Colossians 3:12-17 (EHV)

¹² Therefore, as God’s elect, holy and loved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. ¹³ Bear with one another and forgive each other if anyone has a complaint against anyone else. Forgive, just as Christ forgave you. ¹⁴ And, in addition to all these things, put on love, which ties things together in perfect unity. ¹⁵ Let the peace of Christ control your hearts, to which you were also called, in one body. And be thankful.

¹⁶ Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God. ¹⁷ And everything you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may live holy lives as you have made us holy through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

It seems we’re being asked to ‘put on’ or ‘clothe’ ourselves with many things these days.

For example, we’re being told to ‘slip, slop, slap, seek, and slide’ on such things as sun cream, sun shirts, broad brimmed hats, sunglasses and so on during these summer months to protect ourselves from skin cancer.

More recently, we’re being told to wear masks indoors to keep ourselves, and those around us, safe from the most talked about virus in the world.

In response to growing frustrations and outbursts of anger, we’re also being told to put on some patience and understanding when we’re dealing with health care professionals, police, and people behind the counter, after all, they’re not always the source of all our problems. They shouldn’t have to be the ones who ‘wear’ the results of our anxious and frustrated emotions.

But even though we’re told to put on these items and behaviours, most of these can also be taken off again and don’t have to be worn all the time.

For instance, you wouldn’t normally wear sun cream, hats, and sunglasses indoors. They’re for outdoor use. You know you can take them off when you’re inside and put them on when you’re outside.

Similarly, you don’t have to wear masks all the time. When you’re at home, outside or by yourself, you may choose to take off your mask.

Although, in regard to well-mannered, compassionate, and thoughtful words and actions, these should be worn all the time, whether you’re indoors or outdoors, and this is part of the point St Paul is getting at today when he tells us as Christians to put on certain attributes and qualities.

You see, the problem is, we may choose to wear such attributes as compassion, kindness, humility and patience for a while on Sunday morning, or when things are going well for us, but there may be other places or other situations where we might wear something different.

We’re likely to put on such things as impatience, cynicism, criticism, and nastiness when the shopping lines are getting long, or when children (or parents) are testing our patience, or when someone cuts us off at a roundabout, or when our spouse upsets us, or when someone lets us down, or when we don’t agree with the measures introduced to keep us safe, and so on.

But for us as Christians, St Paul describes the ‘clothing’ all people of God are to wear every day and in everything we do.

For Christians there’s no question about what to wear, or how long we’re to wear such things. It’s the same clothing for every person for every day and every occasion, whether we’re indoors or outdoors. Christians are to continually put on the set of qualities which we’ve received from Christ himself.

But we also need to understand we can never put on the good, wholesome, and spiritually mature attributes by ourselves. It’s simply not in our power or abilities to make ourselves good. We also can’t just cover up and make out Christ has given us a holy façade to wear on special occasions. St Paul knows our problem isn’t just what we’re wearing or with our words and actions alone. Because sin has affected us so deeply, St Paul reminds us how God treats our sinful nature in a wholistic way.

For starters, St Paul reminds us that we’re God’s chosen people.

Just like we don’t always know how to make the right choices in our words and actions, we also can’t, or won’t choose to submit ourselves under God’s rule and authority. We didn’t choose God. He chose us.

God chose you before the world was made. He chose you even though you can’t make yourselves good. He chose to love cantankerous, recalcitrant, and obstinate people like you and me. He chose to send his own Son into this world as a human in order to save humanity. He chose to punish his own dearly loved Son instead of you and me. He chose you to be his dearly loved children who would receive the innocence and purity of Christ. He chose to offer you eternal life with him. He also chose you to faithfully receive and put on Christ.

God has chosen you to put on Christ because Jesus is the only One who has a pure heart of compassion. Only Jesus is always kind. Only Jesus is purely humble. Only Jesus is constantly gentle and patient. Only Jesus puts up with stubborn and recalcitrant people and forgives you for all the sins you do and say and think.

In this way, you’re not to be compassionate, gentle, patient, humble, or forgiving by your own strength or power, but through the power of the Holy Spirit, who is Christ’s enduring presence with you.

Now, you may be wondering how you can possibly do this. How can you put to death the old sinful qualities? How can you keep putting on these holy attributes and qualities if they only come from Christ?

Well, St Paul goes on to give us a couple of hints.

He tells us to let Christ rule in our hearts and to dwell on the word of Christ.

In a sense, he’s telling us we become what we worship.

For instance, if you keep thinking about, dwelling on, and focusing your attention on yourselves and satisfying your own fears or desires, you’ll naturally become selfish and self-seeking and will be willing to sacrifice anyone and everything around you in order to get what you want. That’s when people will see that you’re not wearing Christ because it’s all about you.

You see, while you serve your own fears and desires, you’re enslaved by them and their defensive behaviours. You’ll find yourselves doing things which hurt others, and you’ll feel like you have no control over your emotions and responses.

While people may still try to love you, be kind to you, and forgive you, they may not respect or look up to you because the words and actions you wear aren’t always worthy of respect and thanks.

On the other hand, the more you keep thinking about, dwelling on, and focusing your attention on the Word of God and trusting he satisfies your deepest longings of love, acceptance, and security, you’ll learn to be more like him in word and deed and so you’ll naturally bear the same spiritual fruit of compassion, mercy, kindness, humility, and patience that Christ himself bears.

As you keep dwelling on who Jesus is and what he does for you, the more willingly you’ll pass on what he does and says so that you love as you’ve been loved, forgive as you’ve been forgiven, and serve as you’ve been served by Christ.

And Jesus Christ does love you. Jesus Christ does forgive you. Jesus Christ does hear your prayers. Jesus Christ is with you always, no matter what you’re going through. Jesus Christ has prepared a place for you and me to dwell with him in his kingdom of grace and truth and light and love.

You see, as you submit to, and trust in, God’s Word, the word of Christ will rule in your hearts; you may be surprised by the compassion you feel, the patience you experience, the grace by which you respond to difficult people, and the willingness to forgive even the most hurtful of actions. You may be surprised people will respect you, not because you’re a good person, but because people see Christ at work in you.

Whether they realise it or not, they may come to see your patient ears as the ears of Christ, your caring actions full of the compassion of Christ, your long-suffering for others as the patience and gentleness of Christ, and your gracious words as the loving words of forgiveness from Christ himself.

In other words, if you become what you worship, then when you truly worship your Lord Jesus Christ and trust his words and work, then you’ll naturally become more like him and bear some of his attributes and qualities.

It’s in this way, as you constantly look to your Lord Jesus Christ and receive his gifts of grace upon grace, that the peace of Christ will rule in your hearts, rather than what you fear or desire. As you keep on receiving forgiveness and mercy and compassion from him, your hearts will be filled with thanks and praise.

The best way to look constantly to your Lord Jesus Christ is by dwelling less on what you want, or fear, and instead let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. This is done through constantly reading and meditating on the Word of God, responding to the Word of God through prayer, and by singing the Word of God through hymns and songs.

Because there’s a natural resistance to the Word of God, he places us in a community called the Church to encourage and support us in this endeavour. This is why gathering regularly with God’s holy people, even with masks on, isn’t an option for the Christian. It’s absolutely vital to our spiritual health and maturity!

By regularly, and repeatedly, letting the word of Christ dwell in us richly we’ll soon find that everything we do (whether in word or deed), and no matter what day it is in the week (and whatever clothes we’re wearing at the time), we’ll be wearing the compassion and humility and patience of Christ and will give constant thanks to God the Father through him.

This is because, the more central the word of Christ is in our life, the more we take on the clothing and nature of Christ.

For this reason, I wonder what clothing you’ll display to each other as you gather for your chats with others after worship?

Will you continue to talk about the weather or sport or the virus or whatever you normally talk about in your conversations after worship, or will you instead consider what word of encouragement, compassion, gentleness, patience, or forgiveness from Christ you might wish to share with your fellow believers?

How might you as a community become more intentional in your dwelling on the Word of God and use it to encourage, instruct, and teach each other in all wisdom?

Who knows? Maybe, as you all learn how to encourage fellow believers with a Word of God, you may also learn how to have courage to do the same with those who don’t yet believe in Christ during the week as well.

After all, with God’s help, as the Word of God dwells in us richly, this congregation of God’s holy people may be a place where people see the peace of Christ ruling in our hearts; and not just here in this place, but also in our daily lives at home and at work.

Therefore, as we all put on Christ…

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

Luke 2:1-20 (ESV)

¹ In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. ³ And all went to be registered, each to his own town. ⁴ And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, ⁵ to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. ⁶ And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. ⁷ And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

⁸ And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. ¹⁰ And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” ¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,

    and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

¹⁵ When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. ¹⁷ And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. ¹⁸ And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. ¹⁹ But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. ²⁰ And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that as we ponder on the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, we may receive great joy. Amen.

As we listen again to the familiar message of Jesus’ birth, we hear that Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart.

But, before we ponder what Mary was treasuring, I wonder, what are you treasuring? What are you pondering in your heart?

Maybe you’re treasuring a gift you’ve already received for Christmas. You may be pondering how long the sermon is going to go for so you can go home quickly and enjoy your gift once more.

Maybe you haven’t opened some gifts yet and so you don’t know what treasures still await you. You may be pondering the size, shape, and weight of your gifts and are still trying to guess what’s inside.

Maybe you’re treasuring the presence of family for Christmas and pondering what preparations you still need to arrange so you can all enjoy a scrumptious Christmas lunch in all its splendour.

Maybe you’re treasuring a few days away from work over Christmas and pondering how you may enjoy the freedom from your daily routines and work pressures.

Maybe you’re treasuring a few moments of silence in a house filled with noise and movement and are pondering how you may escape from family and friends without them noticing.

It’s also possible you aren’t so much treasuring what you currently have, but are treasuring what you used to have.

You may treasure the memories of Christmases past that you now miss as families grow up and move away. You may treasure the health and vitality you no longer have. You may be pondering on the loss of some of the things or some people you once treasured. You may ponder what your family are up to as they celebrate Christmas without you. You may also treasure the freedoms we used to have and are pondering how long we have to wear these masks which hide our smiles and smother our praise of God!

Among all the trappings of Christmas, among all the busy thoughts of what still needs to be done, among all your treasured gifts, and among your many ponderings and worries and changes to your way of life, I invite you to sit with Mary for a while and consider what she may have been treasuring and pondering in her heart as she reflects on the birth of her first child.

She was away from home, after all, she was in her husband’s hometown – not her own. The town’s inn was booked out, so she needed to borrow a place to give birth. We might imagine a stable or cave, but it was likely she borrowed the downstairs section of a house where animals were normally kept. But this wasn’t the only thing that was borrowed – even her womb was borrowed for the special use by none other than God himself. That was worth much pondering in itself!

After giving birth she borrowed a feeding trough, most likely made of stone or rock, to place her new-born son in. She probably did her best to keep the straw from sticking into his flesh by wrapping him firmly in cloth. What she didn’t know at the time is that she wouldn’t be able to protect him many years later when thorns and whips and spear would pierce that same fragile flesh. But that’s a pondering for another time.

Unlike us, she had no mobile phone for selfies with her new-born son, no newspapers to post a birth notice in, no reliable postal service, and no news bulletins to advertise this remarkable birth, but despite lacking these things, people would know and remember and ponder the birth of her first-born son for the rest of time. In this case, heavenly angels did the announcing for her. Angels never announced any of our births, but they advertised the birth of Jesus!

But it’s also worth pondering about whom they announced this birth.

Did they announce the birth of the King of Kings to the royalty? No.

Did they announce the birth of God’s chosen High Priest to the Priesthood? No.

Did they announce the birth of the one and only faithful and obedient Son of God to the faithful people of Israel? No.

Shepherds were the ones chosen to hear this glorious message. Nothing against those who look after sheep today, but they were way down the social standing scale of the day. They didn’t have a good reputation and weren’t trustworthy.

Why God would choose to send the angels to announce the most famous and world-changing birth to them is alone worth pondering over. Since they weren’t usually reliable and trustworthy, who on earth was going to believe their good news message of God’s birth on earth?

And so, out of all the people hanging around Bethlehem at this busy time of census-registering, shepherds were the first unexpected visitors who came to gawk and gabble over this baby boy.

They excitedly prattled on to Mary and Joseph about what the angels announced about this baby. They became gossipers of the good news of Jesus’ birth and what it meant, and for whom it was good news for. It wasn’t just good news for Mary and Joseph. It wasn’t just good news for the outcast shepherds. It wasn’t just good news for the faithful waiting people of Israel. This was good news of a global scale!

All people, including you and me these thousands of years later, would receive the same news of the birth of Jesus, which started spreading through the excited chatter of these shepherds, as something good to treasure and ponder in our hearts.

Not only this, but this new-born child is the promised Christ, the promised Messiah. All the prophecies of the holy Scriptures about the anointed holy One of God who would come to rescue and restore his people, whose precious promises have been passed on for many generations of faithful people like Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, and Daniel, who never got to see these promises fulfilled in their lifetime, are to be fulfilled in this human child.

But there’s more to treasure and ponder over because this is no ordinary human child. The infinite Creator of the heavens and the earth with all their immeasurable complexity and wonder and majesty, chose to come to earth as a frail and helpless human baby who would be reliant on his own selfish and clumsy created beings to look after him and care for him.

He could have appeared in any form he liked. He could have walked around as a dinosaur, or a giant dragon, or a great talking lion, or a mighty heavenly angel. But he came to us as a frail and helpless human who would suffer and die at the hands of his own people.

Why?

Because we humans are the ones who needed saving. And he saved us because he came in human form.

Jesus saved us by being perfectly obedient to his Father’s will because we can’t and won’t be obedient. We’re too selfish and self-serving to do God’s will, at least, not to God’s exacting standards of holiness and purity.

Jesus saved us by empowering baptism as the means by which he swaps our sinfulness with his own perfection and holiness.

Jesus saved us by bearing our sins which he took from us into himself so he would become the guilty one punished for our sins with the death we deserve.

We, on the other hand, we go free to receive forgiveness and purity through faith, and receive the gift of eternal life in God’s own eternal kingdom. What an unexpected and undeserving treasure we can ponder over as we receive this heavenly gift through faith!

You see, there’s no greater treasure on earth than to have faith in this child who was born in a borrowed womb and would later lie dead in a borrowed tomb. There are few greater mysteries to ponder over than the incarnation of our God who truly became our Immanuel – our God who is with us in human flesh, who would suffer and die and rise again for you and me.

Soon you’ll be invited to come and receive the body and blood of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the same One who was born at Bethlehem, as he hosts your best Christ-mass meal at the Lord’s Supper.

It’s another mystery we ponder over as we cradle the Lord’s body in our hands as to how the bread is still bread, yet through the power of Jesus’ words, it also hosts the body of our Lord. We also ponder how the wine we sip is still wine, yet through the power of Jesus’ words, it’s also the innocent and cleansing blood of Jesus. But then again, it matches the mystery of how a human baby born of a human mother is also the full manifestation of God’s divinity and holiness through the power of God’s word through an angel.

As you treasure this holy meal and digest the holiness and purity of Jesus’ forgiveness into your own body, you might ponder over the sins Jesus has washed clean from your body and heart and mind.

You might also ponder how you may become a little bit like one of the shepherds who is so excited about this good news of forgiveness and cleansing, and how you too might gossip about Jesus’ birth to those around you as you share what you treasure and ponder over about your Lord Jesus Christ.

What Mary treasured and pondered in her heart at the time of Jesus’ birth is still a mystery to us, and what she started to treasure and ponder in her heart only began that day. Like her, there’s still much about the birth, life, suffering, death and resurrection for us to treasure and ponder over.

I don’t know what you will treasure and ponder over today, but may you treasure…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, and ponder how it guards your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Micah 5:2-5a (EHV)

² But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
    though you are small among the clans of Judah,
    from you, will go out the one who will be the ruler for me in Israel.
    His goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity.

³ Therefore the Lord will give them up,
    until the time when the woman who is in labor bears a child.
    Then the remaining survivors from his brothers will return to the people of Israel.

⁴ He will stand and shepherd with the strength of the Lord,
    in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
    They will dwell securely, for at that time he will be great to the ends of the earth.

^5a This one will be their peace.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may receive your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, as our peace. Amen.

I’d like you to imagine what peace would look like for you …

As you imagine what peace would look like for you, what image comes to mind?

Some of you might imagine a beautiful beach where the waves gently lap at the shore, the breeze lightly blows to keep you cool, and the palm trees lazily nod away.

Some of you might imagine sitting in a comfortable chair with your favourite drink in one hand and a good book in the other.

Some of you might imagine you’re in a sun-dappled field beside a babbling brook as you watch the soft grass swaying softly to the breeze.

Whatever your picture of ‘peace’ is like, hands up if your perfect picture of peace includes other people?

Hands up if your perfect picture of peace included spending time with those you’re not getting along with, or those you’re grumpy with, or those you won’t normally associate with, or those you label as your ‘enemies’?

Knowing we humans are naturally self-centred people who want to get our own way all the time, I wouldn’t be surprised if your own pictures of ‘peace’ are when you finally get to have things your own way. For this reason, your pictures of peace probably exclude anyone who could threaten or interrupt getting in the way of your peace. In other words, I wouldn’t be surprised if your pictures of peace are all about you and what you want!

Now, it’s possible you don’t know much about the prophet Micah, but he was talking to his own people who wanted to get their own way. In fact, they’d been getting their own way and God wasn’t very happy with the result!

The rich were getting richer as they took advantage of the poor and so justice wasn’t being practiced. The local prophets and priests were telling people what they wanted to hear, telling them they’re good people even though they weren’t faithful to God’s instructions on how to live as his holy people by practicing compassion and mercy.

In response, God sent Micah to warn them of God’s impending judgment, but he also gave them words of hope. These words of hope we hear today included the promise of a Shepherd-King who would come from the tiny town of Bethlehem who would restore God’s kingdom of peace and mercy and justice. In fact, this promised Messiah, this promised Saviour, would himself be their peace.

Now, since we’re told the coming Christ himself will be our peace, it makes sense that the best way to understand what this peace looks like isn’t by starting with our own ideas of peace, but we should instead start with God’s concept of peace and how he gives his peace to us.

In this case, the Hebrew word which is translated into English as ‘peace’ is ‘Shalom’, but this Hebrew word is much richer and more meaningful than just ‘peace’.

For example, ‘Shalom’ can describe a state of well-being or bodily health. In this way, when you experience good health and wholeness in your body, you’re experiencing a form of ‘shalom’.

Similarly, you can also describe mental or emotional wellness and wholeness, where you experience no cares or anxiety and are content and satisfied, as another form of ‘shalom’.

Therefore ‘shalom’ is where you feel content and relaxed: physically, emotionally, and mentally; where you feel healthy and are able to rest without any worries.

However, that’s not all. This ‘shalom’ isn’t just about when you’re feeling satisfied, content, relaxed, or healthy, but it’s also about having healthy and wholesome relationships with others.

An example of ‘shalom’ was first experienced in the Garden of Eden when God and the first humans walked and talked together in that perfect garden. There was harmony in their existence as they existed side-by-side without any division or disagreement, but the ‘shalom’ was broken when the first humans wanted to become like God.

Similarly, whenever we want to get our own way, our ‘shalom’ between ourselves and God is always broken. Instead of humbly submitting to God’s will for our life and living according to his teachings about mercy and compassion, we want to decide for ourselves. We reckon we know better than God and seek to redefine good and evil for ourselves.

In the same way, whenever we’re selfish or self-seeking, we strain or break the ‘shalom’ between ourselves and those around us. We judge and punish others. We seek to exclude those who threaten us and what we want. We want to divide and differentiate between ‘us’ and ‘them’ and try to avoid loving and serving our enemies.

So, for us to experience ‘shalom’ again, God seeks to reconcile or ‘re-shalom’ our relationships with him and each other through his radical justice of forgiveness.

In this case, godly peace, or a divine experience of shalom, would include health in body, mind, and spirit. It would include harmony and unity between us and God. It would include reconciliation and concord between ourselves and all those around us, including our enemies.

‘Shalom’ would also mean no more wars or fighting, no more fear, no more division, no more sickness, no more anxiety, no more guilt, no more shame, no more hiding, no more depression, no more loneliness, and no more fear of judgment from God. All these things would be absent because we’re at peace; or rather because Jesus is our peace; because Jesus is our Shalom.

So why don’t we experience this now? Why do we still experience sickness, injury, anxiety, depression, conflicts between family and friends, segregation within churches, and struggle with our faith in God?

Well, the strange thing about God’s peace, is that it’s not just an experience or event that we can manufacture for ourselves, but peace, or shalom, is a person.

So, when the angels announced: ‘Glory to God in the highest and peace on earth among those whom he loves’, they weren’t announcing that everything will be perfect on this earth right now. They were announcing peace himself is on earth and among those whom he loves.

Since Jesus Christ is your peace and is your ‘shalom’, you receive peace whenever you receive him in Word and Sacrament.

You receive peace whenever you receive and trust his promises of life, forgiveness and salvation. You receive peace whenever you receive his forgiveness of all your sins so that you know your relationship with God is restored. You receive peace when he touches you with his peaceful presence in the waters of baptism or in the body and blood of his Holy Supper. You also get the privilege to pass on peace to others whenever you proclaim the Prince of Peace through his forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.

In this way, peace isn’t an idyllic island or a sun dappled field. Peace isn’t silence or the absence of enemies. Peace, or Shalom, is the person in whom the whole fullness of humanity and the whole fullness of God dwells in perfect harmony and unity, and so in this way, in him, the fullness of peace dwells. Jesus is your ‘Shalom’, your peace himself coming to establish peace in and among you.

Jesus came to give you his promise of peace so you can trust wholeness and completeness is yours even when your bodies are ageing or falling apart. He gives you his peace so that you know you can come to God in complete trust and without fear because you have faith that Christ has reconciled you with the Father through his vicarious suffering, the shedding of his blood, and the payment of his death.

He gives you his peace through the forgiveness of sins to restore your relationship with God the Father, and you get the divine privilege to pass on this same peace when you reconcile with your enemies. He gives you peace through reconciliation so that your enemies are restored to you as your friends. Because he is your peace, you can experience some of this heavenly peace even today.

You see, already today he has offered you his peace, his ‘shalom,’ and he will again.

For example, in worship when you confess your sins, you receive Christ’s forgiveness. After Jesus declares that you’re forgiven through the one who stands in his stead, he says one more thing. He says: ‘Peace be with you!’ ‘Shalom’ be with you. Christ, the incarnation of Shalom be with you. Wholeness, restoration, reconciliation, peace, and Christ himself is with you through faith.

When you receive the body and blood of your Prince of Peace incarnate, your bodies, minds, and hearts are washed clean and made whole. Here as you eat and drink you have nothing to fear, but you receive the Prince of Peace himself, the living Shalom, in faith. After receiving the Prince of Peace into your own bodies, he declares ‘peace be with you.’ Shalom is yours. And with God’s help, you get to offer peace to those around you through your Spirit-inspired words of forgiveness and actions of mercy and compassion.

Then, as you’re about to go back out into this troubled world where accidents and injury and illness and animosity keep breaking our shalom, the Triune God, including Jesus Christ, who is the Prince of Peace himself, blesses you with peace. He sends you out in peace. He sends you out as his beloved ‘Shalom-sharer’. He sends you out with the assurance he is with you always – that the Prince of Peace himself travels with you.

Therefore, whether you’re in hospital, in a car, in pain, in trouble, or in an argument, Jesus, your Prince of Peace, is still with you, constantly offering you the shalom of his presence. Even at Christmas time, whether you’re in a room full of rowdy and disruptive people, or sitting alone in silence and sorrow, Jesus is still with you, offering you peace.

You also look forward to receiving the fullness of his shalom in heaven where everything will be back in its rightful order of shalom in body, mind, spirit, and community.

No matter how you celebrate Christmas this year (or who you’ll celebrate it with), celebrate the fact Peace himself, ‘Shalom’ himself, has come to earth and promises to be with you. After all, when you hear someone say, ‘Peace be with you’, you can now understand this to mean: The God of peace, the God of Shalom himself, is with you.

Jesus is your peace. All peace on earth and in heaven begins and ends in him. And it’s this shalom, this…

… peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, which will guard your hearts and minds and bodies and relationships in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Philippians 4:4-7 (ESV)

⁴ Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. ⁵ Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; ⁶ do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may experience joy, contentment, and peace knowing you are near to us in the person of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Rejoice!

I’m going to say it again: Rejoice!

It sounds like St Paul is commanding us all to, you know: “Don’t worry, be happy!”

Well, that’s ok if you’ve got things to be happy about, but it could be there are many times you find it hard to be happy!

Maybe you’re not having a good day, a good week, or a good life. Things haven’t gone right. People are driving you up the wall. The constant Covid conversations and media reports are getting you down. Machinery, kitchen equipment, computers, phones, or other devices are breaking down or not working as they’re designed to. Old issues resurface that you thought you’d dealt with. You haven’t finished your Christmas shopping yet. The mail is slow. You feel overwhelmed by expectations. You’re struggling with injuries, sickness, or the problems of old age. Your holiday plans have had to change…again! You’re trying to make the right decision, but you don’t know what the right decision is, and this is stressing you out.

With so many things to worry about and stress over, it often seems our list of reasons not to rejoice is always longer than our reasons to rejoice!

This means the last thing you want to hear, especially from God, is: ‘Don’t worry, be happy!”

The fact is, you and I don’t, and can’t, rejoice in our circumstances all the time.

So then, if you’re being told to rejoice, what will truly make you happy? What needs to happen so you’ll you’re able to rejoice all the time like St Paul tells you to?

In other words, how would you finish this statement:

‘I will only be truly happy if…’ What? Or who? Or when?

How would you finish that statement?

Or let’s try another one:

‘I wouldn’t be so worried or anxious if…’ what were to take place?

Again, how would you finish it?

In other words, what do you need to happen so that you’ll always experience true joy and will never be so worried or anxious?

Thinking about the solutions to your happiness, how many of your answers about how you would rejoice and be less anxious all the time include something about your faith in God and trusting him in all circumstances?

Now, without trying to read your minds, I suspect many of your answers didn’t include looking to God alone, and how you might be happy or content to allow his will to be done in your life, even in the worst of circumstances.

Most likely, your answers may have instead revolved around you, and how you wish the world, or even God, would bend to your own will so that you would be happy.

Because we’re naturally selfish and self-seeking people, it shouldn’t surprise us we expect the only way we’re going to be truly happy, or so that we would no longer have so many worries, is when we get our own way! Getting our own way is a form of idolatry because it shows we want to be our own god.

But, if you were to look more carefully at what St Paul says (and I remind you that he wrote these words from prison), you’d see some very important words which are often missed.

St Paul says:

• Rejoice in the Lord
• You’re to show your reasonableness and gentleness because…the Lord is at hand
• Don’t be anxious, but make your requests known to God
• The peace of God…will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus

Another way to put it is, St Paul is reminding you that the only way you can truly rejoice at all times, be patient and gentle at all times, and have peace at all times, no matter your circumstances, is in the Lord!

But this is our problem. Even though we know this is what God says to us, it isn’t what we practice.

Instead of fearing, loving, and trusting God above all things (which would lead us to experience lasting joy and peace), we continue to put our faith in human solutions and earthly results which revolve around our selfish wills, even though none of these are guaranteed to last.

It seems then, the reason we don’t rejoice, the reason why we’re not reasonable with everyone, and the reason why we’re so anxious, is because we don’t always fear, love, and trust God will give us everything we need at the right time, even when facing troubles, heartache, and uncertainty.

Our unhappiness indicates we’re unhappy with God, and that we’ve chosen to place our trust in something or someone else apart from God, hoping these things, or these people, or these circumstances, will make us happy.

Yet, no matter our circumstances, we’re reminded our joy and peace and hope is to be based on the eternal promises of God because we can trust God’s love, his grace, his provision, and his faithfulness is still ours, and will remains ours, through faith.

This means our unfading joy is in him who doesn’t change, rather than on our feelings or possessions or health or anything else on this earth, which has a habit of changing, rusting, decaying, breaking down, or dying.

Now of course, you may reckon you won’t always have reasons to rejoice, after all, bad things happen. Some of them are your own fault, but some of them aren’t.

It’s hard to rejoice when you’re facing tough times. It’s hard to be happy when computers or machinery won’t work properly, or when the rains fall at inconvenient times, or when people betray or abandon you, or when you’re afraid or lonely, or when you’re injured or old, or when government responses to viruses threaten your health and freedom.

But St Paul isn’t telling you to rejoice in your circumstances. He’s telling you to rejoice…in the Lord…all the time.

He can say this because, no matter what you’re going through, your Lord and Saviour and Rescuer is near, after all, he’s promised to be with you always. Since the Lord is at your side, who can be against you? Since the Lord is your light and your salvation, whom should you fear?

He’s the one who strengthens you with his Spirit so you can endure testing times. He reassures you of his love by not abandoning you in your times of trouble. He washes you clean from abuse and defilement. He promises to take you to himself in heaven and make you whole again. He forgives you for all of your sins, so that nothing you’re experiencing is punishment. Instead, he uses all your times of trouble and heartache to teach you to trust him more fully so that you can rejoice in him and his holy gifts.

Even when you feel like giving up, he encourages you with his eternal words and feeds you with his own body and blood. He keeps reminding you to call on him and tell him all your needs through prayer.

You can’t ‘think’ your worries away through make-believe or positive thinking, but when you faithfully bring all your concerns before God in prayer, trusting he’ll truly answer you in surprising and wonderful ways, he swaps your troubles with his peace.

And notice it’s his peace he gives you, which is far better than any calmness you could ever achieve by your own reasoning, or by avoiding the issues you face, or by getting your own way.

It’s a peace knowing, no matter whatever is happening to you, you’re assured of his merciful presence to guard and guide and protect you. It’s a peace knowing your name is engraved on his hands. It’s a peace knowing he’s prepared a place for you where you’ll get to remain forever with him. It’s a peace knowing you’ve been reconciled with God himself though your faith in Jesus Christ. It’s a peace knowing he loves you because you’re precious to him – warts and faults and all.

Then, as all your worries are put into this spiritual perspective, God grants you his peace through faith in him, and his joy can start growing in your life again.

As your focus shifts away from what you’re missing out on (which threatens your joy), you instead meditate on all that God gives you, which is right, good, pure, holy, and pleasant. The more you meditate on God’s goodness and grace and promises to you, even in the midst of trouble and turmoil, you learn to rejoice that the Lord is always near.

Your Lord Jesus Christ is near and never abandons you or attacks you. He supplies all your needs for body and soul. He lifts you up when you’ve fallen. He gives you the strength to endure your times of trial and suffering. He promises to listen to your cries, answer your prayers, and give you his peace.

Therefore, you can rejoice, because you live with the dependable knowledge that your Lord and Saviour is always with you as your Immanuel. With God’s help, you can be gentle with all people. With the peace of God guarding your hearts and minds, you don’t need to fret or get overly stressed with anxiety. You can do this because you carry all your needs to God in prayer and thankfulness.

As you confront all the trials and temptations of this life, you can be sure Jesus is near, which brings you joy. Through the peace and forgiveness from Christ, you can be gentle with all people, including your enemies. Through prayer, all your anxiousness is taken away and your joy is now accompanied with thankfulness.

This is because the secure foundation for your joy is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The reliable basis for dealing gently with all people, no matter how they treat you, is in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The dependable foundation and antidote for all your worry, is prayer in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In fact, the steady foundation for your lasting peace is in the Lord Jesus Christ…

And it’s this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, which will guard our hearts and minds in the Lord Christ Jesus. Amen.

Philippians 1:3-11 (EHV)

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ Every time I pray for all of you, I always pray with joy, ⁵ because of your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now. ⁶ I am convinced of this very thing: that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. ⁷ I am equally convinced that it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, for both in my chains and in my defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all share in this grace with me. ⁸ Yes, God is my witness of how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.

⁹ And I pray that your love may still increase more and more in knowledge and every insight. ¹⁰ This will result in your approval of the things that really matter, so that you will be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that what you’ve already started in us, may continue to grow until the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

If I were to ask if you were a ‘glass half full’ or a ‘glass half empty’ kind of person, how would you answer?

You know, are you one of those people who are always thankful for what you have, no matter how small or insignificant? Are you thankful for every small opportunity which comes your way, even those annoying and inconvenient moments? Do you always appreciate every person God has placed in your life, even when you don’t agree with them or if they keep on interrupting your own plans? Are you even thankful for the scars and heartaches you’ve experienced in your life because they brought you closer to God?

Or are you one of those who are tempted to complain because you’re missing out on what others possess? Are you tempted to whinge about those who disrupt your best laid plans or hold differing opinions? Do you keep looking through shops and catalogues because you’re not content with what you already have? Are you dissatisfied with God when he doesn’t answer your prayers the way you want him to and within the timeline that you’ve given him?

I’m not going to take a poll right now, but in my experience we all struggle to be thankful in all circumstances, especially when things go wrong with our health, our work, our schools, and our loved ones.

Even in our own Christian fellowships we can struggle to be thankful.

We’re not always thankful when our own names are listed more and more frequently on rosters. We’re not always thankful when we don’t always get to sing our favourite hymns or songs. We’re not always thankful when the sermon or the worship service goes longer than we want it to. We’re not always thankful when we don’t get our own way at meetings. We’re not always thankful when others make jokes at our expense or when someone has a go at us. We’re not always thankful when others force their opinions on us and won’t seem to listen to what we’ve got to say. We’re not always thankful when crabby old Mrs Gruffenpiffle makes a beeline for us after worship to whinge about all her troubles again. We’re not always thankful when we hear stories of abuse or conflict or divisions in our church.

If we’re honest with ourselves, the reason we’re not always thankful is because most of our reasons for thankfulness seem to be dependent on our own experience of happiness, success, comfort, or getting our own way. We’re more likely to be thankful when we get what we want.

Knowing how we struggle to be thankful in all circumstances, especially when we don’t get our own way, it comes as a surprise to hear St Paul being so thankful as he begins his letter to the congregation in Philippi.

And don’t get him wrong, he’s not denying the reality of the problems around him, after all, he’s currently writing from a prison. While we don’t know the exact place or conditions of his incarceration, I guess we could say he has much less freedom of movement than what we have today, and he didn’t have Netflix to keep him company in his isolation! Despite Paul’s confinement, he’s thankful for his imprisonment and for the opportunities God’s given him to defend and confirm the gospel.

Similarly, Paul isn’t blind and deaf to the issues facing the Philippian congregation. They’re not a perfect congregation and they have some important relationship issues to work through, yet he still begins with thankfulness. In fact, most of his letters start with thankfulness, but his thankfulness is also not what we’re expecting.

Instead of thanking them for the way they welcomed him, or for all those times he sat around their tables to have a cuppa, or for the way they faithfully served on committees, he thanks God for their partnership in the gospel – their partnership in the good news of Jesus’ death and resurrection for the forgiveness of sins and the promise of life eternal through faith in him.

He thanks God for what God has begun in them, knowing they haven’t reached their maturity in the gospel yet. He thanks God for their partnership in God’s grace. He prays that God will continue to build on what he’s already started among them.

Perhaps knowing some of their love for each other is struggling, he also prays that their love might become abundant, especially the love which flows from the gospel of Jesus Christ as they learn to forgive each other and seek to be reconciled and unified in Christ.

But he also wants their love to come with attachments – the attachments of knowledge and discernment. In this way love isn’t just a sentimental feeling, but it’s a love which seeks to understand and carefully discern between what is right and good and holy and excellent in God’s eyes, and what isn’t, as they live out the gospel in their lives and community. As he continues to partner with them in the gospel, even though he remains separated from their community, he’s confident they’ll continue to be filled with the righteousness of Christ.

Applying these words of God through St Paul to our own situation today, and no matter whether you’re a glass half full, or glass half empty, type of person, how might you view yourself and those around you if your starting point was in the partnership we share in the gospel?

For example, if your starting point for looking at yourself and each other is through the lens of the Law, you’ll have certain levels of expectation. This means you’ll expect people to live a certain way. You’ll expect things will be done to certain standards. You’ll also expect you’ll live up to your own high standards.

It’s probable that, if you or anyone else, including God, doesn’t meet these expectations, you’ll whinge and complain and grumble about how unfair life is, how selfish and ignorant and stupid people are, how weak and undisciplined you can be, and perhaps even hold a grudge against God because he didn’t meet your own expectations. And it’s not just about lowering your expectations. Living with the Law as your foundation will always disappoint you and lead you to despair!

On the other hand, if your starting point for looking at yourself and each other is through the lens of the gospel, how might this free you from the condemnation of the Law and restore your joy and thankfulness?

For example, I have some good news for you!

Jesus suffered and died for all those times you were less than thankful for all the gifts and people God sent you. For the sake of Christ, you’re forgiven for complaining about your parents, your premier, your pastor, or any other person God placed in authority over you. You’re forgiven for being selfish and for not helping and supporting people in their times of need. You’re forgiven for those times you didn’t come to someone’s defence, for not speaking well of them, and for not explaining their actions in the kindest way. You’re forgiven for not being content with what God’s given you. As you believe in the good news of the forgiveness of sins for the sake of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, those sins are removed from you as far as the east is from the west!

Now, as God restores your peace and joy through the power of the gospel, both individually and corporately, how will that affect the way you partner with God’s people in this same gospel?

Will you be willing to view each other with more grace? Will you be more merciful with each other? As you forgive as you’ve been forgiven by Christ, how will you express your forgiveness to those who have hurt you or let you down? Knowing the good work of God has begun but hasn’t reached its fulfillment among you, how will you encourage each other in the gospel as you grow in your understanding and learn how to discern what is right and good and excellent in God’s eyes? How will you bring glory to God as the fruit of righteousness benefits those around you?

What God has started in you hasn’t yet come to its conclusion, which means God needs to keep encouraging you to grow and mature in your Christian faith together with your fellow Christians. You need to keep hearing the gospel and keep receiving the grace of God through his holy Sacraments. While Christ’s work of forgiveness and salvation has been finished and completed on the cross, you’re still a work in progress as you learn how to partner with Christ and each other in the gospel.

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter how much water you have in your glass, but it matters who gives you the precious gift of faith so you may believe in the gospel. It matters how God continues to bless your faith as you live in the gospel in partnership with each other. It matters how God will complete what he’s started among you.

This means we can all thank God for what he’s begun, what he’s currently doing, and what he’ll continue to work in and among us as we partner in the divine blessings of the gospel.

May we all continue to grow and mature in the partnership of the gospel so that we may all know and discern the excellent work of God among us as we love as we’ve been loved by God, forgive as we’ve been forgiven by God, and serve as we’ve been served by God. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may we all bear the fruit of righteousness and bring glory and praise to God!

And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.

Luke 21:25-36 (ESV)

Jesus said: ²⁵ “And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, ²⁶ people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. ²⁷ And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. ²⁸ Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”

²⁹ And he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree, and all the trees. ³⁰ As soon as they come out in leaf, you see for yourselves and know that the summer is already near. ³¹ So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. ³² Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all has taken place. ³³ Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away.

³⁴ “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap. ³⁵ For it will come upon all who dwell on the face of the whole earth. ³⁶ But stay awake at all times, praying that you may have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that, no matter what happens, we may continue to look for, and be confident in, the coming kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

What are you looking at?

What do you see?

What does it mean for you?

For example, you might be looking at some fruit trees.

As you look at the fruit trees, you might see trees with lots of new growth. You might see blossoms and bees busily visiting each blossom. You might see small fruit starting to form.

As you look at the fruit trees and consider what you see, what does it mean for you?

Well, it may mean spring is here, which means summer shouldn’t be far away. It may mean you’re looking forward to eating fruit during the warmer months, such as in their raw state, or packaged up in cakes and puddings and slices, or placed on top of pavlovas or yoghurt, or topped with cream or ice-cream. It may mean sharing the fruit of the earth with family and friends.

Another example is you might be looking at the constant news reports of Covid-19 cases, hearing the repeated calls for vaccinations, watching the continuous changes to border restrictions across the country, and you may be considering the ongoing effects on health and families and travel and business and opportunity.

As you look at all these reports, listen to news bulletins, and talk to each other about how this affects you, what do you see and hear?

Do you see people wearing masks and avoiding each other? Do you see plastic barriers between yourself and those serving you behind counters? Do you see QR codes popping up wherever you go? Do you see hand sanitisers and feel and smell the differences between them? Do you see and hear a lot of anger or frustration? Do you notice the restrictions placed on your life and those you love?

As you look at all this and see how much this virus has changed your life, what does it mean for you?

For some it may mean you couldn’t go on the trip you had planned to your exciting holiday destination. It may mean you couldn’t attend those face-to-face business meetings, weddings, funerals, or other precious family visits. It may mean life has changed, and not necessarily for the better, although for some, it may mean we’re able to enjoy our state without tourists clogging up your favourite spots!

It may mean some jabs in your arms in the hope this will protect you and grant you more freedom. It may mean you’re feeling watched and controlled and manipulated and isolated. It may mean you’re feeling afraid and uncertain about the future. It may mean you’re hopeful of having your freedom restored.

In other words, what is the sign you’re looking at, what do you see in this sign, and how will you understand this sign?

Today we hear Jesus tell his disciples to look and see what’s going on around them. He warns us that we’ll see some events occurring which will scare many people, such as cosmic trouble in the sky and the stars. We’ll see seas roaring and foaming. We’ll see many people fainting with fear or responding with overindulgence or anxiousness. We will be worried or anxious about much of what we see and experience, whether it’s about changes in our climate, changes to our health, or the everyday worries which cripple us with fear and trepidation.

He tells us these will be signs – signs of something greater coming our way. When we see these signs, what will we be looking at, what will we see, and how will we understand what they mean for us?

He tells us that they’ll mean something different for us as Christians because, as people who trust in Jesus, whose words and promises never change, fade, or disappear, Jesus tells us we’re to look for something else in these signs.

You see, all the troubles and turmoils and catastrophes around us are signs that our redemption is drawing near.

Therefore, all those things which scare even the most resilient of people are the very things which remind us, as the people of God, to lift our heads in confidence knowing the kingdom of God is near – this same kingdom of God which brings forgiveness, grace, mercy, and peace.

This means we’re confident in the face of trouble knowing that the devil’s kingdom will continue to be crushed, that death has lost its power over us, and that sin is being washed away by the innocent blood of Jesus!

So, knowing Jesus promises his kingdom will come, how will you, as people who trust in your Lord Jesus Christ, look at the signs around you? What will you see in them? Knowing they’re a sign of God’s coming kingdom, what will they mean for you?

For example, when you’re looking at the many Christmas decorations clogging up the shopping aisles and lounge rooms, and as you see so many people gathering trinkets and toys and trees and when you see bank balances emptying and bellies filling, how will you understand this sign? What will this mean for you as Christians?

Will this be an encouragement for you to remember the real Christmas – the real incarnation of our coming Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Will you be reminded of how he established his everlasting kingdom among us through his incarnation, obedience, suffering, death, and resurrection? Will you be reminded of the need to repent and believe in Jesus? Will you consider Jesus to be the greatest gift which has ever hung on a tree?

When you see the signs of broken relationships, fights between siblings, breakdowns in marriages, abuse in families, divisions in churches, and a world affected by the pandemic of anxiety and worry, what will this mean for you?

Since God’s kingdom comes to establish forgiveness and peace on earth, is the brokenness around you a sign which encourages you to proclaim the forgiveness of sin which comes from Christ? Is it a reminder to forgive each other and share the peace of Christ so that broken or strained relationships will be reconciled?

When you see the signs of sickness, injury, cancer, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other insidious diseases, or when you see people struggling with the ageing process as abilities are slowly stripped away, or as you watch your loved ones die, what will this mean for you?

Will these things be signs of your own mortality which lead you to look for hope outside of yourself? Will you look for, and trust in, the hope of life eternal through faith in Christ who has defeated death? Will you see death as the end, or will you see life beyond the grave in God’s eternal kingdom?

Will you see the presence of Christ who promises to be with you in your suffering and who walks beside you through this valley of the shadow of death? When you’re separated from loved ones or feeling isolated and alone through restrictions to your freedom, will you look for the presence of Christ who isn’t restricted by border controls and still comes to you in Word and Sacrament?

Even when you look at the signs and symbols of the church, such as a pastor announcing your sins are forgiven, or when you see people being baptised, or as you participate in the Lord’s Supper, what will you see? Will you see a quaint and archaic ritual, or will you see and experience God at work among you?

For example, when you were baptised, you didn’t just get your hair wet. You were joined to Jesus Christ as if you were grafted into the Vine of Christ. Joined to him you’ve received his Holy Spirit. Joined to him you were washed of your sins. Joined to him, you were joined to the resurrected Christ who already lives eternally at the right-hand side of God the Father. Joined to Jesus, you’ve been adopted as dearly loved children of God.

Similarly, when the bread and wine are touched by the spoken words of Christ, we see in, with, and under the bread and wine, the body and blood of our living Saviour who grants us forgiveness of sin through our trust in his words. As we receive his body and blood into our own bodies, our faith is strengthened to believe we’ve received Christ’s purity, innocence and life.

Here in these simple mysteries of God, we see God’s gifts of grace, mercy, forgiveness, love, and peace in action, doing what they promise to do.

This is why we also see each other differently. No matter how much fellow Christians get up our noses, hurt us, and frustrate us, we see each other as fellow sinners who have been washed clean and pure and innocent through faith. We see each other’s selfishness and attempts at self-righteousness as signs we still need to receive and pass on the forgiveness of Jesus Christ to each other.

You see, we’re to look, see and understand something different to what everyone else sees. This isn’t because we’re attempting to deny the reality of what’s happening in the world around us, but because we see and trust in the spiritual reality of what God is truly doing in and among us as he brings us into his coming kingdom.

We keep looking to, seeing, and knowing God’s unchanging and eternal Word is real and trustworthy. We know that in this mixed up, muddled up, mortal world, nothing and no-one lasts. But we know God’s Word lasts and will continue to remain true and trustworthy. We know Jesus, the Word made flesh, comes into our fragile and fractured world to give us hope and peace and joy and forgiveness and eternal life as a gift through trusting him and his words.

Through the eyes of faith, we’re to be confident in the face of every trouble and disaster, because we know God’s kingdom comes to bless us. We see God at work among us in order to bring us closer to him in prayer and faith. We see things differently because we know that today we’re closer to the time of Christ’s final coming than any other time in history.

Therefore, as the people of God who are to keep watch and stay alert, are you looking at the right things?

Are you seeing what you’re supposed to see?

What does it mean for you, knowing that the kingdom of God is near?

After all, you know that…

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

John 5:21-29 (EHV)

Jesus said: ²¹ “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he wishes.

²² “In fact, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ so that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. ²⁴ Amen, Amen, I tell you: Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He is not going to come into judgment but has crossed over from death to life.

²⁵ “Amen, Amen, I tell you: A time is coming and is here now when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live. ²⁶ For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice ²⁹ and will come out. Those who have done good will rise to live, but those who have practiced evil will rise to be condemned.

Dear Heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit upon us so that we may hear your word, believe in you, and do good, for the sake of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.

Most people want to be ‘good’. We want to do the ‘good’ thing and be known as ‘good’ people.

Because we want to be good, it usually makes sense most people don’t want to get into trouble or make life difficult for anyone. If we get into trouble or make trouble, then we wouldn’t be good. This means we’ll be tempted to defend our goodness if anyone suggests we’re not as good as we thought we were.

We not only want to be good ourselves, but we also expect everyone else to be good, or at least, to be good according to our own standards of goodness. This means we’ll get angry when those around us aren’t as good as we expect them to be, especially if they hurt us. We’ll also take pride in our own goodness and feel justified in pointing out how bad other people are, after all, we often think we’re better than others because we reckon we’re good.

This is common for most people, whether they’re Christian or not.

But for Christians, this is even more important because we hear Jesus tell us today: ‘those who have done good will rise to live, but those who practiced evil will rise to be condemned.’ ^{(John 5:29)}

Therefore, it’s not just important for us to be good or have a good reputation, but it seems our eternal life is dependant on us being good enough!

It would make sense then that Christians of all people are always striving to be good people. We need to be good and feel burdened by this impossible expectation. We have to be good and fear people pointing out any lack of goodness we might have, which might threaten our eternal future. You see, if we’re not good, we figure we’re in deep trouble on the Last Day! We don’t want to rise from death only to be condemned!

However, if this is how we’re interpreting this text, we have it wrong!

This is because Scripture also tells us we all fall short of the glory of God, which means none of us will ever be good enough. We can’t be good enough. It’s impossible for us to be good enough. Our Lutheran Confessions confirm that, on the basis of Scripture alone, we’re saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, and not by our own goodness or good works!

So how do we handle what Jesus says when he tells us the good will rise to live?

Well, we need to consider what he means by what it is to be good, and Jesus himself tells us what is the good thing that we’re supposed to do which leads to life eternal.

You see, if we go back to the previous chapter in the gospel according to St John, we hear Jesus talk to the crowds who followed him after he fed the 5,000. He told them they were following him because of the miraculous sign of multiplying the bread to feed such a crowd. He also told them to no longer work for food that spoils, but they were to work for the food which endures to eternal life.

They then asked him, “What should we do to carry out the works of God?” Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God: that you believe in the one he sent.” ^{John 6:26-29}

Therefore, the good work required of us is to believe.

What are we to believe?

We’re to believe in the words of Jesus, which means we’re to listen to his words so that we might believe them.

Over 90 times the word ‘believe’ is mentioned in St John’s account of the gospel, including John 20:30-31, which reads: ‘Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, did many other miraculous signs that are not written in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.’

It’s also consistent with what Jesus says earlier in today’s text, where he said: “Amen, Amen, I tell you: Anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He is not going to come into judgment but has crossed over from death to life.” ^{John 5:24}

This means we’re also to believe who sent him, which means we’re to believe God the Father sent his Son Jesus into this world to die for the forgiveness of our sins so that we may be reconciled to God the Father.

As a result of this saving faith in Jesus, who was sent by the Father, we listen to Jesus and believe we’ve already received eternal life. We believe Jesus is the Son of God who was to come into this world. We believe God the Father sent him to redeem us. We believe everything Jesus did for us on the cross reconciled us to the Father. We believe we’ve been forgiven for all our sins by the suffering and death of Jesus. We believe eternal life is our present possession because we’ve already died and have been raised again in Christ. We believe we receive forgiveness, life and salvation through faith in Jesus through his means of grace such as Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

We believe Scripture alone tells us we’re saved by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone, which gives us joyful hope and a peaceful conscience.

Unfortunately, it can be tempting to shift our faith focus away from Christ alone to something or someone else.

The greatest temptation is for us to stop listening and believe it’s still up to us, as if we can somehow still make ourselves good enough.

We still want to be the best person we can be, thinking this pleases God. We still try hard and burden ourselves with the unrealistic expectation we can still be good enough. We still think we have power to change ourselves and make ourselves right and good and holy. We berate and beat ourselves up when we let people or God down.

This means we often feel like failures and try to make up for our wrongs instead of accepting the forgiveness and peace which is ours through faith. We wallow in misery as we take our eyes off the grace and mercy which is ours in Christ and instead moan about our own faults, or groan about the hurts we feel when others fail us.

What we unconsciously keep doing is we don’t always listen for, and trust in, the words and work of Jesus which would grant us joy and peace and hope, no matter how many times we let God down, but we all too often listen to ourselves, and place our trust in our own words and works, which only leads to disappointment and despair.

Do you realise there’s no limit to God’s love for you, no matter how many times you hurt him or fail him? Do you realise he doesn’t keep a record of how many times you need his forgiveness? Do you realise the greatest way to honour him isn’t to show how much you don’t need him (because you think you can be good on your own), but the greatest way to honour him is to desire and accept his help and forgiveness and mercy and peace, again and again?

This is what it means to trust in him alone. It means you’re out of the picture. It’s him alone. It’s his grace alone. It’s his love alone. It’s his forgiveness alone. It’s not meant to be him…plus whatever you’re able to do!

Those who listen to, and believe, in Jesus, and whom he sent, who believe Jesus and what he did for us through his vicarious death and glorious resurrection, believe we have everything we need as a gift. We can’t earn it or deserve it. We receive it through faith. We rejoice in the gifts God sends us, including the gift of life eternal.

But you might be wondering…where does our own good works come in? Don’t we still need to keep God’s commands or live as his obedient children?

Well, yes, we do, but our works flow from faith!

This means, if we’re placing faith in ourselves being good enough, we’ll forever be burdened with the knowledge we can never be good enough. We’ll always need to defend or deny or justify ourselves when we let God or each other down. We’ll won’t want to repent and receive forgiveness as a gift, because we still think we have to earn it. We’ll instead berate and kick ourselves for our failures.

We might try to be patient and loving and willing to serve under our own power, but it never lasts very long because it’s all too often based on our own levels of love and grace, or it’s dependent on how much we reckon others deserve it.

It also means we’ll continue to place burdens on each other because we’ll expect everyone else to be good enough. We’ll be critical of others when they show they’re not good. We’ll quickly judge and condemn and punish each other because they keep proving they’re not good enough for us or God. We won’t want to forgive because we figure they’re not good enough for our forgiveness.

On the other hand, those who keep listening to, and keep believing in the words and works of Jesus, and who believe God the Father, out of love for us, sent his dearly beloved Son to suffer and die for the forgiveness of our sins, and to raise him again to give us hope in the resurrection of the dead and life eternal, will live a life of repentance and faith.

A life of repentance is a life which is totally dependent on the divine grace, mercy and peace which God desires to lavish on us again and again.

Because we believe God desires to forgive us, we honour him through our confession of sin and we gladly and constantly receive his forgiveness, which gives us peace and joy.

We accept our life of faith isn’t about being good enough, but about repetitively listening to God so that we receive his goodness and holiness and purity.

Because we believe Jesus is loving and merciful and gracious, we’re thankful people who are grateful for all the blessings God gives us, even when they come packaged through trouble and difficulty, which only leads us to rely on him more greatly.

It also means we live out our faith of love, forgiveness, and service to those around us. Because we’ve never deserved, and can never deserve God’s forgiveness, we know those around us can never deserve it either. But we forgive as we believe we’ve been forgiven by Christ.

Therefore, we pass on the love and forgiveness we’ve graciously received from Christ through faith. We live out our faith in Jesus by forgiving those who hurt us, even though they’ll probably hurt us again.

Those fruits of the Spirit, such as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, flow from this faith in Christ alone and the gifts he gives us by grace.

This is the difference between living under the Law, which always expects, always condemns, and always burdens us, and living in the Gospel, which always frees us to live and love in peace and joy.

This is the difference between living under the burden of impossible expectations, and the freedom of knowing we’re loved and forgiven, again and again.

This is the difference between the fear of not rising to life eternal because we’re not good enough, and the joy of knowing life eternal is given to us as a gift because we listen to, and believe, in the words and work of Jesus Christ.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you don’t have to be good, but you’re made good when you believe Jesus Christ and his words. You also believe his promise that he will raise those who listen to him from your graves and graciously receive all those who believe in him into life eternal with him in heaven, so that…

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

Mark 13:1-8 (EHV)

¹ As Jesus was leaving the temple courts, one of his disciples said to him, “Teacher, look what impressive stones these are, and what impressive buildings!”

² Jesus said to him, “Do you see these large buildings? There will not be one stone here left on top of another. They will all be thrown down.”

³ As he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately, ⁴ “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what will be the sign when all these things are about to be fulfilled?”

⁵ Jesus began by telling them, “Be careful that no one deceives you. ⁶ Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.

⁷ “Whenever you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be troubled. Such things must happen, but the end is not yet. ⁸ In fact, nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will be famines. These are the beginning of birth pains.

Dear Heavenly Father, knowing many of our dreams will be shattered and our plans will come tumbling down, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we may be comforted and built up in you, through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour. Amen.

Have you ever been impressed by what humans have been able to do?

Maybe you’re impressed by the fact we’ve put men on the moon, sent machines to Mars and beyond, or that we can communicate over long distances with loved ones via video chats on tablets and phones. Maybe you’re impressed by some of the artwork popping up on silos, the grand designs of buildings and machinery, or how fast the world has responded to a threatening virus.

Just like us, the disciples were impressed. They’ve been impressed by what Jesus has said and done, but today we hear they’re impressed by a building – the temple in Jerusalem.

This temple could be seen from anywhere in the city and was the defining landmark and religious focal point of the whole region. In fact, it was even recognised as one of the wonders of the world at the time. No wonder the disciples marvelled at it!

But, as Jesus, the living heavenly Temple, left that earthly temple building for the last time on his way to the cross, he said this impressive building and primary location all for their worship of him would be demolished, destroyed, and thrown down into a pile of rubble!

Now, try putting yourselves into the disciples’ shoes and consider how this might affect them as they heard these shocking words from Jesus.

I mean, how would you feel if you’ve just heard this church building; the centre for all your religious life; where you and your children may have been baptised, confirmed, or even married; and where you regularly sing God’s praise and receive the precious and holy grace of God, was going to be a pile of rubble?

Can you imagine how demoralising and upsetting this news must have been for the disciples? After all, now that the promised Christ had come, shouldn’t this be the time of glory for the temple and its people? Now that they have Jesus, the Son of God, at their side, isn’t this the time when everything will finally go right for God’s chosen people?

Similarly, have you ever thought that, with Jesus at your side, everything should always go right? That, if you worship him rightly, if you follow all his instructions, and if you keep gathering to sing his praise, that God will always answer your prayers and bless you the way you want him to?

But have you instead discovered that, even with Jesus by your side, your own life can feel like it’s falling into a heap?

For example, you may have thought your health would last. You may have looked after yourself, done all the right things, but now your health suffers. It could be through sickness, injury, old age, or a single silly moment which affects the rest of your life. As your health suffers you may feel as if your independence is being stripped away and you’re becoming a burden to others. Your plans for the future may have now fallen in a heap.

Or perhaps work isn’t what you planned – whether it’s your paid employment or your voluntary service. You’ve worked hard, but you feel as if you’re not appreciated by others. People criticise your efforts. You’re sick of constant bickering and demands for political corrected-ness. The pressures and stresses have started affecting your health and robbed you of joy in your service. Your plans for success, or being recognised for your efforts, have fallen in a heap.

Perhaps your marriage is struggling. You had this ideal picture of what marriage would be like, but now it’s strained or threatened or destroyed. Maybe your spouse won’t change or changed too much. It could be your spouse has started withdrawing from you and seems to invest more and more emotional energy into something or someone else. You might argue and fight, or perhaps you purposely spend time away from each other to avoid those fights. The fairy tale of ‘living happily ever after’ is now only a childish memory replaced by the painful reality of today. Your plans for a happy marriage have been shattered and fallen in a heap.

Maybe your children’s lives haven’t turned out the way you had hoped. You tried to bring them up the right way. You provided for them. You did your best for them. But something went wrong. Your best-laid plans for your children have been shattered in their moments of weakness or they criticise what you did for them. You watch with agony as your children, grandchildren, siblings and relatives wander from things you consider important and vital. Your dreams and plans for them have been demolished and fallen in a heap.

Perhaps your experience of church isn’t what you hoped for. Maybe you thought all Christians should love each other and get along well, but you’ve seen and experienced the bitter pains of unforgiveness and disharmony within the body of Christ. While the church building may still stand firm, your hopes to constantly experience love and peace and joy and forgiveness within these walls have been shattered by the reality of worshipping with fellow sinners. Your desires for peace and love and harmony lie fallen in a heap.

Or perhaps a loved one’s died. You still had so much to say and do with them. You miss them and their physical presence. You miss their conversations, advice, and jokes. Your dreams for them, and your dreams you had with them at your side, have disappeared. You feel as if the pieces of your shattered heart now lie in a jumbled heap.

Although Jesus’ words came true and the temple was destroyed around AD70, the people and things we look to, and hope for, still come tumbling down today. Our best laid plans, our carefully constructed ideals, our faithful methods, our high standards, our beautiful homes, our precious belongings, our loving relationships, our Christian fellowships, and every earthly thing we rely on and look to for comfort and security, are all too often demolished, destroyed, taken away, shattered, or fall in a heap.

But did you really think that if you looked after your health properly, if you worked hard enough, if you did a lot for your spouse, if you brought up your children in the right way, if you believed in the right God, if you prayed the right prayers, and if you went to church every Sunday, that everything would be ok? Where did you get this expectation from? Haven’t the people of God always suffered disaster, heartache, and troubles?

When did Jesus ever promise you a perfect hassle-free and happy life? Didn’t he warn his disciples of troubles, pains, heartache, and strife? Didn’t he tell you buildings and kingdoms will come tumbling down? Didn’t he say wars and disease and disasters would happen? Didn’t he warn you not to place your trust in people or temporary things because they’ll let you down? Didn’t he warn you nothing in this life lasts? Didn’t he encourage you to put all your trust in him and his words which are the only things which truly last forever?

You might be tempted to think that when your beautiful buildings and dreams come crashing down that God’s abandoned you or doesn’t care, but this is far from the truth!

It could be that, like the disciples, your focus has shifted away from the living Temple who walks beside you, and you’ve instead been busy marvelling at, and trusting in, your own man-made temples and efforts and plans and dreams.

You may have been looking to the temporary people and things around you as your source of comfort and strength and joy and blessing instead of the eternal God who is with you. As you’re warned by the Psalmist, ‘Those who chase after another god will increase their sorrows’ ^{Ps 16:4}

Everyone places faith in something or someone. We’d like to think we’re always placing our trust in our Triune God, but we’re also always easily impressed by what we see and hear and experience. We’re easily impressed by technology, design, and grandeur. We’re captivated by convincing and emotional arguments. We’re spellbound by the love we feel for people.

This also means we’re frightened to lose what we’re looking to, impressed by, or relying on. And if any of these things are destroyed or lost, if any of them are taken away from us, or if people ever let us down, we’re devastated, overwhelmed, and frightened.

Then, if we keep looking for hope in the shattered remains of our buildings, our health, our plans, our efforts, and our relationships, of course we’ll lose hope. In them there’s no future. There never was. We were never meant to rely on them! We’re meant to rely on our Lord Jesus Christ who lives forever and never goes back on his word.

But how does this help you when your efforts and plans and relationships and hopes all lie in a crumbled heap?

Well, by faith in Jesus Christ, you believe Jesus is with you in your suffering. By faith in Jesus, you believe you’re forgiven for falling short of God’s glory. By faith in Jesus, you believe you have a great high priest who prays for you and with you to your heavenly Father. By faith in Jesus you know your prayers are heard because the Father listens to his Son. By faith in Jesus, you believe death and destruction don’t have the final word. By faith in Jesus, you believe because Jesus lives eternally, you’ll also live eternally in the house of God. By faith in Jesus, you believe when all your buildings and lives collapse, God has already fit you carefully into the new living temple of Christ himself. By faith in Jesus, you believe the pains you experience are like birth pains which are replaced by the joy of what Jesus delivers to you by grace.

Therefore, for you, suffering and death and destruction never have the final word. Even if your own constructions and hopes and plans were to collapse, you’re to trust in your God who cannot be defeated, even by death. When your world crumbles around you, you’re to look to Jesus who remains faithful and loving to you, even when you’re not.

When people let you down, when empires collapse, when viruses and political pressures rage around you, when churches become empty or close, and when your health suffers, you’re not to be alarmed or despair! Even if death itself were to stare you in the face, you don’t need to be afraid because you look to your eternal and unchanging God of love and peace and hope.

You do this because Jesus revealed himself as stronger than death. In the face of destruction, suffering and death, he is victorious. That stone which the builders rejected from their beautiful man-made temple, now becomes the cornerstone of a new and living Temple, a Temple made up living flesh like you and me as we’re now joined, brick by stubborn brick, into the ever-living Temple of Jesus Christ.

And here in his living Temple, you still receive forgiveness, life and salvation through faith as you continue to hear his Word and receive the benefits of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

You’re to look to Jesus as your cornerstone, the one solid and unchangeable Saviour who gives you hope and a future. Only through faith in him do you know sin, death and the devil are defeated. Goods, fame, churches and life may fall in a heap, but through faith in Jesus Christ you trust that life and forgiveness and salvation is still yours through faith.

Therefore, when you experience times of suffering, destruction and even death, you’re not to be alarmed or troubled, but you trust Jesus will lead you through this valley of the shadow of death into his resurrection, glory and everlasting life so that…

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

John 11:32-44 (EHV)

³² When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.

³⁴ He asked, “Where have you laid him?”

They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus wept.

³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ “Take away the stone,” he said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, because it has been four days.”

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone.

Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”

⁴⁴ The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, “Loose him and let him go.”

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so we may believe Jesus Christ, the Son of God, has defeated death and gives us life eternal through faith. Amen.

Can you say two, three, four, and five,

as Lazarus walks out alive?

From out the grave his body came

when Jesus shouted forth his name!

You wonder why we start with two,

but here I give to you a clue:

you might think this to be absurd,

but count the letters of each word.

When faced with trouble, pain and grief

we often ask the question ‘if’?

‘If only this…’, ‘If only that…’

Here Mary with this question sat!

‘If’ only has two letters, true!

You wonder what this means for you,

but let me ask if you have cried

the word of ‘if’ when someone died?

For example, have you ever asked such questions, or said some comments such as:

“If only I had said this or done that! If only I had spent more time with them. If only I had listened to them. If only they had listened to me! If only I didn’t do or say those hurtful things. If only God had reached down and healed them, saved them, or at least been there for us all.”

The word ‘if’ has only two letters and is a very natural question to ask, but there’s rarely a happy answer to it; that’s if there’s an answer at all!

Our questions based on the word ‘if’ often leave us hanging and only adds to the emptiness we feel inside. The unanswered question only serves to drive us deeper into despair or grief.

If we’re waiting for an answer to this question before we’re able to get on with our lives, most likely we’ll never move on, because all we’re left with is speculation and uncertainty, which never deals with our guilt, our shame, our grief, and our anger.

Like Martha had already asked earlier, Mary also asked Jesus this most basic and heartfelt question to Jesus – the only one who should have known the answer, or at least the one who could have done something about her brother’s sickness and death.

But like our own cries of ‘if only…’, Jesus never answered her question. Jesus never answers with uncertainty, doubt, or speculation. Instead, he asked her a different question: ‘Where did you put him?’, which brings us to the next word in our series based on the numbers 2, 3, 4, and 5:

A word with three; what can it be?

The word of ‘see’, has letters: three!

And even when we see he saw,

the word of saw – it has no more.

They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see!’

Yet when he did, he had no glee.

This Jesus, he was deeply moved;

his anger showed he disapproved!

He didn’t like their lack of trust;

when faced with death – we turn to dust.

His anger also raged at death

which takes away our final breath.

He saw. He sees.

Jesus doesn’t turn his eyes away from you or your loved ones, not even in times of death. You’re not left alone to wallow in misery. In answer to all your speculations and doubt based on the questions of ‘If’, he gives you something certain and assuring. He tells you he’s there with you – seeing you, watching you, and knowing you intimately.

He not only sees your tears on the outside, but he sees the turmoil, grief, anger and emptiness inside. He truly sees you, which means there’s nothing and nowhere you can hide from him – either in guilt or shame, emptiness or anger, fear or grief. He comes to see you as you are.

There’s some comfort in the fact Jesus doesn’t run away from death or even attempt to avoid it. He walks right up to death, stares death in the eyes, and there’s a hint of anger in the word which is often translated as ‘deeply moved’.

But what could Jesus possibly be angry with? Is he angry with death and the grief it causes us? Is he angry when he sees our faith faltering in the face of death?

Along with any anger, Jesus was also deeply moved by the experience of death, but not in such a way it defeats him. Which brings us to the next word…

Four letters do we now accept,

and see them here when Jesus ‘wept’.

Another word we count to four;

the word of ‘dead’ we won’t ignore.

It moves us now to hear he cried.

He stood at tomb with friend inside.

That Jesus shed his tears of grief

might comfort us, and grant relief.

The God who came to earth for us,

has feelings too, which we’ll discuss.

He’s moved by love yet feels no shame

when tears upon his face they came.

Have you ever stopped and considered this shortest text of the Bible and what it means for us?

Here is our God in human flesh…crying!

This is such a startling picture, because many people consider God to be somewhat removed from us as if he’s impassive and devoid of emotion. Yet here we have an insight into how God feels. Firstly, Jesus may have been deeply moved with a hint of anger, and now he’s so deeply moved he weeps!

In our western world which wants to hide from suffering, pain, and death, and often wants to keep a stiff upper lip in times of trouble and grief, this is shocking!

Our God cries!

When we’ve been told big girls and boys don’t cry, it seems God is giving us permission to cry. If tears are good enough for our God in human flesh, then why would we want to limit our own tears? Do we think we’re better than our own God who is bold enough to cry in the face of grief? Do we think we have to show more control of our own emotions than our God who sees and suffers and cries and dies?

Here our God in human flesh cries outside the tomb of a friend. He’s touched by the tragedy of death, yet this doesn’t deter him in his own journey toward death for our forgiveness and salvation. The tears aren’t a sign of defeat or despair. They’re a sign he loves.

He loves you too, and he loves those who have gone before you.

Death doesn’t stop his love. He’s not a God of the dead, but a God of the living. Even though Lazarus has been dead for four days, his love and his word is more powerful than death.

It would be a nice picture to imagine him standing outside your loved one’s graves (and one day beside your own grave too), waiting to call the names of those he loves; to call the ones who died trusting him, which brings us to the final word…

A final word we’d like to hear;

five letters in this word we’ll cheer.

One word which helps us when we grieve:

so Jesus prays that we ‘believe’.

This must be wrong, for if you count,

this word has just the wrong amount!

This word it numbers five plus two!

You might protest: ‘This will not do!’

But other words for this ‘believe’

give us the strength when we do grieve:

for ‘faith’ and ‘trust’ they number five;

we trust in one who makes alive!

He prays for us to trust in him

who cares for us – our soul and limb.

When we believe, we say we trust

in him who loves – for love he must.

Since the fall, death haunts us all;

God climbed the cross and drank the gall.

Our Saviour died to set us free

so sin and death and snake may flee.

This God we trust when we believe

that death has lost its power to thieve.

Can you say two, three, four, and five,

believing God will make alive?

Jesus said to Mary, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:40-44 ESV)

The point of this account is so that you may believe, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Through faith, through trust, through believing in the words and work of Jesus, death isn’t the end, which is why Jesus and the early Christians often talk about the dead as those who have ‘fallen asleep’.

By faith we believe Jesus will one day call our names and we’ll wake up from the sleep of death to find ourselves in his holy presence. Through faith we believe that the voice of our risen Lord Jesus will awaken us to live forever in his holy presence. That will be a great and glorious day for all those who believe in Jesus!

But for now, like Jesus, you’re allowed to grieve and mourn in the face of death, but this doesn’t mean death has won, because we believe Jesus has defeated death and gives us the gift of eternal life through faith.

Through trusting Jesus’ death and resurrection, our own death is like going through a doorway. Jesus Christ is the doorway through whom we receive the gift of eternal life that’s already ours. There we’ll meet all those kept safe by their faith in Jesus; all those who have already passed through the sleep of death to life eternal.

Jesus says, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The person who believes in me, even though he dies, will live. Indeed, everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe that?’ ^{Jn 11:25-26}

Which means…

The peace of God he gives to you,

which you don’t fathom through and through.

This peace, it guards you: mind and heart,

so you and Christ will never part.

Amen.

Romans 3:19-28 (EHV) 

¹⁹ Now we know that whatever the law says is addressed to those who are under the law, so that every mouth will be silenced and the whole world will be subject to God’s judgment. ²⁰ For this reason, no one will be declared righteous in his sight by works of the law, for through the law we become aware of sin.

²¹ But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. ²² This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all who believe.

In fact, there is no difference, ²³ because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God ²⁴ and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, ²⁵ whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. ²⁶ He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.

²⁷ What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. ²⁸ For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law.

Dear heavenly Father, send your Holy Spirit on us so that we may not try to seek your approval by what we do, but trust that through the perfectly completed work of Jesus Christ, we have been made right with you. Amen.

I’m going to tell you something you don’t want to hear, but I want you to listen anyway.

When you hear what I’m about to say, you may react, so I want you to note carefully how you react. Take note of what you think, including wanting to argue with me about what I say.

Take note of your body language, such as a stiffening of your body because you don’t like what you hear. Or if tears well in your eyes because it’s a truth you can relate to. Or even if it’s a growing redness to your face in anger.

Take note of how you’re affected by what I tell you. But, however it affects you, please don’t walk out, because I need to tell you something else a little later, which is just as important for you to hear.

Are you ready?

Oh, and before I do, I want you to know what I say is the truth. I’m not lying or making it up. I’m not trying to be clever or argumentative, but I’m telling you something Scripture holds to be true but none of you want to hear.

Ok, are you ready?

And I want you to be ready because this is really important to get right. In fact, you may even like to write down what I’m about to say. I know it’s only four words, but if you get this right, you’ll get to understand more fully what I’m going to say a little later.

Now, are you ready? Ok…

…you’re not good enough!

To make this point clear: You’re not good enough for God. You’re not good enough for the person next to you. You’re not good enough for your husband or wife. You’re not good enough for your parents. You’re not good enough for your children. You’re not good enough for your friends. You’re not good enough for your government. You’re not good enough for your pastor, and your pastor isn’t good enough for you.

Do you get it? You’re not good enough! And you never will be!

In fact, just to make sure you’ve got this right, repeat after me:

I’m not good enough!

This is the truth revealed through the whole of Scripture. The Bible is a listing of people who aren’t good enough.

Adam and Eve? Made in the image of God, but they wanted to be like God.

Noah? Good boat builder, but too easily tempted by wine.

Abraham? Faithful, but made out his wife was his sister.

Jacob? Father of the tribes of Israel, but a trickster.

King David? Faithful, but got in trouble flirting with a neighbour.

Peter? Bold speaker, but denied Jesus three times.

Do you see a pattern here? The people of God keep stuffing up! Even God’s favourites kept getting it wrong! They can’t help it. They’re genetically flawed to fail because of their innate selfishness, greed, lust, and fears.

And, if they’re not good enough, even though they were specially chosen by God to be part of his opening act before the headline act arrived in Jesus, what makes you think you’re any better? You’re not good enough either!

There’s only One who’s good enough, and it isn’t you! Don’t worry, it isn’t me either. I don’t care how great or awful you think I am. I’m not good enough either. I too get in trouble no matter how much I try to do the right thing, and I let people down.

As St Paul clearly says, ‘all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God’ (v23). If you and I are falling short, doesn’t this mean we’re not good enough? Doesn’t it mean we’re not always going to do the right thing? Doesn’t this mean we’re going to let God, and each other, down, no matter how hard we try not to?

But may ask, why do we need to know this? How is this supposed to help us?

Well, you and I spend a lot of time and energy trying to be good enough. We want to do the right thing and we don’t want to get in trouble. When anyone tries to point out we’re not good enough, we spend even more time and energy arguing we are good enough by making excuses, justifying ourselves, or denying what we’re accused of. We also spend a lot of time and energy criticising others because we reckon they’re not good enough.

It’s like we spend the whole of our life trying to deny this biblical truth! But, if we accept you and I aren’t good enough, and we expect no one else will be good enough, we’ll spend a lot less time and energy on trying to make ourselves, or expecting anyone else, to be good enough. We’ll learn to accept ourselves and those around us, despite their flaws and failures. We’ll also learn to accept, and pass on, the grace Jesus offers us.

So, I want you to get this right: you and I aren’t good enough! By ourselves, we’ll never be good enough, so let’s stop making out we’re any good or fooling ourselves we’ll ever be good enough, but accept this truth. Being a Christian is never about being good enough.

So, did you take note how this truth affects you?

Do you feel angry or upset? Do you want to disagree with what I said because you think you are good enough? Although, if this is the case, you don’t need to argue with me. I’m only passing on what God tells you in his Word. Have it out with God. But, if you do, I’ll give you a hint…God will always have the last word, so don’t be surprised if you lose the argument!

On the other hand, do you feel depressed, or discouraged? Did I touch a sensitive spot because you already have a low opinion of yourself and are worried you’re not good enough? Does this deflate your pride or self-esteem?

Do you feel uncomfortable because I said something that isn’t politically correct, after all, we live in an age where we’re not allowed to say anything negative about anyone, no matter how true it is. If this bothers you, are you tempted to excuse yourself, blame your upbringing or genetics or culture, or simply deny this truth?

Or did you feel some strange sense of relief knowing you’ll always fall short of God’s expectations and therefore no longer feel the pressure to be good enough or smart enough or successful enough or pretty enough?

Anyway, no matter what your reaction, would you like to hear some good news?

Well, like before, what I’m about to tell you is important and I want you to note your reaction to what I say, whether it’s mentally, physically, emotionally, or spiritually.

Are you ready?

Oh, and before I do, I want you to know what I say is the truth. I’m not lying or making it up. I’m not trying to make you feel better because I feel sorry for you, but I’m telling you something Scripture holds to be true which you all need to hear.

Ok, are you ready?

And I want you to be ready because this is really important to get right. In fact, you may like to write this down as well. Like before, I know it’s only four words, but if you get this right, you’ll have peace with God now and for an eternity.

Now, are you ready? Ok…

…Jesus is good enough!

Why do you need to know Jesus is good enough?

Because trusting Jesus’ perfect obedience, and his fully completed suffering, death, and resurrection for you is the basis for all your forgiveness, hope, peace, and life with God and everyone around you.

When you trust Jesus is good enough, he gives you his goodness and righteousness and holiness as a gift without you ever deserving it. This means you’re at peace with God, after all, as St Paul says: you ‘are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus’ (v24).

You see, yours and my salvation is not about being ‘good enough’. It never was and never will be. Or, as St Paul puts it, you and I aren’t saved through keeping the law or through our attempts at good works.

Our forgiveness, life, and salvation is only through faith in Jesus Christ, who is good enough.

This is the truth which changed Martin Luther’s life who didn’t think he was good enough. This is the truth which led Luther to question his church about buying or earning forgiveness. This is the truth which captured the hearts of many people as the Reformation spread like wildfire across the world about 500 years ago.

This is the truth people still need to hear and believe so we can all receive true peace and hope and life, especially in a time and culture where there’s so much pressure on us being ‘good enough’.

The radical and life-changing message of the bible is that you and I aren’t good enough, but through faith in Jesus Christ alone, you and I receive his goodness and innocence, and so we’re made good enough in God’s sight.

When we get this right – that is, when we believe we’re not good enough, but we trust Jesus is good enough, we can receive true peace and comfort.

But like Luther, this has an impact on how you live here and now because, as Christians, this means your relationships with each other also isn’t to be based on whether you, or they, are good enough for each other either. The Christian church is full of people who aren’t good enough, but it’s also full of people who have been made good enough through their faith in Jesus.

Because of the grace of Christ, which you receive through faith, you can love and forgive each other because God loves and forgives you first.

In fact, you can boldly say ‘I’m not good enough’ and it shouldn’t bother you, because you’re convinced that, no matter how imperfect, incompetent, useless, troublesome, or sinful you may be, God still loves you and covers you with the goodness and righteousness of Jesus.

You can also accept and forgive all those people around you because they’re not good enough either. You’re able to love, forgive, and serve them, not because they’re good enough, but because Jesus is good enough and because Jesus loves, forgives and serves them anyway.

Only Jesus Christ is good enough. He alone fulfilled the whole law for you and he did this for you because he knows you’re not ‘good enough’ and you never will be.

He took all your sin into himself on the cross. Which meant that he became the guilty One; he became the One not good enough – for you and me. And then he gave the results of his perfect obedience, suffering, and death to you and me as a free gift, which is received through faith.

Whether you’re aware of it or not, you and I have well and truly fallen short of God’s glory, and there’s nothing you and I can do about it! Yet God’s glory and righteousness is given to us as a free and undeserving gift through faith in Jesus Christ.

Through faith in Jesus Christ, we can boldly and truthfully say these two simple truths: “I’m not good enough, but I know, and trust, Jesus is good enough”, and this faith frees us from any of the Law’s demands, from any unfair expectations, and from any troubled conscience.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, you’re saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Only he is good enough, and he chose to be obedient to death on the cross for you and me so we may be free of the condemnation of the Law and from all our vain attempts to be good enough. He did this so we may live in peace with God into eternal life. He did this so that…

…the peace of God, which surpasses all human understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus – the One who is good enough. Amen.