The High Price of Sin

Sermon preached at Our Savior for the First Sunday in Lent, February 21, 2010. Text: Joshua 7:16-26

The High Price of Sin

There's a serious condition that afflicts millions of people, and more fall prey to it every day. You could be next, if it hasn't gotten you already. You know what I'm talking about: sticker shock. This condition typically presents itself with an eyes-wide stare, a mouth that drops open, and words being repeated again and again -- usually a variation of, "I can't believe they'd charge that much!" This condition can be caught almost anywhere, from commercials on tv, to car dealerships, to opening your phone bill.  There is no known cure for this condition.

Yes, many things in our lives cost a ridiculous amount of money. We're shocked at the prices...though we usually keep paying. In fact, when prices stay high, it gets to the point that we're not that shocked anymore. You just eventually get used to paying that much.

I think that's how we tend to think with the high price of sin. Sin is missing the mark, crossing the line, breaking God's laws, his commandments -- any one of them, even just a little bit. Have you ever stopped to consider what the actual price of even one of those sins really is? It's astronomical. It's eternal. It's something not one of us can afford.

Yet we spend anyway. We spend and spend; we sin and sin. Maybe we think it's not that big a deal. Maybe we think, well, I already sinned once, just one more isn't going to make much difference. Or -- scariest of all -- we think, "That's what Jesus is for! So it doesn't matter, I can sin all I want! God will always forgive me..." And we use our Savior's love as an excuse to sin more.

Friends, the high price of sin is eternal punishment.  The high price of sin is owed by everyone, and it must be paid. During this season of Lent, keep in mind what Jesus did to pay that price for you. Look to Jesus, not as an excuse, not as your license to sin more, but as your Savior from that sin. The price of sin is frighteningly high. But Jesus paid it in full for you.

Our text takes shows us an example of the high price of sin in this world from the book of Joshua. When the Israelites had left Egypt, walked through the Red Sea, and then wandered for 40 years in the wilderness, they finally entered the promised land. Once there, God commanded them to wipe out all the people who were living in the land. It was God's way of punishing those people for their unbelief and his way of rewarding the Israelite's with their own land.

The first military victory they had was a big one: Jericho. This is the city where the walls came tumbling down after the people had marched around it for seven days. God showed his power in giving his people the victory. But he had a command for this victory: after the people defeated Jericho, all the gold, silver, and bronze was supposed to go to the treasury of the Lord, and everything else was to be completely destroyed.

So after they defeated Jericho, they went on to the next city, Ai. This place should've been easy. It was tiny. The Israelites didn't even think they needed their whole army to beat it, just a few thousand soldiers. But when they attacked, they got defeated -- bad. Thirty-six soldiers died and the rest had to retreat in what should've been an easy victory. Why? What had happened? God finally revealed to Joshua what it was: someone had taken some things from Jericho that they shouldn't have. They needed to find those things, and the person who took them would have a high price to pay.

That's where our text begins. "Early the next morning Joshua had Israel come forward." (Jos. 7:16) This must've been some scene. The whole nation had to assemble before Joshua, and then they probably did some form of casting lots. (Of course, God was in control of the lots and made sure that they revealed the right answer.) They started with the tribes, and the lot came up Judah. Then they went to clans, then to families, then man by man, until the guilty man was found: a man named Achan.

Can you imagine how sick to his stomach Achan must've been this whole time? Did he really think he could get away with this? He must've, or he would've turned himself in before this. But his heart must have sank more and more with each lot that was cast. First his tribe, then clan, then family. Then the chance for escape was gone. His sin had been discovered. Now it was time to pay the price.

I wonder how many of you are acting like Achan right now. Is there a sin in your life that you think no one knows about, that you think you won't get caught for? Is there something you think you're getting away with? Because you're not.

Sure, maybe no one in your life will find out. True, maybe your sin didn't lead to the death of  36 people like Achan's did. Maybe your sins wouldn't lead to you having a press-conference to apologize. Maybe most people wouldn't think your sin is a big deal.

But God thinks it's a big deal. God says it is. God says one sin is enough for death. He says, "the soul who sins is the one who will die." (Ezek. 18:4) But maybe you think you haven't done anything deserving death. God disagrees. The book of Romans lays out our sinful state: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." (Rom. 3:10-12)

You are guilty of those sins. There's no denying it. And just like Achan's heart must have beat faster and his stomach must have been twisting itself in knots knowing he would be caught, we too are already caught. God knows everything! He knows your sins before you commit them! He knows your sins in thought, word, and deed. And what does he say about all these sins? "Those who do such things deserve death." (Rom. 1:32) Death, physical and eternal, is the high price of sin.

It seems so harsh, that price. It was certainly a harsh price for Achan. All he did was take one robe and some silver and gold, and because of it, he had to die. In fact, not only Achan, but his wife and children and everything he owned had to be destroyed. Joshua gave him the harsh sentence when he said, "Why have you brought this trouble on us? The Lord will bring trouble on you today." (Jos. 7:25)

It was so harsh. But that's just physical death that Achan had to face. Eternal death, eternal separation from God and all his blessings, that's much, much worse. And that is the high price of sin that is due from all of us.

But did you hear our gospel reading today? Did you hear about Jesus and the devil, dueling it out in the wilderness? (Lk. 4:1-13) The devil came at Jesus with all the temptations he could think of. You'd think he would have known better, trying to tempt the Son of God. But he didn't. He tried. And he failed. Jesus stood up to every temptation.

That might seem like just an interesting story in the life of Jesus, but it's way, way more than that. Because in that story, you can start to see the high price of sin being paid in full. Jesus never sinned! He never gave in, like we do. He had no secret sins, like we do. He never tried to hide, like we do; he had nothing to hide about. No, instead, he faced the temptation and won!

And then, as we will be thinking about this Lenten season, Jesus went to the cross. He didn't hide, but he went to pay for sins he didn't commit. He paid for your sins, and he paid for mine. The high price for sin was paid in full.

Does this mean your sins don't matter? No. It means your sins matter so much that Jesus gave his life for them. Like Achan, none of us can be sure how long our life, our time of grace in this world, will be.  But as of right now, we all still have time in this world. We can still put those sins behind us. We can still look to God's mercy. By the grace of God, we can still trust that Jesus has paid those sins in full.

It's easy if you think of this little rhyme: in Lent, remember to repent. In Lent, remember to repent. Remember your sins. Remember how Jesus paid their price. Trust in his forgiveness, and then get rid of those sins in your life. Those secret sins that you hope no one finds out about -- God already knows, and he's forgiven you. Now turn to his forgiveness and live! Those sins you've committed already today? God knows them, and in Christ he's forgiven them. Repent and believe the good news! In Lent, remember to repent!

I hope that this season of Lent will give you lots of opportunity to reflect on what Jesus did for you. But remember, Lent isn't about feeling sorry for Jesus. It's about feeling sorry for your sins, and rejoicing that Jesus did something about it. No sin is too big for him. Jesus took the high price of sin -- your sin and mine -- and he paid it in full. Live in the assurance of that forgiveness now and forever.

It Is Good for Us to Be Here!

Sermon preached at Our Savior for the Last Sunday after Epiphany, the Transfiguration of our Lord. Text: Luke 9:28-36

It Is Good for Us to Be Here!

I don't know how many people watched the opening ceremony of the Olympics a couple of nights ago, but it was quite a spectacle. Thousands of people were there in the stands. Amazing visuals and music were happening on stage. But the part that stood out most from what I saw was all the different countries' teams walking into the stadium. The crowds would cheer, and the athletes would walk and wave.

This part of the ceremony was for more than just entertainment. I've heard that walking into the stadium like they do is actually important for the athletes. After all, they are about to embark on quite a struggle. The Olympics are about competitions, competitions for which these athletes have trained years. But as they walk into the stadium to the roar of the crowd, the athletes get moments of glory. And it energizes them. It gets them ready for the struggle ahead. They've been to a lot of competitions, but now, as they walk and wave to the crowd, the athletes know they're ready to compete in the Olympics.

This is also important for those of us just watching the games. We could watch most of these sports at other times, but most of us don't. Why? Because it's not the Olympics! It doesn't have the same excitement for us. But when we see those opening ceremonies, when we see those athletes waving in all their glory, we realize that these are Olympic athletes. We realize that they're worth our time and attention over the next two weeks.

You might struggle to see what the opening ceremonies of the Olympics could possibly have to do with Jesus' transfiguration. But really, they have some striking similarities. The transfiguration was an amazing spectacle filled with light and glory. Jesus, too, was about to start on an incredible struggle. He would not compete in a sporting events; he would do battle with the devil himself as Jesus walked the road to the cross. Yes, right after the transfiguration, Jesus made his way to Jerusalem where he would be arrested, tortured, and put to death. The transfiguration is the opening ceremonies to Jesus' struggle against sin, death, and the devil.

Jesus didn't need the transfiguration for himself. But there was a great benefit for his disciples and for us. Because there we see exactly who our Savior really is. He's not some man going off on a fool's mission to die in Jerusalem. He is the true God of power and glory who was going to defeat sin, death, and the devil for us once and for all.  And because of his victory, the glory he showed on that mountain is the glory we will share with him in heaven. And until that day, he's the same Savior of power who is with us no matter what. So as we look to our Savior, we can say along with Peter in our text, "It is good for us to be here!"

It probably didn't start out as anything unusual when Jesus "took Peter, John, and James with him and went up onto a mountain to pray." (Lk. 9:28) That was probably routine. But the routine changed pretty quickly. "As he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning." (Lk. 9:29) This is pretty hard for us to imagine. We've all seen flashes of lightning before, but they're just that: flashes. They don't last long. Jesus and his clothes changed and stayed that way. Imagine looking at a bright light bulb for a long time and it might give you an idea.

But Jesus was just showing who he really was: God. He'd always been God. The Bible reminds us that he had been there at the beginning (Jn. 1:1), in fact, everything was created through him! (Jn. 1:3) Of course he has all kinds of glory and power; he always has! But then, as the Nicene creed reminds us, "For us and for our salvation he came down from heaven, was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary, and became fully human."

When Jesus became human and was born, he did not become any less God. He just hid his true glory as God, and he didn't always make use of his full power as God. But there, on the mountain of transfiguration, Jesus showed his true glory.

How amazing it must have been! How comforting! Think about those disciples. Sure, they knew who Jesus was, at least they thought they did. Just before our text Peter had made a great confession that Jesus was the Christ. (Lk. 9:20) They'd seen his amazing miracles that pointed to him being true God. But still, there might have been doubts. Was Jesus really who he said he was? But now on that mountain, they had proof!

He is what he says! He really did have power! And then there's Moses and Elijah there talking with him all of a sudden! (Lk. 9:30-31) How incredible that would have been to see.  Imagine how safe they must have felt, how loved. This is the true God! He's here with Moses and Elijah! Suddenly their worries and problems melted away. They had no more doubts, no more fears. No wonder Peter in a happy stupor says, "It is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters -- one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah." (Lk. 9:33) Peter wanted this moment to last forever.

Did you ever wish you could have a moment like that? I realize none of us were on that mountain with Jesus. None of us have seen our Savior in full glory. But we may have had our own mountain-top experience. Maybe something happened once that left you no doubt that God had just done something amazing. Maybe there was someone who was sick who just got better, despite doctors saying it was impossible. Maybe you were close to a car accident, but somehow you escaped it. You know God protected you. Maybe you had a moment in your life when you suddenly realized the amazing ways God had blessed you, and at that moment you could almost see his glory.

It's a great feeling to have. You don't doubt; you're not afraid. You just want it to last forever! But here's the thing: it doesn't. The moment passes. Life goes on. Your problems come back; so do those fears and doubts. And pretty soon you're wondering if that moment ever really happened. You're wondering if you'd ever really been sure of Jesus' glory.

And that's if you've ever had a moment like that. Lots of people haven't. Maybe you don't recall any sort of miracle or special feeling that you've ever had. Does that mean that you missed something? Does it mean that God doesn't use his glory for you? Does it mean you're just not that special to him? And then when the troubles come, when the fears and doubts come (and they always do), you wonder. Why is God letting this happen? Is he really in control? Is he really there for me?

It's good for us to be here. That's what Peter said on the mountain, but it's true in our lives now. It's good for us to be here! We're not in heaven yet! We're in the midst of a world that is full of trouble and sin. There is temptation all around us. The devil tempts us, and all too often we give in. We fail and we fall.

Why is it good for us to be here? Because this is where God has put us. This is where God wants us to live for him. And how can we live for him when we are in a world of sin, so full of our sin? We can because of the truth we learn at Jesus' transfiguration.

When Moses and Elijah were there with Jesus, did you ever wonder what they talked about? Our text tells us! It says, "They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem." (Lk. 9:31) Jesus' "departure" was his death.  You'd think that was the last thing they'd want to talk about! You'd think Jesus would say, "Can we change the subject here? I don't want to think about that!" But he doesn't! In this brief time of his glory, Jesus talks about his death.

Think about that. Jesus' death is where his real glory is for us. If it wasn't for his death on that cross, Jesus' glory would be terrifying to us. It would be the true God who would wipe us out because of our sins. But no! After his transfiguration, Jesus went to Jerusalem. He was arrested, he suffered, and he died for you.

Instead of wiping us out because of our sins, Jesus died for them. He paid for them. Jesus' glory at his transfiguration reminds us that Jesus is God, that he is the one who had the power to die to save us. It reminds us that his resurrection means eternal life for us! It reminds us that because he lives, we will live with him in the glory of heaven where all our troubles will be gone forever!

But remember, we're not in heaven yet! And Jesus' transfiguration is a comfort for us now. Think of how it must have comforted someone like Peter. After this event, he went with Jesus to Jerusalem. He ran away when Jesus was arrested. He denied even knowing him. How horrible! How guilty he must have felt! But then he remembered: this man who died is the true God who was doing this to save me! Jesus did this to forgive me!

That's our comfort too. It's good for us to be here, it's good for us to live our real lives with all the ups and downs and pains and fears that come with us. Because those problems are meant to drive us back to God's Word to hear again and again what Jesus did for us. There in the Word we're reminded what God has done. We're comforted that our sins are gone. We're comforted that Jesus will never leave us, but will be with us always.

Remember what God the Father said after all this happened. "This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him." (Lk. 9:35) Let's listen to him. Let's go to his Word and hear his life and death that was for us. Let's listen to him at the altar as we receive that body and blood given for you, for your forgiveness. Let's listen to Jesus in his Word even when we're afraid, even when we're doubting, because in his Word he'll come our fears, and replace our doubts with faith. Yes, it's good for us to be here and to be in God's Word.

The Olympic opening ceremonies were quite a spectacle, and they cost millions to produce. But for the people who watched or participated, it was worth it. Jesus put on a spectacle at his transfiguration. And as we watch that spectacle through God's Word, we're reminded that the price Jesus paid was worth it, the blood shed was worth it, because he did it for our glory. He did it for our life. He did it for our salvation. May his glory be and abide with you through this life to the next.

Who Are You Following?

Note: I’m trying to catch up on posting a few weeks’ worth of sermons on here. Sorry for the delay.

Another note: The grammar nut in me realizes that the title of this post and sermon should have been “Whom Are You Following?” That just didn’t flow right when spoken out loud, though. So, the grammar rules were intentionally broken! *gasp!*

Sermon preached at Our Savior on 2/7/10 for the 5th Sunday after Epiphany. Text: Luke 5:1-11

Who Are You Following?

Conventional wisdom tells us that there are two kinds of people in the world: leaders and followers. Either you have the kind of personality where you take command of the situation and people just want to fall in behind you, or you have the personality that leads you to want to fall in behind and follow someone else. Many leadership books have been written covering every field you can think of, telling you how you can be a leader, or be a better leader, in your particular place in life.

And that's all well and good. Leadership skills can be a nice thing. But let's not kid ourselves. We're all followers. We all follow somebody else. The greatest leaders in our world's history, whether it was kings or presidents or generals, they had to follow someone. They had to learn their job and gain experience. Even as they led, the goals they were trying to reach show them following something, whether it's the will of the voting public, or the desire for fame and honor, or even following God.

Which causes us to look at ourselves. Whether your personality type is to be a leader or a follower in the end doesn't really matter. Because all of us are following someone. You could say that we follow a lot of people. We follow our teachers in school. We follow our boss at work. We follow our parents. We might follow our friends. We might follow our hearts, or our wallets. But spiritually speaking, we can only be following one of two people: our Savior or the devil. Either we're living for God and serving him with all we do, or we're living for our sinful self and we're falling for the devil's temptations. So today I want you to look at your life and at your heart. Who are you following?

In our text from Luke's gospel, plenty of people were following Jesus. In fact, in some ways it was too many people. You see, we heard last week about Jesus being rejected by the people in his hometown of Nazareth. But the other towns around Galilee loved him. They couldn't get enough of him. So much so, that Jesus found it hard to even teach them because the crowds were so huge. That's the situation in our text.

"One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret, with the people crowding around him and listening to the word of God, he saw at the water's edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets." (Lk. 5:1-2) If you've ever been in a crowd that's all trying to see and listen to one person, you know how hard it can be. You can just picture the scene here. People are so close they're bumping into each other, crowding around to see and hear Jesus teach. He was standing on the shore of the lake which here is called Gennesaret, but that we probably know better as the sea of Galilee.  A huge crowd is gathered there on the shore, all trying to elbow their way to hear God's Word that Jesus is teaching better.

So Jesus has an idea. Fishing was a major industry in this part of Galilee, what with the large, fish-filled lake so close. Jesus noticed a couple of fishing boats just sitting nearby, while their owners were cleaning the nets from a night of fishing. Taking the opportunity the boats presented, Jesus puts his idea into action. "He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat." (Lk. 5:3)

I guess we shouldn't be surprised that the Son of God had an ingenious idea. With the boat out in the water a bit, no one could crowd him. His voice probably carried quite well across the open water to the crowd at the shore. Jesus turned this shoreline into his own personal lecture hall, with a fishing boat as his pulpit! Now Jesus was able to teach God's Word to this huge group of people in a more effective way.

But there's one person in this crowd I want us to focus on more closely. It's the fisherman, Simon -- or, as we know him better, Peter. This wasn't Peter's first meeting with Jesus. In the gospel of John we see how Peter's brother Andrew first introduced him to Jesus. (Jn. 1:40-42) And just in the previous chapter of Luke, we hear that Jesus went into Peter's house in Capernaum and actually healed Peter's mother-in-law. (Lk. 4:38-40) Peter knew Jesus, and he had heard Jesus' teaching for a while now.

But Peter gives us a great example of how to follow Jesus already here at the beginning of our text. Peter was a fisherman by trade, and he was there cleaning his nets as the text began. That's when Jesus asked him to take the boat out onto the water a bit. At the point Jesus asked this, Peter must've been awfully tired. We hear later that he'd been fishing all night. (Lk. 5:5) He was also in the middle of the long, tiring task of cleaning his nets. You'd almost understand if Peter had said, "Thanks, but no thanks, Jesus. I'm tired. I just gotta get this done and go get some rest. Can you use one of the other boats?"

But he doesn't! He follows Jesus, despite his fatigue. He follows Jesus into the boat. He's willing to take the time to hear Jesus teach God's Word again as he sits there in the boat with him. It's not that he thinks his job isn't important -- the fact that he'd been working all night shows that -- but he shows how important following Jesus is, he shows that following Jesus doesn't become impossible because of his job. He still follows Jesus and hears his Word.

Are you following Jesus that way? All of you have things that you need to do and like to do outside of church, and that's not a bad thing. We need to work, we need to spend time with our families, those are responsibilities that God gives us. Of course, we also need time to rest from those responsibilities, time to sleep or just time to be doing something that's not work. But Peter shows us that we don't want to let our responsibilities and our fatigue keep us from continuing to follow Jesus. Of course we want that close relationship with our Savior in our lives. Of course we never want to stop hearing his Word.

Right? The truth is, sometimes we stop following Jesus, even just for a little bit. We're tired. We're busy. There's so much to do. Fitting Jesus in isn't always on the list. You know, you work hard all week, you run here and there, and then Sunday is your one day to rest. Is that really so wrong? You know, as long as I go once in a while, that's good enough, right? Or, when we're here in church, we might tell ourselves that we're doing pretty good. But being here physically doesn't mean our minds are here. So we don't pay attention. Our minds wander. And suddenly the service is done and we don't remember any of it.

Then there's studying and hearing God's Word. Sure, we all probably own Bibles, we could read them, but there's so much to do. We have opportunities to attend Bible studies. And I realize that no one can be reading the Bible constantly or make it to every Bible study. But when we look and see that months or years have gone by and we've never cracked our dusty Bible once... Who are you following?

Because when you're not following Jesus, you're following yourself. Your own desires and thoughts have become more important. And when that happens, even for a moment, that's a sin. That's following the devil and his temptations. That's not following Jesus with your whole heart. And that's something we are all guilty of every day.

But here what Jesus has left to teach Peter -- and us -- in our text. "He said to Simon, "Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch." Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets." (Lk. 5:4-5) Once the teaching session is over, it seems like Jesus is up for a bit of fishing.

Everything must've been screaming inside Peter that this was a bad idea. He'd been fishing all night and caught nothing. Night was generally thought to be a better time to catch fish, and if they caught nothing then, it certainly didn't seem like they'd get a lot now. Plus, again, they'd been up all night. Peter was tired. He probably wasn't looking forward to fishing more right now. But since Peter had been following Jesus all along, since he'd been listening to his teaching, he's willing to at least humor Jesus' request.

Turns out the Son of God also knows the best fishing places. Because they got a lot. "They caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break." (Lk. 5:6) Peter even had to call his partners over to help him haul it all in. Jesus did not have a lucky guess at this fishing spot. This was not beginner's luck. This was Jesus, the Savior, the true God himself, showing his power over all things by catching a lot of fish for Peter and his partners.

Jesus is just as powerful today. He's still the true son of God. He still has power over all things. And yet we don't always follow him! Yet we often have better things to do! Yet we sometimes doubt that things will really work out the way he says they will! Yet we find his Word boring or out of touch! When we realize that, it's scary! We've been unfaithful, not to some great teaching man, but to a great teaching man who is also the all-powerful true and only God. Is he really going to put up with us? With our sins?

Peter was afraid, too. We hear that when he saw all the fish "he fell on his knees and said, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" (Lk. 5:8) Peter recognized he wasn't perfect. He knew he was sinful. He knew he didn't deserve Jesus to be anywhere near him, and neither do we!

But Jesus' words to Peter are also for us: "Don't be afraid." (Lk. 5:10) Don't be afraid; because Jesus has forgiven you. Don't be afraid, because Jesus was perfect when you couldn't be. Don't be afraid; Jesus knows the awful price of sin, because he paid it when he suffered and died for us on the cross. Don't be afraid; death will never catch you, because Jesus destroyed it when he rose again. The Savior that we have followed imperfectly not only forgives us, but he comes to us. He reaches out to us in his Word. He comforts us with his words of love and mercy.

And he tells Peter, "from now on you will catch men." (Lk. 5:10) Now that Jesus has revealed who he really is -- the true powerful God -- and what he really does -- forgive sins -- he now calls Peter into service. He's calling you, too.

Sure, you probably won't drop everything to follow him like Peter and James and John did. Not everyone is called into full-time ministry. But you can still follow Jesus and be a fisher of men in your life now! Being a fisher of men means telling others what Jesus has done. It means testifying to the truth of what God says. It means pointing others to the truth of your Savior.

I know that can be a scary thought. Will someone really listen to me? Will they laugh at me? And while people very well might reject that message of the Savior when it comes from us, let's never doubt what God can do through us. He taught Peter that he can pull a big catch out of nothing. Can't he do the same thing with the people we talk about Jesus to? Those people who you think will never come around, will never turn to God, Jesus can do amazing things with them. The same Savior that pulled a net-load of fishes out of a bad fishing spot can turn sin-hardened hearts into believing hearts. I know that because that's exactly what he's done for all of us.

So, friends, let's follow him. Follow Jesus in his Word and Sacrament, as you fill yourself up again and again with the good news of how he's rescued you. Let's follow him in the mission he's given us. Let's cast our nets into the waters of this sinful world and be amazed and what our Lord can find. Let's put our sins and selfish thoughts behind us, and let's follow the one who didn't let us go, who didn't drive us away, but followed the road to the cross so that we could follow him to eternal life. Trust him. Thank him. Work for him. Follow him.

Rejected!

This sermon was preached on 1/31/10 at Our Savior for the 4th Sunday after Epiphany. The sermon text is Luke 4:20-32.

Rejected!

The fear of rejection drives a lot of action and inaction in our world today. Nobody wants to be rejected.  Nobody wants to have their feelings or something they want or something they have done thrown back into their face. But that's what rejection feels like.  It makes you feel like you're not good enough, like you can't do anything right, like you're worth nothing more than the garbage that gets thrown away.

We probably all have painful memories of rejection in our own lives. Maybe it was that assignment that you worked so hard on in school -- that took so much of your time and energy -- but ended up getting a bad grade anyway. Rejected. Maybe it was a job interview or the chance to get a promotion at work. You thought you were qualified. You thought you were a shoe in. But they went with someone else. Sorry. Rejected. Maybe it was someone you loved, someone you thought loved you or used to love you. But now for whatever reason  that love is not being returned. And it hurts. Rejected.

Yes, it hurts a lot. Of all the things that cause us physical pain in our lives, could they really hurt worse than the emotional pain of rejection? That's probably why people would do anything (or not do anything) to prevent rejection from happening. So many people want others to like them at all costs to avoid rejection. Parents get afraid of the rejection of their kids, so they spoil them with whatever they want and refuse to discipline them. True feelings are often never revealed for fear of the rejection those feelings might bring. Chances for a new job or a new promotion are often never taken, just so there's no chance of rejection. Yes, most people avoid rejection at all costs.

And that makes the profound rejection Jesus received in our text all the more shocking. We talked about the setting last week. This was Nazareth, Jesus' hometown. He grew up here. People knew him. He was the local boy who was starting to get more and more famous. He had gathered some disciples. He had been teaching and performing miracles all around the area. And now he'd made it to his hometown synagogue. What could possibly go wrong?

When we look at the events from Luke's gospel, we see everything started well enough. His sermon started strong. "He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Lk. 4:21) Here he was, the Savior of the world, the true Word of God himself reading the Word of God to the people -- and fulfilling it! Incredible!

And, at first, the people were eating it up. "All spoke well of him and were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips. "Isn't this Joseph's son?" they asked." (Lk. 4:22) As Jesus was speaking, you can just picture the crowd whispering to each other, "Listen to him! He's fantastic! And he grew up right here in Nazareth! Wasn't his dad Joseph a carpenter, and didn't he work as one, too? Where'd he learn to do this kind of teaching?" It was the excitement of meeting a real, live celebrity, and realizing that the celebrity came from your own town. Jesus had put Nazareth on the map, and now he's here! Isn't it great!

But then Jesus started saying things that didn't sit right with the crowd. "Jesus said to them, "Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal yourself! Do here in your hometown what we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'" (Lk. 4:23) Hmm. What was Jesus saying here? The people of Nazareth had heard of Jesus' teaching, and they'd heard that he was also able to do some miracles and healings. His home base during his ministry in Galilee was the city of Capernaum. He had done great healings and amazing things there. So, the people thought, just think what a neat show he'd put on for us, here in his hometown!

But his words were telling them that they were going to be disappointed. He would not be doing the kind of healings that he did in Capernaum. He knew he wouldn't be doing them because he knew the people were going to reject him.

And he tells them so. "I tell you the truth," he continued, "no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon." (Lk. 4:24-26)

Jesus was talking about the story we heard in our first lesson today. (1 Ki. 17:7-16) Elijah had gone to a widow in Zarephath and kept her and her son alive through a miracle of food that didn't run out. But Jesus calls attention not so much to the miracle as to the fact that Elijah didn't go to Israel to help a widow; he went to a foreigner. And why did he go there? Because the people of Israel had rejected the true God. So the true God rejected them. He sent a famine on their land -- and not just a famine of food, but a famine of hearing God's Word. (Amos 8:11)

They had rejected God, so God rejected them and sent his prophet to help a foreigner. The same thing happened in the time of Elisha. Jesus said, "There were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was cleansed -- only Naaman the Syrian." (Lk. 4:27) The people of Israel were notoriously evil at this time, rejecting the true God for serving the false god Baal. So God rejected them and sent Elisha to heal a foreign general.

What Jesus was saying was clear: the people of Nazareth were going to reject him. They weren't going to listen and treat him as true God. He was more like a circus sideshow to them -- someone to gawk at and maybe entertain them with a trick or two. But God? Savior? Redeemer? No way. This was the carpenter's son -- no more, no less. So Jesus was telling them, 'When you reject me  -- which you will -- I will go to people who will appreciate me more."

And what do you know? Jesus was right. Everyone hated what he was saying now. "All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way." (Lk. 4:28-30) Their hatred of Jesus was so strong, their rejection of him so complete, that they wanted him dead. But it wasn't Jesus' time to die just yet.

Dear friends, there's a lesson here for us. Here the people of Nazareth had Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior himself, right there! He taught them God's Word! But instead of taking his Word to heart, instead of accepting it in faith, they rejected him. They rejected him completely.

And we think, "I would've never done that. I wouldn't have rejected Jesus to his face and tried to kill him." That's good! I hope you wouldn't have. But still. Still as we look at the crowd in the Nazareth synagogue, we're reminded that Satan might not get us to stand and reject Jesus to his face anytime soon, but he has other tricks up his sleeve.

Yes, in our world of today we're much more tempted to reject Jesus passively, in a much more subtle way than the people in Nazareth did.  Have you ever rejected Jesus? Don't say "no" too quickly. You reject him when your sins are something you laugh at and laugh off. You reject him when the idea of carefully following all of his teaching seems like pointless nitpicking. You reject him when studying his Word sounds like drudgery, when listening to his Word seems so unappealing. You reject him when he and his Word have dropped to anywhere on the list of your heart other than number one.

You're not the only one who has ever rejected him that way, of course. Many see Jesus and reject him with a shrug of the shoulder. He's just not interesting enough. Not exciting enough to motivate me to get out of bed on a Sunday morning or to blow the dust off of the family Bible. So, while Jesus is still there in his Word, while his message is just as powerful now, while he still longs to take all to heaven through his life and death, many people are still yawning their way to hell.

Watch out! Don't let it happen to you! Don't get that "it would never happen to me" kind of idea. The people in Nazareth didn't think it could happen to them either, but then they tried to push Jesus off a cliff. We don't think we'd ever reject Jesus, but the time is coming when it looks like more and more in our country already have. And rejecting Jesus eventually leads to him rejecting you forever.

Watch out! Don't let it happen to you! Take an honest look at your life, look at the times you have rejected him, and repent. Ask him for forgiveness and mercy, because he is happy to give it! In fact he guaranteed our forgiveness and mercy through everything he has done for us.  Jesus' perfect life means that God our Father has rejected our sins and now sees us as holy by faith.  Jesus' suffering and death means that God our Father has rejected the punishment of hell for us, because Jesus paid it in our place. Jesus' rising from the tomb on the first Easter means that God our Father has rejected death for us forever and instead by faith gives us eternal life in heaven. He rejects our sins and accepts us as his holy children!

There could be no more amazing message than that! It's the message we need to hear constantly. We need to know about our forgiveness, about God's love for us, not just once, but all the time. Think of how much we hate rejection and the things people will do to avoid rejection. How great is it then when we have been guaranteed the opposite of rejection from God because of Jesus! We should be running to his Word to hear and see what he has done for us again and again!

We want to treat Jesus less like they did in Nazareth and more like they did in Capernaum. Our text ends by telling us, "He went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his message had authority." (Lk. 4:31-32).

His teaching still has that authority for us. So listen to him. Reject every temptation to brush  Jesus off or yawn him out of your life. Instead, look to how Jesus was rejected by a sinful world so that he could win us a perfect eternity. Look at how God rejected our punishment but gives us all his good gifts by faith. Look at how God didn't reject us in our sins, but sent his Word into our hearts. Reject your fears, your sins, your doubts, and cling to the cross. There sin, death, and hell were rejected forever. There Satan himself was rejected. There your hope is found. There God's love flows for you. There you've found a Savior's arms outstretched to accept you in love forever. Listen to him! Trust him!

Fulfilled!

This sermon was preached at Our Savior on 1/24/10 for the 3rd Sunday after Pentecost. The sermon text is Luke 4:14-21.

Fulfilled!

Will the prediction come true? Will the prophecy be fulfilled? Though we might not normally think of them this way, we hear predictions and prophecies almost every day. I'm not talking about horoscopes or anything like that, either. I'm talking about something most of us listen to and trust every day: the weather forecast. Call it a forecast or a prophecy, the point is the same. Weather forecasts attempt to tell the future, at least in a way. They don't use magic or any supernatural power to tell the future. Instead, their scientific instruments observe the weather all around us and use that data to make an educated guess about the weather in the future.

But how often are these weather prophecies fulfilled? How often is the forecast exactly right? I suppose they get it right once in a while, but usually it's just a bit off. Sometimes they're off a few degrees; sometimes they completely miss it. You've had those days when the forecast said bright and sunny and we got a foot and a half of snow dumped on us. The forecasts are not always correct. Those prophecies are not always fulfilled.

Our sermon text for today also includes prophecies. These prophecies are no educated guesses, and they did not use the latest in modern scientific equipment. No, they are prophecies from God's Word. God isn't off a little here or there; his prophecies don't come close. They are fulfilled, perfectly, every time.

Sounds great, until you get out a mirror and see what the prophecy says about us. It does not paint us as basically good people who just need a push in the right direction. It does not tell us we are deserving of God's love because of how nice we are. No, the prophecy shows us as weak, poor prisoners. Locked up, blind, and beaten, we sit helpless, and we're doomed to continue that way forever.

But instead of rejecting that prophecy, we need to look at the one who reads it in our text. It's Jesus. He shows us that despite our pitiful, pathetic condition, he's the Savior who came to rescue us. He's the one that is the fulfillment of all of God's promises. So we can trust him. We don't have to guess, we don't have to hope, we can be sure and certain that when God makes a promise -- in Christ it is fulfilled!

In our text from Luke's Gospel, Jesus' ministry is just beginning. Maybe a few people had heard that this carpenter's son had gathered some disciples, maybe even some had heard rumors about a lot of extra wine turning up at a wedding in Cana, but still, most people hadn't seen Jesus in action. In our text, though, that all changed.

Jesus' hometown was Nazareth in the region of Galilee in the northern part of Israel. Our text shows quite a homecoming that Jesus made. "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him." (Lk. 4:14-15)

Jesus took the whole area by storm. In the power of the Holy Spirit, he went on a preaching tour of the local synagogues. And let's just say people liked what they heard. We hear that "everyone praised him." It seems that no one could say a bad word about Jesus. But the best was yet to come.

That's because Jesus was about to go to his hometown synagogue in Nazareth.  This was probably the synagogue that Jesus had attended since he was a child. I'm sure there were lots of people in the crowd who knew him, who could remember him as a child. And now here he was, starting to get a reputation as an amazing teacher. So it's not surprising that they'd want him to teach here, too.

Synagogue services in New Testament times were very similar to our church services today. There were scripture readings and psalms, and the rabbi would stand up and give a commentary on one of the readings -- basically a sermon. On this day in our text, that job went to Jesus. "He stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Lk. 4:16-19)

It's quite the text, but then Jesus follows it up with what I consider to be the best opening line of a sermon ever. "Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." (Lk. 4:20-21)

Fulfilled! Think of it! Jesus didn't say that this text reminded him of something going on at the time. He came right out and said that these words that had been written by a prophet some 800 years before were being fulfilled as he preached them! It's incredible! You can see why people were so impressed with him.

But think about this: by the time Jesus finished his little sermon, he had gotten the crowd there in Nazareth so angry at him that they stormed up to him, and tried to take him outside and kill him. This is his hometown synagogue! But we'll look at that part of it more with the rest of this story next week.

For now, though, we ourselves can look at Jesus' sermon text and the beginning of his sermon, and we can see that there just might be something there that makes us a bit uncomfortable. Jesus said his text from the book of Isaiah was fulfilled when he read it. But look what that text from Isaiah said was happening. It said the Messiah would be helping people who were not in a very good position, they were "the poor...the prisoners...the blind...the oppressed." (Lk. 4:18) That crowd in Nazareth might not have thought those words described them very well.

But do they describe you? Are you like a poor, miserable prisoner stuck in a cell so dark that you can't even see? Are you blind and beaten, unable to do anything for yourself, lost and alone? Maybe you feel that way, maybe you don't. But it's a disturbingly accurate picture of who we are spiritually.

God calls sinners "poor" and that prophecy is fulfilled in us. We are poor, because we're born sinful. We do things God doesn't want us to do. We have nothing in our hands that can make up for our sins to God, no bribe we can give him. We are poor, destitute sinners. We're like spiritual beggars praying for some sort of handout.

But are you a prisoner? Of course you are! Don't you see, your life has fulfilled that word! You're trapped. You're locked up. Did you commit any sins today? Did you have a thought that wasn't one hundred percent good and perfect? Did you speak any words that were less than what God would've had you say? Have your actions (even already today) shown the taint and stain of sin in them? Let me answer for you: yes! You've sinned, already today, probably in all these ways. Don't tell me you're not a prisoner.

Sometimes it's hard to see what a prisoner we really are because we're blind. Yes, that word is fulfilled in us, too. You can't even see what a sinner you are; you don't even notice half of your sins. You're too beaten down by them, too lost, too far gone.

And the worst of it is, God has promised -- he's prophesied -- the harshest of punishments for all these sins of yours. One little sin? It's enough for hell. That's no slap on the wrist. And that punishment is exactly what your sins have deserved.

But look back at that synagogue in our text. Picture the man (who is also God) giving his sermon, saying that the Scripture is fulfilled in him. He has given good news to us poor, miserable sinners. He has set us free from the prison. He has given sight to our blind eyes. He has put an end to our oppression. He has declared now to be the time of God's favor on us!

How can Jesus say this to us? How can he do this for us? Because he fulfilled everything his heavenly Father required. God demands perfection from all people. Jesus fulfilled that perfection for us! He lived in our place. He gives us his righteousness by faith.

God said that sins deserve death and hell. Jesus fulfilled that for us on the cross. He suffered. He died. He paid for hell itself. He did it for you and me. That's our punishment that he paid. That's our eternal life that he won. That's our life that he watches over now. That's our problems and troubles that he cares for. That's our tears he will wipe away forever in eternal life.

Jesus was a popular speaker in our text. Let's let him still be popular with us today. Let's stay in his Word. Let's hear his Good News. Let's rejoice that he has done everything even when we could do nothing to save ourselves. Let's give thanks that Jesus loved us enough to be your Savior, to pay for your sins, to earn you a place in heaven, to fulfill all of God's promises for you.

Not every promise or prediction or prophecy in this world gets fulfilled. According to our local weather people, it's supposed to get to 46 degrees today. Will it? Maybe. But God's prophecies and promises are never "maybe." They're yes! They're fulfilled in Jesus Christ. As the book of 2 Corinthians tells us, "No matter how many promises God has made, they are "yes" in Christ." (2 Cor. 1:20) Yes! Trust in him! Never doubt his love for you. In our Savior, all God's promises of good news are fulfilled!