February 28, 2024 – Lent Text:  Matthew 26:57-75

Dear Friends in Christ,

“After a little while the bystanders came up and said to Peter, ‘Certainly you too are one of them, for your accent betrays you.’”  His accent gave him away as a follower of Christ.  Peter was from the north, Bethsaida by the sea of Galilee, the trial is in the south, Jerusalem.  You understand that, up north it is “Minnesota.”  Down south they ask, “How y’all doin?”  Even in Illinois.  In college I knew the kids from Chicagoland by their speech.

What Christian accent would give you away as a follower of Christ?  Your speech?  The words you use?  How you react in stressful situations?  The cross you wear around your neck?  Like Peter you cannot hide.  The necktie at the hospital might give me away, but the clerical collar surely will.  I’m not there to perform surgery.  I come representing Christ.  Do you see your vocation the same way?

Tonight, in our “God on Trial” series there are two men getting grilled.  One outside.  One inside.  Let’s listen in to their . . . .

“TESTIMONY”

Let’s start with the man inside.  A parade of liars all take their turns on the stand but give nothing but false testimony.  Jesus refuses to be dragged into the foolishness.  He says nothing, but His silence speaks loudly.  Then He gets the big question, “Are you the Christ, the Son of God?”  He confesses the truth, “I am.”  It is such shattering testimony that the chief priest tears his robes.  A little dramatic, don’t you think?  Here is the drama, “He deserves death.”

Meanwhile, we go to the man outside.  The fisherman from Galilee had been warned this moment was coming.  The pressure starts, “You also were with Jesus the Galilean.”  Jesus born in the south, but raised in the north.  Pressure builds.  “This man was with Jesus of Nazareth.”  Is he going to hold out?  The drama builds.  Then the verbal joust to the midsection, “You are one of them, for your accent betrays you.”  He crumbles and swears, “I do not know the man.”  The rooster crows.  His heart aches.  

Ever been cornered by a question like that?  “Boy, you aren’t from around here, are you?  I’ve seen you get up early on Sunday morning and drive somewhere.  You going to church, boy?”  It is time for your testimony.  What do you say?

Sometimes the pressure can be real, depending on your family, your friends, your workplace environment.  In a moment of pressure, we might think we are better off not being counted as a disciple of Jesus.

Matthew doesn’t record it, but Luke does.  When the rooster crowed, “The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter.” (Luke 22:61)  Ouch.  Have you see a face like that?  When you buckled under the pressure and lied?  The face of a parent or a teacher.  And it hurts.  Then the truth comes out, and that same face gave love and forgiveness . . . and maybe a hug.

Look at the face of Jesus.  He is calling you back to Him.  Even when you fail to claim Him, He still wants to claim you.  He shows you His bruises and his blood not to shame but to reveal how much He loves you.  What abuse He absorbs for you.  This is the Son of God, who answers to no one yet stands trial and suffers to save you.

Listen to his testimony.  He says He is the Messiah.  He is God’s anointed One, the one chosen to take your place.  You have been connected to Him through baptism.  When your testimony is weak or non-existent, He steps in and confesses as though He were you.  Consider it a gift to be put on the witness stand and be associated with Jesus.

It is an opportunity.  Peter learned this.  Jesus’ look called him to repentance.  After the resurrection from the dead, Jesus restored Peter and called him to feed his sheep.  Years later, Peter wrote a letter to some of those sheep.  They were Christian citizens who stood out in society – they honored their government, wives who submitted to their husbands, husbands who were considerate of their wives, believers who were willing to suffer for doing good.  People would ask them, “What makes you different?’  And Peter encouraged them to be ready to give a reason for their hope in Jesus.

Friends, I hope your Christian accent gives you away.  I hope people notice that as disciples of Jesus you speak and act differently.   May we be blessed if people accuse us of being with Jesus.  It will give us a chance to tell them about a man who was the Son of God and Son of Man, the Messiah, who came for us and will come again.  That is our testimony.

Amen.       

February 25, 2024 Text:  Mark 8:27-30

Dear Friends in Christ,

During the Super Bowl two weeks ago, there was an ad about Jesus with the tag line, “He gets us.”  It is kind of hard to describe the ad, but one of the takeaways is that people are always trying to define who Jesus is.  Michael Cooper, author and missiologist said this about the commercial, “I began to wonder, is this the Jesus I know.  This wasn’t just a great teacher or preacher who was incarnated.  This was God himself.”  In my reading one of the weaknesses pointed out is that the ad shows Jesus’ humanity but not his divinity.  The one thing I have told people who have asked is that it is getting people to talk about Jesus but what road are they going down?  It is a great time to have this Gospel lesson . . .

“WHO IS JESUS?”

The text begins, “And Jesus went on with his disciples to the villages of Caesarea Philippi.  And on the way he asked his disciples, ‘Who do people say that I am?’  And they told him, ‘John the Baptist; and others say, Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.’” (v. 27-28)

The all-knowing Lord didn’t ask the question because He was having some sort of identity crisis.  He asked the question for the disciples’ sake.  R.C.H. Lenski writes, “He wants the disciples to state the wrong opinions of men in order to set over against them their own correct conviction.”

God does that in Scripture, doesn’t He?  He asked Adam, “Where are you?” (Ge. 3:9)  It wasn’t that God didn’t know.  It was asked so Adam would know.  He was lost.  The answers given in our text are not unreasonable:  John the Baptist and Elijah.  Remember when Jesus had a purple robe and crown of thorns before Pilate and Pilate said, “Here is the man!”  (John 19:5). Behold the man.  A man.  That is all.  Just a man.

It is still the same.  Just a man.  Just another guru.  Just a man with a great following.  Just a great philosopher but nothing more.  That is what bothers people about “He gets us.”  It is not terrible, but it does not go far enough in describing Jesus Christ, the Son of God. 

Now it is time to get personal.  “And he asked them, ‘But who do you say that I am?’  Peter answered him, ‘You are the Christ.’  And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.” (v. 29-30)

It is a defining moment for them and the world.  The Christ.  They confess it.  He upholds it.  The Christ.  It slaps down all the human speculation about Jesus.  He has no equals.  Jesus alone says, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6). Christ says it, “I’m it.  There is no other way.”  He testifies to himself.  This is what you want on your death bed.  He is God’s anointed who bore your sins and the sins of the world.  He secured our eternal pardon so that Heaven is our home.

During the Presidency of Andrew Jackson, around 1830, a man named George Wilson killed a government employee.  Wilson was sentenced to hang.  President Jackson stepped in and sent Wilson a pardon, but Wilson did something strange, he rejected it.  No one knew what to do so the case went to the Supreme Court.  Chief Justice Marshall wrote the court’s opinion, “A pardon is a slip of paper, the value of which is determined by the acceptance of the person to be pardoned.  If it is refused, it is no pardon.  George Wilson must be hanged.”  And he was.

It does not matter what people think of Jesus.  We know this, Jesus is the only pardon from sin.  “Whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16). Those who reject that pardon will be eternally punished.  It does not matter how sweet and wonderful they may be.  Scripture says, “Whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

Do you remember the author Philip Roth?  He wrote a book EveryMan which was a heads up to all readers that death comes to everyone.  He said this in a New York Times article, “This book came out of what was all around me, which was something I never expected – that my friends would die.  If you’re lucky, your grandparents will die when you’re, say, in college.  Your parents, if you’re lucky will live until you are in your fifties or sixties.  You won’t ever die, and your children certainly, will never die before you.  That’s the deal.  That’s the contract.  But in this contract, nothing is written about your friends, so when they start dying, it’s a gigantic shock.”

Isn’t that how many see it?  Somehow, it isn’t going to happen to me.  But it does, no matter who you are.  Philip Roth died six years ago, an atheist, who had no time for Jesus.

The scenario is all too common.  We all stare at our mortality.  The sunny days, and blue skies and scenes and activities of life come to a close.  Staring at mortality and seeing Jesus – the Bringer of Life and Salvation – and the person just walks away.  Forever sad.

Who is Jesus?  He is our Lord and Savior.  He is the Lover of our souls.  He has overcome sin and death for us.  He is Jesus.  He is our life and salvation.  He guides our life.  He is Christ.  He is our eternity when the earthly ends.  He is our light when the darkness finally arrives.  He is God who has come to grant us pardon and eternal life.  This is Jesus Christ.

Amen.    

February 21, 2024 – Lent Text:  Luke 22:47-53

Dear Friends in Christ,

Family was gathering at the Lutheran Church for the funeral of a young man who was shot and spent months on life support.  Before the funeral could begin the mother was yelling at family for taking her son off of life support.  She ran to the front of the church, fell on the casket and started hitting the funeral directors who were trying to restrain her.  She ran outside to the hearse still screaming.  It was then that an attendee who didn’t even know the mom walked up and gave her a hug.  She whispered, “It was an honor to know your son.  He was a good kid.”  The mom’s demeanor completely changed.  She became quiet.  Another woman approached and did the same.  There was grace.  There was Christian love and restraint.  This little show of support said more than all the screaming before it.

Tonight the “God on Trial” takes place on the Mount of Olives.  We will see both sides of the issue.  One who couldn’t control himself and One who had to.

“RESTRAINT”

The crowd comes in the cover of darkness.  Why the mob?  Why the soldiers?  What has this man Jesus done?  Killed?  Robbed?  Blasphemed?  This night needs no charge.  This was mob justice and it was unfair.

The disciple Peter thought so.  He is not named here but is in another part of the Bible.  Even the servant who has his ear cut off is named elsewhere – Malchus.  Right after the question is asked, “Lord, shall we strike with the sword?” Peter acts.  Raises his sword and cuts off the ear of Malchus.  There is no restraint.  Just reaction.  He doesn’t think.  He does.

What is restraint?  The ability to hold back.  Self-control.  What do we first think if we are criticized or people aren’t listening to us or they say or write something that bothers us?  Restraint is not usually the first thought.  We think, “Why did they hurt me?  What did I do to deserve this?”  We have got dignity.  We have got a sense of justice.  We feel like we are on trial.  We get defensive.

So, the pressure builds along with the heart rate and blood pressure.  We are not going to take this.  We have to do something, right?  We don’t swing a sword, but we take a swipe at them with an angry text or e-mail.  We find our support system and bad mouth them.  We give a glare.  We fight back.  We can’t be expected to show restraint, can we? 

Jesus says, “No more of this.”  Then He heals.  He wasn’t thinking about himself.  Who should have been mad here?  Jesus, right?  He is the one being betrayed and accused.  But he heals this man who has a name – Malchus – Roman soldier and he is not a friend of Jesus.  Jesus is not thinking about Himself.  He was thinking of you.  The path to your salvation began with his surrender to this unholy mob.

Restraint is a theme in Jesus’ passion.  He showed restraint tonight.  He will show restraint before Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, and their factions.  As he was taunted and struck and ridiculed – Jesus never lashed out or lost his temper or called down curses from heaven.

We need this Jesus as our Savior.  We need his quiet and purposeful obedience to his Father’s will.  We need his perfection, his holiness, and his righteousness to be able to stand before our Father, and that’s exactly what Jesus came to give us by dying on the cross and rising from the dead.  We need his help too.

We live in a world where the quick comeback and zinger response are rewarded.  News channels give inflammatory reports to keep their loyal audience.  Social media algorithms target our sense of indignation to get us to engage.  This all rubs off on us.  The other person is faceless as long as we are heard.  What if we did something different like the ladies at the funeral?

Imagine the impact you can have if you show some restraint.  You know Jesus.  You know the one who showed love and restraint all the way to his sacrificial death on the cross for sinners like us.  We can use words that help and heal instead of inflame and destroy.  We can respond graciously and not impulsively when we are provoked by those around us.  

This behavior, with the Holy Spirit’s guidance can be a strength and not a weakness.  Jesus’ restraint tonight can be our restraint.  What do you think Malchus thought of Jesus from that moment on?

Instead of fighting back, you can swing the sword of the Spirit – the Gospel of Jesus.  And maybe as others see this opposite of the world behavior and the message behind it, they will come to know Jesus’ love.

Amen.