Eating Business [Lent 4; St. John 6:1-15]

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Jesus speaks to you today, saying:

“He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do.”

First off, folks, it is important for the comfort of your soul that every time you hear about eating in the Bible, you think of the Lord’s Supper. Not because everywhere Jesus is creating it or instituting it and not because every time you eat bread and wine it is the Sacrament, but because everywhere Faith sees a meal it is reminded of the meal offered to you in the Divine Service and you are reminded of the forgiveness found in it.

For today, Jesus is feeding the people. He stands on the heights, elevating Himself in order to observe the masses. A bit condescending here, but He has earned it, having just finished performing all those miracles on the weak and the sick, as the Gospel said. We might add that He had no help in the matter, as His disciples had no such power.

It is in knowing all this that St. Phillip answers Jesus, desperately with all the disciples, trying to understand what God’s expectations and requirements of them are, here. Will Jesus send the masses away, as pompously suggested, or will He let them suffer for their zeal? Will He overturn tables or cuddle children? Will Jesus talk about death again, or peace this time? Will Jesus deal with the physical needs of these people or is He solely concerned with their spiritual needs?

Perhaps unfortunately for us and the disciples, it is none of our business. St. Paul writes, “So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.” (Rom. 9:18) which is simply echoing Moses’ encounter with the Lord when the Lord says, “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.” (Ex. 33:19)

Do we show such little respect for our Creator that we need Him to run things by us first? Is it our business how He runs things or what He gives to whom? St. Philip thinks so. He knows Jesus has been working by Himself, though He has been surrounded by seemingly competent men. He knows that Jesus is moved to compassion for these people and that’s good enough.

“Send them away Jesus”, Philip might say, “They will find food and if they are interested in You they will come back later. We know You are concerned with feeding their spirit, but not whether their belly has anything to eat. Just let them go.” Even though Jesus has already upbraided St. Peter and run out the devil, who both used the same denial of Jesus’ ability to not only grasp the entire situation, but His ability to do anything about it.

Though, we should not be judging Philip and the disciples, for we are in the same boat. We and they should know the right answer to Jesus’ question of where to find bread. They should already be convinced of God’s loving-kindness from the Old Testament and know what Jesus will do. Jesus should not have to test us only to fail us.

Repent. Though you know that Jesus paid the full price for your sins, you are terrified to believe it, because somehow you still feel as if it is a mistake and you simply didn’t hear God rightly. Intellectually you know that your salvation isn’t dependent on showing love to your neighbor, but you would definitely show that kind of love IF you were saved.

What if you weren’t able to show that kind of love, even if you were saved? Be truthful. Your love is definitely not the kind of love that Jesus shows you. You need to grit your teeth, you need to fall back on “just do your duty”, and you need to people-please so people will think you are doing it right and like you.

Here’s what you, Philip, Peter, and the devil must come to admit: that your spiritual growth is none of your business. What God does with His Creation and with His salvation is none of your concern, but Jesus includes you none the less, testing you so that when you see your failure, and you will, you would also see your Savior.

Jesus says that if you abide in His love you will bear much fruit. He is the vine, after all, and you are just a branch. This is not a conditional challenge to see who can bear the most fruit. This is a promise! Abiding simply means believing; believing that what Jesus does is enough for you. God does not need your conscious effort to produce fruit in you, He just does it, regardless of what that looks like in your life.

Jesus does not want you or Philip to see progress. He wants you humble, content, but most of all He wants you repentant, admitting that you are not doing things, but He is. You already reflect God’s love, but you don’t recognize it because its so natural. Philip, though he was being tested, did exactly what faith demanded of Him: turned to Jesus and let Him do what He wills.

The light you shine before men is the Good news of Christ and Him crucified. The good works people see you do and for which they give glory to God, are invisible to you. Your continual anxiety about works and your painful awareness of your sin and imperfection are tender mercies from God, reminding you that you also need a Savior.

Thus, the grace and mercy from our crucified and risen Lord and savior, Jesus Christ, is such that it continually and constantly drives you to Christ’s presence where you will always find more love, more forgiveness, and more assurance. Assurance that even though there is only a small bit of bread and a tiny bit to drink, this will be Jesus’ great work of salvation in your life.

Now that the Lord has accomplished the perfect life for you, suffering, dying, and rising again and now that the Lord has made His presence to dwell with you in such a way that you literally eat and drink with Him, you not only find love, forgiveness, and assurance in your soul, but also in your belly.

God does the impossible by making a promise of forgiveness to your ears and then making that same promise edible. Jesus accomplishes the impossible business of doing the work no one wants to do, that is saving every one, and makes it presentable in such a simple way that you either accept it in faith or reject it.

Regardless of your doubts, the Lord is secretly working out your salvation in plain sight, in His Supper and your anxiety about your works, your growth, and your façade melt away. For at His Table, you simply hear and believe, just as Scripture says, and there is no room for argument.

The attachment to the true Vine is here. The infusion of grace you so desperately seek to find is here. The Lord Who is strong to save and merciful at His say-so, is doing so here for you today. For, as Jesus has commanded, you have sat down in this place, heard the Lord’s Word in this place, and have received salvation distributed to you.

Serpent Savior [Lent 3; St. Luke 11:14-28]

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Lost Sheep [Lent 2; St. Matthew 15:21-28]

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Self-imprecation [Imprecatory Psalms; Ps. 55]

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Ps. 55:12-14

What we are going to take to heart this Lent is what are called the Imprecatory Psalms. Imprecation means to curse or condemn. As we will see in hearing some of the 28 or so Psalms that contain these curses, they sound very out of place in such a beautiful and excellent book of poetry that the book of Psalms is.

For next to “this is the day that the Lord has made” is the verse “confuse, O Lord, and divide their tongues” which we heard in Ps. 55 this evening (v.9). Such hard and intense truths, found in all of the imprecatory psalms, seem to spring up as thorns among the sweet flowerets of God. they appear to mar any enjoyment to be had from the rest of the book for Jews and Christians alike.

So offensive do some find them, that in modern times many have called for their removal, including some popes, because they have no place in the “christian” spirit of love, so-called. Though they are mistaken, its quite hard to disagree. These coming Wednesdays we will be hearing things like, “Let death seize upon them, and let them go down quick into hell: for wickedness is in their dwellings, and among them.” (55:15) and “But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction: bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;” (55:23).

So, those false teachers reject these Psalms for 2 reasons: 1) the ancients were degenerates, unable to comprehend our modern, superior sense of morality and 2) that God had not yet told them the real truth, waiting until we showed up to tell us. Or maybe God didn’t want to tell them.

Either way, Holy Scripture refuses to let either of those reasons be true, because 1) we already find in the OT the commands to love our enemies and other high values, and 2) the progression of God’s revelation is not from error to truth, but from partial and obscure to complete and clear.

Therefore, the first of five ways we interpret these imprecations is: Self imprecation.

These curses found in the psalms are not to be understood as simply the personal vindictiveness of some self-righteous, angry men. They are to be understood as the groanings of the Holy Spirit against the evil and persistent evil-doers. Namely, sinners. As terrible as these imprecations sound to us, they are nothing when stood beside the real nature of our own sin and heinousness.

Our own sin is odious. It is the worst curse that could be laid on us. It is worse than anything God could do to us or to the earth around us. Those curses God spoke in Genesis 3? Child’s play compared to our sinful nature. It is not God that curses us or causes evil or causes unrighteous suffering. It is our sin.

This is because sin kills life. It is the solid ground that will accept no amount of seeding. It is the scorching sun that shrivels faith as quickly as it matures. It is the ring of thorns that bleed out faith. It is the existence that shouldn’t exist, because its purpose is to make a space where there is no God, thus causing death, since God is the Lord of Life.

Even the smallest amount is enough to drive a wedge between us and life. As far as heaven is from hell, so far is the great divide that none can cross. Just the smallest infraction, the tiniest assent to a sinful desire is enough to cause the eternal condemnation of both body and soul.

Thus, when we return to Psalm 55 and hear the imprecations of verses 9-11 and 19-21 saying, “Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongues: for I have seen violence and strife in the city. Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof: mischief also and sorrow are in the midst of it. Wickedness is in the midst thereof: deceit and guile depart not from her streets.” “God shall hear, and afflict them, even he that abideth of old. Because they have no changes, therefore they fear not God. He hath put forth his hands against such as be at peace with him: he hath broken his covenant. The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.”

We must hear them as final judgments pronounced upon our own sinful nature and in that despairing light cry out with the Church catholic for mercy. We pray and shout that the Lord would show mercy upon us rather than letting His righteous wrath fall upon us. Don’t let this be true about us. Don’t let us be enemies. Please, we beg you, make us loved. Make us better. Make us like you.

Psalm 55 goes on. “For it was not an enemy that reproached me; then I could have borne it: neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me; then I would have hid myself from him: But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and mine acquaintance. We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in company.” (v.12-14)

Here it tells us Who exactly is accusing us. It is not an enemy!! It is a man, an equal, a friend. This may make our sin even worse, but there is hope here. For we have a friend in Jesus, as we sing. He dwells among us as an equal, sharing our flesh. And He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, and was made man!

Now it is clear. This man is the God-man. The God-man Who demands such perfect divorce from this sin that He imprecates Himself, though He remains innocent. Jesus, the Just Judge, becomes Jesus the guilty-of-all-the-world’s-sin on the cross. He shows us His glorious body, hanging on the cross. We see there our sin, in all its cursed condemnation, waiting for death.

But we also see our Savior, Who fetters and imprisons all imprecation in death and hell forever. This we know is true because that black pit of a tomb is empty. Not empty of sin and death, but empty of guilt and condemnation, for the Lord of Life has taken away our imprecations and instead has baptized us into life and light, without sin.

This is the force of these imprecations within the Psalms. They bring out our own sin and rebellion against God. But, now that our Savior has mounted the cross, they are not ours anymore, but His. In order that all the blessings that were His now becomes ours. We feel our curse, we feel our condemnation, we feel our sin, we feel death. But the word of the cross is now the power of salvation.

The cross we bear and the cross Christ bears are the same. Baptized into His death and resurrection, we now hear life in the midst of death. When we feel our sins press upon us and guilt and condemnation rushing in, we know it is the work of the Holy Spirit convicting us of our sin so that we look outside of ourselves and see our Crucified Savior. Within the curse is the blessing, for Christ became the curse for us. He became sin for us.

We finish up Psalm 55 with these words of hope in verses 16-18 and 22: “As for me, I will call upon God; and the LORD shall save me. Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray, and cry aloud: and he shall hear my voice. He hath delivered my soul in peace from the battle that was against me...Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous [in Christ] to be moved.”

“There is therefore now no condemnation [, no imprecation] to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Rom. 8:1-4)

Ashes in Faith [Ash Wednesday; 2 Peter 1]

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Not your transfiguration [Transfiguration; St. Matthew 17:1-9]

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Jesus teaches us today saying:

“And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.”

Ah the big three: Peter, James, and John. The three who will see the kingdom of the Lord before death, the three that witnessed the dead daughter raised from her deathly sleep, and the three taken into the confidence of Gethsemane, today get to see our Lord’s Transfiguration.

But why these three? We can theorize and speculate on their importance or prominent roles within Jesus’ 12 disciples, but Scripture is pretty silent on this point. The best we have is St. Paul quoting Moses in 2 Cor. 13, when Moses says,

“One witness shall not stand to testify against a man for any iniquity, or for any fault, or for any sin  which he may commit; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, shall every word be established.” (Deut. 19:15)

What Moses focuses on here is unrighteousness and 3 different words for sin. We’re talking about committing a crime, here, not just verifying testimony. Jesus Transfigures with an openness that lands Him under capital punishment. Now who would think transfiguring yourself would be that bad?

When you do a cursory Google search for “transfigure” you come up with a bunch of mystical magical stuff, because transfiguring is impossible without Harry Potter. So, we are usually taught not to transfigure ourselves (because magic isn’t real), but to transform. Transform becomes close enough for these popular teachers of religion and for us, I mean, it sounds the same right?

So we are taught that God wants us to transform our lives, transform our hearts, and transform our behavior so that we can spread the message:

“What are YOU going to do when hearing or reading these readings for today?”, they ask. Are you going to attentively listen and allow yourself to let the message fall upon deaf ears?  What are you going to do to become ‘transfigured? You have been called to love your neighbor regardless of liking their actions or not.  WE ALL are called to listen to what Jesus taught… Practice and teach love, and hopefully those who have deaf ears will eventually come to hear the message.  We are ALL called to be ‘transfigured’ so that we can spread the message of Christ.

But is that all there is to transformation? Just, “bring a friend to church”? To transfigure means to transform into something more beautiful or elevated. In other words, something other than what you currently are. And to transform means to make a thorough or dramatic change in the form, appearance, or character of.

Our form is man. Our appearance is that of a human being. Our character is to be a body and a soul. We cannot transfigure or transform. We would be made into something completely different. We would not be human. We would not be “made man”. We would be unrecognizable to God and He would turn us away at the Wedding door.

We can pretend to transfigure or transform, but God isn’t fooled by our sinful attempts. And yet, neither is He unaware of our inability to transfigure. Thus, the main idea behind Jesus transfiguration is not that we follow suit, but to show us that we can’t do it, yet we have a Savior Who can.

There is no sin with God. There is no pretending or metaphor. In fact our unrighteousness proves the righteousness of God, because in His divine forbearance He passes over all our sins. Not for how well we transform, but for how well the Lamb of God takes away the sin of the world.

For our sake, God made Jesus to be sin Who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This means that it is God’s work to transform us. It is God’s work to transfigure us. We don’t know how or what a real transfiguration looks like neither do we know how to accomplish it. So God must.

Jesus must be formed in us (Gal. 4:19), not the other way around. God then makes up the plan for transfiguration and institutes what this transfiguration is to look like. It is not up to us to pretend it happened to us. It is up to God to make a way for us.

And it is in this way that He does so. Jesus is only partially transfigured today. Though we see the glory, we only see the back end of it. Part of it. For God’s full glory is revealed on the cross. It is the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus that reveals not only the true glory of God, but also the pattern we are to follow in order to be transfigured ourselves.

And it goes in this way: that we are con-formed to His death (Phil. 3:10). Not only that, but that we share fellowship with His sufferings. And in order to gain His resurrection from the dead, we must believe that it is not us to be transfigured, but God, transfigured on the cross beyond all recognition of Him being God anymore.

There is only Jesus. This transfiguration is for Jesus. The sufferings of betrayal and scourging are for Jesus. The death on a cross is for Jesus. The resurrection from the dead is for Jesus. Life eternal is for Jesus. Word and Sacrament is the mercy Jesus extends to you which allows you to commune with His Transfiguration.

You want to be transformed by Christ?? Hear His Word and believe it. You want the transfiguration that comes from God?? Partake of God’s Sacraments. You want the ability to share that with others?? Invest in the Divine Service, attend Bible Class, make all of Church a part of your life.

People can smell a con from a mile away. They will only buy the “transform yourself” line for so long. And it will be until they realize they don’t need to be in church to accomplish transformation in their lives. But giving them the Divine Service is not a scam. It is how God has chosen to work salvation on this earth.

And it is the only way God continues to transfigure you, even though you return to your sin. Our Lord’s Transfiguration is brought to us. Forgiveness is brought to us. Jesus comes to us in Word and Sacrament that we would have the hope of His Transfiguration. Not only that it is a real, historic event, but that it is something we get to do as well.

Climate End Game [Epiphany 4; St. Matthew 8:23-27]

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From the Gospel heard today, Jesus speaks, saying:

“And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep.”

Yesterday, the Church celebrated the Purification of St. Mary and the Presentation of Jesus. Where we heard the beginning of this on New Year’s, when Jesus was given His Name and Circumcised, yesterday was the actual day when those things happened. 40 days after His birth, Jesus and His mother are purified and able to rejoin regular Temple life together.

This is a key theme to recognize in Epiphany: that Jesus, the Lord of all, the Creator of all known and unknown things, waits 6 weeks with His mother in order to return to God’s Church at the same time as her.

Which brings us to one of the many “storm of the sea” scenes that Jesus attends with His disciples, where He either calms the storm or walks on water. In similar fashion, Jesus takes the hard route, unnecessarily, simply to be on the boat.

But, once again, Jesus refuses to be just a part of the crowd. He changes water into wine, heals lepers and paralytics, and today He waves His magic fingers over the water and changes the weather. And, once again, just as He doesn’t heal all lepers or turn my water into wine, not that that would do me any good in my life, He doesn’t stop all storms. Just this one.

Let’s face it. To have a Christian opinion or worldview today will get you sent to the dunce’s chair. Nobody is saying Climate change doesn’t exist, we just call it normal weather. Yet, time and again, those in power want you focused on their scientism rather than Christ and being a decent person. “But you can’t be a good person if you’re dead”. Well you can if Jesus raises you from the dead.

In any case, every time Jesus mentions the environment, it does not exactly fall into the “good steward” category. Jesus is always talking about flowers and grass withering away; of trees being cut down and burned, and of weeds and chaff being blown away into fire. What a climate denier!!

So, let’s see: of the 1,189 chapters of the Bible, only the very first 2 find all of Creation in harmony with its Creator. For those first 6 days, there was no Climate crisis, no pollution, and no death. Jesus spoke Creation into being. All things were made by speaking 3 simple words: “Let there be…”

Yet, in the very next chapter, seemingly in the same week, Adam and Eve bring sin and death into the world and all of Creation is cursed. Upon closer listening, we find that the Word of God does not lay the blame at Adam’s feet nor even at the devil’s.

The One who curses the environment to inevitable destruction is God, Himself. As Scripture says, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope;”(Rom. 8:20)

Through His spoken Word God curses the serpent, Adam, and the environment. “Heaven and earth shall pass away”, saith the Lord and He means it.

What does this mean? What do we do with an earth-cursing God? What do we do with an environment that produces man-killing tornadoes, hurricanes, and wild-fires? How can you commune with or fight for nature when it conspires against you?

Scripture says, “O foolish [Christians]! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?” (Gal.3)

“Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my Word shall never pass away” (Mt. 24:35). In Adam’s fall, Jesus wanted Adam to know that it wasn’t going to be by nature, that he would be saved. Jesus wanted to show that it would be by an unnatural tree that redemption would be accomplished. A tree so alien to nature, that it could hold the infinite in fetters. A tree that could kill God.

Now this tree of Life, with every good, stands with Christ upon it. It is for this reason that creation groans under the curse. For, the Word of God “imprisoned everything under sin, so that the promise by faith in Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe.” (Gal. 3:22)

In our sinful foolishness, we believe that if we work hard and do what is right, we will be saved. Instead it is by Christ’s hand alone that we are saved. Jesus is not only willing to give up all of creation, but also His entire being on the cross, in order to forgive your sins and then be with you in all your suffering as well.

Thus, it is to this of the curse placed upon us, which we can not escape, that Jesus comes to and stays with us, as He stayed with His mother and His disciples. While we were yet dead in our sin, Jesus died for us. While we were without love towards God and our neighbor, Jesus showed us God’s love on the cross and spoke it to us in His Word.

The Word of God speaks to you even in this darkness and even as all creation heads towards destruction. He does not condemn you, He does not upbraid you. He simply is born of a virgin, is made man, suffers and dies. He reveals Himself to be the center of all of history so that, as the only light shining in the dark, He can speak His words of salvation to you and create faith.

Faith comes from nowhere else except Christ and Him crucified. In Christ is the New Creation; the new Jerusalem; the new heavens and the new earth. All of creation is the way it is so that we learn to hope for the better, perfect creation.

Scripture says, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.  And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.  He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Rev. 21)

No more curse. No more climate crisis. No more pollution. No more death.

In Christ, we do not look to this current earth for any kind of comfort, be it in cures, comforts, or sustainability. But in hope, we look to that which Jesus has prepared for us; that is eternal life with Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.

And it is to this hope that Jesus leads us. Not just by Word and deed, but in flesh and blood. Just as He was with His mother, just as He stayed with His disciples, just so He stays with us. In God’s Body, Jesus dwells with us in Word and Sacrament. Though we love and care for His creation, we find salvation in Him and not anywhere else, because He does not leave us.