His Final Steps Led to Jerusalem (Michael Zarling)

Matthew 21:1-11 As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two disciples, 2telling them, “Go to the village ahead of you. Immediately you will find a donkey tied there along with her colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3If anyone says anything to you, you are to say, ‘The Lord needs them,’ and he will send them at once.”

4This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: 5Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.

6The disciples went and did just as Jesus commanded them. 7They brought the donkey and the colt, laid their outer clothing on them, and he sat on it. 8A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. 9The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!

10When he entered Jerusalem, the whole city was stirred up, asking, “Who is this?” 11And the crowds were saying, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. (Zechariah 9:9). Amen.

Katherine Koonce took her final steps on Monday morning. As she rushed down the hallway, she probably realized they could be her last steps.

Katherine was the headmaster at The Covenant School in Nashville. She was on a Zoom call in her office when she heard the first shot. She immediately ended the call, got up, and headed straight for the shooter.

As headmaster, her preparation with her staff on active shooter protocol saved numerous lives that day as the children and classrooms were locked down. Katherine also personally saved lives as she did what parents, principals, and headmaster do – she protected the children in her care.

Jesus took his final steps toward his death by heading into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.

Jesus taking his final steps to Jerusalem while riding on a donkey was fulfillment of prophecy. That’s exactly what Matthew tells us in his Gospel. “This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: Tell the daughter of Zion: Look, your King comes to you, humble, and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.”

It appears that Matthew is giving us a two-for-one prophecy fulfillment special with his careful observation. He hints at Isaiah’s prophecy 700 years before Jesus rode into Jerusalem: “Tell the daughter of Zion: ‘Look, your salvation is coming’” (Isaiah 62:11). Then he adds the second prophecy by Zechariah 500 years before Christ would ride the foal of a donkey into God’s holy city: “Rejoice greatly, Daughter of Zion! Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! Look! Your King is coming to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. He is humble and is riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey” (Zechariah 9:9).

Jesus rode into Jerusalem like a king who had been victorious in battle with a crowd shouting his praise. Jesus clearly intended to send a message with his chosen and prophesied mode of transportation. In the Ancient Middle East, kings rode horses into war. But those same leaders would ride donkeys in times of peace. The donkey visually announced that every enemy had been defeated and every threat put down. A war horse was no longer needed because there was now peace.

Consider Absalom’s conspiracy to make himself king: “After this, Absalom acquired for himself a chariot, horses, and fifty men to run in front of him” (2 Samuel 15:1) Compare that with David’s appointment of Solomon as king: “The king said to [Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah son of Jehoiada], “Take your lord’s servants with you. Have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him down to the Gihon Spring” (1 Kings 1:32).

Zechariah prophecies this peace: “I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem. The battle bow will be taken away, and he will proclaim peace to the nations. His kingdom will extend from sea to sea, from the River to the ends of the earth” Zechariah 9:10).

“See your king comes to you …” Notice you don’t come to your King. You won’t come. You are unworthy. You know your sins have separated you from your God. You are afraid. You know your sins deserve punishment now and forever. You are filled with pride. You know you’re wrong but are too stubborn to admit it. You are unwilling. You know how much damage your sins are doing to you but you enjoy them too much to part from them.

You won’t come. But you also can’t come. You are dead in your sins. Corpses don’t come on their own. You are enemy of God by nature. You don’t want anything to do with God.

So your King comes to you. He is righteous and brings salvation. You don’t make yourself righteous. You don’t make Jesus your Savior. He does those things without any help from you. You don’t make Jesus your Lord. He is God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God. He is the Alpha and Omega. He is the King of kings and Lord of lords. Yet, he humbles himself to ride into his holy city on a beast of burden. Five days later he will take on his final steps out of the city to bear the burden of the world’s sins. The world that ran away from him in unbelief, that scorned his love, that persecuted his prophets, that created false gods to worship and serve. Still, Jesus will bear the burden of the world’s sins because God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.

The great King comes to his city. He could have come with almighty power and awesome glory as the Son of God. He could have ridden a fiery chariot escorted by legions of angels in the Palm Sunday procession. But look how he comes. He comes as the Son of Man. Not in a fiery chariot but a lowly donkey. He comes not accompanied by the heavenly host by disciples with a spotty record of faith. He comes not with the praise of creation but the praise of the Jerusalem Passover pilgrims.

Why does he come so humbly? St. Paul tells us, “He emptied himself by taking the nature of a servant. When he was born in human likeness, and his appearance was like that of any other man, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death—even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:7, 8). Jesus comes not to rule us but to save us. He comes not to command us but to invite us. He comes not to demand anything from us but to give everything to us. He comes to us because we cannot and would not come to him. He comes in the name of the Lord to save us.

Jesus also takes his final steps to Jerusalem to receive praise. We like to praise people. In a few weeks, we will have our WLS Grandparents’ Day. The grandparents will enjoy praising their grandchildren for their achievements in school. We praise the Brewers for being in first place after they won their opening day ballgame. But we also praise our little T-ball players, too.

As Jesus entered Jerusalem, we witness an enthusiastic crowd whose voices were filled with praise. They aimed their adoration in the right direction. It ascended to God and his Son. “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”

They praised the King with their cut palms, removed coats, and loud voices. Matthew reports, “A very large crowd spread their outer clothing on the road. Others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them out on the road. The crowds who went in front of him and those who followed kept shouting, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!”

“Hosanna” is a Hebrew word which means “save us now.” Hosanna was a word that should rightly have been on their lips. They needed a fervent plea as sinners to admit they had no way to save themselves.

What about you? What is your praise of the King like? Is your praise a dirge instead of a shout? Are you excited to follow your Savior through the long, difficult Holy Week? Or is worship on Sunday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and then again on Easter Sunday just too much to ask?

Is your praise silent? Are you afraid of talking about Jesus in public because of the vile, vitriol, and violence you will face as an outspoken Christian?

Is your praise absent? Are you infrequent in worship, at the Lord’s Table, in God’s house?

Hosannas should daily and weekly be on our lips. We need to cry out, “Hosanna! Lord, save us!” Save us from our dirge-like praises. Save us from our silence. Save us from our absent worship.

Katherine Koonce, the headmaster at The Covenant School, was a hero. Evelyn Dieckhaus, a nine-year-old girl who was killed as she desperately tried pulling the fire alarm to stop the massacre was a hero. Nashville police officers, Rex Englebert and Michael Collazo who both ran into the school to take down the mass shooter were heroes. They all deserve praise for their heroism.

Jesus came as a conquering hero. He came to secure a victory not over any earthly prince, king, or government. His battle was against Satan, the prince of this world. His battle was against “the rulers, against the authorities, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

Jesus took his final steps to Jerusalem so he could go to war with the devil and crush his serpent head under his bloody heel. He took his final steps to Jerusalem so he could go to war against sin by taking his Father’s wrath over sin upon his holy back. He took his final steps to Jerusalem so he could go to war against death by dying at the Place of the Skull, being buried in a borrowed tomb, … and then taking his first steps away from that tomb.

Jesus came as a hero to take down the mass murderer of the devil. He walked headlong into Herod’s hatred, the devil’s desert temptations, Judas’ betrayal, Peter’s denial, the Pharisees’ mockery, Pilate’s cowardice, and humanity’s crimes. He fought off every one of our hellish enemies that desired our eternal destruction. Jesus wrestled the victory away from the devil. He took the sting of sin upon himself. He turned death into nothing more than a nap for his saints.

Jesus deserves a hero’s welcome for what he accomplished. A hero’s welcome that Palm Sunday, this Palm Sunday, every Sunday in God’s house, and every day in your house. He deserves your Hosannas, Alleluias, and Amens.

This week we follow Jesus these last few final steps. These final steps that led him into Jerusalem. These final steps will end at the Place of the Skull. Then Jesus will walk once again with his first steps away from the tomb. Amen.

At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:10, 11). Amen.

Pick Up Your Son Caledonia Campus

2 Kings 4:17-37 17But the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son at that same time of year, just as Elisha said to her.

18The boy grew up, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19Then he said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20So he picked him up and carried him to his mother, and the boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.

21Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. She shut the door behind her and went out. 22Then she called to her husband and said, “Send one of the servants to me with one of the donkeys, so that I can run to the man of God and come back.”

23He said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not the new moon, and it’s not the Sabbath.”

But she said, “It’s all right.”

24Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead the way. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”

25So she went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! That’s the woman from Shunem! 26Now run to meet her and say, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”

She answered, “We’re all right.”

27Then she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she grasped his feet. Gehazi stepped forward to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me. He has not told me.”

28Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?”

29Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Hike up your garments for travel, and take my staff in your hand and go! If you meet someone, do not greet him, and if someone greets you, do not answer. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”

30But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. 31Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face. But there was no sound, and there was no response. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The boy did not wake up.”

32When Elisha came to the house, there the boy was―dead, lying on his bed. 33So he went in and he shut the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the Lord. 34He got up and lay down on top of the boy. He put his mouth to the boy’s mouth, his eyes to the boy’s eyes, his palms to the boy’s palms. Then he bent down over him, and the boy’s flesh became warm. 35He went back into the house and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him, and the boy sneezed seven times. Then the boy opened his eyes.

36Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the woman of Shunem!” So he called her, and she came in. He said, “Pick up your son.” 37So she came in and fell at Elisha’s feet and bowed down to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. Amen (Romans 8:11).

Joel and Ruth were strong Christian people. They loved the Lord. They loved each other. They wanted to love lots of children. They both came from large families and desired having a large family of their own. But they had been married for 8 years and still did not have any children.

For whatever reason, they could not conceive a child. They prayed to God. They talked to doctors. They visited specialists.

Finally, God blessed Joe and Ruth with a pregnancy. They wanted to thank God for their child because they felt like they had found favor in God’s eyes, so they decided to name him Ken. They knew the Hebrew word for grace or favor is pronounced Chen. Everything was going well until their son was born. Then the nurses suddenly rushed Ken away from the scared couple.

Ken was born with all kinds of health complications … too numerous to recount here. Joe and Ruth were able to visit their son in the NICU, hold him, feed him, and change him. Their hearts were filled with love for their little son.

Then one day Ruth picked up her son and was holding him and he died in her arms. His little heart had given out. He just couldn’t fight anymore. Ken was only a month old, but it was a month of love, grace, and favor. It was followed by months of heartache, grief, and deep sadness.

Joe and Ruth are not real people. I created them to tell this story. Because it is a very real story. Sadly, many of us have lived a similar story. Or maybe we have heard this heartbreaking story from others we know and love.

Though I made up this particular story, it reminds us of a very real story. It’s the story the Holy Spirit relates to us in our Old Testament lesson.

Elisha was the kind of prophet who moved around a lot. He traveled quite a bit to visit and preach to the people of Israel. As Elisha was passing through Shunem in the Jezreel Valley between Galilee and Samaria, he was stopped by a Shunamite woman. We’ll call this woman Ruth. Ruth had a great faith in God and asked Elisha to stay with them whenever he passed through the area. We’ll call her husband Joel. Joel built a spare room for the prophet in their house.

Elisha asked Ruth if there was anything God could give her to show Elisha’s appreciation for her kindness. She wanted nothing. When Elisha learned from his servant Gehazi that Ruth had no children and Joel was old he said to her, “At this time next year you will be holding your son” (2 Kings 5:16). A year later, God gifted Ruth and Joel with a miracle son. We’ll call him Chen which is Hebrew for grace and favor.

All was well for several years. Elisha continued his visits and Chen continued to grow until he was old enough to be with his dad in the fields. Then one day he complained that his head hurt. Joel knew this was more than a headache and ordered a servant to take Chen to his mother. The young boy sat in his mother’s lap until his heart gave out and he died.

Ruth carried her son’s lifeless body to the house and laid him on the prophet’s bed in the spare room. Then she went to see Elisha. When she saw Elisha she said in her grief, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?” Elisha didn’t know exactly what happened, but he knew something tragic had happened. He sent Gehazi with his prophet’s staff and told him to run the 20 miles to Ruth’s home.

But Ruth wouldn’t leave Elisha’s side. She said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the grieving mother accompanied the man of God back to her home in Shunem.

When Elisha arrived at the home, he went upstairs to his private room and shut the door. Outside, Ruth waited. She wept. She prayed. And she waited.

Until finally the prophet called his servant. Then she was alone in her grief. Gehazi came to get Ruth and brought her into the room. Elisha said to the mom, “Pick up your son.” By the grace of God, her son was alive!

By the grace of God, I have been at the bedside of many of God’s saints as they were being called by God to be with him in heavenly glory. I’ve been there as their eyes closed, their breathing slowed, and their hearts stopped. I’ve been blessed to preach for the Christian funeral of many of God’s saints. From a pastor’s perspective, some deaths and funerals are easier to minister to and preach for than others.

The hardest death to minister to and most difficult funeral to preach for was an infant. The little boy had come home from the hospital, and everything seemed fine. But it wasn’t fine. I remember exactly where I was when I received the phone call from the dad telling me that his two-week old son had died. He died in his sleep.

When I went to visit the family, the mother was almost inconsolable. She went to the crib to pick up her son. … But he was dead.

Can you imagine the grief these new parents felt?!

Perhaps you don’t have to imagine. You know the grief firsthand.

The grief of a miscarriage.

The grief of an infant death.

The grief of a teenager killed in a car accident.

The grief of a daughter who died after a long bout with cancer.

The grief of a son killed in a war.

There is an old – but very true – saying that no parent should ever have to experience burying their child.

There is grief when we are called to pick up our dead son or daughter. There is heartache when we are holding our lifeless children – young or grown. There is loss knowing their death has robbed us of time, hugs, and laughter.

We must all walk through this dark valley of the shadow of death. We all feel this pain death brings. Our hearts are filled with questions.

“Why?”

“What good can come from this?”

“When will this pain end?”

We look to Scripture, and we see God raising people from the dead. Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, Dorcas, the Shunamite woman’s son. That’s miraculous! That’s marvelous! Those resurrections raise bodies … but they also raise questions. Questions like, “Why isn’t my child resurrected?” “Why did Jesus raise that one and not this one?”

We don’t have the answers. Death often leaves us with more questions than answers. It leaves us with more tears than smiles.

The tears remind us that even the Lord Jesus cried. When he was at the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus, he wept. Even though he knew he would soon be raising Lazarus from the grave in a fw moments, his heart still broke for what death did to those he loved.

But Jesus did more than cry. He did something about the pains that cause these tears of grief. He told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this” (John 11:25)? Martha believed that Lazarus would rise on the Last Day. But Jesus meant that Lazarus would rise on that day! Just as Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave that day, so he promises to call all of his saints out of their graves on the Last Day.

Jesus did more than sympathize with our pains. He did something about the pains that cause these tears of grief. He is the answer to all our questions. He knows that we grieve so he became the man who knew grief. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man who knew grief, who was well acquainted with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus endured suffering and shame for us. He took the punishment we deserved. He carried our guilt. He bled and died to pay our price. He was buried in the tomb for three days. Then he beat death at its own game with his glorious resurrection from the grave.

This means that whatever we suffer here now is not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:19). God is not minimizing our griefs, sorrows or sufferings in saying this. He’s emphasizing the pain we feel. But he assures us that because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and out of the grave, now he has prepared mansions in heaven for us. When our bodies are resurrected from the graves on the Last Day and we are standing before God’s throne with all the other countless saints, we will have forgotten all these griefs, sorrows, and sufferings.

This is the comfort we have as grieving parents. Jesus does not promise us a resurrection of our children in this lifetime. But he does promise a resurrection in the life to come. Our deceased Christian children are not really dead, They live on. It’s a change of geography – from this earth to the heavenly realms. It’s a change of form – from sinful mortal to glorified saint. It’s a change of sight – no longer seeing Jesus with the eyes of faith, but now seeing Jesus with their very own eyes.

I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it is to pick up your son after he as died in the crib. But look to the glory that Jesus has prepared for you and your children. Look forward to the day when you die. There you will enter the gates of heaven. You will meet your glorified Savior. Then he will introduce you to your child and say, “Pick up your son.” “Pick up your daughter.”

What a glorious reunion that will be! Amen.

Now if we are children, we are also heirs―heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Amen (Romans 8:17).

Pick Up Your Son

2 Kings 4:17-37 17But the woman conceived, and she gave birth to a son at that same time of year, just as Elisha said to her.

18The boy grew up, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers. 19Then he said to his father, “My head! My head!”

His father said to his servant, “Carry him to his mother.” 20So he picked him up and carried him to his mother, and the boy sat on her lap until noon. Then he died.

21Then she went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God. She shut the door behind her and went out. 22Then she called to her husband and said, “Send one of the servants to me with one of the donkeys, so that I can run to the man of God and come back.”

23He said, “Why are you going to him today? It’s not the new moon, and it’s not the Sabbath.”

But she said, “It’s all right.”

24Then she saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead the way. Don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.”

25So she went to the man of God at Mount Carmel.

When the man of God saw her from a distance, he said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! That’s the woman from Shunem! 26Now run to meet her and say, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your son all right?’”

She answered, “We’re all right.”

27Then she came to the man of God at the mountain, and she grasped his feet. Gehazi stepped forward to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone, for her soul is in distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me. He has not told me.”

28Then she said, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?”

29Then Elisha said to Gehazi, “Hike up your garments for travel, and take my staff in your hand and go! If you meet someone, do not greet him, and if someone greets you, do not answer. Put my staff on the boy’s face.”

30But the boy’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her. 31Gehazi went ahead of them and put the staff on the boy’s face. But there was no sound, and there was no response. So he went back to Elisha and told him, “The boy did not wake up.”

32When Elisha came to the house, there the boy was―dead, lying on his bed. 33So he went in and he shut the door behind the two of them. Then he prayed to the Lord. 34He got up and lay down on top of the boy. He put his mouth to the boy’s mouth, his eyes to the boy’s eyes, his palms to the boy’s palms. Then he bent down over him, and the boy’s flesh became warm. 35He went back into the house and paced back and forth. Then he went up and bent down over him, and the boy sneezed seven times. Then the boy opened his eyes.

36Then Elisha called Gehazi and said, “Call the woman of Shunem!” So he called her, and she came in. He said, “Pick up your son.” 37So she came in and fell at Elisha’s feet and bowed down to the ground. Then she picked up her son and went out.

If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, the one who raised Christ from the dead will also make your mortal bodies alive through his Spirit, who is dwelling in you. Amen (Romans 8:11).

Joel and Ruth were strong Christian people. They loved the Lord. They loved each other. They wanted to love lots of children. They both came from large families and desired having a large family of their own. But they had been married for 8 years and still did not have any children.

For whatever reason, they could not conceive a child. They prayed to God. They talked to doctors. They visited specialists.

Finally, God blessed Joe and Ruth with a pregnancy. They wanted to thank God for their child because they felt like they had found favor in God’s eyes, so they decided to name him Ken. They knew the Hebrew word for grace or favor is pronounced Chen. Everything was going well until their son was born. Then the nurses suddenly rushed Ken away from the scared couple.

Ken was born with all kinds of health complications … too numerous to recount here. Joe and Ruth were able to visit their son in the NICU, hold him, feed him, and change him. Their hearts were filled with love for their little son.

Then one day Ruth picked up her son and was holding him and he died in her arms. His little heart had given out. He just couldn’t fight anymore. Ken was only a month old, but it was a month of love, grace, and favor. It was followed by months of heartache, grief, and deep sadness.

Joe and Ruth are not real people. I created them to tell this story. Because it is a very real story. Sadly, many of us have lived a similar story. Or maybe we have heard this heartbreaking story from others we know and love.

Though I made up this particular story, it reminds us of a very real story. It’s the story the Holy Spirit relates to us in our Old Testament lesson.

Elisha was the kind of prophet who moved around a lot. He traveled quite a bit to visit and preach to the people of Israel. As Elisha was passing through Shunem in the Jezreel Valley between Galilee and Samaria, he was stopped by a Shunamite woman. We’ll call this woman Ruth. Ruth had a great faith in God and asked Elisha to stay with them whenever he passed through the area. We’ll call her husband Joel. Joel built a spare room for the prophet in their house.

Elisha asked Ruth if there was anything God could give her to show Elisha’s appreciation for her kindness. She wanted nothing. When Elisha learned from his servant Gehazi that Ruth had no children and Joel was old he said to her, “At this time next year you will be holding your son” (2 Kings 5:16). A year later, God gifted Ruth and Joel with a miracle son. We’ll call him Chen which is Hebrew for grace and favor.

All was well for several years. Elisha continued his visits and Chen continued to grow until he was old enough to be with his dad in the fields. Then one day he complained that his head hurt. Joel knew this was more than a headache and ordered a servant to take Chen to his mother. The young boy sat in his mother’s lap until his heart gave out and he died.

Ruth carried her son’s lifeless body to the house and laid him on the prophet’s bed in the spare room. Then she went to see Elisha. When she saw Elisha she said in her grief, “Did I ask my lord for a son? Didn’t I say, ‘Don’t give me false hope’?” Elisha didn’t know exactly what happened, but he knew something tragic had happened. He sent Gehazi with his prophet’s staff and told him to run the 20 miles to Ruth’s home.

But Ruth wouldn’t leave Elisha’s side. She said to him, “As surely as the Lord lives and your soul lives, I will not leave you.” So the grieving mother accompanied the man of God back to her home in Shunem.

When Elisha arrived at the home, he went upstairs to his private room and shut the door. Outside, Ruth waited. She wept. She prayed. And she waited.

Until finally the prophet called his servant. Then she was alone in her grief. Gehazi came to get Ruth and brought her into the room. Elisha said to the mom, “Pick up your son.” By the grace of God, her son was alive!

By the grace of God, I have been at the bedside of many of God’s saints as they were being called by God to be with him in heavenly glory. I’ve been there as their eyes closed, their breathing slowed, and their hearts stopped. I’ve been blessed to preach for the Christian funeral of many of God’s saints. From a pastor’s perspective, some deaths and funerals are easier to minister to and preach for than others.

The hardest death to minister to and most difficult funeral to preach for was an infant. The little boy had come home from the hospital, and everything seemed fine. But it wasn’t fine. I remember exactly where I was when I received the phone call from the dad telling me that his two-week old son had died. He died in his sleep.

When I went to visit the family, the mother was almost inconsolable. She went to the crib to pick up her son. … But he was dead.

Can you imagine the grief these new parents felt?!

Perhaps you don’t have to imagine. You know the grief firsthand.

The grief of a miscarriage.

The grief of an infant death.

The grief of a teenager killed in a car accident.

The grief of a daughter who died after a long bout with cancer.

The grief of a son killed in a war.

There is an old – but very true – saying that no parent should ever have to experience burying their child.

There is grief when we are called to pick up our dead son or daughter. There is heartache when we are holding our lifeless children – young or grown. There is loss knowing their death has robbed us of time, hugs, and laughter.

We must all walk through this dark valley of the shadow of death. We all feel this pain death brings. Our hearts are filled with questions.

“Why?”

“What good can come from this?”

“When will this pain end?”

We look to Scripture, and we see God raising people from the dead. Lazarus, Jairus’ daughter, the widow of Nain’s son, Dorcas, the Shunamite woman’s son. That’s miraculous! That’s marvelous! Those resurrections raise bodies … but they also raise questions. Questions like, “Why isn’t my child resurrected?” “Why did Jesus raise that one and not this one?”

We don’t have the answers. Death often leaves us with more questions than answers. It leaves us with more tears than smiles.

The tears remind us that even the Lord Jesus cried. When he was at the tomb of his dear friend Lazarus, he wept. Even though he knew he would soon be raising Lazarus from the grave in a fw moments, his heart still broke for what death did to those he loved.

But Jesus did more than cry. He did something about the pains that cause these tears of grief. He told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this” (John 11:25)? Martha believed that Lazarus would rise on the Last Day. But Jesus meant that Lazarus would rise on that day! Just as Jesus called Lazarus out of the grave that day, so he promises to call all of his saints out of their graves on the Last Day.

Jesus did more than sympathize with our pains. He did something about the pains that cause these tears of grief. He is the answer to all our questions. He knows that we grieve so he became the man who knew grief. “He was despised and rejected by men, a man who knew grief, who was well acquainted with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).

Jesus endured suffering and shame for us. He took the punishment we deserved. He carried our guilt. He bled and died to pay our price. He was buried in the tomb for three days. Then he beat death at its own game with his glorious resurrection from the grave.

This means that whatever we suffer here now is not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us (Romans 8:19). God is not minimizing our griefs, sorrows or sufferings in saying this. He’s emphasizing the pain we feel. But he assures us that because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross and out of the grave, now he has prepared mansions in heaven for us. When our bodies are resurrected from the graves on the Last Day and we are standing before God’s throne with all the other countless saints, we will have forgotten all these griefs, sorrows, and sufferings.

This is the comfort we have as grieving parents. Jesus does not promise us a resurrection of our children in this lifetime. But he does promise a resurrection in the life to come. Our deceased Christian children are not really dead, They live on. It’s a change of geography – from this earth to the heavenly realms. It’s a change of form – from sinful mortal to glorified saint. It’s a change of sight – no longer seeing Jesus with the eyes of faith, but now seeing Jesus with their very own eyes.

I cannot imagine how heartbreaking it is to pick up your son after he as died in the crib. But look to the glory that Jesus has prepared for you and your children. Look forward to the day when you die. There you will enter the gates of heaven. You will meet your glorified Savior. Then he will introduce you to your child and say, “Pick up your son.” “Pick up your daughter.”

What a glorious reunion that will be! Amen.

Now if we are children, we are also heirs―heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ. Amen (Romans 8:17).

Sermon on Romans 5:1-11

TEXT:    Romans 5:1-11

5 Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Superhero movies have a real knack for this. A character, normally a character you love by this point in the movie, finds themselves caught in a bad situation. Their back is pushed up against a wall with nowhere to go. Or maybe they are clinging onto the ledge of a window for dear life and the villain is about to stomp on their fingers. You’re at the edge of your seat, you don’t know if they’ll make it or not. It seems as if all is lost for that character you love so much. But then, at just the right time, the superhero intervenes. The superhero sweeps down from the roof of the building and catches the person who is plummeting from the window. Or the character is in the middle of all their enemies and the superhero comes at just the right time and takes all the enemies down. You can probably think of other examples in your head. I think that is one of the reasons we are so willing to spend a few hours on Netflix or spend a few dollars at the theatre. Because we know that at just the right time the superhero is going to come in and save the day. It’s all going to work out perfectly in the end. But that’s just the movies, right? Or maybe it’s not. You see, that is your reality, too. At Just the right time God demonstrated his unconditional love. And because of that we can now live with amazing confidence.

In church we talk about grace or God’s unconditional love quite often (the two terms can be used interchangeably). Perhaps it has just become sort of a “church cliché.” It can be confusing to understand exactly what it is that we are talking about or what that means for our lives. In the reading we just read for today, Paul gives a clear illustration of what unconditional love looks like. I’m going to read verses 6-8 again and I want you to listen for the clear example of unconditional love or grace that Paul gives: “6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Every once and awhile in the news there is a story of someone who showed incredible sacrifice – a human-interest story if you will. It goes like this. A mother donates one of her kidneys to her son so he can live a healthy life. Or a soldier in the heat of battle jumps on a grenade, saving his band of brothers, but giving up his own life. Or a teacher shields her kids from a school shooting, literally taking a bullet for them. These stories all show great sacrifice. They make our hearts warm; tears fall from our faces. They “restore our hope in humanity.” But the unconditional love of Jesus even surpasses all these stories of sacrifice.

You see, we opposed Jesus, because of our sins we were hostile against him. We were his enemy. But even though we were all those things, he came, and he died for us. That kind of love is illogical. You see, those human-interest stories above, they all have something in common. There is a relationship between those people. But we had abandoned our relationship with God. True enough, someone might give up their life for their friend or someone they don’t know, but it’s very rare. It’s even more rare that someone would give up their life for an enemy. That is what Christ did for you. He died for you when you were completely lost. He gave up everything, even his life for you. We need this kind of love. Jesus’ death was the only thing that could rescue us from our path to hell. At just the right time, Christ came and rescued us.  And Jesus willingly did it for us. It changed our status 180 degrees. It turned us from death to life. And yet don’t we often take this kind of love for granted? We struggle to even speak nicely about our neighbor who we disagree with, or a family member. We clearly see and recognize that we need this illogical love, and yet we fail to show it to those around us. God’s love for us was unconditional…it’s illogical to our brains.

This unconditional, illogical love which Christ demonstrated for is the love that Christ showed us during his life.

That Christ come into the world and die for all people was the purpose God had from the beginning of the world. It’s interesting: in Galatians 4:4 Paul says that when the time had fully come God sent his son to redeem those under the law. And then in this reading we read that at just the right time, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. God’s plan from eternity was to save you. That God, the same God from the very beginning, became man to die for you. To save you. This was his plan from the start of time…that’s how precious you are to him.

One way of talking about this saving is called justification. Paul talks about it in our text in verse one when he writes: Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Justification, or being made right with God, can be illustrated using a courtroom scene. Picture this. You are in a courtroom and the case against you is made. In your heart you realize that you are guilty on every account. Your heart sinks as they read the evidence. You think, guilty of that one, guilty of that one, guilty of that one. But the judge (who is God in this illustration), when he slams down the gavel, he does not say guilty. He says you’re acquitted; you are forgiven. He says as far as the east is from the west, so far have I removed your guilt from you. This is your reality -- at just the right time God sent his son and demonstrated unconditional love to you. Your sins are gone and forgotten! He sent his Son that you can have life. Your life has been changed. You are no longer dead, but alive because of his unconditional love.

In the rest of our text Paul says that now you can live at peace because of the reality that you’re a redeemed child of God. Because of that you have confidence beyond what you can possibly believe. But, if you’re anything like me, it doesn’t always feel like that does it?

There is a question that sometimes shakes our foundation that we are God’s children, though. It’s a three-letter question, maybe you’ve already thought of it. The question is, “why?” Why do I have hardly enough money to make it through the week? Why was there a pandemic that robbed me of my plans? God, why is there suffering? The list could go on and on.

So, how are you going to answer the question of suffering? How are you going to answer the question of why? How are you going to explain to your neighbor why his mom has cancer? If I try to do this by my own human reason and by my own human logic, I must admit that I do not always have an answer. Sure, there are times when I can look back at a particular situation and a few years later understand exactly why that suffering took place in my life. But other times, it doesn’t make sense. That is because my mental capacity is not on the same level as God’s. In fact, he’s the author of time – the author of my life. I can’t think the same way that God does. And so, sometimes the answer to suffering is, “I don’t know why.” But how then can Paul say that we can boast in our sufferings? How can he say that suffering produces patient endurance and patient endurance produces character and character produces hope? How can he say that? Especially if I don’t know why these things happen.

He can say that because of what we heard earlier in the sermon. He can say that because you are justified by faith. Because you are a child of God. You have a different logic than the rest of the world. You have been declared righteous. So, what then is the answer to the why? Truthfully, our answer is that we don’t always know, but what we do know we know by faith. We know that we have a Savior who died for us at just the right time. A Savior that took away our sins and because of that we have confidence even in times of suffering. We may never know why we suffered for a period of time. God may never grant us that knowledge here on earth. But we do know what awaits us: eternal life in heaven! It doesn’t make sense to us…it may never make sense to us. But the faith that God has worked in your heart gives us confidence, incomparable confidence to walk by faith and not by sight.

Timing is everything in life. The movies have picked up on that. Sometimes it’s even laughable that we think the main character isn’t going to make it out alive. It just works out a little too perfectly. In your life, when struggles come your way remember that you have a God with perfect timing…at just the right time Christ came and died for you…remember who you are. Stand in that unconditional love. You are his child. Amen.

Who Sinned?

John 9:1-7,13-17,34-39 As Jesus was passing by, he saw a man blind from birth. 2His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

3Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that God’s works might be revealed in connection with him. 4I must do the works of him who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5As long as I am in the world, I am the Light of the World.”

6After saying this, Jesus spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and spread the mud on the man’s eyes. 7“Go,” Jesus told him, “wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means “Sent”). So he went and washed, and came back seeing.

13They brought this man who had been blind to the Pharisees. 14Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes. 15So the Pharisees also asked him how he received his sight.

“He put mud on my eyes,” the man told them. “I washed, and now I see.”

16Then some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God because he does not keep the Sabbath.” Others were saying, “How can a sinful man work such miraculous signs?”

There was division among them, 17so they said to the blind man again, “What do you say about him, because he opened your eyes?”

The man replied, “He is a prophet.”

34They answered him, “You were entirely born in sinfulness! Yet you presume to teach us?” And they threw him out.

35Jesus heard that they had thrown him out. When he found him, he asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?”

36“Who is he, sir,” the man replied, “that I may believe in him?”

37Jesus answered, “You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you.”

38Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” and he knelt down and worshipped him.

39Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, in order that those who do not see will see, and those who do see will become blind.”

Do you know what karma is? Karma is a core concept in Eastern religions like Hinduism and Buddhism. Karma means “action.” It is the belief that each action a person takes will affect him or her at some time in the future. Karma is the belief that you get what’s coming to you. What goes around, comes around. If you do evil, you’ll receive evil. If you do good, you’ll receive good.

For example, this week in Florida, a motorcyclist was popping wheelies when he was confronted by the police. Instead of going quietly with the police, the motorcyclist decided to lead the police on a high speed chase. As he was going through an intersection, he decided to glance backwards at the pursuing police and flip them off. At that moment, he was T-boned by a truck. ... Thankfully and miraculously, the motorcyclist survived.

Some would say that’s karma.

Another example is a popular YouTuber who makes a lot of money on his videos. He’s using that money to pay for cataract surgeries so thousands of legally blind people are able to see again. He’s helping a lot of people and those people hope more good will come to him so he can continue to help others.

They would say that’s karma.

Karma is not correct. It’s not biblical. It’s not Christian. Yet many Christians today believe in this false theology of karma.

It’s a very old false theology. Job’s friends believed in karma. Job lost his family, his wealth, and then his health. Then for chapter upon chapter, Job’s so-called “friends” sat around giving him reasons why God was bringing all this suffering upon him. They accused him of committing some kind of sin so that God was bringing about divine retribution (Job 4:7-8; 8:20; 11:14-15).

The disciples of Jesus also succumb to this faulty conclusion when they come upon a man who was blind from birth. The disciples ask Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

How many of you, when things go south in the life of someone close to you, wonder what that person did to make God angry? How many of you, when things go south in your own life, turn your eyes to heaven and ask God, “Why am I being punished?”

This is how people thought in Jesus’ day and in Job’s day. In our day, it is a conclusion that we often jump to very quickly, as well. If someone suffers a tragic accident or lingers in an illness, then we assume that God must be punishing them for some specific sin. Who sinned?

We jump to this kind of conclusion because we want to have an answer for suffering. We make up pat answers for suffering. “It’s for the best.” It’s all a part of God’s plan.” “God won’t give you more than you can handle.”

Those answers may sound pious and theological, but they aren’t correct. That suffering might not be for the best. We don’t know God’s plan. God often gives us more than we can handle.

While we might join with the friends of Job and Jesus’ disciples to offer pat answers for human suffering, we won’t find such easy answers for suffering in Scripture. The Bible offers a multi-faceted, balanced, and remarkably nuanced view of suffering. Some suffering appears to be the direct result of God’s righteous anger over rebellious unbelief – like the Israelites being bitten by venomous snakes because of their complaining about food (Numbers 21:4-9). Some suffering appears to be corrective chastisement, as God changes the hearts and behavior of his people – like Jonah being swallowed by the great fish, in order to turn Jonah back toward his ministry in Ninevah (Jonah 1-2). Some suffering appears to come as a direct result of our connection to Jesus – like when Jesus assures us that we will be persecuted for our faith, just as Jesus was persecuted (John 15:18-20).

And, some suffering appears to come because we are sinful people, living in a sinful world – like with this blind man (John 9).

The disciples were somewhat correct in their diagnosis. The man was born blind because of sin. But it wasn’t his sin as an infant in the womb or a specific sin of his parents. Rather, blindness is one of the many different symptoms of the deadly condition of sin. Strokes, cancer, heart defects, old age, are all the symptoms of being sinners living in a sinful world. These are symptoms that infect everyone.

We often like to think of sin as something that we do. So, we do moral math. If sin is something that we do, and suffering is a result of our sin, then we figure we can fix the problem of our suffering just by sinning less or making up for our sin. But sin is much more pervasive than that. Sin is what we do wrong. Sin is what we fail to do right. Sin is who we are by nature. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Flesh gives birth to flesh.”

God doesn’t do this kind of moral math. He doesn’t add up our sins and subtract our righteous acts, and then dish out suffering based on the difference.

God doesn’t explain why bad things happen. The reason for suffering is largely and unknowably mysterious to us.

Although, we cannot know why suffering always occurs, God does reveal to us what he has done about it. He has sent his Son to suffer satanic temptation, divine wrath, and hellish punishment in our place. All the suffering we should be enduring now and for eternity, Jesus has already suffered with us and for us. The Bible says Jesus suffered with us: “Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 2:18). The Bible also says Jesus suffered for us: “We see Jesus, who was made lower than the angels for a little while, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone (Hebrews 2:9).

Jesus is the answer to all our suffering. He was the answer to this blind man’s suffering. Throughout his life, the Jewish rabbis taught him that he was damaged goods, because either he or his parents committed some horrible sin. Then, another Rabbi approached. He taught, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.” A little while later, this Rabbi made some mud with his divine saliva and put it on the blind man’s eyes. Then he told the blind man to wash his eyes in the Pool of Siloam. Suddenly, the blind man could see.

Comedian Paul Reiser wrote once about mother’s spit: “I saw a kid who had some dried-up food on his face. His mother took out a tissue, spit on the tissue and rubbed it into the kid’s face. This goes on, in communities around our country, on a daily basis. It is disgusting, but it sure does work, doesn’t it? There’s something in Mother Saliva that cleans like nobody’s business. All women, once they give birth, their enzymes change, and saliva becomes Ajax. It’ll clean anything: a baby’s face, a countertop, a Buick – you get enough mothers, you could do a whole car in 30, 40 minutes.” (Paul Reiser, “Couplehood”)

Mother’s spit may be great for cleaning, but Jesus’ touch and spit is for something even greater – for healing! What had been broken, Jesus mends with the Creator’s touch. The Great Physician is at work. Notice the earthiness of it all. Fingers in the dirt. Mud on the eyes. God coming down to us, touching us, opening eyes, creating faith, and saving souls.

Jesus does what only the Creator can do - create and recreate humanity with mud. Adam was made by the hand of God and now the Master Potter himself takes a bit of mud and fixes the son of Adam’s broken eyes.

This week we were discussing suffering in the 7th grade Catechism class. As we were studying life issues with the 5th commandment, we talked about not ending suffering through euthanasia – mercy killing. We talked about all the different things we can learn through suffering. We imagined that Grandma is very ill and living with the 7th grader and the family.

Through her suffering, Grandma may learn patience. This patience can then lead to a strong Christian character. That strong Christian character leads to hope in Jesus Christ for her salvation. And her hope will never be put to shame (Romans 5:3-5).

The 7th grader watches Mom take care of Grandma. She feeds her, clothes her, bathes her, changes her. Mom has empathy and compassion. The 7th grader can learn to express that same Christian empathy and compassion.

We also talked about how Grandma’s illness keeps her from moving to Florida with other older people. Instead, she’s in the house with her grandchildren every day. We discussed how the 7th grader can sit and learn Grandma’s stories and they can share their stories with their grandmother. They can hold hands, give hugs, learn family history, and so many other things all through Grandma’s suffering.

God is not cursing us for sin when we are suffering. Rather, suffering can be used by God to lead us to see him more clearly. When the previously blind man was walking around trying out his new eyes, Jesus appears in front of him.

Being blind for decades, the man had probably never heard of Jesus. He certainly had never seen him. He doesn’t know who Jesus is when he is stopped and is asked, “Do you believe in the Son of God?” “Who is he, sir,” the man replied, “that I may believe in him?” Jesus answered, “You have seen him, and he is the very one who is speaking with you.” Then he said, “Lord, I believe!” and he knelt down and worshipped him.

Jesus allowed the decades of suffering with blindness so Jesus could give him sight. Jesus gave the man physical sight, but more than that, he gifted him with the spiritual sight of faith. He could now see his Savior standing right in front of him!

God often allows disabilities into our lives to help us understand that we are born full of sin and spiritually blind. The Holy Spirit can use this suffering to start us looking for a Savior. He gives us spiritual sight, not with mud and spit, but with the equally humble means of water, bread, wine, and Word. God sometimes uses suffering, followed by his gospel, to open the eyes of the spiritually blind, so they might see the Savior from all their eternal suffering.

Don’t ask, “Who sinned to cause my suffering?” That’s false theology. That’s karma. Rather ask, “How can my suffering lead me to patience, character, and hope?” “How can the burden of my suffering lead me to rely more on Christ who promises to ease my burdens and suffered for my sins?” “How can my suffering lead me to see Christ more clearly?”

Instead of asking, “Who sinned?”, thank God that Christ has removed your sin. Instead of believing in karma, believe in Christ. Amen.

Questions in the darkness

John 3:1-17 There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2He came to Jesus at night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these miraculous signs you are doing unless God is with him.”

3Jesus replied, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born from above, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

4Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?”

5Jesus answered, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God! 6Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7Do not be surprised when I tell you that you must be born from above. 8The wind blows where it pleases. You hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

9“How can these things be?” asked Nicodemus.

10“You are the teacher of Israel,” Jesus answered, “and you do not know these things? 11Amen, Amen, I tell you: We speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen. But you people do not accept our testimony. 12If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? 13No one has ascended into heaven, except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, who is in heaven.

14“Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, 15so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

16“For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

“The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” Amen. (2 Corinthians 13:14)

My daughter, Lydia, is a sophomore at a private Presbyterian university in Iowa. A few weeks ago, Lydia’s theology professor assigned her class a paper on the gender of God. Throughout this semester, the professor has been leading the students to question God’s gender. She has stated numerous times in the class that God is at times male, other times female, and other times multi-gender or no gender.

Lydia had the inner conflict that all of us have when faced with such blasphemous theology. Keep her head down and her mouth shut to get a good grade or stand up and speak out and possibly tank her grade.

I’m going to read to you the last two paragraphs of her paper and let you decide what she did.

“I believe that the question of whether God has a gender does have implications for how we view ourselves and humankind. This is because the God of the Bible is unchanging. If humans try to change the gender of God, they are breaking the second commandment that God gave to his people from Mt. Sinai. The second commandment states, ‘You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.’ If humans try to change the gender of God that God clearly gives for people to refer to him, then they are misusing God’s name and are blaspheming. The article from the Women’s Ordination, misuses God’s Word and twists it to make God appear as feminine. The Holy Spirit is clearly using a metaphor [about mother bears and mother hens] to demonstrate how God is carrying and protective like a mother. Not that he is a mother. If these passages were to be taken literally, then God would literally be a bear and a hen. That’s just silly. More than that, it’s blasphemy.”   

“There are many different ways that people think of God. People use many different names to refer to God. Referring to God as anything but male, is changing what God says about himself. God’s Word, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is very clear. The God of the Bible describes himself as male. To question, doubt, change, or twist God’s Word in any way to say anything different is - in today’s language - misgendering God.”

I tell you this story because this subject is not confined to one student in one theology class. These are the kinds of questions, doubts, debates, and outright denials of God’s truths that Christians are facing right now. It’s in our public high schools, colleges, and universities. This kind of language about gender has permeated businesses, penetrated the military, and saturated media, entertainment, and government.

This false theology about gender and God has even infiltrated churches. Here is a quote from a wolf in sheep’s clothing as he preached to his flock recently: “God is gay. God is a lesbian. God is trans. God is gender non-binary. God is straight. God is cis gender.”

God is none of those things!

There is a lot of spiritual darkness in our culture. Some people are sowing confusion and doubt. Some are preaching blasphemy and heresy. Others have legitimate questions. Jesus teaches us how to answer these questions in the darkness in his conversation with Nicodemus.

Nicodemus had a lot of questions as he came to Jesus at night. Nicodemus was a Pharisee, a teacher of the Jews. Nicodemus is a rabbi who has come to see the Rabbi. He comes in the darkness because he is interested in the One who is the Light of the world.

Nicodemus was infected with the malady that infects all of humanity. We all think we are better than we really are. Most people see no need for the church, Christianity, or Jesus because they see no need for a Savior. They are living in the darkness of sin and unbelief, and often don’t even realize it. If they could form the question, it would be something like this, “If there is a God, he would see me as a pretty good person, wouldn’t he?”

This was Nicodemus’ question in the darkness, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Whatever is born of the flesh is flesh. Whatever is born of the Spirit is spirit.”

It doesn’t matter how good we imagine that we are, God sees us as sinners by what we have done, by what we have left undone, and by our sinful nature. There is nothing good within us. King David puts it succinctly and accurately, “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me” (Psalm 51:3). We are by nature evil, vile, corrupt wretches of sin and filth.

But our Triune God loves us too much to allow us to languish in the darkness of our sin and death. Our Triune God created a way of salvation. Just as the new world was created through water and the Holy Spirit hovered over those waters, so we are created anew through water and the Spirit. Jesus told Nicodemus, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Unless someone is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God!” Jesus is speaking about Baptism.

His Final Steps Led to a Tomb- Ash Wednesday Sermon

John 11:1-7, 11-15, 18-27, 32-44 Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2This Mary, whose brother Lazarus was sick, was the same Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair.

3So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one you love is sick!”

4When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not going to result in death, but it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed in the place where he was two more days.

 7Then afterwards he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

11He said this and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.”

12Then the disciples said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

13Jesus had been speaking about his death, but they thought he was merely talking about ordinary sleep. 14So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.

20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary was sitting in the house.

21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day.”

25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. 26And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this?”

27“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”

32When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.

34He asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

35Jesus wept.

36Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

38Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, because it has been four days.”

40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone.

Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

44The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, “Loose him and let him go.”

We like to imagine that we would want to know the time, place, and way are going to die. But would you really want to know that information? What would you do with it? If you knew you’re going to live until you’re 102 and die of a heart attack on a Thursday at 2:45 pm, would you become complacent in your faith? Would you ignore praying and skip church until a week before your heart attack, and only then get serious about your faith?

Or if you knew you were going to die from cancer after years of chemo and radiation treatment, wasting away and feeling like a burden to your family and friends, would you sink into a deep depression?

There is definitely divine wisdom in not knowing the time, place, or manner that God uses to take us home to heaven. Our faith probably isn’t strong enough for that kind of information.

Yet, Jesus knew about the date, location, and manner of his death. Isn’t that astounding?! Jesus knew exactly what lay ahead of him as he took his final steps. Every twist; every turn; every plot of his enemies; every hateful word thrown his way; every lash of the whip; every tortured breath he would take on Calvary’s cross. Through the lens of his divinity, Jesus could see that his path ahead would lead to the most horrific pain and hellish agony. Yet Jesus took his final steps. Why? Because selfless love for his fallen creation moved his steps forward.

This Lenten season we are on what I hope is a memorable pilgrimage of faith as we watch our Savior take his final steps. This evening we examine the event that became the catalyst for our Savior’s final steps. Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the tomb sets the stage for God’s gracious plan to be completed: at the precise time the Lord had set from eternity, in the exact place the Lord had prophesied, and in the very way the Lord had planned it. Tonight, we see how Jesus’ final steps led to a tomb.

Jesus knew exactly what he was getting into by going to Bethany, the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. The village was only 2 miles from Jerusalem, the headquarters for all the Jewish religious leaders. Jesus’ enemies had been dogging his every step for three years, watching, waiting, and hoping for Jesus to make a mistake. Perhaps words they could rip out of context; maybe a teaching they could twist to be in conflict with God’s teaching; or a miracle performed on the Sabbath. Something, anything they could use to discredit him, or even worse, put him on trial and convict him for blasphemy - with the sentence being death.

Yet there was no misstep, not a single word that could be used against Jesus. And then when his enemies grew so desperate that they were about to take our Savior by force, he “eluded their grasp” and withdrew back across the Jordan River, somewhere remote, somewhere out of the reach of his enemies (John 10:39).

But now Jesus’ set time was approaching. His appointment with the cross was at hand. Mary and Martha sent word, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Have you felt the pain that death brings? (One of the saddest images in my memory is one of my girls crying holding our dog before the pet was taken to the vet to be put to sleep.) Have you lain awake at night listening to machines pumping air in and out of your lungs? Have you watched sickness corrode and atrophy the body of your loved one? Have you held his hand or her head as life slowly ebbed away? That’s the way Mary and Martha felt about their brother, Lazarus.

Jesus heard the news about Lazarus and … he waited. John shares this insight: “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed in the place where he was two more days. Then afterwards he said to his disciples, ‘Let’s go back to Judea.’”

Why wait two more days? “So that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” So that Jesus could tell his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.” So, the disciples could respond, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” Then Jesus could patiently explain, “Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Have you ever noticed that we’re not always much help when it comes to grieving? How often don’t we say things like, “I’m sorry.” “If you need anything, I’m here for you.” “Here’s a casserole.” Often when we see someone grieving, we either leave them alone or force them to move along too quickly. We may not be much help to the grieving, but Jesus certainly is. You see, if God is anywhere, he is in the face of death.

So, the Son of God goes to face death head on. Jesus waited two days before he took these final steps to Bethany because he knew what needed to be done for two grieving sisters, surrounded by friends who joined them in their mourning. Martha met Jesus on the road and broke our Savior’s heart with her words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus knew she needed to hear him say, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha realized Jesus was talking about Judgment Day. She heard the words we hear when we stand in cemeteries next to the caskets of our loved ones as the pastor takes some dirt and sprinkles it on the casket saying, “Dust to dust, ashes to ashes, earth to earth.”

Death has hounded mankind since the Garden of Eden and caused misery that God never intended for his children. When Jesus saw the effects of death on his loved ones, he wept with them, but also promised them that one day even this last enemy would be defeated. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this?”

Jesus knows what he must do. He had to take the next steps – to the tomb, to a cave with a stone rolled against it. Martha takes Jesus to the cemetery where her brother is entombed. Jesus wants the stone rolled away and the grave opened. Remember, it is the fourth day, so Martha objects that the decaying flesh would smell too bad. Jesus replies, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” When Jesus finished his prayer, he called out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” He who called planets into existence and breathed life into man, called Lazarus back from the dead and gave him once more the breath of life.

Lazarus had no choice. He came out. Lazarus’ response to the command of Christ stirs the heart of every Christian who has stared at the ugly face of death – the dead man came out.

Jesus took his final steps to a tomb that needed to be emptied for Mary and Martha, two grieving sisters who miraculously got their brother back. He took those steps for Lazarus who from then on knew from experience how the Lord could indeed make all things work together for good (Romans 8:28)! Jesus took those steps for his disciples, the men who were eyewitnesses of the Savior’s power and glory, the same men he commissioned to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, and to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)!

And Jesus took those final steps for us and for our faith! We need his words, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We need to hear Jesus’ shout, “Lazarus, come out!” We need to see the man who had been dead for four days come out of the grave.

Here is our proof that nothing is impossible with God. Here is our proof that the apostle Paul’s shout of triumph is forever true: “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

What happened at that Bethany cemetery is a prelude to what would happen in a few weeks in a Jerusalem cemetery. Jesus’ borrowed tomb was opened by the angel to show that Jesus was already gone. Jesus walked out of his own grave – alive. This is a prelude to what will happen to us on the Last Day when our graves are opened and we are called from our tombs. “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

When God speaks … people come out of their graves. They have no choice.

How comforting for you and me that our Savior’s final steps led to a tomb.

A few moments ago, I mentioned how Jesus’ enemies had been trailing him wherever he went, always hoping Jesus would say or do something they could use against him. They couldn’t find anything.

Then this business with Lazarus happened! This was the greatest of Jesus’ miracles up to that time. According to Jewish thinking recorded in the Talmud – a collection of writings that covered the full gamut of Jewish laws and traditions - the Jews were convinced that the human soul hovers around the body for three days after death. For three days the soul is lost and confused, hoping, and waiting to be reunited with the body in life. But only three days. After that, the soul is taken home to the Lord, and a resurrection can no longer happen.

Now do you see why Jesus waited two days before going to Bethany? Why he made sure that four days had passed since Lazarus had died? News of this miracle spread instantly, everywhere, like wildfire! The raising of Lazarus from the dead became the catalyst that caused the last stage of God’s plan of grace to be set into motion. John informs us, “From that day on they plotted to kill him” (John 11:53).

Jesus’ final steps led him to a tomb that needed to be emptied. Emptied so that the hatred of his enemies would boil over into an insane, diabolical plot to capture him, illegally try him during the night, and then crucify him on Calvary’s center cross. All this would happen on Passover, the time God had set from eternity for his Lamb to die for you and me.

We don’t really want to know when, where, or how we’re going to die, do we? But Jesus does. He knows when your time will come, too. That’s why he took his final steps. So that he can resolutely take his final steps to the cross. He will intrude on the enemy’s turf. He will enter Satan’s territory – the valley of death. He will be able to smell the sulfuric residue of the ex-angel. He will cry out in agony, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” He will cry out in victory, “It is finished!” As he breathes his last, he will step down to crush the Ancient Serpent’s head under his bloody heel. The words he spoke loudly at Lazarus’ tomb will echo from his tomb on Easter morning, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Amen.

The Spirit Freshens Up Our Life

God is my Janitor. That doesn't quite have the same ring as "The Lord is my Shepherd," does it? It may even rub our conscience as disrespectful. Yet being a shepherd wasn't always that prestigious either, but we don't hesitate to call Jesus our Good Shepherd.

The Spirit is my joyful Janitor. Of course, you could misuse that statement. But consider how the two are alike. A janitor cleans up other people's messes. That's what the Holy Spirit does. He hasn't made any messes himself. He is the holy God. But he cleans up that sinful mess of your heart and mine. And what a mess we've made! Even the English names for their work sound similar. A janitor's work is sanitation; the Spirit's work, sanctification.

 Furthermore, just as a janitor's work is often taken for granted, how many dismiss the Spirit's vital work of cleaning hearts and instead run after what seems flashy and powerful in the eyes of the world? Even as we hear the events of David’s life, we might focus on the outward signs and miss the greater work the Spirit was doing. We see the fire of his faith as he burns a path of righteous anger toward Goliath. We hear the sound of rushing wind as he writes and sings the Psalms. His prophecies are translated into reality across thousands of different languages. All these are special miracles of the Spirit, but he uses them only as outward signs pointing his greater work. The great work of the Spirit that day was the repentance he worked in one individual heart. Through the Law packaged in a shepherd’s analogy, the Holy Spirit convicted the King of his sin and created faith in the coming Savior all over again. That's how he cleans hearts.

 The Spirit can produce some fabulous outward, miraculous signs as we watch him turn up the flames of fire on Pentecost. Yet he makes no promise of speaking in tongues, faith-healing, earthly success, health, or wealth -- all things that the world might applaud.

 So how do we know a janitor is at work? FRESHNESS… the smell / the sight.  What signs do we look for to know that the Spirit is busy cleaning hearts? This is what he has promised: Where his true, pure word is preached and taught and where his sacraments are properly used, there he is at work as our Sanctifier. He is cleaning filthy hearts, your heart and mine. For the word and sacraments are the Spirit's tools. And when he's cleaning our hearts, that also shows in our outward behavior. The fruit we produce in our lives is external evidence of the Spirit's inner work as he cleans our hearts through his Word and Sacraments

The Spirit Freshens Up Our Life

1. To keep bringing the freshness of forgiveness to you.

1.1 A murderer sought sanitization. Recall the history leading up to Psalm 51. "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10). The Lord had made David king of all Israel and firmly established his throne. But David's heart wandered. He committed adultery with Bathsheba, while her husband, Uriah, was away fighting David's wars. She becomes pregnant. To cover up the sin, David invites Uriah back from the front line so that he'd think the child was his own. But after reporting to David, Uriah sleeps at the palace entrance. He doesn't think it right for him to enjoy the comforts of his bed while his fellow Israelites are camped in open fields for battle. How loyal a soldier! (2 Samuel 11:1-13)

 David sends him back with sealed orders for Joab, the commander. Joab was to place Uriah in the front line where the fighting was fiercest and then have everyone else withdraw. If Uriah somehow happened to be killed by the enemy, David could then marry Bathsheba and pretend all was fine. But this did not please the Lord. Yet for a year David lived this lie, hardening his heart. (2 Samuel 11:14-27)

 1.2 Sin runs rampant into more sin. This gives us food for thought. Our natural self wants to think: "Yes, David certainly needed his heart cleaned. What a mess of adultery and murder he made of it! I'm glad I'm not that dirty." But what do you think hurt his relationship with God more: His act of adultery and murder or his continual lying to God that he had not done anything that bad? Here's an illustration from the news. Maybe you've heard of Arnold Schwarzenegger's troubled marriage with Maria Shriver. What do you think hurt his relationship with her more: his infidelity over ten years ago or all the lies since then to cover it up?

 As soon as we try to justify ourselves and claim that our hearts aren't that dirty, at least not as dirty as some people's, we're following that path of lies and cover-ups before God. Our dirt is much deeper than just this or that bad act, even if that act were murder or adultery. Do you remember how Jesus showed that lust makes us guilty of adultery (Matthew 5:28) and sinful anger makes us accountable before God as murderers (Matthew 5:21-22)? But our filth is even deeper than our thoughts. How filthy the very nature we inherited from our parents! Filthy to the core! David confessed early in the Psalm, "Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me" (Psalm 51:5 NIV1984).  Our Messes… from Oatmeal to car accident to more.

 1.3 Sin no matter how small is an attack on God's holiness. Do you see that any attempt to downplay our sinfulness, excuse our offenses and failures, or lessen our guilt drives us even farther away from God? Any sin, no matter who it hurts, is first and foremost a sin against God. We certainly deserve any judgment God sends down on us. The punishments he pronounces are truly right. "Against you, you only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge" (Psalm 51:4 NIV1984), David confesses.

 APP – We need to have our hearts “aired out.”  If he had died thinking he had covered up his sin from God, he would have gone to hell forever. That's what we deserve. We deserve to be cast out of the Lord's presence forever. We deserve for the Holy Spirit to be taken from us once and for all. That's what David deserved. But the Lord sent the prophet Nathan to confront him. See the Spirit do his work through the prophet's words. He told David of a poor man who had a pet lamb, in fact, much more than a pet. "It shared his food, drank from his cup, and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him" (2 Samuel 12:3 NIV1984). But when a guest came to the rich man's house, rather than taking one of his many sheep, he butchered the poor man's lamb.

David's righteous anger flared against this rich man. And the prophet said, "You are man!" (2 Samuel 12:7 NIV1984). The Lord had blessed him with so much, but he took Uriah's wife and murdered him. David's self-righteous arrogance is crushed. "I have sinned against the LORD" (2 Samuel 12:13 NIV1984), he confesses. "The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die" (2 Samuel 12:13 NIV1984), Nathan answers. What joy of forgiveness! The Holy Spirit was busy as David's janitor, cleaning his heart through the prophet's words of forgiveness. Danger of Sin is like never cleaning up… germs lead to death.

 The Holy Spirit removes the germs even of sins like murder, adultery, and lying to God. So great is the Lord's mercy and love! No wonder David begins Psalm 51 saying, "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin" (Psalm 51:1, 2 NIV1984).

 As you rely on the Lord's mercy and call out, "Create in my a clean heart, O God," the Holy Spirit is already at work. He washes you in the blood of God's Son, Jesus Christ. Day after day he cleans your heart to keep bringing you the joy of forgiveness. For the blood of Jesus Christ, God Son, "purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7 NIV1984). The Spirit washes you cleaner than any janitor could. In fact, washed in Jesus' blood and clothed with his righteousness you stand before the holy, all-seeing God, and he calls you his saints, his holy people. What great work the Holy Spirit does in your heart! What joy his forgiveness brings! The joy of salvation! "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of your salvation" (Psalm 51:10-12).

2. To sustain a willing spirit within you.

2.1 The Spirit cleans our hearts and makes them new so that our character and behavior change. David knows that the Spirit's work doesn't stop with forgiveness in the heart. He changes us from the inside out. This is the willing spirit the Holy Spirit works in us and sustains in us. This willing spirit shows itself in our attitude, words, and actions. David prays: "Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me" (Psalm 51:12 NIV1984).

 2.2 The joy of salvation shines out in willing obedience to our Savior. When the Holy Spirit cleans our hearts, why would we want to dirty our lives? Rather we desire to do what our Lord wants. As the Psalm continues David shows that willing spirit within him. He wants to teach sinners the Lord's ways. He wants to open his mouth to declare God's praises. He wants to offer God not just outward sacrifices but a broken and contrite heart that knows its sin and the cleansing power of the Holy Spirit.

 So many today imagine that once they know the Gospel of forgiveness, then they need to move on to other things if they are going to clean up their lives. So, they try to make themselves better Christians by running after seven rules or twelve steps or a forty day plan. But the vast majority of these leave the Gospel on the sidelines. Rather than focusing on what Jesus has done for us, they focus on what you should do. But that's not where a willing spirit comes from. They may have some helpful advice. They may talk a lot about the Holy Spirit. But when they sideline the Gospel of Jesus and his sacraments, they sideline the Holy Spirit, whether they intend to or not. Just as janitor uses his tools to clean, so the Holy Spirit uses the Gospel in Word and Sacraments to clean not only our hearts but also our lives, sustaining a willing spirit within us. TOOLS of the TRADE… compare cleansers to Word/Sacrament.

 2.3 With the Gospel he feeds your spirit empowering you to live a godly, righteous life. And just as the Holy Spirit uses the Gospel in God's Word and Sacraments to bring you the joy of salvation, so also he uses the same Gospel in Word and Sacraments to sustain the willing spirit within you. HEALED by the HYSSOP’S HANDLER -

 In Psalm 51, David prayed to be cleansed with Hyssop!  Being cleansed by Hyssop had a rich history with the Jewish people. The Hyssop was a plant with a straight stalk. Its leaves and branches were kind of hairy which made it very easy for liquids to adhere to them. They were used in various types of religious services. The Hyssop branch would be dipped into the sacrificial blood and sprinkled over a person who needed healing. The same procedure was used for the cleansing of mildew. And, it was also used to make people ceremonially clean. The most famous event that occurred in Jewish history using the Hyssop was during the first Passover. The Jewish people were still in bondage in Egypt. God had sent nine plagues against Pharaoh and the tenth plague, the plague of death for all the firstborn, was about to begin. God told Moses to tell the people to take a branch of Hyssop, dip it into the blood of the sacrificed lamb, and smear the blood on the top and sides of their doorframe - so the angel of death would “pass over” the house and not bring death - hence the name Passover!

 What I believe hurt and affected Jesus the most was the same thing that had helped, healed, and saved the Jewish people for centuries - the Hyssop Branch! The Hyssop branch with the blood of the lamb smeared on the doorframe that saved the firstborn of the Jewish people! The Hyssop branch was used in religious services for healing and cleansing! The Hyssop branch that David sought after, cried for, and prayed for - that did take away his sins! It was that same Hyssop Branch that came to Jesus on the Cross in John 19:29-30. Instead of being saved, healed, or cleansed by the blood of the sacrificed lamb - this Hyssop Branch was filled with the sins of the whole world - and all the despair sin brings to the world. Jesus, The Lamb of God - took on all of our sins and nailed them to his Cross. Jesus, who knew no sin, became the greatest sinner of all time - by taking on the sins of the world, and all sins of all time - being separated from God as sin does and having to die! I believe that was the hardest thing Jesus would have to suffer.
APP – In the context of the whole story, David progresses from lowly Shepherd to Great King.  How did this happen? God knew his heart. He was a man who asked for wisdom, and yet he too needed cleansing! We see David, throughout the blend of Psalm 51 with our text from 2 Samuel, seeking, crying out, and praying for - God’s grace and mercy. He sought to hear joy and gladness again and not feel and have the despair of a broken and crushed spirit. David was seeking to feel and have the glory he once had - and the freshness and freedom of his salvation restored. And so can we!

Conclusion:  Learn to recognize the great work of the Holy Spirit. What a janitor he is! He cleans our hearts. Through the Gospel, he brings us the freshness of forgiveness, no matter how torn up, beleaguered, or messy is our sin. Through the Gospel, he sustains a willing spirit within you, so that in your behavior and life you can freely serve your Lord, whose blood has washed you clean.

Be Salt and Light

Matthew 5:13-16 13You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? Then it is no good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. 14You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. 15People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.

At one time you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. (1 Peter 2:10). Amen.

Hody Childress was a small-town farmer and Air Force veteran on a fixed income. Ten years ago, Childress walked into Geraldine Drugs in the small town of Geraldine, Alabama. He asked Brooke Walker, the owner, if anyone ever came into the drugstore who couldn’t pay for their prescriptions. Walker answered that, sadly, it happened very often.

Childress handed Walker a folded-up $100 bill. He said, “Don’t tell a soul where the money came from. If they ask, just tell them it’s a blessing from the Lord.” Childress also asked her not to tell him who the money went to help, just to use her judgment about who needed it.

He faithfully gave his anonymous donation every month until last year when he became too weak to make the trip personally. At that point, he finally confided in his daughter about his monthly donation and asked her to take it to the drugstore on his behalf.

Childress died on New Year’s Day at the age of 80. His daughter shared his anonymous good deeds at his funeral. Since then, several people have come forward telling the family how Childress’ donation had helped them over the years and inspired them to pay it forward.

As a Christian man, Hody Childress was salt and light to his community.

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught, “You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its flavor, how will it become salty again? Then it is no good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled on by people. You are the light of the world. A city located on a hill cannot be hidden. People do not light a lamp and put it under a basket. No, they put it on a stand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. In the same way let your light shine in people’s presence, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

Salt in Jesus’ time was precious. Salt was used to preserve food since there was no refrigeration. Salt was used to disinfect wounds and was rubbed on the skin of newborn babies to protect them from various diseases. Egyptians used salt for preserving the corpses of the dead for mummification. Sacrifices were sprinkled with salt to purify them before they were offered to the Lord. Salt was seen as killing the sinful rot and decay and preserving life. The salt showed the people that no matter how “good” they thought they and their sacrifices were, sin and death still clung to them.

Salt is useful stuff. A little salt can be sprinkled on a dish to tickle the tastebuds. Road salt is useful after the snow and ice of this last week.

Light shines and brightens dark places. It can be a small candle or a simple oil lamp bringing light to a dark room in Jesus’ day. It can be the sun shining and chasing away the darkness of the night every morning. It can be children walking through the house and turning on lights in every room. Then dad doing his fatherly duty of walking through the house and turning off all the lights.

Jesus says, “You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world.” Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “You need to work on your saltiness” or “You need to become light.” No, Jesus says that through your Baptism, through your conversion to Christianity, through your faith in him who is the true salt and bright light, now this is what you are. So be salt and light.

This world is rotten and corrupt and needs to be salted. The world is shrouded in the darkness of sin and death and needs to be lighted.

Where do you encounter this rot and feel this darkness in our culture? As salt and light Christians, we notice this rot and darkness as we are living and raising our children in an amoral culture. It used to be that we were living in a moral culture – one where people did wrong things, but they knew and believed in the difference between right and wrong. Today we are living in an amoral culture where people no longer believe in or care about right or wrong. They just do whatever comes naturally to them and feels good to them. And what is natural is evil and what feels good is sin.

We are living in a culture that relishes the rot and delights in the darkness. They don’t know any better. They’ve tasted this world’s tainted garbage so long that what is good, right, and healthy is a shock to their system. They’ve lived in the shadows so long the light hurts their eyes. Now they want us as Christians to not only tolerate their amoral behavior, we must accept it and promote it. They want to drag us into their decay and darkness.

We fall victim to these scare tactics by Satan and his devilish followers. We’re afraid of being called names, canceled, persecuted, prosecuted, classified as “unloving,” “bigoted,” or “hypocritical.” We are tempted to fill up our shakers with sugar. We are in danger of losing our saltiness. We are tempted to cover our light under a bowl. We are in danger of letting our light go out.

We don’t want to scare anyone off or offend anyone or cause any problems. It’s much easier to mind our own business, keep quiet, and keep to ourselves. It’s much more convenient to compromise God’s truth than to shake out Christ’s salty judgment upon a corrupt world. It’s more pleasant to hide in the shadows than to shine Christ’s light into the darkness. It’s a whole lot easier to go with the flow than to stand against the tide, standing on the solid rock of the cross of Christ.

When we do that, we are not being what Christ has made us to be – salt upon the earth and lights upon the world.

Jesus is the salt that preserves your soul by pointing out your sins against him. He is the salt that purifies you with his perfection. He is the salt that never loses its saltiness. He is the salt that heals your wounds, both physical and spiritual. He is the salt that prepares your body for death and life beyond death. He seasons your speech with salt (Colossians 4:6).

At creation, God did not leave the earth wrapped in darkness. He said, “Let there be light,” and there was light that pushed against the darkness (Genesis 1:3). Nor did God abandon his children to sin’s darkness, either. Since the darkness is not disappearing, our Savior Jesus stepped into the darkness. “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13,14). Now that we have been rescued from this darkness and brought into the Light of Christ, we need to keep following the Light. Jesus teaches, “I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

Jesus calls you salt because you are precious. You serve a purpose. You are baptized to be the salt of the earth. You are baptized to be the light of the world. Jesus calls you salt not because of how much you can do, but because of how much he has done. He loves you. He declares you forgiven of your sin. He has spared you from hell. He chases the devil away from you. He has rescued you from death. He has made you his own. He sets you apart from the rest of the world for his purpose.

That purpose is to simply tell others what Jesus has done for you. Your privilege is to talk about all the wonderful things Jesus did out of love. This is your purpose as the salt of the earth. This is your purpose as his lights in the world. As Jesus has confronted your sins, now you are to confront the sins of those around you. As Jesus has shined the light of his grace upon your life, now you are to shine the light of Jesus’ grace upon others. As Jesus has forgiven your sins, now you are given the opportunity to forgive the sins of the repentant around you.

We take on the difficult task of being salt in an unsalty world. Even if people don’t listen, we have done our duty. Then we have honored what God has made us to be. However, if we do not do our duty, then we will stand before the Lord on Judgment Day and we will observe those on Jesus’ left pointing at us and accusing: “They never told me!” Then we will hear Jesus’ sentence of judgment: “It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.”

As Christian parents, Christian citizens, and members of the Christian Church, we are called to be a part of a counterculture which works hard to shine the light of Christ into the shadowy corners of the world and the dark recesses of people’s souls. You are light, shining the Light of Christ. You are the moon, reflecting the greater light of the Son.

The Bible says, “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, the people who are God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Peter 2:9). You have been called out, set apart, chosen for a purpose. Wherever God has shaken you out – in your home, your school, your work, your community – there you are salt, seasoning your little corner of the world. Wherever God places you in the shadows, there you are light, shining the light of Christ into the darkness that threatens to envelop those you love.

This is your identity. This is your calling. It is consistent with whom Christ made you to be. No one else has this calling – only children of God in Christ Jesus. Because the Holy Spirit has enlightened you in Christ, you are to be whom Christ has created you to be. Let your light shine and “Live an honorable life among the Gentiles so that even though they slander you as evildoers, when they observe your noble deeds, they may glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).

Brooke Walker, the owner of Geraldine Drugs said about Hody Childress, “His kindness motivated me to be more of a compassionate person. He was just a good old guy who wanted to bless his community, and he certainly did. He established a legacy of kindness.” The drugstore has now set up the Hody Childress Fund for others to donate to.

May we also be such salts and lights that when others experience our saltiness and witness our shining lights, that they may praise our Father in heaven. We pray that we are what Christ has made us to be – salts and lights. Amen.

At one time you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. (1 Peter 2:10). Amen.

God included you in his building project.

Emotions run high around building projects. Zerubbabel discovered that. He wanted to rebuild the temple. The Babylonians had torn down Solomon’s temple. But now, under the Persian Empire, King Cyrus told the Jews they could go back and rebuild their homeland. Zerubbabel the governor made the temple a top priority.

But this stirred up powerful emotions for people. In Ezra 3, it said: “When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD, the priests, dressed in their robes, stood by with trumpets, and the Levites, the descendants of Asaph, stood by with cymbals to praise the LORD as prescribed by David king of Israel.” Then they let loose with music and singing. “All the people shouted loud praise to the LORD.” At the same time, the older priests and leaders started weeping loudly. They had seen the previous temple. Everyone had a hard time telling apart the sounds of weeping from the sounds of the praising.

Zerubbabel and his leaders had neighbors, who said: “We’ve sacrificed to your God even before you got here. Let us build with you.” But Zerubbabel and the others said: “No, you don’t really believe in our God. We’ll build this temple on our own.” So, those neighbors started undermining the project any way they could.

Within such a short time, a building project sent Zerubbabel and his team through an emotional rollercoaster of excitement, sadness, discouragement, and frustration. Zerubbabel must have thought more than once, “I’m exhausted. This project is a mess. It hardly seems worth it when we won’t come close to Solomon’s temple.”

This brings up another building project; a modern one, the project of building you up. That project is also exhausting. It also takes a toll.

When Paul wrote about building you up here, he did not mean “you” as a lone individual. Listen to all the plurals in this verse. “So then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.” For his project, God wants to use more than one building block. He calls us: “fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household.” If there’s one thing teenagers crave (or if there’s one thing any of us wants), it’s to be included. You don’t like missing out. You don’t like being unaware or on the outside when your peers make plans.

Quite often, people get excluded from a friend group because they excluded themselves. Have you ever seen a little child alone on a playground while the rest of his classmates cheerfully shoot hoops or kick a soccer ball? If you go up and ask that kid why he’s by himself, he might say: “The other kids won’t let me play with them.”

So, you investigate. Maybe you ask other kids or the victim himself and you find: he’s not such a victim. He calls it a foul when anyone so much as looks at him funny. Or he has controversial ideas for improving the game and now he wants to be in charge like a hotshot. You could tell his classmates to put up with and include him, but you can hardly fault them when you find out what a jerk he’s been.

It’s like that also with bigger kids and adults. Some of us like to do nothing except complain all the time about how rotten the world is and how sinful the people are in it. But like the kid who ruins the game by calling fouls all the time, the whistle-blowers basically get what’s coming to them when no one enjoys their company.

Or, like the kid who hogs the ball or makes new rules for the game, don’t let it surprise you if you get excluded for trying to be a trend-setter. Christ did not make it his Church’s job to be on the cutting edge of anything. If

you act like your life’s goal is being different from conventional wisdom, you’re not really listening to fellow believers and you’re asking them to treat you like someone foreign to them.

Even if you haven’t done anything to exclude yourself, getting excluded was your status with God. There have been girls who gave birth and put the infant in a dumpster. In ancient Greece, people put an unwanted child in the woods to die. In some countries, parents will let a child starve to death in a crib if they think they can’t afford it.

We know God’s mercy so well we might feel it makes sense that God took us in. That’s what we would do. But in the real world, it does not automatically make sense that a powerful person would take pity on some dying little wretch. God also had every reason to ignore us.

After we got engaged, my wife did student-teaching out of state. She made friends there with other teachers and their families. I visited her and one evening we went to a party at one of her new friends’ house. Imagine how I felt. I didn’t know them. They all got along without me. They had no reason to include me. My fiancée didn’t want to spend the whole night babysitting me. I felt doomed to spend the evening alone.

But some of the guys didn’t let that happen. They included me in a game. They didn’t have to. I didn’t have much in common with them. I struggled to make conversation. But they didn’t let that stop them. They taught me the rules and coached me how to play. By the end, I had new friends, but also a sense of family.

That’s what God described for you here. He made you a fellow citizen with the saints and a member of God’s household. Jesus didn’t just bring you into the party. He made the party enjoyable for you.

This is why we say the Church is not a building. It is people who trust Jesus saved them. Forgiveness does not depend on your good deeds. So too, building the Church does not depend on your good deeds.

At a recent conference, a pastor talked about a young woman he served in Canada. She was the least likely person to become Christian. She had hard questions about God. She had openly homosexual family members. She attended a college that spewed anti-Christian messages. When the pastor offered her classes to join his church, she had her schedule swamped. She needed to testify in a trial against one of her high school teachers. Also her former high school started defaming her on social media because they sided with the teacher.

There was no reason for her to keep taking Lutheran instruction. Yet, the pastor told us she did continue his classes and she remains a faithful member of that church to this day. Paul wrote in verse 21, “In him the whole building is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.” We trick ourselves into thinking we are the builders. We convert unbelievers for Christ. Paul relieves that pressure when he says the whole building grows…in the Lord.

The Church is not a campus in Racine or Caledonia. Shoreland is not the Church. The Church is a gathering of believers in Jesus, which meets at Racine and Caledonia and Shoreland campuses.

Since the Church is not the buildings, but the people, let’s expect God to keep bringing in people. He promised that in verse 22. “In him you too are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.” He keeps adding building blocks to the structure, new friends.

We can expect more from God. The true Church is people. God knows people cannot gather in Wisconsin during January outside. They’d be too distracted to hear his Word. He knows projected enrollment at Shoreland next year is too big for us to attend chapel or religion classes without getting distracted by the tight space.

Let’s expect God to care about visible buildings. They are not the Church, but we can trust God to provide solutions when it comes to things like our parsonage or our early childhood center. We can rely on him to build the physical structures we need. He’s already done that by giving a generous purchase of land to Shoreland. He’s already done that by letting WLS buy a building for expanding our classroom space.

He’s already doing the most important building. He gave us Jesus the cornerstone along with apostles and prophets who wrote about Christ. He already built you into his Church by baptizing you and he keeps cementing your place with Holy Communion. He keeps stacking up new members that he joins to his Church. So, we can count on him to give us the visible buildings where the Church gathers too.