Sermon-Sunday-March 4, 2007
Genesis 15:1-12, 17-18 Philippians 3:17-4:1 Luke 13:31-35
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our second lesson for this morning, Paul warns the people of Philippi about those whom he describes as “enemies of the Cross of Christ;” He says that their end is destruction. So what kind of person do you think Paul is talking about? What kind of people would garner such a negative description by Paul?
Well, if you watch the news, then you probably saw something this week about the discovery of a tomb that some people believe might actually be a tomb where Jesus was buried. Of course the people that are saying this, have no expertise in the scholarly fields relevant to this alleged discovery such as archaeology, or biblical history, or linguistics and certainly not theology. And of course just about all of the people who would qualify as experts are dismissing this discovery, but that’s not stopping these people from trumpeting their discovery, and it’s certainly not stopping the media from talking about it. So, certainly I think Paul would consider the people making this false claim to be enemies of the cross of Christ.
But is this the only kind of people that Paul is talking about? Is Paul just talking about people who try to cast doubt on the Christian witness? Well, in today’s lesson, I don’t know if it could be said that Paul was referring to people who were trying to discredit the Christian witness, as much as they just simply didn’t understand it. Paul was warning the people of Philippi about a group of people who were preaching a false gospel which insisted that circumcision was absolutely necessary for all believers.
These were people that had put their trust, not in God, but in practices they could control and enforce and influence. That is at the heart of what it means to be an enemy of the Cross of Christ; to put your trust in what you do, or see our touch, rather than simply receive the promise of what has been done for you on the cross.
Do you trust the Gospel’s simple promise to satisfy your righteous hunger? Do you spend more time talking with people about your faith, or the economy, or the last sporting event you went to, or politics.
Or when you talk about matters relating to your faith life, do you talk about the word proclaimed to you, or perhaps the fellowship that you enjoy with your fellow believers? Or do you talk more about issues connected to the budget?
The truth is, deep-down we are all enemies of the cross. We spend more time talking about things which we have convinced ourselves that we can control, like the budget. We want to put more faith in what we can do and see, rather than take a leap of faith and trust in what the Holy Spirit can do in and through us, and what Christ Jesus has already done on the Cross.
When it comes right down to it, we are all like Abram in our Old Testament lesson who questioned God even though God had already promised Abram that He would make into him a great nation and He would make the name of Abram great. We think, if only God could send some kind of sign that might show His faithfulness to us, or even just show that He’s there. In times when our faith is put to the test, we are like the father with the sick boy in Mark 9:24 who cries out to Jesus “I believe; help my unbelief.”
But Just as God remained faithful to Abram, in the midst of Abram’s doubt and unfaithfulness, our Lord remains faithful to us. In fact, in the midst of our unfaithful demands for a sign, He sends more than a sign, He sends His Son.
God would speak to His people Israel for centuries through the prophets of old and time and time again, the prophets would be rejected. But God does not let the unfaithfulness of His people hinder His plan for reconciliation and redemption. It was previously through the prophets that God would deliver His word of hope, but in rejecting the prophets, the people of Israel rejected God.
But that did not stop God, God sent His Son and in His Son the boundaries of faith and salvation were no longer limited to the people of Israel. In Christ Jesus, God brought a word of promise for all people. In Christ Jesus God brought redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness for all people.
And we can see in today’s Gospel lesson that Christ Jesus would not allow Herod to hinder His plan. In His encounter with these Pharisees who were supposedly warning Him about Herod, we can see that even after the centuries of rejection of all the prophets of old, our Lord still seeks to gather His children together. We see that Jesus is determined to fulfill the plan of redemption that would be fulfilled on the cross where Christ Jesus would take your sins upon Himself and in return you would receive His righteousness.
So now the only thing left to figure out is whether or not you are an enemy of the cross. Either you are an enemy of the cross or you are a part of the heavenly citizenship that Paul writes of in the second lesson for today. Is your glory actually your shame? Is your mind on earthly things? Or do you await the return of Christ Jesus and the transformation of your humiliation? Do you await the fulfillment of His promise to transform you into His glory?
What does it mean to be among the citizenship of Heaven that Paul writes about? What does it mean to stand firm in the Lord? The answer comes to us in our Gospel lesson when Jesus tells the Pharisees and Jerusalem in general that they will not see Him until the time comes when they say ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’
When you place your thoughts on Christ Jesus and on what He did for you; crucified and raised. When you take God in Christ Jesus at His Word that what He did on the cross He did for you, then you know that you are among the heavenly citizenship that Paul writes of in the second lesson for today.
Your place in the heavenly citizenship was secured 2000 years ago on the cross, and in the waters of baptism you were marked with that very citizenship when you were marked with the cross of Christ. And just as your Savior would not be hindered by the enemies of the cross that He faced on the way to the cross, He is not hindered by the enemies of the cross that we see today. Christ Jesus continues to come to you in His Word, in His supper and in fellowship with other believers.
He comes to you, claims you as His own, calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies you through His Word and protects you against the enemies of the cross. Just as Abram was reckoned as righteous in his faith, you are reckoned as righteous in the faith which you have been called to and baptized into. ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,’ for He has made you one of His own and placed you in the Heavenly citizenship.
Amen
Brothers and Sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
In our second lesson for this morning, Paul warns the people of Philippi about those whom he describes as “enemies of the Cross of Christ;” He says that their end is destruction. So what kind of person do you think Paul is talking about? What kind of people would garner such a negative description by Paul?
Well, if you watch the news, then you probably saw something this week about the discovery of a tomb that some people believe might actually be a tomb where Jesus was buried. Of course the people that are saying this, have no expertise in the scholarly fields relevant to this alleged discovery such as archaeology, or biblical history, or linguistics and certainly not theology. And of course just about all of the people who would qualify as experts are dismissing this discovery, but that’s not stopping these people from trumpeting their discovery, and it’s certainly not stopping the media from talking about it. So, certainly I think Paul would consider the people making this false claim to be enemies of the cross of Christ.
But is this the only kind of people that Paul is talking about? Is Paul just talking about people who try to cast doubt on the Christian witness? Well, in today’s lesson, I don’t know if it could be said that Paul was referring to people who were trying to discredit the Christian witness, as much as they just simply didn’t understand it. Paul was warning the people of Philippi about a group of people who were preaching a false gospel which insisted that circumcision was absolutely necessary for all believers.
These were people that had put their trust, not in God, but in practices they could control and enforce and influence. That is at the heart of what it means to be an enemy of the Cross of Christ; to put your trust in what you do, or see our touch, rather than simply receive the promise of what has been done for you on the cross.
Do you trust the Gospel’s simple promise to satisfy your righteous hunger? Do you spend more time talking with people about your faith, or the economy, or the last sporting event you went to, or politics.
Or when you talk about matters relating to your faith life, do you talk about the word proclaimed to you, or perhaps the fellowship that you enjoy with your fellow believers? Or do you talk more about issues connected to the budget?
The truth is, deep-down we are all enemies of the cross. We spend more time talking about things which we have convinced ourselves that we can control, like the budget. We want to put more faith in what we can do and see, rather than take a leap of faith and trust in what the Holy Spirit can do in and through us, and what Christ Jesus has already done on the Cross.
When it comes right down to it, we are all like Abram in our Old Testament lesson who questioned God even though God had already promised Abram that He would make into him a great nation and He would make the name of Abram great. We think, if only God could send some kind of sign that might show His faithfulness to us, or even just show that He’s there. In times when our faith is put to the test, we are like the father with the sick boy in Mark 9:24 who cries out to Jesus “I believe; help my unbelief.”
But Just as God remained faithful to Abram, in the midst of Abram’s doubt and unfaithfulness, our Lord remains faithful to us. In fact, in the midst of our unfaithful demands for a sign, He sends more than a sign, He sends His Son.
God would speak to His people Israel for centuries through the prophets of old and time and time again, the prophets would be rejected. But God does not let the unfaithfulness of His people hinder His plan for reconciliation and redemption. It was previously through the prophets that God would deliver His word of hope, but in rejecting the prophets, the people of Israel rejected God.
But that did not stop God, God sent His Son and in His Son the boundaries of faith and salvation were no longer limited to the people of Israel. In Christ Jesus, God brought a word of promise for all people. In Christ Jesus God brought redemption, reconciliation and forgiveness for all people.
And we can see in today’s Gospel lesson that Christ Jesus would not allow Herod to hinder His plan. In His encounter with these Pharisees who were supposedly warning Him about Herod, we can see that even after the centuries of rejection of all the prophets of old, our Lord still seeks to gather His children together. We see that Jesus is determined to fulfill the plan of redemption that would be fulfilled on the cross where Christ Jesus would take your sins upon Himself and in return you would receive His righteousness.
So now the only thing left to figure out is whether or not you are an enemy of the cross. Either you are an enemy of the cross or you are a part of the heavenly citizenship that Paul writes of in the second lesson for today. Is your glory actually your shame? Is your mind on earthly things? Or do you await the return of Christ Jesus and the transformation of your humiliation? Do you await the fulfillment of His promise to transform you into His glory?
What does it mean to be among the citizenship of Heaven that Paul writes about? What does it mean to stand firm in the Lord? The answer comes to us in our Gospel lesson when Jesus tells the Pharisees and Jerusalem in general that they will not see Him until the time comes when they say ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord.’
When you place your thoughts on Christ Jesus and on what He did for you; crucified and raised. When you take God in Christ Jesus at His Word that what He did on the cross He did for you, then you know that you are among the heavenly citizenship that Paul writes of in the second lesson for today.
Your place in the heavenly citizenship was secured 2000 years ago on the cross, and in the waters of baptism you were marked with that very citizenship when you were marked with the cross of Christ. And just as your Savior would not be hindered by the enemies of the cross that He faced on the way to the cross, He is not hindered by the enemies of the cross that we see today. Christ Jesus continues to come to you in His Word, in His supper and in fellowship with other believers.
He comes to you, claims you as His own, calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies you through His Word and protects you against the enemies of the cross. Just as Abram was reckoned as righteous in his faith, you are reckoned as righteous in the faith which you have been called to and baptized into. ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord,’ for He has made you one of His own and placed you in the Heavenly citizenship.
Amen
posted by Steve at 11:08 AM
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