Our Lenten Journey is a Journey to War

Luke 4:1-11:  Our Lenten Journey

Introduction: Lent has been well characterized as a journey. During Lent, we travel into the wilderness with Jesus, knowing his promise that a land of our own lies ahead. We began this journey when we were baptized, just as in the Ancient Church catechumens during this time prepared for their Baptism at the Easter Vigil. And we continue this journey every day—in season and out—when we return to our Baptism in daily repentance.

But if that isn’t rigorous enough a journey, we should remember that our Lenten journey will engage us in a life-and-death struggle against the forces of death itself. We are only the foot soldiers, trudging behind. Before us goes our champion. Yet we make the journey too, and truly

Our Lenten Journey Is a Journey to War.

    I.      Our journey is a replay of Israel’s journey to war.

            A.     God acted mightily in Israel’s past.

                    1.    To war against the Egyptians (Ex 14:14).

                                    "The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”

                    2.    To war against the Amalekites (Ex 17:8–16).  When Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

            B.     Jesus’ battle against temptation does perfectly what Israel failed to do when attacked: trust.

            C.     The story of Israel is our story, our history.

                    1.    The story of people of under attack.

                    2.    The story of people struggling to believe.

                    3.    The story of those who have died in battle and risen with Christ.

   II.      And we cannot escape the warfare of our journey.

            A.     For Christ, there was no avoiding the battle.

                    1.    No one can short-circuit the suffering, not even Jesus, the Son of God.

                          a.     Jesus is tempted to doubt his identity.  Verse 3, “If you are the son of God…”

                          b.     Jesus is tempted to bypass the road to the cross.

                                                Verse 5-7, Offering Jesus earthly authority and glory, the says, “If you then worship me, it will be all yours.”

                    2.    For us, Jesus did not take the easy way out.

                          a.     God had not promised to protect Christ from the cross and suffering.

                          b.     There would be no Easter without Good Friday.

                          c.     Jesus clung to the Word and trusted God.

Mt O, cling to the Word, Christ, your Head.  I’m not even an apostle.  But I do preach as one, for our Lent mid-week services.  Then you will hear how even Peter the Apostle of power, could not take the easy way out.  Neither will we.

            B.     The Church must follow Christ to war.

                    1.    The great paradox of Christianity.

                          a.     Christ’s greatest glory was in dying in battle on the cross.

                          b.     Christ defeated Satan by allowing himself to be killed.

                    2.    We, too, share the paradox of Christianity.

                          a.     In Baptism, we receive the sign of the cross from the hand of the Father.

                          b.     Daily we drown the old Adam and rise in the new man, Christ within us.

III.      Even going into battle, we sing, for we see victory.

            A.     Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness foreshadows victory over Satan on the cross.

            B.     The Introit—Psalm 91, the soldier’s psalm—enlists us in the battle of Lent.

                    1.    The battle is raging, but we fear nothing.

                          a.     For in sending his angels, God assures his foot soldier: “When he calls to me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation” (Ps 91:15–16).

                          b.     We sing this song in trusting faith.

                    2.    This is a song of Christian life under the cross.

            C.     The traveler also sings: “My song is love unknown, My Savior’s love to me, Love to the love less shown That they might lovely be. Oh, who am I That for my sake My Lord should take Frail flesh and die?” (LSB 430:1).

Conclusion: We know the goal of our Lenten journey:  it is into battle, to the cross, but it is also to victory.

The battle is our participation in Christ’s death, struggling daily against Satan’s assaults. But the victory is our share in Jesus’ resurrection, won for us when he overcame Satan’s temptation and suffered death. We have this victory in the new life of Holy Baptism. And we have the armor to fight on to this victory in our communion with Christ and all his saints in his Supper, the heaven on earth we live in the Divine Service, the new Jerusalem.

 

V-day, Temptation, and the Transfiguration of Our Lord

Catching Men Alive

How does Jesus make disciples?  Does he use hooks?

“Jesus going on, falls upon a group of men, sees potential in Peter, James, John.”

“Decides to take this shapeless formless clay, over 3 years form them into something to serve him.”

Commend these men: “willingness to leave all and follow Jesus.”

Something is missing in this usual way of Jesus calling his first disciples.

Did Jesus find some secret potential in them?  Why’d He choose them?

            FAIL:  They must’ve had some special insight into Jesus?!

Giving credit to disciples, taking away from God and his work.

            FACT:  They weren’t cut out of some special cloth.  Jesus chose them.

I can never be like Peter, Paul, pedestal, admired…

            He is a sinner.

            Makes disciples by the forgiveness of sins.

            The heart of the Lord’s Prayer:  Forgiveness of sins.

Jesus pressed by the crowd, standing by a lake, Geneseret, sea of Tiberias, of Galilee,

            Coming in from a night of fishing, the right time to go fishing.

Take me out a little bit.

            After failing, he says, “why don’t you…”  But we’ve already!  But ok, at your word…

Now nets break, so does Peter’s pride.

            Fishers of men, you’ll be catching men alive.

Catching dead people, making them alive.

How do we make them alive?

            Fish has to bite on it.  hurt a fish

            Net scoops you, heals you

            Brings you into the boat of the church.

Kinda opposite:  not eaten, but kept and preserved alive.

Disciples

            Do the skills of fishermen make them good fishers of men?

            3 years of seminary training, preached, taught, healed, showed them the way

God’s Word!  Not skills.  God’s word gave them power.

            Some are old, young, academic, etc.

            God calls them, through their mouth, His Word is preached.

Through their hands, God shares His love, His disciples, as our pastors today.

If we look to other tricks, hooks, you may get people in the house.

            God’s Word.  God’s Word will make them grow in the faith.

How can they believe if they have not heard?  What they need to hear is the word of God.

            Let God handle the number.

            What’s better?  Many unfaithful?  Versus few faithful.

Not all are called to full-time active ministry.

            Make clothes, food, build homes, Pave streets…

We can invite people to hear the word of forgiveness,

where we are made disciples, by the forgiveness of sins.

Where we are.

Jesus healed many, but not all?

Intro:
            A kid comes home, lied about his test... gets sick?  Did god punish me for lying?
            Did God send the earthquake?

Healing and Casting our spirits  (Luke 4)
            Halos & Cupids everywhere, but not interested in Spiritual.
            Casting out Spirits.  Cares both about the Body and Soul.
            Not everyone gets healed - healed of it in heaven.
            Temporary Healing - go on to die.
Where is the lasting healing?  Sacrament.
            B2Intro: point to the cross.  Permanent healing.
            GOD ::  Cross ::  the World

Did God will this or that?  From the beginning... God wills life into reality.
            Did God kill Grandma?  "Left a sinful and broken world, for a better place."
            Earthquake?  It's a broken world.
Whose going to fix it?
            Another sign of God keeping his promise, from the Garden.  (Gen 3)
            Someday, we too may be called to be with Him.

No more earthquakes, sin, suffering.

You Belong on This Team!

Earthquakes and Water to Wine

Is God proud to call us His children?

God is proud to say, "You Are Mine."

Why's Jesus in the temple, just talking?

 The boy Jesus in the temple, attends to the Father's business.

What troubles you tonight?

Mary's story, Advent Faith - God Gives Faith to Believe the Truth That Nothing is Impossible for Him

How do I know I'm prepared to meet my Lord?

Our Advent Preparation - We are a People Prepared for the Second Coming of our Savior

What are you expecting for Christmas?

Elizabeth's story, Advent Expectation - God's Gracious Gifts Exceed All Human Expectations

Hang in There!

From Dust to...

The Greater Gift--Christ sees not our gifts, but our hearts.

The saints are Signed, Sealed, and will be Delivered by Christ Jesus

What's life all about - It's all about Christ

Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?

(While the Law always demands more,

Jesus always gives more.)

Grace, Mercy, and Peace be to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!

Mark 10:17-29

“Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Isn’t shopping a wonderful experience?  I mean this.  When time and money finally become available for a shopping trip, we peruse the ads for the best buys.  We travel to the store with great anticipation.  Upon arrival, so many items seem tantalizing.  “We could really use the latest (blank), you know.”  Typically, we buy a few items off the list.  That’s just part of the fun.  However, the mood changes when we visit the cashier.  What?  How did the bill become that large?  The total is invariably more than expected.  A wonderful shopping experience has turned sour.  The same thing happens when we look at the phone or cable bill.  How did all those extra charges get on there to add up to so much?  Similarly, when we beginning a task, it always requires more time and effort than expected.  Always more!

The young man comes to Jesus with narrow pre-conceptions of who Jesus is and what he does.
As Jesus was setting on a journey, a man ran up and knelt before him, and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?”

Although his running and kneeling demonstrate humility before Jesus, the rich young man merely comes, expecting sage, self-help advice from a wise teacher.  He asks an appropriate question about the way to eternal life.  However, by asking what he must do, he proceeds the way of the Law and, thus, puts the burden on himself.  He views Jesus as a source to provide the final touch to an already exemplary life.  Jesus divine identity momentarily glimmers through the word good (v 18). 
“Why do you call me good?  No one is good but God alone.”

However, the young man is too intent upon his own merits to notice (vv19-20).  “You know the commandments:  ‘You shall not commit adultery; You shall not steal; You shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and mother.’” Otherwise, before the Son of God in human flesh he would hardly dare to brandish his own merits.  The rich man said to him, “Teacher, I have kept these since my youth.”

Like the rich man, today, many view Jesus as the ultimate source for affirmation of one’s lifestyle, confirmation of one’s choices, self-help advice, motivational guidance, and diet aids.
Jesus demands more than expected.  Rather than giving advice, Jesus makes  a surprising, earth-shattering demand of this young man. (v21)   “Jesus, looking at him, loved and said, ‘You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have the treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.’”

Jesus asks the young man to give up the most important thing in his life, the one thing he was not willing to sacrifice at that moment.  Jesus’ demand exposes the man’s true diagnosis, the death lurking within him.

Although Judaism emphasized charity, it was unusual to require such an act from a prospective disciple.  Overhearing this, Jesus disciples (v26) “were greatly astounded and said to one another, ‘Then who can be saved?’” 

Fear not, you who break only the other commandments.  Neither I nor Jesus are trying to steal from rich and give to the poor like Robin Hood, spreading the wealth. Here Jesus does not command all Christians to sell all their possessions and give to the poor.

Rather, Jesus individualizes the message of Law to this man’s need.  We should fear and love God so that we do not take our neighbor’s money or possessions, or get them in any dishonest way, but help him to improve and protect his possessions and income.  Jesus individualizes the message of Law to this man’s need!  Which commandment do you break?  Do you not speak in truth and love?  Honor authority even when it does not suit you?  Do you not honor God’s name with your lips 24/7?  Living a chaste life in word and deed?

The Law of God crashes into the darkest, most remote corners of our lives where we neither expect nor want God’s reach.  The Old Testament Reading (Amos 5) articulates how nothing escapes God’s attention.  He knows our offenses in all their detail.  He knows the death lurking within us.

Whereas we prefer a Jesus who affirms our uprightness in the community, he confronts the sinner whose gossip, grudges, and insufficient charity toward others actually harm the community. 

Whereas we prefer a Jesus who compliments our fidelity to home and family, he confronts the sinner whose secret thoughts and acts are often unfaithful.

Whereas we prefer a Jesus who blindly gives us the necessities of life, he confronts us the sinner who typically forgets to receive his good gifts with thanks.  (v22)  “When he heard this, he was shocked and went away grieving, for he had many possessions.”

Jesus slices with the cutting edge of the Law to prepare for the healing Gospel.  He wants to act finally as Savior, not enlightener, for this man and for us.

WHILE THE LAW ALWAYS DEMANDS MORE,
JESUS ALWAYS GIVES MORE.

Jesus gives more than expected.  In spite of human arrogance to assume success with the Law, Jesus takes the burden of the Law upon himself, since its demands are beyond our ability.  Jesus love for this young man refers to Jesus’ wish to be more than a wise teacher for him and ultimately Jesus’ willingness to go to the cross for him.

At the time of this text, Jesus is on his trek to the cross, having predicted his death already two times and about to predict it a third time.  In the cross we view the severity of our sin and the super-abundant mercy of God.

Jesus required this man to give up everything for him.  He could not, and neither can we.  Therefore, Christ gave up everything for us, even to the point of the cross.

So also today, Jesus super-abundantly comes to us in his Gospel and the Sacraments to remove the burden of the Law from us and grant us his loving forgiveness.  As we are led to Confession and Absolution and to receive his holy body and blood in the Supper, Jesus’ grace overflows to us.  Through the means of grace, he joins us to his sacrificial death and his victorious life.

Conclusion:  This man was seeking life.  To obtain life, he wanted just the right information, some wise advice for a formal adjustment.  The young man came, expected to be uplifted by a pat on the back and an easy answer to his question.  He came with a narrow view of who Jesus is and what he does.

Instead of a pat answer, Jesus first reveals that the Law demands even more.  Through a drastic demand, Jesus exposes the depth of the malady, the cancerous death within him.  In this diagnosis, and the context of our Gospel, Jesus also shows how much more he will give.

As Jesus approaches the cross, Mark’s Gospel indicates that receiving eternal life requires the Son of Man to sacrifice everything, since the young man cannot.  Jesus brings him and us to the cross, where unlimited sacrifice flows for our salvation.  There’s more with Jesus, always more.

What must I do to inherit eternal life?  Do the impossible!  Then who can be saved?  For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible.  Thanks God for the cross of Christ.

May the peace of God that transcends all understanding protect and keep your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus onto life everlasting.  Amen.

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