclusion about the thorn and apply it to yourself in whatever afflictions and suffering you face. Whatever this thorn in the flesh is, it wasn’t a minor thing for Paul. He pleads and begs with Jesus three times to have it removed. This thorn, Paul’s pleading, Jesus’ response to that pleading, and Paul’s conclusion have a lot to teach us about suffering as a Christian.

The first thing to notice is that this thorn was given to Paul. So, who gave it? Well, we have some clues. That thorn is a messenger (lit. an ἄγγελος) of Satan to harass him. In other words, it is one of the devil’s demons who afflicts and torments Paul with the thorn. The devil’s intention is always to push us toward more pride and greater sin. You especially see it when the devil tempts Adam and Eve by saying, “you’ll be like God,” in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:5). Because of this, we might conclude it was the devil who gave this thorn, but hold on just a second. Also notice that this thorn was given in order to limit Paul’s pride and conceit. The devil wouldn’t want to do that. So, who gave Paul this thorn? We’d have to conclude God did, but God does it through the devil.

So, here’s the lesson for us: Both the thorn and the demon are evil – utterly and completely evil – but God takes those evil things and uses them for good. When Ro. 8:28 says that God works all things together for good for those who love him, it is true. Even the work and attacks of the devil can be tools in God’s hand to bring about good. We see a similar thing happen with Job. God allows the devil to afflict Job by destroying all Job’s possessions and even Job’s health (Job. 1:9-12, 2:4-6). There, the devil admits that he can’t touch anything connected with Job unless God permits it. The devil’s intention in tormenting Job with all that suffering is to get Job to curse God. But when you get to the end of the book of Job, you see that Job remains blameless and upright. God uses that affliction of the devil to increase Job’s faith, and on top of that, Job’s three “friends” get brought closer to God as well.

The devil’s intention with both Job’s suffering and Paul’s thorn in the flesh is to destroy faith and increase sin, but God uses the devil’s work to accomplish His purposes. This happens all the time, but the clearest place we see this is in the crucifixion of Jesus. The devil’s fingerprints are all over it! Judas’ betrayal, the crowds who get stirred up by the priests and elders to release the murderer Barabbas instead of Jesus (Mt. 27:20), and the high priest Caiaphas who says that Jesus should die instead of the whole nation perishing (Jn. 11:49-50), there’s no question that all of that was Satan’s work in order to kill Jesus on the cross.

But what actually happened on the cross? Did the devil win by getting Jesus pinned there? Nope! It is on the cross that Jesus crushes that worm’s head. On the cross, Jesus took the record of debt that stood against us and nailed it to the cross which completely disarmed the devil and demons and put them to open shame (Col. 2:14-15). In the crucifixion, Satan thought he was beating God, but God was using the devil’s own strategy and plan to utterly defeat Satan, to deliver you, and to win you back for Himself. God be praised!

Now, let’s draw some practical application from all of this because there are all sorts of lessons to take away from this text (more than I’m going to cover here).

First, God can and does use suffering for your benefit. You don’t have to like suffering; in fact, we long for our suffering to be over. But you can know that God is working in and through your suffering – whatever it is. Scripture doesn’t call you to rejoice because of your suffering, but it does call you to rejoice even in the midst of your suffering (Ro. 5:3-5).

Second, if you are suffering in any way, if you have some thorn, that does not mean that God is angry with you or pitted against you. Remember, Job’s suffering began because God bragged about Job to the devil (Job 1:8, 2:4). And God wasn’t angry with Paul either. It was God’s love for Paul that permitted that fleshly thorn that Paul dealt with for so long.

Third, if you are afflicted by demons, that doesn’t mean you are a bad Christian. Paul had one for fourteen years while he was proclaiming the Gospel, starting new churches, and furthering the kingdom of God. And Jesus tells Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you. I’m going to let that demon do his thing while I give you My grace. This will show My strength is working through you.”

Fourth, unanswered prayers and denied petitions do not mean that God is unhappy with you. Paul begged and pleaded three times, and Jesus said, “No.” Yes, sometimes, Jesus will release you from the things that cause you suffering, but even when He says, “No,” it is for your benefit.

Finally, look at Paul’s reaction to all of this. He doesn’t say, “I asked for this thorn to be removed, but Jesus said, ‘No,’ so I’m going to complain.” No! He says, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. I’ll be content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Dear saints, you are right to lament and long for your suffering to come to an end. Jesus came to rescue you from all suffering. But in your suffering, know that God is at work, and you don’t know what kind of fruit God will bring about through that suffering. Christ is right there beside you in every affliction and weakness you have. He is there present with His strength. And He comes now to strengthen you with His all-powerful Body and Blood, given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all your sins. To Him be all the glory, honor, praise, and thanks now and forever. Amen.

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

Coming Joy – Sermon on Matthew 11:2-11 for the Third Sunday of Advent

Dec17

Matthew 11:2–11

² Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent word by his disciples ³ and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” ⁴ And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: ⁵ the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. ⁶ And blessed is the one who is not offended by me.”

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’

¹¹ “Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.”

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

What do you do when it appears as though God isn’t interested in what’s happening in the world? What do you do when God doesn’t act the way you expect Him to or just doesn’t seem to care? Today’s Gospel text helps us in the midst of those kinds of questions.

John the Baptizer – that camel hair wearing, locust eating, outspoken prophet in the wilderness – is a combination of a biker gang member, wilderness survivalist, and street-corner preacher. Even before he was born, John was excited about Jesus, leaping in his mother’s womb (Lk. 1:39-44). From the time of his birth, John’s parents knew that he was the one who would prepare the way of the Messiah (Lk. 1:76), and that’s what he did. He pointed people to Jesus as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He baptized hordes from Jerusalem, all Judea, and all the region around the Jordan (Mt. 3:5). John comforted with the Gospel, but he also boldly called people to repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Mt. 3:5). He rightly called the religious leaders of his day a brood of vipers (Mt. 3:7). Like a good preacher of God’s Word, John rebuked political leaders like Herod who had married his brother’s wife (Lk. 3:19-20). And that is why John is in prison when we meet him here. For his whole life, John had been a faithful steward of the mysteries of God’s Word (1 Cor. 4:1-2).

In our Gospel reading (Mt. 11:2-22), John will soon be executed. He sits in a dank, dark prison cell. In that solitary, lonely dungeon, the devil does to John what he often does to those in isolation. He whispers lies and tries to cast doubt. John’s mind begins to wonder if his whole life’s work had been a sham. John knew the Scriptures taught that the Messiah would give sight to the blind, mobility to the lame, cleansing to the lepers, hearing to the deaf, and life to the dead, and Jesus certainly was doing that. But John also knew that the Messiah would bring prisoners out from the dungeon (Is. 42:7), that bonds would be loosed (Is. 52:2), that captives would be set free (Is. 49:9).

Because of the devil’s whispering and his current situation John starts to question: “Jesus, You’re checking all of the boxes except the one that matters most to me right now. What gives? Why am I here, stuck in this prison? Do You even know I’m in this situation?” No matter how many times God proves faithful in keeping His promises, it can feel as though God has abandoned you when some of His promises to you still lie in the future.

Instead of letting those questions fester and cause more and more doubt, John does exactly the right thing. He goes to God’s Word. John sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus, who is the Word made flesh (Jn. 1:14). “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for another?” And Jesus, in typical Jesus fashion, doesn’t give a simple, “Yes,” or, “No.” Instead, Jesus responds: “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them. And blessed is the one who is not offended by Me.”

It’s easy for us to fall into the temptation of thinking that God isn’t active in creation when we experience trials and tribulations like John is. Even when God is making good on all of His other promises, if only one of our own boxes is still unchecked, we start to think that something is off. In those moments, it is easy to forget that God is active in and through our suffering. It’s easy to forget that even your suffering has a holy purpose (2 Cor. 1:8-9).

All the evil that the devil and the world tries to throw at you is turned into good by God. You are not at the whim of a god who may or may not care about you. You do not face a devil who is equal in power with God leaving your outcome in question. Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers, told his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God used it for good” (Gen. 50:19-20). Just as lifting weights is good exercise and builds up the muscles of your body, the suffering you endure in this world is good for your soul and faith, making it stronger.

The fact that Jesus suffered, died, and rose again is proof that God uses even the wickedness of this world and the suffering caused by evil men for your salvation. I’m not saying that it is an easy thing to believe. What I am saying is that Scripture is clear that suffering is not opposed to the Gospel. When God became a creature, He endured suffering so you can live with Him forever. Jesus saved you through His suffering, and He can and does use your suffering to bring about good because God is still active in His creation.

Jesus is the head of the Church, and you, believer, are His body (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18). Among other things, that means whatever you do in this world, Christ, the Head, is acting through you, His body. When you do what your boss tells you, you are God’s body being active in creation, and God blesses what you do. Kids, when you do your homework, you are God’s body being active in creation and preparing for the tasks God has for you in your future. As you are faithful in the things God puts in front of you to do, God is acting in you and through you to benefit your neighbor and creation. Be faithful in those things. Our Epistle lesson (1 Cor. 4:1-5) is an important reminder that the most important measure of what we do isn’t success or numbers that can be measured by others. We stewards shouldn’t care what others think. We shouldn’t even try to judge our own success. We are simply called to be faithful (1 Cor. 4:2-3).

But even as you are faithful, you will face suffering like John did. So, instead of falling into despair when you face suffering, God would have you rejoice in your suffering because suffering produces endurance, which produces character, which produces hope (Ro. 5:3-5). When you suffer, go back to God’s Word. Hear His promises. Hold on to those because God has not and will not fail in delivering you from suffering in this fallen and broken world.

Jesus is coming. He is not just coming sometime in the future. He is the constantly coming One. He has come once, He is coming still, and He will come again in the future. So, be bold and confident that the coming One is still active in His creation. Believer, you can have joy because Jesus has come and saved you.

Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness and sadness cannot coexist, but joy and sadness can. Joy is not the absence of sadness. Instead, joy is confidence and contentment that God is in control and is taking care of things. Even when everything in this world seems dark and fading, God is in control. He has come. He is coming again. And He comes now to give you His Body and Blood which He gave and shed for the forgiveness of all your sins.

Christian, rejoice in the Lord always. Your Lord is coming. In fact, He is at hand now. Amen.

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

Eager Waiting – Sermon on Romans 8:18-23 for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Jul2

Romans 8:18–23

¹⁸ For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. ¹⁹ For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. ²² For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. ²³ And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Christian, the Bible never says that you will escape suffering. In fact, Jesus promises that you will suffer. Jesus says that everyone who follows Him will take up a cross (Mt. 16:24). Jesus says that since the world persecuted Him, it will persecute you (Jn. 15:20). Jesus says that in this world you will have tribulation (Jn. 16:33). Jesus even says that the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God (Jn. 16:2).

Christian, you should expect to encounter suffering in this world. 1 Peter 4:12 tells us to not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. Whether or not we will experience suffering is not the question. Instead, our text here would have us consider how we endure the suffering because our typical response to suffering is not what Scripture would have us do.

Often, your initial response to suffering is to look to the time when your suffering will be over. Your kids keep getting up at night, so you look forward to when they finally stay asleep, and you can rest. Your checking account gets low, so you look to your next payday. You get sick, so you look forward to when you will feel better. Even though all of those things are welcome pauses to your suffering, they are only temporary moments of slight relief. And if that is all you hope for, you are setting your sights way too low. Paul writes in 1 Cor. 15:19, “If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied.”

Christian, this text is telling you that there is something even better in store for you than the end of your suffering. When you suffer, look past the end of your suffering and raise your eyes to the glory that is to be revealed to you (Rom. 8:18). It is a glory that you have even now, but a glory that you cannot see right now.

Look carefully at v. 19-21 of our text. “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

Paul here is inviting us to look at our present suffering from the perspective of the rest of God’s creation, so let’s do that. Jesus helps us get that perspective In Matthew 5:45 where He says that God, “Makes His sun to rise on the evil and the good.” Imagine the suffering that the sun has had to endure since the Fall.

Because of God’s mercy, He has commanded the sun to serve idolators, adulterers, thieves, liars, and murderers. The sun was created to shine on the righteous, but God has commanded it to keep shining on both the evil and the good. God has called the sun to serve all people – including the unrighteous. The sun’s work of shining on the evil is wasted, but the sun does it gladly because it is obeying God’s merciful command. The same could be said about the clouds with their rain, the crops with their fruit, and the water with its nourishment. All creation would much rather only serve only you, Christian. As the sun and the rest of creation serves the evil and the good, the righteous and the unrighteous, it waits with eager longing for you to be revealed as the sons of God (Ro. 8:19).

Catch that. Creation longs for “the revealing” of the sons of God. It will take a “revealing” for creation to recognize you as the sons of God.

Some of you have told me that you don’t recognize how loved and valued you are by God. You don’t see yourselves as God’s children. But listen to what 1 John 3:2 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”

Here’s the truth. God sees you as His beloved child – holy, blameless, and righteous. Even though you can’t see that, and even though the rest of creation can’t see that, it’s true. But the day will come when you will be revealed as God’s children. All of creation will see it, and you will also see it.

Until then, live like the sun. Shine the light of Christ upon the righteous and the unrighteous as you eagerly wait for the time when you will be revealed before all creation as a beloved, holy, righteous child of God. Sure, you don’t see the glory God has given you yet. That’s fine. That day will come. God has promised. Jesus will return. Your body will be redeemed. You will rise, and all your suffering will fade away.

Dear saints, all suffering in this world is temporary. That doesn’t mean that your suffering doesn’t matter. Suffering can cause deep wounds that leave painful scars. Even though that is very true, the sufferings of this present time are all – every one of them – temporary. In fact, there is only one type of suffering that is nottemporary, and that is the eternal torment of hell. But that is not your destiny, Christian.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you have God’s promise that the sufferings of this present time are not even worth comparing to the glory that will be revealed to you. And as you eagerly wait for your adoption as sons, as you eagerly await the redemption of your bodies, come to God’s table. Receive Jesus’ resurrected Body and Blood given and shed for the forgiveness of your sins. Be fed with His mercy and grace which strengthens you to serve the rest of creation as you eagerly await His return. Amen.

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

Micro Sorrow, Macro Rejoicing – Sermon on John 16:16-22 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter

Apr30

John 16:16–22

¹⁶ “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷ So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸ So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹ Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰ Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹ When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²² So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

In the name of Jesus. Amen.

Today, Jesus teaches us about sorrow and joy, and it is only through Jesus’ teaching that we can properly understand the sorrows we face in this world.

Jesus tells the disciples, “A little while, and you will see Me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see Me.” They are confused, but they don’t tell Jesus they are confused. Instead, they whisper to each other, “What’s He talking about?” You can almost picture it. Matthew asks Thomas, but Thomas doesn’t know. So, Matthew leans over a little further to ask Andrew while Thomas whispers to Nathaniel, but they don’t know. Maybe Peter, James, and John know since they get to go on special trips up mountains with Jesus (Mt. 17:1-9), but they don’t know either. The disciples are all asking each other, but notice whom they are not asking – Jesus! They are looking for the answer in all the wrong places. Maybe they are embarrassed about their ignorance.

But their ignorance isn’t hidden from Jesus, so He tells them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” Catch that because it’s really important. Jesus does not say, “Your sorrow will go away and then you will be happy later.” No! “Your sorrow will turn into joy.” To get this across, our Lord uses the analogy of a woman giving birth. I’ll be honest with you, I always get a little nervous preaching on these words. I am a man, so I have not, will not, and cannot give birth – no matter what politicians or celebrities say. But the analogy comes from the mouth of our Lord who created women and is the One who said women would have great pain in giving birth (Gen. 3:16), so He knows what He’s talking about. Deep breath, here we go.

To understand the analogy, we have to understand the most basic thing about it. When a woman is in labor, what is the cause of her pain, her anguish, and (to use the word Jesus uses here) her sorrow? The baby. The baby is causing the sorrow and pain. But once she has given birth, what is the cause of the mother’s joy? The baby. The pain caused by the baby gets transformed and converted into the joy of the newborn baby, but you could not have the joy without that initial sorrow.

This is why, when Jesus is teaching the disciples that their sorrow will turn into joy, He uses the analogy of a woman giving birth. Our Lord doesn’t use the analogy of passing a kidney stone. Now, I’ve never passed a kidney stone, but I’ve read and heard that the pain is similar. (Please don’t feel obligated to tell me your kidney stone stories after the service. I worked for a group of 16 urologists, so I’ve heard the stories.) If a person has a kidney stone, they are glad once it’s passed. They have joy, but that joy is only because the pain is gone. Their joy is because they have relief from the pain. The person who has the most joy is the one who passed the stone. Probably, those who are caring for the person rejoice too, but that’s it. You don’t bring a kidney stone into work and show it off. Your coworkers don’t throw you a party for passing a kidney stone. But you do bring a baby into work for a baby shower or party. I think I’m done talking about kidney stones now, so let’s get back to the text.

When Jesus is talking about the sorrow that the disciples will have, He’s talking about His death. But their Good Friday sorrow will turn into Easter joy. Easter turns sorrow into joy. Imagine if Jesus’ death and resurrection happened this way. Imagine Jesus told the disciples, “I’m going to go away for a few days, but then I’ll come back.” And imagine that is all that happened. Jesus was gone, He returned, and He told the disciples, “I’m back. While I was gone, I died for you. I suffered God’s wrath in your place, and I paid for all your sins.” Do you suppose the disciples would have had the same joy? Probably not. Their Easter joy is greater, deeper, and fuller because they endured the arrest, the trial, the beating, the cross, the suffering, the blood, and the tomb of Good Friday (Jn. 19:35). For the disciples to have the joy of Easter, they had to go through the sorrow of Good Friday.

Now, these words of Jesus aren’t only for the disciples. These words were recorded for you and for your comfort when you endure pain and sorrow (Jn. 20:30-31). To help us latch on to what Jesus says, we’re going to get a little philosophical. And I want to make something clear: Philosophy is a fine discipline and area of study. But philosophy is most helpful when it is guided by good theology. That’s what we’re going to do today because this will be beneficial when you face times of sorrow and help you navigate those feelings of sorrow in a good, godly way.

To understand what sorrow is, we have to start with an understanding of what evil is. At its most basic level, evil is a lack, it’s when something is missing, when the fullness of God’s good creation is disrupted leaving a hole or vacancy. So, death is evil on several levels because it causes a lack of life, a lack of a relationship, a loss that is horrible. When there is a death because of murder, it gets even more evil because there is also a lack of justice. Stealing is evil because it causes a lack of someone’s property that God had given them. With every evil, there is some sort of lack; something that should be there is missing. Poverty is a lack of resources. Hunger is a lack of nourishment. You get the picture?

Sorrow, then, is a recognition of evil and an awareness of that lack. I should add this: Something is still evil even if there is no sorrow or awareness of the evil. This is important today because so many people will say we shouldn’t care about many of the evils that exist in our culture. They will say, “It doesn’t affect you, so why do you care?” Evil does not have to directly affect us for it to be evil. Ultimately, all evil has ripple effects throughout creation. If someone steals an apple in Cairo that is evil, but you probably won’t have sorrow about it here in East Grand Forks. That evil, because it disrupts creation, still does affect you because that evil ripples through creation. There is a lot to explore there, but it falls outside the scope of this sermon.

Proper, legitimate sorrow will include, most importantly, sorrow over our sins. When we recognize our lack of righteousness it is good, right, and proper to have sorrow, but don’t only have sorrow. Keep going to repentance of those sins and faith that God forgives those sins for the sake of Jesus.

Sorrow over our sins isn’t the only proper sorrow. It is right to have sorrow in the face of death. Jesus had sorrow and wept when His friend, Lazarus, died (Jn. 11:35). The pain you have whenever you are sinned against is good, right, and proper. Also, it is proper to have sorrow when you see another person experiencing evil and lack. That is the sorrow of pity.

But you can also have improper, misplaced sorrow. Envy is a misplaced sorrow because envy is when we wrongly think it is evil for someone else to have something we don’t have. Anxiety and worry ends up being a misplaced sorrow because we think something evil will happen in the future even though it has not, and may not, happen. When you have a misplaced sorrow, recognize it as sin. Then, have genuine sorrow because of your lack of righteousness. And be filled with the righteousness Christ has won, purchased, and freely gives to you.

Dear saints, Jesus promises that the sorrows you face in this life will be transformed and converted into joy. Another pastor gave a great illustration about this, and the example he uses is boot camp. When a Marine is in the middle of boot camp, he doesn’t like it. It isn’t fun. He wants it to be over. He doesn’t lie in his bed at night and hope that the next day will be harder. He wants the drill sergeant to give them a day off. When he’s in the middle of it, he wants to quit. But once he graduates, he brags about how hard it was. The fact that he made it through is a great honor and joy. And afterward, he’s glad it was hard. It has made him a better soldier. He didn’t think that as he was going through it. The joy he has after making it through is built on the very hardship and sorrow he didn’t want to have while he was in the middle of it.

Dear saints, we live in the little while between Jesus’ ascension and His return on the last day. We are in boot camp that is filled with difficulties, hardship, and sorrow. We might want to know why God allows the sufferings we endure in this life. And we might search for answers in all the wrong places. But there are times when the only answer Jesus gives us is His promise to transform our sorrow into joy.

We want our sorrows to be over and be delivered from them. We might pray – and we should pray – that God would remove the sufferings and sorrows we face in this life. God could do that. God doesn’t always tell us why we have to go through the sorrows of this life, but Jesus teaches us that our sorrows are critical to our long-term, eternal joy in heaven.

If it would be to our benefit to remove the sorrows we endure, God would do it. He would do it. But if God doesn’t, it will be to your ultimate, eternal benefit. God works all things, even your sorrows, together for your good (Ro. 8:28). Dear saints, Romans 8 says that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Ro. 8:18).

Your sorrows and sufferings in this life are not trivial, but neither are they eternal. Jesus says, “You have sorrow, but your sorrow will turn into joy. And you will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you” (Jn. 16:20, 22). That’s His promise.

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

Amen.

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

Pastorsamwise

"Don't the great tales never end?"

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Eager Waiting – Sermon on Romans 8:18-23 for the Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Micro Sorrow, Macro Rejoicing – Sermon on John 16:16-22 for the Fourth Sunday of Easter