Lent 2

In the history of the people of God, the city of Jerusalem was a grand and storied city. While its history goes back to the time of Abraham, during the reign of David it was inhabited by the Jebusites. David conquered Jerusalem and turned it into the capitol city of the nation of Israel. Once Jerusalem was captured David built for himself a palace and his son Solomon built for the Lord a temple. The city of Jerusalem became a symbol for the Jews of their nation, but also of their faith. It has been called to Holy City because it was there that the Jews went for the feasts and festivals that God had given to them, it was to Jerusalem that the Jews went for fellowship with the Lord.
Yet in spite God's continued faithfulness to the descendants of Abraham, and in spite the fact that God actually established a dwelling place on earth in the Jerusalem Temple, the Israelites were faithless. They turned their backs on the Lord who lived among them and they insisted on following the ways of their pagan neighbors. The Jews conquered the Jebusites and claimed their city, and while they expelled the people, as time wore on they invited their gods to return. The Jews worshiped the false gods of their pagan neighbors.
The idol worship of the Israelites caused God no end of grief and sadness. God wanted the hearts of his people to return to him. So he sent prophets, men like Jeremiah from our Old Testament text, to warn the Jews of the consequences of their idolatry. False gods would offer no protection from their enemies. False gods do not have the ability to save. Jeremiah approached God's people with all the words God had commanded him to say, but they would not listen.
Our reading tells us the even the priests and the prophets, the people who were supposed to be the spiritual leaders and in tune with God's Word actually were the leaders in the rejection of God's message. All together they gathered around Jeremiah and they grabbed hold of him and they wanted to kill him.
“This man deserves the sentence of death, because he has prophesied against this city, as you have heard with your own ears.”
It is ironic, isn't it? God called on them to repent. God called on them to turn away from sin. Not because God hated them. It wasn't because he wanted to spoil their fun. God sent prophets to his people because he loved them. He didn't want to punish them. God wanted them to repent of their sin and return to him. Instead they rejected God's messenger. They were angry with the man who brought God's Word to them. They plotted violence against Jeremiah and virtually every other prophet when they came with a warning of God's punishment, but the message wasn't just punishment. The message was God's plea that they return to him and that they be restored to him.
There are many parents who understand this grief and sadness from their experience with wayward children. From time to time and for whatever reason a son or a daughter will decide they have their wild oats to sow and they will turn away from the family that loves them. Instead of the fulfilled life filled with love and comfort from their family they will insist on an empty life filled with the worst things the world has to offer. Parents will beg and plead, they will condemn the destructive behaviors. They will invite their child to return. For whatever reason, often that child just will not. That hurts. For parents who want only the best for their children, when they see that their child has chosen the things that hurt them and abandoned the things that help them, parents feel grief.
In the same way, Jesus felt grief. Grief for his wayward children. The nation he built from the descendants of Abraham, the people he gathered to himself when he rescued them from slavery, the home he built among them in the city of Jerusalem.. He sent his invitations to return, He sent His prophets to bring His Word, but they just wouldn't come. Instead his prophets were abused and even murdered. In our Gospel text we hear the words of Jesus, “How often I would have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings and you would not.”
As we consider the actions of the Israelites and the response of Jesus, there are two things for us to consider. Comfort at the love and the action of Jesus, but also warning.
It is easy for us to see that the Jews were wrong. They rejected God. They murdered his prophets. They even murdered his son. They were evil, idolatrous, and violent. But let me ask you: do you think this change happened over night? Do you think that one night they all went to bed as faithful servants of the Lord and then the next morning woke up idolatrous murderers? Or do you think it happened gradually? Over weeks and years, over the span of a generation? A compromise here, an excuse there? I know idol worship is wrong, but I don't want to be rude. My friend invited me to go with him to his temple. I'll just try it out this once. It won't hurt anything. And so it goes... Overlooking a sin here, a false teaching there, a little concession to evil. And all of a sudden, before you know it, faithful servants of God have become servants of false gods, pagans and unbelievers.
And here's the next question: Are we so naïve to believe this will not also happen to us?
I think sometimes we are. I think sometimes we believe, sometimes we take it for granted that God is on our side. We tell ourselves that we can't fall, that we won't fall. “I'm a Christian. I grew up in a in a Christian home. My parents were Christians. I went to Lutheran School. I belong to a church.” We think that lets us off the hook. We think that makes us immune from sin and error. We think that as long as we hold on to those things we can say and do and think and believe anything that we want.
It's not true. It never has been. It never will be. This is a sin that has made us all guilty. We all need to repent, every last one of us. We all need to search our hearts and ask the Holy Spirit to point out this sin so that we can confess it and turn away from it – spiritual pride. Spiritual laziness. Acceptance of a self-defined status quo.
So our text issues a warning. But it also provides for us great comfort. There are two things that comfort us.
The first is this. Jesus weeps over his city. He speaks of gathering his people to him for protection as a hen gathers her brood. This should sound familiar. The same image, the same metaphor was used last week in our text from Psalm 91. The psalm said that God would gather us under his wing and cover us with his feathers.
God wants to draw us all to himself where he can offer us love and protection. He wants to cover us. He wants to save us and offer us salvation. The day is coming when it will be too late, but that day has not yet come. There is still time. Still time to repent. Still time to be gathered. Still time to receive God's love and forgiveness.
The last day, judgment day, the day of resurrection has not yet come. It's not because God is late or slow or caught up doing other things. Instead he is loving. He is patient and he is waiting for sinners to repent, to turn from their sin and be forgiven. There is still time.
That's the first comfort. Here's the second: notice how committed Jesus is to fulfilling his mission. In our text Jesus was warned by some pharisees that Herod had in mind to arrest Jesus. For you and me, a message like this might turn on our “self preservation” instincts. IT might make us feel the need to run away and save ourselves from judgment and suffering and even death.
Not Jesus. He has no fear of earthly power and authority. He calls Herod a “fox”. He defies Herod's power and authority. He sets his own agenda – Today and tomorrow and the next day I am going to cast out demons. I am going to heal the sick. And then, when I am done, then I will go on my way. And Herod can't touch me.
Jesus knew where he was going. He knew what he was doing. He had his plan set in motion and no one could stand in his way and no one could keep him from accomplishing it. Not the Pharisees and scribes, not Herod, not even Satan.
Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem – that Holy city that had received so much... so many blessings and had turned their back on all of them. Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, the city he made holy when he built his temple there. Jerusalem was a city of sacrifice, a city where sinners could go to receive forgiveness because it was a city where sin was exchanged for the death of a substitute. Jesus came to be that substitute. The stand in, the go between for you and for me. Jesus came to be sacrifice for you and for me for all time.
Jesus went to Jerusalem, the Holy City, the city of sacrifice so that he could be the sacrifice. He went to be the one sacrifice, the one death that would take the place of all others. Jesus went to Jerusalem so that sinners could be holy.
Sinners used to go the Jerusalem the Holy City, the city of holiness because that was the city of God's presence. Jerusalem was the place where sinners would go to exchange their sin for God's holiness. They would come to the city, come to the temple, participate in the temple rites and go home as God's forgiven and holy people. God's holiness was given out when God people met with him at the temple.
But then Jesus went to the Holy City. He went as the sacrifice. He went to offer himself on the altar of the cross. The one sacrifice to end all sacrifices. So that sinners themselves could be holy.
Friends because of what Jesus has done for us we don't need a plane ticket to Jerusalem and a visit to the temple to be holy. God has made us holy in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. God has even said that we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
The blood of goats isn't needed, trip across the ocean to the Holy City are needed. God has given to us his forgiveness right here. God has made us his children right here. Our sin is forgiven.
Amen.

Lent 1 Psalm 92

Text: Psalm 91
The Devil came to Jesus intent on His destruction. IT was not the first time that the devil had set his sights on destroying a man. There had been hundreds, thousands, even millions before. But the first time had been of greatest importance. The first time it was a man named Adam. And for a man created to be perfect he was pretty easy prey. Adam went down, and with him fell the entire human race - you and me included.
But then came the new Adam, the Second Adam, the new creation. A man born from a woman, but not having a human father – this man Jesus. This man spelled trouble for this old tempter, this old devil. Because, where Adam was supposed to have been perfect but was easily tempted and led into sin, this second Adam was a much more difficult case. He was greater, more powerful. This second man was none other than the Son of God, God himself in Human flesh. But still, the Devil took aim. If he could get this Jesus to sin, the entire human race wouldn't have a chance.
And the devil came. He comes to you just the same. He came to Jesus when he was weak, when he was tired, he had just been through an ordeal – a 40 day fast in the wilderness, he was hungry and he needed some rest. The devil always takes advantage of those most opportune moments. He came and he wrestled with Jesus. “Throw yourself down from the temple.” “Make stones into bread.” “Surrender yourself to me and I will give you power.” Great opportunities for a quick fix on power and glory – always sure bets for this tempter. Everyone wants power and glory. Every one wants to get it on the cheap. But not Jesus. You and I would have fallen for it in seconds flat. But Jesus resisted. It took everything he had, but Jesus resisted the devil and he did it for you.
Now, look at the Gospel reading, and then go back and look at our text – the Psalm for the day. The psalm actually shows up in our Gospel text – but in an unusual place. The words of scripture, the very Word of God is used as a tool of Satan. His slippery double-tongue utters these golden words of promise as a means for evil. (Isn't it true that the devil always masquerades as a servant of the Light?)
“Throw yourself down from the temple,” said Satan, “for isn't it written that 'he will command his angels concerning you so that you will not strike your foot against a stone'?”
And yes, it is written. Indeed our Psalm says that very thing. God will send his angels to protect us, to pick us up so that we might not even stub our toes. And there are times that he does.
A steel worker working on the beams of a high-rise office building once stumbled and began to fall from several stories up but felt himself being caught and lifted. He looked and saw a face. God sent an angel to protect the man and to keep him safe so that he did not fall and injure himself. God does truly send his angels to do his work of caring for His saints. Most of the time we don't even know they are there. Sometimes, like this time, God lets us see them.
But does that mean we should test Him? Should we do as the devil urged Jesus to do? Should we force God to choose? Rescue us or let us die? God cares for us according to His mercy, not according to our coercion, and He does so for our salvation and not for our selfish designs of earthly glory. Satan was playing games with the Word of God. Satan was turning God's Word of promise into a magic spell to manipulate God.
Jesus didn't fall for it. Neither should you.
Instead, Jesus tied himself to the rest of the Psalm. Jesus devoted himself wholly and completely to the promise that God is “My Refuge and My Fortress”, The Lord is “My God in whom I trust.” Likewise, so should you.
Our Psalm begins, “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will Abide in the Shadow of the Almighty.”
Our Epistle Text from Romans helps us to properly understand what it means to “dwell in the shelter of the Most High and to abide in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Romans 10 says that “The Word is near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart.” It then goes on to make the promise that if you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart you will be saved.
It is the Word. The Word of God. It is the Word of God that is our lifeblood as Christians. The Word of God, when we confess it, that is to say, when we believe God and take Him at His Word we are saved. Therefore it is the Word that is the very voice and power of God. It takes hold in our hearts and creates believers out of us.
Today in our worship we celebrate with those who are joining our fellowship of faith. God has hidden His Word in their hearts and they are standing up confessing with their mouths the faith that God put there in their hearts. God has come near to them, just as he has come near to the rest of us, and through His Word and in His Word they dwell with us together in His shelter and we abide together in His shadow. And there is no better place to be.
After all, God's Word promises God's protection. We return to our Psalm...
Psalm 91 gives to us the assurance that God will protect us from all different kinds of calamities and disasters. It offers a few examples.
Back in the days of King David, arrows were cutting edge military technology. An archers could take out an enemy from a safe distance, at times even unknown and unseen. The message then, God can keep you safe from military enemies who have powerful and high tech weapons.
The world is suddenly alarmed because Iran is edging closer and closer to possessing nuclear weapons. Neighboring countries are afraid of the sudden threat within their borders. That threat could even spill over into our own country. Not to worry. God can protect you from an extreme Islamic nation, even from a terrorist with a nuclear weapon.
The psalm also mentions plagues and pestilence. A few months ago we were repeatedly warned of the threat of the h1n1 virus. It was supposed to be a super bug that would be hard to fight and that would claim the lives of hundreds. Before the swine flu it was the bird flu. Who knows what flu or what other disease will pose the next great threat to public health. It could turn out to be nothing. It could match the hype and kill thousands. It doesn't matter. God can protect you from the deadliest of diseases.
Car crashes. Cancer. Change. The Future. Taxes. Earthquakes. The weather. The unknown. The dark. Death. Financial collapse. People are afraid of all kinds of things. Your God is god over all of them. He can and will protect you from all of these things and from any one of them.
“Because you have made the Lord your dwelling place, the Most High who is my refuge, no evil shall be allowed to befall you. No plague come near your tent.”
“No evil...”
In the Lord's prayer, Jesus teaches us to pray, “deliver us from evil”. In that prayer we ask God to save us from all of those things we just listed, but especially we ask God to save us from the Evil One. We ask God to save us from the Devil. As much as we fear so many other things in this world and in this life, there is one enemy who is chief above all other enemies. There is the devil. He sets traps for us to destroy us. He tempts us and urges us to look to our own power and glory, to indulge our lusts and passions, to set aside the true God and replace him with a false god of our own making.
As we have said, this foe, this enemy is too great for us to defeat, too powerful for us to battle, too sneaky and sly for us to out smart. He sets traps for us that we too easily fall into. If Adam who was perfect and without sin couldn't do it, then what chance do we have? Adam was like a champion, a prize fighter, a hero, and Satan took him down with his first try. What chance do we have?
I used to visit with a shut in who would tell about her battles with (as she put it) “that nasty old devil”. He wouldn't leave her alone. He was always pestering her. She would fight him off by singing hymns. I would hear her voice, singing at the top of her lungs as I came down the hallway in her nursing home.
I talked to another man on his death bed and he confessed, in fear, the temptations he faced as the devil did his best to take him down before his time was up.
In both cases God was faithful. He saved them and he preserved them with His mighty hand and his outstretched arm.
Our God, whom you confess and in whom you dwell has just the remedy for you. You who confess His Word and live in His shadow. As the Psalm says, “He will deliver you from the snare of the Fowler. He will cover you with his wings.”
God is like a mother goose defending her goslings. When they sense some danger, they will gather them all together under their wing to defend them and keep them safe. And then if the danger persists she will shield them even with her own body. She will risk her own injury rather than allowing you to harm one of her young.
That is how God protects you. He snatches you away from the devil when he would trap you and then when the devil persists when he refuses to give up and even would claim you as his own, pointing out your many sins and those times that you were caught by his snares and you gave in to his temptations, like a mother goose, the Lord your God, the Most High who is your refuge shields you, even with His own body.
The Lord is a spirit. As such He did not have a body. So he went out and got one so He could shield you with it. He joined himself to us, to our race, to our flesh and blood so that he could use His body as the in-between thing. So He could place His body into harms way, so He could surrender His body to injury and death, so He could take your punishment and your could be saved.
In our Gospel text we see him battling it out with Satan, fighting off his temptations and standing firm the way you and I have not, the way even Adam could not. And He won. Every single time; without exception. The devil went away beaten. Jesus did what we could not do. And then He did what was needed so that we could be saved, so that we could be snatched out of the devil's trap and set free from the destruction that he had planned to bring us to .
God has saved us. God has defended us and protected us. Through faith we live and abide so close to our God that we are covered by his shadow. You and I can say to the Lord together with the Psalm, “My Refuge and My fortress. My God in Whom I trust.”