Lent 5 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Hope”

Text: John 11:1-53; Ezekiel 37:1-14; Romans 8:1-11

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Hope. It’s what the prophet Ezekiel and the people of his day needed. It’s what the people of Rome needed. It’s what a mourning Mary and Martha needed. And it’s what we need.

And not just now, in this time of pandemic. Even before this. For there was death before this, and there will be after this. There was sickness and disease before this, and there will be after this. There was financial difficulty and people in need before this, and there will be after this. There was sadness and sorrow, hurt and confusion, uncertainty and fear before this, and there will be after this. Hope is always needed. This current pandemic has magnified this need; and on a global scale. There is no part of the world untouched. But it’s nothing new. Hope is always needed. And the readings we heard today show us where our hope is. Or maybe better to say, WHO our hope is.

It is as we just sang in the sermon hymn: Come now to us, O Lord of Life; bring hope that conquers fear (LSB #552 v. 1)! And He does.

He did for Ezekiel and the people of Israel in his day. Ezekiel was a prophet when the people of Israel were captives, prisoners of war, exiles from their own land, and living in Babylon. A strange country with a strange culture and a strange language, and with strange gods all around them. And they had to live there for 70 years. We haven’t even been in this situation we’re in for 70 days yet! 70 years. Because of their unfaithfulness to God. They were being disciplined. 

And as you can imagine, in such a situation, it is easy to lose hope. To think that God has abandoned you and forgotten about you; changed His mind about you. And so plunge into hopelessness. This is their reality - their new normal - and it’s not going to change.

Except it was. God gives a vision to Ezekiel to give the people hope. Hope of new life. For this Valley of Dry Bones, He tells Ezekiel, is the whole house of Israel. They are dried up and dead. But life was coming for them. God and His Spirit were coming for them. The Word of God would speak to them and the Spirit of God would breathe on them and they would rise to life again! This captivity would go on for a time, but the end had been decreed, and it would surely come.

But this was not just a vision for them, then, but for us, too. A prophecy of Jesus. He would be a bag of bones hanging from the cross. He would be laid in the dust of death. He would be sealed in a tomb. But His bones would live again. He would be the first born from the dead. The first one out of that valley of death. His resurrection would not be a one off, but the full and final defeat of death, that there be life for all people. And hope. That though we live in a world of sin and death, disease and pandemic, God has not abandoned us or forgotten about us or changed His mind about us. The end has been decreed, and it will surely come. He will come. He will help. He will rescue. Hope.

And hope is what the people of Rome needed during Paul’s day as well. Christians living in an unChristian world. Living in a world hostile to Christ and His truth. Christians being persecuted and killed for their faith. There’s some of that happening today as well. If you disagree with the prevailing wisdom of the world and what it says and what it wants, there is a price to pay. And that price may be your life.

It was in Rome. And, maybe some thought, what good is a religion that isn’t going to make your life better and might get you killed? So, Paul says, don’t set your minds on the things of the flesh, the things of this world and life. There’s more than this. There’s greater than this. And it’s yours in Christ Jesus. In Him you have life and hope. In Him you can have peace even in fearful, threatening, and uncertain times. For all this world can do is kill you. And it will. Whether by virus, war, accident, or old age. It killed Jesus, too. But it didn’t win, He did. And in Him, you win. In Him, you have life. Life that cannot be taken away. Life that lasts through the grave. Life that is eternal. Hope.

And then we heard of Mary and Martha. Their brother Lazarus became ill. Maybe he got a virus. And it killed him, even though Jesus had said, this illness does not lead to death. But it sure looked like it. And after four days in the tomb it was going to smell like it! But no, Jesus would go on to say, he is only sleeping. Only Jesus could call death a nap! But so it is for Him. For us, it is an unconquerable enemy. But so powerful is Jesus’ Word that dead men can hear it and respond to it.

So Jesus doesn’t rush to Bethany as soon as He hears that Lazarus is ill. He knows what He will do. They want Jesus to rush to his side. We want Jesus to rush to our side and help us! But there is no panic with Jesus, no frenzy. All is well, whether they - whether we! - know it or not.

When Jesus finally arrives at the outskirts of Bethany, Martha comes out to Him. How grateful she is to have Him there . . . though a few days earlier would have been even better! When there was still hope. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Lord, if only you had been here. If only . . . 

Still she clings to hope. I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you, she says. She knows that Lazarus will rise on the last day, in the resurrection of all flesh. But she’d really like him back now. 

Well here’s the thing, Jesus says: I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Which sounds quite confusing! The dying are living and the living won’t die? Except they do. But they don’t, Jesus says! Not if you have eyes to see. Not if you have faith to believe. Because in Him is only life. In Him, you live even through death. You don’t have to wait until the last day to rise and live, you do so already, in Jesus. Because the resurrection and the life? It’s not a thing, it’s a person. Where Jesus is, there is life.

And then they see how true that is. It only takes three little words: Lazarus, come out! And as in Ezekiel’s vision, and as it will be on the last day, Lazarus does so. In the presence of Jesus, in the presence of the one who created life and is life, death and the grave are forced to submit. The Word of God and the Spirit of God are more powerful than these. And so with these, there is always hope.

Unless your mind is set on the things of this world, like Caiaphas and the Jewish leaders. Then Jesus is not hope but threat. And they plot to kill the one who is life. They plot to kill the one who is their only hope of life. Better that He die than we die, they said. But even better is that He die - and rise! - so that, as Jesus said, we who die will live. So that we have hope at all times and in every circumstance.

And hope is what the world needs now. That this virus will not win. Well, we can absolutely, positively, and certainly say that it will not. And neither will the next one, or the one after that. 

And whatever else is haunting you or plaguing you will not win either. A sin that has you in its grip, a broken relationship, a failing memory, an aging body, a drunk driver headed your way, a terrorist arriving on our shores, the next war or missile or cyber attack, cancer, disaster, stock market crash, housing or tech bubble burst, division, persecution, nor anything else in all creation. Whatever is weighing heavy on your mind or burrowing into your heart, Jesus says to those things: come out! That He may reign there, and that you may have hope and peace in Him. The kind that the world cannot give.

So our hope is not in our wisdom, in legislation, in social distancing, or in anything else we come up with. Don’t get me wrong - those things are important. We are to thank God for our leaders and pray for them. We are to use the knowledge and wisdom God has given us. We are to be smart and careful, not foolish and careless. That’s all true. And it’s why we’re here today with less then ten people! But that’s not where our hope lies. We do those things, but place our hope only in Jesus. In His forgiveness of our sins, in His life from the dead, and in His Word and Spirit of hope. That as He spoke life to dead Lazarus, so He speaks life to us. Life and faith and peace. And it is so. We are His. And as Paul said, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. He will not condemn us or leave us hopeless. He will come to us in our Bethanys, in our cemeteries, in our lowest moments and darkest days, with the light of His life and love.

You know, if our minds are set on the things of this world, we might think this world is coming to an end with this pandemic. So we must save ourselves at all costs. But with our minds set on Christ, as baptized children of God, we know this world is coming to an end! We just don’t know when. Maybe soon, maybe not. But we don’t have to save ourselves - Jesus already did that for us. So whatever the next days, weeks, months, years, and centuries bring, we’re good. In Christ. In His life and love. The life and love He showed to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus that day. The life and love He showed in His death and resurrection. And the life and love He will give to us here in His Body and Blood. Life that cannot end and love that will not.

So with His life and love, we’ll repent and be forgiven, and rejoice. We’ll remember that we are baptized, and rejoice. We’ll eat and drink, and rejoice. We’ll love our neighbor and help those in need, and rejoice. And we’ll be careful, and safe, and smart, and wise, and not fear but rejoice. Because as we enter Passiontide today, and know there are but two weeks until Easter, we know our victory has been won. We know that as Lazarus’ tomb was empty, and Jesus’ tomb was - and still is! - empty, so too will ours be. Life won. Jesus won. Lord, you are here. So we will not die, but live!

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 4 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Vision Problems: Glaucoma”

Text: 1 Kings 12:1-20; John 18:28 - 19:16a

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Astygmatism. Far-sightedness. Near-sightedness. Macular Degeneration.

Those are the vision problems we’ve thought about so far this 2020 Lenten season, thinking about having 20/20 vision, and how these can be not just physical vision problems, but spiritual vision problems, too. 

When our vision becomes curved in on ourselves and we don’t focus outside of ourselves, on God and on others. We considered that on Ash Wednesday - how we sometimes get too self-aborbed, too self-focused.

Then we considered the disciples and how they (and we) can focus on heaven and eternity too much, and forget to look at the here and now. 

The opposite of that was Judas, who looked too much on the here and now and forgot to look toward the end, the long-term, and how our Lord is working all things toward that for us.

And then we considered the Jewish leaders, and how the things swirling all around them prevented them from seeing what was right in front of them: the promised Messiah! And how that can so easily happen in our lives as well, and how focusing on all that’s swirling around us can make us miss the Christ that is right in front of us. 

God’s Word is the cure for all of that. To keep our faith, our spiritual vision, clear and right and focused where it should be.

The vision problem we’ll consider tonight is pressure. If too much pressure builds up in your eye, it can make you blind. It’s called glaucoma. And it affects a lot of people.

But what about spiritual glaucoma? Do you think the pressure in your life can impact your faith and your spiritual vision? Do you think the pressure in your life can lead you to make bad decisions? Do you think the pressure in your life, if left too long, can lead to the spiritual blindness of unbelief? Of course it can. And which of us does not have pressure in our lives? So this is a dangerous thing for us.

Tonight we heard two stories from Scripture about this. The first was the story of Rehoboam. Some of you might not know who he is. He was the son of King Solomon who became king of Israel after Solomon died. You may remember that during King David and then King Solomon’s time, Israel was enjoying it’s greatest and strongest and wealthiest time. Things were good . . . on the outside. But in reality, by the end of Solomon’s reign, Israel was sick. Israel’s faith and spiritual vision was not well. And it came to a head with Rehoboam.

When Rehoboam took over as king, he was pressured on what to do. On the one hand, his father’s old advisors told him to do one thing. On the other hand, his buddies told him to do the exact opposite. And so instead of ruling in a godly way, instead of looking to God for the answer, he succumbed to the pressure and made a bad decision - one that split the kingdom of Israel. A split that resulted in his new rival king instituting new worship and leading the people away from God and His Word - from which they never recovered. Pressure.

And pressure was also what Pontius Pilate had. Many of you might never have heard of Rehoboam, but all of you have heard of Pontius Pilate. We say his name in the Creed every week. Pontius Pilate was the Roman governor of Judea, the man to whom the Jewish leaders brought Jesus for trial. They wanted Jesus put to death, and only Pilate could order that. 

The thing is, Pilate was under a lot of pressure. He had already messed up a couple of times as governor, and he was on his last chance with Caesar. Mess up again and he would probably lose his governorship. So when this Jesus problem lands on his plate . . . what to do? He wants to do the right thing. Three times he pronounces the judgment that Jesus hasn’t done anything wrong; that Jesus is not guilty. But with each passing moment, the pressure keeps increasing on Pilate. The Jewish leaders keep pushing, and then when they make the veiled threat of tattling to Casear if Pilate doesn’t do what they want, he succumbs to the pressure. If it’s going to be him or Jesus that he saves . . . well, that’s an easy answer. Pressure.

Now what about you? What pressures are weighing heavy on you? The list might be long. There is pressure at school, to fit in and be a certain way. There is pressure at work, to perform and be successful, and maybe in ways you don’t agree with or by making sacrifices that you know you shouldn’t. Peer pressure is always strong, no matter how old you are, to think like others do, to do as other do, and be as they are. Maybe you have family pressures, or financial pressure, to provide for your family, or the pressure of worrying about others and how to care for them. There are health pressures, and relationship pressures, to do what you know you shouldn’t. And then there’s the pressure of fear, especially these uncertain days and not knowing what is going to happen next. 

Like Rehoboam, pressure can make us make bad decisions. Like Pilate, pressure can make us make bad choices. Pressure can make us so focus on the thing or things pressuring us that we become spiritually blind to God. We can forget His Word, go against His Word, doubt His love and help, and fail to see Him in our situation and lives. How He is using this to help us, or for us to help others. But we don’t see it because of our spiritual glaucoma. The pressure.

Lent calls us to repent of this, and turn to the Word of God for the truth. Not necessarily to make the pressure go away - it may not! But to see again the one who is with us in it, and sustaining us through it. On our own, all the pressures of life can and probably will crush us. They will certainly cause us to do things we don’t want to do. But we’re not on our own. We have a Saviour with us. A Saviour who carried the cross for us. A Saviour who bore our sins on that cross. A Saviour who was tempted for us and whipped for us. A Saviour who has bid us cast our burdens on Him. A Saviour who cannot be crushed, for when crushed on the cross rose victorious. And now lives to give that victory to us.

And we have a Saviour who does and is all that for us because as we especially remember this day, March 25th, He is the Son of God born as a man for us. Today is exactly nine months before our celebration of Christmas, and so the day we celebrate the Anunciation of Our Lord, or, when the angel Gabriel came to Mary, told her she was to be the mother of Jesus, and Jesus was conceived. That’s today. Jesus’ conception day. It is a day of joy in the midst of Lent. But talk about pressure! What pressure must have been on Mary, knowing that being pregnant before her marriage to Joseph was going to bring all kinds of problems! How could she do it? How could she agree to such a thing?

Well, it wasn’t her. It was the Word of God, and the Spirit of God working through the Word that gave her the faith and strength to say let it be to me according to your word (Luke 1:38). On her own, like us, the pressure would have been too much. But the Word of God gives the strength and sight and faith we need in a world full of pressure.

So when the pressures of life are pressing down hard on you, and they’re all you can see and feel . . . When you’re tempted to give in or go against what you know is right . . . When fear seems overwhelming and tomorrow seems so uncertain . . . remember Rehoboam, remember Pilate, and remember Mary. Satan wants to use this pressure to make you like Rehoboam and Pilate. Your merciful Father would use this pressure to make you like Mary, to hear His Word, believe his promises, and look to Him for all you need. For His Word is the medicine we need to heal our spiritual glaucoma. And though it won’t be easy and life may even get harder, your Father, your Saviour, and His Spirit will not let you down. 

For you are baptized! You are His child. He was crucified for you, so don’t crucify yourself. His Word and Spirit will provide all you need. When the pressure is great and when it is little. He went through it all, so He can help.

So be careful, be safe, be smart, and be wise, but do not fear. As we sang, O little flock, fear not the foe (LSB #666). The victory is yours, in Christ. Your uncrushable Rock and your faithful Redeemer.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 4 Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“The Gift of Sight to See the Gift of God”

Text: John 9:1-41

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Well, I was not supposed to be here today. I was supposed to be down in Kentucky attending Vicar Neely Owen’s last service as Vicar Owen, and then attending his ordination in the Office of the Holy Ministry, becoming Pastor Owen. But here I am. God’s ways are not our ways, nor His thoughts our thoughts (Isaiah 55). What we want we do not always get, and sometimes we get what we do not want. 

How true that is especially these days. These days when we’re getting an awful lot of what we do not want. These days when things keep changing so rapidly, seemingly going from bad to worse. But of this we can be sure: our God never changes. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. He is faithful to every promise and steadfast in His love. For Him it is never bad to worse, but always good. And He has set an end to this. But just as we do not know the day when our Lord is coming again in glory and this world as we know it will end, so too we do not know when this will end. But He does. So until then, we wait and we trust. For our Father in heaven is always doing what is best for us.

It didn’t have to be, though. This pandemic. And I don’t mean that China should have told the world sooner and so it could have been stopped. I mean that there was no sickness, no disease, no pandemics, and no death in God’s creation as God’s created it. Only life. We did this. Sin did this. We are reaping the wages of the sin which we brought into the world. So next time you think your sin is a little thing that really doesn’t matter, remember these days. It’s probably what Adam and Eve thought, too. It’s just a piece of fruit . . .

So - in a sense - the disciples were right when they asked Jesus about a man blind from birth. When they asked, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? They were right that sin had taken away this man’s ability to see. That sin had robbed him of this good gift of God. But they were not right in trying to pinpoint a particular sin or a particular sinner. Just like sin brought this pandemic upon us, but those who get this disease, it’s not because of a particular sin they’ve done or because they’re worse sinners than others. If that were the case, then I would have this virus. Rather, Jesus says, you’re going to see the works of God displayed in him. Rather than trying to figure out whose responsible, open your eyes, because you’re going to see God do something great - undo the sin that caused this blindness and give sight to this man who had never seen anything before in his entire life. 

And Jesus does. But He doesn’t just decree this man’s sight by the power of His Word. He could have. He had healed people before like that. And He doesn’t touch the man to heal him. He could have done it that way, too, like He had also done before. But instead, Jesus makes mud and puts it on the man’s eyes and has him go wash in a pool of water. It is a reminder to us of our baptism, when this happened to us. Where through the washing of water Jesus grants us the healing forgiveness of our sins and the faith to see Him as our Saviour.

Well, this becomes the talk of the town! Everyone is talking about it . . . kind of like today, where’s its hard to have a conversation without talking about the pandemic. But when the Pharisees get word of what has happened, and that it happened on a Sabbath Day, well this is unacceptable to them. According to their laws (not the Law of Moses mind you, but their laws), Jesus should not have made that mud that He put on that man’s eyes, and that man should not have gone and washed. Both of those things qualified as work for the Pharisees, and so were sinful in their eyes.

But the truth is, they had eyes but could not see. They were blind to the wonderful work Jesus had done in restoring the sight of a man born blind. 

And they were blind to the very reason for the Sabbath Day. For the Sabbath Day was set aside by God as a day for man to stop work so that God could work for us. To receive the gifts of God is exactly what the Sabbath Day was all about! So in reality, there was no more appropriate day for this man to receive His sight than the Sabbath Day. The Pharisees, however, won’t have it, and cast this man out. He is no longer welcome in the synagogue.

So Jesus, friend of outcasts, finds him. And in addition to giving him the gift of physical sight, now gives him the gift of spiritual sight. He sees Jesus now not just as a prophet, but the Son of Man, the promised Messiah, the Saviour of the world, His Saviour. The gift of sight to see the gift of God. And this second gift is greater than the first.

For this is the greatest gift any of us can receive - the faith to see Jesus not just as the Saviour of the world, but as my Saviour. Who died for my sins. Who was crucified for me. Who rose from the dead for me. Who made me His child. And we respond as this man did: I believe. We say it in the Creed every week. I believe . . .

And every Sunday, Jesus comes to us with His healing for our sin and death. We hear His Gospel, all that He has done for us, and say: yes, I believe. For me. We hear His absolution and say: yes, I believe. For me. We receive His Body and Blood and say: yes, I believe. For me. And our guilt is taken away. The judgment on us is: forgiven. Because of my sin, there is the disease and death I deserve. But because of the mercy of God, I receive not what I deserve, but what I don’t: forgiveness, life, and salvation. We poor, blind beggars now see Jesus, here, where He is for us in water, words, and bread and wine. And we will see Him forever where He will no longer be hidden in these things, but glorious. We are given the gift of sight to see the gift of God.

But for now we live in a time where there is much we cannot see. President Trump has taken to calling this virus our “invisible enemy.” You can’t see it coming. You don’t know who has it or where it is. And that’s part of what makes it so frightening. We can see signs, but we don’t really know.

Some would say that Jesus is the same way - an invisible friend. With us, but you can’t see Him and you don’t really know where He is. 

But though we cannot see Him, He is not so invisible as some might think. And we do know where He is; where He has promised to be for us. So here, perhaps it would be good to remember the three ways we think and talk about the kingdom of God, how Jesus is ruling as king and acting for us in this world and life - His kingdom of power, His kingdom of grace, and His kingdom of glory.

God’s kingdom of power is everywhere Jesus is ruling with His power - and that is everywhere. There is no place He cannot reach. And with His power He is breaking and hindering the plans and purposes of the devil, He is healing the sick, and directing all things for the good of His Church. And this work is something visible to us, though sometimes invisible.

God’s kingdom of grace is everywhere Jesus is ruling with His grace - and that is specifically the Church. For in His Word and Sacraments is where God has promised to be with His forgiveness, life, and salvation. So we don’t have to wonder where the forgiveness, life, and salvation we need are - we know. We can see them. They are here, for us. As He promised.

And then there is God’s kingdom of glory, which is heaven. We can’t see that yet, but we will. At the time set for Jesus to come again, when there will be a new heavens and a new earth. A heavens and earth made new and set free from its bondage to sin - including pandemics. Yes, this too is going to end at the time set by God. So until then, we wait and we trust. We trust in His power as He rules the heavens and the earth. We trust in His grace and He forgives our sins and gives us life. And we trust in His glory - the glory of His cross, His selfless, self-giving love, as He came to provide a home for us, is even now preparing that home for us, and preparing us for that home.

How long will that be . . . ?

Something happens every generation to make us think: soon! Luther thought that with the Turks warring and invading and then the plague that swept through Europe, the end must certainly be near. The thirty years war was so devastating it seemed like the beginning of the end. World War 1 was the “war to end all wars.” Except it was followed by World War 2 and then the devastation of the Spanish Flu. The A-bomb must surely be the end . . . or 9-11 . . . or the terrrible, devastating tsunamis and hurricanes we’ve had . . . or now this virus. But none of us knows when the end will come. Or how. 

But if all these things make us flee to Christ and His promises, that is good. For He is the only refuge that can protect and shield us through it all. And whatever else comes next. And then when the end comes, what we cannot now see we will see, and will see forever. 

So this story of the man born blind, it’s really our story as well. We were born blind, but now we can see our Saviour. We are outcasts of sin welcomed by Him. We are guilty, but now absolved of our sin, guilt, and shame. The gift of sight to see the gift of God. Lord, I believe. 

Lord, I believe in times of worry and fear. 

Lord, I believe in times of pandemic and turmoil. 

Lord, I believe in times of disaster and tragedy. 

Lord, I believe You are greater than all these things. 

Lord, I believe Your forgiveness is my hope. 

Lord, I believe that as Your cross led to Your resurrection, 

so too the crosses we bear now are for our life as well. 

Lord, I believe, for You have given me sight. To see Your love. To see Your mercy. To see Your Son and Him crucified for me. To see that in Him, I am safe and secure in all places and at all times. No matter what comes next. 

Lord, I believe. 

So be wise, be careful, be safe, and be smart, but do not fear.

Come and receive the Body and Blood of Your Jesus who has washed you, forgives you, and now feeds you with Himself. That you may see Him and rejoice in Him. Even in days like these.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 3 Midweek Sermon

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Jesu Juva

“Vision Problems: Macular Degeneration”

Text: Isaiah 43:8-13; John 11:45-53; 19:12-15

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

First of all, peace to you this night. The peace of Christ in the midst of confusion and uncertainty. The peace of our Lord in this time of instability, when things change so much from day to day. The peace of Jesus when there is no normal anymore; when our lives are turned upside down. Know that while we are surprised by the events and pronouncements and changes of each day, our Lord is not. He knows. And He’s seen worse. He’s seen His church through a lot worse than this. So He will see us through this as well. Which is not to say it will be easy. It won’t. It already isn’t! But don’t lose heart. Don’t lose your confidence in your Saviour! 

Because what often happens in times like this, times when we see so much swirling around us and so much change, is that we fail to see what is right in front of us. There’s an eye disease that does that too - it’s called macular degeneration. What happens with that is you lose the ability to see what is right in front of you, while still being able to see peripherally - what is around you. I think that’s a danger for us now, and I think that’s what happened to the Jewish leaders.

As we heard in the reading from John, the Jewish leaders were living (like us) in a chaotic time. But it wasn’t a virus that had upset things for them, but Jesus. And they were worried. Because looking at Jesus, they couldn’t see Jesus for who He was - what was right in front of them - all they saw was all that was swirling about them. They saw people believing in Jesus and following Him. They saw the Romans growing concerned. They saw their own influence waning. And when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (which He did right before the reading we heard from John tonight), they couldn’t see the power of God - they couldn’t see God in the flesh, standing right before them! All they could see was all the trouble swirling about them. And it scared them. Everything was out of control.

Except it wasn’t. Everything was going to according to plan. Not their plan, of course. But God’s plan. So fear made them act. Caiaphas pretended to speak and act rationally, but there was nothing rational about it. They were panicking. They had to get rid of Jesus. They had to do whatever it takes. They had to even cooperate with Rome. They had to even, in the end, apostasize. We have no king but Caesar. That is, God is not our king.

They were, as Isaiah told us tonight, the people who are blind, yet have eyes.

They had spiritual macular degeneration. They could see everything swirling about them, but not what was right in front of them.

Of course, it’s easy to see how that applies to our situation today. There is so much going on, so much swirling about us. Things are changing so fast and its easy to think, like the Jewish leaders of that day, that everything is out of control. 

It’s not. Out of our control, maybe. But we need to see not just what is swirling all around us, but what is right in front of us. That our Lord is in control.

Our Lord was in control when He was betrayed. He tells Judas to do what he came to do.

Our Lord was in control when He was arrested. He shows that by making all the soldiers and guards fall to the ground before allowing them to arrest Him.

Our Lord was in control when He was on trial. He didn’t argue with Pilate to save His life. He told Pilate, in fact, that any authority He had was given to Him from above, by God.

Our Lord was in control when He was being whipped. He could have called down more than 12 legions of angels to stop it - but He didn’t.

Our Lord was in control when He was crucified; while He was hanging on the cross. He doesn’t jump down. He forgives, and promises, and cares. And when He dies, He hands over His Spirit - it isn’t taken from Him.

The disciples thought everything was going wrong. They made some bad decisions and acted in some unfortunate ways. But still God brought good out of it. The greatest good. The forgiveness of our sins. The conquering of death. The defeat of the devil. The promise of eternal life.

And those fearful, sometimes bumbling twelve, were then going to be those who would go out and spread this news. They were the witnesses that Isaiah said would be sent. Sent to preach to the world, to open the eyes of the world, to see what had just happened before their very eyes - that God had fulfilled all His promises for them in Christ. That there on the cross, despite everything that was swirling about them, is their salvation.

And so for us today. It’s easy for all the stuff swirling about us - all the news, all the panic, all the changes - to capture our attention and drive us to fear. But instead of focusing on all that, with a kind of spiritual macular degeneration, focus on Christ crucified. That is what this season of Lent is holding before our eyes. Don’t let all this [what is swirling all around us] drive us to act in fear. Look to Christ and live in confidence. 

For He is still in control. Even if we don’t see it. Even if we don’t understand it.

For what is happening now is not worse than what happened on the cross. In fact, the cross was far worse! For as Isaiah would go on to say, Jesus bore not only all of our sins, but all of our diseases, all of our sicknesses, all of our afflictions, all of our failures, all of our rebellion - all sin and all its effects were on Him on the cross. And yet He remained in control. So too in these days of great distress.

So don’t let all the stuff swirling all around us give you spiritual macular degeneration. Keep Christ at the center every day and look to Him. For He is not gone nor turned away, but is still caring for His Bride, His Church. You. And He won’t stop. 

And maybe He’ll even give us the opportunity to proclaim that to people and help them to see. To hold Christ up before their eyes and give them hope. To help their spiritual macular degeneration. So that just maybe much good will come out of this difficult time. 

So as I have been saying, be careful, be safe, be smart, and be wise, but do not fear. We have a king. An eternal one. Named Jesus.

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Lent 3 Sermon

LISTEN

Jesu Juva

“A Moment in Time, a World of Difference”

Text: John 4:5-30, 39-42

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

What a difference a week can make!

Last Sunday are children were still going to school.

Last Sunday sports were still being played.

Last Sunday there was plenty of food on grocery store shelves.

Now it seems that almost all of life has either been cancelled or put on hold.

Now states have declared States of Emergency, and even the president has declared a national State of Emergency.

I could be wrong, but I don’t remember that happening since 9-11. 

After those attacks happened, people turned to the church for comfort and for answers. Churches were filled for a couple of Sundays.

But now even many churches have closed, and folks stay at home in fear. Fear of the unknown. Fear of what could happen.

Last Sunday we heard about Nicodemus, who got a one-on-one sit down with Jesus. He didn’t get to ask what he wanted to know, though. Instead, Jesus told him what he needed to know. And maybe there is a lot we’d like to ask God today, about what is happening - how long it will last, how bad it will get, and why it is happening. But as with Nicodemus, God doesn’t tell all we want to know. But He does tell us what we need to know. And for the rest, He says trust Me. I am your Father. I sent My Son to save you. I will always do what is best for you. At all times and in all circumstances. Even if it doesn’t seem like it and in things we can’t understand. God doesn’t cut and run when the going gets tough. He steps up. Even up to the cross. 

So no matter what happens in this very uncertain world, and this particular very uncertain time, you can count on Him.

Because, really, this isn’t the first time something happened to change your life in an instant. This isn’t the first week that changed the world. We’re getting ready to enter Holy Week in just a few weeks; a week that really did change the world. When not just many people in the world, but the very Son of God died for the world. When He died with the virus of our sin to save us from it. That though we all have that virus and will one day succumb to it, we rise back to life immune and separate from it forever. And never have to worry about it again.

And that all became yours in the one moment that changed your life forever - when you were baptized. When all that Jesus did for you that Holy Week became yours - your sin divinely healed with His forgiveness and your life now eternal. And nothing that can happen to you now can top that. Your now and your future are safe in Jesus’ hands.

So be wise, be careful, be safe, and be smart, but do not fear. Perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). And Jesus’ love for you is perfect.

Our love isn’t. Our love comes and goes, waxes and wanes, and often falls short. The people we thought we could count on let us down. The people who count on us are disappointed. Our failure to love causes all sorts of trouble and fear in our lives and in our world.

And we heard one such example of that today - the Samaritan woman at the well. Earthly love had let her down, time after time after time after time after time. For five times she had been married, and five times those marriages ended. Was it because of death or divorce or some combination of them? We aren’t told. But the man she was now with, living with as if he was her husband, was not her husband. Perhaps she had given up on love.

But it seems it wasn’t just men - she comes out to the well to draw water at the sixth hour, that is, 12 Noon. I was having a conversation with TJ the other day, and she said that when you’re from Arizona, you don’t do outside work in the middle of the day, when the sun is high in the sky and the temperature is at its highest. You go out in the morning or in the evening, when it is cooler. 

So too for the women of the town whose job it was to go to the well to draw water. Water is heavy. Hauling it hard work. You go to the well in the morning or in the evening, when it is cooler. Except if you’re not welcome and you’re forced to come out in the heat of the day, 12 Noon. Alone. No one to help. No one to talk to. No one to share your day with. It was like this woman was contagious! We don’t want to get whatever she has!

And the Jews - whose land surrounded the region of Samaria - treated the Samaritans like that all the time. 

Here is a woman in need of love. Thirsty for love. Any love. 

And so love shows up. Walks right up to her that day, and sits down by the well. A chance meeting? Coincidence? Some might say. But maybe not. Maybe just for her was Jesus there . . .

And He loves her. He’s going to be on the cross for her soon. For her sins. In perfect love, laying down His life for her. And Jesus wants her to know that. To know Him as her Saviour. The one who does not reject her, even if the rest of her town or the rest of the world, does. He does not. In fact, He wants her as His Bride. To be part of His Bride, the Church.

So they have a conversation. Unlike Nicodemus, she gets to ask her questions. And Jesus answers them. And Jesus speaks of something beyond being a Jew or a Samaritan; something that supercedes nationality - where you come from or where you live or where you worship. For, Jesus says, God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.

There are some people today who are spiritual but don’t have the truth. There are some who know the truth but are not spiritual. The key is that to worship is spirit and in truth is worship in Jesus. For He is the truth, and the Spirit gives us Jesus and His gifts. That’s what worship is, after all. That’s why we call it the Divine Service. Here the Divine is serving us. The Spirit bringing us the forgiveness, life, and salvation of Jesus through His Word and Sacraments. No matter who you are. No matter where you live or what nationality you are. 

Before Jesus, in the Old Testament, that Divine Service was restricted to the Temple, where the sacrifices took place. But now that Jesus has come, now that the once-and-for-all sacrifice has been made, the Spirit has been unleashed and that Divine Service now has gone out into all the world, to every pulpit, altar, and font where Jesus is present in His Word and with His Spirit. Even at a well in Samaria. And so His love and forgiveness and life is here, for you. 

Well right then and there, face-to-face with the Messiah, that woman’s life changed in a moment. A day that started out like any other turned out to be different than any other. The love she was so thirsty for was poured out on her. So she goes back to town and tells everyone. She says come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. But I think she said more than that. I think she said something like this . . . Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did . . . and didn’t reject me! 

That, you see, was the amazing part for her. Apparently, everyone in the town already knew about her and all she ever did. And she wasn’t welcome because of it. But here was a man who knew and didn’t reject her. Perfect love. And she was thirsty no more. 

Jesus knows all that you have done, too. All the sins you’re ashamed of, all the sins you’re proud of, all the sins you’ve kept hidden from others and so you look good and upright. Jesus knows them all. Which is good. For it means He died for them all. Every single one. 

Jesus came to be with us and wasn’t afraid of catching what we have - the virus of our sin. He spends time with this Samaritan woman, touches lepers, and embraces sinners. In fact, His perfect love caused Him to come, specifically to catch what we had - to take our sin and take it away from us, and give us His divine healing. And He has. It wasn’t the nails that took His life - it was your sin. But because they did, you now have life. The living water of His forgiveness and love, that you might never thirst again. And that you might not fear. 

Rudyard Kipling once wrote a poem entitled “If” that started out with what has become a rather famous quote: If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs . . . 

That seems to be a particular problem these days. And while Kipling describes lots of ways to do that in this poem, he misses the most important one of all - Christ. For with Christ, in Christ, and with your eyes and faith focused on Christ, you have what the world needs. And when the world is falling apart, when confidence is shaken, when the future is uncertain - you have what nothing is this world can change or take away: Christ. He is with you in life and in death. For richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Perfect love. Living water. Spirit and truth. All yours, for you are His. His Bride. His Church.

So be wise, be careful, be safe, and be smart, but do not fear.

Remember the week that changed the world and, like this Samaritan woman, the moment that changed your life.

And come and receive the Body and Blood of the one who is perfect love, gives you living water, forgives your sins, and will never, ever be ashamed of you. All that you need, He has, and He gives. 

In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.