“The Humpty Dumpty in all of us” (2 Samuel 12:13; Luke 7:44-50)

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Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall.  H. D. had a great fall; All the kings horses and all the kings men couldn’t put Humpty Dumpty back together again!  Someone has written this response:

Lord, what I really wonder about Humpty Dumpty is – Why was he up on that wall?

   Everyone knows if he hadn’t been, he would have avoided that fall.

   Was it merely a whim, or response to a dare – Or did he have good reason for being there?

   Regardless, I DO know that what all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t do –

            The King of kings COULD!  And the K. of K. DID! 

           The King of kings, Jesus, PUTS US BACK TOGETHER AGAIN!

Have you thought of yourself as Humpty Dumpty (H.D.)?  I’m guessing probably not… but God’s Word gives us Good News when we do!

Like Humpty Dumpty, we too have “sat on the wall” – been in places or situations where we shouldn’t have been (What / where is your “wall” – i.e. place(s) you shouldn’t be / have been?) and had a great fall – i.e. given in to the temptations (i.e. sinned by thought, word or deed) and, like H. D. we regularly NEED Jesus, the King of Kings to “put us back together again.”

But we certainly don’t want to admit this, and we certainly don’t want to get caught!

A little boy went to the store to buy a gift for his mother. He told the sales clerk that he wanted to buy her a cookie jar, but after looking at several, he asked, “Don’t you have one with a lid that doesn’t make noise when it’s picked up and put back down?”

None of us likes to be caught in our sin, or have anyone tell us that we are wrong. We would rather cover up our sinfulness while pointing the finger and exposing the sins of others.  We see this in our Scripture readings today.  And we see the Good News that when God DOES expose our sins and we truly recognize and confess our “fallen-ness,” by God’s precious gift of full and free forgiveness, we see how God continues to work His miracle of “putting us back together again.”

In the OT reading, 2 Samuel 12, King David is an example of how far we can “fall,” how “broken” we can become, especially as one sin leads to another and another. God’s Word tells us: “One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof (“wall”) of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman (Bathsheba) was very beautiful… David sent messengers to get her. [sinful coveting]  She came to him, and he [committed adultery] with her.” (2 Samuel 11:2-4)  When David found out that his sin would be exposed because Bathsheba was pregnant, he had her husband Uriah killed in battle [murder] and “after the time of mourning was over, David had her brought to his house [stealing], and she became his wife [adultery]. (2 Samuel 11:27)  [It goes without saying: “The thing David had done displeased the LORD.” (v.27)]  So, the LORD in His great love and wisdom sent Nathan to tell David a story about a rich man stealing and killing the only lamb of a poor man.  IT WAS QUITE OBVIOUS for David to see the sin of the rich man: “burning with anger… David said, ‘the man who did this deserves to die!” (v.5) And Nathan (knowing that the judgment was correct) declared the message of Law, “You are the man!”

What a terrible realization to be told, “You are the man / the woman!” to have the spotlight of God’s Law expose our specific sins!  It’s one thing to kneel with a congregation and generally confess that we are “sinful and unclean,” and quite another to personally be confronted and condemned by our sins!  But before we can be “put back together again” by God’s gracious forgiveness, God’s Law must be spoken to us, or like David, we too cover up our sins and live in our brokenness as if everything is all right.

It’s so natural to also be like Simon, the Pharisee, in today’s Gospel (Luke 7). In his self-righteousness, Simon did not identify himself with “Humpty Dumpty.”  He had invited Jesus to his house for dinner when “a woman who had lived a sinful life in that town” (Luke 7:37) came and made quite a scene! In her love for Jesus and her great thanks for being “put back together again” by Jesus, she washed Jesus’ feet with her tears, drying them with her hair, anointing Jesus’ feet with perfume and kissing them over and over again!  Simon, self-righteously pointed his accusing finger at the “brokenness” of the woman and at Jesus, setting himself up as much better!  So, in His great love, Jesus told Simon a story about two debtors, one who owed 1.5 year’s wages and the other who owed about 2 week’s worth of wages; both of whose debts were graciously canceled! When Jesus asked Simon which debtor would be the most grateful, Simon correctly answered, “the one who had the bigger debt canceled.” (v.43) And Jesus pointedly told Simon that it was evident that this woman had benefited from the full and free forgiveness of sins as evidenced by her actions of love and thankfulness, but Simon was still deceiving himself and broken because he refused to a) recognize his great fall (debt of sin), and b) he refused to “be put back together again.”

Without repentance – humbly confessing our total guilt (“great fall!”) and readily acknowledging that “all the kings’ horses and all the kings’ men (nothing we can do) could put us back together again – without true repentance – there can be no forgiveness.  This is why congregation members can come to church Sunday after Sunday, say the mere words of confession, hear God’s Word of Law and Gospel proclaimed; even come to the Lord’s Supper! But still be uncertain about being forgiven; because they first have refused to be identified with H. D. – “sat on the wall, had a great fall, totally broken!”

Only as God’s Word of Law does its work (Nathan and David); “You are the man / woman!” – recognizing and confessing our “great fall” – only then can be humbly confess: “I have sinned against the Lord!  And what good news when Nathan (immediately) replied (with the Good News) “The Lord has taken away your sin… “ (2 Samuel 12:13)  Jesus assured the woman, “Your sins are forgiven…” (Luke 7:48)  Jesus speaks to us today in the Absolution after confession, “Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins…”

Now, forgiven in Jesus, our lives are changed!  Like the woman in the Gospel reading, we who have been forgiven much, love much! And that shows in lives of loving service to God through our love and service to one another.

Living in that forgiveness daily – we love, serve and obey our Savior in all that we do and say. See you in worship and Communion this coming weekend!

Pastor Dan Myers

 

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“No Other Gospel” (Galatians 1:6-9)

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The Apostle Paul is really “fired up” in today’s second reading! He writes: “If we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!” That’s strong language!

What is the Gospel? It’s not really a hard question – but a MOST important answer to KNOW with CERTAINTY! Those of you who remember Confirmation Class or Bible Classes know that “the answer is always Jesus” – the Gospel is “the Good News about Jesus.” It is “the life-changing power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” Romans 1:16

The Apostle Paul, of course, knew personally of the life-changing power of the Gospel as Jesus appeared to him on the road to Damascus, and completely changed his life – for the BEST! That is why the apostle Paul is so adamant in today’s second reading that there is no other Gospel / no other name, but Jesus! He writes: “I am astonished (SHOCKED! fearing for your salvation!) that you are so quickly deserting the One who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel – which is really no gospel at all.” Notice, he did not call it “another gospel” as if it were just another way of looking at the same truth. He called it a “different gospel – which is really no gospel at all.” That’s because anytime we put our hope in anything we do, we’re putting our faith in the law & obedience instead of the finished work of Jesus.

There are a lot of “different” preachers who will talk about all the things that Jesus has done and then add the Law by saying, “Now it’s up to you. Now you have to do something to show God that you’ve decided to become a different person.”

There are only TWO “religions” in the world – “Do” or “Done”. Any different religion (even if they use the name of Jesus Christ) that emphasize “this is what you must DO to accept Jesus” or to “please God” – are Law-based and rob people of the truth of the Gospel. The ONE Gospel message is Done – Jesus said, “It is finished!” – nothing more could be done, nothing more could be added – centered and based only on Jesus.

In today’s Gospel reading, note the drastic difference between the Jewish leaders (who got it wrong) and the Gentile Centurion (who got it right!) A centurion, “sent some elders of the Jews to Jesus, asking Him to come and heal his servant (who was about to die.)” (Luke 7:3) When the Jewish leaders came to Jesus, “they pleaded earnestly with Jesus, ‘This man DESERVES to have you do this, because he loves our nation and has built our synagogue.’” (v.5) THIS does not surprise us. We are used to thinking in terms of being “deserving,” “worthy” or “fair.” We hear it on commercials and the media all the time. And don’t we tend to only help those whom we consider “worthy” with our help and our money, also? It is so sinfully natural to think that God blesses us because we are “worthy!”

The Gospel in today’s Scripture readings is that Jesus responds to HUMAN NEED, NOT to HUMAN WORTH! God blesses us “not because of righteous deeds that we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.” (Titus 3:5) It is “by grace we have been saved, through faith – NOT from ourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8-9)

The Roman centurion knew better. Before Jesus arrived at his house, he “sent friends to say to (Jesus): ‘Lord, don’t trouble Yourself, for I DO NOT DESERVE to have You come under my roof. That is why I did NOT even consider myself WORTHY to come to You. But say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come’ and he comes.” (v. 6-8) This centurion GOT IT RIGHT when he compared God to a military commander who doesn’t have to answer to his troops for the orders He gives. There is no way that we can tell God what to do, or to be “worthy” of any of God’s blessings. But “by faith” we know that God has already “said the word” – He has done everything necessary to “rescue us,” so that like the centurion, even though we too are “unworthy,” we still come boldly to our heavenly Father with our prayers and requests.

It is with good reason that we begin each worship service with the confession of sins; acknowledging that we ARE UNWORTHY / “poor, miserable sinners” and we hear God’s forgiveness and are assured that Jesus HAS FORGIVEN us ALL of our sins.

This is the message of the glorious Gospel: although we are “unworthy,” and GUILTY, Jesus has “said the word” / He has paid the price – so the TRUE GOSPEL is that we are “rescued by our Lord Jesus Christ and by Him alone!”

Pastor Myers

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“Who Do You Think You Are?” (John 8: 48-59)

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This weekend we celebrate the mystery of the Trinity… how the infinite, almighty Lord of all Creation reveals Himself to us as “Three in One and One in Three.” This doctrine (teaching) of the Christian faith is difficult for us to grasp, yet essential for us to believe in order for us to be saved. For the Church to remain “true to the teachings of Scripture,” three Ecumenical Creeds have been formulated throughout history. The Apostles’ Creed (c. 100AD), the Nicene Creed (325 AD) and the Athanasian Creed (c. 900 AD) all synthesize the Christian faith in such a way to teach the truth of God’s Word, while at the same time guarding us from false teaching and heresy.

In the gospel reading Jesus gives us a glimpse of at least two of the three persons of the Trinity. Jesus was, once again, teaching in the temple area (v. 20) and the Pharisees were challenging Him. (v. 13) They claimed to be children of Abraham (v. 33), but Jesus called them children of their father, the devil (v. 44). For these reasons, they thought of Him as a hated foreigner who was “out of His mind!” They said, “Aren’t we right in saying that You are a Samaritan and demon-possessed?” (John 8: 48) In response, Jesus said that He was not seeking His own glory, but the glory of His Father in Heaven. He and the Father are One; that is, Father and Son, two of the persons in the One Godhead!

He promised eternal life to those who would follow Him when He said, “I tell you the truth, if a man keeps My word, he will never see death.” (John 8: 51) and He claimed equality with God when He said, “I tell you the truth, before Abraham was, I am!” (John 8: 58) His enemies understood what He was saying, and they hated Him for it! That’s why “they picked up stones to stone Him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” (John 8: 59)

No matter how hard you search, you’ll never find the word “Trinity” in the pages of Scripture. You will, however, find the evidence of the Trinity clearly taught throughout the whole Bible, from beginning to end! For example, in the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, we read that God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, in Our likeness…” (Genesis 1:26) God refers to Himself using plural pronouns – Us/Our – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Likewise, in the first book of the New Testament, we see evidence of the Trinity at the baptism of Jesus. “As soon as Jesus was baptized, He went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he [John] saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on Him [Jesus]. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is My Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.’” (Matthew 3: 16-17)

We imperfectly attempt to use earthly examples in order to illustrate and better understand the mystery of the Trinity – an apple made up of three parts… skin, flesh and core, three parts yet one apple; water (H2O) – one essence yet three forms – liquid, steam (vapor) and solid (ice). Try as hard as we might, any example we use is but a poor reflection of our magnificent God who is Creator, Redeemer and Sanctifier. Our finite minds will never fully comprehend the infinite Trinity!

Jesus was asked, “Who do You think You are?” (John 8: 53) He knew exactly who He was, and so do we! By the power of the Holy Spirit who brings us to and keeps us in the one true faith, we know that He is “the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matthew 16:16) He is our Savior, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for our forgiveness, life and eternal salvation!

So, as we celebrate The Holy Trinity, we do not attempt to define or explain God but rather confess what He has revealed to us in Scripture. He is one God in three persons. His self-disclosure reveals Himself as the God who saves. His delight is in us even though the cost of loving us means offering up His Son on the altar of the cross. This is the heart of God’s self-revelation—the Father’s saving will and purpose is fulfilled by the Son even to death, and the Spirit reveals this to us so that we might know and believe in Him and be saved. While we do not fully understand this great mystery, we joyfully thank and praise, serve and obey Him!

See you in church this next weekend!           

 

Blessings in Christ, Pastor Snow

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“Love, Trust and Obey” (John 14:23-31)

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Most people who read, know and love Scripture, when asked about “The Love Chapter of the Bible,” would immediately point to 1 Corinthians 13… and they certainly would be correct. At the same time, the gospel reading from John 14 could, perhaps, be thought of as “a close second.” Jesus speaks about His love for the Father; the Father’s love for Him; the love of the Father and the Son for us; and our love for Him! (Verses 15-31 use the word “love” ten times!)  In the context of this divine love, Jesus calls His faithful followers to trust – “Trust in God; trust also in Me.” (John 14: 1) Confident in His almighty love and care, Jesus encourages us to respond obediently when says, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me will not obey My teaching.” (John 14: 23-24)

Probably the best “embodiment” of His teaching comes to us in the Ten Commandments and Jesus’ explanation that the summary of the commandments is this: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength… [and to] Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12: 30-31) So, if we Love Him, we will Trust Him and then Obey Him!

But we know that by ourselves and our own will, we could never love, trust and obey Him. Luther wrote and we know ourselves, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.” (Explanation to the 3rd Article of the Apostles’ Creed)

In our absolute need, Jesus promises that He “will not leave us as orphans,” (vs. 18) rather “He will give us another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth… whom the Father will send in My name, [Who] will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14: 16, 26)

On this Pentecost weekend, we celebrate the work of the Holy Spirit in us and through us! It is the work of the Spirit to bring to us everything that Jesus’ sacrificial death on the Cross has earned for us – forgiveness, mercy, grace, the gift of eternal life, and so much more!

In His unending love for us, Jesus promises, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” (John 14: 27)

When we know, believe and receive all that He so graciously gives to us, “without any merit or worthiness in us,” how could we ever desire to do anything less than “Love, Trust and Obey” Him?

See you in church this next weekend!           

Blessings in Christ, Pastor Snow

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“What’s New About Love?” (John 13:34-35)

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In our Gospel reading this weekend, Jesus clearly says: “A new command I give you: Love one another.” (John 13:34)  “What’s “new” about love?  In Matthew we read that when one of the Pharisees, an expert in the law, tested Jesus with this question: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”  Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”  (Matthew 22:34-36)  And from Confirmation class we remember the summary of the 10 Commandments: Love God / Love Neighbor – or simply: “Love.”  So since Jesus tells us, “love” is the summary of the “10 commandments” (from the Old Testament Mosaic Law) – what does Jesus mean by “A new command I give you: Love one another.” (John 13:34)

When God gave the 10 Commandments / the Sinai Covenant to Moses and Israel, this old covenant was based on obedience, which everyone has broken again and again.  ONLY ONE person has ever kept this covenant – Jesus Christ.  These old commands of law and obedience therefore POINT us to OUR NEED of a SAVIOR.

And it is our Savior, Jesus who says: “A new command I give you: Love one another.” This is NOT “new” as if it had never existed before (as if this was the 11th commandment) – not “brand new;” but Jesus uses a special Greek Word which means “new in quality, superior to the old.” And Jesus helps us to understand this when He gives the immediate answer to what’s “new” about love – He says: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34b)

SO THIS is what is “new” – Jesus’ example of love for us – UNCONDITIONAL (“agape”) LOVE – perfectly OBEYING the “love” commanded in the 10 Commandments in our place – and giving to us HIS LOVE and OBEDIENCE in exchange for taking the full punishment for all sins.

In 1 John 4, we can see this “NEWNESS” of “love” – God’s Word further explains: “This is love: not that we loved God (sounds like obedience to the 10 Commandments!), but that He loved us (kainos – SUPERIOR, FAR SURPASSING the self-centered kind of love) and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins… if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is completed through us… We love because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:10-12, 19)

This “new command” of “Love one another as I have loved you” can only happen in THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN MADE “NEW.”

By God’s grace, we now live

  1. a) “new” in His forgiveness and a fresh, “new” start / (daily blessings of Baptism)
  2. b) “new” in His covenant of His true body and true blood in the Lord’s Supper
  3. c) “new” in the “greater love” of no longer living selfishly, but “Christ living in us. And the life we now live in the body, we live by faith in the Son of God who loved us and gave Himself for us.” (Galatians 2:20)

Daily, in His Word and Sacraments, this “newness” of Christ’s superior love fills our hearts and lives, we reflect what Jesus says: “By this all mankind will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35).

In Jesus’ who is “making everything new!”  Amen.

See you in worship this weekend as Jesus “renews” us through His Word and Sacraments!

Pastor Myers

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