March 8, 2020                                                                                         Text:  John 3:1-17

Dear Friends in Christ,

            The book Born Free tells of an orphaned lioness adopted by Kenyan game warden George Adamson and his wife Joy.  If they hadn’t cared for her, the cub they name Elsa would have died.  Elsa grew into a strong, healthy, active adult.  In a way, the Adamson’s gave her new birth as a huge house cat.

            Elsa’s life depended on human care; she couldn’t survive in the wild.  She never hunted or defended herself or interacted with other lions.  Her new life so countered the actual life of a lion that she could never live free.  The choice was either a zoo for Elsa or turning her loose to die – unless they gave Elsa another new birth and restored her true nature, her true “lioness.”

            George and Joy taught Elsa to stalk and strike.  They cut back on their time with her, weaned her from human dependence, and taught her to look to lions instead of humans for companionship.  Finally, they restored the domestic cat to her true nature as a free, living lioness.

            Somewhat like Elsa, we are trapped with natures unlike God created us to have.  Corrupt from birth, we can’t live with God and we can’t escape the devil.  Left alone, we would be even more helpless than the out-of-place Elsa.  However, the Lord intervened, sending down his Son to give us rebirth, replacing our fallen state with the nature He intended at creation, and restoring us to a free and natural life as God’s children.

            Christ came down from heaven so we can be  . . .

“BORN FROM ABOVE”

            What do you remember about your birth?  Nothing, right?  You had no choice in the matter.  You were conceived by your parents, carried by your mother and brought out of the womb – all without your giving consent.  We could not conceive ourselves.  The mystery of our spiritual birth is every bit as profound.  We had no more choice or opportunity to become God’s children than we did in becoming our parents’ children.

            The reason we needed to be reborn from above is because we were born spiritually dead.  This is what Jesus is telling Nicodemus.  We would not think about God.  We could not move toward God.  We had no place in our hearts for God.

            We had to be reborn from above because we could not raise ourselves up to God.  As the psalmist says, we stood helpless and confused before this world’s troubles until “the Lord, who made heaven and earth,” came to our rescue. (Ps. 121:12)  Like Abraham, we had no idea of a new and better place to live until Christ came and called us to new life.  Like the Israelites dying of snakebites in the wilderness, we were doomed until God raised up His Son to die on the cross (vs. 14-15).

            Being reborn from above means we live a new life.  Martin Luther wrote about this in the Small Catechism Baptism section.  “The Old Adam in us should by daily contrition and repentance be drowned and die with all sins and evil desires, and that a new man should daily emerge and arise to live before God in righteousness and purity forever.”

            The Bible verse proof text is Romans 6:4 – “We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”

            Being reborn from above sets us on the path of eternal life with God.  He loved us that He gave His only Son so that through believing in Him we would live.

            Babies in maternity wards and neonatal units wear wristbands or ankle bands to identity who they are and which family they belong to.  This is to make sure that no child goes home with the wrong family.  The band lets us know as parents that that baby is ours.

            Jesus taught the same thing to Nicodemus.  Our baptisms are an outward sign of the home and family we belong to.  Baptism is a sign that indicates, “This person belongs to the triune God.”  Our heavenly Father sees the sign of Baptism on us and says, “You are mine.”  We rejoice at the sign of our Baptism, because it gives us absolute assurance and confidence that we are truly children of God and that the day will come when He will take us Home with Him.  Our Baptism assures us there will be no eternal mix-up.  We will go to the home that is ours.   We will go home to live with our true Father because you and I have been Born From Above.

                                                                                                                        Amen.   

March 1, 2020                                                                                  Text:  Matthew 4:1-11

Dear Friends in Christ,

            Come in real close . . . I’ve got a secret . . . I can be a smart-aleck.  Shocked?  Hyperventilating over this sermonic revelation?  Take out your bulletin for today.  Look at our opening hymn.  What does it tell us to do?  We stand!  My home church in Decatur did this with many of their hymns when I was a wee little lad and I didn’t always feel like standing…but I did…believe me I did.  To express my displeasure I would write on the worship folder – We sit! – and I would hand it to the usher on the way out.  I doubt that guy thought I would be standing in a pulpit today.  There were other smart-aleck moments – playing a mannequin at my friend’s sister’s clothing store at Hickory Point Mall, getting my freshman English Class to bombard our teacher with paper wads and all the grief I gave my mom over the years. 

            The thing is that little guy has never completely left me.  Just ask my friends and family.  What is that voice in my brain that motivates such behavior?  What temptation can I not overcome? 

            Can you relate?  I am almost certain you can.  Maybe it is not being a smart-aleck but it is something from your younger days that no matter how hard you try as an adult it is shadowing you constantly.  Can we stare into the darkness and overcome it?  Negatory, good buddy.

            We need a stronger one.  We need someone outside of ourselves to step into the picture.  We need Jesus.  Let’s take a song line and make it the title . . .

“TEMPTED BUT THE TRUTH IS DISCOVERED”

            Before we venture into the desert let’s get a few things straight.  The devil has power but it is limited.  Satan knows the words of Scripture – He even quotes them.  The only way to defeat your adversary is to know His playbook.

            The temptations take place in the wilderness – Satan’s home field.  It is a place of nothingness with few points of reference and endless sand and rocks. 

            Satan was smart and subtle.  He is saying to Jesus, “grab a little glory now.  Turn stones into bread; throw yourself down and you will be protected; bow down and worship me and you can have all these things now.”  Thankfully Jesus would not play that game.  Jesus was tempted but the truth is discovered.  Jesus knew that His destiny was the cross.  Jesus fought with the only truth He had – God’s Word.  It was The Word fighting with the Word. 

            Satan would have one more attempt after this in a garden outside of Jerusalem.  Jesus sees the cup of wrath he must drink to overcome our sin.  He looks into the abyss and even asks to let the crucifixion pass from Him.  Jesus was tempted but the truth is discovered.  In the end, He asks that the Father’s will be done.  It was.  It is.  Only through suffering and death is God making right what has gone wrong – He enters the darkness and brings forth light in the resurrection of his body from the dead.  Jesus makes right what has gone wrong by taking on Satan in the wilderness, in the Garden of Gethsemane, on the cross, triumphing over every temptation thrown His way and lighting our darkness with the light of His resurrected flesh.

            Jesus’ cross is where you see both your salvation and the pattern of your life.  When your suffering becomes so intense and the darkness so deep, trace on your forehead the baptismal cross that binds you to Jesus, who continues to feed you with his very body and blood at his table and then in Jesus say, “Not my will, but thy will, be done.”  Tempted but the Truth is Discovered.

            During the troubling days of World War I, many songwriters did their best to raise the morale of the troops in the field and the folks at home.  Felix Powell penned a little ditty for those troubled with their worries.  Powell encouraged the fearful person to put their troubles behind them and smile instead.

            If we just pack up our problems and put them away that is only a temporary solution.  The true cause of our troubles is sin.  Either inflicted by giving in to the devils’ temptations or the consequences of living in a fallen world, we are unable to pack up and put away our own troubles.  Only Christ can permanently banish our problems.  No pasted-on grin will chase away the devil, but when Christ smiles on us, we know the old evil foe is vanquished and our joy is made complete.

            A quick note before this message ends.  While the teacher found the stunt quite funny, to my amazement, I do not advocate bombing your teacher with paper.  I learned a lot about grace that day.  I pray we learn about grace every day.  Jesus, the purveyor of grace looked into the eyes of Satan and won.  He showers that grace on us when we don’t deserve it.  See the Truth in a new light this morning – He was tempted but His Truth is discovered.

                                                                        Amen.