Christ Is Risen! Alleluia!

When you think about it, the whole reason we’re here this morning is because of three little words.  Three little words that were spoken some 2000 years ago. 

In fact, the whole reason the church exists, and the bible was written, and the whole reason Christians have been getting together every Sunday morning for the last 2000 years is because of these three little words.

 

Three little words spoken by a handful of obscure men & women some 2000 years ago which have acted like a pebble cast into a pond.

From the first time these words were spoken they have rippled further and further out echoing across the centuries and around the world, until once again they fill our ears this morning.

And of course, those three little words are, “Christ is risen!”

The grave couldn’t hold him.  Christ is risen from the dead!

And on that first Easter morning 2000 years ago, as soon as the women had heard the angel speak these words and seen the empty tomb, they raced back to tell the other disciples.

And the rippling-effect began.  “Christ is risen!” they told them.

And at first, the disciples didn’t believe them.  They thought the women were telling idle tales.

But then Peter decides to go check it out And once he’d run to the tomb and seen that it was true.  Then he started to echo those words,   “Christ is risen!”

And over the course of the next few days, more disciples met the risen Christ; at the seaside, inside the locked room and on the road to Emmaus.

And each time they saw him, they repeated these 3 little words to their friends, “Christ is risen!”

And then their friends told their friends, and their friends told their friends, and on and on it went down through the centuries until finally their friends told your friends and your friends told you.

And now here we are today echoing these same three words the angel said to Mary some 2000 years ago, Christ is risen!

And once we get past the sheer surprise of the whole thing the whole idea that someone who was dead isn’t dead anymore, the question is, What does it have to do with you and me?

Well, I think the best way to answer that question is to ask a different question first.  What did it mean to the first disciples?

What did those 3 words mean to Peter and James and John and all the rest?

Well, think about where the disciples were when Jesus died.  They were as far away as they could possible get!  They’d all abandoned him.  Judas had betrayed him. Peter denied him.  And everyone else had fled.  They’d left Jesus to die alone.

And so of course it would be good news to them; to hear that he is risen!

They wouldn’t have to live with the bitter taste of shame in their mouths.  They could beg his forgiveness and be reconciled with him.

And then who were the first people the disciples told about the resurrection?  Of course, all the people who were in Jerusalem.  The same people who’d demanded his blood who’d shouted, “Crucify him!”

And so it would’ve been good news for them, too to hear the Christ is risen!  Because they could be reconciled with him, too.

And so what we begin to see is that the first people who heard these words were the very people who’d had a hand in Jesus’ death in the first place.  And so the words had a personal connection for them.

They were words of hope. But more importantly, they were words of forgiveness and reconciliation.

Because again only a risen Christ could offer these folks the one thing they could never have found on their own; his forgiveness.

In fact, his very first word to the disciples after the resurrection was, “Peace.  My peace I give to you,” he said

And again, like that stone splashing into the sea those words of peace and forgiveness also began to spread.

And folks began to realize that the forgiveness offered wasn’t just for the sins of those who’d been in Jerusalem when Jesus was killed.  No, the peace and forgiveness he was offering were for the sins of the whole world.

“Everyone,” Peter tells us in our first lesson this morning, “Everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”  That’s the good news contained in these 3 little words.

And there’s even more good news.  Not only do these three words mean the forgiveness of our sins, they also guarantee our resurrection, too.

Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection.  Because as Paul says in our second less this morning, “All will be made alive in Christ.”

And in fact, those of us who have been baptized are called to live in newness of life now.  We’re called to live a new life in which all our words and deeds declare these same three words: Christ is risen! Sin is forgiven. Death is destroyed.

And so now, 2000 years after that first Easter we gather here to celebrate the forgiveness of our sins and the promise of our eternal life.  And to be reminded of the fact that it’s now our turn to share these 3 little words with others.

Our "Soles" in His Hands

I’d like to begin tonight by defining the word “Maundy” because it’s an old word that we don’t use anymore.  Knowing what the word Maundy means helps us have a better sense of what this night is all about.

The word Maundy comes from a Latin word that means “commandment” or “to command”. We can still see the remnants of the word in some modern words like Mandate and Mandatory.

And the reason today is called Maundy Thursday or Commandment Thursday, is because it was on this night that Jesus gave his disciples a new commandment “I give you a new commandment as I have loved you so you should love one another.”

That’s the commandment of Maundy Thursday Christ’s new commandment to love one another as he first loved us.

And so we’re here tonight as Christ’s disciples to receive that commandment again.

And in order to for us to love one another as Christ loved us we have to first understand how Christ loves us.  And so Jesus provides the disciples and us with the perfect visual metaphor to define his love; he washes the disciples’ feet.

He asks them to put their soles into his hands so that he can wash them clean.

And in doing so, he teaches us about his love for us a love that the bible describes this way:

As the bible says:

            “Even though he was in the form of God –

              “And equal with God –

             Jesus “emptied himself …

                 “And took on the form of a servant” –

            “He humbled himself,” the bible says –

                 “And became obedient to the point of death …

                        “Even death on a cross.”

And so, Jesus showed his love to the disciples by serving them by washing their soles. And in doing so, he shows us the true nature of his love which is shown in his act of becoming our servant in order to cleanse our souls through his death and resurrection.

And so just as he asked the disciples to put their soles into his hands.  So he asks us to put our souls into his hands so that he can wash us clean from sin.

And so here is the extent of the love Christ commanded ,“Love one another as I have loved you,” he tells us.”

And how does Jesus love us? By giving up everything he has, up to and including his life, in order to serve us and to save us and wash us clean.

We see his love displayed in this humble act of holding out his hands and asking us to bare our souls to him Both our soles and souls.

And just as Jesus’ foot washing is a perfect metaphor for his washing away our sin, so is Peter’s reaction a perfect metaphor for our reluctance to bare our souls to Jesus.

Admitting our deepest, darkest secrets is not something we readily do.  And so bearing out sinful souls to someone, even to Christ, requires a tremendous amount of courage and trust.

We have to trust that the person we tell will not think less of us or judge us or stop loving us.

And so tonight, as Christ once again invites us to bare our sinful souls to him, I would remind you that you can trust him as he tells us in John chapter 3:

            “I didn’t come to judge the world –

                        “I came to save it.”

And so there’s no amount of dirt on our souls or sin in our hearts that will ever change his love for us, or his intention to save us from it.

So let us let Christ love us by putting our souls into his hands, and let him wash us clean.

It's About Hope...

As we begin this Holy Week journey, I want to add one more bible verse to all that we’ve just heard.  And it’s from Paul’s letter to the Romans in chapter 8.  He tells them:

Hope that is seen is not hope at all.

            For who hopes for what is seen? 

But if we hope for what we do not see –

            We wait for it with patience.

There was once a little boy who lived in the city.  He and his family lived on the third floor of an apartment building.  And the thing this boy enjoyed more than anything else was sitting by the window and looking down on all the people passing by.

One day, some men came along and dug up the sidewalk underneath the window.  They were going to put in a new one.  But the little boy didn’t know that.  He just saw the fresh dirt.  And after the workmen went home that afternoon, the little boy ran down the stairs and started digging in the dirt.

Just across the street from where the little boy was digging there was an old man sitting on a park bench.  The old man came and sat on that bench every day because like the little boy he loved to watch the world go by.

When the old man called saw the little boy digging, he asked, “What you doing?”

The little boy looked up with a great big smile and called back, “Planting seeds.”

The old man laughed to himself and then said, “You know tomorrow they’re going to come pour concrete for the new sidewalk.  Those seeds’ll never grow.”

But the little boy didn’t listen. He just kept digging.

So the man called louder, “Hey, those seeds’ll never grow!”

And the boy looked up at the man, and with the assurance that only a child possesses, he said, “They might.”

Well, sure enough the next day the workmen came back and poured the new sidewalk.  And a few days later it was dry, and the world began passing by under the boy’s window again.

And each day the little boy would come down to the sidewalk and he’d bend over and look.  And every day the old man across the street on the park bench would watch him and wonder.

Finally, one day, the old man’s curiosity got the better of him and so he called to the boy, “What are you doing?”

And again, the boy looked up with confident smile, and said, “I’m checking to see if my seeds have sprouted!”

And this time, the old man didn’t laugh because he suddenly realized was that he was witnessing something he’d lost long ago. He was witnessing hope.

Again, the bible tells us:

            Hope that is seen is not hope at all –

                        For who hopes for what is seen? 

            But if we hope for what we do not see -
                        We wait for it with patience.

And the next verse after that goes on to say: And the sufferings of this present age are nothing compared to the glory that’s about to be revealed to us.

As we make our way through this Holy Week, we are going to witness what many would consider a hopeless situation.

Those of you who are able to join us for our Seder supper and worship on Thursday night will notice a very different tone.  We will join with the other disciples in witnessing Jesus’ final hours before his arrest and crucifixion.

And if you come on Friday, it will be an even darker tone still as we witness Christ’s trial, crucifixion and burial.

By the end of the week all the hope and joy of Palm Sunday will be overwhelmed by the doom and gloom of the cross.  The crowd’s shout will change from, “Hosanna!” to, “Crucify Him!”

And the Christ who is celebrated and honored today will be beaten, ridiculed, spat on and finally killed, buried in a tomb and sealed beneath a stone like those seeds beneath the sidewalk.

And yet we, who believe, like the little boy in the story I just told, we who believe will witness all this and yet still believe that Christ will rise from the dead.

That’s what being a Christian is all about it’s about hope, and trusting that God can accomplish what the world claims is impossible.

He will raise his Son from the dead. And more than that, he will raise us from the dead, too.

And like the little boy in the story who went out each morning expecting to see his seeds sprouting through the sidewalk.  A week from now, you and I will come back here expecting to see Christ risen from the dead. 

Because, as we proclaim each Sunday we believe in the resurrection of the body and the life of the world to come.

And so may this Holy Week remind us of our hope and give us confidence in God’s ability to do the impossible.

Trusting God's Plan

Our gospel lesson this morning, where we see Jesus having dinner with Lazarus and his two sisters, is really the end of a much longer story.

Today we hear how Martha served Jesus his supper and Mary anointed his feet, but what we don’t hear is the “why.”  Why did Lazarus invite Jesus over for dinner?  And what caused Mary & Martha to be so devoted to Jesus?

Well, immediately before this dinner, we hear the story of Lazarus’s death.  This very same Lazarus who’s eating dinner with Jesus in our lesson this morning had died not too long ago. 

And before he died, Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus saying, “Your dear friend Lazarus is dying.  Come quickly and you can save him.”  But Jesus didn’t come.

In fact, when he got the message he waited several days before going.  And so by the time he got there Lazarus had already been dead for 4 days.

And Mary and Martha were both upset.  They told Jesus, “If you’d been here our brother wouldn’t have died.  If you’d just come when we called you everything would’ve worked out fine.”

But Jesus hadn’t come when they called, and so they were left wondering how could he have ignored our plea for help?  How could Jesus abandon our brother like that?  What kind of person does that?  What kind of God does that?

Now obviously, Lazarus didn’t stay dead.  When Jesus got there, he went to the tomb where Lazarus was buried and told the people to roll the stone away.

And then in a commanding voice he cried, “Lazarus come out!”  And sure enough, out he came; alive and well.

And that’s where our story for today picks up.  It’s right after this amazing miracle.  After God’s plan for this family had been fulfilled.

Just a few short hours since Mary and Martha had been so upset and confused and distraught.

Just a few hours since they’d been struggling to understand why Jesus had ignored them and abandoned them in their hour of need.

But now here they are at this dinner, and all that’s faded away.  To paraphrase our lesson from Isaiah, they no longer remembered the former things, for Christ had done a new thing.  He’d made a way in their wilderness and a river in their desert.  He’d raised their brother from the dead.

And if you look at the first couple verses of our Psalm for today you can almost imagine these as Mary and Martha’s words.  “When the Lord restored the life of our brother, we were like those who dream.  Then our mouths were filled with laughter and our tongues with shouts of joy.”

And I think the lesson for us in all this can probably best be summed up in God’s words from the book of Isaiah, where he says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts and my ways are not your ways.”  And we might add to that, “My plans are not your plans.”

The story of Mary and Martha is a perfect example of what happens when God’s plans don’t match up with our plans and expectations.

When Lazarus got sick, Mary and Martha came up with a plan.  They sent for Jesus and had certain expectations of what he should and would do.  “We want Jesus to come heal our brother.  We need to get Jesus here to fix this.”

But then Jesus didn’t come.  He didn’t do what they wanted.  He didn’t follow their plan.  And so they were confused, and disappointed, and perhaps even a little angry.

And I don’t know about you, but there’ve been times in my life when I wanted God to do something for me.  I’ve had a plan I want him to follow, and he hasn’t followed it.

And like Mary and Martha, when that happens, I sometimes get confused or disappointed or even a little angry at God.

And then I hear God remind me, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, and my ways are not your ways.  And my plan’s not always going to agree with your plan.”

And once I have the advantage of hindsight, I can see how much better God’s plan ultimately is.  But in the moment it’s difficult.

In the moment when Lazarus died, and before Jesus had arrived, it was almost impossible for Mary & Martha to conceive that God had a good plan in mind for them.

And what made it double difficult for them was that Jesus was their friend.  In fact, he was one of their closest friends, and yet he didn’t make them his top priority.

And again, speaking only for myself, that’s where I run into problems when I try to tell God my plans.  I think I should be his top priority.

But in the story of Lazarus, we see that Jesus had a different priority; and that was to do the will of his Father in heaven.  His only goal was to serve his Father, and everything else took a back seat to that.

All Mary & Martha had wanted was for Lazarus to be healed, but God’s plan was so much greater.  He wanted Lazarus to be resurrected.  And that was the plan Jesus made his priority.

And that’s the difference between God and us: he has a much grander view than we do.  And our lesson today shows us that Mary and Martha had finally come to understand that.

They both lavish Jesus, their friend and their God, with the best they have to offer.  He’d given them back their brother, and so Martha offers him the finest meal she can muster and Mary anoints him with her most expensive perfume.

It was their way of thanking him, and honoring him, and worshiping him.

And that’s exactly what we’re doing here today.  Our worship this morning is our way of thanking God for all the blessings he’s given us.  

It’s our way of thanking God for fulfilling the plan he has for us, and for the promise he’s given us of the Resurrection.  For the promise that one day he will stand outside our tomb, and call our name, and tell us to come forth to eternal life.

And at the same time, our worship is also a time to be strengthened in our faith.

Some of you may be feeling the way Mary and Martha felt after Lazarus died but before Jesus raised him from the dead.  And so our worship is a time to be reminded that God does have a plan for us.

If you’ve been wondering why Jesus hasn’t answered your prayers or come to you when you’ve called him; if you’re confused by that, or disappointed, or even angry, then I’d encourage you to take heart from Mary & Martha.

Their story reminds us that no matter how dark things may seem, and no matter how distant Jesus may feel, he hasn’t forsaken you.  He is coming.  And he does have a plan for you.  It may not your plan, but it’s a plan you can definitely put your hope and trust in.

And it’s my prayer that God would use our worship this morning to remind you of his plan, and give you confidence in the promise that he will fulfill it.

• Isaiah 43:16-21  • 
 
• Psalm 126  • 
 
• Philippians 3:4b-14  • 
 
• John 12:1-8

Coming Home to God

As we move our clocks forward this morning and make our way toward the first day of Spring, I figured it was a good time to point out that the word “Lent” we use for the name of this church season is the Old English word for “Spring”.

It’s the ancestor of our modern word “lengthen”, and Spring was called Lent because it’s the season of lengthening days.  It’s the season of growth and gestation; of preparing for renewal and new life.

And the church adopted the word Lent for this season, because it’s a time of preparing for new life, too; the life of the resurrection.  The “new creation” Paul talks about this morning; our rebirth as sons and daughters of God.

And this morning, I want to talk about the rebirth we experience as Christians.  And in particular, I want to talk about the identity we receive in that rebirth.

In John’s gospel, Jesus tells Nicodemus that, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. And no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.”

And when we were baptized, that’s exactly what happened to us.  We were born again of water and the Spirit.  We entered into the kingdom of God and were made children of God.

And it’s that identity that I want to talk about this morning.  Our identity as children of God.  Because, as the story of the prodigal son reminds us, it’s an identity that we often forfeit or forget.

Jesus tells us that the Father had two sons.  And in the parable we see how both sons forget or even reject their identity as their father’s sons.

They both create new identities for themselves.  And the identities they create are so much less than the one their father gave them.

The younger son takes all he has and sets out for a distant country where he lives a life of wine, women and song.  He lives as if he has no father and family.  But in the end, he ends up as a slave sent out to slop the pigs.

The older son also forgot or forsook his identity as the father’s son.  And like his younger brother, he also ends up taking on the identity of a slave.  In verse 30, he’s out in the fields, refusing to enter his father’s house. “All these years I’ve worked like a slave for you.”

And again we have Jesus’ words, “No one can enter the kingdom of God – the house of the Father – unless they are born anew”

And what we see in these two sons is that they both need to be born anew before they can bring themselves to reenter their father’s house.  They needed to reconnect with their true identity; the identity their father gave them.  Their identity as his sons.

And then one day, when the younger son was slopping the pigs, he’s so hungry and desperate that the slop actually looked good to him.  On that day, we’re told, “he came to himself.”

And it’s easy to race by that phrase, so I want to take a moment to focus on those words, “He came to himself.”  Without getting too much into the grammar here, in the original language what the phrase means is, “He took possession of himself.”

He once again took possession of his true identity.  He took ownership of his status again.  He was his father’s son.  What was lost had been found.  He was born anew.  As Paul says, “He was a new creation”

Of course, with this realization came a sense of sorrow and repentance.  He’d sinned against his father.  In fact, he’d sinned so grievously that didn’t deserve to be called his son anymore.

And yet, now that his identity was restored, now that he knew he was his father’s son, it didn’t matter whether his father regarded him as a son or slave.  The son would accept either because he now knew who his father was and that he was his son.

That knowledge became the unshakeable foundation of his identity.  Come what may, he would always know he was his father’s son.

And of course, Jesus tells us that the father was gracious and merciful.  He was overjoyed that his son was home and he wouldn’t hear any talk of him being a servant or a slave. 

He was his son.  Always had been.  Always would be.

The older brother, though, is a different story.  We don’t know what happens with him.  Jesus doesn’t tell us.

The last we see of him he’s out in the field, having separated himself from his father.  And clinging to his identity as a slave, he’s unable to reenter the father’s house.

So his father comes out to plead with him.  He calls him his son and invites to come him into the house.  But the son’s reaction tells us that he isn’t ready to be born anew.  He’s trapped in this slavish identity he’s made for himself. 

In fact, he talks to his father like a disgruntled employee whose boss has bypassed him for a promotion and given it to his “no-good son” instead.

“I’ve slaved away for you all these years and you haven’t given me anything.  And now this son of yours comes home and you kill the fatted calf.”

 “Son,” the father pleads with him, “everything I have is yours.  It always has been It always will be.”

But, having lost sight of his true identity, the older son’s not able to hear his father, or even hear him when he calls him “son.”

And as I said earlier, you and I are often like these two sons; forgetting the identity our Father has given us in our baptism.  And instead ending up as slaves to sin.

How often do we give into sin and temptation like the younger son?  How often do we get lured in by the promise of short-term joy and pleasure only to find that our sin has trapped and made us its slave?

And how often are we like the older brother, enslaved by bitterness and anger and resentment.  We get so busy trying to please God by slaving away for him here at the church, or in our homes, or with our families or at work.

In fact, we get so busy slaving away for him that we start seeing him more as a boss than as the loving Father he is.

If you find yourself resonating with either son, then I’d encourage you to remember that we don’t have to live as slaves to sin and bitterness.  That’s not what we were created for.  That’s not the identity and inheritance our Father intends for us.

And so he comes to us this morning in the midst of whatever slavery we’ve given ourselves to and says to us what the father told the son in the parable.  Our heavenly Father says to us, “My child, all that I have is yours. It always has been.  And it always will be.  Come back home.”

And if you’re like the younger son and you’ve already come to yourself and been born anew.  If you’ve come back to the identity God gave you in your baptism, but now are feeling guilty and wondering how your Father will receive you when you come home.

Then look no further than the feast of Communion we’re about to share.  He’s throwing this feast for you.  It’s a celebration to welcome you home.

• Joshua 5:9-12  • 
 
• Psalm 32  • 
 
• 2 Corinthians 5:16-21  • 
 
• Luke 15:1-3, 11b-32

Wolves in Sheep's Clothing (Pharisees)

Our gospel this morning begins with the phrase, “At that very time…”  And whenever one of our lessons begins with a phrase like that I like look back to see what very time is being referred to.

In this case, “that very time” is described in Luke 12, when a large crowd gathers around Jesus and he begins teaching them.  He tells them the parable of the rich fool, and encourages the flock not to be anxious.

Then right before our lesson this morning Jesus says to the crowds, “When you see a cloud rising in the west you immediately say, ‘It is going to rain’ and so it happens.  You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of earth and sky, but why do you not know how to interpret the present time?”

And then he goes on to say, “Why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”

And so it’s at this very time, then, right after he had asked the crowds, “Why do you not know how to interpret the present time? And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?”

It was at that very time that some of the folks in the crowd ask Jesus to interpret the times for them.  They tell him how Pilate had mingled the blood of Galileans with their sacrifices.

He responds by asking them to interpret the times and to judge for themselves what is right.  “Do you think these Galileans suffered like this because they were worse sinners than all other Galileans?”

And then he brings up another example of eighteen people who were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them.  “Do you think that they were worse sinners than everyone else living in Jerusalem?” he asks

Of course not, he says.  “I tell you; unless you repent you will all perish as they did.”

So what are we to take from all of this?  What’s the lesson for us?

First off, let’s look at why the crowd was asking this question in the first place.

One of the beliefs that was common at that time, and it’s still common today, is the idea that God causes bad things to happen to people as punishment for their sins.  So if something bad happens to you, it must be because you sinned and God is punishing you.

And we can see examples of this kind of thinking throughout the bible.  For instance, in John’s gospel there’s the story man who’d been blind since birth.  And the people thought it was because one or both of his parents had been sinners.

Or, if we go back to the Old Testament book of Job, when all the terrible things happen to Job, his friends came and told him he needed to repent so that God would remove all these punishments from him.

But of course, in the book of Job we’re told quite clearly that these things didn’t happen to Job as a punishment for sin.  In fact, we hear God say that Job is the most righteous man on earth.

And in John’s gospel, Jesus makes it clear that the man’s blindness wasn’t caused by his parents’ sin or even his own sin.

And in today’s lesson, Jesus says quite plainly that the tower of Siloam didn’t fall on the 18 worst sinners in Jerusalem.  That’s not how God operates, Jesus tells us.

And yet, throughout the bible the crowd keeps thinking that God does operate that way.  And the question is why?

I mean, in both the Old and the New Testaments God had made it clear that that’s not how he operates. And yet the crowds continued to believe that if something bad happens to you it is because God’s punishing you for your sin.

So why did they keep believing it?

Well, again, coming back to that phrase, “At that very time.”  If we look back to see what else was happening at that very time, we see that right at the beginning of chapter 12 when Jesus starts teaching the crowds his first lesson for them is, “Beware of the teachings of the Pharisees because it is hypocrisy.”

It was the Pharisees who kept promoting this false teaching that bad things happen to bad people.  And the reason they were promoting it was because it helped them to retain their power, and maintain the illusion of righteous superiority that they had over the people.

They would point to those afflicted by illness or tragedy like the man born blind or the 18 who died in the tower of Siloam, and say that they were bad people who were being punished by God.

And, of course, what the Pharisees were also implying was that while these were the bad people the Pharisees and anyone who followed them were good people; the ones favored by God.

Of course, in today’s lesson, we hear Jesus’ response to this hypocrisy.  “No,” he says, “you’re no better than the people you point to and say are bad.  In fact, unless you repent, you’ll perish just like they did.”

And the fact of the matter is, this kind of hypocritical teaching is still alive and well today; from religious leaders to our politicians, we have plenty of folks eager to tell us who’s bad and who’s good, who’s right and who’s wrong, and whose side God is on.  And the reason they continue to teach this is because we continue to listen.

We like the feeling of being in the right, and knowing that others are wrong; that we’re good and they’re bad.  It feed our pride and ego, and gives us a sense of superiority.

And so Jesus warns us this morning, “Beware of such hypocrisy,” he says.  “No one is good, but God alone.” (Mark 10:18)  "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)  And we're in as much need of repentance as the worst among us.

So let us resist the temptation to such hypocrisy, and let us instead turn to Christ.  For only he can save us from the perils of this world and the sin which clings so close.

• Isaiah 55:1-9  • 
 
• Psalm 63:1-8  • 
 
• 1 Corinthians 10:1-13  • 
 
• Luke 13:1-9

The Father's Constancy

In our lessons this morning, we see three different stages or phases of our faith relationship with God.

And I’ll unpack these phases in a moment, but to quickly summarize them: in Genesis we see our relationship through Abram’s anxious and somewhat immature faith; in our Psalm, we see the relationship through the Psalmists mature faith; and in the Gospel, we see it through Herod’s disobedience.

And I want to suggest that all of us move back and forth between these different phases throughout our lives.  Sometimes our faith is full and mature.  Other times it’s weaker, and we’re racked with doubts and anxiety.  And still at other times we turn our back on God through sinful disobedience.

What we also see in these lessons, though, is that regardless of where we are in our relationship with God, God remains consistent and unchanged.  He’s the same loving Father no matter where we are in our faith.

In Genesis, we hear the story of Abram, and the anxiety he feels about the fact that he doesn’t have an heir.  God had promised that he would be the father of a great nation, and yet, here he is rapidly aging and still no children.  And so he takes his anxiety to God.

And God tells Abram, “Do not be afraid.  I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”

Though that’s not actually the most accurate translation of the original Hebrew.  A more accurate translation would be: “Do not be afraid.  I am your shield, your reward; exceedingly great.”

And so what God is saying to Abram is, “Yes, I’ve promised you an heir, and that you’ll be the father of a great nation.  But that’s not the reward.  The true reward, the true gift is me,” God says.  I am your reward; your shield.  And I’m exceedingly great.”

Of course, like most children, Abram completely misses his Father’s point.  God the Father tells Abram, “My love for you is your reward.”  And the son responds, “Great dad, but when are you going to give me my stuff?”

Yet, even though Abram misses the point, he still recognizes God as his heavenly Father.  And he looks to him as the giver of all good things.  And we’re told that that mustard seed of faith was reckoned to him as righteousness.

So that’s the first phase of our relationship with God.  Abram recognizes God as his loving Father and the giver of all good things, but he hasn’t matured yet enough in his faith to recognize that God is the true blessing; the true reward.  Everything else is secondary.

Now Psalm 27, on the other hand, is an example of faith that’s more fully matured.  Unlike Abram’s faith that looked to God for gifts and blessings, the psalmist looks for God himself.

“There’s only one thing I seek after,” he says, “to behold the beauty of the Lord.”

Unlike Abram who looked for tangible blessings from God, tThe Psalmist trusts in God even when no blessings seem apparent.

“Even if an army encamps against me,” he says, “and even if my mother and father forsake me, and evildoers assail me to devour my flesh, I still believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.”

And so here we see the benchmark of a mature faith.  And this is the kind of faith we hear Paul encourage the Corinthians to have in our second lesson this morning when he says, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me and observe those who live according to our example.”

Paul is encouraging them to trust God even when no blessings seem apparent.  It is a mature faith that recognizes that God is “our light and our salvation” even when all else around you is dark.

And, finally, the third example of the kind of relationship we can have with God is the one that Herod gives in our gospel lesson; the example of an adversarial relationship.

Herod was king, and he didn’t want this upstart king Jesus coming in and stealing his glory.

But if course, if you know your ancient history, you know that Herod wasn’t the king of anything.  He was just a puppet for the Romans.  It was Caesar who pulled his strings.

And it’s easy for us to boo and hiss at Herod like some villain in an old black and white movie because he’s the enemy of Jesus.  But if we’re completely honest, we’d have to admit that when we sin we’re really no different than him.

Because when we sin, when we give into temptation and disobey God, we put ourselves in an adversarial relationship with Christ just like Herod did.

We tell him that we’re the king or queen of our life and we’re going to do what we want to do.

But of course, when we give into our temptation and sin, we’re not really in charge.  We’re nothing more than puppets to the one who tempts us; captives to sin, and unable to free ourselves.

And yet, despite our rebellion, God does not change his attitude toward us.  He remains the same patient God who calmed Abram’s fears and anxieties.  The same unwavering God whom the Psalmist depended on as his stronghold.

We see this same patient and dependable God in the Jesus who remains undeterred in the face of Herod’s threats.  His great desire is to gather his children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings.  And so he will go to Jerusalem, even if it means facing death.

The whole world may turn its back on Jesus, but he’ll never turn his back on us.

And so while you and I bounce between all these different stages in our relationship with God, he remains the same loving Father he’s always been.

As the bible tells us, “He is the same yesterday, today and forever.”

And so wherever you are in your faith journey, as you come forward to receive Holy Communion this morning, I encourage you to recognize the God who offers himself to you in the bread and wine.

If you’re like Abram and feeling anxious because you’re not seeing some blessing you’ve been asking God to give you, I pray that you would recognize that the God who places himself into your hands this morning is the greatest blessing.

Or if you’re like the psalmist, not looking for blessings just for assurance that God is still with you in the midst of whatever storm you’re going through.  Then come and receive the body and blood of Christ and “behold the beauty of the Lord.”

And finally, if you’ve been in an adversarial relationship with God and given into sin and temptation, then take this opportunity to return to the Lord.

He is still the same loving Father he’s always been.  Come, return to the safety of the shadow of his wings.

• Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18  • 
 
• Psalm 27  • 
 
• Philippians 3:17-4:1  • 
 
• Luke 13:31-35

Jesus' Marshmallow Test

As I’ve mentioned before, my wife is a psychology professor at UCO.And one of the advantages of having your own live-in psychologist is that you get to hear interesting stories about various kinds of experiments that have been done over the years.

And one of my favorites that she’s told me about is the marshmallow test.  The original marshmallow test was done about 40 years ago, but it’s been repeated many times since.  In fact, if you go to Youtube and type in “Marshmallow Test”, you can actually watch the test in action.

The test itself is pretty simple.  Researchers will bring in 4 year olds one at a time and seat them at a table in a plain room.  And then they put a single marshmallow on the table in front of the child and the researcher makes some excuse for leaving the room.

But before they go, they tell the child, “You can eat this marshmallow now, or if you can till I get back you can have two marshmallows.” And then they leave.

As soon as they’re gone, the researchers monitor the kids through a closed circuit camera. And what they find is that some kids grab the marshmallow right away, while others will hold out for a few minutes before giving in.

But then there are some who are determined to wait.  The promise of two marshmallows is just too good!  And so they do whatever it takes to hold out.  Some will cover their eyes.  Others put their heads down.  Some will sing or distract themselves with a game.  And a few even went to sleep.

The point is, they did whatever it took to keep from eating that marshmallow, because they knew that if they waited they’d get two!

And if you do go on Youtube to watch it you’ll get a good laugh at watching what these kids do to avoid eating the marshmallow.

Now the point of the original marshmallow test was to determine whether or not the patterns that are instilled in us when we’re young affect the way we’ll behave later on in life. And so after the original experiment was done, the scientists waited 10 or 12 years for the kids to grow up and then went back to interview them while they were in high school.

And what the researchers discovered was pretty remarkable.  Almost uniformly, the kids who’d waited for the marshmallow tended to be better adjusted, more popular, more adventurous, more confident, and overall more dependable teenagers.

While, on the other hand, the kids who’d given in to temptation and eaten the marshmallow tended to be lonelier, more stubborn, and more easily frustrated.  The researchers found that they kids didn’t handle stress as well as the ones who’d waited, and so they tended to shy away from challenges.

Perhaps you’ve already figured out where I’m going with this in relation to our gospel lesson this morning.  Because in a lot of ways, Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness was his marshmallow test.  It happened at the very beginning of his ministry, and so we can use it to gauge how he’ll do later in life.

The Holy Spirit had led him into the wilderness to fast and the devil came and tempted him to break the fast.

Obviously Jesus waited for the marshmallow, and so based on the research we can be pretty certain that later in life Jesus will be more confident, more dependable, better able to handle stress, and more willing to take risks than someone who’d given into the temptation.

And if we fast-forward to the Garden of Gethsemane and the cross, we can see that Jesus proves to be all those things.

When he comes face to face with the cross, he didn’t shy away.  When the salvation of the whole world depended on him, Jesus showed that he was dependable.  He could handle the stress, and he was willing to take the risk.    He didn’t take the easy way out.  Instead he prayed, “Not my will, Father, but yours be done.”

And so we come to you and me.  And I want to suggest to you that at one level our Lenten journey is our marshmallow test.  It’s a controlled experiment; 40 days of fasting. Can we hold out till Easter?  

Can we live without our coffee, or desserts, or television, or whatever it is we’ve decided to give up?  Do we have the kind of spiritual discipline it takes to resist temptation when it matters most?  Will we prove to be confident and dependable when the rubber hits the road?

I can only speak for myself, but that’s something I’m hoping to grow in this Lent.  I’m praying for the Holy Spirit to give me the patience and discipline I need to keep the fast.

Of course, if I fail, or if you fail in your fast, it doesn’t mean we’re bad people or doomed to hell. With Christ, grace abounds.  He’ll always be there to lift us up, dust us off, and start us on our way again.

But he’s also here to lean on before we give into temptation. Before we eat the marshmallow.

Unlike the kids in the experiment, we’re not in the room alone.  We have Christ.  We have his Holy Spirit to strengthen us.  And we have his Word and his Sacrament here this morning to sustain us.

As we journey through Lent this year, let us look to Christ for our example and for the strength we need to keep the fast.

Deuteronomy 26:1-11  • 

   

Psalm 91:1-2, 9-16  • 

   

Romans 10:8b-13  • 

   

Luke 4:1-13