Sermon for the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost

No sermon to post this week as Pastor Douthwaite is out of town. Thank you to Chaplain Michael Sneath for filling in! Click here to go to our YouTube page to watch the video of the service and to hear his preachment. 

 

Sermon for the Fifth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Three Questions”

Text: Mark 4:35-41; Job 38:1-11

 

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

There are three questions asked in the Holy Gospel we heard today:

(1.) Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

(2.) Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?

and

(3.) Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?

None of those questions are answered, directly, in the Gospel we heard. So that’s what I’d like to do today. Answer those three questions, in the opposite order, beginning with the last.

Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?

The disciples were still learning. They had seen Jesus do wonderful, marvelous things, but nothing like this. They saw Him cast out an unclean spirit. He had healed Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever and many others with various diseases. He cleansed a leper, made a paralyzed man walk, and healed a man with a withered hand. But this . . . ! This was different. This was nature. Uncontrollable nature. You can’t stop nature.

You know this. Think about and compare this to our day and age. It is no exaggeration to say that wonderful, marvelous things have been accomplished by medicine - healing diseases, prosthetic limbs, organ transplants, and more. People who not that long ago would have been dead are still living because of progress made in our day and age. Yet as great as all that is, there is still much we cannot do in this world, especially when it comes to nature, like stop earthquakes, prevent tornadoes, make hurricanes steer away from our coasts. Can you imagine if we could? The forces of nature are different. Nature is a whole other ball game. 

So when Jesus says Peace! Be still! yeah, that’s stunning. Actually, even more than that. The disciples are terrified. When faced with the storm, the word used there is that they were cowardly, timid. But when faced with Jesus’ power over nature, they were terrified. 

Now I want to put you in the boat and give you a perspective on this. Because usually, when you see pictures of this story, they show Jesus standing in the boat like George Washington crossing the Delaware - fearless and unafraid of the storm raging around Him, with His arm stretched out in power. But Mark doesn’t say that’s what happened. In fact, he doesn’t even say that Jesus got up. The disciples wake him up, tell Him they’re perishing, and Jesus says, Quiet down! Settle down! Words that might be used when you’re in a room full of screaming kids. Because Jesus was in a boat full of screaming disciples! And maybe they thought He was talking to them . . . for a moment. That Jesus was telling them, who had just woken Him up in a panic, to Quiet down! Settle down! Until all of a sudden, and in a moment, the sea (Mark’s words, now) became like glass. Not just no more winds and waves - no more nothin’!

And now . . . oh, wait! He wasn’t talking to us at all. He was talking to the screaming storm. And it listened! And it obeyed! No wonder they were terrified. No wonder they ask, Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey him?

They were still learning. We know. He is the God of creation. The God of Genesis 1 in human flesh and blood. The God who spoke all things into being. The God who speaks and it is so. He is Job’s God, the one who laid the foundation of the earth, determined its measurements, laid its cornerstone, prescribed limits for it, and who told the waters, Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed. That God can certainly do what Jesus did. Even, perhaps, while still groggy from sleep and sitting on the cushion. 

But that kind of power is terrifying. Because the one with that power can either use it for you or against you. Think about those who wield power in our world today - what do they do with their power? If it’s used for you, that’s good. But if it is used against you . . . And if you don’t know, if you are uncertain, how the power in this world is going to be used and how that’s going to impact you, that can make you cowardly and timid, like the disciples. Which is what the second question asked in the Gospel today was about, when Jesus asked them:

Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Why are you so cowardly and timid? Where is your faith? 

That’s an important question. Where is your faith? Or, we could say, what, or who, is your faith in? If you ask people that question today, to religious people, to people in the church, you will almost always get the answer: in God. That’s not a bad answer, but it’s not enough. It is not enough to just believe in God. The disciples believe in God and are cowardly, timid, and terrified on that boat. Many people today believe in God and are cowardly, timid, and terrified of the world and what is happening. And some are terrified of God and what a powerful God might do to them. The devil believes in God, in that he knows that he is real. That’s not enough.

No, we don’t just have faith in God, we have faith in the God who is for us. We have faith in the words and promises of God, that all He does He does for our good. That He will not forsake His children. That a great and powerful God isn’t going to use His power against us, but for us. That, in fact, God poured out His powerful wrath against our sin on His own Son on the cross. That’s how much He is for you. He’s all in. 

So when Jesus asks His disciples, Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? He is, in effect, asking them, don’t you yet understand that I’m here for you? That I’m here with my power for you. The powerful Egyptians cannot stand against Me. The powerful Assyrians cannot stand against Me. The demons and unclean spirits cannot stand against Me. And this power I am using for you, to defeat your enemies - not Rome, but your enemies named sin, death, and hell. And that should fill you with confidence. That should make you strong and courageous. There is nothing more powerful than me, and so nothing that will be able to overcome you!

Unless . . . unless your faith is in the wrong place. Faith in an unknown god, faith in yourself, faith in the people or things of this world, in these there is only fear and uncertainty. On these we cannot rely. They’ve let us down before, and they will again.

But faith in Jesus is different. Because it is faith in the one who is not just powerful, but the one who used his power to die on the cross for you, and then rise from the dead for you. So that you do not even have to fear death itself. And that is far greater - far greater! - than simply being able to command the winds and waves! 

The disciples don’t understand that yet. They will. They will after the see Jesus die on the cross, be laid in the tomb, but then risen and alive with them. Then they will understand what Saviour means. The one who wasn’t here to save Himself, but to save us. And who now says, trust me. If I did all that for you . . . if I went to the cross for you . . . if I laid down my life for you . . . won’t I take care of everything else, too? And He will. He promised.

It is when we forget those promises, or when we take our eyes off of them and look instead at the storms raging around us, that we then ask the third question we heard in the Gospel today: 

Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?

Teacher. Ironic, for that’s exactly what Jesus is doing here. Teaching them. 

But that question, don’t you care?, or the accusation that is implied in it, you don’t care - those words hurt, don’t they? Sometimes we deserve them. Sometimes we act that way. But to ask that of Jesus, who’s done nothing BUT care? But sometimes emotions take over and cloud our thinking. Especially when things look bad. Especially when we’re afraid. These things satan uses to try to rob us of our faith and convince us: Jesus doesn’t care. Not really. 

And we think that, too, don’t we? At times? That God might not be asleep on the cushion like Jesus was that day, but maybe asleep at the wheel of my life. So maybe we ask: Don’t you know what’s happening? In the world, in my life. Why aren’t you doing something about it? Why aren’t you making it stop? Why are evildoers getting away with their evil, and those who are working for good are getting persecuted and punished? Don’t you know, God? Don’t you see, God? Don’t you care, God?

At just such times, with just such questions, look at the cross. Look at the cross and see just how much God cares for you. And then your faith will be back where it belongs. And if you feel guilty for questioning Him and His love, hear Him speak to you, I forgive you all your sins. And that’s for your other sins, too! And when the powers and storms of this world are swamping you, the very same Body and Blood of Jesus that was with the disciples in that boat is here on the altar for you, to feed you and strengthen you with His forgiveness and life. And when you think you are too insignificant for God to notice or care about, look at this Font and remember that here or in a Font very similar to this one, God made you His child. He wanted - and still wants - you to be his own. 

And then, knowing not just your powerful God but your faithful and loving and forgiving God, you have peace. Not the quiet down! settle down! peace that came from Jesus speaking to the winds and waves, a peace borne of the Law - but far deeper and more lasting peace: the peace of the Gospel. The peace of knowing that there is nothing is all creation that can separate you from God’s love for you in Jesus. And that one day, when your body is finally overcome by the wages of sin, when you die, even then, especially then, the power, love, and forgiveness of God is for you. For when you die, you are not dead! For when you die in Christ Jesus, you are also raised with Him to life. And so you live. A life now beyond the reach of sin, death, and hell. A life that will never end.

So that day on the Sea of Galilee, the disciples thought they were going to perish. No! But they did get a preview of it, I think. What it will be like. For before the throne of God in heaven, the book of Revelation tells us, there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal (Revelation 4:6). A sea, just like the Sea that day after Jesus spoke to it. That’s what awaits us, in Jesus. Perfect peace. And knowing that, we can be bold and courageous now! Because we know the end of the story. So that if anyone asks you, Why aren’t you afraid? Where is your faith? you can tell them of the one who has calmed the storms and wields all power, and that He uses that power for us. And if they’d like to have that peace, they can. It’s for them, too. Jesus is for them, too. 

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

National Celebrate Life Conference - Saturday Morning Devotion

Good morning. It is so good to be here with you again today.

King Solomon, in pondering the meaning of life and searching for wisdom, said, For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven . . . and then he lists what many of those times and seasons are. 

And some of the things he lists are:

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
and many more.

But the very first pair that he names in that long list is this: that there is a time to be born, and a time to die (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

Sadly, for far too many, the time to be born never comes, and the time to die comes too soon. And that is true not only in our day and age, but perhaps moreso in our day and age than ever before. Whether it is by surgery or pill, by force or for convenience, cheerfully, tearfully, or fearfully, far too many little boys and little girls are never given a chance, a time to be born. And those who are, who do get the chance, for how many does the time to die come too soon? Because they are told they are not worth anything, they are told that to die is better, or because of crime or violence, bullying or neglect? 

And as sad as that all is, there is something even sadder still: that this is celebrated by some, and called progress. 

But for each and every one of these lives whose end comes too soon, whether young or old, born or preborn, able or disabled, wanted or unwanted, our Father in heaven is grieved. Jesus wept at Lazarus’ tomb. Death is not a solution, it is the enemy. It is not to be embraced, it is to be overcome.

So when King Solomon penned these words, that there is a time to be born, and a time to die, he was not only searching for wisdom, he was searching for an answer. And in searching for an answer, he prophetically pointed us to the answer - the answer to life, the answer to death, and the answer to sin, when we take life and death into our own hands. Because there is not only a time for us to be born and for us to die, there was also a divinely appointed time for God Himself to be born, and for God Himself to die. 

And approximately 950 years after Solomon composed these words, that time came. The time to be born . . . for Jesus. All of you, or most of you at least, know the story: the angel Gabriel, the virgin Mary, the journey to Bethlehem, no room in the inn, the birth, the manger, the visit of the shepherds and the wise men. But here is how the Apostle Paul wrote of it. He said, when the fullness of time had come - or another translation says, at just the right time, or, we could say, at the divinely appointed time - God sent forth His Son, born of woman . . . to redeem us (Galatians 4:4). It was His time to be born.

God had that time in His mind even before the creation of the world, but He then promised that He would do that when our first parents, Adam and Eve, decided there was a time to die. Before that, there wasn’t! There was no death, only life. But with their sin, now there was death, and a time to die for them and for us. But God stepped in and promised life, by a Saviour. And at the time appointed, in the fullness of time, at just the right time, the divinely appointed time, God the Son was born into our world.

But God had appointed another time, too: a time for His Son to die. And when that time, that hour had come (John 12:23), Jesus did. He laid down His life for the life of the world. Exactly as God planned, exactly as the prophets foretold. That though all die, all may live. That there might be for all a time to be born - a time to be born again, born from above, as children of God. That though we all now have a time to die, we also have a time to rise to life again in Jesus. That because He lives, we also shall live. 

And for this, too, there is a time. The time set by the Father for Jesus to return in glory, and take us to life eternal. A time we all pray will be soon!

But until that time, it is time for us to do what we have been given to do. 

A time to Celebrate Life! as we are doing this weekend. That life is the gift of God. Life that God creates, redeems, and sanctifies. Life that is not an accident and not by chance, but life filled with purpose, meaning, and value. And when we know that, we know of many more times as well . . .

That there is a time to speak, and a time to defend.

A time to confess, and a time to forgive.

A time to teach, and a time to pray.

A time to care, and a time to provide.

A time to support, and a time to give.

A time to rejoice, and a time to work.

A time to use the gifts, talents, abilities, and faith that God has blessed us with, where He has put us, and to the people He has given us. For life.

And as we do, remembering this very important fact: that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12). We must remember who our true enemy is. And if this work isn’t easy - and as you all well know, it’s not! - it’s because of who our enemy is, and that he knows his time is short. So his lies and deception will continue, and maybe even intensify, but the truth will prevail.

Those two reasons are why ours is not an angry protest movement, but a joy-filled, love-reflecting, pro-life movement! We know the Victor and His victory. And so with Him and in Him we are like Him. We are pro-baby, pro-mother, pro-father, and pro-family. We love those at the beginning of life and those at the end of life. And all those in-between, too. Because that’s what Jesus did, and it’s not so much that we do because we follow His example, or do so because He commanded us, but because He put His love and His Spirit into our hearts. 

And in the end, that’s what it’s all about: the love of Jesus and the Spirit of Jesus poured into our hearts. Jesus, who died to save the abortion provider, the abortion user, and the abortion supporter. Who died to save us when we are less-than-loving. Who came to love us and strengthen us through unplanned pregnancies, when life is hard and confusing, when we have disabled family members, and those who can no longer remember us. 

The Dobbs decision was great, a step in the right direction. But only a step. Since then there have been set backs, we heard about some yesterday, states enacting laws and amending their constitutions in ways that do not support life. My state of Virginia has those working on this. The Supreme Court punted on the case removing restrictions from mifepristone. And more. All of which is a reminder to us that the right laws and more laws may help, but isn’t really the answer. The answer is Jesus. The answer is to change hearts.

Changing the law is hard. It took 50 years to get Dobbs! But hearts are harder still. And so maybe you might even, at times, feel like Solomon, who would also write, when pondering life: What gain has the worker from his toil? (Ecclesiastes 3:9) For you may not see results. You may want to throw up your hands and give up. Your toil may be long and hard and thankless. 

But it is never in vain! King Solomon said all is vanity, all is meaningless. But he was wrong. Because as Isaiah reminds us, God’s Word never returns empty, but accomplishes that for which God purposes, and succeeds in the thing for which He sends it (Isaiah 55:11). And that is true for His written word, His spoken Word, and especially His Word made flesh, Jesus. He is still giving life and redeeming life, and so we will continue to celebrate His gift of life. And fight to protect it. 

So thank you for all you do. I thank God for all of you and what He is able to accomplish through you. 

And I will close with these words of encouragement from the Apostle Paul, at the end of His great resurrection chapter: Therefore, my beloved brothers [and sisters], be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain (1 Corinthians 15:58).

Let us pray . . .

Heavenly Father, author and creator of life, protector and preserver of life, and lover of life, thank You for the gift of life You give and continue to give, thank You for sending Your Son to be the Redeemer of life, that all might have life and have it abundantly, and thank You for the gift of Your Spirit, without whom we would be lost. 

Fill us with faith and confidence, that there is nothing in all creation that can separate us from Your love. And with that faith and confidence, embolden us in the fight for each and every life. When we are afraid, give us the fearlessness of David standing against Goliath. When we are weak, give us the strength of Paul, who said when I am weak, then I am strong. When we despair, point us to the empty tomb, and give us joy. When we are confused, give us Your wisdom and the clarity of Your Word. And give us the love we need to love our enemies, and the compassion we need to pray for those who persecute us. For Your Son died for them, too. And wants to save them, too. 

So may Your Word of life that resounds not only today but everyday, reach all people, and let them know they are valued and loved. May the message of life that resounds today in this city be heard by those who need to hear that their life has meaning, that all life is precious, and protect all life, we pray. Use all of us and the gifts, talents, and abilities You have given us. Some in big ways, some in small ways, but none in unimportant ways. Protect all who gather on the Mall now, from the heat, from all harm and danger, and bless the time we have left together here, that we learn, that we encourage and support one another, and rejoice in all that You are doing, until the day You call us home to be with You in Your kingdom, when all sin is overcome, and where there is only life.

Hear our prayers, dear Father, for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. AMEN

Sermon for the Fourth Sunday after Pentecost

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Jesu Juva

“Wonderfully Unpredictable”

Text: Mark 4:26-34; 2 Corinthians 5:1-17

 

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

The kingdom of God is unpredictable. From our perspective, anyway. Not for God, of course. He knows all things. He’s in control. No curveballs that He’s unprepared for. It’s not that way for us. And we usually don’t like that.

Because that means I’m not in control. For to be in control means a predictable and desired outcome. Do this, you get that. Or if you don’t get your desired outcome, you fix it. When I wake up in the morning, I expect my coffee maker to work, my shower to be hot, and my internet to be available and fast. And if any of those things don’t work as I desire or predict, then neither do I! And if that’s true for these little things in my life, how much more for the big things, like the kingdom of God.

But the kingdom of God is unpredictable. That’s what Jesus is teaching in the parables we heard today. He said the kingdom of God is like scattering seed on the ground. We don’t know how that seed grows, or where, or how much harvest each seed will produce. It just does. And the kingdom of God is also like a mustard seed - in that little seeds don’t always grow little plants, and big seeds don’t always grow big plants. Sometimes you are surprised. Sometimes what you get is unexpected, and so unpredictable.

And as with the things in our lives, we usually don’t like that. Surprises are good, but not all the time. We want to be in control. That we like. And this is true even with the kingdom of God, with the Church, His kingdom of grace. And so we want to know: How do we make the church grow? What’s the formula? What do I have to do to get the desired and predictable outcome? Namely, the growth we want. So we see churches trying that. Copying what works for that church, following this trend, that fad, or those gimmicks, allowing the culture to come into the church, doing what , they think, will draw the people in, give them what they want. Trying to control the outcome.

But the kingdom of God is unpredictable. Some churches that do those things grow, and some do not. Is the reason that some do it well and some do not? Maybe, but that’s not always the case. I also know some churches who do no outreach into their communities at all and grow, and others that do a ton of outreach and do not. Why is that? And take our own congregation, our little church here, for an example, a case study. We’ve been here over 20 years, are still small, and still don’t have our own building. There are other churches that have started at the same time or more recently than us which are bigger and have their own buildings. Are they successful and we are not? And we faithful and they are not? Are they doing it right and we are not? Can we make such judgments? Or is the kingdom of God just not predictable? 

Truth is, the kingdom of God is not ours to grow. Only Jesus can do that. He is in control, not us. And He grows His kingdom with small seeds and large seeds, small plants and big plants, great harvests and sometimes one soul at a time. And sometimes in ways quite unexpected and unpredictable. Like, why did God choose Jacob and not Esau? Jacob turned out not to be a paragon of virtue! And why did God choose David, the youngest of seven brothers? Unpredictable.

I don’t think we usually think of sin this way, but maybe we should: that part of our fallen, sinful human nature is the desire to be in control; to control everything in my life and get my desired outcome. Not that being in control is always sinful. God has given that responsibility to some people for some things - and that’s good. But my desire to control my life and everything in it - that leads away from God. That’s the opposite of living by faith. It is living by sight. By my sight. By what looks right to me.

And then how I measure things is by what I want. And then who am I looking at? who am I looking to? Myself. My thoughts, my desires, what I do. And then what happens is that I either despair, grow prideful, or maybe get angry. Despair when things don’t work out as I wanted, prideful when they do, or angry when my efforts are not rewarded. And none of that is good. Especially if what I thought and what I wanted really isn’t good at all.

The alternative, then, is to live by faith, not sight. We heard that from the apostle Paul today in the Epistle. But to live by faith is to admit and acknowledge that I am not in control. It is to place the kingdom of God in Jesus’ hands. Or, better to say, to leave it there. And that is then also to not look at myself - my thoughts, my desires, what I do - but to look at and look to Christ and Him crucified and keep my eyes there. Then instead of anger there is repentance, instead of pride there is humility, and instead of despair there is confidence. The confidence that the kingdom of God belongs to God, not to me. (Duh, right?) And that it is in better hands in His hands, not mine. 

And it is also to admit and acknowledge that my judgment may not always be the right one, and that there are things happening that I do not know and cannot see. And that maybe my goals, desires, and expectations aren’t the right ones either. For is a full church a healthy church? Is a full and large church a faithful church? Maybe. But maybe not. 

Better then, is to live by faith. Faith in the words and promises of God. That what God has promised, He will do. That His every word will be fulfilled. We do what has been given us to do, but the growth, the harvest, belongs to Him. And it may not be what we want, like, or think. Unpredictable.

But let’s get back to the parables, starting with the mustard seed growing into the largest of all the garden plants. That small seed that the birds could easily eat becomes the large plant that they can nest in. If that is a parable of the kingdom of God, as Jesus said it was, then the largest plant that comes from the smallest seed is a picture for us of the cross. For Jesus was small like a mustard seed. He was at one time just a fertilized egg in His mother’s womb, just like us. He was born in poverty, in a small town, and by and large unnoticed by the world which had far more important things to do than worry about another religious guy in a backwater country. And yet when Jesus was crucified and planted in the ground of the tomb, He then grew - He rose to life again and His cross became the largest and most important of all trees. And His kingdom, growing from that empty tomb and watered by His blood, encompassed the world and will last to eternity. And who at the foot of the cross, would have predicted that?

And through the centuries, the growth of the kingdom of God, the church, has been unpredictable. When persecuted, it grew stronger. It was pushed underground in the Soviet Union, only to later grow again. In the West it is shrinking and struggling, but in the global South it is growing. And in some Muslim countries, like Iran, it is sprouting up in many hearts. Who would have predicted that?

So the kingdom of God is not only unpredictable, it is wonderfully unpredictable! God is doing things and doing them in ways we don’t expect, can’t predict, and marvel at. Though we shouldn’t, marvel. That’s God’s way. We should expect the unexpected, predict the unpredictable, and rejoice in a God who does things so differently than us. Choosing and using tax collectors and sinners, Canaanite women and Roman soldiers, common fishermen, and even those who were persecuting Him! Choosing and using common water, words, and bread and wine as the mustard seeds of His gifts. For look at these small things - a splash of water, a morsel or bread, a sip of wine, a few words. Yet from these . . . what growth! What a harvest! For that small splash of water turns a sinner into a saint! Those few words forgive all your sins and proclaim a life that is eternal! And that morsel of bread and sip of wine feed us with the food of heaven, the Body and Blood of God the Son Himself, and unite us to Him in His perfect life! Who would have predicted that?

But there’s one more surprise, one more unpredictable, one more person God chooses and uses that we wouldn’t have thought - and that’s you. And no matter who you are, no matter how many people you know or who know you, in the grand scheme of things, all of us are mustard seeds. And yet God is able to plant you and use you to grow and accomplish much in His kingdom. And today we especially remember that of fathers. That faithful fathers can have a long and lasting impact through their children raised in the faith. So if you have, or had, a faithful father, thank God for him. And if you didn’t, and not all do, thank God that you have a faithful Father in Him. For that’s who God is before all else: the Father. The Father who cares for you and all His children, and wants all people to be His children. 

So, really, there are no unwanted children in this world. Or adults. Your heavenly Father wants you. And redeemed you. And is here for you. And a God like that . . . who doesn’t demand, but serves, who doesn’t take, but gives, who lays down His life for you . . . well we have finally come to what is predictable! Because that is who God is and what He has always been and what He promised from the very beginning. And He is for you. So that in this unpredictable world, we have something we can count on. Someone, actually. HIM. And I don’t know about you, but I would take a faithful heavenly Father over a predictable world any day and every day. That while I may not know how everything is going to turn out, He does. And that He can use mustard seed me and whatever little mustard seed things I can do to accomplish that? What else is there to say but thanks be to God!

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