Sermon Sunday December 16, 2007
Third Sunday in Advent
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the One to come or if we are to wait for another. John the Baptist does this. Why would John the Baptist question whether or not Jesus is the One to come?? I would think if anybody, John the Baptist would have a certain sense of security about this. I mean he was the one chosen by God to prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus. He baptized Jesus. In last week’s Gospel we read that he proclaimed Jesus as being One who baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire.
And yet, in today’s lesson he doesn’t seem so certain. Well in John’s defense he was in prison and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was killed for his bold witness. And truth be told there is actually some debate as to whether or not John actually questioned whether or not Jesus was the One to come or if he was simply doing this for the benefit of his disciples.
But in the end, that is not really that important. What matters is that the question was asked. John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked Him whether He was the One to come of if they were to wait for another. What is important is that there were doubts.
And so I ask you how certain are you that Jesus is the One to come?? How certain can we be this time of year that Jesus is indeed the One to come? How certain can we be when it seems like every year this season becomes a little bit more about commercialism and a little bit less about the birth of the Christ child? How certain can we be when around this time of year that is supposed to be so festive and joyous, the suicide is rate is higher than it is any other time of year?? How certain can we be when we turn on the news at night and hear about war and mass shootings in schools and malls and churches??
Well Jesus gives us a little clue in today’s Gospel lesson when He tells us that blessed is anyone who takes no offense at Him. Well that seems easy enough. If we are not offended at Jesus then we can rest in the assurance of His promise and blessing.
And so comes the question ‘Do you take offense at Jesus?’ I mean maybe you like the Jesus who teaches us about love and forgiveness. Maybe you’re pretty comfortable with the Jesus who gives the blind their sight or the Jesus who gives the deaf their hearing or the lame their ability to walk or provides cleansing for the lepers or raises the dead.
But how comfortable are you with the Jesus who demands perfection? Do you like the Jesus who tells us that it’s not enough to love our brothers and sisters but that we must love our enemies also?? He comes demanding that we be perfect like our Father in Heaven is perfect. He comes demanding that we stay perfectly in His Word.
He comes telling us that even just looking at someone of the opposite sex with the slightest hint of lust is the same as committing adultery with them. He tells us that by just getting angry at someone, we are just as guilty as if we had killed them. In our Gospel lesson Jesus says that nobody among all of humanity is greater than John the Baptist, and yet even the least among those in the Kingdom of Heaven are greater than John. Jesus comes ushering in the Kingdom of God but then sets the standard for that kingdom impossibly high for us to attain.
And the truth is that offends all of us. It offends us because it shows us how completely powerless we are. When Jesus comes in demanding perfection, showing the complete futility of our best efforts it offends us. It offends us because it disarms us. Jesus calls us to take all of the focus off ourselves and to put it on Him and our neighbor. And so even if you were somehow able to go one day without externally breaking one of the Ten Commandments, you don’t swear, you don’t steal, you don’t murder, you remember the Sabbath, you honor your parents, you don’t covet anything, and by the way if you figure out a way to go an entire day without coveting something, let me know how you do that.
But even if you did that, all the while you would fail to look in your heart, and you would forget the impure motives that drove you to do this. You would forget that you were driven not by a desire to love and serve your neighbor or even to love and serve your Lord. You would be working purely from a compulsion and desire to avoid hell or go to heaven. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to heaven or to avoid hell, but you can’t do it on you own, and as soon as you even slightly entertain the notion that you can then you have broken the first commandment, and when you break one it’s the same as breaking them all.
You see we must be offended by Jesus, because only when we are offended by Him are we made aware of just how completely powerless we are. And it’s for the powerless that Jesus came. This is what He reminds John’s disciples of when He tells them to go tell John what they hear and see; that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
And that last one about the poor having good news brought to them covers all of us. And that good news is the antidote to the most fatal form of powerlessness, the powerlessness that we all suffer from. We are powerless to save ourselves from ourselves; more specifically from our sin.
But Jesus, taking the form of a servant, takes on our powerlessness and our sin and takes it with Him to the cross where He bore the penalty for it. And He left it in the tomb. And so there is no longer any need to be offended. Quite to the contrary we can rejoice that where we are powerless Jesus is all powerful, where we can’t even take the first step in bringing the kingdom of God to ourselves, Christ Jesus brings it to us daily in His Word and Sacrament and in fellowship with other believers.
And so in this Advent season as we await the coming of our Lord, not just His coming to us at His birth which we will remember in the approaching Christmas season, but His promised return in glory still to come, we can rejoice and take comfort in that promise that all has been done for us already, that the Kingdom of God is already our’s and is already here in Word and Sacrament and fellowship.
As the world constantly tries to bombard us with reasons to wonder if Jesus is indeed the One who is to come, let us take comfort in the words of James from today’s second lesson who tells us “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” And the coming of the Lord is indeed near, It is as near as the Word being proclaimed to you and the Lord’s Supper we will be partaking in a few minutes.
James also tells us that we can take comfort in the example of suffering and patience set by the prophet who spoke in the name of the Lord. And so we go to the prophet Isaiah from our first lesson for today who tells us that the Lord is bringing a Holy Way, a highway for God’s people, and in these words of Isaiah we receive one of the most encouraging and comforting words in all of scripture when Isaiah says that not even fools will go astray. And that good news that not even fools will go astray applies to all of us, so there is no reason to be offended by that.
Amen
Brothers and sisters,
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
John the Baptist sends his disciples to ask Jesus if He is the One to come or if we are to wait for another. John the Baptist does this. Why would John the Baptist question whether or not Jesus is the One to come?? I would think if anybody, John the Baptist would have a certain sense of security about this. I mean he was the one chosen by God to prepare the way for the arrival of Jesus. He baptized Jesus. In last week’s Gospel we read that he proclaimed Jesus as being One who baptized with the Holy Spirit and fire.
And yet, in today’s lesson he doesn’t seem so certain. Well in John’s defense he was in prison and he knew that it was only a matter of time before he was killed for his bold witness. And truth be told there is actually some debate as to whether or not John actually questioned whether or not Jesus was the One to come or if he was simply doing this for the benefit of his disciples.
But in the end, that is not really that important. What matters is that the question was asked. John’s disciples came to Jesus and asked Him whether He was the One to come of if they were to wait for another. What is important is that there were doubts.
And so I ask you how certain are you that Jesus is the One to come?? How certain can we be this time of year that Jesus is indeed the One to come? How certain can we be when it seems like every year this season becomes a little bit more about commercialism and a little bit less about the birth of the Christ child? How certain can we be when around this time of year that is supposed to be so festive and joyous, the suicide is rate is higher than it is any other time of year?? How certain can we be when we turn on the news at night and hear about war and mass shootings in schools and malls and churches??
Well Jesus gives us a little clue in today’s Gospel lesson when He tells us that blessed is anyone who takes no offense at Him. Well that seems easy enough. If we are not offended at Jesus then we can rest in the assurance of His promise and blessing.
And so comes the question ‘Do you take offense at Jesus?’ I mean maybe you like the Jesus who teaches us about love and forgiveness. Maybe you’re pretty comfortable with the Jesus who gives the blind their sight or the Jesus who gives the deaf their hearing or the lame their ability to walk or provides cleansing for the lepers or raises the dead.
But how comfortable are you with the Jesus who demands perfection? Do you like the Jesus who tells us that it’s not enough to love our brothers and sisters but that we must love our enemies also?? He comes demanding that we be perfect like our Father in Heaven is perfect. He comes demanding that we stay perfectly in His Word.
He comes telling us that even just looking at someone of the opposite sex with the slightest hint of lust is the same as committing adultery with them. He tells us that by just getting angry at someone, we are just as guilty as if we had killed them. In our Gospel lesson Jesus says that nobody among all of humanity is greater than John the Baptist, and yet even the least among those in the Kingdom of Heaven are greater than John. Jesus comes ushering in the Kingdom of God but then sets the standard for that kingdom impossibly high for us to attain.
And the truth is that offends all of us. It offends us because it shows us how completely powerless we are. When Jesus comes in demanding perfection, showing the complete futility of our best efforts it offends us. It offends us because it disarms us. Jesus calls us to take all of the focus off ourselves and to put it on Him and our neighbor. And so even if you were somehow able to go one day without externally breaking one of the Ten Commandments, you don’t swear, you don’t steal, you don’t murder, you remember the Sabbath, you honor your parents, you don’t covet anything, and by the way if you figure out a way to go an entire day without coveting something, let me know how you do that.
But even if you did that, all the while you would fail to look in your heart, and you would forget the impure motives that drove you to do this. You would forget that you were driven not by a desire to love and serve your neighbor or even to love and serve your Lord. You would be working purely from a compulsion and desire to avoid hell or go to heaven. There is nothing wrong with wanting to go to heaven or to avoid hell, but you can’t do it on you own, and as soon as you even slightly entertain the notion that you can then you have broken the first commandment, and when you break one it’s the same as breaking them all.
You see we must be offended by Jesus, because only when we are offended by Him are we made aware of just how completely powerless we are. And it’s for the powerless that Jesus came. This is what He reminds John’s disciples of when He tells them to go tell John what they hear and see; that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
And that last one about the poor having good news brought to them covers all of us. And that good news is the antidote to the most fatal form of powerlessness, the powerlessness that we all suffer from. We are powerless to save ourselves from ourselves; more specifically from our sin.
But Jesus, taking the form of a servant, takes on our powerlessness and our sin and takes it with Him to the cross where He bore the penalty for it. And He left it in the tomb. And so there is no longer any need to be offended. Quite to the contrary we can rejoice that where we are powerless Jesus is all powerful, where we can’t even take the first step in bringing the kingdom of God to ourselves, Christ Jesus brings it to us daily in His Word and Sacrament and in fellowship with other believers.
And so in this Advent season as we await the coming of our Lord, not just His coming to us at His birth which we will remember in the approaching Christmas season, but His promised return in glory still to come, we can rejoice and take comfort in that promise that all has been done for us already, that the Kingdom of God is already our’s and is already here in Word and Sacrament and fellowship.
As the world constantly tries to bombard us with reasons to wonder if Jesus is indeed the One who is to come, let us take comfort in the words of James from today’s second lesson who tells us “Be patient, therefore, beloved, until the coming of the Lord.. Strengthen your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is near.” And the coming of the Lord is indeed near, It is as near as the Word being proclaimed to you and the Lord’s Supper we will be partaking in a few minutes.
James also tells us that we can take comfort in the example of suffering and patience set by the prophet who spoke in the name of the Lord. And so we go to the prophet Isaiah from our first lesson for today who tells us that the Lord is bringing a Holy Way, a highway for God’s people, and in these words of Isaiah we receive one of the most encouraging and comforting words in all of scripture when Isaiah says that not even fools will go astray. And that good news that not even fools will go astray applies to all of us, so there is no reason to be offended by that.
Amen
posted by Steve at 11:29 AM
1 Comments:
Great sermon. I loved the interplay with John's questions and ultimately ours.
This has to be one of the best lines ever written:
You see we must be offended by Jesus, because only when we are offended by Him are we made aware of just how completely powerless we are. And it’s for the powerless that Jesus came. This is what He reminds John’s disciples of when He tells them to go tell John what they hear and see; that the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them.
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