Acts 10:34-43 (ESV) 

³⁴ Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really am beginning to understand that God does not show favoritism, ³⁵ but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. ³⁶ He sent his word to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

³⁷ “You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. ³⁸ God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him.

³⁹ “Indeed, we are witnesses of all the things he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, yet they killed him by hanging him on a cross. ⁴⁰ But God raised him on the third day and caused him to be seen, ⁴¹ not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had already chosen—by us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴² He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ All the prophets testify about him that, through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we can see how you don’t favour us over others, but how you equally favour all people who have faith in your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

As humans, we like to play favourites. We have our favourite cars and holiday spots. We have our favourite football teams and TV shows. We have our favourite friends. We even differentiate between family members as we show favouritism toward some more than others.

Of course, if we play favourites, we also naturally do the opposite. If we like something or someone, then it normally means that we don’t like other things or other people as much. For example, if someone likes Holdens, they normally don’t like Fords. Or, if they follow a football team such as Collingwood or Richmond, then all the other teams aren’t as good. It also naturally follows that if we favour some people at church, then there are others we may not want to get along with.

This is quite natural. As humans we normally like or love some things and dislike or hate other things. We often show our partiality, our bias, or our prejudice in many ways, and all too often we have to deal with the favouritism, partiality or prejudice of others against us.

But how do we handle something which has no partiality or favouritism?

For example, droughts, floods, earthquakes, or tsunamis show no partiality.

These types of events don’t differentiate between people. It doesn’t matter if we’re good or bad, young or old, beautiful or ugly, Asian or European, male or female, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Christian or Atheist. If we ever get caught up in one of these events, it can challenge our ideas of favouritism!

For instance, we may think that because we’re Christian, God will save us from drought, flood or other disasters. But when widespread tragedies occur, this type of thinking can be challenged because wind and water and wave and virus often show no favouritism or partiality. The young, the old, the good, the bad, and the indifferent are all affected. Sure, sooner or later we might hear of some miraculous escapes that some Christians put down to God’s divine intervention, but we’ll also hear stories of Buddhists, Muslims or atheists among the survival stories as well.

Even a personal crisis such as cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, long periods of sickness, or death is sometimes hard to deal with. Sure, some of these things can be a result of life choices or genetic dispositions, but often there’s no logical place or person to blame. Some forms of sickness and disease show no clear favouritism. Even death itself shows no prejudice. Quite simply all will die. No-one escapes this world alive.

We struggle when there’s no rhyme or reason. We struggle when we can’t blame someone for their favouritism, sexism, and other forms of prejudice (which is becoming more and more popular to do these days). We always figure someone’s to blame and they’re going to pay for all the pain and grief we’re experiencing as we feel picked on or maligned or judged by those around us!

This means when we figure no-one is to blame, we might turn on God and blame him. We might want to question him and challenge his power, his love or his partiality. Some people rage at God or his followers and expend their fury and grief toward God or his church. It’s not always a personal attack, but a deep expression of heartache and anger at the injustice of whatever they’re going through that had to focus its bitter energy somewhere.

When we, or the people around us, ask ‘Why God?’, we might be tempted to answer, but unless we truly know the mind of God, it would be better to remain silent. When people experience tragedy or death, it can be helpful to let them rage. Let them question. Let them grieve.

Although we desire to explain everything so that it makes some kind of sense to us, some things will remain a mystery. We know the only clear and certain way God speaks to us is through Scripture, but he doesn’t reveal the reasons for every tragedy in his Word. God sometimes remains silent to allow us time and space to express our sorrow and anguish. God is big enough to defend himself and he doesn’t need any of our pitiful speculations or arguments in his defence.

However, it’s when we struggle with the impartial tragedies of our life that we should turn to something or someone who also shows no favouritism or partiality. In our case, no matter how some will blame and rage at God, where else can we turn for comfort and peace and hope except God? In our case, we return to the impartial loving and compassionate nature of God in Christ Jesus, which includes the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the impartial waters of our baptism.

You see, while we might differentiate between each other, God doesn’t differentiate between us. He doesn’t favour some of us over others. He wants to give us all hope and life and peace.

God will eagerly receive the young, the old, the beautiful, the ugly, and both males and females as his dearly loved and precious children. He’ll also receive any former Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Atheists and wants them to also turn to him in faith. Like an earthquake or a tsunami, God shows no favouritism, but instead of bringing death and destruction, he sends his waves of love, peace and forgiveness over the whole earth from the epicentre of Jerusalem.

It was there at Jerusalem death was overcome through the powerful resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Where death always seems like the final outcome, now death is no longer the end. Through faith, death becomes nothing more than a doorway into life with Jesus himself and the whole company of heaven. Jesus Christ has risen from the dead and all those joined to Christ through faith have already crossed that chasm of death and will live in his eternal kingdom.

This means, unlike the reminders of our fragility and mortality such as flood, earthquakes, tsunamis or disease which bring so much death, chaos and destruction, God’s impartial love through Jesus brings life, hope, and purpose through discipleship and vocation.

So, where conflict and tragedy breaks up families and communities, God’s love and forgiveness brings restoration and true equality between previously warring and prejudiced people.

Where devastation brings despair, lost-ness and feelings of helplessness, God brings hope, patience and comfort.

We know that there are many events in our lives where we will feel the effects of suffering or tragedy.

Sickness, troubles, and death will constantly work away at us and sometimes threaten to overtake us. But by God’s grace, the good news of forgiveness, healing, peace, and life will also keep working away at us, giving us hope in even the darkest times. Even when the waves of death threaten to overwhelm us, we know that through faith in Jesus Christ, we’ll live in peace with Jesus forever. God’s promises are stronger than even the most powerful and destructive forces of nature or of humans!

The reality is that we live under the constant threat of chaos, despair, destruction and death, but we also live with the reality of God’s continual grace and mercy. To ignore one is to lessen the other. When death and chaos seem to win, that’s the time to return to the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and the eternal and ultimately victorious promises given to us in our baptism.

We know if we were to only look at tsunamis, earthquakes, fire, floods, famines, and other national or personal catastrophes, then all we will know about God is that he is angry, incomprehensible, and impartial. But we know that’s not true.

This is why the church continues to proclaim God’s message of the gospel – the good news that through Jesus’ death we’re promised forgiveness, and that through his resurrection we’re promised life eternal.

Without this good news we wouldn’t know of God’s impartial love.

Without God’s Word, how would we know whether God is for us or against us? Without baptism, how might we be joined to Jesus? Without the Lord’s Supper, how might we enjoy peaceful fellowship with our Triune God on this side of the grave? Without parents telling their children about Jesus or without Christians sharing their faith in their crucified and risen Lord, how will they know of God’s merciful and gracious love?

Therefore, the church continues to bear witness to the grace and mercy of God to all people so they might believe in Jesus. We proclaim the good news that God’s forgiveness, grace, and life, is impartial. While we might say God doesn’t have any favourites except his own dearly beloved Son, it’s through faith that all those who live in Christ receive the same favour that God’s only Son deserves.

This means, since we’ve been touched by God’s impartiality, we’re also challenged to show the same impartiality to each other. Just as God has shown us that he doesn’t favour one of us over anyone else, we’re to do the same.

Therefore, we’re not to show favourites. All of us are equally brothers and sisters in Christ. We all receive the same favour from God.

When someone has felt the partiality or prejudice of people or nature, we’re to remind them of God’s unconditional and impartial nature. We proclaim the resurrection of our Lord which reminds us death doesn’t win. We proclaim and demonstrate to each other, and to everyone we come into contact with, that all those who believe in Jesus Christ will receive forgiveness of sins and life eternal in his name.

As we face any tragedies of past, present or future, and whether those tragedies are across a community or are deeply personal, we’re reminded that through faith in Jesus Christ we live in the impartial waters of grace and mercy given to us in our baptism. We live in the comforting knowledge of the forgiveness of our sins. We live in Christ who has been raised from death to live eternally, which means we will too. Therefore we live in hope. We live in peace. We live forever as children of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

We live in…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, which will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Hebrews 10:16-25 (ESV) 

¹⁶ “This is the covenant that I will make with them

        after those days, declares the Lord:

    I will put my laws on their hearts,

        and write them on their minds,”

¹⁷ then he adds,

    “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

¹⁸ Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

¹⁹ Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, ²⁰ by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, ²¹ and since we have a great priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.  ²³ Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.  ²⁴ And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may draw near to you with a true heart in full assurance of faith through the living way of your dear Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Covenants, offerings for sin, entrance to holy places, the use of blood, receiving a new living way, being served by a great priest, having hearts sprinkled clean, and having our consciences and bodies washed with pure water. We have such rich sacrificial language in a few short sentences!

But, do you understand what the author is getting at? Do you know what’s happening here and what it means for us?

Most people struggle to understand, so, in order for us to understand these rich verses, we’re going to make-believe we’re in the desert with the Israelites and that this church building is the Tabernacle.

Let’s see…the walls of this church up to the back doors is the boundary of the courtyard for the Tabernacle, which means most of the church would be in the open air, except for the Tabernacle, which was a tent-like structure. The only people allowed in this courtyard would be the Levitical priests. Everyone else had to stay outside, which is where the twelve tribes of Israel lived surrounding the Tabernacle. They could only come to the entrance and no further.

About half-way between the courtyard entrance and the Tabernacle is the altar for sacrifices.

We’ll make out the area from the front pews to the altar is where the Tabernacle is. This is made up of two parts – the holy place (where the Levitical priests would come to pray), which we’ll make out is between the front pews and the raised section of the altar; and the Most Holy place, or the Holy-of-holies, which would be the raised altar area.

Now, in the Most Holy place stood the Ark of the covenant and it was on the lid of the Ark where God sat. It was known as the mercy seat. And since God sat here, and God is in heaven, then this is the one place on earth where heaven comes down to us. Here at the mercy seat is heaven on earth!

Between the Holy place and the Most Holy place is a curtain which separates the earthly realm from the heavenly realm. The only person who could enter the Most Holy place (or the Holy of Holies) was the High priest, and this was only once a year, on Atonement Day.

Atonement Day was very special because the sins of all the Israelites would defile or spoil these holy things, the holy objects in the Tabernacle. All these holy things, the High priest and the Israelites had to be ‘atoned for’ or made clean or holy again. In fact, Atonement Day is like the Jewish equivalent of our Good Friday.

On Atonement Day, the people would bring a Red heifer and two goats to the priests. The High priest would enter the Most Holy place with incense and burning coals and place them on one of the poles of the Ark, going a certain way through the curtain to make sure he didn’t touch the Ark or allow the people to see into the Most Holy Place. In fact, this path through the curtain was known as ‘The Way’.

It’s important to note anyone who touched the Ark died. So, a rope was often tied around the High priest just in case he touched the Ark of the Covenant. If he accidentally touched the Ark of the Covenant and died, well, at least his body could be dragged out, because no-one else was allowed into the Holy-of-Holies.

Also, since no-one could see God in his glory and live, the Most Holy place would need to be filled with smoke from the burning coals and incense while the High priest went out and got the blood of the Red heifer. The smoke was important as it would hide God from the High priest so that the High priest wouldn’t see God and die.

The High priest would take the blood of the red heifer, which was to atone for, or make clean, the sins of the High priest and all the priests only. He would re-enter the Most Holy place and sprinkle this blood on the Ark of the Covenant and the floor surrounding the Ark.

He would then go out and get the blood of one of the goats and re-enter with its blood, which would atone for the sins of all the Israelite people. Now that the sins of the priests and people have been atoned for, and now that the Most holy place is purified by the blood of these sacrificial animals, the High priest would then come out and sprinkle blood on the sacrificial Altar, which would purify the Altar as well.

Then he would place his bloody hands on the head of the other goat, which was known as the ‘scapegoat’. This goat was then set free into the desert, signifying that all the Israelites and priests were forgiven and all their sins were literally ‘set free’.

This direct access to God and the forgiveness of their sins was very visual to the Israelites, but yet very limited. This access only happened once a year. But the fact it had to be repeated showed it wasn’t very efficient.

What the letter writer to the Hebrews is saying in today’s text is, we now have even greater access than the Israelites ever had. This access is so efficient that no more sacrifices need to be made, ever!

This is because on Good Friday, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world was sacrificed. He was both the sacrifice for sin through the shedding of his innocent and holy blood, but also the scapegoat. Our sins were taken by him into his own body to effect the greatest and most unfair swap of human history.

God the Father laid on Jesus the sins of us all. The death penalty for every sin you and I have ever thought, said or done, as well as every good thought, word and action which we should have done but we never did, was paid by Jesus Christ. It is finished. There’s nothing more to pay. For Christ’s sake you’re forgiven all your sins.

Not only this, but as our Great High Priest, he entered into the Most Holy place, the heavenly sanctuary (of which the earthly Tabernacle was only a limited copy). He sprinkles his own pure and holy blood in the sanctuary where his Father sits. The earthly curtain which separated the earthly and heavenly realms is torn and replaced by Jesus’ own body for he is the new and living way. The way of access to God the Father and all his heavenly glory is now through Jesus’ own flesh, who is both true God and true man. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. There’s no other way to get to the Father (and the kingdom of heaven) except through him!

From now on it’s in Jesus where earth meets heaven. He is where we have access to the mercy seat. He now forever intercedes for us to our heavenly Father, and it’s in in him through whom we come into the Most Holy place, into heaven itself, confidently standing in front of the Creator and Judge of the whole earth; our loving heavenly Father.

But what was done as an historical event continues to be effective for you and me today.

You see, you might feel as if there’s still a barrier between you and God. The barrier of fear. The barrier of guilt or shame. The barrier of a troubled conscience. The barrier between an imperfect, sinful person and a holy God. The barrier between ancient sacrificial rituals and a contemporary world which likes to question or reject the justice of a God who demands sacrifices.

Whatever the case, how can you be assured of your open and unhindered access to your gracious and loving God? How can you be assured of your access to the heavenly sanctuary through the curtain of Jesus’ flesh? How can you be assured of your forgiveness?

Well, the Way is through Jesus Christ, but he gives us our heavenly access through him through very real means.

You see, the author of this letter to the Hebrews goes on to say: ‘let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water’ (Heb 10:22).

The sprinkling once done in the Tabernacle is now done to your hearts through God’s chosen means which God gives us through the holy Sacraments.

The sprinkling is done through the waters of baptism and through the words of forgiveness. The sprinkling is done through the body and blood of Jesus which is given to you for the forgiveness of your sins. In other words, the promises of forgiveness through water and the blood of Jesus give you a clean heart and a good conscience.

Through your baptism into the body of Jesus Christ, who is the Way to God the Father, you’re now children of God who have the same right of access into heaven as the only Son of God deserves.

Through your baptism into Jesus, you’re eternally joined to his death on Good Friday (whose warm and freshly sprinkled blood still clings to the heavenly sanctuary), and you’re also eternally joined to his resurrection. Your baptism into Jesus Christ brings you into the very presence of the Father, because that’s where Jesus is.

But now, since baptism joins you to the body of Christ, you can’t be a Christian by yourself. You’ve been joined to each other through baptism, and so, like it or not, you need each other.

In this case, the best Christian communities aren’t a collection of moral or spiritual police who judge everyone else’s sin, they’re not just an efficient club of like-minded people, and they’re not a bunch of blame shifters who act as if they’re more noble or holy than anyone else. Instead, the best Christian communities keep on gathering together physically in faith in order to encourage each other’s faith.

The church community is where God’s purified people reassure each other of our heavenly access to God through our baptism into Jesus. It’s where God’s people, who have been sprinkled with his innocent and holy blood, reassure each other of God’s forgiveness. It’s where God’s people, who have this divine access to God’s grace, confess the common faith in our loving Triune God.

While it’s special to gather today on Good Friday to remember the death of our Lord, let’s never lose the precious gift of meeting together in worship where we can be reminded of our baptism, reminded of the grace which is ours through confession and absolution, reminded of the significance of Christ’s death and resurrection to cleanse our consciences, reminded of the grace which is ours as we eat and drink in faith, and reminded of our right of access through prayer to the mercy seat – the eternal throne of God the Father.

It’s here in Christ-centred worship where Christ brings us into the very presence of God himself, where we can stand before God with a good and clean conscience.

Here we come into God’s holy presence with complete confidence through the blood of Jesus who became human flesh and ‘tabernacled’ among us, because our sins have been forgiven and our bodies purified by the cleansing waters of baptism.

And this is why…

…the peace of God which passes all understanding, will keep your hearts and minds confident in your access to him through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

John 13:1-17, 31b-35 (EHV)

¹ Before the Passover Festival, Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved those who were his own in the world, he loved them to the end.

² By the time the supper took place, the Devil had already put the idea into the heart of Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus.

³ Jesus knew that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God. ⁴ He got up from the supper and laid aside his outer garment. He took a towel and tied it around his waist. ⁵ Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

⁶ He came to Simon Peter, who asked him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

⁷ Jesus answered him, “You do not understand what I am doing now, but later you will understand.”

⁸ Peter told him, “You will never, ever, wash my feet!”

Jesus replied, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with me.”

⁹ “Lord, not just my feet,” Simon Peter replied, “but also my hands and my head!”

¹⁰ Jesus told him, “A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet, but his body is completely clean. And you are clean, but not all of you.” ¹¹ Indeed, he knew who was going to betray him. That is why he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

¹² After Jesus had washed their feet and put on his outer garment, he reclined at the table again. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” he asked them. ¹³ “You call me Teacher and Lord. You are right, because I am. ¹⁴ Now if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. ¹⁵ Yes, I have given you an example so that you also would do just as I have done for you. ¹⁶ Amen, Amen, I tell you: A servant is not greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. ¹⁷ If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them.

³¹ After Judas left, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in him. ³² If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify the Son in himself and will glorify him at once.”

³³ “Dear children, I am going to be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.

³⁴ “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, so also you are to love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we may love as you love us through Jesus Christ. Amen.

St John’s account of the Last Supper Passover meal is surprising because something’s missing, and something’s added, compared to what we would normally expect.

You see, we expect to hear Jesus instituting the Lord’s Supper during this Passover meal with his disciples as he does in every other gospel account.

But in John’s account we don’t get to hear Jesus taking bread, breaking it and saying, “Take, eat; this is my body.” We don’t hear Jesus taking the cup, giving thanks, and saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins”.

We don’t hear it because John assumed all his readers knew this already. He wrote his gospel account around 25 years after the other gospel accounts and so could assume his readers already remembered Jesus did these things, and had already been regularly receiving this meal together, but John wants his readers to remember a different and most surprising act of Jesus which isn’t mentioned in the other gospel accounts.

You see, what no-one else mentions is that, in the middle of that special meal, Jesus rose from the table, took off his outer clothing, tied a towel around his waist, and began to wash his disciples’ feet.

Now, this is surprising because people who were living at this time were always walking on dusty roads in sandals. This means that of course they had dirty feet, but they would normally wash their feet when they first entered someone’s home and not in the middle of dinner!

Also, this demeaning job of washing guests feet was normally be done by non-Jewish servants only (because it was such a demeaning and humble task), and certainly not by one’s Lord and Teacher!

But here, right in the middle of the meal, Jesus, their Master and Messiah, humbled himself to the lowly position of foreign servant, and washed his disciples’ feet!

But this isn’t the only surprise! The greater surprise is John wants us to know Jesus also washed the feet of Judas, even though Jesus knew of his impending betrayal by him.

In fact, to make it clear, John tells us before Jesus got up from the table, Satan had already entered Judas and that Judas would betray him. So, as Jesus washes their feet, John writes, Jesus “knew who was to betray him” (Jn 13:11).

John wants us to know Jesus not only does the undignified work of a servant in the middle of a meal, but he also does this humiliating work for the very one who would betray him.

Jesus takes into his hands the feet of his enemy, the one who was about to betray him, and he washes them in humble service and in holy love.

But why would Jesus wash the feet of the one who was to betray him?

For John, the answer is simple. He writes at the beginning of our text tonight, “Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love” (v 1 NIV).

Jesus, in this humble servant role, is showing the full extent of his love.

Jesus loves them all. He loves those who follow him as well as the one who betrays him. He loves those who ran away from him as well as the one who denies him. Jesus loves them all, in the fullest way possible to the last moment possible. This is the full extent of Jesus’ love.

Putting this into our own perspective, we probably all know someone who goes on and on about the wrong which was done to them. You know, perhaps their spouse was unfaithful, their father was abusive, they were bullied at school, or they experienced an accident or failure or disability which still hinders their life.

They seem to be defined by the evil which was done to them. They keep on portraying themselves as the victim or the one who is always treated unjustly. They’re constantly angry or depressed by what was done to them. They seem to go on and on about what happened and bear a grudge against the world, or at least against the perpetrators.

Jesus could have done that. He was certainly justified in any criticism against those who betrayed him, abandoned him, denied him, abused him, falsely accused him, and crucified him.

Even at this meal he could have put hatred for Judas at the centre of his life. He could have tried to turn the other disciples against Judas. He could have gossiped about Judas or spoken sarcastically. He could have hidden from Judas when he and the temple guards came to arrest him. He could have fought against Judas or excluded him from this precious meal. He could have passed over him when washing everyone else’s feet.

Jesus could have done any of these things. He could have placed Judas and his act of betrayal at the centre of his life and become filled with hate and resentment.

But Jesus chose to use this critical time of betrayal as an opportunity to love and serve.

His act of love is a divine, self-sacrificial love. His is a love which is patient and kind, a love which doesn’t envy or boast, a love which isn’t arrogant or rude, a love which doesn’t rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth, and a love which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things (1 Cor 13:4–7).

This is God’s surprising and selfless love, which has come into our world in the person of Jesus Christ. The love Jesus enacts surprises us when we hear how he loved and served those who opposed him, including us, after all, St Paul says: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8).

When faced with hatred and betrayal, Jesus responds with love and service. And this love didn’t end with the disciples that evening. Jesus’ love continues today. Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, Jesus enacts his loving service as he cleanses us from sin and creates new hearts within us through faith.

As those touched, cleansed, and healed by the love of Christ, he calls us to live and love like him. As we hear how he loved those who betrayed him, denied him and abandoned him, he gives us that challenging command to love one another, including those who betray, deny and abandon us, because that’s the way he loves us.

Now, of course to love and serve those who hurt or betray us seems an impossible task, but remember, with God all things are possible.

You see, we often focus on the wrong things. As long as we’re focusing on the other person’s act of betrayal, on how much they’ve hurt us, then of course we’re not going to love or serve them, or even forgive them.

While we dwell on all the reasons not to forgive and love and serve, then of course we won’t do so. But remember what Jesus says to us: “As I have loved you…”

Therefore, we’re not to focus on how much we’ve been wronged, but we’re to focus on Jesus’ love for us.

We’re to focus on how Jesus forgives us and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. We’re to focus on how Jesus welcomes sinners like us at his holy meal and personally hands us the bread as the host for his body. We’re to focus on Jesus’ precious blood which has been poured out for us for the forgiveness of our sins.

Instead of letting any evil done toward us define us, we’re to let the love of Jesus define who we are and whose we are.

When we focus on Jesus’ surprising act of love on that very night he was betrayed, and respond accordingly, we may end up surprising those around us because we don’t act like everyone else. They may be surprised by the grace we share because we don’t hold grudges, we don’t attempt to get back at people, and we don’t gossip and complain. Instead, we love and serve as ones loved and served by Christ.

In a world where trouble, and hatred, and acts of revenge are commonplace, and in a life where we all sin and fall short of the glory of God, our Lord comes to offer us his grace-filled love to cleanse us.

In a world where all people have come to expect certain behaviours in the face of betrayals, abuse, bullying, and other forms of ‘unloveliness’, Jesus calls us to love as we have been loved by him, and so pass on the sacrificial love of God to fellow sinners.

In a world always dwelling on evil, we surprise them by living differently. This is because we instead dwell on the sacrificial love of Christ which compels us to humble ourselves in loving service to each other because we’ve been commanded to love as we’ve been loved by Jesus.

And it’s in this way, that the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in the love and service of Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 15:15 (EHV)

¹⁵ Since he wanted to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. After he had Jesus flogged, he handed him over to be crucified.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may trust the crucifixion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ is all the satisfaction we need. Amen.

Are you satisfied?

I mean, really satisfied?

Most people aren’t. Most of us are always searching for a little more.

If we understand satisfaction to mean we’ve judged that we have enough or that we have sufficient, then we’re not always satisfied. As the Rolling Stones sang so long ago: “I can’t get no satisfaction!”

We know we’re not satisfied because we keep looking through the catalogues, we keep paying attention to those adverts, we keep searching for things over the internet, we keep longing to go on holidays to our dream destinations, and we keep walking through shops wondering how our life might be a little bit happier, a little more fulfilled, or a little easier if only we had the latest gadget, or the latest updated model, or the latest home improvement item, and so on. We keep seeing what other people have and we’re tempted to want what they have. We want something more than what we have.

This means, if any of us are looking to replace or add something to our life, then we’re not satisfied.

But our desire to be satisfied goes beyond just having more things or having more satisfying experiences.

We also want to satisfy people, or we’re looking for people to satisfy us.

We might want to satisfy people around us for a number of reasons.

We want to make people happy, because if we make people happy, then they might like us, accept us, or love us. They might consider we’re worthy and good enough for them if we’re able to satisfy them. For this reason, satisfying people can help our sense of self-worth and can makes us feel accepted and valued by others.

But we also want to make people happy because it might make our own life easier. This is why we have such sayings as “Happy wife, happy life!” We figure our own life is more likely to be trouble free and enjoyable if we keep everyone around us satisfied. For this reason we might try to avoid conflict, disagreements, confrontations and difficult subjects, just to keep everyone else happy. If they’re happy, then we think we’re happy, even if we’re silently fuming inside.

We also don’t like letting people down because we feel as if we’re in debt to someone else. If we’ve let someone down, we feel as if we’re not satisfactory and have to make up for our inadequacy. For this reason we may avoid committing ourselves to volunteer, or help out, or serve on a committee. If we don’t have to satisfy anyone’s expectations, then we’ll feel satisfied.

If we have to satisfy others and then later discover we’ve let someone down, then we may feel insecure and unworthy. We feel our worth is being questioned or threatened. And so we may be tempted to work hard to make up for any of our short-comings just so we might satisfy them and live in peace and contentment.

We might also want people to satisfy us for a number of reasons.

As selfish and self-centred people, we often want people around us to satisfy us and our desires. If they let us down or don’t give us what we want, we question their care, their compassion, their understanding, or their love for us.

Whether we like to admit it or not, most of us have high expectations for those around us. We want our children to perform or keep up with certain standards. We want our politicians to perform up to our standard. We want our church leaders to be exemplary and without fault. If any of them let us down, we expect them to try harder or we feel justified in our judgments against them.

Unfortunately, our dissatisfaction in so many areas of our life leads to a big spiritual problem.

The spiritual problem with not being satisfied is that, when we fear not being satisfied in anything or anyone except God, or when we desire to be satisfied in anything or anyone else apart from God, or when we criticise or condemn people who have been made in the image of God, or when we trust we won’t be satisfied with God until we get what we want, then we’ve broken the 1^st Commandment (along with a number of others). Our fears and desires to be satisfied (or to satisfy those around us) shows we don’t trust God and we’re not content with what he gives us.

Understanding a little about the spiritual problem we have when we want to satisfy ourselves (or when we want to satisfy others), today we hear how Pontius Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowds. Apart from our Triune God, he’s one of only two people we refer to in our Creeds. The other is the Virgin Mary.

As we listen to the account of Jesus’ trial before Pilate, we’re given the impression Pilate felt under pressure. He wanted to keep the crowds happy. For the sake of his own comfort and happiness and job security he needed to satisfy the crowds.

Just like so many politicians of past, present, and future, he bowed to public pressure for his own sake. He decided a criminal would go free and an innocent person would pay the ultimate price to keep everyone, including himself, happy. Those who shouted the loudest got what they wanted. The crowd was satisfied with the cruel and painful punishment dished out on Jesus.

We might feel justified on judging or criticising Pilate. He seemed weak and spineless. He did what the outspoken people wanted. Maybe we think we would have done differently if we were in his shoes, but we fail to realise how easily we also bow to the need to satisfy those around us or how much we’re willing to sacrifice things and people just to satisfy ourselves.

In the end, despite the fact these words describe how Pilate wanted to satisfy the crowd seems to criticise Pilate’s decision, there’s an ironic and divine twist to these few words.

You see, someone else was also satisfied. He’s not mentioned in the text, but the implication of Jesus’ crucifixion, and what it means for us and our eternal relationship with God, meant that he also needed to be satisfied.

If we understand satisfaction in this case to mean the crucifixion and death of Jesus is enough and what he did for us is sufficient, then God the Father is satisfied. If he’s satisfied, then there’s nothing more for us to pay. There’s nothing more for us to do. What Jesus did for us is enough. There’s no longer the need for any more animal or human sacrifices. There’s no longer any need for us to make up for what we’ve done. Jesus is the last and all-sufficient sacrifice for the forgiveness of all our sins. The need for God to punish our sins was fully satisfied by the crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So yes, in an ironic twist, through Pilate’s decision the crowds were satisfied by the crucifixion of Jesus, we are satisfied that we’re forgiven and go free through faith in the crucifixion of Jesus, and God is satisfied with the obedient death of Jesus. He has paid the full price of death for you and me and his death is all sufficient.

In a sense, Barabbas wasn’t the only criminal set free that day. Through faith in the death of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins we were also set free. We’re set free from the bondage to sin, death and the devil. We receive the benefits of his death and the forgiveness of our sins through faith trusting his death is all sufficient.

Our Lutheran Confessions confirm this and teach that we no longer need to satisfy God by making up for our sin. As Article IV of the Augsburg Confession says:

‘It is taught that we cannot obtain forgiveness of sin and righteousness before God through our merit, work, or satisfactions, but that we receive forgiveness of sin and become righteous before God out of grace for Christ’s sake through faith when we believe that Christ has suffered for us and that for his sake our sin is forgiven and righteousness and eternal life are given to us.

So, while we might be tempted to criticise Pilate’s decision, God’s work of forgiveness, life and salvation was being done through him. You and I are satisfied as we receive the benefits of Jesus’ death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins.

But you might be wondering then how does this affect our own need to be satisfied?

Well, in regards to us feeling we’re not good enough for those around us, and our fears that we can’t satisfy them, we believe and trust we’re forgiven for the sake of Jesus’ death. His payment of blood is enough. His forgiveness is enough. His adoption of us as God’s children is enough. His cleansing of our hearts is enough. His promise of eternal life is enough. We’re secure in our identity through faith in Christ and gladly believe his promises and receive holy gifts.

In regards to us feeling we’re not satisfied by those around us, we believe that since Jesus’ death is enough for us, then it’s also enough for those around us. Through faith we can let go of our own need to be satisfied and forgive as we’ve been forgiven. Our forgiveness of those around us is a powerful witness that we believe the death of Jesus is enough and is sufficient.

In regards to the temptations all around us and the feeling we don’t have enough belongings or experiences or health or strength and so on, how might we feel satisfied with what we have? Well, the antidote here is thankfulness. When we’re thankful for what we have, then we’re also satisfied with what God has provided us. What God gives us is enough.

So, coming back to the question I asked earlier, are you satisfied, I mean, really satisfied?

And more specifically, are you really satisfied with what Jesus did for you?

If so, may…

… the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus. Amen.

Jeremiah 31:31-34 (EHV)

³¹ Yes, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers, when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt.

They broke that covenant of mine, although I was a husband to them, declares the Lord.

³³ But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord.

I will put my law in their minds, and I will write it on their hearts.

I will be their God, and they will be my people.

³⁴ No longer will each one teach his neighbor, or each one teach his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their guilt, and I will remember their sins no more.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may learn how to forgive like you forgive us for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have you ever heard or said something like this: “Oh sure, I can forgive him, but I’m not going to forget what he’s done to me!”?

Or you may have heard or said something like: “Well, if you can’t forget what he’s done, then maybe you haven’t forgiven him!”

Is this common?

While it’s true we often link forgiving and forgetting, we don’t always understand what it means to ‘forgive’, what it means to ‘not remember’, and what the relationship is between the two, at least not from a biblical perspective.

So, let’s firstly consider what it means to ‘remember’ something or someone.

In this case, ‘remembering’ isn’t normally just a mental exercise because it can also include emotional and physical reactions.

For example, you may have seen a child hurt themselves by touching something hot. The next time they reach for something hot, and they remember what happened previously, they might reach for it but then pull back their hand quickly (or even point to it) and say ‘ouch!’. Their mind, and body, remembers the important lesson learnt about not touching hot things.

Even as adults, it’s common that we might hear a song from the past, smell a certain aroma, see a photo, or are reunited with a favourite toy from our childhood, and we can begin to re-live our memories from the past which might evoke emotional, and even physical responses.

‘Remembering’ then can have the power to bring a past historic event into the present to the point you may re-live some of that older experience. This is why we find it so hard to forgive people when they hurt us, and why we find it so hard to forget. We don’t want to be hurt again, and so we use our mental, emotional and physical memories to teach us how to avoid future pain.

But, because we want to learn from that past event and keep remembering it this way, we end up re-living it over, and over again, because our ‘remembering’ causes our minds and bodies to react in such a way that historic event is still very much with us in the present tense.

This is why you still get those shivers down the spine, those sweats of fear, those nightmarish recollections, and those unexplainable reactions whenever someone, or something, reminds you of a painful memory. This is why a name, a word, a sight, a movie scene, a song, or a smell can evoke such emotional and physical reactions for you. This is why some of you are still hurting over past events. Those memories are still very real, very much present, and very powerful.

The problem is that, while your memories still cause you to respond in these ways, the past event still has power over you. Whenever you ‘remember’ in such a way that you re-live your natural responses of flight or fight, then your fears have become your controlling force which take over your mind, emotions and body. When you ‘remember’ in such a way that you despair of your current or future relationships, then your fears have taken hostage of your hope and joy and peace. Your fears will want to stop you from forgiving and reconciling with your enemies.

But you might wonder how you can possibly forget what’s happened to you. How might you truly move on from that past event so that it no longer evokes such a powerful response for you? What has to happen to your memories of the past so they don’t affect you still today without losing the important lessons you learned from them?

Well, this is where forgiveness comes in. And since the only true source of forgiveness is from God, we need to learn what forgiveness from God looks like before we can apply it to our own situations.

In God’s case, he doesn’t say he’s forgotten your sins. God doesn’t forgive and forget. He says he forgives and doesn’t remember, which is a significant difference. After all, God doesn’t have Alzheimer’s. He’s not like a forgetful person who keeps forgetting where he’s left his car keys or even where he’s recorded your sins. Instead, he says he won’t remember.

When he says he will ‘not remember’, this means he’s chosen to no longer dwell on anything you’ve done which has hurt him, he’s not going to recall how you’ve damaged your relationship with him, and he’s not going to remind himself of how you neglected or caused offence to those who are important to him. He chooses to no longer re-live or re-experience the pain or heartache of what you’ve done. He can do this because his love for you is more powerful than his anger toward you.

This means, once you’re forgiven by him, those sins will never be recalled again to bother him, trouble you, or hinder your relationship with him. He doesn’t hold a list of all your sins to flash in front of you to make you feel guilty or ashamed. They’re no longer recalled to mind, and so he won’t use them against you.

So, while you may remember what you’ve done (which may still bother your conscience), God doesn’t. He’s forgiven you and chooses to no longer remember what you’ve done or failed to do. Whatever happened between you and him has been wiped clean.

Now, as to you not remembering, well, you can’t do that, and he hasn’t commanded you to. There’s no command in the bible which says you have to forget what anyone has done to you. You don’t have to forgive and forget. But that doesn’t mean God wants your memories to have so much power over you.

The answer for your powerful memories is forgiveness, but not in the way most people understand forgiveness.

You see, when most people talk about forgiveness, they talk as if it’s up to them to forgive, as if the power and authority to forgive has to come from inside ourselves. But the simple fact is, you and I simply don’t have the power and authority to forgive, because only God has the power and authority to forgive.

I mean, if it were up to us, we don’t want to forgive because we want the ones who hurt us to suffer for what they’ve done. And so, we attempt to use our hurt and pain as a bargaining chip for them to make up for what they’ve done. This means, as long as we still consider ourselves as the victim, we can justify all sorts of cruel responses until we feel they’ve paid for their crimes against us (which may never happen).

But what’s really going on here is this: our unforgiveness is an attempt to place ourselves above God and tell him that the other person doesn’t deserve, and shouldn’t receive any forgiveness.

Even when we say we have trouble forgiving ourselves for what we’ve done, it’s because we refuse to believe God could, or would, forgive us. It’s also because we want to have the last word and the final say about who deserves or doesn’t deserve any forgiveness.

Similarly, if we can’t forgive someone else, it’s because we’ve judged them as ‘guilty’ and refuse to believe that even God could possibly forgive them, which means we reckon they deserve any punishment we might come up with and won’t let them off the hook, even if they confess their sins to us. We won’t forgive them, even if God says he forgives them, because we want to have the last word.

The problem is that, if we want to have the last word on forgiving ourselves or forgiving those around us, then we want to be the god who decides who should and shouldn’t be forgiven. This means our refusal to forgive (or be forgiven) is because we’re disobeying the first commandment on having no other gods!

But we forget that forgiveness can only truly come from God who pays the price for our forgiveness through his Son’s willing sacrifice for us. We don’t have the last word. God does!

So, where does this leave us if we don’t really have the power or authority to forgive (even though we think we do)? Where does this leave us if we’re refusing to believe God’s forgiveness of ourselves or those around us? Well, the Lord’s Prayer gives us an important hint about forgiveness.

We pray ‘forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us’. Similarly, elsewhere in the bible we’re told to forgive as we’ve been forgiven.

This means the starting point for your forgiveness toward others is God’s forgiveness toward you. When you believe and rejoice in God’s forgiveness, which includes the fact he no longer remembers what you’ve said or done or thought (or even should have said or done or thought), then you can ask God to help you forgive those who have hurt you like he’s already forgiven you.

This is because forgiveness is a miracle of God which humans can only truly do with the help of the Holy Spirit. Forgiveness is a gift of faith and a by-product of you believing you’ve been forgiven by God.

When you’re able to forgive as you’ve been forgiven, it doesn’t mean you no longer ‘remember’ what happened, but your memories no longer have such power over you. This is because, by forgiving them, you’ve let go of your need for revenge and your need to see them punished, which releases the destructive power of those memories. Jesus has paid the blood price so that you, and they, don’t have to. Your remembering of what Jesus has done for you for the forgiveness of your sins will replace your remembering of what they did to you.

This means you can forgive those who have hurt you and yet still know your forgiveness doesn’t mean it’s ok for them to hurt you again. Similarly, with dangerous, abusive, or toxic relationships, your forgiveness also doesn’t mean you have to be fully restored to that relationship.

Forgiveness means trusting God’s love and mercy and forgiveness so much that you no longer need to cling to your anger, your fears, your pain, and your heartaches. You let them go, after all, they’re hurting you more than they’re hurting the other person.

You don’t have to forgive and forget. But, with God’s help, you can forgive and ‘no longer remember’ in such a way that your memories will no longer have power to make you keep on re-living the suffering you currently experience.

When you forgive as God has forgiven you, you’ll even be able to talk about those past events as memories which have been wiped clean by God because they don’t threaten you any longer. You’ve learnt from them, but they no longer bear that sting or those shudders or those sweats.

Instead, they’re times and places and people who may have crushed or broken you in the past, only for you to be restored, renewed, and made whole again through faith in Jesus. They’re people and moments and places where the redemptive power of God came into your life to forgive you, heal you and restore your hope.

This is because God loves you so much that he sent his own Son Jesus to suffer and die in your place so that you might be forgiven. This is because he calls you to believe he chooses to no longer remember what you’ve done against him and those around you. This is because he invites you to replace your memories of past sins with new memories of what Jesus has done for you as you ‘do this in memory of me’ as that historic moment in history becomes a present action where you receive your Lord’s body and blood for the forgiveness of all your sins.

And by the grace of God, may he also help you to forgive as you’ve been forgiven so that…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in the forgiveness established by Christ Jesus. Amen.

John 3:14-21 (EHV)

¹⁴ Jesus said: “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in him is not condemned, but the one who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only-begotten Son of God. ¹⁹ This is the basis for the judgment: The light has come into the world, yet people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ In fact, everyone who practices wicked things hates the light and does not come toward the light, or else his deeds would be exposed. ²¹ But the one who does what is true comes toward the light, in order that his deeds may be seen as having been done in connection with God.”

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may believe in the One who was lifted up for us and so receive eternal life for the sake of Jesus Christ. Amen.

The following may be real or imagined situations:

A man lies in intensive care in hospital. He’s had emergency surgery and now fights for his life. His wife sits alongside holding his hand. She’s been there with him for the whole time; watching, sitting, thinking, praying, and crying. She looks for any sign of hope on the monitors and in his face, but the broken man in front of her doesn’t offer her much hope. There’s an occasional good sign, but it’s usually followed by other signs that strip away that hope from her once again. She feels the darkness of grief building in her. As her hope fades, she hangs her head in despair.

A young woman cries herself to sleep. Well, at least she’s hoping sleep will come. She’s been abused and picked on by people she thought were friends. Her parents weren’t able to protect her, in fact, her parents have also hurt her. When she told them, they didn’t seem to care. No one seems to care. All she wants is to be loved, but the attention she received was anything but loving. As a result, she feels unloved, lonely, filthy, and ugly. Her hope for a life filled with joy and love seems futile. She feels she’s not worth anything to anyone, and any hope of friendship and love she was looking for from others is just a sham. As her hope diminishes, she curls up into a ball with her face tucked into her body and sobs.

A man sits in his car late at night. Clothes are strewn in crumpled piles all through the car. He and his wife had fought again, but this time she threw him out. There’s been so many fights; too many arguments, and so little love and forgiveness. Images of his distraught and horrified children looking through the windows now haunt him. He knows it’s not all his fault, but he also knows much of it is his fault. He worked so hard, perhaps on the wrong priorities, but the result is loneliness, guilt, and shame. He feels powerless, lost, and terribly isolated. Even though he sits alone, it’s almost as if the fight goes on as the arguments echo around in his head. He feels there’s no hope of love and joy and peace anymore, and he hangs his head in disgrace and despair.

A mother wails long into the night while her husband sits with a blank yet tortured face beside her. One of their children has died in a car accident. The dreams they had for their child’s future have been dashed. Instead of planning weddings and celebrations, they need to arrange a funeral. They feel angry. They feel numb. They feel as if, when they bury their child, they’re also burying their hopes and dreams. They both lean toward each other, and hang their heads on each other’s shoulders, and pour out their grief in their own ways.

These are just a few examples of how so many feel the brokenness of sinful humanity. So many are in trouble. So many strained or shattered relationships. So many stung by the inevitability of death. So many are without hope. Sooner or later, they all hang their heads. Their faces point toward their belly buttons, but there’s no hope there. Despite what they say in books and movies and TV shows, hope never comes from within.

You see, that place within is where we hide all our secrets, shame, and guilt. There’s darkness and selfishness and hidden secrets within. Within is where we attempt to hide the darkness of sins committed by us as well as those sins committed against us. These hidden shames and guilts don’t like to remain hidden as they leach out through our nightmares and memories to cripple our hearts and minds and relationships.

What’s so unfortunate for many of us is that we don’t always let the light of Christ shine on much of the darkness we’ve hidden within. We think it’s better left there, ignored, overlooked, or disregarded, but while it sits there within, it leaks like a poison to steal our self-worth, our peace, our joy, and our hope. If hope is to be found anywhere in this troubled world, it’s not going to be found within us. It needs to come from outside of ourselves.

Today we hear part of a conversation happening in the dark night hours between Jesus and a Pharisee named Nicodemus. In this conversation Jesus refers to the Old Testament reading we had today where the Israelites had been grumbling again, and this time God sent them something to really grumble about. He sent them snakes. They had a particularly painful bite and many people died. In response they confessed their sin and asked God to take the snakes away. Like many of us, their hope was in the disappearance of all their troubles.

But what happened next wasn’t what we expected. We might expect our patient and loving God to take away the snakes, but he didn’t. Instead, he asked for one more snake to enter the camp. In this case, the snake was made of bronze. If anyone took their gaze away from their own belly button and pains and instead looked up to the snake fixed on a pole, they would live.

This meant that, while the source of all their pain and misery wasn’t taken away, they were given hope. All they had to do was shift their gaze to their promised hope. By looking to this snake lifted up on the pole while trusting God’s promise, they would be saved.

What Jesus says to Nicodemus is, like the snake on the pole was lifted up to give the Israelites hope, the Son of Man would also be lifted up to give all people hope. Anyone who believes in him will have eternal life, no matter what troubles or pains or sorrows they’re facing. Because God doesn’t want anyone to perish, as long as people take their gaze away from their own misery, sorrow, grief, and pain, and look instead to Jesus Christ who was lifted up on the cross, and trust in him, they will live. The source of their pain and misery won’t disappear, but now they’ll have hope.

Now, perhaps we want all the bad things in this world to go away. We pray for healing, but sometimes it doesn’t come. We pray for miracle cancer cures, but sometimes people still die. We pray God will protect our young on the roads, but accidents still happen. We pray for those who are married, but some marriages still break down. We pray for our world to get back to some normality in response to the Coronavirus, but it will remain with us.

When God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we want him to, we might feel angry toward him and accuse him of injustice. This is natural. But the fact he doesn’t take all the bad and evil away from us doesn’t mean he’s against us. It’s just the reality of living in a world tainted by the ugliness and destructiveness of sin, but our troubles also force us to look for hope. Our true and lasting hope isn’t found within us, or found in the troubles which continue to encircle us, but our hope is in the One who suffered, died, and was raised to new life for us.

God’s miracle cure on the cross of Christ wasn’t to make our lives perfect in this broken world because we still live in bodies infected by sin. But the hope we’re to look to is the fact that there on the cross Jesus offers forgiveness for all our sins through his loving sacrifice. There on the cross everything necessary for our salvation has been finished, which we accept by faith. There on the cross (and later in the empty grave) he gives us hope of life eternal in a new creation untainted by sin and its ugly effects. When we look to Jesus on the cross we see he was lifted there to assure us of God’s love and mercy, which gives us hope as we face our own suffering and death.

When you’re troubled by the scars of sin in this world, don’t look for hope in those scars, but look for hope in the One who still bears the scars of sinful human beings for you.

When you’re beaten and abused by others in this world, don’t look for hope in the bruises on your bodies or hearts, but look for hope in the One beaten and bruised for you.

When relationships break down and you feel betrayed, don’t look for hope in the arguments or the separations, but look for hope in the One who was betrayed, denied and forsaken for you.

When you’re struggling with guilt or shame, don’t look for hope in your regrets, but look for hope in the forgiveness of your sins by the One who paid the penalty of all your sins for you.

When you’re struggling to forgive others for the way they hurt you, don’t look for hope in your own demands for justice, but see the radical justice of God displayed on the cross as Jesus suffers and dies for them too so that they might be forgiven.

When your loved ones die, don’t look for hope in their death, but look for hope in the death and resurrection of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who died and rose again for you.

We lift up the crosses in our churches to remind us not to look at, or within, ourselves for hope, joy, peace or life, but we’re to lift our gaze from our own bellies and look to Jesus Christ alone for our hope, our joy, our forgiveness, our cleansing, our peace, and our life.

As we look to the cross, which is lifted up, we’re reminded God didn’t send his Son into the world to condemn us, but he sent his Son into the world in order to save us through him who was lifted up for all people.

Just like hope is likened to a light shining on a dark and stormy night, Jesus is your light of hope and life who now shines in your own darkened lives. Don’t look to the darkness, because there’s no hope there, but look instead to the Light of the world. Raise your eyes to look to your Lord and Saviour and trust him. He is your only hope in a world filled with so much darkness and despair.

Which is why the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Exodus 20:1-6 (ISV) 

¹ God spoke all these words: 

² “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt— from the house of slavery. ³You are to have no other gods as a substitute for me. 

⁴“You are not to craft for yourselves an idol or anything resembling what is in the skies above, or on earth beneath, or in the water sources under the earth. ⁵You are not to bow down to them in worship or serve them, because I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the guilt of parents on children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, ⁶but showing gracious love to the thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments. 

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may not place our trust in anything or anyone else but our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. 

If I asked if you’ve ever made an idol for yourself, most likely you’d say ‘no’. 

You’d probably say ‘no’ because most people think an idol is like a little statue of a god, like a little ‘Buddha’ or ‘Golden Calf’. And while some of you may even have little statues or figurines in your gardens or homes, you’ve probably never thought of them as a god or offered sacrifices to them! 

For this reason you might figure you don’t worship an idol. 

But what if I were to challenge you by saying it’s not just your hands that can make an idol. What if your heart can also make an idol? 

An idol could then be anything your heart relies on, desires to get, or trusts in, which isn’t the one true God. Martin Luther agrees, and said, ‘Anything on which your heart relies and depends, I say, that is really your God.’ (Large Catechism I, 3)  

So then, it seems your heart can both trust in the one true God, but it can also make an idol, especially if you understand an idol is anything your heart is clinging to, relying on, or desiring over, which is not God. 

In this case, one test to see if you have an idol or not, is to consider anything you might have (or want to have) which you can’t do without. The test becomes real when you consider how you react when something or someone you’re relying on is taken away. 

Now, in this case I’m not talking about the essentials of life, such as air or food or water. I’m talking about the things your heart clings to. This could be an object, a person, or even a concept. 

For example, let’s say someone smashes into your car. Now, no matter how precious you might think your car is, no-one here would think their car is an idol which they worship. You may also figure if something ever happened to your car, you have insurance to fix or replace it, so there shouldn’t be any problem there. 

But what would it mean for you if you couldn’t use your car? Would it be an inconvenience, or a major catastrophe? If you couldn’t use your car to get around in, it might be a big pain in the behind, but most of you would survive. But for some it might be different, and in this case it’s not so much about the car, but what it represents.  

What if your car represented your independence, your freedom, your status, or something else? For instance, you might really struggle having to rely on others and be a bother to them. This might upset you a lot. You don’t want to inconvenience anyone, and you don’t want to be inconvenienced. It could be your heart has learnt to rely on yourself and your access to a car. 

So, if you couldn’t use your car, for whatever reason, you may grieve the loss of your car more than you first realised. It’s not that your car was so important, or that it was an idol in itself, but your reliance on it in order to maintain your independence, your freedom, or even your identity as a person who is willing to be there for others in order to help out so that you feel valued and appreciated, could become a form of an idol. 

Now, of course you’re not relying on your car for salvation, but your dependence and reliance on having your car could result in a very strong reaction if it, or your ability to use it, is taken away.  

When you have strong reactions to losing something, it means your heart felt it needed it for some reason. If your heart feels it needs something, then it could be that God isn’t the only good thing you’re relying on. In this case, God becomes jealous because you’re flirting with someone or something else to supply your perceived needs. 

Now you may want to argue with me by saying God loves to give us many good things and blesses us with many possessions, and yes, I’d agree. If God didn’t want you to own anything, then there’d be no need for the seventh commandment about stealing, and no need for the ninth and tenth commandments about not coveting, because no one would have anything to steal or covet. 

God also created all things for our good. He wants us to enjoy his many wonderful blessings through his gifts to us, but if we start to rely on them so much that our heart grieves terribly if they’re taken away or threatened, then they could represent an idol for us.  

It may not be because they themselves are an idol, but they represent something which we’re relying on for our own good. We may be relying on what God creates and gives us, rather than on God himself. 

Now, maybe you’re not yet convinced, so let’s consider another example – this time a concept. 

Let’s say you desire to have a good sense of self-worth. This is a bit more intangible which doesn’t rely on you having to have any particular object. For this reason, you’ll rarely find a little statuette representing your ‘self-worth’ in your homes, but that doesn’t mean your heart isn’t set on it. 

I can also say seeking to have a good sense of self-worth isn’t a bad thing in itself, in fact you might agree God wants you to have a good sense of self-worth and doesn’t want you to feel worthless or stupid or inferior or foolish.  

But what do you do if you don’t feel worthy enough for God, or for those around you? How do you react when you feel your own sense of self-worth is being challenged because of health issues, a change in circumstances, or because of something you, or someone else, has done which threatens your feelings of self-worth? 

For example, do you ‘beat yourself up’? Do you criticise, judge, or want to punish others for suggesting you’re not as good as you thought you were? Do you experience bouts of hopelessness or depression? Do you wonder how people could possibly love you? In response to your doubts of self-worth, do you try to do things, such as lie or cheat or manipulate others through emotional outbursts so that they might consider you worthy of their attention? Do you doubt God’s love for you and so, in order to feel worthy of his love, you promise to do things for him, hoping you could make up or earn his love? 

Could it be that your need for a feeling of self-worth has become so important that you no longer look to God in order to feel complete and worthy? Could it be what others think or say about you, or even what you think about yourself, has become more important to you than what God says about you? Could it be Christ’s covering of his holy, innocent, and perfect blood, which makes you worthy and righteous and pure in God’s eyes, is no longer enough for you? Could it be your status as a holy and precious child of God isn’t sufficient or adequate for you? 

When our heart clings to anything else than God himself and what he supplies through the words and work of Jesus Christ, it’s most likely making an idol, even if there’s no little golden ornament to prove it. Our jealous, selfish, and self-centred actions and reactions alone prove our hearts are trusting idols! 

Our hearts are idol factories which not only love to crave what God has forbidden for us, but our hearts also love to turn the good things of God (which he loves to give us by grace), into essential things we have to have in order to feel whole and complete and happy and fulfilled.  

Even our desire to be good little Christians who figure God loves us because of our goodness and faithfulness can become an idol because our heart often wants to cling to self-righteousness rather than the objective righteousness of Jesus Christ, which is given as a free and undeserved gift through faith alone. 

In this way our hearts learn to rely on the gifts more than the Giver. The created things become more essential than the One who created them. Our words and works become more holy and virtuous than the words and work of Jesus Christ. Our hearts become clogged with worthless idols, and it shows in the way we treat each other and the way we relate to God. 

For this reason, Jesus wants to come to the temples of our hearts and clean them out. He’s rightly angry about the idols we gather and cling to in our hearts. The more idols our hearts make and rely on, the less room there is for the words and work of Christ alone. 

In this case the answer for our idol-making hearts is repentance and faith.  

We repent of everything we’ve learnt to rely on or desire which isn’t God himself.  

We repent of the way we treat each other because they didn’t give us our hearts desires.  

We repent of the way we didn’t fear, love or trust God above all things. 

But the other part of the answer is looking to God in faith.  

We trust Jesus is able to cleanse our hearts from the idols which lead us to sin, and so he can create pure and clean hearts which look to him alone to satisfy all our deepest needs.  

We trust Jesus’ work of obedience is all-sufficient to make up for all the times we fail to keep God’s commands, because only Jesus alone is truly able to love God and keep his commands for us.  

We trust Jesus took the guilt of all our idolatry and paid the full punishment for our sins.  

We trust his suffering and death on the cross paid for the full propitiation for all the ways we hurt God and those around us because they got in the way of what we desired. 

We trust in the forgiveness of God who shows his gracious love to thousands of those who, because they’ve received the righteousness of Christ through faith, love him and keep his commands.  

We trust God alone is our hope, our joy, our strength, our shelter, our solitude, our redeemer, our defender, our comforter, and the One who promises us wholeness, completeness, and health, especially in the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. 

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our hearts are idol factories which don’t want to fear, love and trust God above all things, but the antidote for our idolatrous hearts is repentance and faith in our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who supplies everything we need for our forgiveness, life and salvation through his Word and Holy Sacraments. 

As we fear, love and trust God above all things, may… 

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen. 

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 (EHV)

³ But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing. ⁴ In the case of those people, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from clearly seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is God’s image.

⁵ Indeed, we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. ⁶ For the God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” ^{Gen 1:3} is the same one who made light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ.

Dear Heavenly Father, send us your Holy Spirit to open our eyes, unblock our ears and soften our hearts, so that we may gladly hear and proclaim the gospel of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Would you like to see our church full of people once again?

Well, here’s a pretty simple idea on how to grow our congregation: This week every one of you will tell one other person the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This person will then miraculously believe in Jesus and will come to worship next week. In this way, our numbers will double by next Sunday. Of course, with such an amazing response, you’d want to do the same the next week, and the next week, and so on!

In this way, if we only begin with around 25 people in our congregation today, by Easter Sunday we’d have about 200 people worshipping with us! That’s presuming all those new people don’t share the gospel with anyone else, because if they too were to tell someone else the gospel of Jesus every week, then we’re likely to have about 3,200 people trying to fit into our church by Easter Sunday, which would be a bit of a problem for our Covid-19 regulations, but that would be a good problem to have!

Isn’t this the best way to increase our numbers? Isn’t this how it works? Doesn’t it always work out that if you tell someone the gospel of Jesus, they want to come to worship and offer their thanks and praise straight away?

If only that were so!

The truth is that even if you do tell someone the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, they’re likely to argue with you, ignore you, disbelieve you, or at the very least say, ‘that’s not for me’.

This shouldn’t surprise us because, even when people like St Paul or even Jesus Christ himself preached the gospel, the response was that many people remained in their unbelief or became quite hostile toward them, despite the fact many of them thought they were faithful people of God!

You see by nature, humans don’t want to believe in God; in fact all of us are born hostile to God and want nothing to do with him. No one wants to recognise or believe Jesus is God, because we’d all rather believe the world should instead revolve around us as if we’re the one who should be obeyed.

To believe in Jesus and what he’s done for us would also force us to admit we’re a sinner in need of saving, and no one wants to admit they need to depend on anyone else except themselves. To believe in Jesus also means we’d have to admit Jesus died to take our place and received our punishment, and we probably don’t want to be in a relationship where we think we owe anybody anything. To believe in Jesus means we’d need to submit to the Lordship of Jesus where we’d rather be our own boss.

Not only this, but it’s usually easier to believe a lie than the truth. Lies are either more attractive because they appeal to our self-centred desires, or else they’re more terrifying because they mess about with our greatest fears. The best lies have enough truth in them to make them believable, or else question the truth in order to become enticing to us.

The world doesn’t want us to believe in the eternal truths and comfort of Jesus and will seek to breed insecurity and discontent in anything he offers. The world will tempt us to believe what’s being taught or offered today is somehow superior and more satisfying and more lasting than anything Jesus can offer us. The world will try to convince us that we have power within ourselves to be good people even though Scripture tells us the opposite.

Then, as if it’s not enough to have our own human nature and world lie to us or hide the truth from us, the devil also tries to deceive us. He veils our thoughts and hearts so we find it hard to believe. He twists the truth, leading us astray from God. He deceives us with his empty promises and questions the truth of God’s Word with his age-old question: “Did God really say…?”.

So, if this is our own struggle where our own human nature, the world, and the devil will try to lead us away from saving faith, doesn’t it make sense this is other people’s struggles as well? Part of the reason why we’re struggling to grow as a church is because we’re fighting against the sickness of sin, the ways of the world, and the lies of the devil.

To top it off, God calls sinful and unworthy humans to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to a sinful world. He sends human beings with faults and weaknesses to preach the gospel. He sends people who are often self-centred and anxious to preach the glory of Christ.

So, apart from the inherent problem of the inborn sickness of sin which that makes it hard for anyone to believe in Christ, the other problem is that as sinful humans, we veil the glory of Christ every time we preach ourselves. We preach about ourselves every time we show how pious we are, explain how spiritual we are, and boast how righteous we are. Even when we’re accused of being less than perfect, we proclaim ourselves as we defend the goodness of our intentions.

But, how are people to see the glory of Christ if all we show them is our own goodness? How are people to hear the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ if we keep denying our need for his forgiveness? How is the veil which hides the gospel to be removed when we keep living according to the ways of the world, when we keep going along with the deceptions of the devil, or keep letting our own selfish nature drive our thoughts, words and deeds? How will people believe the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ when it’s hindered by blinded eyes, deafened ears and stubborn hearts?

It seems it’s a miracle anyone would believe in Jesus because there are so many things stacked against anyone believing in the first place!

Yet you and I believe!

Isn’t this a miracle?

You and I are living proof that the gospel can still open blinded eyes, unblock deaf ears and soften people’s hearts. You and I are proof that, even if the gospel is veiled from many people, it’s promise and comfort is still effective and shines it’s light in a fallen world. You and I are proof that the good news of the gospel is still effective and relevant today. You and I are proof that people can believe in the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. You and I are proof we should never give up preaching Jesus Christ.

You see, despite all the attacks of the devil, despite the reluctance of our human nature, and despite the tricks of the world around us, the gospel of Jesus was proclaimed as a light to shine in our hearts and we responded by believing the gospel!

This is a miracle because, unlike the people in the Old Testament, we never saw any of the miracles of God. Unlike the apostles, we never saw Jesus in his glory on the mountain of his transfiguration. In fact, our eyes have always tried to lead us astray and attract us to the things of this world.

Instead, knowing our eyes will deceive us, God didn’t shine his light through our eyes, but God shone his light through our ears.

Now this might sound a little strange, because we never think of our ears as eyes! Yet that’s what Paul is on about when he says that people ‘cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God’. To see God’s glory is to hear the gospel. The light doesn’t come to our eyes, but to our ears. Our ears are the eyes of our heart. We never saw the light of the gospel, but we heard the gospel and believed it.

The precious gospel, that glorious light which warms our hearts, is that great news of forgiveness through Jesus’ obedience, suffering, death, resurrection and ascension. Jesus Christ is the propitiation for all our sins. Jesus Christ paid the penalty for all our selfishness and rebellion. Jesus has paid the wages of sin, defeated death, and has overcome the devil. Jesus has compassion on us and is with us in all our troubles. Jesus promises life eternal in his kingdom for those who trust him. As we keep on trusting the words and work of Jesus, the world, the devil, and even our own sinful flesh will no longer deceive us with their lies and deceptions.

We have heard the gospel with our ears and believed. This happened despite the devil, the world and even our old sinful self trying to veil the truth and keep us in the dark. The light of God’s forgiveness through Jesus now shines in our hearts!

This makes us people of the Light. We’re no longer people dwelling in darkness, but people who are being inwardly transformed by the light of God’s gospel through faith. Jesus has restored our relationship with our heavenly Father, enlightening us and giving us real hope.

By faith, we accept this great news. By faith our ears act like eyes and see the truth in Jesus’ words. By faith our hearts are enlightened and light shines where once darkness reigned.

But also by faith, light now shines out of our darkness. The Holy Spirit, who came through our ears as they accepted the promise of Christ, now makes us shine in this dark world.

But the light we shine isn’t our own light. We don’t promote ourselves as if we’re the light. We’re not the light. Jesus is the Light. Jesus is worthy of all glory and praise and honour and thanks, not us. This means we proclaim him instead of us.

Just as we now live in the light of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ by hearing the gospel, the light we shine in this darkened world is the same gospel which warmed our own hearts.

We don’t veil the gospel by preaching or promoting ourselves. We don’t veil the gospel by adopting the ways of the world, the devil, or even our own sinful flesh. We instead proclaim the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ and the precious gospel of forgiveness and salvation.

This means we forgive as we’ve been forgiven by Christ. We love as we’ve been loved by Jesus. We act graciously and mercifully as people who have received grace and mercy from God. We don’t proclaim ourselves as someone who should be obeyed, but we proclaim Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour.

But even when we do this, don’t be surprised if some won’t believe. Some are still blinded to the light of Christ. Some are still deaf to the truth of Christ. Some still have hardened hearts that refuse to believe in Christ.

In this case, pray that the Holy Spirit will open their eyes, unblock their ears and soften their hearts so they might believe. Keep on clearly proclaiming the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and pray for the miracle of faith. Then, if they come to faith, praise God that he used our humble, sin-infested efforts in the service of his gospel about Jesus Christ, who is the image of God.

Praise God that we have seen his light; the light of the gospel about Jesus Christ who came to give us life, light, and hope. May he lead us to shine his light in this dark world and lead others to the light of Christ so that…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Mark 1:29-39 (EHV)

²⁹ Jesus left the synagogue and went with James and John to the home of Simon and Andrew. ³⁰ Simon’s mother-in-law was lying in bed, sick with a fever. Without delay they told Jesus about her. ³¹ He went to her, took her by the hand, and raised her up. The fever left her, and she began to serve them. ³² That evening, when the sun had set, the people kept bringing to him all who were sick and demon-possessed. ³³ The whole town gathered at the door. ³⁴ He healed many people who were sick with various diseases and drove out many demons. But he did not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.

³⁵ Jesus got up early in the morning, while it was still dark, and went out. He withdrew to a solitary place and was praying there. ³⁶ Simon and his companions searched for him, ³⁷ and, when they found him, they said to him, “Everyone is looking for you!”

³⁸ He told them, “Let’s go somewhere else, to the neighboring villages, so that I can preach there too. In fact, that is why I have come.” ³⁹ Then he went throughout the whole region of Galilee, preaching in their synagogues and driving out demons.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may pay attention to the words and work of our Healer and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Have you ever considered how much our own priorities and the priorities of Jesus differ?

Of course, as faithful followers of Jesus, we’d love to say we’re always doing the will of God, but I wonder if we’re as true and loyal as we first think. If our priorities and Jesus’ priorities aren’t the same, what’s hindering us in our faithful discipleship?

Just to check this out, let’s consider how we might prioritise things.

Let’s imagine God’s like a genie who would grant our wishes. Of course, we should never consider our God to be like a genie or that our prayers would be granted like wishes, but just for this exercise, let’s consider what type of things we want God to do in our troubled world right now.

So, if God were to grant your wish, what would you think God should do as his first priority?

Would you want God to get rid of the coronavirus? I mean, just think how many people are suffering in the world right now, how many have died from this virus, and how it’s disrupted our lives, our travel plans, our mental health, and our freedoms. If only we could get back to how we used to live! Wouldn’t this be a good thing for God to do which would save a lot of heartache?

But then again, why would we stop with just one virus? What about all the other viruses and diseases in our world? Maybe we would want God to get rid of all those pesky germs and infections! And what about all those insidious medical problems such as Alzheimer’s, Cancer, Motor Neurone Disease, heart conditions, Diabetes, blindness, deafness, respiratory conditions, and so on? Doesn’t God want us all to get better and live happy and healthy lives?

What about stopping drought, floods, storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis? What about fixing our environment so that we don’t experience the extremes of weather and its associated fires, starvation, and other disasters? If only God would grant us all good weather so that our gardens and crops and herds would benefit!

What about world peace? Don’t you think God should stop all wars and threats of war? Perhaps you want all rightly established governments to prosper and that all coups and rebellions would stop. Perhaps God should also stop all terrorists, radicals, extremists, rebels, protestors, anti-vaxxers, and all those left-wing or right-wing activists!

In fact, why doesn’t God get rid of all evil? Imagine how much better life would be without the influence of evil! And I’m not just talking about the evil acts of humans, but also the evil of spiritual powers and demons. After all, Jesus has power and authority over them too, doesn’t he?

In other words, what do you think God’s first priority should be in our crazy, mixed up, troubled world? What should God prioritise in your own life as of highest importance? It could be those very things you spend much time and energy on is what you think God should spend his time and energy on.

But as you consider the list of priorities you think God should attend to, did any of you have as the first item God should act on is the need for God to preach or teach?

Similarly, do any of you currently list as your own first priority as a faithful disciple of Jesus that you listen to the preaching and teaching of Jesus or any other part of Scripture? And if you don’t consider listening to sermons and attending bible studies as your own first priority, why not? It’s Jesus’ first priority, so why isn’t it yours?

Now, why do I say this is Jesus’ first priority?

Well, have you been listening attentively to the Gospel readings over the last few Sundays? Have you noticed how important preaching and teaching is to God’s plan of salvation?

For example, once Jesus was baptised and tested in the wilderness, and after John the Baptist was put in prison, what was the first thing Jesus did according to St Mark?

He proclaimed the kingdom of God and called people to believe in the gospel. (Mark 1:14)

After he called the first disciples, the next thing he did was go to the Synagogue to teach, and people were amazed at his authority. (Mark 1:22, 27)

Today we hear that after Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law (and many others), he tells his disciples it’s time to go and preach in another place, because this is the reason why he came! (Mark 1:38).

While we’re often very impressed with Jesus’ authority to drive out demons and wish he would get rid of all types of evil from our lives, and while we’re also impressed with Jesus’ power to heal people and wish he would also do the same with us and our loved ones, it’s easy to miss out on what Jesus first priority actually was.

His first priority was to preach and teach the Kingdom of God.

Of course, many people don’t always want his words. Most people only want the miracle making God who gives them what they want. And what most people want is a comfortable, healthy and happy life. This will mean God’s priorities and our priorities will often clash.

Martin Luther realised the importance of paying attention to God’s Word. His explanation to the 3^rd Commandment about Remembering the Sabbath day and keeping it holy is: ‘We are to fear and love God, so that we do no despise God’s Word or preaching, but instead keep that Word holy and gladly hear and learn it.’

In this case it might be helpful for us to reconsider our priorities and ask ourselves such questions as:

• Have I become lazy and inattentive to God’s Word? And if so, why don’t I cherish it as I ought?

• Have I become indifferent with, or defiant towards, what I hear through the sermon? And if so, why have I become apathetic or resistant towards hearing the proclamation of God’s Word?

• Am I unwilling to learn from God’s Word through attending bible studies? And if so, why have I become a reluctant disciple of Jesus who doesn’t want to learn from God’s Holy Word?

It could be we need to repent of our own selfish priorities and refocus on what is most important so that we would have in mind the things of God instead of the things of humankind.

What we hear in the Gospel according to St Mark is that Jesus’ first priority is to preach and teach the Kingdom of God.

He seeks first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. He proclaims how he is the fulfilment of God’s Word as the Word-made-flesh. He preaches and teaches us so we can grow in the grace and knowledge of God. He knows the Word of God acts like a sword which cuts to the heart of what’s wrong with us and why our priorities differ with God’s. He proclaims the Gospel – the good news message of God’s forgiveness for our apathy, rebellion and reluctance. He knows we need to learn the ways of God because everything we learn about God and his holy ways is counter-cultural and supernatural. He knows the Holy Spirit calls us through the words of the Gospel, enlightens us with his gifts, makes us holy and keeps us in the one true faith. He knows faith comes through hearing God’s Word.

But just because Jesus’ first priority is to preach and teach, this doesn’t mean he isn’t concerned about the evil we face in this world. It also doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t concerned for your physical health and mental well-being. Jesus is deeply concerned about these things, and his gracious compassion is illustrated in his work of healing people and casting out demons. Many people came to him in the hope they would be cured and out of compassion Jesus healed many of them, but we need to remember he didn’t heal everybody. Even those he healed were likely to get sick once more.

This means it’s ok to pray for healing for yourself and your loved ones. God may grant you and your loved ones healing, which will lead you to praise him and his goodness to you, but don’t be surprised if your priority and God’s priority don’t always match. Sometimes God will grant you health once more, but sometimes you won’t get better. This doesn’t mean his goodness or compassion or power or love is limited. It could be God has a different priority for you and your loved ones to focus on right now. It could be you need a good dose of God’s Word to cure a deeper illness or a deeper longing.

You see, since the sickness of sin and its wages of death are inevitable for us broken, hurting and rebellious people in a troubled world, God’s priority is different to ours. No matter how important your physical health is to you right now, your physical health isn’t as important to Jesus as your spiritual health and your eternal well-being. There’s a deeper spiritual illness God wants to treat and cure, which is only received through faith and trust.

But this faith and trust isn’t always built up by God giving us what we want, but through us believing his words – the words which he preached and taught; the words which he enacted through his proclamations of forgiveness; the words which explain how Scripture was pointing to himself as the fulfilment of God’s Word to us; and the words which continue to do what they say through the church today.

If you think about it, our faith in Jesus isn’t because we saw Jesus with our own eyes or because we witnessed the miracles of healing, but because we believe the words spoken about him. We don’t always have physical proof, but we have his words, and in matters of faith, that’s all we need.

Even in our church today, Jesus’ words come to life and do what they say.

For example, we receive the benefits of God’s gracious gift of baptism through faith – by believing what we’ve been told through the Word of God. We believe that God promises forgiveness of sins, redemption from death and the devil, and eternal salvation to all who believe God’s Word.

As Luther said: ‘Clearly the water does not do (such things), but the Word of God, which is with, in, and among the water, and faith, which trusts this Word of God in the water. For without the Word of God the water is plain water and not a baptism, but with the Word of God it is a baptism, that is, a grace-filled water of life and a “bath of the new birth in the Holy Spirit.”

Similarly, as we participate in the Lord’s Supper, we listen for the words. We hear Jesus’ body is given for you and me. We hear Jesus’ blood was shed for the forgiveness of sins. We eat and drink in faith, trusting Jesus doesn’t lie and we receive what he promises. We receive the benefits of this holy meal by believing what we’ve been told through the Word of God.

We learn today that Jesus’ faithful and obedient adherence to the priorities of the Kingdom of God stand in sharp contrast with our own desires that our own selfish priorities become the most important matters in God’s plan. Today we rejoice Jesus gets the priorities right for our sake and the sake of all in his Kingdom. His highest goal was, and still is, to fulfill the Father’s command to save all those who are lost – to fulfill everything spoken about him in the Word of God, so that…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 (EHV)

¹ Now concerning things sacrificed to idols, we know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. ² If anyone supposes that he knows something, he does not yet know the way he ought to know. ³ But if anyone loves God, this person has been known by him.

⁴ So, concerning the eating of food from idol sacrifices, we know that an idol is not anything real in the world and that there is no God but one. ⁵ Indeed, even if there are so-called “gods,” whether in the heavens or on earth (as in fact there are many “gods” and many “lords”), ⁶ nevertheless for us there is one God—the Father, from whom all things exist and we exist for him—and one Lord—Jesus Christ, through whom all things exist and we exist through him.

⁷ However, that knowledge is not in everyone. Instead some, who are still affected by their former habit with the idol, eat the food as something sacrificed to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled.

⁸ Food will not bring us closer to God. We do not lack anything if we do not eat, nor are we better off if we do. ⁹ And be careful that this right of yours does not somehow become a stumbling block to the weak. ¹⁰ For if someone sees you, a person who has knowledge, dining in an idol’s temple, will not the conscience of this man, weak as he is, be emboldened to eat food from an idol sacrifice? ¹¹ You see, the weak person is being destroyed by your knowledge—the brother for whose sake Christ died! ¹² And when you sin in this way against your brothers and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. ¹³ Therefore, if food causes my brother to sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I do not cause my brother to sin.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may always speak and act out of love for our fellow Christian brothers and sisters who are one with us through faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should.

You might recognise a variation of this phrase if you’ve ever had a pedantic parent who likes to use every opportunity to educate you on the technicalities of the English language, such as when you asked such a question like: “Can I have some chocolate?”

Your mother may have answered: Yes, you can, but you may not.”

She may then have explained, saying: “’Can I?’ is a question which asks about ability, where the question ‘May I?’ asks permission. So, yes, you can have some chocolate because you’re quite capable of going and getting it, holding it in your own fingers, and feeding yourself. However, you may not be permitted to have some chocolate right now because it’ll spoil your appetite.”

So yes, there are many things you can do, but that doesn’t mean you should.

St Paul uses a similar argument in regard to our freedom as Christians.

An example Paul cites is one about food offered to idols, which at first glance doesn’t seem like it would apply to us today.

He tackles this subject because in Corinth there were many temples and shrines to various idols and false gods, and many of them used animal sacrifices as part of their offerings so their idols and gods in might favour or bless them.

These sacrificial meats would often be:

a) left at the altar to these false gods,

b) eaten by the people who worshipped there for their special celebrations with family and friends, or

c) later taken to the marketplace and sold.

This raised such questions as: ‘Are Christians allowed to eat any of these meats, even though they’ve been sacrificed to false gods? And, even if we could normally avoid buying these meats, what happens if we’re invited to a friend’s house who serve up these meats which were originally offered to idols? Do we refuse and risk offending our hosts? Or, do we eat these meats without a care in the world, but risk alienating some of our own fellowship who would be offended by the fact we’re eating these meats?’

Just like today, you could imagine there may be a number of arguments among Christians for and against eating these meats, such as: “But we know the idols are just wood or gold or stone. We know there’s only one true God. We know this food isn’t going to get us any closer to Jesus or push us further away. We know it’s just plain food because those false gods don’t really exist anyway. So therefore, why don’t we just go ahead and eat these temple meals!”

On the other hand, some might say: “But we’ve left those types of practices in our past because we now have faith in Jesus as our Lord and God. He’s the only one we should worship. He’s the only one we should call upon to bless our food and families and service. Plus, if we live like everyone else, then how will anyone know we’re Christian? Look, I believe this is so serious that, if any of you eat these meats, then I’m not sure your faith is genuine anymore and I’m scared you may be in danger of falling away from faith in Jesus and going back to your old ways of idolatry!”

So, what’s Paul’s advice to this divided congregation who couldn’t agree on a solution, especially where there’s no clear instruction from God about what’s commanded or forbidden?

Well, his response is: “It depends,” but then qualifies his answer.

Firstly: “Yes, you can eat this meat, at least in the privacy of your home, since you know the idol is false, and you don’t at all mean to worship it. If you eat this meat in your own home, you’re not going to offend anyone else.”

But later on, in chapter 10 (where he talks about eating this meat in public), he says: “No, you can’t take part in those temple meals in public, even if it’s just a social gathering. This is because, when you eat that meal at the temple, you’re participating with any demons who may be present there. To eat that meal in public would also give the wrong witness to those who are struggling to stay faithful to Jesus.”

But you may wonder, what does it matter if they were to eat these meats privately or publicly?

Well, because it’s not all about you.

You see, as Christians, you’re always to be more concerned with the faith and conscience of those around you than you are with your own rights and freedom, especially if they have a weaker faith or conscience.

In this case, because it might offend your brothers or sisters in Christ, you can eat these meats in the privacy of your own home, but you may not eat it in public where it may affect the faith of others.

You see, Christian love always builds up and never seeks to tear down. Christian love always considers everyone else as more important than you and will never seek to impose your own selfish demands. Christian love always considers the unity of Christians as more important than any individual freedoms or rights.

Once you understand these things, this gracious and selfless approach can then be used for almost every other situation in the church.

For example, I heard of a congregation which had a long discussion over relocating the bible from the altar to the lectern. In many ways this makes good sense. The bible readings are read from the lectern instead of the altar, so that would be a more practical and liturgical place to put it.

In this case, the congregation discussed the pros and cons for quite a while, and then put it to the vote. It was nearly unanimous that they move the bible to the lectern. But then one member said something along these lines: “If that bible moves off the altar, I’ll never set foot in here again!”

Now, no matter what you think of such ultimatums, this Christian community, out of love for this one person, agreed they could move the bible, but chose not to. They exercised both their Christian freedom and their love for their fellow member. They chose to build up the body of Christ in love instead of dividing it over rights and entitlements and democratic votes.

Of course, this doesn’t always happen.

How many times have families and churches become divided because one person (or a number of people), chose to exercise their own rights or privileges over against their love for their brothers and sisters in Christ?

How many times has the unity of the church been held to ransom by an individual or a group?

How many times have people stopped coming to worship because of what they saw and heard fellow Christians saying or doing what they shouldn’t have?

Just because we can do something, it doesn’t mean we should, especially if it affects the unity of our community or the faith if its members.

Too many times in our Christian churches, love and unity have taken a back seat, when they should have been driving all our thoughts, words, and actions. Too many times we’ve sacrificed fellow Christians because we chose to exercise our rights instead of exercising our love and compassion for those who have weaker consciences. Too many times our unity has been fractured by our selfishness and pride.

One of the common themes running through most of the New Testament letters (and especially from those written by St Paul), is for Christians to practice love and unity. He even tells us that if anyone is to sacrifice themselves, it’s always the stronger Christians who will give up their rights and freedoms for the sake of the weaker ones.

Now, this never means we should dumb down our faith, our teachings, or our practices to the lowest common denominator, because there are certain things which are commanded or forbidden by God. We never compromise on what God teaches in his Word. But it’s often in those matters which are neither commanded nor forbidden that we often make into the most divisive ultimatums and fodder for our fights.

Paul teaches us that Christian love will always seek to build up the body of Christ. Christian love will be willing to sacrifice one’s own desires and freedoms for the sake of unity in the body of Christ. Christian love will always be concerned for those weaker in conscience within the body of Christ.

Why does Christian love always put others first?

Because that’s what Jesus Christ did for you.

You weren’t sacrificed for his glory, but he was glorified through his sacrifice for you. He didn’t puff himself up with pride and arrogance, but humbled himself for your sake. He didn’t try to get his own way, but was always concerned for the weak, the sick, the outcast, the downtrodden and the dying. Even though Jesus has authority to forgive sins, cast out demons and raise the dead, he never used his authority to lord it over you.

Thankfully, no matter how much you’ve hurt or offended others because of your own selfish desires or demands, it’s good news to hear that, where the blood of Cain once cried out for justice, Jesus’ blood now cries out for your forgiveness and mercy, and through faith you’re now innocent and washed clean by his blood.

Today, out of love for you, Jesus doesn’t offer you meat sacrificed to idols, but he offers you his body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins and for the building up of the church. You eat and drink the one body and blood in faith believing this is given for you.

It shouldn’t surprise you to know there’ll always be more questions the church will be faced with. Some of them will threaten to divide us or trouble the faith of those weaker in conscience. In each case, God’s Word is our guiding light to decide on all matters of faith, doctrine and life. Where God’s Word remains silent and where he doesn’t command or forbid us to do certain things, our desire for unity and our love for those weaker in conscience will always guide us.

This means, whenever we come across a question of “Can I?” or “Can we?” in matters which are neither commanded nor forbidden, we’re to instead ask: “May we?” of “Should we?”

When we consider this question, we’re to remember the guiding principle of the love of Christ which always seeks to build up the Christian community and preserve it in loving unity. That loving unity is more important than getting our own way, no matter how noble our desires or intentions are.

After all, just because we can do something, doesn’t mean we should, especially if it affects the body of Christ or those weaker in conscience.

For this reason, may the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, guard your hearts and minds in the love of Christ Jesus. Amen.