Pearls & Treasures - Matthew 13: 44-52

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

By the time I met Eldon, he was old, a far cry from the strong young man who served on the USS IDAHO in WW2. After the war, he returned home and started a family. He soon was in a desparate situation to find work anywhere and any how that he could to support his children after his wife ran off with their small savings account and her boss. He sold cars during the week and worked as a DJ and radio engineer on the weekends. At night he stayed up late to take classes by correspondence. He remarried and soon after an old Navy buddy offered him a job at Boeing in Seattle. He quickly moved up the ranks in their space and rocket division, working on the massive Saturn rocket for the Apollo project, eventually transitioning to Houston where he worked at NASA. While there, he met astronauts, Senators, and even a Vice-President or two.

By the time he retired, he had been a part of the incredible journey of getting astronauts from the Florida coastline through the stratosphere to the surface of the moon. He was even part of the early work on the space shuttle. Not bad for a man who was born in the back seat of an old Studebaker, the infant son of a traveling salesman who would use his son – propped up in a suitcase – to help sell his products to women when he got to a new town.

By his 80s, though, age and illness had taken a toll on his body. Even with his hearing aids in his ears, turned all the way up, I had to practically yell to be understood. After an hour’s visit, I would be hoarse. War injuries that hardly slowed him down in 1945 were debilitating by then. His days were spent with a walker, then an electric scooter, then a reclining chair, and finally a hospital bed.

As his pace gradually slowed from staggering steps to not much more than a crawl, and finally to a halt, he would look at me and weep. “What good am I?” he would ask. “I’m not worth anything to anyone.”

It’s a common problem, a frequent concern and lament among those who have lost their ability to do what they used to do and to care for themselves, and have to get more and more help from others. I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve had elderly, shut-in, handicapped, or bedridden people say words to that effect.

It’s easy to understand why they feel that way. One of the first questions that you ask someone that you meet for the first time is probably, “And what do you do?” We are quick to run down a list of job descriptions, vocational duties, and professional responsibilities so that people know: we have value, we are a contributing part of society, we are doing something for the greater good. Even among retired people, there is usually a disclaimer, “I’m retired now, but I used to…” and add their former work pedigree as well as what they do to keep busy with grandkids, the old home place, and a volunteer organization or two.  

Or, perhaps there are other mitigating circumstances that can come into play, even among the young and healthy. I sat with a young man who could only see himself as a negative value: a failure, a disappointment, literally thinking his life insurance made him worth more dead than alive. Clinical depression is no joke, and this man’s illness could only see himself in a negative light. Remember, during the pandemic, people were branded as “Unessential worker” – it sounded like something right out of Schindler’s List.  Early on, the list was quite extensive and included people who work at movie and live theaters; gyms, health and recreation centers; salons and spas; hair stylists and barbers; museums; casinos and racetracks; shopping malls; bowling alleys; sporting and concert venues; bars and restaurants and even, in some states, that list also included pastors and church staff. Some of you know this full well. I had more than one person, declared unessential, call – men and women. I think the same is true of being laid off. One day, you’re an important part of the company, the store, the restaurant; the next, don’t come to work tomorrow…we’ll let you know if, when to come back. It was a terrible, demoralizing feeling. It undermines a person’s sense of wholeness, wellness, value, and even identity. If I’m not essential, then what am I? What good am I? Why am I here?

How do you answer someone who thinks their worth is tied to what they can produce? How do you assure someone who thinks their value is only based on what they are able to contribute?  How do you comfort someone who literally has been told they are unessential to the overall wellbeing and welfare of fellow citizens? If you have ever been told, or ever felt, that you were unimportant and unessential and of little to no value, what do you need to hear this morning? To answer that question, I told you the story of Eldon; now let me tell you another story.

“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then, in his joy, he goes and sells all that he has and buys the field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, in finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

How you understand this parable will impact how you apply it to yourself. If you think this parable is a way of Jesus explaining what you must do for the kingdom – that you must go out and search for lost souls, for example, or that you must surrender everything you have for the kingdom, you would be incorrect. If you think that this parable is a method of you attaining the treasure of salvation by going out and searching for it high and low, you would be missing the point. If you think that this parable is that Jesus is hiding something from you and, unless you are good Christian, you will never get it, then the only thing that is hidden is, in fact, the meaning of the parable.

This parable isn’t about you. At least, it’s not about you as the main actor. You do have a part in the parable, but you aren’t the lead character. Remember, parables tell us something about the Kingdom, they tell us something about Jesus. So, what does this parable say about Jesus and His coming among us?

It tells us that Jesus is a great and magnificent treasure hunter, a seeker and finder of lost pearls. Christ, whose very purpose is to seek and to save the lost, seeks and finds the lost ones. Notice what He finds: not lumps of clay, but treasure; not bothersome grains of sand, but pearls. He declares that which is found of great value, great worth, great significance to Him. If, as they say, beauty and value is in the eyes of the beholder, than your value is found in the eyes of the beholder, and the Beholder is Jesus Christ who values you and you and you – each one of His beloved brothers and sisters – He values you so greatly that He was willing to sacrifice all that He had to redeem you from where you lay hidden. He surrenders Himself to rescue you.

These parables teach that you, dear friends, you are of great worth to your Lord and your Savior. You are of immense significance to Him. You are as valuable to Him as a newly discovered treasure or a bright and shiny pearl. Our Lord has found you, a lost and condemned creature, and rescues you from your lostness. He cleanses you with baptismal water, washing away all that held you captive, and he takes you and you and you – each of you - into His nail-marked hands to be His most treasured possessions.

That’s what I told Eldon so many years ago. His value is not in what he does, or makes, or produces. His value is in the eyes of His Lord and Savor who died to rescue Eldon, Jesus surrendering Himself for the sake of Eldon, declaring him a treasure of treasures, a pearl of all pearls. But, Eldon still struggled with what his worth was – what was his purpose? Why did God leave Him in such a state of living? I told him that in his state, his purpose was to let others practice love and compassion towards him. He, who once cared for others, now was the object of care and love from his wife, children, and even the medical community. His role was to receive and offer words of encouragement and praise to those people, and in prayer, to offer thanksgiving and petitions for others who show love to him.

There is one other part of the parable that needs to be explained. Did you catch the detail that the treasure hunter hid that which was found? Does that seem odd to you? It did to Eldon, as well. In your baptism, you were buried with Christ and you were raised with Christ. In Christ, you live, move, and have your being.

There is one more aspect of this parable that can be overlooked. I’ve told you before of a Lutheran artist in Michigan by the name of Edward Riojas. He has painted what this scene will look like one day. In his painting, Jesus is in a cemetery – cemetery is taken from the Greek language and means “resting place,” remember – a cemetery full of headstones. In that cemetery, Jesus is pulling a casket out of the grave. He gave all He had – Himself – to buy the buried treasure.

That painting is a powerful picture for the Christian. Unless Christ returns before, the day will come when you fall asleep in Jesus and you will be buried, hidden in the ground, earth to earth, ashes to ashes, and dust to dust.  But, remember – you are a treasure, a pearl. While you will be hidden in the earth, it is but for a moment. Your Lord has already paid the rescue price for you. The day will soon come when the Lord, with resurrection triumph, will bring you up from the earth, from your hiding and resting place, and you will be raised and restored in wholeness, a treasure among treasures, a pearl among pearls.

In a world that places worth and value on what you can produce, our Lord values you for who you are: His. Your identity, your worth, your value is in Christ Jesus because you have been redeemed with His blood.

 

 

“Groans of Prayer” Romans 8:26-27

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.  “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness.  We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.  And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” 

Dear friends in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

I had intended to preach the Gospel parable this morning, but things happened this last week that made me switch to this Epistle, instead. It happens, often, in my vocation where I sit with Christians who are wrestling with hard questions and issues of life. What do you do when the world is crashing in on you, on your loved ones, on your neighbors, on our nation, on the world? We know something about this, don’t we? Relationships crumble, illness threatens, society is quaking under threats from within and without. Those whom we love the most ache in ways we can’t fix. 

Psalm 42:7 - Full of Eyes
Used with permission

In times like these, you often hear Christians encourage one another with the wise counsel to turn to the Lord in prayer.

                               Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care?
                              Precious Savior, still our refuge - take it to the Lord in prayer.
                              Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?  Take it to the Lord in prayer.

                              In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there. (LSB, 770:3)

 It’s good advice.  It’s Biblical advice because God Himself invites, encourages, and enables us to pray to Him in all times and places.  And for most of us, so often in our Christian lives, they are words of comfort and hope as we turn, in prayer, to our Triune God who made us, redeemed us, and makes us His. 

 But what about those times when the world seems to fall on our shoulders and there is no conceivable way out.  When the needs are SO great, or the situation is just so complex, or the pain and hurt is so deep, or our own confusion is so strong that we literally have no words that can express how we feel.  I’ve been there, many times – you probably have been there, too. A friend asks what’s wrong and all we can do is cry.  A spouse wants to know what’s bothering us and all we can do is open, close, open, close our mouth and shrug.  The world is spinning, we can feel every thump of the heart throughout the body, and the mind goes blank.  The mouth – which at other times we can’t seem to silence – suddenly falls mute.  There is no word to express the pain, anger, frustration, or hurt right now – all there is left is a groan. 

 If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a groan can be worth a thousand paragraphs.  Years ago, when I was really in the pits of despair, a friend asked me if I had prayed about it.  I remember staring, silent, until one word popped out: “How?”  Have you felt that? How can we pray when we just can’t pray?  How can we pray for God’s grace if the words won’t come?  How can we pray the cry of the church, “Lord – Have mercy?” when our heart, mind, and mouth are like cold stone?  Even reading the Psalms, or Portals of Prayer, or a hymn seems impossible as you find yourself reading the same line over and over and over. How can we pray if we can’t even express to ourselves what is happening, let alone tell another person – even God?  How can we pray when we just can’t pray? 

 When something this terrifying, shocking, complex or confusing happens to us reducing our prayer language from beautifully tuned phrases and sentences to deep-chested groans, what is happening? 

 As Children of God, we live in “in-between” existence.  Today – right now – you and I stand as saints in God’s eyes, having been forgiven and made His through the victory of Christ on Easter morning.  The Scriptures have been fulfilled in Christ, and we have been given the promise of the resurrection of the body and the life which is to come.  But that is the promise of what is to come.  Right now, we are waiting for the consummation of Christ’s victory over sin, satan, and the world to take place when the full enjoyment and knowledge of God’s love will be made manifest.  Right now we, as saints, live in a world where there is great sin and struggle.  Some days, that world crashes against the life of faith – the Germans call this anfechtung – and the juxtaposition of one over and against the other doesn’t make sense. Sometimes this happens in ways that are so violent and so shocking that it literally leaves us speechless, and it reduces our prayers to groans.

 When that happens, the Holy Spirit is there to intercede for you.  Just as the Holy Spirit gives you faith which believes in Christ as your Savior, so also the Spirit gives words and fullness of meaning to our groans.  Understand, here, that I am not talking about choosing to not pray; making excuses for not praying. Here, I mean, being unable to pray. Thoughts, words all fall silent. I want you to know that when you are unable to pray or you don’t know what to pray, it’s not necessarily that your faith has been shattered by what has happened. Your faith might be sorely battered, bruised and tested by what you are undergoing.  But tested faith isn’t the same as lost faith. Remember: God promises that a smoldering wick and a bruised reed will not be destroyed. Baptismal, Spirit-enlivened faith remains: you are God’s children, loved and precious in His sight.  You know that out of that love, God sent His Son into the world to live, suffer, and die in your place, securing your eternal victory in His resurrection on Easter Morning.  You know that you have been saved by Spirit-given faith in Christ, and as a result, you have the confidence of Mary and Martha that on the Last Day, you will rise from the dead to live eternally with Christ.  You believe that as the waters of Baptism were poured over your heads, you were given the blessed names of “Saint” and “Child of God.”  The Spirit, who instilled saving faith into your hearts, continues to live in you and enables you to confess the Christian faith.  The Spirit allows you to believe with hope (!!!) that there is much greater things to come than this world of tears; that one day, Christ will come again to judge the living and the dead; to reunite soul and body, and to take you – His faithful – to live eternally with Him in heaven.

 That gives you surety, confidence, hope, courage, and strength as you walk through the valley of the shadow in this “in-between” existence.  When those days, events, and sorrows knock the very breath of prayer out of you, leaving you to groan in agony, the Holy Spirit continues to abide in and with you, instilling faith into your heart, allowing you to confess Christ as Lord, keeping your hearts and minds through faith unto life everlasting. And, when the words and thoughts and prayers don’t come – can’t come - the Holy Spirit fills turns our groans into the faith-filled prayer of the Church: “Lord, have mercy!  Christ, have mercy!  Lord, have mercy!”  As we groan in our needs and in our agony and in our sense of helplessness, the Holy Spirit takes our longings and true needs and turns them into beautiful petitions to the Father.

 In that glorious mystery of the Trinity, the Father hears those Spirit-carried petitions for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ, who stands as your intercessor, the High Priest. There is someone who truly understands that which we don’t even fully understand, being able to put into prayers that which we can only groan!  But what is even better is that the Father hears the Spirit’s perfect prayer for us.  Our heavenly Father searches our hearts and He knows what our true needs are, even if we can’t identify or wrongly identify what we truly need.  And you can be certain that God’s Spirit will intercede for you in the best way, “according to the will of God,” as Paul says.  All of this because Christ Jesus has made you into God’s child, His beloved saint, through faith in His work for you.

 For those times when you don’t even know what to pray, the words of this morning’s Epistle serve as great comfort and joy to troubled Christians.   For even when we don’t know what to pray for, we have an intercessor who prays on our behalf, perfectly presenting our petitions to the Heavenly Father for us. In our helplessness, our gracious triune God steps in to give us what we need.  In Christ, God’s Son, we are holy and have the right to prayer.  Through the Holy Spirit’s intercession, just the right prayers are offered for us, even when we can’t pray for ourselves.  And our loving Father will hear, and grant us the things we truly need, even when we don’t know what to pray.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

 Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more that all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever!  Amen! (Eph. 3:20).

 

 

The Sower, The Seed, and a Mysterious Surprise - Matthew 13: 1-9, 18-23

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is from the Gospel lesson from Matthew 13.

When I was a student at Zion Lutheran School in Walburg, we were taught that a parable is an “earthly story with a heavenly meaning.” Not bad, but I think we can do better – after all, Jesus says that the purpose of a parable is “to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven,” understanding that “secret” means things that are hidden temporarily but are waiting to be revealed. But the challenge of calling it the kingdom of heaven is that we think of kingdoms as places, locations, like the United Kingdom or the fictional Kingdom of Narnia. Instead of thinking of this as a place, a noun, let’s instead think of this as a verb – the kingdoming, or less awkward, the reigning work of Jesus as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. So, for our definition we’ll describe a parable, then, as a story to help us see and understand the reigning work of Jesus as God’s anointed one. And, because these stories tell us something about Jesus, there is often a unique twist, an unexpected element that catches us off guard from what is considered the norm.

So, now that we know what a parable is, let’s speak to the story. It’s quite simple: a sower goes out to sow seeds. Depending on where the seeds land, some are eaten by birds, some choked out by thorns, some die in the heat, and still others produce wonderfully. Easy – right? Maybe not, since not even the disciples didn’t understand, having to ask Jesus for clarification. So, maybe there is more to this story than first meets our eyes. So, with our own eyes open and our hearts inclined to Jesus, let’s consider this story anew.

pinterest.com

I have it on good authority that sowing grain by hand is a bit of an art, and a lost one at that. Now we use grain drills, air seeders, and planters to precisely and carefully place each seed 1.8 inches deep, about an inch from its neighbor, in rows that are 5-8 inches apart. Until the late 1800s, a sower dipped his hand into a bag of seed carried across the shoulder and then swinging the arm in an arc, let the seeds dribble through his fingers, fast enough to cover the ground but slow enough to not get clumps of plants that can’t grow and open ground elsewhere. A good sower knew exactly how to use the wind to disperse the seeds in the field he tilled and prepared so carefully, not wasting the seeds and their potential harvest. Each seed is precious; each seed is valuable, the product of the previous season’s crop, carefully reserved to be replanted and produce its own crop the following year.

That’s how it’s supposed to go: deliberate, carefully sowing of seeds to maximize return on investment, labor and sweat.

But that’s not what Jesus says. This sower-of-seeds grabs handfuls of seeds and just starts flinging them every which way, willy-nilly, caring neither whit nor whim where they land. Good soil here, hard-packed soil there, rocks over yonder and thorny wasteland that way, this sower seems absolutely irresponsible in how he distributes the seeds. This is the part of the story that makes the listeners say, “Waitaminute! What kind of sower would be so wasteful, so reckless with his sowing?” You can understand why. Let’s say you bought a hundred pounds of Bermuda seed for your yard and hired a guy to spread the seeds for you. You watch out your window as he throws 25 pounds into the street, 25 pounds slung into the neighbor’s scraggly, never-watered weed patch that he calls “lawn,” and 25 pounds flung into the other neighbor’s xeriscaped rock garden, with only 25 pounds actually landing in your carefully prepared and chemically balanced yard, you would be livid. I mean, yeah, that 25% grows really well, but who is so reckless with 75% even before starting? You can understand why people were not comprehending Jesus’ story. It makes no sense.

Let’s go back for a moment and try to figure out our cast of characters. In a sense, parables are allegories, which is to say that each character in the story represents someone in the reigning work of Jesus. Since Jesus doesn’t tell us, exactly, we have to consider who fits the parts. Of course we like to make ourselves the center of attention. It’s tempting to say that we are the sower and the seed is the Good News of Jesus. So, the parable is one where we’re called to sow the seeds of the Good News out into the world. The work of casting, and its ultimate success, seems to land on us, then. If we would have done better, the seed would have been better dispersed with a better return on our evangelism work. But, remember, the parables tell us something of Jesus and His work, not ours. So, no – I don’t think we are the center of this parable. Who else could the sower be? Well, perhaps it’s Jesus. If He’s the focus of the parable, then He must be the main character, right? He’s sowing the seed which must be the Good News that He is the very One for whom Israel had been waiting. That’s a little bit better – at least Jesus is the one doing the action – but it seems to be too obvious, too simple for it to be a secret, a mystery, that Jesus says it is. No…I don’t think Jesus is sower and the seed is the Good News, either.

Let’s rethink…if the sower isn’t us, if he isn’t Jesus, and if the seeds aren’t the good news, then what – who – could these things represent?

Jesus Himself gives us a clue to this unique mystery. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom…” Don’t think word equals the spoken vocables that travel through space from the vibrating vocal chords to the ear canal where the brain translates those vibrations into words. Think Word as in Jesus is the Word incarnate, a la John – “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” So, it’s as if Jesus is saying, “Let me tell you a story to show how I am beginning my work of reigning…”

Consider what God the Father does with Jesus: He sends Jesus into the world, scattering Him – to use the imagry of the parable – hither and yon, to those who hear and believe, to those who hear and reject, to those who are indifferent, only wanting to use Him for their benefit, and to those who reject Him. It seems irresponsible for God in His infinite and perfect wisdom to waste – to use the term – to waste Jesus in this way. Why not only send Jesus to those who will listen, believe, and be saved? Why scatter Jesus’ words, actions, and mercy to those who will reject Him and even kill Him? Why, indeed.

Jesus comes to rescue and redeem the world – not just this group or that group, these peoples or those peoples. “For God so loved the world,” remember. So God scatters Jesus out into the world, into places where the weeds of the world and worry distract from Jesus, and into space where the rocks of trouble and persecution makes one afraid to follow Jesus, and into the hardpan soil on the path where satan snatches Jesus through the sinful hands and hearts of the Jewish leaders and the Roman government. Jesus is even spread into the rich, fertile ground of repentant hearts. You know what’s remarkable in the parable? In every place, the seed does exactly what a seed is supposed to do. It may not be what we expect, or what the sower expects, but the seed does its seeding work. On the path where the birds eat it? The seeds feed the birds. In the rocks and weeds? The seed still tries to produce, sprouting and starting to grow. The seed doesn’t give up just because it’s not the best spot. That is true for Jesus, too. Wherever He goes, He does the work and will of God, preaching, teaching, proclaiming the reign of God is there, among them.

But the most important work of the seed in the parable is the seed that lands in the good soil. You know, the imagry is remarkable, but understand why. For a plant to grow and produce thirty, sixty or a hundredfold, first the seed must die. A seed dies so that its offspring might live. Jesus, the Word of God made flesh, used this imagry for Himself. The day after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, speaking plainly of His own death, “Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. ²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” It’s both an agricultural truth as well as a prophetic truth: Jesus, the seed, would fall into the earth and buried in the borrowed tomb, dead. But in His resurrection – and, again this time Paul picks up the agricultural imagry – Jesus is the firstfruits of those who will rise. He is the first fruits; we are what comes later.  

So, the parable of the sower reveals the mystery that God sends Jesus into the world. Isaiah tells us that the Word of God does exactly that which God intends. Jesus does what God intends in His words and in His actions. It’s a mystery, itself, that Jesus will not have overwhelming success, from a worldly perspective. Like the parable describes, some will quickly follow Him and just as quickly turn away. Some will even go out into the world as disciples, but when challenges and persecution comes, they surrender. Still others will not believe at all, satan plucking Jesus away like birds eating the seeds from the path. Even here, remember, Jesus does exactly that which God intends. Consider the bird that eats the seeds for a minute. Pardon the image, but what goes in must go out. The bird helps distribute seed – perhaps not where the sower originally planned, but the seed, landing elsewere, still produces. Sometimes, in a strange and left-handed sort of way, God even uses Satan as a means of distributing Jesus as hardships come and persecutions rise and death knocks and in that moment people, formerly under the power of satan’s grasp, receive Jesus instead. The Word, Jesus, does exactly that which God intends.

And, that is what made it a mystery for Jesus’ first-century hearers. It didn’t make sense of how irresponsible and wasteful this sower could be. They couldn’t understand. They refused to believe. They denied Jesus was God-in-flesh. Jesus didn’t seem powerful; His work seemed so small, so trite. His ministry had nothing to do with strength. He spoke of His own death, not making others die. He spoke of His own sacrifice, not the sacrifice of others. He proclaimed grace, mercy, and salvation as gifts given, not earned. It was too much, so Jesus and His work of salvation remained hidden from them. Since they disbelieved, it was as if Jesus sighed and said, “Let me tell this story. You might not understand or believe, but perhaps it will pass through you and someone else will hear and believe.”   

A moment ago, I said we like to be the main cast – at least supporting characters. But where are we in this story? We have to do something, right? No – I don’t think so. A parable is about the reigning work of Jesus, not you or me. But, we are in the parable – just not an active part. We – the Church - are the thirty, sixty, one hundred fold harvest that is produced by the Seed - Jesus. He does the work. We receive life through Him. Rooted in Him, together within the field of the church, we grow and are nourished in the life and death of Jesus and in His gifts of word and sacrament. That’s where the story stops. It’s not about what the harvest does, it’s not about you. It’s about Jesus.

 

Jesus Calls the Heavy Burdened Ones - Matthew 11: 25-30

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

What do you carry?

A cop’s belt weighs around twenty pounds, fully loaded, give or take an extra magazine or two. Body armor adds ten pounds, two pens add a little less than an ounce; body camera, 5.3 ounces; pocket recorder, 2.08 ounces; a CAT tourniquet, 2.57 ounces, and a multi-tool, 5 ounces.

A nurse’s stethoscope weighs between 6.6 – 8 oz, medical shears 5.8 oz; a roll of medical tape, 1.3 oz;  a spare pair of rubber gloves tucked in the pocket and, perhaps, a paper mask add only a fraction of an ounce, with a 5.1 ounce on-call radio clipped to the belt for her manager to contact her while on the floor.

A rancher’s hat weighs 4 ounces, plus or minus for perspiration. His Levis weigh 1.6 lbs, have a 6 oz pair of leather gloves  and 1.3 oz Skoal in the hip pockets, all held up with 2.4 lbs of belt and buckle, and stacked on top of a 4 lb pair of Justin boots with a half-ounce pair of sunglasses to protect the eyes.

A mom not only carries her 19.8lb son, but also a diaper bag containing 80 oz of diapers; a half pound – mmm, better make that a pound of wipes; sixteen ounces of water; four ounces of dry formula; a pound of miscellaneous toys, teethers and snacks all packed up in a diaper bag that weighs almost as much as her son.

A teacher is starting to think about her rolling crate she’ll use in just a few weeks. She plans to stock it with four ounces of #2 pencils and ten ounces of pens for students who forgot theirs; her lunch, 2 lbs, give or take the leftovers in question; coffee in insulated cup, 28 ounces; forty essays, 3lbs; a teacher’s guide books, 2 lbs; laptop computer, 5.3 lbs; and five pounds of candy bars to deliver from her son’s fund raiser.

A pastor wears a clerical cross that weighs 3.2 ounces, a pen that weighs a little over an ounce, carries a three-pound Bible, wears an alb that weighs 2.2 pounds, and over that a stole that, sometimes, feels much heavier than its 1.3 lbs.

Then, there are the things you can’t weigh: An officer’s shield weighs only 3.4 ounces, but it feels like much more with the world watching because of another cop’s professional misconduct. A nurse on the night shift sits at her console listening to a scared 13 year-old boy and his dad softly sob because the boy hurts and she can’t give him any more meds. A rancher carries the frustration of watching beef prices fall, feed prices rise, and watering holes dry up in the drought. A young mother tries to balance a child or two with work, marriage, house, and not having a moment for self-care. A teacher watches a kid try, try, try again and again and finally just give up as classmates mock her for being dumb. A pastor who stands at the graveside as he buries a parishioner who took his own life while the family, sitting nearby, finds no answers to “why?”

What do you carry? What wearies you? What weighs you down? What burdens are on you – emotional, physical, mental, even spiritual? FR suits and tool belts, stacks of paperwork and office reports, kids who are bored and parents who are restless, cancelled camps and rescheduled orthodontists, unemployment, getting back to school, marital problems, medical tests, depression and anxiety. There are plenty of things that weigh us down – by now, you probably have your own extended list. We try to offload to our calendars, try to compartmentalize, and get up each day trying to carry the load while at the same time pretending this is all just fine, everything is fine, I’m just fine, thinking, pretending we can manage. But, we know the truth: we can’t keep up the game, the charade, the façade forever.

These are all real things, important things, serious things that weigh us down. But then there are the burdens of the soul. We are weary of the sinfulness of the world, the hatred that seems so rampant, the sheer vitriol against people whose skin color, nationality, or vocation is different than ours. We’re ashamed that we, ourselves, have at times said and done some of those same things – perhaps not in degree, but knowing, nevertheless, it is still a sin in the eyes of God in failing to love our neighbor in thought, word and deed. The burdens of selfishness and failing to love God above all things; the desire to please friends or family instead of our Lord; struggling to not let money become the most important thing in our lives. We see someone hurting and know we should help with words of comfort and actions of mercy but compassion is overwhelmed by excuses. Fearless, bold speech in defense of the Word of God in the name of Jesus is buried in the name of expediency, political correctness, and “go along to get along.” Even our repentance feels hollow as we surrender again and again.

These things, these spiritual burdens weary us even more than the others. We are tired of stumbling, exhausted from falling, drained from failing. We feel as if we have failed in the spiritual battle as disciples of Christ, having let Him down, our fellow Christians down, and our neighbors down.

“Come.” A single word, spoken to you by Jesus. “Come.” “All of you who are laboring and who are heavily burdened, come to me and I will give you rest.”  I want you to know, He sees and knows the burdens you carry, physical, mental, emotional, spiritual – all of them – and yet, He calls to you. He does not turn you away. He calls out to you, the tired ones, the working ones, the defeated ones, the weary ones, the troubled ones, the bruised-soul ones - He calls, He welcomes, and He gives rest.

Why? Why would He call out to ones like us? Why would He give rest to ones like us? Simple: For He is gentle, and He is lowly in spirit. What an amazing contrast. How often do we think we have to fix things ourselves by our own strength. We use terms like, “I have to be strong for others,” or “You just have to keep your head up.” No, we are not strong. He is strong. Even in His weakness, His strength overcomes all of our burdens. To those who are weary, He is gentle and He offers rest.

He offers it through a yoke. Isn’t that odd. You want to talk about a burden, about serious weight, about being bound to the control of a master. You have seen on TV shows or movies, or even watched parents or grandparents with oxen or mules yoked together, massive wood beams over their shoulders and necks. Yokes imply work, heavy work, hard work. But not this yoke. Jesus’ yoke is Spirit-led repentance. In faith, we confess our own foolish and sinful thoughts, words, and actions, our weakness and our burdens. He binds us to Himself with a Baptismal yoke of grace and mercy to His cross where He has taken our burdens upon Himself, lifting the heavy load from us, promising us a day in the resurrection when all burdens, all weight of this world, will be lifted from us, replaced by eternal joy and celebration in the Kingdom that has no end.

He gives you a foretaste of that rest today, and every day you come to His house. Come to Him and rest. Cast aside the guilt and shame. Jesus died for it; don’t take it up again. Don’t worry about what you will eat or drink this afternoon; instead, be fed by His Word, by His own Body and Blood.

There is one thing about an animal that is yoked: it goes where it is directed. Jesus doesn’t tell us where we will be going, or what we will be doing. No: this yoke is not about work, it’s about belonging – belonging to Him. And, in belonging to Him, you have rest. You have rest because that’s what Jesus is like.

All things are handed to Jesus. And the Father has entrusted to Him the task of making the Father known. This is the Father’s good pleasure, declared over the Son at the Jordan and at the Mountain. Jesus makes the Father known to infants, to the helpless ones, to the weary. He does it by taking our weariness into Himself. He does it by becoming burdened Himself by our burdens. That is the Father’s good pleasure. That is the Son’s willing sacrifice.

This is the spirit’s message to you this Sixth Sunday after Pentecost, the first Sunday in July. Don’t pretend you are strong. It’s a lie. It’s a slap in the Savior’s face. Don’t pretend you can carry the burdens or wear the yoke. It’s not about you, or your strength or what you will do for Jesus as His disciple. This is about what Jesus does for you: calling for you, come, come to me. Turn from yourself, turn from your sin. Receive the rest He offers to you. There is peace and there is forgiveness full and free. Lay aside the burdens and be small, like an infant, like a child.

Take up the yoke, His easy yoke, for it is easy and light for He has born your burdens.
You who are weary and heavy laden: Come.

 

Hard Words of Jesus: Not Peace But a Sword - Matthew 10: 34-42

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text is the Gospel lesson, Matthew 10.

Last week, we heard Jesus speak of the difficulty of discipleship “out there” – out in the world. Today, Jesus takes discipleship and He brings it in the front door and into our living rooms, our dining rooms, and our bedrooms. He takes discipleship and the cross of discipleship and places it squarely in the family.

We were big fans of the TV show BLUE BLOODS when it was on. I know, it’s still in rerun syndication, and occasionally we’ll watch those when we can’t find anything else worth watching.  The show follows four generations of the Regan family and their service to the city of New York as lawyers and police officers. I’ve had many people tell me they also like the show – not so much because it’s a cop drama, but because at the core of the show is a strong Christian family that sticks together through thick and thin. At least once each episode, the Regan family sits down together for a nine-person, four-generation family meal. Things happen, though, to the family – personal things, professional law & order things, things that strain those family ties, stretching the almost to the breaking point. At times it’s the tension between policing the streets and the court of law; sometimes it’s the unease between the office of commissioner and street cop; occasionally it’s personal relationships and memories; often it’s sibling squabbles; every now and then, it’s the friction between generations. In that moment, tempers flare, words become fiery, and battle lines are drawn in the sand with slamming plates, shoved-back chairs, and people leaving the table before something irrevocable is said.

Perhaps you know that setting all too well. For you, though, it’s not how confessions are obtained from suspects that cause the troubles around the dinner table. For you, it’s because of your confession of faith in Jesus Christ, reading the Word of God, living a life of repentance and receiving the gifts given to you in your baptism. Someone in your family sees you as old-fashioned and out of touch. But it’s not just in your family – it’s Christian families across the globe. Someone in the family openly mocks those who bow their heads to pray over a meal. Someone in the family has embraced wicca, or Islam, or Scientology or some other religion says they are all viable ways to heaven. Someone in the family has embraced an alternative sexual lifestyle as being perfectly acceptable. Someone in the family denies their infant baptism. Someone in the family calls Christians judgmental hypocrites. Someone in the family has given up completely and says that there is no God and says you are wasting your time going to church.

Not My Will, But Yours, Be Done - Full of Eyes
Used with permission of artist

For you, and for families like yours, your family dinner table is not so much divided by race or political party or whatever current topic is on the news - your family dinner table is divided because of Jesus.  There are places where Jesus’ warning about cross bearing isn’t just a metaphor. In some countries, these dinner table confessions of Jesus are much more serious. Someone in the family calls the local authorities because mom or dad, sister or brother, husband or wife, son or daughter is a Christian and in that place, Christianity is illegal. In places like that, there is no First Amendment, there is no balanced trial, there is no public defender. I don’t need to tell you how those trials often end.

We are used to hearing Jesus say that He comes to deliver peace. The angels’ song at His birth declared Christ’s birth would bring “Peace on earth and good will among men.” He instructed the Twelve that they would be deliver peace to houses that receive them as servants of Christ. He delivered His promise to His disciples, “My peace I live with you, my peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give.” We are used to hearing Him speak to frightened followers and to raging storm-tossed seas, “Peace.” In words and in actions, peace is delivered, peace is granted, peace is received. With Christ’s peace is restoration, wholeness, unity and harmony.

So when we hear Jesus speak, saying that He comes to bring not peace but a sword, it catches us off guard – it makes us stop and re-read. These are not the words we are used to hearing from Jesus. I’m sure it stunned the disciples, too. Not peace on earth, but a sword? Peace unites; swords separate. Peace heals; swords kill. Peace delivers harmony; swords bring punishment. A sword is not very Christ-like, is it? But He’s not done. Jesus says He will put man against father, daughter against mother, daughter-in-law against mother-in-law – so much so that family will become enemy!

We’re left in a conundrum - Where is the Jesus we know? Where is the word of peace that we expect? But at the same time, we must nod our heads and agree, “yes – this is true.” We agree, first, because it’s Jesus’ own word, but also we see it; we experience it in our own lives, in our own homes, in our own families: with Jesus, there is separation.

When Jesus speaks of these things happening, of bringing a sword, we must consider this word carefully lest we misunderstand Him. First, Jesus doesn’t mean a literal sword. Swords are left to governments to wield with God’s blessing as His representatives. Nor is Jesus starting a revolution, an insurrection, or a coup against Rome. Nor is He instructing the disciples – or the church for that matter – to take up arms and execute their 2nd Amendment rights of personal defense.  He is speaking of the effect that the Gospel can have on those who reject the Good News of Jesus as Savior, the proclamation that the Kingdom is near.

It’s the wonderful juxtaposition of the truths of Jesus: on the one hand, His Word does exactly what it proclaims for sinful people. When the Word is spoken, it creates faith by the power of the Holy Spirit. When the Word speaks of peace, there is peace. When it speaks of forgiveness, sins are released. When it speaks of hope, there is future. When it speaks of grace, and mercy and compassion, these gifts abound and hearts overflow. When it the word proclaims life, death flees. When the word tells satan to go away, he runs in terror. The Word works. People hear Christ’s word that the Kingdom is near and, by God’s grace, they repent and believe.

On the other hand, the Word is completely resistible by sinful people. Others hear the very same word of Jesus but due to their own ingrained sin and sinful stubbornness, reject the Word that leads to salvation. When the Word speaks peace, a man can insist on continued separation. When the Word declares sins are forgiven, a woman can refuse to believe it is true - both for herself and for those who hurt her. When the Word speaks of hope, a daughter sees only gloom; when the Word speaks grace, mercy, and compassion, a son can insist on feeding anger, hurt, and revenge. When the word proclaims life, a dying fool laughs in mockery.

And, so, what was true in the Old Testament days of Micah when he proclaimed, “A son dishonors his father, a daughter will rise up against her mother, a bride against her mother-in-law, and the enemies of a man will be the members of his own house,” remain true still to this day. The conflict that arises within families over the name of Jesus is a tragically sad commentary on the sinful condition of people of all times. And even though Jesus’ word delivers faith, hope, and trust to those who love and follow Him, that same word results in conflict with those who refuse to repent and follow Christ alone. Jesus’ intent isn’t to divide, but division is the result, the effect, of the coming of Jesus and our following Him.

In those divided families, sooner or later, faithful people of God face the wrath and anger of the unfaithful. The message, whether literally stated or implied, is turn away from Jesus and do what I say instead. It’s exactly what Jesus warned would happen. And, sometimes in those moments, your faith-filled witness, even in the face of adversity, will win the brother, or sister, or mother-in-law, or father over for the sake of Jesus. At other times, the demands of the non-believing spouse or the faithless child will demand your conformity in ways that you simply, and sadly, must not comply. You are called to love Jesus more than your own flesh and blood.

The Good News is that Jesus knows what it is to carry a cross. Remember: He took up His own cross for you. He, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross and scorned its shame. He carried the cross when your son laughed at you for praying before eating a bologna sandwich. He carried the cross when your parents thought you going to church was a waste of your valuable time. He carried the cross when your stepbrother called you a Jesus Freak for not reading porn magazines. Jesus carried the cross when your own cousin reported you to HR as being too preachy in the breakroom. He carried it all for you, for the sins committed against you, for those who sought to hurt you in spirit, in mind, in body, in your life. This is the cross Jesus speaks of, the cross of following Christ even when unpopular with family. It might not be a cross that leads to your own death, but it will lead to heartache and pain. Yet, if you were to cave in and surrender to the demands of the faith-less family members, then you reject Christ and His word. In that, you also surrender the one true life that you are guaranteed. His resurrection victory shows you that what you endure this side of heaven, with your own crosses, is but temporary. In Christ’s resurrection, delivered to you in Baptismal water, and sealed with the sign of the cross, you have the promise of eternity with God through Christ.

 You heard it last week in the words of Jesus. Hear it again – this time, not for “out there,” but for in your own home, at your own family dinner table. Have no fear; do not fear; fear not. Speak boldly and confidently, but also lovingly and winsomely, of Jesus with your father and mother, sister and brother, son and daughter, and even mother in law and daughter in law, father in law and son in law. Speak of Jesus. Carry the cross. In those moments of cross-carrying, Jesus carries you. Amen.

A Devotional Thought for Father's Day

Whether you count your child’s lifespan still as weeks and months, or by the decade, whether you push him or her in a stroller or they sometimes push you in a wheelchair, you have had those moments and experiences as a father, filled with anger and frustration – some were righteously felt, but if we’re honest, others not so much. Fatherhood is one of God’s great gifts and children are a blessing. Parenthood is the primary relationship of all mankind, fathers and children, and it is to be one where grace and mercy is freely practiced and love and compassion are exercised.

But, when this relationship breaks, it causes terrible heartache and heartbreak.
The devil cannot abide a peaceful, loving home. So, the devil loves to take the gift and fill us with frustration and hurt so that we call fatherhood a burden, and he loves to take the blessing and fill it with harsh words and broken hearts so that we call it, instead, a curse. He fuels society to call children a disposable choice, much like the terrible ties that will be given today. Love and compassion are surrendered to getting even and showing who’s boss. Grace and mercy are given over to self-justification and self-righteousness.

And then, when we men realize our mistakes and our sins against our kids, the devil takes that all and wraps it up with a horrible, thorny bow and delivers it to us again as shame and guilt. He brings up memories from weeks, years, even decades ago, that good Christian dads would never have thought such things, or felt such things, or done such things toward their children. He leaves us fathers in our own despair, seeing only our failures and our homes as anything but places where the Spirit of God dwells. And, because society casts greater value on the strong, resilient man, we men are told to suck it up and be, well, men. But, when men are crushed under the weight of guilt and shame, where do we turn?

Dads of all ages – hear this Word of God. Christ comes for you. He, who descends to earth as a human boy, who in holiness perfectly submitted to earthly and sinful parents, is your Savior. For all of those parental melt-downs, and fatherly conniption fits and tantrums, and even the exasperated grandfather's “that’s not how we did it in our day,” Jesus is yours. In repentance, surrender them to Him. They are in the past, forgiven, abandoned at the cross. Jesus didn’t drag your sins up from the grave with Him on Easter. Our Heavenly Father has forgiven you, dad, for all your fatherly sins. Don’t let Satan continue to weigh you down with those moments. In faith, know, believe, trust and rely that you, too, are forgiven by Christ.

In humility, confess your failing to your kids and ask them for their forgiveness, too, without excuses or condition (you know, the “I’m sorry I yelled, but if you would have cleaned up your room…”) and pledge to do better next time. When you do that, you give your child the wonderful opportunity to share the Word of God with you, the Word that says, “I forgive you, Dad.” You might have to teach them to use those words; that’s OK, and it’s worth teaching. Because there, in the family, united with Christ in Baptism and grounded in the Word, there is Christ.

Dads: be at peace.
You are forgiven in Christ.
You are loved.
Amen.

             My Dad - Walt Meyer

"Have No Fear...Do Not Fear...Fear Not..." Matthew 10: 21-33

You remember in last week’s Gospel lesson, Jesus sent out the disciples into the world to do His continued work of compassion, healing the sick, driving out demons, and doing all things in His name.

You might imagine their excitement. They’ve been with Jesus for a year or so. They’ve seen and heard the incredible things Jesus has done: healing the sick, raising the dead, calming the Sea of Galilee. Truly, this was God who dwelled among them and His power, wisdom, and strength were phenomenal. And, now He was giving His authority to the disciples to distribute His compassion to the shepherd-less people of Israel and deliver the news that the Kingdom of heaven is at hand. What could go wrong?

“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves… Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake to bear witness before them and the gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour...” “Brother will deliver brother over to death and the father his child and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake.”

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It’s a cup of cold water to the face, isn’t it? He gives a double-barrel blast of harsh reality to the disciples as they prepare to leave. Jesus knows what will happen to His disciples – immediately, these things will happen to a certain degree, but even more so after He ascends. Jesus knows that His disciples will be facing every type of persecution from His message being passively ignored, to the men physically thrown out of town, to being beaten, eventually even being martyred --- all because they will dare to preach Jesus.

In the midst of these warnings, Jesus speaks a very clear word of assurance: Do not be afraid. Three times, Jesus speaks against fear: have no fear, do not fear, fear not.

“Have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.” The disciples are armed with His Gospel message, and it will both cut like a razor into the infection of sin and bind up the hearts that have been cut deeply by the burden of guilt. His Word is powerful and it will not be stopped, no matter what the devil might throw against the disciples.

He says it again. “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”  The worst that can be taken from you is your physical death, yet you have the promise of eternity by grace through faith. Do you believe the Father’s wrath that lasts for eternity for those who deny Him? Do you trust the Father’s eternal care for those whom live under His grace? Their deepest fear, love and trust is directed to the Father – reflective in the First Commandment – not anyone else.

Jesus’ third word, “fear not,” acts as a final end to all excuses. Jesus uses a sparrow as his object lesson: two for a penny, Jesus says – that’s all they’re worth on the market. Yet, the Father knows when one of these little birds falls to the ground. If that’s true of a two-for-a-penny deal, how much more will he care for you? Do you think He doesn’t know about your family? Your house? Your business? Of course He does! And He will provide for you, both now and into eternity, so that not even the hairs on your head will be lost. Jesus never says that evil won’t come to His disciples. In fact, if anything, Jesus promises that suffering, difficulty, persecution, and even martyrdom will come for those who follow Him. But, out of the Father’s loving care, He will be with the disciples even if, even when they are suffering and dying.

Do we really believe that? Last week, in Bible class, the question was raised about when we are persecuted, when push comes to shove and it’s deny the name of Jesus or be killed, what is the Christian to do? What if it’s our loved ones who will be killed if we don’t deny Jesus, or our business destroyed, or our home taken? Can we pretend, lie, and say we deny Jesus while secretly still believing? Would such an act be forgiven? Would we still receive eternal salvation or would we be damned because of our public denial? 

Let’s dial the intensity down from life and death and see what we do with that, first. As a modern North American society, Christians have bought into the false dichotomy, “I’m afraid I’ll offend someone if I tell them about Jesus.” I suspect that the truth is much closer to this: we’re afraid of what people will think, say, or do towards me.

Think about it: we confess loudly on Sunday mornings, “I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth,” but on Tuesday at work when the discussion turns to evolution and how “Everyone knows it is true that the world evolved from a spec of dust and a cosmic electrostatic charge…”, we remain mum instead of defending the 7 day creation account of the Bible because we don’t want to be laughed at. On Thursday, sitting in the hair salon, a television show has a so-called expert saying that all religions basically believe the same thing and we are intolerant if we don’t accept that, and we don’t speak against that lie because we don’t want to be branded as a religious freak. After a discussion with a son or daughter that Jesus is the only way to eternal life becomes an out-right war of words, you back down and say, “Well, that’s what Pastor said in Bible class, but you know him…besides, that’s his opinion.” Do not be afraid…but we are.

So, what are we to do?

Repent. Repentance means turning away from what was done, being sorry and sad for what was done in the past, and vowing to return in faith to Jesus. Repent of the times we have been too afraid to speak. Turn away from that fear. Repent of the times we have been afraid to confess Jesus. Turn away from that fear. Repent of the times we have taken the easy way out instead of engaging those who need to hear. Turn away from that fear. Repent of the times we have loved our own comfort and earthly safety and first article gifts more than the eternal gifts Christ died to give us. Turn away from that fear and turn to Jesus, instead, clinging to His promises even when it seems impossible.

So, back to last Sunday’s Bible class discussion, repent - repent of the idea that we can pre-plan our sins banking that it’ll be OK because Jesus died for those sins, too. Our Epistle lesson is from Romans 6 – I would encourage you to read the whole chapter today. Paul speaks to the very truth that because Jesus died for us, we are forgiven, yes, baptized into His death and resurrection, but it does not excuse sinful behavior. Doing so cheapens grace, cheapens Jesus’ death and resurrection. “Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? May it not be so!” Paul writes. Our old self is crucified, remember, and not to be brought back to life. If the old self denies Jesus and discards the cross, it’s as if it is also disposing of the resurrection, as if saying “I don’t need Jesus because I can save myself by doing this terrible thing.”

“But, wait… It’s not like I am really denying Jesus. I’m just saying it – I’m lying to the authorities to preserve my life, or the lives of those whom I love.” It’s still a first commandment issue, placing yourself in God’s place, and a second commandment issue, lying by His name, that you have to save yourself or those whom you love because God’s not doing it in the way you want. “But it’s just this once – I won’t do it again!” Deliberate, intentional sin weakens the soul’s fight against temptation. Deny Jesus once, even under the guise of a lie, and when the temptation comes again, what’s the likely result? What happens when the lie becomes the truth?

Repent. And believe Jesus’ words: do not be afraid. And be His apostles. Remember, Jesus doesn’t say “Don’t be afraid, I was just kidding about going out into the world.” No, even with His words of prophetic warning, He still sends them out into the world, armed with His Word, His Spirit, and His comfort: do not be afraid.

Jesus can say that to the Twelve because He knows He will face worse than anyone can ever imagine. What the disciples will experience at the hands of the wicked and sinful men will be multiplied against Jesus as He is seized, beaten, convicted of a capitol crime and sentenced to death by one of the cruelest instruments of torture the world has ever devised. There, separated from both heaven and earth, He experiences hell on earth, taking into and onto Himself the entire, eternal, damnable punishment that our sins deserve. In that moment on the cross, Jesus died for all of the times in the weakness of our flesh that we were too afraid, in our weakness, to speak His name, to embarrassed to say He is the only way to eternal salvation, too “afraid to offend” by living the Christian faith, too afraid to be compassionate.

In the years ahead, Jesus’ words about persecution would take on truth that none of them could imagine. With the exception of St. John, all would die terrible, physical deaths for the name of Jesus, refusing to deny or denigrate Jesus’ name. In the centuries since then, Christians have followed in the footsteps of Jesus, and the Twelve, and the generations that went before, confessing the name of Jesus with their dying breath. Some such confessions are famous: Joan of Arc, the students at Columbine High School, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Others, the world will not know their names this side of heaven, like the martyrs in Iraq, the Christians in the Sudan, or the church in China.

The same baptismal water that washes away our sins and joins us to Christ’s death and resurrection also tattoos a spiritual target on our foreheads and hearts. So, to last Sunday’s Bible class question: if you were to have that life-or-death question put to you, do you deny Jesus and live, or confess Him and die, what do you do, what can you do? As a Christian, we are called to confess the name of Jesus, even if the option is horrific and terrifying. The follow-up question was, “what if the threat is against my kids, my spouse, other Christians – that if I deny Jesus, they would live?” The same truth holds. It is “Far better to be rejected and killed by enemies who themselves are mortal than to find out that, because of your unbelief and apostasy, the Father had become your eternal enemy,” (Gibbs, Matthew 1:1-11:1: 529). Remember, Jesus says three times – not once or twice, but three times – fear not! Do not fear your opponents, do not fear those who kill, do not fear your worth in the eyes of the Lord, for He loves you deeply and fully, even more than the sparrows in the air.

That promise is true for us, the saints of God in this place. In His compassion, Christ Jesus strengthens us as He sends us from this corner sanctuary to the perilous world around us. You have all of His gifts: He made you His in baptismal waters. He strengthens us with body and blood, given and shed for you. He reminds you over and over that you have been forgiven all of your sins in His name. He joins you with brothers and sisters in Christ to encourage each other and remind each other, “do not be afraid.” And then he places you in your vocation where He works through you in Christian service and witness to those around you.

In that vocation, you will have God-given opportunities to speak to others who do not know, believe in, and have eternal salvation in Christ Jesus. It might be happen with the contractor who comes to your house and asks about the crosses hanging on your wall, or the mechanic who asks you about what you did over the weekend, or the server who brings you your plate of food this afternoon, or the surgeon who asks how you can be so calm. Do not be afraid. Take a deep breath. On this Father’s Day, model that faith to your children. Be bold to stand, speak, and confess Christ, even when it is hard, difficult, and uncomfortable. And you, empowered by the Spirit of Christ, given His Word and His promise and His blessing of “Do not be afraid,” you open your mouth and you begin to speak. In the name of Jesus. Amen.