Epiphany 5

It is amazing to notice the things that people will do when they're motivated. People go to all kinds of great heights just to accomplish some test that they have in mind Some people are motivated by money. NBC has just brought back the television show fear factor. Contestants on that show need to submit themselves all kinds of dangers and indignities all for the sake of money. They throw themselves from tall buildings perform death-defying stunts and eat and drink absolutely vile things - bugs rodents and animal organs. On hope of winning $50,000. That seems to me like a small sum of money to eat and drink some the things that the people on that show eat and drink but apparently there is no shortage of contestants willing to sign up to do such awful things Today is Super Bowl Sunday. The New York Giants and the New England Patriots will take to the field in the hope of winning football glory. In the spirit of competition players will play through pain and injury all for the hope of winning the game. Call in the spirit of competition. Some people are motivated by love for another person perhaps a spouse or family member. Parents will work long hours will sacrifice and surrender personal comfort and health and well-being all for the good of their children.  Fathers will risk their lives to keep the kids safe, mothers will give up everything that they had to provide for their children. Different people are motivated by different things. What motivates you?   I do it all for the sake of the Gospel says the apostle Paul that I might share with them and its blessings. The apostle Paul was motivated by the privilege and the blessing of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.   If you read the book of acts and know anything about the life of the apostle Paul then you know that he was one was definitely motivated by the gospel. He submitted himself to numerous beatings he was imprisoned in jail he was shipwrecked on one occasion he was even's taking outside the city and Stoned  he was left for dead and when his followers came to get him he picked himself up off the ground he brushed himself off and walked back into the city to continue to preach  the gospel   Call describes that motivation for us here in a text he says that he's become all things to all people. He says,"1 Corinthians 9:19-23 19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. 20 To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. 21 To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. 22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. 23 I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.   As Paul writes it is evident that he is motivated by love. Obviously love for God love for the Gospel and love for the church. That is to say love for the community of faith. But there is a greater love here that motivates him met for us might be quite shocking   When it  comes to love and to Christian loving brothely love we here in St. Paul Chuckery  have a good understanding what that means. After all we love each other. We know each other we have grown up with each other. We spent a good amount of time with one another. We see each other at the ball diamond and at the playing field. We cheer for each other's kids in each others grandkids. We are all apart of the same community and so we love each other. When one rejoices we're all happy with him. When one grieves we share her grief. so when it comes to people we know and love is not too much of a stretch for us to understand what Paul is talking about.   Paul made  himself like the Jews  to relate to the Jews. Paul made himself like one under the law to relate to those under the law.  Paul made himself like those who didn't know how to relate to those who were without the law  Paul  made himself week to relate to those were week. As he said he became all things to all people.   But I just misquoted that text did you catch it?  I said that Paul wanted to relate to all people but that's not what he says at all. You didn't just want to relate to that he wanted to Win them. Win them for Christ and win them for the Gospel. The thing that's revolutionary about what Paul says in our text is that he shows all of this love the people he doesn't even know. For unbelievers and pagans. For the nameless faces he saw what he walked down the street. You and I might sacrifice instructor's house for people we know love but for someone we don't even know? It's almost unthinkable. But that's the love and the motivation exhibited by Paul it should be the love and motivation exhibited by us.   But it's not.   We are a family first community. We love our own we care for our own. We protect our own. Are those the only ones God has given us to love those the only ones God has given us to protect are those the only ones God has given us to serve. No.   In fact we should love we should serve we should protect the way that God loves and serves and protects us. While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. Now we are believers now we are Christians but there was a day when we were not. There was a day when we were unbelievers when we were pagans when we were destined for hell. But God loves us God served us God protected us he did it by sending his son Jesus to die for us on the cross.   The apostle Paul learned his missionary zeal not by looking for it inside himself he didn't find it in his own heart. Instead he found it in Christ. Christ who was born for him Christ who lived for him Christ who died for him Christ was raised again for him Christ who is seated on the right hand of God the father Almighty for him. Christ who will come again on the last day to judge the living and dead. Christ who will come for the apostle Paul but also Christ will come for you   Christ who will come for you but also Christ will come for that unbeliever who has yet to know Jesus  it is your job to find him is your job to find her to tell her what Jesus has done to save her to save him.   To do that we should be like Paul all things to all people. Like the Jews like the Greeks. Like the wise and the educated but also like the fools the weak the underprivileged the uneducated.  We should love them even the way we love our own. why? because Jesus does. Because Jesus loves us.   we will bring up the topic of motivation we can certainly discuss the things that motivate us to do the things that we do. And there're many of them and they are good. Paul the apostle was motivated by the gospel of Jesus christ. Jesus was motivated by love. Minivet love that motivated Jesus that motivated Paul also motivates you. Amen. And now may the peace that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  

The Lord's Prayer - 7th Petition

But deliver us from evil.

What does this mean? We pray in this petition, in summary, that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour comes, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven.

In this last petition we pray that the Lord would deliver us from evil.  According to Greek grammar, this phrase could also be understood to say “Deliver us from the evil one.”  The Large Catechism emphasizes this understanding of the text.  After all, there are many evils present in this world, but there is one that stands behind it all, one primary enemy who knowingly and willingly stirs up evil, and that is the Devil.  The Small Catechism is offering a brief summary and so it goes with a more general treatment; “all manner of evil” it says.  Evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation.  But there is one who stands behind this evil and who initiates this evil, and that is the Devil.

You and I live in a very secularized society, one that places a high priority on reason and rationality.  People will say, “I'll believe it when I see it.”  “I’ll believe it when you can prove it.”  This makes it very easy for the devil to hide from us. Our world is full of very outspoken atheists and agnostics and skeptics who doubt that there is a spiritual realm, who believe the world is only material.  As far as Satan is concerned, that is just fine.  It fits into his game plan.  He doesn’t want to give people a reason to believe in God so he stays behind the scenes.  But he is still there and he is only all too real.

We know this because the Scriptures tell us.  The Lord records for us in Genesis the first appearance of the Devil in the Garden of Eden when he tempted Adam and Eve to sin.  We also see him battling Jesus with temptations in the Wilderness.  The Gospel of Mark tells of a boy who was possessed by a devil and this devil tried to destroy him.  It would throw him into the fire to burn him and it would throw him into the water to drown him. (Mark 9:22) We see terrible things like this that happen in our day and age; drownings and murders, insanity and suicide.   Our news media loves to report these sorts of things and so we hear about them often.  We look for material explanations.  Drugs, Despair, Greed, Coincidence.  Luther finds evidence of the work of the Devil. [LC III p. 115] 

The devil works on us too. His tools are lies and deceit. His goal is to destroy us.  His strategy is much like that of a lion hunting its prey.  When a lion goes hunting it will look for one who is vulnerable in some way, weak or injured.  He will separate that one from the rest of the herd and give chase.  Wear it down until its tired and then pounce.  Satan does the same with us.  When we are weak or injured, when our defenses are down.  When we are tired, stressed, grief stricken or angry,  Satan will come to attack us.  If he can he will try to separate us from Christ and His body the Church and he will try to wear us down through repeated attacks.  He will get us to blame God, to blame other Christians for our suffering.  He will push us to sin.  And he will try to destroy our faith. 

The battle ground for this attack is always the conscience.  Satan wants to destroy your conscience.  Your conscience is a gift from God.  It lets you know when you have broken God’s Law and it lets you know when you need to confess your sin and receive forgiveness.  When it is functioning properly it points you to Christ.  Christ wants you to have a good conscience, a clear conscience.  He wants you to be sure and confident of your forgiveness and salvation.  That is why he died for you; to set you free from sin and free from the accusations of the Devil.  (1 John 1:7-9; Hebrews 9:14) How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:14 ESV) You can face your sin with confidence because of Jesus.  Satan knows that the Forgiveness of Christ undoes all his work and so Satan attacks you to and tries to pull you away from God’s forgiveness. 

Satan attacks your conscience first with temptation.  He entices you to violate God’s law.  Since we are sinful and weak, we are only all too happy to give in.  And then, once we have given in, once we have broken the commandments he sets to work on the conscience.  When your conscience is working correctly it tells that you are guilty when you are guilty and it tells you that you are innocent when your are innocent.  A broken conscience works just the opposite – it tells you your are innocent when you are guilty or it tells you that you are guilty when you are innocent.  Either one is  bad.  A presenter at the conference I attended this past week compared it to a broken gas gauge.  If your gas gauge tells you your tank is full when it’s empty that’s bad.  If it tells you you are empty when you are full, either one is bad and either one can get you stuck on the side of the road. 

So here’s what Satan does.  God’s law says you should not slander.  God’s law says that you are guilty when you say things about another person to destroy their reputation.  Satan questions that Word of God.  He gets you to doubt whether or not that is true.  “Yes, gossip and slander is wrong, but it’s okay in certain situations.  It’s even necessary.  It would be wrong not to tell what I know.” And so we give in.  And once we have given in, Satan now has what he needs to work on conscience.  He tells you that you are innocent.  That you haven’t  done anything wrong.  That you did what was right.  Others might say it was wrong but what do they know.  This compounds the sin.  It pushes you do it again and again and again.  And that sin has consequences.  It causes offense.  It alienates you from other people, from other Christians, from your church.  It’s dangerous.

But then there is the other side, the other strategy.  Let’s say you slandered another person – shared some piece of information and caused offense.  But you knew it was wrong, you went to that other person, those you sinned against and confessed that sin to them.  They forgave you.  You confessed that sin to God.  You received absolution.  You are forgiven.    God’s Word says you are forgiven.  But Satan says you are not.  He brings this sin up again and again.  How could you have done that?  You hurt that person.  You destroyed their reputation.  You know how gossip is, once it goes out you can’t ever get it back.  Who knows that gossip is probably still going around and it’s all your fault.  And so your sin comes up again and again and again.  God has said you are forgiven.  Satan says you are not.  You believe the devil. 

All of this is really no different from Satan’s usual tricks.  He attack the Word of God.  God has two Words, words of law that condemn you and words of Gospel that save you.  He attacks both, he gets you to doubt both.  His ultimate goal is to destroy your conscience so he can destroy your faith. 

Our prayer in this petition is that God would deliver us from the Devil, that he would deliver us from these tricks that the devil plays against us and that we would not be overcome by them.  Luther says “There is nothing for us to do but pray against this arch enemy.  For unless God preserved us, we would not be safe from this enemy even for an hour.” [LC III p.116]  On our own we have no hope of defeating the Devil and standing against his attacks so we must pray that God will deliver us.

Luther says, “If we are to be preserved and delivered from all evil, the name of God must first be hallowed in us, His kingdom must be with us, and His will be done. After that He will finally preserve us from sin and shame, and, besides, from everything that may hurt or injure us.” [LC III p 118]  You see, God has already delivered us from this evil.  God has already delivered us from Satan.  This is the last petition of the Lord’s Prayer.  Luther says the name of God must first be hallowed.  It has been. 

God’s name is kept holy when the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we, as the children of God, also lead holy lives according to it. Help us to do this, dear Father in heaven! But anyone who teaches or lives contrary to God’s Word profanes the name of God among us. Protect us from this, heavenly Father!  God does this for you.  He gives you His Word and Spirit to bring you to faith and keep you firm in that faith.  He provides for you teaching and instruction in the Word.  That’s what we are doing now!

God delivers us when his kingdom comes.  It has come.  God’s kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and there in eternity.  That has been done!  You have received the Spirit.  It was given in your baptism, when you also received the Name.  The Spirit gives you faith so that you turn away from sin and to the Cross!  You see there the life of Jesus given for you.  Your sin is forgiven!

God delivers us from the devil when His Holy Divine Will is done.  God’s will is done when He breaks and hinders every evil plan and purpose of the devil, the world, and our sinful nature, which do not want us to hallow God’s name or let His kingdom come; and when He strengthens and keeps us firm in His Word and faith until we die. This is His good and gracious will.

God’s Will has been done for you.  It is being done for you.  That, again, is why we are here this morning.  To receive the forgiveness of sin in the absolution.  To hear the word of God preached and the forgiveness of sins declared to you as if by God himself.  To receive the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith in the Lords Supper where you receive the body and blood of Jesus given for us Christians to eat and to drink.  The work of Satan is being undone right here and right now.  God’s name is here right now!  God’s Kingdom comes, right now!  God’s will is done! Right Now!  We have prayed to the Lord the prayer he gave us to pray and he is answering that prayer with a resounding YES! Right Now!

In the Lord’s Prayer Jesus gives to us everything that we need.  He invites us to pray for those things that are most necessary for us.  God’s name, his Kingdom, His Will, daily bread, forgiveness, deliverance from temptation and finally deliverance from evil.  When we have prayed these things, when we have believed them and received them in faith, there is only one thing left for us do.  Only one response left for a Christian and that is to say Amen. Yes it is so.  I do believe it. 

I have challenged you to pray this prayer.  I offer that again.  Pray this prayer in faith.  Believe and do not doubt.  Receive the gifts God has given.  As we make our way through this 2012 calendar year, let us carry this prayer with us in faith know that God will do what he has promised this year and every year.

Amen.

Lord's Prayer - 5th and 6th Petitions

The city of Bombay in India is a city with a population of greater than 12 million people.  There are nearly 60,000 people per square mile.  And they don’t all live in high rises like we might expect.  Instead they live on the street.  Or next to it, to be more precise; in little villages pieced together from pieces of scrap metal and wood.  Entire towns made from discarded construction materials.  The well off live in homes and apartments the way we would be accustomed to.  The poor live in shacks and shanty towns along the road ways.

I had the opportunity to visit this bustling and crowded city a number of years ago.  I was a senior in high school, spent my life up to that point enjoying the Modern comforts of Western living – had never experienced hunger or poverty.  I was in shock at the things I saw.  Hundreds and thousands of people living in shacks made from scraps.  Built on every available empty piece of land.  Crowded and (to me) it seemed careless. I could not believe it.  What about sanitation?  What about safety?  Little children went running and playing through these little towns.  I wouldn’t have thought one of these homes enough shelter to store my bicycle, and this was their entire living.

You see, you and I don’t know what it means to be poor.  We don’t know what it means to have nothing or to go hungry.  We think poverty means you have a standard definition tv set with no cable.  We think poverty means you don’t get to go to Disney world for your vacation.  We think poverty means you have to shop at a thrift store.  Our standards are way too high compared to some.

And because we don’t understand what it means to be poor, we also don’t understand what it means to be a beggar. To truly have nothing.  The shack dwellers in Bombay were not rich but they at least had work.  There were plenty who did not – cripples, disabled people who were not able to hold the job of a day laborer.  They sat on the side of the road, dirty, bedraggled, hands out, eyes down, faces forlorn.  Begging for anything you would give.

We haven’t ever seen this or experienced this, and so when we read in the Large Catechism that the prayer for forgiveness as we forgive applies to our “poor miserable life” we have little context for understanding what it means.  We think we are pretty well off.  We think we are doing okay.  We think we have our lives together.  The reality is that we do not.  Before God we are beggars.  Poor.  Having nothing.  Not like the shack dwellers who at least have a roof over their heads and a job and a salary.  We are like the lame, the cripple, those too weak to work, to earn, to pay.  We can only come before God with eyes down cast and empty hands extended upward.  Forgives our sins.  Forgive us our trespasses.

Remarkably, He does.  If I would have filled every open hand and every hungry mouth I saw in Bombay, I quickly would have exhausted all my resources.  I could help one, maybe two, perhaps a handful if I felt generous.  Jesus helps us all.  He fills every open hand, he feeds every hungry soul as he gives to us His all.  Even his life in exchange for ours.  He trades places with us, he becomes the beggar so that we could be the king.  Is that something you would do?  Trade your middle class American lifestyle for that of a beggar in India?  Not likely, but Jesus did that and more for you.  Traded heaven for earth.  Traded abundance for poverty.  Traded power for weakness. Traded love for scorn.  He did all of that for you.  To purchase for you forgiveness.  To be able to wash you and cleanse you and clothe you, to take you off the street and clean you up and make something of you.  You were nothing.  You were nobody.  Now you are God’s own child. 

Lord, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

Do you see how petty we are?  When we begin to realize how greatly we have been loved and how greatly we have been forgiven; to consider that we won’t forgive even the smallest of sins that have been committed against us?  The way we keep track, the way we keep score, the way we tally up the offenses that someone else has committed.  “I have a right to retribution.  I want justice.  I want satisfaction.  I want my pound of flesh. You won’t take advantage of me!” How quickly we forget. 

Jesus is the Son of God.  He is great.  He is powerful.  He is sinless.  He is righteous.  He has the right to demand from you retribution.  He has the right to demand satisfaction for the sins you have committed against him.  And heaven help us if he did. 

There is a plight worse than that of a beggar and that is the plight of a prisoner.  We don’t have the context for understanding that either.  For us prison means bars and a striped suit.  Sure that’s bad, but it comes with 3 square meals a day and a college education courtesy of the tax payers.   That’s not what all prisons are like – Prisons are hell holes, a place where you go to die.  This is the place reserved for sinners.  Beggars on earth become hell bound prisoners in eternity.  Prisoners in hell would long for the good ol’ days spent begging on earth.

Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.  Forgive us Lord even for our refusal to forgive.

In the end, our forgiveness really isn’t worth all that much anyways.  Luther says that our forgiveness is a sign of the forgiveness that God gives.  He says that Jesus adds our forgiveness to this petition “so that he may establish forgiveness as our confirmation and assurance, as a sign alongside the promise, which agrees with the prayer.” (LC III p 96)  It is a reminder, evidence, proof positive.  Our sins are gone because of what Jesus has done.  Our forgiveness that we give to each other is an every day reminder that this forgiveness is real.  When you forgive me because of what I have done against you, you become a reminder for me of Jesus.  Isn’t it beautiful that we can do that for each other?

But Satan would have none of it!  Neither would his allies in this life, the world and the flesh.  All this forgiveness and love and mercy – all this freedom and release!  That can’t happen.  There must be death and to get to death there must be justice!  There must be retribution!  There must be satisfaction!  To have all of these things there must be sin.  So that there can be sin, the Devil the world and our flesh throw us into temptation.

“Lead us not into temptation.” The Lord commands us to pray. 

What does this mean?

God, indeed, tempts no one; but we pray in this petition that God would guard and keep us, so that the devil, the world, and our flesh may not deceive us, nor seduce us into misbelief, despair, and other great shame and vice; and though we be assailed by them, that still we may finally overcome and gain the victory.

In the Large Catechism Luther tells us that there are three different kinds of temptations; those from the Devil, those from the world and those from the flesh. 

Our flesh tempts us because it delights in sin.  There are all different sins that entice us and appeal to us.  Unchastity, laziness, gluttony, drunkenness, greed, deception, theft.  The flesh, our flesh is eager for opportunities to participate in any one of these sins.  And if you think you don’t, then watch out for the sin of pride.  I don’t do that!  I don’t think that!  All a false sense of security when it comes to the flesh!

And then there are the temptations that world lays upon us.  Living in the world means that we live with other sinful people.  They all carry that same flesh that plagues you.  And the one thing the world can’t abide is someone who doesn’t conform.  Someone who isn’t like all the rest.  And so we normalize the worst in us and marginalize the best. We love it when the mighty fall.  We love it when the pure in heart are not so pure as they once seemed.  We love it when we can say “see I told you so.”  And so the world drives us to anger.  We drive each other to anger, not to mention hatred, envy, hostility violence, wrong, unfaithfulness, vengeance, pride slander, haughtiness.  In our pride we look to the world for useless finery, honor fame and power.

And then there is the devil, the master-mind behind it all.  Who wants nothing more than for you to stumble and fall so that he can throw the whole thing in your face and tear you apart with fear and despair.  Sometimes he pushes you to pride and self justification.  Sometimes to weakness, sometimes to despair, always away from God.

If we were to face these enemies on our own we would surely be overcome.  And so we pray that God would preserve us from these temptation and keep us from being destroyed by them.

So there is no help of comfort except to run here, take hold of the Lord’s Prayer, and thus speak to God from the heart: Dear Father, You have asked me to pray; Don’t let me fall because of temptations. Then you will see that the temptations must stop, and finally acknowledge themselves conquered. If you try to help yourself by your own thoughts and counsel, you will only make the matter worse and give the devil more space. For he has a serpent's head, which if it gain an opening into which he can slip, the whole body will follow without check. But prayer can prevent him and drive him back.  [LC III p 110-111]

Amen.

The Lord's Prayer in the New Year - Petitions 3 & 4

“Here we now consider the poor bread basket, the necessaries of our body and of the temporal life.”  [LC III p 72]

Today in our ongoing series on the Lord’s Prayer we consider the 3^rd Petition as well as the 4^th.  Thy Will be done and Give us this day our daily bread.  We have begun with the bread.  We have begun with the 4^th.

In the 4^th Petition we pray for bread, but this prayer is for much more than simply just bread.  Bread is only the finished product.  Bread is that thing that we need so that we can eat and live.  But bread doesn’t appear all by itself.  Before there can be bread there must be someone to bake it, there must be flour and grain and eggs and sugar, there must be a farmer to grow and to harvest the grain, cattle and chickens for milk and eggs, land to plant the seed, sunshine and rain to make it grow.  Daily bread is much more than just a prayer for bread.  It is a prayer for everything that goes in to making and preparing that bread.  It involves all of commerce and all of life.  This simple prayer is a prayer that God would provide all of those things as much as we need them.  We pray that God would support us in our earthly and bodily life.

Last week we mentioned that the prayer that God’s Kingdom come was not a prayer for our election cycle – God’s Kingdom is not of this earth, so a prayer for God’s Kingdom has nothing to do with who is president in Washington, Beijing, Moscow, Baghdad or Tehran.  But, here in the 4^th Petition good government is included (we can’t after all make a living and eat our bread in peace unless there is a government to help us protect it).  God provides this.  God takes care of us, of his world and his whole creation by creating our various stations in life: bakers and farmers and presidents and autoworkers and soldiers and teachers and mothers & fathers.  He gives each station, each office for our good and then he calls every one of us to fill those stations.  Tom, you bake bread; Marsha, you be a nurse to bandage and heal; Al, you go farm – plant and harvest; Jill, go paint and draw – and since you’re so good at it teach others to do it! 

It’s God’s world, God’s creation.  He makes it.  He keeps it running.  He enlists us and calls us to participate in this work together with him.

When you, the Christian pray this prayer you do not simply pray it for yourself – Lord I want my pantry full.  You pray this prayer for all people, for your neighbor.  Notice that the prayer is not singular.  Give me this day my daily bread.  It is profoundly plural.  Us and Our!  We pray not just for ourselves but for each other.  “Lord you have blessed me with more than I need,  but I have noticed that my neighbor has a need.”  You pray for your neighbor and for that need.  And if you are going to pray for it, you also should help to fill it.

James says in chapter 2 of his epistle. “What good is it my brothers if someone says he has faith but does not have works?  Can that faith save him?  If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food and one of you says to them, ‘Go in peace be warm and well fed.’ without giving  them the things needed for the body, what good is that?  So also faith, if it does not have works is dead.” (James 2:14-17)

Remember the preaching of John the Baptist?  “Whoever has two coats is to share with him who has none.  Whoever has food is to do likewise.”

Even as we pray that God would fill us it is our duty to fill others.

So we pray this prayer on behalf of our neighbor.  But we also pray this prayer against Satan.  Luther says that “(Satan’s) thought and desire is to deprive us of all that we have from God and to hinder it.  He is not satisfied to obstruct and destroy spiritual government by leading souls astray with his lies and power.  He also prevents and hinders the stability of all government and honorable, peaceable relations on the earth.”  [LC III p 80]

 Wherever there is dissention and disagreement know that the devil is at work.  Wherever there is want and poverty and need, know that the devil is at work.

“If it were in his power, and our prayer (next to God) did not prevent him, we would not keep a straw in the field a penny in the house, yes even our life for an hour.” [LC III p 81]

In the 3^rd Petition our Lord teaches us to pray, “Thy will be done.”

I will warn you dear Christians, think twice before you pray this prayer.

This first petition that we have covered is one that we can readily agree to pray and eagerly get behind.  Lord give me bread, preserve my wealth and health and stability.  While you’re at it do the same for my neighbor.  We like that prayer, but this next one – the one that comes directly before it – Thy will be done – that is a terrifying prayer.

It’s terrifying because it means you have to die. 

The Small Catechism tells us that the devil, the world and our sinful flesh get in the way of God’s will.  They do not want God’s Kingdom to come or his name to be kept holy and so they fight against it.  You are on the devils side in this fight.  You might not agree.  You might not care to hear that.  But it is true.  The Catechism says that it is. St Paul says it is.  “For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is in my sinful nature.  For I have the desire to do what is good but I cannot carry it out.” (Romans 7:18)

The Apostle John says the same thing.  “Do not love the world or anything in the world.  If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him.  For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes, the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.  The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”  (1 John 2:15-17)

In order for God’s will truly to be done.  In order for God to really and completely and totally have his way with you, it is necessary that you die.  It is necessary that your will, your priorities, your aspirations, your pursuits, your pleasures, your achievements all come to nothing.  And there are many of them.  Some of them are temporal – careers, personal achievements, family goals, financial goals.  These become gods that take the place of the One God. 

Some of these goal might even be spiritual goals – your commitment to God, your good works, your prayer life!  The Christian does not look at himself and say, “I need to be a better Christian, I need to be a more devout Christian.  I need to pray more, be more sincere, be more faithful, be a better husband or wife or sister of brother.”  “The good we want to do we cannot do. But the evil we don’t want to do, that is what we keep on doing.” (Romans 7:19)  So the Christian looks to Jesus and simply prays, Lord may your will be done with me and then in faith submits to that will.  And then, if you are to win the fight against the Devil God will do it.  If you are to overcome the sin in your heart, God will do it.  If you are stand against the world, God will do it.  Pray!  Go with your Bible and pray.  Pray that God’s will be done in you and then submit to that Holy will. God will make sure that it happen.

God’s Kingdom first came to you when He first gave you His Name.  Our Lord fulfilled the first two petitions – His Name was Hallowed and His Kingdom came to you when you were baptized.  He gave you his Name through His Word and according to Faith he made you an heir of His Kingdom.  The Gospel has come to you and made you a Christian.  And that’s just it.  That’s where your death began – you died to yourself and to your sinful flesh and to your own quest for wealth and power and glory – you died to your own will on the day that you were baptized.

Paul writes in Romans 6:

Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:3-11 ESV)

In the Large Catechism Luther writes, “In God’s Kingdom, although we have prayed for the greatest need – for the Gospel, faith, and the Holy Spirit, that He may govern us and redeem us from the devil’s power – we must also pray that God’s will be done.  For there will be strange events if we are to abide God’s will.  We shall have to suffer many thrusts and blows on that account from everything that seeks to oppose and prevent the fulfillment of the first two petitions.” [LC III p 61]

So your death and the overcoming of your will began at your baptism.  It is God’s Will that the overcoming of your will be accompanied by trials, by struggles, by temptations, by suffering.  God gives you your own cross to carry. 

If you are like me, you hate to suffer.  I hate to suffer.  I hate it when God allows people and events and situations to come up that cause me discomfort or grief or hardship.  In fact, I even tell myself that if God really loved me he wouldn’t make me have to deal with all of this.  But that is my sinful flesh talking.  Yours probably says the same thing.  Our sinful flesh, that doesn’t want God’s name hallowed or his kingdom to come, wants to set aside the heavenly kingdom in the interest of the earthly kingdom.  We want peace and prosperity and stability.  We want to be happy.  And we want it now. 

But remember the 4^th Petition?  Give us this day our daily bread?  Notice what we prayed for.  Bread.  Not a feast.  Not a lavish and succulent banquet.  Bread.  The basics.  And not an overflowing cupboard of bread.  Bread for each day. 

”Two things I ask of you; deny them not to me before I die: Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.”  (Proverbs 30:7-9 ESV)

Our sinful flesh wants to be rich.  Our sinful flesh wants success and fame and glory and honor and we want those things now.  God hasn’t promised to give them to you now.  God has promised to give you bread.  Bread for today – to feed you, to give you what you need, to support this body and this life. 

The suffering that God sends your way, the cross that you will carry, this is God’s gift to you.  Remember the apostles who rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer?  (Acts 5:41)  God’s promise is that whatever suffering you incur it will be for your good.  God’s promise is that through your suffering he will teach you greater faith and through suffering he will overcome sin in you. 

We often pray Thy will be done but we often mean it only in terms of external situations.  Things outside me.  My job, my taxes, the weather. My family.  Pray that God’s will be done inside you.  In your heart.  To overcome sin and to teach you to humbly and meekly carry your cross.

And you will carry a cross because Jesus has called you to die.  But so has he.  Jesus carried his cross.  Jesus died on that cross.  But Jesus has been raised.  And just as he was raised, you will be too. And on the day that you will be raised he will give you all those things your heart desires.  Daily bread will be replaced with an eternal feast.  Suffering will be replaced with joy.  Crosses will be replaced with crowns.  Death will be gone forever and replaced with life. 

The Christian faith is a faith that is lived in the present with an eye to future.  We live today, but in the hope of tomorrow.  We pray that the Lord would give us what we need to keep  going for today, but we know his greatest gifts are reserved for tomorrow!  The devil, the world and our sinful flesh want us to worry about bread.  Get what you can, early and often.  But its just bread.  It gets stale and moldy.  We are in line for a seat at the table for Heaven’s feast that will come on the last day!  Lord get us to that day.  Give us bread for today.  But as far as tomorrow, as far as forever is concerned – Lord, may Your will be done.

Amen

The Lord's Prayer in the New Year: Petitions 1 & 2

Luther's Small Catechism: The Lord's Prayer

Luther's Large Catechism: The Lord's Prayer

Happy New Year!  Today is a new day and the first day of the New Year and with this new year perhaps some of you have made a New Year’s resolution, a commitment for some new thing that you are going to do or to change for this next year.  Perhaps you are already planning how you will go about making sure this year, this resolution is one you don’t break.  That’s usually how they go, isn’t it?  For my part, I hope you are successful with this one. 

Whether you have or have not made a resolution, I would like to propose a resolution for you, a resolution that we all could make together.  And this resolution is a resolution to prayer.  I would like to propose that we all commit ourselves to praying during this 2012 calendar year.  And specifically that we commit ourselves to the Lord’s Prayer. 

The Lord’s Prayer is more than merely a good example or a model prayer for us to follow.  This prayer is one that encompasses all of the Christian life.  Everything the Christian needs and everything we aught to be asking God to give us and to do for us is contained in this prayer.  It is God’s prayer, the prayer he prays for us and He invites us to pray it with him.  As such, it is only right and proper that this should be a prayer that we should pray.  And so that we do, so that you do, I propose you make this prayer your resolution.  Resolve to pray it.  But also resolve to pattern your life after it. 

So that we might make a good start to this New Year and to implementing our New resolution, it is my plan, my resolution if you will to preach on this prayer.  To teach on it so that we know it and understand it.  So that we are reminded of what it is we pray for when we say these words our Lord gave us. 

This is our Lord’s prayer after all.  He has commanded that we pray it.  When the disciples come to the Lord saying “Teach us to pray.” he did not say, “Pray like this” or “in this way” or “After this pattern”.  He said, “When you pray, say this.”  (Matthew 6:9-13; Luke 11:2-4)  God wants us to pray this prayer. He commands us to pray this prayer.  Luther says that we should form the habit of prayer from youth, that we should pray whenever we notice anything affecting our interests or that of other people among whom we live.  He says that we should pray to God His commands and lift them up before him and that because of indifference to prayer, every day people become for unfit and unworthy of prayer.  This is what the Devil desires because he knows the great harm that our prayers cause him. [LC III p. 28-29]   

All these things considered, prayer shouldn’t take a resolution.  It should be a natural habit, something we do automatically – like breathing.  Inhale God’s Word, exhale prayer.  Necessary and essential to life.

To pray is simply to acknowledge God as Lord.  It is to call upon him for every need.  Someone who thinks they have no need of prayer is someone who thinks they have no need of God.  They believe they have the strength and the will to go it alone.  Human pride is such that we would be easily duped into such a false belief so God doesn’t leave this up to us.  Instead he commands us.  Pray.  He doesn’t even leave it up to us as to what to pray for.  Certainly he wants to hear our hearts desires and to know those things that most trouble us.  But our prayers are often short sighted, we pray like a kid making out a Christmas list – things that we want or that we think we need.  God knows our needs and so he gives us those things we should pray for.  These 7 petitions from the Lord’s Prayer are those things that you most need.  Therefore God says  Pray this prayer.

Sometimes, when people do not pray, it is because we are a people prone to doubt.  Sometimes there are those who in despair believe that God would not or could not hear them, that he is too busy or that their concerns are too small or that our prayers would do no good.  God would also not leave us to this despair or hopelessness and so again he commands us.  We have the assurance that if this is God’s Word and Command then he will hear our prayer.  Luther says, “Therefore you should say: My prayer is as precious, holy, and pleasing to God as that of St. Paul or of the most holy saints.  This is the reason: For I will gladly grant that he is holier in his person, but not on account of the commandment; since God does not regard prayer on account of the person, but on account of His word and obedience thereto. For on the commandment on which all the saints rest their prayer I, too, rest mine. Moreover, I pray for the same thing for which they all pray and ever have prayed; besides, I have just as great a need of it as those great saints, yea, even a greater one than they.” 

In the First Petition God commands us to pray, “Hallowed be your name.” or “May your name be kept holy”.

What does this mean?--Answer.

God's name is indeed holy in itself; but we pray in this petition that it may become holy among us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity, and we as the children of God also lead holy lives in accordance with it. To this end help us, dear Father in heaven. But he that teaches and lives otherwise than God's Word teaches profanes the name of God among us. From this preserve us, Heavenly Father.

God’s name is holy by itself.  We cannot do anything that would make God and his name more holy.  Our prayer is that God’s name would be holy in the way that we use it. 

God’s name was given to us when we were baptized.  The pastor said to you, I baptize you in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  This means that you have God’s name.  An adopted child receives the name of his adopted parents.  When Mr. and Mrs. Smith go to adopt little David; he is no longer just David, he is David Smith and David has at his disposal everything that belongs to his new parents.  Likewise we have been given God’s name and are God’s children.  This name should be for us the greatest and best treasure.  The storehouses of our Heavenly Father should be a place that we visit often are regularly.  But we do not.

Our Catechism asks the question: how is God’s name kept holy among us?  When the Word of God is taught in its truth and purity and when we live holy lives in accordance with it.  In other words, when we believe God’s word and when we live our lives according to it.

As we reflect back on this past year, on 2011, we might ask ourselves when and where have we dishonored God’s name?  Where have we dishonored God in our faith or life during this past year (or years)?  Has the Word of God been our master and set for us the standard for our life and belief or have we made our own commitments or our own priorities of greater importance above God’s Word?  Have we used God’s name as a cloak for our sin?  Persisting in it but pretending to be right and righteous because after all, we are Christians, after all we go to church, we serve in the church.  God’s Word calls us to repent of this sin.  As we pray this prayer in the new year may it be our commitment to receive the Word of God and believe it, to allow it to be our master and our guide so that we believe rightly but also so that we live rightly, so that we put away all falsehood and sin and so that God’s name might be honored in our thinking and in our doing.

In the Second Petition God commands us to pray, “Thy Kingdom Come”. (See p.    in blue hymnal)

What does this mean?--Answer.

The kingdom of God comes indeed without our prayer, of itself; but we pray in this petition that it may come unto us also.

How is this done?--Answer.

When our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and yonder in eternity.

God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom that he commands us to pray for is that very thing that he sent when he came as a child at Christmas, when the Angels sang and the Shepherds worshipped, when the Magi presented him with gifts and then when John began teaching and baptizing and when Jesus began to teach and call his disciples.  The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.  This is God’s kingdom of Grace and salvation.  God sent his son in to the world to redeem us from the devil’s power. (1 John 3:8).  Our prayer in this petition is that this Kingdom come to us. 

52] Therefore we pray here in the first place that this may become effective with us, and that His name be so praised through the holy Word of God and a Christian life that both we who have accepted it may abide and daily grow therein, and that it may gain approbation and adherence among other people and proceed with power throughout the world, (2 Thessalonians 3:1) that many may find entrance into the Kingdom of Grace (John 3:5), be made partakers of redemption (Colossians 1:12), being led thereto by the Holy Ghost (Romans 8:14), in order that thus we may all together remain forever in the one kingdom now begun. (LC p. 52)

As we look ahead into 2012 it should be our prayer that this Kingdom of God come here to be with us.  That God be among us with his Salvation, that he be rescuing us and delivering us from death and the devil, that he be overcoming sin within us, that he be moving us to greater faith and life in Him.

But the question is how does this happen and where should we look for this Kingdom to come?  How will we know when we have found it or know that it is here? 

Kingdom talk reminds us that 2012 is an election year.  Would be kings will be selling themselves to us all year long, asking us for to vote for them.  Christians often get distracted by these earthly kings and kingdoms and  sometimes we are  tempted to believe that God’s Kingdom will come, or that it comes in greater measure depending on who occupies the oval office – if we can get the right man (or woman) elected then maybe we can help to usher in God’s kingdom here on earth.

Instead of pointing us to politics to find God’s Kingdom, the catechism points us to God’s Word, to Scripture to find the answers for God’s Kingdom. 

[God’s Kingdom comes] when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by His grace we believe His holy Word and lead a godly life here in time and there in eternity

The Large Catechism instructs us that God’s kingdom comes to us in two ways; first here and now through God’s Word and faith.  [LC III p 53] That is to say that God’s Kingdom comes when God’s Word is active among us being preached and taught rightly and then that we believe it.  God’s Kingdom comes to us here at Church when His Word is proclaimed to you to forgive your sin and instruct you in holy living.  God’s Kingdom comes when you mark your day with prayer and reading God’s Word so that the Spirit of God speaks into your heart and encourages you to grow in faith, so that he overcomes sin in you, so that he teaches you to love him and to serve your neighbor with greater love and greater devotion.

God’s kingdom also comes through revelation, and that is to say that God’s Kingdom comes when it is revealed on the last day. (Luke 19:11ff)  [LC III p.54]  On the last day the Lord will return with power and glory to completely destroy the works of sin and Satan so that death and hell are destroyed and so that we live forever in perfect righteousness and blessedness.

What a wonderful prayer for this New Year.  Lord may you speed your coming.  May that last day when you come to completely eradicate sin and death and the power of the devil come quickly!  If it be your will may that day come this 2012.  Until that day, may your kingdom come to us.  May your Word be active among us and with us ever teaching us a directing us to love each other and to love you more.  Lord May your Kingdom Come.

Amen. 

Christmas Day

This past Tuesday our St Paul Pre School had their Children’s Christmas program.  Those of you who do Facebook might have noticed the picture I posted of the line-up of half sized shepherds, an inn keeper, Mary, Joseph, a few wise men, and of course a handful of angels (one of whom happened to be my daughter).  Tori had been practicing her “Glory to God in the highest” line and had it down pat.  She was ready with it right on cue.  All the kids did a great job.  As the children finished their program everyone was smiling and appreciative of their effort.

Our experience of angels usually has mostly to do with that sort of a thing, children dressed up and wearing a white robe, a gold garland around their heads. 

The Shepherds on the hillside outside Jerusalem had an experience that was much different. Instead of cute kids in costume, they saw the glory of heaven revealed before them.   They witnessed the true power and majesty of the Angels.  They saw them in all their Heavenly splendor and they were terrified.  The shepherds fell on their faces at the sight of only one of these angels so that the angel said to them “Do not be afraid.”

Now… we have considered the majesty of these angels before; that they were powerful and mighty and that they induced fear in the hearts of those who encountered them.  Yet what needs to be remembered and what is of greatest importance is that these heavenly beings in spite of all their power and glory they were only reflections of the glory of that child who way lying in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.  The true glory, the true power, the true majesty was hidden behind the face of a child who lie in the arms of his virgin mother.

Last week we talked about the two natures of Jesus – his divinity and humanity, true God begotten of the Father before Eternity and true man born of the virgin Mary.  Today, Christmas Day is a celebration that gift, that miracle of Jesus who is God in our flesh born to be our brother so that we could be God’s children.

John, who wrote our Gospel also wrote Revelation, the last book in the New Testament.  This same Jesus born on Christmas Day appeared to John to give to him this Revelation while he was in prisoned on Patmos.  And there Jesus came to him without the mask.  The resurrected Christ appeared to John and spoke to him with a voice like a trumpet.  Searching to find the right words to describe what he saw John writes,

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.   (Revelation 1:10-16 ESV)

John saw Jesus and fell down prostrate before him.  He beheld the glory of Christ and it was too much for him.  This was he of whom John had written “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.”  This was the Word who had become flesh.  And John saw him revealed in his glory.

Sometimes when we see the children dressed in their robes, wearing their golden halos, saying their lines we are tempted to see the Christ also in these terms; like a children’s story that warms the heart or brings a smile to our faces.  Sometimes we are tempted to forget that this child in this quiet Judean village of Bethlehem was Christ; that the Angels celebrated not just a baby, but their Lord and God whom they served in heaven before his throne; that he was a king not in just terms of who he would be and what he would do someday, but that he was heaven’s King come to bring heaven’s reign to earth, to men.  To you.

The mission of this Child was to be King.  We see it in his birth, in the way he came into the world, in his conception, in the message Gabriel gave to Mary that “He would be great that He would sit on the throne of his father David and reign over the house of Jacob.”   We see it in the angle choirs who heralded his coming, in the wise men who came to bring him kingly gifts, in the message proclaimed by John the Baptizer and then proclaimed by Jesus himself.  “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.”  Jesus was king and he came to bring heaven’s kingdom to earth.

It is important that we remember the divinity of this child.  It is important that we not forget who he is.  If he is only a child or a baby and not a King and not Heaven’s king we will forget to bow before him, we will forget to fall prostrate before him.  He is coming again on the last day and we will see him as John saw him.  He will look on us with those eyes that pierce like a flame of fire and that mouth that speaks judgment like a sword.  If the angels were terrifying to the Shepherds, imagine the terror of Christ come in judgment on the last day.

But so that we might be ready and well prepared for that day Jesus came first as a child. He came heralded by angels and attended by Shepherds.  He came teaching and preaching about the reign of his Heavenly Kingdom.  He came healing and raising the dead.  He came calling disciples.  He came giving gifts of forgiveness.  But he was rejected, scorned by men and then rejected by God.  He was accused for our sake and suffered for our sin.  He was stricken, smitten by God and afflicted.  He was nailed to a cross to suffer in your place.

This King would have you know that his birth was for you because his death is for you.  Knowing this and believing this means you have a place in his kingdom.  There is no other way.  We can be too engrossed in our earthly kingdoms, We can consider this King as secondary to our other kings.  This cannot be.  There is one King.  And he can be second to none.  He calls you to believe Him and to worship him.

But know this, his yoke is easy and his burden is light.  He is a good king.  He is a merciful King.  And he is a loving king.

In Hebrews 4 we read that if Heaven’s King is like me then he is able to sympathize with my weaknesses.

Luther writes “If it is true that God became a man like unto us in all things yet was without sin, it then follows that as far apart as God and man formerly were from each other, namely farther than heaven and earth are from each other, they now belong closely together; therefore no kinsman, however closely related, be they  brother and sister, is as closely related to me as is Christ, the Son of the everlasting Father.  For it is absolutely true if apart from Christ we consider how far God and man are from each other, it will be seen that they are farther apart from each other than heaven and earth.  However, if we reckon in connection with Christ, true God and man we discover that we are more closely related than a brother to his brother; in as much as God the Creator of heaven and earth has become true, natural man; the Son of the everlasting Father has become the earthly son of the Virgin.”

Christ has become like you. This King who sits on heaven’s throne and will come on the last day to judge the living and the dead is closer to you than your closest friend.  He is your advocate before the Father.  He pleads for your forgiveness and for your salvation before the Throne of heaven.  He mentions you by name and he will not let you out of his sight.

Heaven’s King and God’s Only Begotten Son has carried your burdens.  He has carried you sin.  He has carried your suffering.  He carried it through his life from his birth to his death and the journey began on Christmas, when the Christ Child was born, when the King of Heaven came King of the Jews to sit on the throne of his father David, to reign over the house of Jacob, to be Lord of Heaven and Earth.  He is your king and your lord.

On this day we remember that baby born in Bethlehem with all the peacefulness and purity and the stillness of the night of his nativity, but this image is only complete when we remember that this king is heaven’s king great and glorious who came to be our brother, closer than a brother, to die for our sin.

In the name of Jesus.  

Amen.

The Annunciation Luke 1:26-38

It is an important article of the Christian Faith that Jesus is at the same time God and man,  Divine and Human.  Our three ecumenical creeds confess this exact thing and we say we believe it to be true every time we confess any one of them  

“I believe in Jesus Christ, his only son our Lord who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary.”  (The Second Article to the Apostle’s Creed)

“For us men and for our salvation [he] came down from heaven and was incarnate by the virgin Mary and was made man…” (The Nicene Creed)

“He is God, begotten from the substance of that Father from before all ages, and he is man, born from the substance of his mother in this age, perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh.” (The Athanasian Creed)

The foundation for this article of Faith is revealed here in our text, in the birth narrative of Luke.  Gabriel the Angel was sent from the presence of God to bring a message to a young girl named Mary.  “Greetings O favored one, the Lord is with you…  You will conceive in your womb and bear a Son and you shall call his name Jesus.  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High.  And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David.  He will reign over the house of Jacob and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

It’s hard to imagine, isn’t it?  Something as wonderful as this!  We are Christian people who believe in the Almighty God who fills all things and who has made all things, who has the power to create things too wonderful for us to understand with only a word, who stands above all power and might and every earthly authority, and yet…  somehow… he condescended… he lowered himself to be like one of us.  This is one of the most important articles of our faith.  God in the flesh come to save sinners.  To understand this is to understand salvation, atonement, it explains how one man’s sacrifice can be sufficient to save an entire race of people from sin, but it also helps us to comprehend God’s profound love and mercy and faithfulness to us and to his promise.  It is this article of faith that makes a Christian into a Christian.  It is why the Christian faith is all about the Christ.  To take this away, Christianity is all about you and it becomes no different from any other religion.

All this being the case, should we be surprised that Satan works so hard to undermine this doctrine.  Is it any wonder that this doctrine is the one that Satan attacks so vehemently, so that it makes Christianity an object of scorn and ridicule and even anger.   

·         Our Nicene Creed was written against a sect that spintered off from Christianity – a group called the Arians, founded by Arius – who were teaching that Christ was not one with the Father but that he was less than God. (It was Arius who was attacked by St Nicholas in the marketplace by the way, for those of you who read the Slappy Holiday article in your email.)

·         It is this doctrine that makes Christianity so offensive to Islam.  We believe that God came down to be like us, to assume our nature into his own.  In their mind God would never humiliate himself like this – it offends them.  And so to convert to Christianity from Islam is punishable by death.  It is why the Iranian pastor was on trial as was reported in the news a month or two ago.

·         Likewise with Judaism.  In spite of the fact that we share half our bible with the Jews, they cannot accept that Jesus, a man, is the one they call Yahweh. They reject Jesus as Lord and so they reject Christianity.

·         These days most people will classify Mormonism as a Christian, but it is not.  It is a heretical sect.  The reason?  They cannot accept this doctrine.  They cannot accept Jesus as the one true God, one with the Father and the Spirit.  

·         Of course Atheists and agnostics deny Christ all together.  Some will go so far as to question whether or not he ever existed at all; most will claim this doctrine is a Christ myth, popular among lots of ancient religions, that the founders of Christianity simply just borrowed an old and worn out myth from someplace else to make their new religion more familiar, more palatable to the pagans they were trying to attract.

The fact of the matter is that this doctrine is and has been under attack from the devil from the early days of the church.  Was Jesus who he said he was?  Was he God in the flesh born of the virgin Mary?  Satan has the minds and hearts of unbelievers firmly in his grip and he has turned their hearts to offense when Christians begin to speak of Jesus the God who became a man.

It is easy for us to talk about how other people reject Jesus, how other religions and sects deny Christ.  We would like to think that we get it right.  That we understand.  That we believe what is true.  After all, we confess those three creeds.  We say we believe them.  And that is true.  They are our faith, the sum and substance of it.  But, if we were completely honest with ourselves, we would admit that there is something about this doctrine that we don’t quite like either.  Something about it that offends us as well.  Some part of it that we just would rather do without. 

You see, the thing that this doctrine really drives home is just how lost and incapable we truly are.  It reveals to us just how powerless we are.  We don’t want to believe that.  We don’t want to believe that there is nothing we have to offer, no part of our faith that we participate in, no aspect of our salvation where we don’t have a say.  This doctrine teaches us that all of those things are true. 

We were so lost and so unable to find God he had to come find us.  I used to watch the Star Trek series, and if you have ever seen any of those programs, it would happen that the Enterprise would send an away team to some remote planet.  The team would get lost or captured or injured and a rescue party would need to beam down to save them.  That’s how we are, lost and captured and injured.  We don’t want to think of it that way.

We are so weak that he had to come to us, make himself like us so that he could do for us and in our place all those things that we were supposed to do but have just miserably failed to do. 

We are so completely self-absorbed that it is necessary for him to do all the work in our salvation and our spiritual lives, even after conversion, even after we have become Christians and are believers. 

That’s what this doctrine teaches us.  We don’t like it so we try to deny it.  There is a part of us that fights against it.  Here are some ways that it happens:

It has become popular these days in many Christian circles to emphasize relationships and emotions and feelings.  There are worship services that are designed to be very emotionally stirring – with music that pumps you up and then slows you down and pumps you up and slows you down.  The goal is to simply stir up your emotions because these emotions have been confused with the stirring of the Spirit.  These Christians, sadly hope that this method will bring them up, and get them close to God.  You see how this works: instead of seeing God who comes down to us we have to go up to God and if we use the right music and methods we can do it.

Or sometimes Christians feel that God is far away from them, that he has left or that they have left him and so they panic.  They wonder, what do I need to do to get back to God?  Christian bookstore are filled with titles that are supposed to help you do just that.  Here’s are a few best sellers with excerpts from their descriptions: 

Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus

If Jesus were to sit down with you right now and have a DTR (Define the Relationship) conversation, how would you respond? Are you truly his follower or just a fan-or perhaps someone who doesn't even care about the difference? Not a Fan invites you to make Jesus not merely the object of your admiration, but the very center of your life. Through biblical teaching, anecdotes, and humor, Kyle Idleman explores what it means to truly be a follower of Christ.

One Thousand Gifts: A Dare to Live Fully Right Where You Are
Ann Voskamp

Discover a way of seeing that opens your eyes to everyday amazing grace, a way of living that is fully alive, and a way of experiencing the constant presence of God that will bring you deep and lasting joy.

Now I haven’t read the books and I don’t know the perspective of the author, but the descriptioin puts all the work on you – are you just “a fan” of Jesus or are you fully committed?  Do you have that correct way of seeing?  Are you fully alive? Do you fully experience the constant presence of God?  If you buy these books and follow these steps then you will be.

You see, here is the issue.  Let’s be honest about ourselves: are you fully committed?  Am I? No.  Do you fully and completely follow Jesus? Do you do spend every moment of every day considering his will for you?  Is he the center of your life?  No.  He isn’t. we haven’t.  We don’t.  

Or what about the presence of God?  Do you fully experience God?  Do you live in his presence?  Have you found his complete joy?  Do you wish you did? Have you tried?  Have you felt like you have gotten close at times but then failed?  That is the human story!  That is why we need this doctrine.  That is why it is so important and so wonderful that Jesus has come to us. 

You see, God didn’t wait for us to become fully committed to him before he was fully committed to us.  Instead he jumped in to our skin with both feet, knowing that he would be confronted with a lack of commitment and even rejection, and that this rejection would lead to his own suffering and death. 

Likewise, He didn’t wait for us to seek his presence before so that you and I could be with him where he is before his throne, instead he brought his presence, his gracious and merciful and loving presence to us, hiding it under the flesh and blood of Jesus.  Hiding it in the womb of a virgin. 

He does the same for us today.  He knows our lackluster commitment so He send his spirit in his word to come to us.  He hides that word in our hearts so that we believe it and know it to be true and are saved by it.  He knows that we will not seek his presence and if we did we wouldn’t find it and if we found it we couldn’t tolerate it so he hides it in simple bread and wine, in preaching, in proclaiming his forgiveness.  It’s God’s work.  It’s God action.  God makes it happen.  God keeps it happening.  God sent his messenger to Mary. God send his messengers to you.

The angel came to Mary and shared a remarkable message, but before he even got there he called her by her name and told her she had found favor with God.  God has done that same thing to you.  He has called you by your name.  You have found favor with him.

Amen.