READINGS FROM HOLY SCRIPTURE:
Ezekiel 34:11-16
1 Peter 2:21-25
St. John 10:11-16
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior. (Titus 1:4)
Who speaks to you today, saying:
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep”
On this Good Shepherd Sunday, it is eternally important that you remember why you are here as a Christian and as a Lutheran. That is because you are saved. Not because of who you are, but because of what Jesus did for you. You have fled from God. You have cooperated with the wolves to snatch you away and scatter you, but the “life laid down” returns you to the Shepherd and Overseer of your entire being.
That is the Gospel. If anyone preaches a different Gospel, they are trying to sell something. That something is salvation. In this thought, we look at the world and its beliefs and find that, truly, there are only two religions: the religion of “I can save myself” and the religion of “I need a Savior”. The religion of “Do this” and the religion of “Done”.
This understanding gives us a space of clarity, where we can clearly see who is who. For instance, we can see the world flop back and forth like a reed shaken by the wind. One second, it is “believe in yourself” and “you do you” and “believe in something even if it means sacrificing everything”. The next second its “just comply” and “just follow the rules” and “well, he’s in charge so”.
What this produces is encapsulated in a relatively new term: “clown world”. That’s the world we live in today. The world where we say “peace, peace”, but continue to create war. The world where we are eternally concerned with water pretending to be beer, state schools institutionalizing our children, and whose party is the best party and nothing is done about it.
Clown world gathers around these hypocrisies religiously and in predictable cycles. Is someone up for re-election and they throw a bone to the people? Funny, that.
Repent! The good news is that we are up against a clown world, which makes it easy to stand up to. The bad news is we use the clown system in the hopes of changing it from the inside. And all that happens then, is we get absorbed into the Clown Religion of “Do this, as we say”.
Our cowardice is not found in whether or not we have changed public policy or “won”. Our sinful cowardice is found in the fact that we refuse to employ organized religion against this organized clown religion. All this turmoil is not accidental. The saying goes, “They kick the dog with reckless abandon so the minute it tries to defend itself they can justify shooting it.” That is the play that is being run, and we ought to conduct ourselves accordingly. We must live as though we know what they intend to do. It is obvious, but don’t take their bait.
The universal message from Christ today, is that He will gather. He gathers by organizing His religion and setting up the freedom of ceremony and celebration.
First, Christ’s organization is focused solely on one, easily-accessible point: Himself. Son of God. Son of Man. Three in One, Creator, Savior, and Sanctifier of all. All focus is on Him, because He takes all the attention, in other words, He does all the work. The actions are His, the rewards are His, the glory is His.
This means we are people of the Word, not people of the Book. People of the Word made flesh. God of God is the center. The next circle of organization is the Word and Sacrament of Jesus. And this is still the circle of “done”. For in those things, salvation is Done for you in the way the Lord wants it. His rules.
Outside of this circle, is the authority of Tradition, which includes our ceremonies, hymns, and familiar church functions. Here we need only take three steps to ensure we remain in communion with Christ: 1. We only keep tradition that does not cause us to sin, 2. we only keep what is beneficial to peace, tranquility, and good order in the Church and, 3. We do not burden consciences. In other words, get out of God’s way and let Him do His work.
Now we can debate over whether or not God is working in clown world and what that looks like. But there is no debate about how God is working in His Church. That is His business and that is how Gathering around His work becomes universal. It is not what we do about God, but what He does among us.
When God was made man, He entered Clown World, so we too should not be afraid of standing up for what is right in civil and political circles. He entered Clown World and found two schools of thought, in the “Do this” religion.
The first was Traditionalism. The belief of the Pharisees that because something is in the Past, it is automatically “good”, no mater what. Is the High Priest God’s chosen for the moment? Then you better not disagree with him, but give him all your money. Jesus ran into this “traditionalist” High Priest and was sentenced to death.
The second was Progressivism. The belief of the Pharisees that because God has “left us” to our own devices, now what we say and do are “God’s will”, prove me wrong. If we say this Jesus must be crucified, then it is God’s will. Two views many churches hold to, today.
Where the Jews were successful is that both of these beliefs are cherished by the Clown World. The State also has its Traditionalism, which says “The peace of the State no matter what”. And also its own Progressivism, which taught we need to believe all religions. This religion in Israel says Jesus needs to die. Ok! Today, His Christians need to die. Ok!
What is unique about Jesus is, He did not become a new Civil Leader. He is the Savior. He taught that Clown World has added to God’s Word things He never said and has subtracted from God’s Word things He did say. God never said, “There is no king but Caesar”, but He did say, “Thus the Son of man must be handed over, suffer, be crucified, and rise again three days later.”
Gathering around this Christ is a ceremony we can do without sin. One thing that means is it is free from Clown World influence and becomes the place where we stand against it. And stand against it we do. “friendship with the world is hostility toward God” says James 4:4. Faith automatically puts you at odds with clowns.
So, what is the next question?
“Who will deliver us?”
He.
“we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength”, says 2 Corinthians, “that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again” (2 Cor 1:8-10)
“Who will deliver me from this body of death?”, says Romans 7, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25)
And it is our Organizer and Gatherer, Jesus Christ Who says, “I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the [clown] world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the [clown] world.” (Jn 16:33)
He has delivered us. We are numbered with the Faithfull in the Savior. That is our religion. He will deliver us.
Clown World has a very unpleasant end. Eternal Life in Him does not.
What about for today? Today, He tells us, “Do not neglect congregating together, as is the habit of some, but encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near” (Heb 10:25). And when you congregate, Commune and devote yourselves, religiously, “to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers” (Acts 2:42).
For “you search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me” (Jn 5:39).
Being Traditional is not a sin, saying it is infallible is. Appreciating Progress is not a sin, throwing out all of God’s work in history, is. Standing strong on the Crucified and Risen Christ and His Word and Sacrament is not a sin and never will be. Sacrificing Him in place of anything else, is.
We find sin and it is Good, because the Savior has come for sinners. Sin this or sin that, all is forgiven and all is forgivable. Remember, this free forgiveness, this Gospel, is the reason we gather and is the power of God for salvation. That is the Power to withstand even the Gates of Clown World, for you.
No comments:
Post a Comment