Look, People of Zion! Your salvation is coming!

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon for Populus Zion – Advent 2

Luke 21:25-36  +  Malachi 4:1-6  +  Romans 15:4-13

Populus Zion!  People of Zion!  Does Christmas ever sort of just sneak up on you?  I mean, you know it’s coming at the same time every year, and yet suddenly, now it’s December and then December is almost over and you still have shopping and baking and decorating and cleaning and planning to do, and – how did a fixed date that never changes manage to catch you off guard?  And yet, it does.

If the celebration of the First Coming of Christ at Christmas can catch you off guard, how much more his Second Coming, which isn’t found on any calendar?  That’s why we have the season of Advent – so that neither Christmas and its significance nor Christ’s Second Coming and its significance should catch us off guard.

People of Zion – members of the Church of Christ – behold! Surely your salvation is coming!  Last week’s Gospel saw Jesus, the King, coming to Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday to bring salvation to his people through his death on the cross.  We considered, too, how Jesus keeps bringing salvation to his people in the Means of Grace – Word and Sacrament. 

But in this season of Advent, God also has us looking forward to a future salvation, a final salvation at the end of time – a time that isn’t too far away anymore. That salvation isn’t a myth or a bedtime story.  It’s really coming.  It’s coming when Christ comes again.  Advent points us to Christ’s Second Coming at the end of the age.  “Lo, he comes with clouds descending.”

He tells his disciples that in today’s Gospel.  Look! Your salvation is coming!  Look around at the signs!  Look up when you see him coming!  Look out that you don’t fall asleep while you wait!

LOOK AROUND AT THE SIGNS!

“There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. Men will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken.”

Look around at the signs in nature!  They tell you that your salvation is coming.  What is Jesus talking about here?  Natural phenomena in nature like solar and lunar eclipses and meteor showers and storms at sea?  Or miraculous events like the actual sun, moon and stars falling out of the sky?  The answer is, “Yes!”  On the day when Jesus returns, this present universe will be rolled up like a scroll.  But until then, every solar, lunar and stellar event, every storm at sea, every hurricane, every tsunami, every earthquake is meant to be a sign – a very specific sign that signals a very specific event: Jesus is coming!  Just like new leaves on the trees signal the coming of summer, so the upheaval of nature signals the coming of Christ, and God wants his waiting people, the People of Zion, to understand and to know what it means.  Look around and see! Your salvation really is coming! Remember! Believe it!

But the world will never understand or see it that way.  The world will not believe the signs until it’s too late. When the unbelieving world sees nature doing crazy things, people get scared and confused.  They come up with wild explanations and scary, scientific theories.  Aliens are coming! A super volcano is coming!  A super earthquake is coming!  Climate change is coming! A magnetic pole reversal!  A terrorist attack! A nuclear holocaust!

The people of the world look around at nature’s upheaval and are ready to believe that anything and everything is coming – except for what is really coming – The Son of Man coming in the clouds with power and great glory.  No, no!  Not that!  It can’t be that!

“Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire.”  You know what people have to be afraid of on that day?  Justice.  Justice.  Because “at that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory,” and he will come with justice. And all people will finally, finally have to answer for everything they’ve ever thought, said or done – for every harsh word spoken, for every infraction of God’s commandments, for every sexual sin, for every joke at the expense of Christ or his people, for every bitter attack against the Church. People will be judged by their deeds, and not a single human being will escape condemnation who is judged by his or her deeds, because they will all be found wanting, deficient, worthy of condemnation.

That’s why the Word of God calls out to the world so urgently, “Repent!  Repent of everything!  Repent of your entire record of behavior and be judged by Christ’s record instead, by his deeds, by his righteousness! Trust that his condemnation on the cross sets you free from condemnation when the Son of Man comes in the clouds.”  Faith in Christ means that you don’t wish to be judged by your deeds or condemned for your sins. It means you recognize that your judge is your Savior.  Look! Your salvation is coming!

LOOK UP!

And when you see the signs, and especially when you finally see the Son of Man coming in the clouds – if you’re alive on the earth at that time – you don’t have to run. You don’t have to hide.  You don’t have to scramble with the unbelieving world to look for shelter, because He who is your Shelter is coming in the clouds. Stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.

Look! Your salvation is coming!  Look up!  Jesus’ Second Advent won’t bring any destruction or condemnation for those who are found waiting for him.  You don’t have to wonder if your sins have been washed away. You have been baptized into Christ, after all.  You have his Means of Grace now. Look for Jesus there!  He comes to you there with free and full salvation!  You’re baptized and forgiven now.  You’re alive in Christ by faith now.  You’re in God’s kingdom now. 

And so we eagerly await Christ’s coming in the clouds, because for us who believe in him, it means final redemption. It means the end of every single one of our enemies – no more sin. No more temptation. No more death.  No more devil to pursue us. No more being the victims of the world’s persecution.  It means the beginning of the great Wedding Banquet for Christ and his Bride, Zion, the Church.

LOOK OUT!

But in the meantime, while you look around and see the signs, while you get ready to look up and welcome the Bridegroom who comes in the clouds, Jesus also warns you to look out. “Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. For it will come upon all those who live on the face of the whole earth.”

Jesus knows that waiting isn’t easy. He knows that his Church is in danger every moment until he comes in the clouds, because, for as eager as you may be on Sunday morning for him to return, by the time Sunday afternoon rolls around – not to mention Monday through Saturday – you’ve got all sorts of worldly matters competing for your attention.

Jesus mentions being weighed down with dissipation – basically, a hangover, and drunkenness, and the anxieties of life.  You’re not looking for your coming salvation if you’re in a drunken stupor. You’re not looking for your coming salvation if your head keeps pounding with reminders of last night’s party.  You’re not looking for your coming salvation if your heart is wrapped up in the things of this life.

Look out, Jesus says, be careful! Because when your hearts are weighed down to this earth, then repentance and faith float away. Then you’re so distracted that you can’t hear him calling out to you in the gospel.  Then Christ is shoved to the backburner of your heart, and that is dangerous.  That is deadly.

Ever have one of those moments when you were doing something, saying something, dwelling on something that you knew you shouldn’t be – maybe even thought to yourself, “I sure hope Jesus doesn’t come back right now”?  In his grace, he didn’t. He gave you the opportunity to be convicted of your sin and forgiven of it.  But if you tempt him – “Oh, I can get away with this.  He won’t come back yet.  What are the odds?” Then you’ll have only yourself to blame when he comes like a thief and judgment sneaks up on you, as it will sneak up on the unbelieving world.  The real tragedy is, the unbelieving world never knew or believed he was coming.  But you, Christian, you do know and believe he is coming.  Why would you live a life unprepared?

Understand, God is not playing games with you.  He isn’t just waiting for you to get distracted and then, snap!, the trap goes shut.  He isn’t playing games with you.  But don’t you play games with him, either.  You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

Instead, “Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.” Be always on the watch.  Or another way to translate it, “Stay awake!”  Look out that you don’t slip into spiritual sleep. Look out, so that in every moment of every day, you’re expecting your Savior’s return.  Even while you tend to the daily chores you have to tend to, do it with one eye on the chore and one eye on the sky, as it were.

If you know that heaven and earth will pass away but the words of Jesus will never pass away, then you’ll hear his words regularly – in preaching, in teaching, in the Lord’s Supper.  These are the things that will never pass away.  Look out for the things that do pass away.

And pray – pray like your life depends on it, because if you’re praying constantly that you may be able to escape the trap that will close on the world, then that means you’re awake – you’re watching, you’re looking, for your salvation is coming.  You’re living in daily repentance and faith in Christ, and shielded by faith from God’s wrath, you will be able to stand before the Son of Man.

Look, people of Zion!  Your salvation is coming!  It won’t delay, not much longer now.  Don’t let that day or Christmas Day sneak up on you. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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Songs of Advent – the Song of Mary

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Rev. Paul Rydecki


Sermon for Advent Midweek 1

+ Luke 1:46-55 +

 

46 And Mary said,

“My soul magnifies the Lord,

47 and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,

48 for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed;

49 for he who is mighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his name.

50 And his mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

51 He has shown strength with his arm;

he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

52 he has brought down the mighty from their thrones

and exalted those of humble estate;

53 he has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

54 He has helped his servant Israel,

in remembrance of his mercy,

55 as he spoke to our fathers,

to Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

 “Songs of Advent” is the theme of this year’s midweek Advent services.  Songs surrounding the birth of Jesus, rejoicing in the arrival – the Advent – of mankind’s Savior.  There are four songs of Advent in the Bible, composed by the Holy Spirit himself, sung or spoken through the mouths of his servants, recorded for us on the Sacred Page.  Three of them are part of our service this evening.  One of them we’ll wait until Christmas Eve to sing again.

The Song of Mary is before us tonight, the song she sang when she arrived at the home of her relative, Elizabeth, to announce what the angel Gabriel had recently announced to her: that she – a young virgin, probably just a teenager – would conceive by the power of the Holy Spirit and give birth to the Son of David – the Christ, the Son of God.

Mary’s song has been named the “Magnificat,” Latin for “magnifies,” as in “my soul magnifies the Lord.”  That’s why I read to you this evening from the ESV, because that English translation keeps the word “magnifies,” whereas the NIV says, “glorifies.”

“My soul magnifies the Lord.”  Isn’t it tragic that Satan has so pulled the wool over people’s eyes that they magnify Mary herself, instead of doing what Mary did and magnify – acclaim the greatness of the Lord?  As if Mary’s song were about Mary, when it isn’t.  Not at all.  Mary’s song is about Mary’s Lord – specifically her Lord who had now condescended to be conceived in her womb.  The Holy Spirit knew what he was doing when he inspired this song.  Lest we ever think that Mary was sinless, she adds that “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.” Only sinners need saving.  And when Mary, the sinner, was told that her Savior was coming to her, all her spirit could do was rejoice.  Why?

 

“For he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”  If you wanted to pick out a single theme from Mary’s song, it would be, “How great God is for helping the humble.” Isn’t God amazing that way?  He doesn’t look on a person’s glorious estate or his righteous estate or his rich and powerful estate.  God looked at Mary and saw humility.  And where God sees humility, where God sees a person who recognizes his or her own utter lowliness, God looks – and he smiles.  “This is the one I esteem:”, he says through the prophet Isaiah.  “He who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word.”

“He has looked on my humble estate” – and done what?  Made her less humble?  Made her a ruler or a queen or a rich woman?  No, not that.  He has made her pregnant.  Pregnant with the One who was promised so long ago.  Pregnant with the Son of the Most High God.  Pregnant with God her Savior.  Someone asked recently if it was right or wrong to call Mary the “Mother of God.”  The Church has always answered – not just the Roman Catholic Church, but also the Lutheran Church, that, yes!  Is Jesus true God?  Yes!  Was Mary given the privilege to be his mother? Yes!  So Mary is the mother of God.  That’s not an adoration of Mary. It’s our confession about the Person of her Son.

But, because she was given that privilege, she was very right in what she sang, “For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”  One out of billions and billions of people.  Only one could conceive the Savior by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Talk about winning the lottery!  But it wasn’t a lottery, was it?  God doesn’t work by chance or pull names out of a hat.  Nor does he choose people because of their worthiness. He chose Mary, because she was nobody – this humble young lady, his servant. For no other reason than his own grace, God smiled on this young lady and gave her this great and wonderful gift.  Blessed is she, the Blessed Virgin. That doesn’t tell you how great Mary is.  It tells you how great God is. He’s the one who blessed her, humble though she was.

But lest you become jealous of her, listen to something Jesus once said. A woman once said to him, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.” But Jesus replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”  Have you heard the Word of God that Mary’s Son is your Savior and Substitute before God?  Have you kept his word – that is, have you believed it and do you hold it fast in your heart? Do you lower yourself in the humility of repentance and call that child in Mary’s womb your Savior?  Then blessed are you, too.  Smiled upon by God.  See, Mary’s Son is just as much your Savior as he was Mary’s Savior.  “My soul magnifies the Lord.”

Listen! Mary sings her song to you.  “His mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”  Speaking by the Holy Spirit, Mary saw you, gathered in the name of her Son – God’s mercy is for you who fear him still!  You may be a great big nobody in the world.  You may have nothing.  You may have messed up your life.  But in Mary’s womb lay salvation for people in every age, in every generation. His mercy is for you, too!

He has shown strength with his arm.  The heavens and the earth didn’t shake with God’s strength when Mary conceived. Mary’s not singing here about thunder and lightning and hurricanes and earthquakes.  She’s talking about a baby, her baby, God’s Son – his strong arm of salvation, as Isaiah had said.

He has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  No one had been scattered out of Israel when Mary conceived, but as far as God was concerned, the proud people had lost every right to boast. As Paul said to the Corinthians, “Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.”

He has brought down the mighty from their thrones.  No kings were deposed when Jesus entered Mary’s womb.  No kingdoms were destroyed.  But the rulers in the demon’s realm shuddered, and the devil’s downfall became imminent.  No ruler in the world could stop the coming of the kingdom that belonged to that tiny child, hidden away in Mary’s womb.

He has exalted those of humble estate. Not by making poor people rich or sick people healthy.    But by lifting up this humble virgin and placing his Son in her womb.  By giving his Son as a gift to the poor, by preaching forgiveness of sins to the lowly in spirit, to all who mourn over their sins.

He has filled the hungry with good things. As Jesus would say one day, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”  Here is your righteousness, in the womb of the Virgin!  Is that what you’re looking for?  Do you hunger for the forgiveness this child comes to bring?  Then blessed are you!  Or are you rich and already well-fed on your own goodness?  He has sent the rich away empty.

He has helped his servant Israel.  How?  By making it a safe country to live in?  No, not at all.  By keeping a promise, a promise made long ago to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, to David and Solomon and to the nation of Israel: to send this baby to a virgin’s womb, to nail him one day to a cross, and to raise him from the dead.  In him, Israel is helped.  In him, all are helped who look to him in faith.

My soul magnifies the Lord.  That was Mary’s song, the Magnificat.  A song of joy over God’s great help for the humble. And it’s our song, too.  A song of Advent – Jesus is coming!  Help is on its way!  Amen.

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The King comes to Zion – again this year

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon for Advent 1 – Ad te levavi

Matthew 21:1-9  +  Jeremiah 23:5-8  +  Romans 13:11-14

And so it begins…again. Another Church Year.  Another Advent season.  I don’t suppose any of you welcomed in the New Year last night at midnight, but the Church Year is a big deal in the life of the Church as we follow, week after week, year after year, the life of the One who is our life.  No matter what’s going on in your private life, or in your secular life, the Church Year calls out and reminds you, “This is your life, O Christian!  This is what’s real! This is what’s lasting! This is what sustains you – God’s grace to you in the Person of Christ Jesus.”

The season of Advent is kind of like an alarm clock for the Christian.  If you find yourself dozing off into the sleep of your daily routine, if you find yourself sleeping in to your earthly life and your family and your plans and problems, then the Advent alarm clock starts beeping.  “Wake up!  Look up!  Repent!  Rejoice! Jesus is coming!”

Those little Latin titles for the Sundays in Advent, like the one on the first page of your service folder, help us to narrow our focus each week.  They’re in Latin because they’re ancient. The Introit that we sang today – in English, of course – has been used to begin Divine Services on this Sunday of the Church Year for about 1500 years. “Ad te levavi.”  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.

What does that mean, to lift up your soul? It means that, while the rest of the world goes on naval gazing, focused inward on itself – its plans, its pleasures, its goals, its achievements – the Church sets all her longings, all her hopes, all her expectations on the Lord who is coming.  The Church waits, but while she waits she looks up and watches and yearns for the arrival – the Advent – of our King.  “Show us your unfailing love, O Lord, and grant us your salvation!”

In today’s Gospel, we see the King coming to His Church, coming to Zion – Jerusalem – on Palm Sunday, five days before his crucifixion. And we see Zion, His Church, lifting up her soul to Him with a loud Hosanna!  Come and save us!  As we begin the new Church Year today, let’s consider this Gospel from Matthew 21 under this theme: The King comes to Zion – again this year. 1) He keeps bringing salvation year after year, and 2) She (Zion) keeps singing a louder Hosanna year after year.

HE KEEPS BRINGING SALVATION YEAR AFTER YEAR

It wasn’t the King’s first trip to Zion.  Jesus had made this journey dozens of times.  He was coming to Zion again this year, but this time was special.  This time, everything was ready.  4000 years of preparation on God’s part made this the Advent in Jerusalem that would actually complete God’s plan to redeem sinful mankind from the curse of sin.  This time, the King’s Advent in Jerusalem – his sacrifice of himself on the cross – would fill up the glass of God’s requirements for mankind, topping it off, so that the Son of David could truly become The Lord Our Righteousness, as Jeremiah prophesied, for all who look to him in faith.  The King was coming with salvation – with the sacrifice that would purchase the forgiveness of all men’s sin, so that, by faith in His blood, a person can stand before God with a clean slate at all times.

To fulfill this special Advent in Zion, Jesus told his disciples to go get him a donkey.  He told them right where they would find it waiting for him on that day.  Everything had been prepared for the king’s ride up to Mt. Zion, so that the prophecy could be fulfilled, “Say to the Daughter of Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”

Just as God had prepared a donkey at just the right place and time for the king’s Advent, God had prepared the virgin Mary’s womb for the King’s Advent into the world years earlier.  It was in Bethlehem that the world first beheld the Advent of our King. And so the season of Advent helps us to lift up our soul in wonder and amazement, getting us ready to celebrate that first Advent of Jesus that began in Bethlehem and found its fulfillment on the back of a donkey, carrying our King up to the place of his death to bring salvation to his waiting people.

But God’s plan of salvation goes beyond what Jesus’ first Advent accomplished.  Our King is a one-of-a-kind King who isn’t just a historical figure.  He’s a historical figure who, because he is God and Man, is able to break into our own history, to ride into our hearts and lives and distribute to us the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation.  Our King keeps coming to us; he keeps bringing salvation to us year after year after year. The King comes to Zion as the Holy Spirit brings Him to us in the Means of Grace, in word and Sacrament.  He rides into our church every time we perform a baptism. He rides into our Church this morning in preaching, in the words of the Bible, in bread and wine. Make way for your King! And just as Jesus’ disciples saw through the humble trappings of their King riding into Jerusalem on a donkey, we, his people, see through those humble signs and marvel at the majesty of our King.

Year after year, in Word and Sacrament, the King comes to Zion with more forgiveness, with more grace.  His Word keeps calling you to repent of the sin that so easily entangles.  His body and blood keep feeding your soul.  He comes and serves you and teaches you and comforts you more and more each year, causing your faith to grow year by year, if you don’t refuse his service, helping you to persevere as you wait for him, as you lift up your soul and wait in eager expectation for the Final Advent of your King.  Behold!, he says.  I am coming soon.  The King comes to Zion – again this year.  He keeps bringing salvation to his people who are waiting for him, to Zion, His Church, His Bride.

SHE KEEPS SINGING A LOUDER HOSANNA YEAR AFTER YEAR

And she keeps singing a louder Hosanna year after year.

What must it have been like to stand outside Jerusalem and see Jesus, the Prophet, Jesus the Miracle Worker riding up the hill to the gates of Jerusalem!  Here comes the King!  Lay your cloak in his path.  Mark his way with palm branches.  And even though the crowds didn’t know that he was the Son of God born of the virgin, even though the crowds didn’t know the depth of his love and the breadth of his sacrifice, even though the crowds didn’t know about his resurrection victory that would take place one week from that day or understand what kind of salvation he was bringing, they couldn’t help but sing, ““Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest!”

Hosanna was Zion’s song at the Advent of her King and that song grows louder year after year, because now we do know that it was our Creator God who rode into Jerusalem that day, who entered our human race for the sole purpose of purchasing men for God through his death.  Now we do know the height and breadth of his sacrifice and his victory over death.  When we sing, “Hosanna! Come and save us!”, we know what we’re asking for: for our King to come and rescue us from sin, death and the devil.

We know the bigger story of his love and so we’ll sing a louder Hosanna.  We weren’t there to welcome Jesus into Jerusalem with palms and singing.  We weren’t there in Bethlehem, either. But we’ll sing to him from our place and our time.  We’ll rejoice with those crowds and sing to the coming King, and we’ll trust that our songs reach his eternal ears.

Zion sings a louder Hosanna year after year as the King comes in Word and Sacrament, because year after year, his people know that they need him more and more.  Our sinful nature doesn’t improve with age and it’s never converted.  As you grow older, you realize that sin is your constant companion, and so the forgiveness of sins that your King comes to bring becomes more and important.  The longer you spend in Zion – the Church – the more aware you become of how crafty the devil is, how vicious this world is against God’s people.  Hosanna!  Blessed is he who comes! We literally sing Hosanna to the King who comes in Holy Communion with Zion.

As each year passes, your Hosanna becomes louder because your death becomes nearer.  Each passing year means you’re one year closer to death.  But in the same way, each passing year, each Advent season means that your King is one year closer to arriving.  Each passing year brings you closer and closer to entering the New Jerusalem, brings you closer to meeting your King face to face.  And so, even if your body grows weaker and your voice grows softer and softer as your body ages, the Hosanna that your soul sings grows louder and louder, “Come and save us!  Come and save us!”

As each year passes, your Hosanna grows louder as you live your life in light of the King’s coming at the end of the age.  Each Advent cries out for you to realize, more this year than last, that now is the time to get your heart and life in order.  Now is the time to prepare and get ready.  As you heard in the Second Lesson today, The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

The king comes to Zion – again this year, with salvation that is new every morning.  To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.  Look up!  Pry your eyes off the troubles, cares and pleasures of this world, and sing a loud Hosanna, Come and save!  He did, he does, and he will.  Amen.

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You have to know Providence to give thanks to Providence

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon for Thanksgiving 2010

+  Acts 17:22-31  +

Have you noticed that Thanksgiving is one of the only holidays in the US calendar for which it’s OK to talk about God?  You’ll even hear politicians talking about “God” and divine Providence at Thanksgiving. Here’s what our own president had to say yesterday:  “As we stand at the close of one year and look to the promise of the next, we lift up our hearts in gratitude to God for our many blessings, for one another, and for our Nation…I encourage all the people of the United States to come together – whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place of fellowship for friends and neighbors – to give thanks for all we have received in the past year, to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own, and to share our bounty with others.”

All politics aside, what do you think about that?  Good?  Bad?  We all know that there are many different religions that make up 21st Century America.  What do you think of this calling on all Americans to come together and lift up our hearts in gratitude to God?  What about this American tradition of giving thanks to Providence?

I’ll tell you what it makes me think of:  Athens.  First Century Athens, in Greece.  The people there were very religious.  There were religious places and objects of worship on every street corner – each one dedicated to Providence, although back then, they envisioned Providence as many different gods – divine beings, each one providing for something different.  The god of rain provided rain, the god of fertility provided fertility, the god of love provided love.  If people were looking for providence in some area of their lives, they would go to the temple of the god of that thing and bring an offering, say some prayers, make some sort of commitment.  If they got what they were looking for, they would go back with an offering of thanksgiving to give thanks to that god.

That was the religious climate in Athens when the Apostle Paul visited the city, and he used their religiosity as a starting point in his preaching. He drew their attention to one altar in particular – an altar dedicated “To the unknown god.”  That was the altar that came closest to the truth.  The truth was that for as religious as the Athenians were, the true God remained an unknown God to them.

In a very tactful, nice way, Paul laid out the bare truth for them:  You people are very religious, but your religion is absolutely wrong.  You don’t know God.  Your worship is worthless.  Your altars to Providence are useless.  Your religion is a sham.  The truth is you have to know Providence in order to give thanks to Providence.

Now, he continued, what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you. 

The true God, Paul told them, made all things and rules over all things, without anyone’s assistance.  He doesn’t live in manmade temples.  He doesn’t need people offering him food or sacrifices or any service of any kind.  He needs nothing from man – unlike, if you saw that movie Clash of the Titans – the gods of Olympus needed man’s worship and prayers in order to survive – the Greek gods depended on man for their continued existence.  Not so the true God.  Man depends entirely on him – for everything: life, breath, food and everything else.  All of that comes from Providence.

The true God, Paul told them, made all the people on earth from one man – referring to Adam – Adam and Eve, and God is responsible for where all the nations ended up on the globe, for exactly where and when each person is born and lives.  God’s providence has been running the world since the world’s creation, providing for man, free of charge.

And here’s the big question: why? What was God looking for from mankind?  Repayment?  Compensation?  Service? Worship? None of that.  God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us. Paul doesn’t go into it here, but there’s a reason why people have to grope around in the dark for God.  In the beginning he walked with Adam and Eve. But when they rebelled against him, they plunged our human race into darkness.  We no longer walk with God by nature.  We’re alienated from Him, sinners who are hostile toward him, unwilling and unable to know or worship the true God.  And so we all end up creating false gods to worship, false images of Providence.

Paul told the Athenians, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.”  All of God’s providence to mankind is geared toward this: that men should hear God’s call to repent – to turn from their idolatry, to turn from their false worship, to turn from their ignorance and know the true God who demands nothing from man and gives everything to man – the God who reveals himself in one Place: in the Man whom God has appointed to be the Judge of all mankind – the Man who was put to death by sinful men, but raised from the dead by God.  It’s by faith in him that sinners are saved.

That was the end of Paul’s sermon in Athens.  He didn’t even get to tell the people the name of this Man, or explain to them that he was God’s eternal Son, born of the Virgin Mary.  As soon as he mentioned the resurrection from the dead, the Athenians, for the most part, shook their heads in disbelief and told Paul, “Don’t call us. We’ll call you.”  But a few of them listened.  A few of them repented.  A few of them believed.  That’s how it always goes.

You and I live among a very religious people here in America.  There are some atheists and humanists, but for the most part, Americans have a belief in a divine Being; we recognize the hand of Providence, and we have this national holiday for giving thanks to him.

The only problem is, the religion of most Americans is a religion of ignorance.  It’s been that way since the days of our founding fathers, many of whom were just like the Athenians, worshipers of a generic, unknown deity.  The true God still remains unknown to most of our fellow countrymen, as he was once unknown to us.  For some, he’s been replaced by Science and Evolution as the True Provider.  How many Americans believe what Paul said – that the true God created this universe, and created the first man, and that all human beings are descended from him?  They are no better off than the Athenians were.  The generic American god called Providence is just another one of those manmade idols.  Even the name of Jesus Christ has been distorted so that practically everyone knows the name of Jesus, but very few know the true, biblical Person of Jesus. 

Thanksgiving Day in America is a lot like worship in Athens – a lot of people offering up futile thanks to an unknown God. They will have no Advocate when the Day of Reckoning arrives.  They will have to answer for their idolatry. In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but time is running out for an America that remains intentionally ignorant.

Do you realize, then, how blessed you are to know the truth?  It’s nothing to be arrogant about, either.  You and I would not and could not know the unknown God except for his Providence.  First, he provided that Man named Jesus to live and die and rise again as our Substitute.  Then, as he sent the Apostle Paul to Athens and converted a few of the Athenians through his gospel message, so God has provided messengers to bring you the Word of the true God: his revelation of himself in the Bible, his command to repent, his call to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins.  The only way into the presence of Providence is by faith in Christ Jesus, faith that comes by hearing the message – the message that God has provided for you and to you. Jesus said, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

You who know the true God through his Son – you are the ones, the only ones, who can approach his altar with thanksgiving today and tomorrow.  You who trust in Jesus Christ for forgiveness are the only ones who can stand in God’s presence without fear, whose prayers and requests are acceptable in his sight, because you have an Advocate before him 24/7/365. You are the ones – the only ones who can proclaim the name of the true God and make him known to your neighbors and to your fellow countrymen. You are the ones whom God has called in whatever you do, whether in word or deed, to do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” 

You have to know Providence to give thanks to Providence, and by God’s grace, you are the ones who know him, or rather, are known by Him, loved by Him and forgiven by Him for Jesus’ sake.  And that must be, today and every day, your #1 reason to give thanks.  Amen.

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Christ is the king who saves – from sin!

Posted on November 29, 2010 by Rev. Paul Rydecki

Sermon for End Time 4(c)

Luke 23:35-43  +  Genesis 49:8-12  +  Colossians 1:13-20

There are two outstanding images of Christ the King that Scripture holds before our eyes.  The one is an image of a great and mighty king, all-glorious, sitting on a sapphire throne, wearing a royal crown on his head.  The other is the image of Luke’s Gospel – a broken and bleeding king, weak, hanging on a cross, wearing a crown of thorns on his head.  Which image do you prefer? 

You don’t have to prefer either. Both images are true.  Both images are perfect.  The image of Christ the glorious King is for later – no one living on earth has ever seen that image, except through the eyes of faith.  Our Father is waiting for the Last Day to reveal it openly to the world.

Until then, the image that is stamped on the Church and on our hearts is the image of Christ, the dying King. That image of Christ was seen by many people long ago, and most of them stumbled over it.  Most of them were looking only for Christ the glorious King and so they missed the reality that only one man saw in our Gospel today: that Christ becomes the glorious King because Christ was the dying King.  Because while the world looks for a fast-food kind of King who will take our orders for a happy and safe life on earth and serve them up within minutes, the thief on the cross was looking for a King who could keep him safe before the judgment seat of God and grant him a happy life beyond this life.  To that thief dying next to Jesus on the cross, and to everyone who realizes what our biggest enemy really is, a King who saves from sin is the only kind of King worth having.

There are six groups of people mentioned (or alluded to) in our Gospel today.  The first five stumbled at the image of Christ, the dying King.

First, you had the people who just stood there watching.  They didn’t say anything.  They didn’t have to.  They had heard about Jesus, or maybe even followed Jesus for a few years, and all they could see when they looked up at Jesus on the cross – was a great big disappointment.  All the many miracles Jesus had performed – signs of his hidden glory – the people had so hoped that those miracles were building up to something great and glorious: that he would save them from political oppression, that he would restore justice to the land, that he would save them all from poverty and hunger and sickness and war.  A real king would save them from those things, they thought.  A dying king is a worthless king. You know anyone who thinks like that?

Then you had the Jewish rulers hurling insults up at Jesus. “He saved others; let him save himself if he is the Christ of God, the Chosen One.”  These people had never followed Jesus.  They never for a minute believed that Jesus could be the Christ, the Chosen One of God.  Because if he were, he would surely have congratulated them for being such good religious people.  Instead, he just lumped them together with the rest of sinful mankind, said their good works weren’t good enough, and called on them to repent and believe in him as their Savior.  Humph! Some Savior, who can’t even save himself! Doesn’t he realize that our sins aren’t that serious?  A dying king is a worthless king. You know anyone who thinks like that?

The third group there at the cross were the Roman soldiers.  The soldiers also came up and mocked him…, “If you are the king of the Jews, save yourself.”  If anybody knew what a powerful king looked like, it was the Roman soldiers.  Caesar was Caesar because nobody could beat him in battle or get away with insulting him. A real king takes charge and protects his people and gives them peace and prosperity and pleasure – not shame, not humiliation, not the cross.  No real king would ever bear a cross, much less make his subjects bear a cross. A dying king is a worthless king. You know anyone who thinks like that?

Group #4 at the cross only made an appearance in writing.  Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor had that notice posted above Jesus’ cross, “This is the king of the Jews.”  Not that he actually believed that; he was just using Jesus to get back at the Jewish leaders who had manipulated him into ordering this crucifixion.  To Pilate, Jesus was a nice, innocent man, who probably had some very nice things to teach to people. But Jesus had committed the cardinal sin, in Pilate’s eyes.  He took a stand on The Truth (as if anyone could know the truth).  He made waves.  He didn’t know how to be politically correct, and so he made people angry – angry enough to have him crucified.  A real king knows how to compromise, how to tolerate different views and different lifestyles – not make people angry or get himself killed. A dying king is a worthless king.  You know anyone who thinks like that?

Finally, there was that criminal dying next to Jesus.  Talk about shameless!  He had lived how he wanted to live.  He didn’t care about God and his Commandments.  He didn’t care about human laws, either.  He was tried, convicted and crucified for his crimes and now a few hours away from dying.  And he still thinks God owes him something.  “Aren’t you the Christ? Save yourself and us!”  A real king would let me sin all day long and then still snap his fingers and save me from the consequences of my sin.  But a dying king is a worthless king.  You know anyone who thinks like that?

So the world views Jesus dying on the cross.

And all the while, no one – practically no one gets what we really need saving from.  What few people get, what few people understand is that life on earth is a very short layover on the way to our eternal destination, and everybody holds in his or her hand a ticket to condemnation in God’s tribunal.  Satan has blinded the world to the reality – that we are totally and completely infected by this thing called sin – this inbred rebellion against God that cannot be erased, cannot be compensated for and cannot be forgiven.

Unless somebody else pays the price for it.  Unless somebody else steps in with his own perfect righteousness and satisfies God’s holy law.  Unless that somebody is the Son of God and Son of Man, whose blood covers the sins of mankind.  A real king knows what his people really need, and if the only thing that will save his people from eternal destruction for their sins is his own humiliation, his own sinless life, his own crucifixion, then a real king does what a real king has to do to save his people.  Christ is the King who saves – from sin.

That’s what that other thief on the cross saw when he looked at Jesus hanging there next to him.  He saw his king, doing what he had to do to redeem fallen mankind, to redeem him from his crimes against God and man.  He saw his king sacrificing himself for his people, in fulfillment of all God’s Old Testament prophecies and promises.  He saw his king – the Righteous One giving his life for the unrighteous ones, to bring us to God.

“Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom!”  There was a man who knew what he really needed.  He didn’t need to be rescued from poverty or from hunger or from sickness.  He didn’t need to be given advice on how to make friends or be taught how to lead a victorious life on earth.  He didn’t even need to be rescued from death on that cross.  He needed to be rescued before God’s judgment seat, to be rescued from the devil’s accusations, to be rescued from eternal death in hell, to be rescued by this King and brought safely into his heavenly kingdom.  There was a man who saw clearly with the eyes of faith, who saw God’s greatest gift to mankind, bloody and dying, crowned with a crown of thorns.  There was a man who saw Christ the King for what he was, for what he is – the God of grace and love who saves sinners from sin. 

“I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in Paradise.”  There was the King acting like a king, flinging wide the door to heaven to this wretched sinner who looked to Jesus as his Savior from sin, who trusted in this King for forgiveness and life.

This King does the same thing for all who repent and trust in him, even for you.  He has sent out ministers into the world, even here among you, to hold this image before the eyes of the world – the image of Christ crucified, the truth of a king who died to save mankind from sin, the message of the cross.  “Christ the king has been crucified for you!  Repent and be baptized in the name of this King for the forgiveness of your sins.”  That simple message is and will always be a stumbling block and foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, Christ the wisdom of God and the power of God.

It is Christ, the dying King, into whom you have been baptized – in whom you, too, have been crucified to sin and forgiven of sin, so that you may live in sin no longer, so that your every moment and every breath may be spent in his service, if you have any moments left on this earth.  It is Christ, the dying King, whose body and blood were offered on the cross so that he may now offer them to you for healing and forgiveness in the Holy Supper, where he renews his promise to you again and again, “I tell you the truth, you – you who eat this bread and drink this cup – you will be with me in Paradise.”

Next week we’ll begin a new church year, and guess what the Gospel is for next Sunday:  The gospel for next Sunday, the first Sunday of the church year, is of Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey at the beginning of Holy week.  Today we end the church year with the culmination of Holy Week, the king’s final humiliation destination.  This is the life of the Church on earth: it starts and ends with Christ the dying king, Christ crucified to save his people from their sins.  The Church has no other purpose than to gather around this crucified King in worship, and then to scatter out into the world to proclaim the name of this crucified King until he comes again in glory to judge the living and the dead.  His judgment will be based on one thing alone:  If you are found trusting in this crucified King for your entrance into paradise.  He will not forget his own.  He will remember you when he comes into his kingdom.  And then at last, at last, you will see that other image of this King that will last for all eternity: Christ, the King of glory.  Amen.

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